IN THE WAY
Gladys Mercer sat looking at a snapshot which had come to her from one ofher girl friends. It showed a strong, athletic woman with a blanket rolledover her back hiking along the road and with her six girls in middies andbloomers. And as Gladys looked at the picture, she smiled at the memorieswhich it brought.
There was the long hike, the tired muscles, the view from the mountaintop,the wonderful sunset, the stillness of the night and the fear of the dark.Then there was the voice of the woman in the picture,
"Girls, you are safer here than in any house you could find. Just rememberthat God is over all and sleep as sound as can be."
Then there was the sunrise, the pancake breakfast on the hill, and thehike home. Best of all there had been two long days with Mrs. Fuller, thefriend of girls. What a good visit they had had with her! What a finestory she had told them at the sunset! What a helpful prayer she had madeas they closed their good-night song when the sun went down!
And then from the thought of the trip, Gladys went to the thought of allthat Mrs. Fuller had meant to her. She was sunny; she was happy in herwork through the day, and happy to give her time to them at night; she wasalways ready to advise and help; she seemed to know just what to do whenthey did not know; somehow she could always get them to do the thing theyhad thought they would not do. She was to Gladys, the motherless girl, afriend, a companion, a leader and a heroine.
What was there about her that made her able to lead? Was it her smile? Wasit her ability to do things? What made a leader anyway?
Gladys leaned far back against the old tree under which she had beensitting and said to herself, "I wish--I wish----"
"And what do you wish," said a little voice, and there close to her was adear little lady dressed in red and in her hand she carried a lamp.
"Who are you?" said Gladys.
"I am the Fairy of Helpful Service," said the little lady. "I heard youtalking about one of my helpers, so I was interested to know what youwished when you thought of all she had done for you girls. Now tell me.What do you wish?"
"If you are a fairy, perhaps you can give me my wish. I wish to be likeMrs. Fuller. I want to help girls. I want to get the kind of letters shegets from girls who are far away. I want to see 'my girls' some day givingservice all over the world as she does. I want to be like her. Please,fairy, give me my wish."
"I can't make you like her but I can put you in the way of service andthen, if you choose, you can become like her and get the things you areasking for. Those things are not given--they are earned, and the cost ofthem is heavy. I don't really think you mean what you say, for you haven'teven wanted to go to school to learn to help. Perhaps the best way wouldbe to let you see _her_ in the way and then you can choose for yourselfwhether you want your gift. Come and we will watch her climb the way."
So the Fairy of Helpful Service and the girl who wanted to be a leaderwent together into the House of the Past.
"There," said the fairy, "there is Mrs. Fuller as a little girl. We willwatch her grow and you may see where she earned some of the qualitieswhich you admire in her."
There she was, a mischievous little girl of ten, as happy as the day waslong.
"Here she is laying the foundation for health," said the fairy, "with longhours of sleep and good food and plenty of play. One begins away back ingirlhood to be a leader. Some who would have been good helpers for mecannot serve because they did not begin early enough to get ready."
Then as the little girl played there came into the way a black, blackcloud. Gladys shuddered as it came nearer and nearer to the little girland finally enveloped her. It was death--the death of her father, butafter the cloud had passed and the sunshine had come again, the fairysaid,
"See, her shoulders are broader. She has learned what loneliness means."
On she went and then she was going to High School. Others had clothes thatshe did not have. She must hurry to finish because there was no father inthe home. So, eagerly she pushed through the High School.
Just here Gladys saw a hand reached out to help and heard a voice sayingto the girl, "Of course it will be hard but you can go to college if youreally want to go. It will do you good to sacrifice for it." 'Twas theMaster of the school who was helping her to keep in the way.
"Can you see her grow?" said the fairy. "She has added concentration, anappreciation of the girl who has little and who must be with girls whohave much, and now she has been given a vision."
Then Gladys watched her toil through college, earning her way, oftenovertired and worried as to where the means to go on were to come from.But she pushed ahead.
"Oh," said Gladys, "how hard she works! I could never do that. I am sorryfor her."
"You needn't be," said the fairy. "You need never be sorry for those thatsacrifice for an ideal. Be sorry for those who have none and so who liveat ease." And they watched her struggle through temptation and toil to thegraduation day.
As the college days passed, there came strength of purpose, but there camealso the desire to serve. Gladys watched her lead the little group ofdirty street boys in the slums.
"How can she do it?" said Gladys. "They are so dirty and so rough."
But the fairy said, "When one wants to serve, she looks at the heart andthe life--not at the clothes and the actions. The boys are helping her tokeep in the way."
And after college there were happy days. Days of love and comradeship,days of work for the fairy; days when opportunity was everywhere. And inthese days of happiness there came lessons of sharing, of winning, offilling the life with sunshine. The path was so bright that it dazzled.
Suddenly, Gladys looked ahead in the path. "Look," she said to the fairy."Look, oh, how black it is! Oh, I am sorry."
Then the storm descended and all was black in the way--oh, so black and tomove took all of one's strength. Against it she struggled, but it seemedas though she must surely be driven from the path. Death and lonelinessand worries seemed overpowering.
But the storm passed and, when once again there was peace, a greatstrength had come in its place, for there was sympathy for others whosuffered, there was an appreciation of the value of friendship, and therewas a knowledge that God helps.
Little by little the road widened, though often it was lonely and hard.There were many steep places but each added something. And then Gladys sawthe picture change.
There was Mrs. Fuller with her girls and she was leading them by the hand.But it was by no means easy. Some held back; some chose to play by theway; some looked longingly at the things by the wayside that would harm.But her one hand reached up and her other hand helped them ahead as shetried to keep them in the way.
As the picture faded, Gladys turned to the fairy. "I thought it had beenall sunshine but now I see how hard it has been to learn to understand andto help. I love her better than I did before, now that I have seen her inthe way. Thank you, fairy."
"But wait," said the fairy. "You asked me for a gift. Do you still wantit? Do you still want to follow her?"
"To follow means study, and sacrifice, and temptations conquered, andsympathy, and all sorts of hard things, doesn't it? I never thought aboutit. But I love Mrs. Fuller and I still want to lead girls--I still wantthe letters and I still want to be like her. Please, Fairy of Good Works,put me in the way and I will go back to school and begin to get ready."
Then the little lady smiled as she waved her wand over the head of thegirl. "Your life may be much more sunny than hers, dear. Not all must havethe same things to overcome. But whatever you meet in the way, you muststruggle against it and come out stronger because you have struggled. Canyou see away off there in the distance the hands of girls--oh, so many ofthem--eagerly reached out for help? They are 'your girls.' And here is theway. Above there is one who helps and I am here though you may not seeme. Push forward or the girls will have no helper. Good-by and good luckto you."
But as Gladys reached out to detain her, her hat fell to the ground andshe found herself sitting
against the tree. In her hand was the picture ofMrs. Fuller and her girls. Long she looked at the picture. Then she saidto herself,
"I never knew the way was so long or so hard to be like you but if justone girl can love me some day as I love you, then I shall be glad I havewalked in the way. I am ready to try and I hope I can win."