sober kind of happiness too. I did not forget my father, and I missed
Allan with an intensity that surprised myself; but, in spite of hard
work and the few daily vexations that hamper every one's lot, I
continued to extract a great deal of enjoyment out of my life. To sum
it up with a word, it was life--not mere existence--a life brimming
over with duties and responsibilities and untried work, too busy for
vacuum. Every corner and interstice of time filled up--heart, and
head, and hands always fully employed; and youth and health, those
two grand gifts of God, making all such work a delight.

Now I am older, and the sap of life does not run so freely in my
veins, I almost marvel at the remembrance of those days, at my
youthful exuberance and energy, and those words, "As thy day, so
shall thy strength be," come to me with a strange force and
illumination, for truly I needed it all then, and it was given to me.
Time was a treasure trove, and I husbanded every minute with a
miser's zeal. I had always been an early riser, and now I reaped the
benefit of this habit. Jack used to murmur discontentedly in her
sleep when I set the window open soon after six, and the fresh summer
air fanned her hot face. But how cool and dewy the garden looked at
that hour!

It was so bright and still, with the thrushes and blackbirds hopping
over the wet lawn, and the leaves looking so fresh and green in the
morning sun; such twitterings and chirpings came from the lilac
trees, where the little brown sparrows twittered and plumed
themselves. The bird music used to chime in in a sort of refrain to
my morning prayers--a diminutive chorus of praise--the choral before
the day's service commenced.