And then he would rise from his chair, and,
with a burst of frenzy, call upon his Creator to remove him from this
misery. In these moments she never deserted him. At one period they
had had four children, and though the whole weight of this young
brood rested on her arms, on her muscles, on her strength of mind and
body, she never ceased in her efforts to comfort him. Then at length,
falling utterly upon the ground, he would pour forth piteous prayers
for mercy, and after a night of sleep would once more go forth to his
work.
But she never yielded to despair: the struggle was never beyond
her powers of endurance. She had possessed her share of woman's
loveliness, but that was now all gone. Her colour quickly faded, and
the fresh, soft tints soon deserted her face and forehead. She became
thin, and rough, and almost haggard: thin till her cheek-bones were
nearly pressing through her skin, till her elbows were sharp, and her
finger-bones as those of a skeleton. Her eye did not lose its lustre,
but it became unnaturally bright, prominent, and too large for her
wan face. The soft brown locks which she had once loved to brush
back, scorning, as she would boast to herself, to care that they
should be seen were now sparse enough and all untidy and unclean.
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