And now the poor remains
enclosed in the rough box that rested upon the scaffold outside were
all that remained of him. And that was the end of all the plans that
he and the mother had made for their son's future, of all their hopes
and fine pictures.
Mrs. Gray had never seen her husband in so downcast and despondent a
mood, and as the days passed she began to worry about him and finally
became alarmed. He had lost all interest in everything, and had a
strange, unnatural look in his eyes that she did not like.
One evening she sat down by his aide, and, taking his hand, said:
"Be a brave man, Richard, and bear up. Th' Lard's never let Bob die
so. That were _not_ Bob as th' wolves got. I'm knowin' our lad's
somewheres alive. I were dreamin' last night o' seem' he--an'--I feels
it--I feels it--an' I can't go agin my feelin'."
"No, Mary, 'twere Bob," he answered.
"I feels 'tweren't, but if 'twere 'tis th' Lard's will, an' 'tis our
duty t' be brave an' bear up. Tis hard--rare hard--but bear up,
Richard--an' bear un like a man. Remember, Richard, we has th' maid
spared to us."
And so, heart-broken though she was herself, she comforted and
encouraged him, as is the way of women, for in times of great
misfortune they are often the braver of the sexes.
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