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Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplementaires: This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est f ilme au taux de reduction indique ci-dessous. 10* 14X 18X 12X 16X 20X L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a iti possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut- «'<>' Inquirer, to me. Xmt.. J. t. Pulver^cher * Co.. IM, Regent Street. W., L^nd^n.^' ^ZLAtVAJISM «. AOUTB NEUBALQIA. Ueu 8I« I hi"''?"*' H''l''««'. OlMRow, N.B. , 6th April. 18»0 HeuSJlta/iT U«'?n»^:? iufTerlng for tfe l.'.t nlnUire&icute -wmijw in tile lower j»w, and have tried a larse numN,r of riav '«5SL'i'^''.'"'*»'~"* three m.nthVISo C Trest! d ou?,;dM™ ^f 71* ^ "y JO"' O»lv»nlo Belt fSr NeuralaU. cu^or m. ti*" "7" ~™Pl»'nt ""me year, ago $ "e St In f.J?rH«"';"'° •PP"»'"«'. »''lch I have UKd ! thfn .^.11^' ' have found suoh great relief from your rriend.l'hi™if;L'""S?J''~!""' '" --'commendlnK H to (Menu, who may be lutTerTng from tbU oomptaint.-your. Pulvermacher ft Co., m, Begent Street, w".. Und^'' |K V. BHBUMATI8M and LOSS of MUSOPLAB s,™. ^•""•yl»»n>». North America, 1st April. 1890 "o tSdl 21f.u^„i'"' ,';!'.' ""* *" •<*»''«*d ^ "rite to e ofV™.r^y ."*"»*"'> '•"• """■'y twelve montht, and !.'tl™^L*^i'"i'",^''"^'- "hlch I wore .teKllly, and Iq rJnt altn r.'.P'ir..''"^"'"' •"<• ' »"»'•« "'ver had It .Inoe. irerieM, end tbU wai accompllihed In two weeks.-Youri (Mrs.) J. Tiu.'te. vermacher, 194, Begent Street. W., London. U V. 8CIATI0 \ and LUMBAGO. j .19. Unlou Street. Tranmere, Blrkeobead, -1 fluti 1 »..~i.t » »L ._ ***•• *^hfuary, 1890. ro^wf if""*?"' .*° *•""■'« y" •» the mf ao., i„ the hands r.SSnH.ri"?!:^"!!^"',*" hwl'hsnd .tren'gth. P»r Sp' ir montht 1 bad been In a helpless condltiSn, iufferliiff • and Lumbago, and waii under three meduil nVen 5 imCm !?-'"•'"'•' "« '"'»""«<» ">• that mv eUtlc STSLT^i / ' "■•"* «'''t'-«e'*d «"d the muscles of left nCTh«ifTJS:J'* "^ -CirpulHtlon, and n.y suffering' tr Ickv «^. 1^?*^ morphia to give n.irrert-. «»e.doct5r r I wn~" ' '*« "»°'lf<^e- "'d I wrote to you. anOfrom Lv the /,''™»®''T''= "'" ' """""^'l immediate re™.T are liirf.nt^'" "J"' "f""""! P"*"' R™du«lly left me, and nJ r?t ™^'? '.♦"tO'ed again. I have now resumed bull- ?,'^^ly "^J!* r'-rmanent. I have recommended your u"cTe effT/t.'i'?"^ •'"' "*'Kh»'">'" who have wltne.^ nfil7.n "'*'' .'" "y **•«' ""d • contlderyoor Galvanic I marvellous scientmc Invention. One o? the doctor. 11^ "Tiin-rrHl'^'L" ""J"" ""» "hat I thought of^oar i' wthfX" ' '•"""• ""' ^ '"""' '» "" T^pSripi'* ernaeher, 19i. Begent Street, W, M «-. NKBVOUS EXHAUSTION. 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Ester Ried Yet Spe. •rig By Annie 8. 8t» By J n London : 8. W. PARTRIDGE & CO.. 9. Pater nostbb Row. ; WHELPTON'S PILLS, THB BBST FAMILY MBDIOINH. Are one of thoie purs Medicines which, for their extrm- ordinarr properties, have gained an almost UNIVERSAL REPUTATION. Becommended for Disorders of the Head. jif^^KV^ Chest, Bowels, Liver, and Kidneys. .^^'tKXV^ ^'* "^^ ^^WBELPTON' HEALIMG OIMTNE The best remedy for Burns Sea nio«r8, and all Skin Disease 7|'.. It. IK. »<>d it M.. of all Ch,m Free by Pott In the United Kiiig.lom for 8 .33 Stamps. PROPRI ETC RS ' C. WlfELPTOfl A SON, 3, Graqe Court, Fleet ! E.STABUsaiD 183 i [a«4. '."l'.'*H By Annie 8. Sw or Others. By J paget.) 'atirnostib Row, 1 ^ILLS. OINB, heir axtrs- in.'l"''oq"aint." In fact, wehadTlX Somen hS' 7"""?« ^l'^ "''°" t" 'leacrib; Mrs^ She had it th.8 afternoon. And LauJa t..ok l.cr crochof and Mary her Raiding, while I gave tho h ock o coal ^J," ^™K ;' ^'r'""" P°''°. «nd «ont the red clow ^''^VZI-^^°'"7,^««"l'«l,n.y«-lf to enjoy her «'"^ Thatg for nil the world like some folks ' " shn ,« 5r»nd'''.r°'''"'"r'^.' '•''"'""K •'" knitting-noodle o' h^r' taf f^""*^ '"'" i''," K'"'^ °" the hearth. " Yo have Sev .e ttrnf.".!"*''!^ poke, every now and then, before tney set themselves to amou!iting to anvthinir " Th„n tionJdheT' *° *'^ ""'J""* «!>-' which W;;\ad Jut- j-i'^^*' ^ ^®"* *<> *he Olin Park Sundav School T b«t"thltl!) *° *"*'"7''' S'"ulay when! wLtt Ln but the folks were real cordial, and I'll own that I've had tJi"maT«"^ after Sunday Schools ever sin o So on on WM made supenntendent. The Olin Park Church U -I'^i !,? *'".?* '''^ room-a dozen rooms, for that matter thfir'h^io -lif hrst-rate if I was a teacher. And or^L !I^ *'^^*"^ i""""' "'"l cushioned seats, and an E' t?n-/"*P''i.^"'' '"*'"°"''' ""d a bell, and everything that .oWI *?y*^"gyo» ""in get with money to add t^o it'fwo^T 1, ^.^'^"^l^'"^' t°o .• if the work is worth doing tl ?r^-i'*.V"«' the tools, and the best kind you can &^i'Jti^Tt:'' "'^ " ""^^ '^'^ fi- ^- '•>« - noS'beUer tha":^'?'" '^^^T^^'^ ^''"™' ^^^ "kes Smith *orfnr ♦h.f *°*f * '"H *"» argument with Mrs. „??i 7 » ' ("' *'^** matter, with anybody who is ouiok witted, "what do you think about spending so m ,oh " Well, I dunno, child," said Mrs Smith " Tl,,r«'. ettTn. doi'^'^T/ ^°"^^* '" *'»«''• h»"dsome dresses and ff d,Sri °" °^^' ^r°™-^l'* '="'''""'^«. with their feet on W It^H^nr' ■" '^ ""y*^ "g ^"^ g-^od enough for the K; tL *T * *T "i"'*® "8fit. If they don't have no S S?™ f it* '^o'n«' most of 'em, why that's another tJl.jTll'^^' "^y that there oughtn't to be nl« ^homiV"'.Bnt"^'..iw '^'^■a'' "^ I'""'" people not feeling w nave, but as long as you are real glad to see me, land treat me jost as well as though my house was all Urussols carpets from garret to collar, I'll own that I k ml of Tike to stoi. my foot gn the j.rotty vinos and Howcrs and h ve sor cirrcht"'T, fh """"«''■ '?''" f-l- in hal d" some tluinlios. As for tho money beinff needed well . saquest.on that I don't understand, and U strotd e. out so many ways I don't know how it's ever goiW to be nnderstood. Itod cushion, in a church ain'tCcesarv maybe; but, for the matter of that, neit her L nfd worsteds And though one don't cost a much L S other, If tho Idea is wrong, why it's wrong, who lierTt i s » penny 8 waste or a dollar's ; and the whole thji^narls itsolf up, you see, and who's going to find the onc?of ?t '' hnunx bout horhoad lf)wor over h ' red worBtn.u'on.l cough, 1, while Mary laughed outrig. ' Tl on [au a blushing and smiling, said i ineni^aura, " You needn't laugh, Mary, red worsteds don't cost anv more than serpentine braid.' ^ ;'But about the Olin Park Sunday School?" said I. «J Ct ^^"\^ "'''"'''" the pretty things; but I'd agree with Laura, here, about some of the drosiinr It was too hne for the place. You see, it sooms to me^sucl a different thing from having tine churches. • If my pew m church IS carpeted with green Hrussels and my ?eaT aown, i can offer a piece of it to tho ucliost-dressed woman that comes in, and hand her a book' and 'ook itT'i fi* '""r'/"^ """^ ^""- ^eel that she C got a* much of the softness and prettiness as I have and that Lord " it f '"^ " "«^* ^t" ''• ^^•"'"^^ '* '^'^ beloliSs to the Swhfte n T' '^'} ^''"''' ^^'"'' "'"^ '''•«'« trimmed with white lace, I can't go and spread a breadth of it over her, nor make her feel as if it was a* much hers m mine, nohow I fix it. Don't that make a differoncel Them girls stood side by side, some of 'em in blue s"lk« with knife pleatin's, and box pleatin's, and Snniew and I lift and with bright ribbons flyin', U gay as pea"'ck8 Tril^^l T '" •™*'y Hp^^*' ^""^^ here and tCe and frayed at the wrists, and made like nothing is nowadays • aa.l they fel uncomfortable-you could fee it ki th^e"; eyes— and it didn't look right. ,.,"^?' child, I dunno's I'd have a uniform I don't Ike Sisters of Charity ways of doing it, nor™ doj't Uke the Quakers' exactly ; .,id if I waT the matron of ^ orphan asylum, the thing that I wo^ddn't dowould be to have all the dresses and aprons alike. You se^Tt doesn^ have T%^'- ^" V''" ''^y ^'^ "^''"^ge '* would be to have dl the people have common sense, and then nick out their dresses for church with an eye to the best goc4 of everybody, and it would be all right " ^ This brought a merry laugh from Laura. wouSVl"a??a:-?."o\l^a^;r^^^^^^ ZS°IJiTh74un?;1*.^°'^ *^^ '' '« --* *^« '--* J'&ir^^i;^'" !?th the gravest and most earnest people would only put themselves undir the leLiof the Lord Jesus Ghnst, they would have common sense « weU as everything ebe. Maybe, though, I did tho" young things injustice. But it aeemed to me they were so busy faxing «.e ribbons, and shaking outThe paLkw and admiring the set of their kids, that they hX't^m Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. for niuch elao. They didn't act like thinlcing beings; that was the trouble. I ain't one that expects folks sixteen years old to act although thoy were sixty; but I did hate to hear them sing, ' Jesus, keep mo near the Cross,' and giggle right at the end of the lines. The Cross seems such a solemn thing to mo, I can't make out how the most thoughtless of them can take the word on their lips with a laugh. It can't be because they are young and frisky. It is some mistake in their bringing up. If one of 'cm had lost a dear friend, and somebody •was speaking of it in solemn language, they wouldn't have any trouble in keeping from laughing. I oxpect I'm an old fogey, but it kind of seemed to n^e, as 1 sat there, that some of the hoity-toity singing helped along the giddy feelings. 'We are soldiers for Jesus,' and ' We'll battle for the right '—that's what they sung, loud and strong, four hundred voices ; and they didn't look nor act like soldiers. I'm dreadful afraid some of them didn't know the meaning of the words. ' Sound the battle cry,' one of 'em sang, right in my ears — a loud shrill voice she had— and then she whispered : ' Charlie Parks has got his hair parted in the middle ! Did you ever see the like? He'll be wearing an overskirt next.' And then she came into line with the singers : • Gird your armour on for the Lord.' Now, how could them two thoughts find place in her brain at once ? It don't stand to reason, you see. And there she stood, pretend- ing to be singing praise to Him, speaking His name ; and if her heart wasn t praising, wasn't she taking His name in vain ? The whole thing just made me shiver. " I couldn't help watching that class of girls the whole blessed time. The visitors' seat ran right along behind theirs, and I never did see such restless beings since I was bom. They couldn't keep still in prayer time either. They nudged each other, and passed slips of paper down the seat, and whispered a little ; and this same girl who sang so loud giggled every now and then. Now, Mary, you look exactly as though you would like to say— if I wasn't so much older than you — that I couldn't have been praying myself, or I wouldn't have had dmo to see all this. That's juat as true as you live. I was sort of distracted with the flutter and noise, and I couldn't keep my thoughts anywhere. There, again, is the question of ■who is to blame for them girls growing up in that way ? You see, the grown-up folks didn't keep as still as they might. The four young fellows who tended to books and papers and such things, kept tiptoeing around, up this aisle and down that, and the leader of the singing turned over the leaves of his book, and, if you'll beheve it, the superintendent himself seemed to be trying to find his place in hia Bible while the minister was praying. " Well, they began the lesson ; I listened hard, then, for Solomon and I had been studying that lesson by spells all the fore part of the week, and I wanted to see what new ideas I could get. And you never i.se the beat of that teaching in all your life ! • This is a fanny lesson for us,' one of them said. ' I knew all about the birth of Christ when I was a baby.' And then they went to discussing. They talked about that Star, wondering whether it was a new star, or a new look to an old star, and how it looked, and how long it shone the first time it appeared ; and then they didn't know a mite more about it, you know, when they got through than they did at first ; and then they tried to find out just exactly what part of the East the Wise Men came from, and how long a journey thejr took ; and then they talked about Herod, and all tho wicked things he had said and done ; how he murdered his wife, you know, and his children, and how old he was, and how long he had been sick, and what yeax he died, and everything about him. And then they went back to the Wise Men again, and they talked about the gold they brought, and wondered how much there WuM, Hud iu what shape it was ; and described frankincense and myrrh, and told how one was used for putting round dead folks, and the other for burning incense ; and then, if you'll believe it, the bell rang. I didn't toll you about the bell, did I? It kept ringing every few minutes. , There seemed to be something that somebody ought to be warned by that bell to 'tend to most of the time. It would have distressed mo if I had been a teacher. Well It rang this time, and that lesson was done. You see they had been interrupted lots of times ; the Secretary had come along, and the Librarian, and the Treasurer and the boy with the new Lesson Papers, and I don't know what not. But I guess they wasn't disturbed ; it dicnt break tho thread of their thought, you see, for thoy didn't have none to break. And that was all them girls got, that day, out of that lesson 1 " " What did you and Mr. Smith get out of it 7 " Mary asked her, looking roguish. "Bless you, child 1 it is just alive with thoughts. Ihem things thoy talked about were good enough, some of them; but the teacher didn't get to anything, I thought more than a dozen times, ' Now she is coming to the thought.' But she didn't; she slipped ri"ht round it, just as easy I "How do. you suppose, now, she could have got rid of saying something to them young things about the trouble that tho Wise Men took to find Jesus ; what a long, hard journey it was, and how much they had to go through ; and how it is such a simple thing to do, that It seems strange that everybody don't do itT And there they were, so sharp with their answers, and knowing so much about history, and quoting Scriptures, and all that. Why didn t she remind them how much Herod's chief priests and scribes knew about history, and prophecy and all that, and what good did their knowledge do 'em ? And when I see them a-fluttering there, and nudging each other, and having so little heart in it, I couldn't help wondering whether any of 'em professed to be a worshipper of Jesus— had their names on the Church book, you know ; and was it real, or was it kind of like u^u^""?* *" "gly-Jooking, but not much more honest. Then that bright Star coming out and guiding them men. Dear me ! how could she help reminding her giris that He Himself is the bright Morning Star, and stands all waiting for the chance to guide them home?'«^And then the gifts ; how they brought their best to Him. She didn't say a word about our gifts ; how our hearts are better to Him than all the gold and silver, or the cattle on a thousand hills ; nor a word about the ^tars where our frankincense ought to be burned every morning and evening ; nor nothing at all— only just the bare facts about Herod, and the gold, and the gums. " Will they be any likelier to find Jesus by the help of that teaching ? ' Where is He ? ' the Wise Men asked, and my heart ached to lean over there and ask them girls if there wasn't ono among 'em that would like to know where He was, and go and worship Him ? To think that she had a chance to talk about finding Him, and giving Him our hearts, and giving Him our prayers, and being hghted by the Star of Bethlehem all the journey through- and she threw away her chance ! It made me sick." "I would like to go to Sunday School and be in your class, Mrs. Smith." Laura said this, and every touch of humour had gone out of her voice, and her eyes shone with tears. "My class, child? Bless your dear heart ! I'm nothing but an ignorant old woman ; I don't know enough to teach a class. But if I did try to teach one, and had a lesson all about finding Jesus, and giving the best things to Him, I wouldn't leave both them ideas clean out of sight. But there ! it's easier to grumble tlian it is to teach, I daresay." CHAPTER II. SHE ATTENDS A SUNDAY SCHOOL CONVENTION. " S^l^OOD-MORNING, Mrs. Smith," gftid both eirla ^»^g at once. " We were saglad last night," oon- \KSSni tinned Laura, " to hear of your return. Here, take this armchair." An event had happened at the little house in the Hollow. Mrs. Solomon Smith had been away from it for an entire week. We who evec sho we her return hardly less while awaj', her eyes, a enggeations to welcome breathe a I home and Then smoot untying hei she began, it all in all, as I know child, I cou you know. hand but i wonderful 1 stare you i vention, an ought to k more than « Well, now I'd go the V and if they "' Can't; "'Oh nc that ; it cor to the Chei Agriculturn! to the Cattl "'Yes,' I it stands m< farming, am " ' Exact! 'tend to all i superintend because you use for hoc because you wouldn't be along such a " Solomo. right still fo " ' Come, yon go to th '"Idon'i "'Thatd tell me all about it tha; about it. I are uncomm< " Well, al nothing ; bu and says I : " ' 1 thons "I only ( Solomon, he a man, you afibrd it,' th; he knows it. "'Well, I it is so impoi another thini " Says I : right in a lin of work alon s'pose it won] or look after garden sauce work * " "'''Well,n. stand things the time to g for the impn 'cause you ci winter, and J site attends a Sunday School Convention. ost of the time. It en a teacher. Well, vas done. You «ee imes ; the Secretary and the Treasurer, 'apers, and I don't wasn't disturbed ; it ought, you see, for I that was all them t out of it ? " Mary ivo with thoughts, good enough, some 3t to anything. I )w she is coming to Upped right round could have got rid ^ things about the ind Jesus ; what a uoh they had to go ) thing to do, that do it? And there "s, and knowing so tures, and all that, luch Herod's chief ry, and prophecy, knowledge do 'em ? bere, and nudging t in it, I couldn't professed to be a ea on the Church ras it kind of like much more honest. and guiding them eminding her girls % Star, and stands I home ?'« ''And then est to Him. She ow our hearts are liver, or the cattle t the altars where svery morning and lie bare facts about 8us by the help of Wise Men asked, ind ask them girls >uld like to know 1? To think that ; Him, and giving jrayers, and being journey through ; ide me sick." j1 and be in your id every touch of d her eyes shone art ! I'm nothing know enough to h one, and had a ig the best things ieas clean out of ble than it ia to >NVEirnoN. ," sftid both girlji last night," oon- ^r return. Here, [e house in the away from it for We who knew hor so intimately wore sure that wher- ever she went, she would go with hor eyes open ; so that her return was, to her friends, an anticipated pleasure ; hardly less than anything she might have enjoyed herself while away. We know she would permit us to see with her eyes, and to hoar with her ears ; adding the sharp euggeations of her own mind besides. So we were glad to welcome her, and willing also to give her time to breathe a bit, and to ask all the questions concerning home and friends that her loving heart might suggest. Then smoothing dotvn her apron with her wrinkled hands, untying her cap-strings, and settling back for a long talk, she began, " VVell, I've been, and I've got back ; and take it all in all, I ain't had such a spell come over me never as I know of. How did I happen to go ? Bless you, child, I couldn't help it. The papers wore so full of it, you know. Couldn't take one up for six weeks before- hand but something about that Convention, and the wonderful things they were going to do and say, would etare you in the face. ' What w a Sunday School Con- vention, anyhow ? ' says I to Solomon, and I thought ho ought to know, 'cause he had been superintendent for more than a year, but /le didn't know. Says I to him, ' Well, now, if I pretended to be a Sunday School man I'd go the whole thing ; I'd find out about those things, and if they aro worth going to I'd have the good of 'em.' " 'Can't aft'ord it,' says Solomon. " ' Oh no,' said I, ' of course not ; I knew you'd say that ; it comes so handy ; but then, you know, you went to the Cheesomakcrs' Convention last year, and to the Agriculturnl Show, and to the Dairymen's Meeting, and to the Cattle Show, and I dunno what not. " ' Yes,' said ho, ' of course I did j that's my business ; I it stands me in hand to know all that's going on about farming, and keep up with all the new things.' "'Exactly,' says I.u'And you can afford money to 'tend to all such things ; but Sunday School teaching and superintending is kind of a pastime ; you only do it because you've got a spare hour on Sunday that you can't use for hoeing or mending fence, and put it in there because you don't know what to do with yourself ; but it wouldn't be the thing to go and spend mc jest to lielp along such an amusement. Is that it ? ' " Solomo.; lookpu at me kind of sharp like, and was right still for about two minutes. Then says he : " ' Come, now, if you think it is so important, suppose you go to the meeting ; I'd like to have you go first-rate.' " ' I don't belong to Sunday School,' says I. " * That don't make no difference,' said he. ' You can tell me all about the meeting, and I shall know more about it than if I were there myself, and I'd like to hear about it. I ain't got time to go myself ; you know we ore uncommon busy this season. "Well, at first I didn't mean to go, no more than nothing ; but I went on talking jest for the sake of it, and says I : " ' I thought you couldn't afford the money.' "I only said that for the sake of saying it, 'cause Solomon, he ain't a mite close with his money, only being a man, you know, he's got so used to saying ' I can't afford It,' that the words jest spring to his mouth before he^knows it. He looked a little foolish, and says he : " Well, I can't afford to waste money, but if you think it 18 so important, and would help, you" know, why, that's another thing.' ''Says I : 'I think it's important for you, 'cause it's right 111 a line with your work ; if it's to help that kind of work along, of course it would help you ; but I don't s pose It would help me make any better butter or cheese, or look after the chickens and turkeys, or get any earlier 1^ t V sauce, than I have now, and you know that's my " ' Well, now,' says he, 'you know I always did under- stand things better for your telling of 'em, and if I had the time to go, and there couldn't but one of us go, why, for the improvement of it, I'd rather it would be you, cause you could tell it off to me of evenings all the winter, and I could take it in better.' " Well, I always was a master hand, Solomon thought, at telling things, and I know ho paid attention to what I said bettor than to most folks ; but for all that, I hadn't the faintest notion of going to a Sunday School Conven- tion ; nor didn't give it a sober thought till we got a letter from Hannah, my sister, you know, and she told mo about her Jossio being tuckered out and needing a rest, and thoy wished slio could have a change and go somewhere for a few days before school commenced again ; 'twouldn't hardly pay for her to come down to the country to see us for so short a time, and the journey was expensive, too ; but they did wish she could get £.way somewhere ; and then I looked up at Solomon, all of a sudden, and he nodded his head, and says ho : " ' That Sunday School Convention is the very thing.' "And Solomon, being a man, you know, ia dreadful set in his way when he gets a notion ; and he was so took up with that one that he give me no peace till I up and started, he a-counting out the money for me and for JessiCj as if he rather enjoyed it. I knew I'd have to pay Jessie's way if I took hor, 'cause her pa ain't a mite fore- handed—never was. He lives in a town, and has a large family, and there's always shoes and hats and gloves and things wanting, and it takes a sight more to live there than it docs on a farm, and he ain't nothing to depend on but a store where they keep dry goods. That always did seem to me a dreadful uncertain way of living ! Suppose folks should take a notion to go without new clothes for a spell? You can't eat the things lying there in the cases waiting to be sold. But now on a farm it's dif- ferent ; folks has got to have wheat, and com, and potatoes, and even if they shouldn't want 'em, why then you can eat 'em yourself. So I always felt kind of sorry for Hannah's folks. " Well, I went for Jessie, and her and me got started. She thought it was the funniest notion I ever took yet I Just as funny for her as for me. for she never went to Sunday School since she was a little girl, she said ; sho ain't a mite over seventeen this minute, and there she talked about when she was a little girl. But land ! Sho wears trains, and all them things, and looks as old as any of them. I'll own up that I felt real queer as we began to get near the town where the meeting was. " ' Well, well,' I said to Jessie. ' I've always heard it said there ain't no fool like an old fool, and I believe it. The idea of my going to a Convention at my time of life ! It would be bad enough if I was for woman's rights ! " "'Auntie,' said Jessie, 'let's give it up, and go back home." "'Jessie,' says I, 'did you ever know your Uncle Solomon's wife to give up a thing after she once got started ? I ain't one of them kind. I shall see what a Sunday School Convention is before I' ,i three days older ; you may depend on that.' " Well, we showed our paper!!, and got our street and number, and did it all up regular, and went to the nicest kind of a house, where thoy treated us like queens ; and the next morning we went to the Convention. Land ! it wasn't an overpowering place at all ; just a big room, with threo or four dozen folks in it, sitting as far apart as they could get, and singing, each one of 'em, a different kind of a tune— by the sound. It was very faint singing anyhow ; Solomon could have beaten them all hollow. "'My patience 1 ' says I to the man at the door, 'I thought this was a dreadful big meeting. Why, you ain't got as many here as we get out at our country . singing schools.' He smiled as pleasant as could be, and ■ says ho : " ' The people haven't got in yet ; we are having devotional exercises.' "'Oh,' says I, 'the people don't come till after thev aio over, and there's soiuutliing important to bo done, ehlf Well, now, that's curious, I should think, for a Sunday School meeting ; the devotional part ought to be kind ol important.' " ' It's early yet,' says he. " ' Do you think so ? ' says I. 'Why, the men folki where we are stopping went to the store two hours ago ; 8 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. !fii!i^''ur" ^P"^*° '""'■''«* »n«J K"* back before we <^n . Why, jt's after nine o'clock ! ' knows"at what ' 'sh J"" »"»'«'''"5, '"',"• " P^^ny-the land .♦ ;t7^ ir iV :: ^"^ * 8^"** on blush ng, Jessie is • kent at ,t half the time we were gone. And sVkept t^tchS i>evotional Exercises' was the worst. I didn't think t uTh Tvhv"^„'l "' •^«^°««" -bout it. Now that's he l?tl, ;i,n 1 ^B .""r" 'J"'^ I b»ve sat down in our kitchen fT hn^-\'' '^^m''" ^T"!' ''"^ " *''"°'^ """'"o. and S- Ihln r^nf ^^'''^^' """^ ''"^ *'"*'"gb BiRht better nSa Snnl Ir'"' '"*"J;'* *™«- I «"">'* think what ai^ed the eve? ;.f*i° "*r'''°.I^''*y«''«''*«'^'« though if ho ehouYd ever get through and sit down, he was afraid that tho meeting would come to an end and so he™ ent on and on, seeming to think that it w^s his duty To keen thf thing going. And he prayed about thingsL didnTcarl we"""^h?S't" h.^-^f '•''" A ^'l ^"'"^ "oun^ded Hke it, b«? Cr am^T 1 l"'y\ Anyhow, my heart felt pretty nea\y, and I looked at Jessie, and I was afraid if thev had many 'devotional exercises,' she wouldnW chirS IL *■ li^?''"/ "Pf ' *'"'"gh, that man did gft through devotTori "'^^ ^"""'' ''"*' ^y ''•=''*<^''"*' that tlie tS fo^ SvaU itodT'T^ ^^ "P- ,T°» can't think howgE A bril 1?HI ' ^^y ^*' "« ''^*'^y «« bees right away they couldn't have crowded and squeaked and rusTled hi faster than they did. Such a hubbub you never SdseT They came talking and laughing, too ; kept up their talkW ^Kd alt'lehft f "• V"' /•'^y S°* fafrly Sde hf uoor, ana a little bit down the aisles. And there waji th»t man on the platform trying to do the talking Cj? 1 whispered to Jessie Savs r • < Ti,„«, v , , » 'iimseu. Sg si of ?>« 1^"^""^^ ^ ''"■'*'• °^ every little Stih, tZ; aiS^^ icTcor/rrtrtlbinj^atut^Yt after all. Yon get right into the middle oMt and t comes over you how tlie man looked, and how ho wXd ZTJt 'i'^"' "^'^ ^^'•^^ ''•« *«•"«. and hlw hi! voice of Tt .ffl "^i^"" 'I ^i? *^ ^^^1 ^''-t that was a good dead tL ' f!!-"^ all; and there's no use in tryinK to tell it • i. o^i next thing on the programme,' said the leader '' < What'sThl"? tT^'^T' ^/ ^'- I^»*«' e^Sio^ tsLothVffl almT^d ffiuZ ^ put off by that child, so I said it again a little IoiuIaV '^'■'^"ntie, r don't know.' .0 kinS bS? 'tlSv*^'* ^ ^'^"l^'^ ''*''•' -"^^ ^^^"'^d n.«n .„*. • 4. iV f^® ^'^^ * nice-looking young eentle- n an sat just the other side of me, and savs L vl^, pleasantly, not laughing at r-9 a bit: ^ ^^' ''^'^ thingsXpeS:''i:J°;;t^;^^!ii''r^^ blttckboardfor us ' i-utiuig u on tne pretty figures, and he worked most amazing f„t. I watched him a spell, and then says I to my young \.lll '.ff"'* 1,"'t« see what is the use of fillins un on^'s a SeSe t T '"P"^ "' "f "T = '' «""''• take IZ ftlinvi ^ ^?J", ^"'' """^ then I should blunder • I ■ always was dreadful at figures, and if I knew 'em , 1 lik,, ' 5hrm\ture''otoVy'!? ""^ ^'^ '^^'^^''» ' '^^^^ '^-'^ --^ ' » 1' ^^ i^"""^*! "°*'" ' "°t » 8a"<'y smUe, you know but a mco pleasant one ; and he leaned over' t^o me7and s^s ",' There is a follow out West who has written a bonk irht"pr'ove??hS^h^ '"'"'l^? *'•-' beca^sfh^ tlS years old." ^^^ '"""''^ " """'« *'»■*•» "'^ thousand wJi l"v.°'!^?, ^''"J^ ** the blackboard, and Iho very firs* words that that Dr Date had writteA there wlr7these three, m great big, handsome letters : •/„ th. /,S„ S, ' years old ^f„r Jn \ \ ^T^'lt}^ ' ^* ""='ht be u million favs in tdL • •"* tl'e Bible says ab..ut it; that only 3,1" the begmmng. How did h« fi„d out when th^ Exactly so,' says he, and he laughed outrisht < Bui InS r t^r ■■ ^f7 ''r "r«' «*-l'«l Bible SnologJ and he forgot anybody else had. He makes a great manv ?e S^S'LTf r.' look at Bible figu^Toves t^ ne laise, and one of the reasons why we study Bibln ^ray by Sr ^"' '' '^' "" '^'^'^'''' ^■•^» * ^' ^^^ nameY'l'nf 1? t^**n Paf^ attention to them dates and and^notsote^i^TA" ^'*'^^ '*' \'"'' 1"'t« interesting of the In J!^ ^i"*^ *°, r«"»ember. He strung somi or the words together makini? nnnf.iTr TJi,,. „^j „ '1 bfiiyitn>,lii 1, T T r "• . •'^s^^ «»'" 8he believed I was bewitched but I got quite excited learning of them 1 couldn t help kmd of liking it ; and I thouaht if I wa« IbouTif '• «° "^*" '' '"''' ^ ^y might.r„? know .3? f CHAPTER in. SHE HAS TRIALS AND COMPENSATIOHa. HERE was some funny acting folks as ever I see at that Convention. They had a conference about mistakes m teaching. The man who com- h. n.n -, ""T*"* i* ^°}^ °^ * '°t of mistakes, and then he called on others to give some ; and, if you'll beUeve it they seemed to be aU used up on mistakL Not one of them opened his lips. The man coaxed, and cowerand «^7i^ t* i°°w^ ?* ^'^^ "*''«'' and «o'^e of them gaSed I haS^ "* their watches, and were as dumb as o/stew i» r I^y "?*'*^"* t° "peak out. Says I to Jessie : ' Fo^ conlKr^M'^^*?,'*"'' '^™' I "'^""W think they myself aL Vv"* ""'^*^''i ''^^' ^ '^»°'' two or three ^(untifiTJ/ * not'on to gve them.' Says Jessie: ' Well fW,' ^°" '^t" 'K' ' "V" ""^ through the floor.' R^f /faif . ""If y°'' *™ ^''t at it half the time.' But I felt sorry for that man up on the platform, a-lea*- mg people who wouldn't be led. I always d^d tCk balky horses were the most provoking critters that w °re tZJ^- ""afarni. He took out hfs handkerchief^! wiped his face, and it looked red enough to blaze. At last the leader of the whole tiiinc. or the con Sa^he ' Ve'^h'' '^™;.?'"^ "". '""^ PO- r^^S^hX. „,fy^ "® •, ^.^ have but three mmutes left for the dis- cussion of this subieot.' Well, whv „n »„.*i, i.„ !:j-t say that before, it he had any idea 'of "the'go^d it would They M^ZYT . ^1?'^ *°"^'^'' ^«'« all loosed by it iney all wanted to talk at once, and they all wanteH *« Bay a great deal. They kept hopj^ng 7p a I'^^T th^ room, and trying to get in their wi^ Ld tl.e leX hid to call th the world in the hoi the clock, as though ready for say, " Coi that the ^ room nee I ing, and to think ] spoils. S is that yo do while these men before it i alike.' "Ididn spoken gei seat, and Well, now and that having pie " Then for argnin three of ' a chance 1 and then talk, and wasn't so, fot which ecause th clock, and like eight-( out of fasl about was ; and some c difference forty, and t when the \ did when i because th< and I must "'Mysa talking like pull each o don't beliei conventions " These 1 talked so, I ended in a '. and I'm soi joke. But : pleasant to i and turn to alike ; and did? Men " There w sha'n't ever about helpir you he did I felt like I to teach, or looked roun and I praye( through her heard that h I couldn't ke so glad and : the glory, au that made ue any risk of n "Thatwaj faced young couldn't help as if I knew '. '"Mineej ■ure of it, yo says I to my young uso of fillinjj up ono-'s it would take me half 1 I slinuld blnmler ; I if I kiu* !— grand work, too. 1 telt like 1 would give almost anything to know enough to teach, or to be young again and learn it all. And I looked round on that young thing that I'd took there, and 1 prayed to the Lord to let me do some of my work through her. I can't help wishing you could all have heard that lecture. The tears just ran down my cheeks • 1 couldnt keep them back, I felt s. solemn like, and yet so glad and happy ; for he told about heaven, and about the glory, and the lasting for ever, and all that, in a way tHat made us feel as though we couldn't think of running any risk of missing it. " TJiat was in the evening, and I sat by my pleasant- faced young man again, and when we were coming out I couldn t help holding out my hand to him. I felt exactly as if I knew him, and says I : " ' Mine eyes shaU see the King in His beauty. I'm •ure of It, young man, and I do hope you are.' And I'm beat if there wasn't tears in his eyes too. Ho catched hold of my hand and shook it hard, and says he : I am indeed, thank tho Lord.' And then what did he do but turn to Jessie, and says he, ' You, too, I trust.' And Jessie s voice was all of a tremble, and her cheeks were liko roses, and she said, 'Oh, I hope so." 'Don't chlhl '" * ^''^' *"^^ ^' '^"^^ " ^"'■^ *^'"8 °^ »*' ''I couldn't help it. It did seem dangerous, as well as kind of sad, not to fool certain as you were alive ubf.ut it. and I kscw T did. But I'll never forget that Ifoture : it was worth all the money we spent just to hear it, and I know It will do me good for ever. ' What is that man's name / says I, and I gave Jessio my programme. ' You mark your pencil aU round it,' says I, 'for I want to thank him when I see him in heaven for this night's work,' and I mean to. '' "But I toll you, it takes all sorts of folks to make a world. Some of tho people didn't like that speech. He was dry, they said. I heard one woman say that two or three times ; she sat right before me, and .she kept wetting up her throat with candy all the eveiiin", and giving some to the man that sat next her, and then they would whisper and giggle. She was nothing but a girl, and 1 told Jessie if she had been mine I should have felt like whipping her and sending her to bed; and I do think mothers ought to keep their girls by them till they learn them how to act It does put mo out of all patience to see folks whispering and laughing at a meeting ; if the lecture or preaching, or whatever it was, was a.s dry an chips— and I won't deny but that some of those men were dry enough ; and those that had the most letters at the end of their name seemed to be the dryest— but I'd pro- tend I understood, just for the looks of the thing and give other folks a chance to hear. It was curious, though, about them titles ; they stand for learning, and the more thoy have of them the more learned they are p.D.s, you know, and LL.D.'s and Ph.D.'s and the land knows what ; I didn't understand the letters, nor the men either, some of them, and says I to Jessie : I suppose they've got to prove that they deserve all them letters, and so they don't dare to come down and use words that wo ever heard before ; more's the pitv.' But for all that, if there's any one thing more' than another that I do despise, it is whispering and laughing, and bringing folk's meals to the meeting-house ! Why, some of those people munched candy and nuts and chewed gum the whole living time. There were two girls, and sometimes a boy, that seemed possessed to sit somewhere near me— I suppose because they a"gravated me so. "Did you ever see them Orientals? The same man showed em. No, they ain't pictures, they are real I'vo folks ; he took em right there out of the Convention liut, land, you d never have known them in the world ! lliey were dressed up just like the folks used to dress in Bible times, and they talked like them and acted like them. You knew it was just as they talked and acted then, because they fit right into the Bible as complete as though they had been living when it was written. The women carrying water-pots on their heads, you know, and gleaning in the fields, and gathering sticks for the fire, and wearing veils ; and the bridegroom coming at mid- night, and thoy a-going out to meet him with lamps and all that. All complete just as the Bible tells it. And, if you 11 believe it, the folks out in them countries are at that same kind of life yet ; veils and all. Such looking beings as they are ! And such actions I I tell you what It is, we ought to do more for the heathen. I joined the Missionpiy Society first thing I did after I got homo • and I mean^to work for it, too, with all my might. I neve? thuuyht iiiuch about it before, Lui, 1 coulilii't get them women out of my mind, nor the men either, for that matter. I believe they looked the most outlandish ft ntT°" -^ ^^^^ '* "** *" natural, 'cause it fitted into the Bible, and made you understand what some of the verses meant. I tell you them folks need converting We must set right to work and do our best for them. f 10 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. fi^f* '*? ' -^"^ you could have aeon the Holy Land ! Soft, pretty paintings of the aky, and the water, ami the grass m the country whore the Lord Jesus CI rist wal you know. I dec are it made me feel so queer, wZl tlTT ^'^.P°"'t'"g out the well where He Sat, and the road to Bethany, and the palm-trees, and aU ; I most couldn't keep the tears back. »" »u , i most " There was a picture of Jerusalem, lying still and pleasant there in the sunshine, and the groat hills all around it and as we sat gazing at it, the man who was showing them said suddenly, in his strong, solemn voire *%» T 1 ^^ mountains are round about Jerusalem so the Lord is round about His people.' "'"""m, so I never felt so safe before. There they were vou Sl°lT' ^\^T^ mountains, looking stronger rhan'tfme Itself; and there av . the promise; and it seemed t^e eiUiest thing not t., trust Him. You needn't go t^ think! ingitis because I am old and foolish that it had such a power ov, r me. There was Jessie, with her young face aJUhiniiig, and the tears just ready to drop, anl says '' ' Oh, auntie, I'd like to go there • ' • You shall, child,' says I, « to His own country. He Dm gone to prepare a place for you, you know and He r«wTf,,^"'''' ''"^ set you; al/you've got to'do isto Bee to It that you are ready when He comes ' fj,„^ ,•* y°».tlje whole thing seemed more real to me than It ever did before. After that, how do you suppose wejelt to hear two women say, just as we were going " ' Why in the world do they want to spend so m-ich time over those pictures of Palestine ? They are noS ing at all ; the description of them is always so dry ' troublcrwTth T^^ '■" eood many people there who were Ih?«,^ i„ w ^'''"^''- J^'^y ^«"*«* something funny the whole blessei. .me, but they didn't lil-e to own it, and so when thing, wasn't funny they just lumped them and calledjiem 'dry.' The Bible readings we?e dry and Bible Geography were dry, and the Normal Classes were Svthat if ^■^^"1-^7 of anything; and I'll venturTto eay that if them kind of folks had been wilUng to own it hey thought the Bible itself was as dry as dus ^ weU, of course folks of that kind creep in ; they like to get to places and see the sights and hear the funny things and what harm does it do? Maybe now and then thS get an idea ; who knows ? ^ "The folks wasn't all of that kind, I can teU vou • tS iT^^f '^'"' ''"^ *^^^*'''° ^- ^"d them ConTn^ tion people know enough to understand that there is no There^n''o'tr.'!l«'^'"^ V'""' everybody all the time! -von knnt *'?'^?"nfyth so easy to learn as grumbling, ll^A C ^ Bhouldn't wonder if more folks got to be head workmen m that line than any other. Why if I tol^mbfeTt'th"* 'VS l''"^"^ ^*^« '°""d «°^^th^g to grumble at the most of the time. There was one man ttiat most made me feel like flying out of the w"nd^w He was real smart, and I wanted to hear aU he sa d, but ^L s„r! fn*^°*° t-°"* *^^ '"•'^^'^ «^ h« Bentence he r?bTT.nnif ?? *"? voice away down into his boots, Jr. voted ! i^riytldng out of it. I did get so J^JhrLf^J'^^l' sake,' says I, 'I do wish he would take breath enough once to carry him through a whole Bentence so I could hear the end of it.' T *"i?"^ ¥ *^'^° *, ' ^^ ^''^»* on that way to the very last I told Solomon that I could give him the first haj! of a gnl"?r^ ^'^ t'^'"^^' ^"•^ « ^^ ^'^ brains enough to t^« l^f r*' ^-7. "I'S***. '^^'P ^•'»- B"t that seems to me hke downright cheating. The kst part of them rnrrth^\Ltr ir^zf. i^,^^^ ra Co^^entr-* '''''' ^^^'^'-"^^ fi^est"o;ator tl7dS'erTthVfi'rfaTS.l* .°"5 boarding-houBe, " f till, I said, and I say it yot, if I couldn't have heard the first word that he said, I wouldn't have Jot 1 and squeaked and rustled out as so many of them dTd Then I once commenced I'd have stuck it out if it most choked me. I do hate to see folks nipping out of church during ameetmg. They kept doing it there all the S; S seem queer to me that a few of them couldn't have mSe up their nunds to go together, and have done with T but no right in the middle of somebody's speech un would bob a woman and rustle herself m.t.^and that iTke to do"Jh« r' """fr ""? *^'" »°*'«" that sSe wouU ll» ?u i 5 *T^! b"t mmd you, she would wait untU the other had got down the aislo, and opened the door and shut It and had time to got to the foot of the sta"« and then she would start, and she would suggest the id"a dvntrs ro' j\ir. ''-'' ""''' •' ^-^-'^^ '^ «p^'^ <^ can have me carried out ; but, for anything less tC that Jrrl^^d l'?'' "^ "'^ ^°"- ''' ^'^'^ the^irettVn'^: mortlrfoJg ;-•"'* ' '^'''^'' '"'"^ "' *'^« 'P^^^h^* '^e™ niost CHAPTER rV. WHAT SOIOMON LEARNED. ■■ r"' -"J" '■I ""cii wo were an our boardinfir-houie eating dinner, 'the first half of him is a good deal of an orator, but the last half is a dead failure, I think.' HAD one queer time," said Mrs. Smith, after a careful pause, during which she set the heel IT ^? grey stocking. "It worried Jessie dreadfully; but it didn't me a mite. We heard ourselves talked about. I've always he^rd t said LL ±T' T^hear any good of themselves, widso far as my knowledge goes, it's tnie. "There were two women walking along up the street real slow, spreading out so that you°couldn't get by ?hem They were talking about some Convention folkZCd don't you behove one of them went on and described me to the very life, dress, bonnet and all ? They were to^e pitied I th nk ; for they had the worst of it^ My dress was clean If It hadn't an overskirt; and my bonnet wm last year's shape to be sure, but it ^as paid for, in goof tSi'?K?7;r'^,%^°"8as / didn't 'mind wearing h,' 1 «r^J'''".'' ^^^y '"^^ »ny call to worry. ** ' th. Zf'J!^7^,'^^''\.°'' ^'''K'ng' and they said that was the way with these Conventions. A lot of people came *°I%''J'^f country, and to do shopping along the waT and didn't know nothing about Sunday Schoofs nor care nothing about them, and didn't have brains enough t^ understand what was said, and wanted to get boarded for next to nothing, so they just made the meeting^ posUion.* ^''* '^^^ ^''""S^* ^* ^*» ^^■ " Now it happened that I had seen both them women S hered^i'^ ''' f^^' ^'^^^, "« ^^^ *!»« forenoon!TnS jothered me most amazmg, keeping up a whisnerinff S°the trnA?''''"^'*^ plums,U caLed tomatoes! jJJ^ tV* *''^* T"" ^^ *«"'"g »» about the Hoi; iA.^7 "T ^^^ one-.'^ho thought the lecture wm r i.7\x ^ '°*'^° "P ™y ""ind it was my Christian duty to help them women a little, so I spoke right up though Jessie, she twitched at my i.ioeve. ^' ^ .i,r. 'P^f here,' says I 'it's no more than right that I should let you know that I'm just behind you with the very dress on that you've been describing, only you St fV j^""]^ "S**'' *'^^ Bido-breadths a?n^t ^u? gormg at all ; I always make mine straight, and it didn't cost but twenty cents a yard, instead of twenty-five as you thought. But now I want to teU you : I do tnnw^ Sh°'^ T""^ ^""J^y ^?^°°^- % husband, Solomon Smith, 18 the superintendent of the one at the Hollow He couldn't come himself-at least, he thought he sZKi;.^? ^' T' r' '^^ ^'^' been a-listenin| eVer^ Bingle minute-when I could get a chance for the whisner- mg-and I shall tell Solomon aU about it aa Boi»n a«?^t TVAa^ Solomon Learned. II I couldn't liavo heard (In't have got up and y of them did. VVhen out if it moat choked ■ out of chiirch during all tho timo ; it did tn couldn't have made 1 liavo done with it ; mebody's epeoch, up lorself out, and that notion that she would she would wait until and opened the door tho foot of the stairs, •oiild suggest the idea a-going by spells, all tl don't appear to be why I suppose you ything less than that 3r the benediction is e speachos were most NED. id Mrs. Smith, after hich she set the heel "It worried Jessie 't me a mite. We always heard it said f themselves, and so along up the street ouldn't get by them, vention folks. And in and described me ? They were to be rat of it. My dress and my bonnet was 18 paid for, in good, 't mind wearing it, Try. they said that was lot of people came ing along the way, ly Schools, nor care 9 brains enough to I to get boarded for e the meeting an ght it was an im- both them women [ the forenoon, and ; up a whispering i canned tomatoes, 18 about the Holy jht the lecture was my Christian duty ce right up, though than right that I hind you with the icribing, only you Jreadths ain t cut light, and it didn't of twenty-five, as you : I do know a husband, Solomon le at the Hollow. I he thought he n a-listening every 36 for the wnisper- it as aooQ as I get liome. I didn't come to do no shopping. Every living thing I've bought since I left home is a tin-horse to send to my dauglitor's baby, and it stands to reason that I wouldn't have come a hundred and thirty-two miles just to buy that. As for getting my board cheap, I have got it cheap— good board, too— and I'm thankful for it. I know the folks I'm stopping with ain't grudged me a mite of anything. They've about promised me that they will stop next fall on their way out West, and spend a few days with me, and if they do I sha'n't grudge them a sight of tho country, and they may go a-shopping to the store at the Corners if they want to. I'm glad I como. I listened to every word of that lecture, when you were doing up your plums, and canning your tomatoes over again at the Hall this morning. I didn't think it was a bit dry. And I mean to help Solomon along in his Sunday School work by that, and some other things, as soon as I get home.' " Wam't they beat, though I They went to work trying to apologise. ' Didn't mean me,' they said, though how their consciences would let them say that, after describing of me to my face and eyes, 1 don't know. Jessie, she cried a little about it, and Solomon says he thinks I was rather hard on them. Solomon is sort o' chicken-heai-ted, you know, where people's feelings is concerned. But I really shouldn't wonder if it done them good. I didn't bear them no mtdice, not a speck, and I told them so. " What do you think Solomon said to me the other night, after I had been talking about that meeting to him for an hour on the Iretch? 'Maria,' says ho, 'it's all just as interesting as it can be. But it's getting near to Sunday, and what I want to know is : What am I to do next Sunday that will make our school better ? As near as I can make out, you ain't told me anything yet that will help the school along.' "Now do you know for about a minute I was heat. Then says I : ' Why, Solomon, yes I have. Haven't I told you a dozen things that yon want to stop doing ? For one thing, you are never to go and have devotional exercises on purpose to fill up— making a prayer about things that j'ou ain't thought of before in a month, and won't think of again in another month. It's disgraceful. Long prayers ain't devotional, anyhow ; I always thought they wer n't, and now I know they ain't ; and you are apt to make just a trifle too long prayers, Solomon, now that's the truth.'" ^ ^ » . At this point Laura broke the spell which had held ds by laughing immoderately. "I can't help it," she said, when I shook my head. " I've kept it bottled up all the afternoon ; but this is too funny." " Bless your heart, child ! " said dear Mrs. Smith, " laugh away ; I like to hear folks laugh in the right places." Then Mary called us to order, and started Mrs. Smith again, by asking what Solomon said. " Why, he thought about it for a spell, and then he said, in that thoughtful way of his, ' Well, I dunno but you're right.' So while I was about it, I made up my mind I'd mention a matter that has bothered me a little, and says I : ' There's another thing, Solomon, you can stop when you get through.' Some of the Convention folks would say, ' But my time is up and I must close,' then they would move along, without any more idea of closing than a clock has of not ticking. Stealing other folk's time, and easing up their consciences, and kind of encouraging folks by pwning of it every few minutes. Now, Solomon,' says I, «I have thought that you now and then used up some of the time that rightly belonged to the teachers, and, if I was you, I wouldn't do it. Then vr\\\ r*nv\ Qfnn rjirtViw.* ^m* * 4-<.«..> ^^.«~_ 1:^x1- __l,;i_ Al-_i . li «; — ^ ^z.,:;....^ ...... *t tlili?? ^rctj *ltvic nlixvc LIIUL U.'O living being but you and Job Simmons can sing. And then you can give up that habit you have of squeaking them heavy boots of yours up and down the aisles, at- tending to some business while Mr. Brown is summing up the lesson ; I never kneiv how kind of aggravating that was till the men and women, especially the women, squeaked through that Hall times when I wanted to hoar. Not but that I wouldn't most as soon hoar your boots squeak oa to hear Mr. Brown sum up the lesson. But that's neither here nor there ; it don't look like the right thing. " ' Why, Solomon,' says I, ' I could keep on all night. Thoro's hundreds and hundreds of intcrestiii;,' things in the Bible and about tho Bible that you never druamod of, and you ought to know them. History and datus and all them things. It proves that you can't bo mistaken ; it makes you feel as sure of thero being sncli a place as Betha-.iy as that there is such a place as tho Hollow and tho Four Corners. And ' Peter ' and ' John ' and all t^em as real as Job Simmons and John Stackhouse ; and heaven itself seems more real than the solid earth. There's no use in saying that such things don't save souls ; neither do sermons. But they make things look plainer and seom truer ; leastways they ought to. There ought to bo a lot of Bible studying done by anybody that undertakes to superintend a Sunday School ; and a great deal of pruning too. Nothing ever seemed more certain than that. ' Solomon,' says I, ' if you could have been at that closing meeting, and heard them pray for tho Sunday School superintendents and teachers and scholars, that they might all work just as the Lord Jesus Christ would have them work, you would have gone to Sunday School next Sundajr holding your head steadier than yo>i ever did before in your life ; because you would know that it was being held up for you with that kind of praying, and you'd have been a better superintendent than you ever were before, because, after joining in them prayers, you would know that now you had promised before the Lord to do your best, and you would have gone to work to get ready for it. I tell you it's solemn business 1 That's one of the things I learned, anyhow.' " ' The long and short of it is,' said Solomon, after thinking of it over, ' you've learned at tho Convention that a Sunday School man must study the Bible a great deal, and pray a great deal, and think about his work a great deal, and do the very topmost that ho can, every time ' " ' Yes,' says I, ' that's about it. ' " ' Well,' says he, getting up and going over for the big Bible, ' I think that is about enough to learn in a week, especially as it'll last a lifetime.' " ' I've learned another thing,' says I, ' and that is that you're to go to the next Sunday School meeting that comes along, if I have to wear my old grey dress year in and year out, and have to sell my speckled calf in the bargain. It's all very nice as far as it goes to tell you about it, but it won't do ; you ought to be there to feel it. ' What about Jessie ? ' Well, now, do you know that's the cream of the whole thing ! I can't think of her without the tears coming. That child's woke up. She heard the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to her, right there in them meetings. " Says she to me : ' Auntie, I do thank you for bringing me here ; and I'm going home to work ; I can do it.' And I knew she could. " The other night I had a letter from my sister Hannah —her mother, you know— and in it she says : ' What did you do to bewitch our Jessie ? The child has gone to work as if all the children in town were dependent on her. She has even taken a class in Sunday School ; dreadful little scamps, who never behaved in their lives till last Sunday ; but some way, nobody knpws how, she contrived to bewitch them.' " It was just before family worship that wo were reading the letter, and Solomon he wiped his glasses a good deal while I was reading of it ; Solomon sets great store by Jessie. I wish you could have heard him prav for her I My I I knew then, just as well as conld be, that them boys of here would behave the next day. I'm waiting to hear that they did. " Yes, I've joined a class at the Hollow. Never too old to learn, you know. We had a real good time yester- day ; and Solomon didn't pray but four minutes by the clock, and he nevnr squeaked them dreadful boots of his round ones ; and the singing was nice old tunes. I never did see such a master hand as Solomon is for taking a hint.' !^ 19 Mrs. So/omon Smtih Looking' on. CHAPTER v. "bomb TniNOS IS QUEER." 5§"^n"V"^^ T'* «"'"r''' M"- Smith, Tnusing writing letters, bolomon is no hand to wrifn • »,.■♦ ».„ i tliej «i-o ticli pij,>|,le, aren't llioy 1 » "° "" ■» •l>'«n"W , .pond".:: ."::!nLt?.a';'Vi''''^,r„'?? rt "^ .itl, ..Id, loving oye. on M,S IhT il.T ;, '"'["I? up aid ,„™ Iho "Uninmerie." on hlr dren ,?,„ r. a~."s,S.1"£"lMn2'"- »"" ^'-ITn^-d',^ n,r'ufe''°'f„I;',;;'! r'* "t"' .a™ i ««vor .a, lho„ i„ Jjproientjd Ui« t»o famdies at th» waddinn In vim „f «, so iar M I know, cm be found in the stores of to-day. far from re entire porfi noi^i^^ji^^-i-'^arn^^^^ of cotton nbo," TtTbut the hi'ZSf ■"'";' " *'^""*" «t least tim winter, of d ' v fZ,' Icn iT^ ""'KSuotod nglow over wliat si o f. U L. r i ^' ''^'''''* '""' '=''«'''" qmot and unobtnisive wm «).« ,,,>+ ^ . " '^^'' *" escaped her l;een grey oyls '^ '*' "'"''' """""« To begin witli of course there was n baby on the oar and of course It demanded more than its sha?e„fatten mmmmm was wiJe-mouthed and tow-headed and ha. ,^'i ^^ ^10 clung to her^shawlf and was in eCytay" diS ug her, and more objectionable looking than the babv' mo t7?hPe'tle'S°PP°'"^ "«• T'^'"^'^ ^'Lbot of tobacco jmce which the father from time to t me W-ed «^cM„-rx*urrnSSd»» ru '^;.r.s St,r.x^="ir^^^^^^^ ,^ 5.«il\*"^'T ^'^^l- S'" ^^^tion ^as, however hS motSy&SnT^^'^* ' ' '*'" ^"'« ^« -« -* "-' ^^ *■ "FZ°^ i^"l® *^"<*^ ' " murmured his new friend • " l.n- *^«<\ he looks. Cinders in his eyes and cookv' in h.^ mouth and nose; no wonder he cries Tan™ « would just wet my handkerchief fo" me I co^ld mZ ler^hiaf ' Tt' **^ ""d Wet the cap^cbus cTan his? d^ wL doiT '"t^'idnd to cleanse baby's fi^e. The deed was done, however, in process of tiJo, and baby dwells in a Then he n little tow lu crooned to time, must look of am presently m tired," had ]all the clotl were soiled and she wai lay him on quite a nap. "Poor tl ately at the lay him dow him roll o strength in children an( behind us, the other li there's a big lop down ail " Johnny volumes of "He's awfu magnetised, little hands, kerchief tha then he leai to a quaint, naughty pu myself by w and natural, let his muth( her all throu again : " On boy, who sta and took a Ic no, indeed t mother's arr little boy did and listened, into Egypt beauty, and was curled in cloak ■WTappc Evidently th^ many questic at thoughts 1 thoughto wh Who knows i and moulding Presently i paper sufficie sibility in lift The distinc call it breatlii that she was The father si affairs, and ci of our seat an " My younj "Not a mil been a joy to tire mc ; and as gold, and 1 has heard a n Johnnj' noc " He's a fir: Smith, and ai himself up t out, she adde( to have heard real wonderfu Some Things is Queer" n lo'l W(w fts qnnint na thu "imnioil it WHS of vol vot, it had h(!on Imavy ; ovon wy Wiiuk - not a throwl of tlio hoiinut snj{({o8to{l t know but tniiiiy moro from tlio olil-fnohionoci ' '»yalty to fl. nohh) soul, wt Bho wim Sho had mit but tho day boforo, o liad taken counsel of at, I fan(;y, for thoro ftbout it. Sho turned '>lo, sitting backwards, o, for protect-on from y" she whispered, as fts a footstool, nany wlio luul smiled dark-f;ioon cloak and udy to wtttoli her, so ■ut so alert; nothing M a baby on the car, an its share of atten- Ijaby, arrayed in fine 'iglit eyes ancFdimpled :linnt smiles whenever bit of enjoyment for to raptures over such )thor, and kiss it and >t this baby was not ■88 dress the marks of w not pretty, for he and liad dull, unre- and sleepy, and yet he bill of fare spread >ry-looking milk in a es cooky, seemed to ndeniably cross. He send the bottle after d mother's nose, and rder that it did not iness of her appear- or yelled outright, d arm to the other, she knew how, and p-year-old tow head every way dirtier, uig than the baby, he father absorbed, ^aura watched them ximity, annoyed by unded with puddles time to time poured • forlorn a specimen nneoted with child- nith watched them, ace. Intense sym- 80 strongly written 'rised, presently, to ard and come back was, however, held he was not used to new friend ; " how and cooky in hia 38. Laura, if you me, I could make wd rest hia poor lyshe drew off the , and prepared to '-cious clean hand- baby's face. The I tiw3, and baby. far from resenting, •oomod soothed and pleased with the entire performance. Ho actually smiled, and though liis mouth was undeniably large, that lovoly mystery which dwells in a baby's smile came instantly to glorify this one. Then he nestled in the comfortable arms, and laid his little tow hoad against the motherly bosom, and was softly crooned to sleep. The look on the mother's face, mean- time, must have paid Mrs. Smith ; I know it softened the look of annoyance in Laura's eyes. The mother came presently with grateful, homoly words ; she was " dead tired, had been travelling three days and two nights : all the clothes she had brought with her for the children wore soiled, and they were both as cross as two sticks mid she was clean discouraged. She would take baby and lay him on the eoat beside her, maybe he would take quite a nap. "Poor thing ! " Mrs. Smith said, looking compassion- ately at the mother, and cuddling the baby j she would lay hmi down herself, and sit beside him. " I won't let him roll oft," she said, with delightful assurance of strength in her voice ; " I've done the same thing for my children and grandchildren ; here's an empty seat right behind us, I'll make a nice bed for him, and I'll coax the other littlo follow to mo, and keep him comfortable • there s a big apple in my satchel he'll like ; then you just lop down and take a nap ; it will do you good." "Johnny won't come," said the mother, looking volumes of thanks that sho did not know how to express " He s awful bashful." But Johnny did come. He was magnetised. He had his face washed, too, and his dirty little hands, with another comer of the capacious hand- kerchief that Laura obediently wetted for the purpose, then he leaned against the old green cloak, and listened to a quaint, sweet story, beginnuig about a kitty and a naughty puppy, and changing, I hardlv understand myself by what transition, only I know it seemed sweet and natural, to the story of a nice Uttle unselfish boy, who let his mother take a nap, and was a help and comfort to her all ^rough a long journey. Then the story branched agam : " Once there was a Uttle boy, a beautiful baby boy, who started with his father and mother in the niglit and took a long, dangerous journey— not on the cars— oh no, indeed t but sometimes on foot, and sometimes in his mothers arms, on a donkey's back, and all the way that little boy did not once do a naughty thing." And I sat and Iwtened, and heard the old, old story of the flight into Egypt grow into marvellously vivid power and beauty, and the four-year-old Johnny, whc by this time was curled uito a comer of the seat with a bit of the green cloak wapped about him, listened as one spellbound. Jividently the old story was a new one to him. He had many questions to ask ; wise littie questions, that hinted at thoughts hid away beneath that shock of yellow hair • thoughts which might some day grow into deep ones.' Who knows to what extent our dear old lady was shaDinfir and moulding them that day ? * Presently the father roused from his tobacco and his paper sufficiently to remember that he had some respon- BibUity in life, and looked about him for his famUy. 1 he distinct, steady breathing— if I should by courtesy caU It breathing--of his tired wife, told all her neighboura that she was making the- most of her much-needed rest. ine lather seemed greatly astonished at the condition of attairs, and came presently and leaned against the back of our seat and talked with Mrs. Smith. I' My youngster there will tire you all out." Not a mite," spoken in a hearty way that might have been a joy to any father's heart. " Nice little boys don't tire mc ; and he is a nice Uttle boy ; he has been as good as gold, and let his mother and Uttle brother sleep. He lias heard a nice story, too. Haven't you, Johnny ? " Johnny nodded. "He's a first-rata listener, Johnny is," continued Mrs. Himth, and as the boy slipped away from her and gave nnT'fif T,*? o-^S^S..^* ^"^' '«'h° had her watch out, she added : " He did more than Usten. You ou"ht to have heard hi8 wise Uttle questions. I tlunk they wire real wonderful ir such a Uttle fellow." 'Johnny is a outo enough chap," said the gratified father, and the fathorly look that caiuo into his eyes began to reconcile mo somewhat to hia appearance. Up to this time I had not liked him at all. "IIo is as bright as a button," was Mrs. Smith'i emphatic statement. " Two nice boys you've got ; the baby is uncommon strong with his haii.ls and foot. In just a Uttle while you'll have them trotting about after you, copying every single thing you do. Hoys are almost certain to copy their fathers ; that's one riiuson I waa sorry tha(t mine were all girls. I wanted thorn to copy Solomon ; he's my husband j and Sohnntui hasn't a habit about him hardly, that a boy wouldn't bo tho bettor for copying. I think fathers ought to look out for that : specially if they've got bright boys." The father in question looko(l down at his boots and said nothing. I was glad ho could not see Laura's curling lip. Sho evidently was thinking of ways in which he might bo copied that would not improve his boys. Mrs. Smith was silent only a moment, then she returned to the charge. *' I was thinking of that when I sat looking at your baby s fat Uttle face and clean, sweet mouth, after ho had gone to sloop ; what a dreadful pity it would bo to have It all stained up with tobarco. They'll go to chewing boforo long, I suppose ; time flies fast, and boys begin uncommon early nowadays; but doesn't it seem most too bad to think of it ? " Ho might have boon an uninterested third person, to judge by tho innocent tonos of Mrs. Smith's voice. It was certainly a bold experiment. I watched him curiosuly to see how he would take it. His dark, reddish skin grow a shade rodder, and his eyes flashed a little ; but the wrinkled old face was so kind, and the largo old hand patted his sleeping baby so tenderly, that, apparently without knowing it, his face softened. He moved uneasily, as one unwilling to leave the subject, yet un- willing to talk about it. " I don't know as I care about my young ones taking to chewing," he said at last ; " not wliilo tlioy are boys, anyhow. I calculate to bring 'em up about right ; and smoking and chewing is no kind of business for a boy." " Well, I dunno. Don't it seem a kind of a pity that a boy couldn't be allowed to copy his father? It seems so natural hi h, they begin it before they get their first boots, and they're always at it ; trying to walk like father, and eat hke father, and talk like father ; that is, if they have good fathers. It seems almost as if it was what the Heavenly Father intended— one of the ways to teach them. Don't you think so ? " He shifted unea3ily from one foot to the other. Thia was evidently a new idea, and suggested other serioui thoughts to him. " There's no particular harm in chewing that I know df," he said at last in a dogged sort of tone. "WeU," said Mrs. Smith, tucking the plaid shawl carefully about the baby, "I always thought that de- pended on what you chewed. Tobacco, now, brings a good deal of harm along with it. Besides spoiling of the breath, and making things untidy aU around"— and whether she meant it or not, her eyes wandered to the baby's cooky still swimming in the river of tobacco— It s mjurious to health, and expensive ; I know aU about it, you see. I had a cousin, once, who smoked and chewed up a whole farm, weU stocked." " A farm ! " repeated the father, his voice expressing astonishment and increduUty; "not a very large one, I guess." " Well, as to that, it was a pretty considerable farm for them times. Forty acres or so, all in good order, and cows and horses, and farming utensils, all complete, and he just made away with the whole thins." *' Smoking and chewing ! " " Well, that was the beginning. You see his father took to smoking soon after he was married ; then he went to chewing, and the boy when he was a Uttlu feUow liked the smeU of tobacco, seemed to kind of hanker after it ; inhentad the taste from his own father, you see. H« 14 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. wasnt to blame, poor fellow; he wasn't fourteen when te could sinoko a cigar with the best of them, and it «*Uf!. 1,^"'* "''•"''"? doe. ; by-and-by tobacco didn't •ati.fy him ; nothing that he could «moko or chow was •trong enough for the craving he felt. It was bom in !^#I^; P°T^^l ^'"^ ,*'■,"''' *"""■' ""'^ "«»> brandy ; and after awhilo he couldn't soem to live at all without Having a bottle m one pocket and a chunk of tobacco in the other. Of course, ho chewed up and swallowed down the whole of that farm ; didn't leave enough of it to buy him a cofiin, or bury him ; so the town buried him. Tlio fathers money was all gone, of course ; but ho is living yet, the father is, and nianages to get enough money to keep h,n, p„fh„g „nd spitting. He's a queer father, now, ant ho, when he looked on and saw all that, and just chewed and puffed away ? He never drank a drop in^llis hfe, so far as I know; the tobacco satisfies him; but when the next generation took the disease, they took it stronger, just aa they're apt to, and tobacco didn't do. Some things is queer." Thus concluded Mrs. Smith, nibbing her chin medita- «7n^i'^l ^\ ^'8«"Snged band, while with the other sho patted the buby I studied her quiet face, and tried to aecide whether she really knew that she had been reading Uie father the sharpest kind of a lecture on parental 'en'^no'b'Iity and inherited tendencies. !»■■«>«« nr,„ Ja^I *.'"'/»t'^«^«'»;,d at last, after turning quite to ^V^flt^rt " 1'";^ "^t°bacco, '< wall," he continued, theirf'thr dwT "'" '''" * """'•« °^ «"•-• ^^-gj^ " Tliat's true," said Mrs. Smith pleasantly; "oh yes thats true If there wasn't a sign of a chance for^the SS"' '* T\^?. *^^»^ : *»"* t''^" «'« «=l''«ices axe aga nst em, dreadfully against 'em, and the curious part nght m other things, the chances against 'em ^ro a great deal worse because you see they can't help kind o' wanting to fo low father and be liki him, and th^ can^ f^r ri r™. 'V^'"^. ^'-^ "^"l'- I* «««""»» d'e»dful pity for a father to keep doing what he wouldn't have hisLy do for a ennA Anal Tl,-i.'- « . •? do for a good deal. TLt'r^'VncommoV'fintshaped Johnny 8. He is great on mimicking, isn't head of your hi^i v„f. ---■■"" J "• "D lo gictti, on mimicKing, isnt he? You ought to have heard him teU me how the engine went. He had it complete." This sudden transition from tobacco to Johnny sur- pnsed me, but the father answered w.ih a gratified nod • ne mimics everything and everybody like a monkey." Then immediately that dark-red streak rolled up into h mslTin'^fl'"- ^" p¥"J^ '"'' *^** ^' had c^aught himself in the meshes of his own admission. He went back to his sleeping wife, and if I am a judge of faces. he revolved two thoughts : J s "' ^"^-es, shonM go to mimickmg me?^' and "I don't want the ttle scamp to smoke or chew. I don't see the harm in he w'ou^^dnV- " *^"''"* ^'^ ^ ^'^ J"«* " "°«» CHAPTER VI. "I THINK OF THEfOS TO DO, AND MRS. SMITH DOES THEM." I COULDN'T do such things, mamma," Laura had said to me earnestly, as she watched Mrs. Smith cucklling the baby. "Nice sweet children I can . A ix. .Vj^dle, but these are so disagreeable-looking; and the father and mother are disagreeable. Besides what IS the use? She wUl wash their faces, but how long wiU they stay clean, and when will they be washed again, and what does it matter anyway ? " . -^^ *h/ 'lad poured these questions out on me, seemingly imtated over her own thoughts, they amused me so much thai X could only laugh iu answer, and wonder who was arguing with Laura, to convince her that she ought to be as benevolent as Mrs. Smith. But while the oonver- aation between the father and his new friend was in Fn »Sl"'i "°*'S«^ *h*' I-^"™ I>«d drawn the boy Johnny to her side ; had shown him the machinery of her watch and the oueer little picture set in the eham ; had aUoweci him to finger the chain, and then to count tho bright buttons on her cloak and finally seated him beside her and was m full tide of earnest talk, tn '1"° '"•ri"^ " ?.n,'"'«';'"'ting little fellow," she explained watchinrSler" "'«"' "^"'^ '^^ '""«"' ^ «"« -^ "- The baby took a long nap, and aw<,ke in peace, waa Srs'trh Cf* "»^, •'"•"'l- "'"1 "'-'o comfortable T; Mrs. Smi h before the mother roused from wlmt had e .dent y been her first rest since the journey began I had noticed with interest that, after the father took hi seat agnin. ho had carefully drawn his wife's head from an uncomfor able position, and rested it on his houlder after which he sat in perfect quiet, neither spitting n'; reading until the nap was concVidod. The ti ed won"u awoko with a start, as if she had stolon time from du and her cheeks grew hot over the condition of things' fnr n. '■-'T' 7 ^""""V '"»^. a "hy sort of smile quiver for an inslant on her face, as she observed where her head wn^ resting. If I am not mistaken, such ca7o fo her comfort was new, and was born of the example sot by our old lady. She came with haste and thanks over to her smiling baby. r.lA^" " ""* ^°?/ " 8*?^^'" ""'^ *^"- ^n^'tl'. and sho made room for the mother to sit beside her, asking a question that detained her. ' """"» ^ There w-as some earnest talking after that; babv accepted of his cleansed and newly filled bottle with a smile of satisfaction, and absorbed himself with its con- tents while the two women talked. Of course I did not hear the words, but the change on the younger woman's face was so rapid and so marked that there was a sort of fascination ui watching it. She ceased speaking presently, dropping into the r^te of a listener, and occasionally h" ted an ungloved hand, seamed with many days of hard work Sooner than they had expected, the station at which they were to stop was called out, and it took us all, workins rapidly, to robe the baby and Johnny, and see Ztno bundles or baskets were left behind.' There was litSo time for farewells, though both mother and father managed to grasp Mrs. Smith's hand, and I am sure I heard the mother murmur low : "God bless you ; I'll not forget." As for Laura she kissed Johnny heartily, and bought an apple and a bag of nuts for his comfort. "Poor thing!" said Mrs. Smith, as the cars having filled up, Laura estabhshed her once more in the seat beside me. " Poor mother 1 there she is, trying to bring ud them two babies without any of His help." ^ ^ The pronoun was so reverently spoken that I acknow- ledge my stupidity and absent-mindedness in askine • Who ? her husband ? " * ' "No," spoken meditatively ; " I didn't mean her bus- 1 band ; though the Lord does use that name to make us feel how tender He is of us. I dunno as I ever thought of It that way before; queer I didn't, too, when I have Solomon 'Thy Maker is thy husband ; ''them are His very words ; and then, when He is calling on His people to turn away from their foUies and do right, He says For I am mamed unto you.' Shouldn't you think that the young men and women would take right good care how they made the wedding promises, when they saw from that how much they ought to mean ? ' Thy Maker is thv husband ! ' am t that wonderful, now 1 I suppose Solomon has thought about that verse a good deaf, but it never came to me ]ust like this before. No, child, I waa thinking of her trying to get along without the Lord's help. Think of trying to bring up children in this wicked world with- out askmg the Lord about it all ! Boys at that 1 Satan seems to havn a anooinl sT>''^<> n~«;„.4. i . -ri .. wondered whether it wasn't because they were apt to bo out and out something. Girls, now, can slip along some- how, and be SIX of one and half a dozen of the other, and not much of anything ; but boys are either downright ; good or doi go to shaki care which just about sickens foil water won' things that " And an " Oh, not more apt t which v> ,- be sur ' r mischitt' ; ; you know j and you cai way one yoi to have hit him he ain' and gone I how, that fi baby's hear asking tho I to keep him running to '. He is willin band could I had thouj it right out done a sighi I winced i mind ran so complete to " Still," I had ; the wi refined idef figure wouk Mrs. Sniii " Yes, she trials, she t< — to show n was as good for the fami trouble is si Lord all the city, toe , I Him for tak safe for her beside theii was leaning a-whisperinj I'll carry th( the dark pla If the sun si any such th enough; bul shine, it bea At this p modem tra\ and book b( packages of "I thoug plained Laui the cars alwi " There's the bright-fa in every sin; Whereat I " A prize unless they is!" "A great hey?" "Ay, thftt them a cham "So they "I've heard meddling wi they'd mind " / think of Things to do, and Mrs. Smith does t/um: 15 drawn the boy Johnny lachinery of her watch, kho charm ; had allowed n to count tho bright •eated him bo»ido her 3 follow," she explained augh, as she saw mo 1 awoke in peace, waa iimdo comfortftblo by oiistd from whivt had the journey bognn. I er the father took his I his wife's head from tod it on his Hhoulder ; t, neither spitting nor od. The tiled woman tolon time from dutj', 3 condition of things, y sort of smile quiver ) observed where her istakon, such care for ■n of the example sot lasto and thanks over Mrs. Smith, and she beside her, asking a ig after that; baby y filled bottle with a himself with its con- Of course I did not the younger woman's at there was a sort of )d speaking presently, pnd occivsionally lifted y days of hard work, ere was a commotion, station at which they took us all, working my, and see that no id. There was little rand father managed im sure I heard tho ou ; I'll not forget." rtily, and bought an rt. as the cars having !e more in the seal ig to bring up them )ken that I acknow- 3nes3 in asking : idn't mean her hns- t name to make us tie as I ever thought t, too, when I have ■nd ; ' them are His lUing on His people do right, He says, Idn't you think that ike right good care when they saw from 'Thy Maker is thy I suppose Solomon i deal, but it never 3hild, I was thinking Lord's help. Think wicked world with- >ys at that 1 Satan " f-'ja ; i vu orcon Jiey were apt to bo m slip along some- sn of the other, and e either downright good or downright bad. That's true, Laura, you needn't go to shakinij your pretty head at it ; Satan don't much I care which side you are on, so long as he can keep you just about milk-warm. That's the kind that sort o' sickens folks ; bilin' hot water won't do it, and ice-cold water won't do it ; I tell you it's the halfway between things that do the mischief. " And are girls always halfway between, auntie ? " " Oh, not all of them, bloss the Lord ! But then they're more apt than boys not to know what they think, nor which v< , they may happen to turn ; so you can never be sur ; them. That's the reason they do go much mischi«* , ; dowTiright wicked man you can look out for ; you know just about whore he will stand on all questions, and you can plan accordingly ; but a slippery sort of half- way one you may coax into a corner where you would like to have him stay awhilo ; and when you go to look for him he ain't there ; ho has slipped out at some knot-hole and gone ! They wore uncommon interesting folks some- how, that family, weren't they ? When I felt that little baby's heart beating away, close to mine, I couldn't help asking the Lord to keep him safe ; there's such a lot of evU to keep him from ! How that mother can stand it without running to Him every few minutes I don't see. And there He is willing to bo as interested in it all as even her hus- band could be 1 ' Tliy Maker is thy husband.' I wish I had thought of tiiat verse to tell her ; if you had said it right out when you wore thinking of it, you might have done a sight of good." I winced under this unintentional rebuke. Mrs. Smith's mind ran so much on Bible words that the connection was complete to her, but I had not thought of the verse. " Still," I said, "it might not have done any good if I had ; the woman did not impress me as one who had very refined ideas of the marriage relation. I doubt if the figure would have helped her." Mrs. Smith shook her head emphatically. " Yes, she had ; real true ideas ; when she talked of her trials, she took great pains — went out of her way, in fact — to show me that her husband wasn't no ways to blame ; was as good a man as ever lived, and provided all he could for the family. She's true enough to them promises ; the trouble is she hasn't thought much of anything about the Lord all these years. Sent two babies to live in the other city, toe , I asked her if she didn't feel grateful like to Him for taking care of them for her and keeping of 'em safe for her. I told her I didn't see how she ever stood beside their graves and had 'em covered up, unless she was leaning on Him all the while, and hearing His voice a-whispering, ' I've got them in My arms this minute, and I'll carry them in My bosom.' How do folks get throiigh the dark places without the Lord ? I don't understand it. If the sun shone, year in and year out, and there wasn't any such thing as trouble, seems to me it would be hard enough ; but when the clouds are thicker than the sun- shine, it beats me.'' At tliis point there came one of those nuisances of modern travel, a peanut and candy and apple and orange and book boy, making his way through the car, pitching packages of prize candy right and left. " I thought there was a law against gambling," com- plained Laura, in a somewhat fretful tone ; newsagents on the cars always troubled her, " There's no gambling about these, ma'am," explained the bright-faced young man respectfully; " there's a prize in every single package." Whereat Laura laughed ; but Mrs. Smith said : " A prize in every one, eh? Nobody need go without unless they choose. Why, what a good illustration that is!" "A great many folks choose to go without, don't hey?" Ay, that they do ; and com^^Iain of *"qu for offerin'" them a chance," he said significantly. ''So they do about the other prize," she said gravely. "I've heard 'em, many a time. They think folks are meddhng with what don't concern them, and they wish they'd mind their own business ; and all in life you are after is to got them to take a prize that's ready and waiting for tnem." The flush on tho young man's face led me to think that he understood the illustration ; but he moved on without making any answer, and Mrs. Smith fingered the paper of candy curiously, road the statotnents concerning it carefully, then got out hor old fashioned leather purse that had belonged to Solomon since he was a young man, and counted out ten cents ready for the agent'* return. " I've decided to buy a prize," she said, looking up at him with a smiling face; "though my prize that I'm talking about is without money and without price. Not that it didn't cost enough, but a rich friend paid for it." It is impossible to give you an idea t)f tho swoot earnest- ness on her face as she said those words. The young man seemed by no means displeased, yet ho had no answer other than to say : " You'll find the candy fresh and good. I deal in honest articles." Then Mrs. Smith fumbled for her key, and unlocked with some trouble the old-fashioned satchel at hor feet, and got out and studied over carefully certain littlo paper-covered books, scloCting one presently whoso title was " The Great Prize," and underneath was printed in black letters, with a hand pointing to it, " So Run that yo may Obtain." In the course of the next hour tho busy young agent whisked through the car again, and was stopped by a winning beckon from Mrs. Smith's hand. " I tried your prize," she said briskly, " and it's real good, too ; nice, fresh candy, the kind I like. Now I want jjou to look into the prize I was tolling you about ; if you'll read this little book, it will give you tho whole story. Will you do it ? " "Turn about is fair play," he said, laughing, albeit the colour deepened in his cheeks; "how much is to pay?" "Not a cent. Didn't I tell you the prize was free! You will be sure to read it? Remember, you promised an old woman." "I'll read it," he said, and went his way. "I hope I'll meet that young man in the Father's house," was Mrs. Smith's simple comment. "I wish I had asked him his name; but then, I'll remember tho face." In due course of time we spread out our lunch and dined. Mary had pleased herself in preparing a sump- tuous one, which Laura arranged on the seat in as dainty a fashion as hor limits would allow, bewailing meantime the fact that there was no palace car with its portable tables on this train. Mrs. Smith had also a capacious basket, from which she produced generous slices of bread- and-butter sandwiched with baked beans. I think wo never told Mary how delicious those sandwiches were, nor how we neglected the cream biscuit and cold chicken to enjoy them. A ruddy-faced German family, seated a few seats forward of us, had claimed our attention more than once. They were neat, and clean, and quiet- looking. Two of the children had petitioned with hungry eyes for fruits and candies from the passing baskets ; their appeals, however, being always denied by wise shakes of the head from father or mother. " I believe those children are hungry," Laura said, as we were spreading our meal "See how wntfully they watch us.' Mrs. Smith said nothing. I had not thought that she heard ; but she suddenly laid down her own sandwich, dived into the bottom of her basket ror three others, large, thick, substantial, and went toward the German group. Eager words followed in a jargon that the old lady did not in the least understand, noddings of heads, smiles, .lorman thanks, and sue eanic back fichcr with the grati' tude of warm hearts. While she was absent Laura made this brief comment : "I think of things to do, and Mrs. Smith does them. I was just wishing I had the courage to give those people some of our lunch." 16 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. in';2rSS 1 -' ^^ *'^ ■"* »"" '°'' -y 'P«<=^ ^-e -tJ,m!^l!t 'l°l?."ff ''•• S»PP°"« t''«'y ^^ been in.li.^nant " WonUln-r ♦. »!,""« *^"'' '='}''"'y-'»nd refused it ? " \> nildn t that have boon dreadful ! " I Hnid " I don t tlnnk yon could havoaurvivod .uch an aftliction " Luura laughed. The child ia a little inclined to moral cowaidico m those minor directions Innlf,'" ^"'i"' n"""""'* ''*,"''' P^Mently with some bright- lookmg cards, illununated texts in the German language. back o o^,r'hn'° """^ ''"'? •^''^''"' "^« *n that lane raUv It ^r^'u ahe explained to me half-apologeti- ca lly as I watched her selecting them with care ; ''I keen BochLlol"'" "u ^T\^ '^^« "'•'l''^''" ^^^ them, anS BoeinK thoy are the Lord's own words, there's no reason l^aura, said I, as she trotted away with them, " Mrs Smith gives more than lunches. They are oZ to w^- raro the way for that which .he believe, the Zord wm .•„ ',' y*"!''";," ^"""i* *''''^' looking at me with laughinjr eve. jmt 1 nngl t ..•tve helped to prepare the way. I wonde^ airection / Then, after a moment of sUence : " Mamma there 13 another thing that keeps me back quite as S ^nnl 1 .'.'8'", ° , •^"'"K 'nisunderstood and harshly repulsed ; 1 m afra.d of ridicule. See how that eleglntlv dressod lady sitting just behind those ( .ormaM, ^IS nig hor, and whispering to the gentleman ^' her 2de They are enjoying themselves at her expense When act Jd°an }°"" '■V'tX ^^""^ ^"' *«" ^^^ "^e looked inS acted, and repeat all the queer things she said, and make their aud.onco shout with laughterf Now, I-^n rfraTdof nanttihinS7\"? f} ^^^'^ '* maktrmTSig! nant to think that she is the subject of their fun " «' R,.m"" 1 "■'" °" y"^!."* invagination for facts," I said, ridtdi'gtr.^"" "■'' '^"^^ means certain that they are But Laura gave her head a positive shake. wcroV^ivin.^'" 'Th' '7\°i!* "' ^^""^^^ ^ '^•"^'d ^hat they were s,ij ing They look like people of that class." ^ £d',tS. » \Z. ""' "'"^ '" "^ ^^ ShJ ''While I was np there," she began, addressing herself to Laura '' I heard that lady in a silk cloak say she was ao thirsty that t made her head ache ; and that/he wouW give any hing for a bunch of grapes he tried to g^t her Bomo, but grapes ain't plenty tliis time of year, you know th^^r '?l'"\^''"f' that if you would take her ^few of that groat big bunch you've got left, it might do a sLht of good. Poor thing ! she looks tired out.'^ ^ loor Laura flushed to the temples. Her moral wn,',{r"'''"i* '^ •.'*'" ^'^^ '"'''^ '" » distressed tone: "they would consider it an impertinence. She might have the grapes and welcome, if she would come after them • but 1 can t get up courage to offer them." ' " MlvS^'tnn^r'if ® Y'" "'"""'" '"^'^ M^«- Smith drj-ly. then and^ni Z'^^F* ■"? "2^8^ to give 'em to me, tSt.-' ^" "^ the risk of her thinking me imper! J^\\\T%. ^^u""? '^''? ^'■''h at once with her grapes, and Mrs. Smith h-UTied away, not without stopping however, to hunt over her package of little books.'^^ ^' 1 like to slip ui one of His messages for the thirstv CHAPTER VH. *• **'WII0M HAVE WE HERE?"* "S.Tri?""'? to receive her advance, in a good .pint I said, as Luura and I watched to ,oo what the elegant y.lressed lady would sa^ toow.l.bredt?CLa„^ "wol bred'-' Tr"' ^r"^^^' ^''" P^"V«d to be less Pr„.„\,;i i, L "" ""®" '"0 ocnetit. M rare glaw— a clioico aouven r of the pust century i sSh&sSir •"' ""^ '»«'•■«'- for " No, indeed 1 thank you ' " « T?.«^!iL^*'.f *'"»,T ^^.''y "ho .hot these words : ine Idea ! the perfect idea > " jeemed to fand peaceful words in its pages. Lau^a stlid^ed '' AnS^^ Presently she leanedVrward f^a tS. and ^T^ea'tTote^I^S^"^^" ^°" ^^ ^^^ P-P'«. "Feel as though the poor things had had verv bad ^f ?^i°^.",?' "'"^''V ^ith a twinkle in her eyls^d a httle twitching at the comers of her mouth ^ * • i. 'J'. °t *'°""« ; hut don't you feel the leant hit o t\7nft ^''^''^'^ ', "^ "'°"gh it was no use Tii^g to be kind to some people, and you wouldn't any more?" «niT.i!'°* P'T'"'' ^^"^ the sudden gravity "h^olr- spread the worn face, and the dimness, like that of X coming into her eyes. For a moment she was silent* then she said with quiet voice : ' tinent to°Hir^T\V^^ i^^verent, Laura, nor imper- But I can^^' 1 l'""^ ^l miderstands aU about it. Vhl ^•^'"'.t.help when such things happen, now and then, like being a trifle glad in mv heart— nnt f^w^ • Bm, you know,%ut because I re^Uber iust W Z people treated Him and how He said 'the erta^t Ts n^ above his lord,' and it makes mo feel kind of Xe that Im His servant. Do you understand, dear J " *^''* "No." «ftul T.oiiro V,l,,r,tl.. «T 3 ..' '^"rr ' thing aboutTt.nf¥n;w f'siiou d f""el' bke tS T; poking in the fi;st:pTi„cipTsoTVn"rn%SrL^n'd Im not sure but it would do her good!^ WhethVu would < (ubmit "An •a a she His mo It wa itwu I the trer which longed, Laura '. curiou. noyanc* tiun vi face. I oft it durii how mu Laura v mired, seemed Jesus rniild si been on Yet she of His i not knc that sli been t] minglinj with 1 peopie. that shi borne th was hea] nor endi licityof < even Hii "He is J self." I knew face so could thoughts It wa. while sh old frie; believed taken. ] hoar he "It Willi ma may Smith n the worli as long a do with ( the maji world is must kee; ourselves ridiculed There rustle do been the She was < betokenec by no me car; yet repiesenti have furn "I beg II wanted _ where yot ~ it express for a frien The des "Youl "Indee " ' Whom have we licre ? ' VE HEIIE?"' I her advancoi in a good lura ami I watched to «eo iressod liidy would nay aura answered, "they are uiirtooiis to her face." who proved to be leas ■ed tho car at one of the Jii, in brief, might have 1 ; at least, that was tho on one's mind. No, I :ed, conversing witli her let a tone tliat we on tho I the benefit. il tho fact that she had ip, and was " wretchedly die of tliirst " thr,n drink to a cliain." Face and St. Mrs. Smith l-jokod ly at Laura's silver cup jaura, her cheeks aglow, 3t— the grumblings con- :ed into lier satchel once B old-fashioned tumbler of tho past century. I d as part of the young d, carefully wrapped up d off the possible dust benevolent face to her ry, and we heard her lass to drink from? 1 ) welcome to it." lot photograph the ex- In its extreme hateful- arning to that class of II minute she continued J the haughtiness of an shot these words : when I ventured pre- nith, her eyes were as its placid smile. She her little books, and 1 pages. Laura studied d forward for a talk, you meet such people, ?s had had very bad lo in her eyes and a • mouth. IQM feel the least bit it was no use trying wouldn't any more ? " Bn gravity that oyer- 38S, like that of teifrs, nent she was silent, , Laura, nor imper- rstands all about it. g9 happen, now and ■ heart— not for their ember just how the d ' the servant is not ;el kind of sure that nd, dear?" ju't understand any- ael like telling that hown herself to be imon politeness, and good. Whether it 17 would or not, I couldn't help it. I could never tamelv lubmit to such inBultin« ways." "And yet, lie was led oa a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." It was a sermon ; that one text and the manner in which It was repeated. It seemed to flash before us a sense of tho tremendous difftrunco between the poor little trials which we are fond of calling "crosses," and the pro- longed, far-reaching, thorny cross which IIo bore for us. Laura had no answer to make. Kho sat back with a curious mixture of an- noyance and adiuiin- tion visible on her face. I often thought of It during those days, how much iiy daughter Laura w< liu have ad- mired, yea, and it seemed to nio, loved Jesus of Nazareth, rniild she and lie have been on earth togotlier. Yet she was not one of His disciples. I di, not know ; it may bo that she would have been tried by Ills mingling too much with the common peopJe. I am not sure that she could have borne tho ridicule that was heaped u])oii Him, iior endured tho pub- licity of the scene when even His friends said, " He is beside Him- self." I knewmydaughtor's face so well that I could study her thoughts as I looked. It was evident that while she admired licr old friend, she still believed her to bo mis- taken. I could almost hear her thoughts : "It will not do. Mam- ma may talk, and Mrs. Smith may act, but the world will sneer ; as long as we have to do with the stuff that the majority of the world is made of, we must keep ourselves to ourselves, or else bo ridiculed or insulted." There was a little rustle down the centre, and the elegant lady who had been the recipient of the grapes paused at our seat. bJie was elegant in the extreme. Everything about her betokened wealth and refinement. A quiet dress enough, by no means so noticeable as our neighbour's across the car ; yet the long silk circle, with its rich fur-linings, represented in itself more money than possibly woiild have furnished the other's entire wardrobe. I beg pardon," she said in a clear musical voice, " but I wanted to speak with you. Will you tell me, please, where you found that delightful little hook you cav« m- ? it expresses exactly what 1 have wished put into'language lor a friend of mine, and have not been able to find. '' Ihe desired mformation was given with a beaming face. « 7°," ^',''S \*' *^®" ' " ^^"^ Mrs. Smith in great delight. Indeed I do 1 How beautiful it is 1 And bo simply 'AHD THIS to— LADllA, I DKCLAUK I' " {p. 18) and niauily told I Notliing could more clearly Kxplain our Heavenly Father's loving dealing with ns. I thank you for bringing tho book to me. It waa a very sweet thought." ' " Vou are one of His datightem, then ? " I think I havn mentioned before what a peculiar way Mrs. 8nuth had of speaking those personal pronouns. A sort of lingering tenderness, mingled with something very hko awe— an indescribable way, indeed, but it loft its un|)ress. "I have that groat honour," tho lady said, with a happy look shining over her face j "and I am very glad to meet you, one of His saints, so much farther along on your piliiriinngo than I. You will reach homo sooner, [lerhaps ; if you do, give the Klder Urother my greeting, and toll Hint I am following on." "Tho Lord hloss and kfup jyou," was Mrs. Smith s tenderly spoken answer. Then tho two clasped hands, as though thoy wore relatives, and, in- deed, now that 1 think of it, they \{h finiith's calm old to her (./■l!i. Iv Thoro wii f''" "^ of cars. 11, , , •< dofi» «ct were tfni' i(>;vi|v»b, diflbrcn.t fi^ow lu.ii u ,,«.-■—"'" """"'I'll in jnri. -« ; .he !«d .imply done what .oomod "x' > I [■r(i|«i!p. '•''•' c(mfii«i..n sUondant upon our '(1/ acted jiiiw as •▼erybwly ■^ ioh ocMtons ; as if bfeatJUoM haste ^ti^,.. ,r.n.^:t^,.., ;oi'^f h:s/:r t^- Br»* ?.x%ch one suoms to have an ah(ii,r( i.i,/.»^k-.- ! oL^^fr^ i^h r- "'i""* ' " "oniowhat wildly irroToriir " ^*^"''^'-^- «-- ^irr^'nlr..; ^°i?rufttn^t^'r^>R'«'^^^ prom^rf :r ^^^iri",,;^ one starts then yours will run in on that track tho firs? tram in, after this ono is out of tho waVon thi t,^^l nearest you.^ I'll .co that yon pet on alT rLi " ""^ Another tribute to the kind old face. Burly fellow he'flked riior" "xT *""'. " ««""^' P-'-tivTtone"! in ^ fiT li? ' £ ^'",'°y ^« 'nay '"»^o thouKht of his old mother Mrs. Smith, alert though she wL to Jvo attention to his directions, seemed alst to be^hinklna of n th rtlat I""?^7*"'^*'"'*«r^'*• f'^'-a-a; look m tnein, that I had often observed when she bncamo ;:S!ii \i """ "'"'' ■'^'' ^--"^ «•- «arr ^ " Hero you arc day after day always a-pointin-^ out the way for people! It must be kind ot' nice to bo^everlust! The poUceman hiughed ; this evidently struck him as a ow Idea He had not the appearance of Tperson who ever wasted any sentiment on his work. But Cs SnTith had not yet finished ; before he could make answer; if surh had been his intention, she said ■ ' and see fo ks started on the right train to cot there Have you learned that road yet / " ^ the^n'sSJirhefd :"'''"''"''■'"* ''^ blank astonishment, Th^nl'j'''^ **"** '■°?"* "'"'' °" "^y beat, ma'am." wh^t nS I """'"t "P"''^" respectfully, and with a tinge of what might have been regret in his voice. liook to It," she said with energy. " Look to it riirhf away Death s on your beat, you may be sure of t£ and It ain't safe to wait till he comes after you bS Sttlfltr--'^'^^^- I-n'^erifyouwoTdn'tS whYreTTrfi°^"""""'"f •i?'^^ P''"'^"'=«'^ f'"'" ''^•"e- wncro, as If It had been careful y thoucht of and U\A i^iTenfMt^hXaJ' ±^^~ ^^^^X": P^kago on hand, ready to use'as onnortiS am^d'n"e ' '^^ ""*" '""^ "PI'ropriateness 6f thetitfe t Jh Jr+K^'f^vf" ^y'- ■^*''*®'' ^^y ^as settling into early twilight that the tra.. -oiled in at the city dep6t, which • ; V '^"»" "' naving roac hod its turminnii ». of tho passengers, at least, must have known w^'th?. Irviiiir WM til 111, ,,f „, .f ;»,,. I ?I """7" .""w tnocase. us at tho dop.:it, and looking oa«.,rlv Woaiiso w„_ fi^leaT. SmC tl^^ tl^t^ period of fo flvn vn.... « 1 "lucn, at a certain «< VvL*i,». I ."«,"'' • •"• "nolo used to say of him Whether Irving has a roof to cover him nr ,, t ' money to pay his Ix.ard hill L Jii i ^ ""'• °^ any latest fashroniboot, ad thVV" 'r.?!""" *? '"'^•' "'« Ho looked very handsome to me uh T oauL-!>t .!„!,♦ » h.ni, moving patiently up und down tho cowde/Sw '"Ha^l3h?r*7V«° ^a-«. in -artrof oSa Ji^ / toward is""""rthS'rwrt"r''f"* ^ -""one" tm l^id you happen^^I'ajaTtr^s ^tt'Tff-a'distS.T lVete.'ri'"tfii:rV''' '%' /^y ''-"0 last after nUtS«iti-r?' '/"f are ' " ^hU Lanra. X.h^vH r„ntr' inSS''' ^''^''^' ^'"^"« ^ How fast Irving could talk I Thoro was aV 1 1 oi * r4^5t,"'J:rsr°s^i£'rir» his cousin ; while ho liurriHfl nff f i,„ j ^ • ", admired Mrs. Smith had been^verlooked In SiiTi. . "u '"."'"?"' against her, just as I wL saying i ^" ^"' ^'"'° ^^ J"«"«'l party '""^' ""^ ''''^' ^^^ ^**'' °°' ^^Icomed one of our Especially by one so old as Mrs. Smith ^ ' Irving! said Laura, cheeks and eves aflftm« "i. CHAPTER Vin. 'I'm OLAD thai m-Ui)AOT, ain't AlONO.'" |A!" he said wvy vhti ig quickly, and be- stowing a .carcli>nff, peculU gE ^ Mw Solomon Smith, rfe W not Lown her fe^ forgotten hreii;sr°v:rhri^^^^^^^^^^ possession in the least. " Mrs. SnSth, how do vSi d„ '' he said, lifting his hat with grace "If I St L remember you, I beg pardon for my delinquency fi^i" romomber ( [oil kiiotr 111 M guilty ol '(ill, Jaku, ii mted drivoi niching his do anythiiii. Wlieroupoi D come liorsi Ho dooRi n Laura's an (it ! How s •aw him Im If doesn't avcn't seen 1 f pink ginghi " Eliiabi'th lont : ovidi'ii "Yes, Eliz lostly, I giio id Christiai Lidal" It is imposi which the |lcgant young Irs. Solomon " I bog par lim. "I hai fas tlioroforo 10 (loulil. A mndles and b lull. Si ill. tl hi'i'o was a 'Hire, Jake, »<'5,', auntie, [allantly offerc ••I will take lot having foi iteps are icy ; Ho did it, pi lis face deejiur The Smith larriago stoppi ■idoly open, rt ■ith every jot glow of welcr ng, and a trifl aultloss home [reeting was wi ame a«tonishrr kirs. Solomon I o her relatives "Why, Joni ast, a touch of rears isn't such ill trace of wha enow you in Jc " Is it poasib] md somewhat ] ^nd there was a irrassment. "That's exac 10 he sent mo. ou outgrew yi Wll never out ■ere about the ilue as a piece < !«i though th They were pr lelicato bit of j leartv, old-fash lassable grace, iiapery to do w Altogether, it •arties. The Si ice with what | iverwhelm Laui ihe momentary Joined tho hurrying, imt (U( nuich liMtu tlioy » thiiiulur on tho noxt lU turniiniw, m ini>*t .0 known woa thocaao. -, and looking oagurly d almost niiiiud Iiim >wmuch, at a certain How tho boy hod I'oy at all ; it Boomod im. A boardod man, th on iiir of niaulinoM tho latent jiattorn and 1 natural ; Irving had 1180(1 to aay of him, r him or not, or any I ho auro to have the it-fitting glovos." I od to givo my heart, cnticwni ; and Irving •onk from rcuogniaing "'I'm glad that Solomon ain'i along/*'* 19 romonibor thoio cyoa ; yon look moro natiiml now. Do [oil know h..w th..y uaed to llaali at mo. a.intio. whon I 'M gull y of any apocial wicku.ln.ma, in hor tHtiniation? Vol), Jako, II your carriage ready / " Tl.iii huit to a grey- r)ntud driver who apm.arod boforo uii at that nioimiit inching hia cap. " then we will go. Mri. Smith, can do anything for you Ixjfore we depart I " Whoroupon the good lady Meined to coniidor it time come horsflf to the roacue. •' Ho dooant ruiiuunbor mo, Laura," addroaaing hcraelf Loura a an«ry «yna rathor than to Irving. "Of coiirat. lot ! How ahoul.l ho J Ho woa juat a alip of a boy whon •awhim laat. Why, bloaa your heart ! Fliz,»l„,th hur- ilf doean t know mo, though I am hoi Id aunt. I avon t aeon h.T amco aho wore long-alooved n)n8 niado if pink gingham. ' a* T caught sight of ■n tho crowded plat- oarch of oiio famUiar. d, as I motioned him diaappointod. How t ? What o distraot- 18 ! They have too , I declare ! " Thia )uld not have known u. You are wondor- Mary, ond yet iii* lea ? I believe it la incle to desert me ui 8, please, luutie or ■owasa;; , 1 uualof with a certain man- idontly ho admired ) and kindred eager n the trim, graceful 1 expression which I. Laura suited his 1 so voluble, and in and so determined up to this moment his hosto he jostled iloomed one of our little interjection ; we liore 'i Your thor he had heard forgotten her; he yet evidently he , for two American astes, to be accom- ief a trip as ours 1 i eyes aflame, "is ir old neighbour quickly, and be- tr glance on Mrs. )t known her verv •haps, that he had not lose his self- how do you do ? " "If I ought to nquency. Laura, Elizabrtli ! rope xtcd Irving, still in utmoat bewUdor- "i?t" "*'"';:"* y *'"' '"»« *»« unfamiliar t<. i.im. yea, Llizabeth Smith, my nieco ; Lida, they call her ' ,YA • ''!"-'" ' *"","8'» '^ •oein* a pily, when she Im. ,. ^d Chriatiaii name. Lida I " It ia imposaiblo to convoy to you an idea of tho tones which these bruif words wore exploded from our ih;gant voung mau'a lips. But ho understood at laat wuo ra. Solomon 8iiiit.li was. " ^ H";^r Piirdon," ho said in tho easy tone common to lira. 1 had not heard of your expected arrival, and ■OS thoroforo in a fog. Your relatives will bo delighted, 10 ( ..ul.l . Allow nie." And ho helped himself to her un.llus and bnxus with the spot-d and grace of a gentle- im. Bill! tho colour on his face wan heightened, and II 10 was a slight cloud over the former aunnineaa. I >l.re, Jake, he said to that official, "take those auntio, wo are ready at last, I believe," and he ;allantly oflerod mo his arm ; but Laura interposed • • i will take care of mamma," she said, coldly, evidently lot having forgotten his greeting to her friend; "the iteps are icy ; ploaso givo your arm to Mrs. Smith." He did It, promptly and courteously ; but the frown on lis lace deepened. The Smith mansion was a blaze of light. As our :amage stopped before the steps, the door was thrown ndoly open, revealing a large and richly furnished hall. 'it^i every jot in the handsome chandelier sending forth glow of welcome. A lady and igentleman stood in wait- ng and a triHo in the background was a pretty girl in auitless home attire. This ./as evidently Lida. Our greeting was warm, even profuse in its cordiality ; yot the ame astonishment that Irving had shown at the cars met fMra. Solomon Smith. Wo actuaUy had to introduce her ner relatives. " Why, Jonas, you certainly know me," she said at ast, a touch of asperity in her voice ; "fifteen or twenty rears isn t such an awful while, to people of our age, that \d trace of what there was of us has disappeared, 1 should mow you in Jopna." " Is it possible"that it is Solomon's wife ? " the dignified md somewhat portly Mr. Smith managed at last to say ; Srassme^t^' astonishment a touch of em- t„'j!^^**i" exactly who I am. Solomon couldn't come, 10 he sent me. And this is Elizabeth, is it ? Dear child • rou outgrew your pink gingham aprons long ago, but ^ou 11 never outgrow your eyes. I remember them ; they vere about the prettiest baby eyes I ever looked at ; u It. "fi.* P't''?i°^ *''® '^y* *"«* *•>« ""tsides of them look- ■n^ns though they were made of the finest kind of china." helirZ kT /""^"^ Tl* y^*' '^^ *^«y sparUed over thU !i^ \a f J?™'^®,' ^'"'"^ """"^ owner submitting to the Z^L '"'".t""'^,-'"''? "'1''°^ ^^"^ "'^n* K»^« lie' with passable grace, though she had much smoothing cr.:i of =U»pery to do when the old arms were withdrawn! ,^i^Fi^u' c '^^^. * «°™ewhat embarrassing time to aU larties. The Smiths covered their surprise and annoy- ice with what grace they coukl, and seemed anxious to 'verwhelra Laura and me with attentions, to atone for [he momentary bewdderment. It transpired that it was genuine bewi dermont The country brother, Rolomon ami Solomon a wife, had been duly invited to tho apl proaching wedding, "Jonas" having inai.led on ao muilh ruaiwct being paid, either out of regard for tho brother, or m memory of tho note on whirh "intereat had not been paid f,.r fWo years." Hut it had not seemed to occur to any member of the family that tho country relatives could by any poaaibility accept tho invitation. Mrs Mmitha carefully written letter, appriain-^ them of her coming, waa brought in with tho ovonin- mail, about two lioiira after our arrival. Our note to Irving had been more prompt-not having travelled Hrat in the wronir direction, ■ Afra Hmith'a evidently hod-but we had negleotoc iiil.r rlly enough, to mention our tmvellina C(mipanr ... , to make the bewilderment more romnlet '. none of the pa .y knew, until wo told th«r„, that wo cam. from the Biimo vdhgo. As for Irving, «o»p,te Laura's indignation he was not to blame. The Sii .ths had not moved to the httlo i.laco near us uitil more than a year after ho waa gone ; and if ho ov. knew that the old lady from the farm, where wo got butter and eggs, was namea Smith, all knowledge of it, and of her, had certainly denarted from liim. ' We were shown to our room, Laura's and mine, a front ono on the second floor, arrantjed with every detail of modern elegance that could l)o imftgined— warmed y funiace, lighted by gas, Hrussols corpet oa tho floor, rich and ex|)onsivo < urtains ot tho windows ; mirrors, long, and wide, and clear, reflect- ig our tigures whichever way wo turned; delicately embroidered, lace (inishod pillow shams on the exquisitely made btd, and every bright and tasteful toilet appliance that we could, by any strwtoh of luxurious tastes, contrive to want ; in short, tho gucrf chamber par excellence of tho house. Of course we were to receive special honour at their hands, for were we not the aunt and cousin of the prospective bridegroo'n ? Wo recognised the naturalness of all this, yot 1 thii . Laura ""r,. J. *"^ ■'*'"® "nspoken anxiety as to how t fared with the dear, tired old lady who had borne so cheerily the fatigues of the all-t; ly journey. "I wish I knew whi. i wivs her room, mamma ; I would like to go and strai^hte; her cap for her, and brush her dress, and coax her to K .ve her knitting upstairs for this one evening. I am afri, 1 that the pretty bride that is to bo, would faint if sh, should appear in the parlour witli one of those grey soi ^ she is always knitting. Oh mamma, I hope they are n. ^ all shams, Irving and all 1 " ' J he seven o'clock dinnei vas got throm-h with at last though it was an ordeal moi or less trying to every ono of us. Mrs. Smith in her rou id- waisted and short-wadsted dress, and her very old-fashi. -lod cap, looked unUke any- thing that tho city ladies had probably ever seen at their own tablo before. Moreover, she ate with her knife and did not use her napkin, an« in «1I the forty year. itnJ' M ''"'i:",'^ t°g«'l>er, I'm glad that Solomon ain', fi U^^ ^°7 ''">*' 1"'* "^ *'"" •■'* y"" "^•«- Solomon s kind of sloHT about some things, especially things that he ought to be Blow about ; and ho is gentle and long, suffering, if ever a body was; but when he is riled it means something, and the folks that rile him are apt to know It. 1 m most amazing glad ho didn't come." Imnot niuttored Laura; "a 'riled' person would be a decided relief to my nerves at this present time " Mrs. Smith paid no attention to her ; already she ha. passed from these minor matters to a thought of mor importance. * "Mrs. Leonard," turning suddenly to me with ai anxious look on her wrinkled face, " Irvuig was a goo boy when he lived with you, but, as noar as I ca. remember he wiisn't a Christian. Do you believe he car thatV^° ^ '"'™ '""'""* I"*y"'°' any attention t " I am afraid he has," I said, and I felt ray voice trem blmg ; It was a sore subject with me. I had tried to d my duty, yet I seemed to have failed, both with my owi and with Irving "I have never seen anything in hi letters, nor heard anything about him that would lead m to suppose hiin a Christian." ,, ."^.nd he is going to set up a family— take a youu' thing like vay niece Elizabeth, and play at living, withou having that matter fixed." The dismay in Mrs. Smith's voice might have beer ludicrous to some, to mo it gave a sense of solemnity iiaura, too, looked grave. "Do you think it is wicked for people to marry unlesi they are Chnstians ? " 3 ^=M She asked the question with perfect gravity, and with out a suspicion of a sneer on her face. Mrs. Smitl turned toward her, and regarded her steadily for « moment, Willie she seemed to be revolving the question. ^ « w?° ^ *u '"'' '* '•' ^'^""^^^^ "'^"'1 • " ^lie repeated slowly Why, when was it anything but wicked to live along ii this world neglecting the Lord Jesus, and His call to com( and follow Hun ? Getting married and settling down Id life, without asking Hmi anything about it, just piles ur the wickedness ; of course it doesn't begin there, but i! makes another long step the wrong way, and pUes up th( responsibility, too. Besides, it always did se.m to me a kind of mockery. He had the 'twain become one flesh in the first place just for a kind of continual picture to ui of the love that there ought to be between Him and us A , f® snatch at the picture, and are satisfied with it and let the real thing go, it seems to me we are kind o tossing up our heads at Him, and saying, ' Aha ' Aha I just_ as them wx-etches did round the cross. But there that s just an old woman's notion. I'm afraid there's tw of em. I ain t heard the child say a word, but I seem to kind of feel it in my bones that she ain't a Christian either] 1 guess Jonas ain't much of a one nowadays ; he used t be a church-member, but it don't look like it now. I tull you, Laura, j'ou fliish them briirht fiyna nf vr.ur» hu- -t — l.^o^t-fi sd""n* over my going up three pairs if stairs, aii'il sieeping"nextf)articuiar{* fM to the servants, and breaking the ice in my pitcher in th " ' mornmg and all that, but the whole of it ain't nothing t going to bed without having a word read in the Bible, mi kneeling down together at family worship. I could mosi have cried last night to think of Solomon kneeling dow , and, in pn ordinary < [{uegts, I think ittention on 1 len, college ir ■ay, I find I h .t that time I iiim to mentioi uMn. Smith I " Poor Lida and the Rest:* 21 » \ " repeated Laura, ould say to it all, Mrs] ne thing. I had a visitu spoken, oftentimes silent, 3111 people called common , 1 cared for this plain oldJ )f their married life a* 'e done it on her weddiiirf 's question, and a tende nswered : ny, exactly; but there ik kind of queer. I tel le in all the forty yeari glad that Solomon ain' i as you live. Solomon g8, especially things that I ho is gentle and long, but when he is riled it J that rile him are apt ad he didn't come.'' 'a 'riled' person would it this present time.' to her ; already she had I to a thought of mori Idenly to me with an ;e, "Irving was a good but, as near as I cai Do you believe he car laying any attention t id I felt my voice tram ne. I had tried to d died, both with my ow. r seen anything in hii.^ him that would lead m{ I family — take a younj . play at living, withou! oice might have been I a sense of solemnity people to marry unlesi •feet gravity, and with ler face. Mrs. Smith d her steadily for volving the question. ' " she repeated slowly wicked to live along ii s, and His call to comi 1 and settling down i about it, just piles u ii't begin there, but ii way, and piles up th ays did seem to me ain become one flesh ;ontinual picture to u between Him and us I are satisfied with it I to me we are kind ol aying, ' Aha ! Aha . the cross. But there I'm afraid there's twi a word, but I seem t. kin't a Christian either lowadays ; he used t ak like it now. I te '68 of j'oura like sta~M irs, and sleeping ner 3 in my pitcher in tin I of it ain't nothing t read in the liible, an Drship. I could moBi lomon kneeling do 11 alone, and me doing the same. A great big household Ike this breaking up and going to bod without family ■rayer ! Laura, don't you never marry a man who can't Bt down on his knees and pray for you, as your father 18 done all his life ; mark my words, you'll be most rful homesick if you do." CHAPTER IX. "poor lida and the rest." fHE next three days were trying ones. The Smitlis were undoubtedly niucli annoyed by their relative. Very well-meaning people they attention, I really don't consider it strange that the country aunt was sent to the fourth floor to sleep. Not that they intended any indignity f hereby ; they knew the room was clean, the bed ordinarily comfortable, and that the necessary conveniences were at hand ; they knew, also, that people in the country wore not accustomed to gas or furnaces, nor many of the luxurious appliances of modern city life. They believed, ho doubt, that they were giving Mm. Solomon every whit as good accom- modation as she had at home. How could they know that the grave and common-place Solomon regarded her as the apple of his eye, studied day and night her comfort, would not for all the worth of his little farm let a breath of adverse wind touch her if he could lielp it I " THE SEVEN O'CLOCK DINNKH WAS HOT THROUGH WITH AT LAST." {p. 19) ere, and, in the main, warm-hearted. Had it been n ordinary occasion, and the house free from other uests, I think they would have bestowed every courteous ttention on Mrs. Solomon. But as it was, her unex- trd r^vr.nt at a time when many stj^iish gueats, dear, mrticula/, fashionable friends of Aliss Lida, gay ycang men, college intimates of the son Harris— whom, by the ay, I find I have not mentioned at all ; possibly because t that time I thought there was little or nothing about lim to mention — and a dignified aristocratic aunt or two u Mrs. Smith's side, were all at hand to demand special How could they know that before the aunriae of each winter morning he was moving round the room, stepping as if shod m velvet, not to disturb her last nap, while he raked out the coals and set the bits of wood in the old stove to burning, 8o that the atmosphere when she awoke would be that of summer'? Comparatively few wives after forty years of travelling together, receive such care as this. Mrs. Jonas Smith, in her elegant home, had no such experience ; perhaps she may be pardoned for not understanding what the loss of it was to her more favoured sister-iu-law. 22 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. •elves at the old lady's expense, even before her face tW l?£*f° r ""PPOoed obtuseness, which did not exist,' that her feehngs would not be hurt thereby; others of lid1!om« ^^^^/""''''Wy ''nnoyed by her country ways ^ttT r^ language I occupied that most embi- rawing po«tion-a sort of confidant of all parties. i^oor Lida, Mrs. Jonas Smith would say to me half have her Aunt Maria here; she is as good a soul as ever both'in rr-r '*"'^°°^'''« that-mtshe is queer' both in looks and actions, there is no denying it; and Lida .8 young and sensitive ; she declares she can Aever te "■ '" *\^ P\''°"™ ^"""g the ceremony, and her IS irt"?»f- ^^^ V^'V^^^ "*""*' «« °* <=°"^«« «he must- there lb nothing else to do; and then poor Lida cries • U]Tat'a±7^^!f last days of girlhood ^made miseS.' wi rnnSl t ^^^l °l^ """^ *='"'*« t"^" *>"«> ^O' » visit ! We could have made her so comfortable when we wer^ Snn^tSr' M^ ?'' "^'" pecuUarities would have p JsJI unnoticed. My dear Mrs. Leonard, you are so verv kind iJly ^^ *''" ''^^ ^"^^ '"' y"'^ ^»' «>d keep he7 com fortable in your own room so much ; I assure you we appreciate it. Lida was speaking, only this mor^n" ^£ your and your daughter's thoughtfulness." ™°"""=" ''^ thi, li^f *'^''^'^ ""' '"^^ * smooth-flowing stream, up to this point, giving no chance for a counter current ; but now common honesty demanded that I should in^er^ose to assure her that there was no unselfish thoughtfE^ about our action ; that we respected and loved Mrs SoWn Smith ; that she was an honoured guest at our tl^^^^A^u ^^ delighted in her quaint ways and fetamtw'on.'""'^*""^- ' "■^'^* " ""'^ haveitS and^°Sl'l!^"' ^''T- "*'^' ^"'^ " ^ *<»»* to know ! " alwavs said that V,' f ^ '' ^' P"'^ ^ ^""^^ ' ™y hu^l'and cEcter to?.*U ' 'T S''«f /aspect for his brother's fnC« » ',17 L • ^" ''*® PH'-'ed on about our " thought- fulness, and their "appreciation," and " Lida's trial," and the general mortification it was, until I gave myself Z^r^T''^ ''^^' "^« **«=t that Laura was not ?h?/e t grow hopelessly angry at her. One little hint I ventoed : ♦»!,»„ ^f rt *'^? " careless about lier fire, and wiU S .r,H \^ "°*''^ her hands are very cold in the mom- >ngs. and she seems quite in a shiver " cJu^'^l'^^^ ?*"* ""^ '" '^^tum what I suppose might be caUed an evasive answer. She bemoaned the fact thr.t the house was so unexpectedly full ; it was impossible fe^ make every one as comfortable as she would like • Harri^ h^ &''* l""^^ "''} ^'"^ *^» '""^ friends than he had written about, and that called for an extra room of lfii^*-« ' *'^l<'o«l«l not come without her. "That's "An/i!." ""f^"' unexpected one," she explained r,r .? 1 .*/°" ^°''' P"""^ ^*da had to give up her own preUy httle room, and occupy a lounged mydressZ room? I feel so sorry that the deii chUd shoSd be turned out just at this time." All this meant, of course, that she had no spot for Mrs m.t^°nf^r'*^'*^* *T^'' *ttic room, which there wiSi tTr«\f », H'"^- J T^^y ""PPO'e this was true, and that she had done the best she knew how ; but it wm only out of respect for Mrs. Solomon Smith's oim feeliiTgir that Laura did not give up her place in our 1^x38 room, and herself mount to the fourth floor j indeed "t se^irpd a"*'' *^' ""^ ^"-^y ^''^ P'^^'-'ded eamestlVrthat b1 e " T «1,^lFf°"f T I'T "•y daughter to do no such thing «'Altp!^^''\^"'^'^y"'' do,'^Mrs. Solomon had said rl„*i,^ ^•'^Tu '"T? ^'"^ than I am about getting my lifj"."" *''" '"^i 1 ^^^ '""™'°«» : >t won't last Ion? exp^is* minXfor^ ""^^''^' ""^ '""^ proper person'to _^!'?*"'^f^^ * •l"?.?'^ 8ort of party, auntie? How eanm jOu tu pick ncr up f " JLv'^^llTl^'"'^ ''^ t^ ?""t of your prospective Se'; th'entelaughed!^"'^ '^'^ ^^""^-"-^ ^-« ^"^^d a •• Well, now, auntie, one isn't to llame for having queer ^hi! k' ' ""PPOoe- I don't care, of course, but it rather hard on poor Lida and the rest. I've no doubi she IS the salt of the earth, as my dear cousin Wa h? Wnlr^ZtT"!;'' and flashing eyes, whenever I cros ner path but if she would wear a little less startling cai I think I should recognise her worth fully as soon " ^ hlr."^^ ?®*'^T •" ""^^^d with him as Laura could hav been, and spoke very coldly about the appreciation tha fo?."'i r '\' ^^^l" "^ ^'^'^ ^'^'"" hardly worth strivS tafk whfoh l"w 7^"* "T^ ""1'^°"* '.'"^'"S * '^"'■d of tha T *„„ • J T. ■ ^"8®d to have with Irving, and whicl LSf'fn ^° ""§''* '^r^ P'''""''d for, in seekinrm Laura too, poured out the vials of her indignation befor me; she oontinued to be exasperated with the ent° sh?&^r*' ""='"'^^*^? «^^ '>^^dly saw me aJone t sort ti hlT' "tJ,^""^^"."^' ■* 'P**"^! flight c,f som, sort that her dear old lady had endured at their hands. , It humiliates me, mamma ! " she would exclaim toss mg right and left the bright-coloured wools witr'wdc she was working. ''The idea that because they have ^ httle more money han she, and dress a little better, am aU that sort of thing, they should presume to look dowi .o.r«f °f*° t^ ^'' """"^^ ' It is such a shoddy state o ships! ev^'e^r" "'"''"^ all-important factor in friend th" ^w'^Vr ^T th?t.they have much more mone, than she ? Solomon Smith is considered a pretty well-tJ told TtLf?. ^"°^= r^ r"" '•^"^^"'b^'^ «h^e herse; handed '*^ ^^^ ™"'*' "^'^ ■"°* * "^te fore Laura's sensitive lip curled. ev^'rXin'k"nf ^f™%f *^i ™T .^"^''d, mamma, when Smfth n„T7>f I'-i ^^? J*^** ''^ their cheating Solomo, ami f ^,o^^ • ^" ''''^"^ '"t^''^*t on hard-earned money lace^^?hatrS '^'° '^'^ P",'°^ ^'^'^'"^ ^ith sud W?^f t i, I tell you, mamma, there are a great manv kinds of shams ! Money is at the root of it^U. s7l pose, for a moment, that dear old Auntie Smith had fiftv downT- '^f"'' *" '"''^« to that simpering Httle brS? downstrirs, do you suppose she would sleep'in the att c t^c ties • LV 5*"*^ '^^^ ^""J"^ J"^* dote in her ' eccen I hate itlil^ T'^ ^^^ "t""° *^?^ ^""^d caU tliem, then; 1 nate it all ; I'm sorry I came. .n 1 J^ ""7^ *''?t circumstances had seemed tu call foj thi i/if^'L' '* ^'^ been a special petition of IrvW weddiw' Ml,r?*^V"'' fu'^y^^'"' th.m before th wedding , Monday had been the unusual day chosen for mencT^?/^^'*'""''^^""8'« '"^''^^ vacation com^ menced on that day, and as he held an office under the Government he was obliged to be rigid in his dates • th^ young people coveted the entire time to theSelves hence a Monday wedding. «°uiHeives, If Mrs. Smith had been a meek and quiet little woman Tassb/f'^'it i''°' i* ^°"^** have been'much less emC' IIaZ^ ' "-^t w?*' ^he saw everything, heard evervthin and was painfuUy given to speaking her mind. She w is overwhelmed with astonishment at the idea of a rSl sa bLt Irr""^^ ceremony, which was to take place ^ th back parlour on Saturday evening "w^ttmthutv'bel'" "^"*^*^ '"^ " ^y^''^^' ^''-^ ariltocraSic «^,nt^?* ^T^^ W'^^^ *"S^ther, one of the aristocratic aunts frowned, and Laura explained. iiut what do they want to do it for ? They surelv toCiTl^^fi'"'^ ^? ^ " '^^^ together, and%i3 chitn ^n °*t-' '''',,'"°f '*y"'« 't «^^' beforehand, Uko children do their school pieces! I should think thnv Ind letT* V°. *^1 "P-ttingof it just to eS h ott^ ^u * ^If, owtaiders have their turn once for aU." Ihe little bride blushed at this, and Laura further ^^Pjt"l^J'"''i:5«^7-ted to go through S'thocerel ^:\;i ;";;l.:^? "f.^^^"!"^"^'.,'^^^ «ome o.m might n,.i,I » „■ i i "'--"'-""•*"«>, iesi, 8OU10 one might Sic CA\''l^"'^ ,*h*7°"J'^ ^^ ombarrassing^in Si:ally^o"vVr\\S '''^ ^'^ '^'^''^ ^^^^ ^"^^ ^-d'em- «,o'^J°?''**^ *" ■''"^"'?' mistakes. If there has been one made, its my opinion it will have to be corrected before it comes 1 and I wer were abou Imistakes and clear, i and I've n( I was Borrj from now ' But Eliz words had reason to turmoil, ai late that e' that horrii wouldn't b they would The rehc of the hou fectly love and expres " I don' and flowei mean that i to be seen great eyes to be anytl rehearsing i if they hav the words " "But, ] don't reliei to see if th arranged, i made." " WeU," to fix earne some way, the senten It may be I wouldn't whether So winked jus heart ! wha right or wr pronounce to ask the do nowada; have done : My room doors were tained by oi rehearsal c I went ovei the marriai tence, " un Irving and Monday evi from the fri day evening Modern . new device rehearsing i the hour f( may be all i her last c curiously w service ii oi Sunday n tiful a winti " I was r Jonas to mc room in coi Maria to-da that she di aunt's bonn will go to < know." Query : J " • Perhaps she is nearer Right than some of us.' " 23 sare, of course, but it the rest. I've no doul y dear cousin Laura hint ig eyes, whenever I cros ' a little less startling ca; less like a guy generallj )rth fully as soon." lira as Laura could hav ut the appreciation tha ing hardly worth strivire lut having a word of tha e with Irving, and whicl led for, in seeking me )f her indignation befor aerated with the entip .rdly saw me alone tha a special slight of sonii idured at their hands, she would exclaim, toss oured wools with wliic! lat because they have dress a little better, am 3 presume to look dowi ' such a shoddy state o portant factor in friend have much more monei sidered a pretty well-t(, remember she hersel: rere ^not a mite fore vexed, mamma, when their cheating Solomoi an hard-earned money illow shams with such there are a great manv e root of it all. Sup- Auntie Smith had fifty simpering little bride Juld sleep in the attic 1st dote on her ' eccen TOuld call thorn, then ; dad seemed to call foi :ial petition of Irving's with thtni before the musuai day chosen for official vacation com Id an office under the rigid in his dates ; the time to themselves, nd quiet little woman, )een much less embar- ing, heard everything, g her mind. Slie Wiis the idea of a rehearsal IS to take place in the in a mystified tone; I together, one of the •a explained, it for ? They surely ogether, and promise over beforehand, like I should think they it just to each other, once for all." I, and Laura further irough with the cere- 3st some one might be embarrassing in k hev grey head em- E there has been one be corrected before it comes time to make the promises. When Solomon and I were married, we were sure enough of what we were about ; wer'n't in the least afraid of making any mistakes I was only too glad to speak out ' I do l" loud and clear, so all the folks in the church could hear me ; and I've never seen the minute in all the forty years that I waa sorry I said it. I hope, Elizabeth, that forty years from now you can say as much." But Elizabeth was pouting. Something in her aunt's words had jarred on her sensitive nerves, and I have reaaon to know that she threw the Smith family into a turmoil, and made her mother miserable, by declaring, late that evening, that she didn't care ; she wouldn't have that horrid old thing at her wedding, so, now; she wouldn't be married at all if she had got to be there, and they would see what a horrid fuss that would make. The rehearsal, however, took place, the younger portion of the household attending, and pronouncing it all "per- fectly lovely," while Mrs. Smith sat upstairs with me, and expressed her views : " I don't like it. I can't help thinking it is all satin, and flowers,, and frosting, and make believe. I don't mean that she don't love him, poor young thing, it is plain to be seen that she does ; and he watches her with them great eyes of his wherever she turns, but there don't seem to be anything solemn and earnest about it. The idea of rehearsing such solemn promises as them are ! I wonder if they have the prayer and all said over, for fear some of the words won't be in the right place ? I don't like it." "But, Mrs. Smith," I hastened to explain, "they don't rehearse the ceremony exactly ; the idea is simply to see if their positions are understood, and are pleasantly arranged, and if all understand about the moves to be made." " Well," she said, after having paused in her knitting to fix earnest grey eyes on me while I talked— eyes, which, some way, embarrassed me so much I could hardly finish the sentence, " I'm an ignorant old fogey, I dares.iy. It may be all right, but I don't see how they can do it. I wouldn't have liked folks a-peeking round to see whether Solomon and I stood just in the right place, and winked just when we should, and all that. Bless your heart ! what do you suppose we cared whether we stood right or wrong, so long as we heard the minister say, ' I pronounce you husband and wife,' and joined with him to ask the Lord's blessing ? I daresay it is the thing to do nowadays, times change, but I don't believe I could have done it." My room was directly over the parlours, and the hall doors were open ; so from time to time we were enter- tained by outbursts of merriment from below. A marriage rehearsal certainly seemed to be a very amusing thing. I went oyer, in memory, the solemn and tender words of the marriage ceremony, with its terribly suggestive sen- tence, "until Death us do part," and I wondered whether Irving and Lida, when they repeated the formula on Monday evening, would be able to hold their minds away from the frolic in wliich they had been repeated on Satur- day evening. Modern fashionable society is a curious thing, full of new devices ; perhaps one of the most innocent is the rehearsing of solemn vows in a kind of pantomime, before the hour for the real thing. As Mrs. Smith says, "It may be all right," yet I confess myself in sympathy with her last century views. I found myself wondering curiously whether they would have rehearsed the funeral BOTvice if one of the bridal party lay dead in the house. _ Sunday morning dawned upon us ; as bright and beau- tiful a winter morning as could well tie imagined. " I was really in hopes it would rain," murmured Mrs. Jonaa to me confidentially, aa we went to the breakfast- room in company. *^I don't know what to do with aunt iuaria to-day. i'oor Lida's nerves are in sucU a twitter that she declares herself not equal to the thought of aunt's bonnet in our pew ; and 1 suppose of course she will go to church ; that class of people always do, you know." Query : Jjist what class of people did Mrs. Jonas mean ? At the breakfast-table the matter of church-going camo up. It transpired that a small number of the guests were going out ; indeed, the hour was so late that those who, like ourselves, had not pnidently made their church toilets already, could not have done so if they would. Mrs. Jonas Smith declared herself too much worn witli excitement and nervousness to think of doing anything but resting. " I was so glad this morning to remember that it was a day of rest," she said, looking around upon us with a benevolent smile. " I don't know what I hould do if it were not for the regularly occurring Sabbaths to make a break in the week's excitements and responsibilities." "Yes," her sister-in-law said with sweet seriousness; " Sunday is a blessed day of rest, and to think that the Lord gives a wonderful promise to them that keep it ! ' If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day : and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and sbalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words ; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.' " There was something exceedingly pleasant in Mrs. Smith's way of repeating Bible verses ; a sort of exclama- tory style over some portions, her face beaming the while aa if she were telling good news, and such astounding news as could hardly be believed at all, but for that last fact, " the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." My daughter Mary said to me once, that she always marked a verse of Mrs. Smith's repeating as something new that had just been put into her Bible, for, however familiar, she was sure to see it in a new way after hearing the old lady recite it. No one responded to the verse this morning. Almost nothing had been said about the manner of resting ; yet each person present seemed to feel an incongruity between Mrs. Jonas Smith's way and the way which the mouth of the Lord had Indicated. That lady proceeded somewhat sharply with her investigation as to who was going to church. The host signified his willingness to escort such of his guests as chose to attend. Laura and I were going ; also one of the aristocratic aunts, and two of the young ladies thought they should if they were dressed in time. This induced a young gentleman to promise to attend them. So, despite the doubtful beginning, our party bade fair to be quite large. "I suppose it is too cold for you to venture out, Maria?" insinuated her sister-in-law, but she received a brisk denial. " Bless your heart ! I haven't seen the weather in more than fifty years that was too cold for me to go to church. I can wrap up warm ; my cloak is aa warm aa toast ; just right for such weather.''' I confess to being very sorry that it was such a queer- looking cloak. Then came the question of distance. Laura asked about thai. Oh, the distance was a trifle, the host said ; not more than five minutes' ride on the cars ; the red line at the corner passed their church. " The cars ! " repeated Mrs. Solomon Smith in tones of dismay ; " I wonder now if they keep the cars a-going on Sunday J " CHAPTER X. ' PERHAPS SHB IS NEARER RIGHT THAN SOME OP US.' " course," said Mr. Jonas Smith, in a shorter tone than a gentleman should use toward an old lady, and added, while two of the young people indulged in their inevitable giggle. " how would people get to and from church in large cities, if the street cars didn't nin ? " " Oh, then they only run them just about church / - forthemtImtha8,i't«ora„vhn'"f *«""'' ''•^"l 1"'«°' Whereupon the kS bt,^"' '"rJ'' *=''"'•'='' ' " ^frs. Solomon Smith Looking on. Whereupon th^ Wh k1« "''^" «° ^'^ <=''"«•'='' ' " younger pSrtio,rBoSLt to Mr ^'''•'J^ .«•"""« the lie had a Sim idea that m t of i/i^" wT, *J'««om'iture ; " Not much they don't ^ Z^'\ ''"'"/'S to him. young men. "WhymadL, ^"'""'^eV^d one of the tlay; thoy don't hrvet?m„; ""^^ " *''"'' ^^u^'est like Clu4iana, burmu^h VZu^T' ^''''^ *^'""«'-'' alon^" ' "'^" * •'ol'l liite as they drive «»id Mr'«"smith"XT'sh! ''^^''!"'"? '»" ^'^^ «-« ' " having fuUy beUeTed that th« """ *''°''"'"«'> ^^^nest ; the accoimitodation of c Sreh /o " ^T 'T .'""t^^ ^"' covert sneer in lier words ^' *''*'™ ^'^ ^'=«=» «« SulldarS; fthey iZ foV'^'^^ * ^'^ ^' "'- church, they iould hivo alf fh f^P'/ *" "''''^ ^^'^"^ Bleeping; I'm incHned t^ /,• w.' ^'"^ ^°'' whistling or way'; fS; theVTav^to Ci"to r/°"''» spend it ^hat but they put on a doublf Lr n^ ^""^^ *"'* 1"'* ^^^^ ! routes for Sunday, a^d keen th«!n"'"'' °" ?<""" «' *''« morning till night." ^ "" ^""'S steadily from "'idl'^/'r '*'' "" "'" P««PJ« so to ? " and \oZ go'^trtkriS' Tf'it P'f °' *'•'"" «<' -««ng. somegoto^distantpaSroHhetown^or""* ^""^JS'^' »•"! haven't time for on Xrdavs-nt? /""*"?' *^"'* *^^y hunting on Sunday- sterG,m'«*l "^uP^°P'« 8° h°"se- tliinktheywould^e and Jlrt fi *^^^""«t« that they for that ^matter, himSs of thZ ^°YT ^^^ "«« ' survey premises withoS any scrSo^ a^hn f'^t ^'.^f ^"'^ «reat army of hard- working npnn^r^ ,^ '*• ^hen a Sands, you know, a^d Sp?e of ^h.?''.*"^^' ■'r^'*<='«'y pure fun of taking a ride r^ninf ' class-nde for the things a Uttlediffe^rentfro'nfXrTalT'^r' ^""^ ^r"« enough to go to, and peopl7enTui '^^.^*il'^':.'l P'^'=«« makes to mo what people think? < t„ i • standoth or falloth ' Th J - « • . '"' """" "^^'ef he And she sat back wi t h ^« ^'="Pt'"e. too, I believe." if nu.oh mtified with hpr,nTf "'^v. ""."Pl'"'''"' smile, a, ." ThXtU^A 4t s^^Ir a i",- wtTquenohed. 18 concerned; the Lord w^..V'l^'"S,°^ *'*'»«' ^o"'' because He understandlall tT« i**? ^m.*'"** H™''^". we know nothS about -L,?!"^ ''•'^''."" things tha folks not caring what oth«r^! ,^T? .'* •^''" * aPP'y to the same Wtold us fo?« ^ /l""u ''^ '«'"' because not your good be avH = \ T,^^"' *^°"t that. 'Let remindedKhat we hadl?/^{, 'T «"' •*"*» *he" H« and He say, hL sel us herft t ^- t"""" ^^ ""' ^^^t.; looked ut us, and saw how »« f H^*"' •'°, **"** ^"l'"' who for it. I g„;,sTit mikes 1 1'^^? 'hT^'^ ^^""^y ^im street-car drivers think of „,T ^^^F.^nce what the Lord will nsk us wl V we let ;„r ^ ■ "" ^^ ^"''"g'* the day be evil spoken of bvnifnr f "« *° •'^•"■ch on His "I was noTaware that A//"^ '"'*"* *°8ct there.'' evil,'' paid ihearTstocraSauntanrh"°^ *^" '»«'''"' degrees haughtier. ' "^ ^^'^ ''"'<'« was several hnmn'lip:;'it*standrXhr'^ ""^ 'pronouncing' from ' Komember^ e Sabb,th°dav°ri,'*«"'"-!*."'« «'«">'"'»>d, thine own wavs nn? fil r ^ to keep it holy, not doing course anybodTcan see tw"fi ^^""^ "^"^ Pl«^'"-e.' Of and conductorf a?n"t keeSnifcPKT'".t*'"r*-'='^^ d"^«" they're doing thdr owTwav« f^^''^^*,^ ^^^^ ^°^y ' »»^«« «'^ s^uieuarahli^^^^^ SatTer^,o^ classes, have nothing' in LI ^' ^''^•°?8 *° the lower becausWhey choose i use t?^fT T*** "' ^ ''"'^ that of their own, is no reton w v w« '" V"^' ^*"^ P^^P'^^^^ to tho house of God sSh 3 ' .7^'" "« "^ ""r way in the cause of worship '- ^^ "'^ *^"^ ^^'"^ conveyance But ai„. Smith shook her head. fani^te's^b^bath,' S KL^!'^ T I"-! ^^ P- «ay. one of these days! to them Oh' l^"^ Y^ '**^^ *° such wrongdoing, and h^ln .T •^''"^t'ans that uphold Besides, I reckon the foi&«t "^ 7"^ ^^"^ «>oney. labelled^nd thTdri^eS^t^nd^'i?.?" t^tj'l'^ ?-'* «' ;^;^^r teinng .hither they ai^ Ss'toZCll ^r aiitoi"„^L'''?Sdir'^"'"S^'" ^''^^''^ the What ditference do you suppose it lini,, «„Vi, :i. ; """* °'^ woman gets on t with your soX- ft , ^ no account ; we've nothing to do we're go ng to worsh n Cnl ^TT' *° ^''^^ "« to church" to worship H°m or not •«L'Ik"'''"^''" ^'*^« any chance the Lord sai" He had rliade of Z W ""^ ^''' ^"^ "««' of the earth, and He told u, t„ i ^""^ '^ ^^^ "^tions well as we did ourselves and H„ T •?"' neighbours as even them drivers are ^nrn^i,^''"^^ '* Pretty plain that on their way HSo^^r' somfc"' et'*' TH*'^?^ "^ gettiug away from our duty toZm » * ^^""^ » "*" inttrS.oTwhethTS^tSfl^'^"?''"'' -«« «»«y h^m, and he waSed to^'^w Sr .'ufb;" nr^"" "^"^ objection at this point • ^ mterposing an an"ti;e''sa'me: t noAe \VZ T'^™"^ "? ^''^ ^^^^'^^^ them; not one-tenth d^ S fhi"""'^ ^^P'^ patronised church-goers, I presum^e^ ""'"^ "^"°"« <"""«« fron> tonlf ^'KL'^t' v^'?"'^ ^'^^ '^''^ ''^y ^''^ assured ."-ter he stondeth o^rTalLTh ^r TLT^d i ''?. ^^ *''- whvsomft nn„,.u ,:„,„J .-S^tLord isn't going to ^^rZ ;Wi;s:r yoyeTelo d ^'il'V^-d isn't going to nmking the cars LLt:aro„l:,n/^ ^!t ^y^^ go visiting will have to tl 1 H^^ .,, • '^"^ ' them that answer for their doings a^bes^tLf""" °"1 '^""^ »««» say won't alter the fact Th^t wf ^.f **" ' whatever they Solomon Smith, why S vou hSn 1',"^ It^ *° *"«' '^ out of heaven, by putth^ Jin v^ ?/''"* ^^^^ P"""" f«"°WB break My laws / S^t^ ^olZ^^Zt t ^t^ '^^"^ better than sacrifice ? '" ** *° °W was thi?w"ayo7°pufenfif;"S^* that quaint and strange as word., ^or tSe SLtro'f Xe Sn"^/" ^^ *»"«' °^th" they were,husherthe gr^up^ofeh'I^r ,^^«'»things into decorous attention. ^ ^® breakfast-table The questioner seemed satisfied • at Imu-f i,» that portion of the subject no tohe'r Lf ff! ^ P"""^** or so of sUence asked . '' ""^ farther, but after a moment remln"s\h"a't'':g^r/'!j°;,^^^^^^^ The fact church at all unless tC ^'de on th« i'*'*' "i?^°* ««* *« it would be right for th^m to tt?"^; Do you think I from Church, wLn th^ ^tLV^il^lSK e^* lye minuti bout ' str ■ouldn't tl Mrs. Sn oiit'trative lid: " Suppos lose the Li rid that I < ithout 'ei 10, stay at In tho n irovoked, i " You sei jhurch on je S,i!)l)atl churcli. b •hat to do lourse it i Sabbath da; lacrifice.' lents as nc Even the luc had a ti Jlrs. S: filing ua a1 'or my pa; lorses and 1 Yes," sj er saucer, iVe got up o the critt .isual, becaii in tho bnsk ■ith coals, /hite meoti ihe sheds a lut their ba: linner, and 'hey always :now it was lay of rest ; set, stepping ihe Corners iver had to i ;ou say, dec hut and rid: If the "( -iw it now, i 'oUowod at 1 Altogethei :ome off wi lents were \ em. She is jjnd he ling< just as shai'i a fellow has worsted. Ps too." The most ( been Mrs. J( expression ol way in whic] following out agreed with t "Bible ve this morninj I remember on when he was good, and di applies equal jStheu Ju theiu "is not used tc be expected t I Whether B approve of Sj did not quite " ' Perhaps she is nearer Right than some of us' " 25 . ' To his own master he iptiire, too, I believe." ■oly complacent smile, as '5 having vindicated her to sustain her. ;h, in no wise quenched. lie judging of other folks to do that Himself, ittle hidden things that guess it don't apply to le think of 'em, because peful about that. 'Let says Ho, and then Ho )e known by our fruits: lights, so that folks who 'od, would glorify Him of difference what the guess like enough the going to church on His J means to get there." pronounced the means d her voice was several y pronouncing' from against the command, ceep it holy, not doing ne own pleasure.' Of poor street-car drivers abbath day holy ; and ;iigh like enough they ir bread ; poor fellows, rust the Lord ; they pm. The trouble u ts on them cars on the vhilo, they say to 'em. ; ; we've nothing to do I to take us to church, ryou have any chance to us. Now, you see, blood all the nations ve our neighbours as ie It pretty plain that urs, whether they are Jre else. There's no Erskine was really quaint ways amused It by interposing an run on the Sabbath n people patronised ■evenue comes from Id lady with assured man, ' To his own I Lord isn't going to Him of His day by Sunday ; them that leir own story and can ; whatever they 1 say to me, 'Mrs. t them poor fellows mple to help them that to obey waa kint and strange aa in the tone, or the whose breathings the breakfast-table least he pursued •ut after a moment e do? The fact *st, cannot get to re. Do you think «ly stay at home their door every |ve mimitca? Seems to me I have heard a Bible verse jout 'straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel;' ■ouldn't tliat apply ? " Mrs. Smith laid down her knife and fork, and fixed eiiotrative grey eyes on the young man's face as she Sid: " Suppose I hadn't a pair of shoes to my name, and sup- ise the Lord knew that I hadn't no way of earning any, id that I couldn't, no way that I could fix it, go to church ithout 'em, which do y( ■ suppose He would tell me to lo, stay at home or steal r shoes and go ? " In tlie midst of the general laugh which this sentence irovoked, she added : " You see, I believe that the folks who can't get to a murch on Sunday without helping somebody to break "^e Sabbath, and can't find any other place to live near to cliurcli. better tell the Lord all about it, and ask Him •hat to do ; seeing there's them two bars of His, that of loursG it ain't right to break down, 'Remember the Babbiith day to keep it holy,' and ' To obey is bettor than lacrifice.' I don't believe He looks upon His command- icnts as no bigger than gnats.' Even then, one of the sillier misses was not quenched, lUt had a tart question to put : " Mrs. Smith, when you lived on that farm you wore helling us about the other day, didn't you ride to church ? ■^or my part, I can't see the distinction between car- lorses and farm-horses." Yes," said Mrs. Smith, taking a swallow of tea from er saucer, " I rode to church every Sunday of my life. kVe got up early and did the necessary work and tended .0 the critters. Wo give them a better breakfast than isual, because it was the Sabbath, and packed our dinner in the bnsket to eat at noon, and filled the foot-stove 7ith coals, and started, and when we got to the little rhite meeting ..ouso, Solomon would drive into one of he sheds and tie the horses ; and at noon he would get mt their bag of oats, and sot them to eating their Sunday linner, and there they would stand and rest and eat. :hey always had an extra mess of oats, and if they didn't now it was Sunday, it wasn't because they didn't have a >ay of rest ; other days they worked from sunrise to sun- let, stepping spry, but Sundays it was only to take us to he Corners and oack again ; and neither Solomon nor I iver had to stay away from church on their account. Did 'ou say, dear, that you didn't see no difference between ;h!it and riding on the street-cars ? " If the "dear" really hadn't seen the difference, she iw it now, and had wit enough to join in the laugh that :olIowed at her expense. Altogether, Laura was satisfied. Her old friend had :omo off with flying colours ; whether or not her argu- lents were unanswerable, certainly no one had answered \em. She is sharp," said Erskine, as we left the table, ind he lingered beside Lida and her mother. "She is just as sliarp as steel. It is fun to talk with her, but a fellow has to keep all his wits at work, and then get worsted. Perhaps she is nearer right than some of us. Itoo. ' ' The most complacent listener at the breakfast table had been Mrs. Jonas Smith. I could but watch the satisfied expression of her face, and wonder a little over the kind way in which she declared that she believed in people following out their convictions of right, whether others agreed with them or not. "Bible verses seem to be our chief bill of fare here thu morning," she said, with a pleasant laugh; "I remember one that brother Solomon was fond of quoting I when he was a young man, ' To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.' I suppose it applies equally to those who think things are wroni. and itnen do them.' 1, for one, respect Maria's scruples." She 18 not used to the lawless ways of a great city, and cannot be expected to approve of them." Whether Mrs. Solor..on Smith was to be expected to approve of Sabbath-breaking after she became used to it, did not quite appear. When we reached the parlours, the reason for her tolerance came to the surface : "You must take possession of the back parlour this morning, Maria. It will be deserted, and you can have a nice, cosy time all to yoursolf. Harris, niovo the largo green chair from the front parlour over hero by the register —the morning is unusually cold. I don't know whether there are any books down hero that you will caro to read, but Lida shall bring you a number from the library, and you can select for yourself." The picture must have looked inviting ; Mrs. Solomon Smith was foni of reading. She turned beaming eyes on her sister-in-law, but answerod without hesitation : ^ " I don't believe I shall have any time this morning. I've got a little bit of fixing to do, and it must be most time to start for church." "Oil!" If you have studied intonation very much, you will he able to imagino how much that " oh " ex- pressed, without my trying to tell you. "I did not suppose you would go to church this morning, after all I have heard. You would have to ride on the street-cars, you know." " Bless your heart ! no, I wouldn't ; Jonas said it wasn't more than five minutes' ride in the cars, and I can walk ns far as that would be without any trouble. Oh, I shall go to church ; a nico, bright morning like this, and me feeling well and strong ; I couldn't think of staying away ! Besides, I promised Solomon I'd hear for him to-day ; he is uncommon fond of good solid preaching." The easy-chair and the cosy comer and the tempting books were of no avail ; the strong-hearted old lady came downstairs, presently, shod in arctic rubbers, which made her feet look nearly as largo again as usual, her long dark-green camlet cloak securely buttoned from throat to feet, her neat black velvet bonnet of a pattern that might almost have dated back into her youth, and a strong cotton umbrella to serve in lieu of a cane. It was stiU early, so none of the street-car party were visible. Several loungers who had chosen not to go to church at all, stood in parlour and hall, ready for any amusement that offered. Laura, in her handsome winter suit of velvet and silk, looked like a young princess beside her old friend. Wo had hi*d but little talk together since breakfast. " Mamma," she had said, with the little ring of deter- mination which girls at nineteen like to put into their voices, " I am going to walk to church with Auntie Smith." "Are youV" 1 said quietly; "then there will be three of us." She came and wound both arms about me in a caressing way tliat she had, as she said : "You dear mamma, you always do such nice things ! And you do them so quietly, witliout any of the high pressure that I have to get up. I wish I couliit " A.,rl 1, .r i ., ^ "" *"^''>» Will show US to a scat. And beforo ho couM control himself to reply \'oit tho motion of fl.n ,.„i. ...1 "^i v» her own natLsfactm • M., J wi • "^" '"•''"'«"<» '"• {.. "..othor:'£'r;,od'L:;;s.;ral,;:: thrpiE's-iJ bod proparcd for comfort, and boxan : ^ ' °^ ""^ •T for fivozin., uml had no oZ .»:''. !.^T_*^''""'"S i:U^te±i-^e^^^^^^ 1.=.: .he had obeyed tho ni,.ion:;f-ti;;;;Z;: lln^a^nSS down tho long ,., „^, the'tw^'wr'^ ^^'"^ ^ '^^ "otTnow'. I was sorry fo^ other r* ^ """^ ^'"""S ^"'^l^'^ •'^ ^-^ l"«'l "" "ach ■hw '''"!nl*T°-'* «'"Si»h»r circumstance that tho usher ■hoi. . ,0080 to f^n-o us a sittin- in tho pow whicli was airec , .n front of Jonas Smith's own. But ^s ruim^ ™». '.""'', '" ""°P' ™ "If'''"' b™!! 'ran onVoM , KJ™" " "■ "'""'""'J'' Wloaly. SlZiX church had welcomed her as a friend Hp /r;"-?+ ^ come Mrs. Solomon's scrupl^s'o the stroef car'^ *° °^'^" soiiciir :f t"i*ci,:?t'h': iT'-^T^^o^-'Tf ^^^^^-^^ a good-humoured smile. " Don't voi7ttnrr„ ^f"*' ^"" My^un^rella's stout, and so ^^^^ rart!"'!^ ttln^:; ;.«i. »u:ffi,=,'' ;;n :r:'s:r4^3;zi« pleased. Jt mado mo think of tho 'ton „„ 1 *•*'" tlZP' '""""' ^ '"'=""* "'<» "'^'^on ; how did you lik ' rhnH*'"w^''v'* ""'""te, then a meditative "I dunno I got to arguing about that once, and we di, 1,^ LZ look n the dictionai^ and srwhalwh ''■ w'^-v^' JJ thb,^ xT ^'"''i-.^'S ^li°tionarios that knows most eveS thing ; I never did see a book liko it- I w .11 ^■xS ful f^r •,!Jlr^^«{!!^:l.''"'!ld"»"? -'-t !,ho was thank " Well inch K ni( of linueri their fiiitl ■ins be fo " Aunt elbow to wore a m to-day, w "liless notinns ! a text I I own I f d for just then ; but slio called it that. Solomon l^otTn religious instruction. That's whore Solomon a dTdTdn" agree. I thought a talk about a verse of Scrlnturo w^ « •i ' ^^'^'-X' .a"'itie," said Laura, greatly amused " T tIin„„T,* It was all instruction from beginning to end Wf ^ mi^Mnber how many 'originrrSg^r'gave'us I^ how learnedly he described what a miracla wa, frA,!^ Lt^illl^ToTwhii; "^ ^'"*'"°"°'^ - -^ -~i ^ve' mtYeligh""'' '"* ^""^ "°°"^ '^' *'"^"''"''' '^^ g*-« » reli'ln?" 'f A "^''"'^ ''^ instruction, but was there wtt';"Ud\1rur'eTh'aven" at/ri^htr^'^* «'^ opinion on a schohu- like him • butToan^t 1 1° ^r, ^^ they woul of studioi got to set the Biblo. we talkot Solomon 1 to that, ti and says Smith, w( Solomon you and '. over what I guess } sermon 1 " But La any side ii "That'f "Tell us; Mrs. Sii " Dear 1 got most Sunday e o'clock, a: over." " But I "Oh, t see there's read it tli reading, b tho book t " ' Solor to hear M; and there "'Whe " ' Why the leper, ; I, 'and 8( next.' '"I doi known wh after Ilim them in th waa that tl travelling many frien of mad wh over and p " Solom. no matter them coala reading, an " ' This llio palsy. What a tin I wonder il and went a I see wht great deal •Solomon : "'Yes,: Fint, one and they m the lepros] looked at t •' Says I : '/ think there was an Unbeliever about!" —(in nil-important foatu nwimv, ,,nrty hntook thoni ivo rollixl mpiilly away, oiii, wliLTo ivo liad odcapfl, ' Lord liad tho boat ustv iipposo if thu puoplo hm loino of tho i)rctty int. tlio Toiiiplo had all i nilo now. I likod th. it thick cnouj^rl, to hur "g tho churi'h tho ver^, <> ; actiii!,' HM though youl nuch for it. I liked th rolled tho bettor I wiia tho ' ton thousand tinn if thousands/ and th •men ; liow did you likcj meditative "I dunno, 30 a sermon means mora md talk. Solomon and 0, and we didn't agree, ion is toniptod that way ' Well, now, Maria, I'll lat 8 what.' Wo'vo got that know.t most every- ko it 1 We had a little this. Jessie, she sent • That's what sho said, nowhatsho was thank- that. Solomon got up hunted out tho word to a long explanation, i'as for tho purpose of B Solomon aiid I didn't |rse of Scripture was a id there must be reli- •ra, I leave it to yon. in what wo heard this ly amused, "I thought I g to end. Don't youf ings'he gave u3, and! \ miracle was, from a I ical, and mental, and! more kinds of impos-l 1 at the present day?! as any seimon I have! cushions, and gave aj ruction, but was there I nly an ignorant old! ny right to pass my I [ can't help thinking! mt kind of a sermon f one that wnuld have ! ough along to under- 1 J a good many in the I bserved Laura. •' to understand it." 27 " Well, now, you son, doenn't it nonm a kind of pity, such a nice text / " Sho repeated tho words with a sort of lingering, regretful tenderness : " ' When Jesus saw thoir faith, lie K.iid unto tho sick of tho palsy. Son, thy •ins be forgiven thee.' " "Auntie,'' said I,aura, as oho raised liorself on one elbow to push aiiotlier jiillow uiidiT hor head, " if you wore a minister, nnd had taken that text for a sermon to-day, what would you have said about it ?" "JHess your heart, child, you do have tho wildest notions I I'ho idea of mo being a minister and taking a text! That would bo enough if I was Solomon. Hut I own I had tho linrdest kind of a time keeping my thoughts to listening to what ho was saying this morning ; they would go roving oif. You see, Solomon and I kind of studied over that Htf)ry for a whole week, once, till it got to seeming al)out tho wonderfnllest ono theru was in tho Biblo. And I kept a-going over that Sabbath evening we talked so much about it, and a-thinking of what Solomon said, and then of what 1 said, and what lio said to that, till I got away oir from the niinistur in tho pulpit, and says I to myself: 'Well, I declare, Mrs. Solomoil Smith, won t you look pretty when you get homo, and Solomon asks you about tho sermon, a-saying, ' Why, you and I wore tho preachers that moniing ! I can tell over what wo said, but 1 dunno what Dr. liarmoro said ;' I guess you'll got sent to tho city again to hear 'a sermon I " Hut Laura was not to bo turned from her purpose by any side issues. ' "That's just what I want to hear," sho said earnestly. " Toll us just what you and Mr. Smith said." Mrs. Smith laiiKhed a cheery, i)Iea8cd laugh. "Dear nie I " she said ; " it Would take too long. Wo got most Bmaiiingly interested in that story. It was a Sunday evening, and I remember we sat up till ten o'clock, and the fire went clean out while we talked it over. • " But I don't see what you found to say." " Oh, there's enough to say, I tell you ! Why, you see there's wonderful things in it. Wo just hopponcd to read It that night ; it was'n't in the lino of our regular reading, but 1 got interested in it as I was looking over tho book to find the place, and says I : " ' Solomon, just think of it ; there came such a crowd to hear Him preach that they stood all round the door, and there wasn't room for any more.' " ' When was that ? ' says Solomon. " ' Why, that time in Capernaum, after He had cured the leper, you know. I suppose they heard of that,' says I, 'and so camo post-hasto to seo what would happen next. '■ " '"I don't wonder at it,' says Solomon. ' If they had known what they were about they would have crowded after Him so that thoro wouldn t have been room for them in the streets. The wonderfullest thing about it all was that they let Him go through the world as Ho did, travelhng round, kind of homeless, and without a great niany friends that amounted to much. It makes me kind of mad when I think of it,' says Solomon, and bo leaned over and poked the coals. " Solomon always pokes the coals when he gets excited ; no matter if the fire is burning just as bright as it can, them coals have to be poked ! But I went on with my reading, and says I : •"This was the time they brought the man that had «o palsy, you know ; four of his friends brought him. What a time they must have had a-getting of him started 1 I wonder if be had a wife, and if she put in and helped and went along, or stayed at home and waited and watched I see what would come of it ? I suppose there was a great deal of talk before they statted.^says I ; and says BOiomon : " ' Yes, I suppose they came up to it by degrees like. First, one of 'em said, Jesus of Nazareth is here again, and they say He has been doing wonderful things, curing the leprosy, and all that. And then, like enough, he looked at the sick man and said, I wish He could see him. And 1 think maybe somebody shook his head and said, Oh, thoro ain't no hope for him ! Whoever heard of tho palsy boiii'r cured 'i ' " Then I put in a word. Says I : ' Yes, and I dare- say thoro was srmiobody to throw cold water on tho idea by saying tlu^y didn't believo a word of all these doiiiiis. It was a likely story that .JeHim of Nazareth ooiild euro dlHcascs that tho Icariuid doctors couldn't toucli ! Why, Ho was only a carpenter's Son I What advantagec had' Hot" *■ " Solomon laughed, and, says lie: 'You always think there's a croaker about, don't you, Maria? ' "Says I; *I think tluiro was an unbeliever about. There seemed to bo more of them than of any other kind of folks when Ho was hero. But go on,' says I, ' I liko to hear what you think they did.' Well, ho went on to say ho thought they worked up the notifni, little by little, of taking tho man down to the meeting. Ho said ho hadn't much doubt that it didn't conio to them on tho sudden, but they kept a-wishihg, and a-wishing, and hearing of wonderful tilings, and turning of it over in their minds, how tho two could bo got together, until finally ono of them up ond said : ' Ia-Xh take him down there on a bod I I'll carry one end, if you'll take tho other.' And ho said ho reckoned after they had overcf)nio all tho objections and got started, and got to pretty near tho door, and found they could not get in, sonio wero for turning round and going back. Says I : ' Yes, I can hear them ; they said there was no use ; ho couldn't bo got into such a crowd as that, and it was'n't a mito likely it would do any good anyway.' " But Solomon said ho had no idea that thom ff)nr men who wero carrying tho bed said any BUoh thing. Says he : " ' i believe their faith kept a-growing stronger with every stop they took. Because, don'^ you seo, thoy acted on what faith they had. And if it was'n't any bigger than a grain of mustard-seed when they started, it got a pretty good growth by tho timo thoy got to tho meeting ; and when the folks began to say to them that they had dono all thoy could, and had better just take tho poor fellow home as quietly as possible, I have an idea that them men shook their heads and said : Ho shall bo got to Jesus now, if wo have to tear this house down to do it. ^ And that gives one of them a thought, and says he : Boys, this kind of roof comes off easy ; let's lift it, and let liini down right into the midst of them. I'll tell you what it is, I believo lie can cure him. And then I think tho others nodded their heads, and said : So do I, and I. Somehow I'vo kept feeling it stronger and stronger since we como along. Because,' says Solomon, ' you seo it says Ho saw their faith ; so they must havo had it. I reckon, too, that tho sick man looked at them and smiled all over his face. Ho felt the faith growing up in his heart fast. What do you s'pose them Pharisees thought when they seo that bed coming down through the roof 'i* ' says Solomon ; and says " ' Why, it's easy enough to tell what they thought. Says thoy : If here don't como a bed, and that wretched sinner who was took with the palsy so long ago is on it. What a ridiculous thing ! As if everybody didn't know that palsy couldn't be cured, and as if thi.s miserable fellow was worth curing, anyhow. Such fanatics ! That's what comes of letting this fellow preach and draw crowds round Him ! ' " " Now I want to tell you just what Solomon said to me then, because I remember it very particular. Says he : " ' Maria ' — and his voice sounded kind of strange — ' Maria, don't you think it is most like being irreverent to speak of the Lord Jesus and call Him " this fellow " ? ' " For a minute I was beat ; not that I thought I'd done anything wrong ; but it struck me all of e. sudden as being awful. Says I : '^ "'Solomon Smith, I do. I think it was dreadful! dreadful ! It was all of a piece with tho crown of thorns, and the spitting in His face, and saying : Aha ! aha I But don't you know they did it ? As for this fellow, they said, wo know not from whence he is. I was only telling you what I thought more than likely they said. Not 28 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. ' Tliut« truo, Aiaria ; ' and J.o gavo tho ooala a poke." CHAPTER XII. '-I 8urr.8E L,KEr.v he knows what he meant, but 1 M llEAT IP 1 DO I ' " (i?v° '*"K''0(1 pleasantly. Hhook hia head- ' W^ • j ^"''wo years I Uut Solomon Btrcamof Si,„i '♦ i" i""*^' ^^ *'«'* "mo tbo littlo walking and carrvinir nf I.U >> f ' ^l*"^"^- ,^ nat was cot I f^ T > V „?7J"°S ^^ '"8 ot. , compared with what he you see It wasn't a sermon " ^ ^ • ""* ' W« f /"""^^d, you know, and glorified Gorand lakf 'Amlsav L'.T ""y"'l°^ ''^'° *»>^ before Tn 'our lives •' Anil says he, 'I s pose if wo had growin' fiith H^a „ i!!?' Of course I HT;inVz **u^ "^"^ ^ """^ *»» *» Solomon. her'hLt,:hief.'"^fe^g^^^^^^^^ jet caching for ehe heard theliews ? " ^ " ""'''' ^^^ ^^^^ ^'^e'» "Why, I kind of thought that as he walked home J b?"forT te' r ' "^^ ?•'" = ' Wmt ";ral tt ?rowd' tty weroS ;.r"anVwroi«^ •" *''""«' ing around , Wh^^^ ^C^^t.::cft^'^.X'^^t ind trast'erTd r/ in= ^^if^^" ^^^ KghS-K'jiS^ wVn'irtVtt r 'Tf? Sn ir-j^iiri m which of them aS w Jwoifid ?rkn n l''" ^f' *" *""^'"» "b""' holpod 1,0,8 l,i,n l„ Josui TtoTm, lu, .1 r?!.?' "''" tbmg Ho is the same yesterday tS; and for eve^r ^°"^ of bJdKsri^'^^raurf ''°r"rA «"» tobrcurod lous; i'^TL wL-^Sinrof^rdtrsroZ men-r Mn Surs^^^'*''"'^ fad passeradicrsf judT ;;i c^n. find any placrill'tKb.ethritX Xfa^ X^r=Xgt--i-/S^'lS?~ rCdX; I'^l* "^ r '"•'^^ *''''° Ho Always di^.'°I wo'nJ^^ fnd tfilwhi "''' "'■'^u''"? P"* '* °" tlio blind manWes wanted to, but Ho was willing t« Lt .1 P' I - ® '""' mean., i«.i a. H. is" ow & Uk '''7, P"' ■», «■<■» very much Ii^th^o';„i"^!'•l.^?[''^'»^°^^^^ very much li^elhaTco'uWTirwhiSVe"^^^^^^^ 1, we know He sometimes does such works' \^Tr Solomon had just been down to the city , he wentS of cou^e hVJruldn't irthat ^s^'heTav'ld'"'''^ f^^ ' " ' What is a miracle ? ' says I : and he was stiU for . <1 followed him, and tlic • boyH aIon« you may be that they kept Htill— and ut of the window to 8c« What can all that crowd f f Thoy act as thouKli IS that thoy are crowd- can't bo I— and yet it is walkinff just as straight to, and ho'n oarryinR his iiing about her. Solomon but I didn't. I thought •owd, and got hold of liig or that bed ; and the way 1 1 don't boliove none of *"/ suppose likely he knows what he meant, but I'm beat if I dof" 29 t wo got to talking about ihavo boon, and Holomon 3lf, with all his sins for- 3n ono of tho four who says ho: 'Only hoar us, as if wo couldn't hear 0— and hadn't hoard it ind just as though wo a to Him all tbo time ; ; no roof to tear down t the roof of our pride for tho matter of that, m to gut cured of the koopa our hands, and thoy ought to a great Hicurablo to this day, azarcth. It is a good ■day, and for ever.' " inds to Him to bo cured I her voice was tremu- )f a dear friend over passed adverse judg- ;htor and she sat erect, she said with energy ; ) where it says He has lost His willingness to not a body gets over le wills to have it so. lys do it, and there ying. Of course, He always did. I wonder I tho blind man's eyes, )d hand to stretch it away the stone from 3uld have rolled that their help, if He had !t them put in their i as if ' means ' were msolves without any got their brains, and ind knows what not, >me by chance." Jarraore say that the ig back among the found out ; I don't talked up that very if I thought Jesus I, and I said I didn't ■orld nowadays waa ich He couldn't do nbelief ; ' but,' say* loh works.' Well, 3ity ; he went with' B boat, and he got eft him, and there 'ver Sunday, or else > Sunday morning ; »yed ; and he went [aria, that minister asn't any miracles he was still for » inute, and then ho said he reckoned we'd better ask the iff book ; so ho turned to it again, and wo learned the definition by heart : ' An event or offoct contrary to the established ronstitution and course of things, or a devia- tion from tho known laws of nature.' " She recited the large-worded Hcntonco carefully, as a schoolboy recites a difficult paragraph in history. Well, wo had to study over that answer and hunt out the moaning of two or three words, but by-and-by we got it pretty woll simmered down, that a miracle was some- thing different from what was happening all the time, and something tliat human beings couMn't do ; but it didn't seem to me that that proved anything. Who would be more likely than God to do something dilTurcnt if Ho chose ? And as to the OMtablishcd course of things, who established 'em ; who made the laws of nature, I'd liko to know 'i That man this morning talked about ' the laws of nature ' and ' the ostablishcd order of events ' as though he had established them himself, or some of them sciontilic men ho talked about had done it, and even God hadn't a right to touch 'cm. " But I ain't going to criticise him ; I can't, because I didn't understand half the tinio what he was driving at ; it might all have been true what ho meant, and I siipposo likely ho knr>ws what ho meant, but I'm boat if I do. I couldn't help wishing lie would prophesy a little; don't you know, dear, how Paul says ' he that spcaketh in an unknown tongue cdificth himself ; but ho that prophesioth, edificth tho Oliurch ' '? Well, I got to thinking about that, and I kept on. Says Paul, ' Except ye utter words by the tongue, easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken ? ' Yc shall speak into the air ! Paul knew plenty of languages ; ono of the things he thanked God for was that ho spoke with tongues more than any of 'em ; but says ho ; ' In the Church I had rather speak five woi'ds with my under.standing, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.' " " But, auntie, do you really believe that people are ever cured nowadays as suddenly as that man was ? " " Why not, child ? Because it would be a miracle ? I ain't afraid of that ; you see, a miracle is iuat what it always was ; if it is contrary to the established order of things now, why, it was then ; and if God went contrary to the established order of things eighteen hundred years ago, He is able to do it now ; and there's only one thing that will make mo believe that Ho never does it, and that would be a Bible verse that said right out, in plain words, that there wasn't to be any more tilings contrary to tho established order. Bnt then, I'm only an ignorant old woman ; I don't pretend to know. Maybe they ain't miracles; maybe they ought to be called by different names. But I know this : Did you ever hear about a girl named Jennie Smith ? She ain't no kin of mine ; one way of looking at it, and another ay she is a blood relation, for her Elder Brother is mine, too, and He has gone to get some mansions in our Father's house ready for us. Well, this that I'm going to tell you I know to be a fact, and them that dispute it don't know what they are talking about. She lay on her back for seventeen whole years 1 On her back I Dear me ! that don't tell the sixteenth part of it ; she lay on a wheeled cot, with one of her poor limbs bolted down in it, and the sufferings she bore I don't know as anybody could believe. I don't really, unless they Imew her, and knew about the suffering '»U along as I did, and heard her sweet, patient voice, and knew how the Lord sustained her, and helped her to use her poor weak hands, and her clear, strong brain, to sup- port her mother and sisters. Folks talk about sick peopb using will power to make them well — there's a good deal in iij too ; I believe in the will, and I believe in using it gooa and strong when a body fools sick and nervous, and kind of tired of life ; but when I tell any one about Jennie Smith, and then he goes to preaching will power to me, I feel like saying : Bless your poor little wizened-up heart I It took more will power for that poor young thing to get herself through one hour of pain and privation and trouble generally, without screaming all the time, and ending up in a lunatic asylum, than yo'i ever used in all your life, or over will use, bcraiiso you ain't got the will to make the power out of. Well, how I am running on I The long and short of it is, that ono night, after she had been serving Ilim beautifully on her back all these years, and after the very best doctors in tho country had said she never could hope to sit up again, much less stand on her feet, this same Jesus of Nazaroth, who cured tho sick man of tho palsy, and who said of Himself that Ho was ' the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,' set her on her foot in a minute of time, and she has been travidling round on them ever since, working for Him with all her might ; and a great many folks when they see her and hear her, and know what slio was, glorify God, and say we never saw it after this fashion, and a great many others say, 'Give the doctors and tho will power and anything else you can think of the praise, for as for " this fellow," we know not from whence He is.' It is pieces of the old stories over again. Thoy don't mean it, you know ; thoy haven't a notion— some of them— of dis>- lionouring Gwl, but they are most dreadful 'fraid the glory will be given to Him. Last summer, when I was gone to that Convention, I met a man who had hoard of Jennie Smith, and when he found I knew her as well as I know you, and had been a friend for years, ho went to cross-questioning of me with all his mi^'ht ; he was a minister, too — one of them kind that knows all there m to know, and, says he, crossing one shining boot over the other, and looking wise and benevolent : " ' I haven't the lea."", doubt, my dear madam, that every word you say is true ; neither do I, like some others, doubt the sincerity of the young woman. What I think is this : she was a Christian woman, with groat faith in God, and the hope that He might one day cure her kept buoying her up, and her prayers and those of her friends strengthened that hope, and on this night in particular, as she heard her friends praying, she made a tremcndoua effort of will, and arose to her feet, and found that sho conld walk I Naturally enough she attributed it to mira- culous power, whereas if she had made the same resolve and the same effort long before, the result would have boon tho same. It is all as simple to an analytical mind as a, b, c, and can be explained, you see, without a.ssailing the estimable young woman's character. " ' Ahem,' says I, ' Doctor Wisely, didn't I hear you telling, this noon, about tho time you had when you were getting up from that eight months' sickness— how weak and feeble you were, and how you had forgotten how to walk, and had to learn over again, just like a child, and how the doctors wouldn't let you take but three steps in the forenoon and three steps in the afternoon for quite a spell?' " ' That is all true, madam,' says he, as bland as could be, and he was'n't analytical enough to see where he waa bringing himself to ; and says I : " ' Well, could you tell us how it comes that a young woman that hadn't walked a step in seventeen years, hadn't even sat up in bed, should get up and walk across the floor as steady as you can to-day, and should get down on her knees, as natural as you can, and should go up and downstairs the next day, and go where she liked, and do what she liked, just as anybody would ? Maybe you can analyse the reason why her will power worked on them muscles of hers after they had been idle for seventeen years, and your will power wasn't strong enough to help you out, in walking straight, after six months of idle- ness." " Woll, he put the left foot down on the floor, and put the right one over it, and got out his handkerchief and shook it, and coughed and wiped his glasses, and, at last, says he : " ' That is certainly a v^ ^-straordinary statement, if it is true ! ' " Says I : * Humph ! Now I should think it was a very extraordinary statement if it wasn't true ! To think of me, an old woman who has been for forty years the wife of Solomon Smith, whose word is as good as his bond, everybody knows, to set up here telling lies about a 30 ^^^^- Solomon Smith Looking on. woman that «lio hns known and lovod for ten vcars wo.il.J be pretty extraordinary, / tliink.' " ^ ' * ♦krwi""""'! '"''' ^'""'"- *'"'"8 "P"«ht, " do you mean that th« girl or woman actually w.llkod, 'all in amimao and^kept on walking V I ..over heard of «uch a thing i.! ^„!1Y?."' } T?"" ^""''* ^^^^- It "corns B great wonder now I th.nk of ,t, that I never told you about her before ! but then dear n.o ! there's so many things to tell • vou' flee It all happened before I knew yL very wdl I'll^eH em then you'll know the whole wonderful story The first one ih named ' The Valley of Baca.' She wrote that Jlll'^.otf^'^ "" her back/and always expec^:^ to be till Rlio got Wings; but when she got out of the vallov Why of course she had to tell the rest of the story S A A ^ ' '■''''"' ^'"=* *o Buulah.' " ^' rnir^ "* V'"^ moment came the summons to the dinina- Z^lUt °"' ""^^''^"^ after-service meetiu7"4 it^«? 5 "Of cour»( u t CHAPTER Xni. I DO DISLIKE SCENES.'" ;1[M? ? *''! .^''""cr.table nearly all of the jniosts •WSHS themselves in various attitudes indicatinriistlcss nt i'nTnf -V ''^^* ' '" summer she was nearly alwavi at some seaside resort, and of course everybody wenTto the beach, but papa had a notion that it wLn't aufte tl e thing to take Sunday walks in the city The wasTuJe so n y^ ''" "^^y- '^'^^^« ^<^ but faint re ponse to bordrEpTrepT*"' *'^ ^-'«--ng re^aTtoo Mrs. Solomon Smith had followed us with alacritv ft!" r ^'."^"'f ^•■''^'"K «e=*t« in the pariour but I Still dfforent%'''"''?.?'**^^'i"^ '"^ a Sabbath'tii- Mi S l'^^ ^f ^ ^°'' " ^•'^"^ °^ '^«« than^a yeaT ! " ' than he S"t of u '°an^ « '"'"''*""''y ''*. '^ g'^ate? distance of her friends ' ° """* reporting for the benefit vSe would^: r*- Z-*'""^ ■* *=''°'-'»J ^-^'^^^ once in a wmie would be a great improvement on the drv sorninn ii^.Ti.^^''W° ^'^°8thy; at least, DrDoSnd™ re She did not address Mrs. Smith, but Erskine -S,-I^^.Z^.^:i^^^r be hiSL^^^eniilf'ZrrV^ '^ espeeiall/trying to Who fail to ^r £f t?e^y aTaroyi^^g ZV^"''' stupid nT- - l^ all sermons are equally dull and StheiS toprcS£u^^^V"^ter selecting an inter- Mrs Smith turned kind eyes on the rilly girf. country. Pvo cot mnr« iLTM:^'°\ »° "''^ '" "'»' "thor wedd u" too Tt ia „ t „ i »t"° °'8ht before a thm,ir4V5b".°„.lr°- '■'■'•■ "- p'" ■»°- chalitL tn tfot'^aflKt^n*^ T'" "^ «-'»- AVatching my nephew as he hovered around the maiden thluH}^^ ^^""^ P''^"' '^"^ purpose, that- Stened the little brown house at the Hollow "ri^nienea +;„;«= ^""'^ej'ment saddened me somewhat. There were .T^'^i*!?';"* 'P^B^-^ Mrs. Smith, and opened her 6ves. .w. K^«^„u, ijuu upenea ner ©vgr. ^„'15°l?*'i?**^^y' it .'■?,". said Miss Effie tartly. "U'it '« ever so many nice things Were not, to do.' there would be cour ,-.j, -linc'o L. iluntconMl ai It ? What 1 ening than i "And do t lich qucitio hers of her arao over he For almost e house, I c tention to 1 Smith, iwncd so ictiy on ideness of ling ladies i ido so proi answer : No, Au [aria, they d( ivo prayinjf, i leir 80-cai: !rcd music )thing that j nuld rccogi ' that name, about as sac: that which : iter Lida is g g you at t oment. \\\ ey do have ii catdealofdi-c g and talki id flirting — wl regular Moiul ght perfor: ice, with t ime ' sacred ' t ched to it tch the you: id foolish." " Like yourse ir instance," i irted Miss Effi ho was at t rnes divided b L-en her desi receive tlie e. u.sive attentioi : Harris, and : tach young Er ne to her trail I believe yc ■e a frcquoi ttendant. E 3U come in tl st of those r( intly cauglit ? " "By no means, ith a very lo' iw of moc iference. " I \^ well understoc fade any preten 'ilong to the d^ ive to waste an "Harris," said igirreyerent." v.iiereupou H id heretofore I "Upon my w ;eak, " it is the ' irreverence toi His mother chc ''' I do dislike Scenes.' " lioro thore is no niffhtj" ^"' '^" """y '""""y ''^^'o " o toarH, and no nayinol^ '*''' P'"'''"''' "I'lladv wai a intorosting as it can i"^^ coursu!" Miss EiHo 3« >ons of hor aash, and! Sh to think abont, I iiovor tried it much ; 1 ilianK... I am not one 'ut iifjftjnHt the world I 1 don't lilce sermons ; orld is a Hnare and a ly lovely place." I, and her voice was concort'i on Sunday nights ? " wanted to know. ,w .!„ -V fi ~T-~ "'"" ^•'" horself compnllod to ily, Hinco tlio question was directed to lior, and no one 1 unteoivd an answer in her place. " Why should they It .' >\ .at pioro appropriate way of spondirii} Sunday fonmg than in singing sacred music ? " ' "And do they have praying?" queried Mrs. Smith, ich qiiDstion not only cf.nvulsod Miss Elfio, but Heverul liers of her stamp ; and Liila's checks crimsoned with larao over her aunt s i!,'norance. I For almost the first time since wo had boon guests in le house. I pave " " What is the matter with you vonncf people tf>-niBht? There seems to I you nil to get on " There has lieon ,: this house," inuttfTed a very loud un could not keep her ven more frivolous irmed at this little h ho was enveloping rrest anything like oringly at me, and ir Mrs. Solomon, I d leaned her weary slosed her eyes. I own house in the iomon'8 chair, and around the maiden hen her head was Solomon Smith's, in them, that one- le, that- brightened vhat. There were jmed to me to be foundation. The en Sabbath fitness )wing dimmer and 8 for the evening but it was 80 far roasing for people xt day. So Miss I opened her 6ye«. ildered way, ail if "Why, W't it io tartly, lany nice ;cntion to Il.ir- Smith. IIu iwned Bo dis. ictly on the idcncss of tho lung ladies and ado so prompt I answer : ■'No, Aunt aria, they don't vo praying, and cir so-called crcd music is ithing that you uld recognise ' that name. It about as sacred that which my iter Lida is giv- g you at this oment. AVhat " oy do have is a 'catdcalofdross- Iff and talking id flirting — why. Tegular Monday (gbt perform- ico, with the ime ' sacred ' at- iched to it to tch the youna bd foolish.'' I " Like yourself, fcr instance," ro- Irted Miss Eflie, |ho was at all Qcs divided be- iTt-en her desire receive the el- usive attentions ! Harris, and to iach young Ers- ne to her train. I believe you e a frequent ttendant. Do )u come in tho it of those re- intly caught ? " " By no means, " ith a very low iw of mock iference. " I was referring to tho lambs of the flock ; it weU understood that I am nothing but a goat • never lade any pretence of being anything else, and therefore -long to the devil, without being cauglit : he did not ive to waste any special effort over mu." "Harris," said his mother reprovingly, "you are grow- uTiereupou Harris laughed immoderately ; his face la heretofore been grave enough i'afc ^^1 ^°f^'^ ™"tl^f ." he said, when he could |ealc, It IS the first time I ever heard anybody accused irreverence toward his Satanic majesty 1 " His mother chose to ignore this, but said • remark about his "I then ; tiiore was not all the country tow "■lement of Iliseord. 1 never knew ably tocfothor." "•nt of discord introduced into li' bride, in what was certainly I'm .'id that Tain not to 'i' ■ mill ;i longer V' how you end I .. n J mai.'-! il» t.i (>ndu' in all the ■ vv.-rlj CO allVct ne!.H « EUSKINB Sl'HAAU FOUWARD TO ATTSND HBU " (j, Irving, you ' hor at all," (imo gallant .ny thing just aunts will' h proiluce, > his h;i Th ^^ Smitli sii y sat upright : ii«r chair, and, at this inopportune mo- ment, adilfCsMoJ the ))rido-olect : "Elizabeth, give ns some good old- fashioned hymn times, won't von, and set all theso young folks to Niii^.;ing? I'dliko lo hear them sing 'Tims far tho Lord lialli led mo on,' or sonietiiing sweet and tender, like that. Come now, ,in^t to please your old anntio." lint "Eliza- both" had a naughty frown on lier pretty face, and whirled her- self away from tho j)iano with the pettish remark that she had never li-arncd to play I)salms ; she didn't consider a piano suited to them, anyway. iiovf it so clianced, whether from thoui^'hiless- 11CS3 or iiecause ilieysupposcdthat a young lady from the country would not he a proficient at tho piano, my Lauia had not boon asked to play ; it also uhancod that she was by far the most skilful per- former in the house. We recognised quite early in her life that she tua marked musical talent, and we had cultivated it as' tUoroughly as wo could. As for her voice, it was simply remarkable. Irving must have romomberod it as a boy, but he had not mentioned music to her since we came ; w ? ' u'^^l"?'! "**"'^*Uy enough, had but little thought I suppose Laura had been a trifle piqued, as girls will bo, by the utter indifference of her new acquaintances, ana lately had kept perversely in the background when- ever there was a call for music. Indignation over Mrs. Solomon Smith's treatment, however, called her promptly to the front. 3« Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. wiinr'".'fc ^^'W ^- ^",' P''*^,""'' "'"K t''« hymn von m'"io-,ttl I""'' hn'h le<> mo on, ' J Inn fur Jim power jirolotiRs my dnri, And cTcry ivcniiiR nlmll m.ilc.i knc.wii Homo fresh uiemorlul of Hix (,'race." "Were I not hor mother, I might bo tcmptod to n descnption of tho tondorneM and jJf.tho^ and pol.r vich hiu." "I"'.?" """ «■■""!' "'•• ''.vmn. Tho flrnt line hushed the chftttoriiifj proups into aMtonishcd «iIon,e. On the Hooond verHo Krnkine joined her, a rich, full baVs wh.ch of course added to the charm, 'it was not h ran^e Xn 1::':;;^ "•"" ^^r. Smith-Hdamoured i,; Z^ro Twitv ^ T"" ■™''"'*"'- ^"' ^'»"'''» t"'-"'=J decisively away uom tho piano. ' I«l „""'*'' •'' ^^A""t'o Smith," she said coldly. "I ^'iut Mrs. .Solomon Smith had a word for her • Jiauia, my (ioi.r, you will not refuse to nin-' the ffosnel for any „„o « asking. Maybe it is tho Lord Jesus in3j a«kmg you to witncsH for Him. I make no doubt t uUHe f ounf ma^i"'" '"""' ^"^ **"" ^'"^ P"^P°*'« = "'"^ >"»•" t°°° This last to Erskine, who onswerod only by a grave bow, vlnlu Laura, with eubdued face, turned back t o ?h e Mr?Voni'*"qi''?i: "'"' ''•"°*^" f"}!?""'" ^ere called for, JUrs. Jonas Smith graciously add ng her voice to tho ?fK,S" """f «*"""; ';«•'* ■" ''''^ honlo was some! thing to be proud over. I fancy Mrs. Jonas gave some regretful sighs to the thought that it was Sabbatl evening and none of her friends who had musical danghttrsoi; nieces or guests would bo likely to see her triimml, Lanrv; ^ " ^"'"•'' ^^""^ ^'^h""' Vno^lng that Lauras voice was very unusual, has known for years gat she greatly o„,ovei it, drew outfrom tho storedfouse withl 1 ■"^"'''•/""^-'H"''^'-'*^ '^y""". and «at back with closed eveR, and enjoyed her Sabbath at last parlour that evening was what few people sin-^ now "Je^iis died on Calvary's mountain. Loiifr time ugo; ' Now He cnlls me to confess Him Buforo I go. I "My past life, all vile and hateful. Hu saved from siu ; I should bo tho most ungrateful Aot to own Him." "I wonder," said Mrs. Smith, breaking the hnsb that for a moment filled the room at the c Je of th"s ve«e Zt »: i^'^' >i"°^; '^ ^^T'^ ??y «* *he folks in th s room' that He 18 calhng to confess Him for things Ho did for .^s'^f ?l!?r«^°' "1!^ 1''*'^ ^°"'* ^'"'* *« "^o it ? Seems to me as If there might be one or two. How I wish you could all make up your minds to own Him as your best, friend the lover of your souls." iuenu, rt«n^''''w»'""'''^i^ ^^-^I'^^i. *"^°°.« "« *here was in that room then We could fairly hear the heart-beats. Even the £n, .•T^h-^t; '^''/ \^'^^ «*'»'^1^'* '°°k to see what Irv ng would thmk and what othere of her fashionable friends thought let the anxious look fade out somewhat from er face, and leave an almost wistful expression in its Sace B^lcncL : ^"^ * ' ^°""S '^"' *^''^^'"°' ^ho broir the " I'^ on?." tc said, in a voice that, though husky, was strong. " He did save my vile and hateful life yea^'ago '„nfl"n"P /'"•'"' *he depths, and I promised tKo confess Him always and everywhere j a^d I have shame! I fully broken the pledge, until now hanlly any one rem nises m„ as oue who over k-longed to Him 1%!^^ thoug^i Ho had juxtlv cwt mo off • " ' '"*' the te •" ""'" "^' """^ * '"' '"t"™ ""»« yo». M It was Mrs. Smith's rlcar, quiet voice that broke "pon the almost painful hush' following thi« --Tten. jSho trusted her voice to no words ..f her., 1 ,u S t.iirLonrHi!!.:s "'-" » ''--• "- ^^^^<^^^^s^^ .iJj'T^'i, "'""' "." ^ hare often thought befor« A i» t..'o 'trw^lk y] S-' """^ "^^'""'^ "'««' -y-^-T'l Khr'.',ddC.l'r!l''^''^''"^ '" *''°'* *hree minute, more J Kli nl(l lia^o had a prayor-meeting and an anxious sent T (lining-toom for a cup of colfee broke in upon the scum I 1 hat same silly little voice said, an hour later ' Don t you think Mr. Erskine Las gone for his horses! Ho has tho most elegant pair, and a perfect cem of ' carruigo. I suppose ho will not be soSeJ as to of very gentle hoi-sos and a close carriage " ^ ' And she rode away with him " ■ ''Tho idea I " said Miss Eiflo, "referring, not to the choicj knew tff r "^'^ ''"' '° t'>\«Pi«ode in the narlou " W l matrer ^f ^f ^'"° '"'' '""'' •"> eccentric ioing I For thl matter of that, we are all church-members I sunno* I m sure I am ; but I do dishke scene. '^' ^^ CHAPTER XIV. HAVE TO STAY OUTSIDE, AND JUST WAIT." T was veiy late that night before the hous, settled into quiet. The temptation waseviden"^ stiong upon our hostess to do a hundred littlJ entertainmTn^r'^'""^ """«" ''^ -'^ «* the txt Jj;"? 8leeD*toSf''"T« '"'•*?'?»'' ' """'-^ "°* t-^J^e time td » T?er«'^r ' " """^ *° *"«' '^''•» » nervous la.ighl 2aZ\ r."lfy responsibUities resting upon mol and so many last things to do 1 Monday is a very trvki I day for a wedding. Some way, Sunday makes an awkl ward break in all the preparations " ^ ^ 1 She certainly rested very little that night. The vario J bridesmaids were also in a flutter of preparation Tlievl discussed, in not very low tones, the ast chanses ir thf arrangements of flowers and o her brTdal decoratfonsf wM?«y«i ™^ ^^^° ''*'"* ^"^ ^" «« to slip into hel perfect °"°' '"°'"°' *° ^' '"'"^ *'"'* it was absolutey Laura turned in her bed and groaned and niH^A \,A pd low. and wished they would alftry sleWTngSawhUel and give her a chance. At last they did se^emto'^ndudJ 5ownupon\r''™"*^"°"' Mon'day, and quieCtUe! I hanlly know how long it lasted, certainly not morj han an hour or two, when the slaiming o/dcwrs a°| the hurrying of feet commenced again ] ble th^ttls m^^i^l ^t^^n-t'^;Sp^X^a 80 early, and make such a commotion when my weddwl day comes. ' Then she opened her eyes wfd? » ¥£!! Auntie Smith's voice," sho said ^' ^ "/ /tav4 to stay otttnde, and just 7vait." now hanlly any one reco lonKcil t<> Hiiii. I feel ')ff ' " ill return unto you, uill iniet voio« tlmt brok« I following thin > ritenc^ rorcN (,f hern, i.iu pour* nd the graoiouK message t >ften thought heforo an rynoar toMr». Hmuh.a up to u» ; a tono of dooision suppos _ he somothiiig more behind thoe, saying, TIi« than exciti-mont. After an hour of rustless sleep she had awakened in a burn ing fuvor, and wa« already talking so incoherently that it was irapoHsiblo to determine whether she knew in the leuMl whosho was, or whn* the wanted. Thi began a scene of ii,, paralleled confusion The yiolent ring- ing of bells, the diH- tracted hurrying to and fro of many feet, the calls for this and that and the other possible remedy, the frantic appeals of her mother to each new frightened guest who appeared, as to wlie- tner it could bo pos. sible that Lida was dangerously sick, all comoined to bewilder most nt 'M too hope- lessly to be of any [use. It was hero that Mrs. Solomon Smith's strong coni- Imon sense and rigid «elf-control rose to meet the emergency, and served us well. She took command in the sick - room herself; gently and ""rmly held her round against those [who were eagerly irowding round the )ed ; called Laura to lelp her with the lillows which poor lida was tossing ildly about ; gave le a bottle with le brief command : ?ui«t and clear it camo _ commnnd ■ "Harah, stop trying, mid shut the door. That is the very worst thing yo„ ,,1 do for her. Run down and Burry p the hot wat.r and send me some vjneirarl MM Jonas jfone himnelf for the doctor ? " " fik methmg has happened ! " we b.,th said at once, and in a moment we were dresMini? Something hod happone.I. indeed. The nervous irrita- bility of the fair young bri.lo-eloct. which hod so grown upon her for the lost day or two as to l« noticed ly all the guests, proved to ' 13 o homo, nev.r aj?a.n to be in it, a girl, as she had bMn m. lh:,r il„f^ ^'""■' r"".' "'" '" ''y'"'"'"'y '"' 'he po^r mother Hut she .orta.nly was a worse than uslle*! person in this ..mcrgon.y. It seemed impossible for her o,ret control of herself. Hho wrung hor han.ls in helj- I.'ss turror; one moment was sure tliaf Lida was dyinir rjuht there, be ore hor .vyes, and nothing l,oing doT.o T.nd U next called on us ff.Toely to agree with her that it w I, nothing ,„ the world but a severe hoadach-, and Mnna wjim nmking a great fuss ahout nothing. It tran- -p.red that Mrs. Sot,„„on .Smith, in groping hor war downstairs in search three minutes more wi fig and an anxious sent,' «aid, as a summons to tl broke in upon the scciii' id, an hour later : 9 Las gone for his horsfi and a perfect gem of t be so wicked as to ( curious speech to-night go along. I would li ig, if I could havo a riJ ime last evening." lome carriage, and cam itraight to Jlrs. Solemn i tako you to n churc. to-night ? I have a paii carriage." ferring, not to the choio o in the parlour. " Whi scontric being 1 Forth ch-mombers, I oenes." :iv. AND JUST WAIT." ight before the hou. smptation wasevidentl to do a hundred litti lew of the next day sould not take time with a nervous langh ties resting upon mc [onday is a very tryini lunday makes an awk^ at night. The variou of preparation. The he last changes in th' !r bridal decorations 1 I'm inclined to thinl ir as to slip into he that it was absolute] ' IT WA8 MAS. "Drop ten drops of Ihat into half a glass of water, and hand it to me quick ! " ^i Pffnptonly ordered the frightened mother away Tom the room until she could come quietly. 1 have rarol v Z^ih T*" "" "o/^Pietely unnerved as was Mrs. Jouas J^^lt i '^\°/ *h'-«e weeks, and her nervous system was ^ireatly wrought upon by the weight of n.aro n,M«H *n *>.« It cau-t oepos8i«[«'g« "f pain whi^ her mother-heart fe'irin parting 'n t you get people 11*001 her darling. She was very fond of Irvinr ve?v n when my wedding»roud of him, and seemed in every way to approve of eyes wide. " That *? °«'I"«ge : and yet of course it was a hard^tlZ to ^nuu 01 her one little pretty daughter going out from her )aned, and patted hci ry sleeping for awhile Y did seem to concludi day, and quiet settle d, certainly not mon imming of doors an lin of a glass of water, had heard Lida's groans, and gono to her relief I while hor worn-out mother having but lust dropped asleep, slept oil unheeding. What a day was that I I Ami that when I want an illus- tration of confusion and dismay and general bewilder- ment, my thoughts go back to that try- ing time. After what seemed like hours of waiting, the fright- ened father arrived with the family phy- sician. He was one of those grave, reti- cent doctors, who waste as few words, and give as little in- formation as possi* ble; but that littl* in his case was to be trusted; so when I heard bis verdict, given after a close and careful exami- nation: "This is a sudden and severe attiick of the fever which prevails in the southern portion of the city," my heart sank within me, for I had hoard only the day before that the fever was increasing in Wrlence. I fol- liivci the doctor into the hall, intent on learning his exact opinion. It was given me with all due gravity and reti. cence— rather it wai drawn from him by careful cross -ques- thl if '* 'iipoMible to tell, madam, atZ^^wrly stamj of the disease, how it will progress or terminate." ^ ^ les ; the fever is certainly not abating in violence and the number of cases is on the increase."^ ' disease " ""'^'^"''"^ «^ th« attack i^ a feature of the nZI'^a,^"' "^'°^ madam. It is never so sudden as it appears to unprofessional ayes, being preceded by hoSrs some imea by days, of great nervous Lcitement."^ ' n,n,iL'* .true that this case has commenced in an un- crfiirxttle'nl^' ^°' *"^" "« ^'^^""°- °* ^\ SMITH'S CLEAR, yuiBT VOIOB THAT BUOKB IB CPON THB ALMOST PAINFUL H08H " (p. 82). 34 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. W tVl^^*^""^' ^""'^ " ""nt'-'gi^us fover, and it is impor- Untto expose as few persons as possible ? " ^ ««^„fi'^*V*"°y person wlio has been near enoueh to tto patient to pet her breath, is more or less liable to the disease ; still it is frequently the case that all so " I always have grave fears, madam, as to the result St entbn/r- "■ '■ rf t','>- ^■'^«"' ^ '" this case, the *^On k rj°^?l"'y '^f^'^''^ P''y«'«''l organisation." 1 r«l ? l^°i^' ^.v*-*"*"*"^ ^'■°'" ^•'" ^ith a heavy heart. ttieSothe^r lS°ff'"« very cheering to communLate to me mother ; and there was m my heart a sharn nain on «y OH^ account. Had not my Laura already been^rera" times «' near enough to the patient to get her breath '•? wh^pTi^Jl^T^-'^^'f ^?,'^° 1° something like the system whioh prevails in a family of means, when sickness be- comes a recognised fact. Yet it was in many resner ts the. most trjdng day of all that we endured durinTths period of suffering. There were such sharp and frying ^nnir'f- f' v"^"" ^'^^ ''°"«^ ^'"•« tints, more or less apparent, of the expected festivity. Ha f-onen doors KTealed glimpses of soft, fleecy drapery, slippTrs? gloves aces flowers perfumes. The large dining-room sWed in the grey dawn of the early morning preparations for jpecial festival ; the long table was exten/ed.Srdosets n?K "" haste showed rows of sUver and ch na wai ! ipf ?r. ,^ " "*•• I« one closet the bridal cake had been U itnn/^vfir''^'? ^'*^ its wreaths of green, and beside nnoi to *f«.'f;«°'Pty mustard jar which had 'been seized Z„ it ^ ''^'" ^ ^^l P"""^ ""'° ^"fferer upstairs, and TM« «.f f°«:na8a"Vn haste, as a more urgent call ckme This 18 a fair sample of the incongruous confusions that prevailed throughout the usually well-ordered house! «ni n ^"''l ^^'i? *,'™P'y panic-stricken ; the story of fn £ '°"*K«'?° ^""^ T""""^ '° ^^^ unaccountable m^ner m which such stories always do ; and the vouug ladies of tl^^l^^ T!- l'*"'"."y ^'''''S their wedding fineiTfnto iuh Le"nt in*T""« *^^ '''^^"^'y bewildered se^^te with urgent calls for carnages to bo summoned at once that they might catch early trains. ' Ja rm'of" ".? "^'-^•^ for us to hasten," I said to Laura- ^von l?.v/ ."^ l^^u*""^ "''' ^ '^^Sretiul one as T -.aid- danger" ^^ ^'"' ^^P"""^' ""y '^'"''> " t"^^ any She turned upon me eyes that were almost fierce • *v. uT?"*? *?? '"'''^' "I ^ould not go away now if I thought I should take the fever in the next how and Tstra n ^'■'" W""^,- ^ *^'"'''' - despicSe'to b^ tLt thn. hP""'"- Yesterday they were so fond of Lida that they hung round her from morning to night • to-dav they think only of their precious selves i " ^ ' ^ .i^n"=i""''^°w''* Pr'' in^Jisnant in a righteous cause is almost a pretty sight. I did not have it in my heart to Tr ";: tolL "' ^'''^"^''* ^'''''«- ^'''"-^ ^'^^ ^'""tf-e ^.!!^ dropped into grooves of labour before that day was ?eToteSnX"V;rP'^^''^° "''"^'"g f^"'" *»>« °>^'e dav their woH? ".*^' ^V?''" "f »'•« ''»»«« for the day, their wedding paraphernalia following hard after in express waggons. These all had to be met, and explana- JsTnedln' ""d r^a-ations of dismay and condo euce hstened to, and hurried returns arranged for, to say nothing of lunches that in common decency mus be pre^ r^d?.' '""?K- ^n^ ^."'f P«' •"*« ^'"^ distracting gap Kr in.t1n.t ■ ^°"*t.^°''i f"*- y«a"- She seemed to know ^ti .; • .^"'* ''^°'** ""'"*' ^ t^ko up to Mrs. Smith acoonnUo allow to penetrate beyond the decorum of the „±^i"?.*A^"T? f"! " head below stairs, I took upon _._... .,,:^ uumuic omco or aiieciiiig the servants as to S^ breakfasts, and the like, trying to see that in ©nee, and accomplish neither. As for Mrs. Solomon Smith, no professional nurse could «fIw■'}''^'1;'''**',/?''^'"'*t ^^^ e'^e and speed that sh established herself in the sick-room. How manv tiZ dunng that first day did we have occasion to ^LS for her presence there. gr^iiciu ofIerseTI;S^'""^°°^"' ^'^ ^^J^ain better control TM,-» *^® hours passed, and it became evident th.ni tt^llf' undoubtedly a sick-room, and there were da and nights of intense anxiety to follow ; she seemed simply ?houSt nT ■ -t ^"^ !i" ^" Planning'and preparing 1 thought of sickness had not once been entertained N„« tram that other awful thought of possible death, a fune instead of a bridal, she was utterly crushed ; goo fo- mg and wringing her hands. ^ m^.m I have not said a word about my poor boy Irvini? How can I put on paper the record of his distress, th^e pl!oto graph of his utterly miserable face? He havered o.u side the stncken chamber like a shadow. The doct after having the state of the case explained to him si S his head gravely over the question of admitting Irvine see hot ttT*'"^ ^"^ ■* "^^y- "* ^''''' ""til thfy h„,^ see how the disease was going to develop ; it might be ., the utmost importance to keep him away from the room W« Hn'^'M r? needless exposure to prob.ble danZ We did not toll Irving that last ; the poor fellow ^von have rushed in m spito of us, then, to show his con em of all possible danger as connectod with himself " Waj for a day at least 1" the doctor said, and he said it as he did not know that under some circumstances a day an eternity. Before the close of this day Irving hat expected to have had his wife by his side for ^ev« W .Mf' **''/" "" P"*-" I ^bought of the sente" that had floated up to me amid the laughter of the mir nage rehearsal Was it possible that the dread shado re^ogtSitl*"''"^ '^""^ '"'" *^^"' """^ "°"« °* "' ''a! Before that first day was done, Irving had gone bad to something of his old boyish manner with ifis ^uS turning to me instinctively for comfort as a boy would his mother During the intervening five years we Ir ,1 grown apart as mother and son seldom do ; but amid a fhl fi'^'f^'^' u «r^ ""^ " "*"« thrill of joy to note tha the first touch of sorrow brought him back to me d«v» ILTi if ^ P."'"Pt'*' ^ '^^t"'' "" the miseries of tli days that followed. I coujd not if I would. Of coin' we calmed down from the first panic, and recognlsel'Vh ; but still it wasa stran-'il inevitable as people always do disorganised household. n,i Q^'M* J'"?"^® ^bing to me to note how few fricmh the Smiths had in their trouble; acquaintances in a them 7h.t''filf'* '^u "^" °^ '"^^ ^''owerod down «po them that first week ; many came in person, expre^siiiU sympathy, sincere expressions, and as kindly put ^astlc knew how, and yet the very dress in which they one BO bright and gay, and suggestive of the societv eng-i 4 ments they were even then on their way to meet fet^t tl ^rrT""! «r 'thing incongruous about it all ' A ,k n the hundreds there was hardly one that the mother ur SrT^o's::'"^"'^'''"*'*"^ -' «-*^«t sheexTrU'c? This mother the doctor bad taken in hand with a sor of stern courtesy ; had informed her that she ""o^ a fi subject for the fever, would be almost cert.rt,^^ U^^ il If she spent much time in the sick-room ; that she cou do no good there, she was not calm enough .indeed L presence was a positive injury to her daughter ' After that we did what we could to keep her fro Lida's room. 9f counie she came and went, sometimes trZ th V'^'' '" ^ ^"^-^ 't seemed to ui-bit iT wa true that she was too painfully nervous to' be trusted . S&^:S^^?^-F^ t^^S:::^ntSr Hid nn' ?• Pf^"*^ '"to our places in the household, an g^ig home"*" ■" '°'""°'' ^ '"'^ °ther the idea o; "You are so good," would the poor mother say 'we f HER] reacl gero in a passed, that s about her — an {about hirself. Her lucid puzzled and f doctor took m |he watched oi ipparent efEeci [moment. At last he ti " If she car ileep," he said |him from the [er strength ii Terrible woi Iby them that ill in the roo: {looking haggar Ihover^ in the ordered him t B ease and speed that slii ■oom. How many time '0 occasion to be gratef u We Feared, we Hoped, we Trembled." 35 id not gain better contm, nd it became evident th:it >om, and there were dav ollow ; she seemed simpiv nning and preparing tlii been entertained. Now I her, and brought in it ' possible death, a fiiner; iterly crushed; good fo. luld not keep from moan- r poor boy Irving. Hoitj f his distress, the photo 'ace? He hovered out. a shadow. The doctor, explained to him, .sliooi 3n of admitting Irving least, until they shoul. develop ; it might be n m away from the room ure to probable danger ; the poor fellow woii !n, to show his contem;. d with himself. " Wai said, and he said it as i 9 circumstances a day i, if this day Irving hail by his side for ever bought of the sentencf be laughter of the mar that the dread shado en, and none of us ha , Irving had gone bacL Banner with his auntie] nfort as a boy would to ling five years we haii; ildom do ; but amid alJ rill of joy to note tha^ lini back to me. all the miseries of tli if I would. Of cour.-H iiic, and recognised the t still it was a stran"i O » note how few fricml icquaintances in almn sliowercd down upo in person, exprefsin as kindly put as tlic^ I in which they caniei of the society engage • way to meet, left th^ 8 about it all. Amonj D that the mother up one that she expresse in in hand with a so. ler that she was a fi lost certain to have i room ; that she coul 1 enough ; indeed, h r daughter, dd to keep her fro nd went, sometimes led to us— but it w. vous to' be trusted t iot_ recognise her half :ti bcr a&seuue. Sue" I I, the acquaintance in the household, an 3h other the idea [.aura, as she came quietly to her side with a message -om some caller requiring attention ; " you are so go^d I see all these people and dispose of them. I cannot licet them, not one of them. Only think under what iircumstances i. expected to meet them all— whan they ;ame to congratulate my darling— and now she is " ■Id the voice would falter and drop into sobs. Laura waa good. I have rarely seen a girl of nineteen !liow so much tact and wisdom and quiet tenderness. Mrs. Solomon Smith was a perfect tower of strength Every one, from the doctor down, deferred to her. She vas really the very perfection of a nurse-quiet, calm, heerful, quick of movement, catching at a fl.ash the leaning of the patient, and the direction of the doctor- irm as a granite boulder when the question at issue wa^ ecogmsed as important, yielding to the last degree when It was only a difference of opinion. The doctor even took -ime to compliment her one morning as he waited in the "lall for admission. " You have a remarkable nurse in there. She has a faculty which not one nurse in a hundred posscsscs-that )f being able to do as she is told. I '-ave often observed ;hat people who can do as they are told, are the only ones lapable of telling others." ' It was true. Mrs. Smith differed from him quite often er notions some of them, were old-fashioned, and his ore new. I could see it in her eyes that she did not uite approve ; nevertheless, she swerved not one hair's ireadth from his du-ections ; she recognised his responsi- bility, and his right to lead, and like a soldier under irders, she obeyed. The summer guests had all departed. Of Irvine's ipecial friends who had come from'.- distance to attend lis wedding, only Erskine remained in the city. He ailed daily, sometimes twice a day; but Irving shrank from him. He seemed to shudder at the thought of meeting any one who had been close to him in his happiness. Not the least of my duties was the trying to keep Irving from utter despair. It was very hard for pim, as he said, to know nothing except what was doled lout to him at intervals from the sick-room "It IS different with you, auntie," he said pitifully. [•You can go lu and out, and see her constantly. You llmow ]ust how she looks, and just what she says ; and rou can bathe her head, and do for her ; and I have to itay outside, and just wait." mS in^ wit ?'"' ""^ '"''^'- '°* '^ '^^ ^'^"•^ *« «t-y CHAPTER XV. "we feared, we hoped, we tremdled." poor mother saj HERE came a morning when anxiety and suspense reached their climax. Lida was in that dan- gerous state in which she recognised ns all, knew I A xu"/ .puzzled, excitable way, that much time had passed, that she was very sick, that people were alarmed Kut hersTlf" ' '^"'"^ '^'*° *"' '•'^ ^"^ fearfully alarmed In.^t^'""!?*'"",!^^"*'. .^^'■^ ^^^^ *<"• *he immediately puzzled and frightened herself back into delirium. The Woctor took no pains to conceal his anxiety. For hours nhe watched over her, applying quieting remedies with no apparent effect, her excitement seeming to increase everv jmoment. » At last he turned from her as if in despair. "If she cannot in some way be quieted and put to leep, he said, addressing her father, who had followed mm from the room, "she cannot live but a few hours. jHer strength ir not equal tn this t,--rr!bl= =frr.:r. ■■ """'"• [ Terrible words these, when the skVlfS doctor admitted IDT them that his resources were exhausted. We were II m the room, or iu the hall, near at hand. Irvinir looking hagpird enough to have been the patient himself hovered in the background, the doctor having nervously ordered him to keep out of sight. It seemed to me strange and unnatural that Lida did not ask for Irving • n InTif ?° r ^"?'° ''°y **y ; ''"•^ yet she remembered.' at intervals about her past; for she had said to mo but an hour before : " I was to have been married. I wasn^t was I? Why was it changed ? Was I too sicir Oh' f^?^' I'^/^y^'pkl I'm going to die! I know I'm going to die 1 This sentence she repeated again and a^wn:iTnVrti'T ^°"=e growing louder, until it became a wild and fearful cry. Then for a time she would be utterly lost to ns in the ravings of delirium This in urn would be fo lowed by a sort of stupor, and then another partially lucid interval. But it wa^ painfully noticeable that she grew r --^entarily weaker ^ th« tiJl^^'iu^''® *",'f ' 1?,'^ answering the most natural ques- i wo d }^r'^i \ «^"* ^'"^ "'" '"essenger. He has^ent ^^.j*? y°" *'"'' He wants you to think about." • Did He say I was going to die ? ' imf iS*^ ™°''^ pitifully eager than her tone can bo lovl'^V^ *"'!■'' I'mT^ loved her with an everlasting lm?Ko l^W'^^'^^T; 'Thy Maker is thy husband.' Thy wW ♦^'.^'"".^''^''' *^'°'' "^ '*• You have thought what that word means. I daresay you have thought about It a great deal ; and He sent it to you on purpose so you woukl understand." i-uipose, There came into the child's evea tlint i.«frn.,v.-.t:T8 oon which shows us that a mind 'is sweeping bjic^ over Its past. Doubtless she had dwelt on that word "husband" with tender anticipation ; she was so nearly a wife ♦.hat fnrJI"^* ^''"'^^ T^ ''^•^*'* ^ •>"• She had looked ThTt^^ i^Y/u^' "* ^''"'l'. P""*""^ *°"''^ "My husband ! " The wild light began to die out of her eyes, which were stiU fixed upon her aunt, who had risen and was bending 36 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. over her, holding her hand, and passing a soft, li-ht in"tLr 1 ''"' ^r^T^^ ""' '^' ''''^' «^^r »"d over ag2 Btrength :-""' ' "^''^ conveyed a sense of Tj'l^^ 'T ^^a^"' '°''^*^ ''"" ^'*^ a" everlasting love ; Sfsband.'" "" *° '"^ *° ^'°" ^^'^^ 'TV Maker is thy hil^urt '^''^'''"'J listening, and the doctor, watching rwc^icf ^®?i,PJ^^'''"'?'*^ eye, telegraphed with signifi- cant gesture that her pulse was lessening Presently she spoke in a perfectly ratural tone. -1„. ' i""*?^'^?' f ^'^^^^'t loved Him. I haven't done anything for Him." The doctor's start of surprise to hear the low-keved natural voice, was so instantly followed by a frown at W°^°*f"y'^°'*,5 l*'*''"*^*^ elance toward »Irs. Smith, lest she too should break the soothing spell, that we No ITd'^T. l""y u'*'" *''? •'"Portan^e ^f the calm! heraun^t'svoke '^'"' *^""*" *"^ "^"'^ P^^-^P* '^''^ "Yes He knows all about that, my lamb, still He sends the message He wants you' to love H m wants you to begm noiv. ' ' " But I have wasted my life." ^.1I^^' T^^^ ^^ ?.^, ^^^""^ ' ^« " yoir Maker, you know, and now He bids me say tliat He will be j^our after that? His love is everlasting. He wants vours now ; not yesterday's, but to-day's." ^ " Aunt Maria, am I going to die ? " The doctor gave an emphatic start this time, and tried rigorously to arrest Mrs. Smith's attention, while he Bhook his head earnestly. ' She did not for a moment remove her eyes from Lida's face, nor for a moment hesitate with her answer. 1 don t know, my lamb ; He knows all about it : He didnt send you any word about that, only the other- 1 nave loved her with an everlasting love :' and then that other: 'Thy Maker is thy husband.'' What He fo'A*our\SbTnd^ ^°" ""' '°^^ ^''"' "^"^ *^« Him How much did the fever-wasted mind understand of »ou!^K iu?^,*®"!^'',™^'''''^*"'' Who can tell? We waited breathlessly, the doctor curiously: his professional anxiety was giving way to professional curiosity, to see how this new form of treatment would work. Two other physicians, also eminent, who had been called in council, ^i, ^""''^i^*'' ^^^"^ ""*" °«'«'. t'P-toed into the S' M '^*'*®'^' "'J'^ "^^^ evidently curious ; and the ovit „ni „J°'°^ 7^°* °° repeating its tender message, over and over and over, and then the tender inquiry. Elizabeth, He wants to know if you will take Him foryour husband now." « "im thl f!!:!ll^"V°^ ^r- yet perfectly distinct tones, from V^iJZ ^^r^^r^H^- ^°* " "°*« «f *e controlled voice changed as the dear old lady instantly answered :- BDeak to r!^ w '"' T ^'™^ = ?"'* *^"* y^"^' «y«« «nT^®^' ^"* "o «0""d from them was heard th« B^dejof heaven. We stood in perfect hush around fBiTin^? "o'JiJng to Diettk it save that steady voice Si o.i^'"'" """^ i°7""' •«'*'^J°8 ^° P««8e betwwn the Bentences, or repeated sentence, for ifaVsimply said those mat for the first time m two we«ks the child was Bleeping a quiet, natural sleep, or else it was the sleep that know no waking here. y, Weeks afterwards we called that day the climax ; bn S eno we did not know It at the time. We hovered with Li* ,ut beco" ?fff r"^,''", *^! r^y <=°"''"«' °* ''"Other world. N I hard that there had not been a decided change ; the fever ha. leliveran have eft behind was a small pale wreck, without powe, emembi to rally Its scattered forces and creep back into life E E^w Day after day she lay there like a snow wreath, too wear •" to speak, too weak to move so much as her small, waste hands ;3ust strength enough to turn her eyes from on :L^°° -^J "f, ''?'^^,- ?"* '* ^'^^ " I'le^sed relief thn she smiled. The look of terror which had blanched he tace during those memorable and fearful hours was gon- She was evidently at rest. Whether it was that she was now too weak, too nearli slipped out of life to be other than at rest, we did nol know ; we feared, and we hoped, and we trembled een afrai Iweet som [old me li ike care Dst as eas It was tl Barest apj "I oong ursing ha smarkable Then w( linutes, ar uite away epths of From thi and not open them again, that I feel kind of"astoni^hJ^ ..„^ ,„ every time I see them open. She thinks herself that shl-ue but fr KKiSergS"^*^ ^''- '"^"^ ' " «^« "^'^ - « r'" " ;; But she is very quiet and peaceful ? " eTwef n us' "Oh as quiet as a lamb. She spoke about gettinR lincs of tl married and said she thought she was going to be th 'fore the f mttr'?''^ V T^ "^°"""'* ^f ^'' talk,%he^doctor B^d '[rcafl! IhTrn J' ' ^"*^.? ^^l ^""^7 afterwards ; she wanted to igret over she had sweet things to tell me, she said ; poor lamb ! " idiant f^e Generally Mrs. Smith was cheerful. It waa onlj "ItisL wt!lf 1^ ^•' 1° * u' PV^^'^^y °.* ""y '^°«°'' tJ^'^t «he allowe eeks she h herseK to sigh ; but I saw that she had very little hop, aiting for bnfrf T'" 'Jv^'Tu'"^ *°."'' ^^''^ t^" 1»» ^a« alnios' AfteftS harder to bear than the excitement of constant sufferini e visited h and constant attempts to do for our sick one had beea gi^ewtobe There seemed nothing to do now but wait. What thi " doctor thought he kept to himself. He came and went twice, three times, occasionaUy four times, during thi day and night ; but apparently doing as little for her a the rest of u» ; just watching and waiting. I began t grow very anxious for Irving. His business furlougl had been extended ; his place temporarily supplied, ii fact. It was found that even grvernment' had hearts h^nr tw 7*^ "?"i"^? for him but to bear from hour to . „^ „„, of sickness. He had grown almost as thin as Lida; hii ring, in ev face was quite as colourless ; and now that the strang( 11 fiAd me fi'iwh^ "T^ ^ ^'1'.^" ^"^ '°°'-« h'^Kgard. Aunti. Whethe^^h fwL^^^''*'""?\°* him; made many journeys frou e timefbt the chamber of watching on hU account ; always appearei tisfled liok to him with a pleasant face and an earnest- ^ "It is a c nn!i w ? "P/JK^^flA^"*' '"y ''oy. The Lord reigns I'm a faith) and He loves the child better than you do, and you knov< e Lord cou besTfTher.'' '"^- "5^°" "^y !>««"« He Will do Hi y better th, She was left much alone with her patient. It was th< His* own^S doctor's command that the weakened'brain should not b ft wri^J ^^^l^^'^^'^^i ^551^^*-- ?_^-*>-' -d - *he mother'^ troublT ly by her equently fc |lk no more ;ops. She th a smile liting for 'hough Irv ore like the "I am not _,--r^— -•", ■•'■.■'■.rij g:Tcii out since tne flio strain had been removed, and she had dropped into tht role of an mvahd, it had been decreed that she must not exert herself for Lida at all. So it fell to me to reliev. Mrs. Solomon m her ministrations, and we two took sol charge. L»ur» would have liked to e«Ubhsh heraei "rteil us we " : headache i ' away from There was J'Ta. She ( |tching, witL Q— so unlik( it was the sleep that know; 1 that day the climax ; biifcares enough all aro - We hovered with Lid: )ut becoming nurse at another wnrlrl TV^ t 1 ji_ "? :e a snow wreath, too weal much as her small, wastei o turn her eyes from on was a blessed relief thai r which had blanched he id fearful hours was gon now too weak, too nearl than at rest, we did no d, and we trembled. i repentance," said Mn\ tier tired eyes, during on i she was off duty. " I't em, and I am now. Pooi been got into the ark Ion » die ? " Laura asked thel mk wreck, withoul po,c, emeSblr I VhTuS J™ T' ■""" I'J" V "'''«» '>■«« I Ike care of me down here alh le • thai Helou W 1 i? ■St as easily here as in heaven, and I suppose He can " ia 1 hdd oir^^'^rT^ ^'^'^^ ^•^^ doct^orstopp din the "I congratulate you, youn-' man I T i??- ™.ri.,'.h«„„tedt<, «.« ».rhr..^tdS »"•''»» i" k'; vi,il, .„i she said ; poor lamb ! " wliant face departure. He came to ma with a ;;rrm",^that\:^li;:^ :£ 1^ ^^ ^^J^ ^^^' f^^y ^ "for «he had yerj little hop, aiting for win^to' floT: J'ay tTs ^S" TI SL* ,,«* .,,,•. ,..„ forning she 8 „teo,< herself." ^ "°^* ' ^"* **>'« " Awttie always sees Things'. 37 selfish thonghtfubelsforothots ' '"' ^'''''^^'' '^^ """ fro7S';ot;^'^v;*<^i3---^^^^ come to life again " as if she had died and isut Laura shook her head stutd.*^ ^ ^"""^'''^ ''^'^ "^y P"""- I-^^ra would under. CHAPTER XVL " AU.N'TIE ALWAYS SEES THINOS." bul fhisper. She thought ) put, she feared so ; ' it it into words, ired, half -hopeless voice to die ; it seems as if i ier just to shut her eye t feel kind of astonishei tie thinks herself that sh Smith ; " she told me aceful ? " hat this lull was almosi rnTor^nslUsufferb, gSdTerornra^T"*"-"?'?"--''^^ I-- our sick one had been grew to be the S^/for ^ - "-^ • ■ What the ly by her side JnJr, ^l™ lu 'P*!"'' ""'"'^y half of the and went e^ue'nt.^^f ^kmon 1 f^l^^L^:'^!^^^ ''-ken )w but wait 3lf. He came and went four times, during thi 3oing as little for her a nd waiting. I began t His business furlougi bemporarily supplied, ii jrvernment; had hearts— ut to bear from hour to telling on him like a fi Dst as "thin as Lida; h" vinkTn eTer so mil i7'' ' ^,J?u"°* * l*'' '''<« her, d now that the string. 11 fi^nd me change?" '"^- ^^^'" ^ ^'' ''^^^ >-°» more haggard. Aunti( Whether he understood her or nnf T ^- 1 . . ide many ourneys froii e time; but Auntie Smith ZT'. ^"' "/'' know at =count;a^waysappeareo tisfied l^k in Sred Seyes ''"''""'^ ' '^"'' ^™^ " boTThe Lord reigns I'm\'UhCd\oi;''''l1rdn1iem t"^^"""^''- 1 you do, and you kno« e Lord could accent hp^ nt hi • f t j*° ^^'"^''^ '"'at r be sure He wiU do m y better than rShcTshe r 1 fm ,? i lL7t' •'si! ^er patient It was th. nit'S^nfor'^^ZTtr'^^^^^^^ ned brain should not b. It was impossible notTo8ei'"h""' '*' "!' ^''''^''g''-" her, and as the motherf troub ledger lTher*°thrt It t^^'^l. ?* i? P"-''^'^ rca out Since ine Hiss "'en uh wb ^hnnrrht „_j ~" V", ■■"*- "^s ^lot . had dcop^ --fc;£«SH=-="™ -^?^ fcVhSrzurii-srs^h^t^if e had dropped into tht reed that she must noi it fell to me to relievi 8, and we two took sol 9d to establish herse' gF you like pretty home scenes, a glance into on« ^^ that wf f '' '°°'"' °^ ^^'- J°"'''^ Smith's house i.--«-'*«i> that winter evening would liavo fri,Tor, her .,de Laura wa, i» trim ev.niog co.lumc her ™tS ^ safih^u^rKrdr™7CdV:.Tc.£- J^ll H '^f'?.? ■'■? "'"• b'ighl-colounid w»te „S .titi'^r^c'^Sr '""» "" "'• ""'•■' Se- A-r .r^'hSi.7ciSr.inh,i °r:;.« KwHHf ' »" •■' 'ff-LttStr escort ner. &lie did not deem it wise to have hof b of .,, There had beoTfclk'f ^"'- ""^Pf «1'«1« ^ Past kindnesses. Mm W), ? u { '^"''"1^' *°'" ^"'^'"6 to accompany si^med'heNdl'" '"'"' "' observation, but ehe^aS «j,r ^ *o"''^°'' J^now what to do with a boy at my heels " she said earnestly. " Jfy boys were all girk Z k„ow n edn't"raV7.' T' '" ""^'''"^y "^"^ S«i°'-« You coufd LS^lost f ? ^^ Ff^""^ '"/*• ' '^""'^ believe I coma get lost If I should try. I alwa:'T bring up aU str!iTcarhi^''.P°'°*'*"<*.^''°'«ff i" triumph on the wSTd d'utyt^arr'^""" "^^ ^^^'^•^"^ "'"''-"»' to SrtL^:? ES'ertTe; ^°^ ^^"-^ '^^ ^ "^ «"**«' .rnl'A?'"' 'V"""^* '.*'?'' 'bings," she said to Lida. " She goes everywhere with her eyes open wide, a^d if you £a>e been the same route a Lnd/ed times,' it makes^n. 38 Mrs. Solomon Smith Lookincr- on. tiouS.Tok"^' ''°'' *" '"""''''"^ *^'"8» *''''* y°'> °«^°^ BitSr On„ "P^""?^^^"'" the room in which we were d^H fini T?" ^"^* ' f.''"' "•'"'"^'^ ^>t»' a" the hun- dred little prettinesses which a girl of taste and means l.k^s to gather round her. The door was ajar and rernJed f. bCanS Sf;''"'^-^^'^'lV'''-^?,*'"»' '-'^ furniture doS 111 blue-and-whUe panels, blue silk and white lace curtains at the windows-a very bower of ber.uty. The other door opened mto the guest-chamber, which was a counter- part of Laura 8 and my beautiful room, ucross the hall, save SSs'LT *^"''h"* '^"^°'' """'^ «^''«"«°t shades and tints so Laura thought; and this room was now the private property of Mrs. Solomon Smith. On the very first night that she had consented to leave rr/Ar^^T^ '"'P?'-'?°<=«d hands and take an entire ni-hfs rest Mrs Jonas Smith had called Laura, and said - nr^"3j «'"■' ^\" y°"f^« that aunt's room is in 'perfect order? Have the heat turned on, and the gas lighted and everything. I leave it to you to see that she is entirely comfortable. You know which her room is ' ?hL„"L*]"\* "Pf"' ^."'" 'ft ""t of Lida's sitting-room I have had her trunk brought there. She will naturally 1^? t iMl^'ru*" ^'^*' ^""^ ^'^"^ ^i» like to have her • io I took the liberty of changing her room." ' It was a hberty which Laura certainly was very willing i„ntt°^^"'^ ^^^^ ^'T^''" ^^"-^ ^^^ been sdd abou? Auntie Smith's room. I do not know that Mrs Jonas Smith understands to this day that we knew anythhiK about the fireless attic-chamber. «"ytning We had arrived at the time when the whole house delighted o do honour to the country relative It wa! tardy hospitahty, but we took the hint from the dear oW lady's own large heart, and never mentioned the attic chamber again. The only comment that Mrs. Solomon ^^tlT^Ty ^''"':« ««c"rted her to her new room, was t^ gaze about her with astonished eyes, and say,— this^oom."""""' ' ''°"''^"'* '"'"'^ ^"^'"8 ®°'°"°° ««« JTr^t '^'^f'^Z "^f 1 "*"« «'g^ ''t the close of the Bentence. I doubt whether any of us realised what a tml It was to the loyal old heart to lie down in the midst of ^all this grandeur and think of Solomon in his lone- wait?nT?nA"l!i"'i" J^""" "^i? *^*'' * "ttle impatient waiting for the clicking needles to commence. (Laura ^101* tnat when Mrs. Smith knitted, her tongue wm apt to keep time with her fingers.) "Aren't you rested ^uough to tell us about your afternoon ? Li Ja wants to hear of your f Jventures." ^° «Z''? ^'^•*'''' '"'I'^i " ^^^ ^"°t Maria, I've been waiting S\»vnr ^''^V'' Y''\ ''^ "^""t it. it is so long 8 ncf I have been m the street, you know " i,.!^,?'"'^^'"" I'u^*'*'" ^^^ '^'^^- Solomon, "nothing happer.«i to n^e that would be worth your lUtening to I daresay i went and I came, and I got along auLhi though I must say there was more people going the same lt'Ztf^ ^^^ °PPojite way too, f^r that maUer-thTn w?s at all convenient. I couldn't help wishing that thev had all stayed at home iu7t f^onrK„oZa^d"g vZ me a chance. Still I'm back, and no bones broke ; whTch" considering what I've been through, is something won- rn» J?,l°°?\* *° '"'^® r'*^*?, "°til Saturday, and then I could have trken care of you." This from Irving, spoken iL? tu*l ^ilT'^u ""f'^'y; ^« "^^^ ""^"Pted the coVntry aunt, with all his heart and soul. ^ Jt ?u "°'fi ^^ '^'•^ ^"lyy- ^^""S °P her knitting ; " I got along first-rate ; I didnt need i %it more care than I had. Folks were real kind, considering what a hurry they were in. I never see the beat of city people for hurrying I And the women are a« bad as tfie me^ do iay I One mwht have thom/h* <-ha* "^""^ '-' ~-_ -- I met to-day had left a baby at home tiedinlhe'S t.11'''4i!"'^ " ™;»f -pi? burning up in the oven, by the way they cro,,-ded and pushed and elbowed themselves ■Jong to get into places first. I thought when I cot into toe street-car there would be less of a crowd ; but dea? me I that was worse than anywhere else. Whv thow Z'^IV^T ''*"?'^'".» '•°«'" '«« i" one l^iT, and yet th^ people kept pouring in, and the conductor would call out : Puss up to the front there, please ! ' when we wm stand l?fft fft "' ^''^^'^ •" "* J''^- I «^°'t "nake ou^ wher, all the folks were going to. I asked a girl if therl wa3 any great meeting or anything special goinVon butS nranswer^"'^' Bhe just tosid^'up he? headland mat| I believe that at that moment Mrs. Jonas Smith rejoiced in the invalidism that had kept her from attending he? sister-m-Iaw She was a wonderful nurse, and tlu y owed her an everlasting debt of gratitude ; but if I am not Tbv L'!!"*"''""-' *\' «tylish'matron did not wishTo pa, .i-^^^i P*"y*"^ her down town. ^^' LaufaasC ^"^^ *° '**""* '" *^° street-car, Auntie?" "For a spell I did, child ; most of us had to Therol were two or three ladies on each side, who had fixe themselves up in such a way that they couldn't oven eot close to each other without danger of crushing son^ethinc so they just spread themselves out and took u|pS neaJ al the room there was; and the gentlemen that were with them took the rest. I felt sorry for their mannLM I for I was the only old one among 'em ; and while I d"du'J grudge them the seats, it looked kind of mean n them to sit still and see me stand. I suppose I might have Sed hi, n"* ^^'^P^Kht I wouldn't, f had my revenge though thevCP« t^£'^"°*^,'"8 J°' ''^^ '='''''"■"« the seats until they was crushed up about as close as they could stand it I stood here a-bobbiDg round ; first I would land on one r^^^y ,1'' ^^^ 'Pu*'* °"^ °^ ^^^ fi'^« I'^di^. 'inJ I wouldn' no more thar ask her to excuse me, and get my bonne 8 raightened out a little, then there 'would com7a dreSd- fK,"^V''°"''^ •'"^"^f '° *^« °ther side ; I stepS right on a fine young gentleman's toe once. I felt moat i/f r /r'^-*""; ^'"t- ^ ^"^ it must have hurt, foT h had a httle m.ncmg boot on, too short and too narrow a the toes ; tney hurt anyhow, I know they did ; and when ^ Wr-rti'^^^^''-""'^/'^ ^'^^.'"' 't °i"st Lve been aw^^^^^^ 1 didnt blame him for looking savage at me, and not saying a word when I asked his pardon .n^A* '"'* * ^^^^}y "^''^^ sot in ; she wasn't more than PlT^S ?' ^'^^^T?' """^ '^^ '°°'^«<^ * little like you! Elizabeth, I noticed her particular on that account ; she ?nd ^^^ T^f 'i* ^^' ''^^^^' t° ^^ «»fe than you 'have Ion nnT^ '■"'"'^ "^"''^ '^ ^^^ ^il^ »«^t summer when you and Irving come out to the HoUow, and drink new milk and hunt for fresh eggs." I "^^^^ *^?™ "^^^ ''<^s«s into Lida's cheeks, and she laughed a happy little laugh. As for Irving he both nn^^r** '^."ff ■'!,'' ' ^^ ^^^ «° ^''^'-'"tly slfppS from under the awful shadow that he stiU rejoiced with trem . " Well, she settled herself, with a good deal of nains into the speck of a place which they made for hor?2 tL'^«rl.r,°2,^i^!^^•]?P-l'-M° 1.00k after," ^ , = — ~j — •"-" ■•">* ^/uvuoia ku looK aner. andi her great fur cloak was quite a spell getting tucked iuto Fte ^"* ^y;^°f ."^y «he got fixedVanl had time to look tT^^f-f •{"«* then the car gave one of them horrid jolts *hat feel as though they had driven over one end of I Sk« fn°l!iv'f "Pvli'*')'^.'"'"''^ ^^^ ''°°« "'ll to smash, and mi hri^tw *.""^''^*'^ ^°T *!""« ' ^ '"o^t couldn' get Sat SA *°°^ ""^ "^ by surprise; and them strfps' that they hang on to, was so high above me that I couldn^ but just get hold of the tip end. ' For the lands sake 1 ' says I I wish somebody would stop this thing for me and let me get out. I shall be all black and blue > ' Wdl my pretty httle lady hopped up in a twinkling, and her eves blazed about as yom-s do sometimes, Laui^ and say. t.'Jf^r\^^^ ?? ""'**' P^^'^*' ; I <^o not mind stanS- mg in the least ; Mid I am younger than vou.' Of nmjr«i »nH •ii'^^^i! f^l^i^^J '^"^ ^ couldn't take her seat away;" fitfi il 5**'A"* '''%^"'* P"''''^'^ -^^ *ith them gentle ittle hands of hers. I wasn't hard to push ; you sio the thing joggled 80 that I couldn't stand steady, and I would push one way about as easy as the other ; before I knew It another bounce landed me right in the seat, coaxing They ca very mi herself had bee how, I ( but the take hoi "'No much b( "The I don't think o: been po were. < down aj one witl how his Our pi that it E her knit "I'd 1 tone of " Laura, and I foi to listen, like a mi Thenc the still 1 afternooi on, she ^ cough an "Why said Mrs. fey stoc saw a I suppose 1 good deal ttreets. ''. the horse couldn't ] Solomon looking ri woman cr Thinks I with old ] for there' 'em, for t could all I one place, across soi thinking i place was '' and so I ti thicker th last: e»., and they ]ust stepped back respectful, :is if tl.ty know tliey had found tlieir master now, ami wouldn't bo allowp.l to bite any heads off; and I walke.l aloni; litrht tluoii.rh the jam as nice as you ploaso. I dont know how it wan done, lliero wasn't any placo to cross; ju.st a jam of men and women, and v,iiy<(om, and horses, and more a-coming as far as yon could see from both ways. But I got across. ' " ' It's a broad road, sure enoni^h,' I .^aid to the police- man, and they all look as thou-h thoy wore hurry jnjr to destruction ! I hope tho foet of every one of thorn are really and truly in tho narrow way, and that they'll all get safe home at last.' I couldn't help sayins,' it, you see It seemed such a kind of solemn picture of our iivos all ru.shing and pushing along, not taking time to stop and think whether they are going tho right way or not. T ,H°^*','nany of them will get homo, do you Hu()poso ? * 1 asked the policeman, and he answered mo quick and pleasantly, — " 'Oh, they'll come out right. We have just such a crush as this every day, and rarely an accident.' " ' Yes,' says I, 'but I was wondoring about the other ,^'u . ^^ '"''*"y °^ *'"^'" ^^'^^ S''^ ho'"« t" bwiven ':' ' ' Then he looked at mo for a minute and says ho — " ' That's a hard question, ma'am. I cant toll.' ' I hope you'll be there,' says I. "But all lie said to that was, ' Thank you I ' spoken real gentle, and then ho went to holp some other scared bodr across. ' ,'/°n 1^* matter.' I'm beat yet to know where they could aU be going to I got to the very thickest of it at one place. I knew half an hour before that I must get across somouow, soon; but I kept walking along and thinking that there wasn't a good place ; and the next place was worse, and every step I took the thing got thicker, and so I turned around .',nd went back a little, and it was thicker there than it was anywhere else ; and says I at last : < Well, now, Maria, what's the use ? YouVe got to get across ; take your life in your hand and go. You'll ^„ t? ^ T^ °fv '/ v'* 7°V "^"^y *° «"'°». and if it isn't, you hadn't ought to be took care of.' So I started. 1 hadn t taken two steps when I was sorry. I tried iSi'^*P^'?''Hl *'S* U°"°^ >* looked worse Sehind me than it did ahead. There was a horse with his mouth apen nght at my bonnet ; ready to swallow it, without paying any attention to the head in it, and exactly before me was a couple of them, pawing the ground, and tossing then- heads, and just aching to step on me. I could see It m their eyes. 'For the land's sake,' says I, ' whafll I »l*i ""* -1^ ^^f'"? stepped up one of them blue-coated gentlemen with gilt buttons; a fine-looking man he was, and tall enough for me not to feel afraid of anvthin^' /ou-u think, and says he, ' Walk right across, madam • I'll see vou safely over.' ' ' «il^?i'' ^i.™"*^^ another dash, and sure enough he came a ongside of me. But dear me ! he couldn't be both sides at once, and that road seemed to stretch itself out like » piece of mdia-rubber ; seems to me it is a mile across • CHAPTER XVII. "SAYSI, ' YOUNO MAN, YOO ARE niGUT, I AM A RFJ.ATIoN.'" •^I^T makes a great difference if vou see things with ^M? ■ youi" own eyes," said Mrs.'Smitti, letting her mhm knitting fall idly in her lap, and giving herself up to contemplation. Laura looked up curiously ; the observation was sug- gestive to her of all sorts of quaint ideas in her old friends mind. " What did you see, auntie ? " she asked at last, having waited as long as her impatience would allow. " Why, I was thinking about that great big store. I had heard about them ; Jessie, she tried to make mo understand. 'They keep everything, auntie,' she would say : ' everything yon can think of.' But I didn't under- stand. ' Well,' says I, ' so does Job Turner. I was flown at the Corners the other day, and I couldn't help noticing what a sight of things he had ! Bars of soap enough to wash the whole town, you'd think ; and spools of thread, all colours and all numbers, and calicoes, a splendid stock, and alpacas, and all that kind of goods ; and then on the other side you could get molasses and herrings and eggs, and anything you wanted. He keeps everytljing I cai think of, and a great many things that I cant think of.' Jessie she laughed, and said it was different from that ; but she left off trying to make me understand. I thought of it to-day, and says I to myself, no wonder she stopped telling me about it ; she saw that I was such an old goose that I couldn't understand I AVhen I got into that great i ^tore^near where I had such a time crossing the ?t-r?t, I was so fisionishod for a minute tiial I couldn't think of a thing I came for; I just stood there and stared. A whole village full of Job Turner's stores might have been packed in there, and you wouldn't have known It by the space they took up. Another city, that's what it was, and enough sight cleaner and quieter than the one I had just left. ' For tho laud's sake ! ' 1 said at last, to 40 Mrs, Solomon Smith Look mg on. T •-»^"^, ^j"" ?? ■*'' '■°""<^' and see the prottv thin« ? " to the young „„ who went up with m.. 1 1 1 k,»w S ™r "■'"ly,»«}i"« it to him, dlber , I T.' Idnd jL.ti™'"* ""' '■'»■'' >■"' ■"> 'I'O"!!" I «.ke71i„1 ••fS^ v¥'" - ™ "iit' ft,/ .hinWE^t &i'srt'™Sir.i'^ r « are goto. ,„ g., o„r bodie, „p to „"ve„ I Sif tfe i^.dH7it-4''SL:'i£L''rdv-ff !! ]U8t as safe m your Fathers hands as that Httle Wt of "We had got out of the elevator by that time and w^rA rb*oS°£.„"r° *'"" "* ^'^^ elegant^ooms He foXd L he'sdd^lT'^y "^ ^"^'' '"'•^ '^'^ ga^« a real troubled 5 +n"»lP''' ^^'l: ^''^r?'? "^ "«e worrying; if a fellow is te^l>e saved he will be; and if not, he'caa't help him! n»rt^f^*^i- 'J'^^J"* P***"* of that is as true as the last iV?u * °'u'? '^"'"^F ^9^1"^ and lie .ets do,vn hef.Vr/?" t^' c»!:ii" "'"^ "°"l" '''«''^' •""! glowers nt it, and refuses to swallow a crumb, you would be one of the first to ^v tault. Your Heavenly Father has spread the table for yoa, young man, and now it is your bulness to s^ , and SrrJJ" ^^' ''"' "^-'^ ^' ^'^ ^r push it away won't insist on Roiug hungry " ^^"""^ ' ^ ''"P^ ^^ waltS"? '''' '"''''''^ '- ^'-^-^'^ «y-. but her face man? of tht' S'''^\ ^^'^y-how? I didn't hfve a good ^hS^Sn^s' eo^Tlttnn^'''^\r^ ^«^^•^ ^•'^^"f sart^^e;s?K^^^^^^^ r.iritd"ts°rir.i-is»-''-jp«*^^^^^^ talk." ""• "" '" » ""i-e «»°<1 «' heSli^m" Oyer this last explanation we nil kuphnd • nlliajf t 4- at'the It""'*' ''' ''^""'^y ^""^^ •'-'^ to tbe "I met one chap," she said, "who wasn't a bit lik« nl T^ZZr"" *''* 7^1* "P '""^ eCtor'wi h me }Z Z^-sTu . yu"' ^'Sg'y kind; now a giggly girl is Kkiut fs smnll" ''"^ "^^^ •''"S'^^'^* nothing^Tthe^t me IS aoout as small a specimen as you can find I thinlr Tf :TtlZ^T S "^ *?;'^r'' ^°^ ^l^^ '-'^ has'^S^enc' wim inem au. It would bo so easv for Him fn i.,..* remember that ! N„Tf eomelo S rf 1^7 „*'r'" MO kod inTao« rr? ^''K^ ^"^^^ '^ woman who had different kiids ln^°T' '^% ^^^.^^^od all about the finfi J?- ' ^^^ *'"' """'^ do it beautifully • all the ^ell, my chap undertook to have some fun oTer me He saw I wa. old-fashioned, of course, and kiid of queT u m tor that. I got a glimpse of myself in one of them tifri^^''/ ^'^^^^ I' «■• th« "^est of the women rnu^ have looked funny to him, for we weren't a S'aTike have on\ nf/f f/"^"'"P,P°««^ **>** becauSi didn^ nave on a pleated dress and a hundred vards r,fu),l puckered round it, that I didn't know lace^^lfeu j l^aw "'Oh yes, grandma,' says he. 'I've trot inst th^ !««» L"17~"oi.'' ^^^y choiceVttern.''L'u ffvouril^ " I believe it made me feel rather cross to have him oiill t^e grandma ; I ought to have been gM insteld th^t^i wius no grandson of mine. I answered hi KnlVirt It s for myself until I give it to somebody eke.' I said " 'Just 80, he said-and he was ahead of me in good tnre. ' leap as di lot of cot " ' I told "'Real! tassure yo ly we've ( ■' Says I it.' W« jite a sp( Inds, and iff ' real janish lac 1th him, lU must g shouldn'i luld pay lys I : ' E 'e minute lushed a 1 jen laughi 1st as read gglers are id in abou loke a liti ill-will, I jt out of |ce of almi ju were be fter, and if " Well, al lerks turne' very red f :etty soon 1 the seen [ant ? ' It low, but g; Jen the clei I man with ght over : icactly the s 'hose face I id then I ti " ' For the 18, and his i id he held ( [is aunt this Irs. Leonari lout a Sui >k my nie [ear us, and lout a gooc lis was the ' jartners in tl liling for na |ot my lace t •ok me all r sgin to tell ■ ippose you ] lough, I mn tat I never 1 You und [reat brass pi rge round a ime up ; in ore, and I'd lem all the Ittle box am lipes. Away [old of it the ly it would " Says I to STiere does tl [oes it all, ai Jo show me ro |11 them brai oxeg tLey pi " Says /, ' Votntg Matt, you are right, I am a Relation. I of Life or push it away ir another word. He sat !id asked to see, and said mo, and then ho bowed I low voice, ' Thank yon,' Poor fellow ! I hope he iida's eyes, but her facej 5W ilid you learn to be ut these things ? " ? I didn't have a good her people when I was freat difference." your talk about heaven, seems so easy to jou •' have ever heard talk of Irag them in, as though ' them, but they didn't iwfully.' loughtfully seaming her ve heard folks talk that srstand it ; I've puzzled found them very folks things. Sometimes I've 1 it when it said, ' Out e mouth speaketh.' At ting about a thing until to speak to somebody. ', always was ; Solomon hinks a good deal more g fond of hearing me 4' jtnre. 'Well, now, grandma, hero's the very thinr^ • leap as dirt, and an elegant width.' And he showed mo lot of coarse cotton lace ! » ' I told you I wanted the real,' says I. "'Real!' says he, pretending to be astonished, 'why assure you every thread of that is real ; as much so as 'ly we've got in the store.' '•??^^t,^r ■„' '^'^°"'' ^o"tt it ; real cotton, every thread It. Well, he bothered mo in that kind of way for lite a spell, showing me cotton laces of half-a-dozen Inds, and imitation laces, calling this machine-made I'aff real valenciennes,' and this cotton imitation 'real mnish lace, until I got out of all sort of patience ith him, and says I, at last, ' Look here, young man, )u must get a most enormous salary in this store ; but shouldnt think the biggest salary they could offer 3uld pay you for lying at the rata you have to me.' lys I: Do you know you have told ten lies in the last re minutes ? I locked right at him, and the fellow lushed a little, and the clerks standing near who had ten laughing in their sleeves at me all the time, were I8t aa ready to laugh at him a little— these everlastin<^ [gglers are never particular on which side they laugh- lid in about a minute I felt kind of iorry for him -so I )oke a little more softly. Says I: 'I don't bear you B lU-wili, but for your own sake, if 1 were you, I would fet out of this habit of telling lies. Now I knew real all laughed ; albeit I but would have been wed excellent sense, lady gone back to the who wasn't a bit like the elevator with me. ; now a giggly girf jg It nothing all the time, 1 can find I think. It r the Lord has patience easy for Him to just But then there would pity we can't always think of it, I've been t silly little chap as does seem as though I wanted to look at B bit of the real stuff. 1 a woman who had srstood all about the t beautifully ; all the their laces. I always ind and one questions, I could tell the real church, and can yet. i some fun over me. le, and kind of queer- idies ; I didn't blame lyself in one of them of the women, must weren't a mite alike, that because I didn't ndred yards of lace ow lace when I saw ve got jnst the lace Is it for yourself. ross to have him call ?Iad, instead, that he i him kind of short : aebody else,' I said head of me in good Ice of almost every kind you can think of long before bn were born, and it is real lace and no other that I'm ter, and if you've got any I'd l''-o to see it.' "Well, all of a sudden the giggling stopped, the idle lerks turned to their counters, and my young man had very red face, and began to fumble among the boxes, 'etty soon I understood it. There came a new voice 1 the scene: '\yilkin8,' says he, 'what does the lady 'ant I' It wasn t exactly a stern voice, not cross, you low, but grave, and with a kind of power in it. If I'd sen the clerk I wouldn't have liked to go contrary to man with such a voice as that. He asked the question teht over: 'Wilkins, what does the lady want?' In ^cactly the same kind of voice, looking right at the clerk rhose face by this time was as red as Laura's worsteds,' m then I turned - <\ looked at the man. "^j'"uH'*"^'' ''^^ ' "^y* ^' ^'^^ t'len he looked at le, and his face ligiued up as if I had been an old friend, Id he held out his hand and shook mine just as if I was Bs aunt this minute, and he was glad of it. Laura and "Irs. Leonard, I wonder if you remember my teUing you lout a Sunday School Convention where I went and ok my niece Jessie, and a nice young man who sat lear us, and told me things, and seated us often, and was "lout a good deal after that ? Well, don't you believe lis was the very young man ! Here ho was, one of the lartners m that great big store ! After that it was plain Wmg for me. He just took charge of me himself. I tot my lace and everything else I wanted, and then he ►>ok me all round and showed me everything. I couldn't Jgin to tell you in a week all I saw. But, dear me ! I ippose you have been there dozens of times. One thing lough, I must tell you about. It is very queer to me lat I never heard of it before ; never read a thing about iTou understand it, Irving, I s'pose ? Why, them •eat brass pipes that go waudering all over that store, as irge round as my arm. I saw them before Mr. Webster ime up ; in fact, I saw them the minute I went into the ore, and Id been watching and kind of puzzling over lem all the time. T'd seen the clerks put money in a lUle box and chuck it up through one of them brass i'i?f ■ * ^Yi?y It would go out of sight, as if a spirit took Old of It the minute it came near the brass ; and by-and- L.! ^""-i i'"'"® '"'"^'^ °^'^'°' ^""^ ^'^^^ i"s* the right „ar^p. 5n it for bOiuu one who stood waiting. Says I to myself, ' What kind of witchcraft is this ? here does the thing go to, and who gets it, and what loes it all, anyway?' Well, when Mr. Webster began show me round, I asked him the first thing, 'What are Ml them brass pipes for, and what makes them little loxes they put in fly away and come back again ? ' • Ah, says he, let mo take you to the fonnt.iin-head and show you about it.' So we went upstairs, away up to the centre of the building, and there, in a little kiud of a round office, sat a .iozon clerks, or more, and those great pipes that wandered over that building and struck off in every direction, came all together up here, and those little boxes with money and accounts in were continually shooting out m front of these clerks, and they would take them about as quick as lightning, and look at the account and make the change and shoot them back. I nevr- -o anything like that in all my life ! I just stood stin ..nd thought ; it made mo feel kind of queer. I couldn't sav a word. 'What is it ? ' Mr. Webster asked me, after ho had waited a spell, and I suppose he thought I ought to " ' Why ' says I, ' it comes over me all of a sudden, and almost takes my breath away. It makes me think of answering prayer. They are sending up their prayers from all over the store down there, and they come up to this centre and get attended to at once, and the answer goes back in all them different directions.' Well he understands things— ho is one of them men that flashes at what you mean, even if you're as awkward as a post in telling it, and says he, 'I see. That is a fact. But then it takes a dozen clerks to attend to these pipes up here. The figure isn't quite perfect, is it ? ' " ' Only a dozen ! ' says I, ' for all them pipes that travel all over this big store ; and these are only young foolish girls to do it ; and yet we feel sometimes as though the Lord couldn't possibly attend to all our prayers at once !' Then he laughed again, and says he, X S66, " That must be Earlo Webster ? " It was Mr. Jonas Smith who made this interrogatory remark ; ho had come in during the talk, and was listening with as much eagerness as any of us. Yes, his sister-iu'^ law explained, it was Earle Webster. " He had a good many questions to ask me," she con • tinned; "how long I had been here, and where I was stopping, and when I told him I'd come on to attend my niece s wedding, he looked so kind of surprised, or queer or something, that I said- and I don't know what made me—' It isn't Jessie ; it's another niece.' Then he laughed outright, and said he knew it wasn't Jessie ; and then ho said he had heard from her lately, and she said I was here, and he had been trying to get hold of my addres.^ And, well, he kind of got himself mixed up so, that at last, to get out straight, he had to tell me that I must get ready to go to Jessie's wedding in the spring. And there the sly little puss is going to marry Kim; and she never once hinted to me who it was ! " " Going to marry Earle Webster I " There was no JP'jtaking the astonishment in Mr. Jonas Smith's voice. U ell, Maria, you are to be congratulated, I declare ; he 18 one of the finest young men in the city ; one of 'the first m every way." " Yes," said Mrs. Solomon, in quiet satisfaction ; " I know he is as good as gold. I told him about that poor young fellow with the cough, and he was interested at once ; he had me walk down the store and point him out, and said he would have a talk with him : he is a new clerk, it seems. " One of the giggling clerks stood near where he had seated me while he went to attend to some business, and says he, ' I guess our grandmotlier has come, or our old aunt or somebody. Do you see how we are being escorted through the store and shown the lions?' Then the other said something I was glad to hear. ' Pshaw ! ' says he. 'It may be his washerwoman I Webster is the queerest rich man there is on the face of the earth.' " Well, I thought I would hel" them alon". .".r.d I turned round with that. Says I, '^Young man,'' you are right \\ am d. relation ; I'm more than his aunt, or his grandmother ; we both belong to the royal family, and are brother and sister to the King.' " 42 Mrs. Solomon Smith Loo/c. 00,'ciug on. CHAPTER XVIII. MEDITATIONS THAT MEANT 80METI1IN0. 5N duo course of time we were in a sort of ouiet i,/„n" '",*'^' ^""'•^ household. Not VHnv white silk ^iflT *^ cashmere wrapper, instead of the marriage and th«^pn; 7 °J '*'',^"'' ^°<>''* between the di.lt«l,air a«w„ lii .C^ br,d.,m,id., rto had .o .h..£xK - si»ed'- 2c.arr.^ and make you beHevfi f/,^f ^"'*'"'i*® y°"' y°" J™"^- red. lllwavrthoi^ah^i^ ^'^^ ^■"''^ ^reen at all, but I "CO at onco that I was an old dunce ■ and T .Inn-f „.• J Hnv tn ™„ '.u """.' '''*^° t° ^^"oar the thinir ' he will say to me, with ono of them grave smiles of hi, iri manage. To mv notion it it' ♦. thats tho way wi ^p wtK,'ii r,tv4" iins '^" pouses anai did not believe she would feel iustififid iJ fv l«,^fi '^ • ^°""^ ."°"P'« "^ I'^^i^h example rstm she wa Turchaso^ ""'''^'' "''^ '''' importancLf ' her intendel Lt 1 CO ,Mn-^ . excitement on her dear old face. " A ' Z':™"%*°?" ^"^' I ^''d be^u'tTo^e'et^nijiay and now, and I insist on being thought about fyou just wak^ up, old woman, and 'tend to me.' I dedJre! IVe been I out with f. H,.mo „;„i>t. " ""»«. i ve oeeni ii . ' " i/ciju lo me. most beat out with it some nights." own tri.Tfhr.f""?^'' """^ ""! P""'"« tl^e ^to'y of my •maS ^t:S'Z!1^S^S^ ;j~' f^irrolSXtlt^^'"^^^^^ '"''-* aslTh^Se " 1 11 just tell you," said Mrs. Smith, lowering hpr vnire as one about to make a confidential commiSion -° t^' gooseT"""' "''^»"°"- ^°"' ^ J°- think rman d hand to argue out loud ; he just sets down a few squaw sentences, and lets it go ; but I don't, and I've lelrnod ta ^e!ftltt^^"^^"^-^^^^^c^"S Dock^T «f. ' £f\ "^' y*'- ''^*' considered over every peck ot oats that horse of theirs will ever eat • I've figured them up a hundred times if I have once knd a Meditations that vieant Something. 43 diince ; and I don't minii hen again, just as likoly ' I did beforo, and then , n't ajjree with you a mite tilt mind you, if it is aboiij he hons, or -iy niothos, lat I manage, ho ia just quicker, to tell mo to ^^ to wear the thing,' he will grave Bmiles of hia, if ij riet that we are discussing] lomon ain't one of thenJ ways puckering up theiJ 1 so. I don't believe hel . And that's the way wi the only way, for tw^ be of one mind." laughing ; for Laura w„ face that I was curious to s notions impressed her, iway making no answar re going on, during thii Bity, my daughter Laun views and positions tha ways for her future. ;roet, Mrs. Smith trottc ) tongue. wedding present," shi, n guess what it is to be.'' had been the subject of urse I was interested. I ng useful, and not very ned all her personal ex- I would feel justified inl 1 example ; still she was )ortance of her intended indred ways, for the matter of that— they never seemed illing to come out twice aliko— and I suppose I've wrote luire of paper about it to Solomon. " But you see it is just like this ; Anybody can see lat that child is going to need a good deal of potting and king care of for some time to come. She needs to get it in the fresh air every day, and stay out a good while Y"", how is she going to do it in tliis tucked-up city here everything is a whirl and a jum, and there's such ^ awful noise that you don't hardly know what your me is half the time ? " I'liere's nice, pleasant places, parka, and quiet roads, httle patches that look almost like the country, if lu can only get to them ; but as for racketing along in 16 street-cars to 'em, I'd about as soon she would stny ; home. What she needs is a horse and waggon. And lero's the gcttii) • to church. I'd like to have the child igm right, {.nd '. think she's disposed to ; but how is le in her wea.i .tate, going to get to the clmrch where IB II think s)i« ought to go, unless she ndes on them >mmandmont-breaking cars? To bo sure, th^ro is a luroh near by, but you can't expect full-grow- n^s on young bird. I shouldn't expect her to see her duty Hear to that, with nobody to help her. " The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to le that she ought to have a horse and waggon of her "" \yell, then I talked with Jonas, and ho was just as : about it," she admitted, ler dear old face. " At at all, and it botheredl en light began to dawn, vhy, I began to bother )o set in my way ; and wouldn't ttay given up tie down on somethiig back to me as though he middle of the night, y bed, and wake me up p, and say, ' Here I ara ^ about ; you just wake [ I declare, I've been itting the story of my rplexing thought, thatl fry than sympathetic ; iterest aa to what the th, lowering her voice, I commuuication ; " it'.s| oa think I'm an ol':.! the power of answer- id and growing more ision every momenC. you can't think of aa all my might, just to i. Solomon ain't no is down a few square I t, and I've learned to . thing that I want to. j of Bie iako hold woU, j get the consent oi ionsidcred over every will ever eat ; I've f I have once, aod a [aken with the notion as ho could be ; said he'd ha've got ler one lon'< ago if hlace, and all conveniences for keeping a horse, and didn't :cep any, and had a boy who could bo hired for a trifle to ake care of the horae, and harness it when it was wanted ■ md he wouldn't be charged barn-rent, because he had lone the man a kindness now and then in a business way, and he would be glad to pay for it this way. It sounds queer to hear folks talk about paying for kindnesses, don t It i" But Jonas means all right, and the long and short of it is, my mind is made up. I "Erskine and Earle Webster have both been on the look out for me about a horse, and Erskine told me last night that he thought he had just the thing ; so now I'm after the waggon this very afternoon. I didn't mean to put It off so long, but them two was hard to suit with a horse, and I knew a waggon could be bought in a hurry." " But are you going to get both horse and waggon ? " I said, appalled befc -e such lavish gifts, and wondering much whether she had any idea of the prices of the^ articles. "No," she answered briskly. " The waggon is to be my present, but I've just bean managing the business of I getting a horse. That's Solomon's present. He sets a good deal of store by Elizabeth ; she's his only brother's child, you know. " Solomon is a master hand to come to conclusions • Tou know I told you what great long letters I wrote to him, going over all the arguments, and being about as much on one side as t'other? WeU, this is every blessed word he wrote to me about it. He never wites long letters ; Solomon thinks things, but he savs ha ain't ocm^ at gettmg them on to paper fsays he : ' Maria, 'peara to me you re a httle mixed. If Elizabeth needs a horse for her health, and if it will help keep her out of the way of temptation to doing wrong, and if Jonas and the youni? man are willing to have the expense of taking care of it! 1 should think the whole tiling was in a nutshell, and there was n t no more use in talking.' And then he wont on telling me about the school, and the now books in the library, and the present to the minister, and not another word about a horse or waggon ! Did you ever see a straightor road to a conclusion than that ? " and her sweet old face beamed with her prido in Solomon. Never- theless, she proceeded to toll mo what a careful and intelligent estimate she had made of tho exponso of keeping a horse, with stable rent, and attendiinco, counted out, and of the heavy expense of car-tiokets to balance the other, and made it clear, at least to her own mind that in the end the thing was an economy. * " Borrowing a stable and another man's boy won't always last," she said, with a little sniff of her pmotical nose. " Kindnesses that are hw\% given as p.iy ain't of much account, and can't be depended on, but then who knows what may happen? Maybe Elizabeth will get Rtroii!,', so she won't need a horse, and tjien they can sell him for a penny ; or maybe the young man will prosper, and can afford to build a barn, and take time to look after his own horse ; or maybe the horse will die, and so- won t need to be looked after. Whafs the use of going ahead and borrowing trouble about it? I'm going to buy my waggon this very day, and here's one of the places Earle told me to come to." Whereupon she halted before a six-storey building, large enough to contain " waggons " for the million, and boldly pushed her way into the elegant wareroom, lined on every side with carnages, large and small, gold-mounted and plush-lined, as well as some of tho plainer sort. .Many misgivings beset me. What sort of a " waggon " did the dear old lady think her pretty city flower would ride m ! I recalled the plain, old-fashioned, two-seated spnng waggon in which Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Smith had rode to church ever since I had known them. Long ago all the paint had been washed from it, the wheels wore large and clumsy, the box was high, and the whole appearance ungainly, yet I knew that Mrs. Smith was attached to it, and considered it comfortable and quite good enough. Did some such idea present itself to her as a part of Lida's outfit? Why had she not allowed Erskine or Earle Webster, or even Laura to accompany her, that they might have tempered her enthusiasm with their educated judgment. For myself, I felt powerless in her hands, being always aware that my influence over her was as nothing compared with Laura's. There was one relieving thought, however, to my anxieties. The character of the establishment in which we were rendered it all but impossible that we should find other than the most unexceptionable outfits. It would j)robably end in utter dismay on the benevolent old lady's part ; I was sure she had not relative ideas of «lie prices of the "waggons " of which she so gaily talked. There were so manv, and such beauties, on exhibition, that while we waited for a disengaged pilot, we wandered different ways, gazing with admiring eyes. Presently one, who proved to be a proprietor, came to me, and looking round for Mrs. Solomon, she was nowhere to be seen ; so explaining that I was merely accompanying another, I still ventured to inquire the price of the little buggy before which I stood, one of the plainest in the great room, and one which I even doubted whether Irvmg and Lida would feel that they could climb into. Yet I groaned inwardly over the announcement that ' that was a second-hand affair, and could be sold for two hundred dollars." Two hundred dollars ! I was almost certain that Mrs. Solomon expected to get the desire of her heart for about fifty ! And surely that would be a liberal wedding gift from her, if she could but content herself with a lac* collar, or a diamond ring, or a set of handkerchiefs, u others did. While we waited she came toward me, walking rapidly, her face unusually flushed. " Well, I declare ! " she said) droppiiig into a vacant chair, and ignoring the gentleman. I ye had such a turn I'm just about beat. Did you notice that horse and waggon standing down by thato south door ? " 44 I liidn't notii'od it ;io;St w;;^;;;;'Z,nt'^iJ -:' y- i-t to w„,k liavcn't scon Hi,,,.. So|„„u„, , ' /^ .' '*'' ""'•^ '"""'"^ I that camo ncur hroal ,;,"", "1'^.,,^;" ^f^^'^r y-TH «;,,. nRht in tl,o room. 'For n ifv'- « i, • "-'■■". ''" •"•""•". ''f that ain't tho ,..tj t'^ .'i^Ao'fc „T ^ '" '"3H..|f a roo,n Uko thin ! ' W|„ ][[ IVl , ," ,'""■;'" *'"'"" •"'" nnil I tliought it was tl « nio , " '."''*'' "'"«• tho„^h, I" .to draw ^ut tlTagXs b^.T r^/'M^r^ Jh;i..K tied secned to n,o a most I. ?,? T'l' "'*"'" ^^■*""">t Oh, jou never rco a. hZl Ti "''^''•"'f "' <1»'>Wi-ouh thi,,.?. My heart flew 2ht i, to mv^ !" ^'''^ '° '"'"' »* that 1 'kicked to death'^eve I «e^Ld i! 't^ ?'''''"^ *" "^'^ '""r minute, I do believe to .'huk J^ *""'' ""^ '""'•° than a "nd try to warn I,er q, ^et y iL ^ T^'^" '" «'«" ■^•'''•k sc.-iro that horse It , !f L '° "'"^o »"- so as not to orsi It jnst seemed to me that I couhln't I don t be nv,. T .!.„.. ii ^:„ ... "'""^ Mn. Solomon Smith Looking on. *oI. X "".r-f. 11, just inKi) a step; and I dnn'f k„,;„.. t i — -■•••" >■ >hi(,i, t if Ihadn't' u«t happe cSt inJ wha"'if"' ""■'' '""^' townvvif n.,,1 »i — '■ " «■" imnK, wiiat if worse canio to wet, an^l Tile r';^^ .'an a cid nf ho"'"', '' ^^•?^^° -"'° jyould bo of me!%,"ri wen'ir^'^'r''/'''^'''""'''" Sir^^^'^-=-™wi^pSt:^S- toCardr^Jl^lS' ''.'^i^rfs^""'" '"r^-^- «*«PP-"« •latunUness ; butToucht o L., *i "i^'^P'""'"'* '" '"« «camp ! Howeveryou are not Th«'"T '^"" ""»'• *''« been cheated. Tl,o cWIdrln ^nL • . i''"'^ "°« ^•»'° bas and occasionally .;%a1ch\"^,rdreT"''^'"'' fron» him, of he^fS and Sr'"'^ ''rV''''-^'^ ^™™ the first effects ■that there was Bom« n!,l- • ^® fanuliar with he,' iu her m'nd! ^' """""' '««<«='ation of ideas working ^Ppa^nt^'"oKnf IJl"^''";? ^'•""'•««'' ' ? " "he asked anS addrLSrhim'site"'''!!? ^^^'^ '^^ ^^^ tiine.' minute I found o,,tthThi,«^' -^ *,^°"-''* "^ >* the a time poor Fearf ,1 L i ^ .T'"' """''^ o*" ^^ood. What nothingT^t . one" ThaTm.t^i' H ^' r'^,*'^^^ --« that the slothful man ms Xn%,^ ."'' °^ ^''^ ^«^«« not doing his duty "r^fnrv. ,• ° •''''*"**' "" ^-^^u^e for you knol. I wonder f half" ^" '" ''"^ ^""y-" ^^ "'''«. do vo„ 'fhi^f ?^'. '\T^' >»>:« -"ade of and II.. has to p, il rlrun nn m J "/'•"'■K-^'"'"! "at.'r I ni.> from r,,nni,!l,'all awrjl^^f^"''"^ **'■'''' •«metime» to J flennition of c o Les T r;!?'""'' "»'"' "Ppropri/ito.l f ncH-H of the hour Wo were Ttiirr T''"*-''r '" "'« ''J plain second-hand buL?. 1," '"f ""'''"'? "i'-f"'" the vJ .or roadincH, to look aT^ W Lions " sh^o^- ^"V"' "'^"^1 that one without a secondSmce ' ""'^ "**^ ^'1 confi!,;S,;.''-.?y-J;;« ;-f '-it >ike it,-- she «ma.lL The Rcftlemnn lalhed n n„ " "[{""'".^ *'■""> °" "•" 1 discovered that he had «„ f'?".''-'*","^: ! ho seemed to L,| who was worth study W "?}«'""' ""^T"}^' *° •J""' A ha.l a photograph of ho' soSoJ.f'"''"''^ ""** '^ "^^ A ho presumed ho could .nifi • ^''KK"" "he wantJ but she paid no oth^r attentiSn'to".,," ?'"=\«horter ti.^1 rhould particularise than to " '^"'.^'"i.l hint that J it out pretty soon then h« In ,?'''"'''xJ'"" •'''° would pJ was all^..ys\otte; ttn a p,-ct ; e"'s.e '"'"''.*';'"«• ^^' those wakeful hours of nUf f^" , """"' ''"^o »P H «« "too larKc- others as '•Cy--a"n^d'o°M" ^''f^.'' ^A looking a bit liU " fK„ -_ "'7' ""d others still as » nl wond'9 -ivi, t """"«r II naif ^oX u;\'2," hem Jnd try '£ ;" ' \ ^^'^ «'-"^ ^'''^t^P posea g<^d mnTof hem wo„n T' '^'u^*' ^" ^^^ «"P- liorse ? " ^ **'^'" *°"'d be as harmless as your CHAPTER XIX. LUMPS OF CLAY -tsyes. ' ' ■" "S '""'' out or lier grey Fo; iSceTh^ iSr: V ^^"^ '' -<"»- -'^'^t differ. "^elV- she said meditatively, " my crosses are apt to looking a r/t , ke •-''th!,' '"""?'" ""'^ "»' pH:?* eHtabli»hme3 Very few, I wa., sure of iul^ *'",*° ''*'''" ^be phaetoJ moro money. Yet "t Wa« w 'il^P'"' °°«^ representJ course I was aware th7„ " * ,''''°y' ""'^ tasteful, d things are more expenJvethp'''"''''^ well-made, tastefl did Mrs. Smith knowTt ( ' *''" °"""' •»"'«* ^'''^y ^re; bJ ne^p^in'lS: hTi„^t&^S--«h«^ ?t her choi J eyed ol.l lady walked round "^^/u Tx'^'"'^' "*'"'« the keen! the lining, as'icod ntrp^uS S£* *^« ^l"''''""''' «"'^"'°1 axle, ..d in various oZr X^s^tSedtSwlXi tiof;aTSsif?d7rhrrs''vi?"tri'^"'°"''^'"^-- ^ " What is the ver; best vo,. -n ,*'j ''f '"» «'"^'«d. ' to count you out the monev^or ih- ''°, *°'^ ""^ ^ ' we^i The gentleman looTed^af V '," "I^V" °«^ bills ? '1 apparently, while she steadifyretur'ned"r''' ^^'°''^^ ^4 penetrative grey eyes otZZif {>\^giize with thosJ linking hear\ ^dis^^^ered a card hrj"'' ^ ^'"^' ^'"' ' corner at the back. marVr,! .Zu ''^"^'"S "> an obscurd " 1 11 take it," said Mrs Sr^sn. • I and she dropped intno n^'- . *^ '° * composed tone I well-filled pocK-book and b;.S 7* t" ^'^-fashiS In undoubted and undife^Z^^^^ of the carnage watched her I wm SlT"* *^ ?*"" ,_ "I promised you clean bills^'=?^^'^*'.'"*°°'«bed. "but I reckon yiu-ll have to i' .''it "f^-.g'ancing up, forgot he told me I mustn' cf ri ^^ ^"^^ ^°' that; I the streets. I don't see Vhvt7 ,'""*''' '"""^^ ''bout Lumps of Clay. 45 " hing that tho Lord thi, "Ifiil Ktrong-willo.I nntur. fftty Ktrict HomotimeH to k yet his frtoo flushed, an ItTHtoo,! and nppropriated r<' K.ivo ourselves to tlio b '111 standing before the v 't wl.m. Mm. Smith signil Rons, sho turned awav fr, nee. •' '"? ''it like it," she remarl ' «n wostingf time on it " '^-M\\\y ; 1,0 seemed to ta, jfinal choracter to deal wit e remarked that if ho or. of waggon " Bho wantf "■,'".'». much shorter tim 1 to this broad hint that s oniarlc that she would pi Id SCO the real thing, whi iiro. Sho must liavo gpe to good purpose, for s g room, gazing with kc, cctmg 8„n,e with a glan y. and others still as " n ^e meant. She asked tl ily she camo to a full sti ipholMtored in a lovely gn I'lky tint that reminds o in all that establishmei ed taste than the phaeto simpler ones represent showy, only tasteful ( lirigly well-made, tastefi more quiet they are ; bu astonished at her choio 111 silence, while the keen It the cushions, examine about the springs and tii Jvmced her knowledge o 'Ut no additional informa dently being studied. Jul.l do for me if I wen lis in clean new bills ? «•, looked through her irned his gaze with thos [eanwhile I had, with hanging in an obscun undred dollars J Wlia ? Meantime she waite id at last, forcing out 1 aa If they almost hurt le wonder as to whether leaving off that other Had not much time for , ma composed tone, out her old-fashioned look over her papers, itonishment the owner hardly less astonished ihe said, glancing up, the bank for that • I so much money about agli ; people wouldn't 1 ve got a Daner h^,.^ I money." e change on the face a and interested look >ne of suspicion— an rds could have done • 8 your dodge, ia it ? acquainted with it ; but you almost deceived mo with lur grey eyes." Then she passed him up the cheque taothor lij'htning-liko change of the oxprussivo fii it hnn bank cheque, and boro the name and firm of Korle elister. "This is M gooul(l see It in her eyes. " I never had much to do with im, she continued. " It .lidn't .seem to mo that a picco ' paper could bo as good ns the money. A promise to ly. Ivirle said it was. 'But thev don't know me, nor lonion, I told him. Says I, 'If they knew Solomon, could understand how u promise to pay would be all Ight; for everybody believes Solomon.'" '"I'll fix it,' .says he. ' Thoy know me where you are ing, and he yot out his bank book, and wrote this [aper. And tlie first thing you say when you look at IS, 'Its as good ns the gold.' Ain't tlint interesting low .' Makes mo think right away of mv Master. Sup- lose I get up to the gates of heaven ? tho angels don't now me, never heard of mo, most likely ; but I hand bem my cheque signed by tho Lord Jesus Christ. ' Ha I ' lys the angel, 'I know Him," and tho gates swing open, tell you what it is, sir, wo want to look out for it that e have a right to use His name, don't we ? " Tho gentleman was visibly embarrassed, and at the ime time singularly moved. He drew out his handker- hief suddenly, and coughed, and made vigorous use of it Ibout his face for a moment, and said in an apologetic Jiidetome: " I had a good old mother once." ''I hope you've made sure of living with her by- id-by. ' ■f.' ^'^'^ ^'^"- ^""''^ ^to spoke the words, in a quiet, latter-of-fact, indeed I might say, business-liko tone hen she gave herself fully to the business of managing 1 the best manner about the home-coming of her carriage • )oked after her receipt, and attended to all the details I a tlioroughly business way. It was evident that the lan s respect for her increased every moment. As for me, I went home a good deal bpwildored. lOlomon Smith s bank account must be much larger than leople m his vicini; r had ever imagined. I hinted something of the feeling to his wife, and she ■nswered me with a satisfied air to the effect that, being :ontent with spring waggons in a place where a spring "aggon would do just as well as any, had put them in way to give a comfortable little carriage now and then lo folks who netded. Which was a way of disposing of the entire subject of giving and receiving that it struck ne would be more novel than agreeable to many What a nice little wedding it was ! Not of the common lort at all. Not in the least like the one that Laura and had come to attend. In fact, I think all the details light have been said to be unique. Nothing of the ladness which usually hovers in the background of uarnages where ore party is an invalid was apparent. As a rule in such cases, the shadow of an approaching paration that shall last as long as life, is upon the ompany. With us, the shadow had been and was lifted. Jda was steadily progressing toward renewed health. ndeed, she had hardly any drawbacks from the first !-ven the sense of parting from the old ties, the going out rem the childhood home, which had been strong on the nother at least before, had lost its sting. They had so |nearly parted from her for the grave, that to be making propaiittiojis lor uer to go to the sunny South-knd for a few weeks, and to look forward to her speedy return in health, had in it nothing but joy. So we were very joyful at the wedding. An exceedingly subdued joy, however. Each member of the company was on the alert to do and say that which would least fatigue and excite the bri.le. Truth to toll, however, she apfM-ared tho quietest and calmest of tho grrmp -her face pah,, it i». true, but wonderfully reposeful, her eyes bright, but with a steady, rather than a fitful joy. There had been no roliearsals of the ceremony, thougl» tho position of each participant was as uiiliko iw possibb- to tho usual one. Lida's voice, when she pronounced at last the irrevocable "I do," was as calm and sclf-ron- tro led as though it was merely an outward form of what had been done long ago. It was Irving's face that paled, and his form that tremliled, ns the minister spoke tliese Hohmii words • 'Until dentil do vou part I " Death bad so nearly nnrteil them! IIo had hardly yet stepped sbiveringly from tin? biiuk of tho chasm. Still, he controlbd himself, and "avo a swift, anxious look down at tlie wife whoso hand ho clasped. Kxcitemeut would tell heavily on her strength Sho smiled back a reassuring answer. Hut his wliolo mind was presently absorbed in g.'tting her comfortably settled on her sofa, and tho l)right-lmt'd silk Afglian thrown over her. Then, lying there like a princess, with a de icato pink Ijcginning to flush her cheek, we came ur> one by one and kissed her. "Bless tho child I " said Auntie >lmith, bustling about Sho IS getting red cheeks now ; a little bit too red. Wo had bettor slip away and leave her and her husband to a little quiet." Then her cheeks flamed. It was the first time she had heard the new name. The feast was spread in an ad- joining room, tho doctor forbidding the invalid to descend tho stairs, and even according a reluctant consent to her joining us with the coffee and cream. The fea.st, too, was utterly unlike the regulation wedding fare. A substantiaJ mid-day meol, with plenty of wedding-cake and ices, to- bo sure, but by no means confined to these ephemeral dishes. Lida's doctor had become something more thaa a professional friend ; we had seen so much of him, and he had been so constant and persistent in his efforts, even after his hopes of saving his patient were faint, that everr member of the family had come to look on him as a friend. The frail little patient had evidently won a large plac& in his heart. He watched over her with almost fatherly care, and became peremptory, even savage, toward those- who seemed to him to plan anything contrary to her best interests. " There is juat about as much strength there as there i* in a cobweb!" he said sharply to Irving. "It is spirit, not strength, that keeps her up. Young man, you must remember that, and look out for her with the greatest care. Spirit will do a good deal, but somebody has to bo behind it that has common sense to see that it isn't carried too far." Whereupon Lida laughed. She had lost ajl fear of the- grave and reticent doctor. Truth to tell, he had laid aside much of his professional reticence, though he wa^ still grave enough. " The doctor doesn't give me credit for a bit of common sense, Irving," she said gaily, "only spirit." "You needn't put the 'only' before that word," he said quicldy. '• If it had not been for that you would have slipped away from us sure." Then a sweet gravity, as new as it was fascinating, came into Lida's face as she gently shook her head. "It was not that which brought me back to life doctor." "No," said the doctor, "that's true. It was good nursing. Your aunt here is to have credit, if you succeed in being a credit to us. I've seen a good deal of nursing in my day, but I must say this went a little ahead. I tell you what it is, madam, if you want to stay in the city, I can keep you employed without the slightest trouble. Yniinrf TT19." vrm Kra^^ Un^ A» AU- — 1- -C 1 — :3- 4 --3 — ; ,-•-- — »Tv ijvi v-' vuaua. iut jruur miuc lo- day," Irving turned an eager, grateful face toward Mrs. Smith, but she was looking at Lida, and the two exchange* fond smiles that said how well they understood each other,' and how far from the truth the doctor was. " I guess we all did the beat we could," the old lady. 46 doctor TI,o*{.onl ... Zl rwfth'lIiH .""', "i'''"""" time wl.o„ Sim„n Im. , .IST ' "'"""-''•■i"-I«w that homo l,o„i„M.. l.iH folkH were, Hi' k"' ""P'''^ "' ^/i^J. .W^w^« Smm Loolinjr on. <' 'MRS. WIAPTHR XX. «oro„o. «M.r„. vo.-v,,: „„,,,„ ,^^^^ ,^ ^^^ Niaiir'a wouk.'" i^'^aS "it tri^ri "ii" ^"^ri^ i'"^--* ^'^^ f* tho mnrrin J Wo ha i '" """'' "'" "'"•'^ "^^ Uu«,.| ujH^,:«^- -;-^^^ again. He Icnoilf an'X,/t'thfo;,..H?^ "It'''".'* ^^' -"- Ho •uppose He knew what iCtr! . ''T T" """'t you your education!! t't^oJ"?^ ^J^"* 'f'^Z "^ «"'« >-"" Rave vo„ „ sp -cial trionffoi .f ^J'"""*^ "'^ P'^'P'"- ""'^ I don't think He ever mnUr? '''"'^^'"K «'" what to do ? *ny more than Ho 'w when H« Z"^"'"' '"'V'' «*« «""»"'• " Onlv wonl.Jn'f in X "® *"" °" earth. of clayVimt ' m tn'the"o"v" "TT *\'"« '"^ 'ho lump that blind man I 9'«ir,hM'.%° T^if ^ '^'"' *>" ' I »ave J«imp8 of clay th Ho ,, ' ' K' y°» ^»'at it is, tho ton«'ues. nnd^re everlasting V fT^*^*? ^ ''^'P' ^-^^-^ K^'t •elveH. It'soneof thnm^ri^ ^M^"'^P''*'''« '" "'"'n- He bears it so well BuT I 5o,;?t " n.^ k* P"''^"^*' "-* doctor. I did tlio I.B«f T 1 , L *°' '" be one of them •nd because mv fee and S' ''"f u""" ^ '°^^'' ".e child •nyhow. andYm tund o JoThl tT^'""* '° "'-^ tool, wherever He se me to wS £ L'T ^ "' "'" tho honour, wliy dear mo T »• 1 1 .1 , * *" ^'"' claiming honour en;u«l?'for a Hfet^mo f'^'l**^''''^'° ^^ "• It'« doctor, I'm d read fu H v af rid fW ^ "?''% So'^otimes, «"t the joy Slfei'nf us ^Kr.i'i^J' * ^^^ -7 ' eai' ~"dSLr fcV«1 ^^^^^^^^ *h« ^-torV •udden flush that mounted to & ^.""■;' "' ""^ «aw the sudden huskiners of his o CO i, h''"'''";'' ''"^ flOt«d the «"adam, I wish I dkl." ° " ^^ ^'"d • "^ t^'b I did, SQUtWrbo'uLd%n„,Irt^' t'lforT,P'\".''*'' *'"« °f the is certainly very different ^hnf '"1° '^at evening, "she nervous tlmt it wal almost ml 'n'' T''" «° '^"''ed and please her; bnt^sre h'aTbee^1L"tt'V^''° ""ything to all through this trying time IW •'*''* "' a snowdrop but oh, dear me 1 ^I kVow it woj't last ! •^"'' ^''''''''''■^ sor^^-^SeriK^-eV'f^^iid^tT T ""^^ ^"^ a in order that she m ghVbe justified^n^' " ^""""^ "' ''• was. It was evident thof ""^ o '" fema>nmg as the thought. She turned fJom ^ho' ?"' "^ 'j.'^ 'he same folding clothes for tho tr,?nU *he closet where she was eyes of he« full at ll. r» w'lf "^ '""^.""^ ^'^h those grave tLat she wrs in the itm ' ""'"^^^ ^ ^''^^ ^'"'S^t'en mraS,'i:;&fthi^"ooriS^^^^^^ - --« -d out to live the sort of i;fo ""'e.K'rl downstairs makes npt, don't you th,^?jfa„itef'"i^.«he o"ght to or one thing I want to kno„ T^-""" ^'"w. there's «**» JttBtiliiUtl f * ' "**" "^"5 jUU T"""""" ''a* or a totally .lirf,.ront c-U ^r'^ tlM''" '"■'^'l''- "'o thh-d'af Lida's earnest nPtftion fi ^^'"-'"'-"'^ """"'er day, carrin^o, with tho no7iS ' oVn^"^'* '"^'^ '" '^e n. =;Utih^s££»^^^^^^^^^ dearly Tha;'S;e;.d';nr weir' '^""'^ '' '«-o her "«he is a grand lid Tnf7"^''""'l'. ''"''"'?»'• ;ny, in a hurst\,f confidence to I^n/^"*^'.' ' •^''^ '""'' I don't wonder that vour p'v " i-,"" V"^ '"«• " L«"r» standing of her. It U nosTvii""'"^ l' ""^ °''''""d"r you didn't out myacqiaiCtrnr«nf"",'"'"r'™«^"t tha " bowT^rou^d7^kno^'y'^V"ou's:^"'^r . '^''h animation, of judging he^r, and Z wis by theli^ 'oH ^"S°".° '^^ the shape of her hat " ^ ^"' °^ ^or cloak an after' Ll"wL"goL-^S! Ir'"^; Ti?^-^."-tbis of cour, about everything ; he wi, „„ito' "?'Pfr ' '" '"is mannc sick, but now that his anxlp V f "'■"T ^^ile Lida wa rcHT.™ for nothing but nonsense l^^'l!''' '""""' '« ^av^ what it is. mam^a, if Trvg doesn't 1 t^'" ^ "r ^f y" got away ahead of him ; ho needs fL .^ ? "''''% ^'da will' dous trouble of some sort in H.i . r ''''^dow of a tremen- .a anything like a ZSd'st '^^^r'"' ^ ^-P ^i-j thj^ uatLr;-?: ;:u^t?.fTrr *» ^^^^^ A i-l^woman. StUl. there ^^51""^^?,;,^ f^ .hldoVs:t"^oS^toZn".'timr""""°"? ^-'^^^ro.r.A o Lord knows it ; some p3o wTll 'no"?' "' '•"*' ^ '^ '™ ^ij daughter, unless UrmS thTi"^^' ""^'J^f.^^^^t's «»!■ ■Vlllff. 10 I •'^ Laura an our burr |nd lookc( ither with (i.cc8. Son iccidcnt E appcned lad been d loraea, ovei nnther ha lore than ho past W( taps be irought iiangled an( ind the fi Irying to i Ulf-sick frail daugli |he news a faa possible " We can 1; m,"saidLo leedn't call Then we ■daught7rruVi;ssHrmTorthTlth'""T°'-u'ChriBt7c;ii:PXi^^^ S in treadmg full of th^n,sT" ° ^"'^ °° ^^^ich they per8ist|^?th%ith 1 spoke with unwonted gravitv for „r.r.,^i.\,- ■ , ■nicklysupp face just then led me to wo,^rw^'th°udI^'*'''"« )" h^ilamation,^? my Laura would continue fnmZ„ 1 don pamwhotherF • " way until she was driveTout o^uL tT*"' *^' \T.^ ^ighJ caught my meaning, for she tnrnii ^ ^"T '• J *hink she ma tone that wasilmostpttuTant -''"'' '""'^' """^ *'''' doubVrheth"erTv,^ngoould"''"*° ^•^"«^°°' -''-ma, and I Was there defiance in the words? WewZVf'^'^ ""'? •"*" q"i«t that night muTtTnrsirhaTefeftia-- r -^^^ day. Mr. Jonas Smith «:as ^^niiJ u^^'^^'he trip in one l-^ated on our roX nearW f ,f^ ^"•'""'='« to" town detained there at an hnfplnf^'l^'^""'^' ""d IRuId urt,'.d that, instead of Dhn^nTi^'''' J'"^ "^e whole fan should go kt noon wiinLt in?."" " '°"'" ° •''"•''^ train, m night .at the hot? The dpoi.^ "*'°"1"' *"*^ '''-"in over- •nd 1 fancy more for KurZ/oT ''"i° *^»- ^"lomon, w«h her Wher-in-law ^toTav t T"^""! <' 1^^^^ hour opportunitv offered? than for aJy fcar ITf " *?^ ^^'^ "» agreed to the hotel plan ^ °* *"'j^ "«-«. "be-. „ „, It mast have been some time aftpr mi^„: i,a , fr® mu( ir room were awakened hv no^,,,f5-'°."^'"^ht^ and we inPuntie '^"^ 71 h«d been all more Sne'sTinM-r^M" _'.*!? huli.«iiammi -_- .„„„ „^,,„ awuKeneo hv no/<.ii:„. 'i / --- "" '" i iiiUii wo had been all mni-A nii7I • ""V""? ^n tiie huli. noHs, and to listen for nn3al Li '°?''"'"* 'o wakeful- alarm when L^ wL taken s^t'''' "r""^ '^e midnight difficulty and immerat:?y':^o:;1j .rvoftiSr ^"'°"' Laura, there u K,me one groaning dowSuira, a »«.•, |n thesituati iver it was, [uietly dowr loment m inra opei loor and stei ihe hall, sard Mr. roico again ,- Oh, Ma eaven's aal |et any q^ihe •It is aTAil ^ with us.' Go back ! >f command ime back to "I don't k ,-ok. "Icai t is Harris ; Te must be d untie Smit lammal" a: reeping. Certainly J 2 child fron leased tho8( "'Jl/rs. Solomon SttiiVt, you've Helped along in this Ni.r/a^s WorL 47 R XX '•: IIKf.PF.I) AtONO IN Tin OIIK.'" ' of a totally ,lifr„ront p, in tl,uui,.-|,t, the third aft,. 'IlHiffore*! another day a , toi'iijoyaiidoin tho ri,. rroy pony, who, thoir-h "w WKl to be n luodd , and who, during tho U loJ hm reputiitioii. 'ought of tho nmniflcc, 'cmod utmblo to put ini 18 could think of, to lavis ly I'fstowed. had como to love her ro payment onoiiifh tho rough I " did Irvii) Laura and me. " Laura glowed at my miHunder. •ly fiu astonishment tha ontirely. But how waa ndid woman ? " peaking with animation Bmedtohavobutonown tho cut of her cloak ani bice. I think Mr. Bmith or Irving muit be ill j I'm fcino down to ice, a* noon a* I can." ["Don't, mamma," «ai*t Laura. uprinRing up on tho litant; "lot mo go," and bIio began rapidly drowing. Benntimo the strango Bcuindii, miiigiid with something iry like groans, continued. I Mrs. Smith wai, as umuil, in advance of us ; her room bor opened at this point, and h( r voice was heard in the all ; not a loud voice ; Mrs. Smithn tones were emphatic, ■ear-cut, readily underHtnod, lint never loud. I "Who's sick? Is that you, Joim;*? What is the batter ? " mamma,"— this of conrs ofHipnantinhismanne Ddurablo while Lida w;i 'over, ho seems to have ad flattery, m toll ynu an t take care Lida will tlie shadow of a tromen- wckground, to keep him )f mind." inoyed or to laugh over| 1 man, by a very youth- od for thought in herj ntinuous background of 5mo at last, bo ». ire his ipt answer Christ's call ;h on which they persist , for something in her tn sudden pain whether I along the broad high- by thorns. I think she ■^way hastily, and said eligion, mamma, and l| I k that night. ? day ; not early, as we I made the trip in one by business ta a town I way, and WBuId be I , and the whole fam ' four o'clock train,'.™ Qan, and remain overT] s lett to Mrs. Solomon, spending a quiet hour him a few words as I arof early rising, she rmidni^ht, and wein| •- souijus in the haii. f I mchned to wakef ni- ls, since the midnight so I roused without uvestigate. g downatain, a uuui'i Then Mr. Smith's iJOP, — "Don't for Heaven's ikc lot Harali hear (ir lidft. Is the child's |oor tiliut? And yet sliall have to call •viiig. OhjOodholi) 10 I ''^ Laura and I paused our hurried toilets, |nd looked at each ither with blanched luces. Some dreadful [ccidcnt must have apponed. Harris lad been driving gay lorsej, over which his iiother had worried lore than once, in ho past week. Per- laps ho had been rought home all iiangled and bleeding, .nd the father was rying to shield the Llf-sick wife and frail daughter from ho news a.s long as 'as possible. " Wt can help, mam- la," said Laura. " He leedn't call Irving." Then we hurried (ain. Mrs. Solomon Imith, with one brief, juickl^ suppressed ex- ilamation, had taken |n the situation, what- iver it was, and gone luietly downstairs. A loment moro and .nra opened our loor and stepped into ihe hall. Then I sard Mr. Smith's 'oice again, — Oh, Maria, for heaven's sake don't let any ql^em como 1 t-It is awM . enough. uA I MAMMA !' BUR BZOI. PASSIO.N OF , with US." Go back I " It was Mrs. Solomon's quiet, strong voice Jf command to Laura, and the chUd, her face deathly pale. !»me back to me. I 1' ^»T* ''°°*' •*» **>^. in answer to my questioning look. I can t see him, only a glimpse ; he seems Ufoless. t IS Harris ; they are carrying him into the back parlour, le must be dead, and that is why they need no mora help, luntie Smith had hold of his faet. Oh rr,s-.:na ' lamma!" and she burst into a perfect "passion of reeping. *^ Certainly Mrs. Smith had done well in trying to shield ?. J :J™™ ""y '?°'"® unnerving sights and sounds, and blessed those two downsUirs for their thoughtfulness as I Ijent over Laura. I coaxed her baek to bed pregently. half-dre^sed nM she was. It mi«ht bo only a faint, I told her; doubtless wns. Mr. Smith was terribly alarmed of course yet remomlwred tho importance of keeping oxcitinir news froiji Lida, or his wif,. ; and had probably reasoned that the safest way was to keop the upper hull perfectly muet. I listened, meantime, for sounds below, which should indicate that the doctor was being summoned, or those other terrible helpers, if in,],.,.,! tho young man should be past a nhysicinn's care. Hut tho utmost silence prevailed. I could almost have imnirined tho whcdo thing a dream, but for re- nienibering how wide- awako and stiong- nervcd Mrs. Smitirs voice had sounded. It might have been ten minutes, or it might have been half an hour afterwards— I could not judge of tho time, it seemo.l so long— that a low tap came at our door, and I, anRworing it, ad- mitted Mrs. Solomon. Iler face was very jialo, but quiet, though her eyes gleamed with a liylit that seemed something moro than sorrow. " Have you had a great scare hero '? " she (luestioned. " I don't wonder ; I've been shaken as I never was before. Is the child a.sleep'?" with a glance toward Laura. "Auntie, is ho dead y " a.skcd Laura, suddenly turning and fixing wide-open frightened eyes on her. " I saw him, I caught a glimpse of him, it was Harris I* be dead '? " Mrs. f^nith turned toward lier thoso grave eyes, full now with solemn meaning, and said slowly, " Yes, child, he is — dead drunk." " Dtnnk ! " I re- peated in dismay and a sort of terror, the very outspokenness of the word seeming to make it more terrible ; for the moment to have one lying drunk . - ., , in the house seemed infinitely -^orse than to say, " He is intoxicated." " Drunk ! " repeated Laura with a peculiar emphasis. I had never heard liio word or the tone from her lipj before. , " Yes," aaid Mrs. Solomon, "dead drunk. He knows just ashttle lum minute about what is going on as his body will know when it is laid in tho grave ; and it is an awiUi iighi i I never saw ita iiko Lufoie, aud I pray God I may never have to see it again. Oh I Solomon has often told me that i ought to go down on my knees and thank the Lord that ours were all girls, and kept safe from tho worst temptations, but I never felt like it until this minute. Think what it was for that father to help drag .AIMED, AND BURST IKIO A PKBFELT WEEPIKG." 43 Mrs. Soiomon Smith Looking on. Jnd the poor shocked old lady buried her face in her " Is this a new slioclc to the father ? " T ..Uoj f i few moments of troubled sil "uco ^^^' ''^^''^ » Mrs. Smith shook her head " I onnM „„» . t t. has had a good many just such time?„stjs ^^il^ t° remJmbe?"'tl//Sr ' ""'"^ »f "*'>'' "''« '« "<>» yours, »■■ n? girl., th« did"? ™° , 3 T Hl,°'i„??' '"J one at on«, Here I've been in this houw7or w^s and folks, as there is any other way •" * ^"^ *'"'*' bro^hZooVortre 1^ o'^on Sf'^'l "" *^ r>-"«' this- "MRnima hI ""^ '"^ » n»""«>nt, and then ..pp«v Hi-Si, .wia £7s°s SbC'Ki rsj I was prompt witli my answer. pooitartfl'^mrk • "'?„ i,^.,^,;^^"^^^ evonmg mat or may not'l^e a l,e Si»/"""» ™»L' "^4 case I am docidcdlv of ♦!,« ^J ■ :, *» '° "*'• I" *i| but if it is an thS a yoS ,"Sn, t* f- 'f^^A * .young tiwii biick fi^.m V..i,, ■. '"ward boldj iode,-,!.' To K t.°" . e' ,'' ZT" '°. f" ""1 l;^;,^. Lul&l""Cir:SSv,»*'dift She turned from me with manifest impatience I ' Jlanmia, you and Auntie Smith think Z/ ♦!, 1 nothmjr worth doimr f,„. ..„ '^'""" "imic that there I religion tniVemWiHlnVH^P'' ""''''■'"' >"" '^'"' '•'J have none to t^Ik ahoul ■'"?* """"^ '"^•' '""'•'"'» '« J« >» J jiith being KTclling, ai ivel stains, bgant dinin jsequiously ight select i lit was here W had, in i PEINCIPLEa ,««";i'J"TLr."^.'«'Tr'l^'^^^^^^^^ only «>m.l dor n^.^wMffr^'^i' ''r^^'' |iTH:uWti her Father* houl^ 1 1C"k t"! "^' *'" ""*» "^"'^ '» more distinct y noticeable than bv..'; ti^t . P' • ^'^ upon. her Mas^r's bulfneL Never obt'usitiTllIS.l"''"' nn^I'J"*;';:' ^'"."'' *"• °>°"' *•>« any "Oman I ever knew work "^ *'*■'' P^'""" cl>a««tcristi<« of succettfui att^mkr'il=loU:7u. Tn^^Sl.r /"'r"* pressed us witll atientio^, oJeuSr ^.Id ol.Zi^ ''P" Uken whitho, k! "'„!:i 1 u5*J''''^*?'^ '5*« a carnage, andliat. Mnrin fi.,, the ff ling- wl7ch,howeverSh'ofTTetiar.?i™^^^^^^ tHr^Hinglo thin Ihe hotel WM one of the pinoely sort, Mr. Jon.. '"Not for me lith's voice, iiithful for mi t do anythi: )ne of Solom ]r»c along, in a jilt to the liord broken for r< ,it I can't eat t " What ridicu [lynngry now. lip lithiT help it. Mnrin^ fur r single thin Maybe so," i 'iild you give [Tile father's fi Hero wo i '''Principles are Inconvenient Things; I'll ozun thair' tho mistake which yonit e withayoiinRmanofJ •190 thing to do. In till nion that you did rii;!,! Pl can do toward hol.lirj it amounts to very littl to have exerted such as would have led hin, r strength, might ind.J know, dear, you did nc^ if est impatience, mith think that there i 10 unlo.S8 you can t,i!i le poor mortals to do will that, Laura. Neither A iligion to people will J do not see how, unliJ 1)0 ablo to help anotlid absolutely safe to buil] « quiet, and tried witl scenes of the hour, an( at night there was left led with visions of th( r below stairs, e next morning, hcai eared much aa usual, not be sure, and froi ancied that the famiK, nor ; though much ll ■es could be deceived.] t oppressive attentions, n we had entered as I to me was Laura'J y daughter was neveM dim when she turned t hour of utter silence little thing, and hatine «t I could I " I meventful ; only com-, . I imagine, would not ire. There were quiet lert old friend, that I he will meet again iof ve represented her to ch for opportunities, that it seemed wisest or solemn declaration ^ was "asleep," it w;i» r that she was intent obtrusive, hardly evor lod.yot deftly slipping they must have been i woman I over knew, eristics of successful loHs as a dove." I eful and courteous) deed ; he fairly op- 1 ig and clotring our )lding and refohlimj ind offering us soia» 49 jith being evidently one who never economised in .ve ling, and by seven o'clock wo were divested of ivel steins, and seated at a co.sy round table in the kant dining-room, with well-trafned waiters standing Isequiously by, ready to serve us with whatever wo kht select from the bill of fare. wuaicvor wo lit was here that occurred tho next startling episode of liat had, m the lost few weeks, become an eventful lif^ CHAPTER XXI. |PEI?JCIPLES ARE INCONVENIENT TJIIN08 ; I'LL OWN THAT.' " ND what will you have, jraria?" Mr Rmitli wa.s saying, as L.iur.i and I h.wing stated our preference, he waited for his sister-in-law. But "Maria" was engaged in an earnest, and, judge by her eyes, startled pcrusiil of the bill of fire 'Jonas, look there ! " she said nt List, laying tho paDcr iforo him and pointing with her finger to tho he.idli.ics, Hicli indicated that choice wines in every variety would served to order. •' L/^v^'i!'! "J'li i" *,'"'! *°"®' " "^ ™""e, they all do Bt. W hat shall I order for you ? " '"Jonas, yon don't mean that? They don't all have !m .' In this great city there must surely bo one tern- iranco pace where a body can eat and sleep without kming his conscience t " »- >■ The tone was low, almost pleading; still I think tho arest waiter caught it, and there was an amused smile his face while he waited. Probably Jonas saw this answered hurriedly, — h There is no time to discuss such matters now, Maria bn t you see we are already tho subject of remark '■' It me send your order, it is growing late. I am to meet i committee at eight o'clock." I" Then I must just go hungry, that's all.' She spoko a positive voice, yet one couldn't call it obstinate icro was too mournful a tone in it, as if she were fully 1RC10US of all tho perplexities and annoyances that the icstion at issue set in motion, and would fain have runken from it if she could. " I'm dreadful sorry, >nns If Id dreamed of such a thing, I wouldn't have TOO this way. I don't like to put folks in unpleasant ices, and make talk, and all that, not a bit ; but as for .ing my supper, or sleeping under a roof whero they II rum, or giving a cent of my money towards helping along, I can't do it." * " Hy this time tho waiter was smiling broadly behind c napkin with which ho vainly tried to hide his mouth. r. donas Smith wa-s growing visibly annoyed. " Don t bo absurd ! " he said, in a quick, irritable under- np, we must Lave supper at ouce. Tea and toast liter, in addition to my other orders, and be quick about 1 the train, pop-corn seemed, all the af ter- n; I could not help [ot rid of his own ants for us, that he| rived at our stopping- into a carriage, and v.iigiitnj ouraoives to j ■ » Teteran in travol- a woman— that we j not think anvthing ?Sage. )ljr «ort, Mr. JoDM Not for me, Jonas." There was quietness in Mrs Jiths voice, but there wa-s also firmness. "Not a nithful for mo at this tabin. You don't understand. I 1 1 do anything of that Kind ; it simply ain't right me of Solomon'u money must go toward helping the l»e along in any way, shape, or manner. We jiromised K 1 *"V"* '^^ "8° ' "•"' " promise to Him ain't to broken for convenience, you know. I can co hunt y It I can t eat tho bread of sin." "What ridiculous nonsense ! " Mr. Smith was nnafTect- [ly nngry now. "Just as if eating your supper at this lie. either helped or hindered the cause ! Ill tell you liiT single thing." "' h Maybe so," said Mrs. Smith quietly. " Jona^ what unld you give to see Harris just such a fanatic as I mic father's face paled instantly, yet vliat wore we to Hero wo sat, waiting for our ordered dinner, and one of onr party refusing to touch it. Ho turned toward us an appealing look, and I essayed to help. "I should certainly much prefer a temperance house. Can wo not go quietly to one ? " " ^^\ '®2T? ^'^^ supper we liave ordered uneaten and unpaid for ? " There was something verv like a sneer in his voice yet ho was so tried that I could excuse it. Mrs. Smith sived me the trouble of answering. _ " No, we wouldn't leave it unpaid for. We've made em trouble in ignorance, and we'll pay 'em for it. Thifs principle ; but they'll know just why wo cant cat our suppers hero ; that's principle, too." Mr. Smith looked as though it were that he hated prin- ciple and would have nothing to do with it ; but, after another moment or two of hesitation, ho rose abruptly made his way to the cashier's desk, held a hurried conver- sation with him, during which time certain bills changed hands then ho came back to us. And it was with haste and gloom that we retreated from tho elegant hotel A somewhat silent party rodo through the stroete of the city m search of a tomporanco house. Mr. Jonas Smith did not condescend to sit insido, but slammed tho door on us aa if wo were all equally in disgrace, and took a scat with the driver. The ride was not a long one, but tho change, both in location and appearance, was marked when wo again alighted before a hotel. Perhaps you are accustomed to being a martyr to your temperance principles, and know all about the stufTv hiill, and small, not overclean, not well-kept rooms, all smelling more or less of food that had been cooked some time, into which wo were presently ushered. ^ " I hone yon like it ? " Mr. Smith said to his sister-in- law, with meek voice and savage eyes. He was speaking of the room to which tho slovenly and somewhat surly waiter had brought us,— the m.ain one by no means immense in size, and tho one opening froni It not larger than tho clothes-presses in his own house. The furniture was plain, even to shabbiness ; the car- pet, that large-figured abomination in red-and-green • altogether, though tho be.lding was clean, and the neces- saries to comfort were there, tho air of cheapness which pervaded everything evidently tried Mr. Smith's icsthetio tasto to tho utmost. "It will do," Mrs. Solomon said decisively, in answer to his insinuation. " It ain't so gr,ind by considerable as tho one we left. I suppose those folks can't afford to be grand, they don't get any help from rum. And I don't suppose they have any too much custom, cither. Folks dont go out of thoir way, maybe, to find a temrteranco house. It is a good deal easier to go to tho glittering places, and ask no <;|uestion8 for conscience's sake. Prin- ciples are inconvenient things ; I'll own that. Solomon and I have been bothered with ours a great many times " "Well," said Mr. Smith, " every one to his taste. I'm glad you like it. They say there will bo some sort of a supper served for you soon. As for me, I must go without supper to-night, and hurry right back to my appointment." It was his f«rting thrust, and we were alone. "But, auntie," said Laura, as she poured water from tho broken-nosed pitcher, and exclaimed over its small- ness, and yellowness, and bn>keniiess, "is there any principle involved in having things look like this 'i Tem- peraiico people need not iiiicossarily be stuffy, and dusty, and shabby. If they want custom, why don't they keep such a house as pooplo will patronise '!• " "Sometimes there's a good de^l of principle in that very thing, chiltl. A man ha.s got to have the money io make a house elegant in the first place, aiul keep it so siicrnards , aiui oltun hu's got to earn tho money' before he can have it, and if his principles won't lot him earn It by soiling rum— which I havo heur.l is altogether tho ciuickcst and easiest way— and if you and I ain't got priniiples enough to ita'id his broken-nosed pitchers, and crncked lo«king-glas>cs, m as to help him earn money for tetter things, why, he won't be likely to gut on very 50 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. fast. I hke nice things, child, but I like clean consciences better. Im sorry for Jonas ; his principles ain't skin deep, m.yhow and his conscience is tonirb, and his stomach ,8 tender, and he'll likely have a hard time of it here : I m sorry for nil of us for having made an uucom- fprtaUo time all round ; it is the most uncomfortable time I ever remember to have had in my life, and I'd have given my best Aldcmey cow to get out of it : but I vvns in and I didn't know no way out ; as true as you live I di.lnt Im an old goose, maybe ; an opinionated old fooli.h thing, but I couldn't no more .et there and drink- that tea out of a china cup, and stir it with a silver spoon, and think of that boy of Jonas' lying dead drunk m his fathers parlour only last night, and me a-sittinff one side of him and his father the other a-groanin« out in agony every few n;iuutes, and mo helping to pay for the rum that went to make him so, than I could fly un through that chimney-hole this minute. I couldn't do it ! Slie looked worn and haggard with the weight of her trouble, and with the tioublo which she had made for others, which last wa.s at all times harder for Mrs. Smith than anything that she had to bear for herself. I could feel that as she turned away from Laura's unanswerin.' eyes and sighed heavily— she was thinking what a blessed haven of rest that little house in the Hollow would be to her, with Solomon at the hcarth-sido I did not know what to think of Laura ; for the first time .smcewe left homo, she seemed to have deserted her old friend. Her eyes tlashed their vexation, and she shut her lips tightly a.s though she had just enough self-control eft to resolve to keep silence. One might have supposed that her whole heart was set in favour of the liquor traffic, instead of having been all her life an earnest temperance worker. I felt very much puzzled. I could not thmk that the luxuries of life had suddenly grown so important to her that she could not disnense with them for one night; for, like most sensible girls, roared in comfortable and harmonising surroundings, she had not given them such a high place that she could not cheer- fully, and even gleef uUy, share the annoyances and dis- comforts of travel, or of anything that disturbed tie usual routine. Altogetlier the rest of our journey was not plea.sant. The breakfast did well enough ; the steak was somewhat tough to bo sure, and the coffee slightly muddy, but if everything had not been made so uncomfortable by Mr Smiths sarcasms and Laura's silence, we should have got along nicely. As it was, I was glad certainly to bid the gentleman good-bye, and Mrs. Smith curled herself into a scat m the car with a long-drawn sigh of relief, after his somewhat stiff good-bye to her. Fancy a man saying good-bye stiffly to a woman who had been what she had in his household, for weary days and nights, week after week, simply because by her con- ■cientious scruples she disturbed the luxury of one night's r'i Ji, ^ "T^ '';''*' '""' ""'^ provoked with Laura, and left her much to herself, ' As our train rolled into the familiar depot and Mrs Bmith, peering from the window, caught a glimpse of I;!., *= :■ °''^-fa8'"f "^J waggon, plentifully besprinkled with mud and of Solomon, in his much-too-long grey coat standing beside it, watching eagerly the moving car windows, I shall never forget the radiant face that turned to i^, nor the triumphant voice that said,— 'There he is! the best sight that my old eyes have teen ma year-It seems most a year, don"'t it ? I declare lor It, I hope It won't be made my duty to trot round this world anv more without Solomon ; I don't like it I " 1 laughed, but laura was persistently cold and silent. The child had never tried me so much in all her life put together, as she had durin/this jouruey. I think I showed a little of this feeling as wo talL-«d over, witii iior father and Mary, the episode of the hotel • lor Laura, without being directly censured, arose to the defensive. ..!^' ?«'} **'\^?' """""«. I 8t'» think it was very silly *nd selfish in Mrs. Solomon, and I shaU always think so. The -dea that her money was helping along the sale liquor, ]ust because she was stopping at an jiotol an ™.ying tor just w'hat she consumed, and nothing nior, artisan, Whiit had she to An w fl. ♦!,„ i; o ai • , P ' .* „..i.„ What had she to do with the liquor ? She miglur, w, refuse to stop m the world any longer, because there w arnnf"^'«""? S'-»l'l'='t'i-breaking, and I don't kno What not. So long as she doesn't do it, and can't kc others from doing it, what is it to her ' " Now L,iura was not nsimlly so illogical as that ; in fa InLni 7 '"*;' l'«" Pl"yf""y toW he,- that he might educate her f..r the bar ; she would make her mark as lawyer; and I was more surprised than I can tell v Her reasoning seemed too absurd oven to rcciuire i saJpLiisrutryT- '' 'f ' ''•"'* ''"^ '""«'"'^' "^ ^" f JJ^''T' ,^J"?-' -T?". """^ ''" *"'»''*'y the opposite si,i from wh.at I should have expected, and, b '.sides, h.n- ceit.amly forgotten how to argue. Of course it reillv wuntenaricing the sale o^ liquor in hotels to patron, them; in fact, it apparently accepts the poiiul.ir ai-; mont that hrst-class hotels cannot bo kept witliout tt, sale of liquor. And so we submit to having liquoi pay half of our first-classness. Doesn't it, papa '> " ' "Looks like it," said her father, sipping his c.lTee, an cvulently enjoying the argument of his daughters t mnr'h to care te cut it short by helping them. But Law was excited. •;Woll, ^h;y can't," she said sharply, ignoring I father s remark. " Look at the condition of the tomi^c ance hotels ; first-cla.ss indeed I I wish you could ha been with us last night. Even the soaps were third-ck- aml the thin coating of silver all worn from the sno»,t •»* she caught my reprovii look. "She doesn't care for little daintinesses hersci isn t, !■ fact, accustomed to them as we are, and as h brother-in-law is, and so of course there was nothii. special for her to give up. She cares for just one perso in this world, and that is her ,'k)lomon, and so long as hi conscience doesn't touch him in any way, nor waste h money, she is willing to ride into all sorts of discomfor and take other people with her, without caring bow hai It presses them. I should like to see a question of cot science come up that would affect Solomon's welfare i any way. I think she would discover that she is selfis "One \« et K-holnr ou caught fad ! " T Hut Lant " I am ji af," she f nght to be, idc. And le man wh 11 these sii iences are locp on bee matical. 1 'Ives about list the on( mci; if th swallow ; them." 1 ible. All daj', p ips, growing line this u listurbed am rrc alone t 'ith a single " lias Lam is Mil-plus f I " No. Wo ikiiefH, and speak of b My tone w ally, how ] inds'? Hel ten believec ' In hotel 8 pen I unders "and „ -J. _ ._ „„„ „„„.u uioi^uToi tuud sue IS seins " aigeora, irii in her crosses, and that m reality she doesn't know mud iciest in each I couldn't understand Laura. Her eyes were brigli her cheeks burning, and her lips were quivering Sh was evidently strongly wrought upon, and had apparent] gone over entirely to the enemy's side "--- ^ • ' her wonderingly. ji intei- '^ fatht mom [tempt to thi lOHgfi at vari; Igs, and her im out of tl it .".Smith's e: !i its irrita l< K:au should n,_and had apparentlj Mary looked side. ORMi i'TLAKE was my daughter Laura's intei, . , ;)and. You can readily see how her lathbi 6 announcement enlightened me. In a moment I saw it all— the poor child's sen.sitive ipt to tiiink that what her friend did must be right loiigii at variance with all her previous views and teach-' JBs, and her determination to sustain him, and argue im out of the inconsistency. I could understand how IS. Smith s extreme action had wrought upon her nerves ill Its irritating question as to why that ignorant old i:;:in should be able to reach conclusions of right and <«ng that Norman, with all his culture and logical edu.-a- 11. Iiad faded to see. Of course he was right, and Mrs iMuion wrong— it should bo so 1 As soon as I understocKl my poor child I was sorry for ", though I cannot say that I was greatly astonished at innau's course. ho truth is that, could I have had things just as I iiikl, Norman Eastlake was not the man whom I shou d ve chosen for my son-in-law. I had never meant that should occupy such a position. It had been a boy and rl tricndship, not so very strongly marked. They liked walk from school together, and were rivals in rhetoric 1(1 algebra, friendly rivals always ; I thought that their 'ciestin each other wos nothing more than the natural ;:.t or ooioujjiiijj io iiio wime classes, and being interested the same pursuits. Wlicn Norman went to college, I had been foolisli enough to-\scnt carelessly to their interchange of friendly letters ■'r father hud shook his head, and asked me if I thought «ige-; but I had only laughed, and assured him that 6ura was just a gay child, and would correspond with rother if she had one ; and 1 remember that I n.Idod wn.^M ? "fl'^'lu- •*"'""cnta boy, who thought it woud bo a fino thing to get letters r.gularly from » pretty girl; it would give him a 8en.so of man Zm which secretly I thought he needed "'aunness, T nnr.'i"„n'" '"''"''■^ "i"' "•".'^ '"^^"'"^ ^ ^""y realised that Laura had for ever laid aside her doll, and romped with Her kitten no more, she came to me one -lay with glowiiiK cheeks and speaking eyes, and « letter to show no-a Cov t ' h"""''" ^"^ ''^^T ■'*''"^«'' t''"™ ^ >"« and written nffn'rT*'*^'".'^','"'^''"''' *'"""«''■ ''"' ""«""« ^^"8 written after Liiura had been spending a month with an iti •• '" t"? ""-I T^/"«'^i"n- " They wiU be expeci ing It, ho had said to Laura. "Of course y„ur father and ni(Hher knew the end of all these things f they have as g,M,d as given their consent already, wo need not trouble to be very formal." a fimn „'n ■ ^'T' ^ «'""«'" '' "" "'"''■ aft'-Twards. many th,ng.s to drift, exiictly as though wo had expected they would go down just the channel that they had ; and yet 1 had never expected it, never meant it, would have given much very much, to have taken it all back ; 1 had simply now "If ""V''''*?,"'"'.^ *''"''^' "'••"■y '"•"'"'•^ are maki'S now-that of calkMg two youns things "children," and let iiig them play on together, ],mg after the childishness Had been in a sense laid aside, and thoy were playinir at *" w „ woman, without recognising it as play "^ " Well, what objection had we to Norman Eastlake ? We asked each other the question-her father and I-he looking with troubled face into the coals, staring straight before h.m all that hour, and never by word or Iwk hinting o me that hateful "I told you so," yet, do C link I torgot that he had I Oh, there were many objC tions Norman was of good family V Yes. He was » good-hearted, well-intontioned fellow ? Yes. He was a fair scholar, and would bo likely to succeed fairly well in his profession? Yes. He was rich ? Yes. Uiihcsitat- ingly I answered all these questions to my heart in tlw afhrmative: and yet I did not want him for Laural hu.sba.rj. Well, did I want anybody? No, I didn't I recognised that, as in part, the trouble. Laura was a tliild yet; ought to have been. I resented her being defrauded of her fresh young girlhood, and being pushed thus early into the responsibilities of life. Why couldn't they at least have been content to remain boy and airl friends for a few years ? Why must Normau suddoaly go to imagining himself a man ? " Xoriuan is a Christian ? •• said Laura's father at last. Iiesitatiugly, with a curious upward inflection in his voice 1 answered the questioning sentence with another : " Ii '' y,'hy, Mary, you know he has Inien fessor of religion ever since he was a little fellow ! " " I know it" I i-aid, and if Laura had heaiu ,e I sup- [wscshe ^youldhavo resented the dre^.riness of my tone. IJut therein lay one of my troubles ; Norman was by no ineans the sort of Christian that I thought ho ought to be ; he was simply a free-hearted, good-natured, easy- going, social young feUow, lacking, 1 behoved, in moml backbone. I had never seen him tried, to be sure. His tastuH did not run in the line of dissipation ; his friends did not happen to be of the stamp that led him astray and Ins reputation was therefore exceptionally eood I believe in that word "therefore." I have put the hint of how tho matter stood in my own mind. I had uoc unwavenng confidence in Norman's self; his virtues - — ..j_.....,, niv.iau itini, creatures or cir- cumstance, rather than of choice, based on conviction I remember as long ago as when he united with tho Church in companjr with a large number of young people, just after a period of special religious interest, it seemed to me rather that he came because all thj boys in his set were coming than because ho had taken firm foothold on the Rock. 1 had aU along felt that littlo um^ortone of 52 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. distrust, not of Ins good intentions, but of the soil on which they vere growing. He had been a boy who was easily persuaded to go sleigli-riding, or rowing, m the ^^ mihgt be, on prayer-meeting evening, if the other boys «IJ?.* •^' w^ "l??'* equally easily pereuaded that it was not 3U8t the thing to do. if enough of the others thought not, which little illustration just serves to show fiis moral power ImaKnio such an one the husband of my Laura, with her quick, keen insight into all questions, mental or tsora . I had small comfort in thinicing that ^^?„« i,*""^ '""?• *°'' I l^'lioved that, like alfweak natures, his was also an obstinate one : it could take a position and maintain it stoutly against reason and com- .^t"fj^t'"*ii •i'''' wti''*' ^"'" "^"'"K ^ ^a" sufficiently w„^. ^; P^^'lf"' \ *^.^* '•""fident that Laura was not a woman to lead her husband and live a happy life ; she was too strong-willed for that, in the better sense of that word. I felt sure that, in order to respect him. she must looK up to him and believe in his superior strength. Then how m the name of wonder was she to be happy with the man of her choice ? Over this pmblem her father and I CTieved much, after we settled to the mournful truth that she was unquestionably a woman at heart, and that he was unquestionably the man of her choice. At last it became apparent to us that it was to be done by shutting -^ T'/'i'^ '^•"u"."? ''^""'^ *''''* ^^^ «*'•«"«*'» was there, fully did not know her » yes were shut. If she could always live in a state of real blindness as to Normans character-provided my estimate of it were correct-she migbt be a comparatively happy woman. But there had in the past year, been several little episotles like this hotel affair, which had told me only too clearly that Laura eometimes saw painful things, even with closed eyes. The temperance question had been one on which I believed that Norman stood more squarely than on any other, for thereason that h.8 father had been a pioneer in that di- I^i'°^' K- I fr'' •^*y^*'^ the struggle, and Norman had admired his father ; yet it will explain to you how little real confidence I had m the young man, that after the first start of surprise I asked my husband simply who it was who had succeeded in i)er8uading Norman that very safe invwtments were made in hotel stock, and that morally it was all right. After aU, I don't think I have made this matter very plain. You see, you don't know Norman Eastluke • if you did you would understand. There was really 'no ground for complaint ; look at him outwardly from any standpoint that you chose, he waa unexceptionable • and I was not sure, any of the time, but that the boy was a Christian, only a limping sort of one, if he chanced amonn- cripples; and Laura was not even that. We could not appeal to her need for a higher typo of Christian man- hood, we could not appeal to anything ; and when we hesitated und urged, there was nothing to argue that could be put into words, save that she, and ho; too, for tne matter jf that, were so very young. " We shrll be growing older every day," she said gravely. People grow old fast enough. And, mamma, I know you don t ,ike ^orman— that is, you don't like him well enough to rviarry him-that is plain. I have seen it this long time. But there is this to be said about it : I do, and 1 m the one, you know." What conld we answer ? So, for mo.-o than a year it had been an understood ^iBg m our faTiily that Laura was the promised wife of Norman Eastlake He was an orphan, and was most aiinecesaarily wealthy. There were always surplus funds coming in to torment him as to I II vestment ; and it was probably to escape the bore of looking any further that he ha^ become half owner m one of the princely hotels in the city where he was studying his profession. Ljinrn's fath«r W,.iK Ks.„,.i „« li inn.Mgh his iiiwyer, v.ho had been engaged in" the" legal part of tlie business ; but directly ho mentioned it; I knew that Laura had heard it from Norman, and accepted It as the thing to do, or else Norman wouldn't have done It I Because of the example of Christian life thus ke mI^'I^!-*'!;. "^ r*''° "'"•P"*''^' that Lanra had espons Mrs. Sm th 8 peculiar views on many subjects so heartil My conclusion had been that she believed the differen m them to be largely one of development, and tl, dail^fife''*'" grow into what was now Mra. Smith what a shock the hotel enterprise had been to her. Th was not development, surely I He had been pronounc. enough on the entire temperance question when she s« te«l?i ;i."°At-''""^ this phase of it, to l,e sure ; and believed that this would always be the difference betwp, Laura 8 mind and Norman Eastlake's. Questions parall to those already settled would by her be accepted matters of course, while Norman would have to ar- himgelf in or out of each new development, and woul.f i likely to decide negatively about one, and affirmative about the other of two phases which to Laura apnea as one and the same. ^^ I plainly saw that the problem which she had now hcreelf was to convince her heart and her conscience tn "L J,"'''' departure Norman was right and Mrs. Smi absurdly wrong. I knew it was not yet settled, beca. her irritation still continued in f uU force. She argued length with MaiT that our dear old lady might be vei good, but she was narrow-minded. Of course she was] why should she not be? All her life experiences hi tended to make her so. Also, this wise woman of nin teen was convinced that the woman of sixty-five did & underatand herself. She had never been tried in a din tion that would press homo. " Her children's graves ' ventured to hint ; and the foolish child, who kne^ nothing about a mothers heart, said. Yes, but that w ong ago ; and she had been so busy about her energc life that she really had not had time to miss them mu and she did not believe, anyway, that they had ever bi to her what some daughters were to mothers— she h, given all her heart to Solomon, and had none left i others ; and certainly for twenty years at least she In not had a ripple of personal trouble to disturb her • i wonder she was able to settle questions of conscience f. all creation ! I gave over trying to argue with Lau what was tlie use ? ' = o . Nevertlieless it was she who, one evening, after Norma in a new dressing-gown of most becoming pattern ai gay slippers-the gift of a sister of one of his collej friends-had lounged among us for two or three day made a proposition that surprised me. " Mamma, I want Norman to make the acquaintance Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Suppose wo go over there tl ev.ining for an hour ? they are original charactei Norman ; you will enjoy studying them." And Norman gracefully declared that he could w conceive of himself as enjoying anything better than did that eay chair, with his feet on the hearthrug, a that delightful open grate fire to stare at, to say nothi of Ins companions; at the same time he was ready attend us to the ends of the earth if such was o pleasure. Mary was at this time much absorbed in a missionai entertainment that was being got up by the Young Ladi( Band of our Chureh, she being President of the Ban On the evening in question there was a Commit! Meeting and rehearsal at the other end of the town ai her father bad attended her thither, and was to await h pleasure. Therefore I was thrown upon Laura ai r Sho f thai Argument upsets itself I ' " Christian life thus kp I that Laura had espon , many gubjccta so heartil, le believed the differcnd f development, and tli it was now Mrs. Smitl ot difficult to nnderstai le had been to her. Th| Ho had been pronounce, « question when she na^ I of it, to be sure ; and be the difference betwee, ake's. Questions parnllj by her be accepted i lan would have to arift ivfclopment, and would ut one, and affirmative! vhich to Laura appeal !» which she had now t and her conscience tl. foa right and Mrs. Smii not yet settled, becai ull force. She argued , ' old lady might bo vei, ed. Of course she wajl her life experiences hi his wise woman of ninil lan of sixty-five did no ver been tried in a dire ior children's graves," olish child, who knei said. Yes, but that wj msy about her energcL ,imo to miss them muc( that they had ever het re to mothers — she hs , and had none left fo / years at least she lis iible to disturb her , jstions of conscience fci B to argue with Laui e evening, after Normaj becoming pattern, anj r of one of his collej for two or three daj^ > me. lake the acquaintance c wo go over there tt are original charactes J them." red that he could nl nything better than . on the hearthrug, an stare at, to say nothiii| time he was ready aarth if such was od 53 ;it condemnation of Norman's course. I remember I )ndered whether she bad in mind an argument on the bject of temperance, and temperance work, and tem- Iranoe fanaticism, to be hold in my neighbour's kitchen, the course of which the neighbour should find her- If silenced and convinced by the brilliant logic of the kiing man. I Whatever motive provoked the suggestion, I was glad I receive it, for I knew her absence and coldness had (Uy hurt the heart of her true old friend who loved hor brly ; and with alacrity I laid aside my sewing, assuring ■orman that wo had a special treat in store for him if ho illy did not remember Solomon Smith and his wife. !" I remember thorn perfectly," ho said in his cultured awl, which was growing upon him, and which I used to jnder that Laura, with her quick ways and her clear-cut [nes, could endure. " I remeuber the queer old wagcjon in whicli they rodo l.iwn on market days and Sundays. It used to be 'ooiated m my juvenile mind with stories of tlio ark, id I was always contiiving how to stow away the lunals. I remember I decidcfl that ohi Solomon himself lould do for an apo, but I could never be sure wiiother I |oiiId have the old lady a species of monkey, or whether e belonged to the cat kind ; she had a curious way of 'imbing over the wheel that suggested the feline tribe to e.'' I hope he had not expected Laura to laugh ; if he had I was disappointed. " They could not have boon very old at that time," was ir sole comment. "Oh, they were, I awuro you ; they were always old. ■ long .go as I can remember, they were fiuotod from we quote the wise sayings of lliu oldest iuiiahitant. rs. Leonard, there is no reason why my knowledge of lem should not be fresh and vivid. In the letters which have been receiving from a certain person this winter t Ipast every third sentence be,!}an thus : ' Auntie Smith lys. It took me weeks to doterinino where she had )und a new aunt ; naturally I did not associate her with le days of Solomon. When light finally dawned upon le, I spent some anxious moments in wondering whether aura also said ' Uncle Solomon,' and whether I should ■> expected to learn such a formidablo name. " Laura was still grave, and the flush on her cheeks lainly showed mo that she was tried by all this banter. " I think, Norman, ' she said with dignity, " that the ;most tax your nerves will receive in that direction will I to say ' Jlr. Smith.' " There was a somewhat marked emphasis on the " Mr " ' fu"*".*... ^™''" laughed, and then we three proceeded » the little brown house in the Holloiv. CHAPTER XXIII. "Pno! THAT AnOHMENT fPSETS ITSELF 1 '" fr was something wonderfully pleasant about Mrs Smith's kitchen. In the strictest sense of the word, it was not a kilchen at all, all the •.. *!. »'0U8''er bouschold work having been banished, itii tlie largo cooking-stove, to a small outer room ; but 18 bmithi- liked the homely, old-fashioned name, and lang to it for this larger room. A wonderfully bright rag-carpot adorned the floor, a irpet that was in truth an artistic study, the colours iving been arranged with the greatest care, and with a lecial regard to brightness. The whitewashed walls ere hung with many pictures ; some of them cheap nnt8,manyof lom really fine engravings, the hoarded r»arc3 vi joa. » Thuy iiUiig in cheap frames, or were ,,^- 'f™}y tocked to the walls, but every one of them, iir return homo, near "etber cheap or fine, was in itself a treasure. Then Burse wo had long sin "^ •!"*'" **'■« "" unlike as possible to the usual kitchen to the matter, I v. '""ture— m fact, as my Mary said, th^y were unlike meiled to the old hdj 'e'nselves. No two were msites, and yet they were not sorbed in a missionai ap by the Young Ladi, President of the Ban ere was a Commit r end of the town, a. ir, and was to await h •own upon Laura a. Laura chose to considi nother should sit aloni n the parlour. It w n which my younj ig ladies of the presei ggostion. She had n an incongruous h-jppening of different patterns. Each one was a study. Solomon's specjal property was a somewhat high, wide- seated, wooden-backed creature, with spring castors in front, and none at the back, which gave it a curious swinging motion. It was upholstered in a brilliant cushion of small and intricate patchwork, containing— so Mrs. Smith triumphantly informed mo once— a bit of every woollen dress she ever wore from the time she was a year-old baby, and Solomon remembered those in which he used to draw her to school on his sleigh. Her chair was a low-seated, high-backed arm rocker, upholstered also with homo work, but in sober hue, being decorous stripes of grey and black woollen, fashioned of strips from Solomon's worn-out coats and pantaloons. Then there was my special chair, a flag-bottomed rocker of the olden style, with a peculiarly easy back, and a gay cushion stuffed with feathers from Mrs. Smith's own geese, and covered with bright strips of her own knitting. Laura's favourite, a white-flagged, green-painted little sewing-chair, sat up pert uiid sparkling against the wall, one or two respectable, broad-banded, very old-fashioned " splints " keeping it compiny. The Smiths, like ourselves, were very fond of open- grate ficos, and clung to them as late in the season as the weather would admit. But. unlike ourselves, thoy were blessed with an old-fashioiul fireplace, wherein the tradi- tional back-log ciuld blazu and snap and sparkle as ia the olden time. I never wondered over Solomon's fond- ness for poking the coals— ho had such a royal chance ia that great wide-mouthed fireplace. Into this co.sy room, with a bed of coals and brands in ]ust the right state for poking, we woro uMiorcd on th»t spring evening. The small, square stand, just large oiiough to hold the lamp and a book or two, besides the Biblo which always lay on it, and generally open, was drnwn quite near to the hearth, "just for the sako of being sociable," Mrs. Smith said. I had heard her remark that she felt sorry for the fireplace when spring grew lato. It kind of seemed to her it must know that its shilling was over, and that it must lie in blackness and shadow for a long, long tiino. " We sit close up to it as long as wo can, and make its la,»t fires as bright as the spring weather will anyways stand," she had said with a half-regretful smile. There they sat together ; Solomon i. .is chair on the hearth, his feet spread out on the bright, braided mat ; his wife just opposite him, not so far away but that she could lean forward, on occasion, and rest an emphatic baud on his knee ; her inevitable knitting in her lap, but a book m her hand, and an EmnrjelUt which had apparently just slipped from her lap to the floor. I remember thinking, as I took my special chair, that the whole bright, homely scene would make a pictu.a for an artist. My Laura had an arti.st soul, and I could see her eyes brighten and soften with the beauty of it all ; but those other eyes saw a reflection of the ape and monkey caricature which he h id tried to drew for us, I suppose. At least, they showed no appreciation of the sweet lomeliness to which we had introduced him. I do not think I ever liked my prospective son-in-law less than I did that evening. We were most cordially received. Mrs. Smith's homely old face glowed genially over the sight of Laura at her hearthstone again ; yet, with the rare tact which was so marked a trait in her character, she made no comment on the lepgth of time that the child had stayed away. She wa8 equally conlial in receiving Norman, and told him witu a smile which should have redeemed her face from all ugliness in his eyes, that she used to know his father well, ,ind a better man never lived in thn town. " You've got his nycs." she said eamestlv. ■'; vnd T bos and trust you have his good heart." " '' * He was pleasant enougli, though ho thanked her with too much coremoniousness for her good opinion of his father, and disclaimed all expectation— I had almost said all intention— of ever being so good a r n as his father. Then Mrs. Smith, brimful of talk, as usual, went bade 54 Mrs. Solomon Sviit/i Looking on. "I vras just taking dips into the New Voreion, and Solomon and I woro talking over some of tlm cbanSes Wo haven t had it but a little while. I brouL-ht it home with me, you kno..." (Thin to Laura.) '■Well s r a nd what do you think of the Now Version '•' " ' I waited somewhat curiously for Norman'.s answer. I bad not enough fa.th m h.s rt)liKi<,u« life to believe that he bad made a very careful studv of either the N«w or the Old Version for some time ; but lie w,is a man who always had to liTby ^''^'■'"'' '"""""■ °'' °°' ^"^ ''"'* *'^'"n »t hand ^ ci'rif'',!"^ " i'*'^''' '"',*'' P'""'nptnes», " that it represents » great deal of time and money wasted, which miJht have been used to better advantage.'' ^ Mw Smith was evidently astonished at the answer. think it^ T Jmv/r'' '""^r' "1'° r*^ •="«'''"'y- " I «*«■* think It. I have been waiting for that book to come out w cngcr as a little girl for a now dolly. Seemed to rno I c^ldn- wait tni tljev got it readv, though as iThappen^d I did and a good while after. The Lord filled my mnds tiolw s'" ^'''^."'"' = ^"* ^'''^'° I 8°t hold of it I was tickled Seems to me that whatever makes the Bible a monej''iirn U T*'^ ^'"^'° ""*'' ^ " '""'"' "* *'"'° °' "I'd^nl I'n '* f^^)l^^y. plainer?" q„erie' ^ ^ y^TiZT^'l " ^T"? r^""""' *''at tried me most awful in her time ; for about two years she was a regular tlu.r,. doubt ,?/u •%*''''"'" •*.'iT ^""-V" y^'--^ ; I'^« "« kind ui t}?e LI ■«. f n' ^'^^ 'r'' ^¥" «he went, and I know the Lord sent His angels, and they were waiting all toT J'i""^ -^^r '''? '''■'^'i'- 'Think of mo havingliar w,i, IT- ^''^ ■>"'* because she had made some mistakes, said things here and there she had no business to n^7!n^:r r.^!.!'T^i''i'' ^'''j""' '^^?: «« ■««» ^ack , a„d i ~ rr .7' "" ' " "='^^ """^^ nocning wroun in uiv life just the kind of mean -rcatures we arc Wf ; f •"* ^^'V'' ^ """ ''" 't; I boliove I w.int better forgiveness from you tlma T-o given to k-r foe kind of grouty this minuto wh*. I think of Ir ami there were days at a time wher. I'd slip round prayer all on account of Susan Barker. And sho .l the only one, either. There were times when I had , a number of them that didn't do right, or syrict seemed to be bothering mo as sure as I got Yown on knees to pray that particular prayer • " Over this frank statem-^nt Norman roared. Ho ^vM '""^ """",'" en ire^r oipablo of seeing the ludicrous side of a questin '"' ,'hose hr 1 f "t I m utterly unable to see what the New Versi, n^'ta"cs ; i has to do with this trouble," he .siid, as soon as ho cod|"'''''^'^ '""^^ command his voice. . '"'■lavo a now " ^Yl'^' ^""'^ y°" •"'*' what I did ? I had iust sen*""'^ *''"'* tl" Norman d And,' e,'iy tl his New Vol nd the thin intil ho gets 00 much tn ,ble to thiiil That is 1 few Versior few chans enough to know that it would bo an 'awful thinno'pnf ?°'-"r/^ to (.od to forgive me as I'd forgiven my bothorers ifK'"' ^''"'°'^ hadn done my part just right ; and so /tllghtT^oli"^'''^ 'J'' make it all richt bv « mn n,, t.«...,.i *i.. t ._ i. ?. "'■oaL'er attont m.l.o ;* 11 . Yi' ;'. . '»"" """ '*" A lliougut 1 cou make it all right by slipping round the Lord'.i Prayer , making up one of my „w„, and leaving them out o dSl im'ln'\V f\'''V^ V«ht down out and out fn, must forgive me if it was going t^'do" mo'';'„y V.^ look at the New Version : ' Forgive us our dcbl ^^ w, ' '"""P'^^the time she's given me a stab, right on ,ia.y knees, an«f I'd wait, and I'd have to own up! 'Nt" \ But now as we al.so have forgiven our debtors.' Don't you see'th shows the work is all done? It is just , la°n sailin; nowLglvVmT'"" '""" '^"'^'- '''''''''' '^"-^- mn'J ^'"" L'^I'^T ^ ^ ^'^^° ""y moaning plain ; but iti most dreadful plain to me that there's no slippngroun rn«t^ •*'■'''' ^,™y^'' '^°"'' """^^ "« -^sk the Lord thmn^'i ^"Sh^^' ^^ " ve done our best. We forgiv, them before we come to our knees.' '' ''I dunno as you seo through it. I'm not trood » tTe'Nfw'fe'""" -f-?t-'l; but I klwlf ^I^ ha BarW^'i f '"" ^}'^'' ^ ^'"' "n thorns with Susni Barker, Id have understood that leaving out the Lord Prayer didn t do no good ; that He expected us to forS t^i^'en 'T,*-f"'Vi"! \"y P'-'^y'^'^t all abouUnv! thing elso. And if wo hadn't done it, and couldn't do it every hying thing wo had the right 'to pray about wa. Lord give mo the heart to forgive them j 'and let that b setUed before we talked to Him^bout forgiving u. The I am glad for one. that they put Satan into that prayer tonfww*"" '"^i*'" '^P^''**'^'' Norman, witlfaTa, tonished stare and then going off into a perfect roar ol Si m^an ° exclaimed as to what her frie, wnrr^^^'^T^'"'^' "^"^^1 P"* him there himself in so mair Tvn • Vw-^ *^' "°* into temptation, but deliver us fro' evil . that 8 tho V, iy we've prayed it, you know Noi Im an ignorant old woman and didn't'understand it, an "t Zi . *'f " *° '"''ko It mean anything but thin 'Lead us not mto temptaticn, but if wo do succeed get ing in m spite of you why, deliver us from tho ev or It. 1 hat don t sound reverent, maylje. I mean ii reverent, but I didn't understand it. Now I pray ' Lea^ m^Lil^r ^''"'Pt'ition, but deliver us from the eWl one linf „n!?il^'"' ''^^^.^fter us, going about like a roarini It^' *? l^'\^ ".°*'""8 in life so much as to lead us rigl nto the thickest temptation he can. Deliver us fro »,!^„i I .^"'9''' I say wit., all my heart ; and when speak him right out on my knees to Christ and reooKuise K^*1? an awful enemy, I seem to understand tho thins, that for this purpose was the Son of man manifested ti des roy the works of the devil, and I somehow feel surl, that He can do it. But now there's something I want to Zi^T L"^:!" ^^^ f ''-•'• ^"y '" " paper that some folks thought It was a kind of triumph for tho infidel, and scoffo,^ that we liad got out a /ew Version and don t see how it cin ho Whn+'o j-^o *i,.i _,-^_ .. !. ' i;i,.? * '*• "!l -^V^ Norman briskly-tho young man liked to impart information as well as any person I ever saw-" you see it plainly proves what they have been uying all along, that our old Bible is full of errors, and that we Lave outgrown it, and are dissatisfied with it. >ager attont: rlio had a f Icsire to say "Sho! th ise." It T iiid this. " ;hat we don" in't get it. ihanges don httle phiii linfidels been lunno how i mistakes ; n( popinjay jusl to you abou in our trans scholars wo ( part of the! I [what have tl changed a h road to hell i in the old ; i to tho otliur i beginning, an was, and thei see it ; and ii [with tho old that he's a fc Whereupon a hitherto smoi Mrs. Smith [as ho sat bucl roused out o that Solomon jape, had let s into tho room Laura mov the New Vers did. It was not ; though would have u believe in it, have given it repeating woi thing that ha( worsted in arj I thought i( " What now Solomon, ind: feet. it «friTP\ > it; I bcliove I an T*'e given to They up and called him a Fanatic'" 55 want her, wlwi I think of li, r vhir. I'd Hlip round th Kaiker. And she w.isn •e iimes when I had t\\\ lo riglit, or Hay right, :u,, iiire as I got down on m yer ! " orman roared. Ho licri)ns side of a qucstioi !e what the New Versii, aid, as soon as he coulj ilid ? I had just sen I an awful thing to pni ;ivon my bothorers, if and so I tliought I couli d the Lord's Prayer, anj leaving them out of i] it down out and out foi w plain enough the Lon g to do mo any gi _ i: 'Forgive us our debi ors.' Don't you see th^ t is just plain sailing •V the best I know how leaning plain ; but it lore's no slipping ronni ke us ask the Lord t( one our enemies, but i| ! our best. We forgivi it. I'm not good but I know if I'd hi an thorns with Susm leaving out the Lord i expected us to forgiv irayeratall about an 3 it, and couldn't do ft ht to pray about was ! them; 'and let that Ik 5Ut forgiving us. Then atan into that prayer, Norman, with an as into a perfect roar o IS to what her friei e himself in so maiij in, but deliver us fron 1 it, you know. Non In't understand it, aud n is good for such a in anything but this ■ if wo do succeed is liver us from the evil :, maybe. I mean Now I pray : ' Lea. us from the evil one, about like a roaring ich as to lead us riglil in. Deliver us froi heart ; and when Christ, and recognise understand the thing, f man manifested t( I somehow feel surei something I want tol a paper that some mph for the infidels! >ew Version, and ll a *U«A O »» r :ly — the young man as any person I ever hat they have been is full of errors, and dissatisfied with it And,' »,ay they, ' in a few years you will have outgrown |his New Version, and you will need anotlier, and another ; ml the thing will go on, aa man incrnaaes in knowledijo, intil ho gets a Bible to suit liim.' And there is altogctiier |oo mucli truth in the Hing to have it in any sense agroe- bifi to thinking people. " That is my objection. The fact is, wo didn't need a ow Versiion ; the old one was good enougli. There ai'o few changes, which, as you say, make things plainer, lut those have been explained again and again by coni- acitarics ; and to put an argument into the mouths of infidels that we had outgrown our old Hiblo and had to lave a new ono made for us, has ovcrI)alanccd all the ;ood that tlic alight changes might have done." Norman delivered this lecture with the air of one who ad settled an important question for all time. Mrs. mith was leaning forwai'd in an attitude of n,\cd and ager attention. Her lips moved several times, as ono ho had a great deal to say, and was burning with the csiro to say it, yet she did not interrupt him. " Sho ! that argument upsets itself ! knocks it end- iao." It was the alow, grave voice of Solomon that lid this. " We need a Now Version to show them folks hat we don't want a new Bible, and haven't got one, and an't get it. Don't you sec you've said yourself that the ihanges don't amount to notliing, only to make things I little plainer than they were before ? Here's them [infidels boon a-harping ever ainco I could read, and I unno how much before, about our Bible being full of miatakey ; not to be trusted ; you couldn't meet a little popinjay just out of college but ho would try to sputter to you about the 'original,' and the dreadful mistakes in our trauslation. Now hero we've had the smartest scholars wo could find in tho world at work for the best part of their lives, doing tho thing all over again, and what have they made out ? Why, there ain't a doctrine changed a hair's breadth ! Tho road to heaven and tho road to hell is just as straight in the New Version as it is in the old ; und the way to escape tl.e ono place and get to the other is the same old way, and Jesus Christ ia the beginning, and middle, and end of it all, just as He always was, and there ain't an honost infidel among 'em but can see it ; and if ho goes to harping about not being satisfied with the old Bible, and wanting of a new one, ho shows that he's a fool right on the face of his own argument." ^Yhereupon a perfect shower of sparkj went up from the hitherto smouldering firebrand at his feet. Mrs. Smith bestowed admiring glances on her husband as he sat back fi-om tho poking, and even Norman seemed roused out of his good-natured condescension to realise that Solomon Smith, however much he might resemble an ape, had let some sparl •, of good, plain, common sense out into tho room. Laura moved restlessly in her chair. Sho believed in the New Version, she supposed that most educated people did. It was a surprise to her to learn that Norman did not ; though if she had knoAvn him as well as I did she would have understood that, for all he had said, he might believe in it, or what was more probable, he might not have given it any thought. He bad just been, parrot-like, repeating words that he had heard from others. The thmg that had not been pleasant to Laura was to see him worsted in argument by a plain old man. I thought it time for a change of subject. " What news do you find in tho paper ? " I asked Mrs. Solomon, indicating by a glance the Evangeliat at her feet. CHAPTER XXIV. "'TUEV up and CAI.I.K;; :!!M a FASATKJ. i^HY," said Mrs. Solomon, stooping to pick up the v3 paper, "this is old news. I didn't have my paper while I was away, you know, and I've been reading up. To-day I came across an article which made me kind of mad, and I've been reading it I over again to Solomon, this evening. It ia written by a man named Smyth. He ain't no relation of mine, for' he spells his name with a 'y.' I'm glad enough that I don't have to claim him, for, to tell you the truth, I don't altogether like him. lie writes real interesting, too, but fur a smart man aa ho seems to be, he anys rather queer thing.s. I wonder if you've seen this '? It is about most everything, and among the rest, communion wine. Ho ti.ays it won't greatly alllict his soul if ho nev('r sees another word on that threadbare subject. According to his notion the Lord used wli.itevor wino happened t<) bo handy, either good or bad, when Ho bad tho Supper with His disciples, and ho does hopu that the whole subject of what kind of wino to use at tliu SacTament may have rest for tho next thousand years. Now ain't that kind of queer talk for a smart man'?" "It is talk that is much needed," declared Norman, springing vigorously to the combat. "Our fanatical temperance friends have done what they could to injure the cause. We have need of strong words and pronounced opinions from level heads." " But it don't appear to me tint this man's head is exactly level. He is an out and out temperance man. He goes on to t;Uk about tho folly o left to rest for a • thousand years,' and he goes on to unt that 1 10 way to do so is for each church to do as it likes, and then ho says— wait, let me read the very words • It IS a terrible fact that men have relapsed into drunken- ness from taking intoxicating wino on sacramental oc casions! Now, if that is so, what business has he or anyhody else who loves tho Lord Jesus Christ, and the Fouls He died to save, to let tho subject rest 'i It is iust that which made me mad. I say a man who can write like that, and prove things as be has proved them, has no business to let the thing rest for a thousand yenrs, or one y*=*^-, .".'* P"t8 0"e soul in peril, it ain't threadbare, and no Christian has a right to say it ! " The strong old eyes grew bright with camestneas, and the shining needles clicked very fast. Mrs. Smith had mounted one of her hobbies. A In'ight red spot wa.s burning on Lauras cheek. Norman was lounging back in ^he splint chair she had given him, and was survevinff Mrs. Smith with mild curiosity. He did not attempt to nnawer her ; I believe ho was too entirely indifferent to the whole subject to care to. " I believe in temperance," he said pleasantly. " But I repeat, as I said before, I think that fanaticism on the •ubject IS to be deplored and avoided ; it does harm." 'I rl^u ' J ,^"PP,°«^ «o." was Mrs. Smith's meek reply. 1 hough I looked out the word in the dictionary the other day; there 8 been such a big talk lately about fanaticism in one way and another, that I wanted to know ]ust exactly what the thing was, and it wasn't half 80 dreadful as I supposed. ' A very great enthusiasm for a subject,' fays Webster, and I'm sure I don't see why we need cara how enthusiastic folks get over a good cause. To be sure, Webster said that the schemes of fanatical folks are apt to run away with their judgment, or some- thing of that sort ; and I s'pose it's so. I s'pose some of the ways that temperance folks have worked were lackincr in judgment, mayhe ; but then it don't seem to me that It takes a great deal of judgment to decide that when there 8 good pure, unfcrmeuted wine, made on purpope for the Lord's Ta_ble, that can be had by taking a little trouble, and spending a little money, we had better have It than to have the poison stuff that some folks think is wicked I don't see much of wh ► you call fanatics about that. 1 11 tell you what I've t) irht sometimes, as true as you hve, and tliat is, that lanatical' is a word that some people have got in a habit of using when they want if j""/".>'"^r° *""} 9^^^ ""k:, think is riijUl ; if some- body tells them of it, they up and say he is a fanatic. I daresay Herod and Herodias thought that John the Baptist was a first-class fanatic. There's another thintj I think IS queer, and that is the way that money will blind folks eyes. There's that tavern down at tl«,v ..i„ Comers ; you know what a low-lived place itTas alwt ?"' . been Mrs. Leonard ? Well, they are trying to refom. * ^ '"''•"' you know ; they arc getting up a stock concern, and^ : i. a 1 — ■' — o~-—'H "1' » BbuvK concern, aim th want Solomon to go n and talce two or three shares, a vr';tA';//hir" *'" T^"" }' <" temperance house,' a w rite out the papers so it can't never bo used for anythi., else but a temperance house, I'll take all the stock > want me to. Do you believe they would do it? The Mf„rr I*'" 1 . '""i */''"''*'<' right away. It was that d.i that I looked out the meaning of the word, and I ain liked the sound of it too well ever since " nothing about Norman's hotel stock. It was simply o nnr! • f n'"'"'!? "happenings" of which this world o ours IS full. The blood flamed over poor Laura's Un serenely The second-rate " tavern " at the Corners migi: be very disreputable stock ; ho was not prepared to .a Cim.-fK t^T^ Vi -'^ .r' '^"*''"*''^ willing that Solomon Smith should think it was, but his logical mind sawn, connection whatever between investing a few hundr.. dollars in the tavern at the Comers, and having tho, hundreds mul iphed by many thousands, invested in tl« aist^mlifiillihi^J^s""""'' --y-«t-«J itl njy'"'-;'*«''"'''°' "J" ,^"''*"' *'"■ I^'i"™ that he was m obtuse > He seemed disinclined to pursue tho subject o temperance further. There was no opportunity for di. playing h,., powers of oratory; he was not annoyed b, the narrow view which this old couple took in regard t< a 1 these niatters ; ho was simply indifferent ; they wck ♦L.'^"•',^ *?i-'l"\'^'''="y ^■''^* ^^'•'y PJe'-^^ed «o long n they did not disturb him, and he was not easily distuibo.i One further thrust which Mrs. Smith gave did actual!* bring a flush to his cheek. " I know yol agree witJi £ in that, she said, referring to the investment, "for yot we 1 brouglit up to it. Twenty years ago-don't yoi remcniber, Solomon ?-they wanted his father to build at hotel here, a real good one, and let it to Timothy Doyle And they represented to him that there was mo/e monej to be made by it than m any other way. And says he Oentlemen I don t do it ; none of my money shall k spotted with rum. I'll keep it clean from that curse, whatever else I do. That was your own fatlier, youir^ man, and I herd him say them very words. 'Phat' something to bo proud of. You see it wasn't then as it i. now, a kind of a matter of course with Christian people he was a long way ahead of the times " Norman laughed albeit his face, as I said, w.na flushed Ihe world moves," he .said, "and puople's views change.' Then he turned entirely away from the subject, as one who thought It w-is worn out, an.l would have no more 11 t, • " '*"''* '""''''"i as though she was wearied with all subjects. I was trying to determine in my mimi whether a suggestion to go home would be too abrupt, when Solomon Smith, who had been utterly silent durin' the last discussion, and, indeed, had worn a look that indicated him as thinking gravely about something else, now made known the subject of his thoughts in slow serious tones : ' " Job Simmons is sick.' " Is that so V " questioned his wife, forgetting alike ai i|)le hero ; Really," le than he I'tched fei tiie city; li me. I being V w\me dis( Urs. Smit I lay in h( ,lioroughl> iwing, as J Itut whal Yes," sail her stocking and her guests, and reidy with instant '3^ *">! sympathy n face nn'" i"U'>ns your poor never bo used for anyth" T ^f \ " !"" ''""' "'''^ ^''^) "' *''" 1°*" P"rtion ['11 take all th3k v T ^\ "^'^ * ""'? '.""i'^'^'^'f^^ "■'« "^ the physicians they would do it ? Th ^ ■ ' ZT' l«""'^-^''"^.'<"". Laura, when { heard of His. Smith (lid not cecm to hear him ; her knitting 1 lay in her lap, and slio was looklnij at her husliaiid in horoughly Htaitlt-d way that aooinud sinijiilar to me hich this wSd 1^5:11 :.',':'; '^r' '-^T°'" P--'. '■"■ !• 'ture was. of which this world o I over poor Laura's face ; but Norman lauglnu arn " at the Corners migh was not prepared to sa ly willinsr that Solomoi his logical mind saw n nvosting a few hundrt oniers, and having thoj lousands, invested in tli my-8toried '• alls and it Laura that he was k to pursue the subject o I no opportunity for dis he was not annoyed bi louple took in regard to y indifferent ; they wcri they pleased, so long a was not easily disturbfii, Smith gave did actnalij now you agree with ms lie investment, "for yo ;y years ago— don't you cd his father to build at let it to Timothy Doyle t there was more moncj her way. And says k, e of my money shall be clean from that curse, your own father, youii m very words. That- eo it wasn't then as it i> 3 with Christian people : mes." J, as I said, was flushed, J people's views change.' om the subject, us one nd would have no more ?li she was wearied witb determine in my miml 3 would be too abrupt, )en utterly silent durin,' had worn a look that r about something else, hia thoughts in alow, Hut what will Job do for aire ? " she asked at last ' Xes, said Solomon, " there's the rub." Nobody's there, only Jim Beers, and ho ain't no eood ia sickness, you know." 6 «^ •« Then there was a moment of silence, not of idlenes-i for wo were all engaged with the fire. Solomon reaclied for the tongs, and poked and poked, and relaid, with skilful touches, until from the dying embers there burst a glow of beauty, and the flames shot up to the low ceiling and set all the pictures in frames of gold \Vlicn he once more laid aside the tongs he put his old worn hands on his knees and looked straight into bis wife's grey eyes, and said : '• Maria, I suppose I ought to go." It seems to me I can feel yot the stillness that thero was for a moment ; I can almost hear the great sial* which broke it, and the quiet words : "Solomou, I don't know but you at« right." The» wife, for;jetting aliLo ready with instant ,;♦, , I ""T ^""'"^ }'} ,"" ^ "P""'^- of," said Mrs. low did you hear/ ""' "*>\*'|7'P'y''>"t >« ifslie were stating a recognised id "How I bad way, the doctor oming from the cross they must think he's ter V " reached for the tong?, bits of stick tliat, hr.-l m that a friendly bla// 3d the tongs to tlieii before he made slov/ ' MAUu, I aaeeoaa i ouuut to oo.' " Then I inquired : • Why, isn't his wife a capable woman ? ' 'She ain't any woman at aU to speak of," said Mrs. I undeniable fact. " AVhat little there was of her ore IS about took out with the chills she's been having s spring ; they live in a low, marshy place and the ar 18 damp ; and they're poor ; poorer than usual this mg ; they can't hire no help, and I dunno as thero'd aaybody to hire if they could ; folks is dreadful panic- ack about that fever; Miss Perkins was telling me Jay that slie wouldn't jfo into it a bit auicknr than «h«» Jiu iiuo smaU-pox. 1 don't know as .she's to blame ■ y do say that folks that are over it, taking care of the ^ are pretty near certain to get it, and she's got dren to think about. Solomon, what are they doin" r down to Job's ';"' ■' o They're doing just about as bad as they can. after another moment, "Who's to stay with him to- night?" ' mm so- " There's nobody to stay unless I go." " Then did you think of going to-night ? " " Well, there 'tis ; thero he lies alone upstairs in thab uncomfortable room, and there she is downstair?, with. the child, and the chills ; and hero I bo sitting by tha " Did you tell the doctor, Solomon ? " " I told him you and me would talk the thing over ; and that Job would likely bo took care of somehow." *. ~ ••••• '"•'l' "=J -j" aivaj- Iron: poor i^aura.-v white, startled face ; one might almost have supposed that Job Simmons was her dear friend, and to think of him as ill and suffering put her in mortal tenor. Across my mind there flashed her, of late, often-repeated hint, or it might almost be called challenge, that she shoulci like to see Mrs. Smith tried with anything that in tho 58 Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking on. rcmotcut degree touched her Solomon, that she iniffht be made to realise wlmt a cross wns. I wondered if Jiaura thought she was being put to the test, and whether there occurred to the child the possiliility that it might be in part for her sake. Had she !i dim feeling that, perhaps, the Lord had said to her. " Hast thou considered my servant, Mrs. Solomon Smith, that there is none like her in the earth ; a perfect and an upright woman, one that feareth God and esoheweth evil?" Was she dimly conscious that in spirit she might have answered, " Doth she fear God for nought ? Hast thou not made a hedge about her, and about her house, and about all that she hath on every side ? " " Solomon," said Mrs. Smith, a whole minute of silence and consideration having passed, "there's that beef broth ; hadn't I better put it in a can, and you warm it in the night to hearten you up? And maybe Job can talfo a spoonful of it. And do you think you could manage the big blue quilt ? They haven't got a comfortable spot for • watcher to lie down auU rest between times." CIIAPTFR XXV. "'TIIEM BM1TII8 AIN'T OF THE COMMON KIND."* fllE days that followed were full of unrest, '''here were some things on which we settled. 1 »ne was that Job Simmons was very alarmingly ill, stricken with the fever which had Droved so «eriou8 in a neighbcuring city; and from the "first the disease took that fierce hold upon him which it is apt to on the overworked and ill-fed poor. Another fixed point was, that Solomon Smith, without talk, other than that which he may have had with his wife, took up his nbodu at the run-down farm where the Simmons family struggled, and did not come home at all. What little sleeping he managed to secure was done on a cot stretched by Job's bed.vide. His wife— Solomon's, not Job's— saw to it that he had food of the best carefully prepared. " Well," she used to explain, with a tlioughtful air, and the far-away look in her eyes, when questioned as to why her husband should have felt called upon to leave his home, and his work, to look after one who was no kin to biui, " Job Simmons hnd to be took care of, you know ; it wouldn't do to le.„ „. to him. It almost seemed as if she reiented the unselfhl eeling tha Christian spirit which had taken him to this place k whether you though ife. Oh, ma the Lord Jesus Christ made a failure of life ? Don't yo I had no at sometimes hoar His voice a-king : ' What is that to thee " Almost al Follow thou Me.' " admired Au She was weeping bitterly by tliis time. She intei ^fe peculiar rupted me suddenly, — Qgged nature "It is not that," she said; "mamma, you do nc nt I thoughi understand. I do not distrust her religion : I never sai P under peci so. You know I respect her, mamma ; but she ma » a result thn make mistakes ; no one is perfect ; and I— I do not wai till I though to think she is right about all questions ; that is, I d ^at direction not want to think her opinions and actions are the resul 'ent, and I u of her Christian experience, because— well, if what si Oman I won lives is Christianity, it condemns other lives too much ; ou, but noisj do not want them condemned." on know I c How well I understood the miserable type of Christia > think I wo living which that term " other lives " covered ! 'WnrtngBecamo so c-ha; Knstlake had been gone for some days, but the shadow c ready growii his sham religion hung all over her ; ihe could not g( ' taking up away from it. Constantly the old argument was beui ittling them i gone over in her heart : "If these two old people are rig! i not waiting about this, about that, about a dozen things which h moving righ directly condemns by word and act, then I must condem "'ing with he ily rest. ifitlfHg waiter*, watching liix w(u« to end, wan m or tlio gonj man'H (,'oiii rso one who was notliin •• ' Them Smii/is aint of the Common Ki.uL rest ; nnil certainly hi lin life as unworthy of hia profesaion, and that I will not ily lost. lo I " 59 I felt the noeeMity for treading very carefully durinir bo.ie (lays. LvKlontiy my daughter wa. boini called ipon to make Rravo deemions, .uch as would iwrhaps o» v...= «.,., „«„ ,i„t.M„» iilliienco all her future. I could not got away from the he renentod the unseili-l eeling that she wan, fwrliaps without fully realiMina it •n him to thJB place „| «inB called upon to decide between Christ and Norraaii V miserable was she nv.'i MWtlake. Yet I did not dare to tell hor so In trvinL' imes when nhe longed t< o influenc her, I felt myself at a very groat disadvanUce >thing for her husbatid Ihjcauho slio recognised my unspoken disapproval of the I iiig awny. IJut f<,r on, )roung man. During the conversation to which I have I that the dear old lady referred, I quoted this verse : " He that taketh not un nd, this nioilo of fault ^is cross, and followoth after Me, is not worthy of Me ^' .. 1 • , . " r?" i.'J "r^'^f '?. ''" «>n'0''''ion that Mrs. Smith's life namma. she said to nw 3ut to blush other lives, and Norman's name had not been ^Jy-.,},^" Y'''°T'*'*"'S "P"*'"""*! between us; but she instantly answered me ifruid that he wdl get iL With a burst of tears, and these words — ve a charmed life ; tho, " Oh, mamma, I know you do not' like Norman, you Fatiifue. and go thioiiyli lever have; and I'm afr.iid you never will. It is very ouchtd. ' mrd on him and it is very hard on mo ; but I shall never [ivo him up. ones. .Tuit a very U:\ " Has anybody asked you to do so, daughter '"I asked tternosscs." m, and it was all that I could trust mysolf to say felt that I must -pLal Meantime the days went by, and tho struggle between .... ^ , . "« *"" ««ai''. »> tf'iit shabby farmhouse just out of p life been such a bitte »wn, went on. Presently, contrary to the expectations il to envy Mr. and Mr. )f every one, the attending physician included, it became , X .. . , ,. 'PP»r«n' that Job Simmons— little wf::ened-up, half- n, and I think realise ilive man that ho was— was to come off victor He was midcd to mo ; though [etting well. His sickly wife told me it herself with id, about the real unres i wan smile, and a sentence about Solomon Smith which T . , «'J,Sl°''«*'"«';»y',n it th«n I had judged her capable of. am sure I spoke witl . "Them Smiths," she said, " ain^t of tho common kind, ■y gentle with the p**♦. ■ w ^ """???' V?. "•"" >'""■ nwmma, so then"l used Table type of Christia > think I would be liko Auntie Smith ; but when Lida IS " covered I Nnrm nBecamo so chnnrred. I could V.ctt !:£■!-. --ri-- '^^.^t .' „ lays, but the shadow * ready growing "like you *; 'young a^' she t^ mammr- ^ her; ^he could not ^'< ' taking up advanced questions of Christian life and d argument was bmn ittling them as you would ; not as young people do'- she two old people are rig! i not waiting to grow old ; I can see it in her letters she dozen things which h moving right on ; and, stranger than that, she U taking t, then I must condem "'mg with her. * ..'Sides there was Erskino, you know, a profos.,)r of rchg.on, an. not a bit bettor than the rest of thou., not so goo,l, I have oft..., th„...,-ht, as many who ma.lo no profession ; but all that is cl.n.,g,„|. I |,eur a great deal abo.it him in ono way and another, and ho is aotuallv grow..,g like Auntio Smith! Mamma, you don't un.ler- stand It, but I cannot Imj such a Christian as that • it would make my life miserablo ; an.l I cannot bo any other kind, for I SCO that it is the only ri«ht way. I ku.'.w vou cannot imagine what I moan, but I und.rstan.l myself" It seemed to mo there was hut ono answer to this qnestion, an.l though with troubled voi.;e, I gave it • " I compiehond you. I think, daughter, fully ; and I can <.nly«iy to you what I have sai.l before, 'Ho that taketh not up liu cross and foUoweth after Mo, is not worthy of Me. " ' • ,'''*!«■■«,. came presently a new element of disturbance into her life. She camo to mo ono evening with an open letter from hrskine. a long, cordial, gonial letter, detailing work that he was doing, and work that ho was planning seeming to exp. ,:t her approval as a matter of co.irsc • an.l there was such an air of breezy energy about it all an.l such evident ignorance of tho fact that he was doing any more or any .lifTeient from what a disciple of Christ woul.i do of course, that I understood what the child meant by telling me that ho was growing like Jlrs. holomon Smith. Tho young man had rep..diatod utterly those former days of profession ; he believed them t.) \ys men pro/,w,m, and felt suio that he had known nothing of the love of Christ as a renewing power, until aftor his meeting with Mrs. Smith. He dated his conversion from the evening in which he took her iu his carriage to church This was not Erskine's first lett.r, but it was the lon-cst and most communicative, and had that about it which made mo understand why Laura sought her mother iu perplexity. " I dont know what to do, mamma, I enjoy his letters of course ; any person of scnso might ; and I liko him his friendship 18 worth having ; biit-aud ho may mean nothing at all but friendship, probably does not ; and vet mamma, don t you know what I moan ? You always know what I mean before I say it." "I undcrstan.l yon, dear, " I said, ''■ and if I wore you. I would be entmly frank with Erskine, he is a good sensible young man ; let him know that you enjoy his sense and his letters, iust as a young lady engaged to be married might enjoy the friendship of a dozen good men " But low could I tell him? It w.^uld seem to him as though I was afrai.l ho thought more of me than merely as a friend ; and I have no reason to do so I couldn t do that, mamma ! " and her cheeks Hushed over But I assured h.^r that I thought she could. Erskine bad been too inti.nately associated with us as a member of the same family, and as a special friend of Irving's. for us to treat him other than as a valued friend ; if fief belief wa- correct, that hi- thought of her only as s pleasant acqua.ntanco to wlwm ho would liko occasionally to write a friendly letter, her frank confidence reposed in him could do no harm, but good ; and if, on the other hand there was a possibility that Iu; was growing in- terested m her, frankness might save much future harm All the time, I think, I was talking more for Lauras sake than Erskino's ; I found myself nourishing the h.ipe that ior oye< were being opened to the contrast which his character presented be-sido Xorman Eastlake's It was not that I would have counselhid her to the breaking of solemn pl.i.lges, unless, indeed, she reachet'. the point whore .she herself felt it would be wron" ia keep them ; but if she wero to realise in bitt"r., -. t^me day that she had made a mistake. I nraved God tiui^t the K..owiougc might not come too late. I am not one of those who believe that a b. 'i r^n ,nise should bo kept ; nor would I ever .ounsel ono T u to the marriage altar with solemn pledges on her iips to which her heart said niiy. That is simply ad.iing inn to am . and the way out of sin is not to shut out .s eyes and add another. At the same time, I hold a promise as » '6o Afrs, Solomon Smith Lookins; on. vary Mcred thing, ro aarreii that the nccMiity for break- ing it nhnulil \yti ninurnetl, and went, nriil prayed over : no Mcrcd that, Wfnro it in mndn at nil. every Rtep of tho way in which it Iradii nhould bo looktxl over on ono'i knoei. Tho remetly lici not in aeiiig m> curoful, ro con- ■ciuntious, lo eanimt, that tho first miHtako ia not made. I turned almont with a aigh from tho fact that there was no wavering about T^aura ; ihe wna ro auro indeed that, however unhappy Norman's ttcculiar viewa might 'make her, ahe belonged to him, tnnt aho did not even nndcntand my probing. Hut aa the days poaaed, and Job Simmona crept out among w* again, and 8olomon Smith camo home, and life at thu little brown honae in the Hollow settled into its wonted calm, much of Laura's nervougneaa began to wear away. Tho perio<} of anxiety lest oar old friend should tako tho fever was past, and the doctor said chonrily, that his good constitution and good wife hud broiii;ht him anfuly through , and Laura aoi-med satisfied to go back, in a degrcu, at leant, to her old warm fooling for Mrs. Smith ; vexing questions wore dropping into the background. She seemed growing con- tent to let Nonnan hnvo his tyjH) of roliijinn, and the Smiths theirs, and for herself, to do without any. No Christian mother nmnls to be told that my heart was not lit rest. Lnura was the child of many prayers. I did not belicvp that thu dear Lord would I'^t her make such a disastf compromise with Satan iv weak to <'omniand lier respect. Tl '\ solemn question was : Hdw would lie load this poor foolish lamb into His pastures ? CHAPTER XXVI. •"there was.n't anytuino else to do.'" S5f IIINOS that folks plan for novtr happen." This I ^ *''■''• Smith said to mo one lovely spring morning, Lyi^ when I had walked over to see hor, and plan for more fresh eggs. She snid it with a grateful smile playing round her iiiDuth and a satisfied look in hor eyos. " Now, there's Solomon, I really did think he would get tho fever. I laid awake nights to got ready for it. I planned ■* tio to get to look after the house and the critters, ami I hunted up the bundles of old linen and things, such i^* is wanted in sickness, and whenever I sent any round to Job Simmons, I laid some out for Solomon. And whenever tho doctor anked for this or that alwut the bouse for Job's comfort, I set right about getting it ready for Solomon. After ho come home I put things straight ('vory night regular, without saying anything to him, you know, _ so that if he should be took liefore morning I'd know just where to lay my hand on everything. If ever I planned, and fixed, and fussed out anything, it was the way I'd do for him when he had tho fever ; and he ain't no signs of it about him I I must say I think it is wonderful, broke of his rest as ho was, and lifting hard, nnd puttering all day as well as all night. Ain't it wonderful now that he escaped ? It is the Lord's mercy. I wish I knew how to be grateful enough." Poor old lady ! All the time the shadows were gather- ing round her so softly aud sweetly that she did not per- ceive them. At least she let none of us know it if she did. " Solomon was kind of tired out to-night, and I coaxed him up to stay at homo," she sai.' to me one evening after prayer-meeting, as she was getving into our carriage to ride home, having walked tho mile and a half thither. weather is coming on pretty early, you see, and then he's had such a hard pull, it stands to reason it will take Lira a while to get over it." One Sunday she camo to church all day without him. ''SolomoD ain't sick and he ain't well," ahe said in answer to iaMiiiiries. " I dunno exactly what ails him worn out, 1 oall it. He don't seem to have no strength to sfmni ; an< no wonder, he used it up a good ways ahead. I toll him list by the autumn he'll catch up if he is care f ul, and bo all right. You see, Solomon is older than hu wna " — spokon in a half-rronfldential tone, as if it were an admission that she made reluctantly, and would like as littlo said alH)ut it as posaible — "aud of course watching and cnro tolls on him.' It was a vory unusual thing to see Solomon Hmith'it scat in church va(«nt. It gnva mo a strange sort of pang to look at the old lady sitting alcme. If there had boon a stalwart son or a oheory-facod daughter beside her, it woulil have been difTercnt. Not long thereafter we wont, I.am she was sewing, and looked at mo with grave, <'arnest eyes for a moment before she answered : " Well, now, he don't, that's a fact ; but I don't think strange of it. The doctor thinks he ain't quite right. He wants him to take a tonic. He's been talking to me about it this vory morning. I was out in the yam when he rode by, and I wanted to know how that Adams boy is, so I stopped him, and then I was saying that Solomon wasn't real well, and he said he told him more than a week ago he ought to take beer, or porter, or some of them things. But land I Solomon won't. I know as well aa I want to, that he won't ; and I ain't the one to coax him to cither. " I don't mean," she hastened to explain, catching glimpse of the dissent and disapproval in Laura's eyes, " that I would be opposed to it if we thought it was necessary. Solomon wouldn't either. I suppose we would about as soon take that as any other poison, if i« seemed to be the thing to do ; but yoa see, we both believe that other tonics will do just as well, and not have the same objection to 'em that these have." " But," said Laura, belligerence in every tone, " 1 should suppose that you would be willing to accept physician's opinion. You say the doctor advised it. Surely he ought to be supposed to know what should bo done ! " tVoii, X uoiib snow, ' bportKiii^ vaou^ribiuuy. SCO, child, there's doctors and doctors, and you can't great'sunke' believe in 'em all, for tlioy contr.ulict each other aboul i .^j)j gg , , every earthly thing, and if you undertake to follow one - - ' man s notions, you may conit'ort yourself with the thoujjht that you are going right contrary to the notiooi for him t( and he oai great at a when he s up and I como dow any of th system «i was of till nine cases were pret wasn't til thought ti t'ether tha minds thai take 'em. down on owned thi would do I more exp< ' Solomon liord ever them very talking ab and wrong " Auntit! jnean tbut some sort, might beet "No, ch afraid of il lis against standeth t help, some! I haven't i both afraii folks that 'em up, wi( pledges an lirother per that comes Solomon sv it has all b soon as the talk tonic die in spite while. I { expensive i doesn't hav about it. J gutter in fa just what tl to tako the says he, ' It the way a u the doctor i now what < "forget the ^ say Job ain' grace ; for i place with oxncUjr what niU him ; n to have no utranRth to up a unod way* ahead. II catch up if he i« car« olornoii in olilor than hn al tnne, a« if it were an itly, and would like aa and of couno watvhini; leo Holonfjon Htnith'* D a itrani^o sort of pang le. If thore had beon a laughter bo«i(te her, it .aura and I, to take our 'u broad Mary had been ir in the neat kitchen, li whitewaah, and green, lace, and a pot of Juno iduti, looked in it* wav lowir. - attire in which il a way of her own of rtaini which flowed all 1 were repfaced by plain Mtitchod into place with ch the favourite chaini mat* wore of a lightor la wajm the miatreaa uf ; " It is Hummer." to the large and roomy L'rally atood open in tho vory chamber of peace, [ toward it, hi »ored h»r down. He ia having a [u went oat in the lower ur, and I never aee any- I he came in. I coaxed I did, and thia afternoon I down again. He ain't laytime ; but he'd ought they need it, I think." aforter, but I couh not Qnu oa well aa usual thit » Hcwing, and looked at a moment before she fact ; but I don't think 8 he ain't nuite right, [o'a been talking to me a out in the yard when If how that Adams boy '■M raying that Solomon il him iiioru than a week }rter, or Home of them t. I know OS well aa I n't the one to coax him to explain, catching a proval in Laura's eyes, if we thought it wai lither. I suppose we 3 any other poison, if it but yoa see, we both ju»t as well, and not it these have." ,cu in every tone, " I T/iert wasnt anything else to do. ' " 61 ;he doctor advised it. to know what should ^ bnougubXuuy. *' xcu loctors, and you can't -uiUct each other aboui of another, whAifti just as smart, and has as (jood a chance d while ogo about thia tonic businnss. Foct is, you'vo got to ntudy it up. It belongs to the tcmpornnce question, and we ruacl everything we could got hold of on both sides, and we talked with some that know a goth afraid of, and that is his influence. There aro folks that don't staml firm ; it's all you can do to keep em up, with all the props that you can put round them ; pledges and examples, and all that. 'Shall the weak lirother perish for whom Christ died ? ' That's the vorse that comes thrusting itself at me the minute I think about Solomon swallowing a drop of the stuff. You see, child, It has all been up lately and had iUelf talked over. As «oon as the fever left Job Simmons the do^'or began to talk tonic to him ; says he to Solomon : < The man will die in spite of you, if he doesn't have brandy every li'.tie while. I don't know how he's going to gut it. It's expensive staff, but he'll slip through our fingers il he doesn't have it.' Well, Solomon went straight to Job about it. .Poor Job, you know, was away down in the gutter m his younger days ; and Solomon he told Ithn just what the doctor said. He didn't feel that heoiigtit other way ; and iieedii I stand in It these have. ju^t what the doctor said. He didn't fe CO in every tone, "I ,„ take the responsibility of doing any bo wilbng to accept a invR Ha • Tt nin'^ th^ o,ii,«.-> t i jI i ;ho doctor advise/ it. !?r„..' " '^"* * *'*^ P*?^"'*' J"^ ^^*: telling what wouM happen. Not • he tntrary to the notioni grace ; for it iook some, I guess, to get him through that place with hia wife a-crying over him and the doctor Irop of brandy did iayt> he never saw any onrt como up faster ; and yet he goes and preaoriliea the tonic again tno first thing!'* liaura arose at once; »ho was realy to ki> home. I did not know it then, but long afterwards I saw the letter that sho hiul received that morning ; one sonluuoe was OS follows ; — "I'm ni 101 under the weather jii ' now; nothing to signify, a littio run down with irre^-u.iii hours and over- exertion. The city has been pnMy gay this spring; several wcd rise with tho dawn, as usual, Solomon Smith fell back with something very like a groan, and owned that ho felt too weak and misorabli! to move. His alert wife moved skilfully, and in a very brief spoce of time tried to rally his strength with a littio nourishing bruth, while she waited for the doctor, for whom she had quietly sent a messenger. She spoke cheerily both to him and the doctor when he came. It was an uncommon sultry kind of morning • sho didn't feel near as bright as usual horself, And Solomon had overdone the day before ; he would be all right in a littio while she guessed, but she had thought it safest to call tho doctor. She said much tho same two days later, when I spent an hour with her. "Solomon was getting a rest Ho needed it, bad needed it all the spring ; and folks like him couldn't rest tinleiw the l4ord took tlu in gontly and laid them on theii backs. He didn't sullur any to apeak of; had no pain ; he was just worn out." Her face was bright while she talked, and sho kept her needle going busily, finishing a garment for her husband that she fancied would be cooler and more comfortable for him. Meantime he slept. " He sleeps a good deal, " she said brightly ; " I think that .shows he needs it. Being tired is a divadful kind of feeling, and nothing will do for it so quick as sleep." There wa* nothing wo could do to help her ; she was sufficient to the occusion. So there was no object in lingering. Cheerful, our hostess certainly was, but as certainly she was quiet ; her usually busy tonguo waa huabed, and her brain engaged with the effort to keep all tl)H outside world quiet, and to hear the first uonnd which came from that sickroom. Wo went away feeling that, although on the surface nothing looked like it, stifi it was a eick-room. Whoa we met the doctor and stopped to inquire us to tho statt) of things, he shook his head gvavely. " Yonder is a wondorfnl nurso, Mrs. Loonai'd ; but sho can't nurse her !i ishaud back iato strength." " Mamma, what doe:i he mean ? " paid Laura, her face white. " Dofts he think that Mr. Smith is goijvg to die "i" " I didn't know what ho meant, but I was afraid, and I told Laura so. She aoemed wonderfully shaken bv oar 5-~r- , „r , — t!i3u 11 nrcuiKu ui luc ucr :::icrc3S :a our friends would account for. .Sho talked about it a great deal, and wont about with a white, anxious face. " It will kill Auntie Smith, I think," she said to Mary. "She is so utterly deceived, or else wo are. I daresay wo are tho one.s who are frightened, after all ; she doesn't think him sick : and why shouldn't she know better tba» ^.■•=^.ite»^.J'^'>(i^w«-.i*]A.«*SjSS^^ 63 Mrs. Solomon Smith Loolcins^ on. a H..y^ f ( ". • u^"\'* ho . H.uKl bo really mck it will bo a duadful 8l,ock t.. ber. Sbo i« no entirely .inpr.paivd do „■ ,^f ■'"'""*' y°" "^o lot t'''"k he can bo going to die ; I did not know. I bnrdly knew Ml.at to tbink. He was not a man to give np a.ul lio down w. nkly an.l f.inrv biniself H,ck. But a. tbe day. paHsod, bo cortainly did pain. \V hat was the matttr with hint ? " l^'?™, l"*'" *'"' *^''*''*"" •"'''' •"■"'"v, on boiiiir intcr- r-'gated; ho was too old a man to biar fho fatlL-uo of bat ong wntchinff. If bo bad b.id a son it would never lavo been allowed. I wonder that biH wife .lid not u«e UT influence. A poor exchange, to nur«c Job 8in>uionH liack to life and take bini instead. Wo could L'et alonir without Job I suppose, but real solid honest men like holonion Smith are scarce." '•If ho only hadn't gone to take care of Job Simnionn ! " ihw Laura said to Mrs. Smitii one moriiinp when wo WiTO waiting to take a mcssnge from her to the doctor I was very sorry that she said it. There is nothing" to make a sharper thrust in a burdene.l heart than tiiat dreary " if you hadn't done so and so." l?„t Mn.. Smith did not seem to take it ' , that way. She went on quietly folding the paper on which she liad been writing, while sue mauo answer : " ^^'•■"" y°V know, child, wo haven't got that to tbink «l)..ut ; and it is a mercy wo haven't just now, when tliero IS so much to attend to. There wasn't anything else to do ; you ««« the duty ^tared us right straight in the face, and there wasn't nothing to decide about it lie I'^C'I^'T^-}^ *S ^ .*"?'* •'='«' "^ »"'» *»'«"' «•«« no- .iT.^n 1 * " ' ""1 '^ 'whatsoever yo would that men Tn I^L toyou do ye even so to tb.m,' didut mean Job Simmons and S"''l«'"l'« voice, low, feeble, yet in tho stillness of tb.! room distinct to us all-" I wouldn't pivo gone and left you if I could have helped it. If Id ia.l the planning of it, it would have seemed selfish ; but 1 couldn t help It, Maria, so it must be right, you know " Ihero was a wistful pleading in the tone, almost like tnat of one asking forgiveness for a possible wrong Her answer was prompt, steady, reassuring : •Yes, Solomon, it is all right. You and I know that He can trust Ilim. You were never selfish in your life husband. You have thought of me from firnt to last ' and if you had your way you would bear it all now ; but the Lord sees that His wav is the best ; you and the children will be looking out for me." Then ho smiled— a loving, grateful smilo. ;• lon're going to the very gate with the old man, and going to c 1. er bim up to the last. I'll tell the children all aiiout it. This was bis reply. Silence fell upon tbcin for a little 1 lio old man dosed his eyes, and seemed to lie restinc am the warm hand that held his cold one began to make ittle soothing passes down tho wrinkle.1 palm ; then she laid her other band on his forehead, and wirjcti tenderly tlie drops gathering there ; and tho r.x)m was still Iho door oiHiied very softly, and the shadow of Job Simmons slipned in. 1 bad heard how he bad fairly haunted the l;-,use, longing to do, and trying to do iKjyond Ins str.ngth ; so eager to nhow bis gratitude for one who had almost given his lif„ for him. Laura had said one day, that if Mr. Smith should die, she shouldut think bis wife could endure to b)ok at Job Simmons ever again. I tbouKbt of it now, for she glanced up a moment when the shadow slipped in. and once ti ore she smiled and nodded her head in assent of his coming. "You won't disturb him, I think," Uio doctor said in a low tone ; v. u reupon the eyes of the sick man unclosed antj rested oi. Job, on whoso jKK)r. auiikuii face there was » XwA aa of mortal pain, and his hollow eyes were dim with unshod tears. Ho had not seen Solomon Smith for days and tho thought that he waa actually g.iing, I loanied afterwards, had come to him almost as suddenly as it kail death film gatliering on his eyes, still recognised the face over which bo had watohed so long and well, and s|>oke : . Ah, Job, I yo got abeacl of you somehow. 1 didn't think It, but Hci svitt for me lirat. Bo faithful, aud fuUow oil." Poor Jol " I'd (.■i\ •' I'm wiiitl And ther bright sniib " He gav of all I'm It Quick an "Yes, S, Silence aj Tho doci whisper : " He will near to his But even there had i languor of they seemot if tliero inig )J8 voice rii weakness in "Maria! " Yes, Sol " Marin, I Steady an "Ay, ant far off" It waa in to catch the u|»iii it cam last word dii I" Ho is gi " Yes," sai It would I of coiitrollet words. The M if for a m actually gon behind ! W behind \ Sli or duty, sei lives had l>e« -fr^-^one to I leftTier ! Those who or faint, did as Olio dazed, who waa uidt croct, antllui You are i what is right slono. If I f yet I am nt)t ■)l.ed." Then she t the iliior. " T'lamma ! Everything littlu brown mistress to ci- iiig Job Simn >hu would hai U red that po (jfief, and bis Lunra bad outburst of u who did not! I'liiin'y that n «i?«lo f over bj fiiiih again an As 1 say, il confession. •• AT-;,,...- j did to-day woi I never could It waa no t cuvetid ; so t X^un'tyuu ** Deliverance" 63 1110 know at that onrlTl tliiy of davs in wliici. presented for tlio firnt iiUire, nt tlio palace of I for great oventx, when [ thif* afternoon," I hud diniier-tahle. " I will f r, it i8 HO cold. A taste int they were making j Mine condition a long Hhoidd Willi t to try n ' ler ig cooler now ; he 0." lolved, as I made ready ,t effect to the wife, if | jpared an that were we ic door to UH, unil whn r'Him. She saw yoii s to liavo you." st bo better. You go oor and motioned her ko saw that face, witli (lo wlio have watched I •tied and frightened : towordH htir for an Poor Job ! " I'd (.'ivo my life f.>r ynu this minute," ho murmured. " I'm worth notliiiig tu nobody, and you nro needt d." And then there came over the face on the bed that rare bri;;ht smile. " H.' gave His life f..r mo lone; ago ; and He'll take care of all I'm leaving ; won't He, Maria \ Quick and firm came the answtir : " Y'es, Siilomon, wo can trust Iliin, you and mo." Silence again, and closed eyes. The doctor moved nearer, spoke to me in a low whisper : " He will not sneak again, I think ; will you go round near to his wife I ' But even as ho spoko those eyes unclosed again, and there had come over them a marvellous cliaii:,'o. Tlio languor of disease aud wtarinesa was gone out of them ; thiy seemed to glow. There was a Hush on his face, as if tliero might be the coming of health aud j..iith ; and gjj^j ^jj^j room not a note of voice, low, feeble, yet to us all—" I wouldn't invo helped it. If I'd re seemed ftelfish ; but be right, you know." the tone, almost like possible wrong, (assuring : t'ou niid I know that. er selliHh in your life, e from first to last ; bear it all now ; but best ; you and the 1 smile. ith the old man, ami I'll tell tho children pon thcin for a little, eemed to be resting, d one began to make klod |,alm ; then she , and wiped tenderly rMim was still, tho shadow of Job how he had fairly and trying to do !iw his gratitude for or him. Laura had lid die, she shouldu't t Job Simmons ever [lanced up a moment ice r ore she smiled, coming. tlie doctor said in e sick man unclosed ken face there was a eyes were dim with lion Smith for days, ly going, I learned I suddenly as it had '^ at rriiii, wuii iha recognised the face I well, and spoke : somehow, I didn't lie faithful, and - — „ — — — ., . Ms voice rang out and weakness in it. "Maria!" "Yes, Solomon, I'm right hero." " Maria, mine eyes have seen the King in His beauty !" Steady and tiuo was tho answer : "Ay, and they shall behold the land that is vorv far off." " It was in time, I am sure, for the qtiiikened litarlng to catch tho sound of the triumphant proinisu, and close iil"iii it came the fiillilimiit, for even as the sound of tho lost word died away, the doctor said : " He is gone." " Yes," said Mrs. Smith, " and I am hero." It would be impossilile for mo to tell you of the depth of controlled pain revealed in those few steadily upoken words. There was even a note of astonisliment in them ; M if for a moment she could hardly believe that ho had actually gone to that land "very far olF" and left her behind I When had he ever been known to leave her behind 1 She hod gone on journeys, errands of comfort or duty, several times ; but never before, since their hves had Iwen mado one, more than foi'y years ago, luiil -H-guue to another town, or city, oven for a night, and left her ! Those who looked to see IVfrs. Solomon Smith cry out, or faint, did nut understand her. She sat for a moment as one dazed. She reeled for a moment on rising, as one wh.i was giddy ; then she drew her usually straight form croct, and looked about her. '• You are all good friends," she said, " mid you will do what is right, and you will let me go upstiiirs aud be all slono. If 1 am bereft of my hii.Hband, I am bereft. And yet I am not alone. My heart trusted in Him, and I am li'liu'd." Tlien she turned and walked slowly and steadily from the door. " "laninia ! " said Laura to me hours after that. Everything had been done that wo could do in the littlu brown house, and after vainly urging its bereft mistress to come home with us, wo had ci.mo away, leav- ing Job Simmons and his wife in chBrJ,.^ It was the way »ho would have it. In her earliest loneliness sho riimem- bi reil that ptMir man's broken-heHrted, almost remorseful grief, and his longing desire to do something. Ljkiiro had at lirst given way to such a passionata outburst of grief as seeniud utterly unnatural to those who did not know her as her mother did ; but it told mo plainly that nil the unrest of tho |MMt, which had been icalol overby a film of ico for a few weeks, had broken forth again and had her in possession. As 1 say, it was hours afterwords that sho made this confession. •• Kr,!..,,... «,. »,„ .1.1.. *_ J i_;_t . .. „ ... did today would be worth giving up everything for: but I never emild do it ; 1 never could." It was no time in which to ask her vAat that "it" covend ; so I said simply this: *' Don'i you remember lier wurda : ' Ya'S heart lnut«d in Him, and I am hol|)od ' ? Do you tliink sho boro it alone ? You have never tried His stn'iigth, Laura." What a strangely mingled thing our life is ! ' And how surely and steadily and swiftly the Lord is working when wo do not see His hand nor hear His step ! I wei)t much over my daughter that night. I saw only Uw iilainly that she realised that her earthly vows actually hold hor away fioin making surrender to the Lord. Sho understood tha't tho sort of Christian sho must be, Norman Eostlake neither was, nor would enjoy in her ; and that their lives vvoulJ bo discordant. Yet she could not resolve to settle tho great persurce through which it came. Too woU I realised that it might Im) months, possibly years, beforw my Laura could see deliveranco in it. I remember I thou ' t confusedly of the words : '■ i nitist needs be that offences come, but woe unto him by whom the ofTenco coineth." It was several days thereafter that I went alone to visit my stricken friend. 1 had not seen her lince sho laid her dead away. I had shrunk from the first call almost as much as Laura had. Indeed, I was inclined to think with the cliild, that the sort of exaltation in which sho had borne the parting, when it passed, would leave her in tho depths. It was the ausing in the soum she was sewing to turn a tender look .m it ; " that last day he sat up. ho read, aud left tho Bible open, and I didn't use tl ,it one. I wanted to leave it somehow, and it was ojwn — w re do you think '/ Whv, at a verso for mo : • They looked Btearlfostly towards heaven as Ha went up.' Now, yim see. I know as well as thi>ugh I heard him say it, that Solomon wanU me to koeit my th'y- ^"'l "^»' mamma; Ho has showed mo joy already in His service. I am not of Cl1rist.^° * '"•"•^""-h^'^ted little idiot. I am a servant i,„r ^ '''" ^i'"'" "J"! '''?'• Solomon, with a strong light on her giavo face, "there's two kinds of idols. One kind 18 made of clay, and all the Lord has to do when He wants to free a child from that, is to let it crumble to pieces before her eyes ; and there's some that are made of sohd gold ; and when Ho has to take them away. He niakoa a place for them in His temple above." [111 Smooth 111 crtare liiiltn 'ottlei, 1»., BEETHi TUB END. ^%^^^^. " Let your manner of ^^^ life be worthy of the Gospel of \ *c Christ." FniL. i. 27 (R.V.). m FIRS! ■. \t To bo I iecb; % t^9 lUKE] V? w tw «J /) it '-^ »rtnt»a by i:«,cll, Wution, k Vlney. td., Lonilon and Arlci'niy, g thorn, and aaying tiut to Auntie Smith ; and, IS a comfort to her, such r ever. I took heart at wea that night, that He »aa "looking ateadfasUy ra'a face and voice when he came into the parlour callera with which our in. It waa quite dusk a word alone together, ing beside me, put her weot message : e. I have given myself And oh, mamma, Hu His service. I am not ) idiot. I am a servant I, with a strong light on Js of idols. One kind rd has to do when He is to let it crumble to )'s some that are made o take them away, He iple above." _ ijTmm LYCERINEI Thii •wei"lly..c«nt«d Kmnlllrnt Milk la (uiHTldr toevfn other pre- rural Inn fill mid«ririK THE SKIN SOFT, SMOOTH, and WHITE. Iteritlrpl.v rriiioveaHiul pn < rnKali ROUGHNESS, REOflCSS, SUNBURN, CHAPS, And all utli«r lilninUliot u( the .Skin ._ «, CMim-il liv UCUMBERB I SUMMER'S HEAT or WINTER'S COLD. ertaTlmltilllon. "' '""• '" "'' '"' " BKMHAII b," Mile,. U 2, M. Of all Chemht, and IWfumcr,. free for id. extra bg the floie Makert, BEETHAM & SON, Chemists. CHELTENHAM. THAMES CHURCH MISSION. INaTIXUrTErt 1G44. Chai rman: Treiuurer : W. ELLICE, Esq. SAMUEL HOARE, Esq., NI.P. Bamhert.- "LLOYDS' BANK. Limited." FIRST-AND-FOREMOST. iOWN AND POISON'S CORN FLOOR the lonfirett history and highest reputation. Borwicks Baking Powder. M To be ha4 of all Drapers. lOMSONS mm l.?PERFECTION!i!' ;»Soii) BY AIL Drapers , SOOOOOOAIRIAOY'SOLU _ ^f" itj/oururjpcr cannot 'jujipiy 4S> OLD BA I LEV, LONDON ) ^lyiug o'ltv and fni\a',m^ POO ' •■ '■lit vot'*- W.S TkO.VISON rro MANUFACTURERS ' Made In leii|ths 18, 14, and 18 Ini. IMVI CORATINC I UVENDER SALTS. I — nrm Our rmdnri » bo >rr m ttin hftbu of^Q reb««- iii« Ihiil iltllriona Vrr- lum«, Trlh Appla Blu#iHimt," of il.« I'n'wii PotfiiRirrjr ruRPte.^y. ihoulit |iio- run- ait in b. ttir nl htttrmtrr SalTi"'' "iij lmin|rihaiiii|.|Hi'iiui •er ■ t^w ■oni'iiia a IsKthtdil rarfuin* ta- ^t*'. clilrh (rmhena •11" i.iirllirt iba all- mii»l rnliivabi, Msdnitniy b> Tim CROWN niFUMIfV COMPANY, N«w Bond at., London. """"' " ■;j.iri'/*Et'irirvV,v«r •• •*'•" The Society's Agents visit vessels of at) naHon^ and preach tho others The Society presents a copy of the New Testament to eacn Kmigrani leaving England without a Bililc. 1,.**^ ***""'' ""*Pf' lit»ratt.ri) is .listribute.) Tratt di.tiibution has become a most important branch of the woi k. ^r*''.""*!'/'°"J^' ''''''nP«"»ce Mectlngh. Biblo Clasws. eir arc conductahtlul ii.rliimM a>ar u4a ' -tailiM Het,jri rr'in n Par. airinc aad FRY'S COCOA PURE CONCENTRATED OGOOA. " Medical Times. "—'• Eminently suitable for InvalidH.'" Sir C. a. Cameron,—" I have never tasted Cocoa that I like so ^.ell* PRUIDIHT ROYAL COLLEQl OF SUMeONS, IRELAMD. BPw^ ■*■■■■'• jf' -''lelr?'^ ^ ke HO ^, ell."