Girl to Come Home To (14 page)

From that thrilling moment Jeremy went on to tell of the battle into which he presently went, making it so vivid that the audience felt that they were looking into reality. They could even see the smoke and the fire, hear the bursting of the bombs. And for an hour and a half Jerry held that audience, yes, even the gang in the gallery, listening with tense attention, clenched hands, eyes blurring with tears at times. And yet Jeremy was only telling in simple, vivid terms just what had happened, and how through it all there was that majestic Figure by his side, that glory in the air that did not come from fire of battle, the glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ, protecting Jeremy as he went on in the way his duty ordered.

The story of the young man’s work in the service was not being told for Jerry’s glory; it was openly apparent that every word was spoken for the glory of the Lord Christ, whose he was and whom he served. He kept the Lord ever present as he spoke and never once lost sight of the Central Figure.

As he sat down and dropped his face behind his hand as if in prayer, the minister came to the front. His voice was husky with tenderness as he spoke. “I do not feel that I have fitting words to thank our brother for his wonderful message, or that any words should be added. I am going to ask our speaker’s brother, Lieutenant Commander Rodney Graeme to close this meeting with prayer.”

And then from that front row tall Rodney Graeme arose and, lifting his face, began to pray. “Our gracious God who hast made Thyself known to us through Thy Son, let Thy Spirit work in all our hearts tonight to humble us before Thee. Show each of us our sin and guilt. May every one of us receive in the blood abundance of that life which Thou alone canst give, and may we be so yielded that Thy life may be lived through us, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

T
here was something in the timbre of Rodney’s voice that stirred old memories in Jessica’s mind, and suddenly she sat forward and looked down. She saw his face uplifted; she caught the strong, sweet expression as he prayed.

He was standing so that the full light of the great chandelier was flung upon him, and it brought out a face that was both strong and engaging. In school days he used to lift his head and look up at her and smile, and the strength and courage he had gained amid the terrible surroundings of war had in no way diminished the stunning charm of him. And he
used
to belong to her! And would yet if she hadn’t of her own accord given him up for what she had
thought
to be wealth and fame and a great position. What a fool she had been! Would it be worth her while to win him back again? Divorce her elderly husband, whose charm had already vanished for her?

Then suddenly that vibrant voice caught her attention, and she began to listen to the prayer, till it seemed to her that he was praying just for her. Yet of course he didn’t know she was in the audience. She never used to be eager to go to church or attend any sort of a meeting. He couldn’t suppose that she would be there. Yet, because the old charm of his voice stirred her, she listened to every word and wondered. Why, Rodney never used to pray in meeting. She was sure of that. Oh, his family was religious of course, had family prayers, and went to all the services of their church and all that, but Rodney had never talked about such things.

So Jessica sat in startled wonder and stretched her neck to look down and make sure that it was really Rodney who was praying, although of course his voice was unmistakable.

She listened to that prayer that seemed to be directed at herself. Talking of
sin
, that horrid antiquated word, in which nobody now believed anymore. The prayer was a direct charge of sin, coming straight at her shivering heart. The words stung frightened tears to her eyes. They flowed down her face like rain, and a great anger arose within her. How dare he pray like that?
Sin! She
had committed no sin in returning his ring and marrying another man, and if he was daring to take a chance of her being present and say those things to make her ashamed, he would find himself greatly mistaken. She was no sinner, and he had no right to think of her as such! She would get out of this awful place before the prayer was over, before people could see she was crying.

She arose precipitately and stepped across the people in the pew, making her way silently and swiftly to the aisle. She climbed like a quick-moving shadow to the top of the aisle, dashed down the stairs and out the open front door into the darkness of the street. She fairly ran to the next corner, hailed a taxi, and was borne away out of sight before the notes of the organ proclaimed the service was over.

And when Louella Chatterton looked up with an interested smile, Jessica was not there! She tried in vain to find her among her other friends. She had simply vanished.

Louella bustled down the aisle to the other girls who were standing there talking together, pointing out different acquaintances down on the main floor. They were mostly watching Jeremy and Rodney and the girls of their party, wondering, speculating as to how they came to arrive together. Trying to decide whether they would go down and give old friends greeting and congratulations. “Yes, let’s go,” whispered Louella. “Tell him what a perfectly beautiful prayer that was!”

“Yes, wasn’t it sweet?” exclaimed Bonny Stewart. “I just adore men who can pray like that.”

“But where is Jessica?” asked Alida Hopkins. “Did she go down alone to speak to the boys?”

“I don’t see her down there anywhere,” said Isabelle, leaning over the edge of the gallery to look.

“Oh, she’s probably just going down the stairs,” said Garetha Sloan. “Come on girls, let’s go down. We don’t want to get left out of the affair.” Garetha started up the aisle followed by the others, and Louella, bringing up the rear breathlessly, said to herself what selfish things young girls were anyway. Never waiting for an old friend, even though she was the one who had brought the news of the meeting to their attention. But she puffed excitedly along after them, stretching her neck to try to find Jessica.

But Jessica was not in sight anywhere.

And now Louella could see the top of Rodney’s head towering above the crowd, and she rushed the harder. Jessica of course must have gone straight to him, and she wanted to be in at the meeting herself.

But unfortunately for her plans, it happened that Jeremy, who was just coming down the steps from the platform, caught sight of the pestiferous cousin. Casting a quick glance behind her he saw several of Jessica’s girlfriends also coming on and took instant alarm. Quickly he reached his brother’s side and said in a low, penetrating whisper, “Watch out, Rod! Louella and her gang are coming.”

Rodney cast a hasty glance up the aisle, wondering if that meant Jessica was there also, but he could not see her.

“There’s a picture of your friend Carl Browning back in the Sunday school room, they tell me,” went on Jeremy in a low tone. “If you need an out, that might be an excuse.”

“Thanks, Jerry,” said Rodney with a swift, grateful smile, and he went on shaking hands with the old friends who were still swarming up to greet the brothers.

It was several minutes, however, even with all her talent for getting ahead, before Louella and company managed to penetrate the outer edge of the crowd. And there they won from the brothers only a friendly handshake. Even Louella’s voluble tongue failed to carry on much of a conversation over the heads of the crowd.

Just as Louella thought the crowd was thinning and they might have a chance to monopolize the heroes, suddenly Rodney leaned over and spoke to the girl from New York who had come in with him. Then without warning the Sanderson crowd followed him out the little door at the side of the platform, into the Sunday school room, closing the door behind them, and not even Jeremy was left where they had all been standing but an instant before.

“Well, upon my word!” said Cousin Louella, indignation and dismay in her voice. “What do you think of that?”

“Well, if you ask me, I’d say that Sanderson crowd doesn’t intend to let other people have a chance at them,” said Isabelle. “Perhaps we’d better just go to the house. I’m sure the Graemes were
here
. I saw them once, and they’ve probably gone home and prepared some refreshments. We’ll just go and get in on it.”

“Well, if you ask
me
,” said Bonny Steward, “I’d say they’ve all gone to the Sandersons’ house. They brought Beryl Sanderson and her friend. They would naturally have to take them home.”

They looked at each other dismayed.

“Well,” said Cousin Louella, brightening up, “then I think we better go at once to the Graemes’ house. We’ll be there when they get home. They won’t stay at Sandersons’ long tonight, with a wounded serviceman in their company, and if we’re there when they arrive they’ll have to let us speak to them for at least a few minutes.”

So they went back to Riverton and drove to the Graeme farm.

The house was all dark. “The family hasn’t come home yet, or perhaps Father and Mother Graeme arrived first and retired,” suggested Louella. “But that’s all right. We can sit in the car till the others arrive.”

But where was Jessica? they began to question.

“You don’t suppose she’s gone with them to Sandersons’, do you?” asked Isabelle.

“Mercy no,” said Marcella Ashby. “Not to Sandersons’. Don’t you remember there was always a feud between Beryl Sanderson and Jessica? At least, I don’t know how Beryl felt, but Jessica always despised Beryl because she was rich and everybody admired her.”

So they sat in the car under the tall old trees and yawned and waited and discussed what could have become of Jessica.

Finally Isabelle said, “Well, what are we waiting for anyway? It’s after midnight, and they won’t want to see us when they do come. They’ll be tired and want to get to bed. And if it’s Jessica we’re waiting for, I don’t see waiting any longer. She went off and left us without telling us where she was going, and now if she went with them let some of them bring her home, or let her get home the best way she can. I don’t see sitting around for her any longer. We’ve got lives of our own to live without hanging on to the fringes of Jessica’s performances. Drive on, Marcella. We’ll take Louella to her hotel and then we’ll go home. I’m fed up with this act, and if you don’t start now I’m getting out and walking.”

So they drove away and went disappointedly to bed and to sleep, dreaming over the strange, unexpected meeting on which they had been in attendance. Somehow there was nothing to gloat over in the whole time, and deep in their hearts there remained an uneasy feeling that perhaps there
was
a God and a heaven, and sometime they, too, might get into a situation where they would need both and couldn’t find the way. It certainly had been strange to hear merry-hearted Jeremy Graeme talk as if he knew God personally, had met
Him
out there in that awful sky with terrible death menacing below and little hope of ever getting through alive.

And what had become of Jessica? Could it be that she had gone with the rest to the Sandersons’? Could it be that she would even descend to putting on a religious act to subjugate Rodney Graeme again, now after she had married a rich old man?

The clock in the old-fashioned tower of the town hall was striking a solemn one o’clock as the Graemes turned into their driveway. Their voices sounded sweetly happy, full of a quiet joy, as they got out of the car and went into the house. They had all been to the Sandersons’ and got well acquainted, old folks and young alike.

Mother Graeme had a moment’s talk with Rodney at the foot of the stairs before he went up to bed.

“Son, I cannot tell you how happy I am that you have learned to know God well enough to pray as you did. That prayer of yours was the answer to all my prayers for you while you were away fighting, and tonight has been a blessed time for me. I can truly say I am thankful that the Lord sent you to war, since it has resulted in bringing you to know Him.”

Rodney took his mother’s soft hands gently in his and stooped to give her a tender kiss. “Thanks, Mother dear,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to let you know how it is with me, heavenward, but somehow there hasn’t been much time yet.”

“Dear son!” she breathed. And then in a minute, “And I’m glad that you have found such nice Christian people for friends. I like the Sandersons so very much. And that girl from New York, that one they call Diana. She’s so very sweet and dear. It somehow struck me that that was the kind of a girl for a young lad to come home to, after he’s been off in peril and death. I wish you had known her years ago.”

“Yes, she seems to be a grand girl,” said Rodney simply. And then after a minute he added, “You never did quite like Jessica, did you, Moms dear?”

Mother Graeme lifted honest eyes to her son’s face. “Well, no, Roddie dear. Not for
you
!”

“And yet you never said a word against it, Moms! You’re a brave little woman. Why didn’t you?”

“No,” said Mother Graeme. “I figured it wasn’t for me to decide your life. It was your life and I’d done my best to give you right ideals, and if you couldn’t figure out what you wanted to do with your life I didn’t think I ought to interfere. So I just prayed and trusted that the Lord would show you what He wanted you to do.”

Rodney looked deep into her eyes with a great adoring tenderness.

“He
did
!” said Rodney solemnly. Then added, “Dear Mom, you’re wonderful!”

D
umped in front of her hotel by the unfeeling girls who had brought her home from the meeting, Louella unlocked her door and went to her telephone, calling up Jessica.

She was answered after some delay by a very cross voice that sounded strongly of recent tears.

“Oh, my dear! Is that really you?” said Louella excitedly. “I’ve been so worried. I nearly went wild about you. Whatever became of you? I looked everywhere, and you weren’t in sight. What happened to you?”

“Happened to me? Why nothing happened to me. That was the trouble. I was bored to death. I couldn’t see staying there any longer and listening to that religious twaddle. They certainly have got it bad!”