When Walter came back from mailing the other letter he had the second one ready, and Walter rushed out to see if it could still be gotten into that day’s mail. When he returned he found Charlie with his face wreathed in smiles.
“God is good, isn’t He, Walt?” he asked in his old cheery way. “I hadn’t thought there was anything yet ahead on this earth for me, but now I see God is handing it out to me, and I’ve been too self-centered to hold up my hands and take it. Thank you for your part in showing me what I was doing. Bless you!”
And so the joy light came back into Charlie’s eyes, and his recovery became more marked day by day.
“Boy!” You really are going some!” said the doctor when he came in to see him one afternoon. “I think I can soon give you a clean bill of health. I’m writing your captain today, and I’ll tell him. Maybe your orders will be coming along soon. Do you still want to get back to your job?”
A sudden blank look came over Charlie’s face for a minute, but then the brightness surged back.
“Why, yes, if I can go back, I want to go. I want to be a conqueror. Of course, you had got me all steamed up to get home for a while first, but if I’m needed back in action I’m ready to go.”
“Good boy!” said the doctor happily. “I knew you were a conqueror. You certainly have the victory over yourself more than anybody I know. Ready to go back, even when you were all set to get home. Well, don’t worry, we’re not sending you back at present. You’re to go home. I got the orders this morning, and you can begin to get ready. Your plane reservations are all secured. You start day after tomorrow, and your buddy goes with you. So there you are. And I understand your citation for a purple heart is on the way. Now, are you satisfied?”
“Me? A purple heart?” said Charlie, grinning. “What have I done? I came out here to conquer the enemy, and I haven’t done that yet.”
“Well, you did a good deal toward it, I understand, and your time has come to rest a bit now, so get ready to go. We’ll all miss you here. You’ve kept the place cheery, both of you, and by the way, Walter gets a silver star.” And the doctor’s smile included Walter.
So then, as soon as Walter knew definitely, he went out and sent a cable to his mother. And his mother, dear soul, hurried over to tell Blythe.
The cable reached the hometown even before the two letters, and the entire Bonniwell household was filled with a great joy. Blythe beamed like a ray of sunshine, her mother seemed happy and content, and her father made quaint jokes and looked up ships and times of plane landings. They would telephone when they reached New York, Walter had said.
So Father Bonniwell arranged to take the family and Mrs. Blake to New York to meet the conquering heroes and take them home. There hadn’t been so much joy in the Bonniwell home for years, for all of them were looking forward to knowing and loving the new son whom they had never seen.
And Mrs. Blake was overjoyed at the pleasure of going with them to meet Walter. It was greater happiness than she had ever counted on having on this earth.
As the great ship of the air started on its final lap toward home, Charlie grew very silent. All his “inferiority complex” as Walter called it, returned upon him, and he began to think what a terrible thing it would be if Blythe had lost her love for him during the long absence. How was he going to bear it? His solemnity grew with each hour they flew across the great, wide sky.
At last Walter came over to him as he sat staring out at the sky, and said, “Hey, Lieutenant! Seems to me you’ve lost your faith!”
“Lost my faith? What do you mean, Walt? I still have my faith, thank the Lord.”
“Oh no,” said the younger soldier. “You haven’t! You don’t think God is able to carry this thing through to the winning. You think God would take all this trouble to get you well and bring you back, and then let you lose in the final inning? That isn’t like you, Lieutenant.”
Charlie looked at him, astonished. Then he smiled.
“I guess you’re right, kid. I didn’t trust, did I? I’m not much of a conqueror, after all. I set out to win, but I lost faith. Well, from now on, there’s to be no more of that. I’m trusting to the end. I’m putting myself into God’s hands to do with as He wills. I guess He who began it is able to carry it through, and I’m ready to leave it with Him.”
A smile of satisfaction rested on the younger soldier’s lips as he repeated, smiling, “More than conqueror, through Him that loved us.”
A little while later they got out at the airport, and there were the dear ones waiting for them, and Charlie hadn’t any more doubt about whether he was wanted.
There stood Blythe, watching for him to come, and she went straight to his arms like a homing bird, and was folded close, regardless of interested watchers. In fact, the whole family had a beautiful glimpse of the lovelight on those two faces, and all their hearts were rejoicing that it was so.
Walter was folded in his happy mother’s arms, too, and presently Charlie and Blythe came out of their spell long enough to introduce the new son to his new father and mother, and the Bonniwells felt that their cup was full. This young soldier was as good, if not better-looking than the pictures of him they had seen, and his whole attitude was just what they had been led from his letters to expect.
There were outsiders at the airport, waiting for the plane to Miami Beach, Florida, among them Mr. and Mrs. Dan Seavers.
“My word, Dan! Look at that perfectly stunning soldier kissing that girl. My, but he’s good-looking! Find out who he is, Dan. I want to meet him. See! He’s wearing a purple heart, and the other one has a silver star. They must be some heroes!”
Dan looked and frowned. Where had he seen that good-looking face before? And who was the girl he was kissing?
“My word, Dan. The girl is Blythe Bonniwell! Can you imagine it? Somehow she always did have good luck getting all the good lookers.”
Dan looked again in blank amazement, and a wave of envy went over his narrow little soul. Blythe was looking very beautiful, and she was definitely not for him and never had been.
“Come, Dan, let’s go up and speak to Blythe, and she’ll have to introduce us,” said Anne, taking Dan’s arm firmly in her white glove. “I’m dying to find out who that good-looking lieutenant is.”
“Well, I’m not,” said Dan in a gruff, ugly tone. “And I guess if that’s the case, you’ll have to die, for I don’t want to meet that lieutenant, nor the girl, and what’s more I won’t. If you want to meet them, you’ll have to go alone.” And Dan jerked his arm from her grasp and walked away.
But then the Bonniwells got into their car and drove away, and the Miami plane arrived and took the others away, but Dan was ugly all the way, as he thought it out, and finally realized that the handsome lieutenant was none other than the boy who used to star in his marks in high school and became a great football player later in college. Charlie Montgomery, the boy who worked for his living and starred through college! Dan had never liked him, because he was entirely too conscientious to get along with, and wouldn’t be bossed!
But on the road to the hometown the Bonniwells were having a wonderful time, and no longer did Charlie doubt his girl’s love. He was filled with a great wonder and delight, and the things that had troubled him seemed all to have melted away. Was it always so when one trusted it all to God?
GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL (1865–1947) is known as the pioneer of Christian romance. Grace wrote over one hundred faith-inspired books during her lifetime. When her first husband died, leaving her with two daughters to raise, writing became a way to make a living, but she always recognized storytelling as a way to share her faith in God. She has touched countless lives through the years and continues to touch lives today. Her books feature moving stories, delightful characters, and love in its purest form.
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