It was after they had finished, washed the dishes in a convenient little brook, and packed away all that was left in the basket that Rodney suggested a walk.
They locked the car, left it in a nest of trees, and started off for a stroll.
“There are some pretty spots around these woods,” said Rodney as he and Diana went along. “Some of my old haunts of bygone years, if they haven’t been destroyed during my absence. If you’d like to see them, this way,” and he parted the branches and showed her a hidden path that a stranger would scarcely discern.
Diana stepped into the opening he made for her, and Rodney turned his head before he followed her, and called back to the others, “So long! Be back in an hour or two!” and grinned as the answer came back, “Okay! See you subsea.”
It seemed to Diana as they penetrated into the green depths of that lovely woods that she had never seen such beautiful, quiet remoteness.
Rodney made a delightful escort. He found pleasant walking for her feet, and when they came to rest for a while, he arranged a seat from hemlock branches. When they were seated in the beautiful stillness he finally said, looking into the greenness above him, where little glimpses of sunlit blue sky were visible, “Isn’t this great? It seems as if this must be one of the places in which God delights, doesn’t it? It seems as if He were here with us. Or don’t you feel that way?”
Diana looked up fearsomely and half shuddered. “Oh,” she said in a little frightened tone, “I don’t know much about God. But you”—she paused and gave a shy look toward the young man—“you seem to know Him so intimately.” Her tone was almost envious.
Rodney looked down and smiled. “Yes, I do,” he said pleasantly, as if he were owning to an earthly friendship, “but no better than you may know Him, too, if you want to. I was brought up to know all about God when I was a child, but I didn’t get to know God until I met Him out in the air over enemy fire.”
“Oh!” said Diana. “Tell me about it, please, if you don’t mind.”
Rodney smiled.
“No, I don’t mind. I love to talk about my Lord. Since I’ve met Him and know Him so well, it gives me great delight to talk about my Lord.”
And so he began to tell the thrilling story of how he started out in his own strength to fight the enemy and began to realize that death was waiting just ahead for him, and perhaps the end of things down here. And then as he drew nearer and nearer to his doom, he heard the Lord calling to him through all the thunder of shells and planes. And the words He called were the same words he could remember his father reading at family worship, those mornings away back home when he was wishing the morning prayers would be over and he might be free to go to his work or his play. They were words that God spoke: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
“It reminded me,” went on Rodney, “of the time when I was a little kid and my dad sent me out in the dark to get something I had left out there, and I was afraid. I was just a little kid, you know, and Dad came and took my hand, and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Roddie. I’ll go with you. I’ll help you.’ It was just like that. It was as if I heard Him call me. ‘Rod! I’m here. I’m here to go with you!’
“And over and over again when I grew fearful, there was my Lord beside me. Sometimes going before me, right into battle, and the fire whistling all around me, but none of it touched me. I was safe because He was there!
“It happened again and again and always when I had to go on some fearful mission, He was there with me. It was almost as if I could look up to the clouds above me, and say, ‘Come, Lord, are You going with me this time? I’m not afraid if You’ll stay by!’ And that’s how I came through. Do you wonder that I feel I know Him, that I can talk with Him as if a man were talking with his friend? He’s my friend!”
There were tears on Diana’s cheeks as he was telling this. “Oh, that is wonderful!” she said. “But does one have to go through death to know Him?”
“No, oh no! Not if you will take Him without having to be shown that way.”
“But you were taught when you were little. You sort of grew up knowing Him, didn’t you?” There was almost a hunger in Diana’s tone.
“Yes, I knew about Him. I knew His history, the story of His life and death, and that it was for me, but I never took it to my heart until death drew near, and I had to fly for refuge. Many times at home when I was young I might have got to know Him and didn’t. I just couldn’t take time. I knew it was all true, but I’d never looked into His face before. Not until He took me up there in the sky alone with Himself, and menacing death was just below and all around. Then I looked up, and I saw Him. But that is something that cannot be described. You have to see Him yourself to understand. You have to know Him.”
“Oh!” said the girl disappointedly. “Then I’m afraid there is little likelihood that I could ever understand. I can’t go overseas and get into combat.”
Rodney looked at her quickly. “No, you’re wrong,” he said. “You don’t have to go overseas to see Him. I had every chance to know Him before I went into death, but I was just too much interested in my own affairs and in the world and worldly people to look up. I just wouldn’t look at Him. But you, you would like to see Him? If you long to find Him, He will come to you. The only condition is that you believe. That is, believe that He took your sin and took your place and suffered your death penalty. Take Him for your personal Savior, that is. Are you willing to do that?”
“Why, yes. I could believe because I have seen the faith in your face. I have heard it in your words and in your wonderful prayer. Is that the right kind of belief? Because I don’t really know much about Him, only the set stories that churches talk about, and I never paid much attention to them before. But I’d like to know Him now.”
“That’s great!” said Rodney with a joyful ring in his voice. “Shall we tell Him so?”
They were sitting on a smooth bank of lovely moss, under a great tree. The young man bowed his head, and Diana, awed at what might be coming, almost frightened again, bowed hers.
“Lord Jesus,” said Rodney in his quiet conversational tone, “I’m bringing this little girl to You because she wants to know You and says she will take You for her Savior. Please show her how You love her, how she needs You, and help her to understand what You have done for her. May she now be born again, and will You let her see You as You are and get to really know You and love to serve You in her daily life?
“And now will You listen to her while she tells You what is in her heart? Thank You, my Father.”
There was a long pause in the still greenness of the woods, while a thrush trilled out some high sweet notes of praise, and then Diana’s little frightened voice trembled on the air. “Dear God, I want to be saved. I want to know You, as Rodney does. Won’t You please show me how? I do believe, as far as I understand.”
Into the silence that followed this brief prayer came Rodney’s ringing “Amen!” And after a moment of silence, he reached over and took her hand in a strong, firm clasp.
“Welcome into the family, little sister!” he said tenderly. She looked up into his eyes, and her own were filled with tears of joy, and there was a smile on her lips.
They lingered for some time in the quiet retreat, talking over what the Christian life meant, what it was going to mean to her, and to him now that he had come back to his own country and had to live with a world that hadn’t been to war and hadn’t met Christ in the clouds above death.
Then suddenly Rodney looked at his watch. “Say, our two hours are more than up! What do you know about that? How fast time can go in a place like this, the two of us alone with God.”
Diana looked up at him, her eyes full of gratitude. “I shall never forget it,” she said. “It’s been the most wonderful two hours of my life.”
Rodney smiled down at her. “I’m glad,” he said. “And I??
?m greatly glad that you know my Lord. For now, you see, we have much in common. I had begun to think there were no Christian girls except my sister in the world. I’m awfully delighted that I know you.”
“And if I hadn’t met you,” said Diana fervently in a soft little voice, “I probably never would have been saved.”
“I don’t know about that,” said Rodney with a smiling acknowledgment of her words as he caught her hand and pressed it gently. “I’m glad to have had the privilege of leading you to know my Savior, but, you know, the Lord isn’t dependent on my services for bringing souls to know Him. He has other servants who know and love Him as well as I do.”
“Yes? But I’m glad He sent you.”
“Yes, so am I,” he said, and this time he caught her hand again and drew it within his arm, helping her over the rough ground as they slowly made their way back toward the rendezvous.
And at that, they got back to the car before the other two wanderers had come yet and, climbing into it, resumed their talk.
“How much longer are you going to be in this vicinity?” asked Diana suddenly. “I do so wish it would be long enough for me to ask a lot of questions that I know will come to me when I get by myself and try to read the Bible alone. You’re supposed to read the Bible, aren’t you, when you are a saved person?”
“It’s the best way,” Rodney answered with a smile. “Prayer and Bible reading are the great helps to knowing God and living as He would like to have you live.”
“Yes, well, I never could make anything out of the Bible. I tried several times to read it by myself, and it didn’t mean a thing. Then someone told me it was only tradition and wasn’t meant to be read literally. Is that so?”
Rodney grinned. “That’s what unbelievers tell you, and many college professors, when they even mention it at all. But there are wonderful Bible schools, of course, in almost every region. I certainly would enjoy introducing you to Bible study if it might be my privilege. I’m not a Bible teacher, and only know my Bible as my mother taught me long ago when I wasn’t paying much attention, and as the Lord has taught me to live it since I met Him. I’ll be pleased to tell you what I know while we are together, but there is a better teacher than I am, one whom it is every Christian’s privilege to study under, the Holy Spirit. Christ promised He would come and ’guide you into all truth.’ Reading your Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit makes all the difference in the world. Even with no earthly teacher, men have found the way to understand. But to answer your question, I’m not sure just how long I can stay here. I may get orders to report in Washington soon, or at the hospital for examination.”
“Oh, will you have to go back overseas?”
“That isn’t settled definitely yet. Perhaps not, and then again, perhaps yes. I ought to know in a short time. In any case, I’m glad I found you. I shall always feel glad. And I wonder if I may have the privilege of getting you a Bible? Or have you one already that is precious to you?”
“Oh, no,” laughed Diana. “Not precious. I have a tiny red leather one with gold lettering on the back and very fine print, which I won in the primary class in Sunday school when I was five years old for the perfect attendance for one year. But I have never even tried to read it. Only its red cover ever appealed to me. But I shall treasure a Bible that you gave me, because you are the one who helped me get acquainted with Jesus Christ.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I am proud to have you feel that way. And I shall always remember this day, even if orders come to move on at once. I should never forget the sweet converse we have had today. But there! Look ahead! Isn’t that my dallying brother and your friend, Beryl? I guess our talk is at an end for the time. But, I’m going to be praying for you. Do you mind?”
“Oh, will you? That will be wonderful! And I’ll pray for you, too,” Diana said shyly, “though I don’t suppose my prayers will do you much good, I’m so new at it.”
“Thank you. Yes, they will. The Lord is ready to answer even the newest of His children.” The look he gave her seemed afterward as she remembered it to be almost like a caress, or maybe a better word would be blessing, she decided as she thought it over.
Chapter 13
That was the beginning of ten days of delightful fellowship between the four young people, with sometimes the addition of Kathie and her special army chaplain, John Brooks. They all fit together beautifully and had many grand rides and walks and picnics and meetings together. And then there was the day that they planned to run down to the shore for a few hours for a dip in salt water. They were to go down on the train, and they had taken special pains to keep Cousin Louella from knowing their plans, lest she might want to go along.
For Jessica was still in town, hobnobbing with Louella constantly and very subtle in her methods. They thought they had been very clever in their plans, but when they were waiting for their train at the station, Jessica and Louella came walking down the platform together. They were obviously not planning to take the train, for they were wearing house dresses and no hats. It was of course quite early in the morning, and Jessica had come out to hunt up Louella and ask if there was any news of what the young naval officers were going to do. They had walked together down to the station to mail an important letter Jessica had just written her husband—demanding money—on the early train, and there they were waiting for the train to come in.
“Can you beat that?” said Jeremy under his breath as the two came in sight. “Such luck! Come on around the other end of the station, over in the edge of the meadow, as if we were picking violets.”
Rodney seized Diana’s arm and propelled her swiftly out of sight behind a lilac bush. And the two conspirators walked on slowly down the platform, without seeing them, while the travelers scuttled down to the other end of the station and bore up against the wall, with a kindly shrub sheltering them.
“Isn’t this too ridiculous!” Kathie said with a giggle. “I hate to be always on the sly.”
“How could you help it with a cousin such as we possess?” Jeremy said, grinning. “She’s got eyes like a gimlet that would go through a steel helmet, and a tongue that can talk faster telling gossip than an electric fan. I hate to say it about anyone who is somewhat related to my revered father, even if only by marriage, but it is the truth. And as for that other person, we certainly want no part with her. She’s deadly.”
“Yes,” said Beryl sympathetically, “I always did dread it when she came around. But wasn’t she once pretty intimate with your brother?”
“Oh yes, she tried to be when Rod was a mere kid, but that’s all off. She’s married now. Married some rich old guy and took herself out of the picture for a while, though it looks as though she’s trying to get in the spotlight again, but I guess she won’t make it. Rod is pretty fed up with her. She isn’t exactly his kind, you know. Listen! There comes the train now. Skim across behind the shrubbery to the last car. The enemy is up front mailing a letter.”
When they were safely seated in the train, Jeremy returned to the subject.
“I wondered,” said Beryl, “I never could feel quite comfortable in her company. She always managed to say something catty. Well, that’s not the way to talk about a former classmate, is it? And it certainly isn’t the kind of thing your Christian principles advocate.”
“No,” said Jeremy with a wry grin, “it isn’t. But it always makes me furious to see that girl barge into the scene, just to annoy my brother! Well, maybe there’s some reason why he needed this, so I guess we better take it smiling, keep our eyes on the Lord, and let Him work it out. It’s curious sometimes, to watch how He does that, and remember that He is both omniscient and omnipotent. He knows all and has power to do anything that needs doing.”
“I guess you’re right, Jeremy. But you didn’t always feel this way about Christian things, did you? I remember thinking you were a keen scholar, but I did not know you were interested in religious things. Oh I knew you were upright and all that, but nobody ever told me you went to
church much or cared for things like that.”
Jeremy answered her soberly, after a moment’s pause. “Well, I always went to church. It was the rule of our house. And I always believed the main things about the Bible that I was taught, but I didn’t waste much time over doctrines and things like that till I really knew the Lord. It was probably my mother’s prayers that followed me and kept me, laid me open to meet the Lord when I got frightened and didn’t know where to turn.”
“Oh,” said Beryl, “I suppose any of us might feel that way if we were suddenly confronted by death. But isn’t it odd we feel so easy about things like that when we all know everybody has to die, and it may come suddenly to any of us.”
“Yes,” said Jeremy, “it is. And there’s another strange thing, and that is how much we miss while living an indifferent life like that. You know I’ve never been so happy in my life as I have been since I found the Lord and was sure that I knew Him forever!”
She looked at him wistfully. “You know, Jeremy, you’re rather wonderful.”
“Oh, no,” said Jerry, shaking a decided head. “I’m not wonderful at all. I’ve just got my eyes open suddenly. Do you know I found myself described wonderfully in the Bible the other day when I was reading about that fool guy Balaam, the fellow who had the wonderful privilege of being God’s prophet and didn’t know any better than to use his great gift of divination for his own glory and personal aggrandizement. And then after he had missed a lot of chances to make good in God’s sight, God had to send a poor old donkey and an angel to teach him. He knew what God wanted, but he wanted to serve himself. He hedged and hedged trying to get God to give in, until the Lord finally got his eyes open, and then he saw. And after that he called himself the man ’whose eyes are open.’ That’s me, now, I hope. I’m the man whose eyes are open, opened by the Lord, and I pray that no more I shall go around equivocating, and viewing questions from this mountain peak and that one, trying to get God to agree with me. I pray that I may always be the man ’whose eyes are open’ to what God wants me to do.”