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diff --git a/39538.txt b/39538.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e4f79fd..0000000 --- a/39538.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4916 +0,0 @@ - A SOLDIER'S SON - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Title: A Soldier's Son - -Author: Maude M. Butler - -Release Date: April 25, 2012 [EBook #39538] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SOLDIER'S SON *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - - - A - - Soldier's Son - - - _By_ - - MAUDE M. BUTLER - - - - - DAVIS & BOND - - BOSTON : MASS. - - - - - Copyright 1912 - - by - - DAVIS & BOND - - - - LINCOLN & SMITH PRESS - - BOSTON - - - - DEDICATION. - - To the children in years, and the children in - Science, this little book is trustingly and lovingly - inscribed by the author. - - - - NOTE. - - The Author wishes to state that no case of - Christian Science healing has been cited - in this story but such as she has known - of a parallel case in real life. - - - -"We may not climb the heavenly steeps -To bring the Lord Christ down. -* * * * * -The healing of the seamless dress -Is by our beds of pain; -We touch Him in life's throng and press, -And we are whole again." - --_J. G. Whittier._ - - - - - ---- - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I.--HOME FROM THE WAR. - CHAPTER II.--CAROL'S LETTER. - CHAPTER III.--A FORBIDDEN BOOK. - CHAPTER IV.--A WELCOME LETTER. - CHAPTER V.--QUIET DAYS. - CHAPTER VI.--FIRST WORK IN THE VINEYARD. - CHAPTER VII.--"I KNOW." - CHAPTER VIII.--A SECOND VISIT TO THE COTTAGE. - CHAPTER IX.--"IT IS THE TRUTH." - CHAPTER X.--AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER. - CHAPTER XI.--PERCY'S REMORSE. - CHAPTER XII.--THE PHYSICIAN'S VERDICT. - CHAPTER XIII.--THE RECTOR'S REFUSAL. - CHAPTER XIV.--"HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP." - CHAPTER XV.--LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS REACH COUSIN ALICIA. - CHAPTER XVI.--"IT IS A MIRACLE." - CHAPTER XVII.--MRS. BURTON VISITS CAROL. - CHAPTER XVIII.--HAPPY THOUGHTS. - CHAPTER XIX.--THE REASON OF THE DELAY. - CHAPTER XX.--"LIGHT AT EVENTIDE." - CHAPTER XXI.--JOYFUL NEWS FROM ELOISE. - CHAPTER XXII.--THE RETURN OF ELOISE. - CHAPTER XXIII.--A LONG-DELAYED LETTER. - CHAPTER XXIV.--A JOYFUL SURPRISE. - CHAPTER XXV.--A LITTLE SERVICE. - CHAPTER XXVI.--CONCLUSION. - - ---- - - - - -CHAPTER I.--HOME FROM THE WAR. - - -The war was over--the cruel, cruel war; and Father and Uncle Howard were -on their way home. Children's voices, in every key of joy and -thanksgiving, sang the happy news from morning to night. The white, -strained look faded from Mother's face, and she became her old, bright -self again. - -Now that they were over, the children tried to forget how long and sad -and weary the days had been during which the sight of the post-bag, and -the morning newspaper, almost took everyone's breath away, until the -columns of "War news" had been hastily scanned before taking letters and -papers to Mother's room. - -Then came the day when Uncle Howard's name was amongst the "seriously -wounded," and there was a brief account of how he had saved the guns, -and then returning into the firing line to pick up a wounded soldier, -had himself been dangerously wounded. - -The children thought of Uncle Howard's delicate young motherless boy, -and sobbed: "Poor, poor Carol." - -They did not know how to break the news to Mother, because Uncle Howard -was her twin brother, and they all knew how dearly she loved him. -Unperceived she had entered the room, and had learned the news for -herself. The days that followed were darker than before, for it was not -known for some weeks if Major Willmar would live or die. Gradually, -slightly better news came, and he was pronounced out of danger. Later -on it was announced he was ordered home, and Father, Colonel Mandeville, -was coming with him. - -As soon as the vessel left Cape Town the children began their happy, -joyous preparations for the welcome home. Then, in the midst of them, -when the triumphal arches were erected, awaiting only the final floral -decorations, came a telegram from Gibraltar. Major Willmar had suffered -a relapse at sea, and the doctors had not been able to save him. His -body had been committed to the waves. - -Again the children sobbed: "Poor, poor Carol." - -Mother was strangely calm and quiet. "Carol must come to us. We must -take the place to him of all he has lost," she said. - -She wrote to the lady who had charge of him, asking her to take the boy -to meet the vessel at Plymouth, in order that Colonel Mandeville might -bring Carol home with him. - -All the children, seven in number, were at the station when the express -drew up. Edith and Gwendolin, two tall fair girls of twelve and -thirteen years; Percy and Frank, eleven and ten; then three of the -dearest little maidens, Sylvia four, Estelle three, and the sweet -Rosebud, whom Father had never seen. She had come to cheer Mother's -breaking heart in the dark days of the war, and was now two years old. - -It was an unusual occurrence for an express train to stop at that quiet -country station. The porters were on the alert to drag out the luggage -as quickly as possible. A tall bronzed and bearded man sprang out of -the train on the instant of stopping, so changed that even the elder -children scarcely recognized him. - -He looked at them with hungry eyes, as if he would take them all in his -arms at once, had they been big enough to go round, then seized the -smallest of all, the little snow-white maiden. - -"Iz 'ou Daddy?" she asked. - -"I am Daddy, my little white Rosebud." One by one he took each in his -strong arms. All looking to him, no one noticed the boy who had followed -him out of the railway carriage, who was now looking on with wondering -eyes. Rosebud was the first to speak to him. "Iz 'ou Tarol?" she -asked. Stooping, he too folded his arms around her, not such strong arms -as her father's, but very loving. From that moment the little maiden -became one of the dearest things in life to the boy. - -"Where's Mother, children?" - -"Mother did not feel quite able to come to the station, Father. She -bore the news of dear Uncle's death so well at first; then she broke -down entirely, and she has not left her room since," Edith told him. -The Colonel then remembered the boy who had accompanied him. - -"Children, here is Carol." - -They quickly gave him the loving welcome which their sympathetic hearts -prompted. Father suggested sending on the carriage, saying to the -children: - -"We will walk through the park. Oh, the sweet breath of the dear home -land, after Africa's sultry heat!" - -Carol kept hold of Rosebud's hand. The little maiden was a revelation -to him, never having had little sisters or brothers of his own. His -mother for a long time before her death had been a hopeless invalid, and -whilst she was slowly dying of consumption the boy had developed -tubercular disease of the left hip, and the physicians, who pronounced -it a hopeless case, also said one lung was affected. Three years the -boy lay on his back on a couch, or in a spinal carriage, and it was -generally anticipated he would quickly follow his mother to an early -grave. But after Mrs. Willmar's death a cousin of hers came from America -to take charge of the motherless boy, and from the day that she came he -began to get better. Now, as he walked with his cousins across the -park, though somewhat tall for his twelve years and extremely slight of -stature, he bore no trace of his past sufferings. - -On arriving at the Manor, Colonel Mandeville went straight to his wife's -room, mounting the staircase two steps at a time. The children took -Carol to the school-room, saying, "Mother will send for you presently, -dear Carol." - -School-room tea was ready, and to their great delight the three little -girls, who belonged of course to the nursery, were invited to be -present. Before they sat down each child had a little offering to make -Carol, not a new gift they had bought for him, but one of their own -treasures, just to make him feel how glad they were to have him: that -henceforth he was to be their own dear brother. - -It was all so strange and new to him, he did not know how to thank them. -Rosebud's offering of her little white bunny was so perfectly sweet. It -became a treasure of treasures to him ever after. He was strangely -quiet, but there seemed no sadness in his eyes or voice. His cousins -could not understand it, and even wondered if he had loved his father as -they loved theirs. - -Tea was just finished when the message came for Carol to go to Mother's -room. All the children wanted to accompany him, but the maid who brought -the message said: "Only Master Carol was to go," and she led the boy to -Mrs. Mandeville's room. - -Carol had only once before seen his aunt. She had visited his home in -Devonshire when his mother was very ill, and he himself had been too ill -to care or notice who came and went. - -Mrs. Mandeville was lying on a couch in her boudoir. She was a tall, -fair woman, of a gentle yielding nature, and a beautiful countenance. -Never strong or robust, for some years she had been subject to attacks -of nervous prostration. The joyous excitement of her husband's safe -return, and the grief for her brother's death, had brought on one of -these attacks. She sobbed aloud as she drew Carol into her arms and -held him closely to her. - -"My darling boy!" - -"Auntie, dear, do not grieve like this." - -"Carol, I loved your father very, very, dearly." - -"But, Auntie, that should make you not grieve for him. Cousin Alicia -has taught me to feel so glad and happy about Father. I could not cry -or be sorry now. I love to think how he gave his life for that poor, -wounded soldier. Jesus said there was no greater love than to lay down -one's life for a friend, and it was not even a friend; it was a -stranger. Some day there will be no more war, because everyone will -know that God is our Father, and His name is Love. But we are only His -children as we reflect Him--reflect Love. When everyone understands -this, no one will want war." - -Mrs. Mandeville looked with surprise at the earnest young face, so -calmly confident of what he said. - -"It is nice to see you, Carol, looking so well and strong. You were -very ill when I saw you two years ago. We have never been able to -understand your recovery. What a mistake the doctors must have made -about your case." - -"Auntie, they did not make a mistake. It was Cousin Alicia who taught me -about Christian Science. Then I began to get well, and I soon lost the -dreadful pain in my hip." - -"Carol, dear, never mention a word about Christian Science before your -Uncle Raymond. He says it is dreadful heresy, and it makes him so angry -to hear it talked about. Did he meet you at the station?" - -"No, Auntie. I have not seen him yet." - -"He said he would meet the train but he generally manages to get too -late. He will be here this evening for dinner." - -Uncle Raymond was Mrs. Mandeville's brother, and the rector of the -parish. - -"But, Auntie, if he asks anything about my illness I must tell him what -has made me well." - -"I do not think he will, dear; so there will be no need to say anything. -It is very beautiful, Carol, for you to think Christian Science has -healed you, and there is no need for your faith to be shaken." - -"I do not _think_, Auntie, I _know_, so that no one could shake my -faith." - -"Well, dear, we won't talk about it. Tell me, did you have a pleasant -journey?" - -"Yes, Auntie, a very pleasant journey; Uncle was so kind to me." - -"I am sure he would be, Carol. You are glad to come to us, darling--to -be our own dear son? You will feel this is home, and your cousins not -cousins, but brothers and sisters?" - -"Yes, Auntie. I know my father wished me to come to you--but--I am -sorry to leave Cousin Alicia. I love her so much." - -"Of course, darling, that is only natural. She has been quite a mother -to you since your own dear mother died." - -Carol did not speak; a choking sensation of pain prevented him. He knew -that Cousin Alicia had been more than a mother to him. - -"May I write to her to-night, Auntie? She will like to hear from me." - -"Of course, dear. Write to her as often as you like." - -"I think that will be every day then," the boy said promptly, with a -smile. Mrs. Mandeville smiled too. - -"Dear boy, how you have comforted me. I feel so much better for this -little talk with you. Perhaps I shall be able to surprise everybody, -and go down to dinner this evening." - -"Oh, Auntie, please do. At tea Edith said, 'It would be just lovely if -only Mother could come down to dinner.' We can nearly always do what we -want to do, Auntie." - -"Can we, dear? Then go and write your letter now, and do not mention to -anyone that I am going to try to surprise them this evening." - - - - -CHAPTER II.--CAROL'S LETTER. - - -"MANOR HOUSE - MANDEVILLE. - -"_Dear Cousin Alicia,_ - -"It seemed such a long journey before we arrived here. Uncle was so -kind and told me about the different places as we passed through. But I -felt I was getting such a long way from you, as we passed town after -town. All my cousins were at the station to meet us; but Auntie was not -well enough to be there. I should like to describe them all to you, but -I am sure I could not. They are ever so much nicer than any of the -children I have read about in books. I will only tell you their names. -Perhaps you will see them all some day. Edith, Gwendolin, Percy, and -Frank, in the school-room; and in the nursery, Sylvia, Estelle, and -Rosebud. Uncle had never seen Rosebud. She is two years and three -months old, and is the sweetest little girl. She has such pretty ways. -I do love to hear her talk. - -"We walked from the station through the park. Uncle seemed so glad to -see his own home again. The Manor House is very old; such quaint little -oriel windows, and turrets, and gables. I have not learned my way about -yet, but the school-room and nurseries are quite close together. It was -returning from Auntie's boudoir to the schoolroom I got lost, and I -found myself in quite a different part of the house. I opened a door I -thought was the school-room, and it was the housekeeper's room. Then a -maid took me to the school-room. Percy and Frank thought it very -amusing, and said they could find their way anywhere blindfold, and -Rosebud said 'Me tome wiff 'ou, Tarol.' I didn't see Auntie until after -tea. We all had tea together in the school-room, the nursery children as -well. The governess invited them. Her name is Miss Markham, she is -very strict, but I think she is kind too. I am thinking all the time of -the history of England when she speaks, and wondering what part of it -she belongs to. The elder children are going down to dinner, as it is -Uncle's first evening at home. - -"Auntie was lying on a couch when I was taken to her room. She seemed -so full of grief and sadness. She wept when she held her arms around -me. But I just knew that Love is everywhere, and sorrow and sadness -cannot be where Love is. In a little while she was quite different, and -even smiled as she talked to me. She said I had comforted her so. I -would have liked to explain to her what had comforted her, but she does -not like me to say anything about Christian Science, and asked me not to -mention it before Uncle Raymond, because it makes him angry. Auntie -thinks I could not have been so ill as the doctors thought, or I should -not be quite well and strong now. Please tell me, dear Cousin, will it -be denying Christ, if I do not tell people what healed me? I did so -wish I could have told Auntie some of the beautiful things you have -taught me. Will you write to me very often, please? I am going to write -nearly every day to you. Auntie says I may--as often as I like. I have -such a dear little room all to myself, so I shall be able to do the -Lesson-Sermon every morning before breakfast. Thank you again for -giving me _Science and Health_ for my very own, and the Bible which was -my mother's. I want to study both books so well that when I am a man I -shall know them better than anything else in the world. I am to study -with Edith and Gwendolin for the present. Frank and Percy go to a large -public school at H--. I am to go with them when Uncle is quite sure I -am strong enough. He does not understand that I am perfectly well and -strong. I must leave off now. I have to put on my Eton suit for -dinner. I do not feel so far away from you as when I was in the train. -It is just as if you were in the room with me. I can feel your thoughts -like loving arms around me. - -"Dear Cousin Alicia - "Your loving Carol. - -"_P.S._ Bed-time. The post-bag had gone when I had finished my letter. -I just want to tell you, Auntie came down to dinner. Every one was so -surprised and delighted and we had such a happy evening. Uncle played -games with us after dinner, and Auntie looked on. The time went so -quickly, we were sorry when Uncle said: 'Bed-time, children. To your -tents: double quick march.' So we all had to scamper away. Uncle -Raymond came to dinner. He is so grave and stern, so different from -Father. He went into the study whilst Uncle was playing with us." - - - - -CHAPTER III.--A FORBIDDEN BOOK. - - -Carol had always been a lonely boy. The companionship of other children -was a pleasure he had never known. In the remote Devonshire village, -where all the years of his young life had been spent, there were no -children who could be invited to his home as friends and companions for -him. First his mother's delicate health, and then his own, had -prevented visits to or from his cousins. When he was seven years old a -fall from his pony caused an injury to his hip, which eventually -developed into what the doctors diagnosed as tubercular disease of the -hip bone. For three years his mother had been slowly dying of -consumption, and the boy had been the joy and brightness of her life. -She did not live long after she was told that what she was suffering -from he would suffer, too, in another form. She died about six months -before the war broke out in South Africa, and fulfilling a promise made -some time before, a favorite cousin, then resident in America, whose -girlhood had been spent with her as a sister, came to take charge of the -household and the young motherless invalid. Major Willmar was ordered -to the front shortly after operations commenced, but before he went he -had hopes that his boy would grow well and strong. There had been such -a marked change in him from the day Cousin Alicia arrived, bringing to -that saddened home love and--Truth. - -It can, therefore, be easily understood that the first few days at the -Manor were to Carol days almost of bewilderment. As soon as his cousins -found that their joy in having Father back again, safe and sound, did -not hurt Carol, nothing restrained their wild exuberance of spirits. -They could not understand the gentle, reserved boy, who spoke with so -much love and tenderness of his father, yet had no tears or sadness -because he would return no more. - -"Perhaps he doesn't quite understand," said Gwendolin. - -"I think he does," said Edith, "and I am sure he loved Uncle as much as -we love Father. There is such a far-away look in his eyes, when he -speaks of his father and mother, just as if he were looking at something -we cannot see. Although he is so gentle and kind, especially to the -little ones, I am sure no one could persuade him to do anything he -thought wrong. He is a dear boy. I am glad he is going to study with -us for the present, because the boys at school would not understand him. -Even Percy and Frank are inclined to mistake his gentleness for -weakness. Yet I could imagine him standing and facing any real danger, -when most boys would run away." - -From the first Edith had conceived a great affection for her Cousin -Carol, and, as a consequence, she understood him better. On many -occasions she was able to help him, when Percy and Frank were somewhat -brusque and impatient in their treatment of him. They could not -understand his reluctance to join in some of their games. He loved to -look on; but everything was new and strange to him. He had never been -used to playing the games which were so much to Frank and Percy. Edith -then quietly explained to her less thoughtful brothers that they should -not expect a boy who had spent three years on an invalid's couch to be -able to play the games in which they were so proficient. - -Carol was often in the nursery, Nurse was so big and motherly. She had -welcomed him, as if he had been one of her own children from the first. -It was a fixed idea amongst the children that as long as there had been -a Manor House, Nurse had presided over the nursery. She was always -ready to tell them stories of their father and uncles and aunts in the -old days. She even had tales of their grandfather, and many past -generations of Mandevilles, and in all the stories, of however long ago, -they imagined Nurse playing part. One thing they never could imagine: -that was the Manor House without her. - -When the little girls wanted him, and that was very frequently, Carol -was always ready to go to the nursery, and often accompanied them on -their walks. Percy and Frank considered it much beneath their dignity -to take a walk "with the babies." - -The improvement in Mrs. Mandeville's health, which had commenced on -Carol's first visit to her room, continued. In a few days she had taken -her usual place in the household, and the children rejoiced in the -nightly visits to their bedrooms. How glad they were when there were no -visitors downstairs, and they could keep her quite a long time. - -Upon the occasion of her first visit to Carol's room, she found him -sitting up in bed, reading. She had expected to find him asleep, as the -other children had detained her so long. - -"My little book-worm, what is the story you find so interesting?" she -asked playfully, intending to tell him lovingly the next morning that -she did not like the children to read in bed. - -"Auntie, it isn't a story book. It is _Science and Health_. I read it -every night and morning." - -"What a very strange book for a little boy to be interested in! The -title sounds quite alarmingly dry." - -"Oh, Auntie, have you never heard of it? It is such a wonderful book. I -am beginning to understand it now. At first I could not, but Cousin -Alicia used to explain it so beautifully to me, and now I love to read -it." - -"I cannot say I remember the title, dear, but I should like to look into -it. Will you spare it to me this evening? I think it is time now for -lights to be extinguished." - -Carol gave the book to her gladly, little thinking it would be many long -days before he would see it again. - -When Mrs. Mandeville returned to the drawing-room, the Rector was there. -"Do you know anything of this book, Raymond?" she asked, giving it into -his hand. "I found Carol reading it in bed--_Science and Health_." The -frown which was habitually on the Rector's face deepened. - -"Indeed I do," he said, "and I should like to do with every copy what I -am going to do with this." - -He walked over to the fireplace; his intentions were plain. Mrs. -Mandeville caught hold of his arm. - -"No, no, Raymond, you must not. The book was a present from Miss -Desmond to Carol, and you have no right to destroy it, however strongly -you may disapprove of his reading it." - -"I do more than disapprove. I absolutely forbid him to read any more of -it; the most unorthodox rubbish that has been published for centuries. -The worst of it is, it has taken hold of some people, especially women, -and they are carried away by it." - -The Rector slipped the little book into his pocket. As he had not -destroyed it, he meant to make sure there should be no chance of its -falling again into Carol's hands. He, as well as Mrs. Mandeville, was -the boy's legal guardian. - -Mrs. Mandeville was sorry. She felt sure from the way Carol had spoken -that the book was precious to him. Very gently, the next morning, she -told him of his uncle's decision. She noted the quivering lips; the -tears he was bravely trying not to shed. - -"Dear boy, did you value it so much?" she said. - -"Oh, Auntie!" The simple exclamation expressed more pain and regret -than many words could have done. - -"Darling, I am sorry; but we must believe that Uncle Raymond has good -reasons for taking the book away. He says it is fearful heresy. You -must not forget that your dear grandfather was a bishop, also your -great-grandfather. I could not tell you during how many generations -there has always been at least one member of our family a dignitary of -the Church." - -"What does unorthodox mean, Auntie?" - -"It means contrary to, or opposed to the teachings of our beloved -church. Your dear father and mother were both good church people." - -"Yes, Auntie; but that did not make Mummie better when she was so ill. -The vicar often used to sit with her, and pray for her in church, but -she was never better for it. When Cousin Alicia came and I was so ill, -I began at once to get better. That little book, _Science and Health_, -had taught her to understand the Bible, and God answered her prayers for -me!" - -"It was certainly a remarkable coincidence--your improving so quickly -after Miss Desmond came; but it may have been the result of some fresh -medicine the doctor was trying." - -"Auntie, I was not taking any medicine. The first night Cousin Alicia -came I slept till morning, and the next day I wanted something to eat. -The nurses thought it was wonderful, because they had had such -difficulty to get me to eat before. Then when they dressed the wounds -on my hip every morning I used to scream so, some of the servants went -where they could not hear me. In only one week I lost all the pain and -I did not cry at all, and very soon one by one the wounds healed." - -"It was very remarkable, dear. But do you associate your healing with -the book which Uncle Raymond has taken away?" - -"Why, Auntie, _Science and Health_ is the Key to the Bible, and the -Bible is the 'tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.' -But people have not understood until they had that Key how to go to the -Bible for healing. Cousin Alicia understood; that was why she was able -to heal me." - -"What you say seems very strange, Carol. If Uncle had not taken the book -away, I should have liked to look into it. I expect he would refuse if -I asked him to let me read it." - -It did not occur to Mrs. Mandeville that she could obtain another copy -of the book. The confiscated copy was not the only one to be had. Her -conversation with Carol was interrupted just then. The same night when -she went, as the evening before, to his bedroom, she found him sitting -up in bed. He greeted her eagerly with the words: - -"Auntie, I have been thinking." - -"Dear boy, what have you been thinking?" She kissed the earnest, -upturned face, and realized for the first time that he had a very -beautiful countenance, so like, she thought, one of Murillo's child -angels. - -"I have been thinking, Auntie, of what you said about unorthodox. A -good many years ago when Protestants were called heretics, they were -unorthodox to the Church of Rome, were they not?" - -"Certainly, dear." - -"But Protestants are not called heretics now, are they?" - -"I think we never hear them so spoken of now, dear, because there are -more Protestants in England than Roman Catholics." - -"Then, Auntie, when there are more Christian Scientists than other -church people, _they_ won't be called heretics." - -"Will that ever be?" Mrs. Mandeville asked with a smile. - -"Yes, Auntie; it must be, because Christian Scientists obey Jesus. All -that he said and commanded in the New Testament, they try to carry out. -He commanded his disciples to heal the sick." - -"His disciples of that day, dear." - -"But, Auntie, didn't he say: 'What I say unto you I say unto all.' If -we love him we shall keep all his commandments. That is why I am sorry -Uncle Raymond has taken away my _Science and Health_. I want to -understand it like Cousin Alicia does; then some day, if I know little -boys or girls ill like I was, I could heal them. It makes me so sorry -now that I cannot study. I have written to Cousin Alicia to help me. I -know she will. It has been so difficult all day to stand 'porter at the -door of thought.' Such a lot of unkind thoughts would keep trying to -get in. I know I must not let any of them in, and Cousin Alicia will -help me to keep them out." - -"I am afraid I do not quite understand, Carol." - -"Don't you, Auntie? I have a little book that will explain. It is -called 'At the Door.' Our mind is like a beautiful white mansion, and -thoughts are like people who go in and out. If we let unkind thoughts -pass in, all kind thoughts go away. Self-pity isn't at all a nice -person, I have had such difficulty to keep him out all day, especially -when I remembered that Father knew I was studying _Science and Health_, -and he did not take it away from me." - -"I will tell that to Uncle Raymond, dear, perhaps it will cause him to -alter his decision." - -"Thank you, Auntie; I know it will be all right. I have only to be -patient. They have all gone away now, self-pity and indignation, and -anger. If I keep my mansion so full of love, there will be no room for -them to squeeze in, will there?" - -"No, darling. Now go to sleep. I will take the little book down with -me and read it." - -Mrs. Mandeville remembered as she went downstairs her visit three years -ago to Carol's home. Then she would have described him as a very spoilt -child, making allowance for his illness, he was fretful, selfish, -exacting. What had wrought such a marvellous change? The physical -healing seemed slight in comparison. - - - - -CHAPTER IV.--A WELCOME LETTER. - - -Carol had been at the Manor a week before he received the eagerly -expected letter from Cousin Alicia. Mrs. Mandeville brought it herself -to the school-room for him. - -"What a lucky little boy to get such a fat letter! I wonder the -post-office didn't decline to bring it for a penny," she said smiling at -his radiantly happy face. Then turning to Miss Markham, as lessons were -about to commence, she asked: - -"May he be excused for a little time, Miss Markham? I know he will like -to take it to his room and read it quietly there." - -"Oh, thank you, Auntie; thank you, Miss Markham," as the asked-for -permission was quickly accorded, and he ran off with the treasured -letter. Half an hour later he sought Mrs. Mandeville in her -morning-room. - -"Auntie, would you like to read my letter?" - -"Indeed, dear, I should, if you would care for me to." - -"Yes, Auntie. I would like you to read it very much. I knew Cousin -Alicia would help me to understand. It has been just like having a talk -with her. She always makes me feel happy." - -He gave several sheets of closely written note paper into Mrs. -Mandeville's hand. - -"I must not be away any more lesson time, must I?" - -He left the letter with her, and returned to the school-room. Mrs. -Mandeville opened the pages, and read: - -"WILLMAR COURT, - S. DEVON. - -"_My very dear Carol,_ - -"Until your first letter arrived it was difficult to realize that the -train had carried you so far away from us. It seemed as if a spirit of -sadness were creeping over the household, even the dogs and birds felt -the subtle influence, and I had to dispel it by realizing that there can -be no separation in Mind. Nothing can come between loving thoughts. I am -as near to you in thought, and you to me as if these human arms enfolded -you. It rejoiced me to read that you felt my thoughts like loving arms -around you. - -"Your first letter was awaited with eager expectation. I had to read -parts to everyone. When Bob brought up your pony for his morning lump -of sugar, I caught him brushing a tear away with his coat sleeve, as he -asked, 'Will it be long before Master Carol comes home again?' I told -him that was a question I could not answer, but possibly you might have -the pony sent to Mandeville, and in that case he would no doubt -accompany it. - -"The bright happy strain of your first letter made me glad. Before I -had time to answer it came the second in a minor key. After reading it, -a thought that something was wrong tried hard to creep in. But I knew -it could not be. 'Love governs and controls all events with unerring -wisdom.' So I just took my hat and went for our favorite walk by the -stream, to think things out. I seemed to feel your little hand in mine -as I walked. I sat down on the old tree-stump, where you used to rest -when you first began to walk; and do you remember the thrush which was -always singing on the other side of the stream, how we used to think he -sang a special song for you, and the words were, 'God is Love'? He was -there on the same branch of the tree. I feel so sure now that it is the -same bird. 'What message have you for Carol this morning?' I asked, and -it seemed that the notes changed and the message came so clearly: 'All -is right that seems most wrong.' - -"Yes! I knew it I Of course it is! The bird flew off, and I walked on, -thinking of a story I read many years ago. It was, I believe, an -Eastern allegory. That story has often helped me; perhaps it will help -you. I will tell it briefly. The King of a great country had many -singing birds. They were to him as children, he loved them so. They -were quite free to fly about the palace, or in the beautiful gardens of -the palace, and when the King walked amongst them, they rested on his -shoulder, or on his hand, when he held it out to them. There was one -especial favorite--a little brown bird. It had not gay plumage like -some of its companions, but its song delighted the King, and often he -said: 'Sing--sing always.' One day the servants discovered the little -brown bird was missing. Some one had stolen it from the palace. Word -was brought to the King, and he quickly sent messengers all over his -kingdom to discover where the bird was. It was not long before the -place of confinement was known, and, to the surprise of everyone, the -King left his little favorite in captivity. But he strictly commanded -his messengers to watch over it, that no harm could come to it. Not a -feather was to be ruffled. - -"In partial darkness, beating its wings helplessly against the bars of -the cage, the little brown bird yet remembered the King's command, -'Sing, sing always'; and every day it poured forth the song which the -King loved. Strangers came from far to listen to the wondrous song of -the little captive bird. Then, one day, the little bird looked up -joyfully, at the sound of a well-known voice. The King himself had come -to set the captive free. The cage door was quickly opened, and the bird -flew forth, and rested on the King's shoulder, pouring forth such a song -of joy as no one had ever heard before. - -"'My priceless treasure!' the King exclaimed--the one note that was -missing has come into your song.' And great was the King's joy as he -carried the little brown bird back to his palace. - -"I remember, when I read that story as a girl, being sorry that it ended -there. I wanted to know that the wicked men were punished for stealing -the bird, and that it was never separated again from the King who loved -it so. But now I understand the story better, and the lesson it -teaches. If the little bird had not been obedient to the King's command -to sing always,--even when it was in captivity, it would never have -learned that one missing note. And so, dear Carol, we have to learn -under all circumstances and at all times that we are bidden to rejoice. -The words are: 'Rejoice--again I say rejoice.' - -"Having the book taken from you, as you do not yet understand the -antagonism so many people manifest towards it, was doubtless a great -surprise, when you owe so much to its teachings. But, dearie, you must -not let any thoughts of injustice, or of something not quite right, -creep in. The book will be returned to you one day. Love can always -find a way. It will not be detained one moment after it is needful for -you to have it again. You must put in practice, live up to, what you -have already learned. You have only one step to take at present, and I -think that step is '_obedience_': cheerful, willing obedience, in every -detail of your life. You see, dear Carol, we are told only one thing of -the Master when he was a boy of your age: that is, 'He was subject -[obedient] unto them.' Had it been necessary, we should have been told -more. So from you, and all children, looking unto Jesus, to follow in -his steps, one thing only is required--perfect obedience to those in -authority over you, parents or guardians. - -"Try to picture that humble home at Nazareth, and the carpenter's shop. -We can never know the trials _he_ had to bear in those early years, -through those around him not comprehending his divine mission. From one -verse in St. Matthew's Gospel we learn that taunts and gibes were thrown -at him, because his spiritual birth was not understood. Yet those words -have come down through all the centuries to inspire and help the young -of all generations: _He was subject unto them_. - -"The world has given an undue prominence to the wooden crucifix. The -cross that Jesus carried for us he carried for 33 long years--working -out each problem of life, and finally overcoming death, in order to show -us the way to eternal life, then bidding us take up the cross--not the -wooden crucifix--the cross of daily overcoming error with truth; and -thus to follow him. - -"When you are asked anything about Christian Science, and your own -healing, if you are able, answer any questions quietly and courteously, -but never obtrude the subject on anyone; or bring it forward -voluntarily. Live Christian Science, dear Carol, not talk it. Be -careful in all things to study your aunt's wishes; and as she evidently -does not wish the subject mentioned to your cousins, do not mention it. -Following in the steps that Jesus marked--perfect obedience--can never -be denying Christ, and by perfect obedience, dear, you will understand, -loving, willing, cheerful obedience, never allowing any thought of wrong -or injustice to find a resting place in your consciousness. - -"Write to me as often as you can, dear. Now that you have commenced -regular lessons, you will not have so much spare time. Your letters -will always be to me a joy, both to receive and to answer. I rejoice in -my stewardship, taking care of this beautiful home for my dear boy. -Colonel Mandeville wrote me that your dear father expressed his desire -at the last that it should be so; and he himself also wrote a letter -which was posted at Gibraltar. It had not yet reached me. I cannot -understand it, as the letter from Colonel Mandeville which was evidently -posted at the same time, bearing the Gibraltar post-mark, arrived, as -you know, before you left. But we know it cannot be lost, although it -is long over-due. - -"Please convey my kind regards to Colonel and Mrs. Mandeville, and to -yourself, dear Carol, unnumbered loving thoughts, from - - COUSIN ALICIA. - -"_P.S._ How I should like to see the sweet Rosebud and your other -cousins!" - - ---- - -A very grave, thoughtful expression deepened on Mrs. Mandeville's face -as she gathered the loose sheets of note paper together, and replaced -them in the envelope. "Surely," she said, sotto voce, "if this is what -Christian Science teaches, Raymond does not understand the book which he -has taken away from Carol." - - - - -CHAPTER V.--QUIET DAYS. - - -The days which followed were quiet and uneventful, the peaceful, happy -days which imperceptibly glide into weeks and months. Carol worked -diligently at his lessons. He had so much lost time to make up. - -Miss Markham was surprised at the progress he made. Whatever tasks she -set him he mastered with ease, and never manifested fatigue or -weariness. He was still so slight, even fragile, in appearance, she -sometimes feared lest she was overtaxing his strength. Once, expressing -fear lest this should be so, Carol answered lightly, "It is quite right, -Miss Markham, the more work I do, the more I shall be able to do. -Cousin Alicia is helping me every day." - -"Miss Desmond is in Devonshire, Carol, how can she help you?" - -"I am sorry, Miss Markham, I forgot you do not understand," he said. - -He had been so perfectly obedient to Miss Desmond's wishes in never -talking about Christian Science, that, excepting Mrs. Mandeville, no one -remembered anything about it in connection with the boy. But, -gradually, all the household were realizing there was something -strangely different about the boy from other children. No one ever -heard him complain of an ache or pain. No one ever heard him speak an -unkind or angry word; and if, as sometimes, though seldom, amongst the -Mandeville children, little dissensions or bickerings arose, if Carol -was near, they passed as a ripple on water, and all was harmony and -peace again. - -Nurse loved to have him in the nursery. Miss Markham missed him when he -was absent from the school-room. On one occasion when he was in the -nursery a heavy box-lid was accidentally allowed to fall on Rosebud's -fingers. The child screamed terribly with the pain, but before Nurse -could do or say anything Carol seized her in his arms, and ran out of -the room with her. In less than ten minutes he brought her back again, -laughing merrily. - -"Naughty fingers don't hurt Rosebud now," she said. - -Nurse wondered, but, like Miss Markham, she did not understand. - -It happened only a few days afterward that Mrs. Mandeville did not come -as usual to the school-room immediately after breakfast, and everyone -was sorrowful when it was known that Mother had one of her old nervous -headaches. They knew it meant not seeing her for two or three days. -She suffered terribly at times with her head, and had to lie in a -darkened room, unable to bear the least noise. The children hushed -their laughter and trod softly, though the school-room and nurseries -were too far removed from Mrs. Mandeville's apartments for any sound to -reach her. - -After morning school, without saying a word to any one, Carol crept so -noiselessly into the darkened room that Mrs. Mandeville was unaware of -his presence, until he softly touched her with his hand, and said: - -"Auntie, I am so sorry you are suffering. I do want to help you. Could -I--would you let me?" - -"Dear boy, how sweet of you! I have frequently suffered with headaches -like this for many years. Nothing can be done, dear. I can only be -still and bear the pain until it passes." - -Mrs. Mandeville spoke as if every word she uttered tortured her. - -"Auntie, dear, won't you let me try to help you?" - -"Do you mean, dear, you want to say a Christian Science prayer for me?" - -"Yes, Auntie." - -"Why, of course, darling, if you wish it. It is so very sweet of you!" - -Carol softly kissed the hand she put out to him, and left the room, as -noiselessly as he had entered, closing the door after him. He knew what -pain was. He went straight to his own room and closed that door too. -He did not leave his room until the gong sounded for the school-room -dinner. His cousins exclaimed as he rejoined them, - -"Wherever have you been all this time, Carol?" - -But Carol did not say. - -In the afternoon while the children were still seated round the -tea-table, the school-room door opened, and Mrs. Mandeville entered the -room. There was one vociferous exclamation of surprise and delight. - -"Mother! Are you better?" - -"I am quite better," she said, "I fell asleep. I must have slept a long -time, and when I woke I felt quite well." - -No one noticed the flush of joy that came to Carol's face. His hands -were clasped, his eyes downcast as he silently breathed, "I thank Thee, -my Father." - -Before she left the room again, Mrs. Mandeville caressingly laid her -hands on the boy's shoulders, and bent over to kiss his brow, but she -did not allude to his visit to her room. Neither did he. Some sad days -were to pass over the Manor household before Mrs. Mandeville -acknowledged the help she had received. - -Carol had not been long at Mandeville before he became almost as well -acquainted with the villagers as his cousins. He frequently accompanied -the three little girls and the second nurse, when they were deputed to -carry a basket of good things to any house in the village where there -was need. In this way he became acquainted with the village shoemaker, -Mr. Higgs, who, in his younger days, had also acted as verger at the -church. He explained to Carol the "rheumatiz" was so bad in his legs he -hadn't been able to walk to church for months. He was often to be seen -sitting at the open cottage door in the summer evenings, with an open -Bible on his knees, his hands folded on it, for the print was too small -for his failing eyesight. - -Carol was thoughtful as he walked home. When Mrs. Mandeville paid her -usual visit to his bedroom in the evening, she found him sitting up in -bed, waiting for her. He was always awake when she came, but since she -had desired him not to read in bed he never had a book in his hand. So -often he greeted her with the words, "Auntie, I have been thinking." - -"Well, darling, what have you been thinking about to-night?" she asked -before he spoke, well knowing from his attitude that he had been -thinking either of some pleasing or some perplexing subject. - -"I have been thinking of something I can do, Auntie, if you will let me. -It is only a very little thing, but if we do not begin with little -things, we shall not be able some day to do big things, shall we? I so -often think about Jesus when he was twelve years old, he said, 'I must -be about my Father's business.' I am twelve years old, and God is my -Father, too. I want to be about His business. When I was talking to old -Mr. Higgs this morning, he told me he cannot walk to church now, and his -eyes are so bad he cannot see to read the Bible. I thought I would like -to go sometimes and read it to him, and help him to understand it. -Would you let me, Auntie dear? It is such a little thing." - -"Why, of course, dear; there can be no reason why you should not, if you -wish to. I don't think Uncle Raymond can have any possible objection. -Anyway, if I give you permission, that will be sufficient, will it not?" - -"Oh, yes, Auntie; thank you so very much. May I go every Sunday -evening?" - -"Yes, dear; and perhaps it may not be such a little thing as you think." - -Mrs. Mandeville thought of her own two boys. How different Carol was! - -Neither of them would have dreamed of doing such a thing. "But," she -mused, "his long illness has changed him." - -"Auntie, I often try to picture Jesus in his humble home at Nazareth. I -wish we knew more. When he returned with Joseph and Mary after the -visit to the Temple, and was always obedient to them, I sometimes wonder -if they kept him back from going about his Father's business, because -they did not understand; and if he played on the hillsides with the -other village boys, and no one knew until he was a man, that he was -Jesus the Christ." - -"There are many legends of his boyhood, dear, but they are only legends. -We cannot accept anything except what is narrated in the Gospels. You -must read Canon Farrar's 'Life of Christ.' That will help you to -understand that the Apostles were, without doubt, divinely instructed to -record so little of the boyhood of Jesus. There is a copy in the -library. I will look it out for you." - -"Thank you so much, Auntie. I shall be glad to read it." - -Then clinging both arms round her neck, as she stooped to kiss him, he -said: - -"I do love your coming to my room like this, Auntie. I always keep -awake till you come." - -"I, too, enjoy our little talks, dear. You often give me a beautiful -thought to take away with me: something I have not thought of before." - -The boy lay awake a long time after Mrs. Mandeville left him, thinking -joyfully of the work that had come to him, wondering how he should open -the pages of that wonderful book, as they had been opened to him. -"Teach me, Father-Mother God, the words of Truth that will help him," he -prayed. Finally, he fell asleep with the words on his lips of the boy -Samuel: "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." - - - - -CHAPTER VI.--FIRST WORK IN THE VINEYARD. - - -"Would you like me to read to you for a little while this evening, Mr. -Higgs? My aunt has given me permission, if you would like me to," Carol -asked modestly as he entered the old man's cottage the following Sunday -evening. Mr. Higgs was seated as usual at the open door, watching the -villagers pass by on their way to church. - -"Thank you kindly, young gentleman. I'll be glad to hear some of the -words of the Book. I just keep it close by me. It don't seem Sunday -without. But my eyes fail me, and I just sit and ponder over some of -the Psalms I can well remember. After the service sometimes a -neighbor'll pop in and tell me the text Rector's been preaching about. -A mighty fine preacher is Rector, but often I used to say to my -Missus--she's dead and gone these five years--his thoughts are like -birds, they fly over our heads, and we don't seem able to lay hold of -them. If he'd just tell us something simple to help us day by day. I'd -be glad now if I could remember some of the sermons I've listened to, -year in, year out. But there, it's all gone, and I've got no more -understanding of the Bible than when I was a boy. It's ower late to -think about it now, and me turned seventy." - -"I have been taught to understand the Bible. I should like to teach you -what I have been taught. Then, when you understand, you would lose your -rheumatism." - -"_Lose my rheumatism!_" The old man repeated the words in the utmost -astonishment. - -"Why, yes, of course you would," Carol said with that wonderfully sweet -smile which won all hearts. "I had hip-disease; but I lost it." - -"Well, now, young gentleman, I can say with absolute truth that I have -never been told that before--no, _never!_ though I've been a regular -church attendant since I was a little choir boy, and never left off -going till the joints in my old legs grew so stiff I couldn't walk. -It'd want a lot of faith, sir, to believe that just reading the Bible -would make 'em lissom again." - -"Faith comes with understanding. There is another book; it is called -_Key to the Scriptures_. I haven't a copy of that book now, but I can -remember so much of it, I shall be able to help you to understand the -Bible perhaps a little better. We will commence with the first chapter -of Genesis." - -"Yes, now; I remember that chapter pretty well. I learnt it at Sunday -School sixty years ago, and I've never quite forgotten it. I could -repeat verses straight off now." - -"And has it never helped you all through your life?" - -"Well, no. I can't say that chapter has. I have found comfort sometimes -from the Psalms. 'The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,' I have -often turned to when we'd a growing family and work was slack." - -"Let me read the chapter now and then we will talk about it." - -The boy opened the Bible, and slowly with an impressiveness which the -old man had never before heard, he read the first chapter of Genesis, -and three verses of the second chapter. He read as one reads words that -are very familiar and understandable. - -"_Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of -them, and God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very -good._" He repeated the words from memory, looking with a kindly smile -at the old man, as he asked the question: "If God looked upon everything -which He had created, and declared it very good--where do the things -come from that are not good? Who created them?" - -"Well now, young sir, that is a question I'm not prepared to answer. I -can only say like that little black girl in the story, ''spose they -growed'." - -"But everything must grow from something, mustn't it? Every tree and -plant has its own seed. God created every living creature after its -kind, and bade it be fruitful and multiply. So you see everything good -was created by the Word of God. Is rheumatism good?" - -"'Deed no, young gentleman! It's cruel bad." - -"So is hip-disease. It's very, very 'cruel bad,' and because it is the -opposite of good it was not amongst the things which God 'beheld.' Our -dear Heavenly Father did not create poor suffering little children -maimed with hip-disease, and sometimes blind. He created them in His -own image and likeness, and God could not be suffering sometimes with -one disease, sometimes with another, so that His image and likeness -could have it too, could He? See, if I hold my hand up so it casts a -shadow on the wall, that is an exact image or likeness of my hand, is it -not? Now if I just hold something--only a slip of paper between my hand -and the reflection, the reflection is deformed, isn't it? But my hand -is not affected by it. So when we are bound by any cruel disease, there -is something between God and His image and likeness, something that was -never created by Him--was never created at all. It is only a shadowy -mist--a belief: and we have to get rid of it, by knowing its unreality. -We have to know that because we are God's children, His spiritual -creation, we must be perfect, even as He is perfect. Jesus came to -teach people this. He said, 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your -Father in Heaven is perfect.' But, my cousin says, the world has been -slow to learn the lesson. Sin and disease will disappear from our midst -just as soon as we do learn it. When she came to me, and I was very -ill, she taught me that nothing was real except what God had created, -and pronounced good, and He never created hip-disease. Because she -understood this so clearly, and taught me to understand it, I soon began -to get better. I should like to help you to understand it, so that you -would lose your rheumatism. I think I have stayed as long as I had -permission to-night. Would you like me to come again next Sunday?" - -"'Deed, and I would, young gentleman." - -"My name is Carol," the boy said simply. - -"Thank 'ee, Master Carol, you've given me something to think about, I -shan't forget during the week." - -"I should like to teach you the Scientific Statement of Being. It is in -that book I told you of, which explains the Bible. If you would learn -it, and try to realize it, it would help you so much.' - -"My mem'ry 's none of the best now, but I'll try," the old man said -regretfully. - -"Perhaps it will be better for me to write it for you in large writing, -so that you can read it until you know it. I will bring it with me next -week. These are the words: 'There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor -substance in matter.' He repeated the words gravely and slowly to the -end, the old man gazing at him the while with wondering eyes. The sun -was setting; the crimson light streamed through the lattice window upon -the boy's upturned face, so sweet, so grave, so loving, and so earnest. - -"The words seem difficult to understand at first," he said, "but you -will soon grow to love them. It is the truth which Jesus promised -should make us free. It has made me free. It will make you free." - - - - -CHAPTER VII.--"I KNOW." - - -Carol bounded through the park with a light, joyous step. On reaching -the Manor House, he would have gone straight to his aunt, but there were -visitors with her. So he rejoined his cousins in the school-room. - -"Where ever have you been, Carol?" they questioned, as he entered. - -"Somewhere Auntie gave me permission to go," he replied quietly. - -Miss Markham looked at the boy's beaming face, and she too wondered. He -had been absent from the Scripture lesson, which she, and sometimes Mrs. -Mandeville, gave the children every Sunday evening. She felt a little -remorse that she had been conscious during the lesson of a feeling of -relief, on account of the boy's absence. Carol so often asked a -question in a quiet, thoughtful manner, which she was unable to answer: -and the question would often recur to her afterwards. She had an -intuition that the boy had a firmer grasp of spiritual truths than she -herself possessed. Many times she would have liked to discuss a subject -with him. But Mrs. Mandeville had warned her that the boy had been -taught much that was unorthodox, she therefore refrained from -discussion. - -Though it was much later than usual, Carol was wide awake when Mrs. -Mandeville came to his room that night. She had found all the other -children fast asleep. - -"Auntie, I did want to tell you, I had a very happy time with Mr. Higgs. -He's such a nice, interesting old man. I was able to tell him so much -that he had never thought about before. Thank you again for letting me -go. He will like me to go next Sunday--I may--mayn't I?" - -"Of course, dear; as it seems to make you so happy; and I am sure it -must be very nice for Mr. Higgs to have you read to him, as he is so -troubled with rheumatism. But you must really settle down to sleep now, -Carol. You have no idea how late it is." - -"Yes, Auntie, I shall soon be asleep, I wanted to tell you first. I -feel so happy now, I can say one verse of Mrs. Eddy's beautiful hymn -to-night which commences: - - 'My prayer some daily good to do, - 'To thine for Thee;' - -"Cousin Alicia used to sing it to me every night when I was ill. I -loved it so much, because its measures _did_ bind the power of pain. -Often I had fallen asleep before she came to the end." - -"You must repeat all the hymn to me some time, Carol, I shall like to -hear it." - -"Yes, Auntie, in the morning. I have been thinking whilst I was waiting -for you to come that when we want to do something for Truth very, very -much, Love finds the way. When I am a man, I shall want, more than -anything in all the world, just to do what Jesus said, those that loved -him were to do, 'Go ye into all the world, preach the Gospel, and heal -the sick.' I cannot help remembering there are so many little children -lying now, just as I used to lie, always in pain; and they could be -healed, just as I was healed, if there were more people who understood -what Jesus meant by 'The truth shall make you free." - -"And you are quite sure, Carol, it is that which has made you free?" - -"Oh, Auntie, dear, I can never let even the tiniest thought of doubt -creep up and make me question that. I _know_. When Uncle Raymond read -in church last Sunday 'I know that my Redeemer liveth,' I felt I wanted -to stand up and tell all the people _because_ He liveth, I am well. -That is 'knowing.' I do long for the time to come when I shall be able -to tell them so, and I can give all my time and my money to spread the -glad tidings, to fight for Truth." - -"Maybe there is a great work, a great future before you, dear boy, -surely the instrument has been prepared in a fierce fire, and has come -forth strong for the battle. Now, good-night, and God bless you, -darling." He clasped both his arms round her neck, holding her tightly, -as in earlier years he used to cling to his mother. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII.--A SECOND VISIT TO THE COTTAGE. - - -The next Sunday evening when Carol entered the shoemaker's cottage, he -was not alone as before. - -"This is my daughter, Mrs. Scott, Master Carol, and her little girl," he -said to Carol. "We thought, maybe, you wouldn't object if she listened -to the reading too. She cannot often go to church, because the little -girl has been subject to epilepsy since she was two years old. She's -just turned eight now. I told her mother what you told me last Sunday, -and she'll be right glad to hear more." - -"That I shall, Master Carol. I know something of hip-disease, and if -you could be cured of that, I'm sure my little girl could be cured of -the fits." - -"Why, of course she could. You will be able to help her ever so much -only by knowing that God never created fits; they belong to the mist -which we read about in the second chapter of Genesis. I am going to -read that chapter to Mr. Higgs to-night. Then you'll understand. I -will begin at the fourth verse, because the first three verses belong -really to the first chapter, which is an account of the first creation, -when God made everything that was made and it was spiritual and perfect. -No one could ever alter or undo God's perfect work; it remains, and -always will remain, perfect. When we understand this, and realize it, -the mist will disappear, and all the things which belong to the -mist--sin, disease, and death." - -Father and daughter looked at the boy with wonder and perplexity. -Opening the Bible he read: - -"These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were -created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." -He continued to the end of the chapter. "Now do you see how different -this account of creation is from the first?" he asked. "Who was the -Lord God who took the dust of the ground and formed man over again, -after God had already created him, and pronounced His work very good?" - -The old man shook his head. "I can only say, as I said last Sunday, -Master Carol, in all the sermons I've listened to that has never been -explained to me. I don't think I should have let it slip, if it had. -It's just the first time I've ever known there were two creations." - -"There were not really two creations, though it reads as if there were, -because there are not two creators. The sixth verse explains it, 'There -went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.' -That mist covered everything which God-Spirit had created--all the host -of them; birds, beasts, and flowers, mountains, seas, lakes, rivers, -even man: God's own image and likeness. Because the mist is over -everything we do not see the world and man as they really exist. So -people have come to believe that God made man from the dust; for the -mist that is spoken of is not a mist like we see rising from the sea, or -in the fields of an evening. It means false belief, misunderstanding of -God and His spiritual creation. But, my cousin has told me, there is a -woman in America who once caught a glimpse of God's real creation as she -was passing through the death valley. And that one glimpse restored her -to health. Then she devoted her whole life to learn more of the truth -that she might teach others how to see through the mist, and to shake -off their old beliefs. She has written a book called _Science and -Health_ with _Key to the Scriptures_, which explains all that she has -discovered. Simply reading and studying that book has made hundreds of -people well." - -"Where could we get a copy of it, Master Carol? I'd like to know for my -little girl's sake," Mrs. Scott asked. - -"I do not quite know, but there are Christian Science churches in -London. If you were to write there perhaps someone would tell you. I -wish I had a copy to lend you. I have written the Scientific Statement -of Being from memory. I am sure it will help you. I am trying to -realize it for you, and for the little girl. Think always of that first -chapter of the Bible. In the beginning God created everything that was -created, and it was very good. None of the things we want to get rid of -could be included in God's _very good_, could they? Jesus came to teach -men to understand God better, and he said, 'that which is born of the -Spirit is spirit.' So all that came from God and all that still comes -is spiritual. If you could quite realize this, Mr. Higgs, you would -soon lose your rheumatism. I am only telling you what has been told me -so many times; and I know it is true, because I was very ill when my -cousin used to teach me, and I grew better as I began to understand. -She helped me, because she saw me always as God's perfect child, and -knew that He had never created hip-disease, therefore it never was -created; it belonged to the mist, and it would disappear under the light -of Truth as hoar frost disappears when the sun shines upon it." - -"It is wonderful and strange what you are telling us, Master Carol, I've -never heard the like before, but somehow I can't doubt it. I call to -mind what the Bible says, 'Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings God -ordains strength.' I'd dearly love the girl to be free from those -dreadful fits. My rheumatiz is very bad, but I'm an old man, and can't -expect to 'scape one o' the signs of old age." - -"But you must not expect. You must know that it is not a sign of old -age in God's man. You must always remember the man whom God created in -His own image and likeness." - -"I've heard those words many times before, Master Carol, but somehow -they never seemed to come home to me as you put it. Why, of course I -ought not to suffer with rheumatiz if I _am_ God's image and likeness. -But what about all the poor dwarfed and stunted creatures that are -crippled from infancy? There's a little hunchback in the village. He -was dropped when he was a baby, and his back grew crooked, so that it's -a hump now. How can he be God's image and likeness?" - -"The hunchback is not the likeness of God, but the real child--the -spiritual child is, and God sees His child as He created it." The boy -put his hand over his eyes a moment, realizing that of himself he was -not telling these simple-minded people anything. Then he said: - -"Suppose a great sculptor carved a beautiful statue out of a block of -marble. Before he began his work, he would have in his mind the form he -wished the marble to take. Gradually, as he worked at it, the marble -would become what his thought of it was. Then one day he would see it -finished and perfect--just what he intended it to be. Then he would work -no more at it. Afterwards, suppose some one came by, and took clay and -mixed it with water into a paste, and then daubed the beautiful statue -all over, till the limbs looked crooked, and the beauty of the face was -spoiled. But it wouldn't be really spoiled, would it? The statue would -still be the work of the great sculptor, finished and perfect; the clay -and the marble would be quite separate and distinct. Nothing could make -them one. So when we read the chapter I have just read to you--the Lord -God took the dust of the ground and made man--God's man was already -made, finished and perfect, and the dust, like the clay, could only seem -to hide the perfect creation. But we have to know this and to realize -it, if we are to get rid of the dust, and the clay, and the mist. When -my cousin was explaining all this to me one day, she said, 'It is not -known how or when the belief in a Lord God who made man of dust arose; -but from that false belief came sin, sorrow, disease, and death. Jesus -came to teach us the way back to God; to teach us to see ourselves as -the children of God, not of the dust; and he said all who believed in -him, in what he taught, would never see death.' The day will come, my -cousin said, when all men will so believe in Jesus the Christ, and will -so understand and realize that God is their Father, that death will be -overcome. Every case of sin and disease which is healed by this -knowledge--by the Truth--is bringing that day nearer." - -The look of bewilderment deepened on the old man's face. Surely, the -boy was throwing a different light upon words with which he had been -familiar all his life. "We'll think over what you've told us, Master -Carol--me and my daughter. It sort o' goes to me that it's true." - -Again the words came to him, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings." - -The church clock chimed the half-hour. Carol stood up to go. "The time -has gone so quickly. I must not stay longer now. I will come again -next Sunday, and all the week will you try to know that God's work was -finished and perfect in the beginning, and everything that seems to have -been added to it--rheumatism and fits--has no right to be?" - -"We will, Master Carol, we'll just think of the marble statue and the -clay. It will help us." - -"I will hold the right thought for you and the little girl, and I know -that soon you will find that both the afflictions, which seem so real, -belong to the mist." - - - - -CHAPTER IX.--"IT IS THE TRUTH." - - -Carol faithfully kept his appointment on the following Sunday. His -cousins ceased to inquire, though not to wonder, what became of him -every Sunday evening, and once appealed to Mrs. Mandeville for -information. She smilingly replied, "It is a little secret between Carol -and me. Perhaps you will be told some time, but not just yet." - -As Carol entered the cottage, Mr. Higgs rose from his seat, and stood -upright. - -"Master Carol," he exclaimed in a voice of suppressed excitement, "it is -the Truth, the blessed Truth you've told us. I can't say I've lost my -rheumatics entirely, for the joints are like rusty hinges that want a -lot o' oiling after being idle so long; but I've just been free from -pain all the week; and my little grand-daughter hasn't had one fit all -the week." - -"No, Master Carol, she has not," Mrs. Scott added. "I won't say she has -never gone a whole week without one before, but for the last twelve -months I don't think she has, until this week." - -"Try not to remember anything that has been. Think it was all a dream, -and she is awakening from it. I had a very cruel dream once, but I have -awakened from it. God's children must cling very closely to Him, then -nothing can hurt them. It is when shadowy fears come between God and -His image and likeness that dreadful things seem to happen to us." - -Mr. Higgs and Mrs. Scott did not understand yet how the boy had all the -week been working for them--fighting error with the sword of Truth. - -"I want to read a chapter from the New Testament this evening," Carol -said, opening the Bible. "It is always a favorite chapter, but one -verse, my cousin said, seemed never to have impressed people as -applicable to the present day. Yet the words are so simple. I will read -the chapter first, then we'll talk about that one verse." - -He read the 14th chapter of St. John from the 1st verse to the last, -then asked quietly, "Do you remember that Jesus once said, 'Heaven and -earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away'?" - -"Yes, Master Carol. I remember those words well." - -"Then is there not a verse in the chapter I have just read which seems -as if Jesus' words _had_ failed?" The old man looked puzzled. - -"I can't say that I know what you are alluding to, Master Carol." - -"I will read it again. It is the 12th verse. 'Verily, verily, I say -unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, -and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father.' -What were the works that Jesus did? Was it not healing the sick, -cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, feeding the hungry? Well, if no -one can do these works to-day, his word has failed or else no one has -sufficient faith (faith may sometimes mean understanding). Many -centuries rolled by, and the sick were not healed, nor the lepers -cleansed, in Jesus' name. But now we know his words never failed. It -was the faith or understanding of those who thought they believed in him -which failed; for the sick are being healed now, and the lepers -cleansed." - -"It is very wonderful as you put it, Master Carol. I can't say it has -ever been explained like that to me before." - -"Is it not very simple?" Carol asked. - -"Why, yes. It has always seemed to me the Master's words were very -simple, a child could understand them. But when you come to the -Epistles, and the creeds of the Church, there's many things that I have -never been able to understand; and often the sermons I've listened to -puzzled me more than the texts." - -"In the 15th verse Jesus says, 'If ye love me, keep my commandments.' -Jesus did not give many commandments to his followers. He told them -many things, but of strict commandments he gave only a few. One was, 'Go -into all the world, preach the Gospel and heal the sick.' If you had a -son, and you commanded him to do two things and he did only one, and -left the other alone, would you be pleased with him? Would he be -obedient to your commands?" - -"Certainly I shouldn't be pleased with him, and I'd soon let him know -that, if he didn't do all I commanded, he needn't do anything." - -"Yes, but Jesus just makes it a test of love. He says so gently, 'If ye -love me, keep my commandments.' To those who keep all his commandments -he will one day say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant,' I do hope -that some day he will say those words to me." - -"I'm right sure he will, Master Carol. It is just wonderful the way you -are helping an old man to understand. It amazes me that a boy of your -years should have such an understanding." - -"Oh, please don't think I am telling you anything of myself. It has all -been explained to me many times. I am only telling you what has been -told me. I wish my cousin could talk to you. She would help you much -better than I can. But we must not withhold what we have because some -one else has more, must we? We must hand on the good tidings as well as -we are able." - -"That's it, Master Carol. Maybe I'll do a little that way myself later -on." - -"Yes, I am sure you will, but don't talk about your rheumatism being -better just yet. Wait until the evil is quite cast out. When I come -next week I will explain to you how we learn in _Science and Health_ -that God gave man dominion, and what God has given can never be taken -away. God says His word shall never return unto Him void. When He -decreed anything, it was forever. You could not think of the sun, moon, -or stars moving out of their appointed courses, could you? It is only -man who seems to have wandered from his native sphere. We have to learn -that this is not so; we have not really lost the dominion which God gave -His children in the beginning. St. John says, 'Now are we the sons of -God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when -He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.' -That verse helped me so much when I was ill. I learned I had not to die -to become a son of God. God is my Father here and now, and God's child -ought not to believe a lie. It was a lie that evil could have power -over me, and bind me. It is a lie that evil can have power over you, -and bind you. If you acknowledge God as your Father, God's child should -not go along believing he has rheumatism, should he?" - -"Thank you, Master Carol. I'll take hold of that. I can understand it. -I wish Rector would talk to us sometimes like this. I know it is all in -the Bible, yet it never came home to me before." - -Mrs. Scott listened attentively to all the boy was telling her father, -but made no remark. Her little girl was sitting in the porch nursing -her doll, crooning a lullaby. Carol left them with the promise to come -again next Sunday. - - - - -CHAPTER X.--AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER. - - -With thoughts so joyous and uplifted, Carol's feet scarcely seemed to -touch the springy turf of the park as he returned to the Manor. The -uplifting joy, unlike anything that earth can give, which comes from the -consciousness that work done for, and in the Master's name, is accepted -of him, was his; the promised signs following. - -He did not see Mrs. Mandeville until she paid her usual visit to his -bedroom. - -His young face was radiant with joy and happiness. "Auntie," he said, -"Mr. Higgs is beginning to understand; and he is losing his rheumatism." - -Mrs. Mandeville smiled. There was so much love and tenderness in her -smile the incredulity was not apparent. She put a loving arm around -him, drawing the boy closer to her. - -"Is that what you have been thinking to-night, dear?" - -"Not altogether, Auntie. I have been thinking of what it means by the -words, 'The mind that was in Christ.' That was what I was reading when -I came to bed. If we are to have that Mind, we should understand what it -is. But, Auntie, I can't get any farther than _love_: the mind that was -in Christ was love. God is Love, and Jesus said, 'I and my Father are -one.' So, Auntie, when our hearts are filled with love for the poor and -afflicted and sorrowing, it is the Christ mind that comes to us. -Because Jesus loved all who came to him, he was able to heal them. He -said, 'I can of myself do nothing, it is the Father that worketh in me. -He doeth the works.' Jesus was a perfect mirror, reflecting the love -which is God. That is why he said, 'They that have seen me have seen my -Father also.' Cousin Alicia explained this once to me, but I did not -quite understand it at the time. I see so clearly now. When we reflect -love as Jesus did, we shall be able to do the works that he did. I -often wonder, Auntie, why Uncle Raymond and all the clergy who preach -the Gospel don't help people when they are ill. It is not being -obedient, is it?" - -Mrs. Mandeville's face was grave. - -"Ought I not to question this, Auntie?" - -"Perhaps it would be better not, dear, until you are older. I do not -understand myself. It is a subject I never seriously considered until -you came to us. Now I think I must say good-night, my little -lie-awake." - -"I always fall asleep soon after I have said 'good-night' to you, -Auntie." - -"That is right, darling. I do enjoy our little talks; they are very -sweet and helpful to me, Carol." - -Then, after a long, loving embrace, she left him, a grave, thoughtful, -but happy expression on her face. - -The following Saturday morning after breakfast the three little girls -told Carol, with delight, that they were going to the home farm in the -afternoon, and begged him to go with them. Carol promised. He never -refused to go anywhere or to do anything when Rosebud asked him. It was -different with Percy and Frank. They were always too busy. - -Carol knew how great a delight a visit to the farm was to the little -girls, where each had a special pet of her own which the farmer's wife -kindly took care of for them. Carol had visited the farm once before, -and was almost as interested as the little girls in the animals and -poultry yard. The schoolroom children had grown out of the interest -they once had in visiting the farm. - -Saturday being a school holiday, the boys were at home all day. After -lunch Percy said: - -"I say, Carol, some fellows are coming this afternoon; we are going to -have a game at rounders. You can manage that. Will you come?" - -Carol was never asked to join in a game at cricket or football, as his -uncle and aunt feared it would not be good for him. "I am sorry, Percy; -I cannot. I promised Rosebud and Sylvia to go with them to the farm -this afternoon." - -Percy turned impatiently away. He was annoyed. Carol caught the -muttered words: "Milk-sop prefers a walk with the babies." - -He was not versed in school-boy slang, but naturally felt it was an -opprobrious epithet applied to himself. A crimson flush rose to his -face. On the way to the farm, he asked Jane, the second nurse, who -accompanied them: - -"Can you tell me what milk-sop means, Jane?" - -"Well, Master Carol, it's what school-boys call one another, sometimes. -But it's not a nice word. I suppose it means something of a coward." - -Carol fell behind. The crimson flush returned and dyed his cheeks -again. "Percy did not mean it. He spoke without thinking. He forgot I -am a soldier's son. _I am not angry_. I will not let you in!" - -"Were you speaking, Master Carol?" Jane asked. - -"I was only telling Mrs. Anger and Mr. Anger, and a lot of little -Angers, there is no room for them in my mansion. Love is there, and -cannot be driven away." - -"You do say such funny things, Master Carol," Jane remarked. - -"But there is nothing funny in that, Jane. You see our mind is our -mansion, and if we keep it filled with loving thoughts, angry thoughts -cannot creep in. Some angry thoughts were just trying to force their -way in, and I had to tell them there was no room." - -Still Jane smiled, but she, as everyone else at the Manor, loved the -gentle boy, who had what seemed to them such strange thoughts. - -A messenger always appeared to go in advance and tell the farmer's wife -when the little ladies might be expected. She never failed to have such -a lovely tea spread on a snowy white tablecloth, and her best china -gracing the table. Tea in the farm kitchen was quite different from the -usual nursery tea at home. Such delicious scones and tea-cakes! (It -really would not have pleased cook to hear the praise bestowed upon -them, as if she did not make quite as good.) - -After tea they went around the farmyard to inspect their pets. A little -gosling, quite tame and friendly, was chosen for Carol's especial pet. -The hour, which was all nurse had allowed them, passed very quickly, and -they started on the homeward walk. They had not gone far when a -drizzling rain began. Jane then suggested the advisability of crossing -a field which would shorten the distance considerably. When they came -to the field, she was surprised to find the gate fastened. - -"This gate is generally open. I wonder why it is padlocked to-day, but -it is not too high to get over. If you climb over first, Master Carol, -I can lift Rosebud over to you." - -Carol soon mounted the five-barred gate, and landed safely on the other -side, then received one by one Rosebud, Estelle, and Sylvia, from Jane's -arm, as she lifted them over. They had walked about two hundred yards -when Jane stood still in an agony of fright, as an animal, which had -been lying unperceived in a distant corner of the field, rose up and -came towards them with a loud bellow. - -"Oh, Master Carol! What shall we do? It's the bull! He's a terror! -I've heard of him. He's a tosser!" - -"Don't be frightened, Jane. Just walk quietly. The bull won't hurt us, -if we are not frightened." - -Jane caught Rosebud in her arms, and with Estelle and Sylvia clinging to -either side, walked as quickly as she dared towards the stile on the -other side of the field. Fortunately, it was a stile easier to mount -than the five-barred gate had been. It was but the work of a moment and -the three little girls were lifted safely to the other side. Then, Jane -turned to look for Carol. He had walked only a third of the distance, -keeping always between the bull and his cousins, and now he stood face -to face with the animal, a few yards only between them. Another low -bellow, and then the animal bent his head to the ground, prepared for a -spring. - -"Run, run, Master Carol," Jane screamed. It was a fatal appeal. The -mesmerism of fear seized Carol. He turned to look after his cousins. -The next instant he was on the horns of the animal, tossed high in the -air, as if he had been no heavier than an India-rubber ball. -Mercifully, he fell on the other side of the hedge, which divided that -field from the next. With a roar of baffled rage, the animal stampeded -the field, seeking to toss his victim a second time. - - - - -CHAPTER XI.--PERCY'S REMORSE. - - -The three little girls set up a piteous cry of "Carol," "Carol." Jane -was speechless, only wringing her hands in her extremity. What could she -do? It was half a mile to return to the farm for help, and a mile to -the nearest lodge belonging to the Manor; and there was no house -between. She could not see where Carol had fallen. But she knew it was -over the hedge into the next field. She feared the infuriated animal -would force its way through. Though she could not in any way protect -him, it seemed terrible to go from the place, even to get help, and -leave him there. Many moments were lost in her frenzied attempts to -force an entrance into the field from the lane. It was in vain. The -thick, high hedge was impregnable. She called again and again to Carol -to speak, to answer her, but there was no response. It seemed an -eternity before there was the welcome sound of a horse's hoofs in the -lane, which drew nearer until a stanhope came in sight, containing -Colonel Mandeville, a friend, and a groom. - -The three little girls cried: "Daddy, Daddy, the bull has tossed Carol!" - -Colonel Mandeville sprang from the vehicle on the instant, scarcely -understanding what the children said. Their distress was evident. That -was sufficient. Jane then tried to explain. - -"We were crossing the field, sir. I did not know the bull was there. -He has tossed Master Carol over the hedge into this field, and we cannot -get at him." - -Colonel Mandeville uttered one low, sad exclamation. - -"Where is the entrance into the field?" he asked. - -"There is a gate into it from the field where the bull is. Oh, please, -sir, it isn't safe; the bull is awfully enraged," she added, as Colonel -Mandeville walked towards the stile. - -He turned to say to the groom: "Follow me," and to his friend: "Manton, -drive to the village and bring Dr. Burton along. I fear we shall want -him." To Jane he said briefly: "Take the children home." - -Then he mounted the stile, and entered the field, a gun in his hand, -which the groom had handed him from the stanhope. The gentlemen had -been shooting. The bull was standing in the middle of the field. He -sprang towards the fresh intruder with a bellow. Colonel Mandeville -pointed his gun; there was a report, and the next instant the beast -rolled over on his side, dead. The groom then followed his master. -They had a little difficulty in opening the gate into the next field, -but succeeded at last, and were able to get in. - -Under the shadow of the hedge Carol was lying--still, motionless. - -Colonel Mandeville knelt beside him. - -"Carol, Carol," he said softly, but there was no response. "Go to the -farm as quickly as you can. Tell them to improvise an ambulance. Bring -it along. Lose not a moment," he said to the groom. - -Then he knelt on the ground, trying again to awake the boy to -consciousness: "My poor wife, how will she bear this?" he said to -himself, knowing well that Carol was as dear to her as her youngest -born, the Rosebud of the family. The signs of life were so faint, he -could not hope the boy would ever regain consciousness. - -Dr. Burton was fortunately at home. In an inconceivably short time he -arrived on the scene; and the groom returned with an ambulance, followed -by the farmer, his wife, and some of the men, all anxious to give any -assistance they could. - -Dr. Burton and Colonel Mandeville very tenderly lifted Carol on to the -ambulance, a faint moan was the only sign of life, but all were glad to -hear even that. Dr. Burton would not make any examination until they -could lay him on a bed, and cut off his clothes. - -There was no question of breaking the news gently to Mrs. Mandeville; -she was returning from a drive as the little girls reached the gates. -They ran to her sobbing broken-heartedly. - -She was very calm, but her face grew deadly white, and wore again the -strained expression which had been so frequent during the sad days of -the war. She could not remain inactive, and walked to meet the sad -procession. - -As soon as Colonel Mandeville saw her, he advanced quickly to her side, -and turned her steps homeward. He would not let her see the boy as he -lay on the ambulance, looking so like death. - -Only Colonel Mandeville was with Dr. Burton when he made the critical -examination. There were no broken bones, he said, but added that there -are things worse to deal with than broken bones, and hinted gravely at -concussion of the brain and spinal congestion. There were two terrible -bruises where he had been caught on the bull's horns. He could not hold -out any hope to them, but desired a second opinion, and a telegram was -at once despatched to a great London physician, who, it was calculated, -would be able to reach Mandeville that night if he caught the evening -express. Then Mrs. Mandeville took her place by the bedside. She could -do nothing, only watch in tearful silence the pallid face that had -become so dear to her, lying so still, so calm, it seemed at times the -lips were breathless. The reply telegram came quickly. Sir Wilfrid -would be able to catch the evening express which would stop at -Mandeville by request. He would reach the Manor about ten o'clock. - -Not until the physician's arrival, when he and Dr. Burton held a -consultation together, did Mrs. Mandeville leave the bedside. She then -retired to her own room for a little time. Miss Markham came to her -there, begging her to go and speak to Percy. "His grief," she said, "is -quite uncontrollable. I have done all I can to comfort him. But nothing -I can say seems to touch him." Mrs. Mandeville went at once to Percy's -room. He had thrown himself undressed on his bed, and was sobbing -hysterically, as she entered the room. - -"Percy, my dear boy, you must not grieve like this." - -As soon as he was aware it was his mother beside him, he flung his arms -round her neck. - -"Oh, Mother, I can never, never, be happy again if Carol dies. If he -had not been there with them, the bull would have tossed my little -sisters. Jane said he stood between them and the bull. He is the -bravest boy, and I--I--called him a--a--" He could not repeat the word -he had so lightly, thoughtlessly uttered a few hours previously. - -"If only I could tell him I did not mean it, and ask him to forgive me, -Mother. Oh! won't he ever be able to speak to me again?" - -"Dear Percy, I hope so. Sir Wilfrid Wynne is with him now, and -everything possible will be done for him. I am sure, darling, he would -not like you to grieve like this. He always has such loving thoughts of -others." The remembrance of all his gentleness and loving thought for -others was too much for Mrs. Mandeville. Clasping her boy closely to -her, she wept with him. Heaven was still to her a locality, and death -the gateway to it; and Carol had always seemed so very near to the -Kingdom of Heaven. - -All the household awaited with cruel suspense the great man's verdict, -trusting to him, forgetful that human skill had failed the boy once -before in his hour of need, forgetful of that friend in Devonshire who -loved him as her own son. No message had been sent to her. - - - - -CHAPTER XII.--THE PHYSICIAN'S VERDICT. - - -Sir Wilfrid Wynne gave his verdict, and it was almost a repetition of -what Dr. Burton had said. He could do nothing. There was little hope -he would regain consciousness. If he did, it would be but a passing -flash before the end. He might linger in his present condition -twenty-four hours or longer; and he might pass away any moment without a -struggle. It would be cruel to wish him to live; the shock to the spine -had been so great, if he lived, he would inevitably lose the use of his -lower limbs. Sir Wilfrid was grieved; he had known the boy's father. He -would gladly have remained, had there been any hope of doing anything -for him. He took his departure by motor-car to catch the mail train at a -junction ten miles distant. - -Mrs. Mandeville returned to her place by the bedside, calm and still, -after her paroxysm of weeping. Colonel Mandeville was with her, and -presently the Rector came into the room. - -"Raymond, pray for him," Mrs. Mandeville said. "He is in God's hands. -No human power can help him." - -They all knelt and the Rector prayed aloud. He did not petition for the -boy's life to be spared. He humbly asked that the hearts of those who -loved him might be submissive to God's all-wise decree. "Thy will be -done," was the dominant note of the prayer. When they rose from their -knees, there was an expression on Mrs. Mandeville's face which no one -had ever seen before. The prayer had not helped her: it was not -submission nor resignation in any degree which had come to her. She -turned to the Rector. - -"I do not believe it, Raymond. This is _not_ God's will. God could not -order anything so cruel to befall a child, so loving and dutiful--whose -faith in God's loving care of him has always been so beautiful to me to -witness. Could I, who know only human love, suffer anything like this -to befall my little Rosebud, or any of my children? Is human love more -pitiful and compassionate than divine love? This dear boy could easily -have saved himself; he stood between the cruel beast and my little -girls. All three of them might be lying as he is lying now but for his -self-sacrifice. Don't tell me it is God's will! If I could believe it, -I would wish I were a heathen, and worshipped a god of wood and stone!" - -The Rector could only gaze in pained astonishment. Such an outburst was -so unlike his usually calm and gentle sister. He judged she was beside -herself with grief. She stood with clasped hands, wide-open eyes, -unseeing, yet seeing, gazing beyond the confines of that room, catching -a momentary vision of that light which 'never was, on land or sea.' - -She became calm again--serenely calm. - -"I see it," she said. "I understand. This is _not_ God's will. It is -not _His_ work. His compassions fail not. His love is over all His -children. With Him is the Fountain of Life. Does He not say, 'I will -redeem them from death'? He will save this dear child from the grave. -Leave me, please. I want to be alone--alone with Carol and God. I want -to realize it. Yes; _God's will be done_. Life, not death, is God's -will. I see it, I see so clearly." - -To her husband she said softly, "I will ring if I want anything, dear. -Don't let anyone come into the room until I ring." - -When all had left the room, and the door was closed, she knelt beside -the bed, with outstretched arms. It was a mother's cry to God for the -life of a child that was as dear to her as her own. Hour after hour -passed, and still she knelt. Words failed her, petition ceased: the -realization came to her that God is Life: in Him we live, and move, and -have our being. In Infinite Life there is no death. Death never is, -and never can be God's will. The knowledge, the understanding of God as -All-in-all vanquishes death! "O, death, I will be thy plagues. O, -grave, I will be thy destruction!" (Hosea XIII., 14.) - -The morning dawned, the bright sunbeams stole into the room. The boy -opened his eyes. "Auntie,"--she was bending over him--"I have been -dreaming. I thought I was in a field, and a bull tossed me high up into -the air. But I knew in my dream, 'underneath are the everlasting arms.' -Then I dreamed again, and two men were turning me about, and moving my -arms and legs, and one said, 'There is not a broken bone, nor even a -dislocation. It's a miracle.' I tried to say 'underneath are the -everlasting arms,' but I could not speak." - -The words were very faint and low. She bent close to catch them, then -stopped them with a kiss, a paean of joy in her heart. He spoke again: -"Auntie, something is hurting me very much. I can't move." - -"Do not try, darling, lie quite still. I will sit beside you and hold -your hand." - -A spasm of pain passed over his face, and he fell again into -unconsciousness. But she had no fear, she knew that death had been -vanquished by the knowledge that had come to her of life. - -A low knock came to the door. She opened it, and found her maid there -with a cup of tea. She took it from her saying: "Tell them all he -lives, and he will live. But I wish to be alone with him for the -present. No one is to trouble about me, I am quite well." - -So she sat down again beside him, waiting and patiently watching, -knowing that he would awake again to consciousness. It was nearly noon -when he opened his eyes and spoke again. His voice was stronger: - -"Auntie, was it a waking dream? Was I really in a field, and a bull -tossed me? I am so aching all over me." - -"Yes, darling." - -"I think I remember now, Auntie. Rosebud and Estelle and Sylvia were -there, and Jane called to me, 'Run, run!' They were not hurt, were -they?" - -"No, darling, not one of them." - -"I am glad. Error is telling me I cannot move my legs and arms, Auntie. -But it is not true. God's child cannot be bound like that. Does Cousin -Alicia know?" - -"I am sorry, Carol. I fear no one has thought to send her word." - -"Will you send word now, Auntie--something quicker than a letter?" - -"A telegram, dear?" - -"Yes, Auntie, and put in, 'Please help Carol'." - -"I will ask Uncle to send the message at once, dear." - -When she opened the bedroom door, she found Colonel Mandeville pacing -the corridor without. As a sentinel he had kept watch there throughout -the night and a great part of the morning. He came into the room, and -stood with one arm around his wife, looking down at Carol. - -"Well, little man, so we are going to cheat the doctors?" - -Carol didn't at all know what 'cheat' meant. - -"Carol wishes you to let Miss Desmond know, dear. Will you wire at -once? And say in the message, 'Please help Carol.' She will know what -he means." - -"I will gladly do so. Dr. Burton is downstairs, Emmeline. He had -better come up now." - -An expression of distress came over Carol's face. - -"Auntie," he said, "don't let the doctor do anything to me, please." - -"No one shall touch you, dear. But I should like Dr. Burton just to see -you. He will tell me what I may give you to eat." - -"I don't want anything, Auntie, only something to drink." - -"Well, dear, he will tell me what will be best for you to have." - -"I would like only water, please." - -"You shall have some, dear, at once, and after that something else, I -hope." - -Dr. Burton came to the room, felt the patient's pulse, took his -temperature, and looked at his tongue, but mercifully refrained from -turning him about, to examine the bruises. - -"I will send some medicine at once," he said to Mrs. Mandeville. "Give -him a dose every hour. He has a very high temperature." - -Downstairs he told Colonel Mandeville: "He may pull through if -meningitis does not supervene." - -But he left the house holding a very strong belief that meningitis would -supervene. Not even the medicine, which was to be given every hour, -could prevent it. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII.--THE RECTOR'S REFUSAL. - - -Mrs. Mandeville remained with Carol throughout the day, suffering no one -to relieve her for one hour. As soon as he was told the telegram had -been sent to Miss Desmond, he rested quite satisfied. But as the day -wore on to evening, Mrs. Mandeville, standing over him, saw he was -suffering acutely. - -"You are in pain, darling," she said. - -"Auntie, please don't ask me. I am trying to deny it. Couldn't you -deny it for me, too?" - -His lips were quivering; tears he strove bravely to keep back were -stealing down his cheeks. How could she deny it? She would have given -anything to be able to do so. - -"Cousin Alicia must have had the telegram by this, Auntie, mustn't she?" - -"Yes, dear; I think so. Being Sunday, it has taken longer to get -through. Uncle has heard from the postmaster at W--, the nearest town, -as the village telegraph office would be closed. The message has been -sent on by messenger on horseback. So I think Miss Desmond must have -received it by this time." - -"She might have been out when it arrived, Auntie." - -"Do you expect to feel less pain, dear, when Miss Desmond receives the -telegram?" - -"Yes, Auntie, I know I shall." - -Seven o'clock--eight o'clock--nine o'clock passed. No reply telegram -came. Mrs. Mandeville wrote a letter to go by the evening post, giving -more details, and describing Carol's great desire to have a message from -her. Dr. Burton came again at night. His instructions had been carried -out. The medicine sent had been given every hour. Still the patient's -temperature was higher, the pain he was suffering more acute, and the -symptoms which pointed to meningitis more pronounced. "If he could -sleep--a long natural sleep might save him," Dr. Burton said. - -During the night Mrs. Mandeville was persuaded to take a little rest on -a couch in the room, whilst Nurse and Colonel Mandeville kept watch -beside the bed. Carol offered no opposition to anything that was done -for him, and drank the medicine without a murmur, when the spoon was put -to his lips. - -In the morning, when Mrs. Mandeville was again alone with him, he said, -"Auntie, I wonder why it hurts me to try to think. I tried so hard to go -to sleep in the night and I could not. Then I began to think about -Jesus when he was a little boy. We are not told that he was ever ill, -and had to lie in bed, are we? But I felt quite sure, if he ever did, -he would do just what his mother wanted him to do, wouldn't he? I know -medicine and the bandages are not doing me any good, but it makes you -happy for me to have them, doesn't it, Auntie?" - -"Yes, darling; it seems all that we can do for you." - -"If you understood Science, you could help me now, Auntie." - -"Indeed then, I wish that I did, Carol." - -"Sometimes the room seems to go dark, Auntie. In the night, two or -three times, it was just as if the lamp went out, then lighted up -again." Mrs. Mandeville understood enough to know this was very grave. - -"Darling, will you try to lie quite still, and close your eyes--try not -to think about anything?" - -"Yes, Auntie, but I do hope a message will come from Cousin Alicia -to-day. You will tell me when it comes, won't you?" - -"Instantly, dear." - -"I wish I could go to sleep, Auntie." - -"I wish so too, my poor, dear boy." - -"Could you move me a tiny bit, Auntie? I ache so lying in the same -position. It seems so strange not to be able to move myself at all. -Error seems very real." - -Gently and lovingly, she tried to ease his position, but the least touch -brought an expression of acute pain. She had to desist. - -The long weary hours of that day passed, but no message, either a -telegram or letter, came from Miss Desmond. Another wire was sent, -asking for a reply. Still none came. Then, later on in the evening, a -message was sent addressed to the housekeeper at Willmar Court, which -quickly brought a reply: "Miss Desmond away. Impossible to forward -messages." - -Mrs. Mandeville told Carol very gently. He did not speak for some time, -and, though he lay with closed eyes, she knew he was not sleeping. - -Then he looked up at her: - -"Auntie, when Jesus was in the boat, and the winds arose, and the waves -surged high around the little boat, Jesus didn't command them at once to -be still. The disciples had to awake him, and he rebuked them for their -little faith. Shouldn't they have waited patiently, knowing it was all -right? Sometimes it seems error has bound me with ropes, and I cannot -move; sometimes it seems like waves washing over me. But I know that -Love is saying to error's angry waves, 'Thus far, and no farther.' And -just at the right moment the command will come: '_Peace, be still_.'" - -Mrs. Mandeville hid her face in the pillow beside him, that he might not -see the tears streaming from her eyes. She had lost again the faith -which for a time had uplifted her to a realization of God's power to -save the boy from death. In imagination she saw a new little grave in -the churchyard with that word "Peace" graven in the marble headstone. -She had been anxious for news from Miss Desmond because Carol wished it -so much. She had little hope or faith that injuries, such as his, could -in any way be alleviated by Miss Desmond's knowledge of Christian -Science. The night passed again, and not for one hour did sleep close -the suffering boy's eyes. He had been unconscious for a time, murmuring -incoherently; but it was not sleep. - -Dr. Burton said very little when he came in the morning; he only looked -graver and sadder. By telegram he had been in constant communication -with Sir Wilfrid Wynne, and he knew that, humanly speaking, nothing more -could be done for the boy than was being done. Yet there was no -progress. - -"How I wish there was something I could do for you, Carol!" Mrs. -Mandeville said, as she sat beside him. - -"Auntie, there is something, if Uncle Raymond will let you have it. I -know I should fall asleep if you read _Science and Health_ to me. I -always used to when I was ill before, and Cousin Alicia read it to me, -even before I began to understand it." - -"I will go to the rectory at once, dear, and ask Uncle for the book. -Promise me to lie with closed eyes; and try not even to think about -anything whilst I am away." - -She would not write, nor send a message, fearing a refusal. As soon as -Nurse came to take her place she left the room, and the house. There was -a path through the park direct to the rectory. It was less than ten -minutes' walk. - -The Rector looked up in astonishment as his sister, hatless and coatless -(it was a chilly September day), entered the room. "What is it, -Emmeline? Is Carol worse?" he asked. Her flushed, distressed face -suggested the question. - -"I do not know if he is worse. He is just as ill as he can be, and is -suffering cruelly. I want you to let me have that book you took from -him, Raymond, _Science and Health_. He thinks if I read it to him he -will fall asleep. He has not slept yet, and this is the third day since -the accident." The Rector's face, which before had been grave and -kindly, now grew stern and resolute. "I am sorry, Emmeline, but I -cannot let you have it. That book will never pass from my hands to his -as long as I am his guardian. He knows too much already of its -pernicious doctrines. Better better--anything than that his faith in -its teachings should be strengthened." - -"Do you mean better that he should die, Raymond?" - -"Yes, Emmeline, better that--even that." - -"Oh, Raymond, how can you hold such a thought? I do not know what the -book is nor what it teaches. But I do know what is the fruit of it; and -who was it said, 'A tree is known by its fruit; a corrupt tree cannot -bring forth good fruit'?" - -"We need not discuss that, Emmeline. We both know whose words those are. -Still, I maintain that the teachings of that book, being pernicious, -cannot bring forth good fruit." - -"But, Raymond, is not gentleness, faith and love--such as Carol's--good -fruit? Jesus to him did not live two thousand years ago. He is living -to-day. He is looking to him, as the disciples looked, when the storm -arose at sea. His love and his faith are beautiful to witness. I have -always tried to teach my children the love of God, but Carol possesses -something I have not been able to give them, because I do not possess it -myself. I think it is understanding. He seems to understand the Bible -much better than I do." - -"I am sorry to hear you speak like this, Emmeline. In any difficulty -why do you not come to me? Surely there are books enough here to -explain, or to throw a light on anything that is not clear to you." - -The Rector looked round at his well-filled book-shelves: old books and -new books; works of the early Fathers and the latest theological -treatise. - -"I cannot explain what it is I want, Raymond. I only know I always seem -to be groping after something, and I cannot find it. But when I am -talking to Carol, I seem nearer to it. Raymond, won't you let me have -that book--just for to-day--I will return it to you to-morrow?" - -"No, Emmeline. Not for one hour." - -"You are cruel, Raymond, when the boy is suffering so, and it is all he -asks you. If there were a shop near where I could buy a copy, I would -straightway do so. I will know for myself what the book teaches. I -shall write to Miss Desmond, and ask her to get me a copy." - -"Of course, Emmeline, if you choose to do that, I have no control over -your actions. I have over Carol's, and I shall exercise it." - -Then Mrs. Mandeville broke down and burst into tears. "Perhaps you -won't have power long. Oh, Raymond! You do not realize how ill he is! -If meningitis sets in, Dr. Burton says it will be a matter of only a few -hours. If I were asking for a Buddhist or a Mohammedan book, it would -be right for you to let me have it." - -"No, my dear sister. I am not a believer in the doctrine that the end -justifies the means. I will pray for Carol, and for you too. I am sorry -to see you so overwrought." - -"Then you absolutely refuse, Raymond?" - -"I do, Emmeline--absolutely." - -Without a word Mrs. Mandeville turned and left the room. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV.--"HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP." - - -Softly and lightly as Mrs. Mandeville re-entered Carol's room, he heard -her. He had been listening for her footsteps, whilst obedient to her -desire, lying with closed eyelids. - -She was spared the pain of telling him she had been unsuccessful. He -read it in her face. - -"Auntie, dear, please don't look so troubled. Uncle Raymond does not -understand. It is quite all right. Love can always find a way." Mrs. -Mandeville almost smiled through her unshed tears. How great was her -love for the boy, yet she could think of no way by which what he wanted -could be immediately procured. Even she did not fully realize how he -was waiting and yearning for that healing touch, which comes - - 'More softly than the dew is shed - Or cloud is floated overhead.' - -Nurse left the room, and Mrs. Mandeville again took her place by the -bedside. - -In less than an hour a maid came to the bedroom door, asking in a -whisper, "Can I speak to you a moment, ma'am?" - -"What is it, Withers?" Mrs. Mandeville asked. - -"A Mr. Higgs from the village is downstairs. He came to inquire after -Master Carol. He said he would like the young gentleman to know he has -walked from the village to the Manor." - -The words were spoken at the door very softly, but Carol heard. - -"Oh, Auntie, I am glad!" he said. "Could Mr. Higgs come here? I should -like to speak to him." - -"Darling, I am afraid it will excite you to see him. The doctor's -orders are that you are to be kept perfectly quiet." - -"It won't excite me, Auntie; and what makes me very happy cannot hurt -me." - -"You may bring Mr. Higgs to see Master Carol since he wishes it so much, -Withers." - -No one but those who were nursing him had been admitted to the room. -The maid was surprised as she took the message, and then brought the old -man to the room. - -"God bless 'ee, Master Carol, God bless 'ee. Aye, I don't know how to -say it often enough, when I think it's all along o' the blessed truth -you taught me I'm free of the rheumatiz. I met Farmer Stubbins on my -way, and he says, 'Why, Higgs, you're walking along quite spry. What's -become o' your rheumatiz?' 'Gone, thank the Lord,' says I, 'never to -return.' 'Oh! and what may you have done to get rid of it?' he asks, -being crippled himself with the same. 'I ain't done nothing,' I -replied. Then I says, 'Farmer Stubbins, you and me was boys together, -and we sang in the village choir. Do you mind there's a verse in the -Psalms--aye, we've sung it many a time; but we just didn't think o' the -words--it was the music we thought about. "He sent His word and healed -them." That's just what the Lord has done. He has sent His word and -healed me, and He sent it by the mouth of one of His dear children.'" - -Carol's face was radiant with joy. Anxiously watching him, Mrs. -Mandeville could not fear that the old man's talk could harm him. - -Then, after fumbling in his coat pocket, he drew forth a little book -carefully folded in soft paper. - -"I've got it, Master Carol. It came this morning--the little book -you've told me about. My daughter wrote for me. We didn't quite know -where to write, so we just addressed the letter: 'Christian Science -Church, London,' and a kind lady has sent me this book. It isn't quite -new, and she writes that I shall value it more if it costs me something. -I am just to pay what I can, and send the money as I am able." - -He was unfolding the paper covering as he spoke, and then held out a -small copy of _Science and Health_. - -"Oh, Auntie, isn't Love beautiful! You see Love _has_ found a way. Mr. -Higgs will lend it to you to read to me a little time--won't you, Mr. -Higgs?" - -"I'll be very happy to, Master Carol." - -Mrs. Mandeville took the book with almost a feeling of awe. It had come -so wonderfully, yet so simply. She thought of the words: "He sent His -angel." - -She pointed to a chair, saying, "Please be seated, Mr. Higgs, whilst I -read. Is there any particular part you would like me to read, Carol?" -she asked, turning over the pages. - -"No, Auntie--just open the book; let Love find the place." - -"Carol, you so frequently speak of Love as of a personality. What do -you mean, dear?" - -"Auntie, God is Love. But when we speak of God, it seems we must bow -our head, and think reverently of the great 'I Am.' But when we speak -of Love--we can just creep into Love's arms, and ask Love anything." - -"Even to find a place in a book," Mrs. Mandeville said with a smile. - -"Yes, Auntie--even that." - -Then she opened the book. It opened at page 494, and the first sentence -she read was: "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every -human need." - -A smile rested on the boy's face, his sufferings were forgotten, as the -dear familiar words fell on his ear. Love had not failed him. - -Mrs. Mandeville never knew afterwards how long she read. She became -entranced, absorbed. - -When she turned to look at him, he was asleep. She quietly rose, and -with one whispered word asked Mr. Higgs to follow her. - -Withers was still waiting without. - -"Take Mr. Higgs to the housekeeper's room, Withers, and ask her to give -him a substantial tea. Then send word to the stables--when he is -ready--I wish Parker to drive him to his home in my basket chaise. It is -only a step from the ground. You will easily get in and out. I am -deeply indebted to you for coming this afternoon, Mr. Higgs. My dear boy -needed sleep so much. It was vitally necessary for him. He was so sure -he would sleep, if I could read _Science and Health_ to him, and I did -not know how to procure a copy of the book." - -"May I leave this with you, ma'am?" - -"If you will be so kind for a day or two." - -"Isn't Love beautiful!" the old man said to himself, repeating Carol's -words, as he followed the maid to the housekeeper's room. - - - - -CHAPTER XV.--LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS REACH COUSIN ALICIA. - - -Carol's sleep lasted two hours. Then he awoke, with something of his -old bright smile. Mrs. Mandeville was still watching beside him. - -"Auntie, I have been asleep." - -"Yes, darling, I know. I have been watching you. It was a beautiful -sleep. I thought as I sat beside you of the words, 'He giveth His -beloved sleep.' I am sure you are better for it." - -"Yes, Auntie, it was lovely, and my back doesn't hurt me quite so much. -But I cannot move my legs yet." - -"Do not try, dear." - -"Did I dream it, Auntie, or were you reading _Science and Health_ to -me?" - -"It was not a dream, dear. Mr. Higgs came and brought the book, and he -has left it with me." - -"I remember now, Auntie. Was it not nice of him to come? Has any -message come yet from Cousin Alicia?" - -"No, love; I cannot understand why the letters and telegrams are not -forwarded to her." - -"There is some reason, I know, Auntie. We shall understand by and by." -She gave him some soda and milk, which was all the doctor would let him -have. - -"I should like to see Rosebud, Auntie. Couldn't she come for a little -while?" - -Mrs. Mandeville had already admitted one visitor against orders. Dare -she act on her own responsibility a second time? She began to realize -how much the doctor's fears of developments, which might or might not -follow, were influencing her, though, happily, she was not able to -influence Carol. He had no fear. - -"I think it must be almost Rosebud's bedtime, dear; but she shall come -for a few minutes." - -After sending a message to the nursery for Rosebud, her eye fell on the -medicine bottle. "Oh, Carol, I didn't give you your medicine this -afternoon. It was just time for it when Mr. Higgs came, and afterwards -you were asleep. It is time again for it now. I see it must be fresh -medicine; it is a different color." - -"Auntie, Mr. Higgs was my doctor, this afternoon. The medicine he -brought sent me to sleep, and I do not ache quite so much. Must I take -this drug medicine as well?" - -Mrs. Mandeville had poured out a dose, and now held the glass in her -hand. - -"You are right, Carol. I can see a decided improvement. I will not ask -you to drink this." - -She emptied the contents of the glass away. A few minutes afterwards -Rosebud's sweet voice was piping at the door: - -"Me's 'tome to see Tarol." - -Mrs. Mandeville lifted her up to kiss Carol, very carefully guarding her -from touching him anywhere. - -"You must only kiss Carol, darling." The little arms were about to twine -themselves around him. "Me does 'ove 'ou, Tarol, so welly much." - -The boy would have liked to hold her closely to him, but he could not -raise an arm. - -"It does make me so happy to see Rosebud again, Auntie. Perhaps -to-morrow I shall be able to see all my cousins." - -Mrs. Mandeville did not say, but she thought it would be many -"to-morrows" before he would be strong enough to receive them all in his -room. - -"Now run back to the nursery, darling," she said to the wee girlie. - -"Take a good-night kiss to Sylvia and Estelle, will you Rosebud?" Carol -said. Then she had to be lifted up again to receive a kiss for -"eberybody." - -Mrs. Mandeville sat silent by the bedside for some time after Rosebud -left the room. Then she said in a very low, soft voice, "Do you -remember, Carol, coming to my room one day when I lay prostrate with one -of my bad headaches?" - -"Yes, Auntie; I remember quite well." - -"I was very ungrateful, Carol, I would not let myself acknowledge it was -your little prayer that took it away. Yet I knew it was, for I had -never lost a headache like that before." - -"Yes, Auntie, I knew Christian Science had helped you. But I thought -you did not understand." - -She kissed him very tenderly. "I am not ungrateful any longer, dear. I -acknowledge the debt. Now I must not let you talk any more or Dr. -Burton will insist upon having a trained nurse. He has suggested it -several times." - -"He couldn't keep you away from me, could he, Auntie?" - -"I think he would find it a trifle difficult, dear." - -"But I want you to go downstairs to dinner to-night, Auntie. Uncle will -like to have you, and Nurse will stay with me." - -"Perhaps I will go then, for an hour, dear." - -So, later on, to everyone's surprise Mrs. Mandeville appeared at the -dinner table, and was so bright they all knew, without asking, that -Carol was improving, though he had not been pronounced out of danger. - -Nurse was quietly making all the needful little preparations for the -night when Carol asked her to place the clock where he could see it as -he lay in bed. - -"The nights seem so long when I cannot sleep, Nurse. I like to watch -the fingers of the clock, then I know how long it will be before the -light can peep through the curtains." - -Nurse found a position where he could see it quite well, even though he -could not raise his head from the pillows. Then, standing over him, she -said: "Dearie, you are in pain. Couldn't I ease your position just a -little?" - -"No, Nurse, please don't touch me, the bruises seem so real. I ought to -be able to deny them, and I cannot." - -"And would it make them better to deny them, Master Carol?" - -"Oh, yes, Nurse. You are thinking the bruises are very sore and -painful, are you not?" - -Yes, Nurse was decidedly dwelling in thought upon the pain the boy must -be suffering from such a bruised condition. - -"If you could think, Nurse, that there is no sensation in matter, that -the pain is all in mind: in my mind and your mind, and Auntie's and the -doctor's. You are all thinking how I must be suffering. If only -someone would help me to deny it!" - -"I wish I could, Master Carol." - -But it was double Dutch to Nurse to try to understand that the pain was -in mind, and not in the poor bruised body. - -It was half-past nine when she moved the time-piece so that Carol could -see it, and he at once began to count how many hours it would be till -morning. At ten o'clock Mrs. Mandeville returned to the room, followed -by Dr. Burton. Nurse held up a warning finger as they entered: the boy -was asleep. - -"This is splendid! How long has he slept?" the doctor asked. - -"It was just after half-past nine, sir. He seemed in great pain, I -thought there was no hope of sleep for him, and all at once he just -dropped off without a word." - -It was such a beautiful sleep, calm, peaceful, untroubled by fret or -moan. Mrs. Mandeville and the doctor watched beside him an hour; then -the doctor left, and Mrs. Mandeville was persuaded to go to her own room -for a night's rest, leaving Nurse in charge. They did not know, nor -could they have understood had they known, how, far away, a woman, 'clad -in the whole armour of God,' was fighting for him: fighting error with -'the sword of the Spirit.' - -Letters and telegrams had at last reached Cousin Alicia. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI.--"IT IS A MIRACLE." - - -The next morning about eight o'clock, Nurse came to Mrs. Mandeville's -room, an expression of amazement, almost of consternation, on her face. - -"What is it, Nurse? Is Master Carol worse?" Mrs. Mandeville asked in -alarm. - -"No, ma'am; I cannot say he is worse. He says he is well, and wants to -get up for breakfast. He slept all through the night, just as you left -him, and never wakened till half-past seven this morning. He is -certainly not feverish or delirious, but he talks so strangely. He says -error has all gone, and he is free. I had quite a difficulty to prevent -him from getting out of bed to come to you. I have sent a messenger for -Dr. Burton." - -"That is right, Nurse. Go back to him. I will come at once." Mrs. -Mandeville was not long slipping into a morning wrap, and following -Nurse to Carol's room. - -As soon as she reached the bedside, he sprang up, and held her in a -close embrace, both arms round her neck. "Auntie, Auntie, isn't it -beautiful? I am free! Error has quite gone. I know Cousin Alicia has -had the telegrams now. You can rub your hand down my back. It does not -hurt me now, nor the bruises." - -"Carol, dear, I cannot understand it. It seems so wonderful. I am -afraid you ought not to be sitting up like this." - -"Oh, Auntie, there is nothing to be afraid about. Error cast out cannot -come back again. I am so hungry. I do want to get up to breakfast." - -"Darling, you must lie still until Dr. Burton has seen you. I could not -consent for you to get up yet. It does indeed seem beautiful for you to -be so much better, I cannot realize it, and I cannot understand, Carol, -why Miss Desmond's prayers for you should be so quickly answered, when I -am sure I love you just as dearly. I prayed for you, and Uncle Raymond -prayed, yet--yet I cannot feel that our prayers helped you." - -She had tenderly laid him back upon the pillow. She could not get rid -of the fear that it was not good for him to be using his back. - -He was silent a few minutes, the old thoughtful expression on his face -which she knew so well. Then he said: - -"Auntie, the sun was shining this morning long before Nurse drew aside -the curtains, and let the light into my room. Suppose while the curtain -was drawn I had kept saying, 'Please, dear sun, do shine into my room, -and send the darkness away.' It would have had no effect. It would -have been foolish, wouldn't it? Well, Auntie, the light of Truth, like -the sunlight is everywhere, but we can shut it out of our consciousness -by a curtain of false beliefs. Cousin Alicia has not asked God to make -me better. She has just known that God's child is always perfect. As -Nurse drew aside the curtain to let in the sunlight, she has drawn aside -the curtain of false beliefs that were around me, and then Truth came -and healed me. Jesus said 'the Truth shall make you free.' It is just -as true, Auntie, as if he had said, 'When light appears, darkness -disappears.' Wherever Truth appears, error shall flee away, because it -is not from God. It is the opposite of God's law. I love that beautiful -verse of the hymn more than I have ever loved it, because I can say -again: - - 'The healing of the seamless dress - Is by our beds of pain.' - -Christ is Truth, and Truth is the Christ. I was asleep when he came to -me. But just as Jesus spoke to the angry waves the Christ has commanded -error, 'Peace, be still.' Oh, Auntie! cannot you believe I am quite -well? 'I am the Father's perfect child. I have the gift from God, -dominion over all.'" - -She was longing to realize that it was as the boy said, and she had -nothing to fear. Yet it was difficult. - -Dr. Burton was out when the messenger from the Manor went for him. He -had not returned from a night case to which he had been summoned. Mrs. -Burton promised that he would go immediately on his return. Shortly -after ten o'clock Dr. Burton arrived, expecting to find from the urgent -message that had reached him a change for the worse in his patient. He -was considerably taken aback as he entered the room to hear a ripple of -laughter, and the boy with a radiant face, sitting upright in bed, who, -the day before, had not been able to raise his head from the pillow. - -"What does this mean?" Dr. Burton asked in a tone of voice in which -surprise became almost consternation. - -"I cannot tell you anything, Doctor, except that Carol slept all night -and woke this morning feeling quite well and hungry. He has had a -fairly substantial breakfast," Mrs. Mandeville said. The doctor then -thoroughly examined him, felt his pulse, took his temperature, and when -he looked on the places where the terrible bruises had been, and saw -only a faint discoloration, he said: - -"It is a miracle!" - -"No, Doctor," said Carol, quietly, "it is Christian Science." - -"Then what is Christian Science?" the doctor asked. - -But the boy was silent. He could talk to his aunt on the subject, but -not to the doctor. - -At that moment a maid brought a telegram to Mrs. Mandeville. It was -from Miss Desmond. She read it, and passed it on to Dr. Burton. It was -brief: "Letters and telegrams reached me 9.30 last evening. Regret -unavoidable delay. Kindly wire if all is well. Letter to Carol -follows." The doctor and Mrs. Mandeville simply looked at each other in -speechless wonderment, one thought engrossing them. It was shortly -after 9.30 the night before that Carol fell into the sleep from which he -had awakened well. - -"It is at last a message from Cousin Alicia," Mrs. Mandeville then said -to Carol. "Our letters and telegrams did not reach her till 9.30 last -evening." - -"Yes, Auntie, I knew it, and I know she has worked for me all night." - -Both Mrs. Mandeville and the doctor would have liked to understand what -the boy meant by that one word "worked." But neither questioned him -then. - -"I can get up now, Doctor, cannot I?" Carol asked. - -"Yes, there is no reason that I can see for keeping you in bed. All the -same," turning to Mrs. Mandeville, "I should say he may as well be kept -fairly quiet for a day or two--not commence running races, or any other -juvenile sports." - -"You can trust me, Doctor," Mrs. Mandeville remarked, smiling. - -"It seems to me you should consult the lady who has worked for him all -night with such marvellous success. I can scarcely consider him my -patient now." - -"Doctor, I thank you very much for all you tried to do for me. You were -very kind and gentle to me." - -"Tut-tut, boy! Why, that's of course." - -All the same the doctor was pleased with the boy's simple recognition of -his services. He would indeed have done more, had he been able. He -walked home slowly and thoughtfully, pondering that question, which he -had asked the boy, thinking of a lecture which he had given a few weeks -before in a crowded parish room; how he himself had answered the -question--What is Christian Science?--to the convulsive amusement of his -audience. He had dipped into a book--the text-book of Christian -Science--made copious extracts and so satisfied himself that he -understood the subject sufficiently to be able to warn people against -the teachings of Christian Science. - -Mrs. Burton was watching for his return. She was anxious for news of the -boy, fearing the early message which had been sent for the doctor must -mean that he was worse. By her side, in the garden, seated in a little -wheel-chair, was her only child, a girl of ten, who after a fall -downstairs when she was five years old, causing an injury to her spine, -had lost the use of her legs. There seemed no hope of her ever being -able to walk again, since all the doctors who had seen her had not been -able to do anything for her. - -"How is the boy?" asked Mrs. Burton, as the doctor entered the garden in -front of the house. - -"He is well," was the brief reply. - -"You don't mean?--" Mrs. Burton began in an alarmed tone. - -"I mean exactly what I say--the boy is well." - -"But, dear, how can that be, when he was so ill yesterday?" - -"I cannot tell you. He says it is Christian Science. I say it is a -miracle." - -"Father, he won't lose the use of his legs, will he?" the little girl -asked. - -"No, Eloise, I think there will be no such effects from the fall, as -unhappily there were in your case." - -"I am glad, Father, he is such a nice, kind boy!" - -The child had grieved, fearing that he might be crippled like herself. - -"Christian Science must be different from what you described at the -lecture, dear. Do you think I might go and see Carol? I should like to -hear from him what it is that has made him well so quickly. I owe Mrs. -Mandeville a call." - -"Go and pay it, then. Perhaps the boy will talk to you. He did not -seem to care to answer my questions." - -The doctor passed into the house with the thought that he would borrow -that book again, and see if he could get a better understanding of the -subject himself. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII.--MRS. BURTON VISITS CAROL. - - -Shortly after the doctor left Carol's room, the maid entered to say the -Rector was downstairs. Could he come up? - -"I will speak with the Rector before he comes upstairs," Mrs. Mandeville -said, and left the room for that purpose. - -The news had reached the Rector that Dr. Burton had been sent for early -that morning, and he also surmised that the boy must be worse. But the -servants had assured him that such was not the case before Mrs. -Mandeville joined him in the library. - -"What is this I hear about Carol, Emmeline? He is not worse, yet you -sent for Dr. Burton before breakfast. I felt quite alarmed." - -"We could not understand it, Raymond. I must confess to feeling afraid -it was not true. Carol is quite well. Dr. Burton admits it. He says -it is a miracle. Carol says it is Christian Science. Dear Raymond, I -want to beg you before you see Carol not to say anything to shake his -faith. It is so beautiful." - -"His faith in what? In that heresy called Christian Science, which is -neither Science nor Christian?" - -"Oh, Raymond, I cannot help thinking you are mistaken in your judgment. -I do not, as I told you before, quite understand what Christian Science -is, but this I know, I have never met a character so Christ-like as -Carol's. All day yesterday he lay in such pain from those terrible -bruises, and the injury to his spine and head, that we could not move -him in the effort to ease his position without increasing the pain. -To-day it is all gone. What has taken it away? He says the -Christ--Truth has come to him and healed him. If we believe Jesus' -words: 'Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world'--why -should it not be true? Cannot the spiritual Christ say as Jesus so often -said, 'According to your faith be it unto you'?" - -"Of course! But that is not Christian Science." - -"Yes, Raymond, that is what Carol seems to have learned from Christian -Science. Heaven to him is not a far-off locality, it is here--all around -him, and God is ever-present Love. His one thought--his one desire -seems to be to possess that Mind which was also in Christ Jesus. What -can you say against such teaching?" - -The Rector had evidently nothing to say. He remarked briefly, "If I may, -I will go up and see the boy now. I am pressed for time." - -"Yes, Raymond, he will be pleased to see you." - -She let him go alone, and did not afterwards inquire what had passed -between the boy and his uncle. - -Later in the day Mrs. Mandeville took Percy to Carol's room. The boy -had begged so frequently to be allowed to see his cousin. "Just to tell -him I am sorry," he said. - -Carol had forgotten all about it. - -"Sorry for what, dear Percy?" he inquired, when Percy, in faltering -accents, asked to be forgiven. - -"Oh, I think I remember now, Percy, you said something that was not -quite kind, but I knew at the time that you did not mean it. So why -should we remember any more about it?" - -"You are just the bravest fellow I know, Carol. I have told all the -boys at school how you stood and faced the bull. They think a -tremendous lot of you for it. So it won't matter when you come with us -if you can't play football or cricket. You will be the hero of the -school." - -Then Mrs. Mandeville left the boys together for a little while. Percy -was only too delighted to be able to tell Carol of all that was -happening at school, the matches that had been played, and those that -were to come off shortly. - -When Mrs. Burton called that same afternoon, she expressed her great -desire to see and talk with Carol. Mrs. Mandeville readily assented, -remarking that she felt sure Carol would be delighted to see her. As -there were other visitors present, she was not able to accompany her -herself. A maid therefore conducted her to Carol's room. Nurse was -sitting with him. As Mrs. Burton intimated that she had come to have a -little talk with Master Carol, she left the room. - -"Eloise sends her love to you, dear Carol. She is so happy to know you -are so wonderfully better. We feared so much that you, too, might be -crippled for life, as she has been, by a fall. The spinal concussion -caused her to lose the use of her legs. We have consulted the first -specialists, but they have never been able to do anything for her. When -the doctor told me this morning how miraculously you have been healed, I -felt I must come and ask you to tell me something about it. Tell me, -dear Carol, what is Christian Science?" - -The boy looked up, but not at Mrs. Burton. That far-away dreamy look -came to his eyes, which his cousins knew so well. It was such a big -question to try to answer. It seemed minutes before he spoke. Then he -said: "I think Christian Science means knowledge--a knowledge of God; -and as we gain this knowledge we draw nearer to Him. Cousin Alicia used -to tell me we are all God's children, but we have wandered so far away -from Him. We are prodigals, dwelling in that far country where we are -fed, like the swine, on husks. Christian Science just teaches us the -way back to our Father's house; and as we find the road and walk in it, -we lose the evils that tormented us. Jesus was our elder brother who -never left his Father's house. Although he lived on earth, it was still -his Father's house, because he lived always in the consciousness of -good. And that is what we have to try to do. It seemed easier when I -was with Cousin Alicia." - -There was just a note of sadness and regret in the boy's voice. - -"What a beautiful thought, Carol, 'living in the consciousness of good.' -But, dear, how can we do it, with sickness, sorrow, and sin, all around? -When I look at my wee girlie, I can never know joy or happiness; her -young life to be so cruelly blighted through the carelessness of a maid. -Every child I see running about free and happy is like a dagger in my -heart, as I know that she should be the same." - -"When Cousin Alicia came from America after my mother's death, I was -very ill, and the doctors said I could never be better. But she knew -that I could. She said, 'You are God's child, dear Carol, and all God's -children are spiritual, and therefore perfect. Awake from this dream of -suffering and pain.' Every day she used to talk to me, until she led me -to understand what it is to live in the consciousness of good, and then -I was well." - -"Oh, Carol, it seems too wonderful to be true! Do you think that -something might be done for my little girl?" - -"Why, of course. I am sure if you will take her to my home, Cousin -Alicia will teach her as she taught me. She is always so happy to teach -people about Christian Science. Shall I write and tell her you will take -Eloise to her?" - -"Thank you, dear Carol, but I think, perhaps, before you write, I must -ask Dr. Burton. If he is willing, I will gladly take my little girl to -Miss Desmond." - -Mrs. Burton did not stay much longer. On leaving, she tenderly kissed -Carol. "Dear boy, you have given me hope. You cannot think what it has -been to a mother's heart to be so long hopeless," she said. - -The little crippled Eloise was watching from her nursery window for her -mother's return. Mrs. Burton went straight to her. - -"Have you seen Carol, Mother?" she asked. - -"Yes, darling, and I have had such a sweet talk with him. He has made -me so happy. I seem to see you running about like other children." - -"Oh, Mother, wouldn't that be lovely! And is he really well?" - -"It seems so, dear. Mrs. Mandeville is keeping him quietly in his own -room to-day. But he seemed so well and happy. He wants me to take you -into Devonshire to stay with his cousin. He says she will teach us what -she has taught him--and then--Oh, Eloise, my darling, you, too, would be -well and strong, no longer a little crippled girl." - -"What is it, Mother, that he has been taught?" - -"It seems something so wonderful and beautiful, dear. He says that -dwelling in the consciousness of good is dwelling in our Father's house, -but, like the prodigal son in the parable, we have wandered away into -that far country where all sorts of evils can befall us. My girlie, we -will try to find our way together into this happy understanding of good -which causes the fetters to fall. I will speak to Father to-night and -ask him to let me take you." - -"Do--_do_, please, Mother." - -Mrs. Burton waited that evening until it was past the hour for patients -to call at the surgery. Then she went to her husband's consulting-room. - -The doctor was sitting at his desk, an open letter before him. His pen -was in his hand, but he was not writing. The answer to the letter -seemed to require much thought. It was only partly written. - -"Are you very busy, dear?" Mrs. Burton said, softly twining one arm -around his neck. She was almost nervous. It was a great request she was -about to proffer. She did not quite know how it would be received. - -"Not particularly, love, if you want anything. What is it?" - -"I want to tell you I had a beautiful talk with Carol this afternoon, -and he is so kind as to ask me to take Eloise to stay with his cousin at -his home in Devonshire, that she--that she might teach us what she has -taught him. You know, dear, we have done everything we can--there is no -other hope for her." - -"And you think there may be hope in this--Christian Science?" - -"I feel sure of it--since I have seen Carol." - -The doctor smiled. The humor of the situation struck him. He pointed -to the open letter on his desk. - -"That letter," he said, "is from the Vicar of B-- asking me to give in -his Parish Room the lecture which I gave at B--." - -"Oh!" There was an accent of pain in Mrs. Burton's voice. "You are not -going to?" - -"Why do you object? The lecture was well received, you remember." - -"Yes, but even at the time when the people laughed and applauded, it -seemed to hurt me. I couldn't help thinking if these people, who call -themselves Christian Scientists, believe so absolutely in the Christ -healing, it was what the early Christians believed, and practised, and -they were persecuted. When Christ spoke to Saul of Tarsus, he did not -say, 'Why persecutest thou my followers?' He said 'Why persecutest thou -_me_?' - -"So I felt that night that the laughter and ridicule of all in the room -were as stones thrown not at people, but at the Christ. Don't tell me, -dear, that you are going to give that lecture again." - -"I am not. That boy's radiant face would come between me and any -audience I might think to address. I have commenced a letter to the -Vicar, telling him I feel I cannot lecture on the subject again." - -"And I may take Eloise to Willmar Court?" - -"You may. Should she regain the use of her legs, as a result of the -visit, I will espouse the Cause I once derided. After witnessing -Carol's marvellous recovery, it does not seem impossible." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII.--HAPPY THOUGHTS. - - -After Mrs. Burton left Carol, Edith came and had tea with him, and after -tea all his cousins were allowed to visit him for a little time. They -could not understand how the sadness and gloom in the house had been -dispelled. It was like the sun shining through clouds on a rainy day. -He was so bright and happy, just their own dear Carol again. There was -one subject of which he never spoke to his cousins; so they could not -know why, the day before, the house was hushed, and he could not be seen -because he was so ill, and to-day there seemed nothing at all the matter -with him. - -When Mrs. Mandeville went the round of the children's rooms after -dinner, she found Carol waiting for her in the old way, just as if there -had been no break, no agony of sorrow and suspense. - -"I hoped to find you asleep, darling," she said. "Has it been too much -excitement having so many in your room?" - -"Oh, no, Auntie. I loved to see them all again. I have had such happy -thoughts. Isn't it nice to be kept awake by happy thoughts? Happy -thoughts are good thoughts, and good thoughts come from God. Shall I -tell you, Auntie, dear, what I have been thinking about?" - -"Wouldn't it be better to tell me in the morning, dearie? It is rather -late for a little boy who was an invalid only yesterday to be kept awake -even by happy thoughts." - -"I would rather tell you to-night, Auntie. You do not quite understand, -do you, that when error is cast out, it is done with, and we do not need -to remember anything about it." - -"Then tell me, love, what you have been thinking about." - -"I began first of all, Auntie, thinking about Peter." - -Mrs. Mandeville's thoughts at once went to the stables, where one of the -horses was named Peter. - -"Peter, dear?" Just a note of surprise in her voice. - -"Yes, Auntie, when Jesus called Peter to come to him on the water, at -first he was not afraid, and he got out of the boat to go to him. Then -he began to be afraid, and as soon as fear crept in, he began to sink. -Auntie, I was just like that. At first I was not afraid of the bull. I -knew God had given me dominion, and I was trying to realize it. Then -the moment I began to be afraid, the bull tossed me. As I was thinking -of this perhaps I fell asleep, and it was a dream. But it was so real. -I seemed to see Peter standing by the bed, but he didn't look like the -picture in the stained-glass window, and he spoke so kindly and gently. -'Little brother,' he said, 'you have not learned to trust the Master -yet.' It was just as if he remembered there was a time when his faith -had failed. I wanted to ask him something, but he was not there, and I -was quite wide awake. May it perhaps be, Auntie, that as Christ 'walks -life's troubled angry sea,' they are with him, those disciples who were -always with Jesus, especially Peter, and James, and John; and they are -working now, doing his bidding, as they did it in Galilee, watching over -and helping those who are still fighting?" - -"It may be, Carol, we cannot tell. It seems that events which happened -two thousand years ago are to you but as yesterday." - -"Why, yes, Auntie; time in God's kingdom is not measured by years and -weeks and months. I shall just love now to think about Peter, and know -that my faith will grow stronger, as his did. There are many people who -would not have been afraid of the bull. Cousin Alicia told me of a lady -in India who, one day, came quite close to a cobra. But she was not -afraid, and as she stood quite still and looked at it, the cobra coiled -itself into a heap and went to sleep. Then she told me of a gentleman -who was shooting game in Africa, and once he was in a position when he -could not fire, and a leopard was only a few yards from him, but the -animal did not attack him, it ran away into the desert. The lady and -the gentleman knew and realized that they had dominion; I hope I shall -understand it better some day, and not be afraid of anything." - -"You have been taught some strange things, Carol, still they are -beautiful; it seems almost too beautiful to be true." - -"Oh, Auntie, nothing can be too beautiful to be true, because only good, -and good is always beautiful, is real; evil, and evil is always ugly, is -unreal." - -"Carol, darling, I wish I could believe that. You are leading me in -strange paths. I must not let you talk any more to-night. I am quite -sure that it is time a little boy, who has lost so much sleep lately, -tried to make up for it." - -But as she bent over him to kiss him, he clung both arms around her -neck, keeping her a willing captive for some minutes longer. - -"Auntie, I am so longing for Cousin Alicia's letter," were his last -words as she left the room. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX.--THE REASON OF THE DELAY. - - -The next morning Carol rose at his usual time, and breakfasted with his -cousins in the school-room. Miss Markham looked at him with puzzled -eyes, especially when he told her he was quite ready to begin lessons -again. She could not understand it. There seemed to be some mystery -connected with his marvellous recovery from what everybody believed to -be serious injuries. She took the opportunity, when his cousins were -out of the room, to ask him quietly, "What has made you well so quickly, -Carol?" - -"Ask Auntie, please, Miss Markham, I am not allowed to talk about it," -he replied. Miss Markham's wonderment was considerably increased, for -Mrs. Mandeville had only told her, when the boy first came to the Manor, -that he had been taught religious tenets which were altogether -unorthodox. She did not then connect that remark with the boy's quick -recovery. He often made remarks which surprised her. Sometimes she -pondered over a remark he had made, and found there was more in it than -at first had appeared. If she attempted to draw him out by questions, -he became strangely silent and reserved. Once, it was during a history -lesson, Carol exclaimed, "But evil could have no power, Miss Markham, if -everyone knew that God--good--governs. If we had no belief in evil, -evil could not hurt us." - -Thinking over the words afterwards, Miss Markham admitted to herself -that to acknowledge the omnipotence of God, must deprive evil of any -power. But she wondered how it was Carol had come to see it so clearly. -She could not, however, draw him to talk any more on the subject. After -breakfast Mrs. Mandeville came to the school-room with the longed-for -letter in her hand, and, as permission was readily given, Carol went to -his own room to read it. Eagerly he broke open the envelope, and read: - -"WILLMAR COURT, - SOUTH DEVON. - -"_My dear, dear Carol,_ - -"The telegram in answer to mine this morning has just arrived. I waited -for it before commencing my letter to you. I rejoice for you, Truth has -triumphed, error has fallen. When I returned to the Court last night, -after being absent since Saturday afternoon, I found telegrams and -letters awaiting me. On learning that the first telegram asking for -help for you was more than three days old, I had to fight error on my -own account, before I could fight it on yours. How quick error is to -find the weak parts of our armor. My human love for you, darling, -opened wide the portals, and a crowd of wrong thoughts rushed in. I -found myself wondering why it should have so happened that I should be -away, when I seemed most wanted, and under circumstances which made it -impossible for the telegrams to be sent on. - -"Then, in this sudden tempest of doubts and fears which had rushed upon -me, came the words, calm, sweet, tender: 'I, if I, be lifted up, will -draw all men unto me.' And I knew, I was absolutely sure, however great -were the sense sufferings, Carol had held steadfastly to Truth: the -Christ was lifted up; and, though he may not know it, some human heart -has been drawn nearer the eternal Truth, Christ. - -"Then I commenced to work for you, and when the roseate hues of early -morning began to steal into the room, the knowledge came to me that -there was nothing more to fight--error was overcome. All is well, even -the delay which at first seemed altogether wrong. Now I will tell you -the reason of it. On Saturday afternoon I was driving your pony in the -small basket carriage, which you so often used. (Since they cannot have -their little master, both Bob and the pony think the next best thing is -to take me about.) I am becoming well acquainted with all the beautiful -lanes in the neighborhood, for I frequently take these little -excursions. - -"We were three or four miles from home, when, in a very narrow lane, -where it was impossible to pass another vehicle, we met a farmer, -driving a dog-cart. The farmer showed his reluctance to be the one to -back out of the lane. He accosted me with these words: 'Ma'am, I am in -great haste; it is a matter of life and death.' - -"'Indeed,' I said, 'is it the doctor you are in haste to reach?' - -"'No,' he replied, briefly, 'the doctor has given her up. It is the -lady that lives at Willmar Court I want to see.' - -"'Then you have not far to go,' I said. 'She is here. What is your -trouble?' Then he told me that his only child, a girl of seven, was -believed to be dying. The doctor gave no hope of saving her. 'It seems -the news of your beautiful healing has spread through the neighboring -villages, and the grief-stricken parents of this little girl thought -there might be hope for her.' - -"I told the farmer I would go with him, and straightway sent Bob home -with the pony, bidding him to tell the servants I should return as soon -as possible, but not to trouble if I did not return that night. - -"As soon as we had backed out of the lane, the farmer drove furiously, -and it was not long before we reached his homestead. I found the belief -of death so strong surrounding the child, that it seemed necessary to -remain there. - -"In two days it was overcome, but I stayed another day to give the -wearied mother a good rest. The farmer drove me home last night, when I -found everyone sadly troubled. They had begun to fear I was never going -to return, and Bob could not give them any idea as to who had driven -away with me. The letters and telegrams from Mandeville naturally added -to their anxiety. - -"Now, all is well: Good was governing--Love leading all the time. I -cannot yet understand how it was the bull tossed you. Were you not able -to realize your dominion? or was it the mesmerism of fear that seized -you? Mrs. Mandeville mentions in her letter that you stood between your -little cousins and the bull. My dear boy, of course you would! I could -not imagine your doing otherwise. Doubtless the nurse's fear and the -cries of the little girls affected you--the contagion of thought. Had -you been quite alone, I feel so sure that you would have been able to -realize your God-given dominion. - -"Tell me more when you write (I am longing for a letter) of the old man -and his little grand-daughter. Work always comes to willing hands and -loving hearts, and what work is, or ever can be, so beautiful as work -for the Master in His Vineyard. Never think any service little. Merely -carrying even a cup of cold water will in no case lose its reward. But -the joy of working--_of being allowed to work_--is sufficient. We do -not look to the reward. - -"With loving thoughts, - Believe me always, dear Carol, - Your affectionate cousin, - ALICIA DESMOND." - -Before returning to the school-room, Carol sought his aunt in her -morning-room. After reading his letters, he always took them to her, -and asked her to read them too. They were not, perhaps, always as -intelligible to her as they were to the boy, but they never failed to -interest her. She was conscious of a growing desire to know the writer, -whom she had never met. Later in the day Carol received another letter, -delivered by hand. It was from Mrs. Burton, joyfully telling him the -doctor was willing for her to take Eloise into Devonshire to his cousin. - -He wrote immediately to Miss Desmond, asking her if she would invite -Mrs. Burton and her little daughter to the Court, explaining the reason. -He knew the invitation would not be long in coming. - - - - -CHAPTER XX.--"LIGHT AT EVENTIDE." - - -On the following Sunday evening Carol appeared at Mr. Higgs' cottage at -the usual time. - -It seemed almost impossible to believe there had been a break, and that -for three days he had lain, to mortal sense, between life and death. So -entirely had the cloud rolled away, it was difficult to realize it had -ever darkened the horizon. - -"I wasn't expecting you, Master Carol, but I'm right glad to see you. -It do seem so wonderful that just this time last Sunday all the village -was waiting for news from the Manor, and I was that sad thinking I'd -never have you come to see me again. The Rector prayed for you in -church. I was there for the first time for well-nigh two years. 'Well, -well,' I said to myself, 'if the Lord takes him, His will be done.' -But, oh, I prayed as I've never prayed since we lost our first child -that He wouldn't." - -"You do not understand then yet that death can never be God's will. -Didn't Jesus say, 'I am come that they might have life, and that they -might have it more abundantly'? If Jesus came to bring us life, does -not that show that God never sends death?" - -"Well, Master Carol, as you put it, maybe it is so, but I'm an old man, -and it's what I was taught as a boy, and the belief's grown up wi' me, -and somehow I wouldn't like to give up the thought. It's the only thing -that makes the parting bearable--to think God wills it. We put it on -the headstone where we laid our little girl. _Thy will be done_. Aye, -I've stood and looked at them words many a time, and they sort o' -comforted me. She was our first-born." - -"There is another verse which says 'to know God is everlasting life.' -In everlasting life there can be no death, can there? Just think of -this: If the sun were never hidden, and you could keep your eyes -steadfastly on the light, you would have no knowledge of darkness--you -would not understand it or believe in it. In the same way when we -understand that God is ALL, we must lose the thought of and belief in -death. There is no death to those that know we live and move and have -our being in God-Life. Death could not steal one of God's ideas--His -children--and destroy it. What seems to die is not God's child. What -you buried in the churchyard was not your little girl, and what they -cast into the sea, was not my father. They are still living. It is only -that we do not see them. You know Jesus says, 'In my Father's house are -many mansions.' They have passed on to another mansion--that is all. -My cousin has taught me that the mansions Jesus spoke of are not afar -off in a locality called Heaven. We are to-day--you and I--dwelling in -one of God's mansions, and it is a higher or a lower mansion according -as we dwell in the consciousness of good. We have to take all the steps -up to that special place which Jesus has gone to prepare for us. If we -are not ready for it, we shall not be able to enter it, even if we have -passed through the door called death. We have to fight and overcome all -that separates us from God. Jesus overcame everything. He put sin and -disease under his feet, and we have just to follow in his steps, knowing -that he prepared the way, and is helping us all the time. Perhaps you -did not think when you had rheumatism that it was a shadow between you -and God, did you? You thought it was God's will for you." - -"That's true, Master Carol. I just bowed down to it, thinking God chose -to afflict me for some special purpose." - -"I knew it was not so, when I tried to help you. I always saw you -perfect, as God made you, and you know the shadow disappeared. When I -lay in bed a few days ago, and couldn't move, the bruises seemed so -real, and the pain very great, I couldn't think of them as shadows, but -my cousin was able to do it for me, and all disappeared. Neither my -aunt nor the doctor seemed able to believe it at first, because they do -not understand. Won't it be a happy day when everyone understands that -Truth destroys disease; and when little children have hip-disease -doctors won't hurt them to try to make them better, as they did me?" - -"Did they really?" - -"Yes, and the operation did not make me better. But we will not talk -about it. I ought not to remember anything about it. It was all error. -Shall we have the chapter again from St. John which tells us 'In my -Father's house are many mansions'?" - -"Aye, I mind that chapter well. The words just sink down into my heart, -and stir up something there, and I've wanted to understand them better. -I've thought a lot about it since the last time you talked to me. I -know He is faithful who promised, the 'works that I do shall he do -also.' As I said before, I'm an old man, Master Carol, and I've been -looking for it all my life. Why, I've asked myself, don't His servants -and ministers give us the signs He promised?" - -"And now what you have been looking for all these years has come--the -light at eventide," Carol said softly, looking beyond the old man with -eyes that seemed unconscious of the crimson of the setting sun, as he -caught a glimpse of that marvellous light which 'never was, on land or -sea'--spiritual understanding. - -"You have been healed, and your little grand-daughter, and I, too, in -the way the Master commanded." - -"Aye, it's true, Master Carol. I feel like saying, 'Lord, now lettest -thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy -salvation.' It is His salvation. Maybe when you have read me that -chapter from the Bible, you'll read me some pages of the little book -which seems to make things clearer to me, and helps me to understand the -Bible better." - -"I am sorry, I may not," Carol said regretfully, looking at the little -book which lay beside the old man's Bible. "My uncle has taken my copy -of the book away because he did not wish me to read it. It would not be -honorable to read from another copy. It will be given back to me -sometime. I do not know how or when. Auntie asked me not to stay long -this evening, so I will read the chapter now." - -"My daughter'll be sorry she missed coming in. We didn't expect you -to-night, Master Carol. She's very grateful to you; her little girl -seems quite well now. There's been no return o' the fits. An' my -rheumatiz is quite the talk o' th' village. What's took it away? First -one and then another asks. When I tell 'em th' Lord's healed me--well, -well, they just look at me, as if they thunk th' rheumatiz has gone to -my head and turned my brain. Farmer Stubbins says he's coming in one -night to have a talk with me, for he's tried many remedies, but his -rheumatiz keeps getting worse." - -"Give him the little book to read, or tell him to get one for himself," -Carol said. Then he read again the chapter he had once before read. At -the end he closed the book without comment. - -Brightly wishing the old man good-night, he left the cottage. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI.--JOYFUL NEWS FROM ELOISE. - - -Miss Desmond gladly acceded to Carol's desire, and wrote to Mrs. Burton -at once to bring her little girl to stay with her. - -They left for Devonshire the following week. A month passed before -Carol received the promised letter from Eloise. During the time Miss -Desmond wrote to him as usual, but beyond mentioning the pleasure it was -to her to have his friends staying with her, and what a dear interesting -little girl she found Eloise, she did not give any details of their -visit. At the end of the month the postman brought one morning a -delightfully "fat envelope" addressed to Carol in a round, childish -hand. He knew at once it was the long promised letter from Eloise. -There was also a shorter one enclosed from Mrs. Burton. - -Carol read Eloise's letter first. - -"WILLMAR COURT, - S. DEVON. - -"_My dear Carol,_ - -"I did not forget I had promised to write soon to you. Miss Desmond -seemed to wish me not to write just at first. She said you would -understand. I think she wanted everyone at Mandeville to forget for a -little while all about me. She called it taking their thought off me. - -"Now I have so much to tell you. I do not know how I shall get it all -in one letter. Dear Carol, I am just the very, very happiest little girl -in all the world. I _can walk_. More than that, I can _run_. Isn't it -lovely--wonderful! One night I dreamed that I was walking, and when I -awoke in the morning the dream seemed so real, I felt it must be true. -So I just got out of bed, and I _could walk_. I walked to Mother's -bedside. She was so glad and happy. When we saw dear Miss Desmond at -breakfast time, and I wanted to thank her, and tell her how much I loved -her, she took me to her room, and pointed to a portrait on the wall. -Such a sweet, loving face, with white, wavy hair. 'That, dear Eloise,' -she said, 'is the portrait of the one you must love. I could not have -taken you to the Fountain of Truth to be healed, had she not first shown -me the way.' And oh, Carol, I do love dear Mrs. Eddy. How I wish I -could tell her so! - -"Just for a few days, my legs were so shaky, and I had to keep sitting -down. I only walked about a room. Then I was able to go downstairs. -At the end of a week Miss Desmond and Mother took me the walk you first -took, and I sat down to rest just where you rested on the stump of the -old tree. We waited quite a long time, hoping Birdie would come. And -he did, but he stayed only a minute, chirping--'So glad--so glad.' (It -was just like that.) Then he flew away as if he were in a great hurry, -and that was all he had time to tell us. - -"Miss Desmond said: 'Birdie is always busy about his Father's business.' -Mother looked puzzled, and I too. We could not understand. Then Miss -Desmond said to me, 'God is Birdie's Father too, dear Eloise. Birdie is -a spiritual idea; he has no life apart from God. He has his appointed -work to do in God's Kingdom. All God's ideas reflect Him--reflect Life, -Truth, Love, Goodness. Perhaps Birdie's work is just to voice a note of -joy, of harmony.' - -"That made me think, Carol, if even a little bird has his appointed -task, I, too, must have mine--some work to do for God. I am waiting for -it to be made plain to me. Now I have the desire to do it, Miss Desmond -says, the work is sure to come. Even if it is only a very little thing -at first, I shall be glad to do it. - -"Dear Carol, we are so enjoying staying here, Mother and I. I am so -fond of all your pets, and feed them every day, and talk to them about -you. Before I could walk, Bob used to take me round the grounds in your -pony-carriage, and he always talked so much of you, and the time when he -used to take you about. He will be so glad when you come home again. -All the servants like to hear about you. They love you so much. I have -had to tell them ever so many times about the bull, and how you stood -and faced him, and did not run away. They are so proud of you. 'The -young Master' they call you. I tell Mother, Willmar Court is like a -little kingdom, and you the exiled prince. - -"Father is coming next week to take us home. Until he sees me walking, -I think he cannot quite believe it. He says he wants to have a long -talk with Miss Desmond. - -"With many loving thoughts, dear Carol, I am, - -Your affectionate little friend - ELOISE BURTON. - -"P.S. Mother has helped me just a little with this letter, and now she -is writing to you herself." - - ---- - -Carol could not wait to read Mrs. Burton's letter before giving the -joyful news to Mrs. Mandeville. With both letters in his hand, he ran -to seek his aunt in her morning-room. - -"Auntie, Auntie!" he cried excitedly--"such news! Eloise can walk--more -than that, she can run. Isn't it beautiful?" - -"Really, Carol? Is it really true?" - -"Yes, Auntie, _really_. Will you read Eloise's letter? And oh, may I -tell my cousins?" - -"Tell them that Eloise can walk? Why, certainly, dear." - -"But more than that, Auntie; they will ask what has made her walk, when -every one believed she could never walk again. Mayn't I tell them, -Auntie, Christian Science has done what the doctors couldn't do?" - -"I will think, dear, what you may tell them. Let me see Eloise's letter. -Whilst Mrs. Mandeville read the little girl's letter, Carol opened and -read Mrs. Burton's. - -"WILLMAR COURT, - S. DEVON. - -"_My dear Carol,_ - -"Eloise herself has written the glad news to you that the use of her -legs is perfectly restored. My joyful gratitude is more than can be -expressed in words. Yet it even seems that the blessing of this -wonderful physical healing is small in comparison with the knowledge we -have gained of the Truth, which Jesus said should make us free. Here, -amidst the lovely surroundings of your beautiful home, I have lost my -old concept of God, and gained instead an understanding of Him, as -ever-present Love: infinite Life, Truth, Love. - -"It seemed so soon after I was able to see and realize this that my -little girl was healed. And oh, Carol, the kindness and gentleness with -which dear Miss Desmond has led us up to this understanding, never -letting us for a moment cling to her, pointing always away from -personality to divine Principle. We must be and are very grateful for -her faithful instruction and example, for her life, so consecrated to -God that the promised signs are given: 'They shall lay hands on the -sick, and they shall recover.' I did not at the time understand your -own marvellous recovery from the effects of the encounter with the bull. -I do now, and I feel, dear boy, we owe you intense gratitude. It was -your steadfast faith in the Christ, Truth, which led me to seek -spiritual healing for my little Eloise. The words come to me: 'I, if I -be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.' For me the Christ was lifted -up, and I was drawn unto Him. May my life henceforth so testify that -others may in the same manner be drawn unto Him. - -"Please convey my very kind regards to Mrs. Mandeville. She will, I -know, rejoice with us. - -"Believe me always, dear Carol, - -Yours lovingly, - M. K. BURTON." - -"It is indeed wonderful and beautiful, Carol," Mrs. Mandeville said as -she returned the little girl's letter. I sincerely rejoice with Dr. and -Mrs. Burton. I know what a sad trial Eloise's paralysis has been to -them." - -Then Mrs. Mandeville became aware that Carol was looking up with -anxiously expectant eyes, awaiting an answer to a question. - -"Dear boy," she said, "if you told your cousins that Christian Science -has made Eloise to walk, they would not understand what you meant. -Indeed, I do not quite understand, myself--yet. I will come to the -school-room with you, and perhaps we can explain to them that Eloise has -been healed by faith in the power of God." - -With that Carol had to be satisfied, though he longed to explain that it -was not faith alone, but faith with understanding: the understanding of -God as All-in-all, Omnipotent, Omnipresent Love. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII.--THE RETURN OF ELOISE. - - -When, the following week, Dr. Burton brought his wife and daughter home, -both he and Mrs. Burton gratefully spoke of the Science which had healed -her. The little girl, in her wheel-chair, had been so familiar an -object of compassion to the villagers that, when they saw her walking, -they wanted to know what had brought it about. Then Mr. Higgs -triumphantly held up a little book. - -"It's all in here, bless the Lord," he said. "What's become o' my -rheumatiz, you ask. I don't know what's become o' it. I only know it's -gone. What becomes o' the darkness when you let the sunshine in? I'm -getting to understand it better every day. There's no need to trouble -what's become o' error when you let the Truth in." - -Then he told them of his little grand-daughter, and how she, too, had -lost something. There was no need to say what. All the village had -known of the little girl's sad affliction. Many listened to him, and -looked curiously at the little book, but only a few believed. It was -easier to attribute the healing to nature, or natural causes, than to -spiritual laws. The return of Eloise was a great joy to Carol. She was -able to tell him much that he wanted to know. He so seldom spoke of his -home, Mrs. Mandeville would have been surprised to know how often he had -to fight against a sick longing for the dear scenes of his childhood, -and the cousin-friend who was now the representative of both father and -mother. - -The Burtons arrived home too late for Carol to meet them at the station, -as he intended. - -The next morning he was an early visitor at their house. Eloise had -only just finished breakfast. - -"Oh, Carol!" - -"Oh, Eloise!" - -In a moment the two children were locked in each other's arms. Between -them was a bond of sympathy which neither could have defined, stronger, -more tender, than the tie of human relationship. Then, joyfully, Eloise -began to tell him all about her visit. She had so many messages to -deliver, and Carol had so many questions to ask, it was lunch time -before they were half through. Dr. Burton came in from his rounds. He -told them that he had called at the Manor, and had gained Mrs. -Mandeville's permission to keep Carol for the rest of the day. - -"Thank you so much, Dr. Burton, I am very pleased to stay," Carol said -in answer. - -Dr. Burton laid both hands on the boy's shoulders. - -"My boy," he said gravely, "the pleasure is ours. We owe you a debt of -gratitude we can never hope to repay." - -The words brought a flush of pleasure to Carol's face. He could not -think that he had done anything to deserve such gratitude. - -After lunch, when she found the trunks had been unpacked, Eloise showed -Carol a little book, Miss Desmond's parting gift to her. It was exactly -like the book that had been given to Carol. He took it from Eloise, as -she held it out to him, but immediately laid it down on the table. -"Shall we do part of the Lesson together, Carol? It will be so nice. I -have done part of it every morning with Miss Desmond." - -"Yes, I used to," Carol said, and Eloise detected a note of sadness in -his voice. - -"Do you study it alone now, Carol?" she said. - -"No, I never study it at all, Eloise. I have not a book. The book -Cousin Alicia gave me Uncle Raymond has." - -"Then we can do it together every week from my book, cannot we?" - -"No, Eloise, Uncle Raymond took my book away because he did not wish me -to study it. Until he gives me permission, I cannot read it with you." - -"I am so sorry, Carol. The Rector always speaks so kindly to me when he -sees me, I should not mind asking him to let you have it again--shall I? -Perhaps he does not know how much you want it." - -"Auntie asked him when I was ill, and he would not. I do not think it -would be any use for you to ask him, dear Eloise." - -"And wouldn't you like to have my book sometimes, Carol?" - -"Not without Uncle Raymond's permission. He is my guardian. I must be -obedient to his wishes. Don't look sorry, Eloise. It is all right. We -can only take one step at a time. It is sure to be given back to me -when I am ready to take another step." - -"Will my book be taken away from me? Father and Mother are both pleased -for me to have it." - -"Why, no, Eloise. The lesson I need to learn is perhaps not the lesson -you need. Everyone who comes into Science has something to -overcome--some particular lesson to master, Cousin Alicia said. Mine is -obedience, cheerful, willing obedience, and every victory of Truth over -error makes us stronger." - -Then with the _gaiete de coeur_ of childhood, the subject was dismissed. -Eloise quickly proposed going to the garden where they spent the -afternoon, Carol teaching her to play croquet. Peals of merry laughter -reached Mrs. Burton as she sat at an open French window, causing her -heart anew to overflow with loving gratitude to the One who had "sent -His word," and her child was made whole. - -When Mrs. Mandeville paid her usual visit to Carol's room that night, -she found him with wide-open eyes, a flush of excitement on his cheeks. -"I have had such a happy day, Auntie," he said. "I do love Eloise so -much, and she loves me, too" (Mrs. Mandeville smiled), "and we both love -Cousin Alicia. Since I came to bed I have been trying to think what love -is, and it seems it is like light, it can never be described in words. -The blind boy in the poem asked, - - 'What is that thing called light, - Which I can ne'er enjoy?' - -No one could tell him to make him understand, could they? So no one -could make anyone understand in words what love is. Just as light comes -from the sun, and we can only see it with our eyes, so love comes from -God, who is Love, and we can only be conscious of it in our hearts. -Isn't it St. John, Auntie, who says we have passed from death unto life -when we love the brethren? Then just as eyes which cannot see the light -are called blind, mustn't it be that hearts which do not love are dead?" - -"It seems to follow naturally your line of reasoning, Carol, though I -cannot say the thought ever occurred to me before. There is one marked -trait in all little children, they are so full of love." - -"Yes, Auntie, especially darling Rosebud. She loves everyone. Do you -remember when I was ill, and you lifted her on the bed, how she said: 'I -do 'ove 'ou so welly much, Tarol'?" - -"Yes, dear, I remember. Rosebud often makes me think of a line of one -of the poets: - - 'For a smile of God, thou art.'" - -"That is just beautiful, Auntie, and it explains why little children -know what love is, before they know anything else, before they even walk -or talk." - -"Yes, Carol, all great poets seem able to grasp some momentous truth, -and give it to the world in a beautiful line or verse." - -"Cousin Alicia has given Eloise a copy of _Science and Health_ just like -the one she gave me, Auntie. Eloise showed it to me, and offered to -lend it to me. But it would not be right for me to read it until Uncle -Raymond gives me permission, would it? Do you think he may when he -knows of Eloise's healing?" - -"He does know, dear. I was talking to him last night about it. He -attributes it to the change into Devonshire, or--or some other reason. -I think he suggested hypnotism." - -"But they took her to Germany some time ago, and that change made no -difference, nor the great German doctor she was under." - -"That is so, dear, still Uncle Raymond will not listen. I think it will -be unwise to talk any more on the subject to him." - -"Do you think then, Auntie, he will not be willing for me to have the -book again until--until I am a man?" - -"I fear that may be so, dear." - -"Oh, Auntie!" - -For a moment the grave eyes filled with tears. The next instant they -were dashed away. "What am I thinking of? Error, error, begone! Love -_can_ find a way, and Love _will_ find a way. It is quite all right, -Auntie," clasping both arms around her neck. - -"Just wait and see! If we are not standing 'porter at the door of -thought' every moment, what a lot of wrong thoughts come trooping in." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII.--A LONG-DELAYED LETTER. - - -That was an eventful week to Carol. Three or four days after the return -of Mrs. Burton and Eloise it was his turn to open the post-bag. The -daily task of receiving the post-bag, unlocking it, sorting, and then -distributing the contents, was always such a pleasure to the elder -children that they had agreed to take it by turns. - -There seemed an unusually full bag that morning when he emptied the -contents on the hall table. He collected into a little pile all the -letters for the servants' hall, for the school-room, and for Mrs. -Mandeville. Colonel Mandeville was away with his regiment. Quite at the -last he discovered two envelopes bearing the small, neat handwriting -which always called forth an exclamation of pleasure. - -"Two letters this morning from Cousin Alicia, one for Auntie and one for -me!" - -But he faithfully finished his task, and delivered the letters to their -respective owners before opening his own letter. - -Mrs. Mandeville frequently breakfasted with the children when Colonel -Mandeville was away and there were no visitors staying in the house. -Carol found her in the schoolroom. - -Breakfast had commenced. "You have had a big delivery this morning, Mr. -Postman, have you not?" she said. - -"Yes, Auntie, nearly everyone has had more than one letter, and here are -four for you, three for Miss Markham, one for Percy, one for Edith, and -one for me from Cousin Alicia. One of your letters, too, Auntie, is -from Cousin Alicia, and it is quite a fat one. Mine is quite thin. May -I open it, Auntie?" - -"Certainly, dear, I am sure Miss Markham will allow you. We all know -how little people are impatient to read their letters." - -Mrs. Mandeville laid three of her letters beside her plate. The one -bearing the Devonshire post-mark she held in her hand, and presently -drew the contents from the envelope. - -Her face grew very white, her hand trembled as she saw Miss Desmond's -letter enclosed another. Her eyes, suffused with tears, fell on dear, -familiar writing. - -Was it a message from the grave--from that watery grave where the mortal -remains of the brother still so dear to her had been cast? - -Carol meanwhile was devouring his letter, oblivious of everything else. -He read: - -"WILLMAR COURT, - S. DEVON. - -"_My dear Carol,_ - -"Something so wonderful and beautiful has happened. Yet I should not -perhaps use the word 'wonderful,' since nothing can be lost when Mind -governs and controls. The letter which your dear father wrote me just -before his death has at last reached me. - -"Evidently through a mistake at the sorting office it was slipped into -the American mail-bag at Gibraltar instead of the English. My name and -address are almost stamped out, it has been to so many places in the -United States of America and was afterwards sent on to Canada, where it -has also visited many post-offices, before some postmaster or -post-mistress remembered that S. Devon is part of an English county. - -"A letter so important for your future, dear, could not be lost. I am -sending it for Mrs. Mandeville to read, as it is necessary for her and -also your Uncle Raymond to know the contents. They will, I am sure, -observe their brother's last wishes; and one is, that no hindrance or -impediment shall be put in the way of your studying the Science which -has healed you. I am to buy a new copy of _Science and Health_, and -write in it: 'To Carol--from Father.' You see, dear, Love has found a -way, and just the most beautiful way of restoring to you the book you -seemed to have lost, for a time at least. - -"Dearly as you have valued the book before, it will have an added value -with the knowledge that it comes to you expressly by your dear father's -desire. Mrs. Mandeville will, no doubt, let you read (or read to you) -the letter before returning it to me. You will rejoice to learn how -much you were in your father's thoughts at the last. I have ordered a -copy of the book. You will receive it in a very short time. I know how -glad you will be to be able to study the Lesson-Sermons again. How nice -it will be for you and Eloise to do them sometimes together! Dear -little girl! Give her many loving thoughts from me. We miss her very -much. Bob's affections seem about equally divided between his young -master and 'the little lady' as he calls her. - -"Always in thought and deed, dear Carol, - -Your loving cousin, - ALICIA DESMOND." - -Very quietly Carol went to the back of his aunt's chair, and slipping an -arm around her neck whispered softly in her ear: - -"It's all right, Auntie. I knew that Love would find a way, but I -didn't think it would be quite so soon, and such a beautiful way. It is -all in Father's letter." - -Mrs. Mandeville had laid her letters down unread. She could not -disappoint the children, who loved her to breakfast with them, by taking -them to her own room, and she wanted to be alone when she read them. As -soon as breakfast was over, she left the school-room. An hour later -Carol received a message that she wanted him to go to her. - -"You have been crying, Auntie," he said, as he entered the room. - -"Yes, dear, this letter from your father, and my dear brother, has been -a joy and a sorrow to me, bringing back so vividly the remembrance of -him. You will like to read it." - -She gave the letter to Carol, and he at once sat down beside her, and -read it. - -"_My dear Alicia,_ - -"The fiat has gone forth! They give me neither weeks nor days: a few -hours only. The sea has been very rough the past three days. A partly -healed wound has reopened: the hemorrhage is internal. They cannot stop -it. I think of you and my boy, and that Science which stanched his -running wounds, and I wish I knew something of it. I put it off, like -one of old, to a more convenient season. The little book you gave me I -left with some poor fellows in the hospital, intending to get another -copy when I reached England. - -"Much of what you told me comes back, but it is not enough. I cannot -realize it sufficiently. I have absolute faith that if I could reach -England, or even cable to you, the verdict would be reversed. Ah, well! -a greater man than I is supposed to have said: - - 'A day less or more, at sea or ashore, - We die, does it matter when?' - -Somehow, it does seem to matter now. Life--even this life--has -possibilities which I have failed to grasp. With you to help me, it -seems I should have gained a clearer understanding of eternal verities. -A haze--a mist is creeping over my senses. What I have to write I must -write quickly. - -"I think you know by a deed of settlement, executed before I left for -South Africa, in the event of my death, my brother Raymond, and my dear -sister Emmeline, become Carol's guardians. There is no time now to -alter that arrangement in any way, even if I wished. It will be good for -the boy to be with his cousins. He has seen too little of other -children, and Emmeline, I know, will be a mother to him. Both she and -Raymond will respect my last wishes, I am sure. Therefore, I want them -to know it is my desire for Carol to spend three months of every year -with you at his own home, that you may instruct him in that knowledge of -God which has healed him. It is recorded that once ten were cleansed, -and nine went thankless away. He must not belong to the nine. - -"I have explained to Colonel Mandeville my earnest desire that you may -be able to live at the Court, keeping on all the old servants until -Carol is of age. The last time I saw my brother Raymond, the subject of -Christian Science was mentioned, and from the remarks he made, his -bitterly antagonistic views of it, I greatly fear that under his -guardianship Carol may not be allowed to continue the study. Will you -purchase for me a copy of the text-book, _Science and Health_, and write -in it: - -No one will take from the boy his dying father's last gift, and my -wishes regarding it will I know, be paramount with him. He will like to -know that my one regret now is that I did not myself study it when I had -the opportunity. - -"I have faced death before. I am facing it again, as a soldier, and, I -trust, as a Christian. Somewhere it is written 'Greater love hath no -man'-- You know the rest. Perhaps it will count, though it may not have -been love so much as duty prompted the action which is costing me my -life. - -"I would write to Carol, and to Emmeline. I cannot. The pen slips from -my hand." - - ---- - -The concluding sentence and the signature were almost illegible. Mrs. -Mandeville took Carol in her arms, and they wept together. - -"It is so cruel to think he might have been spared to us," she sobbed. - -"Yes, Auntie; he would have been," Carol replied with simple faith. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV.--A JOYFUL SURPRISE. - - -In less than a week a small parcel arrived by post addressed to Carol. -He knew before he opened it that it contained the little book which he -had so longed for, and which would be, if possible, even dearer to him, -henceforth, from the circumstances under which he regained it. He took -the little parcel to Mrs. Mandeville's room after breakfast, and opened -it there. As he drew the small volume from its cardboard case, he held -it up to show her. Then, opening it, he exclaimed in a tone of great -surprise, mingled with joy: - -"Auntie, it is in dear Father's own handwriting! - - 'To Carol: from Father.'" - -"How can it be?" - -Then, as they examined the writing, they saw that Miss Desmond had cut -the words from her letter. So neatly had the foreign paper been gummed -in, it was not at first noticeable. - -"Was it not lovely of Cousin Alicia to think of it, Auntie?" - -"It was, indeed, dear. You will always realize now that it is your -father's gift." - -"Yes, Auntie; my earthly father's and my heavenly Father's, too. I was -thinking this morning of that lovely verse in Isaiah: 'Before they call -I will answer: and while they are yet speaking I will hear.' And I knew -that Love had answered before I called. Before I knew my need, it was -met. I am glad the letter was delayed so long, because I have learned -so much. 'Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger,' Mrs. Eddy -says. It did seem at first as if I should have to wait years for the -book, didn't it? I am glad I was so sure that Love could and would find -a way." - -As the boy spoke, the Rector walked into the room. In a momentary -impulse Carol seized the little book which lay on the table, and held it -tightly. A crimson flush suffused his face. The next instant he looked -up at his uncle with fearless eyes, and held out the book to him, -saying, "Uncle Raymond, Cousin Alicia has sent me the little book Father -asked her to get for me, and see--isn't it beautiful?--'To Carol: from -Father,' is in Father's own handwriting." - -The Rector took the book, examined the inscription, but made no remark. - -"Father did not want me to belong to the nine. You would not like me to -either, would you, Uncle Raymond?" - -"To the nine, boy?--What do you mean?" - -"You remember, Uncle Raymond, when Jesus once healed ten lepers, nine -went thankless away. I have been healed, and I must acknowledge it at -all times, else I should be as one of them." - -A frown gathered on the Rector's face. - -"Never speak to me, Carol, of your healing in the same breath with the -healings of Jesus." - -The boy looked sorely pained. For an instant he was silent. In that -instant he asked: - -"Father-Mother God, lead me." - -Then he said: - -"May I ask you a question, Uncle Raymond?" - -"Certainly, Carol; if it is something you want to know." - -"It is something I often think about, Uncle. Are there any 'shepherds -in Israel' now? Can you tell me?" - -"Why, of course, Carol; Israel typifies the Christian world, and God's -ministers are His shepherds." - -"Yes, Uncle, that was what I thought. Is God not angry now with the -shepherds? I often read the 34th chapter of Ezekiel. God was very -angry with the shepherds of that time. He said, 'Woe be to the -shepherds, because they had not healed that which was sick, nor -strengthened that which was diseased, nor bound up that which was -broken, neither had they sought out that which was lost.'" - -"There have been times in history, Carol, when God's ministers--His -shepherds--have been able to heal the sick, but for generations the -healing power has been withheld. - -"Yes, Uncle, I understand that. For many centuries before Jesus came -the healing power had been lost. He brought it back, and taught his -disciples how to heal the sick. Then at the end of only three centuries -it was lost; and again after many centuries God has sent a messenger to -bring it back, but not everyone will listen to the message." - -The boy spoke reflectively, as one thinking aloud, not addressing either -his uncle or his aunt. - -"Raymond," said Mrs. Mandeville quickly (she noted the growing anger on -the Rector's face), "Carol has a way of thinking about things he reads -in the Bible. His thoughts have often helped me. He does not mean -to--to reproach you. Will you tell me, dear Raymond, have you ever read -this book which you condemn so strongly?" - -"I have not read it, Emmeline. One does not need to read Mrs. Eddy's -books to condemn them. The press criticisms and extracts I have read -were quite enough for me. Since Carol's father wished him to have a -copy of the book, I cannot keep it from him. Otherwise I should, most -certainly. I can only pray that he may ultimately see the error of its -teaching." - -"The fruit is so good," Mrs. Mandeville said softly. "I can only judge -by that, until I have studied the book myself, which I intend to do. I -think, Carol, darling, you must run back to the school-room now, or you -will be late for lessons. Leave your little book with me. You know it -will be quite safe, and come to me after school." - -After the boy had left the room Mrs. Mandeville turned to the Rector. - -"Now I want to ask you a question, if I may, Raymond, may I?" - -"Why, of course, Emmeline, you know perfectly well I shall be happy to -answer any question you wish to put to me--if I can." - -"It is this, Raymond: the Apostle bids us, 'Let this mind be in you -which was also in Christ Jesus.' How would you define the 'Mind' -simply, that I may grasp it?" - -The Rector's memory went back to a Sunday morning some months before -when he had preached what he considered a very eloquent sermon from that -verse in Philippians. Had his sister forgotten it? - -"Do you forget, Emmeline, that I preached from that text not so very -long ago? I took as the keynote of my sermon, humility--the humility of -Jesus. From the context that was undoubtedly what Saint Paul meant." - -"Yes, Raymond, I remember the sermon perfectly; but I cannot feel that -to possess humility, even in a superlative degree, would be to possess, -as the Apostle commands, the 'Mind' of Christ. Carol was thinking out -this subject, in the way he has of thinking about verses in the Bible, -and the thought he gave me seems nearer to it. He could see only love. -The mind that was in Christ was love. Now, Raymond, if we, at this -moment, possessed hearts full of love we could not criticise or condemn -anyone or any sect. We could not hold up creeds or dogmas, and say, 'It -is necessary to believe this or that because it is a canon of the -Church.' We should just know that we and they had passed from death -unto life when we love the brethren, and all are brethren who look to -the Lord Jesus Christ as an elder brother." - -"It seems to me, Emmeline, that even before reading the book you have -imbibed some of its mischievous statements. Remember, it teaches a -religion of negation. According to Christian Science we have no Heavenly -Father, no personal God; nothing but a divine Principle, an eternal -existence, to worship." - -"Oh, Raymond, you do make a mistake. How can you infer that if you have -not studied the book?" - -"My authority, Emmeline, for the statement, is Dr. Hanson. He wrote a -pamphlet on Christian Science, issued by the Religious Tract Society." - -"It seems strange, Raymond, that a man of Dr. Hanson's eminence should -write, and the Religious Tract Society should publish, a statement so -misleading,--a statement which a boy of Carol's years could easily -confute. Carol prays to, and speaks of his Heavenly Father in a way -which, I grieve to say, my own children never do. Only a few minutes -before you entered the room, he said that this little book was a gift -not only from his earthly father but from his Heavenly Father, too. So -how can there be no Heavenly Father to a Christian Scientist? It is true -he speaks more frequently of Him as Divine Love; and it seems to me he -has a more comprehensive idea of God than I have myself, for the thought -has often presented itself to me, how can we, as the Scriptures say, -'live, move and have our being' in Him, if God is a person, according to -our idea of personality? The idea which Carol has given me of God as -infinite Love, filling the universe like light, makes that verse more -intelligible." - -"A discussion such as this, Emmeline, cannot be productive of any good. -I will send you that little pamphlet I mentioned." - -"Thank you, Raymond. I will read it after I have read _Science and -Health_." - -The Rector then changed the conversation, and spoke of the object of his -visit to the Manor that morning. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV.--A LITTLE SERVICE. - - -On the following Sunday evening Carol started at the usual time for Mr. -Higgs' cottage, carrying with him the little, much-valued book and with -it the current _Quarterly_ which Miss Desmond had also sent him. His -surprise was great, on arriving at the cottage, to find Mrs. Burton and -Eloise there. They knew the prohibition was removed, and Carol was free -to read and study _Science and Health_. - -"We thought you would come, Carol," Eloise exclaimed. "We wanted to -hear you read the Lesson-Sermon. It will be quite a little service, -won't it?" - -"Yes, dear Carol; we thought we should like to join you this evening," -Mrs. Burton said. "We are only the 'two or three gathered together,' -but we are all of one mind. So it will be a little service, as Eloise -says." - -Presently Mr. Higgs' daughter and his little grand-daughter came in. - -It was arranged for Mrs. Burton to read the Bible verses, and for Carol -to read the quotations from _Science and Health_. At the close of the -Lesson-Sermon Carol and Eloise sang together, from the Christian Science -Hymnal, the hymn which both knew and loved,-- - - "Shepherd, show me how to go." - -The beauty of the words, and the young voices blending in perfect -harmony, brought tears of emotion to the old man's eyes. - -"Aye, ma'am," he said to Mrs. Burton afterwards, "who but the Shepherd -himself, is leading us into those green pastures where the fetters that -bound us are loosed? There's a many things I can't pretend to -understand, and the old beliefs grip hard, but I just hold on, and know -it must be the Truth which the Master promised should make us free. -It's the tree that is known by its fruits. I'm sorry Rector's so set up -against it. But there, it was the priests and scribes who persecuted -the Master himself. Seems to me it would not be the Truth if the world -received it gladly." - -"I believe you are right in thinking that, Mr. Higgs. In whatever -period of the world's history Truth has been recognized, and -demonstrated, its adherents were always persecuted and stoned. Jesus -reminded his persecutors that they stoned the prophets which were before -him." - -"Yes, ma'am, I know it is the glorious Truth which has loosed my -rheumatiz, and made me free, and I am just ashamed to confess to you and -Master Carol that just lately thoughts I can't get rid of come -tormenting me. In this way: I go sometimes to church, but I feel no -pleasure in the service. It has lost its hold o' me. Then I think o' -Father and Mother, o' blessed memory. They lived and died with no -thought o' beyond what the Rector could give them. It sort o' troubles -me to think I am going away from what they trusted to. The Rector then -was an old man. Why, ma'am, if ever a saint o' God walked this earth, -he was one. If he passed down the village street, you'd see all the -children run to him, clustering round him. When he looked at you, it -didn't seem to need any words: it was just as if he said, 'God bless -you.' His smile was a blessing. So I just ask myself, Why wasn't the -sick healed when he prayed for them, if it was right and God's will for -them to be healed? Surely, he was a servant of God." - -"I propounded a similar question, Mr. Higgs, to the lady I have been -staying with in Devonshire, Carol's cousin, Miss Desmond. It has been my -great privilege to know many saintly characters, whose lives testified -to their faith. My own mother was such a one. Yet, for many years, she -was a great sufferer. I asked Miss Desmond why such loving faith in God -and Jesus the Christ, had not always brought physical healing. What we -call the orthodox church, also Non-conformity, has nurtured souls for -heaven. We cannot, therefore, condemn its teaching. Miss Desmond said it -is not for us to judge or to criticise either individuals or other -churches. We all, individually and collectively, can only grasp the -truth as far as we apprehend it, and we must not harbor a troubled -thought that in becoming Christian Scientists we are leaving any church -to which we once belonged. We are simply moving forward--stepping -upward to a higher platform. It is the law of progression. A child at -school does not regret being moved to a higher class. Neither have we -anything to regret, even if we entirely sever our connection with the -church of our childhood. Even now, for the most advanced Christian -Scientists there is yet a higher platform to be reached, since Mrs. Eddy -says, in _Science and Health_, 'All of Truth is not understood.' All we -have to do at the present is to live up to--to demonstrate, the highest -that we know. You in your walk of life, I in mine; and these dear -children, who, spiritually, have touched the hem of Christ's garment and -have been healed, in theirs." - -"Thank you, ma'am, I'll try to think of it, as you've kindly explained -it. There's another old belief I can't see clearly to get rid o' yet, -though Master Carol tried to make me see it's wrong, and that is 'Thy -will be done,' on the tombstones in the churchyard. I can see that sin -and disease can never be God's will; but death may sometimes be a sort -o' messenger from God to call us home." - -Mrs. Burton smiled. - -"Yes; many poets have eulogized death as a 'bright messenger.' But in -the light of Christian Science we know it cannot be: evil can never -under _any_ circumstance change into good--an enemy--the last -enemy--into a friend. Think for one moment how Jesus taught us to pray -'Thy will be done on earth _as it is in heaven_.' Then ask yourself: Is -death God's will in heaven? If not, then it cannot be on earth. I -quite see now why many petitions have failed to bring an answer. The -pleading lips have besought God to reverse 'His decree,' the decree that -never was His. We learned that, Eloise, darling, did we not, in -Devonshire?" - -"Yes, Mother; and when we quite understood why my lameness was never -God's will for me, I lost it." - -"So the world, Mr. Higgs, must change its old belief, and realize that -death is an enemy which inevitably will one day be destroyed. In God's -spiritual Kingdom, sin, disease, and death find no place. Now I think -we must all bid you good-night, or it will be dark before Carol reaches -the Manor. The evenings draw in so quickly, now. We will walk part of -the way with you, Carol," Mrs. Burton said as they left the cottage. -They had not gone very far when they met Mrs. Mandeville. - -"Auntie," Carol exclaimed joyfully, "were you coming to meet me?" - -"Yes, dear. I found you had not returned. As I did not quite like your -coming alone through the park, I came to meet you." - -After a little conversation with Mrs. Burton and Eloise, Mrs. Mandeville -and Carol walked home together, Carol clinging affectionately to his -aunt's arm. - -"It is nice to have you to walk home with me, Auntie; but I wish you -would never have a thought of fear for me." - -"I'll try not to another time, darling. As I walked along I remembered -something, Carol. Since that day when you came to my room I have never -had one of my old headaches. They used to be so painfully frequent. Did -you charm them away?" - -"No, Auntie; but I knew you had not learned how to 'stand porter at the -door of thought.' So I just stood there for you; and error cannot creep -back when the sword of Truth is raised against it." - -Mrs. Mandeville's only answer was to stoop and kiss the boy's upturned -face. The words, so simple, grave, and sweet, had gone straight to her -heart. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI.--CONCLUSION. - - -The calendar of months named December, and before it, excited, expectant -little people stood daily, counting first the weeks, then the days to -that one day of all the year which the children love best. - -Carol had to listen again and again to all the wonderful and mysterious -things which always happened at the Manor on Christmas Eve and Christmas -Day. Price lists and illustrated catalogues were the only books in -requisition after lessons were over. The elder children wondered how -they could have bought their Christmas presents if there were no parcel -post. Carol was especially the helper and confederate of the three -little girls in the nursery. He assisted them in choosing their -"surprises," wrote the letters, and enclosed the postal orders; and -certainly, from the marvellous list of things they were able to -purchase, their little accumulated heap of pennies must, in some magic -way, have changed into sovereigns in his hands. The joyful excitement -of the three little girls, when the parcels arrived, gave Carol the -greatest pleasure he had ever known. Only Nurse was allowed to be -present when the parcels were opened, and she promised to lock them -securely away where no one could catch a glimpse until they were brought -out on Christmas eve. - -It wanted only one week to Christmas day, when Rosebud came to the -school-room one morning, saying: "Mover wants 'ou, Tarol." - -Carol went at once to his aunt's room. She was sitting with an open -letter in her hand, a rather graver than usual expression on her face. -"Carol, dear," she said, "for some little time I have been thinking I -ought to let you go home for Christmas. It seems to me it is what your -dear father would wish; but I could not let you take the long journey -alone and there seemed no other way until this morning. I have just -received a letter from a dear old friend in which she mentions that she -will be travelling to Exeter in two days' time. So I could take you to -London to meet her there, and you could travel with her to Exeter, where -Miss Desmond might meet you. I do not like to part with you, even for a -month or six weeks, my 'little porter at the door of thought.'" - -"Auntie, it won't make any difference if I am here, or in Devonshire. I -can still bar the door to error." - -"Yes, dear; I believe you can. It is really not that only. I am -thinking we shall all miss you so. You seem to be everyone's -confederate for their Christmas surprises. Would you rather go, or stay, -dear?" - -"I should be happy to stay here, or happy to go home for Christmas, -Auntie." - -"Yes; I think you would, dear. So we must consider other people. Miss -Desmond, I know, would rejoice to have you, and it seems the right of -both tenants and servants to have the 'little master' amongst them at -Christmas. So I have decided it will be right to let you go." - -But when this decision was made known in the school-room and nursery -there were great lamentations. No one had given a thought to the -possibility of Carol not being with them for the Christmas festivities; -and Mrs. Mandeville was besought again and again not to let Carol go -home before Christmas. - -But, having well considered the matter, she was firm. A telegram was at -once despatched to Miss Desmond apprising her of the arrangement. The -answer that quickly came satisfied Mrs. Mandeville that she had been led -to make a right decision. Brief but expressive was Miss Desmond's wire: -"Great rejoicings on receipt of news. Will gladly meet Carol at -Exeter." - -There was yet another little person to whom the news was not joyful. -Eloise's lips quivered and her blue eyes filled with tears when she -heard. Carol was so much to her, and she to him. She thought of him as -a brother; and a sister of his own name could not have been more -tenderly loved by the boy. The bond between them was closer and dearer -than that of human relationship. - -"It will be only just at first, Eloise, that we shall seem to be far -apart. Then you will be able to realize there is no distance in Mind. -At first, when I came here, I seemed to be so far away from Cousin -Alicia; but I never feel that now. I just know her thought is with me, -and thought is the only real. It will be lovely to hear her voice -again, and to feel my hand clasped in hers, but still that won't make -her very own self nearer to me." - -"I do not quite understand--yet, Carol," Eloise answered a little sadly. -Then she had some news to give him. Early in the New Year the Burtons -were going to live in London. True to his promise, Dr. Burton was -giving up his medical practice, and was going to join that little band -of men and women whose lives are consecrated to the work of destroying -the many manifestations of sin and disease, in the way the Master -taught. - -"And, when you come back to the Manor, Carol, we shall not be here." - -Eloise in one sentence regretfully summed up the situation. - -"I shall miss you, dear Eloise. But you will write to me, and I shall -write very often to you, and when I go home in the summer, perhaps Mrs. -Burton will let you come, too. Then Cousin Alicia will be happy to have -both her children in Science with her." - -"That will be lovely, Carol! I am sure Mother will like me to visit -Miss Desmond again. It seems a long time to look forward to, but time -really passes very quickly. Sometimes the days are not long enough for -all I want to do. I am to go to school when we live in London. All the -beautiful things I have longed for are coming to me. Carol, I do wish -every little girl and every little boy knew how to ask Divine Love for -what they want. When I am older that is the work I want to do,--to -teach other children as Miss Desmond taught me." - -"And I, too, Eloise. Love is so near, but we didn't know it till we -learned it in Science, did we?" - -"No, Carol; I didn't know it, when I used to sit all day in my little -wheel-chair, longing to walk like other children. It was like living in -a dark room until some one came and opened the shutters to let the -sunlight in. The sunlight was there all the time, but I did not know it. -I was God's perfect child all the time, but I believed I was lame, until -Miss Desmond taught me the Truth." - -"When I go to bed, Eloise, thoughts come to me. I tell them to Auntie -sometimes, but not to any one else. Shall I tell you what I was -thinking last night?" - -"Please, Carol, I should like to know." - -"I began first by thinking if any one asked me, where is heaven, I -should answer: Heaven is where God is. Then I remembered, God is -_everywhere_. There is no place where God is not. Then I knew that -everywhere must be heaven, and we have only to open our eyes, and just -as much as we can see of good--God--just that far we shall have entered -heaven. So it won't matter, Eloise, if you are in London, and I am in -Devonshire, if we are both looking steadfastly all the time to see only -good around us, we shall both be entering the Kingdom of Heaven. There -is only one gate--a golden gate--into that Kingdom, and 'Christ in -divine Science shows us the way.'" - - ---- - -The little country station seemed to be quite full of people when the -train that was to carry Mrs. Mandeville and Carol to London drew up at -the platform. The hour they were to leave had become known in the -village, and, besides all his cousins, their nurses and Miss Markham, -Mr. Higgs, his daughter and grand-daughter, Dr. and Mrs. Burton, and -Eloise were there. At the last moment the Rector hurriedly stalked in. - -"Almost too late, dear Raymond," Mrs. Mandeville said as he greeted -them. - -"So, Carol, I learn you have succeeded in planting Christian Science in -this village." - -The boy looked up with his quiet, fearless eyes. - -"Not I, Uncle Raymond!" - -"Who then?" - -The boy's head was bowed as he reverently answered: "Christ. I am -happy, Uncle Raymond, if I have been a little channel for Truth. I could -do nothing myself." - -Carol met the grave look on the Rector's face with his bright smile. - -"You _are_ glad, are you not, Uncle Raymond, that Mr. Higgs and his -little grand-daughter, and dear Eloise--I, too--have found the Christ, -and have been healed?" - -The engine gave a shrill whistle. Mrs. Mandeville drew the boy farther -into the carriage; a porter closed the door as the train began to move; -the question was unanswered. Mr. Higgs waved his hat, saying fervently, -"God bless 'ee, Master Carol; and bring you back to us soon." - -Eloise ran along the platform, holding Rosebud by the hand, wafting -kisses to be carried to Miss Desmond. When the train was out of sight -and she returned to join the others, she saw the Rector was watching her -with the kindly smile his face used to wear in the days when she was not -able to run about. Clingingly clasping his arm, looking up to him in -her winning way, and remembering the question which to Carol had been -unanswered, she said: "You _are_ glad, are you not, Rector, that I can -run about, and that I have been taught the Truth that makes us free?" - -"Yes, little girl, I am very glad. Perhaps I have been mistaken in my -judgment. Tell me, Eloise, what is this Truth of which you speak?" - -Eloise hesitated a moment; then, looking up beyond the Rector into the -broad blue heavens, she said: "It is just _knowing_ that God is _All_, -and there is nothing beside. All the _real_ God made; whatever He did -not make is shadow. When I quite understood that God could not make an -imperfect thing--that He never, never made a lame little girl--the -shadow disappeared, and I could walk." - -The Rector turned to Mr. Higgs who was standing near. "Is that what my -nephew has been teaching you, Higgs?" - -"Yes, sir; but I've been slower to grasp it. Seems to me the Truth is -very simple, but we need the childlike mind to take it in." - -"Maybe you are right, Higgs--maybe you are right. 'Whosoever shall not -receive the kingdom of God as a little child ... shall not enter -therein.' The Master's words." - -Thoughtfully, with bent head and downcast eyes, meditating deeply, the -Rector walked back to the Rectory. Words very familiar came to him with -a different meaning: "Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make -you free;" and with the words came a desire that was prayer: "Lord, -teach me this Truth. Grant me the childlike mind." - - ---- - -"Carol, I have been thinking of something," Mrs. Mandeville said, as the -train bore them along. - -"Should you like to know of what I have been thinking?" - -"Please, dear Auntie; I should very much like to know." - -"Well, dear, I have been thinking if it should occur to the young Master -of Willmar Court to send Rosebud and me an invitation whilst he is at -home, we should accept it." - -"Oh, Auntie, what a lovely thought! To have you and Rosebud, and Cousin -Alicia, all together!" - -"I want Miss Desmond, Carol, to teach me some of the things she has -taught you." - -There was a long silence. The boy's heart was too full for words. Then -he said: "Auntie, I know now how the little bird felt when the King -opened the cage door, and he sang and sang for joy. My heart is singing -to _my_ King. I wonder if--perhaps--He will say, some missing note has -come into Carol's song." - -"Indeed, my darling, I think so." - -He nestled closely beside her. Looking down she saw on his face the -reflection of a great joy--a great peace; and she knew that he had just -crept into Love's arms. - - -"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under -the shadow of the Almighty.... He shall cover thee with His feathers, -and under His wings shalt thou trust. 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