PAGE 5
The Ferryman Of Brill
by
In vain Caspar pleaded his cause, and at length, with a frown on his brow, and an angry glance in his eye, although honeyed words were on his lips, he took his departure.
Caspar Gaill left the house of the merchant Hopper in no enviable mood. He took his way through the street till he reached the door of a certain religious house or monastery, as it was called, and inquired for a Father Quixada. He was shown into a cell inhabited by a Spanish monk who acted as his father confessor.
“How fares your suit with the pretty Gretchen, my son?” asked the father, who at the same time, however, had observed Caspar’s angry look.
The young man shook his head, and replied briefly that he had been refused.
“No hope?” asked the father.
“None,” answered Caspar.
“You would have a better chance if the merchant was out of the way,” observed the priest.
“Very likely, but he is cautious. It may be no easy matter to get rid of him,” answered Caspar.
“Follow my advice, my son, and it can be managed. You have strong suspicions that he is a Protestant. Pretend that you have given up his daughter, but that you desire to be instructed in the new faith. In a short time he will trust you, and if he attends any place of meeting where the Protestants meet, you can introduce me among them. I can disguise myself so that they shall not know me, and I may then not only mark him, but all others who may be present, and inform against them as may be most convenient.”
CHAPTER THREE.
CASPAR PROFESSES THE PROTESTANT FAITH–ATTENDS A MEETING–EFFECT OF THE GOSPEL ON CASPAR–CASPAR, HOWEVER, KEEPS HIS ENGAGEMENT WITH FATHER QUIXADA–DOUBTS AND FEARS–THE MONK ATTENDS THE NEXT MEETING, AND NOTES ALL PRESENT–CASPAR’S REMORSE–THE SPY AGAIN IN THE LITTLE COMPANY– CASPAR WARNS THE INTENDED VICTIMS–TOO LATE–FATHER AND DAUGHTER IN THE HANDS OF THE INQUISITION–CONDEMNED–CASPAR DESPAIRS OF THE RESULT OF HIS WORK–CONSULTS THE FERRYMAN–BUT NEW PLANS FAIL.
Caspar did not at first like this plan. It was treacherous and deceitful, and he must act the part of a spy and a hypocrite to carry it out; but as it was proposed to him by his father confessor, he came to the conclusion that he ought not to hesitate about it.
The merchant Hopper was surprised a few days after this to receive a visit from Caspar Gaill. The young man told him that he had abandoned all hopes of winning his daughter’s hand; indeed, he thought of quitting the country. He confessed that he had of late taken every opportunity of examining the new doctrines, and that he was acquainted enough with them to make him desire to go to England, where he might study them more freely, and with greater safety. “I know not what your opinions may be, Mr Hopper, but I am very sure that you will not mention mine to any one else.”
The merchant was generally cautious, but the young man’s apparent frankness threw him greatly off his guard. Caspar, urged on by Father Quixada, persevered, and at length fully persuaded the merchant Hopper that he was a convert to the Protestant faith. A private meeting of Protestants was to take place, and Caspar entreated that he might be allowed to be present. The merchant no longer hesitated. At the meeting prayers were offered up, hymns sung, and the simple Gospel plainly put before those present. The young man listened attentively in spite of himself. He there learned that all men are sinners and justly condemned; that “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son” to suffer instead of sinful man, and to save him from the result of that determination. He heard that “the just shall live by faith,” not by any works, not by any good deeds that they can do, not by any forms and ceremonies to which they may adhere, but simply trusting to the blood shed for them on Calvary, to the perfect and complete sacrifice offered up by Christ for them. He there learned that Jesus Christ had become sinful man’s sin-bearer; that He had fulfilled the obedience which man had neglected to fulfil; that He came to save sinners, to lift the weary and heart-broken, the wretched and the penitent, out of their miserable state; that man is saved simply by turning away from his sins, from his idolatries, from the thoughtless course he may have hitherto followed, and looking trustfully, believingly, on Jesus crucified for him. The young man went away from the meeting with new thoughts, but with an unchanged heart. He had promised to go immediately to Father Quixada, and he fulfilled his promise, though not without doubt and hesitation.