第19章 Chapter I.(19)

Then he said, "Should he answer you and say, 'What do I care! What are coves and mountain tops to me? Gold is real, and the power to crush men within my hand'; tell him no further.

"But if by some chance he should listen, then, say this one thing to him, clearly in the ear, that he may not fail to hear it: 'The morning may break grey, and the midday be dark and stormy; but the glory of the evening's sunset may wash out for ever the remembrance of the morning's dullness, and the darkness of the noon. So that all men shall say, 'Ah, for the beauty of that day!'--For the stream that has once descended there is no path upwards.--It is never too late for the soul of a man.'

"And if he should laugh, and say: 'You fool, a man may remake himself entirely before twenty; he may reshape himself before thirty; but after forty he is fixed. Shall I, who for forty-three years have sought money and power, seek for anything else now? You want me to be Jesus Christ, I suppose! How can I be myself and another man?' Then answer him: 'Deep in the heart of every son of man lies an angel; but some have their wings folded. Wake yours! He is larger and stronger than another man's; mount up with him!'

"But if he curses you, and says, 'I have eight millions of money, and I care neither for God nor man!'--then make no answer, but stoop and write before him." The stranger bent down and wrote with his finger in the white ashes of the fire. Peter Halket bent forward, and he saw the two words the stranger had written.

The stranger said: "Say to him: 'Though you should seek to make that name immortal in this land; and should write it in gold dust, and set it with diamonds, and cement it with human blood, shed from the Zambezi to the sea, yet--." The stranger passed his foot over the words; Peter Halket looked down, and he saw only a bed of smooth white ashes where the name had been.

The stranger said: "And if he should curse yet further, and say, 'There is not one man nor woman in South Africa I cannot buy with my money! When I have the Transvaal, I shall buy God Almighty Himself, if I care to!'

"Then say to him this one thing only, 'Thy money perish with thee!' and leave him."

There was a dead silence for a moment. Then the stranger stretched forth his hand. 'Yet in that leaving him, remember;--It is not the act, but the will, which marks the soul of the man. He who has crushed a nation sins no more than he who rejoices in the death throe of the meanest creature. The stagnant pool is not less poisonous drop for drop than the mighty swamp, though its reach be smaller. He who has desired to be and accomplish what this man has been and accomplished, is as this man; though he have lacked the power to perform. Nay, remember this one thing more:--Certain sons of God are born on earth, named by men Children of Genius. In early youth each stands at the parting of the way and chooses; he bears his gift for others or for himself. But forget this never, whatever his choice may be; that there is laid on him a burden that is laid not on others--all space is open to him, and his choice is infinite--and if he falls beneath it, let men weep rather than curse, for he was born a Son of God."

There was silence again. Then Peter Halket clasped his arms about the stranger's feet. "My master," he cried, "I dare not take that message. It is not that men may say, 'Here is Trooper Peter Halket, whom we all know, a man who kept women and shot niggers, turned prophet.' But it is, that it is true. Have I not wished--" and Peter Halket would have poured out all his soul; but the stranger prevented him.

"Peter Simon Halket," he said, "is it the trumpet which gives forth the call to battle, whether it be battered tin or gilded silver, which boots?

Is it not the call? What and if I should send my message by a woman or a child: shall truth be less truth because the bearer is despised? Is it the mouth that speaks or the word that is spoken which is eternal?

Nevertheless, if you will have it so, go, and say, 'I, Peter Halket, sinner among you all, who have desired women and gold, who have loved myself and hated my fellow, I--'" The stranger looked down at him, and placed his hand gently on his head. "Peter Simon Halket," he said, "a harder task I give you than any which has been laid upon you. In that small spot where alone on earth your will rules, bring there into being the kingdom today.

Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you. Walk ever forward, looking not to the right hand or the left. Heed not what men shall say of you. Succour the oppressed; deliver the captive. If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he is athirst give him drink."

A curious warmth and gladness stole over Peter Halket as he knelt; it was as, when a little child, his mother folded him to her: he saw nothing more about him but a soft bright light. Yet in it he heard a voice cry, "Because thou hast loved mercy--and hated oppression--"

When Trooper Peter Halket raised himself, he saw the figure of the stranger passing from him. He cried, "My Master, let me go with you." But the figure did not turn. And, as it passed into the darkness, it seemed to Peter Halket that the form grew larger and larger: and as it descended the further side of the kopje it seemed that for one instant he still saw the head with a pale, white light upon it: then it vanished.

And Trooper Peter Halket sat alone upon the kopje.