Amy Le Feuvre

“ Do you read the Bible to your uncle? Do you tell him that he has been wasting his life and not fulfilling the end for which he was created, in fact, that he is a wicked sinner? For that has been the substance of his talk with me this morning!"
"Uncle Edward is a very good man," Milly replied, warmly. "I don't know what you mean, Major Lovell; don't you read the Bible?" ”

“ I see them every day."
"And what do you see here?" asked Sir Edward.
"You come and sit down, and I will tell you. There's room, uncle; make Fritz move a little. Now, you look out with me. I can see such a lot from this window. I like looking out right into the world; don't you?"
"Are we not in the world? I thought we were."
"I s'pose we are, but I mean God's world. The insides of houses aren't His world, are they? Do you see my trees? I can see Goliath from this window; he looks very fierce to-night; he has lost all his leaves, and I can almost hear him muttering to himself. ”

“ I cannot be worried with your punishments."
"I will try to be very good, nurse, always," said Milly while being tucked up in bed that night, "because Uncle Edward is very puzzled when he has to punish me. He doesn't know what to do. He looked quite unhappy and said it worried him."
And Sir Edward as he finished his dinner in silence and solitude muttered to himself,—
"That child is certainly a great nuisance at times, but, upon my word, I quite miss her this evening. Children after all are original, if they are nothing else, and she is one of the most original that I have ever met." ”

“ When Sir Edward retired to his room that night, he paced up and down for some time in front of his little niece's picture that she had given him. His brow was knitted, and he was thinking deeply.
"I am longing to have peace," he muttered. "Why cannot I make up my mind to seek it! 'I will arise'—ay, easy to say; it's a hard and bitter thing for a backslider to retrace his steps. How the child stabs me sometimes, and how little she knows my past!" ”

“ And Sir Edward put his hand in his pocket, and rolled a coin across the table to his little niece.
But Milly was not satisfied.
"This is your present," she said, doubtfully. "What will you give Him this Christmas besides? Is money the only thing you can give Him, uncle?"
Sir Edward pushed back his chair and rose from the table. His feelings were almost getting beyond his control. With the one subject that was now always foremost in his thoughts, the child's question rang again in his ears, "Is money the only thing you can give Him, uncle?" ”

“ He might hurt you," said Sir Edward, sternly.
Milly looked sorrowful; then brightening up, she asked—
"But I may kill Goliath, mayn't I? Do you know that is one of my games. See, I'm David, and you see that big old tree standing by itself? That's Goliath. He is looking at me now. Do you see where his eyes come? Just up there in those first branches. When it's windy he shakes his head at me fearful! He's a wicked, wicked old thing, and he thinks no one can knock him down. Do you remember about him, uncle?" ”

“ It was a cold, gray afternoon. Mrs. Maxwell's little kitchen was in perfect order. The fire shed flickering lights on the bright dish-covers on the wall, and the blue and white china on the old-fashioned dresser was touched with a ruddy glow. Mrs. Maxwell herself, seated in a wooden rocking-chair, in spotless white apron, was knitting busily as she talked; and Milly on a low stool, the tabby in her arms, with her golden-brown curls in pretty disorder, and her large dark eyes gazing earnestly into the fire, completed the picture.
"Do you like winter, Mrs. Maxwell?" she was asking. ”

“ In my story-books, children always get lost in a wood. Uncle Edward, do you think the trees talk to one another? I always think they do. Look at them now. They are just shaking their heads together and whispering, aren't they? Whispering very gently to-day, because it is Sunday. Sometimes they get angry with one another and scream, but I like to hear them hum and sing best. Nurse says it's the wind that makes them do it. ”

“ Milly paused, and her large, expressive eyes shone as she turned them up to her uncle's face, and her voice dropped almost to a whisper as she said,—
"I found out he was one of God's probable sons. When I asked him if he had run away from God, he said yes, he supposed he had done that, so of course he was ragged and unhappy."
"That is not always the case," put in Sir Edward, half touched, half amused. "Sometimes it is very rich people who run away from God, and they get richer when they are away from Him."
Milly looked puzzled.
"But they can't be happy, uncle. Oh, they never can be!" ”

“ Sir Edward's tone was irritable. He had not been feeling very comfortable under the good vicar's words.
"I can't say that; I always forget it. Nurse says one long word is as good as another sometimes. Uncle, what did the clergyman mean by people running away from God? No one does, do they?"
"A great many do," was the dry response.
"But how can they? Because God is everywhere. No one can't get away from God, and why do they want to? Because God loves them so." ”

“ And then, uncle, do you see those nice thin trees cuddling each other? I call those David and Jon'than; they're just kissing each other, like they did in the wood, you know. Do you remember? And there's my beech-tree over there, where I sit when I'm the probable son. It's too dark for you to see all the others. ”

“ I get some biscuits from nurse, and a little jam, and some sugar and water, and I sit down and feel so happy to think I'm not the probable son any more, and haven't got to eat husks or be with the pigs. Don't you think that's a beautiful game, uncle?"
"Do you get all your games from the Bible?" inquired Sir Edward. "I somehow think it is not quite correct," and he looked very dubiously at his little niece as he spoke.
"Well," said Milly, the earnest look coming into her eyes again, "I love the Bible so much, you see. ”

“ Sir Edward hesitated. "If you come, you will fidget, I expect. I cannot stand that."
"I will sit as still as a mouse. I won't fidget."
"If you behave badly I shall never take you again. Yes, you may come. Be quick and get ready."
A few moments after, Sir Edward and his little niece were walking down the avenue, she clasping a large Bible under her arm, and trying in vain to match her steps with his.
The squire's pew was one of the old-fashioned high ones, and Milly's head did not reach the top of it. ”

“ In an instant, without thought of consequences, the child darted to the nursery door and down the broad oak staircase.
"Poor pussy, I will run and fetch her in. I expect she has run away from the kitchen."
Sir Edward was writing at his study table, when an unusually violent gust of wind caused him to raise his eyes and glance out of the window. There, to his amazement, he saw, under the old oak tree on the lawn, his little niece, her golden brown curls flying as she battled with the elements, and struggled vainly to stoop and take the kitten in her arms. ”

“ Nurse says it's too late, but I do want to be there. There's such a lot to be done now he has really come; and, Uncle Edward, may they kill one of the cows in the farm that are being fatted up? There's no calf, I'm afraid. May they? And may I go and tell them so? You will let me go, won't you?"
"Most certainly not; it is much too late in the afternoon for you to be going down there. It is getting quite dark, and as to one of my cattle being disposed of in that way, I should not dream of allowing it for one moment."
Milly's eyes filled with tears, which she vainly tried to restrain. ”

“ Milly instantly obeyed, and after some moments of silence her uncle said,—
"I don't mind your going to Maxwell's cottage, but you must never take Fritz with you. He is not allowed in that wood at all. Do you quite understand?"
"Yes, but I'm very sorry, for Fritz doesn't like being left behind; the tears were in his eyes when nurse told him he wasn't to go with me. You see, no one talks to him like I do. He likes me to tell him stories, and I told him when I came back about my visit, so he wants to go. ”

“ Milly did not answer for a minute, then she stopped short, and said very solemnly, raising her large dark eyes to the major's face,—
"I wonder if you're a prodigal son. Uncle Edward said there were some rich ones. Have you run away from God, Major Lovell?"
"Oh, come now," said the major, pinching her cheek good-naturedly; "I didn't bargain for this when I came out with you. You must keep your sermons for some one else. Come along to the stables with me, and I will give you a ride." ”

“ It strikes me from different things he has let drop that he is turning pious."
"What is pious?" inquired Milly, instantly.
"What is it? A pious person thinks every one wicked but themselves, and condemns everybody and everything all round them. They are most objectionable people, little woman, so mind you never take up that line, and the worst of it is that they're so satisfied with their own goodness, that you can't crush them, try as much as you may."
"And is Uncle Edward going to be like them?" ”

“ The loss of your money ought to be a lesson to you."
"But I didn't lose it, uncle. I lent it to Jack. He wouldn't let me give it to him; he said he would send it back to me in a letter."
Sir Edward laughed unbelievingly, and Milly trotted upstairs to be received with open arms by nurse at the nursery door.
"There! never mind, my dear. I have been very angry with you, but you'll never do such a thing again. Come and have your tea. I've had a cup already, and feel wonderful better. Now, don't cry any more; bless your little heart, I can't bear to see you in tears." ”

“ Assent being given, Milly was soon seated in a large cushioned chair, a fat tabby cat on her lap, and while Sir Edward was occupied with his keeper she was making fast friends with the wife.
"Uncle Edward," she said, when they had taken their leave and were walking homewards, "Mrs. Maxwell has asked me to go to tea with her to-morrow. May I—all by myself?"
"Ask your nurse; I have no objection."
"I should love to live in her house," continued the child eagerly; "it is all among the trees, and I love trees. And this wood is so lovely. ”

“ Gradually he wandered farther and farther away from the right path, and when he came into his property he took possession of it with no other aim and object in life than to enjoy himself in his own way and to totally ignore both the past and future. Beyond going to church once on Sunday he made no profession of religion, but that custom he conformed to most regularly, and the vicar of the parish had nothing to complain of in the way in which his appeals for charity were met by the squire. It is needless to say that Sir Edward was not a happy man. ”

“ Why, uncle, it would be never too late for God, would it? Maxwell said he would be glad to see Tommy if he came back in the middle of the night, and God would never turn one of his prodigal sons away. He loves them so that he sent Jesus to die for them. ”

“ And she was angry most of all because I shook hands with Jack and wished him good-bye. I don't think nurse would run and meet a probable son if she had one; she thinks all ragged people are wicked. But I'm—I'm dreadful sorry I was disobedient. Do you think I have been very naughty, Uncle Edward?"
Sir Edward twisted the ends of his moustache slowly. "I think you were naughty to run after a strange man like that, and I quite understand nurse's displeasure. You made her exceedingly anxious." ”

“ Poor little kitty, her mother will be missing her so to-night! Do you think, uncle, the wind or Goliath killed her? I think it was Goliath. I just looked out of my window on the stairs before I came down. The wind has stopped now, and the trees seemed to be crying and sobbing together. I'm sure they were sorry for kitty. I think they were tired out themselves, too, they have been so knocked about to-day. I wish so much I had been just in time to save the dear little kitten."
"We will not talk about her any more," said Sir Edward cheerfully. "Have you seen Tom Maxwell lately?" ”

“ Well, my dear, I can't say as I don't prefer the summer; but there!—the Almighty sends it, and it must be right, and I don't think folks have a right to grumble and go rushing off to them foreign parts, a-leaving their own country and the weather God gives them, because they say they must have sunshine. I allays thinks they've no sunshine in their hearts, or they wouldn't be so up and down with the weather. ”

“ Nurse says she thinks He wants me to work for Him when I grow up. I think—I think I'm rather like the little kitten yesterday, that nobody was sorry for when she died. You said there were plenty more kittens, didn't you?"
"I don't think there are plenty of small Millicents in this world," and Sir Edward's voice was husky. "Now listen, little woman. I have been thinking over the matter, and have decided this afternoon to keep you with me. I find I do want you after all, and cannot afford to lose you. Supposing we dry these tears, and talk about something else." ”

“ Nurse tells me the stories ever so often, and I know lots and lots of them. But I like the probable son the best. Do you like it?"
Sir Edward replaced his cigar in his mouth and strolled on without a reply. His little niece's words awakened very uncomfortable feelings within his heart. Years before he had known and loved his Bible well. He had been active in Christian work, and had borne many a scoff and jeer from his companions when at Oxford for being "pious," as they termed it. ”