"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, "what a pain I have in my side!" And for
a moment she rested from her work, and straightened herself in her
chair, to afford a slight relief from the uneasiness she
experienced. "I wonder, mother, if I shall always be obliged to sit
so steady?"

"I hope not, my child; but bad as our situation is, there are
hundreds worse off than we. Take Annie Carr, for instance--how would
you like to exchange places with her?"

"Poor Annie! I was thinking of her awhile go, mother. How hard it
must be for one so young to be so afflicted as she is!"

"And yet, Laura, she never complains; although for five years she
has never left her bed, and has often suffered, I know, for want of
proper nourishment."

"I don't think she will suffer much longer, mother. I stopped in to
see her the other day, and I was astonished at the change which had
taken place in a short time. Her conversation, too, seems so
heavenly, her faith in the Lord so strong, that I could not avoid
coming to the conclusion that a few days more, at the most, would
terminate her wearisome life."

"It will be a happy release for her, indeed, my daughter. Still, it
will be a sore trial for her mother."

It was near six when Mrs. Perry and her daughter finished the work
upon which they were engaged.