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J said Jamie.‘ .
A .WIN1)oiV IN ri11zU.iis.
Leebv said.-meaning that it. was Jess’
bedtime... . .
i “No yet, Leeby,” Jess answered. ,“I"11
sit up till the readin’s ower."
“I think ye should gang, mother,”
Jamie said, “an’ I'll come an’ sit aside
“;itter,ye’re i’ yer bet ."
' “Ay, Jamie, I'll no hae to.-sit aside me
the morn’s niclit, an’ hap” (cover) “me
wi' the clues.” ,4 s A
“But ye‘ll gang siiner to yer bed,
iiiotlier.’.' ' t
i“l may gang, but I winna sleep. I'll
aye be thinkin’ 0’ ye tossin’ on the sea.
I pray for ye a lang time ‘ilka nicht,
Jamie.” o . ,
"Ay, I ken."
“An' I picture ye ilka hour 0’ the
day.. Ye never gang hame through thae
terrible streets at nicht but I'm thinkin’
on yep: , V ‘
“I would no try. to be sae sad, moth-
er," said Leeby.. “We’ve haen a .richt
fine time, have we no?" ’ .
“It’s been an awful’ happy time,” said
Jess. “We’ve haen a pleasantness in
oor lives ’at comes to few. I ken nae-
body ’at’s haen sae muckle happiness
oiie wy or another." b - n . . i
“It’s because ye’re sae guid, mother,”
“Na, Jamie, ’am no guid ava- ,It’s‘b'e-
cause my fowk’s been sae guid, you an’
Hendry an’ Leeby, an’.Joey,,when he
was 1ivin’.' I've got a lot' mair than my
deserts." . ‘
“We’ll just look to meeting’ next
year again,'mother. -To think 0’ that
keeps me up a’ the winterl’ ,
“Ay, if it's the Lord's will, Jamie;
but am gey dune noo; an‘ Hendry’s fell
worn too." > r V, , J If
Jamie, the boy that he was, said,
“Dinna speak like that, mother," and
Jess-‘again put her hand on his head.
“Fine I ken, Jamie,” ‘shev said, “’at
all my days on this earth’, be‘ they short
or lang, I've you for a-staff‘ to leanfon.”
Ah, many years have gone since then,
V but if Jamie be living now he has still
those words to swallow". ' ' '. ‘
B3‘-and-by Leeby went ben for the
Bible. and put it into Hendryfs hands.
He slowly turned over the leaves toghis
favorite chapter, the fourteenth of
John's Gospel. Always, on eventful oc-
casionsjdid I-Iendry turn to,the four-
teenth of John. , J . , . , 1 K
“let not your lieartgbe troubled; ye
believe in God, believe also in Me. i
45
111. MY Father's house are many
g1i1I1S10ns;, if it were ‘not so I vwould
3-V9 t01f1 YOU-- I g0.to prepare a‘ place
for you. ’ - .
mAs Hendry raised his voice to read,
kitecrlee was a great stillness in the
b 1 n. - I do not know that I ‘have
een able to. show in the most imperfect
Way What kind of man Hendry was. He
was, dense in many things, and the
cleverness that was Jess‘ had been de-
. niedto him. He had less book-learning
than most of those with whom he
passed his days, and he had little skill
intalk. Ihave not known a man more
easily taken in by persons whose speech
had two faces. But a more simple, mod-
est, upright man there never was in
Thriims, and I shall always revere his
‘memory. .
“And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and receive you
unto Myself; that where I am, there ye
may be also.” i
The voice may have been monotonous.
I have always thought that Hendry’s
reading of the Bible was the most sol-
emn and impressive I have ever heard.
Heoexiilpted in. the fourteenth of John,
pouring'it forth like one whom itin-
. toxicated"whiie he read. He emphasized
every other word; it was so real and
grand to him. ' h -
We went upon our knees while Hen-
dry prayed, all but Jess, who couldnot.
Jamie buried his face in her lap.. The
words Hendry saidwere those he used
every night. - Some, perhaps, would have
smiled at his prayers to God that we be
notipiiffed up with riches nor with the
things of this world. His head shook
with emotioniwhile‘ he'prayed, and he L,
brought us-very near to the throne of
grace. “Do thou, oh, our God,” he said,
in conclusion, “spread Thy guiding hand
over him whom,in Thy‘ great mercy
Thou hast brought to us again, and do
Thou guard him through
which come unto those that go down
to the ‘sea, in‘ ships.
be tro'ubled,.neither let them be afraid,
for this is not our abiding home, and
may we all meet in Thy house, where
there.are many mansions,xand Where
there will be no last night. Amen."
It was a silent kitchen after that;
though the lamp burlled ,10ng‘m Jess
window. ,By its meager light 37011 T3133’
take a final glance at the little family:
you will never see them together again.
's
the perils .
Let not our hearts,
....J