A Country Idyl, and Other StoriesBolton, Sarah Knowles
General
A Country Idyl, and Other Stories
Bolton, Sarah Knowles
United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
The young evangelist preached not an extraordinary sermon, but a
simple talk upon the power of a good life—a life that came but once
and was spent so quickly. Mr. Midland sat like one awakened out of
sleep. True, he had made money; he had a good moral character; but
he would go through life but once, and he was living entirely for
himself. He had never realized what a wonderful gift from heaven
this life is, with all its possibilities to help others, to make the
poor comfortable, the sad happy, to remove the causes of crime and
discontent. He seemed, all at once, to have made a voyage of discovery,
and to have found a new land.
He said little on the way home, except to tell Martha that he felt
strangely, and that she must go to bed and sleep, but he would sit
up awhile and think. Mr. Midland did think long and carefully by the
shaded lamp. He thought over his whole past experience. He had been
prospered, and he owed all to a Higher Power. And after he had thought,
he prayed.
In the morning he said: “Martha, I have given up the house-warming. I
have decided to use the money to send a boy to college to become a
preacher;” and then he added, “for a man who turns the life of another
heavenward does the greatest work in the world, and I must help to do
the greatest hereafter.”
Mrs. Midland looked confused for a minute, and then she said, half
audibly, “I am very glad, Josiah.” After that night Mr. Midland’s face
took on an expression that was noted till his death, years afterward.
It was as though he had talked with the angels, and joined a new
brotherhood. The genial man became more genial, more considerate,
more self-controlled. It became literally true that, like his Master,
“he went about doing good.” Without children of his own, he devoted
his property to the giving of the Gospel to the people. He joined
heartily, by voice and money, in all that elevated mankind. He built
houses for the poor; he educated orphans; he held prayer-meetings in
sparsely-settled districts; he labored for temperance; he became the
idol and ideal man of the community. He carried out his plan of using
the house-warming money to educate a young man for the ministry, and
lived to see his gift return a thousand-fold interest.
HANNAH AND JOE.
IN THE YEAR 1851 Captain Budington, of Groton, Conn., passed the winter
in Cumberland inlet, west of Greenland. Here he met Joe and Hannah
on the island of Kim-ick-su-ic, so called because its flat centre,
covered with grass, resembles a dogskin. Hannah was twelve years old,
dressed in fur pantaloons and short fur overdress, and bore the name of
Too-koo-li-too in her own language. Joe was a good deal older, and his
real name was Ebierbing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account