The belt strained , the velvet tore , I felt myself bending with the weight , and expected every minute to see the child slip , and fall on the stones below . But I held fast , I drove my point deeply in , I twisted myself round so that even the bend should be a help , and I called to the man , ` Hold tight , I 'm trying my best , but what can one pin do ! ' `` Of course he did not hear me , but I really believe my desperate efforts were of some use ; for , we got safely down , and were hurried away to the hospital where other poor souls had already gone . `` The good nurse who undid that scorched , drenched , and pitiful bundle , stuck me in her shawl , and resting there , I saw the poor child laid in a little bed , her burns skilfully cared for , and her scattered senses restored by tender words and motherly kisses . How glad I was to hear that she would live , and still more rejoiced to learn next day that Cora was near by , badly burned but not in danger , and anxious to see the child she had saved . `` Nurse Benson took the little thing in her arms to visit my poor mistress , and I went too . But alas ! I never should have known the gay and blooming girl of the day before . Her face and hands were terribly burnt , and she would never again be able to play the lovely queen on any stage , for her fresh beauty was forever lost . `` Hard days for all of us ; I took my share of trouble with the rest , though I only suffered from the strain to my back . Nurse Benson straightened me out and kept me in use , so I saw much of pain and patience in that great house , because the little gray shawl which I fastened covered a tender heart , and on that motherly bosom many aching heads found rest , many weary creatures breathed their last , and more than one unhappy soul learned to submit . `` Among these last was poor Cora , for it was very hard to give up beauty , health , and the life she loved , so soon . Yet I do not think she ever regretted the sacrifice when she saw the grateful child well and safe , for little Sally was her best comforter , and through the long weeks she lay there half blind and suffering , the daily visit of the little one cheered her more than anything else . The poor mother was lost in the great fire , and Cora adopted the orphan as her own , and surely she had a right to what she had so dearly bought . `` They went away together at last , one quite well and strong again , the other a sad wreck , but a better woman for the trial , I think , and she carried comfort with her . Poor little Sally led her , a faithful guide , a tender nurse , a devoted daughter to her all her life . '' Here the pin paused , out of breath , and Miss Ellen shook a bright drop off the lace that lay in her lap , as she said in a tone of real interest , -- `` What happened next ? How long did you stay in the hospital ? '' `` I stayed a year , for Nurse used me one day to pin up a print at the foot of a poor man 's bed , and he took such comfort in it they let it hang till he died . A lovely picture of a person who held out his arms to all the suffering and oppressed , and they gathered about him to be comforted and saved .
The forlorn soul had XXXXX a wicked life , and now lay dying a long and painful death , but something in that divine face taught him to hope for pardon , and when no eye but mine saw him in the lonely nights he wept , and prayed , and struggled to repent .
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