In a section of direct dialogue early in the short story, Kipling foreshadows that Michael will die young. Despite being a small child, Michael recognizes in a moment of disappointment that the best way to hurt Helen is to use her love for him against her. He swears that he will hurt her back for "as long as I live," adding that "when I'm dead I'll hurt you worse." Taken aback, Helen reminds him that she will most likely be the first of them to die:
‘Thank goodness, I shall be dead long before you, darling.’
‘Huh! Emma says, “Never know your luck.”’ (Michael had been talking to Helen’s elderly, flat-faced maid.) ‘Lots of little boys die quite soon. So’ll I. Then you’ll see!’
On one level, this conversation feels comical to the reader. Kipling has adeptly differentiated the voices of Michael and Helen. By reinforcing their individual personalities and shared rapport through their speech, this section of dialogue strengthens their characterization.
On another level, however, the conversation is heart-rending. While it may on first glance seem like Michael simply hasn't understood how aging and life expectancies work, the reader quickly recognizes his threat as an ominous piece of foreshadowing. The story is set in the early twentieth century, and readers know that Europe is on its way into a period of mass death and destruction. Although he may not know it himself, the young Michael is evincing keen foresight with his retort of "Lots of little boys die quite soon. So’ll I."
The story opens with an epigraph that contains two layers of allusion: one to a poem written by Kipling, another to Christ's Resurrection. This dual allusion has the effect of foreshadowing the story's ending.
One grave to me was given,
One watch till Judgment Day;
And God looked down from Heaven
And rolled the stone away.
One day in all the years,
One hour in that one day,
His Angel saw my tears,
And rolled the stone away!
The story's epigraph consists of the final verse of "The Burden," one of Kipling's own poems. However, while this self-referential allusion might seem apparent to a reader today, the poem had not yet been published independently when the story first came out. The poem's presence in the story makes for a less straightforward allusion. At the same time, the poem contains an allusion of its own that is much more accessible. To a reader of Kipling's time, the more obvious allusion in the opening of the story would be the epigraph's reference to the Gospel of John.
In John 20, Mary Magdalene visits Christ's tomb three days after his death and finds it empty. She then speaks with a man she believes to be a gardener, but who reveals himself to be Christ. The diction of words like "grave," "Judgment Day," "rolled, "stone," and "Angel" brings this book of the Bible to mind. A reader who is familiar with the Gospel would likely catch the allusion in the story's title after reading this epigraph.
Helen's visit to Michael's grave at the end of the story mirrors Mary Magdalene's visit to Christ's tomb, especially due to her conversation with the gardener. The biblical allusion of the epigraph and title foreshadows this ending. In addition, the stone that God and the Angel roll away for the poem's first-person speaker can be interpreted as the absolution Helen receives at the end of the story. When the gardener tells her that he will take her to her son, he relieves her of her burden of sin, shame, and secrecy.
