"But ye'll be sure now, dead certain, won't ye, doc?"
"Why? I don't catch the drift of your meaning."
"Ye don't? Why, that's queer, after what He's done fer my Jimmy. Who
else sent them scouts out there to bring my boy in but Him? And to
think that all of these years I've been scoffin' at Him and religion,
and then fer Him to do so much fer me and my Jimmy!"
The doctor knew not how to reply, and so continued his smoke, while the
captain sat nearby with bent head, deep in thought. The storm still
raged without, but there was silence in the kitchen, save for the
kettle which sang upon the stove. But a more intense silence reigned
within the little bed-room adjoining, where a mother knelt by the side
of her only child, holding his cold right hand in hers, and offering up
wordless prayers that he might be spared.
News of Jimmy Britt's return soon spread throughout the parish, and
everywhere there was the buzz of gossip as to the strange way he had
come home. Some thought he must have been drunk, which caused him to
fall upon the road. Others believed that he was so poor that he could
not afford to be driven from the train. But all were of one mind that
his not writing to his parents for years was most mysterious.
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