"You little foolish chap, do you know what you have lost? You were
right there--you might have heard Her when She said it! You might
have peeped between your fingers and seen Her face--angels in Heaven!
Her face!--with the love-light in it. You poor little chap! you poor
little chap! You were right there all the time and you didn't know.
And you don't know now when I tell you I'm the happiest man alive!
You lie there like a little log. Well, sleep away, little chap. What
does it matter to you?"
It was the Little Lover's own guardian-angel who kept him from waking
up, but Uncle Larry did not know. He took off the small, dusty shoes
and loosened the little clothes, with a strange new tenderness in his
big fingers. The familiar little figure seemed to have put on a
certain sacredness for having lain on Her cushions and been touched
by Her hands. And She had kissed the little chap. Uncle Larry stooped
and found the place with his lips.
The visit seemed like a dream to the Little Lover, next morning. How
could it have been real when he could not remember coming home at
all? He _hadn't_ come home,--so of course he had never gone. It was a
dream,--still--where was the Treasury Box?
"I wish I knew for very certain," the Little Lover mused. "I could
ask Uncle Larry, but I hate Uncle Larry--" Oh! Then it wasn't a
dream. It was true. It all came back. The Little Lover remembered why
he hated Uncle Larry. He remembered it all. Lying there in his little
bed he smelt the beautiful smell again and followed it up to the
roses on Her dress. They were Uncle Larry's roses, so he hated Uncle
Larry. He always would. He did not hate Her, but he would never go to
see Her again. He would never nod or smile at Her again in church. He
would never be happy again.
Perhaps She would send back the Treasury Box;--the Little Lover had
heard once that people sent back things when it was all over. It was
all over now. He was only six, but the pain in his heart was so big
that he did not think to wish She would send back the Treasury Box
soon, on account of the softest apple.
The days went by until they made a month,--two months,--half a year.
The pain in the Little Lover's heart softened to a dreary loneliness,
but that stayed on. He had always been a lonely little chap, but not
like this. He had never had a mother, and his father had nearly
always been away. But this was different. Now he had nobody to love,
and he hated Uncle Larry.
That was before the Wonderful Thing happened. One day Uncle Larry
brought Her home. He said She was his wife. That was the Wonderful
Thing.
The Little Lover ran away and hid. They could not find him for a long
time. It was She who found him.
"Why, Reggie! Why, poor little man! Look up. What is it, dear?
Reggie, you are crying!"
He did not care. He _wanted_ to cry. But he let Her take him into Her
arms.
"_I_ wanted to do it!" he sobbed, desolately, his secret out at last.
"Do it? Do what, Reggie?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account