“What is being a man of God, Seppi?” asked Squib curiously.
Seppi found that rather a hard question to answer.
“I can’t tell,” he replied; “one feels it somehow. And then Herr Adler has talked sometimes to me about the Kingdom. That helps to make one feel it. It is all so very beautiful.”
“Tell me,” said Squib drawing nearer, “what is the Kingdom?”
“I’m not sure that I can explain. I can’t say things right even when I seem to feel them inside of me. Herr Adler says that the Bible tells us that some day Jesus Christ will come back again and reign on earth; and that all things will be made new and beautiful; and that His saints will reign with Him. You know about the servants who had the money, and some did well with it and had cities to rule over, and one did nothing and had his money taken away. Herr Adler thinks it will be like that with us. If we use what is given us now, and do our very best with it, we shall have things set us to do in the Kingdom; but if we have wasted it all, or done nothing, then we shall not be fit to help, and nothing will be trusted to us. It doesn’t matter what it is that we do, however little the talent is. If we do our best with it, and do not waste or bury it, we shall use it again—oh, so much better then! I can’t say it as he does. But I feel it is all true; so I’m not going to try any more to do things much too difficult for me. That’s not getting on; I think that’s just conceit. I’m going to draw the things I can do, and do them as well as ever I can. I want to make a lot of little pictures from my goats; and then put them together in one big picture to give Herr Adler before he goes.”
This was a very long speech for Seppi to make, and it was not made all at once, but just a bit at a time as he sat looking out before him, with Squib at his side looking earnestly into his face as though to learn all his meaning and encourage him to proceed. The magnitude of the thoughts suggested was rather much for his brain, although he apprehended much of it with the quick intuition of childhood. But Seppi’s last words suggested a new train of thought; and Squib answered eagerly,—
“Oh yes, you do that! Make him a beautiful picture of your goats and the valley and the Silent Watchers—”
“No, no, no!” cried Seppi almost vehemently. “Not the valley and the mountains. I can’t do them. Just a group of my own goats, with Moor watching them, and some stones and flowers in front, and just a rift in the sky behind, and the light coming through. I can see it all—if only I could do it! But it shan’t be anything grand. I should only get all into a muddle! I’ll do it all again and again in pencil; and then I’ll try the chalks for the colours of the goats and the sky and the flowers.”
“And I’ll carve him something!” cried Squib, fired by sudden desire. “I’ll make him a carving of Czar! I think he’ll like Czar when he knows him. He likes Moor, and Moor is very fond of him. Perhaps I’ll do Moor and Czar playing together. They do have great games. I wonder if I could do that.”
“Try something easy, and do it well,” advised Seppi, with the touch of diffidence he always showed in offering an opinion of his own to the little gentleman. He admired Squib with all his heart, and thought him wonderfully clever, but he knew that his carving was crude and unfinished, and that a group of dogs at play was far beyond his powers.