TROUBLED sleep came at last; morning dawned, the world began to stir, and Ruth awoke with another passage of Milton's in her mind, about the forbidden fruit:—
"Greedily they plucked the fruitage fair to sight,
Like that which grew near the bituminous* lake
where Sodom flamed:
This more delusive, not to touch, but taste deceived;
They, fondly thinking to alter their appetite with gust,
Instead of fruit chewed bitter ashes."
"It's just so with us," said Ruth to herself. "All forbidden fruit, however fair, turns to ashes at last. Here I went to win some social pleasure, loving pleasure more than God, and I've cheated myself. The people who did their duty last night, and went to bed at a seasonable hour, lying down in peace, and sleeping in safety, can get up this morning ready to work for God and humanity. There's Maggie singing like a lark in the kitchen, full of gratitude and joy, and I rise under a cloud, my stomach out of order, my conscience scourging me, unfitted for duty, hollows under my eyes, disappointment in my heart, a feeling of degradation in my soul, and a sense of having injured others and myself, of having wounded Christ, and sent the angels away in sorrow."
Ruth sat down and opened her Bible at random, and this verse met her eye:—
"They that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven."
"What things?" said Ruth, and then, in all the words of prohibition, "revelings" seemed to stand out most clearly.
"Revelings; I'll look it up in Webster," said Ruth, "and see if I'm guilty. I wonder if last night's doings can be put under this head."
"A riotous feast, a carousal," she read. "Well, what goes to make a riotous feast? Late hours, foolish talking, and something to eat, not necessary to the body's needs or the soul's advancement. Of course, our feast could hardly be called a carousal, but it has some of the features of the veritable thing."
Ruth did not get downstairs till ten o'clock, and then she yawned and felt miserable. Her work waited for her undone, and condemnation rested upon her spirit.
"Well, repenting, I suppose," said Arthur, as he stepped in at noon.
"Yes," said Ruth, "and I hope it is after a godly sort that will not need to be repented of."
"What! are you going to give up all sort of social life?"
"No," said Ruth; "I think there is a kind of social life that has a refining, elevating influence. If we could come into the fellowship I think possible, I believe it would be pleasurable and profitable. Suppose last night we had ordered our conversation aright; we would have had a lovely talk. Think of all the great things we might have talked of—poetry, literature, daily experience. We might have had some really fine music. We all love to sing the beautiful hymns, and much of the music is from Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and the best composers. We all know that the eating of ice-cream and cake at night is not hygienic or necessary, and why not live up to our highest convictions of duty? Then, as we are Christians, does it not seem a horrible waste of money? The heathen are perishing at home and abroad. Little is given to this cause, and when I thought of it last night, I nearly choked on the ice-cream. No, I believe if we are Christians, we had better act like it. How are the people of the world to be converted, if we do not? We believe that the world is soon to come to an end. Just think of it! Shall we act as tho we were to live here forever?
"I tell you, my cousin, I have lived a sentimental Christian life, but, God helping me, I mean to be a Christian in reality. When Jesus comes, He is going to commend those who do the things He has commanded. We are to glorify God in our body and in our spirits, which are His. I believe we may be happy, above anything we have sought in our own pleasure gatherings, in doing good, in following in Jesus' steps, and in devoting our whole life to the cause of truth. I want to sorrow now with godly sorrow that leads to repentance not to be repented of.
"Just look at that text," said Ruth, pointing to the Bible roll on the wall. "'Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation [manner of life] received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.'
"'Vain conversation, manner of life;' you see it is vain. It begins and ends with self. It will be swept away, like the chaff it is. O, let us get down to rock bottom and build for eternity!"
"All right, Ruth. Good-afternoon," said Arthur, as he left for his work.
A view of one of the beautiful lakes—Tahoe—of the Sierras, on the border land between California and Nevada, directly west of Carson City, and a little north of east from Sacramento. The above view is north from Emerald Bay. The nearest railway points are on the Southern Pacific, at Lake View, Truckee, or Carson City.
Ruth's serious thoughts turned to thoughts of gratitude and love that we were called to walk worthy of such a high vocation.
