"So it has been to me," sez I candidly. "To me they have always sounded beautiful, heavenly. Why," sez I, a-lookin" kinder fur off, beyond Deacon Garven, and all other troubles, as thoughts of beauty and insperation come to me borne out of the past into my very soul, by the tender memories of the bells-thoughts of the great host of believers who had gathered together at the sound of the bells-the great army of the Redeemed- "Some of the host have crossed the flood, and some are crossin" now,"
thinks I a-lookin" way off in a almost rapped way. And then I sez to Deacon Garven in a low soft voice, lower and more softer fur, than I had used to him, "Don"t I know what it is to stand a-leanin" over the front gate on a still spring mornin", the smell of the lilacs in the air, and the brier roses. A dew sparklin" on the gra.s.s under the maples, and the sunshine a-fleckin" the ground between "em, and the robins a-singin" and the hummin" birds a-hoverin" round the honeysuckles at the door. And over all and through all, and above all clear and sweet, comin" from fur off a-floatin" through the Sabbath stillness, the sound of the bells, a-bringin" to us sweet Sabbath messages of love and joy. Bringin" memories too, of other mornin"s as fair and sweet, when other ears listened with us to the sound, other eyes looked out on the summer beauty, and smiled at the sound of the bells. Heavenly emotions, sweet emotions come to me on the melody of the bells, peaceful thoughts, inspirin" thoughts of the countless mult.i.tude that has flocked together at the sound of the bells. The aged feet, the eager youthful feet, the children"s feet, all, all walkin" to the sound of the bells. Thoughts of the happy youthful feet that set out to walk side by side, at their ringin" sounds. Thoughts of the aged ones grown tired, and goin" to their long dreamless sleep to their solemn sound. Thoughts of the brave hero"s who set out to protect us with their lives while the bells wuz ringin" out their approval of such deeds. Thoughts of how they pealed out joyfully on their return bearin" the form of Peace. Thoughts of how the bells filled the mornin" and evenin" air, havin" throbbed and beat with every joy and every pain of our life, till they seem a part of us (as it were) and the old world would truly seem lonesome without "em.
"As I told you, and told you truly, I don"t believe there is a single emotion in the hull line of emotions, fur or near, but what them bells have rung into my very soul.
"But such emotions, beautiful and inspirin" though they are, can be dispensed with better than justice and mercy can. Sweet and tender sentiment is dear to me, truly, near and dear, but mercy and pity and common sense, have also a powerful grip onto my right arm, and have to lead me round a good deal of the time.
"Beautiful emotion, when it stands opposed to eternal justice, ort to step gently aside and let justice have a free road. Sentiment is truly sweet, but any one can get along without it, take it right along through the year, better than they can without sleep.
"You see if you can"t sleep you must die, while a person can worry along a good many years without sentiment. Or, that is, I have been told they could. I don"t know by experience, for I have always had a real lot of it. You see my experience has been such that I could keep sentiment and comfort too. But my mind is such, that I have to think of them that hain"t so fortunate as I am.
"I have looked at the subject from my own standpoint, and have tried also to look at it through others" eyes, which is the only way we can get a clear, straight light on any subject. As for me, as I have said, I would love to hear the sweet, far off sound of the bells a-tremblin" gently over the hills to me from Jonesville; it sounds sweeter to me than the voices of the robins and swallers, a-comin" home from the South in the spring of the year. And I would deerly love to have it go on and on as fur as my own feelins are concerned. But I have got to look at the subject through the tired eyes, and feel it through the worn-out nerves of others, who are sot down right under the wild clamor of the bells.
"What comes to me as a heavenly melody freighted full of beautiful sentiment and holy rapture comes to them as an intolerable agony, a-maddenin" discord, that threatens their sanity, that rouses "em up from their fitful sleep, that murders sleep-the bells to them seem murderus, strikin" noisily with brazen hands, at their hearts.
"To them tossin" on beds of nervous sufferin", who lay for hours fillin" the stillness with horror, with dread of the bells, where fear and dread of "em exceed the agony of the clangor of the sound when it comes at last. Long nights full of a wakeful horror and expectency, fur worse than the realization of their imaginin"s. To them the bells are a instrument of torture jest as tuff to bear as any of the other old thumb screws and racks that wrung and racked our old 4 fathers in the name of Religion.
"I have to think of the great crowd of humanity huddled together right under the loud clangor of the bells whose time of rest begins when the sun comes up, who have toiled all night for our comfort and luxury. So we can have our mornin" papers brought to us with our coffee. So we can have the telegraphic messages, bringing us good news with our toast. So"s we can have some of our dear ones come to us from distant lands in the morning. I must think of them who protect us through the night so we can sleep in peace.
"Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of these, our helpers and benafacters, work all night for our sakes, work and toil. The least we can do for these is to help "em to the great Restorer, sleep, all we can.
"Some things we can"t do; we can"t stop the creakin" sounds of the world"s work; the big roar of the wheel of business that rolls through the week days, can"t be oiled into stillness; but Sundays they might get a little rest Sunday is the only day of rest for thousands of men and wimmen, nervous, pale, worn by their week"s hard toil.
"The creakin" of the wheels of traffic are stopped on this day. They could get a little of the rest they need to carry on the fight of life to help support wife, child, father, husband; but religeon is too much for "em-the religeon that the Bible declares is mild, peacible, tender. It clangs and bangs and whangs at "em till the day of rest is a torment.
"Now the Lord wouldn"t approve of this. I know He wouldn"t, for He was always tender and pitiful full of compa.s.sion. I called it religeon for oritory, but it hain"t religeon, it is a relict of old Barberism who, under the cloak of Religeon, whipped quakers and hung prophetic souls, that the secrets of Heaven had been revealed to, secrets hidden from the coa.r.s.er, more sensual vision."
Sez Deacon Garven: "I consider the bells as missionarys. They help spread the Gospel."
"And," sez I, for I waz full of my subject, and kep him down to it all I could, "Ralph S. Robinson has spread the Gospel over acres and acres of land, and brung in droves and droves of sinners into the fold without the help of church or steeple, let alone bells, and it seems es if he ortn"t to be tortured to death now by "em."
"Wall," he said, "he viewed "em as Gospel means, and he couldn"t, with his present views of his duty to the Lord, omit "em."
Sez I, "The Lord didn"t use "em. He got along without "em."
"Wall," he said, "it wuz different times now."
Sez I, "The Lord, if He wuz here to-day, Deacon Garven, if He had bent over that form racked with pain and sufferin" and that noise of any kind is murderous to, He would help him, I know He would, for He wuz good to the sick, and tender hearted always."
"Wall, I will help him," sez Deacon Garven, "I will watch, and I will pray, and I will work for him."
Sez I, "Will you promise me not to ring the bells to-morrow mornin"; if he gets into any sleep at all durin" the 24 hours, it is along in the mornin", and I think if we could keep him asleep, say all the forenoon, there would be a chance for him. Will you promise me?"
"Wall," sez he kinder meltin" down a little, "I will talk with the bretheren."
Sez I, "Promise me, Deacon Eben Garven, before you see "em."
Sez he, "I would, but I am so afraid of bringin" the Cause of Religeon into contempt. And I dread meddlin" with the old established rules of the church."
Sez I, "Mercy and justice and pity wuz set up on earth before bells wuz, and I believe it is safe to foller "em."
But he wouldn"t promise me no further than to talk with the bretheren, and I had to leave him with that promise. As things turned out afterwuds, I wuz sorry, sorry es a dog that I didn"t shet up Deacon Garven in his own smoke house, or cause him to be shet, and mount a guard over him, armed nearly to the teeth with clubs.
But I didn"t, and I relied some on the bretheren.
Ralph wuz dretful wild all the forepart of the night. He"d lay still for a few minutes, and then he would get all rousted up, and he would set up in bed and call out some words in that strange tongue. And he would lift up his poor weak right arm, strong then in his fever, and preach long sermons in that same strange curius language. He would preach his sermon right through, earnest and fervent as any sermon ever wuz. I would know it by the looks of his face. And then he would sometimes sing a little in that same singular language, and then he would lay down for a spell.
But along towards mornin" I see a change, his fever seemed to abate and go down some-very gradual, till just about the break of day, he fell into a troubled sleep-or it wuz a troubled sleep at first-but growin" deeper and more peaceful every minute. And along about eight o"clock he wuz a-sleepin" sweet for the first time durin" his sickness; it wuz a quiet restful sleep, and some drops of presperation and sweat could be seen on his softened features.
We all wuz as still, almost, as if we wuz automatoes, we wuz so afraid of makin" a speck of noise to disturb him. We kep almost breathless, in our anxiety to keep every mite of noise out of his room. But I did whisper to Rosy in a low still voice-
"Your father is saved, the Lord be praised, we shall pull him through."
She jest dropped onto her knees, and laid her head in my lap and cried and wept, but soft and quiet so"s it wouldn"t disturb a mice.
Miss Timson wuz a-prayin", I could see that. She wuz a-returnin" thanks to the Lord for his mercy.
As for me, I sot demute, in that hushed and darkened room, a-watchin" every shadow of a change that might come to his features, with a teaspoon ready to my hand, to give him nourishment at the right time if he needed it, or medicine.
When all of a sudden-slam! bang! rush! roar! slam! slam! ding! dong! bang!!! come right over our heads the wild, deafening clamor of the bells.
Ralph started up wilder than ever because of his momentary repose. He never knew us, nor anything, from that time on, and after sufferin" for another 24 hours, sufferin" that made us all willin" to have it stop, he died.
And so he who had devoted his hull life to religeon wuz killed by it. He who had gin his hull life for the true, wuz murdered by the false.
His last move wuz to spread out his hands, and utter a few of them strange words, as if in benediction over a kneelin" mult.i.tude. And I thought then, and I think still, that he wuz p.r.o.nouncin" a benediction on the savages. And I have always hoped that the mercy he besought from on High at that last hour brought down G.o.d"s pity and forgiveness on all benighted savages, and bigoted ones, Deacon Garven, and the hull on "em.
CHAPTER XXV.
The very next day after I got home from Miss Timson"ses, we wimmen all met to the meetin" house agin as usial, for we knew very well that the very hardest and most arjuous part of our work lay before us.
For if it had been hard and tuckerin" to what it seemed the utmost limit of tucker, to stand up on a lofty barell, and lift up one arm, and sc.r.a.pe the ceilin", what would it be, so we wildly questioned our souls, and each other, to stand up on the same fearful hites, and lift both arms over our heads, and get on them fearful lengths of paper smooth.
I declare, when the hull magnitude of the task we had tackled riz before us, it skairt the hull on us, and nuthin" but our deathless devotion to the Methodist meetin" house, kep us from startin" off to our different homes on the run.
But lovin" it as we did, as the very apples in our eyes, and havin" in our constant b.r.e.a.s.t.s a determinate to paper that meetin" house, or die in the attempt, we made ready to tackle it.
Yet such wuz the magnitude of the task, and our fearful apprehensions, that after we had looked the ceilin" all over, and examined the paper-we all sot down, as it were, instinctivly, and had a sort of a conference meetin" (we had to wait for the paste to bile anyway, it wuz bein" made over the stove in the front entry). And he would lift up his poor weak right arm, strong then in his fever, and preach long sermons in that same strange curius language. He would preach his sermon right through, earnest and fervent as any sermon ever wuz. I would know it by the looks of his face. And then he would sometimes sing a little in that same singular language, and then he would lay down for a spell.
But along towards mornin" I see a change, his fever seemed to abate and go down some-very gradual, till just about the break of day, he fell into a troubled sleep-or it wuz a troubled sleep at first-but growin" deeper and more peaceful every minute. And along about eight o"clock he wuz a-sleepin" sweet for the first time durin" his sickness; it wuz a quiet restful sleep, and some drops of presperation and sweat could be seen on his softened features.
We all wuz as still, almost, as if we wuz automatoes, we wuz so afraid of makin" a speck of noise to disturb him. We kep almost breathless, in our anxiety to keep every mite of noise out of his room. But I did whisper to Rosy in a low still voice-it middlin calm, and Miss Gowdy offered to be the one to carry it back to Jonesville, and change it that very afternoon-for we could not afford to buy a new one, and we had the testimony of as many as twenty-one or two pairs of eyes, that the handle didn"t come out by our own carelessness, but by its own inherient weakness-so we spozed he would swap it, we spozed so. But it wuz arrainged before we disbanded (the result of our conference), that the next mornin" we would each one on us bring our offerin"s to the fair, and hand "em in to the treasurer, so"s she would know in time what to depend on, and what she had to do with.
And we agreed (also the result of our conference) that we would, each one on us, tell jest how we got the money and things to give to the fair.
And then we disbanded and started off home but I"ll bet that each one on us, in a sort of secret unbeknown way, gin a look on that lofty ceilin", them dangerus barells, and that pile of paper, and groaned a low melancholy groan all to herself.
I know I did, and I know Submit Tewksbury did, for I stood close to her and heard her. But then to be exactly jest, and not a mite underhanded, I ort mebby to say, that her groan may be caused partly by the fact that that aniversery of hern wuz a-drawin" so near. Yes, the very next day wuz the day jest 20 years ago that Samuel Danker went away from Submit Tewksbury to heathen lands. Yes, the next day wuz the one that she always set the plate on for him-the gilt edged chiny with pink sprigs.
But I"ll bet that half or three quarters of that low melancholy groan of her"n wuz caused by the hardness of the job that loomed up in front of us, and the hull of mine wuz.
Wall, that night Josiah Allen wuz a-feelin" dretful neat, fer he had sold our sorell colt for a awful big price.
It wuz a good colt; its mother wuz took sick when it wuz a few days old, and we had brung it up as a corset, or ruther I did, fer Josiah Allen at that time had the rheumatiz to that extent that he couldn"t step his foot on the floor for months, so the care of the corset come on me, most the hull on it, till it got big enough to run out in the lot and git its own livin".
Night after night I used to get up and warm milk for it, when it wuz very small, for it wuz weakly, and we didn"t know as we could winter it.