"After all, what does it matter?" he said. "I only have to hurry and get
in bed the sooner," and tossing one boot here and another there, he was
about to finish undressing when suddenly he remembered the little Bible,
and the passage read last night. Would there be one for him to-night? He
meant to look and see, and all cold and shivery as he was, Hugh lifted
the lid of the trunk which held his treasure, and taking it out, opened
to the place where the silken curl was lying. There was a great throb at
his heart when he saw that the last coil of the tress lay just over the
words, "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a
cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, verily, I say unto you, he
shall in no wise lose his reward."
"It does seem as if this was meant to encourage me," Hugh said, reading
the passage twice. "I don't much believe, though, I bought old Sam in
the name of a disciple, though I do think his telling me he prayed had a
little to do with it. It's rather pleasant to think there's two to pray
for me now, Adah and Sam. I wonder if it makes any difference with God
that one prayer is white and the other black? Golden Hair said it didn't
when we talked about the negroes," and shutting the Bible, Hugh was
about to put it up when something whispered of his resolution to
commence reading it through.
"It's too confounded cold. I'll freeze to death, I tell you," he said,
as if arguing the point with some unseen presence. "Get into bed and
read it then, hey? It's growing late and my candle is most burned out.
The first chapter of Genesis is short, is it? Won't take one over three
minutes? Stick like a chestnut burr, don't you," and as if the matter
were decided, Hugh sprang into bed, shivering as if about to take a cold
plunge bath. How then was he disappointed to find the sheets as nice and
warm as Aunt Chloe's warming pan of red-hot coals could make them.
And so he fell away to sleep, dreaming that Golden Hair had come back,
and that he held her in his arms, just as he held the Bible he had
unconsciously taken from the pillow beneath his head.
CHAPTER XI
SAM AND ADAH
It was Saturday night again, and Adah, with heavy eyes and throbbing
head, sat bending over the dazzling silk, which 'Lina had coaxed her to
make.
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