“Yes, Julia, this is me.  I’ve come back at last.  I’ve tried hard to make something for you and the children, but it is no use, fate is against me; so here I am again, poor as ever.  But give me something to eat, for I’m hungry as a badger.”

Six years had passed away since Warburton had returned, and the wretchedness which had been with him in his absence, he brought as an abiding guest to the dwelling of his wife.  During that time, she had endured sickness, hunger, abuse, and been nigh unto death; but through it all she had come with a heart still unsubdued, though almost broken.  For her children’s sakes, two more of whom had been added in that time, she had stood up and breasted the storm.

At last, her miserable husband, sunk in the lowest depths of drunkenness and degradation, died, as he had lived.  It was the dawn of a brighter day for Mrs. Warburton when the spirit of her husband took its flight to the world of spirits.  Her son was nearly free from his trade, and her oldest girl could assist her greatly in the house, as well as by earning something for their support.

Content and health having taken up their abode with her, we will leave her to fill up her allotted space in life unobtrusively and peacefully.  The story of Mrs. Warburton has been introduced as another illustration of the ill effects which so often arise from the want of watchfulness on the part of parents, in regard to the characters of the young men who are allowed to visit and play upon the affections of their daughters.  It also shows how unconquerable is a mother’s love.  Here a weak, foolish girl, by strong trial, becomes a woman with a strength of mind that nothing can subdue, and, as a mother, overcomes difficulties from which most men would shrink in despair.

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