"But why--why did she go?" cried Barnabas.
"Young sir, the answer is simple, the man Chichester had discovered
her refuge. She was afraid!" Here the Apostle of Peace fell silent,
and sat with bent head and lips moving as one who prayed. When at
last he looked up, a smile was on his lips. "Sir," said he,
"it is only the weak who repine, for God is just, and I know I shall
find her before I die!" So saying he rose, though like one who is
very weary, and stood upon his feet.
"Where are you going?" Barnabas inquired.
"Sir, my trust is in God, I take to the road again."
"To search for her?"
"To preach for her. And when I have preached sufficiently, God will
bring me to her. So come, young sir, if you will, let us walk
together as far as we may." Thus, together, they left the shadow and
went on, side by side, in the soft radiance of the rising moon.
"Sir," said Barnabas after a while, seeing his companion was very
silent, and that his thin hands often griped and wrung each other,
--that gesture which was more eloquent than words,--"Sir, is there
anything I can do to lighten your sorrow?"
"Yes, young sir, heed it well, let it preach to you this great truth,
that all the woes arid ills we suffer are but the necessary outcome
of our own acts. Oh sir,--young sir, in you and me, as in all other
men, there lies a power that may help to make or mar the lives of
our fellows, a mighty power, yet little dreamed of, and we call it
Influence. For there is no man but he must, of necessity, influence,
to a more or less degree, the conduct of those he meets, whether he
will or no,--and there lies the terror of it! Thus, to some extent,
we become responsible for the actions of our neighbors, even after
we are dead, for Influence is immortal. Man is a pebble thrown into
the pool of Life,--a splash, a bubble, and he is gone! But--the
ripples of Influence he leaves behind go on widening and ever
widening until they reach the farthest bank. Oh, had I but dreamed of
this in my youth, I might have been--a happy man to-night,
and--others also. In helping others we ourselves are blessed, for a
noble thought, a kindly word, a generous deed, are never lost; such
things cannot go to waste, they are our monuments after we are dead,
and live on forever."