A Galahad of the Creeks; The Widow LamportLevett Yeats, S. (Sidney)
General
A Galahad of the Creeks; The Widow Lamport
Levett Yeats, S. (Sidney)
Burma -- Fiction; India -- Fiction
"God help you!" he said suddenly, and turning went out of the room.
Bunny remained a few moments longer. "I will come back again," he
said, "in an hour. It is not good for you to be left alone." He shook
Galbraith by the hand, and followed the elder out.
When they had gone, Galbraith rose and wandered round the house.
Breakfast was ready. He had not touched it, and at the sight of his
face the servant who was waiting stepped silently out of the room. The
act was in itself sympathetic, and touched Galbraith. He had packed a
bag with a few things, and it was lying half open on his bed. On the
wall was a photograph of Halsa. He took it down, and, placing it in
the bag, closed it and turned the key. He then went back into his room
and waited. He knew what Bunny's absence meant, and he was burning
with impatience for his return. On the table before him was a
manuscript of his sermons. He seized it with a laugh, and began to
turn over its pages. He had poured his heart into them. How had he not
laboured? His was the voice that breathed consolation into many a
stricken heart, and now that the time had come for him to need help,
there was none there to give it. The Book of Books--it was lying there
before him, leather bound, with gold-edged leaves--he knew it by
heart; there was nothing in that that could help a sorrow like his.
Bit by bit he tore the manuscript into shreds, and strewed it about
the floor; and when the last scrap of paper had fluttered on to the
carpet beside him, he felt that he had broken with the past forever.
Faith--had he not faith? But what faith could stand against the
cruelty of his trial? And then the remains of his religion burned up
within him, and he strove to pray, but the words he uttered with his
lips were unmeaning, and he rose from his knees in despair.
It was somewhat late in the afternoon when Bunny returned. Galbraith
was ready for him as he came into the house.
"Did you get a passage?" he asked.
"Yes," said Bunny; "you sail with the tide to-night."
They entered a hired conveyance, and Bunny gave directions to drive to
the quay. There was not much spoken as they drove through the streets.
At length they reached the quay, and Bunny would have entered the boat
with Galbraith, but he denied him. "No," he said, "let me go alone."
Bunny regretfully agreed. "You will find a letter from me awaiting you
at the Cape," he said as Galbraith shook him warmly by the hand.
"You will not fail to let me know if there is any news of her?"
"No," replied Bunny, "I will not."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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