[Gutenberg 39538] • A Soldier's Son

Excerpt: ...treatise. "I cannot explain what it is I want, Raymond. I only know I always seem to be groping after something, and I cannot find it. But when I am talking to Carol, I seem nearer to it. Raymond, won't you let me have that book--just for to-day--I will return it to you to-morrow?" "No, Emmeline. Not for one hour." "You are cruel, Raymond, when the boy is suffering so, and it is all he asks you. If there were a shop near where I could buy a copy, I would straightway do so. I will know for myself what the book teaches. I shall write to Miss Desmond, and ask her to get me a copy." "Of course, Emmeline, if you choose to do that, I have no control over your actions. I have over Carol's, and I shall exercise it." Then Mrs. Mandeville broke down and burst into tears. "Perhaps you won't have power long. Oh, Raymond! You do not realize how ill he is! If meningitis sets in, Dr. Burton says it will be a matter of only a few hours. If I were asking for a Buddhist or a Mohammedan book, it would be right for you to let me have it." "No, my dear sister. I am not a believer in the doctrine that the end justifies the means. I will pray for Carol, and for you too. I am sorry to see you so overwrought." "Then you absolutely refuse, Raymond?" "I do, Emmeline--absolutely." Without a word Mrs. Mandeville turned and left the room. CHAPTER XIV.--"HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP." Softly and lightly as Mrs. Mandeville re-entered Carol's room, he heard her. He had been listening for her footsteps, whilst obedient to her desire, lying with closed eyelids. She was spared the pain of telling him she had been unsuccessful. He read it in her face. "Auntie, dear, please don't look so troubled. Uncle Raymond does not understand. It is quite all right. Love can always find a way." Mrs. Mandeville almost smiled through her unshed tears. How great was her love for the boy, yet she could think of no way by which what he wanted could be immediately procured. Even she did not fully realize...