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Esther was tall and strong, with gold-brown hair
That rippled sunshine to her feet, almost,

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When she undid its coil; and sunny light
Seemed ever to stream outward from her mind,
Large, fair, well ordered. Elder-sister-like
Was she to Eleanor and Isabel,
A little while ago two stranger-girls
Adrift in this new city, seeking work;
A mother to the orphan Eleanor,
Whose only heirloom from rich ancestors
Was slow consumption, hers by sure entail.