Into the Highways and Hedges Part 68

And she laid her head on his shoulder as they stood together, hoping in her heart that her womanly fears for him might be forgiven, seeing that they could never hold him back. "Ah, you may be right," she said. "At any rate yours is a brave creed, and one fit for a man who loves fighting. But I shall never rise to thinking that 'nothing else matters'

so long as one is following the light. Barnabas, that is beyond me! I could pretend I did not mind being hurt," said Meg; "but at the bottom of my soul I should know it was a pretence. I can't understand that!"

"_You_ can't understan' that?" said the man; and he drew her closer to him. "Sweetheart, who was it that said that if she stood with me on the scaffold there would be no such thing as shame for her? That she would find it easy if she might die with me? Was that a pretence?"

"No, no. It was truer than anything else," cried Meg. "But that was for you, and any woman would have felt that if she cared for you. Why, there is not a poor creature who haunts Newgate but would understand _that_.

It is so simple! A sacrifice is no pain when it is for the person one loves. It ceases to be a sacrifice. One doesn't 'count' it."

"I see," said the preacher. "So any woman finds that simple, eh?" He looked at the woman by his side, _his_ truly now, and there crept over his face that tender reverence which a good man gives so freely, and which always half shamed, half touched Margaret.

"Help me, la.s.s," he said; "that _I_ may find it simple too. I am cold at times. I doan't allus practise what I believe. I am a terrible coward, Margaret. Help me, that the fire o' th' Lord may be kindled afresh in me, to the savin' o' many!"

"I think it will be," said Meg, her own eyes kindling. "Oh, Barnabas, it is a difficult world; but, at least, you never tell one to be satisfied with makeshifts, because there is nothing else to be had."

A recollection of her girlhood was in her mind when she spoke.

"G.o.d forbid!" said Barnabas Thorpe. "Shall we satisfy our souls with swine's food? Better go hungry than that! That creed is fit for neither man nor woman. It's born o' despair an' ower-softness, an' it means a givin' up o' th' fight, which is a shamefu' thing. Isn't it queer to think o' th' hundreds i' those houses? I'll preach by the river to-morrow. It's good to be free again! One got kind o' sick with feeling eyes always on one by night and day, and no place to breathe alone in."

"Forget Newgate now, dear," said Meg.

"No, I'll not do that," he answered. "One has no business to 'forget'

till the day when the coming of the Lord shall set the prisoners free.

But we'll begin afresh to-morrow, an' we'll ha' fewer doubts, an' we'll do more."

THE END.

A FEW PRESS OPINIONS

ON

INTO THE HIGHWAYS and HEDGES

Academy.

"This book is so admirably conceived and written that Mr. Montresor's next venture must excite unusual interest."

Speaker.

"This book will undoubtedly rank high amongst the notable novels of 1895."

Athenaeum.

"Whoever wrote 'Into the Highways and Hedges' wrote no common novel. A touch of idealism, of n.o.bility of thought and purpose, mingled with an air of reality and well-chosen expression, are the most notable features of a book that has not the ordinary defects of such qualities. With all its elevation of utterance and spirituality of outlook and insight it is wonderfully free from overstrained or exaggerated matter, and it has glimpses of humour. Most of the characters are vivid, yet there is restraint and sobriety in their treatment."

Daily Telegraph.

"This exceptionally n.o.ble and stirring book. Recounted with unflagging verve and vigour, we unhesitatingly say that it has hardly a dull or superfluous page."

New Age.

"A remarkably strong novel. I often thought of George Eliot when reading this book, which I advise every one to read." (_Katherine Tynan._)

Manchester Courier.

"Mr. Montresor's next book will be eagerly awaited by all those who make the acquaintance of his first, for a more strikingly original or a stronger novel has not appeared for some time."

World.

"'Into the Highways and Hedges' would have been a remarkable work of fiction at any time; it is phenomenal at this, for it is neither trivial, eccentric, coa.r.s.e, nor pretentious, but the opposite of all these, and a very fine and lofty conception. The man is wonderfully drawn, realised with a masterly completeness, and the woman is worthy of him. The whole of the story is admirably conceived and sustained. A wonderful book."

Glasgow Herald.

"This is a remarkable and powerful book, which is likely to leave a strong impression of itself upon every intelligent reader. One of the most interesting novels that one has seen for some time."

Manchester Guardian.

"The characters are conceived strongly. Since the days of Dinah Morris there has not, perhaps, been quite so successful a portrait of a man or woman consumed by the pa.s.sion of humanity. The dialogue throughout the book is excellent."