Amos Huntingdon

“ Amos looked sadly and kindly at him, and then said, “And can you really, Mr Vivian, justify this conduct of yours to yourself? Can you feel really happy in the course you are pursuing? Oh! will you not let me persuade you—for my poor sister’s sake, for your own sake—to leave your present mode of life, and to seek your happiness in the only path which God can bless? I would gladly help you in any way I could—”
But here his companion broke in, scorn on his lip, and a fierce malignant anger glaring from his eyes. “Stop, stop, Mr Huntingdon! enough of that. ”

“ The old man’s appearance now attracted every one’s attention. He had drawn himself up to his full height, and had turned so as to confront Mr Huntingdon, who was sitting with his sister by his side on a garden bench facing the house. His snow-white hair gave him ordinarily a venerable appearance, and this was now increased by the look of intense earnestness which glowed in his every feature. His back was to Amos, who, noticing that the old man was evidently about to speak under the pressure of some unusual excitement, half rose to his feet, but too late to stop old Harry’s purpose. ”

“ When Amos Huntingdon had reached his mother’s retreat and told his errand, he confided to the good physician under whose charge Mrs Huntingdon was placed his great purpose, and the hope that it might now be accomplished, since his sister had returned to her home. The kind-hearted friend at once entered into his plans, and gave him every encouragement to hope that he would meet with good success. But care and judgment and tact must be used, lest, in endeavouring to bring back the mind to its old balance, anything should be done which might rather throw it further out. ”

“ To this Amos made no reply, but turned away to hide his vexation.
“My boy,” said Mr Huntingdon, addressing his elder son, “I’m a little surprised myself that you should be at all hard up. I quite expected that you would have followed the example of Mr Johnson’s sons, and have put down your name. I think you could have afforded it.”
Still Amos did not reply, but seemed hesitating what to say. But here Walter broke in again. “I call it downright mean!” he exclaimed bitterly; “but he’s getting meaner and meaner, that he is. What he does with his money nobody knows. ”

“ I am sure, dear children, that they are to the point; I mean, that they are examples of the sublimest moral courage—that courage which leads godly men and women not to shrink from duty though disease and death lie before them or hover over their path.”
“Thank you, dearest auntie,” said Walter; “you have indeed brought some glorious examples before us, and they just fit in with the conduct of our own dear hero here, who seems to wish us to forget that there ever was such a person as Amos Huntingdon, but he certainly won’t succeed.” ”

“ Gregson will ask me about it, and what am I to say? ‘Brother Amos disapproves of raffles;’ will that do? I can just fancy I can see him and Saunders holding their sides and shaking like a pair of pepper-boxes. No, it won’t do; we can’t always be doing just what’s right. If Amos don’t go in for the raffle, I think I must, unless I wish to be laughed at till they’ve jeered all the spirit out of me.”
Amos made no answer, nor did Miss Huntingdon; but as Walter looked towards her, with no very happy expression of countenance, she quietly laid one hand across the other. ”

“ There was a restlessness about his manner which Miss Huntingdon noticed and wondered at; but her attention was then drawn to Walter, who, lounging against a bench, said in a rather drawling voice, “I really wonder what some people do with their money. For my part, I don’t see what’s the use of it except to be jolly with it yourself, and to make other people jolly with it.—Amos,” he added abruptly, “what’s up with you that you’ve become so very poor all of a sudden?” ”

“ I don’t know where you’d have been, sir, nor Miss Huntingdon neither, if it hadn’t been for Master Amos’s presence of mind.”
“Ah, well, perhaps so,” said his master, not best pleased with the remark; while Amos turned red, and motioned to the butler to keep silent. “Presence of mind is a very useful thing in its way, no doubt; but give me good manly courage,—there’s nothing like that, to my mind.—What do you say, Kate?”
“Well, Walter,” replied his sister slowly and gravely, “I am afraid I can hardly quite agree with you there. ”

“ But at last the silence was broken by the clear and gentle voice of Miss Huntingdon. “It may be, dearest ones, that a few words from myself may not be out of place after dear Walter’s speech. He has indeed spoken the truth. Our noble Amos has certainly shown us, in the carrying out of his great heart-purpose, true moral courage in many of its most striking forms. But he has not been alone in this. I have been a privileged teacher by word of mouth, as Walter has said ”

“ Then a fit of coughing came on, and all were silent. “I will leave you together, if you please,” said the Scripture reader after a pause to Amos. “You know where to find me if I am wanted,” and he retired.
Long was it before the unhappy man could trust himself to speak. At last, having sipped a little of a soothing mixture which Mr Harris had brought him, he turned his face towards his brother-in-law, who had now taken a seat in front of him on a three-legged stool, and said, “Shall I tell you why I sent to you, Mr Huntingdon?” Amos inclined his head. ”

“ But here her niece interrupted her. “O auntie, there can be no possible harm. No one will notice us; there will be thousands of people, and we shall be lost in the crowd. People are never so thoroughly alone as when they are in the middle of a great crowd.”
“And who is to go with you?” asked Mr Huntingdon.
“Oh, of course I don’t expect dear sober old Amos to go, he is quite above such things; but Walter might take me,—wouldn’t you, dear Walter?—Now, may I go, dear father, if Walter takes me? It will be such fun cantering there and back this delightful summer weather.” ”

“ She was very anxious to see her daughter, who was her only child, and was now passing out of her youthful days, well married, as the world esteems it; so she was very glad of an opportunity of drawing out Amos Huntingdon, whom she looked upon as a worthy, weak, shy, dull young man, rather depressed by his discouraging home surroundings, and not a likely person to attract or seek the affections of any young lady who might be fortunate enough to combine the allurements of wealth and beauty. ”

“ As he said this, Amos turned his eyes on him with a gaze so imploring that Walter was for a moment silenced. Miss Huntingdon also noticed that look, and, though she could not tell the cause of it, she was deeply pained that her nephew should have called it forth from his brother. Walter, however, was not to be kept from his joke, though he had noticed that his aunt looked gravely and sorrowfully at him, and had crossed one hand upon the other. “Ah, well,” he went on, “love in a cottage is a very romantic thing, no doubt; and I hope these darling little ones, Amos, enjoy the best of health.” ”

“ The young people were the first to alight; and then Mrs Huntingdon, handed out of the carriage by Walter, and leaning on the arm of Amos, entered once more the home she had left so sadly. Her husband’s arms were at once round her, but he restrained himself by a strong effort, and just drew her gently very closely to him, whispering to her, as audibly as tears would let him, “Welcome home again, my dear, dear wife.” And she returned the loving pressure, and spoke in subdued voice her thankfulness to be at home with him once more ”

“ He had no deliberate intention of deceiving Mr Huntingdon about his son, but having once given him the impression that he would leave that son a fortune, he did not trouble himself to undeceive his friend on the subject; but being a man in whom self-interest spoke with a louder voice than conscience, he was not sorry to find the conviction strongly rooted in the squire’s mind that Amos was to be his godfather’s heir, as this conviction evidently added to the warmth of the welcome with which he was received at the Manor-house whenever he chose to take up his quarters there. ”

“ They are perfectly within your power. The first is, that you would try and pay back part of my deep debt of gratitude to your noblest of brothers, who is standing there—to Amos Huntingdon, whom I dare not call brother; and I will tell you how the payment is to be made—not in gold or silver, for he would not take such payment, but in giving yourself up to the service of that Saviour whom he has truly and courageously followed. ”

“ Walter looked discomfited, and not best pleased. Then Miss Huntingdon said, in her clear gentle voice, “Surely dear Amos is right. If the principle of gambling is in the raffle, though in a seemingly more innocent form, how can it be otherwise than perilous and wrong to engage in such things? Oh, there is such a terrible fascination in this venturing one’s little in the hope of making it much, not by honest work of hand or brain, nor by giving an equivalent, nor by receiving it as the free-will loving gift of one who gladly does us a kindness. ”

“ Most gladly did he acquiesce in the plans proposed by his sister as to the day and manner of his wife’s return, promising that he would duly restrain himself at the first meeting, and that he would endeavour to erase, by his future consideration and attention to her every wish, any painful scar that might remain from harshness or unkindness in times past. Miss Huntingdon was most deeply thankful that her path had been thus smoothed by the wise and tender hand that guides all the footsteps of the trusting people of God ”

“ We are not come here for a preaching or a prayer-meeting. The die has long since been cast, and the Rubicon crossed. You can take your course; I will take mine. If you have nothing more agreeable to say to me, we had better each go our own way, and leave matters as they are.”
“No,” said Amos, firmly but sorrowfully; “it shall not be so. I promise that you shall have my cheque for fifty pounds when you have placed little George in my hands, and on the understanding that you pledge your word, as a man of honour, to leave the children with me unmolested.” ”

“ She fully understood the feelings of both her nephews; and, while she profoundly pitied Amos, she equally grieved at the cruel want of love and forbearance in her younger nephew towards his elder brother.
Some weeks had passed away since the disastrous ride, and Forester being none the worse for his mishap, Mr Huntingdon allowed Walter to exercise him occasionally, accompanied by Dick, who had been fully restored to favour. It was on a lovely summer afternoon that the two had trotted briskly along to a greater distance from home than they had at all contemplated reaching when they started. ”

“ Who dares do more is none.”
“So says Shakespeare, and so say I.—Then they took to abusing Amos again; so I just told them that I had found by experience that my brother’s advice and opinion were worth taking, and that I had no wish to hear him cried down unless they could show that he was wrong. Well, you may suppose that we soon found out that our horses wanted to go different ways; so we raised our hats to one another and took leave, and thus ended the partnership of Huntingdon, Gregson, and Saunders.” ”

“ Amos coloured and cast down his eyes; while his brother looked up at his aunt with an expression on his face of mingled annoyance and defiance. Then Mr Huntingdon asked, “Well, but what’s to hinder a person having both what I should call old-fashioned courage and your moral courage at the same time?”
“Nothing to hinder it, necessarily,” replied Miss Huntingdon. “Very commonly, however, they do not go together; or perhaps I ought rather to say, that while persons who have moral courage often have natural courage too, a great many persons who have natural courage have no moral courage.” ”

“ How could he hope for mercy who had shown neither mercy nor pity to one whose sinful disobedience and folly could not make her less his child, though doubtless a sadly misguided one? When morning came, Mr Huntingdon rose a wiser and a humbler man. He poured out his heart in prayer for forgiveness of his own many sins and shortcomings, and then came to a full determination to deal very differently with Amos for the time to come, and to undo his past treatment of his poor daughter as opportunity might be afforded him. ”

“ Brighter days, then, had come; nevertheless, Amos could not help seeing much in the character and conduct of both his sister and Walter which saddened him. Acting himself on the highest of all principles—the constraining love of the heavenly Master—he could not be content till the same holy motive should have its place in the hearts of those he so dearly loved.
Sorrow had subdued and softened in Julia the less amiable features in her character; while all that Amos had done and suffered and was still doing for herself and her children could not but draw out her heart to him. ”

“ First and foremost, the raffle has come to grief, partly, I suppose, because Walter Huntingdon, junior, Esquire of Flixworth Manor, in the county of Hertfordshire, has refused to put down his name or have anything to do with it. There—what does the present company think of this important announcement?”
Amos and his aunt replied by loving smiles; Julia kept her eyes fixed on some work she had taken up.
“My next announcement,” continued Walter, “is of equal interest and importance. The great firm of Huntingdon, Gregson, and Saunders has dissolved partnership. ”

“ Amos opened the envelope and read the enclosure, which was also written in pencil, in a neat and thoroughly legible hand. It ran thus:—
“You are doubtless anxious to know what has become of the little boy George. Come alone to-morrow morning to the old oak in Brendon wood, and you shall be duly informed. Mind, come alone: if you attempt to bring one or more with you, it will be simply lost labour, for then there will be no one to meet you. You have nothing to fear as to any harm to your own person, or interference with your liberty.” ”