The Black Forge Mills

by William P. Chipman

"You are braver than I," murmured Ray, kissing her passionately, and then he hastened from the room.

Putting on his hat, he started off at a brisk walk for the hills. He felt he must have air and space for this great struggle with himself. His struggle was not over his going to the foreign field. He admitted that was duty; but might he not put off that going for a year, and then Daisy might be able to go with him? This seemed plausible, for it coincided with his own wishes. Might not God have purposely delayed their going so that they would have more time to study the language of the people to whom they were assigned? Why had he not thought of this before? The more he dwelt upon it, and weighed the reasons for such a delay, the more convinced he was that he had now solved the great purpose of God's unexpected providence. He felt sure of it when, after a long tramp, he came around by the office for his mail. A letter was there from Mr. Grafton, of Easton, asking him to supply, for a Sunday or two, the church which he had been accustomed to attend during his academic days. This church had had a marvelous growth during the years he had been away from there. A large and beautiful house of worship, a vigorous church membership, and an ample salary, were the inducements it offered to the coming pastor; and Mr. Grafton had added: "I am instructed by our church committee to say that if you, on visiting us, should care to enter into a permanent relation with us, such a course will be most satisfactory to the church." Ray read the letter through, and then hastened back to the cottage. Finding Daisy, he poured forth in glowing language his convictions, and, reading the letter to her, he asked:

"Was ever anything plainer? Here, without the asking, has God appointed my work; you can now become my wife, and together we will toil at Easton, until God opens the way for our going to the foreign field."

A great hope, for a moment, came into her pale, anxious face; then she said, quietly: "We will pray over it, Ray, and if it truly seems to be God's will, I shall be only too happy to grant your request." And she hid her blushing face on his shoulder.

"We will pray over it, Ray." Those words came with a condemning force to his ears. In all his weighing of the question, he had not prayed over it. He had not even thought of it; and now, as he realized this, and that he had not followed his usual custom of taking all of his plans to God for his direction, he was startled. Was he really setting up his own will, and trying to make God's will conform to it, instead of asking what was God's will, and then yielding his own will to that?

"You are right, my Daisy," he said, raising her blushing face up to his for a kiss. "I am afraid I have not tried to settle this question as I should have done; we will indeed pray over it. Meantime, I can see no harm in going up to Easton and preaching for that church on Sunday. In that way God may give us light on this important question."

But when he got to Easton and found how anxious the Grand Avenue Church people were to have him for their pastor, and how sure they were it would not be right for him to sail to his mission field without a wife, he yielded; and before he returned to Afton he had written the mission board that he would postpone his going out for a year, and had closed an engagement with the church as its pastor for the same length of time.

When he told Daisy, she gravely shook her head. "I'm afraid, Ray, you have made a mistake," she said; "but, of course, in such a question as this, the final decision must always rest with you. It will take me some time to get ready for our marriage, with my other duties; then, too, we must see if mother can safely be moved as far as Easton. There is another thing we should think of also. If we are married, and then I could not go out with you in a year, what will you do? It will be infinitely harder for us to separate then: perhaps you would have to give up your plan altogether. Would it not be better to wait, and leave yourself at liberty to go alone another year, if my duty keeps me here? Don't think I am hesitating on my own account, Ray, about being your wife," she added, noticing his annoyed look. "It is because I love you so that I want in no way to embarrass you in your chosen work. Look well at every side of this question, and if you still feel it is the wisest course to take, I shall not delay our marriage a moment."

Throwing his arm around her, Ray drew her down beside him on the nearest sofa.

"Go on, as your other duties may permit, my darling, in your preparations for our marriage," he gravely said; "and the first moment it seems wisest to have the ceremony performed, we will have it done. It may come soon, and at brief notice; it may be long in the coming: but we will be ready for it at any hour.