“I know not how to thank you for such unexampled kindness; you are indeed returning good for evil,” replied Lewis warmly. He paused for a moment, as if he were considering how best he might express his meaning, then added, “As far as may be, I shall most gladly avail myself of the privilege of your friendship. I cannot tell you the weight you have taken off my mind by this convincing proof of your forgiveness. You may imagine how exquisitely painful, knowing how little I deserved them, were all the civil speeches people considered it necessary to make me on my ‘gallant conduct,’ as they termed it; as if there were anything wonderful in swimming a few yards to save a life!—the wonder would be for any man who could swim not to do so.”
“And yet, thinking thus lightly of the peril, you tell me you were so carried away by your angry feeling as to hesitate whether or not to leave me to perish,” returned Annie reflectively. “How strange that the mind can be engrossed by passion so completely as to banish all its natural impulses!”
“You will laugh at me, and think my German education has filled my brain with strange, wild fancies,” replied Lewis; “but I believe that we are under a species of demoniacal possession at such moments—that by indulging our evil feelings instead of resisting them we have given Satan additional power over us. You know the legend of the Wild Huntsman: I cannot but look upon the description of the spirit-riders who accompanied the baron, one on a white, the other on a black steed, and alternately plied him with good and evil counsel, less as an allegory than a reality.”
“You believe, then, that we are constantly surrounded by spiritual beings imperceptible to our bodily senses?” asked Annie. “It is rather a fearful idea.”
“Believe,” returned Lewis, “is perhaps too strong a term to apply to any theory not distinctly borne out by Holy Writ, but as far as I have studied the subject, I think the existence of spiritual beings of opposite natures, some good, some evil, is clearly indicated by Scripture; and there are many passages which would lead one to suppose that they are permitted, under certain restrictions, to interest themselves in mundane affairs, and influence the thoughts which are the springs of human actions—immaterial agents, in fact, for working out the will of God. Nor do I see anything fearful in the idea; on the contrary, as we cannot doubt that it is our own fault if the evil spirits ever prevail against us, and that good angels witness our struggles to do right, and are at hand to assist us, I consider the theory a most consolatory one.”
“I never looked at the subject in this light before,” observed Annie thoughtfully. “Of course, like most other people, I had a vague, visionary kind of belief in the existence of good angels and evil spirits, but I never applied the belief practically, never imagined they had anything to do with me; and yet it seems reasonable that what you have suggested should be the case. Oh! if we could but have our spiritual eyes open so that we could see them, we then should love the good angels so much, and hate and fear the evil ones to such a degree, that it would be quite easy to act rightly, and impossible to do wrong.”
“I suppose, if our faith were as strong as it should be,” returned Lewis, “we ought so to realise the truths of Christianity that we should feel as you describe.”
His companion made no reply, but sat for some minutes apparently pursuing the train of thought to which his words had given rise. At length rousing herself, she turned to Lewis, saying, with a naïve smile, “We shall be capital friends, I see. I did not know you could talk so nicely about things of this kind. I delight in people who give me new ideas—you must teach me German, too, when all this bustle is over. I shall ask papa to let you do so. I want to learn German above everything, and to read Schiller, and Goethe, and La Motte Fouqué, and all sorts of people. Will you take compassion on my ignorance, and accept me as a pupil? I shall not be quite as dull as poor Walter, I hope.”
“I shall be delighted to play Master of the Ceremonies to introduce you to those of the German authors who are best worth knowing, always provided that the General approves of my so doing,” returned Lewis.
“Oh! papa will approve,” replied Annie. “He can care nothing about it one way or another, and whenever that is the case he always lets me do as I like; and as to Aunt Martha—well, there may be some difficulty with her, I confess, but the most ferocious animals are tamed by kindness, and it’s hard if I can’t coax her into submission to my will and pleasure.”