Sir Edward put his head back on his cushions and laughed aloud. Then,
noting Milly's troubled face, he said:

"Wait till Tommy comes back, little woman, and then it will be time
enough to see about his ring, though I quite agree with his mother that
it would be most unfitting."

"You have had the picture I gave you taken away, uncle," said Milly
presently, her quick eyes roving round the room. "Ah! you've had it hung
up on the wall. That's nice there. You can see it from your bed. Don't
you like looking at it? Doesn't it make you feel happy?"

"I can't say it does," replied Sir Edward, glancing at the picture in
question. "Why ought it to make me feel happy?"

"Oh, it's so nice to think he is just getting home after being away so
long. I wonder if he was a great time walking back. How long do you
think it takes one of God's prodigal sons to get back to Him, uncle?"

"I should say a very long time, indeed," said Sir Edward, slowly.

"But how long? Two days, or six hours, or a week?"

"It would depend perhaps on how long they had been away from Him."

"It's rather hard to understand," said Milly, wrinkling her little brow
perplexedly, "because God is everywhere, isn't He? and I should have
thought He would have been close by them all the time. I was asking
nurse about it, and she said that God was near them, only they wouldn't
have anything to say to Him, and did bad things and shut the Lord Jesus