They toiled; they starved, they saved--all for Richard.
They prayed and planned and hoped--for Richard. He must go to school, he
must go to college, he must become a power in the world. For themselves,
poor food, poor clothes, the old tenement were good enough, for every
cent they saved meant so much the more for Richard when he should have
come to man's estate. And Richard? Oh! he had been well content to take
all they offered him. He went to school, he went to college; only,
somehow, the reports of his doings there were anything but encouraging.
They seemed to be merely a series of pranks and mischief, but the
devoted mother was very ready to make allowances. The boy was young, he
would grow steadier as he grew older. They must have patience with him
for a few years yet. At times Jane doubted the wisdom of their course,
and when the demands, not only upon their patience but upon their purse,
became greater and greater, Jane had counseled removing him from college
and setting him to work. Not so the mother. Her cry was ever: "Patience,
patience, and all will yet be well." So they bore with him a while
longer to their never ceasing sorrow.
His escapades grew wilder, the reprimands of the faculty more severe. At
last came the final prank, which had resulted in his disgrace and
expulsion. Even then, she and mother was ready to forgive and had
written him to come home.
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