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Show Your Colours · The Man of the House

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  Chapter twenty one of the Man of the House by Pansy. The slibrivox recording
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  is in the public domain. Chapter twenty one, Show your colors, Ruben's
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  telegram was sent. You may be sure of that a boy like Reuben Watson
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  Stone is not likely to forget his first telegram. So when the stage drew
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  up with a flourish at the little house, Ruben saw with delight the smoke
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  issuing from the chimney. Then, oh what fun he had, taking his
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  mother and Beth and miss Hunter through the pretty rooms, hearing their exclamations of
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  surprise and delight, seeing Beth try to hug the stove though it was so
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  hot she couldn't, and declare that she would like to kiss that tea kettle
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  which didn't leak, hearing his mother question in a bewildered way as to how
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  he came to have this and who thought of that. When that busy,
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  happy evening was done and Reuben was fairly settled in his new bed, it
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  seemed to him that he had never been so happy in his life. The
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  excitement kept at white heat all the next day. Rubin had a holiday from
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  the shop in order to help his mother get settled, though truth to tell,
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  the settling had been so thoroughly done for her before she arrived, and
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  she had so few possessions that the work was not hard. But there was
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  the box shop in all its departments to take the wondering Beth through, explaining
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  to her in detail with the confidence of one who had been familiar with the
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  business for years. And the glove factory, in which she saw the wonderful
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  little machine with brass teeth and discovered that she was to put her needle between
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  them instead of through them. He had also to introduce his mother and miss
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  Hunter to the glove factory, where they hoped to get work and to crown
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  the eventful day Missus Barrow's care with Grace to get acquainted with his mother,
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  and was as friendly as though she had known her for years. The next
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  day they all went to work in earnest. The first Sabbath in the new
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  home was one to which Reuben always looked back with a special feeling of interest.
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  A great many things happened for him to remember. In the first place,
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  they all went to church together and sat in a pew which mister Barrows
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  told Reuben they better keep for their own if they liked it, And when
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  he, with blushing cheeks, asked how much it would cost a year,
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  he took a new lesson in church work on being told that pews in this
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  church were not rented, that people selected their seats and paid what they could
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  for the support of the church. He told his mother before they were fairly
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  out of the building, and she answered heartily that is something like we can
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  pay a little something ourselves. I've always sat in the gapery and felt like
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  a pauper. If they found a way of making poor people at home in
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  their churches, I'm glad to hear it. Then, Reuben had taken Beth
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  to Sabbath School and put her in Grace Barrows's care and in her new blue
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  Merino, which Miss Hunter had at last contrived an excuse for giving her and
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  her fur cape and hood. She looked as well in his eyes as the
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  best of them. In fact, he told his mother that their Beth was
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  certainly the prettiest girl in the class. In his own class, there had
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  been much to think about and remember. Almost the first question his teacher asked
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  was whether he had remembered his promise of the Sabbath before and when he,
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  with eyes that drooped a little in embarrassment, had still answered firmly that he
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  had remembered, and also that he had decided the question. He never forgot
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  the glow in her eyes as she held out her hand to hear him and
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  said, I am very glad now, my boy, remember this, Show
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  your colors everywhere. He thought about this sentence a great deal during the lesson.
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  What chance was there for him to show his colors, he wondered.
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  He was not quite sure what she meant. He thought he would like to
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  know, and he waited a little for Beth, and also in the hope
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  that she would speak to him again after the school was closed. Sure enough,
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  she turned to him with that bright, glad smile and asked him one
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  of those direct questions, are you going to do it? Do what,
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  ma'am? Why? Show your colors everywhere and always? Reuben looked down at
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  his plain gray clothes, very little color about them, and that little rather
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  dingy He had not even a bright necktie like some of the boys. How
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  will I show them? If I haven't got he asked at last, a
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  glimmer of a smile on his face. He knew that Miss Mason did not
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  mean that sort of color, but he was puzzled all the same to know
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  what she did mean, Ruben, do you know anything about soldiers Yus'm?
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  And Reuben's thoughts went back, in a twinkling to the story of his great
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  grandfather and his brave fighting and his hat shaped like George Washington's. His mother
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  had entertained his and best childhood with stories that she had heard while sitting on
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  her grandfather's knee. Well, don't you know they wear their country's colors,
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  a uniform we call it, and when we see them, we are never
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  at a loss to know which side they are on, because their colors tell
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  us instantly. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ has called you to be a
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  soldier, and you have accepted the call. And I say to you,
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  be sure to wear his colors always let nobody doubt on which side you are.
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  A bright, pleased look came into Reuben's eyes. This was a new
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  thought to him, that he was really a soldier like his great grandfather,
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  of whom his mother had told him dozens of times. He had reason to
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  be proud. It was nice to think he wore the colors of his captain.
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  He understood almost in a flash. What miss Mason meant, yusum,
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  he said, his voice showing his gladness. I'll try for it. She
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  saw that he understood her and was turning away with a smile. But she
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  turned back and Reuben one thing more. Remember your captain has had your orders
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  written out for you in a book, and he expects you always to look
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  for direction as to what he wants done. You can talk with him to
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  be sure at any time, but after all, you can hardly expect him
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  to repeat heed to you directions that you might find by looking for them in
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  your order book. That's the Bible, said Reuben, and his eyes flashed.
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  I never thought of it. Thank you, I'll remember did He walk
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  with a sort of martial tread. As he went down the aisle to meet
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  the waiting Beth, he understood for the first time that he was a soldier.
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  They sat together, he and Beth that evening in the pretty little parlor.
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  It was so funny for the Stones to have a parlor. This little
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  speck of a room was the most delightful spot that Reuben and Beth knew anything
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  about. It chanced to be a mild day, and the door leading into
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  the neat kitchen had been thrown open all day. Besides, the sun had
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  shone in at the east window all the morning, so there was a pleasant
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  warmth in the room. And here sat Beth and Reuben together reading their Sabas
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  school books. At least Beth was reading. Reuben had closed his book and
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  was deep in thought. The story had been about a Christian girl who had
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  prayed for, and talked with, and worked for her brother, and led
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  him at last to give his heart to Jesus. It made Reuben think of
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  his sister, ought he to talk to her. He had prayed for her
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  all the week. Indeed, it was the first thing he thought of that
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  Monday morning when he prayed. How much he would like to have Beth understand
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  about this new sweet feeling that had come into his heart ever since her name
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  had come into his prayer as naturally as his own. Still, all this
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  week he had said not a word to her on the subject. This astonished
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  him a little. He always told Beth everything she had heard about the boys
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  in the shop, and the spoiled pasteboards out of which he meant to make
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  his fortune, and the two tickets to see the pictures, and well,
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  everything that had had to do with the eventful days during which he had been
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  separated from her, Everything but this one experience, his talk with his teacher,
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  his promise to her, the thought he had given to it, all
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  that Sabbath afternoon, the kneeling down in the solemn midnight, and the strange
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  new feeling with which he arose, and that had been with him ever since.
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  In regard to these things, he had been entirely silent. He was
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  surprised to find that he shrank from telling Beth anything about it. Why should
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  he? Reuben did not know then, so well as he afterwards learned about
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  the enemy, who longed for nothing so much as to keep him from showing
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  this new spirit to Beth and enlisting her at once as a soldier in the
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  same army. Tonight, as he sat steering into the twilight, the thinking
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  of the book he had been reading, of Miss Mason's words about showing his
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  colors, of his promise to try for it, there came suddenly to his
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  heart this question, are you showing them to Beth? Does she know anything
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  about this new captain of yours? Suppose you had never mentioned mister Barrows's name
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  to her during all these days? What would you think of yourself? Oh,
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  but mister Barrows has done so many things for me. I had to
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  mention him. And then did Reuben's cheeks glow for very shame. Did he
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  really mean that this new captain had done nothing for him? Oh? No,
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  no, he could never mean that. For Reuben had thought about it
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  a great deal during this week, and he felt very sure that it was
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  this great captain of his who had been leading him in these strange new ways
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  all his life, perhaps, but certainly on that night in which he took
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  that eye ride with Spunk and Spunk's master and felt himself directed where to go
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  and what to do, and the weeks that had followed had been no less
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  wonderful. Oh yes, Reuben was very sure that a great deal had been
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  done for him. Then why didn't he tell Beth about it? He resolved
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  that he would. Beth. He commenced, it is too dark to see
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  to read any longer. Let's talk, well, said Beth, closing her
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  book. Promptly talk. But all that Reuben did was to sit and stare
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  out of the window. Why don't you talk, said Beth. Lots of
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  things must have happened to you since we had a long talk last. There
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  are great big things. I'm trying to think where to begin begin it the
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  biggest thing of them all, And come on down and tell me all about
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  it. The biggest thing that ever happened to me in my life, said
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  Reuben, speaking slowly and gravely, is that I've got to be a soldier
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  and have got a captain and wear his colors, and am bound to obey
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  him just exactly every time. Rubin, what in the world are you talking
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  about? Said Beth, And she dropped her book on the floor and came
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  and sat on the edge of the chair that was in front of Reuben's own,
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  and stared at him, astonishment in her voice and astonishment on her face.
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  Why, said Ruben, fidgeting a little. That's it, you see,
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  I don't know how to tell you. It's a long story. That
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  is, it's long to think it. But when you come to tell it,
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  there doesn't seem to be much that a fellow can tell. Look here,
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  Beth, suppose you were walking down this road, and Reuben arode and
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  took careful steps on the pretty flowers in the carpet towards the west window.
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  And you should meet somebody who said to you, I want you to turn
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  right square around and go the other way, and you should make up your
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  mind to do it. Don't you see how different everything would be right away?
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  Whereupon Reuben turned and walked briskly towards the east window. Beth watched him,
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  wonderingly, I should want to be pretty sure who was talking to me,
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  and what he wanted me to turn around for, and what good it
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  would do anyway, before I should make up my mind to do any such
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  thing, she said, at last, seeing that Reuben seemed to be waiting
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  for her to speak exactly, he said, coming back to his chair,
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  Well, the fact is I found out that the one who met me wanted
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  to do the best thing for me all the while, and knew what was
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  the best, and made me in the first place, and had a right
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  to direct me which way to go, And I just turned around and made
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  up my mind to follow him the rest of my life. It must be
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  you mean that you are a Christian. Reuben always remembered the great astonishment in
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  Beth's voice as she spoke those words. I suppose I am, he said
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  gravely. He had not put it into words before. If a Christian means
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  one who has made up his mind to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, take
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  him for captain. You know why. I'm one sure that is what it
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  means, said Beth, nodding her head. Miss Hunter told me so.
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  She told me a good deal about it. She wanted me to go that
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  same way. But I didn't think I wanted to do that. I didn't
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  want to leave you behind. I wanted to keep right along with you and
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  not go anywhere at all that you didn't. And now you've gone and left
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  me. And Beth dropped her head on her arm and began to cry softly.
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  Oh Beth, I haven't, he declared eagerly. I've come back for
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  you, don't you see? That's what I am trying to tell you.
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  I want you along. I couldn't be a soldier without you. We've always
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  been together. Girls can be soldiers in this army just as well as boys.
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  It's different from any other army. I say, Beth, won't you
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  come right along? That's the very reason I wanted to tell you about it
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  tonight. Beth had already dried her tears and was listening. What did you
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  mean about hearing? Somebody speak to you and ask you to turn around,
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  and all that I don't understand what you mean. So Reuben began at the
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  story of that midnight ride, part of which she all read he knew,
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  and told her about the terror and the horror, and the prayer and the
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  quiet that came to him, and the sense of somebody leading him, and
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  he following just where that somebody led. And from that he jumped to the
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  experience of but the Sabbath day before, the lesson, and the teacher's question
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  and her talk with him, and his promise, and what hard work he
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  had to keep it, and how Grace Barrows helped him along without knowing it,
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  and how finally after midnight he knelt down and settled it, and how
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  he had been sure ever since of the presence and help of his leader.
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  Then he told how Miss Mason had reminded him that very day to be sure
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  and show his collars. I wanted to show you, Beth, the first
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  thing, and ask you to put them on. It had been quite a
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  long story. The twilight faded out entirely while he talked, and left the
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  room dark but for the glow of the firelight. Beth had listened in silence,
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  but with the utmost attention. She drew a long sigh when he closed,
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  and if Reuben could have seen her face, it would have told him
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  that she felt herself left behind. You've been converted, she said, at
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  last, have I said, Reuben, I don't know. I don't even
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  know what the word means. I do, Miss Hunter told me. She
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  said there were two sides to it. God had one side, and folks
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  the other. God called to people, asked them to be long, you
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  know, just as you heard him ask you. That is his side.
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  Then they said either I will or I won't, and that's their side.
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  And she said even God couldn't do anything for them so long as they said
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  I won't, because he had promised him when he made them, that they
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  should have the right to decide things for themselves, and that was their side.
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  Then she said, just as soon as they made up their minds to
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  say I will, he put new feelings into their hearts so that they wanted
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  to do right, where before they hadn't cared or hadn't thought anything about it,
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  And all at once they knew that the thing they wanted most was to
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  follow the Lord Jesus and please him, And she said that new feeling in
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  their hearts was called being converted, and there wasn't anybody else who could do
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  it, only just God. And I know you have been converted, well,
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  said Reuben, after a very thoughtful silence. I never heard it explained
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  before, but it sounds like Miss Mason's talk fits right in, and I
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  guess it is all true. I've often wondered what it felt like to be
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  converted. I'm glad I know. I'll tell you what it is. Beth.
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  You do your part right away, won't you? So he can do
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  his, and then we'll go on together. Does mother know? Asked Beth.
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  No, she doesn't. I wanted to tell you. First fact is,
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  I don't know how to tell such things. Do you suppose Mother will
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  understand what I mean? I guess so, said Beth. She will have
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  to be told anyhow, for things will have to be different. Now you
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  know how different? Why every way? We'll have to have reading in the
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  Bible every night and morning, and kneel down and pray and say a prayer
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  at the table every time we eat. How do you know? Asked Reuben,
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  very much startled. Who could read in the Bible and pray. People
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  don't always do that, Oh they do, said Beth, confidently. Miss
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  Hunter told me about it. She told me about a bad man who was
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  converted, and he began the next day to read in the Bible and pray,
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  and they all knelt down and everything was different. And you know,
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  Reuben, you are the man of our house. End of chapter twenty one.