Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/264

264THE HALLIG.

endeavored to make it appear in as mild a light as pos-
sible, and pointed him to the merciful love of God
which does not suffer us to be crushed by the burden
of a guilty conscience.
  One day, when he was talking in this way, Godber,
who had till now listened in silence, rose from his chair,
and standing before him, gazed at him fixedly, and
said in a tone at once solemn and fearful,
  "Will the God you speak of, uncreate that night in
which I forsook the helm of my vessel, to save her for
whose sake I twice broke faith ? Will he who has
healed Maria's wounded heart, rebuild that fair model
which became a miserable wreck through me ? Had
you set fire to your church in blind passion, would you
forget it so easily as you think I ought to forget my
wrong to the ship? Will God call back to life, the
three who lie in the church-yard yonder, that I may
again hear from them, 'Godber is a brave pilot' with-
out hearing at the same time, a hellish laughter in my
ears ?"
  Hold trembled, as much from the wild expression of
Godber's countenance and words, as from the discovery
of an unsuspected weight on the young man's con-
science. But Godber continued:
  "You tremble at such crimes, and yet you only hear
of them ; and I who have committed them, should not
I be crushed under their load ? There is no help for
me !"
  In a more subdued tone, whose slight tremulousness
indicated a transition from stern despair to sorrowful
emotion, he added, after a short pause :
  "Even if you bring Maria to my arms a happy bride,