“Oh, why did I let my temper get the better of me? My son I have done wrong. I have wronged her and you. God forgive! I intended to return before now. I went back to England. My father was sick and wished for me to stay with him until he died. My mother was a frail woman, and I stayed till she was placed beside my father. Then I started to come back. The merchant ship I set sail in was taken by a pirate vessel, and I was left on an island with several other people whom they did not wish to murder in cold blood, and I only returned to England about a year ago. I thought of you and your mother many and many a night and prayed to God to spare your lives until I returned home. My son, can you forgive your poor wretch of a father, for I am your father by the laws of nature?” Paul wept violently. As soon as he could command his voice he said, “My dear father. I forgive you, and you shall go with me to our faithful old servants and to our sad home; sad indeed has that home been to me since mother died.” “Thanks, my son, for your kindness. May God deal gently with you.” They were walking slowly along, as the father was weak and could not have walked without the aid of something to lean on. It was beautiful indeed to see the father leaning on and protected by the manly arm of his son, whom he deserted in childhood. Forgiveness is a blessing we all can bestow on our fellow beings. As God forgives us we should in return forgive our friends and neighbors. Soon they reached the hotel where Paul was staying. He had returned from his tour the day before and until now was ignorant of his father’s whereabouts. Before he started to England he desired to visit his lady love, and was on his way there when he found his father. After seeing his father well cared for he prepared to go on the street again. As he went to his father’s side he said, “Have you looked at the picture yet?” “No, my son, I do not care to. The original of that picture has long been dead, and why should I care to draw back sad memories of the past?” “Father,” said Paul, solemnly, “the grave may give up its dead: or, in other words, she may be living. Are you positive she is dead?” “My son, the ship she sailed in was wrecked, and none of her crew ever was heard from, and of course she went to the bottom of the deep blue sea with them,” answered the father sadly. “You may be mistaken in the ship she sailed in. How did you find out what ship she went in?” “By my father, when I returned from the war. No, my son, there is no happiness for me on earth but to live near my child,” answered the father piteously. “Cheer up, father. I have good news. If you were able to walk back the place of that accident we would be able to solve this great deliverance satisfactorily. I was going to the cottage where the child was taken, when I found you,” said Paul, buttoning up his overcoat.