Balham

“ To so great a degree of valor will you be raised by the providence of God, who is able to diminish the affluence of some, and to supply the wants of others."
5. Thus did Balaam speak by inspiration, as not being in his own power, but moved to say what he did by the Divine Spirit. But then Balak was displeased, and said he had broken the contract he had made, whereby he was to come, as he and his confederates had invited him, by the promise of great presents: for whereas he came to curse their enemies, he had made an encomium upon them, and had declared that they were the happiest of men. ”

“ I suggested. "He's most awfully good at catching things. I—er think he's somewhere on the tennis-court."
"He's not, because he was splashing about in the bathroom just now when I wanted to fill Balaam's water-bottle."
"All right," I said resignedly, "I'll come. Was Balaam the man or the ass? I forget. And while we're at it why should you call the bird Balaam at all?"
Eileen was in no mood for foolish questionings.
"Get up!" she ordered. "I call him Balaam because he's not a proper canary—he's a mule." ”

“ Then he began to attend to Balaam with impersonal skill, like some one hired for the purpose. "He ain't hurt bad," he asserted aloud, as if the man were some nameless patient; and then to Balaam he remarked, "I reckon it might have put a less tough man than you out of business for quite a while. I'm goin' to get some water now." When he returned with the water, Balaam was sitting up, looking about him. He had not yet spoken, nor did he now speak. The sunlight flashed on the six-shooter where it lay, and the Virginian secured it. ”

“ Alan started and went quickly to the open door of his room, as he heard voices now somewhere within the house. One of the voices he recognized as Wassaquam's; the other indistinct, thick, accusing—was unknown to him; it certainly was not Spearman's. He had not heard Wassaquam go down-stairs, and he had not heard the doorbell, so he ran first to the third floor; but the room where he had seen Wassaquam was empty. He descended again swiftly to the first floor, and found Wassaquam standing in the front hall, alone.
"Who was here, Judah?" Alan demanded.
"A man," the Indian answered stolidly. ”

“ O, Balaam, rouse thee!
Thou art, e’en yet, God’s prophet! He has shewn
His will to none more clearly than to thee.
What is it He requireth at thy hands?
Be true and honest, pure and merciful,
Having thy heart aflame with faith and love,
Still walking humbly, as though prone to fall—
Guarding thine eyes from covetous wanderings,
Deeming God’s gifts more beautiful than man’s—
And he will keep thee right in all thy ways.
Oh! what is Balak’s honour, Balak’s gold,
To Balaam, if the Highest be his friend,{65}
Who owns the wealth and beauty of the world? ”

“ It is then recorded, that “God came unto Balaam, and said, what men are those with thee?” This inquiry of the Jewish God appears strange, when he must have known all about it without asking; but here, as in hundreds of other passages, the man-made God appears. But, for the information of the Lord, Balaam gives a suitable answer. The Lord then informs the fortune-teller that he must not go to Balak, nor curse them, for they are blessed. The elders then returned to the King, to inform him that Balaam could not come, because the God of Israel had forbid him so to do. ”

“ Then an angel stood in the way with a drawn sword to stop him. Balaam did not see the angel, but the ass did, and fell down under Balaam. Then he cried out in a rage, "I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee," and he beat the ass savagely with his stick. Do you see! Balaam expects the ass to obey him blindly, to go where he chooses; but he himself will not obey God, and refrain from going whither he is forbidden.
How is it with you? Is it not with you as with Balaam? You expect the earth to yield you what you choose, and are wroth if it withholds the crop ”

“ And the fierce neigh of war-steeds, and the groans
Of dying men,—and Balaam lay with these,
Far from the hills and streams of Pethor-land.
And, as he lay, he heard an awful voice,
High o’er the din of battle, and the words,
“If these men call thee, Balaam, rise and go.”
And Balaam woke; and on the Eastern hills
Beheld the ruddy blossom of the day
Bursting from out the sapphire of the sky;
And all the earth looked pure as when it rose,
At first, in beauty, from the primal sea,
And all the heavenly hosts sang songs of joy. ”

“ Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam.—Balaam was a mouthpiece of the Lord, but unworthy. He desired to curse God's true people, because of the money there was in it, and finally seduced them by fornication (symbolical of union of church and state) . The name Balaam means the same as “Nicolaitanes” (conquerors of the people) , and refers to the money-loving, power-loving clergy. We have already noted the efforts to obtain worldly power (spiritual fornication) which characterized the Pergamos epoch. ”

“ When the door was opened and the dogs ran in, she thought that they rushed into the salon because she was there; but Lad only brushed against her on his way to the further end of the great room where he thrust his head down and smelled of the floor, whimpering and scrambling about in a circle. Lass blundered about near him so excitedly that Ethel followed to see what was there, only to find a space of bare, varnished floor. But her interest stirred Lad to leap upon her and dash to the door on the south which communicated with the outside steps down the Rock to the summer landing. ”

“ Balaam's intellect was clear enough now, and he saw that though the rest of this journey would be nearly intolerable, it must go on. He looked at the impassive cow-puncher getting ready to go and tying a rope on Pedro's neck to lead him, then he looked at the mountains where the runaways had vanished, and it did not seem credible to him that he had come into such straits. He was helped stiffly on the mare, and the three horses in single file took up their journey once more, and came slowly among the mountains. ”

“ It was much that Balaam was not astonished to hear his ass speak, and put to confusion: but some think that it was no new thing to him (being a conjurer) to be thus spoken to by his familiars; others rather think that his brutish head-strong passion so blinded him that he could not observe or consider the strangeness of the thing. Nothing besots men worse than unbridled anger. Balaam in his fury wished he had a sword to kill his ass with, v. 29. See his impotency; can he think by his curses to do mischief to Israel that has it not in his power to kill his own ass? ”

“ He would not question an Indian about affairs of his granddaughter.
Sam started the horses and gazed away to the distant Rock. "Damn funny business," he repeated his comment cheerfully; and except for the breathing of the mares, the scrape and slap of harness straps and the creak of the wood runners in the snow, there was silence. Over the hillock, the sound of singing had died away.
Ethel sat silent beside her grandfather who soon offered talk about uncontentious family matters: how his son Lucas was feeling this winter and what he said about bolshevism.
"Feed the fools? Feed the fools?" ”

“ Wassaquam did not know why. Wassaquam had sent the man away, and I ran out after him; but I could not find him."
He stopped an instant, studying her. "That was not the first man who came to the house," he went on quickly, as she was about to speak. "I found a man in Mr. Corvet's house the first night that I spent there. Wassaquam was away, you remember, and I was alone in the house."
"A man there in the house?" she repeated.
"He wasn't there when I entered the house—at least I don't think he was. I heard him below, after I had gone up-stairs. ”

“ Latham turned without a word from the land and looked back over the sea to the south. The morning was clear and sunny, and as far as the eye reached only open water stretched; and all knew that for mile after mile beyond the grim, green horizon was water where the ice must have broken up early and treacherously in the spring of the year before—the ice over which Eric Hedon alone must have tried to travel.
"If he reached land again south of here," Latham said quietly, "we will find his cairns. He was very definite about that in his report." ”

“ The young, bald man led her down a long passage, lit by electric lights and carpeted so that no footfall sounded. Books; fat, broad-backed law books in brown and yellow leather and buckram lined the wall to the left; on the right were more books and closed doors, some of them silent; but talk went on behind others. In one office, a man with a high, squeaky voice was dictating, indignantly, "and since the aforesaid Greenough has been deprived of his liberty. ”

“ Fifteen hundred years before, a prophet or diviner, whatever his office may have been, whose name was Balaam, had uttered a most remarkable prophecy. It was as follows: "I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not near. A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel." If Balaam was a fellow-countryman of these Magi, as some learned writers have supposed, then they could hardly have been ignorant of this prophecy. ”

“ Balaam avoided the snake, but he lost his balance and rolled down the slope, heels in the air and pack underneath. The acrobatic feats achieved by Balaam in his struggles to regain his footing were watched by an admiring and solicitous audience, and when he cleverly took advantage of the slight obstruction offered by a manzanita bush, and got safely upon his feet, he was loudly applauded. The deep solicitude of the party for the safety of Balaam and his pack was accounted for [Pg 174] when he scrambled back to the trail and gravely walked up to the packer to have his pack straightened. ”

“ Men from the Viborg now had searched every shore he might have reached had he survived the long, lonely journey over the breaking-up ice; and they found no trace of him. Eric's own record of his plan, and his promise to build cairns if he again reached land, certified to his disappearance forever.
When would Latham announce to Margaret that she could show no proof that Eric lived? When would he demand of her to redeem her word? So she waited, while slowly the Viborg worked its way south in the continuance of its hopeless search. ”

“ Mrs. Varris replied. "Indeed, we consider ourselves very fortunate in having this opportunity to see you again, for we are planning to leave to-morrow for Cornwall. And then in two weeks we sail for home. So it was most fortunate that we heard of your being here to-day, was it not?"
"Certainly, for me, Mrs. Varris," the young American affirmed fervently. "And I certainly am indebted to whoever told you."
The maid had closed the door behind them and disappeared; and, as they all sat down, Preston saw again the girl's peculiar and frankly amused smile.
"Are you, Mr. Preston?" she asked. ”

“ He dozed; for he awoke with a start and a feeling that some one had been bending over him, and gazed up into Wassaquam's face. The Indian had been scrutinizing him with intent, anxious inquiry. He moved away, but Alan called him back.
"When Mr. Corvet disappeared, Judah, you went to look for him up at Manistique, where he was born—at least Mr. Sherrill said that was where you went. Why did you think you might find him there?" Alan asked.
"In the end, I think, a man maybe goes back to the place where he began. That's all, Alan." ”

“ I was just a kid, not hurt a lot but temporarily on crutches, though I could get about pretty well. England was laying herself out for the Canadians. We'd been having our big losses together; almost everybody had some one who'd gone 'west'; and most of 'em couldn't realize it. London and all England, Miss Carew—was full of people trying to get in touch with fellows who'd been reported killed—just their names brought home on a government telegram and maybe a package of letters returned later."
"Yes; I know," Ethel said quietly, her breath catching a little. ”

“ The two and a half tribes were well taught by the fate of Balaam that, in the end, however cunningly a man may act, his sin will find him out. They were emphatically reminded that the sins of sensuality and idolatry are exceedingly hateful in the sight of God, and certain to be punished. They were assured by the testimony of Balaam, that Israel, if only faithful, would never cease to enjoy the Divine protection and blessing. But they were reminded that God is not mocked: that [261] whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Balaam had sown to the flesh ”

“ Gregg leaned toward Winston, “The tugs!” he called.. “They're finding heavy ice packed at the mouth of the river. I guess they can't get out!”
The thrill of the combat of men, and men's creations, with the elements halted him. He put his back to the frost-shrouded show-window of a milliner's shop and stood staring lakeward through the storm. He could see nothing beyond Grant Park—not even the lights at the river mouth or the beacons on government pier. ”

“ He says: “I will bring back all Balak’s gold and silver, and add a transept to the church or another course of marble to the altar.”
He will never return. God will not have His house [338] so patched and bungled; nor does He want Balak’s gold for the finishing of His sanctuary. A nobler spirit was Abram, who said no to the king of Sodom, “lest thou shouldest say: ‘I have made Abram rich.’”
The whole story of Balaam is intensely Oriental and primeval. The first deputation is dismissed in obedience to a divine warning ”