That all is well when darkening clouds conceal
The shining sun;
But then I know
God lives and loves; and say, since it is so,
Thy will be done.”
E. B. Browning.
“We’ve got a bright lookout, if this day is the foreteller of what our nation is to be in this new land;” and the speaker threw down his hunting-knife with a satirical laugh.
“Well, Jake, we cannot expect anything brighter if we’ve sense and courage enough to look before us. Ten days more and the ships will be gone; then what is there to prevent these savages from murdering us all? Our colony will have a short day, and may be wiped out before it is half over. This land belongs to the redskins; and when our men and the governors fly over the water, and won’t take us, it is simply saying, ‘Poor things, someone’s got to stay, or the London Company won’t like it: be brave, and die like Englishmen for us.’”
“What dost thou say, Hopeful Kent? Ah! thou talkest like a brave Englishman; surely, shouldst thou die as thou livest, thy countrymen would have naught to be proud of in thee.” Both men looked ashamed as the speaker advanced from the wood, and looked straight at them with his great searching eyes, from under a broad-brimmed flat hat, such as was worn by the clergy after the Reformation.
He looked almost sternly at the two men as he asked, “Dost thou try to better things by hard work? Dost thou try to help thy governor, whom thy Lord has put over thee? For shame, Jake Barnes! Didst thou work more, and growl less, thou would’st do better. Thou scarcely livest up to thy blessed calling in thy name, Hopeful Kent! How great is the mercy of thy God that he smiteth thee not!”