CHAPTER XXXII

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THE RIVER-SPRINGS.

"Friends, fare we forth together, as the birds Cross the wide ocean in the deep of night, Unresting, till their wistful eyes at dawn See the soft margin of the long'd-for land." --JOHN JERVIS BERESFORD.

It was a fair afternoon, three days after the encounter of the two friends in the lonely mountain church, when the lovers met in the rocky fastness hard by the far-famed Robbers' Cavern, and once more sat together, as in happier days they had been wont to sit for hours, forgetful of the flight of time, while they watched with entranced eyes the outflow of the twin streamlets from their secret hiding-places, and saw them, joining hand in hand, dance merrily down the steep hillside, in musical union and ever-gathering force, till in the sunny vale below their mutual waters spread themselves softly over the wide expanse of the broad river-bed and flowed onward with majestic roll and shining countenance till lost to view in the wooded meads. Never had they been weary of that fair picture of their wedded lives; and now, though mists of tears blinded their sight, and hope and gladness were dead, yet the picture still seemed fair, and long they gazed in silence, unbroken save by the bubbling of the hurrying streamlets, rushing with eager feet to their glad union. Not yet was Percival's victory wholly won, and while he strove to sustain the fainting heart of Primrose, whose courage failed her at the traces of bitter struggle seen in his countenance, his own inward warfare raged sorely within his breast; and as Master Taylor, who had been wandering at a distance while they conversed together, once more drew near to warn them of the long journey before them, and laid a loving hand upon his friend's shoulder, the young chaplain exclaimed despairingly; "This, the fairest of God's good gifts, He gave into my hand, Jeremy, and now can I give it back to Him ungrudgingly at this His sudden call? Do I not well to be angry?" and he hid his face in his hands.

"Perchance the words of a greater saint than you or I dare ever hope to be may give you a truer answer than I am fit to give," answered Master Taylor sadly. "God has no right to take back His gift, think you! Yet hear again the words of His holy saint: 'When I give it, it is still mine; when I withdraw it, I take not anything that is thine; for every good and every perfect gift is mine.' Is not this true, friend Percival?"

The young man lifted his head and grasped his friend's hand convulsively. "My mind verily knows it to be true, dear friend," he answered wistfully. "Pray for me that my heart, which is weak and bleeding sorely, may confess it likewise!"

"'If I send thee affliction, or any cross whatsoever, repine not,'" continued the sweet, solemn voice of Jeremy, "'nor let thy heart fail thee; I can quickly succour thee, and turn all thy heaviness into joy.' Fair Mistress Shanno, prithee think not these shining streamlets--yon sparkling river--to be no longer a true symbol of your life and this my friend's, inasmuch as your outward union hath needs had so painful and grievous an interruption. For Love is a river which flows into the sea of eternity, and hereafter your present pain and sacrifice will seem as nought in the light of that love which knows no earthly limit! Come, dear friends, the shadows lengthen, and we have many weary miles to traverse ere we reach the castle in yon valley; and you, sweet Primrose, have much to undergo, ere you seek repose this night, in the coming interview with your noble father."

"But he knows all ere now, Percival," said the young girl, answering an appealing look from her lover. "My dear mother did but yester-eve send a messenger with a long letter, in which she told him all. It was to her a sorely painful task, much trying her strength, yet she would not have him greet us all unaware of our mutual sorrow; and now, some hours ere this, he has known that a daughter he has ne'er dreamed of possessing comes quickly to hide her grief-stricken heart upon his breast, and to forget her own sorrows in striving to lighten his! That is henceforth my life's mission, Percival--to bind up the bleeding hearts of my parents--and you--you will help me?"

"My life is vowed to the service of your house, sweetheart," he answered; "and though I had trusted it would have been a service of joy, you shall ne'er find my feet falter along the stony paths of pain which, in our mutual service, we must now tread wearisomely. Perchance, as we dwell side by side, you in your lordly castle and I in my humble vicarage at your feet, we may yet find joys undreamed of, and sweeter comfort in our mutual striving after the undoing of the curse than our fainting hearts yet deem possible. One only favour I must first crave at your father's hand--and that, his permission to leave my newly-appointed cure for a short season once more in the hands of good Master Rhys, while I go forth alone awhile to perfect the mastery over this rebellious will, which yet dares challenge the will of its Maker."

"You will not leave me, Percival!" cried Primrose in agony, clinging to him in sudden alarm and desperation. "Ah no, you do not mean it, my beloved! With you at my side, ever but a stone's-throw from my door, I can indeed be brave, and live my life with courage; but Percival, an you leave me alone in my misery, I shall die!"

"Hush, dear heart!" he answered tenderly, "you mistake my meaning. It is but for a little while I must needs go from your side. Think you that to-morrow, on our wedding-day that was to be, I can go to my lonely home and straightway enter upon the daily life therein which you were to have shared? Nay, Primrose, ere that can be, I must needs flee awhile from your beloved presence, and conquer this cowardly heart with none but God to witness its struggles. On yon mountain heights it has these seven days past been warring within me, but the fight unto death has not yet been accomplished! Sweetheart, a few short months you will be brave, and suffer me to leave you in the tender hands of those who love you! Believe me--Jeremy, tell her--that it is needful for me to go awhile into the wilderness, for my own soul's good and the good of those souls to whom I am pledged to minister! I cannot truly help you, sweet one, much less the flock committed to my sacred charge, while my own hard lesson is still unlearned! I dare not commit sacrilege! A few short months, Primrose, and a brave and true friend shall return to your side, content, in God's mercy, with those blessings still left to him, and able to rejoice in that love which, being as the love of the angels in heaven, must surely infinitely transcend the love of earth!"

"He speaks well, dear mistress," said Master Taylor gently. "Bid him, in God's name, go forth and conquer, and rest assured of a reunion ere long in which the light of a holy and God-given love shall surely cheer your onward paths through this present world, and shine eternally in the world to come."

Shanno's slender fingers tightened their clasp of her lover's arm convulsively for a moment as she murmured, "A few months apart from you, Percival! One month only in thought is an eternity!"

Then she raised her white face and spoke bravely; "I have caused you pain enough, dear heart; and were your love not even now the sweetest thing to me on earth, I could weep bitter tears that you should e'er have seen my face! If I have been the unlucky cause of such suffering to you, my beloved, shall I not gladly endure long months, nay even years, of pain for your sake? As you watch and pray in your lonesome wanderings my spirit shall ever be at your side. It is verily broken within me, Percival, yet methinks it can still be brave for your sake. And you must go----"

"On the morrow, when we have plighted our marriage vows," he answered solemnly. "Sweetheart, I thank you for your courage, which, God helping me, shall not be tried over long. Short, though bitter, shall be our parting, an I may, in His great mercy, win my soul in patience."

Then Master Taylor, laying a hand on the head of each of his beloved friends, and uttering a solemn benediction, pointed presently to the shining stream beneath their feet, and in his beautiful musical utterance said in low-spoken tones; "Let our love be firm, constant, and inseparable, not coming and returning like the tide, but descending like a never-failing river, ever running into the ocean of divine excellency, passing on in the channels of duty and a constant obedience, and never ceasing to be what it is till it comes to be what it desires to be; still being a river till it be turned into sea and vastness, even the immensity of a blessed eternity."*

* Jeremy Taylor.

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