The Torn Bible; Or, Hubert's Best Friend Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  TOO LATE FOR THE POST-BAG.

  Be wise to-day; 'tis madness to defer; Next day the fatal precedent will plead; Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of life. YOUNG.

  Meantime, Hubert went on his way, and a feeling of sadness came over himafter he lost sight of his home amongst the trees; for the thought hadcome into his mind that perhaps he might never see it again. For amoment his heart beat quickly, and he gave a deep sigh; then, puttinghis hand into the leather bag, he was just going to take out hismother's present to him, when a man, who sat opposite, said, "I suppose,young soldier, you are off to join your regiment?"

  "Yes," replied Hubert, with a smile; and as he drew his hand from thebag, he continued, "we are ordered to the East Indies."

  "East Indies, eh? you'll soon see a little life, then; they tell methere's plenty of fighting going on out yonder, though we don't getmuch of it in the newspaper. But you are very young?"

  "Yes, I'm the youngest cadet in the regiment; I'm just turned fifteen;but I shall be as brave as any of the others, I dare say: and I mean tomake as good a soldier."

  "No doubt of it," replied more than one of the passengers, and thecoachman, who had heard the conversation, cracked his whip, as he chimedin, "Hear! hear! well done!" Then, as the coach rolled along over many amile, they talked of nothing but Hubert and the sphere of his futureexistence. It feasted the boy's pride; and every other thought fledaway, and he forgot all about his home and his Bible.

  It was the morning of the third day since Hubert started, when, aftermany changes and delays, the journey was almost ended, and in less thanan hour they would be in London.

  "Do you go to your ship at once?" inquired a gentleman who was seatedbeside the coachman, and who had not only come all the journey withHubert, but who appeared particularly interested in him.

  "I should like to go very much," replied the boy, "because I know no onein London, though my leave of absence is not up till to-morrow."

  "My brother is captain of your vessel," said the stranger; "so, if youlike, we can go together, for I am on the way to say good-bye to him."

  Nothing could have suited Hubert better; so, upon leaving the coach,which reached London as the clocks were striking five, they hurried offto the street where the mail started for Portsmouth, and aftertravelling all day they reached the vessel. How happy was Hubert thatnight! what a joyous glow was on his cheek! Several of his oldcompanions were there, and not one of them appeared to have any sorrowat leaving friends and home; they greeted each other with light heartsand buoyant spirits, talked of the varied enjoyments of the pastholiday, and laughed loud and long, as they sat together in themess-room.

  Here and there, apart from the young ones, in nook and corner, orleaning over the side of the vessel, an older head resting upon thehand, told that with some, at least, the pang of parting from home anddear ones had left its impress upon the heart of the soldier; and therewas one young lad, a stranger, only one month older than Hubert, seatedupon a coil of rope, weeping as though his heart would break. The littlecabin-boy, a child of eleven, tried to soothe him, but the sailors, asthey passed by, said, "Let him alone, boy, and he'll join his messmatesbelow all the sooner."

  Night closed at last, and for a few hours, at least, there was silence:sleep may not have visited every pillow, but the loud laugh was hushed,and the stillness of night rested upon the vessel.

  It was late the next morning when Hubert left his cabin; all was noiseand confusion; hundreds of soldiers were moving about, and Hubert, toescape from the turmoil, was preparing to go ashore when a superiorofficer touched him on the shoulder and desired him to remain in thevessel. Hubert was vexed at the order, and sat down gloomily upon aseat; the time, however, passed quickly by, and at noon, when the buglesounded to summon all visitors on deck, that they might be sent onshore, he had forgotten his anger, and was one of the most cheerfulthere.

  The friends were gone, all the partings were over, the gangways weresecured, and everything was ready. Wind and tide in favour, time wasprecious, and the roll was called: every soldier, to a man, answered tohis name, and they gave three hearty cheers for King George, theirregiment, and Old England.

  "The ship will weigh anchor in less than an hour," said a voice close toHubert's ear, and, turning round, he saw the gentleman who hadaccompanied him from his home.

  "Oh, how do you do?" said Hubert, shaking hands with him. "Do you sailwith us?"

  "No, only just a mile or so, then I shall return in a boat. Have you aletter to your parents? if so, I shall be happy to post it for you."

  Hubert's face turned red: he had forgotten to write, and he replied, "Ihave not a letter."

  "Perhaps you have already sent one?"

  "Yes," said Hubert; "I mean no; I have not written; the ship sails sosoon, and I have been so engaged that I forgot."

  "Forgot?" said the stranger, retaining his hand. "What! forget to writeto those parents you may never see again? Come, my lad, that looks illin a soldier; take a friend's advice, and write a letter at once; if Icannot take it, you will have an opportunity of sending it before manydays pass, and your parents must be anxious about you: try and rememberall the good counsels they gave you before you left, and never forgetthem. Good-bye; remember what I say; good-bye."

  There was much warmth in the stranger's manner as he shook Hubert'shand, into whose young heart every good resolution returned, and hehastened to the cabin which he was to share with three other cadets. Hewas silent and thoughtful as he unpacked his chest to find his writingmaterials, and there the previous evening he had placed his Bible. As heraised the lid, his eye fell upon his mother's last gift, and moreearnestly than before he determined upon writing a long letter. Thepaper was found, and the writing-desk, which a dear little sister hadgiven him, was opened, when in rushed the three noisy companions of hiscabin, and made so much disturbance that he found it impossible towrite; so, thinking that he should have plenty of time "to-morrow," heput his things back again into his chest, and became as noisy as theothers. Another opportunity was lost, another good resolution broken,for the society of noisy and riotous companions; and it may be that themany evils and sorrows of his after-life were but the fruits of hisneglecting this first great duty. Had he remembered his parents andtheir counsels, and cherished the little germ of goodness that wasspringing up in his heart, heavenly dews might have descended upon theflower, and kept him from the ways of evil.

  The vessel at last set sail, and order was restored. Hubert was upondeck, and as he looked over the side of the ship, and saw the whitecliffs of his country fading from his view, he for once feltlonely--felt he was leaving all he loved, and he wished he had writtenhome.

  "Just a line: I might do it now," he said to himself. He found, however,upon turning to go below, that he would be required to perform one ofhis military duties almost immediately, so that he could not write then;and he felt such a mixture of sorrow and vexation, that the feelings ofthe boy mocked, as it were, the dress he wore; and, leaning his headover the side of the ship, more than one large tear mingled with thewaters of the deep.

  Their first night at sea came on: how calm and beautiful it was! therewas scarcely a ripple upon the ocean; the bright stars in the high vaultof heaven looked down like so many gentle friends upon the eyes thatgazed up at them, and the pale moonbeams lighted up the pathway forthose wanderers on the waters. Hubert was not happy; many, many times hefancied he could hear his mother speaking to him, and he would havegiven much if he had only written to her. It was then he againremembered his Bible, and the promise to read it, which promise he nowdetermined to perform, and as soon as he could conveniently go to hiscabin, he did so, opened his chest, and took out the book, intending toread.

  "How small it is," he thought, "and how pretty!" Then he turned overleaf by leaf; he knew not where to begin: he could remember nothing atall about it, and it ended in his putting it back in his chest and goingto his bed. Sleep soon silenced e
very thought, no letter was writtenhome, not a word of the Bible was read, promise and resolutions hadpassed away with his sorrow, and Hubert little thought, as he silencedthe monitor within, how hard it would be to return to the duty he wasneglecting.

  The ship had now been a fortnight at sea; it had passed through the Bayof Biscay, and was off the coast of Portugal, when the soldiers wereinformed that in about an hour a vessel would pass very near to them;and, as the sea was calm, a boat would leave in forty minutes to carryletters for England to the passing ship.

  "Forty minutes," said Hubert aloud, and apparently pleased, for hehurried off, as many more did, to avail themselves of the opportunity ofwriting home. Forty minutes, however, was too long a time for Hubert,and he returned again to the deck, to seek a companion and inquire whathe intended to do, before he sat down to write himself. Thoughts ofneglected duty and unkindness to his parents had frequently disturbedHubert's mind; try as he would to sweep every remembrance of hisdisobedience away, the thought would come that he had not done right;but, instead of sorrowing and making an effort to repair the ill he haddone, he tried to persuade himself that he was cowardly in giving way tohis feelings; so he endeavoured to smother the rising affection thatstole upon him during the first few days he was upon the sea, and theresult was that he became more reckless than ever.

  "Letters ready?" all at once startled Hubert, as he stood talking to hiscompanion upon the deck: there was the man with the bag collecting them,and his was not written. The bag was sealed, the boat was pushed off,the last chance, probably for months, was gone, and, as he began to huma tune, he walked away to the other end of the ship. He looked over theside, and a momentary feeling of vexation came over him as he saw thelittle boat carrying its treasure, its bag of home letters; but he waslearning now to defy his conscience, and sang louder the snatch of songthat rushed to his aid, and seemed to be all he wanted to throw back thebetter feelings of his heart.

  Many weeks had passed since that noble vessel left England; its whitesails were still spread in the breeze, and it was wafted on over thesea. Hubert had tried very hard to forget all about his home; therecollections of it were not pleasant, they were too accusing for him toindulge in; there was a holiness about it which ill-accorded with thelife he was leading, and the effort he continually made to suppressevery thought of it frequently caused him to fall deeper into sin.

  One night, when in the height of glee in the mess-room, when songs werebeing sung, and the giddy laugh rang out upon the silent waters, andHubert was joining fully in the mirth of his comrades, he suddenlyremembered that he had in his chest a book of sea-songs, and hastenedaway to get it. He knew pretty well where to put his hand upon it; so,when he reached his cabin, he never thought of lighting his little lamp,but knelt down beside his chest in the dark. It was scarcely the work ofa minute; his chest was re-locked, and he skipped away back to themess-room; his hand was upon the door, when all at once his eye fellupon the book he had brought; it was not the one he had intended tobring--it was not the song-book, but the Bible. He started when he sawwhat he had; and how was it that a sudden chill sped like lightningover him? How was it that on that sultry night he felt so cold? His handtrembled, his heart beat quickly, but the tempter was by his side, andhe gave utterance to many an evil thought as he turned back to changethat unwelcome treasure.

  The Bible was exchanged for the song-book, and Hubert was again with hiscomrades, where he became more riotous than before, and was nearly thelast to retire to rest.

  There was silence once more in the ship, for it was midnight, and allexcept the few who kept the night-watch were sleeping. Hubert hadperhaps fallen asleep as soon as any of his companions, but his rest wasshort, for he started up in alarm. He tried to remember what it was thathad disturbed him, but could not. He looked around to see if either ofhis comrades were moving, but their deep, heavy breathing told him theyslept; and then he lay down again in his own berth. There, in that stillhour, as he listened to the soft wind passing through the rigging, andthe slow measured tread of the sentinels on deck, he all at once thoughtof his English home, thought of his broken faith with his mother,thought of his Bible.

  "It is no use," he said aloud, "I cannot alter it now; how I wish I hadbut just written home! fool that I was not to do so; and that book, howI wish she had never given it to me; it will make me a coward: in factit does; I never go to my chest, but there it is; I'll burn it--I'llthrow it away; how I wish I had never had it!" and he struck the side ofhis berth with his clenched fist as he spoke.

  There was no voice in that little cabin to answer or direct Hubert inhis outburst of passionate feeling; and, as he looked around at hissleeping comrades, he crept softly from his berth, and went and kneltdown by his chest. The moon shone brightly through the tiny cabinwindow, and as he knelt by his chest he could see very well everythingaround him. He took out his Bible, and gazed wildly at it for a moment,scarce knowing what next to do; then rising as if a sudden thought hadstruck him, he tried to open the window that he might throw it into thesea: it was, however, too secure to open at his will, and, turning awayafter a fruitless effort, he sought a place to hide it. "Where shall Ihide it?" he said, as he walked round and round his cabin; there was nonook or corner into which he could thrust it so that it should nevermeet his eye again. What could he do with it? He must wait for anotheropportunity; so, taking out nearly everything in his chest, he thrust itdown into the farthest corner, heaped all his things upon it, made themsecure, and then returned to his bed. The excitement of the moment wasover, yet Hubert could not rest, and, as he turned himself upon hisuneasy bed, he never once regretted the wicked thought that had led himto try and throw away his Bible; but the determination to dispose of itgrew stronger.

  Some weeks after this little event, the regiment arrived in India, andwas ordered far up the country: the long, toilsome march which Hubertnow had to undergo, initiated him into some of the realities of asoldier's life, and it was not long before he found that the career hehad chosen was not so full of enjoyment as he had anticipated. He veryoften felt weary; the heat of the country depressed his spirits; and heoften sighed deeply as he remembered the pleasant hills and valleys ofhis own land. The regiment had no sooner located itself in the newstation, than Hubert and many others were struck down with fever. Deathwas busy amongst them, but the young prodigal was spared. Many a time hehad wished to die; sick and amongst strangers, his mother's words hadcome home to him with double power, and he felt the bitter truth thatthere was indeed none who loved him, none to comfort him; it was awonder he lived, for the fever was malignant, and the care bestowed uponthe sick very little indeed. Poor Hubert! how was it he could not die?Young as he was, this illness taught him the sad lesson that where thereis no love or interest there is an inhumanity in man; and as he grewbetter his heart became more hardened, for he began to cherish a hatredtowards every one around him.