The winter was a severe one. The great banks of snow piled higher and higher during the short winter days; and when the days began to lengthen the cold grew more keen and cutting. There was suffering on the Flat as there had been winters before. Mrs. Thorpe went among the people with words of cheer, and such material aid as she could render. The ladies of the church and the Edgerly Benevolent Society soon found her out, and her little home became a distributing point between Christian Edgerly and the suffering Flat. The Society soon learned that Mrs. Thorpe knew where the need was greatest, and what the needs of the individual were; she knew which shivering child the little scarlet coat that some mother’s darling had outgrown would fit; she knew where the shoes that had become too shabby for a child of fortune to wear would be most welcome, and which pair of cold, pinched hands should have the half-worn, fur-topped mittens; she knew where there was sickness and where the larder was empty; she knew also where the needy ones could be trusted with funds and where they could not.
And the Benevolent Society, finding that she knew all these things, found it a great relief to leave their offerings with her. It saved the painful harrowing of their feelings that personal contact with these people brought, and also gave them a comfortable sense of the works being well done. And in simple truth, was not this, to gain the feeling of conscious comfort that comes from the doing of a good deed, the primary object of their charity?
Mrs. Thorpe willingly took this work upon herself. It was a joy to her that she was able in any degree to lighten the burdens of these people, and her zest and interest in the work grew from day to day; yet from the depths of her heart she grieved over it.
"Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and your children." Were these Christian women of Edgerly the daughters and the children of the daughters that the prophetic vision saw down the stretch of the centuries?
Margaret became interested in the work of distribution. It may be that it was the interest and spirit with which she entered into this work that saved her. Mrs. Thorpe saw that little by little the girl’s thoughts were turning from self, away from the dark record with its paralyzing effect, to another’s need, another’s suffering, another’s pleasure. Sometimes among the garments that were sent to them there would be one that must be altered in some way, or buttons be replaced, or stitches taken. With forethought and tact Mrs. Thorpe kept Margaret employed; kept her hands at works of kindness and her mind filled with thoughts of others.