Seek first the kingdom
of heaven and its righteousness--"
But here the voice failed; and Tom, his quick nature touched and
sobered, rose hastily, and, with a muttered promise of quick
return, threw himself out of the room, as though afraid to trust
himself there longer. He was such a stranger to keen emotion, that
he fled from before it with a sense of dread.
The wife came back to her husband's bedside. He looked into her
face and said, faintly:
"The lad hath yet a warm heart."
"I have always felt that," she answered quickly. "But oh, my
husband, why send him forth to the perils of war?"
"In the hope that the stern discipline of a soldier's life may fit
him for the duties which will be his at home. The lad needs above
all things to learn to obey. Till he has mastered the lesson of
submission, he can never be fit to hold the reins of government.
That lesson he will learn most quickly in the life of the camp.
There he will be no great man, but an overgrown boy to be taught
and drilled. Young Tom needs to find his own level. That is what he
never will do at home. He has lorded it over the neighbourhood too
long already."
"But if he leaves us and goes forth into the world, who will care
for his immortal soul?" asked the mother, with tears in her eyes.
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