'I suppose G.o.d will take little soldiers? Do you think I shall be the youngest He has?'

'No, darling; He has many brave little soldiers younger than you.'

Another long silence, then a deep-drawn sigh from Teddy.

'I feel I have very big thoughts to-night, mother, and I get so crowded thinking. Will you read to me before I go to bed?'

Mrs. John pressed her lips on the curly head so near her.

'My boy, I am so glad for you to have these thoughts. Mother has often prayed that you may be one of Christ's little soldiers and servants. Now what shall I read?'

'Read me about the three men and the burning fiery furnace.'

And the young mother took her Bible in hand, and drawing her boy close to her till his little head rested against her shoulder, read him the story he wished.

Later on, as she tucked him up in bed, and was giving him a kiss, he clasped his arms round her neck and whispered, 'I think I'm going to do it quite by myself to-morrow.'

CHAPTER IV

Enlisting for Life

The village children were swarming out of school the next afternoon. The heat and confinement of the crowded schoolroom had not lessened the superabundance of energy and high spirits amongst them, and the boys soon congregated on the green, bent on a game of cricket.

'Where's Teddy?' 'Teddy Platt!' 'Young Ted, where's he got to?' 'Fetch Teddy!' This was the general cry. But Teddy was nowhere to be seen.

'Has he been kept in?' queried one.

'Likely enough. He's up in the clouds to-day.'

'Oh, ain't he just! Why, I offered him half such a huge apple. My! it was a beauty! And his eyes sort o' wandered away from it, as if it had been a piece of mud! "Thanks," ses he, "I'll have a bite to-morrer--not to-day."'

'And teacher was down on him sharp, too,' put in another eager voice.

'He answered all the 'rithmetic wrong, and he said forty soldiers made a rood! And teacher ses, "Is your head good for nothing but soldiers?" And Ted he got as red as fire, and says, "It's full of them to-day, sir"; and teacher said, "Go down to the bottom of the cla.s.s till you can empty it of them then, and tell me when you've done it." And when Ted comes next to me I says, "Is your b.u.t.ton lost, old chap, that you're in such a stew?" And he says, "No, the b.u.t.ton is all right, but I'm thinkin' how to enlist."'

'He'll go for a drummer-boy as soon as he's big enough, and I'll go with him!' cried Carrots.

'Oh, come on,' shouted one of the impatient ones; 'if Ted's not here, let us begin without him.'

And Teddy's delinquencies at school were soon forgotten in the excitement of the game.

He had not been kept in, but had slipped away the minute school was over, and was soon dodging in and out of the thick overhanging trees along the edge of his favourite stream. His little feet sped swiftly along, and as he ran he talked in a whisper to himself, which was his way when anything special was weighing on his mind. 'I'll go right into the wood, and get under a thick tree. I won't let a squirrel see me, nor even a rabbit. I must be quite quiet, and it must be like church, and I shan't come away till I've done it.'

Into the wood he went, but he was hard to satisfy; roaming here and there, peeping round corners, and thrusting his curly head in amongst the bushes, it was fully half an hour before he chose his spot.

It was a secluded little nook under an old oak-tree, where the moss grew thick and green, and bushes of all sorts and sizes formed a natural bower round the gnarled trunk. In front of this tree Teddy stood, and then, half shyly, half reverently, he took off his cap and laid it on the ground. Looking up through the veil of green leaves above him to the sunny blue sky beyond, he stood with clasped hands and parted lips for a moment or two in perfect silence. The soft wind played gently with his curls, and rustled amongst the leafy boughs overhead, and in the distance the birds' sweet voices were the only sounds that met his ears. As the boy's eyes came back to earth they seemed to have reflected in them something of the bright sunshine above, and then down on his knees he dropped. Placing his little clasped hands against the old trunk in front of him, and bending his golden head till it rested likewise against the tree, Teddy prayed aloud, slowly, and with frequent pauses,--

'O G.o.d! here I am. Have You been waiting for me? I've come to enlist.

And, please, I forget all Mr. Upton told me to say; but will You forgive me my sins, and write my name down in Your book in heaven?--Edward James Platt is my name. I've come to be Your soldier for ever and ever. Will You please keep me always? I never want to go back from being Your soldier. Make me fight a grand fight, and help me to hold Your colours up well; and please, G.o.d, will You tell father I've enlisted this afternoon?

Mr. Upton said You would take me. I thank You for letting Jesus die for me, and I'm very sorry I haven't belonged to His army before, but I didn't quite understand that He wanted me. Help me to be a good boy, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.'

A child's prayer, but it was prayed with a child's strong faith, and as Teddy rose to his feet, he had the a.s.surance that G.o.d had accepted him.

That scene in the wood, when he dedicated himself to the service of the King of kings, would be stamped on his memory as long as he lived. And now that the deed was done a great load seemed to be lifted off his mind.

He came into the midst of the boys on the green a short time afterwards with a radiant face, and took his share in fielding, bowling, and batting with such a vigour and will, that he proved himself the hero of the hour.

Later in the evening he wandered into the dairy, where his mother was busy, and asked her if he could go and see the rector.

'What for, sonny?'

'He asked me to come. Is it too late, do you think? I should like to go to-night.'

Mrs. John looked down upon the eager little face lifted to hers.

'Run away, then; but don't stay long.'

And so it was that for the second time that week Teddy was a visitor at the rectory.

'Please, sir, I've done it!' he exclaimed breathlessly, as soon as he was ushered into the presence of the rector.

'Eh? What have you been doing?'

And Mr. Upton roused himself from a reverie into which he had fallen as he sat at his study window and watched his favourite beehives. Then, noting the disappointed look on the child's face, and recognising who it was, he added briskly, 'Ah! it is Teddy Platt, is it? And so you've done it, have you? Thank G.o.d! Yes, I remember all about it. You're a fresh recruit.'

Teddy's eyes glistened. 'I enlisted this afternoon, sir.'

'For life, did you? No short-service system with G.o.d!'

Mr. Upton had at one time been chaplain to troops abroad, and it was his knowledge of military matters that so attracted the boy.

'Yes, for life, sir.'

'May G.o.d keep you true to Himself, my boy, in life and in death!'

There was a pause, then Teddy said eagerly, 'Please, sir, you said you would show me one of the enemies I have got to fight.'

'Ah! did I? One of the many--which one, I wonder?'

'"A real live one," you said.'

'Yes, I remember. Come this way.'

He led the child into his drawing-room in front of a large mirror reaching down to the ground, and told him to find his enemy there.

'Why, it's only myself!' Teddy said in a disappointed tone, though there was wonder in his eyes.

'That's it--yourself--small Teddy Platt is your worst enemy, and the older you live the more you will discover what a very formidable and mighty enemy he is.'