"And now I shall carry the children—
Little Rachel, and Samuel, and John,
I shall carry the baby, Esther,
For the Lord to look upon."
The father looked at her kindly,
But he shook his head and smiled;
"Now, who but a doting mother
Would think of a thing so wild?
"If the children were tortured by demons,
Or dying of fever, 'twere well,