Christian fiction; Neighborhoods -- Scotland -- Fiction
along the top of a stone wall to meet us. This made their mother
nervous, but she kept quiet, knowing that unrestrained anxiety is
always in danger of bringing about the evil it fears. A moment after,
we drew up at a long porch, leading through the segment of a circle to
the door of the house. The journey was over. We got down in the little
village of Kilkhaven, in the county of Cornwall.
CHAPTER XIII.
WHAT WE DID WHEN WE ARRIVED.
We carried Connie in first of all, of course, and into the room which
nurse had fixed upon for her--the best in the house, of course, again.
She did seem tired now, and no wonder. She had a cup of tea at once,
and in half an hour dinner was ready, of which we were all very glad.
After dinner I went up to Connie's room. There I found her fast asleep
on the sofa, and Wynnie as fast asleep on the floor beside her. The
drive and the sea air had had the same effect on both of them. But
pleased as I was to see Connie sleeping so sweetly, I was even more
pleased to see Wynnie asleep on the floor. What a wonderful
satisfaction it may give to a father and mother to see this or that
child asleep! It is when her kittens are asleep that the cat creeps
away to look after her own comforts. Our cat chose to have her kittens
in my study once, and as I would not have her further disturbed than to
give them another cushion to lie on in place of that which belonged to
my sofa, I had many opportunities of watching them as I wrote, or
prepared my sermons. But I must not talk about the cat and her kittens
now. When parents see their children asleep, especially if they have
been suffering in any way, they breathe more freely; a load is lifted
off their minds; their responsibility seems over; the children have
gone back to their Father, and he alone is looking after them for a
while. Now, I had not been comfortable about Wynnie for some time, and
especially during our journey, and still more especially during the
last part of our journey. There was something amiss with her. She
seemed constantly more or less dejected, as if she had something to
think about that was too much for her, although, to tell the truth, I
really believe now that she had not quite enough to think about. Some
people can thrive tolerably without much thought: at least, they both
live comfortably without it, and do not seem to be capable of effecting
it if it were required of them; while for others a large amount of
mental and spiritual operation is necessary for the health of both body
and mind, and when the matter or occasion for so much is not afforded
them, the consequence is analogous to what follows when a healthy
physical system is not supplied with sufficient food: the oxygen, the
source of life, begins to consume the life itself; it tears up the
timbers of the house to burn against the cold. Or, to use a different
simile, when the Moses-rod of circumstance does not strike the rock and
make the waters flow, such a mind--one that must think to live--will go
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