Elsie returned from Paris, the days of the schoolgirlhood left behind. Her character was formed, and she had the sense of latent powers. She had not been long at home when her mother died of a virulent attack of scarlet fever, and Mr. Inglis lost the lodestar of his loving nature. ‘From that day Elsie shouldered all father’s burdens, and they two went on together until his death.’
In her desk, when it was opened, these ‘Resolutions’ were found. They are written in pencil, and belong to the date when she became the stay and comfort of her father’s remaining years:—
‘I must give up dreaming,—making stories.
‘I must give up getting cross.
‘I must devote my mind more to the housekeeping.
‘I must be more thorough in everything.
‘I must be truthful.
‘The bottom of the whole evil is the habit of dreaming, which must be given up. So help me, God.
‘Elsie Inglis.’
CHAPTER IV
THE STUDENT DAYS
1885–1892
EDINBURGH—GLASGOW
‘Let knowledge grow from more to more,
But more of reverence in us dwell;
That mind and soul, according well,
May make one music as before,