A little girl of about eleven or twelve years of age was at one of the large railway stations. Her face was wan and thin, and it required not a searching gaze for anyone to tell that she was very ill.
This was the case indeed; she was at this time on her way to the hospital to be treated for the disease from which she suffered.
A rough working man who was in the station could not help remarking the pinched appearance of the girl; and as she came near to him he said to her, “It is easy to see that you are not long for this world, so you had better get ready for the next.” To his astonishment she answered:
“I am ready now, but it’s my father, mother, brothers and sisters that I am thinking of and anxious about.”
The man said half aloud as he was moving away,
“I wish I were ready.”
ML 12/13/1931