"Do you always get what you want, Miss Whitburn?" said Dr. Mayo.
Poor Toney turned pale but no one noticed this.
"I like other people to have what they like, and I sort of try to get it for them, that's all."
"Ask Weston to sing, Miss Whitburn, and I will accompany him. Weston's voice is something out of the common, but he has refused to sing for some years."
"Do," said Toney, "I think I like singing best, especially when you can hear the words."
Then followed a rare musical treat, till Toney, saying she was very sleepy, excused herself and went to bed.
She paced her small room like a lion in a cage; she felt she must rush up to town to-morrow and call at the hotel, so as just to see him once more, but then she argued this would be wrong knowing what she did know! Perhaps—such things did happen—she might meet him in the streets. That wouldn't be wrong, because she could not help that. Was it wrong to wish it? Anyhow, she couldn't help it. She must turn for comfort to work, work and prayer; and yet neither of these two words seemed to be able to stop the pain. But they must; she, too, would fight with a lion.
She opened her "Little Flowers of St. Francis" to try and find some balm, and her eyes lighted on these words:—
"There came unto him (St. Francis) a youth, noble and tender, and said unto him, 'Father, right willingly would I become one of your brothers.' Replied St. Francis, 'My son, thou art a youth, tender and noble, it may well be that thou couldest not endure our hardships and our poverty.' And quoth he, 'Father, are ye not men even as I? Wherefore, as ye endure, even so shall I be able with the grace of Jesus Christ.'"
And Toney seemed to be comforted by these words, "As ye endure." That was it, to endure nobly, that meant she must not be beaten by her pain. Ah, she too would endure as did that young noble. Of course, endurance was easy when everything went right, but the only thing worth a rag was to endure when everything went wrong! And Toney looked this great sorrow in the face and made up her mind, oh, if it were possible—and it was possible—to endure cheerfully. Then, knowing she must be up early, she went to bed and fell asleep.