`` Hard days for all of us ; I took my share of trouble with the rest , though I only suffered from the strain to my back . Nurse Benson straightened me out and kept me in use , so I saw much of pain and patience in that great house , because the little gray shawl which I fastened covered a tender heart , and on that motherly bosom many aching heads found rest , many weary creatures breathed their last , and more than one unhappy soul learned to submit . `` Among these last was poor Cora , for it was very hard to give up beauty , health , and the life she loved , so soon . Yet I do not think she ever regretted the sacrifice when she saw the grateful child well and safe , for little Sally was her best comforter , and through the long weeks she lay there half blind and suffering , the daily visit of the little one cheered her more than anything else . The poor mother was lost in the great fire , and Cora adopted the orphan as her own , and surely she had a right to what she had so dearly bought . `` They went away together at last , one quite well and strong again , the other a sad wreck , but a better woman for the trial , I think , and she carried comfort with her . Poor little Sally led her , a faithful guide , a tender nurse , a devoted daughter to her all her life . '' Here the pin paused , out of breath , and Miss Ellen shook a bright drop off the lace that lay in her lap , as she said in a tone of real interest , -- `` What happened next ? How long did you stay in the hospital ? '' `` I stayed a year , for Nurse used me one day to pin up a print at the foot of a poor man 's bed , and he took such comfort in it they let it hang till he died . A lovely picture of a person who held out his arms to all the suffering and oppressed , and they gathered about him to be comforted and saved . The forlorn soul had led a wicked life , and now lay dying a long and painful death , but something in that divine face taught him to hope for pardon , and when no eye but mine saw him in the lonely nights he wept , and prayed , and struggled to repent . I think he was forgiven , for when at last he lay dead a smile was on his lips that never had been there before . Then the print was taken down , and I was used to pin up a bundle of red flannel by one of the women , and for months I lay in a dark chest , meditating on the lessons I had already learned . `` Suddenly I was taken out , and when a queer round pin-ball of the flannel had been made by a nice old lady , I was stuck in it with a party of fat needles , and a few of my own race , all with stout bodies and big heads . '' ` The dear boy is clumsy with his fingers , and needs strong things to use , ' said the old lady , as she held the tomato cushion in both hands and kissed it before she put it into a soldier 's ` comfort bag . ' '' ` Now I shall have a lively time ! ' I thought , and looked gaily about me , for I liked adventures , and felt that I was sure of them now . `` I can not begin to tell you all I went through with that boy , for he was brave as a lion and got many hard knocks . We marched , and camped , and fought , and suffered , but we never ran away , and when at last a Minie ball came smashing through the red cushion -LRB- which Dick often carried in his pocket as a sort of charm to keep him safe , for men seldom use pins -RRB- , I nearly lost my head , for the stuffing flew out , and we were all knocked about in a dreadful way .
The cushion and the old wallet together saved XXXXX 's life , however , for the ball did not reach his brave heart , and the last I saw of him as I fell out of the hasty hand that felt for a wound was a soft look in the brave bright eyes , as he said to himself with a smile , -- '' ` Dear old mother has n't lost her boy yet , thank God ! '
Benson Cora Dick Ellen Minie Sally days months pin-ball right