give to God "that which belongeth unto God," as long as all her
hopes, her thoughts, and her whole being revolved about this one earthly
thing, her son, the child of her sorrow? She was not a nature to shrink
from grave questions; no, she met them boldly, when once they were
there, wrestled fiercely with them, was defeated, and again with a
martyr's zeal rose to renew the combat. God had Himself sent her this
perplexing doubt and it was her duty to bear His burden. Thus ran
Brita's reasoning. In the mean while the years slipped by, and great
changes were wrought in the world about her.

The few hundred dollars which Brita had been able to save, during the
first three years of her stay in Chicago, she had invested in a piece of
land. In the mean while the city had grown, and in the year 1859 she was
offered five thousand dollars for her lot; this offer she accepted and
again bought a small piece of property at a short distance from the
city. The boy had since his eighth year attended the public school, and
had made astonishing progress. Every day when school was out, she would
meet him at the gate, take him by the hand and lead him home. If any
of the other boys dared to make sport of her, or to tease him for his
dependence upon her, it was sure to cost that boy a black eye{.} He soon
succeeded in establishing himself in the respect of his school-mates,
for he was the strongest boy of his own age, and ever ready to protect
and defend the weak and defenseless. When Thomas Bright (for that was
the name by which he was known) was fifteen years old he was offered
a position as clerk in the office of a lumber-merchant, and with his
mother's consent he accepted it. He was a fine young lad now, large and
well-knit, and with a clear earnest countenance. In the evening he would
bring home books to read, and as it had always been Brita's habit to
interest herself in whatever interested him, she soon found herself
studying and discussing with him things which had in former years been
far beyond the horizon of her mind. She had at his request reluctantly
given up her work in the lumber-yards, and now spent her days at home,
busying herself with sewing and reading and such other things as women
find to fill up a vacant hour.

One evening, when Thomas was in his nineteenth year, he returned
from his office with a graver face than usual. His mother's quick eye
immediately saw that something had agitated him, but she forbore to ask.