Jessie--she who had hitherto never repined at
the hardness of her lot, and who, to cheer her husband's drooping
spirits, had worn a cheerful smile upon her countenance, whilst a load
of sorrow pressed heavily upon her heart--even she now looked pale and
sad, as with an anxious eye she stood by and watched poor Job, leaning
with his back against the wall in an up-stairs room, now devoid of every
article of furniture. And there he had been for hours, completely
overcome by the accumulation of woes he saw no loophole to escape from;
whilst his two little girls, terrified at the desolate appearance of
every thing around them, and at the unusual agitation of their parents,
were crouched together in a corner, fast grasped together, as if for
mutual protection, in each other's arms.

Not a morsel of food had that day passed the lips of any member of that
unhappy family, and every moveable belonging to the house had been taken
away at an early hour in the morning; so that nothing but the bare walls
were left for shelter, and hard boards for them to lie upon. Often had
poor Jessie essayed to speak some words of comfort to her husband's ear;
but even these, which had never before failed, were no longer at her
command; for when some cheering thought suggested itself, a choking
sensation in her throat deprived her of the power of uttering it. At
length a loud single rap at the street door caused Job to start, whilst
a hectic flush passed over his pale cheek, and a violent tremor shook
his frame, as the dread thought of a prison occurred to him.

"Don't be alarmed, my dearest," said his wife, "it's only some people
with something or other to sell; I dare say they'll go away again when
they find that no one answers the door."

"It's a beggar," said one of the children, who, hearing the sound, had
looked out of the window; "poor man, he looks miserably cold! I wish
we'd something to give him."

"Beggar, did the child say?" demanded Job, gazing wildly round the room.
"Beggar!" he repeated. "And what are we all but beggars? Are we not
stripped of every thing? Are we not actually starving for want of the
daily bread that I have toiled so hard for, and prayed unceasingly to
heaven to afford us; whilst those who never use their Maker's name
except in terms of blasphemy, have loads of affluence heaped into their
laps. Oh! it's enough to make one doubt"----

"Oh, no, no, no! don't, for the love you bear me--don't utter those
awful words