Watertown Republican

THE HERMIT AND THE TRAVELER.
BY T. S. ARTHUR.
There was once a man who led a wicked life. He despised the poor, oppressed the weak, and was cruel to all over whom he had power. As it happens almost always to such men, a great calamity befell him. No one can be selfish and cruel without paying the penalty of suffering. The evil we do is sure, in some way, to punish us in this world. God permits this punishment that we may repent.
Now, this man was great and powerful among his neighbors. He lived in a castle, and had armed soldiers to do his bidding; and as he was cruel and selfish, as well as powerful, he robbed the people who could not defend themselves, and if any of them resisted, he burned their dwellings and laid waste their fields.
He had a wife and two children. His wife was so gentle and so beautiful, and his children so good and lovely, that even this bad man prized them above all his possessions.
One day a man came to the castle, and asked to see him. His garments were poor, like those worn by peasants who tilled the soil: but his countenance was fierce, and his eyes flashed with anger.
"Your soldiers have burned my house and carried off my wife; and I am here to demand justice!"
He spoke sternly. If this peasant had stooped and cringed to his powerful neighbor, and asked justice as a favor, the soldiers might have been ordered to bring back his wife; but as it was, the wicked lord of the castle, who had no pity in his heart, fell into a great passion, and lifting his sword, tried to slay the poor man.
Just at this moment, his wife came into the apartment, leading her beautiful children, and seeing the sword in her husband's upraised hand, cried out in alarm.
At sight of these, his enemy's most precious things, the fires of hatred and revenge burned up fiercely in the peasant's heart, and drawing a concealed weapon, he killed them with thrusts given as quickly as lightning flashes. In the next moment he was gone, and the strong, bad man stood horror-stricken over his dead wife and children. All his wicked life crowded back upon his memory. The warning words of a pious man--'God's justice will find you out!'--scarcely noticed when spoken, now rung in his ears in tones like thunder. His soul was crushed under a weight of remorse and sorrow. A great terror oppressed him. He seemed standing face to face with an awful Power that he had scorned and defied.
From that time men lost sight of him. His castle fell into ruins, and weeds and briars covered all his neglected fields.
Many years afterwards, a traveler lost his way in a great forest. While vainly seeking to find his way out, he came upon a hermit, who lived in a rocky cave, by the mouth of which ran a clear stream of water. He was dressed in poor garments: his beard was white, and hung down almost to his waist: his face was thin, and his eyes sunken. The traveler's heart was filled with pity at sight of so miserable a being.
"Who are you?
And what are you doing here?"
"I have been a great sinner." replied the hermit. "I was a cruel oppressor; a bold wrong-doer. I defied God, and he laid his hand heavily upon me. Then I fled away from the sight of man, to this wilderness, that I might repent and punish myself. My food has been herbs, instead of dainty meats; my drink water, instead of rich wines. I spend long nights in prayer; I beat my body in stripes, until it is covered with wounds. And though I have done this for years, yet God still hides himself from me in anger. My sins have been too great. He will not forgive! Oh, that I had never been born!"
And the hermit groaned in anguish of spirit.
"Wretched man!" said the traveler. "God hides himself from no one. It is you that have hidden yourself from God. He dwells here with the happy birds, with the fragrant blossoms, and pure running water --with all nature in her orderly work; but not with man idly bemoaning himself. If you wish to find God, go where his poor, his suffering, and needy ones are, and join Him in helping them."
"Begin a new and truer life," continued the traveler, "by at once showing me the way out of this forest. I have much work to do for God among the children of men, and they suffer loss while I am away."
The hermit rose from the ground slowly, as strength came back to him; and silently led the traveler out of the forest.
"Prayer, and fastenings, and self-denials are all vain," said the traveler, as they stood still on the great high-road, "unless there be good deeds. Go back among your fellow-men and do them good, if you desire God's favor; you will never find it here."
After ten years' absence, the lord of the castle came back to its desolate walls. His hair was white as wool; his form wasted and bent: his countenance thin and sorrowful. Men stood aloof from him, for they remembered how wicked and cruel he had been. The weak trembled at his return, for they feared his oppressions.
Soon, the hearts of all began to turn to the lord of the castle; for instead of doing evil, as before, his hand was showing itself in good works. He kept no soldiers to guard his gates, and defend him from enemies, for now he had no enemies. The poor were helped, the sick cared for, and the vicious restrained. He was a father and a protector of the people.
One day, as he sat looking from a window of his castle, at the peaceful country which lay all around him; peaceful and happy, because he was on the side of good instead of evil: he saw passing by. the traveler, who had been lost in the forest. And he sent his servant after him. When the two men stood face to face, the traveler said:
"Have we not met before?"
And the lord of the castle answered:
"Yes, you came to me once with a message from God."
Then the traveler knew him. and his countenance was full of gladness: for, in place of the miserable, self-afflicting hermit, he saw a peaceful old man. whose life of good deeds had brought him so near to God that his face was as the face of an angel in its tranquil sweetness.
"God hears you now," said the traveler. "He is very near. He fills my heart with his love. I am his servant," answered the lord of the castle, bowing his head with a gentle reverence.
"Ah, yes," said the traveler. It is the faithful servant who worships God in well- doing, that gets the blessing. Others never find it."
Then they broke bread and prayed together, and the traveler went on his way, rejoicing that the good seed sown by the wayside had yielded so rich a harvest.--Children's Hour.