Yet sets she not her soul so steadily Above, that she forgets her ties to earth, But her whole thought would almost seem to be How to make glad one lowly human hearth; And to make earth next heaven; and her heart Herein doth show its most exceeding worth, That, bearing in our frailty her just part, She hath not shrunk from evils of this life, But hath gone calmly forth into the strife, And all its sin and sorrows hath withstood With lofty strength of patient womanhood: For this I love her great soul more than all, That, being bound, like us, with earthy thrall, For with a gentle courage she doth strive In thought and word and feeling so to live. She walks so bright and heaven-like therein,-- Too wise, too meek, too womanly, to sin. Like a lone star through riven storm-clouds seen By sailors, tempest-tost upon the sea, Telling of rest and peaceful havens nigh, Unto my soul her star-like soul hath been, Her sight as full of hope and calm to me; For she unto herself hath builded high A home serene, wherein to lay her head, Earth's noblest thing, a Woman perfected. "That is a beautiful picture of what a girl may be, and I'd be glad to see you making it your model." "Yes," said Helen, slowly. Then, with more enthusiasm, "You know, father, I've always wished I were a boy. It seems so much grander to be a man than a woman. A man's life is so much freer, and he can do so much greater things, you know. Of course, I shall try to be a good woman, but I wish women could do big things, the way men can." "What wondrous things can men do that women can't do?" asked Mr. Wayne with a smile. "Oh," replied Helen, clasping her hands with enthusiasm, "just see what men do. They build immense houses, and great bridges--Oh, they make the world, and women just sit in the house and look on. I'd like to _do_ something." Mr. Wayne smoothed back the hair from the forehead of his enthusiastic daughter with a tender smile, as he replied, "It does seem on the surface as if men did greater things than women, but it is only seeming, my dear. It is just as grand a thing to be a woman as to be a man. True, woman's work does not show on the surface so plainly, but she works with more enduring material than does man in creating the world of things. We can see the great works of man's hands and they impress us with a sense of his power; but it is _mind_ that does the real work, and women have _minds_, or _are_ minds, you know." "Yes, I know, but they must devote their minds to cooking and dishwashing."