irrepressible power of the mind to create standards which rise
above all experience and surroundings; to carry everywhere with
itself, whether it will or not, a blazing, scorching censorship of
the facts that offend it. Regarding the household management of his
mother, David at least never murmured; what he secretly felt he
alone knew, perhaps not even he, since he was no self-examiner. As
to those shortcomings of hers which he could not fail to see, for
them he unconsciously showed tenderest compassion.

She had indulged so long her sloth even in the operation of
thinking, that few ideas now rose from the inner void to disturb
the apathetic surface; and she did not hesitate to recur to any one
of these any number of times in a conversation with the same
person.

"What makes you so late?"

"I wanted to finish a shock. Then there was the feeding, and the
wood to cut. And I had to warm my room up a little before I could
wash."

"Is it going to snow?"

"It's hard to say. The weather looks very unsettled and
threatening. That's one reason why I wanted to finish my shock."

There was silence for a while. David was too ravenous to talk; and
his mother's habit was to utter one sentence at a time.

"I got three fresh eggs to-day; one had dropped from the roost and