“Except by trusting in Him without whose will not even a sparrow falls to the ground,” he said low and tenderly. “‘The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him.’”
“And you are that man, and so the Lord has spared you and your wife and little ones. O Ned, dear, ask him to make their mother a Christian too.”
“My darling, I will; I do every day of my life,” he said with emotion, and holding her close.
In another moment the carriage had drawn up before the veranda steps and Herbert, who had arrived and dismounted a little in advance of the others, hastened to assist them to alight.
“Why, Zoe, dear girl, how you are trembling!” he exclaimed, as he lifted her out and set her on her feet. “Don’t allow yourself to be so agitated; the danger is past, and by God’s great goodness we have all escaped injury.”
“Yes, yes, I know it!” she said, “but the shock was very great, and I cannot get over it yet.”
She and Edward went directly to their own apartments, taking their babes with them; for Zoe seemed unwilling to lose sight for a moment of any one of her three treasures.
But Laurie and Lily were soon asleep.
“The sweet pets!” murmured Zoe, leaning over them, her eyes full of tears. “O Ned, suppose they, or even one of them, had been struck by that tree and killed or badly hurt, how could we have borne it—you and I?” She ended with a storm of tears and sobs.