Children -- Death -- Juvenile fiction; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Farm life -- Juvenile fiction; Siblings -- Juvenile fiction
The day had changed. A warmer temperature had thawed off the
thin sleet, and the pavements were drying. The rain-cloud of
the morning was broken up and scattering hither and thither,
and through the clefts of it the sun came blinking in upon the
world. The light was pleasant upon the wet streets and the
long stacks of building and the rolling clouds; and the change
in the air was most soothing and mild after the morning's
harsh breath. Winthrop tasted and felt it as he walked up the
street; but how can the outer world be enjoyed by a man to
whom the world is all outer? It only quickened his sense of
the necessity there was he should find another climate for his
mind to live in. But his body was in no state to carry him
about to make discoveries. He must care for that in the first
place. After some inquiries and wandering about, he at last
made his way into Bank St. and found an eating-house, very
near the scene of his morning's disaster. Winthrop had very
few shillings to be extravagant with; he laid down two of them
in exchange for a small mutton chop and some bread; and then,
somewhat heartened, set out upon his travels again, crossing
over to the west side of the city. He felt glad, as he went,
that his mother -- and his little sister -- did not know at that
moment how utterly alone and foundationless he and his
undertaking were standing in the place he had chosen for the
scene of his labours and the home of his future life. Yet he
corrected himself. Not 'foundationless,' while his strong will
stood unmoved and untouched by circumstance. Let that not be
conquered, it would surely be conqueror, in the long run; and
he determined it should have as long a run as was necessary.
He could not help the coming to his mind, as he slowly walked
up Beaver St., of his mother's recipe against disappointment,
and the conversation had about it years before; and the words,
"Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper," as Rufus's voice had
given them, came back fresh and with a moment's singular doubt
and yearning touching their faithfulness. Himself, in that
flash of light, he saw to be weak, and not strong. What if it
should be so indeed? "_Whatsoever he doeth_ -- SHALL PROSPER."
Upon the uncertainty of human things, upon the tumult of human
difficulties and resolves, the words came like a strange
breath of peace, from somewhere unknown, but felt to be a
region of health and strength. Yet the qualifications to take
the promise were not in Winthrop's hand; to seek them seemed
to be a one side of his purpose; he left them on one side, and
went on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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