“Why, you see, aunty, just before dark, as father was at work in the mill, a large bar of iron fell upon his foot, and crushed it badly. He was so faint he could not stand, and Capt. Clark brought him home in his wagon.”
“Dear! dear! that is a great pity! And dids’t thou send for the doctor, Hesper?”
“No; mother wished to, and so did I, but father would not listen to us. He said doctors always charged so much that it was like giving them the bread out of the children’s mouths. Poor Mose has been hard at work all day, and now he must take father’s place to-night.”
“To-night! what for?”
“Why, yes; you know that Mose works days and father nights. Mose was just about leaving, when father hurt him, and as Mr. Brown, the overseer, said that he must have a man in his place, Mose was obliged to stay.”
“Poor Mose! it is really too bad,” said Aunt Nyna, sorrowfully. “He begins to stoop and look almost as old as his father. He has altogether too much hard labor for one so young. How old is he, Hesper?”
“He was seventeen last month.”
“Only seventeen! poor soul! and he does as much work as any man, without fretting or finding fault either.”
“No; he never says one complaining word, and is just as ready to lend me a helping hand about the house, when he comes home, as if he had done nothing at all. I wish he did talk more, for sometimes, when father complains and finds so much fault, and all the time Mose is so good and patient, I long to throw my arms about his neck and tell him how much I love him. But then we children are not used to doing such things, and I am afraid he would think me a very silly girl. So I do what is next best—I knit stockings for him, mend his old jacket as well as I can, and have his supper all nice and hot for him when he comes home.”
“Heaven help thee, Hesper!” piously ejaculated the old lady, “thou hast many trials, but thou may’st be sure while trying so hard to do well, that God will bless thee.”