"They are made, anyhow, and I must bear the consequences of keeping them."
Mrs. Worboise, poor woman, was nearly worn out. Tom saw it, and rose to go.
"Am I never to see you again, Tom?" she asked, despairingly.
"Every time I come to London—so long as my father doesn't make you shut the door against me, mother."
"That shall never be, my boy. And you really are going on that sea again?"
"Yes, mother. It's an honest calling. And believe me, mother, it's often easier to pray to God on shipboard than it is sitting at a desk."
"Well, well, my boy!" said his mother, with a great sigh of weariness. "If I only knew that you were possessed of saving faith, I could bear even to hear that you had been drowned. It may happen any day, you know, Thomas."
"Not till God please. I shan't be drowned before that."
"God has given no pledge to protect any but those that put faith in the merits of his Son."
"Mother, mother, I can't tell a bit what you mean."