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 God! 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, God, 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