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fcflaBflEBr HT VM 9wSE^BH^?B^r j * O'er the bills night shadows steal; N I ; K^ftr^o a ' rr k t hroawft I See the Virgin mild % ' Clasos her new-born Child! . * Bound the manger shepherds kneel" Humble worshipers. ' Hark! angels sing / Bound their heavenly King! fis for man and not for them, Sleeps the Babe in Bethlehem. t ^ Christinas this year." that yv\ was what father had said Nta mother. Tliora, who was washing th? supper ?? dislies heard bira say it and she told Selma and Orlof. "Why, Christinas must come every year." said little Selma. opening wide her big blue eyes. "N"Ot wheu the tobacco isn't sold." explained Orlof. who helped his father on the 9uial! farm. "Father's borrowed money on the crop to live on. and now the money's 'most gone and the crop fsu't sold yet. The buyers are slow this year." ' "I don't see why any one ever buys the horrid stuff." said Thorn. "The smell of the leaves dryiug in the shed makes me sick." "Well, next summer you won't be troubled wttn it, ror ramer anu i arc going to put the land Into sugar beets." remarked Orlof, who felt himself a man of affairs. "Then we are sure to make money, because a beet sugar factory lias just been built at Janesville, and the owners will buy ail the jT beets we can raise." "But what's that got to do with thristmas?" asked Selnta. "There won't be any Christmas here." said Orlof, solemnly. "I knew it first, for father told grandmother this morning that there was no money to spend for nonsense, and grandmother ? why. grandmother just cried." There was a suspicious moisture in the , boy's own eyes. The gentle little grandmother who had never learned English, and who spent the days knitting the soft stockings and mittens that the young Oversons found so comfortable and warm during the Wisconsin winters, was very dear to Orlof and his sisters. "There won't lie many more Christmuses for grandmother." sighed thoughtful Thora; "$lie is getting very feeble." "Then it Isu't right for us not to Ii;;vc Christmas this year!" exclaimed JSeln:a. "If there aren't many Christtuascs left, she oughtn't to miss a sin? ide one." "No, and we won't let her. As sure as my uanie is Tbora Overson, grandmother shall have the best Christmas this year that she's had since she left Norway. We'll earn the money for it ourselves." ( "l!ut how can we?" asked Seluia. "Oh, we'll fin^ a way," replied ^Thora, with a happy smile. x ? perhaps Orlof and Seiina went to -sleep that night as soon as their flaxen v abends touched their pillows, but not so with Thora. Her long yellow braids ~w*re tossing for two hours or more af*^cr she bad crept into bed beside little Lars, the two-year-old baby. Her head f* turt#d from side to side as she worked out a plan in her mind that ^ kept even tbe thought of sleep away. ''But at last, reaching to see that the covers were over the baby, she sighed contentedly and closed her tired eyes. "You. please, wash the dishes for mother this morning, Selma, and tend ' to baby," she said to her sister after breakfast tbe next day, "for I have something else to do." Tbora went to tbe upper room where the children slept and (lid not come down until it was time to go to school. ; Then she carried a little parcel, laughingly refusing to tell what It contained when Sehna and Orlof asked her. After school that afternoon she told fcelma to hurry home to help get supy per; for she was going to the village on an errand. When she trudged borne an hour later her mind was so full of happy thoughts and plans that the three miles of rough country roads seemed but a short, pleasant walk. Her bright cheeks and sparkling eyes were noticed by the grandmother when she came into the house. "Tbe little woman is happy to-night." f ^ she said in Norwegian. "Yes. grandmother, dear." Thora answered ia the same tongue, "happy and busy." She laid off her wraps and undoing the little parcel she hud carTied away in the morning showed her grandmother a short piece of crocheted lace of a most intricate design. THE MADOMA Oh lilt ium tamil 1 * Raphael (Italian: Born 1483; Died 1520). \ . " ^ -. . . ? Yole-tide Thou whose head to earth is lowly Bowed in woe and shame. When no help seems nigh To thy piteous cry, Think! it was not for the holy The Redeemer came. Hark! angels sing Round their heavenly King! For earth's sinful and defiled Comes to-night the Saviour Child. WHARl'ff IJMUi) FFITfiOOGBT r'KILbOWJE B CWLCJ r "I'm going to make vanls and yards >f this." she said, "flow glad I am that you taught uio to crochet." "But I never taught you that pattern. Thora. I know only the easy, simple edges that we made in Norway when I was young like you. Where did you learn such a beautiful pattern "I lay awake for a while .'ast night and made it up." "Why, it's wonderful." the grandmother fingered the filmy meshes. "Is it ror Christinas, dear?" "Yes, and you mustn't ask any more questions about it, for it's a secret." During the few weeks before Christmas Selma learned to be quite a capable little housewife, for all the duties that Thora was in the habit of attending to fell on her shoulders. She helped her mother with cooking and baking, washed the dishes, hung out the clean clothes to dry and watched the baby faithfully. "I like not that my Thora all the time crochet," said Mrs. Ovcrson in her quaint English, so Norwegian in accent and construction. "Hut it he for my Selma good. She now learn all the things useful. When she know all, I have my Thora in the kitchen again work more." ar-iv." IT"' ROEDERSTERFS "SUFFER LITTLE So if was that Thora was permitted to spend the time out of school crocheting. Many were the mornings that she rose long before dawn and. quietly i dressing herself so uot to wakeq *+-heJ sleeping children, sat working by\ t(| die light with fingers 30most cramped by cold to hold the steel crochet hooic. Many .A. hours that, with thl^^^e ta h. sat by the sraudmotTyrvjjmd to tales of happy "Christnjasf the seas. Again aud agai grandD.Jthef,. who lived f the past, described lj^ ( the old Norwegian cy'sfo the ChristnfaJs^tide a sc^ joy and frolic^ - '* y ^ (v "I know juSt ho<v wi ? 3 'V thing," Tboriw eonfidecE i ' or whom during tiie** <h|ys'j. >iit little, for he was ty-awny-* le late. "We will u e a Chyisttt /at will be like be tiwin 2\6rw;:j-*r*Tore grandfather died." .. At first Thora wished to surprise father and mother, as well as grandmother. but wise Orlof made her see that it would be better to let them have a part In making grandmother's Christmas happy. Wheu Mr. and Mrs. Overson learned that Thora had s.~ 4A ororhptinsr laee for or.e of the village shops, and that Ole was receiving seventy-five cents a week for doing a neighbor's chores each night and morning, they looked at each other In wonder. 0 T think we starve never more now." said Airs. Overson, "with children which hard work so good." .Mr. Overson did not answer. lie turned away from the eager young i faces of his children and the proud ' gaze of his wife. After a moment's siience he said. "I was wrong when I said there -could be ro Christinas. There is always Christmas where hearts are warm and generous." What a bustle there was the last few days before Christmas Eve! Mr. Overson, with Thora and Orlof, drove to town in the old bobsled and came home laden with packages. Selma stoned raisins for the Norwegian .holiday soup made of wine, raisins, prunes and sago. ' Thora made the lefse (Christmas breadj and cooked the fa^ v . ' / , GREETING lie who to the cradle bring* One pure, generous thought, To the infant there Brings gifts more rare Than the eold and mvrrh the kincs Of the Orient brought. Hark! angels sing Round their heavenly King! Tis for man and not for them, Sleeps the Babe in Bethlehem. vorltc Norwegian fish, the ludefisk. which is brought to this country for the children of Norway who have found homer here. She stewed into delicious sauce the ruby-colored tyttebar berries, which come all the way from Norway dried. Father Overson brewed the harmless home-made beer, without which no Norwegiau Christ- j mas is complete, and Mrs. Overson baked a huge jarful of the Yule cakes. All this time the little grandmother sat by the sitting room stove, near the window, knitting her memories. into tlie long socks for Orlof. and oftentimes weaving a tear that fell softly upon her work as the thoughts of bap- j py days never to return overwhelmed I her. Sometimes she fancied that she actually smelled the roasting spare ribs or the ludefisk. so clear was the memory of the old feasts. When she told Orlof this l\o laughed aloud, and she smiled gently, for she was not hurt that he should find his old grandmother amusing. But she wondered when he went into the kitchen why he shut the door so quickly after him. The morning before Christmas Mr. uvorson ana uriui wem uui wnu hatchets and smuggled into the house great branches of the Norway pine which grew on their place. At supper time when grandmother came into the sitting room after the nap that now she so often found she could mot do without, she noticed the Christmas green, and a happy light came into her faded, patient eyes, but it was quickly followed by a sigh. Then her son. the big man for whom in his childhood she had left the land of her youth, chided her for sighing. "Make glad Yule!" he cried, leading her to the head of the table. ?hich she suddenly saw was heaped with all the Christmas goodies that had marked old Yule feasts at hoift in Norway. CHllrfgEH^ 'COME t'KTO ME." '^Jlakc slad^^ilo:" sboutej all thf cniiupw j^c once. even iitue i-.ars vpi^ *5 In tj> Jiappy chorus. r*0 <&ne asi for grandmoth^#niul n it was given aud^fc;^ they all sang a ^ih ik j^rwegiau as they it ^"ble^ ""^vrqscnts, grandmoth\* < * ~*fe JiOyely felt i^fft y \ ' Jie money ic f<> /&,work." ^ T leaked uowu at ner \ Many gifts were ar*' There were the slipMit^! shoulder shawl, a, jrce-collar and a quaint and fl^<*ilk kerchief old pat_ ,1>' i grandihpjthi looked at in es^v .^a^juder, fovit^' ^ this side fof the ocean'lJlfl'iiAe se jiike. . "It was my mother's/. ;. Overson explained* "My fntbert^jAight it to hp.r from Chrtstianln/ Vn ^ was a baby.'* She never j it except on holiday#* or when v/^'v'babies were christened." * "But it is not do, 'e," reiaoustrated grandmother. '* ' i'v. "Yes, for you. r*tf{ijit to see it tied over your head as my mother wore it. You are my mother, too, and it should be yours." Mr. Ovfson kissed his wife. Christmas hadfljrought to him a happiness long dCalreu. wis wire una ai nisi taken ais mother into the heart that had t. en grieving for her own mother long vad. Tf / kerchief was tied over grnndmo ior's head amid exclamations of de/glit and admiration. ^Isn't she dears and sweet?" asked "Mora, smiling at the happy group. lit is my children and grandchildren who are dear and sweet. God bless them." said grandmother reverently.?The Little Chronicle. An ironmaster in South Wales claims to have Invented a process by which the cost of making steel cn be reduced twenty per cent. i .. . . : . : THE Rti % ?T XABIOX COC i stan<! where rolling vapors shroud The golden hills that spread so fair: Pale light is filtered through the cloud. Thick moisture weights the clinging air. I see no Hash beyond the gloom. Yet there the flame of battle run*. And thence is borne the cry of doom. The broken thunder of the guns! soul is shaken with their din. Pocked with the standards borne on high; I feel the sweeping charge begin: My heart is spent with those who die! Yet hack and forth with measured pace. Beside the breastworks blank and tall, I march the track with unmoved face. And hold mv manhood's blood in thrall. The war-horse neighs behind the gate. The horseman soothes him. at his side: I guard the patient ranks that wait. Heart-spurred, but silent?restless-eyed. They may not break the bound that keeps Each man an atom in his place: JV> i>;i?er is me euaru mat sleeps Than lie who leaps the appointed space! gg||f The Capitis Psl!!! By HELEN F0RI ^to*c or arc not proms: out to J walk again with that Mr. dlf O Ellcslie. Meta":" cried Miss 7 K (Jeorgiana Tripton, uust WOT terciy. t "Yes. T am." said Meta ftr.^feam, saucily. "Why shouldn't IV" "Its very unfeminine to spend all one's time running after the gentlemen." snapped Miss (Jeorgiana. "But it's just the other way in my case. Cousin (Jeorgiana." said Meta. demurely. "The gentlemen run after me." "Pshaw!" "Mr. Ellcslie asked me to walk through the cemetery with him this ] afternoon." added Meta. commanding Iter temper with admirable equanimity. ( "I did not ask him." And away tripped the little lassie. ] humming a popular air, in the sauciest i and most fascinating manner possible. ( (Jeorgiana Tripton was seven-and- i thirty, and Meta (Jrabam was seventeen. consequently it can easily he com- 1 prehemled that there was no great 1 sympathy between the two cousins. Georgians was biiious and yellow, ex- < acting and irritable?Meta fresh and i rosy as Aurora's self, with a temper ! 1 sweet as a May morning, and a score i of lovers at her feet. Love was as yet ] only Meta's plaything, but matrimony i in the eyes of Georgians Tripton was the one serious business of life. 1 She had made up her mind to marry i Frank Elleslie. albeit that young law- j yer was ten good years younger than herself, and as both happened to be j sojourning at the same hotel, fate for ,? ouee seemed inclined to favor her. i But when Meta Graham came down from the city in all the glittering ? armor of her golden-haired beauty, rose-and-snow complexion and dimpled i smiles. Miss Georgians saw at once < that her cause was lost. I Frank Ellcslio deserted basely to the ; enemy at the very first flutter of those i irrestfstible banners of youth and beau- . ty: but Georgiana secretly resolved ; that if she cculd not marry the young j lawyer, Meta Graham should not. ( either. I "I'll Keep my eye on 'em at nil . events," thought Miss Georgiana, vie- < ionsly. "Tite cemetery is as free for < me to waik in as it is for them." So Miss Tripton hurriedly invested i herself In outdoor attire and took the : orossert over tile fields toward the % beautiful rural oomoierv. which was i 1 the pride and ornament o.' all the I 1 neighborhood for miles around. ' I sliall- get there first," thought J? corgi;: nn: "for. of course, they'll dawdle along under the shade of the trees and he twice as long as they need to. I've no patience with such sentimentnlism. But I'll he" even with that pert little Merta yet. I'll listen to all their nonsense, and I'll write such an account of it to my Uncle Graham that i my young lady will find herself recalled ; homo the very first she knows. Ol' I course, they'll go to the Livingdale monument?there Is a green bench there and an arbor of sweet honeysuckle. and I can hide just beyond." Miss Tripton smiled grimly to herself as she mentally surveyed this program of battle against true love, and pretty little Meta Graham, whose only tangible offense was youth and beauty. But when wastjbe dragon in the fairy tales ever known to spare the brighteyed i>rfnees8 just because her eyes were "bright and her face pure oval? \?H sprays of white and buff-blos- t somisd honeysuckle were waving softly . about in the delicious summer air as Miss Tripton stole into the green glade where the exquisitely carved statue that surmounted the Livingdale monument kept its still watch in the liquid gold and odorous sweetness of tlie j sunshine. It was a marble tribute to j i the memory of a girl who had died young, and whose features were sup- j posed to be perpetuated in the grace- 1 ful lines of the statue. But just now Miss Georgiana Trlptor. had neither , time nor attention to waste on gleam- < lug marble or exquisite outline. Just beyond, a grim old granite j vault seemed to hide itself in the side 1 slope of a hill, with its iron gate swing- [ Jng idly to and fro at the- will of the wind. Georgiana stole into this vault. 1 shrinking beneath Its damp, sepulchral shadows, as the sound of footsteps on 1 the green turf beyond, and the ringing sound of Meta Graham's laughter, he- 1 tokened the utar approach of the young lovers. "A cankered old ma UK" pronouneeu i Mr. Frank Kllesiie, not without emphasis. "So she thinks it very wrong .1 of you to walk with me, does she? I'll wager nobody troubles themselves 1 much to walk with her?" "F.ut she isn't to blame for being so old and so yellow, and so disagreeable, Frank. She can't help it." pleaded Mota, with an innocent toleration, which made Keorginna Tvipton's lingers quiver to box her pretty little pink ears. "Site cannot help being so ill-tempered and venomous. I suppose? But come. Meta dear, don't let us waste our precious time talking about such an old vinegar cruet as she is. Sit down here ifi the shade of those fragrant : lionfysuckles. and let us enjoy the sweet air and the. bird-sougs." . . -v' . . - ;f . y C ' SERVE. F - a I THOCT SMXT?. With steady tramp, vyith close-locked lip, ]( I hear inert the silent can. Sey how the standards rise and dip. There?where the scattering vapors run! 8 Who calls? Who passes? Who comolain9? o Woo gives the challenge and .reply? Jly heart is tugging at its chain's, . . And pleading to the smoke-dimmed sky! * Xoon dies?nor finds the fighting done: \ Still shriek the guns beyond the hill; We know not if the day be won, We trust the word that holds us still. Bravest when we at last despair Of summons swift by bugle-eall? j( An, praise us. comrades! for we bear A strain that makes your struggle small! ? ii O <zlorious ranks that break and charge. \) That feel the fierce unchecked desire? ? Tlie hope that stingy?the impulse large That snurns the force of steel and tire! 0 With what high hearts you play your fate, s Meet scathe or death, and cheering fall! q lake ye Godspeed from us who wait, Mute guards beneath the barrack wall! P ?Youth's Companion. ft f ye Maiden f REST CRAVES. 1111!! U HHimsiiiii 4'0h."' cried Meta. with a slight start. r "what dunging noise was that?" "Only the gate of yonder gray old vault swinging in the wind." Meta r looked earnestly toward it. 'l "Oil, Frank. I am sure T saw some- ^ thing move back there in the shadows!" n "Nonsense, Meta! what could posst- e lily be there but the dead bones of ri some ancient Dutch burgomaster?" 11 And Meta could not but join in the *' merry luugh at her own childish felly p and forget it. They sat there some ten minutes, 0 watching the sun go down Into the *T rivtr below, in a red panoply of brightness and to Miss Georgiaua's intense disappointment, saying not a word of p lovesick sentiment, such as she had 11 .... A k.n.. tk/.,. C: i'/iikiru r.vprl iiru iu ut ni , iucij rose up and strolled away down one J af the broad graveled paths that led to the eastern gates of the cemetery. "Poll!" thought Miss Tripton, discontentedly. "That wasn't worth listen- ? lug to." *c But as she essayed to unlatch and spen the iron vault*gate, she discovrrrd. to her dismay, that it was fast. Some unsee or unsuspected catcli in the iron mechanism of the gate had caged liei safely in the recesses of the dis- , mal old vault. In vain she shook the fastenings- " the stone and iron were too linniy * ivelded together to admit of any tarn- 1 aering with their rivets. "Dear, dear!" thought Miss GeorgIina. beginning to tremble all over with h i sense of the very disagreeable posi- ei tion in which she had placed herself. What shall I do? They can't have rone far. I'll scream." She lifted up her voice, in a femi- 111 line scream?"Help! ne-e-lp!" But mly the rustling of the leaves and the piping of the summer insects replied. She screamed again, this time at the 01 rery top of her voice; stil. no answer. Vnd then Miss Georgians, forgetting 1)1 ill her strong-mindedness and selfpraise, sank down all in a heap in the 0 orncr of the vault and began to ery " >u<nnis)#Y. j t "It's growing dark or oven* minute!" ?she whispered, "and I shall have to day here all night, with the ghosts U( tnd the spiders, and the horrid, horrid lead men's hones. All night! and to- K1 norrow is Sunday, and the cemetery t:1 rates will he locked, and who knows mt I shall die with fright and hunger {1 jefore I can get out of this hideous )Iace. oh, dear, dear! I'll never, never Isten again! I'll let Meta marry whom die likes, and never interfere, if only ' get alive out of this dismal vault. IVhy did I come here? Why couldn't , ' have minded ray own business? Old .. Vdnt Polly rurkfs always said I l)I diouhl come to grief prying into other ^ >eople's affairs, and her words have be onip gosnel?true at last!" Ami once more, in a paroxysm of u lespair, Miss Georgiana raised her m roice and Availed aloud for help. Mela Graham, who was pausing at a ittle wayside lountain. Avhcre a crys- ) al-elear stream of Avater bubbled into ej i marble basin, whose edge avus nearly lidden in hlossiming water-flags and ^ iqnatie plants, stopped to listen with :he tin cup at her lips. ^ "Frank!" she said, gravely, "I c-er- st a inly do hear something!" "So do I!" said Mr. Elleslie. "I hear cfl lie water dripping into the fountain. tl ind the sound of the Avind rushing , hrough the treetops, and two blaekjirds singing in the hedges!" "But I hear a human voice crying out .'or help!" H "Nonsense!" A, Meta pursed up her lips and nodded u, ier head. 0j "Listen for yourself. Frank!" she ju urged. "Hark! there it is again!" ?j "Well, it does sound like a voice," 1E Admitted Mr. Elleslie. "Shall avc go jj sack'! Perhaps some one has lost his ^ way In the winding paths, or," and his pyes twinkled mischievously, "some ..] ghost is crying out for its freedom!" se "Oh. Frank, don't talk so!" pleaded ^ !Ietn, clinging nervously to his arm. 'Let us go back at once, aud see what jt It means!" tti And. a feAv inonutes only had elapsed ^ before Frank and Meta had retraced [heir steps to the green glade where y Ihe marble statue gleamed faintly through the darkening twilight, and Ihe honeysuckles diffused their heavy fragrance on the air. n] "Why!" ejaculated Meta, "It is p, Cousin Georgy peering out from behind n the iron bars like a wild beast in a t. cage. tl "How on earth came you here. Miss j> Triplon!" rather unceremoniously de- n manded Mr. Eileslie; ami Georgiaua. .j well frightened for her duplicity, con- p fessed the truth. j,i Frank burst out laughing Meta drew herself up, flushed and indignant. "Under the circumstances," she said, "I can hardly pity your involuntary fi captivity as much as I might otherwise do!" f< "Hut I'll never do such a thing again if you'll only let me out this time," tl pleaded Georgiaua. J tt And Mr. Eileslie went for the gatekeeper and the keys, and before another half hour had elapsed Georgiaua Triptou was safe at home, in the com- r ' ' '#|]n ad smelling salts. She was Hysterical or a week afterward, but she dogged be footsteps of fbe young lovers no anger! "It was as bad as being buried alive,* he faltered, whenever?which was not ften?she could bring herself to allude a the adventure in the cemetery. "And o think I never heard anything worth istening to, after all!"?New York Veekly. I nrf?M? the Cott Wt UT>ag. The proposition favovd by the al?ged r? formers who have so viciously tlacked tiw proprietary medicine busiieis is that all family medicines shall e put under the ban of the law. and ^'?4' ? - ? oil o 11 Via tnban A-roant IJUl UU llicuiciiic ouuii uc laacu cavvi?i n the prescription and that no one five a physician possessing certain ualiflcatious as to diploma, etc., shall reseribe. It is easy to see where this would lTect the manufacturer, but the elect there would be insignificant as ojnpnred with the increase it would lake in the cost of living of a large umber of people. Nearly fifty-three pe*^ cent, cf the smilies recorded in the last Federal ensr.s livbil outside of incorporated iv,-rs. They rely or. "home rerneics" to an extent known only to hose who arc actually residing in ural districts or who have lived outide of the towns. To do away with patent" medicines would be to the ural fifty-three per cent, not only a ardship, but would actually endanger ealtb. The rural fifty-three per cent. ?re ot the only ones to he affected, howver. Of the lu,9G4.00p families icorded in the last census thirtyfree per cint. had annual Incomes of 400 or less. The average number of ersons to a family was five, so that mini 01 me laniines uau incomes f $S0, or less, per individual, per car. To compel every cue to throw away icir home remedies and employ a hysician for each ailment of every icmber of the family would be adding cponse unnecessarily and increasing ie difficulties that surround the probms of life. Only twenty pnr cent, of the 13.9C4.X) families in tap United States had iconics of more than $1200 annually ;r an avcrayc of five persons, only re per cent. had incomes of over 1300 per family. At a conservative itimato ninety-five per cent, of the ?ople have "pate 1." medicines handy.' a* instant use warn needed. This uine'.y-llvo per cent, could, if ucnircd. discard "r.ateuf medicines ithcut pacraye of laws and would 3 so but for one renrcu. Tbat is that latent" medicines are well known to lem as reliable remedies, which no 3usebold ccnld be without and which jve cured the ailments of three gciiiy^ous of American people. 1IVhy Don't Wn Put more faith "In ourselyes and less i the promises of others? Learn how small is the value of le spoken word? Ilumor cur consciences instead of ir pride? Cultivate a decent respect for other ?ople's opinions? Determine to possess the courage 1 the consequences as well as the a rnge of convictions? Judge people by their efforts, not r the results of their labor? Criticise loss where we can suggest ) practical remedies? Listen graciously to advice, kindly ven. whether or not we intend to ke it? Admit that .1 suppression of the uth is not always to be condemned? Recognize our orni satisfaction ns ie greatest possible reward in this or id? A Football Dllnmni. The village football ejeren was >out to begin In the great natch of ie season with a rival team. Just ?fore the game was timed to begin, e captain of the heme team appeared lib a worried look and dejectedly untcd the rnectators. They eonsistl of two farmer Icyr. a militiaman, id the local clilmueycweep. He unted them ever twice, but failed make any mro of them. As both arns took the lieM the homo captain :elained: "There won't be no niateli to-day. "e scratch." "Wot are yen talkin' about?" said le opposition captaij. "Ycu can't ratch ncT."' "We've got ter,"' replied the home iptain, dolefully: "we ain't took tough gate money to get the ball out pawn."?Harper's Weekly. The Paul Itearer. Hear Admiral Sigsbee and General orace Porter, ex-ambassador to ranee, who were the prominent flg'es in the recent removal of fhe body ' John Paul Jones to Annapolis, met i New York'the other evening at a nner giveu by the Loyal Legion. Adiral Sigsbee in concluding bis speech iseounted his part in the removal of le naval hero's body. ' "No credit belongs to me," he said. [ simply brought his body across the .>a in my battleship. Ceneral Porter id the great task of finding tfie body.'' "He is right." said General Porter, mping to his feet. "I was the Paul nder: Admiral Sigsbee was the pallpa rer." They forgave him the pun. ? New ork Tribune. Too Little Fruit Eaten. "We are prone to indulge in too much eat and too lirile vegetables and fruif, Dssibly iu consequence of defective icthods of preparing them for the ib!e," declared Sir Trevor Lawrence ie other day at a meeting of the oyal Horticultural Society in'London, nd he pointed out that in 1004 more lan ?4.000.000 worth of fruit was imorted which could have been grown i that country. i The Real. ' ? The great actress brings a dress over *oiu Paris. It cost her $1000. She has to have >ur maids to heip her get into it. When she comes out on the stage ie public at once exclaims in rapires: "This is indeed realism!" "What is she representing** "Why, a Sicilian peasant', girl."? uck. * international lesson co m ; "/FOB OECEMKH 24, HH . utyect: The CkvMUr off the' 1m. lz^ l*7-tM4n. TM, lb HD ?Memory Timw, t. 7?Com j>m the Day's Limi. C^jH 1. Great darkness (vs. i,2). 1. "Xer* ,? ertheless." A transition word from the H dark picture of chapter 8:5-22, describ- j Ing the woes from Assyrian predom- M inance to the bright dawn and consuflk- H matlon of the Messianic era. "Shafl JH not be snch." The darkness shall not V be as great as It has been. There was a ray of encouragement forJtoose who were ready to receive tbyifrophefs fl words. "Zebulun." GallUre- was the land that principally suffered'in the first Assyrian invasion. 2. "The people... .In darkness." The people of Judah. They were at this time under a two-fold darkness. 1. The darkness of outward trouble. 8ee 2 Kings 15:37: 16:4-8, 17; 2 Chron. 28:5-8. 2. The.v were in moral darkness. Ahaz had led the people into the ^ most abominable practices in honor of dH the heathen divinities. Finally, toward the close of the reign, he shut up the V great doors of the temple (2 Chron. 28:24), discontinued the offering of in-7-^M cense and the morning and evening B sceriflrp. and left the whole Interior decay, neglect and ruin. fl II. A great light (vs. 2-5). 2. great light." The sudden change fromwHD dense darkness to the shining ."ligWP^M which the prophet saw is quite remanHgH able. What light was this? The proa^JH lse of redemption; the prospect of flHB coming of Immanuel. 3. "Hast multiplied the nation>tc^ Isaiah with prophetic eye pierces centuries andsees*the hosts that woukl^H come under the reign of the Messiahd^M and be numbered with the true s^MHB ual Israel. "And not increased." iSHfe It. V. for correct rendering. "They joy before Thee." The prophet notes lt.fr be a religious joy because it is said to be before God?thst is, in His pres* enee and with a grateful acknowledf- _J mcTii of His benefits. 4. "Tliou hast broken tne^W^^ J The Jews were successively delivered X from the burdensome and galling yoke M of the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians ? and Macedonians, but these deliver-' ances were only a shadow of redemp?| S tion front the yoke of Satan, *and thfttC ? redemption seems here especially pte^sR 1 dieted as if already accomplished. "A*Jt J in the day of Midian." As Gideon witfr'f M a handful of men conquered the hosts jm of Midian, so Messiah, the "child" (r. X1? 6). shall prove to be the "Prince dljgj ] Peace." ana tiic sanu company Him shall overcome the- mighty,host*; J 8 of Antichrist. See the same contrsowfl I 5. "For every battle." It j custom of -antiquity to pile the ' of prostrate enemies, .the spoils of lew value, arid their spotted garment*!, flngH a heap and then burn them. > All belongs to war shall bo s wept a the war itself shall die. The abolishes all war, bnt not un&' BB>aBi 1 foes are either swept away by Hie J judgments or melted into penitenpo. I and won over by His love. $ J III. A vision of the Messiah (v. & J "Unto us." The prophet spake dT predicted blessings as if already muulcated. "A Son is givem" gratuitous gift, upon wbieli man'huH 1 no claim (John 3:16). A gift of loye^jfeBl joy, of universal fitness to oar neetit' l 1 As Son of man Jesus was "a efctiftl 9 born." as Son of God He was a -"Soa ft 9 given." "Government" The eftafefctJgjH of. government, the sceptre, J hp 9 or key, was borne upon the shoulder. All government sbftln|Bm vested in Him. "Hlc name." A nann^H stands for all that the man Is axuK ?his character, his principles and MfcaBB property. "Wonderful." Because ..... hnmnn OHlWIW iiUlUl C n aa uviu uuuium ? *? ,, ,_ Whoever refuses to believe in the so- H pernatural rum: pause at the manger. t Vt* eau go no farther. How Godbood M and manhood coujd be knit together in the person of Christ is beyond aft I But things incomprehensible are n& I incredible. Ail divine works are won l^H derful. There ave marvels enough J fW a drop of water to bewilder the wise*^ HM "Counselor." ' One who has wlSdMrc^B to guide himself and others. Jerfqf wna thr? pmhodiment of the wisdom SJH Got!. Ho was a Saviour, both God j^B nnd man, a personal revelation <3E:H God's lore, a perfect character andej^ H ample. He is our Counselor, nerer H guiding us astray, but always by th* H best ways to the beat ends. "MtghijfViH God." God the mighty One. As Ed ' H wisdom, so He has strength: He tk ' i 3 able to save to the uttermost, and such 1 is the work of tbe Mediator that ne^ B less a power than that of the might?*' God could accomplish it. "Everlasting I 3 Father." Expressing the divine lore \B and pity for men. a love that can never fail for It is everlasting. "Prince of fl peace." As a king He preserves, conn B mands. creates peace. His peace both keeps the hearts of His people and.'. I rules in them. 3 IV. The Messianic kingdom (v. T). fl 7. "Of the increase." etc. Tbe gorerp- B ment shall increase in cumbers, in J power, in the completeness of its rate* H It shall increase in the blessings it be* \ H stows-. It is like th? powers of nature, H which are exhaustless. There la no . 9 limit to their application to the uses of' H man. With all our marvelous- inven? tions and discoveries of what nature! I can do. wc have yet gathered but a , fl few rays from the world, of light, a fl few sprays from the ocean of blessing* H nmi hns in store for man. "ThronedCft fl David." To sit npon the throne of Da- 3 vld means to reign over the true i pie of God, and In this tense Christ on David's throne. "To order It", rule It. "From henceforth even ever." Only such a kingdom can dure. Nothing is really settled t? is settled Yight. The powers of-x seem very strong, bat every one doomed to fall before Christ ' , ' > An Algerian Pompeii. "Under the title "Rome in Afric Mrs. Aubrey le Blond has an ill trated article in "Good Words" on Algerian Pompeii at Lambesaa * TImgad. What we owe to Vesuvius covering up the city of Pompeii an saving it from the gradual but cpr plete destruction which all cities c stantly inhabited and renewed '?i suffer, this we owe to the burniqg a * Tt-~A nrhloh hnvoA xuraaiwug \jl nugau, " ?? to us an entire town of the ttije the Romans with its 1'*" ~*"Vjfntn plainly writ in stone. When t French government has completed I work of excavation it seems probah that Tingad will be the most perfe^ specimen of a Roman colonial city ta which all travelers, Interested In the life of two thousand years ago, wiJJ. look for a magnificent lesson. \ ? The cost of firing cue shot from/S^f 7 of Uncle Sam's sixteen-takh gui* equals the pay oI a private for