Macdonald_Robert_Falconer.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
"'ll get a bit roomy, an' tak' in washin'."
" , 'll tell ye what wad like ye to do. know
? "
" that. , ' a verra dacent body she is."
" , if ye like ye can baud this hoose, an' a' 'at's in 't,
jist as it is, till the day o' yer deith. ye' aye keep it in
order, an' the ga'le room ready for me at ony time may hap-
pen to come in upo' ye in want o' a nicht's quarters.
wad like ye, if hae nae objections, to take -
der to bide wi' ye. 's turnin' some frail noo, and 'm
unner great obligation to her , ye know."
", weel that. learnt ye to fiddle,
hoombly beg your pardon, sir, ."
" offence, , assure ye. hae been aye gnde
to me, and thank ye hertily."
could not stand this. apron went up to her
eyes.
", sir," she sobbed, " ye was aye a gude lad."
" ' when spak' o' , ."
laughed and sobbed together.
" , ye'll tak' in, winna ye ? "
" 'll do that, sir. 'll try to do my best wi' her."
" can help ye, ye know, wi' yer washin', an' sic like."
" 's a hard-workin' wuman, sir. wad do that
weel."
" whan ye're in ony want o' siller, jist write to me.
' if onything suld happen to me, ye know, write to .
, a frien' o' mine. 's his address in ''
520
.
" , sir, but ye are kin'. bless you for a'."
could bear no more, and left the room crying.
settled at , he returned to .
most welcome greeting he had ever received in his lift
lay in the shine of his father's yes when he entered the room
where he sat with . next day they left for
.
.
.
came to see me the very evening of their arrival.
to 's progress there could be no longer any doubt.
that was necessary for conviction on the point was to have seen
him before, and to see him now. very grasp of his hand
was changed. not yet would leave him alone.
will naturally occur to my reader that liis goodness was
not much yet. was not. may have been greater than
we could be sure of, though. if any one object that such
a conversion, even if it were perfected, was poor, inasmuch as
the man's free will was intromitted with, answer, "
development of the free will was the one object. it
was not free." ask the man who says so, " would
your free will have been if at some period of your life you could
have had everything you wanted?" he says it is nobler
in a man to do with less help, answer, " was not
noble ; was he therefore to be forsaken ? prodigal was
not left without the help of the swine and their husks, at once
to keep him alive- and disgust him with the life. the less
help a man has from the better?" to you,
the grandest thing of all would be for a man sunk in the ab-
solute abysses of sensuality all at once to resolve to be pure as
the empyrean, and be so, without help from or man.
is the thing possible? well might a hyaena say will be
a man, and become one. would bo to create.
must be kept from the evil long enough to let him at least see
. 6il
the good, before was let alone. when would wp be let
alone ? a man to be fit to be let alone is for a man not to
need , but to be able to live without him. hearts cry
out, '" have is to live. " want . him
no life of ours is worth living. are not then even human,
for that is but the lower form of the divine. are immortal,
eternal ; fill us, , with thyself only all is well."
: heartily believe, though cannot understand the
boundaries of will and inspiration, that what will do for
us at last is infinitely beyond any greatness we could gain,
even if we could will ourselves from the lowest we could be
into the highest we can imagine. is essential divine life
we want ; and there is grand truth, however incomplete or per-
verted, in the aspiration of the . is wrong, but
he wants something right. the man had the power in his
pollution to will himself into the right withont , the fact
that he was in that pollution with such power must damn
him there forever. if must help ere a man can be
saved, can the help of man go too far towards the same end ?
solve the mystery for he made it. thing
is sure : are his, and he will do his part, which is no part
but the all in all. man could do what in his wildest self-
worship he can imagine, the grand result would be that he
would be his own , which is the of hells.
some time had to give what aid could in
being with his fatJier while he arranged matters in prospect of
their voyage to . he took him with him when
he went amongst his people, as he called the poor he visited.
, when he wanted to go alone, bad to take him to
. , who would play and sing as had never heard
any one play or sing before. on such occasions
cari'ied his flute with him, and the result of the two was some-
thing exquisite. . did lay herself out to
please the old man ! pleased he was. think her
kindness did more than anything else to make him feel like a
gentleman again. in his condition that was much.
length would sometimes leave him witli
. , till he or should go for him ; he knew she could
keep him safe. knew that she would keep him if necea-
sary.
5l2 .
evening when went to see , found bin
alone. was one of these occasions.
" am very glad you have come, , " he said. "
was wanting to see you. have got things nearly ready now.
month, or at latest, the one after, we shall sail : and
hare some business with you which had better be arranged at
once. one knows what is going to happen. man who
believes the least in chance knows as little as the man who be-
lieves in it the most. will is in the hands of .
have left you evefy thing."
was dumb.
" you any objection? " he said, a little anxiously.
" able to fulfil the conditions? " faltered.
'* have burdened you with no conditions," he returned.
" don't believe in conditions. know your heart and itind
now. trust you perfectly."
" am unworthy of it."
" is for me to judge."
" you have no trustees? ''
" one."
" do you want me to do with your property ? "
" know well enough. it going the right way."
" will always think what you would like."
" ; do not. what is right; and where there is no
right or wrong plain in itself, then think what is best.
may see good reason to change some of my plans. may
be wrong ; but you must do what you see right not what
see or might see right."
" there is no need to talk so seriously about it," 1
said. " will manage it yourself for many years yet.
me your steward, if you like, during your absence :
will not object to that."
" do not object to the other, hope ? "
"."
" so let it be. other, of course. have, being
a lawyer myself, taken good care not to trust myself only with
the arranging of these matters. think you will find them
all right."
" supposing you should not return, yoU have oom-
polled me to make the supposition "
. 523
" course. on."
" am to do with the money in the prospect of fol-
lowing you?"
" ! that is the one point on which want a word, al-
though do not think it is necessary. want to entail the
property."
"?"
" word of mouth," he answered, laughing. " must
look out for a right man, as have done, get him to know
your ways and ideas, and if you find him worthy, that is a
grand, wide word; our gave it to his disciples, leave
it all to him in the same way have left it to you, trusting to
the spirit of truth that is in him, the spirit of . can
copy my will as far as it will apply, for you may have, one
way or another, lost the half of it by that time. , by
word of mouth you must make the same condition with him as
have made with you, that is, with regard to his leaving it,
and the conditions on which he leaves it, adding the words, ' that
it may descend thus in perpetuum.' he must do the
same."
broke into a quiet laugh. knew well enough what h
meant. he added :
" means, of course, for as long as there is any."
" you sure you are doing right. ? " said.
" . is better to endow one man, who will work as
the works, than a hundred charities. it is time
went to fetch my father. you go with me ? "
was all that passed between us on the subject, save
that, on our way, he told me to move to his rooms, and occupy
them until he returned.
" papers," he added, " commit to your discretion.'
our way back from , he joked and talked
merrily. joined in. showed himself delighted
with every attempt at gayety or wit that made.
we reached the house, something that had occurred
on the way made him turn to , and he read
. 's best to our great enjoyment.
went down with the two to , to see tliem on
board the steamer. stayed with them there until she sailed.
was a lovely morning in the end of , when at last
524 .
bade them farewell on the quarter-deck. heart was full,
took his hand and kissed it. put his arms round me,
and laid his cheek to mine. was strong to bear the part-
ing.
great iron steamer went down in the middle of the ,
and have not yet seen my friend again.