CONSECRATION.
As the weeks passed by, bringing no intelligence to New Hope that Paul
was living,--when there was no longer a doubt of his death,--Father
Surplice held a memorial service. It was on Sunday, and all the people
were at church. Appropriate for the occasion were the words which he
read from the New Testament of the widow of Nain,--how, "as Jesus came
nigh to the city, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his
mother, and she was a widow; and when the Lord saw her, he had
compassion on her, and said, 'Weep not!'"
Consoling and comforting were his own words, which sank deep into the
hearts of the stricken people; and though the good man said, "Weep not!"
tears dropped from his own eyes, and fell upon the great Bible which lay
open before him. It was a sad and solemn service. Though the heart of
the mother was yearning for her son, yet she could say, "The Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
Mrs. Parker still lived in the little old cottage. The neighbors were
very kind, and she wanted for nothing, for Colonel Dare remembered his
promise. Peaceful was her life. The birds sang cheerful songs; sweet was
the humming of the bees, fragrant the flowers in the garden, and steady
the flowing of the river; and as she listened to the waterfall, she
thought of Paul as standing by the River of Life. How, then, could she
mourn for him? Yet she missed him. Sometimes she listened as if to hear
his footsteps coming up the garden walk. Sometimes her eyes filled with
tears, as her heart went out to the lonely battle-field where she
thought him lying. O, if she could but behold him again,--clasp him in
her arms,--and once more lay her hand upon his brow, and bless him with
a mother's tenderest love!
But he was gone, and for him she could work no more. His comrades were
bearing on the flag, upholding it on bloody fields, fighting as he
fought, suffering as he suffered, needing help and comfort and cheer
from those at home. There was work to be done for them; so through the
days she sat in the old kitchen, knitting and sewing for the soldiers,
wishing that she had half a dozen hands instead of two, that she might
help them more.
There was one who came to aid her every day,--Azalia, who, in the
silence and seclusion of her chamber, had looked out upon the yellow
harvest-fields where the farmers were gathering the first ripe ears of
seed-corn, and had tried to still the wild commotion in her heart by
remembering that it was just and right for the Lord of the harvest to
gather his "choicest grains." Down on the lowlands by the river the
nurserymen were selecting their fairest trees, and transplanting them in
their orchards on the pleasant hills beyond the stream. Why, then,
should she complain if the kind Father had seen fit to do the same?
It was consoling to take from her bureau drawer, where her keepsakes
were stored, the letters which Paul had written, undo the black ribbon
which she had tied around the package, and read again and again that
which she almost knew by heart. What manly words were there: "Life is
worth nothing unless devoted to noble ends. I can see the millions yet
to come beckoning me to do my duty for their sake. What answer can I
give them if I falter?"
So read one of the letters. They were words which she could not forget.
They were written from the trenches before Vicksburg, when the prospects
of the country were dark and gloomy,--when craven men at home were
crying, "Peace! Peace! Let us have peace at any price!" forgetting that
there can be no reconcilement between right and wrong. Paul had
sacrificed everything--life itself--for the sake of those who were to
come after him,--for Truth and Justice. She thought of him as asleep
beneath the sod of the battle-field where he fell,--of all that was
mortal lying there, but of his soul as having passed up into heaven,
perhaps even then beholding her from the celestial sphere. "What answer
can I give to those who come after me?" The question haunted her through
the waning days and the lonely nights. What could she do? How listless
her life! of how little account! How feeble, forceless, and narrow all
her efforts! What sacrifices had she made? None. She had lived for
herself alone. Was this all of life? In the silent hours, when all
around were hushed in slumber, her longing soul, with far-reaching
sight, looked out upon the coming years, and beheld the opening
prospect,--a country saved, a nation redeemed, justice and truth
triumphant, and Peace, with her white wings, brooding over the land!
This through sacrifice of blood, of strength, of ease and comfort. To
withhold the sacrifice was to lose all. To her the coming millions were
beckoning as they had beckoned to him. With prayers of consecration she
gave herself to the country,--to go wherever duty called, to labor, to
endure hardship, and brave scenes which would wring out her heart's
blood,--to face disease and death itself, if need be, to hand down a
priceless inheritance to the coming ages.
"You will get sick, my child. You have not strength to be a nurse in the
hospital," said her mother, when Azalia told her that she must go and
take care of the soldiers.
"I cannot spare you, my daughter," said her father, tenderly taking her
in his arms, and kissing her ruby lips. She was his only child, and he
loved her dearly. "I don't think it is your duty to go; and how lonesome
the house would be without my darling!"
And so, knowing that it was her duty to do whatever her parents wished,
she tried to be content. But the days dragged wearily. She was ever
thinking of the soldiers,--thinking through the days and through the
nights, till the bright bloom faded from her cheek. Her heart was far
away. Her life was incomplete,--she felt that it was running to waste.
Her father saw that his flower was fading. At last he said, "Go, my
darling, and God be with you."
"I don't think that Judge Adams ought to let Azalia go into the
hospital. It isn't a fit place for girls," said Miss Dobb, when she
heard that Azalia was to be a nurse. But, giving no heed to Miss Dobb,
with the blessing of her parents following her, she left her pleasant
home, gave up all its ease and comfort, to minister to the sick and
wounded, who had fought to save the country.
She went to Washington, and thence to the hospitals at Annapolis. It was
hard work to stand all day by the side of the sick, bathing their
fevered brows, moistening their parched lips, binding up their bleeding
wounds. It was painful to look upon the quivering flesh, torn and
mangled by cannon-shot. But she learned to bear it all,--to stand calmly
by, waiting upon the surgeon while he ran his sharp knife into the live
flesh. It was a pleasure to aid him in his work.
Her step was light upon the floor; soothing and tender the touch of her
hand. There was no light so sweet and pure as that which beamed from her
earnest eyes. The sick waited impatiently for her appearance in the
morning, watched her footsteps through the day, thanked her for all she
did, and said, "God bless you!" when she bade them good night. Men who
were in the habit of uttering fearful oaths wept when she talked with
them about their mothers; she wrote their letters, and read to them the
words of affection which came from home. She sang the songs they loved
to hear. It was like wine to the weak. The down-hearted took new
courage, and those who were well enough to be hobbling about on
crutches, who were telling stories of the battles, forgot what they were
saying while listening to her voice. Her presence was noonday, her
absence night. Once, when through long watching and patient waiting her
strength gave way, and the fever raged in her own veins, it was touching
to see their sorrow. The loud-talking spoke in whispers, and walked
noiselessly along the wards, for fear of increasing the pain which
racked her aching head; the sick ones, who missed the touch of her
magic hand, and the sweet music of her voice, and the sunlight of her
presence, whose fevers were raging because she was absent, when the
physician went his rounds in the morning, at noon, and at night,
inquired not about themselves, but her. When the fever passed,--when she
was well enough to walk through the wards, and hold for a moment the
hands which were stretched out on every side,--it was as if her very
presence had power to heal.
How blessed her work!--to give life and strength; to soothe pain, change
sorrow to joy; to sit beside the dying, and talk of the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world; to wipe the dampness of death from
their brows, listen to their last words, and, when the spirit had flown,
to close the sightless eyes, and cut from the pale brow a lock of hair
for a fond mother far away, thinking ever of her dying boy.
So the months went by,--autumn to winter, winter to spring, and spring
to summer.