His words seemed to impress him strangely. He thought of himself in connection with this produce that he was bearing away to market.
“Am I ripening for the great harvest?” said he. “Will the Master look upon me with approving eye, and say, ‘Well done! well done! ’”
Gill’s heart was full of sweet trust. He was trying to do the very best that he could, and he knew that the blessed Saviour would do all the rest for him, and that God would count it as his own righteousness. This was what made him so blithe as he jogged along toward the market-place.
“Tib” did an unusual thing as she heard the familiar “whoa” outside the door. She shook the folds of her black silk gown, and tripped along in her white satin slippers to meet him, as if she knew that he would not come very soon again, and as if she wanted to do him all the honor she could by ushering him in. For you must know that it is always a beautiful courtesy when we open the door for a guest, rather than leave it to a servant to do; and I suppose you have learned long, ago that it is true politeness to accompany a friend to the portals of your house, when he must leave you, and bid him adieu, as he goes out from under your roof. “Adieu,”--that is a precious prayer in a word,--think of it always when it escapes your lips, and be sure that it comes from your earnest heart. “I commend you to God, who is able and willing to take care of you.” That is what it means.
Mrs. Beth made Gill drink from her tin coffee-kettle, and gave him a buttered roll to eat. She and Tib vied with each other in hospitality. He thought he had never seen her with such light in her eyes as on this morning; but then you must remember that his own soul was particularly bright and sunny, and we often see the reflection of ourselves in other faces. That is a good thing to know, for it will lead us to take especial care as to what is within us; for we must surely desire the very best and happiest reflection. Nobody likes an ugly image of himself. I want to sit again, and again, when the photographer shows me a disagreeable picture, and I always turn away from my mirror when it does not give my very best expression. I wonder if one can not have the very best expression all the time, if the heart is full of sweet and pure and holy thoughts. It is worth trying.