d. Her flock of little children had laid upon her a load
of care and toil, which added to the burden she was already trying to
carry, was proving more than her delicate frame could bear. There were
lines upon her face that only weariness often repeated cuts deep; but
there were other lines there, and these were lines of heart pain, and
as Ranald watched her closely, with his heart running over with love and
pity and indignation for her, he caught her frequent glances toward her
first born that spoke of anxiety and fear.

"Can it be the young rascal is bringing her anything but perfect
satisfaction and joy in return for the sacrifice of her splendid life?"
he said to himself. But no word fell from her to show him the secret
of her pain, it was Hughie's own lips that revealed him, and as the lad
talked of his present and his future, his impatience of control, his
lack of sympathy to all higher ideals, his determination to please
himself to the forgetting of all else, his seeming unconsciousness of
the debt he owed to his mother, all these became easily apparent. With
difficulty Ranald restrained his indignation. He let him talk for some
time and then opened out upon him. He read him no long lecture, but his
words came forth with such fiery heat that they burned their way clear
through all the faults and flimsy selfishness of the younger man till
they reached the true heart of him. His last words Hughie never forgot.

"Do you know, Hughie," he said, and the fire in his eyes seemed to burn
into Hughie's, "do you know what sort of woman you have for a mother?
And do you know that if you should live to be a hundred years, and
devoted every day of your life to the doing of her pleasure, you could
not repay the debt you owe her? Be a man, Hughie. Thank God for her, and
for the opportunity of loving and caring for her."

The night of his first visit to the manse Ranald had no opportunity for
any further talk with the minister's wife, but he came away with the
resolve that before his week's visit was over, he would see her alone.
On his return home, however, he found waiting him a telegram from
Colonel Thorp, mailed from Alexandria, announcing an early date for the
meeting of shareholders at Bay City, so that he found it necessary to
leave immediately after the next day, which was the Sabbath. It was
no small disappointment to him that he was to have no opportunity of
opening his heart to his friend. But as he sat in his uncle's