Without more ado I knelt beside the bed and laid my hands on the poor, twisted limbs: and as I prayed I was conscious of the Power descending on me, and passing through me to the old man in the bed. Gradually the groans ceased, and the look of anguish passed from the wrinkled face as if it had been wiped off by a sponge, and Parkins fell into the peaceful sleep of a tired child.
As I rose from my knees and stood by the sleeping sufferer whom I had been permitted to relieve, a great longing filled my heart for the time when there will no longer be any need for surgeons or physicians or spiritual healers, or for any other channels whereby the Healing Power of Christ is conveyed to sick and suffering humanity—to the time when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and when there shall be no more sickness nor sorrow nor sighing, neither shall there be any more pain, because Christ will be all in all.
CHAPTER XII
SHAKSPERE AND THE MUSICAL GLASSES
One day as we were having luncheon—Blathwayte being one of the party—Annabel remarked: "I am terribly worried with one thing or another."
Arthur and I hastened to express our sympathy, and to inquire the cause of her disquietude.
"For one thing, I can't think how to raise a little money for the Parish Nurse Fund this year: we always have an entertainment of some kind every three or four years, you know, to eke out the subscriptions which aren't enough by themselves, and I really don't like the way this new cook fricassees: her gravy is so much too watery. Yet in other things—especially frying—she suits me so well; and changing servants, especially cooks, is always so very worrying. I can't think what induced Mrs. Wilkinson to get married."
Mrs. Wilkinson was our ex-cook-housekeeper, who had so far forgotten herself—and Annabel—as to enter the holy estate of matrimony shortly after I myself took that momentous plunge.
"I expect the same as induces most people," said Arthur: "she wanted to."
"Well, it was very inconsiderate and selfish after all my kindness and consideration for her," said Annabel severely; "only two years ago I kept the situation open for two months while she had something the matter with her leg—I forget what it was, but I think it began with an 'E'—or was it an 'I'?—and I put up with the kitchenmaid and scullerymaid and outside help for all that time, giving Mrs. Wilkinson her full wages. And after that, I think it was too bad of her to throw me over in this way."