The Wedge of Gold

by C. C. Goodwin

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  THE SOUL IN THE CLAY.

  At Port Said the travelers left the French steamer to wait for theEnglish ship which was on the way from Southampton. It came in on theevening of their arrival, and they went on board. They were glad to doso, for the few hours in Port Said convinced them that it was a tougherplace than they had ever seen on the frontier.

  At daylight next morning the ship proceeded on her way through the canal.

  Our travelers were on the deck, watching the scenery.

  Finally Jordan said: "This looks like Arizony, only more so. Arizonylooks as though thar war a strike among the mechanics and it war neverfinished. This looks like it were finished once and then ther perprieter,not bein' satisfied with ther contractor's job, smashed it. They tell mether mustang is ther blood-horse run down by starvation 'nd abuse, 'ndin-breedin', but mostly from in-breedin'. This country looks ez though ithed been ruined ther same way precisely. I shouldn't wonder but it wurtrue. Them old Faros wuz big fellers; so war Sesostris and ther hull raceof the old chaps from ther Shepherd Kings down, and they useter call this'the granary of the world,' didn't they?

  "And old Cambysis cum here on a robbin' expedition?

  "Well, it's clear enough since then things has been goin' ter ther dogsheah. I tell yo', Jim, civilization gone to seed is wuss than 'riginalbarbarism.

  "Them chaps as bilt the pyramids and obelisks war powerful men. Theymust er hed sum pride in the kentry or they wouldn't been so everlastin'perticelar 'bout their gravestunes, and this must uv been a differentkentry from what it are now. Yo've seen men as has lived too long. It'sso, I reckon, with patches of this old world. Anyway, I ain't buyin' nosheers in Egypt, leastways not on the showin' these croppin's make."

  When the ship passed into the Gulf of Suez the temperature was somethingfearful.

  "This wur the water that divided, wur it not?" asked Jordan.

  "Yes," said Sedgwick, "this is the water, I believe."

  Jordan was silent for several minutes. At last he said: "No mistake 'boutthet story, Jim?"

  "Why do you ask?" was Sedgwick's response.

  "Nothin' much," said Jordan, "only hain't yo' noticed ther newspapersdon't hardly ever git things right?"

  Sedgwick acknowledged that he had known them to make mistakes.

  "Hain't it jest posserble," said Jordan, "thet what war really the factwar thet the Gipshins war drowned jest ter git 'em outer ther misery inthis cussed place, and ther Jews war saved jest ter punish 'em?"

  "I never thought of that," said Sedgwick. "But if the weather then wasanything like it is now, the theory is not improbable."

  "'Zactly," said Jordan. "From ther other side over there ther Israelitesstarted for Canaan, didn't they?"

  "I believe so," was Sedgwick's reply.

  "It must uv been like goin' from Tuscon to Fort Yuma in August, don't yo'think, Jim?" said Jordan.

  "Very like, I believe," said Sedgwick.

  After a pause Jordan spoke up again: "Jim, it ain't for me ter try terunderstand much, but ther kentry 'round heah and ther people we has seenkinder breaks me up. They tell us over ther to ther right, man fust cumouter his wild state; ez yo' has it, that 'ther cradle of civilizationwar fust rocked.' For five thousand year, they has been a-tryin'. Look at'em now! Then over on the other side, the chosen people of God pulledout; they flourished; they killed their enemies, built cities andtemples; hed big talkers and writers and fiters; fixed up language thetthrills a man's soul jest ter read it now; made a starter thet theworld's been a-follerin' ever since, and right and left ther whole worldare blasted, and no one wud ever think thet God's smile once lit thisregion. If this showin' makes ther balance sheet fur five thousand years,what's ther use in tryin'?"

  "True," said Sedgwick. "In everything, the ancient man was the equal, ifnot the superior, of any men who live to-day. As soldiers, orators, andwriters, the utmost men hope for is to emulate them, never to excel them.A famous English orator not long ago said that he had often been calledupon to address boisterous men who had gathered in mobs for mischief, andthat the only time he had ever succeeded in quelling such a gathering andturning them completely over to the side of order and peace, was when hehad repeated to them his own translation of one of the impassionedorations that Demosthenes had flung with all the majesty and power ofhis eloquence at an Athenian mob twenty-two hundred years ago. No modernsculpture equals the ancient; no modern song or eloquence; and thenthere have come down to us lessons in patriotism, devotion to duty,self-abnegation and valor, which will thrill great hearts as long ascivilization shall last.

  "Only in one thing that I can note does the modern man excel his ancientbrother. The world is more merciful than of old. Prisoners of war areno longer sold into slavery or killed; woman has ceased to be first aplaything and then a slave; in exalting woman, man has been exalted,and the perfect modern home had no parallel in the ancient world. Theinfluence that the Cross gave out is still spreading and softening thehearts of men."

  "May be," said Jordan, "but, Jim, it's a mighty big undertakin' tocivilize men. Here's all Africa over here ter the right whar only the oldrule prevails; man is a monstrous brute; woman is wuss nor a slave."

  "That is true, Tom," said Sedgwick. "The cruelties practiced there arealmost enough to make one doubt the divinity of man and the mercy ofGod."

  "Yet who knows?" said Jordan. "What are a few thousand years ter God?Thar must be somethin' behind, or men wouldn't hev been born. Ther otherday in London thar war a man carryin' a flag on a short staff thet hed aglitterin' p'int. He war preachin' on ther street corners thet men hed nosouls; thet ther man ez sed he hed a soul war a fool, 'nd he asked wharther souls war, 'nd ef any surgeon hed ever cum upon a soul whendissectin' a body, or on ther place whar ther soul hed lodged in therman's lifetime.

  "I wur listenin' 'nd thinkin'. After awhile he finished 'nd then agentle, kind-faced man stepped outer ther crowd 'nd sed he: 'What arethet bright metal on ther end of y'r flag-staff?' Ther man sed it waraluminum. Then the kind-faced man asked what aluminum cum from. Therother answered: 'Clay.' 'Jest common clay?' asked ther man. 'Jest commonclay,' said ther other. 'How long since ther beautiful metal wardiscovered?' asked ther kind-faced man. 'It war within ther last halfcentury,' war the answer. Then the kind faced man made a discoursesunthin' like this:

  "'Yo' want a wisible proof thet man hez a soul. Ef yo' hed lived sixtyyear ago 'nd men hed told yo' ther wur in common clay a metal ez brightez silver, ez ductile ez gold, with almost ther tensile strength uvsteel; sunthin' thet could be worked inter eny form, indestructible underther usual destructive agents of ther world, yo' wouldn't ha' believedit, would yo'? Yet it war thar all ther time. Fur thousands of years, mendelved in clay. Ther wheels of ages ground it inter powder, which therwinds blew away; when men died, other men sed, 'They is turned ter clay,'which signefied ther utter degrerdation o' death; but ther men what biltther Bable Tower, hed they but known ther secret, mighter from thet samematerial have bilt a dome higher nor St. Paul's, thet would uv shone likeburnished silver 'nd would hev retained all its strength 'nd splendor,notwithstandin' ther erosion uv time 'nd ther abrashin' uv ther ages,even till now, tho' since then two hundred generations uv men has livedand died.

  "Still, yo' think thet ther power thet put thet imperishable,indestructible, stainless soul in ther clay at our feet, war lessthoughtful, less wise, less merciful when he created man in His ownsublime image? Ther chemist found this property in clay after er thousandnations hed spurned it under ther feet; this soul in clay, which will nottarnish, which can be drawn out inter finest wires and thinnest leaves;hev yo' ther audacity ter proclaim thet ther subtle chemistry of deathcannot reveal anything bright and indestructible fur man, when these poremortal senses shall have spent ther energies; when this pore body shalluv fallen back ter dust 'nd ther clearer light shell 'ave dawned."

  "It war a great sermon. The unbeliever shambled shamefaced away, 'nd I'vebeen er thinkin' uv it ever since."

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p; "It must be true," said Sedgwick. "Somewhere must be kept the records ofthe hearts that break in silence, of the eyes that grow dim in strainingat signals on heights beyond the vision of mortal man, of hands that losetheir hold on immortality, because of the merciless buffetings of theworld.

  "This looks like a wrecked world around us, but there was a splendor hereonce. Here the alphabet of the stars was first traced out, and the orderof their shining processions made known; here barbarism was first beatenback; the first code was made here; here were originated the sciences ofarchitecture and of war; here the arts of agriculture and mechanics wereborn; and here was lighted and kept bright the flame of knowledge untilit became a beacon to the world, that, before that light was kindled, wasaltogether dark.

  "The tides of the sea advance and recede. It may be so with nations. Theearth was made habitable by convulsions that rent its crust, the stormsthat beat upon it, and by the grinding of glaciers; the pressurenecessary to create the rocks and coal measures was brought to bear; thecontinents were upheaved; the seas were beaten back; the world was loadedfor a limitless voyage, before the vapors were rolled back, the full dawnwas born.

  "We cannot see far, but if this life is all there is to us, then, indeed,it is a pitiful failure. If our thoughts and longings are bounded by thislittle span of life, then there is no balance-sheet for mortality. Thegift of life is then not worth the expense of supporting it.

  "But, if, like the earth, the beatings and upheavals and sorrows are butthe preparation for the perfect dawn, with peace in its coming, with theincrease of immortal flowers in its air; if there are to be a time andplace where there is to be full fruition, then it is different, and wecan afford to smile as the frosts of disappointment chill us, as the saltspray of misfortune is dashed in our faces.

  "Tom, with such gifts as are given us, we must do the best we can forourselves and our fellow-men; must do it with faith and courage, do itwith gentleness and in truth, and with a purpose so high that we shallnever fear anything except to do the wrong.

  "And all the rest we may leave to God."

  It was hot and calm all the voyage through the Red Sea, the straits,and Gulf of Aden, till, when rounding the stormy cape of Guardafui andthe ship swept out upon the broader ocean, the barometer dropped rapidlyand a furious storm came on. It was really a mighty gale, and theheavily-laden ship labored exceedingly.

  At its height, Sedgwick and Jordan stood watching the majesty of theforces exhausting their fury around them, when Jordan said:

  "Jim, I needed this. Yo' know how grand ther other ship wur; yo' know howgreat and strong this ship are. Well, watchin' both, a senseless kind uvpride cum over me, and I sed ter myself over and over, 'This ere ship cudoutride any gale whatever blow'd.' Look now! It's only a toy on therwater when God's wind goes out ter battle with God's everlastin' seas.

  "Cumin' over, I stopped and tuk a look at Niagry. It wur grand, but adozen Niagrys wouldn't make one hurrycane out ter sea. I can't explainwhat I wanter, but I mean as how God's majesty is nowhar else revealed aswhen his hurrycanes is sent ter paint a picter on ther face of a madocean. Nowhar else did I ever feel thet small as when watchin', as we isnow, all these forces that is makin' the commotion 'round us. They allshow us what pitiful weak creaters we is, and ther man who ever watchedone storm at sea and ever arter dares to hev one feelin' uv pride orscornfulness, that thar man are weak somewhar and makes a spectacle ofhisself."

  But the storm was weathered safely; the temperature grew cooler as theship stretched away to the South, and after a generally prosperous voyagethe steamer dropped anchor in Port Natal roadstead.