s is the cabin of a new settler. Mrs.
O'Shaughnessy and I slept together last night,--only we couldn't sleep
for the continual, whining cry of a sick baby at the cabin. So after a
while we rose and dressed and crossed over to see if we could be of
any help. We found a woefully distressed young couple. Their first
child, about a year old, was very sick. They didn't know what to do
for it; and she was afraid to stay alone while he went for help.

They were powerfully glad to see us, and the young father left at
once to get Grandma Mortimer, a neighborhood godsend such as most
Western communities have one of. We busied ourselves relieving the
young mother as much as we could. She wouldn't leave the baby and lie
down. The child is teething and had convulsions. We put it into a hot
bath and held the convulsions in check until Mrs. Mortimer came. She
bustled in and took hold in a way to insure confidence. She had not
been there long before she had both parents in bed, "saving themselves
for to-morrow," and was gently rubbing the hot little body of the
baby. She kept giving it warm tea she had made of herbs, until soon
the threatening jerks were over, the peevish whining ceased, and the
child slept peacefully on Grandma's lap. I watched her, fascinated.
There was never a bit of faltering, no indecision; everything she did
seemed exactly what she ought to do.

"How did you learn it all?" I asked her. "How can you know just what
to do, and then have the courage to do it? I should be afraid of
doing the wrong thing."

"Why," she said, "that is easy. Just do the very best you can and
trust God for the rest. After all, it is God who saves the baby, not
us and not our efforts; but we can help. He lets us do that. Lots of
times the good we do goes beyond any medicine. Never be afraid to
_help_ your best. I have been doing that for forty years and I am
going to keep it up till I die."

Then she told us story after story--told us how her different
ambitions had "boosted" her along, had made her swim when she just
wanted to float. "I was married when I was sixteen, and of course, my
first ambition was to own a home for Dave. My man was poor. He had a
horse, and his folks gave him another. My father gave me a heifer, and
mother fitted me out with a bed. That was counted a pretty good start
then, but we would have married even if we hadn't had one thing. Being
young we were over-hopeful. We both took to work like a duck to
water. Som