CHAPTER XIV.

A FAMILY GATHERING.

"We shall meet in the Eden above, In that beautiful land of the bleat; All our trials and pains will be o'er When we enter that mansion of rest."

FOURTEEN years have passed since our first glimpse of Benvourd House and its inmates. The month of September has come round again, when once more we take a look there. The house is full of visitors—so full, that Mr. Macleod says there must surely be three beds in every room; but his wife denies that fact, though she confesses that every little garret room is filled, and she is not sure that every one has a full complement of pillows. But, in answer to that, all declare themselves well satisfied; and the scanty accommodation only brings forth merry remarks from the youngsters of the party.

Time has, indeed, brought changes in the circle since first we saw them. There are silver threads not a few mingled with the dark hairs of both Mr. and Mrs. Macleod; and even Charlie, who was only a toddling two-year-old child when we first heard of him, is a fine manly-looking stripling of more than sixteen years old, the very idol of the three little girls and twin-brothers, who look up to him with great respect as their big man-brother. Well may the Macleods look with thankfulness at their six healthy, happy children; and if a tear dims their eyes as they think of the loved daughter so early taken to glory, it is but for a moment, for the child's short life had not been lived in vain, and the Lord had made her death a means of softening some hard hearts, and drawing the parents' affections more and more heavenward.

"The Lord hath been mindful of us, and he will bless us," was the unspoken utterance of both the owners of Benvourd House, as they looked round the assembled group.

Ronald, Eric, and Nora were there, though in altered circumstances from the time we first saw them. Beside Ronald, now a partner in his cousin's mercantile house in London, stood his fair wife, the Clara Ross of earlier years. They have only been married a few months, and this is their first trip since then to the Highlands. A quiet, happy light shines in Clara's eyes; and of her it can truly be said, she is a helpmeet for her husband. Hand in hand they are fighting beneath the royal banner of the great King; hand in hand they are engaged in the noble crusade which so many, thank God, are now waging against the powers of darkness in the overcrowded London streets; and from amongst many poor ones there, who through their instrumentality have been rescued from destruction, there are those who call them blessed.

Husband and wife have strolled out together, leaving a group of merry youngsters behind them. Ronald was the first to speak. "How well Nora looks, does she not, even with the thoughts of to-morrow's ceremony and the sad parting from so many whom she dearly loves. She wears a look of calm heart-joy; and the more I see of him, the more I feel that Eustace Ashley is the very husband for her, though one would fain have kept her in our own country. Still, when we think of the greatness of the work she is called upon to share as a missionary's wife, we dare not murmur; and every day it is becoming plainer that China, with its teeming millions, is a mighty field for mission work. Yes, as uncle said to me this morning, 'We must give her up willingly to the Lord's work, for he loveth a cheerful giver.'"

"And Eric, too, Clara, what a fine man he has turned out—first-rate at business, I hear! Indeed, Ashley told me yesterday that he knows the head of the firm in China where Eric is, and that he speaks confidently of ere long taking him in as a junior partner. If it be so, we may say his fortune, as regards this world, is made. And he is a true Christian, quiet, but real. We little thought, when he first went to Edinburgh to your father's house, Clara, that it was to be there he would awake to a personal knowledge of Christ!"

"And was it so, Ronald?" said Clara, in a surprised tone.

"Yes, indeed; he has told me so himself. It was Pedro's firm belief that he was a Christian boy, because he shrank from spending the Lord's day in the way many of you then did, that first led him to see that he took his religion only from the 'precepts of men,' but was a stranger to Jesus, as his Saviour and Friend; so, as he says, it was Pedro who all unconsciously led him to seek the Lord. But see—here comes Sir James Dudley with uncle; let us join them."

It was well for Ronald that whilst thus occupied in talking to his wife, he did not hear the conversation which Sir James Dudley was carrying on with Mr. Macleod, for, indeed, praise of his friend Ronald was the chief theme of it: the lad's admiration of the counsellor of his boyhood was increasing with his years, and in his ardent way, he loved to speak of the one to whom he felt he owed so much.

"Why, Mr. Macleod," he said, "I don't believe you half know what a splendid fellow he is, nor how he is adored by all who serve with or under him. You see, there is a friend of my mother's, whose only son is a clerk in the house, and you should hear how he speaks of Macintosh. Why, he says, but for him he might have been a dissipated man. He was just standing on the verge of ruin, when Ronald came to his aid, took him from the society of bad companions, and led him into the right path."

Mr. Macleod's eyes glowed with pleasure as he listened. God had indeed given to him and his wife a rich reward, in the way the three orphan children whom they had brought up had turned out; and their praises were sweet to his ear. And with growing pleasure, he saw the influence for good that all three were exercising over his own children as they advanced in years.

In the meantime, Nora had contrived to get alone with her aunt on this the last day in her happy home, for the morrow was to be her bridal day, and also that of a long farewell to Scotland's shores; for after a short visit in England, she and her husband, accompanied by Eric, were to set sail for China, the land in which her husband worked as a missionary and her brother as a merchant. Her heart was full as she thought of leaving so many dear ones, but yet new ties and a new love filled her heart; and it was no small addition to her happiness that she was going to help in the work of spreading the knowledge of Jesus in a heathen land. Many loving words of advice and encouragement did she receive that day from her mother-aunt,—words to be pondered over and acted on when seas rolled between them.

Evening had come, and the youngsters, under the leadership of Sir James Dudley and Pedro, started for a walk, when Ronald, Eric, and Nora, detaching themselves from the rest, set out together. Almost involuntarily, it seemed, they turned their steps in the direction of the Wishing-Well. The sun's parting beams were just striking there when they reached it, and a rich golden hue was glowing on all around, lighting up the brilliantly coloured leaves of the various trees that formed the background to the well. For a minute or two they paused beside it, each heart recalling vividly the last time they had all stood there together, on the eve of Ronald's departure for school in England.

Eric was the first to break the silence. "Who remembers," he said, "the day, many years ago, when we stood here, and each wished for something beside this well? I wonder if our wishes have been fulfilled."

For a moment there was no reply.

Ronald remembered vividly how his wish had been to be a true Knight of the Cross, and bear the royal banner boldly into the enemy's country; and with that remembrance there arose the form of the mysterious stranger who had showed him the real meaning of his somewhat fanciful desire.

And Nora, too, was recalling the wish of her heart, that she might obtain what her mother desired for her, that she might be above rubies.

Whilst she and Ronald hesitated, Eric spoke again—"My wish has, I believe, been granted, though not in the way I expected. I have got riches, great riches—even the untold wealth of the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus, which is indeed 'better than gold.'"

"Yes," said Ronald, "Eric is right; I do believe that the Lord has indeed given unto us exceeding abundantly above what we desired. He has given to me the desire of my heart—to be a banner-bearer in his glorious army, and to help in some small degree the weak and oppressed ones. And you also, Nora, can say that your wish has been fulfilled. Is it not so?"

And Nora bowed her head in grateful acknowledgment of the fact. She knew in her inmost heart that she too had long ago obtained that which is above rubies.