Part 35 (1/2)
A long silence followed; then, as they lay down in the darkness, Darrell said, in subdued tones,--
”I have never heard you say, and it never before occurred to me to ask, what was your religion.”
”I don't know that I have any particular religion,” Mr. Britton answered, slowly; ”I have no formulated creed. I am a child of G.o.d and a disciple of Jesus, the Christ. Like Him, I am the child of a King, a son of the highest Royalty, yet a servant to my fellow-men; that is all.”
The following morning Mr. Britton awakened Darrell at an early hour.
”Forgive me for disturbing your slumbers, but I want you to see the sunrise from these heights; I think you will feel repaid. You could not see it at the camp, you were so hemmed in by higher mountains.”
Darrell rose and, having dressed hastily, stepped out into the gray twilight of the early dawn. A faint flush tinged the eastern sky, which deepened to a roseate hue, growing moment by moment brighter and more vivid. Chain after chain of mountains, slumbering dark and grim against the horizon, suddenly awoke, blus.h.i.+ng and smiling in the rosy light.
Then, as rays of living flame shot upward, mingling with the crimson waves and changing them to molten gold, the snowy caps of the higher peaks were transformed to jewelled crowns. There was a moment of transcendent beauty, then, in a burst of glory, the sun appeared.
”That is a sight I shall never forget, and one I shall try to see often,” Darrell said, as they retraced their steps to the cabin.
”You will never find it twice the same,” Mr. Britton answered; ”Nature varies her gifts so that to her true lovers they will not pall.”
After breakfast they again strolled out into the sunlight, Mr. Britton seating himself upon a projecting ledge of granite, while Darrell threw himself down upon the mountain gra.s.s, his head resting within his clasped hands.
”What an ideal spot for my work!” he exclaimed.
Mr. Britton smiled. ”I fear you would never accomplish much with me here. I must return to the city soon, or you will degenerate into a confirmed idler.”
”I have often thought,” said Darrell, reflectively, ”that when I have completed this work I would like to attempt a novel. It seems as though there is plenty of material out here for a strong one. Think of the lives one comes in contact with almost daily--stranger than fiction, every one!”
”Your own, for instance,” Mr. Britton suggested.
”Yours also,” Darrell replied, in low tones; ”the story of your life, if rightly told, would do more to uplift men's souls than nine-tenths of the sermons.”
”The story of my life, my son, will never be told to any ear other than your own, and I trust to your love for me that it will go no farther.”
”Of that you can rest a.s.sured,” Darrell replied.
As the sun climbed towards the zenith they returned to the cabin and seated themselves on a broad settee of rustic work under an overhanging vine near the cabin door.
”I have been wondering ever since I came here,” said Darrell, ”how you ever discovered such a place as this. It is so unique and so appropriate to the surroundings.”
”I discovered,” said Mr. Britton, with slight emphasis on the word, ”only the 'surroundings.' The cabin is my own work.”
”What! do you mean to say that you built it?”
”Yes, little by little. At first it was hardly more than a rude shelter, but I gradually enlarged it and beautified it, trying always, as you say, to keep it in harmony with its surroundings.”
”Then you are an artist and a genius.”
”But that is not the only work I did during the first months of my life here. Come with me and I will show you.”
He led the way along the trail, farther up the mountain, till a sharp turn hid him from view. Darrell, following closely, came upon the entrance of an incline shaft leading into the mountain. Just within he saw Mr. Britton lighting two candles which he had taken from a rocky ledge; one of these he handed to Darrell, and then proceeded down the shaft.
”A mine!” Darrell exclaimed.