“Did Nadjii know of this before she died?” asked Charles, with set teeth.
“No,” answered Loïs; “she thought she saw him. Her last words were ‘Jesus, Nenemoosha.’ Was she a Christian, Charles?”
“Yes, thank God, I taught her all she could understand,” he answered, “and her gentle soul delighted in the stories of Christ’s love. She was a better Christian than many who enjoy far greater privileges than did my squaw wife. I am glad she thought the child was safe. The Indians must have found and taken him. If they have wrought him harm, then his mother’s tribe will avenge him. He was such a bonnie two-year-old boy, Loïs;” and as one oppressed with a weight of sorrow, he let his head sink on to his bosom, and heavy tears fell from his eyes. It was the strong man’s agony.
His past life of physical enjoyment, without thought of the morrow, was fading as a mirage fades away even as he gazed, and his soul was steeped in stern reality. Ruin and death were around him. He had deemed himself all-powerful, capable of choosing his own way, shaping his own course, unmindful of any will save his own. A rebellious son! Even as the prodigal he had gone forth in the pride of his youth and manhood, feeling himself strong, and he had wasted his life, forgetful, or ignorant perhaps, that there is in man, made in God’s image, a higher, nobler nature than in the brute creation. Soul, heart, intellect, are surely given to bring the body into subjection—not doing away with material enjoyment, but tempering it; and as years go on we recognise that our bodies are but the caskets made to contain the never-dying spirit which God breathed into man, even the breath of life.
“My son was dead and is alive again.” Dead, though full of life and health, clothed in rich raiment, going forth, having gathered together all his substance, rich in friends and in all the world can give; yet he was dead!
“Alive again!” when hungry and athirst, his rich raiment in tatters, his head bowed in sorrow, and his lips giving utterance to the words, “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before thee!” And his father rejoiced over him.
Suddenly Charles rose to his feet, threw one arm round Loïs, and drew her close up to him.
“Dearest,” he said, “if I have sinned in the past, God pardon me! I will find the boy and bring him to you; and when this war is over I will come home, and ease the burden from your shoulders, Marcus, so that you may take up your calling and be a minister of God, according to your heart’s desire, and I will care for our mother and the younger ones, and strive to do my duty in the land, as you, my younger brother, have done in my stead.”
He held out his hand to Marcus, who grasped it, saying,—
“Why not stay with us now, Charles?”