Anne M. Mitchell

“ I took up a book the other day when I was feeling rather listless and inclined to remain at home, and I had not read two verses of a hymn upon which my eyes fell before I laid it down, put on my bonnet and went out to visit my scholars. Isn’t there some work for you, Tom, among all those people? ”

“ I do not see how we are going to get along. I think I shall try to see if I can get something to do.”
“I was thinking of that, too,” said Tom. “There’s a man here to-day who wants hands to go twenty miles [8] out. He wanted me, but I told him ‘No.’”
Martha stitched away in silence.
“I’d go,” said Tom, suddenly, “but there’s the school; I could not give that up.”
“Not for Jesus, Tom?” asked Martha, looking round with a little smile.
“Would it be for Jesus, Martha,” said Tom, earnestly, “to give up school and go to work, neglecting my education meanwhile?” ”

“ It was a good day to breathe the soft, mild air, to be among the growing things and dismiss winter from the mind; and, above all, it was one of those days when the restless feeling we all have sometimes returns in full force, and the thought of coming life and energy in the natural world fills the mind with a longing to do something more than sit still and enjoy. ”

“ One day at noon Tom stood in the field, leaning against the branch of a tree, resting himself and softly singing, when up came one of his evening scholars with an appeal for help.
“I knowed you knowed,” he said, apologetically, “so I brought it to find out.”
Tom took it with a little weary sigh, which he did not allow to reach his lips, and gave the required help. As he handed back the book he asked, with a smile,
“How are you getting on now, Uncle Gilbert?”
“Only toler’ble, Tom,” he returned; “old feller’s aches and pains right smart bad sometimes.” ”

“ He was so constantly in the habit of dropping a word for Jesus, because “out of the abundance of his heart his mouth spake,” that the people learned to expect that when they came to him in odd minutes for assistance in their tasks, there would be a word of holy cheer given them before they went away. They learned to have a strange reverence for this boy. It was some little time before Tom discovered that Mr. Sutherland knew of all this, but the master had heard the boy’s name in so many directions that at length he became interested to know how far his popularity extended. ”

“ All this—not exactly in this form, but the substance of this—with a restless, unsatisfied feeling, was possessing and fast getting control of Tom Alson, as he sat on a box in front of a store in Huntsville, idly tapping one foot after the other against its wooden sides. He had anything but [5] an ambitious, energetic look, but then Tom never showed his feelings, and any one gazing at him would hardly have imagined that at this very moment he was longing to go out into the world and “do something.” ”

“ He came up to his home by and by, and found his sister Martha in a chair outside the door, busied with some sewing. He sat down on a step near and watched her swift-moving hand in silence for some minutes, with his eyes on her work and his thoughts a long way off.
“Has mother come back?” he asked, at length.
“Yes, Tom,” replied Martha, with a little sigh, “but she didn’t succeed in getting any work. ”

“ Old gray-headed men bent over their spelling-books and [76] tried hard to decipher the words, looking up into the youthful face that watched them as to one above themselves, because to him had been granted a privilege which was not theirs. As the days advanced this did not lessen in the least; if anything, it seemed to increase. It was a beautiful thing to see, and to any one who felt an interest in the welfare of these neglected souls a peep into this tiny school-room was worth going far to see. Tom often wished Miss Mason could be there. ”

“ The fields which lay nearer home were truly “white unto the harvest.” The cotton-buds had burst everywhere, and over the Southern hills the fresh breezes of September were blowing. The hands were busy in the fields, and Tom counted many dark forms among the white cotton, hard at work. ”

“ And now, dear reader, I had meant to leave you here, and let the story of Tom’s summer work leave its own impress on your minds and hearts, but when I think of the joy, and love, and reward of working for Jesus, and the faintness with which I have tried to show them to you, I am longing for power to carry home the truth to your hearts. But God who giveth the increase will bring it to [152] pass when human hands fall powerless. ”

“ You remember I told you about the library. There was everything there that money could buy and taste devise. Mr. Sutherland had taken this room for himself and Tom, soon after the boy had commenced to spend his time there, and they two were the only ones who occupied it. Not one bit of the prettiness was lost upon Tom. The little education he had received had fitted him, as education [106] fits everybody, to admire and appreciate all that is worthy of praise. Tom liked the velvet library chairs better than the wooden ones at home; he preferred the hanging scarlet curtains to none at all ”

“ Sutherland wants me to stay here too, to be a sort of waiting-maid for Miss Lillie. How do you like that?”
“My dear Martha, that is glorious,” said Tom, bringing his hands together with sudden joy. “There will be no discouragements if you are here.”
“But, Tom dear,” said Martha, “I would not stay, and I should not want to leave you, but in the fall the good people who sent Miss Mason to us in Huntsville are going to send a teacher to this plantation, and Mr. Sutherland [151] is perfectly willing. So we may study yet, Tom.” ”

“ Simple and child-like, she never seemed to remember the difference in position between herself and the people; and they, finding they were looked upon as equals, learned to love [123] her. Tom was quick to see this, and take advantage of it, to interest Lillie in every way in his power in the Sunday-school and the people. Mr. Sutherland saw it and shut his eyes to it, taking care that no rumor of it should reach his wife.
All this was quite encouraging to Tom, and he grew happy in the long summer days. ”

“ Of all Tom’s boy friends there was but one who was of this company, and he, although a school-mate, knew Tom only slightly. But he was alone too, and so after a while, seeing the empty seat beside Tom, he came and sat down.
“How do you think you’ll like it out there?” he asked, as Tom turned round.
“I have hardly thought,” replied [16] Tom. “I do not know anything about it.”
“I can tell you a heap then. It’s a big plantation, with quarters for the hands not far from the house. The master lives in a big, white mansion, and has charge of the cotton and cornfields. ”

“ Tom was astonished and wounded. He could not imagine where they could have heard it, and it [30] prevented, for a time, the advancement he wished to make in their regard. He tried his best. By every effort in his power he endeavored to gain friends among this new company, and in a few instances he succeeded immediately; in others not so well; and often it was impossible to have a talk with those whose friendship he wished most to gain, on account of their leisure-time being so much occupied with dances in the great barn. ”

“ Sutherland took him away from his regular work in the field, and sent him into the barn to receive the loads of hay which were being brought in from the field. Tom was always glad of these occasional changes, because they rested him from more fatiguing work, and often gave him a few minutes in which to study. He brought his Bible and his arithmetic with him when he came out this morning, and it so happened that he found leisure to give them attention, for the field from which the hay was being brought was at a considerable distance, and it took some time [70] for them to come with the loads. ”

“ So they fell to work again—the little battle over and the victory won, and a battle-song of triumph in Tom’s heart, for “he that ruleth his own spirit is greater than he that taketh a city.”
By and by, when the minutes had made an hour and more, the books were closed. The master’s little girl had come round near her father’s chair, and stood there holding on to the arm of the chair, swinging to and fro, and singing, “Jesus loves me,” as Tom and Mr. Sutherland finished the evening’s work with arrangements to resume it at the same hour on the morrow. ”

“ Martha was the only one who ever had a glimpse, [13] and she only now and then. He counted the cost at every step, yet still he had gone back to his acquaintance of the morning, and agreed with him to work on the plantation during the summer. His father had listened, too, when he proposed it, and although he would have liked to keep his boy at home, yet work was scarce, and he could not always find means to live; so Tom must go. He had taken leave of his teacher and the school-room quite calmly, to all appearance, and no one knew how hard the struggle was to give up all this for Jesus. ”

“ Hands used to work, but grown tender of late when the work had been only the long hours of writing. His feet were bare; there was no need of shoes and stockings, and there was no inclination for them, for Tom’s money went to buy what was needed at home; so they rested on the soft carpet of the library and the carpetless floor of Aunt Margaret’s cabin alike. To a stranger going into Mr. [105] Sutherland’s house of a morning, and watching the still figure at the desk in the library, the contrast between the boy and his surroundings would have been striking. ”

“ When those that love the Lord
In one another’s peace delight,
And thus fulfill his word!” THERE was one part of Tom’s Sunday-school and evening-school work which I think he never took into consideration when he was endeavoring to calculate, as he was very fond of doing, the extent of its influence and the number of people to whom it had been the means of doing good. I say, I think he never discovered the amount of good it did to two loving hearts at home—Miss Mason and Martha. ”

“ Jimmy shunned him on every occasion, and when forced into his company would say sneering things with regard to Tom’s “great learning,” as he called it. Yet still Tom was uniformly kind and polite, and when those around would silence Jimmy in some one of his insolent speeches, his replies came always mild and gentle. This conduct gained for him more friends and more kindly attention to the words he spoke for Jesus than anything else could have done. It does not take learned minds to know when those around them live according to their profession.
Not a word of all this reached Martha ”

“ He watched the white fingers move to and fro in silence for a few minutes, and then he said,
“Miss Lillie, I have not been able to think of my Sunday-school in a very long time.”
“I have been waiting for you to [142] speak of it all the afternoon,” said Lillie, rousing herself and stopping her work.
“Well?” said Tom, not daring yet to ask the question.
“Well,” echoed Lillie, “we consider ourselves something wonderful, I can tell you. We have met every Sunday in the cabin, and Jimmy Harrison—you know him—reads to us from one of the new books and the Bible. ”

“ He used in years after to look back upon the pretty twilight walk with utter joy, and never without a fresh desire in his heart to work [91] for that Lord who always gives the wherewithal when we have the spirit.
“It’s Tom Alson,” said the little child who opened the first cabin door, and Tom heard his welcome from within:
“Come in, Tom, here’s supper just ready,” said Aunt Polly’s voice, “and you must have somethin’, sure. It’s a fine ev’nin’, isn’t it?” ”

“ Of his efforts in the work for Jesus he told her, with a longing to do more, but there was no mention of trials or difficulties, and the letters were read and put carefully away with just the feeling of joy and thankfulness which Tom had striven for when he wrote them.
[62] CHAPTER IV.
“Leave God to order all thy ways,
And hope in him, whate’er betide;
Thou’lt find him in the evil days:
An all-sufficient strength and guide
Who trusts in God’s unchanging love,
Builds on a rock that naught can move.”
George Newmark’s Hymn. ”

“ Therefore it was with rather a grave face and sober step that he walked in the gathering twilight toward the mansion. Aunt Dinah was standing on the back porch, throwing corn and feed to the chickens, who, having grown tame from long acquaintance, were crowding close around her, in order to get each one a full share of the evening meal.
Tom came up and touched his cap. “Auntie,” said he, “has Mr. Sutherland finished his supper?” ”

“ After the commencement of his evening-school, he [103] had written every week, either to his sister or his teacher, and when the modestly written accounts were read by those for whom they were written, it did them a world of good.
“Brother Tom is doing so much, Miss Mason,” said Martha, one day, as she stood by Miss Mason’s sitting-room fire, with Tom’s last letter in her hand, “I feel as if I was not doing anything.”
“We must just sit still and be thankful, until our work comes, Martha,” replied Miss Mason. “God will send it to us if we ask him. ”

“ Sutherland will be better pleased to find a cheerful room when he comes back.”
“Tom, you just turn round and go back to your writing,” said Aunt [109] Dinah, indignantly. “I’m sorry as ever I can be that there’s no fire, but I’ll have one there in five minutes. I don’t know what these niggers means by disobeyin’ my orders. Here, you Jack!” she called out, catching sight of the youngest of her flock, “why didn’t you make the library fire? Here’s Tom got no fire to write by, and he your Sunday-school teacher, too. Ain’t you ’shamed of yourself.” ”

“ There was one face, however, which was steadily set against his growing popularity from the first. This was Jimmy, his school-mate in Huntsville and his room-mate here. After a few evenings, he gave up study and withdrew himself from his friend more and more. He knew almost as much as Tom, but he cared nothing at all about it, except to be envious of his friend’s position. “I can write as well as he,” he would often say, but when asked to send a letter, he would always refuse. ”