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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Little Pilgrim , by Mrs. Oliphant
+
+
+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 Little Pilgrim 
+
+Author: Mrs. Oliphant
+
+Release Date: March 19, 2005  [eBook #15410]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE PILGRIM ***
+
+
+E-text prepared by David Garcia, Josephine Paolucci, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+A LITTLE PILGRIM
+
+In the Unseen
+
+by
+
+MRS. OLIPHANT
+
+London
+MacMillan and Co., Limited
+New York: The MacMillan Company
+
+1899
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  Puro e disposto a salire alle stelle.
+
+  _Purgaterio_, Canto xxxiii.
+
+
+
+
+The sympathetic reader will easily understand that the following pages
+were never meant to be connected with any author's name. They sprang out
+of those thoughts that arise in the heart, when the door of the Unseen
+has been suddenly opened close by us; and are little more than a wistful
+attempt to follow a gentle soul which never knew doubt into the New
+World, and to catch a glimpse of something of its glory through her
+simple and child-like eyes.
+
+
+
+
+In Memoriam
+
+E.C.
+
+25TH FEBRUARY 1882
+
+
+
+
+A LITTLE PILGRIM IN THE UNSEEN
+
+
+She had been talking of dying only the evening before, with a friend,
+and had described her own sensations after a long illness when she had
+been at the point of death. "I suppose," she said, "that I was as nearly
+gone as any one ever was to come back again. There was no pain in it,
+only a sense of sinking down, down--through the bed as if nothing could
+hold me or give me support enough--but no pain." And then they had
+spoken of another friend in the same circumstances, who also had come
+back from the very verge, and who described her sensations as those of
+one floating upon a summer sea without pain or suffering, in a lovely
+nook of the Mediterranean, blue as the sky. These soft and soothing
+images of the passage which all men dread had been talked over with low
+voices, yet with smiles and a grateful sense that "the warm precincts of
+the cheerful day" were once more familiar to both. And very cheerfully
+she went to rest that night, talking of what was to be done on the
+morrow, and fell asleep sweetly in her little room, with its shaded
+light and curtained window, and little pictures on the dim walls. All
+was quiet in the house: soft breathing of the sleepers, soft murmuring
+of the spring wind outside, a wintry moon very clear and full in the
+skies, a little town all hushed and quiet, everything lying defenceless,
+unconscious, in the safe keeping of God.
+
+How soon she woke no one can tell. She woke and lay quite still, half
+roused, half hushed, in that soft languor that attends a happy waking.
+She was happy always in the peace of a heart that was humble and
+faithful and pure, but yet had been used to wake to a consciousness of
+little pains and troubles, such as even to her meekness were sometimes
+hard to bear. But on this morning there were none of these. She lay in a
+kind of hush of happiness and ease, not caring to make any further
+movement, lingering over the sweet sensation of that waking. She had no
+desire to move nor to break the spell of the silence and peace. It was
+still very early, she supposed, and probably it might be hours yet
+before any one came to call her. It might even be that she should sleep
+again. She had no wish to move, she lay in such luxurious ease and calm.
+But by and by, as she came to full possession of her waking senses, it
+appeared to her that there was some change in the atmosphere, in the
+scene. There began to steal into the air about her the soft dawn as of a
+summer morning, the lovely blueness of the first opening of daylight
+before the sun. It could not be the light of the moon which she had seen
+before she went to bed; and all was so still that it could not be the
+bustling wintry day which comes at that time of the year late, to find
+the world awake before it. This was different; it was like the summer
+dawn, a soft suffusion of light growing every moment. And by and by it
+occurred to her that she was not in the little room where she had lain
+down. There were no dim walls or roof, her little pictures were all
+gone, the curtains at her window. The discovery gave her no uneasiness
+in that delightful calm. She lay still to think of it all, to wonder,
+yet undisturbed. It half amused her that these things should be changed,
+but did not rouse her yet with any shock of alteration. The light grew
+fuller and fuller round, growing into day, clearing her eyes from the
+sweet mist of the first waking. Then she raised herself upon her arm.
+She was not in her room, she was in no scene she knew. Indeed it was
+scarcely a scene at all--nothing but light, so soft and lovely that it
+soothed and caressed her eyes. She thought all at once of a summer
+morning when she was a child, when she had woke in the deep night which
+yet was day, early--so early that the birds were scarcely astir--and had
+risen up with a delicious sense of daring, and of being all alone in the
+mystery of the sunrise, in the unawakened world which lay at her feet to
+be explored, as if she were Eve just entering upon Eden. It was curious
+how all those childish sensations, long forgotten, came back to her as
+she found herself so unexpectedly out of her sleep in the open air and
+light. In the recollection of that lovely hour, with a smile at herself,
+so different as she now knew herself to be, she was moved to rise and
+look a little more closely about her and see where she was.
+
+When I call her a little Pilgrim, I do not mean that she was a child;
+on the contrary, she was not even young. She was little by nature, with
+as little flesh and blood as was consistent with mortal life; and she
+was one of those who are always little for love. The tongue found
+diminutives for her; the heart kept her in a perpetual youth. She was so
+modest and so gentle that she always came last so long as there was any
+one whom she could put before her. But this little body, and the soul
+which was not little, and the heart which was big and great, had known
+all the round of sorrows that fill a woman's life, without knowing any
+of its warmer blessings. She had nursed the sick, she had entertained
+the weary, she had consoled the dying. She had gone about the world,
+which had no prize nor recompense for her, with a smile. Her little
+presence had been always bright. She was not clever; you might have said
+she had no mind at all; but so wise and right and tender a heart that it
+was as good as genius. This is to let you know what this little Pilgrim
+had been.
+
+She rose up, and it was strange how like she felt to the child she
+remembered in that still summer morning so many years ago. Her little
+body, which had been worn and racked with pain, felt as light and
+unconscious of itself as then. She took her first step forward with the
+same sense of pleasure, yet of awe, suppressed delight and daring and
+wild adventure, yet perfect safety. But then the recollection of the
+little room in which she had fallen asleep came quickly, strangely over
+her, confusing her mind. "I must be dreaming, I suppose," she said to
+herself regretfully; for it was all so sweet that she wished it to be
+true. Her movement called her attention to herself, and she found that
+she was dressed, not in her night-dress, as she had lain down, but in a
+dress she did not know. She paused for a moment to look at it and
+wonder. She had never seen it before; she did not make out how it was
+made, or what stuff it was; but it fell so pleasantly about her, it was
+so soft and light, that in her confused state she abandoned that subject
+with only an additional sense of pleasure. And now the atmosphere became
+more distinct to her. She saw that under her feet was a greenness as of
+close velvet turf, both cool and warm, cool and soft to touch, but with
+no damp in it, as might have been at that early hour, and with flowers
+showing here and there. She stood looking round her, not able to
+identify the landscape because she was still confused a little, and then
+walked softly on, all the time afraid lest she should awake and lose the
+sweetness of it all, and the sense of rest and happiness. She felt so
+light, so airy, as if she could skim across the field like any child. It
+was bliss enough to breathe and move with every organ so free. After
+more than fifty years of hard service in the world to feel like this,
+even in a dream! She smiled to herself at her own pleasure; and then
+once more, yet more potently, there came back upon her the appearance
+of her room in which she had fallen asleep. How had she got from there
+to here? Had she been carried away in her sleep, or was it only a dream,
+and would she by and by find herself between the four dim walls again?
+Then this shadow of recollection faded away once more, and she moved
+forward, walking in a soft rapture over the delicious turf. Presently
+she came to a little mound upon which she paused to look about her.
+Every moment she saw a little farther: blue hills far away, extending in
+long sweet distance, an indefinite landscape, but fair and vast, so that
+there could be seen no end to it, not even the line of the horizon--save
+at one side, where there seemed to be a great shadowy gateway, and
+something dim beyond. She turned from the brightness to look at this,
+and when she had looked for some time she saw what pleased her still
+more, though she had been so happy before--people coming in. They were
+too far off for her to see clearly, but many came, each apart, one
+figure only at a time. To watch them amused her in the delightful
+leisure of her mind. Who were they? she wondered; but no doubt soon some
+of them would come this way, and she would see. Then suddenly she seemed
+to hear, as if in answer to her question, some one say, "Those who are
+coming in are the people who have died on earth." "Died!" she said to
+herself aloud, with a wondering sense of the inappropriateness of the
+word, which almost came the length of laughter. In this sweet air, with
+such a sense of life about, to suggest such an idea was almost
+ludicrous. She was so occupied with this that she did not look round to
+see who the speaker might be. She thought it over, amused, but with some
+new confusion of the mind. Then she said, "Perhaps I have died too,"
+with a laugh to herself at the absurdity of the thought.
+
+"Yes," said the other voice, echoing that gentle laugh of hers, "you
+have died too."
+
+She turned round and saw another standing by her--a woman, younger and
+fairer and more stately than herself, but of so sweet a countenance that
+our little Pilgrim felt no shyness, but recognised a friend at once. She
+was more occupied looking at this new face, and feeling herself at once
+so much happier (though she had been so happy before) in finding a
+companion who could tell her what everything was, than in considering
+what these words might mean. But just then once more the recollection of
+the four walls, with their little pictures hanging, and the window with
+its curtains drawn, seemed to come round her for a moment, so that her
+whole soul was in a confusion. And as this vision slowly faded away
+(though she could not tell which was the vision, the darkened room or
+this lovely light), her attention came back to the words at which she
+had laughed, and at which the other had laughed as she repeated them.
+Died?--was it possible that this could be the meaning of it all.
+
+"Died?" she said, looking with wonder in her companion's face, which
+smiled back to her. "But do you mean--? You cannot mean--? I have never
+been so well. I am so strong. I have no trouble anywhere. I am full of
+life."
+
+The other nodded her beautiful head with a more beautiful smile, and the
+little Pilgrim burst out in a great cry of joy, and said--
+
+"Is this all? Is it over?--is it all over? Is it possible that this can
+be all?"
+
+"Were you afraid of it?" the other said. There was a little agitation
+for the moment in her heart. She was so glad, so relieved and thankful,
+that it took away her breath. She could not get over the wonder of it.
+
+"To think one should look forward to it so long, and wonder and be even
+unhappy trying to divine what it will be--and this all!"
+
+"Ah, but the angel was very gentle with you," said the young woman.
+"You were so tender and worn that he only smiled and took you sleeping.
+There are other ways; but it is always wonderful to think it is over, as
+you say."
+
+The little Pilgrim could do nothing but talk of it, as one does after a
+very great event. "Are you sure, quite sure, it is so?" she said. "It
+would be dreadful to find it only a dream, to go to sleep again, and
+wake up--there--" This thought troubled her for a moment. The vision of
+the bedchamber came back, but this time she felt it was only a vision.
+"Were you afraid too?" she said, in a low voice.
+
+"I never thought of it at all," the beautiful stranger said. "I did not
+think it would come to me; but I was very sorry for the others to whom
+it came, and grudged that they should lose the beautiful earth and life,
+and all that was so sweet."
+
+"My dear!" cried the Pilgrim, as if she had never died, "oh, but this is
+far sweeter! and the heart is so light, and it is happiness only to
+breathe. Is it heaven here? It must be heaven."
+
+"I do not know if it is heaven. We have so many things to learn. They
+cannot tell you everything at once," said the beautiful lady. "I have
+seen some of the people I was sorry for, and when I told them, we
+laughed--as you and I laughed just now--for pleasure."
+
+"That makes me think," said the little Pilgrim. "If I have died as you
+say--which is so strange and me so living--if I have died, they will
+have found it out. The house will be all dark, and they will be breaking
+their hearts. Oh, how could I forget them in my selfishness, and be
+happy! I so lighthearted while they--"
+
+She sat down hastily and covered her face with her hands and wept. The
+other looked at her for a moment, then kissed her for comfort and cried
+too. The two happy creatures sat there weeping together, thinking of
+those they had left behind, with an exquisite grief which was not
+unhappiness, which was sweet with love and pity. "And oh," said the
+little Pilgrim, "what can we do to tell them not to grieve? Cannot you
+send, cannot you speak--cannot one go to tell them?"
+
+The heavenly stranger shook her head.
+
+"It is not well, they all say. Sometimes one has been permitted; but
+they do not know you," she said, with a pitiful look in her sweet eyes.
+"My mother told me that her heart was so sick for me, she was allowed to
+go; and she went and stood by me, and spoke to me, and I did not know
+her. She came back so sad and sorry that they took her at once to our
+Father, and there, you know, she found that it was all well. All is well
+when you are there."
+
+"Ah," said the little Pilgrim, "I have been thinking of other things--of
+how happy I was, and of _them_, but never of the Father--just as if I
+had not died."
+
+The other smiled upon her with a wonderful smile.
+
+"Do you think He will be offended--our Father? as if He were one of
+us?" she said.
+
+And then the little Pilgrim, in her sudden grief to have forgotten Him,
+became conscious of a new rapture unexplainable in words. She felt His
+understanding to envelop her little spirit with a soft and clear
+penetration, and that nothing she did or said could ever be misconceived
+more. "Will you take me to Him?" she said, trembling yet glad, clasping
+her hands. And once again the other shook her head.
+
+"They will take us both when it is time," she said. "We do not go at our
+own will. But I have seen our Brother--"
+
+"Oh, take me to Him!" the little Pilgrim cried. "Let me see His face! I
+have so many things to say to Him. I want to ask him--Oh, take me to
+where I can see His face!"
+
+And then once again the heavenly lady smiled.
+
+"I have seen Him," she said. "He is always about--now here, now there.
+He will come and see you perhaps when you are not thinking--but when He
+pleases. We do not think here of what we will--"
+
+The little Pilgrim sat very still, wondering at all this. She had
+thought when a soul left the earth that it went at once to God, and
+thought of nothing more except worship and singing of praises. But this
+was different from her thoughts. She sat and pondered and wondered. She
+was baffled at many points. She was not changed as she expected, but so
+much like herself still--still perplexed, and feeling herself foolish,
+not understanding, toiling after a something which she could not grasp.
+The only difference was that it was no trouble to her now. She smiled at
+herself, and at her dulness, feeling sure that by and by she would
+understand.
+
+"And don't you wonder too?" she said to her companion, which was a
+speech such as she used to make upon the earth where people thought her
+little remarks disjointed, and did not always see the connection of
+them. But her friend of heaven knew what she meant.
+
+"I do nothing but wonder," she said, "for it is all so natural--not what
+we thought."
+
+"Is it long since you have been here?" the Pilgrim said.
+
+"I came before you--but how long or how short I cannot tell, for that is
+not how we count. We count only by what happens to us. And nothing yet
+has happened to me, except that I have seen our Brother. My mother sees
+Him always. That means she has lived here a long time and well--"
+
+"Is it possible to live ill--in heaven?" The little Pilgrim's eyes grew
+large as if they were going to have tears in them, and a little shadow
+seemed to come over her. But the other laughed softly and restored her
+confidence.
+
+"I have told you I do not know if it is heaven or not. No one does ill,
+but some do little and some do much, just as it used to be. Do you
+remember in Dante there was a lazy spirit that stayed about the gates
+and never got farther? but perhaps you never read that."
+
+"I was not clever," said the little Pilgrim, wistfully. "No, I never
+read it. I wish I had known more."
+
+Upon which the beautiful lady kissed her again to give her courage, and
+said--
+
+"It does not matter at all. It all comes to you whether you have known
+it or not."
+
+"Then your mother came here long ago?" said the Pilgrim. "Ah, then I
+shall see my mother too."
+
+"Oh, very soon--as soon as she can come; but there are so many things to
+do. Sometimes we can go and meet those who are coming, but it is not
+always so. I remember that she had a message. She could not leave her
+business, you may be sure, or she would have been here."
+
+"Then you know my mother? Oh, and my dearest father too?"
+
+"We all know each other," the lady said with a smile.
+
+"And you? did you come to meet me--only out of kindness, though I do not
+know you?" the little Pilgrim said.
+
+"I am nothing but an idler," said the beautiful lady, "making
+acquaintance. I am of little use as yet. I was very hard worked before I
+came here, and they think ft well that we should sit in the sun and take
+a little rest and find things out."
+
+Then the little Pilgrim sat still and mused, and felt in her heart that
+she had found many things out. What she had heard had been wonderful,
+and it was more wonderful still to be sitting here all alone save for
+this lady, yet so happy and at ease. She wanted to sing, she was so
+happy, but remembered that she was old and had lost her voice, and then
+remembered again that she was no longer old, and perhaps had found it
+again. And then it occurred to her to remember how she had learned to
+sing, and how beautiful her sister's voice was, and how heavenly to hear
+her, which made her remember that this dear sister would be weeping,
+not singing, down where she had come from--and immediately the tears
+stood in her eyes.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I never thought we should cry when we came here. I
+thought there were no tears in heaven."
+
+"Did you think, then, that we were all turned into stone?" cried the
+beautiful lady. "It says, God shall wipe away all tears from our faces,
+which is not like saying there are to be no tears."
+
+Upon which the little Pilgrim, glad that it was permitted to be sorry,
+though she was so happy, allowed herself to think upon the place she had
+so lately left. And she seemed to see her little room again with all the
+pictures hanging as she had left them, and the house darkened, and the
+dear faces she knew all sad and troubled; and to hear them saying over
+to each other all the little careless words she had said as if they were
+out of the Scriptures, and crying if any one but mentioned her name,
+and putting on crape and black dresses, and lamenting as if that which
+had happened was something very terrible. She cried at this and yet felt
+half inclined to laugh, but would not because it would be disrespectful
+to those she loved. One thing did not occur to her, and that was that
+they would be carrying her body, which she had left behind her, away to
+the grave. She did not think of this because she was not aware of the
+loss, and felt far too much herself to think that there was another part
+of her being buried in the ground. From this she was aroused by her
+companion asking her a question.
+
+"Have you left many there?" she said.
+
+"No one," said the little Pilgrim, "to whom I was the first on earth,
+but they loved me all the same; and if I could only, only let them
+know--"
+
+"But I left one to whom I was the first on earth," said the other with
+tears in her beautiful eyes, "and oh, how glad I should be to be less
+happy if he might be less sad!"
+
+"And you cannot go? you cannot go to him and tell him? Oh, I wish--"
+cried the little Pilgrim; but then she paused, for the wish died all
+away in her heart into a tender love for this poor sorrowful man whom
+she did not know. This gave her the sweetest pang she had ever felt, for
+she knew that all was well, and yet was so sorry, and would have
+willingly given up her happiness for his. All this the lady read in her
+eyes or her heart, and loved her for it; and they took hands and were
+silent together, thinking of those they had left, as we upon earth think
+of those who have gone from us, but only with far more understanding,
+and far greater love. "And have you never been able to do anything for
+him?" our Pilgrim said.
+
+Then the beautiful lady's face flushed all over with the most heavenly
+warmth and light. Her smile ran over like the bursting out of the sun.
+"Oh, I will tell you," she said. "There was a moment when he was very
+sad and perplexed, not knowing what to think. There was something he
+could not understand; nor could I understand, nor did I know what it was
+until it was said to me, 'You may go and tell him.' And I went in the
+early morning, before he was awake, and kissed him, and said it in his
+ear. He woke up in a moment and understood, and everything was clear to
+him. Afterwards I heard him say, 'It is true that the night brings
+counsel. I had been troubled and distressed all day long, but in the
+morning it was quite clear to me.' And the other answered, 'Your brain
+was refreshed, and that made your judgment clear.' But they never knew
+it was I! That was a great delight. The dear souls! they are so
+foolish," she cried with the sweetest laughter that ran into tears. "One
+cries because one is so happy; it is a silly old habit," she said.
+
+"And you were not grieved, it did not hurt you--that he did not know--"
+
+"Oh, not then; not then! I did not go to him for that. When you have
+been here a little longer you will see the difference. When you go for
+yourself, out of impatience, because it still seems to you that you must
+know best, and they don't know you--then it strikes to your heart; but
+when you go to help them--ah," she cried, "when he comes how much I
+shall have to tell him! 'You thought it was sleep when it was I--when
+you woke so fresh and clear it was I that kissed you; you thought it
+your duty to me to be sad afterwards and were angry with yourself
+because you had wronged me of the first thoughts of your waking--when it
+was all me, all through!'"
+
+"I begin to understand," said the little Pilgrim; "but why should they
+not see us, and why should not we tell them? It would seem so natural.
+If they saw us it would make them so happy, and so sure."
+
+Upon this the lady shook her head.
+
+"The worst of it is not that they are not sure--it is the parting. If
+this makes us sorry here, how can they escape the sorrow of it even if
+they saw us?--for we must be parted. We cannot go back to live with
+them, or why should we have died? And then we must all live our
+lives--they in their way, we in ours. We must not weigh them down, but
+only help them when it is seen that there is need for it. All this we
+shall know better by and by."
+
+"You make it so clear, and your face is so bright," said our little
+Pilgrim gratefully. "You must have known a great deal, and understood
+even when you were in the world."
+
+"I was as foolish as I could be," said the other, with her laugh that
+was as sweet as music; "yet thought I knew, and they thought I knew; but
+all that does not matter now."
+
+"I think it matters, for look how much you have shown me; but tell me
+one thing more--how was it said to you that you must go and tell him?
+Was it some one who spoke--was it--"
+
+Her face grew so bright that all the past brightness was as a dull sky
+to this. It gave out such a light of happiness that the little Pilgrim
+was dazzled.
+
+"I was wandering about," she said, "to see this new place. My mother had
+come back between two errands she had, and had come to see me and tell
+me everything; and I was straying about wondering what I was to do, when
+suddenly I saw some one coming along, as it might be now--"
+
+She paused and looked up, and the little Pilgrim looked up too with her
+heart beating, but there was no one. Then she gave a little sigh, and
+turned and listened again.
+
+"I had not been looking for Him, or thinking. You know my mind is too
+light. I am pleased with whatever is before me; and I was so curious,
+for my mother had told me many things: when suddenly I caught sight of
+Him passing by. He was going on, and when I saw this a panic seized me,
+lest He should pass and say nothing. I do not know what I did. I flung
+myself upon His robe, and got hold of it, or at least I think so. I was
+in such an agony lest He should pass and never notice me. But that was
+my folly. He pass! As if that could be!"
+
+"And what did He say to you?" cried the little Pilgrim, her heart almost
+aching it beat so high with sympathy and expectation.
+
+The lady looked at her for a little without saying anything.
+
+"I cannot tell you," she said, "any more than I can tell if this is
+heaven. It is a mystery. When you see Him you will know. It will be all
+you have ever hoped for and more besides, for He understands everything.
+He knows what is in our hearts about those we have left, and why He sent
+for us before them. There is no need to tell Him anything; He knows. He
+will come when it is time; and after you have seen Him you will know
+what to do."
+
+Then the beautiful lady turned her eyes towards the gate, and, while the
+little Pilgrim was still gazing, disappeared from her, and went to
+comfort some other stranger. They were dear friends always, and met
+often, but not again in the same way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When she was thus left alone again, the little Pilgrim sat still upon
+the grassy mound, quite tranquil and happy, without wishing to move.
+There was such a sense of wellbeing in her that she liked to sit there
+and look about her, and breathe the delightful air, like the air of a
+summer morning, without wishing for anything.
+
+"How idle I am!" she said to herself, in the very words she had often
+used before she died; but then she was idle from weakness, and now from
+happiness. She wanted for nothing. To be alive was so sweet. There was a
+great deal to think about in what she had heard, but she did not even
+think about that, only resigned herself to the delight of sitting there
+in the sweet air and being happy. Many people were coming and going, and
+they all knew her, and smiled upon her, and those who were at a distance
+would wave their hands. This did not surprise her at all, for though
+she was a stranger, she, too, felt that she knew them all; but that they
+should be so kind was a delight to her which words could not tell. She
+sat and mused very sweetly about all that had been told her, and
+wondered whether she, too, might go sometimes, and, with a kiss and a
+whisper, clear up something that was dark in the mind of some one who
+loved her. "I that never was clever!" she said to herself, with a smile.
+And chiefly she thought of a friend whom she loved, who was often in
+great perplexity, and did not know how to guide herself amid the
+difficulties of the world.
+
+The little Pilgrim half laughed with delight, and then half cried with
+longing to go, as the beautiful lady had done, and make something clear
+that had been dark before to this friend. As she was thinking what a
+pleasure it would be, some one came up to her, crossing over the flowery
+greenness, leaving the path on purpose. This was a being younger than
+the lady who had spoken to her before, with flowing hair all crisped
+with touches of sunshine, and a dress all white and soft, like the
+feathers of a white dove. There was something in her face different from
+that of the other, by which the little Pilgrim knew somehow, without
+knowing how, that she had come here as a child, and grown up in this
+celestial place. She was tall and fair, and came along with so musical a
+motion, as if her foot scarcely touched the ground, that she might have
+had wings. And the little Pilgrim indeed was not sure as she watched,
+whether it might not perhaps be an angel, for she knew that there were
+angels among the blessed people who were coming and going about, but had
+not been able yet to find one out. She knew that this new-comer was
+coming to her, and turned towards her with a smile and a throb at her
+heart of expectation. But when the heavenly maiden drew nearer, her
+face, though it was so fair, looked to the Pilgrim like another face,
+which she had known very well--indeed, like the homely and troubled face
+of the friend of whom she had been thinking. And so she smiled all the
+more, and held out her hands and said--"I am sure I know you," upon
+which the other kissed her, and said, "We all know each other; but I
+have seen you often before you came here," and knelt down by her, among
+the flowers that were growing, just in front of some tall lilies that
+grew over her, and made a lovely canopy over her head. There was
+something in her face that was like a child--her mouth so soft as if it
+had never spoken anything but heavenly words, her eyes brown and golden
+as if they were filled with light. She took the little Pilgrim's hands
+in hers, and held them and smoothed them between her own. These hands
+had been very thin and worn before, but now, when the Pilgrim looked at
+them, she saw that they became softer and whiter every moment with the
+touch of this immortal youth.
+
+"I knew you were coming," said the maiden. "When my mother has wanted
+me I have seen you there. And you were thinking of her now--that was how
+I found you."
+
+"Do you know, then, what one thinks?" said the little Pilgrim with
+wondering eyes.
+
+"It is in the air; and when it concerns us it comes to us like the
+breeze. But we who are the children here, we feel it more quickly than
+you."
+
+"Are you a child?" said the little Pilgrim, "or are you an angel?
+Sometimes you are like a child; but then your face shines and you are
+like--you must have some name for it here; there is nothing among the
+words I know." And then she paused a little, still looking at her, and
+cried, "Oh, if she could but see you, little Margaret! That would do her
+most good of all."
+
+Then the maiden Margaret shook her lovely head. "What does her most good
+is the will of the Father," she said.
+
+At this the little Pilgrim felt once more that thrill of expectation
+and awe. "Oh, child, you have seen Him?" she cried.
+
+And the other smiled. "Have you forgotten who they are that always
+behold His face? We have never had any fear or trembling. We are not
+angels, and there is no other name; we are the children. There is
+something given to us beyond the others. We have had no other home."
+
+"Oh, tell me, tell me!" the little Pilgrim cried.
+
+Upon this Margaret kissed her, putting her soft cheek against hers, and
+said, "It is a mystery; it cannot be put into words; in your time you
+will know."
+
+"When you touch me you change me, and I grow like you," the Pilgrim
+said. "Ah, if she could see us together, you and me! And will you go to
+her soon again? And do you see them always--what they are doing? and
+take care of them?"
+
+"It is our Father who takes care of them, and our Lord who is our
+Brother. I do His errands when I am able. Sometimes He will let me go,
+sometimes another, according as it is best. Who am I that I should take
+care of them? I serve them when I may."
+
+"But you do not forget them?" the Pilgrim said, with wistful eyes.
+
+"We love them always," said Margaret. She was more still than the lady
+who had first spoken with the Pilgrim. Her countenance was full of a
+heavenly calm. It had never known passion nor anguish. Sometimes there
+was in it a far-seeing look of vision, sometimes the simplicity of a
+child. "But what are we in comparison? For He loves them more than we
+do. When He keeps us from them it is for love. We must each live our own
+life."
+
+"But it is hard for them sometimes," said the little Pilgrim, who could
+not withdraw her thoughts from those she had left.
+
+"They are never forsaken," said the angel-maiden.
+
+"But oh! there are worse things than sorrow," the little Pilgrim said;
+"there is wrong, there is evil, Margaret. Will not He send you to step
+in before them, to save them from wrong?"
+
+"It is not for us to judge," said the young Margaret, with eyes full of
+heavenly wisdom. "Our Brother has it all in His hand. We do not read
+their hearts like Him. Sometimes you are permitted to see the battle."
+
+The little Pilgrim covered her eyes with her hands. "I could not--I
+could not! unless I knew they were to win the day."
+
+"They will win the day in the end. But sometimes, when it was being
+lost, I have seen in His face a something--I cannot tell--more love than
+before. Something that seemed to say, 'My child, my child, would that I
+could do it for thee, my child!'"
+
+"Oh! that is what I have always felt," cried the Pilgrim, clasping her
+hands; her eyes were dim, her heart for a moment almost forgot its
+blessedness. "But He could--Oh, little Margaret! He could! You have
+forgotten--Lord, if Thou wilt Thou canst--"
+
+The child of heaven looked at her mutely, with sweet grave eyes, in
+which there was much that confused her who was a stranger here; and once
+more softly shook her head.
+
+"Is it that He will not, then?" said the other with a low voice of awe.
+"Our Lord who died--He--"
+
+"Listen," said the other, "I hear His step on the way."
+
+The little Pilgrim rose up from the mound on which she was sitting. Her
+soul was confused with wonder and fear. She had thought that an angel
+might step between a soul on earth and sin, and that if one but prayed
+and prayed, the dear Lord would stand between and deliver the tempted.
+She had meant when she saw His face to ask Him to save Was not He born,
+did not He live, and die to save? The angel-maiden looked at her all the
+while, with eyes that understood all her perplexity and her doubt, but
+spoke not. Thus it was that before the Lord came to her the sweetness of
+her first blessedness was obscured, and she found that here, too, even
+here, though in a moment she should see Him, there was need for faith.
+Young Margaret, who had been kneeling by her, rose up too and stood
+among the lilies, waiting, her soft countenance shining, her eyes turned
+towards Him who was coming. Upon her there was no cloud nor doubt. She
+was one of the children of that land familiar with His presence. And in
+the air there was a sound such as those who hear it alone can
+describe--a sound as of help coming and safety, like the sound of a
+deliverer when one is in deadly danger, like the sound of a conqueror,
+like the step of the dearest-beloved coming home. As it came nearer the
+fear melted away out of the beating heart of the Pilgrim. Who could fear
+so near Him? her breath went away from her, her heart out of her bosom,
+to meet His coming. Oh, never fear could live where He was! Her soul was
+all confused, but it was with hope and joy. She held out her hands in
+that amaze, and dropped upon her knees, not knowing what she did.
+
+He was going about His Father's business, not lingering, yet neither
+making haste; and the calm and peace which the little Pilgrim had seen
+in the faces of the blessed were but reflections from the majestic
+gentleness of the countenance to which, all quivering with happiness and
+wonder, she lifted up her eyes. Many things there had been in her mind
+to say to Him. She wanted to ask for those she loved some things which
+perhaps He had overlooked. She wanted to say, "Send me." It seemed to
+her that here was the occasion she had longed for all her life. Oh, how
+many times had she wished to be able to go to Him, to fall at His feet,
+to show Him something which had been left undone, something which
+perhaps for her asking He would remember to do. But when this dream of
+her life was fulfilled, and the little Pilgrim kneeling, and all shaken
+and trembling with devotion and joy, was at His feet, lifting her face
+to Him, seeing Him, hearing Him--then she said nothing to Him at all.
+She no longer wanted to say anything, or wanted anything except what He
+chose, or had power to think of anything except that all was well, and
+everything--everything, as it should be in His hand. It seemed to her
+that all that she had ever hoped for was fulfilled when she met the look
+in His eyes. At first it seemed too bright for her to meet, but next
+moment she knew it was all that was needed to light up the world, and in
+it everything was clear. Her trembling ceased, her little frame grew
+inspired; though she still knelt, her head rose erect, drawn to Him like
+the flower to the sun. She could not tell how long it was, nor what was
+said, nor if it was in words. All that she knew was that she told Him
+all that ever she had thought, or wished, or intended in all her life,
+although she said nothing at all; and that He opened all things to her,
+and showed her that everything was well, and no one forgotten; and that
+the things she would have told Him of were more near His heart than
+hers, and those to whom she wanted to be sent were in His own hand. But
+whether this passed with words or without words she could not tell. Her
+soul expanded under His eyes like a flower. It opened out, it
+comprehended, and felt, and knew. She smote her hands together in her
+wonder that she could have missed seeing what was so clear, and laughed
+with a sweet scorn at her folly, as two people who love each other laugh
+at the little misunderstanding that has parted them. She was bold with
+Him, though she was so timid by nature, and ventured to laugh at
+herself, not to reproach herself--for His divine eyes spoke no blame,
+but smiled upon her folly too. And then He laid a hand upon her head,
+which seemed to fill her with currents of strength and joy running
+through all her veins. And then she seemed to come to herself saying
+loud out, "And that I will! and that I will!" and lo, she was kneeling
+on the warm soft sod alone, and hearing the sound of His footsteps as He
+went about His Father's business, filling all the air with echoes of
+blessing. And all the people who were coming and going smiled upon her,
+and she knew they were all glad for her that she had seen Him, and got
+the desire of her heart. Some of them waved their hands as they passed,
+and some paused a moment and spoke to her with tender congratulations.
+They seemed to have the tears in their eyes for joy, remembering every
+one the first time they had themselves seen Him, and the joy of it; so
+that all about there sounded a concord of happy thoughts all echoing to
+each other, "She has seen the Lord!"
+
+Why did she say, "And that I will! and that I will!" with such fervour
+and delight? She could not have told but yet she knew. The first thing
+was that she had yet to wait and believe until all things should be
+accomplished, neither doubting nor fearing, but knowing that all should
+be well; and the second was that she must delay no longer, but rise up
+and serve the Father according to what was given her as her reward. When
+she had recovered a little of her rapture she rose from her knees, and
+stood still for a moment to be sure which way she was to go. And she was
+not aware what guided her, but yet turned her face in the appointed way
+without any doubt. For doubt was now gone away for ever, and that fear
+that once gave her so much trouble lest she might not be doing what was
+best. As she moved along she wondered at herself more and more. She felt
+no longer, as at first, like the child she remembered to have been,
+venturing out in the awful lovely stillness of the morning before any
+one was awake; but she felt that to move along was a delight, and that
+her foot scarcely touched the grass, and her whole being was instinct
+with such lightness of strength and life that it did not matter to her
+how far she went, nor what she carried, nor if the way was easy or hard.
+The way she chose was one of those which led to the great gate, and many
+met her coming from thence, with looks that were somewhat bewildered, as
+if they did not yet know whither they were going or what had happened to
+them. Upon whom she smiled as she passed them with soft looks of
+tenderness and sympathy, knowing what they were feeling, but did not
+stop to explain to them, because she had something else that had been
+given her to do. For this is what always follows in that country when
+you meet the Lord, that you instantly know what it is that He would have
+you do.
+
+The little Pilgrim thus went on and on towards the gate, which she had
+not seen when she herself came through it, having been lifted in His
+arms by the great Death Angel, and set down softly inside, so that she
+did not know it, or even the shadow of it. As she drew nearer the light
+became less bright, though very sweet, like a lovely dawn, and she
+wondered to herself to think that she had been here but a moment ago,
+and yet so much had passed since then. And still she was not aware what
+was her errand, but wondered if she was to go back by these same gates,
+and perhaps return where she had been. She went up to them very closely,
+for she was curious to see the place through which she had come in her
+sleep, as a traveller goes back to see the city gate, with its bridge
+and portcullis, through which he has passed by night. The gate was very
+great, of a wonderful, curious architecture, and strange, delicate
+arches and canopies above. Some parts of them seemed cut very clean and
+clear; but the outlines were all softened with a sort of mist and
+shadow, so that it looked greater and higher than it was. The lower part
+was not one great doorway as the Pilgrim had supposed, but innumerable
+doors, all separate, and very narrow, so that but one could pass at a
+time, though the arch enclosed all, and seemed filled with great folding
+gates in which the smaller doors were set, so that if need arose a vast
+opening might be made for many to enter. Of the little doors many were
+shut as the Pilgrim approached; but from moment to moment, one after
+another would be pushed softly open from without, and some one would
+come in. The little Pilgrim looked at it all with great interest,
+wondering which of the doors she had herself come by; but while she
+stood absorbed by this, a door was suddenly pushed open close by her,
+and some one flung forward into the blessed country, falling upon the
+ground, and stretched out wild arms as though to clutch the very soil.
+This sight gave the Pilgrim a great surprise, for it was the first time
+she had heard any sound of pain, or seen any sight of trouble, since she
+entered here. In that moment she knew what it was that the dear Lord had
+given her to do. She had no need to pause to think, for her heart told
+her; and she did not hesitate as she might have done in the other life,
+not knowing what to say. She went forward, and gathered this poor
+creature into her arms, as if it had been a child, and drew her quite
+within the land of peace--for she had fallen across the threshold, so as
+to hinder any one entering who might be coming after her. It was a
+woman, and she had flung herself upon her face, so that it was difficult
+for the little Pilgrim to see what manner of person it was, for though
+she felt herself strong enough to take up this new-comer in her arms and
+carry her away, yet she forbore, seeing the will of the stranger was not
+so. For some time the woman lay moaning, with now and then a great sob
+shaking her as she lay. The little Pilgrim had taken her by both her
+arms, and drawn her head to rest upon her own lap, and was still holding
+the hands, which the poor creature had thrown out as if to clutch the
+ground. Thus she lay for a little while, as the little Pilgrim
+remembered she herself had lain, not wishing to move, wondering what had
+happened to her; and then she clutched the hands which grasped her, and
+said, muttering--
+
+"You are some one new. Have you come to save me? Oh, save me! Oh, save
+me! Don't let me die!"
+
+This was very strange to the little Pilgrim, and went to her heart. She
+soothed the stranger, holding her hands warm and light, and stooping
+over her.
+
+"Dear," she said, "you must try and not be afraid."
+
+"You say so," said the woman, "because you are well and strong. You
+don't know what it is to be seized in the middle of your life, and told
+that you've got to die. Oh, I have been a sinful creature! I am not fit
+to die. Can't you give me something that will cure me? What is the good
+of doctors and nurses if they cannot save a poor soul that is not fit to
+die?"
+
+At this the little Pilgrim smiled upon her, always holding her fast, and
+said--
+
+"Why are you so afraid to die?"
+
+The woman raised her head to look who it was who put such a strange
+question to her.
+
+"You are some one new," she said. "I have never seen you before. Is
+there anyone that is not afraid to die? Would _you_ like to have to give
+your account all in a moment, without any time to prepare?"
+
+"But you have had time to prepare," said the Pilgrim.
+
+"Oh, only a very very little time; and I never thought it was true. I am
+not an old woman, and I am not fit to die; and I'm poor. Oh, if I were
+rich, I would bribe you to give me something to keep me alive. Won't you
+do it for pity?--won't you do it for pity? When you are as bad as I am,
+oh, you will perhaps call for some one to help you, and find nobody,
+like me."
+
+"I will help you for love," said the little Pilgrim. "Some one who loves
+you has sent me."
+
+The woman lifted herself up a little and shook her head. "There is
+nobody that loves me." Then she cast her eyes round her and began to
+tremble again (for the touch of the little Pilgrim had stilled her).
+"Oh, where am I?" she said. "They have taken me away; they have brought
+me to a strange place; and you are new. Oh, where have they taken
+me?--where am I?--where am I?" she cried. "Have they brought me here to
+die?"
+
+Then the little Pilgrim bent over her and soothed her. "You must not be
+so much afraid of dying; that is all over. You need not fear that any
+more," she said, softly; "for here where you now are we have all died."
+
+The woman started up out of her arms, and then she gave a great shriek
+that made the air ring, and cried out, "Dead! am I dead?" with a shudder
+and convulsion, throwing herself again wildly with outstretched hands
+upon the ground.
+
+This was a great and terrible work for the little Pilgrim--the first she
+had ever had to do--and her heart failed her for a moment; but
+afterwards she remembered our Brother who sent her, and knew what was
+best. She drew closer to the new-comer and took her hand again.
+
+"Try," she said, in a soft voice, "and think a little. Do you feel now
+so ill as you were? Do not be frightened, but think a little. I will
+hold your hand; and look at me; you are not afraid of me."
+
+The poor creature shuddered again, and then she turned her face and
+looked doubtfully with great dark eyes dilated, and the brow and cheek
+so curved and puckered round them that they seemed to glow out of deep
+caverns. Her face was full of anguish and fear. But as she looked at
+the little Pilgrim her troubled gaze softened. Of her own accord she
+clasped her other hand upon the one that held hers, and then she said
+with a gasp--
+
+"I am not afraid of you; that was not true that you said? You are one of
+the sisters, and you want to frighten me and make me repent?"
+
+"You do repent," the Pilgrim said.
+
+"Oh," cried the poor woman, "what has the like of you to do with me? Now
+I look at you I never saw any one that was like you before. Don't you
+hate me?--don't you loathe me? I do myself. It's so ugly to go wrong. I
+think now I would almost rather die and be done with it. You will say
+that is because I am going to get better. I feel a great deal better
+now. Do you think I am going to get over it? Oh, I am better! I could
+get up out of bed and walk about. Yes, but I am not in bed; where have
+you brought me? Never mind, it is a fine air; I shall soon get well
+here."
+
+The Pilgrim was silent for a little, holding her hands. And then she
+said--
+
+"Tell me how you feel now," in her soft voice.
+
+The woman had sat up and was gazing round her. "It is very strange," she
+said; "it is all confused. I think upon my mother and the old prayers I
+used to say. For a long, long time I always said my prayers; but now
+I've got hardened, they say. Oh, I was once as fresh as any one. It all
+comes over me now. I feel as if I were young again--just come out of the
+country. I am sure that I could walk."
+
+The little Pilgrim raised her up, holding her by her hands; and she
+stood and gazed round about her, making one or two doubtful steps. She
+was very pale, and the light was dim; her eyes peered into it with a
+scared yet eager look. She made another step, then stopped again.
+
+"I am quite well," she said. "I could walk a mile. I could walk any
+distance. What was that you said? Oh, I tell you I am better! I am not
+going to die."
+
+"You will never, never die," said the little Pilgrim; "are you not glad
+it is all over? Oh, I was so glad! And all the more you should be glad
+if you were so much afraid."
+
+But this woman was not glad. She shrank away from her companion, then
+came close to her again, and gripped her with her hands.
+
+"It is your fun," she said, "or just to frighten me; perhaps you think
+it will do me no harm as I am getting so well--you want to frighten me
+to make me good. But I mean to be good without that--I do! I do! When
+one is so near dying as I have been and yet gets better--for I am going
+to get better? Yes! you know it as well as I."
+
+The little Pilgrim made no reply, but stood by looking at her charge,
+not feeling that anything was given her to say; and she was so new to
+this work that there was a little trembling in her lest she should not
+do everything as she ought. And the woman looked round with those
+anxious eyes gazing all about. The light did not brighten as it had done
+when the Pilgrim herself first came to this place. For one thing they
+had remained quite close to the gate, which no doubt threw a shadow. The
+woman looked at that, and then turned and looked into the dim morning,
+and did not know where she was, and her heart was confused and troubled.
+
+"Where are we?" she said. "I do not know where it is; they must have
+brought me here in my sleep--where are we? How strange to bring a sick
+woman away out of her room in her sleep! I suppose it was the new
+doctor," she went on, looking very closely in the little Pilgrim's face,
+then paused, and, drawing a long breath, said softly, "It has done me
+good. It is better air--it is a new kind of cure."
+
+But though she spoke like this, she did not convince herself; her eyes
+were wild with wondering and fear. She gripped the Pilgrim's arm more
+and more closely, and trembled, leaning upon her.
+
+"Why don't you speak to me?" she said; "why don't you tell me? Oh, I
+don't know how to live in this place! What do you do?--how do you speak?
+I am not fit for it. And what are you? I never saw you before nor any
+one like you. What do you want with me? Why are you so kind to me?
+Why--why--?"
+
+And here she went off into a murmur of questions. Why? why? always
+holding fast by the little Pilgrim, always gazing round her, groping as
+it were in the dimness with her great eyes.
+
+"I have come because our dear Lord, who is our Brother, sent me to meet
+you, and because I love you," the little Pilgrim said.
+
+"Love me!" the woman cried, throwing up her hands, "but no one loves me.
+I have not deserved it." Here she grasped her close again with a sudden
+clutch, and cried out, "If this is what you say, where is God?"
+
+"Are you afraid of Him?" the little Pilgrim said.
+
+Upon which the woman trembled so that the Pilgrim trembled too with the
+quivering of her frame; then loosed her hold and fell upon her face, and
+cried--
+
+"Hide me! Hide me! I have been a great sinner. Hide me that He may not
+see me," and with one hand tried to draw the Pilgrim's dress as a veil
+between her and something she feared.
+
+"How should I hide you from Him who is everywhere? and why should I hide
+you from your Father?" the little Pilgrim said. This she said almost
+with indignation, wondering that any one could put more trust in her,
+who was no better than a child, than in the Father of all. But then she
+said, "Look in your heart and you will see you are not so much afraid as
+you think. This is how you have been accustomed to frighten yourself.
+But look now into your heart. You thought you were very ill at first,
+but not now; and you think you are afraid, but look in your heart--"
+
+There was a silence, and then the woman raised her head with a wonderful
+look, in which there was amazement and doubt, as if she had heard some
+joyful thing but dared not yet believe that it was true. Once more she
+hid her face in her hands, and once more raised it again. Her eyes
+softened; a long sigh or gasp, like one taking breath after drowning,
+shook her breast. Then she said, "I think that is true. But if I am not
+afraid it is because I am--bad. It is because I am hardened. Oh, should
+not I fear Him who can send me away into--the lake that burns--into the
+pit--" And here she gave a great cry, but held the little Pilgrim all
+the while with her eyes, which seem to plead and ask for better news.
+
+Then there came into the Pilgrim's heart what to say, and she took the
+woman's hand again and held it between her own. "That is the change,"
+she said, "that comes when we come here. We are not afraid any more of
+our Father. We are not all happy. Perhaps you will not be happy at
+first. But if he says to you go--even to that place you speak of--you
+will know that it is well, and you will not be afraid. You are not
+afraid now--oh, I can see it in your eyes. You are not happy, but you
+are not afraid. You know it is the Father. Do not say God, that is far
+off--Father!" said the little Pilgrim, holding up the woman's hand
+clasped in her own. And there came into her soul an ecstasy, and tears
+that were tears of blessedness fell from her eyes, and all about her
+there seemed to shine a light. When she came to herself, the woman who
+was her charge had come quite close to her, and had added her other hand
+to that the Pilgrim held, and was weeping, and saying, "I am not
+afraid," with now and then a gasp and sob, like a child who, after a
+passion of tears, has been consoled, yet goes on sobbing and cannot
+quite forget, and is afraid to own that all is well again. Then the
+Pilgrim kissed her, and bade her rest a little, for even she herself
+felt shaken, and longed for a little quiet and to feel the true sense of
+the peace that was in her heart. She sat down beside her upon the
+ground, and made her lean her head against her shoulder, and thus they
+remained very still for a little time, saying no more. It seemed to the
+little Pilgrim that her companion had fallen asleep, and perhaps it was
+so, after so much agitation. All this time there had been people
+passing, entering by the many doors. And most of them paused a little to
+see where they were, and looked round them, then went on; and it seemed
+to the little Pilgrim that, according to the doors by which they
+entered, each took a different way. While she watched, another came in
+by the same door as that at which the woman who was her charge had come
+in. And he too stumbled and looked about him with an air of great
+wonder and doubt. When he saw her seated on the ground, he came up to
+her, hesitating as one in a strange place who does not want to betray
+that he is bewildered and has lost his way. He came with a little
+pretence of smiling, though his countenance was pale and scared, and
+said, drawing his breath quick, "I ought to know where I am, but I have
+lost my head, I think. Will you tell me which is the way?"
+
+"What way?" cried the little Pilgrim, for her strength was gone from
+her, and she had no word to say to him. He looked at her with that
+bewilderment on his face, and said, "I find myself strange, strange. I
+ought to know where I am; but it is scarcely daylight yet. It is perhaps
+foolish to come out so early in the morning." This he said in his
+confusion, not knowing where he was, nor what he said.
+
+"I think all the ways lead to our Father," said the little Pilgrim
+(though she had not known this till now). "And the dear Lord walks
+about them all. Here you never go astray."
+
+Upon this the stranger looked at her, and asked in a faltering voice,
+"Are you an angel?" still not knowing what he said.
+
+"Oh, no, no. I am only a Pilgrim," she replied.
+
+"May I sit by you a little?" said the man. He sat down drawing long
+breaths as though he had gone through great fatigue; and looked about
+with wondering eyes. "You will wonder, but I do not know where I am," he
+said. "I feel as if I must be dreaming. This is not where I expected to
+come. I looked for something very different; do you think there can have
+been any mistake?"
+
+"Oh, never that," she said; "there are no mistakes here."
+
+Then he looked at her again, and said--
+
+"I perceive that you belong to this country, though you say you are a
+pilgrim. I should be grateful if you would tell me Does one live here?
+And is this all? Is there no--no--? but I don't know what word to use.
+All is so strange, different from what I expected."
+
+"Do you know that you have died?"
+
+"Yes, yes, I am quite acquainted with that," he said, hurriedly, as if
+it had been an idea he disliked to dwell upon. "But then I expected--Is
+there no one to tell you where to go, or what you are to be--? or to
+take any notice of you?"
+
+The little Pilgrim was startled by this tone. She did not understand its
+meaning, and she had not any word to say to him. She looked at him with
+as much bewilderment as he had shown when he approached her, and
+replied, faltering--
+
+"There are a great many people here; but I have never heard if there is
+any one to tell you--"
+
+"What does it matter how many people there are if you know none of
+them?" he said.
+
+"We all know each other," she answered him; but then paused and
+hesitated a little, because this was what had been said to her, and of
+herself she was not assured of it, neither did she know at all how to
+deal with this stranger, to whom she had not any commission. It seemed
+that he had no one to care for him, and the little Pilgrim had a sense
+of compassion, yet of trouble, in her heart--for what could she say? And
+it was very strange to her to see one who was not content here.
+
+"Ah, but there should be some one to point out the way, and tell us
+which is our circle, and where we ought to go," he said. And then he too
+was silent for a while, looking about him, as all were fain to do on
+their first arrival, finding everything so strange. There were people
+coming in at every moment, and some were met at the very threshold, and
+some went away alone, with peaceful faces; and there were many groups
+about, talking together in soft voices, but no one interrupted the
+other; and though so many were there, each voice was as clear as if it
+had spoken alone, and there was no tumult of sound as when many people
+assemble together in the lower world.
+
+The little Pilgrim wondered to find herself with the woman resting upon
+her on one side, and the man seated silent on the other, neither having,
+it appeared, any guide but only herself who knew so little. How was she
+to lead them in the paths which she did not know?--and she was exhausted
+by the agitation of her struggle with the woman whom she felt to be her
+charge. But in this moment of silence she had time to remember the face
+of the Lord, when He gave her this commission, and her heart was
+strengthened. The man all this time sat and watched, looking eagerly all
+about him, examining the faces of those who went and came: and sometimes
+he made a little start as if to go and speak to some one he knew; but
+always drew back again and looked at the little Pilgrim, as if he had
+said, "This is the one who will serve me best." He spoke to her again
+after a while and said, "I suppose you are one of the guides that show
+the way."
+
+"No," said the little Pilgrim, anxiously, "I know so little! It is not
+long since I came here. I came in the early morning--"
+
+"Why, it is morning now. You could not come earlier than it is now. You
+mean yesterday."
+
+"I think," said the Pilgrim, "that yesterday is the other side; there is
+no yesterday here."
+
+He looked at her with the keen look he had, to understand her the
+better; and then he said--
+
+"No division of time! I think that must be monotonous. It will be
+strange to have no night; but I suppose one gets used to everything. I
+hope though there is something to do. I have always lived a very busy
+life. Perhaps this is just a little pause before we go--to be--to
+have--to get our--appointed place."
+
+He had an uneasy look as he said this, and looked at her with an anxious
+curiosity, which the little Pilgrim did not understand.
+
+"I do not know," she said softly, shaking her head. "I have so little
+experience. I have not been told of an appointed place."
+
+The man looked at her very strangely.
+
+"I did not think," he said, "that I should have found such ignorance
+here. Is it not well known that we must all appear before the judgment
+seat of God?"
+
+These words seemed to cause a trembling in the still air, and the woman
+on the other side raised herself suddenly up, clasping her hands: and
+some of those who had just entered heard the words, and came and crowded
+about the little Pilgrim, some standing, some falling down upon their
+knees, all with their faces turned towards her. She who had always been
+so simple and small, so little used to teach; she was frightened with
+the sight of all these strangers crowding, hanging upon her lips,
+looking to her for knowledge. She knew not what to do or what to say.
+The tears came into her eyes.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I do not know anything about a judgment seat. I know
+that our Father is here, and that when we are in trouble we are taken to
+Him to be comforted, and that our dear Lord our Brother is among us
+every day, and every one may see Him. Listen," she said, standing up
+suddenly among them, feeling strong as an angel. "I have seen Him;
+though I am nothing, so little as you see, and often silly, never clever
+as some of you are, I have seen Him! and so will all of you. There is no
+more that I know of," she said softly, clasping her hands. "When you see
+Him it comes into your heart what you must do."
+
+And then there was a murmur of voices about her, some saying that was
+best, and some wondering if that were all, and some crying if He would
+but come now--while the little Pilgrim stood among them with her face
+shining, and they all looked at her, asking her to tell them more, to
+show them how to find Him. But this was far above what she could do, for
+she too was not much more than a stranger, and had little strength. She
+would not go back a step, nor desert those who were so anxious to know,
+though her heart fluttered almost as it had used to do before she died,
+what with her longing to tell them, and knowing that she had no more to
+say.
+
+But in that land it is never permitted that one who stands bravely and
+fails not shall be left without succour; for it is no longer needful
+there to stand even to death, since all dying is over, and all souls are
+tested. When it was seen that the little Pilgrim was thus surrounded by
+so many that questioned her, there suddenly came about her many others
+from the brightness out of which she had come, who, one going to one
+hand, and one to another, safely led them into the ways in which their
+course lay: so that the Pilgrim was free to lead forth the woman who
+had been given her in charge, and whose path lay in a dim, but pleasant
+country, outside of that light and gladness in which the Pilgrim's home
+was.
+
+"But," she said, "you are not to fear or be cast down, because He goes
+likewise by these ways, and there is not a corner in all this land but
+He is to be seen passing by; and He will come and speak to you, and lay
+His hand upon you; and afterwards everything will be clear, and you will
+know what you are to do."
+
+"Stay with me till He comes--oh, stay with me," the woman cried,
+clinging to her arm.
+
+"Unless another is sent," the little Pilgrim said. And it was nothing to
+her that the air was less bright there, for her mind was full of light,
+so that, though her heart still fluttered a little with all that had
+passed, she had no longing to return, nor to shorten the way, but went
+by the lower road sweetly, with the stranger hanging upon her, who was
+stronger and taller than she. Thus they went on, and the Pilgrim told
+her all she knew, and everything that came into her heart. And so full
+was she of the great things she had to say, that it was a surprise to
+her, and left her trembling, when suddenly the woman took away her
+clinging hand, and flew forward with arms outspread and a cry of joy.
+The little Pilgrim stood still to see, and on the path before them was a
+child, coming towards them singing, with a look such as is never seen
+but upon the faces of children who have come here early, and who behold
+the face of the Father, and have never known fear nor sorrow. The woman
+flew and fell at the child's feet, and he put his hand upon her, and
+raised her up, and called her "mother." Then he smiled upon the little
+Pilgrim, and led her away.
+
+"Now she needs me no longer," said the Pilgrim; and it was a surprise to
+her, and for a moment she wondered in herself if it was known that this
+child should come so suddenly and her work be over; and also how she was
+to return again to the sweet place among the flowers from which she had
+come. But when she turned to look if there was any way, she found One
+standing by such as she had not yet seen. This was a youth, with a face
+just touched with manhood, as at the moment when the boy ends, when all
+is still fresh and pure in the heart; but he was taller and greater than
+a man.
+
+"I am sent," he said, "little sister, to take you to the Father: because
+you have been very faithful, and gone beyond your strength."
+
+And he took the little Pilgrim by the hand, and she knew he was an
+angel; and immediately the sweet air melted about them into light, and a
+hush came upon her of all thought and all sense, attending till she
+should receive the blessing, and her new name, and see what is beyond
+telling, and hear and understand:--
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE PILGRIM GOES UP HIGHER.
+
+
+When the little Pilgrim came out of the presence of the Father, she
+found herself in the street of a great city. But what she saw and heard
+when she was with Him it is not given to the tongue of mortal to say,
+for it is beyond words, and beyond even thought. As the mystery of love
+is not to be spoken but to be felt, even in the lower earth, so, but
+much less, is that great mystery of the love of the Father to be
+expressed in words. The little Pilgrim was very happy when she went into
+that sacred place, but there was a great awe upon her, and it might even
+be said that she was afraid; but when she came out again she feared
+nothing, but looked with clear eyes upon all she saw, loving them, but
+no more overawed by them, having seen that which is above all. When she
+came forth again to her common life--for it is not permitted save for
+those who have attained the greatest heights to dwell there--she had no
+longer need of any guide, but came alone, knowing where to go, and
+walking where it pleased her, with reverence and a great delight in
+seeing and knowing all that was around, but no fear. It was a great
+city, but it was not like the great cities which she had seen. She
+understood as she passed along how it was that those who had been
+dazzled but by a passing glance had described the walls and the pavement
+as gold. They were like what gold is, beautiful and clear, of a lovely
+colour, but softer in tone than metal ever was, and as cool and fresh to
+walk upon and to touch as if they had been velvet grass. The buildings
+were all beautiful, of every style and form that it is possible to think
+of, yet in great harmony, as if every man had followed his own taste,
+yet all had been so combined and grouped by the master architect, that
+each individual feature enhanced the effect of the rest. Some of the
+houses were greater and some smaller, but all of them were rich in
+carvings and pictures and lovely decorations, and the effect was as if
+the richest materials had been employed, marbles and beautiful
+sculptured stone, and wood of beautiful tints, though the little Pilgrim
+knew that these were not like the marble and stone she had once known,
+but heavenly representatives of them, far better than they. There were
+people at work upon them, building new houses and making additions, and
+a great many painters painting upon them the history of the people who
+lived there, or of others who were worthy that commemoration. And the
+streets were full of pleasant sound, and of crowds going and coming, and
+the commotion of much business, and many things to do. And this
+movement, and the brightness of the air, and the wonderful things that
+were to be seen on every side, made the Pilgrim gay, so that she could
+have sung with pleasure as she went along. And all who met her smiled,
+and every group exchanged greetings as they passed along, all knowing
+each other. Many of them, as might be seen, had come there, as she did,
+to see the wonders of the beautiful city; and all who lived there were
+ready to tell them whatever they desired to know, and show them the
+finest houses and the greatest pictures. And this gave a feeling of
+holiday and pleasure which was delightful beyond description, for all
+the busy people about were full of sympathy with the strangers--bidding
+them welcome, inviting them into their houses, making the warmest
+fellowship. And friends were meeting continually on every side; but the
+Pilgrim had no sense that she was forlorn in being alone, for all were
+friends; and it pleased her to watch the others, and see how one turned
+this way and one another, every one finding something that delighted
+him above all other things. She herself took a great pleasure in
+watching a painter, who was standing upon a balcony a little way above
+her, painting upon a great fresco: and when he saw this he asked her to
+come up beside him and see his work. She asked him a great many
+questions about it, and why it was that he was working only at the
+draperies of the figures, and did not touch their faces, some of which
+were already finished and seemed to be looking at her, as living as she
+was, out of the wall, while some were merely outlined as yet. He told
+her that he was not a great painter to do this, or to design the great
+work, but that the master would come presently, who had the chief
+responsibility. "For we have not all the same genius," he said, "and if
+I were to paint this head it would not have the gift of life as that one
+has; but to stand by and see him put it in, you cannot think what a
+happiness that is: for one knows every touch, and just what effect it
+will have, though one could not do it one's self; and it is a wonder and
+a delight perpetual that it should be done."
+
+The little Pilgrim looked up at him and said, "That is very beautiful to
+say. And do you never wish to be like him--to make the lovely, living
+faces as well as the other parts?"
+
+"Is not this lovely too?" he said; and showed her how he had just put in
+a billowy robe, buoyed out with the wind, and sweeping down from the
+shoulders of a stately figure in such free and graceful folds that she
+would have liked to take it in her hand and feel the silken texture; and
+then he told her how absorbing it was to study the mysteries of colour
+and the differences of light. "There is enough in that to make one
+happy," he said. "It is thought by some that we will all come to the
+higher point with work and thought; but that is not my feeling; and
+whether it is so or not what does it matter, for our Father makes no
+difference: and all of us are necessary to everything that is done: and
+it is almost more delight to see the master do it than to do it with
+one's own hand. For one thing, your own work may rejoice you in your
+heart, but always with a little trembling, because it is never so
+perfect as you would have it--whereas in your master's work you have
+full content, because his idea goes beyond yours, and as he makes every
+touch you can feel 'that is right--that is complete--that is just as it
+ought to be.' Do you understand what I mean?" he said, turning to her
+with a smile.
+
+"I understand it perfectly," she cried, clasping her hands together with
+the delight of accord. "Don't you think that is one of the things that
+are so happy here? you understand at half a word."
+
+"Not everybody," he said, and smiled upon her like a brother; "for we
+are not all alike even here."
+
+"Were you a painter?" she said, "in--in the other--?"
+
+"In the old times. I was one of those that strove for the mastery, and
+sometimes grudged--We remember these things at times," he said gravely,
+"to make us more aware of the blessedness of being content."
+
+"It is long since then?" she said with some wistfulness; upon which he
+smiled again.
+
+"So long," he said, "that we have worn out most of our links to the
+world below. We have all come away, and those who were after us for
+generations. But you are a new-comer."
+
+"And are they all with you? are you all together? do you live as in the
+old time?"
+
+Upon this the painter smiled, but not so brightly as before.
+
+"Not as in the old time," he said, "nor are they all here. Some are
+still upon the way, and of some we have no certainty, only news from
+time to time. The angels are very good to us. They never miss an
+occasion to bring us news; for they go everywhere, you know."
+
+"Yes," said the little Pilgrim, though indeed she had not known it till
+now; but it seemed to her as if it had come to her mind by nature and
+she had never needed to be told.
+
+"They are so tender-hearted," the painter said; "and more than that,
+they are very curious about men and women. They have known it all from
+the beginning, and it is a wonder to them. There is a friend of mine, an
+angel, who is more wise in men's hearts than any one I know; and yet he
+will say to me sometimes, 'I do not understand you--you are wonderful.'
+They like to find out all we are thinking. It is an endless pleasure to
+them, just as it is to some of us to watch the people in the other
+worlds."
+
+"Do you mean--where we have come from?" said the little Pilgrim.
+
+"Not always there. We in this city have been long separated from that
+country, for all that we love are out of it."
+
+"But not here?" the little Pilgrim cried again with a little sorrow--a
+pang that she had thought could never touch her again--in her heart.
+
+"But coming! coming!" said the painter, cheerfully; "and some were here
+before us, and some have arrived since. They are everywhere."
+
+"But some in trouble--some in trouble!" she cried, with the tears in her
+eyes.
+
+"We suppose so," he said gravely; "for some are in that place which once
+was called among us the place of despair."
+
+"You mean--" and though the little Pilgrim had been made free of fear,
+at that word which she would not speak, she trembled, and the light grew
+dim in her eyes.
+
+"Well!" said her new friend, "and what then? The Father sees through and
+through it as He does here: they cannot escape Him: so that there is
+Love near them always. I have a son," he said, then sighed a little, but
+smiled again, "who is there."
+
+The little Pilgrim at this clasped her hands with a piteous cry.
+
+"Nay, nay," he said, "little sister; my friend I was telling you of, the
+angel, brought me news of him just now. Indeed there was news of him
+through all the city. Did you not hear all the bells ringing? But
+perhaps that was before you came. The angels who know me best came one
+after another to tell me, and our Lord himself came to wish me joy. My
+son had found the way."
+
+The little Pilgrim did not understand this, and almost thought that the
+painter must be mistaken or dreaming. She looked at him very anxiously
+and said--
+
+"I thought that those unhappy--never came out any more."
+
+The painter smiled at her in return, and said--
+
+"Had you children in the old time?"
+
+She paused a little before she replied.
+
+"I had children in love," she said, "but none that were born mine."
+
+"It is the same," he said; "it is the same; and if one of them had
+sinned against you, injured you, done wrong in any way, would you have
+cast him off, or what would you have done?"
+
+"Oh!" said the little Pilgrim again, with a vivid light of memory coming
+into her face, which showed she had no need to think of this as a thing
+that might have happened, but knew. "I brought him home. I nursed him
+well again. I prayed for him night and day. Did you say cast him off?
+when he had most need of me? then I never could have loved him," she
+cried.
+
+The painter nodded his head, and his hand with the pencil in it, for he
+had turned from his picture to look at her.
+
+"Then you think you love better than our Father?" he said: and turned to
+his work, and painted a new fold in the robe, which looked as if a soft
+air had suddenly blown into it, and not the touch of a skilful hand.
+
+This made the Pilgrim tremble, as though in her ignorance she had done
+something wrong. After that there came a great joy into her heart. "Oh,
+how happy you have made me!" she cried. "I am glad with all my heart for
+you and your son--" Then she paused a little and added, "But you said he
+was still there."
+
+"It is true: for the land of darkness is very confusing, they tell me,
+for want of the true light, and our dear friends the angels are not
+permitted to help: but if one follows them, that shows the way. You may
+be in that land yet on your way hither. It was very hard to understand
+at first," said the painter; "there are some sketches I could show you.
+No one has ever made a picture of it, though many have tried; but I
+could show you some sketches--if you wish to see."
+
+To this the little Pilgrim's look was so plain an answer that the
+painter laid down his pallet and his brush, and left his work, to show
+them to her as he had promised. They went down from the balcony and
+along the street until they came to one of the great palaces, where
+many were coming and going. Here they walked through some vast halls,
+where students were working at easels, doing every kind of beautiful
+work: some painting pictures, some preparing drawings, planning houses
+and palaces. The Pilgrim would have liked to pause at every moment to
+see one lovely thing or another, but the painter walked on steadily till
+he came to a room which was full of sketches, some of them like pictures
+in little, with many figures--some of them only a representation of a
+flower, or the wing of a bird. "These are all the master's," he said;
+"sometimes the sight of them will be enough to put something great into
+the mind of another. In this corner are the sketches I told you of."
+There' were two of them hanging together upon the wall, and at first it
+seemed to the little Pilgrim as if they represented the flames and fire
+of which she had read, and this made her shudder for the moment. But
+then she saw that it was a red light like a stormy sunset, with masses
+of clouds in the sky, and a low sun very fiery and dazzling, which no
+doubt to a hasty glance must have looked, with its dark shadows and high
+lurid lights, like the fires of the bottomless pit. But when you looked
+down you saw the reality what it was. The country that lay beneath was
+full of tropical foliage, but with many stretches of sand and dry
+plains, and in the foreground was a town, that looked very prosperous
+and crowded, though the figures were very minute, the subject being so
+great; but no one to see it would have taken it for anything but a busy
+and wealthy place, in a thunderous atmosphere, with a storm coming on.
+In the next there was a section of a street with a great banqueting hall
+open to the view, and many people sitting about the table. You could see
+that there was a great deal of laughter and conversation going on, some
+very noisy groups, but others that sat more quietly in corners and
+conversed, and some who sang, and every kind of entertainment. The
+little Pilgrim was very much astonished to see this, and turned to the
+painter, who answered her directly, though she had not spoken. "We used
+to think differently once. There are some who are there and do not know
+it. They think only it is the old life over again, but always worse, and
+they are led on in the ways of evil: but they do not feel the punishment
+until they begin to find out where they are and to struggle, and wish
+for other things."
+
+The little Pilgrim felt her heart beat very wildly while she looked at
+this, and she thought upon the rich man in the parable, who, though he
+was himself in torment, prayed that his brother might be saved, and she
+said to herself, "Our dear Lord would never leave him there who could
+think of his brother when he was himself in such a strait." And when she
+looked at the painter he smiled upon her, and nodded his head. Then he
+led her to the other corner of the room where there were other
+pictures. One of them was of a party seated round a table and an angel
+looking on. The angel had the aspect of a traveller, as if he were
+passing quickly by, and had but paused a moment to look, when one of the
+men glancing up suddenly saw him. The picture was dim, but the startled
+look upon this man's face, and the sorrow on the angel's, appeared out
+of the misty background with such truth that the tears came into the
+little Pilgrim's eyes, and she said in her heart, "Oh, that I could go
+to him and help him!" The other sketches were dimmer and dimmer. You
+seemed to see out of the darkness gleaming lights, and companies of
+revellers, out of which here and there was one trying to escape. And
+then the wide plains in the night, and the white vision of the angel in
+the distance, and here and there by different paths a fugitive striving
+to follow. "Oh, sir," said the little Pilgrim, "how did you learn to do
+it? You have never been there."
+
+"It was the master, not I; and I cannot tell you if he has ever been
+there. When the Father has given you that gift, you can go to many
+places, without leaving the one where you are. And then he has heard
+what the angels say."
+
+"And will they all get safe at the last? and even that great spirit, he
+that fell from Heaven--"
+
+The painter shook his head, and said, "It is not permitted to you and me
+to know such great things. Perhaps the wise will tell you if you ask
+them: but for me I ask the Father in my heart and listen to what He
+says."
+
+"That is best!" the little Pilgrim said; and she asked the Father in her
+heart: and there came all over her such a glow of warmth and happiness
+that her soul was satisfied. She looked in the painter's face and
+laughed for joy. And he put out his hands as if welcoming some one, and
+his countenance shone; and he said--
+
+"My son had a great gift. He was a master born, though it was not given
+to me. He shall paint it all for us so that the heart shall rejoice; and
+you will come again and see."
+
+After that it happened to the little Pilgrim to enter into another great
+palace where there were many people reading, and some sitting at their
+desks and writing, and some consulting together, with many great volumes
+stretched out open upon the tables. One of these who was seated alone
+looked up as she paused, wondering at him, and smiled as every one did,
+and greeted her with such a friendly tone that the Pilgrim, who always
+had a great desire to know, came nearer to him and looked at the book,
+then begged his pardon, and said she did not know that books were needed
+here. And then he told her that he was one of the historians of the city
+where all the records of the world were kept, and that it was his
+business to work upon the great history, and to show what was the
+meaning of the Father in everything that had happened, and how each
+event came in its right place.
+
+"And do you get it out of books?" she asked; for she was not learned,
+nor wise, and knew but little, though she always loved to know.
+
+"The books are the records," he said; "and there are many here that were
+never known to us in the old days; for the angels love to look into
+these things, and they can tell us much, for they saw it; and in the
+great books they have kept there is much put down that was never in the
+books we wrote; for then we did not know. We found out about the kings
+and the state, and tried to understand what great purposes they were
+serving; but even these we did not know, for those purposes were too
+great for us, not knowing the end from the beginning; and the hearts of
+men were too great for us. We comprehended the evil sometimes, but never
+fathomed the good. And how could we know the lesser things which were
+working out God's way? for some of these even the angels did not know;
+and it has happened to me that our Lord Himself has come in sometimes to
+tell me of one that none of us had discovered."
+
+"Oh," said the little Pilgrim, with tears in her eyes, "I should like to
+have been that one!--that was not known even to the angels, but only to
+Himself!"
+
+The historian smiled. "It was my brother," he said.
+
+The Pilgrim looked at him with great wonder. "Your brother, and you did
+not know him!"
+
+And then he turned over the pages and showed her where the story was.
+
+"You know," he said, "that we who live here are not of your time, but
+have lived and lived here till the old life is far away and like a
+dream. There were great tumults and fightings in our time, and it was
+settled by the prince of the place that our town was to be abandoned,
+and all the people left to the mercy of an enemy who had no mercy. But
+every day as he rode out he saw at one door a child, a little fair boy,
+who sat on the steps, and sang his little song like a bird. This child
+was never afraid of anything--when the horses pranced past him, and the
+troopers pushed him aside, he looked up into their faces and smiled. And
+when he had anything, a piece of bread, or an apple, or a plaything, he
+shared it with his playmates; and his little face, and his pretty voice,
+and all his pleasant ways, made that corner bright. He was like a flower
+growing there; everybody smiled that saw him."
+
+"I have seen such a child," the little Pilgrim said.
+
+"But we made no account of him," said the historian. "The Lord of the
+place came past him every day, and always saw him singing in the sun by
+his father's door. And it was a wonder then, and it has been a wonder
+ever since, why, having resolved upon it, that prince did not abandon
+the town, which would have changed all his fortune after. Much had been
+made clear to me since I began to study, but not this: till the Lord
+Himself came to me and told me. The prince looked at the child till he
+loved him, and he reflected how many children there were like this that
+would be murdered, or starved to death, and he could not give up the
+little singing boy to the sword. So he remained; and the town was saved,
+and he became a great king. It was so secret that even the angels did
+not know it. But without that child the history would not have been
+complete."
+
+"And is he here?" the little Pilgrim said.
+
+"Ah," said the historian, "that is more strange still; for that which
+saved him was also to his harm. He is not here. He is--elsewhere."
+
+The little Pilgrim's face grew sad; but then she remembered what she had
+been told.
+
+"But you know," she said, "that he is coming?"
+
+"I know that our Father will never forsake him, and that everything
+that is being accomplished in him is well."
+
+"Is it well to suffer? Is it well to live in that dark stormy country?
+Oh, that they were all here, and happy like you!"
+
+He shook his head a little and said--
+
+"It was a long time before I got here; and as for suffering that matters
+little. You get experience by it. You are more accomplished and fit for
+greater work in the end. It is not for nothing that we are permitted to
+wander: and sometimes one goes to the edge of despair--"
+
+She looked at him with such wondering eyes that he answered her without
+a word.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I have been there."
+
+And then it seemed to her that there was something in his eyes which she
+had not remarked before. Not only the great content that was everywhere,
+but a deeper light, and the air of a judge who knew both good and evil,
+and could see both sides, and understood all, both to love and to hate.
+
+"Little sister," he said, "you have never wandered far--it is not
+needful for such as you. Love teaches you, and you need no more; but
+when we have to be trained for an office like this, to make the way of
+the Lord clear through all the generations, reason is that we should see
+everything, and learn all that man is and can be. These things are too
+deep for us; we stumble on, and know not till after. But now to me it is
+all clear."
+
+She looked at him again and again while he spoke, and it seemed to her
+that she saw in him such great knowledge and tenderness as made her
+glad; and how he could understand the follies that men had done, and
+fathom what real meaning was in them, and disentangle all the threads.
+He smiled as she gazed at him, and answered as if she had spoken.
+
+"What was evil perishes, and what was good remains; almost everywhere
+there is a little good. We could not understand all if we had not seen
+all and shared all."
+
+"And the punishment too," she said, wondering more and more.
+
+He smiled so joyfully that it was like laughter.
+
+"Pain is a great angel," he said. "The reason we hated him in the old
+days was because he tended to death and decay; but when it is towards
+life he leads, we fear him no more. The welcome thing of all in the land
+of darkness is when you see him first and know who he is: for by this
+you are aware that you have found the way."
+
+The little Pilgrim did nothing but question with her anxious eyes, for
+this was such a wonder to her, and she could not understand. But he only
+sat musing with a smile over the things he remembered. And at last he
+said--
+
+"If this is so interesting to you, you shall read it all in another
+place, in the room where we have laid up our own experiences, in order
+to serve for the history afterwards. But we are still busy upon the work
+of the earth. There is always something new to be discovered. And it is
+essential for the whole world that the chronicle should be full. I am in
+great joy because it was but just now that our Lord told me about that
+child. Everything was imperfect without him, but now it is clear."
+
+"You mean your brother? And you are happy though you are not sure if he
+is happy?" the little Pilgrim said.
+
+"It is not to be happy that we live," said he; and then, "We are all
+happy so soon as we have found the way."
+
+She would have asked him more, but that he was called to a consultation
+with some others of his kind, and had to leave her, waving his hand to
+her with a tender kindness, which went to her heart. She looked after
+him with great respect, and almost awe; for it seemed to her that a man
+who had been in the land of darkness, and made his way out of it, must
+be more wonderful than any other. She looked round for a little upon
+the great library, full of all the books that had ever been written, and
+where people were doing their work, examining and reading and making
+extracts, every one with looks of so much interest, that she almost
+envied them--though it was a generous delight in seeing people so happy
+in their occupation, and a desire to associate herself somehow in it,
+rather than any grudging of their satisfaction that was in her mind. She
+went about all the courts of this palace alone, and everywhere saw the
+same work going on, and everywhere met the same kind looks. Even when
+the greatest of all looked up from his work and saw her, he would give
+her a friendly greeting and a smile; and nobody was too wise to lend an
+ear to the little visitor, or to answer her questions. And this was how
+it was that she began to talk to another, who was seated at a great
+table with many more, and who drew her to him by something that was in
+his looks, though she could not have told what it was. It was not that
+he was kinder than the rest, for they were all kind. She stood by him a
+little, and saw how he worked and would take something from one book and
+something from another, putting them ready for use. And it did not seem
+any trouble to do this work, but only pleasure, and the very pen in his
+hand was like a winged thing, as if it loved to write. When he saw her
+watching him, he looked up and showed her the beautiful book out of
+which he was copying, which was all illuminated with lovely pictures.
+
+"This is one of the volumes of the great history," he said. "There are
+some things in it which are needed for another, and it is a pleasure to
+work at it. If you will come here you will be able to see the page while
+I write."
+
+Then the little Pilgrim asked him some questions about the pictures, and
+he answered her, describing and explaining them; for they were in the
+middle of the history, and she did not understand what it was. When she
+said, "I ought not to trouble you, for you are busy," he smiled so
+kindly, that she smiled too for pleasure. And he said--
+
+"There is no trouble here. When we are not allowed to work, as sometimes
+happens, that makes us not quite so happy, but it is very seldom that it
+happens so."
+
+"Is it for punishment?" she said.
+
+And then he laughed out with a sound which made all the others look up
+smiling; and if they had not all looked so tenderly at her, as at a
+child who has made such a mistake as it is pretty for the child to make,
+she would have feared she had said something wrong; but she only laughed
+at herself too, and blushed a little, knowing that she was not wise: and
+to put her at her ease again, he turned the leaf and showed her other
+pictures, and the story which went with them, from which he was copying
+something. And he said--
+
+"This is for another book, to show how the grace of the Father was
+beautiful in some homes and families. It is not the great history, but
+connected with it: and there are many who love that better than the
+story which is more great."
+
+Then the Pilgrim looked in his face and said--
+
+"What I want most is, to know about your homes here."
+
+"It is all home here," he said, and smiled; and then, as he met her
+wistful looks, he went on to tell her that he and his brothers were not
+always there. "We have all our occupations," he said, "and sometimes I
+am sent to inquire into facts that have happened, of which the record is
+not clear; for we must omit nothing; and sometimes we are told to rest
+and take in new strength; and sometimes--"
+
+"But oh, forgive me," cried the little Pilgrim, "you had some who were
+more dear to you than all the world in the old time?"
+
+And the others all looked up again at the question, and looked at her
+with tender eyes, and said to the man whom she questioned, "Speak!"
+
+He made a little pause before he spoke, and he looked at one here and
+there, and called to them--
+
+"Patience, brother," and "Courage, brother." And then he said, "Those
+whom we loved best are nearly all with us; but some have not yet come."
+
+"Oh," said the little Pilgrim, "but how then do you bear it, to be
+parted so long--so long?"
+
+Then one of those to whom the first speaker had called out "Patience"
+rose, and came to her smiling; and he said--
+
+"I think every hour that perhaps she will come, and the joy will be so
+great, that thinking of that makes the waiting short: and nothing here
+is long, for it never ends; and it will be so wonderful to hear her tell
+how the Father has guided her, that it will be a delight to us all; and
+she will be able to explain many things, not only for us, but for all;
+and we love each other so, that this separation is as nothing in
+comparison with what is to come."
+
+It was beautiful to hear this, but it was not what the little Pilgrim
+expected, for she thought they would have told her of the homes to which
+they all returned when their work was over, and a life which was like
+the life of the old time; but of this they said nothing, only looking at
+her with smiling eyes, as at the curious questions of a child. And there
+were many other things she would have asked, but refrained when she
+looked at them, feeling as if she did not yet understand; when one of
+them broke forth suddenly in a louder voice, and said--
+
+"The little sister knows only the little language and the beginning of
+days. She has not learned the mysteries, and what Love is, and what life
+is."
+
+And another cried, "It is sweet to hear it again;" and they all gathered
+round her with tender looks, and began to talk to each other, and tell
+her, as men will tell of the games of their childhood, of things that
+happened, which were half forgotten, in the old time.
+
+After this the little Pilgrim went out again into the beautiful city,
+feeling in her heart that everything was a mystery, and that the days
+would never be long enough to learn all that had yet to be learned, but
+knowing now that this, too, was the little language, and pleased with
+the sweet thought of so much that was to come. For one had whispered to
+her as she went out that the new tongue, and every explanation, as she
+was ready for it, would come to her through one of those whom she loved
+best, which is the usage of that country. And when the stranger has no
+one there that is very dear, then it is an angel who teaches the greater
+language, and this is what happens often to the children who are brought
+up in that heavenly place. When she reached the street again, she was so
+pleased with this thought that it went out of her mind to ask her way
+to the great library, where she was to read the story of the historian's
+journey through the land of darkness; indeed she forgot that land
+altogether, and thought only of what was around her in the great city
+which is beyond everything that eye has seen, or that ear has heard, or
+that it has entered into the imagination to conceive. And now it seemed
+to her that she was much more familiar with the looks of the people, and
+could distinguish between those who belonged to the city, and those who
+were visitors like herself; and also could tell which they were who had
+entered into the mysteries of the kingdom, and which were, like herself,
+only acquainted with the beginning of days. And it came to her mind--she
+could not tell how--that it was best not to ask questions, but to wait
+until the beloved one should come, who would teach her the first words.
+For in the meantime she did not feel at all impatient or disturbed by
+her want of knowledge, but laughed a little at herself to suppose that
+she could find out everything, and went on looking round her, and saying
+a word to every one she met, and enjoying the holiday looks of all the
+strangers, and the sense she had in her heart of holiday too. She was
+walking on in this pleasant way, when she heard a sound that was like
+silver trumpets, and saw the crowd turn towards an open space in which
+all the beautiful buildings were shaded with fine trees, and flowers
+were springing at the very edge of the pavements. The strangers all
+hastened along to hear what it was, and she with them, and some also of
+the people of the place. And as the little Pilgrim found herself walking
+by a woman who was of these last, she asked her what it was.
+
+And the woman told her it was a poet who had come to say to them what
+had been revealed to him, and that the two with the silver trumpets were
+angels of the musicians' order, whose office it was to proclaim
+everything that was new, that the people should know. And many of those
+who were at work in the palaces came out and joined the crowd, and the
+painter who had showed the little Pilgrim his picture, and many whose
+faces she began to be acquainted with. The poet stood up upon a
+beautiful pedestal all sculptured in stone, and with wreaths of living
+flowers hung upon it--and when the crowd had gathered in front of him,
+he began his poem. He told them that it was not about this land, or
+anything that happened in it, which they knew as he did, but that it was
+a story of the old time, when men were walking in darkness, and when no
+one knew the true meaning even of what he himself did, but had to go on
+as if blindly, stumbling and groping with their hands. And, "Oh,
+brethren," he said, "though all is more beautiful and joyful here where
+we know, yet to remember the days when we knew not, and the ways when
+all was uncertain, and the end could not be distinguished from the
+beginning, is sweet and dear; and that which was done in the dim
+twilight should be celebrated in the day; and our Father Himself loves
+to hear of those who, having not seen, loved, and who learned without
+any teacher, and followed the light, though they did not understand."
+
+And then he told them the story of one who had lived in the old time;
+and in that air, which seemed to be made of sunshine, and amid all those
+stately palaces, he described to them the little earth which they had
+left behind--the skies that were covered with clouds, and the ways that
+were so rough and stony, and the cruelty of the oppressor, and the cries
+of those that were oppressed. And he showed the sickness and the
+troubles, and the sorrow and danger; and how death stalked about, and
+tore heart from heart; and how sometimes the strongest would fail, and
+the truest fall under the power of a lie, and the tenderest forget to be
+kind; and how evil things lurked in every corner to beguile the dwellers
+there; and how the days were short and the nights dark, and life so
+little that by the time a man had learned something it was his hour to
+die. "What can a soul do that is born there?" he cried; "for war is
+there and fighting, and perplexity and darkness; and no man knows if
+that which he does will be for good or evil, or can tell which is the
+best way, or know the end from the beginning; and those he loves the
+most are a mystery to him, and their thoughts beyond his reach. And
+clouds are between him and the Father, and he is deceived with false
+gods and false teachers, who make him to love a lie." The people who
+were listening held their breath, and a shadow like a cloud fell on
+them, and they remembered and knew that it was true. But the next moment
+their hearts rebelled, and one and another would have spoken, and the
+little Pilgrim herself had almost cried out and made her plea for the
+dear earth which she loved: when he suddenly threw forth his voice again
+like a great song. "Oh, dear mother earth," he cried; "oh, little world
+and great, forgive thy son! for lovely thou art and dear, and the sun of
+God shines upon thee and the sweet dews fall; and there were we born,
+and loved, and died, and are come hence to bless the Father and the Son.
+For in no other world, though they are so vast, is it given to any to
+know the Lord in the darkness, and follow Him groping, and make way
+through sin and death, and overcome the evil, and conquer in His Name."
+At which there was a great sound of weeping and of triumph, and the
+little Pilgrim could not contain herself, but cried out too in joy as if
+for a deliverance. And then the poet told his tale. And as he told them
+of the man who was poor and sorrowful and alone, and how he loved and
+was not loved again, and trusted and was betrayed, and was tempted and
+drawn into the darkness, so that it seemed as if he must perish; but,
+when hope was almost gone, turned again from the edge of despair, and
+confronted all his enemies, and fought and conquered, the people
+followed every word with great outcries of love and pity and wonder. For
+each one as he listened remembered his own career and that of his
+brethren in the old life, and admired to think that all the evil was
+past, and wondered how, out of such tribulation and through so many
+dangers, all were safe and blessed here. And there were others that were
+not of them, who listened, some seated at the windows of the palaces and
+some standing in the great square--people who were not like the others,
+whose bearing was more majestic, and who looked upon the crowd all
+smiling and weeping with wonder and interest, but had no knowledge of
+the cause, and listened as it were to a tale that is told. The poet and
+his audience were as one, and at every period of the story there was a
+deep breathing and pause, and every one looked at his neighbour, and
+some grasped each other's hands as they remembered all that was in the
+past; but the strangers listened and gazed and observed all, as those
+who listen and are instructed in something beyond their knowledge. The
+little Pilgrim stood all this time not knowing where she was, so intent
+was she upon the tale, and as she listened it seemed to her that all her
+own life was rolling out before her, and she remembered the things that
+had been, and perceived how all had been shaped and guided, and trembled
+a little for the brother who was in danger, yet knew that all would be
+well.
+
+The woman who had been at her side listened too with all her heart,
+saying to herself as she stood in the crowd, "He has left nothing out!
+The little days they were so short, and the skies would change all in a
+moment and one's heart with them. How he brings it all back!" And she
+put up her hand to dry away a tear from her eyes, though her face all
+the time was shining with the recollection. The little Pilgrim was glad
+to be by the side of a woman after talking with so many men, and she put
+out her hand and touched the cloak that this lady wore, and which was
+white and of the most beautiful texture, with gold threads woven in it,
+or something that looked like gold.
+
+"Do you like," she said, "to think of the old time?"
+
+The woman turned and looked down upon her, for she was tall and stately,
+and immediately took the hand of the little Pilgrim into hers, and held
+it without answering, till the poet had ended and come down from the
+place where he had been standing. He came straight through the crowd to
+where this lady stood, and said something to her. "You did well to tell
+me," looking at her with love in his eyes--not the tender sweetness of
+all those kind looks around, but the love that is for one. The little
+Pilgrim looked at them with her heart beating, and was very glad for
+them, and happy in herself, for she had not seen this love before since
+she came into the city, and it had troubled her to think that perhaps it
+did not exist any more. "I am glad," the lady said, and gave him her
+other hand; "but here is a little sister who asks me something, and I
+must answer her. I think she has but newly come."
+
+"She has a face full of the morning," the poet said. It did the little
+Pilgrim good to feel the touch of the warm, soft hand, and she was not
+afraid, but lifted her eyes and spoke to the lady, and to the poet. "It
+is beautiful what you said to us. Sometimes in the old time we used to
+look up to the beautiful skies and wonder what there was above the
+clouds, but we never thought that up here in this great city you would
+be thinking of what we were doing, and making beautiful poems all about
+us. We thought that you would sing wonderful psalms, and talk of things
+high, high above us."
+
+"The little sister does not know what the meaning of the earth is," the
+poet said. "It is but a little speck, but it is the centre of all. Let
+her walk with us, and we will go home, and you will tell her, Ama, for
+I love to hear you talk."
+
+"Will you come with us?" the lady said.
+
+And the little Pilgrim's heart leaped up in her, to think she was now
+going to see a home in this wonderful city; and they went along hand in
+hand, and though they were three together, and many were coming and
+going, there was no difficulty, for every one made way for them. And
+there was a little murmur of pleasure as the poet passed, and those who
+had heard his poem made obeisance to him, and thanked him, and thanked
+the Father for him, that he was able to show them so many beautiful
+things. And they walked along the street which was shining with colour,
+and saw, as they passed, how the master painter had come to his work,
+and was standing upon the balcony where the little Pilgrim had been, and
+bringing out of the wall, under his hand, faces which were full of life,
+and which seemed to spring forth as if they had been hidden there. "Let
+us wait a little and see him working," the poet said: and all round
+about the people stopped on their way, and there was a soft cry of
+pleasure and praise all through the beautiful street. And the painter
+with whom the little Pilgrim had talked before came, and stood behind
+her as if he had been an old friend, and called out to her at every new
+touch to mark how this and that was done. She did not understand as he
+did, but she saw how beautiful it was, and she was glad to have seen the
+great painter, as she had been glad to hear the great poet. It seemed to
+the little Pilgrim as if everything happened well for her, and that no
+one had ever been so blessed before. And to make it all more sweet, this
+new friend, this great and sweet lady, always held her hand, and pressed
+it softly when something more lovely appeared; and even the pictured
+faces on the wall seemed to beam upon her, as they came out one by one
+like the stars in the sky. Then the three went on again, and passed by
+many more beautiful palaces, and great streets leading away into the
+light, till you could see no farther; and they met with bands of
+singers, who sang so sweetly that the heart seemed to leap out of the
+Pilgrim's breast to meet with them, for above all things this was what
+she had loved most. And out of one of the palaces there came such
+glorious music, that everything she had seen and heard before seemed as
+nothing in comparison. And amid all these delights they went on and on,
+but without wearying, till they came out of the streets into lovely
+walks and alleys, and made their way to the banks of a great river,
+which seemed to sing too, a soft melody of its own.
+
+And here there were some fair houses surrounded by gardens and flowers
+that grew everywhere, and the doors were all open, and within everything
+was lovely and still, and ready for rest if you were weary. The little
+Pilgrim was not weary, but the lady placed her upon a couch in the
+porch, where the pillars and the roof were all formed of interlacing
+plants and flowers; and there they sat with her and talked, and
+explained to her many things. They told her that the earth, though so
+small, was the place in all the world to which the thoughts of those
+above were turned. "And not only of us who have lived there, but of all
+our brothers in the other worlds; for we are the race which the Father
+has chosen to be the example. In every age there is one that is the
+scene of the struggle and the victory, and it is for this reason that
+the chronicles are made, and that we are all placed here to gather the
+meaning of what has been done among men. And I am one of those," the
+lady said, "that go back to the dear earth and gather up the tale of
+what our little brethren are doing. I have not to succour, like some
+others, but only to see and bring the news; and he makes them into great
+poems as you have heard; and sometimes the master painter will take one
+and make of it a picture; and there is nothing that is so delightful to
+us as when we can bring back the histories of beautiful things."
+
+"But, oh," said the little Pilgrim, "what can there be on earth so
+beautiful as the meanest thing that is here?"
+
+Then they both smiled upon her and said, "It is more beautiful than the
+most beautiful thing here to see how, under the low skies and in the
+short days, a soul will turn to our Father. And sometimes," said Ama,
+"when I am watching, one will wander and stray, and be led into the dark
+till my heart is sick; then come back and make me glad. Sometimes I cry
+out within myself to the Father, and say, 'Oh, my Father, it is enough!'
+and it will seem to me that it is not possible to stand by and see his
+destruction. And then while you are gazing, while you are crying, he
+will recover and return, and go on again. And to the angels it is more
+wonderful than to us, for they have never lived there. And all the other
+worlds are eager to hear what we can tell them. For no one knows except
+the Father how the battle will turn, or when it will all be
+accomplished; and there are some who tremble for our little brethren.
+For to look down and see how little light there is, and how no one knows
+what may happen to him next, makes them afraid who never were there."
+
+The little Pilgrim listened with an intent face, clasping her hands, and
+said--"But it never could be that our Father should be overcome by evil.
+Is not that known in all the worlds?"
+
+Then the lady turned and kissed her: and the poet broke forth in
+singing, and said, "Faith is more heavenly than heaven; it is more
+beautiful than the angels. It is the only voice that can answer to our
+Father. We praise Him, we glorify Him, we love His name, but there is
+but one response to Him through all the worlds, and that is the cry of
+the little brothers, who see nothing and know nothing, but believe that
+He will never fail."
+
+At this the little Pilgrim wept, for her heart was touched: but she
+said--"We are not so ignorant: for we have our Lord who is our Brother,
+and He teaches us all that we require to know."
+
+Upon this the poet rose and lifted up his hands and spoke once more; but
+it was as if he spoke to others, to some one at a distance; it was in
+the other language which the little Pilgrim still did not understand,
+but she could make out that it sounded like a great proclamation that He
+was wise as He was good, and called upon all to see that the Lord had
+chosen the only way. And the sound of the poet's voice was like a great
+trumpet sounding bold and sweet, as if to tell this to those who were
+far away.
+
+"For you must know," said the Lady Ama, who all the time held the
+Pilgrim's hand, "that it is permitted to all to judge according to the
+wisdom that has been given them. And there are some who think that our
+dear Lord might have found another way, and that wait, sometimes with
+trembling, lest He should fail; but not among us who have lived on
+earth, for we know. And it is our work to show to all the worlds that
+His way never fails, and how wonderful it is, and beautiful above all
+that heart has conceived. And thus we justify the ways of God, who is
+our Father. But in the other worlds there are many who will continue to
+fear until the history of the earth is all ended and the chronicles are
+made complete."
+
+"And will that be long?" the little Pilgrim cried, feeling in her heart
+that she would like to go to all the worlds and tell them of our Lord,
+and of His love, and how the thought of Him makes you strong; and it
+troubled her a little to hear her friends speak of the low skies and the
+short days, and the dimness of that dear country which she had left
+behind, in which there were so many still whom she loved.
+
+Upon this Ama shook her head, and said that of that day no one knew, not
+even our Lord, but only the Father: and then she smiled and answered
+the little Pilgrim's thought. "When we go back," she said, "it is not as
+when we lived there; for now we see all the dangers of it and the
+mysteries which we did not see before. It was by the Father's dear love
+that we did not see what was around us and about us while we lived
+there, for then our hearts would have fainted: and that makes us wonder
+now that any one endures to the end."
+
+"You are a great deal wiser than I am," said the little Pilgrim; "but
+though our hearts had fainted how could we have been overcome? for He
+was on our side."
+
+At this neither of them made any reply at first, but looked at her; and
+at length the poet said that she had brought many thoughts back to his
+mind, and how he had himself been almost worsted when one like her came
+to him and gave strength to his soul. "For that He was on our side was
+the only thing she knew," he said, "and all that could be learned or
+discovered was not worthy of naming beside it. And this I must tell
+when next I speak to the people, and how our little sister brought it to
+my mind."
+
+And then they paused from this discourse, and the little Pilgrim looked
+round upon the beautiful houses and the fair gardens, and she said--
+
+"You live here? and do you come home at night?--but I do not mean at
+night, I mean when your work is done. And are they poets like you that
+dwell all about in these pleasant places, and the--"
+
+She would have said the children, but stopped, not knowing if perhaps it
+might be unkind to speak of the children when she saw none there.
+
+Upon this the lady smiled once more, and said--
+
+"The door stands open always, so that no one is shut out, and the
+children come and go when they will. They are children no longer, and
+they have their appointed work like him and me."
+
+"And you are always among those you love?" the Pilgrim said; upon which
+they smiled again and said, "We all love each other;" and the lady held
+her hand in both of hers, and caressed it, and softly laughed, and said,
+"You know only the little language. When you have been taught the other
+you will learn many beautiful things."
+
+She rested for some time after this, and talked much with her new
+friends: and then there came into the heart of the little Pilgrim a
+longing to go to the place which was appointed for her, and which was
+her home, and to do the work which had been given her to do. And when
+the lady saw this she rose and said that she would accompany her a
+little upon her way. But the poet bade her farewell and remained under
+the porch, with the green branches shading him, and the flowers twining
+round the pillars, and the open door of his beautiful house behind him.
+When she looked back upon him he waved his hand to her as if bidding
+her God-speed, and the lady by her side looked back too and waved her
+hand, and the little Pilgrim felt tears of happiness come to her eyes;
+for she had been wondering with a little disappointment to see that the
+people in the city, except those who were strangers, were chiefly alone,
+and not like those in the old world where the husband and wife go
+together. It consoled her to see again two who were one. The lady
+pressed her hand in answer to her thought, and bade her pause a moment
+and look back into the city as they passed the end of the great street
+out of which they came. And then the Pilgrim was more and more consoled,
+for she saw many who had before been alone now walking together hand in
+hand.
+
+"It is not as it was," Ama said. "For all of us have work to do which is
+needed for the worlds, and it is no longer needful that one should sit
+at home while the other goes forth; for our work is not for our life as
+of old, or for ourselves, but for the Father who has given us so great
+a trust. And, little sister, you must know that though we are not so
+great as the angels, nor as many that come to visit us from the other
+worlds, yet we are nearer to Him. For we are in His secret, and it is
+ours to make it clear."
+
+The little Pilgrim's heart was very full to hear this; but she said--
+
+"I was never clever, nor knew much. It is better for me to go away to my
+little border-land, and help the strangers who do not know the way."
+
+"Whatever is your work is the best," the lady said; "but though you are
+so little you are in the Father's secret too; for it is nature to you to
+know what the others cannot be sure of, that we must have the victory at
+the last. So that we have this between us, the Father and we. And though
+all are His children, we are of the kindred of God, because of our Lord
+who is our Brother;" and then the Lady Ama kissed her, and bade her when
+she returned to the great city, either for rest or for love, or because
+the Father sent for her, that she should come to the house by the river.
+"For we are friends for ever," she said, and so threw her white veil
+over her head, and was gone upon her mission, whither the little Pilgrim
+did not know.
+
+And now she found herself at a distance from the great city which shone
+in the light with its beautiful towers, and roofs, and all its
+monuments, softly fringed with trees, and set in a heavenly firmament.
+And the Pilgrim thought of those words that described this lovely place
+as a bride adorned for her husband, and did not wonder at him who had
+said that her streets were of gold and her gates of pearl, because gold
+and pearls and precious jewels were as nothing to the glory and the
+beauty of her. The little Pilgrim was glad to have seen these wonderful
+things, and her mind was like a cup running over with almost more than
+it could contain. It seemed to her that there never could be a time
+when she should want for wonder and interest and delight so long as she
+had this to think of. Yet she was not sorry to turn her back upon the
+beautiful city, but went on her way singing in unutterable content, and
+thinking over what the lady had said, that we were in God's secret, more
+than all the great worlds above and even the angels, because of knowing
+how it is that in darkness and doubt, and without any open vision, a man
+may still keep the right way. The path lay along the bank of the river
+which flowed beside her and made the air full of music, and a soft air
+blew across the running stream and breathed in her face and refreshed
+her, and the birds sang in all the trees. And as she passed through the
+villages the people came out to meet her, and asked of her if she had
+come from the city, and what she had seen there. And everywhere she
+found friends, and kind voices that gave her greeting. But some would
+ask her why she still spoke the little language, though it was sweet to
+their ears; and others when they heard it hastened to call from the
+houses and the fields some among them who knew the other tongue but a
+little, and who came and crowded round the little Pilgrim and asked her
+many questions both about the things she had been seeing and about the
+old time. And she perceived that the village folk were a simple folk,
+not learned and wise like those she had left. And that though they lived
+within sight of the great city, and showed every stranger the beautiful
+view of it, and the glory of its towers, yet few among them had
+travelled there; for they were so content with their fields and their
+river, and the shade of their trees and the birds singing, and their
+simple life, that they wanted no change; though it pleased them to
+receive the little Pilgrim, and they brought her in to their villages
+rejoicing, and called every one to see her. And they told her that they
+had all been poor and laboured hard in the old time, and had never
+rested; so that now it was the Father's good pleasure that they should
+enjoy great peace and consolation among the fresh-breathing fields and
+on the riverside, so that there were many who even now had little
+occupation except to think of the Father's goodness and to rest. And
+they told her how the Lord Himself would come among them, and sit down
+under a tree, and tell them one of His parables, and make them all more
+happy than words could say; and how sometimes He would send one out of
+the beautiful city, with a poem or tale to say to them, and bands of
+lovely music, more lovely than anything beside, except the sound of the
+Lord's own voice. "And what is more wonderful, the angels themselves
+come often and listen to us," they said, "when we begin to talk and
+remind each other of the old time, and how we suffered heat and cold,
+and were bowed down with labour, and bending over the soil; and how
+sometimes the harvest would fail us, and sometimes we had not bread, and
+sometimes would hush the children to sleep because there was nothing to
+give them; and how we grew old and weary, and still worked on and on."
+"We are those who were old," a number of them called out to her, with a
+murmuring sound of laughter, one looking over another's shoulder. And
+one woman said, "The angels say to us, 'Did you never think the Father
+had forsaken you and the Lord forgotten you?'" And all the rest answered
+as in a chorus, "There were moments that we thought this; but all the
+time we knew that it could not be." "And the angels wonder at us," said
+another. All this they said, crowding one before another, every one
+anxious to say something, and sometimes speaking together, but always in
+accord. And then there was a sound of laughter and pleasure, both at the
+strange thought that the Lord could have forgotten them, and at the
+wonder of the angels over their simple tales. And immediately they began
+to remind each other, and say, "Do you remember?" and they told the
+little Pilgrim a hundred tales of the hardships and troubles they had
+known, all smiling and radiant with pleasure; and at every new account
+the others would applaud and rejoice, feeling the happiness all the more
+for the evils that were past. And some of them led her into their
+gardens to show her their flowers, and to tell her how they had begun to
+study and learn how colours were changed and form perfected, and the
+secrets of the growth and of the germ of which they had been ignorant.
+And others arranged themselves in choirs, and sang to her delightful
+songs of the fields, and accompanied her out upon her way, singing and
+answering to each other. The difference between the simple folk and the
+greatness of the others made the little Pilgrim wonder and admire, and
+she loved them in her simplicity, and turned back many a time to wave
+her hand to them, and to listen to the lovely simple singing as it went
+farther and farther away. It had an evening tone of rest and quietness,
+and of protection and peace. "He leadeth me by the green pastures and
+beside the quiet waters," she said to herself: and her heart swelled
+with pleasure to think that it was those who had been so old, and so
+weary and poor, who had this rest to console them for all their sorrows.
+
+And as she went along, not only did she pass through many other
+villages, but met many on the way who were travelling towards the great
+city, and would greet her sweetly as they passed, and sometimes stop to
+say a pleasant word, so that the little Pilgrim was never lonely
+wherever she went. But most of them began to speak to her in the other
+language, which was as beautiful and sweet as music, but which she could
+not understand: and they were surprised to find her ignorant of it, not
+knowing that she was but a new-comer into these lands. And there were
+many things that could not be told but in that language, for the earthly
+tongue had no words to express them. The little Pilgrim was a little
+sad not to understand what was said to her, but cheered herself with the
+thought that it should be taught to her by one whom she loved best. The
+way by the riverside was very cheerful and bright, with many people
+coming and going, and many villages, some of them with a bridge across
+the stream, some withdrawn among the fields, but all of them bright and
+full of life, and with sounds of music, and voices, and footsteps: and
+the little Pilgrim felt no weariness, but moved along as lightly as a
+child, taking great pleasure in everything she saw, and answering all
+the friendly greetings with all her heart, yet glad to think that she
+was approaching ever nearer to the country where it was ordained that
+she should dwell for a time and succour the strangers, and receive those
+who were newly arrived. And she consoled herself with the thought that
+there was no need of any language but that which she knew. As this went
+through her mind making her glad she suddenly became aware of one who
+was walking by her side, a lady who was covered with a veil white and
+shining like that which Ama had worn in the beautiful city. It hung
+about this stranger's head so that it was not easy to see her face, and
+the sound of her voice was very sweet in the Pilgrim's ear, yet startled
+her like the sound of something which she knew well, but could not
+remember. And as there were few who were going that way, she was glad,
+and said, "Let us walk together, if that pleases you." And the stranger
+said, "It is for that I have come," which was a reply which made the
+little Pilgrim wonder more and more, though she was very glad and joyful
+to have this companion upon her way. And then the lady began to ask her
+many questions, not about the city, or the great things she had seen,
+but about herself, and what the dear Lord had given her to do.
+
+"I am little and weak, and I cannot do much," the little Pilgrim said.
+"It is nothing but pleasure. It is to welcome those that are coming,
+and tell them. Sometimes they are astonished and do not know. I was so
+myself. I came in my sleep, and understood nothing. But now that I know,
+it is sweet to tell them that they need not fear."
+
+"I was glad," the lady said, "that you came in your sleep: for sometimes
+the way is dark and hard, and you are little and tender. When your
+brother comes you will be the first to see him, and show him the way."
+
+"My brother! is he coming?" the little Pilgrim cried. And then she said
+with a wistful look, "But we are all brethren, and you mean only one of
+those who are the children of our Father. You must forgive me that I do
+not know the higher speech, but only what is natural, for I have not yet
+been long here."
+
+"He whom I mean is called--" and here the lady said a name which was the
+true name of a brother born, whom the Pilgrim loved above all others.
+She gave a cry, and then she said trembling, "I know your voice, but I
+cannot see your face. And what you say makes me think of many things. No
+one else has covered her face when she has spoken to me. I know you, and
+yet I cannot tell who you are."
+
+The woman stood for a little without saying a word, and then very
+softly, in a voice which only the heart heard, she called the little
+Pilgrim by her name.
+
+"MOTHER," cried the Pilgrim, with such a cry of joy that it echoed all
+about in the sweet air: and flung herself upon the veiled lady, and drew
+the veil from her face, and saw that it was she. And with this sight
+there came a revelation which flooded her soul with happiness. For the
+face which had been old and feeble was old no longer, but fair in the
+maturity of day; and the figure that had been bent and weary was full of
+a tender majesty, and the arms that clasped her about were warm and soft
+with love and life. And all that had changed their relations in the
+other days and made the mother in her weakness seem as a child, and
+transferred all protection and strength to the daughter, was gone for
+ever: and the little Pilgrim beheld in a rapture one who was her sister
+and equal, yet ever above her--more near to her than any, though all
+were so near--one of whom she herself was a part, yet another, and who
+knew all her thoughts and the way of them before they arose in her. And
+to see her face as in the days of her prime, and her eyes so clear and
+wise, and to feel once more that which is different from the love of
+all, that which is still most sweet where all is sweet, the love of
+one--was like a crown to her in her happiness. The little Pilgrim could
+not think for joy, nor say a word, but held this dear mother's hands and
+looked in her face, and her heart soared away to the Father in thanks
+and joy. They sat down by the roadside under the shade of the trees,
+while the river ran softly by, and everything was hushed out of
+sympathy and kindness, and questioned each other of all that had been
+and was to be. And the little Pilgrim told all the little news of home,
+and of the brothers and sisters and the children that had been born, and
+of those whose faces were turned towards this better country; and the
+mother smiled and listened and would have heard all over and over,
+although many things she already knew. "But why should I tell you? for
+did not you watch over us and see all we did, and were not you near us
+always?" the little Pilgrim said.
+
+"How could that be?" said the mother; "for we are not like our Lord, to
+be everywhere. We come and go where we are sent. But sometimes we knew
+and sometimes saw, and always loved. And whenever our hearts were sick
+for news it was but to go to Him, and He told us everything. And now, my
+little one, you are as we are, and have seen the Lord. And this has been
+given us, to teach our child once more, and show you the heavenly
+language, that you may understand all, both the little and the great."
+
+Then the Pilgrim lifted her head from her mother's bosom, and looked in
+her face with eyes full of longing. "You said 'we,'" she said.
+
+The mother did nothing but smile; then lifted her eyes and looked along
+the beautiful path of the river to where some one was coming to join
+them; and the little Pilgrim cried out again, in wonder and joy; and
+presently found herself seated between them, her father and her mother,
+the two who had loved her most in the other days. They looked more
+beautiful than the angels and all the great persons whom she had seen;
+for still they were hers and she was theirs, more than all the angels
+and all the blessed could be. And thus she learned that though the new
+may take the place of the old, and many things may blossom out of it
+like flowers, yet that the old is never done away. And then they sat
+together, telling of everything that had befallen, and all the little
+tender things that were of no import, and all the great changes and
+noble ways, and the wonders of heaven above and the earth beneath, for
+all were open to them, both great and small; and when they had satisfied
+their souls with these, her father and mother began to teach her the
+other language, smiling often at her faltering tongue, and telling her
+the same thing over and over till she learned it; and her father called
+her his little foolish one, as he had done in the old days; and at last,
+when they had kissed her and blessed her, and told her how to come home
+to them when she was weary, they gave her, as the Father had permitted
+them, with joy and blessing, her new name.
+
+The little Pilgrim was tired with happiness and all the wonder and
+pleasure, and as she sat there in the silence leaning upon those who
+were so dear to her, the soft air grew sweeter and sweeter about her,
+and the light faded softly into a dimness of tender indulgence and
+privilege for her, because she was still little and weak. And whether
+that heavenly suspense of all her faculties was sleep or not she knew
+not, but it was such as in all her life she had never known. When she
+came back to herself, it was by the sound of many voices calling her,
+and many people hastening past and beckoning to her to join them.
+
+"Come, come," they said, "little sister: there has been great trouble in
+the other life, and many have arrived suddenly and are afraid. Come,
+come, and help them--come and help them!"
+
+And she sprang up from her soft seat, and found that she was no longer
+by the riverside, or within sight of the great city or in the arms of
+those she loved, but stood on one of the flowery paths of her own
+border-land, and saw her fellows hastening towards the gates where there
+seemed a great crowd. And she was no longer weary, but full of life and
+strength, and it seemed to her that she could take them up in her arms,
+those trembling strangers, and carry them straight to the Father, so
+strong was she, and light, and full of force. And above all the gladness
+she had felt, and all her pleasure in what she had seen, and more happy
+even than the meeting with those she loved most, was her happiness now,
+as she went along as light as the breeze to receive the strangers. She
+was so eager that she began to sing a song of welcome as she hastened
+on. "Oh, welcome, welcome!" she cried; and as she sang she knew it was
+one of the heavenly melodies which she had heard in the great city: and
+she hastened on, her feet flying over the flowery ways, thinking how the
+great worlds were all watching, and the angels looking on, and the whole
+universe waiting till it should be proved to them that the dear Lord,
+the Brother of us all, had chosen the perfect way, and that over all the
+evil and the sorrow He was the Conqueror alone.
+
+And the little Pilgrim's voice, though it was so small, echoed away
+through the great firmament to where the other worlds were watching to
+see what should come, and cheered the anxious faces of some great lords
+and princes far more great than she, who were of a nobler race than man;
+for it was said among the stars that when such a little sound could
+reach so far, it was a token that the Lord had chosen aright, and that
+His method must be the best. And it breathed over the earth like some
+one saying, Courage! to those whose hearts were failing; and it dropped
+down, down, into the great confusions and traffic of the Land of
+Darkness, and startled many, like the cry of a child calling and
+calling, and never ceasing, "Come! and come! and come!"
+
+THE END.
+
+Printed by R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, Edinburgh.
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+
+
+POCKET CLASSICS EDITION.. In Five volumes. Cloth, 2s. net each.
+Leather, 3s. net each.
+
+1. JUVINILIA AND ENGLISH IDYLS.
+
+2. IN MEMORIAM, MAUD, and other Poems.
+
+3. BALLADS, and other Poems.
+
+4. IDYLLS OF THE KING.
+
+5. DRAMAS.
+
+
+LIBRARY EDITION. In Nine Vols. Globe 8vo. 5s. each. May be had
+separately.
+
+1. EARLY POEMS.
+
+2. EARLY POEMS.
+
+3. IDYLLS OF THE KING.
+
+4. THE PRINCESS, AND MAUD.
+
+5. ENOCH ARDEN, AND IN MEMORIAM.
+
+6. BALLADS, and other Poems.
+
+7. QUEEN MARY, AND HAROLD.
+
+8. BECKET, and other Plays.
+
+9. DEMETER, and other Poems.
+
+
+GLOBE 8vo EDITION. On hand-made paper. In Ten Vols. Supplied in sets
+only. 105s.
+
+POETICAL WORKS. Globe Edition. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. Extra cloth, gilt
+edges. 4s. 6d. Limp leather, gilt edges. 5s net.
+
+
+POETICAL WORKS. Peoples Edition. In Twelve Vols. 16mo. 1s. net each.
+Complete in box, 14s. net.
+
+1. JUVENILIA AND LADY OF SHALOTT.
+
+2. A DREAM OF FAIR WOMEN AND LOCKSLEY HALL.
+
+3. THE PRINCESS.
+
+4. WILL WATERPROOF AND ENOCH ARDEN.
+
+5. IN MEMORIAM.
+
+6. MAUD AND THE BROOK.
+
+7. IDYLLS OF THE KING, I.
+
+8. " " " " II.
+
+9. " " " " III.
+
+10. THE LOVER'S TALE AND RIZPAH.
+
+11. THE VOYAGE OF MAELDUNE AND THE SPINSTER'S SWEET-ARTS.
+
+12. DEMETER AND THE DEATH OF OENONE.
+
+
+POETICAL WORKS. In Twenty-three Vols. Cloth, 1s. net, and leather, 1s.
+6d. net each Volume. In cloth case, 25s. net; Leather, in cloth cabinet,
+36s. net.
+
+1. JUVENILIA.
+
+2. THE LADY OF SHALOTT, and other Poems.
+
+3. A DREAM OF FAIR WOMEN, and other Poems.
+
+4. LOCKSLEY HALL, and other Poems.
+
+5. WILL WATERPROOF, and other Poems.
+
+6. THE PRINCESS. Books I. to III.
+
+7. THE PRINCESS. Book IV. to end.
+
+8. ENOCH ARDEN, and other Poems.
+
+9. IN MEMORIAM.
+
+10. MAUD, THE WINDOW, and other Poems.
+
+11. THE BROOK, and other Poems.
+
+12. IDYLLS OF THE KING: THE COMING OF ARTHUR, GARETH AND LYNETTE.
+
+13. IDYLLS OF THE KING: THE MARRIAGE OF GERAINT, GERAINT AND ENID.
+
+14. IDYLLS OF THE KING: BALIN AND BALAN, MERLIN AND VIVIEN.
+
+15. IDYLLS OF THE KING: LANCELOT AND ELAINE. THE HOLY GRAIL.
+
+16. IDYLLS OF THE KING: PELLEAS AND ETTARRE, THE LAST TOURNAMENT.
+
+17. IDYLLS OF THE KING: GUINEVERE, THE PASSING OF ARTHUR, TO THE QUEEN.
+
+18. THE LOVER'S TALE, and other Poems.
+
+19. RIZPAH, and other Poems.
+
+20. THE VOYAGE OF MAELDUNE, and other Poems.
+
+21. THE SPINSTER'S SWEET-ARTS, and other Poems.
+
+22. DEMETER, and other Poems.
+
+23. THE DEATH OF OENONE, and other Poems.
+
+
+MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE WORKS OF LORD TENNYSON.
+
+
+POETICAL WORKS. Pocket Edition, Morocco binding, gilt edges. Pott 8vo.
+7s. 6d. net.
+
+POETICAL WORKS. School Edition. In Four Parts. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.
+each.
+
+THE DRAMATIC WORKS. Miniature Edition. Five Vols. 16mo. In a box. 12s.
+6d.
+
+
+THE ORIGINAL EDITIONS. Fcap. 8vo.
+
+THE HOLY GRAIL, and other Poems. 4s. 6d.
+
+BALLADS, and other Poems. 5s.
+
+HAROLD: a Drama. 6s.
+
+QUEEN MARY: a Drama. 6s.
+
+THE CUP AND THE FALCON. 5s.
+
+BECKET. 6s.
+
+TIRESIAS, and other Poems. 6s.
+
+LOCKSLEY HALL SIXTY YEARS AFTER, etc. 6s.
+
+DEMETER, and other Poems. 6s.
+
+THE FORESTERS: ROBIN HOOD and MAID MARIAN. 6s.
+
+THE DEATH OF OENONE, AKBAR'S DREAM, and other Poems. 6s.
+
+POEMS BY TWO BROTHERS. Second Edition.
+
+
+THE ROYAL EDITION. 8vo. 16s.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES.
+
+Pott 8vo. 2s. 6d. net. Also Cloth elegant, gilt top, 2s. 6d. net; Limp
+leather, gilt edges, 3s. 6d. net. (Except the _Lyrical Poems_.)
+
+
+LYRICAL POEMS BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON. Selected by FRANCIS T. PALGRAVE.
+Large Paper Edition. 8vo. 9s.
+
+IN MEMORIAM. Large Paper Edition. 8vo. 9s
+
+THE PRINCESS.
+
+IDYLLS OF THE KING.
+
+IDYLLS OF THE KING. (VIVIEN, ELAINE, ENID, GUINEVERE.) Illustrated and
+Decorated by G.W. and L. RHEAD. Royal 4to. 15s. net.
+
+POEMS, including IN MEMORIAM, THE PRINCESS, etc. Illustrated. 8vo. Gilt
+edges. 2s.
+
+IN MEMORIAM. With Notes by the Author. Edited by HALLAM, LORD TENNYSON.
+Fcap. 8vo. 5s. net.
+
+POEMS, including IN MEMORIAM, etc. Medium 8vo, sewed. 6d.
+
+MAUD, THE PRINCESS, ENOCH ARDEN, and other Poems. Medium 8vo, sewed. 6d.
+
+TENNYSON FOR THE YOUNG. With Notes by ALFRED AINGER, M.A. Pott 8vo. 1s.
+net.
+
+SONGS FROM TENNYSON'S WRITINGS. Square 8vo. 2s. 6d.
+
+THE TENNYSON BIRTHDAY BOOK. Edited by EMILY SHAKESPEAR. Extra Crown
+16mo. 2s. 6d.
+
+THE BROOK. Illustrated by A. WOODRUFF. Oblong demy 16mo. 2s. 6d.
+
+BECKET: a Tragedy. As arranged for the stage by HENRY IRVING. 8vo,
+sewed, 1s. net.
+
+
+MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE WORKS OF J.H. SHORTHOUSE
+
+Uniform Edition. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. each.
+
+
+JOHN INGLESANT: a Romance.
+
+THE LITTLE SCHOOLMASTER MARK.
+
+SIR PERCIVAL.
+
+A TEACHER OF THE VIOLIN, and other Tales
+
+BLANCHE, LADY FALAISE.
+
+THE COUNTESS EVE.
+
+
+Edition de Luxe.
+
+JOHN INGLESANT. Three Vols. 8vo. 25s. net.
+
+
+Pocket Edition. Fcap. 8vo.
+
+JOHN INGLESANT. Cloth extra, gilt top. 2s. net.
+
+Limp leather, gilt top. 3s. net.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+LIFE, LETTERS, AND LITERARY REMAINS OF J.H. SHORTHOUSE. Edited by his
+WIFE. Two vols. Extra Crown 8vo. 17s. net.
+
+
+MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON.
+
+
+
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