"You are glad, are you not, Uncle Raymond, that Mr. Higgs and his little grand-daughter, and dear Eloise--I, too--have found the Christ, and have been healed?"
The engine gave a shrill whistle. Mrs. Mandeville drew the boy farther into the carriage; a porter closed the door as the train began to move; the question was unanswered. Mr. Higgs waved his hat, saying fervently, "God bless 'ee, Master Carol; and bring you back to us soon."
Eloise ran along the platform, holding Rosebud by the hand, wafting kisses to be carried to Miss Desmond. When the train was out of sight and she returned to join the others, she saw the Rector was watching her with the kindly smile his face used to wear in the days when she was not able to run about. Clingingly clasping his arm, looking up to him in her winning way, and remembering the question which to Carol had been unanswered, she said: "You are glad, are you not, Rector, that I can run about, and that I have been taught the Truth that makes us free?"
"Yes, little girl, I am very glad. Perhaps I have been mistaken in my judgment. Tell me, Eloise, what is this Truth of which you speak?"
Eloise hesitated a moment; then, looking up beyond the Rector into the broad blue heavens, she said: "It is just knowing that God is All, and there is nothing beside. All the real God made; whatever He did not make is shadow. When I quite understood that God could not make an imperfect thing--that He never, never made a lame little girl--the shadow disappeared, and I could walk."
The Rector turned to Mr. Higgs who was standing near. "Is that what my nephew has been teaching you, Higgs?"
"Yes, sir; but I've been slower to grasp it. Seems to me the Truth is very simple, but we need the childlike mind to take it in."
"Maybe you are right, Higgs--maybe you are right. 'Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child ... shall not enter therein.' The Master's words."
Thoughtfully, with bent head and downcast eyes, meditating deeply, the Rector walked back to the Rectory. Words very familiar came to him with a different meaning: "Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free;" and with the words came a desire that was prayer: "Lord, teach me this Truth. Grant me the childlike mind."
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