Three small mounds, in a burying-ground near by where the humble dwelling stood, marked the place where as many more slept--more blessed than the living.

The mother of these children was a pale-faced woman, with a bent forth and an aspect of suffering.

She had been long acquainted with sorrow and trouble.

Like hundreds and thousands of others in our land, she had left, years before, the pleasant home of her girlhood, to be the loving companion of one on whose solemnly pledged faith she relied with the most unwavering confidence.

And, for a time, the trust was not in vain.