And our journey leads us
across the great ocean, to the new country, where the new life is
stirring, and foaming, and seething most intensely."
"To America?"
"Yes, Elsje; are you willing? We shall escape the evil tongues in
Holland. Evade the painful proximity of my old sphere of life. We shall
not bury ourselves in some remote corner of the earth, but shall stand
in the very midst of the most fiercely burning life, in the most
intensively growing human world. There I can best become aware of what
is to be expected of mankind, best divine what Christ intends with us
and what he expects of me. If I can achieve anything indeed - it is
there. I know it, for I know the country and the people, though I am
not yet quite sure how I shall go about it."
Elsje looked grave and thoughtful: not appalled or frightened by the
prospect, but as though in a whirl of new overwhelming images. Then she
asked shyly:
"And in this battle will there still be room and time for a small,
peaceful home? And for a little, tender child?"
"Why not, Elsje? There too are peaceful dwellings and many tender
little children also are born there.
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