I awaked in the peace of one who has laid his burden down. My
joints were a little stiff, from the position in which I had
slept; my mind was set free. The charge of the rival armies
and their conflicts was no longer on my shoulders; even the
care of individual life and safety I thought no longer to
secure. Myself I was a soldier, in a different army; and I had
been forgetting my business and presuming into the General's
province. No wonder my nerves were strained and my heart
almost broken. That was now all given up; and I went through
my morning duties in a quiet that was profound, if it was also
very humble. I had found the only harbour of rest that can be
found on the shores of this world; that one which is entered
by paying the tribute of one's self-will. The tides of the
great sea do not rise and fall there; the anchorage is good;
the winds that weep over the waters bring balm with them; and
the banner that floats at the entrance bears this inscription
"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed,
trusting in the Lord."
The first thing I heard from Mrs. Sandford was that he doctor
was almost well, and would come down stairs after breakfast. I
knew what that portended for me; thought I knew; but as I
said, I had given up the management of myself and my concerns.
"If ye be not able to do that thing which is least, why take
ye thought for the rest?" I got my worsted and sat down stairs
at my work, to be ready to see the doctor when he should come.
Mrs. Sandford took post at the window; and so we waited. The
weather to-day was clear and bright; the street full yet of
motley groups, returned soldiers and gathered civilians,
looking however far less dismal than the day before. Mrs.
Sandford from the window detailed all she saw; while my
worsted needle went in and out to an interrupted refrain - "He
shall not be afraid of evil tidings" - "Why take ye thought?"
Then Mrs. Sandford said, "Here comes the major, Daisy. It
seems to me he is very attentive -" and in the major walked.
He gave his hand to me, and his eye glanced at the figure in
the window. I could not help the thought that he wished it not
there. But things too far down had been stirred in me, for a
little surface matter like this to move my calm.
"What news, major?" my friend asked.
"Good. How do you do, Mrs. Sandford? I told you yesterday that
it would be good."
"Yes, but how good is it, Major Fairbairn?"