Presently I could not resist asking , -- `` Did you go on shovelling , Dick ? '' `` Not long , for there was no need of it , thanks to Pat 's mother , '' he answered smiling . `` Come , I must have all the story , for I know it has a sequel ! '' `` A very happy one . Yes , I owe to that kind soul and her little story , the turn that Fortune gave her wheel . Nay , rather say , the touch of nature that makes the whole world kin . For when I went home that day , I sat down and made a simple tale from the hint she gave , and something of her own humor and pathos must have got into it , for it was accepted , and more stories solicited , to my great surprise . `` I wrote it to please myself , for I was in a happy mood ; and though my room was cold , the sun shone ; though my closet was bare , honest money was in my pocket , and I felt as rich as a king . `` I remember I laughed at myself as I posted the manuscript on Monday morning , called it infatuation , and thought no more of it for days , being busy with my new friend , the shovel . `` Snow was gone , but coal remained , and I put in tons of it with a will , for this active labor was the tonic my overwrought nerves needed , and my spirits rose wonderfully , as muscles earned the daily bread that brains had failed to win . `` Ah ! but they brought me something better than bread , dearer than fame ; and to that old shovel I owe the happiness of my life ! The very day I got the letter accepting the little story , I was gaily putting in my last ton of coal , for I felt that now I might take up the pen again , since in a kitchen I had discovered the magic that wins listeners . `` Bless my heart ! how I worked and how I whistled , I was so happy , and felt so lifted above all doubt and fear by the knowledge that my talent was not a failure , and the fact that my own strong arms could keep the wolf from the door ! `` I was so busy that I had not observed a lady watching me from the window . She had opened it to feed the hungry sparrows , and my whistle caught her ear , for it was an air she knew , and had heard a certain young man sing before he dropped out of her circle , and left her wondering sadly what had befallen him . `` All this I learned afterward ; then I unconsciously piped away till my job was done , wiped my hot face , and went in to get my money . To my surprise I was told to ` go into the dining room , and missis would attend to it . ' `` I went and found myself face to face , not with ` missis , ' but the woman I had loved hopelessly but faithfully all that hard year , since I had gone away to fight my battle alone .
`` For a moment I believed she did not XXXXX me , in my shabby suit and besmirched face .
earned feed felt found gave gone know needed put sat