And not one word had he said of all that he had meant to say--not one word of the man whom he had come so far to reprove.
The day became sultry when the mist had cleared away, and by noon the heat was more oppressive than had been known all the Summer. Wesley was exhausted by the time he set out with Mr. Hartwell to return to the village. They needed no mariner's compass now to tell them the way.
They scarcely exchanged a word. They seemed to have forgotten the conditions under which they had gone forth in the early morning. A new world seemed to have been created since then--a world upon which the shadow of darkness could not fall for evermore.
They had gone straight to the cliffs, hoping for a breath of air from the sea to refresh them; but they were disappointed; the air was motionless and the reflection of the sunlight from the waves was dazzling in its brilliancy.
“I should have thought that the very weight of this heavy atmosphere would make the sea like glass,” said Wesley, while they rested on the summit of the cliff. “And yet there are waves such as I have never seen on this part of the coast unless when something akin to a gale was blowing.”
“I daresay there was a strong breeze blowing, though we did not feel it in the shelter of the hollow of the Tor,” said his companion.
“True; it would require a strong wind to sweep away the mist so suddenly,” said Wesley.
“Ah, sir,” said the other, “I did not think of a wind in that connection. Was it the fingers of the wind, think you, that swept that thick veil aside, or was it the Hand that rent in twain the veil of the Temple?”
“I am reproached, brother,” said Wesley. “Let us give thanks unto God. May He give us grace to think of all things as coming from Him--whether they take the form of a mist which obscures His purpose, or the darkness of a tempest on which He rides. I know myself wanting in faith at all times--in that faith without reserve which a child has in his father. I confess that for a moment in the morning I had the same thought as that which was expressed by the old man who joined us: I thought it possible that that fog which threatened to frustrate our walk had been sent by the Enemy. Should I have thought so if our work had been hindered in very truth? I dare not say no to that question. But now I know that it helped rather than obstructed, us.”