Owen

“ Owen thought he had seen all; and once he planned to go to the Squire and tell him of the anguish of heart he had wrought, and awe him, as it were, by the dignity of grief. But then again he durst not—he distrusted his self-control—the old prophecy rose up in its horror—he dreaded his doom.
At last he determined to leave his father for ever; to take Nest to some distant country where she might forget her firstborn, and where he himself might gain a livelihood by his own exertions. ”

“ Owen looked up inquiringly; he did not quite know his friend's meaning.
"The blessed Saviour loves you, my boy; have you no love in your heart for Him? Those who belong to Him can never say they have nobody to love them. Are you not his child?"
The question was asked very tenderly, and Owen looked into the kind face that watched his so earnestly, as he said, slowly, "I don't think so."
"Then I am sure you are both poor and lonely."
"Yes, I am poor, because father had very little to leave me—only a few books and furniture. [34] But I have come to Barmston to make my fortune." ”

“ He looked white and wan, as he whispered softly, "There is 'no sorrow' with it, cousin Clarice, though the pain is so bad."
"Poor boy," she whispered, softly stroking his head, "I wish I could bear it for you. But Jesus knows, and He will help you through all."
"Oh, He does; He comforts me so. When I was all alone, He gave me such happy thoughts of going soon to be with Him and father."
"I hope you will not go yet awhile, Owen. But how were you alone in the night? I thought David was with you." ”

“ Owen had never had a chum; and indeed, his life had been a lonely one, burdened by responsibilities that had made him much older than his years—his scanty associations had been with hardy lumbermen or voyageurs, so that the presence of this twain struck him as the most mysterious and remarkable thing in all his experience. ”

“ Never had Owen beheld such vast crowds, and following the dead knight was the most beautiful lady in the world, whose cry was louder than the shout of the men, or the braying of the trumpets. And Owen looked on her and loved her.
'Who is she?' he asked the damsel. 'That is my mistress, the countess of the fountain, and the wife of him whom thou didst slay yesterday.'
'Verily,' said Owen, 'she is the woman that I love best.'
'She shall also love thee not a little,' said the maiden. ”

“ Not long was Owen asleep when there came a knock at the door.
"Get up, Owen O'Mulready, and go with a letter from the master to America."
Owen got up, and put his feet into his boots, saying to himself, "It's late you come, messenger."
He took the letter, and he went forward and never tarried till he came to the foot of Sliabh Charn, where he met a cow-boy, and he herding cows.
"The blessing of God be with you, Owen O'Mulready," says the boy.
"The blessing of God and Mary be with you, my boy," says Owen. "Every one knows me, and I don't know any one at all." ”

“ At her words Owen remembered all that he had forgotten, and sorrowful and ashamed he went to his own chamber and made ready to depart. At the dawn he set out, but he did not go back to the castle, for his heart was heavy, but he wandered far into wild places till his body was weak and thin, and his hair was long. The wild beasts were his friends, and he slept by their side, but in the end he longed to see the face of a man again, and he came down into a valley and fell asleep by a lake in the lands of a widowed countess. ”

“ And yet, Owen, who could have thought that I should be left, who have seen nigh on three-score years, and that strong, gallant lad taken in the very strength of his manhood. Truly, God’s ways are not our ways.
“It does not bear writing of. We must have many long talks together, when you are with us again. What a contrast to that first visit of yours, Owen, when our numbers were yet unbroken, save indeed that first, great gap that only Lucilla and the dear lad who is gone, could realize. At least, their mother has one with her! ”

“ Perhaps Owen was not fully aware of the force of all these circumstances; for an actor in a family drama is seldom unimpassioned enough to be perfectly observant. But he became moody and soured; brooding over his unloved existence, and craving with a human heart after sympathy. ”

“ But I think you will get on, Owen; you have more push in you than I ever had. Only don't let the earthly fortune that you desire, blind your eyes to the heavenly riches. I neglected them too long, and though I can thank God that He has saved me, [21] yet I often fear I shall have little reward yonder, for I have hidden my hope in my own breast, and have been content to keep my riches to myself, instead of trading with them. Mind that you do otherwise, Owen. Seek first the kingdom of God, and all other things needful, food and clothing, shall be added unto you. ”

“ As I turned up Gilman Street on my way home, I saw the princess’ limousine standing outside Owen’s little office, the chauffeur muffled almost to the eyes in shaggy gray fur. I had sufficient curiosity—perhaps on account of my interest in Owen, for Portia’s sake—to walk past the office before crossing. I glanced at the chauffeur as I went by, and was simply aghast at the fierceness of his black eyes; he looked to be a veritable Tartar, as he stared unseeingly past me into Owen’s office, where the princess sat comfortably enough in a chair near the flat-top desk behind which Owen was ensconced. ”

“ A multitude of orders were being given there, the valet was searching anxiously in the large wardrobe, piled high with many various coats and trousers; Owen stood before the looking-glass tying a white scarf, and two footmen watched each movement, dreading a mistake. She remembered that she had been amused at the time, and she never recalled the scene without smiling. But she had liked Owen better for the innumerable superfluities, all of which were necessary to his happiness, the breakdown of any one of which made him the most miserable man alive. ”

“ Owen threw well to bases! And only one paper had discovered that! Rob laughed scornfully as he tossed the papers down. So this trifling mention was all the glory his achievement was to yield him. For a moment he felt hurt—but only for a moment. Soon his good sense and natural modesty reasserted themselves. He had not sought glory; he had not striven to display himself. ”

“ Sam was already dividing the nuts, and in this interesting occupation Owen soon forgot his anxiety, and was laughing and joking with his friend, as if there was no such thing as trouble in the world.
"Well," said Sam at last, "I must go, I suppose; I have those cows to see after, and father is pretty strict if I don't attend them well. It's fine to be you, having your time to yourself, and nothing to do." ”

“ Yonder on the hillside is a haunted wood; it is full of their spirits, White Man, but they cannot talk, they only mutter, and their footfalls sound like the dropping of heavy rain, for they are strengthless and unhappy, and in the end they fade away.”
“So you say,” answered Owen, “who are not altogether without understanding, yet know little, never having been taught. Now listen to me,” and very earnestly he preached to him and those about him of peace, of forgiveness, and of life everlasting.
“Why should a God die miserably upon a cross?” asked the king at length. ”

“ I am Owen his son.”
“Son! Owen Rhys!” said the bewildered Ruth, passing her hand over her forehead, as if to enable her to recover the combinations of these p. 39names; “and who art thou, that thus givest human ties to him who is no more of humanity? why speakest thou of living things as pertaining to the dead? Father! he is father to nought save sin, and murder is his only begotten!”
She advanced to the traveller as she spoke, and again caught a view of his face; again he saw the wild look of recognition, and an unearthly shriek followed the convulsive horror of her face. ”

“ She had heard scraps of his conversation with the French and English noblemen who had stopped to speak to him; and now, as Owen was getting into the victoria, after a brief visit to some great lady who had sent her footman to fetch him, a man, who looked to Evelyn like a sort of superior groom, came breathless to their carriage. He had only just heard that Owen was on the course. He was the great English trainer from Chantilly, and had tried Armide II. to win with a stone more on his back than he had to carry.
"That is the horse," and Owen pointed to a big chestnut. ”

“ But I intend to make my fortune one day, and be a rich man."
"Like Squire Rowland?"
"Maybe; why not? I can work and earn it all."
"A likely thing!" laughed Sam; "and your father only a village schoolmaster."
"You'd better not laugh at my father," returned Owen, hotly; "there isn't a better man in the world than he is, and I intend to share all my fortune with him." ”

“ The copse was musical with many sounds; the warbling of birds rejoicing in its shades, the ceaseless hum of the insects that hovered over the pool, the chime of the distant waterfall, the occasional bleating of the sheep from the mountaintop, were all blended into the delicious harmony of nature.
It had been one of Owen’s favourite resorts when he had been a lonely wanderer—a pilgrim in search of love in the years gone by. And thither he went, as if by instinct, when he left Ty Glas; quelling the uprising agony till he should reach that little solitary spot. ”

“ When Sunday came, Owen gladly went off to his kind friends. Mr. Netherclift had heard all about the accusation from David, and felt much for the orphan lad. Again he put the Gospel earnestly and faithfully before him; but he was a wise man; he would not hurry any soul, though he knew there must be a moment of decision, and he entreated the boy not to put it off. ”

“ Come, be quick, Owen!”
Owen hastened to comply with his request; but already the old man's eyes were glazed and filmy. The effort had but hastened the moment of his doom; and, with a low faint sigh, he lay back, and died. ”

“ At a garden party at Lord Leven's, in Roehampton Lane, I saw Professor Owen or "Old Bones" (as he was irreverently nicknamed) , and, struck with his antediluvian incongruity amidst the beautiful surroundings of the garden, and the children there, I resolved to caricature him. Impressing his strange and whimsical face upon my memory, I returned home and at once conveyed my impressions to paper. I "caught" him in his best clothes, with the tall white hat, which made a contrast to his florid face; it is hardly one's idea of a garden party "get up" as will be seen by the boots. ”

“ As the vision of the future rose before him Owen resolved that it should never be. He would not leave his wife and child alone and defenceless in the midst of the 'Christian' wolves who were waiting to rend them as soon as he was gone. If he could not give them happiness, he could at least put them out of the reach of further suffering. ”

“ He had met no other friend to whom he could talk of sport and a man's outward pleasures when his mind was that way given, and to whom he could also talk of soft inward things,—the heart's feelings, and aspirations, and wants. Owen would be as tender with him as a woman, allowing the young lad's arm round his body, listening to words which the outer world would have called bosh—and have derided as girlish. ”

“ If the English had hitherto only half believed that Owen was a wizard, they were in less than a week convinced that he was the very devil himself, against whom twice their hundred thousand men would be of slight avail. Never within man’s memory had there been such a September in the Welsh mountains. ”

“ Years passed on; and as Owen grew older he became more observant. He saw, even in his occasional visits at home (for from school he had passed on to college) , that a great change had taken place in the outward manifestations of his father’s character; and, by degrees, Owen traced this change to the influence of his stepmother; so slight, so imperceptible to the common observer, yet so resistless in its effects. Squire Griffiths caught up his wife’s humbly advanced opinions, and, unawares to himself, adopted them as his own, defying all argument and opposition. ”

“ Owen was probably one of the richest native Welshmen of his day. Few if any in the north had such an opportunity of showing the contrast between the simple and profuse hospitality of a native aristocrat, and the stiff, contemptuous solemnity of the lord of a Norman fortress. It was easy enough for the descendant of Madoc ap Griffith to make himself popular upon the banks of the upper Dee, and Owen seems to have added a desire to do so to the personal magnetism that the whole story of his life shows him to have possessed in a very high degree. ”

“ Father always used to say that it paid best to be honest and upright in every way, even if it were not a question of right. Dishonest people must always live in fear of being found out. Father said we must always live open lives, and then everything would be right."
"Your father was a good man, Owen. I can't think how I came to suspect you. Only get well, and I will do all I can for you."
"Thank you, uncle; I am very glad you know I did not do it," replied the boy, as if he could not forget how heavy a weight had been lifted off him.
"It troubled you?" asked Mr. Hadleigh, kindly. ”

“ Owen held his peace, but gave the maiden some of the meat, and bade her be of good cheer. Then, followed by the lion, he set out for a great castle on the other side of the plain, and men came and took his horse and placed it in a manger, and the lion went after and lay down on the straw. Hospitable and kind were all within the castle, but so full of sorrow that it might have been thought death was upon them. At length, when they had eaten and drunk, Owen prayed the earl to tell him the reason of their grief. ”