Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-02

six months afterward he had peeh eA
PEELED from the school. He tried to re,
member some set form OF prayer. anu
his mind went back to the days OF ms ms
mothers knee. But he could remember
nothing. save that he had knelt on the
floor and clasped his hands. Now ne
could not kneel, but he twined his myers
together.
20 Lord. have mercy upon me-" he NUT
tered. and then. 20 Lord. have mercy
upon my SOUL
And then he babbled out fragment of
the Lords Prayer.
And then he recalled a line of a hymn
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.
And then his lips moved rapidly and
incoherent words came from them. and
the soul. which had so long refused the
expression which the strong heart and
body Of a man could have given to it,
now at last rose from it's lethargy, and
found that the mind and voice were too
weak to respond to its promptings.
And then in the silence and darkness OF
that eastern sea great and a wonderful
thing happened. 1t might have been de-
scribed as miracle, were 1T not that the
term miracle is usually applied to some
material and unnatural demonstration of
the Divine power. Here nothing happened
that a man could see or hear. and yet
Gaunt was truly as wonderful as the
vision of any angel on the face Of the
waters.
The indifference of his broken prayers
suddenly ceased and raising himself on
one elbow, he stared out across the
waters. He could see nothing, for though
the moon was bright in the sky over
head there was a mist before his eyes.
But swiftly as a curtain is whipped aside
the cloud was drawn off his brain. The
confused darkness Of his thoughts gave
place to a clear contemplation Of the past
and the death that was so near to him.
He saw himself as he was and as he
might be If God spared his life.
And as he learnt the truth he prayed,
no longer in the frenzied prayers of a
man who is clutching at the remnants
of his religious faith. but with the clear.
deep calm of one who prays for salvation
and knows that his prayer will reach the
ears of God.
''Have mercy, o Lordr' he cried, aloud.
Forget the past. Give me the future
and I will serve Thee to the end OF my
days."
He listened as though he expected an
answer to come back to him out OF the
silence. But there was no sound save the
splash Of the waves as they ran past MIN
into the path of moonlight.
And then he saw that even his prayer
was vile in the sight Of God He mad
tried to buy life by promising to turn
from evil He had almost held out
bribe to the Almighty. He shrank from
the thought of the words he had used.
and lay very still with clasped nanos ana
moving lips.
Forgiveness. he muttered. after a
long silence. THAT is all I ask: forgive
ness for my sins. Then let me die"
They were not the words of hypo-
critic, trying to seek favor in the eyes OF
God. They were true words, spoken from
the heart Richard Gaunt had suddenly
ceased to long for life. He saw clearly
that he had deserved the sentence OF
death, and there was no longer any wish
to struggle against his fate. He no longer
feared the sea, or the madness, or the
slow torment Of hunger and thirst. or the
things that watched in the water. He
was content to die. and was not AFRAID
of aught but the hereafter.
forgiveness is all ask" he moaned,
and listened for some answer to his
PRAYER.
But there came no answer. The SPIT
itual peace which might have come to the
mind of a good man was denied him. he
pentance remorse, self-abasement, hu-
mility, all these were given to him. But
there was no peace.
Then the darkness seemed to close IN
upon him like a wall. and he fancied that
he was falling down into bottomless
gulf and he heard the roar of gigantic
waterfall, that beat all thought and
prayer and life into silence.