Chapter IX: "a Little Child Shall Lead Them."

The day was over.

Esther and her father, possessed of a calm, holy joy deeper than ever before, were seated in his study, while with them were Dr. and Mrs. Dale, Rosa and Mrs. Gray.

Esther had been undergoing a struggle, for it would be hard to give Rosa up. She had planned to keep her as her own little sister, to educate her, to train her in things both temporal and spiritual, and to guard her till she should develop into a pure, strong, noble woman.

Now she felt that it must be otherwise, for evidently God had so determined. Knowing that His will always would be her deliberate choice, could she see the end from the beginning as He can, she was growing positively happy at this unexpected turn of events. It was a part of her religion not to be simply passively submissive to His will, but in it always to rejoice. The psalmist's declaration, "I delight to do Thy will, O my God," was the expression of her heart's desire.

Mrs. Dale, though with an eye upon the child, was quietly talking to Mrs. Gray of the privileges and duties befalling the Christian.

Dr. Dale was clasping Rosa closely to his breast, while now and then a tear dropped upon her curly head.

"Pastor," he said after a long interval of silence, "the battle has raged fiercely since Sunday morning, but thanks be to God, He has given me the strength with which to gain the victory.

"You know how selfish I have been, how taken up with the affairs of this world and the amassing of riches. For many years I have had no vital interest in other things. I have prided myself upon my uprightness and morality, considering that I was a worthy example for any to follow, and a decidedly successful man. Now the fallacy of my position I see, and realize that the best part of my life has been wasted--more than wasted!

"When you walked down the aisle with Rosa and grandpa, Satan made upon me a relentless onslaught. It seemed that there were two mighty and opposing forces within, each struggling for the supremacy. I did not yield entirely to the right till this afternoon, for I have gloried in my reputation of being influenced by no one.

"For years I have not been satisfied, knowing myself to be slipping farther and farther away from God. I have longed for the joy of my first love, but He could not take me back with my hands so tenaciously holding to the things of this world.

"Today the tempter told me that there would be no use in my surrendering, for I would not prove true, and anyhow that it was only a matter of excitement and not of firm conviction. I fully realize that I have no power in myself, and that the first moment I look away from Christ I shall fall. I am resting on the promise that He is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

"Your message Sunday and your message today burned deeply into my soul, but it is this little girl whom God was pleased to use in the breaking of my stony, icy heart. I wish to take her as my own daughter, knowing that she will lead me still closer to the Lord she loves so well.

"Rosa," he asked tenderly, "are you willing to be my little girl instead of my Margaret whom God has taken to Himself?"

For her answer she slipped her arms about his neck and kissed him, while Mrs. Dale smiled through her tears upon the happy pair.

"My brother, may God bless you and keep you," fervently responded the pastor, "leading you from victory up into victory.

"You are not the only one to be filled with gratitude for having been brought under the influence of this child. I too view life differently, seeing more clearly than ever the duty, nay, privilege of personal soul-saving work for the Master. Rosa's quest has brought me face to face with the insignificance of this world, and the realities of the next. Her attitude is only what that of every true follower of God should be. Our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. If we could only remember our position in Him, the surrendered life would be the natural outcome, and, like Rosa, our faces continually would be turned toward the beautiful land.

"This is only another verification of the fact that a little child shall lead them.

"Yes, it means a rich and new blessing to me!"

"And to me, too," softly sobbed Mrs. Gray, "fer it's all come through her, the sweet lamb, and I've been a-threat'nin' to lick her. She was that patient when my ankle was twisted, that I'll never fergit it, no never! I can see now how she'd shake of fear when she'd come up to me, then run to poor old father fer a bit of comfort. I didn't know it then, but do now, that she was 'most a-starvin' fer the kind of love she didn't git. How she must have missed her ma! Oh, I've been so awful mean! I don't see how God can fergive me, but I know He has. I never knew'd before that the Saviour is fer sech as me. Tom used to try to tell me, and I wouldn't let him. He wuz good, and I wuzn't. And dear old father! How happy he and Tom must be tonight, but it'll be dreadfully lonesome with them all gone. I wish I could have Rosa back ag'in, though I'm awful glad she's to have sech a good home. And I made sech a fuss about a-keepin' her till spring. If it hadn't been fer her, I don't know how I'd ever got along when I couldn't walk. But God has fergive me now, and I feel like another woman."

"I'll go back with you, Mis' Gray," faltered Rosa, "if you want me to."

"No, my child, you promised to stay with me," interrupted the doctor, "but you may visit Mrs. Gray every week, and I shall see that she never wants for anything again."

"Ain't He a wonderful Saviour?" said Mrs. Gray, brightening up. "I can't see how 'tis, but I love them all over there on Burton street now, and I used to be that ugly they're all afraid of me, I know. Seems like I can hardly wait till mornin', I'm that anxious to git back to tell them all about it. They're all so poor, and have sech heavy loads. They need Him bad to help them, but they don't know He's promised to. And Billy Bruce, the poor laddie, I want to tell him how sorry I am fer a-tryin' to throw that piece of coal at him. His ma's drunk most of the time, and so's his pa. He used to come to me fer somethin' to eat, and I wouldn't give him a thing, but jest scold him and tell him to git out of the way, fer I didn't feed beggars. He ain't never had no chance yet, and I'm jest a-goin' to see what I can do fer him. He's got a good heart, and once he told me I'd never lick Rosa if he wuz only a little bigger. He'll run when he see me a-comin', but I'll put some peppermints in my pocket, and mebbe they'd help catch him."

"Oh, Mrs. Gray," said Esther, "I am so glad that you are going to help Billy. I saw him the other day, and feel sure that you can bring him around all right. I shall come over often to assist you, and I know that many will find the same dear Friend in whom you are rejoicing tonight.

"How wonderfully has the Lord's hand been guiding since first I saw Rosa that cold December day; and the end is not yet!"

For several minutes the little company sat in silence, each one buried in thoughts too deep and sacred to find expression in words.

Presently Rosa lifted her head from the doctor's shoulder, her lustrous eyes becoming more luminous than ever, as she said:

"Oh, how glad I am that I have found the way to the beautiful land! Mother's there, and don't cough no more. Grandpa's there, and we're all going some day, 'cause Jesus paid the fare a long time ago!"