VI.
_THE SUNDAY SCHOOL._
WHEN Sunday afternoon came they all met as had been arranged, in thelovely nook the Colonel had chosen for them. The little girls werethere with Harry, Fred and Hafed. Bob Porter had asked that he mightcome too. Mrs. Rush was quite willing, but she feared that such greatboys would not care for the simple lessons she taught to Maggie andBessie. She knew they were all too gentlemanly to interrupt or troubleher; but she thought they might grow tired or think it was likebabies' play; so she told them they might go if they did not like it.
But she was quite mistaken, for they all, even Bob, who was theoldest, listened not only with respect and attention, but also withgreat interest, and joined in the lessons with the best of good will.
Frankie was there too, for he had begged to come, and had been allowedto do so on the promise that he would behave very well and sit still.Sitting still was even harder work for Frankie than it was for Maggie;but he meant to be good and quiet, and would probably have kept hisword if he had not been troubled. For by and by they all found thateven in this quiet nook they were not to remain undisturbed.
Frankie sat as far as possible from Bob, with whom he was muchdispleased, though he had no good reason to be so. A short time beforethis, the little ones had all been playing on the grass in front ofthe house, while the grown people sat upon the piazza. It would havebeen thought that it was not easy for any one of them to get intomischief or danger with so many to watch them; but Frankie had a wayof doing this which was quite surprising. Never was such a fellowfor climbing as that Frankie, and his neck was in danger half adozen times a day, in spite of all the care that could be taken. Hismother's eye had been off of him for scarcely two minutes, when shewas startled by hearing Maggie say in a terrified voice, "Oh, mamma,do come to Frankie!"
At the side of the house, and just beyond the end of the piazza stoodthe old well, which supplied them with fresh, cool water. There wasa high stone curb around it through which ran a wooden spout, whichcarried off any waste water which might be poured from the bucket.This spout was partly outside, partly inside the well, and slopedtowards the ground. The children, who wanted a drink, had run aroundto the well, and were waiting for some one to come and draw water forthem, when Frankie climbed upon the spout, and before his sisterscould stop him, perched himself astride the well curb. Mrs. Bradfordturned her head at the sound of her little daughter's voice, andsaw them both holding Frankie, the one by his skirts, the other byhis leg, while the child was struggling in a frantic manner to freehimself from their hold. Had he done so, he must surely have falleninto the well. Before any of the startled group upon the piazza couldreach him, Bob Porter darted from the kitchen door, and snatchingthe child from the well curb, carried him, still struggling, to hismother. Mrs. Bradford thought it best to punish Frankie, and tying themischievous little feet together with papa's pocket-handkerchief, shemade him sit quiet upon the piazza steps for half an hour. When shelet him go, he promised to do so no more but he was not reasonable;and instead of being sorry for his own naughtiness, was angry withBob, who had carried him to his mother, and who, he thought, hadcaused him to be punished; and now he would not come near him or speakto him, which amused Bob very much.
When the children had all taken their places, and had done expressingtheir delight at the pleasant place in which they found themselves,Mrs. Rush opened the school; while the Colonel with his book stretchedhimself upon the rocks above, until he should be called upon for hisaccustomed story.
Every child then repeated a hymn, except Hafed, who could not yetmaster enough English for this, after which Mrs. Rush asked each onefor a Bible verse.
"Can you say a pretty verse for me, Frankie?" she asked of the littleboy who had just seen a fish throw himself out of the lake, and waseagerly watching for a second glimpse of him.
"Yes'm. Dat's a pollywod, I dess," said Frankie, with his eyes on thewater.
"That's a great Bible verse," said Fred, beginning a giggle, in whichthe other boys could not help joining.
"Hush, Fred," said Mrs. Rush. "What was that nice verse I heard mammateaching you this morning, Frankie?"
"Suffer 'ittle chillens--dat _is_ a pollywod, Fred--suffer 'ittlechillers to tome unto me;" said Frankie.
"And who said that, Frankie?"
"Jesus," answered Frankie, bringing his eyes back from the lake to theface of his teacher, and becoming interested. "Jesus said it, and itmeans me."
"Yes, it means you, Frankie."
"And Maddie and Bessie," said Frankie.
"And all other little children," said Mrs. Rush.
"Not Bob," said Frankie, with a defiant shake of his head at the bigboy, who had to put his hand over his face to hide the smile whichwould have way.
"Yes, and Bob, too. Jesus meant all children whoever they may be, orwherever they are."
"But Bob is naughty," said Frankie. "He telled mamma to tie my foots."
"Bob is very good, and Frankie must not be angry with him," said Mrs.Rush. "Frankie was naughty himself, and so mamma had to tie hislittle feet so that he might remember he was not to run into mischief."
"Jesus don't love naughty boys," said Frankie, with another reprovinglook at Bob.
"Jesus loves all children, the good ones and the naughty ones," saidMrs. Rush. "It makes him sorry when they are naughty and forget whathe tells them, but he still loves them, and wants them to come to himand learn to love him, and be sorry for their sins."
"Did Jesus say I was naughty when I wode on the well?" asked Frankie.
"Did you not know mamma did not want you to climb on the well?" saidMrs. Rush.
"Yes'm; mamma said 'don't do by de well,' and I did do dere."
"And Jesus says little boys must mind their mothers; so he was sorrywhen he saw Frankie disobey his kind mamma."
"Is he sorry wis me now? I not do so any more," said Frankie.
"He is sorry if you are cross, and do not feel pleasant to Bob,"answered Mrs. Rush.
Frankie jumped down from his seat, and running over to Bob, put up hisrosy lips for a kiss, which the other was quite ready to give.
"Aunt May," said Maggie, "do you think Jesus _could_ love childrenlike Lem and Dolly?"
"He loved them so much that he came to die for them, Maggie. If he didnot love them, he would not grieve to see them going so far from him;and to them, too, he says, 'Come unto me,' and stands ready to forgivethem, and make them his own little lambs."
"Perhaps they never heard about Jesus, and do not know that he lovesthem," said Bessie. "I don't believe they have any one to teach them."
"I am afraid not," said Mrs. Rush. "Perhaps some time one of us mayfind a way to tell them."
"They would not let us speak to them," said Maggie.
"If we could persuade them that we felt kindly to them, they mightlisten to us," said Mrs. Rush; "at least, we could try."
"But I don't think I do feel kindly to them," said Maggie, "and evenif I did, I do not see how we could find the chance to show it."
"I do not say that you will, only that you _may_ find it," said Mrs.Rush; "but if you have a chance and do not take it, it will be a jewelby the way which you will not stoop to pick up that you may carry itto your Father in Heaven."
"And Benito would not have passed it by," said Maggie softly. "We willtry to be like him, will we not, Bessie?"
When the proper time came, the Colonel was called upon and came downamong the children. His story proved even more interesting than usual;and all, from Mrs. Rush down to Bessie, were so taken up with it, thatthey were not thinking of Frankie, who for some time sat quiet betweenhis little sisters, busy with the Colonel's pencil-case and a pieceof paper, on which he was making scrawls which he called "pollywods."He had seen some pollywogs, or young frogs, in the brook the daybefore, and his mind had been quite full of them ever since; and hewas very anxious to catch one, and have it for his own.
Suddenly all were astonished by a loud sob and a half angry, halffrightened "stop
dat" from the little boy; and looking at him, theysaw him with flushed cheeks, quivering lips, and eyes swimming intears, gazing up at the bushes which overhung the rocks.
"What is it, dear?" asked Mrs. Rush; and as she spoke Maggie andBessie both caught sight of a hideous face which thrust itself with athreatening look from among the leaves.
"Somebody bad and ugly, he mates faces at me," said Frankie, withanother sob.
"It's Lem; I know it is," said Maggie; "and he is making such horridfaces."
All looked up. No face was to be seen, for it had been drawn back;but at that instant down came a shower of sticks, stones and driedleaves, and the loud, taunting laugh they had heard before, rang outfrom above.
This was too much for the patience of the boys; even cool-headed,steady-going Harry started to his feet in a rage; and he, Bob andHafed rushed out of the cleft, while Fred, who still had to moveslowly, was only kept from following by the Colonel's express commands.
Colonel Rush was out of patience himself, but he knew it would onlymake bad worse for the boys to get into a fight; and he would notsuffer Fred to go, and called loudly on the others to return.
In the heat of the chase they did not hear him, but he need not havefeared. Lem and Dolly had no mind to be caught, and were off beforethe boys reached the top of the steps. Lem ran like a hare, and wasout of sight among the trees in an instant; while Dolly, finding theboys were gaining upon her, threw herself upon the ground when shecame to the brow of a steep hill, and rolled over and over until shereached the foot, not heeding the stones which must have hurt andbruised her as she went. This had its droll side, and the three boysstood above and laughed as they watched her, though Harry almostfeared she would break her neck. But she reached the bottom in safety,and jumping to her feet with a loud whoop of defiance, darted awayamong the thick woods of the ravine, and was gone.
When the boys came back, the Colonel and Mrs. Rush tried to have thechildren all settle down quietly again; but the little ones wereuneasy and disturbed, starting at every sound,--the twitter of a bird,the splash of a fish, or the dropping of a leaf,--and the Colonel,seeing this, hastened to bring his story to a close, and take themback to the house.
When Mr. Porter heard of the new trouble at the hands of Lem andDolly, he said they had no right to be there, for it was his ground,and he should see it did not happen again, for he would not have hisboarders disturbed. He told Colonel Rush they had better take thehouse-dog, old Buffer, with them the next Sunday, and let him watchon the rocks above, so that no one could come near. Buffer was a wisedog, and if put on guard, he would not leave his post till he was toldhe might; so now the children felt they would be safe in their "Sundaybower," as they called the cleft in the rock.
When Mrs. Bradford went up stairs with her children at their bed time,she always read a chapter from the Bible to Maggie and Bessie, andthis night she chose the fifth chapter of Matthew. She had no especialthought of Lem and Dolly Owen when she did so; but as she finished,Maggie said,--
"Mamma, don't you think Lem and Dolly 'despitefully use us, andpersecute us?'"
"Yes, dear, I think they do," answered mamma, taking pains not tosmile.
"I am sure they do," said Maggie. "I do not know if any one could doit worse; for we never did a thing to them."
"Then you know what you are to do for them," said mamma. "It wasour Saviour himself who said these words, 'pray for them whichdespitefully use you and persecute you.' If we could do nothing else,there is still this left to us."
"And could that be a jewel by the way which we might carry to ourFather in heaven, mamma?" asked Maggie.
"Yes, love, indeed it would be," said her mother, thinking as shespoke of Bessie's heartfelt prayer for the miserable children a fewnights since, and sure that it would indeed prove a jewel bright andlovely in the eyes of Him to whom it was offered.
Maggie's face looked as if her little head was full of grave thoughts,and she went to bed more soberly than usual, whispering to Bessie asshe lay down,--
"We'll take up the jewel of prayer, any way, won't we Bessie?"
Dear little pilgrims! there were jewels in their way such as they didnot dream of; but it was only earnest seeking such as theirs whichcould find them; for they lay hidden beneath many a thorn and brambleand unsightly weed; and they were to be found only by the help of thisvery jewel of prayer which shone so brightly that its light guided thelittle feet to the dark places where the hidden gems lay.
Bessie among the Mountains Page 6
