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+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***
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