A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Edward Payson Roe (red seas under red skies .TXT) 📕

"I Hope So. I Do, Indeed, Hope That Egbert Will Now Come To His Senses,

And See Things And Duty In their True Light, As Other People Do,"

Ejaculated the Widow, Fervently. "If He Had Only Taken The Excellent

Advice You First Gave Him Here How Much Better It Would Have Been For Us

All! But Now--" A Dreary Sigh Closed the Sentence.

"But Now," Responded the Doctor, A Little Warmly, "The Lord Has Saved a

Soul From Death, And That Soul Is Your Only Son. It Appears To Me That

This Thought Should Swallow Up Every Other; And It Will, When You

Realize It," He Concluded, Heartily. "This World And The Fashion Of It

Passeth Away. Since All Promises Well For The World To Come, You Have

Only Cause For Joy. As For My Excellent Advice, I Was Better Pleased

With It At The Time Than The Lord Was. I Now Am Thankful That He Let It

Do No More Harm Than It Did."

"We Cannot Help The Past, Mother," Said Haldane, Eagerly, "Let Us Turn

Our Eyes To The Future, Which Is All Aglow With Hope. I Feel That God

Has Forgiven Me, And The Thought Fills My Heart With A Tumult Of Joy.

Your Warm Embrace Assures Me That You Have Also Forgiven The Wrong, The

Shame, And Sorrow You Have Received at My Hands. Henceforth It Shall Be

My Life-Effort That You Receive The Reverse Of All This. I At Last Feel

Within Me The Power To Live As A True Man Ought."

"I Trust Your Hopes May Be Realized, Egbert; I Do, Indeed; But You Were

So Confident Before--And Then We All Know What Followed," Concluded his

Mother, With A Shudder.

"My Present Feeling, My Present Motives, In no Respect Resemble My

Condition When I Started out Before. I Was Then A Conceited fool,

Ignorant Of Myself, The World, And The Task I Had Attempted. But Now I

Feel That All Is Different. Mother," He Exclaimed with A Rush Of

Emotion, "I Feel As If Heaven Had Almost Begun In my Heart! Why, Then,

Do You Cloud This Bright Hour With Doubts And Fears?"

"Well, My Son, We Will Hope For The Best," Said His Mother, Endeavoring

To Throw Off Her Despondency, And Share In the Spirit Which Animated her

Pastor. "But I Have Dwelt So Long In sorrow And Foreboding That It Will

Require Time Before I Can Recover My Old Natural Tone. These Sudden And

Strong Alternations Of Feeling and Action On Your Part Puzzle And

Disquiet Me, And I Cannot See Why One Brought Up As You Have Been Should

Not Maintain A Quiet, Well-Bred deportment, And Do Right As A Matter Of

Course, As Your Sisters Do. And Yet, If Dr. Marks Truly Thinks That You

Mean To Do Right From This Time Forward, I Shall Certainly Take Courage;

Though How We Are Going To Meet What Has Already Occurred i Hardly See."

"I Do, Indeed, Believe That Your Son Intends To Do Right, And I Also

Believe That The Lord Intends To Help Him--Which Is Of Far Greater

Consequence," Said Dr. Marks. "I Will Now Bid You Good-Night, As

To-Morrow Is The Sabbath; And Let Me Entreat You, My Dear Madam, In

Parting, To Further By Your Prayer And Sympathy The Good Work Which The

Lord Has Begun."

Haldane Insisted on Seeing The Old Gentleman Safely Back To His Study.

Their Ride Was A Rather Quiet One, Each Being Busy With His Own

Thoughts. The Good Man Had Found His Enthusiasm Strangely Quenched in

The Atmosphere In which Mrs. Haldane Dwelt, And Found That, In spite Of

Himself, He Was Sharing In her Doubts And Fears As To The Future Course

Of The Erratic And Impulsive Youth At His Side. He Blamed himself For

This, And Tried to Put Doubt Resolutely Away. By A Few Earnest Words He

Sought To Show The Young Man That Only As The Grace Of God Was Daily

Asked for And Daily Received could He Hope To Maintain The Christian

Life.

He Now Began To Realize What A Difficult Problem Was Before The Youth.

Society Would Be Slow To Give Him Credit For Changed motives And

Character, And As Proof Would Take Only Patient Continuance In

Well-Doing. The Good Doctor Now More Than Suspected that In his Own Home

Haldane Would Find Much That Was Depressing and Enervating. Worse Than

All, He Would Have To Contend With An Excitable And Ungoverned nature,

Already Sadly Warped and Biased wrongly. "What Will Be The Final

Result?" Sighed the Old Gentleman To Himself. But He Soon Fell Back

Hopefully On His Belief That The Lord Had Begun A Good Work And Would

Finish It.

Haldane Listened attentively And Gratefully To All That His Old Friend

Had To Say, And Felt Sure That He Could And Would Follow The Advice

Given. Never Before Had Right Living Seemed so Attractive, And The Path

Of Duty So Luminous. But The Thought That Chiefly Filled him With Joy

Was That Henceforth He Would Not Be Compelled to Plod Forward As A Weary

Pilgrim. He Felt That He Had Wings; Some Of The Divine Strength Had Been

Given Him. He Believed himself Changed, Renewed, Transformed; He Was

Confident That His Old Self Had Perished and Passed away, And That, As A

New Creature, Ennobling Tendencies Would Control Him Completely. He Felt

That Prayer Would Henceforth Be As Natural As Breathing, And Praise And

Worship, The Strong And Abiding Instincts Of His Heart.

When Haldane Returned he Found That His Sisters Had Retired. He Was Not

Sorry, For He Wished a Long And Unrestrained talk With His Mother; But

That Lady Pleaded that The Events Of The Evening Had So Unnerved her,

And That There Was So Much To Be Considered, That She Must Have Quiet.

In The Morning They Would Try To Realize Their Situation, And Decide

Upon The Best Course To Be Pursued.

Even In his Exaltation The Last Suggestion Struck Haldane Unpleasantly.

Might Not His Mother Mark Out, And Take As A Test Of His Sincerity, Some

Course That Would Accord With Her Ideas Of Right, But Not With His? But

The Present Hour Was So Full Of Mystical And Inexplicable Happiness That

He Gave Himself Up To It, Believing That The Divine Hands, In which He

Believed himself To Be, Would Provide For Him As A Helpless Child Is

Cared for.

The Mill-People Among Whom He Had Worked the Previous Week Would

Scarcely Have Recognized him As He Came Down To Breakfast The Following

Morning, Dressed with Taste And Elegance. It Was Evident That His

Sisters Could Endure Him With Better Grace Than When Clad In his Coarse,

Working Garb, Redolent With The Hitherto Unimagined odors Pertaining To

Well-Oiled machinery. They, With His Mother, Greeted him, However, With

The Air Of Those Who Are In the Midst Of The Greatest Misfortunes, But

Who Hope They See A Coming Ray Of Light.

With Their Sincere But Conventional Ideas Of Life He Was, In truth, A

Difficult Problem. Nor Can They Be Very Greatly Blamed. This Youth, Who

Might Have Been Their Natural Protector Against Every Scandalous And

Contemptuous Word, And Whose Arm It Would Have Been Their Pride To Take

Before The World, Had Now Such A Reputation That Only An Affection

All-Absorbing and Unselfish Would Be Willing To Brave The Curious And

Scornful Stare That Follows One Who Had Been So Disgraced. Mrs. Haldane

And Her Daughters Were Not Without Natural Affection, But They Were

Morbidly Sensitive To Public Opinion. Like Many Who Live Somewhat

Secluded from The World, They Imagined that Vague And Dreaded entity Was

Giving Them Much More Attention Than It Did. "What Will People Say?" Was

A Terrible Question To Them.

Nothing Could Be Further From Their Nature Than An Attempt To Attract

The World'S Attention By Loud Manners Or Flaunting Dress; But It Was

Essential To Their Peace That Good Society Should Regard Them As

Eminently Respectable, Aristocratic, And High-Toned--As A Family Far

Removed from Vulgar And Ordinary Humanity. That Their Name, In the

Person Of A Son And Brother, Had Been Dragged through Courts, Criminal

Records, And Jails, Was An Unparalleled disaster, That Grew More

Overwhelming as They Brooded over It. It Seemed to Them That The World'S

Great Eye Was Turned full Upon Them In scorn And Wonder, And That Only

By Maintaining Their Perfect Seclusion, Or By Hiding among Strangers,

Could They Escape Its Cruel Glare.

After All, Their Feelings Were Only Morbid Developments Of The Instincts

Of A Refined womanly Nature; But The Trouble Was, They Had Not The

Womanly Largeness Of Heart And Affection Which Would Have Made Them

Equal To The Emergency, However Painful. Poor Mrs. Haldane Was One Of

Those Unfortunate People Who Always Fall Below The Occasion; Indeed, She

Seldom Realized it. Providence Had Now Given Her A Chance To Atone For

Much Of Her Former Weakness And Ruinous Indulgence, But Her Little Mind

Was Chiefly Engrossed with The Question, What Can We Do To Smooth

Matters Over, And Regain Something Like Our Old Standing In society? As

The Result Of A Long Consultation With Her Daughters, It Was Concluded

That Their Best Course Was To Go Abroad. There They Could Venture Out

With Him Who Was The Skeleton Of The Household, Without Having Every One

Turn And Look After Them With All Kinds Of Comment Upon Their Lips.

After Several Years In europe They Hoped society Would Be Inclined to

Forget And Overlook The Miserable Record Of The Past Few Months.

That The Young Man Himself Would Offer Opposition To The Plan, And

Prefer To Return To The Scene Of His Disgrace, And To His Sordid Toil,

Did Not Enter Their Minds.

In The Enthusiasm Of His New-Born Faith Haldane Had Determined to Face

The Public Gaze, And Hear Dr. Marks Preach. It Is True, He Had Greatly

Dreaded the Ordeal--And For His Mother And Sisters, Far More Than For

Himself. When He Began To Intimate Something Of This Feeling His Mother

Promptly Motioned to The Waitress To Withdraw From The Room. He Then

Soon Learned that They Had Not Attended church Since Mrs. Haldane'S

Return From Her Memorable Visit To Hillaton, And That They Had No

Intention Of Going To-Day.

"The Very Thought Makes Me Turn Faint And Sick," Said The Poor, Weak

Gentlewoman.

"We Should Feel Like Sinking Through The Floor Of The Aisle," Chorused

The Pallid Young Ladies.

Haldane Ceased partaking Of His Breakfast At Once, And Leaned back In

His Chair.

"Do You Mean To Say," He Asked gloomily, "That My Folly Has Turned this

House Into A Tomb, And That You Will Bury Yourselves Here Indefinitely?"

"Well," Sighed the Mother, "If We Live This Wretched life Of Seclusion,

Brooding Over Our Troubles Much Longer, Smaller Tombs Will Suffice Us.

You See That Your Sisters Are Beginning To Look Like Ghosts, And I'M

Sure I Feel That I Can Never Lift Up My Head Again. I Know It Is Said

That Time Works Wonders. Perhaps If We Went Abroad For A Few Years, And

Then Resided in some Other City, Or In the Seclusion Of Some Quiet

Country Place, We Might Escape This--" And Mrs. Haldane Finished with A

Sigh That Was Far Worse Than Any Words Could Have Been. After A Moment

She Concluded: "But, Of Course, We Cannot Go Out Here, Where All That

Has Happened is So Fresh, And Uppermost In every One'S Mind. The More I

Think Of It, The More Decided i Am That The Best Thing For Us All Is To

Go To Some Quiet Watering-Place In europe, Where There Are But Few, If

Any, Americans; And In time We May Feel Differently."

Her Son Ate No More Breakfast. He Was Beginning To Realize, As He Had

Not Before, That He Was In a Certain Sense A Corpse, Which This Decorous

And Exquisitely Refined family Could Not Bury, But Would Hide As Far As

Possible.

"You Then Expect Me To Go With You To Europe?" He Said.

"Certainly. We Could Not Go Without A Gentleman."

"That I Scarcely Am Now, Mother, In your Estimation Or In society'S. I

Think You Could Get On Better