Mrs. D. What do you want to find, child?
C. D. Look in the fire and I’ll try to show you. Do you see those two logs? Well, that one smoldering dismally away in the corner is what my life is now; the other, blazing and singing, is what I want my life to be.
Mrs. D. Bless me, what an idee! They are both a burnin’ where they are put, and both will be ashes to-morrow; so what difference does it make?
C. D. I know the end is the same; but it does make a difference how they turn to ashes, and how I spend my life. I hope my life, like the log which fills the room with light, may, whether long or short, be useful and cheerful while it lasts, will be missed when it ends, and leave something behind besides ashes.
Mrs. D. A good smart blowin’ up with the belluses would make the green stick burn ’most as well as the dry one after a spell. I guess contentedness is the best bellus for young folks ef they would only think so.
C. D. I dare say you are right, Aunt Betsy, but I want to try for myself. If I fail, I’ll come back and follow your advice.
Ninety-Three.
Scene: A café in Paris. Time: June 28, 1793.