Keep the spell of home affection
Still alive in every heart;
May its power, with mild direction,
Draw our love from self apart,
Till thy children
Feel that thou their Father art.
_School Hymn_.
"I have caught such a lot of pretty sea-anemones, Eric," said little
Vernon Williams, as his brother strolled in after morning school; "I
wish you would come and look at them."
"Oh, I can't come now, Verny; I am going out to play cricket with some
fellows directly."
"But it won't take you a minute; do come."
"What a little bore you are. Where are the things?"
"Oh, never mind, Eric, if you don't want to look at them," said Vernon,
hurt at his brother's rough manner.
"First, you ask me to look, and then say `never mind,'" said Eric
impatiently; "here, show me them."
The little boy brought a large saucer, round which the crimson
sea-flowers were waving their long tentacula in the salt water.
"Oh my; very pretty indeed. But I must be off to cricket."
Vernon looked up at his brother sadly.
"You aren't so kind to me, Eric, as you used to be."
"What nonsense! and all because I don't admire those nasty red-jelly
things, which one may see on the shore by thousands any day. What a
little goose you are, Vernon."
Vernon made no reply, but was putting away his sea-anemones with a sigh,
when in came Russell to fetch Eric to the cricket.
"Well, Verny," he said, "have you been getting those pretty
sea-anemones? come here and show me them. Ah, I declare you've got one
of those famous white plumosa fellows among them. What a lucky little
chap you are!"
Vernon was delighted.
"Mind you take care of them," said Russell. "Where did you find them?"
"I have been down the shore getting them."
"And have you had a pleasant morning?"
"Yes, Russell, thank you. Only it is rather dull being always by
myself, and Eric never comes with me now."
"Hang Eric," said Russell playfully. "Never mind, Verny; you and I will
cut him, and go by ourselves."
Eric had stood by during the conversation, and the contrast of Russell's
unselfish kindness with his own harsh want of sympathy struck him. He
threw his arms round his brother's neck, and said, "We will both go with
you, Verny, next half-holiday."
"Oh, thank you, Eric," said his brother; and the two schoolboys ran out.
But when the next half-holiday came, warm and bright, with the promise
of a good match that afternoon, Eric repented his promise, and left
Russell to amuse his little brother, while he went off, as usual, to the
playground.
There was one silent witness of scenes like these, who laid them up
deeply in her heart. Mrs Williams was not unobservant of the gradual
but steady falling off in Eric's character, and the first thing she
noticed was the blunting of his home affections. When they first came
to Roslyn, the boy used constantly to join his father and mother in
their walks; but now he went seldom or never; and even if he did go, he
seemed ashamed, while with them, to meet any of his school-fellows. The
spirit of false independence was awake and, growing in her darling son.
The bright afternoons they had spent together on the sunny shore, or
seeking for sea-flowers among the lonely rocks of the neighbouring
headlands--the walks at evening and sunset among the hills, and the
sweet counsel they had together, when the boy's character opened like a
bud in the light and warmth of his mother's love--the long twilights
when he would sit on a stool with his young head resting on her knees,
and her loving hand in his fair hair--all these things were becoming to
Mrs Williams memories, and nothing more.
It was the trial of her life, and very sad to bear; the more so because
they were soon to be parted--certainly for years, perhaps for ever. The
time was drawing nearer and nearer; it was now June, and Mr Williams's
term of furlough ended in two months. The holidays at Roslyn were the
months of July and August, and towards their close Mr and Mrs Williams
intended to leave Vernon at Fairholm, and start for India--sending back
Eric by himself as a boarder in Dr Rowlands's house.
After morning school, on fine days, the boys used to run straight down
to the shore and bathe. A bright and joyous scene it was. They
stripped off their clothes on the shingle that adjoined the beach, and
then, running along the sands, would swim out far into the bay till
their heads looked like small dots glancing in the sunshine. This year
Eric had learned to swim, and he enjoyed the bathing more than any other
pleasure.
One day after they had dressed, Russell and he began to amuse themselves
on the sea-shore. The little translucent pools left on the sands by the
ebbing tide always swarm with life, and the two boys found great fun in
hunting audacious little crabs, or catching the shrimps that shuffled
about in the shallow water. At last Eric picked up a piece of wood
which he found lying on the beach, and said, "What do you say to coming
crab-fishing, Edwin? this bit of stick will do capitally to thrust
between the rocks in the holes where they lie?"
Russell agreed, and they started to the rocks of the Ness to seek a
likely place for their purpose. The Ness was a mile off, but in the
excitement of their pleasure they were oblivious of time.
The Williamses, for the boys' convenience, usually dined at one, but on
this day they waited half an hour for Eric. Since, however, he didn't
appear, they dined without him, supposing that he was accidentally
detained, and expecting him to come in every minute. But two o'clock
came, and no Eric; half-past two, and no Eric; three, but still no Eric.
Mrs Williams became seriously alarmed, and even her husband grew
uneasy.
Vernon was watching for his brother at the window, and seeing Duncan
pass by, ran down to ask him, "If he knew where Eric was?"
"No," said Duncan; "last time I saw him was on the shore. We bathed
together, and I remember his clothes were lying by mine when I dressed.
But I haven't seen him since. If you like, we'll go and look for him.
I daresay he's on the beach somewhere."
But they found no traces of him there; and when they returned with this
intelligence, his mother got so agitated that it required all her
husband's firm gentleness to support her sinking spirits. There was
enough to cause anxiety, for Vernon repeatedly ran out to ask the boys
who were passing if they had seen his brother, and the answer always
was, that they had left him bathing in the sea.
Meanwhile our young friends, having caught several crabs, suddenly
noticed by the sun that it was getting late.
"Good gracious, Edwin," said Eric, pulling out his watch, "it's
half-past three; what have we been thinking of? How frightened they'll
be at home," and running back as fast as they could, they reached the
house at five o'clock, and rushed into the room.
"Eric, Eric," said Mrs Williams faintly, "where have you been? has
anything happened to you, my child?"
"No, mother, nothing. I've only been crab-fishing with Russell, and we
forgot the time."
"Thoughtless boy," said his father; "your mother has been in an agony
about you."
Eric saw her pale face and tearful eyes, and flung himself in her arms,
and mother and son wept in a long embrace. "Only two months," whispered
Mrs Williams, "and we shall leave you, dear boy, perhaps for ever. Oh
do not forget your love for us in the midst of new companions."
The end of term arrived; this time Eric came out eighth only, instead of
first, and therefore, on the prize-day, was obliged to sit among the
crowd of undistinguished boys. He saw that his parents were
disappointed, and his own ambition was grievously mortified. But he had
full confidence in his own powers, and made the strongest resolutions to
work hard the next half-year, when he had got out of "that Gordon's"
clutches.
The Williamses spent the holidays at Fairholm, and now, indeed, in the
prospect of losing them, Eric's feelings to his parents came out in all
their strength. Most happily the days glided by, and the father and
mother used them wisely. All their gentle influence, all their deep
affection, were employed in leaving on the boy's heart lasting
impressions of godliness and truth. He learnt to feel that their love
would encircle him for ever with its heavenly tenderness, and their pure
prayers rise for him night and day to the throne of God.
The day of parting came, and most bitter and heart-rending it was. In
the wildness of their passionate sorrow, Eric and Vernon seemed to hear
the sound of everlasting farewells. It is God's mercy that ordains how
seldom young hearts have to endure such misery.
At length it was over. The last sound of wheels had died away; and
during those hours the hearts of parents and children felt the
bitterness of death. Mrs Trevor and Fanny, themselves filled with
grief, still used all their unselfish endeavours to comfort their dear
boys. Vernon, weary of crying, soon sank to sleep; but not so Eric. He
sat on a low stool, his face buried in his hands, breaking the stillness
every now and then with his convulsive sobs.
"Oh, Aunty," he cried, "do you think I shall ever see them again? I
have been so selfish, and so little grateful for all their love. Oh, I
wish I had thought at Roslyn how soon I was to lose them."
"Yes, dearest," said Mrs Trevor, "I have no doubt we shall all meet
again soon. Your father is only going for five years, you know, and
that will not seem very long. And then they will be writing continually
to us, and we to them. Think, Eric, how gladdened their hearts will be
to hear that you and Vernon are good boys, and getting on well."
"Oh, I _will_ be a better boy, I _will_ indeed," said Eric; "I mean to
do great things, and they shall have nothing but good reports of me."
"God helping you, dear," said his aunt, pushing back his hair from his
forehead, and kissing it softly; "without His help, Eric, we are all
weak indeed."
She sighed. But how far deeper her sigh would have been had she known
the future. Merciful is the darkness that shrouds it from human eyes.