Tom Tuftons Travels | Page 6

to leave his native place. Now it suddenly seemed as though a
new life were opening out before him.
"Where shall I go, father?" he asked.

The Squire was silent for a while. He had exhausted himself by the
energy with which he had spoken hitherto. When next he opened his
lips his words came more slowly and languidly.
"If I were in your place, boy, I should go forth and see what is doing at
the seat of war. I love not war for its own sake. It is a cruel and terrible
thing. Yet there be times when it becomes a righteous thing; and
methinks England is doing right to ally herself with the foes of France
to crush the tyranny of that proud nation, whose king would fain be
monarch of all Europe if he could. I know not whether men untrained
to arms may enlist themselves in the ranks of the great Duke of
Marlborough, whose genius is winning renown for England's sons. But
were I young, methinks I would go forth and see some of the great
things that are doing in the world; and it might well be that a fine
grown young fellow, with stalwart limbs, a firm seat on a horse, and a
knowledge of sword play and the use of firearms, might even find a
place in the ranks of the great general. Whether or not, he would see
life as he had never seen it before, and learn lessons which might make
a man of him all his life."
The prospect was attractive and exciting for Tom, who loved a fight as
he loved nothing else, and who had a very exalted idea of his own
prowess and skill in arms. He could wrestle and throw better than any
antagonist he had ever met, and was no novice with pistol or sword. He
had the good opinion of his powers which naturally came to one who
had seldom or never found his match in his native place; and already in
imagination he saw himself riding at the head of a troop of soldiers, and
winning laurels on all sides by his bravery and address.
The Squire's voice had sunk into the silence of exhaustion. He had
closed his eyes, and only opened them again after a long interval. Their
glance met that of young Tom, and the father seemed to read something
of what was passing in his mind.
"Tom, lad," he said feebly, reaching forth his hand and trying to grasp
the great horny fist of his son, "strive to be humble. Think not too well
of thyself. Seek counsel from God in all things. Be not wise in thine
own eyes. If thou art self willed, vain, and headstrong, grief and pain

will be thy lot. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and its
righteousness--"
But here the voice failed; and Tom, his quick nature touched and
sobered, rose hastily, and, with a muttered promise of quick return,
threw himself out of the room, as though afraid to trust himself there
longer. He was such a stranger to keen emotion, that he fled from
before it with a sense of dread.
The wife came back to her husband's bedside. He looked into her face
and said, faintly:
"The lad hath yet a warm heart."
"I have always felt that," she answered quickly. "But oh, my husband,
why send him forth to the perils of war?"
"In the hope that the stern discipline of a soldier's life may fit him for
the duties which will be his at home. The lad needs above all things to
learn to obey. Till he has mastered the lesson of submission, he can
never be fit to hold the reins of government. That lesson he will learn
most quickly in the life of the camp. There he will be no great man, but
an overgrown boy to be taught and drilled. Young Tom needs to find
his own level. That is what he never will do at home. He has lorded it
over the neighbourhood too long already."
"But if he leaves us and goes forth into the world, who will care for his
immortal soul?" asked the mother, with tears in her eyes.
"Has he listened to our words of admonition and warning at home?"
asked the Squire, with a strange look in his glazing eyes. "Nay, wife, I
feel as I lie here dying, that the life of the soul is something we poor
frail human creatures must not try too much to touch. The Spirit of God
will work in His own time. We may pray and weep and plead before
God for an erring son, and we believe our prayers will be answered; but
it will be in His time, not