"
"Can the darkness be a shield? Is it not the evil thing?"
"Yes, the dark that is within us--the dark of distrust and
unwillingness, but not the outside dark of mere human ignorance.
Where we do not see, we are protected. Where we are most ignorant
and most in danger, is in those things that affect the life of God
in us: there the Father is every moment watching his child. If he
were not constantly pardoning and punishing our sins, what would
become of us! We must learn to trust him about our faults as much as
about everything else!"
In the earnestness of his talk he had stopped, but now turned and
went on.
"There is my land-, or roof-mark rather!" he said, "--that
chimney-stack! Close by it I heard the music very near me
indeed--when all at once the darkness and the wind came together so
thick that I could do nothing more. We shall do better now in the
daylight--and three of us instead of one!"
"What a huge block of chimneys!" said Arctura.
"Is it not!" returned Donal. "It indicates the hugeness of the
building below us, of which we can see so little. Like the volcanoes
of the world, it tells us how much fire is necessary to keep our
dwelling warm."
"I thought it was the sun that kept the earth warm," said Davie.
"So it is, but not the sun alone. The earth is like a man: the great
glowing fire is God in the heart of the earth, and the great sun is
God in the sky, keeping it warm on the other side.
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