The Witness by Grace Livingston Hill Lutz (best fiction novels of all time .txt) 📖

Any

Sense He Would Have Run Away That Saturday Afternoon And Got Out Of It

All. Only His Horror Of Being "Yellow" Had Kept Him To His Promise.

 

Since Ascending To The Platform He Had Been Overcome By The Audacity Of

The Idea That He,  A Mere Babe In Knowledge,  A Recent Scorner,  Should

Attempt To Get Up And Tell A Roomful Of People,  Who Knew Far More About

The Bible Than He Did,  How He Found Christ. There Were No Words In Which

To Tell Anything! They Had All Fled From His Mind And It Was A Blank!

 

He Dropped His Head Upon His Hand In His Weakness To Pray For Strength,

And A Great Calm Came To His Soul. The Prayer And Bible-Reading Had

Steadied Him,  And He Had Been Able To Get Hold Of What He Had To Say As

The Story Of The Young Man Saul Progressed. But When He Heard Himself

Being Introduced So Simply,  And Knew His Time Had Come,  He Seemed To

Hear The Words He Had Read That Afternoon:

 

     Fear 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.

 

Courtland Lifted Up His Head And Arose. He Faced The Sea Of Faces That A

Few Moments Before Had Swum Before His Gaze As If They Had Been A

Million. Then All At Once Tennelly's Face Stood Out From All The Rest,

Intent,  Curious,  Wondering,  And Courtland Knew That His Opportunity Had

Come To Tell Tennelly About The Presence!

 

Tennelly,  The Man Whom He Loved Above All Other Men! Tennelly,  The Man

Who Perhaps Loved Gila And Was To Be Close To Her Through Life! His

Fears Vanished. His Soul Burned Within Him.

 

Fixing His Eyes On That Fine,  Vivid Face,  Courtland Began His Story; And

Truly The Words That He Used Must Have Been Drawn Red-Hot From His

Heart,  For He Spoke As One Inspired. Simply,  As If He Were Alone In The

Room With Tennelly,  He Looked Into His Friend's Eyes And Told His Story,

Forgetting All Others Present,  Intent Only On Making Tennelly See What

Christ Had Been To Him,  What He Was Willing To Be To Tennelly--And Gila!

If They Would!

 

Tennelly Did Not Take His Eyes From The Speaker. It Was Curious To See

Him So Absorbed,  Tennelly,  Who Was So Conventional,  So Careful What

People Thought,  So Always Conscious Of All Elements In His Environment.

It Was As If His Soul Were Sitting Frankly In His Eyes For The First

Time In His Life,  And Things Unsuspected,  Perhaps,  Even By Himself,  Came

Out And Showed Themselves: Traits,  Weaknesses,  Possibilities; Longings,

Too,  And Pride.

 

When Courtland Had Finished And Sat Down He Did Not Drop His Head Upon

His Hands Again. He Had Spoken In The Strength Of The Lord. He Had

Nothing Of Which To Be Ashamed. He Was Looking Now At The Audience,  No

Longer At Tennelly. He Began To Realize That It Had Been Given To Him To

Bear The Message To All These Other People Also. He Was Filled With

Humble Exaltation That To Him Had Been Intrusted This Great Opportunity.

 

The People,  Too,  Were Hushed And Filled With Awe. They Showed By The

Quiet Way They Reached For The Hymn-Books,  The Reverent Bowing Of Their

Heads For The Final Prayer,  That They Had All Felt The Power Of Christ

With The Speaker. They Lingered,  Many Of Them,  And Came Up,  Pressing

About Him,  Just To Touch His Hand And Make Mute Appeal With Their

Troubled Eyes. Some To Ask Him Eagerly For Reassurance Of What He Had

Been Saying; Others To Thank Him For The Story. They Were So Humble,  So

Sincere,  So Eager,  These Common People,  Like The Ones Of Old Who Crowded

Around The Master And Heard Him Gladly. Paul Courtland Was Filled With

Humility. He Stood There Half Embarrassed As They Pressed About Him. He

Took Their Hands And Smiled His Brotherhood,  But Scarcely Knew What To

Say To Them. He Felt An Awkward Boy Who Had Made A Great Discovery About

Chapter 26 Pg 162

Pat And Tennelly Stood Back Against The Wall And Waited,  Saying Not A

Word. Tennelly Watched The People Curiously As They Went Out: Humble,

Common People,  Subdued,  Wistful,  Even Tearful; Some Of Them With

Illumined Faces As If They Had Seen A Great Light In Their Darkness.

 

When At Last Courtland Drifted Down To The Back Of The Church And

Reached Tennelly The Two Met With A Look Straight Into Each Other's

Soul,  While Their Hands Gripped In The Old Brotherhood Clasp. Not A

Smile Nor A Commonplace Expression Crossed Either Face--Just That

Strong,  Steady Look Of Recognition And Understanding. It Was Tennelly

Looking At Courtland,  The New Man In Christ Jesus; Courtland Looking At

Tennelly After He Had Heard The Story.

 

They Walked Back To Courtland's Apartments Almost In Silence,  A Kind Of

Holy Embarrassment Upon Them All. Pat Whistled "Rock Of Ages" Softly

Under His Breath Most Of The Way.

 

They Sat For A Time,  Talking,  Stiffly,  As If They Hardly Knew One

Another,  Telling The News. Bill Ward Had Gone To California To Look Into

A Big Land Deal In Which His Father Was Interested. Wittemore's Mother

Had Died And He Wasn't Coming Back Next Year For His Senior Year. It Was

All Surface Talk. Pat Put In A Little About Football. He Discussed Which

Of Last Year's Scrubs Were Most Hopeful Candidates For The 'Varsity Team

This Year. Not One Of The Three At That Moment Cared A Rap Whether The

University Had Any Football Team Or Not. Their Thoughts Were Upon Deeper

Things.

 

But The Recent Service Was Not Mentioned,  Nor The Extraordinary Fact Of

Courtland's Having Taken Part In It. By Common Consent They Shunned The

Subject. It Was Too Near The Heart Of Each.

 

Finally Pat Discreetly Took Himself Off,  Professedly In Search Of

Ice-Water,  As The Cooler In The Hall Had For Some Reason Run Dry. He Was

Gone Some Time.

 

When He Had Left The Room Tennelly Sat Up Alertly. He Had Something To

Say To Courtland Alone. It Must Be Said Now Before Pat Returned.

 

Courtland Got Up,  Crossed The Room,  And Stood Looking Out Of The Window

On The Myriad Lights Of The City. There Was In His Face A Far Yearning,

And Something Too Deep For Words. It Was As If He Were Waiting For A

Blow To Fall.

 

Tennelly Looked At Courtland's Back And Gathered Up His Courage:

"Court," He Said,  Hoarsely,  Trying To Summon The Nomenclature Of The

Dear Old Days; "There's Something I Wanted To Ask You. Was There

Anything--Is There--Between You And Gila Dare That Makes It Disloyal For

Your Friend To Try And Win Her If He Can?"

 

It Was Very Still In The Room. The Whir Of The Trolleys Could Be Heard

Below As If They Were Out In The Hall. They Grated Harshly On The

Silence. Courtland Stood As If Carved Out Of Marble. It Seemed Ages To

Tennelly Before He Answered,  With The Sadness Of The Grave In His Tone

Chapter 26 Pg 163

"No,  Nelly! It's All Right! Gila And I Didn't Hit It Off! It's All Over

Between Us Forever. Go Ahead! I Wish You Luck!"

 

There Was An Attempt At The Old Loving Understanding In The Answer,  But

Somehow The Last Words Had Almost The Sound Of A Sob In Them. Tennelly

Had A Feeling That He Was Wringing His Own Happiness Out Of His Friend's

Soul:

 

"Thanks,  Awfully,  Court! I Didn't Know," He Said,  Awkwardly. "I Think

She Likes Me A Lot,  But I Couldn't Do Anything If You Had The Right Of

Way."

 

When Pat Came Back With A Tray Of Glasses Clinking With Ice,  And The

Smell Of Crushed Lemons,  They Were Talking Of The New English Professor

And The Chances That He Would Be Better Than The Last,  Who Was "Punk."

But Pat Was Not Deceived. He Looked From One To The Other And Knew The

Blow Had Fallen. He Might Have Prevented It,  But What Was The Use? It

Had To Come Sooner Or Later. They Talked Late. Finally,  Tennelly Rose

And Came Toward Courtland,  With His Hand Outstretched,  And They All Knew

That The Real Moment Of The Evening Had Come At Last:

 

"That Was A Great Old Talk You Gave Us This Evening,  Court!" Tennelly's

Voice Was Husky With Feeling. One Felt That He Had Been Keeping The

Feeling Out Of Sight All The Evening. He Was Holding Courtland's Hand In

A Painful Grip,  And Looking Again Into His Eyes As If He Would Search

His Soul To The Depths: "You Sure Have Got Hold Of Something There

That's Worth Looking Into! You Had A Great Hold On Your Audience,  Too!

Why,  You Almost Persuaded Me There Was Something In It!"

 

Tennelly Tried To Finish His Sentence In Lighter Vein,  But The Feeling

Was In His Voice Yet.

 

Courtland Gripped His Hand And Looked His Yearning With A Sudden Light

Of Joy And Hope: "If You Only Would,  Nelly! It's Been The Thing I've

Longed For--!"

 

"Not Yet!" Said Tennelly,  Almost Pulling His Hand Away From The

Detaining Grasp. "Some Time,  Perhaps,  But Not Now! I've Too Much Else On

Hand! I Must Beat It Now! Man Alive! Do You Know What Time It Is? See

You Soon Again!" Tennelly Was Off In A Whirl Of Words.

 

"Almost Thou Persuadest Me!" Had Some One Whispered The Words Behind Him

As He Went?

 

Courtland Stood Looking After Him Till The Door Closed,  Then He Turned

And Stepped To The Window Again. He Was So Long Standing There,

Motionless,  That Pat Went At Last And Touched Him On The Shoulder.

 

"Say,  Pard," He Said,  In A Low,  Gruff Voice. "I'm Nothing But A

Roughneck,  I Know,  And Not Worth Much At That,  But If It's Any

Satisfaction To You To Know You've Bowled A Bum Like Me Over To His

Side,  Why _I'm With You_!"

 

Courtland Turned And Grasped His Hand,  Throwing The Other Arm About

Pat's Shoulder. "It Sure Is,  Pat,  Old Boy," He Said,  Eagerly. "It's The

Greatest Thing Ever! Thanks! I Needed That Just Now! I'm All In!"

 

They Stood So For Some Minutes With Their Arms Across Each Other's

Shoulders,  Looking Out Of The Window To The City,  Lying Sorrowful,

Forgetful,  Sinful,  Before Them; Down To The Street Below,  Where Tennelly

Hastened On To Win His Gila; Up To The Quiet,  Wise Old Stars Above.

 

 

 

Chapter 27 Pg 164

 

Tennelly Did