Things were rather quiet for the rest of the day, much to Max's
disgust, though at his father's bidding he tried to forget the
disappointment in study.
Toward evening Captain Raymond learned something of the Admiral's
plans. Two of the vessels were to take possession of a part of the bay
set off as a harbour, the others to blockade the entrance.
In reporting the matter to his passengers, "Now," he said, "the
preparations will take them two or three days, and the question is,
shall we stay to see it all, or turn about and seek entertainment
elsewhere? Let us have the opinion of all the older people, beginning
with Grandpa Dinsmore," looking pleasantly at the old gentleman as he
spoke.
"My preference would be rather for going at once," replied Mr.
Dinsmore; "yet I am entirely willing to have the matter decided by
your younger people. I shall be quite content to stay on if it seems
desirable to the rest of the company."
The vote of the ladies and gentlemen was then taken, when it appeared
that the majority were in favour of immediate departure; and the
children, though at first disappointed, grew quite reconciled when a
little time had been spent in considering what might be seen and done
in other quarters.
"I think, Ned," Zoe said to her husband, "that we would better go back
to our cottage, because Laurie and Lily are growing fretful,--tired of
the sea, I think."
"Very well, my dear, we will do so if you wish it," was the
good-natured reply. "Strange as it may seem, I too am quite desirous
to make our twin babies as comfortable as possible," he added, with a
pleasant laugh.
"I am sorry you should miss the sight of further operations here,
Cousin Donald," remarked Grandma Elsie, turning to her kinsman.
"Thank you, Cousin Elsie," he replied; "but though that would be an
interesting sight to me, I expect to find almost if not equal enjoyment
in a run out to sea or along shore with my friend Raymond in command of
the vessel."
"Oh, I think that'll be just splendid," exclaimed Max, "and that before
we get back, Cousin Donald, you'll be ready to own up that the navy is
a more desirable place to be in than the army."
"Perhaps he wouldn't own up even if he thought so," remarked Rosie,
with a merry look at her cousin; "I don't believe I should if I were in
his place."
"Possibly I might," he returned, laughingly, "but I certainly do not
expect to fall quite so deeply in love with a 'life on the ocean wave,'
though I hope to be always willing and anxious to serve my country
wherever and whenever I may be needed. I think both army and navy
always have been, and always will be, ready to defend her on land or
sea."
"Yes, sir, I believe that's so," said Max. "And if ever we should have
another war, I hope I'll be able to help defend her."
"I hope so, my boy," the Captain said, regarding the lad with an
expression of fatherly pride and affection.
An hour later the "Dolphin" was sailing out of the bay, all her
passengers gathered on deck, taking a farewell look at the vessels
belonging to the squadron, and on awaking in the morning they found
themselves lying at anchor in Newport harbour.
They returned to their cottages for a day or two; then the Raymonds,
Grandma Elsie, with the youngest two of her children, and Donald Keith,
again set sail in the "Dolphin."
The weather was all that could be desired, every one well and in the
best of spirits.
Max was required to devote a part of each day to study, and recitation
to his father, but did not grumble over that, and took great delight in
the lessons in practical navigation given him daily by the Captain.
"Papa," he asked one day, "what's the need of a boy going to the Naval
Academy when he can learn everything he needs to know on shipboard with
a father like you?"
"But he can't," replied the Captain; "how to sail a ship is by no means
all he needs to know to fit him to be an officer in the navy."
"Why, what else is necessary, sir?" asked Max, with a look of surprise.
"A number of things which you saw done at Newport and at Gardiner's Bay
are quite necessary. He must know how to fight a battle, take charge of
an ordnance foundry, and conduct an astronomical observatory; must have
a good knowledge of history, be an able jurist and linguist, and a good
historian,--besides knowing how to manage a ship in calm or storm."
"Whew! what a lot of things to cram into one head!" laughed Max, with a
slightly troubled look on his bright young face.
"Isn't yours big enough to hold it all?" asked his father, with an
amused smile.
"I dare say it is, sir," replied Max, "but the difficulty is to pack it
all in right. I presume the teachers will help me to do that, though."
"Certainly; and if you follow their directions carefully you will have
no need to fear failure."
"Thank you, sir. That's very encouraging," said Max; "and I am fully
determined to try my very best, Papa, if it was only not to disgrace my
father."
"My dear son," the Captain said, a trifle huskily, and taking the boy's
hand in a warm clasp, "I don't doubt that you intend to do as you have
said; but never forget that your only safety is in keeping close to Him
who has said, 'In Me is thine help.'"
It was Saturday evening,--the first that had found them on the broad
ocean, out of sight of land. They were all on deck, enjoying the
delicious evening breeze and a most brilliant sunset.
"Papa," Gracie said, breaking a momentary silence, "what are we going
to do about keeping the Lord's Day to-morrow? We can't go to church,
you know, unless you can sail the 'Dolphin' back to land in the night."
"I cannot do that, daughter," he answered; "but I can conduct a service
here on the deck. How will that do, do you think?"
"I don't know, Papa," she replied, with some hesitation, blushing and
looking fearful of hurting his feelings; "I s'pose you couldn't preach
a sermon?"
"Why not?" he asked, smiling a little at her evident embarrassment.
"Because you're not a minister, Papa."
"Why, Gracie! Papa's as good as any minister, I'm sure," exclaimed
Lulu, half reproachfully, half indignantly.
"Of course he is; I didn't mean that!" returned Gracie, just ready to
burst into tears; "I didn't mean he wasn't as good as anybody in this
whole world,--for of course he is,--but I thought it was only ministers
that preach."
"But I can read a sermon, my pet," the Captain said, "or preach one if
I choose; there is no law against it. And we can pray and sing hymns
together; and if we put our hearts into it all, our heavenly Father
will be as ready to listen to us as to other worshippers in the finest
churches on the land."
"That is a very comforting truth," remarked Grandma Elsie; "it is very
sweet to reflect that God is as near to us out on the wide and deep sea
as to any of his worshippers on the dry land."
"You will hold your service in the morning, I suppose, Captain?" Mr.
Keith said inquiringly.
"That is what I had thought of doing, sir," was the reply. "Have you
any suggestions to make?"
"Only that we might have a Bible class later in the day."
"Yes, sir; that was a part of my programme,--at least I had thought of
teaching my own children, as is customary with me at home; but if the
suggestion meets with favour, we will resolve ourselves into a Bible
class, each one able to read taking part. What do you all say to the
proposition?"
"I highly approve," said Grandma Elsie; "I am sure the day could not be
better spent than in the study of God's Holy Word."
"Nor more delightfully," said Violet.
"I think we would all like it, Captain," Evelyn remarked in her quiet
way.
"I'm sure I shall," said Lulu; "Papa always makes Bible lessons very
interesting."
"That's so," said Max; "I was never taught by any minister or
Sunday-school teacher that made them half so interesting."
"It is quite possible that your near relationship to your teacher may
have made a good deal of difference, my children," the Captain said
gravely, though not unkindly. "But who shall act as teacher on this
occasion is a question still to be decided. I propose Grandma Elsie, as
the eldest of those present, and probably the best qualified."
"All in favour of that motion please say ay," added Violet, playfully.
"I am sure no better teacher could be found than Mamma, though I
incline to the opinion that my husband would do equally well."
"Much better, I think," Grandma Elsie said; "and I would greatly
prefer to be one of his pupils."
"I can hardly consider myself wise enough to teach my mother," said the
Captain, colouring and laughing lightly, "even though she is far too
young to be own mother to a man of my age."
"But you may lead a Bible class of which she forms a part, may you
not?" queried Donald Keith.
"I suppose that might be possible," the Captain replied, with a
humourous look and smile.
"I'm sure you can and will, since such is your mother's wish," Grandma
Elsie said in a sportive tone, "and so we may consider that matter
settled."
"And Mamma's word having always been law to her children, we will
consider it so," Violet said. "Shall we not, Levis?"
"As good and dutiful children I suppose we must, my dear," he returned
in the playful tone she particularly liked.
Sunday morning dawned clear and beautiful, a delicious breeze filling
the sails and wafting the vessel swiftly onward over the sparkling
water.
An hour or so after breakfast, captain, passengers, and crew,
except the man at the helm, gathered on deck, every one in neat and
appropriate dress. The ladies, gentlemen, and children sat on one side,
the crew on the other, Captain Raymond standing between. A Bible and a
pile of hymn-books lay on a stand before him, and Max was directed to
distribute the latter. They were a part of the supplies Captain Raymond
had laid in for the voyage.
A melodeon also stood near the stand, and Violet, seating herself
before it, led the singing with which the service opened.
The Captain then offered a short prayer, read a portion of Scripture, a
second hymn was sung; then he gave them a short discourse on the text,
"They hated Me without a cause."
With much feeling and in simple language that the youngest and most
ignorant of his hearers could readily understand, he described the
lovely character and beneficent life of Christ upon earth,--always
about His Father's business, doing good to the souls and bodies of
men,--and the bitter enmity of the scribes and Pharisees, who "hated
Him without a cause." Then he went on to tell of the agony in the
garden, the betrayal by Judas,--"one of the twelve,"--the mockery of a
trial, the scourging and the crown of thorns, the carrying of the cross
and the dreadful death upon it.
"All this He bore for you and for me," he concluded in tones tremulous
with emotion; "constrained by His great love for us, He died that
dreadful death that we might live. And shall we not love Him in return?
Shall we not give ourselves to Him, and serve Him with all our powers?
It is a reasonable service, a glad service,--a service that gives rest
to the soul. He says to each one of us, 'Take My yoke upon you, and
learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.'
"Ah, do not refuse or neglect His invitation, for the only choice is
between His service and that of Satan,--that malignant spirit whose
fierce desire and effort is to drag all souls down to his own depths of
sin and misery; and Jesus only can save you from falling into his cruel
hands. But He--the Lord of Life and Glory--invites us all to come and
be saved, and 'now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.'
Delay is most dangerous; life is very uncertain. We are sure of no time
but now."
He closed the Bible and sat down; and Violet, again seating herself
before the melodeon, softly touched the keys and sang in sweet,
low tones, but so distinctly that every word reached the farthest
listener,--
"Come to Jesus, come to Jesus;
Come to Jesus just now, just now;
Come to Jesus, come to Jesus just now."
Then, at a sign from the Captain, Mr. Keith followed with an earnest
prayer; and with another hymn in which all united, the services closed.
Among the crew was one young man in whom the Captain and Grandma
Elsie had both come to feel a peculiar interest. He was evidently an
American, and possessed of more intelligence and education than the
average sailor before the mast. He had listened with close attention
to the Captain's discourse, and with a troubled countenance, as Mrs.
Travilla had noticed.
"The Holy Spirit is striving with him, I have little doubt," she said
to herself. "Ah, if I could but help him to find Jesus, and to know the
sweetness of His love!"
It was not long before the desired opportunity offered. The young man
was at the wheel and no one near, while she paced the deck slowly and
alone. Gradually she approached, and when close at his side made some
pleasant remark about the vessel and the course they were steering.
He responded in a polite and respectful manner.
Then she spoke of the service of the morning, said she had noticed the
attention he paid to the Captain's short sermon, and asked in kindest
words and tones if he, like herself, was one who loved Jesus, and
trusted in Him for salvation from sin and eternal death.
He sighed deeply, then said with emotion, "No, madam, but--I wish I
were."
"But what is to hinder, my friend, since He says, 'Him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out'?" she asked gently, feelingly.
He was silent for a moment, evidently from emotion, then said, rather
as if thinking aloud than addressing her, "If I only knew just how!"
"He is very near, and His omniscient eye reads the heart," she said low
and feelingly. "Speak to Him just as if you could see Him,--as if you
were kneeling at His feet,--and He will hear.
"The Bible says. 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' Do
you want that cleansing, my friend?"
He bowed a silent assent.
"Then go to Jesus for it," she said. "He, and He alone, can give it.
He shed His blood for us that 'God may be just and the justifier of
him that believeth in Jesus;' for 'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanseth us from all sin.'"
There was a moment's silence; then, "I'd like to be a Christian,
ma'am," he said, "such as I see you and the Captain are, but--"
The sentence was left unfinished; and after a moment's pause. "I should
like you to be a better one than I am," she said, "but Jesus only can
make you such. The work is too difficult for any human creature; but
Jesus is all-powerful,--'able to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.'
Is not that a precious assurance?"
"It is indeed, ma'am, if--if I only knew it meant me."
"You certainly will be one of those of whom it speaks if you 'come unto
God by Him;' and He invites you to come: 'Come unto Me all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'"
"Could you tell me just how, ma'am,--as if you were pointing out the
right road to a traveller, for instance?"
"I will try," she said. "You must remember that He is always
near,--close to us, though we cannot see Him; and you may speak to Him
as readily, and with as much assurance that you will be heard, as you
have been speaking to me.
"He is full of love and compassion,--love so infinite, compassion so
great that He was willing to endure all the agony of death upon the
cross, and the far greater suffering caused by the burden of the sins
of the world and the consequent hiding of His Father's face; therefore
He will not cast you out, will not turn away from you, if you come in
true penitence and faith.
"Make confession of your sins and plead for pardon and acceptance as
you would if you could see Him while kneeling at His feet; and He will
grant it, will forgive all your transgressions and adopt you into His
family to be His own child forever."
But others of the passengers were now drawing near, and he had only
time to thank her for her kindly interest in him, and promise to think
of what she had been saying, before Walter and Max were at her side,
calling her attention to a passing vessel.
A very interesting Bible lesson filled up most of the afternoon, both
adults and children taking part; and in the evening hymns were sung and
conversation held such as was suited to the sacredness of the day.