Called to the Rescue

A young man from Cambridge University, Mr. D- had been studying during the summer at the quiet little town of Exmouth. At this place, as many readers know, the river Exe is crossed by a ferry, which brings passengers near the Starcross station on the Great Western Railway. For this purpose a boat remains ready from sunrise till sunset.
 
One night between twelve and one o’clock, the young man suddenly awoke. He felt that a commanding voice had spoken to him; it had said so clearly that the last word still sounded in his ear: “Go down to the ferry!”

Thinking it an ordinary dream, he turned over to sleep again, when the command was repeated with this addition: “The boatman waits!”

There was something in this second voice that made it impossible for the young man to take no notice. He tried not to obey, and sat up in bed for some minutes quite awake. He reasoned with himself. It seemed foolish to get up in the middle of the night on the orders of an imaginary voice, to go to a ferry where no boat would be found (for the boatman lived at Starcross), for a purpose of which he knew nothing. He tried to dismiss the idea but was unsuccessful. He felt, in any case, that sleep was impossible. It was only a short walk to the ferry and back and he need not tell anyone of his journey. At last he jumped from the bed, dressed rapidly and set out.

Before he reached the ferry he was astonished to hear the boatman’s rough voice calling to him through the darkness impatiently.

“Well, you’ve kept me waiting long enough tonight. I think, I’ve waited nearly an hour for you.”

The ferryman had, it seemed, received his orders too, but did not think that they had any unusual origin. Finding no passenger waiting on his own side of the river, he probably decided that he had been called by someone in a passing boat, and ordered to go across.

By the time Mr. D- had arrived on the Starcross side, a further idea had gained possession of his mind.

“Exeter! Exeter! Exeter!” was the word that continually sounded in his head, like a calling bell. He felt now that the purpose of this strange night journey, whatever it might be, would be completed at Exeter. To Exeter he therefore went at the first opportunity. It was only about eight or ten miles, and he reached that good city about sunrise.

Now, for the first time, he did not know what to do. All ideas and feelings had gone. He wandered aimlessly about the streets,, and blamed himself severely for the readiness with which he had come. He now considered the whole matter as an ideal imagination, but comforted himself with the idea that at that early hour no one he knew would be there to ask questions. Mr. D- decided to return home by the next train; but meanwhile the shops and the house began to open, and reaching a hotel, the young man went inside to order some breakfast.

The waiter was very slow in bringing the meal, but when he did so he apologized for the delay. He said that the hotel was full because a lot of people were visiting Exeter in connection with the cases which were being tried in the law-courts.

Mr. D- had heard nothing about these trials and felt no interest in the subject. But he saw that the waiter considered the judge’s visit as an event of great importance, and so he encouraged the man to talk. He was rewarded by a very amusing history of the cases that had already been tried, as well as the waiter’s own ideas about the cases which remained. Mr. D- became interested in the matter, and so, instead of returning to Exmouth by the next train, he walked about until the court opened and then went in and sat down to watch.

The case which was just beginning seemed to cause unusual excitement. The prisoner was accused of murder. No one had seen him actually doing the act of murder, but from what the witnesses said, it seemed certain that he would found to be guilty. His only hope seemed to be to prove that the witness were taking about the wrong man, and show that he had not been there at the time.

When he was asked what he had to say, he quietly replied: “It is impossible that I could have done this thing, on the day and at the hour when it happened, I was sent for to mend a window at Mr. G-‘s house at M-. There is an gentleman,” he added after a pause, “who could prove that I was there, but I don’t know who he is, nor where to look for him. Yes, I know that he could prove that I’m not guilty. There is a special reason that would make him remember me. But I can’t do anything about it. Only Gods’ will can do it.” And the poor fellow seemed ready to accept his fate.

All this time Mr. D- had been listening with deep attention; and when the prisoner ended his sad and hopeless speech, Mr. D- raised his head suddenly and looked carefully at him. When his eyes fell on that sad, tired face, a number of events came back to his mind. They were events that seemed simple enough when they happened, but were now important because they concerned the life of a fellow-creature.

Mr. D- had gone, some months before, to visit a friend at M-. The friend was out, but wishing especially to see him, Mr. D- had decided to wait for his return. For that purpose he had gone up to his friend’s library, intending to pass the time reading a book. But there he found a man mending a window, and instead of reading he stood for some minutes watching the man and talking to him about his work.

While he was doing this, something was said that Mr. D- wished to write down and he took out his notebook for the purpose. But he found that he had lost his pencil. The man, seeing his difficulty, had handed him his own (a short brown pencil with square sides), saying that Mr. D- could keep it if he wished.

All this came back to the young man’s mind as clearly as if it had happened the day before. Hastily turning to his notebook, he there found the very words he had written, including the date, in the thick but faint lines produced by the men’s pencil.

He immediately made known to the court his wish to be examined for the sake of prisoner. Going into the witness-box, he told all that he knew, and said that the prisoner was indeed mending the window as he had said. The prisoner was found not guilty and set free.