Page:Between Two Loves.djvu/112

Rh "I want thee to take Steve back."

"Nay, nay; I can't do that. If thou was my own dear wife, and asked me to do that thing, I would say no to thee."

"It isn't for my sake, sir. Oh no, not for my sake. Steve is going down t' road to hell as fast as drink and idleness can take him there. Nothing but steady work can give him another chance. Master, is he to hev t' chance? Not for my sake, master. I'll stand behind thee, so thou can't see me. It's between thee and tha' conscience, now."

"Oh, Sarah! Sarah!"

"Not for my sake, master, for Christ's sake, will ta give Steve another chance?"

"Ay, I will. Twenty chances, seventy times seven chances! Go, my lass, tell him to come back and do his duty, and oh, Sarah! I thank thee, I thank thee for coming."

He stood up, and raised his face full of confidence and light. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, one of those mysterious confidences which pass between souls and the Father of Spirits had lifted him into the sunshine. In the act of doing good, a token for good had been granted to him also.