"But—but, Sister, our Lord didn't ask me to do that—nobody really asked me. I just couldn't think of letting poor Father go away by himself, you know."
"But has not our Lord said that whatever we do to even the least of His little ones, we do it unto Him? And do you not make your Morning Offering every day?"
"Oh, yes, Sister, the very minute I wake in the morning, even though it isn't time to get up. I make it again when I say my morning prayers; but I have thoughts even though I may not do anything before I say them; and they ought to be offered up, I think."
"Surely, dear. So last Saturday you had made your Morning Offering of all your thoughts, words, and actions to God; and when the time came to decide whether you wished your mother to go with your father or to stay with you, you had already offered Him the thought and action and suffering, even though you did not think of it that way at the time."
"N—no, Sister, I didn't. I was so—I don't like to say s'prised, because I think a s'prise ought to be something to make someone happy."
"Perhaps shocked is the better word."
"That's just exactly it, Sister. I was so shocked that I said dreadful things, and—and—oh, I was horrid! And while Mother was talking to me, I didn't know what to do. Then I remembered that Sister Florian said that when we had to decide something we must ask our Lord to help us, and she told us to say to our Blessed Mother, 'Mother, tell me what am I to do,' We were learning a hymn to her at school and that is the last line of every verse. I remember the first verse:
"'O Virgin Mother, Lady of Good Counsel,
Sweetest picture artist ever drew,
In all doubts I fly to thee for guidance,
Mother! tell me, what am I to do?'"
"And our Blessed Lady did tell you what to do, and her Divine Son gave you the grace to do it, and you gave Him the gift He was asking of you. Indeed, dear, what you have done is no small thing, but don't you think that it would be too bad to take back part of your gift, or to spoil it in any way? Would not that be a selfish thing to do? In sickness, we must be very careful. It acts in two ways, making the patient either more selfish or more thoughtful of others. Until the last few days, I thought it was having the good effect upon you; but now, I am just a little afraid that you are forgetting others, especially that good, kind uncle, who is trying to make you well and happy."
There was a moment's silence; then, "Sister, please ring for Liza——Oh, why doesn't she hurry!"