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Malcolm was fond of theories, and loved To pack opinion into parcels trim, And in the pleasant spring of life, which deems Its buds full-blown, he made himself a creed. *' Old faiths are out of fashion : I believe In love : a simple creed, but it will serve. 'Incomprehensible.' I've done with thee And all the brood of formless phantasies. Henceforth in travelled highways of the known I walk unawed. Man needs not more than love, Love that knits man unto his fellow-man." Thus Malcolm dreamed and knew not all his need. 6 MALCOLM. Now in those days, those foolish, generous days, Malcolm had one near friend, light-hearted Eric, Whose gift it was to spur the lazy hour With song and jest and story, and to win The smile from sadness lik6 the sudden gleam Which warms a wintry sky. His, too, the gift To listen, and to lend an easy ear To the large claims of Malcolm's eloquence, Onslaught on custom, speculation vague. Strange plans for fashioning the world anew. For Eric liked the new philosophy, Not loth himself, if it were possible, To banish that stern power which with the gloom Of its accusing presence dimmed the light Of natural joy, and checked the natural bent With " Thou shalt not," turn whereso'er one would. They walked as friends together well content One with the other, and the seasons passed. But one day when the skies were clear there came m MALCOLM. A trouble in the air, the name of Eric Whispered about, with hints and rumours dark : Then clearer warnings of a shameful deed. The gossips buzzed, breathless and wide of eye, And Malcolm laughed aloud, incredulous. But Eric made no sign, and Malcolm knew His soul grow sick within him when, forthwith, The law stretched out a rough relentless hand And held young Eric, on the grievous pica That he had robbed his masters, the great firm Known in a hundred markets. Oh the shame. The sorrow of it ! for the word was true. Before the seat of judgment he was brought A wan white ghost : there serpent-like his sin Uncoiled itself to do his name to death. The game of stocks, with its forced ebb and flow, And lust of gain unsanctified by toil, Had lured the lad. He had not meant to keep The lost securities : they had been pledged V m m 8 MALCOLM. To bear his ventures through : a fond excuse And pitiful, that could not stay his doom. * They led him forth a felon, and the world Was different to Malcolm from that day. Thenceforth he chose no heart to share his own lUit walked .ilone, and all his thoughts were sad. Hut when the years, the silent years had sped, And Eric's name was but a memory. And Malcolm's young disquietude had reached A restless manhood, then there rose to him, Once more, that dream of life complete in love. It chanced to him — if chance in truth there be • In the strong hand which holds our destinies — To look on Mary : all his being thrilled. And one swift thought possessed him : " It were life 4 To love, to live for, such a one as this ! " Mary was worth a true heart's loyalty ; She was a gracious maiden, sweet and still, m m • i) AIALCOLM. Tender, yet self-controlled : a light divine As of the sunlit hills from whence is help Dwelt in her tr.inquil glance : and where she came Came truth and duty and a happier world. Malcolm spoke with her : for a time their lives Mingled their currents ; and he gave her all His heart, and lived in reverent thoughts of her. Hut Mary took no thought of love, and when Malcolm in ripening intercourse betrayeJ His soul's unrest, denials, murmurings. She bore w'th him ; for often in the blind Bewildered fancies noble feeling glanced, And Mary, musing with herself, would say, " Surely the Master draws him, for he seems Near to the Kingdom : " and she prayed for him. So passed the days and love's unuttered pain Ached in the heart of Malcolm ; yet he held His secret long for shame of his un worth ; 10 MALCOLM. And Mary did not know her power on him And took no thought of love. But when at last The tide of feelin^j brimmed and flowed beyond The wonted bounds of will, then Malcolm spoke. " I love you, Mary : all my hopes, my aims Recur to you, as to the north recurs The balanced needle: all I am is yours. Wherefore, I pray you, let this gladness shine Upon my life — tell me that I may hope To gain you, and, some day, to call you wife ! " Surprise, with mingled pain and sweetness, shook The heart of Mary : it was pain to learn That unrequited passion : yet 'twas sweet, 'Twas very sweet, to know herself beloved. A moment and she wavered, but full soon, Sweetness and pain o'ermastered, she replied : "The plighted troth of fairly-mated souls Is sacred, sacramental, shewing forth Christ and His Church. Yet marriage is a means o I MALCOLM. And not an end : a stair whereby the soul May scale the steep height of the Heavenly Love. I am a poor, weak girl ; often my faith Faints and cries out for guidance in the path To that high end : yet there my life must climb. You are most generous, yet you blame the quest Whose unseen goal the spirit only sees, And bid me find in this low vale of death The motive and reward and sum of all. Oh ! friend, dear friend, on diverse roads our hopes Are journeying : yet in the Eyes that see, Doubtless, in some far-off completed world Their meeting-place expects us : now apart Our journeys lie : wedlock is not for us Which only weds the hearts whose hopes are one." Malcolm was silent, for her words revealed The gulf between them ; and as the exile sees The waters widen and the green shore sink Far in the vessel's wake, and thinks that there 11 12 MALCOLM. All that is dear in life, his father's house, The fields his feet have loved, kindred and friends Are sinking, rapt forever from his ken, His share, the cold grey seas and memory — So then it was with Malcolm : all the worth Of life seemed fading and a dull cold void Of loneliness to take him : for a space A flood swept through him, grief and bitterness, Drowning all thought and speech ; but presently He gathered all his manhood and he spoke : " Mary, if there be such a love, a love Better than all, divine, embracing all, I pray that it may bless you." And he went Out from her presence. And the darkness fell On Mary bowed upon her face, in tears. m II. > MALCOLM. 15 Malcolm went forth, and earth and air and sky Seemed purposeless and vacant, and all men, As tho' by some mechanic force impelled. Hastened, a secret sorrow at each heart. And now his daily necessary tasks Which chained his limbs, but left the mind at large A fretful vagrant, galling at the best. Were hateful to him. One fierce wish was his, To fly from scenes which everywhere invoked His broken dreams : to traverse sea and land, Haply to tire the wing of memory And gain some shore secure and far beyond The thought of Mary. Sometimes, too, the world, 16 MALCOLM. The fairy world of travel, which had glowed Oft in his eyes a rosy mystery, Like a sea-cinctured island in the dawn, Invited him, with promise of some charm In magic cities, silent mountain-peaks, Clear rivers winding under storied towers, Potent to win the spirit from itself And teach it to forget. Three cruel months Which were as years, wore themselves out at last, And then the intolerable bonds were rent : Malcolm was free, the world before his face. Resistless, soundless, like the march of thought. Which ever widens towards the vaster truth. The river bore him seaward : and the sea Was terrible around him ; and from out The level wave stood up the elder sphere. He stood upon the enchanted soil— for so Across his fancy it had smiled — where art MALCOLM. 17 And poetry and chivalry had grown ; And soon 'twixt scented hedgerows strolled, and cots Of rose- embowered happy villages ; And now among the palaces of trade In proud rich capitals, whose life sleeps not But ever pours a care-worn hurrying throng. l^encath the pinnacles of solemn fanes, Religion's calm embodiment, his heart Bent in strange awe, what time the voice of faith Strove in the yearning organ-symphony. The sunset splendours of eternal snows, Lakes that, like gentle hermits, entertain Heaven in their hearts, dark gorges, crags and vales All passed before him. Now he mused upon The mournful monuments of vanished power, Grey columns, shattered arches, crumbling walls ; And in the long art-vistas, where the ranks Of lifeless forms and groups, wistful dumb souls, Seen pleading for the dust that shaped them forth Against oblivion. 18 MALCOLM. He saw it all, The great world-picture : and in all appeared Some look or tone of Mary. No fair thing Rapt him to larger being, but at once The pang of self-remembrance pierced his soul, And straight he knew himself, alone, bereft Of joy, hope, faith, a whim of destiny Tossed with a madly-spinning helmless world Through endless nothingness. A joyless year Crept round with halting step, and Malcolm knew That his small store, saved from a former time ,.. And by despair the spendthrift harboured ill, Had ebbed to its last coin. Then Malcolm drained The cup of sorrow, in the stranger's land, Too proud to stoop for pity, penniless. But since, tho* loathing life, he still would live, He set his hand to toil and in a town Girt with a wide black plain, where engines groaned And giant chimneys fouled the helpless sky 1>) * ■ »^^. fc llfc »t MALCOLM. 10 In sullen rivalry, he gained a mean Hard service. \\y the greedy furnace fires Which raged like blood-crammed beasts of prey, and Red gleams of anger over roof and wall. [shot 'Mid base and gloomy men of alien speech, Did Malcolm labour. Hard it was and mean, And oft he wondered what undreamed-of power Within, mayhap without him, day by day, Bound him to that vile place and made him live. Yet day by day he laboured, and it seemed Not worse than roaming, and to gaze, and wear The mask of interest, and dream that change Of place is change of heart. . . There is a star Which watches o'er the night of souls perplexed In waterless waste places, souls that know Desert and darkness only, everywhere ; No clue in the blank void, no voice that cries In all their wilderness : fain would they give Their hearts' last sigh unto the foul bird's beak Mfii 20 MALCOLM. Whose slow wing circles o'er them. But, behold, That thin cold ray aloft whose shining stands Above a Christ commands them, " Rise again ! Follow ! my leading will not do thee wrong." That pale star's name is Duty. Other light Malcolm had none in this his darkling hour. But this at least was truth, 'twas right to yield An honest service for his daily wage. To this he held, and all beside was night. So meekly, in despair's dead calm, he worked, Yet faithfully. And when some months were gone A keen-eyed overseer spoke him fair With promise of preferment, and betimes, From his low place amongst the gloomy men. To loftier duties Malcolm passed, and charge Of letters sent across the fog-wreathed wave To neighbouring English markets. In the depths Malcolm had been, and from the depths he rose ^1 V \ J W) MALCOLM. 21 Subdued, nor yet unthankful for his gain. And now, their strange tongue grown less strange to With grave habitual courtesies he drew [him, His fellows to him : sometimes, too, found ease Of his own pain in pain of others shared. For suffering had touched the frozen spring Of sympathy within him, and the form Of Mary stayed with him a higher self, As long-lost forms stay with us of the good, To bid him act that which his heart approved, To make him sad yet pure. Through din and smoke The grey days travelled o'er that low flat land. Malcolm in honourable toil aspired To live his destined term ; and in the hours, The heavy hours of leisure undesired, Had solace in the simple fellowship Of weakling folk. He listened to the tale Of the worn mother crossed with household cares, Endured the tedious tongue of age, or now 22 MALCOLM. Sat by some wasted sufferer wliosc eyes Were large with looking for the healer Death. Hut more than food and raiment, men's respect, Blessings (jf grateful lips and ministry Of gentle deeds and words his soul desired. Doubt, like a flame that strikes the waving wood And leaves it desolate, a spectral troop Of piteous gaunt forms, swept through his mind Full often, and the withering sense that all Was vain and meaningless. There was a child Who had grown dear to him, a tender thing Springing in harsh untoward circumstance, Like the rock-rooted harebell, to a mould Divinely pure and fair. Comrades in many walks, The boy had often cheered his elder's mood. One day he sickened : Malcolm, sore dismayed, Watched the slight spirit fail and strive and pass Into the undiscovered world : then heard MALCOLM. 2'.\ The cliildlcss mother's cry, and rose and walked Hctwceii the steep- roofed houses, sick at heart. In the slow-gatherin<( gloom lie walked and paused Where a small church, its portal free as God's Great love is free, tendered its peace. Slowly He entered, with a purpose half-defined. He was alone : upon the rough bare bench He cast his weary limbs and darkly mused. What does it mean ? Labour and loss and woe : Lgibour and loss and woe : what does it mean ? And I, poor fool, I thought to frame a faith, And with my little taper thread the gloom Of this Cimmerian cavern life, 'That souls Should live by love ' ; fond fool that did not know ! What can love do ? Love cannot cleanse the breast Which holds our trust from vile hypocrisy : Else had I not lost Eric. Nor can love Compel another's love, else had I known, Haply, the hunger of my heart allayed. 24 MALCOLM. And now this nursling that an hour ago Flew to my vacant heart with its young warmth To leave it cold so soon : the desolate cry Of that fond woman robbed of all her joy — Ah me ! ah me ! Love cannot conquer Death." On his clasped hands he drooped disconsolate And still repeated, " Cannot conquer Death." Above him hung, for comfort and reproof, A rudely-carven effigy which told The sorrow of all sorrows. Presently ^ He looked and mused and held it with his gaze, And gazing listlessly was half aware Of that he saw, till to his dreaming ear l^hese few words seemed to float from some far shore Adovvn the silence, *' Love /las conquered Death." Like a kind touch they came : the gate of tears Swung softly open ; and — like the mariner, Who hears the surf boom faintly through the fog MALCOLM. In anxious watches, while a weight bears down His spirit, till upon the moment comes A change : the veil is lifted : sea and sky And the low line oY shore stand forth unmarred Where all was grey confusion — Malcolm seemed To lose a burden : doubts and questionings Melted like mists beneath the rays of noon : The open secret of the world lay bare Before him, and the Love which, all unfelt, Had been the angel of his lonely way, Now claimed him in the thorn-crowned Nazarene. 25 1 ■I ■< t'i -(■ *■■'■; - ~* •• i ■' ..{ I'-, !)':ii'JU'i'.' i' f."v7> ., \:; ■;:.< f MALCOLiM. 29 There is a harmony of nature's choir, Voiceless, yet to the lowly spirit clear ; The planets in their paths, the constant change Of light and dark, of seasons, moons, and tides Attuned to one large theme, "There is a plan, And Love is in the plan." In Malcolm's ears This strain exulted, and the dissonance Of pain and loss mingled with its deep flow. The light of purpose shone across the world, Transfiguring all. It was another world : That dim new world for which the spirit grieves. And haply, after many wanderings, finds In scenes and tasks despised. Labour was light : m 30 MALCOLM. The dingy town a goodly dwelling-place : The smoke-grimed sons of toil his fellow-heirs Of hopes as boundless as eternity : And in a sacred joy the hours went round. But when the rich dawn of the great awakening paled Towards sober noon, a longing crept on him To see his native country once again. And still, half-hidden from himself at first, Then taking strength and moulding all his will To one set purpose, stole another wish, To look on Mary's face. Their lives had touched Strangely in the Love-ordered scheme of things : And then had parted, wanting the one link ■( Which Love had strangely forged : what hindered If Mary knew, if Mary did but know — [now — That their two lives should merge, a single will, A mutual light and strength in noble aims "i ■>*' T'.f: 'L.*!ii foiled and prospered and laid by, ."^ !i:i vrh r *-wo years had nearly run their course MALCOLM. Passed from the dingy town and giant flues, Passed from the low flat countr)-, and again Looked on the shoreless trouble of the sea, And sailed between his native cliffs, and soon Beheld the ancient haven and the roofs Which cluster round its memory-haunted steep. 31 Waked from its death-cold trance by early airs From sun-warmed everglades and golden groves, Between its granite portals seaward swept The river of the north. The citadel Couched lion-like above the quaint grey town : And, where a width of terrace meets the brink Midway between the fortress and the flood, Walked Malcolm, as the April night came down. In the dusk stream a few long merchantmen, The welcome heralds of the summer fleet, Slept at their anchors : on the farther crags Glanced the bright roofs and spires : and far away On one dark peak lingered the day's farewell. ■PB 32 MALCOLM. His heart was glad for all the loveliness, And for the sorrows of the past, which seemed God's ministers, severe yet kindly, charged To lead him to his peace. And then he thought Of Mary : would he see her soon ? at all ? And straight a cloud fell on him, for each step That brought him nearer to his long-nursed hope Woke anxious questioning. Enwrapt in thought He paced the ample level : and at length Marked one whose downcast mien and motionless Boded a mind that grieved. Him Malcolm passed. Repassed, and looked, and stood all-dazed, aware Of him who once had dwelt within his heart. Its inmate loved and unsuspected, doomed Dishonoured Eric. Malcolm recoiled : the thought Of fondness ill-bestowed and faith betrayed, And the dark stain that was upon the man, Steeled all his soul. But, as he turned, a sigh /' MALCOLM. Broke from the outcast's breast, most pitiful. Then Malcolm turned again and mused awhile, Noted the meagre frame and sorry garb, And melted and came near and softly spoke. 33 I " Wiiat, Malcolm— you ! " and Eric drew away. " Nay, Eric, shrink not : I am Malcolm— yes ! And still, because we have been friends, a friend And you— forgive me— but I think you need A friend : you look so pale and sorrowful : And you are lightly clad for this keen air. Come, slip your arm in mine : my evening cheer Waits for me in a quiet house hard by, And we must sup together : come with me." He led him tenderly, and the young days When life was careless and this one its fount Of bubbling merriment rose up through tears ; ' And Eric's heart revived, and when the blaze And liberal bounty of an old-time inn, • 34 MALCOLM. And pity, not the least, had warmed his veins His tongue was loosened and he told his tale. "Oh, Malcolm, if a sin can be atoned ' " By suffering, I have suffered : and I know That suffering has atoned : yet not mine own. I was thrust down amongst the dregs of men. I hated them, I who abased my wit To wake their dreadful mirth, more fallen than they. My heart was hardened, and my life each day Slipped down to lower levels. This I knew And I abhorred myself. Belief in God I had not, nor in man : in naught but hell, j For in my breast I bore the fires of hell. I would have died but durst not, for, beyond, I saw my torment, ever deepening, robbed Of the faint hope of change which eased it now. And change at last befell. Week upon week, What time the bells rang o'er the Sabbath fields. Armoured in purity, a fair sweet girl MALCOLM. Souglit out our prison-house, solicitous For the dark spirits that were dying there. I heard her speak of Righteousness and Love : Slowly my eyes were opened and I saw The horror of my sin. And then I knew— What I had known and yet not known— that One Had died for sin. I saw Him lifted up Upon the cursed hill, 'twixt two like me ; And I who had reviled Him turned and read The Godhood in His face, and was at peace." 35 So spake the convict brokenly, utterance Failing at times beneath the weight of thought, And Malcolm listened wondering and glad. Then Eric, self-contained : " 'Tis just a year Since she was wed. I saw them both. He was Worthy of her, a strong and helpful soul, Commissioned with the evangel unto men. Now, where another Britain springs beneath This world of ours, they dwell ; and 'ere they went 36 AfA LCOIAf. They bade me come to them when I was free. And I am free, my doom not fully spent, Because I have been faithful in the tasks Of my captivity. And I am here To find a ship for England. I shall work My passage there : thence to the far new home, To live my life again and cleanse its blot. In a dark hour you found me, hungry, cold, A pauper, spurned by burly captains when I asked employment ; but you came, and hope Came with you, and my heart is strong once more. And Malcolm I am glad to see your face And say, ' Forgive me ' : I was false to you : / My thoughts soared not with yours. You had large That would reform the world " [plans "Hold, Eric, hold! My plans are humbler now ; and it is I Who need forgiveness: for you looked to me Who with false lights perplexed you ; but tell me now, This fair white soul, this chosen of God who brought I m \ > s «■ j ^fALC0L^/. The true light, who was she?" Then Eric named The name of Mary. Malcolm heard and moved Not limb nor feature, but in secret knew That he was wounded sore, and held his peace. Eric ran on, relating many things Of Mary's praise— his own life— his resolve To expiate the past. Malcolm sat by Grave, silent. When at last the copious flow, Long- pent and affluent, of Eric's words Dwindled and ceased, Malcolm adventured speech : " Eric, you surely are not built for this Rude service of the sea : I marvel not The burly captains looked askance at you. But hearken now : I have been prosperous : This purse— I do not need it— I had plans ; But now— no matter ; I've no need of it. The post of the old days is open to me : • 1 shall fare well : but you— take it, my lad : ; , ; . 37 s , > m 38 MALCOLM. Let the dead past be buried : sail away Over dividing seas, under new stars, And make the coasts of promise ; and tell her, Malcolm, your brother — and her own (since all Who love the Lord are kindred) — blesses her Whom God hath used a light to vvay ward feet." And when with kindly importunity Eric's opposing will was overborne, And all the slow months* hoard (a tithe held back) Was safe in Eric's hands, Malcolm rose up And walked beneath the stars that coldly gleamed. Where a white road crept ghostlike through the land. Beyond the shadowy walls, and all was still. But in the breast of Malcolm there was strife, And the chill night had flung her deepest gloom Over the earth 'ere he could stoop and say, " Affianced of my soul ! Redeemer, versed In sorrow's uses, praised be Thy name ! Mine eyes were dark and Thou didst make them see. MALCOLM, Yet for Thyself, my Master, for Thyself, And not for her, the* pure, the light was given. And now I thank Thee, Who hast drawn my heart Nearer by this denial. Thou art wise, And Thou hast willed it. Praised be Thy name ! " 39 When Malcolm rose he saw the world dark-rimm'd Against still depths of blue ; the river shone Between its dusky banks ; and, like a soul Cleansed of all stain and trembling on the verge Of sinless being, dawned the morning-star. il PRINTED BY ROWSEIX AND HUTCHISON, TORONTO,