The
jaunting-car was procured; and her spirits seemed to be quite elevated.
She paid regular visits to both her sons, looked closely into their
manner of conducting business, examined their premises, and subjected
every fixture and improvement made or introduced without her sanction,
to the most rigorous scrutiny. In fact, what, between Peter's farm, her
daughter's shop, and the establishments of her sons, she never found
herself more completely encumbered with business. She had intended "to
make her soul," but her time was so fully absorbed by the affairs of
those in whom she felt so strong an interest, that she really forgot the
spiritual resolution in the warmth of her secular pursuits.
One evening, about this time, a horse belonging to Peter happened to
fall into a ditch, from which he was extricated with much difficulty
by the laborers. Ellish, who thought it necessary to attend, had been
standing for some time directing them how to proceed; her dress was
rather thin, and the hour, which was about twilight, chilly, for it was
the middle of autumn. Upon returning home she found herself cold, and
inclined to shiver. At first she thought but little of these symptoms;
for having never had a single day's sickness, she was scarcely competent
to know that they were frequently the forerunners of very dangerous and
fatal maladies.
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