Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
[Illustration: "PLEASE, MR. JASPER, I'VE COME FOR OUR GOODS."]
JASPER'S
OLD SHED
AND
HOW THE LIGHT SHONE IN
BY
A. M. COKER
Author of "Crookside Lads," etc.
LONDON
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
4 Bouverie Street & 65 St. Paul's Churchyard
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. THE SHED AND ITS MASTER
II. LOOKING BACK
III. A NEW DISCOVERY
IV. TROUBLED THOUGHTS
V. LESSONS FROM RAGS
VI. PHIL GETS A START
VII. THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
VIII. THE SUDDEN CALL
IX. JASPER'S PROMISE
X. JASPER'S TROUBLE
XI. THE HOME CALL
XII. BRIGHTER DAYS
JASPER'S OLD SHED
CHAPTER I.
THE SHED AND ITS MASTER.
"JONAS JASPER, general and marine store-dealer. Best prices given, no
reasonable offer refused. N.B.—Families waited upon." * Such was the
sign-board that for more than forty years had swung over the entry
to that old shed in Preece's Place where Jonas Jasper carried on his
business. Everybody knew him, and his shop too; for he was by far the
oldest inhabitant, not only of the street, but of the neighbourhood,
which comprised all the poorest and lowest part of the town of
Helmstone, a well-known and much-frequented watering-place on the south
coast.
* N.B.—nota bene
It required some little courage to penetrate into the dismal and dirty
shed afore-mentioned; but Jasper was generally to be found somewhere
near the entry, behind one of those three old barrels that had stood
there ever since he began business. It was an understood fact now that
the barrels were not for sale.
"Why, I should be quite lost without 'em," he used to say; "they be
very handy for my old back to lean against, and when I'm tired of
sitting by one, why, I've got two more to choose from." And so, while
the sundry heaps of rags and bones, rusty iron and empty bottles
and waste paper, etc., were constantly changing owners, the barrels
remained in their original position, looking almost like sentries of
the establishment.
There was a small room at one end of the shed, reached by a ladder, and
this served as a sleeping-place for the old man. And here, amid these
surroundings, had he lived for forty years, managing somehow or other
to make a living in a generally honest way.
It was a fresh, bright morning in October, and, for a wonder, a ray of
sunshine had found its way into the dismal shed, where Jasper, seated
against his foremost barrel, was reading a newspaper, when a child's
voice aroused him.
"Please, Mr. Jasper, I've come for our goods."
The tone was familiar, and with a look of genuine pleasure Jonas turned
to see little Rob Mellor standing at his side. A strange, old-fashioned
child he was, though barely eight years old; but, in spite of the
ragged clothes and neglected appearance, there was a wonderful
attraction about the little fellow, that even Jonas had been unable to
resist, ever since he first knew him, some two years before.
"Ah, Rob, is that you back again?"
"Yes, Mr. Jasper."
"Well, I was thinking only last week it was about time for you to turn
up; and where's Phil, and the rest of your party?"
"Well, Mr. Jasper, father and mother are coming to-morrow, so they say,
and they sent Phil and me on to get things straight; only Phil's gone
to the station now to carry a bag, and he thinks he'll get threepence
for that; because, you see, Mr. Jasper, we've got to keep ourselves
to-day and to-morrow, and we've taken our old room down at No. 20; and
so I've come for our goods."
"And where have you been this turn, eh?"
"Please, Mr. Jasper, we've tramped about as usual, through Hampshire
and Wiltshire, and lately we've been fruit-picking and hopping in
Surrey and Kent; and mother has sold things out of her basket, and Phil
and I have sung; and so we've got along nicely. But I'm oh so glad to
be back home again."
"Home, eh? And is that what you call Helmstone?"
Rob was silent for a moment, but then replied slowly,—
"Well, you see, Mr. Jasper, 'tisn't Helmstone so much as you and the
Mission Hall."
Jasper laughed.
"A queer mixture," said he. "However, I'm real glad to see you back,
Rob. Sit down a bit till I've finished my pipe, and then we'll see to
your chattels."
Quickly Rob obeyed, and curling himself up against one of the barrels,
sat, looking supremely happy to be once more in the company of his old
friend. For they were fast friends, Rob and Jasper, in spite of the
nearly seventy years that lay between them. Perhaps, if the truth were
told, that child could do more with the old man than any one living.
Phil, too, was a favourite, but Rob stood first in Jasper's affection;
and it was a real pleasure to him when the cold weather put an end to
the Mellors' wandering life, and brought them back to that wretched
attic in Preece's Place which Rob had called "home."
Poor little lad! Never yet had he known the real meaning of the word.
It was a hard life that he and Phil led; up and down the country those
children tramped, from May to October, sleeping where they could, and
depending for a livelihood on what they begged or earned by the way, or
what mother sold out of her pedlar's box. They never quite understood
where father got money from; sometimes he seemed to have quite a lot.
But they never dared ask where it came from, and Phil was always afraid
it was not honestly gained.
No one who saw Stephen Mellor could doubt that he had seen better days;
and sometimes Phil, who was nearly thirteen, would ask his mother if
he was dreaming, or whether he really could recall a comfortable home
away in the North. But she never satisfied his curiosity—only turned
the conversation, and told him he always had such strange ideas; though
Phil was sure the tears came in mother's eyes when he asked her; and
then she would bid him say no more.
The love between the two boys was very strong and true. Phil was
Rob's hero, Rob was Phil's charge; and Jonas Jasper was the friend of
both. It was a strange thing that he should have taken such a fancy
to the lads, for Jonas was reckoned anything but sociable among his
neighbours; yet there was an exception even to this rule, and for two
years now the old man and the children had been the fastest friends.
Their quaint ways amused him, and nothing pleased him better than to
see them come into his shed, and curl themselves up on the ground
against the barrels.
"It's so nice there are three of them," Rob would say, "because that's
one each. Anybody would think you had got them on purpose for us, you
know."
And so now the happy intimacy was renewed for another winter; and Rob,
sitting there, telling Jonas a summer's adventures, forgot all the
hardships of the past in the happiness of the present.
It was not long before Phil joined them, as glad as Rob to be there
again, but in no mood to sit down.
"No, no, Mr. Jasper, not yet. I've got some shopping to do. Look here!"
and opening his hand he displayed a shilling. "Wasn't it fortunate? the
gentleman whose bag I carried hadn't anything smaller, except a penny.
I told him I'd go for change, but his train was just off, so he gave me
this. And now, Rob, you and I will invite Mr. Jasper to dinner; only,
as our room is not ready, perhaps he will allow us to dine here."
Rob clapped his hands in glee; but Jonas shook his head, though a smile
crossed his face, at the boy's dry speech.
"You keep what you've got," he said. "My dinner has been ready since
yesterday; see here!" and reaching down a plate from a shelf that hung
near, he exhibited a black pudding and a hunch of bread.
But Phil was off, and presently returned with three pieces of cold
cooked fish, a loaf of bread, and a can of hot coffee; and seating
himself on the ground he held up his change.
"See here, fivepence to go on with; sevenpence spent; fish threepence,
coffee twopence, bread (it's stale) twopence. Who says I don't know how
to go to market? Now, Mr. Jasper, you lend us a knife, and we'll begin.
But first we'll thank Jesus for giving us this;" and in a moment the
two boys had bared their heads, while Phil, in simple words, asked a
blessing on their meal.
Jonas sat watching them with a strange expression on his face; he had
seen them do the same many times before, for they would never eat a
meal without giving thanks. But somehow those boys seemed the only link
between him and God. He was no infidel; there was a God, for certain,
but he never thought of Him, except when, as now, the lads spoke to or
of Him. And it was a strange sensation, there, in that dark shed, to
be, as it were, suddenly brought to think about Him, by a few simple
words like that.
"You don't suppose the Almighty is any the wiser for what you've said
in this hole, do you?" he asked one day. And never had he forgotten the
astonished look on Phil's face.
"Why, Mr. Jasper, God is here, close by; and we needn't have spoken out
loud for Him to hear."
"God is here," and Jonas looked round the shed with its dirt and
disorder, as though the thought was not altogether pleasant. A God far
off was on the whole preferable to a God so very near; for it was only
in His power Jasper thought of Him. God in Christ, a pitying, present,
loving Saviour, was altogether unknown, and so, undesired.
A merry party were the three over their dinner. Jasper had to share
the fish, and then his pudding came as second course, after which they
all adjourned to the far end of the shed, in search of the Mellors'
furniture, which he was obliging enough to store for them during their
absence. And indeed it did not take up much room—an old mattress, two
or three pieces of bedding, a couple of chairs, one or two stools, some
crockery, a kettle, and an old box which did duty for a table; these
comprised the whole of the family possessions.
[Illustration]
The boys were not long in carrying the lot across to the attic, which
happened to be untenanted again just when they wanted it. And so, in a
settled resting-place once more (and that place Helmstone), the boys
were in the highest spirits; forgetful of the past, fearless for the
future, living in the present joy of Jasper's friendship, and full of
simple trust in a loving Saviour who always cared for them.