Part 18 (1/2)

So they went down together it the early twilight, and took seats under the trees amid the glowing of brilliant lights and the soft sound of music coming from the piano on the stand.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE SILENT WITNESS.

That Bible reading! I wish I could make it appear to you as it did to Flossy; s.h.i.+pley. Not that either, because I trust that the sound of the Bible verses is not so utterly new to you as it was to her--rather, that it might sound to you as it did to the earnest-souled young man who sat beside her, taking in ever; word with as much eagerness as if some of the verses had not been his dear and long-cherished friends; nay, with more eagerness on that account.

Do you know Dr. Parsons, of Boston? It was he who conducted that reading, and his theme was, ”The Coming of the Lord.”

Let me give you just a few of the groupings as he called them forth from his congregation under the trees, and which he called ”the Lord's own testimonies to his coming:”

”Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

”Therefore, be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” ”Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” ”Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”

Four solemn warnings from the Head of the vineyard. They reached to Flossy's very soul, and she had that old well-known thrill of feeling that almost every Christian has some time experienced.

”If _I_ had only been there; if He had spoken such words to _me_, I could never, never have forgotten, or been neglectful. If I could only have heard Him speak!” And as if in answer to this longing cry Dr.

Parsons himself read the next solemn sentence, read it in such a way that it almost seemed as if this might be the sacred garden, and _Himself_ standing among the olive-trees speaking even to _her_:

”And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Here, then, was her direction from His own lips. Though centuries had pa.s.sed since He spoke them they echoed down to her. She was not overwhelmed; she was not crushed by the new and solemn sense of her calling that flowed over her.

The Lord himself was there in every deed, and whispered in her ear, ”It is I, be not afraid.” And her heart responded solemnly, ”Aye, Lord, I feel thy presence; I have been sleeping, but I am awake, and from henceforth I _will_ watch.”

That Bible reading was like a whole week of theological study to Flossy.

It was not that she learned simply about the blessed a.s.surance, the weight of testimony amounting to an absolute certainty, concerning the coming of the Lord. But there were so many truths growing out from that, so many incentives to be up and doing; for she found before the reading closed that one must not only watch, but in the watching work; and there were so many reasons why she should, and so many hints as to the way and the time. Then there was, also, the most blessed discovery that the Bible was not a book to treat like an arithmetic. That one must read through the Book of Genesis, and then go on to Exodus, a chapter to-day, two chapters to-morrow, and perhaps some days, when one was not in too great a hurry and could read very fast, take half a dozen chapters, and so get through it. But she learned that there were little connecting links of sweetness all the way through the book; that she had a right to look over in Revelation for an explanation of something that was stated in Deuteronomy. She did not learn all this, either, at this one time; but she got a vivid hint of it, strong enough to keep her hunting and pulling at the lovely golden thread of the Bible for long years to come.

There were special points about the closing verses that throbbed in her heart, and awakened purposes that never slept again. It was the gentleman who sat beside her who read the solemn words of the verse:

”But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pa.s.s away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and G.o.dliness?”

His voice was very earnest, and his face had an eager look of solemn joy.

From it she felt the truth that while the words which he had been reading were full of solemnity, and while he felt the sense of responsibility, there was also that in them which filled his heart with great joy, for when that time should come would not he be with his Lord?

Again, when a little later he gave the closing verses of this wonderful lesson, reading them from her Bible, because in the dimness the print was larger and clearer than his own, they made the conclusion of the whole matter:

”Ye are the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of the darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober.”

He marked it with his pencil as he finished reading, and as he returned the book to her keeping he said with a smile:

”We will, shall we not?”

And it felt to Flossy like a convenant, witnessed by the Lord himself.

But Dr. Parsons, you know, knew nothing of all this. Chautauqua was the place for sowing the seed; they could only hope that the Lord of the vineyard was looking on and watching over the coming harvest; it was not for their eyes to see the fruits.

Sunday morning at Chautauqua! None of all the many hundreds who spent the day within the shadow of that sweet and leafy place have surely forgotten how the quaint and quiet beauty of the place and its surroundings fell upon them; they know just how the birds sang among those tall old trees; they know just how still and blue and clear the lake looked as they caught glimpses of it through the quivering green of myriad leaves; they know just how clearly the Chautauqua bells cut the air and called to the wors.h.i.+p. It needs not even these few words to recall the place in its beauty to the hearts of those who wors.h.i.+ped there that day; and for you who did not see it nor feel its power there is no use to try to describe Chautauqua. Only this, it is a place to love and look back to with a sort of sweet and tender longing all your lives.

Our girls felt somewhat of the sacredness of the place; at least they went around with a more decided feeling that it was Sunday than they had ever realized before. Three of them did.