The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, March 02, 1904, Image 2
l| am:ti
Jy/yVUL
By Ansa Katharine Green, |
OOfYHIttHT, 1?00, BY *C
L CHAPTER XXXI. j
I Continued.
"No; that is, I have not thought very j
much about it. I took it for granted
he was what he said he was. Why?"
*? *"*T !*<*/! A ^fnnnrrA ciior\Wifnn
' X UilU a Diauujju ouo|;iuvu
last night when I saw tue fellow who
attacked you lying on the floor at the
foot of the staircase. Though I had
not noticed it before, I thought then
that he had on eye like the Italian
whom I saw for a minute in your
rooms. If that is so, and he is Montelli
in disguise, or, what is more probable,
Montelli was this man in disguise, then
the two matters are one and the plot
against you is of long standing."
"It may be," she acknowledged, "it
may be. But it is all over now. Why
4 think of it?"
"Because I do not feel at ease about
him; nor do you, for all your seeming
gayety. I have caught you more than
once glancing in visible apprehension
toward the door, as if you feared a reoio-hf
of vrmr rrmrdprrms Tierse
cutor."
"Did I betray myself like tbat?" she
asked, then stopped nnd exclaimed
with sudden conviction: "It is because
great pleasures never 6eem quite real.
I cannot believe tbat I shall be allowed
to step into this immense fortune
without some disaster to dampen my
happiness. It would be like the wonders
of a fairy tale occurring to an ordinary
mortal."
"But you are not a mortal; you-are a
witch, or one of the faities themselves;
ao you should believe in your happiness,
only"?he grew more serious here
?"I do not want you to trust it so
much as to be reckless. This fellow is
In custody, but he may manage to escape,
and though you certainly have
nothing more to fear from bis cupidity
you may have for his revenge. He will
never forget that through you he lias
lost, as be thinks, the possibility of
handling an immense sum of money."
"Do you wisb to terrify me?" she inquired,
with a frightened-loek.
"No, no; how can you think of it? I
only wish to warn you, so that if you
ever have reason to think he is in any
way engaged in doing you harm you
Will notify the police and procure a
guardian to watch over your safety.
I cannot rest in peace unless you promise
me this. Will you? Otherwise I
ahall not be able to sleep at night."
, She smiled. It was almost a sad
emile; It certainly was an appealing
one. But be bad fixed the boundaries
to his sympathy, and would not overstep
them.
"Promise me," he persisted.
"To take care of myself?" she queried.
"Ah! it is easy to do that. I am
loo anxious to show the world and you
that I can bear the honors of my position
and not forget my old friends." :
It was charmingly said; it came like
Sew to his thirsty and longing heart.
He caught her hand in his and pressed
It with more than friendly warmth.
dux in mat very ac: arew Dacis anc.
made his final bow.
"You make it too hard for me," he remonstrated.
"To behold paradise so
near, and yet to feel one is restrained
from enjoying it by the most solemn
of secret oaths, is torture to such an
Impetuous nature as mine. I shall
therefore turn my back upon the gates
I may not enter, and not till three
months have elapsed will you see me
again. Good-bye, dearest of women,
sood-bye."
And he was gone.
For a moment she stood in that bow-'
?r of greenery where he had left her,
onrageously smiling as long as he was
within sight and liable to turn his face
again for a farewell look, but when the
trees had quite hidden him, and his
quick 6tep was no longer to be heard
on the graveled walk, then her lovely
countenance fell and a startling look
of care took the place of her former
?xpression of triumph. While this was
still visible on her face, and before she
had reached the door which led into
the house, a young man stepped out
of this same door and confronted her.
It was Mr. Byrd.
For an instant it seemed as if she
idid not know him, for though she
paused she did not 6peak. But as he
bowed with great respect her smiles
, came back and 6he greeted him cordially.
"Ah!" said she, "I "was hoping for an
opportunity to express my obligation
to you. From -what have you not
saved me?"
"From more than you think," was his
somewhat enigmatical reply. "I have
news to give you, Miss Rogers. The
man who made the attempt upon your
life last night is dead."
She recoiled as if be had struck lier.
"Dead?" she repeated. In incredulous
tones; then, as she saw that she had
not mistaken his words, and that he
meant what he said, she suddenly
flushed with an overwhelming and uncontrollable
joy as unmistakable as it
was apparently unconscious.
The detective watched her curiously.
"How did it happen?" she now cried.
When? Where?"
#"He tried to escape from us at the
depot. He fell under the cars. You
need never fear anything from him
V again."
She turned her face away. Horrors
were not lacking from this day of
triumph, and yet this horror robbed
her of a namplps.t: rivpjul
"You are very kind to come and tell
me," she gratefully declared.
"I regret to be obliged to," he replied.
"The man was merely acting for another.
That other we know, but cannot
find. We had hoped her accomplice's
apprehension would lead ultimately
to the discovery of her whereabouts,
but liis death robs us effectually
of this hope."
"To whom do you allude?" asked
Miss Rogers.
"To the woman of your name in New
York in behalf of whom this wretch
has worked?an adventuress; the most
unhappy and least respecta.bl*> of any
?rho bear your name."
if" . J.-.: ?
:ek * (J
LIONS. Jl
[ Author of "Tbe Forsaken )
\ Inn," Etc. I
IGtRT SONNCR'teONE. J
| The fair and brilliant "woman before
i him shuddered.
"Leave her in peace," she pleaded.
"Do not try to extort anything from
her. She "will be unhappy enough at
the failure of her scheme. It Is not for
me, in the enjoyment of my good fortune,
to wish punishment to those less
fortunate than myself."
The bow which Mr. Byrd made in his
sympathy and admiration was as elegant
as if made by either of Ihe Degraws.
"You are generous," said he, and
said no more.
She gave him a quick look. She was
evidently surprised to see such manners
in a man belonging to the police.
"Have you any commands?" he now
asked.
"No," she returned, "no commands,
but you will hear from me again."
And with a smile that suggested future
benefits she turned to go, but was
Vitt r> ontrpntv
WVVI/j/VVt M .
"I hope," said be, very gravely, "that
you will not consider any service
which I may have done you deserving
of any further recognition than your
thanks. I was working in the way of
my <3uty. and shall consider it a favor
if you will let the matter drop."
"Then I will," she frankly rejoined,
"but it is a pity that you will not allow
me to inaugurate my good fortune by
a gift which any one would regard as
only a proper recognition of a service
without which I might not now be
standing here."
"I am paid," said he, "I am paid."
He was such a gentleman that she(
found it impossible to contradict him
*>r to press the matter further. She,
therefore, smiled once more and vanished.
He stood a long time looking in the
direction she had gone.
That nlcht she received the following
note:
"I bid good-bye to Great Barrington
to-day. Mr. Gryce tells me that the
valet was killed this morning while
trying to escape. . So-one serious danger
is out of your, path. But remember
the Portueguese. She may take
up bis vengeance and seek to carry it
through. If you ever see her, if one
glimpse of her hateful face ever comes
before your eyes notify me, or, what is
better, telegraph to Mr. Byrd at police
headquarters. She is now your evil
genius. I gather so much from Mr.
Degraw's descriptions of the woman
who kept the house where Mr. Delancy
died. It is identical with my remembrance
of this attendant of yours, only
the Cleveland woman could speak English,"
as I have no doubt the New York
woman could have done if she had
been forced to it. So, if your memory
of her does not extend beyond last October
(the time when Mr. Delaocy
died) be sure she is the same woman.
"I leave you in Miss Aspinwall's care.
May all good angels watch over you
both."
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE SEED 18 SOWN.
The summer has passed and autumn
has come. As Hamilton Degraw sits
in his studio, the brilliant light of an
exquisite September day shines on his
last great effort and brings out its
many beauties to the observant eye.
It is the picture of a young girl lying
asleep upon a couch draped with white
and gold The sketch of it we- have
seen, but this is the finished painting.
"How beautiful!"
This is the remark of Mr. Byrd, who
is looking over the artist's shoulder.
Mr. Degraw sighed. It "was the first
time he had let any other eyes than bis
own rest upon this canvas.
"But dyes it not possess too strong a
resemblance "to the original to be exhibited
publicly?" pursued the detective,
quietly.
"It is not for public exhibition. It is
destined for my own house and my
own pleasure," returned Mr. Degraw.
"I have let you see it, but I shall not
show it to many eyes. The man who
saved her life is almost a brother to
me; that is the rqdson I make a!n. exception
in your favor."
"I understand and appreciate your
confidence. It is not misplaced, but
will you pardon-me if I ask if you intend
to marry Miss Sogers. It is from
no idle curiosity that I ask."
"Will she marry me? That is the
question, Byrd?"
The detective, shifting his position
into one that commanded a view of the
other's face closely scrutinized it before
replying.
"It is then a vital thing with you; you
really want her for your -wife?"
"More than I want anything; more
than I want fame. I cannot imagine
my life without her. Had I not been
occupied with this picture. I could not
have lived all summer without a sight
of her face."
"I am sorry," Byrd began, weighing
hie words very carefully, "that she is?
| so rich?a woman."
I The other's brow knitted.
"So am I." ' ?
"You had rather she had not had this
money ?"
"Much rather."
"Yet you will not let it sta6d in your
way?"
"Not if she lores me."
"Don't you Unow whether she does
or not?"
"No, Byrd."
"I thought it was quite evident that
day in June wh.en we were all together
in Great Barrington."
"Yes, but that is three months ago.
She has been to Saratoga since, and to
Mount Desert and Newport. She has
had the homage of hundreds, even had
an offer from an English peer?or bo
the papers say. Do you think her likely
to remain unchanged by such marked
and continuous adulation?"
The detective looked embarrassed,
but answered him quite gravely.
"If she is the woman you believe her
to be nothing would be likely to
change her. But "
He hesitated so long that the artist,
?
who really experienced a certain relief
in making these confidences, felt
irritated, and finally asked:
"What do you mean by that 'bnt,'
Byrd? Have you any reason to think
she Is not a true woman? Have they,
been talking scandal about my darling?"
"Far from it," was the quick reply.
"She is universally commended. People
note her grace, her gentleness and
her dignity, and wonder if it was her
study for the stage which has made
her so fitted to sustain-the part of a
grand lady. No, she hasibut few detractors
so far as I have been able to
learn, and I have taken occasion te
hear the talk about her, for I was interested
in seeinc how her nature would
bear the strain of such good fortune."
"But that 'but?' What did you mean
by it? It sticks in my ears."
"Yes, I made a mistake in using it.
especially as I cannot really say why I
did so. Perhaps because the usual risk
there is in marrying a woman of so
much wealth aggravated in her case
by the suddenness with which she acquired
it."
"That wretched money!"
"You know, Degraw, that I am not a
light-hearted fellow; that I look at
things seriously, and that-I regard love
and mutual regard as the only good
foundation of marital happiness..
Therof/irp xirhon T wsrn vnn tn bi>
careful and make sure of this -woman
before you place your honor and happiness
in her keeping I am bnt acting
a friend's part to you. I should so
hate to see your fame and the serenity
of your life sacrificed to a capricious
or selfish woman."
"They will not be. If she marries
me at all it must be because she lores
me. I have painted pictures, but I
am not yet first in my art, and men
more eminent than myself have done
her homage."
Byrd shook his head and wheeled a
portable mirror suddenly in front of
the arast.
"Every man does not look like that."
he remarked, pointing to his friend's
reflection in the glass. "She undoubtT
edly loves you, but? There is that
miserable 'but' again," he laughed.
"I do not wonder you are angry. I am
insuneraDie, i Know. The
artist looked greatly discomposed,
but it was not exactly with anger.
If Bryd's objections were unexpected
and calculated to wound bis
keenest susceptibilities, the manner in
which they were urged was so candid
and sympathetic that a more irascible
man than Degraw would have hesitated
before taking offense. It was
fear which had been aroused in him
by his companion's words, or rather
dread. The future, which* had looked
so rosy an hour ago, was becoming
darkened by shadows he neither understood
nor welcomed.
"You have heard something against
Miss Rogers," he finally affirmed, "and
are trying to break it to me."
But Horace Byrd shook his head.
"No," he declared, 4*you are mistaken.
ah tJiat x nave neara is in uer iavor,
I have absolutely nothing to urge
against her. I only wish you to bo
careful, and to blind yourself to hei
beauty and her wealth till you know
the depths of a nature that may well
havr been greatly tried by this 6udden
good fortuhe. Is it asking too much?
Am I transgressing the bounds of
friendship, or obtruding too much of a
I detective's caution Jnto the, impetuous
I artist's affections?"
s Hamilton Degraw did not immediate,
ly answer. He was engaged in dropping
a curtain over the exquisite picture
of the signorina, which he may
have thought was being robbed of
some of its eacredness by this free
talk concerning its beautiful original.
When it was quite hidden he spoke.
To be continued.
Did Not Drive a Cab.
"The only time that I ever saw a
smile come over the.face of the able
jurist who presided for two terms as
our County Judge back in the '80s was
during the trial of a man, charged with
larceny. The attorney for the State, a
certain lawyer who was not well liked,
was attempting to overthrow our
alibi,M said F. Whitman, an Iowa attorney.
"We had produced aB a witness
a man who had testified for the
defense that the defendant had ridden
in his cab for an hour, including the
time when the crime was committed.
The cross-examination commenced and
the opposing attorney commenced to
try to get the witness mixed.
M 'You drive a cab, do you?' he asked.
"Without hesitation the driver answered,
'No, sir.'
" 'What?' queried the astonished lawyer,
'did you not testify that you have
been driving a cab for several years?'
" 'No, sir.'
" 'Do you mean to say, remembering
that you are under oath, that driving
cabs is not your business?'
" 'I certainly do.'
" Then please tell the court what you
do fo* a living.'
" 'Why,' answered the unperturbed
cabby, 'I drive the horses that are
hitched to the cab.'
"The expression which came over the
counsel's face was enough to make an
elephant smile, and the court indulged
in a hearty laugh, although he later
cautioned the witness to pay less attention
to the technical points in answering
the questions." ? Milwaukee
j Sentinel.
Tbe Pi#-Ei?tln; Plntociat.
One of the sights in the restaurant
in the hyphenated hotel is the pie-eating
plutocrat. Naturally, New England
fathered him, but he carries the pie
habit to an extreme remarkable even
among native New Englanders. He'
begins his dinner with pie when other
men are usually eating oysters, and he
ends it with pie, this time of another
kind. His taste in pie is catholic and
his appetite is large. Any kind of pie,
and a big piece of it, seems to be his
idea of it. His friends say that the pie
habit has characterized him all his life,
and yet he knows not indigestion. On
pie he has bocome rich and powerful
and he keeps healthy.?New York Sun.
Noted Shakei*penro Folio Defaced.
A Shakespearian student in tue tferlln
Royal Library has discovered that
the unique copy of the famous 1023
First Folio, which the Emperor William
I. presented to the library, has
been completely mutilated by a careless
or malicious reader. The whole of
"The Comedy of Errors" has been cut
out. It Is believed that the loss is Jrre- j
placeable, as the remaining copies of j
the First Folio are in private hands. '
' ' . ' , ' . * ^ 4
A SERMON FOE SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE BY THE
REV. DR. ROBERT COLLYER.
D? T??l, ??. *?l. ll TI.V nm o
Hidden Way Kvery Life Should Be
an Open, Self-Contained Providence?
Lose Not Heart and Hope.
Brooklyn, N. Y.?Dr. Robert Collyer,
^who recently passed his.eightieth birthday,
E reached Sunday morning in the Second
Unitarian Church. The audience filled
the church and listened with creat attention
to the eloquent -words of the famous
preacher. ' Dr. Collyer took for his subject
"Light on a Hiddea Way." His text was
Job iiirl'd: "Why is light given to a man
whose way is hid?" He said:
"The Book of Job." says Thomas Carlyle,
"is one of the grandest things ever written
with a pen: our first statement, in books,
of the problem of the destiny of man and
the way God takes with him on this
earth: grand in its simplicity and epic
melody, sublime in its sorrow and reconciliation;
a choral melody, old as the
heart of man, soft as the summer midnight,
wonderful as the world with its
seas and stars; and there is no other thine
in the Bible, or out of it, of equal merit,
f suppose it is not possible now to tell
whether the book is a true story or a sort
pf Oriental drama. The question is one
Jhafc will always keep the critics at work
rs long as there are rational and what
ought, in all fairness, to be called not
rational schools in , theology. My own
idea is that the rude outline of the story
iras floating-abaut the desert, as the story
of Lear or Macbeth-floated about in later
times among our own fore-elders, and that,
like those great dramas, it was taken into
the heart of some man now forgotten and
;ame out again endowed with this wondrous
quality of inspiration and life, that
will bear it onward through all time. But
whatever the truth may be in this direction
thiB is clear, that when Job put the
question I have taken for a text he was as
far down in the world as a man can be
who is not abased by sin.
Job had been the richest man in the
countryside, honored by all who knew him
for his wisdom. bi6 goodness or his money.
He was now so poor that, he says, men
derided him whose fathers he would n.ot
have set with the dogs of his flock. He
had been a sound, healthy man. full of
buman impulses and activities; he had been
eight to. the blind, feet to the lame, a
father to the poor and a defender of the
oppressed. He was now a diseased and
broken man, sitting in the ashes of a
j ruined home; his iire? all gone out, his
household goods all shattered, his children
all dead, and his wife, the mother of his
ten children, lost to the mighty love which
will take ever so delicate and true-hearted
a woman at such a time and make her
& tower of strength to the man. His wife,
who should have stood, aB the angels stand,
at once by his side and above him, turned
on him in his uttermost sorrow, and said,
"Curse God, and die."
Two things, in this sad time, seem to
have smitten Job with unconquerable
pain. First, he could not make his^rtrodition
chord with his conviction of what
ought to have happened. He had been
trained to Dciieve in tne axiom we puc up
in our Sunday-schools, that to be good is to
be happy. Now he had been gooa and yet
here he was. as miserable as it was possible
for a man to be. And the worst of
all was. he could not deaden down- to the
level of his misery. The light given him
on the divine justice would not let him
rest. His subtle spirit, pierced, restless,
dissatisfied, tried him every moment.
Questions like these came up in his mind:
'^iVhy have I lost my money? I made it
honestly, and made good use of it. Why
is my home ruined ? I never brought upon
it one shadow of disgrace. Why am I
bereaven of my children, and worse than
bereaven of my wife? If this is the result
of goodness, where is dause and effect?
What is there to hold on by, if all this
misery and mildew can come of upright,
downright truth and purity?"
The second element in Job's misery
I seems to lie in the fact that there appeared
to be light everywhere except on his own
life. If life would only strike a fair average;
if other good men had suffered, too,
or even bad men?then he could bear it
better. But the world went on iust the
same. The sun shone with as. much
splendor as on his wedding day. The moon
fioured out her tides of moulton gold, n.'ght
retted the blue vault with nres, tree"
blossomed, birds sang, and young men and
maidens danced under the palms. Other
homes were full of gladness. This man
had sold his clip for a great price; the
lightning had slain Job s sheep. That
man nau uone wcji ju unurs, uic luukiuu
had twisted Job's trees down. Nay, worst
of all, here were wicked men, mighty in
wealth; their houses in peace, without fear;
their children established in their sight,
sending forth little ones like a flock, spending
their days in prosperity and yet saying,
"Who is the Almighty that we should
fear Him?" While here he was, a poor
wreck, stranded on a desolate shore: a
broken man, crying, "Oh, that it were with
me as in days gone by, when the candle of
the Lord shone round about me; when I
took my seat in the market place, jijMi. .
justice was my robe and diadem! When I
think of it, I am confounded. ' One dieth
in the fullness of his prosperity, wholly
at ease and quiet; another dieth in the
bitterness of his soul, not having tasted
pleasure. How i6 it? What does it mean?
Why is light given to a maji whoBe way is
bid?" ' '
Now, I suppose that not many men ever
fall into such supreme desolation as this,
, that is made to centre in the life of this
. most sorrowful man. "It is the possible
! of that which is in itself positive." But
then, it is true that we may reach cut in
all directions and find men and women
who are conscious of the light shining, but
who cannot find the way; whose condition
will not chord with tneir conception of
life, and who. in a certain sense, would
be better .if they were not so good. The
I by'w^ich they are most easily braised.
Keen, earnest, onward, not satisfied to be
below their own ideal, they are yet
turned so woefully this way and that by
adverse circumstances that, at the last,
they come to accept their life as a doom,
and bear it in grim silence, or they cut
the masts when the storm comes and
drift, a helpless hull, broadside to the
breakers, to go down finally like a stone.
A young man comes to town from the
country full of purpose and hope. He finds
difficulties confront him; he strives, but
remains poor. At last, Avhen hungry and
faint and alone, the devil comes?a nice
person, probably, but still a devil?and
tempts him. The young man yields. Or,
he succeeds, and then slides into the belief
that there is a Providence that will keep
htm prosperous because he is a good man.
Disaster comes, and he loses bis all. ini
i\io Violiof in CSntl Or n mairlpn
leaves her home full of trust and love.
I Under adverse conditions she loses hope,
| and ?6ks: "Why is life given when the
] wav fs hid?"
And so, T say, in men and nations you
will find everywhere this discord between
the longing that is in the soul, and what
the man can do. Our life, as some one
said of the Cathedral of Cologne, seems to
be a broken promise made to God.
Now, in trying to find eome solution of
this question, I want to say frankly that
I cannot pretend to make the mystery all
clear, so that it will give you no more
trouble; because I cannot put a girdle
around the world in forty minutee, and
also because a full solution must depend
greatly on onr own dissolution. 1 believe,
also, that the man who thinks he has ieft
nothing unexplained, in the mystery of
providence and life, has rather explained
nothing. I listen to him, if I am in trouble,
and then go home and break my heart
all the same, because I see that he has not
only not cleared up the mystery, but that
he does not knov. enough ahout it to
trouble him. The "Principia" and the
Single Rule of Three are alike simple and
easy to him because he does not know the
Rule of Three. And so I cannot be satisfied
with the last words which some later
hand has added to the book that holds this
sad History, mey ten us now .jod nas an
his property doubled, to the last ass anc]
camel?nas seven soil's r.jjain and three
daughters, has entire satisfaction of all
his accusers, lives a hundred and forty
years, sees four generations of his line and
then dies?satisfied.
Need I say that this solution will not
etand the test of life, and that if life, on
the average, came out so from its most
trying ordeal, there would be little need
for our sermons. For then, every life
?euld be an open, seli-coatained proyj
V \ , '
deuce and the last page in time would vindicate
the first. Men do not so lire and
die; and such cannot hare been the primitive
conclusion of the history. It baa
deeper meaning and a snbhmer justification.
or it had never been inspired by the
Holy Ghost.
And this issure to suggest itself to you
as you read the story, that <Tob, in his
trouble, would have lost nothing and
gained very much if he had not been so impatient
in coming to the conclusion that
God had left him, that h'fe was a mere
apple of Sodom, that he had backed up to
great walls of fate and he had not a frtend
I*:ft on the earth. His soul, lookinjrtbrongh
her darkened -windows, concluded ~tho 'heavens
were dark. The nerve, quivering at
the gentlest touch, mistook the ministration
of mercy r for a blow. He mightvftave
found some cool shelter for his aeoiry; he
preferred to sit on the ashes in the burning
sun. He knew not where the next
robe was to come from; this did not deter
him from tearing to shreds the robe that
was to shelter him from the keen winds.
It was a dreadful trial at the best; it was
worse for his way of meeting it; and,
when he was at once in the worst health
and temper possible, he said: "Why is
light given to a man whose way is hid?"
Is not this now, as it was then, one of the
most serious mistakes that can be made?
I try to solve great problems of providence,
perhaps, when I am so unstrung as
tn be entirely unfitted to touch their
more subtle, delicate and far reaching harmonies.
As well miizht you decide on some
exquisite anthem when your organ. is
broken, and conclude there i3 no music
in it because you can make no mpsicof
it, as, in such a condition of Kfe and such
a temper of the spirit, try to find there
great harmonies of God. When I am in
trouble, then, and darkness cemes^&wn
on me like a pall, the first question ought
to be, "How much of this unbelief about
providence and life, like Cowper's sense
oi the unpardonable sin, comes from the
most material disorganization ? Is the
darkness I feel in the soul, or is it on the
windows through which the soul must
see?" Then, clear on this matter, the
man tried so will endeavor to stand at the
first, where this sad hearted man stood
ac the last, in the shadow of the Almighty,
if be must stand in a shadow, and hold on
to the confidence that somewhere within
all this trial is the eternal, the shadow of
a great rock in a weary land. Friends
speculate all about the mystery, and their
conclusions from their premises are entirely
correct; but they have' forgetten to take
in the separate sovereign will of God, aa
w orking out a great purpose in the man's;
life, by which he i$ to be lifted into a
grander reach of iri&ight and experience:
than ever he had before. Job said: "I suffer,
I am in darkness and disappoint-.
ment and pain, because it is fate." Job's,
friends said: "No, -you^ suffer because you'
have sinned. Rushes never grow without
mire." They were both wrong, and all
wrong. He suffered because that wias the
divine way of bringing him out of his
sleek, well satisfied content; and when
through sufferingtbis was done he said: "I
have heard of Thee with minfe ears, but
now mine eye seeth Thee."
There is a story in the annals "of science
touching this principle, that we cannot
struggle faithfully with these things and
leave them as we found them. Plato,
piercing here and there with-his wonderful
Greek eyes:
"Searching through all, he felt and saw
'xhe springs of life, the depths of awe,
To reach the law within the law,"
was impressed by the suggestive beauty of
the elliptic figure. He tried to search out
its full meaning, but 4'Cd withont the
sight. A century and a half after Plato,
Annrtlrtnuio /tomo woo in
lAjjjjVivuiua IIUD, 1U wug
same way, took up the question where
Plato left it, tried to find out its full
meanings, and died without the sight.
And so, says a fine writer, for eighteen
centuries, some of the best minds were
fascinated by this problem, drew from it
strength and discipline; and yet, in all this
time, the problem was an abstract form,
a beautiful or painful speculation. It did
not open out into any harmonious principle.
There was light on the thing, but no
light on the way. In the full time. Kepler
came; sat down to the study; and by what
we call the suggestion of genius, but ought
to call the inspiration of the Almighty,
found that the orbits of the planeta were
elliptical, and be died. Then Newton was
born, took up the problem where Kepler
had laid it down, made all the established
facts the base of his mightier labors; and,
when he had done, he had shown that this
figure; this problem, which had hekl men
spellbound through the ages, is a prime
element in the law of universal gravitation
?at once the most beautiful theory and
the most absolute conclusion of science.
Then men could Ree how it was. because
God had made the light shine, on the
thing, that the way was found. From Newton
back to Plato, in true apsoto'.ic order,
every man, bending, over this mystery of
a light where there was no way, and wrestling
faithfully with it, had not only grown
more noble in his own soul in the struggle,
but had done his share toward the solution
found by this greatest and last, who was
also "born under the law that they might
receive the adoption of sons."
So, I tell you, is this restless search for a
condition that shall answer to our conception;
this fascination, which compels ..us
to search out the elliptic of providence, ,
the geometric certainty underlying the
apparent eccentricity. And every struggle
to find this certainty; every endeavor to
plumb the deepest causes of the discord
between what the nature bears and what
the soul believes' every striving to find
the God of our loftiest faith in our darkest
day, will, in some way, aid the demonstration,
until, in the full time, some Newton
oi tlie soul will come and, gathering the
result of all these struggles between our
conception of life ana our condition
in life, will make it the base of some
vast generalization, that will bring the
ripest conclusions of the science of providence
into perfect accord with the grand
apostolic revelation. "We know that all
things work together for good to them that
love God."
We ovrong the deepest,, revelations of
life when we are not content .to Wt this
one little segment in the arc of our existence
stand in its own simple/ separate
intention, whether it be gladness or'gloom;
and trust surely, if we are faitbfuJ, the
full and perfect intention must come out
in the full range of our being. God seldom
perhaps never, works out His visible purpose
in one life, how, then, shall He in one
life work out His perfect will? The dumb
poetry in William Burns, the father, had
to wait for Robert Burns, the son; Bernardo
waited to be perfected in his son,
Torquato Tasso; William Herschel left
many a problem in the heavens for John
Herschel to make clear; Leopold Mozart
1.7 ^ .1 :il j.j: iu.i r%\
WACBUCU wim uieiiHiicg IUCIL v^iii^auetum
Mozart found afterward of tliemselves in
every chamber of his brain, and Raymond
Bonneur needed his daughter Rosa to come
and paint out hie pictures for him. Dr.
Reid has said, that when the bee. makes
its cell so geometrically, the geometry is
not in the bee, but in the geometrician that
made the bee. Alas, if in the Maker there
is no such order for us as there is for the
bee! If God so instruct the bee; if "God so
feed the bird;, if even the lions, roaring
after their prey, seek their meat from
God; if He not only holds the linnet on
the spray, but the lion on the spring, how
shall we dare lose hearf and hope?
So, then, while we may not know what
trials wait on any of us, we an believe
that as the days in which this man
wrestled with his dark maladies are the
only days that make him worth remembrance,
and but for which his name had
never been written in the book of life;
so the days through which we struggle,
finding no way, but never losing the lignt,
will be the most significant we are called
to live. Indeed, men of all ages have
wrestled with this problem of the difference
between the conception and the condition.
Life is full of these appeals, from
the doom that is on us to the love that
ia iivf>r ii??from the (iO<l \v<> fpnv in the
God we worship. The very Christ cries
once: "My God! Why bast Thou forsaken
Me?" Yet never did our noblest
and beet, our apostles, martyrs and confessors,
flinch tonally from their .rust,
that God is light; that life is divine: that
there is a way, though we may not see it;
and have gone singing ci' their deep confidence.
by fire and cross into the shadow
of death. It is true, nay, it is truest of
all, that "men who suffered countless ills,
in battles for the true and just," have haa
the strongest conviction, like old Latimer,
that a way would open in those moments
when it seemed most impossible. Their
light on the thing brought a commanding '
assurance that there must SMBewbyfc
sometime, be light on the
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS <
# FOR FE8RUARY 28.
Subject: Bearer* and Doers of the "Word,
Mutt, til., 21-29? Golden Text, Jatne*
1., 22?Memory Verve*, 24-25?Com*
mentary on the Day,* Leiton.
I. Mere profession not sufficient (vs. 2123).
21. "Not every one." Christ is here L
laying down the true test of admittance
into the kingdom of God. He haa-just told I
tnem mat tney must enter in tnrougn ?
narrow gate and walk a narrow way, and G
now He intimates that many will seek to
gain admittance on the ground of mere I
profession. "That saith?Lord, Lord." ,
True religion is more than a profession.
We may acknowledge the authority of
Christ, bcHeve in His divinity and accept
His teachings as truth, and still without
the love of God in the heart we will "he ^
shut out of the kingdom. "Kingdom of ?
heaven." Defined by Paul as being "right- j.
eousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy i
Ghost" (Rom. 14: 17). Jt has reference to ?
that spiritual kingdom whioii Christ sets
up in the hearts of His followers. It is ^
true religion. But why called a kingdom?
1. Because it has its laws?the precepta of [
the gospel. 2. Its subjects?all who be
lieve in Jesus Christ. 3. Its King?the g
sovereign of heaven and earth. "He that
doefch." Christ's followers are "doers of _
the word and not hearers -only" (James 1:.
22). See Rev. 22: 14. "The will," etc. y
That is, the one enteretiuto the kingdbm c
who obeys the gospel apd keeps the com- Q
manumenis 01 v*oa. Mc.w -a.13 win even
our sanctification, and: that we should
pray nhvays. It is our duty to follow its
precepts fully. "My Father." Christ does
not refer to God as a stern judge ready to
condemn, but as a loving father who is
ready to bless and help His children. This
was a truth hitherto unknown.
22. "Many." Not merely an occasional
one, but the number will be astonishingly
large. "In that day." The judgment day.
The day when the final accounts shall be
brought in, and when each shall receive
his just desert. See Acts 17: 31; Rom. 14:
10;, 2 Cor. 5: 10. "Prophesied." . As t^e
whole gospel is a real prophecy, foretelling
the vast future of the human race?death,
judgment and eternity, so every preacher
is a prophet. Here, then, are preachers
who plead their ministry in vain in that
day. See Paul's definition in 1 Cor. 14: 3.
."Cast out devils." Through their preach-'
Lag souk had been converted and devils
had actually been cast out of men's hearts.
"Wonderful works." There have been
great revivals of religion and great manifestations
of divine power. The truth has
been preached and God has blessed it.
23. "I never knew you." How sad!
From this we see how easy it is to be de
ceivea. Many irusnng in tne cnurcn, ineir <
good name, their generosity,, .their great. gifts,
their employment iif ministry,
their self-sacrini^ their devotion to " the j
cause, etc., etc., while at heart they are
not right with God and at the last great
day will be-.cast to the left hand. "'Depart."
Such belong at the left handi i
From Me." What could be worse than 1
banishment from God? .
II. 'me wise builder (vs. 24, 25). -4
"Therefore." Jesus now proceeds to in:- j
press the truth by the use of a very strikmg
illustration. "Whosoever heareth." j
See R. V. Both classes of men hear the }
word. So far "they are alike. The two ,
houses have externally the same appear- .
ance, but the great day of trial shows the .
difference. "Will liken him." St. Mat- ,
thew, who living near the lake had often ,
witnessed su?h sudden floods as are de- ]
Bcribed, uses vigorous language and draws ^
the picture vividly. Palestine was to a
siderable extent a Jund of hills and mount- ,
ains. "A wise man." The truly wise man .
pays attention to Spiritual and eternal \
things) He is a prudent man, a' man of ,
understanding, who looks ahead and sees ]
the danger and makes use of the best ,
means in avoiding it. The wise builder is i
the one who hears and obeys the words of ^
Christ. "Built his house." His character; }
his soul's interests. Each man possesses a ^
house which is his absolutely, and for j
which he alone is responsible. "Upon a /
lock." Our rock is Jesus Christ (Psa. 118: j
Zi\ 18a. zn: 10; i vx>r. y: nj. ne is me (
sure foundation. As we.centre our faith
in Hiih, and bui]d according to the max- ,
irris which He has laid <fown, we will be j
safe. 25. "The rain?beat." So tempests j
and etorms of afflictions, persecutions. ]
temptations and all soris of trials beat <
acainst the soul. Suddenly, when we think
we are safe, the calamity comes upon us. \
How important in that hour to be pos- ,
gessed of something the tempest cannot ,
destroy. "It fell not." The religion of j
Jesus Christ in the soul will stand every j
test. The emblem of a house to represent (
the religious life is specially appropriate: ,
1. A house is for rest. 2. A house is for
ahelter. 3. A house is for comfort. In ]
like manner true religion id the rest, pro- j
tection and comfort of the soul.
III. The foolish builder (vs. 26, 27). 26. ,
"Doeth {hem not." The foolish man is j
one who -fails to do what he knows he ]
ought to do. He hears, but is disobedient. ,
'"lne sand." The foundation is the prin- j
cipal thing. The houseron the rock stood, ^
but the structure on the sand was soon ,
undermined. The one who 6ays, Lord, (
Lord, but whose heart is not right, is on f
the sand. 27. "It fell." So falls the sin- "
ner. The floods are wearing away his
sandy foundation, and soon one tremendous
storm shall beat upon him and he and
his hopes shall forever fall. Perhaps he
has heard the words of Christ from child- J
hood, and he may even have taught them
to others, and yet he has failed to lay a (
solid foundation for himself. Notice two
points of difference between the wise and 1
the foolish: 1. The wise builder has a re- 3
gard for the future; the foolish builder 8
thinks only of the present. 2. The wise t
looks to the solidity and durability of his *
structure rather than to the appearance; 1
the foolish cares for the appearance only, t
"Great was the fall." How great is the 3
loss of the bouI! What a terrible fall for a c
soul created in the image of God, and with J
all the glorious possibilities before it of a
life of bliss forever with Christ, to be cast
to the left hand at the last day.
IV. An astonished people (vs. 28, 29). ?
28. "These sayings.'" The sermon just c
preached. "Astonished." The teachings' > >
of Jesus all through His life excited aa- ?
miration, wonder and amazement. They e
were astonished, 1. At Christ's claims. 2. 8
At His manifest^ power. "His doctrine." ?
The Sermon on tne mount contains a buid- ?
marv of all the great moral principles and f
cardinal doctrines of the gospel, except the *
atonement. 29. "Having authority. His ?
power'lay in Himself ana in His life. "The
scribes." He did not speak like a common
interpreter of the law, confirming His doctrine
as the Jewish doctors usual.y did, by i
the authority of their learned men, but c
with the air and authority of a prophet, 1
and by that authority took upon Him to i
even correct the doctrine of the scribes i
and Pharisees themselves. t
A Thousand Mile Channel. ' " J
A six-foot channel in the Mississippi t
River at low water frookSt. Paul and Minneapolis,
to Cairo, a distance'of 1000 miles,
to be completed by the 'time the Panama
CAnal is put into operation, iefthe project c
advocated before the House Committee on (
Rivers and Harbors at Washington, D. C., e
by a number of capitalists from different f
States. The total cost of the improvement f
is estimated at $15,000,000. Governor Van e
Sanf nf Minnesota, told the committee ,
that fifty cities were directly interested. f
and 15,000,000 people would be benefited e
by the canal. I
v
s
Died From Nightmare.
Jacob Harlan, of Union City, Ind., evi- ]
dently died as the result of a nightmare. J
ICariy one day lie awakened shaking with
a chill, and said that he dreamed he was
driving a team of horses that ran away,
and that his father was killed in an effort
to stop them. He grew worse, gasped a *
few limes and died. j,
e
t
Jo Jo, the Doz-Faced Man, Dead. C
Jo-Jo, the dog-faced man, who traveled &
through the United States with Barnum, a
and who appeared in many museums in the t
United States, died at Salonica, Macedonia,
of pneumonia. t
Louisiana Adopts Section Syttem. j
Louisiana ia the latest Southern Stat* I a
to adopt the South Carolina primary eleo-. I -v
tion ejirtcm, j t
*
mmmm??????m l
A Prtyet.
.ord, help me tell Thy story tweet,
To troubled ouerAanound mep *
lely, me with smiling' face to meet
The duties that Surround me.
Jrant unto me tfce;?trength to do, '
Each day the taak before me;.
Lnd then at WfK 4ead Thou mo thro^h
The miflte that hover o'er me^ '<
?George D. Gelwfcks.
? . . The XnUncas of God.* "
How much of God do you and-1 desire?, 1
Yhat eort of a .Saviour are .wo looking *
or as we go on our brief way through
his World? A God who cap prolong' our
ives and give us the temporal pleasure* v>
re desire, and ?ave us from ^Jeatmction, i
Ad finally bring us to a world better tftan *
his with as little trouble to ourselves as
lossible? Or do we really hunger ami \
hirst for a God who will satisfy all the \
nnermoet longings of our own mysterious i
ouls, for things we* have neter had nor . /
een; the yearning for love 'of a quality, v
arth does not know?
Hundreds of 'expedients there are by, '
rhich we seek to Jill this empty, place in ~ j
*ur beings, power, money, fame^leasure*
jfection?Hmited. to the humitfL'jphere?
ill these, men cast into the void in tfte
rain hope to fin it. And for a while it
nay be they are deceived into thinking
hey have accomplished their purpose. -Tha
ery araor ci pureuii, inc m? jiun v*.\
xmeeewn, seems to aid them to forget
he lack. But only for a time. They have \\
orgotten God, but God has not .forgotten V
hem. TTiere comes sudden loss. Hope V
lies. Then when the world has turned to t
litternees, some will turn and search for rl
heir dead Lord as did Mary when she, '
vent to toe tomb, and to such will He
;ome and speak their names in love, and *
nve them a glimpse of what His fulness.
a. But many of us are satisfied to sing,
ilong our way, feeling content that we
lave made our peace with an kn^ty God .
ind are attempting in the main' to do
i bo tit ngnt, ana tnougn we wutuaaww
-o confess it,we do not really want to be
illed full oMj^t's spirit. A little it efficient
for our needs. .Such a fullness of .
3od would binder '<ur earthly plaris, 'tad
?e really hayeriet time. life iB so rtort,. .
ind to. Might; until the shadow comes.
To such members of the earthly oban&
?mes this prayer of Paul's to. God for i&>'
lidding us remember our high hjrth* oil
;he line?not of Abraham or David?out of; ''
"the Fathi^" pf,<wrJ^d.-Jt^^ri?4:j\
enrinding Us of 6uT kinship witn'tne restf-V
if men and angels, "of ^nbm thie itfcote :*>
family in heaven and earth is named.'" ]
"To be strengthened," the prayer goes \
)n. Why,, we thought we were qmte i
rtrong! Are we not pDkra in the. church?
Do we not teach a Sunday school oaii and
cad in Christian Endeavor .matters? '!
irat this strength is not that we liaay be
ible to shine na great workers' hut rather; .
that we may oe filled with the strength'
it His Spirit that Christ may mske fiw
borne in our hearts. His facc ons of.the
number about the fireside of our secret
self,- Hia presence the moving power it* >
)ur-lives Because He dwells there. Only;
an til one has lived daily with a person,
in til one has experience^ another s love
meter the shadow of sorrow and loss and
humiliation, pan one know the. depths of
that love. So, only when we live iif. Christ
ind feel Hi& touch at every step -pf, the
wav. His delight in our joy, His comfort
Hid healing in our Borrow, can- we begin
to feel what is that love.
Says Bishop Vincent: "The perpetual
hold oLChriet upon us is like the peipetlal
hola of the son upon the -earth, .The
arth cannot warm iteelf at the ran, and
tbeq swing off on its own account, to be
i source of Kgfht and heat?lif,ht and heat
rhich it won from the son, and now gives
t second hand, independently of the ?nn.
rbe constant hold of the sun on the earth
a the only hope of the earth. AS that the
;arth can do is to let the sun h*ve its-owa
way, and -yield to him. So Christ is oar V
til and in aD, and n always our all. There i
8 none other. Our hope is in Him* Oar,
Faith rests in Him. Our life comes from
mim wo OWI ' WpII ' if
LJLU11* JIU L'V BU1V) nw wi w *.??. "?7 - -.
the earth, were a free - and intelUffent being
the beat it could do would be to Jet.
sun have, its radiant and regal way f
vith it, and to swing in its orbit and thra
ind turn toward the sun just' as It does.
So we believers in the Sun of Righteousaess?His
planets. His disciples?attain
jut best by doing His will, by letting Him
io His will in and for and by us."
And best of all, tiere is never aheart
hunger that His fullness is too small, to
fill. He can do "exceeding abundantly
ibove all that we ask or think." ' Dr. Alexander
tells how bis little daughter -came
to him soon after her mother had gone to
Heaven, and said: "Oh, father, 1 want
something eo much, and I don't know what
it is!" and how he took her on his knees
to Jesus, and the little seven-year-old girl
went away happy in the love of Christ.-Srace
Livingston Hill, in the New Yorl
Mail and Express. ^
Be Happy.
'All people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
3im scire with mirth: His praise forth
tell, V
}otne ye before Him and rejoice."
These are apt thoughts for anjr season,
5C nappy; ix is not umj yviu u?<(
'our duty.. God has wrought to that end,
ind bids you so work also. Make not only
be most, but the beat of life. Be "true t?
he kindi-ed points of heaven and home."
jet there he gladness under the family rooi
ree. Let old and young rejoice together^
'for will the joy be less sweet and deep bea
use it is sanctioned and sanctified by tb<
leavenly Father.
And let it-be well remembered that nc
tyway of selfishness 'leads to selfishness,
)ver the road of love And self-sacrifice sdo
levout endeavor for the good and happines#
if others, and only that'way, lies the deep>
afe haven of an untroubled peace. A m&ni
aith Scripture, must give an account fot
very idle word; that is, for words thai
piing from an irreverence find religious
.oth. How much more shall God call him
o a reckoning for every unkind word, ,
or every word ehadowed and sharpened -by
. spirit of bitterness, selfishness ami
[loom!? F. C. McCook.
A Simple Kellgion.
A Quiet home; vines of our own plant
ng; a few books full of the inspiration oi
;enius; a few friends worthy of beinjj
oved, and able to love us in return; a I
intiiwenf n'ooonrPa t.hfit hrinff nC I
lain or remorse; a devotion to the right
hat will never swerve; a simple religion
uiutv ol ail bigotry, full of trust and hope
md love?and to audi a philosophy thi?
vor!d will give up all the empty joy il
tas.?David Swinj.
Trust God.
Providence hath a thousand keys tc
>psn a thousand doors for the deliverance
if IJis own, when it has come to the ereat
st extremity. Let us be faithful and car<
or our own part., which is to do and suf*
er for Him; and lay Christ's part on Hinv
elf and leave it th^re; duties are ours,
. vents are the Lord's. When our faith
;oeth to meddle with events and to hold
i court?it- 1 may so speak?upon God's
jrovidence. and bczinneth to soy: "How
vilt Thou do this or that?'* we lo??
[round?we have nothing to do tiie<e; ii
s our part to let the jVJmighty nxem>>t
iis own office and steer His own lielm.^amuel
Rutherford.
To Diesect Jnrabo'a Heart*
Professor Wilder, of the department of
ihysiology of Cornell University, has promsed
his classes that he will give them the
arcrest heart in the world to dissect and
xamine. It is the great muscular pump
hat forced the blood through the arteries
{ Jumbo, the famous elephant. Jumbo'a ?
leart is ninety-eight times as large as the
.verage human organ. It now weighs
hirty-eix and a half pounds. The humaa
leart is less than six inches long. Jump's
js twenty-eight inches long and tweny-four
inches wide. The ordinary hearti
ould be contained in the main artery of
fumbo's heart. The walls of the artery: '
re five-eighths of an inch thick, while the
valla of the ventricle are three incieq
tick( - . i>n i i 'I
a
?