diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-0.txt | 3541 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 2397647 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/10728-h.htm | 5192 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image01.png | bin | 0 -> 125720 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image02.png | bin | 0 -> 26836 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image03.png | bin | 0 -> 73238 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image04.png | bin | 0 -> 174600 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image05.png | bin | 0 -> 67228 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image06.png | bin | 0 -> 85737 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image07.png | bin | 0 -> 76795 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image08.png | bin | 0 -> 81429 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image09.png | bin | 0 -> 154706 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image10.png | bin | 0 -> 85158 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image11.png | bin | 0 -> 59695 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image12.png | bin | 0 -> 104385 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/image13.png | bin | 0 -> 43128 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image01.png | bin | 0 -> 125720 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image02.png | bin | 0 -> 26836 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image03.png | bin | 0 -> 73238 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image04.png | bin | 0 -> 174600 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image05.png | bin | 0 -> 67228 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image06.png | bin | 0 -> 85737 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image07.png | bin | 0 -> 76795 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image08.png | bin | 0 -> 81429 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image09.png | bin | 0 -> 154706 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image10.png | bin | 0 -> 85158 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image11.png | bin | 0 -> 59695 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image12.png | bin | 0 -> 104385 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728-h/images/image13.png | bin | 0 -> 43128 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728.txt | 3970 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10728.zip | bin | 0 -> 71546 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 2397647 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/10728-h.htm | 5192 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image01.png | bin | 0 -> 125720 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image02.png | bin | 0 -> 26836 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image03.png | bin | 0 -> 73238 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image04.png | bin | 0 -> 174600 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image05.png | bin | 0 -> 67228 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image06.png | bin | 0 -> 85737 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image07.png | bin | 0 -> 76795 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image08.png | bin | 0 -> 81429 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image09.png | bin | 0 -> 154706 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image10.png | bin | 0 -> 85158 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image11.png | bin | 0 -> 59695 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image12.png | bin | 0 -> 104385 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/image13.png | bin | 0 -> 43128 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image01.png | bin | 0 -> 125720 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image02.png | bin | 0 -> 26836 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image03.png | bin | 0 -> 73238 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image04.png | bin | 0 -> 174600 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image05.png | bin | 0 -> 67228 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image06.png | bin | 0 -> 85737 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image07.png | bin | 0 -> 76795 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image08.png | bin | 0 -> 81429 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image09.png | bin | 0 -> 154706 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image10.png | bin | 0 -> 85158 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image11.png | bin | 0 -> 59695 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image12.png | bin | 0 -> 104385 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728-h/images/image13.png | bin | 0 -> 43128 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728.txt | 3970 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10728.zip | bin | 0 -> 71546 bytes |
64 files changed, 21881 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10728-0.txt b/10728-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..285cc93 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3541 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10728 *** + +CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT + +A Sequel to 'Christie's Old Organ' + +By MRS. O.F. WALTON + +AUTHOR OF 'CHRISTIE'S OLD ORGAN' +'A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES' +'THE KING'S CUPBEARER' +'SHADOWS' ETC ETC + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Contents + + +CHAPTER + + + I RUNSWICK BAY + II LITTLE JOHN + III STRANGE MUSIC + IV WHAT ARE YOU? + V THE RUNSWICK SPORTS + VI THE TUG OF WAR + VII OVER THE LINE + VIII A NIGHT OF STORM + IX ASK WHAT YE WILL + X WE KNOW + XI LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK + XII WHERE ARE YOU GOING? + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter I + +RUNSWICK BAY + + +It was the yellow ragwort that did it! I have discovered the clue at +last. All night long I have been dreaming of Runswick Bay. I have been +climbing the rocks, talking to the fishermen, picking my way over the +masses of slippery seaweed, and breathing the fresh briny air. And all +the morning I have been saying to myself, 'What can have made me dream +of Runswick Bay? What can have brought the events of my short stay in +that quaint little place so vividly before me?' Yes, I am convinced of +it; it was that bunch of yellow ragwort on the mantelpiece in my +bedroom. My little Ella gathered it in the lane behind the house +yesterday morning, and brought it in triumphantly, and seized the best +china vase in the drawing-room, and filled it with water at the tap, and +thrust the great yellow bunch into it. + +'Oh, Ella,' said Florence, her elder sister, 'what ugly common flowers! +How could you put them in mother's best vase, that Aunt Alice gave her +on her birthday! What a silly child you are!' + +'I'm not a silly child,' aid Ella stoutly, 'and mother is sure to like +them; I know she will. _She_ won't call them common flowers. She +loves all yellow flowers. She said so when I brought her the daffodils; +and these are yellower, ever so much yellower.' + +Her mother came in at this moment, and, taking our little girl on her +knee, she told her that she was quite right; they were very beautiful in +her eyes, and she would put them at once in her own room, where she +could have them all to herself. + +And that is how it came about, that, as I lay in bed, the last thing my +eyes fell upon was Ella's bunch of yellow ragwort; and what could be +more natural than that I should go to sleep and dream of Runswick Bay? + +It seems only yesterday that I was there, so clearly can I recall it, +and yet it must be twenty years ago. I think I must write an account of +my visit to Runswick Bay and give it to Ella, as it was her yellow +flowers which took me back to the picturesque little place. If she +cannot understand all I tell her now, she will learn to do so as she +grows older. + +I was a young man then, just beginning to make my way as an artist. It +is slow work at first; until you have made a name, every one looks +critically at your work; when once you have been pronounced a rising +artist, every daub from your brush has a good market value. I had had +much uphill work, but I loved my profession for its own sake, and I +worked on patiently, and, at the time my story begins, several of my +pictures had sold for fair prices, and I was not without hope that I +might soon find a place in the Academy. + +It was an unusually hot summer, and London was emptying fast. Every one +who could afford it was going either to the moors or to the sea, and I +felt very much inclined to follow their example. My father and mother +had died when I was quite a child, and the maiden aunt who had brought +me up had just passed away, and I had mourned her death very deeply, for +she had been both father and mother to me. I felt that I needed change +of scene, for I had been up for many nights with her during her last +illness, and I had had my rest broken for so long, that I found it very +difficult to sleep, and in many ways I was far from well. My aunt had +left all her little property to me, so that the means to leave London +and to take a suitable holiday were not wanting. The question was, where +should I go? I was anxious to combine, if possible, pleasure and +business--that is to say, I wished to choose some quiet place where I +could get bracing air and thorough change of scene, and where I could +also find studies for my new picture, which was (at least, so I fondly +dreamed) to find a place in the Academy the following spring. + +It was whilst I was looking for a suitable spot that Tom Bernard, my +great friend and confidant, found one for me. + +'Jack, old fellow,' he said, thrusting a torn newspaper into my hand, +'read that, old man.' + +The newspaper was doubled down tightly, and a great red cross of Tom's +making showed me the part he wished me to read. + + RUNSWICK BAY. + + This charming seaside resort is not half so well known + as it deserves to be. For the lover of the beautiful, + for the man with an artistic eye, it possesses a charm + which words would fail to describe. The little bay is a + favourite resort for artists; they, at least, know how + to appreciate its beauties. It would be well for any who + may desire to visit this wonderfully picturesque and + enchanting spot to secure hotel or lodging-house + accommodation as early as possible, for the demand for + rooms is, in August and September, far greater than the + supply. + + +'Well, what do you think of it?' said Tom. + +'It sounds just the thing,' I said; 'fresh air and plenty to paint.' + +'Shall you go?' + +'Yes, to-morrow,' I replied; 'the sooner the better.' + +My bag was soon packed, my easel and painting materials were collected, +and the very next morning I was on my way into Yorkshire. + +It was evening when I reached the end of my long, tiring railway +journey; and when, hot and dusty, I alighted at a village which lay +about two miles from my destination. I saw no sign of beauty as I walked +from the station; the country was slightly undulating in parts, but as a +rule nothing met my gaze but a long flat stretch of field after field, +covered, as the case might be, with grass or corn. Harebells and pink +campion grew on the banks, and the meadows were full of ox-eye daisies; +but I saw nothing besides that was in the least attractive, and +certainly nothing of which I could make a picture. + +A family from York had come by the same train, and I had learnt from +their conversation that they had engaged lodgings for a month at +Runswick Bay. The children, two boys of ten and twelve, and a little +fair-haired girl a year or two younger, were full of excitement on their +arrival. + +'Father, where is the sea?' they cried. 'Oh, we do want to see the sea!' + +'Run on,' said their father, 'and you will soon see it.' + +So we ran together, for I felt myself a child again as I watched them, +and if ever I lagged behind, one or other of them would turn round and +cry, 'Come on, come on; we shall soon see it.' + +Then, suddenly, we came to the edge of the high cliff, and the sea in +all its beauty and loveliness burst upon us. The small bay was shut in +by rocks on either side, and on the descent of the steep cliff was built +the little fishing village. I think I have never seen a prettier place. + +The children were already running down the steep, rocky path--I cannot +call it a road--which led down to the sea, and I followed more slowly +behind them. It was the most curiously built place. The fishermen's +cottages were perched on the rock, wherever a ledge or standing place +could be found. Steep, narrow paths, or small flights of rock-hewn +steps, led from one to another. There was no street in the whole place; +there could be none, for there were hardly two houses which stood on the +same level. To take a walk through this quaint village was to go up and +down stairs the whole time. + +At last, after a long, downward scramble, I found myself on the shore, +and then I looked back at the cliff and at the irregular little town. I +did not wonder that artists were to be found there. I had counted four +as I came down the hill, perched on different platforms on the rock, and +all hard at work at their easels. + +Yes, it was certainly a picturesque place, and I was glad that I had +come. The colouring was charming: there was red rock in the background, +here and there covered with grass, and ablaze with flowers. Wild roses +and poppies, pink-thrift and white daisies, all contributed to make the +old rock gay. But the yellow ragwort was all over; great patches of it +grew even on the margin of the sand, and its bright flowers gave the +whole place a golden colouring. There seemed to be yellow everywhere, +and the red-tiled cottages, and the fishermen in their blue jerseys, and +the countless flights of steps, all appeared to be framed in the +brightest gilt. + +Yes, I felt sure I should find something to paint in Runswick Bay. I was +not disappointed in Tom's choice for me. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter II + +LITTLE JOHN + + +After admiring the beauties of my new surroundings for some little time, +I felt that I must begin to look for quarters. I was anxious, if +possible, to find a lodging in one of the cottages, and then, after a +good night's rest, I would carefully select a good subject for my +picture. I called at several houses, where I noticed a card in the +window announcing _Apartments to Let_, but I met the same answer +everywhere, 'Full, sir, quite full.' In one place I was offered a bed in +the kitchen, but the whole place smelt so strongly of fried herrings and +of fish oil, that I felt it would be far more pleasant to sleep on the +beach than to attempt to do so in that close and unwholesome atmosphere. + +After wandering up and down for some time, I passed a house close to the +village green, and saw the children with whom I had travelled sitting at +tea close to the open window. They, too, were eating herrings, and the +smell made me hungry. I began to feel that it was time I had something +to eat, and I thought my best plan would be to retrace my steps to the +hotel which I had passed on my way, and which stood at the very top of +the high cliff. I turned a little lazy when I thought of the climb, for +I was tired with my journey, and, as I said before, I was not very +strong, and to drag my bag and easel up the rugged ascent would require +a mighty effort at the best of times. I noticed that wooden benches had +been placed here and there on the different platforms of the rock, for +the convenience of the fishermen, and I determined to rest for a quarter +of an hour on one of them before retracing my steps up the steep hill to +the hotel. The fishermen were filling most of the seats, sitting side by +side, row after row of them, talking together, and looking down at the +beach below. As I gazed up at them, they looked to me like so many blue +birds perched on the steep rock. + +There was one seat in a quiet corner which I noticed was empty. I went +to it, and laying my knapsack and other belongings beside me, I sat down +to rest. + +But I was not long to remain alone. A minute afterwards a young +fisherman, dressed like his mates in blue jersey and oilskin cap, +planted himself on the other end of the seat which I had selected. + +'Good-day, sir,' he said. 'What do you think of our bay?' + +'It's a pretty place, very pretty,' I said. 'I like it well enough now, +but I daresay I shall like it better still to-morrow.' + +'Better still to-morrow,' he repeated; 'well, it _is_ the better +for knowing, in my opinion, sir, and I _ought_ to know, if any one +should, for I've lived my lifetime here.' + +I turned to look at him as he spoke, and I felt at once that I had come +across one of Nature's gentlemen. He was a fine specimen of an honest +English fisherman, with dark eyes and hair, and with a sunny smile on +his weather-beaten, sunburnt face. You had only to look at the man to +feel sure that you could trust him, and that, like Nathanael, there was +no guile in him. + +'I wonder if you could help me,' I said; 'I want to find a room here if +I can, but every place seems so full.' + +'Yes, it is full, sir, in August; that's the main time here. Let me see, +there's Brown's, they're full, and Robinson's, and Wilson's, and +Thomson's, all full up. There's Giles', they have a room, I believe, but +they're not over clean; maybe you're particular, sir.' + +'Well,' I said, 'I do like things clean; I don't mind how rough they are +if they're only clean.' + +'Ah,' he said, with a twinkle in his eye; 'you wouldn't care for one pan +to do all the work of the house--to boil the dirty clothes, and the +fish, and your bit of pudding for dinner, and not overmuch cleaning of +it in between.' + +'No,' I said, laughing; 'I should not like that, certainly.' + +'Might give the pudding a flavour of stockings, and a sauce of fish +oil,' he answered. 'Well, you're right, sir; I shouldn't like it myself. +Cleanliness is next to godliness, that's my idea. Well, then, that being +as it is, I wouldn't go to Giles', not if them is your sentiments with +regard to pans, sir.' + +'Then I suppose there's nothing for it but to trudge up to the hotel at +the top of the hill,' I said, with something of a groan. + +'Well, sir,' he said, hesitating a little; 'me and my missus, we have a +room as we lets sometimes, but it's a poor place, sir, homely like, as +ye may say. Maybe you wouldn't put up with it.' + +'Would you let me see it?' I asked. + +'With pleasure, sir; it's rough, but it's clean. We could promise you a +clean pan, sir. My missus she's a good one for cleaning; she's not one +of them slatternly, good-for-nothing lasses. There's heaps of them here, +sir, idling away their time. She's a good girl is my Polly. Why, if that +isn't little John a-clambering up the steps to his daddy!' + +He jumped up as he said this, and ran quickly down the steep flight of +steps which led down from the height on which the seat was placed, and +soon returned with a little lad about two years old in his arms. + +The child was as fair as his father was dark. He was a pretty boy with +light hair and blue eyes, and was tidily dressed in a bright red cap and +clean white-pinafore. + +'Tea's ready, daddy,' said the boy; 'come home with little John.' + +'Maybe you wouldn't object to a cup o' tea, sir,' said the father, +turning to me; 'it'll hearten you up a bit after your journey, and +there's sure to be herrings. We almost lives on herrings here, sir, and +then, if you're so minded, you can look at the room after. Ye'll excuse +me if I make too bold, sir,' he added, as he gently patted little John's +tiny hand, which rested on his arm. + +'I shall be only too glad to come,' I said; 'for I am very hungry, and +if Polly's room is as nice as I think it will be, it will be just the +place for me.' + +He walked in front of me, up and down several flights of steps, until, +at some little distance lower down the hill, he stopped before a small +cottage. Sure enough there were herrings, frying and spluttering on the +fire, and there too was Polly herself, arrayed in a clean white apron, +and turning the herrings with a fork. The kitchen was very low, and the +rafters seemed resting on my head as I entered; but the window and door +were both wide open, and the whole place struck me as being wonderfully +sweet and clean. A low wooden settle stood by the fire, one or two plain +deal chairs by the wall, and little John's three-legged stool was placed +close to his father's arm-chair. A small shelf above the fireplace held +the family library. I noticed a Bible, a hymn-book, a _Pilgrim's +Progress_, and several other books, all of which had seen their best +days and were doubtless in constant use. On the walls were prints in +wooden frames and much discoloured by the turf smoke of the fire. Upon a +carved old oak cupboard, which held the clothes of the family, were +arranged various rare shells and stones, curious sea-urchins and other +treasures of the sea, and in the centre, the chief ornament of the house +and the pride of Polly's heart, a ship, carved and rigged by Duncan +himself, and preserved carefully under a glass shade. + +Polly gave me a hearty Yorkshire welcome, and we soon gathered about the +small round table. Duncan, with little John on his knee, asked a +blessing, and Polly poured out the tea, and we all did justice to the +meal. + +The more I saw of these honest people, the more I liked them and felt +inclined to trust them. When tea was over, Polly took me to see the +guest-chamber in which her husband had offered me a bed. It was a low +room in the roof, containing a plain wooden bedstead, one chair, a small +wash-hand stand, and a square of looking-glass hanging on the wall. +There was no other furniture, and, indeed, there was room for no other, +and the room was unadorned except by three or four funeral cards in +dismal black frames, which were hanging at different heights on the wall +opposite the bed. But the square casement window was thrown wide open, +and the pure sea air filled the little room, and the coarse white +coverings of the bed were spotless, and, indeed, the whole place looked +and felt both fresh and clean. + +'You'll pardon me, sir,' said Duncan, 'for asking you to look at such a +poor place.' + +'But I like it, Duncan,' I answered, 'and I like you, and I like your +wife, and if you will have me as a lodger, I am willing and glad to +stay.' + +The terms were soon agreed upon to the satisfaction of both parties, and +then all things being settled, Polly went to put little John to bed +whilst I went with Duncan to see his boat. + +It was an old boat, and it had been his father's before him, and it had +weathered many a storm; but it was the dream of Duncan's life to buy a +new one, and he and Polly had nearly saved up money enough for it. + +'That's why me and the missus is glad to get a lodger now and again,' he +said; 'it all goes to the boat, every penny of it. We mean to call her +The Little John. He's going in her the very first voyage she takes; he +is indeed, sir, for he'll be her captain one day, please God, little +John will.' + +It was a calm, beautiful evening; the sea was like a sheet of glass. +Hardly a ripple was breaking on the shore. The sun was setting behind +the cliff, and the fishing village would soon be in darkness. The +fishermen were leaving their cottages and were making for the shore. +Already some of the boats were launched, and the men were throwing in +their nets and fishing-tackle, and were pulling out to sea. I enjoyed +watching my new friend making his preparations. His three mates brought +out the nets, and he gave his orders with a tone of command. He was the +owner and the captain of the Mary Ann, and the rest were accustomed to +do his bidding. + +When all were on board, Duncan himself jumped in and gave the word to +push from shore. He nodded to me and bid me good-night, and when he was +a little way from shore, I saw him stand up in the boat and wave his +oil-skin cap to some one above me on the cliff. + +I looked up, and saw Polly standing on the rock overhanging the shore +with little John in his white nightgown in her arms. He was waving his +red cap to his father, and continued to do so till the boat was out of +sight. + + + + +Chapter III + +STRANGE MUSIC + + +I slept well in my strange little bedroom, although I was awakened early +by the sunlight streaming in at the window. I jumped up and looked out. +The sun was rising over the sea, and a flood of golden light was +streaming across it. + +I dressed quickly and went out. Very few people were about, for the +fishermen had not yet returned from their night's fishing. The cliff +looked even more beautiful than the night before, for every bit of +colouring stood out clear and distinct in the sunshine. 'I shall get my +best effects in the morning,' I said to myself, 'and I had better choose +my subject at once, so that after breakfast I may be able to begin +without delay.' + +How many steps I went up, and how many I went down, before I came to a +decision, it would be impossible to tell; but at last I found a place +which seemed to me to be the very gem of the whole village. An old +disused boat stood in the foreground, and over this a large fishing net, +covered with floats, was spread to dry. Behind rose the rocks, covered +with tufts of grass, patches of gorse, tall yellow mustard plants and +golden ragwort, and at the top of a steep flight of rock-hewn steps +stood a white cottage with red-tiled roof, the little garden in front of +it gay with hollyhocks and dahlias. A group of barefooted children were +standing by the gate feeding some chickens and ducks, a large dog was +lying asleep at the top of the steps, and a black cat was basking in the +morning sunshine on the low garden wall. It was, to my mind, an +extremely pretty scene, and it made me long to be busy with my brush. + +I hurried back to my lodging, and found Polly preparing my breakfast, +whilst little John looked on. He was sitting in his nightgown, curled up +in his father's armchair. 'I'm daddy,' he called out to me as I came in. + +There was a little round table laid ready for me, and covered with a +spotlessly clean cloth, and on it was a small black teapot, and a white +and gold cup and saucer, upon which I saw the golden announcement, 'A +present from Whitby,' whilst my plate was adorned with a remarkable +picture of Whitby Abbey in a thunderstorm. + +There were herrings, of course, and Polly had made some hot cakes, the +like of which are never seen outside Yorkshire. These were ready +buttered, and were lying wrapped in a clean cloth in front of the fire. +Polly made the tea as soon as I entered, and then retired with little +John in her arms into the bedroom, whilst I sat down with a good +appetite to my breakfast. + +I had not quite finished my meal when I heard a great shout from the +shore. Women and children, lads and lasses, ran past the open door, +crying, 'The boats! the boats!' Polly came flying into the kitchen, +caught up little John's red cap, thrust it on his head, and ran down the +steps. I left my breakfast unfinished, and followed them. + +It was a pretty sight. The fishing-boats were just nearing shore, and +almost every one in the place had turned out to meet them. + +Wives, children, and visitors were gathered on the small landing place; +most had dishes or plates in their hands, for the herrings could be +bought straight from the boats. The family from York were there, and +they greeted me as an old friend. + +When the little village had been abundantly supplied with fish, the rest +of the herrings were packed up and sent off by train to be sold +elsewhere. It was a pretty animated scene, and I wished I had brought my +sketchbook with me. I thought the arrival of the fishing boats would +make a splendid subject for a picture. + +Duncan was too busy even to see me till the fish were all landed, +counted, and disposed of, but he had time for a word with little John, +and as I was finishing my breakfast he came in with the child perched on +his shoulder. + +'Good morning, sir,' he said; 'and how do you like our bay this +morning?' + +My answer fully satisfied him, and whilst he sat down to his morning +meal I went out to begin my work. It was a lovely day, and I thoroughly +enjoyed the prospect before me. I found a shady place just under the +wall of a house, where my picture would be in sunlight and I and my +easel in shadow. I liked the spot I had chosen even better than I had +done before breakfast, and I was soon hard at work. + +I had sketched in my picture, and was beginning to paint, when I became +conscious of the sound of voices just over my head, and I soon became +equally conscious that they were talking about me. + +'It's just like it,' said one voice. 'Look--do look. There's Betty +Green's cottage, and Minnie the cat, and the seat, and the old boat.' + +[Illustration] + +'Let me see, Marjorie,' said another voice; 'is it the old one with +white hair and a long, long beard?' + +'No, it's quite a young one; his hair's black, and he hasn't got a beard +at all.' + +'Let me look. Yes, I can see him. I like him much better than the old +one; hasn't he got nice red cheeks?' + +'Hush! he'll hear,' said the other voice. 'You naughty boy! I believe he +did hear; I saw him laugh.' + +I jumped up at this, and looked up, but I could see nothing but a garden +wall and a thick bushy tree, which was growing just inside it. + +'Hullo, who's there?' I shouted. + +But there was dead silence; and as no one appeared, and nothing more +happened, I sat down and went on with my picture. + +Many people passed by as I was painting, and tried to look at what I was +doing. Some glanced out of the corners of their eyes as they walked on; +others paused behind me and silently watched me; a few made remarks to +one another about my picture; one or two offered suggestions, thought I +should have had a better view lower down the hill, or hoped that I would +make the colouring vivid enough. The children with whom I had travelled +seemed to feel a kind of partnership in my picture. + +'Let's go and look at _our_ artist,' Bob would say to Harry; 'his +picture is going to be the best of the lot.' + +They were so fond of watching me, and so much excited over what I was +doing, that, as time went on, I was often obliged to ask them to move +further away, so eager were they to watch every movement of my brush. + +I thoroughly enjoyed my morning's work, and went back very hungry, and +quite ready for the comfortable little dinner which Polly had prepared +for me. In the afternoon the light would be all wrong for my picture; +but I determined to sketch in the foreground, and prepare for my next +morning's work. + +I was very busy upon this, when suddenly I became conscious of music, if +music it could be called. It was the most peculiar sound, and at first I +could not find out from whence it came. It was evidently not caused by a +wind instrument; I felt sure it was not a concertina or an accordion. +This sound would go on for a minute or two, and then stop suddenly, only +to begin again more loudly a few seconds later. At times I distinguished +a few bars of a tune, then only disjointed notes followed. Could it be a +child strumming idly on a harmonium? but no, it was not at all like an +instrument of that kind. It was an annoying, worrying sound, and it went +on for so long that I began to be vexed with it, and stamped my foot +impatiently when, after a short interval, I heard it begin again. The +sound seemed to come from behind the wall of the house near which I was +sitting, and it was repeated from time to time during the whole of the +afternoon. + +At length, as the afternoon went on, I began to distinguish what tunes +were being attempted. I made out a bar or two of the old French +Republican air, 'The Marseillaise,' and then I was almost startled by +what came next, for it was a tune I had known well since I was a very +little child. It was 'Home, Sweet Home,' and that was my mother's +favourite tune; in fact, I never heard it without thinking of her. Many +and many a time had she sung me to sleep with that tune. I had scarlet +fever when I was five years old, and my mother had nursed me through it, +and when I was weary and fretful she would sing to me--my pretty +fair-haired mother. Even as I sat before my easel I could see her, as +she sat at the foot of my bed, with the sunshine streaming upon her +through the half-darkened window, and making her look, to my boyish +imagination, like a beautiful angel. And I could hear her voice still; +and the sweet tones in which she sang that very song to me, 'Home, sweet +home, there's no place like home.' + +I remembered one night especially, in which she knelt by my bed and +prayed that she might meet her boy in the bright city, the sweet home +above the sky which was the best and brightest home of all. I wonder +what she would think of me now, I said to myself, and whether she ever +will see me there. I very much doubt it; it seems to me that I am a long +way off from Home, Sweet Home now. + +My mother had died soon after that illness of mine, and I knew that she +had gone to live in that beautiful home of which she had so often spoken +to me. And I had been left behind, and my aunt, who had brought me up, +had cared for none of these things, and I had learnt to look at the +world and at life from her worldly standpoint, and had forgotten to seek +first the Kingdom of God. Oh! if my mother only knew, my pretty, +beautiful mother, I said to myself that day. And then there came the +thought, perhaps she _does_ know, and the thought made me very +uncomfortable. I wished, more than ever, that that cracked old +instrument, whatever it was, would stop. + +But, in spite of all my wishes, the strange sound went on, and again and +again I had to listen to 'Home, Sweet Home,' and each time that it came +it set my memory going, and brought back to me the words and the looks +which I thought I had forgotten. And it set something else going +too--the still, small voice within, accusing me of forgetfulness, not so +much of my mother as of my mother's God. + +I began to wish most heartily that I had chosen some other spot for my +picture. But it was working out so well that I felt it would be a great +mistake to change, and I hoped that the individual, man, woman, or +child, who had been making that horrible noise might find some other +employment to-morrow, and might leave me in peace. + +The next day my wishes were fulfilled, for I was not disturbed, and very +little happened except that my picture made progress. Then came two wet +days, on which I had to paint in my little chamber, and did not get back +to my seat under the wall. + +I saw a good deal of Duncan during those wet days. He would come and sit +beside me as I painted, and would tell me stories of storms and +shipwrecks, and of the different times when the lifeboat had been sent +out, and of the many lives she had saved. + +'Have ye seen her, sir? You must go and have a look at our boat; she +lies in a house down by the shore, as trim and tight a little boat as +you could wish to see anywhere!' + +'I suppose you've been in many a storm yourself, +Duncan,' I said. + +'Storms, sir! I've very near lived in them ever since I was born. Many +and many's the time I've never expected to see land again. I didn't care +so much when I was a young chap. You see, my father and mother were +dead, and if I went to the bottom there was nobody, as you might say, to +feel it; but it's different now, sir, you see.' + +'Yes,' I said, 'there's Polly and little John.' + +'That's just where it is, sir, Polly and little John, bless 'em; and all +the time the wind's raging, and the waves is coming right over the boat, +I'm thinking of my poor lass at home, and how every gust of wind will be +sweeping right over her heart, and how she'll be kneeling by little +John's bed, praying God to bring his daddy safe home again. And I know, +sir, as well as I know anything, that when God Almighty hears and +answers her prayer, and brings me safe to land, Polly and little John +will be standing on yon rocks a-straining their eyes for the first sight +of the boats, and then a-running down almost into the water to welcome +me home again. Yes, it makes a sight o' difference to a married man, +sir; doesn't it, now? It isn't the dying, ye understand, it's the +leaving behind as I think of. I'm not afraid to die,' he added humbly +and reverently, as he took off his oilskin cap. 'I know whom I have +believed.' + +'You're a plucky fellow, Duncan,' I said, 'to talk of not being afraid +to die. I've just been at a death-bed, and--' + +'And you felt you wouldn't like to be there yourself,' Duncan went on, +as I stopped. 'Well, maybe not, it comes nat'ral to us, sir; we're born +with that feeling, I often think, and we can no more help it than we can +help any other thing we're born with. But what I mean to say is, I'm not +afraid of what comes _after_ death. It may be a dark tunnel, sir, +but there's light at the far end!' + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter IV + +WHAT ARE YOU? + + +On Saturday of that week the sun shone brightly, and I was up betimes, +had an early breakfast, and set to work at my picture as soon as +possible. I had not been painting long before I again heard voices above +me, the same childish voices that I had heard before. + +'_You_ give it to him,' said one voice. + +'No, Marjorie, I daren't; you take it.' + +'You ought not to be afraid, because you're a boy,' said the first +speaker; 'father says boys ought always to be brave.' + +'But you're big, Marjorie, and big people ought to be braver than little +people!' + +There was a long, whispered conversation after this, and I could not +distinguish the words which were spoken. But presently a small piece of +pink paper was thrown over the wall, and fluttered down upon my palette. +I caught it up quickly, to prevent it from sticking to the paints, and I +saw there was something printed on it. It ran thus:-- + + _There will be a short service on the shore on Sunday Morning at + 11 o'clock, when you are earnestly requested to be present_. + + _Subject_: WHAT ARE YOU? + + +'Thank you,' I said aloud. 'Who sent me this?' + +There was no answer at first, then a little voice just above me said, +'Both of us, sir.' + +'Come down and talk to me,' I said; 'I can't talk to children whom I +can't see. Come out here and look at my picture.' + +They came out presently hand in hand, a little girl of five in a blue +tam-o'-shanter cap, a pale pink frock, and a white pinafore, and a boy +of three, the merriest, most sturdy little fellow I thought I had ever +seen. His face was as round and rosy as an apple, his eyes were dark +blue, and had the happiest and most roguish expression that it would be +possible for eyes to have. When the child laughed (and whenever was he +not laughing?), every part of his face laughed together. His eyes began +it, his lips followed suit, even his nose was pressed into the service. +If a sunbeam could be caught and dressed up like a little boy, I think +it would look something like that child. + +'Now,' I said, 'that's right; I like to see children's faces when I talk +to them; tell me your names to begin with.' + +'I'm Marjorie, sir,' said the little girl, 'and he's Jack.' + +'Jack!' I said; 'that's _my_ name, and a nice name too, isn't it, +little Jack? Come and look at my picture, little Jack, and see if you +think big Jack knows how to paint.' + +By degrees they grew more at their ease, and chatted freely with me. +Marjorie told me that her father had sent the paper. Father was going to +preach on Sunday; he preached every Sunday, and numbers of people came, +and Jack was in the choir. + +What a dear little chorister, to be sure, a chubby little cherub if ever +there was one! + +'Shall you come, big Jack?' he said, patting my hand with his strong, +sturdy little fist. + +'I don't know,' I said; 'if it's a fine day, perhaps I shall want to get +on with my picture.' + +'On Sunday?' said the child in a shocked voice; 'it's on Sunday father +preaches, and you couldn't paint on Sunday, could you?' + +'Well, I'll see,' I said; 'perhaps I'll come and hear you sing, little +Jack.' + +'Thank you, big Jack,' he said, with a merry twinkle in his pretty blue +eyes. + +'What is this preaching on the shore, Duncan?' I asked. + +'Oh, it's our lay preacher,' he said; 'he's a good man, and has done a +sight of good in this place. You see, it's too far for folks here to go +to church, and so he lives amongst us, and has meetings in the hall +yonder in winter, and in summer, why, we have 'em on the shore, and the +visitors comes mostly. There's a few won't come, but we get the best of +them, and we have some fine singing--real nice it is! I'm in the choir +myself, sir,' he said; 'you wouldn't think it, but I am. I've got a good +strong voice, too!' + +It must be a choir worth seeing, I thought, if it contained two such +strange contrasts, the big burly fisherman and the tiny child who had +invited me to be present. + +I had not quite made up my mind to go. I had not been to a service for +many months, I might almost say years. I had slipped out of it lately, +and I thought I should feel myself a fish out of water. However, when +the next day came, every one seemed to take it as a matter of course +that I should be going. Polly was up early, and had dressed little John +in his best. + +'You'll see him at church, sir,' she said, as she laid my breakfast; 'he +always likes to go to church, and he's as good as gold, bless him!' + +Duncan was out before I was up, and I had seen him, as I was dressing, +going round to the fishermen sitting as usual on the seats on the cliff, +with a bundle of pink papers in his hand, similar to the one which had +been given me, and distributing them to every group of his mates which +he came across. Yes, I felt that I was expected to go, and it would be +hard work to keep away. But if I had still had any doubt about the +matter, it would have surely disappeared when at half-past ten exactly a +tiny couple came toiling hand in hand up the steps leading to Duncan's +door, and announced to Polly that they had come to call for big Mr. Jack +to go to church. + +It was Marjorie and her little brother, and the small Jack put his +little fat hand into that of big Jack, and led him triumphantly away. + +It was a pretty sight to see that congregation gathering on the village +green. From the fishermen's cottages there came a stream of people down +to the shore,--mothers with babies in their arms and leading young +children by the hand, groups of boys and girls wearing shoes and +stockings who had been barefooted all the week, many a weather-beaten +sailor, many a sunburnt fisher lad, many elderly people too, old men, +and white-haired women in closely-plaited white caps. There were +visitors, too, coming down from the rocks, and these mostly kept in the +background, and had at first an air of watching the movement rather than +joining in it. My York friends were, however, well to the front, and the +children nodded to me, and smiled at one another as they saw me led like +a lamb to the service by my two small guardians. + +It was a lovely day, and the sandy ground was dry, and the congregation +sat on the rough coarse grass or perched on the sand hillocks round. As +for the old boat, it was occupied by the choir, and little Jack, having +seen me safely to the spot, climbed into it and stood proudly in the +stern. He had a hymn-book in his hand, which I knew he could not read, +for he was holding it upside down, but he looked at it as long and as +earnestly as if he could understand every word. Marjorie planted herself +beside me, I suppose to watch me, in case I showed signs of running away +before the service was over. + +Then just before eleven, and when quite a large company of people had +gathered on the green, her father arrived. He was a man of about forty, +and his face gave me the impression that he had known trouble, and yet I +fancied as I looked further at him that the trouble, whatever it was, +had ended. He seemed to me like one who has come out of a sharp storm, +and has anchored in a quiet haven. For whilst I noticed in his face the +traces of heavy sorrow, still at the same time he looked happier and +more peaceful than any of those who stood round him; in fact, it was the +most restful face I had ever seen. He was not an educated man, nor was +he what men call a gentleman, and yet there was a refinement about him +which made one feel at once that he was no common man, and had no common +history. His face was so interesting to me, that I am afraid I was +gazing at him instead of finding the hymn he had given out, but I was +recalled to my duty by his little daughter, who seized the hymn-book she +had given me at the beginning of the service, found the page for me, and +pointed with her small finger to the place. + +It was a mission hymn, sung to a wild, irregular tune. I daresay I +should have smiled if I had heard it anywhere else, but it was no +laughing matter that morning. As I looked at the brown fishermen who had +taken off their oilskin caps, as I glanced at the earnest face of the +preacher, as I noticed how even children, like little Marjorie beside +me, were singing with all their heart and soul the simple plaintive +words, I felt strangely solemnized. + +Then came the prayer, and I felt as he prayed that One whom we could not +see was standing amongst us. It was a very simple prayer, but it was the +outpouring of his heart to God, and many a low Amen broke from the lips +of the fishermen as their hearts went with his. + +The sermon followed. Shall I call it a sermon? It was more an appeal +than a sermon, or even an address. There was no attempt at style, there +were no long words or stilted sentences; it was exactly what his prayer +had been, words spoken out of the abundance of his earnest heart. The +prayer had contained the outpouring of his soul to his God in heaven; +the words, to which we listened afterwards contained the outpouring of +his soul to us, his brothers and sisters on earth. + +There was a great hush over the congregation whilst he spoke. The +mothers quieted their babes, the children sat with their eyes fixed on +the speaker; even those visitors who had been on the outskirts of the +crowd drew near to listen. + +'What are you, dear friends?' he began; 'that is our subject to-day. +What are you? How many different answers I hear you make, as you answer +my question in your hearts!' + +'What am I?' you say. 'I am a fisherman, a strong active man, accustomed +to toil and danger.' 'I am a mother, with a large family of little ones, +working hard from morning till night.' 'I am a schoolboy, learning the +lessons which are to fit me to make my way in the world.' 'I am a busy +merchant, toiling hard to make money, and obliged to come to this quiet +place to recruit my wearied energies.' 'I am an artist, with great +ambition of future success.' 'I am an old man, who has weathered many a +storm, but my work is done now; I am too old to fish, too tired to +toil.' 'I am a gentleman of no occupation, idling comfortably through a +busy world.' 'I'--and here he glanced at his own little Jack in the +stern of the old boat--'I am a tiny child, with an unknown life all +before me.' + +'Dear friends, such are some of your answers to my question. Can I find, +do you think, one answer, one description, which will suit you +all--fishermen, mothers, boys and girls, artists, merchants, gentlemen, +the old man and the little child? Yes, I can. If I could hand you each a +piece of paper and a pencil this day, there is one description of +yourself which each of you might write, one occupation which would +include you all, the old, the young, the rich and the poor. Each of you, +without exception, might write this--_I am a servant_. + +'I, the speaker, am a servant; you who listen, all of you, are +servants.' + +'Well, I don't know how he is going to make that out,' I said to myself. +'I thought he was going to say we were all sinners, and _that_, I +suppose, we are, but _servants_! I do not believe I am anybody's +servant.' + +'All servants,' he went on, 'but not all in the same service. As God and +the angels look down upon this green to-day they see gathering together +a great company of servants, but they also see that we are not all +servants of the same master. They see what we do not see, a dividing +line between us. On one side of the line God sees, and the angels see, +one company of servants--and in God's book He gives us the name of their +master--_Servants of sin_. + +'On the other side of the line, God sees, and the angels see, another +company of servants--_Servants of Christ_. + +'Which company do you belong to, dear friend? You fishermen on the bank +there, what are you? Little child, what are you?--a servant of sin, or a +servant of Jesus Christ? + +So I tried to turn it off from myself, and to forget the words which had +been spoken. And whenever the question came back to me, the question +which the speaker had repeated so often, 'What are you?' I answered it +by saying to myself, 'I am a poor artist, having a holiday in Runswick +Bay, and I am not going to trouble my head with gloomy thoughts.' + +Polly had prepared an excellent dinner in honour of the day, and I did +full justice to it. Then I determined to walk to Staithes, and to spend +the rest of the day in seeing the country. I had always been accustomed, +to paint on Sunday, but only one of the artists seemed to be at work, +and Duncan and Polly had been so much shocked by seeing him, that I did +not venture to do the same. I enjoyed the walk along the cliffs, and +came back in good spirits, having completely shaken off, as I imagined, +the remembrance of the speaker's words. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter V + +THE RUNSWICK SPORTS + + +'I've got a big favour to ask of you, sir,' said Duncan the next day. +'You'll not think I'm taking a liberty, will you?' + +'Certainly not, Duncan,' I said. 'What do you want?' + +'Well, it's just here, sir--me and my mates, we get up some sports every +year on the green. We have 'em in August, sir, just when the visitors +are here. They all turn out to see them, and there's lots of them is +very good in subscribing to the prizes. You see, sir, there is a many +young fellows here, young chaps who must have something to keep them out +of mischief; when they're not fishing, they're bound to be after the +beer, if they haven't something to turn their minds and keep them going +a bit. And these sports, why, they like 'em, sir; and a man must keep +sober if he's to win a prize--you understand, sir?' + +'Yes, Duncan, I understand,' I said; 'it's first-rate for these young +lads, and for the old lads too, for the matter of that. I suppose you +want a subscription for your prizes?' I added, as I handed him half a +sovereign. + +'Thank ye kindly, sir, I won't refuse it, and it's very good of you to +help us so largely; but that isn't what I came to ask of you. I hardly +like to bother you, sir,' he said doubtfully. + +'Never mind the bother, Duncan; let's hear what you want.' + +'Well, it's just here, sir. Could you, do you think, make for us some +sort of a programme to hang up by the post office there, for visitors to +see? You draw them pictures so quick, sir, and--' + +'I see, Duncan; you want the programme to be illustrated. I'm your man; +I'll do it at once.' I was really only too glad to oblige the dear, +honest fellow. + +He was wonderfully pleased at my ready consent, and went off at once to +procure a board upon which my programme might be fastened. We soon made +out together a list of attractions, and I had great pleasure in +beautifying and illustrating the catalogue of sports. + +I headed it thus:-- + + OYEZ, OYEZ! + RUNSWICK ATHLETIC SPORTS. + + +Then, from the R of Runswick I hung a long fishing net, covered with +floats, and falling down over a fish basket, and some lobster-pots, +whilst on the ground were lying a number of fish which had been emptied +out of the basket. + +Next followed a list of patrons, such as: The Honourable O'Mackerell, +Lord Crabby Lobster, Sir C. Shrimp, etc., etc. + +Then came a list of the various sports, each profusely illustrated--The +tug of war, the jockey race, the women's egg and spoon race, the sack +race, the greasy pole, the long jump, etc.; and lastly, an announcement +of a grand concert to be held in the evening, as a conclusion of the +festivities of the day. + +Duncan was more than satisfied--he was delighted, and his gratitude knew +no bounds. His excitement, as he carried the board away to hang it in a +conspicuous place, was like the excitement of a child. + +The whole village seemed to be stirred as the eventful day drew near. + +'Are you going to see the great tug, big Mr. Jack?' my little friend +called to me over the wall as I was painting. As for the York boys, +Harry and Bob, they spent a great part of every day in admiring the +programme, and in bringing other visitors to see and admire the work of +_their_ artist. + +How anxiously Duncan watched the sky the day before the sports, and how +triumphantly Polly announced, when I came down to breakfast, 'A fine +day, sir; couldn't be finer, could it now?' + +Those village sports were really a pretty sight. I see it all in my +mind's eye now. I often wonder I have not made a picture of it. The high +cliff stretching overhead, and covered with bushes and bracken, amongst +which nestled the red-tiled cottages. Then below the cliff the level +green, covered with strong, hardy fishermen and their sunburnt wives, +and surrounding the green, on the sand-hills, the visitors old and +young, dressed in bright colours and holiday attire. Is it too late to +paint it from memory, I wonder? I see it all still so distinctly. + +The sports lasted a long time, and went off well. Polly distinguished +herself by winning the egg and spoon race, much to the joy of little +John, who watched all the proceedings from his father's arms. + +Then came the greatest event of all, the tug of war. A long cable was +brought out and stretched across the green, and a pocket-handkerchief +was tied in the centre of it. Two stakes were then driven into the +ground, and between these a line was chalked on the grass. The +handkerchief was then placed exactly over the line. After this all the +fishermen who entered the lists were divided into two parties. Then each +side laid hold of one end of the rope, and at a given signal they began +to pull. It was a trial of strength; whichever side could draw the +handkerchief past the two stakes and over the line, that side would win. + +How tremendously those men pulled! What force they put into it! Yet for +a long time the rope did not move a single inch. All the strength of +those powerful fishermen was put out; they were lying on the ground, +that their pull might be all the stronger. Every sinew, every nerve, +every muscle seemed to be on the strain, but so evenly were the two +sides matched, that the rope was motionless, and it seemed impossible to +tell which party would win. + +Little John was eagerly watching his father. + +'Pull, daddy, pull!' I heard him cry; and I think I was nearly as +pleased as he and Polly were when Duncan and the mates on his side +suddenly made one mighty effort, and the handkerchief was drawn across +the line. There was tremendous cheering after this. Polly clapped her +hands with delight, and little Jack and big Jack nearly shouted +themselves hoarse. + +It was an interesting sight, and I had reason to remember it afterwards, +as you will see. The evening concert went off as well as the sports had +done, and Duncan came in at night rather tired, but well satisfied with +the day's proceedings. + +I enjoyed all the sights at Runswick Bay, but I think I was particularly +charmed with what happened on the day after the sports. All the village +was early astir, and as I was dressing, it seemed to me that every +fisherman in the place was hurrying down to the beach. It was not long +before I followed them to see what they were doing. I found that they +were about to draw the crab-boats up from the shore, to a place where +they would be safe from the winter storms. It was hard work, but every +one was there to give a hand. A long string of men and lads laid hold of +the strong cable fastened to the boat. Even the wives and elder children +caught hold of it. I myself went to their help, and several of the +visitors followed my example. Then, when we were all in position, there +came a pause, for Duncan, who was directing the proceedings, charged us +not to pull till the signal was given. Then there rose a peculiar cry or +yodel, all the fishermen uttering it together, and as soon as it ceased +we gave our united, mighty pull. Then we paused to take breath, until +once more there came a yodel followed by another pull, and as this was +repeated again and again, it was grand to see the heavy boat making +steady and regular progress. Across the heavy sand she came, up the low +bank, over the rough grass, slowly, steadily, surely, she moved onward, +until at length she was placed in safety, far out of reach of the +highest tide and the strongest sea. Thus, one after another, the boats +were drawn up, and we were fairly tired before our work was done. + +I think it must have been that very day, that, as I was sitting +painting, I once more heard the broken notes of the instrument which had +troubled me so much before. It was that tune again, my mother's tune, +and somehow, I do not know how it was, with the sound of my mother's +tune there came back to my mind the remembrance of the Sunday service. +Ah! my mother was on the right side of the line, I said to myself; she +was a servant of Christ. But her son! what is he? + +I did not want to follow out this subject, so I jumped up from my +camp-stool, and standing under the wall, I called, 'Little Jack, little +Jack.' + +The music stopped at once, and the child came out. Dear, little merry +fellow, how fond I was of him already! + +'Yes, Mr. big Jack,' he said, as he ran out of the gate. + +'Come and talk to me, old chappie,' I said, 'whilst I paint. Who plays +music in your house?' + +'I do,' said little Jack. + +'_You_ do, Jack? Why, you are a funny little fellow to play music! +What do you play on, and who taught you?' + +'Nobody teached me, Mr. Jack,' he said; 'I teached my own self.' + +'Teached your own self? Why, how did you manage that?' I asked. + +'I turned him round and round and round, Mr. Jack, and the music came, +and I teached my own self,' he repeated. + +'What is it, Jack?' I asked. 'Is it an old musical box?' + +'No, it's an organ, a barrow-organ, Mr. Jack.' + +'Oh, a barrel-organ you mean, little chappie; why, however in the world +did you get hold of a barrel-organ? Is it a little toy one?' + +'No, it's big, ever so big,' he said, stretching out his hands to show +me its size. + +'Why, whoever gave you it?' I asked. + +'It isn't Jack's own organ,' said the child. + +'Whose is it, then?' + +'It's father's, father's own organ.' + +It seemed to me a most extraordinary thing for the mission preacher of +Runswick Bay to have in his possession, but I did not like to ask any +more questions at that time. + +However, in the afternoon my little friend called to me over, the wall, +'Big Mr. Jack, come here.' + +'Come where, my little man?' + +'Come inside and look at father's organ; I'll play it to you, Mr. Jack.' + +'What will father say if I come in?' + +'Father's out.' + +'What will mother say?' + +'Mother's out too.' + +I did not much relish the idea of entering a man's house in his absence, +but such plaintive entreaties came from the other side of the wall. Over +and over again he pleaded, 'Do come, Mr. Jack; do come quick, Mr. Jack!' +that at last, to please the child, I left my work for a few minutes and +went up the steps which led to the gate of their garden. + +It was only a small place, but very prettily laid out. There was a tiny +lawn, well kept, and covered with short, soft grass, and in the centre +of this a round bed filled with geraniums, calceolarias, and lobelias. +Round the lawn, at the edge of the garden, was a border, in which grew +all manner of gay and sweet-smelling flowers. There were asters and +mignonette, sweet-peas and convolvolus, heliotrope and fuchsias. Then in +front of me was the pretty cottage, with two gables and a red-tiled +roof, the walls of which were covered from top to bottom with creeping +plants. Ivy and jessamine, climbing roses, virginia-creeper, and +canariensis, all helped to make the little place beautiful. + +'What a pretty home you have, little Jack!' I said. + +He kept tight hold of my hand, lest I should escape from him, and led me +on--into a tiny entrance hall, past one or two doors, down a dark +passage, and into a room at the back. + +This room had a small bow-window overlooking the sea, the walls were +covered with bookshelves, a writing-table stood in the window, and in +the corner by the fireplace was the extraordinary object I had been +brought to see--an extremely ancient and antiquated barrel-organ. + +What a peculiar thing to come across in a preacher's study! What +possible use could he have for it? It was a most dilapidated old +instrument, almost falling to pieces with old age. The shape was so +old-fashioned that I do not remember ever having seen one like it; the +silk, which had doubtless once been its adornment, was torn into shreds, +and it was impossible to tell what its original colour had been; the +wood was worm-eaten and decayed, and the leg upon which it had rested +could no longer support its weight. + +'Let me hear you play it, Jack,' I said. + +He sat down with great pride to turn the handle, but I noticed that half +the notes were broken off the barrel, which accounted for only fragments +of each tune being heard, whilst many bars of some were wanting +altogether. However, Jack seemed very proud of his performance, and +insisted on my staying till he had gone through the whole of the four +tunes which the poor old thing was supposed to play. He announced their +names, one by one, as each began. + +'This is "My Poor Mary Anne," Mr. Jack, _very_ sad.' Then when that +was finished, 'This is the Old Hundred, _very_ old.' + +After this there was a long turning of the handle without any sound +being heard, for the first part of the next tune was gone entirely. 'I +can't say the name of this one, Mr. Jack,' he explained; 'Marjorie calls +its something like "Ma says."' + +'Oh! the "Marseillaise,"' I said, laughing; 'all right, little man, I +know that.' + +'Then comes father's tune, father _does_ like it so. Listen, "Home, +sweet home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home." Do +_you_ like it, Mr. Jack?' + +'Yes, I do like it, Jack,' I said; 'I knew it when I was a little chap +like you.' + +As he played, once more it brought before me my mother's voice and my +mother's words. I had not thought of my mother for years so much as I +had done at Runswick Bay. Even the old organ brought her back to me, for +she was always kind to organ-grinders. There was an Italian who used to +come round with a barrel-organ when I was a little boy. I can see him +now. I used to watch for him from my nursery window, and as soon as he +came in sight I flew down to my mother for a penny, and then went into +the garden and stood beside him whilst he played. My mother gave me a +musical-box on my birthday; it was in the shape of a barrel-organ, and +had a strap which I could hang round my neck. I used to take this box +with me, and standing beside the Italian, I imitated his every movement, +holding my little organ just as he held his big one, and playing beside +him as long as he remained. So delightful did this man's occupation seem +to me, that I can remember quite well when my father asked me one day +what I would like to be when I was a man, I answered without a moment's +hesitation, 'An organ-grinder, of course, father.' + +Those old boyish days, how long ago they seemed! What was the use of +recalling them? It would not bring back the mother I had lost, or the +father who had cared for me, and it only made me depressed to think of +them. What good, I asked myself, would my holiday do me if I spent it in +brooding over bygone sorrow? I must forget all this kind of thing, and +cheer up, and get back my spirits again. + +'Now, little Jack,' I said, 'big Jack must go back to his picture; come +and climb into the old boat, and I'll see how you would do in the +foreground of it.' He looked such a merry little rogue, perched amongst +the nets and fishing tackle, that I felt I should improve my picture by +introducing him into it, and therefore from that day he came for a +certain time every morning to be painted. He was such a good little +fellow, he never moved a limb after I told him I was ready, and never +spoke unless I spoke to him. A more lovable child I never saw, nor a +more obedient one. With all his fun, and in spite of his flow of +spirits, he was checked in a moment by a single word. No one could be +dull in his company, and as the week passed on I began to regain my +usual cheerfulness, and to lose the uncomfortable impression left on my +mind by the sermon on the shore and the questions the preacher had asked +us. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter VI + +THE TUG OF WAR + + +I had quite made up my mind not to attend the service on the following +Sunday, and when a pink paper floated down on my easel on the Saturday +morning, I caught it and thrust it into my pocket, without even looking +to see what the subject was to be. + +'Have you got it, Mr. Jack?' said the child's voice above me. + +'All right, little man,' I answered; 'it's all safe and sound.' + +I made my plans for Sunday with great care. I asked for an early +breakfast, so that I might walk over to Kettleness, a place about two +miles off along the coast, and which could only be reached at low tide; +and when I was once there, on the other side of the bay, I determined to +be in no hurry to return, but to arrive at Runswick too late for the +service on the sands. If Duncan and Polly missed me, they would simply +conclude that I had found the walk longer than I had expected. + +But, as I was just ready to set out for Kettleness, a tremendous shower +came on. + +'You'll never set off in this weather, sir?' said Duncan anxiously. + +'Oh no, of course not,' I answered lightly. + +I fancied that he looked more concerned than the occasion warranted, and +I feared that he suspected the real reason for my early walk. + +There was now nothing to be done but to wait till the shower was over, +and by that time I found it would be impossible for me to go to +Kettleness without seeming deliberately to avoid the service. + +The sun came out, and the sky was quite blue before eleven o'clock, and +the fishermen spread tarpaulins on the sand for the congregation to sit +on, and I found myself--I must say very much against my will--being led +to the place by little Jack. + +'Well, there is no need for me to listen,' I said to myself; 'I will +plan out a new picture, and no one will know where my thoughts are.' + +But, in spite of my resolution to the contrary, from the moment that +Jack's father began to speak, my attention was riveted, and I could not +choose but listen. + +'The Tug of War is our subject to-day, dear friends,' he began, 'and a +very suitable subject, I think, after what we have witnessed on this +green during the past week. We have seen, have we not, a long pull, a +strong pull, and a pull all together, as yon heavy crab boat was dragged +up from the beach? How well she came, what progress she made! with each +yoddel we brought her farther from the sea. We all of us gave a helping +hand; fishermen, wives, visitors, friends, all laid hold, and all +pulled, and the work, hard as it seemed, was soon accomplished. Why? +Because we were all united. It was a long pull, a strong pull, and a +pull all together. + +'And now let me bring back to your memory another event during this past +week. The place is the same, our village green, the same rope is used, +and those who pull are the very same men, strong, brawny, powerful +fishermen. Yes, you pulled your very hardest; if possible you put forth +more strength than when the crab boat was drawn up, and yet, strange to +say, there was no result, the rope did not move an inch. What were you +pulling? What was the mighty weight that you had to move? What was it +that, for such a long time, baffled the strength of the strongest among +you? The weight you could not move was not a heavy boat, but a light +handkerchief! + +'Why was there this difference? Why was the handkerchief harder to move +than the boat? The answer to that question was to be found at the other +end of the green. There were other pullers at the rope that day, pulling +with all their might in an exactly opposite direction. It was not a +united pull, and therefore for a long time there was no result, and we +watched on, until at length one side was proved the strongest, and the +handkerchief was drawn by them triumphantly across the line. + +'To-day, dear friends, I speak to you of yet another tug of war. The +place is the same, Runswick Bay and our village green, but the weight to +be drawn is not a boat, not a handkerchief; the weight is _a human +soul._ It is your soul, my friend, your immortal soul; _you_ are +the one who is being drawn. + +'And who are the pullers? Oh, how many they are! I myself have my hands +on the rope. God only knows how hard I am pulling, striving with all my +might, if possible to draw you, my friend, to Christ. But there are +other hands on the rope besides mine. Your conscience pulls, your good +old mother pulls, your little child pulls, your Christian mate pulls; +each sermon you hear, each Bible class you attend, each hymn you sing, +each prayer uttered in your presence, each striving of the Spirit, each +God-given yearning after better things, each storm you come through, +each danger you escape, each sickness in your family, each death in your +home, each deliverance granted you, gives you a pull God-ward, +Christ-ward, heaven-ward. + +'Yet, oh, my dear friend, you know, as clearly as you know that you are +sitting there, that, so far, Christ's pullers are drawing in vain. You +have never yet, you know it, crossed the line which divides the saved +from the unsaved. Why is this? Why, oh, why are you so hard to move? + +'Oh, my friend, do you ask why? Surely you know the reason! Is it not +because there are other hands on the rope, other pullers drawing in an +exactly opposite direction? For Satan has many an agent, many a servant, +and he sends forth a great army of soul-pullers. Each worldly friend, +each desire of your evil nature, each temptation to sin, each longing +after wealth, each sinful suggestion, gives you a pull, and a pull the +wrong way, away from safety, away from Christ, away from God, away from +heaven, away from Home. And towards what? Oh, dear friend, towards what? +What are the depths, the fearful depths towards which you are being +drawn?' + +He said a good deal more, but I did not hear it. That question seemed +burnt in with a red-hot iron into my soul. What are the depths, the +fearful depths into which you are being drawn? I could not shake it off. +I wished I could get away from the green, but Jack had brought me close +to the boat where the choir stood, and there was no escape. I should +have to sit it out; it would soon be over, I said to myself. + +The service ended with a hymn. Another of their queer, wild, irregular +tunes, I thought; I was not going to sing it. But when Jack saw that I +did not open my book, he leant over the side of the boat, and poked my +head with his hymn-book. 'Sing, big Mr. Jack, sing,' he said aloud, and +then, for very shame, I had to find my place and begin. I can still +remember the first verse of that hymn, and I think I can recall the tune +to which they sang it:-- + + 'Oh, tender and sweet was the Master's voice, + As he lovingly called to me: + "Come over the line! it is only a step-- + I am waiting, My child, for thee!" + "Over the line!" Hear the sweet refrain! + Angels are chanting the heavenly strain! + "Over the line!" Why should I remain + With a step between me and Jesus?' + + +I was heartily glad when the service was over, and I went on the shore +at once, to try to walk the sermon away. But I was not so successful as +I had been the Sunday before. That question followed me; the very waves +seemed to be repeating it. What are the depths, the fearful depths, to +which you are being drawn? I had not looked at it in that light before. +I had been quite willing to own that I was not religious, that I was +leading a gay, easy-going kind of life, that my Sundays were spent in +bed, or in novel reading, or in rowing, or in some other amusement. I +was well aware that I looked at these things very differently from what +my mother had done, and I had even wondered sometimes, whether, if she +had been spared to me, I should have been a better fellow than I knew +myself to be. But as for feeling any real alarm or anxiety with regard +to my condition, such a thought had never for one moment crossed my +mind. + +Yet if this man was right, there was real danger in my position. I was +not remaining stationary, as I had thought, but I was being drawn by +unseen forces towards something worse, towards the depths, the fearful +depths, of which he had spoken. + +At times I wished I had never come to Runswick Bay to be made so +uncomfortable; at other times I wondered if I had been brought there on +purpose to hear those words. + +I went back to dinner, but I could not enjoy it, much to Polly's +distress. The rain fell fast all the afternoon, and as I lay on my bed +upstairs I heard Polly washing up, and singing as she did so the hymn we +had had at the service-- + + 'Come over the line to Me.' + + +There seemed no chance of forgetting the words which had made me so +uneasy. + +That night I had a strange dream. I thought I was once more on the +village green. It was a wild, stormy night, the wind was blowing hard, +and the rain was falling fast; yet through the darkness I could +distinguish crowds of figures gathered on the green. On the side farther +from the sea there was a bright light streaming through the darkness. +I wondered in my dream what was going on, and I found that it was a tug +of war, taking place in the darkness of the night. I saw the huge cable, +and gradually as I watched I caught sight of those who were pulling. +I walked to the side from which the light streamed, and there I saw a +number of holy and beautiful angels with their hands on the rope, and +amongst them I distinctly caught sight of my mother. She seemed to be +dragging with all her might, and there was such an earnest, pleading, +beseeching expression on her dear face that it went to my very heart to +look at her. I noticed that close beside her was the preacher, little +Jack's father, and behind him was Duncan. They were all intent on their +work, and took no notice of me, so I walked to the other end of the +green, the one nearest the sea, that I might see who were there. It was +very dark at that end of the rope, but I could dimly see evil faces, and +dark, strange forms, such as I could not describe. Those on this side +seemed to be having it much their own way, I thought, for the weight, +whatever it was, was gradually drawing near to the sea; and, lo and +behold, I saw that they were close upon a terrible place, for mighty +cliffs stood above the shore, and they were within a very short distance +of a sheer and terrible precipice. + +'What are you dragging?' I cried to them. + +And a thousand voices seemed to answer, 'A soul! a soul!' + +Then, as I watched on, I saw that the precipice was nearly reached, and +that both those who pulled and the weight they were dragging were on the +point of being hurled over, and suddenly it flashed upon me in my dream +that it was _my_ soul for which they were struggling, and I heard +the cry of the pullers from the other side of the green, and it seemed +to me that, with one voice, they were calling out that terrible +question, 'What are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are +being drawn?' And through the streaming light I saw my mother's face, +and a look of anguish crossed it, as suddenly the rope broke, and those +who were drawing it on the opposite side went over with a crash, +dragging my soul over with them. + +I woke in a terror, and cried out so loudly that Duncan came running +into my room to see what was the matter. + +'Nothing, Duncan,' I said, 'I was only dreaming; I thought I had gone +over a precipice.' + +'No, thank God, you're all safe, sir,' he said. 'Shall I open your +window a bit? Maybe the room's close; is it?' + +'Thank you, Duncan,' I answered; 'I shall be all right now. I'm so sorry +I have waked you.' + +'You haven't done that, sir; me and Polly have been up all night with +the little lad. He's sort of funny, too, sir, burning hot, and yet he +shivers like, and he clings to his daddy; so I've been walking a mile or +two with him up and down our chamber floor, and I heard you skriking +out, and says Polly, "Run and see what ails him." So you haven't +disturbed me, sir, not one little bit, you haven't.' + +He left me then, and I tried to sleep, but sleep seemed far from me. I +could hear Duncan's footsteps pacing up and down in the next room; I +could hear little John's fretful cry; I could hear the rain beating +against the casement; I could hear the soughing and whistling of the +wind; I could hear Polly's old eight-day clock striking the hours and +the half-hours of that long, dismal night; but through it all, and above +it all, I could hear the preacher's question, 'What are the depths, the +fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?' + +I found it impossible to close my eyes again, so I drew up the blind, +and, as morning began to dawn, I watched the pitiless rain and longed +for day. The footsteps in the next room ceased as the light came on, and +I concluded that the weary child was at last asleep. I wished that I was +asleep too. I thought how often my mother, when I was a child, must have +walked up and down through long weary nights with me. I wondered +whether, as she did so, she spent the slow, tedious hours in praying for +her boy, and then I wondered how she would have felt, and how she would +have borne it, had she known that the child in her arms would grow up to +manhood, living for this world and not for the Christ she loved. I +wondered if she _did_ know this now, in the far-off land where she +dwelt with God. + +I think I must have dozed a little after this, for I was suddenly roused +by Polly's cheery voice, cheery in spite of her bad night,-- + +'Have a cup of tea, sir, it'll do you good. You've not slept over well, +Duncan says. I'll put it down by your door.' + +I jumped out of bed and brought it in, feeling very grateful to Polly, +and I drank it before I dressed. That's just like a Yorkshire woman, I +thought. My mother came from Yorkshire. + +'I think it must have been nightmare I had last night, Polly,' I said as +I finished my breakfast, and began to put all in order for my morning's +work. + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter VII + +OVER THE LINE + + +I was at my painting early the next morning, for the sun was shining +brightly, and the air was wonderfully clear. My portrait of little Jack +sitting in the boat promised to be a great success. As I was hard at +work upon it that day, I heard a voice behind me. + +'I never thought my little lad would figure in the Royal Academy,' said +the voice. + +It was the voice of Jack's father--the voice which had moved me so +deeply, the voice which had made me tremble, only the day before. Even +as he spoke I felt inclined to run away, lest he should ask me again +that terrible question which had been ringing in my ears ever since. +Even as I talked to him about my picture, and even as he answered in +pleasant and friendly tones, through them all and above them all came +the words which were burnt in upon my memory: 'What are the depths, the +fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?' + +'I hope my children are not troublesome to you,' he said. + +'Oh no,' I answered; 'I love to have them here, and Jack and I are great +friends. Do you know,' I went on, 'he took me into your study the other +day? I am afraid I was taking a great liberty; but the little man would +hear of no refusal--he wanted me to see the old barrel-organ.' + +'What, my dear old organ!' he answered. 'Yes, Jack is nearly as fond of +it as his father is.' + +'His father?' I replied, for it seemed strange to me that a man of his +years should care for what appeared to me scarcely better than a broken +toy. + +'That organ has a history,' he said, as he noticed my surprise; 'if you +knew the history, you would not wonder that I love it. I owe all I am in +this world, all I hope to be in the world to come, to that poor old +organ. Some day, when you have time to listen, perhaps you may like to +hear the story of the organ.' + +'Thank you,' I said; 'the sooner the better.' + +'Then come and have supper with us to-night. Nellie will be very pleased +to see you, and the bairns will be in bed, and we shall have plenty of +time and quiet for story-telling.' + +I accepted his invitation gratefully, for September had come, and the +evenings were growing dark, and my time hung somewhat heavily on my +hands. Polly, I think, was not sorry when she heard I was going out, for +Duncan was away in the boat fishing, and little John was so feverish and +restless that she could not put him down even for a moment. + +The cottage looked very bright and pretty when I arrived, and they gave +me a most kind welcome. A small fire was burning in the grate, for the +evenings were becoming chilly. The bow window was hung with India-muslin +curtains, tied up with amber ribbon, the walls were adorned with +photographs framed in oak, the supper table was covered with a snowy +cloth, and a dainty little meal was laid out with the greatest taste and +care, whilst in the centre was a china bowl, containing the leaves of +the creeper which covered the house, interspersed with yellow bracken +and other beautiful leaves, in every varied shade of their autumn glory. +Jack's mother was evidently a woman of taste. She had a quiet, gentle +face, almost sad at times when it was at rest; but she had Jack's eyes +and Jack's bright smile, which lighted up her face, as a burst of +brilliant sunshine will stream suddenly down a dark valley, and make it +a perfect avenue of light. + +I enjoyed the company of both husband and wife exceedingly, and as we +sat round the table and chatted over our supper all feeling of +constraint passed away, and I no longer heard the words of that question +which had so troubled me all day long. He did not mention the object for +which I had come whilst the meal was going on. We talked of Runswick Bay +and its surroundings, of the fishermen and their life of danger; we +spoke of the children, and of my picture, of my hopes with regard to the +Royal Academy, and of many other interesting topics. + +Then the cloth was removed, and we drew near the fire. I had just said +to him, 'Now for your story,' and he was just beginning to tell it, +when, as I sat down in an arm-chair which Nellie had placed for me by +the fire, my eye fell upon a photograph which was hanging in a frame +close to the fireplace. I started from my seat and looked at it. Surely +I could not be mistaken! Surely I knew every feature of it, every fold +of the dress, every tiny detail in the face and figure. It was the +counterpart of a picture which hung opposite my bed in my London home. + +'However on earth did you get that?' I cried. 'Why, it's my mother's +picture!' + +I think I have never felt more startled than I did at that moment. After +all the thoughts of yesterday, after my dream of last night, after all +my recollection of my mother's words to me, and her prayers for +me--after all this, to see her dear eyes looking at me from the wall of +the house of this unknown man, in this remote, out-of-the-world spot, +almost frightened me. + +I did not realize at first that my host was almost as much startled as I +was. + +'Your mother!' he repeated; 'your mother! Surely not! Do you mean to +tell me,' he said, laying his hand on my arm, 'that your name is +Villiers?' + +'Of course it is,' I said; 'Jack Villiers.' + +'Nellie, Nellie,' he cried, for she had gone upstairs to the children, +'come down at once; who do you think this is, Nellie? You will never +guess. It is Jack Villiers, the little Jack you and I used to know so +well. Why, do you know,' he said, 'our own little Jack was named after +you; he was indeed, and we haven't heard of you for years--never since +your dear mother died.' + +I was too much astonished at first to ask him any questions, and he was +too much delighted to explain where and how he had known me; but after a +time, when we had recovered ourselves a little, we drew our chairs round +the fire, and he began his story. + +'I was a poor little street Arab once,' he said; 'a forlorn boy with no +one to love him or to care for him. But I made friends with an old man +in the attic of the lodging-house who had a barrel-organ.' + +'_That_ barrel-organ?' I asked. + +'The very same,' he said, 'and he loved it as if it was a child. When he +was too ill to take it out himself, I took it for him, and that was how +I first saw your mother.' + +'Was she married then?' I asked. + +'No,' he said with a smile; 'she was quite a little girl, about the age +of our Marjorie. She used to run to her nursery window as soon as she +heard me begin to play. I let her turn the organ one day, and she said +she liked all the tunes, but she liked "Home, Sweet Home" the best of +all.' + +'Did she?' I said. 'Yes, I have often heard her sing it; she sang me to +sleep with it many a time.' + +'As I played it,' he went on, 'she would speak to me of the Home, Sweet +Home above; child as she was, she knew the way to that home, and she +soon found out that I knew nothing about it. "You can't go to heaven if +you don't love Jesus, organ boy," she said, and the tears ran down from +her dear little eyes as she said it. + +'I could not forget those words, and I was determined to find out the +way to the home of which she spoke. + +'My old master was dying; he had only another month to live, and for his +sake I must learn quickly the way to be saved. I attended a mission +service, and I learnt first that no sin can enter the gates of the +Heavenly City. But I learnt more. I learnt that the blood of Jesus +Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin. + +'Your mother taught me a prayer one day when I went to see her. I have +said that prayer, morning and evening, ever since. She gave me a bunch +of snowdrops, tied up with dark green leaves, and she told me to say as +I looked at them, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." + +He stopped for a minute or two after this, and gazed into the fire; the +memory of those old days had stirred him deeply. + +'Please go on,' I said, for I longed to hear more. + +'She came to our attic after that with her mother; they came to see my +old master, and she was pleased to see the snowdrops. She told me that +day, that if I would only say her prayer I should be sure to go to Home, +Sweet Home. + +'Very soon after this my old master died, and on the very day that I was +following him to the grave I saw my poor little friend, your mother, +Jack, in a funeral coach, following her mother to the same place. Then +after that she went abroad, but she did not forget the poor organ boy. +She told her father about me, and he sent money for my education, and +had me trained to be a city missionary in the east of London, to work +amongst the very people amongst whom I had lived. All I am now I owe to +your grandfather. + +'I did not meet your mother after this for many years, not until she was +married to the clergyman in whose parish I worked. + +'Strange to say, we met one day in my old attic, the very attic where my +poor old master had died. She had gone there to visit a sick woman, and +as I went in she was reading to her from the very Testament out of which +her mother had read to my old master, when she had come to see him in +that place, fifteen years before. + +'Soon after this we were married, Nellie and I, and it was your dear +mother who made our little home bright and pretty for us, and who was +there to welcome us to it. How we loved her then, how we love her still! + +'When you were quite a tiny child, she would bring you to see us, and +Nellie used often to say you were the dearest, prettiest child she had +ever known!' + +'I don't remember it,' I said. + +'No, you would be too young to remember it; you were only three years +old when your father left London for a parish in the country, and soon +after came the news of his death, and only a year or so later we heard +your mother was gone too. It was a sorrowful day, Jack, when that news +came. + +'We often wondered about you; we heard that you had gone to live with an +aunt, but we did not even know her name. We tried to find out more, but +we knew no one in the place where you lived, and we never heard what had +become of you.' + +'How strange that I should have been brought here to meet you!' I said. + +'No, not strange,' he said reverently; 'it is the hand of God.' + +And then--I could not help it--I laid my head on my arm as I stood +against the mantel-piece, and I sobbed like a child. + +He did not speak for some minutes, and then he put his arm round me as +tenderly as my mother could have done, and said, 'What is it, Jack? Is +it talking of your mother that has upset you so?' + +'No,' I said, 'it isn't that--I love to talk of her; I love to hear of +her; everything she said is precious to me; it isn't that.' + +'What then?' he said; 'what troubles you, Jack?' + +'It's the thought that I shall never see her again,' I said; 'I know I +shall not. _She_ went one way and _I_ am going another.' + +'Why not turn round and go her way, Jack?' he said cheerily. + +'Oh, I can't,' I said; 'it's no use--I can't turn. There are too many +hands on the wrong end of the rope. I've been miserable ever since I +heard you talk of it. I could not sleep last night for thinking of it. +"What are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?" +those words have never left me, night or day, since you uttered them. I +have tried to shake them off, but I can't.' + +'Don't attempt to shake them off,' he said. 'Oh, Jack, don't try to do +it, for they are the voice of the Spirit of God. But listen to-night to +the One who is calling you. "Come over the line--it is only a step. Come +over the line to _Me_."' + +'I wish I could,' I said. + +'You can do it, and you _must_ do it, Jack,' he said firmly, +'before you leave this room.' + +'Before I leave this room?' + +'Yes, this very instant,' he said. + +'But how can I do it? I don't know how to cross,' I said. + +'You are no dead, lifeless weight on the rope, like a boat or a +handkerchief; you have a will of your own, and it remains with you to +decide which way you want to be drawn, God-ward, Christ-ward, +heaven-ward, or to the fearful depths of which I spoke. God is drawing +you very strongly now, but He never forces a man against his will. He +puts in your hands the power to decide on which side of the line you +will be. Which is it to be, Jack?' + +'Well,' I said, 'I will think it over.' + +'So many have said, and their desire to cross the line has cooled down, +and they have been lost.' + +'I'll come and have a talk with you another day, later on in the week, +if we can make it convenient.' + +'So Felix said, "When I have a more convenient season I will send for +thee," but Felix never did send; he never crossed the line, but he was +drawn over to the fearful depths.' + +'Well, suppose we say to-morrow. It's late now, and you're tired, I +know, and--' + +'God says _to-day_ he said. '"To-day, if ye will hear His voice, +harden not your hearts. Behold, now is the accepted time, now is the day +of salvation."' + +'Tell me _how_ I can come,' I said. + +'"Come over the line to _Me_." There you have it,' he answered. +'The Lord calls you, and you have not far to go. It is only a step. He +stands in this room close to you. He holds out His arms to you. He does +not compel you. He does not force you forward. He calls, and He waits to +receive you. Jack, will you come?' + +'Yes, I will,' I said earnestly; 'I will come.' + +We knelt down together, and I cannot remember the words he said, but I +know that whenever I read in the Gospels those words in the first +chapter of St. John, 'He brought him to Jesus,' I think of that night. I +do not think that Peter and Andrew felt the Lord Jesus more near them in +the booth by the side of the Jordan than we felt Him in that little room +in Runswick Bay. + +I know He was there, and I know something more--I know that I came to +Him. And I know that that night, before we rose from our knees, I +crossed the line, and I was able henceforth to take my place amongst the +glad, thankful people who can say, humbly and yet confidently, 'We know +that we have passed from death unto life.' + + + + +Chapter VIII + +A NIGHT OF STORM + + +It was late when I got back to my lodging, and I walked like one in a +dream. Polly opened the door, and she seemed troubled about the child. +Little John was evidently in pain, for I heard him moaning as I went +upstairs. + +'I should get a doctor, Polly,' I said. + +'So Duncan says, sir; we shall have to send for him in the morning if +he's no better.' + +I slept calmly and peacefully, and I woke up to feel that I was +beginning an entirely new life. Henceforth I was not my own. I was +standing on the heavenward side of the line, and I had taken my place +amongst the servants of Christ. I had never felt so happy before. + +Duncan had set off for the doctor before I was down that morning. Little +John was better, Polly said, but was still very feverish, and would eat +nothing. She brought him down before I went off to my work, wrapped in a +shawl, and I thought he looked very ill, but I did not like to say so. + +Duncan came in just at that moment, and the child put out his arms to +his father, and he took him on his knee by the fire, and when I came +home to dinner he was still lying there. + +'Has the doctor been?' I asked. + +'No, sir; he was out when I called this morning. He had gone to a bad +case, they said, ten miles off, but I left a message. I hope he'll come +before I go this evening. I should be more comfortable like if he did.' + +However, the evening came, and Duncan's mates were whistling for him +from the shore, and the doctor had not appeared. The boy was still in +his father's arms, and he was walking up and down the kitchen to soothe +him. + +'It's hard to leave him, sir,' he said, when he heard the whistle, 'but +he seems a bit better, I think, this afternoon; he hasn't cried so much, +has he, Polly?' + +But I saw there were tears in his eyes as he gave the boy to his mother. + +'I'll walk with you to the shore, Duncan,' I said, for I saw that the +poor fellow was very downcast. + +'Thank you kindly, sir,' he answered. + +I stood on the shore whilst the nets and fishing tackle were put on +board, then he said in a low voice,-- + +'It's a comfort to feel you will be near my poor lass to-night, sir. It +cuts me to the heart to leave her; if anything happens to little John, +whatever would me and my missus do! But the Lord knows, sir--He knows,' +he repeated, and he wiped away a tear which fell on my hand as he +grasped it. + +I went back to Duncan's house, to find the doctor there. It was +influenza and pneumonia, he said, and the boy must be kept in one room. +He was a very silent man, and whether he thought it was a serious case +or not I could not discover. + +I determined not to go to bed that night, but to sit up in my room, in +case I should be of any use. I was really glad of the quiet time for +thought and prayer. + +I am ashamed to confess that I had brought no Bible with me to Runswick +Bay; I had not opened a Bible for years. But when all was quiet in the +house I stole quietly downstairs, and brought up Duncan's Bible, which +was lying on the top of the oak cupboard below. What a well-worn, +well-read Bible it was! I wondered if my mother's Bible had been read +like that. There was his name on the title-page, 'John Duncan, from his +affectionate father.' It had evidently been given to him when a boy, and +underneath the name was written this verse: 'Open Thou mine eyes, that I +may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.' I said that little prayer +before I began to read, and I have said it ever since each time that I +have opened my Bible. + +About twelve o'clock that night the weather became very stormy. A sudden +gale set in, and in a very short time the sea became lashed into a fury. +I have never heard wind like the wind that night. It literally shrieked +and moaned as it blew, and every window and door in the house rattled, +and sometimes I felt as if the cottage itself would be swept away. + +'What a time they must be having out at sea!' I said to myself. + +I went to the window, and putting out my candle, I tried to see out into +the darkness; but I could distinguish nothing whatever, so black was the +sky and so tremendous was the rain. + +It must have been about one o'clock that I heard a step on the stairs. I +opened my door and went out. It was Polly. + +'How is he, Polly?' I asked. + +'Very bad, sir; very bad,' she said. 'He doesn't know me now, and he +won't take anything; and oh, sir, do you hear the wind?' + +Who could help hearing it? It was raging more furiously every moment, +and the house seemed to rock with the violence of the storm. + +'Let me help you, Polly,' I said; 'let me come and sit with you beside +little John.' + +'Well, sir, if you would just stay a few minutes whilst I fetch Betty +Green,' she said; 'I feel as if I dursn't be alone any longer, I'm +getting that nervous, what with little John talking so queer, sir, and +the wind blowing so awful, and his father on the sea!' and Polly burst +into tears. + +'Polly,' I said, 'God is on the sea as well as on the land. Go and fetch +Betty, and I will sit by the child.' + +She went down and opened the door, and the wind rushed into the house +and up the stairs, and I had to shut the bedroom door hastily to keep it +out. Then I heard Polly pulling and pulling at it, and vainly trying to +shut it, and I had to go down to help her. She was some minutes away, +for she had difficulty in rousing her neighbour, and I sat beside the +unconscious child. He was talking the whole time, but I could +distinguish very little of what he said. It seemed to be chiefly about +going with his daddy in his boat, and every now and then he would call +out quite loudly, 'Come, daddy, come, daddy, to little John.' + +When Polly returned with old Betty, I had again to go down to help them +to close the door. + +'What do you think of him, sir?' said Polly. + +I did not like to say what I thought, so I answered, 'Well, perhaps it +would be as well to get the doctor to have another look at him. I'll go +for him if you like.' + +'I don't believe you could manage it, sir,' said Betty. 'You can't stand +outside; me and Polly has been clinging on to the palings all the way, +and it will be terrible up on the top.' + +'Shall I try, Polly?' + +She gave me a grateful look, but did not answer by words. But the two +women gave me so long a description of the way to the doctor's house, +and interrupted each other so often, and at length both talked together +in their eagerness to make it clear to me, that at the end I was more +bewildered and hopelessly puzzled than at the beginning, and I +determined to go to Mr. Christie before I started, in order to obtain +from him full and clear directions. + +It took me quite ten minutes to reach his house, and I felt as if I had +gone through a battle when I arrived there at length, quite spent and +breathless. I saw a light in the lower room, and I found Mr. Christie +and his wife and children sitting in the room where I had passed through +so much the night before. Marjorie and little Jack were in their +nightgowns, wrapped in a blanket, and sitting in the same arm-chair. My +mother's picture was looking at me from the wall, and I fancied that she +smiled at me as I came in. + +'What a terrible night!' said Mrs. Christie. 'The children were so +frightened by the noise of the wind in their attic that we brought them +down here.' + +I told them my errand, and Mr. Christie at once offered to go with me +for the doctor. I shall never forget that walk as long as I live. We +could not speak to each other more than a few necessary words, we were +simply fighting with the storm. Then, to our disappointment, when our +long walk was ended, we found that the doctor was away, and would +probably not return until morning. + +The walk home was, if possible, worse than the walk there, for the wind +was dead against us as we came down the cliff. It had changed somewhat +the last hour, and was now blowing from the north-east. + +'There will be trouble out at sea,' Mr. Christie said, as we stopped to +take breath. + +'And what about the boats?' I asked. + +'Yes,' he said, almost with a groan, 'what about the boats?' + +We could see very little out at sea, though it was beginning to grow +light, but we determined to make our way to the shore, to see all that +it was possible to distinguish. He went home for a moment, and then +followed me to my lodging. Polly and her old friend were still watching +the child. + +'I think he's a little better, sir,' she said; 'he's quieter. Oh, Mr. +Christie, I _am_ glad to see you, sir! Will you pray, sir? I think +I shall hear the wind less if you pray!' + +We knelt down beside the child's bed, but the noise of the storm almost +drowned his voice. At the end of the prayer the child began once more to +cry for his father, so piteously, so beseechingly, that at last I could +bear it no longer, but ran downstairs, to be out of the sound of that +touching little voice. Mr. Christie soon followed me, and we went out +together in the grey light of that terrible morning. + +'The child is dying, Jack,' he said. + +'Oh, don't say so, Mr. Christie!' I answered; 'dying before his father +comes back.' + +'God grant he _may_ come back!' he said; 'look at the sea, Jack.' + +The sea was dashing wildly against the rocks, and the noise of the wind +was so great we could hardly hear our own voices. In the dim uncertain +light we could at length distinguish a group of anxious watchers on the +shore. Some old fishermen were there trying to hold a telescope steady +in the gale, that they might look across the water for any sign of a +boat, and mothers and wives and sweethearts of the absent fishermen were +there also, with shawls tied over their heads, and with troubled and +tear-stained faces, peering out into the dismal light of that sorrowful +morning. + +Mr. Christie and I stood near them, and he spoke from time to time a +word of encouragement and hope to the anxious women beside him. As the +light increased the wind dropped somewhat, and the gale seemed to have +spent its violence. We were thankful to notice, that although the sea +was still very rough, and would be so for hours, the wind was gradually +subsiding; instead of howling and shrieking, as it had done the whole +night long, it was dying away with gentle moans, like a child weary with +passion who is crying himself to sleep. But still there was no sign of +the boats. + +The women on the shore were wet through, and Mr. Christie tried to +persuade them to go home. Their men would want good fires and hot tea on +their return, he told them, and they ought to make ready for them. I was +glad to notice that one by one they followed his advice, and turned to +climb the hill towards their cottages. Then we turned also, and went +back to my lodging. We crept into the room, and found old Betty asleep +in her chair, and Polly holding the little hand in hers as the child +slept. + +'Have the boats come, sir?' she said as we went in. + +'Not yet, Polly; but please God they will come soon.' + +We sat down beside her for a little time, but we presently heard a shout +from the shore. + +'Thank God,' said Polly, 'he's come!' + +The child seemed in some strange way to have heard that shout, and to +have understood its meaning, for he opened his eyes and said, 'Come, +daddy, come to little John.' + +We hurried down to the shore, where a large crowd had already collected. +The whole of Runswick Bay seemed to have gathered together in that short +space of time. We could distinctly see the boats far out at sea, but +wind and tide were with them, and they, were coming rapidly nearer. What +a night they must have had, and what a welcome they would receive from +the watchers on the shore! + +'How many boats went out last night, Bob?' said one man as they drew +nearer. + +'There was eight, Jem,' he said--'the Jane Ann one, Lady Hilda two, the +Susan three, the Mary Ann four, Princess Alice five, the Lightning six, +the Eliza seven, the Alert eight.' + +'Are you sure, Bob?' + +'Quite sure, I saw them start.' + +'Well, there's one missing, Jem,' he said; 'catch hold of this glass, +and just you count.' + +'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.' + +There _was_ one missing, and I felt that I knew which it was before +they came in sight. + +It was the Mary Ann. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter IX + +ASK WHAT YE WILL + + +We had run down the hill as quickly as we possibly could, but we were in +no haste to return. We waited until the boats were drawn in, and the +worn-out fishermen had come on shore. They knew nothing of the Mary Ann; +they had lost sight of her soon after the beginning of the gale. They +told us they had had an awful night, and had thought they would never +reach home in safety. + +'However shall we tell Polly?' I groaned. + +But a cold hand was laid on mine at that instant, and I turned round to +see Polly herself just behind me. She could wait no longer, but had run +down to the shore to hasten her husband up the hill. She was trembling +from head to foot, and seemed ready to faint. The kind-hearted fishermen +crowded round her with words of cheer and comfort. + +'He'll be all right, my lass, never fear. He's put into Saltburn or +Staithes maybe; these gales they drive so far. He'll be home all safe +and sound afore night.' + +But Polly did not seem to hear them. She stretched out her hands feebly +to Mr. Christie and to me as she said: + +'Take me home; I can bear it better there.' + +The fishermen turned away sorrowfully, and there were very few dry eyes +amongst the group which we left on the shore. + +When we reached the house again all was quite still, and as we entered +the bedroom I thought the little soul had passed away, but I bent over +him to listen and to my relief I found he was still breathing. + +As I look back, I hardly know how we lived through that sorrowful day. +The doctor came, and did nothing but shake his head in the ominous way +which doctors have when they feel a case is beyond their power. I think +Polly had so little hope herself that she did not care to ask him what +his real opinion was. + +I went out for a short walk in the afternoon, to get a little fresh air +to strengthen me for the coming night, when I had determined to watch +with Polly beside little John, if he was still living. My young friends, +Bob and Harry, joined me, and we were pacing up and down together +watching the tide come in when we thought we saw a dark speck far out to +sea. + +There were others who saw it also. The coastguard was looking at it +through his telescope, and before very long the shore was covered with +fishermen and their wives, all gazing in the same direction. Whatever +the object was, it was coming rapidly shoreward; wind and tide were both +with it, and it was being borne swiftly along. After a little time we +could distinguish, even without the help of a telescope, what it was, +and I do not think there was anything which we could have been more +aghast to see, for the floating object was a boat bottom upwards, and +being driven rapidly before the tide. + +A groan came from the group of fishermen who were watching, and as the +capsized boat neared shore they ran into the water to meet it. I do not +think it was necessary to look at the name upon it as it was dragged out +of the water: we all did look, however, and we found there the name +which we knew we should see before we looked. It was the Mary Ann. + +I shall never forget the piercing shriek which came from the wife of one +of Duncan's mates, who was standing just behind me, when she read the +name on the boat. I thought the shock and the sorrow had driven her mad, +for she ran screaming up the hill; indeed, I firmly believe that for the +time she was quite out of her mind. + +Poor Polly heard the shrieks of the woman as she ran under her window, +and looking out, she saw the boat on the shore, and guessed the truth at +once. _She_ did not scream nor cry, but she looked as if she had +been turned into stone. No word escaped her lips, not a tear was in her +eye; but she looked as if all her youth had gone in a moment, and as if +she had suddenly become an old and worn-out woman. + +She never looked up as we went in, but bent over little John, moistening +his lips from time to time, and watching his every movement. We tried to +say a few words of comfort, but she did not seem even to hear our +voices. Yet no moan, no sigh from the child was unheard by her; she +seemed to be listening to every breath he drew, as if it might be his +last. + +I thought that terrible day would never have an end. Mr. Christie stayed +with us until dark, and then he took me home with him to supper, that I +might get a little change and rest before my night watch. I think they +knew how tired I was, worn out more by feeling than by want of sleep, +and they were very good to me. I do not think my own mother could have +been more kind to me than Mrs. Christie was that night. She told me that +she would have had a boy nearly as old as I was if he had lived, but he +had died when he was very young; and then they had had no children for +many years, not until Marjorie was born. + +'Your mother was so good to me when my baby died,' she said. 'I thought +I should never be happy again, but she came and talked to me, and made +me look from my sorrow to my little boy's gain, and I think her kindness +to me and the loving words she spoke made me love her more than ever.' + +I felt much better for the good supper, and for the kind words of these +dear people, and I went back determined to do all I could for poor Polly +and her child through that sorrowful night. I felt so grateful to the +Lord Jesus Christ for all He had done for me, and I was very glad to be +able to do any little thing to show my love to Him. It seemed to me +then, and it seems to me still, that the way in which we can please Him +best is by showing kindness to His children. I remembered a verse about +a cup of cold water being noticed by Him, if given for His sake, and I +thought to myself, 'Polly is not in need of cold water, for she is too +cold already, but I might make her a cup of tea.' + +The fire was out, and the little kitchen, which was usually so neat, was +all in confusion. I lighted the lamp that I might see what I was about, +and then I tried to put the little place in order. First I found sticks +and coal, and lighted a fire; then, whilst my fire was burning up, I +cleared the table, carried the dirty plates and cups into the small back +kitchen, found a tablecloth and a clean cup and saucer, and filled the +kettle. As soon as the fire was hot enough I put the kettle on, and +cutting a slice from the loaf I made some nice crisp toast, such as my +aunt used to like when she was ill. Then I heated a plate, and buttered +the toast, and set it down by the fire. By this time the kettle was +boiling and I made the tea, and I said in my heart when all was +finished, 'Lord Jesus, I do this for Thee.' + +Then I went upstairs to my hardest task of all, namely, to persuade +Polly to come down to eat the little meal I had prepared. + +Polly was, as I had expected, most unwilling to leave the child, and at +first she firmly declined to move, and would not listen to my pleading +words. Yet I could see that she was almost fainting, and I knew that she +would need all the strength that she could muster for the night which +lay before us. Who knew what that night would bring? + +I therefore spoke to her very firmly, telling her that I was willing and +anxious to help her in her trouble, but that, if I was to be any use to +her, she must not refuse to go downstairs for a few minutes at least, +and I promised her to watch little John very carefully, and to call her +at once if I saw any change in the child. She obeyed me at last, and I +heard her weary footsteps descending the steep stairs. + +When I was left alone, I saw that Polly's Bible was lying open by the +little oil-lamp which stood on the table, upon which had been placed the +medicine and milk for little John's use. I went up to it, and my eye +fell upon these words:-- + +'If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask _what ye +will_, and _it shall be done unto you_.' + +It seemed to me as if that verse was God's direct message to me that +night. I saw it as clearly and distinctly as if the page had been +lighted with electric light. 'Two conditions and a promise,' I said to +myself; 'if only the conditions are fulfilled, the promise is sure.' + +What are the two conditions? (1) 'If ye abide in Me.' I asked myself if +I was fulfilling _that_ condition. I humbly hoped I was; for, oh, I +longed to be in Christ, saved by Him, more than I longed for anything +else in this world. + +(2) 'If My words abide in you.' Was I fulfilling the +second condition? Again I humbly hoped that I was; +for I felt that if Christ told me to go to the North +Pole, or to an African desert, I would obey gladly. I +would go anywhere, I would do anything, to show Him +how grateful I was for His love to me. + +Then might I claim the promise? I believed that I might. + +I laid Polly's Bible on the bed. I knelt down beside little John. I put +my finger on the promise, and I prayed, as I had never prayed before, +for help in this time of need. I felt very strongly that all power was +in the hands of Christ, and that He who healed the sick on earth had +lost none of His power, now that He was exalted to the throne of God. I +besought Him to come into that room that very night, and to touch and +heal little John. And as I rose from my knees I felt that my prayer was +heard. + +Polly had not returned, so I went to the top of the stairs and listened, +and I heard the sound of sobbing. I was thankful to hear it; the tears +had come at last, and they would relieve the poor, weary, over-strained +heart. + +Little John was very quiet, so I crept downstairs. I found to my joy +that Polly had eaten most of the toast, and had drunk the tea, and now +she was sitting with her feet on the fender and her head in her hands, +sobbing as if her heart would break. What was it that had brought the +tears? She had not cried when the empty boat had come ashore; she had +shed no tear when the doctor's face had told her that he had no hope for +the child; what was it that had helped her to give way to the tears +which were such a relief to her? It was a very simple thing. She had +picked up from the floor a little toy, a tiny roughly-shaped boat, which +Duncan had made for the child, and which had been little John's greatest +treasure. There had come over her such a rush of memories of the happy +days of the past, gone, as she believed, for ever, of the father whose +fingers had so busily carved the boat for his boy, but who would never +come back to her again, and of the little lad passing away from her +also, and leaving his treasured toy behind him. All these sad but lovely +memories came before her, as she took up the little boat and pressed it +to her lips. They came so strongly and with such power, that the tears +which had refused to come before came with them, and brought, as I felt +sure they would, wonderful relief to her over-strained heart. + +'Polly,' I said, 'cheer up, don't lose heart; I believe little John will +recover.' + +'Thank you, sir, thank you,' she said; as she dried her eyes. 'I feel +better now, a deal better, I do. You _have_ been good to me, sir. +I'll go up again to him now.' + +'All right, Polly,' I said; 'I'll make up the fire, and then I'll come +and help you. He's asleep now, Polly.' + +'I'll creep quietly up, then, sir,' she said, and I saw as she rose to +go that the stony look had gone out of her face and that she was herself +again. + +That sleep lasted for hours. It was a quiet night, the wind had quite +gone down, and everything seemed more still after the tumult of the +previous night. I was glad to see that Polly herself at length fell +asleep in her chair; little John's hand lay in hers, and I knew she +would wake with his least movement; but I was pleased to see it, for I +felt sure that even a light sleep would soothe and strengthen her. + +I had just looked at my watch, and had seen that it was nearly half-past +two, when I thought I heard footsteps outside, and a moment afterwards +there came a gentle knock at the door. It seemed a strange time for a +visitor, but I thought probably it was some neighbour come to offer to +help Polly in her long night watch, or perhaps it was Mr. Christie come +to see how we were getting on. I crept softly downstairs, lest either +Polly or the child should wake, and carefully unfastening the bolts I +opened the door. + +I nearly yelled with joy when I saw who was standing there. Never in all +my life have I been more glad to see any man than I was that night to +see Duncan, alive and uninjured, whilst all day long I had been +picturing him being driven backwards and forwards by the waves, a +drowned corpse at the mercy of the relentless sea. + +He grasped my hand and came in to the fire, but at first he could not +speak. + +'Sir,' he said at last, in a broken voice, 'am I too late? Tell me the +truth, sir; don't hide it over like; is little John dead?' + +'No, Duncan,' I said, 'he still lives, and he is asleep; and, Duncan, I +believe he will be given back to you.' + +'Thank God!' he said; 'thank God for that!' + +For just a moment a doubt crossed my mind as to whether I ought to give +him this hope, and yet I rebuked myself for this doubt, for I was +clinging to the promise, and the word of the Lord was sure, and I +believed that if what I asked was good for these poor souls it +_must_ be granted to me. + +Duncan had now sat down in his arm-chair, and by the light of the fire I +could see that he was faint and exhausted. He leant back wearily for +some time and seemed unable to speak. I had left the kettle on the fire, +and I hastened to give him a cup of tea and something to eat. + +Then I crept upstairs to see what was going on, but finding Polly and +little John were still both fast asleep, I came back to him. He was +better for the tea, and able to talk to me. + +'I've had an awful time, sir,' he said, in answer to my inquiry. 'Many +and many's the time since I was a boy that I've been near the dark +valley, but this time, why, I think I've been half-way down it, sir. +How's my poor lass, sir?' + +'Very cut up, Duncan,' I said. 'She thinks you are dead. Your boat came +up with last night's tide.' + +'Poor Polly, poor lass!' he said; 'I'll go to her.' + +'Wait a little, Duncan,' I said; 'she is asleep now, and she will bear +the joy better when she wakes.' + +'And my little lad?' he asked. + +'Sleeping too, Duncan, so peacefully and quietly.' + +'Well, it's hard not to go up, sir, but may be you're right.' + +He waited very patiently for an hour, and when I crept up again at the +end of that time Polly and the child were both awake, and she was giving +him some milk. Little John was quite conscious, and looked more like +himself than he had done since his illness began. He had no sooner +finished his milk, however, than he began his old weary cry, 'Come, +daddy, come to little John.' + +Polly burst into tears again when she heard him calling for the father +whom she believed to be dead; but I bent over the child and said, 'Yes, +little John, daddy will come to you.' + +I believe Polly fancied that I thought the child was dying, and that I +meant his father's spirit was coming to fetch him, for she only cried +the more bitterly and said, 'Oh, little John, little John!' + +But when I added, 'Shall I fetch daddy, little John?' she sprang to her +feet and looked at me wildly, but without speaking a word. + +There was no need for me to say more, for she heard the sound of a +well-known footstep on the stairs, and in another moment she was in her +husband's arms. + +I felt then that my work was over, and that the best thing that I could +do would be to go to bed. But I glanced back from the door as I went +out, and I saw the little hands held out, and I heard Duncan sob like a +child as he cried, 'Oh, my little lad, my own little John, I never +thought to see you again!' + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter X + +WE KNOW + + +The next day Duncan was able to tell me what he had passed through +during that terrible night. It seems he was separated from the other +boats by the very first outburst of the gale, and never saw them again +through the long hours of that night of storm. For some considerable +time he and his mates, by straining every nerve, were able to keep the +water out of their boat; but as the night went on, and the sea grew +rougher and the waves seemed mountains high, they were compelled at last +to own that their attempt was hopeless. 'At that time,' said Duncan, 'I +just trusted my soul again to Christ, for I expected the next wave would +sweep us to the bottom.' + +'Was I frightened, sir, did you say? No, I think not; I felt more awed +like, if you understand, and in them few moments all sorts of thoughts +seemed to be running through my head, but through them all was the +thought of my poor lass, of Polly and little John. Yes, sir, of Polly +and little John, and I cried to Him as alone could help me, "O God," I +said, "save me, for Polly and little John want me so bad!" And He heard +my prayer, sir. I've often thought how them fishermen cried to Him in +the storm that day, "Master, save us, we perish!" they said; and He +heard their cry, didn't He, sir? And He heard mine. Yes, He heard mine, +for when the wave did come which carried us over, the Mary Ann was +driven right past where we were struggling in the water, and we caught +hold on her. We clung on for dear life, sir, but we couldn't have clung +there many minutes, for the sea was that cold and icy our hands was +well-nigh frozen. But God Almighty knew how to save us, and He sent a +steamer to pick us up, in less than ten minutes after we went overboard. +And they _were_ good to us, sir, for all they were foreign folk +aboard. They warmed us, and gave us hot coffee, and lent us dry clothes, +and they ran into the Hull docks in the afternoon and landed us there. +Well, sir, you may be sure I came home as quick as ever I could, for I +thought maybe I should never see my little lad again. Hasn't God been +good to us, now hasn't He, sir?' he concluded, as he gently patted his +little boy's hand. + +The doctor gave a much better report of little John that day, although +he said he was not yet out of danger. But from that time he improved +slowly but steadily, and before very long he was able to lie once more +in his father's arms, and to stroke his face with his little thin hand. + +It was very touching to see the love and the gratitude of both Duncan +and Polly; they could not say enough about the help and comfort I had +given them in their time of trouble, small though I felt these to have +been. If I had been a prince, I think they could not have made more of +me, and I believe I should have been altogether spoiled if I had stayed +in Runswick Bay much longer. + +I had not touched my picture the whole of that week, for whilst our +anxiety lasted I had no heart or desire to paint. On Saturday I saw +Marjorie and little Jack giving out their pink papers, and I went to +meet them. + +'One for you, big Mr. Jack,' said the merry little rogue, as he threw it +up in the air for me to catch. + +The subject for the following day I saw was to be these two words--WE +KNOW. I thought, as I put the paper in my pocket, how much had passed +since last Sunday, and I thought also how differently I felt with regard +to the service on the shore, from what I had done when I received the +last pink paper. I had certainly no wish to run away to Kettleness, to +be out of the way when it took place. + +Sunday morning was bright and beautiful, and little John was so much +better that his father was able to leave him and to take his place in +the choir. I stood close to the old boat, and Jack put his hand in mine, +and let me look at his hymn-book as he sang. + +There was a large congregation, the fine day had tempted them out, and I +think the danger of their companions and their narrow escape from death +had stirred the hearts of the fishermen, and had made many of them feel +that 'it is not all of life to live, nor all of death to die.' + +'My mates are here to-day, sir,' whispered Duncan, as he went forward to +take his place in the boat; 'it's the first time I've been able to +persuade them to come. They see the good of it now, sir, you see.' + +Never have I heard any man pray more earnestly for a blessing than Mr. +Christie did that day, but I do not think even he prayed more earnestly +than I did. My whole heart went out to God that day, for was it not my +first Sunday on the right side of the line? + +And then came the address, and I never noticed a congregation more +attentive than was that one gathered on the shore that September +morning. I can remember even now a good deal of the sermon. + +'WE KNOW,' he said; 'those are strong words, confident words. It is not, +_We imagine_, or _We think_. It is not even _We hope_, that would be +wonderful; but it is something clearer and far more distinct than that; +it is WE KNOW. + +'If I were to ask you fishermen, you visitors, you mothers, you little +children, this question, "Do you _imagine_ you are on the shore +now? Do you _think_ you are here to-day? Do you _hope_ you are +listening to me?" what would you answer me? + +'You would say, "Mr. Christie, it is not a case of imagining, or +thinking, or hoping; we _know_ we are here; we are sure of it." + +'Now notice, that is the strong, confident word used in my text to-day. +The holy apostle John stands side by side with all of us who have come +to Christ, and he bids us join with him in these glad, happy, thankful +words, "We know that we have passed from death unto life." We know, we +are persuaded, we are sure, that we are on the right side of the line. +We know that we have left the company of the servants of sin, and are +now the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +'Dear friends, I would now ask each of you very earnestly, Can you say +that? Can you take your stand by the apostle John, and say, "_I +know_ that _I_ have passed from death unto life?" + +'I think I hear some one answer in his heart, "Well, that's a great deal +for any man to say, and I don't see that any man can know in this life +if he is saved or not; when he gets to heaven he'll know he is all +right, but not till then." + +'Now look again at my text. It does not say, "We _shall_ know"; it +does not say, "We hope soon to know"; but it speaks in the present. It +runs thus: "We _know_ that we have passed from death unto life." So +you see it _is_ possible, nay, it is right, that you and I should, +one by one, take up the words and say, "_I know_." + +'Do I hear some one saying in his heart, "I do wish I could say that? I +should be a happier man if I could. When I go out in my boat, and the +storm rages, and I don't know whether I shall ever see land again, it +would be a good thing if I could look up through the wind and tempest, +and could say gladly, I know that I have passed from death unto life."' + +I thought I heard a groan when he said this, and I looked round, and saw +one of Duncan's mates burying his face in his hands. + +'Do I hear one of you mothers say, "When I lie awake at night, and the +baby will not let me sleep, and I get out and look from my window at the +stars shining down upon me, I would give a great deal to say, as I think +of the heaven above those stars, 'I know that I have passed from death +unto life'"? + +'And you, my friend, when the day comes, as come it will, when you lie +on your bed, and you see by the doctor's face that you will never get +out of it again; when you say to yourself, as the neighbours sit round, +"This is my dying bed, and they are watching to see me die," oh, what +would you not give at that solemn time to be able to say, "I know that I +have passed from death unto life"? + +'Do you want to be able to say it? You cannot want it more than God +wants to hear you say it. The Christ stands on the shore beside us +to-day, and He yearns with unutterable longing, that each man, each +woman, each child here present, should be able to take up the words of +my text, and say, "I know that I have passed from death unto life."' + +Then he went on to tell us that it was not a long, weary, toilsome +journey which we had to travel to reach the Christ. He was present +amongst us now. He was very near to each one of us; His arms were wide +open. He was waiting to receive each one who was willing to cross the +line; one step would be sufficient, one step into those open arms. Then +we ended by singing a hymn, which seemed to me a very beautiful one:-- + + 'Only a step to Jesus! + Believe, and thou shalt live: + Lovingly now He's waiting, + And ready to forgive. + + Only a step to Jesus! + A step from sin to grace: + What has thy heart decided? + The moments fly apace. + + Only a step to Jesus! + Oh, why not come and say, + "Gladly to Thee, my Saviour, + I give myself away?" + Only a step, only a step, + Come, He waits for thee; + Come, and thy sin confessing, + Thou shalt receive a blessing: + Do not reject the mercy + He freely offers thee.' + + +I was glad to see at the end of the service that Duncan's mate was still +sitting under the old boat with his hands over his face. He had +evidently felt the sermon very much, and when he rose to go home after +the others had dispersed, I saw Mr. Christie walking by his side. + +That was a lovely Sunday evening. The storm of the week before seemed to +have cleared the air, and there was a golden light over everything, +until the sun went down behind the hill. I spent the evening at Mrs. +Christie's, for Polly was still fully occupied with the child, and was +not able to attend to much of the work downstairs. Duncan did the +cooking now, and the washing up and the cleaning, and I never saw a more +handy man. He waited on me hand and foot, as if I was a lord; but I felt +that I was giving the dear fellow a great deal of trouble, and was glad, +therefore, to accept Mrs. Christie's invitation to have tea and supper +at their house. + +Little Jack welcomed me with the greatest joy. He was so delighted to +have me at tea, and contemplated me with so much delight and interest +from his high chair by my side, that he quite forgot to eat his own tea, +and had to be recalled from his admiration of me, time after time, by +his mother. After tea he told her he had a great secret to confide to +her; he dragged her from the room and led her upstairs, and then with +closed doors, and in a whisper so low that she could scarcely +distinguish the words, he told her solemnly, 'I do love big Mr. Jack +very much,' which secret his faithless mother was treacherous enough to +reveal to me, after we had been upstairs that evening to see little Jack +in bed. + +After we came down, Mrs. Christie lighted the lamp, and we were sitting +cosily round the fire talking of my mother, when suddenly there came a +knock at the outer door. + +'Who can it be?' said Mrs. Christie hastily; 'some one must be ill, I +think, so few people come on Sunday.' + +She was going to the door, but her little maid had already opened it, +and coming into the parlour she announced,-- + +'There's a gentleman, sir, at the door, says as how he wants Mr. +Villiers, sir.' + +'A gentleman!' I repeated in astonishment, 'wanting me!' + +'Yes, sir, he says he wants you very pertickler, he does.' + +I went quickly to the door, wondering very much who could be there, and +to my great astonishment I found my friend Tom Bernard, with a black bag +in his hand, eagerly awaiting my approach. + +'Found at last, old chap,' he cried when he saw me; 'why, I've been +hunting for you all over in this rabbit-warren of a place, till at last +some of these fisher-lads told me you were in here.' + +'And what are you doing here, Tom?' I exclaimed. + +'Doing here! Why, I've come to see you, of course, old fellow; what else +should I have come for? I set off early this morning, and I thought I +would give you a bit of a surprise. Are these your diggings?' + +'No,' I said, 'I'm only spending the evening here; but I'll come back +with you at once.' + +I went in for a moment to explain my sudden departure to Mr. and Mrs. +Christie, and then I went with Tom to my lodgings. He looked vastly +amused when he saw Duncan's house, and when I told him that I had been +there all the time he seemed to think it a capital joke. + +'There's no room for me, I'm afraid,' he said, as he looked with an +amused smile round my bedroom. + +'No, indeed, Tom,' I said, 'and, joking apart, I would not ask you to +come here if there was room; the hotel at the top of the hill will suit +you better.' + +Polly was sitting beside little John, but I tapped at the door, and told +her a friend of mine had just arrived from London, and asked her if she +thought it would be possible to get him some tea. Just at this moment +Duncan came in, and the two good souls did all in their power to do +honour to my guest. The whitest tablecloth was spread on the round +table, the very finest herrings were cooked, round after round of crisp +brown toast was buttered and put before the fire to keep hot, and all +was ready in so short a time that Tom was astonished. + +He did full justice to the meal, and seemed to appreciate my quarters +better after he had partaken of it. Then he declared himself tired out, +so I walked with him up to the hotel. He was in high spirits, and was +much looking forward to the time we were to have there together, and to +all the walks we should take to the places round. + +Was I glad that he had come? I asked myself this question many times +that night. I was fond of Tom; he had been like a brother to me, and +yet--and yet--I wished he had not come to Runswick Bay. + +Why was this? Why would I have kept him away if I could? I asked myself +this question many times, as I came slowly down the hill that night. + +Was it because it would be a hindrance to my work? No, for my picture +had made good progress, and I could work it up even better in my studio +at home. Besides which, Tom was a good-natured fellow, and would sit +smoking and chatting in the old boat whilst I painted. + +Was it that I wanted to be quiet, and to enjoy my present surroundings +without interruption? No, surely, for Tom's company had always been +pleasant to me, and I could not look upon him as a stranger. + +Why was it, then, that I felt almost sorry that he had followed me here? +I had a suspicion of the right answer to that question, but I did not +own it, even to myself, till I entered my lodging. + +Duncan was reading a chapter aloud to Polly, as he always did before +going to bed. He stopped when he saw me come in, but I said, 'Go on, +Duncan, never mind me; I shall like to listen.' And the very first words +that Duncan read seemed to me to contain the answer to my question. + +'He that is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man +be ashamed.' + +Yes, that was the reason. I was sorry that Tom had come, because I was +ashamed of my Master. Since I had seen him last I had changed my +service. I used to be a servant of sin, living for self, pleasing self +in all things. Now, I had crossed the line, I had joined the company of +Christ's servants, and I was afraid of Tom finding it out. + +In London I thought I should have seen less of him, and it would have +dawned on him gradually; but here he would discover it at once. And I +dreaded his doing so. Yes, I was a downright coward, ashamed of the One +who had died for me. This was not a comfortable reflection, but I was +convinced that it was the truth. + +What would be the best thing to do? Should I say anything to Tom about +it in the morning? I thought at first that I would speak, and I made up +several sentences with which I meant to begin; but the more I thought of +it so much the more my heart failed me, and I decided at length that my +best plan would be to let Tom find it out for himself. + + + + +Chapter XI + +LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK + + +I think Tom very much enjoyed that week at Runswick Bay. The more he saw +of the place the more he liked it. He and Duncan got on famously +together. They smoked together on a seat above the house, and Duncan +told him stories of shipwrecks and storms, whilst I sat painting just +below them. + +One night he even persuaded Duncan to let him go out with him fishing, +and Duncan confided to me afterwards, 'That there friend of yours, sir, +he's a real handy chap; knows how to use his fingers, sir, and isn't +afraid of a drop of salt water neither.' + +We came across Mr. Christie on the shore the very first time that we +went out together, and I introduced him as a friend of my mother whom I +had been delighted to find in this out-of-the-way place; and Tom talked +very pleasantly to him, and I think liked him. + +'What is he doing here, Jack?' he said. 'He does not look like the rest +of them.' + +'He is a lay-preacher,' I said. + +'Whatever in the world is a lay-preacher?' said Tom laughing. + +I did not answer, but called his attention to little Jack, who was +running along the shore after his red cap, which had been carried off by +a gust of wind. + +'That's his little boy,' I said, 'and my namesake; they lived in my +father's parish in London, and Mr. Christie and his wife adored my +mother. It was seeing her photograph on the wall of their room which +made them discover who I was.' + +'What a splendid little fellow!' said Tom as the child came up to us. +'So you are Jack, are you?' + +'Yes, I'm little Jack, and he's big Jack,' said the boy roguishly, +looking at me. + +I was not surprised that Tom made friends very quickly with my little +favourite, for he was wonderfully fond of children, and many were the +games which he and the two children had together whilst I was at work. + +Every evening Tom and I walked together, and we explored all the country +for miles around. Sometimes we went by train and walked back by the +cliffs. The train seemed to land us at each station in the midst of +fresh beauty, and I came to the conclusion that Yorkshire was indeed, +what I had always been told by my mother, the most beautiful county in +England. + +'Now, Jack,' said Tom on Saturday morning, 'we'll have a really good day +to-morrow. You won't want to paint, will you?' + +'No,' I said hurriedly, 'I don't paint on Sundays.' + +'All right,' he said, 'it's much the best plan; you come fresher to it +on Monday. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." That old +couplet must have been made for you, Jack. Well, then, let's see, where +shall we go? Suppose we make a long day of it, and go to Scarborough. We +must see Scarborough before we go home, must we not? We will go by the +early train, and come back as late as we can. The worst of it is there +are not so many trains to choose from on Sunday, but I daresay we shall +find one that will suit'; and, without saying another word, he went off +to my lodging for a _Bradshaw_. + +What was I to do? A few weeks ago a Sunday spent in pleasure would have +been just what I should have chosen, and many a time had Tom and I been +up the river on Sunday together. There was hardly a place within easy +distance up the Thames which we had not visited in this way. But now I +felt very differently about these things. Sunday was my Master's own +day: every moment of it, I felt, must be consecrated to Him. No one had +talked to me about Sunday observance, but my conscience told me very +clearly what was right in the matter. Yet, although I had no doubt as to +what I ought to do in the matter, I am ashamed to say that for some time +I hesitated. Tom would be so terribly disappointed, I said to myself, +and he had been a good friend to me, and I did not want to vex him; +surely there would be no great harm in obliging him this once! Besides, +when I get to Scarborough I may have time to go to church, and then, +after all, where is the difference? I argued with myself; I shall take a +longer journey to church, that is all. + +And then Tom came back, full of his plans for the day. He had already +settled the train we were to catch, and he told me that he looked +forward to seeing Scarborough immensely, as his mother had stayed there +a year ago, and she had told him it was the most beautiful +watering-place she had ever visited. + +I tried to feel pleased with what Tom had arranged, but in my heart I +was very miserable, and just at that moment who should appear but +Marjorie and Jack, distributing the pink papers containing the +invitation to the service on the shore. I turned away when I saw them +coming. I looked towards the sea, and took my little telescope from my +pocket, that I might seem to be intent on watching a distant steamer. +What would Duncan say? What would Mr. Christie say? What would my little +friend Jack say, when I did not appear at the shore service? And how +shocked they would be when they heard I had gone off for a day's +pleasure! + +I hoped that the children would pass us by, and would go to a large +group of fishermen standing on the shore just beyond us. But I was not +to escape thus. Marjorie came up to Tom and presented him with a paper, +and she was going to give one to me, but my little friend stopped her, +'No, no, Marjorie,' he said in his most fascinating tones, 'let me give +one to my own Mr. Jack. I always give you one my own self, don't I, big +Jack?' + +I patted him on the head and took the paper, but I did not answer, and +the children passed on. Tom opened his paper and read it aloud,-- + +'"There will be a short service on the shore next Sunday morning." Oh, +indeed,' he said, 'that's what they're after, is it? Distributing +notices for some Methodist meeting. Is that where Christie holds forth?' + +'Yes,' I said, 'he preaches every Sunday.' + +'Well, Mr. Christie,' he went on, 'you won't have _me_ there to +hear you. I hate those canting meetings, don't you, Jack? +_Subject_. Ah, he tells us his subject beforehand, does he? Very +kind of him, I'm sure! _Subject: Where are you going_? Ah,' said +Tom, 'that's soon answered: I'm going to Scarborough, old fellow, and a +jolly good day I hope to have there'; and he threw the little pink paper +into the air, and the wind carried it far out to sea. + +[Illustration] + +All this time I had never spoken a word. A great battle was going on in +my heart. Conscience was speaking very loudly, and telling me that I +could not possibly take my pleasure on my Master's own day, but the +tempter's voice was arguing that the time to speak had not yet come, and +that perhaps for this once it would be better to yield to Tom's wishes, +and that I might talk to him quietly about it, and make a fresh start +after our return to London. + +And so the day wore away, and evening came, and Tom had no idea whatever +that I had even hesitated about going with him to Scarborough. I never +spent a more unhappy day. I avoided Mr. Christie, lest he should say +anything to me about the service on the following day. I was not even +happy with Duncan. Tom had gone off to Saltburn, leaving me, as he +supposed, to put some finishing touches to my picture; but I had no +heart for painting, and only got my easel and painting materials out to +put them away again directly. + +Polly was in good spirits that day, for little John was so much better +that he was able to sit on the floor and play, and, as I stood looking +out of my small casement window, I watched her washing up in a tub +standing on a wooden stool outside her door, and I heard her singing to +herself as she did so. Most of the visitors had left Runswick Bay now, +for it was late in the season, but the shore was covered with the +village children--boys and girls without shoes and stockings, wading in +the pools and running far out into the shallow sea. It was a pretty +sight, the grey, quiet water, the strips of yellow sand, and the cliff +covered with grass and flowers. + +But I could not enjoy the scene that Saturday evening; even my artistic +eye, of which I used sometimes to boast, failed me then. I was feeling +thoroughly uncomfortable, and the most lovely view on earth would have +failed to charm me at that moment. + +There is a verse in the Bible which says, 'A little child shall lead +them,' and whenever I hear that verse I think of that evening in +Runswick Bay. For I was still gazing out of my window, looking at I knew +not what, when I heard a well-known little voice just beneath me. + +It was Jack. He had come down the hill beneath Duncan's cottage, so that +I had not seen him until he spoke to me below the window. + +'Mr. Jack,' he said, 'what are you doing up there? Are you _very_ +busy?' + +'No, old man,' I said, 'I'm not busy.' + +'Then _do_ come out, that's a dear, big Mr. Jack; I do want you so +much.' + +Who could resist the pleading little face, and the pretty, fascinating +voice of that child? He would have a hard heart who could do so. I ran +downstairs, and a minute afterwards I was racing with Jack on the wet +sands, for the tide was fast going out, and was helping him to fly a +small kite which his father had bought for him in Whitby. We had a fine +time together on the shore, until at last a towel was hung out of the +top window in the Christies' house, as a sign that it was Jack's +bedtime. Though he was wild with joy and excitement, the obedient little +fellow at once stopped his play, and told me mother wanted him, and he +must go. + +'I'm coming for you to-morrow morning, Mr. Jack,' he said. + +'To-morrow morning, Jack?' + +'Yes, for church,' said the child, putting up his dear little chubby +face to be kissed. 'Don't go without me, will you, Mr. Jack?' + +'Well, I'm not sure I'm going to-morrow, little man,' I said +reluctantly, 'so you had better not call for me.' + +'Not going to church!' said Jack, in a very shocked voice. 'Why not, +Mr. Jack?' + +'I'm going to Scarborough for the day with my friend Tom,' I said. +'I shall go to church in Scarborough, Jack.' + +I shall never forget the expression of that child's face as long as I +live; it was a mixture of surprise, sorrow and dismay. 'Mr. Jack, do you +know it's God's day to-morrow?' was all that he said, however; and as at +this moment his mother called him from the bedroom window, he ran off +without another word. + +'Do you know it's God's day?' I asked myself when the little boy had +gone. 'Yes, I do know,' I answered aloud, 'and He is my Master, and my +Master's day shall be kept for Him and for His service.' + +I walked to a lonely place on the shore where the sea had undermined the +cliff, and had made strange holes and caves, which could only be entered +at low tide. I clambered over the rocks, and crossed about half a mile +of slippery seaweed, until I came to one of these weird places. Creeping +inside, I felt myself safe from any human eye. I was alone--alone with +my Master. + +I cannot tell you all that passed during the half-hour that I spent in +that lonely cave, but I know this, that I came out of it feeling that my +Master had indeed given me the strength for which I had pleaded, the +strength to act as His faithful and true servant. + +I was waiting outside the station when Tom's train came in from +Saltburn. He had not expected to see me again that night, and seemed +pleased that I had come to meet him. + +'I think we shall have a fine day to-morrow, old boy,' he said; 'what +a dew there is! My feet are quite wet with it.' + +'Tom,' I said, 'I came to meet you to-night because I wanted to tell you +something. I am sorry, very sorry, to disappoint you, but I can't go +with you to-morrow.' + +'Why ever in the world not, Jack?' he said. 'I thought you were so keen +on seeing Scarborough.' + +'Yes, Tom,' I said, 'but I am still more keen on something else.' + +'What's that?' he asked; 'do you mean Redcar? It's a stupid place, Jack: +nothing in the world to see, I assure you.' + +'No, Tom, I don't mean that. I don't want to change our plan. I had +rather see Scarborough than any other place; I'll give myself a holiday +on Monday, and go with you gladly, Tom; but I can't go to-morrow.' + +'Nonsense, Jack!' he said angrily. 'You _can_ go if you like; +what's to hinder you? If you are willing to go at all, why on earth +can't you go to-morrow?' + +'Simply because to-morrow is Sunday, Tom.' + +'And if it is Sunday, what of that?' said my friend. '"The better the +day, the better the deed," and it's ridiculous your talking in this +saintly way about Sunday, when to my certain knowledge you've spent +every fine Sunday boating on the river for the last two years or more. +No, no, my friend, that won't go down with me.' + +'Tom,' I said, 'it's all quite true what you say. I have, I know I have, +spent my Sundays in boating or in taking my pleasure in some other way, +and I am more sorry for it, Tom, than I can tell you. But since I came +here--' + +'Since you came here,' Tom interrupted me, 'you've gone and turned +Ranter or Methodist, or something of that sort, and you've got your head +full of all sorts of insane and ridiculous ideas.' + +'Since I came here, Tom,' I said, taking no notice of his last remark, +'I have seen what I never saw before--that I am a great sinner; and I +have found what I never found before--that Jesus is a great Saviour.' + +'Well, I wish you had never come to Runswick Bay, if this is the absurd +way you are going on, Jack, and after all the good old times we've had +together too.' + +'And why shan't we have good times together still, dear old Tom?' I +said. 'I have entered the service of a new Master, that's all; and, +Tom,' I said timidly, 'I wish He was your Master too.' + +Tom made no answer, but swung his stick round and round, and slashed at +the thistles and the ox-eye daisies which grew by the roadside. I tried +to make one or two remarks, but I saw he was very much upset by what I +had said, and he did not answer me. He was vexed with me, and perhaps he +was a little uncomfortable besides, and I felt it was far wiser to say +no more. + +He did not speak again until we reached the hotel, and then he simply +said, 'Good-night, Jack, I'm sorry you've gone and made such a fool of +yourself'; and I went down the hill, feeling as if I had lost my friend, +and as if the old days and old companionship were dead and buried for +ever. + +But if I had lost one friend, I felt I had gained another. Mr. Christie +was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill, and he proposed that we +should take a turn together on the shore. Nellie was expecting me to +supper, he said; he had told Duncan I was going there, and the moon was +coming out, and a good stretch on the sands would make us enjoy it all +the more. + +We had walked across the bay, and were standing gazing out seawards, +when he suddenly put his arm in mine. + +'What is it, Jack?' he said kindly, 'something is troubling you this +evening.' + +'Yes, you are right,' I said. 'However did you know, Mr. Christie? I am +bothered a bit; the fact is, I'm ashamed of myself, I've been such a +coward.' + +'What have you been doing, Jack? You don't mind telling me, do you?' + +'Not at all, Mr. Christie, I would rather tell you,' I said; and then I +gave him an account of the last week, of my fear of Tom, and how very +nearly--I was ashamed to say it--I had yielded to him about the outing +to-morrow. Then I spoke of my friend, and I told him I was afraid I had +lost him through my plain speaking. + +'Never mind, Jack,' he said, 'the Master must come first, and it does +happen very often that when He is put in His right place we have to give +up a great deal. He knew we should have to do it, and He spoke some very +plain words about it: "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is +not worthy of Me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not +worthy of Me." You would like to be worthy of Him, Jack?' + +'I shall never be that, Mr. Christie,' I said. + +'No,' he said; 'you are right, we are all unworthy of Him; but when we +love Him, we do long to do that which is pleasing in His sight. And, +remember, there is always the hundredfold, Jack, always the Master's +reward for anything we give up for Him.' + +'Yes, in heaven,' I said softly. + +'No, Jack, not in heaven, but on earth. Do you remember how the Master's +words run: "He shall receive an hundredfold _now, in this time_, +and in the world to come, life everlasting." The hundredfold is to be +enjoyed _here_, the everlasting life _there_.' + +'I never noticed that before,' I said. + +'I have proved it true, Jack, abundantly true. I sometimes think I have +got beyond the hundredfold. And then beyond, there lies the life +eternal.' + +'My mother is enjoying that,' I said. + +'Yes, indeed,' he answered; 'and her boy will enjoy it too in God's good +time, for does not the Master say of all those who belong to Him, "I +give unto them eternal life?" "I am come that they might have life, and +that they might have it more abundantly"?' + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter XII + +WHERE ARE YOU GOING? + + +I shall never forget my last Sunday in Runswick Bay. It was at the end +of September, and was one of those gloriously brilliant days which we +get in the early autumn, when the sky is cloudless, when the air is +fresh and clear, and when the autumnal tints on trees, hedges, ferns and +brambles make the landscape gorgeous and extremely beautiful and +fascinating. + +The high cliff above the bay was a perfect study in colour that morning; +I have never seen more splendid colouring, every varied shade of red and +gold and green was to be found there. + +'Tom will be off to Scarborough,' I said to myself as I dressed. 'What a +grand day he has got!' + +But I did not wish myself with him; no, I was both glad and thankful to +look forward to a quiet and peaceful Sunday. + +There were not many visitors still at Runswick, most of them had left +the week before; but the fishermen came in great numbers to the service, +and the green was covered with them when little Jack and big Jack +appeared, hand-in-hand as usual. Duncan was in the choir, but Polly +thought the wind rather cold for little John, so had remained with him +at home. A good many women and children were present, however, and the +bank was covered with mothers and babies, sitting at a little distance, +lest the noise of the children should disturb the preacher or the +listeners. + +What was it that made me think of Tom just as the service began? Was it +a shepherd's plaid cloth cap, of the kind Tom wears, which I saw on the +head of some visitor who was sitting almost out of sight on the seaward +side of the bank? Such small things bring people and things before us +sometimes, and my thoughts wandered to Scarborough for a few minutes, +and I wondered what Tom was doing at that moment. I thought to myself +how he would smile, if he saw me sitting under the old boat and +listening attentively to an open air preacher. + +But my thoughts did not wander long, for when the service began every +word of it seemed to be for me. + +WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I had worked the subject out in my mind before I +came to the service, and had quite decided what line of thought Mr. +Christie would take. I thought he would picture the two roads, the one +leading to life, the other to destruction; and then I imagined that he +would speak of the blessedness of being on the narrow road, and would +dwell very vividly on the awful consequences of continuing to walk on +the road leading to hell. But I found that my idea of what his sermon +would be was quite a mistaken one. + +'Where are you going? My question to-day,' he said, 'is addressed only +to some of you; would to God it were addressed to you all! I speak +to-day to those who have crossed the line, who have run into the loving +Saviour's arms, who have become servants of Christ. + +'My friends, my dear friends, where are you going? What does the Master +say? He calls to every one of His servants, and He says, "If any man +serve Me, let him follow Me, and _where I am_ there shall also My +servant be." + +'Servant of Christ, where are you going? The Master answers you, WHERE +I AM. + +'And where is that? A little group of men are standing on the Mount of +Olives; above them is the deep blue sky, and they are gazing earnestly +upward, for their Master is rising far above them, and even as they +watch a cloud receives Him out of their sight. Yet still He ascends +higher and yet higher, and as He rises countless angels attend Him. He +is joined by company after company of the heavenly host, who have come +out to meet their King. At length heaven's gates are reached, and the +cry goes forth, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye +everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." Amidst heaven's +most joyful music the Master passes within to the Heavenly Jerusalem, +the glad, glorious Home. Every care, every sin, every sorrow is left +outside; within all is sunshine, all is joy. And as heaven's gates are +closing, we hear the Master's voice. He leaves us a word of hope, "Where +I am, _there_ shall also My servant be." + +'Oh, fishermen, oh, friends, think of that! If you are His servants, +those gates will open for you. Your life may be hard now: some of you +have large families, and heavy work, and long, cold, comfortless nights +tossing on the stormy sea; but never mind, home is coming, heaven is +coming, for "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." + +'But that is not all. There is something more wonderful still. For where +is the Master now? He is not only inside the gates of the city, He is +not only walking through the golden streets; but He is in the midst of +the glory of God, He has sat down on the right hand of the throne of +God. Will you and I, dear friends, ever dare to go near that throne? +Will not the glory be too dazzling? Will not the place be holy ground, +too holy for us to approach? Will He allow us to draw near to His +footstool, and even there, close to His glory, to lie low before Him? + +'Listen, O servant of Christ, again the Master says, "Where I am, +_there_ shall also My servant be." + +'What, on the throne of God! Yes, even _there_ He bids you come; +for what does He say? "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with +Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father +in His throne." Oh, what a wonderful promise! We could never have +thought of it; we could never have believed it; we could never even have +dreamt of such a thing, if the Master had not told us Himself.' + +And then he concluded by asking us to remember our glorious future. +'Sometimes,' he said, 'you get downhearted, full of sorrow and fear, and +you say, "I shall never hold on to the end." Oh, dear friends, it is +worth an effort, for at the end lies home, at the end stands the throne +of God, with a place waiting for you upon it. "Where I am, there shall +also My servant be." + +'What if you have to bear something for the Master's sake? What if you +have to give up friends or comforts for Him? What if you have to take up +your cross and follow Him? It is only for a few days, only for a little +while, and home is coming. "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." +Is it not worth while?' + +Then, as he ended, he spoke a few words to all who were there, and he +begged those who were not servants of Christ, to consider what they were +losing. 'All this might be yours,' he said, 'the wide-open gates, the +Heavenly City, the seat on the glorious Throne; but you are turning your +backs on it all, and you are choosing instead--what? A few of earth's +fleeting pleasures, a little of this world's passing enjoyment. Oh, dear +friends, think before it is too late, what your eternal loss will be!' + +He said much more, but I cannot remember it now. I only know that I came +away feeling that I had been very near the golden gates of which he +spoke, and had heard the Master's voice saying to me, 'Where I am, there +shall also My servant be.' + +The tide was coming in as we left the service, and I was standing on the +shore watching the waves rolling in over the rocks, when I felt an arm +slipped in mine, and when I looked round, to my great surprise, I found +that it was Tom. + +'Why, Tom!' I said, 'back already? how early you have come home!' + +'Back, Jack?' he said, laughing; 'why, I've never been.' + +'Do you mean you haven't been to Scarborough?' + +'No, of course not; you didn't think I would go without you, old boy. +We'll go to-morrow, of course. I thought we settled that last night.' + +'Why, I've been thinking of you in Scarborough all day!' I said. + +'Then your thoughts have gone in a wrong direction for once, Jack,' he +replied, 'for I've been here all the time.' + +'I'll walk with you up the hill,' I said; 'it isn't quite dinner-time.' + +I was very pleased to see him, and to find that he did not appear to be +vexed with me. We chatted for some time, and then he said casually, 'He +does not speak badly, that lay preacher of yours, Jack.' + +I stood still in astonishment. 'Who?' I said, 'Mr. Christie? Why, you +surely were not at the service, Tom! Oh, I know,' I cried, before he +could answer, 'you were behind the bank; I saw a black and white cap, +and I thought how much it was like yours.' + +'It could not be much more like, seeing that it was the very same,' said +Tom. + +'I'm so glad you heard him,' I ventured to say. + +He made no answer, so I thought it was better to say no more; but when +we reached the top of the hill, and he was just leaving me, he said: + +'Jack, I'm afraid I was a bit crusty last night. You must not think any +more of it, old fellow. We'll have a jolly day at Scarborough to-morrow. +And, Jack,' he went on, 'I was very much annoyed at the time, I own I +was; but I'm not sure after all that you're not right.' + +He said no more, but hurried away, and it was many years before he +referred to the subject again; but the day came when he did mention it, +and when he told me, with tears in his eyes, that he looked upon that +Sunday at Runswick as the first link in the chain of God's loving +Providence, by means of which He had led him to Himself. He told me then +that he had never forgotten my firm refusal to go with him, and he had +never forgotten the sermon to which he had listened hidden from sight by +the bank. + +Our day at Scarborough exceeded all our anticipations. The weather was +glorious, and Tom was in excellent spirits, and we thoroughly enjoyed +everything. + +I could not help feeling sorry when Thursday came, which was to be my +last day at Runswick Bay. It had been such a happy and so eventful a +time. I seemed to have passed through so much, and to have learnt so +much unknown to me before, that I felt very reluctant to bring my +holiday to a close. As for Duncan and Polly, they were quite melancholy +as the time for my departure drew near. + +'We _shall_ feel lost without you, sir,' said Duncan. 'We shan't +know what to do'; and there were tears in Polly's eyes as she said +mournfully, when she set the herrings on the table for my supper, +'Them's the last herrings I shall fry you, sir, and I feel as if there +was going to be a death in the house.' + +'Cheer up, Polly,' I said, 'who knows? Perhaps you may have to put up +with me next time I get a holiday, and you may be sure I shall want +plenty of herrings then.' + +She brightened a little at this, and little John, who was quite well +now, and who had become very friendly with me since his illness, climbed +up on my knee, and stroked my face with his little thin hand, as if he +were trying to coax me to come back to them again. + +There was one thing which I had a great desire to do before leaving +Runswick. I knew that Duncan was much troubled about the Mary Ann. She +had been terribly knocked about in the storm, which was no wonder, +seeing that she had drifted about, bottom upwards, and had been driven +hither and thither on the waves. When Duncan had examined her the day +after his arrival, he had found that she leaked in several places, and +was altogether unseaworthy, and he had been obliged to hire a boat until +such time as the Mary Ann could be properly repaired. Then he went over +to Whitby, and brought an experienced man back with him, and he +overhauled her thoroughly, and gave it as his opinion that it would be a +waste of money to try to patch her up. + +When Duncan came in that night I saw that the poor fellow was terribly +downcast. 'The Mary Ann's days are numbered, sir; she'll never be able +to rough it again,' he said. 'She's been a good old boat to me and my +father before me, and it will be like parting from an old friend to give +her up. Yon man, he says she might be cobbled together a bit; but you +would never make a good job of her; she'd do maybe well enough for fine +weather, but you couldn't trust to her in a storm.' + +I saw Polly turn pale as he said this. 'Duncan,' she said, going up to +him, and laying her hand on his arm, 'you'll never go in her again; +promise me that. Think of me and little John, Duncan.' + +'Ay, my lass,' he said; 'ay, Polly, I do think of thee and little John; +but the worst of it is there's bread must be earnt for thee and little +John. I can't let thee starve, wife.' + +'What about the bank-book, Duncan?' I said. + +He went to the old oak-chest, and brought it out. I was much touched by +his handing it to me, and bidding me see how it stood. He was perfectly +open with me, and spoke to me as freely as if I had been an old and +tried friend. I added up the amount and read it out to him. + +'Well, sir,'he said, 'it's getting on; but it's a good ten pound short +yet. We shall have to hire Brown's boat a bit and do as well as we can, +though it isn't a very paying business when one takes to hiring: it will +be hard enough to make two ends meet, you see, sir, let alone saving up +for the new boat. But I can't see nothing else for it, sir; that is, if +Polly won't let me risk it in the Mary Ann.' + +'Duncan,' she said solemnly, 'if thee went to sea in the Mary Ann, and +she went to the bottom, I could _never_ say, "The will of the Lord +be done," for I don't believe it _would_ be God's will for thee to +go in that rotten old thing.' + +'Polly is right, Duncan,' I said; 'you must never go in the Mary Ann +again.' + +'Well, sir,' he said, 'I see what you mean, you and Polly too, and the +Lord will show us what's to be done.' + +Nothing more was said about the Mary Ann at that time, but I had already +made my own plan about the new boat. My aunt had just left me her little +property, and a very nice little property it was. I felt myself a rich +man, for in addition to money invested in various ways, about L200 of +ready money had been placed to my account at the bank. + +What could be more delightful, I thought, than to spend the first ten +pounds of this in helping Duncan to complete the purchase of the new +boat? The only difficulty would be to get Duncan to accept the money, +for he had all the honest independence of a Yorkshireman, and I knew +would hesitate about receiving help from any one. But, at the same time, +I knew that in this instance his need was great, and his kindly feeling +towards myself was so strong, that I was not without hope that I might +be able to manage what I had contemplated without giving the dear fellow +offence. I thought, at one time, that I would take Mr. Christie into my +confidence, and would consult with him, but on second thoughts I decided +that it would be wiser not to do so, and felt that I should be more +likely to succeed if no one else was in the secret. So I folded my +bank-note in paper, put it into an envelope, and wrote outside, 'With +little John's love to his daddy, to help him to buy another Little +John.' This I determined to slip into the child's hand when I said +good-bye. + +That evening I had supper with the Christies. They were kindness itself, +and told me what a great pleasure it had been to them to meet me. 'Not +only because you are your mother's son, Jack, but for your own sake as +well as hers,' said Mr. Christie with a smile. + +I wanted to say something in return, but the words would not come--at +least not then. But, just before I left, I went with Mr. Christie into +his study, and he said, 'Jack, I thought perhaps we might have a little +prayer together before we part'; and then the words came,-- + +'Mr. Christie,' I said, 'I can never, never thank God enough that I came +here.' + +'Let us thank Him together, Jack,' he said. + +Then we knelt down, he by the table, and I with my arms resting on the +old organ, and he thanked God for His mercy in bringing me across the +line, and he committed me to His care and keeping to bring me safely +along the road which leads home. + +The next morning I was up early, for our train started at eight, and we +had two miles to walk. I had told Polly I should want nothing but a cup +of tea before I set off, but when I came down I found a most tempting +breakfast prepared for me--ham and eggs, and toast in abundance, and +fresh lettuces from Duncan's small garden. + +'Well, Polly,' I said, 'you are spoiling me to the last.' + +'We can never make enough of you, sir,' said Polly, and there were tears +in her eyes as she said it. + +I ran up to pack my bag and collect my things, and I determined to start +in good time, so that I might allow myself a few minutes to say good-bye +to the Christies. + +'I must be off, Duncan,' I said. + +He was standing outside with little John in his arms, and Polly, with +her hat on, was standing beside him. + +'We're coming along with you, sir, to the station,' said Duncan. 'You +won't think it a liberty will you, sir? but me and Polly and little John +would like to see the last of you.' + +'Come, that _is_ good of you,' I said. 'I shall have a grand escort +up the hill!' + +Polly took the child from his father, and Duncan carried my bag and +easel, and would not even hear of my giving him a hand with them. + +I ran into the Christies, but could find no one below; however, I heard +a great running backwards and forwards overhead, and presently Mr. +Christie called out of the bedroom window, 'Wait one moment, Jack; we +are all coming to see you off.' + +So my escort increased as I proceeded, and Tom, as he came out of the +hotel, said he thought the whole of Runswick must be going by the early +train, when he saw us, one after another, come toiling up the hill. +Little Jack rode up the whole way on my back, and his horse was very hot +when the top was reached. + +Though it is now so many years ago I can see that little party of +friends standing together on the platform, as the train moved out of the +station. I can feel again the warm grasp of Mr. Christie's hand, and can +hear his whispered, 'God bless you, Jack!' I can see Mrs. Christie +holding Marjorie by the hand, and waving her handkerchief to me, and can +hear little Jack crying out, 'Come back soon, do, big Mr. Jack.' I can +see Duncan bareheaded, with little John in his arms, the child waving +the envelope which I had put in his hand as I stepped into the carriage, +and which was still unopened. I can see Polly wiping her eyes with her +apron, and then holding it up and waving it till I was lost to sight. I +can see them all as they appeared to me that day, kind hearts and true, +not one of them ranking amongst the number whom the world counts great, +and yet all of them well known to Him who calleth His own sheep by name +and leadeth them out. + +I must just mention here that I had a very touching letter from Duncan +at the end of that week. The spelling was most wonderful, and the +grammar was quite of his own making; but it was full, from end to end, +of the most simple-hearted affection, and of the deepest gratitude. + +'Me, and my missus, and little John, can never be thankful enough, sir,' +he said, 'and when the other 'Little John' is afloat, as please God she +soon will be, we hopes as how you will come and have a sail in her.' + +So ended my visit to Runswick; and when I consider all that happened +during those few weeks, I think it is small wonder that the little bay +is still fresh in my memory, and that Ella's yellow ragwort made me +dream of it so distinctly. For surely that month was the most important +month in my life, for was it not the beginning of a new life, which, +thank God, has continued ever since? + +I can say to-day, even as I said then, 'One is my Master, even Christ,' +and I can look forward, humbly but hopefully, to the time when the +golden gates will open to me, and when the Master's promise will be +fulfilled to me, 'Where I am, there shall also My servant be.' + + O Jesus Christ, my Master, + I come to Thee to-day; + I ask Thee to direct me + In all I do or say: + I want to keep my promise + To be Thy servant true, + I come to Thee for orders; + Dear Lord, what shall I do? + + I want a heart not heeding + What others think or say; + I want a humble spirit, + To listen and obey. + To serve Thee without ceasing, + 'Tis but a little while,-- + My strength, the Master's promise, + My joy, the Master's smile. + + +A.C.W. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10728 *** diff --git a/10728-h.zip b/10728-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eae8165 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h.zip diff --git a/10728-h/10728-h.htm b/10728-h/10728-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5eff12 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/10728-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5192 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Christie, the King's Servant, by Mrs. O. F. Walton</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times; + } + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 12pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .toc { margin-left: 15%; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0em;} + CENTER { padding: 10px;} + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + // --> + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Christie, the King's Servant, by Mrs. O. F. +Walton</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Christie, the King's Servant</p> +<p>Author: Mrs. O. F. Walton</p> +<p>Release Date: January 16, 2004 [eBook #10728]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: iso-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT***</p> +<center><h3>E-text prepared by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, David Garcia,<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3></center> + + <hr class="full"> + <p> + + </p><a name="image-01"><!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image01.png" width="400" height="642" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h1> + CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT + </h1> + <center> + A Sequel to 'Christie's Old Organ'<br> + <br> + <b>By MRS. O.F. WALTON</b><br> + <br> + AUTHOR OF 'CHRISTIE'S OLD ORGAN'<br> + 'A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES'<br> + 'THE KING'S CUPBEARER'<br> + 'SHADOWS' ETC ETC + </center><a name="2H_TOC"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH01">Chapter I RUNSWICK BAY</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH02">Chapter II LITTLE JOHN</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH03">Chapter III STRANGE MUSIC</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH04">Chapter IV WHAT ARE YOU?</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH05">Chapter V THE RUNSWICK SPORTS</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH06">Chapter VI THE TUG OF WAR</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH07">Chapter VII OVER THE LINE</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH08">Chapter VIII A NIGHT OF STORM</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH09">Chapter IX ASK WHAT YE WILL</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH10">Chapter X WE KNOW</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH11">Chapter XI LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH12">Chapter XII WHERE ARE YOU GOING?</a> + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH01"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-02"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image02.png" width="400" height="233" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter I + </h2> + <center> + RUNSWICK BAY + </center> + <p> + It was the yellow ragwort that did it! I have discovered the + clue at last. All night long I have been dreaming of Runswick + Bay. I have been climbing the rocks, talking to the + fishermen, picking my way over the masses of slippery + seaweed, and breathing the fresh briny air. And all the + morning I have been saying to myself, 'What can have made me + dream of Runswick Bay? What can have brought the events of my + short stay in that quaint little place so vividly before me?' + Yes, I am convinced of it; it was that bunch of yellow + ragwort on the mantelpiece in my bedroom. My little Ella + gathered it in the lane behind the house yesterday morning, + and brought it in triumphantly, and seized the best china + vase in the drawing-room, and filled it with water at the + tap, and thrust the great yellow bunch into it. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, Ella,' said Florence, her elder sister, 'what ugly + common flowers! How could you put them in mother's best vase, + that Aunt Alice gave her on her birthday! What a silly child + you are!' + </p> + <p> + 'I'm not a silly child,' aid Ella stoutly, 'and mother is + sure to like them; I know she will. <i>She</i> won't call + them common flowers. She loves all yellow flowers. She said + so when I brought her the daffodils; and these are yellower, + ever so much yellower.' + </p> + <p> + Her mother came in at this moment, and, taking our little + girl on her knee, she told her that she was quite right; they + were very beautiful in her eyes, and she would put them at + once in her own room, where she could have them all to + herself. + </p> + <p> + And that is how it came about, that, as I lay in bed, the + last thing my eyes fell upon was Ella's bunch of yellow + ragwort; and what could be more natural than that I should go + to sleep and dream of Runswick Bay? + </p> + <p> + It seems only yesterday that I was there, so clearly can I + recall it, and yet it must be twenty years ago. I think I + must write an account of my visit to Runswick Bay and give it + to Ella, as it was her yellow flowers which took me back to + the picturesque little place. If she cannot understand all I + tell her now, she will learn to do so as she grows older. + </p> + <p> + I was a young man then, just beginning to make my way as an + artist. It is slow work at first; until you have made a name, + every one looks critically at your work; when once you have + been pronounced a rising artist, every daub from your brush + has a good market value. I had had much uphill work, but I + loved my profession for its own sake, and I worked on + patiently, and, at the time my story begins, several of my + pictures had sold for fair prices, and I was not without hope + that I might soon find a place in the Academy. + </p> + <p> + It was an unusually hot summer, and London was emptying fast. + Every one who could afford it was going either to the moors + or to the sea, and I felt very much inclined to follow their + example. My father and mother had died when I was quite a + child, and the maiden aunt who had brought me up had just + passed away, and I had mourned her death very deeply, for she + had been both father and mother to me. I felt that I needed + change of scene, for I had been up for many nights with her + during her last illness, and I had had my rest broken for so + long, that I found it very difficult to sleep, and in many + ways I was far from well. My aunt had left all her little + property to me, so that the means to leave London and to take + a suitable holiday were not wanting. The question was, where + should I go? I was anxious to combine, if possible, pleasure + and business—that is to say, I wished to choose some + quiet place where I could get bracing air and thorough change + of scene, and where I could also find studies for my new + picture, which was (at least, so I fondly dreamed) to find a + place in the Academy the following spring. + </p> + <p> + It was whilst I was looking for a suitable spot that Tom + Bernard, my great friend and confidant, found one for me. + </p> + <p> + 'Jack, old fellow,' he said, thrusting a torn newspaper into + my hand, 'read that, old man.' + </p> + <p> + The newspaper was doubled down tightly, and a great red cross + of Tom's making showed me the part he wished me to read. + </p> + <pre> + RUNSWICK BAY. + + This charming seaside resort is not half so well known + as it deserves to be. For the lover of the beautiful, + for the man with an artistic eye, it possesses a charm + which words would fail to describe. The little bay is a + favourite resort for artists; they, at least, know how + to appreciate its beauties. It would be well for any who + may desire to visit this wonderfully picturesque and + enchanting spot to secure hotel or lodging-house + accommodation as early as possible, for the demand for + rooms is, in August and September, far greater than the + supply. +</pre> + <p> + 'Well, what do you think of it?' said Tom. + </p> + <p> + 'It sounds just the thing,' I said; 'fresh air and plenty to + paint.' + </p> + <p> + 'Shall you go?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, to-morrow,' I replied; 'the sooner the better.' + </p> + <p> + My bag was soon packed, my easel and painting materials were + collected, and the very next morning I was on my way into + Yorkshire. + </p> + <p> + It was evening when I reached the end of my long, tiring + railway journey; and when, hot and dusty, I alighted at a + village which lay about two miles from my destination. I saw + no sign of beauty as I walked from the station; the country + was slightly undulating in parts, but as a rule nothing met + my gaze but a long flat stretch of field after field, + covered, as the case might be, with grass or corn. Harebells + and pink campion grew on the banks, and the meadows were full + of ox-eye daisies; but I saw nothing besides that was in the + least attractive, and certainly nothing of which I could make + a picture. + </p> + <p> + A family from York had come by the same train, and I had + learnt from their conversation that they had engaged lodgings + for a month at Runswick Bay. The children, two boys of ten + and twelve, and a little fair-haired girl a year or two + younger, were full of excitement on their arrival. + </p> + <p> + 'Father, where is the sea?' they cried. 'Oh, we do want to + see the sea!' + </p> + <p> + 'Run on,' said their father, 'and you will soon see it.' + </p> + <p> + So we ran together, for I felt myself a child again as I + watched them, and if ever I lagged behind, one or other of + them would turn round and cry, 'Come on, come on; we shall + soon see it.' + </p> + <p> + Then, suddenly, we came to the edge of the high cliff, and + the sea in all its beauty and loveliness burst upon us. The + small bay was shut in by rocks on either side, and on the + descent of the steep cliff was built the little fishing + village. I think I have never seen a prettier place. + </p> + <p> + The children were already running down the steep, rocky + path—I cannot call it a road—which led down to + the sea, and I followed more slowly behind them. It was the + most curiously built place. The fishermen's cottages were + perched on the rock, wherever a ledge or standing place could + be found. Steep, narrow paths, or small flights of rock-hewn + steps, led from one to another. There was no street in the + whole place; there could be none, for there were hardly two + houses which stood on the same level. To take a walk through + this quaint village was to go up and down stairs the whole + time. + </p> + <p> + At last, after a long, downward scramble, I found myself on + the shore, and then I looked back at the cliff and at the + irregular little town. I did not wonder that artists were to + be found there. I had counted four as I came down the hill, + perched on different platforms on the rock, and all hard at + work at their easels. + </p> + <p> + Yes, it was certainly a picturesque place, and I was glad + that I had come. The colouring was charming: there was red + rock in the background, here and there covered with grass, + and ablaze with flowers. Wild roses and poppies, pink-thrift + and white daisies, all contributed to make the old rock gay. + But the yellow ragwort was all over; great patches of it grew + even on the margin of the sand, and its bright flowers gave + the whole place a golden colouring. There seemed to be yellow + everywhere, and the red-tiled cottages, and the fishermen in + their blue jerseys, and the countless flights of steps, all + appeared to be framed in the brightest gilt. + </p> + <p> + Yes, I felt sure I should find something to paint in Runswick + Bay. I was not disappointed in Tom's choice for me. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH02"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-03"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image03.png" width="400" height="515" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter II + </h2> + <center> + LITTLE JOHN + </center> + <p> + After admiring the beauties of my new surroundings for some + little time, I felt that I must begin to look for quarters. I + was anxious, if possible, to find a lodging in one of the + cottages, and then, after a good night's rest, I would + carefully select a good subject for my picture. I called at + several houses, where I noticed a card in the window + announcing <i>Apartments to Let</i>, but I met the same + answer everywhere, 'Full, sir, quite full.' In one place I + was offered a bed in the kitchen, but the whole place smelt + so strongly of fried herrings and of fish oil, that I felt it + would be far more pleasant to sleep on the beach than to + attempt to do so in that close and unwholesome atmosphere. + </p> + <p> + After wandering up and down for some time, I passed a house + close to the village green, and saw the children with whom I + had travelled sitting at tea close to the open window. They, + too, were eating herrings, and the smell made me hungry. I + began to feel that it was time I had something to eat, and I + thought my best plan would be to retrace my steps to the + hotel which I had passed on my way, and which stood at the + very top of the high cliff. I turned a little lazy when I + thought of the climb, for I was tired with my journey, and, + as I said before, I was not very strong, and to drag my bag + and easel up the rugged ascent would require a mighty effort + at the best of times. I noticed that wooden benches had been + placed here and there on the different platforms of the rock, + for the convenience of the fishermen, and I determined to + rest for a quarter of an hour on one of them before retracing + my steps up the steep hill to the hotel. The fishermen were + filling most of the seats, sitting side by side, row after + row of them, talking together, and looking down at the beach + below. As I gazed up at them, they looked to me like so many + blue birds perched on the steep rock. + </p> + <p> + There was one seat in a quiet corner which I noticed was + empty. I went to it, and laying my knapsack and other + belongings beside me, I sat down to rest. + </p> + <p> + But I was not long to remain alone. A minute afterwards a + young fisherman, dressed like his mates in blue jersey and + oilskin cap, planted himself on the other end of the seat + which I had selected. + </p> + <p> + 'Good-day, sir,' he said. 'What do you think of our bay?' + </p> + <p> + 'It's a pretty place, very pretty,' I said. 'I like it well + enough now, but I daresay I shall like it better still + to-morrow.' + </p> + <p> + 'Better still to-morrow,' he repeated; 'well, it <i>is</i> + the better for knowing, in my opinion, sir, and I + <i>ought</i> to know, if any one should, for I've lived my + lifetime here.' + </p> + <p> + I turned to look at him as he spoke, and I felt at once that + I had come across one of Nature's gentlemen. He was a fine + specimen of an honest English fisherman, with dark eyes and + hair, and with a sunny smile on his weather-beaten, sunburnt + face. You had only to look at the man to feel sure that you + could trust him, and that, like Nathanael, there was no guile + in him. + </p> + <p> + 'I wonder if you could help me,' I said; 'I want to find a + room here if I can, but every place seems so full.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, it is full, sir, in August; that's the main time here. + Let me see, there's Brown's, they're full, and Robinson's, + and Wilson's, and Thomson's, all full up. There's Giles', + they have a room, I believe, but they're not over clean; + maybe you're particular, sir.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well,' I said, 'I do like things clean; I don't mind how + rough they are if they're only clean.' + </p> + <p> + 'Ah,' he said, with a twinkle in his eye; 'you wouldn't care + for one pan to do all the work of the house—to boil the + dirty clothes, and the fish, and your bit of pudding for + dinner, and not overmuch cleaning of it in between.' + </p> + <p> + 'No,' I said, laughing; 'I should not like that, certainly.' + </p> + <p> + 'Might give the pudding a flavour of stockings, and a sauce + of fish oil,' he answered. 'Well, you're right, sir; I + shouldn't like it myself. Cleanliness is next to godliness, + that's my idea. Well, then, that being as it is, I wouldn't + go to Giles', not if them is your sentiments with regard to + pans, sir.' + </p> + <p> + 'Then I suppose there's nothing for it but to trudge up to + the hotel at the top of the hill,' I said, with something of + a groan. + </p> + <p> + 'Well, sir,' he said, hesitating a little; 'me and my missus, + we have a room as we lets sometimes, but it's a poor place, + sir, homely like, as ye may say. Maybe you wouldn't put up + with it.' + </p> + <p> + 'Would you let me see it?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'With pleasure, sir; it's rough, but it's clean. We could + promise you a clean pan, sir. My missus she's a good one for + cleaning; she's not one of them slatternly, good-for-nothing + lasses. There's heaps of them here, sir, idling away their + time. She's a good girl is my Polly. Why, if that isn't + little John a-clambering up the steps to his daddy!' + </p> + <p> + He jumped up as he said this, and ran quickly down the steep + flight of steps which led down from the height on which the + seat was placed, and soon returned with a little lad about + two years old in his arms. + </p> + <p> + The child was as fair as his father was dark. He was a pretty + boy with light hair and blue eyes, and was tidily dressed in + a bright red cap and clean white-pinafore. + </p> + <p> + 'Tea's ready, daddy,' said the boy; 'come home with little + John.' + </p> + <p> + 'Maybe you wouldn't object to a cup o' tea, sir,' said the + father, turning to me; 'it'll hearten you up a bit after your + journey, and there's sure to be herrings. We almost lives on + herrings here, sir, and then, if you're so minded, you can + look at the room after. Ye'll excuse me if I make too bold, + sir,' he added, as he gently patted little John's tiny hand, + which rested on his arm. + </p> + <p> + 'I shall be only too glad to come,' I said; 'for I am very + hungry, and if Polly's room is as nice as I think it will be, + it will be just the place for me.' + </p> + <p> + He walked in front of me, up and down several flights of + steps, until, at some little distance lower down the hill, he + stopped before a small cottage. Sure enough there were + herrings, frying and spluttering on the fire, and there too + was Polly herself, arrayed in a clean white apron, and + turning the herrings with a fork. The kitchen was very low, + and the rafters seemed resting on my head as I entered; but + the window and door were both wide open, and the whole place + struck me as being wonderfully sweet and clean. A low wooden + settle stood by the fire, one or two plain deal chairs by the + wall, and little John's three-legged stool was placed close + to his father's arm-chair. A small shelf above the fireplace + held the family library. I noticed a Bible, a hymn-book, a + <i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>, and several other books, all of + which had seen their best days and were doubtless in constant + use. On the walls were prints in wooden frames and much + discoloured by the turf smoke of the fire. Upon a carved old + oak cupboard, which held the clothes of the family, were + arranged various rare shells and stones, curious sea-urchins + and other treasures of the sea, and in the centre, the chief + ornament of the house and the pride of Polly's heart, a ship, + carved and rigged by Duncan himself, and preserved carefully + under a glass shade. + </p> + <p> + Polly gave me a hearty Yorkshire welcome, and we soon + gathered about the small round table. Duncan, with little + John on his knee, asked a blessing, and Polly poured out the + tea, and we all did justice to the meal. + </p> + <p> + The more I saw of these honest people, the more I liked them + and felt inclined to trust them. When tea was over, Polly + took me to see the guest-chamber in which her husband had + offered me a bed. It was a low room in the roof, containing a + plain wooden bedstead, one chair, a small wash-hand stand, + and a square of looking-glass hanging on the wall. There was + no other furniture, and, indeed, there was room for no other, + and the room was unadorned except by three or four funeral + cards in dismal black frames, which were hanging at different + heights on the wall opposite the bed. But the square casement + window was thrown wide open, and the pure sea air filled the + little room, and the coarse white coverings of the bed were + spotless, and, indeed, the whole place looked and felt both + fresh and clean. + </p> + <p> + 'You'll pardon me, sir,' said Duncan, 'for asking you to look + at such a poor place.' + </p> + <p> + 'But I like it, Duncan,' I answered, 'and I like you, and I + like your wife, and if you will have me as a lodger, I am + willing and glad to stay.' + </p> + <p> + The terms were soon agreed upon to the satisfaction of both + parties, and then all things being settled, Polly went to put + little John to bed whilst I went with Duncan to see his boat. + </p> + <p> + It was an old boat, and it had been his father's before him, + and it had weathered many a storm; but it was the dream of + Duncan's life to buy a new one, and he and Polly had nearly + saved up money enough for it. + </p> + <p> + 'That's why me and the missus is glad to get a lodger now and + again,' he said; 'it all goes to the boat, every penny of it. + We mean to call her The Little John. He's going in her the + very first voyage she takes; he is indeed, sir, for he'll be + her captain one day, please God, little John will.' + </p> + <p> + It was a calm, beautiful evening; the sea was like a sheet of + glass. Hardly a ripple was breaking on the shore. The sun was + setting behind the cliff, and the fishing village would soon + be in darkness. The fishermen were leaving their cottages and + were making for the shore. Already some of the boats were + launched, and the men were throwing in their nets and + fishing-tackle, and were pulling out to sea. I enjoyed + watching my new friend making his preparations. His three + mates brought out the nets, and he gave his orders with a + tone of command. He was the owner and the captain of the Mary + Ann, and the rest were accustomed to do his bidding. + </p> + <p> + When all were on board, Duncan himself jumped in and gave the + word to push from shore. He nodded to me and bid me + good-night, and when he was a little way from shore, I saw + him stand up in the boat and wave his oil-skin cap to some + one above me on the cliff. + </p> + <p> + I looked up, and saw Polly standing on the rock overhanging + the shore with little John in his white nightgown in her + arms. He was waving his red cap to his father, and continued + to do so till the boat was out of sight. + </p><a name="2HCH03"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h2> + Chapter III + </h2> + <center> + STRANGE MUSIC + </center> + <p> + I slept well in my strange little bedroom, although I was + awakened early by the sunlight streaming in at the window. I + jumped up and looked out. The sun was rising over the sea, + and a flood of golden light was streaming across it. + </p> + <p> + I dressed quickly and went out. Very few people were about, + for the fishermen had not yet returned from their night's + fishing. The cliff looked even more beautiful than the night + before, for every bit of colouring stood out clear and + distinct in the sunshine. 'I shall get my best effects in the + morning,' I said to myself, 'and I had better choose my + subject at once, so that after breakfast I may be able to + begin without delay.' + </p> + <p> + How many steps I went up, and how many I went down, before I + came to a decision, it would be impossible to tell; but at + last I found a place which seemed to me to be the very gem of + the whole village. An old disused boat stood in the + foreground, and over this a large fishing net, covered with + floats, was spread to dry. Behind rose the rocks, covered + with tufts of grass, patches of gorse, tall yellow mustard + plants and golden ragwort, and at the top of a steep flight + of rock-hewn steps stood a white cottage with red-tiled roof, + the little garden in front of it gay with hollyhocks and + dahlias. A group of barefooted children were standing by the + gate feeding some chickens and ducks, a large dog was lying + asleep at the top of the steps, and a black cat was basking + in the morning sunshine on the low garden wall. It was, to my + mind, an extremely pretty scene, and it made me long to be + busy with my brush. + </p> + <p> + I hurried back to my lodging, and found Polly preparing my + breakfast, whilst little John looked on. He was sitting in + his nightgown, curled up in his father's armchair. 'I'm + daddy,' he called out to me as I came in. + </p> + <p> + There was a little round table laid ready for me, and covered + with a spotlessly clean cloth, and on it was a small black + teapot, and a white and gold cup and saucer, upon which I saw + the golden announcement, 'A present from Whitby,' whilst my + plate was adorned with a remarkable picture of Whitby Abbey + in a thunderstorm. + </p> + <p> + There were herrings, of course, and Polly had made some hot + cakes, the like of which are never seen outside Yorkshire. + These were ready buttered, and were lying wrapped in a clean + cloth in front of the fire. Polly made the tea as soon as I + entered, and then retired with little John in her arms into + the bedroom, whilst I sat down with a good appetite to my + breakfast. + </p> + <p> + I had not quite finished my meal when I heard a great shout + from the shore. Women and children, lads and lasses, ran past + the open door, crying, 'The boats! the boats!' Polly came + flying into the kitchen, caught up little John's red cap, + thrust it on his head, and ran down the steps. I left my + breakfast unfinished, and followed them. + </p> + <p> + It was a pretty sight. The fishing-boats were just nearing + shore, and almost every one in the place had turned out to + meet them. + </p> + <p> + Wives, children, and visitors were gathered on the small + landing place; most had dishes or plates in their hands, for + the herrings could be bought straight from the boats. The + family from York were there, and they greeted me as an old + friend. + </p> + <p> + When the little village had been abundantly supplied with + fish, the rest of the herrings were packed up and sent off by + train to be sold elsewhere. It was a pretty animated scene, + and I wished I had brought my sketchbook with me. I thought + the arrival of the fishing boats would make a splendid + subject for a picture. + </p> + <p> + Duncan was too busy even to see me till the fish were all + landed, counted, and disposed of, but he had time for a word + with little John, and as I was finishing my breakfast he came + in with the child perched on his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + 'Good morning, sir,' he said; 'and how do you like our bay + this morning?' + </p> + <p> + My answer fully satisfied him, and whilst he sat down to his + morning meal I went out to begin my work. It was a lovely + day, and I thoroughly enjoyed the prospect before me. I found + a shady place just under the wall of a house, where my + picture would be in sunlight and I and my easel in shadow. I + liked the spot I had chosen even better than I had done + before breakfast, and I was soon hard at work. + </p> + <p> + I had sketched in my picture, and was beginning to paint, + when I became conscious of the sound of voices just over my + head, and I soon became equally conscious that they were + talking about me. + </p> + <p> + 'It's just like it,' said one voice. 'Look—do look. + There's Betty Green's cottage, and Minnie the cat, and the + seat, and the old boat.' + </p><a name="image-04"><!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image04.png" width="400" height="647" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <p> + 'Let me see, Marjorie,' said another voice; 'is it the old + one with white hair and a long, long beard?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, it's quite a young one; his hair's black, and he hasn't + got a beard at all.' + </p> + <p> + 'Let me look. Yes, I can see him. I like him much better than + the old one; hasn't he got nice red cheeks?' + </p> + <p> + 'Hush! he'll hear,' said the other voice. 'You naughty boy! I + believe he did hear; I saw him laugh.' + </p> + <p> + I jumped up at this, and looked up, but I could see nothing + but a garden wall and a thick bushy tree, which was growing + just inside it. + </p> + <p> + 'Hullo, who's there?' I shouted. + </p> + <p> + But there was dead silence; and as no one appeared, and + nothing more happened, I sat down and went on with my + picture. + </p> + <p> + Many people passed by as I was painting, and tried to look at + what I was doing. Some glanced out of the corners of their + eyes as they walked on; others paused behind me and silently + watched me; a few made remarks to one another about my + picture; one or two offered suggestions, thought I should + have had a better view lower down the hill, or hoped that I + would make the colouring vivid enough. The children with whom + I had travelled seemed to feel a kind of partnership in my + picture. + </p> + <p> + 'Let's go and look at <i>our</i> artist,' Bob would say to + Harry; 'his picture is going to be the best of the lot.' + </p> + <p> + They were so fond of watching me, and so much excited over + what I was doing, that, as time went on, I was often obliged + to ask them to move further away, so eager were they to watch + every movement of my brush. + </p> + <p> + I thoroughly enjoyed my morning's work, and went back very + hungry, and quite ready for the comfortable little dinner + which Polly had prepared for me. In the afternoon the light + would be all wrong for my picture; but I determined to sketch + in the foreground, and prepare for my next morning's work. + </p> + <p> + I was very busy upon this, when suddenly I became conscious + of music, if music it could be called. It was the most + peculiar sound, and at first I could not find out from whence + it came. It was evidently not caused by a wind instrument; I + felt sure it was not a concertina or an accordion. This sound + would go on for a minute or two, and then stop suddenly, only + to begin again more loudly a few seconds later. At times I + distinguished a few bars of a tune, then only disjointed + notes followed. Could it be a child strumming idly on a + harmonium? but no, it was not at all like an instrument of + that kind. It was an annoying, worrying sound, and it went on + for so long that I began to be vexed with it, and stamped my + foot impatiently when, after a short interval, I heard it + begin again. The sound seemed to come from behind the wall of + the house near which I was sitting, and it was repeated from + time to time during the whole of the afternoon. + </p> + <p> + At length, as the afternoon went on, I began to distinguish + what tunes were being attempted. I made out a bar or two of + the old French Republican air, 'The Marseillaise,' and then I + was almost startled by what came next, for it was a tune I + had known well since I was a very little child. It was 'Home, + Sweet Home,' and that was my mother's favourite tune; in + fact, I never heard it without thinking of her. Many and many + a time had she sung me to sleep with that tune. I had scarlet + fever when I was five years old, and my mother had nursed me + through it, and when I was weary and fretful she would sing + to me—my pretty fair-haired mother. Even as I sat + before my easel I could see her, as she sat at the foot of my + bed, with the sunshine streaming upon her through the + half-darkened window, and making her look, to my boyish + imagination, like a beautiful angel. And I could hear her + voice still; and the sweet tones in which she sang that very + song to me, 'Home, sweet home, there's no place like home.' + </p> + <p> + I remembered one night especially, in which she knelt by my + bed and prayed that she might meet her boy in the bright + city, the sweet home above the sky which was the best and + brightest home of all. I wonder what she would think of me + now, I said to myself, and whether she ever will see me + there. I very much doubt it; it seems to me that I am a long + way off from Home, Sweet Home now. + </p> + <p> + My mother had died soon after that illness of mine, and I + knew that she had gone to live in that beautiful home of + which she had so often spoken to me. And I had been left + behind, and my aunt, who had brought me up, had cared for + none of these things, and I had learnt to look at the world + and at life from her worldly standpoint, and had forgotten to + seek first the Kingdom of God. Oh! if my mother only knew, my + pretty, beautiful mother, I said to myself that day. And then + there came the thought, perhaps she <i>does</i> know, and the + thought made me very uncomfortable. I wished, more than ever, + that that cracked old instrument, whatever it was, would + stop. + </p> + <p> + But, in spite of all my wishes, the strange sound went on, + and again and again I had to listen to 'Home, Sweet Home,' + and each time that it came it set my memory going, and + brought back to me the words and the looks which I thought I + had forgotten. And it set something else going too—the + still, small voice within, accusing me of forgetfulness, not + so much of my mother as of my mother's God. + </p> + <p> + I began to wish most heartily that I had chosen some other + spot for my picture. But it was working out so well that I + felt it would be a great mistake to change, and I hoped that + the individual, man, woman, or child, who had been making + that horrible noise might find some other employment + to-morrow, and might leave me in peace. + </p> + <p> + The next day my wishes were fulfilled, for I was not + disturbed, and very little happened except that my picture + made progress. Then came two wet days, on which I had to + paint in my little chamber, and did not get back to my seat + under the wall. + </p> + <p> + I saw a good deal of Duncan during those wet days. He would + come and sit beside me as I painted, and would tell me + stories of storms and shipwrecks, and of the different times + when the lifeboat had been sent out, and of the many lives + she had saved. + </p> + <p> + 'Have ye seen her, sir? You must go and have a look at our + boat; she lies in a house down by the shore, as trim and + tight a little boat as you could wish to see anywhere!' + </p> + <p> + 'I suppose you've been in many a storm yourself, Duncan,' I + said. + </p> + <p> + 'Storms, sir! I've very near lived in them ever since I was + born. Many and many's the time I've never expected to see + land again. I didn't care so much when I was a young chap. + You see, my father and mother were dead, and if I went to the + bottom there was nobody, as you might say, to feel it; but + it's different now, sir, you see.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes,' I said, 'there's Polly and little John.' + </p> + <p> + 'That's just where it is, sir, Polly and little John, bless + 'em; and all the time the wind's raging, and the waves is + coming right over the boat, I'm thinking of my poor lass at + home, and how every gust of wind will be sweeping right over + her heart, and how she'll be kneeling by little John's bed, + praying God to bring his daddy safe home again. And I know, + sir, as well as I know anything, that when God Almighty hears + and answers her prayer, and brings me safe to land, Polly and + little John will be standing on yon rocks a-straining their + eyes for the first sight of the boats, and then a-running + down almost into the water to welcome me home again. Yes, it + makes a sight o' difference to a married man, sir; doesn't + it, now? It isn't the dying, ye understand, it's the leaving + behind as I think of. I'm not afraid to die,' he added humbly + and reverently, as he took off his oilskin cap. 'I know whom + I have believed.' + </p> + <p> + 'You're a plucky fellow, Duncan,' I said, 'to talk of not + being afraid to die. I've just been at a death-bed, + and—' + </p> + <p> + 'And you felt you wouldn't like to be there yourself,' Duncan + went on, as I stopped. 'Well, maybe not, it comes nat'ral to + us, sir; we're born with that feeling, I often think, and we + can no more help it than we can help any other thing we're + born with. But what I mean to say is, I'm not afraid of what + comes <i>after</i> death. It may be a dark tunnel, sir, but + there's light at the far end!' + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH04"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-05"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image05.png" width="400" height="406" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter IV + </h2> + <center> + WHAT ARE YOU? + </center> + <p> + On Saturday of that week the sun shone brightly, and I was up + betimes, had an early breakfast, and set to work at my + picture as soon as possible. I had not been painting long + before I again heard voices above me, the same childish + voices that I had heard before. + </p> + <p> + '<i>You</i> give it to him,' said one voice. + </p> + <p> + 'No, Marjorie, I daren't; you take it.' + </p> + <p> + 'You ought not to be afraid, because you're a boy,' said the + first speaker; 'father says boys ought always to be brave.' + </p> + <p> + 'But you're big, Marjorie, and big people ought to be braver + than little people!' + </p> + <p> + There was a long, whispered conversation after this, and I + could not distinguish the words which were spoken. But + presently a small piece of pink paper was thrown over the + wall, and fluttered down upon my palette. I caught it up + quickly, to prevent it from sticking to the paints, and I saw + there was something printed on it. It ran thus:— + </p> + <p> + <i>There will be a short service on the shore on Sunday + Morning at 11 o'clock, when you are earnestly requested to be + present</i>. + </p> + <center> + <i>Subject</i>: WHAT ARE YOU? + </center> + <p> + 'Thank you,' I said aloud. 'Who sent me this?' + </p> + <p> + There was no answer at first, then a little voice just above + me said, 'Both of us, sir.' + </p> + <p> + 'Come down and talk to me,' I said; 'I can't talk to children + whom I can't see. Come out here and look at my picture.' + </p> + <p> + They came out presently hand in hand, a little girl of five + in a blue tam-o'-shanter cap, a pale pink frock, and a white + pinafore, and a boy of three, the merriest, most sturdy + little fellow I thought I had ever seen. His face was as + round and rosy as an apple, his eyes were dark blue, and had + the happiest and most roguish expression that it would be + possible for eyes to have. When the child laughed (and + whenever was he not laughing?), every part of his face + laughed together. His eyes began it, his lips followed suit, + even his nose was pressed into the service. If a sunbeam + could be caught and dressed up like a little boy, I think it + would look something like that child. + </p> + <p> + 'Now,' I said, 'that's right; I like to see children's faces + when I talk to them; tell me your names to begin with.' + </p> + <p> + 'I'm Marjorie, sir,' said the little girl, 'and he's Jack.' + </p> + <p> + 'Jack!' I said; 'that's <i>my</i> name, and a nice name too, + isn't it, little Jack? Come and look at my picture, little + Jack, and see if you think big Jack knows how to paint.' + </p> + <p> + By degrees they grew more at their ease, and chatted freely + with me. Marjorie told me that her father had sent the paper. + Father was going to preach on Sunday; he preached every + Sunday, and numbers of people came, and Jack was in the + choir. + </p> + <p> + What a dear little chorister, to be sure, a chubby little + cherub if ever there was one! + </p> + <p> + 'Shall you come, big Jack?' he said, patting my hand with his + strong, sturdy little fist. + </p> + <p> + 'I don't know,' I said; 'if it's a fine day, perhaps I shall + want to get on with my picture.' + </p> + <p> + 'On Sunday?' said the child in a shocked voice; 'it's on + Sunday father preaches, and you couldn't paint on Sunday, + could you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, I'll see,' I said; 'perhaps I'll come and hear you + sing, little Jack.' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you, big Jack,' he said, with a merry twinkle in his + pretty blue eyes. + </p> + <p> + 'What is this preaching on the shore, Duncan?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, it's our lay preacher,' he said; 'he's a good man, and + has done a sight of good in this place. You see, it's too far + for folks here to go to church, and so he lives amongst us, + and has meetings in the hall yonder in winter, and in summer, + why, we have 'em on the shore, and the visitors comes mostly. + There's a few won't come, but we get the best of them, and we + have some fine singing—real nice it is! I'm in the + choir myself, sir,' he said; 'you wouldn't think it, but I + am. I've got a good strong voice, too!' + </p> + <p> + It must be a choir worth seeing, I thought, if it contained + two such strange contrasts, the big burly fisherman and the + tiny child who had invited me to be present. + </p> + <p> + I had not quite made up my mind to go. I had not been to a + service for many months, I might almost say years. I had + slipped out of it lately, and I thought I should feel myself + a fish out of water. However, when the next day came, every + one seemed to take it as a matter of course that I should be + going. Polly was up early, and had dressed little John in his + best. + </p> + <p> + 'You'll see him at church, sir,' she said, as she laid my + breakfast; 'he always likes to go to church, and he's as good + as gold, bless him!' + </p> + <p> + Duncan was out before I was up, and I had seen him, as I was + dressing, going round to the fishermen sitting as usual on + the seats on the cliff, with a bundle of pink papers in his + hand, similar to the one which had been given me, and + distributing them to every group of his mates which he came + across. Yes, I felt that I was expected to go, and it would + be hard work to keep away. But if I had still had any doubt + about the matter, it would have surely disappeared when at + half-past ten exactly a tiny couple came toiling hand in hand + up the steps leading to Duncan's door, and announced to Polly + that they had come to call for big Mr. Jack to go to church. + </p> + <p> + It was Marjorie and her little brother, and the small Jack + put his little fat hand into that of big Jack, and led him + triumphantly away. + </p> + <p> + It was a pretty sight to see that congregation gathering on + the village green. From the fishermen's cottages there came a + stream of people down to the shore,—mothers with babies + in their arms and leading young children by the hand, groups + of boys and girls wearing shoes and stockings who had been + barefooted all the week, many a weather-beaten sailor, many a + sunburnt fisher lad, many elderly people too, old men, and + white-haired women in closely-plaited white caps. There were + visitors, too, coming down from the rocks, and these mostly + kept in the background, and had at first an air of watching + the movement rather than joining in it. My York friends were, + however, well to the front, and the children nodded to me, + and smiled at one another as they saw me led like a lamb to + the service by my two small guardians. + </p> + <p> + It was a lovely day, and the sandy ground was dry, and the + congregation sat on the rough coarse grass or perched on the + sand hillocks round. As for the old boat, it was occupied by + the choir, and little Jack, having seen me safely to the + spot, climbed into it and stood proudly in the stern. He had + a hymn-book in his hand, which I knew he could not read, for + he was holding it upside down, but he looked at it as long + and as earnestly as if he could understand every word. + Marjorie planted herself beside me, I suppose to watch me, in + case I showed signs of running away before the service was + over. + </p> + <p> + Then just before eleven, and when quite a large company of + people had gathered on the green, her father arrived. He was + a man of about forty, and his face gave me the impression + that he had known trouble, and yet I fancied as I looked + further at him that the trouble, whatever it was, had ended. + He seemed to me like one who has come out of a sharp storm, + and has anchored in a quiet haven. For whilst I noticed in + his face the traces of heavy sorrow, still at the same time + he looked happier and more peaceful than any of those who + stood round him; in fact, it was the most restful face I had + ever seen. He was not an educated man, nor was he what men + call a gentleman, and yet there was a refinement about him + which made one feel at once that he was no common man, and + had no common history. His face was so interesting to me, + that I am afraid I was gazing at him instead of finding the + hymn he had given out, but I was recalled to my duty by his + little daughter, who seized the hymn-book she had given me at + the beginning of the service, found the page for me, and + pointed with her small finger to the place. + </p> + <p> + It was a mission hymn, sung to a wild, irregular tune. I + daresay I should have smiled if I had heard it anywhere else, + but it was no laughing matter that morning. As I looked at + the brown fishermen who had taken off their oilskin caps, as + I glanced at the earnest face of the preacher, as I noticed + how even children, like little Marjorie beside me, were + singing with all their heart and soul the simple plaintive + words, I felt strangely solemnized. + </p> + <p> + Then came the prayer, and I felt as he prayed that One whom + we could not see was standing amongst us. It was a very + simple prayer, but it was the outpouring of his heart to God, + and many a low Amen broke from the lips of the fishermen as + their hearts went with his. + </p> + <p> + The sermon followed. Shall I call it a sermon? It was more an + appeal than a sermon, or even an address. There was no + attempt at style, there were no long words or stilted + sentences; it was exactly what his prayer had been, words + spoken out of the abundance of his earnest heart. The prayer + had contained the outpouring of his soul to his God in + heaven; the words, to which we listened afterwards contained + the outpouring of his soul to us, his brothers and sisters on + earth. + </p> + <p> + There was a great hush over the congregation whilst he spoke. + The mothers quieted their babes, the children sat with their + eyes fixed on the speaker; even those visitors who had been + on the outskirts of the crowd drew near to listen. + </p> + <p> + 'What are you, dear friends?' he began; 'that is our subject + to-day. What are you? How many different answers I hear you + make, as you answer my question in your hearts!' + </p> + <p> + 'What am I?' you say. 'I am a fisherman, a strong active man, + accustomed to toil and danger.' 'I am a mother, with a large + family of little ones, working hard from morning till night.' + 'I am a schoolboy, learning the lessons which are to fit me + to make my way in the world.' 'I am a busy merchant, toiling + hard to make money, and obliged to come to this quiet place + to recruit my wearied energies.' 'I am an artist, with great + ambition of future success.' 'I am an old man, who has + weathered many a storm, but my work is done now; I am too old + to fish, too tired to toil.' 'I am a gentleman of no + occupation, idling comfortably through a busy world.' + 'I'—and here he glanced at his own little Jack in the + stern of the old boat—'I am a tiny child, with an + unknown life all before me.' + </p> + <p> + 'Dear friends, such are some of your answers to my question. + Can I find, do you think, one answer, one description, which + will suit you all—fishermen, mothers, boys and girls, + artists, merchants, gentlemen, the old man and the little + child? Yes, I can. If I could hand you each a piece of paper + and a pencil this day, there is one description of yourself + which each of you might write, one occupation which would + include you all, the old, the young, the rich and the poor. + Each of you, without exception, might write this—<i>I + am a servant</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'I, the speaker, am a servant; you who listen, all of you, + are servants.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, I don't know how he is going to make that out,' I said + to myself. 'I thought he was going to say we were all + sinners, and <i>that</i>, I suppose, we are, but + <i>servants</i>! I do not believe I am anybody's servant.' + </p> + <p> + 'All servants,' he went on, 'but not all in the same service. + As God and the angels look down upon this green to-day they + see gathering together a great company of servants, but they + also see that we are not all servants of the same master. + They see what we do not see, a dividing line between us. On + one side of the line God sees, and the angels see, one + company of servants—and in God's book He gives us the + name of their master—<i>Servants of sin</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'On the other side of the line, God sees, and the angels see, + another company of servants—<i>Servants of Christ</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'Which company do you belong to, dear friend? You fishermen + on the bank there, what are you? Little child, what are + you?—a servant of sin, or a servant of Jesus Christ? + </p> + <p> + So I tried to turn it off from myself, and to forget the + words which had been spoken. And whenever the question came + back to me, the question which the speaker had repeated so + often, 'What are you?' I answered it by saying to myself, 'I + am a poor artist, having a holiday in Runswick Bay, and I am + not going to trouble my head with gloomy thoughts.' + </p> + <p> + Polly had prepared an excellent dinner in honour of the day, + and I did full justice to it. Then I determined to walk to + Staithes, and to spend the rest of the day in seeing the + country. I had always been accustomed, to paint on Sunday, + but only one of the artists seemed to be at work, and Duncan + and Polly had been so much shocked by seeing him, that I did + not venture to do the same. I enjoyed the walk along the + cliffs, and came back in good spirits, having completely + shaken off, as I imagined, the remembrance of the speaker's + words. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH05"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-06"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image06.png" width="400" height="441" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter V + </h2> + <center> + THE RUNSWICK SPORTS + </center> + <p> + 'I've got a big favour to ask of you, sir,' said Duncan the + next day. 'You'll not think I'm taking a liberty, will you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Certainly not, Duncan,' I said. 'What do you want?' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, it's just here, sir—me and my mates, we get up + some sports every year on the green. We have 'em in August, + sir, just when the visitors are here. They all turn out to + see them, and there's lots of them is very good in + subscribing to the prizes. You see, sir, there is a many + young fellows here, young chaps who must have something to + keep them out of mischief; when they're not fishing, they're + bound to be after the beer, if they haven't something to turn + their minds and keep them going a bit. And these sports, why, + they like 'em, sir; and a man must keep sober if he's to win + a prize—you understand, sir?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, Duncan, I understand,' I said; 'it's first-rate for + these young lads, and for the old lads too, for the matter of + that. I suppose you want a subscription for your prizes?' I + added, as I handed him half a sovereign. + </p> + <p> + 'Thank ye kindly, sir, I won't refuse it, and it's very good + of you to help us so largely; but that isn't what I came to + ask of you. I hardly like to bother you, sir,' he said + doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + 'Never mind the bother, Duncan; let's hear what you want.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, it's just here, sir. Could you, do you think, make for + us some sort of a programme to hang up by the post office + there, for visitors to see? You draw them pictures so quick, + sir, and—' + </p> + <p> + 'I see, Duncan; you want the programme to be illustrated. I'm + your man; I'll do it at once.' I was really only too glad to + oblige the dear, honest fellow. + </p> + <p> + He was wonderfully pleased at my ready consent, and went off + at once to procure a board upon which my programme might be + fastened. We soon made out together a list of attractions, + and I had great pleasure in beautifying and illustrating the + catalogue of sports. + </p> + <p> + I headed it thus:— + </p> + <pre> + OYEZ, OYEZ! + RUNSWICK ATHLETIC SPORTS. +</pre> + <p> + Then, from the R of Runswick I hung a long fishing net, + covered with floats, and falling down over a fish basket, and + some lobster-pots, whilst on the ground were lying a number + of fish which had been emptied out of the basket. + </p> + <p> + Next followed a list of patrons, such as: The Honourable + O'Mackerell, Lord Crabby Lobster, Sir C. Shrimp, etc., etc. + </p> + <p> + Then came a list of the various sports, each profusely + illustrated—The tug of war, the jockey race, the + women's egg and spoon race, the sack race, the greasy pole, + the long jump, etc.; and lastly, an announcement of a grand + concert to be held in the evening, as a conclusion of the + festivities of the day. + </p> + <p> + Duncan was more than satisfied—he was delighted, and + his gratitude knew no bounds. His excitement, as he carried + the board away to hang it in a conspicuous place, was like + the excitement of a child. + </p> + <p> + The whole village seemed to be stirred as the eventful day + drew near. + </p> + <p> + 'Are you going to see the great tug, big Mr. Jack?' my little + friend called to me over the wall as I was painting. As for + the York boys, Harry and Bob, they spent a great part of + every day in admiring the programme, and in bringing other + visitors to see and admire the work of <i>their</i> artist. + </p> + <p> + How anxiously Duncan watched the sky the day before the + sports, and how triumphantly Polly announced, when I came + down to breakfast, 'A fine day, sir; couldn't be finer, could + it now?' + </p> + <p> + Those village sports were really a pretty sight. I see it all + in my mind's eye now. I often wonder I have not made a + picture of it. The high cliff stretching overhead, and + covered with bushes and bracken, amongst which nestled the + red-tiled cottages. Then below the cliff the level green, + covered with strong, hardy fishermen and their sunburnt + wives, and surrounding the green, on the sand-hills, the + visitors old and young, dressed in bright colours and holiday + attire. Is it too late to paint it from memory, I wonder? I + see it all still so distinctly. + </p> + <p> + The sports lasted a long time, and went off well. Polly + distinguished herself by winning the egg and spoon race, much + to the joy of little John, who watched all the proceedings + from his father's arms. + </p> + <p> + Then came the greatest event of all, the tug of war. A long + cable was brought out and stretched across the green, and a + pocket-handkerchief was tied in the centre of it. Two stakes + were then driven into the ground, and between these a line + was chalked on the grass. The handkerchief was then placed + exactly over the line. After this all the fishermen who + entered the lists were divided into two parties. Then each + side laid hold of one end of the rope, and at a given signal + they began to pull. It was a trial of strength; whichever + side could draw the handkerchief past the two stakes and over + the line, that side would win. + </p> + <p> + How tremendously those men pulled! What force they put into + it! Yet for a long time the rope did not move a single inch. + All the strength of those powerful fishermen was put out; + they were lying on the ground, that their pull might be all + the stronger. Every sinew, every nerve, every muscle seemed + to be on the strain, but so evenly were the two sides + matched, that the rope was motionless, and it seemed + impossible to tell which party would win. + </p> + <p> + Little John was eagerly watching his father. + </p> + <p> + 'Pull, daddy, pull!' I heard him cry; and I think I was + nearly as pleased as he and Polly were when Duncan and the + mates on his side suddenly made one mighty effort, and the + handkerchief was drawn across the line. There was tremendous + cheering after this. Polly clapped her hands with delight, + and little Jack and big Jack nearly shouted themselves + hoarse. + </p> + <p> + It was an interesting sight, and I had reason to remember it + afterwards, as you will see. The evening concert went off as + well as the sports had done, and Duncan came in at night + rather tired, but well satisfied with the day's proceedings. + </p> + <p> + I enjoyed all the sights at Runswick Bay, but I think I was + particularly charmed with what happened on the day after the + sports. All the village was early astir, and as I was + dressing, it seemed to me that every fisherman in the place + was hurrying down to the beach. It was not long before I + followed them to see what they were doing. I found that they + were about to draw the crab-boats up from the shore, to a + place where they would be safe from the winter storms. It was + hard work, but every one was there to give a hand. A long + string of men and lads laid hold of the strong cable fastened + to the boat. Even the wives and elder children caught hold of + it. I myself went to their help, and several of the visitors + followed my example. Then, when we were all in position, + there came a pause, for Duncan, who was directing the + proceedings, charged us not to pull till the signal was + given. Then there rose a peculiar cry or yodel, all the + fishermen uttering it together, and as soon as it ceased we + gave our united, mighty pull. Then we paused to take breath, + until once more there came a yodel followed by another pull, + and as this was repeated again and again, it was grand to see + the heavy boat making steady and regular progress. Across the + heavy sand she came, up the low bank, over the rough grass, + slowly, steadily, surely, she moved onward, until at length + she was placed in safety, far out of reach of the highest + tide and the strongest sea. Thus, one after another, the + boats were drawn up, and we were fairly tired before our work + was done. + </p> + <p> + I think it must have been that very day, that, as I was + sitting painting, I once more heard the broken notes of the + instrument which had troubled me so much before. It was that + tune again, my mother's tune, and somehow, I do not know how + it was, with the sound of my mother's tune there came back to + my mind the remembrance of the Sunday service. Ah! my mother + was on the right side of the line, I said to myself; she was + a servant of Christ. But her son! what is he? + </p> + <p> + I did not want to follow out this subject, so I jumped up + from my camp-stool, and standing under the wall, I called, + 'Little Jack, little Jack.' + </p> + <p> + The music stopped at once, and the child came out. Dear, + little merry fellow, how fond I was of him already! + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, Mr. big Jack,' he said, as he ran out of the gate. + </p> + <p> + 'Come and talk to me, old chappie,' I said, 'whilst I paint. + Who plays music in your house?' + </p> + <p> + 'I do,' said little Jack. + </p> + <p> + '<i>You</i> do, Jack? Why, you are a funny little fellow to + play music! What do you play on, and who taught you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Nobody teached me, Mr. Jack,' he said; 'I teached my own + self.' + </p> + <p> + 'Teached your own self? Why, how did you manage that?' I + asked. + </p> + <p> + 'I turned him round and round and round, Mr. Jack, and the + music came, and I teached my own self,' he repeated. + </p> + <p> + 'What is it, Jack?' I asked. 'Is it an old musical box?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, it's an organ, a barrow-organ, Mr. Jack.' + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, a barrel-organ you mean, little chappie; why, however in + the world did you get hold of a barrel-organ? Is it a little + toy one?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, it's big, ever so big,' he said, stretching out his + hands to show me its size. + </p> + <p> + 'Why, whoever gave you it?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'It isn't Jack's own organ,' said the child. + </p> + <p> + 'Whose is it, then?' + </p> + <p> + 'It's father's, father's own organ.' + </p> + <p> + It seemed to me a most extraordinary thing for the mission + preacher of Runswick Bay to have in his possession, but I did + not like to ask any more questions at that time. + </p> + <p> + However, in the afternoon my little friend called to me over, + the wall, 'Big Mr. Jack, come here.' + </p> + <p> + 'Come where, my little man?' + </p> + <p> + 'Come inside and look at father's organ; I'll play it to you, + Mr. Jack.' + </p> + <p> + 'What will father say if I come in?' + </p> + <p> + 'Father's out.' + </p> + <p> + 'What will mother say?' + </p> + <p> + 'Mother's out too.' + </p> + <p> + I did not much relish the idea of entering a man's house in + his absence, but such plaintive entreaties came from the + other side of the wall. Over and over again he pleaded, 'Do + come, Mr. Jack; do come quick, Mr. Jack!' that at last, to + please the child, I left my work for a few minutes and went + up the steps which led to the gate of their garden. + </p> + <p> + It was only a small place, but very prettily laid out. There + was a tiny lawn, well kept, and covered with short, soft + grass, and in the centre of this a round bed filled with + geraniums, calceolarias, and lobelias. Round the lawn, at the + edge of the garden, was a border, in which grew all manner of + gay and sweet-smelling flowers. There were asters and + mignonette, sweet-peas and convolvolus, heliotrope and + fuchsias. Then in front of me was the pretty cottage, with + two gables and a red-tiled roof, the walls of which were + covered from top to bottom with creeping plants. Ivy and + jessamine, climbing roses, virginia-creeper, and canariensis, + all helped to make the little place beautiful. + </p> + <p> + 'What a pretty home you have, little Jack!' I said. + </p> + <p> + He kept tight hold of my hand, lest I should escape from him, + and led me on—into a tiny entrance hall, past one or + two doors, down a dark passage, and into a room at the back. + </p> + <p> + This room had a small bow-window overlooking the sea, the + walls were covered with bookshelves, a writing-table stood in + the window, and in the corner by the fireplace was the + extraordinary object I had been brought to see—an + extremely ancient and antiquated barrel-organ. + </p> + <p> + What a peculiar thing to come across in a preacher's study! + What possible use could he have for it? It was a most + dilapidated old instrument, almost falling to pieces with old + age. The shape was so old-fashioned that I do not remember + ever having seen one like it; the silk, which had doubtless + once been its adornment, was torn into shreds, and it was + impossible to tell what its original colour had been; the + wood was worm-eaten and decayed, and the leg upon which it + had rested could no longer support its weight. + </p> + <p> + 'Let me hear you play it, Jack,' I said. + </p> + <p> + He sat down with great pride to turn the handle, but I + noticed that half the notes were broken off the barrel, which + accounted for only fragments of each tune being heard, whilst + many bars of some were wanting altogether. However, Jack + seemed very proud of his performance, and insisted on my + staying till he had gone through the whole of the four tunes + which the poor old thing was supposed to play. He announced + their names, one by one, as each began. + </p> + <p> + 'This is "My Poor Mary Anne," Mr. Jack, <i>very</i> sad.' + Then when that was finished, 'This is the Old Hundred, + <i>very</i> old.' + </p> + <p> + After this there was a long turning of the handle without any + sound being heard, for the first part of the next tune was + gone entirely. 'I can't say the name of this one, Mr. Jack,' + he explained; 'Marjorie calls its something like "Ma says."' + </p> + <p> + 'Oh! the "Marseillaise,"' I said, laughing; 'all right, + little man, I know that.' + </p> + <p> + 'Then comes father's tune, father <i>does</i> like it so. + Listen, "Home, sweet home, there's no place like home, + there's no place like home." Do <i>you</i> like it, Mr. + Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, I do like it, Jack,' I said; 'I knew it when I was a + little chap like you.' + </p> + <p> + As he played, once more it brought before me my mother's + voice and my mother's words. I had not thought of my mother + for years so much as I had done at Runswick Bay. Even the old + organ brought her back to me, for she was always kind to + organ-grinders. There was an Italian who used to come round + with a barrel-organ when I was a little boy. I can see him + now. I used to watch for him from my nursery window, and as + soon as he came in sight I flew down to my mother for a + penny, and then went into the garden and stood beside him + whilst he played. My mother gave me a musical-box on my + birthday; it was in the shape of a barrel-organ, and had a + strap which I could hang round my neck. I used to take this + box with me, and standing beside the Italian, I imitated his + every movement, holding my little organ just as he held his + big one, and playing beside him as long as he remained. So + delightful did this man's occupation seem to me, that I can + remember quite well when my father asked me one day what I + would like to be when I was a man, I answered without a + moment's hesitation, 'An organ-grinder, of course, father.' + </p> + <p> + Those old boyish days, how long ago they seemed! What was the + use of recalling them? It would not bring back the mother I + had lost, or the father who had cared for me, and it only + made me depressed to think of them. What good, I asked + myself, would my holiday do me if I spent it in brooding over + bygone sorrow? I must forget all this kind of thing, and + cheer up, and get back my spirits again. + </p> + <p> + 'Now, little Jack,' I said, 'big Jack must go back to his + picture; come and climb into the old boat, and I'll see how + you would do in the foreground of it.' He looked such a merry + little rogue, perched amongst the nets and fishing tackle, + that I felt I should improve my picture by introducing him + into it, and therefore from that day he came for a certain + time every morning to be painted. He was such a good little + fellow, he never moved a limb after I told him I was ready, + and never spoke unless I spoke to him. A more lovable child I + never saw, nor a more obedient one. With all his fun, and in + spite of his flow of spirits, he was checked in a moment by a + single word. No one could be dull in his company, and as the + week passed on I began to regain my usual cheerfulness, and + to lose the uncomfortable impression left on my mind by the + sermon on the shore and the questions the preacher had asked + us. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH06"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-07"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image07.png" width="400" height="316" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter VI + </h2> + <center> + THE TUG OF WAR + </center> + <p> + I had quite made up my mind not to attend the service on the + following Sunday, and when a pink paper floated down on my + easel on the Saturday morning, I caught it and thrust it into + my pocket, without even looking to see what the subject was + to be. + </p> + <p> + 'Have you got it, Mr. Jack?' said the child's voice above me. + </p> + <p> + 'All right, little man,' I answered; 'it's all safe and + sound.' + </p> + <p> + I made my plans for Sunday with great care. I asked for an + early breakfast, so that I might walk over to Kettleness, a + place about two miles off along the coast, and which could + only be reached at low tide; and when I was once there, on + the other side of the bay, I determined to be in no hurry to + return, but to arrive at Runswick too late for the service on + the sands. If Duncan and Polly missed me, they would simply + conclude that I had found the walk longer than I had + expected. + </p> + <p> + But, as I was just ready to set out for Kettleness, a + tremendous shower came on. + </p> + <p> + 'You'll never set off in this weather, sir?' said Duncan + anxiously. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh no, of course not,' I answered lightly. + </p> + <p> + I fancied that he looked more concerned than the occasion + warranted, and I feared that he suspected the real reason for + my early walk. + </p> + <p> + There was now nothing to be done but to wait till the shower + was over, and by that time I found it would be impossible for + me to go to Kettleness without seeming deliberately to avoid + the service. + </p> + <p> + The sun came out, and the sky was quite blue before eleven + o'clock, and the fishermen spread tarpaulins on the sand for + the congregation to sit on, and I found myself—I must + say very much against my will—being led to the place by + little Jack. + </p> + <p> + 'Well, there is no need for me to listen,' I said to myself; + 'I will plan out a new picture, and no one will know where my + thoughts are.' + </p> + <p> + But, in spite of my resolution to the contrary, from the + moment that Jack's father began to speak, my attention was + riveted, and I could not choose but listen. + </p> + <p> + 'The Tug of War is our subject to-day, dear friends,' he + began, 'and a very suitable subject, I think, after what we + have witnessed on this green during the past week. We have + seen, have we not, a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all + together, as yon heavy crab boat was dragged up from the + beach? How well she came, what progress she made! with each + yoddel we brought her farther from the sea. We all of us gave + a helping hand; fishermen, wives, visitors, friends, all laid + hold, and all pulled, and the work, hard as it seemed, was + soon accomplished. Why? Because we were all united. It was a + long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together. + </p> + <p> + 'And now let me bring back to your memory another event + during this past week. The place is the same, our village + green, the same rope is used, and those who pull are the very + same men, strong, brawny, powerful fishermen. Yes, you pulled + your very hardest; if possible you put forth more strength + than when the crab boat was drawn up, and yet, strange to + say, there was no result, the rope did not move an inch. What + were you pulling? What was the mighty weight that you had to + move? What was it that, for such a long time, baffled the + strength of the strongest among you? The weight you could not + move was not a heavy boat, but a light handkerchief! + </p> + <p> + 'Why was there this difference? Why was the handkerchief + harder to move than the boat? The answer to that question was + to be found at the other end of the green. There were other + pullers at the rope that day, pulling with all their might in + an exactly opposite direction. It was not a united pull, and + therefore for a long time there was no result, and we watched + on, until at length one side was proved the strongest, and + the handkerchief was drawn by them triumphantly across the + line. + </p> + <p> + 'To-day, dear friends, I speak to you of yet another tug of + war. The place is the same, Runswick Bay and our village + green, but the weight to be drawn is not a boat, not a + handkerchief; the weight is <i>a human soul.</i> It is your + soul, my friend, your immortal soul; <i>you</i> are the one + who is being drawn. + </p> + <p> + 'And who are the pullers? Oh, how many they are! I myself + have my hands on the rope. God only knows how hard I am + pulling, striving with all my might, if possible to draw you, + my friend, to Christ. But there are other hands on the rope + besides mine. Your conscience pulls, your good old mother + pulls, your little child pulls, your Christian mate pulls; + each sermon you hear, each Bible class you attend, each hymn + you sing, each prayer uttered in your presence, each striving + of the Spirit, each God-given yearning after better things, + each storm you come through, each danger you escape, each + sickness in your family, each death in your home, each + deliverance granted you, gives you a pull God-ward, + Christ-ward, heaven-ward. + </p> + <p> + 'Yet, oh, my dear friend, you know, as clearly as you know + that you are sitting there, that, so far, Christ's pullers + are drawing in vain. You have never yet, you know it, crossed + the line which divides the saved from the unsaved. Why is + this? Why, oh, why are you so hard to move? + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, my friend, do you ask why? Surely you know the reason! + Is it not because there are other hands on the rope, other + pullers drawing in an exactly opposite direction? For Satan + has many an agent, many a servant, and he sends forth a great + army of soul-pullers. Each worldly friend, each desire of + your evil nature, each temptation to sin, each longing after + wealth, each sinful suggestion, gives you a pull, and a pull + the wrong way, away from safety, away from Christ, away from + God, away from heaven, away from Home. And towards what? Oh, + dear friend, towards what? What are the depths, the fearful + depths towards which you are being drawn?' + </p> + <p> + He said a good deal more, but I did not hear it. That + question seemed burnt in with a red-hot iron into my soul. + What are the depths, the fearful depths into which you are + being drawn? I could not shake it off. I wished I could get + away from the green, but Jack had brought me close to the + boat where the choir stood, and there was no escape. I should + have to sit it out; it would soon be over, I said to myself. + </p> + <p> + The service ended with a hymn. Another of their queer, wild, + irregular tunes, I thought; I was not going to sing it. But + when Jack saw that I did not open my book, he leant over the + side of the boat, and poked my head with his hymn-book. + 'Sing, big Mr. Jack, sing,' he said aloud, and then, for very + shame, I had to find my place and begin. I can still remember + the first verse of that hymn, and I think I can recall the + tune to which they sang it:— + </p> + <pre> + 'Oh, tender and sweet was the Master's voice, + As he lovingly called to me: + "Come over the line! it is only a step— + I am waiting, My child, for thee!" + "Over the line!" Hear the sweet refrain! + Angels are chanting the heavenly strain! + "Over the line!" Why should I remain + With a step between me and Jesus?' +</pre> + <p> + I was heartily glad when the service was over, and I went on + the shore at once, to try to walk the sermon away. But I was + not so successful as I had been the Sunday before. That + question followed me; the very waves seemed to be repeating + it. What are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are + being drawn? I had not looked at it in that light before. I + had been quite willing to own that I was not religious, that + I was leading a gay, easy-going kind of life, that my Sundays + were spent in bed, or in novel reading, or in rowing, or in + some other amusement. I was well aware that I looked at these + things very differently from what my mother had done, and I + had even wondered sometimes, whether, if she had been spared + to me, I should have been a better fellow than I knew myself + to be. But as for feeling any real alarm or anxiety with + regard to my condition, such a thought had never for one + moment crossed my mind. + </p> + <p> + Yet if this man was right, there was real danger in my + position. I was not remaining stationary, as I had thought, + but I was being drawn by unseen forces towards something + worse, towards the depths, the fearful depths, of which he + had spoken. + </p> + <p> + At times I wished I had never come to Runswick Bay to be made + so uncomfortable; at other times I wondered if I had been + brought there on purpose to hear those words. + </p> + <p> + I went back to dinner, but I could not enjoy it, much to + Polly's distress. The rain fell fast all the afternoon, and + as I lay on my bed upstairs I heard Polly washing up, and + singing as she did so the hymn we had had at the + service— + </p> + <pre> + 'Come over the line to Me.' +</pre> + <p> + There seemed no chance of forgetting the words which had made + me so uneasy. + </p> + <p> + That night I had a strange dream. I thought I was once more + on the village green. It was a wild, stormy night, the wind + was blowing hard, and the rain was falling fast; yet through + the darkness I could distinguish crowds of figures gathered + on the green. On the side farther from the sea there was a + bright light streaming through the darkness. I wondered in my + dream what was going on, and I found that it was a tug of + war, taking place in the darkness of the night. I saw the + huge cable, and gradually as I watched I caught sight of + those who were pulling. I walked to the side from which the + light streamed, and there I saw a number of holy and + beautiful angels with their hands on the rope, and amongst + them I distinctly caught sight of my mother. She seemed to be + dragging with all her might, and there was such an earnest, + pleading, beseeching expression on her dear face that it went + to my very heart to look at her. I noticed that close beside + her was the preacher, little Jack's father, and behind him + was Duncan. They were all intent on their work, and took no + notice of me, so I walked to the other end of the green, the + one nearest the sea, that I might see who were there. It was + very dark at that end of the rope, but I could dimly see evil + faces, and dark, strange forms, such as I could not describe. + Those on this side seemed to be having it much their own way, + I thought, for the weight, whatever it was, was gradually + drawing near to the sea; and, lo and behold, I saw that they + were close upon a terrible place, for mighty cliffs stood + above the shore, and they were within a very short distance + of a sheer and terrible precipice. + </p> + <p> + 'What are you dragging?' I cried to them. + </p> + <p> + And a thousand voices seemed to answer, 'A soul! a soul!' + </p> + <p> + Then, as I watched on, I saw that the precipice was nearly + reached, and that both those who pulled and the weight they + were dragging were on the point of being hurled over, and + suddenly it flashed upon me in my dream that it was <i>my</i> + soul for which they were struggling, and I heard the cry of + the pullers from the other side of the green, and it seemed + to me that, with one voice, they were calling out that + terrible question, 'What are the depths, the fearful depths, + to which you are being drawn?' And through the streaming + light I saw my mother's face, and a look of anguish crossed + it, as suddenly the rope broke, and those who were drawing it + on the opposite side went over with a crash, dragging my soul + over with them. + </p> + <p> + I woke in a terror, and cried out so loudly that Duncan came + running into my room to see what was the matter. + </p> + <p> + 'Nothing, Duncan,' I said, 'I was only dreaming; I thought I + had gone over a precipice.' + </p> + <p> + 'No, thank God, you're all safe, sir,' he said. 'Shall I open + your window a bit? Maybe the room's close; is it?' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you, Duncan,' I answered; 'I shall be all right now. + I'm so sorry I have waked you.' + </p> + <p> + 'You haven't done that, sir; me and Polly have been up all + night with the little lad. He's sort of funny, too, sir, + burning hot, and yet he shivers like, and he clings to his + daddy; so I've been walking a mile or two with him up and + down our chamber floor, and I heard you skriking out, and + says Polly, "Run and see what ails him." So you haven't + disturbed me, sir, not one little bit, you haven't.' + </p> + <p> + He left me then, and I tried to sleep, but sleep seemed far + from me. I could hear Duncan's footsteps pacing up and down + in the next room; I could hear little John's fretful cry; I + could hear the rain beating against the casement; I could + hear the soughing and whistling of the wind; I could hear + Polly's old eight-day clock striking the hours and the + half-hours of that long, dismal night; but through it all, + and above it all, I could hear the preacher's question, 'What + are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are being + drawn?' + </p> + <p> + I found it impossible to close my eyes again, so I drew up + the blind, and, as morning began to dawn, I watched the + pitiless rain and longed for day. The footsteps in the next + room ceased as the light came on, and I concluded that the + weary child was at last asleep. I wished that I was asleep + too. I thought how often my mother, when I was a child, must + have walked up and down through long weary nights with me. I + wondered whether, as she did so, she spent the slow, tedious + hours in praying for her boy, and then I wondered how she + would have felt, and how she would have borne it, had she + known that the child in her arms would grow up to manhood, + living for this world and not for the Christ she loved. I + wondered if she <i>did</i> know this now, in the far-off land + where she dwelt with God. + </p> + <p> + I think I must have dozed a little after this, for I was + suddenly roused by Polly's cheery voice, cheery in spite of + her bad night,— + </p> + <p> + 'Have a cup of tea, sir, it'll do you good. You've not slept + over well, Duncan says. I'll put it down by your door.' + </p> + <p> + I jumped out of bed and brought it in, feeling very grateful + to Polly, and I drank it before I dressed. That's just like a + Yorkshire woman, I thought. My mother came from Yorkshire. + </p> + <p> + 'I think it must have been nightmare I had last night, + Polly,' I said as I finished my breakfast, and began to put + all in order for my morning's work. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH07"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-08"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image08.png" width="400" height="502" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter VII + </h2> + <center> + OVER THE LINE + </center> + <p> + I was at my painting early the next morning, for the sun was + shining brightly, and the air was wonderfully clear. My + portrait of little Jack sitting in the boat promised to be a + great success. As I was hard at work upon it that day, I + heard a voice behind me. + </p> + <p> + 'I never thought my little lad would figure in the Royal + Academy,' said the voice. + </p> + <p> + It was the voice of Jack's father—the voice which had + moved me so deeply, the voice which had made me tremble, only + the day before. Even as he spoke I felt inclined to run away, + lest he should ask me again that terrible question which had + been ringing in my ears ever since. Even as I talked to him + about my picture, and even as he answered in pleasant and + friendly tones, through them all and above them all came the + words which were burnt in upon my memory: 'What are the + depths, the fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?' + </p> + <p> + 'I hope my children are not troublesome to you,' he said. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh no,' I answered; 'I love to have them here, and Jack and + I are great friends. Do you know,' I went on, 'he took me + into your study the other day? I am afraid I was taking a + great liberty; but the little man would hear of no + refusal—he wanted me to see the old barrel-organ.' + </p> + <p> + 'What, my dear old organ!' he answered. 'Yes, Jack is nearly + as fond of it as his father is.' + </p> + <p> + 'His father?' I replied, for it seemed strange to me that a + man of his years should care for what appeared to me scarcely + better than a broken toy. + </p> + <p> + 'That organ has a history,' he said, as he noticed my + surprise; 'if you knew the history, you would not wonder that + I love it. I owe all I am in this world, all I hope to be in + the world to come, to that poor old organ. Some day, when you + have time to listen, perhaps you may like to hear the story + of the organ.' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you,' I said; 'the sooner the better.' + </p> + <p> + 'Then come and have supper with us to-night. Nellie will be + very pleased to see you, and the bairns will be in bed, and + we shall have plenty of time and quiet for story-telling.' + </p> + <p> + I accepted his invitation gratefully, for September had come, + and the evenings were growing dark, and my time hung somewhat + heavily on my hands. Polly, I think, was not sorry when she + heard I was going out, for Duncan was away in the boat + fishing, and little John was so feverish and restless that + she could not put him down even for a moment. + </p> + <p> + The cottage looked very bright and pretty when I arrived, and + they gave me a most kind welcome. A small fire was burning in + the grate, for the evenings were becoming chilly. The bow + window was hung with India-muslin curtains, tied up with + amber ribbon, the walls were adorned with photographs framed + in oak, the supper table was covered with a snowy cloth, and + a dainty little meal was laid out with the greatest taste and + care, whilst in the centre was a china bowl, containing the + leaves of the creeper which covered the house, interspersed + with yellow bracken and other beautiful leaves, in every + varied shade of their autumn glory. Jack's mother was + evidently a woman of taste. She had a quiet, gentle face, + almost sad at times when it was at rest; but she had Jack's + eyes and Jack's bright smile, which lighted up her face, as a + burst of brilliant sunshine will stream suddenly down a dark + valley, and make it a perfect avenue of light. + </p> + <p> + I enjoyed the company of both husband and wife exceedingly, + and as we sat round the table and chatted over our supper all + feeling of constraint passed away, and I no longer heard the + words of that question which had so troubled me all day long. + He did not mention the object for which I had come whilst the + meal was going on. We talked of Runswick Bay and its + surroundings, of the fishermen and their life of danger; we + spoke of the children, and of my picture, of my hopes with + regard to the Royal Academy, and of many other interesting + topics. + </p> + <p> + Then the cloth was removed, and we drew near the fire. I had + just said to him, 'Now for your story,' and he was just + beginning to tell it, when, as I sat down in an arm-chair + which Nellie had placed for me by the fire, my eye fell upon + a photograph which was hanging in a frame close to the + fireplace. I started from my seat and looked at it. Surely I + could not be mistaken! Surely I knew every feature of it, + every fold of the dress, every tiny detail in the face and + figure. It was the counterpart of a picture which hung + opposite my bed in my London home. + </p> + <p> + 'However on earth did you get that?' I cried. 'Why, it's my + mother's picture!' + </p> + <p> + I think I have never felt more startled than I did at that + moment. After all the thoughts of yesterday, after my dream + of last night, after all my recollection of my mother's words + to me, and her prayers for me—after all this, to see + her dear eyes looking at me from the wall of the house of + this unknown man, in this remote, out-of-the-world spot, + almost frightened me. + </p> + <p> + I did not realize at first that my host was almost as much + startled as I was. + </p> + <p> + 'Your mother!' he repeated; 'your mother! Surely not! Do you + mean to tell me,' he said, laying his hand on my arm, 'that + your name is Villiers?' + </p> + <p> + 'Of course it is,' I said; 'Jack Villiers.' + </p> + <p> + 'Nellie, Nellie,' he cried, for she had gone upstairs to the + children, 'come down at once; who do you think this is, + Nellie? You will never guess. It is Jack Villiers, the little + Jack you and I used to know so well. Why, do you know,' he + said, 'our own little Jack was named after you; he was + indeed, and we haven't heard of you for years—never + since your dear mother died.' + </p> + <p> + I was too much astonished at first to ask him any questions, + and he was too much delighted to explain where and how he had + known me; but after a time, when we had recovered ourselves a + little, we drew our chairs round the fire, and he began his + story. + </p> + <p> + 'I was a poor little street Arab once,' he said; 'a forlorn + boy with no one to love him or to care for him. But I made + friends with an old man in the attic of the lodging-house who + had a barrel-organ.' + </p> + <p> + '<i>That</i> barrel-organ?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'The very same,' he said, 'and he loved it as if it was a + child. When he was too ill to take it out himself, I took it + for him, and that was how I first saw your mother.' + </p> + <p> + 'Was she married then?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'No,' he said with a smile; 'she was quite a little girl, + about the age of our Marjorie. She used to run to her nursery + window as soon as she heard me begin to play. I let her turn + the organ one day, and she said she liked all the tunes, but + she liked "Home, Sweet Home" the best of all.' + </p> + <p> + 'Did she?' I said. 'Yes, I have often heard her sing it; she + sang me to sleep with it many a time.' + </p> + <p> + 'As I played it,' he went on, 'she would speak to me of the + Home, Sweet Home above; child as she was, she knew the way to + that home, and she soon found out that I knew nothing about + it. "You can't go to heaven if you don't love Jesus, organ + boy," she said, and the tears ran down from her dear little + eyes as she said it. + </p> + <p> + 'I could not forget those words, and I was determined to find + out the way to the home of which she spoke. + </p> + <p> + 'My old master was dying; he had only another month to live, + and for his sake I must learn quickly the way to be saved. I + attended a mission service, and I learnt first that no sin + can enter the gates of the Heavenly City. But I learnt more. + I learnt that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth + from all sin. + </p> + <p> + 'Your mother taught me a prayer one day when I went to see + her. I have said that prayer, morning and evening, ever + since. She gave me a bunch of snowdrops, tied up with dark + green leaves, and she told me to say as I looked at them, + "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." + </p> + <p> + He stopped for a minute or two after this, and gazed into the + fire; the memory of those old days had stirred him deeply. + </p> + <p> + 'Please go on,' I said, for I longed to hear more. + </p> + <p> + 'She came to our attic after that with her mother; they came + to see my old master, and she was pleased to see the + snowdrops. She told me that day, that if I would only say her + prayer I should be sure to go to Home, Sweet Home. + </p> + <p> + 'Very soon after this my old master died, and on the very day + that I was following him to the grave I saw my poor little + friend, your mother, Jack, in a funeral coach, following her + mother to the same place. Then after that she went abroad, + but she did not forget the poor organ boy. She told her + father about me, and he sent money for my education, and had + me trained to be a city missionary in the east of London, to + work amongst the very people amongst whom I had lived. All I + am now I owe to your grandfather. + </p> + <p> + 'I did not meet your mother after this for many years, not + until she was married to the clergyman in whose parish I + worked. + </p> + <p> + 'Strange to say, we met one day in my old attic, the very + attic where my poor old master had died. She had gone there + to visit a sick woman, and as I went in she was reading to + her from the very Testament out of which her mother had read + to my old master, when she had come to see him in that place, + fifteen years before. + </p> + <p> + 'Soon after this we were married, Nellie and I, and it was + your dear mother who made our little home bright and pretty + for us, and who was there to welcome us to it. How we loved + her then, how we love her still! + </p> + <p> + 'When you were quite a tiny child, she would bring you to see + us, and Nellie used often to say you were the dearest, + prettiest child she had ever known!' + </p> + <p> + 'I don't remember it,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'No, you would be too young to remember it; you were only + three years old when your father left London for a parish in + the country, and soon after came the news of his death, and + only a year or so later we heard your mother was gone too. It + was a sorrowful day, Jack, when that news came. + </p> + <p> + 'We often wondered about you; we heard that you had gone to + live with an aunt, but we did not even know her name. We + tried to find out more, but we knew no one in the place where + you lived, and we never heard what had become of you.' + </p> + <p> + 'How strange that I should have been brought here to meet + you!' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'No, not strange,' he said reverently; 'it is the hand of + God.' + </p> + <p> + And then—I could not help it—I laid my head on my + arm as I stood against the mantel-piece, and I sobbed like a + child. + </p> + <p> + He did not speak for some minutes, and then he put his arm + round me as tenderly as my mother could have done, and said, + 'What is it, Jack? Is it talking of your mother that has + upset you so?' + </p> + <p> + 'No,' I said, 'it isn't that—I love to talk of her; I + love to hear of her; everything she said is precious to me; + it isn't that.' + </p> + <p> + 'What then?' he said; 'what troubles you, Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'It's the thought that I shall never see her again,' I said; + 'I know I shall not. <i>She</i> went one way and <i>I</i> am + going another.' + </p> + <p> + 'Why not turn round and go her way, Jack?' he said cheerily. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, I can't,' I said; 'it's no use—I can't turn. There + are too many hands on the wrong end of the rope. I've been + miserable ever since I heard you talk of it. I could not + sleep last night for thinking of it. "What are the depths, + the fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?" those + words have never left me, night or day, since you uttered + them. I have tried to shake them off, but I can't.' + </p> + <p> + 'Don't attempt to shake them off,' he said. 'Oh, Jack, don't + try to do it, for they are the voice of the Spirit of God. + But listen to-night to the One who is calling you. "Come over + the line—it is only a step. Come over the line to + <i>Me</i>."' + </p> + <p> + 'I wish I could,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'You can do it, and you <i>must</i> do it, Jack,' he said + firmly, 'before you leave this room.' + </p> + <p> + 'Before I leave this room?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, this very instant,' he said. + </p> + <p> + 'But how can I do it? I don't know how to cross,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'You are no dead, lifeless weight on the rope, like a boat or + a handkerchief; you have a will of your own, and it remains + with you to decide which way you want to be drawn, God-ward, + Christ-ward, heaven-ward, or to the fearful depths of which I + spoke. God is drawing you very strongly now, but He never + forces a man against his will. He puts in your hands the + power to decide on which side of the line you will be. Which + is it to be, Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'Well,' I said, 'I will think it over.' + </p> + <p> + 'So many have said, and their desire to cross the line has + cooled down, and they have been lost.' + </p> + <p> + 'I'll come and have a talk with you another day, later on in + the week, if we can make it convenient.' + </p> + <p> + 'So Felix said, "When I have a more convenient season I will + send for thee," but Felix never did send; he never crossed + the line, but he was drawn over to the fearful depths.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, suppose we say to-morrow. It's late now, and you're + tired, I know, and—' + </p> + <p> + 'God says <i>to-day</i> he said. '"To-day, if ye will hear + His voice, harden not your hearts. Behold, now is the + accepted time, now is the day of salvation."' + </p> + <p> + 'Tell me <i>how</i> I can come,' I said. + </p> + <p> + '"Come over the line to <i>Me</i>." There you have it,' he + answered. 'The Lord calls you, and you have not far to go. It + is only a step. He stands in this room close to you. He holds + out His arms to you. He does not compel you. He does not + force you forward. He calls, and He waits to receive you. + Jack, will you come?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, I will,' I said earnestly; 'I will come.' + </p> + <p> + We knelt down together, and I cannot remember the words he + said, but I know that whenever I read in the Gospels those + words in the first chapter of St. John, 'He brought him to + Jesus,' I think of that night. I do not think that Peter and + Andrew felt the Lord Jesus more near them in the booth by the + side of the Jordan than we felt Him in that little room in + Runswick Bay. + </p> + <p> + I know He was there, and I know something more—I know + that I came to Him. And I know that that night, before we + rose from our knees, I crossed the line, and I was able + henceforth to take my place amongst the glad, thankful people + who can say, humbly and yet confidently, 'We know that we + have passed from death unto life.' + </p><a name="2HCH08"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h2> + Chapter VIII + </h2> + <center> + A NIGHT OF STORM + </center> + <p> + It was late when I got back to my lodging, and I walked like + one in a dream. Polly opened the door, and she seemed + troubled about the child. Little John was evidently in pain, + for I heard him moaning as I went upstairs. + </p> + <p> + 'I should get a doctor, Polly,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'So Duncan says, sir; we shall have to send for him in the + morning if he's no better.' + </p> + <p> + I slept calmly and peacefully, and I woke up to feel that I + was beginning an entirely new life. Henceforth I was not my + own. I was standing on the heavenward side of the line, and I + had taken my place amongst the servants of Christ. I had + never felt so happy before. + </p> + <p> + Duncan had set off for the doctor before I was down that + morning. Little John was better, Polly said, but was still + very feverish, and would eat nothing. She brought him down + before I went off to my work, wrapped in a shawl, and I + thought he looked very ill, but I did not like to say so. + </p> + <p> + Duncan came in just at that moment, and the child put out his + arms to his father, and he took him on his knee by the fire, + and when I came home to dinner he was still lying there. + </p> + <p> + 'Has the doctor been?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'No, sir; he was out when I called this morning. He had gone + to a bad case, they said, ten miles off, but I left a + message. I hope he'll come before I go this evening. I should + be more comfortable like if he did.' + </p> + <p> + However, the evening came, and Duncan's mates were whistling + for him from the shore, and the doctor had not appeared. The + boy was still in his father's arms, and he was walking up and + down the kitchen to soothe him. + </p> + <p> + 'It's hard to leave him, sir,' he said, when he heard the + whistle, 'but he seems a bit better, I think, this afternoon; + he hasn't cried so much, has he, Polly?' + </p> + <p> + But I saw there were tears in his eyes as he gave the boy to + his mother. + </p> + <p> + 'I'll walk with you to the shore, Duncan,' I said, for I saw + that the poor fellow was very downcast. + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you kindly, sir,' he answered. + </p> + <p> + I stood on the shore whilst the nets and fishing tackle were + put on board, then he said in a low voice,— + </p> + <p> + 'It's a comfort to feel you will be near my poor lass + to-night, sir. It cuts me to the heart to leave her; if + anything happens to little John, whatever would me and my + missus do! But the Lord knows, sir—He knows,' he + repeated, and he wiped away a tear which fell on my hand as + he grasped it. + </p> + <p> + I went back to Duncan's house, to find the doctor there. It + was influenza and pneumonia, he said, and the boy must be + kept in one room. He was a very silent man, and whether he + thought it was a serious case or not I could not discover. + </p> + <p> + I determined not to go to bed that night, but to sit up in my + room, in case I should be of any use. I was really glad of + the quiet time for thought and prayer. + </p> + <p> + I am ashamed to confess that I had brought no Bible with me + to Runswick Bay; I had not opened a Bible for years. But when + all was quiet in the house I stole quietly downstairs, and + brought up Duncan's Bible, which was lying on the top of the + oak cupboard below. What a well-worn, well-read Bible it was! + I wondered if my mother's Bible had been read like that. + There was his name on the title-page, 'John Duncan, from his + affectionate father.' It had evidently been given to him when + a boy, and underneath the name was written this verse: 'Open + Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy + law.' I said that little prayer before I began to read, and I + have said it ever since each time that I have opened my + Bible. + </p> + <p> + About twelve o'clock that night the weather became very + stormy. A sudden gale set in, and in a very short time the + sea became lashed into a fury. I have never heard wind like + the wind that night. It literally shrieked and moaned as it + blew, and every window and door in the house rattled, and + sometimes I felt as if the cottage itself would be swept + away. + </p> + <p> + 'What a time they must be having out at sea!' I said to + myself. + </p> + <p> + I went to the window, and putting out my candle, I tried to + see out into the darkness; but I could distinguish nothing + whatever, so black was the sky and so tremendous was the + rain. + </p> + <p> + It must have been about one o'clock that I heard a step on + the stairs. I opened my door and went out. It was Polly. + </p> + <p> + 'How is he, Polly?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'Very bad, sir; very bad,' she said. 'He doesn't know me now, + and he won't take anything; and oh, sir, do you hear the + wind?' + </p> + <p> + Who could help hearing it? It was raging more furiously every + moment, and the house seemed to rock with the violence of the + storm. + </p> + <p> + 'Let me help you, Polly,' I said; 'let me come and sit with + you beside little John.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, sir, if you would just stay a few minutes whilst I + fetch Betty Green,' she said; 'I feel as if I dursn't be + alone any longer, I'm getting that nervous, what with little + John talking so queer, sir, and the wind blowing so awful, + and his father on the sea!' and Polly burst into tears. + </p> + <p> + 'Polly,' I said, 'God is on the sea as well as on the land. + Go and fetch Betty, and I will sit by the child.' + </p> + <p> + She went down and opened the door, and the wind rushed into + the house and up the stairs, and I had to shut the bedroom + door hastily to keep it out. Then I heard Polly pulling and + pulling at it, and vainly trying to shut it, and I had to go + down to help her. She was some minutes away, for she had + difficulty in rousing her neighbour, and I sat beside the + unconscious child. He was talking the whole time, but I could + distinguish very little of what he said. It seemed to be + chiefly about going with his daddy in his boat, and every now + and then he would call out quite loudly, 'Come, daddy, come, + daddy, to little John.' + </p> + <p> + When Polly returned with old Betty, I had again to go down to + help them to close the door. + </p> + <p> + 'What do you think of him, sir?' said Polly. + </p> + <p> + I did not like to say what I thought, so I answered, 'Well, + perhaps it would be as well to get the doctor to have another + look at him. I'll go for him if you like.' + </p> + <p> + 'I don't believe you could manage it, sir,' said Betty. 'You + can't stand outside; me and Polly has been clinging on to the + palings all the way, and it will be terrible up on the top.' + </p> + <p> + 'Shall I try, Polly?' + </p> + <p> + She gave me a grateful look, but did not answer by words. But + the two women gave me so long a description of the way to the + doctor's house, and interrupted each other so often, and at + length both talked together in their eagerness to make it + clear to me, that at the end I was more bewildered and + hopelessly puzzled than at the beginning, and I determined to + go to Mr. Christie before I started, in order to obtain from + him full and clear directions. + </p> + <p> + It took me quite ten minutes to reach his house, and I felt + as if I had gone through a battle when I arrived there at + length, quite spent and breathless. I saw a light in the + lower room, and I found Mr. Christie and his wife and + children sitting in the room where I had passed through so + much the night before. Marjorie and little Jack were in their + nightgowns, wrapped in a blanket, and sitting in the same + arm-chair. My mother's picture was looking at me from the + wall, and I fancied that she smiled at me as I came in. + </p> + <p> + 'What a terrible night!' said Mrs. Christie. 'The children + were so frightened by the noise of the wind in their attic + that we brought them down here.' + </p> + <p> + I told them my errand, and Mr. Christie at once offered to go + with me for the doctor. I shall never forget that walk as + long as I live. We could not speak to each other more than a + few necessary words, we were simply fighting with the storm. + Then, to our disappointment, when our long walk was ended, we + found that the doctor was away, and would probably not return + until morning. + </p> + <p> + The walk home was, if possible, worse than the walk there, + for the wind was dead against us as we came down the cliff. + It had changed somewhat the last hour, and was now blowing + from the north-east. + </p> + <p> + 'There will be trouble out at sea,' Mr. Christie said, as we + stopped to take breath. + </p> + <p> + 'And what about the boats?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'Yes,' he said, almost with a groan, 'what about the boats?' + </p> + <p> + We could see very little out at sea, though it was beginning + to grow light, but we determined to make our way to the + shore, to see all that it was possible to distinguish. He + went home for a moment, and then followed me to my lodging. + Polly and her old friend were still watching the child. + </p> + <p> + 'I think he's a little better, sir,' she said; 'he's quieter. + Oh, Mr. Christie, I <i>am</i> glad to see you, sir! Will you + pray, sir? I think I shall hear the wind less if you pray!' + </p> + <p> + We knelt down beside the child's bed, but the noise of the + storm almost drowned his voice. At the end of the prayer the + child began once more to cry for his father, so piteously, so + beseechingly, that at last I could bear it no longer, but ran + downstairs, to be out of the sound of that touching little + voice. Mr. Christie soon followed me, and we went out + together in the grey light of that terrible morning. + </p> + <p> + 'The child is dying, Jack,' he said. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, don't say so, Mr. Christie!' I answered; 'dying before + his father comes back.' + </p> + <p> + 'God grant he <i>may</i> come back!' he said; 'look at the + sea, Jack.' + </p> + <p> + The sea was dashing wildly against the rocks, and the noise + of the wind was so great we could hardly hear our own voices. + In the dim uncertain light we could at length distinguish a + group of anxious watchers on the shore. Some old fishermen + were there trying to hold a telescope steady in the gale, + that they might look across the water for any sign of a boat, + and mothers and wives and sweethearts of the absent fishermen + were there also, with shawls tied over their heads, and with + troubled and tear-stained faces, peering out into the dismal + light of that sorrowful morning. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Christie and I stood near them, and he spoke from time to + time a word of encouragement and hope to the anxious women + beside him. As the light increased the wind dropped somewhat, + and the gale seemed to have spent its violence. We were + thankful to notice, that although the sea was still very + rough, and would be so for hours, the wind was gradually + subsiding; instead of howling and shrieking, as it had done + the whole night long, it was dying away with gentle moans, + like a child weary with passion who is crying himself to + sleep. But still there was no sign of the boats. + </p> + <p> + The women on the shore were wet through, and Mr. Christie + tried to persuade them to go home. Their men would want good + fires and hot tea on their return, he told them, and they + ought to make ready for them. I was glad to notice that one + by one they followed his advice, and turned to climb the hill + towards their cottages. Then we turned also, and went back to + my lodging. We crept into the room, and found old Betty + asleep in her chair, and Polly holding the little hand in + hers as the child slept. + </p> + <p> + 'Have the boats come, sir?' she said as we went in. + </p> + <p> + 'Not yet, Polly; but please God they will come soon.' + </p> + <p> + We sat down beside her for a little time, but we presently + heard a shout from the shore. + </p> + <p> + 'Thank God,' said Polly, 'he's come!' + </p> + <p> + The child seemed in some strange way to have heard that + shout, and to have understood its meaning, for he opened his + eyes and said, 'Come, daddy, come to little John.' + </p> + <p> + We hurried down to the shore, where a large crowd had already + collected. The whole of Runswick Bay seemed to have gathered + together in that short space of time. We could distinctly see + the boats far out at sea, but wind and tide were with them, + and they, were coming rapidly nearer. What a night they must + have had, and what a welcome they would receive from the + watchers on the shore! + </p> + <p> + 'How many boats went out last night, Bob?' said one man as + they drew nearer. + </p> + <p> + 'There was eight, Jem,' he said—'the Jane Ann one, Lady + Hilda two, the Susan three, the Mary Ann four, Princess Alice + five, the Lightning six, the Eliza seven, the Alert eight.' + </p> + <p> + 'Are you sure, Bob?' + </p> + <p> + 'Quite sure, I saw them start.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, there's one missing, Jem,' he said; 'catch hold of + this glass, and just you count.' + </p> + <p> + 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.' + </p> + <p> + There <i>was</i> one missing, and I felt that I knew which it + was before they came in sight. + </p> + <p> + It was the Mary Ann. + </p><a name="image-09"><!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image09.png" width="400" height="671" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH09"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-10"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image10.png" width="400" height="432" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter IX + </h2> + <center> + ASK WHAT YE WILL + </center> + <p> + We had run down the hill as quickly as we possibly could, but + we were in no haste to return. We waited until the boats were + drawn in, and the worn-out fishermen had come on shore. They + knew nothing of the Mary Ann; they had lost sight of her soon + after the beginning of the gale. They told us they had had an + awful night, and had thought they would never reach home in + safety. + </p> + <p> + 'However shall we tell Polly?' I groaned. + </p> + <p> + But a cold hand was laid on mine at that instant, and I + turned round to see Polly herself just behind me. She could + wait no longer, but had run down to the shore to hasten her + husband up the hill. She was trembling from head to foot, and + seemed ready to faint. The kind-hearted fishermen crowded + round her with words of cheer and comfort. + </p> + <p> + 'He'll be all right, my lass, never fear. He's put into + Saltburn or Staithes maybe; these gales they drive so far. + He'll be home all safe and sound afore night.' + </p> + <p> + But Polly did not seem to hear them. She stretched out her + hands feebly to Mr. Christie and to me as she said: + </p> + <p> + 'Take me home; I can bear it better there.' + </p> + <p> + The fishermen turned away sorrowfully, and there were very + few dry eyes amongst the group which we left on the shore. + </p> + <p> + When we reached the house again all was quite still, and as + we entered the bedroom I thought the little soul had passed + away, but I bent over him to listen and to my relief I found + he was still breathing. + </p> + <p> + As I look back, I hardly know how we lived through that + sorrowful day. The doctor came, and did nothing but shake his + head in the ominous way which doctors have when they feel a + case is beyond their power. I think Polly had so little hope + herself that she did not care to ask him what his real + opinion was. + </p> + <p> + I went out for a short walk in the afternoon, to get a little + fresh air to strengthen me for the coming night, when I had + determined to watch with Polly beside little John, if he was + still living. My young friends, Bob and Harry, joined me, and + we were pacing up and down together watching the tide come in + when we thought we saw a dark speck far out to sea. + </p> + <p> + There were others who saw it also. The coastguard was looking + at it through his telescope, and before very long the shore + was covered with fishermen and their wives, all gazing in the + same direction. Whatever the object was, it was coming + rapidly shoreward; wind and tide were both with it, and it + was being borne swiftly along. After a little time we could + distinguish, even without the help of a telescope, what it + was, and I do not think there was anything which we could + have been more aghast to see, for the floating object was a + boat bottom upwards, and being driven rapidly before the + tide. + </p> + <p> + A groan came from the group of fishermen who were watching, + and as the capsized boat neared shore they ran into the water + to meet it. I do not think it was necessary to look at the + name upon it as it was dragged out of the water: we all did + look, however, and we found there the name which we knew we + should see before we looked. It was the Mary Ann. + </p> + <p> + I shall never forget the piercing shriek which came from the + wife of one of Duncan's mates, who was standing just behind + me, when she read the name on the boat. I thought the shock + and the sorrow had driven her mad, for she ran screaming up + the hill; indeed, I firmly believe that for the time she was + quite out of her mind. + </p> + <p> + Poor Polly heard the shrieks of the woman as she ran under + her window, and looking out, she saw the boat on the shore, + and guessed the truth at once. <i>She</i> did not scream nor + cry, but she looked as if she had been turned into stone. No + word escaped her lips, not a tear was in her eye; but she + looked as if all her youth had gone in a moment, and as if + she had suddenly become an old and worn-out woman. + </p> + <p> + She never looked up as we went in, but bent over little John, + moistening his lips from time to time, and watching his every + movement. We tried to say a few words of comfort, but she did + not seem even to hear our voices. Yet no moan, no sigh from + the child was unheard by her; she seemed to be listening to + every breath he drew, as if it might be his last. + </p> + <p> + I thought that terrible day would never have an end. Mr. + Christie stayed with us until dark, and then he took me home + with him to supper, that I might get a little change and rest + before my night watch. I think they knew how tired I was, + worn out more by feeling than by want of sleep, and they were + very good to me. I do not think my own mother could have been + more kind to me than Mrs. Christie was that night. She told + me that she would have had a boy nearly as old as I was if he + had lived, but he had died when he was very young; and then + they had had no children for many years, not until Marjorie + was born. + </p> + <p> + 'Your mother was so good to me when my baby died,' she said. + 'I thought I should never be happy again, but she came and + talked to me, and made me look from my sorrow to my little + boy's gain, and I think her kindness to me and the loving + words she spoke made me love her more than ever.' + </p> + <p> + I felt much better for the good supper, and for the kind + words of these dear people, and I went back determined to do + all I could for poor Polly and her child through that + sorrowful night. I felt so grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ + for all He had done for me, and I was very glad to be able to + do any little thing to show my love to Him. It seemed to me + then, and it seems to me still, that the way in which we can + please Him best is by showing kindness to His children. I + remembered a verse about a cup of cold water being noticed by + Him, if given for His sake, and I thought to myself, 'Polly + is not in need of cold water, for she is too cold already, + but I might make her a cup of tea.' + </p> + <p> + The fire was out, and the little kitchen, which was usually + so neat, was all in confusion. I lighted the lamp that I + might see what I was about, and then I tried to put the + little place in order. First I found sticks and coal, and + lighted a fire; then, whilst my fire was burning up, I + cleared the table, carried the dirty plates and cups into the + small back kitchen, found a tablecloth and a clean cup and + saucer, and filled the kettle. As soon as the fire was hot + enough I put the kettle on, and cutting a slice from the loaf + I made some nice crisp toast, such as my aunt used to like + when she was ill. Then I heated a plate, and buttered the + toast, and set it down by the fire. By this time the kettle + was boiling and I made the tea, and I said in my heart when + all was finished, 'Lord Jesus, I do this for Thee.' + </p> + <p> + Then I went upstairs to my hardest task of all, namely, to + persuade Polly to come down to eat the little meal I had + prepared. + </p> + <p> + Polly was, as I had expected, most unwilling to leave the + child, and at first she firmly declined to move, and would + not listen to my pleading words. Yet I could see that she was + almost fainting, and I knew that she would need all the + strength that she could muster for the night which lay before + us. Who knew what that night would bring? + </p> + <p> + I therefore spoke to her very firmly, telling her that I was + willing and anxious to help her in her trouble, but that, if + I was to be any use to her, she must not refuse to go + downstairs for a few minutes at least, and I promised her to + watch little John very carefully, and to call her at once if + I saw any change in the child. She obeyed me at last, and I + heard her weary footsteps descending the steep stairs. + </p> + <p> + When I was left alone, I saw that Polly's Bible was lying + open by the little oil-lamp which stood on the table, upon + which had been placed the medicine and milk for little John's + use. I went up to it, and my eye fell upon these + words:— + </p> + <p> + 'If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask + <i>what ye will</i>, and <i>it shall be done unto you</i>.' + </p> + <p> + It seemed to me as if that verse was God's direct message to + me that night. I saw it as clearly and distinctly as if the + page had been lighted with electric light. 'Two conditions + and a promise,' I said to myself; 'if only the conditions are + fulfilled, the promise is sure.' + </p> + <p> + What are the two conditions? (1) 'If ye abide in Me.' I asked + myself if I was fulfilling <i>that</i> condition. I humbly + hoped I was; for, oh, I longed to be in Christ, saved by Him, + more than I longed for anything else in this world. + </p> + <p> + (2) 'If My words abide in you.' Was I fulfilling the second + condition? Again I humbly hoped that I was; for I felt that + if Christ told me to go to the North Pole, or to an African + desert, I would obey gladly. I would go anywhere, I would do + anything, to show Him how grateful I was for His love to me. + </p> + <p> + Then might I claim the promise? I believed that I might. + </p> + <p> + I laid Polly's Bible on the bed. I knelt down beside little + John. I put my finger on the promise, and I prayed, as I had + never prayed before, for help in this time of need. I felt + very strongly that all power was in the hands of Christ, and + that He who healed the sick on earth had lost none of His + power, now that He was exalted to the throne of God. I + besought Him to come into that room that very night, and to + touch and heal little John. And as I rose from my knees I + felt that my prayer was heard. + </p> + <p> + Polly had not returned, so I went to the top of the stairs + and listened, and I heard the sound of sobbing. I was + thankful to hear it; the tears had come at last, and they + would relieve the poor, weary, over-strained heart. + </p> + <p> + Little John was very quiet, so I crept downstairs. I found to + my joy that Polly had eaten most of the toast, and had drunk + the tea, and now she was sitting with her feet on the fender + and her head in her hands, sobbing as if her heart would + break. What was it that had brought the tears? She had not + cried when the empty boat had come ashore; she had shed no + tear when the doctor's face had told her that he had no hope + for the child; what was it that had helped her to give way to + the tears which were such a relief to her? It was a very + simple thing. She had picked up from the floor a little toy, + a tiny roughly-shaped boat, which Duncan had made for the + child, and which had been little John's greatest treasure. + There had come over her such a rush of memories of the happy + days of the past, gone, as she believed, for ever, of the + father whose fingers had so busily carved the boat for his + boy, but who would never come back to her again, and of the + little lad passing away from her also, and leaving his + treasured toy behind him. All these sad but lovely memories + came before her, as she took up the little boat and pressed + it to her lips. They came so strongly and with such power, + that the tears which had refused to come before came with + them, and brought, as I felt sure they would, wonderful + relief to her over-strained heart. + </p> + <p> + 'Polly,' I said, 'cheer up, don't lose heart; I believe + little John will recover.' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you, sir, thank you,' she said; as she dried her eyes. + 'I feel better now, a deal better, I do. You <i>have</i> been + good to me, sir. I'll go up again to him now.' + </p> + <p> + 'All right, Polly,' I said; 'I'll make up the fire, and then + I'll come and help you. He's asleep now, Polly.' + </p> + <p> + 'I'll creep quietly up, then, sir,' she said, and I saw as + she rose to go that the stony look had gone out of her face + and that she was herself again. + </p> + <p> + That sleep lasted for hours. It was a quiet night, the wind + had quite gone down, and everything seemed more still after + the tumult of the previous night. I was glad to see that + Polly herself at length fell asleep in her chair; little + John's hand lay in hers, and I knew she would wake with his + least movement; but I was pleased to see it, for I felt sure + that even a light sleep would soothe and strengthen her. + </p> + <p> + I had just looked at my watch, and had seen that it was + nearly half-past two, when I thought I heard footsteps + outside, and a moment afterwards there came a gentle knock at + the door. It seemed a strange time for a visitor, but I + thought probably it was some neighbour come to offer to help + Polly in her long night watch, or perhaps it was Mr. Christie + come to see how we were getting on. I crept softly + downstairs, lest either Polly or the child should wake, and + carefully unfastening the bolts I opened the door. + </p> + <p> + I nearly yelled with joy when I saw who was standing there. + Never in all my life have I been more glad to see any man + than I was that night to see Duncan, alive and uninjured, + whilst all day long I had been picturing him being driven + backwards and forwards by the waves, a drowned corpse at the + mercy of the relentless sea. + </p> + <p> + He grasped my hand and came in to the fire, but at first he + could not speak. + </p> + <p> + 'Sir,' he said at last, in a broken voice, 'am I too late? + Tell me the truth, sir; don't hide it over like; is little + John dead?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, Duncan,' I said, 'he still lives, and he is asleep; and, + Duncan, I believe he will be given back to you.' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank God!' he said; 'thank God for that!' + </p> + <p> + For just a moment a doubt crossed my mind as to whether I + ought to give him this hope, and yet I rebuked myself for + this doubt, for I was clinging to the promise, and the word + of the Lord was sure, and I believed that if what I asked was + good for these poor souls it <i>must</i> be granted to me. + </p> + <p> + Duncan had now sat down in his arm-chair, and by the light of + the fire I could see that he was faint and exhausted. He + leant back wearily for some time and seemed unable to speak. + I had left the kettle on the fire, and I hastened to give him + a cup of tea and something to eat. + </p> + <p> + Then I crept upstairs to see what was going on, but finding + Polly and little John were still both fast asleep, I came + back to him. He was better for the tea, and able to talk to + me. + </p> + <p> + 'I've had an awful time, sir,' he said, in answer to my + inquiry. 'Many and many's the time since I was a boy that + I've been near the dark valley, but this time, why, I think + I've been half-way down it, sir. How's my poor lass, sir?' + </p> + <p> + 'Very cut up, Duncan,' I said. 'She thinks you are dead. Your + boat came up with last night's tide.' + </p> + <p> + 'Poor Polly, poor lass!' he said; 'I'll go to her.' + </p> + <p> + 'Wait a little, Duncan,' I said; 'she is asleep now, and she + will bear the joy better when she wakes.' + </p> + <p> + 'And my little lad?' he asked. + </p> + <p> + 'Sleeping too, Duncan, so peacefully and quietly.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, it's hard not to go up, sir, but may be you're right.' + </p> + <p> + He waited very patiently for an hour, and when I crept up + again at the end of that time Polly and the child were both + awake, and she was giving him some milk. Little John was + quite conscious, and looked more like himself than he had + done since his illness began. He had no sooner finished his + milk, however, than he began his old weary cry, 'Come, daddy, + come to little John.' + </p> + <p> + Polly burst into tears again when she heard him calling for + the father whom she believed to be dead; but I bent over the + child and said, 'Yes, little John, daddy will come to you.' + </p> + <p> + I believe Polly fancied that I thought the child was dying, + and that I meant his father's spirit was coming to fetch him, + for she only cried the more bitterly and said, 'Oh, little + John, little John!' + </p> + <p> + But when I added, 'Shall I fetch daddy, little John?' she + sprang to her feet and looked at me wildly, but without + speaking a word. + </p> + <p> + There was no need for me to say more, for she heard the sound + of a well-known footstep on the stairs, and in another moment + she was in her husband's arms. + </p> + <p> + I felt then that my work was over, and that the best thing + that I could do would be to go to bed. But I glanced back + from the door as I went out, and I saw the little hands held + out, and I heard Duncan sob like a child as he cried, 'Oh, my + little lad, my own little John, I never thought to see you + again!' + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH10"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-11"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image11.png" width="400" height="257" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter X + </h2> + <center> + WE KNOW + </center> + <p> + The next day Duncan was able to tell me what he had passed + through during that terrible night. It seems he was separated + from the other boats by the very first outburst of the gale, + and never saw them again through the long hours of that night + of storm. For some considerable time he and his mates, by + straining every nerve, were able to keep the water out of + their boat; but as the night went on, and the sea grew + rougher and the waves seemed mountains high, they were + compelled at last to own that their attempt was hopeless. 'At + that time,' said Duncan, 'I just trusted my soul again to + Christ, for I expected the next wave would sweep us to the + bottom.' + </p> + <p> + 'Was I frightened, sir, did you say? No, I think not; I felt + more awed like, if you understand, and in them few moments + all sorts of thoughts seemed to be running through my head, + but through them all was the thought of my poor lass, of + Polly and little John. Yes, sir, of Polly and little John, + and I cried to Him as alone could help me, "O God," I said, + "save me, for Polly and little John want me so bad!" And He + heard my prayer, sir. I've often thought how them fishermen + cried to Him in the storm that day, "Master, save us, we + perish!" they said; and He heard their cry, didn't He, sir? + And He heard mine. Yes, He heard mine, for when the wave did + come which carried us over, the Mary Ann was driven right + past where we were struggling in the water, and we caught + hold on her. We clung on for dear life, sir, but we couldn't + have clung there many minutes, for the sea was that cold and + icy our hands was well-nigh frozen. But God Almighty knew how + to save us, and He sent a steamer to pick us up, in less than + ten minutes after we went overboard. And they <i>were</i> + good to us, sir, for all they were foreign folk aboard. They + warmed us, and gave us hot coffee, and lent us dry clothes, + and they ran into the Hull docks in the afternoon and landed + us there. Well, sir, you may be sure I came home as quick as + ever I could, for I thought maybe I should never see my + little lad again. Hasn't God been good to us, now hasn't He, + sir?' he concluded, as he gently patted his little boy's + hand. + </p> + <p> + The doctor gave a much better report of little John that day, + although he said he was not yet out of danger. But from that + time he improved slowly but steadily, and before very long he + was able to lie once more in his father's arms, and to stroke + his face with his little thin hand. + </p> + <p> + It was very touching to see the love and the gratitude of + both Duncan and Polly; they could not say enough about the + help and comfort I had given them in their time of trouble, + small though I felt these to have been. If I had been a + prince, I think they could not have made more of me, and I + believe I should have been altogether spoiled if I had stayed + in Runswick Bay much longer. + </p> + <p> + I had not touched my picture the whole of that week, for + whilst our anxiety lasted I had no heart or desire to paint. + On Saturday I saw Marjorie and little Jack giving out their + pink papers, and I went to meet them. + </p> + <p> + 'One for you, big Mr. Jack,' said the merry little rogue, as + he threw it up in the air for me to catch. + </p> + <p> + The subject for the following day I saw was to be these two + words—WE KNOW. I thought, as I put the paper in my + pocket, how much had passed since last Sunday, and I thought + also how differently I felt with regard to the service on the + shore, from what I had done when I received the last pink + paper. I had certainly no wish to run away to Kettleness, to + be out of the way when it took place. + </p> + <p> + Sunday morning was bright and beautiful, and little John was + so much better that his father was able to leave him and to + take his place in the choir. I stood close to the old boat, + and Jack put his hand in mine, and let me look at his + hymn-book as he sang. + </p> + <p> + There was a large congregation, the fine day had tempted them + out, and I think the danger of their companions and their + narrow escape from death had stirred the hearts of the + fishermen, and had made many of them feel that 'it is not all + of life to live, nor all of death to die.' + </p> + <p> + 'My mates are here to-day, sir,' whispered Duncan, as he went + forward to take his place in the boat; 'it's the first time + I've been able to persuade them to come. They see the good of + it now, sir, you see.' + </p> + <p> + Never have I heard any man pray more earnestly for a blessing + than Mr. Christie did that day, but I do not think even he + prayed more earnestly than I did. My whole heart went out to + God that day, for was it not my first Sunday on the right + side of the line? + </p> + <p> + And then came the address, and I never noticed a congregation + more attentive than was that one gathered on the shore that + September morning. I can remember even now a good deal of the + sermon. + </p> + <p> + 'WE KNOW,' he said; 'those are strong words, confident words. + It is not, <i>We imagine</i>, or <i>We think</i>. It is not + even <i>We hope</i>, that would be wonderful; but it is + something clearer and far more distinct than that; it is WE + KNOW. + </p> + <p> + 'If I were to ask you fishermen, you visitors, you mothers, + you little children, this question, "Do you <i>imagine</i> + you are on the shore now? Do you <i>think</i> you are here + to-day? Do you <i>hope</i> you are listening to me?" what + would you answer me? + </p> + <p> + 'You would say, "Mr. Christie, it is not a case of imagining, + or thinking, or hoping; we <i>know</i> we are here; we are + sure of it." + </p> + <p> + 'Now notice, that is the strong, confident word used in my + text to-day. The holy apostle John stands side by side with + all of us who have come to Christ, and he bids us join with + him in these glad, happy, thankful words, "We know that we + have passed from death unto life." We know, we are persuaded, + we are sure, that we are on the right side of the line. We + know that we have left the company of the servants of sin, + and are now the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. + </p> + <p> + 'Dear friends, I would now ask each of you very earnestly, + Can you say that? Can you take your stand by the apostle + John, and say, "<i>I know</i> that <i>I</i> have passed from + death unto life?" + </p> + <p> + 'I think I hear some one answer in his heart, "Well, that's a + great deal for any man to say, and I don't see that any man + can know in this life if he is saved or not; when he gets to + heaven he'll know he is all right, but not till then." + </p> + <p> + 'Now look again at my text. It does not say, "We <i>shall</i> + know"; it does not say, "We hope soon to know"; but it speaks + in the present. It runs thus: "We <i>know</i> that we have + passed from death unto life." So you see it <i>is</i> + possible, nay, it is right, that you and I should, one by + one, take up the words and say, "<i>I know</i>." + </p> + <p> + 'Do I hear some one saying in his heart, "I do wish I could + say that? I should be a happier man if I could. When I go out + in my boat, and the storm rages, and I don't know whether I + shall ever see land again, it would be a good thing if I + could look up through the wind and tempest, and could say + gladly, I know that I have passed from death unto life."' + </p> + <p> + I thought I heard a groan when he said this, and I looked + round, and saw one of Duncan's mates burying his face in his + hands. + </p> + <p> + 'Do I hear one of you mothers say, "When I lie awake at + night, and the baby will not let me sleep, and I get out and + look from my window at the stars shining down upon me, I + would give a great deal to say, as I think of the heaven + above those stars, 'I know that I have passed from death unto + life'"? + </p> + <p> + 'And you, my friend, when the day comes, as come it will, + when you lie on your bed, and you see by the doctor's face + that you will never get out of it again; when you say to + yourself, as the neighbours sit round, "This is my dying bed, + and they are watching to see me die," oh, what would you not + give at that solemn time to be able to say, "I know that I + have passed from death unto life"? + </p> + <p> + 'Do you want to be able to say it? You cannot want it more + than God wants to hear you say it. The Christ stands on the + shore beside us to-day, and He yearns with unutterable + longing, that each man, each woman, each child here present, + should be able to take up the words of my text, and say, "I + know that I have passed from death unto life."' + </p> + <p> + Then he went on to tell us that it was not a long, weary, + toilsome journey which we had to travel to reach the Christ. + He was present amongst us now. He was very near to each one + of us; His arms were wide open. He was waiting to receive + each one who was willing to cross the line; one step would be + sufficient, one step into those open arms. Then we ended by + singing a hymn, which seemed to me a very beautiful + one:— + </p> + <pre> + 'Only a step to Jesus! + Believe, and thou shalt live: + Lovingly now He's waiting, + And ready to forgive. + + Only a step to Jesus! + A step from sin to grace: + What has thy heart decided? + The moments fly apace. + + Only a step to Jesus! + Oh, why not come and say, + "Gladly to Thee, my Saviour, + I give myself away?" + Only a step, only a step, + Come, He waits for thee; + Come, and thy sin confessing, + Thou shalt receive a blessing: + Do not reject the mercy + He freely offers thee.' +</pre> + <p> + I was glad to see at the end of the service that Duncan's + mate was still sitting under the old boat with his hands over + his face. He had evidently felt the sermon very much, and + when he rose to go home after the others had dispersed, I saw + Mr. Christie walking by his side. + </p> + <p> + That was a lovely Sunday evening. The storm of the week + before seemed to have cleared the air, and there was a golden + light over everything, until the sun went down behind the + hill. I spent the evening at Mrs. Christie's, for Polly was + still fully occupied with the child, and was not able to + attend to much of the work downstairs. Duncan did the cooking + now, and the washing up and the cleaning, and I never saw a + more handy man. He waited on me hand and foot, as if I was a + lord; but I felt that I was giving the dear fellow a great + deal of trouble, and was glad, therefore, to accept Mrs. + Christie's invitation to have tea and supper at their house. + </p> + <p> + Little Jack welcomed me with the greatest joy. He was so + delighted to have me at tea, and contemplated me with so much + delight and interest from his high chair by my side, that he + quite forgot to eat his own tea, and had to be recalled from + his admiration of me, time after time, by his mother. After + tea he told her he had a great secret to confide to her; he + dragged her from the room and led her upstairs, and then with + closed doors, and in a whisper so low that she could scarcely + distinguish the words, he told her solemnly, 'I do love big + Mr. Jack very much,' which secret his faithless mother was + treacherous enough to reveal to me, after we had been + upstairs that evening to see little Jack in bed. + </p> + <p> + After we came down, Mrs. Christie lighted the lamp, and we + were sitting cosily round the fire talking of my mother, when + suddenly there came a knock at the outer door. + </p> + <p> + 'Who can it be?' said Mrs. Christie hastily; 'some one must + be ill, I think, so few people come on Sunday.' + </p> + <p> + She was going to the door, but her little maid had already + opened it, and coming into the parlour she announced,— + </p> + <p> + 'There's a gentleman, sir, at the door, says as how he wants + Mr. Villiers, sir.' + </p> + <p> + 'A gentleman!' I repeated in astonishment, 'wanting me!' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, sir, he says he wants you very pertickler, he does.' + </p> + <p> + I went quickly to the door, wondering very much who could be + there, and to my great astonishment I found my friend Tom + Bernard, with a black bag in his hand, eagerly awaiting my + approach. + </p> + <p> + 'Found at last, old chap,' he cried when he saw me; 'why, + I've been hunting for you all over in this rabbit-warren of a + place, till at last some of these fisher-lads told me you + were in here.' + </p> + <p> + 'And what are you doing here, Tom?' I exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + 'Doing here! Why, I've come to see you, of course, old + fellow; what else should I have come for? I set off early + this morning, and I thought I would give you a bit of a + surprise. Are these your diggings?' + </p> + <p> + 'No,' I said, 'I'm only spending the evening here; but I'll + come back with you at once.' + </p> + <p> + I went in for a moment to explain my sudden departure to Mr. + and Mrs. Christie, and then I went with Tom to my lodgings. + He looked vastly amused when he saw Duncan's house, and when + I told him that I had been there all the time he seemed to + think it a capital joke. + </p> + <p> + 'There's no room for me, I'm afraid,' he said, as he looked + with an amused smile round my bedroom. + </p> + <p> + 'No, indeed, Tom,' I said, 'and, joking apart, I would not + ask you to come here if there was room; the hotel at the top + of the hill will suit you better.' + </p> + <p> + Polly was sitting beside little John, but I tapped at the + door, and told her a friend of mine had just arrived from + London, and asked her if she thought it would be possible to + get him some tea. Just at this moment Duncan came in, and the + two good souls did all in their power to do honour to my + guest. The whitest tablecloth was spread on the round table, + the very finest herrings were cooked, round after round of + crisp brown toast was buttered and put before the fire to + keep hot, and all was ready in so short a time that Tom was + astonished. + </p> + <p> + He did full justice to the meal, and seemed to appreciate my + quarters better after he had partaken of it. Then he declared + himself tired out, so I walked with him up to the hotel. He + was in high spirits, and was much looking forward to the time + we were to have there together, and to all the walks we + should take to the places round. + </p> + <p> + Was I glad that he had come? I asked myself this question + many times that night. I was fond of Tom; he had been like a + brother to me, and yet—and yet—I wished he had + not come to Runswick Bay. + </p> + <p> + Why was this? Why would I have kept him away if I could? I + asked myself this question many times, as I came slowly down + the hill that night. + </p> + <p> + Was it because it would be a hindrance to my work? No, for my + picture had made good progress, and I could work it up even + better in my studio at home. Besides which, Tom was a + good-natured fellow, and would sit smoking and chatting in + the old boat whilst I painted. + </p> + <p> + Was it that I wanted to be quiet, and to enjoy my present + surroundings without interruption? No, surely, for Tom's + company had always been pleasant to me, and I could not look + upon him as a stranger. + </p> + <p> + Why was it, then, that I felt almost sorry that he had + followed me here? I had a suspicion of the right answer to + that question, but I did not own it, even to myself, till I + entered my lodging. + </p> + <p> + Duncan was reading a chapter aloud to Polly, as he always did + before going to bed. He stopped when he saw me come in, but I + said, 'Go on, Duncan, never mind me; I shall like to listen.' + And the very first words that Duncan read seemed to me to + contain the answer to my question. + </p> + <p> + 'He that is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the + Son of Man be ashamed.' + </p> + <p> + Yes, that was the reason. I was sorry that Tom had come, + because I was ashamed of my Master. Since I had seen him last + I had changed my service. I used to be a servant of sin, + living for self, pleasing self in all things. Now, I had + crossed the line, I had joined the company of Christ's + servants, and I was afraid of Tom finding it out. + </p> + <p> + In London I thought I should have seen less of him, and it + would have dawned on him gradually; but here he would + discover it at once. And I dreaded his doing so. Yes, I was a + downright coward, ashamed of the One who had died for me. + This was not a comfortable reflection, but I was convinced + that it was the truth. + </p> + <p> + What would be the best thing to do? Should I say anything to + Tom about it in the morning? I thought at first that I would + speak, and I made up several sentences with which I meant to + begin; but the more I thought of it so much the more my heart + failed me, and I decided at length that my best plan would be + to let Tom find it out for himself. + </p><a name="2HCH11"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h2> + Chapter XI + </h2> + <center> + LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK + </center> + <p> + I think Tom very much enjoyed that week at Runswick Bay. The + more he saw of the place the more he liked it. He and Duncan + got on famously together. They smoked together on a seat + above the house, and Duncan told him stories of shipwrecks + and storms, whilst I sat painting just below them. + </p> + <p> + One night he even persuaded Duncan to let him go out with him + fishing, and Duncan confided to me afterwards, 'That there + friend of yours, sir, he's a real handy chap; knows how to + use his fingers, sir, and isn't afraid of a drop of salt + water neither.' + </p> + <p> + We came across Mr. Christie on the shore the very first time + that we went out together, and I introduced him as a friend + of my mother whom I had been delighted to find in this + out-of-the-way place; and Tom talked very pleasantly to him, + and I think liked him. + </p> + <p> + 'What is he doing here, Jack?' he said. 'He does not look + like the rest of them.' + </p> + <p> + 'He is a lay-preacher,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'Whatever in the world is a lay-preacher?' said Tom laughing. + </p> + <p> + I did not answer, but called his attention to little Jack, + who was running along the shore after his red cap, which had + been carried off by a gust of wind. + </p> + <p> + 'That's his little boy,' I said, 'and my namesake; they lived + in my father's parish in London, and Mr. Christie and his + wife adored my mother. It was seeing her photograph on the + wall of their room which made them discover who I was.' + </p> + <p> + 'What a splendid little fellow!' said Tom as the child came + up to us. 'So you are Jack, are you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, I'm little Jack, and he's big Jack,' said the boy + roguishly, looking at me. + </p> + <p> + I was not surprised that Tom made friends very quickly with + my little favourite, for he was wonderfully fond of children, + and many were the games which he and the two children had + together whilst I was at work. + </p> + <p> + Every evening Tom and I walked together, and we explored all + the country for miles around. Sometimes we went by train and + walked back by the cliffs. The train seemed to land us at + each station in the midst of fresh beauty, and I came to the + conclusion that Yorkshire was indeed, what I had always been + told by my mother, the most beautiful county in England. + </p> + <p> + 'Now, Jack,' said Tom on Saturday morning, 'we'll have a + really good day to-morrow. You won't want to paint, will + you?' + </p> + <p> + 'No,' I said hurriedly, 'I don't paint on Sundays.' + </p> + <p> + 'All right,' he said, 'it's much the best plan; you come + fresher to it on Monday. "All work and no play makes Jack a + dull boy." That old couplet must have been made for you, + Jack. Well, then, let's see, where shall we go? Suppose we + make a long day of it, and go to Scarborough. We must see + Scarborough before we go home, must we not? We will go by the + early train, and come back as late as we can. The worst of it + is there are not so many trains to choose from on Sunday, but + I daresay we shall find one that will suit'; and, without + saying another word, he went off to my lodging for a + <i>Bradshaw</i>. + </p> + <p> + What was I to do? A few weeks ago a Sunday spent in pleasure + would have been just what I should have chosen, and many a + time had Tom and I been up the river on Sunday together. + There was hardly a place within easy distance up the Thames + which we had not visited in this way. But now I felt very + differently about these things. Sunday was my Master's own + day: every moment of it, I felt, must be consecrated to Him. + No one had talked to me about Sunday observance, but my + conscience told me very clearly what was right in the matter. + Yet, although I had no doubt as to what I ought to do in the + matter, I am ashamed to say that for some time I hesitated. + Tom would be so terribly disappointed, I said to myself, and + he had been a good friend to me, and I did not want to vex + him; surely there would be no great harm in obliging him this + once! Besides, when I get to Scarborough I may have time to + go to church, and then, after all, where is the difference? I + argued with myself; I shall take a longer journey to church, + that is all. + </p> + <p> + And then Tom came back, full of his plans for the day. He had + already settled the train we were to catch, and he told me + that he looked forward to seeing Scarborough immensely, as + his mother had stayed there a year ago, and she had told him + it was the most beautiful watering-place she had ever + visited. + </p> + <p> + I tried to feel pleased with what Tom had arranged, but in my + heart I was very miserable, and just at that moment who + should appear but Marjorie and Jack, distributing the pink + papers containing the invitation to the service on the shore. + I turned away when I saw them coming. I looked towards the + sea, and took my little telescope from my pocket, that I + might seem to be intent on watching a distant steamer. What + would Duncan say? What would Mr. Christie say? What would my + little friend Jack say, when I did not appear at the shore + service? And how shocked they would be when they heard I had + gone off for a day's pleasure! + </p> + <p> + I hoped that the children would pass us by, and would go to a + large group of fishermen standing on the shore just beyond + us. But I was not to escape thus. Marjorie came up to Tom and + presented him with a paper, and she was going to give one to + me, but my little friend stopped her, 'No, no, Marjorie,' he + said in his most fascinating tones, 'let me give one to my + own Mr. Jack. I always give you one my own self, don't I, big + Jack?' + </p> + <p> + I patted him on the head and took the paper, but I did not + answer, and the children passed on. Tom opened his paper and + read it aloud,— + </p> + <p> + '"There will be a short service on the shore next Sunday + morning." Oh, indeed,' he said, 'that's what they're after, + is it? Distributing notices for some Methodist meeting. Is + that where Christie holds forth?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes,' I said, 'he preaches every Sunday.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, Mr. Christie,' he went on, 'you won't have <i>me</i> + there to hear you. I hate those canting meetings, don't you, + Jack? <i>Subject</i>. Ah, he tells us his subject beforehand, + does he? Very kind of him, I'm sure! <i>Subject: Where are + you going</i>? Ah,' said Tom, 'that's soon answered: I'm + going to Scarborough, old fellow, and a jolly good day I hope + to have there'; and he threw the little pink paper into the + air, and the wind carried it far out to sea. + </p><a name="image-12"><!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image12.png" width="400" height="669" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <p> + All this time I had never spoken a word. A great battle was + going on in my heart. Conscience was speaking very loudly, + and telling me that I could not possibly take my pleasure on + my Master's own day, but the tempter's voice was arguing that + the time to speak had not yet come, and that perhaps for this + once it would be better to yield to Tom's wishes, and that I + might talk to him quietly about it, and make a fresh start + after our return to London. + </p> + <p> + And so the day wore away, and evening came, and Tom had no + idea whatever that I had even hesitated about going with him + to Scarborough. I never spent a more unhappy day. I avoided + Mr. Christie, lest he should say anything to me about the + service on the following day. I was not even happy with + Duncan. Tom had gone off to Saltburn, leaving me, as he + supposed, to put some finishing touches to my picture; but I + had no heart for painting, and only got my easel and painting + materials out to put them away again directly. + </p> + <p> + Polly was in good spirits that day, for little John was so + much better that he was able to sit on the floor and play, + and, as I stood looking out of my small casement window, I + watched her washing up in a tub standing on a wooden stool + outside her door, and I heard her singing to herself as she + did so. Most of the visitors had left Runswick Bay now, for + it was late in the season, but the shore was covered with the + village children—boys and girls without shoes and + stockings, wading in the pools and running far out into the + shallow sea. It was a pretty sight, the grey, quiet water, + the strips of yellow sand, and the cliff covered with grass + and flowers. + </p> + <p> + But I could not enjoy the scene that Saturday evening; even + my artistic eye, of which I used sometimes to boast, failed + me then. I was feeling thoroughly uncomfortable, and the most + lovely view on earth would have failed to charm me at that + moment. + </p> + <p> + There is a verse in the Bible which says, 'A little child + shall lead them,' and whenever I hear that verse I think of + that evening in Runswick Bay. For I was still gazing out of + my window, looking at I knew not what, when I heard a + well-known little voice just beneath me. + </p> + <p> + It was Jack. He had come down the hill beneath Duncan's + cottage, so that I had not seen him until he spoke to me + below the window. + </p> + <p> + 'Mr. Jack,' he said, 'what are you doing up there? Are you + <i>very</i> busy?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, old man,' I said, 'I'm not busy.' + </p> + <p> + 'Then <i>do</i> come out, that's a dear, big Mr. Jack; I do + want you so much.' + </p> + <p> + Who could resist the pleading little face, and the pretty, + fascinating voice of that child? He would have a hard heart + who could do so. I ran downstairs, and a minute afterwards I + was racing with Jack on the wet sands, for the tide was fast + going out, and was helping him to fly a small kite which his + father had bought for him in Whitby. We had a fine time + together on the shore, until at last a towel was hung out of + the top window in the Christies' house, as a sign that it was + Jack's bedtime. Though he was wild with joy and excitement, + the obedient little fellow at once stopped his play, and told + me mother wanted him, and he must go. + </p> + <p> + 'I'm coming for you to-morrow morning, Mr. Jack,' he said. + </p> + <p> + 'To-morrow morning, Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, for church,' said the child, putting up his dear little + chubby face to be kissed. 'Don't go without me, will you, Mr. + Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, I'm not sure I'm going to-morrow, little man,' I said + reluctantly, 'so you had better not call for me.' + </p> + <p> + 'Not going to church!' said Jack, in a very shocked voice. + 'Why not, Mr. Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'I'm going to Scarborough for the day with my friend Tom,' I + said. 'I shall go to church in Scarborough, Jack.' + </p> + <p> + I shall never forget the expression of that child's face as + long as I live; it was a mixture of surprise, sorrow and + dismay. 'Mr. Jack, do you know it's God's day to-morrow?' was + all that he said, however; and as at this moment his mother + called him from the bedroom window, he ran off without + another word. + </p> + <p> + 'Do you know it's God's day?' I asked myself when the little + boy had gone. 'Yes, I do know,' I answered aloud, 'and He is + my Master, and my Master's day shall be kept for Him and for + His service.' + </p> + <p> + I walked to a lonely place on the shore where the sea had + undermined the cliff, and had made strange holes and caves, + which could only be entered at low tide. I clambered over the + rocks, and crossed about half a mile of slippery seaweed, + until I came to one of these weird places. Creeping inside, I + felt myself safe from any human eye. I was alone—alone + with my Master. + </p> + <p> + I cannot tell you all that passed during the half-hour that I + spent in that lonely cave, but I know this, that I came out + of it feeling that my Master had indeed given me the strength + for which I had pleaded, the strength to act as His faithful + and true servant. + </p> + <p> + I was waiting outside the station when Tom's train came in + from Saltburn. He had not expected to see me again that + night, and seemed pleased that I had come to meet him. + </p> + <p> + 'I think we shall have a fine day to-morrow, old boy,' he + said; 'what a dew there is! My feet are quite wet with it.' + </p> + <p> + 'Tom,' I said, 'I came to meet you to-night because I wanted + to tell you something. I am sorry, very sorry, to disappoint + you, but I can't go with you to-morrow.' + </p> + <p> + 'Why ever in the world not, Jack?' he said. 'I thought you + were so keen on seeing Scarborough.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, Tom,' I said, 'but I am still more keen on something + else.' + </p> + <p> + 'What's that?' he asked; 'do you mean Redcar? It's a stupid + place, Jack: nothing in the world to see, I assure you.' + </p> + <p> + 'No, Tom, I don't mean that. I don't want to change our plan. + I had rather see Scarborough than any other place; I'll give + myself a holiday on Monday, and go with you gladly, Tom; but + I can't go to-morrow.' + </p> + <p> + 'Nonsense, Jack!' he said angrily. 'You <i>can</i> go if you + like; what's to hinder you? If you are willing to go at all, + why on earth can't you go to-morrow?' + </p> + <p> + 'Simply because to-morrow is Sunday, Tom.' + </p> + <p> + 'And if it is Sunday, what of that?' said my friend. '"The + better the day, the better the deed," and it's ridiculous + your talking in this saintly way about Sunday, when to my + certain knowledge you've spent every fine Sunday boating on + the river for the last two years or more. No, no, my friend, + that won't go down with me.' + </p> + <p> + 'Tom,' I said, 'it's all quite true what you say. I have, I + know I have, spent my Sundays in boating or in taking my + pleasure in some other way, and I am more sorry for it, Tom, + than I can tell you. But since I came here—' + </p> + <p> + 'Since you came here,' Tom interrupted me, 'you've gone and + turned Ranter or Methodist, or something of that sort, and + you've got your head full of all sorts of insane and + ridiculous ideas.' + </p> + <p> + 'Since I came here, Tom,' I said, taking no notice of his + last remark, 'I have seen what I never saw before—that + I am a great sinner; and I have found what I never found + before—that Jesus is a great Saviour.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, I wish you had never come to Runswick Bay, if this is + the absurd way you are going on, Jack, and after all the good + old times we've had together too.' + </p> + <p> + 'And why shan't we have good times together still, dear old + Tom?' I said. 'I have entered the service of a new Master, + that's all; and, Tom,' I said timidly, 'I wish He was your + Master too.' + </p> + <p> + Tom made no answer, but swung his stick round and round, and + slashed at the thistles and the ox-eye daisies which grew by + the roadside. I tried to make one or two remarks, but I saw + he was very much upset by what I had said, and he did not + answer me. He was vexed with me, and perhaps he was a little + uncomfortable besides, and I felt it was far wiser to say no + more. + </p> + <p> + He did not speak again until we reached the hotel, and then + he simply said, 'Good-night, Jack, I'm sorry you've gone and + made such a fool of yourself'; and I went down the hill, + feeling as if I had lost my friend, and as if the old days + and old companionship were dead and buried for ever. + </p> + <p> + But if I had lost one friend, I felt I had gained another. + Mr. Christie was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill, + and he proposed that we should take a turn together on the + shore. Nellie was expecting me to supper, he said; he had + told Duncan I was going there, and the moon was coming out, + and a good stretch on the sands would make us enjoy it all + the more. + </p> + <p> + We had walked across the bay, and were standing gazing out + seawards, when he suddenly put his arm in mine. + </p> + <p> + 'What is it, Jack?' he said kindly, 'something is troubling + you this evening.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, you are right,' I said. 'However did you know, Mr. + Christie? I am bothered a bit; the fact is, I'm ashamed of + myself, I've been such a coward.' + </p> + <p> + 'What have you been doing, Jack? You don't mind telling me, + do you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Not at all, Mr. Christie, I would rather tell you,' I said; + and then I gave him an account of the last week, of my fear + of Tom, and how very nearly—I was ashamed to say + it—I had yielded to him about the outing to-morrow. + Then I spoke of my friend, and I told him I was afraid I had + lost him through my plain speaking. + </p> + <p> + 'Never mind, Jack,' he said, 'the Master must come first, and + it does happen very often that when He is put in His right + place we have to give up a great deal. He knew we should have + to do it, and He spoke some very plain words about it: "He + that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of + Me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not + worthy of Me." You would like to be worthy of Him, Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'I shall never be that, Mr. Christie,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'No,' he said; 'you are right, we are all unworthy of Him; + but when we love Him, we do long to do that which is pleasing + in His sight. And, remember, there is always the hundredfold, + Jack, always the Master's reward for anything we give up for + Him.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, in heaven,' I said softly. + </p> + <p> + 'No, Jack, not in heaven, but on earth. Do you remember how + the Master's words run: "He shall receive an hundredfold + <i>now, in this time</i>, and in the world to come, life + everlasting." The hundredfold is to be enjoyed <i>here</i>, + the everlasting life <i>there</i>.' + </p> + <p> + 'I never noticed that before,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'I have proved it true, Jack, abundantly true. I sometimes + think I have got beyond the hundredfold. And then beyond, + there lies the life eternal.' + </p> + <p> + 'My mother is enjoying that,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, indeed,' he answered; 'and her boy will enjoy it too in + God's good time, for does not the Master say of all those who + belong to Him, "I give unto them eternal life?" "I am come + that they might have life, and that they might have it more + abundantly"?' + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH12"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-13"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image13.png" width="400" height="285" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter XII + </h2> + <center> + WHERE ARE YOU GOING? + </center> + <p> + I shall never forget my last Sunday in Runswick Bay. It was + at the end of September, and was one of those gloriously + brilliant days which we get in the early autumn, when the sky + is cloudless, when the air is fresh and clear, and when the + autumnal tints on trees, hedges, ferns and brambles make the + landscape gorgeous and extremely beautiful and fascinating. + </p> + <p> + The high cliff above the bay was a perfect study in colour + that morning; I have never seen more splendid colouring, + every varied shade of red and gold and green was to be found + there. + </p> + <p> + 'Tom will be off to Scarborough,' I said to myself as I + dressed. 'What a grand day he has got!' + </p> + <p> + But I did not wish myself with him; no, I was both glad and + thankful to look forward to a quiet and peaceful Sunday. + </p> + <p> + There were not many visitors still at Runswick, most of them + had left the week before; but the fishermen came in great + numbers to the service, and the green was covered with them + when little Jack and big Jack appeared, hand-in-hand as + usual. Duncan was in the choir, but Polly thought the wind + rather cold for little John, so had remained with him at + home. A good many women and children were present, however, + and the bank was covered with mothers and babies, sitting at + a little distance, lest the noise of the children should + disturb the preacher or the listeners. + </p> + <p> + What was it that made me think of Tom just as the service + began? Was it a shepherd's plaid cloth cap, of the kind Tom + wears, which I saw on the head of some visitor who was + sitting almost out of sight on the seaward side of the bank? + Such small things bring people and things before us + sometimes, and my thoughts wandered to Scarborough for a few + minutes, and I wondered what Tom was doing at that moment. I + thought to myself how he would smile, if he saw me sitting + under the old boat and listening attentively to an open air + preacher. + </p> + <p> + But my thoughts did not wander long, for when the service + began every word of it seemed to be for me. + </p> + <p> + WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I had worked the subject out in my mind + before I came to the service, and had quite decided what line + of thought Mr. Christie would take. I thought he would + picture the two roads, the one leading to life, the other to + destruction; and then I imagined that he would speak of the + blessedness of being on the narrow road, and would dwell very + vividly on the awful consequences of continuing to walk on + the road leading to hell. But I found that my idea of what + his sermon would be was quite a mistaken one. + </p> + <p> + 'Where are you going? My question to-day,' he said, 'is + addressed only to some of you; would to God it were addressed + to you all! I speak to-day to those who have crossed the + line, who have run into the loving Saviour's arms, who have + become servants of Christ. + </p> + <p> + 'My friends, my dear friends, where are you going? What does + the Master say? He calls to every one of His servants, and He + says, "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me, and <i>where I + am</i> there shall also My servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'Servant of Christ, where are you going? The Master answers + you, WHERE I AM. + </p> + <p> + 'And where is that? A little group of men are standing on the + Mount of Olives; above them is the deep blue sky, and they + are gazing earnestly upward, for their Master is rising far + above them, and even as they watch a cloud receives Him out + of their sight. Yet still He ascends higher and yet higher, + and as He rises countless angels attend Him. He is joined by + company after company of the heavenly host, who have come out + to meet their King. At length heaven's gates are reached, and + the cry goes forth, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even + lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory + shall come in." Amidst heaven's most joyful music the Master + passes within to the Heavenly Jerusalem, the glad, glorious + Home. Every care, every sin, every sorrow is left outside; + within all is sunshine, all is joy. And as heaven's gates are + closing, we hear the Master's voice. He leaves us a word of + hope, "Where I am, <i>there</i> shall also My servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, fishermen, oh, friends, think of that! If you are His + servants, those gates will open for you. Your life may be + hard now: some of you have large families, and heavy work, + and long, cold, comfortless nights tossing on the stormy sea; + but never mind, home is coming, heaven is coming, for "Where + I am, there shall also My servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'But that is not all. There is something more wonderful + still. For where is the Master now? He is not only inside the + gates of the city, He is not only walking through the golden + streets; but He is in the midst of the glory of God, He has + sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. Will you and + I, dear friends, ever dare to go near that throne? Will not + the glory be too dazzling? Will not the place be holy ground, + too holy for us to approach? Will He allow us to draw near to + His footstool, and even there, close to His glory, to lie low + before Him? + </p> + <p> + 'Listen, O servant of Christ, again the Master says, "Where I + am, <i>there</i> shall also My servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'What, on the throne of God! Yes, even <i>there</i> He bids + you come; for what does He say? "To him that overcometh will + I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, + and am set down with My Father in His throne." Oh, what a + wonderful promise! We could never have thought of it; we + could never have believed it; we could never even have dreamt + of such a thing, if the Master had not told us Himself.' + </p> + <p> + And then he concluded by asking us to remember our glorious + future. 'Sometimes,' he said, 'you get downhearted, full of + sorrow and fear, and you say, "I shall never hold on to the + end." Oh, dear friends, it is worth an effort, for at the end + lies home, at the end stands the throne of God, with a place + waiting for you upon it. "Where I am, there shall also My + servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'What if you have to bear something for the Master's sake? + What if you have to give up friends or comforts for Him? What + if you have to take up your cross and follow Him? It is only + for a few days, only for a little while, and home is coming. + "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." Is it not worth + while?' + </p> + <p> + Then, as he ended, he spoke a few words to all who were + there, and he begged those who were not servants of Christ, + to consider what they were losing. 'All this might be yours,' + he said, 'the wide-open gates, the Heavenly City, the seat on + the glorious Throne; but you are turning your backs on it + all, and you are choosing instead—what? A few of + earth's fleeting pleasures, a little of this world's passing + enjoyment. Oh, dear friends, think before it is too late, + what your eternal loss will be!' + </p> + <p> + He said much more, but I cannot remember it now. I only know + that I came away feeling that I had been very near the golden + gates of which he spoke, and had heard the Master's voice + saying to me, 'Where I am, there shall also My servant be.' + </p> + <p> + The tide was coming in as we left the service, and I was + standing on the shore watching the waves rolling in over the + rocks, when I felt an arm slipped in mine, and when I looked + round, to my great surprise, I found that it was Tom. + </p> + <p> + 'Why, Tom!' I said, 'back already? how early you have come + home!' + </p> + <p> + 'Back, Jack?' he said, laughing; 'why, I've never been.' + </p> + <p> + 'Do you mean you haven't been to Scarborough?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, of course not; you didn't think I would go without you, + old boy. We'll go to-morrow, of course. I thought we settled + that last night.' + </p> + <p> + 'Why, I've been thinking of you in Scarborough all day!' I + said. + </p> + <p> + 'Then your thoughts have gone in a wrong direction for once, + Jack,' he replied, 'for I've been here all the time.' + </p> + <p> + 'I'll walk with you up the hill,' I said; 'it isn't quite + dinner-time.' + </p> + <p> + I was very pleased to see him, and to find that he did not + appear to be vexed with me. We chatted for some time, and + then he said casually, 'He does not speak badly, that lay + preacher of yours, Jack.' + </p> + <p> + I stood still in astonishment. 'Who?' I said, 'Mr. Christie? + Why, you surely were not at the service, Tom! Oh, I know,' I + cried, before he could answer, 'you were behind the bank; I + saw a black and white cap, and I thought how much it was like + yours.' + </p> + <p> + 'It could not be much more like, seeing that it was the very + same,' said Tom. + </p> + <p> + 'I'm so glad you heard him,' I ventured to say. + </p> + <p> + He made no answer, so I thought it was better to say no more; + but when we reached the top of the hill, and he was just + leaving me, he said: + </p> + <p> + 'Jack, I'm afraid I was a bit crusty last night. You must not + think any more of it, old fellow. We'll have a jolly day at + Scarborough to-morrow. And, Jack,' he went on, 'I was very + much annoyed at the time, I own I was; but I'm not sure after + all that you're not right.' + </p> + <p> + He said no more, but hurried away, and it was many years + before he referred to the subject again; but the day came + when he did mention it, and when he told me, with tears in + his eyes, that he looked upon that Sunday at Runswick as the + first link in the chain of God's loving Providence, by means + of which He had led him to Himself. He told me then that he + had never forgotten my firm refusal to go with him, and he + had never forgotten the sermon to which he had listened + hidden from sight by the bank. + </p> + <p> + Our day at Scarborough exceeded all our anticipations. The + weather was glorious, and Tom was in excellent spirits, and + we thoroughly enjoyed everything. + </p> + <p> + I could not help feeling sorry when Thursday came, which was + to be my last day at Runswick Bay. It had been such a happy + and so eventful a time. I seemed to have passed through so + much, and to have learnt so much unknown to me before, that I + felt very reluctant to bring my holiday to a close. As for + Duncan and Polly, they were quite melancholy as the time for + my departure drew near. + </p> + <p> + 'We <i>shall</i> feel lost without you, sir,' said Duncan. + 'We shan't know what to do'; and there were tears in Polly's + eyes as she said mournfully, when she set the herrings on the + table for my supper, 'Them's the last herrings I shall fry + you, sir, and I feel as if there was going to be a death in + the house.' + </p> + <p> + 'Cheer up, Polly,' I said, 'who knows? Perhaps you may have + to put up with me next time I get a holiday, and you may be + sure I shall want plenty of herrings then.' + </p> + <p> + She brightened a little at this, and little John, who was + quite well now, and who had become very friendly with me + since his illness, climbed up on my knee, and stroked my face + with his little thin hand, as if he were trying to coax me to + come back to them again. + </p> + <p> + There was one thing which I had a great desire to do before + leaving Runswick. I knew that Duncan was much troubled about + the Mary Ann. She had been terribly knocked about in the + storm, which was no wonder, seeing that she had drifted + about, bottom upwards, and had been driven hither and thither + on the waves. When Duncan had examined her the day after his + arrival, he had found that she leaked in several places, and + was altogether unseaworthy, and he had been obliged to hire a + boat until such time as the Mary Ann could be properly + repaired. Then he went over to Whitby, and brought an + experienced man back with him, and he overhauled her + thoroughly, and gave it as his opinion that it would be a + waste of money to try to patch her up. + </p> + <p> + When Duncan came in that night I saw that the poor fellow was + terribly downcast. 'The Mary Ann's days are numbered, sir; + she'll never be able to rough it again,' he said. 'She's been + a good old boat to me and my father before me, and it will be + like parting from an old friend to give her up. Yon man, he + says she might be cobbled together a bit; but you would never + make a good job of her; she'd do maybe well enough for fine + weather, but you couldn't trust to her in a storm.' + </p> + <p> + I saw Polly turn pale as he said this. 'Duncan,' she said, + going up to him, and laying her hand on his arm, 'you'll + never go in her again; promise me that. Think of me and + little John, Duncan.' + </p> + <p> + 'Ay, my lass,' he said; 'ay, Polly, I do think of thee and + little John; but the worst of it is there's bread must be + earnt for thee and little John. I can't let thee starve, + wife.' + </p> + <p> + 'What about the bank-book, Duncan?' I said. + </p> + <p> + He went to the old oak-chest, and brought it out. I was much + touched by his handing it to me, and bidding me see how it + stood. He was perfectly open with me, and spoke to me as + freely as if I had been an old and tried friend. I added up + the amount and read it out to him. + </p> + <p> + 'Well, sir,'he said, 'it's getting on; but it's a good ten + pound short yet. We shall have to hire Brown's boat a bit and + do as well as we can, though it isn't a very paying business + when one takes to hiring: it will be hard enough to make two + ends meet, you see, sir, let alone saving up for the new + boat. But I can't see nothing else for it, sir; that is, if + Polly won't let me risk it in the Mary Ann.' + </p> + <p> + 'Duncan,' she said solemnly, 'if thee went to sea in the Mary + Ann, and she went to the bottom, I could <i>never</i> say, + "The will of the Lord be done," for I don't believe it + <i>would</i> be God's will for thee to go in that rotten old + thing.' + </p> + <p> + 'Polly is right, Duncan,' I said; 'you must never go in the + Mary Ann again.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, sir,' he said, 'I see what you mean, you and Polly + too, and the Lord will show us what's to be done.' + </p> + <p> + Nothing more was said about the Mary Ann at that time, but I + had already made my own plan about the new boat. My aunt had + just left me her little property, and a very nice little + property it was. I felt myself a rich man, for in addition to + money invested in various ways, about £200 of ready + money had been placed to my account at the bank. + </p> + <p> + What could be more delightful, I thought, than to spend the + first ten pounds of this in helping Duncan to complete the + purchase of the new boat? The only difficulty would be to get + Duncan to accept the money, for he had all the honest + independence of a Yorkshireman, and I knew would hesitate + about receiving help from any one. But, at the same time, I + knew that in this instance his need was great, and his kindly + feeling towards myself was so strong, that I was not without + hope that I might be able to manage what I had contemplated + without giving the dear fellow offence. I thought, at one + time, that I would take Mr. Christie into my confidence, and + would consult with him, but on second thoughts I decided that + it would be wiser not to do so, and felt that I should be + more likely to succeed if no one else was in the secret. So I + folded my bank-note in paper, put it into an envelope, and + wrote outside, 'With little John's love to his daddy, to help + him to buy another Little John.' This I determined to slip + into the child's hand when I said good-bye. + </p> + <p> + That evening I had supper with the Christies. They were + kindness itself, and told me what a great pleasure it had + been to them to meet me. 'Not only because you are your + mother's son, Jack, but for your own sake as well as hers,' + said Mr. Christie with a smile. + </p> + <p> + I wanted to say something in return, but the words would not + come—at least not then. But, just before I left, I went + with Mr. Christie into his study, and he said, 'Jack, I + thought perhaps we might have a little prayer together before + we part'; and then the words came,— + </p> + <p> + 'Mr. Christie,' I said, 'I can never, never thank God enough + that I came here.' + </p> + <p> + 'Let us thank Him together, Jack,' he said. + </p> + <p> + Then we knelt down, he by the table, and I with my arms + resting on the old organ, and he thanked God for His mercy in + bringing me across the line, and he committed me to His care + and keeping to bring me safely along the road which leads + home. + </p> + <p> + The next morning I was up early, for our train started at + eight, and we had two miles to walk. I had told Polly I + should want nothing but a cup of tea before I set off, but + when I came down I found a most tempting breakfast prepared + for me—ham and eggs, and toast in abundance, and fresh + lettuces from Duncan's small garden. + </p> + <p> + 'Well, Polly,' I said, 'you are spoiling me to the last.' + </p> + <p> + 'We can never make enough of you, sir,' said Polly, and there + were tears in her eyes as she said it. + </p> + <p> + I ran up to pack my bag and collect my things, and I + determined to start in good time, so that I might allow + myself a few minutes to say good-bye to the Christies. + </p> + <p> + 'I must be off, Duncan,' I said. + </p> + <p> + He was standing outside with little John in his arms, and + Polly, with her hat on, was standing beside him. + </p> + <p> + 'We're coming along with you, sir, to the station,' said + Duncan. 'You won't think it a liberty will you, sir? but me + and Polly and little John would like to see the last of you.' + </p> + <p> + 'Come, that <i>is</i> good of you,' I said. 'I shall have a + grand escort up the hill!' + </p> + <p> + Polly took the child from his father, and Duncan carried my + bag and easel, and would not even hear of my giving him a + hand with them. + </p> + <p> + I ran into the Christies, but could find no one below; + however, I heard a great running backwards and forwards + overhead, and presently Mr. Christie called out of the + bedroom window, 'Wait one moment, Jack; we are all coming to + see you off.' + </p> + <p> + So my escort increased as I proceeded, and Tom, as he came + out of the hotel, said he thought the whole of Runswick must + be going by the early train, when he saw us, one after + another, come toiling up the hill. Little Jack rode up the + whole way on my back, and his horse was very hot when the top + was reached. + </p> + <p> + Though it is now so many years ago I can see that little + party of friends standing together on the platform, as the + train moved out of the station. I can feel again the warm + grasp of Mr. Christie's hand, and can hear his whispered, + 'God bless you, Jack!' I can see Mrs. Christie holding + Marjorie by the hand, and waving her handkerchief to me, and + can hear little Jack crying out, 'Come back soon, do, big Mr. + Jack.' I can see Duncan bareheaded, with little John in his + arms, the child waving the envelope which I had put in his + hand as I stepped into the carriage, and which was still + unopened. I can see Polly wiping her eyes with her apron, and + then holding it up and waving it till I was lost to sight. I + can see them all as they appeared to me that day, kind hearts + and true, not one of them ranking amongst the number whom the + world counts great, and yet all of them well known to Him who + calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth them out. + </p> + <p> + I must just mention here that I had a very touching letter + from Duncan at the end of that week. The spelling was most + wonderful, and the grammar was quite of his own making; but + it was full, from end to end, of the most simple-hearted + affection, and of the deepest gratitude. + </p> + <p> + 'Me, and my missus, and little John, can never be thankful + enough, sir,' he said, 'and when the other 'Little John' is + afloat, as please God she soon will be, we hopes as how you + will come and have a sail in her.' + </p> + <p> + So ended my visit to Runswick; and when I consider all that + happened during those few weeks, I think it is small wonder + that the little bay is still fresh in my memory, and that + Ella's yellow ragwort made me dream of it so distinctly. For + surely that month was the most important month in my life, + for was it not the beginning of a new life, which, thank God, + has continued ever since? + </p> + <p> + I can say to-day, even as I said then, 'One is my Master, + even Christ,' and I can look forward, humbly but hopefully, + to the time when the golden gates will open to me, and when + the Master's promise will be fulfilled to me, 'Where I am, + there shall also My servant be.' + </p> + <pre> + O Jesus Christ, my Master, + I come to Thee to-day; + I ask Thee to direct me + In all I do or say: + I want to keep my promise + To be Thy servant true, + I come to Thee for orders; + Dear Lord, what shall I do? + + I want a heart not heeding + What others think or say; + I want a humble spirit, + To listen and obey. + To serve Thee without ceasing, + 'Tis but a little while,— + My strength, the Master's promise, + My joy, the Master's smile. + + A.C.W. + + +</pre> + + <hr class="full"> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 10728-h.txt or 10728-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10728">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10728</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="https://gutenberg.org/license">https://gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06">http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/10728-h/image01.png b/10728-h/image01.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a364eb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image01.png diff --git a/10728-h/image02.png b/10728-h/image02.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..942cd9f --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image02.png diff --git a/10728-h/image03.png b/10728-h/image03.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..429ad0c --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image03.png diff --git a/10728-h/image04.png b/10728-h/image04.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dec12e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image04.png diff --git a/10728-h/image05.png b/10728-h/image05.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..88bc888 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image05.png diff --git a/10728-h/image06.png b/10728-h/image06.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4165093 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image06.png diff --git a/10728-h/image07.png b/10728-h/image07.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a77fd5 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image07.png diff --git a/10728-h/image08.png b/10728-h/image08.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7765967 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image08.png diff --git a/10728-h/image09.png b/10728-h/image09.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..402a011 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image09.png diff --git a/10728-h/image10.png b/10728-h/image10.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d7ee1a --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image10.png diff --git a/10728-h/image11.png b/10728-h/image11.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b137fff --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image11.png diff --git a/10728-h/image12.png b/10728-h/image12.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..09aa986 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image12.png diff --git a/10728-h/image13.png b/10728-h/image13.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a72c05 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/image13.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image01.png b/10728-h/images/image01.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a364eb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image01.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image02.png b/10728-h/images/image02.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..942cd9f --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image02.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image03.png b/10728-h/images/image03.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..429ad0c --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image03.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image04.png b/10728-h/images/image04.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dec12e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image04.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image05.png b/10728-h/images/image05.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..88bc888 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image05.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image06.png b/10728-h/images/image06.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4165093 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image06.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image07.png b/10728-h/images/image07.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a77fd5 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image07.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image08.png b/10728-h/images/image08.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7765967 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image08.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image09.png b/10728-h/images/image09.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..402a011 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image09.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image10.png b/10728-h/images/image10.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d7ee1a --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image10.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image11.png b/10728-h/images/image11.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b137fff --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image11.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image12.png b/10728-h/images/image12.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..09aa986 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image12.png diff --git a/10728-h/images/image13.png b/10728-h/images/image13.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a72c05 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728-h/images/image13.png diff --git a/10728.txt b/10728.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a8d8e72 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3970 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Christie, the King's Servant, by Mrs. O. F. +Walton + + +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: Christie, the King's Servant + +Author: Mrs. O. F. Walton + +Release Date: January 16, 2004 [eBook #10728] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT*** + + +E-text prepared by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, David Garcia, and +the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT + +A Sequel to 'Christie's Old Organ' + +By MRS. O.F. WALTON + +AUTHOR OF 'CHRISTIE'S OLD ORGAN' +'A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES' +'THE KING'S CUPBEARER' +'SHADOWS' ETC ETC + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Contents + + +CHAPTER + + + I RUNSWICK BAY + II LITTLE JOHN + III STRANGE MUSIC + IV WHAT ARE YOU? + V THE RUNSWICK SPORTS + VI THE TUG OF WAR + VII OVER THE LINE + VIII A NIGHT OF STORM + IX ASK WHAT YE WILL + X WE KNOW + XI LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK + XII WHERE ARE YOU GOING? + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter I + +RUNSWICK BAY + + +It was the yellow ragwort that did it! I have discovered the clue at +last. All night long I have been dreaming of Runswick Bay. I have been +climbing the rocks, talking to the fishermen, picking my way over the +masses of slippery seaweed, and breathing the fresh briny air. And all +the morning I have been saying to myself, 'What can have made me dream +of Runswick Bay? What can have brought the events of my short stay in +that quaint little place so vividly before me?' Yes, I am convinced of +it; it was that bunch of yellow ragwort on the mantelpiece in my +bedroom. My little Ella gathered it in the lane behind the house +yesterday morning, and brought it in triumphantly, and seized the best +china vase in the drawing-room, and filled it with water at the tap, and +thrust the great yellow bunch into it. + +'Oh, Ella,' said Florence, her elder sister, 'what ugly common flowers! +How could you put them in mother's best vase, that Aunt Alice gave her +on her birthday! What a silly child you are!' + +'I'm not a silly child,' aid Ella stoutly, 'and mother is sure to like +them; I know she will. _She_ won't call them common flowers. She +loves all yellow flowers. She said so when I brought her the daffodils; +and these are yellower, ever so much yellower.' + +Her mother came in at this moment, and, taking our little girl on her +knee, she told her that she was quite right; they were very beautiful in +her eyes, and she would put them at once in her own room, where she +could have them all to herself. + +And that is how it came about, that, as I lay in bed, the last thing my +eyes fell upon was Ella's bunch of yellow ragwort; and what could be +more natural than that I should go to sleep and dream of Runswick Bay? + +It seems only yesterday that I was there, so clearly can I recall it, +and yet it must be twenty years ago. I think I must write an account of +my visit to Runswick Bay and give it to Ella, as it was her yellow +flowers which took me back to the picturesque little place. If she +cannot understand all I tell her now, she will learn to do so as she +grows older. + +I was a young man then, just beginning to make my way as an artist. It +is slow work at first; until you have made a name, every one looks +critically at your work; when once you have been pronounced a rising +artist, every daub from your brush has a good market value. I had had +much uphill work, but I loved my profession for its own sake, and I +worked on patiently, and, at the time my story begins, several of my +pictures had sold for fair prices, and I was not without hope that I +might soon find a place in the Academy. + +It was an unusually hot summer, and London was emptying fast. Every one +who could afford it was going either to the moors or to the sea, and I +felt very much inclined to follow their example. My father and mother +had died when I was quite a child, and the maiden aunt who had brought +me up had just passed away, and I had mourned her death very deeply, for +she had been both father and mother to me. I felt that I needed change +of scene, for I had been up for many nights with her during her last +illness, and I had had my rest broken for so long, that I found it very +difficult to sleep, and in many ways I was far from well. My aunt had +left all her little property to me, so that the means to leave London +and to take a suitable holiday were not wanting. The question was, where +should I go? I was anxious to combine, if possible, pleasure and +business--that is to say, I wished to choose some quiet place where I +could get bracing air and thorough change of scene, and where I could +also find studies for my new picture, which was (at least, so I fondly +dreamed) to find a place in the Academy the following spring. + +It was whilst I was looking for a suitable spot that Tom Bernard, my +great friend and confidant, found one for me. + +'Jack, old fellow,' he said, thrusting a torn newspaper into my hand, +'read that, old man.' + +The newspaper was doubled down tightly, and a great red cross of Tom's +making showed me the part he wished me to read. + + RUNSWICK BAY. + + This charming seaside resort is not half so well known + as it deserves to be. For the lover of the beautiful, + for the man with an artistic eye, it possesses a charm + which words would fail to describe. The little bay is a + favourite resort for artists; they, at least, know how + to appreciate its beauties. It would be well for any who + may desire to visit this wonderfully picturesque and + enchanting spot to secure hotel or lodging-house + accommodation as early as possible, for the demand for + rooms is, in August and September, far greater than the + supply. + + +'Well, what do you think of it?' said Tom. + +'It sounds just the thing,' I said; 'fresh air and plenty to paint.' + +'Shall you go?' + +'Yes, to-morrow,' I replied; 'the sooner the better.' + +My bag was soon packed, my easel and painting materials were collected, +and the very next morning I was on my way into Yorkshire. + +It was evening when I reached the end of my long, tiring railway +journey; and when, hot and dusty, I alighted at a village which lay +about two miles from my destination. I saw no sign of beauty as I walked +from the station; the country was slightly undulating in parts, but as a +rule nothing met my gaze but a long flat stretch of field after field, +covered, as the case might be, with grass or corn. Harebells and pink +campion grew on the banks, and the meadows were full of ox-eye daisies; +but I saw nothing besides that was in the least attractive, and +certainly nothing of which I could make a picture. + +A family from York had come by the same train, and I had learnt from +their conversation that they had engaged lodgings for a month at +Runswick Bay. The children, two boys of ten and twelve, and a little +fair-haired girl a year or two younger, were full of excitement on their +arrival. + +'Father, where is the sea?' they cried. 'Oh, we do want to see the sea!' + +'Run on,' said their father, 'and you will soon see it.' + +So we ran together, for I felt myself a child again as I watched them, +and if ever I lagged behind, one or other of them would turn round and +cry, 'Come on, come on; we shall soon see it.' + +Then, suddenly, we came to the edge of the high cliff, and the sea in +all its beauty and loveliness burst upon us. The small bay was shut in +by rocks on either side, and on the descent of the steep cliff was built +the little fishing village. I think I have never seen a prettier place. + +The children were already running down the steep, rocky path--I cannot +call it a road--which led down to the sea, and I followed more slowly +behind them. It was the most curiously built place. The fishermen's +cottages were perched on the rock, wherever a ledge or standing place +could be found. Steep, narrow paths, or small flights of rock-hewn +steps, led from one to another. There was no street in the whole place; +there could be none, for there were hardly two houses which stood on the +same level. To take a walk through this quaint village was to go up and +down stairs the whole time. + +At last, after a long, downward scramble, I found myself on the shore, +and then I looked back at the cliff and at the irregular little town. I +did not wonder that artists were to be found there. I had counted four +as I came down the hill, perched on different platforms on the rock, and +all hard at work at their easels. + +Yes, it was certainly a picturesque place, and I was glad that I had +come. The colouring was charming: there was red rock in the background, +here and there covered with grass, and ablaze with flowers. Wild roses +and poppies, pink-thrift and white daisies, all contributed to make the +old rock gay. But the yellow ragwort was all over; great patches of it +grew even on the margin of the sand, and its bright flowers gave the +whole place a golden colouring. There seemed to be yellow everywhere, +and the red-tiled cottages, and the fishermen in their blue jerseys, and +the countless flights of steps, all appeared to be framed in the +brightest gilt. + +Yes, I felt sure I should find something to paint in Runswick Bay. I was +not disappointed in Tom's choice for me. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter II + +LITTLE JOHN + + +After admiring the beauties of my new surroundings for some little time, +I felt that I must begin to look for quarters. I was anxious, if +possible, to find a lodging in one of the cottages, and then, after a +good night's rest, I would carefully select a good subject for my +picture. I called at several houses, where I noticed a card in the +window announcing _Apartments to Let_, but I met the same answer +everywhere, 'Full, sir, quite full.' In one place I was offered a bed in +the kitchen, but the whole place smelt so strongly of fried herrings and +of fish oil, that I felt it would be far more pleasant to sleep on the +beach than to attempt to do so in that close and unwholesome atmosphere. + +After wandering up and down for some time, I passed a house close to the +village green, and saw the children with whom I had travelled sitting at +tea close to the open window. They, too, were eating herrings, and the +smell made me hungry. I began to feel that it was time I had something +to eat, and I thought my best plan would be to retrace my steps to the +hotel which I had passed on my way, and which stood at the very top of +the high cliff. I turned a little lazy when I thought of the climb, for +I was tired with my journey, and, as I said before, I was not very +strong, and to drag my bag and easel up the rugged ascent would require +a mighty effort at the best of times. I noticed that wooden benches had +been placed here and there on the different platforms of the rock, for +the convenience of the fishermen, and I determined to rest for a quarter +of an hour on one of them before retracing my steps up the steep hill to +the hotel. The fishermen were filling most of the seats, sitting side by +side, row after row of them, talking together, and looking down at the +beach below. As I gazed up at them, they looked to me like so many blue +birds perched on the steep rock. + +There was one seat in a quiet corner which I noticed was empty. I went +to it, and laying my knapsack and other belongings beside me, I sat down +to rest. + +But I was not long to remain alone. A minute afterwards a young +fisherman, dressed like his mates in blue jersey and oilskin cap, +planted himself on the other end of the seat which I had selected. + +'Good-day, sir,' he said. 'What do you think of our bay?' + +'It's a pretty place, very pretty,' I said. 'I like it well enough now, +but I daresay I shall like it better still to-morrow.' + +'Better still to-morrow,' he repeated; 'well, it _is_ the better +for knowing, in my opinion, sir, and I _ought_ to know, if any one +should, for I've lived my lifetime here.' + +I turned to look at him as he spoke, and I felt at once that I had come +across one of Nature's gentlemen. He was a fine specimen of an honest +English fisherman, with dark eyes and hair, and with a sunny smile on +his weather-beaten, sunburnt face. You had only to look at the man to +feel sure that you could trust him, and that, like Nathanael, there was +no guile in him. + +'I wonder if you could help me,' I said; 'I want to find a room here if +I can, but every place seems so full.' + +'Yes, it is full, sir, in August; that's the main time here. Let me see, +there's Brown's, they're full, and Robinson's, and Wilson's, and +Thomson's, all full up. There's Giles', they have a room, I believe, but +they're not over clean; maybe you're particular, sir.' + +'Well,' I said, 'I do like things clean; I don't mind how rough they are +if they're only clean.' + +'Ah,' he said, with a twinkle in his eye; 'you wouldn't care for one pan +to do all the work of the house--to boil the dirty clothes, and the +fish, and your bit of pudding for dinner, and not overmuch cleaning of +it in between.' + +'No,' I said, laughing; 'I should not like that, certainly.' + +'Might give the pudding a flavour of stockings, and a sauce of fish +oil,' he answered. 'Well, you're right, sir; I shouldn't like it myself. +Cleanliness is next to godliness, that's my idea. Well, then, that being +as it is, I wouldn't go to Giles', not if them is your sentiments with +regard to pans, sir.' + +'Then I suppose there's nothing for it but to trudge up to the hotel at +the top of the hill,' I said, with something of a groan. + +'Well, sir,' he said, hesitating a little; 'me and my missus, we have a +room as we lets sometimes, but it's a poor place, sir, homely like, as +ye may say. Maybe you wouldn't put up with it.' + +'Would you let me see it?' I asked. + +'With pleasure, sir; it's rough, but it's clean. We could promise you a +clean pan, sir. My missus she's a good one for cleaning; she's not one +of them slatternly, good-for-nothing lasses. There's heaps of them here, +sir, idling away their time. She's a good girl is my Polly. Why, if that +isn't little John a-clambering up the steps to his daddy!' + +He jumped up as he said this, and ran quickly down the steep flight of +steps which led down from the height on which the seat was placed, and +soon returned with a little lad about two years old in his arms. + +The child was as fair as his father was dark. He was a pretty boy with +light hair and blue eyes, and was tidily dressed in a bright red cap and +clean white-pinafore. + +'Tea's ready, daddy,' said the boy; 'come home with little John.' + +'Maybe you wouldn't object to a cup o' tea, sir,' said the father, +turning to me; 'it'll hearten you up a bit after your journey, and +there's sure to be herrings. We almost lives on herrings here, sir, and +then, if you're so minded, you can look at the room after. Ye'll excuse +me if I make too bold, sir,' he added, as he gently patted little John's +tiny hand, which rested on his arm. + +'I shall be only too glad to come,' I said; 'for I am very hungry, and +if Polly's room is as nice as I think it will be, it will be just the +place for me.' + +He walked in front of me, up and down several flights of steps, until, +at some little distance lower down the hill, he stopped before a small +cottage. Sure enough there were herrings, frying and spluttering on the +fire, and there too was Polly herself, arrayed in a clean white apron, +and turning the herrings with a fork. The kitchen was very low, and the +rafters seemed resting on my head as I entered; but the window and door +were both wide open, and the whole place struck me as being wonderfully +sweet and clean. A low wooden settle stood by the fire, one or two plain +deal chairs by the wall, and little John's three-legged stool was placed +close to his father's arm-chair. A small shelf above the fireplace held +the family library. I noticed a Bible, a hymn-book, a _Pilgrim's +Progress_, and several other books, all of which had seen their best +days and were doubtless in constant use. On the walls were prints in +wooden frames and much discoloured by the turf smoke of the fire. Upon a +carved old oak cupboard, which held the clothes of the family, were +arranged various rare shells and stones, curious sea-urchins and other +treasures of the sea, and in the centre, the chief ornament of the house +and the pride of Polly's heart, a ship, carved and rigged by Duncan +himself, and preserved carefully under a glass shade. + +Polly gave me a hearty Yorkshire welcome, and we soon gathered about the +small round table. Duncan, with little John on his knee, asked a +blessing, and Polly poured out the tea, and we all did justice to the +meal. + +The more I saw of these honest people, the more I liked them and felt +inclined to trust them. When tea was over, Polly took me to see the +guest-chamber in which her husband had offered me a bed. It was a low +room in the roof, containing a plain wooden bedstead, one chair, a small +wash-hand stand, and a square of looking-glass hanging on the wall. +There was no other furniture, and, indeed, there was room for no other, +and the room was unadorned except by three or four funeral cards in +dismal black frames, which were hanging at different heights on the wall +opposite the bed. But the square casement window was thrown wide open, +and the pure sea air filled the little room, and the coarse white +coverings of the bed were spotless, and, indeed, the whole place looked +and felt both fresh and clean. + +'You'll pardon me, sir,' said Duncan, 'for asking you to look at such a +poor place.' + +'But I like it, Duncan,' I answered, 'and I like you, and I like your +wife, and if you will have me as a lodger, I am willing and glad to +stay.' + +The terms were soon agreed upon to the satisfaction of both parties, and +then all things being settled, Polly went to put little John to bed +whilst I went with Duncan to see his boat. + +It was an old boat, and it had been his father's before him, and it had +weathered many a storm; but it was the dream of Duncan's life to buy a +new one, and he and Polly had nearly saved up money enough for it. + +'That's why me and the missus is glad to get a lodger now and again,' he +said; 'it all goes to the boat, every penny of it. We mean to call her +The Little John. He's going in her the very first voyage she takes; he +is indeed, sir, for he'll be her captain one day, please God, little +John will.' + +It was a calm, beautiful evening; the sea was like a sheet of glass. +Hardly a ripple was breaking on the shore. The sun was setting behind +the cliff, and the fishing village would soon be in darkness. The +fishermen were leaving their cottages and were making for the shore. +Already some of the boats were launched, and the men were throwing in +their nets and fishing-tackle, and were pulling out to sea. I enjoyed +watching my new friend making his preparations. His three mates brought +out the nets, and he gave his orders with a tone of command. He was the +owner and the captain of the Mary Ann, and the rest were accustomed to +do his bidding. + +When all were on board, Duncan himself jumped in and gave the word to +push from shore. He nodded to me and bid me good-night, and when he was +a little way from shore, I saw him stand up in the boat and wave his +oil-skin cap to some one above me on the cliff. + +I looked up, and saw Polly standing on the rock overhanging the shore +with little John in his white nightgown in her arms. He was waving his +red cap to his father, and continued to do so till the boat was out of +sight. + + + + +Chapter III + +STRANGE MUSIC + + +I slept well in my strange little bedroom, although I was awakened early +by the sunlight streaming in at the window. I jumped up and looked out. +The sun was rising over the sea, and a flood of golden light was +streaming across it. + +I dressed quickly and went out. Very few people were about, for the +fishermen had not yet returned from their night's fishing. The cliff +looked even more beautiful than the night before, for every bit of +colouring stood out clear and distinct in the sunshine. 'I shall get my +best effects in the morning,' I said to myself, 'and I had better choose +my subject at once, so that after breakfast I may be able to begin +without delay.' + +How many steps I went up, and how many I went down, before I came to a +decision, it would be impossible to tell; but at last I found a place +which seemed to me to be the very gem of the whole village. An old +disused boat stood in the foreground, and over this a large fishing net, +covered with floats, was spread to dry. Behind rose the rocks, covered +with tufts of grass, patches of gorse, tall yellow mustard plants and +golden ragwort, and at the top of a steep flight of rock-hewn steps +stood a white cottage with red-tiled roof, the little garden in front of +it gay with hollyhocks and dahlias. A group of barefooted children were +standing by the gate feeding some chickens and ducks, a large dog was +lying asleep at the top of the steps, and a black cat was basking in the +morning sunshine on the low garden wall. It was, to my mind, an +extremely pretty scene, and it made me long to be busy with my brush. + +I hurried back to my lodging, and found Polly preparing my breakfast, +whilst little John looked on. He was sitting in his nightgown, curled up +in his father's armchair. 'I'm daddy,' he called out to me as I came in. + +There was a little round table laid ready for me, and covered with a +spotlessly clean cloth, and on it was a small black teapot, and a white +and gold cup and saucer, upon which I saw the golden announcement, 'A +present from Whitby,' whilst my plate was adorned with a remarkable +picture of Whitby Abbey in a thunderstorm. + +There were herrings, of course, and Polly had made some hot cakes, the +like of which are never seen outside Yorkshire. These were ready +buttered, and were lying wrapped in a clean cloth in front of the fire. +Polly made the tea as soon as I entered, and then retired with little +John in her arms into the bedroom, whilst I sat down with a good +appetite to my breakfast. + +I had not quite finished my meal when I heard a great shout from the +shore. Women and children, lads and lasses, ran past the open door, +crying, 'The boats! the boats!' Polly came flying into the kitchen, +caught up little John's red cap, thrust it on his head, and ran down the +steps. I left my breakfast unfinished, and followed them. + +It was a pretty sight. The fishing-boats were just nearing shore, and +almost every one in the place had turned out to meet them. + +Wives, children, and visitors were gathered on the small landing place; +most had dishes or plates in their hands, for the herrings could be +bought straight from the boats. The family from York were there, and +they greeted me as an old friend. + +When the little village had been abundantly supplied with fish, the rest +of the herrings were packed up and sent off by train to be sold +elsewhere. It was a pretty animated scene, and I wished I had brought my +sketchbook with me. I thought the arrival of the fishing boats would +make a splendid subject for a picture. + +Duncan was too busy even to see me till the fish were all landed, +counted, and disposed of, but he had time for a word with little John, +and as I was finishing my breakfast he came in with the child perched on +his shoulder. + +'Good morning, sir,' he said; 'and how do you like our bay this +morning?' + +My answer fully satisfied him, and whilst he sat down to his morning +meal I went out to begin my work. It was a lovely day, and I thoroughly +enjoyed the prospect before me. I found a shady place just under the +wall of a house, where my picture would be in sunlight and I and my +easel in shadow. I liked the spot I had chosen even better than I had +done before breakfast, and I was soon hard at work. + +I had sketched in my picture, and was beginning to paint, when I became +conscious of the sound of voices just over my head, and I soon became +equally conscious that they were talking about me. + +'It's just like it,' said one voice. 'Look--do look. There's Betty +Green's cottage, and Minnie the cat, and the seat, and the old boat.' + +[Illustration] + +'Let me see, Marjorie,' said another voice; 'is it the old one with +white hair and a long, long beard?' + +'No, it's quite a young one; his hair's black, and he hasn't got a beard +at all.' + +'Let me look. Yes, I can see him. I like him much better than the old +one; hasn't he got nice red cheeks?' + +'Hush! he'll hear,' said the other voice. 'You naughty boy! I believe he +did hear; I saw him laugh.' + +I jumped up at this, and looked up, but I could see nothing but a garden +wall and a thick bushy tree, which was growing just inside it. + +'Hullo, who's there?' I shouted. + +But there was dead silence; and as no one appeared, and nothing more +happened, I sat down and went on with my picture. + +Many people passed by as I was painting, and tried to look at what I was +doing. Some glanced out of the corners of their eyes as they walked on; +others paused behind me and silently watched me; a few made remarks to +one another about my picture; one or two offered suggestions, thought I +should have had a better view lower down the hill, or hoped that I would +make the colouring vivid enough. The children with whom I had travelled +seemed to feel a kind of partnership in my picture. + +'Let's go and look at _our_ artist,' Bob would say to Harry; 'his +picture is going to be the best of the lot.' + +They were so fond of watching me, and so much excited over what I was +doing, that, as time went on, I was often obliged to ask them to move +further away, so eager were they to watch every movement of my brush. + +I thoroughly enjoyed my morning's work, and went back very hungry, and +quite ready for the comfortable little dinner which Polly had prepared +for me. In the afternoon the light would be all wrong for my picture; +but I determined to sketch in the foreground, and prepare for my next +morning's work. + +I was very busy upon this, when suddenly I became conscious of music, if +music it could be called. It was the most peculiar sound, and at first I +could not find out from whence it came. It was evidently not caused by a +wind instrument; I felt sure it was not a concertina or an accordion. +This sound would go on for a minute or two, and then stop suddenly, only +to begin again more loudly a few seconds later. At times I distinguished +a few bars of a tune, then only disjointed notes followed. Could it be a +child strumming idly on a harmonium? but no, it was not at all like an +instrument of that kind. It was an annoying, worrying sound, and it went +on for so long that I began to be vexed with it, and stamped my foot +impatiently when, after a short interval, I heard it begin again. The +sound seemed to come from behind the wall of the house near which I was +sitting, and it was repeated from time to time during the whole of the +afternoon. + +At length, as the afternoon went on, I began to distinguish what tunes +were being attempted. I made out a bar or two of the old French +Republican air, 'The Marseillaise,' and then I was almost startled by +what came next, for it was a tune I had known well since I was a very +little child. It was 'Home, Sweet Home,' and that was my mother's +favourite tune; in fact, I never heard it without thinking of her. Many +and many a time had she sung me to sleep with that tune. I had scarlet +fever when I was five years old, and my mother had nursed me through it, +and when I was weary and fretful she would sing to me--my pretty +fair-haired mother. Even as I sat before my easel I could see her, as +she sat at the foot of my bed, with the sunshine streaming upon her +through the half-darkened window, and making her look, to my boyish +imagination, like a beautiful angel. And I could hear her voice still; +and the sweet tones in which she sang that very song to me, 'Home, sweet +home, there's no place like home.' + +I remembered one night especially, in which she knelt by my bed and +prayed that she might meet her boy in the bright city, the sweet home +above the sky which was the best and brightest home of all. I wonder +what she would think of me now, I said to myself, and whether she ever +will see me there. I very much doubt it; it seems to me that I am a long +way off from Home, Sweet Home now. + +My mother had died soon after that illness of mine, and I knew that she +had gone to live in that beautiful home of which she had so often spoken +to me. And I had been left behind, and my aunt, who had brought me up, +had cared for none of these things, and I had learnt to look at the +world and at life from her worldly standpoint, and had forgotten to seek +first the Kingdom of God. Oh! if my mother only knew, my pretty, +beautiful mother, I said to myself that day. And then there came the +thought, perhaps she _does_ know, and the thought made me very +uncomfortable. I wished, more than ever, that that cracked old +instrument, whatever it was, would stop. + +But, in spite of all my wishes, the strange sound went on, and again and +again I had to listen to 'Home, Sweet Home,' and each time that it came +it set my memory going, and brought back to me the words and the looks +which I thought I had forgotten. And it set something else going +too--the still, small voice within, accusing me of forgetfulness, not so +much of my mother as of my mother's God. + +I began to wish most heartily that I had chosen some other spot for my +picture. But it was working out so well that I felt it would be a great +mistake to change, and I hoped that the individual, man, woman, or +child, who had been making that horrible noise might find some other +employment to-morrow, and might leave me in peace. + +The next day my wishes were fulfilled, for I was not disturbed, and very +little happened except that my picture made progress. Then came two wet +days, on which I had to paint in my little chamber, and did not get back +to my seat under the wall. + +I saw a good deal of Duncan during those wet days. He would come and sit +beside me as I painted, and would tell me stories of storms and +shipwrecks, and of the different times when the lifeboat had been sent +out, and of the many lives she had saved. + +'Have ye seen her, sir? You must go and have a look at our boat; she +lies in a house down by the shore, as trim and tight a little boat as +you could wish to see anywhere!' + +'I suppose you've been in many a storm yourself, +Duncan,' I said. + +'Storms, sir! I've very near lived in them ever since I was born. Many +and many's the time I've never expected to see land again. I didn't care +so much when I was a young chap. You see, my father and mother were +dead, and if I went to the bottom there was nobody, as you might say, to +feel it; but it's different now, sir, you see.' + +'Yes,' I said, 'there's Polly and little John.' + +'That's just where it is, sir, Polly and little John, bless 'em; and all +the time the wind's raging, and the waves is coming right over the boat, +I'm thinking of my poor lass at home, and how every gust of wind will be +sweeping right over her heart, and how she'll be kneeling by little +John's bed, praying God to bring his daddy safe home again. And I know, +sir, as well as I know anything, that when God Almighty hears and +answers her prayer, and brings me safe to land, Polly and little John +will be standing on yon rocks a-straining their eyes for the first sight +of the boats, and then a-running down almost into the water to welcome +me home again. Yes, it makes a sight o' difference to a married man, +sir; doesn't it, now? It isn't the dying, ye understand, it's the +leaving behind as I think of. I'm not afraid to die,' he added humbly +and reverently, as he took off his oilskin cap. 'I know whom I have +believed.' + +'You're a plucky fellow, Duncan,' I said, 'to talk of not being afraid +to die. I've just been at a death-bed, and--' + +'And you felt you wouldn't like to be there yourself,' Duncan went on, +as I stopped. 'Well, maybe not, it comes nat'ral to us, sir; we're born +with that feeling, I often think, and we can no more help it than we can +help any other thing we're born with. But what I mean to say is, I'm not +afraid of what comes _after_ death. It may be a dark tunnel, sir, +but there's light at the far end!' + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter IV + +WHAT ARE YOU? + + +On Saturday of that week the sun shone brightly, and I was up betimes, +had an early breakfast, and set to work at my picture as soon as +possible. I had not been painting long before I again heard voices above +me, the same childish voices that I had heard before. + +'_You_ give it to him,' said one voice. + +'No, Marjorie, I daren't; you take it.' + +'You ought not to be afraid, because you're a boy,' said the first +speaker; 'father says boys ought always to be brave.' + +'But you're big, Marjorie, and big people ought to be braver than little +people!' + +There was a long, whispered conversation after this, and I could not +distinguish the words which were spoken. But presently a small piece of +pink paper was thrown over the wall, and fluttered down upon my palette. +I caught it up quickly, to prevent it from sticking to the paints, and I +saw there was something printed on it. It ran thus:-- + + _There will be a short service on the shore on Sunday Morning at + 11 o'clock, when you are earnestly requested to be present_. + + _Subject_: WHAT ARE YOU? + + +'Thank you,' I said aloud. 'Who sent me this?' + +There was no answer at first, then a little voice just above me said, +'Both of us, sir.' + +'Come down and talk to me,' I said; 'I can't talk to children whom I +can't see. Come out here and look at my picture.' + +They came out presently hand in hand, a little girl of five in a blue +tam-o'-shanter cap, a pale pink frock, and a white pinafore, and a boy +of three, the merriest, most sturdy little fellow I thought I had ever +seen. His face was as round and rosy as an apple, his eyes were dark +blue, and had the happiest and most roguish expression that it would be +possible for eyes to have. When the child laughed (and whenever was he +not laughing?), every part of his face laughed together. His eyes began +it, his lips followed suit, even his nose was pressed into the service. +If a sunbeam could be caught and dressed up like a little boy, I think +it would look something like that child. + +'Now,' I said, 'that's right; I like to see children's faces when I talk +to them; tell me your names to begin with.' + +'I'm Marjorie, sir,' said the little girl, 'and he's Jack.' + +'Jack!' I said; 'that's _my_ name, and a nice name too, isn't it, +little Jack? Come and look at my picture, little Jack, and see if you +think big Jack knows how to paint.' + +By degrees they grew more at their ease, and chatted freely with me. +Marjorie told me that her father had sent the paper. Father was going to +preach on Sunday; he preached every Sunday, and numbers of people came, +and Jack was in the choir. + +What a dear little chorister, to be sure, a chubby little cherub if ever +there was one! + +'Shall you come, big Jack?' he said, patting my hand with his strong, +sturdy little fist. + +'I don't know,' I said; 'if it's a fine day, perhaps I shall want to get +on with my picture.' + +'On Sunday?' said the child in a shocked voice; 'it's on Sunday father +preaches, and you couldn't paint on Sunday, could you?' + +'Well, I'll see,' I said; 'perhaps I'll come and hear you sing, little +Jack.' + +'Thank you, big Jack,' he said, with a merry twinkle in his pretty blue +eyes. + +'What is this preaching on the shore, Duncan?' I asked. + +'Oh, it's our lay preacher,' he said; 'he's a good man, and has done a +sight of good in this place. You see, it's too far for folks here to go +to church, and so he lives amongst us, and has meetings in the hall +yonder in winter, and in summer, why, we have 'em on the shore, and the +visitors comes mostly. There's a few won't come, but we get the best of +them, and we have some fine singing--real nice it is! I'm in the choir +myself, sir,' he said; 'you wouldn't think it, but I am. I've got a good +strong voice, too!' + +It must be a choir worth seeing, I thought, if it contained two such +strange contrasts, the big burly fisherman and the tiny child who had +invited me to be present. + +I had not quite made up my mind to go. I had not been to a service for +many months, I might almost say years. I had slipped out of it lately, +and I thought I should feel myself a fish out of water. However, when +the next day came, every one seemed to take it as a matter of course +that I should be going. Polly was up early, and had dressed little John +in his best. + +'You'll see him at church, sir,' she said, as she laid my breakfast; 'he +always likes to go to church, and he's as good as gold, bless him!' + +Duncan was out before I was up, and I had seen him, as I was dressing, +going round to the fishermen sitting as usual on the seats on the cliff, +with a bundle of pink papers in his hand, similar to the one which had +been given me, and distributing them to every group of his mates which +he came across. Yes, I felt that I was expected to go, and it would be +hard work to keep away. But if I had still had any doubt about the +matter, it would have surely disappeared when at half-past ten exactly a +tiny couple came toiling hand in hand up the steps leading to Duncan's +door, and announced to Polly that they had come to call for big Mr. Jack +to go to church. + +It was Marjorie and her little brother, and the small Jack put his +little fat hand into that of big Jack, and led him triumphantly away. + +It was a pretty sight to see that congregation gathering on the village +green. From the fishermen's cottages there came a stream of people down +to the shore,--mothers with babies in their arms and leading young +children by the hand, groups of boys and girls wearing shoes and +stockings who had been barefooted all the week, many a weather-beaten +sailor, many a sunburnt fisher lad, many elderly people too, old men, +and white-haired women in closely-plaited white caps. There were +visitors, too, coming down from the rocks, and these mostly kept in the +background, and had at first an air of watching the movement rather than +joining in it. My York friends were, however, well to the front, and the +children nodded to me, and smiled at one another as they saw me led like +a lamb to the service by my two small guardians. + +It was a lovely day, and the sandy ground was dry, and the congregation +sat on the rough coarse grass or perched on the sand hillocks round. As +for the old boat, it was occupied by the choir, and little Jack, having +seen me safely to the spot, climbed into it and stood proudly in the +stern. He had a hymn-book in his hand, which I knew he could not read, +for he was holding it upside down, but he looked at it as long and as +earnestly as if he could understand every word. Marjorie planted herself +beside me, I suppose to watch me, in case I showed signs of running away +before the service was over. + +Then just before eleven, and when quite a large company of people had +gathered on the green, her father arrived. He was a man of about forty, +and his face gave me the impression that he had known trouble, and yet I +fancied as I looked further at him that the trouble, whatever it was, +had ended. He seemed to me like one who has come out of a sharp storm, +and has anchored in a quiet haven. For whilst I noticed in his face the +traces of heavy sorrow, still at the same time he looked happier and +more peaceful than any of those who stood round him; in fact, it was the +most restful face I had ever seen. He was not an educated man, nor was +he what men call a gentleman, and yet there was a refinement about him +which made one feel at once that he was no common man, and had no common +history. His face was so interesting to me, that I am afraid I was +gazing at him instead of finding the hymn he had given out, but I was +recalled to my duty by his little daughter, who seized the hymn-book she +had given me at the beginning of the service, found the page for me, and +pointed with her small finger to the place. + +It was a mission hymn, sung to a wild, irregular tune. I daresay I +should have smiled if I had heard it anywhere else, but it was no +laughing matter that morning. As I looked at the brown fishermen who had +taken off their oilskin caps, as I glanced at the earnest face of the +preacher, as I noticed how even children, like little Marjorie beside +me, were singing with all their heart and soul the simple plaintive +words, I felt strangely solemnized. + +Then came the prayer, and I felt as he prayed that One whom we could not +see was standing amongst us. It was a very simple prayer, but it was the +outpouring of his heart to God, and many a low Amen broke from the lips +of the fishermen as their hearts went with his. + +The sermon followed. Shall I call it a sermon? It was more an appeal +than a sermon, or even an address. There was no attempt at style, there +were no long words or stilted sentences; it was exactly what his prayer +had been, words spoken out of the abundance of his earnest heart. The +prayer had contained the outpouring of his soul to his God in heaven; +the words, to which we listened afterwards contained the outpouring of +his soul to us, his brothers and sisters on earth. + +There was a great hush over the congregation whilst he spoke. The +mothers quieted their babes, the children sat with their eyes fixed on +the speaker; even those visitors who had been on the outskirts of the +crowd drew near to listen. + +'What are you, dear friends?' he began; 'that is our subject to-day. +What are you? How many different answers I hear you make, as you answer +my question in your hearts!' + +'What am I?' you say. 'I am a fisherman, a strong active man, accustomed +to toil and danger.' 'I am a mother, with a large family of little ones, +working hard from morning till night.' 'I am a schoolboy, learning the +lessons which are to fit me to make my way in the world.' 'I am a busy +merchant, toiling hard to make money, and obliged to come to this quiet +place to recruit my wearied energies.' 'I am an artist, with great +ambition of future success.' 'I am an old man, who has weathered many a +storm, but my work is done now; I am too old to fish, too tired to +toil.' 'I am a gentleman of no occupation, idling comfortably through a +busy world.' 'I'--and here he glanced at his own little Jack in the +stern of the old boat--'I am a tiny child, with an unknown life all +before me.' + +'Dear friends, such are some of your answers to my question. Can I find, +do you think, one answer, one description, which will suit you +all--fishermen, mothers, boys and girls, artists, merchants, gentlemen, +the old man and the little child? Yes, I can. If I could hand you each a +piece of paper and a pencil this day, there is one description of +yourself which each of you might write, one occupation which would +include you all, the old, the young, the rich and the poor. Each of you, +without exception, might write this--_I am a servant_. + +'I, the speaker, am a servant; you who listen, all of you, are +servants.' + +'Well, I don't know how he is going to make that out,' I said to myself. +'I thought he was going to say we were all sinners, and _that_, I +suppose, we are, but _servants_! I do not believe I am anybody's +servant.' + +'All servants,' he went on, 'but not all in the same service. As God and +the angels look down upon this green to-day they see gathering together +a great company of servants, but they also see that we are not all +servants of the same master. They see what we do not see, a dividing +line between us. On one side of the line God sees, and the angels see, +one company of servants--and in God's book He gives us the name of their +master--_Servants of sin_. + +'On the other side of the line, God sees, and the angels see, another +company of servants--_Servants of Christ_. + +'Which company do you belong to, dear friend? You fishermen on the bank +there, what are you? Little child, what are you?--a servant of sin, or a +servant of Jesus Christ? + +So I tried to turn it off from myself, and to forget the words which had +been spoken. And whenever the question came back to me, the question +which the speaker had repeated so often, 'What are you?' I answered it +by saying to myself, 'I am a poor artist, having a holiday in Runswick +Bay, and I am not going to trouble my head with gloomy thoughts.' + +Polly had prepared an excellent dinner in honour of the day, and I did +full justice to it. Then I determined to walk to Staithes, and to spend +the rest of the day in seeing the country. I had always been accustomed, +to paint on Sunday, but only one of the artists seemed to be at work, +and Duncan and Polly had been so much shocked by seeing him, that I did +not venture to do the same. I enjoyed the walk along the cliffs, and +came back in good spirits, having completely shaken off, as I imagined, +the remembrance of the speaker's words. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter V + +THE RUNSWICK SPORTS + + +'I've got a big favour to ask of you, sir,' said Duncan the next day. +'You'll not think I'm taking a liberty, will you?' + +'Certainly not, Duncan,' I said. 'What do you want?' + +'Well, it's just here, sir--me and my mates, we get up some sports every +year on the green. We have 'em in August, sir, just when the visitors +are here. They all turn out to see them, and there's lots of them is +very good in subscribing to the prizes. You see, sir, there is a many +young fellows here, young chaps who must have something to keep them out +of mischief; when they're not fishing, they're bound to be after the +beer, if they haven't something to turn their minds and keep them going +a bit. And these sports, why, they like 'em, sir; and a man must keep +sober if he's to win a prize--you understand, sir?' + +'Yes, Duncan, I understand,' I said; 'it's first-rate for these young +lads, and for the old lads too, for the matter of that. I suppose you +want a subscription for your prizes?' I added, as I handed him half a +sovereign. + +'Thank ye kindly, sir, I won't refuse it, and it's very good of you to +help us so largely; but that isn't what I came to ask of you. I hardly +like to bother you, sir,' he said doubtfully. + +'Never mind the bother, Duncan; let's hear what you want.' + +'Well, it's just here, sir. Could you, do you think, make for us some +sort of a programme to hang up by the post office there, for visitors to +see? You draw them pictures so quick, sir, and--' + +'I see, Duncan; you want the programme to be illustrated. I'm your man; +I'll do it at once.' I was really only too glad to oblige the dear, +honest fellow. + +He was wonderfully pleased at my ready consent, and went off at once to +procure a board upon which my programme might be fastened. We soon made +out together a list of attractions, and I had great pleasure in +beautifying and illustrating the catalogue of sports. + +I headed it thus:-- + + OYEZ, OYEZ! + RUNSWICK ATHLETIC SPORTS. + + +Then, from the R of Runswick I hung a long fishing net, covered with +floats, and falling down over a fish basket, and some lobster-pots, +whilst on the ground were lying a number of fish which had been emptied +out of the basket. + +Next followed a list of patrons, such as: The Honourable O'Mackerell, +Lord Crabby Lobster, Sir C. Shrimp, etc., etc. + +Then came a list of the various sports, each profusely illustrated--The +tug of war, the jockey race, the women's egg and spoon race, the sack +race, the greasy pole, the long jump, etc.; and lastly, an announcement +of a grand concert to be held in the evening, as a conclusion of the +festivities of the day. + +Duncan was more than satisfied--he was delighted, and his gratitude knew +no bounds. His excitement, as he carried the board away to hang it in a +conspicuous place, was like the excitement of a child. + +The whole village seemed to be stirred as the eventful day drew near. + +'Are you going to see the great tug, big Mr. Jack?' my little friend +called to me over the wall as I was painting. As for the York boys, +Harry and Bob, they spent a great part of every day in admiring the +programme, and in bringing other visitors to see and admire the work of +_their_ artist. + +How anxiously Duncan watched the sky the day before the sports, and how +triumphantly Polly announced, when I came down to breakfast, 'A fine +day, sir; couldn't be finer, could it now?' + +Those village sports were really a pretty sight. I see it all in my +mind's eye now. I often wonder I have not made a picture of it. The high +cliff stretching overhead, and covered with bushes and bracken, amongst +which nestled the red-tiled cottages. Then below the cliff the level +green, covered with strong, hardy fishermen and their sunburnt wives, +and surrounding the green, on the sand-hills, the visitors old and +young, dressed in bright colours and holiday attire. Is it too late to +paint it from memory, I wonder? I see it all still so distinctly. + +The sports lasted a long time, and went off well. Polly distinguished +herself by winning the egg and spoon race, much to the joy of little +John, who watched all the proceedings from his father's arms. + +Then came the greatest event of all, the tug of war. A long cable was +brought out and stretched across the green, and a pocket-handkerchief +was tied in the centre of it. Two stakes were then driven into the +ground, and between these a line was chalked on the grass. The +handkerchief was then placed exactly over the line. After this all the +fishermen who entered the lists were divided into two parties. Then each +side laid hold of one end of the rope, and at a given signal they began +to pull. It was a trial of strength; whichever side could draw the +handkerchief past the two stakes and over the line, that side would win. + +How tremendously those men pulled! What force they put into it! Yet for +a long time the rope did not move a single inch. All the strength of +those powerful fishermen was put out; they were lying on the ground, +that their pull might be all the stronger. Every sinew, every nerve, +every muscle seemed to be on the strain, but so evenly were the two +sides matched, that the rope was motionless, and it seemed impossible to +tell which party would win. + +Little John was eagerly watching his father. + +'Pull, daddy, pull!' I heard him cry; and I think I was nearly as +pleased as he and Polly were when Duncan and the mates on his side +suddenly made one mighty effort, and the handkerchief was drawn across +the line. There was tremendous cheering after this. Polly clapped her +hands with delight, and little Jack and big Jack nearly shouted +themselves hoarse. + +It was an interesting sight, and I had reason to remember it afterwards, +as you will see. The evening concert went off as well as the sports had +done, and Duncan came in at night rather tired, but well satisfied with +the day's proceedings. + +I enjoyed all the sights at Runswick Bay, but I think I was particularly +charmed with what happened on the day after the sports. All the village +was early astir, and as I was dressing, it seemed to me that every +fisherman in the place was hurrying down to the beach. It was not long +before I followed them to see what they were doing. I found that they +were about to draw the crab-boats up from the shore, to a place where +they would be safe from the winter storms. It was hard work, but every +one was there to give a hand. A long string of men and lads laid hold of +the strong cable fastened to the boat. Even the wives and elder children +caught hold of it. I myself went to their help, and several of the +visitors followed my example. Then, when we were all in position, there +came a pause, for Duncan, who was directing the proceedings, charged us +not to pull till the signal was given. Then there rose a peculiar cry or +yodel, all the fishermen uttering it together, and as soon as it ceased +we gave our united, mighty pull. Then we paused to take breath, until +once more there came a yodel followed by another pull, and as this was +repeated again and again, it was grand to see the heavy boat making +steady and regular progress. Across the heavy sand she came, up the low +bank, over the rough grass, slowly, steadily, surely, she moved onward, +until at length she was placed in safety, far out of reach of the +highest tide and the strongest sea. Thus, one after another, the boats +were drawn up, and we were fairly tired before our work was done. + +I think it must have been that very day, that, as I was sitting +painting, I once more heard the broken notes of the instrument which had +troubled me so much before. It was that tune again, my mother's tune, +and somehow, I do not know how it was, with the sound of my mother's +tune there came back to my mind the remembrance of the Sunday service. +Ah! my mother was on the right side of the line, I said to myself; she +was a servant of Christ. But her son! what is he? + +I did not want to follow out this subject, so I jumped up from my +camp-stool, and standing under the wall, I called, 'Little Jack, little +Jack.' + +The music stopped at once, and the child came out. Dear, little merry +fellow, how fond I was of him already! + +'Yes, Mr. big Jack,' he said, as he ran out of the gate. + +'Come and talk to me, old chappie,' I said, 'whilst I paint. Who plays +music in your house?' + +'I do,' said little Jack. + +'_You_ do, Jack? Why, you are a funny little fellow to play music! +What do you play on, and who taught you?' + +'Nobody teached me, Mr. Jack,' he said; 'I teached my own self.' + +'Teached your own self? Why, how did you manage that?' I asked. + +'I turned him round and round and round, Mr. Jack, and the music came, +and I teached my own self,' he repeated. + +'What is it, Jack?' I asked. 'Is it an old musical box?' + +'No, it's an organ, a barrow-organ, Mr. Jack.' + +'Oh, a barrel-organ you mean, little chappie; why, however in the world +did you get hold of a barrel-organ? Is it a little toy one?' + +'No, it's big, ever so big,' he said, stretching out his hands to show +me its size. + +'Why, whoever gave you it?' I asked. + +'It isn't Jack's own organ,' said the child. + +'Whose is it, then?' + +'It's father's, father's own organ.' + +It seemed to me a most extraordinary thing for the mission preacher of +Runswick Bay to have in his possession, but I did not like to ask any +more questions at that time. + +However, in the afternoon my little friend called to me over, the wall, +'Big Mr. Jack, come here.' + +'Come where, my little man?' + +'Come inside and look at father's organ; I'll play it to you, Mr. Jack.' + +'What will father say if I come in?' + +'Father's out.' + +'What will mother say?' + +'Mother's out too.' + +I did not much relish the idea of entering a man's house in his absence, +but such plaintive entreaties came from the other side of the wall. Over +and over again he pleaded, 'Do come, Mr. Jack; do come quick, Mr. Jack!' +that at last, to please the child, I left my work for a few minutes and +went up the steps which led to the gate of their garden. + +It was only a small place, but very prettily laid out. There was a tiny +lawn, well kept, and covered with short, soft grass, and in the centre +of this a round bed filled with geraniums, calceolarias, and lobelias. +Round the lawn, at the edge of the garden, was a border, in which grew +all manner of gay and sweet-smelling flowers. There were asters and +mignonette, sweet-peas and convolvolus, heliotrope and fuchsias. Then in +front of me was the pretty cottage, with two gables and a red-tiled +roof, the walls of which were covered from top to bottom with creeping +plants. Ivy and jessamine, climbing roses, virginia-creeper, and +canariensis, all helped to make the little place beautiful. + +'What a pretty home you have, little Jack!' I said. + +He kept tight hold of my hand, lest I should escape from him, and led me +on--into a tiny entrance hall, past one or two doors, down a dark +passage, and into a room at the back. + +This room had a small bow-window overlooking the sea, the walls were +covered with bookshelves, a writing-table stood in the window, and in +the corner by the fireplace was the extraordinary object I had been +brought to see--an extremely ancient and antiquated barrel-organ. + +What a peculiar thing to come across in a preacher's study! What +possible use could he have for it? It was a most dilapidated old +instrument, almost falling to pieces with old age. The shape was so +old-fashioned that I do not remember ever having seen one like it; the +silk, which had doubtless once been its adornment, was torn into shreds, +and it was impossible to tell what its original colour had been; the +wood was worm-eaten and decayed, and the leg upon which it had rested +could no longer support its weight. + +'Let me hear you play it, Jack,' I said. + +He sat down with great pride to turn the handle, but I noticed that half +the notes were broken off the barrel, which accounted for only fragments +of each tune being heard, whilst many bars of some were wanting +altogether. However, Jack seemed very proud of his performance, and +insisted on my staying till he had gone through the whole of the four +tunes which the poor old thing was supposed to play. He announced their +names, one by one, as each began. + +'This is "My Poor Mary Anne," Mr. Jack, _very_ sad.' Then when that +was finished, 'This is the Old Hundred, _very_ old.' + +After this there was a long turning of the handle without any sound +being heard, for the first part of the next tune was gone entirely. 'I +can't say the name of this one, Mr. Jack,' he explained; 'Marjorie calls +its something like "Ma says."' + +'Oh! the "Marseillaise,"' I said, laughing; 'all right, little man, I +know that.' + +'Then comes father's tune, father _does_ like it so. Listen, "Home, +sweet home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home." Do +_you_ like it, Mr. Jack?' + +'Yes, I do like it, Jack,' I said; 'I knew it when I was a little chap +like you.' + +As he played, once more it brought before me my mother's voice and my +mother's words. I had not thought of my mother for years so much as I +had done at Runswick Bay. Even the old organ brought her back to me, for +she was always kind to organ-grinders. There was an Italian who used to +come round with a barrel-organ when I was a little boy. I can see him +now. I used to watch for him from my nursery window, and as soon as he +came in sight I flew down to my mother for a penny, and then went into +the garden and stood beside him whilst he played. My mother gave me a +musical-box on my birthday; it was in the shape of a barrel-organ, and +had a strap which I could hang round my neck. I used to take this box +with me, and standing beside the Italian, I imitated his every movement, +holding my little organ just as he held his big one, and playing beside +him as long as he remained. So delightful did this man's occupation seem +to me, that I can remember quite well when my father asked me one day +what I would like to be when I was a man, I answered without a moment's +hesitation, 'An organ-grinder, of course, father.' + +Those old boyish days, how long ago they seemed! What was the use of +recalling them? It would not bring back the mother I had lost, or the +father who had cared for me, and it only made me depressed to think of +them. What good, I asked myself, would my holiday do me if I spent it in +brooding over bygone sorrow? I must forget all this kind of thing, and +cheer up, and get back my spirits again. + +'Now, little Jack,' I said, 'big Jack must go back to his picture; come +and climb into the old boat, and I'll see how you would do in the +foreground of it.' He looked such a merry little rogue, perched amongst +the nets and fishing tackle, that I felt I should improve my picture by +introducing him into it, and therefore from that day he came for a +certain time every morning to be painted. He was such a good little +fellow, he never moved a limb after I told him I was ready, and never +spoke unless I spoke to him. A more lovable child I never saw, nor a +more obedient one. With all his fun, and in spite of his flow of +spirits, he was checked in a moment by a single word. No one could be +dull in his company, and as the week passed on I began to regain my +usual cheerfulness, and to lose the uncomfortable impression left on my +mind by the sermon on the shore and the questions the preacher had asked +us. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter VI + +THE TUG OF WAR + + +I had quite made up my mind not to attend the service on the following +Sunday, and when a pink paper floated down on my easel on the Saturday +morning, I caught it and thrust it into my pocket, without even looking +to see what the subject was to be. + +'Have you got it, Mr. Jack?' said the child's voice above me. + +'All right, little man,' I answered; 'it's all safe and sound.' + +I made my plans for Sunday with great care. I asked for an early +breakfast, so that I might walk over to Kettleness, a place about two +miles off along the coast, and which could only be reached at low tide; +and when I was once there, on the other side of the bay, I determined to +be in no hurry to return, but to arrive at Runswick too late for the +service on the sands. If Duncan and Polly missed me, they would simply +conclude that I had found the walk longer than I had expected. + +But, as I was just ready to set out for Kettleness, a tremendous shower +came on. + +'You'll never set off in this weather, sir?' said Duncan anxiously. + +'Oh no, of course not,' I answered lightly. + +I fancied that he looked more concerned than the occasion warranted, and +I feared that he suspected the real reason for my early walk. + +There was now nothing to be done but to wait till the shower was over, +and by that time I found it would be impossible for me to go to +Kettleness without seeming deliberately to avoid the service. + +The sun came out, and the sky was quite blue before eleven o'clock, and +the fishermen spread tarpaulins on the sand for the congregation to sit +on, and I found myself--I must say very much against my will--being led +to the place by little Jack. + +'Well, there is no need for me to listen,' I said to myself; 'I will +plan out a new picture, and no one will know where my thoughts are.' + +But, in spite of my resolution to the contrary, from the moment that +Jack's father began to speak, my attention was riveted, and I could not +choose but listen. + +'The Tug of War is our subject to-day, dear friends,' he began, 'and a +very suitable subject, I think, after what we have witnessed on this +green during the past week. We have seen, have we not, a long pull, a +strong pull, and a pull all together, as yon heavy crab boat was dragged +up from the beach? How well she came, what progress she made! with each +yoddel we brought her farther from the sea. We all of us gave a helping +hand; fishermen, wives, visitors, friends, all laid hold, and all +pulled, and the work, hard as it seemed, was soon accomplished. Why? +Because we were all united. It was a long pull, a strong pull, and a +pull all together. + +'And now let me bring back to your memory another event during this past +week. The place is the same, our village green, the same rope is used, +and those who pull are the very same men, strong, brawny, powerful +fishermen. Yes, you pulled your very hardest; if possible you put forth +more strength than when the crab boat was drawn up, and yet, strange to +say, there was no result, the rope did not move an inch. What were you +pulling? What was the mighty weight that you had to move? What was it +that, for such a long time, baffled the strength of the strongest among +you? The weight you could not move was not a heavy boat, but a light +handkerchief! + +'Why was there this difference? Why was the handkerchief harder to move +than the boat? The answer to that question was to be found at the other +end of the green. There were other pullers at the rope that day, pulling +with all their might in an exactly opposite direction. It was not a +united pull, and therefore for a long time there was no result, and we +watched on, until at length one side was proved the strongest, and the +handkerchief was drawn by them triumphantly across the line. + +'To-day, dear friends, I speak to you of yet another tug of war. The +place is the same, Runswick Bay and our village green, but the weight to +be drawn is not a boat, not a handkerchief; the weight is _a human +soul._ It is your soul, my friend, your immortal soul; _you_ are +the one who is being drawn. + +'And who are the pullers? Oh, how many they are! I myself have my hands +on the rope. God only knows how hard I am pulling, striving with all my +might, if possible to draw you, my friend, to Christ. But there are +other hands on the rope besides mine. Your conscience pulls, your good +old mother pulls, your little child pulls, your Christian mate pulls; +each sermon you hear, each Bible class you attend, each hymn you sing, +each prayer uttered in your presence, each striving of the Spirit, each +God-given yearning after better things, each storm you come through, +each danger you escape, each sickness in your family, each death in your +home, each deliverance granted you, gives you a pull God-ward, +Christ-ward, heaven-ward. + +'Yet, oh, my dear friend, you know, as clearly as you know that you are +sitting there, that, so far, Christ's pullers are drawing in vain. You +have never yet, you know it, crossed the line which divides the saved +from the unsaved. Why is this? Why, oh, why are you so hard to move? + +'Oh, my friend, do you ask why? Surely you know the reason! Is it not +because there are other hands on the rope, other pullers drawing in an +exactly opposite direction? For Satan has many an agent, many a servant, +and he sends forth a great army of soul-pullers. Each worldly friend, +each desire of your evil nature, each temptation to sin, each longing +after wealth, each sinful suggestion, gives you a pull, and a pull the +wrong way, away from safety, away from Christ, away from God, away from +heaven, away from Home. And towards what? Oh, dear friend, towards what? +What are the depths, the fearful depths towards which you are being +drawn?' + +He said a good deal more, but I did not hear it. That question seemed +burnt in with a red-hot iron into my soul. What are the depths, the +fearful depths into which you are being drawn? I could not shake it off. +I wished I could get away from the green, but Jack had brought me close +to the boat where the choir stood, and there was no escape. I should +have to sit it out; it would soon be over, I said to myself. + +The service ended with a hymn. Another of their queer, wild, irregular +tunes, I thought; I was not going to sing it. But when Jack saw that I +did not open my book, he leant over the side of the boat, and poked my +head with his hymn-book. 'Sing, big Mr. Jack, sing,' he said aloud, and +then, for very shame, I had to find my place and begin. I can still +remember the first verse of that hymn, and I think I can recall the tune +to which they sang it:-- + + 'Oh, tender and sweet was the Master's voice, + As he lovingly called to me: + "Come over the line! it is only a step-- + I am waiting, My child, for thee!" + "Over the line!" Hear the sweet refrain! + Angels are chanting the heavenly strain! + "Over the line!" Why should I remain + With a step between me and Jesus?' + + +I was heartily glad when the service was over, and I went on the shore +at once, to try to walk the sermon away. But I was not so successful as +I had been the Sunday before. That question followed me; the very waves +seemed to be repeating it. What are the depths, the fearful depths, to +which you are being drawn? I had not looked at it in that light before. +I had been quite willing to own that I was not religious, that I was +leading a gay, easy-going kind of life, that my Sundays were spent in +bed, or in novel reading, or in rowing, or in some other amusement. I +was well aware that I looked at these things very differently from what +my mother had done, and I had even wondered sometimes, whether, if she +had been spared to me, I should have been a better fellow than I knew +myself to be. But as for feeling any real alarm or anxiety with regard +to my condition, such a thought had never for one moment crossed my +mind. + +Yet if this man was right, there was real danger in my position. I was +not remaining stationary, as I had thought, but I was being drawn by +unseen forces towards something worse, towards the depths, the fearful +depths, of which he had spoken. + +At times I wished I had never come to Runswick Bay to be made so +uncomfortable; at other times I wondered if I had been brought there on +purpose to hear those words. + +I went back to dinner, but I could not enjoy it, much to Polly's +distress. The rain fell fast all the afternoon, and as I lay on my bed +upstairs I heard Polly washing up, and singing as she did so the hymn we +had had at the service-- + + 'Come over the line to Me.' + + +There seemed no chance of forgetting the words which had made me so +uneasy. + +That night I had a strange dream. I thought I was once more on the +village green. It was a wild, stormy night, the wind was blowing hard, +and the rain was falling fast; yet through the darkness I could +distinguish crowds of figures gathered on the green. On the side farther +from the sea there was a bright light streaming through the darkness. +I wondered in my dream what was going on, and I found that it was a tug +of war, taking place in the darkness of the night. I saw the huge cable, +and gradually as I watched I caught sight of those who were pulling. +I walked to the side from which the light streamed, and there I saw a +number of holy and beautiful angels with their hands on the rope, and +amongst them I distinctly caught sight of my mother. She seemed to be +dragging with all her might, and there was such an earnest, pleading, +beseeching expression on her dear face that it went to my very heart to +look at her. I noticed that close beside her was the preacher, little +Jack's father, and behind him was Duncan. They were all intent on their +work, and took no notice of me, so I walked to the other end of the +green, the one nearest the sea, that I might see who were there. It was +very dark at that end of the rope, but I could dimly see evil faces, and +dark, strange forms, such as I could not describe. Those on this side +seemed to be having it much their own way, I thought, for the weight, +whatever it was, was gradually drawing near to the sea; and, lo and +behold, I saw that they were close upon a terrible place, for mighty +cliffs stood above the shore, and they were within a very short distance +of a sheer and terrible precipice. + +'What are you dragging?' I cried to them. + +And a thousand voices seemed to answer, 'A soul! a soul!' + +Then, as I watched on, I saw that the precipice was nearly reached, and +that both those who pulled and the weight they were dragging were on the +point of being hurled over, and suddenly it flashed upon me in my dream +that it was _my_ soul for which they were struggling, and I heard +the cry of the pullers from the other side of the green, and it seemed +to me that, with one voice, they were calling out that terrible +question, 'What are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are +being drawn?' And through the streaming light I saw my mother's face, +and a look of anguish crossed it, as suddenly the rope broke, and those +who were drawing it on the opposite side went over with a crash, +dragging my soul over with them. + +I woke in a terror, and cried out so loudly that Duncan came running +into my room to see what was the matter. + +'Nothing, Duncan,' I said, 'I was only dreaming; I thought I had gone +over a precipice.' + +'No, thank God, you're all safe, sir,' he said. 'Shall I open your +window a bit? Maybe the room's close; is it?' + +'Thank you, Duncan,' I answered; 'I shall be all right now. I'm so sorry +I have waked you.' + +'You haven't done that, sir; me and Polly have been up all night with +the little lad. He's sort of funny, too, sir, burning hot, and yet he +shivers like, and he clings to his daddy; so I've been walking a mile or +two with him up and down our chamber floor, and I heard you skriking +out, and says Polly, "Run and see what ails him." So you haven't +disturbed me, sir, not one little bit, you haven't.' + +He left me then, and I tried to sleep, but sleep seemed far from me. I +could hear Duncan's footsteps pacing up and down in the next room; I +could hear little John's fretful cry; I could hear the rain beating +against the casement; I could hear the soughing and whistling of the +wind; I could hear Polly's old eight-day clock striking the hours and +the half-hours of that long, dismal night; but through it all, and above +it all, I could hear the preacher's question, 'What are the depths, the +fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?' + +I found it impossible to close my eyes again, so I drew up the blind, +and, as morning began to dawn, I watched the pitiless rain and longed +for day. The footsteps in the next room ceased as the light came on, and +I concluded that the weary child was at last asleep. I wished that I was +asleep too. I thought how often my mother, when I was a child, must have +walked up and down through long weary nights with me. I wondered +whether, as she did so, she spent the slow, tedious hours in praying for +her boy, and then I wondered how she would have felt, and how she would +have borne it, had she known that the child in her arms would grow up to +manhood, living for this world and not for the Christ she loved. I +wondered if she _did_ know this now, in the far-off land where she +dwelt with God. + +I think I must have dozed a little after this, for I was suddenly roused +by Polly's cheery voice, cheery in spite of her bad night,-- + +'Have a cup of tea, sir, it'll do you good. You've not slept over well, +Duncan says. I'll put it down by your door.' + +I jumped out of bed and brought it in, feeling very grateful to Polly, +and I drank it before I dressed. That's just like a Yorkshire woman, I +thought. My mother came from Yorkshire. + +'I think it must have been nightmare I had last night, Polly,' I said as +I finished my breakfast, and began to put all in order for my morning's +work. + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter VII + +OVER THE LINE + + +I was at my painting early the next morning, for the sun was shining +brightly, and the air was wonderfully clear. My portrait of little Jack +sitting in the boat promised to be a great success. As I was hard at +work upon it that day, I heard a voice behind me. + +'I never thought my little lad would figure in the Royal Academy,' said +the voice. + +It was the voice of Jack's father--the voice which had moved me so +deeply, the voice which had made me tremble, only the day before. Even +as he spoke I felt inclined to run away, lest he should ask me again +that terrible question which had been ringing in my ears ever since. +Even as I talked to him about my picture, and even as he answered in +pleasant and friendly tones, through them all and above them all came +the words which were burnt in upon my memory: 'What are the depths, the +fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?' + +'I hope my children are not troublesome to you,' he said. + +'Oh no,' I answered; 'I love to have them here, and Jack and I are great +friends. Do you know,' I went on, 'he took me into your study the other +day? I am afraid I was taking a great liberty; but the little man would +hear of no refusal--he wanted me to see the old barrel-organ.' + +'What, my dear old organ!' he answered. 'Yes, Jack is nearly as fond of +it as his father is.' + +'His father?' I replied, for it seemed strange to me that a man of his +years should care for what appeared to me scarcely better than a broken +toy. + +'That organ has a history,' he said, as he noticed my surprise; 'if you +knew the history, you would not wonder that I love it. I owe all I am in +this world, all I hope to be in the world to come, to that poor old +organ. Some day, when you have time to listen, perhaps you may like to +hear the story of the organ.' + +'Thank you,' I said; 'the sooner the better.' + +'Then come and have supper with us to-night. Nellie will be very pleased +to see you, and the bairns will be in bed, and we shall have plenty of +time and quiet for story-telling.' + +I accepted his invitation gratefully, for September had come, and the +evenings were growing dark, and my time hung somewhat heavily on my +hands. Polly, I think, was not sorry when she heard I was going out, for +Duncan was away in the boat fishing, and little John was so feverish and +restless that she could not put him down even for a moment. + +The cottage looked very bright and pretty when I arrived, and they gave +me a most kind welcome. A small fire was burning in the grate, for the +evenings were becoming chilly. The bow window was hung with India-muslin +curtains, tied up with amber ribbon, the walls were adorned with +photographs framed in oak, the supper table was covered with a snowy +cloth, and a dainty little meal was laid out with the greatest taste and +care, whilst in the centre was a china bowl, containing the leaves of +the creeper which covered the house, interspersed with yellow bracken +and other beautiful leaves, in every varied shade of their autumn glory. +Jack's mother was evidently a woman of taste. She had a quiet, gentle +face, almost sad at times when it was at rest; but she had Jack's eyes +and Jack's bright smile, which lighted up her face, as a burst of +brilliant sunshine will stream suddenly down a dark valley, and make it +a perfect avenue of light. + +I enjoyed the company of both husband and wife exceedingly, and as we +sat round the table and chatted over our supper all feeling of +constraint passed away, and I no longer heard the words of that question +which had so troubled me all day long. He did not mention the object for +which I had come whilst the meal was going on. We talked of Runswick Bay +and its surroundings, of the fishermen and their life of danger; we +spoke of the children, and of my picture, of my hopes with regard to the +Royal Academy, and of many other interesting topics. + +Then the cloth was removed, and we drew near the fire. I had just said +to him, 'Now for your story,' and he was just beginning to tell it, +when, as I sat down in an arm-chair which Nellie had placed for me by +the fire, my eye fell upon a photograph which was hanging in a frame +close to the fireplace. I started from my seat and looked at it. Surely +I could not be mistaken! Surely I knew every feature of it, every fold +of the dress, every tiny detail in the face and figure. It was the +counterpart of a picture which hung opposite my bed in my London home. + +'However on earth did you get that?' I cried. 'Why, it's my mother's +picture!' + +I think I have never felt more startled than I did at that moment. After +all the thoughts of yesterday, after my dream of last night, after all +my recollection of my mother's words to me, and her prayers for +me--after all this, to see her dear eyes looking at me from the wall of +the house of this unknown man, in this remote, out-of-the-world spot, +almost frightened me. + +I did not realize at first that my host was almost as much startled as I +was. + +'Your mother!' he repeated; 'your mother! Surely not! Do you mean to +tell me,' he said, laying his hand on my arm, 'that your name is +Villiers?' + +'Of course it is,' I said; 'Jack Villiers.' + +'Nellie, Nellie,' he cried, for she had gone upstairs to the children, +'come down at once; who do you think this is, Nellie? You will never +guess. It is Jack Villiers, the little Jack you and I used to know so +well. Why, do you know,' he said, 'our own little Jack was named after +you; he was indeed, and we haven't heard of you for years--never since +your dear mother died.' + +I was too much astonished at first to ask him any questions, and he was +too much delighted to explain where and how he had known me; but after a +time, when we had recovered ourselves a little, we drew our chairs round +the fire, and he began his story. + +'I was a poor little street Arab once,' he said; 'a forlorn boy with no +one to love him or to care for him. But I made friends with an old man +in the attic of the lodging-house who had a barrel-organ.' + +'_That_ barrel-organ?' I asked. + +'The very same,' he said, 'and he loved it as if it was a child. When he +was too ill to take it out himself, I took it for him, and that was how +I first saw your mother.' + +'Was she married then?' I asked. + +'No,' he said with a smile; 'she was quite a little girl, about the age +of our Marjorie. She used to run to her nursery window as soon as she +heard me begin to play. I let her turn the organ one day, and she said +she liked all the tunes, but she liked "Home, Sweet Home" the best of +all.' + +'Did she?' I said. 'Yes, I have often heard her sing it; she sang me to +sleep with it many a time.' + +'As I played it,' he went on, 'she would speak to me of the Home, Sweet +Home above; child as she was, she knew the way to that home, and she +soon found out that I knew nothing about it. "You can't go to heaven if +you don't love Jesus, organ boy," she said, and the tears ran down from +her dear little eyes as she said it. + +'I could not forget those words, and I was determined to find out the +way to the home of which she spoke. + +'My old master was dying; he had only another month to live, and for his +sake I must learn quickly the way to be saved. I attended a mission +service, and I learnt first that no sin can enter the gates of the +Heavenly City. But I learnt more. I learnt that the blood of Jesus +Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin. + +'Your mother taught me a prayer one day when I went to see her. I have +said that prayer, morning and evening, ever since. She gave me a bunch +of snowdrops, tied up with dark green leaves, and she told me to say as +I looked at them, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." + +He stopped for a minute or two after this, and gazed into the fire; the +memory of those old days had stirred him deeply. + +'Please go on,' I said, for I longed to hear more. + +'She came to our attic after that with her mother; they came to see my +old master, and she was pleased to see the snowdrops. She told me that +day, that if I would only say her prayer I should be sure to go to Home, +Sweet Home. + +'Very soon after this my old master died, and on the very day that I was +following him to the grave I saw my poor little friend, your mother, +Jack, in a funeral coach, following her mother to the same place. Then +after that she went abroad, but she did not forget the poor organ boy. +She told her father about me, and he sent money for my education, and +had me trained to be a city missionary in the east of London, to work +amongst the very people amongst whom I had lived. All I am now I owe to +your grandfather. + +'I did not meet your mother after this for many years, not until she was +married to the clergyman in whose parish I worked. + +'Strange to say, we met one day in my old attic, the very attic where my +poor old master had died. She had gone there to visit a sick woman, and +as I went in she was reading to her from the very Testament out of which +her mother had read to my old master, when she had come to see him in +that place, fifteen years before. + +'Soon after this we were married, Nellie and I, and it was your dear +mother who made our little home bright and pretty for us, and who was +there to welcome us to it. How we loved her then, how we love her still! + +'When you were quite a tiny child, she would bring you to see us, and +Nellie used often to say you were the dearest, prettiest child she had +ever known!' + +'I don't remember it,' I said. + +'No, you would be too young to remember it; you were only three years +old when your father left London for a parish in the country, and soon +after came the news of his death, and only a year or so later we heard +your mother was gone too. It was a sorrowful day, Jack, when that news +came. + +'We often wondered about you; we heard that you had gone to live with an +aunt, but we did not even know her name. We tried to find out more, but +we knew no one in the place where you lived, and we never heard what had +become of you.' + +'How strange that I should have been brought here to meet you!' I said. + +'No, not strange,' he said reverently; 'it is the hand of God.' + +And then--I could not help it--I laid my head on my arm as I stood +against the mantel-piece, and I sobbed like a child. + +He did not speak for some minutes, and then he put his arm round me as +tenderly as my mother could have done, and said, 'What is it, Jack? Is +it talking of your mother that has upset you so?' + +'No,' I said, 'it isn't that--I love to talk of her; I love to hear of +her; everything she said is precious to me; it isn't that.' + +'What then?' he said; 'what troubles you, Jack?' + +'It's the thought that I shall never see her again,' I said; 'I know I +shall not. _She_ went one way and _I_ am going another.' + +'Why not turn round and go her way, Jack?' he said cheerily. + +'Oh, I can't,' I said; 'it's no use--I can't turn. There are too many +hands on the wrong end of the rope. I've been miserable ever since I +heard you talk of it. I could not sleep last night for thinking of it. +"What are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?" +those words have never left me, night or day, since you uttered them. I +have tried to shake them off, but I can't.' + +'Don't attempt to shake them off,' he said. 'Oh, Jack, don't try to do +it, for they are the voice of the Spirit of God. But listen to-night to +the One who is calling you. "Come over the line--it is only a step. Come +over the line to _Me_."' + +'I wish I could,' I said. + +'You can do it, and you _must_ do it, Jack,' he said firmly, +'before you leave this room.' + +'Before I leave this room?' + +'Yes, this very instant,' he said. + +'But how can I do it? I don't know how to cross,' I said. + +'You are no dead, lifeless weight on the rope, like a boat or a +handkerchief; you have a will of your own, and it remains with you to +decide which way you want to be drawn, God-ward, Christ-ward, +heaven-ward, or to the fearful depths of which I spoke. God is drawing +you very strongly now, but He never forces a man against his will. He +puts in your hands the power to decide on which side of the line you +will be. Which is it to be, Jack?' + +'Well,' I said, 'I will think it over.' + +'So many have said, and their desire to cross the line has cooled down, +and they have been lost.' + +'I'll come and have a talk with you another day, later on in the week, +if we can make it convenient.' + +'So Felix said, "When I have a more convenient season I will send for +thee," but Felix never did send; he never crossed the line, but he was +drawn over to the fearful depths.' + +'Well, suppose we say to-morrow. It's late now, and you're tired, I +know, and--' + +'God says _to-day_ he said. '"To-day, if ye will hear His voice, +harden not your hearts. Behold, now is the accepted time, now is the day +of salvation."' + +'Tell me _how_ I can come,' I said. + +'"Come over the line to _Me_." There you have it,' he answered. +'The Lord calls you, and you have not far to go. It is only a step. He +stands in this room close to you. He holds out His arms to you. He does +not compel you. He does not force you forward. He calls, and He waits to +receive you. Jack, will you come?' + +'Yes, I will,' I said earnestly; 'I will come.' + +We knelt down together, and I cannot remember the words he said, but I +know that whenever I read in the Gospels those words in the first +chapter of St. John, 'He brought him to Jesus,' I think of that night. I +do not think that Peter and Andrew felt the Lord Jesus more near them in +the booth by the side of the Jordan than we felt Him in that little room +in Runswick Bay. + +I know He was there, and I know something more--I know that I came to +Him. And I know that that night, before we rose from our knees, I +crossed the line, and I was able henceforth to take my place amongst the +glad, thankful people who can say, humbly and yet confidently, 'We know +that we have passed from death unto life.' + + + + +Chapter VIII + +A NIGHT OF STORM + + +It was late when I got back to my lodging, and I walked like one in a +dream. Polly opened the door, and she seemed troubled about the child. +Little John was evidently in pain, for I heard him moaning as I went +upstairs. + +'I should get a doctor, Polly,' I said. + +'So Duncan says, sir; we shall have to send for him in the morning if +he's no better.' + +I slept calmly and peacefully, and I woke up to feel that I was +beginning an entirely new life. Henceforth I was not my own. I was +standing on the heavenward side of the line, and I had taken my place +amongst the servants of Christ. I had never felt so happy before. + +Duncan had set off for the doctor before I was down that morning. Little +John was better, Polly said, but was still very feverish, and would eat +nothing. She brought him down before I went off to my work, wrapped in a +shawl, and I thought he looked very ill, but I did not like to say so. + +Duncan came in just at that moment, and the child put out his arms to +his father, and he took him on his knee by the fire, and when I came +home to dinner he was still lying there. + +'Has the doctor been?' I asked. + +'No, sir; he was out when I called this morning. He had gone to a bad +case, they said, ten miles off, but I left a message. I hope he'll come +before I go this evening. I should be more comfortable like if he did.' + +However, the evening came, and Duncan's mates were whistling for him +from the shore, and the doctor had not appeared. The boy was still in +his father's arms, and he was walking up and down the kitchen to soothe +him. + +'It's hard to leave him, sir,' he said, when he heard the whistle, 'but +he seems a bit better, I think, this afternoon; he hasn't cried so much, +has he, Polly?' + +But I saw there were tears in his eyes as he gave the boy to his mother. + +'I'll walk with you to the shore, Duncan,' I said, for I saw that the +poor fellow was very downcast. + +'Thank you kindly, sir,' he answered. + +I stood on the shore whilst the nets and fishing tackle were put on +board, then he said in a low voice,-- + +'It's a comfort to feel you will be near my poor lass to-night, sir. It +cuts me to the heart to leave her; if anything happens to little John, +whatever would me and my missus do! But the Lord knows, sir--He knows,' +he repeated, and he wiped away a tear which fell on my hand as he +grasped it. + +I went back to Duncan's house, to find the doctor there. It was +influenza and pneumonia, he said, and the boy must be kept in one room. +He was a very silent man, and whether he thought it was a serious case +or not I could not discover. + +I determined not to go to bed that night, but to sit up in my room, in +case I should be of any use. I was really glad of the quiet time for +thought and prayer. + +I am ashamed to confess that I had brought no Bible with me to Runswick +Bay; I had not opened a Bible for years. But when all was quiet in the +house I stole quietly downstairs, and brought up Duncan's Bible, which +was lying on the top of the oak cupboard below. What a well-worn, +well-read Bible it was! I wondered if my mother's Bible had been read +like that. There was his name on the title-page, 'John Duncan, from his +affectionate father.' It had evidently been given to him when a boy, and +underneath the name was written this verse: 'Open Thou mine eyes, that I +may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.' I said that little prayer +before I began to read, and I have said it ever since each time that I +have opened my Bible. + +About twelve o'clock that night the weather became very stormy. A sudden +gale set in, and in a very short time the sea became lashed into a fury. +I have never heard wind like the wind that night. It literally shrieked +and moaned as it blew, and every window and door in the house rattled, +and sometimes I felt as if the cottage itself would be swept away. + +'What a time they must be having out at sea!' I said to myself. + +I went to the window, and putting out my candle, I tried to see out into +the darkness; but I could distinguish nothing whatever, so black was the +sky and so tremendous was the rain. + +It must have been about one o'clock that I heard a step on the stairs. I +opened my door and went out. It was Polly. + +'How is he, Polly?' I asked. + +'Very bad, sir; very bad,' she said. 'He doesn't know me now, and he +won't take anything; and oh, sir, do you hear the wind?' + +Who could help hearing it? It was raging more furiously every moment, +and the house seemed to rock with the violence of the storm. + +'Let me help you, Polly,' I said; 'let me come and sit with you beside +little John.' + +'Well, sir, if you would just stay a few minutes whilst I fetch Betty +Green,' she said; 'I feel as if I dursn't be alone any longer, I'm +getting that nervous, what with little John talking so queer, sir, and +the wind blowing so awful, and his father on the sea!' and Polly burst +into tears. + +'Polly,' I said, 'God is on the sea as well as on the land. Go and fetch +Betty, and I will sit by the child.' + +She went down and opened the door, and the wind rushed into the house +and up the stairs, and I had to shut the bedroom door hastily to keep it +out. Then I heard Polly pulling and pulling at it, and vainly trying to +shut it, and I had to go down to help her. She was some minutes away, +for she had difficulty in rousing her neighbour, and I sat beside the +unconscious child. He was talking the whole time, but I could +distinguish very little of what he said. It seemed to be chiefly about +going with his daddy in his boat, and every now and then he would call +out quite loudly, 'Come, daddy, come, daddy, to little John.' + +When Polly returned with old Betty, I had again to go down to help them +to close the door. + +'What do you think of him, sir?' said Polly. + +I did not like to say what I thought, so I answered, 'Well, perhaps it +would be as well to get the doctor to have another look at him. I'll go +for him if you like.' + +'I don't believe you could manage it, sir,' said Betty. 'You can't stand +outside; me and Polly has been clinging on to the palings all the way, +and it will be terrible up on the top.' + +'Shall I try, Polly?' + +She gave me a grateful look, but did not answer by words. But the two +women gave me so long a description of the way to the doctor's house, +and interrupted each other so often, and at length both talked together +in their eagerness to make it clear to me, that at the end I was more +bewildered and hopelessly puzzled than at the beginning, and I +determined to go to Mr. Christie before I started, in order to obtain +from him full and clear directions. + +It took me quite ten minutes to reach his house, and I felt as if I had +gone through a battle when I arrived there at length, quite spent and +breathless. I saw a light in the lower room, and I found Mr. Christie +and his wife and children sitting in the room where I had passed through +so much the night before. Marjorie and little Jack were in their +nightgowns, wrapped in a blanket, and sitting in the same arm-chair. My +mother's picture was looking at me from the wall, and I fancied that she +smiled at me as I came in. + +'What a terrible night!' said Mrs. Christie. 'The children were so +frightened by the noise of the wind in their attic that we brought them +down here.' + +I told them my errand, and Mr. Christie at once offered to go with me +for the doctor. I shall never forget that walk as long as I live. We +could not speak to each other more than a few necessary words, we were +simply fighting with the storm. Then, to our disappointment, when our +long walk was ended, we found that the doctor was away, and would +probably not return until morning. + +The walk home was, if possible, worse than the walk there, for the wind +was dead against us as we came down the cliff. It had changed somewhat +the last hour, and was now blowing from the north-east. + +'There will be trouble out at sea,' Mr. Christie said, as we stopped to +take breath. + +'And what about the boats?' I asked. + +'Yes,' he said, almost with a groan, 'what about the boats?' + +We could see very little out at sea, though it was beginning to grow +light, but we determined to make our way to the shore, to see all that +it was possible to distinguish. He went home for a moment, and then +followed me to my lodging. Polly and her old friend were still watching +the child. + +'I think he's a little better, sir,' she said; 'he's quieter. Oh, Mr. +Christie, I _am_ glad to see you, sir! Will you pray, sir? I think +I shall hear the wind less if you pray!' + +We knelt down beside the child's bed, but the noise of the storm almost +drowned his voice. At the end of the prayer the child began once more to +cry for his father, so piteously, so beseechingly, that at last I could +bear it no longer, but ran downstairs, to be out of the sound of that +touching little voice. Mr. Christie soon followed me, and we went out +together in the grey light of that terrible morning. + +'The child is dying, Jack,' he said. + +'Oh, don't say so, Mr. Christie!' I answered; 'dying before his father +comes back.' + +'God grant he _may_ come back!' he said; 'look at the sea, Jack.' + +The sea was dashing wildly against the rocks, and the noise of the wind +was so great we could hardly hear our own voices. In the dim uncertain +light we could at length distinguish a group of anxious watchers on the +shore. Some old fishermen were there trying to hold a telescope steady +in the gale, that they might look across the water for any sign of a +boat, and mothers and wives and sweethearts of the absent fishermen were +there also, with shawls tied over their heads, and with troubled and +tear-stained faces, peering out into the dismal light of that sorrowful +morning. + +Mr. Christie and I stood near them, and he spoke from time to time a +word of encouragement and hope to the anxious women beside him. As the +light increased the wind dropped somewhat, and the gale seemed to have +spent its violence. We were thankful to notice, that although the sea +was still very rough, and would be so for hours, the wind was gradually +subsiding; instead of howling and shrieking, as it had done the whole +night long, it was dying away with gentle moans, like a child weary with +passion who is crying himself to sleep. But still there was no sign of +the boats. + +The women on the shore were wet through, and Mr. Christie tried to +persuade them to go home. Their men would want good fires and hot tea on +their return, he told them, and they ought to make ready for them. I was +glad to notice that one by one they followed his advice, and turned to +climb the hill towards their cottages. Then we turned also, and went +back to my lodging. We crept into the room, and found old Betty asleep +in her chair, and Polly holding the little hand in hers as the child +slept. + +'Have the boats come, sir?' she said as we went in. + +'Not yet, Polly; but please God they will come soon.' + +We sat down beside her for a little time, but we presently heard a shout +from the shore. + +'Thank God,' said Polly, 'he's come!' + +The child seemed in some strange way to have heard that shout, and to +have understood its meaning, for he opened his eyes and said, 'Come, +daddy, come to little John.' + +We hurried down to the shore, where a large crowd had already collected. +The whole of Runswick Bay seemed to have gathered together in that short +space of time. We could distinctly see the boats far out at sea, but +wind and tide were with them, and they, were coming rapidly nearer. What +a night they must have had, and what a welcome they would receive from +the watchers on the shore! + +'How many boats went out last night, Bob?' said one man as they drew +nearer. + +'There was eight, Jem,' he said--'the Jane Ann one, Lady Hilda two, the +Susan three, the Mary Ann four, Princess Alice five, the Lightning six, +the Eliza seven, the Alert eight.' + +'Are you sure, Bob?' + +'Quite sure, I saw them start.' + +'Well, there's one missing, Jem,' he said; 'catch hold of this glass, +and just you count.' + +'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.' + +There _was_ one missing, and I felt that I knew which it was before +they came in sight. + +It was the Mary Ann. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter IX + +ASK WHAT YE WILL + + +We had run down the hill as quickly as we possibly could, but we were in +no haste to return. We waited until the boats were drawn in, and the +worn-out fishermen had come on shore. They knew nothing of the Mary Ann; +they had lost sight of her soon after the beginning of the gale. They +told us they had had an awful night, and had thought they would never +reach home in safety. + +'However shall we tell Polly?' I groaned. + +But a cold hand was laid on mine at that instant, and I turned round to +see Polly herself just behind me. She could wait no longer, but had run +down to the shore to hasten her husband up the hill. She was trembling +from head to foot, and seemed ready to faint. The kind-hearted fishermen +crowded round her with words of cheer and comfort. + +'He'll be all right, my lass, never fear. He's put into Saltburn or +Staithes maybe; these gales they drive so far. He'll be home all safe +and sound afore night.' + +But Polly did not seem to hear them. She stretched out her hands feebly +to Mr. Christie and to me as she said: + +'Take me home; I can bear it better there.' + +The fishermen turned away sorrowfully, and there were very few dry eyes +amongst the group which we left on the shore. + +When we reached the house again all was quite still, and as we entered +the bedroom I thought the little soul had passed away, but I bent over +him to listen and to my relief I found he was still breathing. + +As I look back, I hardly know how we lived through that sorrowful day. +The doctor came, and did nothing but shake his head in the ominous way +which doctors have when they feel a case is beyond their power. I think +Polly had so little hope herself that she did not care to ask him what +his real opinion was. + +I went out for a short walk in the afternoon, to get a little fresh air +to strengthen me for the coming night, when I had determined to watch +with Polly beside little John, if he was still living. My young friends, +Bob and Harry, joined me, and we were pacing up and down together +watching the tide come in when we thought we saw a dark speck far out to +sea. + +There were others who saw it also. The coastguard was looking at it +through his telescope, and before very long the shore was covered with +fishermen and their wives, all gazing in the same direction. Whatever +the object was, it was coming rapidly shoreward; wind and tide were both +with it, and it was being borne swiftly along. After a little time we +could distinguish, even without the help of a telescope, what it was, +and I do not think there was anything which we could have been more +aghast to see, for the floating object was a boat bottom upwards, and +being driven rapidly before the tide. + +A groan came from the group of fishermen who were watching, and as the +capsized boat neared shore they ran into the water to meet it. I do not +think it was necessary to look at the name upon it as it was dragged out +of the water: we all did look, however, and we found there the name +which we knew we should see before we looked. It was the Mary Ann. + +I shall never forget the piercing shriek which came from the wife of one +of Duncan's mates, who was standing just behind me, when she read the +name on the boat. I thought the shock and the sorrow had driven her mad, +for she ran screaming up the hill; indeed, I firmly believe that for the +time she was quite out of her mind. + +Poor Polly heard the shrieks of the woman as she ran under her window, +and looking out, she saw the boat on the shore, and guessed the truth at +once. _She_ did not scream nor cry, but she looked as if she had +been turned into stone. No word escaped her lips, not a tear was in her +eye; but she looked as if all her youth had gone in a moment, and as if +she had suddenly become an old and worn-out woman. + +She never looked up as we went in, but bent over little John, moistening +his lips from time to time, and watching his every movement. We tried to +say a few words of comfort, but she did not seem even to hear our +voices. Yet no moan, no sigh from the child was unheard by her; she +seemed to be listening to every breath he drew, as if it might be his +last. + +I thought that terrible day would never have an end. Mr. Christie stayed +with us until dark, and then he took me home with him to supper, that I +might get a little change and rest before my night watch. I think they +knew how tired I was, worn out more by feeling than by want of sleep, +and they were very good to me. I do not think my own mother could have +been more kind to me than Mrs. Christie was that night. She told me that +she would have had a boy nearly as old as I was if he had lived, but he +had died when he was very young; and then they had had no children for +many years, not until Marjorie was born. + +'Your mother was so good to me when my baby died,' she said. 'I thought +I should never be happy again, but she came and talked to me, and made +me look from my sorrow to my little boy's gain, and I think her kindness +to me and the loving words she spoke made me love her more than ever.' + +I felt much better for the good supper, and for the kind words of these +dear people, and I went back determined to do all I could for poor Polly +and her child through that sorrowful night. I felt so grateful to the +Lord Jesus Christ for all He had done for me, and I was very glad to be +able to do any little thing to show my love to Him. It seemed to me +then, and it seems to me still, that the way in which we can please Him +best is by showing kindness to His children. I remembered a verse about +a cup of cold water being noticed by Him, if given for His sake, and I +thought to myself, 'Polly is not in need of cold water, for she is too +cold already, but I might make her a cup of tea.' + +The fire was out, and the little kitchen, which was usually so neat, was +all in confusion. I lighted the lamp that I might see what I was about, +and then I tried to put the little place in order. First I found sticks +and coal, and lighted a fire; then, whilst my fire was burning up, I +cleared the table, carried the dirty plates and cups into the small back +kitchen, found a tablecloth and a clean cup and saucer, and filled the +kettle. As soon as the fire was hot enough I put the kettle on, and +cutting a slice from the loaf I made some nice crisp toast, such as my +aunt used to like when she was ill. Then I heated a plate, and buttered +the toast, and set it down by the fire. By this time the kettle was +boiling and I made the tea, and I said in my heart when all was +finished, 'Lord Jesus, I do this for Thee.' + +Then I went upstairs to my hardest task of all, namely, to persuade +Polly to come down to eat the little meal I had prepared. + +Polly was, as I had expected, most unwilling to leave the child, and at +first she firmly declined to move, and would not listen to my pleading +words. Yet I could see that she was almost fainting, and I knew that she +would need all the strength that she could muster for the night which +lay before us. Who knew what that night would bring? + +I therefore spoke to her very firmly, telling her that I was willing and +anxious to help her in her trouble, but that, if I was to be any use to +her, she must not refuse to go downstairs for a few minutes at least, +and I promised her to watch little John very carefully, and to call her +at once if I saw any change in the child. She obeyed me at last, and I +heard her weary footsteps descending the steep stairs. + +When I was left alone, I saw that Polly's Bible was lying open by the +little oil-lamp which stood on the table, upon which had been placed the +medicine and milk for little John's use. I went up to it, and my eye +fell upon these words:-- + +'If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask _what ye +will_, and _it shall be done unto you_.' + +It seemed to me as if that verse was God's direct message to me that +night. I saw it as clearly and distinctly as if the page had been +lighted with electric light. 'Two conditions and a promise,' I said to +myself; 'if only the conditions are fulfilled, the promise is sure.' + +What are the two conditions? (1) 'If ye abide in Me.' I asked myself if +I was fulfilling _that_ condition. I humbly hoped I was; for, oh, I +longed to be in Christ, saved by Him, more than I longed for anything +else in this world. + +(2) 'If My words abide in you.' Was I fulfilling the +second condition? Again I humbly hoped that I was; +for I felt that if Christ told me to go to the North +Pole, or to an African desert, I would obey gladly. I +would go anywhere, I would do anything, to show Him +how grateful I was for His love to me. + +Then might I claim the promise? I believed that I might. + +I laid Polly's Bible on the bed. I knelt down beside little John. I put +my finger on the promise, and I prayed, as I had never prayed before, +for help in this time of need. I felt very strongly that all power was +in the hands of Christ, and that He who healed the sick on earth had +lost none of His power, now that He was exalted to the throne of God. I +besought Him to come into that room that very night, and to touch and +heal little John. And as I rose from my knees I felt that my prayer was +heard. + +Polly had not returned, so I went to the top of the stairs and listened, +and I heard the sound of sobbing. I was thankful to hear it; the tears +had come at last, and they would relieve the poor, weary, over-strained +heart. + +Little John was very quiet, so I crept downstairs. I found to my joy +that Polly had eaten most of the toast, and had drunk the tea, and now +she was sitting with her feet on the fender and her head in her hands, +sobbing as if her heart would break. What was it that had brought the +tears? She had not cried when the empty boat had come ashore; she had +shed no tear when the doctor's face had told her that he had no hope for +the child; what was it that had helped her to give way to the tears +which were such a relief to her? It was a very simple thing. She had +picked up from the floor a little toy, a tiny roughly-shaped boat, which +Duncan had made for the child, and which had been little John's greatest +treasure. There had come over her such a rush of memories of the happy +days of the past, gone, as she believed, for ever, of the father whose +fingers had so busily carved the boat for his boy, but who would never +come back to her again, and of the little lad passing away from her +also, and leaving his treasured toy behind him. All these sad but lovely +memories came before her, as she took up the little boat and pressed it +to her lips. They came so strongly and with such power, that the tears +which had refused to come before came with them, and brought, as I felt +sure they would, wonderful relief to her over-strained heart. + +'Polly,' I said, 'cheer up, don't lose heart; I believe little John will +recover.' + +'Thank you, sir, thank you,' she said; as she dried her eyes. 'I feel +better now, a deal better, I do. You _have_ been good to me, sir. +I'll go up again to him now.' + +'All right, Polly,' I said; 'I'll make up the fire, and then I'll come +and help you. He's asleep now, Polly.' + +'I'll creep quietly up, then, sir,' she said, and I saw as she rose to +go that the stony look had gone out of her face and that she was herself +again. + +That sleep lasted for hours. It was a quiet night, the wind had quite +gone down, and everything seemed more still after the tumult of the +previous night. I was glad to see that Polly herself at length fell +asleep in her chair; little John's hand lay in hers, and I knew she +would wake with his least movement; but I was pleased to see it, for I +felt sure that even a light sleep would soothe and strengthen her. + +I had just looked at my watch, and had seen that it was nearly half-past +two, when I thought I heard footsteps outside, and a moment afterwards +there came a gentle knock at the door. It seemed a strange time for a +visitor, but I thought probably it was some neighbour come to offer to +help Polly in her long night watch, or perhaps it was Mr. Christie come +to see how we were getting on. I crept softly downstairs, lest either +Polly or the child should wake, and carefully unfastening the bolts I +opened the door. + +I nearly yelled with joy when I saw who was standing there. Never in all +my life have I been more glad to see any man than I was that night to +see Duncan, alive and uninjured, whilst all day long I had been +picturing him being driven backwards and forwards by the waves, a +drowned corpse at the mercy of the relentless sea. + +He grasped my hand and came in to the fire, but at first he could not +speak. + +'Sir,' he said at last, in a broken voice, 'am I too late? Tell me the +truth, sir; don't hide it over like; is little John dead?' + +'No, Duncan,' I said, 'he still lives, and he is asleep; and, Duncan, I +believe he will be given back to you.' + +'Thank God!' he said; 'thank God for that!' + +For just a moment a doubt crossed my mind as to whether I ought to give +him this hope, and yet I rebuked myself for this doubt, for I was +clinging to the promise, and the word of the Lord was sure, and I +believed that if what I asked was good for these poor souls it +_must_ be granted to me. + +Duncan had now sat down in his arm-chair, and by the light of the fire I +could see that he was faint and exhausted. He leant back wearily for +some time and seemed unable to speak. I had left the kettle on the fire, +and I hastened to give him a cup of tea and something to eat. + +Then I crept upstairs to see what was going on, but finding Polly and +little John were still both fast asleep, I came back to him. He was +better for the tea, and able to talk to me. + +'I've had an awful time, sir,' he said, in answer to my inquiry. 'Many +and many's the time since I was a boy that I've been near the dark +valley, but this time, why, I think I've been half-way down it, sir. +How's my poor lass, sir?' + +'Very cut up, Duncan,' I said. 'She thinks you are dead. Your boat came +up with last night's tide.' + +'Poor Polly, poor lass!' he said; 'I'll go to her.' + +'Wait a little, Duncan,' I said; 'she is asleep now, and she will bear +the joy better when she wakes.' + +'And my little lad?' he asked. + +'Sleeping too, Duncan, so peacefully and quietly.' + +'Well, it's hard not to go up, sir, but may be you're right.' + +He waited very patiently for an hour, and when I crept up again at the +end of that time Polly and the child were both awake, and she was giving +him some milk. Little John was quite conscious, and looked more like +himself than he had done since his illness began. He had no sooner +finished his milk, however, than he began his old weary cry, 'Come, +daddy, come to little John.' + +Polly burst into tears again when she heard him calling for the father +whom she believed to be dead; but I bent over the child and said, 'Yes, +little John, daddy will come to you.' + +I believe Polly fancied that I thought the child was dying, and that I +meant his father's spirit was coming to fetch him, for she only cried +the more bitterly and said, 'Oh, little John, little John!' + +But when I added, 'Shall I fetch daddy, little John?' she sprang to her +feet and looked at me wildly, but without speaking a word. + +There was no need for me to say more, for she heard the sound of a +well-known footstep on the stairs, and in another moment she was in her +husband's arms. + +I felt then that my work was over, and that the best thing that I could +do would be to go to bed. But I glanced back from the door as I went +out, and I saw the little hands held out, and I heard Duncan sob like a +child as he cried, 'Oh, my little lad, my own little John, I never +thought to see you again!' + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter X + +WE KNOW + + +The next day Duncan was able to tell me what he had passed through +during that terrible night. It seems he was separated from the other +boats by the very first outburst of the gale, and never saw them again +through the long hours of that night of storm. For some considerable +time he and his mates, by straining every nerve, were able to keep the +water out of their boat; but as the night went on, and the sea grew +rougher and the waves seemed mountains high, they were compelled at last +to own that their attempt was hopeless. 'At that time,' said Duncan, 'I +just trusted my soul again to Christ, for I expected the next wave would +sweep us to the bottom.' + +'Was I frightened, sir, did you say? No, I think not; I felt more awed +like, if you understand, and in them few moments all sorts of thoughts +seemed to be running through my head, but through them all was the +thought of my poor lass, of Polly and little John. Yes, sir, of Polly +and little John, and I cried to Him as alone could help me, "O God," I +said, "save me, for Polly and little John want me so bad!" And He heard +my prayer, sir. I've often thought how them fishermen cried to Him in +the storm that day, "Master, save us, we perish!" they said; and He +heard their cry, didn't He, sir? And He heard mine. Yes, He heard mine, +for when the wave did come which carried us over, the Mary Ann was +driven right past where we were struggling in the water, and we caught +hold on her. We clung on for dear life, sir, but we couldn't have clung +there many minutes, for the sea was that cold and icy our hands was +well-nigh frozen. But God Almighty knew how to save us, and He sent a +steamer to pick us up, in less than ten minutes after we went overboard. +And they _were_ good to us, sir, for all they were foreign folk +aboard. They warmed us, and gave us hot coffee, and lent us dry clothes, +and they ran into the Hull docks in the afternoon and landed us there. +Well, sir, you may be sure I came home as quick as ever I could, for I +thought maybe I should never see my little lad again. Hasn't God been +good to us, now hasn't He, sir?' he concluded, as he gently patted his +little boy's hand. + +The doctor gave a much better report of little John that day, although +he said he was not yet out of danger. But from that time he improved +slowly but steadily, and before very long he was able to lie once more +in his father's arms, and to stroke his face with his little thin hand. + +It was very touching to see the love and the gratitude of both Duncan +and Polly; they could not say enough about the help and comfort I had +given them in their time of trouble, small though I felt these to have +been. If I had been a prince, I think they could not have made more of +me, and I believe I should have been altogether spoiled if I had stayed +in Runswick Bay much longer. + +I had not touched my picture the whole of that week, for whilst our +anxiety lasted I had no heart or desire to paint. On Saturday I saw +Marjorie and little Jack giving out their pink papers, and I went to +meet them. + +'One for you, big Mr. Jack,' said the merry little rogue, as he threw it +up in the air for me to catch. + +The subject for the following day I saw was to be these two words--WE +KNOW. I thought, as I put the paper in my pocket, how much had passed +since last Sunday, and I thought also how differently I felt with regard +to the service on the shore, from what I had done when I received the +last pink paper. I had certainly no wish to run away to Kettleness, to +be out of the way when it took place. + +Sunday morning was bright and beautiful, and little John was so much +better that his father was able to leave him and to take his place in +the choir. I stood close to the old boat, and Jack put his hand in mine, +and let me look at his hymn-book as he sang. + +There was a large congregation, the fine day had tempted them out, and I +think the danger of their companions and their narrow escape from death +had stirred the hearts of the fishermen, and had made many of them feel +that 'it is not all of life to live, nor all of death to die.' + +'My mates are here to-day, sir,' whispered Duncan, as he went forward to +take his place in the boat; 'it's the first time I've been able to +persuade them to come. They see the good of it now, sir, you see.' + +Never have I heard any man pray more earnestly for a blessing than Mr. +Christie did that day, but I do not think even he prayed more earnestly +than I did. My whole heart went out to God that day, for was it not my +first Sunday on the right side of the line? + +And then came the address, and I never noticed a congregation more +attentive than was that one gathered on the shore that September +morning. I can remember even now a good deal of the sermon. + +'WE KNOW,' he said; 'those are strong words, confident words. It is not, +_We imagine_, or _We think_. It is not even _We hope_, that would be +wonderful; but it is something clearer and far more distinct than that; +it is WE KNOW. + +'If I were to ask you fishermen, you visitors, you mothers, you little +children, this question, "Do you _imagine_ you are on the shore +now? Do you _think_ you are here to-day? Do you _hope_ you are +listening to me?" what would you answer me? + +'You would say, "Mr. Christie, it is not a case of imagining, or +thinking, or hoping; we _know_ we are here; we are sure of it." + +'Now notice, that is the strong, confident word used in my text to-day. +The holy apostle John stands side by side with all of us who have come +to Christ, and he bids us join with him in these glad, happy, thankful +words, "We know that we have passed from death unto life." We know, we +are persuaded, we are sure, that we are on the right side of the line. +We know that we have left the company of the servants of sin, and are +now the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +'Dear friends, I would now ask each of you very earnestly, Can you say +that? Can you take your stand by the apostle John, and say, "_I +know_ that _I_ have passed from death unto life?" + +'I think I hear some one answer in his heart, "Well, that's a great deal +for any man to say, and I don't see that any man can know in this life +if he is saved or not; when he gets to heaven he'll know he is all +right, but not till then." + +'Now look again at my text. It does not say, "We _shall_ know"; it +does not say, "We hope soon to know"; but it speaks in the present. It +runs thus: "We _know_ that we have passed from death unto life." So +you see it _is_ possible, nay, it is right, that you and I should, +one by one, take up the words and say, "_I know_." + +'Do I hear some one saying in his heart, "I do wish I could say that? I +should be a happier man if I could. When I go out in my boat, and the +storm rages, and I don't know whether I shall ever see land again, it +would be a good thing if I could look up through the wind and tempest, +and could say gladly, I know that I have passed from death unto life."' + +I thought I heard a groan when he said this, and I looked round, and saw +one of Duncan's mates burying his face in his hands. + +'Do I hear one of you mothers say, "When I lie awake at night, and the +baby will not let me sleep, and I get out and look from my window at the +stars shining down upon me, I would give a great deal to say, as I think +of the heaven above those stars, 'I know that I have passed from death +unto life'"? + +'And you, my friend, when the day comes, as come it will, when you lie +on your bed, and you see by the doctor's face that you will never get +out of it again; when you say to yourself, as the neighbours sit round, +"This is my dying bed, and they are watching to see me die," oh, what +would you not give at that solemn time to be able to say, "I know that I +have passed from death unto life"? + +'Do you want to be able to say it? You cannot want it more than God +wants to hear you say it. The Christ stands on the shore beside us +to-day, and He yearns with unutterable longing, that each man, each +woman, each child here present, should be able to take up the words of +my text, and say, "I know that I have passed from death unto life."' + +Then he went on to tell us that it was not a long, weary, toilsome +journey which we had to travel to reach the Christ. He was present +amongst us now. He was very near to each one of us; His arms were wide +open. He was waiting to receive each one who was willing to cross the +line; one step would be sufficient, one step into those open arms. Then +we ended by singing a hymn, which seemed to me a very beautiful one:-- + + 'Only a step to Jesus! + Believe, and thou shalt live: + Lovingly now He's waiting, + And ready to forgive. + + Only a step to Jesus! + A step from sin to grace: + What has thy heart decided? + The moments fly apace. + + Only a step to Jesus! + Oh, why not come and say, + "Gladly to Thee, my Saviour, + I give myself away?" + Only a step, only a step, + Come, He waits for thee; + Come, and thy sin confessing, + Thou shalt receive a blessing: + Do not reject the mercy + He freely offers thee.' + + +I was glad to see at the end of the service that Duncan's mate was still +sitting under the old boat with his hands over his face. He had +evidently felt the sermon very much, and when he rose to go home after +the others had dispersed, I saw Mr. Christie walking by his side. + +That was a lovely Sunday evening. The storm of the week before seemed to +have cleared the air, and there was a golden light over everything, +until the sun went down behind the hill. I spent the evening at Mrs. +Christie's, for Polly was still fully occupied with the child, and was +not able to attend to much of the work downstairs. Duncan did the +cooking now, and the washing up and the cleaning, and I never saw a more +handy man. He waited on me hand and foot, as if I was a lord; but I felt +that I was giving the dear fellow a great deal of trouble, and was glad, +therefore, to accept Mrs. Christie's invitation to have tea and supper +at their house. + +Little Jack welcomed me with the greatest joy. He was so delighted to +have me at tea, and contemplated me with so much delight and interest +from his high chair by my side, that he quite forgot to eat his own tea, +and had to be recalled from his admiration of me, time after time, by +his mother. After tea he told her he had a great secret to confide to +her; he dragged her from the room and led her upstairs, and then with +closed doors, and in a whisper so low that she could scarcely +distinguish the words, he told her solemnly, 'I do love big Mr. Jack +very much,' which secret his faithless mother was treacherous enough to +reveal to me, after we had been upstairs that evening to see little Jack +in bed. + +After we came down, Mrs. Christie lighted the lamp, and we were sitting +cosily round the fire talking of my mother, when suddenly there came a +knock at the outer door. + +'Who can it be?' said Mrs. Christie hastily; 'some one must be ill, I +think, so few people come on Sunday.' + +She was going to the door, but her little maid had already opened it, +and coming into the parlour she announced,-- + +'There's a gentleman, sir, at the door, says as how he wants Mr. +Villiers, sir.' + +'A gentleman!' I repeated in astonishment, 'wanting me!' + +'Yes, sir, he says he wants you very pertickler, he does.' + +I went quickly to the door, wondering very much who could be there, and +to my great astonishment I found my friend Tom Bernard, with a black bag +in his hand, eagerly awaiting my approach. + +'Found at last, old chap,' he cried when he saw me; 'why, I've been +hunting for you all over in this rabbit-warren of a place, till at last +some of these fisher-lads told me you were in here.' + +'And what are you doing here, Tom?' I exclaimed. + +'Doing here! Why, I've come to see you, of course, old fellow; what else +should I have come for? I set off early this morning, and I thought I +would give you a bit of a surprise. Are these your diggings?' + +'No,' I said, 'I'm only spending the evening here; but I'll come back +with you at once.' + +I went in for a moment to explain my sudden departure to Mr. and Mrs. +Christie, and then I went with Tom to my lodgings. He looked vastly +amused when he saw Duncan's house, and when I told him that I had been +there all the time he seemed to think it a capital joke. + +'There's no room for me, I'm afraid,' he said, as he looked with an +amused smile round my bedroom. + +'No, indeed, Tom,' I said, 'and, joking apart, I would not ask you to +come here if there was room; the hotel at the top of the hill will suit +you better.' + +Polly was sitting beside little John, but I tapped at the door, and told +her a friend of mine had just arrived from London, and asked her if she +thought it would be possible to get him some tea. Just at this moment +Duncan came in, and the two good souls did all in their power to do +honour to my guest. The whitest tablecloth was spread on the round +table, the very finest herrings were cooked, round after round of crisp +brown toast was buttered and put before the fire to keep hot, and all +was ready in so short a time that Tom was astonished. + +He did full justice to the meal, and seemed to appreciate my quarters +better after he had partaken of it. Then he declared himself tired out, +so I walked with him up to the hotel. He was in high spirits, and was +much looking forward to the time we were to have there together, and to +all the walks we should take to the places round. + +Was I glad that he had come? I asked myself this question many times +that night. I was fond of Tom; he had been like a brother to me, and +yet--and yet--I wished he had not come to Runswick Bay. + +Why was this? Why would I have kept him away if I could? I asked myself +this question many times, as I came slowly down the hill that night. + +Was it because it would be a hindrance to my work? No, for my picture +had made good progress, and I could work it up even better in my studio +at home. Besides which, Tom was a good-natured fellow, and would sit +smoking and chatting in the old boat whilst I painted. + +Was it that I wanted to be quiet, and to enjoy my present surroundings +without interruption? No, surely, for Tom's company had always been +pleasant to me, and I could not look upon him as a stranger. + +Why was it, then, that I felt almost sorry that he had followed me here? +I had a suspicion of the right answer to that question, but I did not +own it, even to myself, till I entered my lodging. + +Duncan was reading a chapter aloud to Polly, as he always did before +going to bed. He stopped when he saw me come in, but I said, 'Go on, +Duncan, never mind me; I shall like to listen.' And the very first words +that Duncan read seemed to me to contain the answer to my question. + +'He that is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man +be ashamed.' + +Yes, that was the reason. I was sorry that Tom had come, because I was +ashamed of my Master. Since I had seen him last I had changed my +service. I used to be a servant of sin, living for self, pleasing self +in all things. Now, I had crossed the line, I had joined the company of +Christ's servants, and I was afraid of Tom finding it out. + +In London I thought I should have seen less of him, and it would have +dawned on him gradually; but here he would discover it at once. And I +dreaded his doing so. Yes, I was a downright coward, ashamed of the One +who had died for me. This was not a comfortable reflection, but I was +convinced that it was the truth. + +What would be the best thing to do? Should I say anything to Tom about +it in the morning? I thought at first that I would speak, and I made up +several sentences with which I meant to begin; but the more I thought of +it so much the more my heart failed me, and I decided at length that my +best plan would be to let Tom find it out for himself. + + + + +Chapter XI + +LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK + + +I think Tom very much enjoyed that week at Runswick Bay. The more he saw +of the place the more he liked it. He and Duncan got on famously +together. They smoked together on a seat above the house, and Duncan +told him stories of shipwrecks and storms, whilst I sat painting just +below them. + +One night he even persuaded Duncan to let him go out with him fishing, +and Duncan confided to me afterwards, 'That there friend of yours, sir, +he's a real handy chap; knows how to use his fingers, sir, and isn't +afraid of a drop of salt water neither.' + +We came across Mr. Christie on the shore the very first time that we +went out together, and I introduced him as a friend of my mother whom I +had been delighted to find in this out-of-the-way place; and Tom talked +very pleasantly to him, and I think liked him. + +'What is he doing here, Jack?' he said. 'He does not look like the rest +of them.' + +'He is a lay-preacher,' I said. + +'Whatever in the world is a lay-preacher?' said Tom laughing. + +I did not answer, but called his attention to little Jack, who was +running along the shore after his red cap, which had been carried off by +a gust of wind. + +'That's his little boy,' I said, 'and my namesake; they lived in my +father's parish in London, and Mr. Christie and his wife adored my +mother. It was seeing her photograph on the wall of their room which +made them discover who I was.' + +'What a splendid little fellow!' said Tom as the child came up to us. +'So you are Jack, are you?' + +'Yes, I'm little Jack, and he's big Jack,' said the boy roguishly, +looking at me. + +I was not surprised that Tom made friends very quickly with my little +favourite, for he was wonderfully fond of children, and many were the +games which he and the two children had together whilst I was at work. + +Every evening Tom and I walked together, and we explored all the country +for miles around. Sometimes we went by train and walked back by the +cliffs. The train seemed to land us at each station in the midst of +fresh beauty, and I came to the conclusion that Yorkshire was indeed, +what I had always been told by my mother, the most beautiful county in +England. + +'Now, Jack,' said Tom on Saturday morning, 'we'll have a really good day +to-morrow. You won't want to paint, will you?' + +'No,' I said hurriedly, 'I don't paint on Sundays.' + +'All right,' he said, 'it's much the best plan; you come fresher to it +on Monday. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." That old +couplet must have been made for you, Jack. Well, then, let's see, where +shall we go? Suppose we make a long day of it, and go to Scarborough. We +must see Scarborough before we go home, must we not? We will go by the +early train, and come back as late as we can. The worst of it is there +are not so many trains to choose from on Sunday, but I daresay we shall +find one that will suit'; and, without saying another word, he went off +to my lodging for a _Bradshaw_. + +What was I to do? A few weeks ago a Sunday spent in pleasure would have +been just what I should have chosen, and many a time had Tom and I been +up the river on Sunday together. There was hardly a place within easy +distance up the Thames which we had not visited in this way. But now I +felt very differently about these things. Sunday was my Master's own +day: every moment of it, I felt, must be consecrated to Him. No one had +talked to me about Sunday observance, but my conscience told me very +clearly what was right in the matter. Yet, although I had no doubt as to +what I ought to do in the matter, I am ashamed to say that for some time +I hesitated. Tom would be so terribly disappointed, I said to myself, +and he had been a good friend to me, and I did not want to vex him; +surely there would be no great harm in obliging him this once! Besides, +when I get to Scarborough I may have time to go to church, and then, +after all, where is the difference? I argued with myself; I shall take a +longer journey to church, that is all. + +And then Tom came back, full of his plans for the day. He had already +settled the train we were to catch, and he told me that he looked +forward to seeing Scarborough immensely, as his mother had stayed there +a year ago, and she had told him it was the most beautiful +watering-place she had ever visited. + +I tried to feel pleased with what Tom had arranged, but in my heart I +was very miserable, and just at that moment who should appear but +Marjorie and Jack, distributing the pink papers containing the +invitation to the service on the shore. I turned away when I saw them +coming. I looked towards the sea, and took my little telescope from my +pocket, that I might seem to be intent on watching a distant steamer. +What would Duncan say? What would Mr. Christie say? What would my little +friend Jack say, when I did not appear at the shore service? And how +shocked they would be when they heard I had gone off for a day's +pleasure! + +I hoped that the children would pass us by, and would go to a large +group of fishermen standing on the shore just beyond us. But I was not +to escape thus. Marjorie came up to Tom and presented him with a paper, +and she was going to give one to me, but my little friend stopped her, +'No, no, Marjorie,' he said in his most fascinating tones, 'let me give +one to my own Mr. Jack. I always give you one my own self, don't I, big +Jack?' + +I patted him on the head and took the paper, but I did not answer, and +the children passed on. Tom opened his paper and read it aloud,-- + +'"There will be a short service on the shore next Sunday morning." Oh, +indeed,' he said, 'that's what they're after, is it? Distributing +notices for some Methodist meeting. Is that where Christie holds forth?' + +'Yes,' I said, 'he preaches every Sunday.' + +'Well, Mr. Christie,' he went on, 'you won't have _me_ there to +hear you. I hate those canting meetings, don't you, Jack? +_Subject_. Ah, he tells us his subject beforehand, does he? Very +kind of him, I'm sure! _Subject: Where are you going_? Ah,' said +Tom, 'that's soon answered: I'm going to Scarborough, old fellow, and a +jolly good day I hope to have there'; and he threw the little pink paper +into the air, and the wind carried it far out to sea. + +[Illustration] + +All this time I had never spoken a word. A great battle was going on in +my heart. Conscience was speaking very loudly, and telling me that I +could not possibly take my pleasure on my Master's own day, but the +tempter's voice was arguing that the time to speak had not yet come, and +that perhaps for this once it would be better to yield to Tom's wishes, +and that I might talk to him quietly about it, and make a fresh start +after our return to London. + +And so the day wore away, and evening came, and Tom had no idea whatever +that I had even hesitated about going with him to Scarborough. I never +spent a more unhappy day. I avoided Mr. Christie, lest he should say +anything to me about the service on the following day. I was not even +happy with Duncan. Tom had gone off to Saltburn, leaving me, as he +supposed, to put some finishing touches to my picture; but I had no +heart for painting, and only got my easel and painting materials out to +put them away again directly. + +Polly was in good spirits that day, for little John was so much better +that he was able to sit on the floor and play, and, as I stood looking +out of my small casement window, I watched her washing up in a tub +standing on a wooden stool outside her door, and I heard her singing to +herself as she did so. Most of the visitors had left Runswick Bay now, +for it was late in the season, but the shore was covered with the +village children--boys and girls without shoes and stockings, wading in +the pools and running far out into the shallow sea. It was a pretty +sight, the grey, quiet water, the strips of yellow sand, and the cliff +covered with grass and flowers. + +But I could not enjoy the scene that Saturday evening; even my artistic +eye, of which I used sometimes to boast, failed me then. I was feeling +thoroughly uncomfortable, and the most lovely view on earth would have +failed to charm me at that moment. + +There is a verse in the Bible which says, 'A little child shall lead +them,' and whenever I hear that verse I think of that evening in +Runswick Bay. For I was still gazing out of my window, looking at I knew +not what, when I heard a well-known little voice just beneath me. + +It was Jack. He had come down the hill beneath Duncan's cottage, so that +I had not seen him until he spoke to me below the window. + +'Mr. Jack,' he said, 'what are you doing up there? Are you _very_ +busy?' + +'No, old man,' I said, 'I'm not busy.' + +'Then _do_ come out, that's a dear, big Mr. Jack; I do want you so +much.' + +Who could resist the pleading little face, and the pretty, fascinating +voice of that child? He would have a hard heart who could do so. I ran +downstairs, and a minute afterwards I was racing with Jack on the wet +sands, for the tide was fast going out, and was helping him to fly a +small kite which his father had bought for him in Whitby. We had a fine +time together on the shore, until at last a towel was hung out of the +top window in the Christies' house, as a sign that it was Jack's +bedtime. Though he was wild with joy and excitement, the obedient little +fellow at once stopped his play, and told me mother wanted him, and he +must go. + +'I'm coming for you to-morrow morning, Mr. Jack,' he said. + +'To-morrow morning, Jack?' + +'Yes, for church,' said the child, putting up his dear little chubby +face to be kissed. 'Don't go without me, will you, Mr. Jack?' + +'Well, I'm not sure I'm going to-morrow, little man,' I said +reluctantly, 'so you had better not call for me.' + +'Not going to church!' said Jack, in a very shocked voice. 'Why not, +Mr. Jack?' + +'I'm going to Scarborough for the day with my friend Tom,' I said. +'I shall go to church in Scarborough, Jack.' + +I shall never forget the expression of that child's face as long as I +live; it was a mixture of surprise, sorrow and dismay. 'Mr. Jack, do you +know it's God's day to-morrow?' was all that he said, however; and as at +this moment his mother called him from the bedroom window, he ran off +without another word. + +'Do you know it's God's day?' I asked myself when the little boy had +gone. 'Yes, I do know,' I answered aloud, 'and He is my Master, and my +Master's day shall be kept for Him and for His service.' + +I walked to a lonely place on the shore where the sea had undermined the +cliff, and had made strange holes and caves, which could only be entered +at low tide. I clambered over the rocks, and crossed about half a mile +of slippery seaweed, until I came to one of these weird places. Creeping +inside, I felt myself safe from any human eye. I was alone--alone with +my Master. + +I cannot tell you all that passed during the half-hour that I spent in +that lonely cave, but I know this, that I came out of it feeling that my +Master had indeed given me the strength for which I had pleaded, the +strength to act as His faithful and true servant. + +I was waiting outside the station when Tom's train came in from +Saltburn. He had not expected to see me again that night, and seemed +pleased that I had come to meet him. + +'I think we shall have a fine day to-morrow, old boy,' he said; 'what +a dew there is! My feet are quite wet with it.' + +'Tom,' I said, 'I came to meet you to-night because I wanted to tell you +something. I am sorry, very sorry, to disappoint you, but I can't go +with you to-morrow.' + +'Why ever in the world not, Jack?' he said. 'I thought you were so keen +on seeing Scarborough.' + +'Yes, Tom,' I said, 'but I am still more keen on something else.' + +'What's that?' he asked; 'do you mean Redcar? It's a stupid place, Jack: +nothing in the world to see, I assure you.' + +'No, Tom, I don't mean that. I don't want to change our plan. I had +rather see Scarborough than any other place; I'll give myself a holiday +on Monday, and go with you gladly, Tom; but I can't go to-morrow.' + +'Nonsense, Jack!' he said angrily. 'You _can_ go if you like; +what's to hinder you? If you are willing to go at all, why on earth +can't you go to-morrow?' + +'Simply because to-morrow is Sunday, Tom.' + +'And if it is Sunday, what of that?' said my friend. '"The better the +day, the better the deed," and it's ridiculous your talking in this +saintly way about Sunday, when to my certain knowledge you've spent +every fine Sunday boating on the river for the last two years or more. +No, no, my friend, that won't go down with me.' + +'Tom,' I said, 'it's all quite true what you say. I have, I know I have, +spent my Sundays in boating or in taking my pleasure in some other way, +and I am more sorry for it, Tom, than I can tell you. But since I came +here--' + +'Since you came here,' Tom interrupted me, 'you've gone and turned +Ranter or Methodist, or something of that sort, and you've got your head +full of all sorts of insane and ridiculous ideas.' + +'Since I came here, Tom,' I said, taking no notice of his last remark, +'I have seen what I never saw before--that I am a great sinner; and I +have found what I never found before--that Jesus is a great Saviour.' + +'Well, I wish you had never come to Runswick Bay, if this is the absurd +way you are going on, Jack, and after all the good old times we've had +together too.' + +'And why shan't we have good times together still, dear old Tom?' I +said. 'I have entered the service of a new Master, that's all; and, +Tom,' I said timidly, 'I wish He was your Master too.' + +Tom made no answer, but swung his stick round and round, and slashed at +the thistles and the ox-eye daisies which grew by the roadside. I tried +to make one or two remarks, but I saw he was very much upset by what I +had said, and he did not answer me. He was vexed with me, and perhaps he +was a little uncomfortable besides, and I felt it was far wiser to say +no more. + +He did not speak again until we reached the hotel, and then he simply +said, 'Good-night, Jack, I'm sorry you've gone and made such a fool of +yourself'; and I went down the hill, feeling as if I had lost my friend, +and as if the old days and old companionship were dead and buried for +ever. + +But if I had lost one friend, I felt I had gained another. Mr. Christie +was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill, and he proposed that we +should take a turn together on the shore. Nellie was expecting me to +supper, he said; he had told Duncan I was going there, and the moon was +coming out, and a good stretch on the sands would make us enjoy it all +the more. + +We had walked across the bay, and were standing gazing out seawards, +when he suddenly put his arm in mine. + +'What is it, Jack?' he said kindly, 'something is troubling you this +evening.' + +'Yes, you are right,' I said. 'However did you know, Mr. Christie? I am +bothered a bit; the fact is, I'm ashamed of myself, I've been such a +coward.' + +'What have you been doing, Jack? You don't mind telling me, do you?' + +'Not at all, Mr. Christie, I would rather tell you,' I said; and then I +gave him an account of the last week, of my fear of Tom, and how very +nearly--I was ashamed to say it--I had yielded to him about the outing +to-morrow. Then I spoke of my friend, and I told him I was afraid I had +lost him through my plain speaking. + +'Never mind, Jack,' he said, 'the Master must come first, and it does +happen very often that when He is put in His right place we have to give +up a great deal. He knew we should have to do it, and He spoke some very +plain words about it: "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is +not worthy of Me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not +worthy of Me." You would like to be worthy of Him, Jack?' + +'I shall never be that, Mr. Christie,' I said. + +'No,' he said; 'you are right, we are all unworthy of Him; but when we +love Him, we do long to do that which is pleasing in His sight. And, +remember, there is always the hundredfold, Jack, always the Master's +reward for anything we give up for Him.' + +'Yes, in heaven,' I said softly. + +'No, Jack, not in heaven, but on earth. Do you remember how the Master's +words run: "He shall receive an hundredfold _now, in this time_, +and in the world to come, life everlasting." The hundredfold is to be +enjoyed _here_, the everlasting life _there_.' + +'I never noticed that before,' I said. + +'I have proved it true, Jack, abundantly true. I sometimes think I have +got beyond the hundredfold. And then beyond, there lies the life +eternal.' + +'My mother is enjoying that,' I said. + +'Yes, indeed,' he answered; 'and her boy will enjoy it too in God's good +time, for does not the Master say of all those who belong to Him, "I +give unto them eternal life?" "I am come that they might have life, and +that they might have it more abundantly"?' + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter XII + +WHERE ARE YOU GOING? + + +I shall never forget my last Sunday in Runswick Bay. It was at the end +of September, and was one of those gloriously brilliant days which we +get in the early autumn, when the sky is cloudless, when the air is +fresh and clear, and when the autumnal tints on trees, hedges, ferns and +brambles make the landscape gorgeous and extremely beautiful and +fascinating. + +The high cliff above the bay was a perfect study in colour that morning; +I have never seen more splendid colouring, every varied shade of red and +gold and green was to be found there. + +'Tom will be off to Scarborough,' I said to myself as I dressed. 'What a +grand day he has got!' + +But I did not wish myself with him; no, I was both glad and thankful to +look forward to a quiet and peaceful Sunday. + +There were not many visitors still at Runswick, most of them had left +the week before; but the fishermen came in great numbers to the service, +and the green was covered with them when little Jack and big Jack +appeared, hand-in-hand as usual. Duncan was in the choir, but Polly +thought the wind rather cold for little John, so had remained with him +at home. A good many women and children were present, however, and the +bank was covered with mothers and babies, sitting at a little distance, +lest the noise of the children should disturb the preacher or the +listeners. + +What was it that made me think of Tom just as the service began? Was it +a shepherd's plaid cloth cap, of the kind Tom wears, which I saw on the +head of some visitor who was sitting almost out of sight on the seaward +side of the bank? Such small things bring people and things before us +sometimes, and my thoughts wandered to Scarborough for a few minutes, +and I wondered what Tom was doing at that moment. I thought to myself +how he would smile, if he saw me sitting under the old boat and +listening attentively to an open air preacher. + +But my thoughts did not wander long, for when the service began every +word of it seemed to be for me. + +WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I had worked the subject out in my mind before I +came to the service, and had quite decided what line of thought Mr. +Christie would take. I thought he would picture the two roads, the one +leading to life, the other to destruction; and then I imagined that he +would speak of the blessedness of being on the narrow road, and would +dwell very vividly on the awful consequences of continuing to walk on +the road leading to hell. But I found that my idea of what his sermon +would be was quite a mistaken one. + +'Where are you going? My question to-day,' he said, 'is addressed only +to some of you; would to God it were addressed to you all! I speak +to-day to those who have crossed the line, who have run into the loving +Saviour's arms, who have become servants of Christ. + +'My friends, my dear friends, where are you going? What does the Master +say? He calls to every one of His servants, and He says, "If any man +serve Me, let him follow Me, and _where I am_ there shall also My +servant be." + +'Servant of Christ, where are you going? The Master answers you, WHERE +I AM. + +'And where is that? A little group of men are standing on the Mount of +Olives; above them is the deep blue sky, and they are gazing earnestly +upward, for their Master is rising far above them, and even as they +watch a cloud receives Him out of their sight. Yet still He ascends +higher and yet higher, and as He rises countless angels attend Him. He +is joined by company after company of the heavenly host, who have come +out to meet their King. At length heaven's gates are reached, and the +cry goes forth, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye +everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." Amidst heaven's +most joyful music the Master passes within to the Heavenly Jerusalem, +the glad, glorious Home. Every care, every sin, every sorrow is left +outside; within all is sunshine, all is joy. And as heaven's gates are +closing, we hear the Master's voice. He leaves us a word of hope, "Where +I am, _there_ shall also My servant be." + +'Oh, fishermen, oh, friends, think of that! If you are His servants, +those gates will open for you. Your life may be hard now: some of you +have large families, and heavy work, and long, cold, comfortless nights +tossing on the stormy sea; but never mind, home is coming, heaven is +coming, for "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." + +'But that is not all. There is something more wonderful still. For where +is the Master now? He is not only inside the gates of the city, He is +not only walking through the golden streets; but He is in the midst of +the glory of God, He has sat down on the right hand of the throne of +God. Will you and I, dear friends, ever dare to go near that throne? +Will not the glory be too dazzling? Will not the place be holy ground, +too holy for us to approach? Will He allow us to draw near to His +footstool, and even there, close to His glory, to lie low before Him? + +'Listen, O servant of Christ, again the Master says, "Where I am, +_there_ shall also My servant be." + +'What, on the throne of God! Yes, even _there_ He bids you come; +for what does He say? "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with +Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father +in His throne." Oh, what a wonderful promise! We could never have +thought of it; we could never have believed it; we could never even have +dreamt of such a thing, if the Master had not told us Himself.' + +And then he concluded by asking us to remember our glorious future. +'Sometimes,' he said, 'you get downhearted, full of sorrow and fear, and +you say, "I shall never hold on to the end." Oh, dear friends, it is +worth an effort, for at the end lies home, at the end stands the throne +of God, with a place waiting for you upon it. "Where I am, there shall +also My servant be." + +'What if you have to bear something for the Master's sake? What if you +have to give up friends or comforts for Him? What if you have to take up +your cross and follow Him? It is only for a few days, only for a little +while, and home is coming. "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." +Is it not worth while?' + +Then, as he ended, he spoke a few words to all who were there, and he +begged those who were not servants of Christ, to consider what they were +losing. 'All this might be yours,' he said, 'the wide-open gates, the +Heavenly City, the seat on the glorious Throne; but you are turning your +backs on it all, and you are choosing instead--what? A few of earth's +fleeting pleasures, a little of this world's passing enjoyment. Oh, dear +friends, think before it is too late, what your eternal loss will be!' + +He said much more, but I cannot remember it now. I only know that I came +away feeling that I had been very near the golden gates of which he +spoke, and had heard the Master's voice saying to me, 'Where I am, there +shall also My servant be.' + +The tide was coming in as we left the service, and I was standing on the +shore watching the waves rolling in over the rocks, when I felt an arm +slipped in mine, and when I looked round, to my great surprise, I found +that it was Tom. + +'Why, Tom!' I said, 'back already? how early you have come home!' + +'Back, Jack?' he said, laughing; 'why, I've never been.' + +'Do you mean you haven't been to Scarborough?' + +'No, of course not; you didn't think I would go without you, old boy. +We'll go to-morrow, of course. I thought we settled that last night.' + +'Why, I've been thinking of you in Scarborough all day!' I said. + +'Then your thoughts have gone in a wrong direction for once, Jack,' he +replied, 'for I've been here all the time.' + +'I'll walk with you up the hill,' I said; 'it isn't quite dinner-time.' + +I was very pleased to see him, and to find that he did not appear to be +vexed with me. We chatted for some time, and then he said casually, 'He +does not speak badly, that lay preacher of yours, Jack.' + +I stood still in astonishment. 'Who?' I said, 'Mr. Christie? Why, you +surely were not at the service, Tom! Oh, I know,' I cried, before he +could answer, 'you were behind the bank; I saw a black and white cap, +and I thought how much it was like yours.' + +'It could not be much more like, seeing that it was the very same,' said +Tom. + +'I'm so glad you heard him,' I ventured to say. + +He made no answer, so I thought it was better to say no more; but when +we reached the top of the hill, and he was just leaving me, he said: + +'Jack, I'm afraid I was a bit crusty last night. You must not think any +more of it, old fellow. We'll have a jolly day at Scarborough to-morrow. +And, Jack,' he went on, 'I was very much annoyed at the time, I own I +was; but I'm not sure after all that you're not right.' + +He said no more, but hurried away, and it was many years before he +referred to the subject again; but the day came when he did mention it, +and when he told me, with tears in his eyes, that he looked upon that +Sunday at Runswick as the first link in the chain of God's loving +Providence, by means of which He had led him to Himself. He told me then +that he had never forgotten my firm refusal to go with him, and he had +never forgotten the sermon to which he had listened hidden from sight by +the bank. + +Our day at Scarborough exceeded all our anticipations. The weather was +glorious, and Tom was in excellent spirits, and we thoroughly enjoyed +everything. + +I could not help feeling sorry when Thursday came, which was to be my +last day at Runswick Bay. It had been such a happy and so eventful a +time. I seemed to have passed through so much, and to have learnt so +much unknown to me before, that I felt very reluctant to bring my +holiday to a close. As for Duncan and Polly, they were quite melancholy +as the time for my departure drew near. + +'We _shall_ feel lost without you, sir,' said Duncan. 'We shan't +know what to do'; and there were tears in Polly's eyes as she said +mournfully, when she set the herrings on the table for my supper, +'Them's the last herrings I shall fry you, sir, and I feel as if there +was going to be a death in the house.' + +'Cheer up, Polly,' I said, 'who knows? Perhaps you may have to put up +with me next time I get a holiday, and you may be sure I shall want +plenty of herrings then.' + +She brightened a little at this, and little John, who was quite well +now, and who had become very friendly with me since his illness, climbed +up on my knee, and stroked my face with his little thin hand, as if he +were trying to coax me to come back to them again. + +There was one thing which I had a great desire to do before leaving +Runswick. I knew that Duncan was much troubled about the Mary Ann. She +had been terribly knocked about in the storm, which was no wonder, +seeing that she had drifted about, bottom upwards, and had been driven +hither and thither on the waves. When Duncan had examined her the day +after his arrival, he had found that she leaked in several places, and +was altogether unseaworthy, and he had been obliged to hire a boat until +such time as the Mary Ann could be properly repaired. Then he went over +to Whitby, and brought an experienced man back with him, and he +overhauled her thoroughly, and gave it as his opinion that it would be a +waste of money to try to patch her up. + +When Duncan came in that night I saw that the poor fellow was terribly +downcast. 'The Mary Ann's days are numbered, sir; she'll never be able +to rough it again,' he said. 'She's been a good old boat to me and my +father before me, and it will be like parting from an old friend to give +her up. Yon man, he says she might be cobbled together a bit; but you +would never make a good job of her; she'd do maybe well enough for fine +weather, but you couldn't trust to her in a storm.' + +I saw Polly turn pale as he said this. 'Duncan,' she said, going up to +him, and laying her hand on his arm, 'you'll never go in her again; +promise me that. Think of me and little John, Duncan.' + +'Ay, my lass,' he said; 'ay, Polly, I do think of thee and little John; +but the worst of it is there's bread must be earnt for thee and little +John. I can't let thee starve, wife.' + +'What about the bank-book, Duncan?' I said. + +He went to the old oak-chest, and brought it out. I was much touched by +his handing it to me, and bidding me see how it stood. He was perfectly +open with me, and spoke to me as freely as if I had been an old and +tried friend. I added up the amount and read it out to him. + +'Well, sir,'he said, 'it's getting on; but it's a good ten pound short +yet. We shall have to hire Brown's boat a bit and do as well as we can, +though it isn't a very paying business when one takes to hiring: it will +be hard enough to make two ends meet, you see, sir, let alone saving up +for the new boat. But I can't see nothing else for it, sir; that is, if +Polly won't let me risk it in the Mary Ann.' + +'Duncan,' she said solemnly, 'if thee went to sea in the Mary Ann, and +she went to the bottom, I could _never_ say, "The will of the Lord +be done," for I don't believe it _would_ be God's will for thee to +go in that rotten old thing.' + +'Polly is right, Duncan,' I said; 'you must never go in the Mary Ann +again.' + +'Well, sir,' he said, 'I see what you mean, you and Polly too, and the +Lord will show us what's to be done.' + +Nothing more was said about the Mary Ann at that time, but I had already +made my own plan about the new boat. My aunt had just left me her little +property, and a very nice little property it was. I felt myself a rich +man, for in addition to money invested in various ways, about L200 of +ready money had been placed to my account at the bank. + +What could be more delightful, I thought, than to spend the first ten +pounds of this in helping Duncan to complete the purchase of the new +boat? The only difficulty would be to get Duncan to accept the money, +for he had all the honest independence of a Yorkshireman, and I knew +would hesitate about receiving help from any one. But, at the same time, +I knew that in this instance his need was great, and his kindly feeling +towards myself was so strong, that I was not without hope that I might +be able to manage what I had contemplated without giving the dear fellow +offence. I thought, at one time, that I would take Mr. Christie into my +confidence, and would consult with him, but on second thoughts I decided +that it would be wiser not to do so, and felt that I should be more +likely to succeed if no one else was in the secret. So I folded my +bank-note in paper, put it into an envelope, and wrote outside, 'With +little John's love to his daddy, to help him to buy another Little +John.' This I determined to slip into the child's hand when I said +good-bye. + +That evening I had supper with the Christies. They were kindness itself, +and told me what a great pleasure it had been to them to meet me. 'Not +only because you are your mother's son, Jack, but for your own sake as +well as hers,' said Mr. Christie with a smile. + +I wanted to say something in return, but the words would not come--at +least not then. But, just before I left, I went with Mr. Christie into +his study, and he said, 'Jack, I thought perhaps we might have a little +prayer together before we part'; and then the words came,-- + +'Mr. Christie,' I said, 'I can never, never thank God enough that I came +here.' + +'Let us thank Him together, Jack,' he said. + +Then we knelt down, he by the table, and I with my arms resting on the +old organ, and he thanked God for His mercy in bringing me across the +line, and he committed me to His care and keeping to bring me safely +along the road which leads home. + +The next morning I was up early, for our train started at eight, and we +had two miles to walk. I had told Polly I should want nothing but a cup +of tea before I set off, but when I came down I found a most tempting +breakfast prepared for me--ham and eggs, and toast in abundance, and +fresh lettuces from Duncan's small garden. + +'Well, Polly,' I said, 'you are spoiling me to the last.' + +'We can never make enough of you, sir,' said Polly, and there were tears +in her eyes as she said it. + +I ran up to pack my bag and collect my things, and I determined to start +in good time, so that I might allow myself a few minutes to say good-bye +to the Christies. + +'I must be off, Duncan,' I said. + +He was standing outside with little John in his arms, and Polly, with +her hat on, was standing beside him. + +'We're coming along with you, sir, to the station,' said Duncan. 'You +won't think it a liberty will you, sir? but me and Polly and little John +would like to see the last of you.' + +'Come, that _is_ good of you,' I said. 'I shall have a grand escort +up the hill!' + +Polly took the child from his father, and Duncan carried my bag and +easel, and would not even hear of my giving him a hand with them. + +I ran into the Christies, but could find no one below; however, I heard +a great running backwards and forwards overhead, and presently Mr. +Christie called out of the bedroom window, 'Wait one moment, Jack; we +are all coming to see you off.' + +So my escort increased as I proceeded, and Tom, as he came out of the +hotel, said he thought the whole of Runswick must be going by the early +train, when he saw us, one after another, come toiling up the hill. +Little Jack rode up the whole way on my back, and his horse was very hot +when the top was reached. + +Though it is now so many years ago I can see that little party of +friends standing together on the platform, as the train moved out of the +station. I can feel again the warm grasp of Mr. Christie's hand, and can +hear his whispered, 'God bless you, Jack!' I can see Mrs. Christie +holding Marjorie by the hand, and waving her handkerchief to me, and can +hear little Jack crying out, 'Come back soon, do, big Mr. Jack.' I can +see Duncan bareheaded, with little John in his arms, the child waving +the envelope which I had put in his hand as I stepped into the carriage, +and which was still unopened. I can see Polly wiping her eyes with her +apron, and then holding it up and waving it till I was lost to sight. I +can see them all as they appeared to me that day, kind hearts and true, +not one of them ranking amongst the number whom the world counts great, +and yet all of them well known to Him who calleth His own sheep by name +and leadeth them out. + +I must just mention here that I had a very touching letter from Duncan +at the end of that week. The spelling was most wonderful, and the +grammar was quite of his own making; but it was full, from end to end, +of the most simple-hearted affection, and of the deepest gratitude. + +'Me, and my missus, and little John, can never be thankful enough, sir,' +he said, 'and when the other 'Little John' is afloat, as please God she +soon will be, we hopes as how you will come and have a sail in her.' + +So ended my visit to Runswick; and when I consider all that happened +during those few weeks, I think it is small wonder that the little bay +is still fresh in my memory, and that Ella's yellow ragwort made me +dream of it so distinctly. For surely that month was the most important +month in my life, for was it not the beginning of a new life, which, +thank God, has continued ever since? + +I can say to-day, even as I said then, 'One is my Master, even Christ,' +and I can look forward, humbly but hopefully, to the time when the +golden gates will open to me, and when the Master's promise will be +fulfilled to me, 'Where I am, there shall also My servant be.' + + O Jesus Christ, my Master, + I come to Thee to-day; + I ask Thee to direct me + In all I do or say: + I want to keep my promise + To be Thy servant true, + I come to Thee for orders; + Dear Lord, what shall I do? + + I want a heart not heeding + What others think or say; + I want a humble spirit, + To listen and obey. + To serve Thee without ceasing, + 'Tis but a little while,-- + My strength, the Master's promise, + My joy, the Master's smile. + + +A.C.W. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT*** + + +******* This file should be named 10728.txt or 10728.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10728 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/10728.zip b/10728.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..315c380 --- /dev/null +++ b/10728.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cdf86f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10728 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10728) diff --git a/old/10728-h.zip b/old/10728-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eae8165 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h.zip diff --git a/old/10728-h/10728-h.htm b/old/10728-h/10728-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5eff12 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/10728-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5192 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Christie, the King's Servant, by Mrs. O. F. Walton</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times; + } + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 12pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .toc { margin-left: 15%; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0em;} + CENTER { padding: 10px;} + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + // --> + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Christie, the King's Servant, by Mrs. O. F. +Walton</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Christie, the King's Servant</p> +<p>Author: Mrs. O. F. Walton</p> +<p>Release Date: January 16, 2004 [eBook #10728]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: iso-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT***</p> +<center><h3>E-text prepared by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, David Garcia,<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3></center> + + <hr class="full"> + <p> + + </p><a name="image-01"><!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image01.png" width="400" height="642" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h1> + CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT + </h1> + <center> + A Sequel to 'Christie's Old Organ'<br> + <br> + <b>By MRS. O.F. WALTON</b><br> + <br> + AUTHOR OF 'CHRISTIE'S OLD ORGAN'<br> + 'A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES'<br> + 'THE KING'S CUPBEARER'<br> + 'SHADOWS' ETC ETC + </center><a name="2H_TOC"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH01">Chapter I RUNSWICK BAY</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH02">Chapter II LITTLE JOHN</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH03">Chapter III STRANGE MUSIC</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH04">Chapter IV WHAT ARE YOU?</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH05">Chapter V THE RUNSWICK SPORTS</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH06">Chapter VI THE TUG OF WAR</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH07">Chapter VII OVER THE LINE</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH08">Chapter VIII A NIGHT OF STORM</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH09">Chapter IX ASK WHAT YE WILL</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH10">Chapter X WE KNOW</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH11">Chapter XI LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK</a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#2HCH12">Chapter XII WHERE ARE YOU GOING?</a> + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH01"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-02"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image02.png" width="400" height="233" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter I + </h2> + <center> + RUNSWICK BAY + </center> + <p> + It was the yellow ragwort that did it! I have discovered the + clue at last. All night long I have been dreaming of Runswick + Bay. I have been climbing the rocks, talking to the + fishermen, picking my way over the masses of slippery + seaweed, and breathing the fresh briny air. And all the + morning I have been saying to myself, 'What can have made me + dream of Runswick Bay? What can have brought the events of my + short stay in that quaint little place so vividly before me?' + Yes, I am convinced of it; it was that bunch of yellow + ragwort on the mantelpiece in my bedroom. My little Ella + gathered it in the lane behind the house yesterday morning, + and brought it in triumphantly, and seized the best china + vase in the drawing-room, and filled it with water at the + tap, and thrust the great yellow bunch into it. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, Ella,' said Florence, her elder sister, 'what ugly + common flowers! How could you put them in mother's best vase, + that Aunt Alice gave her on her birthday! What a silly child + you are!' + </p> + <p> + 'I'm not a silly child,' aid Ella stoutly, 'and mother is + sure to like them; I know she will. <i>She</i> won't call + them common flowers. She loves all yellow flowers. She said + so when I brought her the daffodils; and these are yellower, + ever so much yellower.' + </p> + <p> + Her mother came in at this moment, and, taking our little + girl on her knee, she told her that she was quite right; they + were very beautiful in her eyes, and she would put them at + once in her own room, where she could have them all to + herself. + </p> + <p> + And that is how it came about, that, as I lay in bed, the + last thing my eyes fell upon was Ella's bunch of yellow + ragwort; and what could be more natural than that I should go + to sleep and dream of Runswick Bay? + </p> + <p> + It seems only yesterday that I was there, so clearly can I + recall it, and yet it must be twenty years ago. I think I + must write an account of my visit to Runswick Bay and give it + to Ella, as it was her yellow flowers which took me back to + the picturesque little place. If she cannot understand all I + tell her now, she will learn to do so as she grows older. + </p> + <p> + I was a young man then, just beginning to make my way as an + artist. It is slow work at first; until you have made a name, + every one looks critically at your work; when once you have + been pronounced a rising artist, every daub from your brush + has a good market value. I had had much uphill work, but I + loved my profession for its own sake, and I worked on + patiently, and, at the time my story begins, several of my + pictures had sold for fair prices, and I was not without hope + that I might soon find a place in the Academy. + </p> + <p> + It was an unusually hot summer, and London was emptying fast. + Every one who could afford it was going either to the moors + or to the sea, and I felt very much inclined to follow their + example. My father and mother had died when I was quite a + child, and the maiden aunt who had brought me up had just + passed away, and I had mourned her death very deeply, for she + had been both father and mother to me. I felt that I needed + change of scene, for I had been up for many nights with her + during her last illness, and I had had my rest broken for so + long, that I found it very difficult to sleep, and in many + ways I was far from well. My aunt had left all her little + property to me, so that the means to leave London and to take + a suitable holiday were not wanting. The question was, where + should I go? I was anxious to combine, if possible, pleasure + and business—that is to say, I wished to choose some + quiet place where I could get bracing air and thorough change + of scene, and where I could also find studies for my new + picture, which was (at least, so I fondly dreamed) to find a + place in the Academy the following spring. + </p> + <p> + It was whilst I was looking for a suitable spot that Tom + Bernard, my great friend and confidant, found one for me. + </p> + <p> + 'Jack, old fellow,' he said, thrusting a torn newspaper into + my hand, 'read that, old man.' + </p> + <p> + The newspaper was doubled down tightly, and a great red cross + of Tom's making showed me the part he wished me to read. + </p> + <pre> + RUNSWICK BAY. + + This charming seaside resort is not half so well known + as it deserves to be. For the lover of the beautiful, + for the man with an artistic eye, it possesses a charm + which words would fail to describe. The little bay is a + favourite resort for artists; they, at least, know how + to appreciate its beauties. It would be well for any who + may desire to visit this wonderfully picturesque and + enchanting spot to secure hotel or lodging-house + accommodation as early as possible, for the demand for + rooms is, in August and September, far greater than the + supply. +</pre> + <p> + 'Well, what do you think of it?' said Tom. + </p> + <p> + 'It sounds just the thing,' I said; 'fresh air and plenty to + paint.' + </p> + <p> + 'Shall you go?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, to-morrow,' I replied; 'the sooner the better.' + </p> + <p> + My bag was soon packed, my easel and painting materials were + collected, and the very next morning I was on my way into + Yorkshire. + </p> + <p> + It was evening when I reached the end of my long, tiring + railway journey; and when, hot and dusty, I alighted at a + village which lay about two miles from my destination. I saw + no sign of beauty as I walked from the station; the country + was slightly undulating in parts, but as a rule nothing met + my gaze but a long flat stretch of field after field, + covered, as the case might be, with grass or corn. Harebells + and pink campion grew on the banks, and the meadows were full + of ox-eye daisies; but I saw nothing besides that was in the + least attractive, and certainly nothing of which I could make + a picture. + </p> + <p> + A family from York had come by the same train, and I had + learnt from their conversation that they had engaged lodgings + for a month at Runswick Bay. The children, two boys of ten + and twelve, and a little fair-haired girl a year or two + younger, were full of excitement on their arrival. + </p> + <p> + 'Father, where is the sea?' they cried. 'Oh, we do want to + see the sea!' + </p> + <p> + 'Run on,' said their father, 'and you will soon see it.' + </p> + <p> + So we ran together, for I felt myself a child again as I + watched them, and if ever I lagged behind, one or other of + them would turn round and cry, 'Come on, come on; we shall + soon see it.' + </p> + <p> + Then, suddenly, we came to the edge of the high cliff, and + the sea in all its beauty and loveliness burst upon us. The + small bay was shut in by rocks on either side, and on the + descent of the steep cliff was built the little fishing + village. I think I have never seen a prettier place. + </p> + <p> + The children were already running down the steep, rocky + path—I cannot call it a road—which led down to + the sea, and I followed more slowly behind them. It was the + most curiously built place. The fishermen's cottages were + perched on the rock, wherever a ledge or standing place could + be found. Steep, narrow paths, or small flights of rock-hewn + steps, led from one to another. There was no street in the + whole place; there could be none, for there were hardly two + houses which stood on the same level. To take a walk through + this quaint village was to go up and down stairs the whole + time. + </p> + <p> + At last, after a long, downward scramble, I found myself on + the shore, and then I looked back at the cliff and at the + irregular little town. I did not wonder that artists were to + be found there. I had counted four as I came down the hill, + perched on different platforms on the rock, and all hard at + work at their easels. + </p> + <p> + Yes, it was certainly a picturesque place, and I was glad + that I had come. The colouring was charming: there was red + rock in the background, here and there covered with grass, + and ablaze with flowers. Wild roses and poppies, pink-thrift + and white daisies, all contributed to make the old rock gay. + But the yellow ragwort was all over; great patches of it grew + even on the margin of the sand, and its bright flowers gave + the whole place a golden colouring. There seemed to be yellow + everywhere, and the red-tiled cottages, and the fishermen in + their blue jerseys, and the countless flights of steps, all + appeared to be framed in the brightest gilt. + </p> + <p> + Yes, I felt sure I should find something to paint in Runswick + Bay. I was not disappointed in Tom's choice for me. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH02"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-03"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image03.png" width="400" height="515" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter II + </h2> + <center> + LITTLE JOHN + </center> + <p> + After admiring the beauties of my new surroundings for some + little time, I felt that I must begin to look for quarters. I + was anxious, if possible, to find a lodging in one of the + cottages, and then, after a good night's rest, I would + carefully select a good subject for my picture. I called at + several houses, where I noticed a card in the window + announcing <i>Apartments to Let</i>, but I met the same + answer everywhere, 'Full, sir, quite full.' In one place I + was offered a bed in the kitchen, but the whole place smelt + so strongly of fried herrings and of fish oil, that I felt it + would be far more pleasant to sleep on the beach than to + attempt to do so in that close and unwholesome atmosphere. + </p> + <p> + After wandering up and down for some time, I passed a house + close to the village green, and saw the children with whom I + had travelled sitting at tea close to the open window. They, + too, were eating herrings, and the smell made me hungry. I + began to feel that it was time I had something to eat, and I + thought my best plan would be to retrace my steps to the + hotel which I had passed on my way, and which stood at the + very top of the high cliff. I turned a little lazy when I + thought of the climb, for I was tired with my journey, and, + as I said before, I was not very strong, and to drag my bag + and easel up the rugged ascent would require a mighty effort + at the best of times. I noticed that wooden benches had been + placed here and there on the different platforms of the rock, + for the convenience of the fishermen, and I determined to + rest for a quarter of an hour on one of them before retracing + my steps up the steep hill to the hotel. The fishermen were + filling most of the seats, sitting side by side, row after + row of them, talking together, and looking down at the beach + below. As I gazed up at them, they looked to me like so many + blue birds perched on the steep rock. + </p> + <p> + There was one seat in a quiet corner which I noticed was + empty. I went to it, and laying my knapsack and other + belongings beside me, I sat down to rest. + </p> + <p> + But I was not long to remain alone. A minute afterwards a + young fisherman, dressed like his mates in blue jersey and + oilskin cap, planted himself on the other end of the seat + which I had selected. + </p> + <p> + 'Good-day, sir,' he said. 'What do you think of our bay?' + </p> + <p> + 'It's a pretty place, very pretty,' I said. 'I like it well + enough now, but I daresay I shall like it better still + to-morrow.' + </p> + <p> + 'Better still to-morrow,' he repeated; 'well, it <i>is</i> + the better for knowing, in my opinion, sir, and I + <i>ought</i> to know, if any one should, for I've lived my + lifetime here.' + </p> + <p> + I turned to look at him as he spoke, and I felt at once that + I had come across one of Nature's gentlemen. He was a fine + specimen of an honest English fisherman, with dark eyes and + hair, and with a sunny smile on his weather-beaten, sunburnt + face. You had only to look at the man to feel sure that you + could trust him, and that, like Nathanael, there was no guile + in him. + </p> + <p> + 'I wonder if you could help me,' I said; 'I want to find a + room here if I can, but every place seems so full.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, it is full, sir, in August; that's the main time here. + Let me see, there's Brown's, they're full, and Robinson's, + and Wilson's, and Thomson's, all full up. There's Giles', + they have a room, I believe, but they're not over clean; + maybe you're particular, sir.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well,' I said, 'I do like things clean; I don't mind how + rough they are if they're only clean.' + </p> + <p> + 'Ah,' he said, with a twinkle in his eye; 'you wouldn't care + for one pan to do all the work of the house—to boil the + dirty clothes, and the fish, and your bit of pudding for + dinner, and not overmuch cleaning of it in between.' + </p> + <p> + 'No,' I said, laughing; 'I should not like that, certainly.' + </p> + <p> + 'Might give the pudding a flavour of stockings, and a sauce + of fish oil,' he answered. 'Well, you're right, sir; I + shouldn't like it myself. Cleanliness is next to godliness, + that's my idea. Well, then, that being as it is, I wouldn't + go to Giles', not if them is your sentiments with regard to + pans, sir.' + </p> + <p> + 'Then I suppose there's nothing for it but to trudge up to + the hotel at the top of the hill,' I said, with something of + a groan. + </p> + <p> + 'Well, sir,' he said, hesitating a little; 'me and my missus, + we have a room as we lets sometimes, but it's a poor place, + sir, homely like, as ye may say. Maybe you wouldn't put up + with it.' + </p> + <p> + 'Would you let me see it?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'With pleasure, sir; it's rough, but it's clean. We could + promise you a clean pan, sir. My missus she's a good one for + cleaning; she's not one of them slatternly, good-for-nothing + lasses. There's heaps of them here, sir, idling away their + time. She's a good girl is my Polly. Why, if that isn't + little John a-clambering up the steps to his daddy!' + </p> + <p> + He jumped up as he said this, and ran quickly down the steep + flight of steps which led down from the height on which the + seat was placed, and soon returned with a little lad about + two years old in his arms. + </p> + <p> + The child was as fair as his father was dark. He was a pretty + boy with light hair and blue eyes, and was tidily dressed in + a bright red cap and clean white-pinafore. + </p> + <p> + 'Tea's ready, daddy,' said the boy; 'come home with little + John.' + </p> + <p> + 'Maybe you wouldn't object to a cup o' tea, sir,' said the + father, turning to me; 'it'll hearten you up a bit after your + journey, and there's sure to be herrings. We almost lives on + herrings here, sir, and then, if you're so minded, you can + look at the room after. Ye'll excuse me if I make too bold, + sir,' he added, as he gently patted little John's tiny hand, + which rested on his arm. + </p> + <p> + 'I shall be only too glad to come,' I said; 'for I am very + hungry, and if Polly's room is as nice as I think it will be, + it will be just the place for me.' + </p> + <p> + He walked in front of me, up and down several flights of + steps, until, at some little distance lower down the hill, he + stopped before a small cottage. Sure enough there were + herrings, frying and spluttering on the fire, and there too + was Polly herself, arrayed in a clean white apron, and + turning the herrings with a fork. The kitchen was very low, + and the rafters seemed resting on my head as I entered; but + the window and door were both wide open, and the whole place + struck me as being wonderfully sweet and clean. A low wooden + settle stood by the fire, one or two plain deal chairs by the + wall, and little John's three-legged stool was placed close + to his father's arm-chair. A small shelf above the fireplace + held the family library. I noticed a Bible, a hymn-book, a + <i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>, and several other books, all of + which had seen their best days and were doubtless in constant + use. On the walls were prints in wooden frames and much + discoloured by the turf smoke of the fire. Upon a carved old + oak cupboard, which held the clothes of the family, were + arranged various rare shells and stones, curious sea-urchins + and other treasures of the sea, and in the centre, the chief + ornament of the house and the pride of Polly's heart, a ship, + carved and rigged by Duncan himself, and preserved carefully + under a glass shade. + </p> + <p> + Polly gave me a hearty Yorkshire welcome, and we soon + gathered about the small round table. Duncan, with little + John on his knee, asked a blessing, and Polly poured out the + tea, and we all did justice to the meal. + </p> + <p> + The more I saw of these honest people, the more I liked them + and felt inclined to trust them. When tea was over, Polly + took me to see the guest-chamber in which her husband had + offered me a bed. It was a low room in the roof, containing a + plain wooden bedstead, one chair, a small wash-hand stand, + and a square of looking-glass hanging on the wall. There was + no other furniture, and, indeed, there was room for no other, + and the room was unadorned except by three or four funeral + cards in dismal black frames, which were hanging at different + heights on the wall opposite the bed. But the square casement + window was thrown wide open, and the pure sea air filled the + little room, and the coarse white coverings of the bed were + spotless, and, indeed, the whole place looked and felt both + fresh and clean. + </p> + <p> + 'You'll pardon me, sir,' said Duncan, 'for asking you to look + at such a poor place.' + </p> + <p> + 'But I like it, Duncan,' I answered, 'and I like you, and I + like your wife, and if you will have me as a lodger, I am + willing and glad to stay.' + </p> + <p> + The terms were soon agreed upon to the satisfaction of both + parties, and then all things being settled, Polly went to put + little John to bed whilst I went with Duncan to see his boat. + </p> + <p> + It was an old boat, and it had been his father's before him, + and it had weathered many a storm; but it was the dream of + Duncan's life to buy a new one, and he and Polly had nearly + saved up money enough for it. + </p> + <p> + 'That's why me and the missus is glad to get a lodger now and + again,' he said; 'it all goes to the boat, every penny of it. + We mean to call her The Little John. He's going in her the + very first voyage she takes; he is indeed, sir, for he'll be + her captain one day, please God, little John will.' + </p> + <p> + It was a calm, beautiful evening; the sea was like a sheet of + glass. Hardly a ripple was breaking on the shore. The sun was + setting behind the cliff, and the fishing village would soon + be in darkness. The fishermen were leaving their cottages and + were making for the shore. Already some of the boats were + launched, and the men were throwing in their nets and + fishing-tackle, and were pulling out to sea. I enjoyed + watching my new friend making his preparations. His three + mates brought out the nets, and he gave his orders with a + tone of command. He was the owner and the captain of the Mary + Ann, and the rest were accustomed to do his bidding. + </p> + <p> + When all were on board, Duncan himself jumped in and gave the + word to push from shore. He nodded to me and bid me + good-night, and when he was a little way from shore, I saw + him stand up in the boat and wave his oil-skin cap to some + one above me on the cliff. + </p> + <p> + I looked up, and saw Polly standing on the rock overhanging + the shore with little John in his white nightgown in her + arms. He was waving his red cap to his father, and continued + to do so till the boat was out of sight. + </p><a name="2HCH03"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h2> + Chapter III + </h2> + <center> + STRANGE MUSIC + </center> + <p> + I slept well in my strange little bedroom, although I was + awakened early by the sunlight streaming in at the window. I + jumped up and looked out. The sun was rising over the sea, + and a flood of golden light was streaming across it. + </p> + <p> + I dressed quickly and went out. Very few people were about, + for the fishermen had not yet returned from their night's + fishing. The cliff looked even more beautiful than the night + before, for every bit of colouring stood out clear and + distinct in the sunshine. 'I shall get my best effects in the + morning,' I said to myself, 'and I had better choose my + subject at once, so that after breakfast I may be able to + begin without delay.' + </p> + <p> + How many steps I went up, and how many I went down, before I + came to a decision, it would be impossible to tell; but at + last I found a place which seemed to me to be the very gem of + the whole village. An old disused boat stood in the + foreground, and over this a large fishing net, covered with + floats, was spread to dry. Behind rose the rocks, covered + with tufts of grass, patches of gorse, tall yellow mustard + plants and golden ragwort, and at the top of a steep flight + of rock-hewn steps stood a white cottage with red-tiled roof, + the little garden in front of it gay with hollyhocks and + dahlias. A group of barefooted children were standing by the + gate feeding some chickens and ducks, a large dog was lying + asleep at the top of the steps, and a black cat was basking + in the morning sunshine on the low garden wall. It was, to my + mind, an extremely pretty scene, and it made me long to be + busy with my brush. + </p> + <p> + I hurried back to my lodging, and found Polly preparing my + breakfast, whilst little John looked on. He was sitting in + his nightgown, curled up in his father's armchair. 'I'm + daddy,' he called out to me as I came in. + </p> + <p> + There was a little round table laid ready for me, and covered + with a spotlessly clean cloth, and on it was a small black + teapot, and a white and gold cup and saucer, upon which I saw + the golden announcement, 'A present from Whitby,' whilst my + plate was adorned with a remarkable picture of Whitby Abbey + in a thunderstorm. + </p> + <p> + There were herrings, of course, and Polly had made some hot + cakes, the like of which are never seen outside Yorkshire. + These were ready buttered, and were lying wrapped in a clean + cloth in front of the fire. Polly made the tea as soon as I + entered, and then retired with little John in her arms into + the bedroom, whilst I sat down with a good appetite to my + breakfast. + </p> + <p> + I had not quite finished my meal when I heard a great shout + from the shore. Women and children, lads and lasses, ran past + the open door, crying, 'The boats! the boats!' Polly came + flying into the kitchen, caught up little John's red cap, + thrust it on his head, and ran down the steps. I left my + breakfast unfinished, and followed them. + </p> + <p> + It was a pretty sight. The fishing-boats were just nearing + shore, and almost every one in the place had turned out to + meet them. + </p> + <p> + Wives, children, and visitors were gathered on the small + landing place; most had dishes or plates in their hands, for + the herrings could be bought straight from the boats. The + family from York were there, and they greeted me as an old + friend. + </p> + <p> + When the little village had been abundantly supplied with + fish, the rest of the herrings were packed up and sent off by + train to be sold elsewhere. It was a pretty animated scene, + and I wished I had brought my sketchbook with me. I thought + the arrival of the fishing boats would make a splendid + subject for a picture. + </p> + <p> + Duncan was too busy even to see me till the fish were all + landed, counted, and disposed of, but he had time for a word + with little John, and as I was finishing my breakfast he came + in with the child perched on his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + 'Good morning, sir,' he said; 'and how do you like our bay + this morning?' + </p> + <p> + My answer fully satisfied him, and whilst he sat down to his + morning meal I went out to begin my work. It was a lovely + day, and I thoroughly enjoyed the prospect before me. I found + a shady place just under the wall of a house, where my + picture would be in sunlight and I and my easel in shadow. I + liked the spot I had chosen even better than I had done + before breakfast, and I was soon hard at work. + </p> + <p> + I had sketched in my picture, and was beginning to paint, + when I became conscious of the sound of voices just over my + head, and I soon became equally conscious that they were + talking about me. + </p> + <p> + 'It's just like it,' said one voice. 'Look—do look. + There's Betty Green's cottage, and Minnie the cat, and the + seat, and the old boat.' + </p><a name="image-04"><!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image04.png" width="400" height="647" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <p> + 'Let me see, Marjorie,' said another voice; 'is it the old + one with white hair and a long, long beard?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, it's quite a young one; his hair's black, and he hasn't + got a beard at all.' + </p> + <p> + 'Let me look. Yes, I can see him. I like him much better than + the old one; hasn't he got nice red cheeks?' + </p> + <p> + 'Hush! he'll hear,' said the other voice. 'You naughty boy! I + believe he did hear; I saw him laugh.' + </p> + <p> + I jumped up at this, and looked up, but I could see nothing + but a garden wall and a thick bushy tree, which was growing + just inside it. + </p> + <p> + 'Hullo, who's there?' I shouted. + </p> + <p> + But there was dead silence; and as no one appeared, and + nothing more happened, I sat down and went on with my + picture. + </p> + <p> + Many people passed by as I was painting, and tried to look at + what I was doing. Some glanced out of the corners of their + eyes as they walked on; others paused behind me and silently + watched me; a few made remarks to one another about my + picture; one or two offered suggestions, thought I should + have had a better view lower down the hill, or hoped that I + would make the colouring vivid enough. The children with whom + I had travelled seemed to feel a kind of partnership in my + picture. + </p> + <p> + 'Let's go and look at <i>our</i> artist,' Bob would say to + Harry; 'his picture is going to be the best of the lot.' + </p> + <p> + They were so fond of watching me, and so much excited over + what I was doing, that, as time went on, I was often obliged + to ask them to move further away, so eager were they to watch + every movement of my brush. + </p> + <p> + I thoroughly enjoyed my morning's work, and went back very + hungry, and quite ready for the comfortable little dinner + which Polly had prepared for me. In the afternoon the light + would be all wrong for my picture; but I determined to sketch + in the foreground, and prepare for my next morning's work. + </p> + <p> + I was very busy upon this, when suddenly I became conscious + of music, if music it could be called. It was the most + peculiar sound, and at first I could not find out from whence + it came. It was evidently not caused by a wind instrument; I + felt sure it was not a concertina or an accordion. This sound + would go on for a minute or two, and then stop suddenly, only + to begin again more loudly a few seconds later. At times I + distinguished a few bars of a tune, then only disjointed + notes followed. Could it be a child strumming idly on a + harmonium? but no, it was not at all like an instrument of + that kind. It was an annoying, worrying sound, and it went on + for so long that I began to be vexed with it, and stamped my + foot impatiently when, after a short interval, I heard it + begin again. The sound seemed to come from behind the wall of + the house near which I was sitting, and it was repeated from + time to time during the whole of the afternoon. + </p> + <p> + At length, as the afternoon went on, I began to distinguish + what tunes were being attempted. I made out a bar or two of + the old French Republican air, 'The Marseillaise,' and then I + was almost startled by what came next, for it was a tune I + had known well since I was a very little child. It was 'Home, + Sweet Home,' and that was my mother's favourite tune; in + fact, I never heard it without thinking of her. Many and many + a time had she sung me to sleep with that tune. I had scarlet + fever when I was five years old, and my mother had nursed me + through it, and when I was weary and fretful she would sing + to me—my pretty fair-haired mother. Even as I sat + before my easel I could see her, as she sat at the foot of my + bed, with the sunshine streaming upon her through the + half-darkened window, and making her look, to my boyish + imagination, like a beautiful angel. And I could hear her + voice still; and the sweet tones in which she sang that very + song to me, 'Home, sweet home, there's no place like home.' + </p> + <p> + I remembered one night especially, in which she knelt by my + bed and prayed that she might meet her boy in the bright + city, the sweet home above the sky which was the best and + brightest home of all. I wonder what she would think of me + now, I said to myself, and whether she ever will see me + there. I very much doubt it; it seems to me that I am a long + way off from Home, Sweet Home now. + </p> + <p> + My mother had died soon after that illness of mine, and I + knew that she had gone to live in that beautiful home of + which she had so often spoken to me. And I had been left + behind, and my aunt, who had brought me up, had cared for + none of these things, and I had learnt to look at the world + and at life from her worldly standpoint, and had forgotten to + seek first the Kingdom of God. Oh! if my mother only knew, my + pretty, beautiful mother, I said to myself that day. And then + there came the thought, perhaps she <i>does</i> know, and the + thought made me very uncomfortable. I wished, more than ever, + that that cracked old instrument, whatever it was, would + stop. + </p> + <p> + But, in spite of all my wishes, the strange sound went on, + and again and again I had to listen to 'Home, Sweet Home,' + and each time that it came it set my memory going, and + brought back to me the words and the looks which I thought I + had forgotten. And it set something else going too—the + still, small voice within, accusing me of forgetfulness, not + so much of my mother as of my mother's God. + </p> + <p> + I began to wish most heartily that I had chosen some other + spot for my picture. But it was working out so well that I + felt it would be a great mistake to change, and I hoped that + the individual, man, woman, or child, who had been making + that horrible noise might find some other employment + to-morrow, and might leave me in peace. + </p> + <p> + The next day my wishes were fulfilled, for I was not + disturbed, and very little happened except that my picture + made progress. Then came two wet days, on which I had to + paint in my little chamber, and did not get back to my seat + under the wall. + </p> + <p> + I saw a good deal of Duncan during those wet days. He would + come and sit beside me as I painted, and would tell me + stories of storms and shipwrecks, and of the different times + when the lifeboat had been sent out, and of the many lives + she had saved. + </p> + <p> + 'Have ye seen her, sir? You must go and have a look at our + boat; she lies in a house down by the shore, as trim and + tight a little boat as you could wish to see anywhere!' + </p> + <p> + 'I suppose you've been in many a storm yourself, Duncan,' I + said. + </p> + <p> + 'Storms, sir! I've very near lived in them ever since I was + born. Many and many's the time I've never expected to see + land again. I didn't care so much when I was a young chap. + You see, my father and mother were dead, and if I went to the + bottom there was nobody, as you might say, to feel it; but + it's different now, sir, you see.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes,' I said, 'there's Polly and little John.' + </p> + <p> + 'That's just where it is, sir, Polly and little John, bless + 'em; and all the time the wind's raging, and the waves is + coming right over the boat, I'm thinking of my poor lass at + home, and how every gust of wind will be sweeping right over + her heart, and how she'll be kneeling by little John's bed, + praying God to bring his daddy safe home again. And I know, + sir, as well as I know anything, that when God Almighty hears + and answers her prayer, and brings me safe to land, Polly and + little John will be standing on yon rocks a-straining their + eyes for the first sight of the boats, and then a-running + down almost into the water to welcome me home again. Yes, it + makes a sight o' difference to a married man, sir; doesn't + it, now? It isn't the dying, ye understand, it's the leaving + behind as I think of. I'm not afraid to die,' he added humbly + and reverently, as he took off his oilskin cap. 'I know whom + I have believed.' + </p> + <p> + 'You're a plucky fellow, Duncan,' I said, 'to talk of not + being afraid to die. I've just been at a death-bed, + and—' + </p> + <p> + 'And you felt you wouldn't like to be there yourself,' Duncan + went on, as I stopped. 'Well, maybe not, it comes nat'ral to + us, sir; we're born with that feeling, I often think, and we + can no more help it than we can help any other thing we're + born with. But what I mean to say is, I'm not afraid of what + comes <i>after</i> death. It may be a dark tunnel, sir, but + there's light at the far end!' + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH04"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-05"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image05.png" width="400" height="406" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter IV + </h2> + <center> + WHAT ARE YOU? + </center> + <p> + On Saturday of that week the sun shone brightly, and I was up + betimes, had an early breakfast, and set to work at my + picture as soon as possible. I had not been painting long + before I again heard voices above me, the same childish + voices that I had heard before. + </p> + <p> + '<i>You</i> give it to him,' said one voice. + </p> + <p> + 'No, Marjorie, I daren't; you take it.' + </p> + <p> + 'You ought not to be afraid, because you're a boy,' said the + first speaker; 'father says boys ought always to be brave.' + </p> + <p> + 'But you're big, Marjorie, and big people ought to be braver + than little people!' + </p> + <p> + There was a long, whispered conversation after this, and I + could not distinguish the words which were spoken. But + presently a small piece of pink paper was thrown over the + wall, and fluttered down upon my palette. I caught it up + quickly, to prevent it from sticking to the paints, and I saw + there was something printed on it. It ran thus:— + </p> + <p> + <i>There will be a short service on the shore on Sunday + Morning at 11 o'clock, when you are earnestly requested to be + present</i>. + </p> + <center> + <i>Subject</i>: WHAT ARE YOU? + </center> + <p> + 'Thank you,' I said aloud. 'Who sent me this?' + </p> + <p> + There was no answer at first, then a little voice just above + me said, 'Both of us, sir.' + </p> + <p> + 'Come down and talk to me,' I said; 'I can't talk to children + whom I can't see. Come out here and look at my picture.' + </p> + <p> + They came out presently hand in hand, a little girl of five + in a blue tam-o'-shanter cap, a pale pink frock, and a white + pinafore, and a boy of three, the merriest, most sturdy + little fellow I thought I had ever seen. His face was as + round and rosy as an apple, his eyes were dark blue, and had + the happiest and most roguish expression that it would be + possible for eyes to have. When the child laughed (and + whenever was he not laughing?), every part of his face + laughed together. His eyes began it, his lips followed suit, + even his nose was pressed into the service. If a sunbeam + could be caught and dressed up like a little boy, I think it + would look something like that child. + </p> + <p> + 'Now,' I said, 'that's right; I like to see children's faces + when I talk to them; tell me your names to begin with.' + </p> + <p> + 'I'm Marjorie, sir,' said the little girl, 'and he's Jack.' + </p> + <p> + 'Jack!' I said; 'that's <i>my</i> name, and a nice name too, + isn't it, little Jack? Come and look at my picture, little + Jack, and see if you think big Jack knows how to paint.' + </p> + <p> + By degrees they grew more at their ease, and chatted freely + with me. Marjorie told me that her father had sent the paper. + Father was going to preach on Sunday; he preached every + Sunday, and numbers of people came, and Jack was in the + choir. + </p> + <p> + What a dear little chorister, to be sure, a chubby little + cherub if ever there was one! + </p> + <p> + 'Shall you come, big Jack?' he said, patting my hand with his + strong, sturdy little fist. + </p> + <p> + 'I don't know,' I said; 'if it's a fine day, perhaps I shall + want to get on with my picture.' + </p> + <p> + 'On Sunday?' said the child in a shocked voice; 'it's on + Sunday father preaches, and you couldn't paint on Sunday, + could you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, I'll see,' I said; 'perhaps I'll come and hear you + sing, little Jack.' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you, big Jack,' he said, with a merry twinkle in his + pretty blue eyes. + </p> + <p> + 'What is this preaching on the shore, Duncan?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, it's our lay preacher,' he said; 'he's a good man, and + has done a sight of good in this place. You see, it's too far + for folks here to go to church, and so he lives amongst us, + and has meetings in the hall yonder in winter, and in summer, + why, we have 'em on the shore, and the visitors comes mostly. + There's a few won't come, but we get the best of them, and we + have some fine singing—real nice it is! I'm in the + choir myself, sir,' he said; 'you wouldn't think it, but I + am. I've got a good strong voice, too!' + </p> + <p> + It must be a choir worth seeing, I thought, if it contained + two such strange contrasts, the big burly fisherman and the + tiny child who had invited me to be present. + </p> + <p> + I had not quite made up my mind to go. I had not been to a + service for many months, I might almost say years. I had + slipped out of it lately, and I thought I should feel myself + a fish out of water. However, when the next day came, every + one seemed to take it as a matter of course that I should be + going. Polly was up early, and had dressed little John in his + best. + </p> + <p> + 'You'll see him at church, sir,' she said, as she laid my + breakfast; 'he always likes to go to church, and he's as good + as gold, bless him!' + </p> + <p> + Duncan was out before I was up, and I had seen him, as I was + dressing, going round to the fishermen sitting as usual on + the seats on the cliff, with a bundle of pink papers in his + hand, similar to the one which had been given me, and + distributing them to every group of his mates which he came + across. Yes, I felt that I was expected to go, and it would + be hard work to keep away. But if I had still had any doubt + about the matter, it would have surely disappeared when at + half-past ten exactly a tiny couple came toiling hand in hand + up the steps leading to Duncan's door, and announced to Polly + that they had come to call for big Mr. Jack to go to church. + </p> + <p> + It was Marjorie and her little brother, and the small Jack + put his little fat hand into that of big Jack, and led him + triumphantly away. + </p> + <p> + It was a pretty sight to see that congregation gathering on + the village green. From the fishermen's cottages there came a + stream of people down to the shore,—mothers with babies + in their arms and leading young children by the hand, groups + of boys and girls wearing shoes and stockings who had been + barefooted all the week, many a weather-beaten sailor, many a + sunburnt fisher lad, many elderly people too, old men, and + white-haired women in closely-plaited white caps. There were + visitors, too, coming down from the rocks, and these mostly + kept in the background, and had at first an air of watching + the movement rather than joining in it. My York friends were, + however, well to the front, and the children nodded to me, + and smiled at one another as they saw me led like a lamb to + the service by my two small guardians. + </p> + <p> + It was a lovely day, and the sandy ground was dry, and the + congregation sat on the rough coarse grass or perched on the + sand hillocks round. As for the old boat, it was occupied by + the choir, and little Jack, having seen me safely to the + spot, climbed into it and stood proudly in the stern. He had + a hymn-book in his hand, which I knew he could not read, for + he was holding it upside down, but he looked at it as long + and as earnestly as if he could understand every word. + Marjorie planted herself beside me, I suppose to watch me, in + case I showed signs of running away before the service was + over. + </p> + <p> + Then just before eleven, and when quite a large company of + people had gathered on the green, her father arrived. He was + a man of about forty, and his face gave me the impression + that he had known trouble, and yet I fancied as I looked + further at him that the trouble, whatever it was, had ended. + He seemed to me like one who has come out of a sharp storm, + and has anchored in a quiet haven. For whilst I noticed in + his face the traces of heavy sorrow, still at the same time + he looked happier and more peaceful than any of those who + stood round him; in fact, it was the most restful face I had + ever seen. He was not an educated man, nor was he what men + call a gentleman, and yet there was a refinement about him + which made one feel at once that he was no common man, and + had no common history. His face was so interesting to me, + that I am afraid I was gazing at him instead of finding the + hymn he had given out, but I was recalled to my duty by his + little daughter, who seized the hymn-book she had given me at + the beginning of the service, found the page for me, and + pointed with her small finger to the place. + </p> + <p> + It was a mission hymn, sung to a wild, irregular tune. I + daresay I should have smiled if I had heard it anywhere else, + but it was no laughing matter that morning. As I looked at + the brown fishermen who had taken off their oilskin caps, as + I glanced at the earnest face of the preacher, as I noticed + how even children, like little Marjorie beside me, were + singing with all their heart and soul the simple plaintive + words, I felt strangely solemnized. + </p> + <p> + Then came the prayer, and I felt as he prayed that One whom + we could not see was standing amongst us. It was a very + simple prayer, but it was the outpouring of his heart to God, + and many a low Amen broke from the lips of the fishermen as + their hearts went with his. + </p> + <p> + The sermon followed. Shall I call it a sermon? It was more an + appeal than a sermon, or even an address. There was no + attempt at style, there were no long words or stilted + sentences; it was exactly what his prayer had been, words + spoken out of the abundance of his earnest heart. The prayer + had contained the outpouring of his soul to his God in + heaven; the words, to which we listened afterwards contained + the outpouring of his soul to us, his brothers and sisters on + earth. + </p> + <p> + There was a great hush over the congregation whilst he spoke. + The mothers quieted their babes, the children sat with their + eyes fixed on the speaker; even those visitors who had been + on the outskirts of the crowd drew near to listen. + </p> + <p> + 'What are you, dear friends?' he began; 'that is our subject + to-day. What are you? How many different answers I hear you + make, as you answer my question in your hearts!' + </p> + <p> + 'What am I?' you say. 'I am a fisherman, a strong active man, + accustomed to toil and danger.' 'I am a mother, with a large + family of little ones, working hard from morning till night.' + 'I am a schoolboy, learning the lessons which are to fit me + to make my way in the world.' 'I am a busy merchant, toiling + hard to make money, and obliged to come to this quiet place + to recruit my wearied energies.' 'I am an artist, with great + ambition of future success.' 'I am an old man, who has + weathered many a storm, but my work is done now; I am too old + to fish, too tired to toil.' 'I am a gentleman of no + occupation, idling comfortably through a busy world.' + 'I'—and here he glanced at his own little Jack in the + stern of the old boat—'I am a tiny child, with an + unknown life all before me.' + </p> + <p> + 'Dear friends, such are some of your answers to my question. + Can I find, do you think, one answer, one description, which + will suit you all—fishermen, mothers, boys and girls, + artists, merchants, gentlemen, the old man and the little + child? Yes, I can. If I could hand you each a piece of paper + and a pencil this day, there is one description of yourself + which each of you might write, one occupation which would + include you all, the old, the young, the rich and the poor. + Each of you, without exception, might write this—<i>I + am a servant</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'I, the speaker, am a servant; you who listen, all of you, + are servants.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, I don't know how he is going to make that out,' I said + to myself. 'I thought he was going to say we were all + sinners, and <i>that</i>, I suppose, we are, but + <i>servants</i>! I do not believe I am anybody's servant.' + </p> + <p> + 'All servants,' he went on, 'but not all in the same service. + As God and the angels look down upon this green to-day they + see gathering together a great company of servants, but they + also see that we are not all servants of the same master. + They see what we do not see, a dividing line between us. On + one side of the line God sees, and the angels see, one + company of servants—and in God's book He gives us the + name of their master—<i>Servants of sin</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'On the other side of the line, God sees, and the angels see, + another company of servants—<i>Servants of Christ</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'Which company do you belong to, dear friend? You fishermen + on the bank there, what are you? Little child, what are + you?—a servant of sin, or a servant of Jesus Christ? + </p> + <p> + So I tried to turn it off from myself, and to forget the + words which had been spoken. And whenever the question came + back to me, the question which the speaker had repeated so + often, 'What are you?' I answered it by saying to myself, 'I + am a poor artist, having a holiday in Runswick Bay, and I am + not going to trouble my head with gloomy thoughts.' + </p> + <p> + Polly had prepared an excellent dinner in honour of the day, + and I did full justice to it. Then I determined to walk to + Staithes, and to spend the rest of the day in seeing the + country. I had always been accustomed, to paint on Sunday, + but only one of the artists seemed to be at work, and Duncan + and Polly had been so much shocked by seeing him, that I did + not venture to do the same. I enjoyed the walk along the + cliffs, and came back in good spirits, having completely + shaken off, as I imagined, the remembrance of the speaker's + words. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH05"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-06"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image06.png" width="400" height="441" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter V + </h2> + <center> + THE RUNSWICK SPORTS + </center> + <p> + 'I've got a big favour to ask of you, sir,' said Duncan the + next day. 'You'll not think I'm taking a liberty, will you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Certainly not, Duncan,' I said. 'What do you want?' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, it's just here, sir—me and my mates, we get up + some sports every year on the green. We have 'em in August, + sir, just when the visitors are here. They all turn out to + see them, and there's lots of them is very good in + subscribing to the prizes. You see, sir, there is a many + young fellows here, young chaps who must have something to + keep them out of mischief; when they're not fishing, they're + bound to be after the beer, if they haven't something to turn + their minds and keep them going a bit. And these sports, why, + they like 'em, sir; and a man must keep sober if he's to win + a prize—you understand, sir?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, Duncan, I understand,' I said; 'it's first-rate for + these young lads, and for the old lads too, for the matter of + that. I suppose you want a subscription for your prizes?' I + added, as I handed him half a sovereign. + </p> + <p> + 'Thank ye kindly, sir, I won't refuse it, and it's very good + of you to help us so largely; but that isn't what I came to + ask of you. I hardly like to bother you, sir,' he said + doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + 'Never mind the bother, Duncan; let's hear what you want.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, it's just here, sir. Could you, do you think, make for + us some sort of a programme to hang up by the post office + there, for visitors to see? You draw them pictures so quick, + sir, and—' + </p> + <p> + 'I see, Duncan; you want the programme to be illustrated. I'm + your man; I'll do it at once.' I was really only too glad to + oblige the dear, honest fellow. + </p> + <p> + He was wonderfully pleased at my ready consent, and went off + at once to procure a board upon which my programme might be + fastened. We soon made out together a list of attractions, + and I had great pleasure in beautifying and illustrating the + catalogue of sports. + </p> + <p> + I headed it thus:— + </p> + <pre> + OYEZ, OYEZ! + RUNSWICK ATHLETIC SPORTS. +</pre> + <p> + Then, from the R of Runswick I hung a long fishing net, + covered with floats, and falling down over a fish basket, and + some lobster-pots, whilst on the ground were lying a number + of fish which had been emptied out of the basket. + </p> + <p> + Next followed a list of patrons, such as: The Honourable + O'Mackerell, Lord Crabby Lobster, Sir C. Shrimp, etc., etc. + </p> + <p> + Then came a list of the various sports, each profusely + illustrated—The tug of war, the jockey race, the + women's egg and spoon race, the sack race, the greasy pole, + the long jump, etc.; and lastly, an announcement of a grand + concert to be held in the evening, as a conclusion of the + festivities of the day. + </p> + <p> + Duncan was more than satisfied—he was delighted, and + his gratitude knew no bounds. His excitement, as he carried + the board away to hang it in a conspicuous place, was like + the excitement of a child. + </p> + <p> + The whole village seemed to be stirred as the eventful day + drew near. + </p> + <p> + 'Are you going to see the great tug, big Mr. Jack?' my little + friend called to me over the wall as I was painting. As for + the York boys, Harry and Bob, they spent a great part of + every day in admiring the programme, and in bringing other + visitors to see and admire the work of <i>their</i> artist. + </p> + <p> + How anxiously Duncan watched the sky the day before the + sports, and how triumphantly Polly announced, when I came + down to breakfast, 'A fine day, sir; couldn't be finer, could + it now?' + </p> + <p> + Those village sports were really a pretty sight. I see it all + in my mind's eye now. I often wonder I have not made a + picture of it. The high cliff stretching overhead, and + covered with bushes and bracken, amongst which nestled the + red-tiled cottages. Then below the cliff the level green, + covered with strong, hardy fishermen and their sunburnt + wives, and surrounding the green, on the sand-hills, the + visitors old and young, dressed in bright colours and holiday + attire. Is it too late to paint it from memory, I wonder? I + see it all still so distinctly. + </p> + <p> + The sports lasted a long time, and went off well. Polly + distinguished herself by winning the egg and spoon race, much + to the joy of little John, who watched all the proceedings + from his father's arms. + </p> + <p> + Then came the greatest event of all, the tug of war. A long + cable was brought out and stretched across the green, and a + pocket-handkerchief was tied in the centre of it. Two stakes + were then driven into the ground, and between these a line + was chalked on the grass. The handkerchief was then placed + exactly over the line. After this all the fishermen who + entered the lists were divided into two parties. Then each + side laid hold of one end of the rope, and at a given signal + they began to pull. It was a trial of strength; whichever + side could draw the handkerchief past the two stakes and over + the line, that side would win. + </p> + <p> + How tremendously those men pulled! What force they put into + it! Yet for a long time the rope did not move a single inch. + All the strength of those powerful fishermen was put out; + they were lying on the ground, that their pull might be all + the stronger. Every sinew, every nerve, every muscle seemed + to be on the strain, but so evenly were the two sides + matched, that the rope was motionless, and it seemed + impossible to tell which party would win. + </p> + <p> + Little John was eagerly watching his father. + </p> + <p> + 'Pull, daddy, pull!' I heard him cry; and I think I was + nearly as pleased as he and Polly were when Duncan and the + mates on his side suddenly made one mighty effort, and the + handkerchief was drawn across the line. There was tremendous + cheering after this. Polly clapped her hands with delight, + and little Jack and big Jack nearly shouted themselves + hoarse. + </p> + <p> + It was an interesting sight, and I had reason to remember it + afterwards, as you will see. The evening concert went off as + well as the sports had done, and Duncan came in at night + rather tired, but well satisfied with the day's proceedings. + </p> + <p> + I enjoyed all the sights at Runswick Bay, but I think I was + particularly charmed with what happened on the day after the + sports. All the village was early astir, and as I was + dressing, it seemed to me that every fisherman in the place + was hurrying down to the beach. It was not long before I + followed them to see what they were doing. I found that they + were about to draw the crab-boats up from the shore, to a + place where they would be safe from the winter storms. It was + hard work, but every one was there to give a hand. A long + string of men and lads laid hold of the strong cable fastened + to the boat. Even the wives and elder children caught hold of + it. I myself went to their help, and several of the visitors + followed my example. Then, when we were all in position, + there came a pause, for Duncan, who was directing the + proceedings, charged us not to pull till the signal was + given. Then there rose a peculiar cry or yodel, all the + fishermen uttering it together, and as soon as it ceased we + gave our united, mighty pull. Then we paused to take breath, + until once more there came a yodel followed by another pull, + and as this was repeated again and again, it was grand to see + the heavy boat making steady and regular progress. Across the + heavy sand she came, up the low bank, over the rough grass, + slowly, steadily, surely, she moved onward, until at length + she was placed in safety, far out of reach of the highest + tide and the strongest sea. Thus, one after another, the + boats were drawn up, and we were fairly tired before our work + was done. + </p> + <p> + I think it must have been that very day, that, as I was + sitting painting, I once more heard the broken notes of the + instrument which had troubled me so much before. It was that + tune again, my mother's tune, and somehow, I do not know how + it was, with the sound of my mother's tune there came back to + my mind the remembrance of the Sunday service. Ah! my mother + was on the right side of the line, I said to myself; she was + a servant of Christ. But her son! what is he? + </p> + <p> + I did not want to follow out this subject, so I jumped up + from my camp-stool, and standing under the wall, I called, + 'Little Jack, little Jack.' + </p> + <p> + The music stopped at once, and the child came out. Dear, + little merry fellow, how fond I was of him already! + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, Mr. big Jack,' he said, as he ran out of the gate. + </p> + <p> + 'Come and talk to me, old chappie,' I said, 'whilst I paint. + Who plays music in your house?' + </p> + <p> + 'I do,' said little Jack. + </p> + <p> + '<i>You</i> do, Jack? Why, you are a funny little fellow to + play music! What do you play on, and who taught you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Nobody teached me, Mr. Jack,' he said; 'I teached my own + self.' + </p> + <p> + 'Teached your own self? Why, how did you manage that?' I + asked. + </p> + <p> + 'I turned him round and round and round, Mr. Jack, and the + music came, and I teached my own self,' he repeated. + </p> + <p> + 'What is it, Jack?' I asked. 'Is it an old musical box?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, it's an organ, a barrow-organ, Mr. Jack.' + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, a barrel-organ you mean, little chappie; why, however in + the world did you get hold of a barrel-organ? Is it a little + toy one?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, it's big, ever so big,' he said, stretching out his + hands to show me its size. + </p> + <p> + 'Why, whoever gave you it?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'It isn't Jack's own organ,' said the child. + </p> + <p> + 'Whose is it, then?' + </p> + <p> + 'It's father's, father's own organ.' + </p> + <p> + It seemed to me a most extraordinary thing for the mission + preacher of Runswick Bay to have in his possession, but I did + not like to ask any more questions at that time. + </p> + <p> + However, in the afternoon my little friend called to me over, + the wall, 'Big Mr. Jack, come here.' + </p> + <p> + 'Come where, my little man?' + </p> + <p> + 'Come inside and look at father's organ; I'll play it to you, + Mr. Jack.' + </p> + <p> + 'What will father say if I come in?' + </p> + <p> + 'Father's out.' + </p> + <p> + 'What will mother say?' + </p> + <p> + 'Mother's out too.' + </p> + <p> + I did not much relish the idea of entering a man's house in + his absence, but such plaintive entreaties came from the + other side of the wall. Over and over again he pleaded, 'Do + come, Mr. Jack; do come quick, Mr. Jack!' that at last, to + please the child, I left my work for a few minutes and went + up the steps which led to the gate of their garden. + </p> + <p> + It was only a small place, but very prettily laid out. There + was a tiny lawn, well kept, and covered with short, soft + grass, and in the centre of this a round bed filled with + geraniums, calceolarias, and lobelias. Round the lawn, at the + edge of the garden, was a border, in which grew all manner of + gay and sweet-smelling flowers. There were asters and + mignonette, sweet-peas and convolvolus, heliotrope and + fuchsias. Then in front of me was the pretty cottage, with + two gables and a red-tiled roof, the walls of which were + covered from top to bottom with creeping plants. Ivy and + jessamine, climbing roses, virginia-creeper, and canariensis, + all helped to make the little place beautiful. + </p> + <p> + 'What a pretty home you have, little Jack!' I said. + </p> + <p> + He kept tight hold of my hand, lest I should escape from him, + and led me on—into a tiny entrance hall, past one or + two doors, down a dark passage, and into a room at the back. + </p> + <p> + This room had a small bow-window overlooking the sea, the + walls were covered with bookshelves, a writing-table stood in + the window, and in the corner by the fireplace was the + extraordinary object I had been brought to see—an + extremely ancient and antiquated barrel-organ. + </p> + <p> + What a peculiar thing to come across in a preacher's study! + What possible use could he have for it? It was a most + dilapidated old instrument, almost falling to pieces with old + age. The shape was so old-fashioned that I do not remember + ever having seen one like it; the silk, which had doubtless + once been its adornment, was torn into shreds, and it was + impossible to tell what its original colour had been; the + wood was worm-eaten and decayed, and the leg upon which it + had rested could no longer support its weight. + </p> + <p> + 'Let me hear you play it, Jack,' I said. + </p> + <p> + He sat down with great pride to turn the handle, but I + noticed that half the notes were broken off the barrel, which + accounted for only fragments of each tune being heard, whilst + many bars of some were wanting altogether. However, Jack + seemed very proud of his performance, and insisted on my + staying till he had gone through the whole of the four tunes + which the poor old thing was supposed to play. He announced + their names, one by one, as each began. + </p> + <p> + 'This is "My Poor Mary Anne," Mr. Jack, <i>very</i> sad.' + Then when that was finished, 'This is the Old Hundred, + <i>very</i> old.' + </p> + <p> + After this there was a long turning of the handle without any + sound being heard, for the first part of the next tune was + gone entirely. 'I can't say the name of this one, Mr. Jack,' + he explained; 'Marjorie calls its something like "Ma says."' + </p> + <p> + 'Oh! the "Marseillaise,"' I said, laughing; 'all right, + little man, I know that.' + </p> + <p> + 'Then comes father's tune, father <i>does</i> like it so. + Listen, "Home, sweet home, there's no place like home, + there's no place like home." Do <i>you</i> like it, Mr. + Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, I do like it, Jack,' I said; 'I knew it when I was a + little chap like you.' + </p> + <p> + As he played, once more it brought before me my mother's + voice and my mother's words. I had not thought of my mother + for years so much as I had done at Runswick Bay. Even the old + organ brought her back to me, for she was always kind to + organ-grinders. There was an Italian who used to come round + with a barrel-organ when I was a little boy. I can see him + now. I used to watch for him from my nursery window, and as + soon as he came in sight I flew down to my mother for a + penny, and then went into the garden and stood beside him + whilst he played. My mother gave me a musical-box on my + birthday; it was in the shape of a barrel-organ, and had a + strap which I could hang round my neck. I used to take this + box with me, and standing beside the Italian, I imitated his + every movement, holding my little organ just as he held his + big one, and playing beside him as long as he remained. So + delightful did this man's occupation seem to me, that I can + remember quite well when my father asked me one day what I + would like to be when I was a man, I answered without a + moment's hesitation, 'An organ-grinder, of course, father.' + </p> + <p> + Those old boyish days, how long ago they seemed! What was the + use of recalling them? It would not bring back the mother I + had lost, or the father who had cared for me, and it only + made me depressed to think of them. What good, I asked + myself, would my holiday do me if I spent it in brooding over + bygone sorrow? I must forget all this kind of thing, and + cheer up, and get back my spirits again. + </p> + <p> + 'Now, little Jack,' I said, 'big Jack must go back to his + picture; come and climb into the old boat, and I'll see how + you would do in the foreground of it.' He looked such a merry + little rogue, perched amongst the nets and fishing tackle, + that I felt I should improve my picture by introducing him + into it, and therefore from that day he came for a certain + time every morning to be painted. He was such a good little + fellow, he never moved a limb after I told him I was ready, + and never spoke unless I spoke to him. A more lovable child I + never saw, nor a more obedient one. With all his fun, and in + spite of his flow of spirits, he was checked in a moment by a + single word. No one could be dull in his company, and as the + week passed on I began to regain my usual cheerfulness, and + to lose the uncomfortable impression left on my mind by the + sermon on the shore and the questions the preacher had asked + us. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH06"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-07"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image07.png" width="400" height="316" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter VI + </h2> + <center> + THE TUG OF WAR + </center> + <p> + I had quite made up my mind not to attend the service on the + following Sunday, and when a pink paper floated down on my + easel on the Saturday morning, I caught it and thrust it into + my pocket, without even looking to see what the subject was + to be. + </p> + <p> + 'Have you got it, Mr. Jack?' said the child's voice above me. + </p> + <p> + 'All right, little man,' I answered; 'it's all safe and + sound.' + </p> + <p> + I made my plans for Sunday with great care. I asked for an + early breakfast, so that I might walk over to Kettleness, a + place about two miles off along the coast, and which could + only be reached at low tide; and when I was once there, on + the other side of the bay, I determined to be in no hurry to + return, but to arrive at Runswick too late for the service on + the sands. If Duncan and Polly missed me, they would simply + conclude that I had found the walk longer than I had + expected. + </p> + <p> + But, as I was just ready to set out for Kettleness, a + tremendous shower came on. + </p> + <p> + 'You'll never set off in this weather, sir?' said Duncan + anxiously. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh no, of course not,' I answered lightly. + </p> + <p> + I fancied that he looked more concerned than the occasion + warranted, and I feared that he suspected the real reason for + my early walk. + </p> + <p> + There was now nothing to be done but to wait till the shower + was over, and by that time I found it would be impossible for + me to go to Kettleness without seeming deliberately to avoid + the service. + </p> + <p> + The sun came out, and the sky was quite blue before eleven + o'clock, and the fishermen spread tarpaulins on the sand for + the congregation to sit on, and I found myself—I must + say very much against my will—being led to the place by + little Jack. + </p> + <p> + 'Well, there is no need for me to listen,' I said to myself; + 'I will plan out a new picture, and no one will know where my + thoughts are.' + </p> + <p> + But, in spite of my resolution to the contrary, from the + moment that Jack's father began to speak, my attention was + riveted, and I could not choose but listen. + </p> + <p> + 'The Tug of War is our subject to-day, dear friends,' he + began, 'and a very suitable subject, I think, after what we + have witnessed on this green during the past week. We have + seen, have we not, a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all + together, as yon heavy crab boat was dragged up from the + beach? How well she came, what progress she made! with each + yoddel we brought her farther from the sea. We all of us gave + a helping hand; fishermen, wives, visitors, friends, all laid + hold, and all pulled, and the work, hard as it seemed, was + soon accomplished. Why? Because we were all united. It was a + long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together. + </p> + <p> + 'And now let me bring back to your memory another event + during this past week. The place is the same, our village + green, the same rope is used, and those who pull are the very + same men, strong, brawny, powerful fishermen. Yes, you pulled + your very hardest; if possible you put forth more strength + than when the crab boat was drawn up, and yet, strange to + say, there was no result, the rope did not move an inch. What + were you pulling? What was the mighty weight that you had to + move? What was it that, for such a long time, baffled the + strength of the strongest among you? The weight you could not + move was not a heavy boat, but a light handkerchief! + </p> + <p> + 'Why was there this difference? Why was the handkerchief + harder to move than the boat? The answer to that question was + to be found at the other end of the green. There were other + pullers at the rope that day, pulling with all their might in + an exactly opposite direction. It was not a united pull, and + therefore for a long time there was no result, and we watched + on, until at length one side was proved the strongest, and + the handkerchief was drawn by them triumphantly across the + line. + </p> + <p> + 'To-day, dear friends, I speak to you of yet another tug of + war. The place is the same, Runswick Bay and our village + green, but the weight to be drawn is not a boat, not a + handkerchief; the weight is <i>a human soul.</i> It is your + soul, my friend, your immortal soul; <i>you</i> are the one + who is being drawn. + </p> + <p> + 'And who are the pullers? Oh, how many they are! I myself + have my hands on the rope. God only knows how hard I am + pulling, striving with all my might, if possible to draw you, + my friend, to Christ. But there are other hands on the rope + besides mine. Your conscience pulls, your good old mother + pulls, your little child pulls, your Christian mate pulls; + each sermon you hear, each Bible class you attend, each hymn + you sing, each prayer uttered in your presence, each striving + of the Spirit, each God-given yearning after better things, + each storm you come through, each danger you escape, each + sickness in your family, each death in your home, each + deliverance granted you, gives you a pull God-ward, + Christ-ward, heaven-ward. + </p> + <p> + 'Yet, oh, my dear friend, you know, as clearly as you know + that you are sitting there, that, so far, Christ's pullers + are drawing in vain. You have never yet, you know it, crossed + the line which divides the saved from the unsaved. Why is + this? Why, oh, why are you so hard to move? + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, my friend, do you ask why? Surely you know the reason! + Is it not because there are other hands on the rope, other + pullers drawing in an exactly opposite direction? For Satan + has many an agent, many a servant, and he sends forth a great + army of soul-pullers. Each worldly friend, each desire of + your evil nature, each temptation to sin, each longing after + wealth, each sinful suggestion, gives you a pull, and a pull + the wrong way, away from safety, away from Christ, away from + God, away from heaven, away from Home. And towards what? Oh, + dear friend, towards what? What are the depths, the fearful + depths towards which you are being drawn?' + </p> + <p> + He said a good deal more, but I did not hear it. That + question seemed burnt in with a red-hot iron into my soul. + What are the depths, the fearful depths into which you are + being drawn? I could not shake it off. I wished I could get + away from the green, but Jack had brought me close to the + boat where the choir stood, and there was no escape. I should + have to sit it out; it would soon be over, I said to myself. + </p> + <p> + The service ended with a hymn. Another of their queer, wild, + irregular tunes, I thought; I was not going to sing it. But + when Jack saw that I did not open my book, he leant over the + side of the boat, and poked my head with his hymn-book. + 'Sing, big Mr. Jack, sing,' he said aloud, and then, for very + shame, I had to find my place and begin. I can still remember + the first verse of that hymn, and I think I can recall the + tune to which they sang it:— + </p> + <pre> + 'Oh, tender and sweet was the Master's voice, + As he lovingly called to me: + "Come over the line! it is only a step— + I am waiting, My child, for thee!" + "Over the line!" Hear the sweet refrain! + Angels are chanting the heavenly strain! + "Over the line!" Why should I remain + With a step between me and Jesus?' +</pre> + <p> + I was heartily glad when the service was over, and I went on + the shore at once, to try to walk the sermon away. But I was + not so successful as I had been the Sunday before. That + question followed me; the very waves seemed to be repeating + it. What are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are + being drawn? I had not looked at it in that light before. I + had been quite willing to own that I was not religious, that + I was leading a gay, easy-going kind of life, that my Sundays + were spent in bed, or in novel reading, or in rowing, or in + some other amusement. I was well aware that I looked at these + things very differently from what my mother had done, and I + had even wondered sometimes, whether, if she had been spared + to me, I should have been a better fellow than I knew myself + to be. But as for feeling any real alarm or anxiety with + regard to my condition, such a thought had never for one + moment crossed my mind. + </p> + <p> + Yet if this man was right, there was real danger in my + position. I was not remaining stationary, as I had thought, + but I was being drawn by unseen forces towards something + worse, towards the depths, the fearful depths, of which he + had spoken. + </p> + <p> + At times I wished I had never come to Runswick Bay to be made + so uncomfortable; at other times I wondered if I had been + brought there on purpose to hear those words. + </p> + <p> + I went back to dinner, but I could not enjoy it, much to + Polly's distress. The rain fell fast all the afternoon, and + as I lay on my bed upstairs I heard Polly washing up, and + singing as she did so the hymn we had had at the + service— + </p> + <pre> + 'Come over the line to Me.' +</pre> + <p> + There seemed no chance of forgetting the words which had made + me so uneasy. + </p> + <p> + That night I had a strange dream. I thought I was once more + on the village green. It was a wild, stormy night, the wind + was blowing hard, and the rain was falling fast; yet through + the darkness I could distinguish crowds of figures gathered + on the green. On the side farther from the sea there was a + bright light streaming through the darkness. I wondered in my + dream what was going on, and I found that it was a tug of + war, taking place in the darkness of the night. I saw the + huge cable, and gradually as I watched I caught sight of + those who were pulling. I walked to the side from which the + light streamed, and there I saw a number of holy and + beautiful angels with their hands on the rope, and amongst + them I distinctly caught sight of my mother. She seemed to be + dragging with all her might, and there was such an earnest, + pleading, beseeching expression on her dear face that it went + to my very heart to look at her. I noticed that close beside + her was the preacher, little Jack's father, and behind him + was Duncan. They were all intent on their work, and took no + notice of me, so I walked to the other end of the green, the + one nearest the sea, that I might see who were there. It was + very dark at that end of the rope, but I could dimly see evil + faces, and dark, strange forms, such as I could not describe. + Those on this side seemed to be having it much their own way, + I thought, for the weight, whatever it was, was gradually + drawing near to the sea; and, lo and behold, I saw that they + were close upon a terrible place, for mighty cliffs stood + above the shore, and they were within a very short distance + of a sheer and terrible precipice. + </p> + <p> + 'What are you dragging?' I cried to them. + </p> + <p> + And a thousand voices seemed to answer, 'A soul! a soul!' + </p> + <p> + Then, as I watched on, I saw that the precipice was nearly + reached, and that both those who pulled and the weight they + were dragging were on the point of being hurled over, and + suddenly it flashed upon me in my dream that it was <i>my</i> + soul for which they were struggling, and I heard the cry of + the pullers from the other side of the green, and it seemed + to me that, with one voice, they were calling out that + terrible question, 'What are the depths, the fearful depths, + to which you are being drawn?' And through the streaming + light I saw my mother's face, and a look of anguish crossed + it, as suddenly the rope broke, and those who were drawing it + on the opposite side went over with a crash, dragging my soul + over with them. + </p> + <p> + I woke in a terror, and cried out so loudly that Duncan came + running into my room to see what was the matter. + </p> + <p> + 'Nothing, Duncan,' I said, 'I was only dreaming; I thought I + had gone over a precipice.' + </p> + <p> + 'No, thank God, you're all safe, sir,' he said. 'Shall I open + your window a bit? Maybe the room's close; is it?' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you, Duncan,' I answered; 'I shall be all right now. + I'm so sorry I have waked you.' + </p> + <p> + 'You haven't done that, sir; me and Polly have been up all + night with the little lad. He's sort of funny, too, sir, + burning hot, and yet he shivers like, and he clings to his + daddy; so I've been walking a mile or two with him up and + down our chamber floor, and I heard you skriking out, and + says Polly, "Run and see what ails him." So you haven't + disturbed me, sir, not one little bit, you haven't.' + </p> + <p> + He left me then, and I tried to sleep, but sleep seemed far + from me. I could hear Duncan's footsteps pacing up and down + in the next room; I could hear little John's fretful cry; I + could hear the rain beating against the casement; I could + hear the soughing and whistling of the wind; I could hear + Polly's old eight-day clock striking the hours and the + half-hours of that long, dismal night; but through it all, + and above it all, I could hear the preacher's question, 'What + are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are being + drawn?' + </p> + <p> + I found it impossible to close my eyes again, so I drew up + the blind, and, as morning began to dawn, I watched the + pitiless rain and longed for day. The footsteps in the next + room ceased as the light came on, and I concluded that the + weary child was at last asleep. I wished that I was asleep + too. I thought how often my mother, when I was a child, must + have walked up and down through long weary nights with me. I + wondered whether, as she did so, she spent the slow, tedious + hours in praying for her boy, and then I wondered how she + would have felt, and how she would have borne it, had she + known that the child in her arms would grow up to manhood, + living for this world and not for the Christ she loved. I + wondered if she <i>did</i> know this now, in the far-off land + where she dwelt with God. + </p> + <p> + I think I must have dozed a little after this, for I was + suddenly roused by Polly's cheery voice, cheery in spite of + her bad night,— + </p> + <p> + 'Have a cup of tea, sir, it'll do you good. You've not slept + over well, Duncan says. I'll put it down by your door.' + </p> + <p> + I jumped out of bed and brought it in, feeling very grateful + to Polly, and I drank it before I dressed. That's just like a + Yorkshire woman, I thought. My mother came from Yorkshire. + </p> + <p> + 'I think it must have been nightmare I had last night, + Polly,' I said as I finished my breakfast, and began to put + all in order for my morning's work. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH07"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-08"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image08.png" width="400" height="502" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter VII + </h2> + <center> + OVER THE LINE + </center> + <p> + I was at my painting early the next morning, for the sun was + shining brightly, and the air was wonderfully clear. My + portrait of little Jack sitting in the boat promised to be a + great success. As I was hard at work upon it that day, I + heard a voice behind me. + </p> + <p> + 'I never thought my little lad would figure in the Royal + Academy,' said the voice. + </p> + <p> + It was the voice of Jack's father—the voice which had + moved me so deeply, the voice which had made me tremble, only + the day before. Even as he spoke I felt inclined to run away, + lest he should ask me again that terrible question which had + been ringing in my ears ever since. Even as I talked to him + about my picture, and even as he answered in pleasant and + friendly tones, through them all and above them all came the + words which were burnt in upon my memory: 'What are the + depths, the fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?' + </p> + <p> + 'I hope my children are not troublesome to you,' he said. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh no,' I answered; 'I love to have them here, and Jack and + I are great friends. Do you know,' I went on, 'he took me + into your study the other day? I am afraid I was taking a + great liberty; but the little man would hear of no + refusal—he wanted me to see the old barrel-organ.' + </p> + <p> + 'What, my dear old organ!' he answered. 'Yes, Jack is nearly + as fond of it as his father is.' + </p> + <p> + 'His father?' I replied, for it seemed strange to me that a + man of his years should care for what appeared to me scarcely + better than a broken toy. + </p> + <p> + 'That organ has a history,' he said, as he noticed my + surprise; 'if you knew the history, you would not wonder that + I love it. I owe all I am in this world, all I hope to be in + the world to come, to that poor old organ. Some day, when you + have time to listen, perhaps you may like to hear the story + of the organ.' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you,' I said; 'the sooner the better.' + </p> + <p> + 'Then come and have supper with us to-night. Nellie will be + very pleased to see you, and the bairns will be in bed, and + we shall have plenty of time and quiet for story-telling.' + </p> + <p> + I accepted his invitation gratefully, for September had come, + and the evenings were growing dark, and my time hung somewhat + heavily on my hands. Polly, I think, was not sorry when she + heard I was going out, for Duncan was away in the boat + fishing, and little John was so feverish and restless that + she could not put him down even for a moment. + </p> + <p> + The cottage looked very bright and pretty when I arrived, and + they gave me a most kind welcome. A small fire was burning in + the grate, for the evenings were becoming chilly. The bow + window was hung with India-muslin curtains, tied up with + amber ribbon, the walls were adorned with photographs framed + in oak, the supper table was covered with a snowy cloth, and + a dainty little meal was laid out with the greatest taste and + care, whilst in the centre was a china bowl, containing the + leaves of the creeper which covered the house, interspersed + with yellow bracken and other beautiful leaves, in every + varied shade of their autumn glory. Jack's mother was + evidently a woman of taste. She had a quiet, gentle face, + almost sad at times when it was at rest; but she had Jack's + eyes and Jack's bright smile, which lighted up her face, as a + burst of brilliant sunshine will stream suddenly down a dark + valley, and make it a perfect avenue of light. + </p> + <p> + I enjoyed the company of both husband and wife exceedingly, + and as we sat round the table and chatted over our supper all + feeling of constraint passed away, and I no longer heard the + words of that question which had so troubled me all day long. + He did not mention the object for which I had come whilst the + meal was going on. We talked of Runswick Bay and its + surroundings, of the fishermen and their life of danger; we + spoke of the children, and of my picture, of my hopes with + regard to the Royal Academy, and of many other interesting + topics. + </p> + <p> + Then the cloth was removed, and we drew near the fire. I had + just said to him, 'Now for your story,' and he was just + beginning to tell it, when, as I sat down in an arm-chair + which Nellie had placed for me by the fire, my eye fell upon + a photograph which was hanging in a frame close to the + fireplace. I started from my seat and looked at it. Surely I + could not be mistaken! Surely I knew every feature of it, + every fold of the dress, every tiny detail in the face and + figure. It was the counterpart of a picture which hung + opposite my bed in my London home. + </p> + <p> + 'However on earth did you get that?' I cried. 'Why, it's my + mother's picture!' + </p> + <p> + I think I have never felt more startled than I did at that + moment. After all the thoughts of yesterday, after my dream + of last night, after all my recollection of my mother's words + to me, and her prayers for me—after all this, to see + her dear eyes looking at me from the wall of the house of + this unknown man, in this remote, out-of-the-world spot, + almost frightened me. + </p> + <p> + I did not realize at first that my host was almost as much + startled as I was. + </p> + <p> + 'Your mother!' he repeated; 'your mother! Surely not! Do you + mean to tell me,' he said, laying his hand on my arm, 'that + your name is Villiers?' + </p> + <p> + 'Of course it is,' I said; 'Jack Villiers.' + </p> + <p> + 'Nellie, Nellie,' he cried, for she had gone upstairs to the + children, 'come down at once; who do you think this is, + Nellie? You will never guess. It is Jack Villiers, the little + Jack you and I used to know so well. Why, do you know,' he + said, 'our own little Jack was named after you; he was + indeed, and we haven't heard of you for years—never + since your dear mother died.' + </p> + <p> + I was too much astonished at first to ask him any questions, + and he was too much delighted to explain where and how he had + known me; but after a time, when we had recovered ourselves a + little, we drew our chairs round the fire, and he began his + story. + </p> + <p> + 'I was a poor little street Arab once,' he said; 'a forlorn + boy with no one to love him or to care for him. But I made + friends with an old man in the attic of the lodging-house who + had a barrel-organ.' + </p> + <p> + '<i>That</i> barrel-organ?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'The very same,' he said, 'and he loved it as if it was a + child. When he was too ill to take it out himself, I took it + for him, and that was how I first saw your mother.' + </p> + <p> + 'Was she married then?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'No,' he said with a smile; 'she was quite a little girl, + about the age of our Marjorie. She used to run to her nursery + window as soon as she heard me begin to play. I let her turn + the organ one day, and she said she liked all the tunes, but + she liked "Home, Sweet Home" the best of all.' + </p> + <p> + 'Did she?' I said. 'Yes, I have often heard her sing it; she + sang me to sleep with it many a time.' + </p> + <p> + 'As I played it,' he went on, 'she would speak to me of the + Home, Sweet Home above; child as she was, she knew the way to + that home, and she soon found out that I knew nothing about + it. "You can't go to heaven if you don't love Jesus, organ + boy," she said, and the tears ran down from her dear little + eyes as she said it. + </p> + <p> + 'I could not forget those words, and I was determined to find + out the way to the home of which she spoke. + </p> + <p> + 'My old master was dying; he had only another month to live, + and for his sake I must learn quickly the way to be saved. I + attended a mission service, and I learnt first that no sin + can enter the gates of the Heavenly City. But I learnt more. + I learnt that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth + from all sin. + </p> + <p> + 'Your mother taught me a prayer one day when I went to see + her. I have said that prayer, morning and evening, ever + since. She gave me a bunch of snowdrops, tied up with dark + green leaves, and she told me to say as I looked at them, + "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." + </p> + <p> + He stopped for a minute or two after this, and gazed into the + fire; the memory of those old days had stirred him deeply. + </p> + <p> + 'Please go on,' I said, for I longed to hear more. + </p> + <p> + 'She came to our attic after that with her mother; they came + to see my old master, and she was pleased to see the + snowdrops. She told me that day, that if I would only say her + prayer I should be sure to go to Home, Sweet Home. + </p> + <p> + 'Very soon after this my old master died, and on the very day + that I was following him to the grave I saw my poor little + friend, your mother, Jack, in a funeral coach, following her + mother to the same place. Then after that she went abroad, + but she did not forget the poor organ boy. She told her + father about me, and he sent money for my education, and had + me trained to be a city missionary in the east of London, to + work amongst the very people amongst whom I had lived. All I + am now I owe to your grandfather. + </p> + <p> + 'I did not meet your mother after this for many years, not + until she was married to the clergyman in whose parish I + worked. + </p> + <p> + 'Strange to say, we met one day in my old attic, the very + attic where my poor old master had died. She had gone there + to visit a sick woman, and as I went in she was reading to + her from the very Testament out of which her mother had read + to my old master, when she had come to see him in that place, + fifteen years before. + </p> + <p> + 'Soon after this we were married, Nellie and I, and it was + your dear mother who made our little home bright and pretty + for us, and who was there to welcome us to it. How we loved + her then, how we love her still! + </p> + <p> + 'When you were quite a tiny child, she would bring you to see + us, and Nellie used often to say you were the dearest, + prettiest child she had ever known!' + </p> + <p> + 'I don't remember it,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'No, you would be too young to remember it; you were only + three years old when your father left London for a parish in + the country, and soon after came the news of his death, and + only a year or so later we heard your mother was gone too. It + was a sorrowful day, Jack, when that news came. + </p> + <p> + 'We often wondered about you; we heard that you had gone to + live with an aunt, but we did not even know her name. We + tried to find out more, but we knew no one in the place where + you lived, and we never heard what had become of you.' + </p> + <p> + 'How strange that I should have been brought here to meet + you!' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'No, not strange,' he said reverently; 'it is the hand of + God.' + </p> + <p> + And then—I could not help it—I laid my head on my + arm as I stood against the mantel-piece, and I sobbed like a + child. + </p> + <p> + He did not speak for some minutes, and then he put his arm + round me as tenderly as my mother could have done, and said, + 'What is it, Jack? Is it talking of your mother that has + upset you so?' + </p> + <p> + 'No,' I said, 'it isn't that—I love to talk of her; I + love to hear of her; everything she said is precious to me; + it isn't that.' + </p> + <p> + 'What then?' he said; 'what troubles you, Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'It's the thought that I shall never see her again,' I said; + 'I know I shall not. <i>She</i> went one way and <i>I</i> am + going another.' + </p> + <p> + 'Why not turn round and go her way, Jack?' he said cheerily. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, I can't,' I said; 'it's no use—I can't turn. There + are too many hands on the wrong end of the rope. I've been + miserable ever since I heard you talk of it. I could not + sleep last night for thinking of it. "What are the depths, + the fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?" those + words have never left me, night or day, since you uttered + them. I have tried to shake them off, but I can't.' + </p> + <p> + 'Don't attempt to shake them off,' he said. 'Oh, Jack, don't + try to do it, for they are the voice of the Spirit of God. + But listen to-night to the One who is calling you. "Come over + the line—it is only a step. Come over the line to + <i>Me</i>."' + </p> + <p> + 'I wish I could,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'You can do it, and you <i>must</i> do it, Jack,' he said + firmly, 'before you leave this room.' + </p> + <p> + 'Before I leave this room?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, this very instant,' he said. + </p> + <p> + 'But how can I do it? I don't know how to cross,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'You are no dead, lifeless weight on the rope, like a boat or + a handkerchief; you have a will of your own, and it remains + with you to decide which way you want to be drawn, God-ward, + Christ-ward, heaven-ward, or to the fearful depths of which I + spoke. God is drawing you very strongly now, but He never + forces a man against his will. He puts in your hands the + power to decide on which side of the line you will be. Which + is it to be, Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'Well,' I said, 'I will think it over.' + </p> + <p> + 'So many have said, and their desire to cross the line has + cooled down, and they have been lost.' + </p> + <p> + 'I'll come and have a talk with you another day, later on in + the week, if we can make it convenient.' + </p> + <p> + 'So Felix said, "When I have a more convenient season I will + send for thee," but Felix never did send; he never crossed + the line, but he was drawn over to the fearful depths.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, suppose we say to-morrow. It's late now, and you're + tired, I know, and—' + </p> + <p> + 'God says <i>to-day</i> he said. '"To-day, if ye will hear + His voice, harden not your hearts. Behold, now is the + accepted time, now is the day of salvation."' + </p> + <p> + 'Tell me <i>how</i> I can come,' I said. + </p> + <p> + '"Come over the line to <i>Me</i>." There you have it,' he + answered. 'The Lord calls you, and you have not far to go. It + is only a step. He stands in this room close to you. He holds + out His arms to you. He does not compel you. He does not + force you forward. He calls, and He waits to receive you. + Jack, will you come?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, I will,' I said earnestly; 'I will come.' + </p> + <p> + We knelt down together, and I cannot remember the words he + said, but I know that whenever I read in the Gospels those + words in the first chapter of St. John, 'He brought him to + Jesus,' I think of that night. I do not think that Peter and + Andrew felt the Lord Jesus more near them in the booth by the + side of the Jordan than we felt Him in that little room in + Runswick Bay. + </p> + <p> + I know He was there, and I know something more—I know + that I came to Him. And I know that that night, before we + rose from our knees, I crossed the line, and I was able + henceforth to take my place amongst the glad, thankful people + who can say, humbly and yet confidently, 'We know that we + have passed from death unto life.' + </p><a name="2HCH08"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h2> + Chapter VIII + </h2> + <center> + A NIGHT OF STORM + </center> + <p> + It was late when I got back to my lodging, and I walked like + one in a dream. Polly opened the door, and she seemed + troubled about the child. Little John was evidently in pain, + for I heard him moaning as I went upstairs. + </p> + <p> + 'I should get a doctor, Polly,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'So Duncan says, sir; we shall have to send for him in the + morning if he's no better.' + </p> + <p> + I slept calmly and peacefully, and I woke up to feel that I + was beginning an entirely new life. Henceforth I was not my + own. I was standing on the heavenward side of the line, and I + had taken my place amongst the servants of Christ. I had + never felt so happy before. + </p> + <p> + Duncan had set off for the doctor before I was down that + morning. Little John was better, Polly said, but was still + very feverish, and would eat nothing. She brought him down + before I went off to my work, wrapped in a shawl, and I + thought he looked very ill, but I did not like to say so. + </p> + <p> + Duncan came in just at that moment, and the child put out his + arms to his father, and he took him on his knee by the fire, + and when I came home to dinner he was still lying there. + </p> + <p> + 'Has the doctor been?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'No, sir; he was out when I called this morning. He had gone + to a bad case, they said, ten miles off, but I left a + message. I hope he'll come before I go this evening. I should + be more comfortable like if he did.' + </p> + <p> + However, the evening came, and Duncan's mates were whistling + for him from the shore, and the doctor had not appeared. The + boy was still in his father's arms, and he was walking up and + down the kitchen to soothe him. + </p> + <p> + 'It's hard to leave him, sir,' he said, when he heard the + whistle, 'but he seems a bit better, I think, this afternoon; + he hasn't cried so much, has he, Polly?' + </p> + <p> + But I saw there were tears in his eyes as he gave the boy to + his mother. + </p> + <p> + 'I'll walk with you to the shore, Duncan,' I said, for I saw + that the poor fellow was very downcast. + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you kindly, sir,' he answered. + </p> + <p> + I stood on the shore whilst the nets and fishing tackle were + put on board, then he said in a low voice,— + </p> + <p> + 'It's a comfort to feel you will be near my poor lass + to-night, sir. It cuts me to the heart to leave her; if + anything happens to little John, whatever would me and my + missus do! But the Lord knows, sir—He knows,' he + repeated, and he wiped away a tear which fell on my hand as + he grasped it. + </p> + <p> + I went back to Duncan's house, to find the doctor there. It + was influenza and pneumonia, he said, and the boy must be + kept in one room. He was a very silent man, and whether he + thought it was a serious case or not I could not discover. + </p> + <p> + I determined not to go to bed that night, but to sit up in my + room, in case I should be of any use. I was really glad of + the quiet time for thought and prayer. + </p> + <p> + I am ashamed to confess that I had brought no Bible with me + to Runswick Bay; I had not opened a Bible for years. But when + all was quiet in the house I stole quietly downstairs, and + brought up Duncan's Bible, which was lying on the top of the + oak cupboard below. What a well-worn, well-read Bible it was! + I wondered if my mother's Bible had been read like that. + There was his name on the title-page, 'John Duncan, from his + affectionate father.' It had evidently been given to him when + a boy, and underneath the name was written this verse: 'Open + Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy + law.' I said that little prayer before I began to read, and I + have said it ever since each time that I have opened my + Bible. + </p> + <p> + About twelve o'clock that night the weather became very + stormy. A sudden gale set in, and in a very short time the + sea became lashed into a fury. I have never heard wind like + the wind that night. It literally shrieked and moaned as it + blew, and every window and door in the house rattled, and + sometimes I felt as if the cottage itself would be swept + away. + </p> + <p> + 'What a time they must be having out at sea!' I said to + myself. + </p> + <p> + I went to the window, and putting out my candle, I tried to + see out into the darkness; but I could distinguish nothing + whatever, so black was the sky and so tremendous was the + rain. + </p> + <p> + It must have been about one o'clock that I heard a step on + the stairs. I opened my door and went out. It was Polly. + </p> + <p> + 'How is he, Polly?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'Very bad, sir; very bad,' she said. 'He doesn't know me now, + and he won't take anything; and oh, sir, do you hear the + wind?' + </p> + <p> + Who could help hearing it? It was raging more furiously every + moment, and the house seemed to rock with the violence of the + storm. + </p> + <p> + 'Let me help you, Polly,' I said; 'let me come and sit with + you beside little John.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, sir, if you would just stay a few minutes whilst I + fetch Betty Green,' she said; 'I feel as if I dursn't be + alone any longer, I'm getting that nervous, what with little + John talking so queer, sir, and the wind blowing so awful, + and his father on the sea!' and Polly burst into tears. + </p> + <p> + 'Polly,' I said, 'God is on the sea as well as on the land. + Go and fetch Betty, and I will sit by the child.' + </p> + <p> + She went down and opened the door, and the wind rushed into + the house and up the stairs, and I had to shut the bedroom + door hastily to keep it out. Then I heard Polly pulling and + pulling at it, and vainly trying to shut it, and I had to go + down to help her. She was some minutes away, for she had + difficulty in rousing her neighbour, and I sat beside the + unconscious child. He was talking the whole time, but I could + distinguish very little of what he said. It seemed to be + chiefly about going with his daddy in his boat, and every now + and then he would call out quite loudly, 'Come, daddy, come, + daddy, to little John.' + </p> + <p> + When Polly returned with old Betty, I had again to go down to + help them to close the door. + </p> + <p> + 'What do you think of him, sir?' said Polly. + </p> + <p> + I did not like to say what I thought, so I answered, 'Well, + perhaps it would be as well to get the doctor to have another + look at him. I'll go for him if you like.' + </p> + <p> + 'I don't believe you could manage it, sir,' said Betty. 'You + can't stand outside; me and Polly has been clinging on to the + palings all the way, and it will be terrible up on the top.' + </p> + <p> + 'Shall I try, Polly?' + </p> + <p> + She gave me a grateful look, but did not answer by words. But + the two women gave me so long a description of the way to the + doctor's house, and interrupted each other so often, and at + length both talked together in their eagerness to make it + clear to me, that at the end I was more bewildered and + hopelessly puzzled than at the beginning, and I determined to + go to Mr. Christie before I started, in order to obtain from + him full and clear directions. + </p> + <p> + It took me quite ten minutes to reach his house, and I felt + as if I had gone through a battle when I arrived there at + length, quite spent and breathless. I saw a light in the + lower room, and I found Mr. Christie and his wife and + children sitting in the room where I had passed through so + much the night before. Marjorie and little Jack were in their + nightgowns, wrapped in a blanket, and sitting in the same + arm-chair. My mother's picture was looking at me from the + wall, and I fancied that she smiled at me as I came in. + </p> + <p> + 'What a terrible night!' said Mrs. Christie. 'The children + were so frightened by the noise of the wind in their attic + that we brought them down here.' + </p> + <p> + I told them my errand, and Mr. Christie at once offered to go + with me for the doctor. I shall never forget that walk as + long as I live. We could not speak to each other more than a + few necessary words, we were simply fighting with the storm. + Then, to our disappointment, when our long walk was ended, we + found that the doctor was away, and would probably not return + until morning. + </p> + <p> + The walk home was, if possible, worse than the walk there, + for the wind was dead against us as we came down the cliff. + It had changed somewhat the last hour, and was now blowing + from the north-east. + </p> + <p> + 'There will be trouble out at sea,' Mr. Christie said, as we + stopped to take breath. + </p> + <p> + 'And what about the boats?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + 'Yes,' he said, almost with a groan, 'what about the boats?' + </p> + <p> + We could see very little out at sea, though it was beginning + to grow light, but we determined to make our way to the + shore, to see all that it was possible to distinguish. He + went home for a moment, and then followed me to my lodging. + Polly and her old friend were still watching the child. + </p> + <p> + 'I think he's a little better, sir,' she said; 'he's quieter. + Oh, Mr. Christie, I <i>am</i> glad to see you, sir! Will you + pray, sir? I think I shall hear the wind less if you pray!' + </p> + <p> + We knelt down beside the child's bed, but the noise of the + storm almost drowned his voice. At the end of the prayer the + child began once more to cry for his father, so piteously, so + beseechingly, that at last I could bear it no longer, but ran + downstairs, to be out of the sound of that touching little + voice. Mr. Christie soon followed me, and we went out + together in the grey light of that terrible morning. + </p> + <p> + 'The child is dying, Jack,' he said. + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, don't say so, Mr. Christie!' I answered; 'dying before + his father comes back.' + </p> + <p> + 'God grant he <i>may</i> come back!' he said; 'look at the + sea, Jack.' + </p> + <p> + The sea was dashing wildly against the rocks, and the noise + of the wind was so great we could hardly hear our own voices. + In the dim uncertain light we could at length distinguish a + group of anxious watchers on the shore. Some old fishermen + were there trying to hold a telescope steady in the gale, + that they might look across the water for any sign of a boat, + and mothers and wives and sweethearts of the absent fishermen + were there also, with shawls tied over their heads, and with + troubled and tear-stained faces, peering out into the dismal + light of that sorrowful morning. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Christie and I stood near them, and he spoke from time to + time a word of encouragement and hope to the anxious women + beside him. As the light increased the wind dropped somewhat, + and the gale seemed to have spent its violence. We were + thankful to notice, that although the sea was still very + rough, and would be so for hours, the wind was gradually + subsiding; instead of howling and shrieking, as it had done + the whole night long, it was dying away with gentle moans, + like a child weary with passion who is crying himself to + sleep. But still there was no sign of the boats. + </p> + <p> + The women on the shore were wet through, and Mr. Christie + tried to persuade them to go home. Their men would want good + fires and hot tea on their return, he told them, and they + ought to make ready for them. I was glad to notice that one + by one they followed his advice, and turned to climb the hill + towards their cottages. Then we turned also, and went back to + my lodging. We crept into the room, and found old Betty + asleep in her chair, and Polly holding the little hand in + hers as the child slept. + </p> + <p> + 'Have the boats come, sir?' she said as we went in. + </p> + <p> + 'Not yet, Polly; but please God they will come soon.' + </p> + <p> + We sat down beside her for a little time, but we presently + heard a shout from the shore. + </p> + <p> + 'Thank God,' said Polly, 'he's come!' + </p> + <p> + The child seemed in some strange way to have heard that + shout, and to have understood its meaning, for he opened his + eyes and said, 'Come, daddy, come to little John.' + </p> + <p> + We hurried down to the shore, where a large crowd had already + collected. The whole of Runswick Bay seemed to have gathered + together in that short space of time. We could distinctly see + the boats far out at sea, but wind and tide were with them, + and they, were coming rapidly nearer. What a night they must + have had, and what a welcome they would receive from the + watchers on the shore! + </p> + <p> + 'How many boats went out last night, Bob?' said one man as + they drew nearer. + </p> + <p> + 'There was eight, Jem,' he said—'the Jane Ann one, Lady + Hilda two, the Susan three, the Mary Ann four, Princess Alice + five, the Lightning six, the Eliza seven, the Alert eight.' + </p> + <p> + 'Are you sure, Bob?' + </p> + <p> + 'Quite sure, I saw them start.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, there's one missing, Jem,' he said; 'catch hold of + this glass, and just you count.' + </p> + <p> + 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.' + </p> + <p> + There <i>was</i> one missing, and I felt that I knew which it + was before they came in sight. + </p> + <p> + It was the Mary Ann. + </p><a name="image-09"><!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image09.png" width="400" height="671" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH09"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-10"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image10.png" width="400" height="432" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter IX + </h2> + <center> + ASK WHAT YE WILL + </center> + <p> + We had run down the hill as quickly as we possibly could, but + we were in no haste to return. We waited until the boats were + drawn in, and the worn-out fishermen had come on shore. They + knew nothing of the Mary Ann; they had lost sight of her soon + after the beginning of the gale. They told us they had had an + awful night, and had thought they would never reach home in + safety. + </p> + <p> + 'However shall we tell Polly?' I groaned. + </p> + <p> + But a cold hand was laid on mine at that instant, and I + turned round to see Polly herself just behind me. She could + wait no longer, but had run down to the shore to hasten her + husband up the hill. She was trembling from head to foot, and + seemed ready to faint. The kind-hearted fishermen crowded + round her with words of cheer and comfort. + </p> + <p> + 'He'll be all right, my lass, never fear. He's put into + Saltburn or Staithes maybe; these gales they drive so far. + He'll be home all safe and sound afore night.' + </p> + <p> + But Polly did not seem to hear them. She stretched out her + hands feebly to Mr. Christie and to me as she said: + </p> + <p> + 'Take me home; I can bear it better there.' + </p> + <p> + The fishermen turned away sorrowfully, and there were very + few dry eyes amongst the group which we left on the shore. + </p> + <p> + When we reached the house again all was quite still, and as + we entered the bedroom I thought the little soul had passed + away, but I bent over him to listen and to my relief I found + he was still breathing. + </p> + <p> + As I look back, I hardly know how we lived through that + sorrowful day. The doctor came, and did nothing but shake his + head in the ominous way which doctors have when they feel a + case is beyond their power. I think Polly had so little hope + herself that she did not care to ask him what his real + opinion was. + </p> + <p> + I went out for a short walk in the afternoon, to get a little + fresh air to strengthen me for the coming night, when I had + determined to watch with Polly beside little John, if he was + still living. My young friends, Bob and Harry, joined me, and + we were pacing up and down together watching the tide come in + when we thought we saw a dark speck far out to sea. + </p> + <p> + There were others who saw it also. The coastguard was looking + at it through his telescope, and before very long the shore + was covered with fishermen and their wives, all gazing in the + same direction. Whatever the object was, it was coming + rapidly shoreward; wind and tide were both with it, and it + was being borne swiftly along. After a little time we could + distinguish, even without the help of a telescope, what it + was, and I do not think there was anything which we could + have been more aghast to see, for the floating object was a + boat bottom upwards, and being driven rapidly before the + tide. + </p> + <p> + A groan came from the group of fishermen who were watching, + and as the capsized boat neared shore they ran into the water + to meet it. I do not think it was necessary to look at the + name upon it as it was dragged out of the water: we all did + look, however, and we found there the name which we knew we + should see before we looked. It was the Mary Ann. + </p> + <p> + I shall never forget the piercing shriek which came from the + wife of one of Duncan's mates, who was standing just behind + me, when she read the name on the boat. I thought the shock + and the sorrow had driven her mad, for she ran screaming up + the hill; indeed, I firmly believe that for the time she was + quite out of her mind. + </p> + <p> + Poor Polly heard the shrieks of the woman as she ran under + her window, and looking out, she saw the boat on the shore, + and guessed the truth at once. <i>She</i> did not scream nor + cry, but she looked as if she had been turned into stone. No + word escaped her lips, not a tear was in her eye; but she + looked as if all her youth had gone in a moment, and as if + she had suddenly become an old and worn-out woman. + </p> + <p> + She never looked up as we went in, but bent over little John, + moistening his lips from time to time, and watching his every + movement. We tried to say a few words of comfort, but she did + not seem even to hear our voices. Yet no moan, no sigh from + the child was unheard by her; she seemed to be listening to + every breath he drew, as if it might be his last. + </p> + <p> + I thought that terrible day would never have an end. Mr. + Christie stayed with us until dark, and then he took me home + with him to supper, that I might get a little change and rest + before my night watch. I think they knew how tired I was, + worn out more by feeling than by want of sleep, and they were + very good to me. I do not think my own mother could have been + more kind to me than Mrs. Christie was that night. She told + me that she would have had a boy nearly as old as I was if he + had lived, but he had died when he was very young; and then + they had had no children for many years, not until Marjorie + was born. + </p> + <p> + 'Your mother was so good to me when my baby died,' she said. + 'I thought I should never be happy again, but she came and + talked to me, and made me look from my sorrow to my little + boy's gain, and I think her kindness to me and the loving + words she spoke made me love her more than ever.' + </p> + <p> + I felt much better for the good supper, and for the kind + words of these dear people, and I went back determined to do + all I could for poor Polly and her child through that + sorrowful night. I felt so grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ + for all He had done for me, and I was very glad to be able to + do any little thing to show my love to Him. It seemed to me + then, and it seems to me still, that the way in which we can + please Him best is by showing kindness to His children. I + remembered a verse about a cup of cold water being noticed by + Him, if given for His sake, and I thought to myself, 'Polly + is not in need of cold water, for she is too cold already, + but I might make her a cup of tea.' + </p> + <p> + The fire was out, and the little kitchen, which was usually + so neat, was all in confusion. I lighted the lamp that I + might see what I was about, and then I tried to put the + little place in order. First I found sticks and coal, and + lighted a fire; then, whilst my fire was burning up, I + cleared the table, carried the dirty plates and cups into the + small back kitchen, found a tablecloth and a clean cup and + saucer, and filled the kettle. As soon as the fire was hot + enough I put the kettle on, and cutting a slice from the loaf + I made some nice crisp toast, such as my aunt used to like + when she was ill. Then I heated a plate, and buttered the + toast, and set it down by the fire. By this time the kettle + was boiling and I made the tea, and I said in my heart when + all was finished, 'Lord Jesus, I do this for Thee.' + </p> + <p> + Then I went upstairs to my hardest task of all, namely, to + persuade Polly to come down to eat the little meal I had + prepared. + </p> + <p> + Polly was, as I had expected, most unwilling to leave the + child, and at first she firmly declined to move, and would + not listen to my pleading words. Yet I could see that she was + almost fainting, and I knew that she would need all the + strength that she could muster for the night which lay before + us. Who knew what that night would bring? + </p> + <p> + I therefore spoke to her very firmly, telling her that I was + willing and anxious to help her in her trouble, but that, if + I was to be any use to her, she must not refuse to go + downstairs for a few minutes at least, and I promised her to + watch little John very carefully, and to call her at once if + I saw any change in the child. She obeyed me at last, and I + heard her weary footsteps descending the steep stairs. + </p> + <p> + When I was left alone, I saw that Polly's Bible was lying + open by the little oil-lamp which stood on the table, upon + which had been placed the medicine and milk for little John's + use. I went up to it, and my eye fell upon these + words:— + </p> + <p> + 'If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask + <i>what ye will</i>, and <i>it shall be done unto you</i>.' + </p> + <p> + It seemed to me as if that verse was God's direct message to + me that night. I saw it as clearly and distinctly as if the + page had been lighted with electric light. 'Two conditions + and a promise,' I said to myself; 'if only the conditions are + fulfilled, the promise is sure.' + </p> + <p> + What are the two conditions? (1) 'If ye abide in Me.' I asked + myself if I was fulfilling <i>that</i> condition. I humbly + hoped I was; for, oh, I longed to be in Christ, saved by Him, + more than I longed for anything else in this world. + </p> + <p> + (2) 'If My words abide in you.' Was I fulfilling the second + condition? Again I humbly hoped that I was; for I felt that + if Christ told me to go to the North Pole, or to an African + desert, I would obey gladly. I would go anywhere, I would do + anything, to show Him how grateful I was for His love to me. + </p> + <p> + Then might I claim the promise? I believed that I might. + </p> + <p> + I laid Polly's Bible on the bed. I knelt down beside little + John. I put my finger on the promise, and I prayed, as I had + never prayed before, for help in this time of need. I felt + very strongly that all power was in the hands of Christ, and + that He who healed the sick on earth had lost none of His + power, now that He was exalted to the throne of God. I + besought Him to come into that room that very night, and to + touch and heal little John. And as I rose from my knees I + felt that my prayer was heard. + </p> + <p> + Polly had not returned, so I went to the top of the stairs + and listened, and I heard the sound of sobbing. I was + thankful to hear it; the tears had come at last, and they + would relieve the poor, weary, over-strained heart. + </p> + <p> + Little John was very quiet, so I crept downstairs. I found to + my joy that Polly had eaten most of the toast, and had drunk + the tea, and now she was sitting with her feet on the fender + and her head in her hands, sobbing as if her heart would + break. What was it that had brought the tears? She had not + cried when the empty boat had come ashore; she had shed no + tear when the doctor's face had told her that he had no hope + for the child; what was it that had helped her to give way to + the tears which were such a relief to her? It was a very + simple thing. She had picked up from the floor a little toy, + a tiny roughly-shaped boat, which Duncan had made for the + child, and which had been little John's greatest treasure. + There had come over her such a rush of memories of the happy + days of the past, gone, as she believed, for ever, of the + father whose fingers had so busily carved the boat for his + boy, but who would never come back to her again, and of the + little lad passing away from her also, and leaving his + treasured toy behind him. All these sad but lovely memories + came before her, as she took up the little boat and pressed + it to her lips. They came so strongly and with such power, + that the tears which had refused to come before came with + them, and brought, as I felt sure they would, wonderful + relief to her over-strained heart. + </p> + <p> + 'Polly,' I said, 'cheer up, don't lose heart; I believe + little John will recover.' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank you, sir, thank you,' she said; as she dried her eyes. + 'I feel better now, a deal better, I do. You <i>have</i> been + good to me, sir. I'll go up again to him now.' + </p> + <p> + 'All right, Polly,' I said; 'I'll make up the fire, and then + I'll come and help you. He's asleep now, Polly.' + </p> + <p> + 'I'll creep quietly up, then, sir,' she said, and I saw as + she rose to go that the stony look had gone out of her face + and that she was herself again. + </p> + <p> + That sleep lasted for hours. It was a quiet night, the wind + had quite gone down, and everything seemed more still after + the tumult of the previous night. I was glad to see that + Polly herself at length fell asleep in her chair; little + John's hand lay in hers, and I knew she would wake with his + least movement; but I was pleased to see it, for I felt sure + that even a light sleep would soothe and strengthen her. + </p> + <p> + I had just looked at my watch, and had seen that it was + nearly half-past two, when I thought I heard footsteps + outside, and a moment afterwards there came a gentle knock at + the door. It seemed a strange time for a visitor, but I + thought probably it was some neighbour come to offer to help + Polly in her long night watch, or perhaps it was Mr. Christie + come to see how we were getting on. I crept softly + downstairs, lest either Polly or the child should wake, and + carefully unfastening the bolts I opened the door. + </p> + <p> + I nearly yelled with joy when I saw who was standing there. + Never in all my life have I been more glad to see any man + than I was that night to see Duncan, alive and uninjured, + whilst all day long I had been picturing him being driven + backwards and forwards by the waves, a drowned corpse at the + mercy of the relentless sea. + </p> + <p> + He grasped my hand and came in to the fire, but at first he + could not speak. + </p> + <p> + 'Sir,' he said at last, in a broken voice, 'am I too late? + Tell me the truth, sir; don't hide it over like; is little + John dead?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, Duncan,' I said, 'he still lives, and he is asleep; and, + Duncan, I believe he will be given back to you.' + </p> + <p> + 'Thank God!' he said; 'thank God for that!' + </p> + <p> + For just a moment a doubt crossed my mind as to whether I + ought to give him this hope, and yet I rebuked myself for + this doubt, for I was clinging to the promise, and the word + of the Lord was sure, and I believed that if what I asked was + good for these poor souls it <i>must</i> be granted to me. + </p> + <p> + Duncan had now sat down in his arm-chair, and by the light of + the fire I could see that he was faint and exhausted. He + leant back wearily for some time and seemed unable to speak. + I had left the kettle on the fire, and I hastened to give him + a cup of tea and something to eat. + </p> + <p> + Then I crept upstairs to see what was going on, but finding + Polly and little John were still both fast asleep, I came + back to him. He was better for the tea, and able to talk to + me. + </p> + <p> + 'I've had an awful time, sir,' he said, in answer to my + inquiry. 'Many and many's the time since I was a boy that + I've been near the dark valley, but this time, why, I think + I've been half-way down it, sir. How's my poor lass, sir?' + </p> + <p> + 'Very cut up, Duncan,' I said. 'She thinks you are dead. Your + boat came up with last night's tide.' + </p> + <p> + 'Poor Polly, poor lass!' he said; 'I'll go to her.' + </p> + <p> + 'Wait a little, Duncan,' I said; 'she is asleep now, and she + will bear the joy better when she wakes.' + </p> + <p> + 'And my little lad?' he asked. + </p> + <p> + 'Sleeping too, Duncan, so peacefully and quietly.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, it's hard not to go up, sir, but may be you're right.' + </p> + <p> + He waited very patiently for an hour, and when I crept up + again at the end of that time Polly and the child were both + awake, and she was giving him some milk. Little John was + quite conscious, and looked more like himself than he had + done since his illness began. He had no sooner finished his + milk, however, than he began his old weary cry, 'Come, daddy, + come to little John.' + </p> + <p> + Polly burst into tears again when she heard him calling for + the father whom she believed to be dead; but I bent over the + child and said, 'Yes, little John, daddy will come to you.' + </p> + <p> + I believe Polly fancied that I thought the child was dying, + and that I meant his father's spirit was coming to fetch him, + for she only cried the more bitterly and said, 'Oh, little + John, little John!' + </p> + <p> + But when I added, 'Shall I fetch daddy, little John?' she + sprang to her feet and looked at me wildly, but without + speaking a word. + </p> + <p> + There was no need for me to say more, for she heard the sound + of a well-known footstep on the stairs, and in another moment + she was in her husband's arms. + </p> + <p> + I felt then that my work was over, and that the best thing + that I could do would be to go to bed. But I glanced back + from the door as I went out, and I saw the little hands held + out, and I heard Duncan sob like a child as he cried, 'Oh, my + little lad, my own little John, I never thought to see you + again!' + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH10"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-11"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image11.png" width="400" height="257" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter X + </h2> + <center> + WE KNOW + </center> + <p> + The next day Duncan was able to tell me what he had passed + through during that terrible night. It seems he was separated + from the other boats by the very first outburst of the gale, + and never saw them again through the long hours of that night + of storm. For some considerable time he and his mates, by + straining every nerve, were able to keep the water out of + their boat; but as the night went on, and the sea grew + rougher and the waves seemed mountains high, they were + compelled at last to own that their attempt was hopeless. 'At + that time,' said Duncan, 'I just trusted my soul again to + Christ, for I expected the next wave would sweep us to the + bottom.' + </p> + <p> + 'Was I frightened, sir, did you say? No, I think not; I felt + more awed like, if you understand, and in them few moments + all sorts of thoughts seemed to be running through my head, + but through them all was the thought of my poor lass, of + Polly and little John. Yes, sir, of Polly and little John, + and I cried to Him as alone could help me, "O God," I said, + "save me, for Polly and little John want me so bad!" And He + heard my prayer, sir. I've often thought how them fishermen + cried to Him in the storm that day, "Master, save us, we + perish!" they said; and He heard their cry, didn't He, sir? + And He heard mine. Yes, He heard mine, for when the wave did + come which carried us over, the Mary Ann was driven right + past where we were struggling in the water, and we caught + hold on her. We clung on for dear life, sir, but we couldn't + have clung there many minutes, for the sea was that cold and + icy our hands was well-nigh frozen. But God Almighty knew how + to save us, and He sent a steamer to pick us up, in less than + ten minutes after we went overboard. And they <i>were</i> + good to us, sir, for all they were foreign folk aboard. They + warmed us, and gave us hot coffee, and lent us dry clothes, + and they ran into the Hull docks in the afternoon and landed + us there. Well, sir, you may be sure I came home as quick as + ever I could, for I thought maybe I should never see my + little lad again. Hasn't God been good to us, now hasn't He, + sir?' he concluded, as he gently patted his little boy's + hand. + </p> + <p> + The doctor gave a much better report of little John that day, + although he said he was not yet out of danger. But from that + time he improved slowly but steadily, and before very long he + was able to lie once more in his father's arms, and to stroke + his face with his little thin hand. + </p> + <p> + It was very touching to see the love and the gratitude of + both Duncan and Polly; they could not say enough about the + help and comfort I had given them in their time of trouble, + small though I felt these to have been. If I had been a + prince, I think they could not have made more of me, and I + believe I should have been altogether spoiled if I had stayed + in Runswick Bay much longer. + </p> + <p> + I had not touched my picture the whole of that week, for + whilst our anxiety lasted I had no heart or desire to paint. + On Saturday I saw Marjorie and little Jack giving out their + pink papers, and I went to meet them. + </p> + <p> + 'One for you, big Mr. Jack,' said the merry little rogue, as + he threw it up in the air for me to catch. + </p> + <p> + The subject for the following day I saw was to be these two + words—WE KNOW. I thought, as I put the paper in my + pocket, how much had passed since last Sunday, and I thought + also how differently I felt with regard to the service on the + shore, from what I had done when I received the last pink + paper. I had certainly no wish to run away to Kettleness, to + be out of the way when it took place. + </p> + <p> + Sunday morning was bright and beautiful, and little John was + so much better that his father was able to leave him and to + take his place in the choir. I stood close to the old boat, + and Jack put his hand in mine, and let me look at his + hymn-book as he sang. + </p> + <p> + There was a large congregation, the fine day had tempted them + out, and I think the danger of their companions and their + narrow escape from death had stirred the hearts of the + fishermen, and had made many of them feel that 'it is not all + of life to live, nor all of death to die.' + </p> + <p> + 'My mates are here to-day, sir,' whispered Duncan, as he went + forward to take his place in the boat; 'it's the first time + I've been able to persuade them to come. They see the good of + it now, sir, you see.' + </p> + <p> + Never have I heard any man pray more earnestly for a blessing + than Mr. Christie did that day, but I do not think even he + prayed more earnestly than I did. My whole heart went out to + God that day, for was it not my first Sunday on the right + side of the line? + </p> + <p> + And then came the address, and I never noticed a congregation + more attentive than was that one gathered on the shore that + September morning. I can remember even now a good deal of the + sermon. + </p> + <p> + 'WE KNOW,' he said; 'those are strong words, confident words. + It is not, <i>We imagine</i>, or <i>We think</i>. It is not + even <i>We hope</i>, that would be wonderful; but it is + something clearer and far more distinct than that; it is WE + KNOW. + </p> + <p> + 'If I were to ask you fishermen, you visitors, you mothers, + you little children, this question, "Do you <i>imagine</i> + you are on the shore now? Do you <i>think</i> you are here + to-day? Do you <i>hope</i> you are listening to me?" what + would you answer me? + </p> + <p> + 'You would say, "Mr. Christie, it is not a case of imagining, + or thinking, or hoping; we <i>know</i> we are here; we are + sure of it." + </p> + <p> + 'Now notice, that is the strong, confident word used in my + text to-day. The holy apostle John stands side by side with + all of us who have come to Christ, and he bids us join with + him in these glad, happy, thankful words, "We know that we + have passed from death unto life." We know, we are persuaded, + we are sure, that we are on the right side of the line. We + know that we have left the company of the servants of sin, + and are now the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. + </p> + <p> + 'Dear friends, I would now ask each of you very earnestly, + Can you say that? Can you take your stand by the apostle + John, and say, "<i>I know</i> that <i>I</i> have passed from + death unto life?" + </p> + <p> + 'I think I hear some one answer in his heart, "Well, that's a + great deal for any man to say, and I don't see that any man + can know in this life if he is saved or not; when he gets to + heaven he'll know he is all right, but not till then." + </p> + <p> + 'Now look again at my text. It does not say, "We <i>shall</i> + know"; it does not say, "We hope soon to know"; but it speaks + in the present. It runs thus: "We <i>know</i> that we have + passed from death unto life." So you see it <i>is</i> + possible, nay, it is right, that you and I should, one by + one, take up the words and say, "<i>I know</i>." + </p> + <p> + 'Do I hear some one saying in his heart, "I do wish I could + say that? I should be a happier man if I could. When I go out + in my boat, and the storm rages, and I don't know whether I + shall ever see land again, it would be a good thing if I + could look up through the wind and tempest, and could say + gladly, I know that I have passed from death unto life."' + </p> + <p> + I thought I heard a groan when he said this, and I looked + round, and saw one of Duncan's mates burying his face in his + hands. + </p> + <p> + 'Do I hear one of you mothers say, "When I lie awake at + night, and the baby will not let me sleep, and I get out and + look from my window at the stars shining down upon me, I + would give a great deal to say, as I think of the heaven + above those stars, 'I know that I have passed from death unto + life'"? + </p> + <p> + 'And you, my friend, when the day comes, as come it will, + when you lie on your bed, and you see by the doctor's face + that you will never get out of it again; when you say to + yourself, as the neighbours sit round, "This is my dying bed, + and they are watching to see me die," oh, what would you not + give at that solemn time to be able to say, "I know that I + have passed from death unto life"? + </p> + <p> + 'Do you want to be able to say it? You cannot want it more + than God wants to hear you say it. The Christ stands on the + shore beside us to-day, and He yearns with unutterable + longing, that each man, each woman, each child here present, + should be able to take up the words of my text, and say, "I + know that I have passed from death unto life."' + </p> + <p> + Then he went on to tell us that it was not a long, weary, + toilsome journey which we had to travel to reach the Christ. + He was present amongst us now. He was very near to each one + of us; His arms were wide open. He was waiting to receive + each one who was willing to cross the line; one step would be + sufficient, one step into those open arms. Then we ended by + singing a hymn, which seemed to me a very beautiful + one:— + </p> + <pre> + 'Only a step to Jesus! + Believe, and thou shalt live: + Lovingly now He's waiting, + And ready to forgive. + + Only a step to Jesus! + A step from sin to grace: + What has thy heart decided? + The moments fly apace. + + Only a step to Jesus! + Oh, why not come and say, + "Gladly to Thee, my Saviour, + I give myself away?" + Only a step, only a step, + Come, He waits for thee; + Come, and thy sin confessing, + Thou shalt receive a blessing: + Do not reject the mercy + He freely offers thee.' +</pre> + <p> + I was glad to see at the end of the service that Duncan's + mate was still sitting under the old boat with his hands over + his face. He had evidently felt the sermon very much, and + when he rose to go home after the others had dispersed, I saw + Mr. Christie walking by his side. + </p> + <p> + That was a lovely Sunday evening. The storm of the week + before seemed to have cleared the air, and there was a golden + light over everything, until the sun went down behind the + hill. I spent the evening at Mrs. Christie's, for Polly was + still fully occupied with the child, and was not able to + attend to much of the work downstairs. Duncan did the cooking + now, and the washing up and the cleaning, and I never saw a + more handy man. He waited on me hand and foot, as if I was a + lord; but I felt that I was giving the dear fellow a great + deal of trouble, and was glad, therefore, to accept Mrs. + Christie's invitation to have tea and supper at their house. + </p> + <p> + Little Jack welcomed me with the greatest joy. He was so + delighted to have me at tea, and contemplated me with so much + delight and interest from his high chair by my side, that he + quite forgot to eat his own tea, and had to be recalled from + his admiration of me, time after time, by his mother. After + tea he told her he had a great secret to confide to her; he + dragged her from the room and led her upstairs, and then with + closed doors, and in a whisper so low that she could scarcely + distinguish the words, he told her solemnly, 'I do love big + Mr. Jack very much,' which secret his faithless mother was + treacherous enough to reveal to me, after we had been + upstairs that evening to see little Jack in bed. + </p> + <p> + After we came down, Mrs. Christie lighted the lamp, and we + were sitting cosily round the fire talking of my mother, when + suddenly there came a knock at the outer door. + </p> + <p> + 'Who can it be?' said Mrs. Christie hastily; 'some one must + be ill, I think, so few people come on Sunday.' + </p> + <p> + She was going to the door, but her little maid had already + opened it, and coming into the parlour she announced,— + </p> + <p> + 'There's a gentleman, sir, at the door, says as how he wants + Mr. Villiers, sir.' + </p> + <p> + 'A gentleman!' I repeated in astonishment, 'wanting me!' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, sir, he says he wants you very pertickler, he does.' + </p> + <p> + I went quickly to the door, wondering very much who could be + there, and to my great astonishment I found my friend Tom + Bernard, with a black bag in his hand, eagerly awaiting my + approach. + </p> + <p> + 'Found at last, old chap,' he cried when he saw me; 'why, + I've been hunting for you all over in this rabbit-warren of a + place, till at last some of these fisher-lads told me you + were in here.' + </p> + <p> + 'And what are you doing here, Tom?' I exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + 'Doing here! Why, I've come to see you, of course, old + fellow; what else should I have come for? I set off early + this morning, and I thought I would give you a bit of a + surprise. Are these your diggings?' + </p> + <p> + 'No,' I said, 'I'm only spending the evening here; but I'll + come back with you at once.' + </p> + <p> + I went in for a moment to explain my sudden departure to Mr. + and Mrs. Christie, and then I went with Tom to my lodgings. + He looked vastly amused when he saw Duncan's house, and when + I told him that I had been there all the time he seemed to + think it a capital joke. + </p> + <p> + 'There's no room for me, I'm afraid,' he said, as he looked + with an amused smile round my bedroom. + </p> + <p> + 'No, indeed, Tom,' I said, 'and, joking apart, I would not + ask you to come here if there was room; the hotel at the top + of the hill will suit you better.' + </p> + <p> + Polly was sitting beside little John, but I tapped at the + door, and told her a friend of mine had just arrived from + London, and asked her if she thought it would be possible to + get him some tea. Just at this moment Duncan came in, and the + two good souls did all in their power to do honour to my + guest. The whitest tablecloth was spread on the round table, + the very finest herrings were cooked, round after round of + crisp brown toast was buttered and put before the fire to + keep hot, and all was ready in so short a time that Tom was + astonished. + </p> + <p> + He did full justice to the meal, and seemed to appreciate my + quarters better after he had partaken of it. Then he declared + himself tired out, so I walked with him up to the hotel. He + was in high spirits, and was much looking forward to the time + we were to have there together, and to all the walks we + should take to the places round. + </p> + <p> + Was I glad that he had come? I asked myself this question + many times that night. I was fond of Tom; he had been like a + brother to me, and yet—and yet—I wished he had + not come to Runswick Bay. + </p> + <p> + Why was this? Why would I have kept him away if I could? I + asked myself this question many times, as I came slowly down + the hill that night. + </p> + <p> + Was it because it would be a hindrance to my work? No, for my + picture had made good progress, and I could work it up even + better in my studio at home. Besides which, Tom was a + good-natured fellow, and would sit smoking and chatting in + the old boat whilst I painted. + </p> + <p> + Was it that I wanted to be quiet, and to enjoy my present + surroundings without interruption? No, surely, for Tom's + company had always been pleasant to me, and I could not look + upon him as a stranger. + </p> + <p> + Why was it, then, that I felt almost sorry that he had + followed me here? I had a suspicion of the right answer to + that question, but I did not own it, even to myself, till I + entered my lodging. + </p> + <p> + Duncan was reading a chapter aloud to Polly, as he always did + before going to bed. He stopped when he saw me come in, but I + said, 'Go on, Duncan, never mind me; I shall like to listen.' + And the very first words that Duncan read seemed to me to + contain the answer to my question. + </p> + <p> + 'He that is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the + Son of Man be ashamed.' + </p> + <p> + Yes, that was the reason. I was sorry that Tom had come, + because I was ashamed of my Master. Since I had seen him last + I had changed my service. I used to be a servant of sin, + living for self, pleasing self in all things. Now, I had + crossed the line, I had joined the company of Christ's + servants, and I was afraid of Tom finding it out. + </p> + <p> + In London I thought I should have seen less of him, and it + would have dawned on him gradually; but here he would + discover it at once. And I dreaded his doing so. Yes, I was a + downright coward, ashamed of the One who had died for me. + This was not a comfortable reflection, but I was convinced + that it was the truth. + </p> + <p> + What would be the best thing to do? Should I say anything to + Tom about it in the morning? I thought at first that I would + speak, and I made up several sentences with which I meant to + begin; but the more I thought of it so much the more my heart + failed me, and I decided at length that my best plan would be + to let Tom find it out for himself. + </p><a name="2HCH11"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h2> + Chapter XI + </h2> + <center> + LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK + </center> + <p> + I think Tom very much enjoyed that week at Runswick Bay. The + more he saw of the place the more he liked it. He and Duncan + got on famously together. They smoked together on a seat + above the house, and Duncan told him stories of shipwrecks + and storms, whilst I sat painting just below them. + </p> + <p> + One night he even persuaded Duncan to let him go out with him + fishing, and Duncan confided to me afterwards, 'That there + friend of yours, sir, he's a real handy chap; knows how to + use his fingers, sir, and isn't afraid of a drop of salt + water neither.' + </p> + <p> + We came across Mr. Christie on the shore the very first time + that we went out together, and I introduced him as a friend + of my mother whom I had been delighted to find in this + out-of-the-way place; and Tom talked very pleasantly to him, + and I think liked him. + </p> + <p> + 'What is he doing here, Jack?' he said. 'He does not look + like the rest of them.' + </p> + <p> + 'He is a lay-preacher,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'Whatever in the world is a lay-preacher?' said Tom laughing. + </p> + <p> + I did not answer, but called his attention to little Jack, + who was running along the shore after his red cap, which had + been carried off by a gust of wind. + </p> + <p> + 'That's his little boy,' I said, 'and my namesake; they lived + in my father's parish in London, and Mr. Christie and his + wife adored my mother. It was seeing her photograph on the + wall of their room which made them discover who I was.' + </p> + <p> + 'What a splendid little fellow!' said Tom as the child came + up to us. 'So you are Jack, are you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, I'm little Jack, and he's big Jack,' said the boy + roguishly, looking at me. + </p> + <p> + I was not surprised that Tom made friends very quickly with + my little favourite, for he was wonderfully fond of children, + and many were the games which he and the two children had + together whilst I was at work. + </p> + <p> + Every evening Tom and I walked together, and we explored all + the country for miles around. Sometimes we went by train and + walked back by the cliffs. The train seemed to land us at + each station in the midst of fresh beauty, and I came to the + conclusion that Yorkshire was indeed, what I had always been + told by my mother, the most beautiful county in England. + </p> + <p> + 'Now, Jack,' said Tom on Saturday morning, 'we'll have a + really good day to-morrow. You won't want to paint, will + you?' + </p> + <p> + 'No,' I said hurriedly, 'I don't paint on Sundays.' + </p> + <p> + 'All right,' he said, 'it's much the best plan; you come + fresher to it on Monday. "All work and no play makes Jack a + dull boy." That old couplet must have been made for you, + Jack. Well, then, let's see, where shall we go? Suppose we + make a long day of it, and go to Scarborough. We must see + Scarborough before we go home, must we not? We will go by the + early train, and come back as late as we can. The worst of it + is there are not so many trains to choose from on Sunday, but + I daresay we shall find one that will suit'; and, without + saying another word, he went off to my lodging for a + <i>Bradshaw</i>. + </p> + <p> + What was I to do? A few weeks ago a Sunday spent in pleasure + would have been just what I should have chosen, and many a + time had Tom and I been up the river on Sunday together. + There was hardly a place within easy distance up the Thames + which we had not visited in this way. But now I felt very + differently about these things. Sunday was my Master's own + day: every moment of it, I felt, must be consecrated to Him. + No one had talked to me about Sunday observance, but my + conscience told me very clearly what was right in the matter. + Yet, although I had no doubt as to what I ought to do in the + matter, I am ashamed to say that for some time I hesitated. + Tom would be so terribly disappointed, I said to myself, and + he had been a good friend to me, and I did not want to vex + him; surely there would be no great harm in obliging him this + once! Besides, when I get to Scarborough I may have time to + go to church, and then, after all, where is the difference? I + argued with myself; I shall take a longer journey to church, + that is all. + </p> + <p> + And then Tom came back, full of his plans for the day. He had + already settled the train we were to catch, and he told me + that he looked forward to seeing Scarborough immensely, as + his mother had stayed there a year ago, and she had told him + it was the most beautiful watering-place she had ever + visited. + </p> + <p> + I tried to feel pleased with what Tom had arranged, but in my + heart I was very miserable, and just at that moment who + should appear but Marjorie and Jack, distributing the pink + papers containing the invitation to the service on the shore. + I turned away when I saw them coming. I looked towards the + sea, and took my little telescope from my pocket, that I + might seem to be intent on watching a distant steamer. What + would Duncan say? What would Mr. Christie say? What would my + little friend Jack say, when I did not appear at the shore + service? And how shocked they would be when they heard I had + gone off for a day's pleasure! + </p> + <p> + I hoped that the children would pass us by, and would go to a + large group of fishermen standing on the shore just beyond + us. But I was not to escape thus. Marjorie came up to Tom and + presented him with a paper, and she was going to give one to + me, but my little friend stopped her, 'No, no, Marjorie,' he + said in his most fascinating tones, 'let me give one to my + own Mr. Jack. I always give you one my own self, don't I, big + Jack?' + </p> + <p> + I patted him on the head and took the paper, but I did not + answer, and the children passed on. Tom opened his paper and + read it aloud,— + </p> + <p> + '"There will be a short service on the shore next Sunday + morning." Oh, indeed,' he said, 'that's what they're after, + is it? Distributing notices for some Methodist meeting. Is + that where Christie holds forth?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes,' I said, 'he preaches every Sunday.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, Mr. Christie,' he went on, 'you won't have <i>me</i> + there to hear you. I hate those canting meetings, don't you, + Jack? <i>Subject</i>. Ah, he tells us his subject beforehand, + does he? Very kind of him, I'm sure! <i>Subject: Where are + you going</i>? Ah,' said Tom, 'that's soon answered: I'm + going to Scarborough, old fellow, and a jolly good day I hope + to have there'; and he threw the little pink paper into the + air, and the wind carried it far out to sea. + </p><a name="image-12"><!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image12.png" width="400" height="669" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <p> + All this time I had never spoken a word. A great battle was + going on in my heart. Conscience was speaking very loudly, + and telling me that I could not possibly take my pleasure on + my Master's own day, but the tempter's voice was arguing that + the time to speak had not yet come, and that perhaps for this + once it would be better to yield to Tom's wishes, and that I + might talk to him quietly about it, and make a fresh start + after our return to London. + </p> + <p> + And so the day wore away, and evening came, and Tom had no + idea whatever that I had even hesitated about going with him + to Scarborough. I never spent a more unhappy day. I avoided + Mr. Christie, lest he should say anything to me about the + service on the following day. I was not even happy with + Duncan. Tom had gone off to Saltburn, leaving me, as he + supposed, to put some finishing touches to my picture; but I + had no heart for painting, and only got my easel and painting + materials out to put them away again directly. + </p> + <p> + Polly was in good spirits that day, for little John was so + much better that he was able to sit on the floor and play, + and, as I stood looking out of my small casement window, I + watched her washing up in a tub standing on a wooden stool + outside her door, and I heard her singing to herself as she + did so. Most of the visitors had left Runswick Bay now, for + it was late in the season, but the shore was covered with the + village children—boys and girls without shoes and + stockings, wading in the pools and running far out into the + shallow sea. It was a pretty sight, the grey, quiet water, + the strips of yellow sand, and the cliff covered with grass + and flowers. + </p> + <p> + But I could not enjoy the scene that Saturday evening; even + my artistic eye, of which I used sometimes to boast, failed + me then. I was feeling thoroughly uncomfortable, and the most + lovely view on earth would have failed to charm me at that + moment. + </p> + <p> + There is a verse in the Bible which says, 'A little child + shall lead them,' and whenever I hear that verse I think of + that evening in Runswick Bay. For I was still gazing out of + my window, looking at I knew not what, when I heard a + well-known little voice just beneath me. + </p> + <p> + It was Jack. He had come down the hill beneath Duncan's + cottage, so that I had not seen him until he spoke to me + below the window. + </p> + <p> + 'Mr. Jack,' he said, 'what are you doing up there? Are you + <i>very</i> busy?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, old man,' I said, 'I'm not busy.' + </p> + <p> + 'Then <i>do</i> come out, that's a dear, big Mr. Jack; I do + want you so much.' + </p> + <p> + Who could resist the pleading little face, and the pretty, + fascinating voice of that child? He would have a hard heart + who could do so. I ran downstairs, and a minute afterwards I + was racing with Jack on the wet sands, for the tide was fast + going out, and was helping him to fly a small kite which his + father had bought for him in Whitby. We had a fine time + together on the shore, until at last a towel was hung out of + the top window in the Christies' house, as a sign that it was + Jack's bedtime. Though he was wild with joy and excitement, + the obedient little fellow at once stopped his play, and told + me mother wanted him, and he must go. + </p> + <p> + 'I'm coming for you to-morrow morning, Mr. Jack,' he said. + </p> + <p> + 'To-morrow morning, Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, for church,' said the child, putting up his dear little + chubby face to be kissed. 'Don't go without me, will you, Mr. + Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, I'm not sure I'm going to-morrow, little man,' I said + reluctantly, 'so you had better not call for me.' + </p> + <p> + 'Not going to church!' said Jack, in a very shocked voice. + 'Why not, Mr. Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'I'm going to Scarborough for the day with my friend Tom,' I + said. 'I shall go to church in Scarborough, Jack.' + </p> + <p> + I shall never forget the expression of that child's face as + long as I live; it was a mixture of surprise, sorrow and + dismay. 'Mr. Jack, do you know it's God's day to-morrow?' was + all that he said, however; and as at this moment his mother + called him from the bedroom window, he ran off without + another word. + </p> + <p> + 'Do you know it's God's day?' I asked myself when the little + boy had gone. 'Yes, I do know,' I answered aloud, 'and He is + my Master, and my Master's day shall be kept for Him and for + His service.' + </p> + <p> + I walked to a lonely place on the shore where the sea had + undermined the cliff, and had made strange holes and caves, + which could only be entered at low tide. I clambered over the + rocks, and crossed about half a mile of slippery seaweed, + until I came to one of these weird places. Creeping inside, I + felt myself safe from any human eye. I was alone—alone + with my Master. + </p> + <p> + I cannot tell you all that passed during the half-hour that I + spent in that lonely cave, but I know this, that I came out + of it feeling that my Master had indeed given me the strength + for which I had pleaded, the strength to act as His faithful + and true servant. + </p> + <p> + I was waiting outside the station when Tom's train came in + from Saltburn. He had not expected to see me again that + night, and seemed pleased that I had come to meet him. + </p> + <p> + 'I think we shall have a fine day to-morrow, old boy,' he + said; 'what a dew there is! My feet are quite wet with it.' + </p> + <p> + 'Tom,' I said, 'I came to meet you to-night because I wanted + to tell you something. I am sorry, very sorry, to disappoint + you, but I can't go with you to-morrow.' + </p> + <p> + 'Why ever in the world not, Jack?' he said. 'I thought you + were so keen on seeing Scarborough.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, Tom,' I said, 'but I am still more keen on something + else.' + </p> + <p> + 'What's that?' he asked; 'do you mean Redcar? It's a stupid + place, Jack: nothing in the world to see, I assure you.' + </p> + <p> + 'No, Tom, I don't mean that. I don't want to change our plan. + I had rather see Scarborough than any other place; I'll give + myself a holiday on Monday, and go with you gladly, Tom; but + I can't go to-morrow.' + </p> + <p> + 'Nonsense, Jack!' he said angrily. 'You <i>can</i> go if you + like; what's to hinder you? If you are willing to go at all, + why on earth can't you go to-morrow?' + </p> + <p> + 'Simply because to-morrow is Sunday, Tom.' + </p> + <p> + 'And if it is Sunday, what of that?' said my friend. '"The + better the day, the better the deed," and it's ridiculous + your talking in this saintly way about Sunday, when to my + certain knowledge you've spent every fine Sunday boating on + the river for the last two years or more. No, no, my friend, + that won't go down with me.' + </p> + <p> + 'Tom,' I said, 'it's all quite true what you say. I have, I + know I have, spent my Sundays in boating or in taking my + pleasure in some other way, and I am more sorry for it, Tom, + than I can tell you. But since I came here—' + </p> + <p> + 'Since you came here,' Tom interrupted me, 'you've gone and + turned Ranter or Methodist, or something of that sort, and + you've got your head full of all sorts of insane and + ridiculous ideas.' + </p> + <p> + 'Since I came here, Tom,' I said, taking no notice of his + last remark, 'I have seen what I never saw before—that + I am a great sinner; and I have found what I never found + before—that Jesus is a great Saviour.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, I wish you had never come to Runswick Bay, if this is + the absurd way you are going on, Jack, and after all the good + old times we've had together too.' + </p> + <p> + 'And why shan't we have good times together still, dear old + Tom?' I said. 'I have entered the service of a new Master, + that's all; and, Tom,' I said timidly, 'I wish He was your + Master too.' + </p> + <p> + Tom made no answer, but swung his stick round and round, and + slashed at the thistles and the ox-eye daisies which grew by + the roadside. I tried to make one or two remarks, but I saw + he was very much upset by what I had said, and he did not + answer me. He was vexed with me, and perhaps he was a little + uncomfortable besides, and I felt it was far wiser to say no + more. + </p> + <p> + He did not speak again until we reached the hotel, and then + he simply said, 'Good-night, Jack, I'm sorry you've gone and + made such a fool of yourself'; and I went down the hill, + feeling as if I had lost my friend, and as if the old days + and old companionship were dead and buried for ever. + </p> + <p> + But if I had lost one friend, I felt I had gained another. + Mr. Christie was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill, + and he proposed that we should take a turn together on the + shore. Nellie was expecting me to supper, he said; he had + told Duncan I was going there, and the moon was coming out, + and a good stretch on the sands would make us enjoy it all + the more. + </p> + <p> + We had walked across the bay, and were standing gazing out + seawards, when he suddenly put his arm in mine. + </p> + <p> + 'What is it, Jack?' he said kindly, 'something is troubling + you this evening.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, you are right,' I said. 'However did you know, Mr. + Christie? I am bothered a bit; the fact is, I'm ashamed of + myself, I've been such a coward.' + </p> + <p> + 'What have you been doing, Jack? You don't mind telling me, + do you?' + </p> + <p> + 'Not at all, Mr. Christie, I would rather tell you,' I said; + and then I gave him an account of the last week, of my fear + of Tom, and how very nearly—I was ashamed to say + it—I had yielded to him about the outing to-morrow. + Then I spoke of my friend, and I told him I was afraid I had + lost him through my plain speaking. + </p> + <p> + 'Never mind, Jack,' he said, 'the Master must come first, and + it does happen very often that when He is put in His right + place we have to give up a great deal. He knew we should have + to do it, and He spoke some very plain words about it: "He + that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of + Me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not + worthy of Me." You would like to be worthy of Him, Jack?' + </p> + <p> + 'I shall never be that, Mr. Christie,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'No,' he said; 'you are right, we are all unworthy of Him; + but when we love Him, we do long to do that which is pleasing + in His sight. And, remember, there is always the hundredfold, + Jack, always the Master's reward for anything we give up for + Him.' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, in heaven,' I said softly. + </p> + <p> + 'No, Jack, not in heaven, but on earth. Do you remember how + the Master's words run: "He shall receive an hundredfold + <i>now, in this time</i>, and in the world to come, life + everlasting." The hundredfold is to be enjoyed <i>here</i>, + the everlasting life <i>there</i>.' + </p> + <p> + 'I never noticed that before,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'I have proved it true, Jack, abundantly true. I sometimes + think I have got beyond the hundredfold. And then beyond, + there lies the life eternal.' + </p> + <p> + 'My mother is enjoying that,' I said. + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, indeed,' he answered; 'and her boy will enjoy it too in + God's good time, for does not the Master say of all those who + belong to Him, "I give unto them eternal life?" "I am come + that they might have life, and that they might have it more + abundantly"?' + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="2HCH12"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> <a name="image-13"> + <!--IMG--></a> + <center> + <img src="images/image13.png" width="400" height="285" alt=""> + </center><!--IMAGE END--> + <h2> + Chapter XII + </h2> + <center> + WHERE ARE YOU GOING? + </center> + <p> + I shall never forget my last Sunday in Runswick Bay. It was + at the end of September, and was one of those gloriously + brilliant days which we get in the early autumn, when the sky + is cloudless, when the air is fresh and clear, and when the + autumnal tints on trees, hedges, ferns and brambles make the + landscape gorgeous and extremely beautiful and fascinating. + </p> + <p> + The high cliff above the bay was a perfect study in colour + that morning; I have never seen more splendid colouring, + every varied shade of red and gold and green was to be found + there. + </p> + <p> + 'Tom will be off to Scarborough,' I said to myself as I + dressed. 'What a grand day he has got!' + </p> + <p> + But I did not wish myself with him; no, I was both glad and + thankful to look forward to a quiet and peaceful Sunday. + </p> + <p> + There were not many visitors still at Runswick, most of them + had left the week before; but the fishermen came in great + numbers to the service, and the green was covered with them + when little Jack and big Jack appeared, hand-in-hand as + usual. Duncan was in the choir, but Polly thought the wind + rather cold for little John, so had remained with him at + home. A good many women and children were present, however, + and the bank was covered with mothers and babies, sitting at + a little distance, lest the noise of the children should + disturb the preacher or the listeners. + </p> + <p> + What was it that made me think of Tom just as the service + began? Was it a shepherd's plaid cloth cap, of the kind Tom + wears, which I saw on the head of some visitor who was + sitting almost out of sight on the seaward side of the bank? + Such small things bring people and things before us + sometimes, and my thoughts wandered to Scarborough for a few + minutes, and I wondered what Tom was doing at that moment. I + thought to myself how he would smile, if he saw me sitting + under the old boat and listening attentively to an open air + preacher. + </p> + <p> + But my thoughts did not wander long, for when the service + began every word of it seemed to be for me. + </p> + <p> + WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I had worked the subject out in my mind + before I came to the service, and had quite decided what line + of thought Mr. Christie would take. I thought he would + picture the two roads, the one leading to life, the other to + destruction; and then I imagined that he would speak of the + blessedness of being on the narrow road, and would dwell very + vividly on the awful consequences of continuing to walk on + the road leading to hell. But I found that my idea of what + his sermon would be was quite a mistaken one. + </p> + <p> + 'Where are you going? My question to-day,' he said, 'is + addressed only to some of you; would to God it were addressed + to you all! I speak to-day to those who have crossed the + line, who have run into the loving Saviour's arms, who have + become servants of Christ. + </p> + <p> + 'My friends, my dear friends, where are you going? What does + the Master say? He calls to every one of His servants, and He + says, "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me, and <i>where I + am</i> there shall also My servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'Servant of Christ, where are you going? The Master answers + you, WHERE I AM. + </p> + <p> + 'And where is that? A little group of men are standing on the + Mount of Olives; above them is the deep blue sky, and they + are gazing earnestly upward, for their Master is rising far + above them, and even as they watch a cloud receives Him out + of their sight. Yet still He ascends higher and yet higher, + and as He rises countless angels attend Him. He is joined by + company after company of the heavenly host, who have come out + to meet their King. At length heaven's gates are reached, and + the cry goes forth, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even + lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory + shall come in." Amidst heaven's most joyful music the Master + passes within to the Heavenly Jerusalem, the glad, glorious + Home. Every care, every sin, every sorrow is left outside; + within all is sunshine, all is joy. And as heaven's gates are + closing, we hear the Master's voice. He leaves us a word of + hope, "Where I am, <i>there</i> shall also My servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'Oh, fishermen, oh, friends, think of that! If you are His + servants, those gates will open for you. Your life may be + hard now: some of you have large families, and heavy work, + and long, cold, comfortless nights tossing on the stormy sea; + but never mind, home is coming, heaven is coming, for "Where + I am, there shall also My servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'But that is not all. There is something more wonderful + still. For where is the Master now? He is not only inside the + gates of the city, He is not only walking through the golden + streets; but He is in the midst of the glory of God, He has + sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. Will you and + I, dear friends, ever dare to go near that throne? Will not + the glory be too dazzling? Will not the place be holy ground, + too holy for us to approach? Will He allow us to draw near to + His footstool, and even there, close to His glory, to lie low + before Him? + </p> + <p> + 'Listen, O servant of Christ, again the Master says, "Where I + am, <i>there</i> shall also My servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'What, on the throne of God! Yes, even <i>there</i> He bids + you come; for what does He say? "To him that overcometh will + I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, + and am set down with My Father in His throne." Oh, what a + wonderful promise! We could never have thought of it; we + could never have believed it; we could never even have dreamt + of such a thing, if the Master had not told us Himself.' + </p> + <p> + And then he concluded by asking us to remember our glorious + future. 'Sometimes,' he said, 'you get downhearted, full of + sorrow and fear, and you say, "I shall never hold on to the + end." Oh, dear friends, it is worth an effort, for at the end + lies home, at the end stands the throne of God, with a place + waiting for you upon it. "Where I am, there shall also My + servant be." + </p> + <p> + 'What if you have to bear something for the Master's sake? + What if you have to give up friends or comforts for Him? What + if you have to take up your cross and follow Him? It is only + for a few days, only for a little while, and home is coming. + "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." Is it not worth + while?' + </p> + <p> + Then, as he ended, he spoke a few words to all who were + there, and he begged those who were not servants of Christ, + to consider what they were losing. 'All this might be yours,' + he said, 'the wide-open gates, the Heavenly City, the seat on + the glorious Throne; but you are turning your backs on it + all, and you are choosing instead—what? A few of + earth's fleeting pleasures, a little of this world's passing + enjoyment. Oh, dear friends, think before it is too late, + what your eternal loss will be!' + </p> + <p> + He said much more, but I cannot remember it now. I only know + that I came away feeling that I had been very near the golden + gates of which he spoke, and had heard the Master's voice + saying to me, 'Where I am, there shall also My servant be.' + </p> + <p> + The tide was coming in as we left the service, and I was + standing on the shore watching the waves rolling in over the + rocks, when I felt an arm slipped in mine, and when I looked + round, to my great surprise, I found that it was Tom. + </p> + <p> + 'Why, Tom!' I said, 'back already? how early you have come + home!' + </p> + <p> + 'Back, Jack?' he said, laughing; 'why, I've never been.' + </p> + <p> + 'Do you mean you haven't been to Scarborough?' + </p> + <p> + 'No, of course not; you didn't think I would go without you, + old boy. We'll go to-morrow, of course. I thought we settled + that last night.' + </p> + <p> + 'Why, I've been thinking of you in Scarborough all day!' I + said. + </p> + <p> + 'Then your thoughts have gone in a wrong direction for once, + Jack,' he replied, 'for I've been here all the time.' + </p> + <p> + 'I'll walk with you up the hill,' I said; 'it isn't quite + dinner-time.' + </p> + <p> + I was very pleased to see him, and to find that he did not + appear to be vexed with me. We chatted for some time, and + then he said casually, 'He does not speak badly, that lay + preacher of yours, Jack.' + </p> + <p> + I stood still in astonishment. 'Who?' I said, 'Mr. Christie? + Why, you surely were not at the service, Tom! Oh, I know,' I + cried, before he could answer, 'you were behind the bank; I + saw a black and white cap, and I thought how much it was like + yours.' + </p> + <p> + 'It could not be much more like, seeing that it was the very + same,' said Tom. + </p> + <p> + 'I'm so glad you heard him,' I ventured to say. + </p> + <p> + He made no answer, so I thought it was better to say no more; + but when we reached the top of the hill, and he was just + leaving me, he said: + </p> + <p> + 'Jack, I'm afraid I was a bit crusty last night. You must not + think any more of it, old fellow. We'll have a jolly day at + Scarborough to-morrow. And, Jack,' he went on, 'I was very + much annoyed at the time, I own I was; but I'm not sure after + all that you're not right.' + </p> + <p> + He said no more, but hurried away, and it was many years + before he referred to the subject again; but the day came + when he did mention it, and when he told me, with tears in + his eyes, that he looked upon that Sunday at Runswick as the + first link in the chain of God's loving Providence, by means + of which He had led him to Himself. He told me then that he + had never forgotten my firm refusal to go with him, and he + had never forgotten the sermon to which he had listened + hidden from sight by the bank. + </p> + <p> + Our day at Scarborough exceeded all our anticipations. The + weather was glorious, and Tom was in excellent spirits, and + we thoroughly enjoyed everything. + </p> + <p> + I could not help feeling sorry when Thursday came, which was + to be my last day at Runswick Bay. It had been such a happy + and so eventful a time. I seemed to have passed through so + much, and to have learnt so much unknown to me before, that I + felt very reluctant to bring my holiday to a close. As for + Duncan and Polly, they were quite melancholy as the time for + my departure drew near. + </p> + <p> + 'We <i>shall</i> feel lost without you, sir,' said Duncan. + 'We shan't know what to do'; and there were tears in Polly's + eyes as she said mournfully, when she set the herrings on the + table for my supper, 'Them's the last herrings I shall fry + you, sir, and I feel as if there was going to be a death in + the house.' + </p> + <p> + 'Cheer up, Polly,' I said, 'who knows? Perhaps you may have + to put up with me next time I get a holiday, and you may be + sure I shall want plenty of herrings then.' + </p> + <p> + She brightened a little at this, and little John, who was + quite well now, and who had become very friendly with me + since his illness, climbed up on my knee, and stroked my face + with his little thin hand, as if he were trying to coax me to + come back to them again. + </p> + <p> + There was one thing which I had a great desire to do before + leaving Runswick. I knew that Duncan was much troubled about + the Mary Ann. She had been terribly knocked about in the + storm, which was no wonder, seeing that she had drifted + about, bottom upwards, and had been driven hither and thither + on the waves. When Duncan had examined her the day after his + arrival, he had found that she leaked in several places, and + was altogether unseaworthy, and he had been obliged to hire a + boat until such time as the Mary Ann could be properly + repaired. Then he went over to Whitby, and brought an + experienced man back with him, and he overhauled her + thoroughly, and gave it as his opinion that it would be a + waste of money to try to patch her up. + </p> + <p> + When Duncan came in that night I saw that the poor fellow was + terribly downcast. 'The Mary Ann's days are numbered, sir; + she'll never be able to rough it again,' he said. 'She's been + a good old boat to me and my father before me, and it will be + like parting from an old friend to give her up. Yon man, he + says she might be cobbled together a bit; but you would never + make a good job of her; she'd do maybe well enough for fine + weather, but you couldn't trust to her in a storm.' + </p> + <p> + I saw Polly turn pale as he said this. 'Duncan,' she said, + going up to him, and laying her hand on his arm, 'you'll + never go in her again; promise me that. Think of me and + little John, Duncan.' + </p> + <p> + 'Ay, my lass,' he said; 'ay, Polly, I do think of thee and + little John; but the worst of it is there's bread must be + earnt for thee and little John. I can't let thee starve, + wife.' + </p> + <p> + 'What about the bank-book, Duncan?' I said. + </p> + <p> + He went to the old oak-chest, and brought it out. I was much + touched by his handing it to me, and bidding me see how it + stood. He was perfectly open with me, and spoke to me as + freely as if I had been an old and tried friend. I added up + the amount and read it out to him. + </p> + <p> + 'Well, sir,'he said, 'it's getting on; but it's a good ten + pound short yet. We shall have to hire Brown's boat a bit and + do as well as we can, though it isn't a very paying business + when one takes to hiring: it will be hard enough to make two + ends meet, you see, sir, let alone saving up for the new + boat. But I can't see nothing else for it, sir; that is, if + Polly won't let me risk it in the Mary Ann.' + </p> + <p> + 'Duncan,' she said solemnly, 'if thee went to sea in the Mary + Ann, and she went to the bottom, I could <i>never</i> say, + "The will of the Lord be done," for I don't believe it + <i>would</i> be God's will for thee to go in that rotten old + thing.' + </p> + <p> + 'Polly is right, Duncan,' I said; 'you must never go in the + Mary Ann again.' + </p> + <p> + 'Well, sir,' he said, 'I see what you mean, you and Polly + too, and the Lord will show us what's to be done.' + </p> + <p> + Nothing more was said about the Mary Ann at that time, but I + had already made my own plan about the new boat. My aunt had + just left me her little property, and a very nice little + property it was. I felt myself a rich man, for in addition to + money invested in various ways, about £200 of ready + money had been placed to my account at the bank. + </p> + <p> + What could be more delightful, I thought, than to spend the + first ten pounds of this in helping Duncan to complete the + purchase of the new boat? The only difficulty would be to get + Duncan to accept the money, for he had all the honest + independence of a Yorkshireman, and I knew would hesitate + about receiving help from any one. But, at the same time, I + knew that in this instance his need was great, and his kindly + feeling towards myself was so strong, that I was not without + hope that I might be able to manage what I had contemplated + without giving the dear fellow offence. I thought, at one + time, that I would take Mr. Christie into my confidence, and + would consult with him, but on second thoughts I decided that + it would be wiser not to do so, and felt that I should be + more likely to succeed if no one else was in the secret. So I + folded my bank-note in paper, put it into an envelope, and + wrote outside, 'With little John's love to his daddy, to help + him to buy another Little John.' This I determined to slip + into the child's hand when I said good-bye. + </p> + <p> + That evening I had supper with the Christies. They were + kindness itself, and told me what a great pleasure it had + been to them to meet me. 'Not only because you are your + mother's son, Jack, but for your own sake as well as hers,' + said Mr. Christie with a smile. + </p> + <p> + I wanted to say something in return, but the words would not + come—at least not then. But, just before I left, I went + with Mr. Christie into his study, and he said, 'Jack, I + thought perhaps we might have a little prayer together before + we part'; and then the words came,— + </p> + <p> + 'Mr. Christie,' I said, 'I can never, never thank God enough + that I came here.' + </p> + <p> + 'Let us thank Him together, Jack,' he said. + </p> + <p> + Then we knelt down, he by the table, and I with my arms + resting on the old organ, and he thanked God for His mercy in + bringing me across the line, and he committed me to His care + and keeping to bring me safely along the road which leads + home. + </p> + <p> + The next morning I was up early, for our train started at + eight, and we had two miles to walk. I had told Polly I + should want nothing but a cup of tea before I set off, but + when I came down I found a most tempting breakfast prepared + for me—ham and eggs, and toast in abundance, and fresh + lettuces from Duncan's small garden. + </p> + <p> + 'Well, Polly,' I said, 'you are spoiling me to the last.' + </p> + <p> + 'We can never make enough of you, sir,' said Polly, and there + were tears in her eyes as she said it. + </p> + <p> + I ran up to pack my bag and collect my things, and I + determined to start in good time, so that I might allow + myself a few minutes to say good-bye to the Christies. + </p> + <p> + 'I must be off, Duncan,' I said. + </p> + <p> + He was standing outside with little John in his arms, and + Polly, with her hat on, was standing beside him. + </p> + <p> + 'We're coming along with you, sir, to the station,' said + Duncan. 'You won't think it a liberty will you, sir? but me + and Polly and little John would like to see the last of you.' + </p> + <p> + 'Come, that <i>is</i> good of you,' I said. 'I shall have a + grand escort up the hill!' + </p> + <p> + Polly took the child from his father, and Duncan carried my + bag and easel, and would not even hear of my giving him a + hand with them. + </p> + <p> + I ran into the Christies, but could find no one below; + however, I heard a great running backwards and forwards + overhead, and presently Mr. Christie called out of the + bedroom window, 'Wait one moment, Jack; we are all coming to + see you off.' + </p> + <p> + So my escort increased as I proceeded, and Tom, as he came + out of the hotel, said he thought the whole of Runswick must + be going by the early train, when he saw us, one after + another, come toiling up the hill. Little Jack rode up the + whole way on my back, and his horse was very hot when the top + was reached. + </p> + <p> + Though it is now so many years ago I can see that little + party of friends standing together on the platform, as the + train moved out of the station. I can feel again the warm + grasp of Mr. Christie's hand, and can hear his whispered, + 'God bless you, Jack!' I can see Mrs. Christie holding + Marjorie by the hand, and waving her handkerchief to me, and + can hear little Jack crying out, 'Come back soon, do, big Mr. + Jack.' I can see Duncan bareheaded, with little John in his + arms, the child waving the envelope which I had put in his + hand as I stepped into the carriage, and which was still + unopened. I can see Polly wiping her eyes with her apron, and + then holding it up and waving it till I was lost to sight. I + can see them all as they appeared to me that day, kind hearts + and true, not one of them ranking amongst the number whom the + world counts great, and yet all of them well known to Him who + calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth them out. + </p> + <p> + I must just mention here that I had a very touching letter + from Duncan at the end of that week. The spelling was most + wonderful, and the grammar was quite of his own making; but + it was full, from end to end, of the most simple-hearted + affection, and of the deepest gratitude. + </p> + <p> + 'Me, and my missus, and little John, can never be thankful + enough, sir,' he said, 'and when the other 'Little John' is + afloat, as please God she soon will be, we hopes as how you + will come and have a sail in her.' + </p> + <p> + So ended my visit to Runswick; and when I consider all that + happened during those few weeks, I think it is small wonder + that the little bay is still fresh in my memory, and that + Ella's yellow ragwort made me dream of it so distinctly. For + surely that month was the most important month in my life, + for was it not the beginning of a new life, which, thank God, + has continued ever since? + </p> + <p> + I can say to-day, even as I said then, 'One is my Master, + even Christ,' and I can look forward, humbly but hopefully, + to the time when the golden gates will open to me, and when + the Master's promise will be fulfilled to me, 'Where I am, + there shall also My servant be.' + </p> + <pre> + O Jesus Christ, my Master, + I come to Thee to-day; + I ask Thee to direct me + In all I do or say: + I want to keep my promise + To be Thy servant true, + I come to Thee for orders; + Dear Lord, what shall I do? + + I want a heart not heeding + What others think or say; + I want a humble spirit, + To listen and obey. + To serve Thee without ceasing, + 'Tis but a little while,— + My strength, the Master's promise, + My joy, the Master's smile. + + A.C.W. + + +</pre> + + <hr class="full"> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 10728-h.txt or 10728-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10728">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10728</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="https://gutenberg.org/license">https://gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06">http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/10728-h/image01.png b/old/10728-h/image01.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a364eb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image01.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image02.png b/old/10728-h/image02.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..942cd9f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image02.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image03.png b/old/10728-h/image03.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..429ad0c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image03.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image04.png b/old/10728-h/image04.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dec12e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image04.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image05.png b/old/10728-h/image05.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..88bc888 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image05.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image06.png b/old/10728-h/image06.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4165093 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image06.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image07.png b/old/10728-h/image07.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a77fd5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image07.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image08.png b/old/10728-h/image08.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7765967 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image08.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image09.png b/old/10728-h/image09.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..402a011 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image09.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image10.png b/old/10728-h/image10.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d7ee1a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image10.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image11.png b/old/10728-h/image11.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b137fff --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image11.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image12.png b/old/10728-h/image12.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..09aa986 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image12.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/image13.png b/old/10728-h/image13.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a72c05 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/image13.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image01.png b/old/10728-h/images/image01.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a364eb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image01.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image02.png b/old/10728-h/images/image02.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..942cd9f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image02.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image03.png b/old/10728-h/images/image03.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..429ad0c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image03.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image04.png b/old/10728-h/images/image04.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dec12e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image04.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image05.png b/old/10728-h/images/image05.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..88bc888 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image05.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image06.png b/old/10728-h/images/image06.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4165093 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image06.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image07.png b/old/10728-h/images/image07.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a77fd5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image07.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image08.png b/old/10728-h/images/image08.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7765967 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image08.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image09.png b/old/10728-h/images/image09.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..402a011 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image09.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image10.png b/old/10728-h/images/image10.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d7ee1a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image10.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image11.png b/old/10728-h/images/image11.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b137fff --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image11.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image12.png b/old/10728-h/images/image12.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..09aa986 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image12.png diff --git a/old/10728-h/images/image13.png b/old/10728-h/images/image13.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a72c05 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728-h/images/image13.png diff --git a/old/10728.txt b/old/10728.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a8d8e72 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3970 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Christie, the King's Servant, by Mrs. O. F. +Walton + + +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: Christie, the King's Servant + +Author: Mrs. O. F. Walton + +Release Date: January 16, 2004 [eBook #10728] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT*** + + +E-text prepared by Joel Erickson, Michael Ciesielski, David Garcia, and +the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT + +A Sequel to 'Christie's Old Organ' + +By MRS. O.F. WALTON + +AUTHOR OF 'CHRISTIE'S OLD ORGAN' +'A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES' +'THE KING'S CUPBEARER' +'SHADOWS' ETC ETC + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Contents + + +CHAPTER + + + I RUNSWICK BAY + II LITTLE JOHN + III STRANGE MUSIC + IV WHAT ARE YOU? + V THE RUNSWICK SPORTS + VI THE TUG OF WAR + VII OVER THE LINE + VIII A NIGHT OF STORM + IX ASK WHAT YE WILL + X WE KNOW + XI LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK + XII WHERE ARE YOU GOING? + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter I + +RUNSWICK BAY + + +It was the yellow ragwort that did it! I have discovered the clue at +last. All night long I have been dreaming of Runswick Bay. I have been +climbing the rocks, talking to the fishermen, picking my way over the +masses of slippery seaweed, and breathing the fresh briny air. And all +the morning I have been saying to myself, 'What can have made me dream +of Runswick Bay? What can have brought the events of my short stay in +that quaint little place so vividly before me?' Yes, I am convinced of +it; it was that bunch of yellow ragwort on the mantelpiece in my +bedroom. My little Ella gathered it in the lane behind the house +yesterday morning, and brought it in triumphantly, and seized the best +china vase in the drawing-room, and filled it with water at the tap, and +thrust the great yellow bunch into it. + +'Oh, Ella,' said Florence, her elder sister, 'what ugly common flowers! +How could you put them in mother's best vase, that Aunt Alice gave her +on her birthday! What a silly child you are!' + +'I'm not a silly child,' aid Ella stoutly, 'and mother is sure to like +them; I know she will. _She_ won't call them common flowers. She +loves all yellow flowers. She said so when I brought her the daffodils; +and these are yellower, ever so much yellower.' + +Her mother came in at this moment, and, taking our little girl on her +knee, she told her that she was quite right; they were very beautiful in +her eyes, and she would put them at once in her own room, where she +could have them all to herself. + +And that is how it came about, that, as I lay in bed, the last thing my +eyes fell upon was Ella's bunch of yellow ragwort; and what could be +more natural than that I should go to sleep and dream of Runswick Bay? + +It seems only yesterday that I was there, so clearly can I recall it, +and yet it must be twenty years ago. I think I must write an account of +my visit to Runswick Bay and give it to Ella, as it was her yellow +flowers which took me back to the picturesque little place. If she +cannot understand all I tell her now, she will learn to do so as she +grows older. + +I was a young man then, just beginning to make my way as an artist. It +is slow work at first; until you have made a name, every one looks +critically at your work; when once you have been pronounced a rising +artist, every daub from your brush has a good market value. I had had +much uphill work, but I loved my profession for its own sake, and I +worked on patiently, and, at the time my story begins, several of my +pictures had sold for fair prices, and I was not without hope that I +might soon find a place in the Academy. + +It was an unusually hot summer, and London was emptying fast. Every one +who could afford it was going either to the moors or to the sea, and I +felt very much inclined to follow their example. My father and mother +had died when I was quite a child, and the maiden aunt who had brought +me up had just passed away, and I had mourned her death very deeply, for +she had been both father and mother to me. I felt that I needed change +of scene, for I had been up for many nights with her during her last +illness, and I had had my rest broken for so long, that I found it very +difficult to sleep, and in many ways I was far from well. My aunt had +left all her little property to me, so that the means to leave London +and to take a suitable holiday were not wanting. The question was, where +should I go? I was anxious to combine, if possible, pleasure and +business--that is to say, I wished to choose some quiet place where I +could get bracing air and thorough change of scene, and where I could +also find studies for my new picture, which was (at least, so I fondly +dreamed) to find a place in the Academy the following spring. + +It was whilst I was looking for a suitable spot that Tom Bernard, my +great friend and confidant, found one for me. + +'Jack, old fellow,' he said, thrusting a torn newspaper into my hand, +'read that, old man.' + +The newspaper was doubled down tightly, and a great red cross of Tom's +making showed me the part he wished me to read. + + RUNSWICK BAY. + + This charming seaside resort is not half so well known + as it deserves to be. For the lover of the beautiful, + for the man with an artistic eye, it possesses a charm + which words would fail to describe. The little bay is a + favourite resort for artists; they, at least, know how + to appreciate its beauties. It would be well for any who + may desire to visit this wonderfully picturesque and + enchanting spot to secure hotel or lodging-house + accommodation as early as possible, for the demand for + rooms is, in August and September, far greater than the + supply. + + +'Well, what do you think of it?' said Tom. + +'It sounds just the thing,' I said; 'fresh air and plenty to paint.' + +'Shall you go?' + +'Yes, to-morrow,' I replied; 'the sooner the better.' + +My bag was soon packed, my easel and painting materials were collected, +and the very next morning I was on my way into Yorkshire. + +It was evening when I reached the end of my long, tiring railway +journey; and when, hot and dusty, I alighted at a village which lay +about two miles from my destination. I saw no sign of beauty as I walked +from the station; the country was slightly undulating in parts, but as a +rule nothing met my gaze but a long flat stretch of field after field, +covered, as the case might be, with grass or corn. Harebells and pink +campion grew on the banks, and the meadows were full of ox-eye daisies; +but I saw nothing besides that was in the least attractive, and +certainly nothing of which I could make a picture. + +A family from York had come by the same train, and I had learnt from +their conversation that they had engaged lodgings for a month at +Runswick Bay. The children, two boys of ten and twelve, and a little +fair-haired girl a year or two younger, were full of excitement on their +arrival. + +'Father, where is the sea?' they cried. 'Oh, we do want to see the sea!' + +'Run on,' said their father, 'and you will soon see it.' + +So we ran together, for I felt myself a child again as I watched them, +and if ever I lagged behind, one or other of them would turn round and +cry, 'Come on, come on; we shall soon see it.' + +Then, suddenly, we came to the edge of the high cliff, and the sea in +all its beauty and loveliness burst upon us. The small bay was shut in +by rocks on either side, and on the descent of the steep cliff was built +the little fishing village. I think I have never seen a prettier place. + +The children were already running down the steep, rocky path--I cannot +call it a road--which led down to the sea, and I followed more slowly +behind them. It was the most curiously built place. The fishermen's +cottages were perched on the rock, wherever a ledge or standing place +could be found. Steep, narrow paths, or small flights of rock-hewn +steps, led from one to another. There was no street in the whole place; +there could be none, for there were hardly two houses which stood on the +same level. To take a walk through this quaint village was to go up and +down stairs the whole time. + +At last, after a long, downward scramble, I found myself on the shore, +and then I looked back at the cliff and at the irregular little town. I +did not wonder that artists were to be found there. I had counted four +as I came down the hill, perched on different platforms on the rock, and +all hard at work at their easels. + +Yes, it was certainly a picturesque place, and I was glad that I had +come. The colouring was charming: there was red rock in the background, +here and there covered with grass, and ablaze with flowers. Wild roses +and poppies, pink-thrift and white daisies, all contributed to make the +old rock gay. But the yellow ragwort was all over; great patches of it +grew even on the margin of the sand, and its bright flowers gave the +whole place a golden colouring. There seemed to be yellow everywhere, +and the red-tiled cottages, and the fishermen in their blue jerseys, and +the countless flights of steps, all appeared to be framed in the +brightest gilt. + +Yes, I felt sure I should find something to paint in Runswick Bay. I was +not disappointed in Tom's choice for me. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter II + +LITTLE JOHN + + +After admiring the beauties of my new surroundings for some little time, +I felt that I must begin to look for quarters. I was anxious, if +possible, to find a lodging in one of the cottages, and then, after a +good night's rest, I would carefully select a good subject for my +picture. I called at several houses, where I noticed a card in the +window announcing _Apartments to Let_, but I met the same answer +everywhere, 'Full, sir, quite full.' In one place I was offered a bed in +the kitchen, but the whole place smelt so strongly of fried herrings and +of fish oil, that I felt it would be far more pleasant to sleep on the +beach than to attempt to do so in that close and unwholesome atmosphere. + +After wandering up and down for some time, I passed a house close to the +village green, and saw the children with whom I had travelled sitting at +tea close to the open window. They, too, were eating herrings, and the +smell made me hungry. I began to feel that it was time I had something +to eat, and I thought my best plan would be to retrace my steps to the +hotel which I had passed on my way, and which stood at the very top of +the high cliff. I turned a little lazy when I thought of the climb, for +I was tired with my journey, and, as I said before, I was not very +strong, and to drag my bag and easel up the rugged ascent would require +a mighty effort at the best of times. I noticed that wooden benches had +been placed here and there on the different platforms of the rock, for +the convenience of the fishermen, and I determined to rest for a quarter +of an hour on one of them before retracing my steps up the steep hill to +the hotel. The fishermen were filling most of the seats, sitting side by +side, row after row of them, talking together, and looking down at the +beach below. As I gazed up at them, they looked to me like so many blue +birds perched on the steep rock. + +There was one seat in a quiet corner which I noticed was empty. I went +to it, and laying my knapsack and other belongings beside me, I sat down +to rest. + +But I was not long to remain alone. A minute afterwards a young +fisherman, dressed like his mates in blue jersey and oilskin cap, +planted himself on the other end of the seat which I had selected. + +'Good-day, sir,' he said. 'What do you think of our bay?' + +'It's a pretty place, very pretty,' I said. 'I like it well enough now, +but I daresay I shall like it better still to-morrow.' + +'Better still to-morrow,' he repeated; 'well, it _is_ the better +for knowing, in my opinion, sir, and I _ought_ to know, if any one +should, for I've lived my lifetime here.' + +I turned to look at him as he spoke, and I felt at once that I had come +across one of Nature's gentlemen. He was a fine specimen of an honest +English fisherman, with dark eyes and hair, and with a sunny smile on +his weather-beaten, sunburnt face. You had only to look at the man to +feel sure that you could trust him, and that, like Nathanael, there was +no guile in him. + +'I wonder if you could help me,' I said; 'I want to find a room here if +I can, but every place seems so full.' + +'Yes, it is full, sir, in August; that's the main time here. Let me see, +there's Brown's, they're full, and Robinson's, and Wilson's, and +Thomson's, all full up. There's Giles', they have a room, I believe, but +they're not over clean; maybe you're particular, sir.' + +'Well,' I said, 'I do like things clean; I don't mind how rough they are +if they're only clean.' + +'Ah,' he said, with a twinkle in his eye; 'you wouldn't care for one pan +to do all the work of the house--to boil the dirty clothes, and the +fish, and your bit of pudding for dinner, and not overmuch cleaning of +it in between.' + +'No,' I said, laughing; 'I should not like that, certainly.' + +'Might give the pudding a flavour of stockings, and a sauce of fish +oil,' he answered. 'Well, you're right, sir; I shouldn't like it myself. +Cleanliness is next to godliness, that's my idea. Well, then, that being +as it is, I wouldn't go to Giles', not if them is your sentiments with +regard to pans, sir.' + +'Then I suppose there's nothing for it but to trudge up to the hotel at +the top of the hill,' I said, with something of a groan. + +'Well, sir,' he said, hesitating a little; 'me and my missus, we have a +room as we lets sometimes, but it's a poor place, sir, homely like, as +ye may say. Maybe you wouldn't put up with it.' + +'Would you let me see it?' I asked. + +'With pleasure, sir; it's rough, but it's clean. We could promise you a +clean pan, sir. My missus she's a good one for cleaning; she's not one +of them slatternly, good-for-nothing lasses. There's heaps of them here, +sir, idling away their time. She's a good girl is my Polly. Why, if that +isn't little John a-clambering up the steps to his daddy!' + +He jumped up as he said this, and ran quickly down the steep flight of +steps which led down from the height on which the seat was placed, and +soon returned with a little lad about two years old in his arms. + +The child was as fair as his father was dark. He was a pretty boy with +light hair and blue eyes, and was tidily dressed in a bright red cap and +clean white-pinafore. + +'Tea's ready, daddy,' said the boy; 'come home with little John.' + +'Maybe you wouldn't object to a cup o' tea, sir,' said the father, +turning to me; 'it'll hearten you up a bit after your journey, and +there's sure to be herrings. We almost lives on herrings here, sir, and +then, if you're so minded, you can look at the room after. Ye'll excuse +me if I make too bold, sir,' he added, as he gently patted little John's +tiny hand, which rested on his arm. + +'I shall be only too glad to come,' I said; 'for I am very hungry, and +if Polly's room is as nice as I think it will be, it will be just the +place for me.' + +He walked in front of me, up and down several flights of steps, until, +at some little distance lower down the hill, he stopped before a small +cottage. Sure enough there were herrings, frying and spluttering on the +fire, and there too was Polly herself, arrayed in a clean white apron, +and turning the herrings with a fork. The kitchen was very low, and the +rafters seemed resting on my head as I entered; but the window and door +were both wide open, and the whole place struck me as being wonderfully +sweet and clean. A low wooden settle stood by the fire, one or two plain +deal chairs by the wall, and little John's three-legged stool was placed +close to his father's arm-chair. A small shelf above the fireplace held +the family library. I noticed a Bible, a hymn-book, a _Pilgrim's +Progress_, and several other books, all of which had seen their best +days and were doubtless in constant use. On the walls were prints in +wooden frames and much discoloured by the turf smoke of the fire. Upon a +carved old oak cupboard, which held the clothes of the family, were +arranged various rare shells and stones, curious sea-urchins and other +treasures of the sea, and in the centre, the chief ornament of the house +and the pride of Polly's heart, a ship, carved and rigged by Duncan +himself, and preserved carefully under a glass shade. + +Polly gave me a hearty Yorkshire welcome, and we soon gathered about the +small round table. Duncan, with little John on his knee, asked a +blessing, and Polly poured out the tea, and we all did justice to the +meal. + +The more I saw of these honest people, the more I liked them and felt +inclined to trust them. When tea was over, Polly took me to see the +guest-chamber in which her husband had offered me a bed. It was a low +room in the roof, containing a plain wooden bedstead, one chair, a small +wash-hand stand, and a square of looking-glass hanging on the wall. +There was no other furniture, and, indeed, there was room for no other, +and the room was unadorned except by three or four funeral cards in +dismal black frames, which were hanging at different heights on the wall +opposite the bed. But the square casement window was thrown wide open, +and the pure sea air filled the little room, and the coarse white +coverings of the bed were spotless, and, indeed, the whole place looked +and felt both fresh and clean. + +'You'll pardon me, sir,' said Duncan, 'for asking you to look at such a +poor place.' + +'But I like it, Duncan,' I answered, 'and I like you, and I like your +wife, and if you will have me as a lodger, I am willing and glad to +stay.' + +The terms were soon agreed upon to the satisfaction of both parties, and +then all things being settled, Polly went to put little John to bed +whilst I went with Duncan to see his boat. + +It was an old boat, and it had been his father's before him, and it had +weathered many a storm; but it was the dream of Duncan's life to buy a +new one, and he and Polly had nearly saved up money enough for it. + +'That's why me and the missus is glad to get a lodger now and again,' he +said; 'it all goes to the boat, every penny of it. We mean to call her +The Little John. He's going in her the very first voyage she takes; he +is indeed, sir, for he'll be her captain one day, please God, little +John will.' + +It was a calm, beautiful evening; the sea was like a sheet of glass. +Hardly a ripple was breaking on the shore. The sun was setting behind +the cliff, and the fishing village would soon be in darkness. The +fishermen were leaving their cottages and were making for the shore. +Already some of the boats were launched, and the men were throwing in +their nets and fishing-tackle, and were pulling out to sea. I enjoyed +watching my new friend making his preparations. His three mates brought +out the nets, and he gave his orders with a tone of command. He was the +owner and the captain of the Mary Ann, and the rest were accustomed to +do his bidding. + +When all were on board, Duncan himself jumped in and gave the word to +push from shore. He nodded to me and bid me good-night, and when he was +a little way from shore, I saw him stand up in the boat and wave his +oil-skin cap to some one above me on the cliff. + +I looked up, and saw Polly standing on the rock overhanging the shore +with little John in his white nightgown in her arms. He was waving his +red cap to his father, and continued to do so till the boat was out of +sight. + + + + +Chapter III + +STRANGE MUSIC + + +I slept well in my strange little bedroom, although I was awakened early +by the sunlight streaming in at the window. I jumped up and looked out. +The sun was rising over the sea, and a flood of golden light was +streaming across it. + +I dressed quickly and went out. Very few people were about, for the +fishermen had not yet returned from their night's fishing. The cliff +looked even more beautiful than the night before, for every bit of +colouring stood out clear and distinct in the sunshine. 'I shall get my +best effects in the morning,' I said to myself, 'and I had better choose +my subject at once, so that after breakfast I may be able to begin +without delay.' + +How many steps I went up, and how many I went down, before I came to a +decision, it would be impossible to tell; but at last I found a place +which seemed to me to be the very gem of the whole village. An old +disused boat stood in the foreground, and over this a large fishing net, +covered with floats, was spread to dry. Behind rose the rocks, covered +with tufts of grass, patches of gorse, tall yellow mustard plants and +golden ragwort, and at the top of a steep flight of rock-hewn steps +stood a white cottage with red-tiled roof, the little garden in front of +it gay with hollyhocks and dahlias. A group of barefooted children were +standing by the gate feeding some chickens and ducks, a large dog was +lying asleep at the top of the steps, and a black cat was basking in the +morning sunshine on the low garden wall. It was, to my mind, an +extremely pretty scene, and it made me long to be busy with my brush. + +I hurried back to my lodging, and found Polly preparing my breakfast, +whilst little John looked on. He was sitting in his nightgown, curled up +in his father's armchair. 'I'm daddy,' he called out to me as I came in. + +There was a little round table laid ready for me, and covered with a +spotlessly clean cloth, and on it was a small black teapot, and a white +and gold cup and saucer, upon which I saw the golden announcement, 'A +present from Whitby,' whilst my plate was adorned with a remarkable +picture of Whitby Abbey in a thunderstorm. + +There were herrings, of course, and Polly had made some hot cakes, the +like of which are never seen outside Yorkshire. These were ready +buttered, and were lying wrapped in a clean cloth in front of the fire. +Polly made the tea as soon as I entered, and then retired with little +John in her arms into the bedroom, whilst I sat down with a good +appetite to my breakfast. + +I had not quite finished my meal when I heard a great shout from the +shore. Women and children, lads and lasses, ran past the open door, +crying, 'The boats! the boats!' Polly came flying into the kitchen, +caught up little John's red cap, thrust it on his head, and ran down the +steps. I left my breakfast unfinished, and followed them. + +It was a pretty sight. The fishing-boats were just nearing shore, and +almost every one in the place had turned out to meet them. + +Wives, children, and visitors were gathered on the small landing place; +most had dishes or plates in their hands, for the herrings could be +bought straight from the boats. The family from York were there, and +they greeted me as an old friend. + +When the little village had been abundantly supplied with fish, the rest +of the herrings were packed up and sent off by train to be sold +elsewhere. It was a pretty animated scene, and I wished I had brought my +sketchbook with me. I thought the arrival of the fishing boats would +make a splendid subject for a picture. + +Duncan was too busy even to see me till the fish were all landed, +counted, and disposed of, but he had time for a word with little John, +and as I was finishing my breakfast he came in with the child perched on +his shoulder. + +'Good morning, sir,' he said; 'and how do you like our bay this +morning?' + +My answer fully satisfied him, and whilst he sat down to his morning +meal I went out to begin my work. It was a lovely day, and I thoroughly +enjoyed the prospect before me. I found a shady place just under the +wall of a house, where my picture would be in sunlight and I and my +easel in shadow. I liked the spot I had chosen even better than I had +done before breakfast, and I was soon hard at work. + +I had sketched in my picture, and was beginning to paint, when I became +conscious of the sound of voices just over my head, and I soon became +equally conscious that they were talking about me. + +'It's just like it,' said one voice. 'Look--do look. There's Betty +Green's cottage, and Minnie the cat, and the seat, and the old boat.' + +[Illustration] + +'Let me see, Marjorie,' said another voice; 'is it the old one with +white hair and a long, long beard?' + +'No, it's quite a young one; his hair's black, and he hasn't got a beard +at all.' + +'Let me look. Yes, I can see him. I like him much better than the old +one; hasn't he got nice red cheeks?' + +'Hush! he'll hear,' said the other voice. 'You naughty boy! I believe he +did hear; I saw him laugh.' + +I jumped up at this, and looked up, but I could see nothing but a garden +wall and a thick bushy tree, which was growing just inside it. + +'Hullo, who's there?' I shouted. + +But there was dead silence; and as no one appeared, and nothing more +happened, I sat down and went on with my picture. + +Many people passed by as I was painting, and tried to look at what I was +doing. Some glanced out of the corners of their eyes as they walked on; +others paused behind me and silently watched me; a few made remarks to +one another about my picture; one or two offered suggestions, thought I +should have had a better view lower down the hill, or hoped that I would +make the colouring vivid enough. The children with whom I had travelled +seemed to feel a kind of partnership in my picture. + +'Let's go and look at _our_ artist,' Bob would say to Harry; 'his +picture is going to be the best of the lot.' + +They were so fond of watching me, and so much excited over what I was +doing, that, as time went on, I was often obliged to ask them to move +further away, so eager were they to watch every movement of my brush. + +I thoroughly enjoyed my morning's work, and went back very hungry, and +quite ready for the comfortable little dinner which Polly had prepared +for me. In the afternoon the light would be all wrong for my picture; +but I determined to sketch in the foreground, and prepare for my next +morning's work. + +I was very busy upon this, when suddenly I became conscious of music, if +music it could be called. It was the most peculiar sound, and at first I +could not find out from whence it came. It was evidently not caused by a +wind instrument; I felt sure it was not a concertina or an accordion. +This sound would go on for a minute or two, and then stop suddenly, only +to begin again more loudly a few seconds later. At times I distinguished +a few bars of a tune, then only disjointed notes followed. Could it be a +child strumming idly on a harmonium? but no, it was not at all like an +instrument of that kind. It was an annoying, worrying sound, and it went +on for so long that I began to be vexed with it, and stamped my foot +impatiently when, after a short interval, I heard it begin again. The +sound seemed to come from behind the wall of the house near which I was +sitting, and it was repeated from time to time during the whole of the +afternoon. + +At length, as the afternoon went on, I began to distinguish what tunes +were being attempted. I made out a bar or two of the old French +Republican air, 'The Marseillaise,' and then I was almost startled by +what came next, for it was a tune I had known well since I was a very +little child. It was 'Home, Sweet Home,' and that was my mother's +favourite tune; in fact, I never heard it without thinking of her. Many +and many a time had she sung me to sleep with that tune. I had scarlet +fever when I was five years old, and my mother had nursed me through it, +and when I was weary and fretful she would sing to me--my pretty +fair-haired mother. Even as I sat before my easel I could see her, as +she sat at the foot of my bed, with the sunshine streaming upon her +through the half-darkened window, and making her look, to my boyish +imagination, like a beautiful angel. And I could hear her voice still; +and the sweet tones in which she sang that very song to me, 'Home, sweet +home, there's no place like home.' + +I remembered one night especially, in which she knelt by my bed and +prayed that she might meet her boy in the bright city, the sweet home +above the sky which was the best and brightest home of all. I wonder +what she would think of me now, I said to myself, and whether she ever +will see me there. I very much doubt it; it seems to me that I am a long +way off from Home, Sweet Home now. + +My mother had died soon after that illness of mine, and I knew that she +had gone to live in that beautiful home of which she had so often spoken +to me. And I had been left behind, and my aunt, who had brought me up, +had cared for none of these things, and I had learnt to look at the +world and at life from her worldly standpoint, and had forgotten to seek +first the Kingdom of God. Oh! if my mother only knew, my pretty, +beautiful mother, I said to myself that day. And then there came the +thought, perhaps she _does_ know, and the thought made me very +uncomfortable. I wished, more than ever, that that cracked old +instrument, whatever it was, would stop. + +But, in spite of all my wishes, the strange sound went on, and again and +again I had to listen to 'Home, Sweet Home,' and each time that it came +it set my memory going, and brought back to me the words and the looks +which I thought I had forgotten. And it set something else going +too--the still, small voice within, accusing me of forgetfulness, not so +much of my mother as of my mother's God. + +I began to wish most heartily that I had chosen some other spot for my +picture. But it was working out so well that I felt it would be a great +mistake to change, and I hoped that the individual, man, woman, or +child, who had been making that horrible noise might find some other +employment to-morrow, and might leave me in peace. + +The next day my wishes were fulfilled, for I was not disturbed, and very +little happened except that my picture made progress. Then came two wet +days, on which I had to paint in my little chamber, and did not get back +to my seat under the wall. + +I saw a good deal of Duncan during those wet days. He would come and sit +beside me as I painted, and would tell me stories of storms and +shipwrecks, and of the different times when the lifeboat had been sent +out, and of the many lives she had saved. + +'Have ye seen her, sir? You must go and have a look at our boat; she +lies in a house down by the shore, as trim and tight a little boat as +you could wish to see anywhere!' + +'I suppose you've been in many a storm yourself, +Duncan,' I said. + +'Storms, sir! I've very near lived in them ever since I was born. Many +and many's the time I've never expected to see land again. I didn't care +so much when I was a young chap. You see, my father and mother were +dead, and if I went to the bottom there was nobody, as you might say, to +feel it; but it's different now, sir, you see.' + +'Yes,' I said, 'there's Polly and little John.' + +'That's just where it is, sir, Polly and little John, bless 'em; and all +the time the wind's raging, and the waves is coming right over the boat, +I'm thinking of my poor lass at home, and how every gust of wind will be +sweeping right over her heart, and how she'll be kneeling by little +John's bed, praying God to bring his daddy safe home again. And I know, +sir, as well as I know anything, that when God Almighty hears and +answers her prayer, and brings me safe to land, Polly and little John +will be standing on yon rocks a-straining their eyes for the first sight +of the boats, and then a-running down almost into the water to welcome +me home again. Yes, it makes a sight o' difference to a married man, +sir; doesn't it, now? It isn't the dying, ye understand, it's the +leaving behind as I think of. I'm not afraid to die,' he added humbly +and reverently, as he took off his oilskin cap. 'I know whom I have +believed.' + +'You're a plucky fellow, Duncan,' I said, 'to talk of not being afraid +to die. I've just been at a death-bed, and--' + +'And you felt you wouldn't like to be there yourself,' Duncan went on, +as I stopped. 'Well, maybe not, it comes nat'ral to us, sir; we're born +with that feeling, I often think, and we can no more help it than we can +help any other thing we're born with. But what I mean to say is, I'm not +afraid of what comes _after_ death. It may be a dark tunnel, sir, +but there's light at the far end!' + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter IV + +WHAT ARE YOU? + + +On Saturday of that week the sun shone brightly, and I was up betimes, +had an early breakfast, and set to work at my picture as soon as +possible. I had not been painting long before I again heard voices above +me, the same childish voices that I had heard before. + +'_You_ give it to him,' said one voice. + +'No, Marjorie, I daren't; you take it.' + +'You ought not to be afraid, because you're a boy,' said the first +speaker; 'father says boys ought always to be brave.' + +'But you're big, Marjorie, and big people ought to be braver than little +people!' + +There was a long, whispered conversation after this, and I could not +distinguish the words which were spoken. But presently a small piece of +pink paper was thrown over the wall, and fluttered down upon my palette. +I caught it up quickly, to prevent it from sticking to the paints, and I +saw there was something printed on it. It ran thus:-- + + _There will be a short service on the shore on Sunday Morning at + 11 o'clock, when you are earnestly requested to be present_. + + _Subject_: WHAT ARE YOU? + + +'Thank you,' I said aloud. 'Who sent me this?' + +There was no answer at first, then a little voice just above me said, +'Both of us, sir.' + +'Come down and talk to me,' I said; 'I can't talk to children whom I +can't see. Come out here and look at my picture.' + +They came out presently hand in hand, a little girl of five in a blue +tam-o'-shanter cap, a pale pink frock, and a white pinafore, and a boy +of three, the merriest, most sturdy little fellow I thought I had ever +seen. His face was as round and rosy as an apple, his eyes were dark +blue, and had the happiest and most roguish expression that it would be +possible for eyes to have. When the child laughed (and whenever was he +not laughing?), every part of his face laughed together. His eyes began +it, his lips followed suit, even his nose was pressed into the service. +If a sunbeam could be caught and dressed up like a little boy, I think +it would look something like that child. + +'Now,' I said, 'that's right; I like to see children's faces when I talk +to them; tell me your names to begin with.' + +'I'm Marjorie, sir,' said the little girl, 'and he's Jack.' + +'Jack!' I said; 'that's _my_ name, and a nice name too, isn't it, +little Jack? Come and look at my picture, little Jack, and see if you +think big Jack knows how to paint.' + +By degrees they grew more at their ease, and chatted freely with me. +Marjorie told me that her father had sent the paper. Father was going to +preach on Sunday; he preached every Sunday, and numbers of people came, +and Jack was in the choir. + +What a dear little chorister, to be sure, a chubby little cherub if ever +there was one! + +'Shall you come, big Jack?' he said, patting my hand with his strong, +sturdy little fist. + +'I don't know,' I said; 'if it's a fine day, perhaps I shall want to get +on with my picture.' + +'On Sunday?' said the child in a shocked voice; 'it's on Sunday father +preaches, and you couldn't paint on Sunday, could you?' + +'Well, I'll see,' I said; 'perhaps I'll come and hear you sing, little +Jack.' + +'Thank you, big Jack,' he said, with a merry twinkle in his pretty blue +eyes. + +'What is this preaching on the shore, Duncan?' I asked. + +'Oh, it's our lay preacher,' he said; 'he's a good man, and has done a +sight of good in this place. You see, it's too far for folks here to go +to church, and so he lives amongst us, and has meetings in the hall +yonder in winter, and in summer, why, we have 'em on the shore, and the +visitors comes mostly. There's a few won't come, but we get the best of +them, and we have some fine singing--real nice it is! I'm in the choir +myself, sir,' he said; 'you wouldn't think it, but I am. I've got a good +strong voice, too!' + +It must be a choir worth seeing, I thought, if it contained two such +strange contrasts, the big burly fisherman and the tiny child who had +invited me to be present. + +I had not quite made up my mind to go. I had not been to a service for +many months, I might almost say years. I had slipped out of it lately, +and I thought I should feel myself a fish out of water. However, when +the next day came, every one seemed to take it as a matter of course +that I should be going. Polly was up early, and had dressed little John +in his best. + +'You'll see him at church, sir,' she said, as she laid my breakfast; 'he +always likes to go to church, and he's as good as gold, bless him!' + +Duncan was out before I was up, and I had seen him, as I was dressing, +going round to the fishermen sitting as usual on the seats on the cliff, +with a bundle of pink papers in his hand, similar to the one which had +been given me, and distributing them to every group of his mates which +he came across. Yes, I felt that I was expected to go, and it would be +hard work to keep away. But if I had still had any doubt about the +matter, it would have surely disappeared when at half-past ten exactly a +tiny couple came toiling hand in hand up the steps leading to Duncan's +door, and announced to Polly that they had come to call for big Mr. Jack +to go to church. + +It was Marjorie and her little brother, and the small Jack put his +little fat hand into that of big Jack, and led him triumphantly away. + +It was a pretty sight to see that congregation gathering on the village +green. From the fishermen's cottages there came a stream of people down +to the shore,--mothers with babies in their arms and leading young +children by the hand, groups of boys and girls wearing shoes and +stockings who had been barefooted all the week, many a weather-beaten +sailor, many a sunburnt fisher lad, many elderly people too, old men, +and white-haired women in closely-plaited white caps. There were +visitors, too, coming down from the rocks, and these mostly kept in the +background, and had at first an air of watching the movement rather than +joining in it. My York friends were, however, well to the front, and the +children nodded to me, and smiled at one another as they saw me led like +a lamb to the service by my two small guardians. + +It was a lovely day, and the sandy ground was dry, and the congregation +sat on the rough coarse grass or perched on the sand hillocks round. As +for the old boat, it was occupied by the choir, and little Jack, having +seen me safely to the spot, climbed into it and stood proudly in the +stern. He had a hymn-book in his hand, which I knew he could not read, +for he was holding it upside down, but he looked at it as long and as +earnestly as if he could understand every word. Marjorie planted herself +beside me, I suppose to watch me, in case I showed signs of running away +before the service was over. + +Then just before eleven, and when quite a large company of people had +gathered on the green, her father arrived. He was a man of about forty, +and his face gave me the impression that he had known trouble, and yet I +fancied as I looked further at him that the trouble, whatever it was, +had ended. He seemed to me like one who has come out of a sharp storm, +and has anchored in a quiet haven. For whilst I noticed in his face the +traces of heavy sorrow, still at the same time he looked happier and +more peaceful than any of those who stood round him; in fact, it was the +most restful face I had ever seen. He was not an educated man, nor was +he what men call a gentleman, and yet there was a refinement about him +which made one feel at once that he was no common man, and had no common +history. His face was so interesting to me, that I am afraid I was +gazing at him instead of finding the hymn he had given out, but I was +recalled to my duty by his little daughter, who seized the hymn-book she +had given me at the beginning of the service, found the page for me, and +pointed with her small finger to the place. + +It was a mission hymn, sung to a wild, irregular tune. I daresay I +should have smiled if I had heard it anywhere else, but it was no +laughing matter that morning. As I looked at the brown fishermen who had +taken off their oilskin caps, as I glanced at the earnest face of the +preacher, as I noticed how even children, like little Marjorie beside +me, were singing with all their heart and soul the simple plaintive +words, I felt strangely solemnized. + +Then came the prayer, and I felt as he prayed that One whom we could not +see was standing amongst us. It was a very simple prayer, but it was the +outpouring of his heart to God, and many a low Amen broke from the lips +of the fishermen as their hearts went with his. + +The sermon followed. Shall I call it a sermon? It was more an appeal +than a sermon, or even an address. There was no attempt at style, there +were no long words or stilted sentences; it was exactly what his prayer +had been, words spoken out of the abundance of his earnest heart. The +prayer had contained the outpouring of his soul to his God in heaven; +the words, to which we listened afterwards contained the outpouring of +his soul to us, his brothers and sisters on earth. + +There was a great hush over the congregation whilst he spoke. The +mothers quieted their babes, the children sat with their eyes fixed on +the speaker; even those visitors who had been on the outskirts of the +crowd drew near to listen. + +'What are you, dear friends?' he began; 'that is our subject to-day. +What are you? How many different answers I hear you make, as you answer +my question in your hearts!' + +'What am I?' you say. 'I am a fisherman, a strong active man, accustomed +to toil and danger.' 'I am a mother, with a large family of little ones, +working hard from morning till night.' 'I am a schoolboy, learning the +lessons which are to fit me to make my way in the world.' 'I am a busy +merchant, toiling hard to make money, and obliged to come to this quiet +place to recruit my wearied energies.' 'I am an artist, with great +ambition of future success.' 'I am an old man, who has weathered many a +storm, but my work is done now; I am too old to fish, too tired to +toil.' 'I am a gentleman of no occupation, idling comfortably through a +busy world.' 'I'--and here he glanced at his own little Jack in the +stern of the old boat--'I am a tiny child, with an unknown life all +before me.' + +'Dear friends, such are some of your answers to my question. Can I find, +do you think, one answer, one description, which will suit you +all--fishermen, mothers, boys and girls, artists, merchants, gentlemen, +the old man and the little child? Yes, I can. If I could hand you each a +piece of paper and a pencil this day, there is one description of +yourself which each of you might write, one occupation which would +include you all, the old, the young, the rich and the poor. Each of you, +without exception, might write this--_I am a servant_. + +'I, the speaker, am a servant; you who listen, all of you, are +servants.' + +'Well, I don't know how he is going to make that out,' I said to myself. +'I thought he was going to say we were all sinners, and _that_, I +suppose, we are, but _servants_! I do not believe I am anybody's +servant.' + +'All servants,' he went on, 'but not all in the same service. As God and +the angels look down upon this green to-day they see gathering together +a great company of servants, but they also see that we are not all +servants of the same master. They see what we do not see, a dividing +line between us. On one side of the line God sees, and the angels see, +one company of servants--and in God's book He gives us the name of their +master--_Servants of sin_. + +'On the other side of the line, God sees, and the angels see, another +company of servants--_Servants of Christ_. + +'Which company do you belong to, dear friend? You fishermen on the bank +there, what are you? Little child, what are you?--a servant of sin, or a +servant of Jesus Christ? + +So I tried to turn it off from myself, and to forget the words which had +been spoken. And whenever the question came back to me, the question +which the speaker had repeated so often, 'What are you?' I answered it +by saying to myself, 'I am a poor artist, having a holiday in Runswick +Bay, and I am not going to trouble my head with gloomy thoughts.' + +Polly had prepared an excellent dinner in honour of the day, and I did +full justice to it. Then I determined to walk to Staithes, and to spend +the rest of the day in seeing the country. I had always been accustomed, +to paint on Sunday, but only one of the artists seemed to be at work, +and Duncan and Polly had been so much shocked by seeing him, that I did +not venture to do the same. I enjoyed the walk along the cliffs, and +came back in good spirits, having completely shaken off, as I imagined, +the remembrance of the speaker's words. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter V + +THE RUNSWICK SPORTS + + +'I've got a big favour to ask of you, sir,' said Duncan the next day. +'You'll not think I'm taking a liberty, will you?' + +'Certainly not, Duncan,' I said. 'What do you want?' + +'Well, it's just here, sir--me and my mates, we get up some sports every +year on the green. We have 'em in August, sir, just when the visitors +are here. They all turn out to see them, and there's lots of them is +very good in subscribing to the prizes. You see, sir, there is a many +young fellows here, young chaps who must have something to keep them out +of mischief; when they're not fishing, they're bound to be after the +beer, if they haven't something to turn their minds and keep them going +a bit. And these sports, why, they like 'em, sir; and a man must keep +sober if he's to win a prize--you understand, sir?' + +'Yes, Duncan, I understand,' I said; 'it's first-rate for these young +lads, and for the old lads too, for the matter of that. I suppose you +want a subscription for your prizes?' I added, as I handed him half a +sovereign. + +'Thank ye kindly, sir, I won't refuse it, and it's very good of you to +help us so largely; but that isn't what I came to ask of you. I hardly +like to bother you, sir,' he said doubtfully. + +'Never mind the bother, Duncan; let's hear what you want.' + +'Well, it's just here, sir. Could you, do you think, make for us some +sort of a programme to hang up by the post office there, for visitors to +see? You draw them pictures so quick, sir, and--' + +'I see, Duncan; you want the programme to be illustrated. I'm your man; +I'll do it at once.' I was really only too glad to oblige the dear, +honest fellow. + +He was wonderfully pleased at my ready consent, and went off at once to +procure a board upon which my programme might be fastened. We soon made +out together a list of attractions, and I had great pleasure in +beautifying and illustrating the catalogue of sports. + +I headed it thus:-- + + OYEZ, OYEZ! + RUNSWICK ATHLETIC SPORTS. + + +Then, from the R of Runswick I hung a long fishing net, covered with +floats, and falling down over a fish basket, and some lobster-pots, +whilst on the ground were lying a number of fish which had been emptied +out of the basket. + +Next followed a list of patrons, such as: The Honourable O'Mackerell, +Lord Crabby Lobster, Sir C. Shrimp, etc., etc. + +Then came a list of the various sports, each profusely illustrated--The +tug of war, the jockey race, the women's egg and spoon race, the sack +race, the greasy pole, the long jump, etc.; and lastly, an announcement +of a grand concert to be held in the evening, as a conclusion of the +festivities of the day. + +Duncan was more than satisfied--he was delighted, and his gratitude knew +no bounds. His excitement, as he carried the board away to hang it in a +conspicuous place, was like the excitement of a child. + +The whole village seemed to be stirred as the eventful day drew near. + +'Are you going to see the great tug, big Mr. Jack?' my little friend +called to me over the wall as I was painting. As for the York boys, +Harry and Bob, they spent a great part of every day in admiring the +programme, and in bringing other visitors to see and admire the work of +_their_ artist. + +How anxiously Duncan watched the sky the day before the sports, and how +triumphantly Polly announced, when I came down to breakfast, 'A fine +day, sir; couldn't be finer, could it now?' + +Those village sports were really a pretty sight. I see it all in my +mind's eye now. I often wonder I have not made a picture of it. The high +cliff stretching overhead, and covered with bushes and bracken, amongst +which nestled the red-tiled cottages. Then below the cliff the level +green, covered with strong, hardy fishermen and their sunburnt wives, +and surrounding the green, on the sand-hills, the visitors old and +young, dressed in bright colours and holiday attire. Is it too late to +paint it from memory, I wonder? I see it all still so distinctly. + +The sports lasted a long time, and went off well. Polly distinguished +herself by winning the egg and spoon race, much to the joy of little +John, who watched all the proceedings from his father's arms. + +Then came the greatest event of all, the tug of war. A long cable was +brought out and stretched across the green, and a pocket-handkerchief +was tied in the centre of it. Two stakes were then driven into the +ground, and between these a line was chalked on the grass. The +handkerchief was then placed exactly over the line. After this all the +fishermen who entered the lists were divided into two parties. Then each +side laid hold of one end of the rope, and at a given signal they began +to pull. It was a trial of strength; whichever side could draw the +handkerchief past the two stakes and over the line, that side would win. + +How tremendously those men pulled! What force they put into it! Yet for +a long time the rope did not move a single inch. All the strength of +those powerful fishermen was put out; they were lying on the ground, +that their pull might be all the stronger. Every sinew, every nerve, +every muscle seemed to be on the strain, but so evenly were the two +sides matched, that the rope was motionless, and it seemed impossible to +tell which party would win. + +Little John was eagerly watching his father. + +'Pull, daddy, pull!' I heard him cry; and I think I was nearly as +pleased as he and Polly were when Duncan and the mates on his side +suddenly made one mighty effort, and the handkerchief was drawn across +the line. There was tremendous cheering after this. Polly clapped her +hands with delight, and little Jack and big Jack nearly shouted +themselves hoarse. + +It was an interesting sight, and I had reason to remember it afterwards, +as you will see. The evening concert went off as well as the sports had +done, and Duncan came in at night rather tired, but well satisfied with +the day's proceedings. + +I enjoyed all the sights at Runswick Bay, but I think I was particularly +charmed with what happened on the day after the sports. All the village +was early astir, and as I was dressing, it seemed to me that every +fisherman in the place was hurrying down to the beach. It was not long +before I followed them to see what they were doing. I found that they +were about to draw the crab-boats up from the shore, to a place where +they would be safe from the winter storms. It was hard work, but every +one was there to give a hand. A long string of men and lads laid hold of +the strong cable fastened to the boat. Even the wives and elder children +caught hold of it. I myself went to their help, and several of the +visitors followed my example. Then, when we were all in position, there +came a pause, for Duncan, who was directing the proceedings, charged us +not to pull till the signal was given. Then there rose a peculiar cry or +yodel, all the fishermen uttering it together, and as soon as it ceased +we gave our united, mighty pull. Then we paused to take breath, until +once more there came a yodel followed by another pull, and as this was +repeated again and again, it was grand to see the heavy boat making +steady and regular progress. Across the heavy sand she came, up the low +bank, over the rough grass, slowly, steadily, surely, she moved onward, +until at length she was placed in safety, far out of reach of the +highest tide and the strongest sea. Thus, one after another, the boats +were drawn up, and we were fairly tired before our work was done. + +I think it must have been that very day, that, as I was sitting +painting, I once more heard the broken notes of the instrument which had +troubled me so much before. It was that tune again, my mother's tune, +and somehow, I do not know how it was, with the sound of my mother's +tune there came back to my mind the remembrance of the Sunday service. +Ah! my mother was on the right side of the line, I said to myself; she +was a servant of Christ. But her son! what is he? + +I did not want to follow out this subject, so I jumped up from my +camp-stool, and standing under the wall, I called, 'Little Jack, little +Jack.' + +The music stopped at once, and the child came out. Dear, little merry +fellow, how fond I was of him already! + +'Yes, Mr. big Jack,' he said, as he ran out of the gate. + +'Come and talk to me, old chappie,' I said, 'whilst I paint. Who plays +music in your house?' + +'I do,' said little Jack. + +'_You_ do, Jack? Why, you are a funny little fellow to play music! +What do you play on, and who taught you?' + +'Nobody teached me, Mr. Jack,' he said; 'I teached my own self.' + +'Teached your own self? Why, how did you manage that?' I asked. + +'I turned him round and round and round, Mr. Jack, and the music came, +and I teached my own self,' he repeated. + +'What is it, Jack?' I asked. 'Is it an old musical box?' + +'No, it's an organ, a barrow-organ, Mr. Jack.' + +'Oh, a barrel-organ you mean, little chappie; why, however in the world +did you get hold of a barrel-organ? Is it a little toy one?' + +'No, it's big, ever so big,' he said, stretching out his hands to show +me its size. + +'Why, whoever gave you it?' I asked. + +'It isn't Jack's own organ,' said the child. + +'Whose is it, then?' + +'It's father's, father's own organ.' + +It seemed to me a most extraordinary thing for the mission preacher of +Runswick Bay to have in his possession, but I did not like to ask any +more questions at that time. + +However, in the afternoon my little friend called to me over, the wall, +'Big Mr. Jack, come here.' + +'Come where, my little man?' + +'Come inside and look at father's organ; I'll play it to you, Mr. Jack.' + +'What will father say if I come in?' + +'Father's out.' + +'What will mother say?' + +'Mother's out too.' + +I did not much relish the idea of entering a man's house in his absence, +but such plaintive entreaties came from the other side of the wall. Over +and over again he pleaded, 'Do come, Mr. Jack; do come quick, Mr. Jack!' +that at last, to please the child, I left my work for a few minutes and +went up the steps which led to the gate of their garden. + +It was only a small place, but very prettily laid out. There was a tiny +lawn, well kept, and covered with short, soft grass, and in the centre +of this a round bed filled with geraniums, calceolarias, and lobelias. +Round the lawn, at the edge of the garden, was a border, in which grew +all manner of gay and sweet-smelling flowers. There were asters and +mignonette, sweet-peas and convolvolus, heliotrope and fuchsias. Then in +front of me was the pretty cottage, with two gables and a red-tiled +roof, the walls of which were covered from top to bottom with creeping +plants. Ivy and jessamine, climbing roses, virginia-creeper, and +canariensis, all helped to make the little place beautiful. + +'What a pretty home you have, little Jack!' I said. + +He kept tight hold of my hand, lest I should escape from him, and led me +on--into a tiny entrance hall, past one or two doors, down a dark +passage, and into a room at the back. + +This room had a small bow-window overlooking the sea, the walls were +covered with bookshelves, a writing-table stood in the window, and in +the corner by the fireplace was the extraordinary object I had been +brought to see--an extremely ancient and antiquated barrel-organ. + +What a peculiar thing to come across in a preacher's study! What +possible use could he have for it? It was a most dilapidated old +instrument, almost falling to pieces with old age. The shape was so +old-fashioned that I do not remember ever having seen one like it; the +silk, which had doubtless once been its adornment, was torn into shreds, +and it was impossible to tell what its original colour had been; the +wood was worm-eaten and decayed, and the leg upon which it had rested +could no longer support its weight. + +'Let me hear you play it, Jack,' I said. + +He sat down with great pride to turn the handle, but I noticed that half +the notes were broken off the barrel, which accounted for only fragments +of each tune being heard, whilst many bars of some were wanting +altogether. However, Jack seemed very proud of his performance, and +insisted on my staying till he had gone through the whole of the four +tunes which the poor old thing was supposed to play. He announced their +names, one by one, as each began. + +'This is "My Poor Mary Anne," Mr. Jack, _very_ sad.' Then when that +was finished, 'This is the Old Hundred, _very_ old.' + +After this there was a long turning of the handle without any sound +being heard, for the first part of the next tune was gone entirely. 'I +can't say the name of this one, Mr. Jack,' he explained; 'Marjorie calls +its something like "Ma says."' + +'Oh! the "Marseillaise,"' I said, laughing; 'all right, little man, I +know that.' + +'Then comes father's tune, father _does_ like it so. Listen, "Home, +sweet home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home." Do +_you_ like it, Mr. Jack?' + +'Yes, I do like it, Jack,' I said; 'I knew it when I was a little chap +like you.' + +As he played, once more it brought before me my mother's voice and my +mother's words. I had not thought of my mother for years so much as I +had done at Runswick Bay. Even the old organ brought her back to me, for +she was always kind to organ-grinders. There was an Italian who used to +come round with a barrel-organ when I was a little boy. I can see him +now. I used to watch for him from my nursery window, and as soon as he +came in sight I flew down to my mother for a penny, and then went into +the garden and stood beside him whilst he played. My mother gave me a +musical-box on my birthday; it was in the shape of a barrel-organ, and +had a strap which I could hang round my neck. I used to take this box +with me, and standing beside the Italian, I imitated his every movement, +holding my little organ just as he held his big one, and playing beside +him as long as he remained. So delightful did this man's occupation seem +to me, that I can remember quite well when my father asked me one day +what I would like to be when I was a man, I answered without a moment's +hesitation, 'An organ-grinder, of course, father.' + +Those old boyish days, how long ago they seemed! What was the use of +recalling them? It would not bring back the mother I had lost, or the +father who had cared for me, and it only made me depressed to think of +them. What good, I asked myself, would my holiday do me if I spent it in +brooding over bygone sorrow? I must forget all this kind of thing, and +cheer up, and get back my spirits again. + +'Now, little Jack,' I said, 'big Jack must go back to his picture; come +and climb into the old boat, and I'll see how you would do in the +foreground of it.' He looked such a merry little rogue, perched amongst +the nets and fishing tackle, that I felt I should improve my picture by +introducing him into it, and therefore from that day he came for a +certain time every morning to be painted. He was such a good little +fellow, he never moved a limb after I told him I was ready, and never +spoke unless I spoke to him. A more lovable child I never saw, nor a +more obedient one. With all his fun, and in spite of his flow of +spirits, he was checked in a moment by a single word. No one could be +dull in his company, and as the week passed on I began to regain my +usual cheerfulness, and to lose the uncomfortable impression left on my +mind by the sermon on the shore and the questions the preacher had asked +us. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter VI + +THE TUG OF WAR + + +I had quite made up my mind not to attend the service on the following +Sunday, and when a pink paper floated down on my easel on the Saturday +morning, I caught it and thrust it into my pocket, without even looking +to see what the subject was to be. + +'Have you got it, Mr. Jack?' said the child's voice above me. + +'All right, little man,' I answered; 'it's all safe and sound.' + +I made my plans for Sunday with great care. I asked for an early +breakfast, so that I might walk over to Kettleness, a place about two +miles off along the coast, and which could only be reached at low tide; +and when I was once there, on the other side of the bay, I determined to +be in no hurry to return, but to arrive at Runswick too late for the +service on the sands. If Duncan and Polly missed me, they would simply +conclude that I had found the walk longer than I had expected. + +But, as I was just ready to set out for Kettleness, a tremendous shower +came on. + +'You'll never set off in this weather, sir?' said Duncan anxiously. + +'Oh no, of course not,' I answered lightly. + +I fancied that he looked more concerned than the occasion warranted, and +I feared that he suspected the real reason for my early walk. + +There was now nothing to be done but to wait till the shower was over, +and by that time I found it would be impossible for me to go to +Kettleness without seeming deliberately to avoid the service. + +The sun came out, and the sky was quite blue before eleven o'clock, and +the fishermen spread tarpaulins on the sand for the congregation to sit +on, and I found myself--I must say very much against my will--being led +to the place by little Jack. + +'Well, there is no need for me to listen,' I said to myself; 'I will +plan out a new picture, and no one will know where my thoughts are.' + +But, in spite of my resolution to the contrary, from the moment that +Jack's father began to speak, my attention was riveted, and I could not +choose but listen. + +'The Tug of War is our subject to-day, dear friends,' he began, 'and a +very suitable subject, I think, after what we have witnessed on this +green during the past week. We have seen, have we not, a long pull, a +strong pull, and a pull all together, as yon heavy crab boat was dragged +up from the beach? How well she came, what progress she made! with each +yoddel we brought her farther from the sea. We all of us gave a helping +hand; fishermen, wives, visitors, friends, all laid hold, and all +pulled, and the work, hard as it seemed, was soon accomplished. Why? +Because we were all united. It was a long pull, a strong pull, and a +pull all together. + +'And now let me bring back to your memory another event during this past +week. The place is the same, our village green, the same rope is used, +and those who pull are the very same men, strong, brawny, powerful +fishermen. Yes, you pulled your very hardest; if possible you put forth +more strength than when the crab boat was drawn up, and yet, strange to +say, there was no result, the rope did not move an inch. What were you +pulling? What was the mighty weight that you had to move? What was it +that, for such a long time, baffled the strength of the strongest among +you? The weight you could not move was not a heavy boat, but a light +handkerchief! + +'Why was there this difference? Why was the handkerchief harder to move +than the boat? The answer to that question was to be found at the other +end of the green. There were other pullers at the rope that day, pulling +with all their might in an exactly opposite direction. It was not a +united pull, and therefore for a long time there was no result, and we +watched on, until at length one side was proved the strongest, and the +handkerchief was drawn by them triumphantly across the line. + +'To-day, dear friends, I speak to you of yet another tug of war. The +place is the same, Runswick Bay and our village green, but the weight to +be drawn is not a boat, not a handkerchief; the weight is _a human +soul._ It is your soul, my friend, your immortal soul; _you_ are +the one who is being drawn. + +'And who are the pullers? Oh, how many they are! I myself have my hands +on the rope. God only knows how hard I am pulling, striving with all my +might, if possible to draw you, my friend, to Christ. But there are +other hands on the rope besides mine. Your conscience pulls, your good +old mother pulls, your little child pulls, your Christian mate pulls; +each sermon you hear, each Bible class you attend, each hymn you sing, +each prayer uttered in your presence, each striving of the Spirit, each +God-given yearning after better things, each storm you come through, +each danger you escape, each sickness in your family, each death in your +home, each deliverance granted you, gives you a pull God-ward, +Christ-ward, heaven-ward. + +'Yet, oh, my dear friend, you know, as clearly as you know that you are +sitting there, that, so far, Christ's pullers are drawing in vain. You +have never yet, you know it, crossed the line which divides the saved +from the unsaved. Why is this? Why, oh, why are you so hard to move? + +'Oh, my friend, do you ask why? Surely you know the reason! Is it not +because there are other hands on the rope, other pullers drawing in an +exactly opposite direction? For Satan has many an agent, many a servant, +and he sends forth a great army of soul-pullers. Each worldly friend, +each desire of your evil nature, each temptation to sin, each longing +after wealth, each sinful suggestion, gives you a pull, and a pull the +wrong way, away from safety, away from Christ, away from God, away from +heaven, away from Home. And towards what? Oh, dear friend, towards what? +What are the depths, the fearful depths towards which you are being +drawn?' + +He said a good deal more, but I did not hear it. That question seemed +burnt in with a red-hot iron into my soul. What are the depths, the +fearful depths into which you are being drawn? I could not shake it off. +I wished I could get away from the green, but Jack had brought me close +to the boat where the choir stood, and there was no escape. I should +have to sit it out; it would soon be over, I said to myself. + +The service ended with a hymn. Another of their queer, wild, irregular +tunes, I thought; I was not going to sing it. But when Jack saw that I +did not open my book, he leant over the side of the boat, and poked my +head with his hymn-book. 'Sing, big Mr. Jack, sing,' he said aloud, and +then, for very shame, I had to find my place and begin. I can still +remember the first verse of that hymn, and I think I can recall the tune +to which they sang it:-- + + 'Oh, tender and sweet was the Master's voice, + As he lovingly called to me: + "Come over the line! it is only a step-- + I am waiting, My child, for thee!" + "Over the line!" Hear the sweet refrain! + Angels are chanting the heavenly strain! + "Over the line!" Why should I remain + With a step between me and Jesus?' + + +I was heartily glad when the service was over, and I went on the shore +at once, to try to walk the sermon away. But I was not so successful as +I had been the Sunday before. That question followed me; the very waves +seemed to be repeating it. What are the depths, the fearful depths, to +which you are being drawn? I had not looked at it in that light before. +I had been quite willing to own that I was not religious, that I was +leading a gay, easy-going kind of life, that my Sundays were spent in +bed, or in novel reading, or in rowing, or in some other amusement. I +was well aware that I looked at these things very differently from what +my mother had done, and I had even wondered sometimes, whether, if she +had been spared to me, I should have been a better fellow than I knew +myself to be. But as for feeling any real alarm or anxiety with regard +to my condition, such a thought had never for one moment crossed my +mind. + +Yet if this man was right, there was real danger in my position. I was +not remaining stationary, as I had thought, but I was being drawn by +unseen forces towards something worse, towards the depths, the fearful +depths, of which he had spoken. + +At times I wished I had never come to Runswick Bay to be made so +uncomfortable; at other times I wondered if I had been brought there on +purpose to hear those words. + +I went back to dinner, but I could not enjoy it, much to Polly's +distress. The rain fell fast all the afternoon, and as I lay on my bed +upstairs I heard Polly washing up, and singing as she did so the hymn we +had had at the service-- + + 'Come over the line to Me.' + + +There seemed no chance of forgetting the words which had made me so +uneasy. + +That night I had a strange dream. I thought I was once more on the +village green. It was a wild, stormy night, the wind was blowing hard, +and the rain was falling fast; yet through the darkness I could +distinguish crowds of figures gathered on the green. On the side farther +from the sea there was a bright light streaming through the darkness. +I wondered in my dream what was going on, and I found that it was a tug +of war, taking place in the darkness of the night. I saw the huge cable, +and gradually as I watched I caught sight of those who were pulling. +I walked to the side from which the light streamed, and there I saw a +number of holy and beautiful angels with their hands on the rope, and +amongst them I distinctly caught sight of my mother. She seemed to be +dragging with all her might, and there was such an earnest, pleading, +beseeching expression on her dear face that it went to my very heart to +look at her. I noticed that close beside her was the preacher, little +Jack's father, and behind him was Duncan. They were all intent on their +work, and took no notice of me, so I walked to the other end of the +green, the one nearest the sea, that I might see who were there. It was +very dark at that end of the rope, but I could dimly see evil faces, and +dark, strange forms, such as I could not describe. Those on this side +seemed to be having it much their own way, I thought, for the weight, +whatever it was, was gradually drawing near to the sea; and, lo and +behold, I saw that they were close upon a terrible place, for mighty +cliffs stood above the shore, and they were within a very short distance +of a sheer and terrible precipice. + +'What are you dragging?' I cried to them. + +And a thousand voices seemed to answer, 'A soul! a soul!' + +Then, as I watched on, I saw that the precipice was nearly reached, and +that both those who pulled and the weight they were dragging were on the +point of being hurled over, and suddenly it flashed upon me in my dream +that it was _my_ soul for which they were struggling, and I heard +the cry of the pullers from the other side of the green, and it seemed +to me that, with one voice, they were calling out that terrible +question, 'What are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are +being drawn?' And through the streaming light I saw my mother's face, +and a look of anguish crossed it, as suddenly the rope broke, and those +who were drawing it on the opposite side went over with a crash, +dragging my soul over with them. + +I woke in a terror, and cried out so loudly that Duncan came running +into my room to see what was the matter. + +'Nothing, Duncan,' I said, 'I was only dreaming; I thought I had gone +over a precipice.' + +'No, thank God, you're all safe, sir,' he said. 'Shall I open your +window a bit? Maybe the room's close; is it?' + +'Thank you, Duncan,' I answered; 'I shall be all right now. I'm so sorry +I have waked you.' + +'You haven't done that, sir; me and Polly have been up all night with +the little lad. He's sort of funny, too, sir, burning hot, and yet he +shivers like, and he clings to his daddy; so I've been walking a mile or +two with him up and down our chamber floor, and I heard you skriking +out, and says Polly, "Run and see what ails him." So you haven't +disturbed me, sir, not one little bit, you haven't.' + +He left me then, and I tried to sleep, but sleep seemed far from me. I +could hear Duncan's footsteps pacing up and down in the next room; I +could hear little John's fretful cry; I could hear the rain beating +against the casement; I could hear the soughing and whistling of the +wind; I could hear Polly's old eight-day clock striking the hours and +the half-hours of that long, dismal night; but through it all, and above +it all, I could hear the preacher's question, 'What are the depths, the +fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?' + +I found it impossible to close my eyes again, so I drew up the blind, +and, as morning began to dawn, I watched the pitiless rain and longed +for day. The footsteps in the next room ceased as the light came on, and +I concluded that the weary child was at last asleep. I wished that I was +asleep too. I thought how often my mother, when I was a child, must have +walked up and down through long weary nights with me. I wondered +whether, as she did so, she spent the slow, tedious hours in praying for +her boy, and then I wondered how she would have felt, and how she would +have borne it, had she known that the child in her arms would grow up to +manhood, living for this world and not for the Christ she loved. I +wondered if she _did_ know this now, in the far-off land where she +dwelt with God. + +I think I must have dozed a little after this, for I was suddenly roused +by Polly's cheery voice, cheery in spite of her bad night,-- + +'Have a cup of tea, sir, it'll do you good. You've not slept over well, +Duncan says. I'll put it down by your door.' + +I jumped out of bed and brought it in, feeling very grateful to Polly, +and I drank it before I dressed. That's just like a Yorkshire woman, I +thought. My mother came from Yorkshire. + +'I think it must have been nightmare I had last night, Polly,' I said as +I finished my breakfast, and began to put all in order for my morning's +work. + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter VII + +OVER THE LINE + + +I was at my painting early the next morning, for the sun was shining +brightly, and the air was wonderfully clear. My portrait of little Jack +sitting in the boat promised to be a great success. As I was hard at +work upon it that day, I heard a voice behind me. + +'I never thought my little lad would figure in the Royal Academy,' said +the voice. + +It was the voice of Jack's father--the voice which had moved me so +deeply, the voice which had made me tremble, only the day before. Even +as he spoke I felt inclined to run away, lest he should ask me again +that terrible question which had been ringing in my ears ever since. +Even as I talked to him about my picture, and even as he answered in +pleasant and friendly tones, through them all and above them all came +the words which were burnt in upon my memory: 'What are the depths, the +fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?' + +'I hope my children are not troublesome to you,' he said. + +'Oh no,' I answered; 'I love to have them here, and Jack and I are great +friends. Do you know,' I went on, 'he took me into your study the other +day? I am afraid I was taking a great liberty; but the little man would +hear of no refusal--he wanted me to see the old barrel-organ.' + +'What, my dear old organ!' he answered. 'Yes, Jack is nearly as fond of +it as his father is.' + +'His father?' I replied, for it seemed strange to me that a man of his +years should care for what appeared to me scarcely better than a broken +toy. + +'That organ has a history,' he said, as he noticed my surprise; 'if you +knew the history, you would not wonder that I love it. I owe all I am in +this world, all I hope to be in the world to come, to that poor old +organ. Some day, when you have time to listen, perhaps you may like to +hear the story of the organ.' + +'Thank you,' I said; 'the sooner the better.' + +'Then come and have supper with us to-night. Nellie will be very pleased +to see you, and the bairns will be in bed, and we shall have plenty of +time and quiet for story-telling.' + +I accepted his invitation gratefully, for September had come, and the +evenings were growing dark, and my time hung somewhat heavily on my +hands. Polly, I think, was not sorry when she heard I was going out, for +Duncan was away in the boat fishing, and little John was so feverish and +restless that she could not put him down even for a moment. + +The cottage looked very bright and pretty when I arrived, and they gave +me a most kind welcome. A small fire was burning in the grate, for the +evenings were becoming chilly. The bow window was hung with India-muslin +curtains, tied up with amber ribbon, the walls were adorned with +photographs framed in oak, the supper table was covered with a snowy +cloth, and a dainty little meal was laid out with the greatest taste and +care, whilst in the centre was a china bowl, containing the leaves of +the creeper which covered the house, interspersed with yellow bracken +and other beautiful leaves, in every varied shade of their autumn glory. +Jack's mother was evidently a woman of taste. She had a quiet, gentle +face, almost sad at times when it was at rest; but she had Jack's eyes +and Jack's bright smile, which lighted up her face, as a burst of +brilliant sunshine will stream suddenly down a dark valley, and make it +a perfect avenue of light. + +I enjoyed the company of both husband and wife exceedingly, and as we +sat round the table and chatted over our supper all feeling of +constraint passed away, and I no longer heard the words of that question +which had so troubled me all day long. He did not mention the object for +which I had come whilst the meal was going on. We talked of Runswick Bay +and its surroundings, of the fishermen and their life of danger; we +spoke of the children, and of my picture, of my hopes with regard to the +Royal Academy, and of many other interesting topics. + +Then the cloth was removed, and we drew near the fire. I had just said +to him, 'Now for your story,' and he was just beginning to tell it, +when, as I sat down in an arm-chair which Nellie had placed for me by +the fire, my eye fell upon a photograph which was hanging in a frame +close to the fireplace. I started from my seat and looked at it. Surely +I could not be mistaken! Surely I knew every feature of it, every fold +of the dress, every tiny detail in the face and figure. It was the +counterpart of a picture which hung opposite my bed in my London home. + +'However on earth did you get that?' I cried. 'Why, it's my mother's +picture!' + +I think I have never felt more startled than I did at that moment. After +all the thoughts of yesterday, after my dream of last night, after all +my recollection of my mother's words to me, and her prayers for +me--after all this, to see her dear eyes looking at me from the wall of +the house of this unknown man, in this remote, out-of-the-world spot, +almost frightened me. + +I did not realize at first that my host was almost as much startled as I +was. + +'Your mother!' he repeated; 'your mother! Surely not! Do you mean to +tell me,' he said, laying his hand on my arm, 'that your name is +Villiers?' + +'Of course it is,' I said; 'Jack Villiers.' + +'Nellie, Nellie,' he cried, for she had gone upstairs to the children, +'come down at once; who do you think this is, Nellie? You will never +guess. It is Jack Villiers, the little Jack you and I used to know so +well. Why, do you know,' he said, 'our own little Jack was named after +you; he was indeed, and we haven't heard of you for years--never since +your dear mother died.' + +I was too much astonished at first to ask him any questions, and he was +too much delighted to explain where and how he had known me; but after a +time, when we had recovered ourselves a little, we drew our chairs round +the fire, and he began his story. + +'I was a poor little street Arab once,' he said; 'a forlorn boy with no +one to love him or to care for him. But I made friends with an old man +in the attic of the lodging-house who had a barrel-organ.' + +'_That_ barrel-organ?' I asked. + +'The very same,' he said, 'and he loved it as if it was a child. When he +was too ill to take it out himself, I took it for him, and that was how +I first saw your mother.' + +'Was she married then?' I asked. + +'No,' he said with a smile; 'she was quite a little girl, about the age +of our Marjorie. She used to run to her nursery window as soon as she +heard me begin to play. I let her turn the organ one day, and she said +she liked all the tunes, but she liked "Home, Sweet Home" the best of +all.' + +'Did she?' I said. 'Yes, I have often heard her sing it; she sang me to +sleep with it many a time.' + +'As I played it,' he went on, 'she would speak to me of the Home, Sweet +Home above; child as she was, she knew the way to that home, and she +soon found out that I knew nothing about it. "You can't go to heaven if +you don't love Jesus, organ boy," she said, and the tears ran down from +her dear little eyes as she said it. + +'I could not forget those words, and I was determined to find out the +way to the home of which she spoke. + +'My old master was dying; he had only another month to live, and for his +sake I must learn quickly the way to be saved. I attended a mission +service, and I learnt first that no sin can enter the gates of the +Heavenly City. But I learnt more. I learnt that the blood of Jesus +Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin. + +'Your mother taught me a prayer one day when I went to see her. I have +said that prayer, morning and evening, ever since. She gave me a bunch +of snowdrops, tied up with dark green leaves, and she told me to say as +I looked at them, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." + +He stopped for a minute or two after this, and gazed into the fire; the +memory of those old days had stirred him deeply. + +'Please go on,' I said, for I longed to hear more. + +'She came to our attic after that with her mother; they came to see my +old master, and she was pleased to see the snowdrops. She told me that +day, that if I would only say her prayer I should be sure to go to Home, +Sweet Home. + +'Very soon after this my old master died, and on the very day that I was +following him to the grave I saw my poor little friend, your mother, +Jack, in a funeral coach, following her mother to the same place. Then +after that she went abroad, but she did not forget the poor organ boy. +She told her father about me, and he sent money for my education, and +had me trained to be a city missionary in the east of London, to work +amongst the very people amongst whom I had lived. All I am now I owe to +your grandfather. + +'I did not meet your mother after this for many years, not until she was +married to the clergyman in whose parish I worked. + +'Strange to say, we met one day in my old attic, the very attic where my +poor old master had died. She had gone there to visit a sick woman, and +as I went in she was reading to her from the very Testament out of which +her mother had read to my old master, when she had come to see him in +that place, fifteen years before. + +'Soon after this we were married, Nellie and I, and it was your dear +mother who made our little home bright and pretty for us, and who was +there to welcome us to it. How we loved her then, how we love her still! + +'When you were quite a tiny child, she would bring you to see us, and +Nellie used often to say you were the dearest, prettiest child she had +ever known!' + +'I don't remember it,' I said. + +'No, you would be too young to remember it; you were only three years +old when your father left London for a parish in the country, and soon +after came the news of his death, and only a year or so later we heard +your mother was gone too. It was a sorrowful day, Jack, when that news +came. + +'We often wondered about you; we heard that you had gone to live with an +aunt, but we did not even know her name. We tried to find out more, but +we knew no one in the place where you lived, and we never heard what had +become of you.' + +'How strange that I should have been brought here to meet you!' I said. + +'No, not strange,' he said reverently; 'it is the hand of God.' + +And then--I could not help it--I laid my head on my arm as I stood +against the mantel-piece, and I sobbed like a child. + +He did not speak for some minutes, and then he put his arm round me as +tenderly as my mother could have done, and said, 'What is it, Jack? Is +it talking of your mother that has upset you so?' + +'No,' I said, 'it isn't that--I love to talk of her; I love to hear of +her; everything she said is precious to me; it isn't that.' + +'What then?' he said; 'what troubles you, Jack?' + +'It's the thought that I shall never see her again,' I said; 'I know I +shall not. _She_ went one way and _I_ am going another.' + +'Why not turn round and go her way, Jack?' he said cheerily. + +'Oh, I can't,' I said; 'it's no use--I can't turn. There are too many +hands on the wrong end of the rope. I've been miserable ever since I +heard you talk of it. I could not sleep last night for thinking of it. +"What are the depths, the fearful depths, to which you are being drawn?" +those words have never left me, night or day, since you uttered them. I +have tried to shake them off, but I can't.' + +'Don't attempt to shake them off,' he said. 'Oh, Jack, don't try to do +it, for they are the voice of the Spirit of God. But listen to-night to +the One who is calling you. "Come over the line--it is only a step. Come +over the line to _Me_."' + +'I wish I could,' I said. + +'You can do it, and you _must_ do it, Jack,' he said firmly, +'before you leave this room.' + +'Before I leave this room?' + +'Yes, this very instant,' he said. + +'But how can I do it? I don't know how to cross,' I said. + +'You are no dead, lifeless weight on the rope, like a boat or a +handkerchief; you have a will of your own, and it remains with you to +decide which way you want to be drawn, God-ward, Christ-ward, +heaven-ward, or to the fearful depths of which I spoke. God is drawing +you very strongly now, but He never forces a man against his will. He +puts in your hands the power to decide on which side of the line you +will be. Which is it to be, Jack?' + +'Well,' I said, 'I will think it over.' + +'So many have said, and their desire to cross the line has cooled down, +and they have been lost.' + +'I'll come and have a talk with you another day, later on in the week, +if we can make it convenient.' + +'So Felix said, "When I have a more convenient season I will send for +thee," but Felix never did send; he never crossed the line, but he was +drawn over to the fearful depths.' + +'Well, suppose we say to-morrow. It's late now, and you're tired, I +know, and--' + +'God says _to-day_ he said. '"To-day, if ye will hear His voice, +harden not your hearts. Behold, now is the accepted time, now is the day +of salvation."' + +'Tell me _how_ I can come,' I said. + +'"Come over the line to _Me_." There you have it,' he answered. +'The Lord calls you, and you have not far to go. It is only a step. He +stands in this room close to you. He holds out His arms to you. He does +not compel you. He does not force you forward. He calls, and He waits to +receive you. Jack, will you come?' + +'Yes, I will,' I said earnestly; 'I will come.' + +We knelt down together, and I cannot remember the words he said, but I +know that whenever I read in the Gospels those words in the first +chapter of St. John, 'He brought him to Jesus,' I think of that night. I +do not think that Peter and Andrew felt the Lord Jesus more near them in +the booth by the side of the Jordan than we felt Him in that little room +in Runswick Bay. + +I know He was there, and I know something more--I know that I came to +Him. And I know that that night, before we rose from our knees, I +crossed the line, and I was able henceforth to take my place amongst the +glad, thankful people who can say, humbly and yet confidently, 'We know +that we have passed from death unto life.' + + + + +Chapter VIII + +A NIGHT OF STORM + + +It was late when I got back to my lodging, and I walked like one in a +dream. Polly opened the door, and she seemed troubled about the child. +Little John was evidently in pain, for I heard him moaning as I went +upstairs. + +'I should get a doctor, Polly,' I said. + +'So Duncan says, sir; we shall have to send for him in the morning if +he's no better.' + +I slept calmly and peacefully, and I woke up to feel that I was +beginning an entirely new life. Henceforth I was not my own. I was +standing on the heavenward side of the line, and I had taken my place +amongst the servants of Christ. I had never felt so happy before. + +Duncan had set off for the doctor before I was down that morning. Little +John was better, Polly said, but was still very feverish, and would eat +nothing. She brought him down before I went off to my work, wrapped in a +shawl, and I thought he looked very ill, but I did not like to say so. + +Duncan came in just at that moment, and the child put out his arms to +his father, and he took him on his knee by the fire, and when I came +home to dinner he was still lying there. + +'Has the doctor been?' I asked. + +'No, sir; he was out when I called this morning. He had gone to a bad +case, they said, ten miles off, but I left a message. I hope he'll come +before I go this evening. I should be more comfortable like if he did.' + +However, the evening came, and Duncan's mates were whistling for him +from the shore, and the doctor had not appeared. The boy was still in +his father's arms, and he was walking up and down the kitchen to soothe +him. + +'It's hard to leave him, sir,' he said, when he heard the whistle, 'but +he seems a bit better, I think, this afternoon; he hasn't cried so much, +has he, Polly?' + +But I saw there were tears in his eyes as he gave the boy to his mother. + +'I'll walk with you to the shore, Duncan,' I said, for I saw that the +poor fellow was very downcast. + +'Thank you kindly, sir,' he answered. + +I stood on the shore whilst the nets and fishing tackle were put on +board, then he said in a low voice,-- + +'It's a comfort to feel you will be near my poor lass to-night, sir. It +cuts me to the heart to leave her; if anything happens to little John, +whatever would me and my missus do! But the Lord knows, sir--He knows,' +he repeated, and he wiped away a tear which fell on my hand as he +grasped it. + +I went back to Duncan's house, to find the doctor there. It was +influenza and pneumonia, he said, and the boy must be kept in one room. +He was a very silent man, and whether he thought it was a serious case +or not I could not discover. + +I determined not to go to bed that night, but to sit up in my room, in +case I should be of any use. I was really glad of the quiet time for +thought and prayer. + +I am ashamed to confess that I had brought no Bible with me to Runswick +Bay; I had not opened a Bible for years. But when all was quiet in the +house I stole quietly downstairs, and brought up Duncan's Bible, which +was lying on the top of the oak cupboard below. What a well-worn, +well-read Bible it was! I wondered if my mother's Bible had been read +like that. There was his name on the title-page, 'John Duncan, from his +affectionate father.' It had evidently been given to him when a boy, and +underneath the name was written this verse: 'Open Thou mine eyes, that I +may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.' I said that little prayer +before I began to read, and I have said it ever since each time that I +have opened my Bible. + +About twelve o'clock that night the weather became very stormy. A sudden +gale set in, and in a very short time the sea became lashed into a fury. +I have never heard wind like the wind that night. It literally shrieked +and moaned as it blew, and every window and door in the house rattled, +and sometimes I felt as if the cottage itself would be swept away. + +'What a time they must be having out at sea!' I said to myself. + +I went to the window, and putting out my candle, I tried to see out into +the darkness; but I could distinguish nothing whatever, so black was the +sky and so tremendous was the rain. + +It must have been about one o'clock that I heard a step on the stairs. I +opened my door and went out. It was Polly. + +'How is he, Polly?' I asked. + +'Very bad, sir; very bad,' she said. 'He doesn't know me now, and he +won't take anything; and oh, sir, do you hear the wind?' + +Who could help hearing it? It was raging more furiously every moment, +and the house seemed to rock with the violence of the storm. + +'Let me help you, Polly,' I said; 'let me come and sit with you beside +little John.' + +'Well, sir, if you would just stay a few minutes whilst I fetch Betty +Green,' she said; 'I feel as if I dursn't be alone any longer, I'm +getting that nervous, what with little John talking so queer, sir, and +the wind blowing so awful, and his father on the sea!' and Polly burst +into tears. + +'Polly,' I said, 'God is on the sea as well as on the land. Go and fetch +Betty, and I will sit by the child.' + +She went down and opened the door, and the wind rushed into the house +and up the stairs, and I had to shut the bedroom door hastily to keep it +out. Then I heard Polly pulling and pulling at it, and vainly trying to +shut it, and I had to go down to help her. She was some minutes away, +for she had difficulty in rousing her neighbour, and I sat beside the +unconscious child. He was talking the whole time, but I could +distinguish very little of what he said. It seemed to be chiefly about +going with his daddy in his boat, and every now and then he would call +out quite loudly, 'Come, daddy, come, daddy, to little John.' + +When Polly returned with old Betty, I had again to go down to help them +to close the door. + +'What do you think of him, sir?' said Polly. + +I did not like to say what I thought, so I answered, 'Well, perhaps it +would be as well to get the doctor to have another look at him. I'll go +for him if you like.' + +'I don't believe you could manage it, sir,' said Betty. 'You can't stand +outside; me and Polly has been clinging on to the palings all the way, +and it will be terrible up on the top.' + +'Shall I try, Polly?' + +She gave me a grateful look, but did not answer by words. But the two +women gave me so long a description of the way to the doctor's house, +and interrupted each other so often, and at length both talked together +in their eagerness to make it clear to me, that at the end I was more +bewildered and hopelessly puzzled than at the beginning, and I +determined to go to Mr. Christie before I started, in order to obtain +from him full and clear directions. + +It took me quite ten minutes to reach his house, and I felt as if I had +gone through a battle when I arrived there at length, quite spent and +breathless. I saw a light in the lower room, and I found Mr. Christie +and his wife and children sitting in the room where I had passed through +so much the night before. Marjorie and little Jack were in their +nightgowns, wrapped in a blanket, and sitting in the same arm-chair. My +mother's picture was looking at me from the wall, and I fancied that she +smiled at me as I came in. + +'What a terrible night!' said Mrs. Christie. 'The children were so +frightened by the noise of the wind in their attic that we brought them +down here.' + +I told them my errand, and Mr. Christie at once offered to go with me +for the doctor. I shall never forget that walk as long as I live. We +could not speak to each other more than a few necessary words, we were +simply fighting with the storm. Then, to our disappointment, when our +long walk was ended, we found that the doctor was away, and would +probably not return until morning. + +The walk home was, if possible, worse than the walk there, for the wind +was dead against us as we came down the cliff. It had changed somewhat +the last hour, and was now blowing from the north-east. + +'There will be trouble out at sea,' Mr. Christie said, as we stopped to +take breath. + +'And what about the boats?' I asked. + +'Yes,' he said, almost with a groan, 'what about the boats?' + +We could see very little out at sea, though it was beginning to grow +light, but we determined to make our way to the shore, to see all that +it was possible to distinguish. He went home for a moment, and then +followed me to my lodging. Polly and her old friend were still watching +the child. + +'I think he's a little better, sir,' she said; 'he's quieter. Oh, Mr. +Christie, I _am_ glad to see you, sir! Will you pray, sir? I think +I shall hear the wind less if you pray!' + +We knelt down beside the child's bed, but the noise of the storm almost +drowned his voice. At the end of the prayer the child began once more to +cry for his father, so piteously, so beseechingly, that at last I could +bear it no longer, but ran downstairs, to be out of the sound of that +touching little voice. Mr. Christie soon followed me, and we went out +together in the grey light of that terrible morning. + +'The child is dying, Jack,' he said. + +'Oh, don't say so, Mr. Christie!' I answered; 'dying before his father +comes back.' + +'God grant he _may_ come back!' he said; 'look at the sea, Jack.' + +The sea was dashing wildly against the rocks, and the noise of the wind +was so great we could hardly hear our own voices. In the dim uncertain +light we could at length distinguish a group of anxious watchers on the +shore. Some old fishermen were there trying to hold a telescope steady +in the gale, that they might look across the water for any sign of a +boat, and mothers and wives and sweethearts of the absent fishermen were +there also, with shawls tied over their heads, and with troubled and +tear-stained faces, peering out into the dismal light of that sorrowful +morning. + +Mr. Christie and I stood near them, and he spoke from time to time a +word of encouragement and hope to the anxious women beside him. As the +light increased the wind dropped somewhat, and the gale seemed to have +spent its violence. We were thankful to notice, that although the sea +was still very rough, and would be so for hours, the wind was gradually +subsiding; instead of howling and shrieking, as it had done the whole +night long, it was dying away with gentle moans, like a child weary with +passion who is crying himself to sleep. But still there was no sign of +the boats. + +The women on the shore were wet through, and Mr. Christie tried to +persuade them to go home. Their men would want good fires and hot tea on +their return, he told them, and they ought to make ready for them. I was +glad to notice that one by one they followed his advice, and turned to +climb the hill towards their cottages. Then we turned also, and went +back to my lodging. We crept into the room, and found old Betty asleep +in her chair, and Polly holding the little hand in hers as the child +slept. + +'Have the boats come, sir?' she said as we went in. + +'Not yet, Polly; but please God they will come soon.' + +We sat down beside her for a little time, but we presently heard a shout +from the shore. + +'Thank God,' said Polly, 'he's come!' + +The child seemed in some strange way to have heard that shout, and to +have understood its meaning, for he opened his eyes and said, 'Come, +daddy, come to little John.' + +We hurried down to the shore, where a large crowd had already collected. +The whole of Runswick Bay seemed to have gathered together in that short +space of time. We could distinctly see the boats far out at sea, but +wind and tide were with them, and they, were coming rapidly nearer. What +a night they must have had, and what a welcome they would receive from +the watchers on the shore! + +'How many boats went out last night, Bob?' said one man as they drew +nearer. + +'There was eight, Jem,' he said--'the Jane Ann one, Lady Hilda two, the +Susan three, the Mary Ann four, Princess Alice five, the Lightning six, +the Eliza seven, the Alert eight.' + +'Are you sure, Bob?' + +'Quite sure, I saw them start.' + +'Well, there's one missing, Jem,' he said; 'catch hold of this glass, +and just you count.' + +'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.' + +There _was_ one missing, and I felt that I knew which it was before +they came in sight. + +It was the Mary Ann. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter IX + +ASK WHAT YE WILL + + +We had run down the hill as quickly as we possibly could, but we were in +no haste to return. We waited until the boats were drawn in, and the +worn-out fishermen had come on shore. They knew nothing of the Mary Ann; +they had lost sight of her soon after the beginning of the gale. They +told us they had had an awful night, and had thought they would never +reach home in safety. + +'However shall we tell Polly?' I groaned. + +But a cold hand was laid on mine at that instant, and I turned round to +see Polly herself just behind me. She could wait no longer, but had run +down to the shore to hasten her husband up the hill. She was trembling +from head to foot, and seemed ready to faint. The kind-hearted fishermen +crowded round her with words of cheer and comfort. + +'He'll be all right, my lass, never fear. He's put into Saltburn or +Staithes maybe; these gales they drive so far. He'll be home all safe +and sound afore night.' + +But Polly did not seem to hear them. She stretched out her hands feebly +to Mr. Christie and to me as she said: + +'Take me home; I can bear it better there.' + +The fishermen turned away sorrowfully, and there were very few dry eyes +amongst the group which we left on the shore. + +When we reached the house again all was quite still, and as we entered +the bedroom I thought the little soul had passed away, but I bent over +him to listen and to my relief I found he was still breathing. + +As I look back, I hardly know how we lived through that sorrowful day. +The doctor came, and did nothing but shake his head in the ominous way +which doctors have when they feel a case is beyond their power. I think +Polly had so little hope herself that she did not care to ask him what +his real opinion was. + +I went out for a short walk in the afternoon, to get a little fresh air +to strengthen me for the coming night, when I had determined to watch +with Polly beside little John, if he was still living. My young friends, +Bob and Harry, joined me, and we were pacing up and down together +watching the tide come in when we thought we saw a dark speck far out to +sea. + +There were others who saw it also. The coastguard was looking at it +through his telescope, and before very long the shore was covered with +fishermen and their wives, all gazing in the same direction. Whatever +the object was, it was coming rapidly shoreward; wind and tide were both +with it, and it was being borne swiftly along. After a little time we +could distinguish, even without the help of a telescope, what it was, +and I do not think there was anything which we could have been more +aghast to see, for the floating object was a boat bottom upwards, and +being driven rapidly before the tide. + +A groan came from the group of fishermen who were watching, and as the +capsized boat neared shore they ran into the water to meet it. I do not +think it was necessary to look at the name upon it as it was dragged out +of the water: we all did look, however, and we found there the name +which we knew we should see before we looked. It was the Mary Ann. + +I shall never forget the piercing shriek which came from the wife of one +of Duncan's mates, who was standing just behind me, when she read the +name on the boat. I thought the shock and the sorrow had driven her mad, +for she ran screaming up the hill; indeed, I firmly believe that for the +time she was quite out of her mind. + +Poor Polly heard the shrieks of the woman as she ran under her window, +and looking out, she saw the boat on the shore, and guessed the truth at +once. _She_ did not scream nor cry, but she looked as if she had +been turned into stone. No word escaped her lips, not a tear was in her +eye; but she looked as if all her youth had gone in a moment, and as if +she had suddenly become an old and worn-out woman. + +She never looked up as we went in, but bent over little John, moistening +his lips from time to time, and watching his every movement. We tried to +say a few words of comfort, but she did not seem even to hear our +voices. Yet no moan, no sigh from the child was unheard by her; she +seemed to be listening to every breath he drew, as if it might be his +last. + +I thought that terrible day would never have an end. Mr. Christie stayed +with us until dark, and then he took me home with him to supper, that I +might get a little change and rest before my night watch. I think they +knew how tired I was, worn out more by feeling than by want of sleep, +and they were very good to me. I do not think my own mother could have +been more kind to me than Mrs. Christie was that night. She told me that +she would have had a boy nearly as old as I was if he had lived, but he +had died when he was very young; and then they had had no children for +many years, not until Marjorie was born. + +'Your mother was so good to me when my baby died,' she said. 'I thought +I should never be happy again, but she came and talked to me, and made +me look from my sorrow to my little boy's gain, and I think her kindness +to me and the loving words she spoke made me love her more than ever.' + +I felt much better for the good supper, and for the kind words of these +dear people, and I went back determined to do all I could for poor Polly +and her child through that sorrowful night. I felt so grateful to the +Lord Jesus Christ for all He had done for me, and I was very glad to be +able to do any little thing to show my love to Him. It seemed to me +then, and it seems to me still, that the way in which we can please Him +best is by showing kindness to His children. I remembered a verse about +a cup of cold water being noticed by Him, if given for His sake, and I +thought to myself, 'Polly is not in need of cold water, for she is too +cold already, but I might make her a cup of tea.' + +The fire was out, and the little kitchen, which was usually so neat, was +all in confusion. I lighted the lamp that I might see what I was about, +and then I tried to put the little place in order. First I found sticks +and coal, and lighted a fire; then, whilst my fire was burning up, I +cleared the table, carried the dirty plates and cups into the small back +kitchen, found a tablecloth and a clean cup and saucer, and filled the +kettle. As soon as the fire was hot enough I put the kettle on, and +cutting a slice from the loaf I made some nice crisp toast, such as my +aunt used to like when she was ill. Then I heated a plate, and buttered +the toast, and set it down by the fire. By this time the kettle was +boiling and I made the tea, and I said in my heart when all was +finished, 'Lord Jesus, I do this for Thee.' + +Then I went upstairs to my hardest task of all, namely, to persuade +Polly to come down to eat the little meal I had prepared. + +Polly was, as I had expected, most unwilling to leave the child, and at +first she firmly declined to move, and would not listen to my pleading +words. Yet I could see that she was almost fainting, and I knew that she +would need all the strength that she could muster for the night which +lay before us. Who knew what that night would bring? + +I therefore spoke to her very firmly, telling her that I was willing and +anxious to help her in her trouble, but that, if I was to be any use to +her, she must not refuse to go downstairs for a few minutes at least, +and I promised her to watch little John very carefully, and to call her +at once if I saw any change in the child. She obeyed me at last, and I +heard her weary footsteps descending the steep stairs. + +When I was left alone, I saw that Polly's Bible was lying open by the +little oil-lamp which stood on the table, upon which had been placed the +medicine and milk for little John's use. I went up to it, and my eye +fell upon these words:-- + +'If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask _what ye +will_, and _it shall be done unto you_.' + +It seemed to me as if that verse was God's direct message to me that +night. I saw it as clearly and distinctly as if the page had been +lighted with electric light. 'Two conditions and a promise,' I said to +myself; 'if only the conditions are fulfilled, the promise is sure.' + +What are the two conditions? (1) 'If ye abide in Me.' I asked myself if +I was fulfilling _that_ condition. I humbly hoped I was; for, oh, I +longed to be in Christ, saved by Him, more than I longed for anything +else in this world. + +(2) 'If My words abide in you.' Was I fulfilling the +second condition? Again I humbly hoped that I was; +for I felt that if Christ told me to go to the North +Pole, or to an African desert, I would obey gladly. I +would go anywhere, I would do anything, to show Him +how grateful I was for His love to me. + +Then might I claim the promise? I believed that I might. + +I laid Polly's Bible on the bed. I knelt down beside little John. I put +my finger on the promise, and I prayed, as I had never prayed before, +for help in this time of need. I felt very strongly that all power was +in the hands of Christ, and that He who healed the sick on earth had +lost none of His power, now that He was exalted to the throne of God. I +besought Him to come into that room that very night, and to touch and +heal little John. And as I rose from my knees I felt that my prayer was +heard. + +Polly had not returned, so I went to the top of the stairs and listened, +and I heard the sound of sobbing. I was thankful to hear it; the tears +had come at last, and they would relieve the poor, weary, over-strained +heart. + +Little John was very quiet, so I crept downstairs. I found to my joy +that Polly had eaten most of the toast, and had drunk the tea, and now +she was sitting with her feet on the fender and her head in her hands, +sobbing as if her heart would break. What was it that had brought the +tears? She had not cried when the empty boat had come ashore; she had +shed no tear when the doctor's face had told her that he had no hope for +the child; what was it that had helped her to give way to the tears +which were such a relief to her? It was a very simple thing. She had +picked up from the floor a little toy, a tiny roughly-shaped boat, which +Duncan had made for the child, and which had been little John's greatest +treasure. There had come over her such a rush of memories of the happy +days of the past, gone, as she believed, for ever, of the father whose +fingers had so busily carved the boat for his boy, but who would never +come back to her again, and of the little lad passing away from her +also, and leaving his treasured toy behind him. All these sad but lovely +memories came before her, as she took up the little boat and pressed it +to her lips. They came so strongly and with such power, that the tears +which had refused to come before came with them, and brought, as I felt +sure they would, wonderful relief to her over-strained heart. + +'Polly,' I said, 'cheer up, don't lose heart; I believe little John will +recover.' + +'Thank you, sir, thank you,' she said; as she dried her eyes. 'I feel +better now, a deal better, I do. You _have_ been good to me, sir. +I'll go up again to him now.' + +'All right, Polly,' I said; 'I'll make up the fire, and then I'll come +and help you. He's asleep now, Polly.' + +'I'll creep quietly up, then, sir,' she said, and I saw as she rose to +go that the stony look had gone out of her face and that she was herself +again. + +That sleep lasted for hours. It was a quiet night, the wind had quite +gone down, and everything seemed more still after the tumult of the +previous night. I was glad to see that Polly herself at length fell +asleep in her chair; little John's hand lay in hers, and I knew she +would wake with his least movement; but I was pleased to see it, for I +felt sure that even a light sleep would soothe and strengthen her. + +I had just looked at my watch, and had seen that it was nearly half-past +two, when I thought I heard footsteps outside, and a moment afterwards +there came a gentle knock at the door. It seemed a strange time for a +visitor, but I thought probably it was some neighbour come to offer to +help Polly in her long night watch, or perhaps it was Mr. Christie come +to see how we were getting on. I crept softly downstairs, lest either +Polly or the child should wake, and carefully unfastening the bolts I +opened the door. + +I nearly yelled with joy when I saw who was standing there. Never in all +my life have I been more glad to see any man than I was that night to +see Duncan, alive and uninjured, whilst all day long I had been +picturing him being driven backwards and forwards by the waves, a +drowned corpse at the mercy of the relentless sea. + +He grasped my hand and came in to the fire, but at first he could not +speak. + +'Sir,' he said at last, in a broken voice, 'am I too late? Tell me the +truth, sir; don't hide it over like; is little John dead?' + +'No, Duncan,' I said, 'he still lives, and he is asleep; and, Duncan, I +believe he will be given back to you.' + +'Thank God!' he said; 'thank God for that!' + +For just a moment a doubt crossed my mind as to whether I ought to give +him this hope, and yet I rebuked myself for this doubt, for I was +clinging to the promise, and the word of the Lord was sure, and I +believed that if what I asked was good for these poor souls it +_must_ be granted to me. + +Duncan had now sat down in his arm-chair, and by the light of the fire I +could see that he was faint and exhausted. He leant back wearily for +some time and seemed unable to speak. I had left the kettle on the fire, +and I hastened to give him a cup of tea and something to eat. + +Then I crept upstairs to see what was going on, but finding Polly and +little John were still both fast asleep, I came back to him. He was +better for the tea, and able to talk to me. + +'I've had an awful time, sir,' he said, in answer to my inquiry. 'Many +and many's the time since I was a boy that I've been near the dark +valley, but this time, why, I think I've been half-way down it, sir. +How's my poor lass, sir?' + +'Very cut up, Duncan,' I said. 'She thinks you are dead. Your boat came +up with last night's tide.' + +'Poor Polly, poor lass!' he said; 'I'll go to her.' + +'Wait a little, Duncan,' I said; 'she is asleep now, and she will bear +the joy better when she wakes.' + +'And my little lad?' he asked. + +'Sleeping too, Duncan, so peacefully and quietly.' + +'Well, it's hard not to go up, sir, but may be you're right.' + +He waited very patiently for an hour, and when I crept up again at the +end of that time Polly and the child were both awake, and she was giving +him some milk. Little John was quite conscious, and looked more like +himself than he had done since his illness began. He had no sooner +finished his milk, however, than he began his old weary cry, 'Come, +daddy, come to little John.' + +Polly burst into tears again when she heard him calling for the father +whom she believed to be dead; but I bent over the child and said, 'Yes, +little John, daddy will come to you.' + +I believe Polly fancied that I thought the child was dying, and that I +meant his father's spirit was coming to fetch him, for she only cried +the more bitterly and said, 'Oh, little John, little John!' + +But when I added, 'Shall I fetch daddy, little John?' she sprang to her +feet and looked at me wildly, but without speaking a word. + +There was no need for me to say more, for she heard the sound of a +well-known footstep on the stairs, and in another moment she was in her +husband's arms. + +I felt then that my work was over, and that the best thing that I could +do would be to go to bed. But I glanced back from the door as I went +out, and I saw the little hands held out, and I heard Duncan sob like a +child as he cried, 'Oh, my little lad, my own little John, I never +thought to see you again!' + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter X + +WE KNOW + + +The next day Duncan was able to tell me what he had passed through +during that terrible night. It seems he was separated from the other +boats by the very first outburst of the gale, and never saw them again +through the long hours of that night of storm. For some considerable +time he and his mates, by straining every nerve, were able to keep the +water out of their boat; but as the night went on, and the sea grew +rougher and the waves seemed mountains high, they were compelled at last +to own that their attempt was hopeless. 'At that time,' said Duncan, 'I +just trusted my soul again to Christ, for I expected the next wave would +sweep us to the bottom.' + +'Was I frightened, sir, did you say? No, I think not; I felt more awed +like, if you understand, and in them few moments all sorts of thoughts +seemed to be running through my head, but through them all was the +thought of my poor lass, of Polly and little John. Yes, sir, of Polly +and little John, and I cried to Him as alone could help me, "O God," I +said, "save me, for Polly and little John want me so bad!" And He heard +my prayer, sir. I've often thought how them fishermen cried to Him in +the storm that day, "Master, save us, we perish!" they said; and He +heard their cry, didn't He, sir? And He heard mine. Yes, He heard mine, +for when the wave did come which carried us over, the Mary Ann was +driven right past where we were struggling in the water, and we caught +hold on her. We clung on for dear life, sir, but we couldn't have clung +there many minutes, for the sea was that cold and icy our hands was +well-nigh frozen. But God Almighty knew how to save us, and He sent a +steamer to pick us up, in less than ten minutes after we went overboard. +And they _were_ good to us, sir, for all they were foreign folk +aboard. They warmed us, and gave us hot coffee, and lent us dry clothes, +and they ran into the Hull docks in the afternoon and landed us there. +Well, sir, you may be sure I came home as quick as ever I could, for I +thought maybe I should never see my little lad again. Hasn't God been +good to us, now hasn't He, sir?' he concluded, as he gently patted his +little boy's hand. + +The doctor gave a much better report of little John that day, although +he said he was not yet out of danger. But from that time he improved +slowly but steadily, and before very long he was able to lie once more +in his father's arms, and to stroke his face with his little thin hand. + +It was very touching to see the love and the gratitude of both Duncan +and Polly; they could not say enough about the help and comfort I had +given them in their time of trouble, small though I felt these to have +been. If I had been a prince, I think they could not have made more of +me, and I believe I should have been altogether spoiled if I had stayed +in Runswick Bay much longer. + +I had not touched my picture the whole of that week, for whilst our +anxiety lasted I had no heart or desire to paint. On Saturday I saw +Marjorie and little Jack giving out their pink papers, and I went to +meet them. + +'One for you, big Mr. Jack,' said the merry little rogue, as he threw it +up in the air for me to catch. + +The subject for the following day I saw was to be these two words--WE +KNOW. I thought, as I put the paper in my pocket, how much had passed +since last Sunday, and I thought also how differently I felt with regard +to the service on the shore, from what I had done when I received the +last pink paper. I had certainly no wish to run away to Kettleness, to +be out of the way when it took place. + +Sunday morning was bright and beautiful, and little John was so much +better that his father was able to leave him and to take his place in +the choir. I stood close to the old boat, and Jack put his hand in mine, +and let me look at his hymn-book as he sang. + +There was a large congregation, the fine day had tempted them out, and I +think the danger of their companions and their narrow escape from death +had stirred the hearts of the fishermen, and had made many of them feel +that 'it is not all of life to live, nor all of death to die.' + +'My mates are here to-day, sir,' whispered Duncan, as he went forward to +take his place in the boat; 'it's the first time I've been able to +persuade them to come. They see the good of it now, sir, you see.' + +Never have I heard any man pray more earnestly for a blessing than Mr. +Christie did that day, but I do not think even he prayed more earnestly +than I did. My whole heart went out to God that day, for was it not my +first Sunday on the right side of the line? + +And then came the address, and I never noticed a congregation more +attentive than was that one gathered on the shore that September +morning. I can remember even now a good deal of the sermon. + +'WE KNOW,' he said; 'those are strong words, confident words. It is not, +_We imagine_, or _We think_. It is not even _We hope_, that would be +wonderful; but it is something clearer and far more distinct than that; +it is WE KNOW. + +'If I were to ask you fishermen, you visitors, you mothers, you little +children, this question, "Do you _imagine_ you are on the shore +now? Do you _think_ you are here to-day? Do you _hope_ you are +listening to me?" what would you answer me? + +'You would say, "Mr. Christie, it is not a case of imagining, or +thinking, or hoping; we _know_ we are here; we are sure of it." + +'Now notice, that is the strong, confident word used in my text to-day. +The holy apostle John stands side by side with all of us who have come +to Christ, and he bids us join with him in these glad, happy, thankful +words, "We know that we have passed from death unto life." We know, we +are persuaded, we are sure, that we are on the right side of the line. +We know that we have left the company of the servants of sin, and are +now the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +'Dear friends, I would now ask each of you very earnestly, Can you say +that? Can you take your stand by the apostle John, and say, "_I +know_ that _I_ have passed from death unto life?" + +'I think I hear some one answer in his heart, "Well, that's a great deal +for any man to say, and I don't see that any man can know in this life +if he is saved or not; when he gets to heaven he'll know he is all +right, but not till then." + +'Now look again at my text. It does not say, "We _shall_ know"; it +does not say, "We hope soon to know"; but it speaks in the present. It +runs thus: "We _know_ that we have passed from death unto life." So +you see it _is_ possible, nay, it is right, that you and I should, +one by one, take up the words and say, "_I know_." + +'Do I hear some one saying in his heart, "I do wish I could say that? I +should be a happier man if I could. When I go out in my boat, and the +storm rages, and I don't know whether I shall ever see land again, it +would be a good thing if I could look up through the wind and tempest, +and could say gladly, I know that I have passed from death unto life."' + +I thought I heard a groan when he said this, and I looked round, and saw +one of Duncan's mates burying his face in his hands. + +'Do I hear one of you mothers say, "When I lie awake at night, and the +baby will not let me sleep, and I get out and look from my window at the +stars shining down upon me, I would give a great deal to say, as I think +of the heaven above those stars, 'I know that I have passed from death +unto life'"? + +'And you, my friend, when the day comes, as come it will, when you lie +on your bed, and you see by the doctor's face that you will never get +out of it again; when you say to yourself, as the neighbours sit round, +"This is my dying bed, and they are watching to see me die," oh, what +would you not give at that solemn time to be able to say, "I know that I +have passed from death unto life"? + +'Do you want to be able to say it? You cannot want it more than God +wants to hear you say it. The Christ stands on the shore beside us +to-day, and He yearns with unutterable longing, that each man, each +woman, each child here present, should be able to take up the words of +my text, and say, "I know that I have passed from death unto life."' + +Then he went on to tell us that it was not a long, weary, toilsome +journey which we had to travel to reach the Christ. He was present +amongst us now. He was very near to each one of us; His arms were wide +open. He was waiting to receive each one who was willing to cross the +line; one step would be sufficient, one step into those open arms. Then +we ended by singing a hymn, which seemed to me a very beautiful one:-- + + 'Only a step to Jesus! + Believe, and thou shalt live: + Lovingly now He's waiting, + And ready to forgive. + + Only a step to Jesus! + A step from sin to grace: + What has thy heart decided? + The moments fly apace. + + Only a step to Jesus! + Oh, why not come and say, + "Gladly to Thee, my Saviour, + I give myself away?" + Only a step, only a step, + Come, He waits for thee; + Come, and thy sin confessing, + Thou shalt receive a blessing: + Do not reject the mercy + He freely offers thee.' + + +I was glad to see at the end of the service that Duncan's mate was still +sitting under the old boat with his hands over his face. He had +evidently felt the sermon very much, and when he rose to go home after +the others had dispersed, I saw Mr. Christie walking by his side. + +That was a lovely Sunday evening. The storm of the week before seemed to +have cleared the air, and there was a golden light over everything, +until the sun went down behind the hill. I spent the evening at Mrs. +Christie's, for Polly was still fully occupied with the child, and was +not able to attend to much of the work downstairs. Duncan did the +cooking now, and the washing up and the cleaning, and I never saw a more +handy man. He waited on me hand and foot, as if I was a lord; but I felt +that I was giving the dear fellow a great deal of trouble, and was glad, +therefore, to accept Mrs. Christie's invitation to have tea and supper +at their house. + +Little Jack welcomed me with the greatest joy. He was so delighted to +have me at tea, and contemplated me with so much delight and interest +from his high chair by my side, that he quite forgot to eat his own tea, +and had to be recalled from his admiration of me, time after time, by +his mother. After tea he told her he had a great secret to confide to +her; he dragged her from the room and led her upstairs, and then with +closed doors, and in a whisper so low that she could scarcely +distinguish the words, he told her solemnly, 'I do love big Mr. Jack +very much,' which secret his faithless mother was treacherous enough to +reveal to me, after we had been upstairs that evening to see little Jack +in bed. + +After we came down, Mrs. Christie lighted the lamp, and we were sitting +cosily round the fire talking of my mother, when suddenly there came a +knock at the outer door. + +'Who can it be?' said Mrs. Christie hastily; 'some one must be ill, I +think, so few people come on Sunday.' + +She was going to the door, but her little maid had already opened it, +and coming into the parlour she announced,-- + +'There's a gentleman, sir, at the door, says as how he wants Mr. +Villiers, sir.' + +'A gentleman!' I repeated in astonishment, 'wanting me!' + +'Yes, sir, he says he wants you very pertickler, he does.' + +I went quickly to the door, wondering very much who could be there, and +to my great astonishment I found my friend Tom Bernard, with a black bag +in his hand, eagerly awaiting my approach. + +'Found at last, old chap,' he cried when he saw me; 'why, I've been +hunting for you all over in this rabbit-warren of a place, till at last +some of these fisher-lads told me you were in here.' + +'And what are you doing here, Tom?' I exclaimed. + +'Doing here! Why, I've come to see you, of course, old fellow; what else +should I have come for? I set off early this morning, and I thought I +would give you a bit of a surprise. Are these your diggings?' + +'No,' I said, 'I'm only spending the evening here; but I'll come back +with you at once.' + +I went in for a moment to explain my sudden departure to Mr. and Mrs. +Christie, and then I went with Tom to my lodgings. He looked vastly +amused when he saw Duncan's house, and when I told him that I had been +there all the time he seemed to think it a capital joke. + +'There's no room for me, I'm afraid,' he said, as he looked with an +amused smile round my bedroom. + +'No, indeed, Tom,' I said, 'and, joking apart, I would not ask you to +come here if there was room; the hotel at the top of the hill will suit +you better.' + +Polly was sitting beside little John, but I tapped at the door, and told +her a friend of mine had just arrived from London, and asked her if she +thought it would be possible to get him some tea. Just at this moment +Duncan came in, and the two good souls did all in their power to do +honour to my guest. The whitest tablecloth was spread on the round +table, the very finest herrings were cooked, round after round of crisp +brown toast was buttered and put before the fire to keep hot, and all +was ready in so short a time that Tom was astonished. + +He did full justice to the meal, and seemed to appreciate my quarters +better after he had partaken of it. Then he declared himself tired out, +so I walked with him up to the hotel. He was in high spirits, and was +much looking forward to the time we were to have there together, and to +all the walks we should take to the places round. + +Was I glad that he had come? I asked myself this question many times +that night. I was fond of Tom; he had been like a brother to me, and +yet--and yet--I wished he had not come to Runswick Bay. + +Why was this? Why would I have kept him away if I could? I asked myself +this question many times, as I came slowly down the hill that night. + +Was it because it would be a hindrance to my work? No, for my picture +had made good progress, and I could work it up even better in my studio +at home. Besides which, Tom was a good-natured fellow, and would sit +smoking and chatting in the old boat whilst I painted. + +Was it that I wanted to be quiet, and to enjoy my present surroundings +without interruption? No, surely, for Tom's company had always been +pleasant to me, and I could not look upon him as a stranger. + +Why was it, then, that I felt almost sorry that he had followed me here? +I had a suspicion of the right answer to that question, but I did not +own it, even to myself, till I entered my lodging. + +Duncan was reading a chapter aloud to Polly, as he always did before +going to bed. He stopped when he saw me come in, but I said, 'Go on, +Duncan, never mind me; I shall like to listen.' And the very first words +that Duncan read seemed to me to contain the answer to my question. + +'He that is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man +be ashamed.' + +Yes, that was the reason. I was sorry that Tom had come, because I was +ashamed of my Master. Since I had seen him last I had changed my +service. I used to be a servant of sin, living for self, pleasing self +in all things. Now, I had crossed the line, I had joined the company of +Christ's servants, and I was afraid of Tom finding it out. + +In London I thought I should have seen less of him, and it would have +dawned on him gradually; but here he would discover it at once. And I +dreaded his doing so. Yes, I was a downright coward, ashamed of the One +who had died for me. This was not a comfortable reflection, but I was +convinced that it was the truth. + +What would be the best thing to do? Should I say anything to Tom about +it in the morning? I thought at first that I would speak, and I made up +several sentences with which I meant to begin; but the more I thought of +it so much the more my heart failed me, and I decided at length that my +best plan would be to let Tom find it out for himself. + + + + +Chapter XI + +LITTLE JACK AND BIG JACK + + +I think Tom very much enjoyed that week at Runswick Bay. The more he saw +of the place the more he liked it. He and Duncan got on famously +together. They smoked together on a seat above the house, and Duncan +told him stories of shipwrecks and storms, whilst I sat painting just +below them. + +One night he even persuaded Duncan to let him go out with him fishing, +and Duncan confided to me afterwards, 'That there friend of yours, sir, +he's a real handy chap; knows how to use his fingers, sir, and isn't +afraid of a drop of salt water neither.' + +We came across Mr. Christie on the shore the very first time that we +went out together, and I introduced him as a friend of my mother whom I +had been delighted to find in this out-of-the-way place; and Tom talked +very pleasantly to him, and I think liked him. + +'What is he doing here, Jack?' he said. 'He does not look like the rest +of them.' + +'He is a lay-preacher,' I said. + +'Whatever in the world is a lay-preacher?' said Tom laughing. + +I did not answer, but called his attention to little Jack, who was +running along the shore after his red cap, which had been carried off by +a gust of wind. + +'That's his little boy,' I said, 'and my namesake; they lived in my +father's parish in London, and Mr. Christie and his wife adored my +mother. It was seeing her photograph on the wall of their room which +made them discover who I was.' + +'What a splendid little fellow!' said Tom as the child came up to us. +'So you are Jack, are you?' + +'Yes, I'm little Jack, and he's big Jack,' said the boy roguishly, +looking at me. + +I was not surprised that Tom made friends very quickly with my little +favourite, for he was wonderfully fond of children, and many were the +games which he and the two children had together whilst I was at work. + +Every evening Tom and I walked together, and we explored all the country +for miles around. Sometimes we went by train and walked back by the +cliffs. The train seemed to land us at each station in the midst of +fresh beauty, and I came to the conclusion that Yorkshire was indeed, +what I had always been told by my mother, the most beautiful county in +England. + +'Now, Jack,' said Tom on Saturday morning, 'we'll have a really good day +to-morrow. You won't want to paint, will you?' + +'No,' I said hurriedly, 'I don't paint on Sundays.' + +'All right,' he said, 'it's much the best plan; you come fresher to it +on Monday. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." That old +couplet must have been made for you, Jack. Well, then, let's see, where +shall we go? Suppose we make a long day of it, and go to Scarborough. We +must see Scarborough before we go home, must we not? We will go by the +early train, and come back as late as we can. The worst of it is there +are not so many trains to choose from on Sunday, but I daresay we shall +find one that will suit'; and, without saying another word, he went off +to my lodging for a _Bradshaw_. + +What was I to do? A few weeks ago a Sunday spent in pleasure would have +been just what I should have chosen, and many a time had Tom and I been +up the river on Sunday together. There was hardly a place within easy +distance up the Thames which we had not visited in this way. But now I +felt very differently about these things. Sunday was my Master's own +day: every moment of it, I felt, must be consecrated to Him. No one had +talked to me about Sunday observance, but my conscience told me very +clearly what was right in the matter. Yet, although I had no doubt as to +what I ought to do in the matter, I am ashamed to say that for some time +I hesitated. Tom would be so terribly disappointed, I said to myself, +and he had been a good friend to me, and I did not want to vex him; +surely there would be no great harm in obliging him this once! Besides, +when I get to Scarborough I may have time to go to church, and then, +after all, where is the difference? I argued with myself; I shall take a +longer journey to church, that is all. + +And then Tom came back, full of his plans for the day. He had already +settled the train we were to catch, and he told me that he looked +forward to seeing Scarborough immensely, as his mother had stayed there +a year ago, and she had told him it was the most beautiful +watering-place she had ever visited. + +I tried to feel pleased with what Tom had arranged, but in my heart I +was very miserable, and just at that moment who should appear but +Marjorie and Jack, distributing the pink papers containing the +invitation to the service on the shore. I turned away when I saw them +coming. I looked towards the sea, and took my little telescope from my +pocket, that I might seem to be intent on watching a distant steamer. +What would Duncan say? What would Mr. Christie say? What would my little +friend Jack say, when I did not appear at the shore service? And how +shocked they would be when they heard I had gone off for a day's +pleasure! + +I hoped that the children would pass us by, and would go to a large +group of fishermen standing on the shore just beyond us. But I was not +to escape thus. Marjorie came up to Tom and presented him with a paper, +and she was going to give one to me, but my little friend stopped her, +'No, no, Marjorie,' he said in his most fascinating tones, 'let me give +one to my own Mr. Jack. I always give you one my own self, don't I, big +Jack?' + +I patted him on the head and took the paper, but I did not answer, and +the children passed on. Tom opened his paper and read it aloud,-- + +'"There will be a short service on the shore next Sunday morning." Oh, +indeed,' he said, 'that's what they're after, is it? Distributing +notices for some Methodist meeting. Is that where Christie holds forth?' + +'Yes,' I said, 'he preaches every Sunday.' + +'Well, Mr. Christie,' he went on, 'you won't have _me_ there to +hear you. I hate those canting meetings, don't you, Jack? +_Subject_. Ah, he tells us his subject beforehand, does he? Very +kind of him, I'm sure! _Subject: Where are you going_? Ah,' said +Tom, 'that's soon answered: I'm going to Scarborough, old fellow, and a +jolly good day I hope to have there'; and he threw the little pink paper +into the air, and the wind carried it far out to sea. + +[Illustration] + +All this time I had never spoken a word. A great battle was going on in +my heart. Conscience was speaking very loudly, and telling me that I +could not possibly take my pleasure on my Master's own day, but the +tempter's voice was arguing that the time to speak had not yet come, and +that perhaps for this once it would be better to yield to Tom's wishes, +and that I might talk to him quietly about it, and make a fresh start +after our return to London. + +And so the day wore away, and evening came, and Tom had no idea whatever +that I had even hesitated about going with him to Scarborough. I never +spent a more unhappy day. I avoided Mr. Christie, lest he should say +anything to me about the service on the following day. I was not even +happy with Duncan. Tom had gone off to Saltburn, leaving me, as he +supposed, to put some finishing touches to my picture; but I had no +heart for painting, and only got my easel and painting materials out to +put them away again directly. + +Polly was in good spirits that day, for little John was so much better +that he was able to sit on the floor and play, and, as I stood looking +out of my small casement window, I watched her washing up in a tub +standing on a wooden stool outside her door, and I heard her singing to +herself as she did so. Most of the visitors had left Runswick Bay now, +for it was late in the season, but the shore was covered with the +village children--boys and girls without shoes and stockings, wading in +the pools and running far out into the shallow sea. It was a pretty +sight, the grey, quiet water, the strips of yellow sand, and the cliff +covered with grass and flowers. + +But I could not enjoy the scene that Saturday evening; even my artistic +eye, of which I used sometimes to boast, failed me then. I was feeling +thoroughly uncomfortable, and the most lovely view on earth would have +failed to charm me at that moment. + +There is a verse in the Bible which says, 'A little child shall lead +them,' and whenever I hear that verse I think of that evening in +Runswick Bay. For I was still gazing out of my window, looking at I knew +not what, when I heard a well-known little voice just beneath me. + +It was Jack. He had come down the hill beneath Duncan's cottage, so that +I had not seen him until he spoke to me below the window. + +'Mr. Jack,' he said, 'what are you doing up there? Are you _very_ +busy?' + +'No, old man,' I said, 'I'm not busy.' + +'Then _do_ come out, that's a dear, big Mr. Jack; I do want you so +much.' + +Who could resist the pleading little face, and the pretty, fascinating +voice of that child? He would have a hard heart who could do so. I ran +downstairs, and a minute afterwards I was racing with Jack on the wet +sands, for the tide was fast going out, and was helping him to fly a +small kite which his father had bought for him in Whitby. We had a fine +time together on the shore, until at last a towel was hung out of the +top window in the Christies' house, as a sign that it was Jack's +bedtime. Though he was wild with joy and excitement, the obedient little +fellow at once stopped his play, and told me mother wanted him, and he +must go. + +'I'm coming for you to-morrow morning, Mr. Jack,' he said. + +'To-morrow morning, Jack?' + +'Yes, for church,' said the child, putting up his dear little chubby +face to be kissed. 'Don't go without me, will you, Mr. Jack?' + +'Well, I'm not sure I'm going to-morrow, little man,' I said +reluctantly, 'so you had better not call for me.' + +'Not going to church!' said Jack, in a very shocked voice. 'Why not, +Mr. Jack?' + +'I'm going to Scarborough for the day with my friend Tom,' I said. +'I shall go to church in Scarborough, Jack.' + +I shall never forget the expression of that child's face as long as I +live; it was a mixture of surprise, sorrow and dismay. 'Mr. Jack, do you +know it's God's day to-morrow?' was all that he said, however; and as at +this moment his mother called him from the bedroom window, he ran off +without another word. + +'Do you know it's God's day?' I asked myself when the little boy had +gone. 'Yes, I do know,' I answered aloud, 'and He is my Master, and my +Master's day shall be kept for Him and for His service.' + +I walked to a lonely place on the shore where the sea had undermined the +cliff, and had made strange holes and caves, which could only be entered +at low tide. I clambered over the rocks, and crossed about half a mile +of slippery seaweed, until I came to one of these weird places. Creeping +inside, I felt myself safe from any human eye. I was alone--alone with +my Master. + +I cannot tell you all that passed during the half-hour that I spent in +that lonely cave, but I know this, that I came out of it feeling that my +Master had indeed given me the strength for which I had pleaded, the +strength to act as His faithful and true servant. + +I was waiting outside the station when Tom's train came in from +Saltburn. He had not expected to see me again that night, and seemed +pleased that I had come to meet him. + +'I think we shall have a fine day to-morrow, old boy,' he said; 'what +a dew there is! My feet are quite wet with it.' + +'Tom,' I said, 'I came to meet you to-night because I wanted to tell you +something. I am sorry, very sorry, to disappoint you, but I can't go +with you to-morrow.' + +'Why ever in the world not, Jack?' he said. 'I thought you were so keen +on seeing Scarborough.' + +'Yes, Tom,' I said, 'but I am still more keen on something else.' + +'What's that?' he asked; 'do you mean Redcar? It's a stupid place, Jack: +nothing in the world to see, I assure you.' + +'No, Tom, I don't mean that. I don't want to change our plan. I had +rather see Scarborough than any other place; I'll give myself a holiday +on Monday, and go with you gladly, Tom; but I can't go to-morrow.' + +'Nonsense, Jack!' he said angrily. 'You _can_ go if you like; +what's to hinder you? If you are willing to go at all, why on earth +can't you go to-morrow?' + +'Simply because to-morrow is Sunday, Tom.' + +'And if it is Sunday, what of that?' said my friend. '"The better the +day, the better the deed," and it's ridiculous your talking in this +saintly way about Sunday, when to my certain knowledge you've spent +every fine Sunday boating on the river for the last two years or more. +No, no, my friend, that won't go down with me.' + +'Tom,' I said, 'it's all quite true what you say. I have, I know I have, +spent my Sundays in boating or in taking my pleasure in some other way, +and I am more sorry for it, Tom, than I can tell you. But since I came +here--' + +'Since you came here,' Tom interrupted me, 'you've gone and turned +Ranter or Methodist, or something of that sort, and you've got your head +full of all sorts of insane and ridiculous ideas.' + +'Since I came here, Tom,' I said, taking no notice of his last remark, +'I have seen what I never saw before--that I am a great sinner; and I +have found what I never found before--that Jesus is a great Saviour.' + +'Well, I wish you had never come to Runswick Bay, if this is the absurd +way you are going on, Jack, and after all the good old times we've had +together too.' + +'And why shan't we have good times together still, dear old Tom?' I +said. 'I have entered the service of a new Master, that's all; and, +Tom,' I said timidly, 'I wish He was your Master too.' + +Tom made no answer, but swung his stick round and round, and slashed at +the thistles and the ox-eye daisies which grew by the roadside. I tried +to make one or two remarks, but I saw he was very much upset by what I +had said, and he did not answer me. He was vexed with me, and perhaps he +was a little uncomfortable besides, and I felt it was far wiser to say +no more. + +He did not speak again until we reached the hotel, and then he simply +said, 'Good-night, Jack, I'm sorry you've gone and made such a fool of +yourself'; and I went down the hill, feeling as if I had lost my friend, +and as if the old days and old companionship were dead and buried for +ever. + +But if I had lost one friend, I felt I had gained another. Mr. Christie +was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill, and he proposed that we +should take a turn together on the shore. Nellie was expecting me to +supper, he said; he had told Duncan I was going there, and the moon was +coming out, and a good stretch on the sands would make us enjoy it all +the more. + +We had walked across the bay, and were standing gazing out seawards, +when he suddenly put his arm in mine. + +'What is it, Jack?' he said kindly, 'something is troubling you this +evening.' + +'Yes, you are right,' I said. 'However did you know, Mr. Christie? I am +bothered a bit; the fact is, I'm ashamed of myself, I've been such a +coward.' + +'What have you been doing, Jack? You don't mind telling me, do you?' + +'Not at all, Mr. Christie, I would rather tell you,' I said; and then I +gave him an account of the last week, of my fear of Tom, and how very +nearly--I was ashamed to say it--I had yielded to him about the outing +to-morrow. Then I spoke of my friend, and I told him I was afraid I had +lost him through my plain speaking. + +'Never mind, Jack,' he said, 'the Master must come first, and it does +happen very often that when He is put in His right place we have to give +up a great deal. He knew we should have to do it, and He spoke some very +plain words about it: "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is +not worthy of Me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not +worthy of Me." You would like to be worthy of Him, Jack?' + +'I shall never be that, Mr. Christie,' I said. + +'No,' he said; 'you are right, we are all unworthy of Him; but when we +love Him, we do long to do that which is pleasing in His sight. And, +remember, there is always the hundredfold, Jack, always the Master's +reward for anything we give up for Him.' + +'Yes, in heaven,' I said softly. + +'No, Jack, not in heaven, but on earth. Do you remember how the Master's +words run: "He shall receive an hundredfold _now, in this time_, +and in the world to come, life everlasting." The hundredfold is to be +enjoyed _here_, the everlasting life _there_.' + +'I never noticed that before,' I said. + +'I have proved it true, Jack, abundantly true. I sometimes think I have +got beyond the hundredfold. And then beyond, there lies the life +eternal.' + +'My mother is enjoying that,' I said. + +'Yes, indeed,' he answered; 'and her boy will enjoy it too in God's good +time, for does not the Master say of all those who belong to Him, "I +give unto them eternal life?" "I am come that they might have life, and +that they might have it more abundantly"?' + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter XII + +WHERE ARE YOU GOING? + + +I shall never forget my last Sunday in Runswick Bay. It was at the end +of September, and was one of those gloriously brilliant days which we +get in the early autumn, when the sky is cloudless, when the air is +fresh and clear, and when the autumnal tints on trees, hedges, ferns and +brambles make the landscape gorgeous and extremely beautiful and +fascinating. + +The high cliff above the bay was a perfect study in colour that morning; +I have never seen more splendid colouring, every varied shade of red and +gold and green was to be found there. + +'Tom will be off to Scarborough,' I said to myself as I dressed. 'What a +grand day he has got!' + +But I did not wish myself with him; no, I was both glad and thankful to +look forward to a quiet and peaceful Sunday. + +There were not many visitors still at Runswick, most of them had left +the week before; but the fishermen came in great numbers to the service, +and the green was covered with them when little Jack and big Jack +appeared, hand-in-hand as usual. Duncan was in the choir, but Polly +thought the wind rather cold for little John, so had remained with him +at home. A good many women and children were present, however, and the +bank was covered with mothers and babies, sitting at a little distance, +lest the noise of the children should disturb the preacher or the +listeners. + +What was it that made me think of Tom just as the service began? Was it +a shepherd's plaid cloth cap, of the kind Tom wears, which I saw on the +head of some visitor who was sitting almost out of sight on the seaward +side of the bank? Such small things bring people and things before us +sometimes, and my thoughts wandered to Scarborough for a few minutes, +and I wondered what Tom was doing at that moment. I thought to myself +how he would smile, if he saw me sitting under the old boat and +listening attentively to an open air preacher. + +But my thoughts did not wander long, for when the service began every +word of it seemed to be for me. + +WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I had worked the subject out in my mind before I +came to the service, and had quite decided what line of thought Mr. +Christie would take. I thought he would picture the two roads, the one +leading to life, the other to destruction; and then I imagined that he +would speak of the blessedness of being on the narrow road, and would +dwell very vividly on the awful consequences of continuing to walk on +the road leading to hell. But I found that my idea of what his sermon +would be was quite a mistaken one. + +'Where are you going? My question to-day,' he said, 'is addressed only +to some of you; would to God it were addressed to you all! I speak +to-day to those who have crossed the line, who have run into the loving +Saviour's arms, who have become servants of Christ. + +'My friends, my dear friends, where are you going? What does the Master +say? He calls to every one of His servants, and He says, "If any man +serve Me, let him follow Me, and _where I am_ there shall also My +servant be." + +'Servant of Christ, where are you going? The Master answers you, WHERE +I AM. + +'And where is that? A little group of men are standing on the Mount of +Olives; above them is the deep blue sky, and they are gazing earnestly +upward, for their Master is rising far above them, and even as they +watch a cloud receives Him out of their sight. Yet still He ascends +higher and yet higher, and as He rises countless angels attend Him. He +is joined by company after company of the heavenly host, who have come +out to meet their King. At length heaven's gates are reached, and the +cry goes forth, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye +everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." Amidst heaven's +most joyful music the Master passes within to the Heavenly Jerusalem, +the glad, glorious Home. Every care, every sin, every sorrow is left +outside; within all is sunshine, all is joy. And as heaven's gates are +closing, we hear the Master's voice. He leaves us a word of hope, "Where +I am, _there_ shall also My servant be." + +'Oh, fishermen, oh, friends, think of that! If you are His servants, +those gates will open for you. Your life may be hard now: some of you +have large families, and heavy work, and long, cold, comfortless nights +tossing on the stormy sea; but never mind, home is coming, heaven is +coming, for "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." + +'But that is not all. There is something more wonderful still. For where +is the Master now? He is not only inside the gates of the city, He is +not only walking through the golden streets; but He is in the midst of +the glory of God, He has sat down on the right hand of the throne of +God. Will you and I, dear friends, ever dare to go near that throne? +Will not the glory be too dazzling? Will not the place be holy ground, +too holy for us to approach? Will He allow us to draw near to His +footstool, and even there, close to His glory, to lie low before Him? + +'Listen, O servant of Christ, again the Master says, "Where I am, +_there_ shall also My servant be." + +'What, on the throne of God! Yes, even _there_ He bids you come; +for what does He say? "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with +Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father +in His throne." Oh, what a wonderful promise! We could never have +thought of it; we could never have believed it; we could never even have +dreamt of such a thing, if the Master had not told us Himself.' + +And then he concluded by asking us to remember our glorious future. +'Sometimes,' he said, 'you get downhearted, full of sorrow and fear, and +you say, "I shall never hold on to the end." Oh, dear friends, it is +worth an effort, for at the end lies home, at the end stands the throne +of God, with a place waiting for you upon it. "Where I am, there shall +also My servant be." + +'What if you have to bear something for the Master's sake? What if you +have to give up friends or comforts for Him? What if you have to take up +your cross and follow Him? It is only for a few days, only for a little +while, and home is coming. "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." +Is it not worth while?' + +Then, as he ended, he spoke a few words to all who were there, and he +begged those who were not servants of Christ, to consider what they were +losing. 'All this might be yours,' he said, 'the wide-open gates, the +Heavenly City, the seat on the glorious Throne; but you are turning your +backs on it all, and you are choosing instead--what? A few of earth's +fleeting pleasures, a little of this world's passing enjoyment. Oh, dear +friends, think before it is too late, what your eternal loss will be!' + +He said much more, but I cannot remember it now. I only know that I came +away feeling that I had been very near the golden gates of which he +spoke, and had heard the Master's voice saying to me, 'Where I am, there +shall also My servant be.' + +The tide was coming in as we left the service, and I was standing on the +shore watching the waves rolling in over the rocks, when I felt an arm +slipped in mine, and when I looked round, to my great surprise, I found +that it was Tom. + +'Why, Tom!' I said, 'back already? how early you have come home!' + +'Back, Jack?' he said, laughing; 'why, I've never been.' + +'Do you mean you haven't been to Scarborough?' + +'No, of course not; you didn't think I would go without you, old boy. +We'll go to-morrow, of course. I thought we settled that last night.' + +'Why, I've been thinking of you in Scarborough all day!' I said. + +'Then your thoughts have gone in a wrong direction for once, Jack,' he +replied, 'for I've been here all the time.' + +'I'll walk with you up the hill,' I said; 'it isn't quite dinner-time.' + +I was very pleased to see him, and to find that he did not appear to be +vexed with me. We chatted for some time, and then he said casually, 'He +does not speak badly, that lay preacher of yours, Jack.' + +I stood still in astonishment. 'Who?' I said, 'Mr. Christie? Why, you +surely were not at the service, Tom! Oh, I know,' I cried, before he +could answer, 'you were behind the bank; I saw a black and white cap, +and I thought how much it was like yours.' + +'It could not be much more like, seeing that it was the very same,' said +Tom. + +'I'm so glad you heard him,' I ventured to say. + +He made no answer, so I thought it was better to say no more; but when +we reached the top of the hill, and he was just leaving me, he said: + +'Jack, I'm afraid I was a bit crusty last night. You must not think any +more of it, old fellow. We'll have a jolly day at Scarborough to-morrow. +And, Jack,' he went on, 'I was very much annoyed at the time, I own I +was; but I'm not sure after all that you're not right.' + +He said no more, but hurried away, and it was many years before he +referred to the subject again; but the day came when he did mention it, +and when he told me, with tears in his eyes, that he looked upon that +Sunday at Runswick as the first link in the chain of God's loving +Providence, by means of which He had led him to Himself. He told me then +that he had never forgotten my firm refusal to go with him, and he had +never forgotten the sermon to which he had listened hidden from sight by +the bank. + +Our day at Scarborough exceeded all our anticipations. The weather was +glorious, and Tom was in excellent spirits, and we thoroughly enjoyed +everything. + +I could not help feeling sorry when Thursday came, which was to be my +last day at Runswick Bay. It had been such a happy and so eventful a +time. I seemed to have passed through so much, and to have learnt so +much unknown to me before, that I felt very reluctant to bring my +holiday to a close. As for Duncan and Polly, they were quite melancholy +as the time for my departure drew near. + +'We _shall_ feel lost without you, sir,' said Duncan. 'We shan't +know what to do'; and there were tears in Polly's eyes as she said +mournfully, when she set the herrings on the table for my supper, +'Them's the last herrings I shall fry you, sir, and I feel as if there +was going to be a death in the house.' + +'Cheer up, Polly,' I said, 'who knows? Perhaps you may have to put up +with me next time I get a holiday, and you may be sure I shall want +plenty of herrings then.' + +She brightened a little at this, and little John, who was quite well +now, and who had become very friendly with me since his illness, climbed +up on my knee, and stroked my face with his little thin hand, as if he +were trying to coax me to come back to them again. + +There was one thing which I had a great desire to do before leaving +Runswick. I knew that Duncan was much troubled about the Mary Ann. She +had been terribly knocked about in the storm, which was no wonder, +seeing that she had drifted about, bottom upwards, and had been driven +hither and thither on the waves. When Duncan had examined her the day +after his arrival, he had found that she leaked in several places, and +was altogether unseaworthy, and he had been obliged to hire a boat until +such time as the Mary Ann could be properly repaired. Then he went over +to Whitby, and brought an experienced man back with him, and he +overhauled her thoroughly, and gave it as his opinion that it would be a +waste of money to try to patch her up. + +When Duncan came in that night I saw that the poor fellow was terribly +downcast. 'The Mary Ann's days are numbered, sir; she'll never be able +to rough it again,' he said. 'She's been a good old boat to me and my +father before me, and it will be like parting from an old friend to give +her up. Yon man, he says she might be cobbled together a bit; but you +would never make a good job of her; she'd do maybe well enough for fine +weather, but you couldn't trust to her in a storm.' + +I saw Polly turn pale as he said this. 'Duncan,' she said, going up to +him, and laying her hand on his arm, 'you'll never go in her again; +promise me that. Think of me and little John, Duncan.' + +'Ay, my lass,' he said; 'ay, Polly, I do think of thee and little John; +but the worst of it is there's bread must be earnt for thee and little +John. I can't let thee starve, wife.' + +'What about the bank-book, Duncan?' I said. + +He went to the old oak-chest, and brought it out. I was much touched by +his handing it to me, and bidding me see how it stood. He was perfectly +open with me, and spoke to me as freely as if I had been an old and +tried friend. I added up the amount and read it out to him. + +'Well, sir,'he said, 'it's getting on; but it's a good ten pound short +yet. We shall have to hire Brown's boat a bit and do as well as we can, +though it isn't a very paying business when one takes to hiring: it will +be hard enough to make two ends meet, you see, sir, let alone saving up +for the new boat. But I can't see nothing else for it, sir; that is, if +Polly won't let me risk it in the Mary Ann.' + +'Duncan,' she said solemnly, 'if thee went to sea in the Mary Ann, and +she went to the bottom, I could _never_ say, "The will of the Lord +be done," for I don't believe it _would_ be God's will for thee to +go in that rotten old thing.' + +'Polly is right, Duncan,' I said; 'you must never go in the Mary Ann +again.' + +'Well, sir,' he said, 'I see what you mean, you and Polly too, and the +Lord will show us what's to be done.' + +Nothing more was said about the Mary Ann at that time, but I had already +made my own plan about the new boat. My aunt had just left me her little +property, and a very nice little property it was. I felt myself a rich +man, for in addition to money invested in various ways, about L200 of +ready money had been placed to my account at the bank. + +What could be more delightful, I thought, than to spend the first ten +pounds of this in helping Duncan to complete the purchase of the new +boat? The only difficulty would be to get Duncan to accept the money, +for he had all the honest independence of a Yorkshireman, and I knew +would hesitate about receiving help from any one. But, at the same time, +I knew that in this instance his need was great, and his kindly feeling +towards myself was so strong, that I was not without hope that I might +be able to manage what I had contemplated without giving the dear fellow +offence. I thought, at one time, that I would take Mr. Christie into my +confidence, and would consult with him, but on second thoughts I decided +that it would be wiser not to do so, and felt that I should be more +likely to succeed if no one else was in the secret. So I folded my +bank-note in paper, put it into an envelope, and wrote outside, 'With +little John's love to his daddy, to help him to buy another Little +John.' This I determined to slip into the child's hand when I said +good-bye. + +That evening I had supper with the Christies. They were kindness itself, +and told me what a great pleasure it had been to them to meet me. 'Not +only because you are your mother's son, Jack, but for your own sake as +well as hers,' said Mr. Christie with a smile. + +I wanted to say something in return, but the words would not come--at +least not then. But, just before I left, I went with Mr. Christie into +his study, and he said, 'Jack, I thought perhaps we might have a little +prayer together before we part'; and then the words came,-- + +'Mr. Christie,' I said, 'I can never, never thank God enough that I came +here.' + +'Let us thank Him together, Jack,' he said. + +Then we knelt down, he by the table, and I with my arms resting on the +old organ, and he thanked God for His mercy in bringing me across the +line, and he committed me to His care and keeping to bring me safely +along the road which leads home. + +The next morning I was up early, for our train started at eight, and we +had two miles to walk. I had told Polly I should want nothing but a cup +of tea before I set off, but when I came down I found a most tempting +breakfast prepared for me--ham and eggs, and toast in abundance, and +fresh lettuces from Duncan's small garden. + +'Well, Polly,' I said, 'you are spoiling me to the last.' + +'We can never make enough of you, sir,' said Polly, and there were tears +in her eyes as she said it. + +I ran up to pack my bag and collect my things, and I determined to start +in good time, so that I might allow myself a few minutes to say good-bye +to the Christies. + +'I must be off, Duncan,' I said. + +He was standing outside with little John in his arms, and Polly, with +her hat on, was standing beside him. + +'We're coming along with you, sir, to the station,' said Duncan. 'You +won't think it a liberty will you, sir? but me and Polly and little John +would like to see the last of you.' + +'Come, that _is_ good of you,' I said. 'I shall have a grand escort +up the hill!' + +Polly took the child from his father, and Duncan carried my bag and +easel, and would not even hear of my giving him a hand with them. + +I ran into the Christies, but could find no one below; however, I heard +a great running backwards and forwards overhead, and presently Mr. +Christie called out of the bedroom window, 'Wait one moment, Jack; we +are all coming to see you off.' + +So my escort increased as I proceeded, and Tom, as he came out of the +hotel, said he thought the whole of Runswick must be going by the early +train, when he saw us, one after another, come toiling up the hill. +Little Jack rode up the whole way on my back, and his horse was very hot +when the top was reached. + +Though it is now so many years ago I can see that little party of +friends standing together on the platform, as the train moved out of the +station. I can feel again the warm grasp of Mr. Christie's hand, and can +hear his whispered, 'God bless you, Jack!' I can see Mrs. Christie +holding Marjorie by the hand, and waving her handkerchief to me, and can +hear little Jack crying out, 'Come back soon, do, big Mr. Jack.' I can +see Duncan bareheaded, with little John in his arms, the child waving +the envelope which I had put in his hand as I stepped into the carriage, +and which was still unopened. I can see Polly wiping her eyes with her +apron, and then holding it up and waving it till I was lost to sight. I +can see them all as they appeared to me that day, kind hearts and true, +not one of them ranking amongst the number whom the world counts great, +and yet all of them well known to Him who calleth His own sheep by name +and leadeth them out. + +I must just mention here that I had a very touching letter from Duncan +at the end of that week. The spelling was most wonderful, and the +grammar was quite of his own making; but it was full, from end to end, +of the most simple-hearted affection, and of the deepest gratitude. + +'Me, and my missus, and little John, can never be thankful enough, sir,' +he said, 'and when the other 'Little John' is afloat, as please God she +soon will be, we hopes as how you will come and have a sail in her.' + +So ended my visit to Runswick; and when I consider all that happened +during those few weeks, I think it is small wonder that the little bay +is still fresh in my memory, and that Ella's yellow ragwort made me +dream of it so distinctly. For surely that month was the most important +month in my life, for was it not the beginning of a new life, which, +thank God, has continued ever since? + +I can say to-day, even as I said then, 'One is my Master, even Christ,' +and I can look forward, humbly but hopefully, to the time when the +golden gates will open to me, and when the Master's promise will be +fulfilled to me, 'Where I am, there shall also My servant be.' + + O Jesus Christ, my Master, + I come to Thee to-day; + I ask Thee to direct me + In all I do or say: + I want to keep my promise + To be Thy servant true, + I come to Thee for orders; + Dear Lord, what shall I do? + + I want a heart not heeding + What others think or say; + I want a humble spirit, + To listen and obey. + To serve Thee without ceasing, + 'Tis but a little while,-- + My strength, the Master's promise, + My joy, the Master's smile. + + +A.C.W. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIE, THE KING'S SERVANT*** + + +******* This file should be named 10728.txt or 10728.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10728 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/10728.zip b/old/10728.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..315c380 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10728.zip |
