All this while the little girl had been sitting in
silence drinking in the conversation. Now suddenly
she rose and came to Samuel, putting her hand in his.
“Please stay,” she said.
And Samuel answered, “Very well—I’ll
stay.”
So then they fell to discussing his future, and what
Dr. Vince was going to do for him. The good doctor
was inwardly more perplexed about it than he cared
to let Samuel know.
“I’ll ask Mr. Wygant,” he said—“perhaps
he can find you a place in one of his factories.”
“Mr. Wygant?” echoed Samuel. “You
mean Miss Gladys’s father?”
“Yes,” said the doctor. “Do
you know Miss Gladys?”
“I have met her two or three times,” said
the boy.
“They are parishioners of mine,” remarked
the other.
And Samuel gave a start. “Why!” he
exclaimed. “Then you—you must
be the rector of St. Matthew’s.”
“Yes,” was the reply. “Didn’t
you know that?”
The boy was a little awed. He had seen the great
brownstone temple upon the hill—a structure
far more splendid than anything he had ever dreamed
of.
“Have you never attended?” asked the doctor.
“I went to the mission once,” said Samuel—referring
to the little chapel in the poor quarters of the town.
“A friend of mine goes there--Sophie Stedman.
She works in Mr. Wygant’s cotton mill.”
“I should be glad to have you come to the church,”
said the other.
“I’d like to very much,” replied
the boy. “I didn’t know exactly if
I ought to, you know.”
“I am sorry you got that impression,”
said Dr. Vince. “The church holds out its
arms to everyone.”
“Well,” began Samuel apologetically, “I
knew that all the rich people went to St. Matthew’s—–”
“The church does not belong to the rich people,”
put in the doctor very gravely; “the church
belongs to the Lord.”
And so Samuel, overflowing with gratitude and happiness,
joined St. Matthew’s forthwith; and all the
while in the deeps of his soul a voice was whispering
to him that it was Miss Gladys’ church also!
And he would see his divinity again!
Samuel went back in great excitement to the Stedmans’,
to tell them of his good fortune. And the family
sat about in a circle and listened to the recital
in open-eyed amazement. It was a wonderful thing
to have an adventurer like Samuel in one’s house!
But the boy noticed that Sophie did not seem as much
excited as he had anticipated. She sat with her
head resting in her hands. And when the others
had left the room—“Oh, Samuel,”
she said. “I feel so badly to-day!
I don’t see how I’m going to go on.”
“Listen, Sophie,” he said quickly.
“That’s one of the first things I thought
about—I can give you a chance now.”
“How do you mean?”
“I can get Dr. Vince to help you find some better
work.”
