Part 3.
It was the time of trouble now,
Poor Anne was sorely tried;
With wages stopped, and garden waste,
And food to be supplied.
And John, poor man! he could not help
Sometimes to fret and mope;
But Anne had ever cheerful words
To keep alive his hope.
It would have been an easy thing,
When she was tired out,
To slap and scold the little ones.
Who ran and screamed about.
But she could rule her temper well;
A greater feat by far,
Than e’en to take a citadel
That’s held by men of war.
She turned her hand to everything,
She stitl was stout and strong;
Though John, he thought her rosy face,
Was getting pale and long.
And she kept up her spirit well,
For she had peace within;
And well knew where to carry all
Her trouble and her sin.
She often said, within herself,
“What shall we do tomorrow?”
But when the day was fairly come,
She did not beg nor borrow.
The quiet stream of Providence
Kept flowing on—and on;
‘Twas often Anne’s astonishment,
And wonderful to John.
It is so easy to forget
That God a Father is,
Who loves His children, better far
Than earthly parent his.
The money in the Savings Bank
Had all been taken out;
And John upon a crutch and stick
Was hobbling about.
“‘Tis no use talking now,” said he,
“The workhouse is our home;
‘Tis long ere I shall work, you see,
And we’ve to nothing come.”
“O, John!” said Anne, “though we have naught,
Our God is still the same;
Keep up your heart, my husband dear,
We will not come to shame.”
She spoke so cheerily to him,
She saw his heart was dull;
But as she sat alone at work,
Her own was very full.
She read the chapter through and through
About the widow’s meal;
The little oil, the gather’d sticks,
And thought what she must feel.
“We are not brought so low as that,
Some helper still may come;
It seems to me—I can’t tell why—
That we shall keep our home.”
And so she stitched away again,
More briskly than before;
Until she heard her husband’s crutch
Move slowly to the door.
For so it fell—that afternoon
Old Slater came along;
“Ah, John!” said he, “I’m glad to see
Your leg is getting strong.
“We want you sadly at the mill,
The men the labor shirk;
I’ll give you half your wages now
To overlook the work.
“A foreman’s eye about the house,
An honest workman’s eye,
Is like a cat before a mouse—
It makes the idlers fly.”
John thanked his master, said he’d come,
And then he sought for Anne;
“Well, wife,” he said, “thanks be to God,
I’m now another man!
“I think I’ve learned to trust in God—
I think I’ve learned today;
I really think and do believe,
He hears a poor man pray.”
He told her how he’s prayed with tears,
Still fear’d he prayed in vain;
Then how his master came that way,
And gave him work again.
He said, “Dear Anne, you’ve always been
The comfort of my life;
What should I do without you now,
My precious little wife!
“‘Twas you that kept my spirits up,
‘Twas you kept bed and board.”
But Anne kissed his cheek, and said,
“Dear John! it was the Lord.”
ML 10/21/1917