"My son, my only child, was taken so cruelly from me. He was the hope of
my life, and when he answered the call to go on a mission to the islands
of the sea, I let him go gladly, because it was on the Lord's business.
Then some months later the news came that he had died. I was crazed with
grief. I could not understand why the Lord would permit such a thing to
take place. Was my boy not in His service? Why did not the Lord take
care of His own?"

"And so you suffered, both because of your loss and because of your
thoughts," said Rachel. "Poor sister,--but now?"

"He is with me now, and it has all been explained. We live in this
house. Do you care to hear the story?"

"If you desire to tell it, yes."

"You seem so near and dear to me that I may tell it to you. My boy,
while on his mission, was tempted. He has told me all about it--he was
tempted sorely. He was in great danger, and so the Lord, to prevent him
from falling into the mire of sin, permitted him to be taken away. They
brought his lifeless body home to me, but his spirit went back to its
Maker pure and unspotted from the sins of the world,--and thus I found
him here, a big, fine-looking man as he was. You ought to see him."

"Mother," someone called from the direction of the house.

"That is he now," said the mother, rising.

"Mother, where are you? Oh!" the son exclaimed as he caught sight of the