"I pledge you," he said, "Mary and Thomas, brother and sister in the
Lord, followers of our dear Teacher--I pledge you and call upon all that
are present here to join me in the toast. May your life together be one
long song of happiness! May you, with all the opportunities that God has
given you, always remain true to the trust reposed in you, and follow
the banner of Jesus, and once more plunge into the battle for the
winning over of Babylon to the Lord!"
Then the old man paused, and, setting down his glass, placed his hands
upon the table, and leaning forward, spoke very earnestly and quietly,
rather to the assembled company than to the married pair.
"The Master," he said, "is not with us now; but we are going to meet
him, and I doubt not we are all to receive another signal proof of the
Lord's favor. To some of us it has been a grief that Joseph was not in
the church when the marriage was made of the two we love. But Joseph's
ways are not our ways, and he is led as we are not led. But I would say
this to you, dear brethren and sisters. I see around me those who a long
time ago--it seems a very long time ago--accompanied the Master from
these hills to the great Modern Babylon of our time. There is no one
here who does not remember the saint of the mountain, Lluellyn Lys.
There is no one here who has not known the circumstances under which our
dear Teacher first came down to these parts. I mind well that I was one
of those who carried him up to the mountain, ill and crippled as he was.
And it was through that strange fellowship of Joseph and Lluellyn that
the things have come to pass. We all assembled on the mountain-top,
where we are going soon, to bury Lluellyn, and we all heard our Master
as he took on the mantle of Elijah and called us to rally round the
standard of Jesus with him as leader. And now we are all going once more
to that sacred spot on the top of Pendrydos, and God grant that we may
hear inspiring and edifying things there. I have just pledged Thomas and
Mary as our brother and our sister in the fight we are waging, and have
still to wage, against the sins of the great city so far away from here.
I pledge them in the name of you all, and as our brother and our sister.
But it would ill become me not to say a word upon another part of the
question. We must remember that Thomas, our brother, is also Sir Thomas
Ducaine, a man of great fortune and of high lineage. We must also
remember that Mary, our sister, was Miss Mary Lys, the sister of
Lluellyn Lys, and the descendant of the old kings of Wales who ruled
these parts. Just as they are leaders of our band in Christ, so also are
they leaders in the great things of this world, and we owe them a double
loyalty."
He stopped for a moment, and the old face worked as he thought deeply.
Then with a wild, free Celtic gesture, he threw out one hand.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account