Ah! And wasn't that somebody doing his work well? Who shall say that Nick Turner was not chosen of God to preach his gospel to these people? At least he was preparing the way for the coming missionary.
"How happy Herbert must be to think that he was the means of Nick's conversion to Christ. Oh! If I could save one soul, I'd be willing to sacrifice a great deal—at least I think I would." It was truthful Alice who said this.
"I think of this very often," returned Julia. "I do not know that I have ever done anything like that, I mean anything that has really helped any one. I have tried to lead my schoolmates to Jesus, but my efforts do not seem to be blessed."
"I don't suppose that you always know for certain; maybe when we get to heaven, we shall find out that God has accepted our work, and maybe some souls will thank us then for the right word."
"Perhaps so," said Helen a little sadly. She was thinking of her little effort just put forth. Would it bear fruit?
Just here I may as well record a bit of a talk that occurred a few days before Henry and Alice went to New York. Mrs. Trafton had a slight illness, and Dr. Myers was called in. Aunt Harriet, who had remained with her brother ever since she came to nurse Henry when he was first injured, was full of rejoicings over her nephew's prospects, and detailed the plans for Dr. Myers's benefit, prophesying that he would become famous. The doctor listened with a queer smile.
"I am very glad indeed," he said. "And now, Miss Trafton, do you see how this has come about? You remember, perhaps, that once you could not discover the loving Hand that destroys to build up; you could not understand how what seemed a great calamity might prove a blessing."
"No, I couldn't, and I am not sure of it yet. Don't you suppose that Henry would have made just as good an artist if he had two sound legs and a strong back?"
"No, I don't," replied the doctor. "He might have painted pictures as a recreation, but his work in all probability would have been found in connection with that livery stable, and you know that the business at that time was not conducted upon Christian principles, and perhaps but for this, which we call a calamity, that might never have been changed. Henry might have sustained his Christian character through it all, but it would have been a hard and dangerous path. But suppose, what is not at all likely, that he had been allowed to follow his inclinations and had become an artist, he could never have done the work he will now. The growth of heart and mind which has come through suffering, and could come in no other way, will tell upon his work; his pictures will have a character purer and nobler than he could have given them had not his own soul been purified by these years of discipline."