Pine Needles

by Hildegard G. Frey

  CHAPTER XX.

  Fenton had been crying out that the kettle was boiling; and yet, whenMeredith stopped reading nobody was in a hurry to move. The little grouplying there upon the pine branches was as quiet as the day; and there isno describing the beauty of that rest in which nature for the momentseemed to be still. The delicate clear blue overhead; the still racks ofwhite cloud here and there upon it, doing nothing and going nowhere,only lying fair on the blue; the breathless atmosphere in which an aspenleaf would have hung motionless; the broad river below moving its strongcurrent so silently and so unobtrusively; there was no token of motion,unless in a vessel which was slowly drifting down while her sails hungwindless by the mast; the profound quiet had something imposing. Icannot tell how, some grave, sweet influence seemed to press upon everyheart in the company; and for a few minutes after the reader's voiceceased, the stillness was significant.

  "We seem to be out of the world!" Flora remarked at last in anundertone.

  "Why?" Mr. Murray asked.

  "I don't know. Confusions and disturbance are nowhere in sight. It isall peace."

  "And purity," added Meredith.

  "How nice if one could live so!" Flora went on.

  "You may, to a great degree, live so," said Mr. Murray. "It will not bealways October, and your couch may not always be such a feathery one;and yet, Miss Flora--I fancy that Pastor Breyhan lived in very much suchan atmosphere all his life."

  "The story is just in harmony with the day and the place; isn't it?"said Meredith.

  "It is odd that one can be interested in such a story," said Flora. "Andyet I have been interested."

  "For that very reason, I suppose," said Mr. Murray. "There is somethingbreathing out, both from the story and the day, which we all know wewant,--unless we have got it already."

  "But, Mr. Murray, one cannot live in the world and be quiet," saidFlora.

  "There is a promise or two, however, to that effect. 'When He givethquietness, then who can make trouble?' And the Master said to Hisdisciples, 'Peace I leave with you.' 'He that cometh to me shall neverhunger.'"

  "I wish I knew what it means!" said Flora, furtively getting rid of atear which had somehow found its way into her eye.

  "I'll tell you what," cried Fenton, "if you don't come, the water willall boil away. Don't you mean ever to have luncheon? I don't know whatyou are thinking of, with your old stories!"

  This brought the party to their feet. And now, some went at unpackingand arranging the things which had been brought along in bag and basket;Flora lit the spirit lamp and set the coffee a-going; while Meredith andFenton put the potatoes in the ashes and took care of the process ofroasting the oysters. It was not so warm to-day that the fire wasdisagreeable, which was lucky, as the oysters demanded a good bed ofcoals; the potatoes likewise. Finally, Meredith set about making afriar's omelet. When all was ready and the tea drawn, they sat round thefire on the grass, and made a most miscellaneous and most enjoyablemeal.

  "Coffee! how good the coffee is!" said Meredith.

  "And did you _ever_ see such good roast oysters?" cried Maggie.

  "They ought to be good," Fenton growled; "they cost a precious sight ofwork to get 'em up here."

  "And Ditto's omelet is so nice!"--Maggie went on.

  "If one could live in the open air!" said Meredith, "how good it wouldbe. I do not mean the omelet! but everything else. It's a great loss tolive in houses."

  "Lots of convenience, though," said Fenton.

  "Look at the heap of oyster-shells Fenton is throwing behind him!" criedMaggie presently.

  "What's that to you?" said Fenton. "There are oysters enough. Don'tmeddle. If anything is a nuisance it is a meddling girl."

  "How about a meddling boy?" Mr. Murray asked.

  "Boys don't meddle," said Fenton. "It is girls."

  "I suppose that is because the boys do the things that have to bemeddled with," said Maggie sagely.

  Fenton scowled, but the others laughed, and the meal went merrilyforward.

  "How much time have we?" Flora asked.

  "For what?"

  "For staying here, and reading. How long before we must break up and gohome?"

  "We can take our own time," said Meredith. "The tide will be good.Indeed it will be only getting better and better. It will turn about twoo'clock."

  "We must get home in time for dinner," observed Fenton, however.

  "I really should think you might wait a while for that," said Esther."Uncle Eden, if anybody else comes here this fall, they will see exactlywhat we had for lunch."

  "How so?"

  "There are the egg-shells, and potato-skins, and Fenton's heap ofoyster-shells."

  "You do not think we will leave them here? Besides, there are severalheaps of oyster-shells, I think; they are not all Fenton's."

  "Fenton's is the biggest. But what will you do with all these things,Uncle Eden?"

  "Carry them away."

  "Where to, sir?" asked Fenton.

  "Down the hill."

  "Why, sir?"

  "How would you like such a quantity of rubbish left in the woods atMosswood, by some happy picnic party?"

  "This isn't Mosswood, sir."

  "No, it is some other wood."

  "But it is nobody's ground."

  "How can you venture to affirm that?"

  "Well, I mean, it is nobody's ground in particular."

  "That is more than you or I know, my boy, and is moreover highlyimprobable. We are certainly not intruding on anybody's privacy; but wehave no right even here to leave things worse than we found them?"

  "And we have got to lug all this trash down to the river again?"

  "What do you think?"

  Fenton thought it was "no end of a bore;" nobody else, however, didanything but laugh at him. After the oysters were all disposed of, theoyster-shells went back into the bag, ready for transportation; Fentonremarking with great disgust that they were just as heavy and took upmore room than before. Egg-shells and potato-skins were swept up; cupspacked away; coffee and teapot restored to the basket; hands washed; andfinally the group gathered again on their couch of pine branches toenjoy every minute. They had a good space of time left them still, andthe day promised to finish its fair course without change, except changeof beauty. Fenton joined the group now, having nothing to do, andhopeless of inducing them to break up before the last possible minute.

  "What are you going to give us this afternoon, Meredith?" Mr. Murrayasked.

  "I have been keeping it, sir; one of my best; a story out of the ThirtyYears' War. Shall I read?"

  "By all means."

  "'In the parish of Hermannsburg there is a forest-house, situated aboutan hour and a half from the church village; the place is called Queloh,and it lies in the midst of the forest. On the other side, about aquarter of an hour further on is a beautiful beech wood, which goes bythe name of Buchhorst. In old times this place was inhabited by twopeasants who belonged to the wide-spread peasant family of Weesen. Thename of the one was Drewes, and of the other Hinz. They were both goodand God-fearing men, and with their whole hearts devoted to the dearLutheran church. Those were the times of the Thirty Years' War in whichthey lived, and they had to bear their share in all the distresses whichthat miserable war brought with it; they bore it also willingly, for theLord's sake.

  "'Although they had been stripped of their goods a number of times bythe Catholic soldiers, they had nevertheless preserved their mostprecious things, that is, their books; their Bibles, singing books andcatechisms. These were, you must know, very necessary to them, for inthose days there were as yet no village schools. In the entire parish ofHermannsburg there was but a single school, and that was in the churchvillage; and this school was attended by the children only for one year,or it might be only half a year, previous to their confirmation. For allthe rest, every house-father must himself play the schoolmaster. And inmany respects, those must have been glorious times. Every evening whenthe fire was kindled on the hearth of th
e so-called Flett'" (a sort ofhall or common room between the barn and the house), "'and the womenwere busy on the hearth with their cooking, the house-father with thewhole of the household assembled around the fire--children, servants,and maids. Then the little ones were instructed in spelling and reading,in which business the servants and maids were faithful helpers of thehouse-father. After that, the catechism was taken in hand; somespiritual songs were sung; a portion was read aloud from the Bible andtalked about, in the course of which very lovely and profitable wordswere often spoken; the old histories and legends and stories of thecountry, handed down from father to son, came in for their share ofattention; the laws, manners, and usages which custom had made bindingwere discussed; and the "Flett" hour was one so full of enjoyment andso full of instruction that it was looked forward to during the wholeday by both old and young. And this "Flett" hour was a strong fortressagainst the intrusion of innovations; and it can be shown, that the newways, that is, the godless new ways, never came until the "Flett" hourswere given up. This Flett'" (or great middle hall of the house) "'withits hearth was as it were the home sanctuary, in a certain degree thedomestic altar. From there, too, the peasant could overlook his wholehouse and prevent any disorders. Usually there was only onedwelling-room in the house, called the "Doenz," which, however, was forthe most part used merely for eating and spinning, and served for thewhole, for grandparents and father and mother and children and men andmaids; for the meals were also in common; and that old people should beportioned off and take what was called their part, was a thing unheardof; it would have brought unending disgrace upon the peasant's head. Itwas just as little thought possible that the peasant should take hismeals separate from his men and maid-servants; they all formed one greatfamily.

  "'I said awhile ago, that in the ravages of the war these people hadsaved what they held dearest, namely, their books. They had managed itin this way. In every "Doenz" the furniture consisted only of a largetable, a table with folding leaves'" (a Klapptisch--I don't know whetherthat is a table that folds together, or a table shelf that folds upagainst the wall), "'a cupboard, and some wooden chairs and stools; butby the side of the stove there stood a "grandfather's chair" of morepretension, covered with leather, in which indeed the peasant himself,when he came home from the field in the evening, was wont to resthimself for a while. The seat, also covered with leather, they had mademovable, so that it could be lifted up and shut down; and beneath thisseat the books were placed in security; nothing was to be seen of themwhen the seat was shut down, and nobody would look for them there. Andit was quite needful that they should preserve their books socarefully; for the Catholic soldiers in the Thirty Years' War waged aregular war of extermination against Lutheran books.

  "'One evening, Drewes the father, that is, the farmer, was sitting inhis house, with his people around the hearth in the "Flett," and theywere just speaking of the great victory which the Lutherans underGeneral Torstensohn had fought for and gained at Leipzig; and thehouse-father was giving his opinion that soon now surely enough bloodwould have flowed, and that peace must be near. Upon that came hisneighbour hastily in and said,--"Neighbour, hurry and loose your cattle,and let us flee to the wood; the emperor's forces are only half an houroff." Quick everybody sprang up; the cattle were muzzled to preventtheir bellowing; the few bits of clothing and some victuals were caughtup; and away they went plunging into the thickest part of the forest, asfast and as noiselessly as they could. Hinz closed the procession, andwhen the cattle were got out of sight he took post behind a tree, thathe might see what the soldiers would do. He had not long to watch; forit was scarcely a quarter of an hour later that bright flames wentcrackling up into the sky; both houses together with the out-buildingswere in a blaze. The soldiers were enraged that they had found no booty,and had set fire to everything. Hinz hastened now into the thick of thewood after the others, and when he caught up with them he told them oftheir misfortune. With that, they all fell upon their knees and thankedGod that he had saved their lives and their cattle; and it never cameinto any one's head to weep so much as a single tear; they could buildhuts for themselves in the wood; and their hearts did not hang uponthings of this world. But what is this? what could all of a sudden forcesuch a deep sigh from Father Drewes that it absolutely startled themall? what could bring great tears into the eyes of that strong man, whomnobody had ever seen weep before? "Godfather Hinz," he said with hisvoice half stifled with pain,--"our books! our books! Ah, they are burntup by now! our own and our children's only treasure and comfort!" Andbehold, they all then fell to weeping, men and women and children, menand maids, as if their hearts would break. At last spoke out the oldFather Hinz, an eighty-years-old grey-headed man,--"Hush, children! ifour books are burned, our God and Saviour is not gone with them; we haveHim in our hearts; and His Word we have too, not only in the Bible butin our memories. I will say out a chapter for you every morning andevery evening, out of my heart." Then they grew quiet, and he folded hishands and began at once, and prayed first the twenty-third psalm, andthen the seventy-third psalm, and finally the eighth chapter of theEpistle to the Romans; all verse for verse from the beginning to theend.'"

  "The twenty-third and the seventy-third?" said Maggie interrupting."Which are they?"

  "Don't you know? The twenty-third begins,--'The Lord is my Shepherd; Ishall not want.'"

  "And it goes on,--" said Mr. Murray,--"'He prepareth a table before mein the presence of mine enemies; he anointeth my head with oil; my cuprunneth over.'"

  "Not very appropriate," said Flora.

  "I thought very appropriate."

  "Why they were just in great want, sir; even of the most ordinarycomforts."

  "A good time to remind themselves of their extraordinary comforts."

  "What had they to justify them in talking of their 'cup running over?'"

  "Something which they know who know, Miss Flora, and other people wouldtry in vain to comprehend."

  "Well, the other word, 'I shall not want;'--they were in want already."

  "No," said Meredith, "excuse me. I have read what comes after."

  "They were in want, Ditto, certainly."

  "Only such want--never mind, I will not forestall my story."

  "What is the other psalm?" Flora asked.

  "Very beautiful in this connection," said Mr. Murray, who had got outhis Bible. "It begins,--'Truly God is good to Israel, even to such asare of a clean heart.'"

  "There again!" said Flora, "what reason had they just then to think thatHe was good?"

  "That is faith, Miss Flora."

  "Faith?" the young lady repeated.

  "Yes. Faith takes on trust, when it cannot see."

  Flora looked at the speaker.

  "The psalm goes on to describe the temptations to doubt which had besetthe psalmist on observing the prosperity of wicked people and the hardtimes the Lord's people often had; and then how he saw his mistake; andthen he breaks out, 'Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is noneupon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, butGod is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.'"

  "That is beautiful, and appropriate," said Flora.

  "As soon as a man gets where he can say--'Thou shalt guide me with Thycounsel, and afterward receive me to glory,'--he can stand a few ups anddowns in this life. The choice of passages made by that old man wasbeautiful in the extreme; and proved not only that he knew the Bible,but that it was part of his life."

  "And the chapter of Romans?"

  "A worthy third in the trio. That is a chapter of triumph in theChristian's privilege and hopes, ending--'Who shall separate us from thelove of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, orfamine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... Nay, in all these things weare more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded,that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anyother creature, shall be able to separate us from t
he love of God, whichis in Christ Jesus our Lord.'"

  Flora's eyes filled, and she said nothing; and Meredith took up his bookagain.

  "There is another word in that chapter that fits, sir--'All things shallwork together for good to them that love God.'"

  "It would certainly take faith to believe _that_," said Flora. "I canimagine a little that other things and hopes might console peoplesuffering trouble in their persons and goods; but now, for instance,what possible benefit could it be to those people to have their housesburned, and to be driven into the wild wood with no shelter and nothingor very little to eat, and likewise very little to put on?"

  "Well, I had better read," said Meredith. "Pastor Harms stops there,after telling how old Drewes recited Scripture, and asks, 'Could my dearreaders all of them have done as much? just ask yourselves once quietly;and whoever is forced to say, "I could not do it," let him be ashamedfrom the bottom of his heart!

  "'A special impression was made by the words, "Though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death," &c., and those others, "My heart and myflesh faileth," &c., and again, "I am persuaded, that neither death norlife," &c., and after they had all sat still a while, they raised theirheads up cheerfully, took each other's hands, and broke out with onevoice in the words--

  "'"Dennoch bleibe ich stets an Dir," &c.'"

  "What does that mean, Ditto?"

  "'Nevertheless, I am continually with thee.' 'Then they went quietly tosleep in the wood, and lodged there beautifully, warm and safe under thewings of their God, and beneath the sheltering arms of the fir-trees; sothat the sun was already shining through the branches when they wakedup. Then they milked the cows, to get some breakfast for the children,and after that they all gathered round the old father to remind him ofhis promise. And the old man did not delay, but prayed first thetwenty-seventh, and then the forty-second and forty-third psalms, andfor the last, the twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews; sodevoutly and so confidingly and so unhesitatingly, that they all couldnot have supposed but that he was reading to them out of the big Biblethat had been under the arm-chair; and in most of the parts they prayedwith him word for word. Then they looked gratefully to the old man, andafter they had first asked the blessing, then drunk the milk, and atlast said grace, the others remained in the wood; but the two peasants,Drewes and Hinz, with their two servants, set out to go back to theplace where their houses had stood. As they went off, the old FatherHinz called after them, as if he were in a dream,--"Children, see aboutthe books too!" Slowly they drew near the place of the conflagration;carefully listening and looking around them; but nothing was to be seenor heard, all was as still as death, only the birds were hopping andsinging in the branches. At last they came within view of the placewhere the fire had been; but just as they were about to run thither, alow moaning came to their ears from the corner of the wood, near theplace of the fire. They were Christians, therefore they did not do likethe priest and the Levite, but like the kind-hearted Samaritan; theywent off towards the quarter from which the moans came; and what didthey see? Two badly-wounded soldiers, sitting in the two grandfather'schairs at the corner of the wood. How came they there? The troops ontheir march through had had these wounded fellows with them; who fortheir weakness proved unable to go any further; so their comradesdetermined to leave them behind. But to let the houses stand for thesake of affording them shelter, was more than the inflamed rage of thesoldiers, disappointed at finding everything empty, could see their wayto. However to show some sort of humanity to their comrades, they haddragged the two old chairs out of the houses to the corner of the wood,placed the wounded men in them, and then completed their work ofdestruction; following which they had all marched off. And now, when thewounded soldiers saw standing before them the four men whose housestheir comrades had laid in ashes, they looked for nothing else butdeath. But not anger nor revenge, but peace, yes, blessed joy, beamedfrom the faces of those four men; God had certainly saved their belovedbooks for them. Now they did not care that their houses were gone. Thesoldiers were treated, not as foes, but as benefactors. They carriedthem away into the wood where the rest of the people were; and when thechairs were seen, and the seats were lifted up, and the books founduninjured, then there was a thanksgiving and praising and glorifying soloud and so glad, that the angels in heaven must have joined in; thevery little children ran to the books and kissed them devoutly andgleefully. The two soldiers were tended as if they had been bloodkindred; milk was given them to drink; and now, also, since the host ofincendiaries had marched away, the way was open to fetch food again outof the villages. It was proposed to bring the wounded men to the nearesthamlet; but they were too weak for it; and they begged that they mightbe kept in the huts in the wood. And now it came to pass that nothingrefreshed those two soldiers more than old Father Hinz's talk from theWord of God, and his prayers. Even at the eleventh hour, they turned tothe Lord Jesus; and the pastor in Hermannsburg gave them the HolyCommunion after they had confessed their sins, had received theassurance of forgiveness, and had declared that they believed in JesusChrist, the only-begotten Son of God, and were persuaded that His bodyand blood were truly represented to them in the bread and the wine. Thiscommunion was a right blessed day of joy for the inhabitants of thewood. But God was preparing for them yet another special rejoicing. Forwhen the last hour of the two soldiers was drawing near, they summonedthe old father and the two peasants to their dying bed, thanked themanew with tears in their eyes for the salvation which they had found fortheir souls, and made over to them the legacy of their militarydoublets; with the intimation, that after they were dead, they shouldrip out the seams of them. This was done, when the men had first beenhonourably buried; and now were discovered, sewed into the doublets,such a stock of gold pieces, that not only the burned-down houses andstables could be built again, but also the men and maids might receive ahandsome reward, and a new altar cloth could be given to the church atHermannsburg.

  "'The lord of the manor of Hermannsburg had assigned to the two soldiersa place in his portion of the churchyard, where, at the north-eastcorner of the churchyard wall, their graves were covered with a stone.This stone lay there until, after the male line of the lord of the manorhad died out, the so-called Allodium was sold, and along with it thisstone. It bore the following inscription:--

  "'"ANNO 1642 DOMINI NOSTRI JESU CHRISTI MORTEM OBIERUNT ET HOC LOCOSEPULTI SUNT FRIEDERICUS WENCESLAUS BOHEMUS ET MARTINUS JURISCHITZLUSACIUS, QUI BIBLIA INSCII SERVAVERANT ET PER BIBLIA IN AETERNUM SERVATISUNT:" that is,

  "'"In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 1642 died and are here buriedFriedrich Wenzel of Bohemia, and Martin Jurischitz of Lusatia; whowithout knowing it had saved the Bible, and through the Bible have beenthemselves saved unto everlasting life."

  "'On the other side of the stone stood the words--"Hinnerk Hinz andPeter his son and Drewes Johan have had this stone erected for two goldgulden out of the Landsknecht's doublet."

  "'Two years after the end of the Thirty Years' War, those two peasants,of their own free will, pulled down their houses in the Buchhorst andbuilt them up again in the village of Wesen; for the reason, that afterthe devastations of those years the wolves had so got the upper handthat it was no longer possible to be secure from them. Twice, with greatdifficulty, they had recovered their children from the wolves, whichalready had them in their grip and were dragging them off; and then theythought, to stay there longer would be to tempt God. Those two farmsare still in Wesen and are yet called Drewes' farm and Hinz's farm,although the possessors in these latter days have long borne othernames. May God give us from this old story the blessing, that we may beever more as strong in the Bible and as firm in faith as the men of oldwere.'"