"
"But of what use is my life now?" questioned Mr. Forbes sharply. "I am a
broken reed with no ambition to lean upon. A man whose heart has been
plucked by its roots from my body. Is there anything in our religion
which can solace me, do you think? Is there a recompense for the
sufferings of a heartbroken father?"
"There is balm for every wound, Brother Forbes, if we seek it. Others
have suffered your loss and been able to find it."
Duncan Forbes sat back in his chair and stared straight before him. The
words had brought to his mind unpleasant visions.
In an instant he was back in his store again, where scores of
pale-faced, hollow-eyed youths and maidens were moving about. They all
had mothers and fathers or some one who loved them, yet, unlike his
Jack, they were weighed down by poverty, the millstone of disease was
about their necks, and he, Duncan Forbes, was relentlessly grinding the
very spirit out of their frail bodies.
He shuddered involuntarily and that brought him back to his senses.
"Religion! what is it?" he asked unpleasantly. "Has it any practical
value in the lives of mortals? I have been a church member for forty
years, paying my dues in accordance with the terms of that institution
and shirking none of its responsibilities.
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