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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Torn Bible, by Alice Somerton
+
+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: The Torn Bible
+       Or Hubert's Best Friend
+
+Author: Alice Somerton
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2011 [EBook #35199]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORN BIBLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Griff Evans, Lindy Walsh and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                   THE
+                               TORN BIBLE
+                                   OR
+                         _HUBERT'S BEST FRIEND_
+
+                                   BY
+                             ALICE SOMERTON
+                      AUTHOR OF "LAYTON CROFT" ETC.
+
+
+                                 LONDON
+                         FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.
+                              AND NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+                             TO GLANVILLE
+                                  AND
+                       HIS EIGHT SCHOOLFELLOWS.
+
+
+Perhaps, dear boys, you wonder why I should have dedicated this little
+book to you: it is that you may feel a deeper interest in it, and
+imbibe, from reading it, an earnest love and reverence for your Bible,
+which, like a good angel, can guide you safely through the world as
+long as you live. Like Hubert's mother, I ask you to read a portion
+every day; and, whatever be the battle of life you may have to fight,
+may God's blessing attend you, making you humble towards Him, dutiful
+to your parents, and a blessing to mankind.
+
+
+                               Believe me,
+                                     Yours affectionately,
+                                               ALICE SOMERTON.
+
+
+
+
+                            THE TORN BIBLE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+HUBERT'S DEPARTURE FROM HOME.
+
+                   May thy goodness
+    Share with thy birthright! * * * *
+    * * * What heaven more will
+    That these may furnish and my prayers pluck down,
+    Fall on thy head! Farewell.--SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+The rural and picturesque village of Hulney, in the north of England,
+is a charming place; it is almost surrounded with well-wooded hills,
+and the little rivulets, which ever murmur down their sides, run into
+the limpid stream along the banks of which most of the cottages are
+built.
+
+At the north end of the village, on the slope of a hill, is the church,
+so thickly covered with ivy that the only portions of the stonework
+visible are part of the ancient tower and the chancel window.
+
+Legend and historic fact hang their mantle round this old church.
+History tells us that the brave, yet often cruel, Margaret, wife of
+Henry VI., fled there after a defeat in one of her battles; and it is
+also recorded that one hundred of the heroes of Flodden Field rested
+there on their return from the victory. Modern times have added to the
+interest which clings to this old place, and one thing especially which
+draws attention will form the subject of this story.
+
+In that old churchyard, where the children of many generations lie side
+by side, there is many a touching or interesting record; but the
+stranger ever lingers the longest near seven white grave-stones, all
+bearing the name of Goodwin. Upon the one which has the most recent
+date is the following inscription:--"Sacred to the Memory of Hubert
+Goodwin, aged seventy years;" and below this a book, partly destroyed,
+with several of the loose leaves, is carved upon the stone: and though,
+perhaps, this description of it may not be striking, the exquisite
+carving of that destroyed book is such that people ask its meaning, and
+they are told that it is a "torn Bible."
+
+Hubert Goodwin, the tenant of that grave, was the eldest of six
+children, blessed with pious and affectionate parents, well to do in
+the world, and descended from a family of some distinction.
+
+Great pains were bestowed upon Hubert's education, as he grew up to
+youth; but from his birth he was of such a passionate turn, and at
+times so ungovernable, that he was the source of all the sorrow that
+for many years fell to the lot of his parents: he was different to their
+other children, and many a time when reproof had been necessary, and the
+little wayward one, after a troubled day, had retired to rest, his
+mother's heart, still heavy, led her softly to the bed where he lay
+sleeping, and there, kneeling down, she would commend him again, with
+perhaps a deeper earnestness, to that One who knew all her trouble, and
+whom she knew could alone help her. Once the boy awoke as his mother
+knelt beside him, and, as though in answer to her prayer that his heart
+might be changed, he burst into tears, and, throwing his arms round her
+neck, expressed deep sorrow at having grieved her, and promised to try
+and do better. Poor mother! her joy was brief; in a very short time he
+was as undutiful and rebellious as ever, and so he continued until he
+reached the age of twelve years, when, as he had determined upon being
+a soldier, his parents, much against their wish, sent him to a military
+school, to be educated for the army.
+
+A year rolled away, and all the accounts that came from the master of
+Hubert's school informed his parents that he was a bold, unruly boy--a
+great deal of trouble to his teachers--but he would probably tame down
+a little in time, and do very well for the profession he had chosen.
+Many and many a time these parents wept over the letters which spoke
+thus of their son: they wished him to be a good soldier--one fearing
+and serving God--and they oftentimes repeated their tale of sorrow to
+their good pastor, in whom they were wont to confide; but his meed of
+comfort was ever the same. What other could he offer? Good man, he
+knelt with them, directed them to the source of true comfort, the Lord
+Jesus Christ, and tried to lighten their hearts' burden by drawing them
+nearer to the hand that afflicted them.
+
+When Hubert had been three years at school, he obtained, through the
+influence of friends, a cadetship in one of the regiments belonging to
+the East India Company; he was still only a boy, and his parents had
+rather he had not gone entirely away from them so soon, for they felt,
+and with some truth, that while he was at school he was at least under
+their protection, if not their guidance. Hubert, however, came home to
+them a fine noble-looking youth, delighted at the prospect before him,
+and as proud and vain as possible at being at last really a soldier. How
+much his parents loved him, and how they tried to persuade themselves
+that the vivacity and recklessness he showed arose more from the
+hilarity of a heart buoyant with youthful spirits, than from an evil
+nature! but when, on the first Sabbath after his return home, he scoffed
+at the manner in which they observed that holy day, another arrow
+pierced their bosoms, another bitter drop fell into their cup of sorrow.
+
+During the three years Hubert had been at school, his parents had
+gradually observed that, though he did perhaps attend to most of their
+wishes, there was a careless sort of indifference about him; and though
+they were always glad to see him in his vacations, they were as glad to
+see him go back to school, because their home was more peaceful, and
+every one was happier when he was not there. Think of this, boys,
+whoever you may be, that are reading this story, and when you spend a
+short time with those kind parents who love you so much, let them see,
+by your kindness and willing obedience, that you wish to love them as
+much as they love you; and never let them have to say that their home is
+happier when you are not there: no, rather let them rejoice at your
+coming home, welcome you, and think of you as the bright light that
+cheers every one in their dwelling; and if they can do that, be assured
+that God will bless you.
+
+Only a fortnight's leave of absence had been granted to Hubert, and one
+week had gone. The way in which he had spoken of sacred things, and of
+the manner in which they had observed the Sabbath, roused his mother;
+and though her reproof was gentle, she was earnest, and tried all she
+could to influence him to better thoughts. She told him of the many
+snares and dangers he would have to encounter, and the many temptations
+that ever lurk along the path of youth; of the strange country to which
+he was going; and of the doubly incurred danger of going forth in his
+own strength. He listened as she talked to him; but along that way which
+she so dreaded, all his hope and young imagination were centred, and he
+grew restless and impatient to be gone.
+
+They were busy in Hubert's home; brothers and sisters all helped to
+forward the things necessary for their eldest brother's future comfort,
+and they sat later than usual round the fire the last night of his stay
+with them; for everything was ready, and the mail-coach would take him
+from them early on the morrow. The ship which was to convey Hubert to
+India was to sail from Portsmouth, and as his father was in ill-health,
+there was some concern in the family circle about his having to take the
+journey alone; he promised, however, to write immediately he reached the
+vessel, and so, with many a kiss and many a prayer, the family separated
+for the night.
+
+It was a lovely autumn morning in the year 1792; everything round
+Hubert's home looked beautiful, and his brothers and sisters, as they
+clustered around him, and gave him their last kisses, each extorted a
+promise that he would write a long letter to them very soon. Excitement
+had driven off every regret at parting with him, and one young brother
+ran off long before the time, to keep watch at the gate for the coach
+coming.
+
+The time for Hubert to go drew near, and his father, infirm from recent
+sickness, took his hand as he bade him farewell, and laying the other
+upon his head, reminded him once more of lessons long ago taught, and
+long ago forgotten; gave him again good counsel concerning his future
+life; then pressed him earnestly to his heart, and prayed God to keep
+him. Then came his mother; she had already poured out the deep sorrow
+she felt at his leaving her, and had endeavoured to school herself to
+the parting; without a word she threw her arms round his neck, and bent
+her head for some minutes over him. "Oh, Hubert," she at length said,
+"when sickness or trouble comes upon you, you will be far from home, and
+there will be none of us, who love you so dearly, near to comfort you,
+and no one to try and guide you right; but see here, I have a Bible;
+take it, treasure it as my last gift, and promise me that you will read
+it every day. I care not how little you read, but promise that you will
+read some: you will never regret it, and may it teach you the way to
+heaven."
+
+"I _will_ read it, mother; I wish I were as good as you are; I know I am
+not like the others. Mother dear, don't cry; I will try and do as you
+wish; good-bye!" and after kissing her affectionately he hurried from
+the house.
+
+The coach was at the gate, round which the children gathered, and for a
+few minutes every one seemed busy. The servant-man was there with
+Hubert's trunk and a small leather bag; the nurse had come round from
+the back garden with the baby; cook followed, and stood a little way
+behind the gate with her arms half wrapped up in her apron; and the
+housemaid stood at one of the open bed-room windows; while on the steps
+of the door were his parents, joining in the farewell to the first-born.
+Pilot, the house-dog, seemed to have some notion of the passing event,
+for he had come to the gate too, and did not, as was his usual custom,
+race and gambol with the children, but sat down amongst them all,
+apparently in a thoughtful mood. Hubert kissed his brothers and sisters,
+and then took his seat amongst the passengers; then came many a
+good-bye, and waving of handkerchiefs, and the coach rolled away.
+
+"He's gone," said his father, as the coach wended its way round the
+hill. "Never mind, Mary; it was not for this we trained him, but we've
+done our duty, I hope, in letting him go, for he was determined, and
+would perhaps soon have taken his own way; poor lad! Perhaps amongst
+strangers he will do better than with us; but I would sooner have buried
+him--sooner, by far, have laid him in the churchyard--than he should
+have taken this course. What is the use of trying to make children good?
+Tears, prayers, self-denials, what is the use of them all, if the result
+is like this?" So he murmured, and then bowed his head and wept, and his
+wife, instead of receiving comfort from him, became the comforter; for,
+putting her arm round his neck, she replied,
+
+"Oh, yes, dear, our prayers and tears have brought us many blessings;
+see the other children, how good they are; don't murmur. God may yet
+bless us in Hubert; it is terrible to part with him in this way; but it
+may yet be a blessing to us all: God knows." Then she sat down and wept
+with her husband over this first great sorrow; and they _did_ weep; they
+and God alone knew the depth of the woe that had come upon them; the
+first-born pride of their home and hearts going from them, perhaps for
+ever, without one religious impression, or care for the future, was a
+sorrow that none around could lighten, and they knelt down and prayed
+fervently for that reckless son, and tried to feel a deeper trust in Him
+who, though depriving them of one blessing, gave them many.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TOO LATE FOR THE POST-BAG.
+
+    Be wise to-day; 'tis madness to defer;
+    Next day the fatal precedent will plead;
+    Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of life.
+                       YOUNG.
+
+
+Meantime, Hubert went on his way, and a feeling of sadness came over him
+after he lost sight of his home amongst the trees; for the thought had
+come into his mind that perhaps he might never see it again. For a
+moment his heart beat quickly, and he gave a deep sigh; then, putting
+his hand into the leather bag, he was just going to take out his
+mother's present to him, when a man, who sat opposite, said, "I suppose,
+young soldier, you are off to join your regiment?"
+
+"Yes," replied Hubert, with a smile; and as he drew his hand from the
+bag, he continued, "we are ordered to the East Indies."
+
+"East Indies, eh? you'll soon see a little life, then; they tell me
+there's plenty of fighting going on out yonder, though we don't get
+much of it in the newspaper. But you are very young?"
+
+"Yes, I'm the youngest cadet in the regiment; I'm just turned fifteen;
+but I shall be as brave as any of the others, I dare say: and I mean to
+make as good a soldier."
+
+"No doubt of it," replied more than one of the passengers, and the
+coachman, who had heard the conversation, cracked his whip, as he chimed
+in, "Hear! hear! well done!" Then, as the coach rolled along over many a
+mile, they talked of nothing but Hubert and the sphere of his future
+existence. It feasted the boy's pride; and every other thought fled
+away, and he forgot all about his home and his Bible.
+
+It was the morning of the third day since Hubert started, when, after
+many changes and delays, the journey was almost ended, and in less than
+an hour they would be in London.
+
+"Do you go to your ship at once?" inquired a gentleman who was seated
+beside the coachman, and who had not only come all the journey with
+Hubert, but who appeared particularly interested in him.
+
+"I should like to go very much," replied the boy, "because I know no one
+in London, though my leave of absence is not up till to-morrow."
+
+"My brother is captain of your vessel," said the stranger; "so, if you
+like, we can go together, for I am on the way to say good-bye to him."
+
+Nothing could have suited Hubert better; so, upon leaving the coach,
+which reached London as the clocks were striking five, they hurried off
+to the street where the mail started for Portsmouth, and after
+travelling all day they reached the vessel. How happy was Hubert that
+night! what a joyous glow was on his cheek! Several of his old
+companions were there, and not one of them appeared to have any sorrow
+at leaving friends and home; they greeted each other with light hearts
+and buoyant spirits, talked of the varied enjoyments of the past
+holiday, and laughed loud and long, as they sat together in the
+mess-room.
+
+Here and there, apart from the young ones, in nook and corner, or
+leaning over the side of the vessel, an older head resting upon the
+hand, told that with some, at least, the pang of parting from home and
+dear ones had left its impress upon the heart of the soldier; and there
+was one young lad, a stranger, only one month older than Hubert, seated
+upon a coil of rope, weeping as though his heart would break. The little
+cabin-boy, a child of eleven, tried to soothe him, but the sailors, as
+they passed by, said, "Let him alone, boy, and he'll join his messmates
+below all the sooner."
+
+Night closed at last, and for a few hours, at least, there was silence:
+sleep may not have visited every pillow, but the loud laugh was hushed,
+and the stillness of night rested upon the vessel.
+
+It was late the next morning when Hubert left his cabin; all was noise
+and confusion; hundreds of soldiers were moving about, and Hubert, to
+escape from the turmoil, was preparing to go ashore when a superior
+officer touched him on the shoulder and desired him to remain in the
+vessel. Hubert was vexed at the order, and sat down gloomily upon a
+seat; the time, however, passed quickly by, and at noon, when the bugle
+sounded to summon all visitors on deck, that they might be sent on
+shore, he had forgotten his anger, and was one of the most cheerful
+there.
+
+The friends were gone, all the partings were over, the gangways were
+secured, and everything was ready. Wind and tide in favour, time was
+precious, and the roll was called: every soldier, to a man, answered to
+his name, and they gave three hearty cheers for King George, their
+regiment, and Old England.
+
+"The ship will weigh anchor in less than an hour," said a voice close to
+Hubert's ear, and, turning round, he saw the gentleman who had
+accompanied him from his home.
+
+"Oh, how do you do?" said Hubert, shaking hands with him. "Do you sail
+with us?"
+
+"No, only just a mile or so, then I shall return in a boat. Have you a
+letter to your parents? if so, I shall be happy to post it for you."
+
+Hubert's face turned red: he had forgotten to write, and he replied, "I
+have not a letter."
+
+"Perhaps you have already sent one?"
+
+"Yes," said Hubert; "I mean no; I have not written; the ship sails so
+soon, and I have been so engaged that I forgot."
+
+"Forgot?" said the stranger, retaining his hand. "What! forget to write
+to those parents you may never see again? Come, my lad, that looks ill
+in a soldier; take a friend's advice, and write a letter at once; if I
+cannot take it, you will have an opportunity of sending it before many
+days pass, and your parents must be anxious about you: try and remember
+all the good counsels they gave you before you left, and never forget
+them. Good-bye; remember what I say; good-bye."
+
+There was much warmth in the stranger's manner as he shook Hubert's
+hand, into whose young heart every good resolution returned, and he
+hastened to the cabin which he was to share with three other cadets. He
+was silent and thoughtful as he unpacked his chest to find his writing
+materials, and there the previous evening he had placed his Bible. As he
+raised the lid, his eye fell upon his mother's last gift, and more
+earnestly than before he determined upon writing a long letter. The
+paper was found, and the writing-desk, which a dear little sister had
+given him, was opened, when in rushed the three noisy companions of his
+cabin, and made so much disturbance that he found it impossible to
+write; so, thinking that he should have plenty of time "to-morrow," he
+put his things back again into his chest, and became as noisy as the
+others. Another opportunity was lost, another good resolution broken,
+for the society of noisy and riotous companions; and it may be that the
+many evils and sorrows of his after-life were but the fruits of his
+neglecting this first great duty. Had he remembered his parents and
+their counsels, and cherished the little germ of goodness that was
+springing up in his heart, heavenly dews might have descended upon the
+flower, and kept him from the ways of evil.
+
+The vessel at last set sail, and order was restored. Hubert was upon
+deck, and as he looked over the side of the ship, and saw the white
+cliffs of his country fading from his view, he for once felt
+lonely--felt he was leaving all he loved, and he wished he had written
+home.
+
+"Just a line: I might do it now," he said to himself. He found, however,
+upon turning to go below, that he would be required to perform one of
+his military duties almost immediately, so that he could not write then;
+and he felt such a mixture of sorrow and vexation, that the feelings of
+the boy mocked, as it were, the dress he wore; and, leaning his head
+over the side of the ship, more than one large tear mingled with the
+waters of the deep.
+
+Their first night at sea came on: how calm and beautiful it was! there
+was scarcely a ripple upon the ocean; the bright stars in the high vault
+of heaven looked down like so many gentle friends upon the eyes that
+gazed up at them, and the pale moonbeams lighted up the pathway for
+those wanderers on the waters. Hubert was not happy; many, many times he
+fancied he could hear his mother speaking to him, and he would have
+given much if he had only written to her. It was then he again
+remembered his Bible, and the promise to read it, which promise he now
+determined to perform, and as soon as he could conveniently go to his
+cabin, he did so, opened his chest, and took out the book, intending to
+read.
+
+"How small it is," he thought, "and how pretty!" Then he turned over
+leaf by leaf; he knew not where to begin: he could remember nothing at
+all about it, and it ended in his putting it back in his chest and going
+to his bed. Sleep soon silenced every thought, no letter was written
+home, not a word of the Bible was read, promise and resolutions had
+passed away with his sorrow, and Hubert little thought, as he silenced
+the monitor within, how hard it would be to return to the duty he was
+neglecting.
+
+The ship had now been a fortnight at sea; it had passed through the Bay
+of Biscay, and was off the coast of Portugal, when the soldiers were
+informed that in about an hour a vessel would pass very near to them;
+and, as the sea was calm, a boat would leave in forty minutes to carry
+letters for England to the passing ship.
+
+"Forty minutes," said Hubert aloud, and apparently pleased, for he
+hurried off, as many more did, to avail themselves of the opportunity of
+writing home. Forty minutes, however, was too long a time for Hubert,
+and he returned again to the deck, to seek a companion and inquire what
+he intended to do, before he sat down to write himself. Thoughts of
+neglected duty and unkindness to his parents had frequently disturbed
+Hubert's mind; try as he would to sweep every remembrance of his
+disobedience away, the thought would come that he had not done right;
+but, instead of sorrowing and making an effort to repair the ill he had
+done, he tried to persuade himself that he was cowardly in giving way to
+his feelings; so he endeavoured to smother the rising affection that
+stole upon him during the first few days he was upon the sea, and the
+result was that he became more reckless than ever.
+
+"Letters ready?" all at once startled Hubert, as he stood talking to his
+companion upon the deck: there was the man with the bag collecting them,
+and his was not written. The bag was sealed, the boat was pushed off,
+the last chance, probably for months, was gone, and, as he began to hum
+a tune, he walked away to the other end of the ship. He looked over the
+side, and a momentary feeling of vexation came over him as he saw the
+little boat carrying its treasure, its bag of home letters; but he was
+learning now to defy his conscience, and sang louder the snatch of song
+that rushed to his aid, and seemed to be all he wanted to throw back the
+better feelings of his heart.
+
+Many weeks had passed since that noble vessel left England; its white
+sails were still spread in the breeze, and it was wafted on over the
+sea. Hubert had tried very hard to forget all about his home; the
+recollections of it were not pleasant, they were too accusing for him to
+indulge in; there was a holiness about it which ill-accorded with the
+life he was leading, and the effort he continually made to suppress
+every thought of it frequently caused him to fall deeper into sin.
+
+One night, when in the height of glee in the mess-room, when songs were
+being sung, and the giddy laugh rang out upon the silent waters, and
+Hubert was joining fully in the mirth of his comrades, he suddenly
+remembered that he had in his chest a book of sea-songs, and hastened
+away to get it. He knew pretty well where to put his hand upon it; so,
+when he reached his cabin, he never thought of lighting his little lamp,
+but knelt down beside his chest in the dark. It was scarcely the work of
+a minute; his chest was re-locked, and he skipped away back to the
+mess-room; his hand was upon the door, when all at once his eye fell
+upon the book he had brought; it was not the one he had intended to
+bring--it was not the song-book, but the Bible. He started when he saw
+what he had; and how was it that a sudden chill sped like lightning
+over him? How was it that on that sultry night he felt so cold? His hand
+trembled, his heart beat quickly, but the tempter was by his side, and
+he gave utterance to many an evil thought as he turned back to change
+that unwelcome treasure.
+
+The Bible was exchanged for the song-book, and Hubert was again with his
+comrades, where he became more riotous than before, and was nearly the
+last to retire to rest.
+
+There was silence once more in the ship, for it was midnight, and all
+except the few who kept the night-watch were sleeping. Hubert had
+perhaps fallen asleep as soon as any of his companions, but his rest was
+short, for he started up in alarm. He tried to remember what it was that
+had disturbed him, but could not. He looked around to see if either of
+his comrades were moving, but their deep, heavy breathing told him they
+slept; and then he lay down again in his own berth. There, in that still
+hour, as he listened to the soft wind passing through the rigging, and
+the slow measured tread of the sentinels on deck, he all at once thought
+of his English home, thought of his broken faith with his mother,
+thought of his Bible.
+
+"It is no use," he said aloud, "I cannot alter it now; how I wish I had
+but just written home! fool that I was not to do so; and that book, how
+I wish she had never given it to me; it will make me a coward: in fact
+it does; I never go to my chest, but there it is; I'll burn it--I'll
+throw it away; how I wish I had never had it!" and he struck the side of
+his berth with his clenched fist as he spoke.
+
+There was no voice in that little cabin to answer or direct Hubert in
+his outburst of passionate feeling; and, as he looked around at his
+sleeping comrades, he crept softly from his berth, and went and knelt
+down by his chest. The moon shone brightly through the tiny cabin
+window, and as he knelt by his chest he could see very well everything
+around him. He took out his Bible, and gazed wildly at it for a moment,
+scarce knowing what next to do; then rising as if a sudden thought had
+struck him, he tried to open the window that he might throw it into the
+sea: it was, however, too secure to open at his will, and, turning away
+after a fruitless effort, he sought a place to hide it. "Where shall I
+hide it?" he said, as he walked round and round his cabin; there was no
+nook or corner into which he could thrust it so that it should never
+meet his eye again. What could he do with it? He must wait for another
+opportunity; so, taking out nearly everything in his chest, he thrust it
+down into the farthest corner, heaped all his things upon it, made them
+secure, and then returned to his bed. The excitement of the moment was
+over, yet Hubert could not rest, and, as he turned himself upon his
+uneasy bed, he never once regretted the wicked thought that had led him
+to try and throw away his Bible; but the determination to dispose of it
+grew stronger.
+
+Some weeks after this little event, the regiment arrived in India, and
+was ordered far up the country: the long, toilsome march which Hubert
+now had to undergo, initiated him into some of the realities of a
+soldier's life, and it was not long before he found that the career he
+had chosen was not so full of enjoyment as he had anticipated. He very
+often felt weary; the heat of the country depressed his spirits; and he
+often sighed deeply as he remembered the pleasant hills and valleys of
+his own land. The regiment had no sooner located itself in the new
+station, than Hubert and many others were struck down with fever. Death
+was busy amongst them, but the young prodigal was spared. Many a time he
+had wished to die; sick and amongst strangers, his mother's words had
+come home to him with double power, and he felt the bitter truth that
+there was indeed none who loved him, none to comfort him; it was a
+wonder he lived, for the fever was malignant, and the care bestowed upon
+the sick very little indeed. Poor Hubert! how was it he could not die?
+Young as he was, this illness taught him the sad lesson that where there
+is no love or interest there is an inhumanity in man; and as he grew
+better his heart became more hardened, for he began to cherish a hatred
+towards every one around him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE BIBLE TORN.
+
+    Within this awful volume lies
+    The mystery of mysteries;
+    And better he had ne'er been born
+    Who reads to doubt or reads to scorn.--SCOTT.
+
+
+We must pass over a few years. Hubert had overcome the effects of the
+climate, and the many dangers to which he had been exposed, helped, as
+they ever will, the heart, uninfluenced by religion, to make him more
+reckless and daring. Away from his sight, at the bottom of his chest,
+undisturbed, lay his Bible; beside it, too, lay his sister's desk, and
+the writing materials his mother had carefully packed for him: he seldom
+thought of the fond ones who had given him those things; but far away in
+England they ever thought of him, and watched and wept for a letter.
+
+Hubert's regiment had seen a great deal of service, and it had not been
+his lot to escape the dangers of war. On one occasion he had been
+overcome and taken prisoner by some natives, and was only saved from
+being put to death in a cruel manner by an unexpected attack being made
+upon these Hindoos by a neighbouring chief, to repulse which they left
+Hubert and two of his companions in the care of some women, from whom
+they were rescued by a company of his regiment who had come out to
+search for him. In a few hours the attempt to save Hubert would have
+been in vain, for the Hindoos, hating the English, seldom allowed much
+time to elapse between the capture and the sacrifice. Many a narrow
+escape besides this, and many a wound--some slight and some
+severe--dotted the pathway of Hubert's life; and the seventh year of his
+residence in India was drawing to a close. The hot season had been
+unusually oppressive; nearly every disease which flesh is heir to had
+made fearful ravages amongst the soldiers, and Hubert was a second time
+struck down with fever. Mercy once again interposed, and, like the
+barren fig-tree, he was spared, that another opportunity might be given
+him to bear fruit. One morning, when he was getting better, the hospital
+nurse came to him with a letter in her hand, and asked if he thought it
+was for him; he took it from her, and for a few moments did not answer
+her: his heart smote him; but though his illness had slightly subdued
+him, he was old in sin, and had learnt how to overcome all feelings of
+tenderness; so, striving to check the thoughts that were forcing their
+way, he began to examine the postmarks and various written notices upon
+the outside of the letter; he soon found how far it had travelled in
+search of him, and now it was by a mere chance that he had received it.
+
+"Why was this letter not sent after me?" inquired Hubert.
+
+"Be thankful, sir, that you have received it now," said the nurse. "It
+has travelled after you a great way; but your regiment has been so much
+on the move that I am not surprised at its being delayed. I have seen it
+on the letter-rack more than eight months, and several others with it,
+and you would not have had it now if I had not remembered you."
+
+"Why, where did you see me before?"
+
+"I nursed poor Captain White in the hospital at Jansi, and I knew you by
+your coming so often to see him."
+
+"I did not remember you."
+
+"No, sir, perhaps not; but I did you, though it was only this morning
+that I remembered anything about the letter, and that is how it is they
+often get delayed: they are given to people very often, to send on, who
+know nothing at all about them, and so they get put on one side, and
+sometimes forgotten altogether. I suppose that was sent here because
+someone knew that when you were stationed here a year ago, you were in
+hospital with jaundice, and here it has been ever since."
+
+"It is high time things were altered, then," replied Hubert, "if this is
+how the letters are treated."
+
+"Yes, sir, it is," said the nurse; "but you don't seem very anxious to
+read your letter, now you have it."
+
+Hubert said no more. Anxious indeed he was to know what that letter
+contained, but fearful to open it; the battle, everything indeed in
+warfare he could face with boldness, but before that silent, soiled,
+fairy-like packet in his hand his whole nature quailed. Had he been
+alone, perhaps he would not have opened it at all; but the eye of
+another was upon him, and perhaps it was to save betrayal that he broke
+the seal. It was from his father; there was nothing reproachful in it,
+but a great deal of news about the family and their affectionate
+remembrance of him; a long account of letters written, and their fears
+that they had not reached him; then an earnest pleading that if he
+received that he would write to them immediately, for their anxiety and
+disappointment were very great.
+
+Hubert read his letter several times; it was not the first he had
+received, though perhaps it was the first that he really felt anxious to
+answer; but he was too much out of health to reply to it then. It was
+frequently a silent companion to him during the remainder of his stay in
+the hospital, though when he grew better and returned again to his old
+companions, somehow his father's letter was forgotten.
+
+Hubert's illness had no effect upon him for good; it was sent, no doubt
+in mercy, to check, at least for a time, the career he was running; but
+health had returned, and so had he to his evil habits. Not one thought
+did he ever willingly give to his parents, or the good precepts they had
+tried to teach him; but when at times a few lines of a hymn, or a few
+words of an early learnt prayer, would, in spite of all his efforts,
+come across his mind, he had become so bold in sin that he cursed the
+intruding memory of his purer days.
+
+How little that young soldier thought of the merciful providence that
+was watching over him! And it was doubtless in answer to his parents'
+prayers that the little snatches of his early lessons were allowed to
+intrude so repeatedly upon him, to bring him back, if possible, to a
+better life. Take courage, mothers, even though the seed now sown seems
+to perish as it falls; and continue to store up in the little mind
+passages of holy writ, the simple prayer, and the childish hymn; long,
+long may the soil remain barren, but a distant storm-cloud may shed its
+torrents there, and then the fruit of thy labours may return like the
+autumn grain, and ye shall reap, if ye faint not.
+
+Hubert had grown very handsome, military fortune had smiled upon him,
+and he had risen to be first lieutenant of his regiment Good abilities,
+and great intelligence, with his merry, cheerful disposition, had won
+him many favours; but those qualities were at the same time the snares
+in his path: they were misapplied and misdirected, and too often were
+the cause of his deepest errors.
+
+One night, about nine years after Hubert had left England, he sat alone
+in his room, with a heavier heart than he had ever before endured. His
+sword lay upon the floor, part of his soldier's dress was thrown
+carelessly upon a chair, a glass jug of water and a bottle were upon the
+table, a loose grey cloak was wrapped around him, and his arm was in a
+sling; he had been in battle that day, and severely cut upon the
+shoulder; the doctor had attended to him and bound up the wound, and
+Hubert, sick and dispirited, lounged in his easy chair in gloomy
+silence. The doctor had tried to persuade him to go to bed, and Hubert
+had promised to do so; but as soon as he was gone, the servant man was
+dismissed from the room, and Hubert began to think. They must have been
+terrible thoughts that could have produced such a look of despair; they
+were not, however, about his wounded shoulder, nor the dangers he had
+that day encountered; neither were they of his parents, to whom, in a
+few months, the news of the battle would probably find its way. It was
+altogether another matter which troubled him.
+
+A companion, a fellow officer--the little lad who seated himself upon
+the coil of rope and wept such tears as the vessel left England--had
+grown up to manhood with Hubert, and had that morning gone out with him
+to battle; they were full of spirit when they went, and for some time
+fought nearly side by side; but there came unexpectedly a terrible
+volley of shot from a portion of the enemy that lay concealed behind
+some dense brushwood. Hubert's ranks were thinned, and, as he turned
+round to rally and command his men, he missed his friend. It was a
+critical moment; every energy and thought was required for the fight; so
+that a glance behind, and a fleeting pang lest he had fallen, were all
+that circumstances allowed, and Hubert rushed on.
+
+The battle was won, the soldiers were returning, and Hubert was wounded;
+he had made inquiry for his friend, but could hear nothing. As they
+wound their way along, however, by the hill-side where the volley had
+been fired, his heart beat quickly, for his own wound had made him feel
+weak, and he could scarcely speak, when he saw two soldiers bending over
+something lying on the grass. All his fears were realized as he slowly
+came up to the scene; for there, stretched upon the ground, lay his
+companion, dead. Oh! how the sight overcame him. If man is capable of
+loving man, it was exemplified in Hubert; for his heart had deeply
+entwined itself round his hapless comrade, and his first impulse was to
+kneel beside him, and with his unwounded arm press him to his bosom as
+he wept over his pallid brow. No thought, however, of the mercy which
+had kept him from a similar fate came into his mind; no prayer of
+thankfulness went up from his heart; but sorrowful and ill, he left his
+friend, and leaning between the two soldiers, he at last, after great
+difficulty, reached his quarters. After Hubert had been attended to by
+the doctor, a second thought took the place of the first pure one; and,
+as he sat alone, instead of pouring out his heart in deep gratitude to
+his Almighty Preserver, he became irritated and angry, and amongst the
+many thoughts that crowded upon him he remembered that his poor dead
+companion was deeply in his debt. Much of their time had been spent
+together at the gaming-table, and only a few evenings before, Hubert had
+lent his companion all the money he had by him, including his last
+month's pay; since then, Hubert had gambled, and been unsuccessful, and
+had become involved for a considerable amount, which he had promised to
+pay in a week; but his companion, who owed him sufficient to pay the
+debt, was killed, and the difficulty into which he was suddenly plunged
+drove him almost to despair.
+
+"What shall I do?" he said, as he passionately struck the table; and
+then, in the height of his frenzy, he said many bitter, cruel things
+about his poor guilty companion who lay dead upon his bed in the
+adjoining room.
+
+"Oh, what shall I do?" he said again; and for some minutes he sat still,
+gazing with a vacant stare upon the floor; then, as if moved by a sudden
+impulse, he slowly rose from his chair, and, going into his bed-room, he
+knelt down by his chest, intending to get some writing paper, that he
+might reckon up all he owed, and see how far his own resources would
+help him. Perhaps he was too absorbed to think of what he was doing, for
+he took out a small parcel, and then, after replacing the things in his
+chest, he went and sat down by the table. For some minutes he sat with
+his face covered with his hands, as though he were in deep thought;
+then he muttered something, and, snatching up the parcel, he broke the
+string that tied it; one sharp pull drew the paper away, when out upon
+the table fell his Bible. "Fool, to bring that!" he said, and then he
+dashed it to the other end of the room. In striking the Bible it came
+open, and as it came in contact with the corner of a chair two of its
+leaves were torn out. There was a slight momentary regret in Hubert's
+heart, when he found what he had done: he hated the book, and could not
+bear it in his sight; and though he would have been glad to have been
+rid of it, he never thought, nor perhaps ever intended destroying it in
+that way, and he stepped across the room to gather it all up. Much of
+his passion subsided as he sat down and tried to replace the torn
+leaves. The days, however, had long since passed when he was accustomed
+to read his Bible; he was now not only unfamiliar with that sacred book,
+but all that he once knew appeared to have gone from his memory; and
+though he turned over and over again one portion after another, to find
+the part in Ezekiel from which the pages had been torn, it was of no
+use, he could not replace them; so, with a nervous hand, he thrust them
+into his pocket, and took the torn Bible back to his chest.
+
+This little incident, though it produced no reflection, subdued for a
+time the excitement under which he was labouring; and though he
+disregarded the unseen hand that was dealing so mysteriously with him,
+the first outburst of bad feeling respecting the difficulty into which
+he had fallen by the death of his gambling companion was over, and,
+leaving his room, he walked with gentle step to the one in which his
+dead comrade lay. The years of folly and sin which Hubert had passed had
+not quite dried up all the fountains of his heart; one of them, at
+least, was flowing afresh as he closed the door and went up to the
+remains of his dead friend. He raised the sheet which had been spread
+over the corpse, and breathed the words, "Oh, poor Harris!" as he gazed
+upon the once joyous face; then, sitting down beside him, he laid his
+hand upon the cold forehead and wept as he had not done since his
+childhood. He had seen death in many forms, and this was not the first
+time he had lost a companion; but neither tear nor sigh had followed the
+death of any one before: but for poor Harris, how he wept! Hubert had
+loved him well. Death, which before had no effect upon him, overwhelmed
+him now, and it was not until his own wounded arm grew very painful,
+from the effects of touching the cold dead, that he rose to go away.
+Harris was to be buried early on the morrow, and Hubert felt such a
+strange bitterness at parting that he could scarcely go; but at last,
+bending over him, he pressed one long, fervent kiss upon the silent lips
+and turned away.
+
+In passing along near the door, his eye caught what he thought to be a
+piece of folded paper lying near the clothes of his friend; he picked it
+up, and, upon opening it, found it to be a note from poor Harris--a few
+lines written by him in pencil, as he lay dying upon the field of
+battle; and there was not much upon the paper, but there was enough.
+Poor Harris, in that brief note, begged the finder to convey the sad
+story of his death to his mother, and tell her how bitterly he repented
+having so long forgotten her; that he begged her to forgive him, and
+earnestly implored the Lord Jesus to have mercy upon him; then came the
+words--evidently written by a trembling hand--"Comrade, turn and repent;
+not a moment may be given to you; tell Hubert Goodwin I am dead: he must
+meet me again."
+
+Hubert had never felt before what he did as he read that note--written
+as the life-blood wasted, and he the subject of it; how he trembled,
+bold, daring soldier that he was! it was the voice from the dead; and at
+first he felt cold--so cold: his teeth chattered, and then a sudden heat
+rushed over him, and the perspiration trickled down his face; his bosom
+swelled, his breath grew short; at length, a long, deep groan burst from
+his overcharged heart, and he went to his own room. Long, very long,
+silent and alone, Hubert sat in his dreary chamber; there were but few
+sounds without, and nothing but sighs and groans broke the stillness
+within; the words on that blood-spotted note touched him deeply, struck
+many a note of discord in his heart, tore into shreds the cloak of sin
+and guilt he had worn so long, and exposed to him the part he had taken
+in dragging his companion, once a pure, noble-hearted, susceptible boy,
+down deep into the villanies of his own dissipated life. And he was to
+meet him again--where?
+
+The teaching of his childhood had not been in vain; the bread cast upon
+the waters had not all perished; conscience whispered the truth, and
+Hubert knew where he should meet Harris. The soldier's head bowed; he
+felt he could not, he dare not, meet the soul he had ruined; the thought
+of the terrible record against him broke down his spirit. "Great God!"
+as he glanced upward, was all he uttered, in his despair, and his head
+drooped again in deep anguish upon his bosom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+ELLEN BUCHAN.
+
+                        She was the pride
+    Of her familiar sphere,--the daily joy
+    Of all who on her gracefulness might gaze,
+    And in the light and music of her way
+    Have a companion's portion. Who could feel,
+    While looking upon beauty such as hers,
+    That it would ever perish?--WILLIS.
+
+
+That night, and for many days, Hubert knew no peace; sleeping or waking,
+Harris was ever in his thoughts; turn where he would, there was a
+remembrance of his dead companion, the loss of whom he deeply mourned.
+Out of health himself, his bereavement was more felt, especially as he
+was unable to seek other comrades with whom he might drive gloomy
+thoughts away. At other times, when he had been ill, Harris had ever
+sought him; but now, no one save those who waited upon him entered his
+room, and he began to hate the sound of their footsteps, because he felt
+that he paid for their sympathy. Poor Harris! how he missed him; how
+long the days seemed, and how slow his recovery! Who shall say it was
+not an opportunity vouchsafed by the Almighty to bring back his own
+wandering soul? Why did he not pray in his hours of distress? No; the
+heart long used to the neglect of that holy privilege and duty but ill
+knows how to fly to the throne of grace in the hour of woe, and too
+often throws back the hand of God with ungrateful murmurings. Hubert
+never once poured out his burden of distress, never once looked to that
+loving God whose eye, notwithstanding his wickedness, watched over him
+with a father's love, but fretted and repined at the calamity which had
+befallen him, until every pure and good feeling fled away once more, and
+he began to be as cold and callous about the death of poor Harris as he
+was about other things.
+
+Time, the great soother of woe in the human heart, threw its power over
+Hubert; as it passed, it brought him returning health, and, once again
+mingling in the busy scenes of his profession, the wounded arm, the dead
+companion, and the warning, all shared the doom of the other events of
+his life: they were gone, and he was happy in forgetting them. The
+difficulty into which he had fallen with respect to his money matters,
+however, taught him a lesson; and though he again joined the society of
+many of his former companions, he never again fell into that terrible
+vice which had so nearly ruined his worldly prospects.
+
+Some weeks had passed away; all the little effects belonging to poor
+Harris were being collected, for the captain of his company had found
+amongst some letters the names of some of the poor fellow's relations in
+England. Hubert heard of what was being done, and one morning, meeting
+the doctor of the regiment, they began talking the matter over. "I can
+tell you where his mother lives," said Hubert, "if you will step into my
+rooms; for now I remember it, I have by me a little note for her,--at
+least I have her address upon it."
+
+They walked along together, talking of various matters, and having
+reached Hubert's rooms he took from a little desk a small piece of
+paper, and, without a thought, said, as he handed it to the doctor, "I
+think you'll find it on that."
+
+The doctor read the note, and as he did so a sad expression stole over
+his face, and then, looking at Hubert, he said, "Oh, Goodwin, what a
+letter! Poor Harris! What a warning for us all. And what an escape you
+had; the ball passed you, but it pierced his lungs. It might have been
+your lot; though I trust a better account than this would have been sent
+home of you."
+
+"Come now, doctor, no preaching; I cannot tell what account will be
+given of me when I'm knocked off."
+
+"A true one, I have no doubt," was the reply.
+
+"Perhaps so; but I don't care what people say; I do my duty, no one can
+deny that, and soldiers can't be preachers."
+
+"But they can be Christians, and find as much need of the Bible as the
+sword. As much! Ah! more; it is a double weapon, a sword and a shield:
+try it, Goodwin, if you never have, and see if I am not correct. If any
+man is in heaven, my father is; he was thirty-four years a soldier,
+fought in forty-one battles, and had as many wounds. And what preserved
+him? What made him go cheerfully through all the trials of a soldier's
+life? What made his name honoured and respected, as you yourself have
+often observed? Was it the battles he fought, or the fame he won? No. He
+read his Bible every day of his life, and tried to live as that holy
+book says men ought to live. He infused, by God's help, the same spirit
+into his company, and many a year must roll by before the words, 'Good
+Captain Martin,' will cease to be heard; and the influence of his
+example will linger still longer. No one can tell the power of example;
+and it is a serious reflection that we each have to answer for the
+amount we exercise over our fellow creatures."
+
+Hubert had thrown himself into an easy chain, and, with his hands thrust
+into his pockets, he silently listened to the doctor; but now he
+replied: "But surely we cannot possibly help persons imitating what we
+do. I don't see that we are to be responsible for the folly and evil
+deeds of others."
+
+"Certainly not, Goodwin; but still, how can we be sure that our conduct
+has not caused many of the deeds you mention? Thousands of noble-hearted
+pure-minded youths who have entered the army have been ruined, both in
+body and soul, by the example of some wicked comrade."
+
+"Do you refer to Harris?" asked Hubert, starting up from his seat;
+"because if you do, I may tell you at once that I am not going to be
+accused of anything he did. If he chose to make a fool of himself, it is
+nothing to me: my conscience is clear."
+
+"I refer to truth," said the doctor, "and my own experience; and if we
+would only ask ourselves how far our conduct will affect those around
+us, we should be better men. Man _will_ imitate, and it is what he
+imitates that ennobles or debases him; it is example which has filled
+the heart of man with all that is good and noble, and it has also helped
+to make up long catalogues of crime. Our blessed Saviour knew the power
+of it when He said to His disciples, 'Be ye perfect, as I am perfect.'"
+
+The calm and gentle manner of the doctor subdued Hubert's rising anger,
+and as he listened to him _he_ also felt the deep power of example.
+Before any other man who had dared to refer to Harris, as his heart told
+him the doctor had done, he would have given way to the passion which
+his guilty conscience prompted; but there was an overpowering influence
+in the calm demeanour of that good man, which Hubert felt; and when he
+was gone the room seemed very lonely, and Hubert paced it with rapid
+stride, as he thought over the past: the life he had led and was still
+leading, the dead Harris, and the warning note smote upon his memory,
+and he wished--oh, how earnestly he wished!--that he were but half like
+that good man who had just left him. It was a difficult matter, however,
+for Hubert to profit much by what had transpired; the wish to lead a
+better life was earnest enough, but old habits and evil associates had
+forged their chains of fascination round him, and he went out to seek
+company which would soon snap the silver cord of purity that was
+beginning once more to form holy tracery on his heart.
+
+Thus it ever is with the heart that is continually striving against the
+influences and power of the Spirit. To keep down the still small voice
+of conscience, nothing is so effectual as the whirlwind of pleasure, and
+man runs headlong from one sin to another, until the fatal hour dawns
+when God's Spirit will no longer strive. Repeated warnings disregarded,
+and opportunities neglected, ruined Hubert's better nature: in scenes
+of dissipation the germs of holiness perished, and he sank down deep,
+deeper still into sin, growing older in wickedness as he grew stronger
+in manhood, belying, as many do, the noble image on his brow by the mark
+of _Cain_ upon his heart.
+
+It was seldom that the regiment to which Hubert belonged remained longer
+than a few years in one place, so that his stock of worldly possessions
+had not greatly increased; but it was eighteen years since he left home,
+and he was now about changing into another regiment, one more stationary
+than his own, and marrying the daughter of an old English resident at
+Agra. During the time Hubert had been in India, he had experienced many
+vicissitudes often marching through the country, often in battle, and
+occasionally sick and in hospital. He had grown from the pretty rosy boy
+to a tall, dark sunburnt man, and was now a captain. In military things
+he had improved; but though of those who went out with him to India more
+than half had either fallen in battle or died of disease, nothing
+softened his heart, and it was a wicked boast he frequently made in the
+mess-room, that when he was unable to fight any longer he would think
+about going home and being religious. Thus he went on wasting the vigour
+of his life, tempting by his blasphemy the merciful God that was sparing
+him, neglecting every opportunity for repentance, and occasionally
+tearing up his Bible.
+
+The doctor, who had been nearly the same time in the regiment that
+Hubert had, but who in age was ten years his senior, never lost an
+opportunity of trying to influence the soldiers for good. Many a rebuff
+was the reward of the good man's efforts, but he never wearied. Hubert,
+though he listened to him once, had grown vain with his military
+promotion, and shunned the good man who had once brought his heart near
+to heaven. Dr. Martin, however, never lost sight of the reckless sinner,
+but breathed many a sigh as he thought of one so gifted, and placed so
+far above the wants of life, rushing fast to his ruin; and then he
+prayed, with all the earnestness of a devoted heart, that God's Spirit
+would stay him in his course of sin.
+
+Like a gleam of light upon a darkened object came the intelligence that
+Hubert was about to be married to Ellen Buchan. Nearly every one in
+Agra knew her, and there were but few who did not also know how good she
+was; she and her family were distinguished for their piety, and many a
+darkened soul in the idolatrous city where they resided learnt by their
+teaching and example to place Christianity above the idol-worship of
+their childhood, and became followers of the meek and lowly Jesus.
+Surely such companionship as Ellen Buchan would be a blessing to Hubert,
+and a change must come upon him, else he would be no helpmate for one so
+good as she was; and the doctor wondered whether a change had not
+already come over him, by his having expressed an intention of moving
+into another regiment.
+
+How fervently he hoped that it might be so; and though he now seldom
+exchanged a word with Hubert, he did not forget him, but still hoped
+that he might lead a better life. Imperceptibly to Hubert, a change had
+indeed stolen over him since he knew Ellen; many of his old haunts were
+forsaken, former friends were given up, and Hubert had something to bear
+from the taunting words and manners of his old associates; but he had
+other thoughts, new habits were being formed, life had a thousand
+charms, and his face beamed more joyous and more handsome every day; his
+chief desire was to sell out, and purchase in the regiment stationed at
+Agra. A few disappointments attended Hubert's change of regiment: it was
+delayed longer than he had expected; still, the matter was now, to all
+appearance, nearly settled, and preparations were being made for the
+marriage. If Hubert had ever been thoroughly happy, he appeared so now:
+his past life, with all its associations, was absorbed in the present,
+in Ellen every thought was centred.
+
+Alas! how frail are man's hopes. One sultry evening a messenger came to
+tell Hubert to come at once to Mr. Buchan's, for something had happened.
+
+With a beating heart and hurried step he hastened to the house, but
+there was sorrow there. Ellen had been complaining all day, and, as the
+evening drew on, her illness increased, and she was found to be
+suffering from fever. Hubert was frightened, for the fever had been
+prevalent, and frequently fatal. That night and the next day he stayed
+at the house, and then, how dreadful came the intelligence that her
+life was despaired of! Now Hubert felt, perhaps for the first time in
+his life, the bitter woe of hopes all crushed; for the thought of losing
+Ellen was terrible. What could he do! All around him was a scene of woe.
+Changed he apparently was in his conduct and habits, but his heart was
+the same, and his sorrow gave way to murmuring and raving about the
+affliction. How earnestly he hoped for her recovery, yet how unchastened
+was his spirit! for upon meeting Dr. Martin, who, after inquiring about
+Ellen, added kindly, "I hope, if only for your sake, she will recover,"
+he replied sharply, "Sir, you hope nothing of the kind; if she dies you
+will upbraid and taunt me." Unjust and cruel as this remark was, the
+doctor pitied and forgave him, and stood gazing after him as he turned
+away.
+
+Ellen died. We need not tell the deep bereavement it was to all who
+loved her. Reader! it matters nothing to thee; but there was a home made
+desolate, and more than one heart riven. Such is life! A time will come
+when the deep mystery of such dealings shall be explained; till then,
+hope on! trust on! believe on! Satan would tempt thee in the weak,
+trying hour to doubt, but remember God does not willingly afflict; the
+finest gold has been seven times purified, and happy is he who can look
+upward, even though it be through his tears, and say, "It is thy will,
+Lord; do with me as it seemeth thee good."
+
+All who knew Hubert pitied him under the deep affliction which had
+befallen him, and for a time his spirit bowed beneath it; he overcame
+it, however, sooner than many had expected, joined himself again to many
+of his old companions, and gave up all intention of selling out of his
+regiment, and very soon he bade farewell to the friends he had made in
+Agra, and moved with his regiment to a station further up the country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+HUBERT WOUNDED.
+
+    On comes the foe--to arms, to aims,
+      We meet--'tis to death or glory;
+    'Tis victory in all her charms,
+      Or fame in Britain's story.--W. SMYTH.
+
+
+Three more years passed away: it had been a trying time, for a native
+tribe near a neighbouring jungle gave Hubert's regiment continual
+trouble; and now orders were received at the barracks to prepare for a
+battle, for large numbers of Hindoos were coming down from the hills,
+and several British regiments were on the march to assist the station
+that was menaced.
+
+Hubert received the order, and gave it out again to his company, and
+then, without another word went to his rooms. It was not his usual way:
+he generally said something in praise of British bravery, and tried to
+inspire his men to action; but this time he was silent, and the soldiers
+did not let it pass without remark.
+
+Never before had the order for battle been less welcome, and he was
+unable to account for the strange depression of his spirits; he joined
+none of his companions, but sat the whole evening by himself, and
+retired to rest much earlier than usual. His sleep, however, was
+disturbed, and once, in the still hour of night, he said aloud, "What
+ails me, that I cannot sleep? I am not ill: I wonder if anything is to
+happen to me--surely not; after nearly twenty-two years' service, I am
+to have better luck than be knocked off now; it is a pretty safe thing,
+they say, if one gets over the twentieth year. I shall see Old England
+yet." No more sleep, however, came to him; he thought of his home, his
+parents, and all to whom he had been dear, and he sighed deeply as he
+wished he had loved them better.
+
+The morning sun had scarcely risen before the bugle sounded, and in a
+very short time the regiment was on the march, for they had six miles to
+go, and the heat would be against them later in the day.
+
+On the previous evening, Hubert had passed some of the dull hours in
+looking over the little relics he had collected during his residence in
+India, and in filling up the box he had brought with him from England,
+he took out the remains of his Bible; it was sadly destroyed; the
+covers, some of the Old, and the greater part of the New Testament, were
+what remained of it, and after hesitating for a few minutes what he
+should do with it, he thrust it into a pocket in the left side of the
+bosom of his coat. It was there still; he had forgotten to remove it
+when he rose hastily at the sound of the bugle, and as he marched with
+his regiment, he little thought of the blessing which that torn,
+despised treasure would yet be to him. It was a long, toilsome march,
+through thick jungle, and the soldiers sat down to rest when they got
+through it, and waited to be joined by other forces. They had come out
+against a considerable village, the residence of a great chief, but not
+so well fortified by architectural defences as by the hordes of its
+savage inhabitants. From the spot where the soldiers rested they could
+see the place they had come to attack, and as the day was passing
+without the other regiments appearing, a council was held, and beneath
+the shadow of the palm trees the soldiers received orders to remain
+quiet until new commands were issued.
+
+The day at length was closing, and Hubert, with three brother officers,
+sat down beneath a tree together. At first they talked of the glory in
+fighting for their king and country, then other matters connected with
+military life followed; but as the time passed away, and the hours of
+night brought with them their fitful gloom, the conversation changed,
+and for the first time for many years Hubert talked of his home.
+
+"It is a long time since I left England," he said; "many, many a year;
+and I have somehow neglected all my old friends there. I often wish I
+had acted differently, and thought a little more about them, and written
+to them sometimes; but it is no use regretting--not that I have much to
+regret, though, for letter-writing is a silly, dawdling business at
+best, and never was much in my way; but, however, should it so happen
+to-morrow that the chances run against me--you know what I mean--well,
+there's some one of the family left, perhaps, who will like to know the
+end of me; so let me ask a favour. Take this slip of paper, and if your
+luck is better than mine, just send a letter to that address, and tell
+them where your old comrade fell, and tell them he--nay, tell them what
+you like."
+
+The three officers each took down Hubert's address, and promised to
+perform his wish; but they too had friends and relations in Britain's
+distant isle, and they each asked of Hubert a similar boon, should the
+fortune of the day be his, not theirs; then, with a friendly grasp of
+the hand, they exchanged promises; and to think, perhaps, more deeply of
+the past, or the morrow, they bade each other good-night and lay down in
+silence on the ground. Only for a few hours did anything like stillness
+hover over the beleaguered village; at early dawn the natives, having
+heard that the English were surrounding them, came out in great numbers,
+to drive away or attack their invaders. A terrible fight now commenced,
+wearing any form but that of a set battle, and it lasted the whole day;
+but at length the chief was slain, and the Hindoos, upon hearing it,
+fled in all directions, leaving the English masters of the village.
+There had been a sad slaughter of the natives, and more than two
+hundred of the English had fallen. Hubert's regiment had suffered
+considerably; but he and his three companions were spared, and they met
+again in the same place where they had passed the previous evening;
+neither wound nor mark of warfare was upon any of them; they were only
+fatigued, and, as they shook each other by the hand, they used some of
+their old familiar terms of friendship, and sat down again beneath the
+tree. There was no talk of home now, no thought of the gracious shield
+which had preserved them in the fight, no word of thanksgiving to
+Almighty God for their safety.
+
+As night came on they proceeded to the captured village; but in the
+morning, as all the soldiers were not required to remain, Hubert's
+company, and one or two others, were ordered back to their respective
+barracks. Several of Hubert's company were missing; familiar faces were
+gone, and well-remembered voices were hushed; yet, with pride and high
+spirits, most of those that remained, after having helped to bury some
+of the dead, prepared to march as soon as the sun would permit. It was a
+beautiful evening when the soldiers started, but they had not gone very
+far before Hubert and some of the other officers fell a little behind
+the men, and sat down upon the short dry grass and weeds. Just as they
+were about to pursue their journey through the jungle, some beautiful
+birds attracted their attention, and they turned aside from the pathway
+in pursuit. This thoughtless act was attended with danger, for the
+evening was fast closing, and there was every probability that they
+would lose their way. At the suggestion of one, however, they turned
+back, and made all possible haste to overtake the soldiers. Night came
+on much more rapidly than they had expected, and before they had gone
+far in the jungle it grew very dark. They pushed on as rapidly as they
+could, but the path was unfamiliar to them, and they soon lost each
+other. Sometimes a rustling amongst the bushes made Hubert start, and
+once he thought he heard voices besides the scattered ones of his
+companions. Very soon, however, all was silent; they were all wandering
+different ways, and Hubert was alone. Once he thought of climbing into a
+tree, and staying there till daybreak, but he felt so confident that he
+could not have much further to go that he made another effort to reach
+the barracks. Suddenly a rustling in the bush startled him again, and
+laying his hand upon his sword he called out the watchword of his
+regiment. There was no answer, and thinking it perhaps some bird, he
+went on again, keeping up his courage by occasionally whistling. He had
+almost reached the edge of the jungle, for he had fortunately kept near
+the right path, when a wild shout fell upon his ear, a flash of light
+illumined all around him, and Hubert, stunned and wounded, fell to the
+ground.
+
+The moon rose calmly in the sky, and her soft rays fell upon the trees
+beneath which Hubert lay. He was still insensible, and the brown grass
+around him was stained with blood. A slight breath of wind that passed
+over him, gently waved the dark hair from his wounded forehead; another
+ball had shattered his right leg, which had bent up beneath him as he
+fell.
+
+Not far away, in the barracks, the next morning the roll was called;
+Hubert's companions had arrived safe during the night; they now told
+where they had missed him, and a piquet of men was sent out to search
+for him. They did not go far into the jungle before Hubert was found; he
+had partly recovered from his faintness, but was too exhausted to speak:
+they conveyed him to the hospital, where his wounds were dressed, and
+every attention was paid him, but he had lost so much blood as he lay
+all night upon the ground, that no hopes whatever were given of his
+recovery, and he lay several days without speaking a word.
+
+The doctor came day after day, as often as he could snatch a moment from
+his duties, and sat down by Hubert's bed: he knew all about him, knew
+the life he had led, and felt all the weight of the dread thought of a
+soul passing into eternity unsaved. There he lay, that reckless, sinning
+one, now helpless, dying, and many a heartfelt prayer was breathed by
+the one friend that still clung to him, that he might not be taken away
+in his sin. It is not kith nor kin that bounds the Christian's love;
+like his Divine Master, he deems precious every human soul, and no
+matter 'neath what sky or colour, whether friend or foe, he cannot see
+that priceless thing perish without an effort to save it. Many a long
+hour the doctor sat and watched by Hubert's bed: the leg had been set,
+and appeared favourable, but reason did not return, and it was for that
+he watched and prayed, and yet how that same reason had shunned and
+insulted him. Good man, he forgot all about himself now, and watched as
+a fond brother over the sufferer. His prayers were heard; Hubert awoke
+from insensibility, and occasionally spoke a word to those who attended
+him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE TIME FOR REFLECTION.
+
+    O, lost and found! All gentle souls below
+      Their dearest welcome shall prepare, and prove
+    Such joy o'er thee as raptured seraphs know,
+      Who learn their lesson at the throne of love.--KEBLE.
+
+
+A week had passed. Hubert was slightly better, and there was a faint
+hope that he would ultimately recover. The doctor had been two or three
+times during each day to see him, and now, as the sun was setting, he
+came again. Weary as he was with his usual duties, he had still his
+Master's work to do, and as he took his seat by Hubert's bed he asked if
+he should read to him. Hubert knew quite well that the doctor's book was
+the Bible, and though he also knew that but very faint hopes were given
+of his recovery, he replied, "No, thank you; I shall perhaps soon be
+better, when I shall have plenty of time to read." The doctor tried to
+prevail, but Hubert resisted, until he became excited, when his friend,
+wishing him a good night, left him alone.
+
+"Yes, I hope soon to be better," he repeated to himself, as the doctor
+left the room, though, as he gazed at the three empty beds near him, he
+little thought that the insensibility to all pain which occasionally
+stole over him, rendered the hope of his recovery very faint, and that
+unless a change took place his couch would soon be empty also.
+
+Another and another day passed. Hubert was no better; and as the doctor
+again sat down beside him, he said, as he gently took the feverish hand,
+"My friend, perhaps you would like some one to send a letter to your
+friends in England; is there anything you would like to say? Shall I
+write for you?"
+
+"Not now."
+
+"Why not now? I have told you how precarious your state is: you had
+better send a few lines home: let me write something for you,--shall I?"
+
+"No, no! I have no wish to write. They have not heard for more than
+twenty years; it is no use writing now, they may all be dead."
+
+"Oh, no! that is not probable; and they will in time hear of the battle
+you have been in, and see your name amongst the wounded. It would
+comfort them greatly to hear from you; and if, as you say, you have not
+written for so long a time, how they would rejoice to find you had not
+forgotten them!"
+
+"No, doctor," said Hubert, faintly, "it would be no joy to them, they
+cannot care for me now. I broke my mother's heart; I know it. I dreamt
+it once, years ago; and many a time the sad face I saw in my dream has
+come before me when I have least wanted it; many other things, too,
+doctor, I could tell you which forbid my writing. No, I cannot, at least
+not now--another time."
+
+"No, my poor friend, not another time, write now: I'll write, shall I?"
+
+"Write what, and to whom? No, I tell you, they are dead," and he turned
+his face away.
+
+The doctor knew well that Hubert's illness was too serious a matter to
+be trifled with: everything was against him; it was the hottest season
+of the year, dissipation had undermined his constitution, and his mind
+was uneasy; and the thought had struck that good man, that if he could
+get Hubert to turn his thoughts homeward, reflection might bring
+remorse for his past life, and he might think of eternity. For a few
+seconds he stood still, gazing silently at his patient, wondering what
+he should do. It was not his custom to see a soldier die without feeling
+any concern; his own well-worn Bible testified how often he had used
+that sacred book; and written in the Book of Life were perhaps not a few
+names of erring yet repentant sinners, brought to know Christ by his
+humble efforts. "Soldier brother," he said, as he took the hot hand once
+again in his own, "I must not be refused _all_ I ask; let me read to
+you."
+
+Hubert made no answer, and the doctor turned over the soiled pages of
+his Bible and read, with a soft clear voice, the fifty-first Psalm.--
+
+"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according
+unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions,"
+&c., &c.
+
+The psalm was ended: none of its petitions, however, appeared to have
+touched the heart of the sick man, though their effect was great upon
+the doctor, who, kneeling down, poured out his soul's grief in a deep,
+heartfelt prayer, begged hard and earnestly for mercy and pardon for his
+suffering brother, and implored that a ray of light might beam into his
+heart. Never before had such a prayer sounded in Hubert's ear, and yet,
+when the good man rose from his knees, the only sound that he heard was,
+"Doctor, I can sleep."
+
+"Good night, then," was the answer; "I shall come early in the morning,
+and before then, if you require me; good night."
+
+"Good night;" and there was a gentle pressure of the hand; then the
+doctor left the room.
+
+"Is he gone?" said Hubert, faintly, a few minutes after. "Oh! why did he
+leave me?" and the poor sufferer's eyes turned towards the door.
+
+The watcher that night was a woman: it was not often that a woman tended
+the sick soldiers in the hospital where Hubert now lay, but it was his
+lot to be so fortunate on this occasion; and she was sitting beside an
+open window, looking out upon the sun, which was sinking in the west,
+and throwing, as she was thinking, its rays upon her English home, when
+she heard Hubert speak, and, hastening to his side, in an instant she
+asked him kindly if he required anything. Perhaps his heart was too
+full, for he only turned his head away and sighed deeply.
+
+"Captain," she said, as she bent over him, "does anything trouble you?
+Can I get you anything?" And as she gently smoothed back the hair upon
+his forehead, she thought she saw a tear roll down his sunburnt cheek.
+That tear was enough; the stern scenes she had witnessed during a long
+sojourn in India, had made her callous to many things, and left many a
+scar upon her heart; but she was woman still, and could not resist the
+power of that tear. She sat down upon the stool by the soldier's bed,
+chafed his hot hand in hers, cooled his brow again and again, and spoke
+soothingly and kindly to him; still he was silent, gave no answer to any
+of her kind inquiries, except by an occasional sigh.
+
+"I know you are uneasy, Captain; tell me, oh, do tell me! I've asked you
+many things, and you have answered me nothing; do tell me what's the
+matter. What can I do for you?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Yes, Captain, let me do something; shall I fetch Dr. Martin? What shall
+I do?"
+
+"Will you read to me?"
+
+"Yes, that I will;" and the nurse immediately fetched her Bible, and for
+a long time, by the dim flickering candle, her voice rose softly upon
+the stillness of that chamber, as she read of mercy and forgiveness to
+the penitent and heart-broken sinner.
+
+It may have been that the sound of her voice had a soothing effect upon
+Hubert's ear, for he sank calmly to sleep, and his rest was peaceful.
+When he awoke, however, with the morning light, his pulse beat high,
+owing probably to the excitement of the previous day, and the doctor was
+still unable to give hope of his recovery; and after another day, when
+the shadows of evening drew on, that good man took his seat once more by
+the sufferer's bed, and read again, in hopes to soothe the troubled
+spirit and lead the uneasy thoughts to better things.
+
+"Why do you come here, and sit and tire yourself reading to me? You must
+already be weary with your day's work. Why do you come here?" And
+Hubert, with a steady eye, gazed into the doctor's face as he made the
+inquiry.
+
+"Why do I come?" replied the doctor, as he gently took Hubert's hand;
+but he felt his throat swell at that moment, and while he hesitated
+Hubert repeated, "Yes, why do you come?"
+
+"Because it is my duty, and because I have a deep affection for you. I
+_am_ weary, but what matters that? You are more; so my necessity is not
+like yours. And another thing, I know you are unhappy."
+
+"Who told you?"
+
+"I have not needed to be told; I know it well enough. You know I know
+it, and for that cause I come to you, but the first thing I ask you, you
+refuse. You know not how great a comfort it would be to you to write
+home to your parents; there is much for you to do, but that is the first
+thing, for it is a holy duty."
+
+"I have never done it, doctor, may God forgive me and I cannot do it
+now; it is too late, too late. You said right; I am not happy; the days
+and nights I have lain here have told me that all is too late now; the
+life I have led has been a wicked one, and if I die I am lost Oh, what
+shall I do?"
+
+There was nothing stern in the doctor's heart; he had striven, and wept,
+and prayed earnestly that Hubert might see the error of his way, but
+now, at this confession and despair, he almost regretted that he had
+added to the sufferer's woes. There was no exulting over the poor
+sinner, but bending down close to Hubert's ear, he said--
+
+"Fear not; pour out your heart's sorrow to God, for, deep as your sins
+are, He _can_ and _will_ save you, if, with a true, penitent, and broken
+heart, you confess all your sins to Him and throw yourself helpless on
+His mercy. You can do nothing for yourself; your own poor sorrowing
+heart is an offering Jesus Christ will accept if you will give it to
+Him. Don't hesitate, Christ is waiting to receive you; do, then, with
+godly sorrow, throw yourself upon His mercy."
+
+"But I cannot," said Hubert. "It may be true, all you say, but I have
+sinned so long, or else I am different to other people. God may forgive
+such as you, but I have sinned too much."
+
+"Oh no, not too much for God to forgive. He knows all you have done, and
+He knows all you need. Christ has died for you; why should you be lost?"
+
+"Does God know _all_ I've done? Does He know how hard I tried to lead a
+better life?--and then Ellen died! No, I cannot believe it Go, go; leave
+me alone. What matters how I die? Go, and leave me as I am." And,
+clasping his hands tightly upon his bosom, he said with earnestness, as
+he looked upward, "Lord, have mercy upon me." Then he was exhausted; a
+faint hue came over his face, and the doctor, seeing that the strength
+of the sufferer was failing, stayed by his bedside to administer to his
+need. Hubert's hands had fallen upon the coverlet, and as the doctor
+took one in his own, he started at its strange coldness, and for a long
+time he chafed it. All, indeed, that could be done was done for Hubert,
+and throughout the long, sultry, silent night the nurse and doctor
+watched with Christian love beside the lonely bed. Hubert at length fell
+into a heavy sleep; it was the crisis of the fever, and never was infant
+slumber more softly guarded than that of his. And the next day went on;
+night came again; the sun in all its splendour went down in the western
+horizon, and the doctor crept softly into Hubert's chamber to take
+another look at the sleeper. He had gazed some minutes, he had breathed
+a prayer, and was turning away when, with a gentle sigh, Hubert awoke.
+There was a ray of light upon his face; he was better; the fever had
+left him, and the doctor, after administering a cordial, gave him for
+the night to the care of the nurse, who well knew how to attend to him;
+and he assured Hubert that, if he attended to his instructions, his leg
+would be the only cause for uneasiness, and he hoped, by God's blessing,
+he would soon recover from that. Then, as he was leaving, he promised to
+come again the next morning and read to him. The morning came, the
+doctor was there, and he told all about God's mercy and love to the
+vilest of earth's sinners; then he knelt and prayed, with all the
+earnestness of his heart, for all God's grace to the sufferer; and with
+such simple words and touching sadness did he tell the Prodigal's story,
+that Hubert's unbelief and despair yielded at once to the mighty power
+of direct communication with God, and tears fell fast upon his pillow.
+
+The doctor had been more than an hour with Hubert, and now onward to
+other sufferers he went, with his double mission. The scene in Hubert's
+room had urged him to be more earnest in his Master's cause, and his
+soul was full of prayer that a heavenly ray might illume Hubert's
+darkened heart and bring him to the feet of Jesus. Little did the
+sufferer know how earnestly that good man desired his salvation, and
+little did the regiment know, as its members saw him, with earnest
+thoughtful brow, wending his way beneath the shadow of the high wall,
+that in yonder lone building lay the cause of his toiling through the
+hot summer days, toiling again as night came round, growing more sallow
+and more gaunt, yet never seeming to weary. "My grace is sufficient for
+thee," was strictly exemplified in that earnest faithful disciple; God
+blessed him, and kept him a burning and a shining light, amidst all the
+sin and temptation of India's dark land; and though a scoff and a sneer
+were not unfrequently the reward of his efforts to reclaim the sinner,
+many a scoffer sent for him in the last sad hour, and a few testified,
+by a better life, to the holiness of his.
+
+Each time the doctor returned to Hubert, he found him slightly better;
+his wounded forehead was nearly well, and his shattered leg was
+progressing favourably; all traces of feverishness were gone, and the
+doctor seemed pleased as he told him that though at present the least
+thing might bring on fever again, which would certainly be fatal, yet,
+if all went well, he hoped in a few days to be able to pronounce him out
+of danger.
+
+"Pray that it may be so," said Hubert, "for I dare not die now: God has
+heard your last prayer; a week ago I could have died to rid my heart of
+its dreadful despair, and the terrible weight that was upon it, but not
+now. I do think there is a little hope for me--pray something for me,
+you know so well all about me;--how came you to know so much?"
+
+The doctor, sitting down by the bed, said, "Goodwin, many a year has
+passed away since you and your companions first attracted my notice. I
+remember well the morning you landed in Calcutta, for, if you recollect,
+your own doctor died on the passage out, and I accepted the appointment
+as you lay out in the bay, and went down to meet you on landing. I was,
+of course, strange to all of you, but the thing that struck me most was
+the extreme youth of the regiment--the majority did not appear much over
+twenty years of age, and then there was a good number of youths
+apparently about sixteen. I remember that many remarks were made at the
+time about you all, and I came to the conclusion that at least half of
+you had come to India to die. I have not been wrong either in that; but
+I am going from the point--I remember that I was particularly struck
+with you and a fair, gentle-looking companion you had."
+
+Hubert sighed, "It was poor Harris."
+
+"Yes, that was his name, poor fellow. Well, very soon I found out all
+about the life you were leading; your higher privileges were snares, not
+only to you and your companions, but to all the men, and the first grief
+I felt after joining you was at the reckless and sinful example you were
+setting. When first struck down with fever, how I longed, hoped, and
+prayed for your conversion. But you know how your life passed on, and I
+need not tell you that from that first hour of meeting you till now, I
+have watched you, and prayed for you, and I know quite well that God's
+Holy Spirit has often been striving very hard with you; but the warnings
+you have had have generally passed away like the dew upon the earth, and
+now the Almighty has mercifully stopped your career by this affliction.
+Don't let it pass like the others have done, but take your heart, with
+all its weight of sin, and lay it bare before God. He knows all your
+need, will help you in all your sorrows, pardon all your sins, and make
+you holy; but you must ask His aid--you must confess all your sin--you
+must pray to Him with a broken heart."
+
+Hubert sighed, and then, after a moment's pause, said, "Doctor, it is no
+easy matter to do as you say I ought; and you judge me harshly when you
+say I have neglected all the warnings I have had. You remember poor
+Harris? Well, his death had more effect upon me than you know; for weeks
+and weeks I thought of nothing else, and tried very hard to change, but
+somehow I could not And then poor Ellen! you remember her? I should have
+been another man if she had lived; but no, I was not allowed to be
+better: I lost her, and I know I have been bad since; it drove me almost
+mad. But, Doctor, was it all my fault?" And Hubert burst into tears.
+
+"Goodwin," said the doctor, as he took Hubert's hand, "beware how you
+rebuke the Almighty; His ways are not our ways; let me beg of you to
+have faith in Him now; if you are spared to recover, we will talk this
+point over together, but not now, time is too precious. Believe me, He
+does all things well, and willeth not that any should perish; if you
+will only in true faith, nothing doubting, turn to Him, confess your
+sins, and ask His mercy, you will be astonished how plain many things
+will appear that now seem dark and mysterious. Oh, do pray to Him!"
+
+"I have," said Hubert, softly: "I thought yesterday that I never could,
+but last night, after you were gone, some words I learnt once when a
+child came all into my mind; they seemed all I wanted to say, and yet
+they were only part of a little child's prayer; indeed, I had long ago
+forgotten them. Doctor, will you pray?"
+
+The good man knelt, and poured out his heart to Heaven for the long
+sinning but repenting brother; and it was a holy sight to see the tears
+streaming down the pallid cheek of the once gay, reckless soldier, as he
+listened to another's prayer in his behalf. The doctor's bosom was full
+also--the wanderer was at last coming home--the straying sheep was
+returning to the fold--the poor child of earth was yielding up his proud
+spirit to the hand that afflicted, yet was stretched out to save
+him--and the good man prayed that the sufferer might be pardoned, and
+spared to set forth the beauty of that holiness of life which he had so
+long neglected.
+
+Another week had passed; each day as it dawned found Hubert somewhat
+better, but then each evening both the nurse and doctor watched
+anxiously beside his bed, for his state was precarious: one thing,
+however, that improved was the state of his mind; _that_ neither
+slumbered nor went back--but from the hour that he poured out his first
+earnest heart-breathings to Heaven, he became more penitent and more
+anxious; all the carelessness and indifference with which he had treated
+religion came like so many accusing spirits before him; but, though the
+reflection of his past life helped at times to blanch his sunken cheek,
+he was more at peace in his bosom than he had been since his childhood.
+
+Everything that could possibly be done for Hubert he received from the
+nurse and doctor, and their attentions were blessed, for at last Hubert
+was pronounced "out of danger;" and though he would never again be fit
+for the army, there were hopes of his perfect recovery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+WHAT THE TORN BIBLE HAD DONE FOR HUBERT.
+
+    I will throw off this dead and useless part,
+    As a strong runner, straining for his life,
+    Unclasps a mantle to the hungry winds.
+                         ALEXANDER SMITH.
+
+
+Five weeks more passed by, during which time Hubert grew in grace, and
+his soul appeared to be ripening for heaven; his health improved, and by
+the aid of a wheel-chair he could be moved to the window of his room,
+where he sat for many an hour reading the Bible, or enjoying the soft
+warm air, as he gazed out upon the forests and jungle that lay before
+him almost at his feet, or the snow-capped Himalayas in the distance.
+
+One day, as he sat by the window, he asked the nurse if she knew what
+became of the coat he wore on the day when he was wounded.
+
+"Oh, yes, Captain," she replied, "I took care of it and put it away; if
+you wish to have it, I will fetch it for you."
+
+"Thank you," said Hubert, "I should like to have it now." And the nurse
+went immediately to find it.
+
+In a very few minutes the nurse returned, and, as she unfolded the coat,
+she said, "I fear it is very dirty, though these stains will be from the
+blood; I saw them when I folded it up, but I thought it best to take
+care of it, for I know soldiers generally prize the coat they were
+wounded in; I have sent many a one home to England to the friends of
+those who have died--you will, I hope, be able to take your own."
+
+"I hope so, nurse, though it will be some time yet before I can go;" and
+then he began to examine the coat, and turned it over to find the pocket
+in the inside of the left breast: he found it, and there too was all
+that remained of his "torn Bible." Pale as his cheek was from pain and
+sickness, a deeper pallor came over it as he drew out the Bible, and the
+cover of it met his eye. What was the meaning of the small round hole he
+saw? All the truth flashed upon his mind at once; he knew what it
+meant; and the cold perspiration stood out upon his forehead, as, with
+nervous hand, he turned over leaf by leaf until he came to a small
+bullet. It was not large, but sufficient to have destroyed life if it
+had penetrated his heart; and as he cast it upon the floor, he clasped
+the torn Bible to his bosom, and bent his head low over his mother's
+last gift--that despised and neglected treasure.
+
+The nurse had seen all that Hubert did upon receiving his coat; she saw
+him draw the book from the pocket, tremble as he opened it, and then
+cast the bullet upon the floor; but she would have taken but little
+notice of all that, if she had not seen his head droop as though
+something deeply troubled him.
+
+"Come, Captain," she said, "that book makes you think sad things; come,
+sir, keep up your spirits, and give me the book to keep till you are
+stronger."
+
+"Don't touch it; leave it with me," said Hubert, pushing back her hand;
+"I am strong enough--go away."
+
+"No, Captain, I must not go away; you are not strong enough to bear any
+excitement; it would just throw you back again, after all our care of
+you. Think, sir, of getting well, not about that coat and book--I wish I
+had not brought them to you. I dare say when you see that coat all
+stained with blood and torn, you think about the narrow escape you have
+had: but cheer up, Captain, and don't think about it now."
+
+"Look here," said Hubert, pointing to the cover of the book, "see what
+saved my life;" and then he relieved his heart by telling her all about
+that book; and as she listened she sat down upon a low chair before him,
+and, poor sympathizing one, she forgot, while her own tears fell as she
+heard the story he told, that she had, only a few minutes before, chided
+him for his sadness.
+
+Three months had passed; Hubert's illness had been blessed to him: by
+the aid of crutches he moved about again, and frequently encountered his
+old companions; some of them had visited him in hospital, and there was
+a rumour in the regiment that Captain Goodwin had "gone religious." It
+caused some profane mirth amongst his comrades--the companions of his
+former life--and he felt ashamed to meet them. However, at last he did
+so, and it was when they came around him, and so warmly welcomed him
+back again, and expressed their hope that he would soon be restored to
+perfect health, that he told them, with a holy boldness, that he
+regretted his past life, and could never be one of their number again,
+unless they gave up their evil ways and walked with him in the path of
+holiness. As might have been expected, the confession on the part of
+Hubert was received, for the most part, with laughter and derision; but
+his heart was set upon the thing he sought, and from the hour he
+received the rebuff he determined, if possible, to commence a work
+amongst his reckless companions. The same spirit of earnestness and
+devotion which had helped Hubert in worldly advancement, marked his
+efforts now. He had partaken of heavenly things, and, like a true
+disciple, could not bear the thought of any soul perishing; so, leaning
+upon his crutches, with his torn Bible in his hand, he went as often as
+his strength would allow, and his own soul grew in grace as he told
+God's love to sinners to his comrades. Hubert did not labour very long
+at his new work; his wounds had been too severe to allow of his
+continuing in the army, and before another three months had passed, an
+order came for him to return to England.
+
+At first the idea of going back to his own country was not welcome;
+indeed, India seemed to be his home more than England did, and as he
+turned to the nurse, who still attended him, he said--
+
+"Nurse, I shall not go to England. How can I go with this poor useless
+leg? I had better stay here."
+
+"But, Captain, your leg is not useless; the doctor says you may some day
+be able to walk with a stick."
+
+"Does he? It will be very long first, I fear. No, I think I shall not go
+home; no one will know me, for it is not as though I went home all
+right."
+
+"Bless you, sir," replied the nurse, "plenty will know you--your mother
+will, for one. I remember when our Tom ran away and went to sea, and was
+gone ten years, and we never heard a word about him; well, all at once,
+home he came, and the moment we caught sight of him at the garden gate,
+though he had grown from a boy to a stout man, we all cried out, 'Here's
+poor Tom.' We had never heard a word about his coming, or anything, yet
+we knew him, and all ran out to meet him. I remember it well; and how
+poor mother threw her arms round his neck and kissed him, and called him
+her darling, and I can't tell you what; then how she stood and cried,
+and scolded him for running away, and never writing; and then how she
+took up her apron to wipe away her tears, and then kissed and hugged him
+again. I never shall forget it. Poor mother! She and Tom are in heaven
+now. I watched beside them both, and though my heart nearly broke when I
+lost them, I had rather have them where they are than enduring the
+trials of this life."
+
+"Did your brother die soon after he returned, then?" inquired Hubert.
+
+"He only lived three years after he came home, for he had been very much
+beaten about, and his health was quite broken. Poor mother died six
+months before he did. The year after they died I married, and came out
+here, and I have seen some trouble. I buried three little children one
+after another, and then I buried my husband. They all lie just out
+there, under that large tree in the corner of the burial-ground. I was
+ordered home, but I could not leave the spot where they were lying, so
+gave up my passage to England, and have stayed here ever since. I have
+only one wish, and that is to be buried just out there beside them. It
+is sixteen years since my husband died; and the first time you can get
+so far just go and see how nicely I keep his and the children's graves."
+
+Hubert was interested in the woman's story; her patient devotion and
+affection won his heart, and he took the first opportunity of visiting
+the graves of her loved ones, and as he gazed upon the well-kept mounds
+before him, his thoughts sped over the ocean to a distant land, and he
+saw the village churchyard, with the grassy hillocks beneath which lay
+the remains of many members of his family, and lifting up his heart in
+prayer to God for humility and strength, he determined to bid farewell
+to India, and return to the fold from which he had wandered.
+
+It was soon known that Hubert was going to England, and many ready hands
+and hearts assisted him in preparing to go. All his little property was
+collected, several presents were given him, and many a regret was
+expressed at his leaving; all of which made it harder to go than he had
+anticipated, and he felt, as the time drew near, more and more sorry to
+leave. But there was no alternative; so he decided to sail in the first
+vessel that left Calcutta after he arrived there. The doctor, to whom
+Hubert had communicated his intention, came to him one evening and told
+him that, as he was at liberty to choose his own vessel, he could not do
+better than make his passage over the seas in the _Arctic_. "She is a
+splendid ship," said the doctor, "and the captain is a religious man. I
+know him well. You will not be annoyed with riotous conduct in his
+vessel, and will have no cause to complain of the manner in which he
+observes the Sabbath."
+
+"Ah, that will be the ship, then," replied Hubert; "but did you ever
+sail in it?"
+
+"Yes, twice to the Cape of Good Hope and back; and I can assure you that
+I have been in many a church and have not heard the service with such
+comfort as I heard it in that ship. Our beautiful Liturgy was read with
+such deep earnestness and pathos that I thought then, and I have
+thought ever since, that out on the ocean, with dangers around us, is
+the fittest place for those grand prayers to be breathed; for as I
+joined and as I listened, I thought I could see Christ beside me walking
+upon the sea, and my soul seemed carried up higher into heaven than it
+had ever been before."
+
+"That was beautiful!" exclaimed Hubert; "I always like to hear you talk
+like that, doctor, it makes me feel something of the same kind. I shall
+like that ship; when will she sail?"
+
+"I scarcely know, but it will not be long. She has been lying at
+Calcutta some time, and I should think is about returning to England;
+she has not gone, I know, because Lieutenant White told me last night
+that he intended sending a box to England by her. By the way, he can,
+perhaps, tell us when she will sail."
+
+It was found, upon inquiry, that the _Arctic_ would set sail in about
+ten days; so Hubert bade farewell as soon as he could to his friends,
+and, accompanied by the doctor, was in a few days on his way to
+Calcutta. He bore the fatigue of the journey better than he had
+expected, though he was very much exhausted, and was heartily glad when
+he reached the ship, and lay down to rest in his cabin. The doctor
+stayed all night, and then the next morning they took leave of each
+other, promising to continue the friendship which, to Hubert at least,
+had been such a blessing. Hubert did not at first feel all he had lost
+when the doctor left, for his mind was somewhat occupied in arranging
+his cabin, so as to be as comfortable as possible on the voyage; but
+this, of course, had an end, and a consciousness came over him that he
+was friendless on the wide world amongst strangers. At first he thought
+it would be better to keep so, and not leave his cabin at all, for, if
+he went on deck, the remarks or sympathy of the other passengers would
+be very annoying. They might pity him, and be kind and attentive to him
+in his weakness, but it would only make him feel more keenly the
+calamity which had fallen on him in the full vigour of his manhood; and
+then, as his thoughts rushed back, and he saw himself but a few months
+before so full of health and activity, he forgot the great blessing that
+had accompanied his illness, and his heart murmured and rebelled. A dark
+cloud seemed to have fallen over Hubert: for three days he maintained a
+gloomy silence in his cabin; and the sailor that waited upon him told
+his shipmates that it was a pity his honour had chosen the sea for a
+grave, for unless he changed he would, in his honest opinion, die before
+they were far out of the bay. "Tell him so, Ben, for you know it ain't
+lucky to have a death on board," said one of the sailors. However, Ben
+said nothing to Hubert, for in his own mind he began to think that the
+soldier had a sorrow, which would perhaps wear away in time; and the
+sailor was not wrong. It was a dark hour in Hubert's life--a weak
+yielding of the flesh; and who can wonder? In the short time that had
+passed since he had given up his evil ways, how much instruction and
+counsel he had received from the kind friend who had brought him to the
+vessel; and the kind nurse, so full of sympathy towards him, knowing all
+about him, had helped to buoy up his spirits when they were sinking, and
+by them the struggle between his old and his new nature had been
+lightened. How Hubert missed those two friends now! He never thought he
+could have cared for them half so much. In the gloomy thoughts that had
+come over him, he would have given much for one of them to have been
+near; but he was alone, and his nature warred with his spirit, and his
+bosom refused to be comforted. Many times he wished he could return to
+India, and reproached himself for having left: there, at least, there
+was some one that cared for him; now, where was he? Out on the sea,
+without a friend; and, perhaps, in the distant land to which he was
+going he might find himself friendless still. Friendless! the thought
+bowed him very low: but God knew the storm that was beating upon the
+heart of the returning wanderer, and the powerful hand of Omnipotence
+tempered the hurricane; for, like the distant sound of help, in the lull
+of the tempest, the words came suddenly into his mind--"I will never
+leave thee, nor forsake thee."
+
+"Ah!" said Hubert, starting, and pointing upwards as he spoke, "Gracious
+God, I have a friend in Thee;" then, clasping his hands together, he
+prayed an earnest prayer that God would pardon the sin of his murmuring,
+help him to overcome the evil nature in his heart, and make him more
+holy.
+
+Hubert's peace of mind returned as soon as he had poured out his grief
+in prayer, and Ben the sailor told his shipmates that they need not
+fear now, for his honour had taken a turn, and was quite cheerful-like.
+The evening of another day was closing, and Hubert came upon deck,
+amongst the other passengers, to take a last look of the land where the
+best years of his life had been passed, and where nearly all the
+remembered associations of his existence were centred.
+
+The home of his boyhood, in that lovely English valley, had come before
+him in memory's brightest colours, as he lay sick and wounded in the
+hospital; and he thought of it too when he set out for England, but he
+could remember nothing at all of it, as he stood by the side of the
+vessel, looking back upon his manhood's home--the field of his fame. It
+was true that he had there strayed further from the right path, and sunk
+deeper into sin; that, if India had been the scene of his fame, it had
+also been the scene of his guilt; but then his heart whispered that it
+was there too he had mourned and repented, and if a deep sigh escaped
+his bosom, as he watched the last shadow of his Indian home fade from
+his view, it was because he was leaving it for ever.
+
+Long after the last look had been taken, Hubert sat still upon deck, and
+was roused from his thoughtfulness by the words--
+
+"Will you accept my arm, Captain, to your cabin? it is getting late."
+
+"Thank you, I had forgotten, I see it is late; I can manage pretty well
+with my crutch. But no, since you kindly offer me your arm, I will
+accept it."
+
+"Yes, do, Captain, the vessel is not over steady."
+
+When Hubert reached his cabin, he turned his head to thank his friend,
+and then he saw that he was a man many years older than himself, with a
+clear open countenance and with hair deeply tinged with grey.
+
+"You are welcome," said the stranger, "and I hope we shall become better
+acquainted, for we have a long voyage before us, which I, like you,
+appear to be making alone, and pleasant society will render it
+cheerful--good night."
+
+"Good night," replied Hubert; "I hope it will be as you say," and,
+grasping his hand, he again said, "Good night."
+
+They were now far out at sea; the high lands of India had sunk below
+the horizon; Ceylon, with its spicy perfumes, was passed; and Adam's
+Peak, the high towering sentinel of that wonderful island, had sunk also
+beneath the wave. Hubert enjoyed the sea; his health and spirits
+returned, and the time passed much more pleasantly than he had
+anticipated; he found his new friend a most agreeable companion, kind
+and considerate towards him, and, having been a great traveller, he was
+ever ready and willing to amuse Hubert, not only with accounts of the
+countries to which he had travelled, but also of England, which country
+he had left only five years before: he had been a wanderer all his
+life--he was born upon the sea, in his father's vessel, and being early
+deprived of his mother, he and his brother became the companions of all
+their father's voyages. Born, as it were, to a wandering life, a life
+which in after years they were in no way fitted to give up, his brother
+succeeded to the command of his father's ship, while he roamed to nearly
+every part of the world, and gave to society many valuable volumes of
+information on different parts of the earth and its people.
+
+Hubert always listened with pleasure to the conversation of his friend;
+still there was ever a wish in his mind that the subject would change:
+he longed to hear him talk of higher things than those of earth, for
+never once, in all he said, did he make reference to the God of
+heaven--it seemed to be the god of this world that he worshipped; and
+Hubert sighed, as he thought that he had not proved the true friend he
+had hoped to find in him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+HOMEWARD BOUND.
+
+    Back to the world we faithless turn'd,
+      And far along the wild,
+    With labour lost and sorrow earn'd,
+      Our steps have been beguiled.--KEBLE.
+
+
+The Sundays on board the _Arctic_ were spent as the doctor had led
+Hubert to expect; and happy, holy days they were--no one enjoyed them
+more than Hubert, and on more than one occasion he spoke of them to his
+friend. His remarks, however, were never responded to heartily, and
+Hubert felt annoyed that he had formed a friendship with a man who
+seemed to have no interest in the chief of all his enjoyments. "It may
+be," said Hubert one day, as he sat alone in his cabin--"it may be
+because he has never been struck down as I have been; or it may be--Ah!
+what may it be?" Then he fell into a deep reverie, and wondered many
+things as to the cause of his friend's indifference to sacred things;
+and he prayed for a beam of light into the heart which appeared to him
+to be darkened. Hubert felt a growing anxiety about his friend--he knew
+they could not be companions very long; the journey, long as it yet was,
+was daily growing shorter, and he did not feel certain that he would not
+be in some way responsible if he allowed the present opportunity to
+pass.
+
+Some timid Christians are frightened into silence by the mere worldly
+boldness of those amongst whom they dwell, but it was not so with
+Hubert. His companion was a quiet, unobtrusive man, as amiable and kind
+as it was possible to be; and yet Hubert had not boldness sufficient to
+tell him that the Bible was the theme he loved best, and heaven the
+chief place of his interest. And why was it? In that stranger there was
+education, refined taste and eloquence, united to the pursuits of a
+lifetime; and whatever resolution Hubert made when alone, he always
+failed to accomplish it when he came and sat down by his side. Sometimes
+the subject was upon Hubert's lips, and many times his hand was in his
+coat-pocket, in which the torn Bible lay; but then he feared to produce
+it, lest his friend, who seemed to know the human heart so well, should
+reproach him for having taken up religion in his infirmity, when he had
+devoted his health and strength to dissipation and pleasure. It grieved
+him very much, for it made him ill at ease with himself: his Bible was
+his chief companion, it is true, and there was nothing that he loved so
+well. Sometimes he wondered at himself for taking such delight in it,
+and, acting upon the advice of his old friend the doctor, "to try and
+examine all the thoughts and intentions of the heart," he imposed upon
+himself many a search to find out, if possible, why it was that the
+pages of that torn book gave him such delight--why at times his tears
+would fall as he read it--and why sometimes his bosom would swell, and
+his heart beat, at the story it told him; but he could not find out how
+it was, he only knew that he loved it, and wanted others to love it too.
+
+The ship made a rather quick run to the Cape, where she stayed a
+fortnight; and Hubert so much improved in strength, that he laid aside
+his crutch, and walked easily with two walking-sticks. With his
+returning strength his spirit and face grew more cheerful, and he began
+to feel a hankering for his home in England; it became a favourite
+thought, and after that a frequent topic of conversation.
+
+"I have only one desire," he would sometimes say, "and that is, that
+those I left behind so many years ago may be alive to welcome me home."
+
+"You can hardly expect it," said his friend on one occasion, as they sat
+together on deck. "A great many changes occur in the space of a quarter
+of a century, and it is generally those we love best who are taken the
+first away from us."
+
+"Perhaps to draw our thoughts to heaven," said Hubert.
+
+"Perhaps so," replied his friend; "but suppose it does not do it, and
+instead of our becoming very resigned and heavenly-minded we become
+reckless and desperate, and think of any place but heaven,--what then?"
+
+"I don't know," said Hubert, "except that the man who could feel what
+you say must be one who has forgotten to worship God, and so when
+trouble comes upon him he hasn't God to help him to bear it."
+
+The stranger looked earnestly into Hubert's face; there might have been
+a home-thrust in that remark, for, heaving a deep sigh, he said, "I hope
+you have never known what it is to lose a friend very, very dear to you,
+and I hope you never will--yours is a beautiful delusion. I had it once,
+but I haven't it now, and I hope circumstances may never rob you of it."
+
+"I hope not. But, my friend," said Hubert, laying his hand upon his arm,
+"I _have_ lost one very, _very_ dear to me, all I ever loved, and it is
+the beautiful delusion you name that has helped me to bear it; nay, it
+is not a delusion, it is a high hope--a hope that when this life is
+ended, and all who are dear to us have been taken away, we shall meet
+once again in heaven, to live together for ever."
+
+Hubert's face had become animated while he spoke, and in his warmth he
+put his hand into his pocket, intending to bring out his Bible; but his
+friend checked him by saying, "What a strange, powerful influence the
+things we learn in our youth have over our lives! A holy precept
+instilled into us when we are lads, is a diamond set in an imperishable
+casket; and though the dust of careless, sceptical manhood may
+oftentimes cover over the gem, still it is there as bright as ever,
+ready to shine with its former lustre when the heart, trusting and
+believing, instead of doubting, fans off the black shadow of unbelief;
+surely it is then that God's Spirit breathes once again into man the
+breath of life."
+
+"How I wish I could talk as you do!" said Hubert; "then I would tell you
+what I feel. But when I want to speak, I seem to feel so much that I
+have no words to express myself, and so I say but little. How is it,
+though, that you speak so of God? I thought you were unbelieving."
+
+"And what have I said to make you think that I believe now?"
+
+"You must," said Hubert, "else you would not speak so of the Spirit of
+God. When I spoke of God, you called it a delusion, and I said nothing
+like what you have said. You surely are not a sceptic? you must
+believe."
+
+"I may believe some things, but not all that you do; for it has been an
+easy matter to forget all about the one true God in a country where so
+many gods are worshipped."
+
+"Did you forget, with all your learning and eloquence? Did _you_
+forget?"
+
+"Yes; didn't you?"
+
+"Oh yes, I did; I dare not tell you what I did, neither can I tell you
+what I have suffered, nor how good and gracious God has been to me. For
+more than twenty years I chose to live regardless of a future
+life--indeed, regardless of anything but sin. I always tremble when I
+think how I have lived, and yet see how gracious God has been to me; and
+though you, too, forget to serve Him, He has not forgotten to be
+gracious and merciful to you."
+
+The stranger sat still, in a careless attitude, with his broad-brimmed
+straw hat shading his face, and his hands thrust into the pockets of his
+loose coat. He spoke nothing in answer to Hubert's remarks, and Hubert,
+after maintaining the silence for some time, rose from his seat and went
+to his cabin. Ben, the sailor, had opened the cabin window, against
+which the rippling of the calm sea occasionally threw a tiny crystal,
+and as Hubert entered, and saw Ben standing before the window, he
+said--
+
+"Are you afraid the water will be in, Ben?"
+
+"Oh no, your honour," said the sailor, touching the little bit of hair
+upon his forehead, "we're more than four feet above water at this
+window; but I was a-thinking, your honour, of the storm on the Sea of
+Galilee, and how our Saviour caused a great calm: it was a wonderful
+thing, and I dare say it made a good many believe on Him as didn't
+believe before. St. Mark says there was also some little ships besides
+the one Christ was in, and I dare say there was a good many in those
+ships as didn't believe Him at all; but it just wanted that great
+tempest to frighten 'em and make 'em believe."
+
+"It might, indeed," replied Hubert, into whose heart a new light had
+suddenly shone, "for God, who knows all hearts, knew what was in
+theirs."
+
+"True, your honour, and it's the same now; many men won't believe the
+Gospel until they are like, as it were, in the tempest, obliged to be
+struck down with illness, or such-like, I mean."
+
+With the concluding words the sailor left the cabin, and Hubert sat down
+to read all about that storm on the Sea of Galilee; he had read it
+before, but never with such an interest as now, and it reminded him of
+the tempest that had once come upon him; and he saw a deep truth in the
+sailor's remark, that it is the storm that drives the sinner to Christ.
+Then he sat and wondered what he must do to try and convince his
+stranger friend of these things, and the prayer was almost upon his lips
+that some terrible tempest might overwhelm him, if it would bring him to
+the footstool of Jesus.
+
+That night, as though in answer to his heart's desire, Hubert dreamt
+that his friend was "a vessel meet for the Master's use," and in a
+joyous burst of feeling he awoke.
+
+"I know it, I am sure of it," he said to himself "he is a believer; a
+backslider, perhaps, but not a sceptic." And he longed for the daylight
+to come, that he might again seek his friend; and as he lay awake during
+the remainder of the night, he tried to throw many of the incidents of
+his own life round that of the stranger. He would give anything almost
+to hear something more of his history; what he had told him was not
+enough, and Hubert hoped for a closer and firmer friendship. A kindred
+wish seemed to have passed nearly at the same time through the mind of
+the stranger, for he had retired to rest with the hope that he might get
+to know something more of Hubert; and the next morning, when they met on
+deck, there was a cordial greeting, and they went and sat down on the
+seat they had occupied the day before. There were several passengers on
+board the ship, but Hubert and the stranger were exclusive in their
+friendship, so that when together they met with no interruption; and
+this time, as they talked of various things, with the wide-spread ocean
+around them, Hubert, after a pause, said--
+
+"Did you ever read the story of Jesus Christ stilling the tempest on the
+Sea of Galilee?"
+
+"Yes, many times; why?"
+
+Then Hubert repeated what Ben the sailor had said; told, too, from whose
+honest heart the ideas came; and his bosom felt a thrill of pleasure at
+the earnest attention the stranger gave him.
+
+"Well done, Ben," burst suddenly from his lips, "Why, Captain Goodwin,
+he's a clear-headed fellow. It's astonishing what remarkably good
+notions those sailors sometimes have."
+
+Then he returned to Hubert's subject, painted in rich imagery the silent
+lake, the little vessels, and the sleeping Saviour; then the tempest,
+the alarm, the cry, "Save, or we perish," and the Omnipotent, "Peace, be
+still." He knew all about it; he likened the silent lake to man's heart
+in boasted security; the little vessels to the many sins of his
+indulgence; the sleeping Saviour, to conscience hushed by sin; the
+tempest, to man awakening; the alarm, to man seeking pardon; the cry, to
+man's heart broken in despair; and the "Peace, be still," the voice of a
+reconciled God, the sign-manual of forgiveness.
+
+Hubert had never heard anything that told upon his heart with stronger
+power. Tears were in his eyes, and, drawing a long breath, he said--
+
+"How could you make me think that there was anything that you did not
+believe in reference to God, when you know so much, and can explain so
+beautifully? Oh, if I knew only half what you do--if I had but a little
+of your power to express myself, what a Christian I would be."
+
+"You don't know," said the stranger, laying his hand upon Hubert's
+raised arm. "The head may be full of knowledge, and the tongue fluent
+in speech, and yet the heart may be cold. It has been said, that for a
+speaker to move the hearts of his hearers, he must himself feel the
+power of his subject. Now, in worldly matters it may be so, but I am
+inclined to think that in religious matters it is not obliged to be.
+There is in all things referring to man's soul a secret influence which
+does not necessarily require the fire of man's heart to make it
+effective. God's Spirit is alone sufficient to move the waters.
+Eloquence, indeed! Oh, beware how you covet it. Where is there anything
+finer than the testimony of Christ's divinity made by the _demon_ in the
+synagogue at Capernaum--'What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of
+Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the
+Holy One of God.' Be assured that, after all, there is no sublimer
+strain that reaches the ears of the Most High than the contrite 'Lord,
+save, or we perish.'"
+
+There was much earnestness in the stranger's manner, and the last words
+he uttered struck Hubert as a prayer coming up from the depths of that
+heart which, in the stillness of the previous night, he had satisfied
+himself was not sceptical, but backsliding. Hubert's curiosity was more
+awakened, and just as he was about to ask his friend another question,
+they were interrupted by the sailors coming to the part of the vessel
+where they were seated, to attend to some portion of the rigging.
+Hubert, taking his stick, walked away slowly to his cabin, but his
+friend did not follow him, and he sat down in silence alone. How many
+subjects, during the voyage, that stranger had given Hubert to think
+about! and the time had passed so pleasantly that he had not missed,
+quite so much as he had anticipated, the friends in India. Many new
+lights had shone into his heart, and his mind had opened to more truths
+by the companionship he had made, and he felt now as much delighted with
+the friendship, as a short time before he had been disappointed; that
+short prayer, so emphatically spoken, had touched a deep feeling of his
+own heart, and he wondered whether the high order of intellect, the
+learning and eloquence of his friend, had not proved to him a snare, in
+the same way that the careless, reckless, self-will of his own nature
+had been to him.
+
+"Great God!" he said, gazing upward, "guide the thoughts of my heart
+aright, lest I argue that some of thy gifts are given to man to his
+injury."
+
+How humble Hubert had become, how ready to resign his own will to that
+of a higher! and many a prayer he breathed that day--for the evil
+thought came continually up in his mind, that God's gifts were not
+always for good. Do as he would, or think as he would, that same thought
+was uppermost in his mind, and he felt that it was the evil one grasping
+at the expiring hope of bringing him back to him again. Hubert's faith,
+however, was growing stronger every day: he had learnt to feel that
+without the guidance and protection of God he was a frail erring
+creature, and it led him to be frequently a suppliant, and frequently a
+receiver of heavenly strength.
+
+"Get thee behind me, Satan; every gift of God _is_ good and perfect, and
+it is thou, thou false one, that pervertest them from the end for which
+they are given;" and Hubert, as he ceased speaking, took out his "torn
+Bible" to read: there was comfort there, and his heart became more
+cheerful, his faith stronger, as he read upon a soiled torn page of
+that precious book--"Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed,
+for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I
+will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
+
+It mattered not to whom, nor under what circumstances, such passages of
+Scripture were written--they were as effective to Hubert as though they
+had been penned for him alone; and he took them all to himself, and
+became more trusting and more holy. Neither Jew nor Gentile made a stone
+at which his feet were to stumble; as he opened his "torn Bible" and
+read, so he believed: the promise or the threatening, as it stood there,
+was what his heart received, and he believed now that God was near him,
+helping him to overcome the tempter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+TRUE FRIENDSHIP.
+
+    Then, potent with the spell of heaven,
+      Go, and thine erring brother gain;
+    Entice him home to be forgiven,
+      Till he, too, see his Saviour plain.--KEBLE.
+
+
+Three weeks more passed away; the journey homeward was getting near its
+end, for the weather had been fine, and except that, on account of a
+death on board, the vessel stayed a day and a night at St. Helena, there
+were no interruptions. It was a lovely morning; the wind was hushed,
+there was scarcely a ripple upon the ocean, the vessel glided on without
+breaking the stillness, and Hubert sat on deck with his friend, enjoying
+the genial atmosphere of the temperate zone.
+
+"Captain Goodwin," said the traveller, "I think our journey together is
+nearly ended."
+
+"Are you not going to England?" immediately inquired Hubert.
+
+"No--at least, not at present. In a few days we shall pass Portugal, and
+I may say farewell to you off Lisbon. I have a little matter on hand
+that takes me to that part: when I have finished it I hope to come to
+England; and I hope to meet you some day again. I trust that what we
+have seen of each other has not been unprofitable; something I have told
+you may remain in your memory, for I have told you many things
+concerning the ways of men in nearly every country that I have been to.
+Your knowledge has been confined to India, which country I have
+traversed almost from one end to the other; and yet I have learnt very
+much from you; and, now that we are about to part, I will tell you how.
+It may be that, mixing so much amongst Indian idolatry, or, indeed, I
+hardly know what has been the cause--but of late years I have grown
+careless of the pure faith of my childhood, and have rather liked than
+otherwise anything that tended to increase a disbelief in God and a
+future life. Once let the thought that there is no future fix itself in
+the mind of a man, and a thousand other thoughts, more wicked than the
+first, follow, and there is little difficulty in disbelieving
+altogether; for it is the belief that there _is_ a future that
+constitutes the key-stone in religion. Well, I had become sceptical;
+and, Goodwin, you perhaps little thought it, but it was you with your
+Bible, and all its precepts so exemplified in your conduct, that struck
+me, and made me look into my own heart to find how it was that you
+appeared so much more happy and contented than I was. I have often
+watched you; and your silent and, as you thought, unseen study of your
+Bible had a powerful effect upon me, and did more for me than any noisy
+demonstration would have done. When I first met with you I was in a
+state of mind to have laughed at you, if you had come and talked about
+conversion and grace, and prated off a host of Scripture texts. I had
+too long forsaken religion to be frightened back to it; and that is the
+mistake many good people make in their endeavours to bring back God's
+wandering children. When I saw you so consistent and so earnest in your
+religious duties, I know this, that I longed to be like you, and that
+longing led me to think of what I had once been, and by degrees things
+have changed with me. I have wanted to tell you this before, but have
+always been afraid to trust myself; it is because our journey is so
+nearly ended that I tell you now. And look here, Goodwin, when I have
+done what I have to do in Portugal I will come to England, where I shall
+hope to meet you; and by God's blessing, since there is no secret
+between us now, we will talk this matter over again. It may be a year
+before I come, perhaps longer; but remember, if I am spared, I _will_
+come, for I shall never forget you."
+
+"Neither shall I you," said Hubert, grasping his hand; but his heart was
+full, and for some minutes he said no more. At length he continued, "Oh,
+I am sorry to part with you; I have often wished that some of our time
+could be spent in reading God's word, and talking of His mercy to us
+both; the want of our doing so has made me at times sadly miss two
+friends I left in India; still, I have much enjoyed your society, and
+have learnt very much from you; for though our conversation has for the
+most part been upon secular things, you have given me very much to think
+about, and I thank God that I met with you. When I reach home," and
+Hubert sighed, "I should like to write to you; and if you will tell me
+where a letter will find you I will do so. I shall take up my quarters
+in the north of England."
+
+The traveller gave Hubert an address which he said would find him, at
+least for the next three months, and then he added--
+
+"The north of England! Ah! I well remember an incident that occurred
+once as I passed through it on my way from Edinburgh to London. I have
+never been in that part since, and, as near as I can recollect, it is
+about four-and-twenty years ago. I was fifty-four years old yesterday,
+and I was thinking that I passed my thirtieth birthday on the top of
+that stage-coach. Well, we were some distance north of York--I have
+forgotten the name of the place, but it was a charming little
+village--and at the top of a shady lane, at the garden gate of a pretty
+house, there were several people waiting to bid a young soldier
+good-bye. Young, indeed! he was only a lad, just fifteen, a
+fine-hearted, sprightly young fellow, and he was going off to India.
+Well, he took his seat amongst the passengers, called out good-bye, and
+off he went. I sat beside the coachman, and as I glanced round at him, I
+felt sorry for the boy, for, though he appeared cheerful enough, I had
+an idea that his cheerfulness was a little forced: the passengers began
+to talk with him, and he really was a fine fellow. I never shall forget
+him--the very type of a handsome English youth. Excuse me, I was
+forgetting myself; it's but a simple story, after all: we can find
+something better to talk about."
+
+"Oh, no, pray finish it; I am interested in your story. What became of
+the young soldier?"
+
+"Well, it was rather curious that I was going south on purpose to bid my
+brother good-bye, and I found that this young soldier was going to India
+in my brother's ship."
+
+"That was curious enough," said Hubert.
+
+"It was; and when we alighted, after a long and tedious journey, in
+London, we went off to the ship together. How very often I have thought
+of that lad! He had evidently been well cared for by good religious
+parents, but perhaps from his school training, or I cannot tell what, he
+was certainly forgetting the instructions they had given him. Oh, how
+thoughtless and reckless he was! I watched him, for he had told us a
+little of his history; and as I was leaving the ship, I ventured to give
+him a word of advice, and tried to persuade him never to forget his
+duty to his parents: but I cannot tell you more about him. Poor lad! I
+never saw him again, nor ever heard of him after he reached India. I
+fear he died, for, soon after his regiment landed, many of the soldiers
+died of fever, and from what I can remember, I saw amongst the deaths in
+an Indian paper a soldier of his name; so, never hearing anything more
+of him, I concluded the poor fellow had succumbed to the climate."
+
+"Why were you so anxious to hear something more of that lad in
+particular?" inquired Hubert.
+
+"Ah! were I to tell you it would be a long story. I don't know, though,
+that I need tell all. I think I once told you some of my early history.
+Well, I married at an early age, and three years after my marriage I
+buried my wife: the sorrow, however, was greatly alleviated by a little
+son I had--he was two years old when his mother died, and just able to
+dissipate my grief by his innocent prattle. Years passed away: wherever
+I went I took my boy. I travelled through Germany and Prussia with him,
+and it has often occurred to me that the many people who have been
+charmed by the works that these travels helped to produce, little
+thought under what circumstances they were accomplished. Many a long
+journey, where conveyances could not go, have I taken, with my staff in
+hand, a little satchel at my side, and that boy on my back. At other
+times he has trotted by my side; and very often--most nights,
+indeed--with him sleeping in my arms, or seated beside his bed, I have
+penned most of my daily wanderings, for I never left him. For eight
+years after his mother died I never allowed him to go from my sight; but
+then he left me for ever."
+
+"Not for ever," said Hubert; "you mean, he died? Well, you will go to
+him, though he will not return to you."
+
+"Why do you say so?"
+
+"Because I believe it, and so do you."
+
+"Yes, I do: but now, tell me how it is that I cannot always think so. I
+believe it all as well as you do, and yet, when I sit alone and think,
+my thoughts are not the same as when we sit and talk together--how is
+it?"
+
+There was an earnestness in the stranger's manner, and also in his eye,
+as he put this question to Hubert, who, after sitting unmoved for a
+minute or two, at last said--
+
+"I have felt the same many, many times; indeed, there is scarcely a
+truth in the Bible that I have read, which, though I believed it at one
+time, I have been led to doubt it another. Many a time have I gone out
+into the court-yard of my quarters in India, that I might see some fresh
+object, because upon everything in my room there seemed to stand out in
+large gilded letters the word 'Unbelief.' Turn where I would sometimes,
+the very objects and things I wished to forget were always before my
+eyes; indeed, blasphemy has been upon my tongue when my heart has
+dictated prayers. Terrible hours they have been to me. And sometimes the
+falling of a piece of paper, the opening of a door, or the smallest
+possible sound you could conceive, has so alarmed me that I have
+actually been afraid of myself. No one but myself can know what I
+endured. But I don't feel anything of the sort now. _Prayer_ was the
+effectual remedy for me, and it will be so for you. I believe that such
+doubts and fears are extra mercies sent by God to bring us nearer to
+Him; so, when you feel anything of the kind, try what prayer will do.
+There is a great deal of seeming prayer that isn't prayer; but when the
+heart can feel itself going out upwards,--I mean, when it utters the
+words, 'Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief,' depend upon it, that
+upon the other side of that petition, written in words of fire, is the
+command to the tempter, 'Get thee behind me, Satan!'"
+
+The stranger sighed, but then, thrusting his hands deeply into his coat
+pockets, as was his usual custom when in a thoughtful mood, he sat still
+looking over upon the broad blue sea. Hubert sat still beside him, and
+as the sailors moved about attending to their various duties, they gave
+many a glance at the two friends as they sat together. Ben had told them
+all something about these friends, and, though they were not all of the
+same way of thinking as Ben was, they imbibed from him an extra amount
+of respect for the Captain and the stranger; and had the part of the
+deck where they were accustomed to sit been a sacred part, it could not
+have been more free from intrusion than it was when they were there; so
+Hubert sat and thought; so did his friend, who was the first to speak.
+
+"Yes, it is so," he said; "I know it is all true; I shall go to _them_.
+And now let me finish my story. I had returned from the Continent, and
+it was in Scotland that I buried my son; he lies beside his mother in
+the kirk-yard at Dunkeld; it is a pretty, quiet place, at the foot of
+the Grampian mountains, and there they lie--I hope to be buried there
+too some day. I did not think at one time that I should have lived thus
+long after them, but time has fled on, and it has worked its change in
+me. I remember that it was on my first journey after my loss that that
+lad rode with us to London. I shall never forget how startled I was when
+I first saw him: older, of course, he was, but such an exact resemblance
+did he bear to the one I had lost, that--it may have been a
+delusion--some of my affection for the dead seemed to centre in him."
+
+"What was his name?" inquired Hubert.
+
+"I cannot tell now, I had forgotten it long ago; indeed, I had forgotten
+the incident until you brought it back to my memory, it happened so long
+ago."
+
+"I wonder you forgot his name, though," said Hubert; "but time works
+upon the memory, and makes it less retentive."
+
+"True; especially one that has been tried like mine has. I am not an old
+man--I am only a little over fifty, yet see how grey I am. I attribute
+it to my memory being overtasked."
+
+"And to early and deep sorrow, perhaps," replied Hubert.
+
+"Well, the philosophy of that I neither argue nor dispute: what do you
+say to it?"
+
+Hubert smiled, and, taking from his pocket his "torn Bible," he said,
+"Here we have a high authority for the fact that suffering purifies the
+heart. Now, whatever effect it may have upon the outward appearance, it
+most certainly leaves its impress within--leaves many a deep scar upon
+the heart: and we know that it leaves furrows on the brow; yet what a
+blessing suffering is!--it is often the last effort that God makes to
+reclaim the reckless sinner. When all other efforts have failed, and
+nothing seems effectual in bringing down man's proud heart, the Almighty
+smites that He may bless. I know it, for I have experienced it all; I
+have felt both the scourge and the blessing."
+
+Hubert added this latter part because he feared lest his friend should
+think him presumptuous; but the stranger added, "Captain Goodwin, I am
+sure you must have felt a good deal of what you have often talked about,
+and I would give much to be always as thoroughly settled in these
+matters as you are. What you say, I feel to be all perfectly true.
+Here," he said, placing his hand upon his heart, "it is all right But
+here," and he touched his forehead, "there are other thoughts. But if
+God spare me, I will come to you again when my business in Portugal is
+done, and then we will talk over these matters more fully. The world has
+been a wide one to me, but I have only a few friends in it, and am tired
+of rambling about it, so I shall return to England and come near to
+you."
+
+"Do," said Hubert; "and may God spare you, and me too. I shall be glad
+indeed to see you; the heart grows better by communion, and I think
+somehow that there is many a kindred feeling between us; at any rate,
+our voyage has been rendered pleasant by our having met, and it will be
+a source of pleasure to me, in many a sad hour that I feel will yet
+befall me, to look forward to our meeting again."
+
+This, and much more, formed the matter for conversation between Hubert
+and his friend; and when the day had closed, and night drew on, they
+passed an hour together by Hubert's lamp; for the heart which had
+unburdened itself seemed to have twined its tendrils more firmly round
+the wounded soldier.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE WANDERER'S RETURN.
+
+    Lead, kindly light, amid the evening gloom,
+      Lead thou me on!
+    The night is dark, and I am far from home;
+      Lead thou me on!--KEBLE.
+
+
+Nearer and nearer drew the vessel homeward. Hubert and his friend had
+that morning kept below; there was a little luggage on a table upon the
+deck, and two or three people were standing near it; some of the sailors
+were evidently busy about one of the boats, but a casual observer could
+not have perceived that anything unusual was going on. Many, nearly all
+in the vessel, were gladdening their eyes with the first glimpse they
+were having of Europe; and as the coast of Portugal became more
+distinct, many hearts burst out with joy, for they were nearing home.
+
+Hubert and his friend at length came on deck: Lisbon, with its noble bay
+and high lands, could be seen in the distance, and the boat was lowered
+to convey the passengers to the small vessel that would take them up
+the river to the town. "Farewell!" it was the last word from Hubert's
+lips that sounded upon the traveller's ears as he was wafted over the
+billows that rolled upon the shores of Portugal; "Farewell!" echoed back
+upon the air, and Hubert, drawing a deep sigh, began already to feel
+lonely: he had made no other friend in the ship, and he returned to his
+cabin; he sat down, and began to think over the conversations he had had
+with his friend, and he wondered again and again whether he himself was
+not indeed that once reckless boy, who in years gone by had won the
+sympathies of the noble heart which had now won his. So many incidents
+in that short narrative had a counterpart in his memory, that at last
+nothing could persuade him but that it all referred to himself; then how
+sorry he felt that he had not told his friend more about himself; and,
+less at ease than he had felt for many months, he closed the door of his
+cabin, and buried his face in his hands.
+
+Poor Hubert! His heart was growing as tender as it was once hard, and
+recent sickness had unfitted him to encounter, without emotion, the many
+visions of that youth-time which now came so vividly before him.
+
+"God grant that I may find them living!" he said earnestly; but then his
+memory brought back again some of the forebodings and inward whisperings
+which had often, in bygone years, checked for a moment his reckless
+course, and his heart told him again that his mother was no more. It
+came like a deep sorrow to Hubert, like a mighty wave throwing back
+every torrent upon which it rolled; but he had learnt how to contend
+with grief, and soon the dim cabin lamp was lighted, and, as night grew
+dark, he sat and read the much-treasured portion of his mother's Bible.
+He gained comfort as he read page after page, and it may have been that
+the lamp grew brighter; at any rate, Hubert's face wore a happier beam,
+and when the sailor came into the cabin, he said, "Good evening, your
+honour; glad to see your honour looking better and cheerful like."
+
+"Better, Ben! have I looked ill to-day?"
+
+"Not ill, exactly, your honour," said Ben, "but a little landsman-like,
+just about the time the passengers for Portugal got adrift, when Mr.
+Collinton, yer honour's friend, left."
+
+"Well, Ben, I was sorry to lose him; but how late it is! why, I have
+been reading two hours."
+
+With the assistance of the sailor, Hubert retired to rest, but, just as
+Ben was leaving the cabin, Hubert requested that he would reach him the
+Bible that lay upon the table.
+
+"I have a better Bible than this, yer honour," said Ben, as he handed
+the book; "I mean one that has it all in, not torn as this is; and, if
+yer honour likes, I'll fetch it, though it's not to every one I'd lend
+it."
+
+"Why do you offer to lend it to me, then?"
+
+"Because, yer honour, I'm sure you think a great deal of the Bible, and
+it's a pity you haven't one with all in; this has been bad enough used,
+at any rate, but some folks don't care how they destroy the Bible. I'm
+glad it's got into yer honour's hands; but, if you'll accept the loan of
+mine, I shall be proud to lend it to you; there's not a leaf out; it was
+the last thing my poor mother ever gave me, and I have used it now over
+twenty years."
+
+"Thank you, Ben, I do not wish it; mine is torn, I know, but it will do
+for me. Thank you all the same. Good night."
+
+Hubert was glad when he found himself alone; he was in the habit of
+talking with Ben, but the sailor's homely remarks were not quite
+agreeable to him now. Poor untaught fellow! how nobly he appeared to
+rise in that night's shadows; children of penury, perhaps, he and his
+mother, yet how rich in affection! Hubert thought many times of that
+sailor's Bible; like his own, it was a mother's gift, but it had _all_
+in, while his had been ruthlessly destroyed. Memory brought back many a
+long-forgotten scene, when his hard heart strove to rise against the
+silent admonitions which the sight of that book was ever wont to give;
+and, as he grasped all that was left to him now, a deep and heartfelt
+prayer from his penitent heart ascended to the throne of God.
+
+The vessel in which Hubert sailed had made a quick run to England, and,
+in a few days after the passengers left for Portugal, Hubert landed upon
+the shores of his native country; and never before had he felt so
+lonely. He was home without a home; however, being still under orders
+from the East India Company, he referred to his papers, and then
+immediately proceeded to London. Lame, without friends, and amongst
+strangers, Hubert longed to be making his way to his own native village,
+but he was compelled to tarry some time in London; at length, however,
+he received his discharge with a handsome pension, and was at liberty to
+go where he pleased.
+
+Now Hubert felt undecided; he scarcely knew what to do. At one time he
+thought of writing home, and telling them he was coming; but to whom
+could he write? Then he thought of taking the coach at once home, but
+another thought made him abandon that; for his heart was not yet
+schooled to the task of facing those he had so cruelly injured.
+
+Hesitating what to do, another week passed by, and his conscience, at
+length, so smote him for lingering, that after arranging about his
+luggage, which was still at the custom-house, and which he preferred
+should for the present remain there, he set out with one small trunk,
+and commenced his journey northward. So many years had passed since
+Hubert had come along the road by which he was returning, that he might
+have been In a foreign land: he remembered nothing, but he thought the
+country beautiful; and, when evening came on, he alighted from the
+coach, and stayed for the night at a small town. The journey had been
+rather too much for him: still he felt anxious to be getting on; so,
+when the coach passed through the town on the following day, he
+proceeded some distance further. Four days had passed. Hubert, by short
+stages, was drawing near his home, and the nearer he came to it, the
+more anxious and nervous grew his heart; he would have given much to
+have known which of his family remained. Once, years ago, while in a
+frenzied mood, when rage and passion overcame him, he was suddenly
+called back to reason by a mystic shadow crossing his vision: it may
+have been that a heated brain brought before his fierce eye that which
+startled him; but the remembrance of that moment had seldom left him,
+and he felt certain that his mother, at least, was missing in his
+father's household.
+
+Another short journey had been made, and a candle was placed upon the
+parlour table in the little village inn where Hubert, tired and weary,
+intended staying for the night. Many of the villagers had seen him leave
+the coach at the inn door; he was wrapped in a blue cloak, and walked
+lame, resting upon a stick; his bearing, perhaps, or it may have been a
+whisper, told them that he was a soldier, and there was a fair chance of
+a good evening for the landlord of the King George.
+
+One by one the parlour received its guests, and more candles were
+brought in; a log too--for it was the month of October--found its way to
+the fire, and the landlord told his wife to see to the customers, for he
+was going to join the company in the parlour.
+
+Hubert saw with some uneasiness the people coming in, and he would
+gladly have retired to rest; but his coming was an event they were
+unwilling to let pass unobserved, and they gathered round him with so
+much kindness and sympathy, that Hubert felt constrained to stay with
+them.
+
+The old arm-chair in the corner, which was sacred to two
+purposes--namely, once a year, when they had beaten the bounds, the
+vicar sat in it in the tent to partake of the roast beef, which was
+bountifully provided for those good old observers of ancient customs;
+and, once a year, when the village club was held the lord of the manor
+occupied it again. Duly polished every week was that dark oak chair, and
+not even the sage-looking cat attempted to usurp it. This evening, that
+honoured seat was drawn up to the fire, a large cushion was placed in
+it, and there the tired soldier rested.
+
+They saw he was lame, and one went and fetched a soft stool for his
+wounded leg; then as they sat around him, with their honest sympathetic
+hearts beating warmly towards the brave defenders of their country, what
+could Hubert do but tell them of the battles won, and many incidents
+that make up the soldier's life in India? He had much to tell, and they
+listened eagerly to him till the hour grew late, and Hubert felt that a
+soldier's heart still beat in his bosom, and the fire of his youth had
+not died out. They felt it too, but their enthusiasm was tempered by the
+constant reference that Hubert made to the God who had preserved him.
+They parted for the night as the village clock struck eleven, and many
+of them wondered, as they walked homeward, where he was going, and why
+he was travelling alone--questions they had not yet ventured to ask; but
+they promised each other before they parted that they would come again
+to the inn on the morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+HOME AT LAST.
+
+        My father's house once more,
+    In its own moonlight beauty! yet around
+    Something amidst the dewy calm profound
+        Broods, never marked before.
+
+         *       *       *       *
+
+        My soul grows faint with fear,
+    Even as if angel steps had mark'd the sod;
+    I tremble when I move--the voice of God
+        Is in the foliage here.
+
+
+Hubert was not much refreshed when the morrow came; the weather had
+changed during the night, and the rain fell heavily, and his wounded leg
+was so painful that he determined upon not proceeding on his journey,
+but requested permission to walk in the well-kept secluded garden at the
+back of the house, if the rain cleared off.
+
+It was a dreary morning, but about noon the sun shone out, and Hubert,
+leaning upon his staff, bent his steps to the snug little summer-house
+in the garden. It was a quiet spot, and Hubert was glad to be there
+alone. The storm was over, the few remaining autumn flowers were fading,
+and the leaves were falling thickly from the trees, and Hubert, as he
+looked upon the scene around him, drew a deep sigh, and taking from his
+pocket his "torn Bible," began to read.
+
+Absorbed in what he was doing, he did not see a little boy approach the
+summer-house, and it was not until a small spade fell accidentally from
+the child's hand that he noticed him.
+
+"Ah! do you live here?" inquired Hubert
+
+"No, sir, but grandfather does, and he told me you were here."
+
+"Did he send you to me?"
+
+"No, sir, but he told me you had fought a great many battles, and I
+wanted to see you because I am going to be a soldier--when I'm a man, I
+mean."
+
+"How old are you now?"
+
+"I'm eight, sir; but, you know, I shall be older soon, and perhaps as
+big as you are."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Hubert, with a smile; "and what's your name?"
+
+"Frank, sir--Frank Lyons--the same as father's and grandfather's; but
+they are not soldiers, you know. I am going to be a soldier." And then,
+fixing his eyes upon a medal which Hubert wore upon his breast, he
+eagerly asked all about it. Hubert was amused at the little fellow, and
+answered many an inquiry that he made, and as he was listening to
+something Hubert was saying, all at once he caught sight of the "torn
+Bible," and taking it in his hand, he said--
+
+"Is this a Bible, sir? Oh, how it's torn! Did It get torn like this in
+the battles?"
+
+"No, child; but," pointing to the hole in the cover, "it got that in the
+last battle I was in."
+
+Frank looked for some time at the hole the bullet had made; then looking
+up into Hubert's face, he said, thoughtfully--
+
+"Sir, don't you think God was very good to take care of you in the
+battles?"
+
+"He was, child; He has always been good to me."
+
+"Then why did you let any one be so wicked as to tear this Bible so?"
+
+Hubert kissed the boy's cheek: he could not answer the home-thrust, but
+taking the Bible from his hand, said--
+
+"Good bye, Frank; now run away home."
+
+The child went away as he was desired, but Hubert's heart reproached him
+in a moment; he thought he had been harsh, so, bending forward, he
+called the little fellow back.
+
+There was a tear in the boy's eye when he returned, and stood gazing up
+again into Hubert's face, which convinced Hubert that he had
+disappointed him; so, taking his little hand, he said--
+
+"Frank, do you wish to ask me anything more?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I want to ask all about being a soldier."
+
+Hubert could not resist, nor refuse to listen to the inquiries of that
+little heart. And there they sat--the once disobedient, sinning,
+reckless son, and the little artless child. It relieved the older bosom
+to talk of the past, and Hubert told into that little ear more than he
+had told any one before. It was a strange sympathy; but the boy drew
+closer to him, leant his little arms upon the veteran's knee as he gazed
+earnestly into his face, while Hubert told him something of his own
+youth-time, and about being a soldier.
+
+"Then you have been a soldier longer than I've been born," said Frank.
+"How glad your mother will be to see you! I think I should run all the
+way; I would not stop at all till I got home."
+
+"But could you run, Frank, if you were as lame as I am?"
+
+"No, sir, I could not; but then I would ride--I would never stop
+anywhere until I got home."
+
+"But if you were in pain what would you do?"
+
+"Oh, I would not mind it at all; soldiers ought never to mind pain. When
+Charley wheeled the big barrow over my feet I did not cry, though he
+hurt me dreadfully, because I am going to be a soldier. But that is
+grandfather calling me. Good bye, sir."
+
+In an instant the boy was gone; and Hubert, bending forward, looked out
+along the side pathway down which he had run. He watched him until he
+was out of sight, and then his thoughts turned upon himself. Why was he
+contented in tarrying there? How was it that he felt no spirit to hurry
+onward? He looked up at the sky; the clouds were breaking, and the sun
+shone brightly.
+
+"Oh that I were at home," he uttered, "and all the past forgiven! How
+can I face it?" But no good thought came into his mind to help him in
+his difficulty; and he sat for some time gazing vacantly into the
+garden.
+
+"Yes, little Frank," he suddenly exclaimed, "they will be glad to see
+me; I'll not stay here." And taking his stick in his hand, he drew his
+cloak around him, and went into the house. The good people were somewhat
+unwilling to part with their visitor, but Hubert was determined to go;
+and, as he parted with the kind people, they were astonished to see him
+kiss little Frank, and then to hear him say--
+
+"Good bye, Frank. I'm not going to stop any more till I get home. Learn
+to read your Bible; and I hope you will make a good soldier."
+
+The old landlord felt honoured at the notice Hubert had taken of his
+grandson, and as he removed his own little old black hat from his head,
+he turned to the child, and said--
+
+"Your bow, Franky; make a bow to his honour--it may be he's a general."
+
+General or not, it mattered but little to Frank, for, taking Hubert's
+hand, he said--
+
+"Good bye, sir; I _will_ try and be a good soldier."
+
+Many little incidents, besides the one here recorded, befell Hubert as
+he journeyed homeward; and, though he was long upon the way, he might
+have been longer, had not little Frank's words--"How glad your mother
+will be to see you!"--so rung in his ears, that he felt compelled to go
+on; and the next afternoon to that on which he left the village inn, his
+heart began to beat as he thought he recognized some old places. Ah,
+yes! there was the old white toll-gate--he knew it was just one mile
+from his home; so here he alighted from the coach, and, leaving his
+luggage with the man who kept the gate, he walked gently on his way.
+
+The day was closing, the labourers were returning from the field, and
+Hubert looked earnestly into the face of many he met, to see if he could
+recognize any of them. He did not in his heart quite wish to be known,
+but the incentive to find some friend of other years was powerful, and
+there was a slight hope for a familiar face; he, however, met no one
+that he knew, so he turned aside into a shady lane. Hubert knew the
+place well; often in his boyish days that lane had been his
+play-place--it was his favourite haunt; and there now he sat down upon
+the same old grey stone, round which so many memories of the past still
+hovered. From that large stone seat nearly every house in the village
+could be seen, and there in the valley it lay, in all the same calm
+beauty in which it had often risen before his view as he lay down
+beneath the sultry skies of India; there, too, was the cottage, with its
+white walls, over which the ivy still roamed at will--the same garden,
+not a path or tree seemed changed; there was the same white-painted
+gate, near which his family stood when he said the last good bye to
+them; everything, indeed, looked the same--there appeared no change,
+save that which his heart led him to expect; and his coat felt tighter
+than usual across his chest as he looked down from the hill upon his
+early home. He knew the way well--he saw the narrow pathway that would
+lead him out against the gate of his father's house, and yet he had not
+courage to go there.
+
+Night drew on, and still Hubert sat upon the stone; many persons passed
+him, and more than one gazed earnestly at him, for his dress was not
+familiar to them; and he heard them whisper as they passed, "Who is he?"
+A few, more curious than the others, returned to take another look at
+him, but he was gone. "I am a coward," he had whispered to himself, and
+in the closing shadow of the night had trodden the narrow pathway, and
+reached the white gate of his home. The walk down the hill-side had
+wearied him, and he stayed a moment to rest upon his staff before he
+entered. He may have stayed longer than he intended, for an aged man,
+leaning also upon a staff, startled him by saying--
+
+"You appear tired, sir; pray, have you far to go?"
+
+"Not far; I hope to lodge in the village to-night. Does Mrs. Bird keep
+the White Swan now?"
+
+"Mrs. Bird? Nay, she's in yonder churchyard; it's many a year since she
+died. You may have been here before, but it must be long since."
+
+"Very long," said Hubert, with a sigh. "It is more than twenty years.
+Since then I have been fighting in the wars in India. Sir, I am a
+soldier."
+
+"A soldier!" said the old man. "Ah! and from India--come in and rest a
+bit. From India, did you say? I once had a son there--come in, talk with
+me, if only for an hour. It may be that I may hear something of my boy.
+He went away nearly twenty-four years ago, and I never heard from him
+afterwards. Sometimes I think he is dead, and then sometimes I don't.
+The neighbours feel sure he is dead, but sometimes I have an idea that I
+shall yet hear from him--I scarcely dare to hope it, though. Come,
+soldier, don't stand here, the evening is cold: walk up to the house; my
+little Richard will know where you can lodge for the night. He knows
+every one in the village."
+
+Without uttering a single word, Hubert followed the old man. Richard saw
+them coming, and, at his grandfather's bidding, drew another chair to
+the fire for the stranger.
+
+The old man changed his shoes, and then, putting his feet upon a stool
+before the fire, turned his face to Hubert, as he said--
+
+"There was a time when the very name of a soldier was hateful to me, but
+circumstances change one. I had a care for all my lads, but for that one
+that went into the army I had the most care, and it was better, perhaps,
+that he should be taken from me. For more than twenty years, though, I
+refused to be comforted for his loss, but I now do feel that it was
+God's will, for that boy was our eldest, and we thought a deal too much
+of him until he rebelled against us. He often stood between us and our
+Maker--I mean he had our first and best thoughts. It will not do,
+soldier, for the heart to worship more than one, and that one must be
+God. Our poor lad, God forgive him! paid us ill for our care--he was
+ungrateful--he forgot us. Bitterly, indeed, we felt the truth of the
+proverb, that 'sharper than a serpent's tooth is an unthankful child,'"
+And the old man brushed away a tear; then, looking into the stranger's
+face, he added, "Did you ever hear of a Hubert Goodwin in India?"
+
+"Hubert Goodwin?" repeated Hubert, with a husky voice. "Goodwin?--but
+why should you think your son is dead, or that he has forgotten you? He
+may have written, or something may have prevented him. His letters may
+have been lost, or a thousand things happened, and he may have regretted
+the silence as much as you have."
+
+"Is it possible," replied the old man, much excited, "that my poor lad
+ever thought I had forgotten him?" and he bowed his whitened head.
+
+Before this little scene was half finished, the unworthiness of the part
+he was playing smote Hubert's heart; he had never intended offering any
+excuse for his past misconduct, and he felt so self-convicted at the
+sight of the grief he had so unwittingly caused, that, raising up the
+old man's head, he said, with deep emotion, "No, father! father, I had
+forgotten--not you."
+
+"What, Hubert!" cried the old man, pushing him back, and wildly gazing
+at him. "Hubert! my Hubert! No!" Then he laughed, and then, pointing
+upward, he added: "Perhaps he's up in heaven with the others, poor lad.
+I'll tell him there that I never forgot him: poor lad, he'll forgive me;
+I never forgot him."
+
+While the old man was speaking, young Richard whispered something to
+Hubert, who immediately moved behind his father's high-backed chair.
+
+"Grandfather, dear," said the boy, as he kissed his cheek, "why do you
+cry?"
+
+"I don't know, boy. Oh, yes, just some thoughts of your uncle Hubert!
+but--" and he stared about, "where is the soldier? where is he, Richard?
+Was I dreaming? Was it Hubert?--has he returned?--where, where is he?
+Fetch him, Richard."
+
+"I'm here, father;" and Hubert, as well as he was able, knelt before the
+old man.
+
+"Oh, Hubert!" were the only words that were uttered, for the recognition
+in one moment was complete; long, very long, the old man wept upon the
+bosom of his son, and Hubert wept too; young Richard cried, perhaps
+because his dear old grandfather did; but Martha, the faithful servant
+of forty years, knew all the sorrows of her good old master--knew, too,
+all about the wandering sheep that had come home. She remembered when he
+was a little lamb in the fold, and she mingled the overflowings of her
+heart with the others; then she went and closed all the casement
+shutters, for they wished to have the joy of that first meeting to
+themselves. The prodigal had indeed returned, but friends and neighbours
+must not come and make merry yet--the fatted calf must not be killed
+till to-morrow.
+
+No one intruded upon the scenes of Hubert's home on the evening of his
+return. The joy of once again seeing him--the answer to so many
+prayers--came as a new link in the chain of the old man's existence; he
+would have no supplication, no confession from his erring son: it was
+enough that the wanderer had returned; and it was _more_ than enough;
+it was a joy that he had often prayed for, though his hope of knowing it
+had long since died, that Hubert might become a child of God. Poor old
+man! how tenderly and lovingly he strained his long-lost son to his
+bosom! and the most severe reproofs, denied forgiveness, or the
+bitterest reproaches, would not have been so hard for Hubert to endure
+as the tender affection of his deeply-injured father.
+
+Night closed around, and the old man sat later by the fireside than he
+had done for years, for much of life's vigour had returned with his
+hopes and joy; he breathed the evening prayers with a deeper fervour; he
+joined in the evening hymn with a voice less tremulous than the others,
+and he walked without his staff to his bed.
+
+Poor bereaved heart! nearly all had been taken from him; none save the
+little orphan grandson had been left for him to love; the waters of
+affliction had rolled deeply over his head; but the heart, consecrated
+to heaven, had learnt to bow meekly to the rod, and now the most bitter
+cup of his life had been filled with joy. "Thy will be done," was the
+old man's closing prayer, as he lay down upon his pillow that night,
+and there was a holy calmness upon his brow, for peace and gratitude
+filled his heart.
+
+Different, indeed, were the feelings Hubert endured; and, as he shut
+himself in his bed-room--the bed-room of his boyhood--there was a deep
+struggle in his heart. More vividly than ever came the sins of his past
+life before him, and great indeed was the remorse he felt for the long
+years of woe he had caused. How he longed to tell all his repentance to
+his father! but the old man had forgiven him without: it would not,
+however, wipe away the sin he had committed; and the remembrance was
+like an inward fire--burning and burning continually. There was One,
+however, who _would_ listen to his woe; and Hubert, on bended knee,
+poured it out from his swelling heart; no eloquence, no effort was
+needed; and as the hours of that night of deep repentance passed on,
+Hubert drew nearer and nearer to his Father in heaven, and the chastened
+heart became lightened; then he sank to sleep as calmly as his father
+had done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MEMORIES OF CHILDISH DAYS.
+
+    I stand on the brink of a river,
+      The river of life to me,
+    Where the billows of memory quiver,
+      And rise and fall like the sea.
+
+    I read in their tremulous motion
+      The records of many a year,
+    And like voices that come from the ocean
+      Are the muffled words I hear.--ANON.
+
+
+A bright morning beamed upon Hubert as he awoke from his slumber in his
+childhood's home. He looked round the room; somehow there were many
+things in it that he could recollect. There was the dark oak chest, with
+curious figures carved upon the front, which had often been a source of
+terror to him in early days, because on one occasion he was told that
+they were the likenesses of certain naughty boys, whose remains he
+verily believed were within that black chest, and though for many years
+he had forgotten all about it, the story, and the nurse who told it,
+came all back fresh into his memory. Then there was the old-fashioned
+furniture upon the bed. "Why!" and he looked at it again, "it is the
+same, the very same that covered me when last I slept here." And that
+large arm-chair behind the door, he knew _that_; he remembered that it
+was taken up there when his grandfather died, and he also remembered
+that it was where he always put his clothes when he went to bed. Many
+other things there were that he remembered: very little, indeed, seemed
+changed; and, as he looked round, his eyes lighted upon a stick, a bow,
+and a kite, tied together, hanging on the wall. He arose from his bed,
+and began to dress himself, scanning as he did so the various objects in
+his room. Presently he saw a small picture over the mantel-shelf, and
+went to look at it. He started back--it was intended for himself.
+Whether it had been a good likeness he was not able to judge, but it
+represented him as a young soldier just going from home, and beneath it
+was written, "Our Hubert." It had been drawn from memory, and placed
+there in remembrance of the lost one. Beneath it, on the mantel-shelf,
+was a little box, and Hubert raised the lid. Something more! Yes,
+something more. In that box lay a pair of slippers; they were little
+ones--a child of eight years old might have worn them; and Hubert, as he
+was just closing the lid, saw written inside it, "Our Hubert's." "Mine,
+mine!" he said, as he took them out. "Not mine!" But then some flash of
+memory lighted up the past, and he thought he could remember when they
+were his. Over these little slippers the soldier sat down and wept; for
+the truth had suddenly come to him, and he pictured his parents,
+gathering up every little thing that he had owned, remembering all about
+him, except that he had gone away and forgotten them; placing from the
+heart upon canvas the features of the rebellious one, and loving him
+fondly to the last. Perhaps over these little slippers they had shed
+many a tear; since they had covered the little feet, those feet had gone
+astray. What a dear relic they were of the past! how they reminded him
+of a time when he was pure and innocent! And he said, as he brushed away
+the tears from his cheeks--
+
+"Oh! If I had only died then, I should have caused no sorrow, nor felt
+any, but been in heaven with the angels."
+
+"Yes, Hubert, you would have caused sorrow," some spirit near him might
+have whispered; "first-born of that dwelling, they could not spare thee.
+He who gave thee as a blessing at the first, means thee to be a blessing
+still."
+
+Hubert replaced the slippers, and went downstairs to meet his father.
+
+The old man was there first. Years had passed since he had risen so
+early; but new life seemed to have been given to him; and, as he met his
+long-lost son at the door, he forgot that he was no longer the little
+child of his love; he forgot, too, all the sorrow he had been to him;
+forgot the long years he had mourned him; and clasped him fondly to his
+heart.
+
+"Hubert," said his father, "it is thirty-nine years this very day since
+I received you, my first-born child; a second time you have been born to
+me, and we shall do well to rejoice. Your mother, dear sainted one, I
+would that she were here with us; but we will not wish her back--she is
+happier in heaven, and we will not sorrow because she's gone; it would
+seem like reproaching that good God who, in His mercy, has restored you
+to me. Yes, boy, I know well that she bitterly wept your loss--your
+absence, I mean; but she wept the death of other dear ones, and God took
+her to them: we shall, I hope, join them soon. Heaven bless you!"
+
+It was a happy day, sanctified by a holy joy. Many friends, including
+the good minister of the parish, who, thirty-nine years before, received
+Hubert at the font, and prayed to Heaven to bless him, brought their
+meed of welcome to the wanderer, and that faithful servant of his
+heavenly Master spoke comfort to his aged fellow-pilgrim's heart.
+
+"Master Goodwin," he said, "I told you, years ago, that if ye pray and
+do indeed believe, that ye shall receive--it shall be as ye ask; it is
+the prayer without faith that wins no blessing. God does not give us all
+we ask, because we are sinning creatures, and know not what we ask; but
+then, how many of us pray for things that we never want! and if we had
+only ourselves to judge what is best for us, instead of receiving a
+blessing, we should often receive a curse. When the heart asks God to
+teach it to pray, and then asks a blessing, believing that if it is
+God's will that prayer will be granted, depend upon that, that prayer
+_is_ answered; if the actual thing is not given, the heart receives
+something in another way--at any rate, it _does_ get a blessing. How
+many years you have prayed for that son, and how many times you
+murmured, and thought God had forgotten! but He never forgets; He has
+remembered all your grief, and answered, what prayer? Why, the prayer of
+faith. If you look back you will find that it is only of late years that
+you have borne your sorrows without murmuring; they have been heavy, we
+know; yet, for how many years the gilding of your prayers was tarnished
+by the breath of sorrowful repining? and perhaps it was when your heart
+could really say 'Thy will be done,' that the cloud of your troubles
+began to disperse, and the blessing was given. Oh that men would always
+praise the Lord for His goodness! How well He knows all our need! He
+knows when to smite and when to heal, and they who continue faithful
+unto death, to them shall that mysterious Providence be more fully
+revealed. If much sorrow has been your portion, so has much blessing. It
+is better to have saints in heaven than rebellious children on earth:
+and God has been very gracious to you."
+
+"He has, indeed," said Hubert's father. "I feel it more truly now." And
+as he grasped the faithful pastor's hand, he said, "He gave you to this
+parish as one of my blessings, and your prayers have perhaps helped to
+restore me my son. Pray with us now, for our joy may be too great."
+
+They knelt: a deep and earnest prayer fell from the pastor's lips upon
+the stillness of the hour, and the tear upon the cheek told its power on
+the heart. The prayer was over, and the good man, bidding them adieu for
+the present, left them to rejoice over the once lost one, while he, in
+the spirit of his mission, withdrew himself from the world, and thanked
+God for having brought back the wandering sheep.
+
+Hubert's return had filled his father with such joy that he would
+scarcely tell him anything about the family, so anxious was he to hear
+all about himself; and it was some time after his arrival before he
+heard of all the bereavement of that household. All gone! all whom he
+had left in the beauty and strength of youth, when he went out to India,
+had been swept to the tomb; not one left round that desolate hearth,
+except the little orphan Richard, now nine years old, the only child of
+his second brother, who, with his young wife, had sunk into an early
+grave. One by one the hand of death had taken them from the fireside,
+and it was now his turn to mourn them. He saw plainly now how it was
+that his father had received him so fondly. Poor old man! his home had
+been sadly lonely; the household gods had been all broken, and his aged
+heart nearly so. Hubert looked at his father as he told the history of
+each one as they had departed, and conscience told him that there was
+before him a braver warrior than he had ever seen before--one who had
+fought a stern battle, and had ever been in the thickest of the fight.
+Hubert's heart beat; he felt that he had added heavily to the burden and
+heat of his father's day, and, falling upon his knee before his parent,
+he cried, as his hands covered his face, "Oh, father, forgive me!"
+
+"Forgive you! Oh, Hubert, did I forget to say I had forgiven you long
+ago? There is nothing now to forgive, but I bless you for coming home.
+Let the past be the past. Bless you for coming home to me! God is good;
+He gave, He has a right to take, but He has given you to me again." But
+the truth seemed to shine upon the old man's mind, and putting his arm
+round Hubert's neck, he said--
+
+"Ah! well, it's all forgiven; you might have done other than you have
+done, perhaps; but never mind;" and he wept tears of joy upon the bosom
+of his son. This little rebuke from Hubert's father was more welcome
+than the caresses he received, and Hubert opened his heart upon it, and
+began to tell his father of things which had befallen him in India;
+hitherto he had seldom spoken, except in answer to his father's many
+questions, for there was a weight of remorse in his bosom which nothing
+yet had removed; but now he was assured of his father's forgiveness, and
+a smile lighted up his hitherto sad face, as they sat round the fire
+telling many a story of his distant home; his father was delighted, and
+young Richard drew his little chair beside his veteran uncle, to listen
+also. Many a week passed by; Hubert had ever something to tell his
+father, but of all the history of the past, or of all the fame he had
+won, nothing was so dear to the old man's heart as the "torn Bible;" he
+made Hubert tell again and again all about it, its long neglect, and its
+abuse. The field of battle, the capture, and the rescue from the
+Indians, and even the dreadful night in the jungle, when Hubert's
+life-blood was draining from his wounds, were nothing compared with the
+strong will broken, the heart subdued, and the torn, despised Bible
+giving back a new and better life to the prodigal. Oh, how the old man
+loved to dwell upon that! many prayers from the long since silent heart
+had been answered then, and he ever repeated in Hubert's ear the words,
+"Oh, yes, she knew all about it, for she was one of the angels in heaven
+that rejoiced when you repented."
+
+Hubert grew happier in the society of his father; and though at times a
+kind of reflection on his past life would cast a sort of thoughtful
+sadness over his brow, yet his health daily improved, and his heart
+became more and more attuned to the will of God.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+AT REST.
+
+    Gales from heaven, if so He will,
+      Sweeter melodies can wake
+    On the lonely mountain rill
+      Than the meeting waters make.
+    Who hath the Father and the Son,
+    May be left, but not alone.--KEBLE.
+
+
+Years rolled away. Hubert's history in the village became almost a thing
+of the past; the young, who had paid a sort of homage to him for his
+warrior fame, had almost forgotten it, and had grown up to reverence him
+for his goodness; and the aged, as he sat by many a dying bed, blessed
+him with their latest breath. Ever, day by day, did Hubert take his
+staff and go forth to comfort some less favoured brother; and the "torn
+Bible"--guide of his present life--accusing, yet dear relic of his past,
+soothed many a departing spirit, and helped to ripen his own for
+Eternity.
+
+Since Hubert's reunion with his father, he had found many new friends,
+but he did not forget his old ones: to those in India he occasionally
+wrote, and occasionally received letters; still, it was a source of
+great regret to him that he did not hear anything of the companion of
+his voyage, with whom he parted off Lisbon. While the first year after
+his return home was passing, he scarcely thought anything of not hearing
+from him; but the second year, and third, and now the fifth had come,
+without tidings of his friend, and, with a pang of deep and silent
+regret, he began to conclude that he had died; though notwithstanding
+this thought, there was a lingering hope that his friend would yet come;
+and it was sometimes when his heart felt sad, that the wish for his
+friend became strong; perhaps upon the wish grew the hope; and then
+Hubert would take his staff and wander up the hill-side, out to the
+little white toll-gate, and then walk a mile or two down the broad road
+that led to the south. There was a rude seat by the roadside, formed of
+gnarled and moss-grown branches intermixed with stones; beside it was a
+huge stone trough, which a kindly mountain stream kept ever filled with
+water; over it, shading it from the sun, branched a stately oak; and
+this spot was a resting-place for man and beast. Hubert often walked
+there, sat down and rested beneath the tree, and looked with longing
+eyes down the road; still his friend came not, and he as often returned
+sadder than he went. How little he thought that his father had trodden
+that same road with a heavy heart for many a year, in the fond hope of
+meeting him, though there was but little probability in either instance
+that the hope would be realized! one moment's reflection would have told
+the heart so, but the heart under such circumstances seems unwilling to
+reflect--or even if it does, the effect is transitory, and the heart
+hopes on again against hope; and it is a blessed thing, this hope--for
+how often in the dark hour it throws a ray of light upon the darkness
+that is felt, and keeps a soul from despair!
+
+Hubert had been six years at home, and for many months had not been
+along the road where he was wont to go; indeed, he had sighed over the
+memory of his friend, and at last had ceased to expect him; but now an
+unexpected joy had befallen him, for Mr. Collinton was coming. Hubert
+was delighted, and he read the letter many times over; his father was
+delighted too, for Hubert had confided to that parent, whom he now so
+loved and honoured, all his secret about the stranger, and the old man
+partook of the longing to see the friend, a portion of whose life had
+been so strangely linked with that of his son.
+
+Hubert had often wondered how it was that the letter which he had
+written to his friend, telling him of his safe arrival at home, had not
+been answered; but it appeared that that letter had been duly received,
+and that Mr. Collinton, acting upon its contents, was now, after a long
+delay, making his way to Hulney.
+
+One morning, after rising somewhat earlier than usual, Hubert took his
+staff, went up the hill-side, and took his way towards the seat by the
+roadside. It was still early, yet Hubert appeared to be in haste; he
+passed the white toll-gate, wished good morning to the man who kept it,
+and stayed a moment to inquire what time the coach would pass by, and
+then he went on his way again until he came to the seat by the roadside,
+when he sat down and looked with an anxious eye for the coach coming.
+Mr. Collinton had not told him the exact day that he would come, but
+this was the last day of the week, and Hubert felt sure that it would
+bring him, and he was not wrong. The coach, with its living burden, came
+at last, and Hubert and his friend met again.
+
+"Leave the luggage at my house," said Hubert to the coachman, whom he
+now well knew, and then he and his friend sat down beneath the shady
+tree. How glad they were to meet again! and then Hubert soon told him
+that he was none other than the soldier lad who in years gone by had won
+his heart. The stranger listened with astonishment; gazed at him with a
+deeper earnestness than ever, and tears rushed to his eyes as he grasped
+his hands. And why did he feel so? There was nothing now in the face of
+that war-worn soldier which reminded him of the dear one he had buried,
+nothing now to make him feel, as he once said he had felt, that some of
+his love for the dead seemed to centre in him; and yet he did love him,
+and it was to find him again that he had given up the world, and taken
+his way to that little northern village; for he had felt, ever since he
+had parted with Hubert off Lisbon, all the emptiness of life without
+pure religion. He had felt a void in his heart that nothing around him
+could fill; and though he tarried longer upon the continent than he had
+intended, he ever thought of Hubert; and as he told him, as they sat
+together by the roadside, it was his memory and the hope of seeing him
+again that had blessed his life, and made him long to join him, that
+they might read and study God's Word.
+
+"Why have you been so long in coming?" asked Hubert. "I thought, at
+most, your absence would be but one year; but when it was two, then
+three, and now nearly six, I gave you up."
+
+"And thought me dead, perhaps?"
+
+"Yes, sometimes I thought it might be so, for I could not think you had
+forgotten."
+
+"No, no, you are right there; I never could forget: but travelling in
+Portugal and Spain, those countries full of such deep interest, I know I
+tarried; but when I was uneasy here in my heart, and my thoughts would
+turn nowhere but to you, I prepared to make my way to you. Sometimes an
+opportunity lost threw off my plans; sometimes the desponding mood I
+had fallen into was suddenly dispersed by some event; and so I wandered
+up and down, amongst the many beauties and enchantments of Spain--not
+forgetting you, my friend, but tempting Providence by deferring to come
+to you. Oh! it was a sin, and I felt it; but I hadn't you there, nor any
+one to say the words you might have said. And so I lingered; but I gave
+in at last. I was not happy there; and it has struck me many a time that
+there is many a man in this world whose life has been a continuous
+fluctuation between right and wrong--knowing what was right, being
+anxious to do what was right, and yet ever doing wrong: how is it?"
+
+"My friend," said Hubert, putting his hand upon the stranger's knee,
+"the Bible says that the heart of man is inclined to do evil; and is it
+not so? Still, there is that in man which makes him love to do good--do
+right, I mean; and, as far as I can judge, man generally makes an effort
+to do so. But here is the mistake: he too often has a false idea of what
+_is_ right, and follows his own notions of right and wrong, rather than
+the standard laid down in God's Word. His inclination to do evil makes
+him too often try to make out that evil to be good; and so he goes on,
+spending a whole life in error, while all the time he fancies he is
+perfectly right. When a man's heart is not right with God, he must ever
+be going wrong; but, somehow, we don't like to be told it--I know I did
+not. Think of the years I spent in India in all kinds of sin, and all
+the time I wished the world to think well of me, and tried to persuade
+myself that I was perfectly right. But what a life it was! How many
+things occurred to tell me that I was wrong! but I would not hear, and
+continued a wicked course, trying to please man, and caring nothing
+whatever about God. I was worse than the heathen."
+
+"How? you had the Bible with you in India."
+
+"I had," replied Hubert, "and therefore I was the more guilty and
+responsible for the life I led there. I cannot look upon man without the
+Bible as I do upon him with: it is the _only_ source from which we can
+draw a perfect rule of life; and if man has it not, how can he know?
+Whether he reads it or not is another matter: if he have it at all he is
+responsible."
+
+"Ah!" said the stranger, "I shall do now; we can talk these matters
+over together; somehow, I know all this, but yet I cannot get on with it
+alone. How is your father? is he still living?"
+
+"Yes, and will be glad to see you; I have told him all we know of each
+other, and he is waiting now for our coming; for, like myself, he
+thought you would be here to-day."
+
+As Hubert finished speaking, he and his friend rose from his seat and
+walked to the village; and as they walked along Hubert told him of the
+devastation that Death had caused in his home, and begged him, as he was
+the last of his family, to make his dwelling with them.
+
+It was a goodly welcome that met the stranger at Hubert's home; and
+there was so much peace and happiness, sanctified by that religion which
+he longed for, that he soon became as one of the family; and by paying a
+yearly visit to the grave at Dunkeld, where he had buried his loved
+ones, he lived for ten years with Hubert and his father; and when he
+died, they mourned the loss of a Christian and a friend, and buried him
+as he had wished in the grave of his wife and son. Five years more were
+meted out to Hubert's father, and then they laid him with the dear ones
+gone before, and carved a simple record upon the stone that covered the
+grave where he and his wife lay.
+
+"They sleep in Jesus," was all that Hubert told the world of them, and
+very soon the grass and flowers covered that fond testimony.
+
+Between Hubert and Dr. Martin, in India, a warm friendship continued for
+many years; it ever cheered Hubert's heart to hear from his distant
+friend, for he owed him much, and heard from him gladly; but one day,
+after a longer silence than usual, there came a letter written by a
+stranger's hand, bearing the unwelcome news that the good man was gone.
+He had spent a long life of usefulness, and, in the land which had
+always been the field of his labour, he lay down and died. It was not
+his lot to hang up his weapons of warfare, and rest upon the laurels he
+had won; his Master was the King of kings, in whose cause he spent all
+his life. How could he rest? There was no reward on earth a sufficient
+recompense for his labours; and though his body now rests in an unknown
+distant tomb, yet, far away in the city of the great King, he has been
+crowned with an immortal diadem. How many quiet unobtrusive Christians
+there are, of whom the world knows nothing, who live to reclaim and
+guide aright their weak and sinning brethren, and though they live and
+appear to die unknown, they give to many a dying bed peace, when there
+would be no peace; and they are often the ten--ay, the five--that save
+the city.
+
+Hubert was sad at the news of his friend's death, but he knew where he
+should meet him again, and not as he felt when he remembered the young
+sinning companion of his youth, the never-forgotten Harris; with a
+grateful thankful heart he could think of him in heaven, and hope to
+meet him there.
+
+Once more let us turn to Hubert's home. Young Richard, dear good boy,
+when he grew to manhood, married the playfellow of his childhood, the
+orphan granddaughter of the village pastor, and they lived in the old
+house with Hubert; and when, at last, the veteran's career was ended,
+they followed him with many tears to the old churchyard, and Richard had
+that seventh white stone carved to his memory. It is but a simple
+unemblazoned record of one departed, yet travellers say it is a strange
+device, that torn ill-used book, and ever and anon some one asks its
+meaning.
+
+Our story is ended, and we would ask the reader to remember that
+Hubert's life is not a fiction. And shouldst thou ever wander to that
+old churchyard, sit down amidst its shadows, amongst its silent dead;
+perchance a fitful vision of thine own life may flit past thee, some
+whisper may re-echo a mother's prayer or a father's counsel, and it may
+not be altogether unprofitable to thee to remember the history of Hubert
+and
+
+                         "THE TORN BIBLE."
+
+
+
+
+                            PRINTED BY
+                  WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
+                        LONDON AND BECCLES.
+
+
+
+
+                         A Selected List
+                                of
+                    New and Recent Publications
+                               from
+                  Messrs. Frederick Warne & Co.'s
+                            Catalogue.
+
+
+                  NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR BOYS.
+
+The Orchid Seekers. A Story of Adventure in Borneo. By Ashmore
+Russan and Fredk. Boyle. With Sixteen Original Illustrations by Alfred
+Pearse and M.F. Hartley. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled
+boards, price 5s.
+
+"Boys will be grateful to the joint authors.... No reader can complain
+of lack of interest or sensation in the narrative...."--_Daily
+Telegraph._
+
+"A capital story of adventure, such as would delight most boys, and
+gratify many of their elders.... Written with great spirit. The
+authors are to be congratulated on producing a story full of thrilling
+incident without violating probabilities."--_Saturday Review._
+
+
+The Riders; or, Through Forest and Savannah with the "Red Cockades."
+By Ashmore Russan and Fredk. Boyle. With Twenty-six Original
+Illustrations by Alfred Pearse. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt,
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+
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+
+
+Young Tom Bowling. A Story of the Boys of the British Navy. By J.C.
+Hutcheson. Fully Illustrated by J.B. Greene. In large crown 8vo, cloth
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+
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+
+"As a sea-yarn, with plenty of rollicking fun, exciting adventure, and
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+Mr. Hutcheson has skilfully contrived to give as a background to the
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+
+           _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_
+
+
+
+
+                    NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR BOYS.
+
+The Boys of Fairmead. By M.C. Rowsell. With Original Illustrations
+by Chris Hammond. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bev. boards, price
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+
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+
+
+The Fortunes of Claude. By Edgar Pickering. Illustrated by Lancelot
+Speed. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d.
+
+This volume narrates the adventures of Claude, a nameless orphan, who
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+
+
+A Chase Round the World. By Robert Overton. Illustrated by A. Monro. In
+large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d.
+
+The boy hero in this tale is occupied throughout in an honourable
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+Suffice it to say that the plot is admirably worked out, and there is
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+
+          _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_
+
+
+
+
+                 NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR BOYS.
+
+In Quest of Sheba's Treasure. A Perilous Adventure by Sea and Land. By
+S. Walkey. Illustrated by G. Hutchinson. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt,
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+
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+
+
+Lost in African Jungles. By Frederick Whishaw. With Four Original
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+
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+
+
+The Fur Traders of the West; or, Adventures among the Redskins. By E.R.
+Suffling. With numerous Illustrations by Andriolli and Lancelot Speed.
+In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards, price 3s. 6d.
+
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+
+          _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_
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+
+
+
+                  NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR GIRLS.
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+Hammond, R.I. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards,
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+
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+
+
+My Ladies Three. By Annie E. Armstrong. With Six Illustrations by G.D.
+Hammond, R.I. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards,
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+
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+
+
+My Friend Anne. By Jessie Armstrong. With Six Illustrations by G.D.
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+
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+
+          _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_
+
+
+
+
+                    NEW ILLUSTRATED FAIRY TALES.
+
+In large crown 8vo, art linen, gilt top, or cloth gilt, bevelled boards,
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+
+
+The One-Eyed Griffin, and other Fairy Tales. A Series of Original
+Stories by Herbert E. Inman. With numerous Illustrations by E.A. Mason.
+
+"This book contains several stories in addition to 'The One-Eyed
+Griffin,' which is the chief item among them. This narrative is that of
+a little boy who enters into the realms of fabulous monsters, where he
+encounters the giants Can't, Won't, and Don't Care, into whose terrible
+clutches has fallen the lady of his heart. With the aid of the One-Eyed
+Griffin he succeeds in overcoming them, and the story succeeds, in
+allegorical fashion, to detail the difficulties which befall the
+diminutive hero. The illustrations are singularly happy in their
+delineation of the subject, and will win the affections of the youthful
+circle for whose benefit the volume has been produced."--_Daily
+Telegraph._
+
+
+Icelandic Fairy Tales. By Mrs. A.W. Hall. With Twenty-six Original
+Illustrations from Drawings by E.A. Mason.
+
+"A young reader could scarcely have a more promising introduction to
+the literature of the Sagas. Sigurd and Frithjof and Ingeborg are not
+indeed such imposing creatures as they are in the sterner tales; but
+they are always people whom every child ought to know, and the giants
+are giants of the proper sort."--_The Scotsman._
+
+
+The Owl King, and other Fairy Stories. A Series of Original Tales by
+Herbert E. Inman. With numerous Illustrations by E.A. Mason.
+
+"So great is the cry among the little people for a fresh story--one they
+have not heard before--that it is a relief to be able with 'The Owl
+King' to satisfy for awhile their seemingly insatiable appetite. 'The
+Owl King' will soon, however, become established among the old-time
+favourites, for a good story once told travels with wonderful
+swiftness."--_Family Circle._
+
+          _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_
+
+
+
+
+                     NEW ILLUSTRATED FAIRY TALES.
+
+In large crown 8vo, art linen, gilt top, or cloth gilt, bevelled boards,
+price 3s. 6d. each.
+
+Grimms' Fairy Tales and Household Stories. Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull
+and Mr. L.A. Wheatley. With numerous Original Illustrations and Coloured
+Plates.
+
+Grimms' Goblins and Wonder Tales. Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull and Mr.
+L.A. Wheatley. With numerous Original Illustrations and Coloured Plates.
+
+These two volumes of famous stories, collected by the Brothers Grimm in
+the fertile and imaginative field of their native land, have an
+ever-growing number of readers, and are assured a hearty welcome from
+all who delight in finding really high-class children's literature,
+issued in a thoroughly attractive and up-to-date style.
+
+
+Andersen's Fairy Tales. Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull. With numerous
+Original Illustrations and Coloured Plates.
+
+Andersen's Tales for the Young. Translated by Mrs. H.B. Paull. With
+numerous Original Illustrations and Coloured Plates.
+
+Amongst all the various editions of Andersen's popular tales, none will
+be found to surpass these editions for fidelity in translation, fulness
+of text, and excellence of get-up. The tales are world-wide favourites,
+known to nursery-land of all nations.
+
+          _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_
+
+
+
+
+                   NEW ILLUSTRATED FAIRY TALES.
+
+In large crown 8vo, art linen, gilt top, or cloth gilt, gilt, bevelled
+boards, price 3s. 6d. each.
+
+
+Prince Ubbely Bubble's Fairy Tales, and Glimpses from Elf-Land. By J.
+Templeton Lucas. With numerous Illustrations by Barnard, Phiz, Ellen
+Edwards, &c.
+
+The favourite themes of childhood are here, in a series of fascinating
+stories, of which the first is "The Perseverance of Prince Ubbely
+Bubble," and amongst numerous other tales are told those of "The Six
+Goblin Eggs," "Tom and the Ogre," "The Adventures of John, the Son of
+Jack the Giant Killer," etc.
+
+
+The Old, Old Fairy Tales. Edited by Mrs. Valentine. With numerous
+Original Illustrations and Coloured Plates.
+
+The well-known favourites, "Puss in Boots," "The White Cat," "Tom
+Thumb," and others, are comprised in this collection, which embraces,
+as its name implies, all the oft-told tales.
+
+
+Holme Lee's Fairy Tales. The Story of Tuflongbo. With numerous Original
+Illustrations.
+
+Is a narrative of the wonderful life and adventures of Tuflongbo. When
+he grows up, he goes on a great journey, falls into the hands of giants,
+amongst whom his escapes are recorded, until he finally puts off his
+shoes and vanishes into shadowland.
+
+          _Chandos House, Bedford Street, Strand, London_
+
+
+
+
+_Transcriber's Notes:_
+
+  Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+  Variations in hyphenation have been retained.
+  Page 46 "mame" changed to "name" ("his name honoured and respected")
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Torn Bible, by Alice Somerton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORN BIBLE ***
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