"I choose to hear it out, though," said Mrs. Bartholomew. "Sit down and be silent."
"I will—till I get something else to talk about," said Judy, sitting down as requested. And all eyes turned once more upon David. He was very quiet, outwardly: he had been quietly waiting.
"Grandmamma," he said with a slight smile, "I am as good a Jew as ever I was"—("It's a lie," put in Judy;—"unless the rest was!")—"I am as good a Jew as ever I was, and better. I had studied about the Messiah, and knew about him, and knew that he was promised—the hope of Israel, and the King of Israel. Now I know that he has come, and I know him; and he isn't the Messiah that I am hoping for, but"—he hesitated and smiled again,—"the Christ I am glad for; the Hope of Israel and the King, and so my King and my Hope. I have given myself to him to be his servant. I believe in him—I love him—and all that I am is his."
Possibly Judy was bewildered by this speech; perhaps she was astonished into silence; at any rate she sat still and was quiet. Norton tossed his book over and over. Matilda was in such a tumult of delight that she could hardly contain herself, but she made a great effort and kept it from observation. The ladies seemed somewhat in Judy's condition. At last Mrs. Bartholomew spoke.
"By your last words, what do you mean, David?"
"Mamma," he said, "I meant to make them quite plain. I thought it was right to tell you all. I am the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ."
"Well, so are we all," said his mother. "What do you mean to do, that you proclaim it so publicly?"
"Nothing, mamma; only to follow my Master."
"Follow him how?"
"In his own way—obeying his words."