A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, Edward Payson Roe [top young adult novels TXT] 📗
- Author: Edward Payson Roe
Book online «A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, Edward Payson Roe [top young adult novels TXT] 📗». Author Edward Payson Roe
Rose-Bugs And A Good Many Worse Things. I Notice, However, That In spite
Of All These Enemies People Manage To Raise A Great Deal That'S Very
Nice Every Year. Suppose We Try It."
They Were Soon At Work, And Haldane Felt The Better For A Few Hours'
Exercise In the Open Air.
The Next Morning Mrs. Arnot Brought Some Papers Which She Said A Legal
Friend Wished copied, And She Left With Them, Inclosed in an Envelope,
Payment In advance. After She Had Gone Haldane Offered the Money To Mr.
Growther, But The Old Man Only Growled:
"Chuck It In a Drawer, And The One Of Us Who Wants It First Can Have
It."
For The Next Two Or Three Weeks Mrs. Arnot, By The Dint Of Considerable
Effort, Kept Up A Supply Of Mss., Of Which Copies Were Required, And She
Supplemented the Prices Which The Parties Concerned were Willing To Pay.
Her Charitable And Helpful Habits Were Well Known To Her Friends, And
They Often Enabled her Thus To Aid Those To Whom She Could Not Give
Money Direct. But This Uncertain Employment Would Soon Fail, And What
Her Protege Was Then To Do She Could Not Foresee. No One Would Trust
Him, And No One Cared to Have Him About His Premises.
But In the Meantime The Young Man Was Thinking Deeply For Himself. He
Soon Concluded not To Make Mr. Growther'S Humble Cottage A Hiding-Place;
And He Commenced walking abroad Through The City After The Work Of The
Day. He Assumed no Bravado, But Went Quietly On His Way Like Any Other
Passer-By. The Majority Of Those Who Knew Who He Was Either Ignored his
Existence, Or Else Looked curiously After Him, But Some Took Pains To
Manifest Their Contempt. He Could Not Have Been More Lonely And Isolated
If He Were Walking a Desert.
Among The Promises He Had Made Mrs. Arnot Was That He Would Attend
Church, And She Naturally Asked him To Come To Her Own.
"As You Feel Toward My Husband, It Will Probably Not Be Pleasant For You
To Come To Our Pew" She Had Said; "But I Hope The Time Will Come When
Bygones Will Be Bygones. The Sexton, However, Will Give You A Seat, And
Our Minister Preaches Excellent Sermons"
Not Long After, True To His Word, The Young Man Went A Little Early, As
He Wished to Be As Unobtrusive As Possible. At The Same Time There Was
Nothing Furtive Or Cringing In his Nature. As He Had Openly Done Wrong,
He Was Now Resolved to Try As Openly To Do Right, And Let People Ascribe
Whatever Motive They Chose.
But His Heart Misgave Him As He Approached the New Elegant Church On The
Most Fashionable Street. He Felt That His Clothes Were Not In keeping
With Either The Place Of Worship Or The Worshippers.
Mr. Arnot'S Confidential Clerk Was Talking With The Sexton As He
Hesitatingly Mounted the Granite Steps, And He Saw That Dignified
Functionary, Who Seemed in some Way Made To Order With The Church Over
Which He Presided, Eye Him Askance While He Lent An Ear To What Was
Evidently A Bit Of His History. Walking Quietly But Firmly Up To The
Official, Haldane Asked:
"Will You Give Me A Seat, Sir?"
The Man Reddened, Frowned, And Then Said:
"Really, Sir, Our Seats Are Generally Taken Sunday Mornings. I Think You
Will Feel More At Home At Our Mission Chapel In guy Street."
"And Among The Guys, Why Don'T You Add?" Retorted haldane, His Old
Spirit Flashing Up, And He Turned on His Heel And Stalked back To Mr.
Growther'S Cottage.
"Short Sermon To-Day," Said The Old Man Starting Out Of A Doze.
Haldane Told Him Of His Reception.
The Wrinkles In the Quaint Visage Of His Host Grew Deep And Complicated,
As Though He Had Tasted something Very Bitter, And He Remarked
Sententiously:
"If Satan Could He'D Pay That Sexton A Whoppin' Sum To Stand At The Door
And Keep Sinners Out."
"No Need of The Devil Paying Him Anything; The Well-Dressed christians
See To That. As I Promised mrs. Arnot To Come, I Tried to Keep My Word,
But This Flunky'S Face And Manner Alone Are Enough To Turn Away Such As
I Am. None But The Eminently Respectable Need apply At That Gate Of
Heaven. If It Were Not For Mrs. Arnot I Would Believe The Whole Thing a
Farce."
"Is Jesus Christ A Farce?" Asked the Practical Mr. Growther, Testily.
"What Is The Use Of Jumping Five Hundred miles From The Truth Because
You'Ve Happened to Run Afoul Of Some Of Those Pharisees That He Cussed?"
Haldane Laughed and Said, "You Have A Matter-Of-Fact Way Of Putting
Things That There Is No Escaping. It Will, Probably, Do Me More Good To
Stay Home And Read The Bible To You Than To Be At Church."
The Confidential Clerk, Who Had Remained gossiping In the Vestibule,
Thought The Scene He Had Witnessed worth Mentioning To His Employer, Who
Entered with Mrs. Arnot Not Very Long After, And Lingered for A Word Or
Two. The Man Of Business Smiled grimly, And Passed on. He Usually
Attended church Once A Day, Partly From Habit And Partly Because It Was
The Respectable Thing To Do. He Had Been Known To Remark That He Never
Lost Anything By It, For Some Of His Most Successful Moves Suggested
Themselves To His Mind During The Monotony Of The Service.
To Annoy His Wife, And Also To Gratify A Disposition To Sneer At The
Faults Of Christians, Mr. Arnot, At The Dinner, Commenced to Commend
Ironically The Sexton'S Course.
"A Most Judicious Man!" He Affirmed. "Saint Peter Himself At The Gate
Could Not More Accurately Strain Out The Saints From The Sinners--Nay,
He Is Even Keener-Eyed than Saint Peter, For He Can Tell First-Class
From Second-Class Saints. Though Our Church Is Not Full, I Now
Understand Why We Have A Mission Chapel. You May Trust 'Jeems' To Keep
Out All But The Very First-Class--Those Who Can Exchange Silk And
Broadcloth For The White Robe. But What On Earth Could Have Brought
About Such A Speedy Transition From Jail To Church On The Part Of
Haldane?"
"I Invited him," Said Mrs. Arnot, In a Pained tone; "But I Did Not Think
It Would Be To Meet With Insult"
"Insult! Quite The Reverse. I Should Think That Such As He Ought To Feel
It An Honor To Be Permitted a Place Among The Second-Class Saints."
Mrs. Arnot'S Thoughts Were Very Busy That Afternoon. She Was Not By
Nature An Innovator, And, Indeed, Was Inclined to Accept The Established
Order Of Things Without Very Close Questioning. Her Christian Life Had
Been Developed chiefly By Circumstances Purely Personal, And She Had
Unconsciously Found Walks Of Usefulness Apart From The Organized church
Work. But She Was A Devout Worshipper And A Careful Listener To The
Truth. It Had Been Her Custom To Ride To The Morning Service, And, As
They Resided some Distance From The Church, To Remain At Home In the
Evening, Giving all In her Employ A Chance To Go Out.
Concerning The Financial Affairs Of The Church She Was Kept Well
Informed, For She Was A Liberal Contributor, And Also To All Other Good
Causes Presented. From Earliest Years Her Eye Had Always Been Accustomed
To The Phases Presented by A Fashionable Church, And Everything Moved
Forward So Quietly And With Such Sacred decorum That The Thought Of
Anything Wrong Did Not Occur To Her.
But The Truth That One Who Was Endeavoring To Lead A Better Life Had
Been Practically Turned from The Door Of God'S House Seemed to Her A
Monstrous Thing. How Much Truth Was There In her Husband'S Sarcasm? How
Far Did Her Church Represent The Accessible Jesus Of Nazareth, To Whom
All Were Welcomed, Or How Far Did It Misrepresent Him? Now That Her
Attention Was Called to The Fact, She Remembered that The Congregation
Was Chiefly Made Up Of The _Elite_ Of The City, And That She Rarely
Had Seen Any One Present Who Did Not Clearly Present The Fullest
Evidence Of Respectability. Were Those Whom The Master Most Emphatically
Came To Seek And Save Excluded? She Determined to Find Out Speedily.
Summoning Her Coachman, She Told Him That She Wished to Attend Church
That Evening. She Dressed herself Very Plainly, And Entered the Church
Closely Veiled. Instead Of Going To Her Own Pew, She Asked the Judicious
And Discriminating Sexton For A Seat. After A Careless Glance He Pointed
To One Of The Seats Near The Door, And Turned his Back Upon Her. A
Richly Dressed lady And Gentleman Entered soon After, And He Was All
Attention, Marshalling Them Up The Aisle Into Mrs. Arnot'S Own Pew,
Since It Was Known She Did Not Occupy It In the Evening. A Few Decent,
Plain-Looking Women, Evidently Sent Thither By The Wealthy Families In
Whose Employ They Were, Came In hesitatingly, And Those Who Did Not Take
Seats Near The Entrance, As A Matter Of Course, Were Motioned thither
Without Ceremony. The Audience Room Was But Sparsely Filled, Large
Families Being Represented by One Or Two Members Or Not At All. But Mrs.
Arnot Saw None Of Haldane'S Class Present--None Who Looked as If They
Were In danger, And Needed a Kind, Strong, Rescuing Hand--None Who
Looked hungry And Athirst For Truth Because Perishing For Its Lack. In
That Elegant And Eminently Respectable Place, Upholstered and Decorated
With Faultless Taste, There Was Not A Hint Of Publicans And Sinners. One
Might Suppose He Was In the Midst Of The Millennium, And That The
Classes To Whom Christ Preached had All Become So Thoroughly Converted
That They Did Not Even Need to Attend Church. There Was Not A Suggestion
Of The Fact That But A Few Blocks Away Enough To Fill The Empty Pews
Were Living Worse Than Heathen Lives.
The Choir Performed their Part Melodiously, And A Master In music Could
Have Found No Fault With The Technical Rendering Of The Musical Score.
They Were Paid To Sing, And They Gave To Such Of Their Employers As
Cared to Be Present Every Note As It Was Written, In its Full Value. As
Never Before, It Struck Mrs. Arnot As A Performance. The Service She Had
Attended hitherto Was Partly The Creation Of Her Own Earnest And
Devotional Spirit. To-Night She Was Learning To Know The Service As It
Really Existed.
The Minister Was Evidently A Conscientious Man, For He Had Prepared his
Evening Discourse For His Thin Audience As Thoroughly As He Had His
Morning Sermon. Every Word Was Carefully Written Down, And The Thought
Of The Text Was Exhaustively Developed. But Mrs. Arnot Was Too Far Back
To Hear Well. The Poor Man Seemed weary And Discouraged with The Arid
Wastes Of Empty Seats Over Which He Must Scatter The Seeds Of Truth To
No Purpose. He Looked dim And Ghostly In the Far-Away Pulpit, And In
Spite Of Herself His Sermon Began To Have The Aspect Of A Paid
Performance, The Effect Of Which Would Scarcely Be More Appreciable Than
The Sighing Of The Wind Without. The Keenest Theologian Could Not Detect
The Deviation Of A Hair From The Received orthodox Views, And The
Majority Present Were Evidently Satisfied that His Views Would Be
Correct, For They Did Not Give Very Close Attention. The Few Plain
Domestics Near Her Dozed and Nodded through The Hour, And So Gained some
Physical Preparation For The Toils Of The Week, But Their Spiritual
Natures Were As Clearly Dormant As Their Lumpish Bodies.
After The Service Mrs. Arnot Lingered, To See If Any One Would Speak To
Her As A Stranger And Ask Her To Come Again. Such Was Clearly Not The
Habit Of The Congregation. She Felt That Her Black Veil, An Evidence Of
Sorrow, Was A Sort Of Signal Of Distress Which Ought To Have Lured some
One To Her Side With A Kind Word Or Two, But Beyond A Few Curious
Glances She Was Unnoticed. People Spoke Who Were Acquainted, Who Had
Been Introduced to Each Other. As The Worshippers (?) Hastened out, Glad
To Escape To Regions Where Living Questions And Interests Existed, The
Sexton, Who Had Been Dozing In a Comfortable Corner, Bustled to The Far
End Of The Church, And Commenced, With An Assistant, Turning Out The
Lights On Either Side So Rapidly That It Seemed as If A Wave Of Darkness
Was Following Those Who Had Come Thither Ostensibly Seeking Light.
Mrs. Arnot Hastened to Her Carriage, Where It Stood Under The Obscuring
Shadow Of A Tree, And Was Driven Home Sad And Indignant--Most Indignant
At Herself That She Had Been So Absorbed in her Own Thoughts And Life
That She Had Not Discovered that The Church To Build And Sustain Which
She Had Given So Liberally Was Scarcely Better Than A Costly
Refrigerator.
Comments (0)