"Did I ever show you this? It's my mother. I got it last year on my sixteenth birthday. I love it better than anything in the world."
Mrs. White gazed at the likeness for some minutes.
"It is a lovely face," she said, handing it back. "A lovely face—better than lovely—womanly. One feels the spirit back of it. When you are lonely again, think what a gift such a mother has been. What a privilege to follow in her footsteps—carry out her hopes of you—her ideals."
She was gone, her own cup overflowing, before Blue Bonnet could reply. Just before the gong sounded for dinner she came back for a moment, smiling and serene.
"I brought you this," she said. "I tore it off my calendar a few moments ago. It has a little message for you. Let's pin it up here in your mirror for a day or two, so you will see it every time you dress."
And over Mrs. White's shoulder Blue Bonnet read:
"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
One thing stands like stone:
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in one's own."
Under the "courage in one's own," a faint line had been drawn.