"I don't suppose it is going to kill me," she said, "but
I shall never get over it. I go to bed at nine o'clock and think
steadily of the wood-box in order to keep my mind from more serious
subjects."
It is not always darkest before dawn, especially when the moon is on its
last quarter, but happily it was so in this instance. Three years later
she was in much better health, and had published "Little Women." First
the young people read it; then their fathers and mothers; and then the
grandparents read it. Grave merchants and lawyers meeting on their way
down town in the morning said to each other, "Have you read 'Little
Women'"; and laughed as they said it. The clerks in my office read it,
so also did the civil engineer, and the boy in the elevator. It was the
rage in '69 as "Pinafore" was in '78. It was re-published in London,--a
rare compliment for a book of its kind.
Rumors of this unusual success had reached the little household in
Concord and filled their home with pleasant expectations; but they had
no idea of the extent of it. The evening papers announced on the night
before Christmas that Miss Alcott's publishers had sent her that day a
very large cheque. There were many glad hearts at this news beside those
in the Alcott family; where, I fancy, tears and prayers were not wanting
to complete the sacrament. The long struggle was ended, and peace and
rest had come at last.
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