TWO VENTURES OF HOPE
It was the evening before Jack's confirmation and Tom's and Betty's
wedding day. Up and down the paddock paced Tom and Jack, arm in arm,
and Tom's heart was almost as full of the boy who gripped his arm as
of the fair woman whom he would call wife on the morrow.
"It will be a great day for us both, Jack," he said, giving
expression to his thought.
"Yes, Uncle Tom."
"Your whole life may depend upon your decision."
"Yes, it's rather awful when you come to think of it."
"It would be if you did not feel sure that the hosts of God, that God
Himself is behind you."
"Uncle Tom, I want to grow into just such a man as you."
"Ah no," said Tom quickly. "There is but one model for us all to
copy, the man Christ Jesus."
Jack's heart was too full to answer.
"I do wish father could have got here in time," he said, wistfully.
"Aunt Betty thinks he will appear some time to-morrow, but she does
not think it possible that he can arrive in time for the service."
"I heartily wish he could for all our sakes. Aunt Betty is almost as
keen as you, for she longs to get a glimpse of him before I carry her
off. We leave for Launceston in the afternoon."
"It would be just beastly if I did not know that I shall see you both
in England in a few months' time; but now I shall have father, and
going about with him all the time, I shan't be able to miss anyone
very much. I wish girls didn't cry. Whenever I talk of going to
England, Eva cries or blows her nose to prevent it! Men aren't made
like that, are they? It would be horrid if they were! I always tell
her to dry up, and perhaps some day, when I'm a man, I'll come out
and marry her."
Tom laughed out loud; it was rather refreshing to find that the boy
at his side, so manly in some ways, was still at heart as innocent as
a child.
"But Eva might have found someone else to marry by that time," he
suggested.
"Oh, of course if she did it would be all right, and she would not
want me," said Jack, nonchalantly, in no way affected at the thought
of the loss of his ladylove. "She has cheered up a bit since Aunt
Betty has consented to her being bridesmaid, although she's not to be
dressed up fine, just a new white frock and a white muslin hat, she
says."
Then Aunt Betty's voice, ringing down the paddock, called them both
in to supper.
The little church was full to overflowing on the morrow, for quick as
had been the final choice of the wedding day the rumour of it had
spread like fire through the township, and loving hands had been busy
on the previous afternoon, decorating the tiny sanctuary with Madonna
lilies and other white flowers for the double service. And all had
been carried through so quickly and quietly that no one at the farm
knew anything of it.
It was only a handful of candidates that were presented for
Confirmation, not more than a score, but of those it may be said that
the present Vicar had spent much time and prayer on their
preparation. The candidates were ranged in the front seats, and
quite at the back of the church was seated the party from the farm,
with Clarissa and Eva, and the intervening benches were filled with
neighbours from the township. The only one who had come from a
distance was Jessie Butler, who hearing that her friend of earlier
years was to be confirmed, and remembering his presence at her own
confirmation, had come to stay a night or two with someone in
Wallaroo on purpose to be present when Jack was confirmed.
The congregation rose simultaneously to its feet as the Bishop,
preceded by the Vicar, appeared from the tiny vestry, and the service
began with a hymn, during the singing of which the rather unusual
sound of a motor driving at full speed and brought to a sudden
standstill outside the open door of the little church, fell upon
Betty's ear. Could it be the sudden arrival of a belated candidate.
But creeping quietly into the church, her glad eyes recognised Jack's
father, standing hesitatingly in the doorway. He had motored all the
way from Launceston to be present at his son's Confirmation, and Mr.
Treherne, with a quick movement, motioned him to Betty's side. It
was the one presence she and Jack needed to make the day perfect in
their eyes. And a great joy and thankfulness filled the elder Jack's
heart, as he recognised his tall boy standing at the head of the row
of boy candidates, and heard his emphatic promise to renew his
baptismal promises and serve God manfully for the rest of his life,
and when it came to Jack's turn to kneel before the Bishop and
receive the laying on of hands, Betty's hand sought for a moment that
of her brother-in-law, and together they sank upon their knees and
prayed very fervently for God's blessing on the head of the boy who
was almost equally dear to both of them.
The Bishop's charge was a very simple one, but the earnest words
could scarcely fail to reach the hearts of all who listened to them,
and a reverent hush fell on the congregation as he pronounced the
blessing. And then there was a pause for those who wished to leave
the church, but not one stirred from his place. They waited for what
was to follow. Then Tom, with a glance at Betty, moved to the
chancel steps to be followed immediately by Betty, leaning on her
father's arm, while little Eva with round wondering eyes took her
place behind, and forthwith the wedding service proceeded. Jack's
father, meanwhile, had walked up the church and taken his own place
by his son.
Then, in low clear voices, fully audible to all present, Tom and
Betty spoke out their promises to be true and loyal to each other as
long as life should last. There were those in the congregation who
beforehand had grumbled that such an unusual event as a wedding
should be carried through in what they were pleased to call such a
hole-and-corner fashion, but criticism vanished when the simply
attired bride came down the church upon her husband's arm. All felt
the bright-faced bride was in her right setting.
The Bishop, after shaking hands with the wedding couple, had to hurry
off for another function, and then the wedding party walked quietly
back to the farm, where a meal, laid in readiness beforehand, awaited
them. Jack sat by his father and Tom and Betty were placed in the
centre of the table. Just at the end of the meal, Mr. Treherne rose
to his feet.
"God bless my girl, as good a daughter as ever stepped, and God bless
the man she has married," was all he said, and Betty turned and
kissed him.
The last half hour before the buggy came round to carry them to the
station was spent by Betty in her mother's room. What passed between
them none knew, but when Betty came out in her neat travelling dress,
there were traces of tears in her eyes. Then came the hubbub of
adieus, and more farewells had to be spoken at the gate of the
paddock, where half the township had gathered to wish the bride and
bridegroom farewell. Missiles of all description had been tabooed,
but the kindly cheers of her neighbours, the eager outstretched hands
which grasped hers, were a lovely ending to a happy life, thought
Betty, as she drove off with her husband at her side. For she fully
realised that one page of her life was folded down, but another page,
very fair and white, was spread out before her.
What shall be written upon it is not for us to say. Some blots will
surely blister it.
"Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary."
But now as Betty drives away with sunshine in her face and sunshine
in her heart, we breathe the prayer that such days will be few and
far between.
EPILOGUE
_Extract from an English daily paper five years later._
"Special mention should be made of the amazing exhibition of prowess
on the part of Lieutenant Stephens in yesterday's military aeronautic
manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain. His aeroplane, the combined creation
of his father and himself, is of such perfect construction that it is
likely to make their name famous, and the Lieutenant's command of it
left nothing to be desired. He executed feats of skill which have
rarely been surpassed. England has just cause for pride in her
present race of young men, prepared to face every danger in the
service of their country, for it is an open secret that upon the
efficiency of our air fleet, the future safety of our island home
will very largely depend."
This paper, with others, was forwarded in due time to Mrs. Kenyon,
who read aloud the paragraph just quoted to Eva, now a blooming girl
of seventeen. She flew round the table and snatched it from her
mother's hands.
"Let me read it for myself, mother. We shall all feel proud of him.
He's playing our childish game of subduing giants to some purpose,
isn't he? He's fairly earned his rights to his title of 'Jack, the
Englishman.' I'm ever so glad. I'll run across to the farm and tell
them about it."
Clarissa laughed at the girl's enthusiasm.
"They are perfectly certain to have these papers as well as
ourselves. Isn't he their grandson?"
"And a grandson to be proud of! I wish he were mine, or a brother or
something. Oh mother! I wonder--Shall we ever see him again?"
End of Project Gutenberg's Jack the Englishman, by H. Louisa Bedford