The Jeweled Spur by Gilbert Morris Read Free Book Online

Jubal and Ruth into bed, but when she suggested that it was time for that, her father said blandly, “Oh, it’s too early yet, Laurie. I want to read to them a little while.”
    Finally the last paragraph was read and the children plunged into bed ready for prayers. Laurie waited impatiently until her father came back into the room, then turned to her mother. “Daddy says you’ve got something to tell me.”
    Faith smiled at Tom. “How much did you tell her?”
    “Nothing,” he shrugged. “It’s your idea.”
    A sudden gust of impatience burst from Faith. She gave her husband a disgusted look and shook her head. “No, it’s not my idea! It’s a word from God that both of us have prayed for.”

    Tom Winslow walked over and put his arm around Faith. He winked at Laurie, asking innocently, “I wonder why it is that God gives you all this information instead of me?”
    “Oh, hush!” Faith turned to face Laurie, her gray eyes catching the reflection of the lamp’s yellow flame. At twenty-eight she was as trim as she’d been when she’d come to the West to preach to the Indians and, according to Tom’s testimony, even more attractive. She had been both mother and friend to Laurie, who’d never had either, and now a softness spread over her face as she said, “Laurie, did you know I was an heiress?”
    “An heiress?” Laurie echoed blankly. “What kind of an heiress?”
    “Are there two kinds?” Faith smiled. “I had an aunt who lived in Baltimore. I met her when I was six years old. My parents took me to her house for a visit, and we stayed three days.” Her eyes grew thoughtful. “It was a wonderful time for me—and for her, too. She was very old, even then, but she was lively. My father’s older sister, she was. She liked me very much—and when she died the next year, I cried an ocean!”
    Laurie had never heard about this and asked with curiosity, “Did she have lots of money?”
    “No, very little,” Faith said. “She lived on a small pension and owned her tiny house. But when she died, my father was her only living relative, so she left everything to him. I asked him once what had happened to all her things, and he told me that she’d wanted them sold and the money to be given to me.”
    “If I’d known I was marrying an heiress,” Tom grinned, “I might have shown more energy in my courtship.”
    Faith shot him an enigmatic look and murmured, “You were energetic enough—after you got started.” She shook her head, adding, “It wasn’t enough of a legacy to marry me for.” But letting her gaze rest on Laurie, “It’s enough to send you to school so you can study how to write.”
    The floor under Laurie’s feet seemed to tilt, and there wasa hollow ringing in her ears. She blinked and saw that her father was grinning broadly, and her mother was smiling too. “I’ve known all this time it wasn’t for me, and now the Lord has made it plain that the money is for you.”
    “Oh, Mother—I couldn’t take it!”
    Faith tipped her head to one side and gave Laurie a penetrating look. “Are you telling me you don’t want what God has sent to you?”
    “Oh—no—!”
    “Then are you saying that I’m mistaken and that I didn’t hear from the Lord?”
    Laurie flushed and ran to Faith, who caught her in her arms. “No! It’s not that!” She clung to the older woman for a moment, then pulled away, her eyes brimming with tears. “It’s just that—I feel so selfish! Your aunt didn’t even know me!”
    “But God knows you,” Faith nodded firmly. “And that settles it. Now—let’s talk about this school you’re going to.”
    “The Lord didn’t mention which particular school, I don’t suppose?” Tom Winslow asked innocently.
    “That will be what Laurie will have to seek God for,” Faith answered instantly. “Unless,” she said, turning to the girl, “you’ve already got some school in mind.”
    Laurie had always envied her mother’s ability to find out what