Continued from page 1
"By Jove,
girl is dead" he says to Lord Godsend, pointing to sleeping Mary as they ride pass.
"How do you know, Jonny?" asked rich man.
" Upon mi life, killed by robbers, mi Lord.'' So they argued back and forth. But after they had gone a good distance, Lord Godsend asked to be driven back to confirm who is right. But Jonny didn't want to hear and prompted horse to ride on. "By heavens she must be smelling mi Lord".
Mary had woken up now. She finishes her writing, reads it and signs her name. She quickly eats her last food, drinks mixture, and lies down waiting to die.
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"Exactly what I said, mi Lord" said Jonny showing Lord Godsend empty bottle of arsenic when they finally got there. "Poisoned herself to death. By my horse shoe, a bad girl."
Lord Godsend picks suicide note and reads, " I drank poison and died. Because thieves stole money that I wanted to use to buy a Bible. Weep not for me, dear mum and dad. We will meet again—Mary Jones."
Lord Godsend was angry. Who must have sold poison that killed this girl? He looked at poison bottle and read address label: ARSENIC. DR. HADES. 13 BALA ROAD, UPTOWN. He got into carriage at once and rode away to get cops to arrest Dr. Hades. When they got there, however, apothecary was swearing and saying that he never sold her arsenic but a sleeping mixture, which he put in an arsenic container and even gave her back money to buy food since he thought that she needed food and a good sleep.
But cops and all villagers who gathered there that morning will not believe Dr. Hades.
"Do you think Jonny that girl is sleeping or dead?" asked Lord Godsend.
"Upon wheels of this carriage she is as dead as a rock. If otherwise, I will drink arsenic and join my ancestors," he replies. And to prove point police decide to first visit scene, before taking apothecary to jail.
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Mary wakes up. What is this?she asks. Had she not taken poison to die? She looks around but she could find neither arsenic bottle, nor sucide note. Only her empty basket. This must be a bad dream she thought. She now gets up and is confronted by crowd led by police and a rich man in a horse- drawn carriage. She thought of running. But where can a girl; who is weak, hungry and cold run to? The people also stood momentarily thinking that it was an apparition.
But it was Dr. Hades that seized initiative and exclaimed: "See! She was only sleeping, not dead. Then things were explained . Lord Godsend took her to an inn where he gave her food to eat and filled her basket with provisions. He also gave her some money to buy Bible. Mary, full of thanks to kind man continued to walk remaining 7 kilometers to Bala. And people wondered at courage of this little girl who is walking 40 kilometers to buy a Bible.
After that, they joked whether Jonny would take arsenic and die as he swore, for that is what honorable men do. But Jonny was not a man of honor. "In name of all saints" he swore again, "I knew not when I said so." And they just laughed and called him Jonny joker.
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It was Sunday noon when Mary entered church premises. The church service had just ended and worshippers were stepping out of church. Then she asked first people that she met where Bible copies were sold. One called other and soon everyone gathered and looked at her as if she was a space alien.
It was not that she was bare footed and poorly dressed. The fact was that all Bibles had sold out yesterday. And money that she was having could not even buy one, even if it was available. Double trouble for Mary.
Because of chaos that Saturday, Reverend Father himself sold Bibles. He first took his special personal copy that was sent to him by pope that copy was printed in different colors in both Welsh and English. It also has cross references and a Bible index. The title cover itself is printed in gold letters and whole Bible is zipped in a golden case. It was such a beautiful Bible that people were busy looking at it when common bibles sold out.
Those who did not get copies of Bible were many—some families joined to buy one. In fact, two churchman fought over ownership of last copy, tearing it into two parts. In end, both shared cost and by a toss of coin, one took Old Testament while other took New Testament. That was why they looked at Mary in wonderment, and when they explained to her, she collapsed and wept.
Now, Rev. Goodman looked through church window and wondered what was amiss. So he took his winter coat and walked out, his golden Bible in hand. After listening to Mary's story, Reverend first dried her tears and kissed her. Then he slipped his sandals under her feet, took off his winter coat and put it on Mary. Third he gave her his golden Bible in Welsh and English and which was printed in many colors with these words: "Read it carefully, study it diligently, treasure up sacred words in your memory, and act up to its teaching." And he finally blesses her and tells her to use money which Lord Godsend gave her to pay for a ride home. Mary's eyes shone, church people were speechless.
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It was big news when Mary reached Llanfiangel on a horse -drawn carriage wearing a winter coat, pair of sandals, and wait a moment: a golden Bible! Everyone flocked to see bible and her poor parents were overjoyed.
Years later, this story was told at Committee of Religious Tract Society of London. The result was that a decision was made to supply Bible translations to people of Wales and whole world. So if you own a Bible today, remember sacrifice of a sixteen- year old girl from a remote village in Wales whose dream came true.
May your dream come true!
ARTHUR ZULU is an editor, book reviewer and author of controversial book CHASING SHADOWS!: A Dream. ( A book that reveals terrorists' master plan to finally set world on fire!) For a copy of book and FREE excerpt, goto: http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/21013 For contacts, mailto: mostcontroversialwriter@yahoo.com
ARTHUR ZULU is an editor, book reviewer and author of the controversial book CHASING SHADOWS!: A Dream. ( A book that reveals the terrorists' master plan to finally set the world on fire!) For a copy of the book and FREE excerpt, goto: http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/21013 For contacts, mailto: mostcontroversialwriter@yahoo.com
