Bright Arrows (26 page)

"Weel, my bonny cheeld, I got a bit ov news aboot yer enemies, the Fanes. Worrud hes coom from thet Western jail where the old one was confined, thet she stole some sleepin' tablets from the medicine closet an' took they-all, an' she has gane to meet her Joodge. She'll not trouble ye anymore."

"Oh, Janet! How dreadful!" said Eden. "I couldn't bear the thought they might come around again. But to go in such a dreadful way! Janet, she was an awful sinner and had no chance to repent!"

"She'd hed plenty chances tae repent, my lamb. She dinna
want
tae repent. She
chose
the wrang way, an' this was her way oot."

"Oh, but Janet. How awful for her to take her own life! And now her son! What will he do? He'll be more terrible than ever."

"Oh, boot her son's deid, too, my lamb! They caught him some weeks ago an' tried tae take him, boot he got awa' frum thim an' joomped off the cliff an' was killed. So they baith gane. Ye munna mourn. They was bad uns."

"Oh, but, Janet, maybe I should have done something about them. Maybe I should have given them another chance! Perhaps it was wrong to have them arrested!"

"Ye couldna holp it, my luve. They was wanted on ither charges, ither places, an' the world wasna safe with sooch es they aboot. Ye would have hed nae richt tae let such menacin' rats loose on puir unsuspectin' folks. God Hisself hed give thim chances 'afore in plenty. Don't ye ken, my lamb, thet there is soom folks thet deliberate-like jes' chooses the wrang, from bairnhood oop?"

"But they could be saved, couldn't they, Janet? God wants them saved, doesn't He?"

"Yes, He
wants
they tae be saved. The screepture says He is not wullin' thet ony should perish, but all should coom tae repentance. Boot, if agin, a mon ur a wumman should
choose
tae dae wrang an'
refuse
tae repent, why agin thet's diffrunt. Boot ye'll hev tae ast soombuddy wiser than Janet. You ask that lawyer mon. He'll tell ye."

"I will," said Eden, her cheeks softly pink, and then she began to wonder when and whether she would see him.

 

The time of the meeting came sooner than Eden expected. Mr. Worden had asked Eden to stop in the office the next morning to sign some papers belonging to her estate and to go over again the list of articles that had been in that desk. He wanted to make sure nothing was missing. She had said she would be there at ten o'clock, and she was getting ready to go when the telephone rang. Eden answered the phone, as Janet was busy down in the kitchen.

It was a strange voice that responded to Eden's acknowledgment of the call.

"I would like to speak to Miss Eden Thurston."

"This is Miss Thurston," said Eden, wondering. "Who is it, please?"

"This is a nurse at the Camp Howard hospital." There followed the location. "I am speaking for Lieutenant Caspar Carvel."

Eden's heart went down. Oh, was she going to have another session with Caspar?

"Yes?" she answered sharply, questioningly.

"Mr. Carvel has had a bad automobile accident. He is not expected to live but a few hours, if that, and he is crying out to see you. He says he has something important he must ask you before he dies."

"Oh!" gasped Eden and tried to take in the purport of what the nurse had said. Caspar seriously hurt. Caspar going to die! She shuddered, and back over her memory came those awful words he had spoken about not believing in God the last time she had seen him. Caspar going to die, and not believing in God. Oh, what should she do? Wasn't there someone else at the camp that could tell him?

"Hello! Hello, are you there?"

"Yes," said Eden, "I'm listening."

"Will you come? May I tell him you are on the way? He is frantic to see you."

"Oh, why, yes, I think I can go. I'll have to look up trains, or planes."

"There is only one train left today, late this afternoon, and no plane till early evening. Either would be too late. He will not live so long. The doctor told me you would have to come by automobile and start at once if you want to see him before he dies."

"Oh!" gasped Eden. "Why, yes, of course I'll come, just as soon as possible."

Eden hung up with a dazed expression and found Janet standing in the doorway.

"What is it?" she asked anxiously. "Has something happened?"

"Yes," said Eden, "an automobile accident. Caspar is seriously injured and is calling for me. I'll have to go, Janet. I'll
have
to. I can't let him die that way."

Janet stood silent, grim, considering. She had almost had pneumonia herself and had been ordered by the doctor not to go out of the house till she stopped coughing, but that was nothing to her if she felt it her duty to go with her lady somewhere. And she certainly wouldn't let Eden go alone to a soldier camp with that horrid Caspar down there, even if he were dying. Maybe that was just one of his jokes, to get Eden away from home.

Eden suddenly turned and picked up the phone, calling for Mr. Worden.

"I can't come to the office today," she bewailed. "Will tomorrow do? I must go somewhere in a great hurry. Somebody--"

"Wait!" said the imperative voice of Mr. Worden. "Where is it you are going? Perhaps we can work the two things together."

"I don't think that would be possible," said Eden, deeply troubled. "I must go down to the Camp Howard hospital. It is a long drive. I thought I might take a plane, but that would be too late, the nurse says. There isn't another plane until late this afternoon, and the doctor says he's going to die
very
soon."

"Die? Who is going to die? Be coherent, Eden. What is all this?"

Eden caught her breath in almost a sob, she was so excited.

"Who is this person that presumes to call you at a moment's notice like this?"

"Why, it's my old schoolmate, Caspar Carvel. He's been in a smashup and is badly injured. He can't live very long. The doctor said it was imperative I get there as soon as possible."

"But how are you going to get there?"

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't had time to think yet. I suppose Tabor will have to drive me. I don't know if he's fit. Maybe I can get a driver from the garage."

"Certainly
not
, Tabor isn't fit. It might make a lot of trouble with his wound again. Who is this person Caspar? I suppose I've seen him, but I don't remember him. Does he mean much to you, Eden? You don't fancy you're in love with him, do you?"

"Oh, mercy no, Uncle Worden. He was just an old schoolmate, but I don't see how I can refuse his call. I think he is afraid to die. He said some awful things the last time he came to see me, sneered at religion and things like that, and I guess I've got to go right away."

"Well, wait. If you've got to go, you
can't
go alone. Where do you say the hospital is? Oh, yes, I know. Wait, let me ask if anybody is driving down that way. I insist that you shall not go alone."

"But Janet is sick, and she ought not to go out, the doctor said. I don't mind going alone. I'll likely get home early."

"Just a minute--" Mr. Worden put his hand over the receiver and turned his head to speak to someone, then back.

"All right, Eden. Lance has just come in. He says he's got to drive down that way on business, and he can just as well take you with him. That will be all right if it will suit you."

"Oh, yes, that will be wonderful and help a lot. Thank you for arranging it. I'm ready to go in five minutes. How soon can he go?"

"Right away," came Lance Lorrimer's voice. "My car has just been serviced, and I'll be up there in five or eight minutes."

Out on the road in Lance's car with the pleasant sunshine and the crisp cold air, it seemed incredible that she was going to meet death, the death of one whom she had known well. And it wasn't like her precious father's death, who had known and been prepared to go for weeks. This was a lively young fellow plunged suddenly into pain and anguish and fear, with no hope for the future.

She drew a deep breath of the cold air and tried to stiffen herself against this sinking feeling that kept coming over her. Lance gave her a quick comprehending look, and then after he had made her comfortable he spoke:

"Suppose you tell me in just a few words what this is all about, and then we won't talk about it if you don't want to. But I suppose I ought to understand the facts."

"Of course," said Eden. "It was an automobile accident, that's all I know. The nurse at the hospital called me up and said Caspar was terribly injured and couldn't live but a few hours, and was calling for me."

"And was this young man a very special friend of yours?"

"No," said Eden. "We used to be together in high school, and he was always my companion then but not since. He's been off in service for a long time, and when he was home the last time he was
awful
, said he didn't believe in God, called me old-fashioned, and said my faith was nothing but a lot of superstitions."

Lance gave her a clear, steady look.

"But you weren't engaged to him?" he asked keenly. "Not
ever
?"

"Oh, no! We were just school friends. We didn't even write while he was away. But when he came back, he seemed to think he thought a lot of me, and he wanted me to go here and there with him, but I said no; and then he began to ridicule my puritanical ideas and even said it was my old-fashioned father's fault of teaching me such things, and that it was time I got away from his domination. He didn't even know my father was gone, when he first began to talk. And he said nobody believed in God anymore. Then I told him to go away. I didn't want to see him anymore."

"I should think not," said Lance sympathetically. "I've heard so much about your wonderful father from Mr. Worden. But did the young man leave then?"

"Yes, he left, but a little later he came again and said he wanted to apologize, though it wasn't much of an apology."

"I see," said Lance, trying to puzzle it all out. "But I don't understand how it came about that you were called to the bedside of a fellow like that."

"Neither do I. Of course, when he was a little boy he used to run in and out of our house as if it were his own, and he was very fond of my father, and my father of him. But now he's changed. He told me he didn't believe in God anymore. His own father divorced from his mother, and his mother is away off somewhere in California. He isn't much on writing letters, nor are they, and I doubt if he even knows where to locate them. He's been off in the war for two or three years, you know. I suppose in his distress he thinks maybe I am as near to his own-folks as he can figure, and that is why I didn't dare to say no to an appeal from a dying man. I don't think he probably knows what he wants except that he wants to see somebody he knows around. I certainly didn't want to come, and I'm awfully glad you were going this way. I feel as if I were on the edge of a precipice."

Lance looked at her and smiled comfortingly.

"I'm glad I could be of some help," he said, trying to speak impersonally, reflecting that this couldn't have been the young man those men on the train had been gossiping about and saying Eden was engaged to, so there must be another one. But that was entirely irrelevant to the present situation. This girl he loved was in a difficulty, and he must do all he could to help her. Also, here was a stranger, a young fellow about to step into another world, and unacquainted with the Lord. That was something in which he, of course, could be interested, and that was enough for one afternoon. And anyway, it was blessed and precious just to have the privilege of being with Eden and talking of things about which they both agreed.

They were both silent for a short time while Lance watched the troubled expression in the girl's eyes. Then he said:

"Why are you so troubled, if this young man is nothing to you but a childhood's friend?"

She roused and met his gaze, the trouble still in her eyes.

"Because," said she, "I don't know what to say to him. Even if I have a chance, I don't know how to tell him what to do in his distress. I never talked to a dying person before, except my father, and he was a happy one. He didn't mind going at all. He was glad he was going to the Lord, except for leaving me. I don't even know how to introduce the subject, and if I do, I'm afraid Caspar will sneer or laugh. It is awful to hear a dying person laugh at God! I can think just how that would sound."

"See here, my friend, stop thinking what his experience is going to do to you and think what a momentous privilege is yours to swing open the gate of heaven for this old playmate of yours to enter heaven. Put it that way to yourself, and ask the Holy Spirit to put the right words into your mouth. Then you will have no further responsibility in the matter. If God takes care of it, you may be sure all will be well."

Eden sat thoughtful for some time, her face veiled with beautiful humility. At last she looked up and smiled, like the sudden dawning of sunshine.

"You're right," she said. "I had forgotten what great power is in my new God and how He will take over. Thank you for telling me."

A great wave of joy and admiration for this sweet girl went over him, threatening almost to overwhelm him. And for the first time since he had known her, his heart thrilled inexpressibly with the longing to throw his arms around her and draw her close. Such a precious child she seemed.

As they drew near enough to the hospital that they could see it in the close distance, Lorrimer grew thoughtful, and at last he said: "Now, suppose you tell me what is my part in this next scene. Should I stay in the reception room, or wherever guests wait, or do you want me to go nearer, where I can be at hand if you should need me?"

Eden gave him a quick, frightened glance.

"Oh, I wish you could go with me, if you wouldn't mind?" she said wistfully.

An instant tender smile responded.

"Of course I will," he said, and his hand reached out and gave her hand a quick glad clasp.

"Thank you," she said, nestling her fingers happily in his for just a second. "You know," she added after a pause, "he might want somebody to pray. I wouldn't be able to do that very well."