Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXV, No. 2, August 1849Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXV, No. 2, August 1849
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
As the rescuer laid Mr. Harris on the ground, he exclaimed:
“_Hi!_ Massa Harris, didn’t I tell you, great while ago, ‘bym by come
sometime or odder?’”
Pompey had escaped before the Indians surrounded the house, and knowing
the attachment to Mr. Harris of a tribe a short distance above, and
their hostility to those who had invaded the settlement, he was sure of
aid if he could summons them in season.
The friendly Indians descended the river rapidly in their canoes, and
were only in season to save the life of the whites.
William was brought forth wounded, but not dangerously, and the family
assembled in prayer and thanksgiving, while their friendly deliverers
were discharging some of the minor offices of their calling and
celebrating their victory by some characteristic attentions to the
wounded whom the enemy had left on the shores of the Susquehanna.
“Did you not hesitate, my child,” said Mr. Harris to Rebecca, “when
death or apostacy was proposed?”
“When _your_ death was the alternative, I did.”
“Where, then, was your faith in Christianity—in its author?”
“Father, I am weak. I owe you obligations—I would sacrifice my life for
your comforts; I knew you good—I knew you would decide correctly. My
faith, then, was in _you_.”
“In me?”
“In _you_—in you, oh, my more than father. You are the embodiment of
that _spirit_ by which I am guided. My faith in you, then—is it not my
faith in the creed which you profess, and by which you live?”
No sooner had William recovered from his wounds, than Mr. Harris called
Rebecca to him and signified his consent to the union between her and
William, and his determination to make their circumstances as
comfortable as the state of the neighborhood would allow.
“It is late, now,” said Rebecca to William; “let us separate. The morrow
will require our early attention, and Father Harris will be astir early
in the morning.”
“And he not the only one,” said William; “for some of us must go down
and bring the magistrate up, to perform the ceremony. We will meet early
to-morrow morning.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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