Evelyn R. Garratt

“ Aimee looked at Iddo with an expression that the girl did not quite understand.
"What are you thinking of?" she asked.
"I was thinking how much more I respected the pilgrims who are not ashamed of their King and their Country," said Aimee.
"Oh!" said Iddo, "I am afraid you despise me, I could not bear to think that."
"Well, my dear, don't think of it! See, the game is beginning again. Notwithstanding your lack of courage, there is something about you that I like; come, they are looking for you." ”

“ Darker and darker grew the way till at last, suddenly, with a shout, a band of men confronted him, and tearing his armour from him, flung him to the ground, and binding his feet together brought him to a dark cave and threw him into it.
It had all been done so quickly that Amer had been taken entirely by surprise, and now realised to his great discomfort that all his armour had been wrenched from him and that he had nothing with which to fight the enemy. There he was left, after all his bragging and pride, a prisoner in a dark cave, armourless. ”

“ At these words Amer's hand flew to his sword. He suddenly felt that the enemy was using the lips of the one he loved best in all the world to tempt him. Could it be the Devil himself? The words in the Guide Book which had perplexed him at first, but of which he had been gradually learning the meaning, flashed across his mind:—
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world." ”

“ Higher and higher his path led him, till he felt himself to be at so giddy a height that he trembled, though rejoicing.
He remembered when he had first started out on his journey, mounting a hill and crying out in his exuberance of spirits and pride,
"'I shall never be removed: Thou Lord of Thy goodness hast made my hill so strong:'" and he recollected how the words had scarcely left his mouth, when the enemy, Spiritual Pride, in all his grand trappings, had accosted him and led him to what might have been his ruin. ”

“ There were no hills to mount and no valleys to descend, and their path had for the most part been even and uneventful.
They had not however been free from the enemy. The little sprite, Worry, had more than once taken hold of Belthiah, and had left its wounds visible across her brow: and his comrade, Foreboding, had occasionally thrown her in the way of Despondency, a troublesome enemy, whom she had to fight bravely before overcoming; but she had had seasons of great happiness because of the conscious presence of the King.
Iddo also had had her battles. ”

“ Amer had taken off his helmet and shield, so that the darts, which we small, found easy access, and pierced him though he was scarcely conscious of them; every now and then one sharper than the others would make him start and tremble, but so enamoured was he with his surroundings that instead of rousing himself to don his armour afresh, he would turn the more readily to Self to devise some means by which to make him forget the pain they caused. He was rudely awakened by a rasping voice that he recognised at once as that belonging to Chisleu. ”

“ Never for a moment talk with him."
"What has Discontent to do with him?" asked Iddo.
"He is one of his scouts. He goes about to see how the land lies, and where he sees a favourable opportunity of Depression getting an entrance, he prepares the way for him. In fact, he is in his pay. Did you not notice how Depression had the poor wounded man in his grip? If ever he sees a man worsted in the fight, he at once joins company with him. I do not know what other enemy had wounded the man we passed, but I know that Depression was standing over him with his poisoned arrows, hoping to kill him." ”

“ I pray you not to hinder your journey in this way. I beseech you not to trouble about me. The enemy will overcome you as he has me. You are happy in your faith. You have your Guide Book next to your heart, and your sword in your hand. You believe in the Radiant City, and in your King. I will not be the one to throw you into the hands of the great enemy Doubt."
"Friend," said the traveller, while a radiant light from the City touched his helmet and illumined his face, "when my King calls me to fight, He will see that I get the victory, and I fight kneeling." ”

“ It was the band of singing pilgrims, Iddo and Chisleu amongst them, praising, as they passed on the heights above the Dark Valley.
Then, with a sudden spring, Amer leapt up, and drawing his sword, he fought. Fought in the strength of his King, crying out all the time for help to overcome. And the enemy, taken by surprise, and perceiving that this soldier, who had looked so weak and helpless, was now resolved to conquer, gradually drew back, till a favourable moment came to turn and fly. ”

“ As Amer watched the vanishing figure of Gabrielle, the great enemy, who has taken captive many a poor soul, sprang upon him and pierced him with poisoned darts. But, looking again and again towards the Radiant City and crying out in his agony and pain to its King, the lad kept his ground.
Harder and harder grew the fight, each gripping each with all the strength they possessed, and neither giving way for a moment. ”

“ His path led him across the land of Achshaph.* It was a land full of danger to the unwary, but thousands of pilgrims had passed through it unscathed, because their armour was bright and their sword in their hand. For those who asked for it, a special guard was sent to take them across; an invisible guard, but a guard that never failed to bring them in safety to the other side; but Amer, instead of a guard, had for his invisible companion the enemy Doubt, and so drew near to the land without fear or much thought. ”

“ But the man they had left behind felt his post to be a discouraging one, as Amer, on rising to continue his journey again, was on the watch, so that Spiritual Pride's emissary could not get near him.
Once however while Amer was resting on his journey, the enemy managed to gain his ear for a moment.
"How changed you are," he whispered, "you are greater than you have been before, because you are humbler. You never talk of yourself to the passers-by, but always manage to turn the conversation when it is about you. You are getting as humble as Heman." ”

“ I shall miss you if you go."
"It is so hard to leave you in this town," said Iddo, with tears in her eyes, "if only you would come too. Think what it will be to be shut out of the Radiant City at last!"
"There you are again! In such dead earnest! They are quite right here when they say that people who are on the way to the Radiant City are so terribly tiring. They will not take things as they find them or leave people as they find them, but will always be trying to save them from what they look upon as their doom. Why not let people believe what they like? ”

“ Moreover as he stood leaning on his sword at the edge of the gorge across which he had to go, he became aware that the rocks and cliffs were riddled with caves, and far down below he caught sight of small figures moving in and out of them, figures which, as his eyes became accustomed to the dim light, he saw were clad in darkness and gloom. ”

“ Then the far worse enemy, Doubt, met her just as she was passing through the gate, and hurled his darts at her face, that for a time she was so blinded by him that no sight could she get of the Radiant City, and she began to wonder if Adin's words were true, and she had been following a mere dream—a mirage. But the very fierceness of the enemy's assault made Iddo cry the louder and the more persistently to the King, and though at first no answer seemed to be vouchsafed and she was only conscious of the sharp arrows of the enemy, she would not give in. ”

“ It cheers one to see a young man full of health and vigour treading the path so steadily."
"I am trusting the King," said Amer, "and have read that 'He shall give His angels charge over me that I dash not my foot against a stone.'"
"And so you are able to make quicker progress," answered his companion, "and if it were not for your heavy armour you would be quicker still. Come; I am going the same way as you, and I will gladly take charge of some of your armour for you." ”

“ And as you are so very pretty, my dear, you will get the best of everything, only you know you really must not show all that armour."
"I'll tuck my sword under my dress," said Iddo, now quite bent on seeing more of Achshaph, "and I'll hide my helmet and the rest of my armour in this long grass. There will be no difficulty in finding them again, will there?"
"No difficulty whatever," said Madam Vanity, for that was her name, "and it is the only way if you want to enjoy Achshaph. They must never guess that you are a pilgrim to the Radiant City." ”

“ But by this time Amer, now thoroughly convinced of his folly in having anything whatever to do with the King's enemies, wrenched his sword from its scabbard, and rusty though it was, wielded it to such good effect that for the time Doubt fled. But with the victory over Doubt, came a terrible sense of sin and fear. If the Guide Book was the Word of the Great King, if every word of it was true, if the King knew each act of his servants and even their thoughts, which the Guide Book affirmed, in what a terrible position was Amer! ”

“ Amer's path now led him across a plain, it was bare and treeless, but every now and then he came by green pastures and still waters and was refreshed on his monotonous journey. He was able to hold communion too with his King, and though this part of his journey was free from any special incident, he learnt lessons of trust and patience which he might not have been able to learn in the stress and noise of hard warfare. ”

“ Amer looked up into the Ambassador's face with a look of perplexity on his own.
"I do not understand the Guide Book," he said, "It speaks of enemies, and I see none."
"The first part of the way is often easy," answered the Ambassador. "There was once a people who started on a journey to a land flowing with milk and honey, and the Great King to whom they belonged led them a long way round, in order that they might not meet the enemy too soon, and so be discouraged and turn back. But you never know when the enemy will be upon you, and you must be clad in the King's armour." ”

“ The Morbids looked peaceable enough as I passed them on the road, and I only talked with them for a few minutes as I rested. But they have not left me since, and I cannot get rid of them."
"Out with your sword, man," cried the Ambassador, "have you forgotten the armour? To parley with the enemy or to argue with him is fatal. I see your sword is sheathed and idle in your hand. Out with it and do battle." Amer drew his sword, and at that the little grey people fled. ”

“ Amer's love for his King had so grown, that now his one great longing and aim was to please Him, and remembering his King's words to the young girl who had tended the little boy across the dark river, and finding them written in his Guide Book, he looked out for the weakest and smallest of the pilgrims that came across his path, to help and to succour them. The people whom others passed by and neglected, became now dear to his heart as he recognised that in serving them he was serving the Great King. ”

“ We are here, and you, my friend, have been sent here, to proclaim the Good News and to fight the enemy that is destroying these people, soul and body; and the fight is long and fierce. We need to watch and we need to pray, and to hold close communion with our King. ”

“ So skilfully did he now begin to use his sword that between the two, who both fought on their knees, the enemy gradually began to falter in his attacks, and was finally driven back.
"The King be praised," said the traveller, as he rose, pale and weary, and looked towards the Radiant City. The light of it was on his brow, and his shield and breastplate blazed brighter than they had ever done before, as he began to help the victorious soldier to his feet. ”

“ Then his fellow-workers would quite unconsciously be used of the enemy to tempt him.
For these friends sometimes surprised him. Although called by their King to do this work some of them seemed to look upon it rather lightly. They did not apparently feel bound to do it with all their might, neither did they seem to understand Amer's zeal and earnestness.
"We cannot all work like you," they would say to him, "it would be foolish on our part if we did. We should soon break up and not be able to work at all. We really think you tire yourself out with your efforts, and they are often in vain." ”

“ It is not very likely that you will have to confront the Devil himself, as you are too small and insignificant. But should you grow into a very useful and powerful servant of the Great King, should you in the future fight many of His enemies and give help on the road to many of His servants, it is possible that the great enemy may attack you in person, and then woe to you if your sword has grown rusty, or if you are not wearing your armour. ”

“ Spiritual Pride's soldiers, who had been following at a distance, hoping for an opportunity of wounding him again, and anxious lest Amer should altogether escape them, at the sight of the cross and of the prostrate figure of the young soldier at its foot, felt that their power was almost gone, and leaving only one to keep watch at his elbow, and to give them a warning should a likely chance occur again of wounding him, turned back to worry and annoy some other poor traveller. ”

“ Let him speak. If he has anything to teach us let him do it."
"But it is false," cried Chisleu, "don't listen to him. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing."
"Take the intruder away," shouted some of the bystanders, "we wish to hear what the preacher has to say. It may be true or it may be false, but we wish to hear him."
"Come away, dear," said her mother to Iddo, "it won't do us any good to listen."
"But," said Iddo, "what did he mean? No one ever doubts, surely, the truth of the Guide Book? ”

“ He is even more narrow than mother; apparently he thinks no one can possibly be in the right path unless they entirely agree with him in every detail. Even mother does not believe that. She thinks there are certain truths that are quite necessary for us all, but that truth may be many-sided, and though there is only one way, the King does not lead each one of His servants by exactly the same path."
"But they must all have the King's mark on them," said Iddo. ”

“ Amer, remembering the rules inscribed on the walls of the cave of Spiritual Pride, noticed how the slow traveller resisted the temptation to speak of his own experience, and spoke instead of the King.
"Ah!" sighed the stranger, "you are right. It is because I forget the promises of my King and His Book that I fail; thank you, Sir. But look, what is that crowd I see before me? If some poor fellow is being belaboured by the enemy I must be off to help," and he began running, and would even then have forgotten his shoes, if Iddo had not cried after him,
"Your shoes, your shoes." ”

“ There was an amount of daring in his conversation that made the elders occasionally shake their heads as if only half approving of what they heard, but which caused cheers of approbation from the younger members of the community.
"Amer is not improving," said one of the guests in a low voice to his neighbour, "and now that he is on his way to make such a fortune no doubt he will grow more arrogant than he is already." ”