Enlisting for Life
The village children were swarming out of school the next afternoon. The
heat and confinement of the crowded schoolroom had not lessened the
superabundance of energy and high spirits amongst them, and the boys soon
congregated on the green, bent on a game of cricket.
'Where's Teddy?' 'Teddy Platt!' 'Young Ted, where's he got to?' 'Fetch
Teddy!' This was the general cry. But Teddy was nowhere to be seen.
'Has he been kept in?' queried one.
'Likely enough. He's up in the clouds to-day.'
'Oh, ain't he just! Why, I offered him half such a huge apple. My! it
was a beauty! And his eyes sort o' wandered away from it, as if it had
been a piece of mud! "Thanks," ses he, "I'll have a bite
to-morrer--not to-day."'
'And teacher was down on him sharp, too,' put in another eager voice.
'He answered all the 'rithmetic wrong, and he said forty soldiers made a
rood! And teacher ses, "Is your head good for nothing but soldiers?" And
Ted he got as red as fire, and says, "It's full of them to-day, sir";
and teacher said, "Go down to the bottom of the class till you can empty
it of them then, and tell me when you've done it." And when Ted comes
next to me I says, "Is your button lost, old chap, that you're in such a
stew?" And he says, "No, the button is all right, but I'm thinkin' how
to enlist."'
'He'll go for a drummer-boy as soon as he's big enough, and I'll go with
him!' cried Carrots.
'Oh, come on,' shouted one of the impatient ones; 'if Ted's not here, let
us begin without him.'
And Teddy's delinquencies at school were soon forgotten in the excitement
of the game.
He had not been kept in, but had slipped away the minute school was over,
and was soon dodging in and out of the thick overhanging trees along the
edge of his favourite stream. His little feet sped swiftly along, and as
he ran he talked in a whisper to himself, which was his way when anything
special was weighing on his mind. 'I'll go right into the wood, and get
under a thick tree. I won't let a squirrel see me, nor even a rabbit. I
must be quite quiet, and it must be like church, and I shan't come away
till I've done it.'
Into the wood he went, but he was hard to satisfy; roaming here and
there, peeping round corners, and thrusting his curly head in amongst the
bushes, it was fully half an hour before he chose his spot.
It was a secluded little nook under an old oak-tree, where the moss grew
thick and green, and bushes of all sorts and sizes formed a natural bower
round the gnarled trunk. In front of this tree Teddy stood, and then,
half shyly, half reverently, he took off his cap and laid it on the
ground. Looking up through the veil of green leaves above him to the
sunny blue sky beyond, he stood with clasped hands and parted lips for a
moment or two in perfect silence. The soft wind played gently with his
curls, and rustled amongst the leafy boughs overhead, and in the distance
the birds' sweet voices were the only sounds that met his ears. As the
boy's eyes came back to earth they seemed to have reflected in them
something of the bright sunshine above, and then down on his knees he
dropped. Placing his little clasped hands against the old trunk in front
of him, and bending his golden head till it rested likewise against the
tree, Teddy prayed aloud, slowly, and with frequent pauses,--
'O God! here I am. Have You been waiting for me? I've come to enlist.
And, please, I forget all Mr. Upton told me to say; but will You forgive
me my sins, and write my name down in Your book in heaven?--Edward James
Platt is my name. I've come to be Your soldier for ever and ever. Will
You please keep me always? I never want to go back from being Your
soldier. Make me fight a grand fight, and help me to hold Your colours up
well; and please, God, will You tell father I've enlisted this afternoon?
Mr. Upton said You would take me. I thank You for letting Jesus die for
me, and I'm very sorry I haven't belonged to His army before, but I
didn't quite understand that He wanted me. Help me to be a good boy, for
Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.'
A child's prayer, but it was prayed with a child's strong faith, and as
Teddy rose to his feet, he had the assurance that God had accepted him.
That scene in the wood, when he dedicated himself to the service of the
King of kings, would be stamped on his memory as long as he lived. And
now that the deed was done a great load seemed to be lifted off his mind.
He came into the midst of the boys on the green a short time afterwards
with a radiant face, and took his share in fielding, bowling, and batting
with such a vigour and will, that he proved himself the hero of the hour.
Later in the evening he wandered into the dairy, where his mother was
busy, and asked her if he could go and see the rector.
'What for, sonny?'
'He asked me to come. Is it too late, do you think? I should like to go
to-night.'
Mrs. John looked down upon the eager little face lifted to hers.
'Run away, then; but don't stay long.'
And so it was that for the second time that week Teddy was a visitor at
the rectory.
'Please, sir, I've done it!' he exclaimed breathlessly, as soon as he was
ushered into the presence of the rector.
'Eh? What have you been doing?'
And Mr. Upton roused himself from a reverie into which he had fallen as
he sat at his study window and watched his favourite beehives. Then,
noting the disappointed look on the child's face, and recognising who
it was, he added briskly, 'Ah! it is Teddy Platt, is it? And so you've
done it, have you? Thank God! Yes, I remember all about it. You're a
fresh recruit.'
Teddy's eyes glistened. 'I enlisted this afternoon, sir.'
'For life, did you? No short-service system with God!'
Mr. Upton had at one time been chaplain to troops abroad, and it was his
knowledge of military matters that so attracted the boy.
'Yes, for life, sir.'
'May God keep you true to Himself, my boy, in life and in death!'
There was a pause, then Teddy said eagerly, 'Please, sir, you said you
would show me one of the enemies I have got to fight.'
'Ah! did I? One of the many--which one, I wonder?'
'"A real live one," you said.'
'Yes, I remember. Come this way.'
He led the child into his drawing-room in front of a large mirror
reaching down to the ground, and told him to find his enemy there.
'Why, it's only myself!' Teddy said in a disappointed tone, though there
was wonder in his eyes.
'That's it--yourself--small Teddy Platt is your worst enemy, and the
older you live the more you will discover what a very formidable and
mighty enemy he is.'
'Please, sir, I don't understand.'
'Sit down here, by me, and let me try to explain it to you. If you are
going to try to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, you will find that you will
have two Teddies to deal with--a good one and a bad one. The bad one is
your enemy. Now, you told me you were angry with that little girl. Are
you angry still?'
'I've forgotten all about her. I--I don't love her.'
'The bad Teddy in you doesn't like her, but the good Teddy will. Now you
must fight against the bad Teddy, and overcome him. Jesus will help you;
you can't fight without Him.'
'I think I know,' said Teddy thoughtfully. 'Last week some fellow said,
"Come and get some apples from the Park orchard." I wanted to, dreadful.
That was my bad self, but I thought it would be stealing, and I didn't
go. That was my good self, wasn't it?'
'Quite right! Keep close to your Captain. Our Officer always leads, and
remember--"Forward! no quarter to the enemy!"'
Then gazing abstractedly out into the garden, Mr. Upton added, as if to
himself, 'But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my
members.... Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the
law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.'
The next day when at dinner, for it was generally at meal-times Teddy
chose to make his observations, he looked round the table appealingly,--
'What's the very ugliest name that could be given a boy?'
'Sakes alive!' ejaculated his grandmother. 'And who may you be wanting to
christen?'
'It isn't for a baby; a boy about as old as me. What do you think's an
ugly name?'
'I don't think any name is very ugly,' his mother said. 'If you like a
person, their name always seems to fit. I knew two boys named Tobiah and
Eli. I didn't like the names at first, though they are Bible ones, but
when I got to know and like the boys I liked the names.'
'I want a much more hideous name,' asserted Teddy; 'some name that would
describe a very wicked person.'
'I hope you are not going to call any one by it,' observed his
grandmother suspiciously.
Teddy lifted his blue eyes up to her solemnly. 'I expect I'll find one
for myself,' he said; and nothing more could be got out of him.
After dinner, a half-holiday having been given the school-children, Teddy
stole out to the woods. When out of sight he began a brisk conversation
with himself, as was his wont; and it may give us an insight into his
busy brain if we listen.
'Blackey might do, or Goggles, or Grubby, or Nigger, or Toad. I want to
have some name, else I shan't be able to talk to him so well. I wish
mother had helped me; it's very differcult. I can't seem to think of a
name quite ugly enough. I expect p'raps Mr. Upton could tell me. I'll
wait and ask him. I hope I shan't have to wait long, for I want it all
settled, so that I can begin to fight properly with him. Now I've got to
find Nancy. Mr. Upton said I was to be friends with her, and I've got to
hold up my banner of love over her. I hope she'll like it. She's a
horrid--Aha, that's my enemy just going to speak! A horrid girl, you
were going to say, were you? Now you just get out. Nancy is a very nice
girl--at least, she soon will be. I'll try and think her nice, I will.
I've got to fight you, enemy, if you say such things. Why, I do 'clare,
there she is climbing that tree!'
Teddy's conversation came to an end, and he stared with open mouth and
eyes at the nimble way Nancy was climbing up an old beech-tree. He gave a
shrill whistle, which made the little girl look round. Not a bit
disconcerted was she.
'Aha, it's the stupid little button-boy. You can't catch me!'
It was a challenge. Instantly Teddy stripped off his jacket, and darted
to the tree. She had got a good start, and even he caught his breath in
wonder at her rapid ascent, and the fearless way in which she seemed to
plant her small feet on the most fragile-looking branches. Up they
went, panting with the exercise; but at length she could go no further,
and seating herself on a comfortable bough she looked mischievously
down at him.
'You couldn't catch me; you don't know how to climb! My father taught me.
I can go up the rigging as far as any sailor boy, and this is my ship,
but I'll let you sit down by me if you behave yourself.'
Teddy swung himself across a bough opposite her, and was silent for a
moment. Each child was trying to recover breath, and Teddy was
considering how to make peace. He did it in his own quaint fashion.
'I think we're pretty close to heaven,' he remarked presently, lifting
his soft blue eyes to the clear sky above. 'I wonder if that's the reason
birds in their nests agree? The angels can't like to hear quallering so
close to them.'
'I'm not going to quarrel, and you didn't say that word right'
'What word?'
'Quarrering.' And Nancy's tone was emphatic, though a doubt stole into
her own mind as to whether her pronunciation was correct. But Teddy was
too intent upon pulling something out of his pocket to notice her
correction. He slowly unrolled a large white pocket-handkerchief, tied it
carefully to a twig, which he broke off from an adjoining branch, and
then held it up in front of her.
'I did it myself this morning,' he said with pride. 'I asked Uncle Jake
for one of his best handkerchiefs. He gave it to me last night, and I did
it with a pen and ink before breakfast. Can you read it?
Nancy looked at the straggling, uneven black letters that occupied the
whole width across.
'Love?' she said curiously; 'what does that mean?'
'It's my banner of love that I'm going to carry for my Captain. It means
I've got to love even you.'
Nancy's red lips pouted. 'I don't want you to love me,' she said.
'I've got to do it.'
'How are you going to do it?'
'I'm--I'm not quite sure. I'm never going to be angry with you. And it's
very hard--'
Here a deep-drawn sigh broke from him. 'It's _very_ hard, but I've got to
tell you I'm sorry I wouldn't let you cross the bridge first, and I'm
sorry I said I hated you in church.'
Nancy's bright dark eyes peered inquisitively into the dreamy blue ones
opposite her.
'Are you really sorry?' she said.
'I think I am, at least part of me is; my enemy isn't, but I am.'
This was beyond Nancy's comprehension.
'And you'll never get angry, or set those horrid boys at me any more?'
'No, I never will.'
Here a big rosy-cheeked apple was produced hastily out of the other
pocket, and presented as a peace offering.
It was taken in silence; then as Nancy's white little teeth met in it she
said, with one of her beaming smiles, 'And have I got to love you?'
'I think you had better, because it will make it easier.'
'Well, I will then, if you'll do one thing.'
'What is it?'
'Give me that old button of yours.'
Teddy fairly gasped at this audacity.
'Give you father's button!' he cried; 'never, never, never! I'd rather be
shot dead, or drownded dead, or hung dead, or chopped into little tiny
bits! I'll _never_ give it up! It's going to be on my coats and
waistcoats till I'm a hundred, and then it will be buried in my grave
with me. Suppose I lost my button, do you know what I would do?'
Nancy gazed at the young orator with a little awe.
'No,' she said; 'what?'
'I would drop down and die, my heart would burst and break, and if I
couldn't die very quick, I wouldn't eat or drink nothing, but I'd go
sadly to my grave and lay my head down, and the next morning you would
find me stiff and cold with my glassy eyes staring up at the sky, like an
old dog I read about.'
Teddy's tone was so intensely tragic that Nancy was silent. At last she
said, 'I'll never love you proper till you give it to me.'
'Will you like me a little instead?'
'I might do that,' she replied reluctantly.
'And you won't never say you don't believe father's story?'
'I aren't going to promise.'
Then, as the very last bite was taken of the apple, she added, 'I'll hear
some more of your stories first. I want to hear one now. Sally White told
me at school you know all about fairies.'
Teddy nodded impressively, then said slowly, 'I make believe I do, but I
don't make believe father's story.'
'Tell me a story now.'
Teddy clasped his hands round a bough, and with knitted brows considered.
Then he looked up, and the light sparkled in his eyes.
'Shall I tell you about when I went into an oak-tree, and found a little
door leading down some steps that took me to the goblin's cave?'
This sounded enchanting, and Nancy eagerly prepared herself to listen.
Such a story was then poured out that it held her spell-bound. Goblins,
elves, and fairies, underground glories, thrilling adventures and
escapes. Was it any wonder that with such a gift for story-telling Teddy
was the king of the village? It came to an end at last, and Nancy drew a
long breath of relief and content when she heard the concluding
sentence, 'And I quickly opened the little door, and there I was outside
the oak, and safe in the wood again.'
'Button-boy, I do like you,' she asserted, with a quick little nod of her
head. 'Will you tell me another story soon?'
'P'raps I will,' said Teddy, feeling a little elated that he was gaining
supremacy over her, 'but I'm going home now. I only came out to have a
think, and to make friends with you.'
'What made you come and make it up?' the little maiden asked, as after a
scramble down, they stood at the foot of the tree. 'You said something
about your Captain; who is He?'
'Jesus Christ,' Teddy replied reverently, 'and His banner is love, so I
have to love everybody, whether I like them or not.'
'Why?'
'Because He wants me to, and I'm one of His soldiers now.'
'Has Jesus any sailors?'
The question was put suddenly, and the answer was given with a slight air
of superiority, 'No only soldiers He has.'
'Then I don't want to belong to Him. I believe He has sailors just as
well as soldiers, only you're not telling true.'
Her tone was getting wrathful, but Teddy shook his head solemnly. 'I'm
sure there's nothing about Jesus' sailors in the Bible; but I'll ask
mother, and then I'll tell you. I must go home now. Good-bye. We're
going to be friends?'
'Yes, we're going to be friends,' she repeated; and then away they
scampered in different directions, Nancy calling out, like a true little
woman, 'But I shan't really love you till you give me your button.'