Show THE LIONS WHELP A story of time BY AMELIA E BARR author of tho the beof bow 0 ora Ri libon 1 I 31 thou tho and nd the other othe oab th maid of 0 MI clr ln lan etc co igla 1901 by br dodd mod company all abis CHAPTER X XIV IV continued 1 I haven t a doubt of it said doa doctor verity well robert did they lave have nothing to say eay to you he asked turning to admiral blake they asked me to treat my men well and I 1 said ill treat them like myself ill glie give them plenty ot of meat and drink and plenty of lighting fighting and prize money and so to their good will we passed all through the city and as I 1 live the pleasant est progress any mortal men could desire 11 then doctor verity began to talk of ct the american colonies and their wonderful growth and as cromwell listened his face grow grew luminous ho he seemed to look through his big eyeballs rather than with them and when milton ceased there was silence until lie he spoke 1 I see he said a great people a vast empire from the loins of all nations it shall spring and there shall be no king there but the desire ot of all hearts shall bo be toward is and it shall be a co chiert ert tor for the oppressed and bread and wine and meat for or those ready to perish then sighing he ha seemed to realize the near and the present and he added but yesterday I 1 wrote broto to that good man the rev john cotton ot of boston I 1 lave have told him that I 1 ani am truly ready to serve him and the rest of the brethren and the churches with him with these words he rose from the table and mr milton the ladles ladies mary and frances cromwell and jane haaff aam went into the great hall aher there was an exceedingly fine organ in a short time mr milton began to te play and to sing but the girls walked up and down talking to jane of their admirers and their new gowns and of love letters that had been sent them in baskets of flowers when hen the music ceased the e evening was tar far spent and cromwell said as ho he drew frances and jane within wi a his arms bring me the bible mary 1 R I 1 1 J I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 11 I 1 t f 1 I 1 11 11 IV I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 tk il I 1 11 I 1 I 1 I 1 V an i I 1 I 1 k I 1 oliver dear oliver mr milton has baa been giving us english song now we wilt will hae hai e the loftier music of 0 king david and we shall get no grander music sir air said doctor owen than alian la Is to bo be found in tho the bible sublimity Is hebrew by birth we must go 90 to the holy book lor for words beyond our words Is there a a man living who could have written that glorious blymn lord thou hast bast boon been our dwell ing place in all generations 11 before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou abou haast formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting thou art god cromwell did not answer ho he was turning the leaves of 0 the dear homely looking volume which his ding daughter after had laid before him she hung affectionately tiona tely over his shoulder and when he had found what he wanted he looked up at her and she smiled and nodded her approbation then be said truly I 1 think no mortal pen but st SL johns could have written these lines and I 1 give not st SL john the honor tor for the holy one must have put pat them into his bis heart arld and the zand sand of bis big angel guided his pen and he began to read and the words fell like a splendid llalon and a great awe filled the room as t they hey dropped from lips and when ho be ceased there was a silence that could be felt a silence almost painful ere dr owens silvery voice penetrated it with the words of the benediction then the protector and mrs cromwell kissed the girls and the clergymen blessed them and they went to their rooms as from the very presence pre tence ot at god but mrs cromwell lingered a long time sho she could not ret rest until she ebe had bad seen the silver and d crystal and fine damask put away in safety and she thought it no shame to lookas look as her lord did after the fragments of the abundant dinner 1 I will not have them wasted she he said eald to tho the steward nor given to those who need them not the lady elizabeth hath bath a list of poor families land and it Is my will that they and they only are served then she went to her daughter Clay poloa poles apartments and talked with her ber about her children and her health when they parted it was very late the police palace was darl dark and still and mrs cromwell with careful economies in her mind and a candle in her if hand arid went softly along the lonely gloomy corridors her little grandson had bad a slight light fever sho she was not satisfied with her daughters health and the care tit of the file great household she ruled was a burden she never neter wholly laid down in this vast melancholy pile pu ol at Aam berB she thought of her aim pie homo battle in st SL ives with longing and wa X affection royal splendors had given her nothing she cared tor for and they bad taken from her hei the constant help and companionship that in humbler circumstances her good great husband had given her she paused a moment before the door of his bis room sho she wondered if he was asleep it so she would on no account awaken him biro for in these days be slept tar far too little she opened the door softly and saw him sitting motionless ti by the nrc fire his eyes closed his massive form upright and perfect t ly lyba at rest oliver sho she said dear oliver ou ought to be in bed and asleep his great darkling soul flashed into his face a look of ten kenderest tend crest derest lovo love he be answered 1 I wish that I 1 could sleep I 1 do indeed I 1 need it god knows I 1 need it but my heart wakes and I 1 do fear it will wako wake this night it if so there is no sleep tor for me you see sec dearest liow how god mingles our cup when I 1 was mr cromwell I 1 could sleep from night till morning when I 1 was gen cromwell my labors gave me rest now that I 1 am lord protector of 0 three kingdoms sleep alas Is gone tar far from me in my mind I 1 run to and fro through all the land I 1 have baie a thousand plans and anxieties elizabeth my dearest great place Is not worth looking after it Is not what troubles you in particular oliver one of the things that troubled my great master when he wept and prayed and tainted fainted in gethsemane ho he knew that those whom he loved and who ought to strengthen end and comfort him would soon forsake and flee from him I 1 think of the men who have trusted rusted me to lead them in every batje w who ho never found me wanting manting the iaz son with whom ham I 1 have taken counsel alth who whom I 1 have prayed tho the men who were to me as jonathan to david r and nd IN he I 1 think of them ny my heart is lae to burstin burst in maln they are be ginning to tor salto me and their cold looks land and formal words hurt we me like a sword thrust they do elizabeth elizabcth they do indeed it if ou had bad made yourself king as you might have done as you ought to have done you would have had bad less opposition john verity said so to me ile he said englishmen were used to a king but they did not know what t to a make of a protector king king I 1 am king in very truth call me what they like and for that matter why should I 1 not bo be king doctor owen tells me the word king cornea comes from konig and means the man that can I 1 am that man everything in europe comes from some battlefield that was their first title to kingship how many battles have I 1 fought and won I 1 never lost a single field how bow could 1 I the lord of 0 hosts being with me As aa a hero of battle there is no man to stand before me why should I 1 not be king over the throe countries I 1 have conquered i john verity la Is right englishmen think a protector la Is a ruler for emergency they feet feel temporary and uncertain with a protector A kingship Is it settled office take the crown oliver why not 1 I have no orders to take it my angel told me when I 1 was a boy that I 1 should become the greatest man in england but ho be said not that I 1 should be king and I 1 know also from one who never lied to me that this nation will mill yearn otter after its old monarch monarchy I 1 am here to do a work to saw BOW seeds that will take generations to ripen but my reign Is only an interregnum I 1 ahall found no dynasty then taking his cifes hand band tenderly between his own he ha said aasa with intense fervor there Is not a man living can say I 1 sought this enot a man or woman living on english ground I 1 can say in the presence of 0 god I 1 would have been glad to have lived with thee under my woo dalde dulde all the days of my life and to have kept my sheep aud and plowed my land rattier rather than bear the burden of at this government do you think the puritan government will die with you oliver 1 I think it will but the puritan principles will never die the kings of the earth banded together cannot destroy them they will spring up and flourish like the grass that tar rieth not tor for man spring where none has towed or planted them spring in the wilderness and in the city until they possess the whole earth this I 1 know and am sure of at after all elizabeth there la Is nothing got by this worlds love and nothing lost by its hate this Is the root ot of the matter my position as protector la Is either of 0 god or of mau man it I 1 did not firmly believe it was of god I 1 would have run away from it many years aso ago U it A be of god he wilt will bear me up while I 1 am in it it if it bo be of man it will shake and tumble what are all our histories but god manifesting that he bo has hab shaken and trampled tram plad upon everything he be has not planted my dearest aou ou are now in a good mind lie down and sleep in his cap tor for he does care cara tor for you and she ehe put her arms around his neck and ad kissed him and be answered thou abou art my comfort and I 1 thank god tor for when lie he laid out my lifes ir as flork 0 rk ho he thought ot of thee to sweet sweeten en A it t 11 sh she left him then tapir hoping ii that he would shelter his weariness in darkness and in dut but he did not the words he had spoken though so full hope and c courage 1 wanted that anat authentication from beyond without which velch they were as tinkling brass to oliver he locked bis big chamber door retired his bis soul said from all bles and stood solemnly before god waiting wailing to bear what he would say to him and in a moment all the trouble of outward things grew at peace with that within for lie he stood motionless on that dazzling line where mortal rind and immortal verge that line where all Is lost in love for god and the beggar self to tor gets to ask for anything tho the austere sweetness ot of sacrifice sacr luce filled his soul tue tar divine hymn ot of renunciation wits was on his lips do as thou wilt with me mc he be cried but oh that I 1 knew whore where to aln find thee oh that I 1 might earn como into thy presence then there was suddenly granted to his longing that tha t op open en v vision ision open only to the that wondrous evidence that very near about us lies the realm ot of spiritual mysteries and the strong man homed bowed and wept great tears of joy and sorrow and after that peace peace unspeakable and full of gladness and he slept like a sinless child while his angel came in a dream and comforted him for so god to his beloved while they I 1 sleep to be continued |