The Wizard | Page 7

there was
another reason against the thing. High Church and somewhat ascetic in
his principles, in the beginning he had admired celibacy, and in secret
dedicated himself to that state. But at heart Thomas was very much a
man, and of late he had come to see that which is against nature is
presumably not right, though fanatics may not hesitate to pronounce it
wrong. Possibly this conversion to more genial views of life was
quickened by the presence in the neighbourhood of a young lady whom
he chanced to admire; at least it is certain that the mere thought of
seeing her no more for ever smote him like a sword of sudden pain.
*****
That very night--or so it seemed to him, and so he believed--the Angel
of the Lord stood before him as he was wont to stand before the men of
old, and spoke a summons in his ear. How or in what seeming that
summons came Thomas Owen never told, and we need not inquire. At
the least he heard it, and, like the Apostles, he arose and girded his
loins to obey. For now, in the hour of trial, it proved that this man's
faith partook of the nature of their faith. It was utter and virgin; it was
not clogged with nineteenth-century qualifications; it had never dallied
with strange doctrines, or kissed the feet of pinchbeck substitutes for
God. In his heart he believed that the Almighty, without intermediary,
but face to face, had bidden him to go forth into the wilderness there to
perish. So he bowed his head and went.

On the following morning at breakfast Owen had some talk with his
friend the Deputation.
"You asked me last night," he said quietly, "whether I would undertake
a mission to that people of whom you were telling me--the Sons of Fire.
Well, I have been thinking it over, and come to the conclusion that I
will do so----"
At this point the Deputation, concluding that his host must be mad,
moved quietly but decidedly towards the door.
"Wait a moment," went on Owen, in a matter-of-fact voice, "the dog-
cart will not be round for another three-quarters of an hour. Tell me, if
it were offered to you, and on investigation you proved suitable, would
you care to take over this living?"
"Would I care to take over this living?" gasped the astonished
Deputation. "Would I care to walk down that garden and find myself in
Heaven? But why are you making fun of me?"
"I am not making fun of you. If I go to Africa I must give up the living,
of which I own the advowson, and it occurred to me that it might suit
you--that is all. You have done your share; your health is broken, and
you have many dependent upon you. It seems right, therefore, that you
should rest, and that I should work. If I do no good yonder, at the least
you and yours will be a little benefited."
*****
That same day Owen chanced to meet the lady who has been spoken of
as having caught his heart. He had meant to go away without seeing her,
but fortune brought them together. Hitherto, whilst in reality leading
him on, she had seemed to keep him at a distance, with the result that
he did not know that it was her fixed intention to marry him. To her,
with some hesitation, he told his plans. Surprised and frightened into
candour, the lady reasoned with him warmly, and when reason failed to
move him she did more. By some subtle movement, with some sudden
word, she lifted the veil of her reserve and suffered him to see her heart.

"If you will not stay for aught else," said her troubled eyes, "then, love,
stay for me."
For a moment he was shaken. Then he answered the look straight out,
as was his nature.
"I never guessed," he said. "I did not presume to hope--now it is too
late! Listen! I will tell you what I have told no living soul, though
thereafter you may think me mad. Weak and humble as I am, I believe
myself to have received a Divine mission. I believe that I shall execute
it, or bring about its execution, but at the ultimate cost of my own life.
Still, in such a service two are better than one. If you --can care
enough--if you----"
But the lady had already turned away, and was murmuring her farewell
in accents that sounded like a sob. Love and faith after this sort were
not given to her.
Of all Owen's trials this was the sharpest. Of all his sacrifices this was
the most complete.
CHAPTER III
THE TEMPTATION
Two years have gone by all