The children were quick to
recognize in him their true friend and champion, and turned to him as if he
had been their mother. So it was not long till apparently home was running
along as smoothly as ever. Of course those living there felt a terrible
void, which never could be filled.
Austin's father looked on with secret satisfaction at the course the boy
was taking, glad that some one, if only this child, was willing to carry
the responsibility of home. Day after day, as the household settled back
into order and harmony, he felt his burden slipping; but the loss of his
wife was as keenly before him as ever. He had loved her as much as he was
capable of loving any one, and he felt the loss of her. Now that Austin was
doing so well with the children he determined to get away from it all for a
while.
"Austin, you could get along very well with the children if I were to be
gone a few weeks, could you not?" he asked one day. "I am not feeling well,
and it is so lonely here that I am not myself. Perhaps if I could have an
outing, I should be better able to endure it."
CHAPTER 3
AUSTIN AND HIS FATHER
Though Austin was but a child, he knew that his father was acting very
selfishly in going away at this time, and that his real desire for going
was to avoid responsibility rather than to cure loneliness. Many thoughts
pressed in upon the boy as he contemplated his father's long absence, but
the thought that gave him an answer was that if he refused, the home might
be broken up.
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