The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1880-03-26

the vineyard. and over the wide mead
ows. that were his pride. The mans
soul was desolate. He felt a. though q
hurricane had gone over him, sweeping
him bare Of what the good years had
| given. The cry Of his heart was |:
F" Lord, take the rest Take all, but
leave me Agnes.n For the first time
In his experience his wealth was mat
ter OF utter Indifference TO him. He
walked on, looking strangely older than
ever before, and the bowed head,
shrunken stature. and tottering feet
were curionsly unlike the self-assertive,
arrogant man, whose very gait was
usually the unconscious expression Of
viii that would have its way. encounter
what opposition il might.
There was agreat spreading oak which
stood on the edge Of his land, shadow
ing equally his farm and that Of his
nearest neighbor, Harmon Murray. The
Murrays were the opposites Of the Cam
erons. Gay, light hearted, spending
money lavishly, sending the boys off to
college and the girls 10 city schools,
buying books, music, and pictures, fill
ing the house with guests at midsummer
and in the holidays, Deacon Cameron
could not help having private doubts as
to the Christianity Of the iurrays.
Though Harmon Murray was liberal
subscriber to every good canse and
regular attendant on the services of the
church, he was, in the Deacon's preju-
diced eyes, heather man and publ
can. II had been an aggrayation Of his
grief that the gloom in his home was
shared in his neighbours. Especially
had he chafed and struggled
against the knowledge that one men,
Der of the family so antagonistic to
his own cared for Agnes with love
deeper than that OF kindred. The Dea-
con, though a strong man, was selfish.
He would have looked with aversion or
any man who might have desired TO win
the affection Of his child; for he meant
TO keep her as his own particular treas
ure, if he could. But that Edgar Muir
ray should aspire to her hand, and that,
cvrr timidly and afar of, Agnes should
venture TO regard him as her future lord,
had awakened in him resistance as
violent as il was stubborn. Till now he
had been fercely angry when three or
four times day the young man had
presented himself to inquire for Agnes
or TO bring her fruit ard flowers. He
had been indignant at his wife, because
she had accepted Mrs. Murray's help in
caring for the sick one; nor could he
forgive her for ignoring his displeasure
and sending to the Murrays for aid in
this emergency.
But now he was in extremity. He
staggered TO a seat beneath the oak, the
very seat where Edgar and Agnes had
been accustomed to rest after their oc-
casional saunterings together by the
creek or along the emboVered lanes,
and his gray head went down upon his
hands. His whole heart was con-
centrated in a vehement, wordless
prayer, which was fain to beat against
the Almighty's throne. No feeling Of
Gods paternity entered his mind at that
intense moment. No remembrance Of
Christ as the great High Priest, who
pleads for the children of men with a
brothers tender comprehension Of their
wants. No thought Of the Holy Spirit,
with His sacred influences, came to
him, rs, shaken, tempest-tossed, and
almost heartbroken, he cried 10 God,
the Strong One, who could hear him, if
he would. The God Of the Deacon's
imagination was dcspot, but despot
who could be gracious. An Orthodox
Congregational deacon, believing in and
accepting the doctrines Of his Chui1h as
he understood them, he prayed, as a
Saxon might have prayed to Thor, as a
Roman to Jupiter, or Hindu 10
vishnu, that his child might be spared.
Sinking to his knees, in the agony of
his still unvoiced supplication, the cry
Of his soul broke forth into speech:
= Lord, give me back my Agnes, my
darling, the one precious thing Of my
lifei Let her not die, beseech thee
Lord listen. Thou hast ten thousand
times ten thousand in thy Heaven. Why
dost thou want my little eve lamb? Oh,
let her live! Let her live, and will
give thee whatsoever thou shalt require.
My money, If thou askest it, to the ut
termost farthing. My will--if it be
counter to thine, / will surrender il
wholly. Yea, Lord, let Agnes live,
though she sit at the Preside of another
and break bread in the house that
hate. Take not the sunshine out Of the
world, Lord, though il shine not on me.
Hear my prayer, for thy dear Sons
sake"
" Amen!- said u low voice, and, look
ing up, the Deacon saw that his prayer
had had another than divine listener.
Edgar Murray, walking homeward on
the other side Of the boundary-line, had
heard the flow Of the Deacon's petition;
and as he stood there, bare headed, the
Amen had welled up from his heart al
most before he was aware af il.
"Can a man 90 nowhere TO be
alonep" exclaimed the Deacon. "Alust
he be followed and spied upon under
his own trees and on his own ground?"
The instructive luminosity was dom