The tall mold candles were burning thereon, and on the hearth blazed a cheerful fire.
"Hasn"t that old fellow gone yet?" asked Mrs. W. She heard his voice as he returned from the door.
"No, and what do you suppose, he wants us to let him stay all night."
"Indeed, we will do no such thing. We cannot have the likes of him in the house now. Where could he sleep?"
"Not in the best room, even if Mr. N. did not come."
"No, indeed!"
"But really I don"t see, Jane, how we can turn him out of doors. He doesn"t look like a strong man, and it"s full three miles to D----."
"It"s too much; he ought to have gone on while he had daylight, and not lingered here, as he did, till it got dark."
"We can"t turn him out of doors, Jane, and it"s no use to think of it.
He"ll have to stay somehow."
"But what can we do with him?"
"He seems like a decent man at least; and doesn"t look as if he had anything bad about him. We might make a bed on the floor."
When Mr. W. returned to the kitchen, where the stranger had seated himself before the fire, he informed him that he had decided to let him stay all night. The man expressed in few words his grateful sense of their kindness, and then became silent and thoughtful. Soon after the farmer"s wife, giving up all hope of Mr. N."s arrival, had supper taken up, which consisted of coffee, warm short-cake, and broiled chicken. After all was on the table, a short conference was held as to whether it would do not to invite the stranger to take supper. It was true they had given him as much bread and bacon as he could eat, but then, as long as he was going to stay all night, it looked too inhospitable to sit down to the table and not ask him to join them.
So, making a virtue of necessity, he was kindly asked to come to supper--an invitation which he did not decline. Grace was said over the meal by Mr. W., and the coffee poured, and the bread helped, and the meat carved.
There was a fine little boy, six years old, at the table, who had been brightened up and dressed in his best, in order to grace the minister"s reception. Charles was full of talk, and the parents felt a mutual pride in showing him off, even before their humble guest, who noticed him particularly, though he had not much to say. "Come, Charley," said Mr. W., after the meal was over, and he sat leaning in his chair, "can"t you repeat the pretty hymn mamma taught you last Sabbath?"
Charley started off without any further invitation, and repeated very accurately two or three verses of a camp-meeting hymn, that was then popular.
"Now let us hear you say the commandments, Charley," spoke up the mother, well pleased with her son"s performance.
And Charley repeated them with a little prompting.
"How many commandments are there?" asked the father.
The child hesitated, and then looking at the stranger, near whom he sat, said innocently:--
"How many are there?"
The man thought for some moments, and said, as if in doubt,
"Eleven, are there not?"
"Eleven!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mrs. W. in unfeigned surprise.
"Eleven?" said her husband with more rebuke than astonishment in his voice. "Is it possible, sir, that you do not know how many commandments there are? How many are there, Charley? Come, tell me--you know, of course."
"Ten," replied the child.
"Right, my son," returned Mr. W., looking with a smile of approval on the child. "Right, there isn"t a child of his age in ten miles who can"t tell you there are ten commandments."
"Did you ever read the Bible, sir?" addressing the stranger.
"When I was a boy I used to read it sometimes. But I am sure I thought that there were eleven commandments. Are you not mistaken about there being ten?"
Sister W. lifted her hands in unfeigned astonishment, and exclaimed:--
"Could any one believe it? such ignorance of the Bible!"
Mr. W. did not reply, but rose, and going to the corner of the room where the good book lay upon the stand, he put it on the table before him, and opened to that portion in which the commandments are recorded.
"There," he said, placing his finger upon the proof of the stranger"s error, "There, look for yourself."
The man came around from his side of the table and looked over the stranger"s shoulder.
"There, do"ye see?"
"Yes, it does say so," replied the man, "and yet it seems to me there are eleven. I"m sure I always thought so."
"Doesn"t it say ten here?" inquired Mr. W. with marked impatience in his voice.
"It does, certainly."
"Well, what more do you want? Can"t you believe the Bible?"
"Oh, yes, I believe the Bible; and yet it strikes me somehow that there must be eleven commandments. Hasn"t one been added somewhere else?"
Now this was too much for Brother and Sister W. to bear. Such ignorance of sacred matters they felt to be unpardonable. A long lecture followed, in which the man was scolded, admonished, and threatened with divine indignation. At its close he modestly asked if he might have the Bible to read for an hour or two before retiring for the night. This request was granted with more pleasure than any of the preceding ones.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Christ Blessing Little Children]
Shortly after supper the man was conducted to the little spare room, accompanied by the Bible. Before leaving him alone, Mr. W. felt it to be his duty to exhort him to spiritual things, and he did so most earnestly for ten or fifteen minutes. But he could not see that his words made much impression, and he finally left his guest, lamenting his obduracy and ignorance.
In the morning he came down, and meeting Mr. W., asked if he would be so kind as to lend him a razor, that he might remove his beard, which did not give his face a very attractive appearance. His request was complied with.
"We will have prayers in about ten minutes," said Mr. W., as he handed him the razor and shaving box.
The man appeared and behaved with due propriety at family worship.
After breakfast he thanked the farmer and his wife for their hospitality, and parting went on his journey.
Ten o"clock came, but Mr. N. had not arrived. So Mr. and Mrs. W.
started for the meeting-house, not doubting they would find him there.
But they were disappointed. A goodly number of people were inside the meeting-house, and a goodly number outside, but the minister had not arrived.
"Where is Mr. N----?" inquired a dozen voices, as a crowd gathered around the farmer.
"He hasn"t come yet. Something has detained him. But I still look for him--indeed, I fully expected to find him here."
The day was cold, and Mr. W., after becoming thoroughly chilled, concluded to keep a good lookout for the minister from the window near which he usually sat. Others, from the same cause, followed his example, and the little meeting-house was soon filled, and one after another came dropping in. The farmer, who turned towards the door each time it was opened, was a little surprised to see his guest of the previous evening enter, and come slowly down the aisle, looking on either side, as if searching for a vacant seat, very few of which were now left. Still advancing, he finally got within the little enclosed altar, and ascended to the pulpit, took off his old grey overcoat and sat down.