Orange and Green | Page 5

the speaker.
"John has told me, Jabez, that he has several times met young Davenant,
and that the boy is disposed to be friendly with him; and he has asked
me to speak with you, to know whether you have any objection to his
making a friend of him."
"What do you say, Hannah?" Jabez asked cautiously. "My father, I fear,
would not approve of it."
"Your father need know nothing about it, Jabez. He is an old man and a
good man, but he clings to the ways of his youth, and deems that things
are still as they were when he rode behind Cromwell. I would not

deceive him did he ask; but I do not see that the matter need be
mentioned in his presence. It seems to me that it will be good for John
to be friends with this boy. He is almost without companionship. We
have acquaintance, it is true, among the other settlers of our faith, but
such companionship as he has there will not open his mind or broaden
his views. We are dull people here for a lad. Had we had other children
it might have been different.
"I have heard my mother speak of her life as a girl, in England, and
assuredly it was brighter and more varied than ours; and it seems not to
me that the pleasures which they had were sinful, although I have been
taught otherwise; but, as I read my Bible, I cannot see that innocent
pleasures are in any way denied to the Lord's people; and such pleasure
as the companionship of the young Davenant can give John will, I think,
be altogether for his good."
"But the lad is a Papist, Hannah."
"He is, Jabez; but boys, methinks, do not argue among themselves upon
points of doctrine; and I have no fear that John will ever be led from the
right path, nor indeed, though it is presumption for a woman to say so,
do I feel so sure as our ministers that ours is the only path to heaven.
We believe firmly that it is the best path, but others believe as firmly in
their paths; and I cannot think, Jabez, that all mankind, save those who
are within the fold of our church, can be condemned by the good Lord
to perdition."
"Your words are bold, Hannah, and I know not what my father and the
elders of the church would say, were they to hear them. As to that I will
not argue, but methinks that you are right in saying that the
companionship of the young Davenant will do our boy no harm.
"But the lad must have his father's consent. Though I reckon that we
could count pounds where they could count shillings, yet, in the
opinion of the world, they assuredly stand above us. Moreover, as it is
only in human nature that they should regard us as those who have
despoiled them, John must have no dealings with their son without their
consent. If that be given, I have nought to say against it."

And so John told Walter, next time they met, and learned in reply that
Walter had already obtained his father's consent to going out rambles
with him; so the boys became companions and friends, and each
benefited by it. To John, the bright, careless ease and gaiety of Walter's
talk and manner were, at first, strange indeed, after the restraint and
gloom of his home; but in time he caught something of his companion's
tone, until, as has been said, his altered manner and bearing struck and
annoyed his grandfather.
On the other hand, the earnestness and solidity of John's character was
of benefit to Walter; and his simple truthfulness, the
straightforwardness of his principles, and his blunt frankness in saying
exactly what he thought, influenced Walter to quite as large an extent
as he had influenced John.
So the companionship between the lads had gone on for two years. In
fine weather they had met once or twice a week, and had taken long
rambles together, or, throwing themselves down on the slopes facing
the sea, had talked over subjects of mutual interest. Walter's education
was far in advance of that of his companion, whose reading, indeed,
had been confined to the Scriptures, and the works of divines and
controversialists of his own church, and whose acquirements did not
extend beyond the most elementary subjects.
To him, everything that Walter knew was novel and strange; and he
eagerly devoured, after receiving permission from his mother, the
books which Walter lent him, principally histories, travels, and the
works of Milton and Shakespeare. As to the latter, Hannah had at first
some scruples; and it was only after setting herself, with great
misgivings as