In the bosom of the forest, the tall oaks girdling it, like a band of
mailed warriors, changed by the spell of beauty from assailants to
a guard, lay a little glade, free from brush or sapling; its tender
green carpet freshening in the March sun. The trees loved the dance of
the shadows over that sylvan ball-room, and they revelled there all
the day, and at evening, slept upon the turf in the moonlight. The
clouds of the night had rolled away before a westerly breeze, and the
forest was full of sweet and pleasant sounds. The oriole had come in
advance of the season to look for his last year's nest; the woodpecker
thrummed upon a hollow trunk; and the robins, too busy for more than
an occasional note, flew about with sticks and mud in their bills. The
teeming earth was quick with vitality; you could hear the unfurling of
the grass-blades, the rustle of the leaf-buds as they broke ground.
An inharmonious sound interrupted the concert--the rattle of a
carriage. It stopped; then another drove up; and six gentlemen, three
from either side, entered the glade, saluting each other as they
advanced. Lynn's friends were Mr. Thornton and Mr. Villet; Pemberton's
Talbot and another of "the set," by the name of Watson. Without wasting
time in irrelevant chat, the seconds walked apart for consultation.
Pemberton, with a braggadocio air, offered his cigar-case to his
companion; and nothing abashed by his dignified gesture of refusal,
planted himself against a tree, and began to smoke. Lynn paced the
little area in silence. He was haggard to ghastliness; the effect of a
night of sleeplessness and racking thought. He was brave; his nerves
did not tremble in the hour of peril; but the soul, forced, before its
time, upon the verge of an unknown sea, shook with a nameless dread of
the punishment of its temerity. Early teachings, and the convictions
of later years weighed upon him. A tiny wild flower blossomed by his
foot--he plucked it, and pressed its petals open with his finger. Whose
hand had fashioned it? Whose sun kissed it into bloom? Whose goodness
granted it this lovely home? It owed its little life to the Father,
from whom he had derived his poet-soul; it had fulfilled the end of
its creation;--he was about to hurl his gifts, a million times more
precious, into the face of the Giver. He would gladly have courted
other thoughts, but these would come; and long-forgotten texts floated
before him; apparently without a cause to call them forth. One met him,
wherever he looked--"Despisest thou the riches of his forbearance,
and love and long-suffering?" And as he repeated, "despisest
thou"--another--"Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish!" These
words were upon his tongue, as Mr. Villet put the pistol into his hand,
and motioned him into his place.
Pemberton had sent the challenge, with no thought of its being
accepted, counting upon the interference of Lynn's friends. Mr.
Thornton had waited upon him with his principal's answer, settling
time, place and weapons; driving him into a corner, from whence he
could only escape by following out his own proposition. A strained
sense of honour was Lynn's birth-right. His father had died upon the
field; and repudiation of the duellist's code involved censure of him.
Thus they stood, face to face, upon this unclouded, fragrant spring
morning, to wash out in blood the memory of a trifle which would have
perished of itself in this time, but for the pains they had taken to
perpetuate it. Oh, Virginia! most fondly loved of mothers! how often
has thy soil drank the blood of sons, the tears of daughters, whose
lives and weal have been sacrificed to this pitiless Moloch!
Mr. Talbot explained that the signal was to be the dropping of a
handkerchief, after he should have counted three slowly. Mr. Villet
held the handkerchief "One--two--" said Talbot, deliberately. Lynn had
only time to see the murder in his antagonist's eye, when a report rang
through the forest, and he felt a sharp pain in his breast and arm.
"Treachery!" shouted Thornton, excitedly. "Shoot him down, Holmes! he
deserves a dog's death!"
Lynn's hot blood was up--he raised his arm. The loaded and discharged
pistols were whirling in the air--and Charley Dana and Morton Lacy
threw themselves between the combatants.
"At whose instance was this meeting brought about, gentlemen?"
questioned the former, peremptorily, scanning the group.
"The challenge came from my principal," answered Watson, with a brazen
look.
"Will you honour me by a minute's private conversation, sir?" asked
Charley, facing Pemberton, with a sneer seen by him alone. "You need
not be afraid," he pursued, not receiving an immediate reply, "_I_ do
not carry concealed weapons."
Pemberton went aside with him very reluctantly. He respected, because
he feared Charley. Without a correct understanding of his character,
he stood in awe of the keen ridicule and calm courage, for which his
blustering was no match.
"You must be at a loss for something to do, that you covet such
business as this;" began Charley. "I have no objection to your blowing
your brains out--and any coroner in the country would decide that an
inquest would be 'much-ado about nothing;' but it is another matter
when you try, in cold blood, to take the life of one, who has some
pretensions to the name of man. You are a cowardly poltroon! If you are
on the look-out for insults, there is one, if truth can insult. Two
policemen are at a little distance. The law will have a more serious
job than I anticipated. There are five witnesses to the fact, that
you fired in advance of the time. Join this to your provocation of
the other night, and your having sent the challenge; and it will not
require a Philadelphia lawyer to make out a case, which will put a
stop to your murderous propensities for awhile. Now, sir, what do you
propose to do?"
The bully shook visibly. "Really, Mr. Dana, this is an extraordinary
procedure. You and I have no quarrel."
"I beg your pardon--men of honour do not pass over such remarks as I
have indulged in. You did not hear me, perhaps; I said, and say now,
you are a pitiful poltroon! shaking in your shoes, this minute, at the
prospect of the penitentiary, and the loss of your soap-locks. But
before I give you into the keeping of your lawful guardians, I have a
proposal to make on my own account. I came here with the intention of
giving you a castigation for your impertinent mention of a lady. I will
not fight a duel with you, but if you resist, I will take care you do
not shoot _me_. I meant to horse-whip you, and I will--within an inch
of your life, if you do not make an ample apology. You cannot bully or
blarney me, Pemberton. We know each other."
In abject terms, he declared that he had the highest veneration for Mr.
Dana's friend, Miss Ross; he was in wine at the time spoken of, and was
unaware, until told of it, that he had mentioned her--
"That will do!" interposed Charley. "Are you ready to rejoin your
friends?"
"You will not do me this great injury, Mr. Dana! think of the
exposure--the disgrace! A duel is an honourable affair, if carried
out; but when it takes a turn like this, you will admit it looks
confoundedly mean."
Charley could not but smile at his ludicrously pathetic tone.
"Will you bind yourself to behave better to your superiors--Mr. Holmes
included--if I help you out of the scrape?"
The pledge was eagerly given.
"Your best plan will be to state to the company that, in consequence
of explanations made by me, you retract the challenge, and likewise
the offensive remark that provoked Mr. Holmes to assault you. Offer
your hand to him, with the best grace you can muster; jump into your
carriage--and you shall not be pursued."
The seconds were huddled together, talking of the novel phase of
the affair; Lynn and Morton walking to and fro; the latter speaking
earnestly, while Lynn's averted face showed he was not unmoved.
Pemberton obeyed instructions to the letter; and with a trepidation
and hurry which nearly betrayed Charley into a disgrace of the dignity
of the occasion. After a grasp at Lynn's hand, he bowed hastily,
summoned his attendants, and disappeared among the trees. The crack of
the driver's whip proclaimed his departure. Thornton and Villet were
profuse in their inquiries, but they were little wiser for Charley's
replies. An exclamation from Morton interrupted them.
"You are wounded!" said he, pointing to Lynn's arm, from which the
blood was oozing.
"Only a scratch," replied he.
Charley ripped up his sleeve; uncovering a flesh wound of no great
depth. The ball had passed between his side and arm, grazing both;--its
aim was the heart.
"If I had seen this sooner!" said Charley, involuntarily.
"What if you had?" inquired Lynn.
He made no reply, but proceeded to bind up the wound. "Gentlemen!" said
he, when he had done;--"your carriage and breakfast are waiting. I take
it, you have nothing more on hand this morning."
Thornton and Villet bowed, half-offended; Lynn lingered. "How are you
going back?" he asked of Morton, but looking at Charley.
"Our horses are not far off," answered the former, kindly. "We will see
you again in an hour or two."
"Coming!" responded Lynn, to his friends' impatient call. He looked
again to Charley's grave face, beseechingly and timidly; but could not
summon courage to break the silence.
"Do not punish him too severely, Charley," said Morton. He turned from
him without speaking. He had never seen him so affected before. They
were alone in the glade; and the birds, silenced for a time by human
voices, were heard again twittering in the boughs. Charley spoke at
length.
"I have been deceived, Lacy. I thought I knew men, and was prepared
for any inconsistency; but if I had been told that the man, cherished
for years as a brother, would mislead me purposely in a matter of
vital importance to us both, I would not have credited it. I had his
promise, or what amounted to a promise, that he would not stir without
consulting me. What weakness!" he continued, more agitated, "to abandon
fame and friends and life, because of a fancied slight from a woman!"
"Yet are we guiltless of similar failings?" said Morton, impressively.
"Have there not been times when we too were impatient--despairing--for
no more weighty cause? My dear Charley, let us judge leniently errors
into which we might have fallen, but for greater strength or less
powerful temptation. Disapproval and forgiveness are not incompatible."
"You have witnessed the one--will you be the bearer of the other!"
asked Charley, trying to smile. "I will not oblige him to ask it. He
has had humiliation enough for one day."
Mr. Lacy's first care, upon their return to the city, was to dispatch a
note to Ida. It merely announced the success of their expedition; the
means adopted to secure it, she gathered from Charley. They had gone
together, first to Lynn's then to Pemberton's lodgings, when Charley
had been informed of the projected meeting. They were reported "not
at home." They then hit upon the unpromising expedient of going to
every hackstand in the city, to ascertain, if possible, at what time
the party was to start in the morning, and its route. They failed, in
two or three cases to arouse the keepers; and from others received
unimportant and early replies. Charley had just asked, "Do you mean
to give it up?" and been answered by a firm "Never!" when a negro
bustled by them. Morton seized him by the shoulder, and led him to an
apothecary's lamp.
"I thought so!"
"I've got a pass. Let me go!" said the fellow, struggling.
"Not until I know where you have been. You are Mr. Talbot's
servant--you may gain something, and shall not lose, by answering me
civilly. What were you sent for!"
By smooth and harsh words, he was brought to acknowledge that his
"young master" having had company all the evening, had forgotten, until
late, to send him to a livery-stable to engage a carriage for five
o'clock next morning.
"Who is with him, besides Mr. Pemberton?" inquired Mr. Lacy.
"Mr. Watson, sir."
"How far are they to go, after crossing the river?"
"Lor! Massa! how you reckon I know?"
"No trifling, sir! If I wanted to create mischief, you have said
enough. Tell me everything, or I will go at once to your master!"
The man instantly named their destination, which his master had let
slip in his hearing; and added that they were "fixing pistols." The
information was corroborated by a call upon the liveryman, and they
acted upon it. The delay, which was so near being fatal, arose from
their ignorance of a newer and shorter road than they chose.
"How Lacy guessed their intentions, I cannot imagine," said Charley.
"He would not entrust to me the name of his informant; and Lynn is as
much in the dark. He brought your letter to the door after he was sure
you had retired and mine was left upon his desk. But Lacy is discreet
from principle, not from caprice."
"He is," said Ida with heightened color. "If any stigma attaches to the
informer, it must rest upon me."
"Just like him, noble-hearted and faithful!" exclaimed Charley, when
her story was ended. "Shall you tell Lynn?"
"Yes--if only to show him how his friends love him. He may view it as
a breach of confidence, but I had rather he should reproach me, than
suspect the innocent."
Whether he reproached her or not, the revelation did not diminish his
regard for her. Except at their first agitating interview, he never
adverted to the unfinished duel; but he seemed drawn to her by a new
tie, in the recollection of her readiness to adventure so much in his
behalf. Ellen Morris had left town for a visit to Petersburg, the day
after the rupture:--left without a message or line of penitence or
conciliation. Lynn did not complain, but his moodiness subsided into a
pensiveness, illumined by the flashes of his former animation, like the
sparkle of smouldering embers.
It was during one of these gleams that he spent the evening at the
rendezvous of what Josephine styled the "Dana clique." John Dana and
his amiable wife were great favorites of his and Mr. Lacy's. Their
friendly calls may have been more frequent because it was Ida's chief
visiting place. Mr. Dana was in New York, and she had dined and taken
tea with her friend.
Lynn came in with Charley, and the latter, excusing himself for an hour
after supper, left Ida and the young artist together.
"I have been thinking lately, how sublime a thing is philanthropy,"
said Lynn, throwing himself with boyish abandon, upon the rug at her
feet. "I welcome this train of thought as a sign, that I am growing
less selfish, for I have been sadly, sinfully selfish, Ida--madly
intent upon my schemes, my happiness--forgetting that God placed me
in the world to benefit others. Lacy was in my studio to-day, and we
had a talk upon this subject. He says there is always a reflex tide
of the happiness we send forth to those around us; a purer, truer joy
than self-gratification. 'In this respect,' he observed, 'we can best
imitate the example of our Supreme Benefactor.' Imitate our Creator,
Ida! that is something worth living for."
"You have much besides, to make life precious, Lynn. I remember when it
seemed worthless to me; when I thought I had tasted all the sweetness
it possessed--I have changed my opinion since."
"Ah! but you have never bowed soul and spirit to an idol, and 'found it
clay;' never realised in the dread hour that saw its demolition, that
the fairest growth of heart and mind--the plants which you flattered
yourself were climbing heavenward, had only twined themselves with
strengthening tendrils about the altar of that one love! I know the
meaning of the expression, 'broken cisterns, which can hold no water.'
I have felt for some time past as if my heart were a stagnant marsh,
flooded by wasted affections. To-day I have been happier, more hopeful.
I will begin life anew, and strive for my art and for my kind."
"I have often told you that you have rare qualifications for
usefulness," rejoined Ida. "Your besetting fault is unsteadiness of
purpose; the best resolutions avail nothing if they are not adhered to."
"I know it. I dare not say now, that I will keep my present frame of
mind until to-morrow; but I do feel as if a broad field were spread
before me, and a bright, bright heaven over-arched it. I can think
and speak of Ellen; I comfort myself by imagining that our separation
is for our mutual good--our characters required discipline, and dimly
in the future I see visions of reconciliation and re-union." Poor
boy! the idol was not gone yet! He sat in an attitude of careless
grace, his hand supporting his cheek, and the light falling upon his
upturned face. "Yes," he continued, thoughtfully. "I am convinced
that my life has been spared for some important end, and I will work
it out, whenever Providence designates the ways and means of its
accomplishment. I do not overlaud my ability; for youth, and health,
and energy, are almost omnipotent, and I am young, and strong, and
willing."
"You will not be offended if I aid you in the work?" asked Ida.
"No; and I anticipate your warning. You would say that self-conquest
lies at the base of all other victories. Ah! you will yet be ashamed of
your incredulity as to my regeneration. That is Charley's voice, he has
brought Lacy, too! I am glad!"
Ida was more than glad. She had seen him since their midnight walk,
but Josephine's presence had debarred her from even a look of
acknowledgment.
Mrs. Dana came down stairs, and completed the fireside group.
"What have you two been prosing about?" asked Charley, presently.
"I have been talking--Miss Ida listening," said Lynn. "She has no faith
in my determination to play 'good boy,' and as she knows me better than
I do myself, I am uneasy for the durability of my excellent resolve. Do
say something encouraging, Lacy."
"What is this reformation? of mind or manner?" inquired Morton.
"Mind, manner, heart and will. I have been a wilful troublesome child
all my life; I mean, from this time forward, to be a _man_."
"And how are you setting about it?"
"Oh! I am theorising now. I have no distinct object, except to do the
best I can; to mortify evil passions, to uproot selfish desires, to
foster the germs of good in myself and others."
Mr. Lacy smiled, a little sadly. "You have undertaken a Sisyphus task,
if you heave the stone up the hill in your own strength."
Lynn looked dismayed. "Yet it is our duty to do all this. The
Scriptures, for whose infallibility you contend, set a higher standard
of faith and practice than I have done."
"But they tell as in so many words, 'Ye can of yourselves do nothing.'
Who can say, 'I have made my heart clean--I am pure from my sin?'"
"You do not agree with the fanatics who denounce morality, I hope,"
said Charley. "I heard one hold forth last Sabbath. He told us 'our
righteousness was as filthy rags.' I had read my Bible, and knew that;
but he heated Gehenna seven times hotter for 'ye miserable moralists'
than for the vilest outcast that ever dishonored the image in which he
was made. I make no pretensions to piety, but I endeavour to do my duty
to my fellow-men; to hate none, and help all. I go to church because I
think it right, if only for the example I set to others; I don't expect
my good works to be a passport to heaven; but I thought, as I listened
to him, that his orthodoxy and zeal, without charity, would profit him
nothing."
"You were probably nearer right than he;" said Mr. Lacy. I do not decry
morality. Reason teaches us that the benevolent citizen, the honest
tradesman, the kind parent and husband, find more favour in the eyes of
a righteous judge than the rioter, the cheat, the debauchee and tyrant.
Much injury is done to religion by the mistaken zeal of its advocates.
This was not the spirit of its Founder. To me, the history of the young
ruler, who came to Christ, is one of the most affecting in the New
Testament. He was not driven away by disheartening rebukes; but 'Jesus,
looking on him, _loved_ him.' How tenderly must he have uttered--'But
one thing thou lackest!'"
"But how unnatural is the finale!" said Lynn. "'And he went away
sorrowful, for he had great possessions.' He let his lucre outweigh his
soul!"
"Take care how you condemn!" said Charley. "There are 'possessions'
besides silver and gold, which clog a man's steps. Love of pleasure has
ruined more souls than love of gain."
"And procrastination more than both together;" added Morton.
Ida looked at Charley. "Do you remember our conversation after the
protracted meeting, last summer?" asked she. "I felt, when you spoke of
Death and Eternity, that I could never close my eyes again in peace;
but the impression wore off; and we are here, to-night, it may be, no
better prepared for our inevitable change than we were then."
"Yet we are content to hunt for the motives of this inconsistency of
belief and action, instead of rectifying it!" said Mr. Lacy, seriously.
"You predestinarians may excuse us upon the ground that we are waiting
the 'set time;'" remarked Charley.
"God's time is '_now_;'" answered his friend. "'To-morrow' comes
with a note of warning--'Boast not thyself of to-morrow;' 'To-day
is--to-morrow is cast into the oven.'"
"You have battered my scaffolding, and not provided me with another;"
cried Lynn. "You say I am helpless, yet cry, 'the night cometh!'"
Mr. Lacy took a Bible from the table, and handing it to Ida, requested
her to read aloud the passages he pointed out.
"'Then said they unto him; What shall we do that we might work the
works of God? Jesus answered, and said unto them: this is the work
of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent;' and 'Knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of
Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law.'"
"Thank you," said Lynn. "Then I am to do nothing?"
"Nothing as yet, but believe and trust. Having enlisted in the service,
you will not be left idle. But I am overstaying my time; I engaged to
meet a friend at half-past nine, and it is nearly ten. I had rather
stay here, but good night, nevertheless."
"And I have not thanked him!" thought Ida, disappointed--but--
"Miss Ida!" called Charley, from the porch. "Come, see this cloud!"
A pile of snow-clouds was heaving up towards the moon, which fringed
their jagged outlines with silver, unearthly bright from the blackness
below.
"You would say, 'gloomily beautiful;'" said Mr. Lacy.
He was close beside her, and approachable as ever; and Charley held
Mrs. Dana and Lynn in conversation. In one sentence, she expressed her
sense of obligation, and her regret that he had had so much trouble in
executing her commission. His face was in the shade, but she _felt_ his
look.
"Nothing is a trouble to me, that promotes your happiness."
She went back to the parlor, with a tumultuous joy at heart. The full
significance of his words she did not understand till long afterwards.
"Mr. Lacy should study for the ministry;" said Mrs. Dana.
"He does more good as he is;" replied Charley, stoutly. "If all
Christians performed their duty as well, you and I would live to see
the Millennium. He can reach men, who would fly at the glimpse of a
white cravat. There is some charm about the man; his religion is a
part of himself; and he carries it everywhere he goes. I have seen the
wildest fellows I know, cluster around him, and introduce the subject,
for the pleasure of hearing him talk. He knows when to begin, and when
to leave off. He says plain things to me; I might knock down another
man who took the liberty; I thank him, and am sincere in so doing."
"I love to listen to him; but he makes me very uncomfortable;" said
Mrs. Dana.
"It is so with me;" responded Lynn. "Our conferences always leave me
out of humour with myself, and envious of him."
"I think the secret of his influence lies in his humility and charity;"
remarked Ida; "in his not holding himself so far above us 'deluded
worldlings,' as certain of his brethren. He believes there is good in
all; not that he is all-good."
"These all-good people are too apt to slam the door of Heaven, as soon
as they are on the safe side, themselves;" answered Charley. "Lacy
would be willing to see the whole human race saved."
"Who would not?" laughed Ida.
"'Who would not!' why, I honestly thought, before I knew him, that many
professors of religion,--those of his denomination, especially--would
be sorely chagrined at an event so opposite to their calculations."
"I wish I were as certainly 'predestinated' as he is;" said Lynn, with
a smile and a sigh.
"I cannot quite subscribe to your 'election' principles; but if I were
altogether such an one as he seems to be, I should consider my chance
pretty safe;" returned Charley.
"You are not going, Ida!" remonstrated Mrs. Dana. "Stay all night with
me."
"I cannot. We shall have a snow storm to-morrow, and I might be
detained several days."
"No great harm if you are!" said Charley.
"Not if I have duties which call me home? I will come again shortly,
but I must go now."
Charley, as host pro tempore, got his hat; and Lynn followed them into
the street, with, "I hope I don't intrude!" The tempest was near at
hand; the gust that buffeted them at the corners made them stagger.
Lynn forced Ida to take his arm also, and in this style they breasted
the storm, gaily. Ida looked out after them, before she closed the
door. They hurried along, arm in arm, their merry voices borne back to
her by the wind, after the darkness swallowed up their forms.
The snow fell steadily all the next day, and the next.
Josephine was "blue;" her name for ill-humor--"bad weather always made
her blue," Mr. Read had a twinge of the rheumatism, and was amiable
accordingly. Ida wrote a long letter to Carry; read Charley's last
budget of books; and watched the snow-flakes; enjoying the perfect
quiet, and freedom from interruption. Upon each evening, she sat by
her window, until she could not distinguish the boundary between the
leaden sky and the white earth; and the snow, she had been brushing off
all day, banked up against the glass. "Heigho! we dreamers have some
pleasures more sensible people know nothing about;" said she, as the
tea-bell sounded the second night. "It will seem so dark and dreary
below after the society that has cheered my sanctum!"
The ice was breaking up below, in a hail-storm, which had all the
sharpness of a conjugal "difference," without the stinging politeness
genteel people throw into their wrangles. Ida listened and sickened and
sighed. A pealing ring checked the disputants. Ida's heart fluttered,
and Josephine looked up anxiously at the footman's entrance.
"Mr. Dana, to see Miss Ross."
"Of course then, I shall not go out;" said Josephine, haughtily.
Ida ran into the drawing-room. "Oh! I am so glad to see you!"--but his
look stopped her short. "You have bad news! Carry!" she articulated,
sinking into a chair.
"No: Carry and Jenny are well; but I am come for you. Our poor friend
Lynn, is very ill."
"Ill!" said she, incredulously.
His lips quivered. "VERY ill!"
"Lynn! brother!" A mist fell over her sight--then cleared, as one long
choking sob relieved her burdened breast. Charley raised her.
"There is no time to lose."
"I am ready."
Mr. Read and Josephine came into the hall at the bustle.
"Miss Ross! may I presume to ask whither you are going, on such a
night?"
"To see a sick friend, sir!" returned Charley, as dictatorially.
"Whom sir, and where?"
"_My_ friend, and she is under _my_ protection;" said he, impatient at
the detention. A carriage was waiting. Ida asked one question--"When
was he attacked?"
"Within three hours after we parted from you. He stayed with me
at John's that night; complained before retiring, of thirst and
chilliness; and awoke with a raging fever. The doctors pronounce the
disease inflammation of the lungs, of the most virulent nature. He had
a lucid interval this evening, and asked for you."
She did not say, "Is there hope?" She knew there was none.
Charley exchanged a word with the servant who opened the door, and led
the way directly to the sick-chamber. Mrs. Dana met her with a tearful
embrace; she saw no one else, but the figure upon the bed. But for
the dark circles about the eyes and mouth, the unmistakeable signet
of Death, he might have seemed in perfect health. He appeared to be
asleep, until she stood at his pillow; then opened his eyes upon her
horror-stricken face, and made an effort to smile.
"Ida!"
"_Dear_ Lynn!"
His breath was short "I am almost gone. Give my farewell to Ellen,--I
forgave and loved her to the last. Bury her miniature with me. I have
done with earth."
He closed his eyes. They brought a cordial. His wistful glance ran
around the room, and returned to her.
"What is it, dear Lynn?"
Oh! the mournful intensity of that look! and the clammy fingers clasped
hers. "_I did not think I should die so soon!_ Is Lacy here?"
He came forward at her sign.
"I am dying--I have not time to search for myself--see if there is any
promise for me!"
"Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out;'" repeated
Mr. Lacy, instantly. "'He is able also, to save unto the uttermost
all them, who come unto God by Him,--seeing He ever liveth to make
intercession for them.'"
The fading eyes were re-lit with eagerness.
"Is _that_ there? did He say so, or did you?"
"He said it, who declares, moreover, that He is not willing for 'any to
perish but that all should turn and live.'"
His dying gaze was upward, and his lips moved in prayer.
"To the uttermost--the uttermost!" he whispered. "'Lord!
remember--me,--when Thou comest--into--Thy--'"
He sank into a stupor; and the physician administered another
stimulant. He had besought them not to permit him to sleep while reason
lasted. One and another had come in, on hearing of his danger, and the
room was nearly filled; but there was not a word or loud breath, to
distract the meditations of the parting soul.
Charley and Mrs. Dana were nearest him on one side, Ida and Mr. Lacy,
on the other. He looked at them fondly.
"Friends! _dear_ friends! 'There is a friend--'" to Lacy.
He finished the sentence--"That sticketh closer than a brother."
"Yes:--I remember--who is able to save--to--the--utter most--" his
voice died away. When next his eyes moved, it was slowly and painfully;
but their restless light was not extinct. The stiffening mouth
contracted.
"He says 'Pray!'" said Ida to Morton.
Every head was bowed; and the opening sentence of the prayer brought a
deeper quiet to every heart.
"'Lord! Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations!'"
The language was simple, scriptural and fervent,--the pleading of a
son, in behalf of a brother, with an indulgent Parent. As he repeated
the text, Lynn had dwelt upon, Ida felt the feeble pressure of his
hand;--he was alive and conscious then. The rest arose at the "Amen."
She had not knelt; but she did not raise her head from the pillow;--her
soul had caught the farewell of his, as it flew away upon its long
journey! There was a movement through the room--a breathless pause--a
solemn voice said "He is gone!" and tears and sobbings broke forth.
His hand still held hers; and the other was folded over them in
supplication;--the eyes still looked heavenward--but they were fixed.
Dead! dead! in his glorious beauty--in the flush of youth! deaf to the
recall of mourning hearts--and the awakening echoes of the fame his
genius had won! If _he_ could die, who was sure of an hour of life.