After  the  funeral  was  over,  and  the  grief-stricken  ones
had  returned  to  their  homes,  Mr. Shields  called  his  two
children  to  him,  and  said,  "Your  dear  mother  has  gone
to  dwell  with  the  Saviour  she  so  ardently  loved,  and  whom
she  so  faithfully  served. And  now,  my  dear  Mary,  I  wish
to  tell  you  that  you  have  many  of  your  dear  mother's
traits  of  character,  I  trust,  indelibly  stamped  upon  your
heart,  as  well  as  her  features  and  form  of  person ;  and
my  desire  is,  that  you  may  become  as  good  and  useful  as
your  dear  mother  was. You  will  now  assume  all  the
duties  of  housekeeper,  for  which  your  mother  has  so
faithfully  trained  and  educated  you ;  and  I  know  it  will
be  your  pleasure  to  try  to  comfort  me  in  my  heart-rending
sorrow. I  fear  that  both  of  you,  my  dear  loved  children,
will  soon  be  left  orphans  ;  and  I  now,  therefore,  commit
and  commend  you  to  my  faithful  Saviour,  who  is  the
orphans'  God. Your  dear  mother's  death  will,  I  fear,
soon  be  the -means  of  terminating  my  own  existence  here
with  3Tou. Although  in  heart  I  am  fully  resigned  to  God's
will  in  removing  my  almost  idolized  wife  from  earth  to
heaven,  yet  my  physical  structure  has  received  such  a
shock,  that  I  fear  it  will  never  rally  again  to  my  former


THE   SHIP   "MARY  ALICE."  11

state  of  health. My  farm  is  unencumbered. I  owe  no
debts. If  I  should  die  suddenly,  in  my  desk  you  will
find  my  bank-book,  which  claims  one  thousand  dollars  in

the  savings  bank  in  B. The  farm  and  buildings  are

worth  about  four  thousand  dollars  more. Thus  you  see
that  you  will  have  something  to  begin  the  world  with. I
have  told  }'ou  how  I  began  life  ;  and,  when  I  married  your
mother,  I  believe  I  was  the  happiest  man  on  earth. Should
either  of  you  ever  marry,  I  beg  of  you,  under  no  circum
stances,  ever  to  many  any  person  that  is  not  a  living,
practical  Christian."

Only  one  year  had  passed  away  after  Mr. Shields
buried  his  wife,  when  he  was,  by  his  neighbors,  brought
home  dead. While  shoeing  a  horse,  his  hammer  fell  out
of  his  hand,  and  he  fell  over  backward  without  utttering
a  word  or  groan. 