And then he thought about all his aunt had said about “the good fight” and “the whole armour,” the great Leader, and the sure victory at last. But strangely enough, and foolishly enough it seemed to him, his very last thought was about Debby’s going away; and before he had satisfactorily computed the number of weeks’ wages it would take to make the sum which would probably be enough to purchase an overcoat, he fell asleep, and carried on the computation in his dreams.
The next morning was not a very pleasant one to travel in. It was cloudy and cold, and the ground was covered with snow. Mr Inglis had intended to take Frank on the first stage of his journey—that was to the railway station in D—, a town eleven miles away. But, as Jem had foretold, the weariness which he had scarcely felt when he first came home, was all the worse now because of that, and he had taken cold besides; so David and Jem were to take his place in conveying their cousin on the journey.
The good-byes were all said, and the boys set off. They did not mind the cold, or the snow, or the threatening rain, but were well pleased with the prospect of a few more hours together. The roads were bad, and their progress was slow; but that mattered little, as they had the day before them, and plenty to say to one another to pass the time. They discussed trees and fruits, and things in general, after the fashion of boys, and then the last stories of hunters and trappers they had read; and in some way which it would not be easy to trace, they came round to Hobab and the battles he might have fought, and then to “the whole armour” and the warfare in which it was intended to aid them who wore it.
“I wish I understood it all better,” said Frank. “I suppose the Bible means something when it speaks about the warfare, and the armour, and all that; but then one would not think so, just to see the way people live, and good people too.”
“One can’t tell by just seeing the outside of people’s lives,” said David.
“The outside of people’s lives!” repeated Frank. “Why, what else can we see?”
“I mean you are thinking of something quite different from mamma’s idea of battles, and warfare, and all that. She was not speaking about anything that all the world, or people generally, would admire, or even see.”
“But you spoke of your father, David, and I can understand how he in a certain way may be said to be fighting the battles of the Lord. He preaches against sin, and bad people oppose him, and he stands up for his Master; and when he does good to people, wins them over to God’s side, he may be said to make a conquest—to gain a victory, as he did when he rescued poor Tim. I can understand why he should be called a soldier, and how his way of doing things may be called fighting; and that may be the way with ministers generally, I suppose; but as for other people, they ought to be the same, as the Bible says so; but I don’t see that they are, for all that. Do you, Jem?”
“It depends on what you mean by fighting,” said Jem.
“But whatever it is, it is something that can be seen,” said Frank impatiently, “and what I mean is that I don’t see it.”