BUT in the midst of all his newly-found happiness Bertie did not forget his old friends.
He had told the Squire all about his affection for David, and had been encouraged to show all the kindness in his power to the fisher lad, who had been kind to him when he was a lonely little outcast.
So almost every day he visited the humble cabin, and wandered with David among the sandhills, and found in him as sympathetic a confident, now that he had happy secrets to tell, as in the old days when these had all been sad.
“I do be glad, that I be,” said David again and again, when Bertie told him of his happiness. “I just knew the Lord couldn’t forget thee—didn’t I always tell thee so?”
“Yes, you did, and you were quite right. He didn’t ever forget me, though He didn’t remember me in the way I expected quite.”
“Maybe He does things in His own way,” remarked David, simply. “My teacher says as He knows best.”
“Yes,” answered Bertie, softly, and with childish reverence. “You know I always tried to say ‘Thy will be done’ too. I’m so glad I did; for I’m sure His will is best.”
Sometimes David would look earnestly at his little companion and ask,—
“Don’t thou want to remember what thy name is or who thou really be?”