American fiction -- 19th century; Short stories, American
'I thought there was one more camp,--at Burntwood River,' said our Lady
in a musing tone. The men looked at each other a third time; there was a
camp there, and they all knew it. But the Doctor was equal to the
emergency.
'That camp, my Lady,' he said gravely,--'that camp no longer exists!
Then he whispered hurriedly to the rest of us, 'It will be an easy job
to clean it out, boys. We'll send over a party to-night; it's only
thirty-five miles.'
'We recognized superior genius; the Doctor was our oldest and deepest
sinner. But what struck us most was his anxiety to make good his lie.
Had it then come to this,--that the Doctor told the truth?
'The next day we all went to work to build our Lady a church; in a week
it was completed. There goes its last cross-beam now into the fire; it
was a solid piece of work, wasn't it? It has stood this climate thirty
years. I remember the first Sunday service: we all washed, and dressed
ourselves in the best we had; we scarcely knew each other we were so
fine. The Lady was pleased with the church, but yet she had not said she
would stay all winter; we were still anxious. How she preached to us
that day! We had made a screen of young spruces set in boxes, and her
figure stood out against the dark green background like a thing of
light. Her silvery voice rang through the log-temple, her face seemed to
us like a star. She had no color in her cheeks at any time; her dress,
too, was colorless. Although gentle, there was an iron inflexibility
about her slight, erect form. We felt, as we saw her standing there,
that if need be she would walk up to the cannon's mouth, with a smile.
She took a little book from her pocket and read to us a hymn,--'O come,
all ye faithful,' the old 'Adeste Fideles.' Some of us knew it; she
sang, and gradually, shamefacedly, voices joined in. It was a sight to
see Nightingale Jack solemnly singing away about 'choirs of angels';
but it was a treat to hear him, too,--what a voice he had! Then our
Lady prayed, kneeling down on the little platform in front of the
evergreens, clasping her hands, and lifting her eyes to heaven. We did
not know what to do at first, but the Doctor gave us a severe look and
bent his head, and we all followed his lead.
'When service was over and the door opened, we found that it had been
snowing; we could not see out through the windows because white cloth
was nailed over them in place of glass.
'"Now, my Lady, you will have to stay with us," said the Doctor. We all
gathered around with eager faces.
'"Do you really believe that it will be for the good of your souls?"
asked the sweet voice.
'The Doctor believed--for us all.
'"Do you really hope?"
'The Doctor hoped.
'"Will you try to do your best?"
'The Doctor was sure he would.
'"I will," answered the Flying Dutchman, earnestly. "I moost not fry de
meat any more; I moost broil!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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