THE FOUR SAPLINGS.
The Father's Dying Charge--Advised to give up the Farm--A Noble
Resolve--Brave little Thomas--A Hard Time of Trial--The Harvest that
saved the Family.
Mrs. Garfield had no time to nurse her sorrow. She knew that she must
be up and doing, for she had to be both father and mother to her
children. "The four saplings" which the dying father had committed to
her care were so young that she could scarcely expect much assistance
from them.
Winter was fast approaching, and the strong arm of the husband and
father would have been severely taxed to supply all the wants of the
family. Without the breadwinner there seemed to be nothing before them
but starvation. Uncle Boynton was consulted, and he advised his
sister-in-law to give up her farm and return to her friends. He said
that she could not hope to carry it on alone, and by her unaided
efforts support her children.
Mrs. Garfield saw how dark the future was, and yet she could not follow
the advice so kindly given. She thought of the lonely grave in the
wheatfield, and declared that nothing would induce her to move away
from that sacred spot. She felt somehow that she derived comfort and
support from the knowledge that she was near the dead husband, who had
prepared this home for her and her children. Added to this feeling,
there was the self-respect which independence always brings. She saw
that if she sold her farm, which was only partly paid for, the money
she received would be swallowed up in paying debts, and in the cost of
the removal of her family. But this would leave her and her children
homeless and penniless, and she decided to remain on the farm.
It was a noble resolve, and came from a brave heart. To remain meant
years of hard work, years of patient endurance, years of quiet
suffering and numberless privations; yet she calmly faced them all,
that she might do her duty to her children, and faithfully discharge
the trust imposed upon her. First, she sold a part of her farm, and
with the money she paid her debts. Then, asking God to help her, she
prepared to fight her way through the difficulties which beset her path.
Her eldest son, Thomas, was only eleven years old when his father died.
Mehetabel, his sister, was twelve, a younger sister was seven, and
James was not quite two. Thomas was a brave little fellow, and when
his mother spoke to him about the work that would have to be done, he
offered to undertake it all. Though a boy in years, he spoke and acted
like a man.
That first winter, alone in the backwoods, was a terrible time.
Snowstorms swept around the humble dwelling, and wolves howled in the
forest during the long winter nights. Often the children lay awake in
terror when they heard the fearful cries of the hungry animals, and
knew that their brave protector was no longer there to defend them from
danger.
As soon as spring came round once more, Thomas borrowed a horse from a
neighbour, and went about the farm work as he had seen his father do.
With the assistance of his mother and, his eldest sister, he planted
wheat, corn, potatoes, and other vegetables. Then his mother helped
him to fence the wheatfield which contained her husband's grave. With
her own hands she brought wood from the forest and split it up into
rails for that purpose. Then the whole of the cleared land, in which
the log house stood, was fenced, and the patient workers waited for the
harvest.
[Illustration: Tom borrowed a horse.]
The waiting time is often the hardest to bear. Slowly but surely their
little store of corn grew less and less. Fearing to run short before
the harvest gave them a fresh supply, Mrs. Garfield carefully measured
their slender stock, and as carefully doled out the daily allowance
which alone would enable them to pull through.
She had no money to buy more, and therefore she gave up one meal a day
for herself, that her children might not suffer from hunger. Still she
found that there was barely sufficient, and the devoted mother took
only one meal a day until the harvest gave a fresh supply.
Nor did her children know that she pinched herself for their sakes; as
far as they knew, she had enough, and her self-denial was not allowed
to throw a shadow over their young lives, by the thought that their
mother was starving herself that they might not suffer.
A bountiful harvest, in the autumn of 1834, put an end to the
long-continued strain, and from that time the little household had
sufficient food. When the noble mother saw her table once more well
supplied with the necessaries of life, she thanked God for all His
goodness and loving-kindness to her little flock. Her children had
indeed been saved from the pain of hunger, but she never lost the deep
lines of care and anxiety brought upon her face in those early years of
her widowhood.