A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Edward Payson Roe (red seas under red skies .TXT) π
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- Author: Edward Payson Roe
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Herself. Poland Was A Square, Successful Business Man, But I Fear He Did
Not Lay Up Much. He Was Too Open-Hearted and Free-Handed--A Typical
Southerner I Suppose You Would Say At The North, That Is, Those Of You
Who Don'T Think Of Us As All Slave-Drivers And Slave-Traders. I Expect
The North And South Will Have To Have A Good, Square, Stand-Up Fight
Before They Understand Each Other."
"God Forbid!" Ejaculated haldane.
"Well, I Don'T Think You And I Will Ever Quarrel. You May Call Us What
You Please If You Will Take Care Of Poland'S Family."
"I Have Already Learned to Have A Very Thorough Respect Both For Your
Head And Heart, Doctor Orton."
"I'M Considerably Worse Than They Average Down Here. But As I Was
Telling You, Mrs. Poland Was A New England Woman, And To Humor Her Her
Husband Employed such White Servants As Could Be Got In the City, And
Poor Trash They Were Most Of The Time. When The Fever Appeared they Left
Instantly. Poland Bought The Old Colored people Who Are There With The
Place, And Gave Them Their Freedom, And Only They Have Stood By Them.
What They Would Have Done Last Night If You Had Not Come, God Only
Knows. Poor Amy, Poor Amy!" Sighed the Old Doctor Tempestuously; "She'S
The Prettiest And Pluckiest Little Girl In the City. She'S Half
Frightened out Of Her Wits, I Can See That, And Yet Nothing But Force
Could Get Her Away. For My Nephew'S Sake And Her Own I Tried hard To
Induce Her To Go, But She Stands Her Ground Like A Soldier. What Is Best
Now I Hardly Know. Mrs. Poland Is So Utterly Prostrated that It Might
Cost Her Life To Move Her. Besides, They Have All Been So Terribly
Exposed to The Disease That They Might Be Taken With It On The Journey,
And To Have Them Go Wandering Off The Lord Knows Where At This Chaotic
Time Looks To Me About As Bad As Staying Where They Are, And I Can Look
After Them. But We'Ll See, We'Ll See." And In like Manner The Sorely
Troubled old Gentleman Talked rapidly On, Till They Reached the
Undertaker'S, Seemingly Finding a Relief In thus Unburdening His Heart
To One Of Whose Sympathy He Felt Sure, And Who Might Thus Be Led to Feel
A Deeper Interest In the Objects Of His Charge.
Even At That Time Of General Disaster Haldane'S Abundant Funds Enabled
Him To Secure Prompt Attention. It Was Decided that Mr. Poland'S Remains
Should Be Placed in a Receiving Vault Until Such Time As They Could Be
Removed to The Family Burying-Ground In another City, And Before The Day
Closed everything Had Been Attended to In the Manner Which Refined
Christian Feeling Would Dictate.
Before Parting With Haldane, Doctor Orton Had Given Him Careful
Directions What To Do In case He Recognized symptoms Of The Fever In any
Of The Family Or Himself. "Keep Amy And Bertha With Their Mother All You
Can," He Said; "Anything To Rouse The Poor Woman From That Stony Despair
Into Which She Seems To Have Fallen."
The Long Day At Length Came To An End. Haldane Of Necessity Had Been
Much Away, And He Welcomed the Cool And Quiet Evening; And Yet He Knew
That With The Shadow Of Night, Though So Grateful After The Glare And
Heat To Which He Had Been Subjected, The Fatal Pestilence Approached the
Nearer, As If To Strike A Deadlier Blow. As The Pioneer Forefathers Of
The City Had Shut Their Doors And Windows At Nightfall, Lest Their
Savage And Lurking Foes Should Send A Fatal Arrow From Some Dusky
Covert, So Now Again, With The Close Of The Day, All Doors And Windows
Must Be Shut Against A More Subtle And Remorseless Enemy, Whose Viewless
Shafts Sped with A Surer Aim In darkness.
Amy Had Spent Much Of The Day In unburdening Her Heart In a Long Letter
To Her Cousin Laura, In which In her Own Vivid Way She Portrayed the
Part Haldane Had Acted toward Them. She Had Also Written To Her Distant
And Unconscious Lover, And Feeling That It Might Be The Last Time, She
Had Poured out To Him A Passion That Was As Intense And Yet As Pure As
The Transparent Flame That We Sometimes See Issuing From The Heart Of
The Hard-Wood Maple, As We Sit Brooding Over Our Winter Fire.
"Come And Sit With Us, And As One Of Us," She Had Said To Haldane, And
So They Had All Gathered at The Bedside Of The Widow, Who Had Scarcely
Strength To Do More Than Fix Her Dark, Wistful Eyes On One And Another
Of The Group. She Was So Bewildered and Overwhelmed with Her Loss That
Her Mind Had Partially Suspended its Action. She Saw And Heard
Everything; She Remembered it All Afterward; But Now The Very Weight Of
The Blow Had So Stunned her That She Was Mercifully Saved from The Agony
Of Full Consciousness.
Little Bertha Climbed upon Haldane'S Lap And Pleaded for A Story.
"Yes, Bertie," He Said, "And I Think I Know A Story That You Would Like.
You Remember I Told You That Your Papa Had Gone Away With Jesus; Would
You Not Like To Hear A Story About This Good Friend Of Your Papa'S?"
"Yes, Yes, I Would. Do You Know Much About Him?"
"Quite A Good Deal, For He'S My Friend Too. I Know One True Story About
Him That I Often Like To Think Of. Listen, And I Will Tell It To You.
Jesus Is The God Who Made Us, And He Lives 'Way Up Above The Sky.' But
He Not Only Made Us, Bertie, But He Also Loves Us, And In order To Show
Us How He Loves Us He Is Always Coming To This World To Do Us Good; And
Once He Came And Lived here Just Like A Man, So That We Might All Be
Sure That He Cared for Us And Wanted to Make Us Good And Happy. Well, At
That Time When He Lived here In this World As A Man He Had Some True
Friends Who Loved him And Believed in him. At A Certain Time They Were
All Staying On The Shore Of A Sea, And One Evening Jesus Told His
Friends To Take A Little Boat And Go Over To The Other Side Of The Sea,
And He Would Meet Them There. Then Jesus, Who Wanted to Be Alone, Went
Up The Side Of The Mountain That Rose From The Water'S Edge. Then Night
Came And It Began To Grow Darker And Darker, And At Last It Was So Dark
That The Friends Of Jesus That Were In the Boat Could Only See A Very
Little Way. Then A Moaning, Sighing Wind Began To Rise, And The Poor Men
In The Boat Saw That A Storm Was Coming, And They Pulled hard With Their
Oars In hopes Of Getting Over On The Other Side Before The Storm Became
Very Bad; But By The Time They Reached the Very Middle Of The Sea, The
Wind Began To Blow Furiously, Just As You Have Seen It Blow When The
Trees Bent 'Way Over Toward The Ground, And Some Perhaps Were Broken
Down. A Strong Wind At Sea Makes The Water Rise Up In waves, And These
Waves Began To Beat Against The Boat, And Before Very Long Some Of The
Highest Ones Would Dash Into It. The Men Pulled with Their Oars With All
Their Might, But It Was Of No Use; The Wind Was Right Against Them, And
Though They Did Their Best Hour After Hour, They Still Could Get No
Nearer The Shore. How Sad And Full Of Danger Was Their Condition! The
Dark, Dark Night Was Above And Around Them, The Dark, Angry Waves
Dashing By And Over Them, The Cold, Black Depths Of Water Beneath Them,
And No Sound In their Ears But The Wild, Rushing Storm. What Do You
Think Became Of Them?"
"I'M Afraid They Were Drowned," Said Bertha, Looking Up With Eyes That
Were Full Of Fear And Trouble.
"Have You Forgotten Jesus?"
"But He'S 'Way Off On The Side Of The Mountain."
"He Is Never So Far From His Friends But That He Can See Them And Know
All About Them. He Saw These Friends In the Boat, For Jesus Can See In
The Darkness As Well As In the Light; And When The Night Grew Darkest,
And The Waves Were Highest, And His Friends Most Weary And Discouraged,
He Came To Them So That They Might Know That He Could Save Them, When
They Felt They Could Not Save Themselves. And He Came As No Other Help
Could Have Come--Walking Over The Very Waves That Threatened to Swallow
Up His Friends; And When He Was Near To Them He Called out, 'Be Of Good
Cheer, It Is I; Be Not Afraid.' Then He Went Right Up To The Boat And
Stepped into It Among His Friends. Oh! What A Happy Change His Coming
Made, For The Winds Ceased, The Waves Went Down, And In a Very Little
While The Boat Reached the Sea-Shore. The Bright Sun Rose Up, The
Darkness Fled away, And The Friends Of Jesus Were Safe. They Have Been
Safe Ever Since. Nothing Can Harm Jesus' Friends. He Takes Care Of Them
From Day To Day, From Year To Year, And From Age To Age. Whenever They
Are In trouble Or Pain Or Danger He Comes To Them As He Did To His
Friends In the Boat, And He Brings Them Safely Through It All. Don'T You
Think He Is A Good Friend To Have?"
"Isn'T I Too Little To Be His Friend?"
"No, Indeed; No One Ever Loved little Children As He Does. He Used to
Take Them In his Arms And Bless Them, And He Said, 'Suffer Them To Come
To Me'; And Where He Lives He Has Everything Beautiful To Make Little
Children Happy."
"And You Say Papa Is With Him?"
"Yes, Papa Is With Him."
"Why Can'T We All Go To Him Now?"
"As Soon As He Is Ready For Us He Will Come For Us."
"I Wish He Was Ready For Mamma, Amy, And Me Now, And Then We Could All
Be Together. It'S So Lonely Without Papa. Oh! I'M So Tired," She Added
After A Few Moments, And A Little Later Her Head Dropped against
Haldane'S Breast, And She Was Asleep.
"Mr. Haldane," Said Amy In a Low, Agitated voice, "Have You Embodied
Your Faith In that Story To Bertha?"
"Yes, Miss Amy."
"Why Do You Think"--And She Hesitated. "How Do You Know," She Began
Again, "That Any Such Being as Jesus Exists And Comes To Any One'S
Help?"
"Granting That The Story I Have Told You Is True, How Did His Disciples
Know That He Came To Their Help? Did Not The Hushed winds Prove It? Did
Not The Quieted waters Prove It? Did Not His Presence With Them Assure
Them Of It? By Equal Proof I Know That He Can And Will Come To The Aid
Of Those Who Look To Him For Aid. I Have Passed through Darker Nights
And Wilder Storms Than Ever Lowered over The Sea Of Galilee, And I Know
By Simple, Practical, Happy Experience That Jesus Christ, Through His
All-Pervading Spirit, Has Come To Me In my Utter Extremity Again And
Again, And That I Have The Same As Felt His Rescuing Hand. Not That My
Trials And Temptations Have Been Greater Than Those Of Many Others, But
I Have Been Weaker Than Others, And I Have Often Been Conscious Of His
Sustaining Power When Otherwise I Would Have Sunk Beneath My Burden.
This Is Not A Theory, Miss Amy, Nor The Infatuation Of A Few Ignorant
People. It Is The Downright Experience Of Multitudes In every Walk Of
Life, And, On Merely Scientific Grounds, Is Worth As Much As Any Other
Experience. This Story Of Jesus Gains The Sympathy Of Little Bertha; It
Also Commands The Reverent Belief Of The Most Gifted and Cultivated
Minds In the World."
"Oh, That I Could Believe All This; But There Is So Much Mystery, So
Much That Is Dark." Then She Glanced at Her Mother, Who Had Turned away
Her Face And Seemed to Be Sleeping, And She Asked: "If Christ Is So
Strong To Help And Save, Why Is He Not Strong To Prevent Evil? Why Is
There A Cry Of Agony Going Up From This Stricken City? Why Must Father
Die Who Was Everything To Us? Why Must Mother Suffer So? Why Am I So
Shadowed by An Awful Fear? Life Means So Much To Me. I Love It," She
Continued in low Yet Passionate Tones. "I Love The Song Of Birds, The
Breath Of Flowers, The Sunlight, And Every Beautiful Thing. I Love
Sensation. I Am Not One Who Finds A Tame And Tranquil Pleasure In the
Things I Like
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