uld never have wanted to be a soldier."
"He did a lot of good out there. I don't think he will be sorry now."
Roy settled down to sleep again comforted; but for the next few days he
seemed quite unable to give his mind to his lessons, and after some
correspondence with Miss Bertram, it was arranged that he and Dudley
should go home from Saturday to Monday. It was a sad home-coming, and
when Roy saw Rob's Bible his grief burst out afresh. The pages showed
how much they had been studied, but no verse was more marked than the
one Roy had given him. "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ."
On Sunday evening the boys paid a visit to old Principle. They had been
talking about Rob, when Roy said wistfully,
"Rob used his opportunity when he got it, didn't he? I expect he didn't
know what a hero he was. I wonder if I shall ever get one come to me. I
should like to do something great for God, and great for my country. I
shall never give up wishing for a great opportunity to come to me!"
Then old Principle spoke, and his tone was very solemn:
"'Tis not I that will make you proud and uplifted, laddie, but you have
been given the grandest opportunity that ever a poor mortal could be
given, and you've taken it and made use of it, thank the Lord!"
Both boys gazed up at him with open eyes and mouths.
Dudley said after a minute's thought:
"We've both had some little opportunities, and Roy has had the biggest.
He saved me from drowning, and he went into the cave to fetch you!"
"Those weren't proper opportunities," muttered Roy in scorn, "they
aren't worth remembering; not after what Rob has done."
"Yes, the opportunity I'm talking of was a grander one than them, though
old Principle can't forget he owes his life perhaps to both of you boys'
thought of him. 'Tis what the Lord Himself left His throne in heaven
for," the old man proceeded in the same solemn tones; "'tis the one
thing, the only thing we're told brings joy to the happy ones above; nay
to the Almighty Himself, and 'tis wonderful that He will let us have the
part in it we do!"
"What do you mean?" questioned Roy awed and puzzled by old Principle's
manner.
"I mean this, laddie, you had an opportunity of leading an ignorant soul
to the feet of his Saviour; of enlisting a soldier not only in the
Queen's service but in the service of the King of Kings; of being the
means of filling an empty barren soul with a flood of light and
gladness; and o
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