Voices; Birth-Marks; The Man and the Elephant Part 29

The moon he appointed to rule the night And to wander through the night until the dawn of day.

Every month without fail he appointed a.s.sembly days.

In the beginning of the month at the rising of the night It shot forth its horns to illuminate the heavens.

On the seventh day he appointed an holy day And to cease from all business he commanded.'

"The supposed seat of earliest civilizations, as also the birthplace of several religions, was in the valley of the Euphrates. There man, enjoying the benefits of a tropical region, which counted for much in the beginning, had opportunity for intellectual leisure and gave thought to religion. These civilizations pa.s.sed away and the seat pa.s.sed on to the Mediterranean coast, where attention primarily was given to the development of material government; again the seat pa.s.sed on to Europe and seems pa.s.sing to America and to nations devoting their energies to the material wants of man. We are promised yet another; when 'the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea;' and that is the task a.s.signed to Christendom.

"To make the world Christian must we modify our definition-'That G.o.d is a spirit, infinite, eternal and _unchangeable_, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth'-to 'G.o.d is a spirit, infinite, eternal, but not _immutable_, seeking to preserve all his creatures as the best of shepherds each of his hundred lambs; anxious that all find the shelter of the fold-not having decreed from the beginning the fate of each lamb-but as time shows fitness culling for service; so anxious to save all the flock as to send his Son as a vicarious atonement.'

"Thus there comes into the continuity of the partnership between G.o.d and man, the chief character, the Son; transformed into the lowly man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, having no place to lay his head, hunted by enemies, stoned out of a city, disowned by kindred and by Peter, fleeing for his life, betrayed, crucified, suffering the fate of all reformers, to be despised and rejected, to be misunderstood, to live alone; yet not alone, because the Father was with him and he and the Father are one, and he had his mission of redemption.

"His coming, consummating the purpose of the partnership, precipitated a conflict, which at its physical inception seemed a most uneven struggle.

Arrayed on the one side were a few fishermen under the leadership of a Nazarene, the son of a carpenter; and on the other, the educated, self-righteous Jew, the Jewish law, the Jewish church, Greece, decadent because of her many G.o.ds and voluptuousness, mighty Rome, mistress of the world, enthroned on seven hills and reaching out and drawing to herself all known realms and empires.

"The trend of victory was first apparent on the land locked sea of Galilee, the growth spread to Jerusalem, to Antioch, the east coast cities of the Mediterranean, Rome, Europe, America, the civilized world; because it offered a gift the world must have. If Scribes and Pharisees, priests and Levites stopped their ears, Gentiles and prodigals, Publicans and sinners listened. It preached the true faith, which is inherently inextinguishable and must live and grow. Some find it easier to crucify and to part His raiment than to grasp the spirit of His teaching; yet many hear, and, born again, lead transformed and beautiful lives.

"Its growth is as 'a lump of leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.' When the path of prophet and believer is too easy the growth is slow. The sting of persecution is necessary to fructify the seed, to make ready the field; but there are occasional seasons of abundant harvest and never a failure. Gamaliel, in Acts 5:34-39, gives the reason.

"'Then stood there up in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and the apostles having been excluded, he said unto them: Ye men of Israel take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do touching these men. * * * And now I say unto you, refrain from these men and let them alone, for if this council or this work be of men it will come to nought; but if it be of G.o.d ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found to fight against G.o.d.'

"Who is to help in the growth? Missionaries who earn such credentials as were given Paul and Silas by the Jewish colony of Thessalonica, who wrote to their orthodox brethren at Jerusalem: 'Those that have turned the world upside down have come hither also.' The world when wrong side up must be turned upside down by men like Paul and Silas.

"To make the world Christian the modern preacher must understand that Christ's gospel is to be preached not alone to Presbyterians but to 'all the world' and that not he but G.o.d brings about the transformation and conversion. That it is not his province to defend the faith, which needs not defense, but to preach it. He must stick to his last with the same zealousness and persistency as is required in other lines of endeavor, or his message is soon delivered. A preacher who shirks his work, remouthing to a weary congregation his old sermons, must not complain if men do not listen. He must work in the vineyard; men do not go to a theatre to hear a sermon or to a church to see vaudeville. He is not to give his time to plat.i.tudes and polemics and phylacteries and lectures and dissertations on doctrinal divergences. He must be free and must speak from his heart as the amba.s.sador of Christ, preaching Christ; and preaching is the giving of the message of Jesus to a needing soul.

"The church must be more universal, laying aside doctrinal jealousies and divergences; turn its energies to the harvest; self-sacrifice and co-operation must reign; love must seek her own and think no evil-then when all ask, expecting to obey, 'Lord, what wilt Thou have me do?'-the Mussulman will turn Christian and the wolf and the lamb lie down together.

"The easy field of labor is not with the so-called Christian people.

Canton may be converted before Boston and Timbuktu before Louisville.

The most sterile earth is that overgrown with the tares of false doctrine and the most infertile seed is that mouldy with the supercilious consciousness of no sin, or which having once sprouted has dried out from inanition. G.o.d, tempering the wind to the shorn lamb, has given to the heathen a mind to receive his truths as a little child.

Life, two hundred fathoms deep in the sea, knows nothing of the storms that rile the surface, nor of the brightness and warmth of the sun, yet life and light are there. The deep sea fishes are of vivid colors, many have an individual lighting system, the waters are phosph.o.r.escent, the plant growth, as near mineral as vegetable, spreads about tendrils and filaments tipped by lamps, which transform that underworld into a gorgeously illuminated garden.

"Those who hearken to the final commission, 'Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature' are armed with the promise that 'in my name shall ye cast out devils,' speak with new tongues and travel about unharmed. They have Christ for a companion and are builders of G.o.d's tabernacle, in which when completed, he shall dwell with men and wipe all tears from their eyes."

John was very fond of his cousin, David Clark, and was worried by his continued absence. Now, as always when he came to Danville, he stopped with David's parents and of course inquired if they had received any word from him.

His inquiries seemed to cause his uncle and aunt embarra.s.sment; at least they answered so indefinitely as to give him the impression that they knew more than they told.

Near midnight of the Sunday he preached at Danville, Mrs. Clark came to his room in great distress, saying: "John, Mr. Clark is very ill and I have sent for the doctor. He is deathly pale and complains of pain about his heart. He wishes to see you at once."

He went immediately to his uncle's room, who took from under his pillow a much handled letter, and handing it to him, said:

"You must find David for his mother, we have never heard a word from our boy since Daniel Clark sent this letter to me; and it only tells why he was made a prisoner and taken aboard a Spanish frigate which the next morning sailed for Spain. I am sure he is not dead because several times I have seemed to see him; and tonight saw him very distinctly for the first time. I believe he would have spoken and told me how to find him had not the pain in my heart awakened me. He was walking in a desert land beside a large white camel, heavily loaded with merchandise and with him were some half-wild men with long muskets guarding a train or caravan of camels. He is very far from here and in a strange way I am informed that neither his mother nor I will see him again, but you will.

He will grow happy in that distant land, make it his home and rear a family. I have told his mother what I have dreamed; and she says, she too knows he is not dead. Since the receipt of the letter all we have ever learned is that the ship which sailed for Spain was wrecked on the sh.o.r.e of northwest Africa, a hundred miles south of Gibraltar; that a part of the crew were picked up in a boat at sea; part were drowned and a few reached the sh.o.r.e, where they were taken prisoners and supposedly sold as slaves. I believe this is David's fate and you must find out.

"Raise me up a bit; that is better; my heart feels as though it were being torn in two-how I wish I might see the face of my boy. Give me your hand, little David, and you too, Annie. It grows dark. Is the candle burning or has the wind blown it out?"

How quiet the house was the day after the burial; it seemed the soul of the place was dead. John went to his room and thinking of David was reminded of the letter Mr. Clark had given him. It was near night; and lighting a tallow candle he read the copy of the letter General Wilkinson had sent by him to Governor Miro, requesting that the bearer should be held a prisoner. It was the letter he had promised Wilkinson to deliver in person.

Slowly it dawned upon him that whatever might be David's fate, whatever David might now be suffering, if alive, it was vicarious, a voluntary subst.i.tution for him, as the sufferer had hid his ident.i.ty to shield a friend, to give him the opportunity to escape-and he had supposed that David was under a cloud and afraid or ashamed to return home.

Then he saw red with resentment against Wilkinson, the traitor, the conspirator. He wished that he might lay his hands upon him and rend him limb from limb. His soul was torn with the thought that David had done all this for him, perhaps submitted voluntarily to the supreme sacrifice, laid down his life for a friend. He suffered as only twice before he had done; once when a boy of fifteen, sitting on the pinnacle overlooking Jackson River Valley, he had suddenly appreciated and was overwhelmed by the sacrifice that Christ had made for him; and again when he had seen Dorothy swimming to escape from the Indians.

He prayed throughout the night. When morning came, before the sun was up, he was at the home of Father Rice; and giving him the letter told all that was necessary to make it understood.

"Father Rice, there is only one thing for me to do; find David and bring him home to his mother. What Uncle David and Aunt Mary must have suffered every time they saw me!"

"I doubt that, in fact I would advise against you undertaking such a thing, had you not promised Mr. Clark to do so. A promise given to one now dead is certainly as binding as one made to the living. I believe that G.o.d disclosed to Mr. Clark that his son lived and had been given work to do. You are bound to conclude that if David cannot come home you cannot go to him. I think it your duty to find out if he is yet alive and if so his whereabouts. Then if necessary the government must be appealed to to procure his release. You must remember you are not your own master. You are the Lord's servant; and having put your hand to the plow you cannot turn back. This may be one of your crosses, to believe that your friend is suffering for you. If by the providence of G.o.d he has been transplanted for particular service, he must follow, as you must follow your predestined work, even though you should be called upon to leave the side of Dorothy. The destiny of David, as your own, is in the hand of the Lord and if it is His plan that David shall live and return to his own country and people he will. However, we must do for ourselves and our friends all things possible. The Lord when he fed the thousands made use of the boy's loaves and fishes.

"I would advise that you go to New Orleans and make inquiry for David; but do not disclose your ident.i.ty to the Spanish Governor or tell any one except Mrs. Clark your destination. Go at once so as to return the more quickly to your work. Robert Marshall, though not yet ordained, will be given your district until your return and will bear letters and messages to your wife."

CHAPTER XVII.-David Clark.

Fortune when she deserted Wilkinson politically, deserted him financially. The river trade partnership with Major Dunn proved a failure and was dissolved, leaving Wilkinson heavily indebted to Dunn, an obligation he never met. In midsummer, 1791, his partnership with Peyton Short ended so disastrously as to make him a bankrupt. His only source of income now was the two thousand dollar pension which he received from Spain and it was altogether inadequate to meet his extravagances.

Having in mind to get beyond the vexatious importunities of his creditors, he filed an application for reappointment in the United States army, which received favorable action. He was first appointed a lieutenant colonel under General Whayne and stationed at Fort Washington, Cincinnati, and the next year advanced to a brigadier generalship.

John Calvin Campbell, riverman, known to the crew only as John, was the operator of a large sweep or steering car on a Wilkinson & Short flat boat, bound for New Orleans in the spring of 1791, Wilkinson's last commercial venture.

Immediately upon his arrival, hunting up Daniel Clark, he inquired for news of David, but learned nothing except that several Spanish sailors and the American prisoner of the wrecked frigate had been swept ash.o.r.e from their vessel; and that one of these sailors, Esteban Luna, was now in Habana and might be able to give him definite news of David.

Their conversation naturally turned to Wilkinson. Daniel, expressing the hope that he would some day be punished for his traitorous conduct, said: "I have absolute proof of his perfidy, but my position with the Spanish Government closes my mouth. Only to rescue David would I tell what I know; and with that purpose in view I have been making abstracts from certain letters which establish his guilt. I have two now in my pocket which I made today. This one is copied from a letter written by Wilkinson to Miro:

"* * * But you may rest a.s.sured that the constant persecution of Congress cannot produce the slightest impression on my attachment and zeal for the interests of Spain, which I shall always be ready to defend with my tongue, my pen and my sword."

The Governor in reply to this letter wrote Wilkinson:

"* * * Your countrymen will soon find out that the advantages they expect from the navigation of the Mississippi, on their paying an import duty of 15 per cent when entering Louisiana and an export duty of 6 per cent when leaving it, amounts to nothing. So far, tobacco has been the only produce of any importance which they have brought to New Orleans and which the King has reserved to himself the privilege of buying.

Should he not choose to do so on the ground that the article wanted is not furnished in sufficient quant.i.ty or not of the quality required, it would remain a dead weight in the hands of the owner. Several inhabitants who are now here have discovered this to be the case. With regard to your supposition that they will evade paying the duty of 15 per cent under the pretext of coining to settle in Louisiana, it is without any sort of foundation what ever, and you may rest a.s.sured that I shall take care that the law be executed on that point. * * * I much regret that General Washington and Congress suspect your connection with me, but it does not appear to me opportune that you declare yourself a Spaniard, for the reasons which you state. I am of opinion that this idea of yours is not convenient and that on the contrary it might have prejudicial results. Therefore continue to dissemble and to work as you promise and as I have above indicated."

When Mr. Clark finished reading the above extracts, he handed them to John who placed them in his pocket without comment, and said: "Let us go at once and inquire when I can sail for Habana. I must find out and at once all this sailor knows. I believe the suspense will kill my aunt."

"I am quite sure a ship sails tomorrow noon; we will make certain and engage your cabin. My father has a branch house in Habana and buys quite a lot of tobacco. I wrote his agent several days ago to interview the sailor and he has doubtless found him by now."

They walked to the wharf and in a short time located the ship. Mr. Clark knew the captain, who spoke English. He introduced Mr. Campbell and engaged his cabin. When they were leaving the captain said: "Mr.

Campbell, I am glad to have you for a pa.s.senger and will most cheerfully aid you in locating Esteban Luna. We will have no trouble in finding him. I know just where to look for sailors in Habana. You better come aboard by eleven o'clock, we sail at twelve, sharp."

After an uneventful voyage of several days the ship anch.o.r.ed in Habana harbor. Mr. Campbell came ash.o.r.e with the captain and about the first person the captain saw was the sailor they sought. They invited him to the tavern, where dinner was ordered for the three. After they had been eating some time, the captain noticing that John, who had ordered the dinner, had not included wine, which all Spaniards drink at dinner, supplemented the meal by a liter of strong red wine. Then turning to John asked in English: "Just what is it you desire to learn from the sailor? In a few minutes he will grow quite talkative; nothing loosens a Spaniard's tongue like a good dinner and a bottle of wine."

Having learned what was wanted the captain put several questions to the sailor, which he answered in monosyllables, as he was not quite through eating. When he had eaten a little more and finished the wine, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, tilted back the chair on which he sat, lighted a long cigarette and gave a grunt of contentment. Then the captain knew he was ready to talk and asked him to tell of his shipwreck off the African coast.

"You see it was this way: we were about three days out from the Strait of Gibraltar when it came on to blow the hardest I have ever seen in my fifteen years before the mast. We would have gone down in the first few hours, except that our frigate was the stanchest of the navy. For a while we pointed her nose angling to the wind and as best we could kept our course. It was no use, we had to turn tail and run with the wind; and that frigate under bare poles made greater speed than she would sailing in a fair wind before a stiff breeze with all sail set. On the second night, near daybreak, when it was so dark because of the spray and rain and clouds that you could not see your hand before you, nor hear a sound because of the roar of the wind and the pounding of the waves and the creaking of the ship, she was suddenly thrown in the air and seemed to come down in a thousand pieces. Many of the boys were killed outright as she was crushed as a nail keg by a sledge. Quite a few of those on deck were thrown clear over the rock into a quieter sea and swept upon a sandy beach, even into the desert gra.s.s, where the water rarely reached. There we lay waiting in the darkness until the day, too exhausted and wounded to move. With daylight all clouds vanished and the moisture of the spray and storm was soon wiped out by a hot, drying sun. We seemed in a land where it never rained. There was a fringe of salt water gra.s.ses on the edge of the beach and beyond nothing but gray and brown sand; a land as bare as the palm of your hand; of sand hills that shifted over night, riftling and moving like the surface of the ocean, riled by a squall.

"With daylight, the least crippled, searching along the beach, gathered together a few casks of provisions, some cordage, a torn sail and one small cask of water. With the broken timbers of our ship and the sail we built a rude shelter from the parching sun; then a signal fire upon a nearby sand hill, hoping thus to attract the attention of a ship, if any ever pa.s.sed that way. Thus we spent the first day and night.

"On the morning of the second day, the prisoner, his name was Clark, and two of the sailors, being the least injured of any of us, went into the sand hills looking for food and water, as we had nothing but wet biscuit flour and salt pork. They climbed the highest sand hill and came running back, saying: 'We have seen one of the ship's boats; it is lodged in a crevice just over the crest of the big rock, else you could see it from here. We will swim out and bring it ash.o.r.e.'