In the afternoon of Christiana’s last day in the City of Destruction, three or four girls who had been her friends ran in to see her.
“Oh, you do look busy!” cried one. “We came to ask you to go with us into the country tomorrow.”
“I don’t think I can,” replied Christiana.
“Why, you are putting everything away!” exclaimed another. “You might be getting ready for a journey.”
Christiana had not meant to say anything about the King’s letter, but now she felt that it would be better to tell her friends what she intended to do.
“I have had a message from the King,” she said, “and I am going to the Celestial City.”
“Oh,” cried the girls, “how can you be so foolish?”
“I am not foolish. I wish you would all come with me.”
“And leave our beautiful city and all our friends? What will your poor little sister do, and the boys? It is very wrong of you, Christiana, to think of leaving them.”
“They are going with me.”
Then the girls laughed. “You must be mad! How can a baby like Innocence be a pilgrim? Just think of all we have heard about little Christian and his troubles. He was nearly lost in the Slough to begin with, and you know when Distrust and Timorous came back, they told us that he had met with lions on the Hill of Difficulty.”
“Yes,” said another, “and you cannot have forgotten the news we had from Vanity Fair about the death of Faithful. You are a silly girl to run into such danger, especially when you have a baby sister and three brothers to take care of.”
“Matthew is old enough now to take care of me,” replied Christiana, “and we are not afraid. The King has promised to watch over us. Here is His letter. You can read it if you like.”
But the girls did not believe in the King or care about His messages. “It is no use wasting our time,” they said. “You must do as you please, but you will soon wish yourself back again.”
Christiana was not sorry when the door closed and she was once more alone. “I am glad Wisdom came to me,” she said to herself, “for I should have thought just as they do if she had not spoken to me.”
Matthew did not stay long in the city that day, and even James and Joseph were eager to begin their pilgrimage and came home early so that they might help Christiana.
“I have washed your clothes and mended them,” she said. “But I never noticed before how shabby they were getting. You must keep them as tidy as you can, and perhaps the King will send us some new ones.”
Very early in the morning the children went quietly away from their cottage and passed out of the gate of the city. The keeper did not stop them, for he thought they were only going to spend a long day in the meadows. Christiana carried Innocence in her arms, and Matthew had brought a bag with some food. James and Joseph ran on before them, for they were anxious to reach the Wicket-gate.
“Perhaps we may meet a lion,” said Joseph, “but I shall not be frightened.”
“Oh no!” said James. “Pilgrims are always brave, and, of course, we must fight for our sisters.”
Innocence clapped her tiny hands when she saw the daisies nodding their pretty white heads in the grass, and Matthew began to gather a few of them for her to carry with her. While he was doing this a little girl came in sight, running across the meadow from the city.
“Stop!” she cried. “Please let me speak to Christiana.”
Christiana looked round. “It is Mercy,” she said.
Mercy was out of breath with running, but she caught Christiana’s hand and held it fast. “I didn’t care to go with the other girls,” she said. “May I walk a little way with you?”
“Oh yes!” replied Christiana. “Why will you not go all the way?”
“I have had no message,” said Mercy, for she had come into the cottage with her schoolfellows and had seen the King’s letter.
“That will not matter,” said Matthew. “I am sure I have heard Evangelist say that the King would like all the children to become pilgrims.”
But Mercy was timid, and she feared that the King might not receive her if she came to His City without being sent for.
“I will tell you what to do,” said Christiana. “Come with us as far as the Wicket-gate, and we will ask the King’s servant whether you may pass through.”
Mercy was willing to do this, and as she was a gentle little girl and a favorite with the boys, they were glad to have her with them. They all went on together very happily until they reached the Slough of Despond.
“This is where Pliable and little Christian were nearly smothered,” said Christiana. “I do not know how we shall cross, for it seems very dangerous indeed.”
The soft green mud was oozing between the tufts of grass, but as they looked carefully round, the children caught sight of the stepping-stones. James and Joseph skipped lightly from stone to stone. But Matthew held Mercy’s hand, for she was afraid of falling, and Innocence clasped her little arms tightly around Christiana’s neck. Soon they found themselves once more on firm ground, and they knew that no other unsafe place lay between the city and the Wicket-gate.
“We will walk quickly,” said Christiana, “while the day is cool and pleasant, and perhaps we may be allowed to rest a little when we have entered the Way of the King.”
