The School Friends; Or, Nothing New
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Jesus when He hung on the cross, offering himself up asa full and sufficient sacrifice in God's sight for the sins of all whotrust in Him, let me urge you to turn your eyes; believe in that lovingSaviour that He died for you, as well as for other sinners; that Hisheart yearns toward you; that He desires you to come to Him and besaved."
"I remember, Arthur, that you said this to me in prison; but I hardenedmy heart. I was strong and well, and feared not death," answeredGilbert, with a deep sigh. "I can do nothing to merit heaven--it's toolate now, it's too late."
"It is never too late," exclaimed Arthur. "The arms of Jesus are everready to receive all who come to Him in simple faith, trusting to Hismerits alone, and not to any merits of their own, or anything they evercan do to deserve His favour; banish such a thought from your mind. ByHis free grace He gives us salvation: remember the thief on the cross;he simply turned his dying eye on his crucified Lord, acknowledging thatHe was the Son of God, and the same answer Jesus gave to him He willgive to you if you believe on Him. Remember, too, how the Israelites inthe wilderness, bitten by the fiery serpents, were told to look on theserpent of brass, the emblem of healing held up by Moses, and no soonerdid they look than they were healed. How merciful, how loving, howgracious, is our Father in heaven, who, knowing the frailty of poorhuman beings, has thus provided so simple, so easy, and yet soall-sufficient a means by which they may be saved."
Arthur, animated by love for his brother's soul, continued thus to pleadwith him, for he dreaded lest he might die in the attempt to move him.He would have pleaded, however, in the same way with any other sufferer,for he knew the value of human souls.
At length several of the people assembled round him, and charitablyoffered to convey the injured man to a cottage at some little distancefrom the beach.
"Let me be taken there," whispered Gilbert; "there is another I shouldwish to see, to ask her forgiveness for all the pain and sorrow I havecaused her, but do not leave me."
A litter was speedily formed with a couple of spars and a piece of sail,and Gilbert being placed on it, four fishermen conveyed him towards thecottage, Arthur walking by his side, still holding his hand. The menseeing that Arthur was a clergyman, were not surprised at the attentionhe paid to the dying man, nor did they suspect the relationship.
"I am praying for you," whispered Arthur; "and oh, let me entreat you topray for yourself."
"I am trying to do so, but I find it hard. My faith is weak--too weak Ifear to avail me," gasped the dying man.
"Though it be but like a grain of mustard seed, He has promised that itshall remove mountains," answered Arthur.
The cottage, happily the abode of Christian people, was reached. Thesufferer was placed on a bed prepared for him by the good woman of thehouse, and Arthur immediately sent off a messenger to summon Mary andher husband, as well as a surgeon, in the hopes that his skill mightbenefit his brother. Anxiously he watched the livelong night by theside of Arthur's couch, and it was with joy unspeakable that towardsmorning he heard him whisper, "God has answered my prayer; I believethat His Son Jesus Christ died for me, the just for the unjust, and thatthrough His merits my numberless sins are put away." Soon afterwardsthe surgeon arrived. After examining Gilbert, he took Arthur aside."The injuries the poor fellow has received are such as I fear no humanskill can remedy. I will do my best, but I can give no hopes of hisrecovery; he is a fitter subject for your care than mine, though thesesmugglers are such ruffians that I do not suppose you will be able to domuch with him."
"We are all by nature rebels to God," answered Arthur, endeavouring toconceal his feelings. "I will, as you advise, remain with the poor man,and follow the directions you give."
The surgeon told Arthur what he advised and took his departure, andArthur hastened back to his brother. Mary and her husband arrived earlyin the morning. Gilbert, though too weak to speak, knew his sister, andshowed by signs that he understood what she said. He pressed her hand,and a smile lighted up his countenance when she assured him that she hadnever ceased to pray for him, and to feel the same affection for him asof yore.
"Those prayers have been answered, have they not?" said Arthur bendingover his brother, and he repeated the last words Gilbert had uttered, "Ibelieve that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." Again abright look passed across Gilbert's countenance, and holding the handsof the loving ones kneeling by his side, his spirit passed away. One ofhis last requests had been that he might be buried with his haplesscompanions who had been rescued from the waves. It was complied with,and no one besides those who were with him at his death knew that theshipwrecked smuggler was Gilbert Maitland.
Oh that the young could see the fearful termination of the broad roadthey are tempted by Satan to follow, ere they take the first downwardstep along it!
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The End.
BOOK IV--THE IVORY TRADER; A TALE OF AFRICA.
CHAPTER I.
To the north of the Cape of Good Hope Colony, beyond the Great OrangeRiver, an extensive level region exists, known as the Kalahara Desert.Here no running streams are found to fertilise the plain, and often formiles and miles together, not a well nor pool is to be discovered, fromwhich the weary traveller can quench his burning thirst. Yet destituteas it is of water, it is in many parts covered with grass, and animmense variety of creeping plants; while in some places large patchesof bushes, and even trees, find nourishment in the seeming arid soil,and countless multitudes of wild animals, especially those which requirebut little water, or can go many days together without drinking, roamover its trackless wilds.
This region passed, a fertile country is found, thickly populated bydark-skinned tribes, who till of late years have had no intercourse withwhite men. Here an almost countless number of rivers and streams arefound, some flowing into the mighty Zambesi, and others into Lake Ngami.
Notwithstanding the dangers which must be encountered in crossing thevast Kalahara Desert, from the scarcity of water, the intense heat, thewild beasts, the savage people who inhabit its borders, and more thanall, from the attacks of the Tsetse fly, whose poisonous bite speedilydestroys cattle and horses, white traders from the colony occasionallytraverse it, for the purpose of obtaining ivory from the natives.
A tilted waggon belonging to one of these traders, dragged by a span offourteen oxen, was slowly moving across the wide-extending plain. Onthe box sat a Hottentot driver, his whip in hand, with lash ofprodigious length, reaching even to the leading animals shouting out atthe same time strange sounds to urge them on. A dozen dark-skinned men,some clad in jacket and trousers, and broad-brimmed hats, but othershaving merely a cloth or kilt round their loins, moved along by the sideof the waggon. A few were seated on oxen, and the rest marched on foot,mostly with arms in their hands. Among those on foot was a young lad,whose dark skin showed that he was an African, though his features hadsomewhat of the Asiatic character. He was dressed more in the Englishfashion than the other black men, though his firm step and independentair proved that young Kibo was well accustomed to traverse the desertwilds. Ahead of the caravan stalked, with spear in hand, the Bechuanaguide Masiko, whose people inhabit the region to the south of thedesert, over all parts of which, from his earliest youth, he hadwandered. His only garment was a cotton scarf, or plaid of a darkcolour, thrown over his shoulders and wound round his waist, so as toform a kilt reaching to his knees, his woolly head and his feet beingwithout covering. Two horses without saddles followed the waggon,secured to it by thongs of hide, and several spare oxen kept pace withthe vehicle, ready to supply the places of any of the team which mightknock up on the road.
Two white persons mounted on strong horses brought up the rear of thecaravan. One Mr Robert Vincent, the owner of the waggon and its variedcontents, was a strongly-built man of middle age, his countenance welltanned by African suns; the other a lad of about fifteen years of ageapparently, who, from his slightly-built figure, looked scarcely
capableof enduring the fatigues, of the journey before him.
The bright sun shining down from the cloudless sky shed a peculiar glareover the whole scene, the atmosphere quivering with heat. Here andthere a few bushes rose above the surface, and broke the ocean-likehorizon; but so exactly did they resemble one another, that to even thewell-practised eye of the trader, they were useless as landmarks todirect his course. He had, therefore, entirely to depend on theguidance of Masiko, to conduct the caravan to the different water-holesand wells on the road across the desert.
Already both men and beasts were suffering greatly from thirst, for atthe last halting-place no water had been obtained, and there was a fearthat the oxen would break down altogether, unless they should soon reachthe wells which the guide assured him would be found ahead.
"Had I supposed we should have found water so