WHERE THE PILLAR RESTED.
The fort, as has been mentioned, was by no means the dwelling-place
of all the members of Ali Khan's tribe; though, their numbers being
small, in times of danger all would seek refuge within its walls.
There were rude hamlets scattered here and there in the mountains, as
well as some huts clustered in a little valley below. From every
tenement ere sunrise on the following day come the Pathans in answer
to Walter's summons. At dawn the court-yard, with its recesses, was
crowded; the mountaineers' manly forms, picturesque attire, and the
various emotions expressed on their swarthy countenances, giving
great interest and animation to the scene.
Ali Khan, with Walter on his right hand, stood on the narrow
landing-place at the top of the ladder-staircase; this served as an
elevated platform from which to address the people. Sultána, in the
room behind, was an eager listener to all that passed.
"Ali Khan, brave chief, it is for you to speak to your tribe," said
Walter.
"I never could speak in my life," said the Afghan bluntly. "You know
my heart--you will be as my tongue."
"Nay, a few words from yourself will be needful."
Ali Khan was not the first gallant warrior who has shrunk from the
effort of making a speech; however, after the pause of a few seconds,
with manly frankness thus he spake:--
"Afghan brothers! we have been born amongst you, lived amongst you,
and I had thought to stay amongst you to the end; but if you do not
wish me for your chief, I tell you that I will only rule over free
men, not over unwilling slaves. The world is wide--so is God's
grace. We can seek for graves elsewhere. We will go, carrying with
us our Christian faith, and leaving behind--our forgiveness."
Short was the speech; but it had its effect on the throng, who had
listened with profound attention. Sultána felt proud of her
husband's eloquence, and looked fondly into the face of her boy,
discovering in his baby features a likeness to his brave father.
"Now it is your turn," said Ali Khan to Walter Gurney, who thus
addressed the listening crowd:--
"Afghans--friends (may I not call you so, for albeit of another race
I am willing to cast in my lot with you all)--you are assembled on an
important occasion, to decide upon who is to be the chief who shall
henceforth be at the head of your tribe. For more than two years you
have been under the rule of Ali Khan; you know him well, he has been
amongst you from childhood. Is there any man here who has sustained
wrong at the hands of the chief; is there one who has been oppressed,
or robbed, or tortured? If there be one who has just cause to
complain of the Christian Ali Khan, let that man now lift up his
hand."
There was no movement in answer to the appeal.
"It then follows," continued Walter, after a pause, "that you own
that Christianity makes a man neither tyrannical nor unjust; it does
not make him unfaithful to his engagements, nor neglectful of the
cries of the poor. Brothers! ye have listened to the words of your
chief, and what I say now I say as his spokesman. It is the desire
of Ali Khan that I set two alternatives before you. If you, as
Moslems, find that you cannot endure the leadership of a Christian,
Ali Khan will make no struggle, shed no blood to maintain his right;
he and his family will quit a land which rejects so brave and true a
son. I have enough influence to procure honourable employment in
India for my brother and friend." (Here a dissentient murmur was
heard from the crowd below, but no distinctly audible words.) "If,
on the other hand, you wish to keep amongst you as leader the best
and bravest man of your tribe, who asks but that toleration for his
religion which he accords to that of others, Ali Khan is willing to
forgive the past, to forget that his Pathans ever wavered in their
loyalty to their chief. My own connection with the English will
enable us to open up commerce, to procure for you advantages not
possessed by tribes more remote from the frontier. The two
countries, as you know, are now at peace; the scimitar of war is
sheathed, the Afghan trader is welcomed if he descend into the
plain." (There was again a murmur, but not this time of
dissatisfaction.) "If I remain here, I tell you frankly, it will be
as a missionary, a spiritual guide; but Christianity, unlike Islam,
makes no converts by the sword. No man's freedom of conscience shall
be violated; ye shall listen to my teaching or turn away as ye will.
I come to you, O Afghans! as one who, having found a treasure, seeks
to share it with others; as one who, having slaked his thirst at a
fountain, would call his thirsty, weary brethren to come and drink
also. And now, Afghans, I put to you the question, on your answer to
which will depend whether we remain amongst you, or quit these
Afghanistan mountains--perhaps for ever. Are ye willing to retain
and to obey Ali Khan as your chief?"
Out flashed many a bright scimitar, weapons were waved on high; if
there were any dissentient voices they were drowned in the almost
universal shout of "Long live Ali Khan! Prosperity to our brave
chief! We will stand by him to the death!"
While Ali Khan responded to the tumultuous acclamations of his
followers, Walter turned and entered the room in which he had left
Sultána.
"Oh, God-sent friend!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands, "you will
remain with us--teach us--guide us--show us the way to heaven!"
"If the Lord will," replied Walter Gurney, "I am ready to live and to
die in the Eagle's Nest."
----------
The world would deem the resolution that of a mad enthusiast, carried
away by the excitement of the moment. What! should one before whom
was opening a brilliant career, with wealth, fame, friendship, love
to beckon him on, give up all for what that world would deem a mere
philanthropical dream! Could the brilliant genius find no better
employment for his talents than teaching ignorant savages, who might
at the last reward his labours by taking his life? Were all the
comforts, the luxuries of refined civilisation, to be exchanged for
exile amongst the mountains, with hardships to be endured, and
perhaps a martyr's obscure grave to be filled at the end! "Strange
folly!" the world would exclaim, "to give up all that man holds
precious, with nothing to weigh in the balance against it!"
_Nothing_! Oh, how different the calculations of angels! In the
balances of heaven what would the crown of a Cæsar weigh against one
immortal soul? Did not the Son of God think it worth while to leave
heaven itself to win it? Let me quote the words of the missionary
Duff--more powerful than any that I can pen: "This great and mighty
Being did for our sakes consent to veil His glory and appear upon
earth as a Man of Sorrows, whose visage was so marred,--more than any
man's,--and His form more than the sons of men. Oh! is not this
love, self-sacrificing love, condescension without a parallel and
without a name! God manifest in the flesh! God manifest for the
redemption of a rebel race! Oh! is not this the wonder of the world;
is not this the astonishment of a universe!" Referring to the
angels, the missionary continues: "Tell me, oh, tell me, if in their
cloudless vision it would seem aught so marvellous, so passing
strange, did they behold the greatest and mightiest of a guilty race,
redeemed themselves at so vast a price, ... issue forth in the
footsteps of the Divine Redeemer into the waste and howling
wilderness of sin, to seek and to save them that are lost!"
One more word to the reader ere we part. It may be not to you, O my
brother or sister, that the call is given to leave your country to
carry the message of salvation to the heathen; for you the pillar of
cloud and fire may rest over some Elam; God may bid you watch over an
aged parent, make a home happy, bring up children for Him. Your work
may be in Scotch or English parish; perhaps in the crowded city,
perhaps in the peaceful village. But is your eye fixed on that
pillar, the emblem of the will of your Heavenly King? Is the calm
peaceful resolution of your heart, "_Wherever_ Thou wilt, _however_
Thou wilt, O my adorable Lord! but guide me, and I will follow!"
Then blessed is your path, whether in wilderness or green pastures,
whether through roaring billows or beside the still waters!
Dispensing blessings to the poor around, teaching the ignorant,
comforting the afflicted, fighting against the power of Satan both
within and without, you may be as truly serving the Lord, as truly
pressing forward to the prize, as if planting the banner of the Cross
on the height of some
EAGLE'S NEST.
FINIS