Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-24
A ROMANCE BY B. L. FARJEoN,

I
been engaged from the time he left our
midst, and when l saw it l contemplated
it With wonder. From pine tree, measur-
ing in its present form not less than forty
feet, he has fashioned the image of Our
Savior stretched upon the Cross, and has
produced a work so beautiful and pathetic
as must melt the heart of all who are per-
mitted to gaze upon the sacred symbol.
Aye, were his sin even greater than 1t is,
you would cry, looking upon this work of
expiation, God be merciful to him, a
sinner,' The Crown of Thorns, the Blood
the depletion of the Agony, are terrible
and most exquisite in their truth to life
and nature. Never in my life have be-
held so miraculous a conception, and did
not doubt that he intended to set it up in
some suitable place, as lasting memorial
of his repentance. ! addressed him again
"' When l last spoke to you, l SAID,
I offered to bless you, and you refused.
At that moment did not understand the
meaning of your refusal to accept the
blessing of the minister of God J; after
wards it was clear to my mind. You
deemed yourself not worthy. My son, let
me bless you now ,"
81 spoke in vain. 1t seemed as il
human effort were powerless to sap the
fortress of silence in which his soul was
intrenched. AS before, he refused my
blessing, and l felt that he did so still out
of sense of overwhelming unworthiness.
If in the depths of his nature he was
stirred by my appeal, he showed no sign
of it upon the surface, l prepared in
sorrow to depart, and as l turned to go |
said :
&c 'Fain would leave some ray of light
behind me. Not alone out of my own
sense of duty did 1 come here to-day.
The wish has long been in my mind, and
before l put it into execution l called
around me the chief men of the isle, old
men who knew and loved you in the past.
They urged me to see you, and offered to
accompany me, but l thought it best to
come unattended. 1t would be false if
were to tell you that you hold the place in
their minds you held in the days gone by (;
that can never be again. But in some un-
definable way you still live in their hearts.
You are to them as son might be to a
parent whom he has deeply wronged and
sinned against, but to whom he is bound
by ties of blood and early affection. On
the Sabbath day, in the old church yonder
where you have so often knelt, we shall
pray for you. Think of it, and kneel with
us when the time for prayer arrives. We
shall be together in spirit, and you may be
grateful to know that you are not entirely
shut out from the sympathies of men.
Truly 1 may say our hearts are filed with
sorrow for your unhappy fate.
"While I spoke these last words, l saw
a moisture dim his eyes. He could not
control the heavlng of his breast, but his
limbs obeyed his iron will. 1t gladdened
me to perceive that the thought that those
by whom he was once honored did not
hold his memory in complete adherence
conveyed comfort to the wretched man.
He uttered no word In silence he watched
my departure, and did not move while l
was in sight. Dear friends, never shall |
forget the misery of this man. Self-con-
demned, he lives his life of suffering, and
no punishment his fellow-man could infiict
could excel that he has inflicted upon him
self. He is but the shadow of what he
was, but his inward strength must be enor-
nous. 1t cannot last. When his work is
finished, when the marvellous figure he has
fashioned is set up as supplication for
mercy at the Divine Throne, | foresee that
he will die. The vital power is only sus-
tanned by the strongest effort of an indom-
table will It will hold out until his task
be done, and then the repentant sinner
will yield up his soul to its Creator. On
every Sabbath day we will pray for him
and with him, for assuredly, although he
made no response to my appeals, his heart
will soften when he is once more alone
with conscience and with God!"
From that time forth the sinner was held
ia plying remembrance by the islanders,
and it grew to be kind of belief with
them that the spirits of his brother and
Evangeline were lowering over him through
the weary hours, awaiting the time when
he should rejoin them in the better world,
to greet him with the words, Brother,
thou art forgiven "
The priest had prophesied truly. The
sinners heart had been touched and soft
ened by the merciful visit, and when the
priest was out of sight the man cast him
self upon the earth, and believed the
bread upon his threshold with binding
passion of tears. And when the Sabbath
day arrived he knelt upon the stony
ground, and joined his prayers with those
of the islanders, and thus became sympa-
thetically connected with his kind. No
farther efforts were made to intrude upon
him, and the sinner continued his work
until at length the first portion of his task
was completed, and he looked down upon
the marvelously- carvedfgure OF Christupon
the Cross. What remained for him to do
was most dangerous, and seemed impossi-
BILE of accomplishment; but he had re-
solved within himself, and only death
could stop him.
From the summit OF the snow mountain,
piercing its bosom, uprose massive rock,
which from the depths looked like needle
tapering to point. But in fact its upper
surface was fat, and not less than fifty feet
in circumference A foothold could be
maintained upon the soft mass Of snow
which lay upon the thick and treacherous
;ca baneath and both snow and ice would