登陆注册
5211200000031

第31章

THE CANYON FLOWERS

The Pilot's first visit to Gwen had been a triumph.But none knew better than he that the fight was still to come, for deep in Gwen's heart were thoughts whose pain made her forget all other.

"Was it God let me fall?" she asked abruptly one day, and The Pilot knew the fight was on; but he only answered, looking fearlessly into her eyes:

"Yes, Gwen dear."

"Why did He let me fall?" and her voice was very deliberate.

"I don't know, Gwen dear," said The Pilot steadily."He knows.""And does He know I shall never ride again? Does He know how long the days are, and the nights when I can't sleep? Does He know?""Yes, Gwen dear," said The Pilot, and the tears were standing in his eyes, though his voice was still steady enough.

"Are you sure He knows?" The voice was painfully intense.

"Listen to me, Gwen," began The Pilot, in great distress, but she cut him short.

"Are you quite sure He knows? Answer me!" she cried, with her old imperiousness.

"Yes, Gwen, He knows all about you."

"Then what do you think of Him, just because He's big and strong, treating a little girl that way?" Then she added, viciously: "Ihate Him! I don't care! I hate Him!"

But The Pilot did not wince.I wondered how he would solve that problem that was puzzling, not only Gwen, but her father and The Duke, and all of us--the WHY of human pain.

"Gwen," said The Pilot, as if changing the subject, "did it hurt to put on the plaster jacket?""You just bet!" said Gwen, lapsing in her English, as The Duke was not present; "it was worse than anything--awful! They had to straighten me out, you know," and she shuddered at the memory of that pain.

"What a pity your father or The Duke was not here!" said The Pilot, earnestly.

"Why, they were both here!"

"What a cruel shame!" burst out The Pilot."Don't they care for you any more?""Of course they do," said Gwen, indignantly.

"Why didn't they stop the doctors from hurting you so cruelly?""Why, they let the doctors.It is going to help me to sit up and perhaps to walk about a little," answered Gwen, with blue-gray eyes open wide.

"Oh," said The Pilot, "it was very mean to stand by and see you hurt like that.""Why, you silly," replied Owen, impatiently, "they want my back to get straight and strong.""Oh, then they didn't do it just for fun or for nothing?" said The Pilot, innocently.

Gwen gazed at him in amazed and speechless wrath, and he went on:

"I mean they love you though they let you be hurt; or rather they let the doctors hurt you BECAUSE they loved you and wanted to make you better."Gwen kept her eyes fixed with curious earnestness upon his face till the light began to dawn.

"Do you mean," she began slowly, "that though God let me fall, He loves me?"The Pilot nodded; he could not trust his voice.

"I wonder if that can be true," she said, as if to herself; and soon we said good-by and came away--The Pilot, limp and voiceless, but I triumphant, for I began to see a little light for Gwen.

But the fight was by no means over; indeed, it was hardly well begun.For when the autumn came, with its misty, purple days, most glorious of all days in the cattle country, the old restlessness came back and the fierce refusal of her lot.Then came the day of the round-up.Why should she have to stay while all went after the cattle? The Duke would have remained, but she impatiently sent him away.She was weary and heart-sick, and, worst of all, she began to feel that most terrible of burdens, the burden of her life to others.I was much relieved when The Pilot came in fresh and bright, waving a bunch of wild-flowers in his hand.

"I thought they were all gone," he cried."Where do you think Ifound them? Right down by the big elm root," and, though he saw by the settled gloom of her face that the storm was coming, he went bravely on picturing the canyon in all the splendor of its autumn dress.But the spell would not work.Her heart was out on the sloping hills, where the cattle were bunching and crowding with tossing heads and rattling horns, and it was in a voice very bitter and impatient that she cried:

"Oh, I am sick of all this! I want to ride! I want to see the cattle and the men and--and--and all the things outside." The Pilot was cowboy enough to know the longing that tugged at her heart for one wild race after the calves or steers, but he could only say:

"Wait, Gwen.Try to be patient."

"I am patient; at least I have been patient for two whole months, and it's no use, and I don't believe God cares one bit!""Yes, He does, Gwen, more than any of us," replied The Pilot, earnestly.

"No, He does not care," she answered, with angry emphasis, and The Pilot made no reply.

"Perhaps," she went on, hesitatingly, "He's angry because I said Ididn't care for Him, you remember? That was very wicked.But don't you think I'm punished nearly enough now? You made me very angry, and I didn't really mean it."Poor Gwen! God had grown to be very real to her during these weeks of pain, and very terrible.The Pilot looked down a moment into the blue-gray eyes, grown so big and so pitiful, and hurriedly dropping on his knees beside the bed he said, in a very unsteady voice:

"Oh, Gwen, Gwen, He's not like that.Don't you remember how Jesus was with the poor sick people? That's what He's like.""Could Jesus make me well?"

"Yes, Gwen."

"Then why doesn't He?" she asked; and there was no impatience now, but only trembling anxiety as she went on in a timid voice: "Iasked Him to, over and over, and said I would wait two months, and now it's more than three.Are you quite sure He hears now?" She raised herself on her elbow and gazed searchingly into The Pilot's face.I was glad it was not into mine.As she uttered the words, "Are you quite sure?" one felt that things were in the balance.Icould not help looking at The Pilot with intense anxiety.What would he answer? The Pilot gazed out of the window upon the hills for a few moments.How long the silence seemed! Then, turning, looked into the eyes that searched his so steadily and answered simply:

同类推荐
  • 宝持总禅师语录

    宝持总禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 宣汉篇

    宣汉篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 六字神咒王经

    六字神咒王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 陆稼书先生问学录

    陆稼书先生问学录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 学史

    学史

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 乔老板的甜甜妻

    乔老板的甜甜妻

    二十年前的一场意外,将她扯入他的生活。从此她成为他最厌恶的人。二十年后,她说:这是我做好的假结婚证,糊弄一下妈,只要不被妈发现,你的婚姻全部自由……他自欣然接受…
  • 纵横超神踏诸天

    纵横超神踏诸天

    一笑风云变,一怒众神寒,以我手中剑,纵横天地间!一人一剑,傲世诸天!
  • 重建巴别塔:全球化时代的中西当代艺术(中国艺术研究院学术文库)

    重建巴别塔:全球化时代的中西当代艺术(中国艺术研究院学术文库)

    《中国艺术研究院学术文库:重建巴别塔:全球化时代的中西当代艺术》从西方现当代艺术和中国当代艺术两方面细致而深刻地论述了全球化时代的中西当代艺术,其中,西方现当代艺术选取了21篇文章,中国当代艺术选取了29篇文章,两者结合而来,将全球化时代的中西当代艺术的整体面貌一览无余地呈现在读者面前,并且配以大量图片,图文并茂,是一部难得的学术著作。
  • 潘朵拉之谜(求知探索)

    潘朵拉之谜(求知探索)

    潘朵拉的盒子从基沙古迹西南角的高地,往三座大金字塔的方向看去,金字塔在尊严华丽中,带着几分怪异。曼卡拉的金字塔最接近我们,而卡夫拉和胡夫的金字塔则在我们的东北方,三者几乎却不全然地,可连成一条正对角线——从卡夫拉金字塔的西南角,通过东北角,往东北方向延伸。
  • 致敬加泰罗尼亚(奥威尔作品集)

    致敬加泰罗尼亚(奥威尔作品集)

    1936年西班牙内战爆发,奥威尔来到加泰罗尼亚,参加了反佛朗哥政权的西班牙马克思主义统一工人党民兵部队。他在前线待了近6个月,直到被狙击手击中才不得不回国休养。基于这段经历,他以黑白胶片般冷静的语言客观展示了战争的艰辛、民众的热情、局势的变幻、媒体的歪曲,讲述了对战争的理解,剖析了战争的表象与实质,揭露了关于内战的谎言。
  • 古文字学讲义

    古文字学讲义

    为了更全面地了解先生研究古文字学的方法、观点和路径,本书将先生关于治古文字学的数篇论文也一起收录其中,读者可通过这些论文了解先生治学思想的发展和变化(自然,先生关于古文字学方面的观点和看法,当以正式发表者为准)。另外,还收录了先生早年所写的《金文嘏辞释例》及《北狄在前殷文化上的贡献》两篇长文,前者为治金文者不可不读,后者则是先生以文字证史的一篇范文。
  • 灵犀幻道决

    灵犀幻道决

    “传说,斩尽三尸,便可化凡未真,打破这生死的枷锁,便可逆转这苍穹!”从地球穿越过来的小混混韩阳,带着不甘,踏上这修仙之路,为的就是这巅峰逆转!!!
  • 普贤金刚萨埵瑜伽念诵仪

    普贤金刚萨埵瑜伽念诵仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 陈桥驿梦:赵匡胤传

    陈桥驿梦:赵匡胤传

    他是少年时代的游侠,之后跟随郭威成为一名成功的职业军官,最后通过陈桥兵变成了皇帝。从一个流浪汉,到一代帝王,组成了赵匡胤的传奇人生。他被称为“一棍平天下”的马上皇帝。他武艺高强,韬略过人。治国有方,是一个非常有作为的皇帝……翻开李强的这本《陈桥驿梦:赵匡胤传》,读赵匡胤的一生,读他的驭人之术和杰出谋略。
  • 给经理人每天看的管理学

    给经理人每天看的管理学

    中国有句老话,叫做“春生,夏长,秋收,冬藏”,说的是世间万物的发展总是在“生长”与“收藏”间相互交替。企业的发展也是如此,只重业务(生长)而轻管理(收藏),很可能会刚站起来又很快倒下去,甚至被市场迅速淘汰掉。领导者学好管理、用好管理、企业才能做大做强,基业长青。