Twelve Mormon Homes : Twelve Mormon homes visited in succession on a journey through Utah to Arizona.

Twelve Mormon Homes, page 030

prayers, and songs of thankfulness that night, by the light of the moon." "Were you able to use the corn they had planted?" I asked. "No; we saved it for next year, as far as we could. We brought some with us, and ground it up at a rough little mill we had on City Creek. I wore out five veils sifting flour. At first we set aside what would not pass through; but we were glad to use it all, with the bran, long before the new harvest was gathered." "Did you suffer from famine when you first entered the Val- ley?" I inquired. 66 No," she answered, "not exactly. We always had something to eat, though the poor children used to long for the time when they might eat as hearty a meal as they wanted. We had to reckon so closely how much we could allow for each meal, that we never rose up from one with our hunger satisfied. But as there was no variety of food, our appetites were less tempted. Where the water was good, we drank a good deal of it; where it was not, we boiled it. With a little milk we could make cam- bric tea, which was found to be one of the best of remedies for hunger-taken hot, and with a little spice or aromatic herbs to flavor it." "I call that suffering." "Not what a Mormon would call by the name," answered little Mrs. Sarah's quiet voice. "Mary," she added, "tell Mrs. T. about the dark days; tell her of the winter before." "I can never call them our dark days, sister," she rejoined. 66 We were starving, we were dying, suffering was then con- suming life itself; but it was that which gave its brightness to 30