"I hae wakened every mornin' with this verse of Jeremiah on my mind:
`Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him, but weep sore for him
that goeth away, for he shall return no more nor see his native
country.'" Janet made no secret of her tears now.
"Hoot fie, Janet, woman," said her mother, affecting anger to hide far
other feelings. "You are misapplyin' Scripture altogether. That was
spoken o' them that were to be carried away captive for their sins, and
no' o' honest folk, followin' the leadings o' Providence. If there's
ony application it's to me, I'm thinkin'. It's them that bide at hame
that are bidden weep sore;" and she seemed much inclined to follow the
injunction. She recovered in a minute, however, and added,--
"But I'm no' going to add to your trouble. You dinna need me to tell
you I'll have little left when you're awa'. But, if it's your duty to
go with them, it canna be your duty to bide with me. You winna lose
your reward striving in behalf o' these motherless bairns, and the Lord
will hae me and Sandy in his keeping, I dinna doubt."
There was a long silence after this. Each knew what the other suffered.
There was no need to speak of it, and so they sat without a word;
Janet, with the quiet tears falling now and then over her cheeks; her
mother, grave and firm, giving no outward sign of emotion. Each shrunk,
for the other's sake, from putting their fears for the future into
words; but their thoughts were busy. The mother's heart ached for the
great wrench that must sever Janet from her child and her home, and
Janet's heart grew sick with the dread of long weary days and nights her
mother might have to pass, with perhaps no daughter's hand to close her
eyes at last, till the thoughts of both changed to supplication, fervent
though unuttered; and the burden of the prayer of each was, that the
other might have strength and peace.