Had she nothing to gain, Mrs. Crook? It might seem not to you, but the young disciple of Jesus was longing to win one more soul for her Master. She knew how vain had been the efforts of others to obtain a hearing for Him. She knew how you, a woman, so much older than herself, had turned a deaf ear to the warning voice from the pulpit, the loving invitations of those who wished you well, and to the message contained in God's Word. And she thought, "Perhaps the sight of one so young as I am, standing on the very brink of the grave, yet strong in the strength of Him who has deprived it of victory, and taken the sting from death, may prove a silent sermon to poor Mrs. Crook."
It was this plea which had overcome the objections of those who feared that the invalid might suffer from receiving such a visitor, and gained permission for the invitation to be sent.
It set Mrs. Crook thinking and wondering, but she obeyed the summons, and to the latest day of her life she will thank God that she did so.
It was not without some trepidation that she entered the sick girl's room. She had always associated gloomy thoughts with illness, and shrank from everything suggestive of coming death. But there was nothing gloomy about that room or the principal figure in it.
[CHAPTER VI.]
WAITING AND TRUSTING.
AS Mrs. Crook entered, a welcoming hand was extended to her, and the sweet voice which she had always liked to hear, though she could scarcely tell why, said, "I am so glad to see you, dear Mrs. Crook. It is very good of you to come. You will sit near me, will you not? For I cannot speak loudly or for long together."
"It is very good of you to let me come," said Mrs. Crook, as she held the white hand gently between both of her own, for a moment, and then laid it reverently down on the white counterpane. "I was sorry to hear of your illness. But," she added, in a hopeful tone, "I trust you will get better. You do not look ill, and you have quite a beautiful colour in your cheeks. Maybe the doctors are mistaken."