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diff --git a/21133.txt b/21133.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..117de1d --- /dev/null +++ b/21133.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8549 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of True to his Colours, by Theodore P. Wilson + +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: True to his Colours + The Life that Wears Best + +Author: Theodore P. Wilson + +Illustrator: D. A. Helm + +Release Date: April 18, 2007 [EBook #21133] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE TO HIS COLOURS *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +True to his Colours +The Life that Wears Best + +By Reverend Theodore P Wilson +________________________________________________________________________ +I cannot truthfully say that I enjoyed transcribing this book. That +might be to say that Reverend Wilson would not approve of me, for I +enjoy a beer or a glass of wine occasionally, but never to excess. But +Wilson was, as ever, fulminating against the Demon Drink, that is to +say, against the Demon that can take over people's lives, and bring +misery to their wives and children, for this does happen, even to this +day. + +There is a story behind all this, but the long sermons pervade, and do +really make the book difficult to read. Perhaps you should read the +book during some fasting and penitential period of the year, such as +Advent or Lent, but then again it might bring on some other kind of +sin, such as Sloth. NH +________________________________________________________________________ + +TRUE TO HIS COLOURS +THE LIFE THAT WEARS BEST + +BY REVEREND THEODORE P WILSON + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +A SCEPTIC'S HOME. + +Look back some forty years--there was not a quieter place then than the +little village of Crossbourne. It was a snug spot, situated among +hills, and looked as though it were hiding away out of the sight and +notice of the bustling, roaring traffic that was going ceaselessly on +all around it. + +A little fussy stream or brook flowed on restlessly day and night +through the centre of the village, and seemed to be the only thing there +that was ever in a hurry. Carts and carriages, but seldom many of the +latter, had to drive through the stream when they wished to cross it; +for there was no bridge except a very rude one for foot-passengers just +before you came to the old mill, where the villagers had had their corn +ground for generations. + +Then to the north of the stream the houses straggled up on either side +of a long winding street, sometimes two or three together under one long +thatched roof, and in other places singly, with a small bit of meagre +garden round them; a wooden latch lifted by a string which dangled +outside being the prevailing fastening to the outer doors. + +Right up at the top of the street, and a little to the left, was the old +Saxon church, which had retained a considerable share of its original +massive beauty, spite of the combined attacks of plaster, mildew, and a +succession of destructive restorations which had lowered the roof, +bricked up more than one fine old window, and thrust out a great iron +chimney, which looked not unlike the mailed hand of some giant shaking +its clenched fist at the solid tower which it was unable to destroy. + +Just under the shadow of the old church, and separated from it by the +low wall of the churchyard, was the vicarage, a grey-looking structure +in the midst of a small but well-stocked garden; while beyond it were +fields in long succession, with a ponderous-looking farm-house crouching +down here and there amongst them. + +Of course there was an inn in the village. It was marked out to +travellers by a sign-board dependent from a beam projecting over the +footpath. Something had once been painted on the board, but it had +become so blurred and indistinct under the corroding action of sun and +rain, that it would be quite impossible now to decide whether the +features delineated on it were those of a landscape, a lion, or a human +countenance. + +Such was Crossbourne some forty years back. But now, what a marvellous +change! Coal has been found close by, and the little village has leapt, +as if by magic, into a thriving town. Huge factories and foundries rise +from the banks of the stream; the ford is spanned by a substantial +bridge; the corn-mill has disappeared, and so have the rheumatic-looking +old mossy cottages. A street of prim, substantial houses, uniform, and +duly numbered, with brass handles, latches, and knockers to the doors, +now leads up to the church. And that venerable building has certainly +gained by the change; for the plaster and the iron chimney have +vanished, full daylight pours in through all the windows, while two new +aisles have been added in harmony with the original design of the +unknown architect. The vicarage, too, has expanded, and been smartened +up to suit more modern tastes and requirements. And then all around the +principal street are swarms of workmen's dwellings,--and, alas! public- +houses and beer-shops at every corner ready to entrap the wretched +victims of intemperance. Besides all these there are a Town Hall and a +Mechanics' Institute; and the streets and shops and dwelling-houses are +lighted with gas. + +Crossbourne has, in fact, become a very hive of industry; but, +unhappily, too many of the cells of the hive are fuller of gall than of +honey, for money is made fast and squandered faster: and what wonder, +seeing that King Alcohol holds his court amongst the people day and +night! And, to make all complete, Crossbourne now boasts of a railway +running through it, and of a station of its own, from which issues many +a train of _goods_; and near the station a distillery, from which there +issues continually a long and lengthening train of _evils_. + +Turning out of the principal street to the right, just opposite to where +the old dingy sign-board used to swing, a passer-by could not fail to +notice a detached house more lofty and imposing in its appearance than +the plain working-men's cottages on either side of it. + +At the time our story opens this house was occupied by William Foster, a +skilled ironworker, who was earning his fifty shillings a week, when he +chose to do so; which was by no means his regular habit, as frequent +sprees and drinking-bouts with congenial companions made his services +little to be depended on. However, he was a first-rate hand, and his +employers, who could not do without him, were fain to put up with his +irregularities. + +Foster was now in the prime of life, and had a young wife and one little +baby. He was professedly a sceptic, and gloried in his creed--if _he_ +can be said to have any creed who believes in nothing but himself. Of +course the Bible to him was simply a whetstone on which to "sharpen his +tongue like a serpent, that he might shoot out his arrows, even bitter +words." As for conscience, he ridiculed the very idea of such an old- +fashioned guide and monitor. "No," he would say, "as a true musician +abhors discordant sounds, and as a skilled mechanic abhors bad work, and +therefore cannot turn it out without doing violence to his finer and +more cultivated sensibilities, so the best guide in morals to an +enlightened man is his own sense of moral fitness and propriety." + +Nevertheless, he was by no means over-scrupulous as to the perfection of +his own handiwork when he could slur over a job without fear of +detection; while the standard of morality which he set up for himself, +certainly, to judge by his own daily life, did not speak much for the +acuteness of his moral perceptions. + +But he was shrewd and ready, and had a memory well stored with such +parts of Scripture as were useful pegs on which to hang clever +objections and profane sneers. Not that he had read the Bible itself, +for all his knowledge of it was got second-hand from the works of +sceptics, and in detached fragments. However, he had learned and +retained a smattering of a good many scientific and other works, and so +could astonish and confound timid and ill-informed opponents. + +No wonder, therefore, that he was the admired chairman of the +"Crossbourne Free-thought Club," which met two or three times a week in +one of the public-houses, and consumed, for the benefit of the house, +but certainly not of the members themselves or their homes, a large +quantity of beer and spirits, while it was setting the misguided world +right on science, politics, and religion. The marvel, indeed, to Foster +and his friends was how ignorance, bigotry, priestcraft, and tyranny +could venture to hold up their heads in Crossbourne after his club had +continued its meeting regularly for the last two years. + +Perhaps they might have been a little less surprised could one of them +have taken down an old volume of Dr South's sermons from the vicar's +library shelves, and have read these words to his fellows: "Men are +infidels, not because they have sharper wits, but because they have +corrupter wills; not because they reason better, but because they live +worse." Assuredly this was true of the infidelity in Crossbourne. + +And what sort of a home was William Foster's? The house itself looked +well enough as you approached it. Those houses of a humbler stamp on +either side of it had doors which opened at once from the street into +the parlour or living-room; but to Foster's dwelling there was a small +entrance-hall, terminating in an archway, beyond which were a large +parlour, a kitchen, and a staircase leading to the upper rooms. + +There was an air of ambition about everything, as though the premises, +like their occupiers, were aiming to be something above their station, +while at the same time a manifest absence of cleanliness and neatness +only presented a sort of satirical contrast to the surrounding grandeur. + +On either side of the entrance-hall, and just under the archway, was a +plaster-of-Paris figure, nearly as large as life--that on the right-hand +being a representation of Bacchus, and that on the left of a nymph +dancing. But the female image had long since lost its head, and also +one of its arms--the latter being still in existence, but being hung for +convenience' sake through the raised arm of Bacchus, making him look +like one of those Hindu idols which are preposterously figured with a +number of superfluous limbs. If the effect of this transference of the +nymph's arm to its companion statue was rather burlesque than +ornamental, the disconnected limb itself was certainly not without its +use, small fragments of it being broken off from time to time for the +purpose of whitening the door-steps and the hall-flags when the +hearthstone could not readily be found. + +Within the archway, over the parlour door, was a plaster bust of +Socrates; but this had met with no better treatment than the statues, +having accidentally got its face turned to the wall as though in +disgrace, or as if in despair of any really practical wisdom being +allowed to have sway in the sceptic's household. + +Things were no better in the sitting-room: there was plenty of finery, +but no real comfort--scarcely a single article of furniture was entire; +while a huge chimney-glass, surmounted by a gilded eagle, being too tall +for its position, had been made to fit into its place by the sacrifice +of the eagle's head and body, the legs and claws alone being visible +against the ceiling. The glass itself was starred at one corner, and +the frame covered with scars where the gilding had fallen off. There +were coloured prints on the walls, and a large photograph of the members +of the "Free-thought Club;" the different individuals of the group being +taken in various attitudes, all indicative of a more than average amount +of self-esteem. There were book-shelves also, containing volumes +amusing, scientific, and sceptical, but no place was found for the Book +of books; it was not admitted into that cheerless household. + +It was a December evening; a dull fire burned within the dingy bars of +William Foster's parlour grate. William himself was at his club, but +his wife and baby were at home: that poor mother, who knew nothing of a +heavenly Father to whose loving wisdom she could intrust her child; the +baby, a poor little sinful yet immortal being, to be brought up without +one whisper from a mother's tongue of a Saviour's love. + +Kate Evans (such was Mrs Foster's maiden name) had had the best +bringing up the neighbourhood could afford; at least, such was the view +of her relatives and friends. + +Her parents were plain working-people, who had been obliged to scramble +up into manhood and womanhood with the scantiest amount possible of +book-learning. When married they could neither of them write their name +in the register; and a verse or two of the New Testament laboriously +spelt out was their farthest accomplishment in the way of reading. + +Kate was their only child, and they wisely determined that things should +be different with her. The girl was intelligent, and soon snapped up +what many other children of her own age were a long time in acquiring. +She was bright and attractive-looking, with keen eyes and dark flowing +hair, and won the affection of her teachers and companions by her open- +heartedness and generosity of disposition. + +Naturally enough, the master and mistress of the large school which she +attended were proud of her as being one of their best scholars, and were +determined to make the most of her abilities for their own sake as much +as hers. And Kate herself and her parents were nothing loath. So books +were her constant companions and occupation in all her waking hours. +The needle was very seldom in her fingers at the school, and the house- +broom and the scrubbing-brush still less often at home. + +The poor mother sighed a weary sigh sometimes when, worn out with +toiling, she looked towards her child, who was deep in some scientific +book by the fireside; and now and then she just hinted to her husband +that she could not quite see the use of so much book-learning for a girl +in their daughter's position; but she was soon silenced by the remark +that "Our Kate had a head-piece such as didn't fall to the lot of many, +and it were a sin and a shame not to give her all the knowledge possible +while she were young and able to get it." + +So the head was cultivated, and the hands that should have been busy +were neglected; and thus it was that, at the age of sixteen, Kate Evans +could not sweep a room decently, nor darn a stocking, nor mend her own +clothes, nor make nor bake a loaf of bread creditably. But then, was +she not the very rejoicing of her master and mistress's hearts, and the +head girl of the school? And did not the government inspector always +give her a specially pleasant smile and word or two of approbation at +the annual examination? + +Poor Kate! It was a marvel that she was not more spoiled by all this; +but she was naturally modest and unpresuming, and would have made a fine +and valuable character had she been brought up to _shine_, and not +merely to _glitter_. As it was, she had learned to read and write well, +and to calculate sums which were of little practical use to her. +Indeed, her head was not unlike the lumber-room of some good lady who +has indulged a mania for accumulating purchases simply because of their +cheapness, without consideration of their usefulness, whether present or +future; so that while she could give you the names and positions and +approximate distances of all the principal stars without mistake or +hesitation, she would have been utterly at a loss if set to make a +little arrow-root or beef--tea for a sick relation or friend. + +She wound up her education at school by covering her teachers and +herself with honour by her answers, first to the elementary, and then to +the advanced questions in the papers sent down from the London Science +and Art Department. And when she left school, at the age of seventeen, +to take the place at home of her mother, who was now laid by through an +attack of paralysis, she received the public congratulations of the +school managers, and was afterwards habitually quoted as an example of +what might be acquired in the humbler ranks of life by diligence, +patience, and perseverance. + +As for her religious education, it was what might have been expected +under the circumstances. Her parents, ignorant of the truth themselves, +though well-disposed, as it is called, to religion, had sent her when +quite a little one to the Sunday-school, where she picked up a score or +two of texts and as many hymns. She also had gone to church regularly +once every Sunday, but certainly had acquired little other knowledge in +the house of God than an acquaintance with the most ingenious methods of +studying picture-books and story-books on the sly, and of trying the +patience of the teachers whose misfortune it was for the time to be in +command of the children's benches during divine service. + +As she grew up, however, Sunday-school and church were both forsaken. +Tired with constant study and the few household duties which she could +not avoid performing, she was glad to lie in bed till the Sunday-school +bell summoned earlier risers; and with the school, the attendance at +church also was soon abandoned. + +In summer-time, dressed in clothes which were gay rather than neat or +becoming, she would stroll out across the hills during afternoon service +with some like-minded female companion, and return by tea-time listless +and out of spirits, conscious of a great want, but unconscious of the +only way to satisfy it. For Kate Evans had a mind and heart which kept +her from descending into the paths of open sin. Many young women there +were around her, neglecters, like herself, of God, his house, and his +day, who had plunged into the depths of open profligacy; but with such +she had neither intercourse nor sympathy, for she shrunk instinctively +from everything that was low and coarse. Yet she walked in darkness; an +abiding shadow rested on her spirit. She had gained admiration and won +esteem, but she wanted peace. Her heart was hungry, and must needs +remain so till it should find its only true satisfying food in "Jesus, +the bread of life." + +Such was Kate Evans when she had reached the age of twenty--restless, +unsatisfied, fretting under the restraints and privations of a poor +working-man's home, shrinking from earning her bread by the labour of +her hands, yet unable--for her heart would not allow her--to apply for +any school work which might remove her from the home where her services +were greatly needed by her now bed-ridden mother. + +It was, then, with no small gratification, though not without some +misgivings, that she found herself the object of special attentions on +the part of William Foster. She was well aware that he was no friend to +religion, but then he was supposed to be highly moral; and she felt not +a little flattered by the devoted service of a man who was the oracle of +the working-classes on all matters of science and higher literature; +while he on his part was equally pleased with the prospect of having for +his wife one who, both in personal attractions and education, was +universally allowed to be in her rank the flower of Crossbourne. + +Kate's parents, however, were very unwilling that the intimacy between +Foster and their child should lead to a regular engagement. They had +the good sense to see that he who "feared not God" was not very likely +to "regard man," nor woman either; and they were also well aware that +the public-house and the club would be pretty sure to retain a large +share of Foster's affections after marriage. + +But remonstrance and advice were in vain; love was to take the place of +religion, and was to gather into the new home all the cords which would +have a tendency to draw the young man in a different direction. And +neighbours and friends said, "Young people would be young people;" that +Kate would turn any man into a good husband; and that she would be near +at hand to look in upon her old father and mother. So the attachment +duly ripened without further check; and before she was one and twenty, +Kate Evans was married to William Foster at the registrar's office. + +And now, on this December evening, rather more than a year had gone by +since the wedding-day. And what of the _love_ which was to have +effected such great things? Alas! the gilding had got sadly rubbed off. +Not many weeks after the marriage a cloud began to gather on the face +of both husband and wife. + +Coming home some day at dinner-time he would find no table laid out, the +meat half raw, and the potatoes the same; while an open book of poetry +or science, turned face downwards on the sloppy dresser, showed how his +wife had been spending the time which ought to have been occupied in +preparing her husband's meal. Then, again, when work was over, he would +find, on his return home, his wife, with uncombed hair and flushed +cheeks, on her knees, puffing away at a few sparks in the cheerless +grate, while the kettle rested sulkily on a cliff of black coal, and +looked as if boiling was on its part a very remote possibility indeed. + +Not that Kate was a gadder about or a gossip, but she was sleeveless, +dawdling, and dreamy, and always behindhand. Everything was out of its +place. Thus Foster would take up a spill-case, expecting to find +material wherewith to light his evening pipe; but instead of spills, it +was full of greasy hair-pins. And when, annoyed and disgusted, he tore +a fly-leaf out of one of his wife's school prizes, declaring that, if +she did not provide him with spills, he would take them where he could +get them, a storm of passionate reproaches was followed by a volley of +curses on his part, and a hasty and indignant retreat to the public- +house parlour. + +And then, again, his late hours at the club, or the unwelcome presence +of his sceptical companions, whom he would sometimes bring home to +discuss their opinions over pipes and spirits, would be the ground of +strong and angry remonstrance. And the breach began soon to widen. + +Washing-day would come round with all its discomforts, which she had not +learned the art of mitigating or removing. Coming in, in better spirits +perhaps than usual, intending to have a cheerful tea and a cozy chat +after it, he would find everything in a state of disturbance, especially +his young wife's temper, with plenty of steam everywhere except from the +spout of the tea-pot. Indeed, poor Kate was one of those domestic +paradoxes in her own person and house which are specially trying to one +who cares for home comfort: and who is there who does not care for it? +She would be always cleaning, yet never clean; always smartening things +up, and yet never keeping them tidy. And so when William, on coming +home, would find pale, ghost-like linen garments hanging reeking from +the embossed arm of the gas chandelier a large piece of dissolving soap +on the centre of the table-cover, a great wooden tub in the place where +his arm-chair should be, a lump of sodden rags in one of his slippers, +and his wife toiling and fuming in the midst of all, with her hair in +papers and her elbows in suds, with scarce the faintest hope for him of +getting his evening meal served for more than an hour to come,--what +wonder if harsh words escaped him, repaid with words equally harsh from +his excited partner, and followed by his flinging himself in a rage out +of such a home, and returning near midnight with a plunging, stumbling +step on the stairs, which sent all the blood chilly back to the heart of +the unhappy woman, and quenched in sobs and tears the bitter words that +were ready to burst forth! + +But at last there came the little babe, and with it a rush of returning +fondness and tenderness into the heart of both the parents; yet only for +a time. The tide of home misery had set in full again; and now on this +winter evening, a little more than a twelve-month after her marriage, +poor, unhappy Kate Foster knelt by the side of the little cradle, her +tears falling fast and thick on the small white arm of her sick baby; +for very sick it was, and she feared that death (ay, not death, but +God--her heart, her conscience said, "God,") was about to snatch from +her the object she loved best on earth, even with a passionate love. + +Though it was winter and cold, yet the casement was ajar, for the +chimney of the room had smoked for weeks; but nothing had been done +towards remedying the trouble, except grumbling at it, and letting in +draughts of keen air through half-open doors and windows, to the +manifest detriment of the health of both mother and child. And what was +she to do, poor thing, in her hour of special trial and need? + +Looking earnestly at her baby through her tears, she leaned eagerly and +breathlessly forward into the cradle. Was it gone? Was it really taken +from her? No; she could hear its disturbed breathing still. And then +as she knelt on, with clasped hands and throbbing heart, something +brought to her lips words of prayer: "O Lord! O Lord, have pity on me! +Oh, baby, baby!--don't take baby from me!" + +Even that poor prayer gave her some relief, followed as it was by an +agony of weeping. Never had she uttered a word of prayer before since +the day she was married, and her own words startled her. Yet again and +again she felt constrained to make her simple supplication, pleading +earnestly for her baby's life with the God the reality of whose being +and power she now _felt_, spite of herself. + +But what was that sound that made her spring up from her knees, and +listen with colourless cheeks and panting breath? She thought she heard +footsteps pass under the half-open window. There was no regular road at +the back of the house, but the premises could be approached in that +direction by a narrow path along the side of the hill which shut in the +buildings in the rear. Between the hill and the house was a back-yard +into which the parlour looked, and through this yard William would +sometimes come from his work; but ordinary visitors came to the front, +and trades-people to a side door on the left. + +Could the footsteps have been those of her husband? And had he paused +to listen to her words of earnest and passionate prayer? If so, she +well knew what a torrent of ridicule and sarcastic reproach she must +prepare herself for. And yet the step did not sound like his. Alas! +she had learned to know it now too well! She dreaded it. There was no +music in it now for her. Perhaps she was mistaken. She listened +eagerly; all was still, and once more her eyes and heart turned towards +the little cradle, as the restless babe woke up with a start and a cry. +So again she knelt beside it, and, rocking it, gave free vent to her +tears, and to words of prayer, though uttered now more softly. + +But there--there was that footstep again! There could be no mistake +about it now; and as certainly it was not her husband's tread. Annoyed +now that some intruder should be lurking about and listening to her +words, she was just going to ask angrily who was there, when the +casement was pushed cautiously a little more open, and a hand holding a +small book was thrust into the room. + +Amazed, terrified, Kate stood up erect, and stared with parted lips at +the strange intrusion. What could it mean? The hand was that of a +woman, and there were rings on the fingers. It was but a moment that +she had time to mark these things; for before she could recover from her +surprise, the mysterious hand had dropped the book into the room, and +with it one of its rings, which rolled towards the hearth, sparkling as +it went. Then there was a rapid retreat of quiet footsteps outside, and +all was still again. + +Taking up the ring, which had a red stone in the centre like a ruby, and +was seemingly of considerable value, after examining it for a moment, +she put it into her pocket, and then picked up the little book, which +lay on the floor where it had fallen, just underneath the window. She +knew what it was in a moment,--a small Bible. It was very old, and very +much worn, and had clearly done good service to its owner, or owners, +for many a long year. Sitting by the cradle, and rocking it with one +hand, she held the little volume in the other, and closely examined it. +The paper of which it was made was coarse, and the printing old- +fashioned. On the inside of the stiff cover was written in faded ink:-- + + _Steal not this book for fear of shame_, + _For here you see the owner's name_. + _June 10, 1798_. + _Mary Williams_. + +Kate's perplexities only increased. But now her attention was drawn to +the words themselves of the book. As she turned over page after page, +she noticed that all the most striking texts were underlined with red- +ink, especially those which spoke of help in trouble, and of the mercy +and love of God. Her attention was now thoroughly aroused. Verse after +verse was read by her, with tearful eyes and a heart opening itself to +the sunshine of divine love; while every fresh text, as she turned from +leaf to leaf, seemed more and more appropriate to her own troubles and +sorrows. + +Could this be the same Bible which she used to read in the Sunday- +school, and hear read at church? She could scarcely believe it. It +seemed now as if this were altogether another book, just written and +printed expressly for her, to meet her case. All the once familiar +passages and verses had new life and light in them now. The baby +stirred; she hushed it back to sleep. The fire burned low, but she read +on,--she was living out of herself. + +At last she laid down the little volume, and resting her forehead on her +hand, thought long and deeply, her lips moving in silent prayer. Then +she started up hastily, stirred and brightened up the fire, and put the +room and herself into the best order that she could. Then she took up +the Bible again, and gazing at it earnestly, said slowly and half-out +loud to herself, "Wherever can this have come from?" And then a voice +seemed to speak within her; and lifting up her eyes reverently to that +heaven which she had never dared to think about for years past, she +exclaimed softly and fervently, as she clasped her hands together: "O my +God, thou didst send it! It came to me from heaven!" + +But her thoughts were soon recalled to earth again. Her husband's step +was heard now. It was past ten o'clock, and he was returning from his +club. + +It was often now that she had to watch and wait in weariness to as late +an hour. "He mustn't see this," she cried shudderingly to herself, as +she heard his hand upon the latch; "not yet, not yet!" So, snatching up +the little Bible, she placed it deep down under the clothes of the +baby's cradle. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +THE RAILWAY BRIDGE. + +The Crossbourne station was not in the town itself, but on the +outskirts, about a quarter of a mile distant from the Town Hall. +Nevertheless, the town was creeping up to it in the form of a suburb, +which would ere long reach the station gates. Crossbourne, the present +flourishing manufacturing town, occupied the hills on either side of the +little stream, the greater part of it being to the north, in the +direction of the parish church. The station itself was on high ground, +and looked across over open country, the line in the London direction +passing from it through the centre of the town over a noble viaduct of +some twenty arches. In the opposite direction the line made a gradual +descent from the station, and at a mile's distance passed through a +cutting, towards the farther end of which it inclined northwards in a +sharp curve. + +Just about the middle of this curve, and where the cutting was pretty +deep, a massive wooden foot-bridge was thrown across the line. This was +at a place not much frequented, as the bridge formed only part of a +short cut into a by-road which led to one or two farms on the hill- +sides. Along the rails round this ascending curve the ordinary trains +laboured with bated breath; and even the dashing express was compelled +to slacken here a little in its speed. + +It was on the 23rd of December, the same night in which Kate Foster +received so mysteriously the little Bible which was dropped with the +ring into her parlour, that four men were plodding along in the darkness +over a field-way which led to the wooden bridge just mentioned. They +were dressed in their ordinary mill or foundry working-clothes, and +seemed, from their stealthy walk and crouching manner, to be out on no +good or honest errand. Three of them slouched along with their hands +deep in their pockets; the fourth carried a bag of some kind, which +apparently was no burden to him, for it swung lightly backwards and +forwards on two of his fingers. The men's faces were all muffled in +scarves, and their caps pulled down over their eyes. As they walked +along the field-path in single file they preserved a profound silence. +At last they reached a stile which brought them out close to the end of +the bridge which was nearest to the up-line, along which the trains to +London passed. + +It was now nearly half-past ten. Everything around was profoundly +still, except the faint wailing of the wind among the telegraph wires. +A drizzling rain had been falling at intervals, for the season was +remarkably mild for the time of year, though the little air that blew +was raw and chilly. It was very dark, nevertheless the great wooden +parapet of the bridge could be distinctly seen on either side, as the +four men stood on the roadway of the bridge itself midway over the line. + +"Ned," said one of the men in a hoarse whisper, "just cross right over, +and see if there's any one about." + +The man addressed crept cautiously over to the farther side of the line, +and along the road either way for a hundred yards or more, and then +returned to his companions. + +"It's all right," he whispered; "there's not a soul stirring, as I can +hear or see." + +"Well, wait a bit," said the man whom he addressed; "just let's listen." + +All was perfectly quiet. + +"Now, then," said the first speaker again, "the express won't be long +afore it's here; who'll do it?" + +"Why, Joe Wright, to be sure; he's got the most spirit in him. I know +he'll do it," said another voice. + +"He's got most beer in him, at any rate," said the first speaker. + +There was a gruff chuckle all round. + +"Well, I'm your man," said Wright; "I've carried the bag, and I may as +well finish the job." + +"Look alive, then," cried Ned, "or the train'll pass afore you're +ready." + +"You just shut up," growled Joe; "I knows what I'm about." + +So saying, he began to climb over the parapet of the bridge, grasping in +his left hand the bag, which was apparently an ordinary travelling or +carpet-bag, rather below the average size. Having clambered over the +top rail, he let himself down among the huge beams which sprung out from +the great upright posts, and served to strengthen and consolidate the +whole structure. + +"Mind how you get down, Joe; take care you don't slip," said more than +one voice anxiously from above. + +"All right," was the reply; "I'm just ready." + +"Stick fast, and mind where you drop it; she's coming!" cried Ned half- +out loud, in a voice of intense excitement. + +Joe Wright was now half standing, half hanging over the up-rails, a few +feet only above where the roofs of the carriages would pass. The low, +labouring sound of the coming train had been heard for some moments +past; then it swelled into a dull roar as the light wind carried it +forward, then became fainter again as the wind lulled; and then burst +into a rushing, panting whirlwind as the engine turned the bend of the +curve. Forward dashed the train, as though it were coming with a will +to batter down the bridge at a blow; light flashing from its lamps, +fiery smoke throbbing out from the funnel in giant puffs, and a red-hot +glare glowing from beneath the furnace. + +"Now then!" shouted the men from above. "All right!" Joe shouted back +in answer. "Shra-a-a-auk!" roared the train, as with diminished speed +it passed beneath them. At that moment Wright, leaning down, dropped +the bag. It fell plump on a hollow place into a tarpaulin which covered +some luggage on the roof of one of the first-class carriages, and was +whisked far away in another second, not to be disturbed from its snug +retreat till it reached the great metropolis. + +"I've done it," cried Wright from below. + +"Now then," cried Ned in return, "get back as fast as you can, and be +careful." + +No reply. Joe was making his way back as best he could; but it was no +easy task, for his hands had become very cold, and the great oaken +supports of the bridge were slippery with the moisture which had +gathered thickly on them. + +"Well done," said one of his companions, stooping over to watch his +progress; "a little more to the left, Joe." + +The climber struggled upward. And now his right-hand was nearly on a +level with the floor of the bridge, and he was stretching out his left +hand to grasp one of the rails, when his foot suddenly slipping on a +sloping rafter, he lost his hold altogether, and, to the horror of his +companions, fell with a heavy thud on to the rails beneath him! + +"Joe, Joe--speak, man! Are you hurt?" cried Ned. + +No answer. + +"Lord help us," he continued, "the drunken train'll be up directly. Get +up, man, get up; you'll be killed if you lie there." + +Not a word from the unfortunate man. + +They all leant over the parapet, straining their eyes to see if Joe +really lay there or had crawled away. They could just make out a dark +heap lying apparently right across the rails: it did not stir; not a +moment was to be lost. + +"Here, Ned," cried the man who had seemed to act as a sort of leader of +the party, "just get down the bank somehow, and drag him off the rails. +I'll see if I can drop down from the bridge." + +Alas! This was easier said than done. The whistle of the last stopping +train--sarcastically but too appropriately known among the men as "the +drunken train," from the ordinary condition of a considerable number of +its occupants--was already being sounded; but conveyed no warning to the +poor stunned wretch who lay helpless in the engine's path. Frantically +had Ned rushed down the bank of the cutting, while his companion, at the +risk of his own life, sliding, slipping, tumbling among the rafters of +the bridge, had dropped close to the prostrate body, and then sprung to +his feet. It was too late; the instrument of death was upon them. A +moment more, and the train had passed over their miserable companion. + +In a few minutes the horror-stricken group were gathered round the poor, +bleeding, mangled mass of humanity. The sight was too terrible to +describe. One thing there could be no doubt about--their unhappy +comrade was entirely past their help; the work of destruction had been +complete; and what was _now_ to be done? Silently all crept back again +to the little stile. A hasty consultation was held. + +"Mates," said the chief speaker, "it's a bad job, but it's plain enough +_we_ can't do him no good; it's past that. It's no fault of ours. Poor +Joe!" + +"Shall we go down and drag him off the rails on to the bank?" asked Ned. + +"Where's the use, man?" replied the other; "we shall only be getting +ourselves into trouble: it'll seem then as if some one else had been +having a hand in it, and we shall be getting his blood on our clothes. +It's all over with him--that's certain; and now we must take care of +ourselves: what's done can't be undone. Pity we ever meddled with that +bag. But that's all past now. Not a word about this to living soul, +mates. I'm sure we all see as that's our line; and a blessed thing +it'll be if we manage to keep clear of another scrape. This one's been +bad enough, I'm sure." + +So all slunk quietly back to their own homes. And next day all +Crossbourne was horrified to hear that Joe Wright had been found on the +line cut to pieces by some train that had run over him. + +An inquest, of course, was held; but as it was well-known that poor Joe +was sadly addicted to drink, and was often away from his home for nights +together on drunken sprees, it was thought, in the absence of any +evidence to the contrary, that he had wandered on to the line in a state +of intoxication, and had been overtaken and killed by the express or +stopping train. A verdict of "accidental death" was given accordingly. + +But poor Wright's sad end made no difference in the drunkenness of +Crossbourne; indeed, Ned and his two companions in that awful night's +adventure dared not leave their old haunts and ways, even had they +wished to do so, lest any change in their habits should arouse suspicion +against them. So Alcohol still maintained his sway over a vast body of +loyal subjects in the busy town, and gathered in the spoils of desolate +homes, broken hearts, and shattered constitutions. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +DOCTOR JOHN PROSSER. + +The express train which passed through Crossbourne station between ten +and eleven o'clock on the night when Joe Wright met with his sad end, +arrived in London about three a.m. the following morning. It was +heavily laden, for it conveyed a large number of persons from the north, +who were coming up to the metropolis to spend Christmas with their +friends. + +From a first-class carriage about the middle of the train there emerged +a heap of coats and wraps, surmounted by a fur cap, the whole enclosing +a gentleman of middle age and middle height, with black beard and +moustache, and gold-rimmed spectacles. + +"Cab, sir?" asked the porter who opened the door. + +"If you please." + +"Any luggage, sir?" + +"Yes; it was put on the roof of my carriage." + +"All right, sir; I'll see to it if you'll get into the cab." + +So the gentleman, who was John Prosser, PhD, got into the cab which was +waiting for him; and having seen that his luggage was all brought to the +conveyance, threw himself into a corner and closed his eyes, having +given his direction to the driver as he was stepping into the vehicle. + +"Stop a moment, Jim," said the porter to the cabman, as the latter was +just jerking his reins for a start. "Here, catch hold of this bag; it +was on the top of this gent's carriage: no one else owns to it, so it +must be his'n. The gent's forgotten it, I dessay." + +So saying, he threw a light, shabby-looking carpet-bag up to the driver, +who deposited it by his side, and drove off. + +After sleeping for a few hours at a hotel where he was well-known, and +having urgent business in the city next morning, the doctor deposited +his luggage, which he had left with sundry rugs and shawls in charge of +the hotel night porter, at his own door on his way to keep his business +appointment, leaving word that he should be at home in the afternoon. +With the other luggage there was handed in the shabby-looking carpet-bag +which had come with it. + +"What's this?" asked the boy-in-buttons, in a tone of disgust, of the +housemaid, as he touched the bag with his outstretched foot. + +"I don't know, I'm sure," was the reply. "It ain't anything as master +took with him, and I'm quite sure it don't belong to mistress." + +"I'll tell you what it is," said the boy abruptly, and in a solemn +voice, "it's something as has to do with science. There's something +soft inside it, I can feel. P'raps there's something alive in it--I +shouldn't wonder. Oh! P'raps there's gun-cotton in it. I'd take care +how I carried it if I was you, Mary, or p'raps it'll go off and blow you +to bits!" + +"Oh goodness!" exclaimed the housemaid, "I won't touch it. Just you +take it yourself and put it into master's study; it'll be safest there." + +So the boy, with a grin of extreme satisfaction at the success of his +assault on the housemaid's nerves, helped her to carry the rest of the +luggage upstairs, and then deposited the mysterious bag in a corner of +the doctor's own special sanctum. Now this study was a room worth +describing, and yet not very easy to describe. + +The doctor's house itself was one of those not very attractive-looking +dwellings which are to be found by streetfuls running from square to +square in the west end of London. It had stood patiently there for many +a long year, as was evident from the antiquated moulding over the +doorway, and from a great iron extinguisher, in which the link-bearers +of old used to quench their torches, which formed part of the sombre- +coloured ironwork that skirted the area. The gloomy monotony of the +street was slightly relieved by a baker's shop at one corner and a +chemist's at the other. But for these, the general aspect would have +been one of unbroken dinginess. + +Nor did the interior of the doctor's house present a much livelier +appearance. + +The entrance-hall, which was dark and narrow, had rather a sepulchral +smell about it, which was not otherwise than in keeping with some +shelves of books at the farther end--the overflow apparently of the +doctor's library; the tall, dark volumes therein looking like so many +tombs of the _dead_ languages. + +To the left, as you entered the hall, was a dining-room massively +furnished, adorned with a few family portraits, and as many vigorous +engravings. But there lacked that indescribable air of comfort which +often characterises those rooms devoted to the innocent and social +refreshment of the body at meal-times. The chairs, though in themselves +all that dining-room chairs ought to be, did not look as if on a +habitual good understanding with one another; some were against the +wall, and others stood near the table, and at irregular distances, as +though they never enjoyed that cozy fraternity so desirable in well- +conditioned seats. Books, too, lay about in little zigzag heaps; while +a bunch of keys, a pair of lady's gloves, and a skein of coloured wool +lay huddled together on the centre of the sideboard. The whole +arrangement, or rather disarrangement, of the room bespoke, on the part +of the presiding female management, an indifference to those minor +details of order and comfort a due attention to which makes home (a +genuine English home) the happiest spot in the world. + +Opposite to this room, on the other side of the hall, was another of +similar size, used apparently as a sort of reception-room. Huge book- +shelves occupied two of the walls, an orrery stood against a third, +while dusty curiosities filled up the corners. There was something +peculiarly depressing about the general appearance and tone of this +apartment,--nothing bright, nothing to suggest cheerful and happy +thoughts,--plenty of food for the mind, but presented in such an +indigestible form as was calculated to inflict on the consumer +intellectual nightmare. This room was known as the library. + +But we pass on to the doctor's own special room--the study. This was +beyond and behind the dining-room. Book-shelves towered on all sides, +filled with volumes of all sizes, and in nearly all languages, some in +exquisitely neat white vellum binding, with Tome One, Tome Two, +etcetera, in shining gold on their backs--the products of an age when a +conscientiousness could be traced in the perfect finish of all the +details of a work external or internal; some in the form of stately +folios, suggestive at once both of the solidity and depth of learning +possessed by the writers and expected in the readers; while a multitude +of lesser volumes were crowded together, some erect, others lying flat, +or leaning against one another for support. Greek and Latin classic +authors, and in all languages poets, historians, and specially writers +on science were largely represented--even French and German octavoes +standing at ease in long regiments side by side, suggestive of no +Franco-Prussian war, but only of an intellectual contest, arising out of +amicable differences of opinion. On one side of the principal bookcase +was an electrical machine, and on the other an air-pump; while a rusty +sword and a pair of ancient gauntlets served as links to connect the +warlike past with the pacific present. In the centre of the room was a +large leather-covered writing-table, on which lay a perfect chaos of +printed matter and manuscript; while bottles of ink, red, black, and +blue, might be seen emerging from the confusion like diminutive forts +set there to guard the papers from unlearned and intrusive fingers. +Order was clearly not the doctor's "first law;" and certainly it must +have required no common powers of memory to enable him, when seated in +front of the confusion he himself had made, to lay his hand upon any +particular book or manuscript which might claim his immediate attention. +On either side of a small fire-place at the rear of the table, and +above it, hung charts, historical, geological, and meteorological; while +a very dim portrait of some friend of the doctor, or perhaps of some +literary celebrity, looked down from over the doorway through a haze of +venerable dust on the scientific labours which it could neither share +nor lighten. + +In the corner of the room farthest from the door was a little closet, +seldom opened, secured by a patent lock, whose contents no one was +acquainted with save the doctor himself. The housemaid, whose duties in +this room were confined to an occasional wary sweeping and dusting, and +fire-lighting in the winter season, would keep at a respectful distance +from this closet, or pass it with a creeping dread; for the boy-in- +buttons had thrown out dark suggestions that it probably contained the +skulls of murderers, or, at the least, snakes and scorpions preserved in +spirits, or even possibly alive, and ready to attack any daring intruder +on their privacy. + +Such were Dr John Prosser's home and study. + +It was just four o'clock in the afternoon of the 24th of December when +the doctor returned to his house from the city. + +"Is your mistress at home?" he asked of the boy. + +"No, sir; she told me to tell you that she was gone to a meeting of the +school board." + +The doctor's countenance fell. He was evidently disappointed; and no +wonder, for he had been away from his home for the last ten days, and +felt keenly the absence of his wife, and of a loving greeting on his +return. + +"Any letters for me, William?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir, they're on your table; and, please, sir, I've put the little +carpet-bag into your study." + +"Carpet-bag! What carpet-bag?" asked his master. + +"Why, sir, the little bag as came with your luggage. We didn't take it +upstairs, because it's nothing as you took with you when you left home, +and Mary says it don't belong to mistress; so I thought it would be +better to put it into your study till you came home, as it might be +something particular. It's in the corner by the fire-place, sir." + +"Well, well, never mind," was the reply; "let me know when your mistress +comes in," and the doctor retired to his sanctum. + +Drawing up his chair to the table, he was soon deep in his letters; but +turning round to poke the fire, his eye fell on the little bag. "How +can I have come by this, I wonder? And what can it be?" he said to +himself, as he took it up and turned it round and round. It was +fastened by an ordinary padlock, which easily opened on the application +of one of the doctor's keys. "Nothing but waste paper," he said, as he +turned out a portion of the contents, which appeared to consist merely +of pieces of newspaper and brown paper crumpled up. "Pshaw! Some +foolish hoax or practical joke intended for me, or somebody else, +perhaps!" he exclaimed. "Well, it seems scarcely worth making any +trouble about; but if it has come here by mistake, and is of sufficient +value, there will be inquiries or an advertisement about it." So +saying, he replaced the crumpled papers, locked the bag again, and +opening his closet, placed it on one of the upper shelves, where it must +rest for a while and gather dust. + +When Dr Prosser had finished reading his letters, and had answered such +as needed an immediate reply, he betook himself to the drawing-room. +This was a large apartment, occupying upstairs the same area as the +library, hall, and dining-room. It was handsomely furnished, bearing +marks in every direction of a highly cultivated taste and of woman's +handiwork. Yet there was wanting that peculiar air of comfort which +gives a heart--cheering glow alike to the humblest cottage parlour and +the elegant saloon of the man of wealth and refinement. Indeed, it +might truly be said that the room abounded in everything that could be +devised, _but_ comfort. Like a picture full of brilliant colouring, the +various hues of which need blending and toning down, so the articles of +luxury and beauty lavishly scattered about Dr Prosser's drawing-room, +though tastefully selected, seemed calculated rather to call forth the +passing admiration of friends and strangers than to give abiding +pleasure to their possessors. + +At present there was certainly something very discouraging about the +whole appearance of things in the eyes of the doctor, as he entered the +costly furnished apartment. A fire, it is true, twinkled between the +bars of the grate; but its few feeble sparks, in contrast with the +prevailing surroundings of black coal and cinders, were suggestive to +the feelings rather of the chilliness they were meant to counteract than +of the warmth which they were designed to impart. Near the fire was a +dwarf, round, three-legged table, on which lay a manuscript in a female +hand. The doctor took it up, and laid it down with a sigh. It was a +portion of a long-since-begun and never-likely-to-be-finished essay on +comparative anatomy. A heap of unanswered letters lay on a taller table +close by, having displaced a work-basket, whose appearance of +superlative neatness showed how seldom the fingers of its gentle owner +explored or made use of its homely stores. A grand piano stood near the +richly curtained windows. It was open. A vocal duet occupied the +music-rest, and various other pieces for voice and instrument were +strewed along the highly polished top. Near the piano was a harp, while +a manuscript book of German and Italian songs was placed upon an elegant +stand near it, and other pieces filled a gaping portfolio at the foot. +On a beautifully inlaid table in the centre of the room was an +unfinished water-colour drawing, propped up by a pile of richly gilded +and ornamented books. The drawing, with its support, had been pushed +back towards the middle of the table, to make way for a sheet or two of +note-paper containing portions of a projected poem. And the presiding +and inspiring genius of all this beautiful confusion was Agnes Prosser. + +And did she make her husband happy? Well, it was taken for granted by +friends and acquaintance that she did--or, at any rate, that it must be +_his_ fault if she did not; and so the poor doctor thought himself. He +was proud of his wife, and considered that he ought to be thoroughly +happy with her; but somehow or other, he was not so. She was, in the +common acceptation of the words, highly accomplished, of an amiable and +loving disposition, graceful and winning in person and manner, able to +take the head of his table to the entire satisfaction of himself and his +friends, and capable of conversing well on every subject with all who +were invited to her house, or whom she met in society elsewhere. + +What could her husband want more? He _did_ want something more--his +heart asked and yearned for something more. What was it? He could +hardly distinctly tell. Nevertheless he felt himself on this +afternoon--he had been gradually approaching the feeling for some time +past--a disappointed man. Perhaps it was his own fault, he thought; yet +so it was. + +He was now just forty years of age, and had been married three years. +His wife was some ten years younger than himself. He had looked well +round him before making choice of one with whom he was to share the joys +and sorrows of a domestic life. He was a man who thoroughly respected +religion, and could well discriminate between the genuine servant of +Christ and the mere sounding professor, while at the same time +scientific studies had rather tended to make him undervalue clear +dogmatic teaching as set forth in the revealed Word of God. Yet he was +too profound a thinker to adopt that popular scepticism which is either +the refuge of those who, consciously or unconsciously, use it as a +screen, though it proves but a semi-transparent one at the best, to shut +out the light of a coming judgment, or the halting-place of thinkers who +stop short of the only source of true and infallible wisdom--the +revealed mind of God. His wife, too, had been taught religiously, and +cordially assented to the truths of the gospel, though the constraining +love of Christ was yet wanting; and both she and her husband were +intimate friends of one whose path had ever been since they had known +it, "the path of the just, like the shining light, that shineth more and +more unto the perfect day:" and that one was Ernest Maltby, now vicar of +Crossbourne. + +So Dr Prosser had chosen his wife well. And yet he was disappointed in +her; and why? Just because he had made the mistake--and how common a +mistake it is in these days--of supposing that accomplishments acquired +and a highly cultivated mind make the model woman, wife, and mother. +Surely the mistake is a sad and fatal one--fatal to woman's highest +happiness and truest usefulness; fatal to her due fulfilment of the part +which her loving Creator designed her to fulfil in this world! + +There are two concentric circles in which we all move, an inner or +domestic circle, an outer or social circle. We are too often educating +our women merely for the outer circle. We crowd the mind and memory +with knowledge of all sorts, that they may shine in society: we forget +to teach them first and foremost how to make home happy. It was so with +Mrs Prosser. She had overstrained her mind with the burden of a +multitude of acquirements and accomplishments, which had not, after all, +made her truly accomplished. One or two things for which she had real +taste and ability thoroughly mastered would have been a far greater +source of delight to her husband, and of satisfaction to herself, than +the mere handful of unripe fruit which she had gathered from a dozen +different branches of the tree of knowledge, and in the collecting of +which she had, in a measure, impaired the elasticity of her mind and her +bodily strength, and found no time for making herself mistress of a +thousand little undemonstrative acquirements which tend to keep a steady +light of joy and peace burning daily and hourly in the home. + +What wonder, then, that, when a little one came to gladden the hearts of +those who were already fondly attached to each other, the poor mother +was unable to do justice to her child. Partly nourished by a stranger, +and partly brought up by hand, and missing those numberless little +attentions which either ignorance or a mind otherwise occupied prevented +Mrs Prosser from giving to the frail being who had brought into the +world with it a delicacy of constitution due, in a considerable degree, +to its mother's overstrain of mind and body, the baby pined and drooped, +and, spite of medicine, prayers, and tears, soon closed its weary eyes +on a world which had used it but roughly, to wing its way into a land +unclouded by sin or sorrow. + +How keenly he felt the loss of his child the doctor dared not say, +especially to his wife, entertaining as he did a painful misgiving that +she had hardly done her duty by it; while on the mother's heart there +rested an abiding burden, made doubly heavy by a dreadful consciousness +of neglect on her part--a burden which no lapse of time could ever +wholly remove. Thus a stationary shadow brooded over that home where +all might have been unclouded sunshine. + +Dr Prosser was disappointed; for he had hoped to find in his wife, not +merely or chiefly an intellectual and highly educated companion, but one +in whose society he could entirely unbend--one who would make his home +bright by causing him to forget for a while science and the busy whirl +of the world in the beautiful womanly tendernesses which rejoice a +husband's heart, and smooth out the wrinkles from his brow. + +It was, then, as a disappointed man that Dr Prosser sat with his feet +on the drawing-room polished fender with his chair tilted back. Moodily +gazing at the cheerless fire, he had become sunk deep in absorbing +meditation, when a rushing step on the stairs roused him from his +reverie, and scattered for the time all painful thoughts. + +"My dear, dear John, how delighted I am to see you back; I hardly +expected you so soon!" exclaimed Agnes Prosser, after exchanging a most +loving salutation with her husband. + +"Why, I thought," was the answer, with somewhat of reproach in its tone, +"that you knew I should be here this afternoon." + +"Oh yes; but hardly so soon. Well, I am so sorry; it was too bad not to +be at home to welcome you. And, I declare, they've nearly let the fire +out. What can that stupid boy have been about? And the room in such +confusion too! Well, dearest, you shan't find it so again. Just ring +the bell, please, and we'll make ourselves comfortable.--William," to +the boy who answered the summons, "bring up a cup of tea, and a glass of +sherry, and the biscuit box.--You'll like a cup of tea, John.--And, by- +the-by, William, tell Mrs Lloyd I should like dinner half an hour +earlier.--You won't mind dinner at half-past five to-day, dearest?" + +"No, my dear Agnes, not if it is more convenient to yourself." + +"Why, the fact is, I've promised to meet a select committee of ladies +this evening at seven o'clock, at Lady Strong's." + +"What!--this evening!" exclaimed her husband. "Why, it's Christmas-eve! +Whatever can these good ladies want with one another to-night away from +their own firesides?" + +"Ah now, John, that's a little hit at your poor wife. But a man with +your high sense of duty ought not to say so. You know it must be `duty +first, and pleasure afterwards.'" + +"True, Agnes, where the duty is one plainly laid upon us, but not where +it is of one's own imposing. I can't help thinking that a wife's first +and chief duties lie at home." + +"Oh, now, you mustn't look grave like that, and scold me. I ordered a +fly to call for me at a quarter to seven, and I shan't be gone much more +than an hour, I daresay. And you can have a good long snooze by the +dining-room fire while I'm away. I know how you enjoy a snooze." + +William now appearing with the tray, she passed the tea to her husband, +and took the glass of sherry herself. A cloud settled for a moment on +the doctor's brow. He wished that the constant drain on his wife's +energies, physical and mental, could be restored by something less +perilous than these stimulants, resorted to, he could see, with +increasing frequency. But she always assured him that nothing so +reinvigorated her as just one glass of sherry. + +"And what are these good ladies going to meet about?" he asked, when the +tray had been removed. + +"Oh, you'll laugh, I daresay, when I tell you," she replied; "but I +assure you that they are all good and earnest workers. We are going to +discuss the best way of improving the homes of the working-classes." + +"Well," said the doctor, laughing, but with a touch of mingled sarcasm +and bitterness in his voice, "I think your committee can't do better +than advise the working-women of England generally to make their homes +more attractive to their husbands, and to lead the way yourselves." + +"My dearest John," exclaimed his wife, a little taken aback, "you are +cruelly hard upon us poor ladies. I declare you're getting positively +spiteful. I think we'd better change the subject.--How did you leave +our dear friends the Johnsons? And what are they doing in the north +about the `strikes' and `trades-unions'?" + +"Really," he replied wearily, "I must leave the `strikes' and such +things to take care of themselves just now. The Johnsons send their +love. They were all well, and most kind and hospitable. But, my +dearest wife, I feel concerned about yourself; you look fagged and pale. +Come, sit down for a few minutes, and tell me all about it. There, the +fire's burning up a bit; and now that I have got you for a while, I must +not let you slip through my fingers. Just lay your bonnet down; you'll +have plenty of time to dress for dinner. I don't like these evening +meetings. I am sure they are good for neither mind nor body. You'll +wear yourself out." + +"Oh, nonsense, dear John; I never was better than I am now--only a +little tired now and then. But surely we are put into this world to do +good; and it is better to wear out than to rust out." + +"Not a doubt of it, my dearest Agnes; but it is quite possible to keep +the rust away without wearing yourself out at all; and, still more, +without wearing yourself out prematurely. At the rate you are going on +now, you will finish up your usefulness in a few years at the farthest, +instead of extending it, please God, over a long and peaceful life." + +Mrs Prosser was silent for a few moments, and then she said: "Are you +not a little unreasonable, dear John? What would you have me give up? +If all were of your mind, what would become of society?" + +"Why, in that case, I believe that society would find itself on a much +safer foundation, and surrounded by a much healthier atmosphere. But +come, now, tell me, what are your engagements for next week?" + +"Why, not so many. To-morrow is Christmas-day, you know, and the next +day is Sunday, so that I shall have quite a holiday, and a fine time for +recruiting." + +"Good! And what on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etcetera?" + +"Let me see, John. On Monday and Thursday mornings Clara Thompson and +her sister come here, and we read French, German, and Italian together; +and on Monday evening we meet at Clara's mother's to practise for the +amateur concert. On Tuesday morning I have promised to help poor Miss +Danvers." + +"Miss Danvers! Why, what help can she need from you?" + +"Come, dearest John, don't be unfeeling; she is over head and ears in +debt, and--" + +"And do you mean that you are going to take her liabilities upon +yourself?" + +"Nonsense, John; you are laughing at me; it isn't kind. I had not +finished my sentence. She is overwhelmed with letter-debts, poor thing; +and I promised to go and help her with her correspondence. You know we +are told in the Bible to `bear one another's burdens.'" + +"True, my dearest wife; but the same high authority, if I remember +rightly, bids us do our own business first. But what has entailed such +an enormous amount of correspondence on Miss Danvers?" + +"Only her anxiety to do good. She is secretary to some half-dozen +ladies' societies for meeting all sorts of wants and troubles.--Ah! I +see that cruel smile again on your face; but positively you must not +laugh at me nor her. I am sure she is one of the noblest women I know." + +"I won't question it for a moment, but I wish she could contrive to keep +her benevolence within such reasonable limits as would allow her to +transact her own business without taxing her friends. Anything more on +Tuesday?" + +"Nothing more, dearest, on Tuesday, away from home; but of course you +know that I have to work hard at my essay, my music, my drawing, and my +little poem. I see you shrug your shoulders, but you must not be hard +upon me. Why was I taught all these things if I am to make no use of +them?" + +"Why, indeed?" were the words which rose to the doctor's lips, but he +did not utter them. He only smiled sadly, and asked, "What of +Wednesday?" + +"There, John, perhaps you had better look for yourself," she said, +rather piqued at his manner, and taking a little card from her pocket- +book, she handed it to him. + +Pressing her left hand lovingly in his own, he took the card from her, +and read:-- + +"`Engagements. Wednesday, 11 a.m. Meet the professor at Mrs +Maskelyne's.'--Mrs Maskelyne! That's your strong-minded friend who +goes in for muscular Christianity and vivisection! I'm very glad we +don't keep a pet terrier or spaniel!"--"Ah, John, you may laugh, but +she's a wonderful woman!"--"`Wonderful!' perhaps so, dear Agnes,--an +`awful' woman, _I_ should say; that's only a term expressive of a +different kind of admiration.--`Concert in the evening.' + +"Now for Thursday. `At 12 o'clock, visit the hospital. Jews' meeting +in the evening.' + +"`Friday, 10 a.m. Club. Afternoon, district visiting.' + +"`Saturday, 3 p.m. Mothers' meeting.'--Why, this mothers' meeting is +something quite new. I thought the vicar's wife took that."--"So she +does, John; but, poor thing, she is so overworked, that I could not +refuse when she asked me to take it for her during the next three +months." + +"And is this sort of thing to go on perpetually?" asked the doctor in a +despairing voice. + +"Why should it not, dearest husband? You would not have your wife a +drone in these days, when the world all round us is full of workers?" + +"Certainly not; but I very much question if we have not gone mad on this +subject of work--at any rate as regards female workers." + +"And would you, then, John, shut up people's hearts and hands? I +thought none knew better than yourself what a vast field there is open +for noble effort and service of every kind. Surely you ought to be the +last person to discourage us." + +"Nay, my beloved wife, you are not doing me justice," said the doctor +warmly. "What I am convinced of is this--and the conviction gains +strength with me every day--that good and loving women like yourself are +in grievous peril of marring and curtailing their real usefulness by +attempting too much. If agencies for good are to be multiplied, let +those who set new ones on foot seek for their workers amongst those who +are not already overburdened or fully occupied. I cannot help thinking +that there is often much selfishness, or, to use a less harsh word, want +of consideration, in those who apply to ladies whose time is already +fully and properly occupied, to join them as workers in their pet +schemes; for it is easier to try and enlist those who are known to be +zealous workers already, than to be at the pains of hunting out new +ones. I am sure no one rejoices more than I do in the wonderful and +complicated machinery for doing good which exists on all sides in our +land and day--I think it one of the most cheering signs and evidences of +real progress amongst us; but, for all that, if a person wants to launch +a new ship, he should have reasonable grounds for trusting that he shall +be able to find hands to man her without borrowing those from a +neighbouring vessel, who have kept their watch through stormy winds and +waves, and ought, instead of doing extra duty, to be now resting in +their hammocks." + +Mrs Prosser was again silent for a while, and sat looking thoughtfully +into the fire. Then, in rather a sorrowful voice, she said, "And what, +then, dear John, do you think to be my duty? I can't help feeling that +there is a great deal in what you say. I have not been really satisfied +with my own way of going on for some time past. But what would you have +me do? What must I give up?" + +"I think," was his reply, "that the thing will settle itself, if you +will only begin at the right end." + +"And which is that, dearest?" + +"The home end. Let your first and best energies be spent on the home; +it will surely be happier for us both. And let the care of your own +health, in the way of taking proper exercise, be reckoned as a most +important part of home duties. Life is given us to use, and not to +shorten. Therefore, don't undertake anything which will unfit you for +the due performance of these home duties. You have no just call to any +such undertaking. Do that which is the manifest work lying at your +hand, and I feel sure you will be guided aright as to what other work +you can find time and strength for." + +"Well, John, I will think it well over; I am glad we have had this +conversation." + +"So am I, my precious wife; I am sure good will come of it. And you +know we have an invitation to visit the Maltbys in the spring: we shall +be sure to get some words of valuable counsel there. I don't want to +hinder you from doing good out of your own home; I don't want selfishly +to claim all your energies for home work, and my own convenience and +comfort: but I do feel strongly, and more and more strongly every day, +that there is a tendency at the present day to make an idol of woman's +work; to keep, too, the bow perpetually on the stretch; to drag wives, +mothers, and daughters from their home duties into public, and to give +them no rest, but bid them strain every nerve, and gallop, gallop till +they die." + +"Perhaps so, John; but it is time for me to go up and dress for dinner." + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +TOMMY TRACKS. + +No one was more universally respected or more vigorously abused in +Crossbourne than "Tommy Tracks," as he was sneeringly called. His real +name was Thomas Bradly. He was not a native of Crossbourne, but had +resided in that town for some five years past at the time when our story +opens. As he was a capital workman, and had two sons growing up into +young men who were also very skilful hands, it was thought quite natural +that he should have come to settle down in Crossbourne, where skilled +labour was well remunerated. As to where he came from, some said one +thing, some another. He was very reserved on the matter himself, and so +people soon ceased to ask him about it. + +Thomas was undoubtedly an oddity, but his eccentricities were of a kind +which did no one any harm, and only served to add force to his words and +example. He was an earnest Christian, and as earnest an abstainer from +all intoxicating drinks; and his family walked with him on the narrow +gospel way, and in their adherence to temperance principles and +practice. He was also superintendent of the church Sunday-school, and +the very life of the Temperance Society and Band of Hope, of both which +associations the vicar, who was himself an abstainer, was the president. +Indeed, he was the clergyman's right-hand in the carrying out of every +good work in the place. He was something of a reader of such sterling +and profitable works as came in his way, but his Bible was his chief +study. + +His special characteristics were a clear head, a large stock of shrewd +common sense, and an invincible love of truth and straightforwardness, +so that he could hold his ground against any man in the place, William +Foster the styptic not excepted. Not that Bradly was at all fond of an +argument; he avoided one when he could do so consistently, preferring to +do good by just sowing seeds of truth in his own humble way, leaving it +to God to deal with the tares and weeds. + +One of his favourite modes of sowing was to carry along with him at all +times a little bundle of religious and temperance tracts, and to offer +these whenever he had an opportunity, commonly accompanying the offer +with some quaint remark which would often overcome the reluctance to +accept them, even in those who were opposed to his principles and +practice. From this habit of his he was generally known among the +working-classes of Crossbourne by the nickname of "Tommy Tracts," or +"Tracks," as it was usually pronounced--an epithet first given in scorn, +but afterwards generally used without any unkindly feeling. Indeed, he +was rather proud of it than otherwise; nor could the taunts and gibes +which not unfrequently accompanied it ever ruffle in the least his good- +humoured self-possession. + +His family, which consisted of himself, his wife, their two sons, and a +daughter, all grown up, and an invalid sister of his own, lived in a +comfortable house on the outskirts of the town. + +This house he had built for himself out of the profits of his own +industry. Like its owner, it was rather of an eccentric character, +having been constructed on an original plan of his own, and, in +consequence, differed from any other dwelling-house in the town. Of +course, he was not left without abundance of comments on his +architectural taste, many of them being anything but complimentary, and +all of them outspoken. This moved him nothing. "Well, if the house +pleases me," he said to his critics, "I suppose it don't matter much +what fashion it's of, so long as the chimney-pots is outside, and the +fire-places in." Not that there was anything grand or ambitious in its +outward appearance, nor sufficiently peculiar to draw any special +attention to it. It was rather wider in front than the ordinary +working-men's cottages, and had a stone parapet above the upper windows, +running the whole length of the building, on which were painted, in +large black letters, the words, "Bradly's Temperance Hospital." + +As might have been expected, this inscription brought on him a storm of +ridicule and reproach, which he took very quietly; but if any one asked +him in a civil way what he meant by the words, his reply used to be, +"Any confirmed drunkard's welcome to come to my house for advice gratis, +and I'll warrant to make a perfect cure of him, if he'll only follow my +prescription." And when further asked what that prescription might be, +he would reply, "Just this: let the patient sign the pledge, and keep +it." And many a poor drunkard, whom he had lured up to his house, and +then pleaded and prayed with earnestly, had already proved the efficacy +of this remedy. + +When blamed by foes or friends for misleading people by putting such +words on his house, he would say--"Where's the harm? Haven't I as much +right to call my house `Temperance Hospital' as Ben Roberts has to call +his public `The Staff of Life'? What has _his_ `Staff of Life' done? +Why, to my certain knowledge, it has just proved a broken staff, and let +down scores of working-men into the gutter. But my `Temperance +Hospital' has helped back many a poor fellow _out_ of the gutter, and +set him on his feet again. It's a free hospital, too, and we're never +full; we takes all patients as comes." + +The inside of the house was as suggestive of Thomas's principles and +eccentricities of character as the outside. + +The front door opened into a long and narrow hall, lighted by a fan- +light. As you entered, your eyes would naturally fall on the words, +"Picture Gallery," facing you, on the farther wall, just over the +entrance to the kitchen. This "picture gallery" was simply the hall +itself, which had something of the appearance of a photographer's +studio, the walls being partly covered with portraits large and small, +interspersed with texts of Scripture, pledge-cards bearing the names of +himself and family, and large engravings from the _British Workman_, +coloured by one of his sons to give them greater effect. The +photographs were chiefly likenesses of those who had been his own +converts to total abstinence, with here and there the portrait of some +well-known temperance advocate. + +To the left of the hall was the parlour or company sitting-room, which +was adorned with portraits, or what were designed to be such, of the +Queen and other members of the royal family. Over the fire-place was a +handsome mirror, on either side of which were photographs of the vicar +and his wife; and on the opposite side of the room stood a bookcase with +glass doors, containing a small but judicious selection of volumes, +religious, historical, biographical, and scientific: for Thomas Bradly +was a reader in a humble way, and had a memory tenacious of anything +that struck him. But the pride of this choice apartment was an enormous +illustrated Bible, sumptuously bound, which lay on the middle of a round +table that occupied the centre of the room. + +The kitchen, however, was the real daily living-place of the family. It +had been built of unusually large dimensions, in order to accommodate a +goodly number of temperance friends, or of the members of the Band of +Hope, who occasionally met there. Over the doors and windows were large +texts in blue, and over the ample fire-place, in specially large letters +of the same colour, the words, "Do the next thing." + +Many who called on Thomas Bradly, and saw this maxim for the first time, +were rather puzzled to know what it meant. "What _is_ `the next +thing'?" they would ask. "Why, it's just this," he would reply: "the +next thing is the thing nearest to your hand. Just do the thing as +comes nearest to hand, and be content to do _that_ afore you concern +yourself about anything else. These words has saved me a vast of +trouble and worry. I've read somewhere as `worry' is one of the +specially prominent troubles of our day. I think that's true enough. +Well, now, I've found my motto there--`Do the next thing'--a capital +remedy for worry. Sometimes I've come down of a morning knowing as I'd +a whole lot of things to get done, and I've been strongly tempted to +make a bundle of them, and do them all at once, or try, at any rate, to +do three or four of 'em at the same time. But then I've just cast my +eyes on them words, and I've said to myself, `All right, Thomas Bradly; +you just go and do the next thing;' and I've gone and done it, and after +that I've done the next thing, and so on till I've got through the whole +bundle." + +Opposite the broad kitchen-range was a plate-rack well filled with +serviceable chinaware, and which formed the upper part of a dresser or +plain deal sideboard. Above the rack, and near the ceiling, were the +words, "One step at a time." + +This and the maxim over the fire-place he used to call his "two walking- +sticks." Thus, meeting a fellow-workman one day who had lately come to +Crossbourne, about whose character for steadiness he had strong +suspicions, and who seemed always in a hurry, and yet as if he could +never fairly overtake his work-- + +"James," he said to him, "you should borrow my two walking-sticks." + +"Walking-sticks!--what for?" asked the other. + +"Why, you'll be falling one of these days if you hurry so; and my two +walking-sticks would be a great help to you." The other stared at him, +quite unable to make out his meaning. + +"Walking-sticks, Tommy Tracks! You don't seem to stand in need of them. +I never see you with a stick in your hand." + +"For all that I make use of them every day, James; and if you'll step +into my house any night I'll show them to you: for I can't spare them +out of the kitchen, though I never go to my work without them." + +"Some foolery or other!" exclaimed the man he addressed, roughly. +Nevertheless his curiosity was excited, and he stopped Bradly at his +door one evening, saying "he was come to see his two walking-sticks." + +"Good--very good," said the other. "Come in. There, sit you down by +the table--and, missus, give us each a cup of tea. Now, you just look +over the chimney-piece. There's one of my walking-sticks: `Do the next +thing.' And, now, look over the dresser. There's the other walking- +stick: `One step at a time'. And I'll just tell you how to use them. +It don't require any practice. When you've half-a-dozen things as wants +doing, and can't all be done at once, just you consider which of 'em all +ought to be done first. That's `the next thing.' Go straight ahead at +that, and don't trouble a bit about the rest till that's done. That's +one stick as'll help you to walk through a deal of work with very little +bustle and worry. And, James, just be content in all you do to be +guided by the great Master as owns us all, the Lord Jesus Christ, who +bought us for himself with his own blood. Just be willing to follow +him, and let him lead you `one step at a time,' and don't want to see +the place for the next step till you've put your foot where he tells +you. You'll find that a rare stout walking-stick. You may lean your +whole weight on it, and it won't give way; and it'll help you in peace +through the trials of this life, and on the road to a better." + +Such was Thomas Bradly's kitchen. Many a happy gathering was held +there, and many a useful lesson learned in it. + +But, besides the rooms already mentioned, there was one adjoining the +kitchen which was specially Thomas Bradly's own. It was of considerable +size, and was entered from the inside by a little door out of the +kitchen. This door was commonly locked, and the key kept by Bradly +himself. The more usual approach to it was from the outside. Its +external appearance did not exactly contribute to the symmetry of the +whole premises; but that was a matter of very small moment to its +proprietor, who had added it on for a special purpose. The house itself +was on the hill-side, on the outskirts of the town, as has been said. +There was a little bit of garden in front and on either side, so that it +could not be built close up to. At present it had no very near +neighbours. A little gate in the low wall which skirted the garden, on +the left hand as you faced the house, allowed any visitor to have access +to the outer door of Bradly's special room without going through the +garden up the front way. On this outer door was painted in white +letters, "Surgery." + +"Do you mend broken bones, Tommy Tracks?" asked a working-man of not +very temperate or moral habits soon after this word had been painted on +the door. "If you do, I think we may perhaps give you a job before +long, as it'll be Crossbourne Wakes next Sunday week." + +"No," was Bradly's reply; "I mend broken hearts, and put drunkards' +homes into their proper places when they've got out of joint." + +"Indeed! You'll be clever to do that, Tommy." + +"Ah! You don't know, Bill. P'raps you'll come and try my skill +yourself afore long." + +The other turned away with a scornful laugh and a gibe; but the arrow +had hit its mark. But, indeed, what Thomas Bradly said was true. +Broken hearts and dislocated families had been set to rights in that +room. There would appointments be kept by wretched used-up sots, who +would never have been persuaded to ask for Bradly at the ordinary door +of entrance; and there on his knees, with the poor conscience-stricken +penitent bowed beside him, would Thomas pour out his simple but fervent +supplications to Him who never "broke a bruised reed, nor quenched the +smoking flax." And mothers, too, the slaves of the drink-fiend, had +found in that room liberty from their chains. Here, too, would the +vicar preside over meetings of the Temperance and Band of Hope +Committees. + +The room was snugly fitted up with a long deal table, as clean as +constant scrubbing could make it, and boasted of a dozen windsor-chairs +and two long benches. There were two cupboards also, one on each side +of a small but brightly burnished grate. In one of these, pledge-books, +cards for members, and temperance tracts and books were kept; in the +other was a stock of Bibles, New Testaments, prayer-books, hymn-books, +and general tracts. A few well-chosen coloured Scripture prints and +illuminated texts adorned the walls; and everything in Bradly's house +was in the most perfect order. You would not find a chair awry, nor +books lying loose about, nor so much as a crumpled bit of paper thrown +on the floor of his "Surgery," nor indeed anywhere about the premises. + +When a neighbour once said to him, "I see, Tommy Tracks, you hold with +the saying, `Cleanliness is next to godliness,'"--"Nay, I don't," was +his reply. "I read it another way: `Cleanliness is a part of +godliness.' I can't understand a dirty or disorderly Christian-- +leastways, it's very dishonouring to the Master; for dirt and untidiness +and confusion are types and pictures of sin. A true Christian ought to +be clean and tidy outside as well as in. Christ's servants should look +always cleaner and neater than any one else; for aren't we told to adorn +the doctrine of God our Saviour in _all_ things? And don't dirtiness +and untidiness in Christians bring a reproach on religion? And then, if +things are out of their place--all sixes and sevens--why, it's just +setting a trap for your feet. You'll stumble, and lose your temper and +your time, and fuss the life out of other people too, if things aren't +in their proper places, and you can't lay hold of a thing just when you +want it. It's waste of precious time and precious peace, and them's +what Christians can't afford to lose. Why, Jenny Bates, poor soul, used +to lose her temper, and she'd scarce find it afore she lost it again, +and just because she never had anything in decent order. And yet she +were a godly woman; but her light kept dancing about, instead of shining +steadily, as it ought to have done, just because she never knew where to +put her hand on anything she wanted, and everything was in her way and +in her husband's way, except what they was looking for at the time. +It's a fine thing when you can stick by the rule, `A place for +everything, and everything in its place.'" + +But now it is not to be supposed for a moment that a man like Thomas +Bradly could escape without a great deal of persecution in such a place +as Crossbourne. All sorts of hard names were heaped upon him by those +who were most rebuked by a life so manifestly in contrast to their own. +Many gnashed upon him with their teeth, and would have laid violent +hands on him had they dared. Sundry little spiteful tricks also were +played off upon him. Thus, one morning he found that the word "Surgery" +had been obliterated from his private door, and the word "Tomfoolery" +painted under it. He let this pass for a while unnoticed and +unremedied, and then restored the original word; and as his friends and +the police were on the watch, the outrage was not repeated. All open +scoffs and insults he took very quietly, sometimes just remarking, when +any one called him "canting hypocrite," or the like, that "he was very +thankful to say that it wasn't true." + +But besides this, he had an excellent way of his own in dealing with +annoyances and persecutions, which turned them to the best account. At +the back of a shelf, in one of the cupboards in his "Surgery," he kept a +small box, on the lid of which he had written the word "Pills." When +some word or act of special unkindness or bitterness had been his lot, +he would scrupulously avoid all mention of it to his wife or children on +his return home, but would retire into his "Surgery," write on a small +piece of paper the particulars of the act or insult, with the name of +the doer or utterer, and put it into the box. Then, at the end of each +month, he would lock himself into his room, take out the box, read over +the papers, which were occasionally pretty numerous, and spread them out +in prayer, like Hezekiah, before the Lord, asking him that these hard +words and deeds might prove as medicine to his soul to keep him humble +and watchful, and begging, at the same time, for the conversion and +happiness of his persecutors. After this he would throw the papers into +the fire, and come out to his family all smiles and cheerfulness, as +though something specially pleasant and gratifying had just been +happening to him--as indeed it had; for having cast his care on his +Saviour, he had been getting a full measure of "the peace of God, which +passeth understanding, to keep his heart and mind through Christ Jesus." + +Nor would his nearest and dearest have ever known of this original way +of dealing with his troubles, had not his wife accidentally come upon +the "pill-box" one day, when he had sent her to replace a book in the +cupboard for him. Well acquainted as she was with most of his oddities, +she was utterly at a loss to comprehend the box and its contents. On +opening the lid, she thought at first that the box contained veritable +medicine; but seeing, on closer inspection, that there was nothing +inside but little pieces of paper neatly rolled up, her curiosity was, +not unnaturally, excited, and she unfolded half-a-dozen of them. What +could they mean? There was writing on each strip, and it was in her +husband's hand. She read as follows: "Sneaking scoundrel. John +Thompson"--"Jim Taylor set his dog at me"--"Hypocritical humbug; you +take your glass on the sly. George Walters!"--and so on. + +She returned the papers to the box, and in the evening asked her +husband, when they were alone, what it all meant. "Oh! So you've found +me out, Mary," he said, laughing. "Well, it means just this: I never +bring any of these troubles indoors to you and the children; you've got +quite enough of your own. So I keep them for the Lord to deal with; and +when I've got a month's stock, I just read them over. It's as good as a +medicine to see what people say of me. And then I throw 'em all into +the fire, and they're gone from me for ever; and when I've added a word +of prayer for them as has done me the wrong, I come away with my heart +as light as a feather." + +It need hardly be said that Mrs Bradly was more than satisfied with +this solution of the puzzle. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +A DISCUSSION. + +If there was one man more than another whom William Foster the sceptic +both disliked and feared, it was "Tommy Tracks." Not that he would have +owned to such a fear for a moment. He tried to persuade himself that he +despised him; but there was that about Bradly's life and character which +he was forced to respect, and before which his spirit within him bowed +and quailed spite of himself. + +Thomas Bradly, though possessed of but a very moderate share of book- +learning, was pretty well aware that it required no very deep line to +reach the bottom of Foster's acquirements; and so, while he preferred, +as a rule, to avoid any open controversy with William, or any of his +party, he never shrunk from a fair stand-up contest when he believed +that his Master's honour and the truth required it. + +One evening, a few days after the mysterious appearance of the little +Bible in his own house, Foster, as he was coming home from his work, +encountered Bradly at the open door of the blacksmith's forge with a +bundle of tracts in his hand. + +"Still trying to do us poor sinners good, I see," sneered Foster. + +"Yes, if you'll let me," said the other, offering a tract. + +"None of your nonsensical rubbish for me," was the angry reply, as the +speaker turned away. + +"I never carries either nonsense or rubbish," rejoined Thomas. "My +tracts are all of 'em good solid sense; they are taken out of God's holy +Word, or are agreeable to the same." + +"What! The Bible? What sensible man now believes in that Bible of +yours? It's a failure; it has been demonstrated to be a failure. All +enlightened men, even many among your own Christians, are giving it up +as a failure now,"--saying which in a tone of triumph, as he looked +round on a little knot of working-men who were gathering about the +smithy door, he seated himself on an upturned cart which was waiting to +be repaired, and looked at his opponent for a reply. + +Thomas Bradly, nothing daunted, sat him down very deliberately on a +large smooth stone on the opposite side of the doorway, and remarked +quietly, "As to the Bible's being a failure, I suppose that depends very +much on experience. I've got an eight-day clock in our house. I bought +it for a very good one, and gave a very good price for it, just before I +set up housekeeping. A young fellow calls the other day, when I +happened to be in, and he wants me to buy a new-fashioned sort of clock +of him. `Well, if I do,' says I, `what'll you allow me for my old +clock, then, as part payment?' So he goes over and looks at it, and +turns up his nose at it, and says, `'Tain't worth the trouble of taking +away: you shall have one of the right sort cheap; that clumsy, old- +fashioned thing'll never do you no good.'--`Well,' says I, `that's just +as people find. That old clock has served me well, and kept the best of +time these five and twenty years, and it don't show any signs of being +worse for wear yet. So I'll stick to the old clock still, if you +please, and take my time by it as I've been used to do.' And the old- +fashioned Bible's just like my old clock. You tell me as it's proved to +be a failure. I tell _you_ it isn't a failure, for I've tried it, and +proved it for more years than I've tried my clock, and it never yet +failed _me_." + +"Perhaps not, Tommy," said Foster; "that's what you call your +experience; but for all that, it has proved a failure generally." + +"How do you make out that, William? I can find you a score of families +in Crossbourne as the Bible hasn't failed, and their neighbours know it +too." + +"Ah! Very likely; but what I mean is this: it has proved a failure when +its power and truth have come to be tested in other parts of the world-- +that's the general and almost universal experience, in fact." + +"Well, now, that's strange," replied Bradly, "to hear a man talk in that +way in our days, when there's scarce a language in the known world that +the Bible hasn't been turned into, so that all the wide world own it has +been bringing light and peace into thousands of hearts and homes-- +there's no contradicting that; and that's a strange sort of failure-- +summat like old John Wrigley's failure that folks were talking about; he +failed by dying worth just half a million." + +"Well, but when we men of science and observation say that the Bible is +a failure, we mean that it hasn't accomplished what it should have done +supposing it to be a revelation from the Supreme Being." + +"Ah, you are right there, William! I quite agree with you." + +"Do you hear him, mates?" cried Foster triumphantly. "He owns he's +beaten." + +"Not a bit of it," cried Bradly. "What I grant you is this, and no +more: the Bible hasn't done all it should have done, and would have +done. But why? Just because men wouldn't let it: as our Saviour said +when he was upon earth, `Ye will not come unto me that ye might have +life.' That's man's fault, not the Bible's." + +"Ah, but if the Bible had really been a revelation from heaven, it ought +to have converted all the world by this time, Tommy Tracks." + +"What! Whether men would or no? Nay; that's making men mere machines, +without any will of their own. If men hear the Bible, and still choose +to walk in wicked ways, who's to blame? Certainly not the Bible." + +"That won't do, Tommy. What I mean is this: men of real science and +knowledge declare that your Bible has proved to be a failure just +because Christianity has not accomplished what the Bible professed that +it would accomplish." + +"Indeed!" said the other quietly; "how so? I think, William, you're +shifting your ground a bit. But what has the Bible claimed for the +Christian religion which Christianity has not accomplished?" + +"Why, just look here, Tommy. There's what you call the angels' song, +`Glory to God in the highest! And on earth peace, good-will towards +men.' That's how it goes, I think. Now, Professor Tyndall, one of the +greatest scientific men of the day, says that you've only to look at the +wars that still go on between civilised nations to see that the angels' +song has not been fulfilled--that the gospel has failed to bring about +universal peace. And so you see the Christian Bible has not +accomplished what it professed to accomplish." + +"Stop a bit--softly!" said the other; "let's take one thing at a time. +Professor Tyndall may understand a great deal about science, but it +don't follow that he knows much about the Bible. But now I'll make bold +to take the very wars that have been going on in your time and mine, and +call them up to give evidence just the other way. Mind you, I'm not +saying a word in favour of wars. I only wish people would be content to +fight with my weapons, and no others; and that's just simply with the +Bible itself--`the sword of the Spirit,' as the Scripture calls it. But +now, you just listen to this letter from a newspaper correspondent in +the war between the Prussians and the French. I cut it out, and here it +is:-- + +"`This afternoon I witnessed a very touching scene. A French soldier of +the Thirty-third Line Regiment, belonging to the corps of General +Frossard, had been made prisoner at the outposts. He is a native of +Jouy-aux-Arches, where his wife and children now reside. On his way to +Corny, where the head-quarters of the prince are now situated, he asked +permission to be allowed to see his wife and children. Need I say that +the request was immediately granted? The poor woman, half delirious +with joy, asked to be allowed to accompany her husband at least to +Corny. This was also acceded to. But then came the difficulty about +the bairns. The woman was weak, and could not carry her baby, and at +home there was no one to mind it. As for the little chap of five, he +could toddle along by his father's side. The difficulty was, however, +overcome by a great big Pomeranian soldier, who volunteered to act as +nurse. This man had been quartered close to the poor woman's house; and +the little ones knew him, for he had often played with them. When +therefore, bidding the poor wife be of good cheer, he held out his big +strong arms to the little infant, it came to him immediately, and +nestling its tiny head upon his shoulders, seemed perfectly content. So +did the Prussian soldier carry the Frenchman's child. When I first saw +the group, the wife was clasped in her husband's embrace; the little boy +clung to his father's hand; while the Prussian soldier, with the baby in +his arms, stalked along by their sides. Then the Frenchwoman told her +husband how, when she had been ill and in want of food, the Prussian +soldiers had shared their rations with her, had fetched wood and water, +had lit the fire, and helped her in their own rough, kindly way; until +at last those two men, who belonged to countries now arrayed against +each other in bitterest hate--who perhaps a few days since fought the +one against the other--embraced like brothers, while I, like a great big +fool, stood by and cried like a baby. But I was not alone in my folly, +if folly it be: several Prussian officers and soldiers followed my +example, for we all had wives and children in far-off homes.' + +"Now, I ask you all, friends, to give me an honest answer: could such a +thing have happened if those countries, France and Prussia, hadn't both +of 'em been enjoying the light that comes from the Bible--as Christian +nations by profession, at any rate--for long years past? You've only to +look at wars between nations that know nothing of the Bible to get an +answer to that." + +"You had him there, Tommy," cried one of the auditory, considerably +delighted at Foster's evident discomfiture. + +But the latter returned to the charge, saying, "All very fine, Tommy +Tracks; but you haven't fully answered my objection." + +"I know it," was Bradly's reply. "I understand that you deny that the +Bible is a revelation from God because it has failed, (so you say) to do +what it professes to do." + +"Just so." + +"Well, what does it profess to do?" + +"Doesn't it profess to convert all the world?" + +"How soon?" + +"Before the Second Advent, as you call it." + +"Show me, William, where it says so." + +So saying, Bradly handed a little Bible to his opponent, who took it +very reluctantly; while those around, being much interested, and at the +same time amused, exclaimed,-- + +"Ay, to be sure! Show it him, William; show it him!" + +"Not I," said Foster, endeavouring to hide his annoyance and confusion +by an assumption of scorn; "it's not in my line to hunt for texts." + +"True," said Thomas quietly; "if it had been, you wouldn't have made +such a blunder.--He can't find it, friends, for it ain't written so in +the Bible. Before the Lord comes again he'll gather out his own people +from all nations. But that's not at all the same as converting all the +world; that's not to be till _after_ his coming again, according to the +Bible. And this is just what's happening now in different countries all +over the world; exactly according to the teaching of the Bible, neither +more nor less. So he hasn't proved his point, friends; has he?" + +"No, no!" was the universal cry. + +But William Foster, though sorely angry, and conscious that his arrows +had utterly failed of hitting their mark, was determined not to be +driven ingloriously out of the field; his pride could not endure that. +So, smothering his wrath, he turned again to Bradly and said,-- + +"Here, give us one of your precious tracts, man." The other immediately +handed him one. + +"Now see, mates," continued Foster, "what I've got here--`The Power of +Prayer.' See how it begins `Prayer moves the arm that moves the world.' +And you believe that, Tommy Tracks?" + +"Yes," was the reply; "I believe it; and more than that, I _know_ it--I +know that it's true." + +"And how do you know it?" + +"First and foremost, because the Bible says so; not those very words, +indeed, but what means just the same: as, for instance, `The Lord's hand +is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it +cannot hear.' And, better still, I have it in our Saviour's own words: +`If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, +how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to +them that ask him?'" + +"Well, now, let me tell you, friend Bradly, that it's all a delusion." + +"You're at liberty, William, to tell me what you like; but I can tell +you that it's no such thing as a delusion, for I've proved it myself to +be a blessed truth." + +"What! You mean to say that your own prayers have been answered?" + +"I do mean to say so, William. There's nothing like experience. I can +tell you what I know myself. I've put the Lord to the proof over and +over again, and he has never failed me. I've always had what I needed." + +"Hear him!" cried Foster, derisively. "Why, it isn't a week ago that I +heard him myself tell John Rowe that he'd like to build another cottage +on the bit of land he bought last year, only he couldn't afford it just +at present. And now he says he has only to pray for a thing, and he can +get whatever he likes.--Why didn't you pray for the money to build the +new cottage, Tommy?" + +"Not so fast, William; a reasoning and scientific man like yourself +ought to stick close to the truth. Now, I never said as I could get +whatever I liked--though I might have said that too without being wrong; +for when I've found out clearly what's the Lord's will, I can say with +the old shepherd, `I can have what I please, because what pleases God +pleases me.' What I said was this: that I always got what I _needed_ +when I prayed for a thing." + +"Well, and where's the difference?" + +"A vast deal of difference, William. I never pray for any of this +world's good things without putting in, `if God sees it best for me to +have it.' And then I know that, if it is really good for me, I shall +get it, and that'll be what I need; and if he sees as I'm better without +it, he'll give me contentment and peace, and often something much better +than what I asked for, and which I never expected, and that'll be giving +me in answer to prayer what I need." + +"Then it seems to me," said the other, sneeringly, "that you may just as +well let the prayer alone altogether, for you don't really get what you +would like, and you can't be sure what it is you really want." + +"Nay, not so, William Foster; my Bible says, `Be careful for nothing, +but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your +requests be made known unto God.' I just go and do this, and over and +over again I've got the thing I naturally liked; and it's only been now +and then, when God knew I should be better without the thing I fancied, +that he kept it back. But then I always got something better for me +instead, and the peace of God with it." + +"And you call that getting answers to prayer from a heavenly Father?" +said Foster derisively. + +"I do," was Bradly's reply. "My heavenly Father deals with me in the +same way as I used to deal with my children when they was little, and +for the same reason--because he loves me, and knows better than I do +what's good for me. When our Dick were a little thing, only just able +to walk, he comes one evening close up to the table while I was shaving, +and makes a snatch at my razor. I caught his little hand afore he could +get hold; and says I, `No, Dick, you mustn't have that; you'll hurt +yourself with it.' Not that there was any harm in the razor itself, but +it would have been harm to him, though he didn't know it then. Well, +Dick was just ready to cry; but he looks at me, and sees a smile on my +face, and toddles off into the garden; and an hour after I went and took +him a great blunt knife as he couldn't hurt himself with, and he was +soon as happy as a king, rooting about in the cabbage-bed with it. I +did it because I loved him; and he came to understand that, after a bit. +And that's the way our heavenly Father deals with all his loving and +obedient children." + +There was a little murmur of approval when Bradly ceased, which was very +distasteful to Foster, who began to move off, growling out that, "it was +no use arguing with a man who was quite behind the age, and couldn't +appreciate nor understand the difficulties and conclusions of deeper +thinkers." + +"Just one word more, friends, on this subject," said Bradly, not +noticing his opponent's last disparaging remarks. "William said, a +little while ago, as it's all fancy on my part when I gave him my own +experience about answers to prayer. Well, if it's fancy, it's a very +pleasant fancy, and a very profitable fancy too; and I should like him +to tell me what his learned scientific authors, that he brags so much +about, has to give me instead of it, if I take their word for it as it's +all fancy, and give over praying. Now, suppose I'm told as there's a +man living over at Sunnyside as is able and willing to give me +everything I want, if I only ask him. I go to his door, and knock; but +he don't let me see him. I say through the keyhole, `I want a loaf of +bread.' He opens the door just so far as to make room for his hand, and +there's a loaf of bread in it for me. I go to him again, and tell him +through the door as I wants some medicine to cure one of my children as +is sick. The hand is put out with medicine in it, and the medicine +makes a cure. I go again, and say I want a letter of recommendation for +my son to get a place as porter on the railway. There's no hand put out +this time; but I hear a voice say, `Come every day for a week.' So I go +every day, and knock; and the last day the hand's put out, and it gives +me a letter to a gentleman, who puts my son into a situation twice as +good as the one I asked for him. Now, suppose I'd gone on in this way +for years, always getting what I asked for, or something better instead, +do you think any one would ever persuade me as it were only fancy after +all; that the friend I called on so often wasn't my friend at all, that +he'd never heard or listened to a word I said, and had never given me +anything in all my life? Now, that's just how the matter stands. It's +no use talking to a man as knows what effectual prayer is, about the +constancy of the laws of nature, and such like. He knows better; he has +put the Lord of nature and all its laws to the proof, and so may you +too. I'll just leave with you one text out of the Scripture as'll weigh +down a warehouseful of your sceptical and philosophical books; and it's +this: `Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, +and it shall be opened unto you.'" + +Not a word more was spoken on either side, and the party broke up. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +THE VICAR OF CROSSBOURNE. + +Of all the true friends of "Tommy Tracks" none valued and loved him more +than the Reverend Ernest Maltby, vicar of Crossbourne. There is a +peculiar attraction in such men to one another, which cements their +friendship all the more strongly from the very dissimilarity of their +social positions. For each feels dependent on the other, and that the +other possesses gifts or powers of which he himself is destitute. The +refined Christian scholar, while in perfect spiritual accord with the +man of rougher mould and scanty learning, feels that his humbler brother +is able to _get at_ his fellow-workmen for good, as being on the same +level with them, in a way denied to himself. While, on the other hand, +the man of inferior education and position is conscious that all real +increase in knowledge is increase in power, and that his brother of +higher-station and more extensive reading can grasp and deal effectually +with topics of interest and importance, which could not be done justice +to by his own less skilful and less intelligent handling. And thus, as +each leans in a measure on the other, being in entire sympathy as they +are on highest things, the force of their united action on the hearts +and lives of others is powerful indeed. Such was the case in +Crossbourne. The combined work of the vicar and Thomas Bradly, both for +the salvation of souls and the rescue and reformation of the +intemperate, was being felt by the enemies of the truth to be a work of +power: they were therefore on the watch to hinder and mar that work by +every means within their reach; for Satan will not lose any of his +captives without setting his own agents on a most determined and +vigorous resistance. + +The vicar himself was just the fitting man for his position. Gently yet +not luxuriously nurtured, and early trained in habits of self-denial and +consideration for the feelings of others, he had entered the ministry, +not only with a due sense of the solemnity of his responsibilities, and +under a conviction that he was truly called to his profession by the +inward voice of the Holy Spirit, but also with a loving self- +forgetfulness, while he sought earnestly the truest welfare of all +committed to his charge. And when he passed, after some years' +experience in the ministerial Work, to the important post of vicar of +Crossbourne, he had come to take a peculiar interest in the study of +individual character, and to delight in gathering around him workers of +various temperaments and habits of thought. Rugged enough were some of +these in their general bearing and their way of expressing themselves; +but he knew well, when he had broken through the outer surface, what a +firm-grained material he had to work upon in the hearts of such, and how +he would be sure to win from them, in due time, by force and consistency +of character, respect and affection as abiding as they were sincere. + +It was his happiness also to be united to a wife like-minded with +himself in views and work. On one point alone they had differed, and +that was as to the mental training of their only child, a daughter. + +Clara Maltby was now eighteen. She had been brought up by the united +teaching and example of both parents "in the nurture and admonition of +the Lord." Naturally thoughtful and retiring, and fond of learning, she +had mastered the lessons taught her in her earliest years with an ease +which awoke in her mother's heart an ambition that her child, when she +grew old enough, should gain some intellectual distinction. And as +Clara herself was never happier than when she had a book in her hand, +all that her parents had to do was to choose for her such branches of +study as she was best calculated to shine in. Nor did she disappoint +her teachers, but threw herself into her lessons with an energy and +interest which made it certain that she would rise to eminence among +competitors for the prizes of learning proposed to her own sex. And +thus it was that what might have been a rational thirst after knowledge, +and have led to the acquirement of stores of information which would +have made their possessor an ornament to her home and to the society in +which she moved, grew into an absorbing passion. + +She came at length to live in and for her studies. All her other +pursuits and occupations were made to be subordinate to these, and were +by degrees completely swallowed up by them. Not that she was unaware +that there were duties which she ought to fulfil in her home and in her +father's parish, which could not be done justice to without shortening +her hours of study. She saw this plainly enough, and deplored her +neglect; but she had come to persuade herself that success in her +intellectual pursuits was the special end at which she was to aim for +the present; and she believed that her mother, at any rate, held the +same view. + +And yet her conscience was not at ease on the matter. Home and parish +work which used to fall to her was either left undone or transferred to +others. "Mother," she would say, "I am so sorry not to be of more use; +I ought to help you, and to take my share of work in the parish; but +then you know how it is--you see that I have no time." Once her class +in the Sunday-school had been her delight, and the object of many an +anxious thought and earnest prayer, while each individual scholar had a +place in her heart and her supplications. But by degrees the +preparation for the Sunday lessons became irksome and too much for her +already overworked brain. She must make the Sabbath a day of absolute +rest from all mental exertion, except such as was involved in a due +attendance on the services in the house of God, which her conscience +would not allow her to absent from. + +As for week-day work in the parish, such as taking her turn in visiting +the girls' day-school, undertaking a district as visitor, looking up and +tending the sick and the sorrowful in conjunction with her father and +mother, the excuse of "no time" was pleaded here also; so that she who +was once welcomed in every home in the parish, and carried peace by her +loving words and looks to many a troubled and weary heart, was now +becoming daily more and more a stranger to those who used to love and +value her. Indeed, she seldom now stirred from home, except when +snatching for health's sake a hasty walk, in which she would hurry from +the vicarage and back again along roads where she was least likely to +meet with interruption from the greetings of friends or neighbours. + +Light, purer light, the light of God's truth, had indeed shone into her +heart, but that light was suffering a gradual and deepening eclipse +through the shadow cast by the idol of intellectual ambition, which had +usurped for a while the place where once her Saviour reigned supreme. +And the poor body was suffering, for the overstrained mind was sapping +the vigour of all its powers. And then there came a resort to that +remedy, the stimulant which spurs up the flagging energies to +extraordinary and spasmodic exertion, only to leave the poor deluded +victim more prostrate and exhausted than ever. + +The vicar had never been satisfied with his daughter's course. Life, in +his view, was too short and eternity too near to justify any one in +pursuing even the most innocent and laudable object in such a manner as +to unfit the soul for keeping steadily in view its highest interests, +and to engross the mind and life so entirely as to shut all the doors of +loving and Christian usefulness. While acknowledging the value of +storing, cultivating, and enlarging the mind, he became daily more and +more convinced that such mental improvement was becoming a special snare +to the young and enthusiastic; beguiling them into the neglect of +manifest duty, and into a refined and subtle self-worship, which, in the +case of those who had set out on the narrow way, was changing the +substance for a shadow, and destroying that peace which none can truly +feel who rob their Saviour of the consecration of all that they have and +are to his glory. + +But deeply as he deplored the change in his daughter's habits, and her +withdrawal from first one good work and then another, he had not fully +realised how it had come about, and the mischief it was doing to the +body, mind, and soul of the child he loved so dearly. It was only +gradually that she had relinquished first one useful occupation, and +then another; and circumstances seemed at the time to make such +withdrawal necessary. + +Then, too, his wife's reluctance to see that, after all, she had +mistaken the path on which she should have encouraged her daughter to +travel, had led her to make as light as possible of the evil effects, +which were only too plain to others not so nearly interested in her +child's well-being. She could not bear to think that, after all, +Clara's pursuit of intellectual distinction was physically, morally, and +spiritually a huge mistake, and that she was purchasing success at the +cost of health and peace. "There was nothing seriously amiss with her," +she would tell her husband, when he expressed his misgivings and fears; +"she only wanted a little change; that would set her up: there was no +real cause for anxiety. It would never do for Clara to be behind the +rest of the girls of her age in intellectual attainments: it would be +doing her injustice, for she was so manifestly calculated to shine; and +if God had given her the abilities and the tastes, surely they ought to +be cultivated. She could return by-and-by to her work in the Sunday- +school and the parish. And then, how much better it was that she should +be acquiring really solid and useful knowledge, which would be always +valuable to her, than be spending her energies on any of the worldly or +frivolous pursuits which were entangling and spoiling so many well- +disposed girls in our day." + +Alas! The poor mother, whose own heart and conscience were not really +satisfied with these reasonings, had forgotten, or failed to see, that +the same devotion to study which kept her daughter out of the ensnaring +ways of worldliness and frivolity, equally kept her from treading that +path of shining usefulness along which all must walk who would fulfil +the great purpose for which God has put us into this land of probation +and preparation for our eternal home. + +Thomas Bradly saw plainly how matters were, and when the vicar hinted at +his difficulties connected with his daughter's pursuits, as they were +talking together over Sunday-school and parochial work, spoke out his +mind plainly and faithfully. + +"Well, Thomas," said Mr Maltby, "you see a little how I am situated. +My dear child is, I trust and believe, a true Christian; but I am free +to confess that I am sadly disappointed at the turn which things have +taken about her studies." + +"I can well believe it, sir," was Bradly's reply, "and I feel for you +with all my heart. And I'm disappointed myself about Miss Clara, and +so's scores more in the parish. The Sunday-school ain't the same as it +was--no, nor the parish neither, now that she don't come among us as she +used to do. But there's a twist somewheres in people's views about the +education of young ladies in our day. 'Tain't so much in my way, sir, +it's true, as it is in yours, to notice these things; but sometimes them +as is standing a little way off gets a better view of how things really +are than them as is quite close by." + +"Quite so, Thomas," said the other. "Tell me, then, candidly what you +think about this matter." + +"I'll do so, sir, as I know you'll not misunderstand me; and you know +that I love you and yours with all my heart. Well, sir, it seems to me +as they're beginning at the wrong place altogether, in filling young +ladies' heads, as they do, with all sorts and sizes of knowledge." + +"How do you mean, Thomas?" + +"Just this way, sir. I were in Sheffield for a day or two last June, +and as I were a-staring in at one of the cutlers' shops, I caught sight +of a strange-looking article stuck upon a stand right in the middle of +the window. It were all blades and points, like the porcupine as I used +to read about at the national school when I were a boy. It was +evidently meant for a knife; but who would ever think of buying such a +thing as that, except merely as a curiosity? There must have been some +fifty or sixty blades, and these were all sorts of shapes and sizes, +just, I suppose, to show the skill of the workman as contrived to fasten +such a lot of them together; but they would have been no earthly use to +a man as wanted a real working article. Now, as far as I can see and +hear, the young ladies in these days is being got up something like one +of 'em fancy knives. It seems to be the great wish of these young +ladies' parents or friends to put into their heads a lot of learning of +all sorts--so many languages, so many sciences, so many accomplishments, +as they calls 'em, as thick as they can stand together. And what's the +end of it all? Why, folks wonder at 'em, no doubt, and say a great many +fine things to 'em and about 'em; but they're not turned out a real +serviceable article, either for their homes or for the great Master's +work as he'd have them to do it." + +"It is too true, dear friend," said the vicar with a sigh. + +"Ay! And if I'm not too bold in speaking my mind," proceeded the other, +"that ain't the worst of it. You'll excuse my homely way of talking, +sir, but I can't help thinking of Timothy Pinches' donkey-cart when I +reads or hears of these young ladies with their science classes, and +their Oxford and Cambridge local examinations, and their colleges, and +what not. Timothy Pinches were an old neighbour of mine when I didn't +live in these parts--that were several years ago as I'm talking of. Now +Timothy had a donkey, a quiet and serviceable animal enough, and he'd +got a cart too, which would carry a tidy lot of things, yet at the same +time it weren't none of the strongest. He used to cart my coals for me, +and do an odd job for me here and there. Well, one day I met Timothy +with a strange load in his cart; there was a lot of iron nails and bars +for the blacksmith, two or three bags of potatoes, a sack of flour, a +bottle or two of vinegar, a great jar of treacle, a bale of calico for +one of the shops, a cask of porter, and a sight of odds and ends +besides. And they was packed and jammed so tight together, I could see +as they were like to burst the sides of the cart through. `Timothy,' +says I, `you'll never get on with that load; it's too much for the +donkey, and it's too much for the cart.' `All right,' says he, `we'll +manage.' `Nay,' says I, `it's too much for the poor beast; make two +journeys of it, and you'll do it comfortably.' `Can't afford the time,' +says he. But he _could_ afford the time to keep the poor donkey often +standing before the door of the public for an hour and more together. +But just then he'd had an extra glass, and he wasn't in a mood to be +spoken with. So he gives the poor beast a fierce kick, and a pull at +his jaw, by way of freshening him up, and the cart goes creaking on up a +hill by a winding road. I could hear it as I went on by a footpath as +took me a short cut into the road again. Then the noise stopped all of +a sudden; and when I'd got to the end of the path, there was Timothy +Pinches looking anything but wise or pleasant, and cart and donkey had +both come to grief. The side of the cart was burst right out; the +donkey had fallen down and cut his knees badly; the potatoes was rolling +down the hill; the flour had some of it come out of the sack in a great +heap, and the vinegar and treacle was running slowly through it. When I +looked at poor Timothy's face, and then at the break-down, I couldn't +help laughing at him; but I gave him a helping hand, and I hope he +learnt a useful lesson. You see, sir, it don't do to overtask a willing +beast, nor to load a cart with more goods than it's meant to carry, +specially if it ain't over strong. But they're making this very mistake +with many of the young ladies just now--I don't mean anything +disrespectful to them in likening them to a donkey-cart, but it's true. +These young ladies themselves are overtasking their constitutions which +God gave them, and they're loading their brains with more than them +brains was designed to carry. The Lord hasn't given them, as a rule, +heads fit to bear the strain as men's heads were made to stand. I'm +sure of it; it's the opinion, too, of Dr Richardson, who has the best +right of any man, perhaps, to speak on this subject, as he's studied it, +I should think, as much or more than any man living. Now, sir, just +look at your own dear child, Miss Clara,--why, it makes my heart sore +every time I look at her; she ain't got the right healthy look in her +face; her mind has got more to bear than ever her Maker meant it to +have; and there's no reason, surely, why she shouldn't be as cheerful as +a lark and as bright as the flowers in May." + +"Most true! Most true!" said the vicar sorrowfully. "I only wish Mrs +Maltby and my daughter could see things in this light; but when I +express my fears and misgivings on this subject, they tell me that I +must not take a gloomy view of things, nor alarm myself needlessly. But +perhaps, dear friend, you may be able to put in a word, I know your +plain, homely good sense and observation will have weight with both +mother and daughter." + +"I'll make bold to say a word or two to them on the subject," replied +Thomas Bradly, "when next I get an opportunity." + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +A SHADOW ON THE HEARTH. + +Thomas Bradly was pre-eminently a _bright_ Christian. A quaint old +author says that "a gloomy Christian does not do credit to Christ's +housekeeping." There was no gloom about Bradly's religion: it shone in +his heart, in his life, on his face, and in his home; it attracted the +troubled and sin-burdened; it was the concealed envy of many who scoffed +at and reviled him. And yet there was not unclouded sunshine even in +_his_ happy home: a shadow, and a dark one, rested on his hearth. + +It has been said that he had an unmarried sister who lived with him, and +that she was an invalid. Jane Bradly was a year younger than her +brother Thomas, but sickness and sorrow made her look older than she +really was. She was sweet and gentle-looking, with that peculiar air of +refinement which suffering often stamps on the features of those who are +being spiritualised by fiery trial and are ripening for glory. And +there was something, too, that was very strange about her case. She was +not confined to her bed, and was able to leave the house in order to +attend the services at the church, which she did most regularly. Yet +she very rarely left the house on any other occasion, and never visited +a neighbour; and if any of her brother's friends came in, she would +leave her chair by the fire and retire into another room. + +When the family first came to Crossbourne, a good deal of curiosity was +felt and expressed about her, and many attempts were made to draw her +out; but as neither Bradly nor his wife nor children ever gave the +smallest encouragement to questioners, and as Jane herself quietly +declined every invitation to take a meal or spend an hour away from +home, curiosity was obliged to seek gratification elsewhere, and baffled +inquirers to talk about her amongst themselves with ominous whispers and +shrugging shoulders. + +Clearly, Jane's complaint was one which medicine could not reach, for no +medical man ever called on her at her brother's house; though well- +meaning persons used at first to urge on Thomas the advisability of +consulting the parish doctor for her. And when others recommended their +own favourite patent remedies which had never been known to fail--at +least, so said the printed wrapper--he would thank them, and say that +"it wasn't physic as she wanted." "Ah! Then she must have met with a +disappointment where she had placed her affections; was it not so?" To +which Thomas dryly replied that "he was not aware that it was so; but if +it had been, he should have kept it to himself." This and similar broad +hints at length closed the gossiping mouths of Crossbourne--at any rate, +in the presence of any members of the Bradly family--and Jane and her +troubles ceased to occupy much attention out of her own home. + +Still, the deep shadow lay across the hearth and heart of her brother. +Very touching it was to see the considerate tenderness with which he +always dealt with her. Never a loud or hasty word did she hear from +him, nor indeed from any member of the family. When he came in from his +work his first words were for her: some cheery little speech, yet +uttered in rather an undertone, lest his natural abruptness unchecked +should startle her. The best massive arm-chair, and the snuggest nook +by the kitchen fire, were hers; and by the Bible, which was her constant +companion, and lay on a little table which stood beside her, a few +bright flowers, as their season came round, were placed as tokens of a +thoughtful and abiding love. + +Yet she pined, and grew gradually weaker; but no murmur was heard to +escape her lips. The sorrow which lay on her heart like a mountain of +snow could not deprive her of God's peace, while it was chilling and +crushing out her life. As far as they would allow her, and her strength +would permit, she took her part in the household work; but she was +principally occupied with her needle, and as she was an excellent +workwoman, she was never without such orders as she was able to +undertake. + +The vicar was deeply interested in her, and was a frequent visitor; but +while she manifestly derived comfort from his instructions and prayers, +any attempt on his part to draw her into confiding to him, (as a friend +and spiritual adviser) her special sorrow at once reduced her to +silence. And yet it seemed to him that there were times when she was on +the very verge of breaking through her reserve. Not that he desired +this, except for her own sake. How gladly would he have shared her +burden with her, "and so fulfilled the law of Christ," would she but +have in trusted him with it! It was so sad to see the deep shadow of an +abiding care on that gentle face, the unnatural flush on the cheeks, and +the eyes at one time filled with tears, and at another with a look of +earnest beseeching, as though she longed to unburden her troubled heart, +and yet dared not--as though she yearned for his advice and sympathy, +and yet could not bring herself to open to him her grief. And thus it +was that the poor afflicted one was drooping lower and lower; and the +cloud which rested on her quiet, patient features was to be seen at +times on her brother's also. + +It was a few days after the accident on the line by which the miserable +Joe Wright was hurried into eternity, that the vicar, who was coming out +of the cottage of poor Joe's widow, met Thomas Bradly as he was on his +way home from his work. Both looked very grave; and Mr Maltby said,-- + +"I see, Thomas, that you feel, as I do, what a shocking accident this +has been. The drink, I don't doubt, must have been at the bottom of it, +for we know too well what the poor man's habits were. What can I say to +comfort his unhappy widow? Of course, it is not for us to judge her +husband; we do not know what passed in Joe's heart during his last +moments. But that is very poor consolation, after all, when we know +that, `as a man sows, so shall he reap.' All I can do is to try and +lead the poor woman herself to her Saviour. We know that the door to +pardon and peace is not yet closed to her." + +"That's too true, sir," replied Bradly. "I fear we can't have any +comfortable thoughts about Joe; the least said about him the better. +But, to tell you the truth, sir, I were just then turning my own trouble +over in my mind, and that's what made me look so grave." + +"What--about your sister Jane?" + +"Yes, sir. I know as it's all right; and yet somehow I can't help +feeling a bit anxious about her. She must either mend afore long, or +break down altogether. I should very much like her to open her heart +and her trouble to yourself, sir; for I'm sure it would do her good. I +know it all myself, of course; but then I've promised her to be as close +as wax, and never to talk about it to a soul without she gives me leave. +And her Saviour knows it all, too. She goes with it regular to him; +but still she brings back some of it with her each time. She don't mean +it; but it's more nor flesh and blood is equal to, to leave it entirely +to him. Now, I do believe, if she would just tell you all, or let me +tell it you before her, it would help to lighten her heart and ease her +mind. She knows, indeed--as of course every true Christian knows from +his Bible--that no mortal man, be he who he may, can do for her what the +blessed Saviour only can do; but I am sure that it will make your words, +your counsels, and your prayers more precious and profitable to her when +she feels that her pastor knows her great sorrow, and can join with her +in taking it to the throne of grace, and pleading for light and +guidance, and a way out of it too, if the Lord will." + +"I quite agree with you, Thomas," said Mr Maltby. "At present I can +give her only general words of advice and comfort, and can only pray for +her about her sorrow in a general way; but if she sees it to be right, +and can bear to confide the story of her trial to me, I shall then be +able to assist her in grasping with an increasing faith those `exceeding +great and precious promises' which will be specially applicable to her +case, and may meet any peculiar circumstances connected with her +affliction." + +"Thank you, sir, most kindly," said the other. "I think I have nearly +persuaded her to let me tell you all; and I believe it will be best done +before herself, for then one telling will do for all, and she will be +able to put in a word here and there to make all clear." + +"Just so, Thomas," said the vicar. "I can easily understand that when +once she has broken through her reserve with me, or suffered you to +break through it for her, she will be able better to bear the full +disclosure, from having part of the weight already removed from her +heart." + +"That's just my view," said Bradly, "and I've told her so more than +once. I'm sure she'll feel lighter in her heart when once she has fully +made up her mind that you shall know all, even before you've heard a +word of her story; and I'm sure she sees it so now herself. So, if it +won't be troubling you too much to ask you to step over to our house to- +morrow night about seven o'clock, unless I send you back word, we'll +have the best parlour all to ourselves, and I believe the Lord will make +it a blessed night for poor Jane and for us all." + +"It shall be so then, Thomas," replied the vicar. "I will, if spared, +be at your house at seven o'clock, unless I hear anything meanwhile to +the contrary from yourself." + +It was with a feeling of deep interest, and a fervent prayer for a +blessing, that Ernest Maltby knocked the next evening at the door of +Thomas Bradly's quiet dwelling. Thomas welcomed him with a smile. +"It'll be all right, I know," he said; "I've told her you're coming, and +she has made no objection; and now that the time's come, the Lord has +taken away the worst of the fear." + +The vicar entered, and found the invalid seated by a bright fire, with +her little table and the Bible on it by her side. Her poor wan cheeks +were flushed with a deeper colour than usual as she rose to greet the +clergyman; but there was not so much a look of suffering now in her +eyes, as of hopeful, humble, patient trust. Her needlework lay near her +Bible, for her skilful fingers were never idle. + +Her brother set a chair for their visitor near the fire, and seated +himself by him. For a moment no one spoke; then Jane handed the Bible +to Mr Maltby, who opened it and read the Hundred and Forty-Second +Psalm, giving special emphasis to the words of the third verse, "When my +spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path." He +offered a short prayer after the reading, and then waited for either +brother or sister to spread out the trouble before him. + +"You must know, sir," began Thomas, with an emotion which checked his +usual outspoken utterance for a while, "as me and mine don't belong to +these parts; and I daresay you've heard some of the queer tales which +them as pays more attention to their neighbour's business than their own +has got up about us. However, that matters very little. Our native +place is about fifty miles from Crossbourne. Maybe you've heard of +Squire Morville (Sir Lionel Morville's his proper title). He lives in a +great mansion called Monksworthy Hall, just on the top of the hill after +you've gone through the village. There's a splendid park round it. +Most of the land about belongs to Sir Lionel; and he's lord of the +manor. Well, I were born, and my father and grandfather before me, in +Monksworthy, and so were Jane; and all things went on pretty smooth with +us till a few years back. We'd our troubles, of course; but then _we_ +didn't expect to be without 'em--Wasn't to be looked for that our road +through life should be as level all the way as a bowling-green. Sir +Lionel were very good to his tenants; but he were rather too fond of +having lots of company at the Hall--more, I'm sure, than his lady liked; +for she was a truly godly woman, and I don't doubt is so to this day. + +"My father and mother had a very large family, so that there wasn't full +work for us all as we growed up; and, as I was one of the younger ones, +they was glad to get me bound apprentice, through the squire's help, to +my present trade in the north. But I liked my own native village better +than any other spot as I'd ever seen, so I came back after I'd served my +time, and picked up work and a wife, as a good many of the young people +had been emigrating to Canada and Australia, and Sir Lionel wanted hands +just then. Well, then, God sent us our children, and they soon grew up, +and it weren't such easy work to feed them and clothe them as it is in a +place like this. However, the Lord took care of us, and we always had +enough. + +"Jane went to the Hall to be housemaid soon after I married; and Lady +Morville were so fond of her that, she would never hear of her leaving +for any other place.--Nay, Jane dear, you mustn't fret; it'll all turn +out well in the end. There's One as loves us both, better than Sir +Lionel and his lady, and he'll make all straight sooner or later. + +"Now, you must know, sir, as I'd come back from the north a teetotaler. +I'd seen so much of the drunkenness and the drink-traps there that I'd +made up my mind as total abstinence were the wisest, safest, and best +course for both worlds; and Jane, who had never cared for either beer or +wine, took the pledge with me when I came home, for the sake of doing +good to others. + +"Lady Morville didn't concern herself about this; but there was one at +the Hall who did, and that one were John Hollands, the butler. It was +more nor he could put up with, that any one of the servants should +presume to go a different road from him, and refuse the ale when it went +round at meals in the kitchen. So, as all his chaffing, and the +chaffing of the other servants, couldn't shake Jane, he was determined +he'd make her smart for it. And there was something more than this too. +I've said that Sir Lionel were a free sort of gentleman, fond of having +lots of company; and of course the company wasn't short of ale, and +wine, and spirits; and so long as there was a plentiful stock in the +cellar, the squire didn't trouble himself to count bottles or barrels. +He was not a man himself as drank to excess; he thought drunkenness a +low, vulgar habit, and never encouraged it; but he spent his money +freely, and those as lived in his family were never watched nor stinted. +You may suppose, then, sir, as John Hollands had a fine time of it. He +were cock of the walk in the servants' hall, and no mistake. Eh, to see +him at church on Sunday! What with his great red face, and his great +red waistcoat, and his great watch-chain with a big bunch of seals at +the end of it, I couldn't help thinking sometimes as he looked a picture +of `the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanity of this wicked +world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh,' which the Catechism tells +us to renounce. + +"You may be sure such a man had a deal in his power; and so he had. And +it wasn't only the wine, beer, and spirits as he used pretty much as he +liked. Eh! The waste that went on downstairs was perfectly frightful; +and a pretty penny he and the cook made between 'em out of their +master's property, which they sold on the sly. + +"Jane saw something of this, and longed to put a stop to it; but, poor +thing, what could she really do? She _did_ once take an opportunity of +speaking her mind gently to the butler, when they happened to be alone, +and tried to show him how wrong and wickedly he was acting. But all she +got was, that he gave her back such a volley of oaths and curses as made +her feel that it would be no use talking to him any more on the subject +just then. And he weren't content with merely abusing her; he +threatened her besides as he'd make her see afore long what sort of +paying off `sneaking spies' usually got for their pains. And he kept +his word. + +"Lady Morville had got a favourite lady's-maid, who came to her when +Jane had been some years at the Hall. This maid were a stylish, dashing +young woman, and had a tongue as would turn any way it was wanted. So +she soon made herself so useful to her mistress that she was more like +an equal than a servant. But she were a thoroughly unprincipled woman, +and hated Jane almost as soon as she had set eyes on her. Now she were +far too deep to do anything as would get herself into trouble. She +might have robbed her ladyship in many ways; and so she did, but not by +taking her jewels or anything of that sort. She would wheedle things +out of her mistress in the slyest way. And then, too, Lady Morville +would trust her to pay some of her bills for her; and then she'd manage +to pop things into the account which my lady had never ordered, or she +would alter the figures in such a way as to cheat her ladyship. And she +hadn't been long at the Hall, as you may suppose, before she and the +butler became fast friends; and a pretty lot of robbery and mischief was +carried on by them two. Jane couldn't keep her eyes shut, so she saw +many things she longed to expose to her mistress; but it would have been +very difficult to bring the wrong-doings to light, even if Lady Morville +had given her the opportunity of doing so--which she never did. + +"Georgina--that were the name of the lady's-maid--was fully aware, +however, that Jane had her eyes upon her, and she was resolved to get +her out of the way. But how was that to be done? For Jane bore a high +character in the house, and her ladyship would not listen to any +gossiping tales against her. Her mind was soon made up: a little talk +with John Hollands, and the train was laid. + +"Now, she could have taken a bit of jewellery from her mistress, and +hidden it in Jane's box, or among her things; and this was John +Hollands' idea, as Jane afterwards found out from another fellow- +servant, who was sorry for her, and had overheard the two making up +their plans together. But Georgina said: `No; that were a stale trick, +and her ladyship might believe Jane's positive assertion of innocence. +She would manage it better than that.' And so she did. + +"To Jane's surprise, both the butler and the lady's-maid changed their +manner towards her after a while, and became quite friendly: indeed, +Hollands even took an opportunity to thank Jane for her good advice, and +to say that he was beginning to see things in a different light; and +Georgina made her a present of a neat silver pencil-case. Jane couldn't +quite understand it; but having no guile in herself, she weren't up to +suspecting guile in other folks, and she were only too thankful to see +anything that looked like a change for the better. + +"Things were in this fashion, when one morning, just before Sir Lionel's +breakfast-time, as Jane was sweeping and dusting the back drawing-room, +John Hollands looked in. There'd been a large dinner-party the night +before, and the family was rather late. Steps were heard overhead in +her ladyship's bedroom, and then Georgina comes in. `Come in here, Mr +Hollands,' she says, `and look here, both of you; see what I've found on +the stairs!' The butler came in, and the lady's-maid holds out to him a +beautiful bracelet all sparkling with jewels. He took it in his hand +and turned it over, and says, `It must have been dropped by one of the +ladies as dined here yesterday; you'd better give it to her +ladyship.'--`Of course I shall,' says the other; `only there's no harm +looking at it.--Ain't it a love of a bracelet, Jane? Just take it in +your hand and look at it afore I take it up to mistress.' Jane took the +bracelet, and said that it was a beauty indeed, and was going to return +it to Georgina, but that wicked woman had turned her head away, +pretending not to notice Jane's hand stretched out to her. Then steps +were heard close to the door, and Georgina cried out half aloud, +`There's her ladyship coming; won't you catch it, Jane! Come along, Mr +Hollands;' and they were gone out at another door in a moment, just as +Lady Morville came in at the other end of the room. And there stood +poor Jane, her face all in a blaze, with her broom in one hand and the +bracelet in the other. + +"Scarcely knowing what she did, but not wishing; of course, to be found +with the bracelet in her fingers, Jane tried to slip it into her pocket; +but it wouldn't do, her mistress had already seen it. So she says, +quiet and calm-like, `Jane, don't attempt to hide it from me; I believe +that's one of the bracelets Sir Lionel gave me on my last birthday. I +couldn't find either of them when I was dressing for dinner last night, +nor Georgina either. Come, tell me, Jane, how did it come into your +possession?' + +"What could poor Jane say or do? She bursts out a-crying, poor thing, +and then turns her round, when she'd thrown up a little prayer to the +Lord from her heart, and she says, `Please, my lady, I never saw the +bracelet till a few minutes ago. Georgina brought it in while I was +sweeping, and showed it to Mr Hollands and me; and I was just going to +give it back to Georgina, for they said that some lady must have dropped +it last night--and I never knew it was your ladyship's--and they ran out +of the room and left it in my hand--and then your ladyship came in and +found me with it.' + +"Now you may be sure, sir, as Jane had no easy work to get them words +out, and, I suppose, Lady Morville thought as she was making up a lie; +so she says very gravely, `I don't at all understand you, Jane: how can +Georgina have brought the bracelet to you? She was searching for the +pair last night herself, and knows that they were missing from my jewel- +case. And how can she have said that some lady must have dropped this +bracelet, when she must know it perfectly well to be my own? Besides, +it is only a few minutes ago that she told me she believed I should find +it in this room somewhere, only she didn't like to say why.' + +"Jane saw it all now--they had laid a cruel trap for her, and she was +caught in it. At first she had no answer but tears, and then she +declared that she had told the simple truth, and nothing but the truth. +`It may be so, Jane,' said her mistress; `of course what you say is +possible, but, I fear, not very probable.' + +"She rung the bell, and Georgina answered it with a smirk on her face. +`Just call Hollands, and come in here with him,' said her ladyship. The +butler soon came in; and Jane says, if ever the devil looked through any +man's eyes, she believes he did through his, as he glared at her with a +look of triumph, his mistress's back being turned towards him. Lady +Morville then asked them if Jane's story was true, and if Georgina had +shown her the bracelet. John Hollands lifts up his hands and eyes, and +cries out, `Was there ever such hypocrisy and deceit!' As for Georgina, +she pretends to get into a passion, and declares as it was all a make-up +thing to rob her and the butler of their characters. And then she says, +`Why, my lady, I've missed things myself, and I've had my suspicions; +but I've not liked to say anything. There's a silver pencil-case, which +my dear mother gave me, and it's got my initials on it: it's gone from +my room, and I can't hear anything about it.' Jane at once pulls the +pencil-case out of her pocket, and lays it on the table. `I see how it +is,' she says; `you two are determined to ruin me; but the Lord above, +he knows I'm innocent.--Your ladyship, Georgina made me a present of +that pencil-case a short time ago. I didn't want to take it; but she +wouldn't be refused, and said I must keep it as a token of good-will +from her.'--`Well, did I ever hear such assurance!' cried Georgina. `I +wonder what she'll say next? But one thing's clear, my lady: I can't +stay here, to be suspected of robbing your ladyship. I've not lost my +character yet, if Jane's lost hers. But, at any rate, she has got your +ladyship's bracelet; you found her with it yourself. Now, as she has +got the one, she'll know, of course, where the other is. You may be +sure, my lady, that the same person as took the one took the pair. It +ain't likely there were two thieves in the case. If I might be so bold, +I would, if I were in your ladyship's place, ask her to produce _both_ +the bracelets, and restore them to you; and when she's done that, it +will be for your ladyship to say whether you do or do not believe her to +be innocent, and that she's told the truth about my pencil-case.' + +"Nobody said anything for a minute, for it were plain as Lady Morville +were very much grieved and perplexed. At last she turns to Jane, and +says, `You hear what Georgina says, Jane; it is not unreasonable. Two +bracelets have been taken, and one of the pair is found on you. I +cannot say how you came by it, but it seems most likely that you must +know where the other is. Produce it, and the matter shall go no +further. I've always had the highest opinion of you up to this moment; +and if sudden temptation in this case has led you into a sin, the best +and wisest thing for you to do is just to own it, and to give up the +other bracelet, and then the matter shall drop there, and we will all +agree that by-gones shall be by-gones, for the best among us may be +overtaken in a fault.' But by this time poor Jane had recovered herself +a bit. She dried her tears, and, looking her mistress steadily in the +face, said, `I have told your ladyship the simple truth, and nothing but +the truth; and I appeal to your ladyship, have you ever found me out in +any untruthfulness or deceit all these years as you've knowed me? I see +plainly enough why Mr Hollands and Georgina have been plotting this +cruelty against me; but it would, I know, be of no use if I was to tell +your ladyship what their carryings on has been--I should not be +believed. But there's One whose eyes are in every place, beholding the +evil and the good, and he will set it all right when he sees it to be +best, and he'll clear my character.' + +"No more were said at that time; but in the afternoon Lady Morville +sends for Jane, and has her in her own room by herself, and she tells +her as appearances are very much against her; but as she'd never knowed +anything to her discredit before, and she had borne a very high +character all the time as she'd been at the Hall, this matter should be +hushed up, but she felt it wouldn't be right for her to remain. And so +my poor sister, as she couldn't say no otherwise than she did before, +and as she couldn't bear to face the other servants any more, left the +Hall that very night by her own wish, and told me her story as I've told +it you; for we've talked it over together scores of times, and I've got +it quite by heart. And from that day to this she's never looked up; +for, as it says in the psalm, `the iron has entered into her soul.' + +"I couldn't stop long after that in Monksworthy, and so we all came over +here; and the Lord has prospered us--all but poor Jane; and yet I know +she'll tell you he has never left her nor forsaken her, and he's made +his promises `yea and Amen' to her, spite of her sorrow. But it's a +very sore trial, and the burden of it lies heavy on her heart still. + +"There, sir, you've had the whole of it now, as well as I could give it +you; and I'm sure you'll deal gently with the poor creature, like the +good Master who wouldn't break the bruised reed." + +For a little while no one spoke. Mr Maltby was deeply touched, and +Jane, whose face had been for some time past buried in her hands, could +not for a while restrain her sobbing. At last she looked up and said: +"Yes, dear Mr Maltby, Thomas has told you exactly how it all was, as he +has often heard it from me. They tell me not to fret. Ah! But it's +good advice easier given than followed. I don't want to murmur; I know +it's the Lord's will; but the trouble's gnawing and gnawing my life +away. Disgraced, dismissed as a thief and a liar, without a character, +a burden instead of a help to those who love me--oh, it _is_ hard, very +hard to bear! But those blessed words of the psalm you read, oh, how +they have comforted me! And in that Word of God I know I shall find +peace and strength. Ah, that reminds me Thomas has not mentioned to you +another thing that added weight to my burden. I had, when I was living +at the Hall, a little Bible of my dear mother's, which I used to read +every day. Only a very short time before the day when the bracelet was +shown me, that Bible was taken out of my box; and I've never seen it +since. I asked all the other servants about it, but every one declared +they had neither touched nor seen it. It could not have been taken for +its value, for it was very old, and worn-looking, and shabby, and the +paper and print were very poor; but I loved it because it was my dear +mother's, and had been given to her as a reward when she was a very +little girl. It had her maiden name and the year of our Lord in +it--`Mary Williams. June 10, 1793.' Oh! It was such a precious book +to me, for I had drawn a line in red-ink under all my favourite texts, +and I could find anything I wanted in it in a moment! I can't help +fearing that John Hollands or Georgina took it away just to spite me." + +"Poor Jane!" said the vicar gently and lovingly "your story is a sad one +indeed. Truly the chastening must for the present be not joyous, but +grievous; and yet it comes from the hand of a Father who loves you, who +will, I doubt not, cause it in due time to bring forth the peaceable +fruit of righteousness." + +"And you do, then, dear sir," cried Jane, with tearful earnestness, +"believe, after what you have heard, that I am really innocent of the +charge which has been made against me?" + +"Believe it, Jane!" exclaimed Mr Maltby; "yes, indeed! I could not +doubt your innocence for a moment; and remember, the Lord himself knows +it, and will make it before long as clear as the noonday." + +"Oh, thank you, dear sir, a thousand times for those cheering words! I +am so glad now that all has been told you; I feel my heart lighter +already. Yes, I _will_ trust that light will come in _his_ time." + +"It will," replied the vicar, "and before long too. I feel firmly +persuaded, I can hardly tell you why, that it will not be so very long +before this dark cloud shall pass away." + +"May the Lord grant it!" said Thomas Bradly; and added, "You understand +now, sir, exactly how matters lie; and we shall both feel the happier +that you know all, for we are sure that we shall always have your +sympathy and prayers, and if anything should turn up we shall know where +to go for advice; and in the meantime, we must wait and be patient. I +can't help feeling with you that, somehow or other, poor Jane's getting +near the end of the wood, and will come out into the sunshine afore so +very long." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +TANTALISING. + +A few days after the disclosure of Jane Bradly's trouble to the vicar, +he met her brother Thomas in the evening hurrying away from his house. + +"Nothing amiss at home, I hope, Thomas?" he inquired. + +"Nothing amiss, thank you, sir, in my home, but a great deal amiss in +somebody else's. There's nearly been an accident this afternoon to a +goods train, and it's been owing to Jim Barnes having had too much +drink; so they've just paid him off, and sent him about his business." + +"I'm afraid," said the vicar, "there has been too much cause for such a +strong measure. Poor James has been a sad drunken fellow, and it is a +wonder they have kept him on so long." + +"So it is, indeed, sir; for it's risking other people's lives to have +such as him about a station. I suppose they have not liked to turn him +off before partly because he's got such a lot of little 'uns to feed, +and partly because it ain't often as he's plainly the worse for liquor +when he's at his work. But when a man's as fond of the drink as Jim +Barnes is, it ain't possible for him to keep off it always just when it +suits his interests. And then there's another thing which makes chaps +like him unfit to be trusted with having to do with the trains--who's to +be sure that he ain't so far the worse for drink as to be confused in +his head, even when he shows no signs of being regularly tipsy?" + +"Who, indeed, Thomas? I am very sorry for poor James and his family; +but I am sure he is not the man, while he keeps his present habits, to +be trusted with work on the line, which requires a steady hand and a +cool head." + +"Well, sir, I hope he'll begin to see that himself. Now's the time to +get at him, and so I'm just going down to try what I can do with him. +Jim's never been one of my sort, but he's not been one of the worst of +the other sort neither. He's a good-natured fellow, and has got a soft +heart, and I've never had a spiteful word from him since I've knowed +him." + +"Yes, Thomas, I believe that's true of him," said Mr Maltby; "he has +been always very civil and obliging to me. But, as you know, I have +tried more than once to draw him out of the slough of intemperance on to +firm ground, but in vain. I trust, however, that God may bless your +loving endeavours to bring him now over to the right side." + +"I trust so too, sir." + +The house where Barnes lived was in one of the worst and dirtiest parts +of Crossbourne; and as some of the inhabitants, whose temperament +inclined to the gloomy, declared Crossbourne to be the dirtiest town in +England, the situation of Jim's dwelling was certainly not likely to be +favourable to either health or comfort. There are streets in most towns +of any considerable size which persons who are fortunate enough to live +in more agreeable localities are quite content with just looking down, +and then passing on, marvelling, it may be, to themselves how such +processes as washing and cooking can ever be carried on with the +slightest prospect of success in the midst of such grimy and unsavoury +surroundings. It was in such a street that James Barnes and his family +existed, rather than lived; for life is too vigorous a term to be +applied to the time dragged on by those who were unfortunate enough to +breathe so polluted an atmosphere. There are some places which, in +their very decay, remind you of better times now past and gone. It was +not so with the houses in these streets; they looked rather as if +originally built of poverty-stricken and dilapidated materials. And yet +none of them were really old, but the blight of neglect was heavy upon +them. Nearly at the bottom of one of these streets was the house +inhabited by the dismissed railway porter, and to this Thomas Bradly now +made his way. + +Outside the front door stood a knot of women with long pipes in their +mouths, bemoaning Jim's dismissal with his wife, and suggesting some of +those original grounds of consolation which, to persons in a higher walk +of life, would rather aggravate than lessen the trial. Two of the +youngest children of the family, divested of all superfluous clothing, +were giving full play to their ill-fed limbs in the muddy gutter, +dividing their time between personal assaults on each other, and +splashings on the by-standers from the liquid soil in which they were +revelling, being occasionally startled into a momentary silence by a +violent cuff from their mother when they became more than ordinarily +uproarious. + +The outer door stood half-open, and disclosed a miserable scene of +domestic desolation. The absence of everything that could make home +really home was the conspicuous feature. There was a table, it is true; +but then it was comparatively useless in its disabled state--one of the +leaves hanging down, and just held on by one unbroken hinge, reminding +you of a man with his arm in a sling. There were chairs also, but none +of them perfect; rather suggesting by their appearance the need of +caution in the use of them than the prospect of rest to those who might +confide their weight to them. A shelf of crockery ware was the least +unattractive object; but then every article had suffered more or less in +the wars. Nothing was clean or bright, few things were whole, and fewer +still in their proper places. The two or three dingy prints on the +walls, originally misrepresentations in flaring colours of scriptural or +other scenes, hung in various degrees of crookedness; while articles of +clothing, old and new, dirtier and less dirty, were scattered about in +all directions, or suspended, just where necessity or whim had tossed +them. There was on the available portion of the table part of a loaf of +bread, a lump of butter still half-wrapped in the dirty piece of +newspaper which had left some of its letters impressed on its exposed +side, a couple of herrings, a mug half-full of beer, and two or three +onions. And in the midst of all this chaos, on one side of the grate, +which was one-third full of expiring ashes, and two-thirds full of dust, +sat James Barnes in his railway porter's dress and cap, looking +exceedingly crestfallen and unhappy. + +"Good evening, Jim," said Thomas Bradly, making his way to the fire- +place, and taking a seat opposite to Barnes; "I was sorry to hear bad +news." + +"Yes, bad indeed, Thomas--you've heard it, I see. Yes, they've given me +the sack; and what's to be done now, I'm sure I don't know. Some +people's born to luck; 'tain't my case." + +"Nay, Jim," cried the other, "you're out there: there's no such thing as +luck, and no one's born to good luck. But there's an old proverb which +comes pretty near the truth, and it's this, `Diligence is the mother of +good luck.' I don't believe in luck or chance myself, but I believe in +diligence, with God's blessing. It says in the Bible, `The hand of the +diligent maketh rich.'" + +"Well, and I have been diligent," exclaimed Jim: "I've never been away +from my work a day scarcely. But see what a lot of children I've got, +and most of them little 'uns; and now they've gone and turned me off at +a moment's notice. What do you say to that? Isn't that hard lines?" + +"It ain't pleasant, certainly, Jim; but come, now, what's the use of +fencing about in this way? Jim Barnes, just you listen to me. There's +not a pleasanter chap in the town than yourself when you're sober-- +everybody says so, from the vicar down to Tommy Tracks. Now it's of no +use to lay the blame on the wrong shoulders. You know perfectly well +that if you'd have let the drink alone things would never have come to +this, and you wouldn't have been living now in such a dirty hole. But +I'm not come down here, Jim, to twit you with what's done, and can't be +undone now. If you've done wrong, well, there's time to turn over a new +leaf and do better; and now's your time. You see what the drink's +brought you to; and if you was to get another place to-morrow, you +wouldn't keep it long. There's no business as ever I heard of where the +masters advertise in the papers, `So many drunkards wanted for such a +work.' No, no, Jim; just you think the matter over, and pray to the +Lord to show you the right way. You know my `Surgery' at the back of my +house: you come up there to-night and have a talk with me; it's no use +trying to have it here. I think I'll show you a door as'll lead to +better ways, and better times; and you shan't want a good friend or two, +Jim, to give you a helping hand, if you'll only try, by God's help, to +deserve them." + +Poor Jim's head had become bowed down on to his hands during this plain +speech, and the tears began to make their way through his fingers. Then +he stretched out one hand towards his visitor without lifting up his +head, and said, in a half-choked voice, "Thank you, Thomas; I'll come, +that I will,--I'll come; and thank you kindly for coming to look after +me." + +And he kept his word. Just as it was getting dark a tap was heard at +Bradly's "Surgery" door, and James Barnes was admitted into a bright and +cheery room--such a marvellous contrast, in its neatness, order, and +cleanliness, to his own miserable dwelling. When the two men were +seated, one on either side of the fire-place--which was as brilliant as +Brunswick black and polishing could make it--Bradly began:-- + +"James Barnes, this night may be the turning-point for good and for +happiness, for you and yours, both for this world and the next. I want +you to sign the pledge and keep it. You've tried for a good long time +how you can do _with_ the drink--and a poor do it has been; now try how +you can do _without_ it. Never mind what old mates may say; never mind +what such as Will Foster and his set may say; never mind what your wife +may say,--she'll come round and join you if you're only firm,--just you +sign, and then we'll ask God to bless you, and to enable you to keep +your pledge." + +"Thomas, I will," said James Barnes, much moved; "all as you've said's +perfectly true--I know it. The drink's been my curse and my ruin; it's +done me and mine nothing but harm; and I can see what doing without it +has been to you and yours. Give me the pen; I'll sign." + +The signature was made, and then, while both men knelt, Thomas Bradly +poured out his heart in prayer to God for a blessing on his poor friend, +and that he might truly give his heart and life to the Lord. "And now, +James," said Bradly, "I'll find you a job to go on with, and I'll speak +to the vicar, and you and yours shan't starve till we can set you on +your feet again." + +James Barnes thanked his new friend most warmly, and was turning to the +door, but still lingered. Then he came back to the fire and sat down +again, and said, "Thomas, I've summat to tell you which I've been +wanting to mention to you for more nor a week, and yet I ain't had the +courage to come and say it like a man." + +"Well, Jim, now's the time." + +"Thomas," said the other sorrowfully, "I've done you a wrong, but I +didn't mean to do it; it's that drink as was at the bottom of it." + +"Well, Jim," replied Bradly, smiling, "it can't have been much of a +wrong, I doubt, as I've never found it out." + +"I don't know how that may be, Thomas, but you shall hear. You remember +the morning when poor Joe was found cut to pieces on the line just below +the foot-bridge?" + +"Yes, Jim, I remember it well; it was the day before Christmas-day." + +"Well, Thomas, it were the day before that. I was on the platform in +the evening, waiting for the half-past five o'clock train to come in +from the north. It were ten minutes or more late, as most of the trains +was that day. When it stopped at our station, a gent wrapped up in a +lot of things, with a fur cap on his head, a pair of blue spectacles +over his eyes, and a stout red scarf round his neck, jumps out of a +third-class carriage like a shot, and lays hold of my arm, and takes me +on one side, and says, `I want you to do a job for me,' and he puts a +florin into my hand; then he says, `Do you know Thomas Bradly?' `Ay,' +says I; `I know him well.' `Then take this bag,' says he, `and this +letter to his house as soon as you're off duty. Be sure you don't fail. +You knows the man I mean; he's got a sister Jane as lives with him.' +`All right,' says I. There weren't no more time, so he jumps back into +the carriage, and nods to me, and I nods back to him, and the train were +gone. It were turned six o'clock when I left the station yard, and the +hands was all turning, out from the mills, so I takes the bag--it were a +small carpet-bag, very shabby-looking--and the letter in my pocket. +Now, I ought, by rights, to have gone with it at once to your house, and +I shouldn't have had any more trouble about it. But as I was passing +the Railway Inn, I says to myself, `I'll just step in and have a pint;' +but I wouldn't take the bag in with me, as perhaps some one or other +might be axing me questions about it, and it weren't no business of +theirs, so I just sets it down on the step outside, and goes in and +changes my florin and gets my pint of ale. Well, I got a-gossiping with +the landlady, and had another pint, and when I came out the bag were +gone. I couldn't believe my eyes at first, for I've often left things +on benches and steps outside the publics, and never knowed 'em touched +afore this; for they're as honest a people in Crossbourne as you'll find +anywhere. Howsomever, the bag were gone; there were no mistake about +that. I went round into the yard and axed the hostler, but he hadn't +seed nobody about. I looked up and down, but never a soul could I see +as had a bag in his hand, so what to do I couldn't tell. Then I +thought, `Maybe some one's carried it back to the station by mistake.' +So I went back, but it weren't there. I can tell you Thomas, I were +never more mad with myself in all my life; for though I haven't been one +of your sort, I've always respected you, and I'd rather have lost almost +any one else's things than yours. I only hope it ain't of much +consequence, as it were a very shabby bag, and didn't seem to have much +in it, for it were scarcely any weight at all." + +"Well, James, don't fret about it," said the other; "you meant no harm. +As to the value of the bag, I know nothing more than you've told me, for +I haven't been expecting anything of the sort. I only trust it'll be a +warning to you, and that you'll stick firm to your pledge, and keep on +the outside of the beer-shops and publics for the future." + +"I will, Thomas; I will. But you know I told you as that gent who put +the bag in my keeping gave me a letter besides. Well, I ain't lost the +letter, but I've really been ashamed to bring it you, as I couldn't +bring the bag too. And the devil said to me, `You'd better throw the +letter behind the fire, and there'll be an end of all bother;' but I +couldn't do that, though I've never had the courage yet to give it you. +But here it is;" and he took from his pocket a discoloured envelope, and +handed it to Bradly. It was directed in a crabbed hand, with the +writing sloping down to the corner--"Miss Jane Bradly, Crossbourne." + +"Stop here a minute or two, Jim," said his friend, "and I shall be able +perhaps to set your mind at ease about the bag;" and he left the room. + +"Jane," he said, addressing his sister, who was seated in her usual +place by the kitchen fire, "I've a letter for you, and it has come in +rather an odd way;" and he then repeated to her James Barnes's story. + +Much puzzled, but with no great amount of curiosity or interest, Jane +took the letter from her brother's hand. From whom could it have come? +There was of course no postmark, as it had been sent by messenger; and +she knew nothing of the handwriting. When she had opened it she found +only one small leaf, and but very few words on that; but these words, +few though they were, seemed to take her breath away, and to overwhelm +her with overpowering emotion. She sat staring at the miserable scrawl +as though the letters were potent with some mighty spell, and then, +throwing the paper on the table by her, gave way to a passionate +outburst of weeping. + +"Jane, Jane dear, what's amiss?" cried her brother in great distress. +"The Lord help us! What has happened?" + +She did not look up, but pushed the letter towards him, and he read as +follows:-- + + "Dear Jane,--I am sorry now for all as I've done at you. Pray forgive + me. You will find a letter all about it in the bag; and I've put your + little marked Bible, and the other br---t with it, into the bag. So + no more at present from yours--JH." + +Slowly the facts of the case dawned on Thomas Bradly's mind. John +Hollands was trying to make amends for the cruel wrong he had done to +poor Jane, and had sent her a written statement which would wipe off the +stain he had himself cast on her character; and with this he had sent +Jane's dearly-prized Bible and the companion bracelet to the one seen by +Lady Morville in Jane's hand, and given up by her to her mistress on +that unhappy morning. And what of John Hollands himself? No doubt he +was making the best of his way, under fear of detection and punishment, +to some foreign country; and had left the bag through a feeling of +remorse, that he might clear Jane's character. Both brother and sister +saw this clearly; and that the means of relief for poor Jane had been +just within their grasp, but now, by the cruel carelessness of James +Barnes, had slipped away from them, and perhaps for ever. Where was the +bag which had in it what would set all things straight? Who could tell? + +"I see it all," said Bradly, sadly, to his sister. "It's very trying +and very tantalising; but the Lord knows best how to deal with his own." + +"O Thomas," exclaimed his sister, "this seems almost more than I can +bear!" + +"I know it, I know it, Jane; and yet remember the promise, `He will not +suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the +temptation make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.' Nay, +cheer up, darling! `the Lord does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the +children of men.' He'll never let his people be vexed a moment longer +than's good for them. I feel certain now as the bag'll be found sooner +or later. Whether _we_ can find it or no, one thing's certain,--the +Lord knows where it is he's got his eye upon it; and it'll turn up just +at the right time. Now, my dearest sister, just take this for your +comfort. The Lord's sent you this letter just to show you that +deliverance is on the road; it'll come, I'll be bound, afore so very +long. Just you help yourself along by the light of his promises, and by +my two walking-sticks, `Do the next thing'--`One step at a time.' The +next thing for you now is to wait his time in faith and patience. +Remember those precious words of the psalm: `Commit thy way unto the +Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall +bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the +noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him!'" Jane dried +her tears, and held out her arms to her brother, who drew her tenderly +to his heart, and again bade her take comfort. "And now," he said, "I +must go to poor Jim." + +"Well, Thomas," said Barnes, on the return of his friend, "I hope +there's nothing very bad come of my losing the bag?" + +"James," replied the other, gravely, "I can't say that; I wish I could. +The loss of the bag is a serious business to us; but we must do our best +to try and find it, and you must help us." + +James looked very sad and crestfallen. "Thomas," he said, "I wish I'd +only knowed as that bag were of so much consequence. But then that's +nothing to do with it; I ought to have brought it to you at once--I know +that. I'll do my very best, however, to find it; and, come what will, +I've had a lesson as I shan't easily forget. The inside of the public +has seen the last of me." + +"Stick to that, Jim," said the other, "and put a prayer to it to the +Lord to keep you; and that'll do more to make up for the loss of the bag +than anything you can possibly do for us. Good-night, Jim. Keep firm +to your pledge, and you'll not want friends here and above." + +"Good-night, Thomas; and the Lord bless you for your kindness!" + +And now, what was to be done? It was quite clear that the bag contained +the means of a triumphant establishment of Jane's innocence with Lady +Morville, and consequent freedom from all stain or slur on her +character. But was it possible to find the bag? The circumstances +connected with the bag's loss were communicated to the vicar, who helped +Bradly to institute every possible inquiry after it in a quiet way, for +they did not wish, especially on Jane's account, to make the matter a +nine days' wonder in Crossbourne by advertising. But all was in vain; +not the faintest clue could be got by which to trace it. Of course, it +might have been possible for Jane to ascertain through her brother +whether John Hollands had really left Monksworthy Hall, and whether or +no any of his evil practices had come to light since his departure. +And, supposing such discoveries to have been made, she might have +produced the letter signed "JH," and have shown its contents to Lady +Morville. But then Jane would naturally be expected to produce the bag +alluded to in the letter, or, at any rate, the companion bracelet which +was said to be in it; and the having to tell what would look like a +roundabout story concerning its loss would not be likely to leave a +thoroughly favourable impression on the mind of her late mistress. + +Poor Jane! She felt that without the bracelet she could not hope to +claim a full and frank acknowledgment from her ladyship that her +innocence was completely vindicated. She must therefore wait, trust, +and be patient. + +"Light has begun to dawn on your trouble, Jane," said the vicar; "and be +sure brighter light will follow. We must do our best, and leave it to +the Lord to carry out his own purposes in his own wise and gracious way. +Sure I am of this, that you will find the fuller light come in due +time; and, more than that, that you will see that good has all the while +been working out, through this trial, to others as well as to yourself." + +"I'm sure you're right, sir," said Bradly; "she'll have cause in the end +even to bless the Lord for this affliction. And, after all, I don't see +why we shouldn't try and find out Hollands' whereabouts through some of +his old companions, when he's been a little while in foreign parts; and +if we write and tell him about the loss of the bag, I don't doubt, if +he's truly sorry for what he's done to Jane,--and it seems likely as he +is,--he'll write her back such a letter as will clear up all with Lady +Morville. But the next step is just to leave all in the Lord's hands +for the present." + +And so it was left. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +CROSSBOURNE ANNUAL TEMPERANCE MEETING. + +Week after week rolled by, and James Barnes continued firm to the pledge +which he had signed in Thomas Bradly's "Surgery." And now the usual +time for holding the annual meeting of the "Crossbourne Temperance +Society" had come round, and a meeting was accordingly advertised to be +held in the Town Hall. But mischief was apparently brewing; for all the +bills announcing the meeting which were posted on the walls were either +torn down or defaced the same night that they were put up,--a thing +which had never happened before. So it would seem that the enemies of +the temperance cause were prepared to offer more than ordinary +opposition, and that very possibly they might try to spoil or interrupt +the meeting itself. + +And the friends of the temperance movement in Crossbourne had not to +look far to find the cause. There had been mutterings of a coming storm +for some time past. The lovers of strong drink, supported by those who +made capital out of their unnatural and ruinous thirst, had been laying +plans and concocting schemes for thwarting the steady advance which +temperance was making in the town. And now the sudden and shocking +death of poor Joseph Wright, so far from teaching any of his old +associates the lesson which God, who can bring good even out of man's +evil, would have had them learn from that frightful disaster, had only +made them plunge more deeply into the slough of drunkenness; and so +total abstainers and their principles got more abuse and hatred from +them than ever. Conscience _would_ be heard for a little while, roused +into utterance as it was by the death of their miserable companion; but +they hated that inward voice--it exasperated them. Drink they would +have, and cordially would they hate more and more all who would try, +however gently and lovingly, to draw them away from the intoxicating +cup. And now the desertion of James Barnes, as they considered it, to +the enemy, made the fire of their wrath and indignation burn with a +tenfold intensity. + +"We're like to have hot work to-night, sir," said Bradly to the vicar, +as he sat in the vicarage study on the morning of the meeting talking +over the arrangements for the evening. + +"I fear so," said Mr Maltby; "so we must take proper precautions. I +hear that the friends of poor Joseph Wright intend to muster in full +force and spoil the meeting if they can. However, I have spoken to the +police sergeant, and he will be there with one or two of his men to +prevent any serious disturbance. You must see that they don't turn off +the gas, and get us into trouble that way." + +"All right, sir," replied Bradly, "we'll take care about that; but I +ain't much afraid. There's a deal of bluster among those chaps, but it +don't take much to empty it out of 'em. Somehow or other I think we're +going to have a good meeting after all." + +Nevertheless, it was not without some considerable feeling of anxiety +that the vicar entered the committee room of the Town Hall about a +quarter of an hour before the time of commencement. He was accompanied +by a brother clergyman from a distant county, who had brought a plain +working-man with him from his parish. These were to be the chief +speakers of the evening. Thomas Bradly was to bring James Barnes with +him, and both were to take their places among the audience, but near the +platform, so as not to attract more observation than necessary, at the +first. + +The hall, which was a spacious and well-lighted building, began to fill +as soon as the doors were opened. There was manifestly an unusual +interest taken, not necessarily nor probably in the cause itself, but, +at any rate, in the present meeting. The friends of Joseph Wright and +their companions had made it publicly known, and a matter of open +boasting, that they intended to be there; and this announcement was the +inducement to a number of idle men and boys to attend the meeting in the +hopes of having some diversion. But Thomas Bradly and his friends were +quite equal to the occasion; they were fully alive to the intention of +their adversaries, and acted accordingly. As the opponents of +temperance entered the hall, members of the Temperance Society contrived +to slip in with them, and so to distribute themselves over the seats +that no large number of the other side could be gathered in a compact +body together. + +By the time the minute-hand of the clock over the chairman's seat had +reached twenty-five minutes past seven--the meeting being advertised to +begin at half-past seven--the hall was densely packed from one end to +the other, the only unoccupied places being one or two seats close under +the platform. Punctually at the half-hour the party from the committee +room walked on to the platform, headed by the vicar; while at the same +moment Thomas Bradly, followed by James Barnes, emerged from a side door +near the platform, and the two friends placed themselves on two of the +vacant foremost chairs. The entrance of these two parties was greeted +by a roar of mingled cheers, laughter, and a few groans and hisses. + +Mr Maltby advanced to the front of the platform, and there was +instantly silence. "Just one word, dear friends, before we commence our +meeting," he said. "I have such confidence in your manly English +honesty and common fairness, that I am persuaded that, whether you agree +with us or no, you will give myself and my friends a quiet and +uninterrupted hearing. We are come here to try and do some good. Bear +with us, then, and listen to us." + +This short speech had the desired effect. There was indeed a grand +effort made to obstruct and disturb on the part of the drinking faction; +but it became apparent at once that the great bulk of the working-men +present--though most had come chiefly with a view to be amused--were not +at all disposed to allow the vicar and his friends to be hissed or +shouted down. The few straightforward words just spoken aroused their +better feelings, and the intended rioters felt that they must wait a +little before attempting any further demonstration. + +Thankful for the success of his brief speech, Mr Maltby proceeded to +open the meeting with Scripture and prayer as usual. All were very +still; but as he rose from his knees his eyes fell upon a man who sat at +the extreme end of the front bench to his right. That man was William +Foster. Never had the vicar seen him before at any meeting where he +himself was present; and as he took his seat in the chair, he whispered +to his clerical friend, "Do you see that man at the extreme end of the +front bench? I am afraid his being here to-night bodes us no good, for +he is the leading infidel and mischief-maker in the place."--"Indeed!" +replied his friend; "well, let us hope the best. Perhaps the Lord will +give us a word even for him to-night. At any rate, we have a noble and +intelligent audience before us; and let us do our best for them, and +leave the issue in higher hands."--"Thank you," whispered the vicar; "I +feel ashamed of my want of faith. Doubtless all will be overruled for +good." + +He then proceeded to give a short address, in which, avoiding all +harshness and bitterness of expression, he strove to leave on his +hearers' hearts the impression that love and nothing else constrained +him and his fellow-workers in the efforts they were using to promote the +spread of temperance in the parish and neighbourhood. The other +speakers followed in the same strain; the working-man being able, in his +rough-and-ready way, to carry with him the great majority of the +meeting, so that a feeble attempt at disturbance from the opponents +proved a decided failure. + +But now a strange stir and excitement rustled through the vast assembly +as James Barnes, at the invitation of the vicar, mounted the platform, +and stood unabashed before his fellow-townsmen. But scarcely had he +begun to open his lips when a torrent of yells and shouts burst from a +score or two of drunken throats; others cheered, many laughed, some +shouted; then followed a thunder of clapping and stamping, whistling and +shrieking, and it seemed for a few moments as though the triumph were to +be on the side of disorder and intemperance. But, as a second whirlwind +of uproar was beginning, the vicar again stepped forward, and, raising +his right-hand as begging silence, smiled pleasantly on the excited +crowd, while he placed his left hand on the shoulder of James Barnes, +who stood his ground manfully. Then followed shouts of "Shame, +shame!"--"Sit down!"--"Hold your noise!"--"Hearken Jim!" and the storm +gradually subsided into a calm. + +"I'm one of yourselves," began Jim bluntly, as soon as order was +restored, and not in the slightest degree discomposed by this rough +reception; "you shouldn't make such a din. How's a fellow to make +himself heard? Why, it's worse than half a dozen engines all whistling +at once." There was a buzz of amused satisfaction at this professional +illustration, and James Barnes had got the ear of the meeting. "I'll +tell you what it is, friends," he went on; "it's true I ain't much of a +speaker, but I can tell you a thing or two about myself as may be +useful. I've got my Sunday coat on to-night, and it's my own, and it's +never been to the popshop. I couldn't have said that a month ago, for +I'd never a Sunday coat then. Another thing, I'm spending my own wages; +that's more nor I've done for many years past, for the devil's been used +to spend the best part of them for me and put 'em into the landlord's +till. Now I takes 'em to buy bread and clothes for the wife and +children. Another thing, and better still, I've got one or two good +friends as pulled me out of the mire, and won't let me go. Tommy Tracks +there, as you call him, he's one of them; and _your_ good friend the +vicar,--for he _is_ your friend, think as you please,--he's another. +And, best of all, I've got a clear head and a clear conscience, and a +hope of a better home by-and-by, and a Saviour above all to look to; and +I shouldn't have had none of these if I'd been going on in my old ways. +So _you_ may laugh if you please when you say, `Jim Barnes has turned +teetotaler;' but I mean to sing when I says it, for it's true, and he +means to stick to it, with God's help, all the days of his life." + +Having delivered himself of this brief address, James Barnes hurried +down from the platform, followed by a roar of hearty applause, which +completely drowned the efforts of a few dissentient voices. + +The vicar was now just rising to call on another speaker to address the +meeting, when his attention, as well as that of the whole audience, was +turned to William Foster as he got up deliberately from his seat. Mr +Maltby had watched him narrowly during the evening, and not without +considerable anxiety and interest. Up to the close of Barnes's speech +Foster had apparently taken little or no interest in the proceedings; +certainly he had not joined either in the applause or in the dissent. +What was he now about to do? Turning to the vicar, amidst a breathless +silence throughout the hall, he said, in a firm and clear voice, "Mr +Chairman, may I say a few words to this meeting?" The vicar hesitated. +Was this man going to spoil all? His eye at that moment caught Thomas +Bradly's. Thomas nodded to him, and then turned to Foster and said, +"Get you on to the platform, William; the vicar and all the rest of us +will give you a patient hearing, I'm sure." Foster then mounted the +platform, and stood for a moment facing the audience without speaking. +He was very pale, and his voice trembled at first, but soon recovered +its firmness as he spoke as follows:-- + +"Mr Chairman and fellow-townsmen, I have not come here to-night to +oppose the temperance movement, but quite the contrary. I am quite sure +that movement has been doing good in this town, and is doing good still. +You have only to look at Jim Barnes to see that. Everybody knows what +he was, and everybody knows what he now is; there is no sham nor deceit +in the matter. Now, whatever our creeds may be, whether we think alike +in other things or not, there can be no two opinions about this matter +with honest and reasoning men. The temperance movement is doing good, +and we have before us a plain proof of it. Now, I am not here to-night +merely to talk. I should not have come if that were all. I have come +to act. I have professed to be a reasoning man, and to belong to a +party that prides itself upon being governed by reason, and yet I have +allowed myself to come more or less under the dominion of that strong +drink which just turns a reasoning man into something far lower than an +irrational brute. `Well, then,' some of you might say, `can't you exert +your own will and give it up without coming to a temperance meeting to +talk about it?' Yes, I could; but that would be just merely doing good +to myself. Now, I can't help being aware that your chairman, the vicar +of this parish, and his right-hand man, Thomas Bradly, are not content +with being total abstainers for their own benefit, but are doing their +best, spite of ridicule, opposition, and persecution, to get others to +become abstainers also. They can have nothing to gain by this except +the happiness of making others happy. I see this plainly; and my reason +(_they_ would call it conscience, I suppose) tells me that, if I am a +really honest and unprejudiced man, I ought to follow their example. I +am here to-night to do it. I have other reasons besides for taking this +course, but I do not think it necessary to mention them on the present +occasion. I know what it will cost me to take this step, but I have +well weighed the consequences and am prepared to accept them. Mr +Chairman, I will sign the pledge to-night in your book, and join your +society, if you will allow me." Having spoken thus, William Foster +quietly resumed his seat. + +The effect of this speech on the meeting was most overwhelming. Every +word had been heard all over the hall, for Foster had a clear and +powerful voice, and had spoken calmly and deliberately, as one who +weighed every word and sentence carefully; and the silence while he +addressed his audience had been almost oppressive. Was it possible that +Foster could be in earnest? There was no mistake about it--every man +was at once convinced of this from the vicar down to the most sottish of +the anti-temperance gathering. Such a man as Foster would never have +come forward in this way had he not had powerful and all-constraining +motives to lead him to take such a step. When he sat down there was +neither shouting nor laughter: the great body of working-men, including +the obstructionists, seemed stupified; they looked at one another with +open-eyed and open-mouthed wonder, and whispered their amazement and +perplexity. Then the vicar, struck dumb for the moment by sheer +astonishment, after exchanging with his brother clergyman on the +platform a glance of deep thankfulness, rose, and addressing William +Foster, said, "I cannot tell you, my friend, how truly glad I am to find +that you have been guided to take such a step as you now contemplate; +most cordially shall I receive your signature in our pledge-book, and +welcome you to our society." Then the crowd of hearers rose to their +feet, and gave vent to their feelings in three hearty cheers; while the +opponents of the cause made their way to the door as quickly as they +could. + +The next minute Thomas Bradly stood by the vicar's side, and all sat +hushed in attention as he addressed the meeting. Tears were in his +eyes, and half-choked was his voice as he began:-- + +"Friends, I've been at many a temperance meeting in my day, but never at +one that I shall remember like this. Some of us abstainers came here +to-night with doubting hearts; it seemed as if the evil one was a-going +to put a big stone or two in the way of the temperance cause, but +instead of that he's been and trod upon his own tail, as he often does. +O bless the Lord for his goodness! We've had a mighty large stone took +out of the way, instead of any new 'uns laid in our path. Ah! Why +should we ever be fainthearted? The cause is a good cause, and it +_will_ prosper, depend upon it. And now, friends, there's many of you +here to-night as came, I know, just for a bit of fun; you didn't mean no +harm, but you wouldn't have minded a little bit of a laugh against us. +But it's turned out just the other way: you've given us a help, and +stopped the mouths of them as would have upset our meeting; so let them +laugh as wins. And now, friends, I want to say a word to you about our +friend William here. We're all thinking about him; he has come forward +like an honest man to-night, and a right brave man too. I know he can't +have done it without having to pay for it. I know, and you know too, as +it'll not be all smooth work between him and his mates. Now, whether +you like or don't like what he has done to-night, you can't help +respecting him for it; so just keep your tongues off him when you meet +him, and do him a kind turn if you can. He and I ain't of one mind, you +well know--at least we haven't been; but he knows this, that in anything +that's good I'll back him up through thick and thin if he'll let me. +And now, here's a grand opportunity; just some of you chaps as have been +cheering him like anything come up to the table and sign the pledge with +him, and keep it by God's help, and you'll bless this night every day of +your lives, and so will the wives and children." + +There was a cheery response to this speech in many a hearty word of +assent; and then the vicar closed the meeting, inviting any who were +willing to come and sign. The crowded room was soon emptied of all but +a very few, among whom were William Foster and about a dozen more of the +working-men, who expressed their intention to sign with him. Foster +himself signed his name with an unflinching hand, but said nothing. The +vicar thought it wisest not to endeavour to draw him into conversation +at this time, but with a kindly shake of the hand, and an expression of +thankfulness at his joining the Temperance Society, bade him good-night. + +As the committee and the speakers were leaving the hall, the vicar kept +Thomas Bradly back, and said to him: "This is wonderful indeed; it is +the Lord's doing, and is marvellous in our eyes. Now you must keep your +eye, Thomas, on Foster; I think you will get at him at first better than +I should be likely to do. You will be able to see just how the land +lies, and I shall be ready to come in at any time; only with such a man +we must use discretion, knowing what his antecedents have been." + +"Ay, surely," replied the other; "I'll not let him go, sir, now that +we've got hold of him--you may depend upon it. Oh! This is indeed what +I never could have dreamt of. Well, we've had a grand night; and it's a +sign, I believe, as we're going to have some rare bright sunshine on our +temperance work." + +"I trust and believe so, indeed," rejoined Mr Maltby, and they parted. + +That meeting was never forgotten in Crossbourne, but was always spoken +of as emphatically _the_ great Crossbourne Temperance Meeting. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +LIGHT IN THE DARK DWELLING. + +The day that followed the great temperance meeting was one full of +excitement to the operatives of Crossbourne. Every mill and workshop +resounded with the eager hum of conversation and conjecture touching the +marvellous occurrence of the previous evening--the speech and conduct of +William Foster. Of course a variety of distorted versions of the matter +flew abroad, and were caught and carried home into the country by some +who lived at a distance from the town. Among these versions was a +strongly affirmed and as strongly believed account of the last night's +occurrences, which set forth how William Foster, with a picked party of +his friends, had forced their way to the top of the hall, and were in +the act of mounting the platform for the purpose of turning the vicar +out of the chair, when a voice of unearthly loudness was heard to shout, +"Forbear!"--upon which the meeting broke up in wild confusion, leaving +Foster prostrated on the ground by some invisible and mysterious power, +where he lay till brought back to consciousness by the joint efforts of +Mr Maltby and Thomas Bradly; after which, at their earnest suggestion, +he there and then signed the pledge. + +Foster's own companions, however, had not been altogether taken by +surprise. For some weeks past he had been absent from his club, and +from the public-house, and when questioned on the subject had given +short and evasive answers. A change had been coming over him--that was +clear enough; but whence it originated even those who had been the most +intimate with him were at a loss to conjecture. And now on the morning +after the meeting, when he walked into the mill-yard, while some looked +on him with the sort of wonder with which a crowd would gape at some +strange animal, the like of which they had neither seen nor heard of +before, others began to assail him with gibes and taunts and coarse +would-be witticisms. But Foster bore it all unmoved, never uttering a +word in reply, but going on steadily with his work. As the men, +however, were about to leave for their homes, after the mill had loosed, +a sneering, sour-looking fellow, one Enos Wilkinson, who had gathered a +little crowd about him, and was watching for Foster, whose work detained +him a little later than the ordinary hands, stepped across his path, and +raising his voice, cried, "Come now, Saint Foster, you'll be bringing +out a nice little book about your conversion, to edify us poor sinners +who are still in heathen darkness. When do you mean to favour us with +the first edition?"--"The day after you become sober and sensible, +Enos," was Foster's reply, and he walked on, leaving his persecutors +unprepared with an answer. + +Two hours later, and Thomas Bradly might be seen standing outside +Foster's house, with a happy smile on his face, and a short whispered +conversation going on between two parts of himself. "Now, then, Thomas, +you're in for it." "Ay, to be sure; and in for a good thing too." +"What'll Will Foster say? And what'll _you_ say, Thomas?" "Ah! Well, +all that's best left in the Lord's hands." + +After this a loud, decided knock on Thomas's part, and then the cautious +tread of a woman inside. + +"All right, missus; it's only me, Thomas Bradly." + +No answer for a minute, and then the heavier tread of a man. Foster +himself opened the door, and holding out his hand, said,-- + +"Come in, Thomas. You're just the man I've been wanting to see." + +"And you're just the man I'm right glad to hear say so," was the other's +reply. + +The two men walked into the inner room together. All was very neat, and +the whole place wore an air of comfort far different from what had been +its appearance in days past. But the greatest change was in Foster's +wife. Bradly, who had met her often in the street or in the shops, +could hardly believe her to be the same. "Ha, ha!" said he inwardly to +himself; "the Lord's been at work here, I can see." Yes! There was +that marked change on the features which can come only from a changed +heart. There was peace on that face--a peace whose tranquil light had +never shone there before. There was not joy yet, but there was peace. +Not, indeed, peace unmixed, for there was a shade of earth's sadness +there still; but God's peace was there, like a lunar rainbow, beautiful +in its heavenly colouring cast upon the clouds of sorrow, but not +intensely bright. As she held out her hand to Bradly to give him a +friendly welcome, he could see that her eyes were full of tears. "All +right," he said to himself; "the work's begun." + +As he was seating himself on one side of the fire, his eye fell on a +little, stout, shabbily-bound volume lying in a corner near some +showily-ornamented books. Could it really be a Bible? "Right again," +thought Thomas; "I ain't often mistaken about _that_ book. The secret's +out; I see what has worked the change." + +"I'm truly glad, but almost ashamed, to see you, Thomas," began Foster, +seating himself opposite his guest. "However, I'm glad now of this +opportunity of expressing my regret for the many hard and undeserved +things I've spoken against you, both to your face and behind your back." + +"Never give it another thought, William," cried the other. "You've +never done me the least harm; but quite the other way. It's as good as +physic, and a deal better than some physic, to hear what other people +think of us, even if it ain't all of it quite true to the life." + +"Ah! But I did you injustice, Thomas." + +"Never mind if you did. You never said half as much evil of me as I +knew of myself. But let by-gones be by-gones. You've made me happier +than I can tell you; for I can see plainly enough as the Lord has been +laying his loving hands on you and your missus." + +"You are right, Thomas; and I know it will give you real pleasure to +hear how it has all come about.--So sit down, Kate, and help me out with +my story." + +Ah, what a different scene was this from that sorrowful time when the +poor, broken-hearted young mother leant hopelessly over the cradle of +her little one thirsting for that which she knew not where to find! Now +the same wife and mother sat with a smile of sweet contentment, busily +plying her knitting, while her husband told the simple story of how the +God of the Bible had "brought the blind by a way that they knew not." + +"You know what I have been, Thomas," began Foster. "Well, I am not +ashamed now to confess that I never was really happy, nor satisfied with +my own creed. Spite of my conviction of my own superior knowledge, I +could not help acknowledging to my inward self that you were right and I +was wrong; at least, I saw that your creed did for you what my creed +could not do for me. It was very pleasant and flattering, of course, to +be looked up to as an oracle by the other members of my club, and to get +their applause when I said sharp things against religion and men whose +views differed from our own. But all the while I despised those very +companions of mine, and their praises; and, what's more, I despised +myself. + +"And another thing--I had no real happiness at home, nor poor Kate +neither. I was disappointed in her--she won't mind my saying so now-- +and she was disappointed in me. We had nothing to bind our hearts +together but a love which wanted a stronger cement than mere similarity +of tastes. Besides which--for I may as well speak out plainly now while +I'm about it--it was poor satisfaction to come home and find books lying +about, and scarce a spark of fire in the grate; no tea getting ready, +but, instead of it, twenty good reasons why things were not all straight +and comfortable. And these reasons were but a poor substitute for the +comforts that were not forthcoming, and only made matters worse. And if +there was neglect on her part, there was plenty of fault-finding on +mine. I was sharp and unreasonable; and then we both of us lost our +temper, and I was glad to seek other company, and began to care less and +less for my home, and more for the public-house and for the drink which +gives the inspiration to the conversation you meet with in such places. + +"Sometimes things would go on a little better, but not for long. And +when we got to angry words with one another, we had no higher authority +than ourselves to appeal to when we would set one another right. +Thomas, I see this more plainly every day now. Freethinkers--would-be +atheists, like my former self--are at an immense disadvantage compared +with Christians in this respect. A Christian has a recognised, +infallible authority to which he can appeal--the will of his God, as set +forth in the Word of his God. When he differs from a fellow-Christian, +both can go to that authority, and abide by its decision. Christians +will do this if they are honest men, and really love one another. We +freethinkers have no such court of appeal. However, let that pass. + +"Things went on as I've been telling you, and were getting worse. Our +two hearts were getting further apart every day, and colder and colder +towards each other. This went on, and the breach kept widening, till a +few weeks ago. You'll not have forgotten, I know, poor Joe Wright's sad +end. Well, it was a few days after the accident that I came home much +the worse for liquor, I'm ashamed to say, and in a particularly bad +temper. Things had not been pleasant at the club. One of the members +had been breaking the rules; and when I pointed this out, I was met with +opposition, and the determined display of an intention on the part of +several others to side with the offender. Words ran high, and I spoke +my mind pretty freely, and received in return such a shower of abuse as +fairly staggered me. So I betook myself to the public-house, and drank +glass after glass to drown my uncomfortable reflections, and then went +home. + +"The drink, instead of driving away my mortification, only made me more +irritable; and when I got into my own house, I was ready to find fault +with everything, and to vent the bitterness of my spirit on my poor +little wife. But, to my surprise, she did not answer me back, far less +repay my disparaging remarks with usury, which she might very well have +done, and would have done a few days before. I could not help seeing, +too, that she had been taking pains to make the room look tidier than +usual. My supper was ready for me, my slippers set by the fender, and +the arm-chair drawn up near the fire. I did not choose to make any +remark on this at the time; indeed, I got all the more cross, because I +was annoyed by the sense of my own injustice in being angry with her. +So poor Kate had but a sad time of it that night. + +"However, I had made a note in my mind of what I had seen, and I was +curious to mark if this change in domestic matters would continue. To +my surprise, and, I am ashamed to say, not altogether to my +gratification, I found that it did continue. I was suspicious as to the +motive and reason for this change, and therefore not satisfied. So I +took the improvement in my poor wife's temper and conduct very surlily; +the real fact being, I now believe, that I was inwardly vexed by being +forced to feel that she was showing by her behaviour to me her +superiority to myself. But the change still continued, and I could +detect no unworthy motive for it; so at last Kate's loving ways and +patient forbearance got the victory, and then I began to look around for +the cause of this transformation. What could it have been that had made +my wife so different, and my home so different? + +"While I now freely confessed to her my pleasure at the improvement, and +endeavoured to repay her loving attentions by coming home regularly in +good time and sober, I forbore to question her as to what had made such +a difference in her, and she was evidently anxious to avoid the subject. +But I was resolved to find out how this new state of things had come +about, and an opportunity for doing so soon presented itself. One +evening there was a break-down at the mill, and I returned home earlier +than usual. I was getting near the house, when I heard my wife singing, +and the tune was clearly a hymn tune. The secret was discovered now. I +took off my boots, and crept slowly up to the door. The singing had +stopped, and all was quiet. Then I heard Kate's voice gently reading +out loud to herself, and the words she read, though I could not catch +them distinctly, were manifestly not those of any book of science or +amusement: I could tell that by the seriousness of the tone of her +voice. The conviction then came strongly upon me that she was reading +the Bible, and that this book was the cause of the great change in her. +A thousand thoughts stirred in my heart. I durst not venture to look in +at the window, lest she should see me, for I had not at all made up my +mind what to do. So I went back a little distance, put on my boots +again, and came into the house as if nothing had happened. + +"I was unusually silent that night, and I saw Kate looking aside at me +now and then with a half-frightened glance, as if she was afraid that I +was going to change back to my old unkind ways. I watched her very +narrowly, and she saw it, and was uneasy. The fact was, I wanted to get +at her Bible, if she really had one, and I had not yet the courage to +speak to her about it. She knew how I had talked to her against it, and +made a mock at it, and I couldn't yet humble myself enough to ask for a +sight of it. I noticed, however, that she looked a little anxiously at +me when I turned down the baby's bed-clothes in the cradle to have a +look at him; and as I could see no Bible anywhere about the room, it +darted into my mind that she had hidden it under the clothes. So when +she was gone up into the bedroom, to set things to rights upstairs, I +found the book I was looking for stowed snugly away, and began to read +it as eagerly as if it had been a rich man's will leaving me all his +property." + +"You weren't far wrong there, William," broke in Thomas Bradly; "for the +gospel _is_ our heavenly Father's will and testament, making us his +heirs; and it's written with his own hand, and sealed with the blood of +his dear Son. But go on, William." + +"I don't doubt but you're right," resumed Foster. "Well, as I read the +little Bible, I was quite astonished, for I saw how utterly ignorant I +had been of its contents and teaching. Ah, yes; it's one thing to know +a few texts, just enough to furnish matter for censure and ridicule, and +quite a different thing to read the very same book with a sincere desire +to learn and understand what it has to tell us. I found it so, I can +assure you. So I learnt from that humble little Bible of Kate's what +all my philosophy and all the philosophy in the world could never teach +me. + +"It isn't to the point now, but I'll tell you another time how this +Bible came into Kate's hands; for of course we had not one of our own in +the house. A singular chance I should have called it a short time ago; +but I'm coming more and more to your mind, Thomas, that chance is only a +wrong and misleading term for the guiding hand of One whom I now hope to +trust in, love, and obey, however unworthily." + +"The Lord be praised, his blessed name be praised!" cried Thomas Bradly, +while the tears ran fast down his cheeks. + +"Yes," said Foster reverently, "he may well be praised, for I have +indeed good reason to praise him.--So you see I had got to the bottom of +the mystery at last, and that little book has become to me now worth a +thousand times its own weight in gold. + +"Day after day I went on reading it by stealth, and every day I wondered +more and more at its marvellous suitableness to my own case. And then I +began to do that which a few weeks back I should have looked upon as +simply an evidence of insanity in a man of my views. I began to pray. +I hardly dared make the attempt at first. It seemed to me that were I +to venture to address the great Being whose existence I had denied, and +whose name I had constantly blasphemed, a flash of lightning or some +other sudden exertion of his power would strike me dumb. But I did +venture at last to offer up an earnest cry for mercy and pardon in the +name of that Saviour who invites us to offer our prayers in his name; +and then it seemed as though a mountain were lifted from my heart, and +blindness were removed from my eyes. + +"Next day, after tea, I quietly asked Kate for the Bible. I shall never +forget her look as long as I live. Fear, hope, joy followed one another +like sunshine breaking through the clouds. Could I be in earnest? She +did not hesitate long, for she saw that in my face which told her that +she might trust me with her treasure. Then she brought out the book +from its hiding-place, put it on the table by me, and throwing her arms +round my neck, wept away the sorrows of years. And it may be that at +that time angels looked down upon us, and shed tears of joy to see two +poor penitent sinners thus `sitting at the feet of their Saviour, +clothed, and in their right mind.'" + +For a while no one spoke, for all were too deeply moved. At last Foster +continued: "I knew I should have to come out on the right side openly +sooner or later, but you may be sure it would be no easy matter. +However, I had made up my mind: it would have to be done some time or +other, so, as the Annual Temperance Meeting was soon to come off--I knew +that, for Joe Wright's party were boasting of what they meant to do--I +determined to show my colours by joining your society, and you have seen +the result." + +"Yes, William," said Bradly, cheerily, "I see it, and I bless the Lord +for it; and if he has made me in any way an unworthy instrument in +helping to bring about this change, I can truly say that he has paid me +back interest a thousandfold for any little I've ever done or suffered +for him." + +"Then, Thomas," said the other earnestly, "you may be pleased to know +that it was your hand that gave the first blows to the nail, though, it +was my dear wife that was the means of driving it home. I often thought +I could easily knock down your arguments, and, though I knew you had the +best of it--for you had honesty and truth on your side--yet when I went +home after one of our talks, I've vexed myself many a time by thinking, +`Well, now, if I'd only thought of this or that thing, I might have +floored him.' But there was one thing that always floored _me_, and +that was `the logic of the life;' I couldn't find an answer to _that_. +And not only so, but, as I said a little while ago, I saw that the +religion of Jesus Christ made you truly happy, and I knew that my free- +thinking never did that for me nor for any of my like-minded companions; +so that deep down in my heart a voice was constantly saying, `Tommy +Tracks is right.' And now I'm _sure_ that he is so. Thomas, I now ask +your friendship and your help, as I have already asked your +forgiveness." + +Bradly wrung the other's hand with a hearty grip, and then said, "You +shall have them, William. I know you'll be all the better for an +earthly friend or two, for there'll want a deal of backing up just at +first. But oh, I'm so truly thankful that you and your missus have got +the best Friend of all on your side, who will never leave you nor +forsake you. Yes, come what will, you can go to One now who will keep +peace in your conscience, peace in your heart and peace and love in your +home." + +By Foster's request, before they parted, Thomas Bradly knelt with them +and offered a prayer. Ah, what a sight! Glorious even for angels to +look down upon! Those three uniting in prayer--the old disciple; the +blasphemer, persecutor, and injurious; and the till late Christless +wife--all now one in Jesus, bowed at his footstool, while the humble +servant of the Lord poured out his heart in simple, fervent supplication +and praise, as all bent head and knee in the felt presence of the unseen +God. + +Next Sunday Foster was at church in the morning, and was there with his +wife in the evening, Mrs Bradly having undertaken to look after the +baby. As for Bradly himself, his face was a sight worth seeing on that +Sunday. It was always brighter than usual on the Lord's-day; but on +this particular Sabbath every line of his features shone with a glow of +gladness, as though, like Moses, he had just come down from the mount. +It need hardly be said that the vicar's heart also deeply rejoiced. As +for the inhabitants of Crossbourne generally, some were glad, with a +spice of caution in their gladness; some shook their heads and smiled, +meaning thereby to let all men know that, in case Foster should not +persevere in his new career, _they_, at any rate, had never been over- +sanguine as to the genuineness of his reformation; some simply looked +grave; while the profligate and the profane gnashed their teeth with +envy hatred, and malice, and exchanged vehement asseverations of "how +they'd pay off the sneaking humbug of a deserter, and no mistake." + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +A BLIGHTED LIFE. + +Spring had come, but the cloud still rested on poor Jane Bradly. True, +her heart was lighter, for she now believed with her brother that there +was deliverance at hand for her, and that the mists were beginning to +melt away. She was firmly persuaded that her character would be +entirely cleared. But when? How soon would the waiting-time come to an +end? And what good could come out of such a trouble? Here was the +trial of her faith; but she bore it patiently, and the chastening was +producing in her, even now, "the peaceable fruit of righteousness." She +began to improve in health and strength, and had lost much of the look +of abiding care; for the habitual peace of a mind stayed on God, and the +consciousness of innocence as regarded the wrong-doing of which she had +been suspected, kept her calm in the blessedness of a childlike trust. + +But there was one who lived not far from her, a sister in affliction, +about whose sad heart the clouds were gathering thicker and thicker. +Spring, with its opening buds and rejoicing birds, brought no gladness +to the spirit of Clara Maltby. She was gradually wasting away. Change +of air and scene had been recommended, but she would not hear of leaving +home, and clung with a distressing tenacity to her round of daily +studies, shortening her brief time of exercise, and seeming anxious to +goad herself into the attainment of the utmost amount of knowledge which +it was possible for her to acquire, grudging every minute as lost and +wasted time that was not given to study. To shine had become with her +the one absorbing object; to shine, not, alas! for Christ, but for self, +for the world, that she might gain the prize of human applause. So she +was using the gifts with which God had endowed her, not to his glory, by +laying them at the foot of the cross, and employing them as talents with +which she was to occupy till the Master came, but as means whereby she +might win for herself distinction, and outstrip others in the race for +earthly fame. But such a strain on mind and body could not last; the +overtaxed faculties would assert their claim for the much-needed rest; +and so, in the early spring-time, Clara Maltby was suddenly stricken +down and lay for days in a state of half-unconsciousness. + +At last she rallied, in a measure; and when she was sufficiently +recovered to bear conversation, she earnestly begged that she might be +allowed to see Thomas Bradly, and have an opportunity of saying a few +words to him in the presence of her parents, previously to her being +taken from home by her mother to the seaside, to which she had been +ordered by her medical man, as soon as she could bear the removal. So +one evening, after his work, Bradly, with a sorrowful heart, made his +way up to the vicarage, and was introduced by Mr Maltby into the inner +room, where his daughter had gathered together her own special library. + +The patient lay on a low couch near the fire, which burned cheerfully, +and lighted up, though not with gladness, the care-smitten features of +the vicar's daughter. Close to her was a little table, on which lay a +small Bible, a pile of photographs, and a few printed papers. Her +writing materials occupied part of a larger table, and were flanked on +either side by heaps of volumes--scientific, historical, and poetical; +while beyond the books was a small but exquisitely-modelled group of wax +flowers, most life-like in appearance, under a glass shade. Over the +fire-place was a large water-colour drawing of Crossbourne Church, with +miniatures of her father and mother, one on each side of it. On the +mantelpiece was an ivory statuette, beautifully carved, the gift of a +travelled friend; and other articles of taste and refinement were +scattered up and down the room. But now the gentle mistress of this +quiet retreat lay languid and weary, incapable of enjoying these +articles of grace and beauty which surrounded her. There was a flush +indeed on her cheek, but no light in the heavy eyes. She looked like a +gathered flower,--fair, but drooping, because it can strike no root and +find no moisture. Thomas Bradly was shocked at the change a few days +had made in the poor girl since he last saw her, and could hardly +restrain his tears. At the head of the couch sat Mrs Maltby, with a +face sadly worn and troubled; and between her and the fire was her +husband, on whose features there rested a more chastened and peaceful +sorrow. + +"Come, sit down, Thomas," said Mr Maltby; "my dear child cannot rest +till she has seen you, and told you something that lies on her mind. I +think she will be happier when she has had this little talk; and it may +be that God will bless her visit to the sea, and send her back to us in +improved health. I know we shall have your prayers, and the prayers of +many others, that it may be so." + +"You shall, you do have our prayers," cried Bradly, earnestly; "the +Lord'll order it all for the best. He's been doing wonderful things for +us lately, and he means to give you and dear Miss Clara a share of his +blessings." + +"Well," replied the vicar, "we will hope and trust so, Thomas. The +clouds have not gathered without a cause; but still, I believe that, as +the hymn says, they will yet `break with blessings on our head.'--Clara, +my child, it will not be wise to make this interview too long; so we +will leave the talking now to yourself and Thomas Bradly." + +"Dear, kind friend," began Miss Maltby, raising herself from her couch, +and leaning herself on her mother, who came and sat by her, "I could not +be satisfied to leave Crossbourne without seeing you first, as I want +you to do something for me in the parish which I cannot ask my dear +father to do. And I want to make a confession also to you, as it may be +the means of doing some little good in the place where I have left so +much undone, and as perhaps it may not please God that I should come +back again to my earthly home." + +She was unable to proceed for a few moments, and Bradly dared not trust +himself to speak, while the vicar and his wife found it hard to control +their feelings. + +"Thomas," she at length continued, her voice gaining strength and her +mind clearness under the excitement of the subject which now filled her +heart and thoughts, "I want you to say something for me to my class--at +least to those girls who belonged to it when I used to teach it. Say it +to them in your own plain and simple way, and I trust that it may do +them good. + +"I want you to tell them from me that I have tried what the world and +its idols are, and I have found them `vanity of vanities.' Not that I +have been leading what is called a wicked life; not that I have loved +gay company or worldly amusements; not that I have lost sight of Christ +and heaven altogether, though they have been getting further off from my +sight every day; but I have been fashioning for myself an idol with my +own hands, which has been shutting out heavenly things from me more and +more. And now God has in mercy shattered my idol, and I trust that I +can see Jesus once more as I have not seen him, oh, for so long! + +"I am startled when I look back and see how far I have gone astray, and +how I have let the devil cheat me with a thousand plausible falsehoods. +Oh, what a useless life I have been leading! What a selfish life I have +been leading! And yet I have been persuading myself that I was only +cultivating the powers which God gave me. But it has not been so; it is +as though I had been set to draw a picture of our Saviour, and had +ability and the best of materials given me for making a beautiful +likeness, and I had all the while gone on just drawing an image of +myself, and had then fallen down and worshipped it. + +"Tell my girls, then,--for I may never have the opportunity of telling +them myself,--that there is no real happiness in such a life as mine has +lately been. It is really purely for self is this struggle after +distinction; God put us into this world for something far different. I +know, of course, that my scholars are not any of them likely to be +snared exactly in the same way that I have been. Still, they might be +tempted to think what a grand thing it would be to have the advantages +for getting knowledge and distinction that I have had. Ah, but what has +been my life, after all? Why, like that group of wax flowers under the +glass shade. Don't they look beautiful? But you see they are not real; +they have no life and no sweetness in them, and they can never make the +sick and the suffering happy as real flowers do. My life, with all its +advantages, and what people call accomplishments, has been as unreal, as +lifeless, as scentless as those wax flowers. It has not pleased God; it +has not made others happy; there has been nothing to envy in it, but oh, +quite the other way: it should rather be a warning. Tell my girls so, +for they have their temptations even in this direction; there is so much +attention paid now to head knowledge in all ranks and classes, and such +a danger of neglecting heart knowledge and Christ knowledge. Show them +how it has been with me. Tell them how I feel now on looking back. + +"What have I really gained by this eager pursuit after earthly fame? +Nothing. I have strained body and mind in seeking it--strained them, +probably, past recovery. And what have I lost in the pursuit? I have +lost peace; I have lost a thousand opportunities of doing good which can +never be recalled; I have lost the happy sense of Jesus' love and +presence.--Dear father, would you give me that open book?--These words +just suit my life, Thomas:-- + + "`Nothing but leaves! The Spirit grieves + Over a wasted life; + O'er sins indulged while conscience slept, + O'er vows and promises unkept; + And reaps from years of strife-- + Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves!'" + +She paused, and hiding her face in her mother's breast, wept long and +bitterly. + +Thomas Bradly had listened with deep emotion to every word, but had not +yet been able to command himself sufficiently to speak. But now he +stretched his hand forward, and took up the little hymn-book from which +Clara Maltby had been reading, and, as he turned over its pages, +said--"I don't doubt, dear Miss Clara, but you've just said the plain +truth about yourself; I've grieved over it all, and prayed about it. +But that's all past and gone now, and the Lord means to bring good out +of the evil, I can see that, and you'll let me read you these lines out +of your book, as I'm sure it ain't going to be `nothing but leaves' +after all. Listen, miss, to these blessed words, for they belong to +you:-- + + "There were ninety and nine that safely lay + In the shelter of the fold; + But one was out on the hills away, + Far-off from the gates of gold,-- + Away on the mountains wild and bare, + Away from the tender Shepherd's care. + + "`Lord, thou hast here thy ninety and nine: + Are they not enough for thee?' + But the Shepherd made answer: `This of mine + Has wandered away from me; + And although the road be rough and steep, + I go to the desert to find my sheep.' + + "And all through the mountains, thunder-riven, + And up from the rocky steep, + There rose a cry to the gate of heaven, + `Rejoice! I have found my sheep!' + And the angels echoed around the throne, + `Rejoice, for the Lord brings back his own!'" + +"Thank you, Thomas, thank you most sincerely," cried the sick girl, +raising herself again. "Yes, I trust that these beautiful words _do_ +apply to me. Jesus has gone after me, a poor wandering and rebellious +sheep, and brought me back again. Do then, kind friend, tell my dear +class for me that I have found all out of Christ to be emptiness, and +that there can be no true happiness here unless we are working for him. + +"Of course, I might have pursued my studies innocently had I given to +them leisure hours when other duties had been done, and then they would +have been a delight to me, and a source of real improvement. But +instead of that I made an idol of them, and they became a snare to me. +I lived for them, and in them, and all else was as good as forgotten. +Yes, even my Bible, that was once so precious,--it might as well have +lain on the shelf, and indeed, latterly, it has seldom been anywhere +else. I had no time for reading it; earthly studies absorbed every +moment. But now it has become to me again truly my Bible; it has shown +me, and shows me more and more plainly every day, my sin and my neglect. +Ah! It is an awful thing when the struggle after this world's honours +and prizes makes us thrust aside thoughts of God and of the crown of +glory. It has been so with me. I have been chasing an illuminated +shadow until it has suddenly vanished, and left me in a darkness that +might be felt. + +"Tell my girls, then, dear friend, to take warning from me. Tell them +how I mourn over my wasted life; but tell them also that I have a good +hope that God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven me, and ask them to pray +for me. The great lesson I want you to impress upon them from my case +is just this, that no knowledge can be worth having that interferes with +our following our Saviour; that no pursuit, though it may not be +outwardly sinful or manifestly worldly, which unfits us in body or mind +for doing our duty in that state of life to which it has pleased God to +call us, can be innocent, for it robs Jesus of that service which we all +owe to him. + +"And now I am going to ask you to give these photographs, one a piece, +to my girls: they will value them, I know, as the likeness of one who +was once happy in being their teacher, and who hopes, should God spare +her, to be their teacher again; a better instructed teacher far, I hope, +because taught in the school of bitter but wholesome experience to know +herself." + +These last few words, uttered with deep feeling, made it necessary for +Clara to pause once more. So Thomas Bradly, seeing that her strength +was well-nigh exhausted, simply expressed his hearty readiness to comply +with her requests, and was rising to take his leave, when she signed him +to remain. + +"Just one thing more, dear friend," she added, as soon as she was +sufficiently recovered.--"Nay, dearest mother, you must let me finish +what I have to say. I shall be happier and calmer when I have told +all.--O Thomas! I have been on the very edge of a dreadful precipice; +nay, I almost fear that I have scarcely avoided beginning the terrible +fall. Finding myself unequal to the full strain which my studies +imposed upon me, I began to have recourse to intoxicating stimulants, +first a little, and then a little more, till at last I got to crave +them, oh, how terribly! And, alas! alas! worse still. As I was ashamed +to bring such things openly into my father's house, I have employed a +servant once or twice to fetch them for me, but simply as a medicine, +and I have found myself scheming how I might do this to a still greater +extent without detection. Oh, to what a depth have I fallen! But I see +it all now; the Lord has opened my eyes. What I wanted was rest, not +stimulants. And surely nothing could justify me in putting such a +strain upon my mind as to make it needful to fly to such a restorative. + +"I don't ask you to mention this to my girls, nor to any one else, for +it might not do good, and might be a hindrance, in a measure, to my dear +father in his work; but I tell it you to ease my own heart, and that you +may pray for me, and that you may hear me now, in the presence of my +beloved father and mother, declare that from this time forward I +renounce all such study, if God spare me, as shall unfit me for a loving +service of Jesus, in my home and out of it, and that I have done with +all intoxicating stimulants, the Lord helping me, now and for ever." + +"Bless the Lord!" said Bradly to himself, as, after a silent pressure of +Clara Maltby's hand, he stole out of the room. "All's working for good, +I'm sure," he added, as he walked homewards. "We shall do grandly now. +One great stone has just been struck out of our good vicar's path. +Satan's a queer, knowing customer, but he often outwits himself; and +there's One wiser and stronger than him." + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +A MYSTERIOUS DISCOVERY. + +A few days after Thomas Bradly's visit to the vicarage, Mrs Maltby and +her daughter left home for the seaside. In the evening of the day of +their departure, something different from the ordinary routine was +evidently going on at Thomas Bradly's. As it drew near to half-past six +o'clock, four young women, neatly dressed, might be seen making their +way towards his house. These were shortly joined by three others; and +then followed some more young women and elderly girls, till at length +thirteen were gathered together in the road, whispering and laughing to +one another, and evidently somewhat in a state of perplexity. + +"What's it all about, Mary Anne?" asked a bright-looking girl of fifteen +of one of the oldest of the group. + +"I'm sure I don't know," was the reply; "all I know for certain is, that +I've been invited to tea at Thomas's, at half-past six this evening." + +"So have I"--"So have I," said the rest. + +"There's no mistake or hoax about it, I hope?" asked one of the younger +girls anxiously. + +"Nay," said the one addressed as Mary Anne, "Thomas asked us himself, +and he's not the man to hoax anybody." + +Just at this moment the front door opened, and Bradly himself, full of +smiling welcome, called upon his guests to come in. + +A comfortable meal had been prepared for them in the spacious kitchen, +and all were soon busily engaged in partaking of the tea and its +accompaniments, and in brisk and cheerful conversation; but not a word +was said to explain why they had been invited at this particular time. +Their host joined heartily in the various little discussions which were +being carried on in a lively way by his guests, but never, during the +tea, dropped a hint as to, why he had asked them. + +At last, when teapots and cups had disappeared, leaving a clear table, +and the young women, after grace had been duly sung, sat opposite to one +another with a look of amused expectation as to what might be coming +next, Thomas rose deliberately from his arm-chair, which he had drawn to +the head of the table, and looking round on the young people with a +half-serious, half-humorous expression, said: "Well, I suppose, girls, +it may be as well if I tell you what I've asked you here for this +evening." + +No answer, but a murmur of amused assent being given, he proceeded:-- + +"Now, my dear young friends, I'll just tell you all about it; and I'm +sure you'll listen to me seriously, for it's a serious matter after all. +You know that poor Miss Clara Maltby is gone from home to-day very ill, +so ill that it mayn't be the Lord's will she should ever come back to us +again. Now she has asked me to give you all and each a message from +her--perhaps it may be a dying message. She sends it to every one as +belonged to her class when she taught it. I'm going to tell you what +she said, not quite in her own words, but just what I took to be her +meaning. + +"You know as she's not taken her class for a good long time. We was all +very sorry when she gave over, but it seemed as it couldn't be helped, +for she was getting weak and worn, and felt that coming to church twice +on the Lord's-day was as much as her poor mind and body would bear. But +she wants me to tell you how she feels now she's been letting earthly +learning get too much hold of her thoughts. Not as there's any harm in +getting any sort of good learning, so long as you don't get it in the +wrong way. But it seems as this earthly learning had been getting too +big a share of Miss Clara's heart. I daresay you all know as she's +wonderful clever at her books. Eh, what a sight of prizes she's got! +Well, but she'd come to be too fond of her studies; they was becoming a +snare to her; she'd made a regular idol of them, and could scarce think +of anything else. She'd given them all the time she could spare, and +more. And so it kept creeping on. These studies of hers, they'd scarce +let her eat or drink, or take any exercise, or read her Bible and pray +as she used to do. Ah, how crafty the evil one is in leading us astray! +He don't make us jump down into the dark valley at one or two big +leaps, but it's just down an incline, like the path as leads from Bill +Western's house to the smithy: when you've got to the bottom and look +back, you can hardly believe at first as you've come down so low. + +"Now, you're not to run away with the idea that Miss Clara has forsaken +her Saviour, and given up her Bible and prayer. Nothing of the sort! +She's a dear child of God, and always has been since I've knowed her; +only this learning and these studies have so blocked up her heart, that +they've scarce left room for her gracious Saviour. But yet he'd never +let her go, and she hadn't altogether forsaken him; only she's been on a +wrong course of late, and she sees it now. + +"Friends have flattered her, and told her what grand things she might do +with such a head-piece as hers, and she's been willing to listen to them +for a bit. But now the Lord has brought her to see different, and she +wants me to tell you what a snare she has found this learning to be. +She wants me to tell you from her that she's found it out in her own +experience as there's no happiness out of Christ; as head knowledge can +never make us happy without heart knowledge of Jesus. + +"It's all very well wishing to shine in the world and be thought clever, +but that's just pleasing self, and can never give us real peace. She's +tried it, and she says it's `vanity of vanities.' It's led her away +from her duty, and made her neglect helping her dear father and mother +in many ways where she might have been useful, just because her head and +her heart were full of her books. + +"Now, perhaps some of you may be thinking, while I've been talking, +`Well, this don't concern _us_ much; we ain't in danger of going astray +after too much learning.' Don't you be too sure of that. There's traps +of the same kind being laid before you by the old enemy, though they +mayn't be got up so fine as them by which he catches clever young +ladies. Ah, perhaps he'll be whispering to some of you as it'll be a +grand thing to get up a peg or two higher by learning all sorts of +things with queer and long names to 'em. Won't you just make folks open +their eyes when you can rattle off a lot about this science and that +science? But what good will it do you? How much will you remember of +it ten years hence? What'll be the use of it, when you've got homes of +your own, if you've your heads cram full of hard names, but don't know +how to mend your clothes or make a pudding? Depend upon it, there's +need to listen to Miss Clara's message when she bids me tell you from +her as there's no real happiness to be got in making an idol of learning +or anything else, and that there's no happiness out of Christ; and that +the chief thing is just to do one's duty, by grace, in `the state of +life to which it has pleased God to call us;' and then, if he means us +to do something out of the way, he'll chalk out a line for us so broad +and plain that we shan't be able to mistake it. + +"So now I've given you the message; but there's something else for you +besides.--Here, missus, just hand me that little brown paper parcel."-- +So saying, he opened the packet which his wife gave him, and taking out +the photographs, handed one to each of the girls, saying, "It's a +keepsake to each of you from Miss Clara." + +As the little gifts were received, tears and sobs burst from the whole +company; and when time had been given for the first vehemence of their +feelings to subside, Thomas continued,-- + +"I've just one or two more things to say; and the first is this: will +you all promise me to pray for our dear young lady, that she may be +restored to us in health and strength again, and take her place once +more as your teacher?" + +"Ay, that we will with all our hearts," was the cry, which was uttered +with tearful earnestness by all. + +"And will you pray, for yourselves, for grace to remember and profit by +the lesson which she has sent you?" + +"We will, Thomas, we will," was again the cry. + +"Well, thank God for that," said Bradly. "He's bringing good out of +evil already, as he always does,--bless his holy name for it! And now, +I've just to tell you, girls, why I've asked you to tea, and given you +the messages and the photographs in this fashion--I daresay some of you +can guess." + +"I think we can, Thomas," said one of the elder ones. + +"Well, it were just in this way," he continued: "I'm jealous about our +dear vicar's character, and about dear Miss Clara's, and I'm sure we all +ought to be. Now, if I'd given you her message in the Sunday-school, +even if I'd had your class by yourselves, ten to one some of the other +scholars would have got hold of things by the wrong end, and it would +have been made out as Miss Clara had been doing something very wicked, +and her mother had been taking her away in consequence. Now, you see +how it is: Miss Clara's done nothing to disgrace herself or her family; +she's been following a lawful thing, only she's been following it too +closely; but she's found it to be only like chasing a shadow after all. +And now that the Lord has humbled her, he'll raise her up again; she'll +come out of the furnace pure gold; she'll be such a teacher when she +comes back as she never was afore, if the Lord spares her. So now that +I've got you here in this quiet way, I want you all to promise me you'll +not go talking about what Miss Clara sent me to tell you, but you'll +keep it as snug as possible; it ain't meant for the public, it's meant +only for yourselves. The world wouldn't understand it; they'd think as +there was something behind. And the devil, he'd be only too glad to +make a bad use of it. So promise me to keep our dear young lady's +lesson to yourselves in your own hearts and memories. You can show the +photographs to the other scholars, and tell them as they was Miss +Clara's parting gifts to her class, and that's all as they need to +know." + +The promise was cheerfully given by all; and then, before they left, all +knelt, and in their hearts joined in the fervent prayer which Thomas +Bradly offered for the vicar and his family, and specially for the +invalid, that she might be spared to return to them in renewed health, +and be kept meanwhile in perfect peace. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The evening after this little happy tea-party, Thomas Bradly called in +at William Foster's. He found the young man and his wife studying the +Bible together; but there was a look of trouble and anxiety on the +husband's face which made him fear that there was something amiss. He +was well aware that his former foe but now firm friend was but a weak +and ignorant disciple; and he expected, therefore, that he would find it +anything but smooth sailing at first in his Christian course. Still, +what a marvellous change, to see one so lately a sceptic and a scoffer +now humbly studying the Word of Life! + +"Anything amiss?" asked Bradly. "Can I be of any service to you, +William?" he added, as he took his seat. + +"Well, Thomas," replied the other, "I can only say this--I had no idea +how little I knew of the Bible till I began to study it in earnest. I +see it does indeed need to be approached in a teachable spirit. But I +have my difficulties and perplexities about it still. Only there's this +difference now,--I've seen in my own home, and I see daily more and more +in my own heart, abundance to convince me that the Bible is God's truth. +So now, when I meet with a difficulty, I see that the obscurity is not +in the Bible but in myself; in fact, I want more light." + +"Yes; and you'll get it now, William; for the Bible itself says, `The +entrance of thy word giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the +simple.'" + +"I heartily believe it, Thomas; still there is much that is very deep to +me--out of my depth, in fact. But there is one thing just now which is +a special trouble to me. They don't chaff me so often at the mill now, +but this evening Ben Thompson came up to me, and said, `Do you think +it's any good _your_ turning Christian?'--`Yes, Ben, I hope so,' I +said.--`Well,' he went on, `just you look in the Bible, and you'll find +that there's what they call the unpardonable sin--there's no forgiveness +for those who've been guilty of it; and if there's truth in that Bible, +there's no forgiveness for you, for you've been the biggest blasphemer +against the Bible in Crossbourne.' Thomas, I hadn't a word to answer +him with; his words cut me to the heart, and he saw it, and went off +with a grin full of malice. And now, since I came home, Kate and I have +been looking through the Gospels, and we've come to this passage, in our +Saviour's own words,--`Verily, I say unto you, All sins shall be +forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they +shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath +never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: because they +said, He hath an unclean spirit.' Now, I'm afraid I've committed that +sin many times; and what then? Is it true that there is no forgiveness +for me?" + +He gazed earnestly into Bradly's face, as one would look on a man on +whose decision hung life or death. But the other's reply brought relief +at once to both Foster and his wife. + +"Ha! ha!" he exclaimed; "is that the old enemy's device? I'm not +surprised--he's a crafty old fox; but the Lord's wiser than him. I see +what he's been up to: he couldn't keep the sword of the Spirit out of +your hand any longer, so he's been trying to make you turn the point +away from him, and commit suicide with it. Set your mind at rest, +William, about these verses, and about the unpardonable sin; those who +are guilty of it never seek forgiveness, and so they never get it. +These words ain't meant for such a case as yours. This is the sort of +text for you: `God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten +Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have +everlasting life.' Jesus said it, and he'll never go back from it. +`Whosoever' means you and me; he said, `Whosoever,' and he'll never +unsay it. If you'd committed the unpardonable sin, you wouldn't be +caring now about the Bible and about your soul. If you'd committed it, +God would never have given you the light he has done, for it has come +from him; it can't have come from nowhere else. He don't open to you +the door with one hand, and then shut it in your face with the other; +that ain't his way at all He has let you in at the gate, and you may be +sure as he'll never turn you off the road with his own hand, now that +you're on it." + +"Thank God for that!" said Foster, reverently. "What you say, Thomas, +carries conviction with it, for I am sure that my present views, and the +change that has so far been made in me, must be the Lord's own work; +and, if so, it is certainly only consistent that, as he has taken in +hand such a wretched blasphemer as I have been, he should not undo his +own work by casting me off again." + +"Hold fast to that, William," said Bradly, "and you can't go wrong. +Just hand me your Bible; I'll show you where to find another text or two +as'll suit you well.--Eh! What's this?" he cried, as having taken the +little book into his hand, he noticed the red-ink lines which were drawn +under many of the verses. Then he turned hastily to the inside of the +cover, and uttered an exclamation of astonishment, then turned very +pale, and then very red, and gazed at the book as if fascinated by it. +There were the words on the cover,-- + + _Steal not this book for fear of shame_, + _For here you see the owner's name_. + _June 10, 1793_. + _Mary Williams_. + +"Where did you get this book?" he asked at length, in a hoarse, broken +voice. "It's my mother's Bible; it's Jane's long-lost Bible." Then he +restrained himself, and turning quietly to Foster and his wife, who were +staring at him in bewilderment and distress, said, "Dear friends, don't +you trouble yourselves about me; there's nothing really amiss; it's all +right, and more than right, only I was taken by surprise, as you'll +easily understand when I explain matters to you. We are all friends +now, so I know I may depend upon your keeping my secret when I've told +you all about it." He then proceeded to lay the story of Jane's +troubles before his deeply interested and sympathising hearers. When he +had brought his account to an end, he said, "Now, you can understand why +I was so taken aback at seeing my mother's name in this Bible, and why +I'm so anxious to know how you came by it. Why, this is the very Bible +which was restored, or, at any rate, meant to be restored to Jane by +John Hollands three or four months ago. But, then, how did it get here? +And what's become of the bag and the bracelet?" + +"I'm sure you will believe me when I tell you," said Foster, "that I am +as much surprised about the Bible as you are; and as for the bag and the +bracelet, I have neither seen nor heard anything of either. Kate, +however, can tell you best how we came by the Bible." + +Mrs Foster then related how the volume, now so precious to herself and +her husband as having been the means of bringing light and peace into +their hearts and home, had been dropped in at her window by a female +hand. Of the bag and bracelet she of course knew nothing. + +"There's something very strange and mysterious about it all," said +Thomas thoughtfully; "the bag and the bracelet are somewhere about, but +who can tell where? If we could only find them, all could be set +straight, and poor Jane's character completely cleared; but then it +ain't the Lord's will, so far, that it should be so. One thing's clear, +however; the tangle's being undone for us bit by bit, and what we've to +do is just to be patient and to keep our eyes and ears open; but, +please, not a word to anybody. And now, William, I must ask you to let +me have this Bible to take to poor Jane; it was her mother's, and is +full of her own marks under her favourite verses. You shall have +another instead of it, with a better print." + +"Of course," replied Foster; "this book is your sister's and not ours, +and I would not keep it back from her for a moment. Still, I shall part +with it with great regret, as if I were parting with an old friend. +Little did I think a few weeks ago that I should ever care so much about +a Bible; but I thank God that this little book has done Kate and myself +so much good already, and I shall be much pleased to have another copy +as a gift from yourself." + +Thomas Bradly rose to go; but Mrs Foster said, "I ought to have told +you that there was something else dropped into the room at the same time +with the Bible, but it wasn't the bracelet, I'm sorry to say." + +"Stay, dear friend," cried Bradly; "let me run home to my dear sister +with her Bible; I'll be back again in half an hour." + +So saying he hurried home, and seating himself by Jane, who was knitting +as usual in her snug retreat by the fireside, said, "Jane dear, the +Lord's been bringing us just one little step nearer to the light--only +one step, mind, only one little step, but it's a step in the right +direction." + +"Thomas, what is it?" she exclaimed anxiously. + +"Your Bible's turned up." + +"My Bible, Thomas!" + +"Yes, Jane." He then placed it in her hand. Yes, she could see that it +was indeed her own dearly-prized Bible. + +"And the bracelet, Thomas?" she asked eagerly.--He shook his head sadly. +A shadow came over the face and tears into the eyes of his poor sister. + +"The Lord's will be done," she said patiently; "but tell me, dear +Thomas, all about it."--He then related what he had heard from Kate +Foster. + +"And you feel sure, Thomas, that the Fosters know nothing about the bag +or bracelet?" + +"Quite sure, Jane. I'm certain that neither Foster nor his wife would +or could deceive me about this matter. But take heart, my poor sister. +See, the Lord's opening the way for you `one step at a time.' _We_ +should like it to be a little faster, but _he_ says No. And see, too, +how this blessed book of yours has been made of use to Foster and his +wife. Oh, there's been a mighty work done there! But mark, Jane, +'twouldn't have been so if this Bible had come straight to you. There's +wonderful good, you see, coming out of this trial already. So wait +patiently on the Lord, the bag and the bracelet will turn up too afore +so long; they are on the road, only we don't see them yet; you may be +sure of that." + +Jane smiled at him through her tears, and pressed her recovered Bible to +her lips. Then she opened it, and, as she turned over leaf after leaf, +her eye fell on many a well-known underlined text, and the cloud had +given place to sunshine on her gentle features as her brother left the +house and returned to William Foster's. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +WHO OWNS THE RING? + +"You are satisfied that we know nothing about the bag or the bracelet, I +hope?" asked Foster anxiously on Bradly's return. + +"Perfectly," was the reply; "I haven't a doubt about it; but there's +something behind as none of us has got at yet, but it'll come in the +Lord's own time. Wherever the bag and bracelet are, they'll turn up +some day, I'm certain of that; and it'll be just at the right moment. +And so we must be patient and look about us.--But what was it, Kate, you +said was dropped along with the Bible?" + +"It was this ring," replied Mrs Foster, at the same time placing a +small gold ring with a ruby in the centre on the table. The three +examined it by turns. There were no letters or marks engraved anywhere +on it. + +"And this was dropped by the same hand which dropped the Bible?" asked +Bradly. + +"Yes; it rolled along the floor, and may have fallen either off the +finger of the person who put her hand in at the window, or from between +the leaves of the Bible." + +"And have you mentioned about this ring to any one?" + +"No, not even to my husband. I'm sure William will forgive me. It was +just this way: I put it into my pocket at the time, and afterwards into +a secret drawer in my desk, fearing it might bring one or both of us +into trouble. When this happy change came, and both William and I began +to care about the Bible, I told him how I came by the book, but thought +I would wait before I said anything about the ring; perhaps something +would come to clear up the mystery, and it would be time enough to +produce the ring when some one came forward to claim it; but no one has +done so yet." + +"And you have no suspicion at all who it belongs to, or who dropped it?" + +"No, none whatever." + +"Well," continued Bradly, "I don't think it fell out of the leaves of +the Bible, as not a word is said about it in John Hollands' letter. I'm +of opinion as it slipped off accidentally from the hand of the woman as +she was dropping the Bible; and since it's clear she didn't want it to +be known who she was, if she knows where she lost her ring she won't +want to come and claim it." + +"And do you think," asked Foster, "that she is some one living in +Crossbourne or the neighbourhood?" + +"Pretty certain," replied Thomas. "There's been some roguery or +trickery about it altogether. The bag was in Crossbourne on the 23rd of +last December, and your wife got the Bible that same evening. I'm +firmly persuaded there's been some hoax about it all, and I believe bag +and bracelet and all's in the town, if we only knew how to find 'em +without making the matter public. If we could only get at the owner of +the ring without making a noise, we might find a clue as would lead us +to where the bag is." + +"I'm much of your mind," said Foster. "I fancy that some one of poor +Jim Barnes's drunken mates has been playing a trick off on him by +watching him into the Railway Inn, and running off with the bag just to +vex him; and then, when he found what was in the bag, he would hide all +away except the Bible, for fear of getting into a scrape. But can +anything be done about the ring?" + +"I'll tell you what we'll do if you'll let me have it for a while," said +Bradly, with a twinkle in his eye. "I'll get our Betsy to wear it in +the mill to-morrow. You'll see there'll something come out of it, as +sure as my name's Thomas Bradly." + +Accordingly, next morning Betsy Bradly appeared at the mill with the +ring on her little finger--a circumstance which soon drew attention, +which was expressed first in looks and then in whispers, much to the +quiet amusement and satisfaction of the wearer. No questions, however, +were asked till the dinner hour, and then a small knot of the hands, +principally of the females, gathered round her. These were some of her +personal friends and acquaintances; for her character stood too high in +the place for any of the less respectable sort to venture to intrude +themselves upon her. + +"Well, Betsy," cried one, "you've got a pretty keepsake there; let's +have a look at it." + +The other's only reply was to take off the ring and offer it for +inspection. As it was passed from hand to hand, various exclamations +were uttered: "Eh, it's a bonny stone!"--"I never seed the like in all +my born days!"--"It's fit for the Queen's crown!"--"Where did you get +it, Betsy?"--"Her young man gave it her, of course!"--"Nay, you're wrong +there," said another; "he's got more sense than to spend his brass on +such things as that,--he's saving it up for a new clock and a +dresser!"--"Come, Betsy, where did you get it?" + +"You'll never guess, so it's no use axing," said Betsy, laughing. "It +ain't mine; but it'll be mine till its proper owner comes and claims +it." + +"Oh, you picked it up as you was coming to the mill!" + +"Ah yes!" cried another; "like enough it's been dropped by the vicar's +lady, or by some one as has been staying at the vicarage!" + +"You're wrong there," replied Betsy; "I didn't find it, and nobody's +lost it exactly." + +"Well, I never!" cried several, and then there was a general move +towards their different homes. + +Betsy continued wearing the ring for the next day or two, and always +dexterously parried any attempt to find out how she came by it. Odd +stories began to fly about on the subject, and work-people from other +mills came to have a look at the ring, Betsy being always ready to +gratify any respectable person with a sight of it. But still she +persisted in refusing to tell how it had come into her possession. At +last, one afternoon, just as the mills were loosing, one of the railway +clerks came up to her, and said,-- + +"Are you looking out for an owner to that ring you're wearing? I've +been told something of the sort." + +"I ain't been exactly looking out," was the reply; "but I shall be quite +ready to give it up when I'm sure it's the right owner as wants it." + +"Well, I've a shrewd guess I know whose it is," said the young man. + +"Indeed! And who may that be?" + +"Oh, never mind just now; but, please, let me look at the ring." + +She took it from her finger and handed it to him. He examined it +carefully, and then nodding his head, with a smile on his lips, said, +"I'll be bound I've had this ring in my hands before." + +"It's yours, then?" + +"Nay, it's not mine. But do you particularly want to know whose it is?" + +"Yes, I do; or, rather, my father does, for the simple truth is, it's +father as has got me to wear it; and if you can find out the proper +owner, he'll be obliged to you." + +"Just so. If you don't mind, then, lending me the ring, I'll soon find +out if I'm right; and I'll bring it back to your father to-morrow night, +and tell him all about it." + +To this Betsy immediately assented, and the clerk went away with the +ring in his charge. The following evening he and Thomas Bradly were +closeted together in the "Surgery." + +"So," said Thomas, "you can tell me, I understand, who is the owner of +this ring you've just returned to me." + +"I think I can," replied the other; "indeed, I feel pretty sure that I +can, though, strangely enough, the owner won't own to it." + +"How's that?" + +"I can't say, I'm sure, but so it is." + +"Well, be so good as to tell me what you know about it." + +"I will. You know the Green Dragon,--perhaps I ought to say, you know +where it is. I wish I knew as little of the inside of it as you do; it +would be better for me, though I'm no drunkard, as you are aware. But, +however, I go now and then into the tap-room of the Green Dragon to get +a glass of ale, as it's near my lodgings. Mrs Philips, she's the +landlady, you know. Well, she's a bit of a fine lady, and so is her +daughter. Her mother had her sent to a boarding-school, and she has got +rather high notions in consequence. But she and I are very good +friends, and she often tells me about her school-days. Among other +things, she has been very fond of talking about the way in which the +other young ladies and herself used to be bosom friends; and one +afternoon, when I was with her and her mother alone in the parlour, she +took a ring off her finger, and asked me to look at it, and if I didn't +admire it. And she said that one of her schoolfellows, whose parents +were very wealthy, had given it to her as a birthday present a short +time before she left school. The ring was the very image of the one +your daughter Betsy lent me."--So saying, he took it up from the table, +on which Thomas Bradly had placed it, and held it up to the light.--"I +could almost swear to the ring," he continued, "for I've had Miss +Philips's ring in my hands many a time. She's very proud of her rings, +and likes to talk about them; and I had noticed that she used to wear +this ring with the ruby in it over one or two others, and that it +slipped off and on very easily. And I used often to ask her to show it +me, partly to please her, and partly for a bit of fun. Well, now, it's +curious enough, I've missed that ring off her finger for several weeks +past. I couldn't help noticing that it was gone, for she always took +care that I should see it when she had it on. I asked her some time +back what had become of it; but she looked confused, and made some sort +of excuse which seemed odd to me at the time. But when I asked her +again, which was very soon after, she said she had put it by in her +jewel-case, for it was rather loose, and she was afraid of its getting +lost. But somehow or other I didn't quite believe what she said, so I +asked her once more, and she snapped me up so sharply that I found it +was best to ask no more questions about it. However, when I heard about +your daughter wearing a ring with a red stone in it, and that it was +looking out for an owner, it occurred to me at once that it might be +Lydia Philips's ring--that she had dropped it by accident, and didn't +like to own that she had lost it for some reason best known to herself, +and that she'd be only too glad to get it back again. So when your +daughter lent it me yesterday, I took it up in the evening; and getting +her by herself in the parlour, I pulled it out, and said, `See, Miss +Lyddy, what will you give me for finding _this_ for you?' I expected +thanks at the least; but to my great surprise she turned first very +pale, and then very red; and then, taking up the ring between her finger +and thumb as cautiously as if she was afraid it would bite or burn her, +she said--but I didn't believe her--`It ain't mine, and I don't want to +have anything to do with it.' I tried to make her change her opinion, +and told her I knew her ring as well as she knew it herself, that she +must have lost it, and that I was certain this was the very ring she had +showed me so often; but she only got angry, and flung the ring at me, +and told me to mind my own business. So I picked up the ring off the +floor, and slunk off like a dog with his tail between his legs, and I've +brought you back the ring. But it's the most mysterious thing to me. I +can't make it out a bit. I'm as sure now as I can be sure of anything +that it's the same ring I've often handled, and that it belongs to her. +Her own ring is gone from her finger, and that and this are as like as +two peas; but, for some reason or other, she won't have it to be hers, +so I must just leave matters as I found them." + +"Thank you for your trouble," said Bradly, "and I'll keep the ring till +the real owner turns up; and meanwhile, my friend, just take my advice, +and keep as clear of the inside of the Green Dragon as you possibly +can." + +When the railway clerk had left him, Thomas Bradly sat for some minutes +in deep thought, and then sought his sister. "Dear Jane," he said, +"there's just another step we're being guided; 'tain't a very broad one, +but I believe it's in the right direction." He then gave her an account +of what he had just heard from his visitor. + +"And what do you make of his story, Thomas?" she asked. "Do you think +that the ring really belongs to Lydia Philips, and that she knows +anything about the bag?" + +"Yes, Jane, I do; and I'll tell you why. I believe that she was the +person who dropped the Bible in at William Foster's window. Why she did +so, of course I can't say. But I believe the ring slipped off while she +was dropping the book, and now she's afraid to acknowledge the ring for +her own. You know the Bible and the bracelet were in the same bag; so, +as she knew about the Bible, it seems pretty certain she must have known +about the bracelet too. If she owns to the ring, of course it's as good +as owning as she was the person who dropped the Bible. She knows quite +well, you may be sure, that the ring fell into Foster's room, and that +it can only be Foster or his wife that's produced the ring, and she's +afraid of inquiries being set on foot which may trace the missing bag +and bracelet to her. So she's content to lose her ring, and persists in +saying it ain't hers; because if she owned to it, it would raise +suspicions that she or some of her people was concerned with making away +with or hiding away the bag and bracelet, and that might get the Green +Dragon a bad name, and spoil their custom, or even get her and her +family into worse trouble. That's just my opinion; there's foul play, +somewhere, and she knows something about it. The bag's in the place, +hid away somewhere, and she knows where, or she knows them as has had to +do with getting hold of it, and keeping it for their own purposes. So +we must watch and be patient. I feel convinced we're getting nearer and +nearer to the light. So let us leave it now in the Lord's hands, and be +satisfied for him to guide us step by step, one at a time. I haven't a +doubt we've traced the ring to its right owner, so we'll put it by for +the present, and it can come out and give its evidence when it's +wanted." + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +WILD WORK AT CROSSBOURNE. + +It was now the beginning of April; a month had passed since the +temperance meeting, and James Barnes and William Foster were keeping +clear of the drink and of their old ungodly companions. But it was not +to be supposed that the enemies were asleep, or willing to acquiesce +patiently in such a desertion from their ranks. Nevertheless, little +stir was made, and open opposition seemed nearly to have died out. + +"How quietly and peaceably matters are going on," said the vicar to +Thomas Bradly one morning; "I suppose the intemperate party feel they +can do our cause no real harm, and so are constrained to let Foster and +Barnes alone." + +"I'm not so sure about that, sir," was Bradly's reply. "I'm rather +looking out for a breeze, for things are too quiet to last; there's been +a queerish sort of grin on the faces of Foster's old mates when they've +passed me lately, as makes me pretty sure there's something in the wind +as mayn't turn out very pleasant. But I'm not afraid: we've got the +Lord and the right on our side, and we needn't fear what man can do unto +us." + +"True, Thomas, we must leave it there; and we may be sure that all will +work together for the furtherance of the good cause in the end." + +"I've not a doubt of it, sir; but for all that, I mean to keep a bright +look-out. I'm not afraid of their trying their games with me; it's +Barnes and Foster as they mean to pay off if they can." + +That same evening James Barnes knocked at Bradly's Surgery door, and +closed it quickly after him. There was a scared look in his eyes; his +dress was all disordered; and, worse still, he brought with him into the +room an overpowering odour of spirits. Poor Thomas's heart died within +him. Alas! was it really so? Had the enemy gained so speedy a triumph? + +"So, Jim, you've broken, I see," exclaimed Bradly sorrowfully. "The +Lord pardon and help you!" + +"Nothing of the sort," cried the other; "I've never touched a drop, +Thomas, since I signed, though a good big drop has touched me." + +"What do you mean, Jim?" asked Bradly, greatly relieved at the tone of +his voice. "Are you sure it's all right? Come, sit down, and tell me +all about it." + +"That I will, Thomas; it's what I've come for. You'll easily believe me +when I tell you," he continued, after taking a seat, "that they've been +at me every road to try and get me back, badgering, chaffing, +threatening, and coaxing: it's strange what pains they'll take as is +working for the devil. But it wouldn't act. Well, three or four nights +ago, when I got home from my work, I found two bottles on my table. +They was uncorked; one had got rum, and the other gin in it. Now, I +won't say as my mouth didn't water a bit, and the evil one whispered +`Just take a glass;' but no, I wasn't to be done that way, so I lifts up +a prayer for strength, and just takes the bottles at once out into the +road, and empties them straight into the gutter. There was some looking +on as would let the enemy know. So to-night, as smooth ways wouldn't +act, they've been trying rough 'uns. Four of my old mates, Ned Taylor +among 'em, watches when my missus went off to the shop, and slips into +the kitchen where I was sitting. They'd brought a bottle of rum with +them, and began to talk friendly fashion, and tried might and main to +get me to drink. But I gave the same answer--I'd have none of it. Then +one of them slipped behind my chair, and pinned me down into it, and Ned +Taylor tried to force my mouth open, while another man held the bottle, +ready to pour the rum down my throat. But just then our little Bob, +seeing how roughly they were handling me, bolted out into the street, +screaming, `They're killing daddy! They're killing daddy!' So the +cowardly chaps, seeing it was time to be off, took to their heels, all +but Ned Taylor. He'd taken the bottle of rum from the man as held it, +and he took and poured it all down my coat and waistcoat, and said, `If +you won't have it inside, you shall have it out;' and then he burst out +into a loud laugh, and went after the rest of them. If you examine my +clothes, Thomas, you can see as I'm telling the truth. However, they've +just been and cut their own throats, for they've only made me more +determined than ever to stick to my tee-totalism." + +"All right, Jim," said the other cheerfully; "they've outwitted +themselves. I've an old coat and waistcoat as I've nearly done with, +but they've got a good bit of wear in them yet. They'll just about fit +you, I reckon. You shall go back in them, and keep them and welcome, +and we'll make these as they've spoilt a present to the dunghill. I +only wish all other bad habits, and more particularly them as comes +through rum, brandy, and such like, could be cast away on to the same +place. You did quite right, Jim, to come straight to me." + +"Ay, Thomas, I felt as it were best; for I were in a towering rage at +first, and I think I should have half killed some of 'em, if I could +only have got at them." + +"Ah, well, Jim, you just let all that alone. `Vengeance is mine, I will +repay, saith the Lord.' We'll get our revenge in another way some day; +we may heap coals of fire on some of their heads yet. But you leave +matters now to me. I shall see Ned Taylor to-morrow myself, and give +him a bit of my mind; and warn him and his mates that if they try +anything of the kind on again, they'll get themselves into trouble." + +"Thank you, Thomas, with all my heart, for your kindness: `a friend in +need's a friend indeed.' But there's just another thing as I wants to +talk to you about afore I go. I meant to come up to-night about it +anyhow, even if this do hadn't happened." + +"Well, Jim, let's hear it." + +"Do you remember Levi Sharples, Thomas?" + +"What! That tall, red-haired chap, with a cast in his left eye, and a +mouth as wide and ugly as an ogre's?" + +"Yes, that's the man. You'll remember, Thomas, he was concerned in that +housebreaking job four years ago, and the police have been after him +ever since." + +"To be sure, Jim, I remember him fast enough; he's not a man one's +likely to forget. I suppose a more thorough scoundrel never set foot in +Crossbourne. It was a wonderful thing how he managed to escape and keep +out of prison after that burglary business. But what about him?" + +"Why, Thomas, I seed him in this town the day before yesterday." + +"Surely, Jim, you must be mistaken. He durstn't show his face in +Crossbourne for the life of him." + +"No, I know that; but he's got himself made up to look like another +man,--black hair, great black whiskers, and a thick black beard, and a +foreign sort of cap on his head,--and he's lodging at the Green Dragon, +and pretends as he's an agent for some foreign house to get orders for +rings, and brooches, and watches, and things of that sort." + +"But are you certain, Jim, you're not mistaken?" + +"Mistaken! Not I. I used to know him too well in my drinking days. +He'll never disguise that look of that wicked eye of his from them as +knows him well; and though he's got summat in his mouth to make him talk +different, I could tell the twang of his ugly voice anywheres." + +"Well, Jim?" + +"Ah, but it ain't well, Thomas, I'm sorry to say: there's mischief, you +may be sure, when the like of him's about. You know he used to be a +great man with Will Foster's old set; and, would you believe it, I saw +him yesterday evening, when it was getting dark, standing near Foster's +house talking with him. They didn't see me, for I was in the shadow; +I'd just stooped down to fasten my boot-lace as they came up together. +I'd had a message to take to William's wife, and was coming out the back +way, when I heard footsteps, and I knew Levi in a moment, as the gas +lamp shone on him. I didn't want to play spy, but I _did_ want to know +what that chap was up to. So, while their backs was towards me, I +crawled behind the water-butt without making any noise, and I could +catch a few words now and then, as they were not far-off from me." + +"Well, Jim, and what did you hear?" + +"Why, Levi said, `It won't do for me to be seen here, so let us have a +meeting in some safe place.'--`Very well,' says William, and then they +spoke so low I could only catch the words, `Cricketty Hall;' but just as +Levi were moving off, he said in a loud whisper, `All right, then-- +Friday night;' and I think he mentioned the hour, but he spoke so low I +couldn't clearly mate out any more. So I've come to tell you, Thomas +Bradly, for there's mischief of some sort up, I'll be bound." + +Bradly did not answer, but for a time a deep shade of anxiety settled on +his features. But after a while the shadow passed away. "James," he +said earnestly, "I can't believe as there's anything wrong in this +matter in William Foster. I can't believe the Lord's led him so far, in +the right way, and has now left him to stray into wrong paths. I've +watched him narrowly, and I'm certain he's as true as steel. But I +think with you as there's mischief brewing. Though William has got a +clever head, yet he's got a soft heart along with it, and he's not over +wide-awake in some things; and I'll be bound he's no match for a villain +like that Levi. I tell you what it is, Jim: it strikes me now, just as +we're speaking, as Levi's being set on by some of William's old mates to +draw him out of the town to a place where they can play him some trick, +or do him some harm, without being hindered or found out. I can't +explain how, of course, but that's my thought. Now, if you'll lend me a +helping hand, I'm persuaded as we shall be able, if the Lord will, to +turn the tables on these fellows in such a way as'll effectually tie +their hands and stop their tongues for many a long day to come." + +"All right, Thomas," cried Barnes, "I'm your man; I think you're on the +right scent." + +"Very good, Jim; Cricketty Hall, and Friday night, that's where and when +the meeting's to be. It means next Friday no doubt, for Levi Sharples +won't stay in this neighbourhood a moment longer than he can help. You +may depend upon it, when these two meet at the old ruin, Levi'll have +some of their old mates not far-off, and there'll be wild work with poor +William when they've got the opportunity. But we'll give 'em more +company than they'll reckon for. But now, Jim, we must be cautious how +we act. Of course I could go and tell William privately what I think +Levi's up to, but I shall not do that; I want to catch that rascal in +his own trap, and get him out of the country for good and all, and give +the rest of them such a lesson as they'll not soon forget. So it won't +do for you or me to be seen going out towards Cricketty Hall on Friday +evening, for they are sure to set spies about, and we should spoil all. +I'll tell you how we'll manage. I've been wanting a day at Foxleigh for +some time, as I've some business of my own there. You get leave to meet +me there, and I'll pay your fare. Go by the eight a.m. train on Friday +morning, and I'll take the train that starts at dinner-time. No one'll +ever suspect us of going to Cricketty Hall that way. I shall tell the +police at Foxleigh my business, and they'll be glad enough to send some +men with us when they know that Levi Sharples will be there, the man +they've been wanting to catch. We can get round to the woods above +Cricketty Hall from Foxleigh without being seen, when it begins to be +dark, and can get down into the ruins without their noticing us, for +they'll never think of any one coming by that road, such a roundabout +way. And mind, Jim, not a word to any one, not even to your missus. +All you need tell her is, that I've wanted you to meet me about some +business at Foxleigh, and you won't be back till late." + +"All right, Thomas," said Barnes; "you may depend on it I shan't say +nothing to nobody. I shall just tell my missus afore I'm setting off on +the Friday morning as I've got a job to do for you, and she mustn't +expect me home till she sees me; and no one'll be surprised at my +turning up at the station, as they all know as I used to be porter +there." + +Cricketty Hall was one of those decayed family mansions which are to be +met with in many parts of England. Its original owners had been persons +of importance many generations back, but their name and fame had passed +away. The lands connected with the Hall had become absorbed into other +properties; and the building itself had gradually crumbled down, many a +neighbouring farm-house owing some of its most solid and ornamental +portions to the massive ruins from which they had been borrowed or +taken. Still, enough had been left to show that the place had once been +a mansion of considerable pretensions. The old gateway, with its +portcullis and drawbridge, was still standing, while the moat which +surrounded the entire building indicated that it had been originally of +very capacious dimensions. The roof and most of the walls had long +since disappeared; trees grew in the centre, and spread out their +branches over the space once occupied by the dormitories, while a +profusion of ivy concealed many a curiously carved arch and window. +From the gateway the ground sloped rapidly, affording a fine view of the +neighbouring country. Behind the house was high ground, once thickly +wooded, and still partially covered with trees and underwood. The Hall +was about two miles distant from Crossbourne, and was well-known to most +of its inhabitants, though but seldom visited, except occasionally by +picnic parties in summer-time. Old tradition pronounced it to be +haunted, but though such an idea was ridiculed now by everybody whenever +the superstition was alluded to, yet very few persons would have liked +to venture into the ruins alone after dark; and, indeed, the loneliness +of the situation made it by no means a desirable place for solitary +evening musings. + +The ordinary way to the Hall was by a footpath leading to it out of the +highroad across fields for a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile. It +could also be approached by a much less frequented track, which passed +along sequestered lanes out of the main road from the town of Foxleigh, +the nearest town to Crossbourne by rail, and brought the traveller to +it, after a walk of six miles from Foxleigh, through the overhanging +wooded ground which has been mentioned as rising up in the rear of the +old ruins. + +The only exception to the dilapidated state of the premises was a large +vaulted cellar or underground room. Its existence, however, had been +well-nigh forgotten, except by a few who occasionally visited it, and +kept the secret of the entrance to it to themselves. + +The Friday on which the appointment between Foster and Levi Sharples was +to be kept at Cricketty Hall, was one of those dismal April days which +make you forget that there is any prospect of a coming summer in the +chilly misery of the present. Cold showers and raw breezes made the +passers through the streets of Crossbourne fold themselves together, and +expose as little surface as was possible to the inclemency of the +weather; so that when James Barnes and Thomas Bradly left the station by +the early and mid-day trains, there were but few idlers about to notice +their departure. + +At length the mills loosed, and Foster hurried home, and, after a hasty +tea, told his wife that an engagement would take him from home for a few +hours, and that she must not be alarmed if he was a little late. Then, +having put on a stout overcoat, he made his way through the higher part +of the town, and past the vicarage, and was soon in the open country. +It was past seven o'clock when he reached the place where the footpath +leading to the old Hall met the highroad. It was still raining, though +not heavily; but thick, leaden-coloured clouds brooded over the whole +scene, and served to deepen the approaching darkness. It was certainly +an evening not calculated to raise any one's spirits; and the harsh +wind, as it swept over the wide expanse of the treeless fields, with +their stern-looking stone fences, added to the depressing influences of +the hour. But Foster was a man not easily daunted by such things, and +he had stridden on manfully, fully occupied by his own thoughts, till he +reached the stile where the footpath to the ruins began. Here he +paused, looked carefully in all directions, listened attentively without +hearing sound of traveller or vehicle, and then whistled in a low tone +twice. A tall figure immediately rose up from the other side of the +hedge and joined him. + +"Well, Levi," said Foster, "I have kept my appointment; and now what +would you have with me?" + +"I'll tell you, William," replied his companion. "You know I'm a marked +man. The police are looking out for me on account of that housebreaking +job--more's the pity I ever had anything to do with it. However, I'm a +changed man now, I hope: I think I've given you some proof of that +already, William, so you may trust me. A man wouldn't come back and +thrust his head into the lion's mouth as I've done, to show his +sincerity and sorrow for the past, if he hadn't been in earnest. Now, +what I want you to do is this:--You know how many Sunday afternoons you +and I, and others of our old mates, have spent in card-playing in the +cellar of that old Hall--the Lord forgive me for having wasted his holy +day in such sin and folly! Now, I've a long story to tell, and I should +like to tell it in that same place where you and I joined in what was +sinful in our days of ignorance and darkness. I can tell you there how +I was brought to see what a fool's part I had been playing, and how I +came to my right mind at last. You can give me some good advice; and I +want to leave one or two little things with you to give or send to my +poor old mother when I'm far away. And when we've had our talk out, +we'll part at the old ruin, and I shall make the best of my way out of +the country, and begin a new and better life, I trust, where I'm not +known. I'm sorry to have given you the trouble to come out all this +way, specially on such a night as this; but I really don't feel safe +anywhere in or near Crossbourne, as the police might pop on me at any +moment, and I felt sure, from what I heard of the change that has taken +place in you, that you wouldn't mind a little trouble to help an old +companion out of the mire. You needn't be afraid to come with me; I can +have no possible motive to lead you into danger." + +"I'm not afraid, Levi," said Foster quietly. "I'm ready to go with +you." + +Nothing more was said by either of them till they had followed out the +footpath and stood before the gateway of the old Hall. They were soon +making their way cautiously amongst the fallen blocks of stone towards a +turret which rose to a considerable height at the end of the ruins +farthest from the gateway. "Go forward, William," said Sharples, "while +I light my lantern." So saying, he paused to strike a match, while his +companion threaded his way towards the turret. At this moment a figure, +unobserved by Foster, emerged from behind a low wall, and, having +exchanged a few whispered words with Levi, disappeared through an +archway. + +The two companions, having now gained the turret, proceeded to descend a +few broken steps concealed from ordinary observation by a mass of +brushwood, and reached the entrance of a spacious vault. "Stay a +moment," said Sharples; "I'll go first and show a light." So saying, he +pushed past the other, and the next instant Foster felt himself held +fast by each arm, while a handkerchief was pressed over his mouth. He +was at once painfully conscious that he had been completely entrapped, +and that resistance was perfectly useless, for two strong men grasped +him, one on either side. But his presence of mind did not desert him, +and he now had learnt where to look, in secret prayer, for that "very +present help in trouble" which never fails those who seek it aright. +Thus fortified, he attempted no resistance, but patiently awaited the +event. + +In a few minutes the handkerchief was withdrawn from his eyes, and he +found himself in the presence of about a dozen men, all of whose faces +were blackened. On a large stone in the centre of the vault was placed +the bull's-eye lantern which his companion had recently lighted, and +which, by pouring its light fully on himself, prevented him from clearly +seeing the movements of his captors. What was to come next? He was not +long left in doubt. + +"Saint Foster," said Levi Sharples, who stood just behind the lantern, +and spoke in a sneering, snuffling voice, "we don't wish you any harm; +but we have brought your saintship before our right worshipful court, +that you may answer to the charge brought against you, of having +deserted your old principles and companions, and inflicted much +inconvenience and discredit on the cause of free-thought and good +fellowship in Crossbourne. What say you to this charge, Saint Foster?" + +Their poor victim had by this time thoroughly recovered his self- +possession, and being now set at liberty--for his enemies knew that he +could not escape them--answered quietly, and in a clear, unfaltering +voice, "I must ask first by what authority this court is constituted; +and by whose authority you are now questioning me?" + +"By the authority of `might,' which on the present occasion makes +`right,' Saint Foster," was the reply. + +"Be it so," said Foster. "I can only reply that I have been following +out my own honest convictions in the course I have lately taken. What +right has any man to object to this?" + +"A good deal of right, Saint Foster, since your following out your +present honest convictions is a great hindrance to those who used to +agree with you in your former honest convictions." + +"I am not responsible for that," was Foster's reply. + +"Perhaps not," continued Sharples; "nevertheless, we are met on the +present agreeable occasion to see if we cannot induce you to give up +those present honest convictions of yours, and join your old friends +again." + +"That I neither can nor will," said the other in a firm voice. + +"That's a pity," said Sharples; "because if you persist in your +determination, the consequences to yourself may be unpleasant. However, +the court wishes to deal very leniently with you, in consideration of +past services, and therefore I am commissioned to offer you a choice +between two things.--Officer! Bring forward the `peacemaker.'" + +Upon this, a man stepped forward, uncorked a bottle of spirits, and +placed it on the stone in front of the lantern. + +"Saint Foster," proceeded his pretended judge, "we earnestly exhort you +to lift this bottle of spirits to your lips, and, having taken a hearty +swig thereof, to say after me, `Long life and prosperity to free-thought +and good fellowship.' If you will do this we shall be fully satisfied, +and shall all part good friends." + +"And if I refuse?" asked the other. + +"Oh! There'll be no compulsion--we are not going to force you to drink. +This is `Liberty Hall;' only, you must submit to the alternative." + +"And what may that be?" + +"Oh! Just to carry home with you a little of our ointment, as a token +of our kind regards.--Officer! Bring forward the ointment." + +A general gruff titter ran round the vault as one of the men placed +beside the bottle a jar with a brush in it and a bag. + +"My worthy friend," proceeded the former speaker, "that jar is full of +ointment, vulgarly called tar, and that little bag contains feathers. +Now, if you positively refuse to drink the toast I have just named in +spirits, we shall be constrained to anoint you all over from head to +foot with our ointment, and then to sprinkle you with the feathers; in +so doing, we shall be affording an amusing spectacle to the inhabitants +of Crossbourne, and shall be doing yourself a real kindness, by +furnishing you with abundant means of `feathering your own nest.'" + +A roar of discordant laughter followed this speech. Then there was a +pause, and a deathlike silence, while all waited for Foster's answer. +For a few moments he attempted no reply; then he said, slowly and sadly: +"I know it will be of no use for me to say what I think of the utter +baseness of the man who has enticed me here, and now acts the part of my +judge. You have me in your power, and must work your will on me, for I +will never consent to drink the toast proposed to me. But I warn you +that--" + +At this moment a shrill whistle was heard by every one in the vault, and +then the sound of shouts outside, and the tramping of feet.--"The game's +up!" cried one of the men with the blackened faces; "every one for +himself!" and a rush was made for the steps. But it was too late: a +strong guard of police fully armed had taken their stand at the top of +the stair, and escape was impossible, for there was no other outlet from +the vault. As each man emerged he was seized and handcuffed--all except +Foster, whose unblackened face told at once that he was not one of the +guilty party, and who was grasped warmly by the hand by Thomas Bradly +and James Barnes, who now came forward. + +When the vault had been searched by the constables, and they had +ascertained that no one was still secreted there, the whole of the +prisoners were marched into the open court and placed in a row. The +sergeant, who had come with his men, then passed his lantern from face +to face. There was no mistake about Sharples; his false hair and beard +had become disarranged in the scuffle, and other marks of identification +were immediately observed. "Levi Sharples," said the sergeant, "you're +our prisoner--we've been looking out for you for a long time; you'll +have to come with us.--As for the rest of you, well, I think you won't +any of you forget this night; so you'd best get home as fast as you can +and wash your faces.--Constables, take the handcuffs off 'em." + +No sooner was this done than the whole body of the conspirators vanished +in a moment, while the police proceeded to carry off their prisoner. +But before the officers were clear of the ruins, a strange moaning sound +startled all who remained behind. "Eh! What's that? Surely it ain't-- +a--a--" exclaimed Jim Barnes, in great terror. The sergeant, who was +just leaving with his men, turned back. All stood silent, and then +there was distinctly heard again a deep groaning, as of one in pain. +"Lend a light here, Thomas," cried the sergeant to one of his +constables. All, except those who were guarding the prisoner, proceeded +in the direction from which the unearthly sounds came. "Have a care," +cried Bradly; "there's some ugly holes hereabouts." Picking their way +carefully, they came at last to the mouth of an old well: it had been +long choked up to within a few feet of the top, but still it was an +awkward place to fall into. + +There could now be no mistake; the groaning came from the old well, and +it was a human cry of distress. "Who's there?" cried the sergeant, +throwing his light down upon a writhing figure. "It's me--it's Ned +Taylor. Lord help me! I've done for myself. Oh, help me out for +pity's sake!" With great difficulty, and with terrible suffering to the +poor wretch himself, they contrived at last to draw him up, and to place +him with his back against a heap of fallen masonry. + +"What's to be done now?" asked the sergeant. "Leave him to us," replied +Bradly; "we'll get him home. I see how it is: he's one of these chaps +as has been taking part in this sad business, and in his hurry to get +off he has tumbled into this old well and injured himself. We'll look +after him, poor fellow; he shall be properly cared for. Good-night, +sergeant, and thank you for your timely help." + +When the police had departed with their prisoner, Bradly went to the +wounded man and asked him if he thought he could walk home with help; +but the only reply was a groan. "He's badly hurt, I can see," said +Thomas; "we must make a stretcher out of any suitable stuff we can find, +and carry him home between us. The Lord's been very gracious to us so +far in this business, and I don't doubt but he'll bring good out of this +evil." So they made a litter of boughs and stray pieces of plank, and +set out across the fields for Crossbourne. + +"Stay a bit, Jim," whispered Bradly to James Barnes; "lend me your +lantern. Go forward now, and I'll join you in a minute." He was soon +back again, having brought the jar of tar from the vault, about which +and its purpose he had heard from Foster while the police were searching +the place. "I must keep this," he said, "in my Surgery; it'll do +capitally to give an edge to a lesson." And it may be here said that +the jar was in due time placed on a bracket in Bradly's private room, +and labelled in large red letters, "Drunkards' Ointment,"--giving Thomas +many an opportunity of speaking a forcible word against evil +companionship to those who sought his help and counsel. + +But to return to the party at the old Hall. Long and weary seemed that +walk home, specially to the wounded man. At last they reached the town, +and carried the sufferer to his miserable dwelling, with cheery words to +his poor wife, and a promise from Bradly to send the doctor at once, and +that he would call himself next day and see how he was going on. + +Then the three friends hastened at once to Foster's house, that they +might be the first to acquaint his wife with her husband's peril and +deliverance. Never was thanksgiving prayer uttered or joined in with +more fervour than that which was offered by Thomas Bradly after he had +given to Kate Foster a full account of the evening's adventure. Then +all sat down to a simple supper, at which Foster was asked by Thomas +Bradly to tell him how he came to be taken in by such a man as Levi +Sharples. + +"I don't wonder," began Foster, "that you should think it weak and +strange in me; but you shall judge. Levi Sharples and myself used to be +great friends--or rather, perhaps, I ought to say frequent companions, +for I don't think there was ever anything worth calling friendship +between us. He used to profess a great respect for my opinion. He +regularly attended the meetings of our club, and made smart speeches, +and would come out with the vilest sentiments expressed in the vilest +and foulest language, such as disgusted me even then, and makes me +shudder now when I think of it. He had a ready way with him, and could +trip a man up in an argument and get the laugh against him. Not that he +had really read or studied much; but he had gathered a smattering on +many subjects, and knew how to make a little knowledge go a great way. +Most of the other members of the club were afraid of him, for he had no +mercy when he chose to come down on a fellow; and if any one tried to +make a stand against him for a bit, he would soon talk him down with his +biting sarcasms and loud sneering voice. + +"I told you that he professed to have a high opinion of myself as a +debater and free-thinker. He seldom crossed me in argument, and when he +did he was sure to give in in the end. I was vain enough at the time to +set this down to my own superior wit and knowledge; but I am now fully +persuaded that he was only pretending to have this good opinion of me +that he might make use of me for his own purposes. He knew that I was a +skilful workman, and earned more than average wages, and so he would +often borrow a few shillings from me, which he never remembered to pay +back again. But he managed to get these loans very dexterously, always +mixing up a little flattery when he came to borrow. + +"Often and often, I'm ashamed to say, I have wandered out with him and +other members of our club in the summer, on Sunday afternoons, to +Cricketty Hall; and there, down in the old vault, we have been playing +cards and drinking till it was time to return. I could see plainly +enough on these occasions that Levi would have been only too glad to win +largely from me; but I had sense enough to keep out of his clutches, as +I had noticed him managing the cards unfairly when playing with others. + +"I can't say that I felt any particular regret when he had to take +himself off out of the neighbourhood. There were no ties that could +really bind us together; for, indeed, how can there be any real union +where the closest bond is a common hatred of that gospel which is so +truly, as I am thankful to say I have myself found it, the religion of +love? I scarcely missed him, and seldom thought of him, and was rather +startled when, a few days ago, he made himself known to me in the +twilight. + +"We were alone, and I was going to pass on with a civil word; but he +begged me to stop, and in such a tone of voice as rather touched me. He +then reminded me that we had been companions in evil, and said that he +had heard of the change that had taken place in me. He added that he +was very unhappy, that he hated himself for his past wicked life, and +that as I used to stand his friend formerly when he needed a helping +hand, he hoped I would show that my change was a real one by my +willingness to give an old mate a lift over the stile and into the same +way of peace in which I professed to be walking myself. He had much to +tell me and ask of me, he said; but he was afraid of being discovered by +the police, spite of his disguise. Would I meet him at Cricketty Hall, +he should feel safe there. + +"I did not know what to say. I could not get rid of my suspicions, +notwithstanding his changed tone and manner. He saw it, and said: `You +doubt my sincerity. Well, I suppose you'll agree that when a man's +sincerity gets into his pocket it's pretty sure to be genuine. Now, +you've lent me money at different times, and I never paid any of it +back. I've reckoned it up, and it comes altogether to three pounds ten +shillings. Here it is; and many thanks to you for lending it me. I'm +only sorry that I was not an honest man before.' + +"I hardly knew what to say; however, I took the money, for I knew that +it was due to me. `Well, will you trust me now?' he asked. `Meet me, +Levi, to-morrow night just after dark outside my house,' I said, `and I +will tell you then.' He hesitated a little, and then said, `Very well,' +and left me. I was sorely puzzled, and could not tell what to think. +And then at last it occurred to me that perhaps it was wrong in me to +hang back. There _might_ be a real change beginning even in such a man +as Levi Sharples. The Lord had been merciful to me, and why not to him? +There hadn't been much to choose between us in badness in bygone days; +and should I be right in repelling the poor man if I could be in any way +the means of bringing him into the narrow way? Well, you know the rest. +We met the next night; and, mercifully for me, Jim Barnes, as I find +from him, overheard the appointment to meet at Cricketty Hall; and +wonderfully and graciously has the Lord kept me _in_ my trouble, and +delivered me out of it." + +"But how do you suppose that Sharples got hold of that money?" asked +Bradly. + +"Oh," replied the other, "I can easily understand all about that. You +may depend upon it the whole matter has gone on somewhat in this way:-- +My old mates have been scheming how to be revenged on me ever since I +left them, and showed my colours on the side of Temperance and Religion. +They've known Levi's whereabouts, and were aware how thick we used to +be; so they've set him upon drawing me into the snare. I don't doubt +that they subscribed that three pound ten between them, that Levi might +be able to throw dust in my eyes with it, and throw me off my guard." + +"Just so, just so; I see it all!" cried Bradly. "Eh! Haven't they been +nicely outwitted? Why, they've lost their money, they've lost the bird +out of the cage, and they've clapped their own man in prison. Mark my +words, William, we shan't have much more trouble from them for many a +long day; but if they attempt to give us any, I shall bring them out the +little jar of ointment they left behind them, and bid them tell us what +complaints it's good for. Ah! Well, there's just a few words out of +the good old book as'll crown it all. Here they are in the Twenty- +seventh Psalm: `The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I +fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? +When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up +my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against +me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this +will I be confident.'" + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +DOCTOR PROSSER AT CROSSBOURNE. + +Dr and Mrs Prosser came to pay their spring visit to the Maltbys about +ten days after William Foster's happy escape out of the hands of his +enemies. The doctor was exceedingly glad of this opportunity of having +a little quiet conversation with his old college friend the vicar on +subjects which, though near his heart, were too commonly pushed out of +his thoughts by the pressure of daily and hourly engagements. For his +was the experience so common in these days of multiplied occupations and +ceaseless coming and going: he could find no time for pause, no time for +serious meditation on subjects other than those which demanded daily the +full concentration of his thoughts. He was not unconscious that he was +moving on all the while through higher and nobler things than those +which he was pursuing, just as we are conscious of the beauties of some +lovely scenery, glimpses of which flash upon us on either side, as we +dash on by rail at express speed to our journey's end; but, at the same +time, he was painfully aware that he was really living not merely amidst +but _for_ the things which are seen and temporal, without any settled +and steady aim at the things which are not seen and are eternal. So he +hoped that his visit to Ernest Maltby might be helpful to him by +bringing him into an intellectual and spiritual atmosphere entirely +different in tone from that with which he was surrounded in his London +home and society. He had seen the true beauty and felt the persuasive +force of holiness, in his previous intercourse with the vicar of +Crossbourne; and he believed that it might do him good to see and feel +them again, as exhibited in the character and conversation of his +friend. + +He was also very anxious that his wife should learn some practical +wisdom from the Maltbys, which might guide her into the way of making +her home happier both to herself and to him. It is true that things had +considerably improved since the Christmas-eve when the doctor found her +absent from home. His words of loving remonstrance had sunk deeply into +her heart, and she had profited by them. She had managed to curtail her +engagements, and to be more at home, especially when she knew that her +husband was counting upon her society. Still, there were many self- +imposed duties to which she devoted time and strength which could ill be +spared, and in the performance of which she was wearing herself down; so +the forced interruption of these by her visit to Crossbourne was looked +upon by her husband with secret but deep satisfaction. + +The only drawback to their visit was that neither Mrs Maltby nor her +daughter would be at home; but Mr Maltby had begged them not to +postpone their visit on this account, as his sister, Miss Maltby, would +be staying with him, and would take the place of hostess to his guests. +And, indeed, sorry as Dr Prosser was that he should miss seeing his old +lady friends, he was satisfied that their place would be well supplied +by the vicar's sister. + +Miss Maltby was considerably older than her brother, and had been almost +in the position of a parent to him when he had, in his early life, lost +his own mother. She was one of those invaluable single women, not +uncommon in the middle rank of society in England, whose sterling +excellences are more widely felt than openly appreciated. She was not +one of those active ladies who carry little bells on the skirts of their +good deeds, so as to make a loud tinkling in the ears of the world. +Hers was a quiet and unobtrusive work. Her views of usefulness and duty +were, in the eyes of some of her acquaintance, old-fashioned and behind +the age. Standing on one side, as it were, out of the whirl of _good_ +excitement, she could mark the mistakes and shortcomings in the bringing +up of the professedly Christian families which came under her +observation, and of the grownup workers of her own sex. But the wisdom +she gathered from observation was stored up in a mind ever under the +control of a pure and loving heart. Sneer or sarcasm never passed her +lips. When called on to reprove the wrong or suggest the right, she +always did it with "meekness of wisdom," her object being, not to +glorify self by making others painfully conscious of their +inconsistencies or defects, but to guide the erring gently into the +paths of righteousness, sober-mindedness, and persuasive godliness. +Practical good sense, the fruit of a plain scriptural creed thought out, +prayed out, and lived out, in the midst of a thousand unrealities, and +half-realities, and distortions of the truth in belief and practice, was +the habitual utterance of her lips and guide of her daily life. She and +Thomas Bradly were special friends, inasmuch as they were thoroughly +kindred spirits, anything like sham or humbug being the abhorrence of +both, while the Word of God was to each the one only infallible court of +appeal in every question of faith and practice. + +"You must see a good deal of the coarser-grained human material here in +Crossbourne," remarked Dr Prosser to the vicar, as they strolled +together in the garden in the evening after their meeting. "When I last +had the pleasure of visiting you, before you came to this living, your +parishioners were of a more civilised stamp." + +"More `civil' would perhaps be a more correct term," said Mr Maltby, +"at least so far as touchings of the hat and smooth speeches were +concerned. But, in truth, with all the roughness of these people, there +is that sterling courtesy and consideration in many of them which I +rarely meet with in more cultivated districts." + +"Well," said the other, "I suppose that is owing to the increased +intelligence produced by habits of reading, attending lectures, and +studying mechanism." + +"I think not," replied the vicar. "I have not, in my own experience, +found true courtesy and consideration to be the fruit of increased +intelligence. On the contrary, the keener the intellectual edge, as a +rule, the keener the pursuit of selfish ends, and the more conspicuous +the absence of a regard to the interests and a respect for the feelings +of others." + +"Then you don't credit education with this improvement in courtesy and +consideration." + +"Certainly not. I believe that with increased intelligence there is +also an increased sensitiveness in all our faculties, and so an +increased appreciation of what is beautiful and becoming; but it is the +heart that must be touched if there is to be that real concern for the +welfare and comfort of others which I have observed in many of my +present parishioners. They are rough extremely, but there is an honest +and warm heart beneath the surface; and when the love of Christ gets +down into these hearts, and the grace of Christ dwells there, I do not +know a nobler material to work with." + +Dr Prosser was silent for a minute, then he said, "I suppose we are all +agreed that true religion has a very humanising and refining influence. +I only feel a wish, at times, that Religion herself were less hampered +by creeds and dogmas, so that her full power might be felt, and to a far +wider extent. I think that then religious and intellectual advancement +would keep steady pace side by side." + +"Do you, my dear friend?" said Mr Maltby sadly. "I must confess I am +quite of a different opinion. People seem to me to have gone wild on +this subject, and to have lost their senses in their over-anxiety to +cultivate them. Intellect-worship is to my mind the master snare of our +day. Cram the mind and starve the heart--this is the great popular +idolatry. And so religion must be a misty, dreamy sort of thing; not +well-defined truth, plainly and sharply taught in God's Word, requiring +faith in revealed doctrines which are to influence the life by taking up +a stronghold in the heart, but rather a foggy mixture of light and +darkness, of superstition and sentiment, which will leave men to follow +pretty nearly their own devices, and allow them to pass through this +world with quieted consciences, so long as they are sincere, let their +creed be anything or nothing: and as to the future, why, this world is +the great land of realities, and a coming judgment, a coming heaven or +hell, these are but plausible dreams, or, at the most, interesting +speculations. Excuse me, my dear friend, for speaking warmly. I cannot +but feel and speak strongly on this subject when I mark the growing +tendency in our day to fall down and worship the cultivation of the +intellect, to the neglect and disparagement of definite gospel truth, +and of that education of the heart without which, I am more firmly +persuaded every day, there cannot be either individual peace, home +virtue and happiness, or public honour and morality." + +"Perhaps you are right," said the doctor thoughtfully. "There may be a +danger in the direction you point out. Certainly we men of science +have, many of us, while valuing and respecting the Christian religion, +been getting increasingly impatient of anything like religious dogmatism +and exclusiveness." + +At this moment a servant came to say that Thomas Bradly wished to have a +word with the vicar when he was disengaged. "Oh, ask him to come to me +here in the garden," said the vicar.--"You shall see one of my rough +diamonds now," he added smilingly to his friend; "indeed, I may call him +my `Koh-i-noor,' only he hasn't been polished.--Thomas," he continued to +Bradly as he entered, "here's an old friend of mine, Dr Prosser, a +gentleman eminent in the scientific world, who has come down from London +to see me, and to get a little experience of Crossbourne ways and +manners. I tell him that he'll find us rather a rough material." + +"I'm sure," replied Thomas, "I'm heartily glad to see any friend of +yours among us. He must take us as he finds us. Like other folks, we +aren't always right side out; but we generally mean what we say, and +when we do say anything we commonly make it stand for summat." + +"Well now, Thomas," continued Mr Maltby, "you're a plain, practical +man, and I think you could give us an opinion worth having on a subject +we've been talking about." + +"I'm sure, sir, I don't know how that may be," was the reply; "but we +working-people sometimes see things in a different light from what those +above us does,--at least so far as our experience goes." + +"That's just it, Thomas. It will interest Dr Prosser, I know, to hear +how a theory about religion and truth, which is becoming very +fashionable in our day, would suit yourself and the quick-witted and +warm-hearted people you have daily to deal with." + +"Let me hear it, sir, and I'll answer according to the best of my +judgment." + +The vicar then repeated to Bradly the substance of the conversation +between himself and the doctor on religious dogmatism and breadth of +views. + +"Ah, well," cried Thomas laughing, "you're almost too deep for me. But +it comes into my mind what happened to me a good many years ago, when I +were quite a young man. There were a nobleman in our parts,--I wasn't +living at Crossbourne then,--and his son came of age, and such a feast +there was as I never saw afore or since, and I hope I never may again. +Well, my father's family had been in that country for many generations, +and so they turned us into gentlefolks, me and my father, that day, and +we sat down to dinner with the quality; and a grand dinner it was for +certain. When it was all over, as I thought, and the parson had +returned thanks, just as I were for getting up and going, they brings +round some plates with great glass bowls in 'em, nearly full of water, +something like what an old aunt of mine used to keep gold-fish in; and +there was a knife and fork on each plate. Then the servants brings all +sorts of fruits,--apples and pears, and peaches and grapes,--and sets +'em on the table. I was asked what I'd have, and I chose a great rosy- +cheeked apple. And then I were going to bite a great piece out of it, +but a gent as sat next me whispers, `Cut it, man; it's more civil to cut +it.' So I takes up the knife, which had got a mother-o'-pearl handle to +it, and tries to cut the apple, but I could only make a mark on it such +as you see on a hot-cross-bun. Then I looked at the blade of the knife, +and it were just like silver, but were as blunt as a broomstick. +However, I tried again, but it wouldn't cut; so I axes a tall chap in +livery as stood behind my chair if they'd such a thing as a butcher's +steel in the house, for I wanted to put an edge to my knife. Eh, you +should have seen that fellow grin! `No, sir,' he says, `we ain't got +nothing of the sort.' `Well, then,' says I, `take this knife away,-- +there's a good man!--for it's too fine for me, and bring me a good steel +knife with an edge as'll cut.'--Now, if you'll excuse my long story, +gentlemen, it seems to me that the sort of religion you say is getting +popular among the swell people and men of science in our country is +uncommon like that fruit-knife as couldn't suit me. It's a deal too +fine for common purposes, and common people, and common homes, and +common hearts; it hasn't got no edge--it won't cut. We want a religion +with a good usable edge to it, as'll cut the cords of our sins and the +knots of our troubles. Now, that's just the religion of the Bible. It +tells us what we're to do for God and for our fellow-creatures; it tells +us how we're to do it, by showing us how the Lord Jesus Christ shed his +blood to free us from the guilt and power of sin, and bought us grace by +which we might walk in his steps; and it shows why we're to do it,--just +from love to him, because he first loved us in giving Jesus to die for +us. I don't see what use religion or the Bible would be to us if these +things weren't laid down for us clear and sharp; if p'raps they was +true, and p'raps not; or true for me, but not true for my neighbour; or +half true, and half false; or true for to-day, and not true for to- +morrow." + +"Bravo!" said Dr Prosser, delighted, and clapping his hands. "I +believe your rough workman's hammer has hit the right nail on the head, +and hit it hard too." + +"I'm very glad, sir, if you think so," said Bradly, "I've had chaps +crying up to me now and then some such sort of views as the vicar and +yourself have been talking about; but I've felt sure of this, however +well they may look on paper, they'll never act. What's the use of a +guide, if he's blind and don't know where he's taking you to? I +remember I were once spending a night at a gent's house, and the next +morning I had to walk to a town twenty miles off. It were quite a +country-place where the gentleman lived, and when he were saying good- +bye to me I axed him for directions, for I'd never been in that part of +the country before. So he said, `You must go for about a mile and a +half along this road, and then you'll come to a wood on your left hand. +You must go through that wood, and then any one'll be able to direct you +for the rest of the way.'--`And pray,' says I, `which path must I take +through the wood? For I daresay there's more than one.'--`Oh, you can't +mistake,' says he; `you've only to follow your nose.' So I set off, +supposing it was all right. I found the wood easily enough, but when I +got to it I was quite at a nonplush. There was three roads into the +wood, each one as distinct as the other. It was all very well to say, +`Follow your nose;' but if I looked down one road that would be +following my nose, and so it would be when I looked down either of the +other roads. I had to chance it; and a pretty mess I made of it, for I +completely lost my way, and didn't get to my journey's end till after +dark.--Now, some of these scientific gents as has got too wise to +believe in the old-fashioned Bible and its plain meaning, what sort of +directions would they give us through this world, so that we might do +our duty in it, and get happily through it, and reach the better land? +It would be much with poor sinners as it was with me. If we're to have +a religion without doctrines and without a revelation, or if we're only +to pick out just as much from the Bible as suits our fancies and our +prejudices, we shall be just following our nose. And where will that +lead us? Why, into all sorts of difficulties here, and the end will be +nothing but darkness." + +"Just so, Thomas," said the vicar; "I feel sure that you speak the +truth. We want the plain, distinct teaching of the doctrines of God's +Word, if we are to be holy here and happy hereafter. We want to know +unmistakably what to believe, and how to act out our belief. What a +blessing it is that, when we take up our Bibles in a humble and +teachable spirit, we can say, `Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a +light unto my path.' But we are come upon strange times indeed, when +professed teachers of the Christian religion can propound to us `a +gospel without an atonement, a Bible without inspiration, and an +ignorant Christ.'--Well, Thomas, shall we come into my study? Dr +Prosser will excuse me for a few minutes." + +An evening or two after this conversation, as the whole vicarage party +lingered round the table after supper, Dr Prosser turned to his host +and said, "Judging from all I see and hear, Maltby, a parish like yours +must be a famous place for testing the working value of many modern +theories of morality and religion." + +"Yes," was the reply; "what you say, my dear friend, is true indeed. +Learned and amiable men sit in their libraries and college rooms, and +weave out of their own intellects or consciousness wonderful theories of +the goodness of human nature, the charms of a more genial Christianity +than is to be found by ordinary seekers in the Scriptures, and the need +of a wider entrance to a broader road to heaven than the strait gate and +narrow way of the Gospels. But let such men come to Crossbourne, and +have to deal with these people of shrewd and sharpened intellects, +strong wills, strong passions, and strong temptations, and they will +find that the old-fashioned gospel is, after all, the only thing that +will meet all man's moral and spiritual needs. I have never been more +struck with this than in the case of a reformed-infidel amongst us: the +change in that man has been indeed wonderful, as even his bitterest +enemies are constrained to acknowledge,--he has indeed found the gospel +to be to him the `pearl of great price.' The change in that man's +character, home, and even expression of countenance, is truly as from +darkness to light." + +"I wish," observed Miss Maltby, "there was less of the theoretical and +fanciful, and more of the practical and scriptural, in many of the +modern schemes proposed for the acceptance of my own sex in the matter +of education. I wish wise men would let us alone, and allow us to keep +our proper place, and follow out our proper calling, as these may be +plainly gathered from the great storehouse of all wisdom." + +"Pray give us your thoughts a little more fully, Miss Maltby," said the +doctor. "I think there may be one here at any rate who will benefit by +them." + +"Two, John, at least," said his wife, laughing: "for if I am the one who +am to benefit, you will be the other; for whatever improves me will be +sure to improve your home, so we shall share the profits." + +Her husband held out his hand to her, and while they exchanged a loving +pressure, Miss Maltby said: "Woman seems now to be treated as an +independent rational being, whose one great object ought to be in this +life to outstrip, or at any rate keep on a level with, the other sex in +all intellectual pursuits. Did God put her into the world for this? +Did he give her as a rule faculties and capacities for this? I cannot +believe it. This ambition to shine, this thirst for excessive +education, this craving after female university distinctions, why all +this is eating out that which is truly womanly in hundreds of our girls, +and turning them into a sort of intellectual mermaids, only one half +women, and the other half something monstrous and unnatural. And what +is the result? Let me read you the words of a high authority--Dr +Richardson: `These precocious, coached-up children are never well,' he +says. `Their mental excitement keeps up a flush which, like the +excitement caused by strong drink in older children, looks like health, +but has no relation to it.' And if this overtasking the mind is so +injurious to the body, what will our women of the next generation be if +things go on with us as they are doing at present? I must just quote +again from the same authority. Dr Richardson says, `If women succeed +in their clamour for admission into the universities, and like moths +follow their sterner mates into the midnight candle of learning, the +case will be bad indeed for succeeding generations; and the geniuses and +leaders of the nation will henceforth be derived from those simple +pupils of the Board schools who entered into the conflict of life with +reading, writing, and arithmetic, free of brain to acquire learning of +every kind in the full powers of developed manhood.'" + +"You make out a very gloomy case and prospect for us," said Mrs Prosser +sadly and thoughtfully. + +"I do," replied the other; "and what makes all this far worse is, that +this mental overwork cannot go on without depriving the sufferers--for +they _are_ sufferers to an extent they little dream of--of that sweet +privilege of being a true blessing to others which Christian mothers, +daughters, and sisters enjoy, whose work inside, and moderately outside +the home, is done simply, unostentatiously, and in a womanly manner. +Verily, those women who sacrifice all to this mental forcing, to this +race for intellectual distinction,--verily, they have their reward. But +they can look for no other." + +"But stay, my dear friend," interposed Dr Prosser. "I have been going +with you heart and soul, only I felt a little jolt just then, as if the +wheels ran over a stone. Was not that last expression a little +uncharitable? Will all women who covet and strive after intellectual +honours be necessarily shut out of heaven?" + +"Far be it from me to say so," exclaimed Miss Maltby earnestly; "I was +speaking about reward. Surely we make some sad mistakes on this +subject; I mean about reward in a better world. We are naturally so +afraid, some of us, of putting good works in the wrong place, that we +have gone into the opposite extreme, and turned them out of their right +place. It is surely one of the sweetest and most encouraging of +thoughts that Jesus will condescend to reward earnest work done for him, +though after all only the fruit of his own grace. But if we women are +to have our share in these heavenly rewards, our hearts cannot be +engrossed in the pursuit of earthly intellectual prizes. Oh! We cannot +think and speak too earnestly on such a subject as this; can we, dear +brother?" + +"No, indeed," said the vicar, "when we remember that the Lord is coming +again, and then shall he reward every one according to his works." + +No one spoke for a while, and then Mrs Prosser asked, "What do you +think, dear Miss Maltby, of these female guilds, and societies, and +clubs?" + +"I think very ill of them," was the reply; "for they substitute, or are +in danger of substituting, self-imposed rules and motives for the simple +rules and constraining motives set before us in God's Word." + +"I don't quite understand you," said the other. + +"I mean thus," continued Miss Maltby. "Let us take an example. I have +some young lady friends who have joined an `early-rising club.' They +are to get up and be downstairs by a certain hour every morning, or pay +a forfeit, and are to keep a strict account of their regularities or +irregularities, as the case may be." + +"And what harm do you see in this?" asked Dr Prosser. + +"Just this," replied the other: "it seems to me that this banding +together to accomplish an object, in itself no doubt desirable, gives a +sort of semi-publicity to it, and thereby robs it of its simplicity, and +in a measure deprives God of his glory in it, as though the constraining +love of Christ were not sufficient to induce us to acquire habits of +self-denial and usefulness. How much better for one who desires to live +in the daily habit of unostentatious self-discipline modestly to +practise this regularity of early-rising as an act of Christian self- +denial, to be known and marked by Him who will accept and graciously +bless it, if done to please him and in his strength. In a word, dear +friends, I cannot but think that our female character is likely to +suffer by the adoption of these new and, in my view, unscriptural +theories and systems, and that the less of excitement and publicity +there is in woman's work, and the more of the quiet home work and home +influence in her doings, the holier, the healthier, the happier, and the +more truly useful will she be." + +"I quite agree with my sister in this matter," observed the vicar. "I +believe that there is a subtle element of evil in this club system among +young females which has escaped the notice of many Christian people. I +mean the independence of _home_ which it generates, as well as the new +motives which it introduces. Thus, a bright, intelligent young lady +friend of mine had joined a society or club for secular reading. The +members are bound to read works, selected by a responsible person +connected with the society, for one hour every day, a certain fine +having to be paid for every hour missed. And what was the consequence +in my young friend's case? Why, the society had usurped the place of +the parents; it, not they, was to be the guide of her studies, and home +duties must remain undone rather than this hour be infringed upon: for +it was a point of honour to keep this hour sacred, as it were; and so +the debt of honour had to be paid, even though the debt of conscience-- +that is, what home duties required--should be left unpaid. Just as it +is on the turf and at the gaming-table,--the man's gaming debts are +called debts of honour, and _must_ be paid, come what will, while debts +to the tradesman, whose livelihood depends on his customers' honesty, +may remain unpaid. Such has been, or rather _had_ been the result with +my young friend. But finding that this reading-club was detaching her +thoughts from home, weakening the hold of home upon her, causing her to +lean on the judgment of others rather than on that of her parents, and +to neglect, or do with an ill grace, duties clearly assigned to her by +God, and to substitute for them self-imposed tasks and studies, she had +the good sense and good principle to give it up. Surely a system which +has a tendency to draw young people out of the circle of home duty, +influence, and authority, and thus to make them independent of those +whom God has given them to be their guides and counsellors, and to +substitute the rules and penalties of a self-constituted society for the +motives and discipline of the gospel, can neither be sound in itself, +nor strengthening to the character, nor healthful either for mind or +soul." + +"Well," said the doctor thoughtfully, "there is a great deal, I am sure, +in what you say, and I think my dear wife and myself are getting round +to be pretty much of one mind with you now on these important matters." + +It was with much regret that Dr Prosser and his wife took their leave +of the vicarage and its inmates on the first of May. It was a lovely +morning, combining all the vigorous freshness of spring with the mature +warmth of summer. As the doctor and the vicar strolled down to the +station, leaving Mrs Prosser to ride down with the luggage, they +encountered Thomas Bradly, who was also on his way to the line. + +"Good morning, Thomas," said Mr Maltby; "do you know how Edward Taylor +is to-day?" + +"Badly enough in body, sir," replied Bradly; "but I believe the Lord's +blessing this trouble to his soul, and so he's bringing good out of +evil.--And so I suppose we're to lose Dr Prosser. Well, I'm sorry for +it, for all the working-men I've talked with was greatly set up with the +lecture he gave us in the Town Hall the other night, and we were hoping +he'd give us another." + +"We must get him to run down and favour us again when the autumn comes +round," said Mr Maltby. + +"That I shall be charmed to do," replied the doctor. "It was quite +refreshing to speak td such an audience. They don't leave one in any +doubt about their understanding and appreciating what is said to them." + +"That's true, sir," said Bradly, "and that makes it all the more +important they should listen to them as can show them as Scripture and +science come from the same God, and so can't possibly contradict one +another; and that's what you did, and I was very thankful to hear you do +it." + +"I am glad that I made that clear," said the doctor. + +"Yes, you did, sir; and I'm so glad you did it without any `ifs' and +`buts.' Why, we had a chap here the other day--the vicar weren't at +home at the time--and he puts out bills to say as he were going to give +a popular lecture on the Evidences of Christianity, Historical, +Geographical, and I don't know what besides. It were put about too as +he were an able man, and a Christian man, and so me and some of my +friends went to hear him. But, bless you, he couldn't go straight at +his subject, but he must be making all sorts of apologies, he was so +precious fearful of speaking too strongly in favour of the Word of God +and the gospel, and lest he should be uncharitable to them as didn't see +just as he did; and he were full of compliments to this sceptical writer +and that sceptical writer, and told us all their chief objections, and +was so anxious to be candid, and not put his own opinions too strongly, +that most of us began to think as the lecture ought to have been called +a lecture _against_ the evidences of Christianity. I'm sure, for one +who remembered what he said in favour of the Bible there'd be a dozen as +would just carry home the objections, and forget the little as was said +on the other side. Indeed, it reminded me of Bobby Hunt's flower- +garden. But I ax your pardon, sir; I mustn't be taking up more of your +time." + +"Oh, go on by all means," said Dr Prosser, laughing; "I want to hear +your illustration from Bobby Hunt's flower-garden." + +"Well, sir, Bobby Hunt, as he were usually called, though he preferred +to be spoken to as _Mr_. Hunt, had a cottage on the hills. He were a +man as always talked very big. He'd once been a gentleman's butler, and +had seen how the gentlefolks went on. So he liked to make things about +him seem bigger than they really was. One day, in the back end of the +year, he met me in the town, and asked me why I'd never been over to see +his conservatory and flower-garden. I said I'd come over some day, and +so I did.--`I'm come to see your flower-garden,' says I.--`Come along,' +says he; `only, you mustn't expect too much.'--`'Tain't likely,' says I; +but I weren't exactly prepared for what I did see, or rather didn't see. +At the back of his cottage was a little bit of ground, with a few +potatoes and stumps of cabbages in it, all very untidy; and he takes me +to the end of this, and says, `There's my flower-garden.'--`Where?' says +I.--`There,' says he.--`I can see lots of weeds,' says I, `but scarce +anything else.'--`Oh,' he says, `it only wants the weeds clearing off, +and you'll find more flowers than you think for.'--It were pretty much +the same with the gent's lecture. He showed us plenty of infidel weeds; +but as for the Scripture flowers, they was so smothered by the sceptical +objections, it'd take a sharp eye to notice 'em at all." + +"You don't think, then, my friend," asked the doctor, "that this +apologetic style--this parade of candour in stating the views and +objections of the sceptical--is of much use among the people of +Crossbourne?" + +"No use at all, sir, here or anywhere else, you may depend upon it. We +don't want such candour as that. The sceptics and, their creeds and +their objections can take care of themselves. We want just to have the +simple truth set before us." + +"I quite agree with you," said the doctor: "timid defence is more +damaging to the cause of truth than open attack." + +"I believe you, sir. Suppose I were to ask you to employ one of my +mates, and you was to ask me if I could give him a good character; what +would you think of him if I were to say, `Well, I've a good opinion of +him myself, and he's honest and all right, for anything that I know to +the contrary; but I should like you to know that John Styles don't think +him over honest, and Anthony Birks told me the other day as he wouldn't +trust him further than he could see him; and though Styles and Birks +aren't no friends of mine, still they're very respectable men, and +highly thought of by some. But, for all that, I hope you'll employ my +mate, for I've a very high opinion of him myself on the whole'? If I +were to give you such a character of my mate, would it dispose you to +engage him? I fancy not. But this is just how some of these gents +recommends the Scriptures in their lectures and their books. It's my +honest conviction, doctor, they're not loyal believers in God's truth +themselves, or they'd never defend it in this left-handed way." + +"I'm afraid what you say is too true," said Dr Prosser; "and I shall +not forget our conversation on this subject.--What a lovely day!" he +continued, turning to Mr Maltby. "What a contrast to the day on which +I last passed through Crossbourne." + +"When was that?" asked his friend; "I did not know that you had been in +this neighbourhood before." + +"Oh, I was only passing through by rail on my way to town. Let me see; +I was coming from the north, and passed your station late at night on +the 23rd of last December." + +"Ah, Thomas!" said the vicar, "that is a night _we_ cannot forget.--Poor +Joe Wright! His was a terrible end indeed." + +"What! A man killed on the line that night near Crossbourne?" said the +doctor. "I remember having my attention drawn to it more particularly, +because it must have happened a few minutes after I passed over the very +same spot; so I gathered from the account of the accident in the +_Times_." + +"You must have been going up to London then by the express," said his +friend. + +"Yes. And I've special cause to remember the night--it was dismal, +rainy, and chilly. The train was very full, and I was a little anxious +about my luggage, as it contained some articles of considerable value. +There was no room for it in the luggage vans, which were full when I +joined the train, and I had to speak rather sharply to a porter who I +suspect was not over sober. He jerked up my things very roughly on to +the top of the first-class carriage into which I got, and was going to +leave one of the most important articles on the platform, if I had not +jumped out and seen it put up myself. And then I had to scold him again +for not covering the luggage properly with the tarpaulin, without which +protection it would, some of it at least, have been damaged, as a steady +rain was falling. I don't know when I have been more put out, and +really I felt ashamed of myself afterwards. However, all was right in +the end; the luggage was all safe and uninjured, and I had a prosperous +journey." + +"I'll wish you good morning, sir," said Thomas Bradly to the doctor, as +they entered the station yard. "A pleasant journey to you, sir; and +there'll be many of us working-men as'll be very proud to see and hear +you again in Crossbourne." + +"Farewell, my good friend," said the other. "I shall look forward with +much pleasure to the fulfilment of my promise." + +A few minutes more, and Dr and Mrs Prosser were on their way back to +the great city. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +CONFESSION AND EXPLANATION. + +When Edward Taylor's accident and its cause were known in Crossbourne, +the consternation caused among the enemies of religion and of the +temperance cause was indescribable. Thomas Bradly made no secret of +what had happened, and of how Foster's persecutors had been outwitted: +not in any revengeful spirit, but partly because he thought it better +that the plain truth should be known, and so the mouths of the marvel- +mongers be stopped; and partly because he felt sure that the enemy would +keep pretty still when they knew that their late proceedings were blazed +abroad. So he just quietly told one or two of his fellow-workmen all +the particulars, without note or comment, and left the account to do its +own work. + +Nor could there be any doubt as to the result. Never had there been +such "a heavy blow and great discouragement" to the infidel party as +this. Not only was there a storm of indignation poured out upon the +heads of the conspirators by the more sober-minded working-men,--for it +took no very shrewd guessing to find out who had been Ned Taylor's +companions in the heartless and cruel outrage,--but even those who might +have secretly applauded had the plot been successful, were eager to join +in the general expressions of disgust and reprobation now that it had +failed; for nothing meets with such universal and remorseless execration +as unsuccessful villainy. There were also those who never lost an +opportunity of chaffing the unfortunate delinquents; while, to complete +their mortification and discomfiture, a rude copy of satirical verses, +headed, "A Simple Lay in Praise of Tar, by one of the Feathered Tribe," +was printed and widely circulated through the town and neighbourhood. +Nor was there much sympathy, under their ignominious defeat, between the +members and friends of the Free-thought Club. After a few nights, spent +chiefly in personalities and mutual recriminations, which well-nigh +terminated in a general stand-up fight, the meetings of the club were +adjourned _sine die_, and the institution itself fell to pieces in a few +weeks, and its existence was speedily forgotten. + +The heaviest weight of trouble, however, had fallen upon poor Ned +Taylor. He had suffered very serious injuries by his fall into the old +well, and, having utterly ruined his constitution by intemperance, was +unable to rally from the shock and the wounds and bruises he had +received. So he lay a miserable, groaning wreck of humanity on his +wretched bed, in the comfortless kitchen of his bare and desolate home. + +His old companions soon came to see him; not from any real care for +himself or his sufferings, but partly to coax and partly to threaten him +into silence, so that he might not reveal the names of his companions in +the attempt on Foster. But Ned's wife soon gave them to understand that +her husband had already had more than enough of their company; that they +needn't trouble themselves to call again; and that she hoped, if he was +spared, that he would have nothing more to say to any of them as long as +he lived. So his old companions in evil, taking this "broad hint" as it +was meant, left him in peace, and he had leisure to look a little into +the past, and to ponder his sin and folly. + +He was a man, like many others of his class, not without kindly feelings +and occasional good intentions; but these last had ever been as "the +morning cloud and the early dew," and like all good resolutions +repeatedly broken, had only added fresh rivets to the chains of his evil +habits. And so he had plunged deeper and deeper into the mire of +intemperance and ungodliness, till scarce the faintest trace of the +divine image could be discerned in him. + +But now his conscience woke up, and he was not left without helpers. +Thomas Bradly visited him on the day after his accident, and saw that he +was properly cared for. William Foster also called on him in a day or +two, and assured him of his hearty forgiveness. The poor unhappy man +was deeply touched at this, and, hiding his face in his hands, sobbed +bitterly. He was indeed a pitiable object as he lay back on his ragged +bed, partly propped up with pillows, his head bound round with a cloth, +his left eye half closed, and one arm lying powerless by his side. + +"William," he said, when he could manage to get the words out, "I don't +deserve this, kindness from you of all men in the world; it cuts me to +the heart, it does, for sure. I think I heard the parson say once, when +he were preaching in the open-air at the market-cross one summer's +evening, summat about heaping coals of fire on a man's head as has +wronged you, by returning him good for evil. I'm sure, William, you've +been and heaped a whole scuttleful of big coals on my head, and they're +red-hot every one on 'em." + +"Well, well," said Foster, much touched by this confession, "it will be +all right, Ned, as far as I'm concerned, and I hope you'll soon be +better.--I've come to learn," he added in an undertone, and with strong +emotion, "my own need of forgiveness for all I've done against my +Saviour in days gone by, and it would be strange and wrong indeed if I +couldn't heartily forgive a fellow-sinner." + +"The Lord bless you for that word," said the other; "and let me tell +you, William, bad as I've been agen you and poor Jim Barnes, I've never +liked this job; and as for that Sharples, I knew as he was the meanest +rascal to treat you as he did, and I only wish as I'd had the sense and +courage to keep out of the business altogether." + +"Well, you've learnt a lesson, Ned; and if it should please God to bring +you round, you must keep clear of the old set." + +"You may depend upon that, William," said the sick man; "I've had enough +and to spare of them and their ways.--I'll tell you how it all began, +William, and who it was as set the thing a-going." + +"Nay, Ned," interposed Foster hastily, "I don't want to know; I'd rather +not know. I can guess pretty well, though I saw none of their faces +distinctly. They don't want any punishment from me if I wished to give +it them, for they're getting it hot and strong from all sides already; +and as for Sharples, poor wretched man, he's got caught in his own trap +as neatly as if he'd set it on purpose to catch himself." + +"Just as you please, William; I'm sure it's very good of you to take it +as you do." + +"No, Ned, don't say so; there's no goodness anywhere in the matter, +except in that merciful God who so wonderfully watched over and +protected me. I'm sure it has been worth all I've gone through a +thousand times over, to have learnt what he has taught me in this +trouble,--a lesson of trust and love. But I will come and see you +again, Ned; you have had talking enough for one time." + +The vicar also called on the sufferer frequently, and was glad to find +him humble, patient, and willing to receive instruction. But it was to +Thomas Bradly that the poor man seemed specially drawn, and to him he +felt that he could open all his heart. + +"I've summat on my mind, Thomas, as I wants to talk to you about," he +said to Bradly one day when they were left quite alone; it was about a +week after the return home of Dr and Mrs Prosser. The sick man was +able to sit up in a chair by the fire, though the doctor gave no hope of +any real or lasting improvement. Through the kindness of his friends +his cottage had partly lost its comfortless appearance, and himself, his +wife, and children had been provided with sufficient food and clothing. +Yet the stamp of death was on the poor patient's wasted features, and a +racking cough tried him terribly at times. But his mind was quite +clear, and he had begun to see his way to pardon and peace, though it +was with but a trembling hand that his faith laid hold of the offered +salvation. + +"What is it that you want to tell me?" asked Bradly cheerfully. + +"I'll tell you, Thomas: I know I'm a dying man, and it's all right it +should be so; I've brought it upon myself, more's the sin, and more's +the pity." + +"Nay, Ned, take heart, man; you'll come round yet, and be spared to set +a good example." + +The sick man shook his head, and then broke out into a violent fit of +coughing. "It's pulling me to pieces," he said, when he could recover +himself; "but I shall be happier if I can just tell you, Thomas, what's +on my mind. It ain't about any of the wicked things as I've done, but I +shall be better content when I've told you all about it. You remember +the night as poor Joe Wright met his death on the line last December? +Well, I'd summat to do with that." + +"You, Ned!" + +"Nay, Thomas, I don't mean as I'd any hand in killing him--it were his +own doing; but I were mixed up with the matter in a way, and I thought +I'd tell you all about it, as you're a prudent man as won't go talking +about it; and I shall get it off my mind, for it's been a-troubling me +for months past." + +"Go on, Ned." + +"Well, then, it were that same evening, two days afore Christmas-day, I +were coming home from my work; and just as I were passing the Railway +Inn I sees a bag lying on the step just outside the front door of the +public." + +"A what?" exclaimed Bradly, half rising from his seat. "But go on--all +right," he added, noticing the sick man's surprise at his sudden +question. + +"A bag," continued the other. "It were a shabby sort of bag, and I +thought it most likely belonged to Ebenezer Potts, for I'd often seen +him carrying a bag like it: you know Ebenezer's a joiner, and he used to +carry his tools with him in just such a bag. So I says to myself, `I'll +have a bit of fun with Ebenezer. I'll carry off his bag, and leave it +by-and-by on his own door-step when it's dark; won't he just be in a +fuss when he comes out of the public and misses it! I shall hear such a +story about it next day.' For you know, Thomas, Eben's a fussy sort of +chap, and he'd be roaring like a town-crier after his bag. It were a +foolish thing to do, but I only meant to have a bit of a game. So I +carries off the bag, and turns into the Green Dragon on my way home to +have a pint of ale. + +"There was two or three of our set there, and one says to me, `What have +you got there, Ned?'--`It's Eben Potts's bag of tools,' says I; `I found +it lying on the step of the Railway Inn while he went in to get a pint. +I shall leave it at his own door in a bit; but won't he just make a fine +to-do when he misses it!'--`It'll be grand,' said one of them, and they +all set up a laugh.--`Let me look at the bag,' said poor Joe Wright, +who'd been staring at it. I hands it to him. `Why,' says he, `'tain't +Eben's bag after all.'--`Not his bag!' cries I, in a fright.--`Nothing +of the sort,' says he; `I knows his bag quite well. Besides, just feel +the weight of it; there's no tools in this bag.'--`Well, it _did_ strike +me,' says I, `as it were very light. What's to be done now? They'll be +after me for stealing a bag. I wonder what's in it? Not much, I'm +sure; just a few shirts and pocket-handkerchers, or some other gents' +things, I dessay.' + +"`Well,' says another, `there'll be no harm looking, and it'll be easily +done--it's only a common padlock. Has any one got a key as'll unlock +it?' No one of us had; so we says to the landlady's daughter, Miss +Philips, who'd been peeping in, and had got her eyes and ears open, +`Have you got ever a bunch of keys, miss, as you could lend us?' She +takes a bunch out of her pocket, and comes in to see what we should +find. `There's a lump of summat in it, I can feel,' says I, as I was +trying to open the padlock. Well, one key wouldn't do, but another +would, and we opens the bag. `Nothing but bits of paper arter all,' +says one.--`You stop a bit,' says I, and I turns the bag bottom up. Two +things fell out: one were a book, I think, and it must have tumbled +under the table, I fancy, for none on us noticed it; we was all crowding +to see what the other thing was, which were wrapped up in soft paper, +and fell on the table with a hard thump. `Just you open it, Miss +Philips,' says Joe Wright; `it's better for your lovely soft hands to do +it than our rough 'uns.'--`Go along with your nonsense, Joe,' says she; +but she takes up the little parcel and opens it; and what do you think +there were in it, Thomas?" He paused; but Bradly made no answer. "Ah! +You'd never guess. Why, it were a beautiful gold thing full of precious +stones, such as ladies wear round their wrists. + +"Well, we all stared at it as if we was stuck. `What's to be done now?' +says I; `this'll be getting us into trouble.'--`Put it back, lock up the +bag, and take it back to where you fetched it from.'--`Nay,' says I, +`that won't pay; they'll lock me up for a thief.'--`Well, what do you +say yourself? I wish we'd never meddled with it, any of us; it'll be +getting us all into a scrape,' says another of my mates.--`Shall we bury +it?' says one.--`Shall we drop it into a pond?' says another.--`Nay, +it's sure to turn up agen us if we do,' says I. So we sat and talked +about it for some time, and had one pint after another, till we was all +pretty fresh. Then says I, all of a sudden, `I'll tell you what we'll +do, if you'll help me, and I'll pay for another pint all round,' (there +was just four of us altogether). `The express train from the north'll +be passing under the wooden bridge in the cutting a little after ten; +let's put the bracelet, as Miss Philips calls it, back into the bag, and +lock it up safe, and then let's take the bag, and one of us clamber down +among the timbers of the bridge, and drop the bag plump on the top of +the train. It don't stop, don't that train, till it gets to London; so +when they finds the bag at the other end, nobody'll know wherever it +came from, 'cos it's got no direction to it, and we shall get fairly +quit of it.' + +"It were a wild sort of scheme, and I should never have thought of such +a thing if I hadn't had more ale than brains in me at the time. But +they all cried out as they'd join me, so we had t'other pint; and then +we put back the bracelet, and stuffed in a lot of papers with it, and +locked up the bag as it was afore." + +"And the book?" asked Bradly, eagerly. + +"Oh, we never thought about the book; it's never crossed my mind from +that day to this. I suppose we forgot all about it, we was so taken up +with the other thing. I daresay the landlady's daughter found it under +the table; and if she did, she'd be sure to keep it snug and not say +anything about it, as it might have told tales." + +"Perhaps so, Ned. And what did you do next?" + +"Why, we went our ways home; and Joe Wright took charge of the bag, as +his house was nearest the road as leads to the cutting. We all met at +poor Joe's at half-past nine, and walked together to the wooden bridge. +It were a rainy night, and the timbers of the bridge was very slippy. +It was proposed for Joe to drop the bag, and he were quite willing. I +was in a bit of a fright about him all the time, for he'd drunk more +than any of us, and his legs and hands wasn't over steady. Howsomever, +we'd no time to lose, so Joe got over the side of the bridge, and down +among the timbers, and the train came rushing on, and, as we stooped +over the side, we could see as the bag fell plump on to the top of the +carriage. We knowed afterwards as _that_ were all right; for if the bag +had dropped on one side, or been shook off, the police would have been +sure to have found it. And then poor Joe--eh! It were awful; I can't +bear to think of it. The Lord forgive me for having had aught to do +with it!--he tried to climb back, poor chap; but the great big beams was +wide to grasp, and very slippy with the rain, and he weren't used to +that sort of thing, and so he lost his hold, and down he fell on to the +rails, quite stunned; and, afore any on us could get at him, the +stopping train were on him, and he were a dead man." + +The sick man, having thus finished his story, sank back exhausted; but, +recovering himself after a while, he said, "Well, Thomas, I've eased my +mind: you know all. If it hadn't been for me, poor Joe'd never have +come to that shocking end. I hope the Lord'll forgive me. But you may +be sure neither me nor my mates meant any harm to poor Joe." + +"That's quite clear, Ned," replied Bradly, gravely; "it was indeed a +wild and foolish thing to do, but when the liquor's in the wit's out. +No doubt you've much to repent of, but certainly you aren't answerable +as if you'd killed poor Joe. Only, see how one thing leads to another. +If you'd only loved the inside of your home as much as you loved the +inside of the public, you'd have kept out of the way of temptation, and +have escaped a deal of misery. Well, Ned, cast this burden on the Lord. +Tell him all about it, as you've told me; and ask him to wash away all +your sins in his precious blood, and he'll do it." + +"I will, I will, Thomas," said the poor sufferer. + +When Bradly left Ned Taylor's house, he walked home very slowly, +revolving many thoughts in his mind, and, according to his fashion, +giving them expression in a talk, half out loud, to himself, as +follows:-- "Well, now, we've got another step on the road to set poor +Jane straight; and yet it looks like a step, and a good long step too, +back'ards. It's all explained now what's become of the bag and the +bracelet, but we're further off from getting them than ever. I don't +know; p'raps it's lying at the left-luggage office in London. I'll send +up and see. But I mustn't say anything about it at present to Jane. +But, suppose it shouldn't be there--what then? Why, we've lost all clue +to it; we're quite in the dark. Stop, stop, Thomas Bradly! What are +you about? What are you stumbling on in that fashion for, without your +two walking-sticks--`Do the next thing,' `One step at a time'? Ay, +that's it, to be sure. And the next thing's to send to the left-luggage +office in London; and the rest's to be left with the Lord." + +So that evening Bradly spoke to one of the guards, a fellow-abstainer, +and a man with whom he was on intimate terms, telling him as much of the +story of the losing of the bag as was necessary, without mentioning his +sister's name, and asked him to make full inquiries in London. His +friend accordingly did so without delay, but brought back the sorrowful +tidings that nothing answering to the bag described was lying at the +left-luggage office, or had been seen or heard of by any of the +officials. + +Poor Thomas! He could not help feeling a little disheartened. He had +hoped, as Ned Taylor proceeded with his confession, that something was +coming that would lead to the discovery of the long-lost and earnestly- +desired evidence of Jane's innocence; and now that confession only +showed that the bag had been carried hopelessly out of their reach. Had +it been hidden away somewhere in Crossbourne, there would have been a +good hope of hunting it out; but now that it had been conveyed away to +the great metropolis, and had been carried off from the railway +terminus, further search and inquiry seemed absolutely useless. Of +course, if an honest man had accidentally got hold of it, and found out +his mistake, it was possible he might have found some clue to the +rightful owner in Hollands' letter, if he discovered that letter in the +bag; but as nearly half a year had now gone by since the loss, there was +no reason to suppose that the bag had fallen into the hands of any one +willing, or, if willing, able to restore it. If, on the other hand, a +dishonest person had got hold of it, of course the bracelet would have +been broken up, or hopelessly sold away, and the bag destroyed. + +It was now the beginning of June, when one evening Bradly was sitting in +his arm-chair at home, with a shadow on his face, as he meditated on +these things. Jane, whose quick eye marked every change in her +brother's countenance, was persuaded that there was something more than +usually amiss, for the light on Bradly's habitually cheerful face to be +clouded, and gently asked the cause. + +"To tell you the truth, dear Jane," he replied, "I am troubled, spite of +myself, about your matter." + +"What, Thomas! Have you heard anything fresh?" + +"Yes, I have; but I wasn't meaning to say anything about it at present +to you, as I wouldn't trouble you to no purpose, and I thought I'd wait +for more light." + +"Oh, tell me, Thomas, tell me! What is it?" + +"Why, the simple truth is that the bag's been found; and yet it's lost, +and worse lost than ever." + +"O Thomas!" + +"Well, Jane dear, don't fret; I'll tell you all about it." He then +proceeded to give her the full particulars of Ned Taylor's story, and of +the endeavour he had made, but without success, to trace the bag in +London. Jane listened patiently, and did not speak when her brother had +finished, but her lips moved in silent prayer. + +"Thomas," she said, quietly and sadly, "it is a sore trial of faith, but +let us still trust in the Lord, and follow your favourite maxim, `Do the +next thing.'" + +"The Lord bless you, dear Jane, for your patience. You're right; only I +don't clearly see what _is_ the next thing." + +"Will it not be of any use to advertise?" she asked. + +"I'm afraid it's too late now," he said; "but, while we trust the Lord, +we must use all the means he puts within our reach. It is possible, of +course, that an advertisement in the London papers may meet the eye of +the person who has got the bag, supposing, that is to say, that an +honest man took it by mistake and has kept it." So the following +advertisement was inserted for a week in the principal London papers:-- + + Five Pounds Reward.--A small, shabby-looking carpet-bag, was lost or + stolen from the Northern Express on its arrival in London at the Saint + Pancras Station, at 3 a.m. December 24th last year. Whoever will + bring this bag to the clerk at the Left-Luggage Office, Saint Pancras + Station, with the contents as he found them, shall receive the above + reward. + +Not much to the surprise, though still somewhat to the disappointment, +of brother and sister, no application was made for the reward by the +middle of June, and Bradly was obliged to confess to his sister that, +every effort having now been made, without success, to recover the bag, +he could do no more. + +To his great surprise and relief, Jane heard him with a cheerful smile. +"Thomas," she said, "remember the good old saying, `Man's extremity is +God's opportunity.' You told me a while since you were convinced God +was about to clear up this trouble for us, and that you could trace his +guiding hand. Now, somehow or other, my faith, instead of failing, is +daily growing stronger. I'm persuaded, though I can't tell you why, +that we shall have full daylight on this matter, and perhaps before +long." + +"The Lord be praised for this," exclaimed her brother. "O my dear Jane, +I've been wrong to doubt him. Yes, when old Jacob gave up all for lost, +and said, `All these things are against me,' it were just the other way; +the road was being made plain and straight for him--he was soon to see +once more his long-lost Joseph. And so it will be now. You believe it, +and I'll believe it, and we'll be looking out in faith and trust." + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +FURTHER CONFESSIONS. + +Ned Taylor's misspent life came to an end a few weeks after his +confession to Thomas Bradly of his connection with the awful death of +Joe Wright. His internal injuries could not be healed; and, after many +days and nights of terrible suffering, meekly and patiently borne, he +passed away from a world on which he had left no other mark but the scar +of a wasted life. Alas that beings to whom God has given faculties, by +the right use of which they might glorify him on the earth, should pass +away from it, as thousands do, to be remembered only as a warning and a +shame! Not but that there was a little fringe of light on the skirts of +the dark cloud of Ned Taylor's career. There was, indeed, no joy nor +triumphant confidence at the last, but there was humble and penitent +hope. + +Bradly and Foster were among those who followed him to the grave, and +listened with awe to the sublime words of the burial service. As they +turned to go home, Bradly noticed a female among the by-standers, whose +face he felt sure he knew, though it was nearly concealed from him by +her handkerchief, and the pains she manifestly took to avoid observation +as much as possible. She was one, if she was the person he supposed her +to be, whom he would least have expected to meet on the present +occasion; but he might, of course, be mistaken. That same evening, +while he was sitting in his surgery about nine o'clock, he heard a timid +knock at the outer door. He was used to all sorts of knocks, bold and +timid, loud and gentle, so he at once said, "Come in," and was not +surprised to see a woman enter, with her face muffled up in a shawl. + +"Take a seat, missus," he said in a kind voice, "and tell me what I can +do for you."--His visitor sat down and uncovered her face without +speaking a word. It was Lydia Philips, the publican's daughter. She +was simply dressed; her face was very pale and sad, and she had +evidently been weeping, for the tears were still on her cheeks. + +"Mr Bradly," she said, "will you give a word of advice and a helping +hand to a poor heart-broken girl? You and I don't know much of each +other, but at any rate you won't quite despise me, though you know who I +am, when I tell you my trouble, if you'll be good enough to listen to +it." + +"Despise you, Miss Philips! No, indeed; I know too much of my own evil +heart to be despising any poor fellow-sinner." + +"Ah, that's just what I am and have been," she exclaimed vehemently; "a +vile, miserable sinner.--You saw me to-day at poor Ned Taylor's +funeral?" she added abruptly. + +"I did, miss; and I own it took me by surprise." + +"Well, Mr Bradly, I want to tell you to-night what brought me there. I +know that Ned Taylor told you all about the bag, and the bracelet, and +poor Joe Wright's death, because once when I called upon him in his +illness, and found him alone, he said that he had confessed it all to +you to ease his conscience, and that I had nothing to fear, for you were +a prudent man, and would keep the story to yourself. I told him I was +not afraid about that; and then we had a very serious talk together, and +he begged me with many tears to forgive him for all the wicked words he +had said in our house, and the bad example he had shown there; and he +finished by begging and praying me to get out of the public-house and +the business, where there were so many snares, and to care for my soul +and a better world. + +"O Mr Bradly, I can never forget his words. But they were not the +first that touched me, and brought me to a sense of sin. That night +when poor Wright was killed, when Ned turned that bag upside down which +he told you about, a little book fell out of it under the table; but the +men were so eager with their plan, and so frightened about the bracelet, +that they never remembered or thought anything about the book; but I +found it under the table when they were gone, for I had noticed that +some of the papers out of the bag had not been put back, and I was +curious to see if there was any writing on any of them, but there was +not; they were only bits of silver paper and other waste paper. As I +stooped to pick them up I noticed the little book, and took it up from +under the table. It was an old-fashioned Bible, very faded and worn. +As I carelessly turned over a leaf or two, I noticed that a red-ink line +was drawn under some of the words. Not understanding why this was done, +my curiosity was a little excited, and I read a few of the verses. +There was one which seemed to have been very much read, for the Bible +opened of its own accord at the place; the words were these,--`Thou wilt +keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he +trusteth in thee.' My heart sank within me as I read them. I felt that +I knew nothing of this peace, nor, indeed, of any peace at all. I +hastily turned to another part, and my eye caught the words, which were +underlined with the red mark, `Fear not, little flock; for it is your +Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' I _did_ fear, and I +knew I was not one of `the little flock.' + +"We used to read the Bible every day at the boarding-school I went to, +and the mistress explained it, and we used to get verses by heart, and a +whole chapter or part of one on Sundays; and we had to write out on +Sunday evenings what we could remember of one of the sermons. But this +was only task-work; and I remember agreeing with my special friend at +school what a happiness it would be when we were not forced to learn any +more verses. But the words of the little book were quite a different +thing to me--they seemed as if they came to me from another world. They +made me miserable: for they showed me what I hadn't got, which was +peace; and what I was not, which was one of Christ's little flock. I +had _heard_ all about it before, but I had never _felt_ about it till +then. And it made me wretched as I read. So I threw down the book on +the table in a pet; but somehow I couldn't let it be. So I carried it +off to my bedroom, and kept reading one marked verse after another till +mother called for me. But I was thinking about the little Bible all the +time; and yet I didn't want to think about it, for it made me more and +more unhappy. + +"So I determined to get rid of it; for every time I looked at one of +those red-ink lines, the words above it seemed as though they were put +there to condemn me. And, besides, I was afraid that any one should see +me with that Bible, and want to know where I got it; for if the owner of +the bag, who was of course the owner of the Bible too, should make a +noise about the loss in the town, and it were to come round to him that +I'd got the Bible, he'd be wanting me to tell him what had become of the +bag and the bracelet. So I resolved to get rid of the little book; but +something in my heart or conscience wouldn't let me burn it, or pull it +to pieces and destroy it. Then, all of a sudden, it came into my mind-- +it may be that God put it there--that I would try to drop it somewhere +about William Foster's house, where he or his wife would find it. I +used to know Kate Foster well before I went to the boarding-school, as +we were schoolfellows when we were little girls. I thought that perhaps +the marked verses might do one or other of them good: for I felt how +much they both needed it, and if the little book made me unhappy, +possibly it might make them happy; and, at any rate, I should feel that +I had done better than destroy it, and Foster's house would be the last +place any one would be thinking of tracing a Bible to. + +"So, late on in the evening, about ten o'clock, I crept round to the +back of William Foster's house, and intended to have lifted the latch of +the outer door softly, and placed the Bible on the window-sill inside. +But just then I heard Kate's voice. I could hardly believe my ears-- +yes--she was praying and crying; pouring out her heart to God with +tears. Oh, I was cut to the very soul; and then it rushed into my mind, +`Drop the Bible into the room,' for I had seen that the casement was a +little open. I felt pretty sure that her husband could not be in; +indeed I satisfied myself that he was not in that room by cautiously +peeping in. Kate's head was bowed down over the cradle, so that I was +not observed. So I drew the casement open a little further, and let the +Bible fall inside. But in so doing, a ring for which I had a particular +value slipped off my finger, and of course I could not recover it +without making myself known." + +Here Thomas Bradly took a little box out of one of his drawers, and +handed it to his visitor without a word. + +"Yes," she said, having opened the box, "this is the very ring; thank +you very much for keeping it for me and now restoring it to me. I heard +that it had got into your daughter's hands, though I didn't know how. I +know I've done very wrong in telling stories about it and denying that +it was mine; but I was afraid of getting myself and our house into +trouble if I owned to it." + +"Good," said Bradly, when she had finished her story; "the next best +thing to not doing wrong is an honest confession that you've done it, +and then you're on the road to doing right. I see exactly how things +has gone; and now, my poor friend, what can I do for you?" + +"Why, Mr Bradly, two or three things. In the first place, you won't +mention what I've been telling you to the neighbours, I'm sure." + +"Yes, miss, you _may_ be sure; gossiping ain't in my line at all. But, +after all, there's nothing to fear so far as you're concerned, for the +Bible and the ring have both got to their rightful owners." + +"The Bible, Mr Bradly?" + +"Yes; it's been a blessed worker, has that little book. It belongs to +my sister Jane. It were she as made them red-ink marks in it. Only +this is to be a secret at present, if you please. And I'm persuaded as +bag, and bracelet, and all 'll turn up afore long, and then there'll be +no blame to nobody.--But what's the next thing you want with me?" + +"Why, I want to sign the pledge in your book; for, please God, I'll +never touch strong drink again." + +"Eh! The Lord be praised for this!" exclaimed Bradly; "you shall sign, +with all the pleasure in life.--But do your parents give their consent?" + +"Yes, mother does. I've had a long talk with her, and, though we keep a +public-house, she has seen so much of the misery and ruin that have come +from the drink, that she says she'll never stand in the way of her child +being an abstainer." + +"Bless her for that; she'll never regret it," said Thomas. + +So the book was brought out, and the signature taken; and then both +knelt, while Bradly commended his young friend to that grace and +protection which could alone secure her stability. + +"And what else can I do for you?" he asked, when they had risen from +prayer. + +"Please, Mr Bradly, I want you to help me get some situation at a +distance from Crossbourne, where I can earn my own living as a teacher. +Mother is quite agreeable to my doing so; indeed, she sees that our +house is not a safe and proper place for me now, and she'll be very +thankful if I can get a situation where I shall be out of the reach of +so much evil as goes on more or less in a place like ours." + +"I'll do that too, with all my heart," said the other, "as far as in me +lies. I'll speak to the vicar, and I know he'll do his best to get you +suited. You've had a good education, so he'll be able to find you +summat as'll fit, I've no doubt.--And now I'm going to ask you, miss, +just to accept a little Bible from me, instead of that one which you've +helped to send back to its right owner; and I want you to make it your +daily guide." So saying, he took from a shelf, where he kept a little +store of Scriptures, a new Bible, and sitting down, wrote Lydia +Philips's name within the cover, and his own beneath it as the giver; +and then, below all, the two texts, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect +peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee;" and, +"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give +you the kingdom." These he underlined with red-ink. "Now," he said, +"you'll keep this little book, I'm sure, to remind you of our meeting +to-night. Read it with prayer, and you'll soon find peace, if you +haven't begun to find it already." + +The young woman received the little gift most gratefully, and said, "I +will keep it, and read it daily, Mr Bradly; and I do think that I am +beginning to see my way to peace. Poor Ned Taylor's words have not been +in vain; and what you have said to-night has helped me on the way. I +know I am not worthy to be called God's child, but I think, nay, I feel +sure, he will not cast me out. I have wandered far, very far, from the +fold; but now I really feel and understand the love of Jesus, and that +he has come to seek and to save that which was lost." + +When his visitor was gone, Bradly spent a few minutes alone in earnest +prayer and thanksgiving, and then, with a bright face, entered his cozy +kitchen, and drew his chair close to Jane's. + +"Another little link," he said, "or, perhaps, one of the old ones made a +little stronger." She looked smilingly at him, but did not speak. Then +he told her of Lydia Philips's visit and conversation with himself. +"You see," he continued, "Lydia fully confirms poor Ned Taylor's story; +but then she brings us no nearer the bag. However, the Lord can find it +for us, or show us as there's something better for us than finding it, +if that be his will." + +"True, Thomas," said his sister; "and now `the next thing' is for you to +see the vicar about Lydia Philips and her situation." + +"Just so, dear Jane; I'll do so, if I'm spared to-morrow." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +ALL RIGHT. + +Ernest Maltby was deeply interested in the account which Thomas Bradly +gave him of the work going on in the heart of Lydia Philips. + +"This is the Lord's doing," he said, "and is marvellous in our eyes. I +am so glad that she came to you, Thomas; and equally so that you have +come to me about her, for I think I know of a situation that may suit +her nicely." + +"Indeed, sir; I'm truly glad of that." + +"Yes; I heard yesterday from our old friend Dr Prosser that he is +wanting to find just such a young woman as Lydia Philips to fill a place +which is now vacant, and the appointment to which is in his hands. I +will write to him about her at once, if Lydia is willing to go. Perhaps +you would be good enough to call at her house as you go by, and ask her +to step up and speak to me.--By the way, Thomas, have you heard anything +more about the bag since poor Taylor made his confession to you? I have +been so busy lately that I have quite forgotten to ask you." + +"Nothing, sir, but Lydia's story; and that, as you see, merely confirms +poor Ned's account. We're fast now: the bag's been in London half a +year now, or thereabouts, if it hasn't been destroyed long ago; and, if +it's still in existence somewhere or other, we've nothing whatever to +show us where. I've not liked to trouble you any more about it, but +I've left no stone unturned. I got a friend of mine, the guard of one +of the trains, to inquire at the left-luggage office at Saint Pancras; +and I put an advertisement for a week together into the London papers, +offering five pounds reward to any one as'd bring the bag just as it was +when it was lost; but it were all of no use, and I didn't expect as it +would be, as it were taken up to London so long ago. It would have +turned up months since if it had got into honest hands, and they had +found our address in the bag. But I thought it best to try everything I +could think of. And now me and Jane's satisfied to leave it to the Lord +to find it for us in his own way." + +"Yes," replied the vicar, "that is your truly wise and happy course; and +now you can patiently wait.--But stay; it just occurs to me, now I have +been mentioning Dr Prosser, that he must have been travelling by the +very train on to which the bag was dropped. It was the night of 23rd +December last, was it not?" + +"Yes, sir, that was the night." + +"And it was dropped on to the express train from the north to London?" + +"It was, sir; but what then?" + +"Why, don't you remember what the doctor said as we were walking with +him to the station the morning when he left us? Don't you remember his +saying that his luggage was put on the top of the carriage he was in, +and that he was angry with the porter for his carelessness in not +covering it properly?" + +"Yes, sir; I think I remember it now, but other things have put it out +of my head." + +"Well, Thomas, it seems to me not at all impossible that the bag was +dropped on to this carriage; and you know that the train did not stop +till it reached London." + +"Well, sir?" + +"Might not the bag have been reckoned by the porter at London as part of +the doctor's luggage, if it was just on the top of it, and have been +carried off by him?" + +"Possible, sir, but I'm afraid not very likely." + +"No, perhaps not, but, as you admit, possible." + +"True, sir; but if Dr Prosser took it home, and found it had been a +mistake, wouldn't he have sent it back to the luggage office; and if so, +the guard would have found it there when he inquired by my wish." + +"I'm not so sure of that, Thomas: the doctor's head would be full of +thoughts about other things, science, and other matters; and when he got +home he wouldn't trouble himself about his luggage if he'd seen it safe +on the cab; he would leave it to the servants to see that it was all +brought in; and if there was your bag with it as well, he would not have +noticed it. And if he came upon it afterwards in the hall, he would +probably think it was something that belonged to Mrs Prosser, or to one +of the servants. And as for Mrs Prosser herself, she was in those days +so full of meetings and schemes of all sorts away from home, that a bag +like that might have stood in their hall for days and she would not have +noticed it; and so, if it really got there, it might have been carried +off by the servants to the lumber-room, and may be there still." + +Thomas Bradly smiled, and shook his head sorrowfully. "It's possible +enough, no doubt, sir, but I'm afraid it's too good to be true. But is +it sufficiently possible for me to do anything? Supposing the doctor +took it by mistake, and it went with him to his house, and is stowed +away there in some lumber-room or cupboard, from what you say neither he +nor his missus will remember anything about it." + +"That's true, Thomas; and certainly it wouldn't be worth while your +going up to London on such a mere chance or possibility; but it suggests +itself to me that, if Lydia Philips would like the situation which the +doctor has to offer, and he is willing to take her on my recommendation, +it would be a great satisfaction to me if you would, at my expense, go +with her and see her safe to London, and introduce her to Dr Prosser, +and you could then take the opportunity of asking his servants about the +bag. You may be quite sure that if it is in the house _they_ will be +quite aware of the fact, and where it is to be found." + +"You've just hit the right nail on the head, sir," replied Bradly +thoughtfully. "I'll go with pleasure; and don't say a word about the +expenses, for I shall feel it to be a privilege to give that little +trouble and money if I can only lend a helping hand in settling poor +Lydia in a better place than her own home, poor thing." + +Three days after the above conversation Bradly called again at the +vicarage, by Mr Maltby's request. + +"All is arranged, Thomas," said the vicar. "Lydia Philips is to go to +the situation; and as it has been vacant for some time, the doctor wants +her to go up to London as soon as possible; so she is to start next +Tuesday, if you can make it convenient to accompany her on that day." + +"All right, sir; I can ask off a day or two at any time, and I'll be +ready." + +"And, Thomas, I can't help having a sort of hope, and almost +expectation, that you will hear something satisfactory about the bag." + +"Thank you, sir; it's very kind of you to say so, but I shan't say +anything to Jane about it. I don't want to raise hopes in her, as I +can't see much like a foundation for 'em; so I shall only tell her about +Lydia's getting the situation, which she'll be very pleased to hear, and +that it's your wish I should see her safe to London. But if I do find +the bag, and all safe in it, you shall hear, sir, afore I get back." + +Tuesday evening, 6 p.m. A telegram for Reverend Ernest Maltby from +London. The vicar opened it; it was signed TB, and was as +follows:--"All right--I have got it--hurrah!--Tell Jane." + +An hour later found the vicar in Thomas Bradly's comfortable kitchen, +and seated by his sister. + +"Jane," he began, "I have often brought you the best of all good news, +the gospel's glad tidings; perhaps you won't be sorry to hear a little +of this world's good news from me." + +"What is it?" she asked, turning rather pale. + +"Jane, the Lord has been very good--the bag is found; your brother has +got it all right." + +Poor Jane! She thought that she had risen out of the reach of all +strong emotion on this subject; but it was not so. "Patience had indeed +had her perfect work in her," yet the pressure and strain of her sorrow +had never really wholly left her. And now the news brought by the vicar +caused a rush of joy that for a few moments was almost intolerable. But +her habitual self-control did not even then desert her, and she was +enabled in a little while to listen with composure to the explanation of +her clergyman, while her tears now flowed freely and calmly, bringing +happy relief to her gentle spirit. And then, at her request, Mr Maltby +knelt by her side, and uttered a fervent thanksgiving on her behalf to +Him who had at length scattered the dark clouds which had long hung over +the heart of the meek and patient sufferer. And now, oh what a joy it +was to feel that the heavy burden was gone; that she who had borne it +would be able to show her late mistress, Lady Morville, that she was +innocent of the charge laid against her, and had never swerved from the +paths of uprightness in her earthly service. As she thought on these +things, and bright smiles shone through her tears, the vicar was deeply +touched to hear her, as she quietly bowed her head upon her hands, +implore pardon of her heavenly Father for her impatience and want of +faith. He waited, however, till she again turned towards him her face +full of sweet peace, and then he said,-- + + "`Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; + The clouds ye do much dread + Are big with mercy, and shall break + With blessings on your head.' + +"Yes, Jane, your trial has indeed been a sharp one; but the Lord knew +that you could stand that trial. And now he has brought you out of it +as gold purified in the furnace." + +"I don't know, dear sir," was her reply; "I can see plenty of the dross +in myself, but yet I do hope and trust that the chastening has not been +altogether in vain." + +"I will leave you now, Jane," said the vicar, rising, "and I shall be +delighted to hear from your brother's own lips all about his finding the +long-missing bag." + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +FULL SATISFACTION. + +On the afternoon of the next day after his disclosure of the good news +to Jane Bradly, the vicar received a note from herself, asking the +favour, if quite convenient, of the company of himself and his sister, +Miss Maltby, at a simple tea at Thomas's house. Gladly complying with +this request, the invited guests entered their host's hospitable kitchen +at half-past six o'clock, and found just himself and his family, ready +to greet them. + +"I'm glad to see you safe back again, Thomas," said Mr Maltby, as he +took his seat by Mrs Bradly, Jane being on his other hand. + +"And right glad I am to find myself safe back again," said the other. +"London's no place for me. I got my head so full of horses and +carriages, and ladies and gentlemen, and houses of all sorts and sizes, +that I could scarce get a wink of sleep last night; and as for that +underground railway, why it's like as if all the world was running away +from all the rest of the world, without waiting to say `good-bye.'" + +"And so you've found the bag at last?" said Miss Maltby. + +"If you please, ma'am," said Thomas, "I thought, with your leave, not +meaning to be uncivil, and with the vicar's leave, we'd just let that +matter be till tea's over, and then go right into it. None of us has +looked inside the bag since I came back, not even Jane; she's been quite +content to wait and take my word for it as all's right. I thought as +I'd just tell my story in my own way, and then you'd all of you be able +to see how wonderfully all has been ordered." + +"Nothing can be better than that, I'm sure; don't you think so, Ernest?" +said Miss Maltby. + +"Yes," replied her brother; "it is a privilege to be thus invited to +`rejoice with them that do rejoice,' as we have wept with you when you +wept. So you shall tell us your story, Thomas, at your own time, for +that will be the best.--And now let me know how you found Dr Prosser +and his wife, and if all was right about poor Lydia Philips." + +Having replied to this question, and given due attention to the +entertainment of his guests, Thomas Bradly, when tea was finished, +helped his wife to remove the large table to one side, and then, having +drawn forward a smaller one into the midst of the assembled company, +placed on the very centre of it a bag, which he fetched out of his +surgery. Certainly the article itself was not one much calculated to +draw attention or excite curiosity; indeed, there was something almost +burlesque in its extreme shabbiness, as it stood there the centre of +attraction, or at any rate observation, to so many eyes. + +"Shall we have your story now, Thomas?" said the vicar, when all were +duly seated. + +"You shall, sir; and you must bear with me if I try your patience by my +way of telling it. + +"We'd a very pleasant journey to London, and then took a cab to Dr +Prosser's. The door were opened by a boy in green, with buttons all +over him; he looked summat like a young volunteer, and summat like a +great big doll. I'd seen the like of him in the windows of two or three +of the big clothing shops as we drove along. I couldn't help thinking +what a convenience them buttons must be; for if he didn't mind you, you +could lay hold on him by one of 'em, and if that'd come off there'd be +lots more to take to. `Young man,' says I, `is your master at home?' +He'd got his chin rather high in the air, and didn't seem best pleased +with the way in which I spoke to him. `Who do you mean by my master?' +says he. `Dr Prosser,' says I; `I hope he's your master, for certainly +you don't seem fit to be your own.' He stares very hard at me, and then +he says, `All right.' So I gets out, and sees to Miss Philips and her +boxes; and the doctor were very kind, and talked to me about +Crossbourne, and so did the missus. She seemed quite a changed woman, +so homely-like, and they both looked very happy, and were as kind as +could be to poor Lydia, so she took heart at once. + +"When I were ready to go, I says to Dr Prosser, `Doctor, may I have a +word or two with your green boy?' `My what?' says the doctor, laughing. +`Your green boy,' says I; `him with the buttons.' `Oh, by all means,' +he says; `I hope there's nothing wrong?' `Nothing at all, sir, thank +you,' I says.--`Here, William,' says he, `step into the dining-room with +this gentleman; he wants to speak to you.' + +"`You don't know who I am,' I said to the boy when we was by ourselves. +`No, nor don't want to,' says he.--`Do you know what this is?' I asked, +holding up half-a-crown. `Yes, I know what that is well +enough.'--`Well, you've no need to be afraid of me; I'm not a policeman +in plain clothes,' says I. `Aren't you?' said he; `I thought you +was.'--`There, put that half-crown in your pocket,' I said, `and answer +me one or two civil questions.' `With all the pleasure in the world,' +says he, as brisk as could be.--Then I asked him if he remembered the +doctor's coming home on Christmas-eve last year. `Yes, he remembered +that very well.'--`Did he bring anything with him besides his own +luggage?' He looked rather hard at me.--`Nobody's going to get you into +trouble,' says I, rather sharp. `Have you lost anything?' he asks again +very cautiously.--I told him `yes, I had.' He wanted to know what it +were like, but that wouldn't do for me. So I asked my other question +over again. `Yes, the doctor brought a bag with him as didn't seem to +belong to him; at least he hadn't it with him when he left home.'--`What +sort of a bag?' says I. `It was a small bag, and a very shabby one +too.'--`And what did you do with it?' `I put it in the doctor's +study.'--`And is it there now?' `I suppose so; nobody never meddles +with any of the doctor's things.'--`And you haven't seen it, nor heard +anything about it since?' `No, I haven't.'--`Thank you, my boy; that's +all I want to know from you.' + +"Then I asks the doctor to let me have five minutes alone with him, +which he granted me most cheerfully; and I just tells him as much as +were necessary to let him know what I wanted, and why I wanted it.--`A +bag,' he said; `ah, I do remember something about it now; but, if I +don't mistake, there was nothing but paper in it. However, it's pretty +sure to be in my closet, and if so it will be just as I put it there, +for no one goes to that closet but myself.' So he unlocks the closet +door, and comes back in a minute with a bag in his hand. `Is this it?' +he asks.--`I suppose it is,' says I, `for I never saw it; but we shall +soon find out.' The doctor had a key on his bunch which soon opened the +padlock, and then we turned out what was inside. Paper, nothing but +paper at first. I were getting in a bit of a fright; but after a bit we +comes to summat hard wrapped up; and there, when we unfolded the paper, +was the missing bracelet! And then we searched to the bottom, and found +an envelope sealed up and directed, `Miss Jane Bradly;' but what's +inside I don't know, for of course I didn't open it. + +"We was both very glad, at least I was, you may be sure; and the doctor +were very kind about it, and shook hands with me, and said he was sorry +as we'd been kept out of the things so long: but I told him it were no +fault of his, and it were all right, for the Lord's hand were plainly in +it; for if it had gone elsewhere we might never have seen it again. So +I carried off the bag as carefully as if it had been made of solid gold, +and it hasn't been out of my sight a moment till I got it safe home. + +"The doctor sent his best regards to you, sir, and the same to Miss +Maltby, and so did his missus. And as I went out at the door, I just +said to the green boy, `William, you keep a civil tongue in your head to +_everybody_, my lad, and don't be too proud of them buttons.' + +"And now, dear friends, with your leave, I'll open the bag again, and +see what it's got to tell us." Having unlocked the padlock with an +ordinary key, Thomas Bradly drew forth a quantity of paper, and then a +small packet wrapped up in silver paper which he handed to his sister. +Poor Jane's hands trembled as she unfolded the covering, and she had +some difficulty in maintaining her self-command as she drew forth the +bracelet, the innocent occasion of so much trial and sorrow. It was +evidently a costly article, and, though a little tarnished, looked very +beautiful. As Jane held it up for inspection, tears of mingled sadness +and thankfulness filled her eyes. + +"Oh," she said, "how little did I think, when I took the fellow to this +bracelet into my hand at Lady Morville's, and held it up to look at it, +as I am doing now, that such a flood of sorrow would have come from such +a simple act of mine! Ah, but I can see already how wonderfully the +Lord has been bringing good to others out of what seemed so long to be +full of nothing but evil for me." + +"You recognise the bracelet then, Jane," asked the vicar, "as the match +to the one which was found in your hand?" + +"O yes, sir: the image of that bracelet has been burnt into my memory; I +could never forget it; it has often haunted me in my dreams." + +While these words were being spoken, Thomas had emptied out the +remaining contents of the bag on to the table, and thoroughly examined +them. All that he found was the unopened envelope and a quantity of +waste paper. + +"This belongs to you, dear Jane," said Bradly, giving her the letter. + +She shook her head. "I cannot, Thomas," she said. "Oh, do _you_ open +it, and read it out," she added imploringly. + +"Well, I don't know," replied her brother; "I feel just now more like a +cry-baby than a grown man. Shall we ask our kind friend the vicar to +open it and read it out for us?" + +"O yes, yes," cried Jane, "if he will be so good." + +"With pleasure, dear friends," said Mr Maltby, and he held out his hand +for the dingy-looking letter.--Little did the writer imagine, when he +penned that wretched scrawl, what a value it would have in the eyes of +so many interested and anxious hearers. It was as follows:-- + + "Dear Jane Bradly, + + "I hardly know how to have the face to be a-writing to you, but I hope + you'll forgive me for all I've done, for I've behaved shameful to you, + and I don't mean to deny it. But I had better begin at the beginning. + It were all of that lady's-maid. I wish I'd never set eyes on her, + that I do. + + "Well, you know as we couldn't either of us a-bear you, because you + knew of our evil ways, and you was so bold as to tell us we was doing + wrong. I knowed that you was right, and I wasn't at all easy; but + Georgina wouldn't let me rest till we had got you out of the house. + And so she took one of her ladyship's bracelets and hid it away, and + made her pretence to her ladyship as she couldn't find it; and then we + got you to look at it that morning as her ladyship found you with it. + + "We was both very glad to get you away, and we had things all our own + way for a little while, till her ladyship caught out Georgina in + telling her some lies, and running her up a big bill at the mercer's + for things she'd never had. So, when Georgina got herself into + trouble, she wanted to lay the blame on me; but I wasn't going to + stand that, so I complained to Sir Lionel, and Miss Georgina had to + take herself off. That was about two years after you had left + Monksworthy. + + "When she were gone I began to get very uneasy. I didn't feel at all + comfortable about the hand I'd had in your going, and I couldn't get + what you had said to me about my bad ways out of my head day nor + night. And there was another thing. Just to spite you, I got + Georgina to get hold of your Bible a day or two before the bracelet + was supposed to be lost. She gave it to me, and I put it in a drawer + in my pantry where I kept some corks; it were a drawer I didn't often + go to, and there it were left, and I never seed it till a few weeks + since, and then I was looking for something I couldn't find, and poked + your little Bible out from the back of the drawer. `What's this?' I + thought; and I took it up and noticed the red-ink lines under so many + of the verses. Oh, I was struck all of a heap when I read some of + them. They showed me what a wicked man I had been, for they just told + me what I ought to be, and what I could plainly see you was trying to + be when you was living at the Hall. And they told me about the love + of Jesus Christ, and that seemed to cut me to the heart most of all. + + "I didn't know what to do, I were quite miserable; and the other + servants began to chaff me, so I tried to forget all about better + things, and put the Bible back in the drawer. But I couldn't let it + rest there, so I kept reading it; but it didn't give me no peace. So + I ventured to kneel me down in my pantry one day and ask God to guide + me, and I felt a little happier after that. But I soon saw as it + wouldn't do for me to remain any longer at the Hall, if I meant to + mend my ways. I were mixed with so many of the others, I couldn't see + my way out of the bad road at all if I stayed. I know I ought to have + gone straight to Sir Lionel, and told him how I had been a-cheating + him; but then I should have brought my fellow-servants, and some of + the tradesmen too, into the scrape, and I couldn't see the end of it. + So I made up my mind to cut and run. I know it's wrong, but I haven't + got the courage just to confess all and face it out. + + "And now, what I want to do before I leave the country, for I can't + stay in England, is to see and make amends to you, Jane, as far as I + can. I have found out from one of your old friends here where you are + living, and I mean to let you have this letter on my way. Sir Lionel + has let me have a holiday to see my friends, and I haven't said + anything about not coming back again. But he'll be glad enough that + he's got shut of me when he comes to find out what I've been--more's + the pity. I know better, and ought to be ashamed of myself; but, if I + gets clear off into another country, I'll try and make amends to them + as I've wronged in Monksworthy. You'll find the bracelet and the + Bible along with this letter. Georgina took both bracelets, and left + the one as didn't turn up with me; for, she said, if there was any + searching for it they'd never suspect _me_ of taking it, but they + might search _her_ things. + + "So now I think I have explained all; and when you get the Bible, and + the bracelet, and this letter, the only favour I ask is that you will + wait a month before you let her ladyship know anything about it, and + that will give me time to get well out of the country. + + "So you must forgive me for all the wicked things I have done--and do + ask the Lord to forgive me too. I hope I shall be able to turn over a + new leaf. I shan't forget you, nor your good advice, nor what I did + at you, nor the verses marked under with red-ink. So no more from + your humble and penitent fellow-servant, + + "JH." + +Such was the letter, which was listened to by all with breathless +interest. + +"And now what's `the next step'?" said Thomas Bradly. + +"I think your next step," said the vicar, "will be to go yourself to +Lady Morville, and lay before her this conclusive evidence of your +sister's innocence." + +"Yes; I suppose that will be right," said Bradly. "I can explain it +better than Jane could--indeed, I can see as Jane thinks so herself; and +it would be too much for her, any way, to go about it herself and, +besides, it'll have a better look for me to go." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +PEACE. + +"If you please, my lady, Thomas Bradly would be glad to speak with you +for a few minutes, if you could oblige him." + +"Thomas Bradly?" asked Lady Morville of the footman who brought the +message; "is he one of our own people?" + +"No, my lady; but he says you'll know who he is if I mention that Jane +Bradly is his sister." + +"Dear me! Yes, to be sure. Take him into the housekeeper's room, and +tell him I will be with him in a few minutes." + +"Well, Thomas," said her ladyship, holding out her hand to him as she +entered the room, "I'm very glad to see you. I needn't ask if you are +well." + +"Thank your ladyship, I'm very well; and I hope you're the same, and Sir +Lionel too." + +"Thank you. Sir Lionel is not so well just now; he has had a good deal +to worry him lately. But how are all your family? We miss you still +from church very much, and from the Lord's table.--And poor Jane?" + +"Well, my lady, poor Jane's been poor Jane indeed for a long time, but +she's rich Jane now." + +"You don't mean to say, Thomas--!" exclaimed the other in a distressed +tone. + +"Oh no!" interrupted Bradly; "Jane's not left yet for the better land, +though she's walking steadily along the road to it. But the Lord has +been very gracious to her, in bringing her light in her darkness. She +wants for nothing now, except a kind message from your ladyship, which I +hope to carry back with me." + +"That you shall, with all my heart, Thomas, though I don't quite see +what your meaning is. But I can tell you this: I have never felt +satisfied about poor Jane's leaving me as she did, and yet I do not see +that I could have acted otherwise than I did at the time; but I have +wished her back again a thousand times, you may tell her, especially as +I fear there were some base means used to get her away." + +"How does your ladyship mean?" + +"Why, have you not heard, Thomas, that John Hollands the butler has +absconded? He left us on a pretence of visiting some of his relations, +with his master's leave, last December; and we find now that he has been +robbing us for years, and cheating the trades-people, and even selling +some of Sir Lionel's choice curiosities, and putting the money into his +own pocket. It is this that has worried Sir Lionel till he is quite +ill. We have had, too, to make an entire change of all our servants; +for we found that all of them had been, more or less, sharing in +Hollands' wickedness and deceit." + +"And was your ladyship's own maid, Georgina, one of these?" + +"O Thomas! She was worse, if possible, even than Hollands. Before he +left I detected her in lying, thieving, and intemperance, besides +abominable hypocrisy, and was thankful to get her out of the house." + +"Well, my lady, I'm truly sorry for all this; but perhaps it shows that +poor Jane's story may have been true after all." + +"Indeed it does; but still I have never been able to understand Jane's +conduct when I found the bracelet in her hands. If she had only +produced the other bracelet, and explained in a simple way how she came +by them, or if the other bracelet had been found, that might have made a +difference; but it has never been seen or heard of from that day to +this." + +"I can now explain all to your ladyship's full satisfaction," said +Bradly. + +"Indeed, Thomas, I shall be only too thankful, for I now know both +Georgina and John Hollands to have been utterly untruthful, and I could +almost as soon have doubted my own senses as Jane's truthfulness and +honesty. But appearances did certainly seem very much against her." + +"Your ladyship says nothing but the simple truth, but I can explain it +all now from John Hollands' own confession." + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes, my lady. On the 23rd of last December, Hollands, who was on his +way abroad, stopped at our station--Crossbourne station--on the road, +and left a bag and a letter for Jane in the hands of a railway porter. +In that bag was the missing bracelet, the fellow to the one your +ladyship saw in Jane's hands; and a letter was in the bag too, +explaining how John had joined Georgina in a plot to ruin Jane, because +she had reproved them for some of their evil doings." + +"Dear me!" cried her ladyship, shocked and surprised; "is it possible? +But why did you not acquaint me with this at once?" + +"Well, my lady, here is the strangest part of my story. The porter, +instead of bringing the bag on to us at once, left it outside a public- +house, while he went in to get a drink, and when he came out again the +bag was gone; and, though every inquiry and search was made after it, it +only turned up a few days ago." + +"But the letter?" asked Lady Morville; "did the porter lose that too?" + +"No; he brought it to us in a day or two, for he were afraid to bring it +at first, because he'd lost our bag." + +"Still, Thomas, if you or Jane had brought that letter, it would, no +doubt, have made all plain, and quite cleared her character." + +"Ah! But, my lady, the letter the porter brought said very little. I +have it here. It only says, `Dear Jane, I am sorry now for all as I've +done at you. Pray forgive me. You will find a letter all about it in +the bag, and I've put your little marked Bible and the other br---t +[that means bracelet, of course] with it into the bag. So no more at +present from yours--JH.'" + +"And why didn't you bring me this letter, Thomas? I should have been +quite satisfied with it." + +"Ah! My lady, it would have looked a lame sort of tale if I'd brought +this letter and said as the bag and bracelet had been lost. It would +have looked very much like a roundabout make-up sort of story, letter +and all." + +"I see what you mean, Thomas; but now you say that the bag and its +contents have been found after all. Pray, tell me all about it." + +"Well, it's a long story, my lady; but, if you'll have patience with me, +I'll make it as short as I can." + +Bradly then proceeded to give Lady Morville the history of the manner in +which the way had been opened up little by little, and the bag found at +last. He then drew from his pocket a neatly-folded packet, and handed +it to her ladyship, who, having opened it, found the bracelet. + +"Yes," she said, "there can be no doubt about it--this is my missing +bracelet; and that heartless creature Georgina has cruelly misled me, +and, more cruelly still, ruined for a time the character of her fellow-- +servant. But, poor, wretched, misguided creature, her triumphing was +short indeed." + +Before she could say more, Bradly placed in her hands Hollands' letter +of explanation. She read it through slowly and carefully; and then, +laying it down, leaned her head on her hand, while her tears fell fast. + +"O Thomas," she said, after a while, "what a terrible trial your +sister's must have been! How can I ever make her amends for the cruel +injustice I have been guilty of to her?" + +"Nay, my lady," cried Thomas, touched by her deep emotion, "you've done +Jane no wrong; you did as you was bound to do under the circumstances. +It's all right now, and the Lord's been bringing a wonderful deal of +blessing out of this trouble. Jane's been sharply chastened, but she's +stood the trial well, by God's grace, and she's come out of it purified +like the fine gold. All she wants now is a kind message by me, assuring +her as you are now thoroughly satisfied she was innocent of what was +laid to her charge and led to her leaving your service." + +"She shall have it, Thomas, and not only by word of mouth, but in my own +handwriting." + +So saying, Lady Morville rang the bell, and having ordered some +refreshment for Thomas Bradly, asked him to wait while she went to her +own room and wrote Jane a letter. In half an hour she returned, and, +having given the letter into Bradly's charge, said,-- + +"I have been talking to Sir Lionel, and he is as pleased as I am at the +thorough establishment of Jane's character; and we both wish to show our +sense of her value, and our conviction that she deserves our fullest +confidence, and some amends too for my mistaken judgment, by offering +her the post of matron to a cottage hospital we have been building, if +she feels equal to undertaking it. She will have furnished rooms, +board, and firing, and thirty pounds a year, and the duties will not +require much physical exertion. I shall thus have her near me, and it +will be my constant endeavour to show my sense of her worth, and my +sorrow for her sufferings, by doing everything in my power to make her +comfortable and happy." + +"I'm sure Sir Lionel, and your ladyship more particularly, deserve our +most grateful thanks for your goodness," said Thomas Bradly. "I don't +doubt as Jane'll be better content to be earning her own living again, +though she's not been eating the bread of idleness, and I'm sure she +couldn't start again in a happier way to herself, so I'll tell her your +most kind offer; and may the Lord reward Sir Lionel and yourself for +it." + +No man in the United Kingdom journeyed homeward that day in a happier +frame of mind than Thomas Bradly. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +FINALE, AT CRICKETTY HALL. + +The letter and offer of Lady Morville poured a flood of sunshine into +Jane's heart, and helped to hasten her restoration to perfect health. +Most thankfully did she accept the situation offered her by her former +mistress, which restored her to an honourable position, and enabled her +to earn her own living in a way suited to her abilities, experience, and +strength. She wrote at once her earnest thanks, and her grateful +acceptance of the proposed post, and it was arranged that she should +leave her home for Monksworthy in the beginning of August. But Thomas +Bradly had set his heart on having a special temperance demonstration +before her departure; so it was put before Mr Maltby, and a grand +temperance tea-party and open-air meeting at Cricketty Hall was +announced for the second Saturday in July. + +It soon got whispered about that something more than usual was to be +expected in the speeches after the tea; and as every one knew that +"Tommy Tracks" could get up a capital meeting, there was a good deal of +attention drawn to the subject among the operatives and people generally +in the town and neighbourhood. Bills of a large size had been duly +posted, and small handbills left at every house; and a prayer-meeting +had been held on the Wednesday evening previous, to seek a special +blessing on the coming gathering, so that its promoters looked hopefully +for a fine day, and were not disappointed. + +Tea was to begin at 5 p.m., and the meeting as near half-past six as +could be accomplished. Crossbourne human nature, like the human nature +in most English manufacturing districts, had a great leaning to tea- +parties and _fetes_, the latter name being sometimes preferred by the +younger men as being more imposing. On the present occasion there was +an abundance of interested and willing helpers, so that early in the +Saturday afternoon the road to Cricketty Hall was all alive with comers +and goers, more or less busy with band and tongue; while carts of many +shapes and sizes were conveying the eatables and drinkables up to the +old ruin. The tea-tickets had sold well, and there was evidently much +expectation in the minds of the public generally. + +About half-past three o'clock the Temperance and Band of Hope members +came flocking into the market place, Bradly being there to keep order, +with Foster and Barnes as his helpers. The last of these had charge of +a small basket, which he now and then glanced at with a grin of peculiar +satisfaction. Then the band mustered in full force--a genuine +temperance band, which never mingled its strains of harmony with streams +of alcohol. And oh, what a noble drum it boasted of!--could musical +ambition mount higher than to be permitted the privilege of belabouring +thundering sounds out of its parchment ends? Such clearly was the view +of two of the youngest members of the Band of Hope, who were gazing with +fond and awed admiration at the big drum itself and its highly favoured +bearer. + +Shortly before four o'clock the vicar and his sister made their +appearance; and then, in a little while, the procession, with +appropriate banners flying, large and small, was on its way, Mr and +Miss Maltby marching at the head, and Thomas Bradly bringing up the +rear. In front of the procession was the band, which struck up a lively +air as all stepped forward, the drum being particularly emphatic at +every turning. Just at the outskirts of the town an open carriage +joined the long line: there were in it Mrs Maltby and her daughter, who +had returned from the seaside a few days before, and Jane Bradly, who +was not yet equal to much exertion. + +On, on they marched, bright and happy, conscious that their cause was a +good one, and that their enjoyment would not be marred by any excesses. +The day was charming; there had been just enough rain during the +preceding night to lay the dust and freshen up the vegetation, while the +ardent rays of the sun were tempered from time to time by transient +screens of semi-transparent clouds. As the procession neared Cricketty +Hall, a cooling breeze from the west sprang up, just enough to ruffle +out the banners, as they were carried proudly aloft, without distressing +their bearers. Then the band, which had been silent for a while, put on +the full power of lungs and muscle in one prolonged outburst of +boisterous harmony; and just at five minutes to five the whole body of +the walkers, old and young, was drawn up in due order in front of the +ruined gateway. + +It was just the right spot for such a summer's gathering. Far away +towards the south sloped the fields, disclosing on either hand many a +snug farm-house amidst its ripening crops, and to the extreme east an +undulating range of dim, blue, shadowy hills. Facing a spectator, as he +stood with his back to the ruined gateway, was the town of Crossbourne, +with its rougher features softened down by the two miles of distance; +its tall chimneys giving forth lazy curls of smoke, as though pausing to +rest after the ceaseless labours of a vigorous working week. The noble +railway viaduct, spanning the wide valley, was rendered doubly +picturesque by its nearest neighbours of houses being hidden on one side +by a projecting hill; while the greater part of the old church was +visible, seeming as though its weather-beaten tower were looking down +half sternly, half kindly on the eager thousands, who were living, too +many of them, wholly for a world whose glory and fashion were quickly +passing away. And now, till a bandsman should give a trumpet-signal for +tea, all the holiday-makers, both old and young, dispersed themselves +among the ruins, and through the wood, and over the rising ground in the +rear. + +Strange contrast! Those crumbling stones, that time-worn archway, those +shattered windows, that rusty portcullis, all surely, though +imperceptibly, corroding under the ceaseless waste of "calm decay," and +sadly suggestive of wealth, and power, and beauty all buried in the dust +of bygone days; and, on the other hand, the lusty present, full of +vigour, energy, and bustling life, to be seen in the gaily-decked +visitors swarming amidst the ruins in every direction, and to be heard +in the loud shouts and ringing laughter of children, and of men and +women too, who had sprung back into their childhood's reckless buoyancy +for a brief hour or two. + +And now the shrill blast of the trumpet called the revellers to tea. +This was set out in rough but picturesque form, in the centre of what +had once been the great hall. New-planed planks, covered with +unbleached calico, and supported on trestles, formed the tables; while +the tea-making apparatus had been set up in what had originally been the +kitchen, near to which there welled up a stream of the purest water. + +When as many were seated as could be accommodated at once, the vicar was +just about to give out the opening grace, when a young man decorated +with an exceedingly yellow waistcoat, and as intensely blue a temperance +bow, came hastily up to him, and whispered mysteriously in his ear. The +smile with which this communication was received showed that there was +nothing amiss. Having asked the assembled company to wait for a minute, +Mr Maltby hastened out of the building, and quickly returned, leading +in Dr and Mrs Prosser. A shout of surprised and hearty welcome +greeted the entrance of the new guests. + +"This is not to me," said the vicar, "an altogether unexpected pleasure; +but I would not say anything about the doctor's coming, as, though I had +invited him, he left it very doubtful whether his engagements would +allow him to be here, and I had pretty well given him up. But I am sure +we are all rejoiced to see him among us on this happy occasion."--There +could be no doubt of that, and the doctor and his wife being +accommodated with places, grace was sung, and the tea began in earnest. + +If you want thoroughly to appreciate a good tea, be in the habit of +drinking nothing stronger, take a moderate walk on a bright, blowy +summer's afternoon, have a scramble with a lot of little children till +all your breath is gone for the time being, and then sit down, if you +are privileged to have the opportunity, in the open-air, to such a meal +as was spread before the temperance holiday-makers of Crossbourne. Dr +Prosser and his wife thought they had never enjoyed anything more in +their lives, and looking round saw a sparkling happiness on every face, +the result in part, at any rate, of partaking of that most gentle, +innocent, and refreshing of stimulants--tea. + +But even the most importunate tea-cup must rest at last; and so, while +the first division, having been fully satisfied, gave way to a second, +the band struck up a torrent of music, and in due time sat down +themselves with those whom they had helped to cheer with their +enlivening strains. And now the last cup of tea had been emptied, and +the most persevering of the Band of Hope boys had reluctantly retired, +leaving an unfinished plate of muffins master of the field. + +The fragments were gathered up, the tables and trestles removed, and the +trumpeter, invigorated by his inspiriting meal, poured forth a blast +loud and long to recall the stragglers. It was close upon half-past +six, and all began now to assemble, pouring in from all quarters into +the central open space. A few chairs had been brought, and were +appropriated to the ladies and speakers. Two large cake-baskets turned +on their ends, with two stout planks across them, served for a table, +which was placed in front of a huge fragment of a buttress, beneath +which irregular masses of fallen moss-covered stone made very fairly +comfortable seats for some of the more special friends and supporters; +while the audience generally were seated all up and down within hearing +distance, forming a most picturesque congregation, as they sat, or +stood, or lay down, as proved most convenient. By the time the vicar +was ready to commence the proceedings, the space all round him was +rapidly filling with men and women from the town, who had not been at +the tea, but were drawn by interest or curiosity to be present at the +after-meeting. + +All were very silent as the vicar, after the usual preliminary hymn and +prayer, rose, and began as follows:-- + +"I make no apology, dear friends, for being about to occupy a portion of +your time by addressing you this evening; but I shall not detain you +long. Still, what I have to say is of deep importance to you all, and, +therefore, I must ask your earnest and patient attention. + +"Without further preface, then, I do earnestly desire to impress upon +you all this truth, that there can be no real peace, no solid happiness +in this world, unless we are _consciously_ seeking to live to the glory +of God. I look around me, and see with alarm, in these days of +increased knowledge and intelligence, how entirely many thoughtful +people are living without God in the world; I mean, without having any +_conscious_ communion or connection with him. + +"This is so very dangerous a feature of our times, because there is at +the same time a very widely spread respect for religion. Coarse abuse +and reviling of religion and religious people are frowned upon now by +all persons of education and refinement as vulgar and illiberal. But +yet, with this respect for religion and its followers, there seems to be +growing up a conviction or impression that people can be good, and +happy, and profitable in their day without any religion at all. If you +are religious, well and good, no one should meddle with you; and if you +are consistent, all should respect you, and it would be exceedingly bad +taste to quarrel with you for your opinions. But then, if you are _not_ +religious, well and good too, no one should meddle with you, and it +would be very uncharitable, and in very bad taste, to quarrel with you +about your creed or views. Religion, in fact, is becoming with many a +matter of pure indifference--a matter of taste; you may do well _with_ +it, and you may do as well, or nearly as well, _without_ it. + +"Hence it has come to pass that there are to be found men of science and +learning who never trouble themselves about religion at all. They would +certainly never care to abuse it; but then they plainly think that +science, and the world, and society can get on perfectly well without +it. + +"And what is worse still, even professedly religious people are being +carried down this stream of opinion, without being fully or perhaps at +all conscious whither it has been leading them. Thus, even ladies +professing godliness are being entangled by the intellectual snares of +the day, and are so pursuing the shadows of this world--its honours, its +prizes, its mind-worship--as to become by degrees almost wholly +separated from God and thoughts of him. And thus, while they do not +outwardly neglect the ordinances of religion, they have ceased to meet +God in them; they hear in them a pleasing sound rather than a living +voice, and find themselves offering to God, when they join in psalms and +hymns and spiritual songs, rather a mere musical accompaniment than the +intelligent melody of a heart that believes and loves. + +"Oh, don't be deceived, dear friends, any of you. You who go to the +mills, or are engaged in any other manual labour, don't think, because +you may be spending your evenings and leisure in mechanics' institutes, +or in attending science classes, or in working up scientific subjects, +that in these pursuits you can find real peace, without religion and +without God; that religion is no matter of necessity, but only a +comfortable and creditable superfluity; or that, at any rate, by using +outward attendance on religious ordinances, as a sort of make-weight, +you can be solidly happy while your hearts are far from God. It cannot +be. You are not thus disgracing our common humanity like the drunkards +and profligates, but, then, you are not fulfilling the true law of your +being; you cannot be doing so while you are travelling all your lives in +a circle which keeps you ever on the outside of the influence of the +love and of the grace of that God who made you and that Saviour who +redeemed you. + +"Don't mistake me, dear friends; I rejoice with all my heart to see +progress of every kind amongst you, so long as it is real. Some people +say that we ministers of the gospel are foes to education and to +intellectual progress. Nay, it is not so. I will tell you what we are +foes to, and unflinching foes; we are foes to all that is false and +hollow, and we assert that nothing can be sound and true which puts the +God who made us out of his place, and thrusts him down from his rightful +throne in our hearts. Study science by all means, cultivate your +intellects, elevate your tastes, refine your pursuits. But then, +remember that you are, after all, not your own in any of these things, +for Christ has purchased you for himself. Begin with him, and he will +give you peace, and an abiding blessing upon _all_ that you do; but +never suppose that you can be really living as you ought to live,--that +is, as God made you and meant you to live,--while you are feeding your +intellects and starving your souls. + +"And now I will only add how happy I am to meet you all here. We are +about soon to part with one who is well-known to many of you,--Jane +Bradly. It is partly in connection with the Lord's wonderful dealings +with her, as you will hear shortly from her brother Thomas, that we have +set on foot this happy gathering. It is one cheering sign of real +progress in Crossbourne that our Temperance Society and Band of Hope are +so nourishing. You know the rock on which we have founded them; I mean, +on love to the Lord Jesus Christ. May these societies long flourish! I +trust we shall gain some members to-night; for Thomas, I know, has got +the pledge-book with him. And now I have much pleasure in calling on +William Foster to address you." + +When Foster rose to speak there was a deep hush, a silence that might be +felt. + +"If I had come to a gathering like this a year ago," began the speaker, +"it would have been as a mocker or a spy. But how different are things +with me to-day! I am now one of yourselves, a total abstainer upon +principle, an unfeigned believer in the Bible, and a loyal though very +unworthy disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have good cause to +remember these old ruins, as you all know; but you do not many of you +know how I used to spend Sabbath after Sabbath here in gambling; and yet +the good Lord bore with me. And it is not long since that he gave me a +wonderful deliverance, not far from the spot where I now stand. But I +am not going to refer any more to that, except to say, let by-gones be +by-gones. I bear no ill-will to those who have shown themselves my +enemies. What I want to do now, for the few minutes that I shall stand +here, is just to give you my experience about the Bible. + +"When I was professedly an unbeliever, I thought I knew a great deal +about the Bible, and I used to lay down the law, and talk very big about +this inconsistency and that inconsistency in the Scriptures, and I just +read those books which supplied me with weapons of attack. But I was in +utter ignorance of what the Bible really was; and had I read it from +beginning to end a thousand times over,--which I never did, nor even +once,--it would have been all the same, for I should not have read it in +a candid spirit--I should not have wanted to know what it had to tell +me. + +"It's just perfectly natural. I remember that two of our men went up to +London some time ago, and they strolled together into the Kensington +Museum. When they came back, we asked them what they had seen there, +and what they liked best. One of them had seen a great number of rich +and curiously inlaid cabinets, but he could call to mind nothing else, +though he had spent hours in the place, and had been all over it +upstairs and downstairs. As for the other man, he couldn't for the life +of him remember anything, but he could tell you all about the dinner +they had together at a chop-house afterwards,--what meat, what +vegetables, what liquor they had, and how much it cost to a penny. You +see it was what their mind was set on that really engrossed their +attention. + +"And so it is in going through the Bible: you'll not get a word of +instruction from it, if you go in at Genesis and come out at Revelation, +if you go in with an unteachable mind. God would have us ask him +humbly, but not dictate to him. Or you may notice in the Bible just +such things as you want to notice, and not see anything else, though +it's as plain as daylight. So it was with me, and so it has been and +will be with thousands of sceptics. I just looked into a Bible now and +then to find occasion for cavilling and scoffing, and I found what I +wanted. But I missed all the love, and the mercy, and the promises, and +the holy counsel, and never so much as knew they were there, though my +eyes passed over them continually. + +"But now the Bible is a new book to me altogether. I can truly say, in +its own words, `The law of thy mouth is dearer unto me than thousands of +gold and silver.' The more I read, the more I wonder: often and often, +when I come to some marvellous passage, I am constrained to stop and bow +my head in astonishment and adoration. There's nothing like studying +the book itself--asking God, of course, to give one the guidance of his +Holy Spirit. The more I read, the more I find verses that just as +exactly fit into my own experience as if they had been penned especially +in reference to the history, circumstances, character, and wants of +William Foster; and no doubt they were, for that's a most wonderful +thing about the Bible, and shows that it is God's book,--I mean that it +as much suits each individual man's case as if it had been originally +written for that man only. + +"I remember there was an American in our country some years ago, who +said he would open any lock you could bring him; and so I believe he +did, by making ingenious picks that would get into the most complicated +locks. But that's nothing to the Bible; for without any force or +difficulty it comes as one universal key that will unlock every heart, +and open up its most secret thoughts and feelings, and then throw light +and peace into the darkest corners. This is what the Bible has been and +is to me; it shows me daily more of myself, and more of Christ and his +love, and more of a heaven begun on earth. + +"Now I would just advise and urge you all to take up this blessed book +in a humble and teachable spirit, and you'll find it to be to you what +God in his mercy has made it to me. And I'll tell you how to deal with +difficulties, and hard places, and so on. Now, mind, I'm only just +giving you a leaf out of my own experience. I'm not setting myself up +as a teacher. I'm not saying a word to disparage God's ministers, for +they are specially appointed by him to study, and unfold, and expound +the Word; and I can only say with sincere thankfulness that I come home +with new light on the Bible from every sermon which I hear from our +earnest and deeply taught clergyman. But, as regards our own private +reading, just let me say, if you come to a hard place, read it again; +and if you don't understand it then, read it again; and if you don't +understand it then, why, read somewhere else in the book, and you'll +find that the more you study the Word throughout, the more one passage +will throw light upon another, the more your mind and heart will expand +and embrace and understand truths which were wholly hidden or only +imperfectly seen before. This, at any rate, is my own happy experience, +and my dear wife's also. May God make it the experience of every one of +you." + +He sat down again amidst the profoundest silence, and then all joined +heartily in the hymn beginning,-- + + "Holy Bible, book divine, + Precious treasure, thou art mine." + +The vicar then called upon James Barnes to speak. + +"Well, I don't know," began Jim, starting up, and plunging headlong into +his address; "I don't feel at all fit to stand up in such a company as +this, and yet I've got summat to say, and it's a good deal to the point +too, I think. At our last public temperance meeting, the first I'd the +pleasure of speaking at, we had a noisy set of fellows trying to put me +down, and now we're all as quiet as lambs. + +"Well, William Foster's just been giving you his experience about the +Bible, and I can say amen to all he's been a-saying; I mean this, that +the good book's been doing for him and me just what he says. It's been +and made a changed man of him, there's no doubt about that. He's been a +kind friend to me, and he's been a kind friend to many as has often had +nothing but hard words for him. I like to see a man live up to what he +professes. + +"Perhaps you'll say, `Jim, why don't you set us an example?' Well, I'm +trying, and I hopes to do better by-and-by. But there's no mistake +about William. He aren't like a chap I heard talk of the other day. A +friend of mine were very much taken up with him.--`Eh! You should hear +him talk,' he says. `You never heard a man talk like him; he'd talk a +parrot dumb, he would.'--`Very likely,' says I; `but does he practise +what he preaches?'--`Why, they reckon not,' says my friend. Now that +sort don't suit me; and it oughtn't to suit any of us, I'm sure. We +temperance people aren't like that. + +"Ah! It's a fine thing is this temperance, if you only get hold of it +by the Bible end. See what it's been and done for me and mine. Look at +my wife Polly there, sitting on that big stone--(Nay, Polly, 'tain't no +use your shaking your head and winking; I _must_ have it out)--just look +at her: you wouldn't believe as she's the same woman if you'd only seen +her at our old house a year ago. I can scarce believe myself as she's +the same sometimes. I has to make her stand at the other end of the +room now and then to get a long view of her, to be sure she's the same. +She's like a new pin now, bright and clean, with the head fixed on in +the right place. + +"Ah! You may laugh, friends, but it's nothing but the plain truth. +There's a deal of difference in pins. You just take up a new one, as +shines all over like silver, and it'll stand hard work, and it's just as +if it were all of a piece--that's like my wife now. But you get hold of +an old yaller crooked pin, with point bent down to scratch you, and when +you try to make use of it, the head's in the wrong place, it's got +slipped down, and the thick end of the pin runs into your finger, and +makes you holler out--that's like what my wife _was_. But she's not a +bit like that now; she's like the new pin, bless her; and it's been +Tommy Tracks--I begs his pardon--it's been Mr Thomas Bradly, and the +Bible, and the temperance pledge as has been and gone and done it all. + +"And then there's the children. Why, they used to have scarce a whole +suit of clothes between 'em, and that were made of nearly as many odd +pieces and patches as there's days in the year. And as for boots, why, +when they'd got to go anywheres, one on 'em, on an errand, and wanted to +look a bit respectable, he were forced to put on the only pair of boots +as had got any soles to 'em, and that pair belonged to the middlemost, +but they fitted the eldest middlin' well, as they let in plenty of air +at the toes. And what's the case now? Why, on a Saturday night you can +see a whole row of boots standing two and two by the cupboard door, and +they shines so bright with blacking, the cat's fit to wear herself out +by setting up her back and spitting at her own likeness in 'em. It's +the gospel and temperance as has done this. + +"But that ain't all. I've knowed two of our lads fight over a dirty +crust as they'd picked out of the gutter, for their mother hadn't got +nothing for them to eat,--how could she, poor thing, when the money had +all gone down my throat? It's very different now. We've good bread and +butter too on our table every day, with an onion or two, or a red +herring to give it a relish, and now and then a rasher of bacon, or a +bit of fresh meat; and before so very long I've good hopes as we shall +have a pig of our own. Eh! Won't that be jolly for the children? I +told 'em I thought of getting one soon. Says our little Tom, `Daddy, +how do they make the pig into bacon?' `They rub it with salt,' says I. +Next day, at dinner-time, I watched him put by a little salt into a +small bag, and next day too, and so on for a week. So at last I says, +`What's that for, Tommy?' `Daddy,' says he, `I'm keeping it for the new +pig. Eh! Won't I rub it into him, and make bacon of him, as soon as he +comes?' + +"But I ax your pardon, friends, for telling you all this.--`Go on,' do +you say? Well, I'll go on just for a bit. So you see what a blessing +the giving up the drink has been to me and my family. And, what's +better still, it's left room for the gospel to enter. It couldn't get +in when the strong drink blocked up the road. I'm not going to boast; I +should get a tumble, I know, if I did that. It ain't no goodness of +mine, I'm well aware of that. It's the Lord's doing, and his blessing +on Thomas Bradly's kindness and care for a poor, wretched, ruined sinner +like me. But here's the fact: we has the Bible out now every night in +our house, and I reads some of the blessed book out loud, and then we +all kneels us down and has a prayer; and we goes to church on Sundays, +and it's like a little heaven below. Rather different that from what it +used to be on the Sabbath-day, when I were singing and drinking with a +lot of fellows, and it were all good fellowship one minute, and perhaps +a kick into the street or a black eye the next. Ay, and there's many of +the old lot as knows the change, and what the Lord's done for me, and +they're very mad, some on 'em; but that don't matter, so long as they +don't make a madman of me. + +"But just a word or two for you boys and girls of the Band of Hope afore +I sit down.--Now, I've brought with me, by Mr Bradly's leave, something +to show you." So saying, he beckoned to a young man, who handed him a +small basket. He opened it, and produced a small jar with a brush in +it. A half-suppressed murmur of merriment ran through the crowd. "Ah! +You know what this is, I see," continued James Barnes. "'Tain't the +first time as this has made its appearance in Cricketty Hall. Now, I'm +not going to say anything ill-natured about it. As William Foster has +said, `let by-gones be by-gones.' It's very good of him to say so, and +I only mean to give you a word or two on the subject. This little jar +has got tar in it, and tar's a very wholesome and useful thing in its +proper place. Now, a few months ago them as shall be nameless meant to +daub William all over with this, and feather him afterwards, because he +wouldn't break his pledge. A cowardly lot they was to deal so with one +man against a dozen of 'em; but that's neither here nor there. I only +want you, boys and girls, to take example by William, and stick to your +pledge through thick and thin. See how the Lord protected him, and how +his worst enemy were caught in his own trap. He were just winding a +cord round his own legs when he thought he'd got William's feet fast in +the snare. Now, boys and girls, when you're tempted to break the +pledge, just think of this jar of tar, and offer up a prayer to be kept +firm. 'Twouldn't be a bad thing--specially if you're much in the way of +temptation--just to get a jar like this of your own, and hang it up in +the wash-house, and put some good fresh tar in it, and, just before you +go to your work of a morning, take a good long sniff at the tar--it's a +fine healthy smell is tar--and maybe it'll be a help to you the whole +day. There, I've done." + +And he sat down as abruptly as he had risen, amid the hearty cheers and +laughter of his hearers. + +The vicar then introduced Dr Prosser, remarking that he was sure that +those who had heard him lecture last April would be delighted to listen +to his voice again. The doctor, who was vociferously cheered, stood +forward and said:-- + +"I have the greatest pleasure in being with you, dear friends, to-day. +I have heard a great deal of what has been going on from your excellent +vicar, and have now listened with the deepest interest to the +characteristic speeches which have just been made. I shall be glad now +to say a few words, and to add my testimony to the importance of certain +truths which need enforcing in our day. Thomas Bradly is to follow me, +and I feel sure that his homely eloquence and plain practical good sense +will be a fit termination to this most truly interesting meeting. + +"What I would now urge upon you all is this,--the unspeakable importance +in these days of grasping realities instead of hunting shadows. I have +been, I fear, till lately, more or less of a shadow-hunter myself. I +used to sympathise with the cry,-- + + "`For names and creeds let senseless bigots fight-- + He can't be wrong whose life is in the right.' + +"But I don't think this now. We men of science are too apt to deal with +abstractions, and to follow out favourite theories, till we are in +danger of forgetting that we have hearts and souls as well as heads; +that, as has been beautifully said, `The heart has its arguments as well +as the understanding;' and that, as God's Word tells us, `The things +which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are +eternal.' I am more and more strongly persuaded of this every day. We +are living in times of immense energy and surprising intellectual +activity, but, at the same time, are surrounded with unrealities or +half-realities. We want something to grasp that will never deceive us, +never fly from us. Anything--like mere vague generalities will never +satisfy beings constituted as you and I are; and thus it is that we +cannot do without something real in our religion, something definite. +We want to come into real communion with a personal Being, whom we can +consciously, though spiritually, approach, love, and reverence. We want +a real person such as ourselves, and yet infinitely above ourselves; and +such an one we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour--one who is +like us as man, yet infinitely above us as God--one who can smile on us, +because he is human, and can watch over us, guide us, and bear with us, +because he is divine. + +"Be sure of this, dear friends,--and I am speaking to you now as persons +of intelligence, who can thoughtfully weigh what I say,--science can +never be true science, knowledge can never be real knowledge which sets +aside the God who is the fountain of all truth and every kind of truth. +If we are to learn anything aright and thoroughly, we must learn it as +believers in Him in whom `we live, and move, and have our being,' who +has given us all our faculties, and placed us in the midst of that +universe all of whose laws are of his own imposing and maintaining. +Depend upon it, you cannot acquire any sound and useful knowledge +aright, if you try and keep up an independence of that God who is the +author and upholder of all things physical and spiritual. At the Cross +we must learn the only way of peace for our souls; and, in dependence on +the grace and wisdom of Him who is in every sense the Light of the +world, we must seek to make real advance in every field of knowledge, +content to know and feel our own ignorance, and thankful to gain light +in _all_ our investigations from Him who can at the same time baffle the +searchings of the wisest, and unfold to the humble yet patient and +persevering inquirer treasures of knowledge and wisdom otherwise +unattained and unattainable. In a word, as the whole universe belongs +to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and was made by him what it is, +if we would pursue any branch of knowledge, any science whatever, with +the truest and fullest prospect of success, we must do it as Christians, +as in dependence on Him `in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and +knowledge.' + +"This, I am well aware, is not the tendency of the age, which is rather +to seek knowledge apart from God, and to treat science and religion as +distant and cold acquaintances, instead of loving and inseparable +friends.--But now I gladly give way to my old friend Thomas Bradly, who +has, I know, something to tell us which will do us good, if we will only +carry it away with us." + +"Yes," said Bradly, slowly and thoughtfully, as he took the speaker's +place, by the vicar's invitation, "it is true, dear friends, that I have +something of moment to say to you. This has truly been a happy day to +me so far. I rejoice in the presence of so many dear friends; and it is +indeed kind of Dr Prosser to be at the trouble to come among us, and +give us those words of weighty counsel which we have just heard. I have +listened to the other speeches also with very great satisfaction. I +think we're got on the right foundation, and we only wants to stick +there. + +"Well now, dear friends, I've got something to show you here. Look at +this little book; it ain't got much outward show about it, but it's got +the old-fashioned words of God's truth inside. It was my mother's Bible +afore she were married, and a blessed book it were to her, and to her +children too. I think I can see her now, sitting of a summer's evening, +after the day's work were done, under an old apple tree, on a seat as my +father had made for her. She would get us children round her, and be so +happy with her little Bible, reading out its beautiful stories to us, +and telling us of the love of Jesus. She always read the Bible to us +with a smile, unless we'd any of us been doing anything wrong, and then +she read to us what the Bible tells us about sin, and she looked grave +indeed then. + +"Well, when she died, the little book were left to our Jane--her mother +wished it so--and Jane prized it more than gold, and used to mark her +favourite verses with a line of red-ink under 'em; it were her way, and +helped to bring the passages she wished particularly to remember more +quickly to her eye. But the Lord was ordering and overruling this +marking for his own special purposes. Look at the book again; you can +many of you see the red lines. + +"Now, it's some years ago as me and mine was living a long way off from +here. Jane were in service at a great house, and the butler and lady's- +maid, who hated the truth and poor Jane, because she loved it and stood +up for it, managed to take away her character in the eyes of her +mistress; but the Lord has graciously opened her mistress's eyes at +last, and that cloud is passed away for ever. I only mention this just +to bring in this little book. The butler, to vex poor Jane, had taken +away her Bible from her before he took away her character; but what +happened? Why, when she had left the place, he goes to his drawer and +takes out the Bible when he were looking for summat else; for he'd quite +forgot as he'd hid it there. He sees the red lines, and reads the +verses over them, and they make him think, and he's brought to +repentance. + +"The little book's beginning to do great things. He wants to restore +the book, and make amends to Jane, does the butler; but he's been such a +rogue, he's obliged to take himself away into foreign parts somewhere. +But I don't doubt but what he'll come right in the end; the Word'll not +let him alone till it's brought him to the foot of the cross. As he's +on his way abroad, he leaves the Bible at the station here to be taken +to our house; but it manages to get lost on the way, and turns up at +last in the tap-room of a public-house. Now, just mark this. If the +Bible had come straight to our house, it would have helped to clear +Jane's character with her mistress, and no more; but there were other +work for it to do. The publican's daughter gets hold of it, and sees +the red lines. She sees the verses above 'em, and they pricks her +conscience. She don't like this, and she resolves to get rid of the +book. Yes, yes; but the little book has taken good aim at her heart, +and shot two or three arrows into it, and she can't get 'em out; it's +been doing its work, or rather the Lord's work. So she takes it with +her in the dark, and drops it into William Foster's house, of all places +in Crossbourne. + +"Just fancy any one leaving a Bible in that house ten months ago. But +it came at the very nick of time. William's wife were in great trouble, +and she'd tried a great many sticks to lean upon, but they'd all snapped +like glass when she leaned her weight on 'em--she found nothing as'd +ease the burden of an aching heart. It were just at the right time, +then, as the little Bible fell into her room. She took it up, noticed +the red lines, and some precious promises they was scored under, and by +degrees she found peace.--Eh, but William must know nothing of this; how +he would scoff if he found his wife reading the Bible!--But what's this? +William finds his missus quite a changed woman; she's twice the wife to +him she was, and his home ain't like the same place. What's the secret +of this change? He don't like to ask; but he watches, and he finds the +worn old Bible hidden in the baby's cradle. He reads it secretly; he +prays over it; the scales fall from his eyes; he becomes a changed man; +he comes out boldly and nobly for Christ; he and his wife rejoice +together in the Lord. + +"But the little homely book hadn't quite done its work yet. Foster one +night asks me to help him in a little trouble which the words of the +book had got him into. Strange that, isn't it? No, 'tain't strange; +'cos there's deep things, wonderful things, and terrible things in that +blessed book; but then there's light too to help you past these deep +pits, if you'll only use the Word as God's lamp. I takes up the Bible +to help William to a bright text or two, and I sees my mother's name in +the cover. Here was our long-lost Bible; its work so far were done, and +now it's got back to its rightful owner. But after we'd got it back +we'd some time to wait; but waiting-times are blessed times for true +Christians. At last the full evidence, of which Jane's Bible were one +little link, came up, and my dear sister's character were cleared of +every spot and stain as had been cast upon it by her fellow-servants. + +"Now, what I want you to notice, dear friends, is just this--how +wonderfully the Lord has worked in this matter. If my dear sister had +not suffered in the first instance from the tongue of the slanderer, +that blessed book'd never have done all this good, as far as we can see. +The butler wouldn't have been convinced of sin; the publican's daughter +wouldn't have been brought to repentance and praise; William and his +wife wouldn't have been made happy and rejoicing believers. And indeed, +though I can't explain all now, neither, as far as we can tell, would +Jim Barnes have been what he now is, with his missus like a new pin, nor +would poor Ned Taylor have died a humble penitent. All these precious +fruits have growed and ripened out of the loss of my dear sister's +Bible. And she herself--well, it's been a sore trial, but it's yielded +already the peaceable fruit of righteousness. She's lost nothing in the +end but a little dross, and her sorrow has helped to bring joy to many. + +"Now, I ask you all to cling to the grand old book; to use it as a sword +and a lamp,--a sword against your spiritual enemies, and a lamp to guide +you to heaven. We've heard a good deal just now of the special dangers +of our own times, how people are getting wise above what's written. Ah! +But `the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.' Dr Prosser's +a man of science, and you've heard his experience. You see he finds he +can't get on without the old-fashioned gospel. A religion without a +regular creed's no use at all. He's found out as religion without a +real human and divine Saviour's only moonshine; nay, it's no shine at +all; it's just darkness, and nothing else. There's a striking verse in +the prophet Jeremiah as just suits these days. It's this, and I'm +reading it out of Jane's Bible. You'll find it in Jeremiah, the eighth +chapter and the ninth verse: `The wise men are ashamed, they are +dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and +what wisdom is in them?' Well, but do you cling to the old Bible-- +there's nothing like it. There's many a showy life just now as looks +well enough outside; but if you want a life as'll wear well you must +fashion it by God's Word. + +"Now, afore I sits down, I'm just a-going to tell you about Dick +Trundle's house-warming.--Dick were one of them chaps as are always for +making a bit of a show, and making it cost as little as possible. He +were a hard-working man, and didn't spend much in drink, so he managed +to get a little money together, and he puts up half-a-dozen houses. The +end one were bigger than the rest, and had a bow-window to it.--Well, +Dick were a bachelor, and had an old housekeeper to do for him. When +his new houses were built, and he were just ready to go into his own, he +resolves to have a house-warming, and he invites me and three other +chaps to tea and supper with him. We'd some of us noticed as he'd been +sending a lot of things to the house for days past.--When the right day +was come, we goes to the front door, 'cos it looked more civil, and we +knocks. Dick himself comes to the door, and says through the keyhole, +`I must ask you to go round, for the door sticks, and I can't open it.' +So we goes round.--There were a very handsome clock in the passage, in a +grand mahogany case. `Seven o'clock!' says I, looking at it; `surely we +can't be so late.' `Oh no,' says he, `the clock stands. I got it dirt +cheap, but there's something amiss with the works. But it's a capital +clock, they tell me, entirely on a new principle.'--We was to have tea +in the best parlour. `Dear me,' says one of my mates, `what a smell of +gas!' `Yes,' says Dick; `ain't them beautiful gas-fittings? I got 'em +second-hand for an old song, but I'm afraid they leak a bit.'--We should +have been pretty comfortable at tea, only the window wouldn't shut +properly, and there came in such a draught as set us all sneezing. `I'm +sorry,' says Dick, `as you're inconvenienced by that draught; it's the +builder's fault. Of course I took the lowest estimate for these houses, +and the rascal's been and put me in green wood; but the carpenter shall +set it all right to-morrow.'--But the worst of all was, the gas escaped +so fast it had to be turned off at the meter. `Ah!' says he, `that +won't matter for to-night, for I've bought a famous lamp, a new patent. +I got it very reasonable, because the man who wanted to part with it +were giving up housekeeping and going abroad.' So we had the lamp in, +and a splendid looking thing it were; but I thought I saw a crack in the +middle, only I didn't like to say so. Well, all of a sudden, just in +the middle of the supper, the lamp falls right in two among the dishes, +and the oil all pours out over my neighbour's clothes. Such a scene +there was! I tried to keep from laughing, but I couldn't stop, though I +almost choked myself.--Dick, you may be sure, weren't best pleased. It +were a bad job altogether; so we bade good-night as soon as it were +civil to do so. But I shall never forget Dick Trundle's house-warming, +nor the lesson it taught me. + +"What we want, dear friends, is, not what's new, cheap, and showy, but +what's solid, and substantial, and thoroughly well made. Will it _wear_ +well? That's the question after all. Dick's fine things was just got +up for show; they'd no wear in 'em--they was cheap and worthless. Now +there's a deal of religion going in our day as is like Dick Trundle's +house and purchases; it's quite new, it makes a great show, it looks +very fine, till you come to search a little closer into it. But it +ain't according to the old Bible make: it don't get beyond the head; it +can't satisfy the heart. What we want is a religion that's real--just +the religion of the gospel, as puts Jesus Christ and his work first and +foremost. If you haven't got that, you've got nothing as you can depend +on it'll fail you when you most want it. It may be called very wide, +and very intelligent, and very enlightened, but it won't act in the day +of trouble, and when the conscience gets uneasy. + +"Well, now, we've got a happy company here to-night; we're many of us +total abstainers on principle and most of us, I hope, Bible Christians +on principle, after the old fashion; for, if we haven't Christ and his +Word for our foundation, we haven't got that as'll stand the test. No, +friends, take the word of Tommy Tracks--and you've got what'll confirm +what I say all round you in this meeting to-night--the life as is begun, +continued, and ended in the fear of God, and with the Bible for its +guide, and Jesus for its example, is the life that's just what you and I +were meant to live by the God who made us and redeemed us, and it's +plainly and unmistakably the life that _wears_ best." + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's True to his Colours, by Theodore P. 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