Katie Robertson Part 22

"It doesn't seem so."

"No, it doesn't seem so, because we have wrong ideas about the n.o.bility of labor. If we really believed what the Bible says,--that the servant of all is the chiefest of all,--we should value work and workmen just in proportion to the use which the work they do is to the community and the world. In that sense, Alfred, a doctor's work or a minister's work might stand a little higher than a manufacturer's, a teacher's position be more desirable than that of a factory-girl, because in all of these professions there is more opportunity to do good to the bodies and souls of men; and yet I doubt if any are in a position to do more good than your Mr. James Mountjoy and his family. And as to being gentlemen or ladies, it is just as much your duty and just as possible to be those in the rag-room as in a palace, should your lot be cast there."

"It is not considered so genteel," said Tessa, who had not quite forgotten the teachings of her novels.

"By whom? Foolish b.u.t.terflies? or men and women of sense? Gentility meant, originally, gentleness: that gentleness which better opportunities of education were supposed to give. But so much culture as that is now within the reach of every one, and there is no reason why it should not exist in the mill and the counting-room, the kitchen and the store, as well as in the parlor and the library."

"But after all," said Mrs. Robertson, "there seems something low and sordid in working for money."

"That is because we should not work for money--as the motive of work, I mean. If every one in the world were a Christian, and did the work which came to him to do, upon Bible principles, endeavoring to fulfil the precept: 'Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of G.o.d,' and accepted his living, small or great, from his hands, just as a little child accepts his from his father's hands, we should hear nothing about the degradation of service. Every one would constantly say: 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' And we should take our daily bread, as well as all the pleasant things of our lives, thankfully from him who has given us all things to enjoy."

Mr. Robertson was rather answering his sister and talking a little above the level of his auditors, but some of them understood and remembered his words. To Katie, henceforth work had an added dignity. It was raised even above the high level upon which she had thus far placed it,--that of helping her mother,--and became something that she might do for Jesus who had done, and was still doing, so much for her. She was quite impatient to enter upon those studies which were to fit her for future usefulness, and many a time during her school life, when the novelty had worn away and her energies might have flagged, she was stirred up to new zeal and perseverance by the recollection of this conversation.

To the other girls also this talk about work and compensation was beneficial. Perhaps they might have felt a little jealous at Katie's apparent elevation above themselves,--even Christian girls have wrong feelings sometimes,--but if factory-work could really be done to the glory of G.o.d as much as teaching could, there was nothing degrading in their work, nothing aristocratic in Katie's. G.o.d had given her one kind of work to do, and them another--that was all. They could please him as well as she; and he would give to all alike a great deal more than they deserved.

And now began a busy time in the doctor's old house. Brother and sister must be fitted out for school with such wardrobes as they had never possessed in their lives before. Uncle Alfred's ready purse provided these, but he was careful not to destroy the independent spirit of his young relatives, and let them consider this as the first instalment of his loan.

Katie left the factory at the close of the week, receiving with her usual weekly wages an extra five-dollar bill, as a testimonial from Mr.

James for her uniform faithfulness and the good example she had always set in the mill.

"We are sorry to lose you, Katie," he said, "but I am glad that you are to be advanced to better work and a wider sphere of usefulness. Wherever you go, the prayers of Squantown Sunday-school will go with you, and I am sure that you will always find, as you have done already, the truth of the words:--

"'Commit thy way unto the Lord, and he shall bring it to pa.s.s.'"

Nor did the pleasant incidents stop here. On the Wednesday following, Miss Eunice again invited all the girls of her sister's cla.s.s to unite with those of her own. There was no lesson that night, and very little work done. All the brothers and friends, who usually acted as escorts, were invited to come to tea, and all the members of the "Do Good Society." There was room for all, and all had "a splendid time." Games were played, and songs sung, and everybody was made to understand that this was a farewell party in honor of Katie Robertson.

At nine o'clock Mr. Morven came in, and, with a few pleasant and earnest words, presented the little girl with a beautifully bound Bible, to the purchase of which every one present had contributed a little.

"I trust," said he, "that our little Katie will make this book 'the man of her counsel, and the guide of her youth,' in the new life upon which she is entering, and that, as the Saviour to whom she has consecrated herself will surely keep his promise 'never to leave or forsake her,'

she will be faithful 'in all her ways to acknowledge him,' and grow in grace as she does in knowledge."

Then, calling his little congregation to join with him, the good pastor prayed that the dear Lord would guide and guard this lamb of his through "all the chances and changes of this mortal life, and finally bring her to his heavenly kingdom."

And so, with loving kisses, and gifts, and solemn words of prayer, they sent Katie Robertson out into the world to meet its responsibilities.

The next morning, in the early dawn, she and her brother set out with their uncle for the schools in which they were to be fitted for their life-work. And as these schools were a long way off, and the journey thither rather expensive, it was many months before Squantown saw them again.

CHAPTER XXVI.

CONCLUSION.

And now we must draw our story to a close. The reader has become acquainted with its characters, and knows about the agencies for good which are at work in the manufacturing town of Squantown, as well as the influences brought to bear upon the Christian development of our boys and girls. The machinery is all adjusted, the power is applied, the wheels are in motion--nothing can hinder continued and beneficent work, except the possible weariness in well-doing of any of the parts, and the failure to look to G.o.d in faith for his promised strength, thus cutting off the connection with the source of all good things. So long as manufacturers and operatives, teachers and scholars, pastors and people continue in all their ways to acknowledge G.o.d, this will not be the case; and the manufacturing village will realize the scriptural idea: "Happy is that people that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people whose G.o.d is the Lord."

We may expect to look ahead and see the boys and girls with whom we are acquainted, growing up into good, useful, and happy men and women.

Bertie Sanderson will, little by little, overcome her natural and acquired faults of character. Envy and malice have already received their death blow, vanity and idleness will follow in their train. The higher interests of Christian love and church-work will dwarf the importance of dress and display, and Bertie will grow into a useful girl, faithful to, and contented with, her position--a help to her mother at home, a good example to Nina and the younger children.

We may expect to see Gretchen growing into a strong, st.u.r.dy German woman, sending home from time to time the savings of her earnings, which will help to make her far-off brothers and sisters very comfortable, the deep, though quiet, force of her affections expanding themselves to embrace many others on this side of the sea. We may be sure that her constant nature, upheld by divine grace, will never lose its hold of the Saviour who came to take care of her in answer to her Sunday-school teacher's call that Sunday evening when she seemed to be so near to the other world.

We may hope to see the other members of Miss Etta's cla.s.s, Miss Eunice's tea-party, and the "Do Good Society," all growing wiser and better as they grow older, and becoming more and more Christ-like as they follow in his steps. And we may be sure that Etta Mountjoy, cured of her erratic moods and wayward temper, first by being anch.o.r.ed to the rock of ages, and then by the safeguards and helps which the church of Christ throws around its members, will be still foremost in leading the little phalanx, her energy and enthusiasm insuring success in every good thing undertaken. She will find time for home duties as well as those of a more public kind, will be a right hand to Eunice as she continues on the even tenor of her way, and the sunshine of home to her father and brother James, until some good man discovers the sunshine and bears it away with him to be the illumination of another circle and the centre of another home.

We may see "Mr. James" still the considerate Christian mill-owner, conducting business on the strictest principles of integrity, and treating his employees as though of the same flesh and blood as himself, for whose bodies and souls he is in some measure responsible. And when at length Eunice drops the housekeeping into the hands of "Mrs. James,"

we may be sure that she, as well as her husband, will continue to "honor G.o.d with their substance" and "in all their ways acknowledge him."

If we turn our prophetic gaze upon the Robertson family, we shall find that the mother thereof is gradually exchanging her grumbling and forebodings of evil for hope and thankfulness at the success and good prospects of her children, who are profiting largely by the opportunities afforded them by their uncle's kindness.

While greatly missing her from her home, the mother does not feel Katie's absence as she would have done but for the girl boarders, who, while affording her both society and support, give her such ample occupation that she has little time to realize her loneliness or to indulge in fretfulness. Indeed, Tessa has already forestalled her future position, and become to the widow as a beloved daughter. The sweetness and softness of the Southern girl fit her to take culture and refinement very easily. She quickly a.s.similates with her surroundings, and models herself upon those she loves and admires--who are, in this instance, Katie Robertson and Etta Mountjoy. From the first, bold, bright Eric has felt the charm of her black eyes, and loved to listen to her soft, foreign accent, and it would not be surprising if, when he reaches the height of his ambition, and becomes either superintendent of the bindery or first foreman of the mill, he should ask Italian Tessa to share both his name and his success. But that is a great way off.

Katie is our first friend. With her character and fortune we have the most to do. It would be nice, did the limits of our volume allow, to follow her into her new school-life, to see how her energy, industry, independence, and cheerfulness go with her, rebuking homesickness, and causing her to make the most of every moment, and the best of every advantage. We should see that her path at school is not all strewn with roses, any more than was that at the mill; that different circ.u.mstances bring different temptations and develop different traits of character.

We might perhaps find that silly school-girls at first decline to admit on terms of perfect equality one who had "worked for her living," and was, in their not very elegant parlance, "nothing but a mill-girl."

Perhaps we might have to chronicle some lonely and sad hours in consequence, and some rebellious feelings hard to be kept down.

But Katie's life is in the keeping of One wise enough to arrange all its discipline, "as it may be most expedient for her," loving enough to sympathize with and comfort her in all times of sorrow and perplexity, and able with every temptation to make also a way of escape.

So, guarded and guided, Katie Robertson will be able to live down all that foolish and proud girls may say about her, and in the end become a favorite, not only with the wise, discriminating teachers, but also with warm-hearted, if wrong-headed, companions. We believe that throughout life, as in its beginning, she will continue to "seek first the kingdom of G.o.d and his righteousness," and that, as she daily endeavors "in all her ways to acknowledge him," he will "give her the desires of her heart."