The White Hunter

by Gilbert, Morris

  Annie said, “Why did you do that, Jeb?”

  “Why, Annie, I think you’ve known I’ve cared for you for a long time.”

  “I . . . I can’t think of things like that, Jeb.”

  Suddenly, after the sweetness of her lips, a bitterness came to Jeb, and he spoke that which had been in his heart but which he had never said aloud. “I think if it were John Winslow, you’d care!”

  Annie blinked and her head drew back. “You shouldn’t say that. It’s not true.”

  “I think it is,” Jeb said. “I had better leave. Good night, Annie.”

  He left without another word and Annie Rogers stood for a long time looking at the door, her mind reeling at his comment. She turned and went to the window and watched him as he walked down the street, his back stiff, and she tried to convince herself. “No. It’s not true! That was just a girlish infatuation.” But she did not feel honest saying this, for there had been too many times when she had thought of John Winslow. Not as a young fifteen-year-old thinks of a man, but as a woman thinks of a man whom she might learn to love.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Jeanine Takes Charge

  Christmas was a good time for Annie Rogers. Annie had asked Kathleen to join her in Wyoming for Christmas. Kathleen had refused at first, but Annie had insisted that Michael and Mary would love the ranch.

  They left New York and traveled west to Annie’s home, and the interval was like a breath of fresh air to her. Her parents and brother were gathered there for the holiday, and she returned again to the joy she had known as a young girl growing up. It was a time of trimming the Christmas tree, exchanging presents, and singing the old Christmas hymns. During those days a sense of refreshment came back to Annie that had been lacking.

  She got to spend a lot of time with both sets of her grandparents, Tom and Faith Winslow, and Dan and Hope Winslow, and with many of her cousins who were home for the holidays, too. Cassidy and Serena Winslow were there with their children. Peter and Jolie Winslow brought their three-year-old, Luke, and their one-year-old, Timothy. Annie especially loved little Kimberly Ballard, the four-year-old daughter of Jason and Priscilla Ballard.

  She took long rides across the plains, savoring the cold and the snow. In New York City, the snow was dirty after a few hours, stained with the smoke from thousands of chimneys, and all the streets were defiled with the passing of horses still in prominent use in the big city. But out on the plains, as far as one could see, the glistening, crystalline whiteness after a snowfall hurt the eyes and at the same time delighted Annie.

  From the moment they had arrived, Annie saw a different side of her brother. Bill was suddenly the perfect gentleman, especially when Kathleen was around. Michael and Mary loved all the extra attention Bill gave them, as well. Bill seemed to glow when Kathleen smiled at something he said or when the children begged him to tell a story or take them for a ride.

  One night, when everyone had retired for the evening, Annie joined Kathleen in the guest room. “I hope you are enjoying your stay. I know my family has enjoyed having you here, especially my brother,” Annie added with a smile.

  Kathleen blushed a deep crimson. “Your brother is so nice to Michael and Mary.”

  “Just to Michael and Mary?” Annie queried with a grin. “I have never seen him act this nice for other children and certainly not for me. I think he has taken an interest in Michael and Mary’s mother.”

  “You’re just saying that,” Kathleen protested, while trying unsuccessfully to hide her growing smile.

  “Seriously, Kathleen, I think my brother is a wonderful man, and I hope something does happen between the two of you. He needs a good woman in his life, and you need a good man. And Michael and Mary could have a wonderful father.” Annie then added, “Besides, we would really be sisters then, and I would have Michael and Mary as my nephew and niece.”

  “Thank you for being so kind,” Kathleen replied sincerely. “I guess I can tell you that Bill has asked me to stay around here for a while to see how things go. I have been praying about it, and I think that God is leading in that direction. I was afraid to tell you, but you have eased my fears now.”

  Annie gave a small cry of delight and hugged her friend. “It is wonderful to see how God works everything for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. God led me to you, and now He may be leading you to Bill. Let’s pray that God will finish what He has started in our lives.”

  The two friends joined their hearts together in prayer to the One who was lovingly guiding their every footstep.

  ****

  Her family had begged her to stay longer, but after the holidays, it was time to return to New York. Annie’s parents had again offered to pay her expenses to Africa, but times were hard for ranchers, and Annie knew there was no money to spare.

  “God has a plan for me to get to Africa,” she had told her father and mother at the station as they had hugged her. “Don’t worry about me. When God has a plan, it will happen.”

  Annie then turned to her brother and said, “You take care of Kathleen now.” She then turned to her friend, hugged her, and whispered, “God will answer our prayers.” After giving Michael and Mary a hug, she boarded the train. As she looked back one last time at Bill and Kathleen, Annie knew in her heart that God had brought them together. The look on her brother’s face when he looked at Kathleen was the last assurance Annie needed that all would be well.

  Returning to New York, she had gone back to the old rounds of seeking an assignment from the missionary societies. She had insisted her health was not a factor, but her past history went against her. It seemed that in addition to this, the funds from all the societies were low.

  “Finances are always a problem around Christmas,” Reverend Harris Powell told her. He was the president of one of the smaller societies and had tremendous respect for Annie. “I’d send you in a minute if I could send anyone, Annie,” he said regretfully. “But money is short right now, and with this recession going on, people seem to be reluctant to support missions.”

  The first of the year passed, and finally in the middle of January, Annie reached an all-time low. “I can’t go on like this,” she murmured to herself. “I can’t just be a typist all my life. Maybe God intends for me to stay and help the missionary organizations to send others.”

  The thought saddened her, for she had truly believed all her life that God wanted her on the foreign field. Now she lay awake nights thinking of those who were going, including Jeb Winslow, who was already in Africa. She had heard from him, and his long letter thrilled her but at the same time filled her with a sense of unfulfillment.

  The days passed slowly, and very rarely did she hear from Jeanine. Jeanine’s letters had been regular at first, but then they had suddenly ceased. Annie had thought that perhaps she had fallen by the wayside. She had no one to talk with about her concern for Jeanine, but she wrote her mother, in whom she confided most things. I’m afraid that maybe Jeanine found the Christian life too hard. It must be very difficult for those with great wealth, who have everything, to live as the Scripture commands. Perhaps I’m wrong—I hope I am.

  Annie was trudging homeward on a late afternoon in January after a trying day with the mission board, and despite her attempts to keep her spirits up, she was feeling quite depressed. The weather was dreary. Snow had fallen two days earlier but now was nothing but dirty slush in the streets. That which remained on the buildings was speckled with ashes and cinders. A gloom seemed to hang over the entire city as clouds glowered and the cold, wet wind bit to the bone.

  Shivering and drawing her coat about her, Annie approached her doorway, dreading another weary night full of regret sitting in her room.

  “Annie! There you are!”

  Glancing up quickly, Annie saw Jeanine getting out of a taxi in front of her apartment house. She was wearing a dark blue and green plaid woolen cape with white fur around the shoulder collar with a matching fur hat and muff. Her eyes we
re flashing, and even in the dusk, there was an exuberance about her. Her violet eyes sparkled as she rushed forward and grabbed Annie, almost lifting her off her feet.

  “Annie, I’ve missed you so much! Where have you been? I’ve been waiting over an hour!”

  Annie was shocked at the sight of her former employer. She listened as Jeanine spoke rapidly, and then finally managed to say, “I was working at the mission board. I’m so glad to see you, Jeanine. I haven’t heard from you in so long.”

  “I was wrong not to write you, but I had something going on that I didn’t want to even talk about. I wanted to be sure that God was in it.”

  “Well, come inside. It’s freezing out here.”

  The two women went inside, and as soon as they were in Annie’s room, Jeanine said, “Tell me what you’ve been doing.”

  “Nothing much. The same as always,” Annie said carefully. She was very familiar with Jeanine Quintana’s moods, and she saw that the tall woman was almost quivering from the excitement she could hardly contain. “What is it, Jeanine? I can tell something’s happened.”

  “I’ll say something has happened!” Jeanine beamed. She forced herself to quiet down with an effort, then came over and sat down on the divan beside Annie. “I have something to tell you that will probably shock you.”

  Annie could not help grinning. “You’ve shocked me enough already, Jeanine. Not again, I hope.”

  “No,” Jeanine laughed. “Not in the old ways. Since I found the Lord, I’ve been sickened at times at what I did with my life. I’ve shed a lot of tears over the sinful life I led.”

  “You mustn’t think about that, Jeanine. Put it all behind you. God has forgiven and cleansed you from all that.”

  “It’s hard to do, but I’m trying. Now . . .” Jeanine’s eyes gleamed as she reached out and took Annie’s hand. “God has been speaking to me for the last month. At first I couldn’t believe it. I just thought it was something that was in my mind. Maybe something I just wanted to do, but I’ve been fasting, and praying, and seeking God, and now I’m certain of what it is.” She hesitated and then reached out impulsively and hugged Annie so hard that Annie almost lost her breath. Drawing back, she said, “God has called me to be a missionary—to Africa!”

  For a moment Annie could not take in what Jeanine had said. It was so far from anything she had imagined that it seemed she had heard wrong. “To Africa?” she asked, staring at the other woman. “Are . . . are you sure?”

  “I wasn’t at first, but I am now.”

  “But, Jeanine, it’s such a different sort of thing—I mean—”

  “I know what you mean. I’ve been spoiled, and Africa’s a difficult and dangerous place, and you’re afraid I’ll get there and won’t be able to take it. Is that it?”

  “Well—”

  “Why of course that’s what you’d think. I thought all that myself. But if God has called me, He’ll give me the grace to see it through.”

  Annie stared unbelievingly. “It sounds so odd to hear you talk like this, Jeanine.”

  “It’s not like me at all, is it? But it’s me now. I can’t tell you what life has been like. I’ve been studying the Bible day and night. Oh, Annie, I had some wonderful teachers at the Bible school.” She laughed suddenly, saying, “They all cautioned me about one thing, and I’m sure you would agree with them.”

  “What’s that, Jeanine?”

  “They all said I shouldn’t be too impulsive.”

  “Well, there may be something in that. New Christians do get impulsive sometimes.”

  Jeanine got up and began pacing the floor. She was utterly serious, and she seemed to be thinking it over, and then she turned and said, “Would you rather try to resurrect the dead or restrain a fanatic? I think it’s easier to restrain a fanatic. Some of the faculty, even at the Bible school, seemed to have forgotten the excitement of what it’s like to be saved, to be a new Christian, to be a child of God. It’s all dull and academic! They get all of their theology out of books, but theology isn’t in books, Annie. You know that better than I. It’s walking around day by day with Jesus Christ inside. Isn’t that right?”

  Annie was very impressed with the dramatic change of spirit in Jeanine Quintana. Her violet eyes were glowing, and there was a gentleness and at the same time an insistence in her fine features. “That’s right, Jeanine. I’m just saying that sometimes young Christians forget that there’s a time to be cautious.”

  “Well, you can be cautious, and I’ll be uncautious. Is there such a word?”

  Annie could not help but laugh. “There is now. You just used it. Now sit down again and tell me all about it. Don’t leave out anything.”

  The conversation lasted until suppertime, then the two went out and ate at Luigi’s. Jeanine ate and talked with her mouth full at times, waving her fork around, and Annie sat quietly in shock and amazement at the difference. This was not the old Jeanine Quintana. One could never mistake the Spirit of the Lord that was in this woman!

  “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Jeanine said. “You still haven’t found anybody to sponsor you to the mission field, have you?”

  “No. Not yet.”

  “Well, I’m going to sponsor you. You and I are going to Africa. I’m not even going to the mission boards to ask for support. God has given me plenty of money. He has given me a call, and I believe He’s put the two of us together.”

  Instantly Annie seemed to hear from God in her spirit. This is what you’ve been waiting for. The words were not audible, but she knew God had spoken to her.

  “Are you convinced that this is God’s will for me to go with you, Jeanine?”

  “Yes.” Jeanine leaned forward, her expression intent. “I need somebody like you, Annie. You’re right about my being too impulsive and too—well, domineering is the word many use. Straightforward and honest is what I call it. But anyway, I believe God would have us go together, and we’re not going to be stopped by any mission board.”

  “Do me one favor, Jeanine.”

  “Of course. What is it?”

  “Let’s go to the mission boards first and see if they will sponsor us if you will pay the expenses. We don’t need to go without a covering.”

  “A covering? What does that mean?” Jeanine asked.

  “It means that we need to be responsible to someone.”

  “We’re responsible to Jesus.”

  “I know, but there’s more to it than that.”

  “I don’t see that. Jesus has called us. He’s our Lord, and all we need to do is go.”

  Annie felt that there was something wrong with Jeanine’s idea of going off on their own. She had been at the mission boards long enough to discover that many who went out without coverings or responsibilities to others back in the States and on the field often came back having failed in their mission. She argued diligently, but Jeanine had her mind set.

  “All right,” she finally said, “we’ll go see them. But you’ll see, Annie. God intends for you and me to go free from anyone. That way we can do whatever we please without having to ask anyone!”

  ****

  The Reverend Josiah Crawford shifted uneasily in his chair and looked out over the heads of the two young women who had brought a great problem into his life. Reverend Crawford, a tall, powerfully built man with reddish hair and mild blue eyes, pulled his glasses off and began polishing them with a white handkerchief. It was a ruse he often used to gain time when he was not certain as to what to say. And the Reverend Crawford was not at all certain about the two young women who sat before him—well, that was not exactly true. He was certain of one thing. The African Mission Board would never sponsor these two unlikely candidates.

  Finally he had used up as much time as possible on his glasses. So planting them firmly on his nose, he took a deep breath and said as gently as possible, “I am sorry, Miss Quintana and Miss Rogers, but the board was firm in their decision.”

  Jeanine Quintana said stridently, “I can’t
understand it. Did you make it plain to them, Reverend Crawford, that we would require no financial assistance?”

  “Why, ah . . . yes, I did, Miss Quintana.”

  “So it must be something personal, I take it.”

  “Oh no!” Reverend Crawford said hastily. “Nothing personal at all. It’s just that . . . well—”

  “Don’t tell me it’s Annie’s health. She’s hasn’t had a health problem in over a year now. Isn’t that right, Annie?”

  “That’s right, Reverend Crawford. I’m healthier than I’ve ever been.”

  “Well, of course we all are hopeful that your physical well-being will continue, but—”

  Jeanine interrupted. “If it isn’t that, it must be me.”

  Actually, Reverend Crawford thought frantically, it is you. Several of the board members were women, and all of them were well aware of this woman’s past. I wish she had never come through that door, Crawford thought desperately. He remembered the board meeting that had gone on for what seemed like hours with two of the women bringing up Jeanine Quintana’s sordid past life. Crawford himself had acted as an advocate for Jeanine, but his pleas had gone unheeded.

  “We cannot have a woman like that representing our organization!” Mrs. Asa Strother had said.

  She was not only the wife of the chairman of the board, but she was on the board herself. She was an ex-missionary who had done good service but was old fashioned and out of step with the times, at least so Crawford thought. He did not say so, however, but had only added mildly, “But we must be careful about things like this. After all, if the woman has been converted—”

  “Let her prove herself! She was on the Titanic. That was less than a year ago. God saved her life miraculously, but she’s still a beginner. The Scripture says, ‘Lay hands suddenly on no man.’ ”

  “But this is a woman,” Crawford had protested.

  “Makes no difference. I am opposed and will remain so.”

  With the memory of that unpleasant meeting fresh on his mind, Reverend Crawford tried to soften the blow as much as possible. “I will tell you that I personally voted for your acceptance, both of you. But we have a board that makes these decisions, and in every case the majority rules.”