Hawaii - James Michener [82]
When the prayer was ended John Whipple asked, "Are you coming with me?"
"Yes, but shouldn't we wait till morning to speak with President Day?"
" 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,' " the young doctor quoted, and Hale, acknowledging the aptness of this admonition, dressed.
It was four-thirty when they knocked at President Day's door, and with no visible surprise he admitted them to his study, where he sat in coat and muffler hiding his nightgown. "I surmise that the Lord has spoken to you," he began gently.
"We are offering ourselves for Owhyhee," John Whipple explained.
"Have you considered this grave step?" Day asked.
"We have often discussed how we should spend our lives in God," Abner began, but he was taken by a fit of weeping, and his pale young features became red and his nose runny. President Day passed him a handkerchief.
"Some time ago we decided to dedicate our lives to God," Whipple said forcefully. "I stopped smoking. Abner wanted to go to Africa to rescue souls, but I thought I would work among the poor in New York. Tonight we realized where it was that we really wanted to go."
"This is not then the decision of the moment?" President Day pressed.
"Oh, no!" Abner assured him, sniffing. "My decision goes back to Reverend Thorn's sermon on Africa three years ago."
"And you, Mr. Whipple? I thought you wanted to be a doctor, not a missionary."
"I vacillated for a long time between medicine and seminary, President Day. I chose the former because I thought I could serve God in two capacities."
The president studied his two able students and asked, "Have you prayed on this grave problem?"
"We have," Abner replied.
"And what message did you receive?"
"That we should go to Owhyhee."
"Good," Day said with finality. "Tonight I was inspired to go myself. But my work remains here."
"What shall we do now?" Whipple asked, as spring dawn came over the campus.
"Return to your rooms, say nothing to anyone, and on Friday meet with the committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions."
"Will they be here so soon?" Abner gasped in obvious delight.
"Yes. They have found that they are often needed after Keoki Kanakoa speaks." But noticing the joy in the young men's faces he warned, "Reverend Thorn, the leader of the group, is most adroit in uncovering young men who are guided by emotion and not by true dedication to Christ. If yours is not a profound commitment strong enough to sustain you for a lifetime, don't waste the time of Eliphalet Thorn."
"We are committed," Abner said firmly, and the two young men bade their president good night.
On Friday, John and Abner peered from behind curtains as the committee from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions gravely marched into Yale to hold sessions with various young men whose imaginations had been captured by Keoki Kanakoa. "That's Reverend Thorn," Abner whispered as the leader appeared. He was a tall, thin man, in a frock coat that reached his ankles and a black beaver hat that stretched far in the opposite direction. He had bushy black eyebrows, a hooked nose and a forbidding chin. He looked like a judge, and the two young scholars were afraid.
But John Whipple's fear was misguided, for he had an easy time when he faced Eliphalet Thorn. The intense, gaunt face leaned forward, while the four lesser ministers listened, and Whipple heard the first kindly question: "Are you the son of Reverend Joshua Whipple, of western Connecticut?"
"I am," John replied.
"Has your father instructed you in the ways of piety?"
"He has." It was apparent that the committee recognized Whipple for what he was: a forthright, appealing, quick-witted young