The Village of Youth Part 15

"You are then he whom I seek. You are Terah, the breather of good. But, sir, you seem ill. Can I help you?"

"Yes, care for my poor. Be to them all the Wind is to you; rock them into life, soothe them into death; sob with them in grief, shout with them in joy. I am going away."

"Whither?"

"To the earth, to rest and peace at last."

"Not to heaven?"

"My child, have you lived in the great city and not learned that we can imagine no heaven so lovely as the joy of our hearts when we do a good action? I am on the verge of that sleep which knows no awakening. The Halls of Death lead not unto Life."

Mercy was dazed with the beauty of the man's soul. It filled his eyes with a radiance which overwhelmed her.

"I have found Terah," she cried, looking heavenwards, and clasping her hands in an ecstasy of happiness. "The world is bright again. My ideal is true. Beautiful, merciful; and self an immolated sacrifice. Why have I lost my youth in seeking him to lose him now?"

A distant voice seemed to float on the wind. "Had he lived you must have died. The good action has its reward here and hereafter. He has pa.s.sed through the Halls of Death unto the House of Life. Be content, you have been much blessed. The Ideal is realised in heaven."

The room was filled with a perfume as of many flowers. The wind sobbed out a requiem. Lady Mercy's face shone with a great light. She looked down. The Prince of Pity lay dead.

On the site of Greenleaf Court a beautiful house now stands, every window full of flowers. Designed by a great architect, all the poor of the district were employed to help in its erection. It is called the "House of Pity." In the large hall, where the hungry are fed and the sorrowful are comforted, the following inscription is wrought on the wall in letters of gold, wreathed with windflowers:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: REJOICE WITH THEM THAT DO REJOICE AND WEEP WITH THEM THAT WEEP]