"Seemed like it frightened 'im a bit. 'We mustn't be too bold, Miss
Montaubyn, my dear,' 'e ses, for 'e's a kind young man as ever lived,
an' often ses 'my dear' to them 'e's comfortin'. But yer see the lidy
'ad gave me a Bible o' me own an' I'd set 'ere an' read it, an' read it
an' learned verses to say to meself when I was in bed--an' I'd got ter
feel like it was someone talkin' to me an' makin' me understand. So I
ses, ''T ain't boldness we're warned against; it's not lovin' an'
trustin' enough, an' not askin' an' believin' TRUE. Don't yer remember
wot it ses: "I, even I, am 'e that comforteth yer. Who art thou that
thou art afraid of man that shall die an' the son of man that shall be
made as grass, an' forgetteth Jehovah thy Creator, that stretched forth
the 'eavens an' laid the foundations of the earth?" an' "I've covered
thee with the shadder of me 'and," it ses; an' "I will go before thee
an' make the rough places smooth;" an' "'Itherto ye 'ave asked nothin'
in my name; ask therefore that ye may receive, an' yer joy may be made
full."' An' 'e looked down on the floor as if 'e was doin' some 'ard
thinkin', pore young man, an' 'e ses, quite sudden an' shaky, 'Lord, I
believe, 'elp thou my unbelief,' an' 'e ses it as if 'e was in trouble
an' didn't know 'e'd spoke out loud."
"Where--how did you come upon your verses?" said Dart. "How did you
find them?"
"Ah," triumphantly, "they was all answers--they was the first answers I
ever 'ad. When I first come 'ome an' it seemed as if I was goin' to be
swep' away in the dirt o' the street--one day when I was near drove wild
with cold an' 'unger, I set down on the floor an' I dragged the Bible to
me an' I ses: 'There ain't nothin' on earth or in 'ell as 'll 'elp me.
I'm goin' to do wot the lidy said--mad or not.' An' I 'eld the book--
an' I 'eld my breath, too, 'cos it was like waitin' for the end o' the
world--an' after a bit I 'ears myself call out in a 'oller whisper,
'Speak, Lord, thy servant 'eareth. Show me a 'ope.' An' I was tremblin'
all over when I opened the book. An' there it was! 'I will go before
thee an' make the rough places smooth, I will break in pieces the doors
of brass and will cut in sunder the bars of iron.' An' I knowed it was
a answer."
"You--knew--it--was an answer?"
"Wot else was it?" with a shining face. "I'd arst for it, an' there it
was. An' in about a hour Glad come runnin' up 'ere, an' she'd 'ad a bit
o' luck--"
"'T wasn't nothin' much," Glad broke in deprecatingly, "on'y I'd got
somethin' to eat an' a bit o' fire."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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