CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.
TENDER TROUBLES "Jo, I'm anxious about Beth." "Why, Mother, she has seemed unusually well since the babies came." "It's not her health that troubles me now, it's her spirits.

I'm sure there is something on her mind, and I want you to discover what it is." "What makes you think so, Mother ?" "She sits alone a good deal, and doesn't talk to her father as much as she used.

I found her crying over the babies the other day.

When she sings, the songs are always sad ones, and now and then I see a look in her face that I don't understand.

This isn't like Beth, and it worries me." "Have you asked her about it ?" "I have tried once or twice, but she either evaded my questions or looked so distressed that I stopped.