"
Arthur looked out of the window. The twilight had come on, and all was
silent. He repeated in a low voice: "In this thing the Lord pardon thy
servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship
there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow down myself in the house of
Rimmon, when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon
thy servant in this thing."
Not a word more was said on the subject, and the boys were again
silent--one of those blessed, short silences in which the resolves which
colour a life are so often taken.
Tom was the first to break it. "You've been very ill indeed, haven't
you, Geordie?" said he, with a mixture of awe and curiosity, feeling as
if his friend had been in some strange place or scene, of which he could
form no idea, and full of the memory of his own thoughts during the last
week.
"Yes, very. I'm sure the Doctor thought I was going to die. He gave me
the Sacrament last Sunday, and you can't think what he is when one is
ill. He said such brave, and tender, and gentle things to me, I felt
quite light and strong after it, and never had any more fear. My mother
brought our old medical man, who attended me when I was a poor sickly
child. He said my constitution was quite changed, and that I'm fit for
anything now. If it hadn't, I couldn't have stood three days of this
illness.
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