with God's help, would live henceforth to the end. For a moment he
thought of the flag hanging motionless in the dim drawing-room behind
him--the flag of the great land that was stretching out its powerful
hand to the weak and oppressed of the earth. And then with a last look
to the willow and the shaft beneath, his lips moved noiselessly:
"They will sleep better to-night."
Judith was standing in the drawing-room on his hearth, looking into his
fire and dreaming. Ah, God, to think that it should come to pass at
last!
He entered so softly that she did not hear him. There was no sound but
the drowsy tick of the great clock in the hall and the low song of the
fire.
"Sweetheart!"
She looked up quickly, the dream gone from her face, and in its place
the light of love and perfect trust, and she stood still, her arms
hanging at her sides--waiting.
"Sweetheart!"
God was good that Christmas.
THE END
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards.
2. Contemporary spelling has been retained, with these corrections:
p. 64 "gretty" to "pretty" ("watching pretty girls").
p. 64 "pacing ing" to "pacing" ("pacing a steady beat").
p. 117 "Critdenden" to "Crittenden" ("Private Crittenden").
p. 162 "chapparal" to "chaparral" ("through the chaparral").