At this crisis Audubon could have accomplished nothing but for the intelligent devotion of his capable wife. Generous, emotional, inclined to be self-indulgent, Audubon needed both the example and the spur of a strong character such as his wife possessed, and at this time Lucy Audubon furnished both the motive power and the balance-wheel that were requisite for the development of her husband's genius. Without her zeal and self-sacrificing devotion the world would never have heard of Audubon. His budding talents eventually would have been smothered in some backwoods town of the Middle West or South. For the space of nearly twelve years, Mrs. Audubon, now as the head of a small private school, now as a governess in some friendly family who appreciated her worth, practically assumed the responsibility for the support and education of their children in order that her husband's hands might be free, and with her hard-earned savings was able to aid him materially in the prosecution of his labors. When relatives or friends upbraided him for not entering upon some form of lucrative trade, she recognized his genius and always came to his support, being fully persuaded that he was destined to become one of the great workers of the world. Whatever others may have said or done at that time, both Audubon and his wife were confident of the ultimate success of his mission. In short, the work in which the naturalist was engaged became a family interest, in which every member was destined sooner or later to bear a part. Audubon recalled a somber incident of this time which he thought might furnish a lesson to mankind, and he shall relate it in his own words: After our dismal removal from Henderson to Louisville, one morning when all of us were sadly desponding, I took you both, Victor and John, from Shippingport to Louisville. I had purchased a loaf of bread and some apples; before you reached Louisville you were hungry, and by the river side we sat down and ate our scanty meal. On that day the world was with me as a blank, and my heart was sorely heavy, for scarcely had I enough to keep my dear ones alive; and yet through those dark days I was being led to the development of the talents I loved, and which have brought so much enjoyment to us _all_.... At Shippingport Audubon was welcomed by his brother-in-law, Nicholas A. Berthoud. Wasting no time in vain regrets, he began doing portraits in crayon, and with such success that he was able to rent a modest apartment and have his family about him again. From no charges for his tentative efforts the price was gradually raised until he received five dollars or more a head; with the spread of his fame orders filled his hands, and he was called long distances to take likenesses of the dying or even of the dead. Audubon's facility in portraiture was a valuable resource, and it kept him from the starving line at many a pinch in later years.