THE END.
NEXT day the Shaftos, with Sandy and little Gip, left London for
Liverpool, whence their ship was to sail. There were a hundred other
children, from the streets of our large cities going out to settle in
new homes in Canada. And Mrs. Shafto found so much to do among these
little ones, that she had not time to fret over the thought of Johnny's
grave, which she was leaving farther and farther behind her.
Mr. Shafto also had a good trial as to whether he was really conquering
his old besetting sin of selfishness and idleness, and he passed
through it triumphantly, to his own secret delight and the great
gladness of his wife.
Gip was the life of the party, growing prettier and merrier every day,
and Sandy's happiness was complete. A farm had been found and bought
for Mr. Shafto, by a friend of Miss Murray's; and before the autumn
came, they were settled in a log-house of their own, within sound of
the lapping of the waves of the Lake Huron.
The last time Sandy was seen by any of his English friends, he was
driving a yoke of oxen in a strong substantial waggon, with Mrs. Shafto
and little Gip seated comfortably in the back of it. He and Mr. Shafto
were taking it in turns to walk at the head of the oxen, and urge them
on over the rough roads. It was Mr. Shafto's turn to walk, and he was
striding along cheerfully, as though he had been used to hard work all
his life; his face was brown and sun-burnt, and the palms of his hands
were hard.
It was noticed that Mrs. Shafto had blue ribbons in her cap, and that
her cheeks were almost as rosy as little Gip's. Sandy had grown into a
strong, active boy, with a bright and happy expression on his face.
"Have you any message to send to Mr. Mason?" asked the friend from
England.
"Ay! tell him," said Sandy, "as I'm trying to be as good as John
Shafto. And tell him I'll never forget hearing him preach about the
Lord Jesus being lost, like little Gip. Father bought me the verse when
he went to Montreal, and it's printed in scarlet and blue and gold, and
hangs over our chimney-piece at home: 'The Son of man is come to seek
and to save that which is lost.'"
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Watson and Hazel, Printers, London and Aylesbury.