The Hero of Hill House Part 6

Tears filled Austin's eyes at the kindness of his uncle, but the stinging words of his father rang in his ears, "You could not exist a month on your own resources," and he was determined to make his own way and prove to him that he could do for himself.

"No, Uncle John, I can not do that, though I appreciate your offer. I did not come here to live off your money, but I want to find work and support myself. I am strong enough to do it, and now that I have no care of the children I can do it I am certain."

"But, Austin, a boy like you should be in school. You are not yet fifteen, and for a year you have not been in school to speak of. You can stay right here and go every day," urged Mr. Moore.

"No, Uncle, I do not want to do that now. I am almost out of clothing. All I possess is in that suitcase, and I need to earn something for myself right away. Besides, Papa said I could not look out for myself." persisted Austin.

"Humph! Well, if that is what is on your mind, I do not blame you for going to work. Prove that you can take care of yourself and after that look out for other things," said Mr. Moore in hearty sympathy with the boy for resenting his father's taunt.

"I wish none of you would write anything home about me. I do not want Papa to know where I am nor one thing about my affairs."

"All right; I will inform the others of your wish. It will be hard on the children, but as for Henry, he ought to do a little worrying."

The next week was a busy one for the Moore household, and Austin helped them with their moving, staying with them till the hard work was over, and then found himself a place. This was not hard, for he was well known and universally liked. Those who would hire him knew him to be reliable beyond his years. The wages he received were small, pitifully so, but they were sufficient to again clothe him suitably, and to give him that feeling of independence and self-respect that is good for any boy.

Though he was satisfied with his present lot so far as his own self was concerned, his mind was never at rest about the children. In spirit he lived constantly with them, and was ever longing to return to them and bear their burdens. Not once did he contemplate entirely forsaking them. He believed the cloud which now overshadowed him and them would pa.s.s away and he again be welcome under the home roof. He built great air-castles of the time when he should become rich and return and care for them. But he could not overcome the feeling of repugnance toward his father, nor did he really try to do so.

When Austin had again fitted himself with a suitable wardrobe, he remembered his uncle's advice about going to school. Spring was at hand now, and the country-school term at a close, so he could do nothing for the present. But when Mr. Coles, a neighbor of his uncle's, offered him a place for the summer at reasonable wages with the understanding that when the summer was over he might remain with him and attend school the coming winter, Austin thought it wise to accept the offer, though the wages were considerably less than he could have gotten elsewhere. He thought that the lesser wage which Mr. Coles paid him would make his board right for the coming winter, and he did not wish to get something for nothing.

So Austin all through the hot summer months worked away on the farm, of Mr.

Coles, doing anything and everything there was to be done. He plowed and sowed and reaped, milked, and fed the calves and pigs, and worked in the garden and orchard. Mr. Coles had a willing hand all the summer through.

CHAPTER 11

AUSTIN TAKES CARE OF HIMSELF

Some men set a high value upon honor, others will sell themselves for a trifle. The value of a man is not one whit higher than the value he sets on his honor. Some men scorn to be dishonest in the small affairs of life, and as friends and neighbors are ever upright and honorable, yet can be tempted in greater matters to sell their birthright for the gain of the profiteer or the influence of the politician. Other men abhor these greater forms of dishonor, but in little things are petty and mean. They are like the woman who prides herself on her cleverness when she cheats the milkman out of a quart of milk or the peddler out of a paper of pins. When a boy undertakes to look out for himself, he must learn to deal with these petty meannesses in others or be continually deceived.

Austin met the world with no expectation of fraud or ill will, and when he found these, he was surprized and grieved, and was quite unprepared to cope with the situation. His first summer's work was to teach him a rather severe lesson in human nature. Farmer Coles knew the boy and that he was a good worker, and deliberately planned to get a farm-hand at a very reasonable rate. He was careful to see that Austin earned fully every dollar he received all the summer through, but he had no intention of keeping him during the winter. When school began the first of September, there was yet much to be done in the fields, and Austin consented, at the farmer's suggestion, to keep at his work for another month, but the first of October he quit and started to school.

From the time he entered school, the atmosphere about the home, and Mr.

Cole's att.i.tude toward his ch.o.r.eboy, changed completely. Where he had been pleasant, he now was surly and cross. He found fault with all that Austin did, and it seemed impossible to please him in anything.

One evening Mr. Coles told Austin to get out the car and have it lighted and ready, for he intended to go to a neighbor's. This Austin did, carrying out with him a few matches to light the car-lamps. He had intended to take the surplus matches back to the kitchen, but as Mr. Coles came out ready to start, Austin forgot them. It was a thing forbidden about the Coles'

premises that a hired man should carry matches in his pockets. Mr. Coles had been particular about this rule, and thus far Austin had not offended.

When they were ready to start for home, Mr. Coles had trouble in lighting his lamps, and his last match blew out. He was in the act of going in for another supply from his neighbor when Austin remembered those in his pocket and handed him one.

"Carrying matches, Austin?" asked the farmer sharply.

"No, not ordinarily, but I had two or three left from lighting the car this evening and had not yet carried them back to the kitchen."

"See that you dispose of them at once when we get back." But it was late and Austin was sleepy and again he forgot. He did not think of them till early in the morning while he was helping with the milking. His lantern went out, and he had started to the house for a match when he remembered those in his pocket, and, taking one out, struck it and lighted his lantern. Now the farmer had the excuse he was looking for. He had no intention of giving the boy his board all winter. Far was that from his mind. He had not liked to turn him out without a cause, but rather to make life so uncomfortable for him that he would not stay. Not till now had he found a real cause for an outburst of wrath, and using his opportunity to its fullest extent, he railed out at Austin, using abusive language.

"I am sorry, Mr. Coles, that I forgot to take the matches from my pocket, but you know very well that I do not smoke and have no need of them about me. Also you know how I came to have these at this time," said Austin hotly, for his anger burned at the language and accusations heaped upon him.

Mr. Coles' retort had been more bitter than ever, and Austin picked up the milk-bucket and lantern and walked out of the barn and to the house. Here he strained the milk, put away the lantern, washed himself, and went to his room, never saying a word to the farmer's wife, who looked at him wonderingly because he had come to the house before the ch.o.r.es were finished. He did not come down to breakfast, for he was too angry to eat at the same table with Mr. Coles. A little later he was ready, and coming down-stairs with his suitcase, he stopped to bid Mrs. Coles good-by.

"Why, Austin, what does this mean? You are not leaving us!"

"Yes, Mr. Coles and I have had trouble, and I will not stay any longer."

"Come, come, Austin, you are hasty. You kept your part of the agreement all summer, now do not leave as if we drove you off."

"Mr. Coles knows he has been unjust," said Austin going on out.

There were those who knew Mr. Coles to be the man he proved himself, and were not surprized when Austin gave up the place. One person who understood perfectly was Harry Coles, the farmer's nephew. He was a young married man just starting in life. The help that Austin could give night and morning was just what Harry needed with his milking and other ch.o.r.es, and here Austin found a home at once.

This family was congenial, and Austin was soon settled and steady at his school-work. He was made to feel that what he did fully paid for what he received and that he was not in any way an object of charity. As the weeks moved on so smoothly and pleasantly, Austin also made good progress in school. But his very happiness made him more sad when he thought of the children. How his surroundings contrasted with theirs! While he was enjoying such kindness at the hands of these friends, he knew they were being neglected.

Though he had never written home, and they knew nothing about him, he kept in pretty good touch with their affairs through the letters the girls wrote to their cousins. In every one they had spoken of him, and when cold weather came on, the burden of their letters was for Austin.

After Austin left, his father had hired a woman to keep house for a while, but she did not stay long. Help such as he needed was hard to get, and he had not been able to procure another housekeeper. The girls were hardly old enough to understand how to keep all the ends of the housework going, and their father was as helpless as they. Home had gone in a most haphazard manner. Mr. Hill had encouraged the children to accept places to work as they had been offered. It was only occasionally that they were all at home together. A sense of love and loyalty for home was fading out of their minds, as was also the sense of moral obligation. The younger children were becoming rebellious and evil-minded. All this Austin read between the lines of the letters. His heart ached as he thought of his dear mother and how different it would have been had she lived. He would be jolly all the evening with Harry and his wife, but when he lay upon his bed, his pillow was often wet with his tears. As yet, though, he could not see it his duty to go home.

"Where do you suppose Austin is? Does he ever think of home? I wonder if he is yet alive. Have you heard anything of him?" wrote Amy in one of her letters.

"Do not worry about Austin," her uncle had written in reply; "he is able to care for himself, and I am certain he is getting on all right."

"Listen to what Uncle John says about Austin," said Amy as she read the letter, "I have an idea he is with Uncle John, else he would not be so confident he is all right."

Henry Hill read the letter carefully. He wanted Austin, he needed him. He had his lesson and would not nag the boy any more. While Austin was patient, it was plain to be seen that he would not stand to be trampled on.

Thinking it all over, he decided to send a letter to his brother-in-law that would bring the boy home if he were there. It was not to be a harsh or authoritative letter, but an appeal for the children. He knew Austin would come home if he had a.s.surance of better treatment.

While these matters were being worked out in the Hill home, Austin was tasting of pleasures which were to make him see life in a new light. We can not always see the plan of the Master in all his dealings with us, but afterward we look back and know that when the way seemed darkest and the path before us the most dim, the hand of G.o.d was guiding all the way.

CHAPTER 12

THE REVIVAL

Only those who have lived in a rural community can realize the place in the social life of the people the revival holds. In the city and larger town the movies and theaters with other places of amus.e.m.e.nt and social activities fill up the time, but here the occasional picnic, party, or dance is the only form of social diversion, and the younger people become starved for somewhere to go and something to do. And the older people, while they enjoy the spiritual enlivenment of the revival, also come under the power of social enjoyment and give themselves over to a season of communion together.

The little village at the edge of which Harry Coles lived was the center socially of the farming region round about, and the little church of the village the center of the village life. Joseph Bennet, pastor of the congregation, was a spiritual-minded man who had the interests of the people at heart. His life had been clean and sincere, and every one had confidence in him, so when he planned to begin a revival early in the winter, the entire community was ready to lend him a.s.sistance with their interest and presence. From the first this meeting gave promise of more than ordinary success. It was not a big meeting because of the work of some talented and eloquent evangelist, but was the joint effort of pastor and people striving under G.o.d's hand to be a blessing to their community. The preaching was simple but plain and earnest and carried conviction to the hearts of the hearers.

Pastor Bennet was a wise man in many ways, and to enlist the interest and cooperation of the younger folk he formed a choir wholly of young people and gave them a place in the front of the building. This gave them a feeling of responsibility and overcame to a great extent the possibility of inattention or irreverence on their part. He thought it gave him a better chance of winning them for Christ, and that was his special aim in the meetings, the winning of souls for Christ.

Austin was interested in the meeting from the first, and was a regular attendant. And when he was invited to join the choir, he accepted, though he confessed himself a poor singer. Pastor Bennet was interested in this quiet boy and spoke to him at different times about giving his heart to G.o.d. Also Austin's Sunday-school teacher, who was organist, was particularly interested in Austin and often spoke to him of his soul's need. His place in the choir put him near her, and he was often conscious of her prayers for him.

Though Austin had always been an obedient boy and was extremely conscientious in all he did, he had never professed faith in Christ. He had always been conscious of the will and desire of his mother and had sought to walk pleasing to her, rather than to acknowledge his allegiance to G.o.d.

But in the perplexities of the past year since his mother had been away he had often blindly called out to G.o.d for help and had felt that G.o.d did help and strengthen him. But now, as he sat under the preaching of G.o.d's word, he became conscious of a longing in his soul that only acquaintance with G.o.d could satisfy. He desired with all his heart to be a Christian.

But the same obstacles stood in his way that hinder the spiritual progress of other boys. He was timid, extremely so, and the thought of going forward and kneeling with the other seekers at the altar of prayer frightened him.

And he feared he could not hold out if he did start, which would be worse than not starting at all. There was the possibility of ridicule and mockery that he might receive at the hands of others, which, made the way look fearful. So, halting between two opinions, he waited from night to night before he at last made his decision.

The meeting was the one great subject of conversation in the home where he lived. Though none of the family were professors, all of them were in sympathy with the meeting, all respected the pastor and wished him success, and all honestly believed that it was better for any person to "make a start," as they expressed it. They were all genuinely pleased when Nell Purdy's brother and John Finley's son, Sam, forsook their wild ways and "joined church." And they watched closely to see who else of their neighbors and friends seemed to be most interested and might before the meeting closed "make a start." If one of them had to remain away, he was always eager to inquire of the others how the meeting was and who "went forward." And the Coles home was a sample of all the homes in the neighborhood. There was no doubt but that the meeting was getting hold of the people in a way to bring lasting good.