The Rev. D. I. Hiley tells us the following touching story-of a lad “going home” in France. He says: — “As I sit in, a corridor of a hospital in Havre, and watch the sun sink, and the moon spread her silver sheen over the rippling waves; just when all is so beautifully calm and still, I am called to visit a soldier dangerously in. He is a sweet-faced boy of nineteen, who has played a brave part, but is now going down the last long vale, as I clearly see. We talk together of Jesus and His abiding love—when the lad suddenly says:
“‘I was thinking just then, sir, of father and mother at home. Yes, I’m going “home,” I know, but not to the old place, and I should like to see them before I go.’
“I have to make a very great effort at self-control,” writes Mr. Hiley, “as I need scarcely tell you. Then I say softly: ‘Yes, of course you would, my dear boy, but I will stand in their place by you as long as I can.’ Then he gives me his last messages to the loved ones, whilst at the same time he holds my hand trustfully. Then, just ere the end comes, he whispers: ‘Will you kiss me, sir, for my mother?’
“I bent tenderly over and kissed him; but I felt as if my own heart were breaking, as he sank quietly back and passed to his eternal home.”