o leave the most who felt that shock harder
and more indifferent than ever. Yet in one house that awful blow was
found to be a messenger of mercy. Thomas Johnson rose from his bed of
pain a changed and penitent man. Oh, what a happy day it was to Ned
Brierley and his little band of stanch Christian abstainers, when Thomas
came forward, as he soon did, and manfully signed the pledge, as
resolved henceforth to be, with God's help, consistent and
uncompromising in his entire renunciation of all intoxicating drinks!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

MIDNIGHT DARKNESS.

When Thomas Johnson signed the pledge, a storm of persecution broke upon
him which would have rather staggered an ordinary man; but, as we have
said before, Thomas was no ordinary character, but one of those men who
are born to do good service under whatever banner they may range
themselves. He had long served in Satan's army, and had worked well for
him. But now he had chosen another Captain, even the Lord Jesus Christ
himself, and he was prepared to throw all the energy and decision of his
character into his work for his new and heavenly Master, and to endure
hardness as a good soldier of the Captain of his salvation. For he had
need indeed to count the cost. He might have done anything else he
pleased, except give up the drink and turn real Christian, and no one
would have quarrelled with him. He might have turned his wife and
daughter out to starve in the streets, and his old boon-companions would
have forgotten all about it over a pot of beer. But to sign the
pledge?--this was indeed unpardonable. And why? Because the drunkard
cannot afford to let a fellow-victim escape: he has himself lost peace,
hope, character, home, happiness, and is drinking his soul into hell,
and every fellow-drunkard reformed and removed from his side makes his
conscience more bare, and exposed to the glare of that eternal wrath
which he tries to shut out from his consciousness, and partly succeeds,
as he gathers about him those like-minded with himself. So every petty
insult and annoyance was heaped upon Johnson by his former companions:
they ridiculed his principles, they questioned his sincerity, they
scoffed at the idea of his continuing firm, they attributed all sorts of
base motives to him. He was often sorely provoked, but he acted upon
the advice of that holy man who tells us that, when people throw mud at
us, our wisdom is to leave it to dry, when it will fall off o