Jimmie went out and hid himself, just a little subdued. Evidently his
gallant act, the thing that everybody had admired in Trooper, had taken
on a different colour when performed by him.
He had little opportunity to reflect upon his act. There was hardly
time for sorrow before Jimmie was gone; he had been put in a draft for
a Battalion already in England and to his huge delight he was sent
overseas almost immediately. It seemed as if this, her baby's going,
was almost more than Mrs. Lindsay could bear, and Christina was more
and more called upon to be a comforter and a bearer of burdens.
It was not the fear of gas nor bomb nor German bullet that kept
Jimmie's mother wakeful at night, but the pestilence that walked in
darkness, waylaying the souls of young men. Terrible tales of brave
boys falling before an enemy more to be dreaded than all the
frightfulness of the Hun came back to Canada. It was this living Death
that stalked through the camps of England, and behind the lines in
France and Flanders, that made the mother's heart sick with fear.
As she watched her mother's silent suffering, Christina's soul began,
again, to ask questions. What was the meaning of that psalm that
Grandpa had read when Sandy and Neil went way, and, later, when Jimmie
left? Did it mean anything? And if it did, why could it not bring
comfort to her mother's sorely-tried heart?
Through all the days of Christina's loneliness and anxiety there was no
one so kind to her as Wallace's mother. Mrs. Sutherland made a point
of selecting Christina for her special helper at Red Cross meetings,
and Christina could not but notice the significance of her attentions.
"You are such a comfort, Christine," she declared one day when the girl
handed her back a sock with a dropped stitch deftly picked up. "Your
mother is a fortunate woman. I wish I had a daughter like you!"
Christina's cheeks grew scarlet, and she was thankful that the clatter
of sewing machines and the noise of Mrs. Johnnie Dunn's orders secured
them from being overheard.
But indeed, she could not shut her eyes to the fact that all events
pointed in the direction so prettily indicated, again and again, by
Wallace's mother. Wallace was succeeding beyond his own expectations,
and Uncle William was growing more lamb-like every day. The road to
success had surely opened out for Christina. Her Dream Knight had
ridden up to her very door. He was possessed of a fine house, and
broad acres, and had prospects of great wealth. He was handsome and
gay and debonair, and what more could any human girl ask?
And in the face of all this grand good fortune that unreasonable
Christina Lindsay was more dissatisfied and restless than she had ever
been in all her life. She reasoned with herself and scolded herself
all to no avail. That foolish heart of hers, that had always got in
the way of her worldly prospects, was standing stubbornly right in the
very highway of success.