If it had not been
for her Jim would have run away, but he was very fond of his mother.
He was the chief object of her interest and affection since his
sisters had married and left home. She laughingly declared that Jim
could make her do anything, and certainly he brought about many
improvements. She received good-naturedly his hints that Mrs. Howard
did this, or that at the Hazeltines' things were done so. He could not
desert her now that she had no one else to depend on.
Two dreadful days passed slowly, a number of his friends called to
inquire, and left kind messages, for he would not see them. He spent
his time strolling aimlessly through the handsome house, occasionally
going in to see his mother. He was very gentle to her, though he found
her lamentations hard to bear.
Late in the afternoon of the second day he sat in his room, trying to
read. He was quite worn out with anxiety and loss of sleep, and was
half-dozing, when his attention was attracted by a gleam of sunshine
reflected in something on the table beside him. It was the little
silver key. The words of the motto stared him in the face: "They
Helped." How much it recalled to him--such pleasant companionships,
and some real effort to be kind and useful! Was he going to fail now?
Perhaps this was his great opportunity.
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