They walked and rode together, or he read to them from his favourite authors. But their music was his chief enjoyment:
"When in the all-golden afternoon
A guest or happy sister sung,
Or here she brought the harp and flung
A ballad to the brightening moon.
"Nor less it pleased in livelier mood
Beyond the bounding hills to stray,
And break the livelong summer day
With banquet in the distant wood."
His sunshiny temper and buoyant spirits made him the idol of his sister's children, and endless was the number of stories which entranced his young auditors in the long summer twilight or by the cheerful winter fireside. Stories improvised for the occasion, concerning wandering adventurers in "foreign parts," or dead heroes of by-gone wars — leaders of forlorn hopes, who triumphed over unheard of difficulties, and died amidst unimaginable successes. The very sight of his face seemed a signal for cheerfulness.
He walked in the glorious liberty of the sons of God, and with the free heart of a child, enjoyed every pleasure in the gift of which he could trace his Father's hand: yet was there still the evidence in his daily life of a chastened and sobered spirit, and of his stedfast obedience to his Master's word, "Watch and Pray."
With the thankful approbation of the Vicar of Terling, whose gifted and faithful ministry he greatly valued, Hedley Vicars visited the sick and aged poor of the village. They all loved him, but with the old women he was an especial favourite. His courteous manners, worn as much for them as if each had been a Queen Dowager, won his way to their hearts at once, and gained a willing hearing for the message he loved to bear.
