David started and shivered, as if a nerve had suddenly been touched; but Mr. Richmond went on to something else, as if he had not observed it. All through supper time he was so gentle, pleasant, and spirited too in his talk, that the boy who was unaccustomed to such society felt the charm holding him; and Matilda who had not known it for long, felt like a flower opening to the sunshine.

CHAPTER X.

After tea Mr. Richmond led the way back to his study. The first thing he did there was to make the fire blaze up merrily; and then, just as David was thinking how to take leave, the blue eyes came full round upon him, with a look as bright as the fire shine.

"And so," he said, "you are seeking after your Messiah?"

David seemed tongue-tied; he said nothing; he bowed slightly.

"How far have you got?"

"Far enough to be confused, sir."

"Ay? How is that?"

"I feel myself too ignorant yet to be able to judge. Our wise men are saying--I heard them saying--that if Messiah come not soon, he must _have_ come." David's colour changed even as he spoke.

"Do you know anything of the New Testament, the record of the life and teaching, and death and resurrection, of Jesus?"

"Very little," David answered. "Matilda has shewn me pa.s.sages in those writings--which have struck me very much," he added, as if with difficulty.

"I should think they would. Well, when a thing is to be done, the best way is to do it. Suppose you take the book in your hands now, and let me direct your attention to one or two things more."

David was very ready. He took the book Mr. Richmond placed in his hands and drew near to the table, while Matilda on her part seized another Bible and did likewise. Mr. Richmond had been lighting the lamp. Before he had finished his preparations, David began.

"But that story of the resurrection is a very unlikely one."

"Do you think so? The same might be said of the crossing of the Red Sea by your fathers."

"That is well enough attested by witnesses," said David, proudly raising his head.

"So is this. If a thing can be made sure by the testimony of credible witnesses, this has been; witnesses who were ready to go to the death in support of their words, and who did so die, many of them."

"But," said David, "our Messiah was to be the King of our people; and your Christ belongs to the Gentiles."

"Thank G.o.d he does!" said Mr. Richmond smiling. "But now let us see if you are correct in that first statement."

"He was to be a King on David's throne," interrupted the boy.

"He is. Wait. Do you remember, in the promise to Abraham it was said that all the families of the earth should be blessed in him?"

"Yes."

"And Isaiah declares, 'In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it _shall the Gentiles seek_.'"

"Yes, but they will come to Messiah; not the Messiah go to them," said David, lifting his head with the same air again.

Mr. Richmond answered in words of Isaiah. "'Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.' And again in the forty-ninth chapter--and Master Bartholomew, you know that these words were spoken of Messiah--'And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him. Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my G.o.d shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.'"

Matilda looked eagerly at David as these words were finished; the boy's face was troubled and dark. He made no answer.

"Now let us see how those words were to be fulfilled," Mr. Richmond went on. "It is a hard reading for you; but we are seeking the truth, and you are seeking it. The apostle John, one of the servants and witnesses of Christ, says, 'He came unto his own, and his own received him not.'"

David looked up with a white face. "If that is true"--he said. "I just want to know whether that is true!"

"You know Isaiah said it would be true. 'Who has believed our report?'

'He is despised and rejected of men;... we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.'"

"Some of the rabbis held that there were two Messiahs," David said.

"Because they knew not how to understand of one the various seemingly contradictory things, which were and are all fulfilled in Jesus."

"Of _Nazareth_," said David.

"Yes, he lived there; but he was born in the city of David. Come, you do not know him, and it is needful you should. Let us read this first chapter of John all through."

They read slowly, with many interruptions. David had explanations to ask, and then there were prophecies to consult. The boy's eagerness and excitement infected his companions; the reading began to take on a sort of life and death interest, though Mr. Richmond kept it calm, with some difficulty.

His next proposition was, that they should go through the life of Christ regularly; and they began with the first chapters of Luke.

Nothing that Matilda had ever known in her life was like the interest of that reading. David was startled, curious, excited, as if he were beginning to find the clue to a mystery; though he did not admit that.

On the contrary, he studied every step, would understand every allusion, and verify every reference to the Old Testament scriptures.

The boy's cheeks were flushed now, like one in a fever. The hours flew.

"My boy," said Mr. Richmond, laying his hand on David's open book, "we cannot finish what we want to do this evening."

David looked up, pushed his hair off his face, and recollected himself.

"I beg your pardon, sir," he said. "I have taken up a great deal of your time."

"You shall have a great deal more," said Mr. Richmond smiling; "but we had better sleep upon it first. And pray," he added soberly. "Pray, that if this Jesus is indeed He whom you seek, you may know him."

David bowed silently, feeling too much apparently to say anything.

When, however, he would have taken leave, Mr. Richmond detained him and would not hear of it. Norton, he said, would not miss him; he would be gone to bed by this time, tired of waiting; and they would send and invite him to breakfast. To Matilda's surprise, and as well to her huge delight, she saw that David was won by the influence that had long been so potent with her, and made no very great opposition. Miss Redwood was called in to prayers, and after that the little family separated for the night.

Matilda thought she surely would not go to sleep soon; but she did, nearly as her face touched the pillow. So it was not till she awoke in the morning that she could think over her happiness. It was early yet; the sunbeams striking the old cream coloured tower of the church and glittering on the pine leaves here and there. How delicious it was! The spring light on the old things that she loved, and the peaceful Shadywalk stillness after New York's bustle and roar. And David Bartholomew in Mr. Richmond's house! and Norton coming to breakfast!

With that, Matilda jumped up. Perhaps she might help Miss Redwood; at any rate she could see her.

Miss Redwood was in full blast of business by the time Matilda's little figure appeared at the kitchen door.

"Don't say you're up, and down!" said the housekeeper.

"Yes, Miss Redwood; I thought perhaps I could help you."

"Do you wear dresses like that into the kitchen?" the housekeeper asked, with a sidelong glance at the beautiful merino Matilda had on.