After walking through the woods a considerable distance in perfect
silence--for the suddenness of the disaster seemed to have bereft the
two friends of speech--Tom Brixton turned abruptly and said--
"Well, Fred, we're in a nice fix now. What is to be our next move in
this interesting little game?"
Fred Westly shook his head with an air of profound perplexity, but said
nothing.
"I've a good mind," continued Tom, "to return to Pine Tree Diggings,
give myself up, and get hanged right off. It would be a good riddance
to the world at large, and would relieve me of a vast deal of trouble."
"There is a touch of selfishness in that speech, Tom--don't you think?--
for it would not relieve _me_ of trouble; to say nothing of your poor
mother!"
"You're right, Fred. D'you know, it strikes me that I'm a far more
selfish and despicable brute than I used to think myself."
He looked at his companion with a sad sort of smile; nevertheless, there
was a certain indefinable ring of sincerity in his tone.
"Tom," said the other, earnestly, "will you wait for me here for a few
minutes while I turn aside to pray?"
"Certainly, old boy," answered Tom, seating himself on a mossy bank.
"You know I cannot join you."
"I know you can't, Tom. It would be mockery to pray to One in whom you
don't believe; but as _I_ believe in God, the Bible, and prayer, you'll
excuse my detaining you, just for--"
"Say no more, Fred. Go; I shall wait here for you."
A slight shiver ran through Brixton's frame as he sat down, rested his
elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands.
"God help me!" he exclaimed, under a sudden impulse, "I've come down
_very_ low, God help me!"
Fred soon returned.
"You prayed for guidance, I suppose?" said Tom, as his friend sat down
beside him.
"I did."
"Well, what is the result?"
"There is no result as yet--except, of course, the calmer state of my
mind, now that I have committed our case into our Father's hands."
"_Your_ Father's, you mean."
"No, I mean _our_, for He is your father as well as mine, whether you
admit it or not. Jesus has bought you and paid for you, Tom, with His
own blood. You are not your own."
"Not my own? bought and paid for!" thought Brixton, recalling the scene
in which words of somewhat similar import had been addressed to him.
"Bought and paid for--twice bought! Body and soul!" Then, aloud, "And
what are you going to do now, Fred?"
"Going to discuss the situation with you."
"And after you have discussed it, and acted according to our united
wisdom, you will say that you have been guided."
"Just so! That is exactly what I will say and believe, for `He is
faithful who has promised.'"
"And if you make mistakes and go wrong, you will still hold, I suppose,
that you have been guided?"
"Undoubtedly I will--not guided, indeed, into the mistakes, but guided
to what will be best in the long-run, in spite of them."
"But Fred, how can you call guidance in the wrong direction _right_
guidance?"
"Why, Tom, can you not conceive of a man being guided wrongly as regards
some particular end he has in view, and yet that same guidance being
right, because leading him to something far better which, perhaps, he
has _not_ in view?"
"So that" said Tom, with a sceptical laugh, "whether you go right or go
wrong, you are sure to come right in the end!"
"Just so! `_All_ things work together for good to them that love God.'"
"Does not that savour of Jesuitism, Fred, which teaches the detestable
doctrine that you may do evil if good is to come of it?"
"Not so, Tom; because I did not understand you to use the word _wrong_
in the sense of _sinful_, but in the sense of erroneous--mistaken. If I
go in a wrong road, knowing it to be wrong, I sin; but if I go in a
wrong road mistakenly, I still count on guidance, though not perhaps to
the particular end at which I aimed--nevertheless, guidance to a _good_
end. Surely you will admit that no man is perfect?"
"Admitted."
"Well, then, imperfection implies mistaken views and ill-directed
action, more or less, in every one, so that if we cannot claim to be
guided by God except when free from error in thought and act, then there
is no such thing as Divine guidance at all. Surely you don't hold
that!"
"Some have held it."
"Yes; `the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God,'--some have
even gone the length of letting it out of the heart and past the lips.
With such we cannot argue; their case admits only of pity and prayer."
"I agree with you there, Fred; but if your views are not Jesuitical,
they seem to me to be strongly fatalistic. Commit one's way to God, you
say; then, shut one's eyes, drive ahead anyhow, and--the end will be
sure to be all right!"
"No, I did not say that. With the exception of the first sentence, Tom,
that is your way of stating the case, not God's way. If you ask in any
given difficulty, `What shall I do?' His word replies, `Commit thy way
unto the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.' If
you ask, `How am I to know what is best?' the Word again replies, `hear,
ye deaf; look, ye blind, that you may see.' Surely that is the reverse
of shutting the eyes, isn't it? If you say, `how shall I act?' the Word
answers, `A good man will guide his affairs with discretion.' That's
not driving ahead anyhow, is it?"
"You may be right," returned Tom, "I hope you are. But, come, what does
your wisdom suggest in the present difficulty?"
"The first thing that occurs to me," replied the other, "is what
Flinders said, just before we were ordered off by the robbers. `Keep
round by Bevan's Gully,' he said, in the midst of his serio-comic
leave-taking; and again he said, `Bevan's Gully--sharp!' Of course
Paddy, with his jokes and stammering, has been acting a part all through
this business, and I am convinced that he has heard something about
Bevan's Gully; perhaps an attack on Bevan himself, which made him wish
to tell us to go there."
"Of course; how stupid of me not to see that before! Let's go at once!"
cried Tom, starting up in excitement. "Undoubtedly he meant that. He
must have overheard the villains talk of going there, and we may not be
in time to aid them unless we push on."
"But in what direction does the gully lie?" asked Fred, with a puzzled
look.
Tom returned the look with one of perplexity, for they were now a
considerable distance both from Bevan's Gully and Pine Tree Diggings, in
the midst of an almost unknown wilderness. From the latter place either
of the friends could have travelled to the former almost blindfold; but,
having by that time lost their exact bearings, they could only guess at
the direction.
"I think," said Fred, after looking round and up at the sky for some
time, "considering the time we have been travelling, and the position of
the sun, that the gully lies over yonder. Indeed, I feel almost sure it
does."
He pointed, as he spoke, towards a ridge of rocky ground that cut across
the western sky and hid much of the more distant landscape in that
direction.
"Nonsense, man!" returned Tom, sharply, "it lies in precisely the
opposite direction. Our adventures have turned your brain, I think.
Come, don't let us lose time. Think of Betty; that poor girl may be
killed if there is another attack. She was slightly wounded last time.
Come!"
Fred looked quickly in his friend's face. It was deeply flushed, and
his eye sparkled with unwonted fire.
"Poor fellow! his case is hopeless; she will never wed him," thought
Fred, but he only said, "I, too, would not waste time, but it seems to
me we shall lose much if we go in that direction. The longer I study
the nature of the ground, and calculate our rate of travelling since we
left the diggings, the more am I convinced that our way lies westward."
"I feel as certain as you do," replied Tom with some asperity, for he
began to chafe under the delay. "But if you are determined to go that
way you must go by yourself, old boy, for I can't afford to waste time
on a wrong road."
"Nay, if you are so sure, I will give in and follow. Lead on," returned
Tom's accommodating friend, with a feeling of mingled surprise and
chagrin.
In less than an hour they reached a part of the rocky ridge before
mentioned, from which they had a magnificent view of the surrounding
country. It was wilderness truly, but such a wilderness of tree and
bush, river and lake, cascade and pool, flowering plant and festooned
shrub, dense thicket and rolling prairie, backed here and there by
cloud-capped hills, as seldom meets the eye or thrills the heart of
traveller, except in alpine lands. Deep pervading silence marked the
hour, for the air was perfectly still, and though the bear, the deer,
the wolf, the fox, and a multitude of wild creatures were revelling
there in the rich enjoyment of natural life, the vast region, as it
were, absorbed and dissipated their voices almost as completely as their
persons, so that it seemed but a grand untenanted solitude, just freshly
laid out by the hand of the wonder-working Creator. Every sheet of
water, from the pool to the lake, reflected an almost cloudless blue,
excepting towards the west, where the sun, by that time beginning to
descend, converted all into sheets of liquid gold.
The two friends paused on the top of a knoll, more to recover breath
than to gaze on the exquisite scene, for they both felt that they were
speeding on a mission that might involve life or death. Fred's
enthusiastic admiration, however, would no doubt have found vent in
fitting words if he had not at the moment recognised a familiar
landmark.
"I knew it!" he cried, eagerly. "Look, Tom, that is Ranger's Hill on
the horizon away to the left. It is very faint from distance, but I
could not mistake its form."
"Nonsense, Fred! you never saw it from this point of view before, and
hills change their shape amazingly from different points of view. Come
along."
"No, I am too certain to dispute the matter any longer. If you will
have it so, we must indeed part here. But oh! Tom, don't be obstinate!
Why, what has come over you, my dear fellow? Don't you see--"
"I see that evening is drawing on, and that we shall be too late.
Good-bye! One friendly helping hand will be better to her than none. I
_know_ I'm right."
Tom hurried away, and poor Fred, after gazing in mingled surprise and
grief at his comrade until he disappeared, turned with a heavy sigh and
went off in the opposite direction.
"Well," he muttered to himself, as he sped along at a pace that might
have made even a red man envious, "we are both of us young and strong,
so that we are well able to hold out for a considerable time on such
light fare as the shrubs of the wilderness produce, and when Tom
discovers his mistake he'll make good use of his long legs to overtake
me. I cannot understand his infatuation. But with God's blessing, all
shall yet be well."
Comforting himself with the last reflection, and offering up a heartfelt
prayer as he pressed on, Fred Westly was soon separated from his friend
by many a mile of wilderness.
Meanwhile Tom Brixton traversed the land with strides not only of
tremendous length, but unusual rapidity. His "infatuation" was not
without its appropriate cause. The physical exertions and sufferings
which the poor fellow had undergone for so long a period, coupled with
the grief, amounting almost to despair, which tormented his brain, had
at last culminated in fever; and the flushed face and glittering eyes,
which his friend had set down to anxiety about Bevan's pretty daughter,
were, in reality, indications of the gathering fires within. So also
was the obstinacy. For it must be admitted that the youth's natural
disposition was tainted with that objectionable quality which, when
fever, drink, or any other cause of madness operates in any man, is apt
to assert itself powerfully.
At first he strode over the ground with terrific energy, thinking only
of Betty and her father in imminent danger; pausing now and then
abruptly to draw his hand across his brow and wonder if he was getting
near Bevan's Gully. Then, as his mind began to wander, he could not
resist a tendency to shout.
"What a fool I am!" he muttered, after having done this once or twice.
"I suppose anxiety about that dear girl is almost driving me mad. But
she can never--never be mine. I'm a thief! a thief! Ha! ha-a-a-ah!"
The laugh that followed might have appalled even a red and painted
warrior. It did terrify, almost into fits, all the tree and ground
squirrels within a mile of him, for these creatures went skurrying off
to holes and topmost boughs in wild confusion when they heard it echoing
through the woods.
When this fit passed off Tom took to thinking again. He strode over
hillock, swamp, and plain in silence, save when, at long intervals, he
muttered the words, "Think, think, thinking. Always thinking! Can't
stop think, thinking!"
Innumerable wild fowl, and many of the smaller animals of the woods, met
him in his mad career, and fled from his path, but one of these seemed
at last inclined to dispute the path with him.
It was a small brown bear, which creature, although insignificant when
compared with the gigantic grizzly, is, nevertheless, far more than a
match for the most powerful unarmed man that ever lived. This rugged
creature chanced to be rolling sluggishly along as if enjoying an
evening saunter at the time when Tom approached. The place was dotted
with willow bushes, so that when the two met there was not more than a
hundred yards between them. The bear saw the man instantly, and rose on
its hind legs to do battle. At that moment Tom lifted his eyes.
Throwing up his arms, he uttered a wild yell of surprise, which
culminated in a fit of demoniacal laughter. But there was no laughter
apparent on poor Tom's flushed and fierce visage, though it issued from
his dry lips. Without an instant's hesitation he rushed at the bear
with clenched fists. The animal did not await the charge. Dropping
humbly on its fore-legs, it turned tail and fled, at such a pace that it
soon left its pursuer far behind!
Just as it disappeared over a distant ridge Tom came in sight of a small
pond or lakelet covered with reeds, and swarming with ducks and geese,
besides a host of plover and other aquatic birds--most of them with
outstretched necks, wondering no doubt what all the hubbub could be
about. Tom incontinently bore down on these, and dashing in among them
was soon up to his neck in water!
He remained quiet for a few minutes and deep silence pervaded the scene.
Then the water began to feel chill. The wretched man crept out and,
remembering his errand, resumed his rapid journey. Soon the fever
burned again with intensified violence, and the power of connected
thought began to depart from its victim altogether.
While in this condition Tom Brixton wandered aimlessly about, sometimes
walking smartly for a mile or so, at other times sauntering slowly, as
if he had no particular object in view, and occasionally breaking into a
run at full speed, which usually ended in his falling exhausted on the
ground.
At last, as darkness began to overspread the land, he became so worn-out
that he flung himself down under a tree, with a hazy impression on his
mind that it was time to encamp for the night. The fever was fierce and
rapid in its action. First it bereft him of reason and then left him
prostrate, without the power to move a limb except with the greatest
difficulty.
It was about the hour of noon when his reasoning powers returned, and,
strange to say, the first conscious act of his mind was to recall the
words "_twice bought_," showing that the thought had been powerfully
impressed on him before delirium set in. What he had said or done
during his ravings he knew not, for memory was a blank, and no human
friend had been there to behold or listen. At that time, however, Tom
did not think very deeply about these words, or, indeed, about anything
else. His prostration was so great that he did not care at first to
follow out any line of thought or to move a limb. A sensation of
absolute rest and total indifference seemed to enchain all his
faculties. He did not even know where he was, and did not care, but lay
perfectly still, gazing up through the overhanging branches into the
bright blue sky, sometimes dozing off into a sleep that almost resembled
death, from which he awoke gently, to wonder, perhaps, in an idle way,
what had come over him, and then ceasing to wonder before the thought
had become well defined.
The first thing that roused him from this condition was a passing
thought of Betty Bevan. He experienced something like a slight shock,
and the blood which had begun to stagnate received a new though feeble
impulse at its fountain-head, the heart. Under the force of it he tried
to rise, but could not although he strove manfully. At last, however,
he managed to raise himself on one elbow, and looked round with dark and
awfully large eyes, while he drew his left hand tremblingly across his
pale brow. He observed the trembling fingers and gazed at them
inquiringly.
"I--I must have been ill. So weak, too! Where am I? The forest--
everywhere! What can it all mean? There was a--a thought--what could
it--Ah! Betty--dear girl--that was it. But what of her? Danger--yes--
in danger. Ha! _now_ I have it!"
There came a slight flush on his pale cheeks, and, struggling again with
his weakness, he succeeded in getting on his feet, but staggered and
fell with a crash that rendered him insensible for a time.
On recovering, his mind was clearer and more capable of continuous
thought; but this power only served to show him that he was lost, and
that, even if he had known his way to Bevan's Gully, his strength was
utterly gone, so that he could not render aid to the friends who stood
in need of it so sorely.
In the midst of these depressing thoughts an intense desire for food
took possession of him, and he gazed around with a sort of wolfish
glare, but there was no food within his reach--not even a wild berry.
"I believe that I am dying," he said at last, with deep solemnity. "God
forgive me! Twice bought! Fred said that Jesus had bought my soul
before the miners bought my life."
For some time he lay motionless; then, rousing himself, again began to
speak in low, disjointed sentences, among which were words of prayer.
"It is terrible to die here--alone!" he murmured, recovering from one of
his silent fits. "Oh that mother were here now! dear, dishonoured, but
still beloved mother! Would that I had a pen to scratch a few words
before--stay, I have a pencil."
He searched his pockets and found the desired implement, but he could
not find paper. The lining of his cap occurred to him; it was soft and
unfit for his purpose. Looking sadly round, he observed that the tree
against which he leaned was a silver-stemmed birch, the inner bark of
which, he knew, would serve his purpose. With great difficulty he tore
off a small sheet of it and began to write, while a little smile of
contentment played on his lips.
From time to time weakness compelled him to pause, and more than once he
fell asleep in the midst of his labour. Heavy labour it was, too, for
the nerveless hands almost refused to form the irregular scrawl. Still
he persevered--till evening. Then a burning thirst assailed him, and he
looked eagerly round for water, but there was none in view. His eyes
lighted up, however, as he listened, for the soft tinkling of a tiny
rill filled his ear.
With a desperate effort he got upon his hands and knees, and crept in
the direction whence the sound came. He found the rill in a few
moments, and, falling on his breast, drank with feelings of intense
gratitude in his heart. When satisfied he rose to his knees again and
tried to return to his tree, but even while making the effort he sank
slowly on his breast, pillowed his head on the wet green moss, and fell
into a profound slumber.