Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/229

Rh thou or I? When thou wouldst pray, thine eyes did fall with sleep, and when the Spirit bade thee go and seek the poor, thy feet refused their office, and thou didst leave it for a more convenient day; and so, all through thy life, 't is comfort and ambition that have been thy creed and thy pursuit, and they are Satan's, and so am I, and so also is all flesh and lust. 'T is all from Satan.'

"And while he spake I wept to see my body thus, that might have been much otherwise had I but known the Spirit's power; and to myself I said, If I could but live again I would live differently, for now I know. '

"And the voice near me whispered: 'Trouble not thyself, for thou art forgiven, in that thou believest in the Christ.' 'Nevertheless,' I thought, 'because I do believe, I wish that it had been even so, and that this earthly temple had been kept more beautiful.'

"Then they raised my body and bore it forth 'midst wailing cries, and I would fain have wiped the tears from off your faces, but I could not; and I followed by the side of mine own body to see where they would lay it, and all that night I wandered by the house and sought ye and called ye by your names, but ye could not see me. Then at midnight came another spirit to me, that of an old man, and he took me by the hand and said: 'What doest thou here, Lazarus? Why dost thou still stay near thy home and thy riches and thy vessels of silver and gold? Thou hast much to see and hear, for that thou art dead for the glory of God and shalt live again.'