They  say,  he  don't  ever  eat  nothin',"  said  Mammy.  "  I  know
he  don't  forget  Miss  Eva  ;  I  know  there  could  n't  nobody,  — ■
dear,  little,  blessed  cretur !  "  she  added,  wiping  her  eyes.
"  Well,  at  all  events,  he  has  no  consideration  for  me,"  said
Marie ;  "  he  has  n't  spoken  one  word  of  sympathy,  and  he  must
know  how  much  more  a  mother  feels  than  any  man  can."

"  The  heart  knoweth  its  own  bitterness,"  said  Miss  Ophelia,
gravely.
"  That 's  just  what  I  think.  I  know  just  what  I  feel,  — •
nobody  else  seems  to.  Eva  used  to,  but  she  is  gone ! "  and
Marie  lay  back  on  her  lounge,  and  began  to  sob  disconsolately.
LIFE  AMONG  THE  LOWLY.  337

Marie  was  one  of  those  unfortunately  constituted  mortals,  in
whose  eyes  whatever  is  lost  and  gone  assumes  a  value  which
it  never  had  in  possession.  Whatever  she  had,  she  seemed  to
survey  only  to  pick  flaws  in  it ;  but,  once  fairly  away,  there
was  no  end  to  her  valuation  of  it.
While  this  conversation  was  taking  place  in  the  parlor,  an-
other was  going  on  in  St.  Clare's  library.
