For, as the Son of Man came not to send peace on the earth but a sword, so the first visit of G.o.d to the human soul is generally in a cloud of fear and doubt, rising from the soul itself at his approach. The sun is the cloud-dispeller, yet often he must look through a fog if he would visit the earth at all. The child, not being a son, does not know his father. He may know he is what is called a father; what the word means he does not know. How then should he understand when the father comes to deliver him from his paltry self, and give him life indeed!
She tried to pray. She said, "Oh G--od! forgive me, and make me good.
I want to be good!" Then she rose.
She went some little way without thinking where she was going, and then found she did not even know from what direction she had come. A sharp new fear, quite different from the former, now shot through her heart: she was lost! She had told no one she was going anywhere!
No one would have a notion where to look for her! She had been beginning to feel hungry, but fear drove hunger away. All she knew was that she must not stay there. Here was nowhere; walking on she might come somewhere--that is, among human beings! So out she set on her weary travel from no-where to somewhere, giving Nature little thanks. She did not suspect that her grandmother had been doing anything for her by the s.p.a.ce around her, or that now, by the tracklessness, the lostness, she was doing yet more. On and on she walked, climbing the one hillside and descending the other, going she knew not whither, hardly hoping she drew one step nearer home.
All at once her strength went from her. She sat down and cried. But with her tears came the thought how the chief and his brother talked of G.o.d. She remembered she had heard in church that men ought to cry to G.o.d in their troubles. Broken verses of a certain psalm came to her, saying G.o.d delivered those who cried to him even from things they had brought on themselves, and she had been doing nothing wrong! She tried to trust in him, but could not: he was as far from her as the blue heavens! True, it bent over all, but its one great eye was much too large to see the trouble she was in! What did it matter to the blue sky if she fell down and withered up to bones and dust! She well might-for here no foot of man might pa.s.s till she was a thing terrible to look at! If there was n.o.body where seemed to be nothing, how fearfully empty was the universe! Ah, if she had G.o.d for her friend! What if he was her friend, and she had not known it because she never spoke to him, never asked him to do anything for her? It was horrible to think it could be a mere chance whether she got home, or died there! She would pray to G.o.d! She would ask him to take her home!
A wintery blast came from the north. The black cloud had risen, and was now spreading over the zenith. Again the wind came with an angry burst and snarl. Snow carne swept upon it in hard sharp little pellets. She started up, and forgot to pray.
Some sound in the wind or some hidden motion of memory all at once let loose upon her another fear, which straight was agony. A rumour had reached the New House the night before, that a leopard had broken from a caravan, and got away to the hills. It was but a rumour; some did not believe it, and the owners contradicted it, but a party had set out with guns and dogs. It was true! it was true!
There was the terrible creature crouching behind that stone! He was in every clump of heather she pa.s.sed, swinging his tail, and ready to spring upon her! He must be hungry by this time, and there was nothing there for him to eat but her! By and by, however, she was too cold to be afraid, too cold to think, and presently, half-frozen and faint for lack of food, was scarce able to go a step farther.
She saw a great rock, sank down in the shelter of it, and in a minute was asleep. She slept for some time, and woke a little refreshed. The wonder is that she woke at all. It was dark, and her first consciousness was ghastly fear. The wind had ceased, and the storm was over. Little snow had fallen. The stars were all out overhead, and the great night was round her, enclosing, watching her. She tried to rise, and could just move her limbs. Had she fallen asleep again, she would not have lived through the night. But it is idle to talk of what would have been; nothing could have been but what was. Mercy wondered afterwards that she did not lose her reason. She must, she thought, have been trusting somehow in G.o.d.
It was terribly dreary. Sure never one sorer needed G.o.d"s help! And what better reason could there be for helping her than that she so sorely needed it! Perhaps G.o.d had let her walk into this trouble that she might learn she could not do without him! She--would try to be good! How terrible was the world, with such wide s.p.a.ces and n.o.body in them!
And all the time, though she did not know it, she was sobbing and weeping.
The black silence was torn asunder by the report of a gun. She started up with a strange mingling of hope and terror, gave a loud cry, and sank senseless. The leopard would be upon her!
Her cry was her deliverance.
CHAPTER XVII.
IN THE TOMB.
The brothers had that same morning paid their visit to the tomb, and there spent the day after their usual fashion, intending to go home the same night, and as the old moon was very late in rising, to take the earlier and rougher part of the way in the twilight. Just as they were setting out, however, what they rightly judged a pa.s.sing storm came on, and they delayed their departure. By the time the storm was over, it was dark, and there was no use in hurrying; they might as well stop a while, and have the moon the latter part of the way. When at length they were again on the point of starting, they thought they heard something like sounds of distress, but the darkness making search difficult and unsatisfactory, the chief thought of firing his gun, when Mercy"s cry guided them to where she lay. Alister"s heart, at sight of her, and at the thought of what she must have gone through, nearly stood still. They carried her in, laid her on the bed, and did what they could to restore her, till she began to come to herself. Then they left her, that she might not see them without preparation, and sat down by the fire in the outer room, leaving the door open between the two.
"I see how it is!" said Alister. "You remember, Ian, what you said to her about giving Nature an opportunity of exerting her influence?
Mercy has been following your advice, and has lost her way among the hills!"
"That was so long ago!" returned Ian thoughtfully.
"Yes-when the weather was not fit for it. It is not fit now, but she has ventured!"
"I believe you are right! I thought there was some reality in her!-But she must not hear us talking about her!"
When Mercy came to herself, she thought at first that she lay where she had fallen, but presently perceived that she was covered, and had something hot at her feet: was she in her own bed? was it all a terrible dream, that she might know what it was to be lost, and think of G.o.d? .She put out her arm: her hand went against cold stone. The dread thought rushed in-that she was buried-was lying in her grave-to lie there till the trumpet should sound, and the dead be raised. She was not horrified; her first feeling was gladness that she had prayed before she died. She had been taught at church that an hour might come when it would be of no use to pray-the hour of an unbelieving death: it was of no use to pray now, but her prayer before she died might be of some avail! She wondered that she was not more frightened, for in sooth it was a dreary prospect before her: long and countless years must pa.s.s ere again she heard the sound of voices, again saw the light of the sun! She was half awake and half dreaming; the faintness of her swoon yet upon her, the repose following her great weariness, and the lightness of her brain from want of food, made her indifferent-almost happy. She could lie so a long time, she thought.
At length she began to hear sounds, and they were of human voices.
She had companions then in the grave! she was not doomed to a solitary waiting for judgment! She must be in some family-vault, among strangers. She hoped they were nice people: it was very desirable to be buried with nice people!
Then she saw a reddish light. It was a fire--far off! Was she in the bad place? Were those shapes two demons, waiting till she had got over her dying? She listened:--"That will divide her between us,"
said one. "Yes," answered the other; "there will be no occasion to cut it!" What dreadful thing could they mean? But surely she had heard their voices before! She tried to speak, but could not.
"We must come again soon!" said one. "At this rate it will take a life-time to carve the tomb."
"If we were but at the roof of it!" said the other. "I long to tackle the great serpent of eternity, and lay him twining and coiling and undulating all over it! I dream about those tombs before ever they were broken into-royally furnished in the dark, waiting for the souls to come back to their old, brown, dried up bodies!"
Here one of them rose and came toward her, growing bigger and blacker as he came, until he stood by the bedside. He laid his hand on her wrist, and felt her pulse. It was Ian! She could not see his face for there was no light on it, but she knew his shape, his movements! She was saved!
He saw her wide eyes, two great spiritual nights, gazing up at him.
"All, you are better, Miss Mercy!" lie said cheerily. "Now you shall have some tea!"
Something inside her was weeping for joy, but her outer self was quite still. She tried again to speak, and uttered a few inarticulate sounds. Then came Alister on tip-toe, and they stood both by the bedside, looking down on her.
"I shall be all right presently!"" she managed at length to say. "I am so glad I"m not dead! I thought I was dead!"
"You would soon have been if we had not found you!" replied Alister.
"Was it you that fired the gun?"
"Yes."
"I was so frightened!"
"It saved your life, thank G.o.d! for then you cried out."
"Fright was your door out of fear!" said Ian.
"I thought it was the leopard!"
"I did bring my gun because of the leopard," said Alister.
"It was true about him then?"
"He is out."
"And now it is quite dark!"
"It doesn"t signify; we"ll take a lantern; I"ve got my gun, and Ian has his dirk!"
"Where are you going then?" asked Mercy, still confused.
"Home, of course."
"Oh, yes, of course! I will get up in a minute."
"There is plenty of time," said Ian. "You must eat something before you get up. We, have nothing but oat-cakes, I am sorry to say!"
"I think you promised me some tea!" said Mercy. "I don"t feel hungry."
"You shall have the tea. When did you eat last?"