THE OPINIONS OF PARSON HAWLEY AND HIS WIFE
“Austin and Bessie were married last evening,” remarked Parson Hawley, one
of Austin’s well-wishers, to his wife as he stretched his feet out at his
own fireside.
“I am glad to hear it,” was his wife’s happy rejoinder. “Austin is a fine
young man, and Bessie will make him a good, true helpmeet. May the sun
shine brightly on their lives all the way.”
“What is your prophecy on Austin’s life, my dear?” the good man continued.
“We have watched him rear his family, and have noted many of his cares and
responsibilities, and have felt for him in his perplexities and
difficulties. Has he succeeded in what he undertook? Have the results
rewarded his sacrifice?”
“I could answer your questions better a few years hence. Look at our own
children. Did it always _seem_ as if they were going to repay us for the
care and toil we gave them? When they were in the transition stage of life,
as Austin’s children now are, did they show the effect of our efforts as we
wished them to? I think not. I remember sleepless nights and care-worn days
when it seemed that one or the other would surely bring us sorrow. And
there were two of us of mature years. Wait till Austin’s children have
another ten years on their heads and then you can better judge. This one
thing I do know, that it is an impossibility that boys and girls should
live with a man who has lived and is living as Austin, whose whole life has
been one of unselfish sacrifice and devotion, and not be the better for
it.”
“You are right, Wife. We have all expected them to be just like him, when
that would have been an impossibility. But do the children appreciate what
he has done as they should?”
“Ah, Henry, what a question for a man of your age to ask! Do the children
appreciate what he has done! Did you ever see children in their teens who
appreciated what their rearing had cost, not in dollars and cents, but in
tears and prayers and pain? I think not. Just wait till those children have
felt the load of responsibility settle upon their shoulders, fitting itself
to their capacity; just let them shed a few tears of sorrow and anguish,
and let them sacrifice, as they will do, for love’s sweet sake--and then
they will appreciate him and all he has done.”
“That is so, Mother. We had to wait a while before our children could
understand the reason for some of our dealings with them. But now we do not
regret our toil and care, since we are rewarded by their love and
appreciation. Come to think of it, we did not have that object in view in
their training. It was not for our pleasure, but for their good that we
worked.”
“And so it has been with Austin. He gave his young life for them. He has
done his duty by them, and he is a better man for it. Even if he saw no
reward in them, what it has done for him has been worth it all. See his
strength of character, the earnestness and purpose of life; look at Austin
as we know him, and can we say that he is not already reaping the reward of
his efforts and sacrifice?”
“Character,” said the good man, after a while, “character is not a gift but
a growth. With Austin it found good soil to grow in, and he has given it
the right kind of cultivation--sacrifice, devotion to a noble purpose,
honesty, sincerity--to make it develop well. Yes, you are right. It has
paid. I was thinking of what he had given up for them. The pleasures of
youth, the fun and the frolic that other boys get. But they are of lesser
value, while he has tasted of the real things of life. Yes, it has all paid
well.”
“But let us not think that the children are even now ungrateful. Amy is
quick to praise him and what he has done; she sees many things in a new
light since wifehood and motherhood have come to her. And Harry, while he
never could bear to depend on Austin, realizes quite forcibly what his
brother has done. Nell is at her most thoughtless age, but down in her
heart she appreciates her brother; the stamp of his life will be found in
her, you may be certain. Lila is devoted to him. And he has many, many
friends and admirers.”
“What will his life be from now on? Will he continue to develop? Will he
realize those early hopes and desires? What do you say?”
“‘I am no prophet, nor the son of a prophet,’ so I shall not answer those
questions. But I know this, that he has chosen a helpmeet who will be an
encouragement and help to him in becoming all that God would have him to
be. The future lies in the hand of God.