A Little Pilgrim - Margaret O. (Wilson) Oliphant
"And what did he say to you?" cried the little Pilgrim, her heart almost
aching, it beat so high with sympathy and expectation.
The lady looked at her for a little without saying anything.
"I cannot tell you," she said, "any more than I can tell if this is
heaven. It is a mystery. When you see him you will know. It will be all
you have ever hoped for, and more besides, for he understands everything.
He knows what is in our hearts about those we have left, and why he sent
for us before them. There is no need to tell him anything, he knows. He
will come when it is time; and after you have seen him you will know what
to do."
Then the beautiful lady turned her eyes toward the gate, and while the
little Pilgrim was still gazing, disappeared from her, and went to
comfort some other stranger. They were dear friends always, and met
often, but not again in the same way.
When she was thus left alone again, the little Pilgrim sat still upon the
grassy mound, quite tranquil and happy, without wishing to move. There
was such a sense of well-being in her, that she liked to sit there and
look about her, and breathe the delightful air, like the air of a summer
morning, without wishing for anything.
"How idle I am!" she said to herself, in the very words she had often
used before she died; but then she was idle from weakness, and now from
happiness. She wanted for nothing. To be alive was so sweet. There was a
great deal to think about in what she had heard, but she did not even
think about that, only resigned herself to the delight of sitting there
in the sweet air and being happy. Many people were coming and going, and
they all knew her, and smiled upon her, and those who were at a distance
would wave their hands. This did not surprise her at all, for though she
was a stranger, she too felt that she knew them all; but that they should
be so kind was a delight to her which words could not tell. She sat and
mused very sweetly about all that had been told her, and wondered whether
she too might go sometimes, and with a kiss and a whisper clear up
something that was dark in the mind of some one who loved her. "I that
never was clever!" she said to herself, with a smile. And chiefly she
thought of a friend whom she loved, who was often in great perplexity,
and did not know how to guide herself amid the difficulties of the world.
The little Pilgrim half laughed with delight, and then half cried with
longing to go, as the beautiful lady had done, and make something clear
that had been dark before, to this friend. As she was thinking what a
pleasure it would be, some one came up to her, crossing over the flowery
greenness, leaving the path on purpose. This was a being younger than the
lady who had spoken to her before, with flowing hair all crisped with
touches of sunshine, and a dress all white and soft, like the feathers of
a white dove. There was something in her face different from that of the
other, by which the little Pilgrim knew somehow, without knowing how,
that she had come here as a child, and grown up in this celestial place.
She was tall and fair, and came along with so musical a motion, as if her
foot scarcely touched the ground, that she might have had wings: and the
little Pilgrim indeed was not sure as she watched, whether it might not
perhaps be an angel; for she knew that there were angels among the
blessed people who were coming and going about, but had not been able yet
to find one out. She knew that this new-comer was coming to her, and
turned towards her with a smile and a throb at her heart of expectation.
But when the heavenly maiden drew nearer, her face, though it was so
fair, looked to the Pilgrim like another face, which she had known very
well,--indeed, like the homely and troubled face of the friend of whom
she had been thinking. And so she smiled all the more, and held out her
hands and said, "I am sure I know you;" upon which the other kissed her
and said, "We all know each other; but I have seen you often before
you came here," and knelt down by her, among the flowers that were
growing, just in front of some tall lilies that grew over her, and made
a lovely canopy over her head. There was something in her face that was
like a child: her mouth so soft, as if it had never spoken anything but
heavenly words, her eyes brown and golden, as if they were filled with
light. She took the little Pilgrim's hands in hers, and held them and
smoothed them between her own. These hands had been very thin and worn
before, but now, when the Pilgrim looked at them, she saw that they
became softer and whiter every moment with the touch of this immortal
youth.
"I knew you were coming," said the maiden; "when my mother has wanted me
I have seen you there. And you were thinking of her now that was how I
found you."
"Do you know, then, what one thinks?" said the little Pilgrim, with
wondering eyes.
"It is in the air; and when it concerns us it comes to us like the
breeze. But we who are the children here, we feel it more quickly than
you."
"Are you a child?" said the little Pilgrim, "or are you an angel?
Sometimes you are like a child; but then your face shines, and you are
like--You must have some name for it here; there is nothing among the
words I know." And then she paused a little, still looking at her, and
cried, "Oh, if she could but see you, little Margaret! That would do her
most good of all."
Then the maiden Margaret shook her lovely head. "What does her most good
is the will of the Father," she said.
At this the little Pilgrim felt once more that thrill of expectation and
awe. "Oh, child, you have seen him?" she cried.
And the other smiled. "Have you forgotten who they are that always behold
his face? We have never had any fear or trembling. We are not angels, and
there is no other name; we are the children. There is something given to
us beyond the others. We have had no other home."
"Oh, tell me, tell me!" the little Pilgrim cried.
Upon this Margaret kissed her, putting her soft cheek against hers, and
said; "It is a mystery; it cannot be put into words; in your time you
will know."
"When you touch me you change me, and I grow like you," the Pilgrim said.
"Ah, if she could see us together, you and me! And will you go to her
soon again? And do you see them always, what they are doing? and take
care of them?"
"It is our Father who takes cares of them, and our Lord who is our
Brother. I do his errands when I am able. Sometimes he will let me go,
sometimes another, according as it is best. Who am I that I should take
care of them? I serve them when I may."
"But you do not forget them?" the Pilgrim said, with wistful eyes.
"We love them always," said Margaret. She was more still than the lady
who had first spoken with the Pilgrim. Her countenance was full of a
heavenly calm. It had never known passion nor anguish. Sometimes there
was in it a far-seeing look of vision, sometimes the simplicity of a
child. "But what are we in comparison? For he loves them more than we do.
When he keeps us from them, it is for love. We must each live our own
life."
"But it is hard for them sometimes," said the little Pilgrim, who could
not withdraw her thoughts from those she had left.
"They are never forsaken," said the angel maiden.
"But oh! there are worse things than sorrow," the little Pilgrim said;
"there is wrong, there is evil, Margaret. Will not he send you to step in
before them, to save them from wrong?"
"It is not for us to judge," said the young Margaret, with eyes full of
heavenly wisdom; "our Brother has it all in his hand. We do not read
their hearts, like him. Sometimes you are permitted to see the battle--"
The little Pilgrim covered her eyes with her hands. "I could not--I could
not; unless I knew they were to win the day!"
"They will win the day in the end. But sometimes, when it was being lost,
I have seen in his face a something--I cannot tell--more love than
before. Something that seemed to say, 'My child, my child, would that I
could do it for thee, my child!'"
"Oh! that is what I have always felt," cried the Pilgrim, clasping her
hands; her eyes were dim, her heart for a moment almost forgot its
blessedness. "But he could; oh, little Margaret, he could! You have
forgotten, 'Lord; if thou wilt thou canst--'"
The child of heaven looked at her mutely, with sweet, grave eyes, in
which there was much that confused her who was a stranger here, and once
more softly shook her head.
"Is it that he will not then?" said the other with a low voice of awe.
"Our Lord, who died--he--"
"Listen!" said the other; "I hear his step on the way."
The little Pilgrim rose up from the mound on which she was sitting. Her
soul was confused with wonder and fear. She had thought that an angel
might step between a soul on earth and sin, and that if one but prayed
and prayed, the dear Lord would stand between and deliver the tempted.
She had meant when she saw his face to ask him to save. Was not he born,
did not he live and die, to save? The angel maiden looked at her all the
while with eyes that understood all her perplexity and her doubt, but
spoke not. Thus it was that before the Lord came to her, the sweetness of
her first blessedness was obscured, and she found that here too, even
here, though in a moment she should see him, there was need for faith.
Young Margaret, who had been kneeling by her, rose up too and stood among
the lilies, waiting, her soft countenance shining, her eyes turned
towards him who was coming. Upon her there was no cloud nor doubt. She
was one of the children of that land familiar with his presence. And
in the air there was a sound such as those who hear it alone can
describe,--a sound as of help coming and safety, like the sound of a
deliverer when one is in deadly danger, like the sound of a conqueror,
like the step of the dearest beloved coming home. As it came nearer, the
fear melted away out of the beating heart of the Pilgrim. Who could fear
so near him? Her breath went away from her, her heart out of her bosom to
meet his coming. Oh, never fear could live where he was! Her soul was all
confused, but it was with hope and joy. She held out her hands in that
amaze, and dropped upon her knees, not knowing what she did.
He was going about his Father's business, not lingering, yet neither
making haste; and the calm and peace which the little Pilgrim had seen in
the faces of the blessed were but reflections from the majestic
gentleness of the countenance to which, all quivering with happiness and
wonder, she lifted up her eyes. Many things there had been in her mind to
say to him. She wanted to ask for those she loved some things which
perhaps he had overlooked. She wanted to say, "Send me." It seemed to her
that here was the occasion she had longed for all her life. Oh, how many
times had she wished to be able to go to him, to fall at his feet, to
show him something which had been left undone, something which perhaps
for her asking he would remember to do. But when this dream of her life
was fulfilled, and the little Pilgrim, kneeling, and all shaken and
trembling with devotion and joy, was at his feet, lifting her face to
him, seeing him, hearing him--then she said nothing to him at all. She
no longer wanted to say anything, or wanted anything except what he
chose, or had power to think of anything except that all was well, and
everything--everything as it should be in his hand. It seemed to her that
all that she had ever hoped for was fulfilled when she met the look in
his eyes. At first it seemed too bright for her to meet; but next moment
she knew it was all that was needed to light up the world, and in it
everything was clear. Her trembling ceased, her little frame grew
inspired; though she still knelt, her head rose erect, drawn to him like
the flower to the sun. She could not tell how long it was, nor what was
said, nor if it was in words. All that she knew was that she told him all
that ever she had thought, or wished, or intended in all her life,
although she said nothing at all; and that he opened all things to her,
and showed her that everything was well, and no one forgotten; and that
the things she would have told him of were more near his heart than hers,
and those to whom she wanted to be sent were in his own hand. But whether
this passed with words or without words, she could not tell. Her soul
expanded under his eyes like a flower. It opened out, it comprehended and
felt and knew. She smote her hands together in her wonder that she could
have missed seeing what was so clear, and laughed with a sweet scorn at
her folly, as two people who love each other laugh at the little
misunderstanding that has parted them. She was bold with him, though she
was so timid by nature, and ventured to laugh at herself, not to reproach
herself; for his divine eyes spoke no blame, but smiled upon her folly
too. And then he laid a hand upon her head, which seemed to fill her with
currents of strength and joy running through all her veins. And then she
seemed to come to herself, saying loud out, "And that I will! and that I
will!" and lo, she was kneeling on the warm, soft sod alone, and hearing
the sound of his footsteps as he went about his Father's business,
filling all the air with echoes of blessing. And all the people who were
coming and going smiled upon her, and she knew they were all glad for her
that she had seen him, and got the desire of her heart. Some of them
waved their hands as they passed, and some paused a moment and spoke to
her with tender congratulations. They seemed to have the tears in their
eyes for joy, remembering every one the first time they had themselves
seen him, and the joy of it; so that all about there sounded a concord of
happy thoughts all echoing to each other, "She has seen the Lord!"
Why did she say, "And that I will! and that I will!" with such fervor and
delight? She could not have told, but yet she knew. The first thing was
that she had yet to wait and believe until all things should be
accomplished, neither doubting nor fearing, but knowing that all should
be well; and the second was that she must delay no longer, but rise up
and serve the Father according to what was given her as her reward. When
she had recovered a little of her rapture, she rose from her knees, and
stood still for a little, to be sure which way she was to go. And she was
not aware what guided her, but yet turned her face in the appointed way
without any doubt. For doubt was now gone away forever, and that fear
that once gave her so much trouble lest she might not be doing what was
best. As she moved along she wondered at herself more and more. She felt
no longer, as at first, like the child she remembered to have been,
venturing out in the awful lovely stillness of the morning before any one
was awake; but she felt that to move along was a delight, and that her
foot scarcely touched the grass. And her whole being was instinct with
such lightness of strength and life, that it did not matter to her how
far she went, nor what she carried, nor if the way was easy or hard. The
way she chose was one of those which led to the great gate, and many met
her coming from thence, with looks that were somewhat bewildered, as if
they did not yet know whither they were going or what had happened to
them,--upon whom she smiled as she passed them with soft looks of
tenderness and sympathy, knowing what they were feeling, but did not stop
to explain to them, because she had something else that had been given
her to do. For this is what always follows in that country when you meet
the Lord, that you instantly know what it is that he would have you do.
The little Pilgrim thus went on and on toward the gate, which she had not
seen when she herself came through it, having been lifted in his arms by
the great Death Angel, and set down softly inside, so that she did not
know it, or even the shadow of it. As she drew nearer, the light became
less bright, though very sweet, like a lovely dawn, and she wondered to
herself to think that she had been here but a moment ago, and yet so much
had passed since then. And still she was not aware what was her errand,
but wondered if she was to go back by these same gates, and perhaps
return where she had been. She went up to them very closely, for she was
curious to see the place through which she had come in her sleep,--as a
traveller goes back to see the city gate, with its bridge and portcullis,
through which he has passed by night. The gate was very great, of a
wonderful, curious architecture, having strange, delicate arches and
canopies above. Some parts of them seemed cut very clean and clear; but
the outlines were all softened with a sort of mist and shadow, so that it
looked greater and higher than it was. The lower part was not one great
doorway, as the Pilgrim had supposed, but had innumerable doors, all
separate and very narrow, so that but one could pass at a time, though
the arch inclosed all, and seemed filled with great folding gates, in
which the smaller doors were set, so that if need arose a vast opening
might be made for many to enter. Of the little doors many were shut as
the Pilgrim approached; but from moment to moment one after another would
be pushed softly open from without, and some one would come in. The
little Pilgrim looked at it all with great interest, wondering which of
the doors she herself had come by; but while she stood absorbed by this,
a door was suddenly pushed open close by her, and some one flung forward
into the blessed country, falling upon the ground, and stretched out wild
arms as though to clutch the very soil. This sight gave the Pilgrim a
great surprise; for it was the first time she had heard any sound of
pain, or seen any sight of trouble, since she entered here. In that
moment she knew what it was that the dear Lord had given her to do. She
had no need to pause to think, for her heart told her; and she did not
hesitate, as she might have done in the other life, not knowing what to
say. She went forward and gathered this poor creature into her arms, as
if it had been a child, and drew her quite within the land of peace; for
she had fallen across the threshold, so as to hinder any one entering who
might be coming after her. It was a woman, and she had flung herself upon
her face, so that it was difficult for the little Pilgrim to see what
manner of person it was; for though she felt herself strong enough to
take up this new-comer in her arms and carry her away, yet she forbore,
seeing the will of the stranger was not so. For some time this woman lay
moaning, with now and then a great sob shaking her as she lay. The little
Pilgrim had taken her by both her arms, and drawn her head to rest upon
her own lap, and was still holding the hands, which the poor creature had
thrown out as if to clutch the ground. Thus she lay for a little while,
as the little Pilgrim remembered she herself had lain, not wishing to
move, wondering what had happened to her; then she clutched the hands
which grasped her, and said, muttering,--
"You are some one new. Have you come to save me? Oh, save me! Oh, save
me! Don't let me die!"
This was very strange to the little Pilgrim, and went to her heart. She
soothed the stranger, holding her hands warm and light, and stooping over
her.
"Dear," she said, "you must try and not be afraid."
"You say so," said the woman, "because you are well and strong. You don't
know what it is to be seized in the middle of your life, and told
that you've got to die. Oh, I have been a sinful creature! I am not fit
to die. Can't you give me something that will cure me? What is the good
of doctors and nurses if they cannot save a poor soul that is not fit to
die?"
At this the little Pilgrim smiled upon her, always holding her fast, and
said,--
"Why are you so afraid to die?"
The woman raised her head to see who it was who put such a strange
question to her.
"You are some one new," she said. "I have never seen you before. Is there
any one that is not afraid to die? Would _you_ like to have to give
your account all in a moment, without any time to prepare?"
"But you have had time to prepare," said the Pilgrim.
"Oh, only a very, very little time. And I never thought it was true. I am
not an old woman, and I am not fit to die; and I'm poor. Oh, if I were
rich, I would bribe you to give me something to keep me alive. Won't you
do it for pity?--won't you do it for pity? When you are as bad as I am,
oh, you will perhaps call for some one to help you, and find nobody, like
me."
"I will help you for love," said the little Pilgrim; "some one who loves
you has sent me."
The woman lifted herself up a little and shook her head. "There is nobody
that loves me." Then she cast her eyes round her and began to tremble
again (for the touch of the little Pilgrim had stilled her). "Oh, where
am I?" she said. "They have taken me away; they have brought me to a
strange place; and you are new. Oh, where have they taken me?--where am
I?--where am I?" she cried. "Have they brought me here to die?"
Then the little Pilgrim bent over her and soothed her. "You must not be
so much afraid of dying; that is all over. You need not fear that any
more," she said softly; "for here where you now are we have all died."
The woman started up out of her arms, and then she gave a great shriek
that made the air ring, and cried out, "Dead! am I dead?" with a shudder
and convulsion, throwing herself again wildly with outstretched hands
upon the ground.
This was a great and terrible work for the little Pilgrim--the first she
had ever had to do--and her heart failed her for a moment; but afterward
she remembered our Brother who sent her, and knew what was best. She drew
closer to the new-comer, and took her hand again.
"Try," she said, in a soft voice, "and think a little. Do you feel now so
ill as you were? Do not be frightened, but think a little. I will hold
your hand. And look at me; you are not afraid of me?"
The poor creature shuddered again, and then she turned her face and
looked doubtfully, with great dark eyes dilated, and the brow and cheek
so curved and puckered round them that they seemed to glow out of deep
caverns. Her face was full of anguish and fear. But as she looked at the
little Pilgrim, her troubled gaze softened. Of her own accord she clasped
her other hand upon the one that held hers, and then she said with a
gasp,--
"I am not afraid of you; that was not true that you said! You are one of
the sisters, and you want to frighten me and make me repent!"
"You do repent," the Pilgrim said.
"Oh," cried the poor woman, "what has the like of you to do with me? Now
I look at you, I never saw any one that was like you before. Don't you
hate me?--don't you loathe me? I do myself. It's so ugly to go wrong. I
think now I would almost rather die and be done with it. You will say
that is because I am going to get better. I feel a great deal better now.
Do you think I am going to get over it? Oh, I am better! I could get up
out of bed and walk about. Yes, but I am not in bed,--where have you
brought me? Never mind, it is a fine air; I shall soon get well here."
The Pilgrim was silent for a little, holding her hands. And then she
said,--
"Tell me how you feel now," in her soft voice.
The woman had sat up and was gazing round her. "It is very strange," she
said; "it is all confused. I think upon my mother and the old prayers I
used to say. For a long, long time I always said my prayers; but now I've
got hardened, they say. Oh, I was once as fresh as any one. It all comes
over me now. I feel as if I were young again--just come out of the
country. I am sure that I could walk."
The little Pilgrim raised her up, holding her by her hands; and she stood
and gazed round about her, making one or two doubtful steps. She was very
pale, and the light was dim; her eyes peered into it with a scared yet
eager look. She made another step, then stopped again.
"I am quite well," she said. "I could walk a mile. I could walk any
distance. What was that you said? Oh, I tell you I am better! I am not
going to die."
"You will never, never die," said the little Pilgrim; "are you not glad
it is all over? Oh, I was so glad! And all the more you should be glad if
you were so much afraid."
But this woman was not glad. She shrank away from her companion, then
came close to her again, and gripped her with her hands.
"It is your--fun," she said, "or just to frighten me. Perhaps you think
it will do me no harm as I am getting so well; you want to frighten me to
make me good. But I mean to be good without that--I do!--I do! When one
is so near dying as I have been and yet gets better,--for I am going to
get better! Yes! you know it as well as I."
The little Pilgrim made no reply, but stood by, looking at her charge,
not feeling that anything was given her to say,--and she was so new to
this work, that there was a little trembling in her, lest she should not
do everything as she ought. And the woman looked round with those anxious
eyes gazing all about. The light did not brighten as it had done when the
Pilgrim herself first came to this place. For one thing, they had
remained quite close to the gate, which no doubt threw a shadow. The
woman looked at that, and then turned and looked into the dim morning,
and did not know where she was, and her heart was confused and troubled.