CHAPTER VIII
TWO LEAVE-TAKINGS
It seemed quite natural to Jack that Jessie's strength improved marvellously from the day of her confirmation, for although Tom had tried to teach him something of the outward sign which denotes the spiritual grace, his childish mind recurred to his first idea, and he did not for a moment question that Jessie's quickened recovery was chiefly due to the Bishop's laying on of hands.
"You said the Bishop's hands would make her strong, didn't you?" he remarked one day to Tom, and Tom smiled down on him.
"I was talking of her soul rather than her body, Jack, but it seems as if God in His goodness were sending her both together."
So it was that from sitting up in a chair for a considerable portion of the day, Jessie soon began to walk a little, first to the garden gate, then a few steps along the road, and one summer evening in the autumn, to Jack's great excitement and delight, he saw her seated in a chair at the bottom of the church when he went down as usual to ring the bell. What did not please him so well was that his wandering thoughts in the service were brought back to everyday life by the mention of her name in church, in what connection he was too greatly astonished to discover. He was only certain that he had heard her name, and what could be the good of saying prayers for her when she was sitting behind all the time and looking nearly well? His puzzledom, it almost might be called annoyance, at the unreasonableness of the thing kept his mind straying for the remainder of the service, and he was glad that under cover of waiting behind to carry something back for Uncle Tom after church, he had a chance of putting the matter before him.
"Uncle Tom, we didn't want to pray for Jessie Butler, to-night. What did you do it for? Did not you see, she was in church and quite better?" he said.
"Which shows you weren't listening very much, Jack, or you would have found out we weren't praying for her in the way of asking God to give her anything. We were thanking Him for making her better, and, of course, it was much better to wait until she could be there to give thanks for herself. It would have very little meaning else. Now, I will tell you a story," and very picturesquely Tom related the story of the ten lepers.
"Only one out of the whole lot, Jack, who remembered to give thanks to God. A lot of us are like that! We say 'Give us this day our daily bread,' and at the end of the day we forget to thank God for the food we never lack."
Jack said little, but the lesson went home.