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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10037-0.txt b/10037-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..411aeb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/10037-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7802 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10037 *** + +[Illustration: LOUIS DASHED THE GLOWING END OF HIS CIGAR IN THE NEGRO'S +FACE.] + + + + +A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY + +BY + +EDITH FERGUSON BLACK + + + + + +A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +In one of the fairest of the West Indian islands a simple but elegant +villa lifted its gabled roofs amidst a bewildering wealth of tropical +beauty. Brilliant birds flitted among the foliage, gold and silver +fishes darted to and fro in a large stone basin of a fountain which +threw its glittering spray over the lawn in front of the house, and on +the vine-shaded veranda hammocks hung temptingly, and low wicker chairs +invited to repose. + +Behind the jalousies of the library the owner of the villa sat at a +desk, busily writing. He was a slight, delicate looking man, with an +expression of careless good humor upon his face and an easy air of +assurance according with the interior of the room which bespoke a +cultured taste and the ability to gratify it. Books were everywhere, +rare bits of china, curios and exquisitely tinted shells lay in +picturesque confusion upon tables and wall brackets of native woods; +soft silken draperies fell from the windows and partially screened from +view a large alcove where microscopes of different sizes stood upon +cabinets whose shelves were filled with a miscellaneous collection of +rare plants and beautiful insects, specimens from the agate forest of +Arizona, petrified remains from the 'Bad Lands' of Dakota, feathery +fronded seaweed, skeletons of birds and strange wild creatures, and all +the countless curiosities in which naturalists delight. + +Lenox Hildreth when a young man, forced to flee from the rigors of the +New England climate by reason of an inherited tendency to pulmonary +disease, had chosen Barbadoes as his adopted country, and had never +since revisited the land of his birth. From the first, fortune had +smiled upon him, and when, some time after his marriage with the +daughter of a wealthy planter, she had come into possession of all her +father's estates, he had built the house which for fifteen years he had +called home. When Evadne, their only daughter, was a little maiden of +six, his wife had died, and for nine years father and child had been all +the world to each other. + +He finished writing at last with a sigh of relief, and folding the +letter, together with one addressed to Evadne, he enclosed both in a +large envelope which he sealed and addressed to Judge Hildreth, +Marlborough, Mass. Then he leaned back in his chair, and, clasping his +hands behind his head, looked fixedly at the picture of his fair young +wife which hung above his desk. + +"A bad job well done, Louise--or a good one. Our little lass isn't very +well adapted to making her way among strangers, and the Bohemianism of +this life is a poor preparation for the heavy respectability of a New +England existence. Lawrence is a good fellow, but that wife of his +always put me in mind of iced champagne, sparkling and cold." He sighed +heavily, "Poor little Vad! It is a dreary outlook, but it seems my one +resource. Lawrence is the only relative I have in the world. + +"After all, I may be fighting windmills, and years hence may laugh at +this morning's work as an example of the folly of yielding to +unnecessary alarm. Danvers is getting childish. All physicians get to be +old fogies, I fancy, a natural sequence to a life spent in hunting down +germs I suppose. They grow to imagine them where none exist." + +He rose, and strolled out on the veranda. As he did so, a negro, whose +snow-white hair had earned for him from his master the sobriquet of +Methusaleh, came towards the broad front steps. He was a grotesque image +as he stood doffing a large palm-leaf hat, and Lenox Hildreth felt an +irresistible inclination to laugh, and laughed accordingly. His +morning's occupation had been one of the rare instances in which he had +run counter to his inclinations. Sky blue cotton trousers showed two +brown ankles before his feet hid themselves in a pair of clumsy shoes; a +scarlet shirt, ornamented with large brass buttons and fastened at the +throat with a cotton handkerchief of vivid corn color, was surmounted by +an old nankeen coat, upon whose gaping elbows a careful wife had sewn +patches of green cloth; his hands were encased in white cotton gloves +three sizes too large, whose finger tips waved in the wind as their +wearer flourished his palm-leaf headgear in deprecating obeisance. + +"Well, Methusaleh, where are you off to now?" and Lenox Hildreth leaned +against a flower wreathed pillar in lazy amusement. + +"To camp-meetin', Mass Hildreff. I hez your permission, sah?" and the +negro rolled his eyes with a ludicrous expression of humility. + +His master laughed with the easy indulgence which made his servants +impose upon him. + +"You seem to have taken it, you rascal. It is rather late in the day to +ask for permission when you and your store clothes are all ready for a +start." + +"'Scuse me, Mass Hildreff," with another deprecating wave of the +palm-leaf hat, "but yer see I knowed yer wouldn't dissapint me of de +priv'lege uv goin' ter camp-meetin' nohow." + +Lenox Hildreth held his cigar between his slender fingers and watched +the tiny wreaths of smoke as they circled about his head. + +"So camp-meeting is a privilege, is it?" he said carelessly. "How much +more good will it do you to go there than to stay at home and hoe my +corn?" + +The eyes were rolled up until only the whites were visible. + +"Powerful sight more good, Mass Hildreff. De preacher's 'n uncommon +relijus man, an' de 'speriences uv de bredren is mighty upliftin'. Yes, +sah!" + +"Well, see that they don't lift you up so high that you'll forget to +come down again. I suppose you have an experience in common with the +rest?" + +"Yes, Mass Hildreff," and the palm-leaf made another gyration through +the air. "I'se got a powerful 'sperience, sah." + +"Well, off you go. It would be a pity to deprive the assembly of such +an edifying specimen of sanctimoniousness." + +"Yes, sah, I'se bery sanktimonyus. I'se 'bliged to you, sah." + +With a last obsequious flourish the palm-leaf was restored to its +resting-place upon the snowy wool, and the negro shambled away. When he +had gone a few yards a sudden thought struck his master and he called,-- + +"Methusaleh, I say, Methusaleh!" + +"Yes, sah," and the servant retraced his steps. + +"What about that turkey of mine that you stole last week? You can't go +to camp-meeting with that on your conscience. Come, now, better take off +your finery and repent in sackcloth and ashes." + +For an instant the negro was nonplused, then the palm-leaf was +flourished grandiloquently, while its owner said in a voice of withering +scorn,-- + +"Laws! Mass Hildreff, do yer spose I'se goin' ter neglec' de Lawd fer +one lil' turkey?" + +His master turned on his heel with a low laugh. "Of a piece with the +whole of them!" he said bitterly. "Hypocrites and shams!" + +"Evadne!" he exclaimed impetuously, as a slight girlish figure came +towards him, "never say a single word that you do not mean nor express +a sensation that you have not felt. It is the people who neglect this +rule who play havoc with themselves and the world." + +"Why, dearest, you frighten me!" and the girl slipped her hand through +his arm with a low, sweet laugh. "I never saw you look so solemn +before." + +"Hypocrisy, Vad, is the meanest thing on earth! The pious people at the +church yonder call me an unbeliever, but they've got themselves to thank +for it. I may be a good-for-nothing but at least I will not preach what +I do not practise." + +"You are as good as gold, dearest. I won't have you say such horrid +things! And you don't need to preach anything. I am sure no one in all +the world could be happier than we." + +Her father put his hand under her chin, and, lifting her face towards +his, looked long and earnestly at the pure brow, about which the brown +hair clustered in natural curls, the clear-cut nose, the laughing lips +parted over a row of pearls, and the wonderful deep gray eyes. + +"_Are_ you happy, little one?" he asked wistfully. "Are you quite sure +about that?" + +"Happy!" the girl echoed the word with an incredulous smile. "Why, +dearest, what has come to you? You never needed to ask me such a +question before! Don't you know there isn't a girl in Barbadoes who has +been so thoroughly spoiled, and has found the spoiling so sweet? Do I +look more than usually mournful to-day that you should think I am pining +away with grief?" She looked up at him with a roguish laugh. + +He smiled and laid his finger caressingly on the dimpled chin. "Dear +little bird!" he said tenderly; "but when this dimple captivates the +heart of some one, Vad, you will fly away and leave the poor father in +the empty nest." + +Her color glowed softly through the olive skin. She threw her arms +around his neck and laid her face against his breast. "You know better!" +she exclaimed passionately. "You know I wouldn't leave you for all the +'some ones' in the world!" + +Her father caught her close. "Poor little lass!" he said with a sigh. + +The girl lifted her head and looked at him anxiously. "Dearest, what +_is_ the matter? I am sure you are not well! You have been sitting too +long at that tiresome writing." + +"Yes, that is it, darling," he said with a sudden change of tone. +"Writing always does give me the blues. I think the man who invented the +art should have been put in a pillory for the rest of his natural life. +Blow your whistle for Sam to bring the horses and we will go for a ride +along the beach." + +Evadne lifted the golden whistle which hung at her girdle and blew the +call which the well-trained servant understood. "Fi, dearest!" she said, +"if there were no writing there would be no books, and what would become +of our beautiful evenings then? But I am glad you do not have to write +much, since it tires you so. What has it all been about, dear? Am I +never to know?" + +"Some day, perhaps, little Vad. But do not indulge in the besetting sin +of your sex, or, like the mother of the race, you may find your apple +choke you in the chewing." + +Evadne shook her finger at him. "Naughty one! As if you were not three +times as curious as I! And when it comes to waiting,--you should have +named me Patience, sir!" + +Her father laughed as he kissed her, then he tied on her hat, threw on +his own, and hand-in-hand like two children they ran down the veranda +steps to where the groom stood waiting with the horses. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +A month full of happy days had flown by when Evadne and her father +returned one morning from a long tramp in search of specimens. A +delightful afternoon had followed, he in a hammock, she on a low seat +beside him, arranging, classifying and preparing their morning's spoil +for the microscope. Suddenly she turned towards him with a troubled +face. + +"Dearest, how pale you look! Are you very tired?" + +"It is only the heat," he answered lightly. "We had a pretty stiff walk +this morning, you know." + +"And I carried you on and on!" she cried reproachfully. "I was so +anxious to find this particular crab. Isn't he a pretty fellow?" and she +lifted the box that her father might watch the tiny creature's play. "I +shall go at once and make you an orange sherbet." + +"Let Dinah do it and you stay here with me." + +"No indeed! You know you think no one can make them as well as I do. I +promise you this one shall be superfine." + +"As you will, little one,--only don't stay away too long." + +He lay very still after she had left him, looking dreamily through the +vines at the silver spray of the fountain. The air had grown +oppressively sultry; no breath of wind stirred the heavily drooping +leaves, no sound except the rhythmic splash of the fountain and the soft +lapping of the waves upon the beach. He closed his eyes while their +ceaseless monotone seemed to beat upon his brain. + +"Forever! Forever! Forever!" + +A spasm of pain crossed his face as Evadne's voice woke the echoes with +a merry song. "Poor little lass!" he murmured. Then he smiled as she +came towards him, quaffed off the beverage she had prepared with loving +skill, and called her the best cook in all the Indies. + +"Has it refreshed you, dearest?" she asked anxiously. + +"Immensely! Now you shall read me some of Lalla Rookh, and after dinner +I will set about making a Mecca for your crab." + +Evadne stroked the dainty claws,-- + +"Poor little chap! So you are a pilgrim like the rest of us. I wish we +did not have to go on and on, dearest!" she exclaimed passionately, +"why cannot we stand still and enjoy?" + +"It would grow monotonous, little Vad. Progress is the law of all being, +and seventy years of life is generally enough for the majority. You +would not like to live to be an old lady of two hundred and fifty? Think +how tired you would be!" + +She laid her cheek against his upon the pillow. "I should _never_ grow +tired,--with you!" + +The evening drew on, hot and breathless. Low growls of distant thunder +were heard at intervals, and in the eastern sky the lightning played. + +Evadne watched it, sitting on the top step of the veranda, her white +muslin dress in happy contrast with the deep green of the vines which +clustered thickly about the pillar against which she leaned. On the step +below her a young man sat. He too was clad in white and the rich crimson +of the silken scarf which he wore about his waist enhanced his Spanish +beauty. A zither lay across his knees over which his hands wandered +skilfully as he made the air tremble with dreamy music. Mr. Hildreth +paced slowly up and down the veranda behind them. + +"What is the news from the great world, Geoff? I saw a troop ship +signaled this morning. Have you been on board yet?" + +"No, sir, I have been looking over the plantation with my father all +day, and only got home in time for dinner." + +"You chose a cool time for it!" and Mr. Hildreth laughed. + +Geoffrey Chittenden shrugged his shoulders. "When Geoffrey Chittenden, +Senior, makes up his mind to do anything, he has the most sublime +indifference for the thermometer of any one I ever had the honor of +knowing. But the ship only brought a small detachment, I believe; she +will carry away a larger one. The garrison here is to be reduced, you +know." + +"Yes, it is a mistake I think. Will Drewson have to go? He has been on +this Station longer than any of the others." + +"Yes, his company has marching orders for Malta. He told me last night +he was coming to take leave of you next week." + +"Our nice Captain Drewson going away!" Evadne exclaimed, aghast. "Why, +dearest, he is one of our oldest friends!" + +"The law of progression, Vad darling." + +"How I hate it!" she cried, while her lips trembled. "Why can't we just +live on in the old happy way? You will be going next, Geoff, and the +Hamiltons and the Vandervoorts. Does nothing last?" + +Her voice hushed itself into silence and again Lenox Hildreth heard the +soft waves singing,-- + +"Forever! Forever! Forever!" + +"Oh yes, Evadne," Geoffrey said with a laugh: "we are very lasting. It +is only the unfortunate people under military rule who prove unreliable. +Let me sing you my latest song to cheer your spirits. I only learned it +last week." + +He struck a few chords and was beginning his song when a low groan made +him spring to his feet. Evadne passed him like a flash of light and flew +to her father's side. He was leaning heavily against a pillar with his +handkerchief, already showing crimson stains, pressed tightly against his +lips. + +They laid him gently down and summoned help. After that all was like a +horrible dream to Evadne. She was dimly conscious that friends came with +ready offers of assistance, and that Barbadoes' best physicians were +unremitting in their efforts to stop the hemorrhage; while she stood +like a statue beside her father's bed. She was absolutely still. When at +last the hemorrhage was checked the exhaustion was terrible. Evadne +longed to throw herself beside him and pillow the dear head upon her +bosom, but Dr. Danvers had whispered,-- + +"A sudden sound may start the hemorrhage again,--the slightest shock is +sure to." After that, not for worlds would she have moved a finger. + +The day passed and another night drew on. One of the physicians was +constantly in attendance, for the hemorrhage returned at intervals. Just +as the rose-tinted dawn looked shyly through the windows, her father +spoke, and Evadne bent her head to catch the faint tone of the voice +which sounded so far away. + +"Vad, darling, I have made an awful mistake! I thought everything a +sham. I know better now. Make it the business of your life, little Vad, +to find Jesus Christ." + +Again the red stream stained his lips, and Dr. Danvers came swiftly +forward, but Lenox Hildreth was forever beyond all need of human care. + + * * * * * + +A week passed, and day after day Evadne sat by her window, speaking no +word. Outdoors the fountain still sparkled in the sunshine and the birds +sang, but for her the foundations of life had been shaken to their +center. Her friends tried in vain to break up her unnatural calm. + +"If you would only have a good cry, Evadne," Geoffrey Chittenden said +at last, "you would feel better, dear. That is what all girls do, you +know." + +She turned upon him a pair of solemn eyes, out of which the merry +sparkle had faded. "Will crying give me back my father?" + +"Why, no, dear. Of course I didn't mean that. But these things are bound +to happen to us all, sooner or later, you know. It is the rule of life." + +"'The law of progression,'" she said with a dreary laugh. "I wish the +world would stop for good!" + +When the clergyman came she met him quietly, and he found himself not a +little disconcerted by the steady gaze of the mournful grey eyes. He was +not accustomed to dealing with such wordless grief, and he found his +favorite phrases sadly inadequate to the occasion. There was an awkward +pause. + +"Dr. Danvers says your father told him some time ago that, in the event +of his death, he wished you to make your home with your uncle in +America?" he said at length. + +Evadne bowed. + +"Well, my dear young lady, you will find it in all respects a most +desirable home, I feel confident. Judge Hildreth holds a position of +great trust in the church, and is universally esteemed as a Christian +gentleman of sterling character." + +The grey eyes were lifted to his face. + +"Shall I find Jesus Christ there?" + +"Jesus Christ?" The clergyman echoed her words with a start. "I beg your +pardon, my dear. The Lord sitteth upon his throne in the heavens. We +must approach him reverently, with humble fear." + +"That seems a long way off," said Evadne in a disappointed tone. "There +must be some mistake. My father told me to make it the business of my +life to find him." + +"Your father, my dear! Oh, ah, ahem!" + +An indignant flash leaped into the grey eyes. Evadne rose and faced him. +"You must excuse me, sir," she said quietly. Then she left the room. + +And the tears, which all the kindly sympathy had failed to bring her, at +the first breath of censure fell about her like a flood. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Judge Hildreth sat with his family at dinner in the spacious dining-room +of one of the finest houses in Marlborough. He was a handsome man, with +a stateliness of manner attributable in part to the deferential homage +which Marlborough paid to his opinion in all matters of importance. His +wife, tall and queenly, sat opposite him. Two daughters and a son +completed the family group. Louis Hildreth had his father's dark blue +eyes and regular features, but there were weak lines about the mouth +which betokened a lack of purpose, and the expression of his face was +marred by a cynical smile which was fast becoming habitual with him. +Isabelle, the eldest, was tall and fair, except for a chill hauteur +which set strangely upon one so young, while her firmly set lips +betokened the existence of a strong will which completely dominated her +less self-reliant sister. Marion Hildreth was just Evadne's age, with a +pink and white beauty and soft eyes which turned deprecatingly at +intervals towards Isabelle, as though to ask pardon for imaginary +solecisms against Miss Hildreth's code of etiquette. + +The covers were being changed for the second course when a servant +entered and approached the Judge, bearing a cablegram upon a silver +salver. He ran his eyes hastily over its contents, then he leaned back +heavily against his chair, while an expression of genuine sorrow settled +down upon his face. + +"Your Uncle Lenox is dead," he said briefly, as the girls plied him with +questions. + +"Dead!" Mrs. Hildreth's voice broke the hush which had fallen in the +room. "Why, Lawrence, this is very sudden! We have looked upon Lenox as +being perfectly well." + +"It is not safe to count anyone well, Kate, who carries such a lurking +serpent in his bosom. Only forty-three! Just in his prime. Poor Len!" +The Judge leaned his head upon his hand, while his thoughts were busy +with memories of the gay young brother who had filled the old homestead +with his merry nonsense. + +"And what will become of Evadne?" Again Mrs. Hildreth's voice broke the +silence. + +"Evadne?" the Judge looked full in his wife's face. "Why, my dear, there +is only one thing to be done. I shall cable immediately to have her come +to us." He rose from the table, his dinner all untasted, and left the +room. + +Louis was the first to speak. "A Barbadoes cousin. How will you like +having such a novelty as that, Sis, to introduce among your +acquaintance?" He bowed lazily to Mrs. Hildreth. "Let me congratulate +you, lady mother. You will have the pleasure of floating another bud +into blossom upon the bosom of society." + +"I do not see any room for congratulation, Louis," Mrs. Hildreth said +discontentedly. "It is a dreadful responsibility. One does not know what +the child may be like." + +"Hardly a child, mamma," pouted Marion. "Evadne must be as old as I." + +"If that is so, Sis, she must have the wisdom of Methusaleh!" and Louis +looked at his sister with one of his mocking smiles. "At any rate she +will afford scope for your powers of training, Isabelle. It must be +depressing to have to waste your eloquence upon an audience of one." + +Isabelle tossed her head. "I am not anxious for the opportunity," she +said coldly. "Likely the child will be a perfect heathen after running +wild among savages all her life." + +Louis whistled. "A little less Grundy and a little more geography would +be to your advantage, Isabelle! Barbadoes happens to be the crème de la +crème of the British Indies. I would not advise you to display your +ignorance before Evadne, or your future lecturettes on the +conventionalities may prove lacking in vital force." + +"Why, Isabelle, my dear, you must be dreaming!" and her mother looked +annoyed. "Don't let your father hear you say such a thing, I beg of you! +When he visited Barbadoes he was delighted, and he thought Evadne's +mother one of the most charming women he had ever met. If she had lived +of course Evadne would be all right, but she has been left entirely to +her father's guidance, and he had such peculiar ideas." + +"When, did she die, mamma?" asked Marion. + +"I am sure I cannot remember. Six or seven years ago it must have been. +But we rarely heard from them. Your Uncle Lenox was always a wretched +correspondent, and since his wife's death he has hardly written at all." + +"The house of Hildreth cannot claim to be well posted in the matter of +blood relations," said Louis carelessly, as he helped himself to olives. + + * * * * * + +Upon the deck of one of the Ocean Greyhounds a promiscuous crowd was +gathered. Returning tourists in all the glory of field glasses and tweed +suits; British officers going home on furlough from the different +outposts where they were stationed; merchants from the rich markets of +the far East; picturesque foreigners in national costume; and a bishop +who paced the deck with a dignity becoming his ecclesiastical rank. +There was a continuous hum of conversation, mingled with intermittent +ripples of laughter from the different groups which were scattered about +the deck. Among the exceptions to the general sociability were the +bishop, still pacing up and down with his hands clasped behind him, and +a young girl who sat looking far out over the waves, utterly heedless of +the noise and confusion around her. + +She was absolutely alone. The gentleman under whose care she was +traveling made a point of escorting her to meals, after which he +invariably secured her a comfortable deck chair, supplied her liberally +with rugs and books, and then retired to the smoking-room, with the +serene consciousness of duty well performed; and Evadne Hildreth was +thankful to be left in peace. She was no longer the buoyant, merry girl. +Her vitality seemed crushed. Hour after hour she sat motionless, her +hands folded listlessly in her lap, looking out over the dancing waves. +She had caught the last glimpse of her beloved island in a grey stupor. +Everything was gone,--father and home and friends,--nothing that +happened could matter now,--but, oh, the dreary, dreary years! Did the +sun shine in far-away New England, and could the water be as blue as her +dear Atlantic, with the gay ripple on its bosom and the music of its +waves? She looked at the tender sky, as on the far horizon it bent low +to kiss the face of the mysterious mighty ocean which stretched "a sea +without a shore." That was like her life now. All the beauty ended, yet +stretching on and on and on. And she must keep pace with it, against her +will. And there was no one to care. She was all alone! No, there was +Jesus Christ! + +She started to find that the Bishop's lady was speaking to her. Evadne +recognized her, for she sat at the next table, and several times she had +stood aside to let her pass to her seat. Something about the solitary, +pathetic little figure, the hopeless face and mournful grey eyes, had +won the compassion of the good lady, for she was a kindly soul. + +"My dear, you have a great sorrow?" she said gently. "I hope you have +the consolations of our holy religion to help you bear it." + +Evadne turned towards her eagerly. Her husband was the head of the +church. Surely _she_ would know. + +"Can you help me to find him?" she asked abruptly. + +"Find whom, my dear? Have you a friend among the passengers?" + +"Jesus Christ." + +"Oh!" The Bishop's lady sat back with the suddenness of the shock, "Are +you in earnest, my dear?" she asked with a tinge of severity in her +tone. "This is a very serious question, but, if you really mean it, I +will lend you my Prayer Book." + +Evadne smiled drearily. "Oh, yes, I am terribly in earnest. My father +said I was to make it the business of my life." + +"Oh, ah, yes, to be sure," said the lady a trifle absently. "That is +very proper. Christianity should be the great purpose of our life." + +"I do not want Christianity," said Evadne impatiently, "I want Christ." + +"My dear, you shock me! The eternal verities of our holy religion must +ever be--" + +"Do you believe in him?" asked Evadne, interrupting her. + +"Believe in him? whom do you mean?" + +"Jesus Christ." + +Aghast, the Bishop's lady crossed herself and began repeating the +Apostles' Creed. + +"That makes him seem so far away," said Evadne sadly. "I do not want him +in heaven if I have to live upon earth. Have _you_ found him?" she asked +eagerly. "Are you on intimate terms with him? Is he your friend?" + +The Bishop's lady gasped for breath. That she, a member of the Church of +the Holy Communion of All Saints should be interrogated in such a +fashion as this! "I think you do not quite understand," she said coldly. +"I will lend you a treatise on Church Doctrine. You had better study +that." + +"Charlotte," said her husband when she reached her stateroom, "I have +arrived at an important decision this afternoon. I have finally +concluded to take the Socinian Heresy as my theme for the noon lectures. +The subject will admit of elaborate treatment and afford ample scope for +scholarship." + +"Heresy!" echoed his wife, who had not yet recovered her equanimity; +"why, Bertram, I have just been talking to a young person who asked me +if I was on intimate terms with Jesus Christ!" + +"Ah, yes," said the Bishop absently, "the radical tendencies of the +present day are to be deplored. Have you seen that my vestments are in +order, Charlotte? I shall hold Divine service on board to-morrow." + +In a neighboring stateroom a lonely soul, bewildered and despairing, +struggled through the darkness towards the light. + + * * * * * + +The last snow of the winter lay in soft beauty upon the streets of +Marlborough as Evadne's train drew into the railway station. Instantly +all was bustle and confusion throughout the cars. Evadne shrank back in +her seat and waited. Instinctively she felt that for her there would be +no joyous welcome. Inexpressibly dreary as the journey had been she was +sorry it was at an end. An overwhelming embarrassment of shyness seized +upon her, and the chill desolation of loneliness seemed to shut down +about her like a cloud. + +A young man sauntered past her with his hands in his pockets. When he +reached the end of the car he turned and surveyed the passengers +leisurely, then he came back to her seat. He lifted his hat with lazy +politeness. + +"Miss Hildreth, I believe?" + +Evadne bowed. He shook hands coolly. + +"I have the honor of introducing myself as your cousin Louis." + +He made no attempt to give her a warmer greeting, and Evadne was glad, +but how dreary it was! + +Louis led the way out of the station to where a pair of magnificent +horses stood, tossing their regal heads impatiently. A colored coachman +stood beside them, clad in fur. + +"Pompey," he said, "this is Miss Evadne Hildreth from Barbadoes." + +The man bent his head low over the little hand which was instantly +stretched out to him. "I'se very glad to see Miss 'Vadney," he said with +simple fervor. "I was powerful fond of Mass Lennux;" and Evadne felt she +had received her warmest welcome. + +She nestled down among the soft robes of the sleigh while the silver +bells rang merrily through the frosty air. It was all so new and +strange. A leaden weight seemed to be settling down upon her heart and +she felt as if she were choking, but she threw it off. She dared not let +herself think. She began to talk rapidly. + +"What splendid horses you have! Surely they must be thoroughbreds? No +ordinary horses could ever hold their heads like that." + +Louis nodded. "You have a quick eye," he said approvingly. "Most girls +would not know a thoroughbred from a draught horse. You have hit upon +the surest way to get into my father's good graces. His horses are his +hobby." + +"What are their names?" + +"Brutus and Caesar. The Judge is nothing if not classical." + +As they mounted the front steps the faint notes of a guitar sounded from +the front room. + +"Confound Isabelle and her eternal twanging!" muttered Louis, as he +fumbled for his latch-key. "It would be a more orthodox welcome if you +found your relations waiting for you with open arms, but the Hildreth +family is not given to gush. Isabelle will tell you it is not good form. +So we keep our emotions hermetically sealed and stowed away under +decorous lock and key, polite society having found them inconvenient +things to handle, partaking of the nature of nitroglycerine, you know, +and liable to spontaneous combustion." + +He opened the door as he spoke and Evadne followed him into the hall. +She shivered, although a warm breath of heated air fanned her cheek. The +atmosphere was chilly. + +Marion, hurried forward to greet her, followed more leisurely by +Isabelle and her mother, who touched her lips lightly to her forehead. + +"I hope you have had a pleasant journey, my dear, although you must +find our climate rather stormy. I think you might as well let the girls +take you at once to your room and then we will have dinner." + +"Where is the Judge?" inquired Louis. + +"Detained again at the office. He has just telephoned not to wait for +him. He is killing himself with overwork." + +To Evadne the dinner seemed interminable and she found herself +contrasting the stiff formality with the genial hospitality of her +father's table. She saw again the softly lighted room with its open +windows through which the flowers peeped, and heard his gay badinage and +his low, sweet laugh. Could she be the same Evadne, or was it all a +dream? + +Isabelle stood beside her as she began to prepare for the night. She +wished she would go away. The burden of loneliness grew every moment +more intolerable. Suddenly she turned towards her cousin and cried in +desperation,-- + +"Can _you_ tell me where I shall find Jesus Christ?" + +Isabelle started. "My goodness, Evadne, what a strange question! You +took my breath away." + +"Is it a strange question?" she asked wistfully. "Everyone seems to +think so, and yet--my father said I was to make it the business of my +life to find him." + +"Your father!" cried Isabelle. "Why Uncle Lenox was an----" + +Instantly a pair of small hands were held like a vice against her lips. +Isabelle threw them off angrily. + +"You are polite, I must say! Is this a specimen of West Indian manners?" + +"You were going to say something I could not hear," said Evadne quietly, +"there was nothing else to do." + +Isabelle left the room, and, returning, threw a book carelessly upon the +table. "You had better study that," she said. "It will answer your +questions better than I can." + +"I told you she was a heathen!" she exclaimed, as she rejoined her +mother in the sitting-room; "but I did not know that I should have to +turn missionary the first night and give her a Bible!" + +Upstairs Evadne buried her face among the pillows and the aching heart +burst its bonds in one long quivering cry of pain. + +"Dearest!" + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +A day full of light--warm and brilliant. The sun flooding the wide +fields of timothy and clover and fresh young grain with glory; falling +with a soft radiance upon the comfortable mansion of the master of +Hollywood Farm, with its spacious barns and long stretches of stabling, +and throwing loving glances among the leaves of its deep belt of +woodland where the river sparkled and soft rugs of moss spread their +rich luxuriance over an aesthetic carpet of resinous pine needles. + +Near the limits of Hollywood the forest made a sudden curve to the +right, and the river, turned from its course, rushed, laughing and +eager, over a ridge of rocks which tossed it in the air in sheets of +silver spray. + +Standing there, leaning upon a gun, a boy of about seventeen looked long +at a squirrel whose mangled body was staining the emerald beauty of the +moss with crimson. His face was earnest and troubled, while the +expression of sorrowful contempt which swept over it, made him seem +older than he was. It was a strong face, with deep-set, thoughtful eyes +which lit up wondrously when he was interested or pleased. His mouth was +sensitive but his chin was firm and his brown hair fell in soft waves +over a broad, full brow. People always took it for granted that John +Randolph would be as good as his word. They never reasoned about it. +They simply expected it of him. + +He began to speak, and his voice fell clear and distinct through the +silence. + +"And you call this sport?" There was no answer save the soft gurgle of +the river as it splashed merrily over the stones. + +"You are a brute, John Randolph!" And the wind sighed a plaintive echo +among the trees. + +He was silent while the words which he had read six weeks before and +which had been ringing a ceaseless refrain in his heart ever since, +obtruded themselves upon his memory. + +"It is the privilege of everyone to become an exact copy of Jesus +Christ." + +"Well, John Randolph, can you picture to yourself Jesus Christ shooting +a squirrel for sport?" He tossed aside the weapon he had been leaning +upon with a gesture of disgust, and, folding his arms, looked up at the +cloud-flecked sky. + +"Are you there, Jesus Christ?" he asked wistfully. "Are you looking +down on this poor old world, and what do you think of it all? Men made +in God's image finding their highest enjoyment in slaughtering his +creatures. Game Preserves where they can do it in luxurious leisure; fox +hunts with their pack of hunters and hounds in full cry after one poor +defenceless fox, and battle-fields where they tear each other limb from +limb with Gatling gun and shells; and yet we call ourselves honorable +gentlemen, and talk of the delights of the chase and the glories of war! +Pshaw! what a mockery it is." + +Stooping suddenly he laid the squirrel upon his open palm and gently +stroked the long, silky fur. He lifted the tiny paws with their perfect +equipment for service and looked remorsefully at the eyes whose light +was dimmed, and the mouth which had forever ceased its merry chatter. A +great tenderness sprang up in his heart toward all living things and, +lifting his right hand to heaven, he exclaimed, "Poor little squirrel, I +cannot give you back your happy life, but, I will never take another!" + +Then he knelt, and scooping out a grave, laid the little creature to +rest at the foot of a tree in whose trunk the remnant of its winter +store of nuts was carefully garnered. When at length he turned to +leave the spot the tiny grave was marked by a pine slab, on which was +pencilled, + + "Here lies the germ of a resolve. + July 17th, 18--" + +He walked slowly along the fragrant wood-path, looking thoughtfully at +the shadows as they played hide and seek upon the moss, while through +the trees he caught glimpses of the sparkling river which sang as it +rolled along. + +When he reached the border of the woodland he stood still and his eyes +swept over the landscape. Hollywood was the finest stock farm in the +country. After his father's death he had come, a little lad, to live +with Mr. Hawthorne, and every year which had elapsed since then made it +grow more dear. He loved its rolling meadows, its breezy pastures and +its fragrant orchards. Its beautifully kept grounds and outbuildings +appealed to his innate sense of the fitness of things, while its air of +abundant comfort made it difficult to realize that the world was full of +hunger and woe. He loved the green road where the wild roses blushed and +the honeysuckle drooped its fragrant petals, but most of all he loved +the graceful horses and sleek cows which just now were grazing in the +fields on either side; and the shy creatures, with the subtle instinct +by which all animals test the quality of human friendship, took him into +their confidence and came gladly at his call and did his bidding. + +When he reached the end of the road he stopped again, and, leaning +against the fence adjoining the broad gate which led to the house, gave +a low whistle. A thoroughbred Jersey, feeding some distance away, lifted +her head and listened. Again he whistled, and with soft, slow tread the +cow came towards him and rubbed her nose against his arm. He took her +head between his hands, her clover-laden breath fanning his cheeks, and +looked at the dark muzzle and the large eyes, almost human in their +tenderness. + +"Well, Primrose, old lady, you're as dainty as your namesake, and as +sweet. Ah, Sylph, you beauty!" he continued, as a calf like a young fawn +approached the gate, "you can't rest away from your mammy, can you? +Primrose, have you any aspirations, or are you content simply to eat and +drink? You have a good time of it now, but what if you were kicked and +cuffed and starved? You are sensitive, for I saw you shrink and shiver +when Bill Wright,--the scoundrel!--dared to strike you. He'll never do +it again, Prim! Have you the taste of an epicure for the juicy grass +blades and the clover when it is young,--do you love to hear the birds +sing and the brook murmur, and do you enjoy living under the trees and +watching the clouds chase the sunbeams as you chew your cud? Do you +wonder why the cold winter comes and you have to be shut up in a stall +with a different kind of fodder? Do you ever wonder who gave you life +and what you are meant to do with it? How I wish you could talk, old +lady!" + +He vaulted over the gate, and whistling to a fine collie who came +bounding to meet him, walked slowly on towards the stables. + +"Hulloa, John!" and a boy about two years his junior threw himself off a +horse reeking with foam. "Rub Sultan down a bit like a good fellow. +There'll be the worst kind of a row if the governor sees him in this +pickle." + +John Randolph looked indignantly at the handsome horse, as he stood with +drooping head and wide distended nostrils, while the white foam dripped +over his delicate legs. + +"Serve you right if there were!" and his voice was full of scorn. +"You're about as fit to handle horseflesh as an Esquimaux." + +"Oh, pish! You're a regular old grandmother, John. There's nothing to +make such a row about." And Reginald Hawthorne turned upon his heel. + +John threw off coat and vest, and, rolling up his sleeves, led the +exhausted horse to the currying ground. Reginald followed slowly, his +hands in his pockets. + +"How did you get him into such a mess?" he asked shortly. + +"I don't know, I didn't do anything to him," and Reginald kicked the +gravel discontentedly. "I believe he's getting lazy." + +"Sultan lazy!" and John laughed incredulously. "That's a good joke! Why, +he is the freest horse on the place!" + +"Well, I don't know how else to explain it. He's been on the go pretty +steadily, but what's a horse good for? Thursday afternoon we had our +cross-country run and the ground was horribly stiff. I thought he had +sprained his off foreleg for he limped a good deal on the home stretch, +but he seemed to limber up all right the last few miles. I was sorry not +to let him rest yesterday; would have put him in better trim I suppose +for to-day's twenty mile pull,--but Cartwright and Peterson wanted to +make up a tandem, and when they asked for Sultan I didn't like to +refuse. They are heavy swells, and you know father wants me to get in +with that lot. But that shouldn't have hurt him. They only went as far +as Brighton. What's fifteen miles to a horse!" + +"Fifteen miles means thirty to a horse when he has to travel back the +same road," said John drily; "and your heavy swells take the toll out of +horseflesh quicker than a London cabby." + +"Why, John, what has come to you? You're the last fellow in the world to +want me to be churlish." + +"That's true, Rege,--but I don't want them to cripple you as they have +poor Sultan. What kind of fellows are they?" + +"Oh, not a bad sort," said Reginald carelessly. "Lots of the needful, +you know, and free with it. Not very fond of the grind, but always up to +date when there are any good times going. What do you suppose put Sultan +in such a lather, John? I was so afraid father would catch me that I +came across the fields, and it was just as much as he could do to take +the last fence. I made sure he was going to tumble." + +"Well for you he didn't," and John smoothed the delicate limbs with his +firm hand, "these knees are too pretty for a scar. Go into the vet room, +Rege, and bring me out a roll of bandage." + +"Hulloa! That will give me away to the governor with a vengeance! What +are you going to bandage him for?" + +"He is badly strained, and if I don't his legs will be all puffed by the +morning. It will be lucky if it is nothing worse. He looks to me as if +he was in for a touch of distemper, but I'll give him a powder and +perhaps we can stave it off." + +Reginald brought the bandage and then stood moodily striking at a beetle +with his riding whip. He was turning away when a hand with a grip of +steel was laid on his shoulder and he was forced back to where the +beetle lay, a shapeless mass of quivering agony, while a low stern voice +exclaimed,-- + +"Finish your work! Even the cannibals do that." + +Reginald wrenched himself free. "Pshaw!" he said contemptuously, "it's +only a beetle." But he did as he was told. + +Then he stood silently watching as with swift skilfulness John swathed +the horse's limbs in flannel. "I guess Sultan misses you, John. Over at +the college livery their fingers are all thumbs." + +"Poor Sultan!" was all John's answer, as he led the horse into a large +paddock thickly strewn with fresh straw. + +A night full of stars--silent and sweet. John Randolph leaned on the +broad gate which opened into the green road where he had lingered in the +afternoon. The thoughts which surged through his brain made sleep +impossible, and so, lighting his bull's-eye, he had gone to the stables +to see how Sultan was faring, and then wandered on under the mystery of +the stars. + +The night was warm. A breeze heavy with perfume lifted the hair from his +brow. He heard the low breathing of the cattle as they dozed in the +fields on either side, and the soft whirr of downy plumage as the great +owl which had built its nest among the eaves of the new barn flew past +him. Suddenly a warm nose was thrust against his shoulder and, with the +assurance of a spoilt beauty, the cow laid her head upon his arm. He +lifted his other hand and stroked it gently. + +"Hah, Primrose! Are you awake, old lady? What are your views of life +now, Prim? Do the shadows make it seem more weird and grand, or does +midnight lose its awesomeness when one is upon four legs?" + +He looked away to where the stars were throbbing with tender light, +crimson and green and gold, and the words of the book which he had been +studying every leisure moment for the past six weeks swept across his +mental vision. + +"'I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in +darkness, but shall have the light of life.' + +"'The light of life,'" he repeated slowly. "Why, to most people life +seems all darkness! What is 'the light of life'?" + +Still other words came stealing to his memory. 'I am the way, the truth, +and the life, no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.' 'Except ye +turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the +kingdom of heaven.' 'This is life eternal, that they should know thee +the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus.' + +A great light flooded John Randolph's soul. + +"'I' and 'me,'" he whispered. "Why, it is a personality. It is Jesus +himself! He is the way to the kingdom, the truth of the kingdom and the +life of it. The kingdom of heaven, not far away in space, but set up +here and now in the hearts of men who live the life hid with Christ in +God. I see it all! Jesus Christ is the light of the life which God gives +us through his Son." + +He stretched his hands up towards the glistening sky. + +"Jesus Christ," he cried eagerly, "come into my life and make it light. +I take thee for my Master, my Friend. I give myself away to thee. I will +follow wherever thou dost lead. Jesus Christ, help me to grow like +thee!" + +The hush of a great peace fell upon his soul, while through the +listening night an angel stooped and traced upon his brow the kingly +motto, 'Ich Dien.' + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +"Don, Don, me's tumin'," and the baby of the farm, a little child with +sunny curls and laughing eyes, ran past the great barns of Hollywood. + +John Randolph was swinging along the green road with a bridle over his +arm, whistling softly. He turned as the childish voice was borne to him +on the breeze. "All right, Nansie, wait for me at the gate." Then he +sprang over the fence and crossed the field to where a group of horses +were feeding. + +The child climbed up on the gate beside a saddle which John had placed +there and waited patiently. He soon came back, leading a magnificent bay +horse, and began to adjust the saddle. + +"Now, Nan, I'll give you a ride to the house. Can't go any further +to-day, for I have to cross the river." + +The child shook her head confidently. "Me 'll go too, Don." + +"I'm afraid not, Nan. The river is so deep, we'll have to swim for it. +That is why I chose Neptune, you see." + +"Me's not 'fraid, wiv 'oo, Don." + +"Better wait, Baby, till the river is low. Well, come along then," as +the wily schemer drew down her pretty lips into the aggrieved curve +which always conquered his big, soft heart. She clapped her hands with +glee, as he lifted her in front of him and started Neptune into a brisk +trot, and made a bridle for herself out of the horse's silky mane. + +"Gee, gee, Nepshun. Nan loves you, dear." + +When they reached the fording place John's face grew grave. The river +had risen during the night and was rushing along with turbulent +strength. There was no house within five miles. His business was +imperative. He dared not leave the child until he came back. Crouching +upon the saddle, he clasped one arm about her while he twisted his other +hand firmly in and out of the horse's mane. + +"Are you afraid, Nansie?" + +She twined her arms more tightly about his neck until the sunny curls +brushed his cheek. + +"Me'll do anywhere, wiv 'oo, Don." + +Just as the gallant horse reached the opposite bank Reginald galloped +down to the ford on his way home for Sunday. + +"Upon my word, John, you're a perfect slave to that youngster! What mad +thing will you be doing next, I wonder?" + +"The next thing will be to go back again," said John with a smile, while +Nan clung fast to his neck and peeped shyly through her curls at her +brother. + +"Where are you off to?" + +"Henderson's." + +Reginald turned his horse's head. "I might as well go along. A man's a +fool to ride alone when he can have company." + +John gave him a swift, comprehensive glance. + +"How are things going, Rege? You're not looking very fit." + +Reginald yawned and drew his hand across his heavy eyes. "Oh, all right. +Oyster suppers and that sort of thing are apt to make a fellow drowsy." + +"Don't go too fast, Rege." + +"Why not?" said Reginald carelessly. "It suits the governor, and that +book you're so fond of says children should obey their parents." + + * * * * * + +"I declare, John, you're a regular algebraic puzzle!" he exclaimed later +in the day, as he stood beside John in the carpenter's shop, watching +the curling strips of wood which his plane was tossing off with sweeping +strokes. "You put all there is of you into everything you do. You take +as much pains over a plough handle as you would over a buggy!" + +"Why not? God takes as much pains with a humming-bird as an elephant. +Mere size doesn't count." + +"Nan loves you, Reggie," and a tiny hand was slipped shyly into her +brother's. + +"All right, Magpie," he said carelessly. "You had better run home now to +mother. Your chatter makes my head ache." + +The laughing lips quivered and the child turned away from him to John +and hid her face against his knee. He lifted her up on the bench beside +him and gave her a handful of shavings to play with. + +"I don't see how you accomplish anything with that child everlastingly +under your feet!" Reginald continued, "yet you do two men's work and +seem to love it into the bargain. I'm sure if I had to cooper up all the +things on the farm as you do, I should loathe the very sight of tools." + +"I _do_ love it, Rege. Jesus Christ was a carpenter, you know. I get +very near to him out here." + +"Jesus Christ!" echoed Reginald with a puzzled stare. "What is coming +to you, John?" + +"It has come, Rege," John said with a great light in his face. "I have +found my Master." + +"Upon my word, John, you are the queerest fellow! What next, I wonder?" + +"The next thing, Rege," and John laid his hand affectionately upon his +friend's shoulder, "is for you to find him too." + +"So, you're going to turn preacher, John? You'll find me a hard subject. +A short life and a merry one is what I am going in for. I've no turn for +Christianity." + +"It pays, Rege." + +"Don't believe it. How can life be worth living when you're drivelling +psalm tunes all day long?" + +John laughed, and there was a new note of gladness in his voice which +Reginald was quick to notice. "I haven't begun to drivel yet, Rege; and +life counts for a good deal more when a man has an object than when he +is living just to please himself." + +"And who should a man please but himself, I should like to know?" + +"Jesus Christ." + + * * * * * + +"Upon my word!" said Reginald some weeks later, as he came upon John +sitting astride a cobbler's bench busily mending a pair of shoes, while +Nan looked on admiringly. "Do you learn a new trade every month?" + +John laughed quietly. "I took up this one because there are so many +repairs always needed on the harness, and your father thinks all talent +should be utilized." + +There was a quizzical look about his mouth as he spoke. Reginald caught +the look and answered hotly. + +"The governor ought to be ashamed of himself! Why don't you strike, +John?" + +"Why should I? Knowledge is power, Rege." + +"Knowledge of shoemaking!" said Reginald contemptuously. "It won't add +to your strength much, John." + +"Never can tell," said John sententiously. "You remember that lame +fellow saved a battle for us by knowing how to shoe the general's +horse." + +"Next thing you'll be going in for a blacksmith's diploma!" + +"I'm thinking of it," said John coolly. "That fellow at the Forks has no +more sense than a hen. He pared so much off Neptune's hoof last week +that he has been limping ever since. I had to take him this morning and +have the shoes removed." + +"I wish you'd do some shirking, John, like the rest of us." + +"Jesus Christ never shirked, Rege." + +"Pshaw! You're so ridiculous!" and Reginald walked discontentedly away. + +"Here, John, John, I say," he called, when the time came for him to +return to College, "go catch and saddle Sultan for me. You're so fond of +work, you might as well have two masters. Be quick now, for I'm in the +mischief of a hurry." + +John's face flushed. This boy was younger than himself, and his father +had been Mr. Hawthorne's friend. + +"Do you hear what I say, John?" demanded Reginald. "You're only here as +a servant any way, and I'll be master some day, so you might as well +learn to obey me now." + +John's brow cleared, while the words echoed in his heart with a glad +refrain,-- + +"A servant of Jesus Christ," and "The Lord's servant must not strive, +but be gentle towards all ... forbearing." After all, life was a matter +between himself and the Lord Jesus. What could Reginald's taunts affect +him now? + +"All right," he said quietly, and started for the field. + +"I declare!" muttered Reginald, as he watched the tall, lithe form +cross the field with springing step, "you might as well try to make the +fellow mad now, as to storm Gibraltar! What has come to him?" + +"Here you are, Sir Reginald," said John good-humoredly, as he led the +freshly groomed horse to the riding-block. + +Reginald's voice choked. "Shake hands, John," he said huskily. "I am a +brute! There must be something in this new fad of yours after all. If +you had spoken to me as I did to you just now, I should have knocked you +down." + +He rode on for a mile or two in moody silence, then he gave his +shoulders an impatient shrug. + +"I'd like to know what it is about John Randolph that makes me feel so +small! I have good times and he is always on the grind. I have all the +money I can spend and he has nothing but the pittance the governor gives +him, and yet he is three times the better fellow of the two. I envy him +his spunk and go. He comes to everything as fresh as a two-year old, and +he works everything for all there is in it. To see him climbing that +hill yesterday, with the youngster on his shoulder, actually made me +feel as if climbing hills was the jolliest thing in life. And it's so +with everything he does. Confound it! I don't see why I can't get the +same comfort out of things. I don't see where the fellow gets his vim. +If I worked as hard as he does, I'd be ready to tumble into bed instead +of pegging away at Latin and Mathematics. I'll have to put on a spurt in +self-defence or he'll be tripping me up with his questions. He's got the +longest head of anyone I know. The idea of the governor daring to set +such a fellow as that to cobble shoes!" + +"It's queer about the governor," he continued after a pause. "He's +always ready to shell out when I ask him for money, but he keeps poor +John with his nose to the grindstone all the year round. I suppose he +expects me to pay him in glory. He's set his heart on my being a +judge,--Judge Hawthorne of Hollywood. Sounds euphonious, and I verily +believe the old gentleman has begun to roll it like a sweet morsel under +his tongue. Can't say I have a special aptitude for the profession, and +certainly the brains are not in evidence, but I suppose the governor +thinks money will take their place. He has found it takes the place of +most things. + +"Sultan, old boy, we seem down on our luck this morning. We had better +take a speeder to raise our spirits. It is hardly the thing for Judge +Hawthorne of Hollywood to envy John Randolph his humdrum life of mending +rakes and shoes," and he urged his horse into a mad gallop. + + * * * * * + +"I believe I'd like to be poor and work, John," he exclaimed one day. +"It gets tiresome having everything laid ready to your hand, with +nothing to do but take it. Life must be full of snap when you have to +dash your will up against old Dame Fortune and wrest what you want out +of her miserly clutches." + +"Yes," said John simply, "Jesus Christ was poor." + +"Look here, John. If you don't stop that nonsense, people will be +dubbing you a crank." + +"I am ready!" he cried, and there was a strange, exulting ring in his +voice. "They called him mad, you know." + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Evadne found herself one morning in Judge Hildreth's roomy coach-house, +watching Pompey, as he skilfully groomed her uncle's pets. + +It had been decided that after the summer holidays, she should become a +member of the fashionable school which Isabelle and Marion attended. In +the meantime she was left almost entirely to her own devices. Her uncle +was away all day, Louis at College, and her aunt busy with social +duties. Her cousins had their own particular friends, who were not slow +to vote the silent girl with the mournful grey eyes, full of dumb +questioning, a bore; while Evadne, accustomed to being her father's +companion in all his scientific researches, found their vapid chatter +wearisome in the extreme. + +Horses were a passion with her, and she noted with pleased interest +Pompey's deft manipulations. She stood for a long time in silence. +Pompey had saluted her respectfully then kept on steadily with his work. +Dexterously he swept the curry-comb over the shining coats and then +drew it through the brush in his left hand with a curious vocal +accompaniment, something between a long-drawn whistle and a sigh, and +the horses laid their heads against his shoulder affectionately and +looked wonderingly at the stranger out of their large, bright eyes. + +"Did you really know my father?" she asked at length. + +"Laws, yes, Missy!" and Pompey's honest black face grew tender with +sympathy. "Mass Lennux stayed with the Jedge 'fore he went ter +Barbadoes, an' he spen' powerful sight of his time out here wid me an' +de horses. He wuz allers del'cut,--warn't able ter do nothin' in this +yere climate,--but he bed sech a sperit! He wouldn't ever let folks know +when he wuz a sufferin'. He use ter call me 'Pompous,'" and Pompey +chuckled softly. "He say when I git inter my fur coat I look as gran' on +de box as de Jedge do inside; an' one day he braided de horses' manes +inter a hunderd tails an' tied 'em wid yaller ribbun, 'cause he said de +crimps wuz in de fashun an' yaller wuz de Jedge's 'lecshun color. De +Jedge wuz powerful angry. He don't like no sech tricks wid his horses. +But, laws, he couldn't keep angry wid Mass Lennux! He jes' stood wid +his hans on his sides an' larf an' larf, till de Jedge he hev ter larf +too, an' he call him a graceless scamp, an' say he send him ter +Coventry, an' Mass Lennux he say 'all right ef de Jedge go 'long too, +an' take de horses, he couldn't do widout dem nohow.'" + +"Were these the horses my father used to ride?" + +"Laws, no, Missy. Dey wuz ez black ez night. Mass Lennux use ter call +'em Egyp an' Erybus." + +Pompey's face softened. + +"When my leetle gal died he jes' put his han' on my shoulder an' sez +he,--'Pompous, you jes' go home an' cheer up de Missis, yer don't hev no +call to worry 'bout de horses.' An' he tuk care of dem jes' as ef he'd +ben a coachman. We'll never fergit it, Dyce an' me." + +Evadne's eyes shone. That was just like her father! + +"'Specs little Miss is powerful lonesum 'thout Mass Lennux?" + +The soft voice was full of a genuine regret. Evadne sank down on a bench +which stood near by and burst into tears. + +"Oh, Pompey, I wish I could die!" + +"'Specs little Miss hez no call ter wish dat," said Pompey gently. +"'Specs de Lord Jesus wants her to live fer him." + +Evadne opened her eyes in wonder. + +"'The Lord Jesus,'" she repeated. "Why, Pompey, do you know him?" + +A great joy transfigured the black face. + +"He is my Frien'," he said simply. + +Evadne leaned forward eagerly. "Oh, Pompey, if that is true, then you +can help me find him." + +Pompey smiled joyously. "Miss 'Vadney don't need ter go far away fer +dat. He is right here." + +"Here!" echoed Evadne faintly. + +"Lo, I am wid you all de days'" Pompey repeated softly. "De Lord Jesus +don't leave no gaps in his promises, Miss 'Vadney. He's allers wid me +wherever I is workin', an' when I is up on my box a drivin' troo de +streets, he's dere. He's wid me continuous. Dere's nuthin can seprate +Pompey from de Lord," he added with a sweet reverence. + +"How can you be so sure?" she asked wistfully. + +"I hez his word, Missy. You allers b'lieved your father? 'I will not +leave you orphuns, I will cum ter you.' I 'specs dat verse is meant +speshully fer you, Miss 'Vadney." + +"But we can't see him," said Evadne. + +"Only wid de eye of faith, Missy. We trusts our friens in de dark. You +didn't need ter see your father ter know he wuz in de house?" + +"Oh, no!" Evadne's voice trembled. + +"It's jes' de same wid my Father, Miss 'Vadney." + +"How can you call God so, Pompey?" + +A great sweetness came over the homely face. + +"'Cause he hez sent his Sperit inter my heart, an' poor black Pompey can +look up inter de shinin of his face an' say 'my Father,' 'cause I'se +hidden away in his Son. I'se a little branch abidin' in de great Vine. +I'se one wid de Lord Jesus." + +"I don't know where to look for him!" Evadne cried disconsolately. + +Pompey laid aside his curry-comb and brush and folded his toil-worn +hands. + +"Lord Jesus," he said quietly, "here is thy little lamb. She's out in de +dark mountain, an' she's lonesum an' hungry, an' de col' rain of sorrow +is beatin' on her head. Lord, thou is de good Shepherd. Let her hear thy +voice a callin' her. Carry this little lamb in thy bosom an' giv her de +joy of thy love." + + * * * * * + +Judge Hildreth sat in his library far into the night. He was reading for +the twentieth time the letter which Evadne had placed in his hands the +morning after her arrival, and as he read, he frowned. + +"It is ridiculous, absurd!" he exclaimed impatiently. "Just of a piece +with all of Len's quixotic theories. By what possible chance could a +child of that age know how to manage money? She would make ducks and +drakes of the whole business in less than a year!" + +A letter addressed to Evadne lay upon the pile of age-worn papers in an +open drawer at his side. + +"I enclose herewith a letter to Evadne," his brother had written, +"giving full and minute explanations as to her best course in the +matter. These she will follow implicitly, under your supervision, and I +feel confident the result will be a well-developed character along the +lines on which women, through no fault of their own, are so lamentably +deficient, namely, the proper conduct of business and management of +money." + +Judge Hildreth looked again at the envelope with its clear, bold +address. "That is not the handwriting of a fool," he muttered. "I wish I +could make up my mind what to do." + +Through the solemn hush of midnight his good and evil angels contended +for his soul. In a strange silence he listened to their voices, the one +insidious, tempting, the other urging him to take the upright course. +Had his eyes not been holden he would have seen them, the one +dark-browed, malignant, clothed in shadows, the other robed in light; +while other angels hovered near and looked on pityingly. The white-robed +angel spoke first. + +"It is not a question to be decided by your judgment. There is no other +course left open to you." + +Mockingly the other answered. "It is a most unprecedented proceeding. +You should have been appointed her guardian, with sole control." + +"It is your brother's last will and testament." + +"Some wills are made to be broken. This one is against sound reason." + +"It is the only honorable thing to do." + +"It is unnecessary. The child need not know, and, if she did, would +thank you for saving her from care." + +"It is your brother's money. He had a right to do as he will with his +own." + +"If he had known to what straits this year's speculations have brought +you, he would be glad to give you a lift. If you do not have money now +what are you going to do? This has come just in time, for you know your +credit is already strained to its utmost." "Your niece will be anxious +to have your advice as to profitable investments. You can borrow the +money from her." + +"That would be awkward, in case the bottom fell out of the mine. A +little capital in hand would give you a chance to water the Panhattan +stock and develop a new lead in the Silverwing." + +"If you use money that does not belong to you, you will be a thief!" + +"If you do not use it, you will be a pauper. You have paper out now to +five times the amount of your income. This is an interposition of +Providence to save you from ruin." + +"What right had you to put yourself in the way of ruin?" + +"You did it to advance the interests of your family. The Bible says, 'If +any provide not for his own, especially his own kindred, he ... is worse +than an infidel.'[Footnote: Marginal rendering A. V.]" + +"If you do this thing you will be dishonored in the sight of God." + +"If you do not save yourself from this temporary embarrassment, you will +be disgraced in the eyes of the world. You owe it to your position in +society, and the church, to keep above the waves." The listening +spirits heard a low, malicious laugh of triumph and the white-robed +angel turned sadly away. + +Judge Hildreth had thrust Evadne's letter, with his own, far under the +pile of papers, and double-locked the drawer! + + * * * * * + +Above the coach-house was a large room where Pompey kept a store of hay +and grain, and there Evadne often found herself ensconced with +Isabelle's Bible, during the long mornings when she was left to amuse +herself as best she might. The atmosphere of the house stifled her, and +Pompey had loved her father! It was scrupulously clean. Under Pompey's +régime spiders and moths found no tolerance, and a magnificent black cat +effectually frightened away the audacious rodents which were tempted to +depredations by the toothsome cereals in the great bins. In one corner +Pompey had improvised for her a luxurious couch of hay and rugs, and in +this fragrant retreat Evadne studied her strange new book. She brought +to it a mind absolutely untrammeled by creed or circumstance, and in +this virgin soil God's truth took root. Slowly the light dawned. Hers +was no shallow nature to leap to a hasty conclusion and then forsake it +for a later thought. Gradually through the darkness, as God's flowers +grow, this human flower lifted itself towards the light. + +Sometimes she would sit for hours with the stately cat upon her knee, +thinking, thinking, thinking, while Pompey sang his favorite hymns about +his work and the mellow strains floated up the stairway and soothed her +lonely heart. His childlike faith became to her a tower of refuge, and +often, when bewildered by life's inconsistencies, she felt as if the +eternal realities were vanishing into mist, she was calmed and comforted +by his happy trust. + +"I cannot imagine, Evadne," said Isabelle one evening at dinner, "what +pleasure you can find in sitting in a stable in company with a negro! It +certainly shows a most depraved taste." + +"Christ was born in a stable, Isabelle." + +"What in the world has that to do with you?" + +"I am beginning to think he has everything to do with me," answered her +cousin quietly. + +"Well," said Isabelle with a toss of her head, "we are known by the +company we keep. I should imagine Pompey's curriculum of manners was not +on a very elevated plane." + +"Pompey! Isabelle," said Judge Hildreth suddenly. "Why, my dear, Pompey +is a modern Socrates, bound in ebony. There is no danger to be +apprehended from him." + +"Well, it is a peculiar companionship for Judge Hildreth's niece, that +is all I have to say," said Isabelle coldly, "but _chacun à son goût_." + +"I read this morning in your Bible that God had chosen the base things +of the world, and things which are despised, and things which are not, +to bring to nought things that are. What does that mean, Isabelle?" + +"Really, Evadne, we shall have to send you to live with Doctor Jerome!" +said her aunt, with a careless laugh. "You are getting to be a regular +interrogation point. We are not Bible commentators, child, you cannot +expect us to explain all the difficult passages. + +"The Embroidery Club meets here tomorrow, Evadne," exclaimed Marion, +"and I don't believe you have touched your table scarf since they were +here before. What will Celeste Follingsby think? She works so rapidly, +and her drawn work is a perfect poem." + +"No, I have not," confessed Evadne. "It seems such silly work, to draw +threads apart and then sew them together again." + +Isabelle elevated her eyebrows with a look of horror. + +Louis laughed. "She's a hopeless case, Isabelle. You'll never convert +her into an elegant trifler. You might as well throw up the contract." + +"It seems to me, Evadne," said his sister icily, "that you might have a +little regard for the decorums of society. Don't, I beg of you, give +utterance to such heresies before the girls. And I wish you would not +call it _my_ Bible. I did not make it." + +"That is quite true, Evadne," said Louis gravely. "If she had, there +would have been a good deal left out." + +Isabella shot an angry glance at him but made no remark. Her brother's +sarcasms were always received in silence. + +"Eva," she said after a pause, "I intend to call you by that name in +future,--your full one is too troublesome." + +Evadne shivered. Her father was the only one who had ever abbreviated +her name. "I shall not answer to it," she said quietly. + +"Why, pray?" + +"Because, I suppose, in common with the rest of the lower animals, I +have a natural repugnance to being cut in two." + +"How tiresome you are!" exclaimed Isabelle with a pout. "I do not object +to my first syllable. All the girls at school call me Isa. Mamma, did +you remember to order the tulle for our wings? Claude Rivers has +finished hers and they are perfectly sweet. She showed them to me this +afternoon." + +"Wings, Isabelle! What in the world are you up to now?" + +"A Butterfly Social, Papa. We must raise money in some way. The church +is frightfully in debt." + +"That is a deplorable fact, but I did not know butterflies were famed as +financiers." + +"Oh, of course it is just for the novelty of the thing. The last social +we had was a Mother Goose, and we have had Brownie suppers and Pink teas +and everything else we could think of. We must have something to +attract, you know." + +"I wonder if it really pays?" ventured Marion. "It never seems to me +there is much left, after you deduct the cost of the preparation. People +might as well give the money outright. It would save them a world of +trouble." + +"Why, you silly child, it is to promote sociability in the church. As to +the trouble, of course we do not count that. We must expect to make +sacrifices." + +"But they do not make the church any more sociable," said Marion boldly, +who, having struck for freedom of thought, was following up her +advantage. "The same people take part every time and the others are left +outside." + +"Nonsense!" said Isabelle hotly. "It is only those who cannot afford to +take part, and think what a treat it is for them to look on!" + +"A sort of half-price theatre," said Louis with a sneer. + +"I don't believe they find the looking on such fun as you think," said +Marion, who was astonished at herself. "Suppose you try if they wouldn't +like to take part and offer your place in the Cantata to Jemima Dobbs." + +"Well done, Sis!" and Louis applauded softly. + +Isabelle's lip curled. "Upon my word, Marion, you bid fair to become as +hot an anarchist as Louise Michel. It is a mystery to me where you find +out the Christian names of all the ungainly people in the congregation. +The other sopranos would feel complimented to have a prima-donna with a +face like a full moon and hands like a blacksmith's foisted upon them! +One must have a little regard for appearances," and Isabelle drew her +graceful figure up to its full height. + +"Jemima Dobbs isn't dynamite, and I have no anarchical tendencies," +persisted Marion stoutly,--"but beauty is only skin deep, Isabelle. She +supports a sick mother and five children and that is more than any of +the rest of us could do," and Marion, frightened at her momentary +temerity, shrank back into her shell. + +"It is a most unaccountable thing, Lawrence," said Mrs. Hildreth, "why +the church should be so heavily encumbered. I am sure you contribute +handsomely and the pew rents are high. There is always a large +congregation. I cannot understand." + +"It is largely composed of transients though, my dear, and they never +carry more than a nickel in their pockets, so the weight of the burden +falls upon a few. The expenses are very heavy. Jerome wants to make it +the most popular church in the city, and the new quartette proves an +extravagant luxury." + +"Oh, well," said Mrs. Hildreth, "of course one cannot grudge the money +for that. Professional singing is such an attraction! The way Madame +Rialto took that high C last Sunday was superb." + +"Well," said Isabelle, "I don't think there is any doubt that Doctor +Jerome is the most popular preacher in the city. He is going to preach +next Sunday on the moral progress of social sciences, and next month he +commences his series of sermons on the social problems of the day. He +does take such an interest in sociology." + +"But why doesn't he preach Jesus Christ?" asked Evadne wonderingly. + +"You will get to be a regular fanatic, Evadne, if you ring the changes +on that subject so often. Doctor Jerome says he wants his people to have +an intelligent idea of the progress of events. Of course everyone +understands the Bible. + +"I do think he is the loveliest man!" she continued rapturously, "he is +so sympathetic; and Celeste Follingsby says he is 'perfectly heavenly in +affliction.' Her little sister died last week, you know. It is so +awkward that it should have happened just now. She will not be able to +take any part in the Cantata, and she had the sweetest dress!" + +"Very ill-timed of Providence!" said Louis gravely. "What a pity it is, +Isabelle, that you couldn't have the regulation of affairs." He yawned +and strolled lazily towards the fireplace. When he looked round again, +Evadne was the only other occupant of the room. + +"Well, coz, what do you think of the situation? I belong to the +worldlings, of course, but I confess the idea of Jesus Christ at a +Butterfly Social is tremendously incongruous. We have the best of it, +Evadne, for we live up to our theories. Give it up, coz. You'll find it +a hopeless task to make the Bible and modern Christianity agree." + +He looked at his watch. + +"I say, Evadne, Jefferson is playing at the Metropolitan in Richard III. +to-night. Let us go and hear him." + +And Evadne went, and enjoyed it immensely. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +"I am going for a long ride into the country, Evadne," said her uncle +one morning, "would you like to come with me?" + +Evadne gave a glad assent. After her beautiful tropical life, it seemed +to her as if she should choke, shut away from the wide expanse of sky +which she loved, among monotonous rows of houses and dingy streets. + +As they left the city behind them and the road swept out into the open, +she gave a long sigh of delight. Her uncle laughed. + +"Well, Evadne, does it please you?" + +"It is the first time I have felt as if I could breathe," she said. + +"So you don't take kindly to Marlborough? Well, I suppose it is a rude +awakening from your sunny land, but you will get used to it. We grow +accustomed to all life's disagreeable surprises as time rolls on." + +Evadne shivered. "I do not think I shall ever grow accustomed to it, +Uncle Lawrence." + +"Ah, you are young. We grow wiser as our hair turns grey." + +"If that is wisdom, I do not care to grow wise." + +"Not grow wise, Evadne!" said her uncle quizzically. "In this age, when +women claim a surplusage of all the brain power bestowed upon the race! +What will you do when you have to attend to business?" + +"Business," echoed Evadne, "I have never thought about it, Uncle +Lawrence." + +"No turn for dollars and cents, eh? Did your father never consult you +about his affairs?" + +Evadne's lip quivered. "Oh, yes," she said, and her words were a cry of +pain, "he consulted me about everything, but I do not think there was +ever any mention of money. Does money constitute business, Uncle +Lawrence?" + +"Wealth gives power, Evadne. Money is one of the greatest things in the +world. While we are on the subject I may as well tell you that your +father wrote me concerning the disposition of his property. I shall look +after your interests carefully, together with my own, and give you the +same quarterly allowance that my own girls have. When you are older I +will go more into detail, but it is not worth while now to worry your +head over columns of uninteresting figures. I shall open an account for +you at the National Bank and you can draw on that for your expenses. +Your aunt will initiate you into the mysteries of shopping. By the way, +you must have gone through that experience in Barbadoes. How did you +manage there?" + +Evadne turned her head away and clenched her hands tightly as the flood +of bitter-sweet memories threatened to engulf her. + +"Papa always went with me," she said slowly, "whatever he liked I +chose." + +Judge Hildreth gave a sigh of relief. He had extricated himself from a +difficult position with diplomatic skill. It did not occur to him that a +lie which is half the truth is the meanest kind of a lie. He had +acquainted his niece with all that was necessary for her to know at +present, and at the same time left himself a loophole of escape from the +imputation of disregarding his brother's wishes. When she became old +enough to assume the responsibility, and he got his affairs straightened +out sufficiently to admit of transferring to her care the funds which +were so absolutely essential to his present success, he would put Evadne +in full possession of her inheritance. Results had proved the wisdom of +his decision. By her own acknowledgment his niece had never given a +thought to the subject. His brother's plan would be a height of +imprudence from which he was bound to shield her. + +In Evadne's mind also thought was busy. "Money is one of the greatest +things in the world," her uncle had said, and she had read that morning, +"tongues shall cease, and knowledge shall be done away, but love never +faileth. Now abideth faith, hope, and love; the greatest of these is +love." Was Louis right? Did Christians and the Bible not agree? And the +business of _her_ life was to find Jesus Christ. Was there any money in +that? + +When they reached Hollywood, where Judge Hildreth had business with Mr. +Hawthorne, Evadne was in an ecstasy of silent rapture. She had never +dreamed what a New England farm might be. Its varied beauty, clad in the +dazzling robes of early summer, came upon her with the suddenness of a +revelation. She begged to be allowed to wait for her uncle out of doors, +and wandered slowly on past the great barns to where the wide gate +stretched across the green road. When she reached it she stopped and +looked with keen delight at the beautiful creatures in the fields on +either side. The sunshine fell upon her with loving warmth; in the +distance she could hear the whirr of a mowing machine and the shouts of +the men at work. A magnificent young horse thrust his head familiarly +over the fence near by, and under the shade of a great tree Primrose, +with her graceful calf beside her, was lazily chewing her cud. + +Everything spoke of contentment and comfort and peace. An unutterable +longing seized upon the lonely girl. Here at least she would have God's +creatures to love, and his woods and the sky! She laid her head down +upon the gate with a smothered cry. + +"If I only belonged,--like the cows!" + +"Pitty lady!" + +Startled by the sweet, baby voice, Evadne looked up to find a pair of +laughing blue eyes peeping sympathetically at her. The sun-bonnet had +fallen back and the golden curls were tossed in luxurious confusion over +the little head. + +Evadne caught the child in her arms. + +"You little darling!" + +"Yes, me is," said the child, resting contentedly within Evadne's +embrace, as if, with the mysterious telepathy of childhood, she +recognized a spiritual affinity which she was bound to help. "Me's very +nice. Don says so." + +"And who is Don?" asked Evadne. + +"Don's my bootiful man. Me's doin' to marry Don when me gets big. Oh, +dere he is!" and breaking from Evadne, she rolled herself between the +bars of the gate and ran at the top of her speed towards John Randolph, +who just then appeared around a bend in the road, one arm thrown lightly +over the neck of the horse he had been training. + +"Halloo, Nansie!" Evadne heard his cheery greeting, saw him stoop and +lift the child on to the horse's back, and was so interested in the +pretty scene that she forgot she was a stranger. When she came to +herself with a start the little cavalcade had reached the gate and John +Randolph stood before her with his hat in his hand. + +Evadne bowed. "It is so beautiful!" she said. "I have been waiting for +my uncle and lost myself among the harmonies of Nature." + +John Randolph's eyes lightened. "It is God's world," he answered with a +sweet reverence. + +Evadne looked full into the shining face. "Do you know Jesus Christ?" +she asked impulsively. + +The face softened into a great tenderness. "He is my King." + +"And do you love him?" + +"With all there is of me." + +A servant came just then to say the Judge was waiting. + +"I will come at once," Evadne said courteously. Then she turned once +more to John. "And what do _you_ think of life?" she cried softly. + +"Life!" he said, and there was a strange, exultant ring in his voice. +"Life is a beautiful possibility." + +There was no time for more, but in the spirit realm of kinship no +multitude of words is needed. Only a few moments had passed, yet in that +little space two souls had met. What did it matter if the devious +turnings of life should lead them far apart, or the barring gate of +circumstance forever separate them? They had found each other! + +"Pitty lady!--Nan loves oo, dear," and the child whom John held seated +on the broad top rail of the gate, held up her rosy lips for a kiss. + +Instinctively Evadne held out her hand to John. Spiritual ethics laugh +at the conventionalities of time. "Good-bye," she said, "and thank you." + +She looked back once to wave her hand to little Nan. John was standing +as she had left him, one arm encircling the child who nestled close to +him, while over his right shoulder the horse had thrust his handsome +head. Always afterward she saw him so. It was a parable of what God had +meant man to be. + + * * * * * + +Long after the sound of the carriage wheels had died away John stood +motionless, beholding again as in a vision the earnest face and +wonderful grey eyes. Then he stooped for his hat which had fallen to the +ground when he had taken her hand in his. As he did so, he saw a dainty +bit of lawn lying on the other side of the gate. He put his hand between +the bars and caught it just as the breeze was about to blow it away. He +looked at the name which was delicately traced in one corner with a +strange sense of pleasure: Evadne. + +"It fits her," he said to himself. "There's a sweet elusiveness about +her. She makes me think of a bird. She'll let you come just so far, +until she gets to trust you, and then you'll have all her sweetness." + +He drew a long breath which was strangely like a sigh, and, folding the +handkerchief carefully, put it in his pocket. + +"Pitty lady," murmured little Nan drowsily, and John caught her up and +kissed her,--he could not have told why. + + * * * * * + +"I do think Dorothy Bruce is the kindest creature!" exclaimed Marion one +Saturday morning as they lingered with a pleasant sense of leisure over +the breakfast table. "She offered to give up the whole of to-day to me. +I thought it was lovely when she works so hard all the week." + +"Give it up to you. Why, what do you mean, Marion? We never have +anything to do with her in school. What could you possibly want of her +here?" + +"Oh, it is that doleful algebra," sighed Marion. "It is utterly +impossible for me to get it into my head, and Dorothy takes to it like a +duck to water, and she is a born teacher. Madame Castle says her +aptitude for imparting knowledge amounts to genius. You must allow it +was kind of her, Isabelle." + +Isabelle shrugged her shoulders. "Self-interested, most likely. That +sort of people would do anything to obtain a foothold." + +"Oh, Isabelle!" cried Evadne. "Do have a little faith in your +fellow-man! Why should you set yourself up on a pinnacle and despise +everyone who is poor, when the father of us all hoed for a living?" + +Louis looked up from the paper he was reading. "There are two things +Isabelle has no faith in, Evadne. The Declaration of Independence and +the book she loaned you. One says all men are free and equal,--the other +that God has made of one blood all the nations of the earth. Her Serene +Highness objects to this. She will have the blue blood come in +somewhere, though where she gets it from heaven only knows!" + +"Louis, I do wish you would not be so radical!" Isabelle said, +peevishly. "You must admit there is such a thing as culture and +refinement." + +"Certainly I admit it. The only thing I object to is that you talk as if +you possessed a monopoly of the article, whereas I hold that it is just +a question of environment. It is no thanks to you that you were not born +a Hottentot or a Choctaw. Give yourself the same ancestors and +surroundings as your chimney-sweep and wherein would you be superior to +him? And when it comes to ancestry, by the way, probably Miss Bruce can +trace back to some of the grand old Highland chiefs who covered +themselves with glory long before the lineage of Hildreth had emerged +from obscurity." + +"I don't know anyone who likes to choose his company better than you!" +observed Isabelle sarcastically. + +"Certainly I do. Similarity of environment presupposes similarity of +tastes. Probably my idea of enjoyment would not accord with the +chimney-sweep's, but at the same time I don't look down on the poor +beggar because he hasn't been as fortunate as I in getting his bread +well buttered. There is a law of cultivation for humanity as well as +plants. Surround a succession of generations with all the advantages of +wealth, education and travel, and you produce the aristocrat; just as +you get the delicate Solanum Wendlandi from the humble potato blossom. +Set your aristocrat in the wilderness to earn his living by the sweat of +his brow,--let the rain and wind beat upon his delicate skin,--shut him +away from all the elevating influences to which he has been accustomed, +and, in course of time, what have you? His descendants have retrograded. +The Solanum has become a potato again." + +"That is all very well," said Isabelle, "but I believe the instinct of +culture will be dormant somewhere." + +"Then why do you not recognize it in your chimney-sweep? For all you +know he may be the descendant of some impecunious sire of a lordly +house. Probably plenty of them are." + +Louis rose and tossed the paper carelessly to his mother, who had been +an amused listener to the discussion. It never occurred to him to do so +before. What did women want to know about politics or the turf? + +"Jesus Christ never seemed to care about externals," said Evadne +softly. "He chose his friends among the common people." + +"For pity's sake, Evadne!" cried Isabelle. "When will you learn that the +Bible is not to be taken literally?" + +"Not to be taken literally!" echoed Evadne in wonderment. "How is it to +be taken then?" + +"Isabelle means that we have to make allowances," said her aunt. "Christ +could do a great many things that you cannot." + +Evadne was silent, while the words of Jesus kept ringing in her ears: +"For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done +to you." If only she could understand! + +"By the way, Evadne," said Mrs. Hildreth, "I beg you will not repeat +your mistake of yesterday." + +"What do you mean, Aunt Kate?" + +"Bringing such a disreputable character into the house. When I came in +and found her sitting in the hall and you talking to her I was perfectly +paralyzed. Horrible! Why her rags were abominable, and her feet were +bare!" + +"But she had no shoes, Aunt Kate, and she was just my height. I was so +glad that my clothes would fit her." + +"A pretty thing to have your clothes paraded through the streets by +such a creature! Most likely she would pawn them for gin. I am sure she +was an improper character." + +"But, Aunt Kate," pleaded Evadne, "Jesus Christ says we must clothe the +naked and feed the hungry if we would be his followers. I must do as he +tells me for I am going to follow him." + +"Your uncle does enough of that for the family," said her aunt coldly. +"I do not wish you to try any such experiments again." + +Puzzled and chilled, Evadne left the room. Was obeying the commands of +Christ only an "experiment" after all? + +She crept up to her favorite retreat and threw herself upon her gayly +covered couch. "Oh, Jesus Christ!" she cried passionately, "I am _glad_ +I did not live in Galilee when you were there! Aunt Kate and Isabelle +would have thought it bad form for me to follow you in the crowd where +the sinners were. But they can't keep me from doing so now! + +"Oh, I wish I were dead! No one would care. Yes, Pompey would be sorry. +Louis would call it 'a sable attachment,' but Pompey loved my father. +Oh, dearest! dearest!" + +She buried her head in her hands while wave after wave of desolation +broke over the lonely soul. "A beautiful possibility" her knight of the +gate had said. Could life become that to her? + +Downstairs Pompey began to sing,-- + + "Shall we meet beyond the river, + Where the surges cease to roll, + Where in all the bright forever + Sorrow ne'er shall press the soul?" + +The rich vibrations rolled up and trembled about her. She held out her +arms and her voice broke in a cry of triumphant faith, "Yes, we _shall_ +meet, Lord Jesus, face to face!" + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +"Pompey," said Evadne one morning, "I am going to see your wife." + +The black face beamed with satisfaction. "Dyee'll be mighty uplifted, +Miss 'Vadney. She think a powerful sight o' Mass Lennux." + +Evadne stood watching him as he gave finishing touches to the silver +mountings of the handsome harness. "I don't believe there is another +harness in Marlborough that shines like yours, Pompey," she said with a +laugh. "You are as particular with it as though every day was a special +occasion." + +"So 'tis, Miss 'Vadney," said Pompey simply. "Can't slight nuthin' when +de Lord's lookin' on. Whoa, Brutis! Dere's goin' ter be Holiness to de +Lord written on de bells ob de horses bimeby, Missy. I'se got it writ +dere now." + +"I believe you have, Pompey," said Evadne soberly, "for you do your work +just as perfectly whether Uncle Lawrence is going to see it or not. It +almost seems as if you were trying to please someone out of sight." + +Pompey drew himself up to his full height. "I'se a frien' ob de Lord +Jesus, Miss 'Vadney. I'se got ter do everything perfect 'cause ob dat. +Couldn't bring no disgrace on my Lord." + +"But would that disgrace him?" asked Evadne in wonderment. + +"Why, yes, Missy. Ef I wuz a poor, shifles' crittur, only workin' fer de +praise o' men, folks would say,--'he's no differen' frum de rest; you've +got to keep yer eye on him ef yer want tings done properly. De King's +chillen ain't no better dan de worl's chillen be.' + +"De Lord Jesus, he say to me,--'Pompey, you must be faithful in de +little things as well as in de big. I never slurred nuthin when I wuz a +walkin' up and down troo Palestine. I sees you, Pompey; don't make no +difference whether de earthly master does or not.' So I does all de +little tings to de Lord, Miss 'Vadney, an' de Jedge knows he can depen' +on Pompey. Whenever he wants me, I'se here." + +"That is lovely!" said Evadne softly. "But don't you get dreadfully +tired doing the same work over and over? Every day you have to do +exactly the same things. It is as bad as a tread-mill. You just keep on +going round and round." + +Pompey gave one of his low chuckles. "'Specs dat's de way in dis worl', +Miss 'Vadney. We'se got ter keep on eatin', an' we can't sleep enuff one +night ter last fer a week,--but I 'low it's jes' one o' de beautiful +laws ob de Lord,--de sun an' de moon an' de stars keeps a'goin over de +same ground most continuous. So long as we'se doin' his will, Missy, it +don't matter much whether we'se goin' roun' an' roun' or straight ahead. +Stan' over, Ceesah!" and Pompey gave a final polish to the horse's +already immaculate legs. + +"Why don't you blacken their hoofs, Pompey? They used to do it in +Barbadoes." + +Pompey's eyes twinkled. "Dat's a no 'count livery notion, Miss 'Vadney, +a coverin' up de cracks an' makin' de horse's hufs look better dan dey +is. De King's chillens can't stoop ter any sech decepshuns. De Lord +Jesus says, 'Pompey, I is de truff. You's got ter speak de truff an' +live de truff ef you belongs ter me.' We ain't got no call ter cover up +anything, Miss 'Vadney, ef we'se livin' ez de Lord wants us to. 'Sides, +der ain't no 'cashun fer it. Ef we keeps de stable pure an' de food good +an' gives de horse de right kind of exercise an' plenty of 'tention, de +hufs will take care ob demselves," and he held Caesar's foot up for her +inspection. + +"Halloo, Evadne, are you taking lessons in farriery? What's the matter, +Pompey? Has Caesar got a sand crack?" and Louis sauntered up, the +inevitable cigar between his lips. + +"I don't 'low my horses ever hez sech things, Mass Louis," said Pompey +grandly. + +"Ha, ha! what a conceited old beggar you are. But I'll give the devil +his due and acknowledge the horses are a credit to you." He held a dollar +towards him balanced on his forefinger. "Here, take this and fill your +pipe with it." + +"Don't want no pay fer doin' my dooty, Mass Louis." + +"Pshaw, man! Take a tip, can't you?" + +Pompey shook his head. "I don't smoke, Mass Louis." + +"Don't smoke!" ejaculated Louis. "You don't here, I know, because the +Judge is afraid of fire, but you'll never make me believe that you don't +spend your evenings over the fire with your pipe. You darkeys are as +fond of one as the other." + +"You's mistaken, Mass Louis," said Pompey quietly. + +"'Pon my word! And why don't you smoke, Pomp? You don't know what you're +missing. It is the greatest comfort on earth." + +"'Specs I don't need sech poor comfort, Mass Louis. I takes my comfort +wid de Lord." + +Pompey's voice was low and sweet. Evadne felt her heart glow. + +"But come now, Pomp," persisted Louis, "that's all nonsense. You must +have some reason for not smoking. Everybody does. Come, I insist on your +telling me." + +Pompey was silent for a moment. "'The pure in heart shall see God,'" he +said slowly. "I 'low, Mass Louis, de King's chillen's got ter be pure in +body too."' + +"You insolent scoundrel! How dare you?" and Louis dashed the glowing end +of his cigar in the negro's face. + +For a moment Pompey stood absolutely still,--the cigar which had left +its mark upon his cheek lying smouldering at his feet,--then he turned +quietly and walked away. + +Louis strode out of the coach-house. Evadne followed him, her eyes +blazing. "You are a coward!" she cried passionately. "You would not have +dared to do that to a man who could hit you back. You forced him to tell +you and then struck him for doing it! If this is your culture and +refinement, I despise it! I am going to be a Christian, like Pompey. +That is grand!" + +"Well done, coz!" and Louis affected a laugh. "There's not much of the +'meek and lowly' in evidence just now at any rate." + +He looked after her as she walked away, her indignant tones still +lingered in his ears. "By Jove! there's something to her though she is +so quiet! I must cultivate the child." + +Seen through Evadne's clear eyes his action looked despicable and his +better nature suggested an apology, but he swept the suggestion aside +with a muttered "Pshaw! he's only a nigger," and turned carelessly on +his heel. + +"You are Dyce!" cried Evadne impulsively when she reached the cottage in +whose open doorway a pleasant-faced colored woman was standing. "Pompey +has told me about you. I think your husband is one of the grandest men I +know." + +"Thank you, Missy. Walk right in, I'se proper glad ter see Mass Lennux's +chile." + +"Why, how did you know me?" asked Evadne wonderingly. + +The woman laughed softly. "Laws, honey, you'se de livin' image of yer +Pa." + +She excused herself after a few moments and Evadne laid her head against +the cushions of a comfortable old rocking chair and rested. She wondered +sometimes where her old strength had gone. She had never felt tired in +Barbadoes. The tiny room was full of a homely comfort which did her +heart good. There were books lying on the table and flowers in the +window, a handsome cat purred in front of the fireplace, and on a +bracket in one corner an asthmatic clock ticked off the hours with +wheezy vigor. In an adjoining room Evadne could see a bed with its gay +patchwork quilt of Dyce's making, and in the little kitchen beyond she +heard her singing as she trod to and fro. A couple of dainty muslin +dresses were draped over chairs, for Dyce was the finest clear starcher +in Marlborough, and her kitchen was all too small to hold the products +of her skill. She entered the room again bearing a tray covered with a +snowy napkin on which were quaint blue plates of delicious bread and +butter, pumpkin pie, golden browned as only Dyce could bake it, and a +cup of fragrant coffee. + +"I did not know anything could taste quite so good!" Evadne said when +she had finished, "you must be a wonderful cook." + +Dyce laughed, well pleased. "When de Lord gives us everything in +perfecshun, 'specs it would be terrible shifles' of me ter spoil it in +de cookin', Miss 'Vadney." + +"The Lord," repeated Evadne. "You know him too, then? You must, if you +live with Pompey." + +Dyce's face grew luminous. "He is my joy!" she said softly. + +"And does he make you happy all the time?" asked the girl wistfully. +"You seem to have to work as hard as Pompey. What is it makes you so +glad?" + +"Laws, honey, how kin I help bein' glad? De chile o' de King, on de way +ter my Father's palace. Ain't dat enuff 'cashun ter keep a poor cullered +woman rejoicin' all de day long? I'se so happy I'se a singin' all de +time over my work, an' in de street; it don't matter where I be." + +"But you can't sing in the streets, Dyce!" + +"Laws, chile, don't yer know de heart kin sing when de lips is silent? +It's de heart songs dat de King tinks de most of, but when de heart gits +too full, den de lips hez ter do deir share." + +"But suppose you were to lose your eyesight, or Pompey got sick, +or----" + +Dyce gave one of her soft laughs. "Laws, honey, I never supposes. De +Lord's got no use fer a lot o' supposin' chillen who's allers frettin' +demselves sick fer fear Satan'll git de upper han'. De Lord's reignin', +dat's enuff fer me. I 'low he'll take care o' me in de best way." + +Evadne looked again at the exquisitely laundered dresses. "Why do you +work so hard?" she asked. "Doesn't Pompey get enough to live on?" + +"Oh, yes, honey; de Jedge gives good wages; but yer see, we wants to do +so much fer Jesus dat de wages don't hold out." + +"So much for Jesus!" + +"Why, yes, Missy. He says ef we loves him we'll do what he tells us, an' +he's tol' us ter feed de hungry, an' clothe de naked, an' go preach de +gospel. So, when we cum ter talk it ober, it seem drefful shifles' in me +ter be doin' nothin' when de Lord worked night an' day, so I begun ter +take in laundry work an' now we hev more money ter spen' on de Lord. But +we never hez enuff. De worl's so full o' perishin' souls an' starvin' +bodies. I tells Pompey I never wanted ter be rich till I began ter do de +King's bizniss. It's drefful comfortin' work, Miss 'Vadney." + + * * * * * + +The chill March wind blew fiercely along the streets of Marlborough one +afternoon and Evadne shivered. She had been standing for an hour wedged +tightly against the doors of the Opera House by an impatient crowd which +swayed hither and thither in a fruitless effort to force an entrance. It +was Signor Ferice's farewell to America and it was his whim to make his +last concert a popular one, with no seats reserved. Every nerve in her +body seemed strained to its utmost tension and her head was in a whirl. +She turned and faced the crowd. A sea of faces; some eager, some sullen, +some frowning, all impatient. The scraps of merry talk which had floated +to her at intervals during the earlier stages of the waiting were no +longer heard. A gloomy silence seemed to have settled down upon every +one. Suddenly a laugh rang out upon the keen air,--so full of a clear +joyousness that people involuntarily straightened their drooping +shoulders, as if inspired with a new sense of vigor and smiled in +sympathy. + +Evadne started. Surely she had heard that voice before! It must +be,--yes, it was,--her knight of the gate! Their eyes met. A great light +swept over his face and he lifted his hat. Then the surging crowd +carried him out of her range of vision. + +"I don't see what you find to look so pleased about, Evadne," grumbled +Isabelle, as they drove homeward. "For my part I think the whole thing +was a fizzle." + +"I was thinking," said Evadne slowly, "of the power of a laugh." + +"The power of a laugh! What in the World do you mean?" + +"I mean that it is a great deal better for ourselves to laugh than to +cry, and vastly more comfortable for our neighbors." + +"Evadne will not be down," announced Marion the next morning as she +entered the breakfast room. "She caught a dreadful cold at the concert +yesterday and she can't lift her head from the pillow. Celestine thinks +she is sickening for a fever." + +"Dear me, how tiresome!" exclaimed Mrs. Hildreth. "I have such a horror +of having sickness in the house,--one never knows where it will end. +Ring the bell for Sarah, Marion, to take up her breakfast." + +"It is no use, Mamma. She says she does not want anything." + +"But that is nonsense. The child must eat. If it is fever, she will need +a nurse, and nurses always make such an upheaval in a house." + +"You had better go up, my dear, and see for yourself," said Judge +Hildreth. "Celestine may be mistaken." + +"Mercy!" cried Isabelle, "it is to be hoped she is! I have the most +abject horror of fevers and that is enough to make me catch it. Fancy +having one's head shorn like a convict! The very idea is appalling." + +"Oh, of course if there is the slightest danger, you and Marion will +have to go to Madame Castle's to board," said her mother. "It is very +provoking that Evadne should have chosen to be sick just now." + +"Not likely the poor girl had much choice in the matter," laughed Louis. +"There are a few things, lady mother, over which the best of us have no +control." + +"I wish you would go up and see the child, Kate," said Judge Hildreth +impatiently. "If there is the least fear of anything serious I will send +the carriage at once for Doctor Russe. It is a risky business +transplanting tropical flowers into our cold climate." + +The kind-hearted French maid was bending over Evadne's pillow when Mrs. +Hildreth entered the room. She had grown to love the quiet stranger +whose courtesy made her work seem light, and it was with genuine regret +that she whispered to her mistress,--"It is the feevar. I know it well. +My seestar had it and died." + +Evadne's eyes were closed and she took no notice of her aunt's entrance. +Mrs. Hildreth spoke to her and then left the room hurriedly to summon +her husband. Even her unpractised eyes showed her that her niece was +very ill. + +Doctor Russe shook his head gravely. "It is a serious case," he said, +"and I do not know Where you will find a nurse. I never remember a +spring when there was so much sickness in the city. I sent my last nurse +to a patient yesterday and since then have had two applications for one. +It is most unfortunate. The young lady will need constant care. She +requires a person of experience." + +Pompey, waiting to drive the doctor home, caught the words, spoken as he +descended the steps to enter the carriage, and came forward eagerly. "If +you please, Missus," he said, touching his hat, "Dyce would come. She's +hed a powerful sight of 'sperience nussin' fevers in New Orleans. She'd +be proper glad ter tend Miss 'Vadney." + +"How is that?" questioned the busy doctor. "Oh, your wife, my good +fellow? The very thing. Let her come at once." + +So Dyce came, and into her sympathetic ears were poured the delirious +ravings of the lonely heart which had been so suddenly torn from its +genial surroundings of love and happiness and thrust into the chilling +atmosphere of misunderstanding and neglect. + +Every day the patient grew weaker and after each visit the doctor looked +graver. Mrs. Hildreth began to feel the gnawings of remorse, as she +thought of the lonely girl to whom she had so coldly refused a +daughter's place; and the Judge's thoughts grew unbearable as he +remembered his broken trust; even Louis missed the earnest face which he +had grown to watch with a curious sense of pleasure; while the girls at +school felt their hearts grow warm as they thought of the young cousin +so soon to pass through the valley of the shadow. + +But Evadne did not die. The fever spent itself at last and there +followed long days of utter prostration both of mind and body. Dyce's +cheery patience never failed. Her sunny nature diffused a bright +hopefulness throughout the sick chamber, until Evadne would lie in a +dreamy content, almost fancying herself back in the old home as she +listened to the musical tones and watched the dusky hands which so +deftly ministered to her comfort. One day after she had lain for a long +time in silence, she looked up at her faithful nurse and the grey eyes +shone like stars. + +"Dyce!" she cried softly. "I have found Jesus Christ!" + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Reginald Hawthorne lay upon a couch on the wide veranda of his lovely +home. The birds held high carnival around him,--nesting in the large +cherry tree, playing hide and seek among the fragrant apple blossoms and +making the air melodious with their merry songs. Brilliant orioles +flashed to and fro like gleams of gold in the sunlight, as they built +their airy hammocks high among the swaying branches of the great willow, +and one inquisitive robin swept boldly through the clustering vines +which screened the front of the veranda and perched upon his shoulder. +He heard the merry hum of the bees at work and the strident call of the +locusts, mingled with the distant neighing of horses and the soft lowing +of the cows, but all the sweetness of nature was powerless to lift the +gloom which seemed to envelop him as in a shroud. His face was white and +drawn with pain and there were heavy rings beneath his eyes. Reginald +Hawthorne would be a cripple for life. + +The College Football Club had met a New York team in the yearly +contest, which was looked forward to as one of the events in the +athletic world, and Reginald had been foremost among the leaders of the +play. Fierce and long had been the fight and the enthusiastic spectators +had shouted themselves hoarse with applause or groaned in despair when +the honor of Marlborough seemed likely to be lost. Then had come a +mighty onward rush and the opposing forces concentrated into one +seething mass of struggling humanity. When they drew apart at last the +College boys had made the welkin ring with shouts of victory, but their +bravest champion lay white and still upon the field. + +Long days and nights of pain had followed, when John and Mrs. Hawthorne +were at their wits' end to alleviate the sufferings of the unfortunate +boy. Now the pain had resolved itself into a dull aching but Reginald +would never walk without a crutch again. + +The mortification to his father was extreme. A passionate man, he had +centred all his hopes upon his son, whose position in life he fondly +expected to repay him for his years of unremitting toil, and this was +the end of it all! He grew daily more overbearing and hard to please, +and his ebullitions of disappointment and rage were terrible to witness. +He vented his anger most frequently upon John, the sight of whose +superb strength goaded the unhappy man into a frenzy, and John's +forbearance was tried to the utmost, but there was a sweet patience +growing in his soul which made it possible to endure in silence, however +capricious or unreasonable the commands of his master might be, and +Reginald, watching him critically, marvelled at the mysterious inner +strength of his friend. + +He came along now with his quick, light step and drew a chair up beside +Reginald's couch. He planned his work so as to be with the invalid as +much as possible, and his constant sympathy and cheer were all that made +the days bearable to him. + +"Well, Rege, how goes it?" he asked in tones as tender as a woman's. + +Reginald looked up at him with envious eyes. There was such a freshness +about this strong young life, as if every moment were a separate joy. + +"I wish I was dead!" he answered moodily. + +"Don't dare to wish that!" said John quickly, "until you have made the +most of your life." + +"The most of my life!" echoed Reginald contemptuously. "That's well put, +John, I must say! What is my life worth to me now? You see what my +father thinks of it. A useless log, as valuable as a piece of waste +paper. I believe it would have pleased him better if I had been killed +outright. He wouldn't have had the humiliation of it always before his +eyes. If it had been any sort of a decent accident, I believe I could +bear it better, but to be knocked over in a football match, like the +precious duffer that I am--bah!" + +The concentrated bitterness of the last words made John's heart ache. +"Looking backward, Rege," he said quietly, "will never make a man of +you. It is only a waste of time and vital tissue. But there are lots of +noble lives in spite of limitations. Paul had his thorn in the flesh, +you know, and Milton his blindness. Difficulties are a spur to the best +that is in us." + +"Difficulties, John. You never look at them, do you?" + +John laughed. "It is not worth while except to see how to surmount +them." + +"I wish you could be idle just for an hour," said Reginald peevishly, +"you make me nervous." + +John took another stitch in the halter he was mending. "Old Father +Time's spoiling tooth is never still, Rege. I have to work to keep pace +with it." + +"I should think you would need a month of loafing to made up for the +sleep you have lost. You're ahead of Napoleon, John, for he only kept +one eye open, but I've never been able to catch you napping once. How +have you stood it, man?" + +"Forty winks is a fair allowance sometimes, Rege." + +Reginald groaned. "Your pluck is worth a king's ransom, John. I wish I +had it." + +John began to whistle softly as he drew his waxed ends in and out. + +"I declare, John, I can't fathom you!" and Reginald moved impatiently +upon his couch. "You are invulnerable as Achilles. I never saw a fellow +get so much comfort out of everything as you do, and yet your life is a +steady grind. What does it all mean?" + +"It means," said John softly, "that I am a Christ's man, and he has +lifted me above the power of circumstances. Jesus is centre and +circumference with me now, Rege. + +"You were talking yesterday about some men wanting the earth. I _own_ +the earth, because it belongs to my Father,--the best part of it, you +know,--there is a truer giving than by title deeds to material +acres--and the world has grown very beautiful since my Father made me +heir of all things through his Son. The birds' songs have a new note in +them, and the sunlight is brighter, and there is a different blue in +the sky. I'm monarch of all I survey because I get the good out of +everything,--mere earthly possession doesn't amount to much, a man has +to leave the finest estates behind him,--but I get the concentrated +sweetness of it all wherever I am. It is God's world, you know, and he +is my Father." + +John was called away just then to attend to some gentlemen who had come +to look at the horses, and Reginald waited for his return in vain. He +heard his father's voice once, raised high in stormy wrath, then all was +still again. Some time afterwards, through the leafy curtain of his +veranda, he saw Mr. Hawthorne drive past with a face so distorted with +passion that he shivered. + +"There's been no end of a row this time," he soliloquized. "It is a +mystery to me why John puts up with it. He's free to go when he chooses. +I'm sure I'd clear out if I wasn't such a good-for-nothing. The governor +is getting to be more like a bear than a human being, it's a dog's life +for everybody unlucky enough to be under the same roof with him." + + * * * * * + +Down at the bend of the river a tall figure lay stretched upon the moss. +The river laughed and the birds sang, but John Randolph's face was +buried in his arms. + +To leave Hollywood--that very night! The place whose very stones were +dear to him, where he had learned all he knew of home. To be turned off +like a beggar, without a moment's warning, after all his years of toil! +To say good-bye forever to the human friends who loved him, and the +dear, dumb friends whom he had fondled and tended with such constant +care. Never again to swing along through the sweet freshness of the +morning before the sun was up to find the earliest snowdrops for Mrs. +Hawthorne, or take a spin in the moonlight with every nerve a-tingle +across the frozen bosom of the lake, or wander in delight along the wood +roads when every tree was clad in the witching beauty of a silver thaw, +or sweep across the wide stretching country in the very poetry of +motion, or hear the soft swish of the tall grass as it fell in fragrant +rows before the mower, or the creak of the vans as they bore its ripened +sweetness towards the great barns, while bird and bee and locust joined +in the harmony of the Harvest Home, until the sun sank to rest amidst +cloud draperies of royal purple and crimson and gold and the +sweet-voiced twilight soothed the world into peace. + +On and on the hours swept while John fought his battle. At length he +rose, and with long, lingering glances of good-bye to every tree and +rock and flower, began his homeward way. He would think of it so while +he could. In a few short hours he would be a wanderer upon the face of +the earth. A sudden joy crept into the weary eyes. So was Jesus Christ! + +"Why, John, what has happened!" cried Reginald, as his faithful nurse +came to make him comfortable for the night. "You look like a ghost, and +you have had no dinner! What the mischief is to pay? You must have been +precious busy to leave me alone the whole afternoon." + +"I have been, Rege," said John quietly, "very busy." + +"I declare, John, I'd make tracks for freedom if I were in your shoes. +You're a regular convict, and, since you've had me on your hands, a +galley slave is a gentleman of leisure in comparison! Why don't you go, +John? You've had nothing but injustice at Hollywood." + +John fell on his knees beside the bed. "I am going, Rege. Your father +has ordered me away." + +When the thought which has floated--nebulous--across our mental vision, +suddenly resolves itself into tangible form and becomes a solid fact to +be confronted and battled with, the shock is greater than if no shadowy +premonition had ever haunted the dreamland of our fancy. Reginald gave a +low cry, then he lay looking at John with eyes full of a blank horror. +His mind utterly refused to grasp the situation. + +"You see, Rege, it is this way," said John gently. "Your father seems to +have taken a dislike to me and lately I have fancied he was only waiting +for an excuse to turn me off. As soon as those fellows began to talk to +him about the horses I saw there was trouble brewing. Everything I did +was wrong, and once he swore at me. He would order me to bring one horse +and then change his mind before I got half across the field, and then he +would rail at me for not having brought the first one. + +"They pitched on Neptune at last, and asked if he had been registered. I +said 'No,' so then they refused to pay the price your father asked, and +he had to come down on him. He was furious, and, as soon as the men's +backs were turned, he ordered me out of his sight forever. He says I +have ruined the reputation of Hollywood," John's voice broke. + +"But, John, you mustn't go!" cried Reginald. "You cannot! My father is +out of his mind. People don't pay any attention to the ravings of a +lunatic." + +John shook his head sadly. "He is master here, Rege. There is nothing +else for me to do." + +"But, John, it is impossible--preposterous! Why, everything will go to +ruin without you, and I will take the lead." + +"No, no!" said John quickly. "You will be a rich man some day, Rege. +Wealth is a wonderful opportunity. Prepare yourself to use it well." + +"I tell you I can't do anything without you, John. I am like a ship +without a rudder. It is no use talking. I cannot spare you. You must not +go!" + +"If you take the great Pilot aboard, Rege, you will be in no danger of +drifting. It is only when we choose Self for our Captain that the ship +runs on the rocks." + + * * * * * + +"Don, Don!" The child heard his step in the hall long before he reached +the door. He was coming, as he did every night, to give her a ride in +his arms before she went to by-by. She held out her little arms from +which the loose sleeves had fallen back. John lifted her up, for the +last time. + +He laid his strong, set face against the rosy cheek, and looked into the +laughing eyes which the sand man had already sprinkled with his magic +powder. "Nansie, baby, I have come to say good-bye." + +"Not dood-bye, Don, oo always say dood-night." + +"But it is good-bye this time, little one, there will be no more +good-nights for you and me. I am going away." + +A bewildered look swept over the child's face. "Away!" she echoed, "to +leave Nan an' Pwimwose an' the horsies? Me'll do too, Don. He'll do +anywhere wid oo, Don." + +"I wish I could take you!" and John strained her to his breast. "But +there is no Neptune to carry us now, little one. Your father sold him +this afternoon." + +"My nice Nepshun!" The child's lip quivered, but something in the +suffering face above her made her say quickly, "Me'll be dood, Don, an' +when oo turn back, me'll be waitin' at de gate." + +She patted his cheek confidingly. "Nice Don! Nan loves oo, dear, an' +Desus. Nan loves Desus 'cause oo do, Don." + +John's voice choked. "Keep on loving, Nansie." + +"Yes, me will. Does Desus carry de little chil'en in his arms like oo +do, Don? Me's so comf'able. Me loves Desus." + +The little arm, soft and warm, crept closer around his neck, while the +golden curls swept his cheek. "Oo's my bootiful man, Don. Me'll marry oo +when me gets big," and then, all unconscious of the sorrow which should +greet her in the morning, the baby slept. + +To and fro across the floor John trod lightly with his precious burden. +His arms never felt the weight. They would be such empty arms +bye-and-bye! Then at last he laid her down, and, taking a pair of +scissors from his pocket, he carefully severed one of the golden rings +of hair, and laid it within the folds of the handkerchief which he still +carried in his vest pocket. The fair girl and the little child. These +should be his memory of womanhood. + +[Illustration: 'ME'LL DO ANYWHERE, WIV OO, DON.] + + * * * * * + +In Reginald's room kind-hearted Mrs. Hawthorne was weeping bitterly. She +loved John as her own son, but no one ever dreamed of disputing the +tyrannical dictates of the master of Hollywood, however unjust they +might be. + +Reginald lay as John had left him with his face buried in the pillows +and utterly refused to be comforted. What comfort could there be if +John was going away? It never occurred to him that his mother needed +cheer as much as he. Like all selfish souls his own pain completely +filled his horizon. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +"I don't see what we are to do about Evadne!" and Mrs. Hildreth sighed +disconsolately. "She looks like a walking shadow. I should not be +surprised if she had inherited her father's disease, and they say now +that consumption is as contagious as diphtheria." + +"Horrors!" cried Isabelle. "Do quarantine her somewhere, Mamma, until +you are quite sure there is no danger. I haven't the faintest +aspirations to martyrdom." + +"It is a great care," sighed Mrs. Hildreth. "All of you children have +always been so healthy. I don't believe Doctor Russe will listen to her +going to the seaside, and the mountains are so monotonous! Other +people's children are a great responsibility." + +Suddenly Isabelle clapped her hands. "I have it!" she cried. "Send her +up to Aunt Marthe, and then we can tease Papa to let us go to Newport. +Marion is going to spend the summer with Christine Drayton, you know, +and Papa does not intend to leave the city, so we can persuade him that +it is our duty to seize such a golden opportunity of doing things +economically. I am sure I don't know what people must think of us, never +going to any of the fashionable places. For my part I think we owe it to +Papa's position to keep up with the world." + +"I believe it might be managed," said Mrs. Hildreth after some +consideration. "It was very clever of you to think of it, Isabelle. You +ought to be a diplomat, my dear," and she smiled approvingly on her +daughter. + + * * * * * + +The train swept along through the picturesque Vermont scenery and Evadne +looked out of her window with never ending delight. + +"I am like a poor, lonely bird," she said to herself, "who flits from +shore to shore, seeking rest and finding none. Another journey in the +dark! I wonder what will be at the end of this one? Well, I'll hope for +the best. Aunt Marthe's letter was kind, and her name sounds as cheery +as Aunt Kate's sounds cold." + +Mr. Everidge came to meet her as the train steamed into the little +station, and Evadne soon found herself seated in a comfortable carriage +behind a handsome chestnut mare, bowling along a fragrant country road, +catching glimpses at every turn of the verdure-clad hills. + +She found her new uncle very pleasant. There was a silver-tongued +suavity about him in striking contrast to the growing preoccupation of +Judge Hildreth, and a sort of airy self complaisance which took it for +granted that he should be well treated by the world. + +"I am very glad you have come, my dear niece," he said, "to relieve the +tedium of our uneventful existence. You must let our Vermont air kiss +the roses into bloom again in your pale cheeks. It has a world-wide +reputation as a tonic. I hope you left our Marlborough relatives in a +pleasant attitude of mind? It is one of the evidences of this +progressive age that you should woo 'tired Nature's sweet restorer' one +night under the roof of my respected brother-in-law, the next under my +own. The ancients, with their primitive modes of laborious transit, were +only half alive. We of to-day, thanks to the melodious tea-kettle and +inventive cerebral tissue of the youthful Watt, live in a perpetual +hand-clasp, so to speak, and, by means of the flashing chain of light +which girdles the globe are kept in touch with the world. It is food for +reflection that the thought which is evolved from the shadowy recesses +of our brain to-day, should be, by the mysterious camera of electricity, +photographed upon the retina of the Australian public to-morrow, and we +need to have the archives of our memory enlarged to hold the voluminous +correspondence of the century. + +"Ah, Squire Higgins, good-evening. My niece by marriage, Miss Hildreth +of Barbadoes." + +The Squire lifted his hat, there was a little desultory conversation, +then the carriages went on their separate ways, and soon Evadne found +herself at her destination. + +She looked eagerly at the pretty house with its _entourage_ of flowers +and lawns, grand old trees and distance-purpled hills, then Aunt Marthe +appeared in the doorway and she saw nothing else. + +She was of medium height with a crown of soft, brown hair, and eyes +whose first glance of welcome caught Evadne's heart and held her +captive. There was a wonderful sweetness about the smiling mouth, and +the face, although not classically beautiful, possessed a subtle +spiritual charm more fascinating than mere physical perfection of color +and form. She moved lightly with a buoyant youthfulness strangely at +variance with the stately dignity of Mrs. Hildreth and the studied +repose of Isabelle. + +"You dear child!" The soft arms held her close, the sweet lips caught +hers in a kiss, and Evadne felt with a great throb of joy that the +weary bird had found a resting-place at last. + +She led her into a cool, tastefully furnished room, drew her down beside +her on the couch and took off her hat and gloves, then she handed her a +fan and went to make her a lemon soda. + +Evadne looked round the room with its soft curtains swaying in the +breeze, the cool matting on the floor with a rug or two, the light +bookcases with their wealth of thought, the comfortable wicker rockers, +the bamboo tables holding several half cut magazines, an open +work-basket, a vase with a single rose, while on the low mantel a +cluster of graceful lilies were reflected in the mirror. "Why, this is +home!" she cried and she laid her head against the cushions with a +delightful sense of freedom. + +The early supper was soon announced and Evadne found herself in a cozy +dining-room seated near a window which opened into a bewildering vista +of summer beauty. There were flowers beside each plate as well as in the +quaintly carved bowl in the centre of the table. Evadne caught herself +smiling. That had always been a conceit of hers in Barbadoes. + +Everything was simple but delicious. The tender, juicy chicken, the +delicate pink ham, the muffins browned to a turn, the Jersey butter +moulded into a sheaf of wheat, and moist brown bread of Aunt Marthe's +own making, the blocks of golden sponge cake, the crisp lettuce, the +fragrant strawberries, the cool jelly frosted with snow. Evadne drank +her tea out of a chocolate tinted cup, fluted like the bell of a flower, +and felt as if she were feasting on the nectar of the gods, while Mr. +Everidge's silvery tones kept up a constant stream of talk and Aunt +Marthe's beautiful hospitality made her feel perfectly at home. + +"Tea, my dear Evadne," he said, as he passed her cup to be refilled, "is +an infusion of poison which is slowly but surely destroying the coatings +of the gastronomical organ of the female portion of society. I tremble +to think of the amount of tannin which analysis would show deposited in +the systems of the votaries of the deadly Five o'clock, and the +unhealthy nervous tension of the age is largely traceable to the +excessive consumption of the pernicious liquid. Chocolate, on the +contrary, taken as I always drink it, is simple and nutritive, with no +unpleasant after effects to be apprehended, but this decoction of bitter +herbs, steeped to death in water far past its proper temperature, is +concentrated lye, my dear Evadne, nothing but concentrated lye. By the +way, Marthe, I wish you would give your personal supervision to the +preparation of my hot water in the future. Nothing comparable to hot +water, Evadne, just before retiring. It aids digestion and induces +sleep, and sleep you know is a gift of the gods. The Chinese mode of +punishing criminals has always seemed to me exquisite in its barbarity. +They simply make it impossible for the unhappy wretches to obtain a wink +of sleep, until at length the torture grows unbearable and they find +refuge in the long sleep which no mortal has power to prevent. So, my +dear Marthe, see to it if you please in future that my slumber tonic is +served just on the boil. The worthy Joanna does not understand the +mysteries of the boiling process. Water, after it has passed the +initiatory stage becomes flat, absolutely flat and tasteless. What I had +to drink last night was so repugnant to my palate that I found it +impossible to sink into repose with that calm attitude of mind which is +so essential to perfect slumber. + +"See to it also, my dear, that I am not disturbed at such an unearthly +hour again as I was this morning. Tesla, the great electrician, has put +himself on record as intimating that the want of sleep is a potent +factor in the deplorably heavy death rate of the present day. He thinks +sleep and longevity are synonymous, therefore it becomes us to bend +every effort to attain that desirable consummation." + +Involuntarily Evadne looked at Mrs. Everidge. Her face was slightly +turned towards the open window and there was a half smile upon her lips, +as if, like Joan of Arc, she was listening to voices of sweeter tone +than those of earth. She came back to the present again on the instant +and met her niece's eyes with a smile, but in the subtle realm of +intuition we learn by lightning flashes, and Evadne needed no further +telling to know that the saddest loneliness which can fall to the lot of +a woman was the fate of her aunt. + +Immediately after supper Mrs. Everidge persuaded Evadne to go to her +room. The long journey had been a great strain upon her strength and she +was very tired. + +"I wish you a good night, Uncle Horace," she said as she passed him in +the doorway. + +"And you a pleasant one," he rejoined with a gallant bow. "'We are such +stuff as dreams are made of--and our little life is rounded with a +sleep.'" + +She lay for a long time wakeful, revelling in the strange sense of peace +which seemed to enfold her, while the evening breeze blew through the +room and the twilight threw weird shadows among the dainty draperies. +At length there came a low knock and Mrs. Everidge opened the door. + +Evadne stretched out her hands impulsively. "Oh, this beautiful +stillness!" she exclaimed. "In Marlborough there is the clang of the car +gongs and the rumble of cabs and the tramp of feet upon the pavement +until it seems as if the weary world were never to be at rest, but this +house is so quiet I could almost hear a pin drop." + +Mrs. Everidge smiled. "You have quick ears, little one. But we are +quieter than usual to-night; Joanna is sitting up with a sick neighbor, +your uncle went to his room early, and I have been reading in mine." + +She drew a low chair up beside the bed. "Now we must begin to get +acquainted," she said. + +"Dear Aunt Marthe!" cried Evadne, "I feel as if I had known you all my +life." + +She gave her a swift caress. "You dear child! Then tell me about your +father." + +Evadne looked at her gratefully. No one had ever cared to know about her +father before. Forgetting her weariness in the absorbing interest of her +subject, she talked on and on, and Mrs. Everidge with the wisdom of true +sympathy, made no attempt to check her, knowing full well that the +relief of the tried heart was helping her more than any physical rest +could do. + +"And now, oh, Aunt Marthe, life is so desperately lonely!" she said at +last with a sobbing sigh. + +Mrs. Everidge leaned over and kissed the trembling lips. "I think +sometimes the earthly fatherhood is taken from us, dear child, that we +may learn to know the beautiful Fatherliness of God. We can never find +true happiness until our restless hearts are folded close in the hush of +his love. Human love--however lovely--does not satisfy us. Nothing +can,--but God!" + +"The Fatherliness of God," repeated Evadne. "That sounds lovely, but +people do not think of him so. God is someone very terrible and far +away." + +"'And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.' Does that sound as +if he were far away, little one? 'As one whom his mother comforteth, so +will I comfort you.' Why, God is father and mother both to us, dear +child. Can you think of anyone nearer than that?" + +Evadne caught her breath in a great gladness. "I believe you are his +angel of consolation," she said in a hushed voice. + +"'Even unto them will I give ... a place and a name better than of sons +and daughters,'" quoted Aunt Marthe softly. "That means a location and +an identity. Here, sometimes, it seems as if we had neither the one nor +the other. Christ follows out the same idea in his picture of the +abiding place which is being prepared for you and me. Everything on +earth is so transitory, and the human heart has such a hunger for +something that will last." + +"Have you felt this too?" cried Evadne. "I thought I was the only one." + +Mrs. Everidge laughed. "The only one in all the world to puzzle over its +problems! Oh, yes, the older we grow, the more we find that the great +majority have the same feelings and perplexities as ourselves, although +some may not understand their thought clearly enough to put it into +words." + +"What is your favorite verse in all the Bible?" asked Evadne after a +pause. + +Mrs. Everidge laughed again, and Evadne thought she had never heard a +laugh at once so merry and so sweet. + +"You send me into a rose garden, dear child, and tell me to select the +choicest bloom out of its wilderness of beauty. How can I when every one +has a different coloring and a fragrance all its own? Two of my special +favorites are in the Revelation,--'To him that overcometh, to him will +I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon +the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth +it.' 'And they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their +foreheads.' + +"That means a possession and a belonging. It is the spiritual symbol +which binds us to our heavenly lover for eternity just as the wedding +ring is a pledge of fidelity for our earth time. It is only as we see it +so, that we get the full beauty of the religion of Jesus. His +church--the inner circle of his chosen 'hidden ones'--is his bride, and +what can be more glorious than to be the bride of the King of kings? The +dear souls who only serve him with fear do not get the sweetness out of +it at all. How can they, when their lives are all duty? 'Perfect love +casteth out fear' and there is no duty about it, for when we love, it is +a joy to serve and give. It hurts the Christ to have us content to be +simply servants when he would lift us up to the higher plane of +friendship, when he has put upon us the high honor of the dearest friend +of all! Earthly brides spend a vast deal of time and thought over their +trousseau, so I think Christ's bride should walk among men with a sweet +aloofness while the spiritual garments are being fashioned in which she +is to dwell with him. The Bible says a great deal about dressing. 'Let +thy garments be always white'--the sunshine color, the joy color--for +bye and bye we are to walk with him in white, you know. Our spiritual +wardrobe must be fitted and worn down here. It is a terrible mistake to +put off donning the wedding robes until we come to the feast. And the +wardrobe is very ample. Christ would have his bride luxuriously +appareled. 'Be clothed with humility.' That is a fine, close-fitting +suit for every day, but over it we are to wear the garment of praise and +the warm, shining robe of charity. Can you fancy anything more beautiful +than a life clothed in such garments as these? And to me the loveliest +of all is charity. The highest praise I ever heard given to a woman was +that 'she had such a tender way of making excuses for everybody.' + +"Very fair must be the bride in the eyes of her royal lover, clothed in +the garments which he has selected,--all light and joy and tenderness, +for, the King's daughter is all glorious within." + +"Aunt Marthe," said Evadne, after a long silence, in which they had been +tasting the sweetness of it, "I do not need to ask if you know Jesus +Christ?" + +The lovely face took on an added beauty. "He is my life," she said. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Evadne was swinging in the hammock one golden summer afternoon, humming +soft snatches of her old songs while she played with her aunt's pet +black and tan. The sweet freshness of her new existence was rapidly +restoring tone to her mental system, and life no longer seemed a +hopeless task. The days were full of dreamy contentment. She spent long +mornings under the murmuring pines in the deep belt of forest which +stretched for miles behind the house, or helped Mrs. Everidge keep the +rooms in dainty order; drove with her along the grass-bordered roads, +while ears and eyes feasted on the symphonies of Nature and the ever +changing beauty of the hills; or stood beside Joanna in a trance of +delight out in the fragrant dairy, whose windows opened into a wild +sweetness of fluttering leaves, and whose cool stone floor made a +channel for a purling brook, watching her as with dexterous hands she +shaped and moulded the bubbley dough or tossed up an omelet or made one +of her delicious cherry pies, conscious through it all of the sweet +influence which seemed to pervade every corner of the house and grounds. + +"I wonder what it is about you, you dear Aunt Marthe?" she soliloquized, +as she pulled Noisette's silky ears. "When you are away I cannot bear to +go into the house,--everything seems so different, so cold and +dark,--but the moment you come home again it is as lovely as ever. +Concentrated light. Yes, that name would suit you, for light is sweet +and pure and stimulating and precious. If all the people in the world +were like you, _what_ a world it would be!" + +She looked up as she heard footsteps approaching, and then rose to +welcome her visitor. A woman twenty years her senior, bright, capable, +energetic, with a shrewd face and kindly eyes whose keen glance was +quick to pierce the flimsy veil of humbug, and a tongue whose +good-natured sarcasm had made more than one pretender feel ashamed. + +"How do?" she said briskly, as she took the chair Evadne offered. "I +hope you're feelin' better sence you've cum?" + +"Much better, thank you. I am very sorry my aunt is not at home." + +"I'm sorry likewise, though it don't make as much difference as it might +have done, as I'm callin' a purpose to see you." + +"That is very good of you," said Evadne with a laugh. There was a spicy +flavor about this child of the mountains which she found refreshing. + +"It's a bit awkward," continued her visitor with a twinkle in her eye, +"as we'll have to do our own introducin'. My name's Penelope Riggs, +Penel for brevity. What's yours?" + +"Evadne Hildreth." + +"Evadne. That's uncommon and pretty. I'm goin' to call you so if you're +not objectionable to it. Life's too short for handles." + +Evadne laughed merrily. "I'm not in the least objectionable," she said. + +"No, that's a fact," said her visitor after a moment's kindly scrutiny. +"You're true and thorough. I knew I was goin' to like you when I saw you +in meetin'." + +Evadne flushed with pleasure. "Why, that is a beautiful character! I +only wish I deserved it. But I fear you are very much mistaken in me, +though it is very kind in you to think such nice things." + +"Nonsense, child! I don't waste my time thinkin'. Let me have a good +look at your face for half an hour and I'll know as much about you as +you could tell me in a week. Malviny Higgins has just come back from +Bosting with her head full of sykick forces an' mental affinities an' +the dear knows what else, but I think it's just a cultivation of our +common senses--number, five. You can feel a person without touching +them; it's in the air all round you; and you don't need much +discrimination to know whether what you will say will hurt them or be a +blessin'. The main thing is to put yourself in their shoes before you +begin to talk." + +"Their shoes, Miss Riggs," laughed Evadne, "why they might not fit." + +"Penelope," corrected her visitor, "Penel for brevity. Yes, they will +too, that kind of shoe leather is elastic. It's the old Bible doctrine, +'never do anything to others that you wouldn't like others to do to +you.' If people got the shoes well fitted before they let their tongues +loose, there would be a deal less sorrow and heartburn in the world." + +"'Love thy neighbor as thyself,'" said Evadne. "I never thought of it in +that way before." + +"Well," said Miss Riggs briskly, "I'm dredful glad you've cum, Evadne. +It'll do Mis' Everidge a sight of good to have you, though Marthe +Everidge is raised above the need of humans as far as any mortal can be +on this earth. With all their inventions there ain't nobody discovered +how to make spiritual photographs yet, or I would have the picture of +_her_ character in all the windows of the land. 'Twould do more good +than miles of tracts. I agree with Paul that livin' epistles make the +best readin' an' it don't seem fittin' that she should be shut up in +this little place where only a few of us have the right kind of +spectacles to see her through. Most of the folks just allow it's Mis' +Everidge's way, and would as soon think of tryin' to imitate her as a +tadpole would a star." + +"But we are to imitate Christ," said Evadne. + +"'Course, child! But it's dredful comfortin' to have a human life in +front of us to show us that is possible. Lots of times when life looks +like a long seam an' the sewin' pricks my fingers, a new light falls on +this picture, and I sez to myself, 'Penel,' says I, 'look at Marthe +Everidge. The Lord has made you both out of the same material. There +ain't no reason why she should be always gettin' nearer heaven and you +goin' back to earth. She has difficulties and worriments, same as you +have, but if she can make every trial into a new rung for the ladder on +which she is mountin' up to God, there ain't no reason why you should +make a gravestone out of yours to bury yourself under; and so I start +on with a new courage, an' when we get to the end of the journey, I'll +not be the only one who'll have to thank Marthe Everidge for showin' the +way." + +Evadne's eyes shone. "You make me feel," she cried, "as if I would +rather live a beautiful life than do the most magnificent thing in the +world!" + +"That's a safe feelin' to tie to," said Penelope with an approving +smile; "for character is the only thing we've got to carry with us when +we go." + +"Well," she continued, "I must be goin'. I did think I'd be forehanded +in callin', but mother's been dredful wakeful lately, and when daylight +comes, it don't seem as if I had the ambition of a snail. She don't like +to be left alone for a minit, mother don't, so it's a bit of a puzzle to +keep up with society." + +She laughed cheerily as she held out her hand. "Well, I'm dredful +pleased to have met you. I'll be more than glad to have you come in +whenever you're down our way." + +Evadne watched her as she walked briskly along the road. "She is not +Aunt Marthe," she said slowly; "I suppose Louis would call it a case of +the solanum and the potato blossom, but she is one of the Lord's plants +all the same." + +"Aunt Marthe, what _is_ culture?" she asked suddenly, as later in the +afternoon Mrs. Everidge sat beside her hammock. "Is Louis right? Is it +just the veneer of education and travel and environment?" + +"You can hardly call that a veneer, little one. Real education goes very +deep. Emerson says 'nothing is so indicative of deepest culture as a +tender consideration of the ignorant.' I think that culture, to be +perfect, must have its root in love. It is impossible that anyone filled +with the love of Christ should ever be discourteous or lack in +thoughtfulness for the feelings of others." + +"Why that must be what Penelope Riggs meant by her 'elastic shoe +leather,'" said Evadne with a laugh, and then she repeated the +conversation. + +"Oh, she has been here! I am glad. It will do you good to know her. She +is the cheeriest soul, and the busiest. She always acts upon me as a +tonic, for I know just how much she has had to give up and how hard her +life has been." + +"Why, Aunt Marthe, she says when she gets to heaven she will have to +thank you for showing her the way. She thinks you are perfection." + +"'Not I, but Christ,'" said Aunt Marthe with a happy smile. She went +into the house and returned with a book in her hand. "You asked what +culture really was. This writer says 'Drudgery.' Listen while I give you +a few snatches, then you shall have the book for your own. + +"'Culture takes leisure, elegance, wide margins of time, a pocket-book; +drudgery means limitations, coarseness, crowded hours, chronic worry, +old clothes, black hands, headaches. Our real and our ideal are not +twins. Never were! I want the books, but the clothes basket wants me. I +love nature and figures are my fate. My taste is books and I farm it. My +taste is art and I correct exercises. My taste is science and I measure +tape. Can it be that this drudgery, not to be escaped, gives 'culture?' +Yes, culture of the prime elements of life, of the very fundamentals of +all fine manhood and fine womanhood, the fundamentals that underlie all +fulness and without which no other culture worth the winning is even +possible. Power of attention, power of industry, promptitude in +beginning work, method and accuracy and despatch in doing it, +perseverance, courage before difficulties, cheer, self-control and +self-denial, they are worth more than Latin and Greek and French and +German and music and art and painting and waxflowers and travels in +Europe added together. These last are the decorations of a man's life, +those other things are the indispensables. They make one's sit-fast +strength and one's active momentum,--they are the solid substance of +one's self. + +"'How do we get them? High school and college can give much, but these +are never on their programmes. All the book processes that we go to the +schools for and commonly call our 'education' give no more than +opportunity to win the indispensables of education. We must get them +somewhat as the fields and valleys get their grace. Whence is it that +the lines of river and meadow and hill and lake and shore conspire +to-day to make the landscape beautiful? Only by long chiselings and +steady pressures. Only by ages of glacier crush and grind, by scour of +floods, by centuries of storm and sun. These rounded the hills and +scooped the valley-curves and mellowed the soil for meadow-grace. It was +'drudgery' all over the land. Mother Nature was down on her knees doing +her early scrubbing work! That was yesterday, to-day--result of +scrubbing work--we have the laughing landscape. + +"'Father and mother and the ancestors before them have done much to +bequeath those mental qualities to us, but that which scrubs them into +us, the clinch which makes them actually ours and keeps them ours, and +adds to them as the years go by,--that depends on our own plod in the +rut, our drill of habit, in a word our 'drudgery.' It is because we have +to go and go morning after morning, through rain, through shine, through +toothache, headache, heartache to the appointed spot and do the +appointed work, no matter what our work may be, because of the rut, +plod, grind, humdrum in the work, that we get our foundations. + +"'Drudgery is the gray angel of success, for drudgery is the doing of +one thing long after it ceases to be amusing, and it is 'this one thing +I do' that gathers me together from my chaos, that concentrates me from +possibilities to powers and turns powers into achievements. The aim in +life is what the backbone is in the body, if we have no aim we have no +meaning. Lose us and the earth has lost nothing, no niche is empty, no +force has ceased to play, for we have no aim and therefore we are +still--nobody. Our bodies are known and answer in this world to such or +such a name, but, as to our inner selves, with real and awful meaning +our walking bodies might be labelled 'An unknown man sleeps here!' + +"'But we can be artists also in our daily task,--artists not artisans. +The artist is he who strives to perfect his work, the artisan strives to +get through it. If I cannot realize my ideal I can at least idealize my +real--How? By trying to be perfect in it. If I am but a raindrop in a +shower, I will be at least a perfect drop. If but a leaf in a whole +June, I will be a perfect leaf. This is the beginning of all Gospels, +that the kingdom of heaven is at hand just where we are.'" + +"Oh!" cried Evadne, drawing a long breath, "that is beautiful! I feel as +if I had been lifted up until I touched the sky." + +"Marthe," exclaimed Mr. Everidge reproachfully, suddenly appearing in +the doorway with a sock drawn over each arm, "it is incomprehensible to +me you do not remember that my physical organism and darns have +absolutely no affinity." + +Mrs. Everidge laughed brightly. "If you will make holes, Horace, I must +make darns," she said. + +"Not a natural sequence at all!" he retorted testily. "When the wear and +tear of time becomes visible in my underwear it must be relegated to +Reuben." + +"But Reuben's affinity for patches may be no stronger than your own, +Uncle Horace," said Evadne mischievously. + +Mr. Everidge waved his sock-capped hands with a gesture of disdain. +"The lower orders, my dear Evadne, are incapable of those delicate +perceptions which constitute the mental atmosphere of those of finer +mould. The delft does not feel the blow which would shiver the porcelain +into atoms, and Reuben's epidermis is, I imagine, of such a horny +consistency that he would walk in oblivious unconcern upon these +elevations of needlework which are as a ploughshare to my sensitive +nerves. It is the penalty one has to pay for being of finer clay than +the common herd of men." + +Evadne looked at Mrs. Everidge. A deep flush of shame had dyed her +cheeks and her lips were quivering. + +"Oh, Horace," she cried, "Reuben is such a faithful boy!" + +"My dear," said her husband airily, "I make no aspersions against his +moral character, but he certainly cannot be classed among the +velvet-skinned aristocracy. By the way, I wish you would see in future +that my undergarments are of a silken texture. My flesh rebels at +anything approaching to harshness," and then he went complacently back +to his library to weave and fashion the graceful phrases which flowed +from his facile pen. + +"Why should he go clothed in silk and you in cotton!" cried Evadne, +jealous for the rights of her friend. + +Mrs. Everidge's eyes came back from one of their long journeys, "Oh, I +have learned the luxury of doing without," she said lightly. + +Evadne threw her arms around her impulsively. "But why, oh, Aunt Marthe, +why should not Uncle Horace learn it too?" + +"We do not see things through the same window," she answered with a +smile and a sigh. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +John Randolph walked slowly through the soft dawning. It had been a +brilliant night. The late moon had risen as he was bidding good-bye to +the graceful creatures he should never see again, and Hollywood had been +clad in a bewitching beauty which made it all the harder to say +farewell. Far into the night he had lingered, visiting every corner of +the dearly loved home, then at last he had turned away and walked +steadily along the road which led to Marlborough. + +The sun rose in a blaze of splendor and the birds began to twitter. The +gripsack which he carried grew strangely heavy, and he felt faint and +weary. The long strain of the day before was beginning to tell upon him, +and it was many hours since he had tasted food. + +A sudden turn of the road brought him in sight of a trig little farm, +against whose red gate a man was leaning, leisurely enjoying the beauty +of the morning before he began work. He had a pleasant face, strong and +peaceful. No one had ever known Joseph Makepeace to be out of temper or +in a hurry. He would have said it was because he commenced every day +listening to the inner voice among the silences of Nature. Joseph +Makepeace was a Quaker. + +"Why, John, lad!" he cried, "thou art a welcome sight on this fair +morning. Come in, come in. Breakfast will soon be ready and thou art in +sore need of it by the look of thy face." He gave John's hand a mighty +grasp and took his gripsack from him. + +"Why, John, hast thou walked far with this load? Where were all the +horses of Hollywood? Is anything wrong, John? I don't like thy looks, +lad." + +John's voice trembled. "I have left Hollywood" he said. "Mr. Hawthorne +has turned me off." + +"Left Hollywood! You don't mean it, John? Well, well, folks say Robert +Hawthorne has not been right in his mind since his boy got hurt. I +believe it now. It's a comfort that the great Master will never turn us +off, lad. Thee'd better lie down on the lounge and rest thee a bit, +John, while I go and tell mother." + +He entered the spotless kitchen where his wife was moving blithely to +and fro. "Thee has another 'unawares angel' to breakfast, Ruth. It's a +grand thing being on the public road!" + +Ruth Makepeace laughed merrily. "An angel, Joseph? I hope he's not like +thy last one, who stole three of my best silver spoons!" + +"So, so, thee didst promise to forget that, Ruth, if I replace them next +time I go to Marlborough." + +"Well, so I do, except when thee does remind me. Is this a very hungry +angel, Joseph? Does thee think I'd better cook another chicken?" + +"He ought to be hungry, poor lad, but I doubt if he eats much. Does thee +remember friend Randolph, Ruth?" + +"Of course I do. But he's been dead these ten years. Thee doesn't mean +he's come back to breakfast with us?" + +Her husband put his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. Then he +kissed her. "Thee is fractious this morning, Ruth. Friend Randolph had a +son, thee dost mind, whom Robert Hawthorne took to live at Hollywood. It +is he whom the good Lord has sent to us to care for, Ruth. He's just +been turned adrift." + +"If thee wasn't so big I would shake thee, Joseph! The idea of John +Randolph being in this house and thee beating round the bush with thine +angels!" and with all her motherhood shining in her eyes, Ruth Makepeace +started for the parlor. + +In spite of the overflowing kindness with which he was surrounded John +found the meal a hard one. He had been used to breakfast with little Nan +upon his knee. + +"When thee is rested we'll have a talk, lad," said his host, as they +rose from the table; "but thee'd better bide with us for the summer and +not fret about the future: thee dost need a holiday." + +"Of course thee dost, John!" said blithe little Mrs. Makepeace. "I wish +thee would bide for good." + +Her husband laid his hand upon his shoulder. "Thou knowest, lad, there +is the little grave out yonder. Thee should'st have his place in our +hearts and home. Would'st thee be content to bide, John?" + +John Randolph looked at his friends with shining eyes. "You have done me +good for life!" he said, "but the world calls me, I must go. I mean to +work my way through college, and be a physician, Mr. Makepeace." + +"So! so! Well, we mustn't stand in the way, Ruth. Thee'll make a good +one, John. But how art thee going to manage it, lad?" + +"The Steel Works in Marlborough pay good wages. I mean to get a place +there if I can, and study in the evenings." + +"Why, John, lad, the Steel Works shut down yesterday afternoon." + +For an instant the brave spirit quailed, only for an instant. "Then I +must find something else," he said quietly. + +"It's a bad season, John, and the times are hard." Joseph Makepeace +thought for a moment. "There's friend Harris up the river. What dost +thee think, Ruth?" + +"Why, he wants men to pile wood," exclaimed his wife. "Thee would'st not +set John at that!" + +"Lincoln split rails," said John with a smile, "why should not I pile +them? It's clean work, and honest, Mrs. Makepeace." + +"He has a logging camp in the winter. Thee would'st have good pay then, +John." + +"But thee would'st be so lonely, John, amongst all those rough men! And +thee did'st say once it was dangerous, Joseph. It's not fit work for +John." + +"I am not afraid of work, Mrs. Makepeace, and I can never be lonely with +Jesus Christ." + + * * * * * + +In far Vermont Evadne was reading aloud from a paper she had brought +from the post-office. "The whole sum of Christian living is just +loving." "Do you believe that, Aunt Marthe?" + +"Surely, dear child. Love is the fulfilling of the law, you know. When +we love God with our whole heart, and our neighbor as ourselves, there +is no danger of our breaking the Decalogue. 'He who loveth knoweth God,' +and 'to know him is life eternal.'" + +"Just love," said Evadne musingly. "It seems so simple." + +"Do you think so?" said Aunt Marthe with a smile. "Yet people find it +the hardest thing to do, as it is surely the noblest. Drummond calls it +'the greatest thing in the world' and you have Paul's definition of it +in Corinthians. Did you ever study that to see how perfect love would +make us? + +"'Love suffereth long,' that does away with impatience; 'and is kind,' +that makes us neighborly; 'love envieth not,' that saves from +covetousness; 'vaunteth not itself,' that does away with self-conceit; +'seeketh not its own,' that kills selfishness; 'is not provoked,' that +shows we are forgiving; 'rejoiceth not in unrighteousness,' makes us +love only what is pure; 'covereth [Footnote: Marginal rendering.] all +things,' that leaves no room for scandal; 'believeth all things,' that +does away with doubt; 'hopeth all things,' that is the antithesis of +distrust; 'endureth all things,' proves that we are strong; and then the +beautiful summing up of the whole matter, 'love never faileth.' If that +is true of us, it can only be as we are filled with the spirit of the +Christ of God, 'whose nature and whose name is love.'" + +"You see such beautiful things in the Bible!" said Evadne despairingly, +"why cannot I get below the surface?" + +"You will, dearie. You forget I have been digging nuggets from this +precious mine for years and you have just begun to search for them. +Would you like another drive, or do you feel too tired?" + +"Not in the least. What can I do for you?" + +"I would like to send some of that currant jelly I made yesterday to old +Mrs. Riggs, if you are sure you would like to take it?" + +"As sure as sure can be, dear," said Evadne with a kiss, "Where shall I +find it?" + +"In the King's corner." + +"'The King's corner?'" echoed Evadne with a puzzled look. + +"Oh, I forgot you did not know. I always give the Lord the first fruits +of my cooking, and keep them in a special place set apart for his use, +then, when I go to see the sick, there is always something ready to +tempt their fancy. It is wonderful what a saving of time it is. I rarely +have to make anything on purpose,--there is always something prepared." + +She followed her niece out to the carriage, helped her pack the jelly +safely, with one of her crisp loaves of fresh brown bread, bade her a +merry farewell and went back to the house again singing. + +"Oh, Aunt Marthe!" cried Evadne, as she drove slowly under the trees, +"shall I ever, ever learn to be like you?" + +She found the old lady sitting by the fire wrapped up in a shawl, +although the day was sultry. + +"Good-morning," said Evadne, as she deposited her parcels on the table. +"I come from Mrs. Everidge. She thought you would fancy some of her +fresh brown bread and currant jelly." + +"Hum!" said the old lady ungraciously, "I hope it's better than the last +wuz. Guess Mis' Everidge ain't ez pertickler ez she used ter be." + +"Aunt Marthe!" cried Evadne indignantly. "Why, everything she does is +perfection!" + +"Land, child! There ain't no perfecshun in this world. It's all a wale, +a wale o' tears. We'se poor, miserable critters,--wurms o' the +dust,--that's what we be." + +"There isn't any worm about Aunt Marthe," cried Evadne with a laugh. "I +think you must be looking through a wrong pair of spectacles, Mrs. +Riggs." + +"Land, child! I ain't got but the one pair, an' they got broke this +morning. But it's jest my luck. Everything goes agin me." + +"But you can get them mended," said Evadne. + +"Sakes alive! There ain't much hope o' gettin' them mended, with Penel +behindhand on the rent, an' the firin' an' the land knows what else. I +don't see why Penel ain't more forehanded. I tell her ef I wuz ez young +an' ez spry ez she be, I guess I'd hev things different, but, la! that's +Penel's way. She's terrible sot in her own way, Penel is. She's not +willin' ter take my advice. Children now-a-days allers duz know more +than their mothers." + +"Where is Penelope?" asked Evadne. + +"Oh, skykin' round. She's gone over to Miss Johnsing's ter help with the +quiltin'. That's the way she duz, an' here I am all alone with the fire +ter tend ter, an' not a livin' soul ter do a hand's turn fer me! She sez +she hez ter do it ter keep the pot bilin'--'pears ter me Penel's pots +take a sight uv bilin'." + +"But she has left a nice pile of wood close beside you, Mrs. Riggs." + +"La, yes," grumbled the old lady, "but it's dretful thoughtless in her +ter stay away so long, when she knows the stoopin' cums so hard on my +rheumatiz. An' it's terrible lonesome. I get that narvous some days I'm +all of a shake. 'Tain't ez ef she kep within' call, but t'other day she +went clean over ter Hancocks,--a hull mile an' a half! She sez she hez +ter go where folks wants things done, but that's nonsense, folks oughter +want things done near at hand,--they know how lonesome I be. Why, a bear +might cum in an' eat me up for all Penel would know. She gits so taken +up a' larfin' an' singin', she ain't got no sympathy. Oh, it's a wale o' +tears!" + +"But there are no bears in Vernon, Mrs. Riggs," laughed Evadne. + +"Land, child! you never know what there might be!" said the old lady +testily. "Be you a' stayin' at Mis' Everidge's?" + +"Yes," said Evadne, "she is my aunt." + +"Hum! I never knew she hed any nieces, 'cept them two gals uv Jedge +Hildreth's down ter Marlborough." + +"I am their cousin, Mrs. Riggs. I used to live in Barbadoes." + +"Well, I declar! Why, Barbaderz is t' other side of nowhere! Used ter +be when I went ter school. Well, well, some folks hez a lion's share uv +soarin' an' here I've ben all my life jest a' pinin' my heart out ter +git down ter Bosting, an' I ain't never got there! But that's allers the +way. I never git nuthin'. I'm sixty-nine years old cum Christmas an' I +ain't never ben further away frum hum than twenty miles hand runnin', +an' here's a chit like you done travelin' enuff ter last a lifetime." + +"But I didn't want to travel, Mrs. Riggs," said Evadne gently. "I would +so much rather have stayed at home." + +"There you go!" grumbled the old lady. "Folks ain't never satisfied with +their mercies. Allers a' flyin' in the face uv Providence. I tell you +we'se wurms, child; miserable, shiftless wurms, a' crawlin' down in this +walley of humiliation, with our faces ter the dust." + +"But you've got a great deal to be thankful for, Mrs. Riggs," ventured +Evadne, "in having such a daughter. Aunt Marthe thinks she is a splendid +character." + +"So she oughter be!" retorted the old lady, "with sech a bringin' up ez +she's hed. But land! childern's dretful disappointin' ter a pusson. +There ain't a selfish bone in _my_ body, but Penel's ez full uv 'em. +She'll let me lie awake by the hour at a time while she's a' snoozin' +on the sofy beside me. She don't sleep in her own bed any more because I +hev ter hev her handy ter rub me when the rheumatiz gits ter jumpin'. +She sez she can't help bein' drowsy when she's workin' through the day, +but land! she'd manage ter keep awake ef she hed any sympathy! She ain't +got no sympathy, Penel ain't; an' she ain't a bit forehanded. + +"But I don't 'spect nuthin' else in this world. It's a wale o' tears an' +we ain't got nuthin' else ter look fer but triberlation an' woe. Man ez +born ter trouble ez the sparks fly upward, an' a woman allers hez the +lion's share." + +Evadne burst into the sitting-room with flashing eyes. "Aunt Marthe, if +I were Penelope Riggs, I would shoot her mother! She's just a crooked +old bundle of unreasonableness and ingratitude!" + +Mrs. Everidge laughed. "No, you wouldn't dear, not if you _were_ +Penelope." + +"But, Aunt Marthe, how does she stand it? Why, it would drive me crazy +in a week! To think of that poor soul, working like a slave all day, and +then grudged the few winks of sleep she gets on a hard old sofa. I +declare, it makes me feel hopeless!" + +"The day I climbed Mont Blanc," said Mrs. Everidge softly, "we had a +wonderful experience. Down below us a sudden storm swept the valley. +The rain fell in torrents, and the thunder roared, but up where we stood +the sun was shining and all was still. When we walk with Christ, little +one, we find it possible to live above the clouds." + +"An Alpine Christian!" cried Evadne. "Oh, Aunt Marthe, that is +beautiful!" + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +"The ancient Egyptians, Evadne," remarked Mr. Everidge the next day at +dinner, as he selected the choicest portions of a fine roast duck for +his own consumption, "during the period of their nation's highest +civilization, subsisted almost exclusively upon millet, dates and other +fruits and cereals; and athletic Greece rose to her greatest culture +upon two meals a day, consisting principally of maize and vegetables +steeped in oil. Don't you think you ladies would find it of advantage to +copy them in this laudable abstemiousness? There is something repugnant +to a refined taste in the idea of eating flesh whose constituent +particles partake largely of the nature of our own." + +"Why, certainly, Uncle Horace," said Evadne merrily. "I am quite ready +to become a vegetarian, if you will set me the example. The feminine +mind, you know, is popularly supposed to be only fitted to follow a +masculine lead." + +"Ah, I wish it were possible, my dear Evadne, but the peculiar +susceptibility of my internal organism precludes all thought of my +making such a radical change in the matter of diet. Even now, in spite +of all my care, indigestion, like a grim Argus, stares me out of +countenance. I wish you would bear this fact more constantly in mind, my +dear Marthe. This duck, for instance, has not arrived at that stage of +absolute fitness which is so essential to the appreciation of a delicate +stomach. A duck, Evadne, is a bird which requires very careful treatment +in its preparation for the table. It should be suspended in the air for +a certain length of time, and then, after being carefully trussed, laid +upon its breast in the pan, in order that all the juices of the body may +concentrate in that titbit of the epicure,--then let the knife touch its +richly browned skin, and, presto, you have a dish fit for the gods! The +skin of this duck on the contrary presents a degree of resistance to the +carver which proves that it has been placed in the oven before it had +arrived at that stage of perfection." + +"Why, Horace," laughed Mrs. Everidge, "I thought this one was just +right! You remember you told me the last one we had, had hung five hours +too long." + +"Exactly so. My friend, Trenton, will tell you that five hours is all +the length of time required to seal the fate of nations. It is a pet +theory of his that the finale of the material world will be rapid. He +bases his conclusions upon the fact of the steady decrease in the volume +of the surrounding atmosphere and the almost instantaneous action of all +of Nature's destructive forces, fire and flood, storm and sunstroke, +lightning and hail, earthquake and cyclone. Oh, _apropos_ of my erudite +friend, Marthe, he has promised to spend August with us, so you will +have to look to your culinary laurels, for he is accustomed to dine at +Delmonico's." + +"Professor Trenton coming here in August!" cried Mrs. Everidge in +dismay. "Why, Horace, you never told me you had invited him!" + +"My dear, I am telling you now." + +"But I meant to take Evadne up to our mountain camp in August. I am sure +the resinous air would make her strong. I had my plans all laid." + +"'The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley,'" said her husband +suavely. "Evadne's mental strength cannot fail to be developed by +intercourse with such a clever man. We must not allow the culture of the +body to occupy so prominent a place in our thoughts that we forget the +mind, you know." + +"A fusty old Professor!" pouted Evadne. "Oh, Uncle Horace, why didn't +you leave him among his tomes and his theories and let us be free to +enjoy?" + +"Mere sensual gratification, Evadne," said Mr. Everidge, as he +replenished his plate with some dainty pickings, "is not the true aim of +life. I consider it a high honor that the Professor should consent to +devote a month of his valuable time to my edification, for he is getting +to be quite a lion in the literary world. You had better have your +chamber prepared for his occupancy, Marthe. As I remember him at college +he had a fondness amounting almost to a craze for rooms with a western +aspect." + +Joanna came in to announce the arrival of a visitor whom Evadne had +already learned to dread on account of her continual depression. + +"Oh, Aunt Marthe!" she exclaimed, "must you waste this beautiful +afternoon listening to her dolorosities. I wanted you to go for a +drive!" + +"You go, dearie, and take Penelope Riggs. It will be a treat to her and +you ought to be out in the open air as much as possible." + +Evadne went out on the veranda. Through the open window she could hear +the visitor's ceaseless monotone of complaint mingled with the soft +notes of Mrs. Everidge's cheery sympathy. "Oh, dearest," she murmured, +"if you had seen this beautiful life, you would have known that there is +no sham in the religion of Jesus!" + +She waited long, in the hope that Mrs. Everidge would be able to +accompany her, then she started for the Eggs cottage. She found the old +lady alone. "Where is Penelope, Mrs. Riggs?" + +"Oh, skykin' round ez usual," was the peevish response. "It's church +work this time. When I wuz young, folks got along 'thout sech an +everlastin' sight uv meetins, but nowadays there's Convenshuns, an' +Auxils an' Committees, an' the land knows what, till a body's clean +distracted. Fer my part I hate ter see wimmen a' wallerin' round in the +mud till it takes 'em the best part uv the next day ter git their skirts +clean." + +"But there is no mud now, Mrs. Riggs," laughed Evadne. + +"Land alive, child! There will be sometime. In my day folks used ter +stay ter hum an' mind their childern, but now they've all took ter +soarin' an' it don't matter how many ends they leave flyin' loose behind +'era." + +"But Penelope has no children to mind, Mrs. Riggs." + +"Land alive! She hez me, an' I oughter be more ter her than a duzzen +childern,--but she ain't got no proper feelin's, Penel ain't. When I'm +a' lyin' in my coffin she'll give her eyes ter hev the chance ter rub my +rheumatiz, an' run for hot bottles an' flannels an' ginger tea. It's an +ongrateful world but I allcrs sez there ain't no use complainin'; it's +what we've got ter expec',--triberlation an' anguish an' mournin' an' +woe. It's good enuff fer us too. Sech wurms ez we be!" + +"Well, Evadne, how do you do, child? I'm dretful glad to see you," and +Penelope, breezy and keen as a March wind, came bustling into the room. +"Why, yes, I'm well, child, if it wasn't for bein' so tumbled about in +my mind." + +"What has tumbled you, Penelope?" asked Evadne with a merry laugh. + +"The Scribes and Pharisees," was the terse rejoinder. "I've just cum +from a Committee meeting of the Missionary Society an' I'm free to +confess my feelin's is roused tremendous. Seems to me nowadays the +church is built at a different angle from the Sermon on the Mount an' +things is measured by the world's yardsticks till there ain't much +sense in callin' it a church at all. Ef you'd seen the way Squire +Higgins' girls sot down on poor little Matildy Jones this afternoon, +just because her father sells fish! Their father sells it too, but he's +got forehanded an' can do it by the gross, an' so they toss their heads +an' set a whole garden full o' flowers a' shakin' upan' down. They're +allers more peacocky in their minds after they git their spring bunnets. +The Lord said we was to consider the lilies, but I guess he meant us to +leave 'em in the fields, for I notice the more folks carries on the tops +of their heads the less their apt to be like 'em underneath." + +"But what did they say to her?" asked Evadne. + +"You're young, child, or you'd know there's more ways of insultin' than +with the tongue, an' poor little Matildy is jest the one to be hurt that +way. Some folks is like clams, the minute you touch 'em, they shut +themselves up in their shells an' then they don't feel what you do to +'em any more'n the Rocky mountains, but Matildy isn't made that way. She +just sot there with the flushes comin' in her cheeks an' the tears +shinin' in her pretty eyes till my heart ached. I leaned over to her an' +whispered, 'Don't fret, Matildy, they ain't wuth mindin'. She gave me a +little wintry smile but the tears kep a' comin' an' by an' bye she got +up and went out, an' ef she don't imitate the Prophet Jeremi an' water +her piller with her tears this night, then I've changed my name sence +mornin'. + +"I was so uplifted in my mind with righteous indignation that I felt +called upon to let it loose, so I begun in a musin' tone, as ef I was +havin' a solil." + +"'A solil?'" said Evadne in a mystified tone. + +"Why, yes; talkin' to myself, child. I did think, ef there was any place +folks was free an' eqal 'twould be in the Lord's service,' sez I. 'The +Bible teaches it's a pretty dangerous bizness to offend one uv these +little ones. I'm not much of a hand at quotations, but there's an +unpleasant connection between it an' a millstun,' sez I. + +"Malviny Higgins tossed her head an' giv me one uv her witherinest +looks, but I'm not one uv the perishin' kind, so I kep on a' musin'. + +"'It's wonderful what a difference there is between sellin' by the poun' +an' the barrel,' sez I. 'It's unfortunet that there's only one way to +the heavenly country, an' it's a limited express with no Pullman +attached. The Lord hedn't time to put on a parlor car fer the wholesale +trade; seems like as if it was kind uv neglectful in him. It would hev +been more convenient an' private.' + +"Malviny's cheeks got as red as beets an' the flowers on her bonnet +danced a Highland Fling as she leaned over to whisper somethin' to her +sister, but I hed relieved my feelin's an' could join in quite peaceful +like when Mrs. Songster said we'd close the meetin' by singin' 'Blest be +the tie that binds.' Well, there'll be no clicks in heaven, that's one +blessin'." + +"'Clicks,' Penelope?" + +"Why, yes, child, the folks that gets off by themselves in a corner an' +thinks nobody outside the circle is fit to tie their shoe. I expect to +hev edifyin' conversations with Moses an' Elija, an' the first thing I +mean to ask him is what kind of ravens they really were." + +"'Ravens,'" echoed Evadne bewildered, "what _do_ you mean, Penelope?" + +"Sakes alive, child! Haven't you read your Bible? and don't you know the +ravens fed the old gentleman in the desert, an' that folks now say they +were Arabs, because the ravens are dirty birds an' live on carrion, an' +it stands to reason Elija couldn't touch that if he hed an ordinary +stumach. As if the Lord couldn't hev made 'em bring food from the king's +table if he hed chosen to do it! It's all of a piece with the way folks +hev now of twistin' the Bible inside out till nobody knows what it +means. For my part I believe if the Lord hed meant Arabs he would hev +said Arabs an' not hev deceived us by callin' 'em birds uv prey. Folks +is so set against allowin' anything that looks like a meracle that +they'll go all the way round the barn an' creep through a snake fence if +they can prove it's jest an ordinary piece of business. They do say +there are some things the Lord can't do, but I'm free to confess I've +never found them out." + + * * * * * + +"Aunt Marthe," said Evadne, when they had settled down for their evening +talk, "what does it all mean? 'The victory of our faith,' you know, and +the 'Overcomeths' in Revelation? I thought Christ got the victory for +us?" + +"So he does, dear child, and we through him. I came across a lovely +explanation of it some time ago which I will copy for you; it has been +such an inspiration. Listen,-- + +"'When you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set at naught and you +smile inwardly, glorying in the insult or the oversight,--that is +victory. + +"'When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your +tastes offended, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and +you take it all in patient and loving silence,--that is victory. + +"'When you are content with any food, any raiment, any climate, any +society, any position in life, any solitude, any interruption,--that is +victory. + +"'When you can bear with any discord, any annoyance, any irregularity or +unpunctuality (of which you are not the cause),--that is victory. + +"'When you can stand face to face with folly, extravagance, spiritual +insensibility, contradiction of sinners, persecution, and endure it all +as Jesus endured it,--that is victory. + +"'When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, nor to +record your works, nor to seek after commendation; when you can truly +love to be unknown,--that is victory.'" + +"Now I see!" exclaimed Evadne. "It means the beautiful patience with +which you bear aggravating things and the gentle courtesy with which you +treat all sorts of troublesome people. Oh, my Princess, I envy you your +altitude!" + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Professor Trenton had come and gone and the glory of the autumn was over +the land. The early supper was ended and Evadne had ensconced herself in +her favorite window to catch the sun's last smile before he fell asleep. +In the room across the hall Mr. Everidge reclined in his luxurious +arm-chair and leisurely turned the pages of the last "North American +Review." It was Saturday evening. + +"Why, Horace, can this be possible?" Mrs. Everidge entered the room +quickly and stood before her husband. Neither of them noticed Evadne. + +"My dear, many things are possible in this terrestrial sphere. What +particular possibility do you refer to?" + +"That you have discharged Reuben?" The sweet voice trembled. Mr. +Everidge's tones kept their usual complacent calm. + +"That possibility, my dear, has taken definite form in fact." + +"But, Horace, the boy is heart-broken." + +"Time is a mighty healer, my love. He will recover his mental equipoise +in due course." + +"But you might have given him a month's warning. Where is the poor boy +to find another place? It is cruel to turn him off like this!" + +"Really, my dear Marthe, I do not feel myself competent to solve all the +problems of the labor question," said Mr. Everidge carelessly. "Reuben +must take his chances in common with the rest of his class." + +"But, Horace, I cannot imagine what your reason for this can be! Where +will you find so good a boy?" + +"I am not aware that Socrates thought it necessary to acquaint the +worthy Xantippe with the reasons for his conduct," remarked Mr. Everidge +suavely. "The feminine mind is too much disposed to jump to hasty +conclusions to prove of any assistance in deciding matters of +importance. The masculine brain, on the contrary, takes time for calm +deliberation and weighs the pros and cons in the scale of a well +balanced judgment before arriving at any definite decision. But my +reason in this case will soon become apparent to you. I do not intend to +keep a boy at all." + +"But who will take care of Atalanta? Are you going to forsake your +cherished books for a curry-comb?" + +"Really, Marthe!" exclaimed her husband in an aggrieved tone, "it is +incomprehensible that you should have such a total disregard for the +delicacy of my constitution,--especially when you know that the very +odor of the stable is abhorrent to my olfactory senses. Atalanta has +quarters provided for her at the Vernon Livery, and one of the grooms +has orders to bring the carriage to the door at two o'clock every +afternoon." + +"But that will make it very awkward, Horace. I so often have to use the +carriage in the morning." + +"'Have,' my dear Marthe, is a word which admits of many +substitutions,--'cannot' in this case will be a suitable one. I find it +is necessary to resume possession of the reins. Atalanta is retrograding +and is rapidly losing that characteristic of speed which made her name a +fitting one. There is a lack of mastery about a woman's handling of the +ribbons which is quickly detected by horses, especially when they are of +more than average intelligence." + +"But, Horace, if Reuben goes, Joanna will go too. You know she promised +her mother she would never leave him." + +"In that event, my dear, you will have an opportunity to become more +intimately acquainted with the mysteries of the culinary art," observed +Mr. Everidge cheerfully. "It will be a splendid chance to evolve that +finest of character combinations, Spartan endurance coupled with +American progressiveness." + +Mrs. Everidge smiled. "But what if I do not have the Spartan strength, +Horace?" + +"That is merely a matter of imagination, my love. It proves the truth of +my theory that necessity develops capacity. A woman of leisure, for want +of suitable mental pabulum, grows to fancy she has every ill that flesh +is heir to, whereas, when she is obliged by compelling circumstances to +put her muscles into practice, her mind acquires a more healthy tone. +Self-contemplation is a most enervating exercise and involves a +tremendous drain on the moral forces." + +"Do you think I waste much time in that way, Horace?" Mrs. Everidge +spoke wistfully, and Evadne, forced to be an unwilling listener to the +conversation, felt her cheeks grow hot with indignation. + +"My dear, I merely refer to the deplorable tendency of your sex. All you +require is moral stamina to tear yourself away from the arms of Morpheus +at an earlier hour in the It is a popular illusion, you know, that work +performed before sunrise takes less time to accomplish and is better +done than later in the day. My mother used to affirm that she +accomplished the work of two days in one when she arose at three a.m., +but then my mother was a most exceptional woman," with which parting +thrust Mr. Everidge retired behind the pages of his magazine. + +Upstairs in her own room Evadne paced the floor with tightly clenched +hands. "Oh!" she cried, "what shall I do? I hate him! I hate him! How +dare he! He ought to be glad to go down on his knees to serve her, she +is so sweet, so dear! Oh, I cannot bear it! That she should be compelled +to endure such servitude, and I can do nothing to help, nothing! +nothing!" She threw herself across the bed and burst into a passion of +tears. Was this the silent girl whom Isabelle had voted tiresome and +slow? + +A little later than usual she heard the low knock which always preceded +the visit which she looked forward to as the sweetest part of the day. +Could it be possible she would come to-night? Was no thought of self +ever permitted to enter that brave, suffering heart? + +She rose and opened the door. The dear face was paler than usual but +there was no shadow upon the smooth brow. Marthe Everidge had crossed +the tempest-tossed ocean of human passion into the sun-kissed calm of +Christ's perfect peace. + +Evadne threw her arms around her neck and laid her storm-swept face upon +her shoulder. "Forgive me!" she cried, "I heard it all. I could not help +it. I think my heart is breaking. Do not be angry, you see I love you +so! How can I bear to have you subjected to this? You are so tender, so +true. There is such a charm about you! You are so beautifully unselfish! +Oh, my dear, my dear, how can you, do you bear it?" + +Mrs. Everidge lifted her face tenderly and kissed the quivering lips. +"It is 'not I but Christ,' dear child. That makes it possible." Then she +drew her over to the lounge and began to undress her as if she had been +a baby. "My dear little sister. You are utterly exhausted. You are not +strong enough to suffer so." + +"Oh, will you let me be your sister and help you bear your burdens?" +cried Evadne, unconscious that all the time the skilful hands were +keeping up their sweet ministry and that her burden was being lifted for +her by the one who had the greater burden to bear. + +When she was comfortably settled for the night Mrs. Everidge drew her +low chair up beside the bed. Evadne caught her hand in hers and kissed +it reverently. "I wish I could make you understand how I honor you!" she +said. + +"You must not do it, dear!" said Aunt Marthe quickly. "Honor the King." + +After a pause she began to speak slowly and her voice was sweet and low. +"When, the first night you came, you asked me if I knew Jesus Christ, I +told you he was my life. That explains it all. It is very sweet of you +to say the kind things that you have about me but they are not true. In +and of herself, Marthe Everidge is nothing. The moment she tries to live +her own life she utterly fails. If there is anything good about her +life, it is only as she lets Christ live it for her." + +"I do not understand," said Evadne with a puzzled look. "How is it +possible for any one else to live our lives for us?" + +"No one can but Jesus," said Aunt Marthe with a smile. "He does the +impossible. Take that exquisite fifteenth chapter of St. John and study +it verse by verse. 'Abide in me, and I in you.' There you have the two +abidings. We are _in_ Christ when we believe in him and are accepted +through the merit of his blood and brought by adoption into the family +of God, but not until he abides in our hearts shall our lives become as +beautiful as God means them to be. Fruitfulness,--that is the cry +everywhere. Men are calling for intellectual fruitfulness and mechanical +fruitfulness, and are bending their energies to find the soil which will +develop at once the best quality and greatest amount of fruit. Take a +tree, to make my meaning clearer. The tree may abide in the soil and be +just alive, but it is not until the essence of the soil enters into and +abides in the tree, that it really grows and bears fruit. Growers of the +finest varieties will show you plums that look as if they had been +frosted with silver, and peaches with cheeks like the first blush of +dawn. The 'fruits of the Spirit,' have a wondrous bloom and an exquisite +fragrance." + +"'Love, joy, peace,'" Evadne repeated slowly, "'long-suffering, +gentleness, goodness, faith.' But those belong to the Spirit, Aunt +Marthe." + +"Yes, dear child, the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit whom he sent to +comfort his people when he took his bodily presence from the earth. The +holy, indwelling presence which is to reveal the Christ to us and +prepare us for the abiding of the Father and the Son. It is the +beautiful mystery of the Trinity." + +"But we cannot have the Trinity abiding in our hearts!" said Evadne in +an awestruck voice. + +"The Bible teaches us so." + +"Not God, Aunt Marthe!" + +"Jesus is God, little one. He said to the Jews, 'I and my Father are +one.' He says plainly, 'If any man love me, he will keep my word and my +Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with +him,' and in another place we are told to be filled with the Spirit. It +is three persons but three in one." + +"I do not understand, Aunt Marthe." + +"No, dear, we never shall, down here. Thomas wanted to do that and +Christ said 'Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.' +The Spirit is continually giving us deeper insight into the love of the +Son, just as the Son came to make known to the world the wonderful love +of the Father." + +"But 'be filled,'" said Evadne. "That looks as if we had something to do +with it." + +"So we have, dear child. Suppose a man owned one hundred acres of land +and gave you the right of way through it from one public road to +another,--that would leave him many acres for his own use on which you +have no right to trespass. I think we treat Jesus so. We are willing +that he should have the right of way through our hearts, but we forget +that every acre must be the King's property. There must be no rights +reserved, no fenced corners. Jesus must be an absolute monarch." + +Mrs. Everidge spoke the last words softly and Evadne, looking at her +uplifted face, shining now with the radiance which always filled it when +she spoke of her Lord, saw again that glowing face which she had watched +across the gate at Hollywood and heard the strange, exultant tones, 'He +is my King!' Ah, that was beautiful! That was what Aunt Marthe meant, +and Pompey and Dyce. + +"Jesus must come to abide, not merely as a transient guest," Aunt Marthe +continued in her low tones. "We must give him full control of our +thought and will. We must hand him the keys of the citadel. We must give +the all for the all,--that is only fair dealing. You see, dear child, +Christ cannot fill us until we are willing to be emptied of self. He +must have undivided possession. There is a vast amount of heartache, +little one, in this old world, and self is at the bottom of it all, when +we stop to analyze it. We want to be first, to be thought much of, to be +loved best. No wonder that the selfless life seems impossible to most +people. Think what a continuous self-sacrifice Christ's life was! So +utterly alone and lonely among such uncongenial surroundings with +people uncouth and totally foreign to his tastes. Ah! we don't realize +it. We look at him doing the splendid things amidst the plaudits of the +multitude, but think of the monotonous, weary days, going up and down +the sun-baked streets surrounded by a crowd of noisy beggars full of all +sorts of loathsome disease, and the humdrum life in Nazareth; and all +the time the great heart aching with that ceaseless sorrow,--'His own +received him not!' Oh, what a waste of love! We do not realize that it +is in these footsteps of his that we are called to follow. We are +willing to do the great things, with the world looking on, but not for +the loneliness and the pain! It seems a strange antithesis that Paul +should count that as his highest glory, and yet how comparatively few +seem counted worthy to enter with Christ into the shadow of that +mysterious Gethsemane which lasted all his life. 'The fellowship of his +sufferings.' It must surely mean the privilege of getting very near his +heart, just as human hearts grow closer in a common sorrow,--knit by +pain. Yes, dear child, self must die: and it is a cruel death,--the +death of the cross. But then comes the newness of life with its strange, +sweet joy which the world's children do not know the taste of. How can +they when it is 'the joy of the Lord,' and they reject him?" + +"You talk of the cross, Aunt Marthe, and other people talk of crosses. +Aunt Kate and Isabelle are always talking about the sacrifices they have +to make, and Mrs. Rivers carries a perfect bundle of crosses on her +back. She is wealthy and has everything she wants, and yet she is always +wailing, while Dyce is as happy as the day is long. Do the poor +Christians always do the singing while the rich ones sigh?" + +Mrs. Everidge smiled. "We make our crosses, dear child, when we put our +wishes at right angles to God's will. When we only care to please him +everything that he chooses for us seems just right. I have heard people +speak as if it were a cross to mention the name of Christ. How could it +be if they loved him? Do you find it a cross to talk to me about your +father? People make a terrible mistake about this. The only cross we are +commanded to carry is the cross of Christ." + +"And what is that, Aunt Marthe?" + +"Self renunciation," said Aunt Marthe softly, "the secret of peace. + +"Among all the pictures of the Madonna," she continued after a pause, +"the one I like best is where Mary is sitting, holding in her hands the +crown of thorns; everything else had been wrenched from her grasp, but +this they had no use for. What a legacy it was! As I look at it I see +how he has gathered all the thorns of life and woven them into that +kingly garland which is his glory. All the wealth of the Indies could +not shed as dazzling a light as that thorny crown. Like the brave +soldier who gathered into his own breast the spears of the enemy, Christ +has taken the sting from our sorrows and made us more than conquerors +over the wounds of earth. Surely he has tasted it all for us,--the +baseness and coldness and ingratitude and treachery which have wrung +human hearts all through the ages,--when Judas betrayed him, Peter +denied him and they all forsook him and fled, do you suppose any other +pain was comparable to that? Only our friends have the power to wound +us, you know, and, 'he was wounded in the house of his friends.' When +people talk of the crucifixion they think of the nail-torn hands and +pierced side,--I think of his heart! Oh, my Lord, how _could_ they treat +thee so!" + +Evadne looked wistfully at the rapt face, irradiated now by the +moonlight which was streaming in through the window. "_How_ you love +him, Aunt Marthe!" + +"He is my all," she answered simply. The girl stroked the hand which +she still held in both her own. She is absolutely satisfied, she thought +sorrowfully, she wants nothing that I can give her. And then through the +stillness she heard the sweet voice singing,-- + + "I love thee because thou hast first loved me, + And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree; + I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow, + If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now." + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +"Dear Aunt Marthe," cried Evadne one afternoon, "what is love?" + +"I will answer you in the words of one who for years has lived the +love-life," said Mrs. Everidge. + +"'One must be himself infinite in knowledge to define it, infinite in +comprehension to fathom it, infinite in love to appreciate it. Love is +God in man, for "God is love," and "every one that loveth is born of +God;" but love is not merely veneration, nor respect, nor justice, nor +passion, nor jealousy, nor sympathy, nor pity, nor self-gratification; +to love something as our own is but a form of self-love; to love +something in order to win it for ourselves is just a perpetration of the +same mistake.' Dr. Karl Gerok wrote,--'Love is the fundamental law of +the world. First, as written in heaven, for God is love; second, as +written on the cross, for Christ is love; third, as written in our +hearts, for Christianity is love,' And Drummond tells us that 'Love--is +the rule for fulfilling all rules, the new commandment for keeping all +the old commandments, Christ's one secret of the Christian life.' And +another writer says,--'You are a personality only as your heart lives, +and the heart lives only as it loves. Love is all action, therefore the +amount of your active love measures the size of your personal heart.'" + +"Love has been defined as 'the desire to bless.' That is like divine +love, for there can be no self thought in God. God's love is over all +and above all, but when our love responds to his, his love becomes to us +a personal experience. Love can reach down when in loving trust we reach +up. Love is like the seed. It manifests no life until it begins to grow. +Like the seed it must rise out of the dark ground into the light of +heaven,--out of self thought into God. God's love to us is like the +sunlight. We can make it our own only by being in it, if we try to shut +up the sunlight, we shut it out. We forget to do wrong when loving God. +As we love God, the love we feel for him goes out to others." + +Evadne sighed. "You make it seem a wonderful thing to be a Christian," +she said. + +"To be a Christian, little one, Andrew Murray tells us, 'just means to +have Christ's love.' Real love means giving always, of our best." + +[Illustration: THE SILENT FIGURE WITH THE AWFUL ENTREATY IN ITS STARING +EYES] + +God so loved that he gave his Son, the essence of himself. Jesus gave +his life, not only in the final agony of the crucifixion, but all +through the beautiful years of ministry in Nazareth and Galilee. There +is a truer giving than of our temporal goods. Our friends, if they +really love us, want most of all what we can give them of ourselves. It +is those who give themselves to the world's need who come nearest to the +divine pattern Christ has set for us to copy, and, if we truly love him, +we shall want not his gifts but himself. + +"People seek after holy living instead of perfect loving, they do not +realize that we can be truly holy only as we love, for 'love is the +great reality of the spiritual world.'" + +Evadne laid her cheek caressingly against Mrs. Everidge's. "If it were +only you, dear, how delightfully easy it would be, but do you suppose it +is possible for me to love Aunt Kate and Isabelle?" + +"Yes, dear child, with the love of God." + +"You can't imagine how I dread the idea of going back!" Evadne said with +a sigh. "This summer has been like a lovely dream. How shall I endure +the cold reality of my waking?" + +"Where is your joy, little one?" + +"Joy, Aunt Marthe!" exclaimed Evadne drearily, "why, I haven't got any +apart from you. Just the mere thought of the separation makes my heart +ache." + +"'The joy of the Lord,'" said Mrs. Everidge softly. "If Jesus Christ is +able to fill heaven don't you think he ought to be able to fill earth +too? The trouble is we turn away from him and pour our wealth of love at +earthly shrines. Mary showed us the better way,--she _broke_ the box, +that every drop of the precious ointment might fall on his dear head. +What is going to be the crowning satisfaction of heaven? Not that we +shall meet our friends, as so many seem to think, but that we shall +awake in _his_ likeness and see _his_ face. We shall be 'together,'--we +have that comfort given us, but it will be 'together with the Lord.' He +is to be the centre of attraction and delight always. What an +unfathomable mystery it must be to the angels that he is not so with us +now!" + +Evadne took a long, yearning look at the dear face, as if she would +imprint it upon her memory forever. "He _is_ with you," she said softly. +"_You_ will never be a puzzle to the angels." + + * * * * * + +The time of her stay in Vernon drew near its close, and on the last day +but one she went to say good-bye to Penelope Riggs. She found her +sitting alone in the house, her mother having taken a fancy to have a +sun bath. Her right hand was doubled up and she was rubbing it slowly up +and down the palm of her left while she sang softly. + +"Why, Penelope, what are you doing?" cried Evadne in amaze. + +"Polishin', child. I learnt it long ago. One day I was that wore out I +wouldn't have cared if the sky had fallen,--things had been goin' +crooked, an' Mother hadn't slept well for a fortnight, an' I was that +narvous an' tuckered out I thought I'd fly to pieces. There's an old +hymn Mother's dredful fond of,--I don't remember how it goes now, but +there's one line she keeps repeatin' over an' over till I feel ready to +jump. It's this,--'What dyin' wurms we be.' So, when she begun her wurm +song that mornin' I just let fly. 'Ef I _am_ a wurm,' sez I, 'I ain't +goin' ter be allers lookin' to see myself squirm!' and with that I up +and out of the house. My head was that tight inside I felt if I didn't +git out that minit somethin' would snap. I went straight up to Mis' +Everidge's. She's one of the people you see who always lives on a hill, +inside an' out. When I got there I couldn't speak. My heart's weak at +the best of times an' the weather in there was pretty stormy. I just +dropped into the first chair an' she put her hands on my two shoulders +an' sez she,--'You poor child!' an' then she went away an' made me a +syllabub." + +"'Look on the bright side,' sez she in her cheery way when I had +finished drinkin'." + +"'Sakes alive, Mis' Everidge,' sez I, 'there isn't any bright side!'" + +"'Then polish up the dark one,' sez she, ez quick ez a flash. I've been +tryin' to do it ever since." + +"You dear Penelope!" exclaimed Evadne, "I think you have!" + +"It's all a wale, child, a wale o' tears," old Mrs. Riggs complained as +she bade her good-bye in the porch, but when she reached the turn in the +road she heard Penelope singing,-- + + "Thy way, not mine, O Lord, + However dark it be! + Lead me by Thine own hand; + Choose out my path for me. + I dare not choose my lot, + I would not if I might; + Choose Thou for me, My God, + So shall I walk aright." + +and Evadne knew that in the brave heart the voice of Christ had made the +storm a calm. + +"You dear Aunt Marthe! How am I ever going to thank you for all you +have been to me; and what shall I do without you?" Evadne spoke the +words wistfully. They were making the most of their last evening. + +"Why, dear child, we can always be together in spirit. 'It is not +distance in miles that separates people but distance in feeling.' +Emerson says,--'A man really lives where his thought is,' so you can be +in Vernon and I in Marlborough,--each of us held close in the hush of +God's love, which 'in its breadth is a girdle that encompasses the globe +and a mantle that enwraps it.'" + +Evadne caught Mrs. Everidge's face between her hands and kissed it +reverently. "I mean to devote my life to making other people happy, as +you do, my saint," she said. + + * * * * * + +"Board!" The conductor's cry of warning smote the air and the train +passengers made a final bustle of preparation for a start. Mrs. Everidge +caught Evadne close in a last embrace. + +"My precious little sister, I shall miss you every day!" Then she was +gone, and Evadne, looking eagerly out of her window, saw the dear face, +from which the tears had been swept away, smiling brightly at her from +the platform. + +"You magnificent Christian!" she cried. "You will give others the +sunshine always!" + + * * * * * + +The train steamed into the station at Marlborough and again Louis came +forward to greet her with a look of admiration on his unusually animated +face. + +"Well done, Evadne! If the atmosphere of Vernon can work such +transformation as this, it ought to be bottled up and sold at twenty +dollars the dozen. You go away looking like a snow-wraith, and you +return a blooming Hebe." + +Evadne laughed merrily. "Thank you. The atmosphere of Vernon has a +wonderful power," but it was not of the material ozone she was thinking +as she spoke. + +"I believe I will try it. My constitution is running down at the rate of +an alarm clock. I must take my choice between a tonic and an early +grave. Will you vouch for like good results in my case?" + +Evadne shook her head. "I do not believe it would have the same effect +upon everyone," she said. + +"Ah, then I shall be compelled to go to Europe." + +Evadne looked at him. "Yes," she said, "I think Europe would suit you +better." + +"That is unfortunate,--for the Judge's purse. How is Aunt Marthe?" + +"She is well," she answered with a sudden stillness in her voice. She +could not trust herself to talk about this friend of hers to careless +questioners. "How is Uncle Lawrence, and all the others?" + +"The Judge is in his usual state of health, I fancy. We rarely meet +except at the table and then you know personal questions are not +considered in good form. The others are well, and Isabelle, having just +returned from the metropolis of Fashion, is more than ever _au fait_ in +the usages of polite society. But none of them have improved like you, +little coz. What has changed you so?" + +And she answered softly, with a new light shining in her lovely +eyes,--"Jesus Christ." + + * * * * * + +"You poor Evadne!" said Marion that evening, "what a dreary summer you +must have had, shut away among those stupid mountains! If you could only +have been with me, now. I never had such a lovely vacation in my life. +There seemed to be some excitement every day;--picnics and boating +parties and tennis matches and five o'clocks----" + +Evadne laughed. "You would better not let Uncle Horace know you are 'a +votary of the deadly five o'clock' or he will empty his vials of +denunciation upon your unlucky head. + +"Oh, Aunt Kate, he sent you a large bundle of fraternal greetings. He +says that, 'viewed through the glamour of memory, you impress him like +an Alpine landscape, when the sun is rising, and he hopes the soft +brilliance of prosperity will ever envelop you in its radiance and serve +to enhance the beauty of your stately calm.'" + +Mrs. Hildreth smiled, well pleased. "Horace is so poetical," she said, +"but all the Everidges are clever. What a shame it seems that a man of +his talent should be forced by ill health to exist in a place where +there is not a single soul capable of appreciating his rare qualities. +Even his wife does not begin to understand him. It seems like casting +pearls before swine." + +Evadne's eyes flashed and her lips pressed themselves tightly together, +but Mrs. Hildreth's gaze was fixed intently upon the lace shawl she was +knitting and Louis just then gave a sudden turn to the conversation. + +She went up to her room with a great homesickness surging at her heart. +Only last night all had been lightsome and happy, now the old darkness +seemed to have settled down about her again. She knelt before her window +and looked at the strip of sky which was all a Marlborough residence +allowed her. "Happy stars!" she murmured, "for you are shining on Aunt +Marthe!" + +Far into the night she knelt there, until a great peace flooded her +soul. She raised her hands towards the sparkling sky. "To make the world +brighter, to make the world better, to lift the world nearer to God. +Blessed Christ, that was thy mission. I will make it mine!" + +The next morning Louis drew her aside. "So, little coz, you did not +coincide with the lady mother's eulogium of our respected collateral +last night?" + +"Why, I said nothing!" cried Evadne in astonishment. + +Louis laughed. "Have you never heard of eyes that speak and faces that +tell tales?" he said. "I will just whisper a word of warning before you +play havoc with your web of destiny. Don't let a suspicion of your +dislike cross the lady mother's mind, for Uncle Horace is her beau-ideal +of a man. I agree with you. I think he is a cad." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +"An invitation to Professor Joliette's," and Isabelle tossed a +gilt-edged card across the table to Marion; "Wednesday evening. It's not +a very long invitation. What dress will you wear?" + +"But you are engaged, Marion," said Evadne; "Wednesday evening, you +know." + +"Yes," said Marion with a sigh, "it is awkward. I do wish they would +choose some other night for prayer meeting. Wednesday seems such a +favorite with everybody." + +"What a little prig you are getting to be, Evadne!" said Isabelle with a +sneer. "Your only diversion seems to be prayer meeting and church. You +are as bad as Aunt Marthe." + +"Aunt Marthe a prig! Oh, that is too funny!" and Evadne gave one of her +low, sweet laughs. "Besides, does keeping one's engagements constitute a +prig, Isabelle? You wouldn't think so if you were invited to the +President's reception." + +"The President's reception! What does get into the child! I don't see +much analogy between the two cases. No one considers prayer meeting a +binding engagement, and I'm sure we go as often as we can." + +"Not binding!" echoed Evadne. "So Christ is not of as much importance as +the President of the United States!" + +"You do have such a way of putting things, Evadne!" said Marion +thoughtfully. "I expect we had better refuse, Isabelle." + +"Refuse,--nonsense!" said Isabelle sharply. "You always meet the best +people at the Joliettes',--besides, why should we run the risk of +offending them?" + +"Why should they run the risk of offending you, by choosing a night they +know you cannot come?" asked Evadne. + +"Ridiculous! What do they care about our church concerns? The Joliettes +are foreigners. People in polite society do not give religion such an +unpleasant prominence as you delight in, Evadne. For my part, I consider +it very bad form." + +"Breakers ahead, Evadne," said Louis with his cynical laugh. "Good form +is Isabelle's fetich. Woe betide the unlucky wight who dares to hold an +opinion of his own." + +"But," said Evadne, the old puzzled look coming into her eyes, "I wish I +could understand. Are Christians ashamed of the religion of Jesus?" + +"That's about the amount of it, little coz. It is a sort of kedge anchor +which they keep on board in case of danger. For my part I think it is +better to sail clear. It is only an uncomfortable addition which spoils +the trim of the ship." + +"Oh, Louis, don't!" exclaimed Marion with a sigh. "It is so hard to know +what is right! Sometimes I wish I were a nun, shut up in a convent, and +then I should have nothing else to do." + +"Doubtless the Lord would appreciate that sort of faithfulness," said +Louis gravely, "although I notice Christianity seems to be a sort of +Sing-Sing arrangement with the majority. Everything is done under a +sense of compulsion, and the air is lurid with trials and lamentations +and woe. It is not an alluring life, and, in my opinion, the jolly old +world shows its sense in steering clear of it." + +"Your irreverence is shocking, Louis," said Isabelle severely, "and you +are as much of an extremist as Evadne. No one could live such a life as +you seem to expect. Religion has its proper place, of course, but I do +not think it is wise to speak of the deep things of life on all +occasions." + +"'I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and +him crucified,'" quoted Evadne. "Was Paul mistaken then?" + +"Certainly, my dear coz," said Louis, as he prepared to leave the room. +"The greatest men are subject to that infirmity. The only one who has +never been mistaken is Isabelle." + + * * * * * + +"It is so provoking that we cannot have the carriage," grumbled +Isabelle, as, when Wednesday evening came, they waited for Louis in the +dining-room. "At the Joliettes' of all places! I am sure I don't see, +Papa, why you cannot insist upon Pompey's taking some other night off +when we need him on Wednesdays. It is horribly awkward!" + +Her father shook his head as he slowly peeled an orange. "Because I have +given him my word, my dear. The only stipulation he made when I engaged +him was that he should not be required to drive on Sundays and Wednesday +evenings, and, when I hear people complaining about their surly, +incapable coachmen, I consider it is a light price to pay. Pompey is as +sober as a church and as pleasant-tempered in a rain storm as a +water-spaniel,--no matter what hour of the night you keep him waiting; +so it is the least we can do to let the poor fellow be sure of one +evening to himself;" and the Judge opened his Times and began to study +the money market. + +"Well," said Isabelle crossly. "I, for one, don't believe in allowing +servants to have such cast-iron rules. It savors too much of socialism." + +"Exactly so," said Louis from the doorway, where he stood leisurely +buttoning his gloves. "You will never pose as the goddess of liberty, +_ma belle soeur_. It is a good thing that Lincoln got the Emancipation +bill signed before you came into power, or dusky millions might still be +weeping tears of blood." + +Isabelle swept past him with an indignant toss of her head, and the +front door closed after the trio with a metallic clang. + +"I don't wonder the poor child is annoyed," said Mrs. Hildreth as she +played with her grapes. "It is very embarrassing when people know that +we keep a carriage; and the Joliettes are such sticklers in the matter +of etiquette. It is a ridiculous fad of yours, Lawrence, to be so +punctilious." + +"But, my dear, I gave him my word of honor!" + +"What if you did? There are exceptions to every rule." + +"Not in the Hildreth code of honor, Kate." + +"Nonsense! What does a colored coachman understand about that! Why, +Evadne, you cannot go to prayer meeting alone!" she exclaimed, as Evadne +came into the room with her hat on. "Your uncle is busy and I am too +tired, so there is no way for you to get home." + +"I am going to Dyce's church, Aunt Kate. Pompey will bring me home." + +"Among a lot of shouting negroes! You must be crazy, child!" + +"Their souls are white, Aunt Kate, and there is no color line on the +Rock of Ages." + +"Oh, well, tastes differ," said her aunt carelessly, "but it is a +strange fancy for Judge Hildreth's niece. Next thing you will suggest +going to board with Pompey." + +"I might fare a good deal worse," said Evadne with her soft laugh. "Dyce +keeps her rooms like waxwork and she is a capital cook." + +"Really, Evadne, I am in despair! You have not an iota of proper pride. +How are you going to maintain your position in society?" + +"I don't believe I care to test the question, Aunt Kate; but I think my +position will maintain itself." + +"Well said, Evadne," said her uncle, looking up from his paper. "You +will never forget you are a Hildreth, eh?" + +"Higher than that, uncle," said Evadne softly. "I am a sister of Jesus +Christ." + +"I don't know what to make of the child," said Mrs. Hildreth +discontentedly, as the door closed behind her. "I believe she would +rather associate with such people than with those of her own class. She +has a bowing acquaintance with the most _outré_ looking individuals I +ever saw. I really don't think Dr. Jerome is wise setting young girls to +visit in the German quarter. It doesn't hurt Marion, now. She only does +it as a disagreeable duty and is immensely relieved when her round of +visits is made for the month, but Evadne takes as much interest in them +as if they were her relations. Next thing we know, she will be wanting +to take up slum work. I hope she won't come to any harm down among those +crazy blacks. They always seem to get possessed the moment they touch +religion." + +"I do not think Evadne will ever come to any harm," the Judge said +slowly. "The Lord takes pretty good care of his own." + +His wife looked at him with a puzzled expression. "I fully intended +going to prayer meeting myself to-night," she said, "but it gets to be a +great tax,--an evening out of every week,--and I do dread the night air +so much." + +Mrs. Judge Hildreth dipped her jeweled fingers into the perfumed water +of her finger glass and dried them on her silk-fringed napkin. "Oh, +Lawrence, don't forget Judge Tracer's dinner to-morrow night. You will +have to come home earlier than usual, for it is such a long drive, and +it will never do to keep his mulligatawny waiting. And, by the way, I +made a new engagement for you to-day. Mrs. General Leighton has invited +us to join the Shakespearean Club which she is getting up. It is to be +very select. Will meet at the different houses, you know, with a choice +little supper at the close. She says the one she belonged to in Atlanta +was a brilliant affair. She comes from one of Georgia's first families, +you remember." + +"A Shakespearean Club!" and Judge Hildreth smiled incredulously. "Why, +my dear, I never knew you and the immortal Will had much affinity for +each other!" + +"Oh, of course it is more for the prestige of the thing. Mrs. Leighton +said the General assured her you would never find leisure for it, but I +said I would promise for you. It is only one evening a week you know. +She thinks we Americans retire far too early from the enjoyments of +life in favor of our children, and I believe she is right. I certainly +do not feel myself in the sere and yellow," and Mrs. Judge Hildreth +regarded herself complacently in the long mirror before which she stood. +"You will manage to make the time, Lawrence?" + +"What other answer but 'yes' can Petruchio make to 'the prettiest Kate +in Christendom'?" replied the Judge, bowing gallantly to the face in the +mirror as he came up and stood beside his wife. It was a handsome face +but there was a hardness about it, and the lines around the mouth which +bespoke an indomitable will, had deepened with the years. + +"Only one evening a week, Kate, but you thought that too much of a tax +just now." + +"How absurd you are, Lawrence! When shall I make you understand that +there are sacrifices that must be made. We owe a duty to society. We +cannot afford to let ourselves drop wholly out of the world." + +A little later Judge Hildreth entered his library with a heavy sigh. He +had attained the ends he had striven for, he was respected alike in the +church and the world, he held a high and lucrative position, he had a +well appointed home, over which his handsome wife presided with dignity +and grace, and yet, as he took his seat before his desk in the lofty +room whose shelves were lined with gems of thought in fragrant, costly +bindings, life seemed to have missed its sweetness to Lawrence Hildreth. + +Evadne's words haunted him, and, like an accusing angel, the letter +which still lay hidden under the mass of papers in the drawer which he +never opened, seemed to look at him reproachfully. + +"A sister of Jesus Christ." Sisters and brothers lived together. Was it +possible that Jesus Christ could be in this house,--this very room? The +idea was appalling. He was familiar with the truism that God was +everywhere, but he had never really believed it; and, as the years +passed, he had found it convenient to remove him to a shadowy distance +in space, less likely to interfere with modern business methods. Jesus +Christ, enshrined in a far off glory among his angels, appealed to the +decorum of his religious sentiment; but Jesus Christ, face to face, to +be reckoned with in the practical details of honesty and fair dealing; +that was a different matter. And this was the violation of a dead man's +trust, who had put everything in his power because he had faith in him! + +He saw again the young brother, handsome, easy-going to a fault, but +with a sense of honor so fine as to shrink in indignation from the +slightest breath of shame; read again the closing words of the farewell +letter which he had read for the first time on the day now so long ago, +which he would have given worlds to recall, and which, from out the +shadowy recesses of eternity, laughed at his futile wish. + +"So, my dear brother," the letter ran, "I am giving you this +responsibility as only a brother can. I have left Evadne absolutely +untrammelled. I have no fear that my little girl will abuse the trust. +She is wise beyond her years, with a sense of honor as keen as your +own." + +The Judge's head sank upon his hands. It was for Evadne's good he had +persuaded himself. She was too much of a child,--and now,--the letter +could not be delivered. It meant disgrace and shame. It was his duty as +a father to shield his family from that. How well he could picture +Evadne's look of bewildered, incredulous surprise, and then the pain, +tinged with scorn, which would creep into the clear eyes. And Jesus +Christ! The Judge's head sank lower as he heard the voice which has rung +down through the ages in scathing denunciation of all subterfuge and +lies. + +"Woe unto you ... hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, +and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice and +mercy and faith." + +"Woe unto you ... hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and +of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess." + +"Woe unto you ... hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres +which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's +bones." + +Lower and lower sank the Judge's head, until at last it rested upon the +desk with a groan. + + * * * * * + +They were singing when Evadne reached the humble church which Dyce and +Pompey called their spiritual home. The walls were white-washed and the +seats were hard, for the "Disciples of Jesus" possessed but little of +this world's goods. Two prayers followed, full of rich imagery and +fervid passion, and then a young girl with a deep contralto voice began +to sing,-- + + "Steal away, steal away, + Steal away to Jesus! + Steal away, steal away home, + We ain't got long to stay here." + +The soft, deep notes of the weird melody ended in a burst of triumph, +and Evadne bent her head while her tired heart thrilled with joy. When +she looked up again Dyce was speaking. + +"I've ben thinkin', friens," she said, "that we don't get the sweetness +of them words inter our hearts ez we should. We'se too much taken up wid +de thought of de heavenly manshuns to 'member dat de King's chillen hez +an inheritance on de earth. We'se not poor, lonesome people widout a +home! De dear Christ promised, 'I will not leave youse orphans, I will +come to youse,' an' he who hez de Lord Jesus alongside, hez de best of +company. 'Pears like we don't let our Father's message go any deeper dan +de top of our heads. Ef we believes we'se preshus in his sight,--an' de +Bible sez we is,--we'll hev no occashun fer gettin discouraged, fer de +dear Lord's boun ter do de best fer his loved ones. Ef we'se keepin' +company wid Jesus we'se no call ter want de worl's invitashuns, an ef +we'se hidden away in Christ's heart dere's no need fer us ter be +frettin' about de little worriments of earth. Satan don't hev no chance +where Jesus is. Ef we'se tempted, friens, an' fall inter sin, it's +'cause we'se not livin' close ter de Saviour. + +"I knows we allers tinks of a home as a place where dere is good times, +an' dere don't seem much good times goin' for some of us in dis worl', +but dere ain't no call fer us ter spec' ter be better off dan our Lord, +an ef we'se feedin' on de Lord Jesus all de time we won't min' ef de +worl's bread is scarce; de soul ain't dependin' on dem tings fer +nourishmen' an' de Lord Jesus makes de hard bed easy an' de coarse food +taste good. + +"'Tain't good management fer us ter be allers groanin' in dis worl' +while we 'spect ter be singin' de glory song up yonder. De best singers +is dem dat's longes' trainin' an' I'se feared some of us'll find it +drefful hard ter git up ter de proper concert pitch in heaven ef we +sings nuthin but lamentashuns on earth. De dear Lord don't seem ter hev +made any sort of pervishun for fault findin'. He 'low dere'll be +trubble, but he tells us ter be of good cheer on account of hevin' him +ter git de victry fer us, an' ef we keep singin' all de time, dere ain't +no time fer sighs. Let us keep a-whisperin' to our Father, my friens. +It's a beautiful worl' he's put us in, an' dere ain't no combine ter +keep us back from enjoyin' de best tings in it. De sky belong ter us ez +much as to de rich folks, an' de grass an' de trees an' de birds an' de +flowers; de rollin rivers an' de mighty ocean belongs ter us. De only +priviluge de rich folks hez is dat dey kin sail on deir billows while +we hez ter stan' alongside,--but dey's powerfu' unhappy sometimes when +dey hez so much ter look after, an' we kin enjoy lookin' at deir fine +houses widout hevin' any of de care. + +"We'se not payin' much complimen' ter Jesus, friens, when we 'low dat de +good tings of dis worl' kin make people happier dan he kin, an' 'pears +like we ought ter be 'shamed of ourselves. De Bible sez we'se ter 'live +an' move an' hev our bein' in God,' an' it don't 'pear becomin' when we +hev such a home pervided fer us, ter be allers grumblin' 'cause we can't +live in de brown stone fronts an' keep a kerridge. We don't begin ter +understan' how ter live up ter our privilegus, friens, an' I'se bowed in +shame as I tink how de dear Lord's heart must ache as he sees how little +we'se appresheatin' his lovin' kindness." + +The tender, pleading voice ceased and then Dyce lifted her clasped +hands,--"Oh, Lord Jesus, help us ter glorify thee before de worl'. Help +us ter understan' an 'preciate de wonderful honor thou hez put upon us. +Make us used ter dwellin' wid thee on de earth, so as we won't feel like +strangers in heaven. Oh, blessed Jesus, by de remembrance of de thorn +marks an' de nail prints an' de woun' in thy side forgive thy +ungrateful chillen. We'se ben a' lookin' roun on de perishin' tings of +earth fer our comfort, an' a' seekin' our homes in this worl'. Lord, +help us ter find our real home in thee! Help us ter steal away ter +Jesus, when de storm cloud hangs low and de billows roar about our +heads. Dere's no shadows in de home thou makes, fer 'de light of de +worl' is Jesus,' an' ebery room is full of de sunshine of thy love. +Dere's no harm kin cum to us ef we'se inside de fold, fer thou art de +door, Lord Jesus; dere's no danger kin touch us ef we'se hidden in de +cleft of de rock. Lord, make us abide in de secret place of de Almighty +an' hoi' us close forever under de shadow of thy wing." + +Then the congregation dispersed to the humble homes, glorified now by +the possibility of being made the dwelling-place of the King of kings. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +It was intensely warm in the Marlborough Steel Works. Outdoors the sun +beat fiercely upon the heads of toiling men and horses while the heat +waves danced with a dazzling shimmer along the brick pavements. Indoors +there was the steady thud of the engine, and the great hammers clanked +and the belts swept through the air with a deafening whirr, while the +workmen drew blackened hands across their grimy foreheads and John +Randolph gave a sigh of longing for the cool forest chambers of +Hollywood, as he leaned over to exchange a cheery word with Richard +Trueman, beside whom he had been working for over a year and for whom he +had come to entertain a strong feeling of affection. + +Varied experiences had come to him since he had said good-by to his kind +Quaker friends and started on his search for work. Monotonous days of +wood piling in a lumber yard, long weeks of isolation among the giant +trees of the forest, where no sound was to be heard except the whistle +of the axes, as they cleaved the air, and the coarse jokes of the +workmen,--then had come days when even odd jobs had been hailed with +delight, and he had sat at the feet of the grim schoolmistress Necessity +and learned how little man really needs to have to live. And then the +Steel Works had opened again and he had forged his way up through the +different departments to the responsible position he now held. His +promotion had been rapid. The foreman had been quick to note the keen, +intelligent interest and deft-handedness of this strangely alert new +employé. He finished his work in the very best way that it was possible +to do it, even though it took a little longer in the doing. Such workmen +were not common at the Marlborough Steel Works. He put his heart into +whatever he did. That was John Randolph's way. There was something about +the work which pleased him. It gave him a feeling of triumph to watch +the evolution of the crude chaos into the finished perfection, and see +how through baptism of fire and flood the diverse particles emerged at +length a beautifully tempered whole. He read as in an allegory the +discipline which a soul needs to fit it for the kingdom, and so +throughout the meshes of his daily toil John Randolph wove his parable. + +When evening came he would stride cheerily along the dingy street to +the house where he and his fellow-workman lodged, refresh himself with a +hot bath, don what he called his dress suit, and after their simple meal +and a frolic with little Dick, the motherless boy who was the joy of +Richard Trueman's heart, he would settle down for a long evening of +study among his cherished books. John Randolph never lost sight of the +fact that he was to be a physician by and by. + + * * * * * + +Somewhere in one of the great centers of the world's industry a workman +had blundered. His conscience urged him to confess his mistake, while +Satan whispered with a sneer,--"Yes, and get turned adrift for your +pains, with a rating into the bargain!" + +"Never mind if you do lose a week's wages," conscience had pleaded, +"your hands will be clean," and the workman shrugged his shoulders with +a muttered, "Pshaw! What do I care for that, so long as I don't git +found out. I'll fix it so as no one kin tell it was me." + +The work was passed upon by the foreman and the Company's certificate +attached. The man chuckled, "Hooray! Now that it's out from under old +Daggett's eyes nobody'll ever be able to lay the blame on me!" and he +had gone home whistling. He forgot God! + + * * * * * + +The long, stifling day was drawing near its close. Half an hour more and +the workmen would be free to rest. Only half an hour! Suddenly there was +a sharp clicking sound, then a cry, and in an instant all was bustle and +confusion at the Marlborough Steel Works. The great hammers hung +suspended in mid-air, the whirling wheels were still, while the workmen, +with faces showing pale beneath the grime, gathered hastily around a +fallen comrade. Summoned by telephone the Company's surgeon was driving +rapidly towards the Works, but his services would not be required. + +An accident. No one knew just how it happened. There must have been a +flaw, a defect in some part of the machinery. These things do happen. +Somewhere there had been carelessness, dishonesty, and the price of it +was--a life! + +The dying man opened his eyes suddenly and looked full at John Randolph, +who knelt beside him supporting his head on his arm. + +"Little Dick," he murmured. + +"All right, Trueman, I will take care of him." + +"God bless you, John!" and with the fervid benediction, the breath +ceased and the spirit flew away. + +The body was prepared for the inquest, and through the gathering dusk +John, strangely white and silent, entered the house he called home, +gathered the fatherless boy into his arms and let him sob out his grief +upon his shoulder. + + * * * * * + +Some days after the funeral the Manager sent for John to come to his +private office. He was a pleasant man and had taken a kindly interest in +the capable young workman from the start. + +"Well, Randolph, this is a terrible business of poor Trueman," he said, +as he pointed him to a chair. "Terrible! I can't get over it. A fine man +and one of our best finishers too. Well, we can't do anything for him +now, poor fellow, but he left a boy I think?" + +"Yes, sir," said John simply; "I have taken him to live with me." + +"Shake hands, Randolph! We _talk_ about what ought to be done and you +_do_ it. Is that your usual mode of procedure?" + +John laughed. "There was nothing else to do," he said. + +"H'm. Most fellows in your position would have thought it was the last +thing possible. Have you any idea what it means to saddle yourself with +a child like this? Whatever put such an idea into your head?" + +"Jesus Christ," answered John quietly. + +"Well, well, you're a queer fellow, Randolph. But how are you going to +make the wages spin out? A boy is 'a growing giant of wants whom the +coat of Have is never large enough to cover.'" + +"His father managed, so can I." John's voice shook a little. + +"His father! But he _was_ his father, you see. That makes a mighty +difference. Well, Randolph, I give you up. You are beyond me." + +John rose. "Was that all you wished to say to me, Mr. Branford?" + +"Sit down, man! What the mischief are you in such a hurry for? It stands +to reason the Company can't let you bear the brunt of this most +deplorable occurrence, though I don't believe we could have found a +better guardian for the poor little lad. But guardians expect to be paid +for their trouble. What price do you set, Randolph?" + +"I don't want any pay for obeying my Master, Mr. Branford." + +"Your Master, Randolph?" said the Manager with a puzzled stare. + +"Yes, sir, Jesus Christ." + +"Upon my word, Randolph, you're a queer fellow! Well, if you don't want +pay, I want some one with a head on his shoulders in this office. Any of +the fellows in the outside office would be glad of the chance to get in +here, but I want a man who understands what he is doing as well as I do +myself. You have practical knowledge, Randolph, you're the man I want. I +shall expect you to start in here tomorrow morning. The salary will be +double your present wages. And, since you have constituted yourself +guardian of the boy, I may as well tell you that the Company has decided +to set aside a yearly sum for his maintenance and education. + +"Now you can go, if you are in such a tremendous hurry, Randolph: only +don't try any more of such toploftiness with me. It won't go down, you +see;" and the Manager chuckled softly, as John, with broken thanks, left +the room. "I rather think I got the better of him that time!" he said to +himself. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Judge Hildreth sat in his private office, immersed in anxious thought. +Every day brought new difficulties to be wrestled with in connection +with the multitudinous schemes which were making an old man of him while +he was still in his prime. His hair was grey, his hands trembled, his +eyes were bloodshot, and his face had the unhealthy pallor which +accompanies intense nervous pressure and excitement. + +He knew that it was so, and the knowledge did not tend to sweeten his +disposition. He told himself again and again that he could not help +it,--it was the force of circumstances and the curse of competition. +Like the fly in the spider's parlor, he found himself inextricably +enveloped in the silken maze of deceit which he had entered so blithely +years ago. He had ceased to question bitterly whether the game was worth +the candle. He told himself the Fates had decreed it, and the game had +to be played out to the end, The principal thing now was to keep the +pieces moving and prevent a checkmate, for that would mean ruin! + +One of the office boys knocked at the door and presented a card, for +into this _sanctum sanctorum_ no one was permitted to enter unannounced. +The card bore the name of the nominal president of the Consolidated +Provident Savings Company, which was one of the numerous schemes that +Judge Hildreth had on hand. It was not always wise to have his name +appear. He believed in sleeping partnerships. As he explained it to +himself, that gave one a free hand. + +The Consolidated Provident Savings Company was a popular institution in +Marlborough. There were conservative financiers who shook their heads +and feared that its methods were not based on sound business principles +and savored too much of wild-cat schemes and fraudulent speculations, +but they were voted cranks by the majority, and the Consolidated +Provident Savings Company grew and flourished. It paid large dividends, +and its stockholders were duly impressed with the magnificence of its +buildings and the grandiose tone of its officials. + +Judge Hildreth frowned heavily as he read the name, and was about to +deny himself to the visitor, but on second thought he curtly ordered +the boy to show him in. + +The man who obeyed the invitation bowed deferentially to his chief and +then took a chair in front of him, with the table between. He was +elaborately dressed, and the shiny silk hat which he deposited on the +table looked aggressively prosperous. His manner betokened a man +suddenly inflated with a sense of his own importance. His hair was +sandy, and the thin moustache and beard failed to cover the pitifully +weak lines of his mouth and chin. + +"Good-morning, Peters." The Judge nodded carelessly as he spoke, but he +moved uneasily in his chair. Of late the sight of this man fretted him. +It seemed as if he always saw him accompanied by a ghostly form. He +tried to shake off the impression, and told himself angrily that he was +falling into his dotage; but his memory would not yield. He saw again +the pleading, trustful face of the man's mother as, years ago, she had +besought him to do what he could for her son. + +"Just make a man of him, like yourself, Judge Hildreth," she had +pleaded. "I will be more than satisfied then. I want my boy to be +respected and to have a place in the world. Folks needn't know how hard +his mother had to work." + +The Judge smiled grimly as he thought of her phrasing,--"a man like +yourself." She did not know how near to it he had come! + +The boy had a surface smartness, and he had proved himself an apt +scholar. The Judge had found him a willing tool in many of his deep laid +schemes to get money for less than money's worth. But within the last +few months there had been a change. A spark of manhood had asserted +itself, and in the presence of his minion the Judge found himself upon +the rack. + +He was the first to speak. "I hope there is nothing out of the usual?" +he said. "I intended coming over to the office before the meeting of +directors took place." + +"It is the same old trouble about bonds, Judge Hildreth. There are not +enough of them to go round." + +The Judge rubbed his hands in simulated pleasure. "Well, that shows good +management, Peters, if the public are hungry for our stock." + +"The public are fools!" said the young man, hotly. + +"Not at all, Peters. A discriminating public, you know, always chooses +the best depositaries." He chuckled softly. He had turned his eyes +towards the window so as not to see the ghostly figure behind the young +man's chair which had such a world of reproach in its face. "There is +only one thing to do, Peters. We must water it a little, eh?" + +"It seems to me we've been using the watering-pot rather too +frequently." + +The Judge started. Had he detected a menace in the tone? + +He temporized. His plans were not sufficiently matured yet. When they +were he would crush this tool of his as surely and as carelessly as he +would have crushed a fly. + +"Nonsense, Peters!" he said pleasantly; "that is only a little clever +financing to tide us over the hard places. Of course we will make it all +good to the public--by and bye." + +"How?" The question rang out through the office like a pistol shot. + +The Judge looked at the man before him in amaze. For once his face +showed determination and an honest purpose. + +"Will you tell me how we're going to do it?" he persisted with a strange +vehemence. "I've been a fool, Judge Hildreth, a blamed, gigantic fool! +I've let you hood wink me and lead me by the nose for years. I've done +your dirty work for you and borne the credit of it, too; but I swear +I'll not do it any longer. I thought at first--fool that I was--that +everything you did was just the right thing to copy. My poor old mother +told me you were the pattern I was to follow if I wanted to be an +honorable man. An honorable man! Good heavens! + +"Do you know where I've been these last months? I've been in hell, sir; +in hell, I tell you! Every night I've dreamed of my mother and every day +I've bamboozled the public and sold bonds that weren't worth the paper +they were written on, and paid big dividends that were just some of +their own money returned. And now you tell me to keep on watering the +stock when you know we haven't a dollar put towards the 'Rest' and the +money is just pouring out for expenses and directors' fees. There's +barely enough left over to keep up the sham of dividends. You know it as +well as I do. I've been an ass and an idiot, but I'm done with living a +lie. Judge Hildreth, I came to tell you that if you don't do the square +thing by these people who have trusted us, I'll expose you!" + +His vehemence was tremendous and the words poured out in a torrent which +never checked its flow. He had risen and in his excitement paced up and +down the room. Now, overcome by his effort, he sank exhausted into a +chair. + +Judge Hildreth rose suddenly and locked the office door. When he turned +again his face was not a pleasant sight to see. + +"President Peters," he said sternly, "this is not the age of heroics nor +the place for them. In future I beg you to remember our relative +positions. You seem to forget that I am the direct cause of your present +prosperity, but that is an omission which men of your stamp are liable +to make. I never expect gratitude from those whom I have befriended. + +"But when you come to threats, that is another matter. You say you will +expose me. To whom, if you please? _You_ are the President of the +Consolidated Company. Your name is associated with its business. Mine +does not appear in any way, shape or form. You sign all papers, and it +is you whom the public hold accountable for all moneys deposited in the +institution. Any attempt which you might make to connect me with the +enterprise would be futile, utterly futile. The public would not believe +you, and you could not prove it in any court of law." + +The man, worn and spent with his emotion, lifted his head and looked at +the Judge with dazed, lack-luster eyes. + +"Not connected with the enterprise," he repeated, "why, the whole +thought of the thing came from you! and you have drawn thousands of +dollars----" + +"I have simply given advice," interrupted the Judge haughtily. + +"Advice!" echoed the man, "and doesn't advice count in law?" + +"If you can prove it;" said the Judge with a cold smile. "Do you ever +remember having any of my opinions in writing, President Peters? The law +takes cognizance only of black and white, you know." + +The victim writhed in his chair, as the trap in which he was caught +revealed itself. Heavily his eyes searched Judge Hildreth's face for +some sign of pity or relenting, but in vain. + +"And if there should come a run on the funds?" he questioned dully. + +"If there should come a run on the funds," answered the Judge, "_you_ +would be underneath." + +The man's head fell forward upon the table, and the Judge, with a cruel +smile, left the room. + + * * * * * + +Two office boys lingered in the handsome offices of the Consolidated +Provident Savings Company after business hours were over. + +"I tell you what it is, Bob," said the eldest one, "I'm going to quit +this concern. It's my opinion it's a rotten corporation; and I don't +propose to ruin my standing with the commercial world." + +"Gee!" exclaimed the younger boy in delight. "You're a buster, Joe, and +no mistake. The president himself couldn't have rolled that sentence off +better, or that old piece of pomposity who conies to the secret meetings +with the gold-headed cane." + +"That's Judge Hildreth. He's another deep one or I lose my guess." + +"Why, he's a No. I deacon in one of the uptown's swellest churches!" + +"Guess he's a child of darkness in between times then, for I'll bet he +does lots of underground work. I don't believe in this awfully private +business. The other day, after old man Hildreth came, before the +directors had their meeting, (he always does come just before that, to +prime Peters, you know,) what did he do but make Peters send for me to +shut the transoms over his office doors, so that none of us fellows +outside could hear what they were saying! + +"I tell you I don't like the looks of things. This morning one of those +heavy stockholders came in and wanted to take out all his money, and the +president went white as a sheet. There's a flaw in the ready money +account somewhere, I'll bet, and I'm going to leave before the bottom +drops out of the concern. If you take my advice you'll follow." + +The other boy laughed. "Bet your life I won't, then. Where'd you get +such good pay, I'd like to know? I've had enough of grubbing along on +$4.00 a week. No, sirree, I'll keep in tow with the deacon and get my +share of all the stuff that's going, same as the other fellows do." + +"You won't do it long then, you mark my words. Did you see the president +when he came into the office this morning? He looked as if he'd been +gagged. I went into his office for something in a hurry afterwards and +he was head over ears in Railway Time Tables. He jumped as if he'd been +caught poaching. It's my belief he means to skip across the border. It's +the only way for him to get out of the mess, unless he takes a dose of +lead, you see. + +"Well, here goes. I'm going to write my resignation with the president's +best gold pen. You can do as you like, but it's slow and honest for me." + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +Miss Diana Chillingworth was sitting in the old-fashioned porch of her +old-fashioned house which opened into an old-fashioned garden in one of +the suburbs of Marlborough, shelling peas. Everything about Miss Diana +was old-fashioned and sweet. Her hair was dressed as she had been +accustomed to wear it in her girlhood, and even the head mantua-maker of +Marlborough, ardent worshiper at Fashion's shrine though she was, was +forced to bow before her gentle individuality and confess that Miss +Diana's taste was perfect. + +She wore a morning dress of soft pearl grey, over which she had tied an +apron of white lawn with a dainty ruffle of embroidery below its hem. +The peas danced merrily against the sides of an old-fashioned china +bowl. Miss Diana had an aesthetic repugnance to the use of tin utensils +in the preparation of food. + +Outside there were sweet lilies of the valley and violets and pansies, +and the roses wafted long breaths of fragrance to her through the +trellis work of the porch, while the morning glories hung their heads +and blushed under the ardent kisses of the sun. + +In the kitchen Unavella Cynthesia Crockett, her faithful and devoted +"assistant" (Miss Crockett objected to the term servant upon democratic +principles), moved cheerily, with a giant masterfulness which bespoke a +successful initiation into the mysteries of the culinary art. All at +once she shut the oven door, where three toothsome loaves were browning, +and listened intently. Then she went out to interview Thomas, the +butcher's boy, who came three times a week with supplies. + +"The sweet-breads hez cum, Miss Di-an," she said, appearing in the porch +before her mistress. + +"Well, Unavella," said Miss Diana, with a pleasant smile, "you expected +them, did you not? We ordered them, you know. They are very nutritious, +I think." + +"Hum! There's some news cum along with 'em that ain't likely to prove ez +nourishin'. Tummas sez the Provident Savings Company hez busted an' the +president's vamoosed." + +"Dear me! I wish Thomas would not use such very forceful language," said +Miss Diana. "Do you think he finds it necessary? Being a butcher, you +know? I hardly understand the words. Do you think you would find them +defined in Webster?" + +Unavella's eyes twinkled through her gloom. "I guess Tummas ain't got +much use for dictionners," she said. "He uses words that cums nearest to +his feelin's. He's lost two hundred dollars, Tummas hez." + +"Dear me! How very grieved I am. But a dictionary, Unavella, is the +basis of all education. Thomas ought to appreciate that. 'Busted,'" she +repeated the word slowly, with an instinctive shrinking from its sound, +"that is a vulgar corruption of the verb to burst; but 'vamoosed,' I do +not think I ever heard the term before." + +"Tummas says it means to show the under side of your shoe leather." + +"The under side of your shoe leather, Unavella?" Miss Diana lifted her +pretty shoe and held it up for inspection. "Do you see anything wrong +with that?" + +The faithful soul threw her apron over her head with a sob. "Oh, Miss +Di-an!" she wailed, "it means the company's all a set of cheats, an' the +biggest rogue of the lot hez lit out--run away--an' taken the money the +Gin'rel left you along with him." + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +Miss Diana received the news in absolute silence. The brave daughter of +a brave father, she would make no moan, but the sweetness seemed to have +suddenly gone from the flowers and the light out of the sky. + +Unavella looked at her in amazement. She was used to the stormy grief +which finds vent in tears and groans. "It beats me how different folks +takes things!" she ejaculated mentally. "Well, she'll need suthin' to +keep her strength up all the more now she ain't got nuthin' to support +her;" and, gathering peas and pods into her apron with a mighty sweep of +her arm, she marched into her kitchen in a fever of sympathetic +indignation and evolved a dinner which was a masterpiece of culinary +skill. + +Miss Diana forced herself to eat something. She knew if she did not, +Unavella would be worried, and she possessed that peculiar regard for +the feelings of others which would not allow her to consider her own. + +"You are a wonderful cook, Unavella," she said, with a pathetic +cheerfulness which did not deceive her faithful handmaiden, who, as she +confided afterwards to a friend, wuz weepin' bitter gall tears in her +mind, though she kep' a calm front outside, for she wuzn't goin' ter be +outdid in pluck by that little bit of sweetness. "I shall be able to +give you a beautiful character." + +She lifted her hand with a deprecating gesture as Unavella was about to +burst forth with a stormy denial. + +"Not yet, please, Unavella; not just yet. Let me have time to think a +little before you say anything. I feel rather shaken. The news was so +very unexpected, you see," she said with a shadowy smile, which Unavella +averred "cut her heart clean in two." "But everything is just right, +Unavella, that happens to the Lord's children, you know. Things look a +little misty now, but I shall see the sunlight again by and bye. In the +meantime there is this delicious dinner. Someone ought to be reaping the +benefit of it. Suppose you take it to poor Mrs. Dixon? She enjoys +anything tasty so much and she cannot afford to buy dainties for +herself." Miss Diana would never learn the economy which is content to +be comfortable while a neighbor is in need. "And, Unavella, if you +please, you might say I am not receiving callers this afternoon. I am +afraid it is not very hospitable, but I feel as if I must be alone. This +has been rather a sudden shock to me." + +"You, you--angul!" exclaimed Unavella, as soon as she had regained the +privacy of her kitchen, while a briny crystal of genuine affection +rolled down her cheek and splashed unceremoniously into the gravy. + +Up-stairs in her pretty chamber Miss Diana sat and thought. Ruin and +starvation. Was that what it meant? She had seen the words in print +often but they seemed different now. Ruin meant a giving up and going +out, while the auctioneer's hammer smote upon one's heart with cruel +blows, and one could not see to say farewell because one's eyes were +full of tears. It would not be starvation--of the body. She must be +thankful for that. The house and grounds were in a good locality and she +had refused several handsome offers for them during the past year. + +She caught her breath a little as she thought of the wide stretching +field where her dainty Jersey was feeding, with its cluster of trees in +one corner, under which a brook babbled joyously as it danced on its way +to the river; the pretty barn with its pigeon-house where her +snow-white fantails craned their imperious heads; the wide porch with +its flower drapery, where she sat and read or worked with her pet +spaniel at her feet, and where her friends loved to gather through the +summer afternoons and chat over the early supper before they went back +to the city's grime and stir. + +Then in thought she entered the house. The room which had been her +father's and the library which held his books. Could she sell those! She +shivered, as in imagination she heard the careless inventory of the +auctioneer. She had never attended an auction except once, and then she +had hurried away, for it seemed to her the pictured faces were misty +with tears and she fancied the draperies sighed, as they waved in the +wind which swept through the gaping windows. There were the engravings +which she loved and the pictures her father had brought with him from +Europe, and the rare old china and her mother's silver service, and her +store of delicate napery and household linen; while every table and +chair had a story and the very walls of each room were dear. Had she +been making idols of these things in her heart? + +Miss Diana knelt beside the couch, comfortable as only old-fashioned +couches know how to be. "Dear Christ," she cried, "I am thy follower +and I have gone shod with velvet while thy feet were travel-stained, and +I have slept upon eider-down while thou hadst not where to lay thine +head!" + +She knelt on, motionless, until the twilight fell and the stars began to +peep out in the sky. Then she went down-stairs and there was a strange, +exalted look upon her sweet face. + +"Unavella," she cried softly, "I have found the sunlight, for I can say +'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the +LORD.'" + +"Oh, Miss Di-an!" wailed Unavella, "I b'lieve you're goin' ter die an' +be an angul afore the moon changes!" + + * * * * * + +Miss Diana had been to see her lawyer and he had confirmed her decision. +Her income was gone. With the exception of a couple of hundred dollars, +coming to her from a different source, she was penniless. There was +nothing left her but to sell. + +When she reached home that night she looked very white and weary, but +her smile was all the sweeter because of the unshed tears. Unavella had +spread her supper in the porch. She ate but little, however. "I am sorry +I cannot do more justice to your skill, Unavella," she said with her +gentle courtesy, "but I do not seem to feel hungry lately." + +"It's that li-yar!" muttered Unavella grimly, as she cleared the things +away. "I never knowed a li-yar yit that didn't scare all the appetite +away from a body." + +When her work was finished she came back to the porch where Miss Diana +was sitting very still in the moonlight. "Miss Di-an!" she exclaimed +impetuously, "don't you go fer to be thinkin' of sellin'! I've got a +plan that beats the li-yar's all holler, ef he duz wear a wig." + +"Sit down, Unavella," said her mistress kindly, "and tell me what it +is." + +"Well, I haven't said nuthin' to you before, 'cause I knowed it would +only hurt you ef I wuz to let my feelin's loose about them thievin' +rapscallions that dared to lay their cheatin' hands on the money the +Gin'rel left ye; but I've been a thinkin'--stiddy--an' while you wuz +comin' to your decision above I wuz comin' to mine below, an' now we'll +toss 'em up fer luck, an' see which wins, ef you air willin'." + +Miss Diana smiled. "Well, Unavella." she said. + +"You decide ter leave yer hum, with all there is to it, an' me inter the +bargain, an' go ter board with folks what don't know yer likins nor +understan' yer feelin's, an' the end on it'll be that you'll jest wilt +away wuss than a mornin' glory. I never did think folks sarved the Lord +by dyin' afore their time comes. + +"I decide to hev you keep yer hum, an' the things in it, an' me too. The +hull on it is, Miss Di-an, _I won't be left_!" and Unavella buried her +face in her hands and sobbed aloud. + +"You dear Unavella!" Miss Diana laid her soft hand upon the +toil-roughened ones. "If you only knew how I dread the thought of +leaving you! But what else is there for me to do?" + +"Gentlemen boarders," was the terse reply. + +"Gentlemen boarders!" echoed Miss Diana in bewilderment. + +"Yes. You catch 'em, an' I'll cook'em. We'll begin with two ter see how +they eat, an ef we find it don't cost too much ter fatten 'em up, we'll +go inter the bizness reglar;" after making which cannibalistic +proposition Unavella looked to her mistress for approval. + +"Why, Unavella," said Miss Diana, after the first shock of surprise was +over, "I never even dreamed of such a thing! It might be possible, if +you are willing to undertake it, it is very good of you. But we will not +make any plans, Unavella, until I talk it over with the Lord. If his +smile rests upon it, your kindly thought for me will succeed; if not, it +would be sure to fail. I must have his approval first of all." + +She rose as she spoke and bade her a gentle good-night, and Unavella +walked slowly back to her kitchen again. "Ef the angul Gabriel," she +soliloquized, "starts in ter searchin' the earth this night fer the +Lord's chosen ones, there ain't no fear but what he'll cum ter this +house, the fust thing." + +Up-stairs Miss Diana was whispering softly, as she looked up at the +stars with a trustful smile. "Oh, my Father, if it is thy will that I +should do this thing, thou wilt send me the right ones." + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +John Randolph did some hard thinking during the weeks which followed +Richard Trueman's death. It was no light task which he had so cheerfully +imposed upon himself. The boy was constitutionally delicate and fretted +so constantly after his father that his health began to suffer, and it +grew to be a very pale face which welcomed John with a smile when he +returned from the office. The style of living was bad for him. He was +alone all day, except for an occasional visit from the good-natured +German woman who kept their rooms, and, although he was a voracious +reader, the doctor had forbidden all thought of study for a year, even +had there been a school near enough for him to attend, where John would +have been willing to send him. He ought to be where the air was pure and +the surroundings cheerful. John would have preferred to put up with the +discomfort of his present quarters and lay by the addition to his salary +towards the more speedy realization of his day-dream, but John Randolph +had never found much time to think of himself; there were always so many +other people in the world to be attended to. + +"Dick, my boy," he said cheerily one evening, after they had finished +what he pronounced a sumptuous repast, "I have a presentiment that this +month will witness a turning point in our career. I believe you and I +are going to become suburbanites." + +The boy's sad eyes grew wide with wonder. + +"What do you mean, John?" + +"Well you see, Dick True, it is this way. As soon as I get my +degree--earn the right to put M.D. after my name, you know,--I am going +to take two rubber bags, fill one with sunshine and one with pure air, +full of the scent of rose leaves and clover and strawberries--ah, Dick, +you'd like to smell that, wouldn't you?--and carry one in each pocket; +then, when my patients come to me for advice, the first dose I shall +give them will be out of my rubber bags, and in six cases out of ten I +believe they'll get better without any drug at all. You see, Dick True, +the trouble is, our Father has given us a whole world full of air and +sunlight to be happy in, and we poison the air with smoke and shut +ourselves away from the sunshine in boxes of brick and mortar, only +letting a stray beam come in occasionally through slits in the walls +which we call windows. It's no wonder we are such poor, miserable +concerns. You can't fancy an Indian suffering from nervous prostration, +can you, Dick? and it doesn't strike you as probable that Robinson +Crusoe had any predisposition to lung trouble? So you see, Dick True, as +it is a poor doctor who is afraid of his own medicine, I am going to +prescribe it first of all for ourselves, and we will go where +unadulterated oxygen may be had for the smelling, and we can draw in +sunshine with every breath." + +The pale face brightened. + +"Oh, that will be lovely! I do get so tired of these old streets. But +John,--" + +"Well, Dick?" + +"Why do you keep calling me Dick True all the time?" + +John laughed. "Just to remind you that you must be a true boy before you +can really be a True-man, Dick. I want you to be in the best company. +Jesus Christ is the truth, you know, Dick." + +"Jesus Christ," repeated the boy thoughtfully. "I wish I knew him, John, +as well as you do." + +"If you love, you will know," said John, the light which the boy loved +to watch creeping into his eyes. "He is the best friend we will ever +have, Dick, you and I." + +He opened several papers as he spoke and ran his eyes over the +advertising columns. "H'm, I don't like the sound of these," he said, +"they promise too much. Hot and cold water baths and gas and the +advantages of a private family and city privileges. Everyone seems to +keep the 'best table in the city.' That's curious, isn't it, Dick? And +nearly everyone has the most convenient location. Dick, my boy, it's one +thing to say we are going to do a thing, it's another thing to do it. I +expect this suburban question is going to be a puzzle to you and me." + +And so it proved. Day after day John searched the papers in vain, until +it seemed as if a suburban residence was the one thing in life +unattainable. But the long lane of disappointment had its turning at +length, and he hurried home to Dick, paper in hand. + +"Dick, Dick True, we've found it at last! Listen: + +"Two gentlemen can be pleasantly accommodated at 'The Willows.' Address +Miss Chillingworth, University P.O. Box 123. + +"The University Post Office is just near the College, you know, Dick, so +it is in a good location. Two gentlemen--that means you and me, Dick; +and 'The Willows' means running brooks, or ought to, if they are any +sort of respectable trees." + +The boy clapped his hands. "When can we go, John?" + +John laughed. "Not so fast, Dick. There may be other gentlemen in +Marlborough on the lookout for a suburban residence. I addressed Miss +Chillingworth on paper this morning, telling her I should give myself +the pleasure of addressing her in person to-morrow. It is a half +holiday, you know, Dick. I like the ring of this advertisement. There is +no fuss and feathers about it. She doesn't offer city privileges and +promise ice cream with every meal." + +"But, John," said the boy, ruefully, "we're not gentlemen. You don't +wear a silk hat, you know, and I have no white shirts--nothing but these +paper fronts. I hate paper fronts! They're such shams! + +"Oh, ho! Dick, so you're pining for frills, eh? Well, if it will make +you feel more comfortable, we'll go down to Stewart's and get fitted out +to your satisfaction. But don't forget that you can be a gentleman in +homespun as well as broadcloth, Dick. Real diamonds don't need to borrow +any luster from their setting; only the paste do that." + +The next afternoon John strode along in the direction of 'The Willows' +to the accompaniment of a merry whistle. It did him good to get out into +the open country once more, and he felt sure it would be worth a king's +ransom to Dick; but when he came in sight of the house he hesitated. +There must be some mistake. This was not the sort of house to open its +doors to boarders. "Poor Dick!" he soliloquized, "no wonder you felt a +premonitory sense of the fitness of frills! Well, I'll go and inquire. +They can only say 'No,' and that won't annihilate me." + +He was ushered into Miss Diana's presence, and on the instant forgot +everything but Miss Diana herself. Before he realized what he was doing +he had explained the reason of his seeking a suburban home, and, drawn +on by her gentle sympathy, was telling her the story of his life. Miss +Diana had a way of compelling confidence, and the people who gave it to +her never afterwards regretted the gift. With the straightforwardness +which was a part of his nature he told his story. It never occurred to +him that there was anything peculiar about it, yet when he had finished +there were tears in his listener's eyes. + +When at length he rose to go, everything was settled between them. +John's eyes wandered round the room and then rested again with a +curious sense of pleasure upon Miss Diana's face. + +"I cannot begin to thank you," he said, gratefully, "for allowing us to +come here. I never dared to hope that my poor little Dick would have +such an education as this home will be to him, but I feel sure you will +learn to like Dick True." + +Miss Diana held out her hand, with a smile. "I think I shall like you as +well as Dick," she said. + + * * * * * + +Weeks and months flew past and the household at 'The Willows' was a very +happy one. Unavella was in great glee over the success of her scheme. + +"I used ter think," she confided to her bosom friend, "thet boarders wuz +good fer nuthin' 'cept ter be an aggervation an' a plague; but I +couldn't think o' nuthin' else ter do, an' I made up my mind I'd ruther +put up with 'em than lose Miss Di-an, even ef their antics did make me +gray-headed afore the year wuz out. But I needn't hev worritted. Two +sech obligin' young fellers I never did see, an' never expect ter agin +in this world. They don't never seem comfortable 'cept when they're +helpin' a body. An' Mr. John's whistle ez enuff ter put sunshine inter +the Deluge! I used ter think we wuz ez happy ez birds--Miss Di-an an' +me--but I declare the house seems lonesum now when he leaves in the +mornin'. He's alluz at it, whistle, whistle, whistle. 'Tain't none o' +them screechin' whistles that takes the top off of your head an' leaves +the inside a' hummin', but it's jest as soft an' sweet an' low! +Sometimes I think he's prayin', it's that lovely. It's my belief it puts +Miss Di-an in mind o' someone, fer she jest sets in the porch, when he's +a' tinkerin' round in the evenings or dig-gin' in the gardin--he's never +satisfied unless everything's jest kep spick an' span--an' there's the +sweetest smile on her face, an' the dreamy look in her eyes thet folks' +eyes don't never hev 'cept when they're episodin' with their past. + +"An' the way they foller her about an' treat her jest ez ef she wuz a +princess! I declare, it makes my heart warm. The young one called her +his little mother the other night, an' Mr. John sez, sez he, 'Ye +couldn't hev a sweeter, Dick, nor a dearer.' He makes me think of one o' +them folks in poetry what wuz alluz a' ridin' round with banners an' a +spear." + +"A knight?" suggested her friend, who had just indulged a literary taste +by purchasing a paper covered edition of Sir Walter Scott. + +"Yes, that's what I mean. An' I sez to myself,--'ef they wuz like he +is, an' wuz ez plenty in the Middle Ages ez they make 'em out ter be, +then it's a pity we wuzn't back right in the center uv 'em,' sez I." + +"Lady Di! Lady Di!" and little Dick came hurrying into the library where +Miss Diana was sitting in the gloaming. "John wants you to come out and +see if you like the new flowers he is planting. He says I must be sure +to put your shawl on, for the dew is falling." + +Miss Diana's eyes grew misty as her little cavalier adjusted her wrap. +"Why do you give me that name, Dick?" she asked. Only one other had ever +given it to her before, in the long ago. + +"What? Lady Di?" answered the boy. "Oh, we always call you that, John +and I. Our Lady Di. John says you make him think of the elect lady, in +the Bible, you know." + +And Miss Diana, as she passed the shelves, laid her hand caressingly +upon the beloved books with a happy smile. God had sent her the right +ones! + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Marion entered Evadne's room one glorious winter's morning and threw +herself on the lounge beside her cousin with a sigh. + +"I don't see how you do it!" she exclaimed. + +"Do what?" asked Evadne. + +"Why, keep so pleasant with Isabelle. She works me up to the last pitch +of endurance, until I feel sometimes as if I should go wild. It is no +use saying anything, Mamma always takes her side, you know, but she does +aggravate me so! Even her movements irritate me,--just the way she +shakes her head and curls her lip,--she is so self-satisfied. She thinks +no one else knows anything. It must be a puzzle to her how the world +ever got along before she came into it, and what it will do when she +leaves it is a mystery!" + +"She is good discipline." + +Marion gave her an impetuous hug. "You dear Evadne! I believe you take +us all as that! But I don't think the rest of us can be quite as trying +as Isabelle. She does seem to delight in saying such horrid things. She +was abominably rude to you this morning at breakfast and yet you were +just as polite as ever. I couldn't have done it. I should have sulked +for a week. I know you feel it, for I see your lips quiver--you are as +susceptible to a rude touch as a sensitive plant--but it is beautiful to +be able to keep sweet outside." + +"You mean to be _kept_, Marion," said Evadne softly, "by the power of +God. I have no strength of my own." + +Marion sighed dismally. "Oh, dear! I don't know what I mean, except that +I'm a failure. It is no wonder Louis thinks Christianity is a humbug, +though he must confess there is something in it when he looks at you. +You are so different, Evadne! I should think Isabelle would be ashamed +of herself, for I believe half the time she says things on purpose to +provoke you. She doesn't seem to get much comfort out of it any way. I +never saw such a discontented mortal. Don't you think it is wicked for +people to grumble the way she does, Evadne? It is growing on her, too. +She finds fault with everything. Even the snow came in for a share of +her disapprobation this morning, because it would spoil the skating, as +if the Lord had no other plans to further than just to give her an +afternoon's amusement! She is _so_ self-centered!" + +Evadne looked out at the street where the fresh fallen snow had spread +a dazzling carpet of virgin white. "He is going to let me give an +afternoon's amusement to Gretchen and little Hans," she said. "Uncle +Lawrence has promised me the sleigh and I am going to take them to the +Park. Won't it be beautiful to see them enjoy! Hans has never seen the +trees after a snowstorm." + +"That is you all over, Evadne. It is always other people's pleasure, +while I think of my own! Oh, dear! I seem to do nothing but get savage +and then sigh over it. I know it is dreadful to talk about my own sister +as I have been doing--they say you ought to hide the faults of your +relations--but it is only to you, you know. Do you suppose there is any +hope for me, Evadne?" she asked disconsolately. + +Evadne drew her head down until it was on a level with her own. "Let +Christ teach you to love, dear," she whispered, "Then, 'charity will +cover the multitude of sins.'" She opened the book she had been reading +when her cousin entered and took from it a newspaper clipping. "Read +this," she said. "Aunt Marthe sent it in her last letter. If we follow +its teachings I think all the fret and worry will go out of our lives +for good." + +And Marion read,--"To step out of self-life into Christ-life, to lie +still and let him lift you out of it, to fold your hands close and hide +your face upon the hem of his robe, to let him lay his cooling, +soothing, healing hands upon your soul, and draw all the hurry and fever +away, to realize that you are not a mighty messenger, an important +worker of his, full of care and responsibility, but only a little child +with a Father's gentle bidding to heed and fulfil, to lay your busy +plans and ambitions confidently in his hands, as the child brings its +broken toys at its mother's call; to serve him by waiting, to praise him +by saying 'Holy, holy, holy,' a single note of praise, as do the +seraphim of the heavens if that be his will, to cease to live in self +and for self and to live in him and for him, to love his honor more than +your own, to be a clear and facile medium for his life-tide to shine and +glow through--this is consecration and this is rest." + +When, some hours later, Evadne went down-stairs to luncheon, she felt +strangely happy. Marion had said Louis must confess there was something +in Christianity when he looked at her. That was what she longed to +do--to prove to him the reality of the religion of Jesus. And that +afternoon she was going to give such a pleasure to Gretchen and little +Hans. It was beautiful to be able to give pleasure to people. She could +just fancy how Gretchen's eyes would glisten as she talked to her in her +mother tongue, while little Hans' shyness would vanish under the genial +influence of Pompey's sympathetic companionship, and he would clap his +hands with delight as Brutus and Caesar drew them under the arches of +evergreen beauty, bending low beneath their ermine robes, while the +silver bells broke the hush of silence which dwelt among the forest +halls with a subdued melody and then rang out joyously as they emerged +into the open, where the sun shone bright and clothed denuded twigs and +trees in the bewitching beauty of a silver thaw. It would always seem to +little Hans like a dream of fairyland and she would be remembered as his +fairy godmother. It was a pleasant role--that of a fairy godmother. + +She started, for Louis was saying carelessly to the servant,--"Tell +Pompey to have the sleigh ready by half-past two, sharp." + +"Why, Louis!" she spoke as if in a dream, "I am going to have the sleigh +this afternoon." + +"That is unfortunate, coz," said Louis lightly, "as probably we are +going in different directions." + +"I am going to the Park," stammered Evadne, "with little Hans and +Gretchen." + +"Exactly, and I to the Club grounds. Diametrically opposite, you see." + +"But Uncle Lawrence promised me. He said no one wanted the sleigh this +afternoon." + +"The Judge should not allow himself to jump at such hasty conclusions +before hearing the decision of the Foreman of the Jury. It is an unwise +procedure for his Lordship." + +"But poor little Hans will be so disappointed! He has been looking +forward to it for weeks." + +"Disappointed! My dear coz, the placid Teutonic mind is impervious to +anything so unphilosophical. It will teach him the truth of the adage +that 'there is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip,' and in the +future he will not be so foolish as to look forward to anything." + +Evadne's lips quivered. "You are cruel," she said, "to shut out the +sunlight from a poor little crippled child!" + +"My dear coz, I give you my word of honor, I am sorry. But there is +nothing to make a fuss about. Any other day will suit your little beggar +just as well. I promised some of the fellows to drive them out and a +Hildreth cannot break his word, you know." + +"You have made me break mine," said Evadne sadly, as she passed him to +go upstairs. + +"Ah, you are a woman," said Louis coolly, "that alters everything." + +Did it alter everything? Evadne was pacing her floor with flashing eyes. +"Was there one rule of honor for Louis, another for herself? No! no! no! +How perfectly hateful he is!" and she stamped her foot with sudden +passion. "I despise him!" + +Suddenly she fell on her knees beside the lounge and cowered among its +cushions, while the eyes of the Christ, reproachfully tender, seemed to +pierce her very soul. "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do +good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you +and persecute you,--that ye may be the children of your Father in +heaven, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and +sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." + +His sorrowful tones seemed to crush her into the earth. Was this her +Christ-likeness? And she had let Marion say she was better than them +all! What if she or Louis were to see her now? He would say again, as he +had said before, "There is not much of the 'meek and lowly' in evidence +at present." "And he would be right," she cried remorsefully. "Oh, +Jesus Christ, is this the way I am following thee!" + +"You do right to feel annoyed," argued self. "It hurts you to disappoint +Gretchen and Hans." + +"It is your own pride that is hurt," answered her inexorable conscience. +"You wanted to pose as a Lady Bountiful. It is humiliating to let these +poor people see that you are of no consequence in your uncle's house. +Christ kept no carriage. It is not what you do but what you are, that +proves your kinship with the Lord." + +It was a very humble Evadne who, late in the afternoon, walked slowly +towards the German quarter. "I am very sorry," she said quietly, when +she had reached the spotless rooms where Gretchen made a home for her +crippled brother, "my cousin had made arrangements to use the sleigh +this afternoon, so we could not have our drive. I am _very_ sorry." + +And they put their own disappointment out of sight, these kindly German +folk, and tried to make her think they cared as little as if they were +used to driving every day. + +"Did you notice, Gretchen," said Hans, after Evadne had left them, "how +sweet our Fraulein was this afternoon? But her eyes looked as if she +had been crying. Do you suppose she had?" + +"I think, Hans," said Gretchen slowly, "our Fraulein is learning to +dwell where God wipes all the tears away." + +"Are your eyes no better, Frau Himmel?" Evadne was saying as she shook +hands with another friend who was patiently learning the bitter truth +that she would never be able to see her beloved Fatherland again. "Are +the doctors quite sure that nothing can be done?" + +"Quite sure, Fraulein Hildreth," answered the woman with a smile, "but +there is one glorious hope they can't take from me." + +"A hope, Frau Himmel, when you are blind! What can it be?" + +"This, dear Fraulein," and the look on the patient face was beautiful to +see. "'Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they shall behold +the land that is very far off.'" + +And Evadne, walking homeward, repeated the words which she had read that +morning with but a dim perception of their meaning. 'If limitation is +power that shall be, if calamities, opposition and weights are wings and +means--we are reconciled.' + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +"Uncle Lawrence, with your permission, I am going to study to be a +nurse." + +Judge Hildreth started. So light had been the footsteps and so deeply +had he been absorbed in thought, he had not heard his niece enter the +library and cross the room until she stood before his desk. Very fair +was the picture which his eyes rested upon. What made his brows contract +as if something hurt him in the sight? + +Evadne Hildreth was in all the sweetness of her young womanhood. She was +not beautiful, not even pretty, Isabelle said, but there was a strange +fascination about her earnest face, and the wonderful grey eyes +possessed a charm that was all their own. She had graduated with honors. +Now she stood upon the threshold of the unknown, holding her life in her +hands. + +Louis was traveling in Europe. Isabelle and Marion were at a fashionable +French Conservatory, for the perfecting of their Parisian accent. +Evadne was alone. She had chosen to have it so. She wanted to follow up +a special course in physiology which was her favorite study. + +"A nurse, Evadne! My dear, you are beside yourself. 'Much learning hath +made you mad.'" + +"'I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and +soberness.' I feel called to do this thing." + +"Who has called you, pray? We do not deal in supernaturalisms in this +prosaic century." + +The lovely eyes glowed. "Jesus Christ." What an exultant ring there was +in her voice, and how tenderly she lingered over the name! + +"Jesus Christ!" Judge Hildreth repeated the words in an awestruck tone. +Did she see him cower in his chair? It must have been an optical +illusion. The storm outside was making the house shiver and the lights +dance. + +"You must consult your aunt," he said in a changed voice. She noticed +with a pang how old and careworn he looked. + +"Kate," he called, as just then he heard his wife's step in the hall, +"come here." + +"What do you wish, Lawrence?" and there was a soft _frou frou_ of silken +draperies as Mrs. Hildreth's dress swept over the carpet. + +"Evadne wishes to become a nurse." + +"Are you crazy?" There was a steely glitter in Mrs. Hildreth's eyes, and +her tone fell cold and measured through the room. + +"She says not," said the Judge with a feeble smile. + +"Why should you think so, Aunt Kate?" asked Evadne gently. "Look how the +world honors Florence Nightingale, and think how many splendid women +have followed her example." + +"To earn your own living by the labor of your hands. A Hildreth!" + +"All the people who amount to anything in the world have to work, Aunt +Kate. There is nothing degrading in it." + +"Just try it and you will soon find out your mistake. If you do this +thing you will be ostracized by the world. People make a great talk +about the dignity of labor, but a girl who works has no footing in +polite society." + +Evadne's sweet laugh fell softly through the silence. "I don't believe I +have any time for society, Aunt Kate. Life seems too real to be +frittered away over afternoon teas." + +"Are you mad, Lawrence, to let her take this step? Think of the Hildreth +honor!" + +Again Judge Hildreth laughed--that strange, feeble laugh. "Evadne is of +age, Kate; she must do as she thinks right. As to the rest--I think the +less we say about the Hildreth honor now the better for us all." + +He was alone. Mrs. Hildreth had swept away in a storm of wrath. Evadne +had followed her, leaving a soft kiss upon his brow. He lifted his hand +to the place her lips had touched--he felt as if he had been stung--but +there was no outward wound. + +The Hildreth honor! The letters in the drawer at his side seemed to +confront him with scorn blazing from every page. He put forth his hand +with a sudden determination. He would crush their impertinent +obtrusiveness under his heel; then, when their damaging evidence was +buried in the dust of oblivion, he would be safe and fret! Evadne knew +her father had left her something. He would make special mention of it +in his will--a Trust fund--enough to yield her maintenance and the +paltry pin money which was all the allowance he had ever seen his way +clear to make his brother's child. It was not his fault, he argued--he +had meant to do right--but gilt-edged securities were as waste, paper in +the unprecedented monetary depression which was sweeping stronger men +than himself to the verge of ruin. He could not foresee such a crisis. +Even the Solons of Wall Street had not anticipated it. It was not his +fault. He had meant to make all right in a few years. What was that +they said was paved with good intentions? He could not remember. He +seemed to have strange fits of forgetfulness lately. He must see that +everything was put in proper shape in the event of his death. People +died suddenly sometimes. One never knew. + +It would be safer to make re-investments. Yes, that was a good thought. +He wondered it had never occurred to him before. His wisest plan was to +have all moneys and securities in his own name. It would make it so much +easier for the executors. It was not fair to burden any one with a +business so involved as his was now. Of course he would make a mental +note of just how much belonged to his brother. It would not be safe to +put it in black and white--executors had such an unpleasant habit of +going over one's private papers--but he would be sure to remember, and, +if he ever got out of this bog, as he expected to do of course shortly, +he would give Evadne back her own. It would leave him badly crippled for +funds, but one must expect to make sacrifices for the sake of principle. +Then, when these letters were destroyed, they would have no clue--he +frowned. What an unfortunate word for him to use! A clue wag suggestive +of criminality. What possible connection could there be between Judge +Hildreth and that? + +He fitted the key in the lock and turned it, then his hand fell by his +side. No, no, he had not come to that--yet. He had always held that +tampering with the mails evinced the blackest turpitude. He was an +honorable gentleman. He started. What was that? A long, low, +blood-curdling laugh, as if a dozen mocking fiends stood at his +elbow,--or was it just the shrieking of the wind among the gables? It +was a wild night. The rain dashed against the window panes in sheets of +vengeful fury, and the howling of the storm made him shudder as he +thought of the ships at sea. Now and then a loose slate fell from an +adjoining roof and was shivered into atoms upon the pavement, while the +wind swept along the street and lashed the branches of the trees into a +panic of helpless, quivering rage. Could any poor beggars be without a +shelter on such a night as this? How did such people live? + +He caught himself dozing. He felt strangely drowsy. He straightened +himself resolutely in his chair and drew a package of stock certificates +from one of the secret drawers of the desk. He would see about selling +the stock and making re-investments to-morrow. + +It must be done,--to save the Hildreth honor. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +Once more the Hildreth household was united, if such a thing as union +could be possible, among so many diverse elements. + +Isabelle's chill hauteur had increased with the years and a peevish +discontent was carving indelible lines upon her face which was rapidly +losing its delicate contour and bloom. Marion's pink and white beauty +was at its zenith, and the social attentions she was beginning to +receive only served to render her elder sister more than ever irritable +and envious. Louis was his old nonchalant self, careless and listless, +with an ever deepening expression of _ennui_ which was pitiful in one so +young. His European travels had not improved him, in Evadne's opinion. + +She saw but little of her cousins. They passed their days in pleasure, +she in work; but Marion, in her rare moments of reflection, as she +thought of the strangely peaceful face of the young nurse, wondered +sadly whether Evadne had not chosen the better part after all. + +"Oh, Louis!" she cried one morning, and her voice was full of pain, +"how you are wasting this beautiful life that God has given you!" + +Louis stretched himself lazily in his arm-chair and clasped his hands +behind his head. "Thanks for your high opinion, coz. Of what special +crime do I stand accused before the bar of your judgment?" + +"Oh, it is nothing special, but you are just frittering away the days +that might be filled with such noble work, and you have nothing to show +for them but--smoke!" She swept her hand through the filmy cloud which +Louis just then blew into the air, with a gesture of disdain. "Now you +will think I am preaching, but indeed, indeed I am not, only, it hurts +me so!" + +Louis laughed and threw away his cigar. "No, I will not charge you with +belonging to the cloth, but I confess I should like you better if you +had not entrenched yourself behind such a high wall of prejudice against +all the good things of this life. You are too narrow, Evadne." + +Evadne folded her hands together as if she were holding a strange, sweet +comfort against her heart. "The Jews said the same about Jesus Christ," +she said, "why should the servant be judged more kindly than her Lord?" + +"But there is no harm in these things, Evadne." + +"There is no good in them. Life is so real, Louis!" + +"Well, I own I am a light weight in the race. But I assure you such +people are needed to balance matters. If every one was in such deadly +earnest as you, Evadne, the old world would go to pieces." + +"But, Louis, it is dreadful to have no purpose in life!" + +"The Judge has enough of that for us both," said Louis carelessly. "Why +should I choke my brains with musty law when his are charged to +repletion?" + +"Think how it would please Uncle Lawrence!" urged Evadne. + +"True," said Louis gravely, "but that is an argument which will bear +future consideration." + +"Oh, Louis," and Evadne's voice was choked with tears, "the time may +come when you would give the whole world to be able to please your +father!" + +"But, Evadne," said Louis gently, "a man must have freedom of choice in +his vocation. My father chose the law for his profession, why should he +rebel if I choose dilettanteism?" + +"Because it is no profession at all. I am sure he would not mind what +you did, if it were only real work." + +[Illustration: 'TAKE HER, RANDOLF, SHE IS WORTHY OF YOU.'] + + "Oh, pshaw! Always work, Evadne. I tell you I prefer to play. Miss +Angel told me at the General's ball last night that she liked a man who +took his glass and smoked and did all the rest of the naughty things." + +"She is an angel of darkness, luring you on to ruin." + +Louis shrugged his shoulders. "Possibly. If so, she is disguised as an +angel of light. She sings divinely." + +"So did the Sirens." + +Louis laughed. "She has promised to go for a sail with me to-morrow. +Better come along, coz, and keep us off the rocks." + +Evadne was silent. + +"I like such a girl as that," he continued. "She has common sense and +makes a fellow feel comfortable. These moral altitudes of yours are all +very fine in theory, but the atmosphere is too rare for me." + +"It is no real kindness to make you satisfied with your lowest. I want +you to rise to your best. Oh, Louis, won't you let Christ make your life +grand? It would be such a happiness to me!" She laid her hand upon his +shoulder. Louis caught it in his and drew her round in front of his +chair. + +"Do you really mean that, little coz? Upon my word, it is the strongest +inducement you could offer me. I feel half inclined to try, just for +your sake, only you see it would involve such a tremendous expenditure +of moral force!" and he lighted a fresh cigar. + + * * * * * + +"I do wish you would not ride such wild horses, Louis," said Mrs. +Hildreth, as she stood beside her son in the front doorway, looking +disapprovingly as she spoke at the horse who was champing his bit +viciously on the sidewalk below. "It keeps me in a perfect fever of +anxiety all the time." + +"Whoa, Polyphemus! Stand still, sir! Pompey, have you tightened that +girth up to its last hole? Better do it then. Don't mind his kicking. It +doesn't hurt him. It's just his way. + +"My dear lady mother, if you knew what a pleasure it is to find +something untamable where everything is so confoundedly slow you would +not wonder at my fondness for the brute. As to your anxiety, that is +ridiculous. A Hildreth has too much sense to be conquered by a horse and +make a spectacle of himself into the bargain. _Au revoir_. Better take a +dose of lavender to calm your nerves," and Louis waved his hand to her +with careless grace, as he gathered up the reins. + +His mother looked after him with a sigh. "He is so fearless! What a +splendid cavalry officer he would make! He makes me think of the +regiment that went to the war from Marlborough." Her eye fell casually +upon Pompey who was shutting the carriage gates. "What a waste of +precious lives it was to be sure, just to free a lot of cowardly +negroes!" + +It was late in the afternoon when Pompey went up town on an errand for +Judge Hildreth. The street was full of men and horses hurrying to and +fro but Pompey paid them but little attention. He was busy with his +Lord. + +Hark! What was that? The sound of a horse's hoofs ringing with a sharp, +metallic clatter upon the paved street while children screamed and men +turned white faces towards the sound and hurriedly sought the sidewalk. + +On they came, the horse and his rider. Louis pale as death, Polyphemus +mad with sudden fear and his own ungovernable temper. The bit was +between his teeth, his iron-shod feet were thrown out in vengeful fury. + +Pompey sprang forward. + +"You can't stop him!" shouted the men. "It would be certain death!" But +just beyond the street took a sharp turn to the right and a deep chasm, +where extensive excavations for a sewer were being made, yawned +hungrily. + +The horse plunged and reared. Pompey had caught hold of the reins and +was clinging to them with all his might. + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Hildreth leaned over her son in an agony of fear. Louis was her +idol. He opened his eyes wearily. His cheeks were as white as the +pillow. + +"Oh, Louis!" she wailed, "I knew that wretched horse would bring you to +your death!" + +"I am not dead yet," he said, with a shadow of his old mocking smile, +"although I _have_ succeeded in making a fool of myself. How is Pompey?" + +"Pompey!" ejaculated his mother. "I never thought of any one but you." + + * * * * * + +Evadne stood in Dyce's little room, beside the bed with its gay +patchwork cover. The iron-shod hoofs had done their cruel work only too +well! + +"Pompey," she said wistfully, "dear Pompey, is the pain terrible to +bear?" + +The faithful eyes looked up at her, the brave lips tried to smile. "De +Lord Jesus is a powerful help in de time of trubble, Miss 'Vadney; I'se +leanin' on his arm." + +Evadne repeated, as well as she could for tears. "'Fear thou not, for I +am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen +thee, yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand +of my righteousness.'" + +And Pompey answered with joyous assurance,--"'Though I walk through the +valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with +me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.'" + +"The Jedge hez been here," said Dyce with mournful pride. "He say he'll +never find any one like Pompey. He say it wuz de braves' ting he ever +knowed any one to do. He jest cry like a chile, de Jedge did; he say he +never 'spect to find sech a faithful frien' again." + +"De Jedge is powerful kind, Missy. He say he'll look out fer Dyce ez +long ez he live," the husband's voice broke, + +"I don't care nuthin' 'bout dat!" and Dyce turned away with a choking +sob; "but I'se proud to hev him see what kind of a man you is." + +The night drew on. No sound was to be heard in the little cottage except +the ticking of the wheezy clock, as Dyce kept her solitary vigil by the +side of the man she loved. She knelt beside his pillow, and, for her +sake, Pompey made haste to die. As the shadows of the night were fleeing +before the heralds of the dawn, she saw the gray shadow which no earthly +light has power to chase away fall swiftly over his face. + +He opened his eyes and spoke in a rapturous whisper. "Dyce! Dyce! I see +de Lord!" + +The morning broke. Dyce still knelt on with her face buried in the +pillow; the asthmatic clock still kept on its tireless race; but +Pompey's happy spirit had forever swept beyond the bounds of time. + + * * * * * + +The humble funeral was over. The Hildreth carriage, behind whose +curtained windows sat Dyce and Evadne, had followed close after the +hearse. The Judge had walked behind. + +"So uncalled for!" Mrs. Hildreth said in an annoyed tone when, she heard +of it. Your father never _will_ learn to have a proper regard for _les +convenances_." + +"Uncalled for!" ejaculated Louis. "I'll venture to say the Judge will +never have a chance to follow such a brave man again." + +"He sent his carriage. That was all that was necessary." + +"Doubtless Dyce finds that superlative honor a perfect panacea for her +grief," said Louis sarcastically. "It is eminently fitting that Brutus +and Caesar should have walked as chief mourners for they have lost the +truest friend they ever had." + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +"I'm afraid poor Evadne will be worn out with such constant attendance +upon Louis," said Marion some weeks after Pompey's death. "I don't see +how she stands it." + +"It is hardly worth her while to undertake nursing," said Isabelle +coldly, "if she cannot stand such a trifle as this." + +"Why, Isabelle, just think of the strain night after night! You wouldn't +like it, I know. I want Mamma to get a paid nurse, but Louis won't have +any one near him but Evadne." + +"Of course _I_ could not stand being broken of my rest," rejoined +Isabelle, "it is hard enough for me to get any under the most favorable +circumstances, but probably Evadne sleeps like a log in the daytime. It +is the least return she can make for having disgraced the family, to be +of some use in it now." + +Marion laughed incredulously. "I should never think of associating +Evadne's name with disgrace," she said. "What _do_ you mean, Isabelle?" + +"Mamma says this nursing fad of hers upset Papa completely. He said the +Hildreth honor had better not be mentioned any more." + +"Well, I don't know. It seems to me she is of a good deal more value to +him now than the Hildreth honor. Dr. Russe says she is one of the best +nurses he ever saw. That is a high compliment, for he is dreadfully +particular. It is my opinion, Isabelle, that Louis is a good deal worse +than we think him to be. Don't mention it to Mamma, for she is so +nervous, but I heard Dr. Russo talking to Papa in the hall this morning, +something about an inherited tendency and a derangement of the nervous +system. I could not understand--he spoke so low--but Papa looked +dreadfully worried after he had gone. + +"Don't you think Papa looks very badly, Isabelle? And he seems so +absent, as if he had something on his mind. I noticed it long before +this happened." + +Isabelle laughed carelessly. "What a girl you are, Marion! You are +always imagining things about people. For my part I have too many +worries of my own." + +Upstairs Evadne was saying wistfully, "Don't you think your life should +be very precious, Louis, now that two people have died?" + +"Two people, Evadne? I know there was good old Pompey,--the thought of +that haunts me night and day,--but who else do you mean?" + +"Jesus Christ." + +"Oh!" + +"Do you never think about him, Louis?" + +"My dear coz, I find it wiser not to think. Every other man you meet +holds a different creed, and each one thinks his is the right one. Why +should I set myself up as knowing better than other people? The only way +is to have a sort of nebulous faith. God will not expect too much of us, +if we do the best we can." + +"A 'nebulous faith' will not save you, Louis," Evadne answered sadly. +"God expects us to believe his word when he tells us that he has opened +a way for us into the Holiest by the blood of his Son." + +"That atonement theory is an uncanny doctrine." + +"It is the only way by which sinners can be made 'at one' with an +absolutely holy God. Jesus said 'And I if I be lifted up ... will draw +all men unto me.' His humanitarianism did not win the hearts of the +multitude. The very men he had fed and healed hounded him _on to his +cross_." + +"It is not philosophical." + +"I read this morning that 'the moving energy in the world's history +to-day is not a philosophy, but a cross.'" + +"The God of the present is humanitarianism." + +"Humanitarianism is not Christ. Paul says--'Though I bestow all my goods +to feed the poor ... but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.' The +love which he means is the Christ power, for no mere human love could +reach the altitude of the 13th of 1st Corinthians. Real religion is not +a creed, but a Christ. It seems to me the most important questions we +have to answer are, what we think of Christ and what we are going to do +with him. + +"When Peter gave his answer--'Thou art the Christ,--the Anointed +One,--the Son of the living God,--' Christ said, 'On this rock--the +faith of thine--I will build my church.' Humanitarianism, pure and +simple, seems to me but an attempt to imitate Christ. It is beautiful as +far as it goes, but it is not my idea of following him." + +"What is, Evadne?" + +"When Jesus told his disciples to follow, he meant them to be with him. +I do not think we can ever hope to be like Christ unless we believe him +to be God and walk with him every day. If we have the spirit of Jesus in +our hearts, we shall be model humanitarians, for we shall love our +neighbor as ourselves." + +Louis caught her hand in his. "Begin by loving me!" he cried suddenly. +"I love you, dear! These long days of watching have taught me that, +although I began to suspect it some time ago. It is no use saying +anything," he went on hurriedly, as Evadne began to protest, "you must +be my wife, for I cannot live without you!" + +He drew a handsome ring, of quaint and curious workmanship which he had +bought in Venice, from his finger, and before Evadne could recover from +her astonishment, had thrust it upon hers. "See, you are mine, darling. +Now let us seal the compact with a kiss." + +"Louis, you are dreaming! This can never be!" She struggled to free her +hand but he held her fingers in a grasp of steel. + +"It shall be, my sweet little Puritan! Do you suppose I will ever give +you up now? I tell you I love you, Evadne! Love you as I never thought I +should ever love a woman. Why, you can twist me around your finger. I am +like water in your hands." + +"Louis, please listen!" implored Evadne, with a white, strained face. +"This is utterly impossible, for--I do not love you." + +"I will teach you, dear," said Louis cheerfully. "I know I have been a +brute, but I will show you how gentle I can be." + +"Louis!" cried Evadne desperately, "you must let me go! I will _never_ +do this thing!" + +She pulled vainly at the ring as she spoke. Louis' grasp never relaxed. +When he spoke she was frightened at the recklessness of his tone. + +"Take that ring off your finger and I go straight to the devil! You say +you want to win my soul. Here is your chance. You can make of me what +you will. I own there is something in your Christianity. I can't help +sneering when I see Isabelle and Marion playing at it, but I have never +sneered at you. Now, take your choice. Shall the devil have his own?" + +His voice was quiet but she could see he was laboring under intense +excitement. Evadne was in despair. What should she do? Only that morning +Dr. Russe had said to her,-- + +"It is not the injury he sustained in the fall that worries me. He will +get over that. But the shock to the nervous system has been tremendous. +Humor him in everything and avoid the least excitement, as you value his +life." + +She leaned over him and said gently,--"Dear Louis, you are not strong +enough to talk any more to-day. I will wear the ring a little while to +please you, but remember, this other thing you want can never be." + +He looked up at her, his face pallid with exhaustion, "Promise me," he +said faintly, "that the ring shall stay on your finger until I take it +off." + +And Evadne promised. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +Three years had slipped away and Evadne still wore her cousin's ring. A +great tenderness was growing up in her heart toward him. She yearned +over him as only those can understand who know what it is to carry the +burden of souls upon their hearts by night and day but no thought of +love ever crossed her mind. To Evadne Hildreth, love was a wonderfully +sacred thing. The ring fretted her and she longed to be freed from its +presence, but Louis held her to her promise. If he only waited long +enough, he persuaded himself, his patience would be rewarded. Some day +this shy, sweet bird would nestle against his heart. In the meantime he +would keep the ungenerous advantage which his illness had given him. He +forgot that it needs more to tame a bird than merely putting it in a +cage! + +Isabelle had been intensely curious but her questions had elicited no +satisfaction from her brother, and Evadne had answered simply, "Louis +took a fancy to put it on my finger: I am wearing it to please him, +that is all:" and even Isabelle found her cousin's sweet dignity an +effectual bar against her morbid inquisitiveness. + +They had seen comparatively little of each other. Evadne was constantly +busy, either at private or hospital nursing, and very short were the +furloughs which she spent under her uncle's roof. Louis had spent the +first winter after his illness with his mother in the South of France, +now he was in Florida, but he wrote regularly, and Evadne answered--when +she could. Sweet, pleading letters which he read over and over and +honestly tried to be better: but it was only for her sake; he knew no +higher motive--yet. + +It was a perfect day. Down by the river an alligator was sunning +himself, and the resinous breath of the pine trees swept its aromatic +fragrance over Louis as he lay at full length in a hammock with his +hands behind his head. He had thrown the magazine he had been reading on +the ground and it lay open at the article on Heredity which he had just +finished. His desultory thoughts were roaming idly over the subject, +when one, more far reaching than the rest, made him start lip with a +sudden shock of unwelcome surprise. + +"By Jove! Can it be that I am a victim of it too? It looks confoundedly +like it, although even my sweet little Puritan has not felt it a sin +against her conscience to keep me in the dark." + +He thrust his fingers with an impatient gesture through his hair. "Now I +come to think of it, the case grows deucedly clear. The South of France +one winter and Florida this! Simple nervous prostration would seem to +the uninitiated better fought in the exhilirating ozone of Colorado, +or--the North Pole--than in this languorous atmosphere. 'An inherited +tendency.' Is this the pleasant little legacy which my respected +ancestor has bequeathed to his only grandson? It skipped the Judge, but +it caught poor Uncle Lenox, and now it has nabbed me! What a fool I have +been not to surmise what this confounded pain meant between my +shoulders! Grandfather Hildreth kept himself alive with nostrums until +he was seventy, but he was an invalid all his life. He ought to be +cursed for his contemptible selfishness in bringing so much suffering +upon the race! There's none of the taint about Evadne, bless her! Russe +told me the Hospital examiners said they had never passed such a perfect +specimen of health." + +He stopped suddenly and bit his lips in pain. Would he not follow his +grandfather's example--if he had the chance? + +"What in the world is the meaning of all this?" + +Louis had arrived by an earlier train than he was expected and only his +mother was at home to greet him. The hall was in confusion, workmen's +tools lay about and ladders stood against the walls. Mrs. Hildreth +laughed lightly, as she laid her hand within her son's arm. + +"Oh, they are only getting ready for the floral decorations," she said, +"we give a reception to-morrow in honor of your return. How well you are +looking, Louis. I am so delighted to have you at home." + +"Thanks, lady mother. I do not need to ask how you have survived my +absence. How is Evadne,--and the Judge and the girls?" + +His mother laughed again as she drew him on the sofa beside her. She +seemed in wonderfully good humor. "Rather a comprehensive question," she +said. "Sit down and we will have a comfortable talk before the others +get home. Your father looks wretchedly but he says there is nothing the +matter. I suppose it is just overwork and the usual money strain. +Isabelle too is not as well as I should like her to be. Suffers from +nervousness a great deal, and depression. There is a new physician here +now, a Doctor Randolph, who we think is going to help her, although he +is very young; but she took a dislike to Doctor Russe because he +belongs to the old school. And now I have a surprise for you. Marion is +engaged!" + +"Engaged! Why, you never hinted at it in your letters!" + +"It has all been very sudden. I wrote you there was a young New Yorker +very attentive to her." + +"Yes, but that is an old story. There were two fellows 'very attentive' +when I went away. How long since the present devotion culminated?" + +"Just a week ago to-night: and they are so devoted!" + +"A second Romeo and Juliet, eh?"--Louis' laugh had a bitter ring,--"By +the way, what is his name?" + +"Simpson Kennard." + +"Brother Simp! Rich, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes, very. In fact he is eligible in every way." + +"I see," yawned Louis, "Possessed of all the cardinal virtues. It is a +good thing his wealth is not all in his pockets, for they are apt to +spring a leak. But Evadne--how is she?" + +"Oh, she is always well, you know," said his mother carelessly. "There +they come now." + +"These Indian famines are a terrible business," said Judge Hildreth as +they lingered over their dessert that evening. It was pleasant to have +Louis and Evadne back again. He too was glad to see his son so well. "I +don't see what the end is going to be." + +"People say that about every calamity, Papa," said Isabelle, "but the +world goes on just the same." + +"Of course it does, Isabelle," said her brother. "You see we can't waste +time over a few dying millions when we have to give a reception for +instance." + +"But that is a necessity, Louis," said Mrs. Hildreth, "we must pay our +debts to society, you know." + +"I am sure I don't see where I could economize," sighed Marion. "That +lecturer last night was splendid and I would like to have given him +thousands but I hadn't a dollar in my purse. I never have. I spent my +last cent for chocolates yesterday." + +Evadne smiled and sighed but said nothing. The lecturer the night before +had felt his soul strangely stirred at the sight of her glowing face, +and the plate when it passed her seat had borne a shining gold piece, +but perhaps she had not as many temptations as Marion and Isabelle. + +"I would have willingly filled you up a check with the cost of the +floral decorations, Marion," said her father with a twinkle in his eye. +"They would have purchased a good many bags of corn." + +"But that is ridiculous!" said Isabelle. "What would a reception be +without flowers, I should like to know? As it is, I expect it will be a +poor affair compared to the Van Nuys' last week. We never seem to be +able to do anything in proper style. You would better put your new Worth +gown, on the collection plate, Marion, and appear in a morning dress +to-morrow night. Louis would be the first one to be scandalized if you +did!" + +"Well but, Isabelle, I had to have something now. I have worn my other +dresses so many times, I am perfectly ashamed." + +"Of course, sis," said Louis gravely, "it was a most imperative +expenditure. It is a strange coincidence that you should have chosen +that particular make though. It has always been a fancy of mine that the +Levite was robed in a Worth gown when he passed by on the other side." + +"The sufferings must be awful," said Evadne, anxious to relieve Marion's +embarrassment. "I saw in the paper to-day that----" + +Mrs. Hildreth lifted her hands in mock alarm. "Pray spare us any recital +of horrors, Evadne! I never want to hear about any of these dreadful +things. What is the use, when one cannot help in any way?" + +"You forget, Mamma," said Isabelle with a laugh, "that Evadne revels in +horrors. What would be torture to our quivering nerves, to her atrophied +sensibilities is merely an occurrence of every day." + +Louis gave a sudden start in his chair, but on the instant Evadne laid +her hand upon his arm, and its light touch soothed his anger as it had +been wont to soothe his pain. + +Evadne Hildreth was climbing the heights of victory. She had learned to +cover her wounds with a smile. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +"Who is that calf, Evadne, standing by the piano?" Louis put the +question to his cousin the next evening, as he sought a few moments' +respite from his duties as host at her side. + +"That is Mr. Simpson Kennard." + +Louis surveyed the fashionably dressed, weak-faced, sandy-haired young +man from head to foot. "He will never get above his collar!" he said in +a tone of infinite scorn. + +Evadne laughed. "You must confess it is high enough to limit the +aspirations of an ordinary mortal." + +Marion fluttered up to them, her cheeks aglow with excitement. "Louis, +where are you? I want to introduce you to Simpsey. He has just arrived." + +Evadne looked after her as she led her brother away. "Poor little soul. +What a butterfly it is! Fancy having a husband whom one could call +Simpsey!" + +She started. Her knight of the gate was standing before her with +outstretched hand. A great light was in his face. "Do you remember?" he +asked, and Evadne's eyes glowed deep with pleasure, as she laid her hand +in his. They would never be properly introduced, these two, "'Life is a +beautiful possibility,'" she said, "I am proving it so every day,--but, +oh, the awful suffering in the world! I cannot understand,--" + +And John Randolph answered with his strong, sweet faith. "God +understands, _we_ do not need to." + +They were standing in an alcove partially screened by a tall palm from +the crowd which surged up and down through the rooms. He took from his +pocket a morocco case, and, opening it, held it towards her. What made +the color flush her cheeks while her eyes fell beneath his gaze? She +only saw a little square of lawn and lace, but the name traced across +one corner was 'Evadne'! + +"Did you leave nothing behind you at Hollywood that day?" he asked +gently. + +"My handkerchief!" she cried. "I missed it before we reached +Marlborough. I must have left it at the gate." But Evadne had left more +behind her than she knew. + +"I will keep it still," he said, "with your permission. Will you give it +to me?" + +"Oh, Doctor Randolph!" Isabelle's voice fell shrill upon Evadne's +silence, "they are calling for you in the other room to decide a knotty +question--something about microbes. I told them I was sure you would +know. Will you come?" + +John Randolph put the case quickly in his pocket and smiled as he turned +away. He thought he had read consent in her lovely eyes. + +After the reception was over Evadne knelt by her window until the stars +faded one by one from the sky. Then she turned away with a happy sigh. +When he came to get his answer, she would know. + + * * * * * + +"Give that to me!" Isabella spoke imperiously to the servant, who was +passing through the hall with a note in her hand. From where she stood +she had recognized the clear handwriting of the prescriptions which the +new doctor wrote. Her demon of curiosity overcame her. The tempter was +very near. + +The girl held the note towards her. "It is for Miss Evadne," she said. +"Miss E. Hildreth, you see." + +Isabelle gave a careless laugh. "Did you not know I had an E in my name +also? Evelyn Isabelle. I know the writing. The note is meant for me." + +So the truth and the lie mingled! +When John Randolph called that evening he was ushered into the presence +of Isabelle. + +"I am so sorry about Evadne!" she exclaimed, before he had time to +speak. "She had an engagement with my brother. He monopolizes her +whenever he is at home." She laughed affectedly. "Oh, I cannot tell you +when it is coming off, but she has worn his ring for years. They will +not give us any satisfaction--deep as the sea, you know. It seems so +strange to me, but then I am so transparent. She is a clever girl, but +very peculiar. Does not seem to have much natural feeling, you know, but +I suppose I am not fitted to judge, I am so emotional!" + +John Randolph bit his lip hard. It startled him to find how sharp a pain +could be. + + * * * * * + +Day after day Evadne waited but her knight never asked for his answer. +She began to meet him professionally, for his reputation was steadily +increasing, but he made no attempt to resume the conversation which had +been so rudely interrupted. He treated her with a delicate chivalry +always--that was John Randolph's way--and once she had caught such a +strange, wistful expression on his face as he looked at her and then at +a patient's arm which she was deftly bandaging. She was puzzled. What +could it all mean? Well, God understood. + +The surgical ward in the new Hospital at Marlborough was filled to its +utmost capacity and Evadne found her work no sinecure. The force of +nurses was inadequate to the demand. Often she would be called from her +rest to minister to the critical cases which were her special care, and +she would go down to the ward saying softly, "The Master is come and +calleth for thee," and bending tenderly over the sufferers, would behold +as in a vision the face of Christ. + +"My dear Miss Hildreth!" the superintendent exclaimed one day, "how is +it that you make the patients love you so?" + +Evadne laughed merrily. "If they do," she said, "it must be because of +my love for them." And the Superintendent answered in a hushed voice, +"Why, _that_ is the Gospel!" + +They called her 'Sister,' these rough men. She liked it so. She felt +herself a sister to the world. + +It was evening and the lights were turned low in the surgical ward. +Evadne was making her round before going to her room for a sorely needed +rest. John Randolph, who had come to pay a second visit to an +interesting case in one of the medical wards, stood in the shadow of the +doorway and watched her hungrily. Each one wanted to say something and +Evadne listened patiently. To her the mission of a nurse meant +something higher than gruel and bandages. She never forgot as she +ministered to the body that she was dealing with a soul. + +John Randolph, standing with folded arms in the doorway, heard her low, +sweet laugh, as she strove to brighten up a lachrymose patient; and +caught at intervals the name of Jesus, as she reminded one and another +of the Friend whose sympathy is strong enough to bear all the weight of +human pain, and once he thought he heard the sweet note of a prayer. He +started forward. Evadne was bending over a man who had been badly +crippled in a saw mill. His left arm was gone and all the fingers from +his right hand. With the morbidness of those who delight in +concentrating attention upon their own sufferings, he had pulled off the +loosened bandage with his teeth and held up the stump for inspection, +and Evadne had laid her cool, soft hands on either side of the unsightly +mass of red and angry flesh and was holding them there while she talked! + +"She gives herself!" cried John Randolph with a great throb of longing. +"It is what Jesus did, in Galilee." + +A wave of passion broke over him. It was not true, this story. It could +not be! How could her nature, sweet as light, ever be attuned to that of +her cynical cousin? She was coming nearer, nearer. He would stay and +meet her. He thought he had read his answer in her eyes. Now he would +have it from her lips as well. + +But then, there was the ring! Isabelle had been right. It was no lady's +ornament, and he had seen the initials L. H. graven in the heart of the +stone as their hands had met one day in dressing a wound. Evadne +Hildreth was not one to wear a man's ring lightly and John Randolph bent +his head and groaned. + +"Sister, Sister, won't you sing before you go?" + +"Oh, yes, Sister, give us just one song!" + +The men raised themselves on their elbows in pleading entreaty, and +Evadne stood in all her sweet unconsciousness before him and began to do +their will. Soft and clear the music fell about him. The air was 'The +last Rose of Summer' but the words were 'Jesus, Lover of my soul.' When +the song was ended, John Randolph, hushed and comforted, walked +noiselessly down the stairway and out into the quiet street. + +Evadne had sung her message, while she folded its leaves of healing down +over her own sore heart, and human love had paled before the exquisite +beauty of the love of God! + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +"John Randolph!" + +"Rege!" + +The two men stood facing each other with hands held in a vice-like +grasp, all unconscious of what was going on around them in the street. + +"Where did you come from?" + +"Where have you been?" + +John laughed. "In and around Marlborough all the time, except when I +went to New York for my degree." + +"And never let us hear a word from you all these years!" + +"You forget, Rege, your father forbade me to hold any communication with +Hollywood." + +Reginald's face grew grave. "Poor father. Well he's done with it all +now." + +"You don't mean that he is dead, Rege?" + +"Yes--and little Nan." + +"Oh!" The exclamation was sharp with pain. + +"I think she fretted for you, John. She just seemed to pine away. Every +day we missed her about the same time, and they always found her in the +same place, down by the green road. Then scarlet fever came. She never +spoke of getting well--didn't seem to want to. The night she died she +put her arms around mother's neck and whispered. 'Tell Don me'll be +waitin' at the gate.' That was all." + +John wrung Reginald's hand and turned away. Reginald looked after him +with misty eyes. "I used to tell mother it would break his heart. I +never saw any one so wrapped up in a child!" + +"And your father, Rege?" John was calm again. + +"Had a fit of apoplexy soon after. I think Nan was the only thing in the +world he cared for. It had never struck him that she could die. We sold +Hollywood and went abroad. Mother's health broke down--she was never +very strong, you know. We spent one year in Italy and one in France, but +the shock had been too great. She lies in a lovely spot beside the sea." + +"Not your mother too, Rege!" + +Reginald's voice broke. "Yes, they are all gone. It was a great deal to +happen in a few years. I am a wealthy man, John, but I am all alone in +the world, except for Elise. Well," he added more lightly, "I have +learned not to rebel at the inevitable. It is only what we have to +expect." + +"Elise!" echoed John wonderingly, after the first shock of grief was +over. + +"My wife," said Reginald proudly. "You must come home at once and let me +show you the sweetest woman in the world." + +"Not just yet, Rege I must pay a visit to Mrs. O'Flannigan, then there +is the hospital, and the dispensary, and I promised to concoct a bed for +a poor fellow in the last stages of heart trouble. But I will come +to-night." + +"Always helping somewhere, John. What a grand fellow you are!" + +"We are in the world to help the world, else what were the use of +living?" + +"I can't do anything," said Reginald, "with this clog." He looked +contemptuously at his ebony crutch as he spoke. + +John laid his hand upon his arm. "Rege," he said in his old, tender way. +"I think this very 'clog' as you call it, is a preparation to help those +who are passing through the baptism of pain." + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Reginald Hawthorne welcomed her husband's friend with a winning +charm. She was very pretty, very graceful and very young. Reginald +idolized her. John saw that as he looked around the sumptuous home whose +every fitting was a tribute to her taste. They had just finished +unpacking the things they had brought from Europe. + +"Strangely enough," said Reginald with a laugh, "I told Elise this +morning that now I was going to start out in search of you!" + +He had developed wonderfully. John saw that too. Travel and trial had +brought out the good that was in him--but not the best. + +The evening passed pleasantly. Mrs. Hawthorne played beautifully, and +Reginald had kept ears and eyes open and talked well. + +"How about the other life, Rege?" asked John when they had a few moments +alone. "This one seems very fair." + +"All a humbug, John. You Christians are chasing a will o' the wisp, a +jack o' lantern. You remember my fad for mathematics? I have followed it +up, and I find your theory a 'reductio ad absurdum.' I must have +everything demonstrable and clear. This is neither." + +"Yet it was a great mathematician who said, 'Omit eternity in your +estimate of area and your solution is wrong.'" + +Reginald shook his head. "I have nothing to do with this faith business. +I go as far as I see, no further." + +"God calls our wisdom foolishness, Rege. Jesus Christ put a tremendous +premium upon the faith of a little child." + +"Things must be tangible for me to believe in them. Reason is king with +me." + +"Without faith in your fellow man--and your wife--you would have a poor +time of it, Rege; why should you refuse to have faith in your God? Is +your will tangible, and can you demonstrate the mysterious forces of +nature? You know you can't, Rege, you have to take them on trust; and if +you had seen what I have, you would know that poor human reason is a +pitiful thing! But I won't argue with you. Some day you will +understand." + +Reginald Hawthorne went back into the room where his wife was sitting. +"Elise, darling, you have seen one of the grandest men in the world +to-night. The only trouble is that on one subject he is a crank." + +"Oh, Reginald, do you mean it! I thought he was splendid. And what a +wonderful face he has!" + +Reginald started. "Hah! Am I to be jealous of my old friend? But I might +have known," he added sadly, "no one could care long for such a wreck as +I!" + +The girl wife put her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, "You +foolish boy!" she whispered, "you know I shall never love any one but +you!" + +And Reginald Hawthorne counted himself a perfectly happy man. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +Judge Hildreth sat in his library, alone. He had left home immediately +after dinner, ostensibly to catch the evening train for New York, and +had sent the carriage back from the station to take his family to the +Choral Festival which was the event of the year in Marlborough, and then +returning in a hired conveyance, had let himself into his house like a +thief. When we sacrifice principle upon the altar of expediency, truth +and honor, like twin victims, stand bound at its foot. He wanted to be +undisturbed, to have time to think, and God granted his wish, until his +reeling brain prayed for oblivion! + +No sound broke the stillness. With the exception of the servants in a +distant part of the house, he was absolutely alone. + +He drew out his will from a secret drawer of his desk and looked it over +with a ghastly smile. "To my dear niece, Evadne, the sum of thirty +thousand dollars, held by me in trust from her father." Then came a long +list of charities. It read well. People could not say he had left all +to his family and forgotten the Lord. If his executors should find a +difficulty in realizing one quarter of the values so speciously set +forth, they could only say that dividends had shrunk and investments +proved unreliable. It was not his fault. He had meant well. Besides, he +had no thought of dying for years. There was plenty of time for skillful +financing. Other men had done the same and prospered. Why should not he? + +But the letters must be destroyed. He had come to a decision at last. It +was an imperative necessity. His hesitancy had been only the foolish +scruples of an over sensitive conscience. The tremendous pressure of the +age made things permissible. He was "torn by the tooth of circumstance" +and "necessity knows no law." So he entrenched himself behind a +breastwork of sophisms. Long familiarity with the suggestions of evil +had bred a contempt for the good! + +He stretched out his hand towards the drawer. There should be no more +weak delay. If a thing were to be done, 'twere well it were done +quickly. + +The horror of a great fear fell upon him. Again his hand had fallen, and +this time he was powerless to lift it up! + +The hours passed and he sat helpless, bound in that awful chain of +frozen horror. In vain he struggled in a wild rage for freedom. No +muscle stirred. Where was his boasted will power now? Hand and foot, +faithful, uncomplaining slaves for so many years, had rebelled at last! + +His brain seemed on fire and the flashing thoughts blinded him with +their glare. The letters rose from their sepulchre and, clothed in the +majesty of a dead man's faith, looked at him with an awful reproach, +until his very soul bowed in the dust with shame. His will still lay +upon the desk, open at the paragraph "to my dear niece, Evadne," and the +words "in trust," like red hot irons, branded him a felon in the sight +of God and men! + +He remembered having once read a quotation from a great writer,--"When +God says, 'You must not lie and you do lie, it is not possible for Deity +to sweep his law aside and say--'No matter.'" Did God make no allowances +for the nineteenth century? + +The others returned from the Festival, and Louis passed the door +whistling. He had had a rare evening of pleasure with Evadne. Towards +its close, under cover of the rolling harmonies, he had leaned over and +whispered "I love you, dear!" and Evadne had held out her hand to him +with the low pleading cry, "Oh, Louis, if you really do, then set me +free!" but he had only smiled and taken the hand, on which his ring was +gleaming, into his, and settled his arm more securely upon the back of +her chair; and John Randolph, sitting opposite with Dick and Miss Diana, +had watched the little scene and drawn his own conclusions with a sigh. + +The night drew on. The electric lights which it was Judge Hildreth's +fancy to have ablaze in every room downstairs until the central current +was shut off, still gleamed steadily upon the rigid figure before the +desk, with the white, drawn face and the awful look of horror in its +staring eyes. In an agony he tried to call, but no sound escaped the +lips, set in a sphinx-like silence. + +He must shake off this strange lethargy. It was not possible for him to +die--he had not time. To-morrow was the meeting of the Panhattan +directors--they were relying upon him to work through the second call on +stock--and two of his notes fell due, if he did not retire them his +credit would be lost at the bank; and there was the banquet to the +English capitalists, with whom he was negotiating a mining deal; and he +must arrange with his broker to float some more shares of the +"Silverwing"--and manipulate, manipulate, manipulate-- + +An agonized, voiceless cry went up to heaven. "Oh, God, let me have +to-morrow!" + +In the morning a servant found him, when she came to clean the room, and +fled screaming from the presence of the silent figure with the awful +entreaty in its staring eyes. + +Louis hurried downstairs to learn the cause of the commotion, followed +by Mrs. Hildreth, swept for once off her pedestal of stately calm. + +Shivering with horror the family gathered in the beautiful room which +had been so suddenly turned into a death chamber, the servants weeping +boisterously, Isabella and her mother in violent hysterics, and Marion +clinging with wide, frightened eyes to Louis, who found himself thrust +into a man's place of responsibility and did not know what to do! + +He sent one servant to the Hospital for Evadne--instinctively he turned +in his thought to her,--another for the Doctor; while with one arm +around Marion, he tried to sooth his mother and Isabelle. + +And in the midst of all the wild commotion his father sat, unmoved and +silent, his agonized face lifted in an attitude of supplication, his +lifeless hands lying heavily upon the now worthless papers, since for +him there would be no to-morrow! + + * * * * * + +The stately obsequies were ended. The paid quartette had sung their +sweetest, while Doctor Jerome, standing beside the frozen face in the +massive coffin, had delivered an eloquent eulogium, and Mrs. Hildreth, +clad in her costly robes of mourning, had been led to her carriage by +her son. Everything had been conducted in a manner befitting the +Hildreth honor. + + * * * * * + +"Evadne!" Louis turned a white, scared face towards his cousin, who +stood beside him as he sat at his father's desk. Upstairs Mrs. Hildreth +and Isabelle were in solemn consultation with a dressmaker. In the +drawing-room Marion was being consoled by Simpson Kennard. + +"Well, Louis?" She laid her hand on his shoulder gently. She was very +sorry for him. + +"There is some awful mistake. Poor Father seems to have counted on funds +which we can find no trace of. The estate is not worth an eighth of what +he valued it at. There is barely enough to keep you, mother and +Isabelle, alive!" He laid his head down on the desk while great tears +fell through his fingers. The shameful mystery of it was intolerable. + +"But, Louis, have you looked everywhere? There must be some +explanation--" + +Louis shook his head. "Everywhere, but in this drawer. I opened it but +there is nothing but musty old letters. I haven't time to go into them +now. Oh, little coz, I don't dare to look you in the face. All the money +that was left you by your father is gone!" + +"Don't tell Aunt Kate and the girls, Louis, There is no need that they +should ever know. I have my profession and I am strong. Uncle Lawrence +never meant to do anything except what was right, I know." + +Louis looked up at her and there was a strange reverence in his cynical +face. He was in the presence of a Christliness which he had never +dreamed of. "I am not worthy to touch the hem of your garment," he said +humbly. But he did not offer to release her from her promise. He had not +learned to be generous--yet. + +Evadne's dream was ended and rude was the awaking. The idea of helping +her fellows had grown to be a passion with her and very fair had been +the castle in the air of which she was the Princess. A home, not rich or +stately but full of a delightful homeiness which should soothe and cheer +those who, walking through the world amid a storm of tears, call earth a +wilderness, while their desolate hearts echo the mournful question,--"Is +there any sorrow like unto my sorrow." She, too, had been lonely,--she +could understand, and by the sweet influence of human love and sympathy +lift their thought above the earthly shadows up to the love of God. + +She had not dreamed of doing things on a grand scale. Evadne Hildreth +was wise enough to know that comfort cannot be dealt out in wholesale +packages,--she never forgot that Jesus of Nazareth helped the people one +by one. + +She had never questioned the terms of her father's will--if there was a +will. She had supposed when she became of age there would be some +change, but her uncle had made no reference to the subject and she had +not liked to ask. He was always kind--he would do what was best. Some +day she would be free to carry out this beautiful dream of hers. She +could afford to wait. Now there was nothing to wait for any more! + +How strange it seemed, when the need was so great and she longed to help +much! Well, she was only a little child,--she could trust her Father. +God understood. + +That was what he had said, this strong, true friend of hers, that night +he asked the question which he had never asked again. How gentle he +was!--but it was the gentleness of strength--and how every one +depended on him! She, herself, had learned to expect the helpful words +which he always gave her when they met. Friendship was a beautiful +thing! + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +John Randolph came up behind Evadne one morning as she was dressing the +burns of a little lad who had been severely injured at a fire. She did +not hear his step--she was telling a bright story to the little +sufferer, to make him forget his pain, and the boy was laughing loudly. +His face was very grave, but his eyes lightened as they always did when +they rested upon her face. + +"Mrs. Reginald Hawthorne is very ill. Can you, will you come?" + +And Evadne answered with a simple "Yes." They needed so few words, these +two. + +"I tell you I will not die!" The piercing cry rang through the handsome +room and fell like molten lead upon the heart of the man who with +strained, haggard face was sitting by the bedside. "You have not told me +the truth, Reginald! There is a God. I feel it! You have always laughed +and called me young and foolish, but I know better than you do, now. +You said if our lives were governed by reason, we would meet death like +a philosopher, and I do not know how to die! You used to laugh and say +the whole thing was child's play and there was nothing to fear, and I +believed you,--I thought you were so wise, but it was easy to believe +you then with your arms folded close about me and the sunlight streaming +through the windows and the shouts of the children outside, but now you +cannot go with me and I am afraid to go alone." The eyes, wild and +despairing, burned fiercely in the pallid cheeks. "Do you hear, +Reginald? I am afraid, I tell you; horribly afraid! You used to say you +would lay down your life to save me. Why do you not help me now? + +"What makes you look so strangely, if it is all nonsense, Reginald? why +do you shut out all the sunshine and why is the house so still? You told +me once you were going to die with a laugh on your lips. I am dying, +Reginald, why don't you help your wife to die as you mean to do? +A----h!" + +Her voice died away in a low wail of terror and the delicate blue veins +in her temples throbbed with feverish excitement. Reginald Hawthorne had +crouched down in his chair and buried his face in his hands. The pitiful +cry began again. + +"To die, when life is so sweet! To be shut up in a coffin and buried in +a cold, dark grave! You don't love me, Reginald. If you did, you would +die too--with a laugh on your lips you know--then I should have that to +cheer me, and we should be together, and I should not be afraid. But now +you look so strangely, Reginald. Don't you care for me any more? Can you +let them take me away from this beautiful world and stay in it all by +yourself? + +"I suppose you will give me a splendid funeral--you are so generous you +know--but I will not care whether the prison is pine or mahogany if I am +to be shut up in it all alone! And you will have a long procession, with +plumes and flowers and show, but you will leave me in the dreary +cemetery and you will come back to our home, where we have been so happy +together--so happy, just you and I--but you see you are a philosopher +and I do not know how to die! + +"And some day you will forget me--men do such things they say--and +another woman will be your wife and I will be all alone!" + +"Sister!" The abject man in the chair held out his hands in an agony of +entreaty, "Come here and help us--if you can!" and Evadne came swiftly +into the room, and, sitting down on the side of the bed, gathered the +pitiful little figure to her heart. + +"It is not death but life," she said gently. "This body is not _you_. +The home of the soul is more beautiful than, any earthly home can ever +be. It is those who are left behind dear, who mourn, not those who go." + +Elise Hawthorne laid her head on Evadne's shoulder like a tired child. +"But I am afraid," she whispered. "If this is true, and God is holy, I +am not fit, you know." + +"Your Father loves you dear, for he sent his Son to die. The thief on +the cross was a sinner, yet Christ took him to Paradise. The fitness +must come from Jesus. His blood washes whiter than snow." + +"But I have done nothing to earn it. I have lived for myself alone." + +"We never can earn a gift, dear. God gives in a royal way. He says to +you only 'Believe I have given you life through my Son.'" Evadne had +taken the tiny Bible which she always carried from her pocket and was +turning its pages rapidly. "Here it is. Will you raise the blind, Mr. +Hawthorne, that your wife may see for herself? 'God so loved the world +that he gave his only begotten Son,'--the best he had!--'that whosoever +believeth in him should not perish,' you see there is no death for those +who trust in him. And then 'He that believeth on the Son _hath_ +everlasting life.' It does not mean that we may have it after years of +toil. The Israelites, stung by the serpents, had no time to reason or +plan to live better, for they were dying, but they could turn their eyes +to the brazen serpent which God had ordered to be lifted up in the midst +of tho camp for an antidote to the poison. So Christ has been 'lifted +up' upon the cross for us. He died instead of you. Why should you die +forever when he has paid your ransom and set you free?" + +"But I cannot touch him,--I cannot be sure it is true." + +"The Israelites could not touch the brazen serpent. They simply looked, +and lived. There is just one condition for us to-day and it is +'Believe.' Cannot you take your Heavenly Father at his word as you would +your husband? Cannot you treat God the same?" + +Mrs. Hawthorne looked wonderingly at her nurse. "Treat him the same as I +do my husband!" she exclaimed. "Why, with Reginald, I believe every word +he says." + +"And I with God," said Evadne reverently. + +"What charm have you wrought?" asked John Randolph in a whisper, as they +stood together that evening beside a quiet sleeper. "This is the first +natural sleep she has had. I believe it will prove her salvation." + +Evadne looked up at him, and over her face a light was breaking, "I have +led her to Jesus, the Mighty to save." + + * * * * * + +The Hawthornes were going to Europe. The young wife's convalescence had +been tedious and it was a very frail little figure which clung to Evadne +the evening before they started. They had pleaded with her to go with +them. "Give up this toilsome work which is overtaxing your strength," +Reginald had said, as they sat together one evening in the twilight, +"and make your home with us. You have grown to be our sister in the +truest sense of the word and we have learned to lean upon you, Elise and +I. We can never hope to repay you," he continued huskily, "but it would +be such a pleasure to have you with us for good." + +Evadne looked at the pleading eyes with which Elise Hawthorne seconded +her husband's wish and her lips trembled. "How rich God is making me in +friends!" she said. "I shall never forget that this thing has been in +your hearts, but I must be about my Father's business." + +And then John Randolph had come to make one of his pleasant, informal +visits and they had sat together in a beautiful fellowship, talking of +the things pertaining to the Kingdom. + +"Doctor Randolph," Elise asked suddenly, "what is your conception of +prayer? Evadne says it means to her communion and companionship with +Jesus. She says it is 'the practice of the presence of God.'" + +John Randolph's face grew luminous. "To me it means a great stillness," +he said. "Did you ever think of the silences of God? 'Be still, and know +that I am God,' 'Stand still, and see his salvation.'" + +"But are we not to ask for what we want?" asked Mrs. Hawthorne +wonderingly. + +"Oh, yes, but we learn to ask so little for ourselves when we love our +Father's will. The trouble is, we, want to do the talking. God would +have us listen while he speaks." + +"Then what does it mean to worship God?" she asked. "We cannot always be +in church." + +John Randolph smiled. "We do not need to be. If our hearts are all on +fire with the love of God, we worship him continually." + +When he rose to go he turned towards Evadne. "How goes life with you +now, dear friend?" + +The grey eyes, full of a clear shining, were lifted to his, "I am +absolutely satisfied with Jesus Christ." + +Marion was married and living in New York. Louis had taken a small +house, where he lived with his mother and Isabelle. He spent his days in +the monotonous routine of a hank, and to his pleasure-loving nature the +drudgery seemed intolerable, but he said little. Evadne never +complained! + +One day he went to see her at the Hospital and she was frightened at the +pallor of his face. She led him to the superintendent's reception +room--there they would be undisturbed. He staggered blindly as he +entered the room and then sank heavily on a sofa near the door. He +looked like an old man. + +"Louis!" she cried in alarm, "what is the matter?" + +He took a letter from his pocket and held it toward her. It bore her own +name, and the writing was her father's! + +"Can you _ever_ forgive?" Then he buried his face in his arms and +groaned aloud. The awful disgrace and shame of it seemed more than he +could bear. + +Interminable seemed the hours after Louis had left her, walking slowly, +with that strange, grey shadow upon his face, and stooping as if some +unseen burden were crushing him to the earth. She dared not let herself +think. She must wait until she was alone. At last she was free to go to +her room. + +Down on her knees she read the passionate farewell words, which made her +heart thrill, so full of tender advice and loving thought for her +comfort. Through streaming tears she looked at the closely written pages +of instructions, so minute that she could not err--and he had disliked +writing so much! This was the weary task which had tried him so! And all +these years she had never known. She had been robbed of her birthright! + +Fierce and long the battle raged. When it was ended God heard his child +cry softly, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass +against us." + +She had forgiven! + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +Mrs. Simpson Kennard was sitting in her pretty morning room with her +baby on her knee. She looked across the room at her sister who was +paying her a visit. "I wish you had a little child to love, Isabelle. It +makes life so different. I am just wrapped up in Florimel." + +"For pity's sake, Marion," cried Isabelle peevishly, "don't you grow to +be one of those tiresome women who think the whole world is interested +in a baby's tooth! I certainly do not echo your wish. I think children +are a nuisance." + +Marion caught up her baby in dismay. "Why, Isabelle, just think how much +they do for us! They broaden our sympathies--I read that only the other +day, and----" + +"Broaden your fiddlesticks!" said Isabelle contemptuously. "Easy for you +to talk when you have everything you want! If you had to live in that +poky little house in Marlborough, I guess you would not find anything +very broadening about them! + +"It is perfectly preposterous to think of our being reduced to such a +style of living!" she continued, as Mrs. Kennard strove to soothe her +baby's injured feelings with kisses. "Just fancy, only one servant! I +never thought a Hildreth would fall so low." + +"But you and Mamma are comfortable, Isabelle. It is not as if you were +forced to do anything." + +"Do anything!" echoed Isabelle. "Are you going crazy?" + +"Well, see how hard Evadne has to work? and she is a Hildreth as well as +you." + +"Evadne!" said Isabelle sarcastically, "with her nerves of steel and +spine of adamant! Evadne will never kill herself with work. She is too +much taken up with her wealthy private patients. You should have seen +her driving round with the Hawthornes in their elegant carriage And I +reduced to dependence upon the electric cars! I don't see how she +manages to worm her way into people's confidence as she seems to do. I +couldn't, but then I have such a horror of being forward." + +"'All doors are open to those who smile.' I believe that is the reason, +Isabelle." + +"Stuff and nonsense!" was Miss Hildreth's inelegant reply. + +"She is a dear girl, Isabelle. Why will you persist in disliking her +so?" + +"Oh, pray spare me any panegyrics!" said Isabelle carelessly. "It is bad +enough to have Louis blazing up like a volcano if one has the temerity +to mention her ladyship's name." + +"How is Louis?" asked Mrs. Kennard, finding she was treading on +dangerous ground. + +"Oh, the same as usual. He looks like a ghost, and is about as cheerful +as a cemetery. He spends his holidays going over musty old letters in +papa's desk. I'm sure I don't see what fun he finds in it. It is so +selfish in him, when he might be giving mamma and me some pleasure--but +Louis never did think of anyone but himself. One day I found him +stretched across the desk and it gave me such a fright! You know what a +state my nerves are in. I thought he was in a fit or something,--he just +looked like death, and he didn't seem to hear me when I called. He had a +large envelope addressed to papa in his hand and there was another under +his arm that didn't look as if it had ever been opened, but I couldn't +see the address. I ran for mamma, but before we got back he was gone and +the letters with him. Whatever it was, it has had an awful effect upon +him, though he won't give us any satisfaction, you know how provoking he +is. It is my belief he is going into decline, and I have such a horror +of contagious diseases! + +"If Evadne is so anxious to work, why doesn't she come and help mamma +and me? It is the least she could do after all we have done for her, but +as mamma says, 'It is just a specimen of the ingratitude there is in the +world.'" + + * * * * * + +The months rolled by and Evadne sat one afternoon in the +superintendent's reception room reading a letter which the postman had +just delivered. It bore the Vernon postmark. + +She had seen but little of Mrs. Everidge through the years which +followed her graduation. She had been constantly busy and her aunt's +hands had been full, for her husband's health had failed utterly and he +demanded continual care. Now her long, beautiful ministry was over, for +Horace Everidge, serenely selfish to the last, had fallen into the +slumber which knows no earthly waking, and Aunt Marthe was free. + +"I do not know what it means," she wrote, "but something tells me I +shall not be long in Vernon. I am just waiting to see what work the King +has for me to do." + +Evadne pressed the letter to her lips. "Dear Aunt Marthe! If the +majority had had your 'tribulum' they would think they had earned the +right to play!" + +She looked up. John Randolph was standing before her with a package in +his hands. + +"I have been commissioned by the Hawthornes to give this into your own +possession," he said with a smile. + +She opened it wonderingly. Bonds and certificates of stock bearing her +name. What did it mean? John Randolph had drawn a chair opposite her and +was watching her face closely. + +"You cannot think what long consultations we have held on the subject of +what you would like," he said, "you seemed to have no wishes of your +own. At last a happy thought struck Reginald, and he sent me a power of +attorney to make the transfer of these bonds and stocks to you. It is a +Trust Fund to be used to help souls. We all thought that would please +you best of all. You are a rich woman, Miss Hildreth." + +A great wave of joy swept over her bewildered face. "So God has sent me +the fulfilment of my dream!" she said softly. And John Randolph +understood. + +That evening she wrote to Mrs. Everidge. + +"Dear Aunt Marthe,--The King's work is waiting for you in Marlborough. +The work that we used to long for--the joy of lifting the shadows from +the hearts of the heavy laden--God has given to you and me!" + + * * * * * + +"Why should you not come to 'The Willows'?" + +John Randolph put the question one afternoon, as they were enjoying Miss +Diana's hospitality in the fragrant porch. Evadne had just finished a +merry recital of their woes. + +"We have looked at houses until we are fairly distracted, Aunt Marthe +and I. One had a cellar kitchen, and I am not going to have my good Dyce +buried in a cellar kitchen; and one had no bathroom, and another was all +stairs; and they are all nothing but brick and mortar with a scrap of +sky between. I want trees and water and fields. The poor souls have +enough of masonry in their daily lives." + +"I believe it is decreed that you should come here," he continued, after +the first exclamations of surprise were over. "It is just the work our +lady delights in, and she cannot be left alone. Dick goes to College +next month and I must live in town. The house is beautiful for +situation, and a threefold cord of love and faith cannot easily be +broken." + +He looked round upon them, this man who found his joy in helping others, +and waited for their answer. + +"It would be beautiful, beautiful!" cried Evadne, "if Miss +Chillingworth were willing. But the house is not large enough, Doctor +Randolph, we shall need three or four guest chambers, you know." + +"Nothing easier than to build an addition," said John, with the quiet +reserve of power which always made his patients believe in the +impossible. + +Evadne laid her hand upon Miss Chillingworth's--"Dear Miss Diana," she +said gently, "you do not say 'No' to us; do you think you could ever +find it in your heart to say 'Yes'? I know it must seem a terrible +innovation, but we could never have imagined anything half so +delightful, Aunt Marthe and I. The atmosphere--outdoors and in--is +perfection!" + +Miss Diana looked at the sparkling face and then at Mrs. Everidge with +her gentle smile. "I find myself _very_ glad," she said, "since I have +to lose my boys, but do you think we had better make any definite plans, +dear, until we have talked it over with the Lord?" + +And John Randolph said to Evadne with eyes that were suspiciously +bright; "It is impossible for anyone to get very far from the Kingdom, +when they live with our Lady Di." + +The talk had wandered then to different subjects, and John Randolph +listened to the soft play of Evadne's fancy and watched the light in +her wonderful eyes. Her nature, so long repressed in an uncongenial +environment, in this new soil of love and sympathy was blossoming richly +and he found her very fair. He had rarely seen her resting. Now the +shapely hands were folded together in a beautiful stillness--and then +the breeze had waved aside a flower, and a sunbeam, darting through the +trellis, fell upon the stone in her ring and made it sparkle with a +baleful fire! + +"Poor Louis!" Isabelle had said, the last time he had been called to +prescribe for her frequently recurring attacks of indisposition, "he +will have to wait for promotion now before he can think of marriage. It +is very hard for him." + +So again the truth and the lie had mingled. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +Very sweet grew the life at 'The Willows' and Mrs. Everidge and Evadne +and Miss Diana found their hands full of happy work. + +Unavella still reigned supreme in her kitchen. "'Tain't a great sight +harder to cook for a dozen than six," she had remarked sententiously, +when the plan was unfolded to her, "it's only a matter uv quantity, the +quality's jest the same. Ef Miss Di-an's a'goin ter start in ter be a +she Atlas an' carry the world on her shoulders, she'll find I'm +warranted ter wash an' not shrink in the rinsin'. I'm not a'goin ter be +left behind, without I hev changed my name." + +Dyce kept the rooms in spotless order and waited upon the guests. + +"Dear friend," said Evadne one morning, as she watched her putting +loving touches to the dining table, "you take as much trouble as if you +expected Jesus Christ to be here!" + +"So I does, Miss 'Vadney," she answered simply, "I never feels +comfortable 'cept when dere's a place fer de Lord," and Evadne answered, +"Dear Dyce, you make me feel ashamed!" + +Many and varied were the guests who partook of their hospitality. The +famine which no material wealth can alleviate is not confined to the +dwellings of the poor. Hearts starve beneath coverings of velvet and +loneliness often rides in a carriage. Many were the patients whom the +world counted "well to do" that John Randolph sent to Evadne to be +comforted. There was nothing to make them suspect that the keen +intuition of the young physician had read their secret. 'The Willows' +was simply a charming retreat where he sent them to try his favorite +tonics of sunlight and oxygen; they never dreamed they were to be the +recipients of favors which would not be rendered in the bill. + +It was a beautiful fellowship in which they were banded together, for +the Hawthornes had returned and were learning to find their pleasure in +doing their Father's will. Dick True was in the brotherhood also, and +never came home for his vacations without bringing with him "some fellow +who needed a taste of love," and the overgrown boys would glory in their +strength as they lifted Miss Diana from the carriage after a delightful +drive, and learn a strange gentleness as they were unconsciously +trained in the little deeds of chivalry which bespeak a true man. + +Soon after Evadne's dream had materialized John Randolph had sent her a +dainty little equipage to help on the work. + +"You are too kind!" she cried, as she thanked him, "too generous!" + +"Can we be that?" he asked, "when we are giving to a King? It is a +theory of mine that a drive in the country with the right companion is +better than exordiums. These poor souls have never learned to see +'sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, and God in everything.' +You must give me the pleasure of a little share in your beautiful work, +my friend." + +"A little share!" echoed Evadne. "Is it possible that you do not know, +Doctor Randolph, how much of it belongs to you!" + +The beauty of the life was that the guests were taken into the heart of +the living and felt themselves a part of the home. They never preached, +these wise, tender women, but the beautiful incidental teachings sank +deep into hearts that would have been closed fast against sermons. There +was no stereotyped effort to do them good, they simply lived as Christ +did, and the world-tired souls looked on and marveled, and rejoiced in +the sunlight of the present and the afterglow which made the memory of +their visit a delight. + +"'Do not leave the sky out of your landscape,'" said Aunt Marthe in her +cheery way, as Mrs. Dolours was wailing over her troubles. That was +all--for the time,--Mrs. Everidge believed in homeopathy--but it set her +hearer thinking, and thought found expression in questioning, until she +was led to the feet of the great Teacher and learned to roll her burden +of trouble upon him who came to bear the burdens of the world. + +"'We are not to be anxious about living but about living well,'" said +Miss Diana to a young man who prided himself upon being a philosopher +"that is a maxim of Plato's but we can only carry it out by the help of +the Lord, my boy." And he listened to Evadne's merry laugh as she pelted +Hans with cherries while Gretchen dreamed of the Fatherland under the +trees by the brook, and wondered whether after all the men who had made +it their aim to stifle every natural inclination, had learned the true +secret of living as well as these happy souls who laid their cares down +at the feet of their Father, and gave their lives into Christ's keeping +day by day. + +"You just seem to live in the present," wealthy Mrs. Greyson said with a +sigh, as she folded her jeweled fingers over her rich brocade, "I don't +see how you do it! Life is one long presentiment with me. I am filled +with such horrible forebodings. I tell Doctor Randolph, it is a sort of +moral nightmare." + + "Some of your griefs you have cured, + And the sharpest you still have survived, + But what torments of pain you endured, + From evils that never arrived!" + +Evadne quoted the words from a book of old French poems she had found in +the library. Then she asked gently, "Why should you worry about the +future, dear Mrs. Greyson, when it is such a waste of time? Don't you +believe our Father loves his children? + +"A waste of time." That was a new way of looking at it! Mrs. Greyson had +always prided herself upon being thrifty, and, if God loved, would he +let any real harm happen? She knew she would shield her children. How +blind she had been! + +"Ah, but you have never known sorrow!" and Mrs. Morner drew her sable +draperies around her with a sigh. "Just look at your face! Not a shadow +upon it and hardly a wrinkle. You are one of the favored ones with whom +life has been all sunshine." + +Mrs. Everidge laughed brightly. She had never pined to pose as a martyr +before the world. + +"God has been wondrous kind to me," she said, "but there is a cure for +all sorrow, dear friend, in his love. The great Physician is the only +one who has a medicament for that disease. It is not forgetfulness, you +know--he does not deal in narcotics--but he lays his pierced hand upon +our bleeding hearts and stills their pain. Our memory is as fresh as +ever, but it is memory with the sting taken out." + +"Ah, but you cannot understand--how should you? You have always had +everything you wanted, and you have never lost anything or longed for +what has been denied you!" and a toilworn woman, whose life seemed one +long battle with disappointment, looked enviously at Miss Diana, over +whose peaceful face life's twilight was falling in tender colors. + +"Not quite everything I wanted, dear," said Miss Diana softly, "but I +have come to know that God himself is sufficient for all our needs." + +"Our dear Miss Diana has learned that 'we must sit in the sunshine if we +would reflect the rainbow,'" said Aunt Marthe in her low tones. "It is a +good rule, 'for every look we take at self, to take ten looks at Jesus.' +She lives in the light of his smile." + +Then through the open window they heard Evadne singing, + + "Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west, + And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incompleteness, + Round our restlessness, his rest." + +And the weary soul folded its tired wings, all wounded with vain +beatings against the prison bars of circumstance, and was hushed into a +great stillness against the heart of its Father. + + * * * * * + +John Randolph sought Evadne in the familiar porch which had grown to be +to him the sweetest spot on earth. + +"You are always busy," he said with a smile, as he lifted the garment +she was making for the little waif who was to have her first taste of +heaven at 'The Willows.' Satan has no chance to find an occupation for +you." + +"But, oh, Doctor Randolph, what a drop in the bucket all our doing +seems, when we think of the need of the world!" + +"Yet without the drops the bucket would be empty, dear friend. God never +expects the impossible from us, you know. I think Christ's highest +commendation will always be, 'She hath done what she could.' It is when +we neglect the doing that he is wounded." + +After a pause he spoke again. "With your permission I am going to send +you a new patient." There was no trace of the struggle through which he +had passed. This brave soul had learned to do the right and leave the +rest with God. + +Evadne laughed. "Still they come! Is it man, woman or child. Doctor +Randolph?" + +"Your cousin Louis." His voice was very still. + +"Poor Louis! Is it more serious then? He has been looking wretchedly for +months." + +John Randolph examined her face critically. Could she call him "poor +Louis" if she loved? + +"His present trouble is nervous strain, aggravated by the unaccustomed +confinement, and some mental excitement under which he is laboring. He +must have a long rest, with a complete change of environment. If anyone +can lift the cloud which seems to be hanging over him, I think it is +you." + +Evadne shook her head sadly. "The only one who can help Louis is Jesus +Christ," she said. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +Louis Hildreth lay upon a couch in the cool library the morning after +his arrival at 'The Willows.' Evadne had been shocked at the change in +him since she had seen him last. His eyes were sunken, while underneath +purple shadows fell upon his pallid cheeks. He touched Evadne's hand as +she sat beside him. It was his hand! + +"What a splendid fellow Randolph is!" he exclaimed suddenly. "He is +making himself felt in Marlborough, I tell you. Strange, how some men +forge their way to the front, while the rest of us just float down the +stream of mediocrity. No wonder we are not missed, when we drop out of +the babbling conglomerate of humanity into silence," he added bitterly. +"Who would miss a single pair of fins from amidst a shoal of herring!" + +"I think it is because Doctor Randolph is not content to float, Louis," +Evadne answered gently. "He must always be climbing higher. Like Paul, +he is 'pressing towards the mark.'" + +"He is a grand fellow! And the beauty of it is he never seems to think +of himself at all. Most men would get to be top-lofty if they +accomplished as much as he does every day." + +Evadne's lips parted in a happy smile. "I think Doctor Randolph is too +much occupied with Jesus to have time to waste upon himself." + +"Upon my word, coz, you're a puzzle! You talk in an unknown tongue. +Don't you know Self is the god we worship, and the aim of our existence +is to have it wear purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every +day?" + +"It should not be!" cried Evadne. "Oh Louis, dear Louis, life can never +be grand until we are able to say--'Self has been crucified with +Christ!'" + + * * * * * + +Weeks rolled into months and Louis was still at 'The Willows.' His +cynicism had come to have a strangely wistful ring. John Randolph's +visits were frequent and they held long conversations together, these +men, the one who had seized every opportunity and made the most of it, +the other who had let his golden chances slip through his fingers one by +one; then John Randolph would go bravely back to his life of toil, while +Louis listened to Evadne's sweet voice as she sang in the gloaming, or +watched his ring glisten as her deft fingers were busy with their deeds +of love. + +"How do you do it?" he exclaimed one evening when they were alone +together. "You never rest! Your whole life seems to be centered in the +lives of others, and there is nothing attractive about them, if there +were I could understand. It looks like such drudgery to me. Tell me, +little coz, what makes you give up all your ease to make these people +happy?" + +"When we love our Father it is our joy to do his will," she answered +softly. + +"If I could live like you and Randolph I should be perfectly satisfied. +I wish I had the courage to try." + +"Mere outward living cannot save us, Louis. Nothing can but faith in the +atoning blood and the name and the love of Christ. Then--when we +believe, you know--all things become possible. We make an awful mistake +when we think we know better than the Bible. Nicodemus lived a perfect +outward life, yet Christ said to him, 'Except ye be born again--of the +Word and the Spirit--ye cannot see the Kingdom of God.' We are running a +terrible risk when we try to live without Jesus." + +"That is what Randolph says. He is a one idea man, if ever there was +one, and yet he is so many sided! He is the most uncompromising fellow +I ever knew. I should as soon expect to see the stars fall from the sky +as to see him do a shady thing. You would be amused, coz, to see the +lady mother and Isabelle joining forces to lay siege to his affections." + +What meant that sudden start and then the blush which flamed up over +cheek and brow? Louis Hildreth closed his thin fingers over Evadne's +ring with a long drawn sigh. He was beginning to realize that a hand, +without a heart, is an empty thing. + +Long after she had left him he lay motionless. This knowledge which had +come to him so suddenly had a bitter taste. + + * * * * * + +"You ought to get well, Hildreth, and you ought to be a very happy man," +John Randolph spoke the words suddenly as he rose to take his leave. + +"I never expect to be either. When a man has all he has prided himself +upon swept away from him, and all that he longs for denied him, how can +it be possible?" + +"'Count it your highest good when God denies you.' Is that too hard a +gospel? We shall not read it so in the light of eternity. It is only +that Christ may become to us the 'altogether lovely' One." + +"Did you ever love--a woman?" Louis put the question suddenly, watching +his friend's face with a jealous scrutiny. + +"Yes." The answer was as simple and straightforward as the man. He knew +of nothing to be ashamed of in this beautiful love of his life. + +"And her name was?--" + +"Evadne." + +John Randolph spoke the name for the first time to another, looking up +at the sky. When he turned to leave the room he saw that Louis' face was +buried among his cushions and he drove away in a great wonderment. What +could it all mean? + + "Knocking, knocking, who is there? + Waiting, waiting, oh, how fair! + 'T is a pilgrim, strange and kingly, + Never such was seen before. + Ah, my soul, for such a wonder, + Wilt thou not undo the door?" + +Evadne sang the words softly in the twilight: sang them with a great +note of longing in her pleading voice. She and her cousin were alone. + +"Evadne, come here." + +She crossed the room and knelt beside his couch. + +"Little coz, I have let the Pilgrim in." + +And Evadne buried her face in the cushions with a low cry. The crown of +rejoicing was hers--at last! + + * * * * * + +"There is only one thing wanting between you two." Louis looked +wistfully at John Randolph and Evadne, as they stood beside him, talking +brightly of how he should help when he grew strong. + +"And what is that?" Doctor Randolph asked the question with a smile. + +Louis drew his ring from Evadne's finger and laid her hand in that of +his friend. "Take her, Randolph, she is worthy of you. I would not say +that of any other woman." + +With a great joy surging in his heart, John Randolph held out his other +hand. She must give herself. He could not take her from another's +giving. + +A lovely shyness flushed into the pure face, their eyes met, and Evadne +laid her hand in his without a word. + +"Evadne!" The rich, tender tones fell throbbing through the silence, +enwrapping the name in a sweet protectiveness. "Life is--for us--to do +the will of God!" + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Beautiful Possibility, by Edith Ferguson Black + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10037 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..62cd48c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10037 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10037) diff --git a/old/10037-8.txt b/old/10037-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..66d8ebd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10037-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8222 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Beautiful Possibility, by Edith Ferguson Black + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Beautiful Possibility + +Author: Edith Ferguson Black + +Release Date: November 10, 2003 [EBook #10037] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY *** + + + + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Dave Avis +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +[Illustration: LOUIS DASHED THE GLOWING END OF HIS CIGAR IN THE NEGRO'S +FACE.] + + + + +A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY + +BY + +EDITH FERGUSON BLACK + + + + + +A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +In one of the fairest of the West Indian islands a simple but elegant +villa lifted its gabled roofs amidst a bewildering wealth of tropical +beauty. Brilliant birds flitted among the foliage, gold and silver +fishes darted to and fro in a large stone basin of a fountain which +threw its glittering spray over the lawn in front of the house, and on +the vine-shaded veranda hammocks hung temptingly, and low wicker chairs +invited to repose. + +Behind the jalousies of the library the owner of the villa sat at a +desk, busily writing. He was a slight, delicate looking man, with an +expression of careless good humor upon his face and an easy air of +assurance according with the interior of the room which bespoke a +cultured taste and the ability to gratify it. Books were everywhere, +rare bits of china, curios and exquisitely tinted shells lay in +picturesque confusion upon tables and wall brackets of native woods; +soft silken draperies fell from the windows and partially screened from +view a large alcove where microscopes of different sizes stood upon +cabinets whose shelves were filled with a miscellaneous collection of +rare plants and beautiful insects, specimens from the agate forest of +Arizona, petrified remains from the 'Bad Lands' of Dakota, feathery +fronded seaweed, skeletons of birds and strange wild creatures, and all +the countless curiosities in which naturalists delight. + +Lenox Hildreth when a young man, forced to flee from the rigors of the +New England climate by reason of an inherited tendency to pulmonary +disease, had chosen Barbadoes as his adopted country, and had never +since revisited the land of his birth. From the first, fortune had +smiled upon him, and when, some time after his marriage with the +daughter of a wealthy planter, she had come into possession of all her +father's estates, he had built the house which for fifteen years he had +called home. When Evadne, their only daughter, was a little maiden of +six, his wife had died, and for nine years father and child had been all +the world to each other. + +He finished writing at last with a sigh of relief, and folding the +letter, together with one addressed to Evadne, he enclosed both in a +large envelope which he sealed and addressed to Judge Hildreth, +Marlborough, Mass. Then he leaned back in his chair, and, clasping his +hands behind his head, looked fixedly at the picture of his fair young +wife which hung above his desk. + +"A bad job well done, Louise--or a good one. Our little lass isn't very +well adapted to making her way among strangers, and the Bohemianism of +this life is a poor preparation for the heavy respectability of a New +England existence. Lawrence is a good fellow, but that wife of his +always put me in mind of iced champagne, sparkling and cold." He sighed +heavily, "Poor little Vad! It is a dreary outlook, but it seems my one +resource. Lawrence is the only relative I have in the world. + +"After all, I may be fighting windmills, and years hence may laugh at +this morning's work as an example of the folly of yielding to +unnecessary alarm. Danvers is getting childish. All physicians get to be +old fogies, I fancy, a natural sequence to a life spent in hunting down +germs I suppose. They grow to imagine them where none exist." + +He rose, and strolled out on the veranda. As he did so, a negro, whose +snow-white hair had earned for him from his master the sobriquet of +Methusaleh, came towards the broad front steps. He was a grotesque image +as he stood doffing a large palm-leaf hat, and Lenox Hildreth felt an +irresistible inclination to laugh, and laughed accordingly. His +morning's occupation had been one of the rare instances in which he had +run counter to his inclinations. Sky blue cotton trousers showed two +brown ankles before his feet hid themselves in a pair of clumsy shoes; a +scarlet shirt, ornamented with large brass buttons and fastened at the +throat with a cotton handkerchief of vivid corn color, was surmounted by +an old nankeen coat, upon whose gaping elbows a careful wife had sewn +patches of green cloth; his hands were encased in white cotton gloves +three sizes too large, whose finger tips waved in the wind as their +wearer flourished his palm-leaf headgear in deprecating obeisance. + +"Well, Methusaleh, where are you off to now?" and Lenox Hildreth leaned +against a flower wreathed pillar in lazy amusement. + +"To camp-meetin', Mass Hildreff. I hez your permission, sah?" and the +negro rolled his eyes with a ludicrous expression of humility. + +His master laughed with the easy indulgence which made his servants +impose upon him. + +"You seem to have taken it, you rascal. It is rather late in the day to +ask for permission when you and your store clothes are all ready for a +start." + +"'Scuse me, Mass Hildreff," with another deprecating wave of the +palm-leaf hat, "but yer see I knowed yer wouldn't dissapint me of de +priv'lege uv goin' ter camp-meetin' nohow." + +Lenox Hildreth held his cigar between his slender fingers and watched +the tiny wreaths of smoke as they circled about his head. + +"So camp-meeting is a privilege, is it?" he said carelessly. "How much +more good will it do you to go there than to stay at home and hoe my +corn?" + +The eyes were rolled up until only the whites were visible. + +"Powerful sight more good, Mass Hildreff. De preacher's 'n uncommon +relijus man, an' de 'speriences uv de bredren is mighty upliftin'. Yes, +sah!" + +"Well, see that they don't lift you up so high that you'll forget to +come down again. I suppose you have an experience in common with the +rest?" + +"Yes, Mass Hildreff," and the palm-leaf made another gyration through +the air. "I'se got a powerful 'sperience, sah." + +"Well, off you go. It would be a pity to deprive the assembly of such +an edifying specimen of sanctimoniousness." + +"Yes, sah, I'se bery sanktimonyus. I'se 'bliged to you, sah." + +With a last obsequious flourish the palm-leaf was restored to its +resting-place upon the snowy wool, and the negro shambled away. When he +had gone a few yards a sudden thought struck his master and he called,-- + +"Methusaleh, I say, Methusaleh!" + +"Yes, sah," and the servant retraced his steps. + +"What about that turkey of mine that you stole last week? You can't go +to camp-meeting with that on your conscience. Come, now, better take off +your finery and repent in sackcloth and ashes." + +For an instant the negro was nonplused, then the palm-leaf was +flourished grandiloquently, while its owner said in a voice of withering +scorn,-- + +"Laws! Mass Hildreff, do yer spose I'se goin' ter neglec' de Lawd fer +one lil' turkey?" + +His master turned on his heel with a low laugh. "Of a piece with the +whole of them!" he said bitterly. "Hypocrites and shams!" + +"Evadne!" he exclaimed impetuously, as a slight girlish figure came +towards him, "never say a single word that you do not mean nor express +a sensation that you have not felt. It is the people who neglect this +rule who play havoc with themselves and the world." + +"Why, dearest, you frighten me!" and the girl slipped her hand through +his arm with a low, sweet laugh. "I never saw you look so solemn +before." + +"Hypocrisy, Vad, is the meanest thing on earth! The pious people at the +church yonder call me an unbeliever, but they've got themselves to thank +for it. I may be a good-for-nothing but at least I will not preach what +I do not practise." + +"You are as good as gold, dearest. I won't have you say such horrid +things! And you don't need to preach anything. I am sure no one in all +the world could be happier than we." + +Her father put his hand under her chin, and, lifting her face towards +his, looked long and earnestly at the pure brow, about which the brown +hair clustered in natural curls, the clear-cut nose, the laughing lips +parted over a row of pearls, and the wonderful deep gray eyes. + +"_Are_ you happy, little one?" he asked wistfully. "Are you quite sure +about that?" + +"Happy!" the girl echoed the word with an incredulous smile. "Why, +dearest, what has come to you? You never needed to ask me such a +question before! Don't you know there isn't a girl in Barbadoes who has +been so thoroughly spoiled, and has found the spoiling so sweet? Do I +look more than usually mournful to-day that you should think I am pining +away with grief?" She looked up at him with a roguish laugh. + +He smiled and laid his finger caressingly on the dimpled chin. "Dear +little bird!" he said tenderly; "but when this dimple captivates the +heart of some one, Vad, you will fly away and leave the poor father in +the empty nest." + +Her color glowed softly through the olive skin. She threw her arms +around his neck and laid her face against his breast. "You know better!" +she exclaimed passionately. "You know I wouldn't leave you for all the +'some ones' in the world!" + +Her father caught her close. "Poor little lass!" he said with a sigh. + +The girl lifted her head and looked at him anxiously. "Dearest, what +_is_ the matter? I am sure you are not well! You have been sitting too +long at that tiresome writing." + +"Yes, that is it, darling," he said with a sudden change of tone. +"Writing always does give me the blues. I think the man who invented the +art should have been put in a pillory for the rest of his natural life. +Blow your whistle for Sam to bring the horses and we will go for a ride +along the beach." + +Evadne lifted the golden whistle which hung at her girdle and blew the +call which the well-trained servant understood. "Fi, dearest!" she said, +"if there were no writing there would be no books, and what would become +of our beautiful evenings then? But I am glad you do not have to write +much, since it tires you so. What has it all been about, dear? Am I +never to know?" + +"Some day, perhaps, little Vad. But do not indulge in the besetting sin +of your sex, or, like the mother of the race, you may find your apple +choke you in the chewing." + +Evadne shook her finger at him. "Naughty one! As if you were not three +times as curious as I! And when it comes to waiting,--you should have +named me Patience, sir!" + +Her father laughed as he kissed her, then he tied on her hat, threw on +his own, and hand-in-hand like two children they ran down the veranda +steps to where the groom stood waiting with the horses. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +A month full of happy days had flown by when Evadne and her father +returned one morning from a long tramp in search of specimens. A +delightful afternoon had followed, he in a hammock, she on a low seat +beside him, arranging, classifying and preparing their morning's spoil +for the microscope. Suddenly she turned towards him with a troubled +face. + +"Dearest, how pale you look! Are you very tired?" + +"It is only the heat," he answered lightly. "We had a pretty stiff walk +this morning, you know." + +"And I carried you on and on!" she cried reproachfully. "I was so +anxious to find this particular crab. Isn't he a pretty fellow?" and she +lifted the box that her father might watch the tiny creature's play. "I +shall go at once and make you an orange sherbet." + +"Let Dinah do it and you stay here with me." + +"No indeed! You know you think no one can make them as well as I do. I +promise you this one shall be superfine." + +"As you will, little one,--only don't stay away too long." + +He lay very still after she had left him, looking dreamily through the +vines at the silver spray of the fountain. The air had grown +oppressively sultry; no breath of wind stirred the heavily drooping +leaves, no sound except the rhythmic splash of the fountain and the soft +lapping of the waves upon the beach. He closed his eyes while their +ceaseless monotone seemed to beat upon his brain. + +"Forever! Forever! Forever!" + +A spasm of pain crossed his face as Evadne's voice woke the echoes with +a merry song. "Poor little lass!" he murmured. Then he smiled as she +came towards him, quaffed off the beverage she had prepared with loving +skill, and called her the best cook in all the Indies. + +"Has it refreshed you, dearest?" she asked anxiously. + +"Immensely! Now you shall read me some of Lalla Rookh, and after dinner +I will set about making a Mecca for your crab." + +Evadne stroked the dainty claws,-- + +"Poor little chap! So you are a pilgrim like the rest of us. I wish we +did not have to go on and on, dearest!" she exclaimed passionately, +"why cannot we stand still and enjoy?" + +"It would grow monotonous, little Vad. Progress is the law of all being, +and seventy years of life is generally enough for the majority. You +would not like to live to be an old lady of two hundred and fifty? Think +how tired you would be!" + +She laid her cheek against his upon the pillow. "I should _never_ grow +tired,--with you!" + +The evening drew on, hot and breathless. Low growls of distant thunder +were heard at intervals, and in the eastern sky the lightning played. + +Evadne watched it, sitting on the top step of the veranda, her white +muslin dress in happy contrast with the deep green of the vines which +clustered thickly about the pillar against which she leaned. On the step +below her a young man sat. He too was clad in white and the rich crimson +of the silken scarf which he wore about his waist enhanced his Spanish +beauty. A zither lay across his knees over which his hands wandered +skilfully as he made the air tremble with dreamy music. Mr. Hildreth +paced slowly up and down the veranda behind them. + +"What is the news from the great world, Geoff? I saw a troop ship +signaled this morning. Have you been on board yet?" + +"No, sir, I have been looking over the plantation with my father all +day, and only got home in time for dinner." + +"You chose a cool time for it!" and Mr. Hildreth laughed. + +Geoffrey Chittenden shrugged his shoulders. "When Geoffrey Chittenden, +Senior, makes up his mind to do anything, he has the most sublime +indifference for the thermometer of any one I ever had the honor of +knowing. But the ship only brought a small detachment, I believe; she +will carry away a larger one. The garrison here is to be reduced, you +know." + +"Yes, it is a mistake I think. Will Drewson have to go? He has been on +this Station longer than any of the others." + +"Yes, his company has marching orders for Malta. He told me last night +he was coming to take leave of you next week." + +"Our nice Captain Drewson going away!" Evadne exclaimed, aghast. "Why, +dearest, he is one of our oldest friends!" + +"The law of progression, Vad darling." + +"How I hate it!" she cried, while her lips trembled. "Why can't we just +live on in the old happy way? You will be going next, Geoff, and the +Hamiltons and the Vandervoorts. Does nothing last?" + +Her voice hushed itself into silence and again Lenox Hildreth heard the +soft waves singing,-- + +"Forever! Forever! Forever!" + +"Oh yes, Evadne," Geoffrey said with a laugh: "we are very lasting. It +is only the unfortunate people under military rule who prove unreliable. +Let me sing you my latest song to cheer your spirits. I only learned it +last week." + +He struck a few chords and was beginning his song when a low groan made +him spring to his feet. Evadne passed him like a flash of light and flew +to her father's side. He was leaning heavily against a pillar with his +handkerchief, already showing crimson stains, pressed tightly against his +lips. + +They laid him gently down and summoned help. After that all was like a +horrible dream to Evadne. She was dimly conscious that friends came with +ready offers of assistance, and that Barbadoes' best physicians were +unremitting in their efforts to stop the hemorrhage; while she stood +like a statue beside her father's bed. She was absolutely still. When at +last the hemorrhage was checked the exhaustion was terrible. Evadne +longed to throw herself beside him and pillow the dear head upon her +bosom, but Dr. Danvers had whispered,-- + +"A sudden sound may start the hemorrhage again,--the slightest shock is +sure to." After that, not for worlds would she have moved a finger. + +The day passed and another night drew on. One of the physicians was +constantly in attendance, for the hemorrhage returned at intervals. Just +as the rose-tinted dawn looked shyly through the windows, her father +spoke, and Evadne bent her head to catch the faint tone of the voice +which sounded so far away. + +"Vad, darling, I have made an awful mistake! I thought everything a +sham. I know better now. Make it the business of your life, little Vad, +to find Jesus Christ." + +Again the red stream stained his lips, and Dr. Danvers came swiftly +forward, but Lenox Hildreth was forever beyond all need of human care. + + * * * * * + +A week passed, and day after day Evadne sat by her window, speaking no +word. Outdoors the fountain still sparkled in the sunshine and the birds +sang, but for her the foundations of life had been shaken to their +center. Her friends tried in vain to break up her unnatural calm. + +"If you would only have a good cry, Evadne," Geoffrey Chittenden said +at last, "you would feel better, dear. That is what all girls do, you +know." + +She turned upon him a pair of solemn eyes, out of which the merry +sparkle had faded. "Will crying give me back my father?" + +"Why, no, dear. Of course I didn't mean that. But these things are bound +to happen to us all, sooner or later, you know. It is the rule of life." + +"'The law of progression,'" she said with a dreary laugh. "I wish the +world would stop for good!" + +When the clergyman came she met him quietly, and he found himself not a +little disconcerted by the steady gaze of the mournful grey eyes. He was +not accustomed to dealing with such wordless grief, and he found his +favorite phrases sadly inadequate to the occasion. There was an awkward +pause. + +"Dr. Danvers says your father told him some time ago that, in the event +of his death, he wished you to make your home with your uncle in +America?" he said at length. + +Evadne bowed. + +"Well, my dear young lady, you will find it in all respects a most +desirable home, I feel confident. Judge Hildreth holds a position of +great trust in the church, and is universally esteemed as a Christian +gentleman of sterling character." + +The grey eyes were lifted to his face. + +"Shall I find Jesus Christ there?" + +"Jesus Christ?" The clergyman echoed her words with a start. "I beg your +pardon, my dear. The Lord sitteth upon his throne in the heavens. We +must approach him reverently, with humble fear." + +"That seems a long way off," said Evadne in a disappointed tone. "There +must be some mistake. My father told me to make it the business of my +life to find him." + +"Your father, my dear! Oh, ah, ahem!" + +An indignant flash leaped into the grey eyes. Evadne rose and faced him. +"You must excuse me, sir," she said quietly. Then she left the room. + +And the tears, which all the kindly sympathy had failed to bring her, at +the first breath of censure fell about her like a flood. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Judge Hildreth sat with his family at dinner in the spacious dining-room +of one of the finest houses in Marlborough. He was a handsome man, with +a stateliness of manner attributable in part to the deferential homage +which Marlborough paid to his opinion in all matters of importance. His +wife, tall and queenly, sat opposite him. Two daughters and a son +completed the family group. Louis Hildreth had his father's dark blue +eyes and regular features, but there were weak lines about the mouth +which betokened a lack of purpose, and the expression of his face was +marred by a cynical smile which was fast becoming habitual with him. +Isabelle, the eldest, was tall and fair, except for a chill hauteur +which set strangely upon one so young, while her firmly set lips +betokened the existence of a strong will which completely dominated her +less self-reliant sister. Marion Hildreth was just Evadne's age, with a +pink and white beauty and soft eyes which turned deprecatingly at +intervals towards Isabelle, as though to ask pardon for imaginary +solecisms against Miss Hildreth's code of etiquette. + +The covers were being changed for the second course when a servant +entered and approached the Judge, bearing a cablegram upon a silver +salver. He ran his eyes hastily over its contents, then he leaned back +heavily against his chair, while an expression of genuine sorrow settled +down upon his face. + +"Your Uncle Lenox is dead," he said briefly, as the girls plied him with +questions. + +"Dead!" Mrs. Hildreth's voice broke the hush which had fallen in the +room. "Why, Lawrence, this is very sudden! We have looked upon Lenox as +being perfectly well." + +"It is not safe to count anyone well, Kate, who carries such a lurking +serpent in his bosom. Only forty-three! Just in his prime. Poor Len!" +The Judge leaned his head upon his hand, while his thoughts were busy +with memories of the gay young brother who had filled the old homestead +with his merry nonsense. + +"And what will become of Evadne?" Again Mrs. Hildreth's voice broke the +silence. + +"Evadne?" the Judge looked full in his wife's face. "Why, my dear, there +is only one thing to be done. I shall cable immediately to have her come +to us." He rose from the table, his dinner all untasted, and left the +room. + +Louis was the first to speak. "A Barbadoes cousin. How will you like +having such a novelty as that, Sis, to introduce among your +acquaintance?" He bowed lazily to Mrs. Hildreth. "Let me congratulate +you, lady mother. You will have the pleasure of floating another bud +into blossom upon the bosom of society." + +"I do not see any room for congratulation, Louis," Mrs. Hildreth said +discontentedly. "It is a dreadful responsibility. One does not know what +the child may be like." + +"Hardly a child, mamma," pouted Marion. "Evadne must be as old as I." + +"If that is so, Sis, she must have the wisdom of Methusaleh!" and Louis +looked at his sister with one of his mocking smiles. "At any rate she +will afford scope for your powers of training, Isabelle. It must be +depressing to have to waste your eloquence upon an audience of one." + +Isabelle tossed her head. "I am not anxious for the opportunity," she +said coldly. "Likely the child will be a perfect heathen after running +wild among savages all her life." + +Louis whistled. "A little less Grundy and a little more geography would +be to your advantage, Isabelle! Barbadoes happens to be the crème de la +crème of the British Indies. I would not advise you to display your +ignorance before Evadne, or your future lecturettes on the +conventionalities may prove lacking in vital force." + +"Why, Isabelle, my dear, you must be dreaming!" and her mother looked +annoyed. "Don't let your father hear you say such a thing, I beg of you! +When he visited Barbadoes he was delighted, and he thought Evadne's +mother one of the most charming women he had ever met. If she had lived +of course Evadne would be all right, but she has been left entirely to +her father's guidance, and he had such peculiar ideas." + +"When, did she die, mamma?" asked Marion. + +"I am sure I cannot remember. Six or seven years ago it must have been. +But we rarely heard from them. Your Uncle Lenox was always a wretched +correspondent, and since his wife's death he has hardly written at all." + +"The house of Hildreth cannot claim to be well posted in the matter of +blood relations," said Louis carelessly, as he helped himself to olives. + + * * * * * + +Upon the deck of one of the Ocean Greyhounds a promiscuous crowd was +gathered. Returning tourists in all the glory of field glasses and tweed +suits; British officers going home on furlough from the different +outposts where they were stationed; merchants from the rich markets of +the far East; picturesque foreigners in national costume; and a bishop +who paced the deck with a dignity becoming his ecclesiastical rank. +There was a continuous hum of conversation, mingled with intermittent +ripples of laughter from the different groups which were scattered about +the deck. Among the exceptions to the general sociability were the +bishop, still pacing up and down with his hands clasped behind him, and +a young girl who sat looking far out over the waves, utterly heedless of +the noise and confusion around her. + +She was absolutely alone. The gentleman under whose care she was +traveling made a point of escorting her to meals, after which he +invariably secured her a comfortable deck chair, supplied her liberally +with rugs and books, and then retired to the smoking-room, with the +serene consciousness of duty well performed; and Evadne Hildreth was +thankful to be left in peace. She was no longer the buoyant, merry girl. +Her vitality seemed crushed. Hour after hour she sat motionless, her +hands folded listlessly in her lap, looking out over the dancing waves. +She had caught the last glimpse of her beloved island in a grey stupor. +Everything was gone,--father and home and friends,--nothing that +happened could matter now,--but, oh, the dreary, dreary years! Did the +sun shine in far-away New England, and could the water be as blue as her +dear Atlantic, with the gay ripple on its bosom and the music of its +waves? She looked at the tender sky, as on the far horizon it bent low +to kiss the face of the mysterious mighty ocean which stretched "a sea +without a shore." That was like her life now. All the beauty ended, yet +stretching on and on and on. And she must keep pace with it, against her +will. And there was no one to care. She was all alone! No, there was +Jesus Christ! + +She started to find that the Bishop's lady was speaking to her. Evadne +recognized her, for she sat at the next table, and several times she had +stood aside to let her pass to her seat. Something about the solitary, +pathetic little figure, the hopeless face and mournful grey eyes, had +won the compassion of the good lady, for she was a kindly soul. + +"My dear, you have a great sorrow?" she said gently. "I hope you have +the consolations of our holy religion to help you bear it." + +Evadne turned towards her eagerly. Her husband was the head of the +church. Surely _she_ would know. + +"Can you help me to find him?" she asked abruptly. + +"Find whom, my dear? Have you a friend among the passengers?" + +"Jesus Christ." + +"Oh!" The Bishop's lady sat back with the suddenness of the shock, "Are +you in earnest, my dear?" she asked with a tinge of severity in her +tone. "This is a very serious question, but, if you really mean it, I +will lend you my Prayer Book." + +Evadne smiled drearily. "Oh, yes, I am terribly in earnest. My father +said I was to make it the business of my life." + +"Oh, ah, yes, to be sure," said the lady a trifle absently. "That is +very proper. Christianity should be the great purpose of our life." + +"I do not want Christianity," said Evadne impatiently, "I want Christ." + +"My dear, you shock me! The eternal verities of our holy religion must +ever be--" + +"Do you believe in him?" asked Evadne, interrupting her. + +"Believe in him? whom do you mean?" + +"Jesus Christ." + +Aghast, the Bishop's lady crossed herself and began repeating the +Apostles' Creed. + +"That makes him seem so far away," said Evadne sadly. "I do not want him +in heaven if I have to live upon earth. Have _you_ found him?" she asked +eagerly. "Are you on intimate terms with him? Is he your friend?" + +The Bishop's lady gasped for breath. That she, a member of the Church of +the Holy Communion of All Saints should be interrogated in such a +fashion as this! "I think you do not quite understand," she said coldly. +"I will lend you a treatise on Church Doctrine. You had better study +that." + +"Charlotte," said her husband when she reached her stateroom, "I have +arrived at an important decision this afternoon. I have finally +concluded to take the Socinian Heresy as my theme for the noon lectures. +The subject will admit of elaborate treatment and afford ample scope for +scholarship." + +"Heresy!" echoed his wife, who had not yet recovered her equanimity; +"why, Bertram, I have just been talking to a young person who asked me +if I was on intimate terms with Jesus Christ!" + +"Ah, yes," said the Bishop absently, "the radical tendencies of the +present day are to be deplored. Have you seen that my vestments are in +order, Charlotte? I shall hold Divine service on board to-morrow." + +In a neighboring stateroom a lonely soul, bewildered and despairing, +struggled through the darkness towards the light. + + * * * * * + +The last snow of the winter lay in soft beauty upon the streets of +Marlborough as Evadne's train drew into the railway station. Instantly +all was bustle and confusion throughout the cars. Evadne shrank back in +her seat and waited. Instinctively she felt that for her there would be +no joyous welcome. Inexpressibly dreary as the journey had been she was +sorry it was at an end. An overwhelming embarrassment of shyness seized +upon her, and the chill desolation of loneliness seemed to shut down +about her like a cloud. + +A young man sauntered past her with his hands in his pockets. When he +reached the end of the car he turned and surveyed the passengers +leisurely, then he came back to her seat. He lifted his hat with lazy +politeness. + +"Miss Hildreth, I believe?" + +Evadne bowed. He shook hands coolly. + +"I have the honor of introducing myself as your cousin Louis." + +He made no attempt to give her a warmer greeting, and Evadne was glad, +but how dreary it was! + +Louis led the way out of the station to where a pair of magnificent +horses stood, tossing their regal heads impatiently. A colored coachman +stood beside them, clad in fur. + +"Pompey," he said, "this is Miss Evadne Hildreth from Barbadoes." + +The man bent his head low over the little hand which was instantly +stretched out to him. "I'se very glad to see Miss 'Vadney," he said with +simple fervor. "I was powerful fond of Mass Lennux;" and Evadne felt she +had received her warmest welcome. + +She nestled down among the soft robes of the sleigh while the silver +bells rang merrily through the frosty air. It was all so new and +strange. A leaden weight seemed to be settling down upon her heart and +she felt as if she were choking, but she threw it off. She dared not let +herself think. She began to talk rapidly. + +"What splendid horses you have! Surely they must be thoroughbreds? No +ordinary horses could ever hold their heads like that." + +Louis nodded. "You have a quick eye," he said approvingly. "Most girls +would not know a thoroughbred from a draught horse. You have hit upon +the surest way to get into my father's good graces. His horses are his +hobby." + +"What are their names?" + +"Brutus and Caesar. The Judge is nothing if not classical." + +As they mounted the front steps the faint notes of a guitar sounded from +the front room. + +"Confound Isabelle and her eternal twanging!" muttered Louis, as he +fumbled for his latch-key. "It would be a more orthodox welcome if you +found your relations waiting for you with open arms, but the Hildreth +family is not given to gush. Isabelle will tell you it is not good form. +So we keep our emotions hermetically sealed and stowed away under +decorous lock and key, polite society having found them inconvenient +things to handle, partaking of the nature of nitroglycerine, you know, +and liable to spontaneous combustion." + +He opened the door as he spoke and Evadne followed him into the hall. +She shivered, although a warm breath of heated air fanned her cheek. The +atmosphere was chilly. + +Marion, hurried forward to greet her, followed more leisurely by +Isabelle and her mother, who touched her lips lightly to her forehead. + +"I hope you have had a pleasant journey, my dear, although you must +find our climate rather stormy. I think you might as well let the girls +take you at once to your room and then we will have dinner." + +"Where is the Judge?" inquired Louis. + +"Detained again at the office. He has just telephoned not to wait for +him. He is killing himself with overwork." + +To Evadne the dinner seemed interminable and she found herself +contrasting the stiff formality with the genial hospitality of her +father's table. She saw again the softly lighted room with its open +windows through which the flowers peeped, and heard his gay badinage and +his low, sweet laugh. Could she be the same Evadne, or was it all a +dream? + +Isabelle stood beside her as she began to prepare for the night. She +wished she would go away. The burden of loneliness grew every moment +more intolerable. Suddenly she turned towards her cousin and cried in +desperation,-- + +"Can _you_ tell me where I shall find Jesus Christ?" + +Isabelle started. "My goodness, Evadne, what a strange question! You +took my breath away." + +"Is it a strange question?" she asked wistfully. "Everyone seems to +think so, and yet--my father said I was to make it the business of my +life to find him." + +"Your father!" cried Isabelle. "Why Uncle Lenox was an----" + +Instantly a pair of small hands were held like a vice against her lips. +Isabelle threw them off angrily. + +"You are polite, I must say! Is this a specimen of West Indian manners?" + +"You were going to say something I could not hear," said Evadne quietly, +"there was nothing else to do." + +Isabelle left the room, and, returning, threw a book carelessly upon the +table. "You had better study that," she said. "It will answer your +questions better than I can." + +"I told you she was a heathen!" she exclaimed, as she rejoined her +mother in the sitting-room; "but I did not know that I should have to +turn missionary the first night and give her a Bible!" + +Upstairs Evadne buried her face among the pillows and the aching heart +burst its bonds in one long quivering cry of pain. + +"Dearest!" + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +A day full of light--warm and brilliant. The sun flooding the wide +fields of timothy and clover and fresh young grain with glory; falling +with a soft radiance upon the comfortable mansion of the master of +Hollywood Farm, with its spacious barns and long stretches of stabling, +and throwing loving glances among the leaves of its deep belt of +woodland where the river sparkled and soft rugs of moss spread their +rich luxuriance over an aesthetic carpet of resinous pine needles. + +Near the limits of Hollywood the forest made a sudden curve to the +right, and the river, turned from its course, rushed, laughing and +eager, over a ridge of rocks which tossed it in the air in sheets of +silver spray. + +Standing there, leaning upon a gun, a boy of about seventeen looked long +at a squirrel whose mangled body was staining the emerald beauty of the +moss with crimson. His face was earnest and troubled, while the +expression of sorrowful contempt which swept over it, made him seem +older than he was. It was a strong face, with deep-set, thoughtful eyes +which lit up wondrously when he was interested or pleased. His mouth was +sensitive but his chin was firm and his brown hair fell in soft waves +over a broad, full brow. People always took it for granted that John +Randolph would be as good as his word. They never reasoned about it. +They simply expected it of him. + +He began to speak, and his voice fell clear and distinct through the +silence. + +"And you call this sport?" There was no answer save the soft gurgle of +the river as it splashed merrily over the stones. + +"You are a brute, John Randolph!" And the wind sighed a plaintive echo +among the trees. + +He was silent while the words which he had read six weeks before and +which had been ringing a ceaseless refrain in his heart ever since, +obtruded themselves upon his memory. + +"It is the privilege of everyone to become an exact copy of Jesus +Christ." + +"Well, John Randolph, can you picture to yourself Jesus Christ shooting +a squirrel for sport?" He tossed aside the weapon he had been leaning +upon with a gesture of disgust, and, folding his arms, looked up at the +cloud-flecked sky. + +"Are you there, Jesus Christ?" he asked wistfully. "Are you looking +down on this poor old world, and what do you think of it all? Men made +in God's image finding their highest enjoyment in slaughtering his +creatures. Game Preserves where they can do it in luxurious leisure; fox +hunts with their pack of hunters and hounds in full cry after one poor +defenceless fox, and battle-fields where they tear each other limb from +limb with Gatling gun and shells; and yet we call ourselves honorable +gentlemen, and talk of the delights of the chase and the glories of war! +Pshaw! what a mockery it is." + +Stooping suddenly he laid the squirrel upon his open palm and gently +stroked the long, silky fur. He lifted the tiny paws with their perfect +equipment for service and looked remorsefully at the eyes whose light +was dimmed, and the mouth which had forever ceased its merry chatter. A +great tenderness sprang up in his heart toward all living things and, +lifting his right hand to heaven, he exclaimed, "Poor little squirrel, I +cannot give you back your happy life, but, I will never take another!" + +Then he knelt, and scooping out a grave, laid the little creature to +rest at the foot of a tree in whose trunk the remnant of its winter +store of nuts was carefully garnered. When at length he turned to +leave the spot the tiny grave was marked by a pine slab, on which was +pencilled, + + "Here lies the germ of a resolve. + July 17th, 18--" + +He walked slowly along the fragrant wood-path, looking thoughtfully at +the shadows as they played hide and seek upon the moss, while through +the trees he caught glimpses of the sparkling river which sang as it +rolled along. + +When he reached the border of the woodland he stood still and his eyes +swept over the landscape. Hollywood was the finest stock farm in the +country. After his father's death he had come, a little lad, to live +with Mr. Hawthorne, and every year which had elapsed since then made it +grow more dear. He loved its rolling meadows, its breezy pastures and +its fragrant orchards. Its beautifully kept grounds and outbuildings +appealed to his innate sense of the fitness of things, while its air of +abundant comfort made it difficult to realize that the world was full of +hunger and woe. He loved the green road where the wild roses blushed and +the honeysuckle drooped its fragrant petals, but most of all he loved +the graceful horses and sleek cows which just now were grazing in the +fields on either side; and the shy creatures, with the subtle instinct +by which all animals test the quality of human friendship, took him into +their confidence and came gladly at his call and did his bidding. + +When he reached the end of the road he stopped again, and, leaning +against the fence adjoining the broad gate which led to the house, gave +a low whistle. A thoroughbred Jersey, feeding some distance away, lifted +her head and listened. Again he whistled, and with soft, slow tread the +cow came towards him and rubbed her nose against his arm. He took her +head between his hands, her clover-laden breath fanning his cheeks, and +looked at the dark muzzle and the large eyes, almost human in their +tenderness. + +"Well, Primrose, old lady, you're as dainty as your namesake, and as +sweet. Ah, Sylph, you beauty!" he continued, as a calf like a young fawn +approached the gate, "you can't rest away from your mammy, can you? +Primrose, have you any aspirations, or are you content simply to eat and +drink? You have a good time of it now, but what if you were kicked and +cuffed and starved? You are sensitive, for I saw you shrink and shiver +when Bill Wright,--the scoundrel!--dared to strike you. He'll never do +it again, Prim! Have you the taste of an epicure for the juicy grass +blades and the clover when it is young,--do you love to hear the birds +sing and the brook murmur, and do you enjoy living under the trees and +watching the clouds chase the sunbeams as you chew your cud? Do you +wonder why the cold winter comes and you have to be shut up in a stall +with a different kind of fodder? Do you ever wonder who gave you life +and what you are meant to do with it? How I wish you could talk, old +lady!" + +He vaulted over the gate, and whistling to a fine collie who came +bounding to meet him, walked slowly on towards the stables. + +"Hulloa, John!" and a boy about two years his junior threw himself off a +horse reeking with foam. "Rub Sultan down a bit like a good fellow. +There'll be the worst kind of a row if the governor sees him in this +pickle." + +John Randolph looked indignantly at the handsome horse, as he stood with +drooping head and wide distended nostrils, while the white foam dripped +over his delicate legs. + +"Serve you right if there were!" and his voice was full of scorn. +"You're about as fit to handle horseflesh as an Esquimaux." + +"Oh, pish! You're a regular old grandmother, John. There's nothing to +make such a row about." And Reginald Hawthorne turned upon his heel. + +John threw off coat and vest, and, rolling up his sleeves, led the +exhausted horse to the currying ground. Reginald followed slowly, his +hands in his pockets. + +"How did you get him into such a mess?" he asked shortly. + +"I don't know, I didn't do anything to him," and Reginald kicked the +gravel discontentedly. "I believe he's getting lazy." + +"Sultan lazy!" and John laughed incredulously. "That's a good joke! Why, +he is the freest horse on the place!" + +"Well, I don't know how else to explain it. He's been on the go pretty +steadily, but what's a horse good for? Thursday afternoon we had our +cross-country run and the ground was horribly stiff. I thought he had +sprained his off foreleg for he limped a good deal on the home stretch, +but he seemed to limber up all right the last few miles. I was sorry not +to let him rest yesterday; would have put him in better trim I suppose +for to-day's twenty mile pull,--but Cartwright and Peterson wanted to +make up a tandem, and when they asked for Sultan I didn't like to +refuse. They are heavy swells, and you know father wants me to get in +with that lot. But that shouldn't have hurt him. They only went as far +as Brighton. What's fifteen miles to a horse!" + +"Fifteen miles means thirty to a horse when he has to travel back the +same road," said John drily; "and your heavy swells take the toll out of +horseflesh quicker than a London cabby." + +"Why, John, what has come to you? You're the last fellow in the world to +want me to be churlish." + +"That's true, Rege,--but I don't want them to cripple you as they have +poor Sultan. What kind of fellows are they?" + +"Oh, not a bad sort," said Reginald carelessly. "Lots of the needful, +you know, and free with it. Not very fond of the grind, but always up to +date when there are any good times going. What do you suppose put Sultan +in such a lather, John? I was so afraid father would catch me that I +came across the fields, and it was just as much as he could do to take +the last fence. I made sure he was going to tumble." + +"Well for you he didn't," and John smoothed the delicate limbs with his +firm hand, "these knees are too pretty for a scar. Go into the vet room, +Rege, and bring me out a roll of bandage." + +"Hulloa! That will give me away to the governor with a vengeance! What +are you going to bandage him for?" + +"He is badly strained, and if I don't his legs will be all puffed by the +morning. It will be lucky if it is nothing worse. He looks to me as if +he was in for a touch of distemper, but I'll give him a powder and +perhaps we can stave it off." + +Reginald brought the bandage and then stood moodily striking at a beetle +with his riding whip. He was turning away when a hand with a grip of +steel was laid on his shoulder and he was forced back to where the +beetle lay, a shapeless mass of quivering agony, while a low stern voice +exclaimed,-- + +"Finish your work! Even the cannibals do that." + +Reginald wrenched himself free. "Pshaw!" he said contemptuously, "it's +only a beetle." But he did as he was told. + +Then he stood silently watching as with swift skilfulness John swathed +the horse's limbs in flannel. "I guess Sultan misses you, John. Over at +the college livery their fingers are all thumbs." + +"Poor Sultan!" was all John's answer, as he led the horse into a large +paddock thickly strewn with fresh straw. + +A night full of stars--silent and sweet. John Randolph leaned on the +broad gate which opened into the green road where he had lingered in the +afternoon. The thoughts which surged through his brain made sleep +impossible, and so, lighting his bull's-eye, he had gone to the stables +to see how Sultan was faring, and then wandered on under the mystery of +the stars. + +The night was warm. A breeze heavy with perfume lifted the hair from his +brow. He heard the low breathing of the cattle as they dozed in the +fields on either side, and the soft whirr of downy plumage as the great +owl which had built its nest among the eaves of the new barn flew past +him. Suddenly a warm nose was thrust against his shoulder and, with the +assurance of a spoilt beauty, the cow laid her head upon his arm. He +lifted his other hand and stroked it gently. + +"Hah, Primrose! Are you awake, old lady? What are your views of life +now, Prim? Do the shadows make it seem more weird and grand, or does +midnight lose its awesomeness when one is upon four legs?" + +He looked away to where the stars were throbbing with tender light, +crimson and green and gold, and the words of the book which he had been +studying every leisure moment for the past six weeks swept across his +mental vision. + +"'I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in +darkness, but shall have the light of life.' + +"'The light of life,'" he repeated slowly. "Why, to most people life +seems all darkness! What is 'the light of life'?" + +Still other words came stealing to his memory. 'I am the way, the truth, +and the life, no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.' 'Except ye +turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the +kingdom of heaven.' 'This is life eternal, that they should know thee +the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus.' + +A great light flooded John Randolph's soul. + +"'I' and 'me,'" he whispered. "Why, it is a personality. It is Jesus +himself! He is the way to the kingdom, the truth of the kingdom and the +life of it. The kingdom of heaven, not far away in space, but set up +here and now in the hearts of men who live the life hid with Christ in +God. I see it all! Jesus Christ is the light of the life which God gives +us through his Son." + +He stretched his hands up towards the glistening sky. + +"Jesus Christ," he cried eagerly, "come into my life and make it light. +I take thee for my Master, my Friend. I give myself away to thee. I will +follow wherever thou dost lead. Jesus Christ, help me to grow like +thee!" + +The hush of a great peace fell upon his soul, while through the +listening night an angel stooped and traced upon his brow the kingly +motto, 'Ich Dien.' + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +"Don, Don, me's tumin'," and the baby of the farm, a little child with +sunny curls and laughing eyes, ran past the great barns of Hollywood. + +John Randolph was swinging along the green road with a bridle over his +arm, whistling softly. He turned as the childish voice was borne to him +on the breeze. "All right, Nansie, wait for me at the gate." Then he +sprang over the fence and crossed the field to where a group of horses +were feeding. + +The child climbed up on the gate beside a saddle which John had placed +there and waited patiently. He soon came back, leading a magnificent bay +horse, and began to adjust the saddle. + +"Now, Nan, I'll give you a ride to the house. Can't go any further +to-day, for I have to cross the river." + +The child shook her head confidently. "Me 'll go too, Don." + +"I'm afraid not, Nan. The river is so deep, we'll have to swim for it. +That is why I chose Neptune, you see." + +"Me's not 'fraid, wiv 'oo, Don." + +"Better wait, Baby, till the river is low. Well, come along then," as +the wily schemer drew down her pretty lips into the aggrieved curve +which always conquered his big, soft heart. She clapped her hands with +glee, as he lifted her in front of him and started Neptune into a brisk +trot, and made a bridle for herself out of the horse's silky mane. + +"Gee, gee, Nepshun. Nan loves you, dear." + +When they reached the fording place John's face grew grave. The river +had risen during the night and was rushing along with turbulent +strength. There was no house within five miles. His business was +imperative. He dared not leave the child until he came back. Crouching +upon the saddle, he clasped one arm about her while he twisted his other +hand firmly in and out of the horse's mane. + +"Are you afraid, Nansie?" + +She twined her arms more tightly about his neck until the sunny curls +brushed his cheek. + +"Me'll do anywhere, wiv 'oo, Don." + +Just as the gallant horse reached the opposite bank Reginald galloped +down to the ford on his way home for Sunday. + +"Upon my word, John, you're a perfect slave to that youngster! What mad +thing will you be doing next, I wonder?" + +"The next thing will be to go back again," said John with a smile, while +Nan clung fast to his neck and peeped shyly through her curls at her +brother. + +"Where are you off to?" + +"Henderson's." + +Reginald turned his horse's head. "I might as well go along. A man's a +fool to ride alone when he can have company." + +John gave him a swift, comprehensive glance. + +"How are things going, Rege? You're not looking very fit." + +Reginald yawned and drew his hand across his heavy eyes. "Oh, all right. +Oyster suppers and that sort of thing are apt to make a fellow drowsy." + +"Don't go too fast, Rege." + +"Why not?" said Reginald carelessly. "It suits the governor, and that +book you're so fond of says children should obey their parents." + + * * * * * + +"I declare, John, you're a regular algebraic puzzle!" he exclaimed later +in the day, as he stood beside John in the carpenter's shop, watching +the curling strips of wood which his plane was tossing off with sweeping +strokes. "You put all there is of you into everything you do. You take +as much pains over a plough handle as you would over a buggy!" + +"Why not? God takes as much pains with a humming-bird as an elephant. +Mere size doesn't count." + +"Nan loves you, Reggie," and a tiny hand was slipped shyly into her +brother's. + +"All right, Magpie," he said carelessly. "You had better run home now to +mother. Your chatter makes my head ache." + +The laughing lips quivered and the child turned away from him to John +and hid her face against his knee. He lifted her up on the bench beside +him and gave her a handful of shavings to play with. + +"I don't see how you accomplish anything with that child everlastingly +under your feet!" Reginald continued, "yet you do two men's work and +seem to love it into the bargain. I'm sure if I had to cooper up all the +things on the farm as you do, I should loathe the very sight of tools." + +"I _do_ love it, Rege. Jesus Christ was a carpenter, you know. I get +very near to him out here." + +"Jesus Christ!" echoed Reginald with a puzzled stare. "What is coming +to you, John?" + +"It has come, Rege," John said with a great light in his face. "I have +found my Master." + +"Upon my word, John, you are the queerest fellow! What next, I wonder?" + +"The next thing, Rege," and John laid his hand affectionately upon his +friend's shoulder, "is for you to find him too." + +"So, you're going to turn preacher, John? You'll find me a hard subject. +A short life and a merry one is what I am going in for. I've no turn for +Christianity." + +"It pays, Rege." + +"Don't believe it. How can life be worth living when you're drivelling +psalm tunes all day long?" + +John laughed, and there was a new note of gladness in his voice which +Reginald was quick to notice. "I haven't begun to drivel yet, Rege; and +life counts for a good deal more when a man has an object than when he +is living just to please himself." + +"And who should a man please but himself, I should like to know?" + +"Jesus Christ." + + * * * * * + +"Upon my word!" said Reginald some weeks later, as he came upon John +sitting astride a cobbler's bench busily mending a pair of shoes, while +Nan looked on admiringly. "Do you learn a new trade every month?" + +John laughed quietly. "I took up this one because there are so many +repairs always needed on the harness, and your father thinks all talent +should be utilized." + +There was a quizzical look about his mouth as he spoke. Reginald caught +the look and answered hotly. + +"The governor ought to be ashamed of himself! Why don't you strike, +John?" + +"Why should I? Knowledge is power, Rege." + +"Knowledge of shoemaking!" said Reginald contemptuously. "It won't add +to your strength much, John." + +"Never can tell," said John sententiously. "You remember that lame +fellow saved a battle for us by knowing how to shoe the general's +horse." + +"Next thing you'll be going in for a blacksmith's diploma!" + +"I'm thinking of it," said John coolly. "That fellow at the Forks has no +more sense than a hen. He pared so much off Neptune's hoof last week +that he has been limping ever since. I had to take him this morning and +have the shoes removed." + +"I wish you'd do some shirking, John, like the rest of us." + +"Jesus Christ never shirked, Rege." + +"Pshaw! You're so ridiculous!" and Reginald walked discontentedly away. + +"Here, John, John, I say," he called, when the time came for him to +return to College, "go catch and saddle Sultan for me. You're so fond of +work, you might as well have two masters. Be quick now, for I'm in the +mischief of a hurry." + +John's face flushed. This boy was younger than himself, and his father +had been Mr. Hawthorne's friend. + +"Do you hear what I say, John?" demanded Reginald. "You're only here as +a servant any way, and I'll be master some day, so you might as well +learn to obey me now." + +John's brow cleared, while the words echoed in his heart with a glad +refrain,-- + +"A servant of Jesus Christ," and "The Lord's servant must not strive, +but be gentle towards all ... forbearing." After all, life was a matter +between himself and the Lord Jesus. What could Reginald's taunts affect +him now? + +"All right," he said quietly, and started for the field. + +"I declare!" muttered Reginald, as he watched the tall, lithe form +cross the field with springing step, "you might as well try to make the +fellow mad now, as to storm Gibraltar! What has come to him?" + +"Here you are, Sir Reginald," said John good-humoredly, as he led the +freshly groomed horse to the riding-block. + +Reginald's voice choked. "Shake hands, John," he said huskily. "I am a +brute! There must be something in this new fad of yours after all. If +you had spoken to me as I did to you just now, I should have knocked you +down." + +He rode on for a mile or two in moody silence, then he gave his +shoulders an impatient shrug. + +"I'd like to know what it is about John Randolph that makes me feel so +small! I have good times and he is always on the grind. I have all the +money I can spend and he has nothing but the pittance the governor gives +him, and yet he is three times the better fellow of the two. I envy him +his spunk and go. He comes to everything as fresh as a two-year old, and +he works everything for all there is in it. To see him climbing that +hill yesterday, with the youngster on his shoulder, actually made me +feel as if climbing hills was the jolliest thing in life. And it's so +with everything he does. Confound it! I don't see why I can't get the +same comfort out of things. I don't see where the fellow gets his vim. +If I worked as hard as he does, I'd be ready to tumble into bed instead +of pegging away at Latin and Mathematics. I'll have to put on a spurt in +self-defence or he'll be tripping me up with his questions. He's got the +longest head of anyone I know. The idea of the governor daring to set +such a fellow as that to cobble shoes!" + +"It's queer about the governor," he continued after a pause. "He's +always ready to shell out when I ask him for money, but he keeps poor +John with his nose to the grindstone all the year round. I suppose he +expects me to pay him in glory. He's set his heart on my being a +judge,--Judge Hawthorne of Hollywood. Sounds euphonious, and I verily +believe the old gentleman has begun to roll it like a sweet morsel under +his tongue. Can't say I have a special aptitude for the profession, and +certainly the brains are not in evidence, but I suppose the governor +thinks money will take their place. He has found it takes the place of +most things. + +"Sultan, old boy, we seem down on our luck this morning. We had better +take a speeder to raise our spirits. It is hardly the thing for Judge +Hawthorne of Hollywood to envy John Randolph his humdrum life of mending +rakes and shoes," and he urged his horse into a mad gallop. + + * * * * * + +"I believe I'd like to be poor and work, John," he exclaimed one day. +"It gets tiresome having everything laid ready to your hand, with +nothing to do but take it. Life must be full of snap when you have to +dash your will up against old Dame Fortune and wrest what you want out +of her miserly clutches." + +"Yes," said John simply, "Jesus Christ was poor." + +"Look here, John. If you don't stop that nonsense, people will be +dubbing you a crank." + +"I am ready!" he cried, and there was a strange, exulting ring in his +voice. "They called him mad, you know." + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Evadne found herself one morning in Judge Hildreth's roomy coach-house, +watching Pompey, as he skilfully groomed her uncle's pets. + +It had been decided that after the summer holidays, she should become a +member of the fashionable school which Isabelle and Marion attended. In +the meantime she was left almost entirely to her own devices. Her uncle +was away all day, Louis at College, and her aunt busy with social +duties. Her cousins had their own particular friends, who were not slow +to vote the silent girl with the mournful grey eyes, full of dumb +questioning, a bore; while Evadne, accustomed to being her father's +companion in all his scientific researches, found their vapid chatter +wearisome in the extreme. + +Horses were a passion with her, and she noted with pleased interest +Pompey's deft manipulations. She stood for a long time in silence. +Pompey had saluted her respectfully then kept on steadily with his work. +Dexterously he swept the curry-comb over the shining coats and then +drew it through the brush in his left hand with a curious vocal +accompaniment, something between a long-drawn whistle and a sigh, and +the horses laid their heads against his shoulder affectionately and +looked wonderingly at the stranger out of their large, bright eyes. + +"Did you really know my father?" she asked at length. + +"Laws, yes, Missy!" and Pompey's honest black face grew tender with +sympathy. "Mass Lennux stayed with the Jedge 'fore he went ter +Barbadoes, an' he spen' powerful sight of his time out here wid me an' +de horses. He wuz allers del'cut,--warn't able ter do nothin' in this +yere climate,--but he bed sech a sperit! He wouldn't ever let folks know +when he wuz a sufferin'. He use ter call me 'Pompous,'" and Pompey +chuckled softly. "He say when I git inter my fur coat I look as gran' on +de box as de Jedge do inside; an' one day he braided de horses' manes +inter a hunderd tails an' tied 'em wid yaller ribbun, 'cause he said de +crimps wuz in de fashun an' yaller wuz de Jedge's 'lecshun color. De +Jedge wuz powerful angry. He don't like no sech tricks wid his horses. +But, laws, he couldn't keep angry wid Mass Lennux! He jes' stood wid +his hans on his sides an' larf an' larf, till de Jedge he hev ter larf +too, an' he call him a graceless scamp, an' say he send him ter +Coventry, an' Mass Lennux he say 'all right ef de Jedge go 'long too, +an' take de horses, he couldn't do widout dem nohow.'" + +"Were these the horses my father used to ride?" + +"Laws, no, Missy. Dey wuz ez black ez night. Mass Lennux use ter call +'em Egyp an' Erybus." + +Pompey's face softened. + +"When my leetle gal died he jes' put his han' on my shoulder an' sez +he,--'Pompous, you jes' go home an' cheer up de Missis, yer don't hev no +call to worry 'bout de horses.' An' he tuk care of dem jes' as ef he'd +ben a coachman. We'll never fergit it, Dyce an' me." + +Evadne's eyes shone. That was just like her father! + +"'Specs little Miss is powerful lonesum 'thout Mass Lennux?" + +The soft voice was full of a genuine regret. Evadne sank down on a bench +which stood near by and burst into tears. + +"Oh, Pompey, I wish I could die!" + +"'Specs little Miss hez no call ter wish dat," said Pompey gently. +"'Specs de Lord Jesus wants her to live fer him." + +Evadne opened her eyes in wonder. + +"'The Lord Jesus,'" she repeated. "Why, Pompey, do you know him?" + +A great joy transfigured the black face. + +"He is my Frien'," he said simply. + +Evadne leaned forward eagerly. "Oh, Pompey, if that is true, then you +can help me find him." + +Pompey smiled joyously. "Miss 'Vadney don't need ter go far away fer +dat. He is right here." + +"Here!" echoed Evadne faintly. + +"Lo, I am wid you all de days'" Pompey repeated softly. "De Lord Jesus +don't leave no gaps in his promises, Miss 'Vadney. He's allers wid me +wherever I is workin', an' when I is up on my box a drivin' troo de +streets, he's dere. He's wid me continuous. Dere's nuthin can seprate +Pompey from de Lord," he added with a sweet reverence. + +"How can you be so sure?" she asked wistfully. + +"I hez his word, Missy. You allers b'lieved your father? 'I will not +leave you orphuns, I will cum ter you.' I 'specs dat verse is meant +speshully fer you, Miss 'Vadney." + +"But we can't see him," said Evadne. + +"Only wid de eye of faith, Missy. We trusts our friens in de dark. You +didn't need ter see your father ter know he wuz in de house?" + +"Oh, no!" Evadne's voice trembled. + +"It's jes' de same wid my Father, Miss 'Vadney." + +"How can you call God so, Pompey?" + +A great sweetness came over the homely face. + +"'Cause he hez sent his Sperit inter my heart, an' poor black Pompey can +look up inter de shinin of his face an' say 'my Father,' 'cause I'se +hidden away in his Son. I'se a little branch abidin' in de great Vine. +I'se one wid de Lord Jesus." + +"I don't know where to look for him!" Evadne cried disconsolately. + +Pompey laid aside his curry-comb and brush and folded his toil-worn +hands. + +"Lord Jesus," he said quietly, "here is thy little lamb. She's out in de +dark mountain, an' she's lonesum an' hungry, an' de col' rain of sorrow +is beatin' on her head. Lord, thou is de good Shepherd. Let her hear thy +voice a callin' her. Carry this little lamb in thy bosom an' giv her de +joy of thy love." + + * * * * * + +Judge Hildreth sat in his library far into the night. He was reading for +the twentieth time the letter which Evadne had placed in his hands the +morning after her arrival, and as he read, he frowned. + +"It is ridiculous, absurd!" he exclaimed impatiently. "Just of a piece +with all of Len's quixotic theories. By what possible chance could a +child of that age know how to manage money? She would make ducks and +drakes of the whole business in less than a year!" + +A letter addressed to Evadne lay upon the pile of age-worn papers in an +open drawer at his side. + +"I enclose herewith a letter to Evadne," his brother had written, +"giving full and minute explanations as to her best course in the +matter. These she will follow implicitly, under your supervision, and I +feel confident the result will be a well-developed character along the +lines on which women, through no fault of their own, are so lamentably +deficient, namely, the proper conduct of business and management of +money." + +Judge Hildreth looked again at the envelope with its clear, bold +address. "That is not the handwriting of a fool," he muttered. "I wish I +could make up my mind what to do." + +Through the solemn hush of midnight his good and evil angels contended +for his soul. In a strange silence he listened to their voices, the one +insidious, tempting, the other urging him to take the upright course. +Had his eyes not been holden he would have seen them, the one +dark-browed, malignant, clothed in shadows, the other robed in light; +while other angels hovered near and looked on pityingly. The white-robed +angel spoke first. + +"It is not a question to be decided by your judgment. There is no other +course left open to you." + +Mockingly the other answered. "It is a most unprecedented proceeding. +You should have been appointed her guardian, with sole control." + +"It is your brother's last will and testament." + +"Some wills are made to be broken. This one is against sound reason." + +"It is the only honorable thing to do." + +"It is unnecessary. The child need not know, and, if she did, would +thank you for saving her from care." + +"It is your brother's money. He had a right to do as he will with his +own." + +"If he had known to what straits this year's speculations have brought +you, he would be glad to give you a lift. If you do not have money now +what are you going to do? This has come just in time, for you know your +credit is already strained to its utmost." "Your niece will be anxious +to have your advice as to profitable investments. You can borrow the +money from her." + +"That would be awkward, in case the bottom fell out of the mine. A +little capital in hand would give you a chance to water the Panhattan +stock and develop a new lead in the Silverwing." + +"If you use money that does not belong to you, you will be a thief!" + +"If you do not use it, you will be a pauper. You have paper out now to +five times the amount of your income. This is an interposition of +Providence to save you from ruin." + +"What right had you to put yourself in the way of ruin?" + +"You did it to advance the interests of your family. The Bible says, 'If +any provide not for his own, especially his own kindred, he ... is worse +than an infidel.'[Footnote: Marginal rendering A. V.]" + +"If you do this thing you will be dishonored in the sight of God." + +"If you do not save yourself from this temporary embarrassment, you will +be disgraced in the eyes of the world. You owe it to your position in +society, and the church, to keep above the waves." The listening +spirits heard a low, malicious laugh of triumph and the white-robed +angel turned sadly away. + +Judge Hildreth had thrust Evadne's letter, with his own, far under the +pile of papers, and double-locked the drawer! + + * * * * * + +Above the coach-house was a large room where Pompey kept a store of hay +and grain, and there Evadne often found herself ensconced with +Isabelle's Bible, during the long mornings when she was left to amuse +herself as best she might. The atmosphere of the house stifled her, and +Pompey had loved her father! It was scrupulously clean. Under Pompey's +régime spiders and moths found no tolerance, and a magnificent black cat +effectually frightened away the audacious rodents which were tempted to +depredations by the toothsome cereals in the great bins. In one corner +Pompey had improvised for her a luxurious couch of hay and rugs, and in +this fragrant retreat Evadne studied her strange new book. She brought +to it a mind absolutely untrammeled by creed or circumstance, and in +this virgin soil God's truth took root. Slowly the light dawned. Hers +was no shallow nature to leap to a hasty conclusion and then forsake it +for a later thought. Gradually through the darkness, as God's flowers +grow, this human flower lifted itself towards the light. + +Sometimes she would sit for hours with the stately cat upon her knee, +thinking, thinking, thinking, while Pompey sang his favorite hymns about +his work and the mellow strains floated up the stairway and soothed her +lonely heart. His childlike faith became to her a tower of refuge, and +often, when bewildered by life's inconsistencies, she felt as if the +eternal realities were vanishing into mist, she was calmed and comforted +by his happy trust. + +"I cannot imagine, Evadne," said Isabelle one evening at dinner, "what +pleasure you can find in sitting in a stable in company with a negro! It +certainly shows a most depraved taste." + +"Christ was born in a stable, Isabelle." + +"What in the world has that to do with you?" + +"I am beginning to think he has everything to do with me," answered her +cousin quietly. + +"Well," said Isabelle with a toss of her head, "we are known by the +company we keep. I should imagine Pompey's curriculum of manners was not +on a very elevated plane." + +"Pompey! Isabelle," said Judge Hildreth suddenly. "Why, my dear, Pompey +is a modern Socrates, bound in ebony. There is no danger to be +apprehended from him." + +"Well, it is a peculiar companionship for Judge Hildreth's niece, that +is all I have to say," said Isabelle coldly, "but _chacun à son goût_." + +"I read this morning in your Bible that God had chosen the base things +of the world, and things which are despised, and things which are not, +to bring to nought things that are. What does that mean, Isabelle?" + +"Really, Evadne, we shall have to send you to live with Doctor Jerome!" +said her aunt, with a careless laugh. "You are getting to be a regular +interrogation point. We are not Bible commentators, child, you cannot +expect us to explain all the difficult passages. + +"The Embroidery Club meets here tomorrow, Evadne," exclaimed Marion, +"and I don't believe you have touched your table scarf since they were +here before. What will Celeste Follingsby think? She works so rapidly, +and her drawn work is a perfect poem." + +"No, I have not," confessed Evadne. "It seems such silly work, to draw +threads apart and then sew them together again." + +Isabelle elevated her eyebrows with a look of horror. + +Louis laughed. "She's a hopeless case, Isabelle. You'll never convert +her into an elegant trifler. You might as well throw up the contract." + +"It seems to me, Evadne," said his sister icily, "that you might have a +little regard for the decorums of society. Don't, I beg of you, give +utterance to such heresies before the girls. And I wish you would not +call it _my_ Bible. I did not make it." + +"That is quite true, Evadne," said Louis gravely. "If she had, there +would have been a good deal left out." + +Isabella shot an angry glance at him but made no remark. Her brother's +sarcasms were always received in silence. + +"Eva," she said after a pause, "I intend to call you by that name in +future,--your full one is too troublesome." + +Evadne shivered. Her father was the only one who had ever abbreviated +her name. "I shall not answer to it," she said quietly. + +"Why, pray?" + +"Because, I suppose, in common with the rest of the lower animals, I +have a natural repugnance to being cut in two." + +"How tiresome you are!" exclaimed Isabelle with a pout. "I do not object +to my first syllable. All the girls at school call me Isa. Mamma, did +you remember to order the tulle for our wings? Claude Rivers has +finished hers and they are perfectly sweet. She showed them to me this +afternoon." + +"Wings, Isabelle! What in the world are you up to now?" + +"A Butterfly Social, Papa. We must raise money in some way. The church +is frightfully in debt." + +"That is a deplorable fact, but I did not know butterflies were famed as +financiers." + +"Oh, of course it is just for the novelty of the thing. The last social +we had was a Mother Goose, and we have had Brownie suppers and Pink teas +and everything else we could think of. We must have something to +attract, you know." + +"I wonder if it really pays?" ventured Marion. "It never seems to me +there is much left, after you deduct the cost of the preparation. People +might as well give the money outright. It would save them a world of +trouble." + +"Why, you silly child, it is to promote sociability in the church. As to +the trouble, of course we do not count that. We must expect to make +sacrifices." + +"But they do not make the church any more sociable," said Marion boldly, +who, having struck for freedom of thought, was following up her +advantage. "The same people take part every time and the others are left +outside." + +"Nonsense!" said Isabelle hotly. "It is only those who cannot afford to +take part, and think what a treat it is for them to look on!" + +"A sort of half-price theatre," said Louis with a sneer. + +"I don't believe they find the looking on such fun as you think," said +Marion, who was astonished at herself. "Suppose you try if they wouldn't +like to take part and offer your place in the Cantata to Jemima Dobbs." + +"Well done, Sis!" and Louis applauded softly. + +Isabelle's lip curled. "Upon my word, Marion, you bid fair to become as +hot an anarchist as Louise Michel. It is a mystery to me where you find +out the Christian names of all the ungainly people in the congregation. +The other sopranos would feel complimented to have a prima-donna with a +face like a full moon and hands like a blacksmith's foisted upon them! +One must have a little regard for appearances," and Isabelle drew her +graceful figure up to its full height. + +"Jemima Dobbs isn't dynamite, and I have no anarchical tendencies," +persisted Marion stoutly,--"but beauty is only skin deep, Isabelle. She +supports a sick mother and five children and that is more than any of +the rest of us could do," and Marion, frightened at her momentary +temerity, shrank back into her shell. + +"It is a most unaccountable thing, Lawrence," said Mrs. Hildreth, "why +the church should be so heavily encumbered. I am sure you contribute +handsomely and the pew rents are high. There is always a large +congregation. I cannot understand." + +"It is largely composed of transients though, my dear, and they never +carry more than a nickel in their pockets, so the weight of the burden +falls upon a few. The expenses are very heavy. Jerome wants to make it +the most popular church in the city, and the new quartette proves an +extravagant luxury." + +"Oh, well," said Mrs. Hildreth, "of course one cannot grudge the money +for that. Professional singing is such an attraction! The way Madame +Rialto took that high C last Sunday was superb." + +"Well," said Isabelle, "I don't think there is any doubt that Doctor +Jerome is the most popular preacher in the city. He is going to preach +next Sunday on the moral progress of social sciences, and next month he +commences his series of sermons on the social problems of the day. He +does take such an interest in sociology." + +"But why doesn't he preach Jesus Christ?" asked Evadne wonderingly. + +"You will get to be a regular fanatic, Evadne, if you ring the changes +on that subject so often. Doctor Jerome says he wants his people to have +an intelligent idea of the progress of events. Of course everyone +understands the Bible. + +"I do think he is the loveliest man!" she continued rapturously, "he is +so sympathetic; and Celeste Follingsby says he is 'perfectly heavenly in +affliction.' Her little sister died last week, you know. It is so +awkward that it should have happened just now. She will not be able to +take any part in the Cantata, and she had the sweetest dress!" + +"Very ill-timed of Providence!" said Louis gravely. "What a pity it is, +Isabelle, that you couldn't have the regulation of affairs." He yawned +and strolled lazily towards the fireplace. When he looked round again, +Evadne was the only other occupant of the room. + +"Well, coz, what do you think of the situation? I belong to the +worldlings, of course, but I confess the idea of Jesus Christ at a +Butterfly Social is tremendously incongruous. We have the best of it, +Evadne, for we live up to our theories. Give it up, coz. You'll find it +a hopeless task to make the Bible and modern Christianity agree." + +He looked at his watch. + +"I say, Evadne, Jefferson is playing at the Metropolitan in Richard III. +to-night. Let us go and hear him." + +And Evadne went, and enjoyed it immensely. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +"I am going for a long ride into the country, Evadne," said her uncle +one morning, "would you like to come with me?" + +Evadne gave a glad assent. After her beautiful tropical life, it seemed +to her as if she should choke, shut away from the wide expanse of sky +which she loved, among monotonous rows of houses and dingy streets. + +As they left the city behind them and the road swept out into the open, +she gave a long sigh of delight. Her uncle laughed. + +"Well, Evadne, does it please you?" + +"It is the first time I have felt as if I could breathe," she said. + +"So you don't take kindly to Marlborough? Well, I suppose it is a rude +awakening from your sunny land, but you will get used to it. We grow +accustomed to all life's disagreeable surprises as time rolls on." + +Evadne shivered. "I do not think I shall ever grow accustomed to it, +Uncle Lawrence." + +"Ah, you are young. We grow wiser as our hair turns grey." + +"If that is wisdom, I do not care to grow wise." + +"Not grow wise, Evadne!" said her uncle quizzically. "In this age, when +women claim a surplusage of all the brain power bestowed upon the race! +What will you do when you have to attend to business?" + +"Business," echoed Evadne, "I have never thought about it, Uncle +Lawrence." + +"No turn for dollars and cents, eh? Did your father never consult you +about his affairs?" + +Evadne's lip quivered. "Oh, yes," she said, and her words were a cry of +pain, "he consulted me about everything, but I do not think there was +ever any mention of money. Does money constitute business, Uncle +Lawrence?" + +"Wealth gives power, Evadne. Money is one of the greatest things in the +world. While we are on the subject I may as well tell you that your +father wrote me concerning the disposition of his property. I shall look +after your interests carefully, together with my own, and give you the +same quarterly allowance that my own girls have. When you are older I +will go more into detail, but it is not worth while now to worry your +head over columns of uninteresting figures. I shall open an account for +you at the National Bank and you can draw on that for your expenses. +Your aunt will initiate you into the mysteries of shopping. By the way, +you must have gone through that experience in Barbadoes. How did you +manage there?" + +Evadne turned her head away and clenched her hands tightly as the flood +of bitter-sweet memories threatened to engulf her. + +"Papa always went with me," she said slowly, "whatever he liked I +chose." + +Judge Hildreth gave a sigh of relief. He had extricated himself from a +difficult position with diplomatic skill. It did not occur to him that a +lie which is half the truth is the meanest kind of a lie. He had +acquainted his niece with all that was necessary for her to know at +present, and at the same time left himself a loophole of escape from the +imputation of disregarding his brother's wishes. When she became old +enough to assume the responsibility, and he got his affairs straightened +out sufficiently to admit of transferring to her care the funds which +were so absolutely essential to his present success, he would put Evadne +in full possession of her inheritance. Results had proved the wisdom of +his decision. By her own acknowledgment his niece had never given a +thought to the subject. His brother's plan would be a height of +imprudence from which he was bound to shield her. + +In Evadne's mind also thought was busy. "Money is one of the greatest +things in the world," her uncle had said, and she had read that morning, +"tongues shall cease, and knowledge shall be done away, but love never +faileth. Now abideth faith, hope, and love; the greatest of these is +love." Was Louis right? Did Christians and the Bible not agree? And the +business of _her_ life was to find Jesus Christ. Was there any money in +that? + +When they reached Hollywood, where Judge Hildreth had business with Mr. +Hawthorne, Evadne was in an ecstasy of silent rapture. She had never +dreamed what a New England farm might be. Its varied beauty, clad in the +dazzling robes of early summer, came upon her with the suddenness of a +revelation. She begged to be allowed to wait for her uncle out of doors, +and wandered slowly on past the great barns to where the wide gate +stretched across the green road. When she reached it she stopped and +looked with keen delight at the beautiful creatures in the fields on +either side. The sunshine fell upon her with loving warmth; in the +distance she could hear the whirr of a mowing machine and the shouts of +the men at work. A magnificent young horse thrust his head familiarly +over the fence near by, and under the shade of a great tree Primrose, +with her graceful calf beside her, was lazily chewing her cud. + +Everything spoke of contentment and comfort and peace. An unutterable +longing seized upon the lonely girl. Here at least she would have God's +creatures to love, and his woods and the sky! She laid her head down +upon the gate with a smothered cry. + +"If I only belonged,--like the cows!" + +"Pitty lady!" + +Startled by the sweet, baby voice, Evadne looked up to find a pair of +laughing blue eyes peeping sympathetically at her. The sun-bonnet had +fallen back and the golden curls were tossed in luxurious confusion over +the little head. + +Evadne caught the child in her arms. + +"You little darling!" + +"Yes, me is," said the child, resting contentedly within Evadne's +embrace, as if, with the mysterious telepathy of childhood, she +recognized a spiritual affinity which she was bound to help. "Me's very +nice. Don says so." + +"And who is Don?" asked Evadne. + +"Don's my bootiful man. Me's doin' to marry Don when me gets big. Oh, +dere he is!" and breaking from Evadne, she rolled herself between the +bars of the gate and ran at the top of her speed towards John Randolph, +who just then appeared around a bend in the road, one arm thrown lightly +over the neck of the horse he had been training. + +"Halloo, Nansie!" Evadne heard his cheery greeting, saw him stoop and +lift the child on to the horse's back, and was so interested in the +pretty scene that she forgot she was a stranger. When she came to +herself with a start the little cavalcade had reached the gate and John +Randolph stood before her with his hat in his hand. + +Evadne bowed. "It is so beautiful!" she said. "I have been waiting for +my uncle and lost myself among the harmonies of Nature." + +John Randolph's eyes lightened. "It is God's world," he answered with a +sweet reverence. + +Evadne looked full into the shining face. "Do you know Jesus Christ?" +she asked impulsively. + +The face softened into a great tenderness. "He is my King." + +"And do you love him?" + +"With all there is of me." + +A servant came just then to say the Judge was waiting. + +"I will come at once," Evadne said courteously. Then she turned once +more to John. "And what do _you_ think of life?" she cried softly. + +"Life!" he said, and there was a strange, exultant ring in his voice. +"Life is a beautiful possibility." + +There was no time for more, but in the spirit realm of kinship no +multitude of words is needed. Only a few moments had passed, yet in that +little space two souls had met. What did it matter if the devious +turnings of life should lead them far apart, or the barring gate of +circumstance forever separate them? They had found each other! + +"Pitty lady!--Nan loves oo, dear," and the child whom John held seated +on the broad top rail of the gate, held up her rosy lips for a kiss. + +Instinctively Evadne held out her hand to John. Spiritual ethics laugh +at the conventionalities of time. "Good-bye," she said, "and thank you." + +She looked back once to wave her hand to little Nan. John was standing +as she had left him, one arm encircling the child who nestled close to +him, while over his right shoulder the horse had thrust his handsome +head. Always afterward she saw him so. It was a parable of what God had +meant man to be. + + * * * * * + +Long after the sound of the carriage wheels had died away John stood +motionless, beholding again as in a vision the earnest face and +wonderful grey eyes. Then he stooped for his hat which had fallen to the +ground when he had taken her hand in his. As he did so, he saw a dainty +bit of lawn lying on the other side of the gate. He put his hand between +the bars and caught it just as the breeze was about to blow it away. He +looked at the name which was delicately traced in one corner with a +strange sense of pleasure: Evadne. + +"It fits her," he said to himself. "There's a sweet elusiveness about +her. She makes me think of a bird. She'll let you come just so far, +until she gets to trust you, and then you'll have all her sweetness." + +He drew a long breath which was strangely like a sigh, and, folding the +handkerchief carefully, put it in his pocket. + +"Pitty lady," murmured little Nan drowsily, and John caught her up and +kissed her,--he could not have told why. + + * * * * * + +"I do think Dorothy Bruce is the kindest creature!" exclaimed Marion one +Saturday morning as they lingered with a pleasant sense of leisure over +the breakfast table. "She offered to give up the whole of to-day to me. +I thought it was lovely when she works so hard all the week." + +"Give it up to you. Why, what do you mean, Marion? We never have +anything to do with her in school. What could you possibly want of her +here?" + +"Oh, it is that doleful algebra," sighed Marion. "It is utterly +impossible for me to get it into my head, and Dorothy takes to it like a +duck to water, and she is a born teacher. Madame Castle says her +aptitude for imparting knowledge amounts to genius. You must allow it +was kind of her, Isabelle." + +Isabelle shrugged her shoulders. "Self-interested, most likely. That +sort of people would do anything to obtain a foothold." + +"Oh, Isabelle!" cried Evadne. "Do have a little faith in your +fellow-man! Why should you set yourself up on a pinnacle and despise +everyone who is poor, when the father of us all hoed for a living?" + +Louis looked up from the paper he was reading. "There are two things +Isabelle has no faith in, Evadne. The Declaration of Independence and +the book she loaned you. One says all men are free and equal,--the other +that God has made of one blood all the nations of the earth. Her Serene +Highness objects to this. She will have the blue blood come in +somewhere, though where she gets it from heaven only knows!" + +"Louis, I do wish you would not be so radical!" Isabelle said, +peevishly. "You must admit there is such a thing as culture and +refinement." + +"Certainly I admit it. The only thing I object to is that you talk as if +you possessed a monopoly of the article, whereas I hold that it is just +a question of environment. It is no thanks to you that you were not born +a Hottentot or a Choctaw. Give yourself the same ancestors and +surroundings as your chimney-sweep and wherein would you be superior to +him? And when it comes to ancestry, by the way, probably Miss Bruce can +trace back to some of the grand old Highland chiefs who covered +themselves with glory long before the lineage of Hildreth had emerged +from obscurity." + +"I don't know anyone who likes to choose his company better than you!" +observed Isabelle sarcastically. + +"Certainly I do. Similarity of environment presupposes similarity of +tastes. Probably my idea of enjoyment would not accord with the +chimney-sweep's, but at the same time I don't look down on the poor +beggar because he hasn't been as fortunate as I in getting his bread +well buttered. There is a law of cultivation for humanity as well as +plants. Surround a succession of generations with all the advantages of +wealth, education and travel, and you produce the aristocrat; just as +you get the delicate Solanum Wendlandi from the humble potato blossom. +Set your aristocrat in the wilderness to earn his living by the sweat of +his brow,--let the rain and wind beat upon his delicate skin,--shut him +away from all the elevating influences to which he has been accustomed, +and, in course of time, what have you? His descendants have retrograded. +The Solanum has become a potato again." + +"That is all very well," said Isabelle, "but I believe the instinct of +culture will be dormant somewhere." + +"Then why do you not recognize it in your chimney-sweep? For all you +know he may be the descendant of some impecunious sire of a lordly +house. Probably plenty of them are." + +Louis rose and tossed the paper carelessly to his mother, who had been +an amused listener to the discussion. It never occurred to him to do so +before. What did women want to know about politics or the turf? + +"Jesus Christ never seemed to care about externals," said Evadne +softly. "He chose his friends among the common people." + +"For pity's sake, Evadne!" cried Isabelle. "When will you learn that the +Bible is not to be taken literally?" + +"Not to be taken literally!" echoed Evadne in wonderment. "How is it to +be taken then?" + +"Isabelle means that we have to make allowances," said her aunt. "Christ +could do a great many things that you cannot." + +Evadne was silent, while the words of Jesus kept ringing in her ears: +"For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done +to you." If only she could understand! + +"By the way, Evadne," said Mrs. Hildreth, "I beg you will not repeat +your mistake of yesterday." + +"What do you mean, Aunt Kate?" + +"Bringing such a disreputable character into the house. When I came in +and found her sitting in the hall and you talking to her I was perfectly +paralyzed. Horrible! Why her rags were abominable, and her feet were +bare!" + +"But she had no shoes, Aunt Kate, and she was just my height. I was so +glad that my clothes would fit her." + +"A pretty thing to have your clothes paraded through the streets by +such a creature! Most likely she would pawn them for gin. I am sure she +was an improper character." + +"But, Aunt Kate," pleaded Evadne, "Jesus Christ says we must clothe the +naked and feed the hungry if we would be his followers. I must do as he +tells me for I am going to follow him." + +"Your uncle does enough of that for the family," said her aunt coldly. +"I do not wish you to try any such experiments again." + +Puzzled and chilled, Evadne left the room. Was obeying the commands of +Christ only an "experiment" after all? + +She crept up to her favorite retreat and threw herself upon her gayly +covered couch. "Oh, Jesus Christ!" she cried passionately, "I am _glad_ +I did not live in Galilee when you were there! Aunt Kate and Isabelle +would have thought it bad form for me to follow you in the crowd where +the sinners were. But they can't keep me from doing so now! + +"Oh, I wish I were dead! No one would care. Yes, Pompey would be sorry. +Louis would call it 'a sable attachment,' but Pompey loved my father. +Oh, dearest! dearest!" + +She buried her head in her hands while wave after wave of desolation +broke over the lonely soul. "A beautiful possibility" her knight of the +gate had said. Could life become that to her? + +Downstairs Pompey began to sing,-- + + "Shall we meet beyond the river, + Where the surges cease to roll, + Where in all the bright forever + Sorrow ne'er shall press the soul?" + +The rich vibrations rolled up and trembled about her. She held out her +arms and her voice broke in a cry of triumphant faith, "Yes, we _shall_ +meet, Lord Jesus, face to face!" + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +"Pompey," said Evadne one morning, "I am going to see your wife." + +The black face beamed with satisfaction. "Dyee'll be mighty uplifted, +Miss 'Vadney. She think a powerful sight o' Mass Lennux." + +Evadne stood watching him as he gave finishing touches to the silver +mountings of the handsome harness. "I don't believe there is another +harness in Marlborough that shines like yours, Pompey," she said with a +laugh. "You are as particular with it as though every day was a special +occasion." + +"So 'tis, Miss 'Vadney," said Pompey simply. "Can't slight nuthin' when +de Lord's lookin' on. Whoa, Brutis! Dere's goin' ter be Holiness to de +Lord written on de bells ob de horses bimeby, Missy. I'se got it writ +dere now." + +"I believe you have, Pompey," said Evadne soberly, "for you do your work +just as perfectly whether Uncle Lawrence is going to see it or not. It +almost seems as if you were trying to please someone out of sight." + +Pompey drew himself up to his full height. "I'se a frien' ob de Lord +Jesus, Miss 'Vadney. I'se got ter do everything perfect 'cause ob dat. +Couldn't bring no disgrace on my Lord." + +"But would that disgrace him?" asked Evadne in wonderment. + +"Why, yes, Missy. Ef I wuz a poor, shifles' crittur, only workin' fer de +praise o' men, folks would say,--'he's no differen' frum de rest; you've +got to keep yer eye on him ef yer want tings done properly. De King's +chillen ain't no better dan de worl's chillen be.' + +"De Lord Jesus, he say to me,--'Pompey, you must be faithful in de +little things as well as in de big. I never slurred nuthin when I wuz a +walkin' up and down troo Palestine. I sees you, Pompey; don't make no +difference whether de earthly master does or not.' So I does all de +little tings to de Lord, Miss 'Vadney, an' de Jedge knows he can depen' +on Pompey. Whenever he wants me, I'se here." + +"That is lovely!" said Evadne softly. "But don't you get dreadfully +tired doing the same work over and over? Every day you have to do +exactly the same things. It is as bad as a tread-mill. You just keep on +going round and round." + +Pompey gave one of his low chuckles. "'Specs dat's de way in dis worl', +Miss 'Vadney. We'se got ter keep on eatin', an' we can't sleep enuff one +night ter last fer a week,--but I 'low it's jes' one o' de beautiful +laws ob de Lord,--de sun an' de moon an' de stars keeps a'goin over de +same ground most continuous. So long as we'se doin' his will, Missy, it +don't matter much whether we'se goin' roun' an' roun' or straight ahead. +Stan' over, Ceesah!" and Pompey gave a final polish to the horse's +already immaculate legs. + +"Why don't you blacken their hoofs, Pompey? They used to do it in +Barbadoes." + +Pompey's eyes twinkled. "Dat's a no 'count livery notion, Miss 'Vadney, +a coverin' up de cracks an' makin' de horse's hufs look better dan dey +is. De King's chillens can't stoop ter any sech decepshuns. De Lord +Jesus says, 'Pompey, I is de truff. You's got ter speak de truff an' +live de truff ef you belongs ter me.' We ain't got no call ter cover up +anything, Miss 'Vadney, ef we'se livin' ez de Lord wants us to. 'Sides, +der ain't no 'cashun fer it. Ef we keeps de stable pure an' de food good +an' gives de horse de right kind of exercise an' plenty of 'tention, de +hufs will take care ob demselves," and he held Caesar's foot up for her +inspection. + +"Halloo, Evadne, are you taking lessons in farriery? What's the matter, +Pompey? Has Caesar got a sand crack?" and Louis sauntered up, the +inevitable cigar between his lips. + +"I don't 'low my horses ever hez sech things, Mass Louis," said Pompey +grandly. + +"Ha, ha! what a conceited old beggar you are. But I'll give the devil +his due and acknowledge the horses are a credit to you." He held a dollar +towards him balanced on his forefinger. "Here, take this and fill your +pipe with it." + +"Don't want no pay fer doin' my dooty, Mass Louis." + +"Pshaw, man! Take a tip, can't you?" + +Pompey shook his head. "I don't smoke, Mass Louis." + +"Don't smoke!" ejaculated Louis. "You don't here, I know, because the +Judge is afraid of fire, but you'll never make me believe that you don't +spend your evenings over the fire with your pipe. You darkeys are as +fond of one as the other." + +"You's mistaken, Mass Louis," said Pompey quietly. + +"'Pon my word! And why don't you smoke, Pomp? You don't know what you're +missing. It is the greatest comfort on earth." + +"'Specs I don't need sech poor comfort, Mass Louis. I takes my comfort +wid de Lord." + +Pompey's voice was low and sweet. Evadne felt her heart glow. + +"But come now, Pomp," persisted Louis, "that's all nonsense. You must +have some reason for not smoking. Everybody does. Come, I insist on your +telling me." + +Pompey was silent for a moment. "'The pure in heart shall see God,'" he +said slowly. "I 'low, Mass Louis, de King's chillen's got ter be pure in +body too."' + +"You insolent scoundrel! How dare you?" and Louis dashed the glowing end +of his cigar in the negro's face. + +For a moment Pompey stood absolutely still,--the cigar which had left +its mark upon his cheek lying smouldering at his feet,--then he turned +quietly and walked away. + +Louis strode out of the coach-house. Evadne followed him, her eyes +blazing. "You are a coward!" she cried passionately. "You would not have +dared to do that to a man who could hit you back. You forced him to tell +you and then struck him for doing it! If this is your culture and +refinement, I despise it! I am going to be a Christian, like Pompey. +That is grand!" + +"Well done, coz!" and Louis affected a laugh. "There's not much of the +'meek and lowly' in evidence just now at any rate." + +He looked after her as she walked away, her indignant tones still +lingered in his ears. "By Jove! there's something to her though she is +so quiet! I must cultivate the child." + +Seen through Evadne's clear eyes his action looked despicable and his +better nature suggested an apology, but he swept the suggestion aside +with a muttered "Pshaw! he's only a nigger," and turned carelessly on +his heel. + +"You are Dyce!" cried Evadne impulsively when she reached the cottage in +whose open doorway a pleasant-faced colored woman was standing. "Pompey +has told me about you. I think your husband is one of the grandest men I +know." + +"Thank you, Missy. Walk right in, I'se proper glad ter see Mass Lennux's +chile." + +"Why, how did you know me?" asked Evadne wonderingly. + +The woman laughed softly. "Laws, honey, you'se de livin' image of yer +Pa." + +She excused herself after a few moments and Evadne laid her head against +the cushions of a comfortable old rocking chair and rested. She wondered +sometimes where her old strength had gone. She had never felt tired in +Barbadoes. The tiny room was full of a homely comfort which did her +heart good. There were books lying on the table and flowers in the +window, a handsome cat purred in front of the fireplace, and on a +bracket in one corner an asthmatic clock ticked off the hours with +wheezy vigor. In an adjoining room Evadne could see a bed with its gay +patchwork quilt of Dyce's making, and in the little kitchen beyond she +heard her singing as she trod to and fro. A couple of dainty muslin +dresses were draped over chairs, for Dyce was the finest clear starcher +in Marlborough, and her kitchen was all too small to hold the products +of her skill. She entered the room again bearing a tray covered with a +snowy napkin on which were quaint blue plates of delicious bread and +butter, pumpkin pie, golden browned as only Dyce could bake it, and a +cup of fragrant coffee. + +"I did not know anything could taste quite so good!" Evadne said when +she had finished, "you must be a wonderful cook." + +Dyce laughed, well pleased. "When de Lord gives us everything in +perfecshun, 'specs it would be terrible shifles' of me ter spoil it in +de cookin', Miss 'Vadney." + +"The Lord," repeated Evadne. "You know him too, then? You must, if you +live with Pompey." + +Dyce's face grew luminous. "He is my joy!" she said softly. + +"And does he make you happy all the time?" asked the girl wistfully. +"You seem to have to work as hard as Pompey. What is it makes you so +glad?" + +"Laws, honey, how kin I help bein' glad? De chile o' de King, on de way +ter my Father's palace. Ain't dat enuff 'cashun ter keep a poor cullered +woman rejoicin' all de day long? I'se so happy I'se a singin' all de +time over my work, an' in de street; it don't matter where I be." + +"But you can't sing in the streets, Dyce!" + +"Laws, chile, don't yer know de heart kin sing when de lips is silent? +It's de heart songs dat de King tinks de most of, but when de heart gits +too full, den de lips hez ter do deir share." + +"But suppose you were to lose your eyesight, or Pompey got sick, +or----" + +Dyce gave one of her soft laughs. "Laws, honey, I never supposes. De +Lord's got no use fer a lot o' supposin' chillen who's allers frettin' +demselves sick fer fear Satan'll git de upper han'. De Lord's reignin', +dat's enuff fer me. I 'low he'll take care o' me in de best way." + +Evadne looked again at the exquisitely laundered dresses. "Why do you +work so hard?" she asked. "Doesn't Pompey get enough to live on?" + +"Oh, yes, honey; de Jedge gives good wages; but yer see, we wants to do +so much fer Jesus dat de wages don't hold out." + +"So much for Jesus!" + +"Why, yes, Missy. He says ef we loves him we'll do what he tells us, an' +he's tol' us ter feed de hungry, an' clothe de naked, an' go preach de +gospel. So, when we cum ter talk it ober, it seem drefful shifles' in me +ter be doin' nothin' when de Lord worked night an' day, so I begun ter +take in laundry work an' now we hev more money ter spen' on de Lord. But +we never hez enuff. De worl's so full o' perishin' souls an' starvin' +bodies. I tells Pompey I never wanted ter be rich till I began ter do de +King's bizniss. It's drefful comfortin' work, Miss 'Vadney." + + * * * * * + +The chill March wind blew fiercely along the streets of Marlborough one +afternoon and Evadne shivered. She had been standing for an hour wedged +tightly against the doors of the Opera House by an impatient crowd which +swayed hither and thither in a fruitless effort to force an entrance. It +was Signor Ferice's farewell to America and it was his whim to make his +last concert a popular one, with no seats reserved. Every nerve in her +body seemed strained to its utmost tension and her head was in a whirl. +She turned and faced the crowd. A sea of faces; some eager, some sullen, +some frowning, all impatient. The scraps of merry talk which had floated +to her at intervals during the earlier stages of the waiting were no +longer heard. A gloomy silence seemed to have settled down upon every +one. Suddenly a laugh rang out upon the keen air,--so full of a clear +joyousness that people involuntarily straightened their drooping +shoulders, as if inspired with a new sense of vigor and smiled in +sympathy. + +Evadne started. Surely she had heard that voice before! It must +be,--yes, it was,--her knight of the gate! Their eyes met. A great light +swept over his face and he lifted his hat. Then the surging crowd +carried him out of her range of vision. + +"I don't see what you find to look so pleased about, Evadne," grumbled +Isabelle, as they drove homeward. "For my part I think the whole thing +was a fizzle." + +"I was thinking," said Evadne slowly, "of the power of a laugh." + +"The power of a laugh! What in the World do you mean?" + +"I mean that it is a great deal better for ourselves to laugh than to +cry, and vastly more comfortable for our neighbors." + +"Evadne will not be down," announced Marion the next morning as she +entered the breakfast room. "She caught a dreadful cold at the concert +yesterday and she can't lift her head from the pillow. Celestine thinks +she is sickening for a fever." + +"Dear me, how tiresome!" exclaimed Mrs. Hildreth. "I have such a horror +of having sickness in the house,--one never knows where it will end. +Ring the bell for Sarah, Marion, to take up her breakfast." + +"It is no use, Mamma. She says she does not want anything." + +"But that is nonsense. The child must eat. If it is fever, she will need +a nurse, and nurses always make such an upheaval in a house." + +"You had better go up, my dear, and see for yourself," said Judge +Hildreth. "Celestine may be mistaken." + +"Mercy!" cried Isabelle, "it is to be hoped she is! I have the most +abject horror of fevers and that is enough to make me catch it. Fancy +having one's head shorn like a convict! The very idea is appalling." + +"Oh, of course if there is the slightest danger, you and Marion will +have to go to Madame Castle's to board," said her mother. "It is very +provoking that Evadne should have chosen to be sick just now." + +"Not likely the poor girl had much choice in the matter," laughed Louis. +"There are a few things, lady mother, over which the best of us have no +control." + +"I wish you would go up and see the child, Kate," said Judge Hildreth +impatiently. "If there is the least fear of anything serious I will send +the carriage at once for Doctor Russe. It is a risky business +transplanting tropical flowers into our cold climate." + +The kind-hearted French maid was bending over Evadne's pillow when Mrs. +Hildreth entered the room. She had grown to love the quiet stranger +whose courtesy made her work seem light, and it was with genuine regret +that she whispered to her mistress,--"It is the feevar. I know it well. +My seestar had it and died." + +Evadne's eyes were closed and she took no notice of her aunt's entrance. +Mrs. Hildreth spoke to her and then left the room hurriedly to summon +her husband. Even her unpractised eyes showed her that her niece was +very ill. + +Doctor Russe shook his head gravely. "It is a serious case," he said, +"and I do not know Where you will find a nurse. I never remember a +spring when there was so much sickness in the city. I sent my last nurse +to a patient yesterday and since then have had two applications for one. +It is most unfortunate. The young lady will need constant care. She +requires a person of experience." + +Pompey, waiting to drive the doctor home, caught the words, spoken as he +descended the steps to enter the carriage, and came forward eagerly. "If +you please, Missus," he said, touching his hat, "Dyce would come. She's +hed a powerful sight of 'sperience nussin' fevers in New Orleans. She'd +be proper glad ter tend Miss 'Vadney." + +"How is that?" questioned the busy doctor. "Oh, your wife, my good +fellow? The very thing. Let her come at once." + +So Dyce came, and into her sympathetic ears were poured the delirious +ravings of the lonely heart which had been so suddenly torn from its +genial surroundings of love and happiness and thrust into the chilling +atmosphere of misunderstanding and neglect. + +Every day the patient grew weaker and after each visit the doctor looked +graver. Mrs. Hildreth began to feel the gnawings of remorse, as she +thought of the lonely girl to whom she had so coldly refused a +daughter's place; and the Judge's thoughts grew unbearable as he +remembered his broken trust; even Louis missed the earnest face which he +had grown to watch with a curious sense of pleasure; while the girls at +school felt their hearts grow warm as they thought of the young cousin +so soon to pass through the valley of the shadow. + +But Evadne did not die. The fever spent itself at last and there +followed long days of utter prostration both of mind and body. Dyce's +cheery patience never failed. Her sunny nature diffused a bright +hopefulness throughout the sick chamber, until Evadne would lie in a +dreamy content, almost fancying herself back in the old home as she +listened to the musical tones and watched the dusky hands which so +deftly ministered to her comfort. One day after she had lain for a long +time in silence, she looked up at her faithful nurse and the grey eyes +shone like stars. + +"Dyce!" she cried softly. "I have found Jesus Christ!" + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Reginald Hawthorne lay upon a couch on the wide veranda of his lovely +home. The birds held high carnival around him,--nesting in the large +cherry tree, playing hide and seek among the fragrant apple blossoms and +making the air melodious with their merry songs. Brilliant orioles +flashed to and fro like gleams of gold in the sunlight, as they built +their airy hammocks high among the swaying branches of the great willow, +and one inquisitive robin swept boldly through the clustering vines +which screened the front of the veranda and perched upon his shoulder. +He heard the merry hum of the bees at work and the strident call of the +locusts, mingled with the distant neighing of horses and the soft lowing +of the cows, but all the sweetness of nature was powerless to lift the +gloom which seemed to envelop him as in a shroud. His face was white and +drawn with pain and there were heavy rings beneath his eyes. Reginald +Hawthorne would be a cripple for life. + +The College Football Club had met a New York team in the yearly +contest, which was looked forward to as one of the events in the +athletic world, and Reginald had been foremost among the leaders of the +play. Fierce and long had been the fight and the enthusiastic spectators +had shouted themselves hoarse with applause or groaned in despair when +the honor of Marlborough seemed likely to be lost. Then had come a +mighty onward rush and the opposing forces concentrated into one +seething mass of struggling humanity. When they drew apart at last the +College boys had made the welkin ring with shouts of victory, but their +bravest champion lay white and still upon the field. + +Long days and nights of pain had followed, when John and Mrs. Hawthorne +were at their wits' end to alleviate the sufferings of the unfortunate +boy. Now the pain had resolved itself into a dull aching but Reginald +would never walk without a crutch again. + +The mortification to his father was extreme. A passionate man, he had +centred all his hopes upon his son, whose position in life he fondly +expected to repay him for his years of unremitting toil, and this was +the end of it all! He grew daily more overbearing and hard to please, +and his ebullitions of disappointment and rage were terrible to witness. +He vented his anger most frequently upon John, the sight of whose +superb strength goaded the unhappy man into a frenzy, and John's +forbearance was tried to the utmost, but there was a sweet patience +growing in his soul which made it possible to endure in silence, however +capricious or unreasonable the commands of his master might be, and +Reginald, watching him critically, marvelled at the mysterious inner +strength of his friend. + +He came along now with his quick, light step and drew a chair up beside +Reginald's couch. He planned his work so as to be with the invalid as +much as possible, and his constant sympathy and cheer were all that made +the days bearable to him. + +"Well, Rege, how goes it?" he asked in tones as tender as a woman's. + +Reginald looked up at him with envious eyes. There was such a freshness +about this strong young life, as if every moment were a separate joy. + +"I wish I was dead!" he answered moodily. + +"Don't dare to wish that!" said John quickly, "until you have made the +most of your life." + +"The most of my life!" echoed Reginald contemptuously. "That's well put, +John, I must say! What is my life worth to me now? You see what my +father thinks of it. A useless log, as valuable as a piece of waste +paper. I believe it would have pleased him better if I had been killed +outright. He wouldn't have had the humiliation of it always before his +eyes. If it had been any sort of a decent accident, I believe I could +bear it better, but to be knocked over in a football match, like the +precious duffer that I am--bah!" + +The concentrated bitterness of the last words made John's heart ache. +"Looking backward, Rege," he said quietly, "will never make a man of +you. It is only a waste of time and vital tissue. But there are lots of +noble lives in spite of limitations. Paul had his thorn in the flesh, +you know, and Milton his blindness. Difficulties are a spur to the best +that is in us." + +"Difficulties, John. You never look at them, do you?" + +John laughed. "It is not worth while except to see how to surmount +them." + +"I wish you could be idle just for an hour," said Reginald peevishly, +"you make me nervous." + +John took another stitch in the halter he was mending. "Old Father +Time's spoiling tooth is never still, Rege. I have to work to keep pace +with it." + +"I should think you would need a month of loafing to made up for the +sleep you have lost. You're ahead of Napoleon, John, for he only kept +one eye open, but I've never been able to catch you napping once. How +have you stood it, man?" + +"Forty winks is a fair allowance sometimes, Rege." + +Reginald groaned. "Your pluck is worth a king's ransom, John. I wish I +had it." + +John began to whistle softly as he drew his waxed ends in and out. + +"I declare, John, I can't fathom you!" and Reginald moved impatiently +upon his couch. "You are invulnerable as Achilles. I never saw a fellow +get so much comfort out of everything as you do, and yet your life is a +steady grind. What does it all mean?" + +"It means," said John softly, "that I am a Christ's man, and he has +lifted me above the power of circumstances. Jesus is centre and +circumference with me now, Rege. + +"You were talking yesterday about some men wanting the earth. I _own_ +the earth, because it belongs to my Father,--the best part of it, you +know,--there is a truer giving than by title deeds to material +acres--and the world has grown very beautiful since my Father made me +heir of all things through his Son. The birds' songs have a new note in +them, and the sunlight is brighter, and there is a different blue in +the sky. I'm monarch of all I survey because I get the good out of +everything,--mere earthly possession doesn't amount to much, a man has +to leave the finest estates behind him,--but I get the concentrated +sweetness of it all wherever I am. It is God's world, you know, and he +is my Father." + +John was called away just then to attend to some gentlemen who had come +to look at the horses, and Reginald waited for his return in vain. He +heard his father's voice once, raised high in stormy wrath, then all was +still again. Some time afterwards, through the leafy curtain of his +veranda, he saw Mr. Hawthorne drive past with a face so distorted with +passion that he shivered. + +"There's been no end of a row this time," he soliloquized. "It is a +mystery to me why John puts up with it. He's free to go when he chooses. +I'm sure I'd clear out if I wasn't such a good-for-nothing. The governor +is getting to be more like a bear than a human being, it's a dog's life +for everybody unlucky enough to be under the same roof with him." + + * * * * * + +Down at the bend of the river a tall figure lay stretched upon the moss. +The river laughed and the birds sang, but John Randolph's face was +buried in his arms. + +To leave Hollywood--that very night! The place whose very stones were +dear to him, where he had learned all he knew of home. To be turned off +like a beggar, without a moment's warning, after all his years of toil! +To say good-bye forever to the human friends who loved him, and the +dear, dumb friends whom he had fondled and tended with such constant +care. Never again to swing along through the sweet freshness of the +morning before the sun was up to find the earliest snowdrops for Mrs. +Hawthorne, or take a spin in the moonlight with every nerve a-tingle +across the frozen bosom of the lake, or wander in delight along the wood +roads when every tree was clad in the witching beauty of a silver thaw, +or sweep across the wide stretching country in the very poetry of +motion, or hear the soft swish of the tall grass as it fell in fragrant +rows before the mower, or the creak of the vans as they bore its ripened +sweetness towards the great barns, while bird and bee and locust joined +in the harmony of the Harvest Home, until the sun sank to rest amidst +cloud draperies of royal purple and crimson and gold and the +sweet-voiced twilight soothed the world into peace. + +On and on the hours swept while John fought his battle. At length he +rose, and with long, lingering glances of good-bye to every tree and +rock and flower, began his homeward way. He would think of it so while +he could. In a few short hours he would be a wanderer upon the face of +the earth. A sudden joy crept into the weary eyes. So was Jesus Christ! + +"Why, John, what has happened!" cried Reginald, as his faithful nurse +came to make him comfortable for the night. "You look like a ghost, and +you have had no dinner! What the mischief is to pay? You must have been +precious busy to leave me alone the whole afternoon." + +"I have been, Rege," said John quietly, "very busy." + +"I declare, John, I'd make tracks for freedom if I were in your shoes. +You're a regular convict, and, since you've had me on your hands, a +galley slave is a gentleman of leisure in comparison! Why don't you go, +John? You've had nothing but injustice at Hollywood." + +John fell on his knees beside the bed. "I am going, Rege. Your father +has ordered me away." + +When the thought which has floated--nebulous--across our mental vision, +suddenly resolves itself into tangible form and becomes a solid fact to +be confronted and battled with, the shock is greater than if no shadowy +premonition had ever haunted the dreamland of our fancy. Reginald gave a +low cry, then he lay looking at John with eyes full of a blank horror. +His mind utterly refused to grasp the situation. + +"You see, Rege, it is this way," said John gently. "Your father seems to +have taken a dislike to me and lately I have fancied he was only waiting +for an excuse to turn me off. As soon as those fellows began to talk to +him about the horses I saw there was trouble brewing. Everything I did +was wrong, and once he swore at me. He would order me to bring one horse +and then change his mind before I got half across the field, and then he +would rail at me for not having brought the first one. + +"They pitched on Neptune at last, and asked if he had been registered. I +said 'No,' so then they refused to pay the price your father asked, and +he had to come down on him. He was furious, and, as soon as the men's +backs were turned, he ordered me out of his sight forever. He says I +have ruined the reputation of Hollywood," John's voice broke. + +"But, John, you mustn't go!" cried Reginald. "You cannot! My father is +out of his mind. People don't pay any attention to the ravings of a +lunatic." + +John shook his head sadly. "He is master here, Rege. There is nothing +else for me to do." + +"But, John, it is impossible--preposterous! Why, everything will go to +ruin without you, and I will take the lead." + +"No, no!" said John quickly. "You will be a rich man some day, Rege. +Wealth is a wonderful opportunity. Prepare yourself to use it well." + +"I tell you I can't do anything without you, John. I am like a ship +without a rudder. It is no use talking. I cannot spare you. You must not +go!" + +"If you take the great Pilot aboard, Rege, you will be in no danger of +drifting. It is only when we choose Self for our Captain that the ship +runs on the rocks." + + * * * * * + +"Don, Don!" The child heard his step in the hall long before he reached +the door. He was coming, as he did every night, to give her a ride in +his arms before she went to by-by. She held out her little arms from +which the loose sleeves had fallen back. John lifted her up, for the +last time. + +He laid his strong, set face against the rosy cheek, and looked into the +laughing eyes which the sand man had already sprinkled with his magic +powder. "Nansie, baby, I have come to say good-bye." + +"Not dood-bye, Don, oo always say dood-night." + +"But it is good-bye this time, little one, there will be no more +good-nights for you and me. I am going away." + +A bewildered look swept over the child's face. "Away!" she echoed, "to +leave Nan an' Pwimwose an' the horsies? Me'll do too, Don. He'll do +anywhere wid oo, Don." + +"I wish I could take you!" and John strained her to his breast. "But +there is no Neptune to carry us now, little one. Your father sold him +this afternoon." + +"My nice Nepshun!" The child's lip quivered, but something in the +suffering face above her made her say quickly, "Me'll be dood, Don, an' +when oo turn back, me'll be waitin' at de gate." + +She patted his cheek confidingly. "Nice Don! Nan loves oo, dear, an' +Desus. Nan loves Desus 'cause oo do, Don." + +John's voice choked. "Keep on loving, Nansie." + +"Yes, me will. Does Desus carry de little chil'en in his arms like oo +do, Don? Me's so comf'able. Me loves Desus." + +The little arm, soft and warm, crept closer around his neck, while the +golden curls swept his cheek. "Oo's my bootiful man, Don. Me'll marry oo +when me gets big," and then, all unconscious of the sorrow which should +greet her in the morning, the baby slept. + +To and fro across the floor John trod lightly with his precious burden. +His arms never felt the weight. They would be such empty arms +bye-and-bye! Then at last he laid her down, and, taking a pair of +scissors from his pocket, he carefully severed one of the golden rings +of hair, and laid it within the folds of the handkerchief which he still +carried in his vest pocket. The fair girl and the little child. These +should be his memory of womanhood. + +[Illustration: 'ME'LL DO ANYWHERE, WIV OO, DON.] + + * * * * * + +In Reginald's room kind-hearted Mrs. Hawthorne was weeping bitterly. She +loved John as her own son, but no one ever dreamed of disputing the +tyrannical dictates of the master of Hollywood, however unjust they +might be. + +Reginald lay as John had left him with his face buried in the pillows +and utterly refused to be comforted. What comfort could there be if +John was going away? It never occurred to him that his mother needed +cheer as much as he. Like all selfish souls his own pain completely +filled his horizon. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +"I don't see what we are to do about Evadne!" and Mrs. Hildreth sighed +disconsolately. "She looks like a walking shadow. I should not be +surprised if she had inherited her father's disease, and they say now +that consumption is as contagious as diphtheria." + +"Horrors!" cried Isabelle. "Do quarantine her somewhere, Mamma, until +you are quite sure there is no danger. I haven't the faintest +aspirations to martyrdom." + +"It is a great care," sighed Mrs. Hildreth. "All of you children have +always been so healthy. I don't believe Doctor Russe will listen to her +going to the seaside, and the mountains are so monotonous! Other +people's children are a great responsibility." + +Suddenly Isabelle clapped her hands. "I have it!" she cried. "Send her +up to Aunt Marthe, and then we can tease Papa to let us go to Newport. +Marion is going to spend the summer with Christine Drayton, you know, +and Papa does not intend to leave the city, so we can persuade him that +it is our duty to seize such a golden opportunity of doing things +economically. I am sure I don't know what people must think of us, never +going to any of the fashionable places. For my part I think we owe it to +Papa's position to keep up with the world." + +"I believe it might be managed," said Mrs. Hildreth after some +consideration. "It was very clever of you to think of it, Isabelle. You +ought to be a diplomat, my dear," and she smiled approvingly on her +daughter. + + * * * * * + +The train swept along through the picturesque Vermont scenery and Evadne +looked out of her window with never ending delight. + +"I am like a poor, lonely bird," she said to herself, "who flits from +shore to shore, seeking rest and finding none. Another journey in the +dark! I wonder what will be at the end of this one? Well, I'll hope for +the best. Aunt Marthe's letter was kind, and her name sounds as cheery +as Aunt Kate's sounds cold." + +Mr. Everidge came to meet her as the train steamed into the little +station, and Evadne soon found herself seated in a comfortable carriage +behind a handsome chestnut mare, bowling along a fragrant country road, +catching glimpses at every turn of the verdure-clad hills. + +She found her new uncle very pleasant. There was a silver-tongued +suavity about him in striking contrast to the growing preoccupation of +Judge Hildreth, and a sort of airy self complaisance which took it for +granted that he should be well treated by the world. + +"I am very glad you have come, my dear niece," he said, "to relieve the +tedium of our uneventful existence. You must let our Vermont air kiss +the roses into bloom again in your pale cheeks. It has a world-wide +reputation as a tonic. I hope you left our Marlborough relatives in a +pleasant attitude of mind? It is one of the evidences of this +progressive age that you should woo 'tired Nature's sweet restorer' one +night under the roof of my respected brother-in-law, the next under my +own. The ancients, with their primitive modes of laborious transit, were +only half alive. We of to-day, thanks to the melodious tea-kettle and +inventive cerebral tissue of the youthful Watt, live in a perpetual +hand-clasp, so to speak, and, by means of the flashing chain of light +which girdles the globe are kept in touch with the world. It is food for +reflection that the thought which is evolved from the shadowy recesses +of our brain to-day, should be, by the mysterious camera of electricity, +photographed upon the retina of the Australian public to-morrow, and we +need to have the archives of our memory enlarged to hold the voluminous +correspondence of the century. + +"Ah, Squire Higgins, good-evening. My niece by marriage, Miss Hildreth +of Barbadoes." + +The Squire lifted his hat, there was a little desultory conversation, +then the carriages went on their separate ways, and soon Evadne found +herself at her destination. + +She looked eagerly at the pretty house with its _entourage_ of flowers +and lawns, grand old trees and distance-purpled hills, then Aunt Marthe +appeared in the doorway and she saw nothing else. + +She was of medium height with a crown of soft, brown hair, and eyes +whose first glance of welcome caught Evadne's heart and held her +captive. There was a wonderful sweetness about the smiling mouth, and +the face, although not classically beautiful, possessed a subtle +spiritual charm more fascinating than mere physical perfection of color +and form. She moved lightly with a buoyant youthfulness strangely at +variance with the stately dignity of Mrs. Hildreth and the studied +repose of Isabelle. + +"You dear child!" The soft arms held her close, the sweet lips caught +hers in a kiss, and Evadne felt with a great throb of joy that the +weary bird had found a resting-place at last. + +She led her into a cool, tastefully furnished room, drew her down beside +her on the couch and took off her hat and gloves, then she handed her a +fan and went to make her a lemon soda. + +Evadne looked round the room with its soft curtains swaying in the +breeze, the cool matting on the floor with a rug or two, the light +bookcases with their wealth of thought, the comfortable wicker rockers, +the bamboo tables holding several half cut magazines, an open +work-basket, a vase with a single rose, while on the low mantel a +cluster of graceful lilies were reflected in the mirror. "Why, this is +home!" she cried and she laid her head against the cushions with a +delightful sense of freedom. + +The early supper was soon announced and Evadne found herself in a cozy +dining-room seated near a window which opened into a bewildering vista +of summer beauty. There were flowers beside each plate as well as in the +quaintly carved bowl in the centre of the table. Evadne caught herself +smiling. That had always been a conceit of hers in Barbadoes. + +Everything was simple but delicious. The tender, juicy chicken, the +delicate pink ham, the muffins browned to a turn, the Jersey butter +moulded into a sheaf of wheat, and moist brown bread of Aunt Marthe's +own making, the blocks of golden sponge cake, the crisp lettuce, the +fragrant strawberries, the cool jelly frosted with snow. Evadne drank +her tea out of a chocolate tinted cup, fluted like the bell of a flower, +and felt as if she were feasting on the nectar of the gods, while Mr. +Everidge's silvery tones kept up a constant stream of talk and Aunt +Marthe's beautiful hospitality made her feel perfectly at home. + +"Tea, my dear Evadne," he said, as he passed her cup to be refilled, "is +an infusion of poison which is slowly but surely destroying the coatings +of the gastronomical organ of the female portion of society. I tremble +to think of the amount of tannin which analysis would show deposited in +the systems of the votaries of the deadly Five o'clock, and the +unhealthy nervous tension of the age is largely traceable to the +excessive consumption of the pernicious liquid. Chocolate, on the +contrary, taken as I always drink it, is simple and nutritive, with no +unpleasant after effects to be apprehended, but this decoction of bitter +herbs, steeped to death in water far past its proper temperature, is +concentrated lye, my dear Evadne, nothing but concentrated lye. By the +way, Marthe, I wish you would give your personal supervision to the +preparation of my hot water in the future. Nothing comparable to hot +water, Evadne, just before retiring. It aids digestion and induces +sleep, and sleep you know is a gift of the gods. The Chinese mode of +punishing criminals has always seemed to me exquisite in its barbarity. +They simply make it impossible for the unhappy wretches to obtain a wink +of sleep, until at length the torture grows unbearable and they find +refuge in the long sleep which no mortal has power to prevent. So, my +dear Marthe, see to it if you please in future that my slumber tonic is +served just on the boil. The worthy Joanna does not understand the +mysteries of the boiling process. Water, after it has passed the +initiatory stage becomes flat, absolutely flat and tasteless. What I had +to drink last night was so repugnant to my palate that I found it +impossible to sink into repose with that calm attitude of mind which is +so essential to perfect slumber. + +"See to it also, my dear, that I am not disturbed at such an unearthly +hour again as I was this morning. Tesla, the great electrician, has put +himself on record as intimating that the want of sleep is a potent +factor in the deplorably heavy death rate of the present day. He thinks +sleep and longevity are synonymous, therefore it becomes us to bend +every effort to attain that desirable consummation." + +Involuntarily Evadne looked at Mrs. Everidge. Her face was slightly +turned towards the open window and there was a half smile upon her lips, +as if, like Joan of Arc, she was listening to voices of sweeter tone +than those of earth. She came back to the present again on the instant +and met her niece's eyes with a smile, but in the subtle realm of +intuition we learn by lightning flashes, and Evadne needed no further +telling to know that the saddest loneliness which can fall to the lot of +a woman was the fate of her aunt. + +Immediately after supper Mrs. Everidge persuaded Evadne to go to her +room. The long journey had been a great strain upon her strength and she +was very tired. + +"I wish you a good night, Uncle Horace," she said as she passed him in +the doorway. + +"And you a pleasant one," he rejoined with a gallant bow. "'We are such +stuff as dreams are made of--and our little life is rounded with a +sleep.'" + +She lay for a long time wakeful, revelling in the strange sense of peace +which seemed to enfold her, while the evening breeze blew through the +room and the twilight threw weird shadows among the dainty draperies. +At length there came a low knock and Mrs. Everidge opened the door. + +Evadne stretched out her hands impulsively. "Oh, this beautiful +stillness!" she exclaimed. "In Marlborough there is the clang of the car +gongs and the rumble of cabs and the tramp of feet upon the pavement +until it seems as if the weary world were never to be at rest, but this +house is so quiet I could almost hear a pin drop." + +Mrs. Everidge smiled. "You have quick ears, little one. But we are +quieter than usual to-night; Joanna is sitting up with a sick neighbor, +your uncle went to his room early, and I have been reading in mine." + +She drew a low chair up beside the bed. "Now we must begin to get +acquainted," she said. + +"Dear Aunt Marthe!" cried Evadne, "I feel as if I had known you all my +life." + +She gave her a swift caress. "You dear child! Then tell me about your +father." + +Evadne looked at her gratefully. No one had ever cared to know about her +father before. Forgetting her weariness in the absorbing interest of her +subject, she talked on and on, and Mrs. Everidge with the wisdom of true +sympathy, made no attempt to check her, knowing full well that the +relief of the tried heart was helping her more than any physical rest +could do. + +"And now, oh, Aunt Marthe, life is so desperately lonely!" she said at +last with a sobbing sigh. + +Mrs. Everidge leaned over and kissed the trembling lips. "I think +sometimes the earthly fatherhood is taken from us, dear child, that we +may learn to know the beautiful Fatherliness of God. We can never find +true happiness until our restless hearts are folded close in the hush of +his love. Human love--however lovely--does not satisfy us. Nothing +can,--but God!" + +"The Fatherliness of God," repeated Evadne. "That sounds lovely, but +people do not think of him so. God is someone very terrible and far +away." + +"'And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.' Does that sound as +if he were far away, little one? 'As one whom his mother comforteth, so +will I comfort you.' Why, God is father and mother both to us, dear +child. Can you think of anyone nearer than that?" + +Evadne caught her breath in a great gladness. "I believe you are his +angel of consolation," she said in a hushed voice. + +"'Even unto them will I give ... a place and a name better than of sons +and daughters,'" quoted Aunt Marthe softly. "That means a location and +an identity. Here, sometimes, it seems as if we had neither the one nor +the other. Christ follows out the same idea in his picture of the +abiding place which is being prepared for you and me. Everything on +earth is so transitory, and the human heart has such a hunger for +something that will last." + +"Have you felt this too?" cried Evadne. "I thought I was the only one." + +Mrs. Everidge laughed. "The only one in all the world to puzzle over its +problems! Oh, yes, the older we grow, the more we find that the great +majority have the same feelings and perplexities as ourselves, although +some may not understand their thought clearly enough to put it into +words." + +"What is your favorite verse in all the Bible?" asked Evadne after a +pause. + +Mrs. Everidge laughed again, and Evadne thought she had never heard a +laugh at once so merry and so sweet. + +"You send me into a rose garden, dear child, and tell me to select the +choicest bloom out of its wilderness of beauty. How can I when every one +has a different coloring and a fragrance all its own? Two of my special +favorites are in the Revelation,--'To him that overcometh, to him will +I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon +the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth +it.' 'And they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their +foreheads.' + +"That means a possession and a belonging. It is the spiritual symbol +which binds us to our heavenly lover for eternity just as the wedding +ring is a pledge of fidelity for our earth time. It is only as we see it +so, that we get the full beauty of the religion of Jesus. His +church--the inner circle of his chosen 'hidden ones'--is his bride, and +what can be more glorious than to be the bride of the King of kings? The +dear souls who only serve him with fear do not get the sweetness out of +it at all. How can they, when their lives are all duty? 'Perfect love +casteth out fear' and there is no duty about it, for when we love, it is +a joy to serve and give. It hurts the Christ to have us content to be +simply servants when he would lift us up to the higher plane of +friendship, when he has put upon us the high honor of the dearest friend +of all! Earthly brides spend a vast deal of time and thought over their +trousseau, so I think Christ's bride should walk among men with a sweet +aloofness while the spiritual garments are being fashioned in which she +is to dwell with him. The Bible says a great deal about dressing. 'Let +thy garments be always white'--the sunshine color, the joy color--for +bye and bye we are to walk with him in white, you know. Our spiritual +wardrobe must be fitted and worn down here. It is a terrible mistake to +put off donning the wedding robes until we come to the feast. And the +wardrobe is very ample. Christ would have his bride luxuriously +appareled. 'Be clothed with humility.' That is a fine, close-fitting +suit for every day, but over it we are to wear the garment of praise and +the warm, shining robe of charity. Can you fancy anything more beautiful +than a life clothed in such garments as these? And to me the loveliest +of all is charity. The highest praise I ever heard given to a woman was +that 'she had such a tender way of making excuses for everybody.' + +"Very fair must be the bride in the eyes of her royal lover, clothed in +the garments which he has selected,--all light and joy and tenderness, +for, the King's daughter is all glorious within." + +"Aunt Marthe," said Evadne, after a long silence, in which they had been +tasting the sweetness of it, "I do not need to ask if you know Jesus +Christ?" + +The lovely face took on an added beauty. "He is my life," she said. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Evadne was swinging in the hammock one golden summer afternoon, humming +soft snatches of her old songs while she played with her aunt's pet +black and tan. The sweet freshness of her new existence was rapidly +restoring tone to her mental system, and life no longer seemed a +hopeless task. The days were full of dreamy contentment. She spent long +mornings under the murmuring pines in the deep belt of forest which +stretched for miles behind the house, or helped Mrs. Everidge keep the +rooms in dainty order; drove with her along the grass-bordered roads, +while ears and eyes feasted on the symphonies of Nature and the ever +changing beauty of the hills; or stood beside Joanna in a trance of +delight out in the fragrant dairy, whose windows opened into a wild +sweetness of fluttering leaves, and whose cool stone floor made a +channel for a purling brook, watching her as with dexterous hands she +shaped and moulded the bubbley dough or tossed up an omelet or made one +of her delicious cherry pies, conscious through it all of the sweet +influence which seemed to pervade every corner of the house and grounds. + +"I wonder what it is about you, you dear Aunt Marthe?" she soliloquized, +as she pulled Noisette's silky ears. "When you are away I cannot bear to +go into the house,--everything seems so different, so cold and +dark,--but the moment you come home again it is as lovely as ever. +Concentrated light. Yes, that name would suit you, for light is sweet +and pure and stimulating and precious. If all the people in the world +were like you, _what_ a world it would be!" + +She looked up as she heard footsteps approaching, and then rose to +welcome her visitor. A woman twenty years her senior, bright, capable, +energetic, with a shrewd face and kindly eyes whose keen glance was +quick to pierce the flimsy veil of humbug, and a tongue whose +good-natured sarcasm had made more than one pretender feel ashamed. + +"How do?" she said briskly, as she took the chair Evadne offered. "I +hope you're feelin' better sence you've cum?" + +"Much better, thank you. I am very sorry my aunt is not at home." + +"I'm sorry likewise, though it don't make as much difference as it might +have done, as I'm callin' a purpose to see you." + +"That is very good of you," said Evadne with a laugh. There was a spicy +flavor about this child of the mountains which she found refreshing. + +"It's a bit awkward," continued her visitor with a twinkle in her eye, +"as we'll have to do our own introducin'. My name's Penelope Riggs, +Penel for brevity. What's yours?" + +"Evadne Hildreth." + +"Evadne. That's uncommon and pretty. I'm goin' to call you so if you're +not objectionable to it. Life's too short for handles." + +Evadne laughed merrily. "I'm not in the least objectionable," she said. + +"No, that's a fact," said her visitor after a moment's kindly scrutiny. +"You're true and thorough. I knew I was goin' to like you when I saw you +in meetin'." + +Evadne flushed with pleasure. "Why, that is a beautiful character! I +only wish I deserved it. But I fear you are very much mistaken in me, +though it is very kind in you to think such nice things." + +"Nonsense, child! I don't waste my time thinkin'. Let me have a good +look at your face for half an hour and I'll know as much about you as +you could tell me in a week. Malviny Higgins has just come back from +Bosting with her head full of sykick forces an' mental affinities an' +the dear knows what else, but I think it's just a cultivation of our +common senses--number, five. You can feel a person without touching +them; it's in the air all round you; and you don't need much +discrimination to know whether what you will say will hurt them or be a +blessin'. The main thing is to put yourself in their shoes before you +begin to talk." + +"Their shoes, Miss Riggs," laughed Evadne, "why they might not fit." + +"Penelope," corrected her visitor, "Penel for brevity. Yes, they will +too, that kind of shoe leather is elastic. It's the old Bible doctrine, +'never do anything to others that you wouldn't like others to do to +you.' If people got the shoes well fitted before they let their tongues +loose, there would be a deal less sorrow and heartburn in the world." + +"'Love thy neighbor as thyself,'" said Evadne. "I never thought of it in +that way before." + +"Well," said Miss Riggs briskly, "I'm dredful glad you've cum, Evadne. +It'll do Mis' Everidge a sight of good to have you, though Marthe +Everidge is raised above the need of humans as far as any mortal can be +on this earth. With all their inventions there ain't nobody discovered +how to make spiritual photographs yet, or I would have the picture of +_her_ character in all the windows of the land. 'Twould do more good +than miles of tracts. I agree with Paul that livin' epistles make the +best readin' an' it don't seem fittin' that she should be shut up in +this little place where only a few of us have the right kind of +spectacles to see her through. Most of the folks just allow it's Mis' +Everidge's way, and would as soon think of tryin' to imitate her as a +tadpole would a star." + +"But we are to imitate Christ," said Evadne. + +"'Course, child! But it's dredful comfortin' to have a human life in +front of us to show us that is possible. Lots of times when life looks +like a long seam an' the sewin' pricks my fingers, a new light falls on +this picture, and I sez to myself, 'Penel,' says I, 'look at Marthe +Everidge. The Lord has made you both out of the same material. There +ain't no reason why she should be always gettin' nearer heaven and you +goin' back to earth. She has difficulties and worriments, same as you +have, but if she can make every trial into a new rung for the ladder on +which she is mountin' up to God, there ain't no reason why you should +make a gravestone out of yours to bury yourself under; and so I start +on with a new courage, an' when we get to the end of the journey, I'll +not be the only one who'll have to thank Marthe Everidge for showin' the +way." + +Evadne's eyes shone. "You make me feel," she cried, "as if I would +rather live a beautiful life than do the most magnificent thing in the +world!" + +"That's a safe feelin' to tie to," said Penelope with an approving +smile; "for character is the only thing we've got to carry with us when +we go." + +"Well," she continued, "I must be goin'. I did think I'd be forehanded +in callin', but mother's been dredful wakeful lately, and when daylight +comes, it don't seem as if I had the ambition of a snail. She don't like +to be left alone for a minit, mother don't, so it's a bit of a puzzle to +keep up with society." + +She laughed cheerily as she held out her hand. "Well, I'm dredful +pleased to have met you. I'll be more than glad to have you come in +whenever you're down our way." + +Evadne watched her as she walked briskly along the road. "She is not +Aunt Marthe," she said slowly; "I suppose Louis would call it a case of +the solanum and the potato blossom, but she is one of the Lord's plants +all the same." + +"Aunt Marthe, what _is_ culture?" she asked suddenly, as later in the +afternoon Mrs. Everidge sat beside her hammock. "Is Louis right? Is it +just the veneer of education and travel and environment?" + +"You can hardly call that a veneer, little one. Real education goes very +deep. Emerson says 'nothing is so indicative of deepest culture as a +tender consideration of the ignorant.' I think that culture, to be +perfect, must have its root in love. It is impossible that anyone filled +with the love of Christ should ever be discourteous or lack in +thoughtfulness for the feelings of others." + +"Why that must be what Penelope Riggs meant by her 'elastic shoe +leather,'" said Evadne with a laugh, and then she repeated the +conversation. + +"Oh, she has been here! I am glad. It will do you good to know her. She +is the cheeriest soul, and the busiest. She always acts upon me as a +tonic, for I know just how much she has had to give up and how hard her +life has been." + +"Why, Aunt Marthe, she says when she gets to heaven she will have to +thank you for showing her the way. She thinks you are perfection." + +"'Not I, but Christ,'" said Aunt Marthe with a happy smile. She went +into the house and returned with a book in her hand. "You asked what +culture really was. This writer says 'Drudgery.' Listen while I give you +a few snatches, then you shall have the book for your own. + +"'Culture takes leisure, elegance, wide margins of time, a pocket-book; +drudgery means limitations, coarseness, crowded hours, chronic worry, +old clothes, black hands, headaches. Our real and our ideal are not +twins. Never were! I want the books, but the clothes basket wants me. I +love nature and figures are my fate. My taste is books and I farm it. My +taste is art and I correct exercises. My taste is science and I measure +tape. Can it be that this drudgery, not to be escaped, gives 'culture?' +Yes, culture of the prime elements of life, of the very fundamentals of +all fine manhood and fine womanhood, the fundamentals that underlie all +fulness and without which no other culture worth the winning is even +possible. Power of attention, power of industry, promptitude in +beginning work, method and accuracy and despatch in doing it, +perseverance, courage before difficulties, cheer, self-control and +self-denial, they are worth more than Latin and Greek and French and +German and music and art and painting and waxflowers and travels in +Europe added together. These last are the decorations of a man's life, +those other things are the indispensables. They make one's sit-fast +strength and one's active momentum,--they are the solid substance of +one's self. + +"'How do we get them? High school and college can give much, but these +are never on their programmes. All the book processes that we go to the +schools for and commonly call our 'education' give no more than +opportunity to win the indispensables of education. We must get them +somewhat as the fields and valleys get their grace. Whence is it that +the lines of river and meadow and hill and lake and shore conspire +to-day to make the landscape beautiful? Only by long chiselings and +steady pressures. Only by ages of glacier crush and grind, by scour of +floods, by centuries of storm and sun. These rounded the hills and +scooped the valley-curves and mellowed the soil for meadow-grace. It was +'drudgery' all over the land. Mother Nature was down on her knees doing +her early scrubbing work! That was yesterday, to-day--result of +scrubbing work--we have the laughing landscape. + +"'Father and mother and the ancestors before them have done much to +bequeath those mental qualities to us, but that which scrubs them into +us, the clinch which makes them actually ours and keeps them ours, and +adds to them as the years go by,--that depends on our own plod in the +rut, our drill of habit, in a word our 'drudgery.' It is because we have +to go and go morning after morning, through rain, through shine, through +toothache, headache, heartache to the appointed spot and do the +appointed work, no matter what our work may be, because of the rut, +plod, grind, humdrum in the work, that we get our foundations. + +"'Drudgery is the gray angel of success, for drudgery is the doing of +one thing long after it ceases to be amusing, and it is 'this one thing +I do' that gathers me together from my chaos, that concentrates me from +possibilities to powers and turns powers into achievements. The aim in +life is what the backbone is in the body, if we have no aim we have no +meaning. Lose us and the earth has lost nothing, no niche is empty, no +force has ceased to play, for we have no aim and therefore we are +still--nobody. Our bodies are known and answer in this world to such or +such a name, but, as to our inner selves, with real and awful meaning +our walking bodies might be labelled 'An unknown man sleeps here!' + +"'But we can be artists also in our daily task,--artists not artisans. +The artist is he who strives to perfect his work, the artisan strives to +get through it. If I cannot realize my ideal I can at least idealize my +real--How? By trying to be perfect in it. If I am but a raindrop in a +shower, I will be at least a perfect drop. If but a leaf in a whole +June, I will be a perfect leaf. This is the beginning of all Gospels, +that the kingdom of heaven is at hand just where we are.'" + +"Oh!" cried Evadne, drawing a long breath, "that is beautiful! I feel as +if I had been lifted up until I touched the sky." + +"Marthe," exclaimed Mr. Everidge reproachfully, suddenly appearing in +the doorway with a sock drawn over each arm, "it is incomprehensible to +me you do not remember that my physical organism and darns have +absolutely no affinity." + +Mrs. Everidge laughed brightly. "If you will make holes, Horace, I must +make darns," she said. + +"Not a natural sequence at all!" he retorted testily. "When the wear and +tear of time becomes visible in my underwear it must be relegated to +Reuben." + +"But Reuben's affinity for patches may be no stronger than your own, +Uncle Horace," said Evadne mischievously. + +Mr. Everidge waved his sock-capped hands with a gesture of disdain. +"The lower orders, my dear Evadne, are incapable of those delicate +perceptions which constitute the mental atmosphere of those of finer +mould. The delft does not feel the blow which would shiver the porcelain +into atoms, and Reuben's epidermis is, I imagine, of such a horny +consistency that he would walk in oblivious unconcern upon these +elevations of needlework which are as a ploughshare to my sensitive +nerves. It is the penalty one has to pay for being of finer clay than +the common herd of men." + +Evadne looked at Mrs. Everidge. A deep flush of shame had dyed her +cheeks and her lips were quivering. + +"Oh, Horace," she cried, "Reuben is such a faithful boy!" + +"My dear," said her husband airily, "I make no aspersions against his +moral character, but he certainly cannot be classed among the +velvet-skinned aristocracy. By the way, I wish you would see in future +that my undergarments are of a silken texture. My flesh rebels at +anything approaching to harshness," and then he went complacently back +to his library to weave and fashion the graceful phrases which flowed +from his facile pen. + +"Why should he go clothed in silk and you in cotton!" cried Evadne, +jealous for the rights of her friend. + +Mrs. Everidge's eyes came back from one of their long journeys, "Oh, I +have learned the luxury of doing without," she said lightly. + +Evadne threw her arms around her impulsively. "But why, oh, Aunt Marthe, +why should not Uncle Horace learn it too?" + +"We do not see things through the same window," she answered with a +smile and a sigh. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +John Randolph walked slowly through the soft dawning. It had been a +brilliant night. The late moon had risen as he was bidding good-bye to +the graceful creatures he should never see again, and Hollywood had been +clad in a bewitching beauty which made it all the harder to say +farewell. Far into the night he had lingered, visiting every corner of +the dearly loved home, then at last he had turned away and walked +steadily along the road which led to Marlborough. + +The sun rose in a blaze of splendor and the birds began to twitter. The +gripsack which he carried grew strangely heavy, and he felt faint and +weary. The long strain of the day before was beginning to tell upon him, +and it was many hours since he had tasted food. + +A sudden turn of the road brought him in sight of a trig little farm, +against whose red gate a man was leaning, leisurely enjoying the beauty +of the morning before he began work. He had a pleasant face, strong and +peaceful. No one had ever known Joseph Makepeace to be out of temper or +in a hurry. He would have said it was because he commenced every day +listening to the inner voice among the silences of Nature. Joseph +Makepeace was a Quaker. + +"Why, John, lad!" he cried, "thou art a welcome sight on this fair +morning. Come in, come in. Breakfast will soon be ready and thou art in +sore need of it by the look of thy face." He gave John's hand a mighty +grasp and took his gripsack from him. + +"Why, John, hast thou walked far with this load? Where were all the +horses of Hollywood? Is anything wrong, John? I don't like thy looks, +lad." + +John's voice trembled. "I have left Hollywood" he said. "Mr. Hawthorne +has turned me off." + +"Left Hollywood! You don't mean it, John? Well, well, folks say Robert +Hawthorne has not been right in his mind since his boy got hurt. I +believe it now. It's a comfort that the great Master will never turn us +off, lad. Thee'd better lie down on the lounge and rest thee a bit, +John, while I go and tell mother." + +He entered the spotless kitchen where his wife was moving blithely to +and fro. "Thee has another 'unawares angel' to breakfast, Ruth. It's a +grand thing being on the public road!" + +Ruth Makepeace laughed merrily. "An angel, Joseph? I hope he's not like +thy last one, who stole three of my best silver spoons!" + +"So, so, thee didst promise to forget that, Ruth, if I replace them next +time I go to Marlborough." + +"Well, so I do, except when thee does remind me. Is this a very hungry +angel, Joseph? Does thee think I'd better cook another chicken?" + +"He ought to be hungry, poor lad, but I doubt if he eats much. Does thee +remember friend Randolph, Ruth?" + +"Of course I do. But he's been dead these ten years. Thee doesn't mean +he's come back to breakfast with us?" + +Her husband put his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. Then he +kissed her. "Thee is fractious this morning, Ruth. Friend Randolph had a +son, thee dost mind, whom Robert Hawthorne took to live at Hollywood. It +is he whom the good Lord has sent to us to care for, Ruth. He's just +been turned adrift." + +"If thee wasn't so big I would shake thee, Joseph! The idea of John +Randolph being in this house and thee beating round the bush with thine +angels!" and with all her motherhood shining in her eyes, Ruth Makepeace +started for the parlor. + +In spite of the overflowing kindness with which he was surrounded John +found the meal a hard one. He had been used to breakfast with little Nan +upon his knee. + +"When thee is rested we'll have a talk, lad," said his host, as they +rose from the table; "but thee'd better bide with us for the summer and +not fret about the future: thee dost need a holiday." + +"Of course thee dost, John!" said blithe little Mrs. Makepeace. "I wish +thee would bide for good." + +Her husband laid his hand upon his shoulder. "Thou knowest, lad, there +is the little grave out yonder. Thee should'st have his place in our +hearts and home. Would'st thee be content to bide, John?" + +John Randolph looked at his friends with shining eyes. "You have done me +good for life!" he said, "but the world calls me, I must go. I mean to +work my way through college, and be a physician, Mr. Makepeace." + +"So! so! Well, we mustn't stand in the way, Ruth. Thee'll make a good +one, John. But how art thee going to manage it, lad?" + +"The Steel Works in Marlborough pay good wages. I mean to get a place +there if I can, and study in the evenings." + +"Why, John, lad, the Steel Works shut down yesterday afternoon." + +For an instant the brave spirit quailed, only for an instant. "Then I +must find something else," he said quietly. + +"It's a bad season, John, and the times are hard." Joseph Makepeace +thought for a moment. "There's friend Harris up the river. What dost +thee think, Ruth?" + +"Why, he wants men to pile wood," exclaimed his wife. "Thee would'st not +set John at that!" + +"Lincoln split rails," said John with a smile, "why should not I pile +them? It's clean work, and honest, Mrs. Makepeace." + +"He has a logging camp in the winter. Thee would'st have good pay then, +John." + +"But thee would'st be so lonely, John, amongst all those rough men! And +thee did'st say once it was dangerous, Joseph. It's not fit work for +John." + +"I am not afraid of work, Mrs. Makepeace, and I can never be lonely with +Jesus Christ." + + * * * * * + +In far Vermont Evadne was reading aloud from a paper she had brought +from the post-office. "The whole sum of Christian living is just +loving." "Do you believe that, Aunt Marthe?" + +"Surely, dear child. Love is the fulfilling of the law, you know. When +we love God with our whole heart, and our neighbor as ourselves, there +is no danger of our breaking the Decalogue. 'He who loveth knoweth God,' +and 'to know him is life eternal.'" + +"Just love," said Evadne musingly. "It seems so simple." + +"Do you think so?" said Aunt Marthe with a smile. "Yet people find it +the hardest thing to do, as it is surely the noblest. Drummond calls it +'the greatest thing in the world' and you have Paul's definition of it +in Corinthians. Did you ever study that to see how perfect love would +make us? + +"'Love suffereth long,' that does away with impatience; 'and is kind,' +that makes us neighborly; 'love envieth not,' that saves from +covetousness; 'vaunteth not itself,' that does away with self-conceit; +'seeketh not its own,' that kills selfishness; 'is not provoked,' that +shows we are forgiving; 'rejoiceth not in unrighteousness,' makes us +love only what is pure; 'covereth [Footnote: Marginal rendering.] all +things,' that leaves no room for scandal; 'believeth all things,' that +does away with doubt; 'hopeth all things,' that is the antithesis of +distrust; 'endureth all things,' proves that we are strong; and then the +beautiful summing up of the whole matter, 'love never faileth.' If that +is true of us, it can only be as we are filled with the spirit of the +Christ of God, 'whose nature and whose name is love.'" + +"You see such beautiful things in the Bible!" said Evadne despairingly, +"why cannot I get below the surface?" + +"You will, dearie. You forget I have been digging nuggets from this +precious mine for years and you have just begun to search for them. +Would you like another drive, or do you feel too tired?" + +"Not in the least. What can I do for you?" + +"I would like to send some of that currant jelly I made yesterday to old +Mrs. Riggs, if you are sure you would like to take it?" + +"As sure as sure can be, dear," said Evadne with a kiss, "Where shall I +find it?" + +"In the King's corner." + +"'The King's corner?'" echoed Evadne with a puzzled look. + +"Oh, I forgot you did not know. I always give the Lord the first fruits +of my cooking, and keep them in a special place set apart for his use, +then, when I go to see the sick, there is always something ready to +tempt their fancy. It is wonderful what a saving of time it is. I rarely +have to make anything on purpose,--there is always something prepared." + +She followed her niece out to the carriage, helped her pack the jelly +safely, with one of her crisp loaves of fresh brown bread, bade her a +merry farewell and went back to the house again singing. + +"Oh, Aunt Marthe!" cried Evadne, as she drove slowly under the trees, +"shall I ever, ever learn to be like you?" + +She found the old lady sitting by the fire wrapped up in a shawl, +although the day was sultry. + +"Good-morning," said Evadne, as she deposited her parcels on the table. +"I come from Mrs. Everidge. She thought you would fancy some of her +fresh brown bread and currant jelly." + +"Hum!" said the old lady ungraciously, "I hope it's better than the last +wuz. Guess Mis' Everidge ain't ez pertickler ez she used ter be." + +"Aunt Marthe!" cried Evadne indignantly. "Why, everything she does is +perfection!" + +"Land, child! There ain't no perfecshun in this world. It's all a wale, +a wale o' tears. We'se poor, miserable critters,--wurms o' the +dust,--that's what we be." + +"There isn't any worm about Aunt Marthe," cried Evadne with a laugh. "I +think you must be looking through a wrong pair of spectacles, Mrs. +Riggs." + +"Land, child! I ain't got but the one pair, an' they got broke this +morning. But it's jest my luck. Everything goes agin me." + +"But you can get them mended," said Evadne. + +"Sakes alive! There ain't much hope o' gettin' them mended, with Penel +behindhand on the rent, an' the firin' an' the land knows what else. I +don't see why Penel ain't more forehanded. I tell her ef I wuz ez young +an' ez spry ez she be, I guess I'd hev things different, but, la! that's +Penel's way. She's terrible sot in her own way, Penel is. She's not +willin' ter take my advice. Children now-a-days allers duz know more +than their mothers." + +"Where is Penelope?" asked Evadne. + +"Oh, skykin' round. She's gone over to Miss Johnsing's ter help with the +quiltin'. That's the way she duz, an' here I am all alone with the fire +ter tend ter, an' not a livin' soul ter do a hand's turn fer me! She sez +she hez ter do it ter keep the pot bilin'--'pears ter me Penel's pots +take a sight uv bilin'." + +"But she has left a nice pile of wood close beside you, Mrs. Riggs." + +"La, yes," grumbled the old lady, "but it's dretful thoughtless in her +ter stay away so long, when she knows the stoopin' cums so hard on my +rheumatiz. An' it's terrible lonesome. I get that narvous some days I'm +all of a shake. 'Tain't ez ef she kep within' call, but t'other day she +went clean over ter Hancocks,--a hull mile an' a half! She sez she hez +ter go where folks wants things done, but that's nonsense, folks oughter +want things done near at hand,--they know how lonesome I be. Why, a bear +might cum in an' eat me up for all Penel would know. She gits so taken +up a' larfin' an' singin', she ain't got no sympathy. Oh, it's a wale o' +tears!" + +"But there are no bears in Vernon, Mrs. Riggs," laughed Evadne. + +"Land, child! you never know what there might be!" said the old lady +testily. "Be you a' stayin' at Mis' Everidge's?" + +"Yes," said Evadne, "she is my aunt." + +"Hum! I never knew she hed any nieces, 'cept them two gals uv Jedge +Hildreth's down ter Marlborough." + +"I am their cousin, Mrs. Riggs. I used to live in Barbadoes." + +"Well, I declar! Why, Barbaderz is t' other side of nowhere! Used ter +be when I went ter school. Well, well, some folks hez a lion's share uv +soarin' an' here I've ben all my life jest a' pinin' my heart out ter +git down ter Bosting, an' I ain't never got there! But that's allers the +way. I never git nuthin'. I'm sixty-nine years old cum Christmas an' I +ain't never ben further away frum hum than twenty miles hand runnin', +an' here's a chit like you done travelin' enuff ter last a lifetime." + +"But I didn't want to travel, Mrs. Riggs," said Evadne gently. "I would +so much rather have stayed at home." + +"There you go!" grumbled the old lady. "Folks ain't never satisfied with +their mercies. Allers a' flyin' in the face uv Providence. I tell you +we'se wurms, child; miserable, shiftless wurms, a' crawlin' down in this +walley of humiliation, with our faces ter the dust." + +"But you've got a great deal to be thankful for, Mrs. Riggs," ventured +Evadne, "in having such a daughter. Aunt Marthe thinks she is a splendid +character." + +"So she oughter be!" retorted the old lady, "with sech a bringin' up ez +she's hed. But land! childern's dretful disappointin' ter a pusson. +There ain't a selfish bone in _my_ body, but Penel's ez full uv 'em. +She'll let me lie awake by the hour at a time while she's a' snoozin' +on the sofy beside me. She don't sleep in her own bed any more because I +hev ter hev her handy ter rub me when the rheumatiz gits ter jumpin'. +She sez she can't help bein' drowsy when she's workin' through the day, +but land! she'd manage ter keep awake ef she hed any sympathy! She ain't +got no sympathy, Penel ain't; an' she ain't a bit forehanded. + +"But I don't 'spect nuthin' else in this world. It's a wale o' tears an' +we ain't got nuthin' else ter look fer but triberlation an' woe. Man ez +born ter trouble ez the sparks fly upward, an' a woman allers hez the +lion's share." + +Evadne burst into the sitting-room with flashing eyes. "Aunt Marthe, if +I were Penelope Riggs, I would shoot her mother! She's just a crooked +old bundle of unreasonableness and ingratitude!" + +Mrs. Everidge laughed. "No, you wouldn't dear, not if you _were_ +Penelope." + +"But, Aunt Marthe, how does she stand it? Why, it would drive me crazy +in a week! To think of that poor soul, working like a slave all day, and +then grudged the few winks of sleep she gets on a hard old sofa. I +declare, it makes me feel hopeless!" + +"The day I climbed Mont Blanc," said Mrs. Everidge softly, "we had a +wonderful experience. Down below us a sudden storm swept the valley. +The rain fell in torrents, and the thunder roared, but up where we stood +the sun was shining and all was still. When we walk with Christ, little +one, we find it possible to live above the clouds." + +"An Alpine Christian!" cried Evadne. "Oh, Aunt Marthe, that is +beautiful!" + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +"The ancient Egyptians, Evadne," remarked Mr. Everidge the next day at +dinner, as he selected the choicest portions of a fine roast duck for +his own consumption, "during the period of their nation's highest +civilization, subsisted almost exclusively upon millet, dates and other +fruits and cereals; and athletic Greece rose to her greatest culture +upon two meals a day, consisting principally of maize and vegetables +steeped in oil. Don't you think you ladies would find it of advantage to +copy them in this laudable abstemiousness? There is something repugnant +to a refined taste in the idea of eating flesh whose constituent +particles partake largely of the nature of our own." + +"Why, certainly, Uncle Horace," said Evadne merrily. "I am quite ready +to become a vegetarian, if you will set me the example. The feminine +mind, you know, is popularly supposed to be only fitted to follow a +masculine lead." + +"Ah, I wish it were possible, my dear Evadne, but the peculiar +susceptibility of my internal organism precludes all thought of my +making such a radical change in the matter of diet. Even now, in spite +of all my care, indigestion, like a grim Argus, stares me out of +countenance. I wish you would bear this fact more constantly in mind, my +dear Marthe. This duck, for instance, has not arrived at that stage of +absolute fitness which is so essential to the appreciation of a delicate +stomach. A duck, Evadne, is a bird which requires very careful treatment +in its preparation for the table. It should be suspended in the air for +a certain length of time, and then, after being carefully trussed, laid +upon its breast in the pan, in order that all the juices of the body may +concentrate in that titbit of the epicure,--then let the knife touch its +richly browned skin, and, presto, you have a dish fit for the gods! The +skin of this duck on the contrary presents a degree of resistance to the +carver which proves that it has been placed in the oven before it had +arrived at that stage of perfection." + +"Why, Horace," laughed Mrs. Everidge, "I thought this one was just +right! You remember you told me the last one we had, had hung five hours +too long." + +"Exactly so. My friend, Trenton, will tell you that five hours is all +the length of time required to seal the fate of nations. It is a pet +theory of his that the finale of the material world will be rapid. He +bases his conclusions upon the fact of the steady decrease in the volume +of the surrounding atmosphere and the almost instantaneous action of all +of Nature's destructive forces, fire and flood, storm and sunstroke, +lightning and hail, earthquake and cyclone. Oh, _apropos_ of my erudite +friend, Marthe, he has promised to spend August with us, so you will +have to look to your culinary laurels, for he is accustomed to dine at +Delmonico's." + +"Professor Trenton coming here in August!" cried Mrs. Everidge in +dismay. "Why, Horace, you never told me you had invited him!" + +"My dear, I am telling you now." + +"But I meant to take Evadne up to our mountain camp in August. I am sure +the resinous air would make her strong. I had my plans all laid." + +"'The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley,'" said her husband +suavely. "Evadne's mental strength cannot fail to be developed by +intercourse with such a clever man. We must not allow the culture of the +body to occupy so prominent a place in our thoughts that we forget the +mind, you know." + +"A fusty old Professor!" pouted Evadne. "Oh, Uncle Horace, why didn't +you leave him among his tomes and his theories and let us be free to +enjoy?" + +"Mere sensual gratification, Evadne," said Mr. Everidge, as he +replenished his plate with some dainty pickings, "is not the true aim of +life. I consider it a high honor that the Professor should consent to +devote a month of his valuable time to my edification, for he is getting +to be quite a lion in the literary world. You had better have your +chamber prepared for his occupancy, Marthe. As I remember him at college +he had a fondness amounting almost to a craze for rooms with a western +aspect." + +Joanna came in to announce the arrival of a visitor whom Evadne had +already learned to dread on account of her continual depression. + +"Oh, Aunt Marthe!" she exclaimed, "must you waste this beautiful +afternoon listening to her dolorosities. I wanted you to go for a +drive!" + +"You go, dearie, and take Penelope Riggs. It will be a treat to her and +you ought to be out in the open air as much as possible." + +Evadne went out on the veranda. Through the open window she could hear +the visitor's ceaseless monotone of complaint mingled with the soft +notes of Mrs. Everidge's cheery sympathy. "Oh, dearest," she murmured, +"if you had seen this beautiful life, you would have known that there is +no sham in the religion of Jesus!" + +She waited long, in the hope that Mrs. Everidge would be able to +accompany her, then she started for the Eggs cottage. She found the old +lady alone. "Where is Penelope, Mrs. Riggs?" + +"Oh, skykin' round ez usual," was the peevish response. "It's church +work this time. When I wuz young, folks got along 'thout sech an +everlastin' sight uv meetins, but nowadays there's Convenshuns, an' +Auxils an' Committees, an' the land knows what, till a body's clean +distracted. Fer my part I hate ter see wimmen a' wallerin' round in the +mud till it takes 'em the best part uv the next day ter git their skirts +clean." + +"But there is no mud now, Mrs. Riggs," laughed Evadne. + +"Land alive, child! There will be sometime. In my day folks used ter +stay ter hum an' mind their childern, but now they've all took ter +soarin' an' it don't matter how many ends they leave flyin' loose behind +'era." + +"But Penelope has no children to mind, Mrs. Riggs." + +"Land alive! She hez me, an' I oughter be more ter her than a duzzen +childern,--but she ain't got no proper feelin's, Penel ain't. When I'm +a' lyin' in my coffin she'll give her eyes ter hev the chance ter rub my +rheumatiz, an' run for hot bottles an' flannels an' ginger tea. It's an +ongrateful world but I allcrs sez there ain't no use complainin'; it's +what we've got ter expec',--triberlation an' anguish an' mournin' an' +woe. It's good enuff fer us too. Sech wurms ez we be!" + +"Well, Evadne, how do you do, child? I'm dretful glad to see you," and +Penelope, breezy and keen as a March wind, came bustling into the room. +"Why, yes, I'm well, child, if it wasn't for bein' so tumbled about in +my mind." + +"What has tumbled you, Penelope?" asked Evadne with a merry laugh. + +"The Scribes and Pharisees," was the terse rejoinder. "I've just cum +from a Committee meeting of the Missionary Society an' I'm free to +confess my feelin's is roused tremendous. Seems to me nowadays the +church is built at a different angle from the Sermon on the Mount an' +things is measured by the world's yardsticks till there ain't much +sense in callin' it a church at all. Ef you'd seen the way Squire +Higgins' girls sot down on poor little Matildy Jones this afternoon, +just because her father sells fish! Their father sells it too, but he's +got forehanded an' can do it by the gross, an' so they toss their heads +an' set a whole garden full o' flowers a' shakin' upan' down. They're +allers more peacocky in their minds after they git their spring bunnets. +The Lord said we was to consider the lilies, but I guess he meant us to +leave 'em in the fields, for I notice the more folks carries on the tops +of their heads the less their apt to be like 'em underneath." + +"But what did they say to her?" asked Evadne. + +"You're young, child, or you'd know there's more ways of insultin' than +with the tongue, an' poor little Matildy is jest the one to be hurt that +way. Some folks is like clams, the minute you touch 'em, they shut +themselves up in their shells an' then they don't feel what you do to +'em any more'n the Rocky mountains, but Matildy isn't made that way. She +just sot there with the flushes comin' in her cheeks an' the tears +shinin' in her pretty eyes till my heart ached. I leaned over to her an' +whispered, 'Don't fret, Matildy, they ain't wuth mindin'. She gave me a +little wintry smile but the tears kep a' comin' an' by an' bye she got +up and went out, an' ef she don't imitate the Prophet Jeremi an' water +her piller with her tears this night, then I've changed my name sence +mornin'. + +"I was so uplifted in my mind with righteous indignation that I felt +called upon to let it loose, so I begun in a musin' tone, as ef I was +havin' a solil." + +"'A solil?'" said Evadne in a mystified tone. + +"Why, yes; talkin' to myself, child. I did think, ef there was any place +folks was free an' eqal 'twould be in the Lord's service,' sez I. 'The +Bible teaches it's a pretty dangerous bizness to offend one uv these +little ones. I'm not much of a hand at quotations, but there's an +unpleasant connection between it an' a millstun,' sez I. + +"Malviny Higgins tossed her head an' giv me one uv her witherinest +looks, but I'm not one uv the perishin' kind, so I kep on a' musin'. + +"'It's wonderful what a difference there is between sellin' by the poun' +an' the barrel,' sez I. 'It's unfortunet that there's only one way to +the heavenly country, an' it's a limited express with no Pullman +attached. The Lord hedn't time to put on a parlor car fer the wholesale +trade; seems like as if it was kind uv neglectful in him. It would hev +been more convenient an' private.' + +"Malviny's cheeks got as red as beets an' the flowers on her bonnet +danced a Highland Fling as she leaned over to whisper somethin' to her +sister, but I hed relieved my feelin's an' could join in quite peaceful +like when Mrs. Songster said we'd close the meetin' by singin' 'Blest be +the tie that binds.' Well, there'll be no clicks in heaven, that's one +blessin'." + +"'Clicks,' Penelope?" + +"Why, yes, child, the folks that gets off by themselves in a corner an' +thinks nobody outside the circle is fit to tie their shoe. I expect to +hev edifyin' conversations with Moses an' Elija, an' the first thing I +mean to ask him is what kind of ravens they really were." + +"'Ravens,'" echoed Evadne bewildered, "what _do_ you mean, Penelope?" + +"Sakes alive, child! Haven't you read your Bible? and don't you know the +ravens fed the old gentleman in the desert, an' that folks now say they +were Arabs, because the ravens are dirty birds an' live on carrion, an' +it stands to reason Elija couldn't touch that if he hed an ordinary +stumach. As if the Lord couldn't hev made 'em bring food from the king's +table if he hed chosen to do it! It's all of a piece with the way folks +hev now of twistin' the Bible inside out till nobody knows what it +means. For my part I believe if the Lord hed meant Arabs he would hev +said Arabs an' not hev deceived us by callin' 'em birds uv prey. Folks +is so set against allowin' anything that looks like a meracle that +they'll go all the way round the barn an' creep through a snake fence if +they can prove it's jest an ordinary piece of business. They do say +there are some things the Lord can't do, but I'm free to confess I've +never found them out." + + * * * * * + +"Aunt Marthe," said Evadne, when they had settled down for their evening +talk, "what does it all mean? 'The victory of our faith,' you know, and +the 'Overcomeths' in Revelation? I thought Christ got the victory for +us?" + +"So he does, dear child, and we through him. I came across a lovely +explanation of it some time ago which I will copy for you; it has been +such an inspiration. Listen,-- + +"'When you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set at naught and you +smile inwardly, glorying in the insult or the oversight,--that is +victory. + +"'When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your +tastes offended, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and +you take it all in patient and loving silence,--that is victory. + +"'When you are content with any food, any raiment, any climate, any +society, any position in life, any solitude, any interruption,--that is +victory. + +"'When you can bear with any discord, any annoyance, any irregularity or +unpunctuality (of which you are not the cause),--that is victory. + +"'When you can stand face to face with folly, extravagance, spiritual +insensibility, contradiction of sinners, persecution, and endure it all +as Jesus endured it,--that is victory. + +"'When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, nor to +record your works, nor to seek after commendation; when you can truly +love to be unknown,--that is victory.'" + +"Now I see!" exclaimed Evadne. "It means the beautiful patience with +which you bear aggravating things and the gentle courtesy with which you +treat all sorts of troublesome people. Oh, my Princess, I envy you your +altitude!" + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Professor Trenton had come and gone and the glory of the autumn was over +the land. The early supper was ended and Evadne had ensconced herself in +her favorite window to catch the sun's last smile before he fell asleep. +In the room across the hall Mr. Everidge reclined in his luxurious +arm-chair and leisurely turned the pages of the last "North American +Review." It was Saturday evening. + +"Why, Horace, can this be possible?" Mrs. Everidge entered the room +quickly and stood before her husband. Neither of them noticed Evadne. + +"My dear, many things are possible in this terrestrial sphere. What +particular possibility do you refer to?" + +"That you have discharged Reuben?" The sweet voice trembled. Mr. +Everidge's tones kept their usual complacent calm. + +"That possibility, my dear, has taken definite form in fact." + +"But, Horace, the boy is heart-broken." + +"Time is a mighty healer, my love. He will recover his mental equipoise +in due course." + +"But you might have given him a month's warning. Where is the poor boy +to find another place? It is cruel to turn him off like this!" + +"Really, my dear Marthe, I do not feel myself competent to solve all the +problems of the labor question," said Mr. Everidge carelessly. "Reuben +must take his chances in common with the rest of his class." + +"But, Horace, I cannot imagine what your reason for this can be! Where +will you find so good a boy?" + +"I am not aware that Socrates thought it necessary to acquaint the +worthy Xantippe with the reasons for his conduct," remarked Mr. Everidge +suavely. "The feminine mind is too much disposed to jump to hasty +conclusions to prove of any assistance in deciding matters of +importance. The masculine brain, on the contrary, takes time for calm +deliberation and weighs the pros and cons in the scale of a well +balanced judgment before arriving at any definite decision. But my +reason in this case will soon become apparent to you. I do not intend to +keep a boy at all." + +"But who will take care of Atalanta? Are you going to forsake your +cherished books for a curry-comb?" + +"Really, Marthe!" exclaimed her husband in an aggrieved tone, "it is +incomprehensible that you should have such a total disregard for the +delicacy of my constitution,--especially when you know that the very +odor of the stable is abhorrent to my olfactory senses. Atalanta has +quarters provided for her at the Vernon Livery, and one of the grooms +has orders to bring the carriage to the door at two o'clock every +afternoon." + +"But that will make it very awkward, Horace. I so often have to use the +carriage in the morning." + +"'Have,' my dear Marthe, is a word which admits of many +substitutions,--'cannot' in this case will be a suitable one. I find it +is necessary to resume possession of the reins. Atalanta is retrograding +and is rapidly losing that characteristic of speed which made her name a +fitting one. There is a lack of mastery about a woman's handling of the +ribbons which is quickly detected by horses, especially when they are of +more than average intelligence." + +"But, Horace, if Reuben goes, Joanna will go too. You know she promised +her mother she would never leave him." + +"In that event, my dear, you will have an opportunity to become more +intimately acquainted with the mysteries of the culinary art," observed +Mr. Everidge cheerfully. "It will be a splendid chance to evolve that +finest of character combinations, Spartan endurance coupled with +American progressiveness." + +Mrs. Everidge smiled. "But what if I do not have the Spartan strength, +Horace?" + +"That is merely a matter of imagination, my love. It proves the truth of +my theory that necessity develops capacity. A woman of leisure, for want +of suitable mental pabulum, grows to fancy she has every ill that flesh +is heir to, whereas, when she is obliged by compelling circumstances to +put her muscles into practice, her mind acquires a more healthy tone. +Self-contemplation is a most enervating exercise and involves a +tremendous drain on the moral forces." + +"Do you think I waste much time in that way, Horace?" Mrs. Everidge +spoke wistfully, and Evadne, forced to be an unwilling listener to the +conversation, felt her cheeks grow hot with indignation. + +"My dear, I merely refer to the deplorable tendency of your sex. All you +require is moral stamina to tear yourself away from the arms of Morpheus +at an earlier hour in the It is a popular illusion, you know, that work +performed before sunrise takes less time to accomplish and is better +done than later in the day. My mother used to affirm that she +accomplished the work of two days in one when she arose at three a.m., +but then my mother was a most exceptional woman," with which parting +thrust Mr. Everidge retired behind the pages of his magazine. + +Upstairs in her own room Evadne paced the floor with tightly clenched +hands. "Oh!" she cried, "what shall I do? I hate him! I hate him! How +dare he! He ought to be glad to go down on his knees to serve her, she +is so sweet, so dear! Oh, I cannot bear it! That she should be compelled +to endure such servitude, and I can do nothing to help, nothing! +nothing!" She threw herself across the bed and burst into a passion of +tears. Was this the silent girl whom Isabelle had voted tiresome and +slow? + +A little later than usual she heard the low knock which always preceded +the visit which she looked forward to as the sweetest part of the day. +Could it be possible she would come to-night? Was no thought of self +ever permitted to enter that brave, suffering heart? + +She rose and opened the door. The dear face was paler than usual but +there was no shadow upon the smooth brow. Marthe Everidge had crossed +the tempest-tossed ocean of human passion into the sun-kissed calm of +Christ's perfect peace. + +Evadne threw her arms around her neck and laid her storm-swept face upon +her shoulder. "Forgive me!" she cried, "I heard it all. I could not help +it. I think my heart is breaking. Do not be angry, you see I love you +so! How can I bear to have you subjected to this? You are so tender, so +true. There is such a charm about you! You are so beautifully unselfish! +Oh, my dear, my dear, how can you, do you bear it?" + +Mrs. Everidge lifted her face tenderly and kissed the quivering lips. +"It is 'not I but Christ,' dear child. That makes it possible." Then she +drew her over to the lounge and began to undress her as if she had been +a baby. "My dear little sister. You are utterly exhausted. You are not +strong enough to suffer so." + +"Oh, will you let me be your sister and help you bear your burdens?" +cried Evadne, unconscious that all the time the skilful hands were +keeping up their sweet ministry and that her burden was being lifted for +her by the one who had the greater burden to bear. + +When she was comfortably settled for the night Mrs. Everidge drew her +low chair up beside the bed. Evadne caught her hand in hers and kissed +it reverently. "I wish I could make you understand how I honor you!" she +said. + +"You must not do it, dear!" said Aunt Marthe quickly. "Honor the King." + +After a pause she began to speak slowly and her voice was sweet and low. +"When, the first night you came, you asked me if I knew Jesus Christ, I +told you he was my life. That explains it all. It is very sweet of you +to say the kind things that you have about me but they are not true. In +and of herself, Marthe Everidge is nothing. The moment she tries to live +her own life she utterly fails. If there is anything good about her +life, it is only as she lets Christ live it for her." + +"I do not understand," said Evadne with a puzzled look. "How is it +possible for any one else to live our lives for us?" + +"No one can but Jesus," said Aunt Marthe with a smile. "He does the +impossible. Take that exquisite fifteenth chapter of St. John and study +it verse by verse. 'Abide in me, and I in you.' There you have the two +abidings. We are _in_ Christ when we believe in him and are accepted +through the merit of his blood and brought by adoption into the family +of God, but not until he abides in our hearts shall our lives become as +beautiful as God means them to be. Fruitfulness,--that is the cry +everywhere. Men are calling for intellectual fruitfulness and mechanical +fruitfulness, and are bending their energies to find the soil which will +develop at once the best quality and greatest amount of fruit. Take a +tree, to make my meaning clearer. The tree may abide in the soil and be +just alive, but it is not until the essence of the soil enters into and +abides in the tree, that it really grows and bears fruit. Growers of the +finest varieties will show you plums that look as if they had been +frosted with silver, and peaches with cheeks like the first blush of +dawn. The 'fruits of the Spirit,' have a wondrous bloom and an exquisite +fragrance." + +"'Love, joy, peace,'" Evadne repeated slowly, "'long-suffering, +gentleness, goodness, faith.' But those belong to the Spirit, Aunt +Marthe." + +"Yes, dear child, the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit whom he sent to +comfort his people when he took his bodily presence from the earth. The +holy, indwelling presence which is to reveal the Christ to us and +prepare us for the abiding of the Father and the Son. It is the +beautiful mystery of the Trinity." + +"But we cannot have the Trinity abiding in our hearts!" said Evadne in +an awestruck voice. + +"The Bible teaches us so." + +"Not God, Aunt Marthe!" + +"Jesus is God, little one. He said to the Jews, 'I and my Father are +one.' He says plainly, 'If any man love me, he will keep my word and my +Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with +him,' and in another place we are told to be filled with the Spirit. It +is three persons but three in one." + +"I do not understand, Aunt Marthe." + +"No, dear, we never shall, down here. Thomas wanted to do that and +Christ said 'Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.' +The Spirit is continually giving us deeper insight into the love of the +Son, just as the Son came to make known to the world the wonderful love +of the Father." + +"But 'be filled,'" said Evadne. "That looks as if we had something to do +with it." + +"So we have, dear child. Suppose a man owned one hundred acres of land +and gave you the right of way through it from one public road to +another,--that would leave him many acres for his own use on which you +have no right to trespass. I think we treat Jesus so. We are willing +that he should have the right of way through our hearts, but we forget +that every acre must be the King's property. There must be no rights +reserved, no fenced corners. Jesus must be an absolute monarch." + +Mrs. Everidge spoke the last words softly and Evadne, looking at her +uplifted face, shining now with the radiance which always filled it when +she spoke of her Lord, saw again that glowing face which she had watched +across the gate at Hollywood and heard the strange, exultant tones, 'He +is my King!' Ah, that was beautiful! That was what Aunt Marthe meant, +and Pompey and Dyce. + +"Jesus must come to abide, not merely as a transient guest," Aunt Marthe +continued in her low tones. "We must give him full control of our +thought and will. We must hand him the keys of the citadel. We must give +the all for the all,--that is only fair dealing. You see, dear child, +Christ cannot fill us until we are willing to be emptied of self. He +must have undivided possession. There is a vast amount of heartache, +little one, in this old world, and self is at the bottom of it all, when +we stop to analyze it. We want to be first, to be thought much of, to be +loved best. No wonder that the selfless life seems impossible to most +people. Think what a continuous self-sacrifice Christ's life was! So +utterly alone and lonely among such uncongenial surroundings with +people uncouth and totally foreign to his tastes. Ah! we don't realize +it. We look at him doing the splendid things amidst the plaudits of the +multitude, but think of the monotonous, weary days, going up and down +the sun-baked streets surrounded by a crowd of noisy beggars full of all +sorts of loathsome disease, and the humdrum life in Nazareth; and all +the time the great heart aching with that ceaseless sorrow,--'His own +received him not!' Oh, what a waste of love! We do not realize that it +is in these footsteps of his that we are called to follow. We are +willing to do the great things, with the world looking on, but not for +the loneliness and the pain! It seems a strange antithesis that Paul +should count that as his highest glory, and yet how comparatively few +seem counted worthy to enter with Christ into the shadow of that +mysterious Gethsemane which lasted all his life. 'The fellowship of his +sufferings.' It must surely mean the privilege of getting very near his +heart, just as human hearts grow closer in a common sorrow,--knit by +pain. Yes, dear child, self must die: and it is a cruel death,--the +death of the cross. But then comes the newness of life with its strange, +sweet joy which the world's children do not know the taste of. How can +they when it is 'the joy of the Lord,' and they reject him?" + +"You talk of the cross, Aunt Marthe, and other people talk of crosses. +Aunt Kate and Isabelle are always talking about the sacrifices they have +to make, and Mrs. Rivers carries a perfect bundle of crosses on her +back. She is wealthy and has everything she wants, and yet she is always +wailing, while Dyce is as happy as the day is long. Do the poor +Christians always do the singing while the rich ones sigh?" + +Mrs. Everidge smiled. "We make our crosses, dear child, when we put our +wishes at right angles to God's will. When we only care to please him +everything that he chooses for us seems just right. I have heard people +speak as if it were a cross to mention the name of Christ. How could it +be if they loved him? Do you find it a cross to talk to me about your +father? People make a terrible mistake about this. The only cross we are +commanded to carry is the cross of Christ." + +"And what is that, Aunt Marthe?" + +"Self renunciation," said Aunt Marthe softly, "the secret of peace. + +"Among all the pictures of the Madonna," she continued after a pause, +"the one I like best is where Mary is sitting, holding in her hands the +crown of thorns; everything else had been wrenched from her grasp, but +this they had no use for. What a legacy it was! As I look at it I see +how he has gathered all the thorns of life and woven them into that +kingly garland which is his glory. All the wealth of the Indies could +not shed as dazzling a light as that thorny crown. Like the brave +soldier who gathered into his own breast the spears of the enemy, Christ +has taken the sting from our sorrows and made us more than conquerors +over the wounds of earth. Surely he has tasted it all for us,--the +baseness and coldness and ingratitude and treachery which have wrung +human hearts all through the ages,--when Judas betrayed him, Peter +denied him and they all forsook him and fled, do you suppose any other +pain was comparable to that? Only our friends have the power to wound +us, you know, and, 'he was wounded in the house of his friends.' When +people talk of the crucifixion they think of the nail-torn hands and +pierced side,--I think of his heart! Oh, my Lord, how _could_ they treat +thee so!" + +Evadne looked wistfully at the rapt face, irradiated now by the +moonlight which was streaming in through the window. "_How_ you love +him, Aunt Marthe!" + +"He is my all," she answered simply. The girl stroked the hand which +she still held in both her own. She is absolutely satisfied, she thought +sorrowfully, she wants nothing that I can give her. And then through the +stillness she heard the sweet voice singing,-- + + "I love thee because thou hast first loved me, + And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree; + I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow, + If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now." + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +"Dear Aunt Marthe," cried Evadne one afternoon, "what is love?" + +"I will answer you in the words of one who for years has lived the +love-life," said Mrs. Everidge. + +"'One must be himself infinite in knowledge to define it, infinite in +comprehension to fathom it, infinite in love to appreciate it. Love is +God in man, for "God is love," and "every one that loveth is born of +God;" but love is not merely veneration, nor respect, nor justice, nor +passion, nor jealousy, nor sympathy, nor pity, nor self-gratification; +to love something as our own is but a form of self-love; to love +something in order to win it for ourselves is just a perpetration of the +same mistake.' Dr. Karl Gerok wrote,--'Love is the fundamental law of +the world. First, as written in heaven, for God is love; second, as +written on the cross, for Christ is love; third, as written in our +hearts, for Christianity is love,' And Drummond tells us that 'Love--is +the rule for fulfilling all rules, the new commandment for keeping all +the old commandments, Christ's one secret of the Christian life.' And +another writer says,--'You are a personality only as your heart lives, +and the heart lives only as it loves. Love is all action, therefore the +amount of your active love measures the size of your personal heart.'" + +"Love has been defined as 'the desire to bless.' That is like divine +love, for there can be no self thought in God. God's love is over all +and above all, but when our love responds to his, his love becomes to us +a personal experience. Love can reach down when in loving trust we reach +up. Love is like the seed. It manifests no life until it begins to grow. +Like the seed it must rise out of the dark ground into the light of +heaven,--out of self thought into God. God's love to us is like the +sunlight. We can make it our own only by being in it, if we try to shut +up the sunlight, we shut it out. We forget to do wrong when loving God. +As we love God, the love we feel for him goes out to others." + +Evadne sighed. "You make it seem a wonderful thing to be a Christian," +she said. + +"To be a Christian, little one, Andrew Murray tells us, 'just means to +have Christ's love.' Real love means giving always, of our best." + +[Illustration: THE SILENT FIGURE WITH THE AWFUL ENTREATY IN ITS STARING +EYES] + +God so loved that he gave his Son, the essence of himself. Jesus gave +his life, not only in the final agony of the crucifixion, but all +through the beautiful years of ministry in Nazareth and Galilee. There +is a truer giving than of our temporal goods. Our friends, if they +really love us, want most of all what we can give them of ourselves. It +is those who give themselves to the world's need who come nearest to the +divine pattern Christ has set for us to copy, and, if we truly love him, +we shall want not his gifts but himself. + +"People seek after holy living instead of perfect loving, they do not +realize that we can be truly holy only as we love, for 'love is the +great reality of the spiritual world.'" + +Evadne laid her cheek caressingly against Mrs. Everidge's. "If it were +only you, dear, how delightfully easy it would be, but do you suppose it +is possible for me to love Aunt Kate and Isabelle?" + +"Yes, dear child, with the love of God." + +"You can't imagine how I dread the idea of going back!" Evadne said with +a sigh. "This summer has been like a lovely dream. How shall I endure +the cold reality of my waking?" + +"Where is your joy, little one?" + +"Joy, Aunt Marthe!" exclaimed Evadne drearily, "why, I haven't got any +apart from you. Just the mere thought of the separation makes my heart +ache." + +"'The joy of the Lord,'" said Mrs. Everidge softly. "If Jesus Christ is +able to fill heaven don't you think he ought to be able to fill earth +too? The trouble is we turn away from him and pour our wealth of love at +earthly shrines. Mary showed us the better way,--she _broke_ the box, +that every drop of the precious ointment might fall on his dear head. +What is going to be the crowning satisfaction of heaven? Not that we +shall meet our friends, as so many seem to think, but that we shall +awake in _his_ likeness and see _his_ face. We shall be 'together,'--we +have that comfort given us, but it will be 'together with the Lord.' He +is to be the centre of attraction and delight always. What an +unfathomable mystery it must be to the angels that he is not so with us +now!" + +Evadne took a long, yearning look at the dear face, as if she would +imprint it upon her memory forever. "He _is_ with you," she said softly. +"_You_ will never be a puzzle to the angels." + + * * * * * + +The time of her stay in Vernon drew near its close, and on the last day +but one she went to say good-bye to Penelope Riggs. She found her +sitting alone in the house, her mother having taken a fancy to have a +sun bath. Her right hand was doubled up and she was rubbing it slowly up +and down the palm of her left while she sang softly. + +"Why, Penelope, what are you doing?" cried Evadne in amaze. + +"Polishin', child. I learnt it long ago. One day I was that wore out I +wouldn't have cared if the sky had fallen,--things had been goin' +crooked, an' Mother hadn't slept well for a fortnight, an' I was that +narvous an' tuckered out I thought I'd fly to pieces. There's an old +hymn Mother's dredful fond of,--I don't remember how it goes now, but +there's one line she keeps repeatin' over an' over till I feel ready to +jump. It's this,--'What dyin' wurms we be.' So, when she begun her wurm +song that mornin' I just let fly. 'Ef I _am_ a wurm,' sez I, 'I ain't +goin' ter be allers lookin' to see myself squirm!' and with that I up +and out of the house. My head was that tight inside I felt if I didn't +git out that minit somethin' would snap. I went straight up to Mis' +Everidge's. She's one of the people you see who always lives on a hill, +inside an' out. When I got there I couldn't speak. My heart's weak at +the best of times an' the weather in there was pretty stormy. I just +dropped into the first chair an' she put her hands on my two shoulders +an' sez she,--'You poor child!' an' then she went away an' made me a +syllabub." + +"'Look on the bright side,' sez she in her cheery way when I had +finished drinkin'." + +"'Sakes alive, Mis' Everidge,' sez I, 'there isn't any bright side!'" + +"'Then polish up the dark one,' sez she, ez quick ez a flash. I've been +tryin' to do it ever since." + +"You dear Penelope!" exclaimed Evadne, "I think you have!" + +"It's all a wale, child, a wale o' tears," old Mrs. Riggs complained as +she bade her good-bye in the porch, but when she reached the turn in the +road she heard Penelope singing,-- + + "Thy way, not mine, O Lord, + However dark it be! + Lead me by Thine own hand; + Choose out my path for me. + I dare not choose my lot, + I would not if I might; + Choose Thou for me, My God, + So shall I walk aright." + +and Evadne knew that in the brave heart the voice of Christ had made the +storm a calm. + +"You dear Aunt Marthe! How am I ever going to thank you for all you +have been to me; and what shall I do without you?" Evadne spoke the +words wistfully. They were making the most of their last evening. + +"Why, dear child, we can always be together in spirit. 'It is not +distance in miles that separates people but distance in feeling.' +Emerson says,--'A man really lives where his thought is,' so you can be +in Vernon and I in Marlborough,--each of us held close in the hush of +God's love, which 'in its breadth is a girdle that encompasses the globe +and a mantle that enwraps it.'" + +Evadne caught Mrs. Everidge's face between her hands and kissed it +reverently. "I mean to devote my life to making other people happy, as +you do, my saint," she said. + + * * * * * + +"Board!" The conductor's cry of warning smote the air and the train +passengers made a final bustle of preparation for a start. Mrs. Everidge +caught Evadne close in a last embrace. + +"My precious little sister, I shall miss you every day!" Then she was +gone, and Evadne, looking eagerly out of her window, saw the dear face, +from which the tears had been swept away, smiling brightly at her from +the platform. + +"You magnificent Christian!" she cried. "You will give others the +sunshine always!" + + * * * * * + +The train steamed into the station at Marlborough and again Louis came +forward to greet her with a look of admiration on his unusually animated +face. + +"Well done, Evadne! If the atmosphere of Vernon can work such +transformation as this, it ought to be bottled up and sold at twenty +dollars the dozen. You go away looking like a snow-wraith, and you +return a blooming Hebe." + +Evadne laughed merrily. "Thank you. The atmosphere of Vernon has a +wonderful power," but it was not of the material ozone she was thinking +as she spoke. + +"I believe I will try it. My constitution is running down at the rate of +an alarm clock. I must take my choice between a tonic and an early +grave. Will you vouch for like good results in my case?" + +Evadne shook her head. "I do not believe it would have the same effect +upon everyone," she said. + +"Ah, then I shall be compelled to go to Europe." + +Evadne looked at him. "Yes," she said, "I think Europe would suit you +better." + +"That is unfortunate,--for the Judge's purse. How is Aunt Marthe?" + +"She is well," she answered with a sudden stillness in her voice. She +could not trust herself to talk about this friend of hers to careless +questioners. "How is Uncle Lawrence, and all the others?" + +"The Judge is in his usual state of health, I fancy. We rarely meet +except at the table and then you know personal questions are not +considered in good form. The others are well, and Isabelle, having just +returned from the metropolis of Fashion, is more than ever _au fait_ in +the usages of polite society. But none of them have improved like you, +little coz. What has changed you so?" + +And she answered softly, with a new light shining in her lovely +eyes,--"Jesus Christ." + + * * * * * + +"You poor Evadne!" said Marion that evening, "what a dreary summer you +must have had, shut away among those stupid mountains! If you could only +have been with me, now. I never had such a lovely vacation in my life. +There seemed to be some excitement every day;--picnics and boating +parties and tennis matches and five o'clocks----" + +Evadne laughed. "You would better not let Uncle Horace know you are 'a +votary of the deadly five o'clock' or he will empty his vials of +denunciation upon your unlucky head. + +"Oh, Aunt Kate, he sent you a large bundle of fraternal greetings. He +says that, 'viewed through the glamour of memory, you impress him like +an Alpine landscape, when the sun is rising, and he hopes the soft +brilliance of prosperity will ever envelop you in its radiance and serve +to enhance the beauty of your stately calm.'" + +Mrs. Hildreth smiled, well pleased. "Horace is so poetical," she said, +"but all the Everidges are clever. What a shame it seems that a man of +his talent should be forced by ill health to exist in a place where +there is not a single soul capable of appreciating his rare qualities. +Even his wife does not begin to understand him. It seems like casting +pearls before swine." + +Evadne's eyes flashed and her lips pressed themselves tightly together, +but Mrs. Hildreth's gaze was fixed intently upon the lace shawl she was +knitting and Louis just then gave a sudden turn to the conversation. + +She went up to her room with a great homesickness surging at her heart. +Only last night all had been lightsome and happy, now the old darkness +seemed to have settled down about her again. She knelt before her window +and looked at the strip of sky which was all a Marlborough residence +allowed her. "Happy stars!" she murmured, "for you are shining on Aunt +Marthe!" + +Far into the night she knelt there, until a great peace flooded her +soul. She raised her hands towards the sparkling sky. "To make the world +brighter, to make the world better, to lift the world nearer to God. +Blessed Christ, that was thy mission. I will make it mine!" + +The next morning Louis drew her aside. "So, little coz, you did not +coincide with the lady mother's eulogium of our respected collateral +last night?" + +"Why, I said nothing!" cried Evadne in astonishment. + +Louis laughed. "Have you never heard of eyes that speak and faces that +tell tales?" he said. "I will just whisper a word of warning before you +play havoc with your web of destiny. Don't let a suspicion of your +dislike cross the lady mother's mind, for Uncle Horace is her beau-ideal +of a man. I agree with you. I think he is a cad." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +"An invitation to Professor Joliette's," and Isabelle tossed a +gilt-edged card across the table to Marion; "Wednesday evening. It's not +a very long invitation. What dress will you wear?" + +"But you are engaged, Marion," said Evadne; "Wednesday evening, you +know." + +"Yes," said Marion with a sigh, "it is awkward. I do wish they would +choose some other night for prayer meeting. Wednesday seems such a +favorite with everybody." + +"What a little prig you are getting to be, Evadne!" said Isabelle with a +sneer. "Your only diversion seems to be prayer meeting and church. You +are as bad as Aunt Marthe." + +"Aunt Marthe a prig! Oh, that is too funny!" and Evadne gave one of her +low, sweet laughs. "Besides, does keeping one's engagements constitute a +prig, Isabelle? You wouldn't think so if you were invited to the +President's reception." + +"The President's reception! What does get into the child! I don't see +much analogy between the two cases. No one considers prayer meeting a +binding engagement, and I'm sure we go as often as we can." + +"Not binding!" echoed Evadne. "So Christ is not of as much importance as +the President of the United States!" + +"You do have such a way of putting things, Evadne!" said Marion +thoughtfully. "I expect we had better refuse, Isabelle." + +"Refuse,--nonsense!" said Isabelle sharply. "You always meet the best +people at the Joliettes',--besides, why should we run the risk of +offending them?" + +"Why should they run the risk of offending you, by choosing a night they +know you cannot come?" asked Evadne. + +"Ridiculous! What do they care about our church concerns? The Joliettes +are foreigners. People in polite society do not give religion such an +unpleasant prominence as you delight in, Evadne. For my part, I consider +it very bad form." + +"Breakers ahead, Evadne," said Louis with his cynical laugh. "Good form +is Isabelle's fetich. Woe betide the unlucky wight who dares to hold an +opinion of his own." + +"But," said Evadne, the old puzzled look coming into her eyes, "I wish I +could understand. Are Christians ashamed of the religion of Jesus?" + +"That's about the amount of it, little coz. It is a sort of kedge anchor +which they keep on board in case of danger. For my part I think it is +better to sail clear. It is only an uncomfortable addition which spoils +the trim of the ship." + +"Oh, Louis, don't!" exclaimed Marion with a sigh. "It is so hard to know +what is right! Sometimes I wish I were a nun, shut up in a convent, and +then I should have nothing else to do." + +"Doubtless the Lord would appreciate that sort of faithfulness," said +Louis gravely, "although I notice Christianity seems to be a sort of +Sing-Sing arrangement with the majority. Everything is done under a +sense of compulsion, and the air is lurid with trials and lamentations +and woe. It is not an alluring life, and, in my opinion, the jolly old +world shows its sense in steering clear of it." + +"Your irreverence is shocking, Louis," said Isabelle severely, "and you +are as much of an extremist as Evadne. No one could live such a life as +you seem to expect. Religion has its proper place, of course, but I do +not think it is wise to speak of the deep things of life on all +occasions." + +"'I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and +him crucified,'" quoted Evadne. "Was Paul mistaken then?" + +"Certainly, my dear coz," said Louis, as he prepared to leave the room. +"The greatest men are subject to that infirmity. The only one who has +never been mistaken is Isabelle." + + * * * * * + +"It is so provoking that we cannot have the carriage," grumbled +Isabelle, as, when Wednesday evening came, they waited for Louis in the +dining-room. "At the Joliettes' of all places! I am sure I don't see, +Papa, why you cannot insist upon Pompey's taking some other night off +when we need him on Wednesdays. It is horribly awkward!" + +Her father shook his head as he slowly peeled an orange. "Because I have +given him my word, my dear. The only stipulation he made when I engaged +him was that he should not be required to drive on Sundays and Wednesday +evenings, and, when I hear people complaining about their surly, +incapable coachmen, I consider it is a light price to pay. Pompey is as +sober as a church and as pleasant-tempered in a rain storm as a +water-spaniel,--no matter what hour of the night you keep him waiting; +so it is the least we can do to let the poor fellow be sure of one +evening to himself;" and the Judge opened his Times and began to study +the money market. + +"Well," said Isabelle crossly. "I, for one, don't believe in allowing +servants to have such cast-iron rules. It savors too much of socialism." + +"Exactly so," said Louis from the doorway, where he stood leisurely +buttoning his gloves. "You will never pose as the goddess of liberty, +_ma belle soeur_. It is a good thing that Lincoln got the Emancipation +bill signed before you came into power, or dusky millions might still be +weeping tears of blood." + +Isabelle swept past him with an indignant toss of her head, and the +front door closed after the trio with a metallic clang. + +"I don't wonder the poor child is annoyed," said Mrs. Hildreth as she +played with her grapes. "It is very embarrassing when people know that +we keep a carriage; and the Joliettes are such sticklers in the matter +of etiquette. It is a ridiculous fad of yours, Lawrence, to be so +punctilious." + +"But, my dear, I gave him my word of honor!" + +"What if you did? There are exceptions to every rule." + +"Not in the Hildreth code of honor, Kate." + +"Nonsense! What does a colored coachman understand about that! Why, +Evadne, you cannot go to prayer meeting alone!" she exclaimed, as Evadne +came into the room with her hat on. "Your uncle is busy and I am too +tired, so there is no way for you to get home." + +"I am going to Dyce's church, Aunt Kate. Pompey will bring me home." + +"Among a lot of shouting negroes! You must be crazy, child!" + +"Their souls are white, Aunt Kate, and there is no color line on the +Rock of Ages." + +"Oh, well, tastes differ," said her aunt carelessly, "but it is a +strange fancy for Judge Hildreth's niece. Next thing you will suggest +going to board with Pompey." + +"I might fare a good deal worse," said Evadne with her soft laugh. "Dyce +keeps her rooms like waxwork and she is a capital cook." + +"Really, Evadne, I am in despair! You have not an iota of proper pride. +How are you going to maintain your position in society?" + +"I don't believe I care to test the question, Aunt Kate; but I think my +position will maintain itself." + +"Well said, Evadne," said her uncle, looking up from his paper. "You +will never forget you are a Hildreth, eh?" + +"Higher than that, uncle," said Evadne softly. "I am a sister of Jesus +Christ." + +"I don't know what to make of the child," said Mrs. Hildreth +discontentedly, as the door closed behind her. "I believe she would +rather associate with such people than with those of her own class. She +has a bowing acquaintance with the most _outré_ looking individuals I +ever saw. I really don't think Dr. Jerome is wise setting young girls to +visit in the German quarter. It doesn't hurt Marion, now. She only does +it as a disagreeable duty and is immensely relieved when her round of +visits is made for the month, but Evadne takes as much interest in them +as if they were her relations. Next thing we know, she will be wanting +to take up slum work. I hope she won't come to any harm down among those +crazy blacks. They always seem to get possessed the moment they touch +religion." + +"I do not think Evadne will ever come to any harm," the Judge said +slowly. "The Lord takes pretty good care of his own." + +His wife looked at him with a puzzled expression. "I fully intended +going to prayer meeting myself to-night," she said, "but it gets to be a +great tax,--an evening out of every week,--and I do dread the night air +so much." + +Mrs. Judge Hildreth dipped her jeweled fingers into the perfumed water +of her finger glass and dried them on her silk-fringed napkin. "Oh, +Lawrence, don't forget Judge Tracer's dinner to-morrow night. You will +have to come home earlier than usual, for it is such a long drive, and +it will never do to keep his mulligatawny waiting. And, by the way, I +made a new engagement for you to-day. Mrs. General Leighton has invited +us to join the Shakespearean Club which she is getting up. It is to be +very select. Will meet at the different houses, you know, with a choice +little supper at the close. She says the one she belonged to in Atlanta +was a brilliant affair. She comes from one of Georgia's first families, +you remember." + +"A Shakespearean Club!" and Judge Hildreth smiled incredulously. "Why, +my dear, I never knew you and the immortal Will had much affinity for +each other!" + +"Oh, of course it is more for the prestige of the thing. Mrs. Leighton +said the General assured her you would never find leisure for it, but I +said I would promise for you. It is only one evening a week you know. +She thinks we Americans retire far too early from the enjoyments of +life in favor of our children, and I believe she is right. I certainly +do not feel myself in the sere and yellow," and Mrs. Judge Hildreth +regarded herself complacently in the long mirror before which she stood. +"You will manage to make the time, Lawrence?" + +"What other answer but 'yes' can Petruchio make to 'the prettiest Kate +in Christendom'?" replied the Judge, bowing gallantly to the face in the +mirror as he came up and stood beside his wife. It was a handsome face +but there was a hardness about it, and the lines around the mouth which +bespoke an indomitable will, had deepened with the years. + +"Only one evening a week, Kate, but you thought that too much of a tax +just now." + +"How absurd you are, Lawrence! When shall I make you understand that +there are sacrifices that must be made. We owe a duty to society. We +cannot afford to let ourselves drop wholly out of the world." + +A little later Judge Hildreth entered his library with a heavy sigh. He +had attained the ends he had striven for, he was respected alike in the +church and the world, he held a high and lucrative position, he had a +well appointed home, over which his handsome wife presided with dignity +and grace, and yet, as he took his seat before his desk in the lofty +room whose shelves were lined with gems of thought in fragrant, costly +bindings, life seemed to have missed its sweetness to Lawrence Hildreth. + +Evadne's words haunted him, and, like an accusing angel, the letter +which still lay hidden under the mass of papers in the drawer which he +never opened, seemed to look at him reproachfully. + +"A sister of Jesus Christ." Sisters and brothers lived together. Was it +possible that Jesus Christ could be in this house,--this very room? The +idea was appalling. He was familiar with the truism that God was +everywhere, but he had never really believed it; and, as the years +passed, he had found it convenient to remove him to a shadowy distance +in space, less likely to interfere with modern business methods. Jesus +Christ, enshrined in a far off glory among his angels, appealed to the +decorum of his religious sentiment; but Jesus Christ, face to face, to +be reckoned with in the practical details of honesty and fair dealing; +that was a different matter. And this was the violation of a dead man's +trust, who had put everything in his power because he had faith in him! + +He saw again the young brother, handsome, easy-going to a fault, but +with a sense of honor so fine as to shrink in indignation from the +slightest breath of shame; read again the closing words of the farewell +letter which he had read for the first time on the day now so long ago, +which he would have given worlds to recall, and which, from out the +shadowy recesses of eternity, laughed at his futile wish. + +"So, my dear brother," the letter ran, "I am giving you this +responsibility as only a brother can. I have left Evadne absolutely +untrammelled. I have no fear that my little girl will abuse the trust. +She is wise beyond her years, with a sense of honor as keen as your +own." + +The Judge's head sank upon his hands. It was for Evadne's good he had +persuaded himself. She was too much of a child,--and now,--the letter +could not be delivered. It meant disgrace and shame. It was his duty as +a father to shield his family from that. How well he could picture +Evadne's look of bewildered, incredulous surprise, and then the pain, +tinged with scorn, which would creep into the clear eyes. And Jesus +Christ! The Judge's head sank lower as he heard the voice which has rung +down through the ages in scathing denunciation of all subterfuge and +lies. + +"Woe unto you ... hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, +and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice and +mercy and faith." + +"Woe unto you ... hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and +of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess." + +"Woe unto you ... hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres +which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's +bones." + +Lower and lower sank the Judge's head, until at last it rested upon the +desk with a groan. + + * * * * * + +They were singing when Evadne reached the humble church which Dyce and +Pompey called their spiritual home. The walls were white-washed and the +seats were hard, for the "Disciples of Jesus" possessed but little of +this world's goods. Two prayers followed, full of rich imagery and +fervid passion, and then a young girl with a deep contralto voice began +to sing,-- + + "Steal away, steal away, + Steal away to Jesus! + Steal away, steal away home, + We ain't got long to stay here." + +The soft, deep notes of the weird melody ended in a burst of triumph, +and Evadne bent her head while her tired heart thrilled with joy. When +she looked up again Dyce was speaking. + +"I've ben thinkin', friens," she said, "that we don't get the sweetness +of them words inter our hearts ez we should. We'se too much taken up wid +de thought of de heavenly manshuns to 'member dat de King's chillen hez +an inheritance on de earth. We'se not poor, lonesome people widout a +home! De dear Christ promised, 'I will not leave youse orphans, I will +come to youse,' an' he who hez de Lord Jesus alongside, hez de best of +company. 'Pears like we don't let our Father's message go any deeper dan +de top of our heads. Ef we believes we'se preshus in his sight,--an' de +Bible sez we is,--we'll hev no occashun fer gettin discouraged, fer de +dear Lord's boun ter do de best fer his loved ones. Ef we'se keepin' +company wid Jesus we'se no call ter want de worl's invitashuns, an ef +we'se hidden away in Christ's heart dere's no need fer us ter be +frettin' about de little worriments of earth. Satan don't hev no chance +where Jesus is. Ef we'se tempted, friens, an' fall inter sin, it's +'cause we'se not livin' close ter de Saviour. + +"I knows we allers tinks of a home as a place where dere is good times, +an' dere don't seem much good times goin' for some of us in dis worl', +but dere ain't no call fer us ter spec' ter be better off dan our Lord, +an ef we'se feedin' on de Lord Jesus all de time we won't min' ef de +worl's bread is scarce; de soul ain't dependin' on dem tings fer +nourishmen' an' de Lord Jesus makes de hard bed easy an' de coarse food +taste good. + +"'Tain't good management fer us ter be allers groanin' in dis worl' +while we 'spect ter be singin' de glory song up yonder. De best singers +is dem dat's longes' trainin' an' I'se feared some of us'll find it +drefful hard ter git up ter de proper concert pitch in heaven ef we +sings nuthin but lamentashuns on earth. De dear Lord don't seem ter hev +made any sort of pervishun for fault findin'. He 'low dere'll be +trubble, but he tells us ter be of good cheer on account of hevin' him +ter git de victry fer us, an' ef we keep singin' all de time, dere ain't +no time fer sighs. Let us keep a-whisperin' to our Father, my friens. +It's a beautiful worl' he's put us in, an' dere ain't no combine ter +keep us back from enjoyin' de best tings in it. De sky belong ter us ez +much as to de rich folks, an' de grass an' de trees an' de birds an' de +flowers; de rollin rivers an' de mighty ocean belongs ter us. De only +priviluge de rich folks hez is dat dey kin sail on deir billows while +we hez ter stan' alongside,--but dey's powerfu' unhappy sometimes when +dey hez so much ter look after, an' we kin enjoy lookin' at deir fine +houses widout hevin' any of de care. + +"We'se not payin' much complimen' ter Jesus, friens, when we 'low dat de +good tings of dis worl' kin make people happier dan he kin, an' 'pears +like we ought ter be 'shamed of ourselves. De Bible sez we'se ter 'live +an' move an' hev our bein' in God,' an' it don't 'pear becomin' when we +hev such a home pervided fer us, ter be allers grumblin' 'cause we can't +live in de brown stone fronts an' keep a kerridge. We don't begin ter +understan' how ter live up ter our privilegus, friens, an' I'se bowed in +shame as I tink how de dear Lord's heart must ache as he sees how little +we'se appresheatin' his lovin' kindness." + +The tender, pleading voice ceased and then Dyce lifted her clasped +hands,--"Oh, Lord Jesus, help us ter glorify thee before de worl'. Help +us ter understan' an 'preciate de wonderful honor thou hez put upon us. +Make us used ter dwellin' wid thee on de earth, so as we won't feel like +strangers in heaven. Oh, blessed Jesus, by de remembrance of de thorn +marks an' de nail prints an' de woun' in thy side forgive thy +ungrateful chillen. We'se ben a' lookin' roun on de perishin' tings of +earth fer our comfort, an' a' seekin' our homes in this worl'. Lord, +help us ter find our real home in thee! Help us ter steal away ter +Jesus, when de storm cloud hangs low and de billows roar about our +heads. Dere's no shadows in de home thou makes, fer 'de light of de +worl' is Jesus,' an' ebery room is full of de sunshine of thy love. +Dere's no harm kin cum to us ef we'se inside de fold, fer thou art de +door, Lord Jesus; dere's no danger kin touch us ef we'se hidden in de +cleft of de rock. Lord, make us abide in de secret place of de Almighty +an' hoi' us close forever under de shadow of thy wing." + +Then the congregation dispersed to the humble homes, glorified now by +the possibility of being made the dwelling-place of the King of kings. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +It was intensely warm in the Marlborough Steel Works. Outdoors the sun +beat fiercely upon the heads of toiling men and horses while the heat +waves danced with a dazzling shimmer along the brick pavements. Indoors +there was the steady thud of the engine, and the great hammers clanked +and the belts swept through the air with a deafening whirr, while the +workmen drew blackened hands across their grimy foreheads and John +Randolph gave a sigh of longing for the cool forest chambers of +Hollywood, as he leaned over to exchange a cheery word with Richard +Trueman, beside whom he had been working for over a year and for whom he +had come to entertain a strong feeling of affection. + +Varied experiences had come to him since he had said good-by to his kind +Quaker friends and started on his search for work. Monotonous days of +wood piling in a lumber yard, long weeks of isolation among the giant +trees of the forest, where no sound was to be heard except the whistle +of the axes, as they cleaved the air, and the coarse jokes of the +workmen,--then had come days when even odd jobs had been hailed with +delight, and he had sat at the feet of the grim schoolmistress Necessity +and learned how little man really needs to have to live. And then the +Steel Works had opened again and he had forged his way up through the +different departments to the responsible position he now held. His +promotion had been rapid. The foreman had been quick to note the keen, +intelligent interest and deft-handedness of this strangely alert new +employé. He finished his work in the very best way that it was possible +to do it, even though it took a little longer in the doing. Such workmen +were not common at the Marlborough Steel Works. He put his heart into +whatever he did. That was John Randolph's way. There was something about +the work which pleased him. It gave him a feeling of triumph to watch +the evolution of the crude chaos into the finished perfection, and see +how through baptism of fire and flood the diverse particles emerged at +length a beautifully tempered whole. He read as in an allegory the +discipline which a soul needs to fit it for the kingdom, and so +throughout the meshes of his daily toil John Randolph wove his parable. + +When evening came he would stride cheerily along the dingy street to +the house where he and his fellow-workman lodged, refresh himself with a +hot bath, don what he called his dress suit, and after their simple meal +and a frolic with little Dick, the motherless boy who was the joy of +Richard Trueman's heart, he would settle down for a long evening of +study among his cherished books. John Randolph never lost sight of the +fact that he was to be a physician by and by. + + * * * * * + +Somewhere in one of the great centers of the world's industry a workman +had blundered. His conscience urged him to confess his mistake, while +Satan whispered with a sneer,--"Yes, and get turned adrift for your +pains, with a rating into the bargain!" + +"Never mind if you do lose a week's wages," conscience had pleaded, +"your hands will be clean," and the workman shrugged his shoulders with +a muttered, "Pshaw! What do I care for that, so long as I don't git +found out. I'll fix it so as no one kin tell it was me." + +The work was passed upon by the foreman and the Company's certificate +attached. The man chuckled, "Hooray! Now that it's out from under old +Daggett's eyes nobody'll ever be able to lay the blame on me!" and he +had gone home whistling. He forgot God! + + * * * * * + +The long, stifling day was drawing near its close. Half an hour more and +the workmen would be free to rest. Only half an hour! Suddenly there was +a sharp clicking sound, then a cry, and in an instant all was bustle and +confusion at the Marlborough Steel Works. The great hammers hung +suspended in mid-air, the whirling wheels were still, while the workmen, +with faces showing pale beneath the grime, gathered hastily around a +fallen comrade. Summoned by telephone the Company's surgeon was driving +rapidly towards the Works, but his services would not be required. + +An accident. No one knew just how it happened. There must have been a +flaw, a defect in some part of the machinery. These things do happen. +Somewhere there had been carelessness, dishonesty, and the price of it +was--a life! + +The dying man opened his eyes suddenly and looked full at John Randolph, +who knelt beside him supporting his head on his arm. + +"Little Dick," he murmured. + +"All right, Trueman, I will take care of him." + +"God bless you, John!" and with the fervid benediction, the breath +ceased and the spirit flew away. + +The body was prepared for the inquest, and through the gathering dusk +John, strangely white and silent, entered the house he called home, +gathered the fatherless boy into his arms and let him sob out his grief +upon his shoulder. + + * * * * * + +Some days after the funeral the Manager sent for John to come to his +private office. He was a pleasant man and had taken a kindly interest in +the capable young workman from the start. + +"Well, Randolph, this is a terrible business of poor Trueman," he said, +as he pointed him to a chair. "Terrible! I can't get over it. A fine man +and one of our best finishers too. Well, we can't do anything for him +now, poor fellow, but he left a boy I think?" + +"Yes, sir," said John simply; "I have taken him to live with me." + +"Shake hands, Randolph! We _talk_ about what ought to be done and you +_do_ it. Is that your usual mode of procedure?" + +John laughed. "There was nothing else to do," he said. + +"H'm. Most fellows in your position would have thought it was the last +thing possible. Have you any idea what it means to saddle yourself with +a child like this? Whatever put such an idea into your head?" + +"Jesus Christ," answered John quietly. + +"Well, well, you're a queer fellow, Randolph. But how are you going to +make the wages spin out? A boy is 'a growing giant of wants whom the +coat of Have is never large enough to cover.'" + +"His father managed, so can I." John's voice shook a little. + +"His father! But he _was_ his father, you see. That makes a mighty +difference. Well, Randolph, I give you up. You are beyond me." + +John rose. "Was that all you wished to say to me, Mr. Branford?" + +"Sit down, man! What the mischief are you in such a hurry for? It stands +to reason the Company can't let you bear the brunt of this most +deplorable occurrence, though I don't believe we could have found a +better guardian for the poor little lad. But guardians expect to be paid +for their trouble. What price do you set, Randolph?" + +"I don't want any pay for obeying my Master, Mr. Branford." + +"Your Master, Randolph?" said the Manager with a puzzled stare. + +"Yes, sir, Jesus Christ." + +"Upon my word, Randolph, you're a queer fellow! Well, if you don't want +pay, I want some one with a head on his shoulders in this office. Any of +the fellows in the outside office would be glad of the chance to get in +here, but I want a man who understands what he is doing as well as I do +myself. You have practical knowledge, Randolph, you're the man I want. I +shall expect you to start in here tomorrow morning. The salary will be +double your present wages. And, since you have constituted yourself +guardian of the boy, I may as well tell you that the Company has decided +to set aside a yearly sum for his maintenance and education. + +"Now you can go, if you are in such a tremendous hurry, Randolph: only +don't try any more of such toploftiness with me. It won't go down, you +see;" and the Manager chuckled softly, as John, with broken thanks, left +the room. "I rather think I got the better of him that time!" he said to +himself. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Judge Hildreth sat in his private office, immersed in anxious thought. +Every day brought new difficulties to be wrestled with in connection +with the multitudinous schemes which were making an old man of him while +he was still in his prime. His hair was grey, his hands trembled, his +eyes were bloodshot, and his face had the unhealthy pallor which +accompanies intense nervous pressure and excitement. + +He knew that it was so, and the knowledge did not tend to sweeten his +disposition. He told himself again and again that he could not help +it,--it was the force of circumstances and the curse of competition. +Like the fly in the spider's parlor, he found himself inextricably +enveloped in the silken maze of deceit which he had entered so blithely +years ago. He had ceased to question bitterly whether the game was worth +the candle. He told himself the Fates had decreed it, and the game had +to be played out to the end, The principal thing now was to keep the +pieces moving and prevent a checkmate, for that would mean ruin! + +One of the office boys knocked at the door and presented a card, for +into this _sanctum sanctorum_ no one was permitted to enter unannounced. +The card bore the name of the nominal president of the Consolidated +Provident Savings Company, which was one of the numerous schemes that +Judge Hildreth had on hand. It was not always wise to have his name +appear. He believed in sleeping partnerships. As he explained it to +himself, that gave one a free hand. + +The Consolidated Provident Savings Company was a popular institution in +Marlborough. There were conservative financiers who shook their heads +and feared that its methods were not based on sound business principles +and savored too much of wild-cat schemes and fraudulent speculations, +but they were voted cranks by the majority, and the Consolidated +Provident Savings Company grew and flourished. It paid large dividends, +and its stockholders were duly impressed with the magnificence of its +buildings and the grandiose tone of its officials. + +Judge Hildreth frowned heavily as he read the name, and was about to +deny himself to the visitor, but on second thought he curtly ordered +the boy to show him in. + +The man who obeyed the invitation bowed deferentially to his chief and +then took a chair in front of him, with the table between. He was +elaborately dressed, and the shiny silk hat which he deposited on the +table looked aggressively prosperous. His manner betokened a man +suddenly inflated with a sense of his own importance. His hair was +sandy, and the thin moustache and beard failed to cover the pitifully +weak lines of his mouth and chin. + +"Good-morning, Peters." The Judge nodded carelessly as he spoke, but he +moved uneasily in his chair. Of late the sight of this man fretted him. +It seemed as if he always saw him accompanied by a ghostly form. He +tried to shake off the impression, and told himself angrily that he was +falling into his dotage; but his memory would not yield. He saw again +the pleading, trustful face of the man's mother as, years ago, she had +besought him to do what he could for her son. + +"Just make a man of him, like yourself, Judge Hildreth," she had +pleaded. "I will be more than satisfied then. I want my boy to be +respected and to have a place in the world. Folks needn't know how hard +his mother had to work." + +The Judge smiled grimly as he thought of her phrasing,--"a man like +yourself." She did not know how near to it he had come! + +The boy had a surface smartness, and he had proved himself an apt +scholar. The Judge had found him a willing tool in many of his deep laid +schemes to get money for less than money's worth. But within the last +few months there had been a change. A spark of manhood had asserted +itself, and in the presence of his minion the Judge found himself upon +the rack. + +He was the first to speak. "I hope there is nothing out of the usual?" +he said. "I intended coming over to the office before the meeting of +directors took place." + +"It is the same old trouble about bonds, Judge Hildreth. There are not +enough of them to go round." + +The Judge rubbed his hands in simulated pleasure. "Well, that shows good +management, Peters, if the public are hungry for our stock." + +"The public are fools!" said the young man, hotly. + +"Not at all, Peters. A discriminating public, you know, always chooses +the best depositaries." He chuckled softly. He had turned his eyes +towards the window so as not to see the ghostly figure behind the young +man's chair which had such a world of reproach in its face. "There is +only one thing to do, Peters. We must water it a little, eh?" + +"It seems to me we've been using the watering-pot rather too +frequently." + +The Judge started. Had he detected a menace in the tone? + +He temporized. His plans were not sufficiently matured yet. When they +were he would crush this tool of his as surely and as carelessly as he +would have crushed a fly. + +"Nonsense, Peters!" he said pleasantly; "that is only a little clever +financing to tide us over the hard places. Of course we will make it all +good to the public--by and bye." + +"How?" The question rang out through the office like a pistol shot. + +The Judge looked at the man before him in amaze. For once his face +showed determination and an honest purpose. + +"Will you tell me how we're going to do it?" he persisted with a strange +vehemence. "I've been a fool, Judge Hildreth, a blamed, gigantic fool! +I've let you hood wink me and lead me by the nose for years. I've done +your dirty work for you and borne the credit of it, too; but I swear +I'll not do it any longer. I thought at first--fool that I was--that +everything you did was just the right thing to copy. My poor old mother +told me you were the pattern I was to follow if I wanted to be an +honorable man. An honorable man! Good heavens! + +"Do you know where I've been these last months? I've been in hell, sir; +in hell, I tell you! Every night I've dreamed of my mother and every day +I've bamboozled the public and sold bonds that weren't worth the paper +they were written on, and paid big dividends that were just some of +their own money returned. And now you tell me to keep on watering the +stock when you know we haven't a dollar put towards the 'Rest' and the +money is just pouring out for expenses and directors' fees. There's +barely enough left over to keep up the sham of dividends. You know it as +well as I do. I've been an ass and an idiot, but I'm done with living a +lie. Judge Hildreth, I came to tell you that if you don't do the square +thing by these people who have trusted us, I'll expose you!" + +His vehemence was tremendous and the words poured out in a torrent which +never checked its flow. He had risen and in his excitement paced up and +down the room. Now, overcome by his effort, he sank exhausted into a +chair. + +Judge Hildreth rose suddenly and locked the office door. When he turned +again his face was not a pleasant sight to see. + +"President Peters," he said sternly, "this is not the age of heroics nor +the place for them. In future I beg you to remember our relative +positions. You seem to forget that I am the direct cause of your present +prosperity, but that is an omission which men of your stamp are liable +to make. I never expect gratitude from those whom I have befriended. + +"But when you come to threats, that is another matter. You say you will +expose me. To whom, if you please? _You_ are the President of the +Consolidated Company. Your name is associated with its business. Mine +does not appear in any way, shape or form. You sign all papers, and it +is you whom the public hold accountable for all moneys deposited in the +institution. Any attempt which you might make to connect me with the +enterprise would be futile, utterly futile. The public would not believe +you, and you could not prove it in any court of law." + +The man, worn and spent with his emotion, lifted his head and looked at +the Judge with dazed, lack-luster eyes. + +"Not connected with the enterprise," he repeated, "why, the whole +thought of the thing came from you! and you have drawn thousands of +dollars----" + +"I have simply given advice," interrupted the Judge haughtily. + +"Advice!" echoed the man, "and doesn't advice count in law?" + +"If you can prove it;" said the Judge with a cold smile. "Do you ever +remember having any of my opinions in writing, President Peters? The law +takes cognizance only of black and white, you know." + +The victim writhed in his chair, as the trap in which he was caught +revealed itself. Heavily his eyes searched Judge Hildreth's face for +some sign of pity or relenting, but in vain. + +"And if there should come a run on the funds?" he questioned dully. + +"If there should come a run on the funds," answered the Judge, "_you_ +would be underneath." + +The man's head fell forward upon the table, and the Judge, with a cruel +smile, left the room. + + * * * * * + +Two office boys lingered in the handsome offices of the Consolidated +Provident Savings Company after business hours were over. + +"I tell you what it is, Bob," said the eldest one, "I'm going to quit +this concern. It's my opinion it's a rotten corporation; and I don't +propose to ruin my standing with the commercial world." + +"Gee!" exclaimed the younger boy in delight. "You're a buster, Joe, and +no mistake. The president himself couldn't have rolled that sentence off +better, or that old piece of pomposity who conies to the secret meetings +with the gold-headed cane." + +"That's Judge Hildreth. He's another deep one or I lose my guess." + +"Why, he's a No. I deacon in one of the uptown's swellest churches!" + +"Guess he's a child of darkness in between times then, for I'll bet he +does lots of underground work. I don't believe in this awfully private +business. The other day, after old man Hildreth came, before the +directors had their meeting, (he always does come just before that, to +prime Peters, you know,) what did he do but make Peters send for me to +shut the transoms over his office doors, so that none of us fellows +outside could hear what they were saying! + +"I tell you I don't like the looks of things. This morning one of those +heavy stockholders came in and wanted to take out all his money, and the +president went white as a sheet. There's a flaw in the ready money +account somewhere, I'll bet, and I'm going to leave before the bottom +drops out of the concern. If you take my advice you'll follow." + +The other boy laughed. "Bet your life I won't, then. Where'd you get +such good pay, I'd like to know? I've had enough of grubbing along on +$4.00 a week. No, sirree, I'll keep in tow with the deacon and get my +share of all the stuff that's going, same as the other fellows do." + +"You won't do it long then, you mark my words. Did you see the president +when he came into the office this morning? He looked as if he'd been +gagged. I went into his office for something in a hurry afterwards and +he was head over ears in Railway Time Tables. He jumped as if he'd been +caught poaching. It's my belief he means to skip across the border. It's +the only way for him to get out of the mess, unless he takes a dose of +lead, you see. + +"Well, here goes. I'm going to write my resignation with the president's +best gold pen. You can do as you like, but it's slow and honest for me." + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +Miss Diana Chillingworth was sitting in the old-fashioned porch of her +old-fashioned house which opened into an old-fashioned garden in one of +the suburbs of Marlborough, shelling peas. Everything about Miss Diana +was old-fashioned and sweet. Her hair was dressed as she had been +accustomed to wear it in her girlhood, and even the head mantua-maker of +Marlborough, ardent worshiper at Fashion's shrine though she was, was +forced to bow before her gentle individuality and confess that Miss +Diana's taste was perfect. + +She wore a morning dress of soft pearl grey, over which she had tied an +apron of white lawn with a dainty ruffle of embroidery below its hem. +The peas danced merrily against the sides of an old-fashioned china +bowl. Miss Diana had an aesthetic repugnance to the use of tin utensils +in the preparation of food. + +Outside there were sweet lilies of the valley and violets and pansies, +and the roses wafted long breaths of fragrance to her through the +trellis work of the porch, while the morning glories hung their heads +and blushed under the ardent kisses of the sun. + +In the kitchen Unavella Cynthesia Crockett, her faithful and devoted +"assistant" (Miss Crockett objected to the term servant upon democratic +principles), moved cheerily, with a giant masterfulness which bespoke a +successful initiation into the mysteries of the culinary art. All at +once she shut the oven door, where three toothsome loaves were browning, +and listened intently. Then she went out to interview Thomas, the +butcher's boy, who came three times a week with supplies. + +"The sweet-breads hez cum, Miss Di-an," she said, appearing in the porch +before her mistress. + +"Well, Unavella," said Miss Diana, with a pleasant smile, "you expected +them, did you not? We ordered them, you know. They are very nutritious, +I think." + +"Hum! There's some news cum along with 'em that ain't likely to prove ez +nourishin'. Tummas sez the Provident Savings Company hez busted an' the +president's vamoosed." + +"Dear me! I wish Thomas would not use such very forceful language," said +Miss Diana. "Do you think he finds it necessary? Being a butcher, you +know? I hardly understand the words. Do you think you would find them +defined in Webster?" + +Unavella's eyes twinkled through her gloom. "I guess Tummas ain't got +much use for dictionners," she said. "He uses words that cums nearest to +his feelin's. He's lost two hundred dollars, Tummas hez." + +"Dear me! How very grieved I am. But a dictionary, Unavella, is the +basis of all education. Thomas ought to appreciate that. 'Busted,'" she +repeated the word slowly, with an instinctive shrinking from its sound, +"that is a vulgar corruption of the verb to burst; but 'vamoosed,' I do +not think I ever heard the term before." + +"Tummas says it means to show the under side of your shoe leather." + +"The under side of your shoe leather, Unavella?" Miss Diana lifted her +pretty shoe and held it up for inspection. "Do you see anything wrong +with that?" + +The faithful soul threw her apron over her head with a sob. "Oh, Miss +Di-an!" she wailed, "it means the company's all a set of cheats, an' the +biggest rogue of the lot hez lit out--run away--an' taken the money the +Gin'rel left you along with him." + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +Miss Diana received the news in absolute silence. The brave daughter of +a brave father, she would make no moan, but the sweetness seemed to have +suddenly gone from the flowers and the light out of the sky. + +Unavella looked at her in amazement. She was used to the stormy grief +which finds vent in tears and groans. "It beats me how different folks +takes things!" she ejaculated mentally. "Well, she'll need suthin' to +keep her strength up all the more now she ain't got nuthin' to support +her;" and, gathering peas and pods into her apron with a mighty sweep of +her arm, she marched into her kitchen in a fever of sympathetic +indignation and evolved a dinner which was a masterpiece of culinary +skill. + +Miss Diana forced herself to eat something. She knew if she did not, +Unavella would be worried, and she possessed that peculiar regard for +the feelings of others which would not allow her to consider her own. + +"You are a wonderful cook, Unavella," she said, with a pathetic +cheerfulness which did not deceive her faithful handmaiden, who, as she +confided afterwards to a friend, wuz weepin' bitter gall tears in her +mind, though she kep' a calm front outside, for she wuzn't goin' ter be +outdid in pluck by that little bit of sweetness. "I shall be able to +give you a beautiful character." + +She lifted her hand with a deprecating gesture as Unavella was about to +burst forth with a stormy denial. + +"Not yet, please, Unavella; not just yet. Let me have time to think a +little before you say anything. I feel rather shaken. The news was so +very unexpected, you see," she said with a shadowy smile, which Unavella +averred "cut her heart clean in two." "But everything is just right, +Unavella, that happens to the Lord's children, you know. Things look a +little misty now, but I shall see the sunlight again by and bye. In the +meantime there is this delicious dinner. Someone ought to be reaping the +benefit of it. Suppose you take it to poor Mrs. Dixon? She enjoys +anything tasty so much and she cannot afford to buy dainties for +herself." Miss Diana would never learn the economy which is content to +be comfortable while a neighbor is in need. "And, Unavella, if you +please, you might say I am not receiving callers this afternoon. I am +afraid it is not very hospitable, but I feel as if I must be alone. This +has been rather a sudden shock to me." + +"You, you--angul!" exclaimed Unavella, as soon as she had regained the +privacy of her kitchen, while a briny crystal of genuine affection +rolled down her cheek and splashed unceremoniously into the gravy. + +Up-stairs in her pretty chamber Miss Diana sat and thought. Ruin and +starvation. Was that what it meant? She had seen the words in print +often but they seemed different now. Ruin meant a giving up and going +out, while the auctioneer's hammer smote upon one's heart with cruel +blows, and one could not see to say farewell because one's eyes were +full of tears. It would not be starvation--of the body. She must be +thankful for that. The house and grounds were in a good locality and she +had refused several handsome offers for them during the past year. + +She caught her breath a little as she thought of the wide stretching +field where her dainty Jersey was feeding, with its cluster of trees in +one corner, under which a brook babbled joyously as it danced on its way +to the river; the pretty barn with its pigeon-house where her +snow-white fantails craned their imperious heads; the wide porch with +its flower drapery, where she sat and read or worked with her pet +spaniel at her feet, and where her friends loved to gather through the +summer afternoons and chat over the early supper before they went back +to the city's grime and stir. + +Then in thought she entered the house. The room which had been her +father's and the library which held his books. Could she sell those! She +shivered, as in imagination she heard the careless inventory of the +auctioneer. She had never attended an auction except once, and then she +had hurried away, for it seemed to her the pictured faces were misty +with tears and she fancied the draperies sighed, as they waved in the +wind which swept through the gaping windows. There were the engravings +which she loved and the pictures her father had brought with him from +Europe, and the rare old china and her mother's silver service, and her +store of delicate napery and household linen; while every table and +chair had a story and the very walls of each room were dear. Had she +been making idols of these things in her heart? + +Miss Diana knelt beside the couch, comfortable as only old-fashioned +couches know how to be. "Dear Christ," she cried, "I am thy follower +and I have gone shod with velvet while thy feet were travel-stained, and +I have slept upon eider-down while thou hadst not where to lay thine +head!" + +She knelt on, motionless, until the twilight fell and the stars began to +peep out in the sky. Then she went down-stairs and there was a strange, +exalted look upon her sweet face. + +"Unavella," she cried softly, "I have found the sunlight, for I can say +'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the +LORD.'" + +"Oh, Miss Di-an!" wailed Unavella, "I b'lieve you're goin' ter die an' +be an angul afore the moon changes!" + + * * * * * + +Miss Diana had been to see her lawyer and he had confirmed her decision. +Her income was gone. With the exception of a couple of hundred dollars, +coming to her from a different source, she was penniless. There was +nothing left her but to sell. + +When she reached home that night she looked very white and weary, but +her smile was all the sweeter because of the unshed tears. Unavella had +spread her supper in the porch. She ate but little, however. "I am sorry +I cannot do more justice to your skill, Unavella," she said with her +gentle courtesy, "but I do not seem to feel hungry lately." + +"It's that li-yar!" muttered Unavella grimly, as she cleared the things +away. "I never knowed a li-yar yit that didn't scare all the appetite +away from a body." + +When her work was finished she came back to the porch where Miss Diana +was sitting very still in the moonlight. "Miss Di-an!" she exclaimed +impetuously, "don't you go fer to be thinkin' of sellin'! I've got a +plan that beats the li-yar's all holler, ef he duz wear a wig." + +"Sit down, Unavella," said her mistress kindly, "and tell me what it +is." + +"Well, I haven't said nuthin' to you before, 'cause I knowed it would +only hurt you ef I wuz to let my feelin's loose about them thievin' +rapscallions that dared to lay their cheatin' hands on the money the +Gin'rel left ye; but I've been a thinkin'--stiddy--an' while you wuz +comin' to your decision above I wuz comin' to mine below, an' now we'll +toss 'em up fer luck, an' see which wins, ef you air willin'." + +Miss Diana smiled. "Well, Unavella." she said. + +"You decide ter leave yer hum, with all there is to it, an' me inter the +bargain, an' go ter board with folks what don't know yer likins nor +understan' yer feelin's, an' the end on it'll be that you'll jest wilt +away wuss than a mornin' glory. I never did think folks sarved the Lord +by dyin' afore their time comes. + +"I decide to hev you keep yer hum, an' the things in it, an' me too. The +hull on it is, Miss Di-an, _I won't be left_!" and Unavella buried her +face in her hands and sobbed aloud. + +"You dear Unavella!" Miss Diana laid her soft hand upon the +toil-roughened ones. "If you only knew how I dread the thought of +leaving you! But what else is there for me to do?" + +"Gentlemen boarders," was the terse reply. + +"Gentlemen boarders!" echoed Miss Diana in bewilderment. + +"Yes. You catch 'em, an' I'll cook'em. We'll begin with two ter see how +they eat, an ef we find it don't cost too much ter fatten 'em up, we'll +go inter the bizness reglar;" after making which cannibalistic +proposition Unavella looked to her mistress for approval. + +"Why, Unavella," said Miss Diana, after the first shock of surprise was +over, "I never even dreamed of such a thing! It might be possible, if +you are willing to undertake it, it is very good of you. But we will not +make any plans, Unavella, until I talk it over with the Lord. If his +smile rests upon it, your kindly thought for me will succeed; if not, it +would be sure to fail. I must have his approval first of all." + +She rose as she spoke and bade her a gentle good-night, and Unavella +walked slowly back to her kitchen again. "Ef the angul Gabriel," she +soliloquized, "starts in ter searchin' the earth this night fer the +Lord's chosen ones, there ain't no fear but what he'll cum ter this +house, the fust thing." + +Up-stairs Miss Diana was whispering softly, as she looked up at the +stars with a trustful smile. "Oh, my Father, if it is thy will that I +should do this thing, thou wilt send me the right ones." + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +John Randolph did some hard thinking during the weeks which followed +Richard Trueman's death. It was no light task which he had so cheerfully +imposed upon himself. The boy was constitutionally delicate and fretted +so constantly after his father that his health began to suffer, and it +grew to be a very pale face which welcomed John with a smile when he +returned from the office. The style of living was bad for him. He was +alone all day, except for an occasional visit from the good-natured +German woman who kept their rooms, and, although he was a voracious +reader, the doctor had forbidden all thought of study for a year, even +had there been a school near enough for him to attend, where John would +have been willing to send him. He ought to be where the air was pure and +the surroundings cheerful. John would have preferred to put up with the +discomfort of his present quarters and lay by the addition to his salary +towards the more speedy realization of his day-dream, but John Randolph +had never found much time to think of himself; there were always so many +other people in the world to be attended to. + +"Dick, my boy," he said cheerily one evening, after they had finished +what he pronounced a sumptuous repast, "I have a presentiment that this +month will witness a turning point in our career. I believe you and I +are going to become suburbanites." + +The boy's sad eyes grew wide with wonder. + +"What do you mean, John?" + +"Well you see, Dick True, it is this way. As soon as I get my +degree--earn the right to put M.D. after my name, you know,--I am going +to take two rubber bags, fill one with sunshine and one with pure air, +full of the scent of rose leaves and clover and strawberries--ah, Dick, +you'd like to smell that, wouldn't you?--and carry one in each pocket; +then, when my patients come to me for advice, the first dose I shall +give them will be out of my rubber bags, and in six cases out of ten I +believe they'll get better without any drug at all. You see, Dick True, +the trouble is, our Father has given us a whole world full of air and +sunlight to be happy in, and we poison the air with smoke and shut +ourselves away from the sunshine in boxes of brick and mortar, only +letting a stray beam come in occasionally through slits in the walls +which we call windows. It's no wonder we are such poor, miserable +concerns. You can't fancy an Indian suffering from nervous prostration, +can you, Dick? and it doesn't strike you as probable that Robinson +Crusoe had any predisposition to lung trouble? So you see, Dick True, as +it is a poor doctor who is afraid of his own medicine, I am going to +prescribe it first of all for ourselves, and we will go where +unadulterated oxygen may be had for the smelling, and we can draw in +sunshine with every breath." + +The pale face brightened. + +"Oh, that will be lovely! I do get so tired of these old streets. But +John,--" + +"Well, Dick?" + +"Why do you keep calling me Dick True all the time?" + +John laughed. "Just to remind you that you must be a true boy before you +can really be a True-man, Dick. I want you to be in the best company. +Jesus Christ is the truth, you know, Dick." + +"Jesus Christ," repeated the boy thoughtfully. "I wish I knew him, John, +as well as you do." + +"If you love, you will know," said John, the light which the boy loved +to watch creeping into his eyes. "He is the best friend we will ever +have, Dick, you and I." + +He opened several papers as he spoke and ran his eyes over the +advertising columns. "H'm, I don't like the sound of these," he said, +"they promise too much. Hot and cold water baths and gas and the +advantages of a private family and city privileges. Everyone seems to +keep the 'best table in the city.' That's curious, isn't it, Dick? And +nearly everyone has the most convenient location. Dick, my boy, it's one +thing to say we are going to do a thing, it's another thing to do it. I +expect this suburban question is going to be a puzzle to you and me." + +And so it proved. Day after day John searched the papers in vain, until +it seemed as if a suburban residence was the one thing in life +unattainable. But the long lane of disappointment had its turning at +length, and he hurried home to Dick, paper in hand. + +"Dick, Dick True, we've found it at last! Listen: + +"Two gentlemen can be pleasantly accommodated at 'The Willows.' Address +Miss Chillingworth, University P.O. Box 123. + +"The University Post Office is just near the College, you know, Dick, so +it is in a good location. Two gentlemen--that means you and me, Dick; +and 'The Willows' means running brooks, or ought to, if they are any +sort of respectable trees." + +The boy clapped his hands. "When can we go, John?" + +John laughed. "Not so fast, Dick. There may be other gentlemen in +Marlborough on the lookout for a suburban residence. I addressed Miss +Chillingworth on paper this morning, telling her I should give myself +the pleasure of addressing her in person to-morrow. It is a half +holiday, you know, Dick. I like the ring of this advertisement. There is +no fuss and feathers about it. She doesn't offer city privileges and +promise ice cream with every meal." + +"But, John," said the boy, ruefully, "we're not gentlemen. You don't +wear a silk hat, you know, and I have no white shirts--nothing but these +paper fronts. I hate paper fronts! They're such shams! + +"Oh, ho! Dick, so you're pining for frills, eh? Well, if it will make +you feel more comfortable, we'll go down to Stewart's and get fitted out +to your satisfaction. But don't forget that you can be a gentleman in +homespun as well as broadcloth, Dick. Real diamonds don't need to borrow +any luster from their setting; only the paste do that." + +The next afternoon John strode along in the direction of 'The Willows' +to the accompaniment of a merry whistle. It did him good to get out into +the open country once more, and he felt sure it would be worth a king's +ransom to Dick; but when he came in sight of the house he hesitated. +There must be some mistake. This was not the sort of house to open its +doors to boarders. "Poor Dick!" he soliloquized, "no wonder you felt a +premonitory sense of the fitness of frills! Well, I'll go and inquire. +They can only say 'No,' and that won't annihilate me." + +He was ushered into Miss Diana's presence, and on the instant forgot +everything but Miss Diana herself. Before he realized what he was doing +he had explained the reason of his seeking a suburban home, and, drawn +on by her gentle sympathy, was telling her the story of his life. Miss +Diana had a way of compelling confidence, and the people who gave it to +her never afterwards regretted the gift. With the straightforwardness +which was a part of his nature he told his story. It never occurred to +him that there was anything peculiar about it, yet when he had finished +there were tears in his listener's eyes. + +When at length he rose to go, everything was settled between them. +John's eyes wandered round the room and then rested again with a +curious sense of pleasure upon Miss Diana's face. + +"I cannot begin to thank you," he said, gratefully, "for allowing us to +come here. I never dared to hope that my poor little Dick would have +such an education as this home will be to him, but I feel sure you will +learn to like Dick True." + +Miss Diana held out her hand, with a smile. "I think I shall like you as +well as Dick," she said. + + * * * * * + +Weeks and months flew past and the household at 'The Willows' was a very +happy one. Unavella was in great glee over the success of her scheme. + +"I used ter think," she confided to her bosom friend, "thet boarders wuz +good fer nuthin' 'cept ter be an aggervation an' a plague; but I +couldn't think o' nuthin' else ter do, an' I made up my mind I'd ruther +put up with 'em than lose Miss Di-an, even ef their antics did make me +gray-headed afore the year wuz out. But I needn't hev worritted. Two +sech obligin' young fellers I never did see, an' never expect ter agin +in this world. They don't never seem comfortable 'cept when they're +helpin' a body. An' Mr. John's whistle ez enuff ter put sunshine inter +the Deluge! I used ter think we wuz ez happy ez birds--Miss Di-an an' +me--but I declare the house seems lonesum now when he leaves in the +mornin'. He's alluz at it, whistle, whistle, whistle. 'Tain't none o' +them screechin' whistles that takes the top off of your head an' leaves +the inside a' hummin', but it's jest as soft an' sweet an' low! +Sometimes I think he's prayin', it's that lovely. It's my belief it puts +Miss Di-an in mind o' someone, fer she jest sets in the porch, when he's +a' tinkerin' round in the evenings or dig-gin' in the gardin--he's never +satisfied unless everything's jest kep spick an' span--an' there's the +sweetest smile on her face, an' the dreamy look in her eyes thet folks' +eyes don't never hev 'cept when they're episodin' with their past. + +"An' the way they foller her about an' treat her jest ez ef she wuz a +princess! I declare, it makes my heart warm. The young one called her +his little mother the other night, an' Mr. John sez, sez he, 'Ye +couldn't hev a sweeter, Dick, nor a dearer.' He makes me think of one o' +them folks in poetry what wuz alluz a' ridin' round with banners an' a +spear." + +"A knight?" suggested her friend, who had just indulged a literary taste +by purchasing a paper covered edition of Sir Walter Scott. + +"Yes, that's what I mean. An' I sez to myself,--'ef they wuz like he +is, an' wuz ez plenty in the Middle Ages ez they make 'em out ter be, +then it's a pity we wuzn't back right in the center uv 'em,' sez I." + +"Lady Di! Lady Di!" and little Dick came hurrying into the library where +Miss Diana was sitting in the gloaming. "John wants you to come out and +see if you like the new flowers he is planting. He says I must be sure +to put your shawl on, for the dew is falling." + +Miss Diana's eyes grew misty as her little cavalier adjusted her wrap. +"Why do you give me that name, Dick?" she asked. Only one other had ever +given it to her before, in the long ago. + +"What? Lady Di?" answered the boy. "Oh, we always call you that, John +and I. Our Lady Di. John says you make him think of the elect lady, in +the Bible, you know." + +And Miss Diana, as she passed the shelves, laid her hand caressingly +upon the beloved books with a happy smile. God had sent her the right +ones! + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Marion entered Evadne's room one glorious winter's morning and threw +herself on the lounge beside her cousin with a sigh. + +"I don't see how you do it!" she exclaimed. + +"Do what?" asked Evadne. + +"Why, keep so pleasant with Isabelle. She works me up to the last pitch +of endurance, until I feel sometimes as if I should go wild. It is no +use saying anything, Mamma always takes her side, you know, but she does +aggravate me so! Even her movements irritate me,--just the way she +shakes her head and curls her lip,--she is so self-satisfied. She thinks +no one else knows anything. It must be a puzzle to her how the world +ever got along before she came into it, and what it will do when she +leaves it is a mystery!" + +"She is good discipline." + +Marion gave her an impetuous hug. "You dear Evadne! I believe you take +us all as that! But I don't think the rest of us can be quite as trying +as Isabelle. She does seem to delight in saying such horrid things. She +was abominably rude to you this morning at breakfast and yet you were +just as polite as ever. I couldn't have done it. I should have sulked +for a week. I know you feel it, for I see your lips quiver--you are as +susceptible to a rude touch as a sensitive plant--but it is beautiful to +be able to keep sweet outside." + +"You mean to be _kept_, Marion," said Evadne softly, "by the power of +God. I have no strength of my own." + +Marion sighed dismally. "Oh, dear! I don't know what I mean, except that +I'm a failure. It is no wonder Louis thinks Christianity is a humbug, +though he must confess there is something in it when he looks at you. +You are so different, Evadne! I should think Isabelle would be ashamed +of herself, for I believe half the time she says things on purpose to +provoke you. She doesn't seem to get much comfort out of it any way. I +never saw such a discontented mortal. Don't you think it is wicked for +people to grumble the way she does, Evadne? It is growing on her, too. +She finds fault with everything. Even the snow came in for a share of +her disapprobation this morning, because it would spoil the skating, as +if the Lord had no other plans to further than just to give her an +afternoon's amusement! She is _so_ self-centered!" + +Evadne looked out at the street where the fresh fallen snow had spread +a dazzling carpet of virgin white. "He is going to let me give an +afternoon's amusement to Gretchen and little Hans," she said. "Uncle +Lawrence has promised me the sleigh and I am going to take them to the +Park. Won't it be beautiful to see them enjoy! Hans has never seen the +trees after a snowstorm." + +"That is you all over, Evadne. It is always other people's pleasure, +while I think of my own! Oh, dear! I seem to do nothing but get savage +and then sigh over it. I know it is dreadful to talk about my own sister +as I have been doing--they say you ought to hide the faults of your +relations--but it is only to you, you know. Do you suppose there is any +hope for me, Evadne?" she asked disconsolately. + +Evadne drew her head down until it was on a level with her own. "Let +Christ teach you to love, dear," she whispered, "Then, 'charity will +cover the multitude of sins.'" She opened the book she had been reading +when her cousin entered and took from it a newspaper clipping. "Read +this," she said. "Aunt Marthe sent it in her last letter. If we follow +its teachings I think all the fret and worry will go out of our lives +for good." + +And Marion read,--"To step out of self-life into Christ-life, to lie +still and let him lift you out of it, to fold your hands close and hide +your face upon the hem of his robe, to let him lay his cooling, +soothing, healing hands upon your soul, and draw all the hurry and fever +away, to realize that you are not a mighty messenger, an important +worker of his, full of care and responsibility, but only a little child +with a Father's gentle bidding to heed and fulfil, to lay your busy +plans and ambitions confidently in his hands, as the child brings its +broken toys at its mother's call; to serve him by waiting, to praise him +by saying 'Holy, holy, holy,' a single note of praise, as do the +seraphim of the heavens if that be his will, to cease to live in self +and for self and to live in him and for him, to love his honor more than +your own, to be a clear and facile medium for his life-tide to shine and +glow through--this is consecration and this is rest." + +When, some hours later, Evadne went down-stairs to luncheon, she felt +strangely happy. Marion had said Louis must confess there was something +in Christianity when he looked at her. That was what she longed to +do--to prove to him the reality of the religion of Jesus. And that +afternoon she was going to give such a pleasure to Gretchen and little +Hans. It was beautiful to be able to give pleasure to people. She could +just fancy how Gretchen's eyes would glisten as she talked to her in her +mother tongue, while little Hans' shyness would vanish under the genial +influence of Pompey's sympathetic companionship, and he would clap his +hands with delight as Brutus and Caesar drew them under the arches of +evergreen beauty, bending low beneath their ermine robes, while the +silver bells broke the hush of silence which dwelt among the forest +halls with a subdued melody and then rang out joyously as they emerged +into the open, where the sun shone bright and clothed denuded twigs and +trees in the bewitching beauty of a silver thaw. It would always seem to +little Hans like a dream of fairyland and she would be remembered as his +fairy godmother. It was a pleasant role--that of a fairy godmother. + +She started, for Louis was saying carelessly to the servant,--"Tell +Pompey to have the sleigh ready by half-past two, sharp." + +"Why, Louis!" she spoke as if in a dream, "I am going to have the sleigh +this afternoon." + +"That is unfortunate, coz," said Louis lightly, "as probably we are +going in different directions." + +"I am going to the Park," stammered Evadne, "with little Hans and +Gretchen." + +"Exactly, and I to the Club grounds. Diametrically opposite, you see." + +"But Uncle Lawrence promised me. He said no one wanted the sleigh this +afternoon." + +"The Judge should not allow himself to jump at such hasty conclusions +before hearing the decision of the Foreman of the Jury. It is an unwise +procedure for his Lordship." + +"But poor little Hans will be so disappointed! He has been looking +forward to it for weeks." + +"Disappointed! My dear coz, the placid Teutonic mind is impervious to +anything so unphilosophical. It will teach him the truth of the adage +that 'there is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip,' and in the +future he will not be so foolish as to look forward to anything." + +Evadne's lips quivered. "You are cruel," she said, "to shut out the +sunlight from a poor little crippled child!" + +"My dear coz, I give you my word of honor, I am sorry. But there is +nothing to make a fuss about. Any other day will suit your little beggar +just as well. I promised some of the fellows to drive them out and a +Hildreth cannot break his word, you know." + +"You have made me break mine," said Evadne sadly, as she passed him to +go upstairs. + +"Ah, you are a woman," said Louis coolly, "that alters everything." + +Did it alter everything? Evadne was pacing her floor with flashing eyes. +"Was there one rule of honor for Louis, another for herself? No! no! no! +How perfectly hateful he is!" and she stamped her foot with sudden +passion. "I despise him!" + +Suddenly she fell on her knees beside the lounge and cowered among its +cushions, while the eyes of the Christ, reproachfully tender, seemed to +pierce her very soul. "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do +good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you +and persecute you,--that ye may be the children of your Father in +heaven, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and +sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." + +His sorrowful tones seemed to crush her into the earth. Was this her +Christ-likeness? And she had let Marion say she was better than them +all! What if she or Louis were to see her now? He would say again, as he +had said before, "There is not much of the 'meek and lowly' in evidence +at present." "And he would be right," she cried remorsefully. "Oh, +Jesus Christ, is this the way I am following thee!" + +"You do right to feel annoyed," argued self. "It hurts you to disappoint +Gretchen and Hans." + +"It is your own pride that is hurt," answered her inexorable conscience. +"You wanted to pose as a Lady Bountiful. It is humiliating to let these +poor people see that you are of no consequence in your uncle's house. +Christ kept no carriage. It is not what you do but what you are, that +proves your kinship with the Lord." + +It was a very humble Evadne who, late in the afternoon, walked slowly +towards the German quarter. "I am very sorry," she said quietly, when +she had reached the spotless rooms where Gretchen made a home for her +crippled brother, "my cousin had made arrangements to use the sleigh +this afternoon, so we could not have our drive. I am _very_ sorry." + +And they put their own disappointment out of sight, these kindly German +folk, and tried to make her think they cared as little as if they were +used to driving every day. + +"Did you notice, Gretchen," said Hans, after Evadne had left them, "how +sweet our Fraulein was this afternoon? But her eyes looked as if she +had been crying. Do you suppose she had?" + +"I think, Hans," said Gretchen slowly, "our Fraulein is learning to +dwell where God wipes all the tears away." + +"Are your eyes no better, Frau Himmel?" Evadne was saying as she shook +hands with another friend who was patiently learning the bitter truth +that she would never be able to see her beloved Fatherland again. "Are +the doctors quite sure that nothing can be done?" + +"Quite sure, Fraulein Hildreth," answered the woman with a smile, "but +there is one glorious hope they can't take from me." + +"A hope, Frau Himmel, when you are blind! What can it be?" + +"This, dear Fraulein," and the look on the patient face was beautiful to +see. "'Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they shall behold +the land that is very far off.'" + +And Evadne, walking homeward, repeated the words which she had read that +morning with but a dim perception of their meaning. 'If limitation is +power that shall be, if calamities, opposition and weights are wings and +means--we are reconciled.' + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +"Uncle Lawrence, with your permission, I am going to study to be a +nurse." + +Judge Hildreth started. So light had been the footsteps and so deeply +had he been absorbed in thought, he had not heard his niece enter the +library and cross the room until she stood before his desk. Very fair +was the picture which his eyes rested upon. What made his brows contract +as if something hurt him in the sight? + +Evadne Hildreth was in all the sweetness of her young womanhood. She was +not beautiful, not even pretty, Isabelle said, but there was a strange +fascination about her earnest face, and the wonderful grey eyes +possessed a charm that was all their own. She had graduated with honors. +Now she stood upon the threshold of the unknown, holding her life in her +hands. + +Louis was traveling in Europe. Isabelle and Marion were at a fashionable +French Conservatory, for the perfecting of their Parisian accent. +Evadne was alone. She had chosen to have it so. She wanted to follow up +a special course in physiology which was her favorite study. + +"A nurse, Evadne! My dear, you are beside yourself. 'Much learning hath +made you mad.'" + +"'I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and +soberness.' I feel called to do this thing." + +"Who has called you, pray? We do not deal in supernaturalisms in this +prosaic century." + +The lovely eyes glowed. "Jesus Christ." What an exultant ring there was +in her voice, and how tenderly she lingered over the name! + +"Jesus Christ!" Judge Hildreth repeated the words in an awestruck tone. +Did she see him cower in his chair? It must have been an optical +illusion. The storm outside was making the house shiver and the lights +dance. + +"You must consult your aunt," he said in a changed voice. She noticed +with a pang how old and careworn he looked. + +"Kate," he called, as just then he heard his wife's step in the hall, +"come here." + +"What do you wish, Lawrence?" and there was a soft _frou frou_ of silken +draperies as Mrs. Hildreth's dress swept over the carpet. + +"Evadne wishes to become a nurse." + +"Are you crazy?" There was a steely glitter in Mrs. Hildreth's eyes, and +her tone fell cold and measured through the room. + +"She says not," said the Judge with a feeble smile. + +"Why should you think so, Aunt Kate?" asked Evadne gently. "Look how the +world honors Florence Nightingale, and think how many splendid women +have followed her example." + +"To earn your own living by the labor of your hands. A Hildreth!" + +"All the people who amount to anything in the world have to work, Aunt +Kate. There is nothing degrading in it." + +"Just try it and you will soon find out your mistake. If you do this +thing you will be ostracized by the world. People make a great talk +about the dignity of labor, but a girl who works has no footing in +polite society." + +Evadne's sweet laugh fell softly through the silence. "I don't believe I +have any time for society, Aunt Kate. Life seems too real to be +frittered away over afternoon teas." + +"Are you mad, Lawrence, to let her take this step? Think of the Hildreth +honor!" + +Again Judge Hildreth laughed--that strange, feeble laugh. "Evadne is of +age, Kate; she must do as she thinks right. As to the rest--I think the +less we say about the Hildreth honor now the better for us all." + +He was alone. Mrs. Hildreth had swept away in a storm of wrath. Evadne +had followed her, leaving a soft kiss upon his brow. He lifted his hand +to the place her lips had touched--he felt as if he had been stung--but +there was no outward wound. + +The Hildreth honor! The letters in the drawer at his side seemed to +confront him with scorn blazing from every page. He put forth his hand +with a sudden determination. He would crush their impertinent +obtrusiveness under his heel; then, when their damaging evidence was +buried in the dust of oblivion, he would be safe and fret! Evadne knew +her father had left her something. He would make special mention of it +in his will--a Trust fund--enough to yield her maintenance and the +paltry pin money which was all the allowance he had ever seen his way +clear to make his brother's child. It was not his fault, he argued--he +had meant to do right--but gilt-edged securities were as waste, paper in +the unprecedented monetary depression which was sweeping stronger men +than himself to the verge of ruin. He could not foresee such a crisis. +Even the Solons of Wall Street had not anticipated it. It was not his +fault. He had meant to make all right in a few years. What was that +they said was paved with good intentions? He could not remember. He +seemed to have strange fits of forgetfulness lately. He must see that +everything was put in proper shape in the event of his death. People +died suddenly sometimes. One never knew. + +It would be safer to make re-investments. Yes, that was a good thought. +He wondered it had never occurred to him before. His wisest plan was to +have all moneys and securities in his own name. It would make it so much +easier for the executors. It was not fair to burden any one with a +business so involved as his was now. Of course he would make a mental +note of just how much belonged to his brother. It would not be safe to +put it in black and white--executors had such an unpleasant habit of +going over one's private papers--but he would be sure to remember, and, +if he ever got out of this bog, as he expected to do of course shortly, +he would give Evadne back her own. It would leave him badly crippled for +funds, but one must expect to make sacrifices for the sake of principle. +Then, when these letters were destroyed, they would have no clue--he +frowned. What an unfortunate word for him to use! A clue wag suggestive +of criminality. What possible connection could there be between Judge +Hildreth and that? + +He fitted the key in the lock and turned it, then his hand fell by his +side. No, no, he had not come to that--yet. He had always held that +tampering with the mails evinced the blackest turpitude. He was an +honorable gentleman. He started. What was that? A long, low, +blood-curdling laugh, as if a dozen mocking fiends stood at his +elbow,--or was it just the shrieking of the wind among the gables? It +was a wild night. The rain dashed against the window panes in sheets of +vengeful fury, and the howling of the storm made him shudder as he +thought of the ships at sea. Now and then a loose slate fell from an +adjoining roof and was shivered into atoms upon the pavement, while the +wind swept along the street and lashed the branches of the trees into a +panic of helpless, quivering rage. Could any poor beggars be without a +shelter on such a night as this? How did such people live? + +He caught himself dozing. He felt strangely drowsy. He straightened +himself resolutely in his chair and drew a package of stock certificates +from one of the secret drawers of the desk. He would see about selling +the stock and making re-investments to-morrow. + +It must be done,--to save the Hildreth honor. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +Once more the Hildreth household was united, if such a thing as union +could be possible, among so many diverse elements. + +Isabelle's chill hauteur had increased with the years and a peevish +discontent was carving indelible lines upon her face which was rapidly +losing its delicate contour and bloom. Marion's pink and white beauty +was at its zenith, and the social attentions she was beginning to +receive only served to render her elder sister more than ever irritable +and envious. Louis was his old nonchalant self, careless and listless, +with an ever deepening expression of _ennui_ which was pitiful in one so +young. His European travels had not improved him, in Evadne's opinion. + +She saw but little of her cousins. They passed their days in pleasure, +she in work; but Marion, in her rare moments of reflection, as she +thought of the strangely peaceful face of the young nurse, wondered +sadly whether Evadne had not chosen the better part after all. + +"Oh, Louis!" she cried one morning, and her voice was full of pain, +"how you are wasting this beautiful life that God has given you!" + +Louis stretched himself lazily in his arm-chair and clasped his hands +behind his head. "Thanks for your high opinion, coz. Of what special +crime do I stand accused before the bar of your judgment?" + +"Oh, it is nothing special, but you are just frittering away the days +that might be filled with such noble work, and you have nothing to show +for them but--smoke!" She swept her hand through the filmy cloud which +Louis just then blew into the air, with a gesture of disdain. "Now you +will think I am preaching, but indeed, indeed I am not, only, it hurts +me so!" + +Louis laughed and threw away his cigar. "No, I will not charge you with +belonging to the cloth, but I confess I should like you better if you +had not entrenched yourself behind such a high wall of prejudice against +all the good things of this life. You are too narrow, Evadne." + +Evadne folded her hands together as if she were holding a strange, sweet +comfort against her heart. "The Jews said the same about Jesus Christ," +she said, "why should the servant be judged more kindly than her Lord?" + +"But there is no harm in these things, Evadne." + +"There is no good in them. Life is so real, Louis!" + +"Well, I own I am a light weight in the race. But I assure you such +people are needed to balance matters. If every one was in such deadly +earnest as you, Evadne, the old world would go to pieces." + +"But, Louis, it is dreadful to have no purpose in life!" + +"The Judge has enough of that for us both," said Louis carelessly. "Why +should I choke my brains with musty law when his are charged to +repletion?" + +"Think how it would please Uncle Lawrence!" urged Evadne. + +"True," said Louis gravely, "but that is an argument which will bear +future consideration." + +"Oh, Louis," and Evadne's voice was choked with tears, "the time may +come when you would give the whole world to be able to please your +father!" + +"But, Evadne," said Louis gently, "a man must have freedom of choice in +his vocation. My father chose the law for his profession, why should he +rebel if I choose dilettanteism?" + +"Because it is no profession at all. I am sure he would not mind what +you did, if it were only real work." + +[Illustration: 'TAKE HER, RANDOLF, SHE IS WORTHY OF YOU.'] + + "Oh, pshaw! Always work, Evadne. I tell you I prefer to play. Miss +Angel told me at the General's ball last night that she liked a man who +took his glass and smoked and did all the rest of the naughty things." + +"She is an angel of darkness, luring you on to ruin." + +Louis shrugged his shoulders. "Possibly. If so, she is disguised as an +angel of light. She sings divinely." + +"So did the Sirens." + +Louis laughed. "She has promised to go for a sail with me to-morrow. +Better come along, coz, and keep us off the rocks." + +Evadne was silent. + +"I like such a girl as that," he continued. "She has common sense and +makes a fellow feel comfortable. These moral altitudes of yours are all +very fine in theory, but the atmosphere is too rare for me." + +"It is no real kindness to make you satisfied with your lowest. I want +you to rise to your best. Oh, Louis, won't you let Christ make your life +grand? It would be such a happiness to me!" She laid her hand upon his +shoulder. Louis caught it in his and drew her round in front of his +chair. + +"Do you really mean that, little coz? Upon my word, it is the strongest +inducement you could offer me. I feel half inclined to try, just for +your sake, only you see it would involve such a tremendous expenditure +of moral force!" and he lighted a fresh cigar. + + * * * * * + +"I do wish you would not ride such wild horses, Louis," said Mrs. +Hildreth, as she stood beside her son in the front doorway, looking +disapprovingly as she spoke at the horse who was champing his bit +viciously on the sidewalk below. "It keeps me in a perfect fever of +anxiety all the time." + +"Whoa, Polyphemus! Stand still, sir! Pompey, have you tightened that +girth up to its last hole? Better do it then. Don't mind his kicking. It +doesn't hurt him. It's just his way. + +"My dear lady mother, if you knew what a pleasure it is to find +something untamable where everything is so confoundedly slow you would +not wonder at my fondness for the brute. As to your anxiety, that is +ridiculous. A Hildreth has too much sense to be conquered by a horse and +make a spectacle of himself into the bargain. _Au revoir_. Better take a +dose of lavender to calm your nerves," and Louis waved his hand to her +with careless grace, as he gathered up the reins. + +His mother looked after him with a sigh. "He is so fearless! What a +splendid cavalry officer he would make! He makes me think of the +regiment that went to the war from Marlborough." Her eye fell casually +upon Pompey who was shutting the carriage gates. "What a waste of +precious lives it was to be sure, just to free a lot of cowardly +negroes!" + +It was late in the afternoon when Pompey went up town on an errand for +Judge Hildreth. The street was full of men and horses hurrying to and +fro but Pompey paid them but little attention. He was busy with his +Lord. + +Hark! What was that? The sound of a horse's hoofs ringing with a sharp, +metallic clatter upon the paved street while children screamed and men +turned white faces towards the sound and hurriedly sought the sidewalk. + +On they came, the horse and his rider. Louis pale as death, Polyphemus +mad with sudden fear and his own ungovernable temper. The bit was +between his teeth, his iron-shod feet were thrown out in vengeful fury. + +Pompey sprang forward. + +"You can't stop him!" shouted the men. "It would be certain death!" But +just beyond the street took a sharp turn to the right and a deep chasm, +where extensive excavations for a sewer were being made, yawned +hungrily. + +The horse plunged and reared. Pompey had caught hold of the reins and +was clinging to them with all his might. + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Hildreth leaned over her son in an agony of fear. Louis was her +idol. He opened his eyes wearily. His cheeks were as white as the +pillow. + +"Oh, Louis!" she wailed, "I knew that wretched horse would bring you to +your death!" + +"I am not dead yet," he said, with a shadow of his old mocking smile, +"although I _have_ succeeded in making a fool of myself. How is Pompey?" + +"Pompey!" ejaculated his mother. "I never thought of any one but you." + + * * * * * + +Evadne stood in Dyce's little room, beside the bed with its gay +patchwork cover. The iron-shod hoofs had done their cruel work only too +well! + +"Pompey," she said wistfully, "dear Pompey, is the pain terrible to +bear?" + +The faithful eyes looked up at her, the brave lips tried to smile. "De +Lord Jesus is a powerful help in de time of trubble, Miss 'Vadney; I'se +leanin' on his arm." + +Evadne repeated, as well as she could for tears. "'Fear thou not, for I +am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen +thee, yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand +of my righteousness.'" + +And Pompey answered with joyous assurance,--"'Though I walk through the +valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with +me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.'" + +"The Jedge hez been here," said Dyce with mournful pride. "He say he'll +never find any one like Pompey. He say it wuz de braves' ting he ever +knowed any one to do. He jest cry like a chile, de Jedge did; he say he +never 'spect to find sech a faithful frien' again." + +"De Jedge is powerful kind, Missy. He say he'll look out fer Dyce ez +long ez he live," the husband's voice broke, + +"I don't care nuthin' 'bout dat!" and Dyce turned away with a choking +sob; "but I'se proud to hev him see what kind of a man you is." + +The night drew on. No sound was to be heard in the little cottage except +the ticking of the wheezy clock, as Dyce kept her solitary vigil by the +side of the man she loved. She knelt beside his pillow, and, for her +sake, Pompey made haste to die. As the shadows of the night were fleeing +before the heralds of the dawn, she saw the gray shadow which no earthly +light has power to chase away fall swiftly over his face. + +He opened his eyes and spoke in a rapturous whisper. "Dyce! Dyce! I see +de Lord!" + +The morning broke. Dyce still knelt on with her face buried in the +pillow; the asthmatic clock still kept on its tireless race; but +Pompey's happy spirit had forever swept beyond the bounds of time. + + * * * * * + +The humble funeral was over. The Hildreth carriage, behind whose +curtained windows sat Dyce and Evadne, had followed close after the +hearse. The Judge had walked behind. + +"So uncalled for!" Mrs. Hildreth said in an annoyed tone when, she heard +of it. Your father never _will_ learn to have a proper regard for _les +convenances_." + +"Uncalled for!" ejaculated Louis. "I'll venture to say the Judge will +never have a chance to follow such a brave man again." + +"He sent his carriage. That was all that was necessary." + +"Doubtless Dyce finds that superlative honor a perfect panacea for her +grief," said Louis sarcastically. "It is eminently fitting that Brutus +and Caesar should have walked as chief mourners for they have lost the +truest friend they ever had." + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +"I'm afraid poor Evadne will be worn out with such constant attendance +upon Louis," said Marion some weeks after Pompey's death. "I don't see +how she stands it." + +"It is hardly worth her while to undertake nursing," said Isabelle +coldly, "if she cannot stand such a trifle as this." + +"Why, Isabelle, just think of the strain night after night! You wouldn't +like it, I know. I want Mamma to get a paid nurse, but Louis won't have +any one near him but Evadne." + +"Of course _I_ could not stand being broken of my rest," rejoined +Isabelle, "it is hard enough for me to get any under the most favorable +circumstances, but probably Evadne sleeps like a log in the daytime. It +is the least return she can make for having disgraced the family, to be +of some use in it now." + +Marion laughed incredulously. "I should never think of associating +Evadne's name with disgrace," she said. "What _do_ you mean, Isabelle?" + +"Mamma says this nursing fad of hers upset Papa completely. He said the +Hildreth honor had better not be mentioned any more." + +"Well, I don't know. It seems to me she is of a good deal more value to +him now than the Hildreth honor. Dr. Russe says she is one of the best +nurses he ever saw. That is a high compliment, for he is dreadfully +particular. It is my opinion, Isabelle, that Louis is a good deal worse +than we think him to be. Don't mention it to Mamma, for she is so +nervous, but I heard Dr. Russo talking to Papa in the hall this morning, +something about an inherited tendency and a derangement of the nervous +system. I could not understand--he spoke so low--but Papa looked +dreadfully worried after he had gone. + +"Don't you think Papa looks very badly, Isabelle? And he seems so +absent, as if he had something on his mind. I noticed it long before +this happened." + +Isabelle laughed carelessly. "What a girl you are, Marion! You are +always imagining things about people. For my part I have too many +worries of my own." + +Upstairs Evadne was saying wistfully, "Don't you think your life should +be very precious, Louis, now that two people have died?" + +"Two people, Evadne? I know there was good old Pompey,--the thought of +that haunts me night and day,--but who else do you mean?" + +"Jesus Christ." + +"Oh!" + +"Do you never think about him, Louis?" + +"My dear coz, I find it wiser not to think. Every other man you meet +holds a different creed, and each one thinks his is the right one. Why +should I set myself up as knowing better than other people? The only way +is to have a sort of nebulous faith. God will not expect too much of us, +if we do the best we can." + +"A 'nebulous faith' will not save you, Louis," Evadne answered sadly. +"God expects us to believe his word when he tells us that he has opened +a way for us into the Holiest by the blood of his Son." + +"That atonement theory is an uncanny doctrine." + +"It is the only way by which sinners can be made 'at one' with an +absolutely holy God. Jesus said 'And I if I be lifted up ... will draw +all men unto me.' His humanitarianism did not win the hearts of the +multitude. The very men he had fed and healed hounded him _on to his +cross_." + +"It is not philosophical." + +"I read this morning that 'the moving energy in the world's history +to-day is not a philosophy, but a cross.'" + +"The God of the present is humanitarianism." + +"Humanitarianism is not Christ. Paul says--'Though I bestow all my goods +to feed the poor ... but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.' The +love which he means is the Christ power, for no mere human love could +reach the altitude of the 13th of 1st Corinthians. Real religion is not +a creed, but a Christ. It seems to me the most important questions we +have to answer are, what we think of Christ and what we are going to do +with him. + +"When Peter gave his answer--'Thou art the Christ,--the Anointed +One,--the Son of the living God,--' Christ said, 'On this rock--the +faith of thine--I will build my church.' Humanitarianism, pure and +simple, seems to me but an attempt to imitate Christ. It is beautiful as +far as it goes, but it is not my idea of following him." + +"What is, Evadne?" + +"When Jesus told his disciples to follow, he meant them to be with him. +I do not think we can ever hope to be like Christ unless we believe him +to be God and walk with him every day. If we have the spirit of Jesus in +our hearts, we shall be model humanitarians, for we shall love our +neighbor as ourselves." + +Louis caught her hand in his. "Begin by loving me!" he cried suddenly. +"I love you, dear! These long days of watching have taught me that, +although I began to suspect it some time ago. It is no use saying +anything," he went on hurriedly, as Evadne began to protest, "you must +be my wife, for I cannot live without you!" + +He drew a handsome ring, of quaint and curious workmanship which he had +bought in Venice, from his finger, and before Evadne could recover from +her astonishment, had thrust it upon hers. "See, you are mine, darling. +Now let us seal the compact with a kiss." + +"Louis, you are dreaming! This can never be!" She struggled to free her +hand but he held her fingers in a grasp of steel. + +"It shall be, my sweet little Puritan! Do you suppose I will ever give +you up now? I tell you I love you, Evadne! Love you as I never thought I +should ever love a woman. Why, you can twist me around your finger. I am +like water in your hands." + +"Louis, please listen!" implored Evadne, with a white, strained face. +"This is utterly impossible, for--I do not love you." + +"I will teach you, dear," said Louis cheerfully. "I know I have been a +brute, but I will show you how gentle I can be." + +"Louis!" cried Evadne desperately, "you must let me go! I will _never_ +do this thing!" + +She pulled vainly at the ring as she spoke. Louis' grasp never relaxed. +When he spoke she was frightened at the recklessness of his tone. + +"Take that ring off your finger and I go straight to the devil! You say +you want to win my soul. Here is your chance. You can make of me what +you will. I own there is something in your Christianity. I can't help +sneering when I see Isabelle and Marion playing at it, but I have never +sneered at you. Now, take your choice. Shall the devil have his own?" + +His voice was quiet but she could see he was laboring under intense +excitement. Evadne was in despair. What should she do? Only that morning +Dr. Russe had said to her,-- + +"It is not the injury he sustained in the fall that worries me. He will +get over that. But the shock to the nervous system has been tremendous. +Humor him in everything and avoid the least excitement, as you value his +life." + +She leaned over him and said gently,--"Dear Louis, you are not strong +enough to talk any more to-day. I will wear the ring a little while to +please you, but remember, this other thing you want can never be." + +He looked up at her, his face pallid with exhaustion, "Promise me," he +said faintly, "that the ring shall stay on your finger until I take it +off." + +And Evadne promised. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +Three years had slipped away and Evadne still wore her cousin's ring. A +great tenderness was growing up in her heart toward him. She yearned +over him as only those can understand who know what it is to carry the +burden of souls upon their hearts by night and day but no thought of +love ever crossed her mind. To Evadne Hildreth, love was a wonderfully +sacred thing. The ring fretted her and she longed to be freed from its +presence, but Louis held her to her promise. If he only waited long +enough, he persuaded himself, his patience would be rewarded. Some day +this shy, sweet bird would nestle against his heart. In the meantime he +would keep the ungenerous advantage which his illness had given him. He +forgot that it needs more to tame a bird than merely putting it in a +cage! + +Isabelle had been intensely curious but her questions had elicited no +satisfaction from her brother, and Evadne had answered simply, "Louis +took a fancy to put it on my finger: I am wearing it to please him, +that is all:" and even Isabelle found her cousin's sweet dignity an +effectual bar against her morbid inquisitiveness. + +They had seen comparatively little of each other. Evadne was constantly +busy, either at private or hospital nursing, and very short were the +furloughs which she spent under her uncle's roof. Louis had spent the +first winter after his illness with his mother in the South of France, +now he was in Florida, but he wrote regularly, and Evadne answered--when +she could. Sweet, pleading letters which he read over and over and +honestly tried to be better: but it was only for her sake; he knew no +higher motive--yet. + +It was a perfect day. Down by the river an alligator was sunning +himself, and the resinous breath of the pine trees swept its aromatic +fragrance over Louis as he lay at full length in a hammock with his +hands behind his head. He had thrown the magazine he had been reading on +the ground and it lay open at the article on Heredity which he had just +finished. His desultory thoughts were roaming idly over the subject, +when one, more far reaching than the rest, made him start lip with a +sudden shock of unwelcome surprise. + +"By Jove! Can it be that I am a victim of it too? It looks confoundedly +like it, although even my sweet little Puritan has not felt it a sin +against her conscience to keep me in the dark." + +He thrust his fingers with an impatient gesture through his hair. "Now I +come to think of it, the case grows deucedly clear. The South of France +one winter and Florida this! Simple nervous prostration would seem to +the uninitiated better fought in the exhilirating ozone of Colorado, +or--the North Pole--than in this languorous atmosphere. 'An inherited +tendency.' Is this the pleasant little legacy which my respected +ancestor has bequeathed to his only grandson? It skipped the Judge, but +it caught poor Uncle Lenox, and now it has nabbed me! What a fool I have +been not to surmise what this confounded pain meant between my +shoulders! Grandfather Hildreth kept himself alive with nostrums until +he was seventy, but he was an invalid all his life. He ought to be +cursed for his contemptible selfishness in bringing so much suffering +upon the race! There's none of the taint about Evadne, bless her! Russe +told me the Hospital examiners said they had never passed such a perfect +specimen of health." + +He stopped suddenly and bit his lips in pain. Would he not follow his +grandfather's example--if he had the chance? + +"What in the world is the meaning of all this?" + +Louis had arrived by an earlier train than he was expected and only his +mother was at home to greet him. The hall was in confusion, workmen's +tools lay about and ladders stood against the walls. Mrs. Hildreth +laughed lightly, as she laid her hand within her son's arm. + +"Oh, they are only getting ready for the floral decorations," she said, +"we give a reception to-morrow in honor of your return. How well you are +looking, Louis. I am so delighted to have you at home." + +"Thanks, lady mother. I do not need to ask how you have survived my +absence. How is Evadne,--and the Judge and the girls?" + +His mother laughed again as she drew him on the sofa beside her. She +seemed in wonderfully good humor. "Rather a comprehensive question," she +said. "Sit down and we will have a comfortable talk before the others +get home. Your father looks wretchedly but he says there is nothing the +matter. I suppose it is just overwork and the usual money strain. +Isabelle too is not as well as I should like her to be. Suffers from +nervousness a great deal, and depression. There is a new physician here +now, a Doctor Randolph, who we think is going to help her, although he +is very young; but she took a dislike to Doctor Russe because he +belongs to the old school. And now I have a surprise for you. Marion is +engaged!" + +"Engaged! Why, you never hinted at it in your letters!" + +"It has all been very sudden. I wrote you there was a young New Yorker +very attentive to her." + +"Yes, but that is an old story. There were two fellows 'very attentive' +when I went away. How long since the present devotion culminated?" + +"Just a week ago to-night: and they are so devoted!" + +"A second Romeo and Juliet, eh?"--Louis' laugh had a bitter ring,--"By +the way, what is his name?" + +"Simpson Kennard." + +"Brother Simp! Rich, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes, very. In fact he is eligible in every way." + +"I see," yawned Louis, "Possessed of all the cardinal virtues. It is a +good thing his wealth is not all in his pockets, for they are apt to +spring a leak. But Evadne--how is she?" + +"Oh, she is always well, you know," said his mother carelessly. "There +they come now." + +"These Indian famines are a terrible business," said Judge Hildreth as +they lingered over their dessert that evening. It was pleasant to have +Louis and Evadne back again. He too was glad to see his son so well. "I +don't see what the end is going to be." + +"People say that about every calamity, Papa," said Isabelle, "but the +world goes on just the same." + +"Of course it does, Isabelle," said her brother. "You see we can't waste +time over a few dying millions when we have to give a reception for +instance." + +"But that is a necessity, Louis," said Mrs. Hildreth, "we must pay our +debts to society, you know." + +"I am sure I don't see where I could economize," sighed Marion. "That +lecturer last night was splendid and I would like to have given him +thousands but I hadn't a dollar in my purse. I never have. I spent my +last cent for chocolates yesterday." + +Evadne smiled and sighed but said nothing. The lecturer the night before +had felt his soul strangely stirred at the sight of her glowing face, +and the plate when it passed her seat had borne a shining gold piece, +but perhaps she had not as many temptations as Marion and Isabelle. + +"I would have willingly filled you up a check with the cost of the +floral decorations, Marion," said her father with a twinkle in his eye. +"They would have purchased a good many bags of corn." + +"But that is ridiculous!" said Isabelle. "What would a reception be +without flowers, I should like to know? As it is, I expect it will be a +poor affair compared to the Van Nuys' last week. We never seem to be +able to do anything in proper style. You would better put your new Worth +gown, on the collection plate, Marion, and appear in a morning dress +to-morrow night. Louis would be the first one to be scandalized if you +did!" + +"Well but, Isabelle, I had to have something now. I have worn my other +dresses so many times, I am perfectly ashamed." + +"Of course, sis," said Louis gravely, "it was a most imperative +expenditure. It is a strange coincidence that you should have chosen +that particular make though. It has always been a fancy of mine that the +Levite was robed in a Worth gown when he passed by on the other side." + +"The sufferings must be awful," said Evadne, anxious to relieve Marion's +embarrassment. "I saw in the paper to-day that----" + +Mrs. Hildreth lifted her hands in mock alarm. "Pray spare us any recital +of horrors, Evadne! I never want to hear about any of these dreadful +things. What is the use, when one cannot help in any way?" + +"You forget, Mamma," said Isabelle with a laugh, "that Evadne revels in +horrors. What would be torture to our quivering nerves, to her atrophied +sensibilities is merely an occurrence of every day." + +Louis gave a sudden start in his chair, but on the instant Evadne laid +her hand upon his arm, and its light touch soothed his anger as it had +been wont to soothe his pain. + +Evadne Hildreth was climbing the heights of victory. She had learned to +cover her wounds with a smile. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +"Who is that calf, Evadne, standing by the piano?" Louis put the +question to his cousin the next evening, as he sought a few moments' +respite from his duties as host at her side. + +"That is Mr. Simpson Kennard." + +Louis surveyed the fashionably dressed, weak-faced, sandy-haired young +man from head to foot. "He will never get above his collar!" he said in +a tone of infinite scorn. + +Evadne laughed. "You must confess it is high enough to limit the +aspirations of an ordinary mortal." + +Marion fluttered up to them, her cheeks aglow with excitement. "Louis, +where are you? I want to introduce you to Simpsey. He has just arrived." + +Evadne looked after her as she led her brother away. "Poor little soul. +What a butterfly it is! Fancy having a husband whom one could call +Simpsey!" + +She started. Her knight of the gate was standing before her with +outstretched hand. A great light was in his face. "Do you remember?" he +asked, and Evadne's eyes glowed deep with pleasure, as she laid her hand +in his. They would never be properly introduced, these two, "'Life is a +beautiful possibility,'" she said, "I am proving it so every day,--but, +oh, the awful suffering in the world! I cannot understand,--" + +And John Randolph answered with his strong, sweet faith. "God +understands, _we_ do not need to." + +They were standing in an alcove partially screened by a tall palm from +the crowd which surged up and down through the rooms. He took from his +pocket a morocco case, and, opening it, held it towards her. What made +the color flush her cheeks while her eyes fell beneath his gaze? She +only saw a little square of lawn and lace, but the name traced across +one corner was 'Evadne'! + +"Did you leave nothing behind you at Hollywood that day?" he asked +gently. + +"My handkerchief!" she cried. "I missed it before we reached +Marlborough. I must have left it at the gate." But Evadne had left more +behind her than she knew. + +"I will keep it still," he said, "with your permission. Will you give it +to me?" + +"Oh, Doctor Randolph!" Isabelle's voice fell shrill upon Evadne's +silence, "they are calling for you in the other room to decide a knotty +question--something about microbes. I told them I was sure you would +know. Will you come?" + +John Randolph put the case quickly in his pocket and smiled as he turned +away. He thought he had read consent in her lovely eyes. + +After the reception was over Evadne knelt by her window until the stars +faded one by one from the sky. Then she turned away with a happy sigh. +When he came to get his answer, she would know. + + * * * * * + +"Give that to me!" Isabella spoke imperiously to the servant, who was +passing through the hall with a note in her hand. From where she stood +she had recognized the clear handwriting of the prescriptions which the +new doctor wrote. Her demon of curiosity overcame her. The tempter was +very near. + +The girl held the note towards her. "It is for Miss Evadne," she said. +"Miss E. Hildreth, you see." + +Isabelle gave a careless laugh. "Did you not know I had an E in my name +also? Evelyn Isabelle. I know the writing. The note is meant for me." + +So the truth and the lie mingled! +When John Randolph called that evening he was ushered into the presence +of Isabelle. + +"I am so sorry about Evadne!" she exclaimed, before he had time to +speak. "She had an engagement with my brother. He monopolizes her +whenever he is at home." She laughed affectedly. "Oh, I cannot tell you +when it is coming off, but she has worn his ring for years. They will +not give us any satisfaction--deep as the sea, you know. It seems so +strange to me, but then I am so transparent. She is a clever girl, but +very peculiar. Does not seem to have much natural feeling, you know, but +I suppose I am not fitted to judge, I am so emotional!" + +John Randolph bit his lip hard. It startled him to find how sharp a pain +could be. + + * * * * * + +Day after day Evadne waited but her knight never asked for his answer. +She began to meet him professionally, for his reputation was steadily +increasing, but he made no attempt to resume the conversation which had +been so rudely interrupted. He treated her with a delicate chivalry +always--that was John Randolph's way--and once she had caught such a +strange, wistful expression on his face as he looked at her and then at +a patient's arm which she was deftly bandaging. She was puzzled. What +could it all mean? Well, God understood. + +The surgical ward in the new Hospital at Marlborough was filled to its +utmost capacity and Evadne found her work no sinecure. The force of +nurses was inadequate to the demand. Often she would be called from her +rest to minister to the critical cases which were her special care, and +she would go down to the ward saying softly, "The Master is come and +calleth for thee," and bending tenderly over the sufferers, would behold +as in a vision the face of Christ. + +"My dear Miss Hildreth!" the superintendent exclaimed one day, "how is +it that you make the patients love you so?" + +Evadne laughed merrily. "If they do," she said, "it must be because of +my love for them." And the Superintendent answered in a hushed voice, +"Why, _that_ is the Gospel!" + +They called her 'Sister,' these rough men. She liked it so. She felt +herself a sister to the world. + +It was evening and the lights were turned low in the surgical ward. +Evadne was making her round before going to her room for a sorely needed +rest. John Randolph, who had come to pay a second visit to an +interesting case in one of the medical wards, stood in the shadow of the +doorway and watched her hungrily. Each one wanted to say something and +Evadne listened patiently. To her the mission of a nurse meant +something higher than gruel and bandages. She never forgot as she +ministered to the body that she was dealing with a soul. + +John Randolph, standing with folded arms in the doorway, heard her low, +sweet laugh, as she strove to brighten up a lachrymose patient; and +caught at intervals the name of Jesus, as she reminded one and another +of the Friend whose sympathy is strong enough to bear all the weight of +human pain, and once he thought he heard the sweet note of a prayer. He +started forward. Evadne was bending over a man who had been badly +crippled in a saw mill. His left arm was gone and all the fingers from +his right hand. With the morbidness of those who delight in +concentrating attention upon their own sufferings, he had pulled off the +loosened bandage with his teeth and held up the stump for inspection, +and Evadne had laid her cool, soft hands on either side of the unsightly +mass of red and angry flesh and was holding them there while she talked! + +"She gives herself!" cried John Randolph with a great throb of longing. +"It is what Jesus did, in Galilee." + +A wave of passion broke over him. It was not true, this story. It could +not be! How could her nature, sweet as light, ever be attuned to that of +her cynical cousin? She was coming nearer, nearer. He would stay and +meet her. He thought he had read his answer in her eyes. Now he would +have it from her lips as well. + +But then, there was the ring! Isabelle had been right. It was no lady's +ornament, and he had seen the initials L. H. graven in the heart of the +stone as their hands had met one day in dressing a wound. Evadne +Hildreth was not one to wear a man's ring lightly and John Randolph bent +his head and groaned. + +"Sister, Sister, won't you sing before you go?" + +"Oh, yes, Sister, give us just one song!" + +The men raised themselves on their elbows in pleading entreaty, and +Evadne stood in all her sweet unconsciousness before him and began to do +their will. Soft and clear the music fell about him. The air was 'The +last Rose of Summer' but the words were 'Jesus, Lover of my soul.' When +the song was ended, John Randolph, hushed and comforted, walked +noiselessly down the stairway and out into the quiet street. + +Evadne had sung her message, while she folded its leaves of healing down +over her own sore heart, and human love had paled before the exquisite +beauty of the love of God! + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +"John Randolph!" + +"Rege!" + +The two men stood facing each other with hands held in a vice-like +grasp, all unconscious of what was going on around them in the street. + +"Where did you come from?" + +"Where have you been?" + +John laughed. "In and around Marlborough all the time, except when I +went to New York for my degree." + +"And never let us hear a word from you all these years!" + +"You forget, Rege, your father forbade me to hold any communication with +Hollywood." + +Reginald's face grew grave. "Poor father. Well he's done with it all +now." + +"You don't mean that he is dead, Rege?" + +"Yes--and little Nan." + +"Oh!" The exclamation was sharp with pain. + +"I think she fretted for you, John. She just seemed to pine away. Every +day we missed her about the same time, and they always found her in the +same place, down by the green road. Then scarlet fever came. She never +spoke of getting well--didn't seem to want to. The night she died she +put her arms around mother's neck and whispered. 'Tell Don me'll be +waitin' at the gate.' That was all." + +John wrung Reginald's hand and turned away. Reginald looked after him +with misty eyes. "I used to tell mother it would break his heart. I +never saw any one so wrapped up in a child!" + +"And your father, Rege?" John was calm again. + +"Had a fit of apoplexy soon after. I think Nan was the only thing in the +world he cared for. It had never struck him that she could die. We sold +Hollywood and went abroad. Mother's health broke down--she was never +very strong, you know. We spent one year in Italy and one in France, but +the shock had been too great. She lies in a lovely spot beside the sea." + +"Not your mother too, Rege!" + +Reginald's voice broke. "Yes, they are all gone. It was a great deal to +happen in a few years. I am a wealthy man, John, but I am all alone in +the world, except for Elise. Well," he added more lightly, "I have +learned not to rebel at the inevitable. It is only what we have to +expect." + +"Elise!" echoed John wonderingly, after the first shock of grief was +over. + +"My wife," said Reginald proudly. "You must come home at once and let me +show you the sweetest woman in the world." + +"Not just yet, Rege I must pay a visit to Mrs. O'Flannigan, then there +is the hospital, and the dispensary, and I promised to concoct a bed for +a poor fellow in the last stages of heart trouble. But I will come +to-night." + +"Always helping somewhere, John. What a grand fellow you are!" + +"We are in the world to help the world, else what were the use of +living?" + +"I can't do anything," said Reginald, "with this clog." He looked +contemptuously at his ebony crutch as he spoke. + +John laid his hand upon his arm. "Rege," he said in his old, tender way. +"I think this very 'clog' as you call it, is a preparation to help those +who are passing through the baptism of pain." + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Reginald Hawthorne welcomed her husband's friend with a winning +charm. She was very pretty, very graceful and very young. Reginald +idolized her. John saw that as he looked around the sumptuous home whose +every fitting was a tribute to her taste. They had just finished +unpacking the things they had brought from Europe. + +"Strangely enough," said Reginald with a laugh, "I told Elise this +morning that now I was going to start out in search of you!" + +He had developed wonderfully. John saw that too. Travel and trial had +brought out the good that was in him--but not the best. + +The evening passed pleasantly. Mrs. Hawthorne played beautifully, and +Reginald had kept ears and eyes open and talked well. + +"How about the other life, Rege?" asked John when they had a few moments +alone. "This one seems very fair." + +"All a humbug, John. You Christians are chasing a will o' the wisp, a +jack o' lantern. You remember my fad for mathematics? I have followed it +up, and I find your theory a 'reductio ad absurdum.' I must have +everything demonstrable and clear. This is neither." + +"Yet it was a great mathematician who said, 'Omit eternity in your +estimate of area and your solution is wrong.'" + +Reginald shook his head. "I have nothing to do with this faith business. +I go as far as I see, no further." + +"God calls our wisdom foolishness, Rege. Jesus Christ put a tremendous +premium upon the faith of a little child." + +"Things must be tangible for me to believe in them. Reason is king with +me." + +"Without faith in your fellow man--and your wife--you would have a poor +time of it, Rege; why should you refuse to have faith in your God? Is +your will tangible, and can you demonstrate the mysterious forces of +nature? You know you can't, Rege, you have to take them on trust; and if +you had seen what I have, you would know that poor human reason is a +pitiful thing! But I won't argue with you. Some day you will +understand." + +Reginald Hawthorne went back into the room where his wife was sitting. +"Elise, darling, you have seen one of the grandest men in the world +to-night. The only trouble is that on one subject he is a crank." + +"Oh, Reginald, do you mean it! I thought he was splendid. And what a +wonderful face he has!" + +Reginald started. "Hah! Am I to be jealous of my old friend? But I might +have known," he added sadly, "no one could care long for such a wreck as +I!" + +The girl wife put her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, "You +foolish boy!" she whispered, "you know I shall never love any one but +you!" + +And Reginald Hawthorne counted himself a perfectly happy man. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +Judge Hildreth sat in his library, alone. He had left home immediately +after dinner, ostensibly to catch the evening train for New York, and +had sent the carriage back from the station to take his family to the +Choral Festival which was the event of the year in Marlborough, and then +returning in a hired conveyance, had let himself into his house like a +thief. When we sacrifice principle upon the altar of expediency, truth +and honor, like twin victims, stand bound at its foot. He wanted to be +undisturbed, to have time to think, and God granted his wish, until his +reeling brain prayed for oblivion! + +No sound broke the stillness. With the exception of the servants in a +distant part of the house, he was absolutely alone. + +He drew out his will from a secret drawer of his desk and looked it over +with a ghastly smile. "To my dear niece, Evadne, the sum of thirty +thousand dollars, held by me in trust from her father." Then came a long +list of charities. It read well. People could not say he had left all +to his family and forgotten the Lord. If his executors should find a +difficulty in realizing one quarter of the values so speciously set +forth, they could only say that dividends had shrunk and investments +proved unreliable. It was not his fault. He had meant well. Besides, he +had no thought of dying for years. There was plenty of time for skillful +financing. Other men had done the same and prospered. Why should not he? + +But the letters must be destroyed. He had come to a decision at last. It +was an imperative necessity. His hesitancy had been only the foolish +scruples of an over sensitive conscience. The tremendous pressure of the +age made things permissible. He was "torn by the tooth of circumstance" +and "necessity knows no law." So he entrenched himself behind a +breastwork of sophisms. Long familiarity with the suggestions of evil +had bred a contempt for the good! + +He stretched out his hand towards the drawer. There should be no more +weak delay. If a thing were to be done, 'twere well it were done +quickly. + +The horror of a great fear fell upon him. Again his hand had fallen, and +this time he was powerless to lift it up! + +The hours passed and he sat helpless, bound in that awful chain of +frozen horror. In vain he struggled in a wild rage for freedom. No +muscle stirred. Where was his boasted will power now? Hand and foot, +faithful, uncomplaining slaves for so many years, had rebelled at last! + +His brain seemed on fire and the flashing thoughts blinded him with +their glare. The letters rose from their sepulchre and, clothed in the +majesty of a dead man's faith, looked at him with an awful reproach, +until his very soul bowed in the dust with shame. His will still lay +upon the desk, open at the paragraph "to my dear niece, Evadne," and the +words "in trust," like red hot irons, branded him a felon in the sight +of God and men! + +He remembered having once read a quotation from a great writer,--"When +God says, 'You must not lie and you do lie, it is not possible for Deity +to sweep his law aside and say--'No matter.'" Did God make no allowances +for the nineteenth century? + +The others returned from the Festival, and Louis passed the door +whistling. He had had a rare evening of pleasure with Evadne. Towards +its close, under cover of the rolling harmonies, he had leaned over and +whispered "I love you, dear!" and Evadne had held out her hand to him +with the low pleading cry, "Oh, Louis, if you really do, then set me +free!" but he had only smiled and taken the hand, on which his ring was +gleaming, into his, and settled his arm more securely upon the back of +her chair; and John Randolph, sitting opposite with Dick and Miss Diana, +had watched the little scene and drawn his own conclusions with a sigh. + +The night drew on. The electric lights which it was Judge Hildreth's +fancy to have ablaze in every room downstairs until the central current +was shut off, still gleamed steadily upon the rigid figure before the +desk, with the white, drawn face and the awful look of horror in its +staring eyes. In an agony he tried to call, but no sound escaped the +lips, set in a sphinx-like silence. + +He must shake off this strange lethargy. It was not possible for him to +die--he had not time. To-morrow was the meeting of the Panhattan +directors--they were relying upon him to work through the second call on +stock--and two of his notes fell due, if he did not retire them his +credit would be lost at the bank; and there was the banquet to the +English capitalists, with whom he was negotiating a mining deal; and he +must arrange with his broker to float some more shares of the +"Silverwing"--and manipulate, manipulate, manipulate-- + +An agonized, voiceless cry went up to heaven. "Oh, God, let me have +to-morrow!" + +In the morning a servant found him, when she came to clean the room, and +fled screaming from the presence of the silent figure with the awful +entreaty in its staring eyes. + +Louis hurried downstairs to learn the cause of the commotion, followed +by Mrs. Hildreth, swept for once off her pedestal of stately calm. + +Shivering with horror the family gathered in the beautiful room which +had been so suddenly turned into a death chamber, the servants weeping +boisterously, Isabella and her mother in violent hysterics, and Marion +clinging with wide, frightened eyes to Louis, who found himself thrust +into a man's place of responsibility and did not know what to do! + +He sent one servant to the Hospital for Evadne--instinctively he turned +in his thought to her,--another for the Doctor; while with one arm +around Marion, he tried to sooth his mother and Isabelle. + +And in the midst of all the wild commotion his father sat, unmoved and +silent, his agonized face lifted in an attitude of supplication, his +lifeless hands lying heavily upon the now worthless papers, since for +him there would be no to-morrow! + + * * * * * + +The stately obsequies were ended. The paid quartette had sung their +sweetest, while Doctor Jerome, standing beside the frozen face in the +massive coffin, had delivered an eloquent eulogium, and Mrs. Hildreth, +clad in her costly robes of mourning, had been led to her carriage by +her son. Everything had been conducted in a manner befitting the +Hildreth honor. + + * * * * * + +"Evadne!" Louis turned a white, scared face towards his cousin, who +stood beside him as he sat at his father's desk. Upstairs Mrs. Hildreth +and Isabelle were in solemn consultation with a dressmaker. In the +drawing-room Marion was being consoled by Simpson Kennard. + +"Well, Louis?" She laid her hand on his shoulder gently. She was very +sorry for him. + +"There is some awful mistake. Poor Father seems to have counted on funds +which we can find no trace of. The estate is not worth an eighth of what +he valued it at. There is barely enough to keep you, mother and +Isabelle, alive!" He laid his head down on the desk while great tears +fell through his fingers. The shameful mystery of it was intolerable. + +"But, Louis, have you looked everywhere? There must be some +explanation--" + +Louis shook his head. "Everywhere, but in this drawer. I opened it but +there is nothing but musty old letters. I haven't time to go into them +now. Oh, little coz, I don't dare to look you in the face. All the money +that was left you by your father is gone!" + +"Don't tell Aunt Kate and the girls, Louis, There is no need that they +should ever know. I have my profession and I am strong. Uncle Lawrence +never meant to do anything except what was right, I know." + +Louis looked up at her and there was a strange reverence in his cynical +face. He was in the presence of a Christliness which he had never +dreamed of. "I am not worthy to touch the hem of your garment," he said +humbly. But he did not offer to release her from her promise. He had not +learned to be generous--yet. + +Evadne's dream was ended and rude was the awaking. The idea of helping +her fellows had grown to be a passion with her and very fair had been +the castle in the air of which she was the Princess. A home, not rich or +stately but full of a delightful homeiness which should soothe and cheer +those who, walking through the world amid a storm of tears, call earth a +wilderness, while their desolate hearts echo the mournful question,--"Is +there any sorrow like unto my sorrow." She, too, had been lonely,--she +could understand, and by the sweet influence of human love and sympathy +lift their thought above the earthly shadows up to the love of God. + +She had not dreamed of doing things on a grand scale. Evadne Hildreth +was wise enough to know that comfort cannot be dealt out in wholesale +packages,--she never forgot that Jesus of Nazareth helped the people one +by one. + +She had never questioned the terms of her father's will--if there was a +will. She had supposed when she became of age there would be some +change, but her uncle had made no reference to the subject and she had +not liked to ask. He was always kind--he would do what was best. Some +day she would be free to carry out this beautiful dream of hers. She +could afford to wait. Now there was nothing to wait for any more! + +How strange it seemed, when the need was so great and she longed to help +much! Well, she was only a little child,--she could trust her Father. +God understood. + +That was what he had said, this strong, true friend of hers, that night +he asked the question which he had never asked again. How gentle he +was!--but it was the gentleness of strength--and how every one +depended on him! She, herself, had learned to expect the helpful words +which he always gave her when they met. Friendship was a beautiful +thing! + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +John Randolph came up behind Evadne one morning as she was dressing the +burns of a little lad who had been severely injured at a fire. She did +not hear his step--she was telling a bright story to the little +sufferer, to make him forget his pain, and the boy was laughing loudly. +His face was very grave, but his eyes lightened as they always did when +they rested upon her face. + +"Mrs. Reginald Hawthorne is very ill. Can you, will you come?" + +And Evadne answered with a simple "Yes." They needed so few words, these +two. + +"I tell you I will not die!" The piercing cry rang through the handsome +room and fell like molten lead upon the heart of the man who with +strained, haggard face was sitting by the bedside. "You have not told me +the truth, Reginald! There is a God. I feel it! You have always laughed +and called me young and foolish, but I know better than you do, now. +You said if our lives were governed by reason, we would meet death like +a philosopher, and I do not know how to die! You used to laugh and say +the whole thing was child's play and there was nothing to fear, and I +believed you,--I thought you were so wise, but it was easy to believe +you then with your arms folded close about me and the sunlight streaming +through the windows and the shouts of the children outside, but now you +cannot go with me and I am afraid to go alone." The eyes, wild and +despairing, burned fiercely in the pallid cheeks. "Do you hear, +Reginald? I am afraid, I tell you; horribly afraid! You used to say you +would lay down your life to save me. Why do you not help me now? + +"What makes you look so strangely, if it is all nonsense, Reginald? why +do you shut out all the sunshine and why is the house so still? You told +me once you were going to die with a laugh on your lips. I am dying, +Reginald, why don't you help your wife to die as you mean to do? +A----h!" + +Her voice died away in a low wail of terror and the delicate blue veins +in her temples throbbed with feverish excitement. Reginald Hawthorne had +crouched down in his chair and buried his face in his hands. The pitiful +cry began again. + +"To die, when life is so sweet! To be shut up in a coffin and buried in +a cold, dark grave! You don't love me, Reginald. If you did, you would +die too--with a laugh on your lips you know--then I should have that to +cheer me, and we should be together, and I should not be afraid. But now +you look so strangely, Reginald. Don't you care for me any more? Can you +let them take me away from this beautiful world and stay in it all by +yourself? + +"I suppose you will give me a splendid funeral--you are so generous you +know--but I will not care whether the prison is pine or mahogany if I am +to be shut up in it all alone! And you will have a long procession, with +plumes and flowers and show, but you will leave me in the dreary +cemetery and you will come back to our home, where we have been so happy +together--so happy, just you and I--but you see you are a philosopher +and I do not know how to die! + +"And some day you will forget me--men do such things they say--and +another woman will be your wife and I will be all alone!" + +"Sister!" The abject man in the chair held out his hands in an agony of +entreaty, "Come here and help us--if you can!" and Evadne came swiftly +into the room, and, sitting down on the side of the bed, gathered the +pitiful little figure to her heart. + +"It is not death but life," she said gently. "This body is not _you_. +The home of the soul is more beautiful than, any earthly home can ever +be. It is those who are left behind dear, who mourn, not those who go." + +Elise Hawthorne laid her head on Evadne's shoulder like a tired child. +"But I am afraid," she whispered. "If this is true, and God is holy, I +am not fit, you know." + +"Your Father loves you dear, for he sent his Son to die. The thief on +the cross was a sinner, yet Christ took him to Paradise. The fitness +must come from Jesus. His blood washes whiter than snow." + +"But I have done nothing to earn it. I have lived for myself alone." + +"We never can earn a gift, dear. God gives in a royal way. He says to +you only 'Believe I have given you life through my Son.'" Evadne had +taken the tiny Bible which she always carried from her pocket and was +turning its pages rapidly. "Here it is. Will you raise the blind, Mr. +Hawthorne, that your wife may see for herself? 'God so loved the world +that he gave his only begotten Son,'--the best he had!--'that whosoever +believeth in him should not perish,' you see there is no death for those +who trust in him. And then 'He that believeth on the Son _hath_ +everlasting life.' It does not mean that we may have it after years of +toil. The Israelites, stung by the serpents, had no time to reason or +plan to live better, for they were dying, but they could turn their eyes +to the brazen serpent which God had ordered to be lifted up in the midst +of tho camp for an antidote to the poison. So Christ has been 'lifted +up' upon the cross for us. He died instead of you. Why should you die +forever when he has paid your ransom and set you free?" + +"But I cannot touch him,--I cannot be sure it is true." + +"The Israelites could not touch the brazen serpent. They simply looked, +and lived. There is just one condition for us to-day and it is +'Believe.' Cannot you take your Heavenly Father at his word as you would +your husband? Cannot you treat God the same?" + +Mrs. Hawthorne looked wonderingly at her nurse. "Treat him the same as I +do my husband!" she exclaimed. "Why, with Reginald, I believe every word +he says." + +"And I with God," said Evadne reverently. + +"What charm have you wrought?" asked John Randolph in a whisper, as they +stood together that evening beside a quiet sleeper. "This is the first +natural sleep she has had. I believe it will prove her salvation." + +Evadne looked up at him, and over her face a light was breaking, "I have +led her to Jesus, the Mighty to save." + + * * * * * + +The Hawthornes were going to Europe. The young wife's convalescence had +been tedious and it was a very frail little figure which clung to Evadne +the evening before they started. They had pleaded with her to go with +them. "Give up this toilsome work which is overtaxing your strength," +Reginald had said, as they sat together one evening in the twilight, +"and make your home with us. You have grown to be our sister in the +truest sense of the word and we have learned to lean upon you, Elise and +I. We can never hope to repay you," he continued huskily, "but it would +be such a pleasure to have you with us for good." + +Evadne looked at the pleading eyes with which Elise Hawthorne seconded +her husband's wish and her lips trembled. "How rich God is making me in +friends!" she said. "I shall never forget that this thing has been in +your hearts, but I must be about my Father's business." + +And then John Randolph had come to make one of his pleasant, informal +visits and they had sat together in a beautiful fellowship, talking of +the things pertaining to the Kingdom. + +"Doctor Randolph," Elise asked suddenly, "what is your conception of +prayer? Evadne says it means to her communion and companionship with +Jesus. She says it is 'the practice of the presence of God.'" + +John Randolph's face grew luminous. "To me it means a great stillness," +he said. "Did you ever think of the silences of God? 'Be still, and know +that I am God,' 'Stand still, and see his salvation.'" + +"But are we not to ask for what we want?" asked Mrs. Hawthorne +wonderingly. + +"Oh, yes, but we learn to ask so little for ourselves when we love our +Father's will. The trouble is, we, want to do the talking. God would +have us listen while he speaks." + +"Then what does it mean to worship God?" she asked. "We cannot always be +in church." + +John Randolph smiled. "We do not need to be. If our hearts are all on +fire with the love of God, we worship him continually." + +When he rose to go he turned towards Evadne. "How goes life with you +now, dear friend?" + +The grey eyes, full of a clear shining, were lifted to his, "I am +absolutely satisfied with Jesus Christ." + +Marion was married and living in New York. Louis had taken a small +house, where he lived with his mother and Isabelle. He spent his days in +the monotonous routine of a hank, and to his pleasure-loving nature the +drudgery seemed intolerable, but he said little. Evadne never +complained! + +One day he went to see her at the Hospital and she was frightened at the +pallor of his face. She led him to the superintendent's reception +room--there they would be undisturbed. He staggered blindly as he +entered the room and then sank heavily on a sofa near the door. He +looked like an old man. + +"Louis!" she cried in alarm, "what is the matter?" + +He took a letter from his pocket and held it toward her. It bore her own +name, and the writing was her father's! + +"Can you _ever_ forgive?" Then he buried his face in his arms and +groaned aloud. The awful disgrace and shame of it seemed more than he +could bear. + +Interminable seemed the hours after Louis had left her, walking slowly, +with that strange, grey shadow upon his face, and stooping as if some +unseen burden were crushing him to the earth. She dared not let herself +think. She must wait until she was alone. At last she was free to go to +her room. + +Down on her knees she read the passionate farewell words, which made her +heart thrill, so full of tender advice and loving thought for her +comfort. Through streaming tears she looked at the closely written pages +of instructions, so minute that she could not err--and he had disliked +writing so much! This was the weary task which had tried him so! And all +these years she had never known. She had been robbed of her birthright! + +Fierce and long the battle raged. When it was ended God heard his child +cry softly, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass +against us." + +She had forgiven! + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +Mrs. Simpson Kennard was sitting in her pretty morning room with her +baby on her knee. She looked across the room at her sister who was +paying her a visit. "I wish you had a little child to love, Isabelle. It +makes life so different. I am just wrapped up in Florimel." + +"For pity's sake, Marion," cried Isabelle peevishly, "don't you grow to +be one of those tiresome women who think the whole world is interested +in a baby's tooth! I certainly do not echo your wish. I think children +are a nuisance." + +Marion caught up her baby in dismay. "Why, Isabelle, just think how much +they do for us! They broaden our sympathies--I read that only the other +day, and----" + +"Broaden your fiddlesticks!" said Isabelle contemptuously. "Easy for you +to talk when you have everything you want! If you had to live in that +poky little house in Marlborough, I guess you would not find anything +very broadening about them! + +"It is perfectly preposterous to think of our being reduced to such a +style of living!" she continued, as Mrs. Kennard strove to soothe her +baby's injured feelings with kisses. "Just fancy, only one servant! I +never thought a Hildreth would fall so low." + +"But you and Mamma are comfortable, Isabelle. It is not as if you were +forced to do anything." + +"Do anything!" echoed Isabelle. "Are you going crazy?" + +"Well, see how hard Evadne has to work? and she is a Hildreth as well as +you." + +"Evadne!" said Isabelle sarcastically, "with her nerves of steel and +spine of adamant! Evadne will never kill herself with work. She is too +much taken up with her wealthy private patients. You should have seen +her driving round with the Hawthornes in their elegant carriage And I +reduced to dependence upon the electric cars! I don't see how she +manages to worm her way into people's confidence as she seems to do. I +couldn't, but then I have such a horror of being forward." + +"'All doors are open to those who smile.' I believe that is the reason, +Isabelle." + +"Stuff and nonsense!" was Miss Hildreth's inelegant reply. + +"She is a dear girl, Isabelle. Why will you persist in disliking her +so?" + +"Oh, pray spare me any panegyrics!" said Isabelle carelessly. "It is bad +enough to have Louis blazing up like a volcano if one has the temerity +to mention her ladyship's name." + +"How is Louis?" asked Mrs. Kennard, finding she was treading on +dangerous ground. + +"Oh, the same as usual. He looks like a ghost, and is about as cheerful +as a cemetery. He spends his holidays going over musty old letters in +papa's desk. I'm sure I don't see what fun he finds in it. It is so +selfish in him, when he might be giving mamma and me some pleasure--but +Louis never did think of anyone but himself. One day I found him +stretched across the desk and it gave me such a fright! You know what a +state my nerves are in. I thought he was in a fit or something,--he just +looked like death, and he didn't seem to hear me when I called. He had a +large envelope addressed to papa in his hand and there was another under +his arm that didn't look as if it had ever been opened, but I couldn't +see the address. I ran for mamma, but before we got back he was gone and +the letters with him. Whatever it was, it has had an awful effect upon +him, though he won't give us any satisfaction, you know how provoking he +is. It is my belief he is going into decline, and I have such a horror +of contagious diseases! + +"If Evadne is so anxious to work, why doesn't she come and help mamma +and me? It is the least she could do after all we have done for her, but +as mamma says, 'It is just a specimen of the ingratitude there is in the +world.'" + + * * * * * + +The months rolled by and Evadne sat one afternoon in the +superintendent's reception room reading a letter which the postman had +just delivered. It bore the Vernon postmark. + +She had seen but little of Mrs. Everidge through the years which +followed her graduation. She had been constantly busy and her aunt's +hands had been full, for her husband's health had failed utterly and he +demanded continual care. Now her long, beautiful ministry was over, for +Horace Everidge, serenely selfish to the last, had fallen into the +slumber which knows no earthly waking, and Aunt Marthe was free. + +"I do not know what it means," she wrote, "but something tells me I +shall not be long in Vernon. I am just waiting to see what work the King +has for me to do." + +Evadne pressed the letter to her lips. "Dear Aunt Marthe! If the +majority had had your 'tribulum' they would think they had earned the +right to play!" + +She looked up. John Randolph was standing before her with a package in +his hands. + +"I have been commissioned by the Hawthornes to give this into your own +possession," he said with a smile. + +She opened it wonderingly. Bonds and certificates of stock bearing her +name. What did it mean? John Randolph had drawn a chair opposite her and +was watching her face closely. + +"You cannot think what long consultations we have held on the subject of +what you would like," he said, "you seemed to have no wishes of your +own. At last a happy thought struck Reginald, and he sent me a power of +attorney to make the transfer of these bonds and stocks to you. It is a +Trust Fund to be used to help souls. We all thought that would please +you best of all. You are a rich woman, Miss Hildreth." + +A great wave of joy swept over her bewildered face. "So God has sent me +the fulfilment of my dream!" she said softly. And John Randolph +understood. + +That evening she wrote to Mrs. Everidge. + +"Dear Aunt Marthe,--The King's work is waiting for you in Marlborough. +The work that we used to long for--the joy of lifting the shadows from +the hearts of the heavy laden--God has given to you and me!" + + * * * * * + +"Why should you not come to 'The Willows'?" + +John Randolph put the question one afternoon, as they were enjoying Miss +Diana's hospitality in the fragrant porch. Evadne had just finished a +merry recital of their woes. + +"We have looked at houses until we are fairly distracted, Aunt Marthe +and I. One had a cellar kitchen, and I am not going to have my good Dyce +buried in a cellar kitchen; and one had no bathroom, and another was all +stairs; and they are all nothing but brick and mortar with a scrap of +sky between. I want trees and water and fields. The poor souls have +enough of masonry in their daily lives." + +"I believe it is decreed that you should come here," he continued, after +the first exclamations of surprise were over. "It is just the work our +lady delights in, and she cannot be left alone. Dick goes to College +next month and I must live in town. The house is beautiful for +situation, and a threefold cord of love and faith cannot easily be +broken." + +He looked round upon them, this man who found his joy in helping others, +and waited for their answer. + +"It would be beautiful, beautiful!" cried Evadne, "if Miss +Chillingworth were willing. But the house is not large enough, Doctor +Randolph, we shall need three or four guest chambers, you know." + +"Nothing easier than to build an addition," said John, with the quiet +reserve of power which always made his patients believe in the +impossible. + +Evadne laid her hand upon Miss Chillingworth's--"Dear Miss Diana," she +said gently, "you do not say 'No' to us; do you think you could ever +find it in your heart to say 'Yes'? I know it must seem a terrible +innovation, but we could never have imagined anything half so +delightful, Aunt Marthe and I. The atmosphere--outdoors and in--is +perfection!" + +Miss Diana looked at the sparkling face and then at Mrs. Everidge with +her gentle smile. "I find myself _very_ glad," she said, "since I have +to lose my boys, but do you think we had better make any definite plans, +dear, until we have talked it over with the Lord?" + +And John Randolph said to Evadne with eyes that were suspiciously +bright; "It is impossible for anyone to get very far from the Kingdom, +when they live with our Lady Di." + +The talk had wandered then to different subjects, and John Randolph +listened to the soft play of Evadne's fancy and watched the light in +her wonderful eyes. Her nature, so long repressed in an uncongenial +environment, in this new soil of love and sympathy was blossoming richly +and he found her very fair. He had rarely seen her resting. Now the +shapely hands were folded together in a beautiful stillness--and then +the breeze had waved aside a flower, and a sunbeam, darting through the +trellis, fell upon the stone in her ring and made it sparkle with a +baleful fire! + +"Poor Louis!" Isabelle had said, the last time he had been called to +prescribe for her frequently recurring attacks of indisposition, "he +will have to wait for promotion now before he can think of marriage. It +is very hard for him." + +So again the truth and the lie had mingled. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +Very sweet grew the life at 'The Willows' and Mrs. Everidge and Evadne +and Miss Diana found their hands full of happy work. + +Unavella still reigned supreme in her kitchen. "'Tain't a great sight +harder to cook for a dozen than six," she had remarked sententiously, +when the plan was unfolded to her, "it's only a matter uv quantity, the +quality's jest the same. Ef Miss Di-an's a'goin ter start in ter be a +she Atlas an' carry the world on her shoulders, she'll find I'm +warranted ter wash an' not shrink in the rinsin'. I'm not a'goin ter be +left behind, without I hev changed my name." + +Dyce kept the rooms in spotless order and waited upon the guests. + +"Dear friend," said Evadne one morning, as she watched her putting +loving touches to the dining table, "you take as much trouble as if you +expected Jesus Christ to be here!" + +"So I does, Miss 'Vadney," she answered simply, "I never feels +comfortable 'cept when dere's a place fer de Lord," and Evadne answered, +"Dear Dyce, you make me feel ashamed!" + +Many and varied were the guests who partook of their hospitality. The +famine which no material wealth can alleviate is not confined to the +dwellings of the poor. Hearts starve beneath coverings of velvet and +loneliness often rides in a carriage. Many were the patients whom the +world counted "well to do" that John Randolph sent to Evadne to be +comforted. There was nothing to make them suspect that the keen +intuition of the young physician had read their secret. 'The Willows' +was simply a charming retreat where he sent them to try his favorite +tonics of sunlight and oxygen; they never dreamed they were to be the +recipients of favors which would not be rendered in the bill. + +It was a beautiful fellowship in which they were banded together, for +the Hawthornes had returned and were learning to find their pleasure in +doing their Father's will. Dick True was in the brotherhood also, and +never came home for his vacations without bringing with him "some fellow +who needed a taste of love," and the overgrown boys would glory in their +strength as they lifted Miss Diana from the carriage after a delightful +drive, and learn a strange gentleness as they were unconsciously +trained in the little deeds of chivalry which bespeak a true man. + +Soon after Evadne's dream had materialized John Randolph had sent her a +dainty little equipage to help on the work. + +"You are too kind!" she cried, as she thanked him, "too generous!" + +"Can we be that?" he asked, "when we are giving to a King? It is a +theory of mine that a drive in the country with the right companion is +better than exordiums. These poor souls have never learned to see +'sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, and God in everything.' +You must give me the pleasure of a little share in your beautiful work, +my friend." + +"A little share!" echoed Evadne. "Is it possible that you do not know, +Doctor Randolph, how much of it belongs to you!" + +The beauty of the life was that the guests were taken into the heart of +the living and felt themselves a part of the home. They never preached, +these wise, tender women, but the beautiful incidental teachings sank +deep into hearts that would have been closed fast against sermons. There +was no stereotyped effort to do them good, they simply lived as Christ +did, and the world-tired souls looked on and marveled, and rejoiced in +the sunlight of the present and the afterglow which made the memory of +their visit a delight. + +"'Do not leave the sky out of your landscape,'" said Aunt Marthe in her +cheery way, as Mrs. Dolours was wailing over her troubles. That was +all--for the time,--Mrs. Everidge believed in homeopathy--but it set her +hearer thinking, and thought found expression in questioning, until she +was led to the feet of the great Teacher and learned to roll her burden +of trouble upon him who came to bear the burdens of the world. + +"'We are not to be anxious about living but about living well,'" said +Miss Diana to a young man who prided himself upon being a philosopher +"that is a maxim of Plato's but we can only carry it out by the help of +the Lord, my boy." And he listened to Evadne's merry laugh as she pelted +Hans with cherries while Gretchen dreamed of the Fatherland under the +trees by the brook, and wondered whether after all the men who had made +it their aim to stifle every natural inclination, had learned the true +secret of living as well as these happy souls who laid their cares down +at the feet of their Father, and gave their lives into Christ's keeping +day by day. + +"You just seem to live in the present," wealthy Mrs. Greyson said with a +sigh, as she folded her jeweled fingers over her rich brocade, "I don't +see how you do it! Life is one long presentiment with me. I am filled +with such horrible forebodings. I tell Doctor Randolph, it is a sort of +moral nightmare." + + "Some of your griefs you have cured, + And the sharpest you still have survived, + But what torments of pain you endured, + From evils that never arrived!" + +Evadne quoted the words from a book of old French poems she had found in +the library. Then she asked gently, "Why should you worry about the +future, dear Mrs. Greyson, when it is such a waste of time? Don't you +believe our Father loves his children? + +"A waste of time." That was a new way of looking at it! Mrs. Greyson had +always prided herself upon being thrifty, and, if God loved, would he +let any real harm happen? She knew she would shield her children. How +blind she had been! + +"Ah, but you have never known sorrow!" and Mrs. Morner drew her sable +draperies around her with a sigh. "Just look at your face! Not a shadow +upon it and hardly a wrinkle. You are one of the favored ones with whom +life has been all sunshine." + +Mrs. Everidge laughed brightly. She had never pined to pose as a martyr +before the world. + +"God has been wondrous kind to me," she said, "but there is a cure for +all sorrow, dear friend, in his love. The great Physician is the only +one who has a medicament for that disease. It is not forgetfulness, you +know--he does not deal in narcotics--but he lays his pierced hand upon +our bleeding hearts and stills their pain. Our memory is as fresh as +ever, but it is memory with the sting taken out." + +"Ah, but you cannot understand--how should you? You have always had +everything you wanted, and you have never lost anything or longed for +what has been denied you!" and a toilworn woman, whose life seemed one +long battle with disappointment, looked enviously at Miss Diana, over +whose peaceful face life's twilight was falling in tender colors. + +"Not quite everything I wanted, dear," said Miss Diana softly, "but I +have come to know that God himself is sufficient for all our needs." + +"Our dear Miss Diana has learned that 'we must sit in the sunshine if we +would reflect the rainbow,'" said Aunt Marthe in her low tones. "It is a +good rule, 'for every look we take at self, to take ten looks at Jesus.' +She lives in the light of his smile." + +Then through the open window they heard Evadne singing, + + "Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west, + And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incompleteness, + Round our restlessness, his rest." + +And the weary soul folded its tired wings, all wounded with vain +beatings against the prison bars of circumstance, and was hushed into a +great stillness against the heart of its Father. + + * * * * * + +John Randolph sought Evadne in the familiar porch which had grown to be +to him the sweetest spot on earth. + +"You are always busy," he said with a smile, as he lifted the garment +she was making for the little waif who was to have her first taste of +heaven at 'The Willows.' Satan has no chance to find an occupation for +you." + +"But, oh, Doctor Randolph, what a drop in the bucket all our doing +seems, when we think of the need of the world!" + +"Yet without the drops the bucket would be empty, dear friend. God never +expects the impossible from us, you know. I think Christ's highest +commendation will always be, 'She hath done what she could.' It is when +we neglect the doing that he is wounded." + +After a pause he spoke again. "With your permission I am going to send +you a new patient." There was no trace of the struggle through which he +had passed. This brave soul had learned to do the right and leave the +rest with God. + +Evadne laughed. "Still they come! Is it man, woman or child. Doctor +Randolph?" + +"Your cousin Louis." His voice was very still. + +"Poor Louis! Is it more serious then? He has been looking wretchedly for +months." + +John Randolph examined her face critically. Could she call him "poor +Louis" if she loved? + +"His present trouble is nervous strain, aggravated by the unaccustomed +confinement, and some mental excitement under which he is laboring. He +must have a long rest, with a complete change of environment. If anyone +can lift the cloud which seems to be hanging over him, I think it is +you." + +Evadne shook her head sadly. "The only one who can help Louis is Jesus +Christ," she said. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +Louis Hildreth lay upon a couch in the cool library the morning after +his arrival at 'The Willows.' Evadne had been shocked at the change in +him since she had seen him last. His eyes were sunken, while underneath +purple shadows fell upon his pallid cheeks. He touched Evadne's hand as +she sat beside him. It was his hand! + +"What a splendid fellow Randolph is!" he exclaimed suddenly. "He is +making himself felt in Marlborough, I tell you. Strange, how some men +forge their way to the front, while the rest of us just float down the +stream of mediocrity. No wonder we are not missed, when we drop out of +the babbling conglomerate of humanity into silence," he added bitterly. +"Who would miss a single pair of fins from amidst a shoal of herring!" + +"I think it is because Doctor Randolph is not content to float, Louis," +Evadne answered gently. "He must always be climbing higher. Like Paul, +he is 'pressing towards the mark.'" + +"He is a grand fellow! And the beauty of it is he never seems to think +of himself at all. Most men would get to be top-lofty if they +accomplished as much as he does every day." + +Evadne's lips parted in a happy smile. "I think Doctor Randolph is too +much occupied with Jesus to have time to waste upon himself." + +"Upon my word, coz, you're a puzzle! You talk in an unknown tongue. +Don't you know Self is the god we worship, and the aim of our existence +is to have it wear purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every +day?" + +"It should not be!" cried Evadne. "Oh Louis, dear Louis, life can never +be grand until we are able to say--'Self has been crucified with +Christ!'" + + * * * * * + +Weeks rolled into months and Louis was still at 'The Willows.' His +cynicism had come to have a strangely wistful ring. John Randolph's +visits were frequent and they held long conversations together, these +men, the one who had seized every opportunity and made the most of it, +the other who had let his golden chances slip through his fingers one by +one; then John Randolph would go bravely back to his life of toil, while +Louis listened to Evadne's sweet voice as she sang in the gloaming, or +watched his ring glisten as her deft fingers were busy with their deeds +of love. + +"How do you do it?" he exclaimed one evening when they were alone +together. "You never rest! Your whole life seems to be centered in the +lives of others, and there is nothing attractive about them, if there +were I could understand. It looks like such drudgery to me. Tell me, +little coz, what makes you give up all your ease to make these people +happy?" + +"When we love our Father it is our joy to do his will," she answered +softly. + +"If I could live like you and Randolph I should be perfectly satisfied. +I wish I had the courage to try." + +"Mere outward living cannot save us, Louis. Nothing can but faith in the +atoning blood and the name and the love of Christ. Then--when we +believe, you know--all things become possible. We make an awful mistake +when we think we know better than the Bible. Nicodemus lived a perfect +outward life, yet Christ said to him, 'Except ye be born again--of the +Word and the Spirit--ye cannot see the Kingdom of God.' We are running a +terrible risk when we try to live without Jesus." + +"That is what Randolph says. He is a one idea man, if ever there was +one, and yet he is so many sided! He is the most uncompromising fellow +I ever knew. I should as soon expect to see the stars fall from the sky +as to see him do a shady thing. You would be amused, coz, to see the +lady mother and Isabelle joining forces to lay siege to his affections." + +What meant that sudden start and then the blush which flamed up over +cheek and brow? Louis Hildreth closed his thin fingers over Evadne's +ring with a long drawn sigh. He was beginning to realize that a hand, +without a heart, is an empty thing. + +Long after she had left him he lay motionless. This knowledge which had +come to him so suddenly had a bitter taste. + + * * * * * + +"You ought to get well, Hildreth, and you ought to be a very happy man," +John Randolph spoke the words suddenly as he rose to take his leave. + +"I never expect to be either. When a man has all he has prided himself +upon swept away from him, and all that he longs for denied him, how can +it be possible?" + +"'Count it your highest good when God denies you.' Is that too hard a +gospel? We shall not read it so in the light of eternity. It is only +that Christ may become to us the 'altogether lovely' One." + +"Did you ever love--a woman?" Louis put the question suddenly, watching +his friend's face with a jealous scrutiny. + +"Yes." The answer was as simple and straightforward as the man. He knew +of nothing to be ashamed of in this beautiful love of his life. + +"And her name was?--" + +"Evadne." + +John Randolph spoke the name for the first time to another, looking up +at the sky. When he turned to leave the room he saw that Louis' face was +buried among his cushions and he drove away in a great wonderment. What +could it all mean? + + "Knocking, knocking, who is there? + Waiting, waiting, oh, how fair! + 'T is a pilgrim, strange and kingly, + Never such was seen before. + Ah, my soul, for such a wonder, + Wilt thou not undo the door?" + +Evadne sang the words softly in the twilight: sang them with a great +note of longing in her pleading voice. She and her cousin were alone. + +"Evadne, come here." + +She crossed the room and knelt beside his couch. + +"Little coz, I have let the Pilgrim in." + +And Evadne buried her face in the cushions with a low cry. The crown of +rejoicing was hers--at last! + + * * * * * + +"There is only one thing wanting between you two." Louis looked +wistfully at John Randolph and Evadne, as they stood beside him, talking +brightly of how he should help when he grew strong. + +"And what is that?" Doctor Randolph asked the question with a smile. + +Louis drew his ring from Evadne's finger and laid her hand in that of +his friend. "Take her, Randolph, she is worthy of you. I would not say +that of any other woman." + +With a great joy surging in his heart, John Randolph held out his other +hand. She must give herself. He could not take her from another's +giving. + +A lovely shyness flushed into the pure face, their eyes met, and Evadne +laid her hand in his without a word. + +"Evadne!" The rich, tender tones fell throbbing through the silence, +enwrapping the name in a sweet protectiveness. "Life is--for us--to do +the will of God!" + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Beautiful Possibility, by Edith Ferguson Black + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY *** + +***** This file should be named 10037-8.txt or 10037-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/3/10037/ + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Dave Avis +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Beautiful Possibility + +Author: Edith Ferguson Black + +Release Date: November 10, 2003 [EBook #10037] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY *** + + + + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Dave Avis +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +[Illustration: LOUIS DASHED THE GLOWING END OF HIS CIGAR IN THE NEGRO'S +FACE.] + + + + +A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY + +BY + +EDITH FERGUSON BLACK + + + + + +A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +In one of the fairest of the West Indian islands a simple but elegant +villa lifted its gabled roofs amidst a bewildering wealth of tropical +beauty. Brilliant birds flitted among the foliage, gold and silver +fishes darted to and fro in a large stone basin of a fountain which +threw its glittering spray over the lawn in front of the house, and on +the vine-shaded veranda hammocks hung temptingly, and low wicker chairs +invited to repose. + +Behind the jalousies of the library the owner of the villa sat at a +desk, busily writing. He was a slight, delicate looking man, with an +expression of careless good humor upon his face and an easy air of +assurance according with the interior of the room which bespoke a +cultured taste and the ability to gratify it. Books were everywhere, +rare bits of china, curios and exquisitely tinted shells lay in +picturesque confusion upon tables and wall brackets of native woods; +soft silken draperies fell from the windows and partially screened from +view a large alcove where microscopes of different sizes stood upon +cabinets whose shelves were filled with a miscellaneous collection of +rare plants and beautiful insects, specimens from the agate forest of +Arizona, petrified remains from the 'Bad Lands' of Dakota, feathery +fronded seaweed, skeletons of birds and strange wild creatures, and all +the countless curiosities in which naturalists delight. + +Lenox Hildreth when a young man, forced to flee from the rigors of the +New England climate by reason of an inherited tendency to pulmonary +disease, had chosen Barbadoes as his adopted country, and had never +since revisited the land of his birth. From the first, fortune had +smiled upon him, and when, some time after his marriage with the +daughter of a wealthy planter, she had come into possession of all her +father's estates, he had built the house which for fifteen years he had +called home. When Evadne, their only daughter, was a little maiden of +six, his wife had died, and for nine years father and child had been all +the world to each other. + +He finished writing at last with a sigh of relief, and folding the +letter, together with one addressed to Evadne, he enclosed both in a +large envelope which he sealed and addressed to Judge Hildreth, +Marlborough, Mass. Then he leaned back in his chair, and, clasping his +hands behind his head, looked fixedly at the picture of his fair young +wife which hung above his desk. + +"A bad job well done, Louise--or a good one. Our little lass isn't very +well adapted to making her way among strangers, and the Bohemianism of +this life is a poor preparation for the heavy respectability of a New +England existence. Lawrence is a good fellow, but that wife of his +always put me in mind of iced champagne, sparkling and cold." He sighed +heavily, "Poor little Vad! It is a dreary outlook, but it seems my one +resource. Lawrence is the only relative I have in the world. + +"After all, I may be fighting windmills, and years hence may laugh at +this morning's work as an example of the folly of yielding to +unnecessary alarm. Danvers is getting childish. All physicians get to be +old fogies, I fancy, a natural sequence to a life spent in hunting down +germs I suppose. They grow to imagine them where none exist." + +He rose, and strolled out on the veranda. As he did so, a negro, whose +snow-white hair had earned for him from his master the sobriquet of +Methusaleh, came towards the broad front steps. He was a grotesque image +as he stood doffing a large palm-leaf hat, and Lenox Hildreth felt an +irresistible inclination to laugh, and laughed accordingly. His +morning's occupation had been one of the rare instances in which he had +run counter to his inclinations. Sky blue cotton trousers showed two +brown ankles before his feet hid themselves in a pair of clumsy shoes; a +scarlet shirt, ornamented with large brass buttons and fastened at the +throat with a cotton handkerchief of vivid corn color, was surmounted by +an old nankeen coat, upon whose gaping elbows a careful wife had sewn +patches of green cloth; his hands were encased in white cotton gloves +three sizes too large, whose finger tips waved in the wind as their +wearer flourished his palm-leaf headgear in deprecating obeisance. + +"Well, Methusaleh, where are you off to now?" and Lenox Hildreth leaned +against a flower wreathed pillar in lazy amusement. + +"To camp-meetin', Mass Hildreff. I hez your permission, sah?" and the +negro rolled his eyes with a ludicrous expression of humility. + +His master laughed with the easy indulgence which made his servants +impose upon him. + +"You seem to have taken it, you rascal. It is rather late in the day to +ask for permission when you and your store clothes are all ready for a +start." + +"'Scuse me, Mass Hildreff," with another deprecating wave of the +palm-leaf hat, "but yer see I knowed yer wouldn't dissapint me of de +priv'lege uv goin' ter camp-meetin' nohow." + +Lenox Hildreth held his cigar between his slender fingers and watched +the tiny wreaths of smoke as they circled about his head. + +"So camp-meeting is a privilege, is it?" he said carelessly. "How much +more good will it do you to go there than to stay at home and hoe my +corn?" + +The eyes were rolled up until only the whites were visible. + +"Powerful sight more good, Mass Hildreff. De preacher's 'n uncommon +relijus man, an' de 'speriences uv de bredren is mighty upliftin'. Yes, +sah!" + +"Well, see that they don't lift you up so high that you'll forget to +come down again. I suppose you have an experience in common with the +rest?" + +"Yes, Mass Hildreff," and the palm-leaf made another gyration through +the air. "I'se got a powerful 'sperience, sah." + +"Well, off you go. It would be a pity to deprive the assembly of such +an edifying specimen of sanctimoniousness." + +"Yes, sah, I'se bery sanktimonyus. I'se 'bliged to you, sah." + +With a last obsequious flourish the palm-leaf was restored to its +resting-place upon the snowy wool, and the negro shambled away. When he +had gone a few yards a sudden thought struck his master and he called,-- + +"Methusaleh, I say, Methusaleh!" + +"Yes, sah," and the servant retraced his steps. + +"What about that turkey of mine that you stole last week? You can't go +to camp-meeting with that on your conscience. Come, now, better take off +your finery and repent in sackcloth and ashes." + +For an instant the negro was nonplused, then the palm-leaf was +flourished grandiloquently, while its owner said in a voice of withering +scorn,-- + +"Laws! Mass Hildreff, do yer spose I'se goin' ter neglec' de Lawd fer +one lil' turkey?" + +His master turned on his heel with a low laugh. "Of a piece with the +whole of them!" he said bitterly. "Hypocrites and shams!" + +"Evadne!" he exclaimed impetuously, as a slight girlish figure came +towards him, "never say a single word that you do not mean nor express +a sensation that you have not felt. It is the people who neglect this +rule who play havoc with themselves and the world." + +"Why, dearest, you frighten me!" and the girl slipped her hand through +his arm with a low, sweet laugh. "I never saw you look so solemn +before." + +"Hypocrisy, Vad, is the meanest thing on earth! The pious people at the +church yonder call me an unbeliever, but they've got themselves to thank +for it. I may be a good-for-nothing but at least I will not preach what +I do not practise." + +"You are as good as gold, dearest. I won't have you say such horrid +things! And you don't need to preach anything. I am sure no one in all +the world could be happier than we." + +Her father put his hand under her chin, and, lifting her face towards +his, looked long and earnestly at the pure brow, about which the brown +hair clustered in natural curls, the clear-cut nose, the laughing lips +parted over a row of pearls, and the wonderful deep gray eyes. + +"_Are_ you happy, little one?" he asked wistfully. "Are you quite sure +about that?" + +"Happy!" the girl echoed the word with an incredulous smile. "Why, +dearest, what has come to you? You never needed to ask me such a +question before! Don't you know there isn't a girl in Barbadoes who has +been so thoroughly spoiled, and has found the spoiling so sweet? Do I +look more than usually mournful to-day that you should think I am pining +away with grief?" She looked up at him with a roguish laugh. + +He smiled and laid his finger caressingly on the dimpled chin. "Dear +little bird!" he said tenderly; "but when this dimple captivates the +heart of some one, Vad, you will fly away and leave the poor father in +the empty nest." + +Her color glowed softly through the olive skin. She threw her arms +around his neck and laid her face against his breast. "You know better!" +she exclaimed passionately. "You know I wouldn't leave you for all the +'some ones' in the world!" + +Her father caught her close. "Poor little lass!" he said with a sigh. + +The girl lifted her head and looked at him anxiously. "Dearest, what +_is_ the matter? I am sure you are not well! You have been sitting too +long at that tiresome writing." + +"Yes, that is it, darling," he said with a sudden change of tone. +"Writing always does give me the blues. I think the man who invented the +art should have been put in a pillory for the rest of his natural life. +Blow your whistle for Sam to bring the horses and we will go for a ride +along the beach." + +Evadne lifted the golden whistle which hung at her girdle and blew the +call which the well-trained servant understood. "Fi, dearest!" she said, +"if there were no writing there would be no books, and what would become +of our beautiful evenings then? But I am glad you do not have to write +much, since it tires you so. What has it all been about, dear? Am I +never to know?" + +"Some day, perhaps, little Vad. But do not indulge in the besetting sin +of your sex, or, like the mother of the race, you may find your apple +choke you in the chewing." + +Evadne shook her finger at him. "Naughty one! As if you were not three +times as curious as I! And when it comes to waiting,--you should have +named me Patience, sir!" + +Her father laughed as he kissed her, then he tied on her hat, threw on +his own, and hand-in-hand like two children they ran down the veranda +steps to where the groom stood waiting with the horses. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +A month full of happy days had flown by when Evadne and her father +returned one morning from a long tramp in search of specimens. A +delightful afternoon had followed, he in a hammock, she on a low seat +beside him, arranging, classifying and preparing their morning's spoil +for the microscope. Suddenly she turned towards him with a troubled +face. + +"Dearest, how pale you look! Are you very tired?" + +"It is only the heat," he answered lightly. "We had a pretty stiff walk +this morning, you know." + +"And I carried you on and on!" she cried reproachfully. "I was so +anxious to find this particular crab. Isn't he a pretty fellow?" and she +lifted the box that her father might watch the tiny creature's play. "I +shall go at once and make you an orange sherbet." + +"Let Dinah do it and you stay here with me." + +"No indeed! You know you think no one can make them as well as I do. I +promise you this one shall be superfine." + +"As you will, little one,--only don't stay away too long." + +He lay very still after she had left him, looking dreamily through the +vines at the silver spray of the fountain. The air had grown +oppressively sultry; no breath of wind stirred the heavily drooping +leaves, no sound except the rhythmic splash of the fountain and the soft +lapping of the waves upon the beach. He closed his eyes while their +ceaseless monotone seemed to beat upon his brain. + +"Forever! Forever! Forever!" + +A spasm of pain crossed his face as Evadne's voice woke the echoes with +a merry song. "Poor little lass!" he murmured. Then he smiled as she +came towards him, quaffed off the beverage she had prepared with loving +skill, and called her the best cook in all the Indies. + +"Has it refreshed you, dearest?" she asked anxiously. + +"Immensely! Now you shall read me some of Lalla Rookh, and after dinner +I will set about making a Mecca for your crab." + +Evadne stroked the dainty claws,-- + +"Poor little chap! So you are a pilgrim like the rest of us. I wish we +did not have to go on and on, dearest!" she exclaimed passionately, +"why cannot we stand still and enjoy?" + +"It would grow monotonous, little Vad. Progress is the law of all being, +and seventy years of life is generally enough for the majority. You +would not like to live to be an old lady of two hundred and fifty? Think +how tired you would be!" + +She laid her cheek against his upon the pillow. "I should _never_ grow +tired,--with you!" + +The evening drew on, hot and breathless. Low growls of distant thunder +were heard at intervals, and in the eastern sky the lightning played. + +Evadne watched it, sitting on the top step of the veranda, her white +muslin dress in happy contrast with the deep green of the vines which +clustered thickly about the pillar against which she leaned. On the step +below her a young man sat. He too was clad in white and the rich crimson +of the silken scarf which he wore about his waist enhanced his Spanish +beauty. A zither lay across his knees over which his hands wandered +skilfully as he made the air tremble with dreamy music. Mr. Hildreth +paced slowly up and down the veranda behind them. + +"What is the news from the great world, Geoff? I saw a troop ship +signaled this morning. Have you been on board yet?" + +"No, sir, I have been looking over the plantation with my father all +day, and only got home in time for dinner." + +"You chose a cool time for it!" and Mr. Hildreth laughed. + +Geoffrey Chittenden shrugged his shoulders. "When Geoffrey Chittenden, +Senior, makes up his mind to do anything, he has the most sublime +indifference for the thermometer of any one I ever had the honor of +knowing. But the ship only brought a small detachment, I believe; she +will carry away a larger one. The garrison here is to be reduced, you +know." + +"Yes, it is a mistake I think. Will Drewson have to go? He has been on +this Station longer than any of the others." + +"Yes, his company has marching orders for Malta. He told me last night +he was coming to take leave of you next week." + +"Our nice Captain Drewson going away!" Evadne exclaimed, aghast. "Why, +dearest, he is one of our oldest friends!" + +"The law of progression, Vad darling." + +"How I hate it!" she cried, while her lips trembled. "Why can't we just +live on in the old happy way? You will be going next, Geoff, and the +Hamiltons and the Vandervoorts. Does nothing last?" + +Her voice hushed itself into silence and again Lenox Hildreth heard the +soft waves singing,-- + +"Forever! Forever! Forever!" + +"Oh yes, Evadne," Geoffrey said with a laugh: "we are very lasting. It +is only the unfortunate people under military rule who prove unreliable. +Let me sing you my latest song to cheer your spirits. I only learned it +last week." + +He struck a few chords and was beginning his song when a low groan made +him spring to his feet. Evadne passed him like a flash of light and flew +to her father's side. He was leaning heavily against a pillar with his +handkerchief, already showing crimson stains, pressed tightly against his +lips. + +They laid him gently down and summoned help. After that all was like a +horrible dream to Evadne. She was dimly conscious that friends came with +ready offers of assistance, and that Barbadoes' best physicians were +unremitting in their efforts to stop the hemorrhage; while she stood +like a statue beside her father's bed. She was absolutely still. When at +last the hemorrhage was checked the exhaustion was terrible. Evadne +longed to throw herself beside him and pillow the dear head upon her +bosom, but Dr. Danvers had whispered,-- + +"A sudden sound may start the hemorrhage again,--the slightest shock is +sure to." After that, not for worlds would she have moved a finger. + +The day passed and another night drew on. One of the physicians was +constantly in attendance, for the hemorrhage returned at intervals. Just +as the rose-tinted dawn looked shyly through the windows, her father +spoke, and Evadne bent her head to catch the faint tone of the voice +which sounded so far away. + +"Vad, darling, I have made an awful mistake! I thought everything a +sham. I know better now. Make it the business of your life, little Vad, +to find Jesus Christ." + +Again the red stream stained his lips, and Dr. Danvers came swiftly +forward, but Lenox Hildreth was forever beyond all need of human care. + + * * * * * + +A week passed, and day after day Evadne sat by her window, speaking no +word. Outdoors the fountain still sparkled in the sunshine and the birds +sang, but for her the foundations of life had been shaken to their +center. Her friends tried in vain to break up her unnatural calm. + +"If you would only have a good cry, Evadne," Geoffrey Chittenden said +at last, "you would feel better, dear. That is what all girls do, you +know." + +She turned upon him a pair of solemn eyes, out of which the merry +sparkle had faded. "Will crying give me back my father?" + +"Why, no, dear. Of course I didn't mean that. But these things are bound +to happen to us all, sooner or later, you know. It is the rule of life." + +"'The law of progression,'" she said with a dreary laugh. "I wish the +world would stop for good!" + +When the clergyman came she met him quietly, and he found himself not a +little disconcerted by the steady gaze of the mournful grey eyes. He was +not accustomed to dealing with such wordless grief, and he found his +favorite phrases sadly inadequate to the occasion. There was an awkward +pause. + +"Dr. Danvers says your father told him some time ago that, in the event +of his death, he wished you to make your home with your uncle in +America?" he said at length. + +Evadne bowed. + +"Well, my dear young lady, you will find it in all respects a most +desirable home, I feel confident. Judge Hildreth holds a position of +great trust in the church, and is universally esteemed as a Christian +gentleman of sterling character." + +The grey eyes were lifted to his face. + +"Shall I find Jesus Christ there?" + +"Jesus Christ?" The clergyman echoed her words with a start. "I beg your +pardon, my dear. The Lord sitteth upon his throne in the heavens. We +must approach him reverently, with humble fear." + +"That seems a long way off," said Evadne in a disappointed tone. "There +must be some mistake. My father told me to make it the business of my +life to find him." + +"Your father, my dear! Oh, ah, ahem!" + +An indignant flash leaped into the grey eyes. Evadne rose and faced him. +"You must excuse me, sir," she said quietly. Then she left the room. + +And the tears, which all the kindly sympathy had failed to bring her, at +the first breath of censure fell about her like a flood. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Judge Hildreth sat with his family at dinner in the spacious dining-room +of one of the finest houses in Marlborough. He was a handsome man, with +a stateliness of manner attributable in part to the deferential homage +which Marlborough paid to his opinion in all matters of importance. His +wife, tall and queenly, sat opposite him. Two daughters and a son +completed the family group. Louis Hildreth had his father's dark blue +eyes and regular features, but there were weak lines about the mouth +which betokened a lack of purpose, and the expression of his face was +marred by a cynical smile which was fast becoming habitual with him. +Isabelle, the eldest, was tall and fair, except for a chill hauteur +which set strangely upon one so young, while her firmly set lips +betokened the existence of a strong will which completely dominated her +less self-reliant sister. Marion Hildreth was just Evadne's age, with a +pink and white beauty and soft eyes which turned deprecatingly at +intervals towards Isabelle, as though to ask pardon for imaginary +solecisms against Miss Hildreth's code of etiquette. + +The covers were being changed for the second course when a servant +entered and approached the Judge, bearing a cablegram upon a silver +salver. He ran his eyes hastily over its contents, then he leaned back +heavily against his chair, while an expression of genuine sorrow settled +down upon his face. + +"Your Uncle Lenox is dead," he said briefly, as the girls plied him with +questions. + +"Dead!" Mrs. Hildreth's voice broke the hush which had fallen in the +room. "Why, Lawrence, this is very sudden! We have looked upon Lenox as +being perfectly well." + +"It is not safe to count anyone well, Kate, who carries such a lurking +serpent in his bosom. Only forty-three! Just in his prime. Poor Len!" +The Judge leaned his head upon his hand, while his thoughts were busy +with memories of the gay young brother who had filled the old homestead +with his merry nonsense. + +"And what will become of Evadne?" Again Mrs. Hildreth's voice broke the +silence. + +"Evadne?" the Judge looked full in his wife's face. "Why, my dear, there +is only one thing to be done. I shall cable immediately to have her come +to us." He rose from the table, his dinner all untasted, and left the +room. + +Louis was the first to speak. "A Barbadoes cousin. How will you like +having such a novelty as that, Sis, to introduce among your +acquaintance?" He bowed lazily to Mrs. Hildreth. "Let me congratulate +you, lady mother. You will have the pleasure of floating another bud +into blossom upon the bosom of society." + +"I do not see any room for congratulation, Louis," Mrs. Hildreth said +discontentedly. "It is a dreadful responsibility. One does not know what +the child may be like." + +"Hardly a child, mamma," pouted Marion. "Evadne must be as old as I." + +"If that is so, Sis, she must have the wisdom of Methusaleh!" and Louis +looked at his sister with one of his mocking smiles. "At any rate she +will afford scope for your powers of training, Isabelle. It must be +depressing to have to waste your eloquence upon an audience of one." + +Isabelle tossed her head. "I am not anxious for the opportunity," she +said coldly. "Likely the child will be a perfect heathen after running +wild among savages all her life." + +Louis whistled. "A little less Grundy and a little more geography would +be to your advantage, Isabelle! Barbadoes happens to be the creme de la +creme of the British Indies. I would not advise you to display your +ignorance before Evadne, or your future lecturettes on the +conventionalities may prove lacking in vital force." + +"Why, Isabelle, my dear, you must be dreaming!" and her mother looked +annoyed. "Don't let your father hear you say such a thing, I beg of you! +When he visited Barbadoes he was delighted, and he thought Evadne's +mother one of the most charming women he had ever met. If she had lived +of course Evadne would be all right, but she has been left entirely to +her father's guidance, and he had such peculiar ideas." + +"When, did she die, mamma?" asked Marion. + +"I am sure I cannot remember. Six or seven years ago it must have been. +But we rarely heard from them. Your Uncle Lenox was always a wretched +correspondent, and since his wife's death he has hardly written at all." + +"The house of Hildreth cannot claim to be well posted in the matter of +blood relations," said Louis carelessly, as he helped himself to olives. + + * * * * * + +Upon the deck of one of the Ocean Greyhounds a promiscuous crowd was +gathered. Returning tourists in all the glory of field glasses and tweed +suits; British officers going home on furlough from the different +outposts where they were stationed; merchants from the rich markets of +the far East; picturesque foreigners in national costume; and a bishop +who paced the deck with a dignity becoming his ecclesiastical rank. +There was a continuous hum of conversation, mingled with intermittent +ripples of laughter from the different groups which were scattered about +the deck. Among the exceptions to the general sociability were the +bishop, still pacing up and down with his hands clasped behind him, and +a young girl who sat looking far out over the waves, utterly heedless of +the noise and confusion around her. + +She was absolutely alone. The gentleman under whose care she was +traveling made a point of escorting her to meals, after which he +invariably secured her a comfortable deck chair, supplied her liberally +with rugs and books, and then retired to the smoking-room, with the +serene consciousness of duty well performed; and Evadne Hildreth was +thankful to be left in peace. She was no longer the buoyant, merry girl. +Her vitality seemed crushed. Hour after hour she sat motionless, her +hands folded listlessly in her lap, looking out over the dancing waves. +She had caught the last glimpse of her beloved island in a grey stupor. +Everything was gone,--father and home and friends,--nothing that +happened could matter now,--but, oh, the dreary, dreary years! Did the +sun shine in far-away New England, and could the water be as blue as her +dear Atlantic, with the gay ripple on its bosom and the music of its +waves? She looked at the tender sky, as on the far horizon it bent low +to kiss the face of the mysterious mighty ocean which stretched "a sea +without a shore." That was like her life now. All the beauty ended, yet +stretching on and on and on. And she must keep pace with it, against her +will. And there was no one to care. She was all alone! No, there was +Jesus Christ! + +She started to find that the Bishop's lady was speaking to her. Evadne +recognized her, for she sat at the next table, and several times she had +stood aside to let her pass to her seat. Something about the solitary, +pathetic little figure, the hopeless face and mournful grey eyes, had +won the compassion of the good lady, for she was a kindly soul. + +"My dear, you have a great sorrow?" she said gently. "I hope you have +the consolations of our holy religion to help you bear it." + +Evadne turned towards her eagerly. Her husband was the head of the +church. Surely _she_ would know. + +"Can you help me to find him?" she asked abruptly. + +"Find whom, my dear? Have you a friend among the passengers?" + +"Jesus Christ." + +"Oh!" The Bishop's lady sat back with the suddenness of the shock, "Are +you in earnest, my dear?" she asked with a tinge of severity in her +tone. "This is a very serious question, but, if you really mean it, I +will lend you my Prayer Book." + +Evadne smiled drearily. "Oh, yes, I am terribly in earnest. My father +said I was to make it the business of my life." + +"Oh, ah, yes, to be sure," said the lady a trifle absently. "That is +very proper. Christianity should be the great purpose of our life." + +"I do not want Christianity," said Evadne impatiently, "I want Christ." + +"My dear, you shock me! The eternal verities of our holy religion must +ever be--" + +"Do you believe in him?" asked Evadne, interrupting her. + +"Believe in him? whom do you mean?" + +"Jesus Christ." + +Aghast, the Bishop's lady crossed herself and began repeating the +Apostles' Creed. + +"That makes him seem so far away," said Evadne sadly. "I do not want him +in heaven if I have to live upon earth. Have _you_ found him?" she asked +eagerly. "Are you on intimate terms with him? Is he your friend?" + +The Bishop's lady gasped for breath. That she, a member of the Church of +the Holy Communion of All Saints should be interrogated in such a +fashion as this! "I think you do not quite understand," she said coldly. +"I will lend you a treatise on Church Doctrine. You had better study +that." + +"Charlotte," said her husband when she reached her stateroom, "I have +arrived at an important decision this afternoon. I have finally +concluded to take the Socinian Heresy as my theme for the noon lectures. +The subject will admit of elaborate treatment and afford ample scope for +scholarship." + +"Heresy!" echoed his wife, who had not yet recovered her equanimity; +"why, Bertram, I have just been talking to a young person who asked me +if I was on intimate terms with Jesus Christ!" + +"Ah, yes," said the Bishop absently, "the radical tendencies of the +present day are to be deplored. Have you seen that my vestments are in +order, Charlotte? I shall hold Divine service on board to-morrow." + +In a neighboring stateroom a lonely soul, bewildered and despairing, +struggled through the darkness towards the light. + + * * * * * + +The last snow of the winter lay in soft beauty upon the streets of +Marlborough as Evadne's train drew into the railway station. Instantly +all was bustle and confusion throughout the cars. Evadne shrank back in +her seat and waited. Instinctively she felt that for her there would be +no joyous welcome. Inexpressibly dreary as the journey had been she was +sorry it was at an end. An overwhelming embarrassment of shyness seized +upon her, and the chill desolation of loneliness seemed to shut down +about her like a cloud. + +A young man sauntered past her with his hands in his pockets. When he +reached the end of the car he turned and surveyed the passengers +leisurely, then he came back to her seat. He lifted his hat with lazy +politeness. + +"Miss Hildreth, I believe?" + +Evadne bowed. He shook hands coolly. + +"I have the honor of introducing myself as your cousin Louis." + +He made no attempt to give her a warmer greeting, and Evadne was glad, +but how dreary it was! + +Louis led the way out of the station to where a pair of magnificent +horses stood, tossing their regal heads impatiently. A colored coachman +stood beside them, clad in fur. + +"Pompey," he said, "this is Miss Evadne Hildreth from Barbadoes." + +The man bent his head low over the little hand which was instantly +stretched out to him. "I'se very glad to see Miss 'Vadney," he said with +simple fervor. "I was powerful fond of Mass Lennux;" and Evadne felt she +had received her warmest welcome. + +She nestled down among the soft robes of the sleigh while the silver +bells rang merrily through the frosty air. It was all so new and +strange. A leaden weight seemed to be settling down upon her heart and +she felt as if she were choking, but she threw it off. She dared not let +herself think. She began to talk rapidly. + +"What splendid horses you have! Surely they must be thoroughbreds? No +ordinary horses could ever hold their heads like that." + +Louis nodded. "You have a quick eye," he said approvingly. "Most girls +would not know a thoroughbred from a draught horse. You have hit upon +the surest way to get into my father's good graces. His horses are his +hobby." + +"What are their names?" + +"Brutus and Caesar. The Judge is nothing if not classical." + +As they mounted the front steps the faint notes of a guitar sounded from +the front room. + +"Confound Isabelle and her eternal twanging!" muttered Louis, as he +fumbled for his latch-key. "It would be a more orthodox welcome if you +found your relations waiting for you with open arms, but the Hildreth +family is not given to gush. Isabelle will tell you it is not good form. +So we keep our emotions hermetically sealed and stowed away under +decorous lock and key, polite society having found them inconvenient +things to handle, partaking of the nature of nitroglycerine, you know, +and liable to spontaneous combustion." + +He opened the door as he spoke and Evadne followed him into the hall. +She shivered, although a warm breath of heated air fanned her cheek. The +atmosphere was chilly. + +Marion, hurried forward to greet her, followed more leisurely by +Isabelle and her mother, who touched her lips lightly to her forehead. + +"I hope you have had a pleasant journey, my dear, although you must +find our climate rather stormy. I think you might as well let the girls +take you at once to your room and then we will have dinner." + +"Where is the Judge?" inquired Louis. + +"Detained again at the office. He has just telephoned not to wait for +him. He is killing himself with overwork." + +To Evadne the dinner seemed interminable and she found herself +contrasting the stiff formality with the genial hospitality of her +father's table. She saw again the softly lighted room with its open +windows through which the flowers peeped, and heard his gay badinage and +his low, sweet laugh. Could she be the same Evadne, or was it all a +dream? + +Isabelle stood beside her as she began to prepare for the night. She +wished she would go away. The burden of loneliness grew every moment +more intolerable. Suddenly she turned towards her cousin and cried in +desperation,-- + +"Can _you_ tell me where I shall find Jesus Christ?" + +Isabelle started. "My goodness, Evadne, what a strange question! You +took my breath away." + +"Is it a strange question?" she asked wistfully. "Everyone seems to +think so, and yet--my father said I was to make it the business of my +life to find him." + +"Your father!" cried Isabelle. "Why Uncle Lenox was an----" + +Instantly a pair of small hands were held like a vice against her lips. +Isabelle threw them off angrily. + +"You are polite, I must say! Is this a specimen of West Indian manners?" + +"You were going to say something I could not hear," said Evadne quietly, +"there was nothing else to do." + +Isabelle left the room, and, returning, threw a book carelessly upon the +table. "You had better study that," she said. "It will answer your +questions better than I can." + +"I told you she was a heathen!" she exclaimed, as she rejoined her +mother in the sitting-room; "but I did not know that I should have to +turn missionary the first night and give her a Bible!" + +Upstairs Evadne buried her face among the pillows and the aching heart +burst its bonds in one long quivering cry of pain. + +"Dearest!" + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +A day full of light--warm and brilliant. The sun flooding the wide +fields of timothy and clover and fresh young grain with glory; falling +with a soft radiance upon the comfortable mansion of the master of +Hollywood Farm, with its spacious barns and long stretches of stabling, +and throwing loving glances among the leaves of its deep belt of +woodland where the river sparkled and soft rugs of moss spread their +rich luxuriance over an aesthetic carpet of resinous pine needles. + +Near the limits of Hollywood the forest made a sudden curve to the +right, and the river, turned from its course, rushed, laughing and +eager, over a ridge of rocks which tossed it in the air in sheets of +silver spray. + +Standing there, leaning upon a gun, a boy of about seventeen looked long +at a squirrel whose mangled body was staining the emerald beauty of the +moss with crimson. His face was earnest and troubled, while the +expression of sorrowful contempt which swept over it, made him seem +older than he was. It was a strong face, with deep-set, thoughtful eyes +which lit up wondrously when he was interested or pleased. His mouth was +sensitive but his chin was firm and his brown hair fell in soft waves +over a broad, full brow. People always took it for granted that John +Randolph would be as good as his word. They never reasoned about it. +They simply expected it of him. + +He began to speak, and his voice fell clear and distinct through the +silence. + +"And you call this sport?" There was no answer save the soft gurgle of +the river as it splashed merrily over the stones. + +"You are a brute, John Randolph!" And the wind sighed a plaintive echo +among the trees. + +He was silent while the words which he had read six weeks before and +which had been ringing a ceaseless refrain in his heart ever since, +obtruded themselves upon his memory. + +"It is the privilege of everyone to become an exact copy of Jesus +Christ." + +"Well, John Randolph, can you picture to yourself Jesus Christ shooting +a squirrel for sport?" He tossed aside the weapon he had been leaning +upon with a gesture of disgust, and, folding his arms, looked up at the +cloud-flecked sky. + +"Are you there, Jesus Christ?" he asked wistfully. "Are you looking +down on this poor old world, and what do you think of it all? Men made +in God's image finding their highest enjoyment in slaughtering his +creatures. Game Preserves where they can do it in luxurious leisure; fox +hunts with their pack of hunters and hounds in full cry after one poor +defenceless fox, and battle-fields where they tear each other limb from +limb with Gatling gun and shells; and yet we call ourselves honorable +gentlemen, and talk of the delights of the chase and the glories of war! +Pshaw! what a mockery it is." + +Stooping suddenly he laid the squirrel upon his open palm and gently +stroked the long, silky fur. He lifted the tiny paws with their perfect +equipment for service and looked remorsefully at the eyes whose light +was dimmed, and the mouth which had forever ceased its merry chatter. A +great tenderness sprang up in his heart toward all living things and, +lifting his right hand to heaven, he exclaimed, "Poor little squirrel, I +cannot give you back your happy life, but, I will never take another!" + +Then he knelt, and scooping out a grave, laid the little creature to +rest at the foot of a tree in whose trunk the remnant of its winter +store of nuts was carefully garnered. When at length he turned to +leave the spot the tiny grave was marked by a pine slab, on which was +pencilled, + + "Here lies the germ of a resolve. + July 17th, 18--" + +He walked slowly along the fragrant wood-path, looking thoughtfully at +the shadows as they played hide and seek upon the moss, while through +the trees he caught glimpses of the sparkling river which sang as it +rolled along. + +When he reached the border of the woodland he stood still and his eyes +swept over the landscape. Hollywood was the finest stock farm in the +country. After his father's death he had come, a little lad, to live +with Mr. Hawthorne, and every year which had elapsed since then made it +grow more dear. He loved its rolling meadows, its breezy pastures and +its fragrant orchards. Its beautifully kept grounds and outbuildings +appealed to his innate sense of the fitness of things, while its air of +abundant comfort made it difficult to realize that the world was full of +hunger and woe. He loved the green road where the wild roses blushed and +the honeysuckle drooped its fragrant petals, but most of all he loved +the graceful horses and sleek cows which just now were grazing in the +fields on either side; and the shy creatures, with the subtle instinct +by which all animals test the quality of human friendship, took him into +their confidence and came gladly at his call and did his bidding. + +When he reached the end of the road he stopped again, and, leaning +against the fence adjoining the broad gate which led to the house, gave +a low whistle. A thoroughbred Jersey, feeding some distance away, lifted +her head and listened. Again he whistled, and with soft, slow tread the +cow came towards him and rubbed her nose against his arm. He took her +head between his hands, her clover-laden breath fanning his cheeks, and +looked at the dark muzzle and the large eyes, almost human in their +tenderness. + +"Well, Primrose, old lady, you're as dainty as your namesake, and as +sweet. Ah, Sylph, you beauty!" he continued, as a calf like a young fawn +approached the gate, "you can't rest away from your mammy, can you? +Primrose, have you any aspirations, or are you content simply to eat and +drink? You have a good time of it now, but what if you were kicked and +cuffed and starved? You are sensitive, for I saw you shrink and shiver +when Bill Wright,--the scoundrel!--dared to strike you. He'll never do +it again, Prim! Have you the taste of an epicure for the juicy grass +blades and the clover when it is young,--do you love to hear the birds +sing and the brook murmur, and do you enjoy living under the trees and +watching the clouds chase the sunbeams as you chew your cud? Do you +wonder why the cold winter comes and you have to be shut up in a stall +with a different kind of fodder? Do you ever wonder who gave you life +and what you are meant to do with it? How I wish you could talk, old +lady!" + +He vaulted over the gate, and whistling to a fine collie who came +bounding to meet him, walked slowly on towards the stables. + +"Hulloa, John!" and a boy about two years his junior threw himself off a +horse reeking with foam. "Rub Sultan down a bit like a good fellow. +There'll be the worst kind of a row if the governor sees him in this +pickle." + +John Randolph looked indignantly at the handsome horse, as he stood with +drooping head and wide distended nostrils, while the white foam dripped +over his delicate legs. + +"Serve you right if there were!" and his voice was full of scorn. +"You're about as fit to handle horseflesh as an Esquimaux." + +"Oh, pish! You're a regular old grandmother, John. There's nothing to +make such a row about." And Reginald Hawthorne turned upon his heel. + +John threw off coat and vest, and, rolling up his sleeves, led the +exhausted horse to the currying ground. Reginald followed slowly, his +hands in his pockets. + +"How did you get him into such a mess?" he asked shortly. + +"I don't know, I didn't do anything to him," and Reginald kicked the +gravel discontentedly. "I believe he's getting lazy." + +"Sultan lazy!" and John laughed incredulously. "That's a good joke! Why, +he is the freest horse on the place!" + +"Well, I don't know how else to explain it. He's been on the go pretty +steadily, but what's a horse good for? Thursday afternoon we had our +cross-country run and the ground was horribly stiff. I thought he had +sprained his off foreleg for he limped a good deal on the home stretch, +but he seemed to limber up all right the last few miles. I was sorry not +to let him rest yesterday; would have put him in better trim I suppose +for to-day's twenty mile pull,--but Cartwright and Peterson wanted to +make up a tandem, and when they asked for Sultan I didn't like to +refuse. They are heavy swells, and you know father wants me to get in +with that lot. But that shouldn't have hurt him. They only went as far +as Brighton. What's fifteen miles to a horse!" + +"Fifteen miles means thirty to a horse when he has to travel back the +same road," said John drily; "and your heavy swells take the toll out of +horseflesh quicker than a London cabby." + +"Why, John, what has come to you? You're the last fellow in the world to +want me to be churlish." + +"That's true, Rege,--but I don't want them to cripple you as they have +poor Sultan. What kind of fellows are they?" + +"Oh, not a bad sort," said Reginald carelessly. "Lots of the needful, +you know, and free with it. Not very fond of the grind, but always up to +date when there are any good times going. What do you suppose put Sultan +in such a lather, John? I was so afraid father would catch me that I +came across the fields, and it was just as much as he could do to take +the last fence. I made sure he was going to tumble." + +"Well for you he didn't," and John smoothed the delicate limbs with his +firm hand, "these knees are too pretty for a scar. Go into the vet room, +Rege, and bring me out a roll of bandage." + +"Hulloa! That will give me away to the governor with a vengeance! What +are you going to bandage him for?" + +"He is badly strained, and if I don't his legs will be all puffed by the +morning. It will be lucky if it is nothing worse. He looks to me as if +he was in for a touch of distemper, but I'll give him a powder and +perhaps we can stave it off." + +Reginald brought the bandage and then stood moodily striking at a beetle +with his riding whip. He was turning away when a hand with a grip of +steel was laid on his shoulder and he was forced back to where the +beetle lay, a shapeless mass of quivering agony, while a low stern voice +exclaimed,-- + +"Finish your work! Even the cannibals do that." + +Reginald wrenched himself free. "Pshaw!" he said contemptuously, "it's +only a beetle." But he did as he was told. + +Then he stood silently watching as with swift skilfulness John swathed +the horse's limbs in flannel. "I guess Sultan misses you, John. Over at +the college livery their fingers are all thumbs." + +"Poor Sultan!" was all John's answer, as he led the horse into a large +paddock thickly strewn with fresh straw. + +A night full of stars--silent and sweet. John Randolph leaned on the +broad gate which opened into the green road where he had lingered in the +afternoon. The thoughts which surged through his brain made sleep +impossible, and so, lighting his bull's-eye, he had gone to the stables +to see how Sultan was faring, and then wandered on under the mystery of +the stars. + +The night was warm. A breeze heavy with perfume lifted the hair from his +brow. He heard the low breathing of the cattle as they dozed in the +fields on either side, and the soft whirr of downy plumage as the great +owl which had built its nest among the eaves of the new barn flew past +him. Suddenly a warm nose was thrust against his shoulder and, with the +assurance of a spoilt beauty, the cow laid her head upon his arm. He +lifted his other hand and stroked it gently. + +"Hah, Primrose! Are you awake, old lady? What are your views of life +now, Prim? Do the shadows make it seem more weird and grand, or does +midnight lose its awesomeness when one is upon four legs?" + +He looked away to where the stars were throbbing with tender light, +crimson and green and gold, and the words of the book which he had been +studying every leisure moment for the past six weeks swept across his +mental vision. + +"'I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in +darkness, but shall have the light of life.' + +"'The light of life,'" he repeated slowly. "Why, to most people life +seems all darkness! What is 'the light of life'?" + +Still other words came stealing to his memory. 'I am the way, the truth, +and the life, no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.' 'Except ye +turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the +kingdom of heaven.' 'This is life eternal, that they should know thee +the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus.' + +A great light flooded John Randolph's soul. + +"'I' and 'me,'" he whispered. "Why, it is a personality. It is Jesus +himself! He is the way to the kingdom, the truth of the kingdom and the +life of it. The kingdom of heaven, not far away in space, but set up +here and now in the hearts of men who live the life hid with Christ in +God. I see it all! Jesus Christ is the light of the life which God gives +us through his Son." + +He stretched his hands up towards the glistening sky. + +"Jesus Christ," he cried eagerly, "come into my life and make it light. +I take thee for my Master, my Friend. I give myself away to thee. I will +follow wherever thou dost lead. Jesus Christ, help me to grow like +thee!" + +The hush of a great peace fell upon his soul, while through the +listening night an angel stooped and traced upon his brow the kingly +motto, 'Ich Dien.' + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +"Don, Don, me's tumin'," and the baby of the farm, a little child with +sunny curls and laughing eyes, ran past the great barns of Hollywood. + +John Randolph was swinging along the green road with a bridle over his +arm, whistling softly. He turned as the childish voice was borne to him +on the breeze. "All right, Nansie, wait for me at the gate." Then he +sprang over the fence and crossed the field to where a group of horses +were feeding. + +The child climbed up on the gate beside a saddle which John had placed +there and waited patiently. He soon came back, leading a magnificent bay +horse, and began to adjust the saddle. + +"Now, Nan, I'll give you a ride to the house. Can't go any further +to-day, for I have to cross the river." + +The child shook her head confidently. "Me 'll go too, Don." + +"I'm afraid not, Nan. The river is so deep, we'll have to swim for it. +That is why I chose Neptune, you see." + +"Me's not 'fraid, wiv 'oo, Don." + +"Better wait, Baby, till the river is low. Well, come along then," as +the wily schemer drew down her pretty lips into the aggrieved curve +which always conquered his big, soft heart. She clapped her hands with +glee, as he lifted her in front of him and started Neptune into a brisk +trot, and made a bridle for herself out of the horse's silky mane. + +"Gee, gee, Nepshun. Nan loves you, dear." + +When they reached the fording place John's face grew grave. The river +had risen during the night and was rushing along with turbulent +strength. There was no house within five miles. His business was +imperative. He dared not leave the child until he came back. Crouching +upon the saddle, he clasped one arm about her while he twisted his other +hand firmly in and out of the horse's mane. + +"Are you afraid, Nansie?" + +She twined her arms more tightly about his neck until the sunny curls +brushed his cheek. + +"Me'll do anywhere, wiv 'oo, Don." + +Just as the gallant horse reached the opposite bank Reginald galloped +down to the ford on his way home for Sunday. + +"Upon my word, John, you're a perfect slave to that youngster! What mad +thing will you be doing next, I wonder?" + +"The next thing will be to go back again," said John with a smile, while +Nan clung fast to his neck and peeped shyly through her curls at her +brother. + +"Where are you off to?" + +"Henderson's." + +Reginald turned his horse's head. "I might as well go along. A man's a +fool to ride alone when he can have company." + +John gave him a swift, comprehensive glance. + +"How are things going, Rege? You're not looking very fit." + +Reginald yawned and drew his hand across his heavy eyes. "Oh, all right. +Oyster suppers and that sort of thing are apt to make a fellow drowsy." + +"Don't go too fast, Rege." + +"Why not?" said Reginald carelessly. "It suits the governor, and that +book you're so fond of says children should obey their parents." + + * * * * * + +"I declare, John, you're a regular algebraic puzzle!" he exclaimed later +in the day, as he stood beside John in the carpenter's shop, watching +the curling strips of wood which his plane was tossing off with sweeping +strokes. "You put all there is of you into everything you do. You take +as much pains over a plough handle as you would over a buggy!" + +"Why not? God takes as much pains with a humming-bird as an elephant. +Mere size doesn't count." + +"Nan loves you, Reggie," and a tiny hand was slipped shyly into her +brother's. + +"All right, Magpie," he said carelessly. "You had better run home now to +mother. Your chatter makes my head ache." + +The laughing lips quivered and the child turned away from him to John +and hid her face against his knee. He lifted her up on the bench beside +him and gave her a handful of shavings to play with. + +"I don't see how you accomplish anything with that child everlastingly +under your feet!" Reginald continued, "yet you do two men's work and +seem to love it into the bargain. I'm sure if I had to cooper up all the +things on the farm as you do, I should loathe the very sight of tools." + +"I _do_ love it, Rege. Jesus Christ was a carpenter, you know. I get +very near to him out here." + +"Jesus Christ!" echoed Reginald with a puzzled stare. "What is coming +to you, John?" + +"It has come, Rege," John said with a great light in his face. "I have +found my Master." + +"Upon my word, John, you are the queerest fellow! What next, I wonder?" + +"The next thing, Rege," and John laid his hand affectionately upon his +friend's shoulder, "is for you to find him too." + +"So, you're going to turn preacher, John? You'll find me a hard subject. +A short life and a merry one is what I am going in for. I've no turn for +Christianity." + +"It pays, Rege." + +"Don't believe it. How can life be worth living when you're drivelling +psalm tunes all day long?" + +John laughed, and there was a new note of gladness in his voice which +Reginald was quick to notice. "I haven't begun to drivel yet, Rege; and +life counts for a good deal more when a man has an object than when he +is living just to please himself." + +"And who should a man please but himself, I should like to know?" + +"Jesus Christ." + + * * * * * + +"Upon my word!" said Reginald some weeks later, as he came upon John +sitting astride a cobbler's bench busily mending a pair of shoes, while +Nan looked on admiringly. "Do you learn a new trade every month?" + +John laughed quietly. "I took up this one because there are so many +repairs always needed on the harness, and your father thinks all talent +should be utilized." + +There was a quizzical look about his mouth as he spoke. Reginald caught +the look and answered hotly. + +"The governor ought to be ashamed of himself! Why don't you strike, +John?" + +"Why should I? Knowledge is power, Rege." + +"Knowledge of shoemaking!" said Reginald contemptuously. "It won't add +to your strength much, John." + +"Never can tell," said John sententiously. "You remember that lame +fellow saved a battle for us by knowing how to shoe the general's +horse." + +"Next thing you'll be going in for a blacksmith's diploma!" + +"I'm thinking of it," said John coolly. "That fellow at the Forks has no +more sense than a hen. He pared so much off Neptune's hoof last week +that he has been limping ever since. I had to take him this morning and +have the shoes removed." + +"I wish you'd do some shirking, John, like the rest of us." + +"Jesus Christ never shirked, Rege." + +"Pshaw! You're so ridiculous!" and Reginald walked discontentedly away. + +"Here, John, John, I say," he called, when the time came for him to +return to College, "go catch and saddle Sultan for me. You're so fond of +work, you might as well have two masters. Be quick now, for I'm in the +mischief of a hurry." + +John's face flushed. This boy was younger than himself, and his father +had been Mr. Hawthorne's friend. + +"Do you hear what I say, John?" demanded Reginald. "You're only here as +a servant any way, and I'll be master some day, so you might as well +learn to obey me now." + +John's brow cleared, while the words echoed in his heart with a glad +refrain,-- + +"A servant of Jesus Christ," and "The Lord's servant must not strive, +but be gentle towards all ... forbearing." After all, life was a matter +between himself and the Lord Jesus. What could Reginald's taunts affect +him now? + +"All right," he said quietly, and started for the field. + +"I declare!" muttered Reginald, as he watched the tall, lithe form +cross the field with springing step, "you might as well try to make the +fellow mad now, as to storm Gibraltar! What has come to him?" + +"Here you are, Sir Reginald," said John good-humoredly, as he led the +freshly groomed horse to the riding-block. + +Reginald's voice choked. "Shake hands, John," he said huskily. "I am a +brute! There must be something in this new fad of yours after all. If +you had spoken to me as I did to you just now, I should have knocked you +down." + +He rode on for a mile or two in moody silence, then he gave his +shoulders an impatient shrug. + +"I'd like to know what it is about John Randolph that makes me feel so +small! I have good times and he is always on the grind. I have all the +money I can spend and he has nothing but the pittance the governor gives +him, and yet he is three times the better fellow of the two. I envy him +his spunk and go. He comes to everything as fresh as a two-year old, and +he works everything for all there is in it. To see him climbing that +hill yesterday, with the youngster on his shoulder, actually made me +feel as if climbing hills was the jolliest thing in life. And it's so +with everything he does. Confound it! I don't see why I can't get the +same comfort out of things. I don't see where the fellow gets his vim. +If I worked as hard as he does, I'd be ready to tumble into bed instead +of pegging away at Latin and Mathematics. I'll have to put on a spurt in +self-defence or he'll be tripping me up with his questions. He's got the +longest head of anyone I know. The idea of the governor daring to set +such a fellow as that to cobble shoes!" + +"It's queer about the governor," he continued after a pause. "He's +always ready to shell out when I ask him for money, but he keeps poor +John with his nose to the grindstone all the year round. I suppose he +expects me to pay him in glory. He's set his heart on my being a +judge,--Judge Hawthorne of Hollywood. Sounds euphonious, and I verily +believe the old gentleman has begun to roll it like a sweet morsel under +his tongue. Can't say I have a special aptitude for the profession, and +certainly the brains are not in evidence, but I suppose the governor +thinks money will take their place. He has found it takes the place of +most things. + +"Sultan, old boy, we seem down on our luck this morning. We had better +take a speeder to raise our spirits. It is hardly the thing for Judge +Hawthorne of Hollywood to envy John Randolph his humdrum life of mending +rakes and shoes," and he urged his horse into a mad gallop. + + * * * * * + +"I believe I'd like to be poor and work, John," he exclaimed one day. +"It gets tiresome having everything laid ready to your hand, with +nothing to do but take it. Life must be full of snap when you have to +dash your will up against old Dame Fortune and wrest what you want out +of her miserly clutches." + +"Yes," said John simply, "Jesus Christ was poor." + +"Look here, John. If you don't stop that nonsense, people will be +dubbing you a crank." + +"I am ready!" he cried, and there was a strange, exulting ring in his +voice. "They called him mad, you know." + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Evadne found herself one morning in Judge Hildreth's roomy coach-house, +watching Pompey, as he skilfully groomed her uncle's pets. + +It had been decided that after the summer holidays, she should become a +member of the fashionable school which Isabelle and Marion attended. In +the meantime she was left almost entirely to her own devices. Her uncle +was away all day, Louis at College, and her aunt busy with social +duties. Her cousins had their own particular friends, who were not slow +to vote the silent girl with the mournful grey eyes, full of dumb +questioning, a bore; while Evadne, accustomed to being her father's +companion in all his scientific researches, found their vapid chatter +wearisome in the extreme. + +Horses were a passion with her, and she noted with pleased interest +Pompey's deft manipulations. She stood for a long time in silence. +Pompey had saluted her respectfully then kept on steadily with his work. +Dexterously he swept the curry-comb over the shining coats and then +drew it through the brush in his left hand with a curious vocal +accompaniment, something between a long-drawn whistle and a sigh, and +the horses laid their heads against his shoulder affectionately and +looked wonderingly at the stranger out of their large, bright eyes. + +"Did you really know my father?" she asked at length. + +"Laws, yes, Missy!" and Pompey's honest black face grew tender with +sympathy. "Mass Lennux stayed with the Jedge 'fore he went ter +Barbadoes, an' he spen' powerful sight of his time out here wid me an' +de horses. He wuz allers del'cut,--warn't able ter do nothin' in this +yere climate,--but he bed sech a sperit! He wouldn't ever let folks know +when he wuz a sufferin'. He use ter call me 'Pompous,'" and Pompey +chuckled softly. "He say when I git inter my fur coat I look as gran' on +de box as de Jedge do inside; an' one day he braided de horses' manes +inter a hunderd tails an' tied 'em wid yaller ribbun, 'cause he said de +crimps wuz in de fashun an' yaller wuz de Jedge's 'lecshun color. De +Jedge wuz powerful angry. He don't like no sech tricks wid his horses. +But, laws, he couldn't keep angry wid Mass Lennux! He jes' stood wid +his hans on his sides an' larf an' larf, till de Jedge he hev ter larf +too, an' he call him a graceless scamp, an' say he send him ter +Coventry, an' Mass Lennux he say 'all right ef de Jedge go 'long too, +an' take de horses, he couldn't do widout dem nohow.'" + +"Were these the horses my father used to ride?" + +"Laws, no, Missy. Dey wuz ez black ez night. Mass Lennux use ter call +'em Egyp an' Erybus." + +Pompey's face softened. + +"When my leetle gal died he jes' put his han' on my shoulder an' sez +he,--'Pompous, you jes' go home an' cheer up de Missis, yer don't hev no +call to worry 'bout de horses.' An' he tuk care of dem jes' as ef he'd +ben a coachman. We'll never fergit it, Dyce an' me." + +Evadne's eyes shone. That was just like her father! + +"'Specs little Miss is powerful lonesum 'thout Mass Lennux?" + +The soft voice was full of a genuine regret. Evadne sank down on a bench +which stood near by and burst into tears. + +"Oh, Pompey, I wish I could die!" + +"'Specs little Miss hez no call ter wish dat," said Pompey gently. +"'Specs de Lord Jesus wants her to live fer him." + +Evadne opened her eyes in wonder. + +"'The Lord Jesus,'" she repeated. "Why, Pompey, do you know him?" + +A great joy transfigured the black face. + +"He is my Frien'," he said simply. + +Evadne leaned forward eagerly. "Oh, Pompey, if that is true, then you +can help me find him." + +Pompey smiled joyously. "Miss 'Vadney don't need ter go far away fer +dat. He is right here." + +"Here!" echoed Evadne faintly. + +"Lo, I am wid you all de days'" Pompey repeated softly. "De Lord Jesus +don't leave no gaps in his promises, Miss 'Vadney. He's allers wid me +wherever I is workin', an' when I is up on my box a drivin' troo de +streets, he's dere. He's wid me continuous. Dere's nuthin can seprate +Pompey from de Lord," he added with a sweet reverence. + +"How can you be so sure?" she asked wistfully. + +"I hez his word, Missy. You allers b'lieved your father? 'I will not +leave you orphuns, I will cum ter you.' I 'specs dat verse is meant +speshully fer you, Miss 'Vadney." + +"But we can't see him," said Evadne. + +"Only wid de eye of faith, Missy. We trusts our friens in de dark. You +didn't need ter see your father ter know he wuz in de house?" + +"Oh, no!" Evadne's voice trembled. + +"It's jes' de same wid my Father, Miss 'Vadney." + +"How can you call God so, Pompey?" + +A great sweetness came over the homely face. + +"'Cause he hez sent his Sperit inter my heart, an' poor black Pompey can +look up inter de shinin of his face an' say 'my Father,' 'cause I'se +hidden away in his Son. I'se a little branch abidin' in de great Vine. +I'se one wid de Lord Jesus." + +"I don't know where to look for him!" Evadne cried disconsolately. + +Pompey laid aside his curry-comb and brush and folded his toil-worn +hands. + +"Lord Jesus," he said quietly, "here is thy little lamb. She's out in de +dark mountain, an' she's lonesum an' hungry, an' de col' rain of sorrow +is beatin' on her head. Lord, thou is de good Shepherd. Let her hear thy +voice a callin' her. Carry this little lamb in thy bosom an' giv her de +joy of thy love." + + * * * * * + +Judge Hildreth sat in his library far into the night. He was reading for +the twentieth time the letter which Evadne had placed in his hands the +morning after her arrival, and as he read, he frowned. + +"It is ridiculous, absurd!" he exclaimed impatiently. "Just of a piece +with all of Len's quixotic theories. By what possible chance could a +child of that age know how to manage money? She would make ducks and +drakes of the whole business in less than a year!" + +A letter addressed to Evadne lay upon the pile of age-worn papers in an +open drawer at his side. + +"I enclose herewith a letter to Evadne," his brother had written, +"giving full and minute explanations as to her best course in the +matter. These she will follow implicitly, under your supervision, and I +feel confident the result will be a well-developed character along the +lines on which women, through no fault of their own, are so lamentably +deficient, namely, the proper conduct of business and management of +money." + +Judge Hildreth looked again at the envelope with its clear, bold +address. "That is not the handwriting of a fool," he muttered. "I wish I +could make up my mind what to do." + +Through the solemn hush of midnight his good and evil angels contended +for his soul. In a strange silence he listened to their voices, the one +insidious, tempting, the other urging him to take the upright course. +Had his eyes not been holden he would have seen them, the one +dark-browed, malignant, clothed in shadows, the other robed in light; +while other angels hovered near and looked on pityingly. The white-robed +angel spoke first. + +"It is not a question to be decided by your judgment. There is no other +course left open to you." + +Mockingly the other answered. "It is a most unprecedented proceeding. +You should have been appointed her guardian, with sole control." + +"It is your brother's last will and testament." + +"Some wills are made to be broken. This one is against sound reason." + +"It is the only honorable thing to do." + +"It is unnecessary. The child need not know, and, if she did, would +thank you for saving her from care." + +"It is your brother's money. He had a right to do as he will with his +own." + +"If he had known to what straits this year's speculations have brought +you, he would be glad to give you a lift. If you do not have money now +what are you going to do? This has come just in time, for you know your +credit is already strained to its utmost." "Your niece will be anxious +to have your advice as to profitable investments. You can borrow the +money from her." + +"That would be awkward, in case the bottom fell out of the mine. A +little capital in hand would give you a chance to water the Panhattan +stock and develop a new lead in the Silverwing." + +"If you use money that does not belong to you, you will be a thief!" + +"If you do not use it, you will be a pauper. You have paper out now to +five times the amount of your income. This is an interposition of +Providence to save you from ruin." + +"What right had you to put yourself in the way of ruin?" + +"You did it to advance the interests of your family. The Bible says, 'If +any provide not for his own, especially his own kindred, he ... is worse +than an infidel.'[Footnote: Marginal rendering A. V.]" + +"If you do this thing you will be dishonored in the sight of God." + +"If you do not save yourself from this temporary embarrassment, you will +be disgraced in the eyes of the world. You owe it to your position in +society, and the church, to keep above the waves." The listening +spirits heard a low, malicious laugh of triumph and the white-robed +angel turned sadly away. + +Judge Hildreth had thrust Evadne's letter, with his own, far under the +pile of papers, and double-locked the drawer! + + * * * * * + +Above the coach-house was a large room where Pompey kept a store of hay +and grain, and there Evadne often found herself ensconced with +Isabelle's Bible, during the long mornings when she was left to amuse +herself as best she might. The atmosphere of the house stifled her, and +Pompey had loved her father! It was scrupulously clean. Under Pompey's +regime spiders and moths found no tolerance, and a magnificent black cat +effectually frightened away the audacious rodents which were tempted to +depredations by the toothsome cereals in the great bins. In one corner +Pompey had improvised for her a luxurious couch of hay and rugs, and in +this fragrant retreat Evadne studied her strange new book. She brought +to it a mind absolutely untrammeled by creed or circumstance, and in +this virgin soil God's truth took root. Slowly the light dawned. Hers +was no shallow nature to leap to a hasty conclusion and then forsake it +for a later thought. Gradually through the darkness, as God's flowers +grow, this human flower lifted itself towards the light. + +Sometimes she would sit for hours with the stately cat upon her knee, +thinking, thinking, thinking, while Pompey sang his favorite hymns about +his work and the mellow strains floated up the stairway and soothed her +lonely heart. His childlike faith became to her a tower of refuge, and +often, when bewildered by life's inconsistencies, she felt as if the +eternal realities were vanishing into mist, she was calmed and comforted +by his happy trust. + +"I cannot imagine, Evadne," said Isabelle one evening at dinner, "what +pleasure you can find in sitting in a stable in company with a negro! It +certainly shows a most depraved taste." + +"Christ was born in a stable, Isabelle." + +"What in the world has that to do with you?" + +"I am beginning to think he has everything to do with me," answered her +cousin quietly. + +"Well," said Isabelle with a toss of her head, "we are known by the +company we keep. I should imagine Pompey's curriculum of manners was not +on a very elevated plane." + +"Pompey! Isabelle," said Judge Hildreth suddenly. "Why, my dear, Pompey +is a modern Socrates, bound in ebony. There is no danger to be +apprehended from him." + +"Well, it is a peculiar companionship for Judge Hildreth's niece, that +is all I have to say," said Isabelle coldly, "but _chacun a son gout_." + +"I read this morning in your Bible that God had chosen the base things +of the world, and things which are despised, and things which are not, +to bring to nought things that are. What does that mean, Isabelle?" + +"Really, Evadne, we shall have to send you to live with Doctor Jerome!" +said her aunt, with a careless laugh. "You are getting to be a regular +interrogation point. We are not Bible commentators, child, you cannot +expect us to explain all the difficult passages. + +"The Embroidery Club meets here tomorrow, Evadne," exclaimed Marion, +"and I don't believe you have touched your table scarf since they were +here before. What will Celeste Follingsby think? She works so rapidly, +and her drawn work is a perfect poem." + +"No, I have not," confessed Evadne. "It seems such silly work, to draw +threads apart and then sew them together again." + +Isabelle elevated her eyebrows with a look of horror. + +Louis laughed. "She's a hopeless case, Isabelle. You'll never convert +her into an elegant trifler. You might as well throw up the contract." + +"It seems to me, Evadne," said his sister icily, "that you might have a +little regard for the decorums of society. Don't, I beg of you, give +utterance to such heresies before the girls. And I wish you would not +call it _my_ Bible. I did not make it." + +"That is quite true, Evadne," said Louis gravely. "If she had, there +would have been a good deal left out." + +Isabella shot an angry glance at him but made no remark. Her brother's +sarcasms were always received in silence. + +"Eva," she said after a pause, "I intend to call you by that name in +future,--your full one is too troublesome." + +Evadne shivered. Her father was the only one who had ever abbreviated +her name. "I shall not answer to it," she said quietly. + +"Why, pray?" + +"Because, I suppose, in common with the rest of the lower animals, I +have a natural repugnance to being cut in two." + +"How tiresome you are!" exclaimed Isabelle with a pout. "I do not object +to my first syllable. All the girls at school call me Isa. Mamma, did +you remember to order the tulle for our wings? Claude Rivers has +finished hers and they are perfectly sweet. She showed them to me this +afternoon." + +"Wings, Isabelle! What in the world are you up to now?" + +"A Butterfly Social, Papa. We must raise money in some way. The church +is frightfully in debt." + +"That is a deplorable fact, but I did not know butterflies were famed as +financiers." + +"Oh, of course it is just for the novelty of the thing. The last social +we had was a Mother Goose, and we have had Brownie suppers and Pink teas +and everything else we could think of. We must have something to +attract, you know." + +"I wonder if it really pays?" ventured Marion. "It never seems to me +there is much left, after you deduct the cost of the preparation. People +might as well give the money outright. It would save them a world of +trouble." + +"Why, you silly child, it is to promote sociability in the church. As to +the trouble, of course we do not count that. We must expect to make +sacrifices." + +"But they do not make the church any more sociable," said Marion boldly, +who, having struck for freedom of thought, was following up her +advantage. "The same people take part every time and the others are left +outside." + +"Nonsense!" said Isabelle hotly. "It is only those who cannot afford to +take part, and think what a treat it is for them to look on!" + +"A sort of half-price theatre," said Louis with a sneer. + +"I don't believe they find the looking on such fun as you think," said +Marion, who was astonished at herself. "Suppose you try if they wouldn't +like to take part and offer your place in the Cantata to Jemima Dobbs." + +"Well done, Sis!" and Louis applauded softly. + +Isabelle's lip curled. "Upon my word, Marion, you bid fair to become as +hot an anarchist as Louise Michel. It is a mystery to me where you find +out the Christian names of all the ungainly people in the congregation. +The other sopranos would feel complimented to have a prima-donna with a +face like a full moon and hands like a blacksmith's foisted upon them! +One must have a little regard for appearances," and Isabelle drew her +graceful figure up to its full height. + +"Jemima Dobbs isn't dynamite, and I have no anarchical tendencies," +persisted Marion stoutly,--"but beauty is only skin deep, Isabelle. She +supports a sick mother and five children and that is more than any of +the rest of us could do," and Marion, frightened at her momentary +temerity, shrank back into her shell. + +"It is a most unaccountable thing, Lawrence," said Mrs. Hildreth, "why +the church should be so heavily encumbered. I am sure you contribute +handsomely and the pew rents are high. There is always a large +congregation. I cannot understand." + +"It is largely composed of transients though, my dear, and they never +carry more than a nickel in their pockets, so the weight of the burden +falls upon a few. The expenses are very heavy. Jerome wants to make it +the most popular church in the city, and the new quartette proves an +extravagant luxury." + +"Oh, well," said Mrs. Hildreth, "of course one cannot grudge the money +for that. Professional singing is such an attraction! The way Madame +Rialto took that high C last Sunday was superb." + +"Well," said Isabelle, "I don't think there is any doubt that Doctor +Jerome is the most popular preacher in the city. He is going to preach +next Sunday on the moral progress of social sciences, and next month he +commences his series of sermons on the social problems of the day. He +does take such an interest in sociology." + +"But why doesn't he preach Jesus Christ?" asked Evadne wonderingly. + +"You will get to be a regular fanatic, Evadne, if you ring the changes +on that subject so often. Doctor Jerome says he wants his people to have +an intelligent idea of the progress of events. Of course everyone +understands the Bible. + +"I do think he is the loveliest man!" she continued rapturously, "he is +so sympathetic; and Celeste Follingsby says he is 'perfectly heavenly in +affliction.' Her little sister died last week, you know. It is so +awkward that it should have happened just now. She will not be able to +take any part in the Cantata, and she had the sweetest dress!" + +"Very ill-timed of Providence!" said Louis gravely. "What a pity it is, +Isabelle, that you couldn't have the regulation of affairs." He yawned +and strolled lazily towards the fireplace. When he looked round again, +Evadne was the only other occupant of the room. + +"Well, coz, what do you think of the situation? I belong to the +worldlings, of course, but I confess the idea of Jesus Christ at a +Butterfly Social is tremendously incongruous. We have the best of it, +Evadne, for we live up to our theories. Give it up, coz. You'll find it +a hopeless task to make the Bible and modern Christianity agree." + +He looked at his watch. + +"I say, Evadne, Jefferson is playing at the Metropolitan in Richard III. +to-night. Let us go and hear him." + +And Evadne went, and enjoyed it immensely. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +"I am going for a long ride into the country, Evadne," said her uncle +one morning, "would you like to come with me?" + +Evadne gave a glad assent. After her beautiful tropical life, it seemed +to her as if she should choke, shut away from the wide expanse of sky +which she loved, among monotonous rows of houses and dingy streets. + +As they left the city behind them and the road swept out into the open, +she gave a long sigh of delight. Her uncle laughed. + +"Well, Evadne, does it please you?" + +"It is the first time I have felt as if I could breathe," she said. + +"So you don't take kindly to Marlborough? Well, I suppose it is a rude +awakening from your sunny land, but you will get used to it. We grow +accustomed to all life's disagreeable surprises as time rolls on." + +Evadne shivered. "I do not think I shall ever grow accustomed to it, +Uncle Lawrence." + +"Ah, you are young. We grow wiser as our hair turns grey." + +"If that is wisdom, I do not care to grow wise." + +"Not grow wise, Evadne!" said her uncle quizzically. "In this age, when +women claim a surplusage of all the brain power bestowed upon the race! +What will you do when you have to attend to business?" + +"Business," echoed Evadne, "I have never thought about it, Uncle +Lawrence." + +"No turn for dollars and cents, eh? Did your father never consult you +about his affairs?" + +Evadne's lip quivered. "Oh, yes," she said, and her words were a cry of +pain, "he consulted me about everything, but I do not think there was +ever any mention of money. Does money constitute business, Uncle +Lawrence?" + +"Wealth gives power, Evadne. Money is one of the greatest things in the +world. While we are on the subject I may as well tell you that your +father wrote me concerning the disposition of his property. I shall look +after your interests carefully, together with my own, and give you the +same quarterly allowance that my own girls have. When you are older I +will go more into detail, but it is not worth while now to worry your +head over columns of uninteresting figures. I shall open an account for +you at the National Bank and you can draw on that for your expenses. +Your aunt will initiate you into the mysteries of shopping. By the way, +you must have gone through that experience in Barbadoes. How did you +manage there?" + +Evadne turned her head away and clenched her hands tightly as the flood +of bitter-sweet memories threatened to engulf her. + +"Papa always went with me," she said slowly, "whatever he liked I +chose." + +Judge Hildreth gave a sigh of relief. He had extricated himself from a +difficult position with diplomatic skill. It did not occur to him that a +lie which is half the truth is the meanest kind of a lie. He had +acquainted his niece with all that was necessary for her to know at +present, and at the same time left himself a loophole of escape from the +imputation of disregarding his brother's wishes. When she became old +enough to assume the responsibility, and he got his affairs straightened +out sufficiently to admit of transferring to her care the funds which +were so absolutely essential to his present success, he would put Evadne +in full possession of her inheritance. Results had proved the wisdom of +his decision. By her own acknowledgment his niece had never given a +thought to the subject. His brother's plan would be a height of +imprudence from which he was bound to shield her. + +In Evadne's mind also thought was busy. "Money is one of the greatest +things in the world," her uncle had said, and she had read that morning, +"tongues shall cease, and knowledge shall be done away, but love never +faileth. Now abideth faith, hope, and love; the greatest of these is +love." Was Louis right? Did Christians and the Bible not agree? And the +business of _her_ life was to find Jesus Christ. Was there any money in +that? + +When they reached Hollywood, where Judge Hildreth had business with Mr. +Hawthorne, Evadne was in an ecstasy of silent rapture. She had never +dreamed what a New England farm might be. Its varied beauty, clad in the +dazzling robes of early summer, came upon her with the suddenness of a +revelation. She begged to be allowed to wait for her uncle out of doors, +and wandered slowly on past the great barns to where the wide gate +stretched across the green road. When she reached it she stopped and +looked with keen delight at the beautiful creatures in the fields on +either side. The sunshine fell upon her with loving warmth; in the +distance she could hear the whirr of a mowing machine and the shouts of +the men at work. A magnificent young horse thrust his head familiarly +over the fence near by, and under the shade of a great tree Primrose, +with her graceful calf beside her, was lazily chewing her cud. + +Everything spoke of contentment and comfort and peace. An unutterable +longing seized upon the lonely girl. Here at least she would have God's +creatures to love, and his woods and the sky! She laid her head down +upon the gate with a smothered cry. + +"If I only belonged,--like the cows!" + +"Pitty lady!" + +Startled by the sweet, baby voice, Evadne looked up to find a pair of +laughing blue eyes peeping sympathetically at her. The sun-bonnet had +fallen back and the golden curls were tossed in luxurious confusion over +the little head. + +Evadne caught the child in her arms. + +"You little darling!" + +"Yes, me is," said the child, resting contentedly within Evadne's +embrace, as if, with the mysterious telepathy of childhood, she +recognized a spiritual affinity which she was bound to help. "Me's very +nice. Don says so." + +"And who is Don?" asked Evadne. + +"Don's my bootiful man. Me's doin' to marry Don when me gets big. Oh, +dere he is!" and breaking from Evadne, she rolled herself between the +bars of the gate and ran at the top of her speed towards John Randolph, +who just then appeared around a bend in the road, one arm thrown lightly +over the neck of the horse he had been training. + +"Halloo, Nansie!" Evadne heard his cheery greeting, saw him stoop and +lift the child on to the horse's back, and was so interested in the +pretty scene that she forgot she was a stranger. When she came to +herself with a start the little cavalcade had reached the gate and John +Randolph stood before her with his hat in his hand. + +Evadne bowed. "It is so beautiful!" she said. "I have been waiting for +my uncle and lost myself among the harmonies of Nature." + +John Randolph's eyes lightened. "It is God's world," he answered with a +sweet reverence. + +Evadne looked full into the shining face. "Do you know Jesus Christ?" +she asked impulsively. + +The face softened into a great tenderness. "He is my King." + +"And do you love him?" + +"With all there is of me." + +A servant came just then to say the Judge was waiting. + +"I will come at once," Evadne said courteously. Then she turned once +more to John. "And what do _you_ think of life?" she cried softly. + +"Life!" he said, and there was a strange, exultant ring in his voice. +"Life is a beautiful possibility." + +There was no time for more, but in the spirit realm of kinship no +multitude of words is needed. Only a few moments had passed, yet in that +little space two souls had met. What did it matter if the devious +turnings of life should lead them far apart, or the barring gate of +circumstance forever separate them? They had found each other! + +"Pitty lady!--Nan loves oo, dear," and the child whom John held seated +on the broad top rail of the gate, held up her rosy lips for a kiss. + +Instinctively Evadne held out her hand to John. Spiritual ethics laugh +at the conventionalities of time. "Good-bye," she said, "and thank you." + +She looked back once to wave her hand to little Nan. John was standing +as she had left him, one arm encircling the child who nestled close to +him, while over his right shoulder the horse had thrust his handsome +head. Always afterward she saw him so. It was a parable of what God had +meant man to be. + + * * * * * + +Long after the sound of the carriage wheels had died away John stood +motionless, beholding again as in a vision the earnest face and +wonderful grey eyes. Then he stooped for his hat which had fallen to the +ground when he had taken her hand in his. As he did so, he saw a dainty +bit of lawn lying on the other side of the gate. He put his hand between +the bars and caught it just as the breeze was about to blow it away. He +looked at the name which was delicately traced in one corner with a +strange sense of pleasure: Evadne. + +"It fits her," he said to himself. "There's a sweet elusiveness about +her. She makes me think of a bird. She'll let you come just so far, +until she gets to trust you, and then you'll have all her sweetness." + +He drew a long breath which was strangely like a sigh, and, folding the +handkerchief carefully, put it in his pocket. + +"Pitty lady," murmured little Nan drowsily, and John caught her up and +kissed her,--he could not have told why. + + * * * * * + +"I do think Dorothy Bruce is the kindest creature!" exclaimed Marion one +Saturday morning as they lingered with a pleasant sense of leisure over +the breakfast table. "She offered to give up the whole of to-day to me. +I thought it was lovely when she works so hard all the week." + +"Give it up to you. Why, what do you mean, Marion? We never have +anything to do with her in school. What could you possibly want of her +here?" + +"Oh, it is that doleful algebra," sighed Marion. "It is utterly +impossible for me to get it into my head, and Dorothy takes to it like a +duck to water, and she is a born teacher. Madame Castle says her +aptitude for imparting knowledge amounts to genius. You must allow it +was kind of her, Isabelle." + +Isabelle shrugged her shoulders. "Self-interested, most likely. That +sort of people would do anything to obtain a foothold." + +"Oh, Isabelle!" cried Evadne. "Do have a little faith in your +fellow-man! Why should you set yourself up on a pinnacle and despise +everyone who is poor, when the father of us all hoed for a living?" + +Louis looked up from the paper he was reading. "There are two things +Isabelle has no faith in, Evadne. The Declaration of Independence and +the book she loaned you. One says all men are free and equal,--the other +that God has made of one blood all the nations of the earth. Her Serene +Highness objects to this. She will have the blue blood come in +somewhere, though where she gets it from heaven only knows!" + +"Louis, I do wish you would not be so radical!" Isabelle said, +peevishly. "You must admit there is such a thing as culture and +refinement." + +"Certainly I admit it. The only thing I object to is that you talk as if +you possessed a monopoly of the article, whereas I hold that it is just +a question of environment. It is no thanks to you that you were not born +a Hottentot or a Choctaw. Give yourself the same ancestors and +surroundings as your chimney-sweep and wherein would you be superior to +him? And when it comes to ancestry, by the way, probably Miss Bruce can +trace back to some of the grand old Highland chiefs who covered +themselves with glory long before the lineage of Hildreth had emerged +from obscurity." + +"I don't know anyone who likes to choose his company better than you!" +observed Isabelle sarcastically. + +"Certainly I do. Similarity of environment presupposes similarity of +tastes. Probably my idea of enjoyment would not accord with the +chimney-sweep's, but at the same time I don't look down on the poor +beggar because he hasn't been as fortunate as I in getting his bread +well buttered. There is a law of cultivation for humanity as well as +plants. Surround a succession of generations with all the advantages of +wealth, education and travel, and you produce the aristocrat; just as +you get the delicate Solanum Wendlandi from the humble potato blossom. +Set your aristocrat in the wilderness to earn his living by the sweat of +his brow,--let the rain and wind beat upon his delicate skin,--shut him +away from all the elevating influences to which he has been accustomed, +and, in course of time, what have you? His descendants have retrograded. +The Solanum has become a potato again." + +"That is all very well," said Isabelle, "but I believe the instinct of +culture will be dormant somewhere." + +"Then why do you not recognize it in your chimney-sweep? For all you +know he may be the descendant of some impecunious sire of a lordly +house. Probably plenty of them are." + +Louis rose and tossed the paper carelessly to his mother, who had been +an amused listener to the discussion. It never occurred to him to do so +before. What did women want to know about politics or the turf? + +"Jesus Christ never seemed to care about externals," said Evadne +softly. "He chose his friends among the common people." + +"For pity's sake, Evadne!" cried Isabelle. "When will you learn that the +Bible is not to be taken literally?" + +"Not to be taken literally!" echoed Evadne in wonderment. "How is it to +be taken then?" + +"Isabelle means that we have to make allowances," said her aunt. "Christ +could do a great many things that you cannot." + +Evadne was silent, while the words of Jesus kept ringing in her ears: +"For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done +to you." If only she could understand! + +"By the way, Evadne," said Mrs. Hildreth, "I beg you will not repeat +your mistake of yesterday." + +"What do you mean, Aunt Kate?" + +"Bringing such a disreputable character into the house. When I came in +and found her sitting in the hall and you talking to her I was perfectly +paralyzed. Horrible! Why her rags were abominable, and her feet were +bare!" + +"But she had no shoes, Aunt Kate, and she was just my height. I was so +glad that my clothes would fit her." + +"A pretty thing to have your clothes paraded through the streets by +such a creature! Most likely she would pawn them for gin. I am sure she +was an improper character." + +"But, Aunt Kate," pleaded Evadne, "Jesus Christ says we must clothe the +naked and feed the hungry if we would be his followers. I must do as he +tells me for I am going to follow him." + +"Your uncle does enough of that for the family," said her aunt coldly. +"I do not wish you to try any such experiments again." + +Puzzled and chilled, Evadne left the room. Was obeying the commands of +Christ only an "experiment" after all? + +She crept up to her favorite retreat and threw herself upon her gayly +covered couch. "Oh, Jesus Christ!" she cried passionately, "I am _glad_ +I did not live in Galilee when you were there! Aunt Kate and Isabelle +would have thought it bad form for me to follow you in the crowd where +the sinners were. But they can't keep me from doing so now! + +"Oh, I wish I were dead! No one would care. Yes, Pompey would be sorry. +Louis would call it 'a sable attachment,' but Pompey loved my father. +Oh, dearest! dearest!" + +She buried her head in her hands while wave after wave of desolation +broke over the lonely soul. "A beautiful possibility" her knight of the +gate had said. Could life become that to her? + +Downstairs Pompey began to sing,-- + + "Shall we meet beyond the river, + Where the surges cease to roll, + Where in all the bright forever + Sorrow ne'er shall press the soul?" + +The rich vibrations rolled up and trembled about her. She held out her +arms and her voice broke in a cry of triumphant faith, "Yes, we _shall_ +meet, Lord Jesus, face to face!" + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +"Pompey," said Evadne one morning, "I am going to see your wife." + +The black face beamed with satisfaction. "Dyee'll be mighty uplifted, +Miss 'Vadney. She think a powerful sight o' Mass Lennux." + +Evadne stood watching him as he gave finishing touches to the silver +mountings of the handsome harness. "I don't believe there is another +harness in Marlborough that shines like yours, Pompey," she said with a +laugh. "You are as particular with it as though every day was a special +occasion." + +"So 'tis, Miss 'Vadney," said Pompey simply. "Can't slight nuthin' when +de Lord's lookin' on. Whoa, Brutis! Dere's goin' ter be Holiness to de +Lord written on de bells ob de horses bimeby, Missy. I'se got it writ +dere now." + +"I believe you have, Pompey," said Evadne soberly, "for you do your work +just as perfectly whether Uncle Lawrence is going to see it or not. It +almost seems as if you were trying to please someone out of sight." + +Pompey drew himself up to his full height. "I'se a frien' ob de Lord +Jesus, Miss 'Vadney. I'se got ter do everything perfect 'cause ob dat. +Couldn't bring no disgrace on my Lord." + +"But would that disgrace him?" asked Evadne in wonderment. + +"Why, yes, Missy. Ef I wuz a poor, shifles' crittur, only workin' fer de +praise o' men, folks would say,--'he's no differen' frum de rest; you've +got to keep yer eye on him ef yer want tings done properly. De King's +chillen ain't no better dan de worl's chillen be.' + +"De Lord Jesus, he say to me,--'Pompey, you must be faithful in de +little things as well as in de big. I never slurred nuthin when I wuz a +walkin' up and down troo Palestine. I sees you, Pompey; don't make no +difference whether de earthly master does or not.' So I does all de +little tings to de Lord, Miss 'Vadney, an' de Jedge knows he can depen' +on Pompey. Whenever he wants me, I'se here." + +"That is lovely!" said Evadne softly. "But don't you get dreadfully +tired doing the same work over and over? Every day you have to do +exactly the same things. It is as bad as a tread-mill. You just keep on +going round and round." + +Pompey gave one of his low chuckles. "'Specs dat's de way in dis worl', +Miss 'Vadney. We'se got ter keep on eatin', an' we can't sleep enuff one +night ter last fer a week,--but I 'low it's jes' one o' de beautiful +laws ob de Lord,--de sun an' de moon an' de stars keeps a'goin over de +same ground most continuous. So long as we'se doin' his will, Missy, it +don't matter much whether we'se goin' roun' an' roun' or straight ahead. +Stan' over, Ceesah!" and Pompey gave a final polish to the horse's +already immaculate legs. + +"Why don't you blacken their hoofs, Pompey? They used to do it in +Barbadoes." + +Pompey's eyes twinkled. "Dat's a no 'count livery notion, Miss 'Vadney, +a coverin' up de cracks an' makin' de horse's hufs look better dan dey +is. De King's chillens can't stoop ter any sech decepshuns. De Lord +Jesus says, 'Pompey, I is de truff. You's got ter speak de truff an' +live de truff ef you belongs ter me.' We ain't got no call ter cover up +anything, Miss 'Vadney, ef we'se livin' ez de Lord wants us to. 'Sides, +der ain't no 'cashun fer it. Ef we keeps de stable pure an' de food good +an' gives de horse de right kind of exercise an' plenty of 'tention, de +hufs will take care ob demselves," and he held Caesar's foot up for her +inspection. + +"Halloo, Evadne, are you taking lessons in farriery? What's the matter, +Pompey? Has Caesar got a sand crack?" and Louis sauntered up, the +inevitable cigar between his lips. + +"I don't 'low my horses ever hez sech things, Mass Louis," said Pompey +grandly. + +"Ha, ha! what a conceited old beggar you are. But I'll give the devil +his due and acknowledge the horses are a credit to you." He held a dollar +towards him balanced on his forefinger. "Here, take this and fill your +pipe with it." + +"Don't want no pay fer doin' my dooty, Mass Louis." + +"Pshaw, man! Take a tip, can't you?" + +Pompey shook his head. "I don't smoke, Mass Louis." + +"Don't smoke!" ejaculated Louis. "You don't here, I know, because the +Judge is afraid of fire, but you'll never make me believe that you don't +spend your evenings over the fire with your pipe. You darkeys are as +fond of one as the other." + +"You's mistaken, Mass Louis," said Pompey quietly. + +"'Pon my word! And why don't you smoke, Pomp? You don't know what you're +missing. It is the greatest comfort on earth." + +"'Specs I don't need sech poor comfort, Mass Louis. I takes my comfort +wid de Lord." + +Pompey's voice was low and sweet. Evadne felt her heart glow. + +"But come now, Pomp," persisted Louis, "that's all nonsense. You must +have some reason for not smoking. Everybody does. Come, I insist on your +telling me." + +Pompey was silent for a moment. "'The pure in heart shall see God,'" he +said slowly. "I 'low, Mass Louis, de King's chillen's got ter be pure in +body too."' + +"You insolent scoundrel! How dare you?" and Louis dashed the glowing end +of his cigar in the negro's face. + +For a moment Pompey stood absolutely still,--the cigar which had left +its mark upon his cheek lying smouldering at his feet,--then he turned +quietly and walked away. + +Louis strode out of the coach-house. Evadne followed him, her eyes +blazing. "You are a coward!" she cried passionately. "You would not have +dared to do that to a man who could hit you back. You forced him to tell +you and then struck him for doing it! If this is your culture and +refinement, I despise it! I am going to be a Christian, like Pompey. +That is grand!" + +"Well done, coz!" and Louis affected a laugh. "There's not much of the +'meek and lowly' in evidence just now at any rate." + +He looked after her as she walked away, her indignant tones still +lingered in his ears. "By Jove! there's something to her though she is +so quiet! I must cultivate the child." + +Seen through Evadne's clear eyes his action looked despicable and his +better nature suggested an apology, but he swept the suggestion aside +with a muttered "Pshaw! he's only a nigger," and turned carelessly on +his heel. + +"You are Dyce!" cried Evadne impulsively when she reached the cottage in +whose open doorway a pleasant-faced colored woman was standing. "Pompey +has told me about you. I think your husband is one of the grandest men I +know." + +"Thank you, Missy. Walk right in, I'se proper glad ter see Mass Lennux's +chile." + +"Why, how did you know me?" asked Evadne wonderingly. + +The woman laughed softly. "Laws, honey, you'se de livin' image of yer +Pa." + +She excused herself after a few moments and Evadne laid her head against +the cushions of a comfortable old rocking chair and rested. She wondered +sometimes where her old strength had gone. She had never felt tired in +Barbadoes. The tiny room was full of a homely comfort which did her +heart good. There were books lying on the table and flowers in the +window, a handsome cat purred in front of the fireplace, and on a +bracket in one corner an asthmatic clock ticked off the hours with +wheezy vigor. In an adjoining room Evadne could see a bed with its gay +patchwork quilt of Dyce's making, and in the little kitchen beyond she +heard her singing as she trod to and fro. A couple of dainty muslin +dresses were draped over chairs, for Dyce was the finest clear starcher +in Marlborough, and her kitchen was all too small to hold the products +of her skill. She entered the room again bearing a tray covered with a +snowy napkin on which were quaint blue plates of delicious bread and +butter, pumpkin pie, golden browned as only Dyce could bake it, and a +cup of fragrant coffee. + +"I did not know anything could taste quite so good!" Evadne said when +she had finished, "you must be a wonderful cook." + +Dyce laughed, well pleased. "When de Lord gives us everything in +perfecshun, 'specs it would be terrible shifles' of me ter spoil it in +de cookin', Miss 'Vadney." + +"The Lord," repeated Evadne. "You know him too, then? You must, if you +live with Pompey." + +Dyce's face grew luminous. "He is my joy!" she said softly. + +"And does he make you happy all the time?" asked the girl wistfully. +"You seem to have to work as hard as Pompey. What is it makes you so +glad?" + +"Laws, honey, how kin I help bein' glad? De chile o' de King, on de way +ter my Father's palace. Ain't dat enuff 'cashun ter keep a poor cullered +woman rejoicin' all de day long? I'se so happy I'se a singin' all de +time over my work, an' in de street; it don't matter where I be." + +"But you can't sing in the streets, Dyce!" + +"Laws, chile, don't yer know de heart kin sing when de lips is silent? +It's de heart songs dat de King tinks de most of, but when de heart gits +too full, den de lips hez ter do deir share." + +"But suppose you were to lose your eyesight, or Pompey got sick, +or----" + +Dyce gave one of her soft laughs. "Laws, honey, I never supposes. De +Lord's got no use fer a lot o' supposin' chillen who's allers frettin' +demselves sick fer fear Satan'll git de upper han'. De Lord's reignin', +dat's enuff fer me. I 'low he'll take care o' me in de best way." + +Evadne looked again at the exquisitely laundered dresses. "Why do you +work so hard?" she asked. "Doesn't Pompey get enough to live on?" + +"Oh, yes, honey; de Jedge gives good wages; but yer see, we wants to do +so much fer Jesus dat de wages don't hold out." + +"So much for Jesus!" + +"Why, yes, Missy. He says ef we loves him we'll do what he tells us, an' +he's tol' us ter feed de hungry, an' clothe de naked, an' go preach de +gospel. So, when we cum ter talk it ober, it seem drefful shifles' in me +ter be doin' nothin' when de Lord worked night an' day, so I begun ter +take in laundry work an' now we hev more money ter spen' on de Lord. But +we never hez enuff. De worl's so full o' perishin' souls an' starvin' +bodies. I tells Pompey I never wanted ter be rich till I began ter do de +King's bizniss. It's drefful comfortin' work, Miss 'Vadney." + + * * * * * + +The chill March wind blew fiercely along the streets of Marlborough one +afternoon and Evadne shivered. She had been standing for an hour wedged +tightly against the doors of the Opera House by an impatient crowd which +swayed hither and thither in a fruitless effort to force an entrance. It +was Signor Ferice's farewell to America and it was his whim to make his +last concert a popular one, with no seats reserved. Every nerve in her +body seemed strained to its utmost tension and her head was in a whirl. +She turned and faced the crowd. A sea of faces; some eager, some sullen, +some frowning, all impatient. The scraps of merry talk which had floated +to her at intervals during the earlier stages of the waiting were no +longer heard. A gloomy silence seemed to have settled down upon every +one. Suddenly a laugh rang out upon the keen air,--so full of a clear +joyousness that people involuntarily straightened their drooping +shoulders, as if inspired with a new sense of vigor and smiled in +sympathy. + +Evadne started. Surely she had heard that voice before! It must +be,--yes, it was,--her knight of the gate! Their eyes met. A great light +swept over his face and he lifted his hat. Then the surging crowd +carried him out of her range of vision. + +"I don't see what you find to look so pleased about, Evadne," grumbled +Isabelle, as they drove homeward. "For my part I think the whole thing +was a fizzle." + +"I was thinking," said Evadne slowly, "of the power of a laugh." + +"The power of a laugh! What in the World do you mean?" + +"I mean that it is a great deal better for ourselves to laugh than to +cry, and vastly more comfortable for our neighbors." + +"Evadne will not be down," announced Marion the next morning as she +entered the breakfast room. "She caught a dreadful cold at the concert +yesterday and she can't lift her head from the pillow. Celestine thinks +she is sickening for a fever." + +"Dear me, how tiresome!" exclaimed Mrs. Hildreth. "I have such a horror +of having sickness in the house,--one never knows where it will end. +Ring the bell for Sarah, Marion, to take up her breakfast." + +"It is no use, Mamma. She says she does not want anything." + +"But that is nonsense. The child must eat. If it is fever, she will need +a nurse, and nurses always make such an upheaval in a house." + +"You had better go up, my dear, and see for yourself," said Judge +Hildreth. "Celestine may be mistaken." + +"Mercy!" cried Isabelle, "it is to be hoped she is! I have the most +abject horror of fevers and that is enough to make me catch it. Fancy +having one's head shorn like a convict! The very idea is appalling." + +"Oh, of course if there is the slightest danger, you and Marion will +have to go to Madame Castle's to board," said her mother. "It is very +provoking that Evadne should have chosen to be sick just now." + +"Not likely the poor girl had much choice in the matter," laughed Louis. +"There are a few things, lady mother, over which the best of us have no +control." + +"I wish you would go up and see the child, Kate," said Judge Hildreth +impatiently. "If there is the least fear of anything serious I will send +the carriage at once for Doctor Russe. It is a risky business +transplanting tropical flowers into our cold climate." + +The kind-hearted French maid was bending over Evadne's pillow when Mrs. +Hildreth entered the room. She had grown to love the quiet stranger +whose courtesy made her work seem light, and it was with genuine regret +that she whispered to her mistress,--"It is the feevar. I know it well. +My seestar had it and died." + +Evadne's eyes were closed and she took no notice of her aunt's entrance. +Mrs. Hildreth spoke to her and then left the room hurriedly to summon +her husband. Even her unpractised eyes showed her that her niece was +very ill. + +Doctor Russe shook his head gravely. "It is a serious case," he said, +"and I do not know Where you will find a nurse. I never remember a +spring when there was so much sickness in the city. I sent my last nurse +to a patient yesterday and since then have had two applications for one. +It is most unfortunate. The young lady will need constant care. She +requires a person of experience." + +Pompey, waiting to drive the doctor home, caught the words, spoken as he +descended the steps to enter the carriage, and came forward eagerly. "If +you please, Missus," he said, touching his hat, "Dyce would come. She's +hed a powerful sight of 'sperience nussin' fevers in New Orleans. She'd +be proper glad ter tend Miss 'Vadney." + +"How is that?" questioned the busy doctor. "Oh, your wife, my good +fellow? The very thing. Let her come at once." + +So Dyce came, and into her sympathetic ears were poured the delirious +ravings of the lonely heart which had been so suddenly torn from its +genial surroundings of love and happiness and thrust into the chilling +atmosphere of misunderstanding and neglect. + +Every day the patient grew weaker and after each visit the doctor looked +graver. Mrs. Hildreth began to feel the gnawings of remorse, as she +thought of the lonely girl to whom she had so coldly refused a +daughter's place; and the Judge's thoughts grew unbearable as he +remembered his broken trust; even Louis missed the earnest face which he +had grown to watch with a curious sense of pleasure; while the girls at +school felt their hearts grow warm as they thought of the young cousin +so soon to pass through the valley of the shadow. + +But Evadne did not die. The fever spent itself at last and there +followed long days of utter prostration both of mind and body. Dyce's +cheery patience never failed. Her sunny nature diffused a bright +hopefulness throughout the sick chamber, until Evadne would lie in a +dreamy content, almost fancying herself back in the old home as she +listened to the musical tones and watched the dusky hands which so +deftly ministered to her comfort. One day after she had lain for a long +time in silence, she looked up at her faithful nurse and the grey eyes +shone like stars. + +"Dyce!" she cried softly. "I have found Jesus Christ!" + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Reginald Hawthorne lay upon a couch on the wide veranda of his lovely +home. The birds held high carnival around him,--nesting in the large +cherry tree, playing hide and seek among the fragrant apple blossoms and +making the air melodious with their merry songs. Brilliant orioles +flashed to and fro like gleams of gold in the sunlight, as they built +their airy hammocks high among the swaying branches of the great willow, +and one inquisitive robin swept boldly through the clustering vines +which screened the front of the veranda and perched upon his shoulder. +He heard the merry hum of the bees at work and the strident call of the +locusts, mingled with the distant neighing of horses and the soft lowing +of the cows, but all the sweetness of nature was powerless to lift the +gloom which seemed to envelop him as in a shroud. His face was white and +drawn with pain and there were heavy rings beneath his eyes. Reginald +Hawthorne would be a cripple for life. + +The College Football Club had met a New York team in the yearly +contest, which was looked forward to as one of the events in the +athletic world, and Reginald had been foremost among the leaders of the +play. Fierce and long had been the fight and the enthusiastic spectators +had shouted themselves hoarse with applause or groaned in despair when +the honor of Marlborough seemed likely to be lost. Then had come a +mighty onward rush and the opposing forces concentrated into one +seething mass of struggling humanity. When they drew apart at last the +College boys had made the welkin ring with shouts of victory, but their +bravest champion lay white and still upon the field. + +Long days and nights of pain had followed, when John and Mrs. Hawthorne +were at their wits' end to alleviate the sufferings of the unfortunate +boy. Now the pain had resolved itself into a dull aching but Reginald +would never walk without a crutch again. + +The mortification to his father was extreme. A passionate man, he had +centred all his hopes upon his son, whose position in life he fondly +expected to repay him for his years of unremitting toil, and this was +the end of it all! He grew daily more overbearing and hard to please, +and his ebullitions of disappointment and rage were terrible to witness. +He vented his anger most frequently upon John, the sight of whose +superb strength goaded the unhappy man into a frenzy, and John's +forbearance was tried to the utmost, but there was a sweet patience +growing in his soul which made it possible to endure in silence, however +capricious or unreasonable the commands of his master might be, and +Reginald, watching him critically, marvelled at the mysterious inner +strength of his friend. + +He came along now with his quick, light step and drew a chair up beside +Reginald's couch. He planned his work so as to be with the invalid as +much as possible, and his constant sympathy and cheer were all that made +the days bearable to him. + +"Well, Rege, how goes it?" he asked in tones as tender as a woman's. + +Reginald looked up at him with envious eyes. There was such a freshness +about this strong young life, as if every moment were a separate joy. + +"I wish I was dead!" he answered moodily. + +"Don't dare to wish that!" said John quickly, "until you have made the +most of your life." + +"The most of my life!" echoed Reginald contemptuously. "That's well put, +John, I must say! What is my life worth to me now? You see what my +father thinks of it. A useless log, as valuable as a piece of waste +paper. I believe it would have pleased him better if I had been killed +outright. He wouldn't have had the humiliation of it always before his +eyes. If it had been any sort of a decent accident, I believe I could +bear it better, but to be knocked over in a football match, like the +precious duffer that I am--bah!" + +The concentrated bitterness of the last words made John's heart ache. +"Looking backward, Rege," he said quietly, "will never make a man of +you. It is only a waste of time and vital tissue. But there are lots of +noble lives in spite of limitations. Paul had his thorn in the flesh, +you know, and Milton his blindness. Difficulties are a spur to the best +that is in us." + +"Difficulties, John. You never look at them, do you?" + +John laughed. "It is not worth while except to see how to surmount +them." + +"I wish you could be idle just for an hour," said Reginald peevishly, +"you make me nervous." + +John took another stitch in the halter he was mending. "Old Father +Time's spoiling tooth is never still, Rege. I have to work to keep pace +with it." + +"I should think you would need a month of loafing to made up for the +sleep you have lost. You're ahead of Napoleon, John, for he only kept +one eye open, but I've never been able to catch you napping once. How +have you stood it, man?" + +"Forty winks is a fair allowance sometimes, Rege." + +Reginald groaned. "Your pluck is worth a king's ransom, John. I wish I +had it." + +John began to whistle softly as he drew his waxed ends in and out. + +"I declare, John, I can't fathom you!" and Reginald moved impatiently +upon his couch. "You are invulnerable as Achilles. I never saw a fellow +get so much comfort out of everything as you do, and yet your life is a +steady grind. What does it all mean?" + +"It means," said John softly, "that I am a Christ's man, and he has +lifted me above the power of circumstances. Jesus is centre and +circumference with me now, Rege. + +"You were talking yesterday about some men wanting the earth. I _own_ +the earth, because it belongs to my Father,--the best part of it, you +know,--there is a truer giving than by title deeds to material +acres--and the world has grown very beautiful since my Father made me +heir of all things through his Son. The birds' songs have a new note in +them, and the sunlight is brighter, and there is a different blue in +the sky. I'm monarch of all I survey because I get the good out of +everything,--mere earthly possession doesn't amount to much, a man has +to leave the finest estates behind him,--but I get the concentrated +sweetness of it all wherever I am. It is God's world, you know, and he +is my Father." + +John was called away just then to attend to some gentlemen who had come +to look at the horses, and Reginald waited for his return in vain. He +heard his father's voice once, raised high in stormy wrath, then all was +still again. Some time afterwards, through the leafy curtain of his +veranda, he saw Mr. Hawthorne drive past with a face so distorted with +passion that he shivered. + +"There's been no end of a row this time," he soliloquized. "It is a +mystery to me why John puts up with it. He's free to go when he chooses. +I'm sure I'd clear out if I wasn't such a good-for-nothing. The governor +is getting to be more like a bear than a human being, it's a dog's life +for everybody unlucky enough to be under the same roof with him." + + * * * * * + +Down at the bend of the river a tall figure lay stretched upon the moss. +The river laughed and the birds sang, but John Randolph's face was +buried in his arms. + +To leave Hollywood--that very night! The place whose very stones were +dear to him, where he had learned all he knew of home. To be turned off +like a beggar, without a moment's warning, after all his years of toil! +To say good-bye forever to the human friends who loved him, and the +dear, dumb friends whom he had fondled and tended with such constant +care. Never again to swing along through the sweet freshness of the +morning before the sun was up to find the earliest snowdrops for Mrs. +Hawthorne, or take a spin in the moonlight with every nerve a-tingle +across the frozen bosom of the lake, or wander in delight along the wood +roads when every tree was clad in the witching beauty of a silver thaw, +or sweep across the wide stretching country in the very poetry of +motion, or hear the soft swish of the tall grass as it fell in fragrant +rows before the mower, or the creak of the vans as they bore its ripened +sweetness towards the great barns, while bird and bee and locust joined +in the harmony of the Harvest Home, until the sun sank to rest amidst +cloud draperies of royal purple and crimson and gold and the +sweet-voiced twilight soothed the world into peace. + +On and on the hours swept while John fought his battle. At length he +rose, and with long, lingering glances of good-bye to every tree and +rock and flower, began his homeward way. He would think of it so while +he could. In a few short hours he would be a wanderer upon the face of +the earth. A sudden joy crept into the weary eyes. So was Jesus Christ! + +"Why, John, what has happened!" cried Reginald, as his faithful nurse +came to make him comfortable for the night. "You look like a ghost, and +you have had no dinner! What the mischief is to pay? You must have been +precious busy to leave me alone the whole afternoon." + +"I have been, Rege," said John quietly, "very busy." + +"I declare, John, I'd make tracks for freedom if I were in your shoes. +You're a regular convict, and, since you've had me on your hands, a +galley slave is a gentleman of leisure in comparison! Why don't you go, +John? You've had nothing but injustice at Hollywood." + +John fell on his knees beside the bed. "I am going, Rege. Your father +has ordered me away." + +When the thought which has floated--nebulous--across our mental vision, +suddenly resolves itself into tangible form and becomes a solid fact to +be confronted and battled with, the shock is greater than if no shadowy +premonition had ever haunted the dreamland of our fancy. Reginald gave a +low cry, then he lay looking at John with eyes full of a blank horror. +His mind utterly refused to grasp the situation. + +"You see, Rege, it is this way," said John gently. "Your father seems to +have taken a dislike to me and lately I have fancied he was only waiting +for an excuse to turn me off. As soon as those fellows began to talk to +him about the horses I saw there was trouble brewing. Everything I did +was wrong, and once he swore at me. He would order me to bring one horse +and then change his mind before I got half across the field, and then he +would rail at me for not having brought the first one. + +"They pitched on Neptune at last, and asked if he had been registered. I +said 'No,' so then they refused to pay the price your father asked, and +he had to come down on him. He was furious, and, as soon as the men's +backs were turned, he ordered me out of his sight forever. He says I +have ruined the reputation of Hollywood," John's voice broke. + +"But, John, you mustn't go!" cried Reginald. "You cannot! My father is +out of his mind. People don't pay any attention to the ravings of a +lunatic." + +John shook his head sadly. "He is master here, Rege. There is nothing +else for me to do." + +"But, John, it is impossible--preposterous! Why, everything will go to +ruin without you, and I will take the lead." + +"No, no!" said John quickly. "You will be a rich man some day, Rege. +Wealth is a wonderful opportunity. Prepare yourself to use it well." + +"I tell you I can't do anything without you, John. I am like a ship +without a rudder. It is no use talking. I cannot spare you. You must not +go!" + +"If you take the great Pilot aboard, Rege, you will be in no danger of +drifting. It is only when we choose Self for our Captain that the ship +runs on the rocks." + + * * * * * + +"Don, Don!" The child heard his step in the hall long before he reached +the door. He was coming, as he did every night, to give her a ride in +his arms before she went to by-by. She held out her little arms from +which the loose sleeves had fallen back. John lifted her up, for the +last time. + +He laid his strong, set face against the rosy cheek, and looked into the +laughing eyes which the sand man had already sprinkled with his magic +powder. "Nansie, baby, I have come to say good-bye." + +"Not dood-bye, Don, oo always say dood-night." + +"But it is good-bye this time, little one, there will be no more +good-nights for you and me. I am going away." + +A bewildered look swept over the child's face. "Away!" she echoed, "to +leave Nan an' Pwimwose an' the horsies? Me'll do too, Don. He'll do +anywhere wid oo, Don." + +"I wish I could take you!" and John strained her to his breast. "But +there is no Neptune to carry us now, little one. Your father sold him +this afternoon." + +"My nice Nepshun!" The child's lip quivered, but something in the +suffering face above her made her say quickly, "Me'll be dood, Don, an' +when oo turn back, me'll be waitin' at de gate." + +She patted his cheek confidingly. "Nice Don! Nan loves oo, dear, an' +Desus. Nan loves Desus 'cause oo do, Don." + +John's voice choked. "Keep on loving, Nansie." + +"Yes, me will. Does Desus carry de little chil'en in his arms like oo +do, Don? Me's so comf'able. Me loves Desus." + +The little arm, soft and warm, crept closer around his neck, while the +golden curls swept his cheek. "Oo's my bootiful man, Don. Me'll marry oo +when me gets big," and then, all unconscious of the sorrow which should +greet her in the morning, the baby slept. + +To and fro across the floor John trod lightly with his precious burden. +His arms never felt the weight. They would be such empty arms +bye-and-bye! Then at last he laid her down, and, taking a pair of +scissors from his pocket, he carefully severed one of the golden rings +of hair, and laid it within the folds of the handkerchief which he still +carried in his vest pocket. The fair girl and the little child. These +should be his memory of womanhood. + +[Illustration: 'ME'LL DO ANYWHERE, WIV OO, DON.] + + * * * * * + +In Reginald's room kind-hearted Mrs. Hawthorne was weeping bitterly. She +loved John as her own son, but no one ever dreamed of disputing the +tyrannical dictates of the master of Hollywood, however unjust they +might be. + +Reginald lay as John had left him with his face buried in the pillows +and utterly refused to be comforted. What comfort could there be if +John was going away? It never occurred to him that his mother needed +cheer as much as he. Like all selfish souls his own pain completely +filled his horizon. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +"I don't see what we are to do about Evadne!" and Mrs. Hildreth sighed +disconsolately. "She looks like a walking shadow. I should not be +surprised if she had inherited her father's disease, and they say now +that consumption is as contagious as diphtheria." + +"Horrors!" cried Isabelle. "Do quarantine her somewhere, Mamma, until +you are quite sure there is no danger. I haven't the faintest +aspirations to martyrdom." + +"It is a great care," sighed Mrs. Hildreth. "All of you children have +always been so healthy. I don't believe Doctor Russe will listen to her +going to the seaside, and the mountains are so monotonous! Other +people's children are a great responsibility." + +Suddenly Isabelle clapped her hands. "I have it!" she cried. "Send her +up to Aunt Marthe, and then we can tease Papa to let us go to Newport. +Marion is going to spend the summer with Christine Drayton, you know, +and Papa does not intend to leave the city, so we can persuade him that +it is our duty to seize such a golden opportunity of doing things +economically. I am sure I don't know what people must think of us, never +going to any of the fashionable places. For my part I think we owe it to +Papa's position to keep up with the world." + +"I believe it might be managed," said Mrs. Hildreth after some +consideration. "It was very clever of you to think of it, Isabelle. You +ought to be a diplomat, my dear," and she smiled approvingly on her +daughter. + + * * * * * + +The train swept along through the picturesque Vermont scenery and Evadne +looked out of her window with never ending delight. + +"I am like a poor, lonely bird," she said to herself, "who flits from +shore to shore, seeking rest and finding none. Another journey in the +dark! I wonder what will be at the end of this one? Well, I'll hope for +the best. Aunt Marthe's letter was kind, and her name sounds as cheery +as Aunt Kate's sounds cold." + +Mr. Everidge came to meet her as the train steamed into the little +station, and Evadne soon found herself seated in a comfortable carriage +behind a handsome chestnut mare, bowling along a fragrant country road, +catching glimpses at every turn of the verdure-clad hills. + +She found her new uncle very pleasant. There was a silver-tongued +suavity about him in striking contrast to the growing preoccupation of +Judge Hildreth, and a sort of airy self complaisance which took it for +granted that he should be well treated by the world. + +"I am very glad you have come, my dear niece," he said, "to relieve the +tedium of our uneventful existence. You must let our Vermont air kiss +the roses into bloom again in your pale cheeks. It has a world-wide +reputation as a tonic. I hope you left our Marlborough relatives in a +pleasant attitude of mind? It is one of the evidences of this +progressive age that you should woo 'tired Nature's sweet restorer' one +night under the roof of my respected brother-in-law, the next under my +own. The ancients, with their primitive modes of laborious transit, were +only half alive. We of to-day, thanks to the melodious tea-kettle and +inventive cerebral tissue of the youthful Watt, live in a perpetual +hand-clasp, so to speak, and, by means of the flashing chain of light +which girdles the globe are kept in touch with the world. It is food for +reflection that the thought which is evolved from the shadowy recesses +of our brain to-day, should be, by the mysterious camera of electricity, +photographed upon the retina of the Australian public to-morrow, and we +need to have the archives of our memory enlarged to hold the voluminous +correspondence of the century. + +"Ah, Squire Higgins, good-evening. My niece by marriage, Miss Hildreth +of Barbadoes." + +The Squire lifted his hat, there was a little desultory conversation, +then the carriages went on their separate ways, and soon Evadne found +herself at her destination. + +She looked eagerly at the pretty house with its _entourage_ of flowers +and lawns, grand old trees and distance-purpled hills, then Aunt Marthe +appeared in the doorway and she saw nothing else. + +She was of medium height with a crown of soft, brown hair, and eyes +whose first glance of welcome caught Evadne's heart and held her +captive. There was a wonderful sweetness about the smiling mouth, and +the face, although not classically beautiful, possessed a subtle +spiritual charm more fascinating than mere physical perfection of color +and form. She moved lightly with a buoyant youthfulness strangely at +variance with the stately dignity of Mrs. Hildreth and the studied +repose of Isabelle. + +"You dear child!" The soft arms held her close, the sweet lips caught +hers in a kiss, and Evadne felt with a great throb of joy that the +weary bird had found a resting-place at last. + +She led her into a cool, tastefully furnished room, drew her down beside +her on the couch and took off her hat and gloves, then she handed her a +fan and went to make her a lemon soda. + +Evadne looked round the room with its soft curtains swaying in the +breeze, the cool matting on the floor with a rug or two, the light +bookcases with their wealth of thought, the comfortable wicker rockers, +the bamboo tables holding several half cut magazines, an open +work-basket, a vase with a single rose, while on the low mantel a +cluster of graceful lilies were reflected in the mirror. "Why, this is +home!" she cried and she laid her head against the cushions with a +delightful sense of freedom. + +The early supper was soon announced and Evadne found herself in a cozy +dining-room seated near a window which opened into a bewildering vista +of summer beauty. There were flowers beside each plate as well as in the +quaintly carved bowl in the centre of the table. Evadne caught herself +smiling. That had always been a conceit of hers in Barbadoes. + +Everything was simple but delicious. The tender, juicy chicken, the +delicate pink ham, the muffins browned to a turn, the Jersey butter +moulded into a sheaf of wheat, and moist brown bread of Aunt Marthe's +own making, the blocks of golden sponge cake, the crisp lettuce, the +fragrant strawberries, the cool jelly frosted with snow. Evadne drank +her tea out of a chocolate tinted cup, fluted like the bell of a flower, +and felt as if she were feasting on the nectar of the gods, while Mr. +Everidge's silvery tones kept up a constant stream of talk and Aunt +Marthe's beautiful hospitality made her feel perfectly at home. + +"Tea, my dear Evadne," he said, as he passed her cup to be refilled, "is +an infusion of poison which is slowly but surely destroying the coatings +of the gastronomical organ of the female portion of society. I tremble +to think of the amount of tannin which analysis would show deposited in +the systems of the votaries of the deadly Five o'clock, and the +unhealthy nervous tension of the age is largely traceable to the +excessive consumption of the pernicious liquid. Chocolate, on the +contrary, taken as I always drink it, is simple and nutritive, with no +unpleasant after effects to be apprehended, but this decoction of bitter +herbs, steeped to death in water far past its proper temperature, is +concentrated lye, my dear Evadne, nothing but concentrated lye. By the +way, Marthe, I wish you would give your personal supervision to the +preparation of my hot water in the future. Nothing comparable to hot +water, Evadne, just before retiring. It aids digestion and induces +sleep, and sleep you know is a gift of the gods. The Chinese mode of +punishing criminals has always seemed to me exquisite in its barbarity. +They simply make it impossible for the unhappy wretches to obtain a wink +of sleep, until at length the torture grows unbearable and they find +refuge in the long sleep which no mortal has power to prevent. So, my +dear Marthe, see to it if you please in future that my slumber tonic is +served just on the boil. The worthy Joanna does not understand the +mysteries of the boiling process. Water, after it has passed the +initiatory stage becomes flat, absolutely flat and tasteless. What I had +to drink last night was so repugnant to my palate that I found it +impossible to sink into repose with that calm attitude of mind which is +so essential to perfect slumber. + +"See to it also, my dear, that I am not disturbed at such an unearthly +hour again as I was this morning. Tesla, the great electrician, has put +himself on record as intimating that the want of sleep is a potent +factor in the deplorably heavy death rate of the present day. He thinks +sleep and longevity are synonymous, therefore it becomes us to bend +every effort to attain that desirable consummation." + +Involuntarily Evadne looked at Mrs. Everidge. Her face was slightly +turned towards the open window and there was a half smile upon her lips, +as if, like Joan of Arc, she was listening to voices of sweeter tone +than those of earth. She came back to the present again on the instant +and met her niece's eyes with a smile, but in the subtle realm of +intuition we learn by lightning flashes, and Evadne needed no further +telling to know that the saddest loneliness which can fall to the lot of +a woman was the fate of her aunt. + +Immediately after supper Mrs. Everidge persuaded Evadne to go to her +room. The long journey had been a great strain upon her strength and she +was very tired. + +"I wish you a good night, Uncle Horace," she said as she passed him in +the doorway. + +"And you a pleasant one," he rejoined with a gallant bow. "'We are such +stuff as dreams are made of--and our little life is rounded with a +sleep.'" + +She lay for a long time wakeful, revelling in the strange sense of peace +which seemed to enfold her, while the evening breeze blew through the +room and the twilight threw weird shadows among the dainty draperies. +At length there came a low knock and Mrs. Everidge opened the door. + +Evadne stretched out her hands impulsively. "Oh, this beautiful +stillness!" she exclaimed. "In Marlborough there is the clang of the car +gongs and the rumble of cabs and the tramp of feet upon the pavement +until it seems as if the weary world were never to be at rest, but this +house is so quiet I could almost hear a pin drop." + +Mrs. Everidge smiled. "You have quick ears, little one. But we are +quieter than usual to-night; Joanna is sitting up with a sick neighbor, +your uncle went to his room early, and I have been reading in mine." + +She drew a low chair up beside the bed. "Now we must begin to get +acquainted," she said. + +"Dear Aunt Marthe!" cried Evadne, "I feel as if I had known you all my +life." + +She gave her a swift caress. "You dear child! Then tell me about your +father." + +Evadne looked at her gratefully. No one had ever cared to know about her +father before. Forgetting her weariness in the absorbing interest of her +subject, she talked on and on, and Mrs. Everidge with the wisdom of true +sympathy, made no attempt to check her, knowing full well that the +relief of the tried heart was helping her more than any physical rest +could do. + +"And now, oh, Aunt Marthe, life is so desperately lonely!" she said at +last with a sobbing sigh. + +Mrs. Everidge leaned over and kissed the trembling lips. "I think +sometimes the earthly fatherhood is taken from us, dear child, that we +may learn to know the beautiful Fatherliness of God. We can never find +true happiness until our restless hearts are folded close in the hush of +his love. Human love--however lovely--does not satisfy us. Nothing +can,--but God!" + +"The Fatherliness of God," repeated Evadne. "That sounds lovely, but +people do not think of him so. God is someone very terrible and far +away." + +"'And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.' Does that sound as +if he were far away, little one? 'As one whom his mother comforteth, so +will I comfort you.' Why, God is father and mother both to us, dear +child. Can you think of anyone nearer than that?" + +Evadne caught her breath in a great gladness. "I believe you are his +angel of consolation," she said in a hushed voice. + +"'Even unto them will I give ... a place and a name better than of sons +and daughters,'" quoted Aunt Marthe softly. "That means a location and +an identity. Here, sometimes, it seems as if we had neither the one nor +the other. Christ follows out the same idea in his picture of the +abiding place which is being prepared for you and me. Everything on +earth is so transitory, and the human heart has such a hunger for +something that will last." + +"Have you felt this too?" cried Evadne. "I thought I was the only one." + +Mrs. Everidge laughed. "The only one in all the world to puzzle over its +problems! Oh, yes, the older we grow, the more we find that the great +majority have the same feelings and perplexities as ourselves, although +some may not understand their thought clearly enough to put it into +words." + +"What is your favorite verse in all the Bible?" asked Evadne after a +pause. + +Mrs. Everidge laughed again, and Evadne thought she had never heard a +laugh at once so merry and so sweet. + +"You send me into a rose garden, dear child, and tell me to select the +choicest bloom out of its wilderness of beauty. How can I when every one +has a different coloring and a fragrance all its own? Two of my special +favorites are in the Revelation,--'To him that overcometh, to him will +I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon +the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth +it.' 'And they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their +foreheads.' + +"That means a possession and a belonging. It is the spiritual symbol +which binds us to our heavenly lover for eternity just as the wedding +ring is a pledge of fidelity for our earth time. It is only as we see it +so, that we get the full beauty of the religion of Jesus. His +church--the inner circle of his chosen 'hidden ones'--is his bride, and +what can be more glorious than to be the bride of the King of kings? The +dear souls who only serve him with fear do not get the sweetness out of +it at all. How can they, when their lives are all duty? 'Perfect love +casteth out fear' and there is no duty about it, for when we love, it is +a joy to serve and give. It hurts the Christ to have us content to be +simply servants when he would lift us up to the higher plane of +friendship, when he has put upon us the high honor of the dearest friend +of all! Earthly brides spend a vast deal of time and thought over their +trousseau, so I think Christ's bride should walk among men with a sweet +aloofness while the spiritual garments are being fashioned in which she +is to dwell with him. The Bible says a great deal about dressing. 'Let +thy garments be always white'--the sunshine color, the joy color--for +bye and bye we are to walk with him in white, you know. Our spiritual +wardrobe must be fitted and worn down here. It is a terrible mistake to +put off donning the wedding robes until we come to the feast. And the +wardrobe is very ample. Christ would have his bride luxuriously +appareled. 'Be clothed with humility.' That is a fine, close-fitting +suit for every day, but over it we are to wear the garment of praise and +the warm, shining robe of charity. Can you fancy anything more beautiful +than a life clothed in such garments as these? And to me the loveliest +of all is charity. The highest praise I ever heard given to a woman was +that 'she had such a tender way of making excuses for everybody.' + +"Very fair must be the bride in the eyes of her royal lover, clothed in +the garments which he has selected,--all light and joy and tenderness, +for, the King's daughter is all glorious within." + +"Aunt Marthe," said Evadne, after a long silence, in which they had been +tasting the sweetness of it, "I do not need to ask if you know Jesus +Christ?" + +The lovely face took on an added beauty. "He is my life," she said. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Evadne was swinging in the hammock one golden summer afternoon, humming +soft snatches of her old songs while she played with her aunt's pet +black and tan. The sweet freshness of her new existence was rapidly +restoring tone to her mental system, and life no longer seemed a +hopeless task. The days were full of dreamy contentment. She spent long +mornings under the murmuring pines in the deep belt of forest which +stretched for miles behind the house, or helped Mrs. Everidge keep the +rooms in dainty order; drove with her along the grass-bordered roads, +while ears and eyes feasted on the symphonies of Nature and the ever +changing beauty of the hills; or stood beside Joanna in a trance of +delight out in the fragrant dairy, whose windows opened into a wild +sweetness of fluttering leaves, and whose cool stone floor made a +channel for a purling brook, watching her as with dexterous hands she +shaped and moulded the bubbley dough or tossed up an omelet or made one +of her delicious cherry pies, conscious through it all of the sweet +influence which seemed to pervade every corner of the house and grounds. + +"I wonder what it is about you, you dear Aunt Marthe?" she soliloquized, +as she pulled Noisette's silky ears. "When you are away I cannot bear to +go into the house,--everything seems so different, so cold and +dark,--but the moment you come home again it is as lovely as ever. +Concentrated light. Yes, that name would suit you, for light is sweet +and pure and stimulating and precious. If all the people in the world +were like you, _what_ a world it would be!" + +She looked up as she heard footsteps approaching, and then rose to +welcome her visitor. A woman twenty years her senior, bright, capable, +energetic, with a shrewd face and kindly eyes whose keen glance was +quick to pierce the flimsy veil of humbug, and a tongue whose +good-natured sarcasm had made more than one pretender feel ashamed. + +"How do?" she said briskly, as she took the chair Evadne offered. "I +hope you're feelin' better sence you've cum?" + +"Much better, thank you. I am very sorry my aunt is not at home." + +"I'm sorry likewise, though it don't make as much difference as it might +have done, as I'm callin' a purpose to see you." + +"That is very good of you," said Evadne with a laugh. There was a spicy +flavor about this child of the mountains which she found refreshing. + +"It's a bit awkward," continued her visitor with a twinkle in her eye, +"as we'll have to do our own introducin'. My name's Penelope Riggs, +Penel for brevity. What's yours?" + +"Evadne Hildreth." + +"Evadne. That's uncommon and pretty. I'm goin' to call you so if you're +not objectionable to it. Life's too short for handles." + +Evadne laughed merrily. "I'm not in the least objectionable," she said. + +"No, that's a fact," said her visitor after a moment's kindly scrutiny. +"You're true and thorough. I knew I was goin' to like you when I saw you +in meetin'." + +Evadne flushed with pleasure. "Why, that is a beautiful character! I +only wish I deserved it. But I fear you are very much mistaken in me, +though it is very kind in you to think such nice things." + +"Nonsense, child! I don't waste my time thinkin'. Let me have a good +look at your face for half an hour and I'll know as much about you as +you could tell me in a week. Malviny Higgins has just come back from +Bosting with her head full of sykick forces an' mental affinities an' +the dear knows what else, but I think it's just a cultivation of our +common senses--number, five. You can feel a person without touching +them; it's in the air all round you; and you don't need much +discrimination to know whether what you will say will hurt them or be a +blessin'. The main thing is to put yourself in their shoes before you +begin to talk." + +"Their shoes, Miss Riggs," laughed Evadne, "why they might not fit." + +"Penelope," corrected her visitor, "Penel for brevity. Yes, they will +too, that kind of shoe leather is elastic. It's the old Bible doctrine, +'never do anything to others that you wouldn't like others to do to +you.' If people got the shoes well fitted before they let their tongues +loose, there would be a deal less sorrow and heartburn in the world." + +"'Love thy neighbor as thyself,'" said Evadne. "I never thought of it in +that way before." + +"Well," said Miss Riggs briskly, "I'm dredful glad you've cum, Evadne. +It'll do Mis' Everidge a sight of good to have you, though Marthe +Everidge is raised above the need of humans as far as any mortal can be +on this earth. With all their inventions there ain't nobody discovered +how to make spiritual photographs yet, or I would have the picture of +_her_ character in all the windows of the land. 'Twould do more good +than miles of tracts. I agree with Paul that livin' epistles make the +best readin' an' it don't seem fittin' that she should be shut up in +this little place where only a few of us have the right kind of +spectacles to see her through. Most of the folks just allow it's Mis' +Everidge's way, and would as soon think of tryin' to imitate her as a +tadpole would a star." + +"But we are to imitate Christ," said Evadne. + +"'Course, child! But it's dredful comfortin' to have a human life in +front of us to show us that is possible. Lots of times when life looks +like a long seam an' the sewin' pricks my fingers, a new light falls on +this picture, and I sez to myself, 'Penel,' says I, 'look at Marthe +Everidge. The Lord has made you both out of the same material. There +ain't no reason why she should be always gettin' nearer heaven and you +goin' back to earth. She has difficulties and worriments, same as you +have, but if she can make every trial into a new rung for the ladder on +which she is mountin' up to God, there ain't no reason why you should +make a gravestone out of yours to bury yourself under; and so I start +on with a new courage, an' when we get to the end of the journey, I'll +not be the only one who'll have to thank Marthe Everidge for showin' the +way." + +Evadne's eyes shone. "You make me feel," she cried, "as if I would +rather live a beautiful life than do the most magnificent thing in the +world!" + +"That's a safe feelin' to tie to," said Penelope with an approving +smile; "for character is the only thing we've got to carry with us when +we go." + +"Well," she continued, "I must be goin'. I did think I'd be forehanded +in callin', but mother's been dredful wakeful lately, and when daylight +comes, it don't seem as if I had the ambition of a snail. She don't like +to be left alone for a minit, mother don't, so it's a bit of a puzzle to +keep up with society." + +She laughed cheerily as she held out her hand. "Well, I'm dredful +pleased to have met you. I'll be more than glad to have you come in +whenever you're down our way." + +Evadne watched her as she walked briskly along the road. "She is not +Aunt Marthe," she said slowly; "I suppose Louis would call it a case of +the solanum and the potato blossom, but she is one of the Lord's plants +all the same." + +"Aunt Marthe, what _is_ culture?" she asked suddenly, as later in the +afternoon Mrs. Everidge sat beside her hammock. "Is Louis right? Is it +just the veneer of education and travel and environment?" + +"You can hardly call that a veneer, little one. Real education goes very +deep. Emerson says 'nothing is so indicative of deepest culture as a +tender consideration of the ignorant.' I think that culture, to be +perfect, must have its root in love. It is impossible that anyone filled +with the love of Christ should ever be discourteous or lack in +thoughtfulness for the feelings of others." + +"Why that must be what Penelope Riggs meant by her 'elastic shoe +leather,'" said Evadne with a laugh, and then she repeated the +conversation. + +"Oh, she has been here! I am glad. It will do you good to know her. She +is the cheeriest soul, and the busiest. She always acts upon me as a +tonic, for I know just how much she has had to give up and how hard her +life has been." + +"Why, Aunt Marthe, she says when she gets to heaven she will have to +thank you for showing her the way. She thinks you are perfection." + +"'Not I, but Christ,'" said Aunt Marthe with a happy smile. She went +into the house and returned with a book in her hand. "You asked what +culture really was. This writer says 'Drudgery.' Listen while I give you +a few snatches, then you shall have the book for your own. + +"'Culture takes leisure, elegance, wide margins of time, a pocket-book; +drudgery means limitations, coarseness, crowded hours, chronic worry, +old clothes, black hands, headaches. Our real and our ideal are not +twins. Never were! I want the books, but the clothes basket wants me. I +love nature and figures are my fate. My taste is books and I farm it. My +taste is art and I correct exercises. My taste is science and I measure +tape. Can it be that this drudgery, not to be escaped, gives 'culture?' +Yes, culture of the prime elements of life, of the very fundamentals of +all fine manhood and fine womanhood, the fundamentals that underlie all +fulness and without which no other culture worth the winning is even +possible. Power of attention, power of industry, promptitude in +beginning work, method and accuracy and despatch in doing it, +perseverance, courage before difficulties, cheer, self-control and +self-denial, they are worth more than Latin and Greek and French and +German and music and art and painting and waxflowers and travels in +Europe added together. These last are the decorations of a man's life, +those other things are the indispensables. They make one's sit-fast +strength and one's active momentum,--they are the solid substance of +one's self. + +"'How do we get them? High school and college can give much, but these +are never on their programmes. All the book processes that we go to the +schools for and commonly call our 'education' give no more than +opportunity to win the indispensables of education. We must get them +somewhat as the fields and valleys get their grace. Whence is it that +the lines of river and meadow and hill and lake and shore conspire +to-day to make the landscape beautiful? Only by long chiselings and +steady pressures. Only by ages of glacier crush and grind, by scour of +floods, by centuries of storm and sun. These rounded the hills and +scooped the valley-curves and mellowed the soil for meadow-grace. It was +'drudgery' all over the land. Mother Nature was down on her knees doing +her early scrubbing work! That was yesterday, to-day--result of +scrubbing work--we have the laughing landscape. + +"'Father and mother and the ancestors before them have done much to +bequeath those mental qualities to us, but that which scrubs them into +us, the clinch which makes them actually ours and keeps them ours, and +adds to them as the years go by,--that depends on our own plod in the +rut, our drill of habit, in a word our 'drudgery.' It is because we have +to go and go morning after morning, through rain, through shine, through +toothache, headache, heartache to the appointed spot and do the +appointed work, no matter what our work may be, because of the rut, +plod, grind, humdrum in the work, that we get our foundations. + +"'Drudgery is the gray angel of success, for drudgery is the doing of +one thing long after it ceases to be amusing, and it is 'this one thing +I do' that gathers me together from my chaos, that concentrates me from +possibilities to powers and turns powers into achievements. The aim in +life is what the backbone is in the body, if we have no aim we have no +meaning. Lose us and the earth has lost nothing, no niche is empty, no +force has ceased to play, for we have no aim and therefore we are +still--nobody. Our bodies are known and answer in this world to such or +such a name, but, as to our inner selves, with real and awful meaning +our walking bodies might be labelled 'An unknown man sleeps here!' + +"'But we can be artists also in our daily task,--artists not artisans. +The artist is he who strives to perfect his work, the artisan strives to +get through it. If I cannot realize my ideal I can at least idealize my +real--How? By trying to be perfect in it. If I am but a raindrop in a +shower, I will be at least a perfect drop. If but a leaf in a whole +June, I will be a perfect leaf. This is the beginning of all Gospels, +that the kingdom of heaven is at hand just where we are.'" + +"Oh!" cried Evadne, drawing a long breath, "that is beautiful! I feel as +if I had been lifted up until I touched the sky." + +"Marthe," exclaimed Mr. Everidge reproachfully, suddenly appearing in +the doorway with a sock drawn over each arm, "it is incomprehensible to +me you do not remember that my physical organism and darns have +absolutely no affinity." + +Mrs. Everidge laughed brightly. "If you will make holes, Horace, I must +make darns," she said. + +"Not a natural sequence at all!" he retorted testily. "When the wear and +tear of time becomes visible in my underwear it must be relegated to +Reuben." + +"But Reuben's affinity for patches may be no stronger than your own, +Uncle Horace," said Evadne mischievously. + +Mr. Everidge waved his sock-capped hands with a gesture of disdain. +"The lower orders, my dear Evadne, are incapable of those delicate +perceptions which constitute the mental atmosphere of those of finer +mould. The delft does not feel the blow which would shiver the porcelain +into atoms, and Reuben's epidermis is, I imagine, of such a horny +consistency that he would walk in oblivious unconcern upon these +elevations of needlework which are as a ploughshare to my sensitive +nerves. It is the penalty one has to pay for being of finer clay than +the common herd of men." + +Evadne looked at Mrs. Everidge. A deep flush of shame had dyed her +cheeks and her lips were quivering. + +"Oh, Horace," she cried, "Reuben is such a faithful boy!" + +"My dear," said her husband airily, "I make no aspersions against his +moral character, but he certainly cannot be classed among the +velvet-skinned aristocracy. By the way, I wish you would see in future +that my undergarments are of a silken texture. My flesh rebels at +anything approaching to harshness," and then he went complacently back +to his library to weave and fashion the graceful phrases which flowed +from his facile pen. + +"Why should he go clothed in silk and you in cotton!" cried Evadne, +jealous for the rights of her friend. + +Mrs. Everidge's eyes came back from one of their long journeys, "Oh, I +have learned the luxury of doing without," she said lightly. + +Evadne threw her arms around her impulsively. "But why, oh, Aunt Marthe, +why should not Uncle Horace learn it too?" + +"We do not see things through the same window," she answered with a +smile and a sigh. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +John Randolph walked slowly through the soft dawning. It had been a +brilliant night. The late moon had risen as he was bidding good-bye to +the graceful creatures he should never see again, and Hollywood had been +clad in a bewitching beauty which made it all the harder to say +farewell. Far into the night he had lingered, visiting every corner of +the dearly loved home, then at last he had turned away and walked +steadily along the road which led to Marlborough. + +The sun rose in a blaze of splendor and the birds began to twitter. The +gripsack which he carried grew strangely heavy, and he felt faint and +weary. The long strain of the day before was beginning to tell upon him, +and it was many hours since he had tasted food. + +A sudden turn of the road brought him in sight of a trig little farm, +against whose red gate a man was leaning, leisurely enjoying the beauty +of the morning before he began work. He had a pleasant face, strong and +peaceful. No one had ever known Joseph Makepeace to be out of temper or +in a hurry. He would have said it was because he commenced every day +listening to the inner voice among the silences of Nature. Joseph +Makepeace was a Quaker. + +"Why, John, lad!" he cried, "thou art a welcome sight on this fair +morning. Come in, come in. Breakfast will soon be ready and thou art in +sore need of it by the look of thy face." He gave John's hand a mighty +grasp and took his gripsack from him. + +"Why, John, hast thou walked far with this load? Where were all the +horses of Hollywood? Is anything wrong, John? I don't like thy looks, +lad." + +John's voice trembled. "I have left Hollywood" he said. "Mr. Hawthorne +has turned me off." + +"Left Hollywood! You don't mean it, John? Well, well, folks say Robert +Hawthorne has not been right in his mind since his boy got hurt. I +believe it now. It's a comfort that the great Master will never turn us +off, lad. Thee'd better lie down on the lounge and rest thee a bit, +John, while I go and tell mother." + +He entered the spotless kitchen where his wife was moving blithely to +and fro. "Thee has another 'unawares angel' to breakfast, Ruth. It's a +grand thing being on the public road!" + +Ruth Makepeace laughed merrily. "An angel, Joseph? I hope he's not like +thy last one, who stole three of my best silver spoons!" + +"So, so, thee didst promise to forget that, Ruth, if I replace them next +time I go to Marlborough." + +"Well, so I do, except when thee does remind me. Is this a very hungry +angel, Joseph? Does thee think I'd better cook another chicken?" + +"He ought to be hungry, poor lad, but I doubt if he eats much. Does thee +remember friend Randolph, Ruth?" + +"Of course I do. But he's been dead these ten years. Thee doesn't mean +he's come back to breakfast with us?" + +Her husband put his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. Then he +kissed her. "Thee is fractious this morning, Ruth. Friend Randolph had a +son, thee dost mind, whom Robert Hawthorne took to live at Hollywood. It +is he whom the good Lord has sent to us to care for, Ruth. He's just +been turned adrift." + +"If thee wasn't so big I would shake thee, Joseph! The idea of John +Randolph being in this house and thee beating round the bush with thine +angels!" and with all her motherhood shining in her eyes, Ruth Makepeace +started for the parlor. + +In spite of the overflowing kindness with which he was surrounded John +found the meal a hard one. He had been used to breakfast with little Nan +upon his knee. + +"When thee is rested we'll have a talk, lad," said his host, as they +rose from the table; "but thee'd better bide with us for the summer and +not fret about the future: thee dost need a holiday." + +"Of course thee dost, John!" said blithe little Mrs. Makepeace. "I wish +thee would bide for good." + +Her husband laid his hand upon his shoulder. "Thou knowest, lad, there +is the little grave out yonder. Thee should'st have his place in our +hearts and home. Would'st thee be content to bide, John?" + +John Randolph looked at his friends with shining eyes. "You have done me +good for life!" he said, "but the world calls me, I must go. I mean to +work my way through college, and be a physician, Mr. Makepeace." + +"So! so! Well, we mustn't stand in the way, Ruth. Thee'll make a good +one, John. But how art thee going to manage it, lad?" + +"The Steel Works in Marlborough pay good wages. I mean to get a place +there if I can, and study in the evenings." + +"Why, John, lad, the Steel Works shut down yesterday afternoon." + +For an instant the brave spirit quailed, only for an instant. "Then I +must find something else," he said quietly. + +"It's a bad season, John, and the times are hard." Joseph Makepeace +thought for a moment. "There's friend Harris up the river. What dost +thee think, Ruth?" + +"Why, he wants men to pile wood," exclaimed his wife. "Thee would'st not +set John at that!" + +"Lincoln split rails," said John with a smile, "why should not I pile +them? It's clean work, and honest, Mrs. Makepeace." + +"He has a logging camp in the winter. Thee would'st have good pay then, +John." + +"But thee would'st be so lonely, John, amongst all those rough men! And +thee did'st say once it was dangerous, Joseph. It's not fit work for +John." + +"I am not afraid of work, Mrs. Makepeace, and I can never be lonely with +Jesus Christ." + + * * * * * + +In far Vermont Evadne was reading aloud from a paper she had brought +from the post-office. "The whole sum of Christian living is just +loving." "Do you believe that, Aunt Marthe?" + +"Surely, dear child. Love is the fulfilling of the law, you know. When +we love God with our whole heart, and our neighbor as ourselves, there +is no danger of our breaking the Decalogue. 'He who loveth knoweth God,' +and 'to know him is life eternal.'" + +"Just love," said Evadne musingly. "It seems so simple." + +"Do you think so?" said Aunt Marthe with a smile. "Yet people find it +the hardest thing to do, as it is surely the noblest. Drummond calls it +'the greatest thing in the world' and you have Paul's definition of it +in Corinthians. Did you ever study that to see how perfect love would +make us? + +"'Love suffereth long,' that does away with impatience; 'and is kind,' +that makes us neighborly; 'love envieth not,' that saves from +covetousness; 'vaunteth not itself,' that does away with self-conceit; +'seeketh not its own,' that kills selfishness; 'is not provoked,' that +shows we are forgiving; 'rejoiceth not in unrighteousness,' makes us +love only what is pure; 'covereth [Footnote: Marginal rendering.] all +things,' that leaves no room for scandal; 'believeth all things,' that +does away with doubt; 'hopeth all things,' that is the antithesis of +distrust; 'endureth all things,' proves that we are strong; and then the +beautiful summing up of the whole matter, 'love never faileth.' If that +is true of us, it can only be as we are filled with the spirit of the +Christ of God, 'whose nature and whose name is love.'" + +"You see such beautiful things in the Bible!" said Evadne despairingly, +"why cannot I get below the surface?" + +"You will, dearie. You forget I have been digging nuggets from this +precious mine for years and you have just begun to search for them. +Would you like another drive, or do you feel too tired?" + +"Not in the least. What can I do for you?" + +"I would like to send some of that currant jelly I made yesterday to old +Mrs. Riggs, if you are sure you would like to take it?" + +"As sure as sure can be, dear," said Evadne with a kiss, "Where shall I +find it?" + +"In the King's corner." + +"'The King's corner?'" echoed Evadne with a puzzled look. + +"Oh, I forgot you did not know. I always give the Lord the first fruits +of my cooking, and keep them in a special place set apart for his use, +then, when I go to see the sick, there is always something ready to +tempt their fancy. It is wonderful what a saving of time it is. I rarely +have to make anything on purpose,--there is always something prepared." + +She followed her niece out to the carriage, helped her pack the jelly +safely, with one of her crisp loaves of fresh brown bread, bade her a +merry farewell and went back to the house again singing. + +"Oh, Aunt Marthe!" cried Evadne, as she drove slowly under the trees, +"shall I ever, ever learn to be like you?" + +She found the old lady sitting by the fire wrapped up in a shawl, +although the day was sultry. + +"Good-morning," said Evadne, as she deposited her parcels on the table. +"I come from Mrs. Everidge. She thought you would fancy some of her +fresh brown bread and currant jelly." + +"Hum!" said the old lady ungraciously, "I hope it's better than the last +wuz. Guess Mis' Everidge ain't ez pertickler ez she used ter be." + +"Aunt Marthe!" cried Evadne indignantly. "Why, everything she does is +perfection!" + +"Land, child! There ain't no perfecshun in this world. It's all a wale, +a wale o' tears. We'se poor, miserable critters,--wurms o' the +dust,--that's what we be." + +"There isn't any worm about Aunt Marthe," cried Evadne with a laugh. "I +think you must be looking through a wrong pair of spectacles, Mrs. +Riggs." + +"Land, child! I ain't got but the one pair, an' they got broke this +morning. But it's jest my luck. Everything goes agin me." + +"But you can get them mended," said Evadne. + +"Sakes alive! There ain't much hope o' gettin' them mended, with Penel +behindhand on the rent, an' the firin' an' the land knows what else. I +don't see why Penel ain't more forehanded. I tell her ef I wuz ez young +an' ez spry ez she be, I guess I'd hev things different, but, la! that's +Penel's way. She's terrible sot in her own way, Penel is. She's not +willin' ter take my advice. Children now-a-days allers duz know more +than their mothers." + +"Where is Penelope?" asked Evadne. + +"Oh, skykin' round. She's gone over to Miss Johnsing's ter help with the +quiltin'. That's the way she duz, an' here I am all alone with the fire +ter tend ter, an' not a livin' soul ter do a hand's turn fer me! She sez +she hez ter do it ter keep the pot bilin'--'pears ter me Penel's pots +take a sight uv bilin'." + +"But she has left a nice pile of wood close beside you, Mrs. Riggs." + +"La, yes," grumbled the old lady, "but it's dretful thoughtless in her +ter stay away so long, when she knows the stoopin' cums so hard on my +rheumatiz. An' it's terrible lonesome. I get that narvous some days I'm +all of a shake. 'Tain't ez ef she kep within' call, but t'other day she +went clean over ter Hancocks,--a hull mile an' a half! She sez she hez +ter go where folks wants things done, but that's nonsense, folks oughter +want things done near at hand,--they know how lonesome I be. Why, a bear +might cum in an' eat me up for all Penel would know. She gits so taken +up a' larfin' an' singin', she ain't got no sympathy. Oh, it's a wale o' +tears!" + +"But there are no bears in Vernon, Mrs. Riggs," laughed Evadne. + +"Land, child! you never know what there might be!" said the old lady +testily. "Be you a' stayin' at Mis' Everidge's?" + +"Yes," said Evadne, "she is my aunt." + +"Hum! I never knew she hed any nieces, 'cept them two gals uv Jedge +Hildreth's down ter Marlborough." + +"I am their cousin, Mrs. Riggs. I used to live in Barbadoes." + +"Well, I declar! Why, Barbaderz is t' other side of nowhere! Used ter +be when I went ter school. Well, well, some folks hez a lion's share uv +soarin' an' here I've ben all my life jest a' pinin' my heart out ter +git down ter Bosting, an' I ain't never got there! But that's allers the +way. I never git nuthin'. I'm sixty-nine years old cum Christmas an' I +ain't never ben further away frum hum than twenty miles hand runnin', +an' here's a chit like you done travelin' enuff ter last a lifetime." + +"But I didn't want to travel, Mrs. Riggs," said Evadne gently. "I would +so much rather have stayed at home." + +"There you go!" grumbled the old lady. "Folks ain't never satisfied with +their mercies. Allers a' flyin' in the face uv Providence. I tell you +we'se wurms, child; miserable, shiftless wurms, a' crawlin' down in this +walley of humiliation, with our faces ter the dust." + +"But you've got a great deal to be thankful for, Mrs. Riggs," ventured +Evadne, "in having such a daughter. Aunt Marthe thinks she is a splendid +character." + +"So she oughter be!" retorted the old lady, "with sech a bringin' up ez +she's hed. But land! childern's dretful disappointin' ter a pusson. +There ain't a selfish bone in _my_ body, but Penel's ez full uv 'em. +She'll let me lie awake by the hour at a time while she's a' snoozin' +on the sofy beside me. She don't sleep in her own bed any more because I +hev ter hev her handy ter rub me when the rheumatiz gits ter jumpin'. +She sez she can't help bein' drowsy when she's workin' through the day, +but land! she'd manage ter keep awake ef she hed any sympathy! She ain't +got no sympathy, Penel ain't; an' she ain't a bit forehanded. + +"But I don't 'spect nuthin' else in this world. It's a wale o' tears an' +we ain't got nuthin' else ter look fer but triberlation an' woe. Man ez +born ter trouble ez the sparks fly upward, an' a woman allers hez the +lion's share." + +Evadne burst into the sitting-room with flashing eyes. "Aunt Marthe, if +I were Penelope Riggs, I would shoot her mother! She's just a crooked +old bundle of unreasonableness and ingratitude!" + +Mrs. Everidge laughed. "No, you wouldn't dear, not if you _were_ +Penelope." + +"But, Aunt Marthe, how does she stand it? Why, it would drive me crazy +in a week! To think of that poor soul, working like a slave all day, and +then grudged the few winks of sleep she gets on a hard old sofa. I +declare, it makes me feel hopeless!" + +"The day I climbed Mont Blanc," said Mrs. Everidge softly, "we had a +wonderful experience. Down below us a sudden storm swept the valley. +The rain fell in torrents, and the thunder roared, but up where we stood +the sun was shining and all was still. When we walk with Christ, little +one, we find it possible to live above the clouds." + +"An Alpine Christian!" cried Evadne. "Oh, Aunt Marthe, that is +beautiful!" + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +"The ancient Egyptians, Evadne," remarked Mr. Everidge the next day at +dinner, as he selected the choicest portions of a fine roast duck for +his own consumption, "during the period of their nation's highest +civilization, subsisted almost exclusively upon millet, dates and other +fruits and cereals; and athletic Greece rose to her greatest culture +upon two meals a day, consisting principally of maize and vegetables +steeped in oil. Don't you think you ladies would find it of advantage to +copy them in this laudable abstemiousness? There is something repugnant +to a refined taste in the idea of eating flesh whose constituent +particles partake largely of the nature of our own." + +"Why, certainly, Uncle Horace," said Evadne merrily. "I am quite ready +to become a vegetarian, if you will set me the example. The feminine +mind, you know, is popularly supposed to be only fitted to follow a +masculine lead." + +"Ah, I wish it were possible, my dear Evadne, but the peculiar +susceptibility of my internal organism precludes all thought of my +making such a radical change in the matter of diet. Even now, in spite +of all my care, indigestion, like a grim Argus, stares me out of +countenance. I wish you would bear this fact more constantly in mind, my +dear Marthe. This duck, for instance, has not arrived at that stage of +absolute fitness which is so essential to the appreciation of a delicate +stomach. A duck, Evadne, is a bird which requires very careful treatment +in its preparation for the table. It should be suspended in the air for +a certain length of time, and then, after being carefully trussed, laid +upon its breast in the pan, in order that all the juices of the body may +concentrate in that titbit of the epicure,--then let the knife touch its +richly browned skin, and, presto, you have a dish fit for the gods! The +skin of this duck on the contrary presents a degree of resistance to the +carver which proves that it has been placed in the oven before it had +arrived at that stage of perfection." + +"Why, Horace," laughed Mrs. Everidge, "I thought this one was just +right! You remember you told me the last one we had, had hung five hours +too long." + +"Exactly so. My friend, Trenton, will tell you that five hours is all +the length of time required to seal the fate of nations. It is a pet +theory of his that the finale of the material world will be rapid. He +bases his conclusions upon the fact of the steady decrease in the volume +of the surrounding atmosphere and the almost instantaneous action of all +of Nature's destructive forces, fire and flood, storm and sunstroke, +lightning and hail, earthquake and cyclone. Oh, _apropos_ of my erudite +friend, Marthe, he has promised to spend August with us, so you will +have to look to your culinary laurels, for he is accustomed to dine at +Delmonico's." + +"Professor Trenton coming here in August!" cried Mrs. Everidge in +dismay. "Why, Horace, you never told me you had invited him!" + +"My dear, I am telling you now." + +"But I meant to take Evadne up to our mountain camp in August. I am sure +the resinous air would make her strong. I had my plans all laid." + +"'The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley,'" said her husband +suavely. "Evadne's mental strength cannot fail to be developed by +intercourse with such a clever man. We must not allow the culture of the +body to occupy so prominent a place in our thoughts that we forget the +mind, you know." + +"A fusty old Professor!" pouted Evadne. "Oh, Uncle Horace, why didn't +you leave him among his tomes and his theories and let us be free to +enjoy?" + +"Mere sensual gratification, Evadne," said Mr. Everidge, as he +replenished his plate with some dainty pickings, "is not the true aim of +life. I consider it a high honor that the Professor should consent to +devote a month of his valuable time to my edification, for he is getting +to be quite a lion in the literary world. You had better have your +chamber prepared for his occupancy, Marthe. As I remember him at college +he had a fondness amounting almost to a craze for rooms with a western +aspect." + +Joanna came in to announce the arrival of a visitor whom Evadne had +already learned to dread on account of her continual depression. + +"Oh, Aunt Marthe!" she exclaimed, "must you waste this beautiful +afternoon listening to her dolorosities. I wanted you to go for a +drive!" + +"You go, dearie, and take Penelope Riggs. It will be a treat to her and +you ought to be out in the open air as much as possible." + +Evadne went out on the veranda. Through the open window she could hear +the visitor's ceaseless monotone of complaint mingled with the soft +notes of Mrs. Everidge's cheery sympathy. "Oh, dearest," she murmured, +"if you had seen this beautiful life, you would have known that there is +no sham in the religion of Jesus!" + +She waited long, in the hope that Mrs. Everidge would be able to +accompany her, then she started for the Eggs cottage. She found the old +lady alone. "Where is Penelope, Mrs. Riggs?" + +"Oh, skykin' round ez usual," was the peevish response. "It's church +work this time. When I wuz young, folks got along 'thout sech an +everlastin' sight uv meetins, but nowadays there's Convenshuns, an' +Auxils an' Committees, an' the land knows what, till a body's clean +distracted. Fer my part I hate ter see wimmen a' wallerin' round in the +mud till it takes 'em the best part uv the next day ter git their skirts +clean." + +"But there is no mud now, Mrs. Riggs," laughed Evadne. + +"Land alive, child! There will be sometime. In my day folks used ter +stay ter hum an' mind their childern, but now they've all took ter +soarin' an' it don't matter how many ends they leave flyin' loose behind +'era." + +"But Penelope has no children to mind, Mrs. Riggs." + +"Land alive! She hez me, an' I oughter be more ter her than a duzzen +childern,--but she ain't got no proper feelin's, Penel ain't. When I'm +a' lyin' in my coffin she'll give her eyes ter hev the chance ter rub my +rheumatiz, an' run for hot bottles an' flannels an' ginger tea. It's an +ongrateful world but I allcrs sez there ain't no use complainin'; it's +what we've got ter expec',--triberlation an' anguish an' mournin' an' +woe. It's good enuff fer us too. Sech wurms ez we be!" + +"Well, Evadne, how do you do, child? I'm dretful glad to see you," and +Penelope, breezy and keen as a March wind, came bustling into the room. +"Why, yes, I'm well, child, if it wasn't for bein' so tumbled about in +my mind." + +"What has tumbled you, Penelope?" asked Evadne with a merry laugh. + +"The Scribes and Pharisees," was the terse rejoinder. "I've just cum +from a Committee meeting of the Missionary Society an' I'm free to +confess my feelin's is roused tremendous. Seems to me nowadays the +church is built at a different angle from the Sermon on the Mount an' +things is measured by the world's yardsticks till there ain't much +sense in callin' it a church at all. Ef you'd seen the way Squire +Higgins' girls sot down on poor little Matildy Jones this afternoon, +just because her father sells fish! Their father sells it too, but he's +got forehanded an' can do it by the gross, an' so they toss their heads +an' set a whole garden full o' flowers a' shakin' upan' down. They're +allers more peacocky in their minds after they git their spring bunnets. +The Lord said we was to consider the lilies, but I guess he meant us to +leave 'em in the fields, for I notice the more folks carries on the tops +of their heads the less their apt to be like 'em underneath." + +"But what did they say to her?" asked Evadne. + +"You're young, child, or you'd know there's more ways of insultin' than +with the tongue, an' poor little Matildy is jest the one to be hurt that +way. Some folks is like clams, the minute you touch 'em, they shut +themselves up in their shells an' then they don't feel what you do to +'em any more'n the Rocky mountains, but Matildy isn't made that way. She +just sot there with the flushes comin' in her cheeks an' the tears +shinin' in her pretty eyes till my heart ached. I leaned over to her an' +whispered, 'Don't fret, Matildy, they ain't wuth mindin'. She gave me a +little wintry smile but the tears kep a' comin' an' by an' bye she got +up and went out, an' ef she don't imitate the Prophet Jeremi an' water +her piller with her tears this night, then I've changed my name sence +mornin'. + +"I was so uplifted in my mind with righteous indignation that I felt +called upon to let it loose, so I begun in a musin' tone, as ef I was +havin' a solil." + +"'A solil?'" said Evadne in a mystified tone. + +"Why, yes; talkin' to myself, child. I did think, ef there was any place +folks was free an' eqal 'twould be in the Lord's service,' sez I. 'The +Bible teaches it's a pretty dangerous bizness to offend one uv these +little ones. I'm not much of a hand at quotations, but there's an +unpleasant connection between it an' a millstun,' sez I. + +"Malviny Higgins tossed her head an' giv me one uv her witherinest +looks, but I'm not one uv the perishin' kind, so I kep on a' musin'. + +"'It's wonderful what a difference there is between sellin' by the poun' +an' the barrel,' sez I. 'It's unfortunet that there's only one way to +the heavenly country, an' it's a limited express with no Pullman +attached. The Lord hedn't time to put on a parlor car fer the wholesale +trade; seems like as if it was kind uv neglectful in him. It would hev +been more convenient an' private.' + +"Malviny's cheeks got as red as beets an' the flowers on her bonnet +danced a Highland Fling as she leaned over to whisper somethin' to her +sister, but I hed relieved my feelin's an' could join in quite peaceful +like when Mrs. Songster said we'd close the meetin' by singin' 'Blest be +the tie that binds.' Well, there'll be no clicks in heaven, that's one +blessin'." + +"'Clicks,' Penelope?" + +"Why, yes, child, the folks that gets off by themselves in a corner an' +thinks nobody outside the circle is fit to tie their shoe. I expect to +hev edifyin' conversations with Moses an' Elija, an' the first thing I +mean to ask him is what kind of ravens they really were." + +"'Ravens,'" echoed Evadne bewildered, "what _do_ you mean, Penelope?" + +"Sakes alive, child! Haven't you read your Bible? and don't you know the +ravens fed the old gentleman in the desert, an' that folks now say they +were Arabs, because the ravens are dirty birds an' live on carrion, an' +it stands to reason Elija couldn't touch that if he hed an ordinary +stumach. As if the Lord couldn't hev made 'em bring food from the king's +table if he hed chosen to do it! It's all of a piece with the way folks +hev now of twistin' the Bible inside out till nobody knows what it +means. For my part I believe if the Lord hed meant Arabs he would hev +said Arabs an' not hev deceived us by callin' 'em birds uv prey. Folks +is so set against allowin' anything that looks like a meracle that +they'll go all the way round the barn an' creep through a snake fence if +they can prove it's jest an ordinary piece of business. They do say +there are some things the Lord can't do, but I'm free to confess I've +never found them out." + + * * * * * + +"Aunt Marthe," said Evadne, when they had settled down for their evening +talk, "what does it all mean? 'The victory of our faith,' you know, and +the 'Overcomeths' in Revelation? I thought Christ got the victory for +us?" + +"So he does, dear child, and we through him. I came across a lovely +explanation of it some time ago which I will copy for you; it has been +such an inspiration. Listen,-- + +"'When you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set at naught and you +smile inwardly, glorying in the insult or the oversight,--that is +victory. + +"'When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your +tastes offended, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and +you take it all in patient and loving silence,--that is victory. + +"'When you are content with any food, any raiment, any climate, any +society, any position in life, any solitude, any interruption,--that is +victory. + +"'When you can bear with any discord, any annoyance, any irregularity or +unpunctuality (of which you are not the cause),--that is victory. + +"'When you can stand face to face with folly, extravagance, spiritual +insensibility, contradiction of sinners, persecution, and endure it all +as Jesus endured it,--that is victory. + +"'When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, nor to +record your works, nor to seek after commendation; when you can truly +love to be unknown,--that is victory.'" + +"Now I see!" exclaimed Evadne. "It means the beautiful patience with +which you bear aggravating things and the gentle courtesy with which you +treat all sorts of troublesome people. Oh, my Princess, I envy you your +altitude!" + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Professor Trenton had come and gone and the glory of the autumn was over +the land. The early supper was ended and Evadne had ensconced herself in +her favorite window to catch the sun's last smile before he fell asleep. +In the room across the hall Mr. Everidge reclined in his luxurious +arm-chair and leisurely turned the pages of the last "North American +Review." It was Saturday evening. + +"Why, Horace, can this be possible?" Mrs. Everidge entered the room +quickly and stood before her husband. Neither of them noticed Evadne. + +"My dear, many things are possible in this terrestrial sphere. What +particular possibility do you refer to?" + +"That you have discharged Reuben?" The sweet voice trembled. Mr. +Everidge's tones kept their usual complacent calm. + +"That possibility, my dear, has taken definite form in fact." + +"But, Horace, the boy is heart-broken." + +"Time is a mighty healer, my love. He will recover his mental equipoise +in due course." + +"But you might have given him a month's warning. Where is the poor boy +to find another place? It is cruel to turn him off like this!" + +"Really, my dear Marthe, I do not feel myself competent to solve all the +problems of the labor question," said Mr. Everidge carelessly. "Reuben +must take his chances in common with the rest of his class." + +"But, Horace, I cannot imagine what your reason for this can be! Where +will you find so good a boy?" + +"I am not aware that Socrates thought it necessary to acquaint the +worthy Xantippe with the reasons for his conduct," remarked Mr. Everidge +suavely. "The feminine mind is too much disposed to jump to hasty +conclusions to prove of any assistance in deciding matters of +importance. The masculine brain, on the contrary, takes time for calm +deliberation and weighs the pros and cons in the scale of a well +balanced judgment before arriving at any definite decision. But my +reason in this case will soon become apparent to you. I do not intend to +keep a boy at all." + +"But who will take care of Atalanta? Are you going to forsake your +cherished books for a curry-comb?" + +"Really, Marthe!" exclaimed her husband in an aggrieved tone, "it is +incomprehensible that you should have such a total disregard for the +delicacy of my constitution,--especially when you know that the very +odor of the stable is abhorrent to my olfactory senses. Atalanta has +quarters provided for her at the Vernon Livery, and one of the grooms +has orders to bring the carriage to the door at two o'clock every +afternoon." + +"But that will make it very awkward, Horace. I so often have to use the +carriage in the morning." + +"'Have,' my dear Marthe, is a word which admits of many +substitutions,--'cannot' in this case will be a suitable one. I find it +is necessary to resume possession of the reins. Atalanta is retrograding +and is rapidly losing that characteristic of speed which made her name a +fitting one. There is a lack of mastery about a woman's handling of the +ribbons which is quickly detected by horses, especially when they are of +more than average intelligence." + +"But, Horace, if Reuben goes, Joanna will go too. You know she promised +her mother she would never leave him." + +"In that event, my dear, you will have an opportunity to become more +intimately acquainted with the mysteries of the culinary art," observed +Mr. Everidge cheerfully. "It will be a splendid chance to evolve that +finest of character combinations, Spartan endurance coupled with +American progressiveness." + +Mrs. Everidge smiled. "But what if I do not have the Spartan strength, +Horace?" + +"That is merely a matter of imagination, my love. It proves the truth of +my theory that necessity develops capacity. A woman of leisure, for want +of suitable mental pabulum, grows to fancy she has every ill that flesh +is heir to, whereas, when she is obliged by compelling circumstances to +put her muscles into practice, her mind acquires a more healthy tone. +Self-contemplation is a most enervating exercise and involves a +tremendous drain on the moral forces." + +"Do you think I waste much time in that way, Horace?" Mrs. Everidge +spoke wistfully, and Evadne, forced to be an unwilling listener to the +conversation, felt her cheeks grow hot with indignation. + +"My dear, I merely refer to the deplorable tendency of your sex. All you +require is moral stamina to tear yourself away from the arms of Morpheus +at an earlier hour in the It is a popular illusion, you know, that work +performed before sunrise takes less time to accomplish and is better +done than later in the day. My mother used to affirm that she +accomplished the work of two days in one when she arose at three a.m., +but then my mother was a most exceptional woman," with which parting +thrust Mr. Everidge retired behind the pages of his magazine. + +Upstairs in her own room Evadne paced the floor with tightly clenched +hands. "Oh!" she cried, "what shall I do? I hate him! I hate him! How +dare he! He ought to be glad to go down on his knees to serve her, she +is so sweet, so dear! Oh, I cannot bear it! That she should be compelled +to endure such servitude, and I can do nothing to help, nothing! +nothing!" She threw herself across the bed and burst into a passion of +tears. Was this the silent girl whom Isabelle had voted tiresome and +slow? + +A little later than usual she heard the low knock which always preceded +the visit which she looked forward to as the sweetest part of the day. +Could it be possible she would come to-night? Was no thought of self +ever permitted to enter that brave, suffering heart? + +She rose and opened the door. The dear face was paler than usual but +there was no shadow upon the smooth brow. Marthe Everidge had crossed +the tempest-tossed ocean of human passion into the sun-kissed calm of +Christ's perfect peace. + +Evadne threw her arms around her neck and laid her storm-swept face upon +her shoulder. "Forgive me!" she cried, "I heard it all. I could not help +it. I think my heart is breaking. Do not be angry, you see I love you +so! How can I bear to have you subjected to this? You are so tender, so +true. There is such a charm about you! You are so beautifully unselfish! +Oh, my dear, my dear, how can you, do you bear it?" + +Mrs. Everidge lifted her face tenderly and kissed the quivering lips. +"It is 'not I but Christ,' dear child. That makes it possible." Then she +drew her over to the lounge and began to undress her as if she had been +a baby. "My dear little sister. You are utterly exhausted. You are not +strong enough to suffer so." + +"Oh, will you let me be your sister and help you bear your burdens?" +cried Evadne, unconscious that all the time the skilful hands were +keeping up their sweet ministry and that her burden was being lifted for +her by the one who had the greater burden to bear. + +When she was comfortably settled for the night Mrs. Everidge drew her +low chair up beside the bed. Evadne caught her hand in hers and kissed +it reverently. "I wish I could make you understand how I honor you!" she +said. + +"You must not do it, dear!" said Aunt Marthe quickly. "Honor the King." + +After a pause she began to speak slowly and her voice was sweet and low. +"When, the first night you came, you asked me if I knew Jesus Christ, I +told you he was my life. That explains it all. It is very sweet of you +to say the kind things that you have about me but they are not true. In +and of herself, Marthe Everidge is nothing. The moment she tries to live +her own life she utterly fails. If there is anything good about her +life, it is only as she lets Christ live it for her." + +"I do not understand," said Evadne with a puzzled look. "How is it +possible for any one else to live our lives for us?" + +"No one can but Jesus," said Aunt Marthe with a smile. "He does the +impossible. Take that exquisite fifteenth chapter of St. John and study +it verse by verse. 'Abide in me, and I in you.' There you have the two +abidings. We are _in_ Christ when we believe in him and are accepted +through the merit of his blood and brought by adoption into the family +of God, but not until he abides in our hearts shall our lives become as +beautiful as God means them to be. Fruitfulness,--that is the cry +everywhere. Men are calling for intellectual fruitfulness and mechanical +fruitfulness, and are bending their energies to find the soil which will +develop at once the best quality and greatest amount of fruit. Take a +tree, to make my meaning clearer. The tree may abide in the soil and be +just alive, but it is not until the essence of the soil enters into and +abides in the tree, that it really grows and bears fruit. Growers of the +finest varieties will show you plums that look as if they had been +frosted with silver, and peaches with cheeks like the first blush of +dawn. The 'fruits of the Spirit,' have a wondrous bloom and an exquisite +fragrance." + +"'Love, joy, peace,'" Evadne repeated slowly, "'long-suffering, +gentleness, goodness, faith.' But those belong to the Spirit, Aunt +Marthe." + +"Yes, dear child, the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit whom he sent to +comfort his people when he took his bodily presence from the earth. The +holy, indwelling presence which is to reveal the Christ to us and +prepare us for the abiding of the Father and the Son. It is the +beautiful mystery of the Trinity." + +"But we cannot have the Trinity abiding in our hearts!" said Evadne in +an awestruck voice. + +"The Bible teaches us so." + +"Not God, Aunt Marthe!" + +"Jesus is God, little one. He said to the Jews, 'I and my Father are +one.' He says plainly, 'If any man love me, he will keep my word and my +Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with +him,' and in another place we are told to be filled with the Spirit. It +is three persons but three in one." + +"I do not understand, Aunt Marthe." + +"No, dear, we never shall, down here. Thomas wanted to do that and +Christ said 'Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.' +The Spirit is continually giving us deeper insight into the love of the +Son, just as the Son came to make known to the world the wonderful love +of the Father." + +"But 'be filled,'" said Evadne. "That looks as if we had something to do +with it." + +"So we have, dear child. Suppose a man owned one hundred acres of land +and gave you the right of way through it from one public road to +another,--that would leave him many acres for his own use on which you +have no right to trespass. I think we treat Jesus so. We are willing +that he should have the right of way through our hearts, but we forget +that every acre must be the King's property. There must be no rights +reserved, no fenced corners. Jesus must be an absolute monarch." + +Mrs. Everidge spoke the last words softly and Evadne, looking at her +uplifted face, shining now with the radiance which always filled it when +she spoke of her Lord, saw again that glowing face which she had watched +across the gate at Hollywood and heard the strange, exultant tones, 'He +is my King!' Ah, that was beautiful! That was what Aunt Marthe meant, +and Pompey and Dyce. + +"Jesus must come to abide, not merely as a transient guest," Aunt Marthe +continued in her low tones. "We must give him full control of our +thought and will. We must hand him the keys of the citadel. We must give +the all for the all,--that is only fair dealing. You see, dear child, +Christ cannot fill us until we are willing to be emptied of self. He +must have undivided possession. There is a vast amount of heartache, +little one, in this old world, and self is at the bottom of it all, when +we stop to analyze it. We want to be first, to be thought much of, to be +loved best. No wonder that the selfless life seems impossible to most +people. Think what a continuous self-sacrifice Christ's life was! So +utterly alone and lonely among such uncongenial surroundings with +people uncouth and totally foreign to his tastes. Ah! we don't realize +it. We look at him doing the splendid things amidst the plaudits of the +multitude, but think of the monotonous, weary days, going up and down +the sun-baked streets surrounded by a crowd of noisy beggars full of all +sorts of loathsome disease, and the humdrum life in Nazareth; and all +the time the great heart aching with that ceaseless sorrow,--'His own +received him not!' Oh, what a waste of love! We do not realize that it +is in these footsteps of his that we are called to follow. We are +willing to do the great things, with the world looking on, but not for +the loneliness and the pain! It seems a strange antithesis that Paul +should count that as his highest glory, and yet how comparatively few +seem counted worthy to enter with Christ into the shadow of that +mysterious Gethsemane which lasted all his life. 'The fellowship of his +sufferings.' It must surely mean the privilege of getting very near his +heart, just as human hearts grow closer in a common sorrow,--knit by +pain. Yes, dear child, self must die: and it is a cruel death,--the +death of the cross. But then comes the newness of life with its strange, +sweet joy which the world's children do not know the taste of. How can +they when it is 'the joy of the Lord,' and they reject him?" + +"You talk of the cross, Aunt Marthe, and other people talk of crosses. +Aunt Kate and Isabelle are always talking about the sacrifices they have +to make, and Mrs. Rivers carries a perfect bundle of crosses on her +back. She is wealthy and has everything she wants, and yet she is always +wailing, while Dyce is as happy as the day is long. Do the poor +Christians always do the singing while the rich ones sigh?" + +Mrs. Everidge smiled. "We make our crosses, dear child, when we put our +wishes at right angles to God's will. When we only care to please him +everything that he chooses for us seems just right. I have heard people +speak as if it were a cross to mention the name of Christ. How could it +be if they loved him? Do you find it a cross to talk to me about your +father? People make a terrible mistake about this. The only cross we are +commanded to carry is the cross of Christ." + +"And what is that, Aunt Marthe?" + +"Self renunciation," said Aunt Marthe softly, "the secret of peace. + +"Among all the pictures of the Madonna," she continued after a pause, +"the one I like best is where Mary is sitting, holding in her hands the +crown of thorns; everything else had been wrenched from her grasp, but +this they had no use for. What a legacy it was! As I look at it I see +how he has gathered all the thorns of life and woven them into that +kingly garland which is his glory. All the wealth of the Indies could +not shed as dazzling a light as that thorny crown. Like the brave +soldier who gathered into his own breast the spears of the enemy, Christ +has taken the sting from our sorrows and made us more than conquerors +over the wounds of earth. Surely he has tasted it all for us,--the +baseness and coldness and ingratitude and treachery which have wrung +human hearts all through the ages,--when Judas betrayed him, Peter +denied him and they all forsook him and fled, do you suppose any other +pain was comparable to that? Only our friends have the power to wound +us, you know, and, 'he was wounded in the house of his friends.' When +people talk of the crucifixion they think of the nail-torn hands and +pierced side,--I think of his heart! Oh, my Lord, how _could_ they treat +thee so!" + +Evadne looked wistfully at the rapt face, irradiated now by the +moonlight which was streaming in through the window. "_How_ you love +him, Aunt Marthe!" + +"He is my all," she answered simply. The girl stroked the hand which +she still held in both her own. She is absolutely satisfied, she thought +sorrowfully, she wants nothing that I can give her. And then through the +stillness she heard the sweet voice singing,-- + + "I love thee because thou hast first loved me, + And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree; + I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow, + If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now." + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +"Dear Aunt Marthe," cried Evadne one afternoon, "what is love?" + +"I will answer you in the words of one who for years has lived the +love-life," said Mrs. Everidge. + +"'One must be himself infinite in knowledge to define it, infinite in +comprehension to fathom it, infinite in love to appreciate it. Love is +God in man, for "God is love," and "every one that loveth is born of +God;" but love is not merely veneration, nor respect, nor justice, nor +passion, nor jealousy, nor sympathy, nor pity, nor self-gratification; +to love something as our own is but a form of self-love; to love +something in order to win it for ourselves is just a perpetration of the +same mistake.' Dr. Karl Gerok wrote,--'Love is the fundamental law of +the world. First, as written in heaven, for God is love; second, as +written on the cross, for Christ is love; third, as written in our +hearts, for Christianity is love,' And Drummond tells us that 'Love--is +the rule for fulfilling all rules, the new commandment for keeping all +the old commandments, Christ's one secret of the Christian life.' And +another writer says,--'You are a personality only as your heart lives, +and the heart lives only as it loves. Love is all action, therefore the +amount of your active love measures the size of your personal heart.'" + +"Love has been defined as 'the desire to bless.' That is like divine +love, for there can be no self thought in God. God's love is over all +and above all, but when our love responds to his, his love becomes to us +a personal experience. Love can reach down when in loving trust we reach +up. Love is like the seed. It manifests no life until it begins to grow. +Like the seed it must rise out of the dark ground into the light of +heaven,--out of self thought into God. God's love to us is like the +sunlight. We can make it our own only by being in it, if we try to shut +up the sunlight, we shut it out. We forget to do wrong when loving God. +As we love God, the love we feel for him goes out to others." + +Evadne sighed. "You make it seem a wonderful thing to be a Christian," +she said. + +"To be a Christian, little one, Andrew Murray tells us, 'just means to +have Christ's love.' Real love means giving always, of our best." + +[Illustration: THE SILENT FIGURE WITH THE AWFUL ENTREATY IN ITS STARING +EYES] + +God so loved that he gave his Son, the essence of himself. Jesus gave +his life, not only in the final agony of the crucifixion, but all +through the beautiful years of ministry in Nazareth and Galilee. There +is a truer giving than of our temporal goods. Our friends, if they +really love us, want most of all what we can give them of ourselves. It +is those who give themselves to the world's need who come nearest to the +divine pattern Christ has set for us to copy, and, if we truly love him, +we shall want not his gifts but himself. + +"People seek after holy living instead of perfect loving, they do not +realize that we can be truly holy only as we love, for 'love is the +great reality of the spiritual world.'" + +Evadne laid her cheek caressingly against Mrs. Everidge's. "If it were +only you, dear, how delightfully easy it would be, but do you suppose it +is possible for me to love Aunt Kate and Isabelle?" + +"Yes, dear child, with the love of God." + +"You can't imagine how I dread the idea of going back!" Evadne said with +a sigh. "This summer has been like a lovely dream. How shall I endure +the cold reality of my waking?" + +"Where is your joy, little one?" + +"Joy, Aunt Marthe!" exclaimed Evadne drearily, "why, I haven't got any +apart from you. Just the mere thought of the separation makes my heart +ache." + +"'The joy of the Lord,'" said Mrs. Everidge softly. "If Jesus Christ is +able to fill heaven don't you think he ought to be able to fill earth +too? The trouble is we turn away from him and pour our wealth of love at +earthly shrines. Mary showed us the better way,--she _broke_ the box, +that every drop of the precious ointment might fall on his dear head. +What is going to be the crowning satisfaction of heaven? Not that we +shall meet our friends, as so many seem to think, but that we shall +awake in _his_ likeness and see _his_ face. We shall be 'together,'--we +have that comfort given us, but it will be 'together with the Lord.' He +is to be the centre of attraction and delight always. What an +unfathomable mystery it must be to the angels that he is not so with us +now!" + +Evadne took a long, yearning look at the dear face, as if she would +imprint it upon her memory forever. "He _is_ with you," she said softly. +"_You_ will never be a puzzle to the angels." + + * * * * * + +The time of her stay in Vernon drew near its close, and on the last day +but one she went to say good-bye to Penelope Riggs. She found her +sitting alone in the house, her mother having taken a fancy to have a +sun bath. Her right hand was doubled up and she was rubbing it slowly up +and down the palm of her left while she sang softly. + +"Why, Penelope, what are you doing?" cried Evadne in amaze. + +"Polishin', child. I learnt it long ago. One day I was that wore out I +wouldn't have cared if the sky had fallen,--things had been goin' +crooked, an' Mother hadn't slept well for a fortnight, an' I was that +narvous an' tuckered out I thought I'd fly to pieces. There's an old +hymn Mother's dredful fond of,--I don't remember how it goes now, but +there's one line she keeps repeatin' over an' over till I feel ready to +jump. It's this,--'What dyin' wurms we be.' So, when she begun her wurm +song that mornin' I just let fly. 'Ef I _am_ a wurm,' sez I, 'I ain't +goin' ter be allers lookin' to see myself squirm!' and with that I up +and out of the house. My head was that tight inside I felt if I didn't +git out that minit somethin' would snap. I went straight up to Mis' +Everidge's. She's one of the people you see who always lives on a hill, +inside an' out. When I got there I couldn't speak. My heart's weak at +the best of times an' the weather in there was pretty stormy. I just +dropped into the first chair an' she put her hands on my two shoulders +an' sez she,--'You poor child!' an' then she went away an' made me a +syllabub." + +"'Look on the bright side,' sez she in her cheery way when I had +finished drinkin'." + +"'Sakes alive, Mis' Everidge,' sez I, 'there isn't any bright side!'" + +"'Then polish up the dark one,' sez she, ez quick ez a flash. I've been +tryin' to do it ever since." + +"You dear Penelope!" exclaimed Evadne, "I think you have!" + +"It's all a wale, child, a wale o' tears," old Mrs. Riggs complained as +she bade her good-bye in the porch, but when she reached the turn in the +road she heard Penelope singing,-- + + "Thy way, not mine, O Lord, + However dark it be! + Lead me by Thine own hand; + Choose out my path for me. + I dare not choose my lot, + I would not if I might; + Choose Thou for me, My God, + So shall I walk aright." + +and Evadne knew that in the brave heart the voice of Christ had made the +storm a calm. + +"You dear Aunt Marthe! How am I ever going to thank you for all you +have been to me; and what shall I do without you?" Evadne spoke the +words wistfully. They were making the most of their last evening. + +"Why, dear child, we can always be together in spirit. 'It is not +distance in miles that separates people but distance in feeling.' +Emerson says,--'A man really lives where his thought is,' so you can be +in Vernon and I in Marlborough,--each of us held close in the hush of +God's love, which 'in its breadth is a girdle that encompasses the globe +and a mantle that enwraps it.'" + +Evadne caught Mrs. Everidge's face between her hands and kissed it +reverently. "I mean to devote my life to making other people happy, as +you do, my saint," she said. + + * * * * * + +"Board!" The conductor's cry of warning smote the air and the train +passengers made a final bustle of preparation for a start. Mrs. Everidge +caught Evadne close in a last embrace. + +"My precious little sister, I shall miss you every day!" Then she was +gone, and Evadne, looking eagerly out of her window, saw the dear face, +from which the tears had been swept away, smiling brightly at her from +the platform. + +"You magnificent Christian!" she cried. "You will give others the +sunshine always!" + + * * * * * + +The train steamed into the station at Marlborough and again Louis came +forward to greet her with a look of admiration on his unusually animated +face. + +"Well done, Evadne! If the atmosphere of Vernon can work such +transformation as this, it ought to be bottled up and sold at twenty +dollars the dozen. You go away looking like a snow-wraith, and you +return a blooming Hebe." + +Evadne laughed merrily. "Thank you. The atmosphere of Vernon has a +wonderful power," but it was not of the material ozone she was thinking +as she spoke. + +"I believe I will try it. My constitution is running down at the rate of +an alarm clock. I must take my choice between a tonic and an early +grave. Will you vouch for like good results in my case?" + +Evadne shook her head. "I do not believe it would have the same effect +upon everyone," she said. + +"Ah, then I shall be compelled to go to Europe." + +Evadne looked at him. "Yes," she said, "I think Europe would suit you +better." + +"That is unfortunate,--for the Judge's purse. How is Aunt Marthe?" + +"She is well," she answered with a sudden stillness in her voice. She +could not trust herself to talk about this friend of hers to careless +questioners. "How is Uncle Lawrence, and all the others?" + +"The Judge is in his usual state of health, I fancy. We rarely meet +except at the table and then you know personal questions are not +considered in good form. The others are well, and Isabelle, having just +returned from the metropolis of Fashion, is more than ever _au fait_ in +the usages of polite society. But none of them have improved like you, +little coz. What has changed you so?" + +And she answered softly, with a new light shining in her lovely +eyes,--"Jesus Christ." + + * * * * * + +"You poor Evadne!" said Marion that evening, "what a dreary summer you +must have had, shut away among those stupid mountains! If you could only +have been with me, now. I never had such a lovely vacation in my life. +There seemed to be some excitement every day;--picnics and boating +parties and tennis matches and five o'clocks----" + +Evadne laughed. "You would better not let Uncle Horace know you are 'a +votary of the deadly five o'clock' or he will empty his vials of +denunciation upon your unlucky head. + +"Oh, Aunt Kate, he sent you a large bundle of fraternal greetings. He +says that, 'viewed through the glamour of memory, you impress him like +an Alpine landscape, when the sun is rising, and he hopes the soft +brilliance of prosperity will ever envelop you in its radiance and serve +to enhance the beauty of your stately calm.'" + +Mrs. Hildreth smiled, well pleased. "Horace is so poetical," she said, +"but all the Everidges are clever. What a shame it seems that a man of +his talent should be forced by ill health to exist in a place where +there is not a single soul capable of appreciating his rare qualities. +Even his wife does not begin to understand him. It seems like casting +pearls before swine." + +Evadne's eyes flashed and her lips pressed themselves tightly together, +but Mrs. Hildreth's gaze was fixed intently upon the lace shawl she was +knitting and Louis just then gave a sudden turn to the conversation. + +She went up to her room with a great homesickness surging at her heart. +Only last night all had been lightsome and happy, now the old darkness +seemed to have settled down about her again. She knelt before her window +and looked at the strip of sky which was all a Marlborough residence +allowed her. "Happy stars!" she murmured, "for you are shining on Aunt +Marthe!" + +Far into the night she knelt there, until a great peace flooded her +soul. She raised her hands towards the sparkling sky. "To make the world +brighter, to make the world better, to lift the world nearer to God. +Blessed Christ, that was thy mission. I will make it mine!" + +The next morning Louis drew her aside. "So, little coz, you did not +coincide with the lady mother's eulogium of our respected collateral +last night?" + +"Why, I said nothing!" cried Evadne in astonishment. + +Louis laughed. "Have you never heard of eyes that speak and faces that +tell tales?" he said. "I will just whisper a word of warning before you +play havoc with your web of destiny. Don't let a suspicion of your +dislike cross the lady mother's mind, for Uncle Horace is her beau-ideal +of a man. I agree with you. I think he is a cad." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +"An invitation to Professor Joliette's," and Isabelle tossed a +gilt-edged card across the table to Marion; "Wednesday evening. It's not +a very long invitation. What dress will you wear?" + +"But you are engaged, Marion," said Evadne; "Wednesday evening, you +know." + +"Yes," said Marion with a sigh, "it is awkward. I do wish they would +choose some other night for prayer meeting. Wednesday seems such a +favorite with everybody." + +"What a little prig you are getting to be, Evadne!" said Isabelle with a +sneer. "Your only diversion seems to be prayer meeting and church. You +are as bad as Aunt Marthe." + +"Aunt Marthe a prig! Oh, that is too funny!" and Evadne gave one of her +low, sweet laughs. "Besides, does keeping one's engagements constitute a +prig, Isabelle? You wouldn't think so if you were invited to the +President's reception." + +"The President's reception! What does get into the child! I don't see +much analogy between the two cases. No one considers prayer meeting a +binding engagement, and I'm sure we go as often as we can." + +"Not binding!" echoed Evadne. "So Christ is not of as much importance as +the President of the United States!" + +"You do have such a way of putting things, Evadne!" said Marion +thoughtfully. "I expect we had better refuse, Isabelle." + +"Refuse,--nonsense!" said Isabelle sharply. "You always meet the best +people at the Joliettes',--besides, why should we run the risk of +offending them?" + +"Why should they run the risk of offending you, by choosing a night they +know you cannot come?" asked Evadne. + +"Ridiculous! What do they care about our church concerns? The Joliettes +are foreigners. People in polite society do not give religion such an +unpleasant prominence as you delight in, Evadne. For my part, I consider +it very bad form." + +"Breakers ahead, Evadne," said Louis with his cynical laugh. "Good form +is Isabelle's fetich. Woe betide the unlucky wight who dares to hold an +opinion of his own." + +"But," said Evadne, the old puzzled look coming into her eyes, "I wish I +could understand. Are Christians ashamed of the religion of Jesus?" + +"That's about the amount of it, little coz. It is a sort of kedge anchor +which they keep on board in case of danger. For my part I think it is +better to sail clear. It is only an uncomfortable addition which spoils +the trim of the ship." + +"Oh, Louis, don't!" exclaimed Marion with a sigh. "It is so hard to know +what is right! Sometimes I wish I were a nun, shut up in a convent, and +then I should have nothing else to do." + +"Doubtless the Lord would appreciate that sort of faithfulness," said +Louis gravely, "although I notice Christianity seems to be a sort of +Sing-Sing arrangement with the majority. Everything is done under a +sense of compulsion, and the air is lurid with trials and lamentations +and woe. It is not an alluring life, and, in my opinion, the jolly old +world shows its sense in steering clear of it." + +"Your irreverence is shocking, Louis," said Isabelle severely, "and you +are as much of an extremist as Evadne. No one could live such a life as +you seem to expect. Religion has its proper place, of course, but I do +not think it is wise to speak of the deep things of life on all +occasions." + +"'I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and +him crucified,'" quoted Evadne. "Was Paul mistaken then?" + +"Certainly, my dear coz," said Louis, as he prepared to leave the room. +"The greatest men are subject to that infirmity. The only one who has +never been mistaken is Isabelle." + + * * * * * + +"It is so provoking that we cannot have the carriage," grumbled +Isabelle, as, when Wednesday evening came, they waited for Louis in the +dining-room. "At the Joliettes' of all places! I am sure I don't see, +Papa, why you cannot insist upon Pompey's taking some other night off +when we need him on Wednesdays. It is horribly awkward!" + +Her father shook his head as he slowly peeled an orange. "Because I have +given him my word, my dear. The only stipulation he made when I engaged +him was that he should not be required to drive on Sundays and Wednesday +evenings, and, when I hear people complaining about their surly, +incapable coachmen, I consider it is a light price to pay. Pompey is as +sober as a church and as pleasant-tempered in a rain storm as a +water-spaniel,--no matter what hour of the night you keep him waiting; +so it is the least we can do to let the poor fellow be sure of one +evening to himself;" and the Judge opened his Times and began to study +the money market. + +"Well," said Isabelle crossly. "I, for one, don't believe in allowing +servants to have such cast-iron rules. It savors too much of socialism." + +"Exactly so," said Louis from the doorway, where he stood leisurely +buttoning his gloves. "You will never pose as the goddess of liberty, +_ma belle soeur_. It is a good thing that Lincoln got the Emancipation +bill signed before you came into power, or dusky millions might still be +weeping tears of blood." + +Isabelle swept past him with an indignant toss of her head, and the +front door closed after the trio with a metallic clang. + +"I don't wonder the poor child is annoyed," said Mrs. Hildreth as she +played with her grapes. "It is very embarrassing when people know that +we keep a carriage; and the Joliettes are such sticklers in the matter +of etiquette. It is a ridiculous fad of yours, Lawrence, to be so +punctilious." + +"But, my dear, I gave him my word of honor!" + +"What if you did? There are exceptions to every rule." + +"Not in the Hildreth code of honor, Kate." + +"Nonsense! What does a colored coachman understand about that! Why, +Evadne, you cannot go to prayer meeting alone!" she exclaimed, as Evadne +came into the room with her hat on. "Your uncle is busy and I am too +tired, so there is no way for you to get home." + +"I am going to Dyce's church, Aunt Kate. Pompey will bring me home." + +"Among a lot of shouting negroes! You must be crazy, child!" + +"Their souls are white, Aunt Kate, and there is no color line on the +Rock of Ages." + +"Oh, well, tastes differ," said her aunt carelessly, "but it is a +strange fancy for Judge Hildreth's niece. Next thing you will suggest +going to board with Pompey." + +"I might fare a good deal worse," said Evadne with her soft laugh. "Dyce +keeps her rooms like waxwork and she is a capital cook." + +"Really, Evadne, I am in despair! You have not an iota of proper pride. +How are you going to maintain your position in society?" + +"I don't believe I care to test the question, Aunt Kate; but I think my +position will maintain itself." + +"Well said, Evadne," said her uncle, looking up from his paper. "You +will never forget you are a Hildreth, eh?" + +"Higher than that, uncle," said Evadne softly. "I am a sister of Jesus +Christ." + +"I don't know what to make of the child," said Mrs. Hildreth +discontentedly, as the door closed behind her. "I believe she would +rather associate with such people than with those of her own class. She +has a bowing acquaintance with the most _outre_ looking individuals I +ever saw. I really don't think Dr. Jerome is wise setting young girls to +visit in the German quarter. It doesn't hurt Marion, now. She only does +it as a disagreeable duty and is immensely relieved when her round of +visits is made for the month, but Evadne takes as much interest in them +as if they were her relations. Next thing we know, she will be wanting +to take up slum work. I hope she won't come to any harm down among those +crazy blacks. They always seem to get possessed the moment they touch +religion." + +"I do not think Evadne will ever come to any harm," the Judge said +slowly. "The Lord takes pretty good care of his own." + +His wife looked at him with a puzzled expression. "I fully intended +going to prayer meeting myself to-night," she said, "but it gets to be a +great tax,--an evening out of every week,--and I do dread the night air +so much." + +Mrs. Judge Hildreth dipped her jeweled fingers into the perfumed water +of her finger glass and dried them on her silk-fringed napkin. "Oh, +Lawrence, don't forget Judge Tracer's dinner to-morrow night. You will +have to come home earlier than usual, for it is such a long drive, and +it will never do to keep his mulligatawny waiting. And, by the way, I +made a new engagement for you to-day. Mrs. General Leighton has invited +us to join the Shakespearean Club which she is getting up. It is to be +very select. Will meet at the different houses, you know, with a choice +little supper at the close. She says the one she belonged to in Atlanta +was a brilliant affair. She comes from one of Georgia's first families, +you remember." + +"A Shakespearean Club!" and Judge Hildreth smiled incredulously. "Why, +my dear, I never knew you and the immortal Will had much affinity for +each other!" + +"Oh, of course it is more for the prestige of the thing. Mrs. Leighton +said the General assured her you would never find leisure for it, but I +said I would promise for you. It is only one evening a week you know. +She thinks we Americans retire far too early from the enjoyments of +life in favor of our children, and I believe she is right. I certainly +do not feel myself in the sere and yellow," and Mrs. Judge Hildreth +regarded herself complacently in the long mirror before which she stood. +"You will manage to make the time, Lawrence?" + +"What other answer but 'yes' can Petruchio make to 'the prettiest Kate +in Christendom'?" replied the Judge, bowing gallantly to the face in the +mirror as he came up and stood beside his wife. It was a handsome face +but there was a hardness about it, and the lines around the mouth which +bespoke an indomitable will, had deepened with the years. + +"Only one evening a week, Kate, but you thought that too much of a tax +just now." + +"How absurd you are, Lawrence! When shall I make you understand that +there are sacrifices that must be made. We owe a duty to society. We +cannot afford to let ourselves drop wholly out of the world." + +A little later Judge Hildreth entered his library with a heavy sigh. He +had attained the ends he had striven for, he was respected alike in the +church and the world, he held a high and lucrative position, he had a +well appointed home, over which his handsome wife presided with dignity +and grace, and yet, as he took his seat before his desk in the lofty +room whose shelves were lined with gems of thought in fragrant, costly +bindings, life seemed to have missed its sweetness to Lawrence Hildreth. + +Evadne's words haunted him, and, like an accusing angel, the letter +which still lay hidden under the mass of papers in the drawer which he +never opened, seemed to look at him reproachfully. + +"A sister of Jesus Christ." Sisters and brothers lived together. Was it +possible that Jesus Christ could be in this house,--this very room? The +idea was appalling. He was familiar with the truism that God was +everywhere, but he had never really believed it; and, as the years +passed, he had found it convenient to remove him to a shadowy distance +in space, less likely to interfere with modern business methods. Jesus +Christ, enshrined in a far off glory among his angels, appealed to the +decorum of his religious sentiment; but Jesus Christ, face to face, to +be reckoned with in the practical details of honesty and fair dealing; +that was a different matter. And this was the violation of a dead man's +trust, who had put everything in his power because he had faith in him! + +He saw again the young brother, handsome, easy-going to a fault, but +with a sense of honor so fine as to shrink in indignation from the +slightest breath of shame; read again the closing words of the farewell +letter which he had read for the first time on the day now so long ago, +which he would have given worlds to recall, and which, from out the +shadowy recesses of eternity, laughed at his futile wish. + +"So, my dear brother," the letter ran, "I am giving you this +responsibility as only a brother can. I have left Evadne absolutely +untrammelled. I have no fear that my little girl will abuse the trust. +She is wise beyond her years, with a sense of honor as keen as your +own." + +The Judge's head sank upon his hands. It was for Evadne's good he had +persuaded himself. She was too much of a child,--and now,--the letter +could not be delivered. It meant disgrace and shame. It was his duty as +a father to shield his family from that. How well he could picture +Evadne's look of bewildered, incredulous surprise, and then the pain, +tinged with scorn, which would creep into the clear eyes. And Jesus +Christ! The Judge's head sank lower as he heard the voice which has rung +down through the ages in scathing denunciation of all subterfuge and +lies. + +"Woe unto you ... hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, +and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice and +mercy and faith." + +"Woe unto you ... hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and +of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess." + +"Woe unto you ... hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres +which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's +bones." + +Lower and lower sank the Judge's head, until at last it rested upon the +desk with a groan. + + * * * * * + +They were singing when Evadne reached the humble church which Dyce and +Pompey called their spiritual home. The walls were white-washed and the +seats were hard, for the "Disciples of Jesus" possessed but little of +this world's goods. Two prayers followed, full of rich imagery and +fervid passion, and then a young girl with a deep contralto voice began +to sing,-- + + "Steal away, steal away, + Steal away to Jesus! + Steal away, steal away home, + We ain't got long to stay here." + +The soft, deep notes of the weird melody ended in a burst of triumph, +and Evadne bent her head while her tired heart thrilled with joy. When +she looked up again Dyce was speaking. + +"I've ben thinkin', friens," she said, "that we don't get the sweetness +of them words inter our hearts ez we should. We'se too much taken up wid +de thought of de heavenly manshuns to 'member dat de King's chillen hez +an inheritance on de earth. We'se not poor, lonesome people widout a +home! De dear Christ promised, 'I will not leave youse orphans, I will +come to youse,' an' he who hez de Lord Jesus alongside, hez de best of +company. 'Pears like we don't let our Father's message go any deeper dan +de top of our heads. Ef we believes we'se preshus in his sight,--an' de +Bible sez we is,--we'll hev no occashun fer gettin discouraged, fer de +dear Lord's boun ter do de best fer his loved ones. Ef we'se keepin' +company wid Jesus we'se no call ter want de worl's invitashuns, an ef +we'se hidden away in Christ's heart dere's no need fer us ter be +frettin' about de little worriments of earth. Satan don't hev no chance +where Jesus is. Ef we'se tempted, friens, an' fall inter sin, it's +'cause we'se not livin' close ter de Saviour. + +"I knows we allers tinks of a home as a place where dere is good times, +an' dere don't seem much good times goin' for some of us in dis worl', +but dere ain't no call fer us ter spec' ter be better off dan our Lord, +an ef we'se feedin' on de Lord Jesus all de time we won't min' ef de +worl's bread is scarce; de soul ain't dependin' on dem tings fer +nourishmen' an' de Lord Jesus makes de hard bed easy an' de coarse food +taste good. + +"'Tain't good management fer us ter be allers groanin' in dis worl' +while we 'spect ter be singin' de glory song up yonder. De best singers +is dem dat's longes' trainin' an' I'se feared some of us'll find it +drefful hard ter git up ter de proper concert pitch in heaven ef we +sings nuthin but lamentashuns on earth. De dear Lord don't seem ter hev +made any sort of pervishun for fault findin'. He 'low dere'll be +trubble, but he tells us ter be of good cheer on account of hevin' him +ter git de victry fer us, an' ef we keep singin' all de time, dere ain't +no time fer sighs. Let us keep a-whisperin' to our Father, my friens. +It's a beautiful worl' he's put us in, an' dere ain't no combine ter +keep us back from enjoyin' de best tings in it. De sky belong ter us ez +much as to de rich folks, an' de grass an' de trees an' de birds an' de +flowers; de rollin rivers an' de mighty ocean belongs ter us. De only +priviluge de rich folks hez is dat dey kin sail on deir billows while +we hez ter stan' alongside,--but dey's powerfu' unhappy sometimes when +dey hez so much ter look after, an' we kin enjoy lookin' at deir fine +houses widout hevin' any of de care. + +"We'se not payin' much complimen' ter Jesus, friens, when we 'low dat de +good tings of dis worl' kin make people happier dan he kin, an' 'pears +like we ought ter be 'shamed of ourselves. De Bible sez we'se ter 'live +an' move an' hev our bein' in God,' an' it don't 'pear becomin' when we +hev such a home pervided fer us, ter be allers grumblin' 'cause we can't +live in de brown stone fronts an' keep a kerridge. We don't begin ter +understan' how ter live up ter our privilegus, friens, an' I'se bowed in +shame as I tink how de dear Lord's heart must ache as he sees how little +we'se appresheatin' his lovin' kindness." + +The tender, pleading voice ceased and then Dyce lifted her clasped +hands,--"Oh, Lord Jesus, help us ter glorify thee before de worl'. Help +us ter understan' an 'preciate de wonderful honor thou hez put upon us. +Make us used ter dwellin' wid thee on de earth, so as we won't feel like +strangers in heaven. Oh, blessed Jesus, by de remembrance of de thorn +marks an' de nail prints an' de woun' in thy side forgive thy +ungrateful chillen. We'se ben a' lookin' roun on de perishin' tings of +earth fer our comfort, an' a' seekin' our homes in this worl'. Lord, +help us ter find our real home in thee! Help us ter steal away ter +Jesus, when de storm cloud hangs low and de billows roar about our +heads. Dere's no shadows in de home thou makes, fer 'de light of de +worl' is Jesus,' an' ebery room is full of de sunshine of thy love. +Dere's no harm kin cum to us ef we'se inside de fold, fer thou art de +door, Lord Jesus; dere's no danger kin touch us ef we'se hidden in de +cleft of de rock. Lord, make us abide in de secret place of de Almighty +an' hoi' us close forever under de shadow of thy wing." + +Then the congregation dispersed to the humble homes, glorified now by +the possibility of being made the dwelling-place of the King of kings. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +It was intensely warm in the Marlborough Steel Works. Outdoors the sun +beat fiercely upon the heads of toiling men and horses while the heat +waves danced with a dazzling shimmer along the brick pavements. Indoors +there was the steady thud of the engine, and the great hammers clanked +and the belts swept through the air with a deafening whirr, while the +workmen drew blackened hands across their grimy foreheads and John +Randolph gave a sigh of longing for the cool forest chambers of +Hollywood, as he leaned over to exchange a cheery word with Richard +Trueman, beside whom he had been working for over a year and for whom he +had come to entertain a strong feeling of affection. + +Varied experiences had come to him since he had said good-by to his kind +Quaker friends and started on his search for work. Monotonous days of +wood piling in a lumber yard, long weeks of isolation among the giant +trees of the forest, where no sound was to be heard except the whistle +of the axes, as they cleaved the air, and the coarse jokes of the +workmen,--then had come days when even odd jobs had been hailed with +delight, and he had sat at the feet of the grim schoolmistress Necessity +and learned how little man really needs to have to live. And then the +Steel Works had opened again and he had forged his way up through the +different departments to the responsible position he now held. His +promotion had been rapid. The foreman had been quick to note the keen, +intelligent interest and deft-handedness of this strangely alert new +employe. He finished his work in the very best way that it was possible +to do it, even though it took a little longer in the doing. Such workmen +were not common at the Marlborough Steel Works. He put his heart into +whatever he did. That was John Randolph's way. There was something about +the work which pleased him. It gave him a feeling of triumph to watch +the evolution of the crude chaos into the finished perfection, and see +how through baptism of fire and flood the diverse particles emerged at +length a beautifully tempered whole. He read as in an allegory the +discipline which a soul needs to fit it for the kingdom, and so +throughout the meshes of his daily toil John Randolph wove his parable. + +When evening came he would stride cheerily along the dingy street to +the house where he and his fellow-workman lodged, refresh himself with a +hot bath, don what he called his dress suit, and after their simple meal +and a frolic with little Dick, the motherless boy who was the joy of +Richard Trueman's heart, he would settle down for a long evening of +study among his cherished books. John Randolph never lost sight of the +fact that he was to be a physician by and by. + + * * * * * + +Somewhere in one of the great centers of the world's industry a workman +had blundered. His conscience urged him to confess his mistake, while +Satan whispered with a sneer,--"Yes, and get turned adrift for your +pains, with a rating into the bargain!" + +"Never mind if you do lose a week's wages," conscience had pleaded, +"your hands will be clean," and the workman shrugged his shoulders with +a muttered, "Pshaw! What do I care for that, so long as I don't git +found out. I'll fix it so as no one kin tell it was me." + +The work was passed upon by the foreman and the Company's certificate +attached. The man chuckled, "Hooray! Now that it's out from under old +Daggett's eyes nobody'll ever be able to lay the blame on me!" and he +had gone home whistling. He forgot God! + + * * * * * + +The long, stifling day was drawing near its close. Half an hour more and +the workmen would be free to rest. Only half an hour! Suddenly there was +a sharp clicking sound, then a cry, and in an instant all was bustle and +confusion at the Marlborough Steel Works. The great hammers hung +suspended in mid-air, the whirling wheels were still, while the workmen, +with faces showing pale beneath the grime, gathered hastily around a +fallen comrade. Summoned by telephone the Company's surgeon was driving +rapidly towards the Works, but his services would not be required. + +An accident. No one knew just how it happened. There must have been a +flaw, a defect in some part of the machinery. These things do happen. +Somewhere there had been carelessness, dishonesty, and the price of it +was--a life! + +The dying man opened his eyes suddenly and looked full at John Randolph, +who knelt beside him supporting his head on his arm. + +"Little Dick," he murmured. + +"All right, Trueman, I will take care of him." + +"God bless you, John!" and with the fervid benediction, the breath +ceased and the spirit flew away. + +The body was prepared for the inquest, and through the gathering dusk +John, strangely white and silent, entered the house he called home, +gathered the fatherless boy into his arms and let him sob out his grief +upon his shoulder. + + * * * * * + +Some days after the funeral the Manager sent for John to come to his +private office. He was a pleasant man and had taken a kindly interest in +the capable young workman from the start. + +"Well, Randolph, this is a terrible business of poor Trueman," he said, +as he pointed him to a chair. "Terrible! I can't get over it. A fine man +and one of our best finishers too. Well, we can't do anything for him +now, poor fellow, but he left a boy I think?" + +"Yes, sir," said John simply; "I have taken him to live with me." + +"Shake hands, Randolph! We _talk_ about what ought to be done and you +_do_ it. Is that your usual mode of procedure?" + +John laughed. "There was nothing else to do," he said. + +"H'm. Most fellows in your position would have thought it was the last +thing possible. Have you any idea what it means to saddle yourself with +a child like this? Whatever put such an idea into your head?" + +"Jesus Christ," answered John quietly. + +"Well, well, you're a queer fellow, Randolph. But how are you going to +make the wages spin out? A boy is 'a growing giant of wants whom the +coat of Have is never large enough to cover.'" + +"His father managed, so can I." John's voice shook a little. + +"His father! But he _was_ his father, you see. That makes a mighty +difference. Well, Randolph, I give you up. You are beyond me." + +John rose. "Was that all you wished to say to me, Mr. Branford?" + +"Sit down, man! What the mischief are you in such a hurry for? It stands +to reason the Company can't let you bear the brunt of this most +deplorable occurrence, though I don't believe we could have found a +better guardian for the poor little lad. But guardians expect to be paid +for their trouble. What price do you set, Randolph?" + +"I don't want any pay for obeying my Master, Mr. Branford." + +"Your Master, Randolph?" said the Manager with a puzzled stare. + +"Yes, sir, Jesus Christ." + +"Upon my word, Randolph, you're a queer fellow! Well, if you don't want +pay, I want some one with a head on his shoulders in this office. Any of +the fellows in the outside office would be glad of the chance to get in +here, but I want a man who understands what he is doing as well as I do +myself. You have practical knowledge, Randolph, you're the man I want. I +shall expect you to start in here tomorrow morning. The salary will be +double your present wages. And, since you have constituted yourself +guardian of the boy, I may as well tell you that the Company has decided +to set aside a yearly sum for his maintenance and education. + +"Now you can go, if you are in such a tremendous hurry, Randolph: only +don't try any more of such toploftiness with me. It won't go down, you +see;" and the Manager chuckled softly, as John, with broken thanks, left +the room. "I rather think I got the better of him that time!" he said to +himself. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Judge Hildreth sat in his private office, immersed in anxious thought. +Every day brought new difficulties to be wrestled with in connection +with the multitudinous schemes which were making an old man of him while +he was still in his prime. His hair was grey, his hands trembled, his +eyes were bloodshot, and his face had the unhealthy pallor which +accompanies intense nervous pressure and excitement. + +He knew that it was so, and the knowledge did not tend to sweeten his +disposition. He told himself again and again that he could not help +it,--it was the force of circumstances and the curse of competition. +Like the fly in the spider's parlor, he found himself inextricably +enveloped in the silken maze of deceit which he had entered so blithely +years ago. He had ceased to question bitterly whether the game was worth +the candle. He told himself the Fates had decreed it, and the game had +to be played out to the end, The principal thing now was to keep the +pieces moving and prevent a checkmate, for that would mean ruin! + +One of the office boys knocked at the door and presented a card, for +into this _sanctum sanctorum_ no one was permitted to enter unannounced. +The card bore the name of the nominal president of the Consolidated +Provident Savings Company, which was one of the numerous schemes that +Judge Hildreth had on hand. It was not always wise to have his name +appear. He believed in sleeping partnerships. As he explained it to +himself, that gave one a free hand. + +The Consolidated Provident Savings Company was a popular institution in +Marlborough. There were conservative financiers who shook their heads +and feared that its methods were not based on sound business principles +and savored too much of wild-cat schemes and fraudulent speculations, +but they were voted cranks by the majority, and the Consolidated +Provident Savings Company grew and flourished. It paid large dividends, +and its stockholders were duly impressed with the magnificence of its +buildings and the grandiose tone of its officials. + +Judge Hildreth frowned heavily as he read the name, and was about to +deny himself to the visitor, but on second thought he curtly ordered +the boy to show him in. + +The man who obeyed the invitation bowed deferentially to his chief and +then took a chair in front of him, with the table between. He was +elaborately dressed, and the shiny silk hat which he deposited on the +table looked aggressively prosperous. His manner betokened a man +suddenly inflated with a sense of his own importance. His hair was +sandy, and the thin moustache and beard failed to cover the pitifully +weak lines of his mouth and chin. + +"Good-morning, Peters." The Judge nodded carelessly as he spoke, but he +moved uneasily in his chair. Of late the sight of this man fretted him. +It seemed as if he always saw him accompanied by a ghostly form. He +tried to shake off the impression, and told himself angrily that he was +falling into his dotage; but his memory would not yield. He saw again +the pleading, trustful face of the man's mother as, years ago, she had +besought him to do what he could for her son. + +"Just make a man of him, like yourself, Judge Hildreth," she had +pleaded. "I will be more than satisfied then. I want my boy to be +respected and to have a place in the world. Folks needn't know how hard +his mother had to work." + +The Judge smiled grimly as he thought of her phrasing,--"a man like +yourself." She did not know how near to it he had come! + +The boy had a surface smartness, and he had proved himself an apt +scholar. The Judge had found him a willing tool in many of his deep laid +schemes to get money for less than money's worth. But within the last +few months there had been a change. A spark of manhood had asserted +itself, and in the presence of his minion the Judge found himself upon +the rack. + +He was the first to speak. "I hope there is nothing out of the usual?" +he said. "I intended coming over to the office before the meeting of +directors took place." + +"It is the same old trouble about bonds, Judge Hildreth. There are not +enough of them to go round." + +The Judge rubbed his hands in simulated pleasure. "Well, that shows good +management, Peters, if the public are hungry for our stock." + +"The public are fools!" said the young man, hotly. + +"Not at all, Peters. A discriminating public, you know, always chooses +the best depositaries." He chuckled softly. He had turned his eyes +towards the window so as not to see the ghostly figure behind the young +man's chair which had such a world of reproach in its face. "There is +only one thing to do, Peters. We must water it a little, eh?" + +"It seems to me we've been using the watering-pot rather too +frequently." + +The Judge started. Had he detected a menace in the tone? + +He temporized. His plans were not sufficiently matured yet. When they +were he would crush this tool of his as surely and as carelessly as he +would have crushed a fly. + +"Nonsense, Peters!" he said pleasantly; "that is only a little clever +financing to tide us over the hard places. Of course we will make it all +good to the public--by and bye." + +"How?" The question rang out through the office like a pistol shot. + +The Judge looked at the man before him in amaze. For once his face +showed determination and an honest purpose. + +"Will you tell me how we're going to do it?" he persisted with a strange +vehemence. "I've been a fool, Judge Hildreth, a blamed, gigantic fool! +I've let you hood wink me and lead me by the nose for years. I've done +your dirty work for you and borne the credit of it, too; but I swear +I'll not do it any longer. I thought at first--fool that I was--that +everything you did was just the right thing to copy. My poor old mother +told me you were the pattern I was to follow if I wanted to be an +honorable man. An honorable man! Good heavens! + +"Do you know where I've been these last months? I've been in hell, sir; +in hell, I tell you! Every night I've dreamed of my mother and every day +I've bamboozled the public and sold bonds that weren't worth the paper +they were written on, and paid big dividends that were just some of +their own money returned. And now you tell me to keep on watering the +stock when you know we haven't a dollar put towards the 'Rest' and the +money is just pouring out for expenses and directors' fees. There's +barely enough left over to keep up the sham of dividends. You know it as +well as I do. I've been an ass and an idiot, but I'm done with living a +lie. Judge Hildreth, I came to tell you that if you don't do the square +thing by these people who have trusted us, I'll expose you!" + +His vehemence was tremendous and the words poured out in a torrent which +never checked its flow. He had risen and in his excitement paced up and +down the room. Now, overcome by his effort, he sank exhausted into a +chair. + +Judge Hildreth rose suddenly and locked the office door. When he turned +again his face was not a pleasant sight to see. + +"President Peters," he said sternly, "this is not the age of heroics nor +the place for them. In future I beg you to remember our relative +positions. You seem to forget that I am the direct cause of your present +prosperity, but that is an omission which men of your stamp are liable +to make. I never expect gratitude from those whom I have befriended. + +"But when you come to threats, that is another matter. You say you will +expose me. To whom, if you please? _You_ are the President of the +Consolidated Company. Your name is associated with its business. Mine +does not appear in any way, shape or form. You sign all papers, and it +is you whom the public hold accountable for all moneys deposited in the +institution. Any attempt which you might make to connect me with the +enterprise would be futile, utterly futile. The public would not believe +you, and you could not prove it in any court of law." + +The man, worn and spent with his emotion, lifted his head and looked at +the Judge with dazed, lack-luster eyes. + +"Not connected with the enterprise," he repeated, "why, the whole +thought of the thing came from you! and you have drawn thousands of +dollars----" + +"I have simply given advice," interrupted the Judge haughtily. + +"Advice!" echoed the man, "and doesn't advice count in law?" + +"If you can prove it;" said the Judge with a cold smile. "Do you ever +remember having any of my opinions in writing, President Peters? The law +takes cognizance only of black and white, you know." + +The victim writhed in his chair, as the trap in which he was caught +revealed itself. Heavily his eyes searched Judge Hildreth's face for +some sign of pity or relenting, but in vain. + +"And if there should come a run on the funds?" he questioned dully. + +"If there should come a run on the funds," answered the Judge, "_you_ +would be underneath." + +The man's head fell forward upon the table, and the Judge, with a cruel +smile, left the room. + + * * * * * + +Two office boys lingered in the handsome offices of the Consolidated +Provident Savings Company after business hours were over. + +"I tell you what it is, Bob," said the eldest one, "I'm going to quit +this concern. It's my opinion it's a rotten corporation; and I don't +propose to ruin my standing with the commercial world." + +"Gee!" exclaimed the younger boy in delight. "You're a buster, Joe, and +no mistake. The president himself couldn't have rolled that sentence off +better, or that old piece of pomposity who conies to the secret meetings +with the gold-headed cane." + +"That's Judge Hildreth. He's another deep one or I lose my guess." + +"Why, he's a No. I deacon in one of the uptown's swellest churches!" + +"Guess he's a child of darkness in between times then, for I'll bet he +does lots of underground work. I don't believe in this awfully private +business. The other day, after old man Hildreth came, before the +directors had their meeting, (he always does come just before that, to +prime Peters, you know,) what did he do but make Peters send for me to +shut the transoms over his office doors, so that none of us fellows +outside could hear what they were saying! + +"I tell you I don't like the looks of things. This morning one of those +heavy stockholders came in and wanted to take out all his money, and the +president went white as a sheet. There's a flaw in the ready money +account somewhere, I'll bet, and I'm going to leave before the bottom +drops out of the concern. If you take my advice you'll follow." + +The other boy laughed. "Bet your life I won't, then. Where'd you get +such good pay, I'd like to know? I've had enough of grubbing along on +$4.00 a week. No, sirree, I'll keep in tow with the deacon and get my +share of all the stuff that's going, same as the other fellows do." + +"You won't do it long then, you mark my words. Did you see the president +when he came into the office this morning? He looked as if he'd been +gagged. I went into his office for something in a hurry afterwards and +he was head over ears in Railway Time Tables. He jumped as if he'd been +caught poaching. It's my belief he means to skip across the border. It's +the only way for him to get out of the mess, unless he takes a dose of +lead, you see. + +"Well, here goes. I'm going to write my resignation with the president's +best gold pen. You can do as you like, but it's slow and honest for me." + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +Miss Diana Chillingworth was sitting in the old-fashioned porch of her +old-fashioned house which opened into an old-fashioned garden in one of +the suburbs of Marlborough, shelling peas. Everything about Miss Diana +was old-fashioned and sweet. Her hair was dressed as she had been +accustomed to wear it in her girlhood, and even the head mantua-maker of +Marlborough, ardent worshiper at Fashion's shrine though she was, was +forced to bow before her gentle individuality and confess that Miss +Diana's taste was perfect. + +She wore a morning dress of soft pearl grey, over which she had tied an +apron of white lawn with a dainty ruffle of embroidery below its hem. +The peas danced merrily against the sides of an old-fashioned china +bowl. Miss Diana had an aesthetic repugnance to the use of tin utensils +in the preparation of food. + +Outside there were sweet lilies of the valley and violets and pansies, +and the roses wafted long breaths of fragrance to her through the +trellis work of the porch, while the morning glories hung their heads +and blushed under the ardent kisses of the sun. + +In the kitchen Unavella Cynthesia Crockett, her faithful and devoted +"assistant" (Miss Crockett objected to the term servant upon democratic +principles), moved cheerily, with a giant masterfulness which bespoke a +successful initiation into the mysteries of the culinary art. All at +once she shut the oven door, where three toothsome loaves were browning, +and listened intently. Then she went out to interview Thomas, the +butcher's boy, who came three times a week with supplies. + +"The sweet-breads hez cum, Miss Di-an," she said, appearing in the porch +before her mistress. + +"Well, Unavella," said Miss Diana, with a pleasant smile, "you expected +them, did you not? We ordered them, you know. They are very nutritious, +I think." + +"Hum! There's some news cum along with 'em that ain't likely to prove ez +nourishin'. Tummas sez the Provident Savings Company hez busted an' the +president's vamoosed." + +"Dear me! I wish Thomas would not use such very forceful language," said +Miss Diana. "Do you think he finds it necessary? Being a butcher, you +know? I hardly understand the words. Do you think you would find them +defined in Webster?" + +Unavella's eyes twinkled through her gloom. "I guess Tummas ain't got +much use for dictionners," she said. "He uses words that cums nearest to +his feelin's. He's lost two hundred dollars, Tummas hez." + +"Dear me! How very grieved I am. But a dictionary, Unavella, is the +basis of all education. Thomas ought to appreciate that. 'Busted,'" she +repeated the word slowly, with an instinctive shrinking from its sound, +"that is a vulgar corruption of the verb to burst; but 'vamoosed,' I do +not think I ever heard the term before." + +"Tummas says it means to show the under side of your shoe leather." + +"The under side of your shoe leather, Unavella?" Miss Diana lifted her +pretty shoe and held it up for inspection. "Do you see anything wrong +with that?" + +The faithful soul threw her apron over her head with a sob. "Oh, Miss +Di-an!" she wailed, "it means the company's all a set of cheats, an' the +biggest rogue of the lot hez lit out--run away--an' taken the money the +Gin'rel left you along with him." + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +Miss Diana received the news in absolute silence. The brave daughter of +a brave father, she would make no moan, but the sweetness seemed to have +suddenly gone from the flowers and the light out of the sky. + +Unavella looked at her in amazement. She was used to the stormy grief +which finds vent in tears and groans. "It beats me how different folks +takes things!" she ejaculated mentally. "Well, she'll need suthin' to +keep her strength up all the more now she ain't got nuthin' to support +her;" and, gathering peas and pods into her apron with a mighty sweep of +her arm, she marched into her kitchen in a fever of sympathetic +indignation and evolved a dinner which was a masterpiece of culinary +skill. + +Miss Diana forced herself to eat something. She knew if she did not, +Unavella would be worried, and she possessed that peculiar regard for +the feelings of others which would not allow her to consider her own. + +"You are a wonderful cook, Unavella," she said, with a pathetic +cheerfulness which did not deceive her faithful handmaiden, who, as she +confided afterwards to a friend, wuz weepin' bitter gall tears in her +mind, though she kep' a calm front outside, for she wuzn't goin' ter be +outdid in pluck by that little bit of sweetness. "I shall be able to +give you a beautiful character." + +She lifted her hand with a deprecating gesture as Unavella was about to +burst forth with a stormy denial. + +"Not yet, please, Unavella; not just yet. Let me have time to think a +little before you say anything. I feel rather shaken. The news was so +very unexpected, you see," she said with a shadowy smile, which Unavella +averred "cut her heart clean in two." "But everything is just right, +Unavella, that happens to the Lord's children, you know. Things look a +little misty now, but I shall see the sunlight again by and bye. In the +meantime there is this delicious dinner. Someone ought to be reaping the +benefit of it. Suppose you take it to poor Mrs. Dixon? She enjoys +anything tasty so much and she cannot afford to buy dainties for +herself." Miss Diana would never learn the economy which is content to +be comfortable while a neighbor is in need. "And, Unavella, if you +please, you might say I am not receiving callers this afternoon. I am +afraid it is not very hospitable, but I feel as if I must be alone. This +has been rather a sudden shock to me." + +"You, you--angul!" exclaimed Unavella, as soon as she had regained the +privacy of her kitchen, while a briny crystal of genuine affection +rolled down her cheek and splashed unceremoniously into the gravy. + +Up-stairs in her pretty chamber Miss Diana sat and thought. Ruin and +starvation. Was that what it meant? She had seen the words in print +often but they seemed different now. Ruin meant a giving up and going +out, while the auctioneer's hammer smote upon one's heart with cruel +blows, and one could not see to say farewell because one's eyes were +full of tears. It would not be starvation--of the body. She must be +thankful for that. The house and grounds were in a good locality and she +had refused several handsome offers for them during the past year. + +She caught her breath a little as she thought of the wide stretching +field where her dainty Jersey was feeding, with its cluster of trees in +one corner, under which a brook babbled joyously as it danced on its way +to the river; the pretty barn with its pigeon-house where her +snow-white fantails craned their imperious heads; the wide porch with +its flower drapery, where she sat and read or worked with her pet +spaniel at her feet, and where her friends loved to gather through the +summer afternoons and chat over the early supper before they went back +to the city's grime and stir. + +Then in thought she entered the house. The room which had been her +father's and the library which held his books. Could she sell those! She +shivered, as in imagination she heard the careless inventory of the +auctioneer. She had never attended an auction except once, and then she +had hurried away, for it seemed to her the pictured faces were misty +with tears and she fancied the draperies sighed, as they waved in the +wind which swept through the gaping windows. There were the engravings +which she loved and the pictures her father had brought with him from +Europe, and the rare old china and her mother's silver service, and her +store of delicate napery and household linen; while every table and +chair had a story and the very walls of each room were dear. Had she +been making idols of these things in her heart? + +Miss Diana knelt beside the couch, comfortable as only old-fashioned +couches know how to be. "Dear Christ," she cried, "I am thy follower +and I have gone shod with velvet while thy feet were travel-stained, and +I have slept upon eider-down while thou hadst not where to lay thine +head!" + +She knelt on, motionless, until the twilight fell and the stars began to +peep out in the sky. Then she went down-stairs and there was a strange, +exalted look upon her sweet face. + +"Unavella," she cried softly, "I have found the sunlight, for I can say +'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the +LORD.'" + +"Oh, Miss Di-an!" wailed Unavella, "I b'lieve you're goin' ter die an' +be an angul afore the moon changes!" + + * * * * * + +Miss Diana had been to see her lawyer and he had confirmed her decision. +Her income was gone. With the exception of a couple of hundred dollars, +coming to her from a different source, she was penniless. There was +nothing left her but to sell. + +When she reached home that night she looked very white and weary, but +her smile was all the sweeter because of the unshed tears. Unavella had +spread her supper in the porch. She ate but little, however. "I am sorry +I cannot do more justice to your skill, Unavella," she said with her +gentle courtesy, "but I do not seem to feel hungry lately." + +"It's that li-yar!" muttered Unavella grimly, as she cleared the things +away. "I never knowed a li-yar yit that didn't scare all the appetite +away from a body." + +When her work was finished she came back to the porch where Miss Diana +was sitting very still in the moonlight. "Miss Di-an!" she exclaimed +impetuously, "don't you go fer to be thinkin' of sellin'! I've got a +plan that beats the li-yar's all holler, ef he duz wear a wig." + +"Sit down, Unavella," said her mistress kindly, "and tell me what it +is." + +"Well, I haven't said nuthin' to you before, 'cause I knowed it would +only hurt you ef I wuz to let my feelin's loose about them thievin' +rapscallions that dared to lay their cheatin' hands on the money the +Gin'rel left ye; but I've been a thinkin'--stiddy--an' while you wuz +comin' to your decision above I wuz comin' to mine below, an' now we'll +toss 'em up fer luck, an' see which wins, ef you air willin'." + +Miss Diana smiled. "Well, Unavella." she said. + +"You decide ter leave yer hum, with all there is to it, an' me inter the +bargain, an' go ter board with folks what don't know yer likins nor +understan' yer feelin's, an' the end on it'll be that you'll jest wilt +away wuss than a mornin' glory. I never did think folks sarved the Lord +by dyin' afore their time comes. + +"I decide to hev you keep yer hum, an' the things in it, an' me too. The +hull on it is, Miss Di-an, _I won't be left_!" and Unavella buried her +face in her hands and sobbed aloud. + +"You dear Unavella!" Miss Diana laid her soft hand upon the +toil-roughened ones. "If you only knew how I dread the thought of +leaving you! But what else is there for me to do?" + +"Gentlemen boarders," was the terse reply. + +"Gentlemen boarders!" echoed Miss Diana in bewilderment. + +"Yes. You catch 'em, an' I'll cook'em. We'll begin with two ter see how +they eat, an ef we find it don't cost too much ter fatten 'em up, we'll +go inter the bizness reglar;" after making which cannibalistic +proposition Unavella looked to her mistress for approval. + +"Why, Unavella," said Miss Diana, after the first shock of surprise was +over, "I never even dreamed of such a thing! It might be possible, if +you are willing to undertake it, it is very good of you. But we will not +make any plans, Unavella, until I talk it over with the Lord. If his +smile rests upon it, your kindly thought for me will succeed; if not, it +would be sure to fail. I must have his approval first of all." + +She rose as she spoke and bade her a gentle good-night, and Unavella +walked slowly back to her kitchen again. "Ef the angul Gabriel," she +soliloquized, "starts in ter searchin' the earth this night fer the +Lord's chosen ones, there ain't no fear but what he'll cum ter this +house, the fust thing." + +Up-stairs Miss Diana was whispering softly, as she looked up at the +stars with a trustful smile. "Oh, my Father, if it is thy will that I +should do this thing, thou wilt send me the right ones." + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +John Randolph did some hard thinking during the weeks which followed +Richard Trueman's death. It was no light task which he had so cheerfully +imposed upon himself. The boy was constitutionally delicate and fretted +so constantly after his father that his health began to suffer, and it +grew to be a very pale face which welcomed John with a smile when he +returned from the office. The style of living was bad for him. He was +alone all day, except for an occasional visit from the good-natured +German woman who kept their rooms, and, although he was a voracious +reader, the doctor had forbidden all thought of study for a year, even +had there been a school near enough for him to attend, where John would +have been willing to send him. He ought to be where the air was pure and +the surroundings cheerful. John would have preferred to put up with the +discomfort of his present quarters and lay by the addition to his salary +towards the more speedy realization of his day-dream, but John Randolph +had never found much time to think of himself; there were always so many +other people in the world to be attended to. + +"Dick, my boy," he said cheerily one evening, after they had finished +what he pronounced a sumptuous repast, "I have a presentiment that this +month will witness a turning point in our career. I believe you and I +are going to become suburbanites." + +The boy's sad eyes grew wide with wonder. + +"What do you mean, John?" + +"Well you see, Dick True, it is this way. As soon as I get my +degree--earn the right to put M.D. after my name, you know,--I am going +to take two rubber bags, fill one with sunshine and one with pure air, +full of the scent of rose leaves and clover and strawberries--ah, Dick, +you'd like to smell that, wouldn't you?--and carry one in each pocket; +then, when my patients come to me for advice, the first dose I shall +give them will be out of my rubber bags, and in six cases out of ten I +believe they'll get better without any drug at all. You see, Dick True, +the trouble is, our Father has given us a whole world full of air and +sunlight to be happy in, and we poison the air with smoke and shut +ourselves away from the sunshine in boxes of brick and mortar, only +letting a stray beam come in occasionally through slits in the walls +which we call windows. It's no wonder we are such poor, miserable +concerns. You can't fancy an Indian suffering from nervous prostration, +can you, Dick? and it doesn't strike you as probable that Robinson +Crusoe had any predisposition to lung trouble? So you see, Dick True, as +it is a poor doctor who is afraid of his own medicine, I am going to +prescribe it first of all for ourselves, and we will go where +unadulterated oxygen may be had for the smelling, and we can draw in +sunshine with every breath." + +The pale face brightened. + +"Oh, that will be lovely! I do get so tired of these old streets. But +John,--" + +"Well, Dick?" + +"Why do you keep calling me Dick True all the time?" + +John laughed. "Just to remind you that you must be a true boy before you +can really be a True-man, Dick. I want you to be in the best company. +Jesus Christ is the truth, you know, Dick." + +"Jesus Christ," repeated the boy thoughtfully. "I wish I knew him, John, +as well as you do." + +"If you love, you will know," said John, the light which the boy loved +to watch creeping into his eyes. "He is the best friend we will ever +have, Dick, you and I." + +He opened several papers as he spoke and ran his eyes over the +advertising columns. "H'm, I don't like the sound of these," he said, +"they promise too much. Hot and cold water baths and gas and the +advantages of a private family and city privileges. Everyone seems to +keep the 'best table in the city.' That's curious, isn't it, Dick? And +nearly everyone has the most convenient location. Dick, my boy, it's one +thing to say we are going to do a thing, it's another thing to do it. I +expect this suburban question is going to be a puzzle to you and me." + +And so it proved. Day after day John searched the papers in vain, until +it seemed as if a suburban residence was the one thing in life +unattainable. But the long lane of disappointment had its turning at +length, and he hurried home to Dick, paper in hand. + +"Dick, Dick True, we've found it at last! Listen: + +"Two gentlemen can be pleasantly accommodated at 'The Willows.' Address +Miss Chillingworth, University P.O. Box 123. + +"The University Post Office is just near the College, you know, Dick, so +it is in a good location. Two gentlemen--that means you and me, Dick; +and 'The Willows' means running brooks, or ought to, if they are any +sort of respectable trees." + +The boy clapped his hands. "When can we go, John?" + +John laughed. "Not so fast, Dick. There may be other gentlemen in +Marlborough on the lookout for a suburban residence. I addressed Miss +Chillingworth on paper this morning, telling her I should give myself +the pleasure of addressing her in person to-morrow. It is a half +holiday, you know, Dick. I like the ring of this advertisement. There is +no fuss and feathers about it. She doesn't offer city privileges and +promise ice cream with every meal." + +"But, John," said the boy, ruefully, "we're not gentlemen. You don't +wear a silk hat, you know, and I have no white shirts--nothing but these +paper fronts. I hate paper fronts! They're such shams! + +"Oh, ho! Dick, so you're pining for frills, eh? Well, if it will make +you feel more comfortable, we'll go down to Stewart's and get fitted out +to your satisfaction. But don't forget that you can be a gentleman in +homespun as well as broadcloth, Dick. Real diamonds don't need to borrow +any luster from their setting; only the paste do that." + +The next afternoon John strode along in the direction of 'The Willows' +to the accompaniment of a merry whistle. It did him good to get out into +the open country once more, and he felt sure it would be worth a king's +ransom to Dick; but when he came in sight of the house he hesitated. +There must be some mistake. This was not the sort of house to open its +doors to boarders. "Poor Dick!" he soliloquized, "no wonder you felt a +premonitory sense of the fitness of frills! Well, I'll go and inquire. +They can only say 'No,' and that won't annihilate me." + +He was ushered into Miss Diana's presence, and on the instant forgot +everything but Miss Diana herself. Before he realized what he was doing +he had explained the reason of his seeking a suburban home, and, drawn +on by her gentle sympathy, was telling her the story of his life. Miss +Diana had a way of compelling confidence, and the people who gave it to +her never afterwards regretted the gift. With the straightforwardness +which was a part of his nature he told his story. It never occurred to +him that there was anything peculiar about it, yet when he had finished +there were tears in his listener's eyes. + +When at length he rose to go, everything was settled between them. +John's eyes wandered round the room and then rested again with a +curious sense of pleasure upon Miss Diana's face. + +"I cannot begin to thank you," he said, gratefully, "for allowing us to +come here. I never dared to hope that my poor little Dick would have +such an education as this home will be to him, but I feel sure you will +learn to like Dick True." + +Miss Diana held out her hand, with a smile. "I think I shall like you as +well as Dick," she said. + + * * * * * + +Weeks and months flew past and the household at 'The Willows' was a very +happy one. Unavella was in great glee over the success of her scheme. + +"I used ter think," she confided to her bosom friend, "thet boarders wuz +good fer nuthin' 'cept ter be an aggervation an' a plague; but I +couldn't think o' nuthin' else ter do, an' I made up my mind I'd ruther +put up with 'em than lose Miss Di-an, even ef their antics did make me +gray-headed afore the year wuz out. But I needn't hev worritted. Two +sech obligin' young fellers I never did see, an' never expect ter agin +in this world. They don't never seem comfortable 'cept when they're +helpin' a body. An' Mr. John's whistle ez enuff ter put sunshine inter +the Deluge! I used ter think we wuz ez happy ez birds--Miss Di-an an' +me--but I declare the house seems lonesum now when he leaves in the +mornin'. He's alluz at it, whistle, whistle, whistle. 'Tain't none o' +them screechin' whistles that takes the top off of your head an' leaves +the inside a' hummin', but it's jest as soft an' sweet an' low! +Sometimes I think he's prayin', it's that lovely. It's my belief it puts +Miss Di-an in mind o' someone, fer she jest sets in the porch, when he's +a' tinkerin' round in the evenings or dig-gin' in the gardin--he's never +satisfied unless everything's jest kep spick an' span--an' there's the +sweetest smile on her face, an' the dreamy look in her eyes thet folks' +eyes don't never hev 'cept when they're episodin' with their past. + +"An' the way they foller her about an' treat her jest ez ef she wuz a +princess! I declare, it makes my heart warm. The young one called her +his little mother the other night, an' Mr. John sez, sez he, 'Ye +couldn't hev a sweeter, Dick, nor a dearer.' He makes me think of one o' +them folks in poetry what wuz alluz a' ridin' round with banners an' a +spear." + +"A knight?" suggested her friend, who had just indulged a literary taste +by purchasing a paper covered edition of Sir Walter Scott. + +"Yes, that's what I mean. An' I sez to myself,--'ef they wuz like he +is, an' wuz ez plenty in the Middle Ages ez they make 'em out ter be, +then it's a pity we wuzn't back right in the center uv 'em,' sez I." + +"Lady Di! Lady Di!" and little Dick came hurrying into the library where +Miss Diana was sitting in the gloaming. "John wants you to come out and +see if you like the new flowers he is planting. He says I must be sure +to put your shawl on, for the dew is falling." + +Miss Diana's eyes grew misty as her little cavalier adjusted her wrap. +"Why do you give me that name, Dick?" she asked. Only one other had ever +given it to her before, in the long ago. + +"What? Lady Di?" answered the boy. "Oh, we always call you that, John +and I. Our Lady Di. John says you make him think of the elect lady, in +the Bible, you know." + +And Miss Diana, as she passed the shelves, laid her hand caressingly +upon the beloved books with a happy smile. God had sent her the right +ones! + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Marion entered Evadne's room one glorious winter's morning and threw +herself on the lounge beside her cousin with a sigh. + +"I don't see how you do it!" she exclaimed. + +"Do what?" asked Evadne. + +"Why, keep so pleasant with Isabelle. She works me up to the last pitch +of endurance, until I feel sometimes as if I should go wild. It is no +use saying anything, Mamma always takes her side, you know, but she does +aggravate me so! Even her movements irritate me,--just the way she +shakes her head and curls her lip,--she is so self-satisfied. She thinks +no one else knows anything. It must be a puzzle to her how the world +ever got along before she came into it, and what it will do when she +leaves it is a mystery!" + +"She is good discipline." + +Marion gave her an impetuous hug. "You dear Evadne! I believe you take +us all as that! But I don't think the rest of us can be quite as trying +as Isabelle. She does seem to delight in saying such horrid things. She +was abominably rude to you this morning at breakfast and yet you were +just as polite as ever. I couldn't have done it. I should have sulked +for a week. I know you feel it, for I see your lips quiver--you are as +susceptible to a rude touch as a sensitive plant--but it is beautiful to +be able to keep sweet outside." + +"You mean to be _kept_, Marion," said Evadne softly, "by the power of +God. I have no strength of my own." + +Marion sighed dismally. "Oh, dear! I don't know what I mean, except that +I'm a failure. It is no wonder Louis thinks Christianity is a humbug, +though he must confess there is something in it when he looks at you. +You are so different, Evadne! I should think Isabelle would be ashamed +of herself, for I believe half the time she says things on purpose to +provoke you. She doesn't seem to get much comfort out of it any way. I +never saw such a discontented mortal. Don't you think it is wicked for +people to grumble the way she does, Evadne? It is growing on her, too. +She finds fault with everything. Even the snow came in for a share of +her disapprobation this morning, because it would spoil the skating, as +if the Lord had no other plans to further than just to give her an +afternoon's amusement! She is _so_ self-centered!" + +Evadne looked out at the street where the fresh fallen snow had spread +a dazzling carpet of virgin white. "He is going to let me give an +afternoon's amusement to Gretchen and little Hans," she said. "Uncle +Lawrence has promised me the sleigh and I am going to take them to the +Park. Won't it be beautiful to see them enjoy! Hans has never seen the +trees after a snowstorm." + +"That is you all over, Evadne. It is always other people's pleasure, +while I think of my own! Oh, dear! I seem to do nothing but get savage +and then sigh over it. I know it is dreadful to talk about my own sister +as I have been doing--they say you ought to hide the faults of your +relations--but it is only to you, you know. Do you suppose there is any +hope for me, Evadne?" she asked disconsolately. + +Evadne drew her head down until it was on a level with her own. "Let +Christ teach you to love, dear," she whispered, "Then, 'charity will +cover the multitude of sins.'" She opened the book she had been reading +when her cousin entered and took from it a newspaper clipping. "Read +this," she said. "Aunt Marthe sent it in her last letter. If we follow +its teachings I think all the fret and worry will go out of our lives +for good." + +And Marion read,--"To step out of self-life into Christ-life, to lie +still and let him lift you out of it, to fold your hands close and hide +your face upon the hem of his robe, to let him lay his cooling, +soothing, healing hands upon your soul, and draw all the hurry and fever +away, to realize that you are not a mighty messenger, an important +worker of his, full of care and responsibility, but only a little child +with a Father's gentle bidding to heed and fulfil, to lay your busy +plans and ambitions confidently in his hands, as the child brings its +broken toys at its mother's call; to serve him by waiting, to praise him +by saying 'Holy, holy, holy,' a single note of praise, as do the +seraphim of the heavens if that be his will, to cease to live in self +and for self and to live in him and for him, to love his honor more than +your own, to be a clear and facile medium for his life-tide to shine and +glow through--this is consecration and this is rest." + +When, some hours later, Evadne went down-stairs to luncheon, she felt +strangely happy. Marion had said Louis must confess there was something +in Christianity when he looked at her. That was what she longed to +do--to prove to him the reality of the religion of Jesus. And that +afternoon she was going to give such a pleasure to Gretchen and little +Hans. It was beautiful to be able to give pleasure to people. She could +just fancy how Gretchen's eyes would glisten as she talked to her in her +mother tongue, while little Hans' shyness would vanish under the genial +influence of Pompey's sympathetic companionship, and he would clap his +hands with delight as Brutus and Caesar drew them under the arches of +evergreen beauty, bending low beneath their ermine robes, while the +silver bells broke the hush of silence which dwelt among the forest +halls with a subdued melody and then rang out joyously as they emerged +into the open, where the sun shone bright and clothed denuded twigs and +trees in the bewitching beauty of a silver thaw. It would always seem to +little Hans like a dream of fairyland and she would be remembered as his +fairy godmother. It was a pleasant role--that of a fairy godmother. + +She started, for Louis was saying carelessly to the servant,--"Tell +Pompey to have the sleigh ready by half-past two, sharp." + +"Why, Louis!" she spoke as if in a dream, "I am going to have the sleigh +this afternoon." + +"That is unfortunate, coz," said Louis lightly, "as probably we are +going in different directions." + +"I am going to the Park," stammered Evadne, "with little Hans and +Gretchen." + +"Exactly, and I to the Club grounds. Diametrically opposite, you see." + +"But Uncle Lawrence promised me. He said no one wanted the sleigh this +afternoon." + +"The Judge should not allow himself to jump at such hasty conclusions +before hearing the decision of the Foreman of the Jury. It is an unwise +procedure for his Lordship." + +"But poor little Hans will be so disappointed! He has been looking +forward to it for weeks." + +"Disappointed! My dear coz, the placid Teutonic mind is impervious to +anything so unphilosophical. It will teach him the truth of the adage +that 'there is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip,' and in the +future he will not be so foolish as to look forward to anything." + +Evadne's lips quivered. "You are cruel," she said, "to shut out the +sunlight from a poor little crippled child!" + +"My dear coz, I give you my word of honor, I am sorry. But there is +nothing to make a fuss about. Any other day will suit your little beggar +just as well. I promised some of the fellows to drive them out and a +Hildreth cannot break his word, you know." + +"You have made me break mine," said Evadne sadly, as she passed him to +go upstairs. + +"Ah, you are a woman," said Louis coolly, "that alters everything." + +Did it alter everything? Evadne was pacing her floor with flashing eyes. +"Was there one rule of honor for Louis, another for herself? No! no! no! +How perfectly hateful he is!" and she stamped her foot with sudden +passion. "I despise him!" + +Suddenly she fell on her knees beside the lounge and cowered among its +cushions, while the eyes of the Christ, reproachfully tender, seemed to +pierce her very soul. "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do +good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you +and persecute you,--that ye may be the children of your Father in +heaven, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and +sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." + +His sorrowful tones seemed to crush her into the earth. Was this her +Christ-likeness? And she had let Marion say she was better than them +all! What if she or Louis were to see her now? He would say again, as he +had said before, "There is not much of the 'meek and lowly' in evidence +at present." "And he would be right," she cried remorsefully. "Oh, +Jesus Christ, is this the way I am following thee!" + +"You do right to feel annoyed," argued self. "It hurts you to disappoint +Gretchen and Hans." + +"It is your own pride that is hurt," answered her inexorable conscience. +"You wanted to pose as a Lady Bountiful. It is humiliating to let these +poor people see that you are of no consequence in your uncle's house. +Christ kept no carriage. It is not what you do but what you are, that +proves your kinship with the Lord." + +It was a very humble Evadne who, late in the afternoon, walked slowly +towards the German quarter. "I am very sorry," she said quietly, when +she had reached the spotless rooms where Gretchen made a home for her +crippled brother, "my cousin had made arrangements to use the sleigh +this afternoon, so we could not have our drive. I am _very_ sorry." + +And they put their own disappointment out of sight, these kindly German +folk, and tried to make her think they cared as little as if they were +used to driving every day. + +"Did you notice, Gretchen," said Hans, after Evadne had left them, "how +sweet our Fraulein was this afternoon? But her eyes looked as if she +had been crying. Do you suppose she had?" + +"I think, Hans," said Gretchen slowly, "our Fraulein is learning to +dwell where God wipes all the tears away." + +"Are your eyes no better, Frau Himmel?" Evadne was saying as she shook +hands with another friend who was patiently learning the bitter truth +that she would never be able to see her beloved Fatherland again. "Are +the doctors quite sure that nothing can be done?" + +"Quite sure, Fraulein Hildreth," answered the woman with a smile, "but +there is one glorious hope they can't take from me." + +"A hope, Frau Himmel, when you are blind! What can it be?" + +"This, dear Fraulein," and the look on the patient face was beautiful to +see. "'Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they shall behold +the land that is very far off.'" + +And Evadne, walking homeward, repeated the words which she had read that +morning with but a dim perception of their meaning. 'If limitation is +power that shall be, if calamities, opposition and weights are wings and +means--we are reconciled.' + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +"Uncle Lawrence, with your permission, I am going to study to be a +nurse." + +Judge Hildreth started. So light had been the footsteps and so deeply +had he been absorbed in thought, he had not heard his niece enter the +library and cross the room until she stood before his desk. Very fair +was the picture which his eyes rested upon. What made his brows contract +as if something hurt him in the sight? + +Evadne Hildreth was in all the sweetness of her young womanhood. She was +not beautiful, not even pretty, Isabelle said, but there was a strange +fascination about her earnest face, and the wonderful grey eyes +possessed a charm that was all their own. She had graduated with honors. +Now she stood upon the threshold of the unknown, holding her life in her +hands. + +Louis was traveling in Europe. Isabelle and Marion were at a fashionable +French Conservatory, for the perfecting of their Parisian accent. +Evadne was alone. She had chosen to have it so. She wanted to follow up +a special course in physiology which was her favorite study. + +"A nurse, Evadne! My dear, you are beside yourself. 'Much learning hath +made you mad.'" + +"'I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and +soberness.' I feel called to do this thing." + +"Who has called you, pray? We do not deal in supernaturalisms in this +prosaic century." + +The lovely eyes glowed. "Jesus Christ." What an exultant ring there was +in her voice, and how tenderly she lingered over the name! + +"Jesus Christ!" Judge Hildreth repeated the words in an awestruck tone. +Did she see him cower in his chair? It must have been an optical +illusion. The storm outside was making the house shiver and the lights +dance. + +"You must consult your aunt," he said in a changed voice. She noticed +with a pang how old and careworn he looked. + +"Kate," he called, as just then he heard his wife's step in the hall, +"come here." + +"What do you wish, Lawrence?" and there was a soft _frou frou_ of silken +draperies as Mrs. Hildreth's dress swept over the carpet. + +"Evadne wishes to become a nurse." + +"Are you crazy?" There was a steely glitter in Mrs. Hildreth's eyes, and +her tone fell cold and measured through the room. + +"She says not," said the Judge with a feeble smile. + +"Why should you think so, Aunt Kate?" asked Evadne gently. "Look how the +world honors Florence Nightingale, and think how many splendid women +have followed her example." + +"To earn your own living by the labor of your hands. A Hildreth!" + +"All the people who amount to anything in the world have to work, Aunt +Kate. There is nothing degrading in it." + +"Just try it and you will soon find out your mistake. If you do this +thing you will be ostracized by the world. People make a great talk +about the dignity of labor, but a girl who works has no footing in +polite society." + +Evadne's sweet laugh fell softly through the silence. "I don't believe I +have any time for society, Aunt Kate. Life seems too real to be +frittered away over afternoon teas." + +"Are you mad, Lawrence, to let her take this step? Think of the Hildreth +honor!" + +Again Judge Hildreth laughed--that strange, feeble laugh. "Evadne is of +age, Kate; she must do as she thinks right. As to the rest--I think the +less we say about the Hildreth honor now the better for us all." + +He was alone. Mrs. Hildreth had swept away in a storm of wrath. Evadne +had followed her, leaving a soft kiss upon his brow. He lifted his hand +to the place her lips had touched--he felt as if he had been stung--but +there was no outward wound. + +The Hildreth honor! The letters in the drawer at his side seemed to +confront him with scorn blazing from every page. He put forth his hand +with a sudden determination. He would crush their impertinent +obtrusiveness under his heel; then, when their damaging evidence was +buried in the dust of oblivion, he would be safe and fret! Evadne knew +her father had left her something. He would make special mention of it +in his will--a Trust fund--enough to yield her maintenance and the +paltry pin money which was all the allowance he had ever seen his way +clear to make his brother's child. It was not his fault, he argued--he +had meant to do right--but gilt-edged securities were as waste, paper in +the unprecedented monetary depression which was sweeping stronger men +than himself to the verge of ruin. He could not foresee such a crisis. +Even the Solons of Wall Street had not anticipated it. It was not his +fault. He had meant to make all right in a few years. What was that +they said was paved with good intentions? He could not remember. He +seemed to have strange fits of forgetfulness lately. He must see that +everything was put in proper shape in the event of his death. People +died suddenly sometimes. One never knew. + +It would be safer to make re-investments. Yes, that was a good thought. +He wondered it had never occurred to him before. His wisest plan was to +have all moneys and securities in his own name. It would make it so much +easier for the executors. It was not fair to burden any one with a +business so involved as his was now. Of course he would make a mental +note of just how much belonged to his brother. It would not be safe to +put it in black and white--executors had such an unpleasant habit of +going over one's private papers--but he would be sure to remember, and, +if he ever got out of this bog, as he expected to do of course shortly, +he would give Evadne back her own. It would leave him badly crippled for +funds, but one must expect to make sacrifices for the sake of principle. +Then, when these letters were destroyed, they would have no clue--he +frowned. What an unfortunate word for him to use! A clue wag suggestive +of criminality. What possible connection could there be between Judge +Hildreth and that? + +He fitted the key in the lock and turned it, then his hand fell by his +side. No, no, he had not come to that--yet. He had always held that +tampering with the mails evinced the blackest turpitude. He was an +honorable gentleman. He started. What was that? A long, low, +blood-curdling laugh, as if a dozen mocking fiends stood at his +elbow,--or was it just the shrieking of the wind among the gables? It +was a wild night. The rain dashed against the window panes in sheets of +vengeful fury, and the howling of the storm made him shudder as he +thought of the ships at sea. Now and then a loose slate fell from an +adjoining roof and was shivered into atoms upon the pavement, while the +wind swept along the street and lashed the branches of the trees into a +panic of helpless, quivering rage. Could any poor beggars be without a +shelter on such a night as this? How did such people live? + +He caught himself dozing. He felt strangely drowsy. He straightened +himself resolutely in his chair and drew a package of stock certificates +from one of the secret drawers of the desk. He would see about selling +the stock and making re-investments to-morrow. + +It must be done,--to save the Hildreth honor. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +Once more the Hildreth household was united, if such a thing as union +could be possible, among so many diverse elements. + +Isabelle's chill hauteur had increased with the years and a peevish +discontent was carving indelible lines upon her face which was rapidly +losing its delicate contour and bloom. Marion's pink and white beauty +was at its zenith, and the social attentions she was beginning to +receive only served to render her elder sister more than ever irritable +and envious. Louis was his old nonchalant self, careless and listless, +with an ever deepening expression of _ennui_ which was pitiful in one so +young. His European travels had not improved him, in Evadne's opinion. + +She saw but little of her cousins. They passed their days in pleasure, +she in work; but Marion, in her rare moments of reflection, as she +thought of the strangely peaceful face of the young nurse, wondered +sadly whether Evadne had not chosen the better part after all. + +"Oh, Louis!" she cried one morning, and her voice was full of pain, +"how you are wasting this beautiful life that God has given you!" + +Louis stretched himself lazily in his arm-chair and clasped his hands +behind his head. "Thanks for your high opinion, coz. Of what special +crime do I stand accused before the bar of your judgment?" + +"Oh, it is nothing special, but you are just frittering away the days +that might be filled with such noble work, and you have nothing to show +for them but--smoke!" She swept her hand through the filmy cloud which +Louis just then blew into the air, with a gesture of disdain. "Now you +will think I am preaching, but indeed, indeed I am not, only, it hurts +me so!" + +Louis laughed and threw away his cigar. "No, I will not charge you with +belonging to the cloth, but I confess I should like you better if you +had not entrenched yourself behind such a high wall of prejudice against +all the good things of this life. You are too narrow, Evadne." + +Evadne folded her hands together as if she were holding a strange, sweet +comfort against her heart. "The Jews said the same about Jesus Christ," +she said, "why should the servant be judged more kindly than her Lord?" + +"But there is no harm in these things, Evadne." + +"There is no good in them. Life is so real, Louis!" + +"Well, I own I am a light weight in the race. But I assure you such +people are needed to balance matters. If every one was in such deadly +earnest as you, Evadne, the old world would go to pieces." + +"But, Louis, it is dreadful to have no purpose in life!" + +"The Judge has enough of that for us both," said Louis carelessly. "Why +should I choke my brains with musty law when his are charged to +repletion?" + +"Think how it would please Uncle Lawrence!" urged Evadne. + +"True," said Louis gravely, "but that is an argument which will bear +future consideration." + +"Oh, Louis," and Evadne's voice was choked with tears, "the time may +come when you would give the whole world to be able to please your +father!" + +"But, Evadne," said Louis gently, "a man must have freedom of choice in +his vocation. My father chose the law for his profession, why should he +rebel if I choose dilettanteism?" + +"Because it is no profession at all. I am sure he would not mind what +you did, if it were only real work." + +[Illustration: 'TAKE HER, RANDOLF, SHE IS WORTHY OF YOU.'] + + "Oh, pshaw! Always work, Evadne. I tell you I prefer to play. Miss +Angel told me at the General's ball last night that she liked a man who +took his glass and smoked and did all the rest of the naughty things." + +"She is an angel of darkness, luring you on to ruin." + +Louis shrugged his shoulders. "Possibly. If so, she is disguised as an +angel of light. She sings divinely." + +"So did the Sirens." + +Louis laughed. "She has promised to go for a sail with me to-morrow. +Better come along, coz, and keep us off the rocks." + +Evadne was silent. + +"I like such a girl as that," he continued. "She has common sense and +makes a fellow feel comfortable. These moral altitudes of yours are all +very fine in theory, but the atmosphere is too rare for me." + +"It is no real kindness to make you satisfied with your lowest. I want +you to rise to your best. Oh, Louis, won't you let Christ make your life +grand? It would be such a happiness to me!" She laid her hand upon his +shoulder. Louis caught it in his and drew her round in front of his +chair. + +"Do you really mean that, little coz? Upon my word, it is the strongest +inducement you could offer me. I feel half inclined to try, just for +your sake, only you see it would involve such a tremendous expenditure +of moral force!" and he lighted a fresh cigar. + + * * * * * + +"I do wish you would not ride such wild horses, Louis," said Mrs. +Hildreth, as she stood beside her son in the front doorway, looking +disapprovingly as she spoke at the horse who was champing his bit +viciously on the sidewalk below. "It keeps me in a perfect fever of +anxiety all the time." + +"Whoa, Polyphemus! Stand still, sir! Pompey, have you tightened that +girth up to its last hole? Better do it then. Don't mind his kicking. It +doesn't hurt him. It's just his way. + +"My dear lady mother, if you knew what a pleasure it is to find +something untamable where everything is so confoundedly slow you would +not wonder at my fondness for the brute. As to your anxiety, that is +ridiculous. A Hildreth has too much sense to be conquered by a horse and +make a spectacle of himself into the bargain. _Au revoir_. Better take a +dose of lavender to calm your nerves," and Louis waved his hand to her +with careless grace, as he gathered up the reins. + +His mother looked after him with a sigh. "He is so fearless! What a +splendid cavalry officer he would make! He makes me think of the +regiment that went to the war from Marlborough." Her eye fell casually +upon Pompey who was shutting the carriage gates. "What a waste of +precious lives it was to be sure, just to free a lot of cowardly +negroes!" + +It was late in the afternoon when Pompey went up town on an errand for +Judge Hildreth. The street was full of men and horses hurrying to and +fro but Pompey paid them but little attention. He was busy with his +Lord. + +Hark! What was that? The sound of a horse's hoofs ringing with a sharp, +metallic clatter upon the paved street while children screamed and men +turned white faces towards the sound and hurriedly sought the sidewalk. + +On they came, the horse and his rider. Louis pale as death, Polyphemus +mad with sudden fear and his own ungovernable temper. The bit was +between his teeth, his iron-shod feet were thrown out in vengeful fury. + +Pompey sprang forward. + +"You can't stop him!" shouted the men. "It would be certain death!" But +just beyond the street took a sharp turn to the right and a deep chasm, +where extensive excavations for a sewer were being made, yawned +hungrily. + +The horse plunged and reared. Pompey had caught hold of the reins and +was clinging to them with all his might. + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Hildreth leaned over her son in an agony of fear. Louis was her +idol. He opened his eyes wearily. His cheeks were as white as the +pillow. + +"Oh, Louis!" she wailed, "I knew that wretched horse would bring you to +your death!" + +"I am not dead yet," he said, with a shadow of his old mocking smile, +"although I _have_ succeeded in making a fool of myself. How is Pompey?" + +"Pompey!" ejaculated his mother. "I never thought of any one but you." + + * * * * * + +Evadne stood in Dyce's little room, beside the bed with its gay +patchwork cover. The iron-shod hoofs had done their cruel work only too +well! + +"Pompey," she said wistfully, "dear Pompey, is the pain terrible to +bear?" + +The faithful eyes looked up at her, the brave lips tried to smile. "De +Lord Jesus is a powerful help in de time of trubble, Miss 'Vadney; I'se +leanin' on his arm." + +Evadne repeated, as well as she could for tears. "'Fear thou not, for I +am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen +thee, yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand +of my righteousness.'" + +And Pompey answered with joyous assurance,--"'Though I walk through the +valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with +me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.'" + +"The Jedge hez been here," said Dyce with mournful pride. "He say he'll +never find any one like Pompey. He say it wuz de braves' ting he ever +knowed any one to do. He jest cry like a chile, de Jedge did; he say he +never 'spect to find sech a faithful frien' again." + +"De Jedge is powerful kind, Missy. He say he'll look out fer Dyce ez +long ez he live," the husband's voice broke, + +"I don't care nuthin' 'bout dat!" and Dyce turned away with a choking +sob; "but I'se proud to hev him see what kind of a man you is." + +The night drew on. No sound was to be heard in the little cottage except +the ticking of the wheezy clock, as Dyce kept her solitary vigil by the +side of the man she loved. She knelt beside his pillow, and, for her +sake, Pompey made haste to die. As the shadows of the night were fleeing +before the heralds of the dawn, she saw the gray shadow which no earthly +light has power to chase away fall swiftly over his face. + +He opened his eyes and spoke in a rapturous whisper. "Dyce! Dyce! I see +de Lord!" + +The morning broke. Dyce still knelt on with her face buried in the +pillow; the asthmatic clock still kept on its tireless race; but +Pompey's happy spirit had forever swept beyond the bounds of time. + + * * * * * + +The humble funeral was over. The Hildreth carriage, behind whose +curtained windows sat Dyce and Evadne, had followed close after the +hearse. The Judge had walked behind. + +"So uncalled for!" Mrs. Hildreth said in an annoyed tone when, she heard +of it. Your father never _will_ learn to have a proper regard for _les +convenances_." + +"Uncalled for!" ejaculated Louis. "I'll venture to say the Judge will +never have a chance to follow such a brave man again." + +"He sent his carriage. That was all that was necessary." + +"Doubtless Dyce finds that superlative honor a perfect panacea for her +grief," said Louis sarcastically. "It is eminently fitting that Brutus +and Caesar should have walked as chief mourners for they have lost the +truest friend they ever had." + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +"I'm afraid poor Evadne will be worn out with such constant attendance +upon Louis," said Marion some weeks after Pompey's death. "I don't see +how she stands it." + +"It is hardly worth her while to undertake nursing," said Isabelle +coldly, "if she cannot stand such a trifle as this." + +"Why, Isabelle, just think of the strain night after night! You wouldn't +like it, I know. I want Mamma to get a paid nurse, but Louis won't have +any one near him but Evadne." + +"Of course _I_ could not stand being broken of my rest," rejoined +Isabelle, "it is hard enough for me to get any under the most favorable +circumstances, but probably Evadne sleeps like a log in the daytime. It +is the least return she can make for having disgraced the family, to be +of some use in it now." + +Marion laughed incredulously. "I should never think of associating +Evadne's name with disgrace," she said. "What _do_ you mean, Isabelle?" + +"Mamma says this nursing fad of hers upset Papa completely. He said the +Hildreth honor had better not be mentioned any more." + +"Well, I don't know. It seems to me she is of a good deal more value to +him now than the Hildreth honor. Dr. Russe says she is one of the best +nurses he ever saw. That is a high compliment, for he is dreadfully +particular. It is my opinion, Isabelle, that Louis is a good deal worse +than we think him to be. Don't mention it to Mamma, for she is so +nervous, but I heard Dr. Russo talking to Papa in the hall this morning, +something about an inherited tendency and a derangement of the nervous +system. I could not understand--he spoke so low--but Papa looked +dreadfully worried after he had gone. + +"Don't you think Papa looks very badly, Isabelle? And he seems so +absent, as if he had something on his mind. I noticed it long before +this happened." + +Isabelle laughed carelessly. "What a girl you are, Marion! You are +always imagining things about people. For my part I have too many +worries of my own." + +Upstairs Evadne was saying wistfully, "Don't you think your life should +be very precious, Louis, now that two people have died?" + +"Two people, Evadne? I know there was good old Pompey,--the thought of +that haunts me night and day,--but who else do you mean?" + +"Jesus Christ." + +"Oh!" + +"Do you never think about him, Louis?" + +"My dear coz, I find it wiser not to think. Every other man you meet +holds a different creed, and each one thinks his is the right one. Why +should I set myself up as knowing better than other people? The only way +is to have a sort of nebulous faith. God will not expect too much of us, +if we do the best we can." + +"A 'nebulous faith' will not save you, Louis," Evadne answered sadly. +"God expects us to believe his word when he tells us that he has opened +a way for us into the Holiest by the blood of his Son." + +"That atonement theory is an uncanny doctrine." + +"It is the only way by which sinners can be made 'at one' with an +absolutely holy God. Jesus said 'And I if I be lifted up ... will draw +all men unto me.' His humanitarianism did not win the hearts of the +multitude. The very men he had fed and healed hounded him _on to his +cross_." + +"It is not philosophical." + +"I read this morning that 'the moving energy in the world's history +to-day is not a philosophy, but a cross.'" + +"The God of the present is humanitarianism." + +"Humanitarianism is not Christ. Paul says--'Though I bestow all my goods +to feed the poor ... but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.' The +love which he means is the Christ power, for no mere human love could +reach the altitude of the 13th of 1st Corinthians. Real religion is not +a creed, but a Christ. It seems to me the most important questions we +have to answer are, what we think of Christ and what we are going to do +with him. + +"When Peter gave his answer--'Thou art the Christ,--the Anointed +One,--the Son of the living God,--' Christ said, 'On this rock--the +faith of thine--I will build my church.' Humanitarianism, pure and +simple, seems to me but an attempt to imitate Christ. It is beautiful as +far as it goes, but it is not my idea of following him." + +"What is, Evadne?" + +"When Jesus told his disciples to follow, he meant them to be with him. +I do not think we can ever hope to be like Christ unless we believe him +to be God and walk with him every day. If we have the spirit of Jesus in +our hearts, we shall be model humanitarians, for we shall love our +neighbor as ourselves." + +Louis caught her hand in his. "Begin by loving me!" he cried suddenly. +"I love you, dear! These long days of watching have taught me that, +although I began to suspect it some time ago. It is no use saying +anything," he went on hurriedly, as Evadne began to protest, "you must +be my wife, for I cannot live without you!" + +He drew a handsome ring, of quaint and curious workmanship which he had +bought in Venice, from his finger, and before Evadne could recover from +her astonishment, had thrust it upon hers. "See, you are mine, darling. +Now let us seal the compact with a kiss." + +"Louis, you are dreaming! This can never be!" She struggled to free her +hand but he held her fingers in a grasp of steel. + +"It shall be, my sweet little Puritan! Do you suppose I will ever give +you up now? I tell you I love you, Evadne! Love you as I never thought I +should ever love a woman. Why, you can twist me around your finger. I am +like water in your hands." + +"Louis, please listen!" implored Evadne, with a white, strained face. +"This is utterly impossible, for--I do not love you." + +"I will teach you, dear," said Louis cheerfully. "I know I have been a +brute, but I will show you how gentle I can be." + +"Louis!" cried Evadne desperately, "you must let me go! I will _never_ +do this thing!" + +She pulled vainly at the ring as she spoke. Louis' grasp never relaxed. +When he spoke she was frightened at the recklessness of his tone. + +"Take that ring off your finger and I go straight to the devil! You say +you want to win my soul. Here is your chance. You can make of me what +you will. I own there is something in your Christianity. I can't help +sneering when I see Isabelle and Marion playing at it, but I have never +sneered at you. Now, take your choice. Shall the devil have his own?" + +His voice was quiet but she could see he was laboring under intense +excitement. Evadne was in despair. What should she do? Only that morning +Dr. Russe had said to her,-- + +"It is not the injury he sustained in the fall that worries me. He will +get over that. But the shock to the nervous system has been tremendous. +Humor him in everything and avoid the least excitement, as you value his +life." + +She leaned over him and said gently,--"Dear Louis, you are not strong +enough to talk any more to-day. I will wear the ring a little while to +please you, but remember, this other thing you want can never be." + +He looked up at her, his face pallid with exhaustion, "Promise me," he +said faintly, "that the ring shall stay on your finger until I take it +off." + +And Evadne promised. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +Three years had slipped away and Evadne still wore her cousin's ring. A +great tenderness was growing up in her heart toward him. She yearned +over him as only those can understand who know what it is to carry the +burden of souls upon their hearts by night and day but no thought of +love ever crossed her mind. To Evadne Hildreth, love was a wonderfully +sacred thing. The ring fretted her and she longed to be freed from its +presence, but Louis held her to her promise. If he only waited long +enough, he persuaded himself, his patience would be rewarded. Some day +this shy, sweet bird would nestle against his heart. In the meantime he +would keep the ungenerous advantage which his illness had given him. He +forgot that it needs more to tame a bird than merely putting it in a +cage! + +Isabelle had been intensely curious but her questions had elicited no +satisfaction from her brother, and Evadne had answered simply, "Louis +took a fancy to put it on my finger: I am wearing it to please him, +that is all:" and even Isabelle found her cousin's sweet dignity an +effectual bar against her morbid inquisitiveness. + +They had seen comparatively little of each other. Evadne was constantly +busy, either at private or hospital nursing, and very short were the +furloughs which she spent under her uncle's roof. Louis had spent the +first winter after his illness with his mother in the South of France, +now he was in Florida, but he wrote regularly, and Evadne answered--when +she could. Sweet, pleading letters which he read over and over and +honestly tried to be better: but it was only for her sake; he knew no +higher motive--yet. + +It was a perfect day. Down by the river an alligator was sunning +himself, and the resinous breath of the pine trees swept its aromatic +fragrance over Louis as he lay at full length in a hammock with his +hands behind his head. He had thrown the magazine he had been reading on +the ground and it lay open at the article on Heredity which he had just +finished. His desultory thoughts were roaming idly over the subject, +when one, more far reaching than the rest, made him start lip with a +sudden shock of unwelcome surprise. + +"By Jove! Can it be that I am a victim of it too? It looks confoundedly +like it, although even my sweet little Puritan has not felt it a sin +against her conscience to keep me in the dark." + +He thrust his fingers with an impatient gesture through his hair. "Now I +come to think of it, the case grows deucedly clear. The South of France +one winter and Florida this! Simple nervous prostration would seem to +the uninitiated better fought in the exhilirating ozone of Colorado, +or--the North Pole--than in this languorous atmosphere. 'An inherited +tendency.' Is this the pleasant little legacy which my respected +ancestor has bequeathed to his only grandson? It skipped the Judge, but +it caught poor Uncle Lenox, and now it has nabbed me! What a fool I have +been not to surmise what this confounded pain meant between my +shoulders! Grandfather Hildreth kept himself alive with nostrums until +he was seventy, but he was an invalid all his life. He ought to be +cursed for his contemptible selfishness in bringing so much suffering +upon the race! There's none of the taint about Evadne, bless her! Russe +told me the Hospital examiners said they had never passed such a perfect +specimen of health." + +He stopped suddenly and bit his lips in pain. Would he not follow his +grandfather's example--if he had the chance? + +"What in the world is the meaning of all this?" + +Louis had arrived by an earlier train than he was expected and only his +mother was at home to greet him. The hall was in confusion, workmen's +tools lay about and ladders stood against the walls. Mrs. Hildreth +laughed lightly, as she laid her hand within her son's arm. + +"Oh, they are only getting ready for the floral decorations," she said, +"we give a reception to-morrow in honor of your return. How well you are +looking, Louis. I am so delighted to have you at home." + +"Thanks, lady mother. I do not need to ask how you have survived my +absence. How is Evadne,--and the Judge and the girls?" + +His mother laughed again as she drew him on the sofa beside her. She +seemed in wonderfully good humor. "Rather a comprehensive question," she +said. "Sit down and we will have a comfortable talk before the others +get home. Your father looks wretchedly but he says there is nothing the +matter. I suppose it is just overwork and the usual money strain. +Isabelle too is not as well as I should like her to be. Suffers from +nervousness a great deal, and depression. There is a new physician here +now, a Doctor Randolph, who we think is going to help her, although he +is very young; but she took a dislike to Doctor Russe because he +belongs to the old school. And now I have a surprise for you. Marion is +engaged!" + +"Engaged! Why, you never hinted at it in your letters!" + +"It has all been very sudden. I wrote you there was a young New Yorker +very attentive to her." + +"Yes, but that is an old story. There were two fellows 'very attentive' +when I went away. How long since the present devotion culminated?" + +"Just a week ago to-night: and they are so devoted!" + +"A second Romeo and Juliet, eh?"--Louis' laugh had a bitter ring,--"By +the way, what is his name?" + +"Simpson Kennard." + +"Brother Simp! Rich, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes, very. In fact he is eligible in every way." + +"I see," yawned Louis, "Possessed of all the cardinal virtues. It is a +good thing his wealth is not all in his pockets, for they are apt to +spring a leak. But Evadne--how is she?" + +"Oh, she is always well, you know," said his mother carelessly. "There +they come now." + +"These Indian famines are a terrible business," said Judge Hildreth as +they lingered over their dessert that evening. It was pleasant to have +Louis and Evadne back again. He too was glad to see his son so well. "I +don't see what the end is going to be." + +"People say that about every calamity, Papa," said Isabelle, "but the +world goes on just the same." + +"Of course it does, Isabelle," said her brother. "You see we can't waste +time over a few dying millions when we have to give a reception for +instance." + +"But that is a necessity, Louis," said Mrs. Hildreth, "we must pay our +debts to society, you know." + +"I am sure I don't see where I could economize," sighed Marion. "That +lecturer last night was splendid and I would like to have given him +thousands but I hadn't a dollar in my purse. I never have. I spent my +last cent for chocolates yesterday." + +Evadne smiled and sighed but said nothing. The lecturer the night before +had felt his soul strangely stirred at the sight of her glowing face, +and the plate when it passed her seat had borne a shining gold piece, +but perhaps she had not as many temptations as Marion and Isabelle. + +"I would have willingly filled you up a check with the cost of the +floral decorations, Marion," said her father with a twinkle in his eye. +"They would have purchased a good many bags of corn." + +"But that is ridiculous!" said Isabelle. "What would a reception be +without flowers, I should like to know? As it is, I expect it will be a +poor affair compared to the Van Nuys' last week. We never seem to be +able to do anything in proper style. You would better put your new Worth +gown, on the collection plate, Marion, and appear in a morning dress +to-morrow night. Louis would be the first one to be scandalized if you +did!" + +"Well but, Isabelle, I had to have something now. I have worn my other +dresses so many times, I am perfectly ashamed." + +"Of course, sis," said Louis gravely, "it was a most imperative +expenditure. It is a strange coincidence that you should have chosen +that particular make though. It has always been a fancy of mine that the +Levite was robed in a Worth gown when he passed by on the other side." + +"The sufferings must be awful," said Evadne, anxious to relieve Marion's +embarrassment. "I saw in the paper to-day that----" + +Mrs. Hildreth lifted her hands in mock alarm. "Pray spare us any recital +of horrors, Evadne! I never want to hear about any of these dreadful +things. What is the use, when one cannot help in any way?" + +"You forget, Mamma," said Isabelle with a laugh, "that Evadne revels in +horrors. What would be torture to our quivering nerves, to her atrophied +sensibilities is merely an occurrence of every day." + +Louis gave a sudden start in his chair, but on the instant Evadne laid +her hand upon his arm, and its light touch soothed his anger as it had +been wont to soothe his pain. + +Evadne Hildreth was climbing the heights of victory. She had learned to +cover her wounds with a smile. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +"Who is that calf, Evadne, standing by the piano?" Louis put the +question to his cousin the next evening, as he sought a few moments' +respite from his duties as host at her side. + +"That is Mr. Simpson Kennard." + +Louis surveyed the fashionably dressed, weak-faced, sandy-haired young +man from head to foot. "He will never get above his collar!" he said in +a tone of infinite scorn. + +Evadne laughed. "You must confess it is high enough to limit the +aspirations of an ordinary mortal." + +Marion fluttered up to them, her cheeks aglow with excitement. "Louis, +where are you? I want to introduce you to Simpsey. He has just arrived." + +Evadne looked after her as she led her brother away. "Poor little soul. +What a butterfly it is! Fancy having a husband whom one could call +Simpsey!" + +She started. Her knight of the gate was standing before her with +outstretched hand. A great light was in his face. "Do you remember?" he +asked, and Evadne's eyes glowed deep with pleasure, as she laid her hand +in his. They would never be properly introduced, these two, "'Life is a +beautiful possibility,'" she said, "I am proving it so every day,--but, +oh, the awful suffering in the world! I cannot understand,--" + +And John Randolph answered with his strong, sweet faith. "God +understands, _we_ do not need to." + +They were standing in an alcove partially screened by a tall palm from +the crowd which surged up and down through the rooms. He took from his +pocket a morocco case, and, opening it, held it towards her. What made +the color flush her cheeks while her eyes fell beneath his gaze? She +only saw a little square of lawn and lace, but the name traced across +one corner was 'Evadne'! + +"Did you leave nothing behind you at Hollywood that day?" he asked +gently. + +"My handkerchief!" she cried. "I missed it before we reached +Marlborough. I must have left it at the gate." But Evadne had left more +behind her than she knew. + +"I will keep it still," he said, "with your permission. Will you give it +to me?" + +"Oh, Doctor Randolph!" Isabelle's voice fell shrill upon Evadne's +silence, "they are calling for you in the other room to decide a knotty +question--something about microbes. I told them I was sure you would +know. Will you come?" + +John Randolph put the case quickly in his pocket and smiled as he turned +away. He thought he had read consent in her lovely eyes. + +After the reception was over Evadne knelt by her window until the stars +faded one by one from the sky. Then she turned away with a happy sigh. +When he came to get his answer, she would know. + + * * * * * + +"Give that to me!" Isabella spoke imperiously to the servant, who was +passing through the hall with a note in her hand. From where she stood +she had recognized the clear handwriting of the prescriptions which the +new doctor wrote. Her demon of curiosity overcame her. The tempter was +very near. + +The girl held the note towards her. "It is for Miss Evadne," she said. +"Miss E. Hildreth, you see." + +Isabelle gave a careless laugh. "Did you not know I had an E in my name +also? Evelyn Isabelle. I know the writing. The note is meant for me." + +So the truth and the lie mingled! +When John Randolph called that evening he was ushered into the presence +of Isabelle. + +"I am so sorry about Evadne!" she exclaimed, before he had time to +speak. "She had an engagement with my brother. He monopolizes her +whenever he is at home." She laughed affectedly. "Oh, I cannot tell you +when it is coming off, but she has worn his ring for years. They will +not give us any satisfaction--deep as the sea, you know. It seems so +strange to me, but then I am so transparent. She is a clever girl, but +very peculiar. Does not seem to have much natural feeling, you know, but +I suppose I am not fitted to judge, I am so emotional!" + +John Randolph bit his lip hard. It startled him to find how sharp a pain +could be. + + * * * * * + +Day after day Evadne waited but her knight never asked for his answer. +She began to meet him professionally, for his reputation was steadily +increasing, but he made no attempt to resume the conversation which had +been so rudely interrupted. He treated her with a delicate chivalry +always--that was John Randolph's way--and once she had caught such a +strange, wistful expression on his face as he looked at her and then at +a patient's arm which she was deftly bandaging. She was puzzled. What +could it all mean? Well, God understood. + +The surgical ward in the new Hospital at Marlborough was filled to its +utmost capacity and Evadne found her work no sinecure. The force of +nurses was inadequate to the demand. Often she would be called from her +rest to minister to the critical cases which were her special care, and +she would go down to the ward saying softly, "The Master is come and +calleth for thee," and bending tenderly over the sufferers, would behold +as in a vision the face of Christ. + +"My dear Miss Hildreth!" the superintendent exclaimed one day, "how is +it that you make the patients love you so?" + +Evadne laughed merrily. "If they do," she said, "it must be because of +my love for them." And the Superintendent answered in a hushed voice, +"Why, _that_ is the Gospel!" + +They called her 'Sister,' these rough men. She liked it so. She felt +herself a sister to the world. + +It was evening and the lights were turned low in the surgical ward. +Evadne was making her round before going to her room for a sorely needed +rest. John Randolph, who had come to pay a second visit to an +interesting case in one of the medical wards, stood in the shadow of the +doorway and watched her hungrily. Each one wanted to say something and +Evadne listened patiently. To her the mission of a nurse meant +something higher than gruel and bandages. She never forgot as she +ministered to the body that she was dealing with a soul. + +John Randolph, standing with folded arms in the doorway, heard her low, +sweet laugh, as she strove to brighten up a lachrymose patient; and +caught at intervals the name of Jesus, as she reminded one and another +of the Friend whose sympathy is strong enough to bear all the weight of +human pain, and once he thought he heard the sweet note of a prayer. He +started forward. Evadne was bending over a man who had been badly +crippled in a saw mill. His left arm was gone and all the fingers from +his right hand. With the morbidness of those who delight in +concentrating attention upon their own sufferings, he had pulled off the +loosened bandage with his teeth and held up the stump for inspection, +and Evadne had laid her cool, soft hands on either side of the unsightly +mass of red and angry flesh and was holding them there while she talked! + +"She gives herself!" cried John Randolph with a great throb of longing. +"It is what Jesus did, in Galilee." + +A wave of passion broke over him. It was not true, this story. It could +not be! How could her nature, sweet as light, ever be attuned to that of +her cynical cousin? She was coming nearer, nearer. He would stay and +meet her. He thought he had read his answer in her eyes. Now he would +have it from her lips as well. + +But then, there was the ring! Isabelle had been right. It was no lady's +ornament, and he had seen the initials L. H. graven in the heart of the +stone as their hands had met one day in dressing a wound. Evadne +Hildreth was not one to wear a man's ring lightly and John Randolph bent +his head and groaned. + +"Sister, Sister, won't you sing before you go?" + +"Oh, yes, Sister, give us just one song!" + +The men raised themselves on their elbows in pleading entreaty, and +Evadne stood in all her sweet unconsciousness before him and began to do +their will. Soft and clear the music fell about him. The air was 'The +last Rose of Summer' but the words were 'Jesus, Lover of my soul.' When +the song was ended, John Randolph, hushed and comforted, walked +noiselessly down the stairway and out into the quiet street. + +Evadne had sung her message, while she folded its leaves of healing down +over her own sore heart, and human love had paled before the exquisite +beauty of the love of God! + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +"John Randolph!" + +"Rege!" + +The two men stood facing each other with hands held in a vice-like +grasp, all unconscious of what was going on around them in the street. + +"Where did you come from?" + +"Where have you been?" + +John laughed. "In and around Marlborough all the time, except when I +went to New York for my degree." + +"And never let us hear a word from you all these years!" + +"You forget, Rege, your father forbade me to hold any communication with +Hollywood." + +Reginald's face grew grave. "Poor father. Well he's done with it all +now." + +"You don't mean that he is dead, Rege?" + +"Yes--and little Nan." + +"Oh!" The exclamation was sharp with pain. + +"I think she fretted for you, John. She just seemed to pine away. Every +day we missed her about the same time, and they always found her in the +same place, down by the green road. Then scarlet fever came. She never +spoke of getting well--didn't seem to want to. The night she died she +put her arms around mother's neck and whispered. 'Tell Don me'll be +waitin' at the gate.' That was all." + +John wrung Reginald's hand and turned away. Reginald looked after him +with misty eyes. "I used to tell mother it would break his heart. I +never saw any one so wrapped up in a child!" + +"And your father, Rege?" John was calm again. + +"Had a fit of apoplexy soon after. I think Nan was the only thing in the +world he cared for. It had never struck him that she could die. We sold +Hollywood and went abroad. Mother's health broke down--she was never +very strong, you know. We spent one year in Italy and one in France, but +the shock had been too great. She lies in a lovely spot beside the sea." + +"Not your mother too, Rege!" + +Reginald's voice broke. "Yes, they are all gone. It was a great deal to +happen in a few years. I am a wealthy man, John, but I am all alone in +the world, except for Elise. Well," he added more lightly, "I have +learned not to rebel at the inevitable. It is only what we have to +expect." + +"Elise!" echoed John wonderingly, after the first shock of grief was +over. + +"My wife," said Reginald proudly. "You must come home at once and let me +show you the sweetest woman in the world." + +"Not just yet, Rege I must pay a visit to Mrs. O'Flannigan, then there +is the hospital, and the dispensary, and I promised to concoct a bed for +a poor fellow in the last stages of heart trouble. But I will come +to-night." + +"Always helping somewhere, John. What a grand fellow you are!" + +"We are in the world to help the world, else what were the use of +living?" + +"I can't do anything," said Reginald, "with this clog." He looked +contemptuously at his ebony crutch as he spoke. + +John laid his hand upon his arm. "Rege," he said in his old, tender way. +"I think this very 'clog' as you call it, is a preparation to help those +who are passing through the baptism of pain." + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Reginald Hawthorne welcomed her husband's friend with a winning +charm. She was very pretty, very graceful and very young. Reginald +idolized her. John saw that as he looked around the sumptuous home whose +every fitting was a tribute to her taste. They had just finished +unpacking the things they had brought from Europe. + +"Strangely enough," said Reginald with a laugh, "I told Elise this +morning that now I was going to start out in search of you!" + +He had developed wonderfully. John saw that too. Travel and trial had +brought out the good that was in him--but not the best. + +The evening passed pleasantly. Mrs. Hawthorne played beautifully, and +Reginald had kept ears and eyes open and talked well. + +"How about the other life, Rege?" asked John when they had a few moments +alone. "This one seems very fair." + +"All a humbug, John. You Christians are chasing a will o' the wisp, a +jack o' lantern. You remember my fad for mathematics? I have followed it +up, and I find your theory a 'reductio ad absurdum.' I must have +everything demonstrable and clear. This is neither." + +"Yet it was a great mathematician who said, 'Omit eternity in your +estimate of area and your solution is wrong.'" + +Reginald shook his head. "I have nothing to do with this faith business. +I go as far as I see, no further." + +"God calls our wisdom foolishness, Rege. Jesus Christ put a tremendous +premium upon the faith of a little child." + +"Things must be tangible for me to believe in them. Reason is king with +me." + +"Without faith in your fellow man--and your wife--you would have a poor +time of it, Rege; why should you refuse to have faith in your God? Is +your will tangible, and can you demonstrate the mysterious forces of +nature? You know you can't, Rege, you have to take them on trust; and if +you had seen what I have, you would know that poor human reason is a +pitiful thing! But I won't argue with you. Some day you will +understand." + +Reginald Hawthorne went back into the room where his wife was sitting. +"Elise, darling, you have seen one of the grandest men in the world +to-night. The only trouble is that on one subject he is a crank." + +"Oh, Reginald, do you mean it! I thought he was splendid. And what a +wonderful face he has!" + +Reginald started. "Hah! Am I to be jealous of my old friend? But I might +have known," he added sadly, "no one could care long for such a wreck as +I!" + +The girl wife put her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, "You +foolish boy!" she whispered, "you know I shall never love any one but +you!" + +And Reginald Hawthorne counted himself a perfectly happy man. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +Judge Hildreth sat in his library, alone. He had left home immediately +after dinner, ostensibly to catch the evening train for New York, and +had sent the carriage back from the station to take his family to the +Choral Festival which was the event of the year in Marlborough, and then +returning in a hired conveyance, had let himself into his house like a +thief. When we sacrifice principle upon the altar of expediency, truth +and honor, like twin victims, stand bound at its foot. He wanted to be +undisturbed, to have time to think, and God granted his wish, until his +reeling brain prayed for oblivion! + +No sound broke the stillness. With the exception of the servants in a +distant part of the house, he was absolutely alone. + +He drew out his will from a secret drawer of his desk and looked it over +with a ghastly smile. "To my dear niece, Evadne, the sum of thirty +thousand dollars, held by me in trust from her father." Then came a long +list of charities. It read well. People could not say he had left all +to his family and forgotten the Lord. If his executors should find a +difficulty in realizing one quarter of the values so speciously set +forth, they could only say that dividends had shrunk and investments +proved unreliable. It was not his fault. He had meant well. Besides, he +had no thought of dying for years. There was plenty of time for skillful +financing. Other men had done the same and prospered. Why should not he? + +But the letters must be destroyed. He had come to a decision at last. It +was an imperative necessity. His hesitancy had been only the foolish +scruples of an over sensitive conscience. The tremendous pressure of the +age made things permissible. He was "torn by the tooth of circumstance" +and "necessity knows no law." So he entrenched himself behind a +breastwork of sophisms. Long familiarity with the suggestions of evil +had bred a contempt for the good! + +He stretched out his hand towards the drawer. There should be no more +weak delay. If a thing were to be done, 'twere well it were done +quickly. + +The horror of a great fear fell upon him. Again his hand had fallen, and +this time he was powerless to lift it up! + +The hours passed and he sat helpless, bound in that awful chain of +frozen horror. In vain he struggled in a wild rage for freedom. No +muscle stirred. Where was his boasted will power now? Hand and foot, +faithful, uncomplaining slaves for so many years, had rebelled at last! + +His brain seemed on fire and the flashing thoughts blinded him with +their glare. The letters rose from their sepulchre and, clothed in the +majesty of a dead man's faith, looked at him with an awful reproach, +until his very soul bowed in the dust with shame. His will still lay +upon the desk, open at the paragraph "to my dear niece, Evadne," and the +words "in trust," like red hot irons, branded him a felon in the sight +of God and men! + +He remembered having once read a quotation from a great writer,--"When +God says, 'You must not lie and you do lie, it is not possible for Deity +to sweep his law aside and say--'No matter.'" Did God make no allowances +for the nineteenth century? + +The others returned from the Festival, and Louis passed the door +whistling. He had had a rare evening of pleasure with Evadne. Towards +its close, under cover of the rolling harmonies, he had leaned over and +whispered "I love you, dear!" and Evadne had held out her hand to him +with the low pleading cry, "Oh, Louis, if you really do, then set me +free!" but he had only smiled and taken the hand, on which his ring was +gleaming, into his, and settled his arm more securely upon the back of +her chair; and John Randolph, sitting opposite with Dick and Miss Diana, +had watched the little scene and drawn his own conclusions with a sigh. + +The night drew on. The electric lights which it was Judge Hildreth's +fancy to have ablaze in every room downstairs until the central current +was shut off, still gleamed steadily upon the rigid figure before the +desk, with the white, drawn face and the awful look of horror in its +staring eyes. In an agony he tried to call, but no sound escaped the +lips, set in a sphinx-like silence. + +He must shake off this strange lethargy. It was not possible for him to +die--he had not time. To-morrow was the meeting of the Panhattan +directors--they were relying upon him to work through the second call on +stock--and two of his notes fell due, if he did not retire them his +credit would be lost at the bank; and there was the banquet to the +English capitalists, with whom he was negotiating a mining deal; and he +must arrange with his broker to float some more shares of the +"Silverwing"--and manipulate, manipulate, manipulate-- + +An agonized, voiceless cry went up to heaven. "Oh, God, let me have +to-morrow!" + +In the morning a servant found him, when she came to clean the room, and +fled screaming from the presence of the silent figure with the awful +entreaty in its staring eyes. + +Louis hurried downstairs to learn the cause of the commotion, followed +by Mrs. Hildreth, swept for once off her pedestal of stately calm. + +Shivering with horror the family gathered in the beautiful room which +had been so suddenly turned into a death chamber, the servants weeping +boisterously, Isabella and her mother in violent hysterics, and Marion +clinging with wide, frightened eyes to Louis, who found himself thrust +into a man's place of responsibility and did not know what to do! + +He sent one servant to the Hospital for Evadne--instinctively he turned +in his thought to her,--another for the Doctor; while with one arm +around Marion, he tried to sooth his mother and Isabelle. + +And in the midst of all the wild commotion his father sat, unmoved and +silent, his agonized face lifted in an attitude of supplication, his +lifeless hands lying heavily upon the now worthless papers, since for +him there would be no to-morrow! + + * * * * * + +The stately obsequies were ended. The paid quartette had sung their +sweetest, while Doctor Jerome, standing beside the frozen face in the +massive coffin, had delivered an eloquent eulogium, and Mrs. Hildreth, +clad in her costly robes of mourning, had been led to her carriage by +her son. Everything had been conducted in a manner befitting the +Hildreth honor. + + * * * * * + +"Evadne!" Louis turned a white, scared face towards his cousin, who +stood beside him as he sat at his father's desk. Upstairs Mrs. Hildreth +and Isabelle were in solemn consultation with a dressmaker. In the +drawing-room Marion was being consoled by Simpson Kennard. + +"Well, Louis?" She laid her hand on his shoulder gently. She was very +sorry for him. + +"There is some awful mistake. Poor Father seems to have counted on funds +which we can find no trace of. The estate is not worth an eighth of what +he valued it at. There is barely enough to keep you, mother and +Isabelle, alive!" He laid his head down on the desk while great tears +fell through his fingers. The shameful mystery of it was intolerable. + +"But, Louis, have you looked everywhere? There must be some +explanation--" + +Louis shook his head. "Everywhere, but in this drawer. I opened it but +there is nothing but musty old letters. I haven't time to go into them +now. Oh, little coz, I don't dare to look you in the face. All the money +that was left you by your father is gone!" + +"Don't tell Aunt Kate and the girls, Louis, There is no need that they +should ever know. I have my profession and I am strong. Uncle Lawrence +never meant to do anything except what was right, I know." + +Louis looked up at her and there was a strange reverence in his cynical +face. He was in the presence of a Christliness which he had never +dreamed of. "I am not worthy to touch the hem of your garment," he said +humbly. But he did not offer to release her from her promise. He had not +learned to be generous--yet. + +Evadne's dream was ended and rude was the awaking. The idea of helping +her fellows had grown to be a passion with her and very fair had been +the castle in the air of which she was the Princess. A home, not rich or +stately but full of a delightful homeiness which should soothe and cheer +those who, walking through the world amid a storm of tears, call earth a +wilderness, while their desolate hearts echo the mournful question,--"Is +there any sorrow like unto my sorrow." She, too, had been lonely,--she +could understand, and by the sweet influence of human love and sympathy +lift their thought above the earthly shadows up to the love of God. + +She had not dreamed of doing things on a grand scale. Evadne Hildreth +was wise enough to know that comfort cannot be dealt out in wholesale +packages,--she never forgot that Jesus of Nazareth helped the people one +by one. + +She had never questioned the terms of her father's will--if there was a +will. She had supposed when she became of age there would be some +change, but her uncle had made no reference to the subject and she had +not liked to ask. He was always kind--he would do what was best. Some +day she would be free to carry out this beautiful dream of hers. She +could afford to wait. Now there was nothing to wait for any more! + +How strange it seemed, when the need was so great and she longed to help +much! Well, she was only a little child,--she could trust her Father. +God understood. + +That was what he had said, this strong, true friend of hers, that night +he asked the question which he had never asked again. How gentle he +was!--but it was the gentleness of strength--and how every one +depended on him! She, herself, had learned to expect the helpful words +which he always gave her when they met. Friendship was a beautiful +thing! + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +John Randolph came up behind Evadne one morning as she was dressing the +burns of a little lad who had been severely injured at a fire. She did +not hear his step--she was telling a bright story to the little +sufferer, to make him forget his pain, and the boy was laughing loudly. +His face was very grave, but his eyes lightened as they always did when +they rested upon her face. + +"Mrs. Reginald Hawthorne is very ill. Can you, will you come?" + +And Evadne answered with a simple "Yes." They needed so few words, these +two. + +"I tell you I will not die!" The piercing cry rang through the handsome +room and fell like molten lead upon the heart of the man who with +strained, haggard face was sitting by the bedside. "You have not told me +the truth, Reginald! There is a God. I feel it! You have always laughed +and called me young and foolish, but I know better than you do, now. +You said if our lives were governed by reason, we would meet death like +a philosopher, and I do not know how to die! You used to laugh and say +the whole thing was child's play and there was nothing to fear, and I +believed you,--I thought you were so wise, but it was easy to believe +you then with your arms folded close about me and the sunlight streaming +through the windows and the shouts of the children outside, but now you +cannot go with me and I am afraid to go alone." The eyes, wild and +despairing, burned fiercely in the pallid cheeks. "Do you hear, +Reginald? I am afraid, I tell you; horribly afraid! You used to say you +would lay down your life to save me. Why do you not help me now? + +"What makes you look so strangely, if it is all nonsense, Reginald? why +do you shut out all the sunshine and why is the house so still? You told +me once you were going to die with a laugh on your lips. I am dying, +Reginald, why don't you help your wife to die as you mean to do? +A----h!" + +Her voice died away in a low wail of terror and the delicate blue veins +in her temples throbbed with feverish excitement. Reginald Hawthorne had +crouched down in his chair and buried his face in his hands. The pitiful +cry began again. + +"To die, when life is so sweet! To be shut up in a coffin and buried in +a cold, dark grave! You don't love me, Reginald. If you did, you would +die too--with a laugh on your lips you know--then I should have that to +cheer me, and we should be together, and I should not be afraid. But now +you look so strangely, Reginald. Don't you care for me any more? Can you +let them take me away from this beautiful world and stay in it all by +yourself? + +"I suppose you will give me a splendid funeral--you are so generous you +know--but I will not care whether the prison is pine or mahogany if I am +to be shut up in it all alone! And you will have a long procession, with +plumes and flowers and show, but you will leave me in the dreary +cemetery and you will come back to our home, where we have been so happy +together--so happy, just you and I--but you see you are a philosopher +and I do not know how to die! + +"And some day you will forget me--men do such things they say--and +another woman will be your wife and I will be all alone!" + +"Sister!" The abject man in the chair held out his hands in an agony of +entreaty, "Come here and help us--if you can!" and Evadne came swiftly +into the room, and, sitting down on the side of the bed, gathered the +pitiful little figure to her heart. + +"It is not death but life," she said gently. "This body is not _you_. +The home of the soul is more beautiful than, any earthly home can ever +be. It is those who are left behind dear, who mourn, not those who go." + +Elise Hawthorne laid her head on Evadne's shoulder like a tired child. +"But I am afraid," she whispered. "If this is true, and God is holy, I +am not fit, you know." + +"Your Father loves you dear, for he sent his Son to die. The thief on +the cross was a sinner, yet Christ took him to Paradise. The fitness +must come from Jesus. His blood washes whiter than snow." + +"But I have done nothing to earn it. I have lived for myself alone." + +"We never can earn a gift, dear. God gives in a royal way. He says to +you only 'Believe I have given you life through my Son.'" Evadne had +taken the tiny Bible which she always carried from her pocket and was +turning its pages rapidly. "Here it is. Will you raise the blind, Mr. +Hawthorne, that your wife may see for herself? 'God so loved the world +that he gave his only begotten Son,'--the best he had!--'that whosoever +believeth in him should not perish,' you see there is no death for those +who trust in him. And then 'He that believeth on the Son _hath_ +everlasting life.' It does not mean that we may have it after years of +toil. The Israelites, stung by the serpents, had no time to reason or +plan to live better, for they were dying, but they could turn their eyes +to the brazen serpent which God had ordered to be lifted up in the midst +of tho camp for an antidote to the poison. So Christ has been 'lifted +up' upon the cross for us. He died instead of you. Why should you die +forever when he has paid your ransom and set you free?" + +"But I cannot touch him,--I cannot be sure it is true." + +"The Israelites could not touch the brazen serpent. They simply looked, +and lived. There is just one condition for us to-day and it is +'Believe.' Cannot you take your Heavenly Father at his word as you would +your husband? Cannot you treat God the same?" + +Mrs. Hawthorne looked wonderingly at her nurse. "Treat him the same as I +do my husband!" she exclaimed. "Why, with Reginald, I believe every word +he says." + +"And I with God," said Evadne reverently. + +"What charm have you wrought?" asked John Randolph in a whisper, as they +stood together that evening beside a quiet sleeper. "This is the first +natural sleep she has had. I believe it will prove her salvation." + +Evadne looked up at him, and over her face a light was breaking, "I have +led her to Jesus, the Mighty to save." + + * * * * * + +The Hawthornes were going to Europe. The young wife's convalescence had +been tedious and it was a very frail little figure which clung to Evadne +the evening before they started. They had pleaded with her to go with +them. "Give up this toilsome work which is overtaxing your strength," +Reginald had said, as they sat together one evening in the twilight, +"and make your home with us. You have grown to be our sister in the +truest sense of the word and we have learned to lean upon you, Elise and +I. We can never hope to repay you," he continued huskily, "but it would +be such a pleasure to have you with us for good." + +Evadne looked at the pleading eyes with which Elise Hawthorne seconded +her husband's wish and her lips trembled. "How rich God is making me in +friends!" she said. "I shall never forget that this thing has been in +your hearts, but I must be about my Father's business." + +And then John Randolph had come to make one of his pleasant, informal +visits and they had sat together in a beautiful fellowship, talking of +the things pertaining to the Kingdom. + +"Doctor Randolph," Elise asked suddenly, "what is your conception of +prayer? Evadne says it means to her communion and companionship with +Jesus. She says it is 'the practice of the presence of God.'" + +John Randolph's face grew luminous. "To me it means a great stillness," +he said. "Did you ever think of the silences of God? 'Be still, and know +that I am God,' 'Stand still, and see his salvation.'" + +"But are we not to ask for what we want?" asked Mrs. Hawthorne +wonderingly. + +"Oh, yes, but we learn to ask so little for ourselves when we love our +Father's will. The trouble is, we, want to do the talking. God would +have us listen while he speaks." + +"Then what does it mean to worship God?" she asked. "We cannot always be +in church." + +John Randolph smiled. "We do not need to be. If our hearts are all on +fire with the love of God, we worship him continually." + +When he rose to go he turned towards Evadne. "How goes life with you +now, dear friend?" + +The grey eyes, full of a clear shining, were lifted to his, "I am +absolutely satisfied with Jesus Christ." + +Marion was married and living in New York. Louis had taken a small +house, where he lived with his mother and Isabelle. He spent his days in +the monotonous routine of a hank, and to his pleasure-loving nature the +drudgery seemed intolerable, but he said little. Evadne never +complained! + +One day he went to see her at the Hospital and she was frightened at the +pallor of his face. She led him to the superintendent's reception +room--there they would be undisturbed. He staggered blindly as he +entered the room and then sank heavily on a sofa near the door. He +looked like an old man. + +"Louis!" she cried in alarm, "what is the matter?" + +He took a letter from his pocket and held it toward her. It bore her own +name, and the writing was her father's! + +"Can you _ever_ forgive?" Then he buried his face in his arms and +groaned aloud. The awful disgrace and shame of it seemed more than he +could bear. + +Interminable seemed the hours after Louis had left her, walking slowly, +with that strange, grey shadow upon his face, and stooping as if some +unseen burden were crushing him to the earth. She dared not let herself +think. She must wait until she was alone. At last she was free to go to +her room. + +Down on her knees she read the passionate farewell words, which made her +heart thrill, so full of tender advice and loving thought for her +comfort. Through streaming tears she looked at the closely written pages +of instructions, so minute that she could not err--and he had disliked +writing so much! This was the weary task which had tried him so! And all +these years she had never known. She had been robbed of her birthright! + +Fierce and long the battle raged. When it was ended God heard his child +cry softly, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass +against us." + +She had forgiven! + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +Mrs. Simpson Kennard was sitting in her pretty morning room with her +baby on her knee. She looked across the room at her sister who was +paying her a visit. "I wish you had a little child to love, Isabelle. It +makes life so different. I am just wrapped up in Florimel." + +"For pity's sake, Marion," cried Isabelle peevishly, "don't you grow to +be one of those tiresome women who think the whole world is interested +in a baby's tooth! I certainly do not echo your wish. I think children +are a nuisance." + +Marion caught up her baby in dismay. "Why, Isabelle, just think how much +they do for us! They broaden our sympathies--I read that only the other +day, and----" + +"Broaden your fiddlesticks!" said Isabelle contemptuously. "Easy for you +to talk when you have everything you want! If you had to live in that +poky little house in Marlborough, I guess you would not find anything +very broadening about them! + +"It is perfectly preposterous to think of our being reduced to such a +style of living!" she continued, as Mrs. Kennard strove to soothe her +baby's injured feelings with kisses. "Just fancy, only one servant! I +never thought a Hildreth would fall so low." + +"But you and Mamma are comfortable, Isabelle. It is not as if you were +forced to do anything." + +"Do anything!" echoed Isabelle. "Are you going crazy?" + +"Well, see how hard Evadne has to work? and she is a Hildreth as well as +you." + +"Evadne!" said Isabelle sarcastically, "with her nerves of steel and +spine of adamant! Evadne will never kill herself with work. She is too +much taken up with her wealthy private patients. You should have seen +her driving round with the Hawthornes in their elegant carriage And I +reduced to dependence upon the electric cars! I don't see how she +manages to worm her way into people's confidence as she seems to do. I +couldn't, but then I have such a horror of being forward." + +"'All doors are open to those who smile.' I believe that is the reason, +Isabelle." + +"Stuff and nonsense!" was Miss Hildreth's inelegant reply. + +"She is a dear girl, Isabelle. Why will you persist in disliking her +so?" + +"Oh, pray spare me any panegyrics!" said Isabelle carelessly. "It is bad +enough to have Louis blazing up like a volcano if one has the temerity +to mention her ladyship's name." + +"How is Louis?" asked Mrs. Kennard, finding she was treading on +dangerous ground. + +"Oh, the same as usual. He looks like a ghost, and is about as cheerful +as a cemetery. He spends his holidays going over musty old letters in +papa's desk. I'm sure I don't see what fun he finds in it. It is so +selfish in him, when he might be giving mamma and me some pleasure--but +Louis never did think of anyone but himself. One day I found him +stretched across the desk and it gave me such a fright! You know what a +state my nerves are in. I thought he was in a fit or something,--he just +looked like death, and he didn't seem to hear me when I called. He had a +large envelope addressed to papa in his hand and there was another under +his arm that didn't look as if it had ever been opened, but I couldn't +see the address. I ran for mamma, but before we got back he was gone and +the letters with him. Whatever it was, it has had an awful effect upon +him, though he won't give us any satisfaction, you know how provoking he +is. It is my belief he is going into decline, and I have such a horror +of contagious diseases! + +"If Evadne is so anxious to work, why doesn't she come and help mamma +and me? It is the least she could do after all we have done for her, but +as mamma says, 'It is just a specimen of the ingratitude there is in the +world.'" + + * * * * * + +The months rolled by and Evadne sat one afternoon in the +superintendent's reception room reading a letter which the postman had +just delivered. It bore the Vernon postmark. + +She had seen but little of Mrs. Everidge through the years which +followed her graduation. She had been constantly busy and her aunt's +hands had been full, for her husband's health had failed utterly and he +demanded continual care. Now her long, beautiful ministry was over, for +Horace Everidge, serenely selfish to the last, had fallen into the +slumber which knows no earthly waking, and Aunt Marthe was free. + +"I do not know what it means," she wrote, "but something tells me I +shall not be long in Vernon. I am just waiting to see what work the King +has for me to do." + +Evadne pressed the letter to her lips. "Dear Aunt Marthe! If the +majority had had your 'tribulum' they would think they had earned the +right to play!" + +She looked up. John Randolph was standing before her with a package in +his hands. + +"I have been commissioned by the Hawthornes to give this into your own +possession," he said with a smile. + +She opened it wonderingly. Bonds and certificates of stock bearing her +name. What did it mean? John Randolph had drawn a chair opposite her and +was watching her face closely. + +"You cannot think what long consultations we have held on the subject of +what you would like," he said, "you seemed to have no wishes of your +own. At last a happy thought struck Reginald, and he sent me a power of +attorney to make the transfer of these bonds and stocks to you. It is a +Trust Fund to be used to help souls. We all thought that would please +you best of all. You are a rich woman, Miss Hildreth." + +A great wave of joy swept over her bewildered face. "So God has sent me +the fulfilment of my dream!" she said softly. And John Randolph +understood. + +That evening she wrote to Mrs. Everidge. + +"Dear Aunt Marthe,--The King's work is waiting for you in Marlborough. +The work that we used to long for--the joy of lifting the shadows from +the hearts of the heavy laden--God has given to you and me!" + + * * * * * + +"Why should you not come to 'The Willows'?" + +John Randolph put the question one afternoon, as they were enjoying Miss +Diana's hospitality in the fragrant porch. Evadne had just finished a +merry recital of their woes. + +"We have looked at houses until we are fairly distracted, Aunt Marthe +and I. One had a cellar kitchen, and I am not going to have my good Dyce +buried in a cellar kitchen; and one had no bathroom, and another was all +stairs; and they are all nothing but brick and mortar with a scrap of +sky between. I want trees and water and fields. The poor souls have +enough of masonry in their daily lives." + +"I believe it is decreed that you should come here," he continued, after +the first exclamations of surprise were over. "It is just the work our +lady delights in, and she cannot be left alone. Dick goes to College +next month and I must live in town. The house is beautiful for +situation, and a threefold cord of love and faith cannot easily be +broken." + +He looked round upon them, this man who found his joy in helping others, +and waited for their answer. + +"It would be beautiful, beautiful!" cried Evadne, "if Miss +Chillingworth were willing. But the house is not large enough, Doctor +Randolph, we shall need three or four guest chambers, you know." + +"Nothing easier than to build an addition," said John, with the quiet +reserve of power which always made his patients believe in the +impossible. + +Evadne laid her hand upon Miss Chillingworth's--"Dear Miss Diana," she +said gently, "you do not say 'No' to us; do you think you could ever +find it in your heart to say 'Yes'? I know it must seem a terrible +innovation, but we could never have imagined anything half so +delightful, Aunt Marthe and I. The atmosphere--outdoors and in--is +perfection!" + +Miss Diana looked at the sparkling face and then at Mrs. Everidge with +her gentle smile. "I find myself _very_ glad," she said, "since I have +to lose my boys, but do you think we had better make any definite plans, +dear, until we have talked it over with the Lord?" + +And John Randolph said to Evadne with eyes that were suspiciously +bright; "It is impossible for anyone to get very far from the Kingdom, +when they live with our Lady Di." + +The talk had wandered then to different subjects, and John Randolph +listened to the soft play of Evadne's fancy and watched the light in +her wonderful eyes. Her nature, so long repressed in an uncongenial +environment, in this new soil of love and sympathy was blossoming richly +and he found her very fair. He had rarely seen her resting. Now the +shapely hands were folded together in a beautiful stillness--and then +the breeze had waved aside a flower, and a sunbeam, darting through the +trellis, fell upon the stone in her ring and made it sparkle with a +baleful fire! + +"Poor Louis!" Isabelle had said, the last time he had been called to +prescribe for her frequently recurring attacks of indisposition, "he +will have to wait for promotion now before he can think of marriage. It +is very hard for him." + +So again the truth and the lie had mingled. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +Very sweet grew the life at 'The Willows' and Mrs. Everidge and Evadne +and Miss Diana found their hands full of happy work. + +Unavella still reigned supreme in her kitchen. "'Tain't a great sight +harder to cook for a dozen than six," she had remarked sententiously, +when the plan was unfolded to her, "it's only a matter uv quantity, the +quality's jest the same. Ef Miss Di-an's a'goin ter start in ter be a +she Atlas an' carry the world on her shoulders, she'll find I'm +warranted ter wash an' not shrink in the rinsin'. I'm not a'goin ter be +left behind, without I hev changed my name." + +Dyce kept the rooms in spotless order and waited upon the guests. + +"Dear friend," said Evadne one morning, as she watched her putting +loving touches to the dining table, "you take as much trouble as if you +expected Jesus Christ to be here!" + +"So I does, Miss 'Vadney," she answered simply, "I never feels +comfortable 'cept when dere's a place fer de Lord," and Evadne answered, +"Dear Dyce, you make me feel ashamed!" + +Many and varied were the guests who partook of their hospitality. The +famine which no material wealth can alleviate is not confined to the +dwellings of the poor. Hearts starve beneath coverings of velvet and +loneliness often rides in a carriage. Many were the patients whom the +world counted "well to do" that John Randolph sent to Evadne to be +comforted. There was nothing to make them suspect that the keen +intuition of the young physician had read their secret. 'The Willows' +was simply a charming retreat where he sent them to try his favorite +tonics of sunlight and oxygen; they never dreamed they were to be the +recipients of favors which would not be rendered in the bill. + +It was a beautiful fellowship in which they were banded together, for +the Hawthornes had returned and were learning to find their pleasure in +doing their Father's will. Dick True was in the brotherhood also, and +never came home for his vacations without bringing with him "some fellow +who needed a taste of love," and the overgrown boys would glory in their +strength as they lifted Miss Diana from the carriage after a delightful +drive, and learn a strange gentleness as they were unconsciously +trained in the little deeds of chivalry which bespeak a true man. + +Soon after Evadne's dream had materialized John Randolph had sent her a +dainty little equipage to help on the work. + +"You are too kind!" she cried, as she thanked him, "too generous!" + +"Can we be that?" he asked, "when we are giving to a King? It is a +theory of mine that a drive in the country with the right companion is +better than exordiums. These poor souls have never learned to see +'sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, and God in everything.' +You must give me the pleasure of a little share in your beautiful work, +my friend." + +"A little share!" echoed Evadne. "Is it possible that you do not know, +Doctor Randolph, how much of it belongs to you!" + +The beauty of the life was that the guests were taken into the heart of +the living and felt themselves a part of the home. They never preached, +these wise, tender women, but the beautiful incidental teachings sank +deep into hearts that would have been closed fast against sermons. There +was no stereotyped effort to do them good, they simply lived as Christ +did, and the world-tired souls looked on and marveled, and rejoiced in +the sunlight of the present and the afterglow which made the memory of +their visit a delight. + +"'Do not leave the sky out of your landscape,'" said Aunt Marthe in her +cheery way, as Mrs. Dolours was wailing over her troubles. That was +all--for the time,--Mrs. Everidge believed in homeopathy--but it set her +hearer thinking, and thought found expression in questioning, until she +was led to the feet of the great Teacher and learned to roll her burden +of trouble upon him who came to bear the burdens of the world. + +"'We are not to be anxious about living but about living well,'" said +Miss Diana to a young man who prided himself upon being a philosopher +"that is a maxim of Plato's but we can only carry it out by the help of +the Lord, my boy." And he listened to Evadne's merry laugh as she pelted +Hans with cherries while Gretchen dreamed of the Fatherland under the +trees by the brook, and wondered whether after all the men who had made +it their aim to stifle every natural inclination, had learned the true +secret of living as well as these happy souls who laid their cares down +at the feet of their Father, and gave their lives into Christ's keeping +day by day. + +"You just seem to live in the present," wealthy Mrs. Greyson said with a +sigh, as she folded her jeweled fingers over her rich brocade, "I don't +see how you do it! Life is one long presentiment with me. I am filled +with such horrible forebodings. I tell Doctor Randolph, it is a sort of +moral nightmare." + + "Some of your griefs you have cured, + And the sharpest you still have survived, + But what torments of pain you endured, + From evils that never arrived!" + +Evadne quoted the words from a book of old French poems she had found in +the library. Then she asked gently, "Why should you worry about the +future, dear Mrs. Greyson, when it is such a waste of time? Don't you +believe our Father loves his children? + +"A waste of time." That was a new way of looking at it! Mrs. Greyson had +always prided herself upon being thrifty, and, if God loved, would he +let any real harm happen? She knew she would shield her children. How +blind she had been! + +"Ah, but you have never known sorrow!" and Mrs. Morner drew her sable +draperies around her with a sigh. "Just look at your face! Not a shadow +upon it and hardly a wrinkle. You are one of the favored ones with whom +life has been all sunshine." + +Mrs. Everidge laughed brightly. She had never pined to pose as a martyr +before the world. + +"God has been wondrous kind to me," she said, "but there is a cure for +all sorrow, dear friend, in his love. The great Physician is the only +one who has a medicament for that disease. It is not forgetfulness, you +know--he does not deal in narcotics--but he lays his pierced hand upon +our bleeding hearts and stills their pain. Our memory is as fresh as +ever, but it is memory with the sting taken out." + +"Ah, but you cannot understand--how should you? You have always had +everything you wanted, and you have never lost anything or longed for +what has been denied you!" and a toilworn woman, whose life seemed one +long battle with disappointment, looked enviously at Miss Diana, over +whose peaceful face life's twilight was falling in tender colors. + +"Not quite everything I wanted, dear," said Miss Diana softly, "but I +have come to know that God himself is sufficient for all our needs." + +"Our dear Miss Diana has learned that 'we must sit in the sunshine if we +would reflect the rainbow,'" said Aunt Marthe in her low tones. "It is a +good rule, 'for every look we take at self, to take ten looks at Jesus.' +She lives in the light of his smile." + +Then through the open window they heard Evadne singing, + + "Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west, + And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incompleteness, + Round our restlessness, his rest." + +And the weary soul folded its tired wings, all wounded with vain +beatings against the prison bars of circumstance, and was hushed into a +great stillness against the heart of its Father. + + * * * * * + +John Randolph sought Evadne in the familiar porch which had grown to be +to him the sweetest spot on earth. + +"You are always busy," he said with a smile, as he lifted the garment +she was making for the little waif who was to have her first taste of +heaven at 'The Willows.' Satan has no chance to find an occupation for +you." + +"But, oh, Doctor Randolph, what a drop in the bucket all our doing +seems, when we think of the need of the world!" + +"Yet without the drops the bucket would be empty, dear friend. God never +expects the impossible from us, you know. I think Christ's highest +commendation will always be, 'She hath done what she could.' It is when +we neglect the doing that he is wounded." + +After a pause he spoke again. "With your permission I am going to send +you a new patient." There was no trace of the struggle through which he +had passed. This brave soul had learned to do the right and leave the +rest with God. + +Evadne laughed. "Still they come! Is it man, woman or child. Doctor +Randolph?" + +"Your cousin Louis." His voice was very still. + +"Poor Louis! Is it more serious then? He has been looking wretchedly for +months." + +John Randolph examined her face critically. Could she call him "poor +Louis" if she loved? + +"His present trouble is nervous strain, aggravated by the unaccustomed +confinement, and some mental excitement under which he is laboring. He +must have a long rest, with a complete change of environment. If anyone +can lift the cloud which seems to be hanging over him, I think it is +you." + +Evadne shook her head sadly. "The only one who can help Louis is Jesus +Christ," she said. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +Louis Hildreth lay upon a couch in the cool library the morning after +his arrival at 'The Willows.' Evadne had been shocked at the change in +him since she had seen him last. His eyes were sunken, while underneath +purple shadows fell upon his pallid cheeks. He touched Evadne's hand as +she sat beside him. It was his hand! + +"What a splendid fellow Randolph is!" he exclaimed suddenly. "He is +making himself felt in Marlborough, I tell you. Strange, how some men +forge their way to the front, while the rest of us just float down the +stream of mediocrity. No wonder we are not missed, when we drop out of +the babbling conglomerate of humanity into silence," he added bitterly. +"Who would miss a single pair of fins from amidst a shoal of herring!" + +"I think it is because Doctor Randolph is not content to float, Louis," +Evadne answered gently. "He must always be climbing higher. Like Paul, +he is 'pressing towards the mark.'" + +"He is a grand fellow! And the beauty of it is he never seems to think +of himself at all. Most men would get to be top-lofty if they +accomplished as much as he does every day." + +Evadne's lips parted in a happy smile. "I think Doctor Randolph is too +much occupied with Jesus to have time to waste upon himself." + +"Upon my word, coz, you're a puzzle! You talk in an unknown tongue. +Don't you know Self is the god we worship, and the aim of our existence +is to have it wear purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every +day?" + +"It should not be!" cried Evadne. "Oh Louis, dear Louis, life can never +be grand until we are able to say--'Self has been crucified with +Christ!'" + + * * * * * + +Weeks rolled into months and Louis was still at 'The Willows.' His +cynicism had come to have a strangely wistful ring. John Randolph's +visits were frequent and they held long conversations together, these +men, the one who had seized every opportunity and made the most of it, +the other who had let his golden chances slip through his fingers one by +one; then John Randolph would go bravely back to his life of toil, while +Louis listened to Evadne's sweet voice as she sang in the gloaming, or +watched his ring glisten as her deft fingers were busy with their deeds +of love. + +"How do you do it?" he exclaimed one evening when they were alone +together. "You never rest! Your whole life seems to be centered in the +lives of others, and there is nothing attractive about them, if there +were I could understand. It looks like such drudgery to me. Tell me, +little coz, what makes you give up all your ease to make these people +happy?" + +"When we love our Father it is our joy to do his will," she answered +softly. + +"If I could live like you and Randolph I should be perfectly satisfied. +I wish I had the courage to try." + +"Mere outward living cannot save us, Louis. Nothing can but faith in the +atoning blood and the name and the love of Christ. Then--when we +believe, you know--all things become possible. We make an awful mistake +when we think we know better than the Bible. Nicodemus lived a perfect +outward life, yet Christ said to him, 'Except ye be born again--of the +Word and the Spirit--ye cannot see the Kingdom of God.' We are running a +terrible risk when we try to live without Jesus." + +"That is what Randolph says. He is a one idea man, if ever there was +one, and yet he is so many sided! He is the most uncompromising fellow +I ever knew. I should as soon expect to see the stars fall from the sky +as to see him do a shady thing. You would be amused, coz, to see the +lady mother and Isabelle joining forces to lay siege to his affections." + +What meant that sudden start and then the blush which flamed up over +cheek and brow? Louis Hildreth closed his thin fingers over Evadne's +ring with a long drawn sigh. He was beginning to realize that a hand, +without a heart, is an empty thing. + +Long after she had left him he lay motionless. This knowledge which had +come to him so suddenly had a bitter taste. + + * * * * * + +"You ought to get well, Hildreth, and you ought to be a very happy man," +John Randolph spoke the words suddenly as he rose to take his leave. + +"I never expect to be either. When a man has all he has prided himself +upon swept away from him, and all that he longs for denied him, how can +it be possible?" + +"'Count it your highest good when God denies you.' Is that too hard a +gospel? We shall not read it so in the light of eternity. It is only +that Christ may become to us the 'altogether lovely' One." + +"Did you ever love--a woman?" Louis put the question suddenly, watching +his friend's face with a jealous scrutiny. + +"Yes." The answer was as simple and straightforward as the man. He knew +of nothing to be ashamed of in this beautiful love of his life. + +"And her name was?--" + +"Evadne." + +John Randolph spoke the name for the first time to another, looking up +at the sky. When he turned to leave the room he saw that Louis' face was +buried among his cushions and he drove away in a great wonderment. What +could it all mean? + + "Knocking, knocking, who is there? + Waiting, waiting, oh, how fair! + 'T is a pilgrim, strange and kingly, + Never such was seen before. + Ah, my soul, for such a wonder, + Wilt thou not undo the door?" + +Evadne sang the words softly in the twilight: sang them with a great +note of longing in her pleading voice. She and her cousin were alone. + +"Evadne, come here." + +She crossed the room and knelt beside his couch. + +"Little coz, I have let the Pilgrim in." + +And Evadne buried her face in the cushions with a low cry. The crown of +rejoicing was hers--at last! + + * * * * * + +"There is only one thing wanting between you two." Louis looked +wistfully at John Randolph and Evadne, as they stood beside him, talking +brightly of how he should help when he grew strong. + +"And what is that?" Doctor Randolph asked the question with a smile. + +Louis drew his ring from Evadne's finger and laid her hand in that of +his friend. "Take her, Randolph, she is worthy of you. I would not say +that of any other woman." + +With a great joy surging in his heart, John Randolph held out his other +hand. She must give herself. He could not take her from another's +giving. + +A lovely shyness flushed into the pure face, their eyes met, and Evadne +laid her hand in his without a word. + +"Evadne!" The rich, tender tones fell throbbing through the silence, +enwrapping the name in a sweet protectiveness. "Life is--for us--to do +the will of God!" + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Beautiful Possibility, by Edith Ferguson Black + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BEAUTIFUL POSSIBILITY *** + +***** This file should be named 10037.txt or 10037.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/3/10037/ + +Produced by Joel Erickson, Dave Avis +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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