Fred S. Lincoln

“ The air was full of fresh vivacity. Happiness was come in the mere joy of living, and the world seemed to impart great exhilaration.
Kent came to his breakfast with a most happy countenance, and Martin met him with a more evident joy, illy concealed by her over-indulgent attentions. His first observance was of the happy day in which she would again unite fortunes with her ideal man, and she responded with a flurried gesture with her apron as she bade him "Go on!" ”

“ She had been deeply and favorably impressed, after her surprise, by the goodness in his sermon, and under its spell had been drawn to his new strength with irresistible admiration. But, once that spell was gone, the memory of a series of circumstances rushed in on her, the most distracting of which was her discovery of his mysterious visit, and somehow she could not help but feel his new role an evidence of insincerity, and she sickened in this thought. ”

“ Kent began, "and moved by a spirit of genuine gratitude, we have always come here to give thanks to a generous Providence for His goodness. In all Broom County I do not believe that there is a man, woman or child who could live such a day as this one is without a responsive feeling and satisfaction that he is part of it; and this is Thanksgiving, the time in which we lay out our blessings, our benefits, our successes. Following the good old Puritan footsteps, we bring the past year back again and go over it, counting out of each month the things that were given us for happiness. ”

“ The next year may give us disappointments, because we are hoping for so much for ourselves. The happiness, though, that we have had is a sure happiness, because we can cling to it and no one can take it away. ”

“ Given the opportunity some men could stand against it all, and Brandt assured himself that he would have been among these—but reflection brought discernment, and in the review of his serene life he concluded each time that his lot had fallen in the best place after all, and he was content. ”

“ It had taught him that this example of eminence was but a parallel of human position, and, if that man who stands at the top must be dwarfed and beaten and exposed to every gale as this tree was, mayhap the fellow-men further down were in as good position, all things considered, as they should wish to be. ”