"This is a sad, anxious time for you, my dear Vi," Elsie said one evening as they sat together in the sick-room—Violet with her almost dying babe on her lap, while Grace lay on the bed in an equally critical condition; "but you are bearing up bravely."
"Dear mamma, you help me very much in so doing," Violet said, low and tremulously; "so do Arthur and Dick. But best of all, 'underneath are the everlasting arms.' O mamma, it seems as if my heart must break if either of the children is taken, and I may be called to part with both—and their father, my dear, dear husband, so far away."
She paused, overcome by her emotions.
"'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,'" her mother whispered, with a tenderly sympathetic look. "'He will never leave nor forsake you, dear child.'"
"No, mamma; my heart is constantly saying to Him,
'I have called thee Abba, Father!
I have stayed my heart on thee;
Storms may howl and clouds may gather—
All must work for good to me.'"
"Yes, dear child," Elsie said with emotion, "'we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.'"
"And my baby is so young, Gracie such a dear little Christian child, that, if I must give them up, I shall know that they are safe—
'Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast.'"
Grace, whom they had deemed quite unconscious, opened her eyes and fixed them on Violet's face with a look of ardent affection.