Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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?; V I LITTLE Mi 1 A CHILD 0! | by b. l. CHAPTER XIII. Continued. r "No more than a brother ought t< love a sister. Yes, he loves me as muel as that, I think, but not a bit more, a I'm a living woman!" j- "And yer don'i love him?" ' "No," she repiied firmly; she knev that if she allowed her voice to falte: blood would be shed in the house tha eight. "Swear it," he said. "Say 'May Go< Strike me dead if I love him.*" She repeated his words. "God strike me dead if I love him!" False as was the oath, Divine for giveness was registered in its utter fince. "Make-Believe," he said, and hi: Voice, before so fierce, grew weak ''you've saved me from becoming < murderer!" "Yer didn't come to steal as well?" she asked. "Xo," he replied, "I am no thief now I've kept the promise I give yer t< lead a honest life. It's been hart lines. Look here," and he turned oui his pockets, which did not contain i copper, "and my Christmas dinner was a hunk of bread and cheese. .Who's that unlocking the street door?" "It's Mr. Dexter. He mustn't se< yer. Hide behind that table. Quick quick! When he's gone to bed I'll lei you out of the house." He threw himself behind the table and she drew the cloth down so thai he was concealed from sight. Thei ehe ran to the door and called: "Is that you, Mr. Dexter?" "Yes, Make-Believe," he replied, as he ascended the stairs, "it's me." When he entered the room she sa^ that he had brought back with hiir V?inr 1s\as? Af nrrmf ii ucavj ivau va "My wife is dead," he saidShe took his hand, and he drew hei to him, deriving comfort from the con tact. "Did she die afore you got there, Bir?" ' "No, she lived long enough to tell m? her secret. It is that?it is that?MakeBelieve, which has converted this night into a night of sorrow. Before we were two months married she left me, as I have told you, and in the lawful course of nature she gave birth to a son?my son! She concealed it from me out of spite. I am almost afraid to tell you the name of my son." , "Don't be afraid, sir?tell me." ' "It is a man I warned yer aginst, ttnd who yer know well." She gazed at him in amazement *Not Foiey, sir?" ! "Yes, Foxey, to whom my wife, who Is no more, gave that name out of some kind of strange malice. God knows. I did her no harm! Marrying her was a folly, not a crime, and I haven't deserved to be so punished." A star of hope and light glowed in the heart of Little Make Believe?a Christian star of charity and love, 6hining on the promise of a life snatched from evil way, from crime, from prison walls, from sinful death! Her voice grew solemn. "You should be glad, sir, not sorry, that you have found your son.'' "How can I be glad, Make-Believe? If he was a man I could be proud of, that I could take to my heart"?his roice was choking; he could not proteed. "You mustn't forget, sir," said Little Make-Believe, tenderly, "that this Is a day of charity and forgiveness. There's none of us so bad that we can't be made good if a loving hand is laid out to us! We can't help the way Hre're born, can we, sir?" . "No, Make-Believe, no." "It ain't our own fault sometimes that we grow up bad. I don't see how some poor creatures can help it And let me tell yer, sir, Foxey ain't what yer think he is. There's a lot of good Li him that you'd never suspect if yer wasn't told. You get him to give yer a promise, and he'll keep it if starvation stares hin in the face." "You're saying this, Make-Believe, to try and comfort me. Dear child! If ievcry. one had a heart like your'n it iwould be a better world than it is." "I don't know so much about that, 6ir. But it ain't of me we're speaking, it's of yer son as'll live to be a blessIng to yer. Why, sir, jest think, now, when wo first knew bin he wasn't so yery old, was be?' ? "No, he was only a bit of a bey." ~ "As'd never been taught anything good. As had no father?and no moth' er to speak of. But she's dead and gone, and wc mustn't say nothink hare of her. She's gone to a better world Where we all hope to go one day. Hei life wasn't a rosy one, sir?fur from it iWhen you was out I saw a poor wo can dragging her feet through th< snow, and though I never saw her be fore as I knows on, and slia.ll never se< her again, I couldn't help crying at th< eight of her. Mr. Dexter, I don't thin! sis ever in my Iifs I saw as much of th( ^ inside cf things as I do now. It's come upon mo all in a minute, and ] believe as God has put it into mj bead!" "Dpnr Little Make-Beiieve!" "Ah, sir, if ii hadn't been for thatif it hadn't been for my make-believ ing?I don't know where 1 should hav< been! I was saying. Mr. Dexter, tha there's a lot of good in Foxey. Hi gave me a promise that he'd live i honest life " "And broke it." " "And kept it. sir. as true as true cai be! Yes. though he was that hard uj sometimes that he had nothink bu bread to eat, he kept his promise, .'je* frcm that day to this hasn't done nc think wrong." "Make-Believe! Make-Believe!" "It's gospel truth, sir. A man as'] do that only wants a chance of doin better. Yer'll give yer son that chanc( (Won't yer, sir?" U'A6 sure as you're the bent woma: eelieve 1 =r i : THE SLUMS. I ^ farjeon. :::::: ||| ' that treads the earth, Make-Betteve, I'll give it him if he'll t.ak? it." 5 "Never mind about me. Will yer bej Iieve me when I tell yer yer can give s him the chance this very night?this night of death and joy?" "I'll believe anything yon tell me, T Make-Believe." "A-nrl tor irnn't hf* nn<rrv fit snmp. t think I've already done?" "X can't be angry at anything you've 1 done." "Why, see, sir, Low it's all turned out! I believe there'.? been angels watching over us. Xot ten minutes _ afore you come home I saw a man _ leaning against the wall on the other side of the way, looking up at the win3 dows in this room.. I looked hard at him, and who should I find it was but I Foxy." "My son! Where is hfe"5" "I couldn't help thinking?knowing as he'd give me a promise to be honest and'd die rather than break it? * that he was wandering about this Christmas night 'cause he hadn't got a roof to shelter him. A bitter night outside, sir!" [ "A terrible night! Go on." * "I went down to the street door, ' being full of pity for him, and knowing as he was the sort of man no girl ' as knew him as I knew him need be ' afraid of, I called out to him." 1 "Make-Believe!" "He came over to me, and I found ' out that I was right He hadn't a roof of his own, he hadn't a bed of his 1 own, his Christmas dinner was a bit of bread and cheese. Think of the , dinner we had, Mr. Dexter! He hadn't 1 a penny in his pocket. And all, sir, r because he'd kept the promise he give 1 me to lead a honest life. I brought him into the house, sir!" "Is he here now, Make-Believe?" . cried Thomas Dexter. "Tell m^ quick." "Wait a minute, sir. We had some talk together, him and me, and he told me how hard it was for him to get along in this country, and how if some ! kind friend 'd only come for'ard and ' help him to emigrate to the colonies 1 he'd make a good name for hisself j ; in less than three years. It was his ' only chance, he said. Then you come in, sir, and interrupted us while we 1 was talking. Don't turn yer head! Shut yer eyes to please me?as I shut mine to please you." She placed her hand over his eyes, and beckoned to Foxey. He rose and came forward, with the tears streaming down his cheeks. Then Little Make-Believe took her hand away, and father and son were | face to face! She did not give them time to utter ; a word in her presence. 'To .very tired, sir; I must go to bed." "Good-night, dear child." "Good-night, sir. Good-night, Foxey." "Good-night, Make-Believe." He stepped to the door and opened it for her. "I'll keep my promise, Make-Believe." She held out her hand, and he clasped it passionately for a moment and kissed it. Then she gave him a bright smile, and left father and son together. ****** Half an hour afterward Saranne, waLing up, saw Little Make-Believe kneeling by the bedside. "Why, Make-Believe, haven't you come to bed yet?" "No, dear; there was sech a lot of clearing away to do. But I am tired now!" "Are yon very, very happy, MakeBelieve?" "Yes, Saranne, ain't I got good canse to be? Go to sleep, dear, and dream of Walter."- ? THE END Keeping a Bird Becord. Nothing will pay better for the trouble taken than keeping a record of the | different kinds of birds one sees in a : season. A.1 one needs is a blank notebook and cne of the many good books describing American birds and giving | colored plates of some of the rarer , kinds. The beginner will find that there are | anywhere from half a dozen to half a hundred kinds that he can recognize at sight He should write the name , and description of each of these. ! Then, as he adds new varieties, for [ which he will always be on the lookl out, he will need to refer to his birdbook and plates to identify them. When he is pretty sure of the name he should write it down, with a description, not only of the bird, but of its habits as far as he has a chance to note them, and the time and place when seen. As this bcok grows, it will become an unfailing source of pleasure, and boys may compare notes about their rccords, as they do about 5 their stamp collections, ana rorm Dira [ clubs. r How a Minister Sailed. When our first foreign minister ar ranged to go to London he was re quested by the captain of the sailing - vessel in New York Harbor to go t aboard immediately, according to a ? writer in-Success. Hastily buying a i sack of flour, three hams and a bag of potatoes, he hurried on board ship to arrange with some sailor to cook his 3 meals, not knowing but that they p might sail at any hour. Five weeks t passed before the boat left the har[1 bor. After six weeks at sea the travi eler at length beheld the outlines of tbe coast of old England. II Bareness Overbeck is the first fe* S male Russian composer to attract at? ?, Mention in her own land. Her leading compositions have been performed in n the leading theatres of St. Petersburg. . . ' V -r " Setting Ont Vegetables. In setting out the garden mark a straight line with a hoe, rake or a stick, using the garden line as a guide. It is very important to have the rows parallel and straight, and it is economical of labor to have them regularly spaced, so that the wheel hoe can be used up and down a large number without resetting the wheels?Garden Magazine. Selecting Corn For Seed. It is always important to save the best seed for corn. In doing so, select even-rowed ears, with the rows straight and not irregular on the cob. Ears that taper are best, because better protected by the husk; and then, too, the silk, the female part of the plant remains alive longer. The reason for selecting the top ear for seed is that it is always more fully developed, more uniform and more vigorous in its germination, having'been better fertilized when in the silk.?Ella M. Hess, in The Epitomist. Fertility in Cottonseed. Cottonseed meal is used quite extensively in some sections of the country as a fertilizer. A good grade meal will carrv ahout 6.S Der cent, nitrocen. 2.9 per cent, phosphoric acid nnd 1.8 per cent, potash. Based upon the valuations that will be used by New England experiment stations in 1905 for computing the value of commercial fertilizers, a meal analyzing as above will be worth about $29 a ton as a fertilizer. Notwithstanding its high value when used directly in this way it will usually be found more economical to use it as a food for stock and to apply the resulting manure to the land. When used thus, frorti eighty to ninety-five per cent of the nitrogen and phosphoric acid and practically all the potash will be contained in the manure. ?J. M. Bartlett, Experiment Station, Penobscot County, Me. Hothouse Beane. String beans are not a very common crop for forcing under glass, but fairly successful results were ootaineu witn them at the Wisconsin Station. Starting them in pots was found to be a waste of time, since better results were obtained when beans were planted in hills about one foot apart each way. Later they were thinned to stand eighteen inches apart. The yield of beans was increased about three times by the use of complete commercial fertilizers. Neplusultra and Golden Eyed Was were the most productive. It was found that fumigation with tobacco injured the plants, but the white fly was readily controlled with hydrocyanic gas, using ten ounces of potassium cyanide for six million cubic feet of space. The best temperature was concluded to be about fifty to sixty degrees at night and seventy degrees in daytime?American Cultivator. Siieep uoou jrroi>eny. A Wisconsin man interested in the i sheep and wool business says that the i reduction in sheep in this country in i the past few years make the sheep in- ' dustry a good safe business. He esti mates that it will require from five to 1 seven years to breed up and regain this > loss. The present high price of sheep <' will induce every sheep owner to sell 1 off just as closely as possible, and that ' is bound to keep the number down. He ' says that many years ago there was 1 used more wool to the person in the J United States than there is to-day. i since cotton has come into sucli general use, but a quarter of a century ago there was very little demand for mutton. To-day the demand is great, and it is on the increase right along. This, with the shortage in the number of 1 sheep and the high price of wool, is * bound to make sheep raising and feeding profitable for several years to come. ?Indiana Farmer. Helps Handling Hoes: For a catching yard or pen, instead of having regular rectangular shape, ' nave III UUt UUiUCl <X auai[J uiuu^uiui extension, as shown in the cut. Into this extension the hogs will rush, when tliey may be easily caught. For loading hogs, back the wagon, with eage on, up to the pen fence, dig under the hind wheels a few inches to bring the rear end and upper side of the wagon bed even with some plank or rail of the pen fence. Out out this plank or rail, leaving a space large enough for your largest hog to pass through. Place an inclined floor of plank from the ground of the pen to the lower side of the wagon opening, as shown by the cut, up which to drive the hogs. Then scatter a little corn on the floor of the incline and also on the floor of the wagon, start the hogs and they will go up and in. No fuss, tard for loading hogs. no torn or soiled clothes and a lot of quiet hogs.?H. T. Vose, in Farm and Home. Makinc Money by Redaclng the Cost. Hoard's Dairyman mentions a Mr. tioss, of Washington State, who has ' a herd of sixty-one Jersey cows giving ' aiilk, and who by reading and studying 1 his business of feeding and management. has reduced his expenses in ' keeping them till they are making him 1 thirty-three per cent, more profits. The Dairyman with its strong and sensible [ putting of things comments on this matter as follows: "Rut \rlipn you talk with farmers about increasing their profits through a reduction of the cost of production, and all through a better study and understanding of their business, they lose all interest in the subject. That Is an end of the question that they take no stock in whatever. Yet, strange as it seems, it is the only end that they have any control over. "Mr. Ross found that he did not really know enough about his business. So he went to work to read and think. It struck him. no doubt, that there were many other men who knew more than hp did* wbosa methods con sequently, were more perfect and profitable. He could not travel and see all these men, but be could read of what they were doing, and, lo! and behold, thirty-three per cent was added to his profits. "It is the same result everywhere. Where we find a reading, thinking man, he is the one to whom the best profits go. And yet, plain as is the way, there are hundreds of thousands of farmers who really believe that the less they read, the less they know, the more profitable the farm will be to them."?Indiana Farmer. Don't Overfeed the Calve*. As much harm comes from overfeeding calves as from feeding too little; this the writer has proved by experience. Having a fine, pure-bred Ayrshire heifer calf, which I was particularly anxious to do well, I let her suck the cow till she had a good start, and was looking very fine. I then taught her to drink and she proved a good feeder and continued to grow. After a little I began giving her sweet skimmed milk, which she drank with a relish for some time, having tne amount inereaseu graauauy, duc the increase was carried a little too far, and one day the calf refused her rations. No amount of coaxing would induce her to drink for several meals and began to look very thin. After a little she began to sip a little new warm milk, and now after a week she will drink about a quart to a feed, but no more, and is very lank. As the calf is two months old this is a very small ration. The calf has not scoured badly but simply seemed to have sickened of milk. I can attribute the trouble to no other cause than overfeeding.?E. M. Pike, in Massachusetts Ploughman. Part Pasture For Working Horses. I have been known to be short or even out of hay in working season, and depended on grass for the horses. I gathered it for them with tbe^ scythe and pitchfork. Though the grass diet made them sweat more, in the grass large enough to mow tbere was substance enough so that they stood the work well and carried their flesh as >vmi as usuai. But to make the grass diet more satisfactory the grain must be fed in proper form, either ground or soaked. Dry corn, the usual feed, and grass make a poor combination and do not digest well together. When first eating grass the teeth may be a little tender, the dry corn is not masticated well, and with the wide variation between the two substances one can readily see that the best result will not be obtained in that way. I use two parts oats and one pai^t coi'n, ground fine, for horse feed, and plenty of it; then there is no question about the horse not standing the work well on a grass diet. I do not allow the horses to miss a feed of grain during the working season, but when running in the pasture nm not particular if they do miss a noon feed: but thev must hare srain twice a day whether working or not [t is a common practice with some to turn their horses out Saturday night md leave them till Monday taorning, md these people are usually the ones that say their horses do not stand the tvork well. The horse that has its liberty part of the time and takes voluntary exercise is a far more docile inimal for man's use.?Cyrus Greene, iu American Cultivator. Caring For Cream. To begin with, will say that we prefer Jerseys to cows of any other breed ror dairying, which, with good care md feed and other things taken in consideration, will furnish the basis for profitable business. We have had experience wuu crocks, cans auu xaiiKs, but are now using a cream separator, <vith which we are well pleasied. By Ihis method our milk is not ruined, as tvith a water dilution separator, and 3ur cream and milk are ready for use my time we need them without disturbing the whole setting by dipping into it before the mass is fairly raised: rhen, here is another great advantage! In that the milk can be taken direct from the separator to the caives and pigs while yet warm. We would nol :ias a 'dilution" (delusion) separator on [lie place. Had rather go back to tha :ise of crocks than spoil our milk by pouring water in, and not getting all the cream either. A good centrifugal separator gets all the cream. Eack skimming should be kept to it self until cool, when it can be put in the cream jar. When enough is ready for churning, warm to seventy-eight )r eighty degrees, pour in some buttermilk and set by fire until thickened, but do not keep too long or allow it to become sour. We churn our cream from fifty-eight to sixty degrees, as there is a difference in cream. One ?an tell by a few churnings the proper temperature. We have a swing churn which we prefer to any other. Our butter is washed in the churn after the buttermilk is drawn off, as it is easier and better to wash the milk out than to work all the grain out of the butter with the buttermilk. We make our butter to suit our customers. Some take their butter unsalted, while others prefer salt. Then some prefer it colored, and others do not. Our butter is molded in onepound prints in winter and wrapped in parchment paper. In summer it is packed in one and two-pound crocks for each customer. Now, here is another nice thing about having a sep nrator. The buttermilk is not spoiled with water, can be taken in buckets or cans to our customers, and the ones who wish cream get it <*irect from the separator' the day it is milked and separated. To sum up the necessities of a good dairy: Good cows, good care and feed, regular milking, separator, proper churning, cleanliness from stable to customer in each and every detail. Be ready to learn. Do not think you "know it all." Do not say, "My butter is as good as anybody's," but try to improve and do all to make better butter each time.?Farmer's Guide. A new definition of "friend" was given by a Manchester schoolboy the other day in an essay. "A friend is a person who knows all about you, and likes you lust the same." THE GREAT DESTROYER SOME STARTLINC FACTS ABOUT THE VICE OF INTEMPERANCE." One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Railway Men, Alon~ 275,000 Mile* o1 Track, Operated Under Practical Tola) Abstinence?Manhood Ideal Chancing What a vision is that which our 'railway special" to-day unfolds of 1.200,000 railway men, along 275,000 miles of track, mnder practical total abstinence? What a testimony to the worth of abstinence and the harm of intoxicants, that hard-headed railway managers, looking at the matter from purely business reasons, insist that their men shall maintain the strictest temperance always and everywhere, and on dnty absolute abstinence. This requirement is the more effective because this extent of track not only runs in long transcontinental lines, but crosses and recrosses, interlaced and interwoven through all our civilization like the veins, arteries and nerves through the human body. And just as these blood vessels and nerves give character to the flesh which they everywhere traverse for good or ill, so -Lt 1 * l-Lll'St? HUMS VII IU1I1UUU 1UC1J Jiuvc J1IUUence in the communities in which they live. They are not a wandering class, but assigned to definite sections within which they may readily be found. They rent houses, trade at groceries, buy clothing and furniture and school books. They are companions of men in other lines of business, and the ideals of adventurous, ambitious boys. It counts for much that their influence should everywhere be for temperance. These men earn more than $675,000, 000 in wages. Since this is not spent for liquor it is spent commonly for worthier .things, invested in homes or laid up in savings banks. No wonder the liquor trade raves at the rules that shut it off from plundering these wages which it views as Its rightful prey! But for the country what an economic gain that these millions of wages should be expended for those things the production of which makes the real, tangible wealth of the nation! The gain for the traveling public can be but partially expressed by figures. Yet it is much to know that nearly 2.000.000 persons are carried safely for one who is killed, and nearly 100,000 for one who is injured. An indulgence in drink in what is called "moderation" would quickly and disastrously change nil this. This excellence of tbe American system of abstinence is attracting the attention of other nations, as our German and Mexican dispatches show, and winning not only admiration, but imitation. This example must spread to other lines of business in an ever widening circle. Industrialism is intent and alert. "What works well for business in one line is sure to be caught up by other lines. The same demand is already pervadr Ing our mail service. Who ever catches tbe odor of liquor in the breath of a letter carrier? How long could such a man hold his place? A high official of the Postoffice Department said to us recently: "We require of our postal clerks absolute total abstinence when on duty?absolute, sir! Otherwise we could, not trust them to handle the mail. We used to pay no attention to what they did when off duty, but now we have found that this also is important. and we require temperance and nof nil Hmac \fori irhn fi,vnm ucnai ivi uw uu uiuw. *>*VM ?. fail in this we ai*e compelled to discharge for tlie protection of the pub* lie." Events move quickly in these steam and electric days. The time is fast coming when the drinking man will not be able to find employment anywhere. He will be everywhere discounted and displaced by his comrade who is more efficient and trusty because free from any touch of intemperance. The ideal of manhood is changing. Once the hardest and heaviest drinker who could yet keep from helpless drunkenness was deemed the manliest man. But as avenue after avenue of high activity is closed to the drinking man, the ideal of manhood will come more and more to that of one strong enough to do his work without the stimulus of liquor while on duty, and mjble enough to find higher pleasures in the intervals of work that shall leave nim not less but move competent to take up his work successfully again.?The New Voice. ' It Is Settled. Some things are settled. It is settled that the saloon Is a degenerate that cannot be reformed. Tt ic eottleil that miv form of license. be it high or iow, does sot lessen the drink curse. , It is settled that the drink traffic is a menace to civilization, and that there resides in the selling of liquor a danger beyond measure in misery and moral degradation. It is settled that the sfrioon is an enemy to church, school, homo. State and ail our Christian institutions. It is settied that the liquor interest cares for political parties only so far as they can be in the interest of the traffic in strong drink. ajid that the single nlanl: in their platform concerns itself with naught else save the protection of that which is detrimental to every human interest of a merciful and ennobling quality. It is settled that it is high time that the saloon should be driven from among men in the blackest night.?The Teople. Ecroic Treatment. The students of the medical school of Missouri University at Columbus. Mo., have b*en reforming some of the confirmed drunkards of the town by catching thorn when drunk and putting them to bed with a corpse taken from the dissecting-room. One Judge's Point of View. Judge Itentoul, an English juoge. said to a man who had been convicted in his court of a crime committee' while drunk: Yon committed this crime under the influence of drink I You were made drunk with the strong approval of the legislature of this I country, whose servant I am. and yot were made drunk with the enthusiastic. approval of the Christian churct that won't tight the Christian liatJ'e in this country as it ought to be fought and I won't sentence you."' Temperance Note*. The United States drink oi:our?i li/.nnv imHi vA<ir to float all her battle ships. National Advocate. Seventeen million out of 27.000,(XH people in tiie Southern states are living under absolute prohibition. The saloon-keepers and liquor deal ers, now well organized throughou) the country, have decided to raise a campaign fund of $5,000,000. Thej call it A defense fund, to resist ali islatiou in the interests of temperanin Congress and State Legislatures i $750,000 will be raised in the Stat* of New Yor>' ?New York Herald, J ' THE SUNDAY SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS FOR JULY 9. Subject: llezeklah's Prayer, I*a. xxxvili.,, 1-8?GoLlcn Text, Pea. xlvl.? 1?Memory Verses, 4^6?Commentary on the l)ay'g Lesson. I. Isaiah warns Hezekiah of approaching death (v. 1). "In those days." This may only mean in Hie days of Hezekiah. That this was in the fourteenth year of his reign is evident when we consider that fifteen years were added to his life (v. 5), and yet he only reigned twenty-nine years (2 Kings IS: 2). It must have been before the invasion by Sennacherib from the fact that God promised to deliver them out of the hand of the King of Assyria and to defend Jerusalem. "Sick unto death." Sick of a malady which, in the natural course of things, would have proved fatal. From 2 Kings 20: 7 we learn that the disease was probably a carbuncle, (iod sends illness upon the good, not in punishment for sins past, but as a trial of their faith and patience (Rom; 5: 3). "Isaiah." Isaiah's character stands before us as one of almost superhuman elevation. "Came unto him." There is no species of cruelty greater than to suffer a friend to lie on a dying bed under a delusion. And there is evidently no danger to be apprehended from communicating to the sick their true condition. It should be done tenderly and with affection, but it should be done faithfully. "Set thine house in order." Arrange ycur affairs so that they will go on without you; referring to his family, his plans, his successor and his kingdom. "Thou shalt die." Death was the natural result of his sickness. II. Hezekiah prajs in great distress (vs. 2, 3). 2. "Face toward the wall." He turned away from those who were present so that he might pray more freely and collectedly. 3., "Remember now." The old covenant promised temporal prosperity, including length of days, to the righteous. "Walked." Life is a journey; God's people walk with Him (Gen. 5: 24; 1 Kings 9: 4). "A perfect heart." Literally, "with a whole heart," one absolutely devoted to Jehovah. The king pleads his uprightness and holy conduct before God. He could not have don# this, in the lace of death, had he not felt In his heart the truthfulness of Ills statements. His influence had been wholly on the side of true religion; he had not forsaken the wa;s of the Lord. "Wept sore." Literally, "with a great weeping." The great sorrow of Hezekiah at the approach of death was only natural. The desire to live one's full term >f years is right. Hezekiala felt that his work was unfinished. III. God's promises to Hezekiah (vs. 4-G). 4. "Then came," etc. God spake to Isaiah immediately (2 Kings 20:4). 5. "God of David thy fttfher." (Jod :em?mbers tlie covenant with the fath* ?r to the children (Exod. 20-5). "Heard thy prayer." God still hears prayer. It is His will that we pray (Matt. 7: 7II; John 13: 7). Why then are there so many unanswered petitions? Because there is so much aimless praying (James 4: 3). "Seen thy tears." Affectionate prayers are especially pleasing to God. Cold. lifeless prayers are not answered. David refers to his tears (Psa. 56: 8) as though God bottled them and kept an exact account of them in His "book." "Add unto thy days." In Kings the promise is, "I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord." The Lord still heals people, sometimes by directing the sufferer to the proper remedy and sometimes without the use of a remedy. In this case (see 2 Kings 20: 7) the .Lord told Hezekiah to make a pouir\f Hrrc- on/1 mif if nn flic. Imil Al* U'.r ui iijjO itiiu |/u l it v?* mv uwiii wh carbuncle. "Fifteen years." Hezekiah is the only man who was ever Informed of the term of his life. God in mercy lias hidden the time of our death from our eyes. We should be always ready and should work as though each day was our last. G. "Will deliver." The Assyrians were a powerful enemy and wers constantly to be feared. IV. The sign given Hezekiah (vs. 7.' 8). 7. "A siirn." Hezekiah asked for a sign (2 Kings 20: 8>. Asking for a sign is a pious or a wicked act according to the spirit iu which it is done. Hezekiah is given his choice of two signs, and he chose what appeared to him to be the more difficult. * 8. "Shadow of The degrees." "The shadow on the steps." R. V. Many opinions are held with regard to this miracle. The older commentators believed that the earth's motion was actually reversed around its axis. It h^s been urged with a good deal of force that the true cause of the phenomenon wa? a solar eclipse, in which the moon obscured the upper limb of the sun, which would have the effect of lengthening all shadows and thus causing the appearance of going backward on the dial of tlie stairs. But tbe opinion generally held at present is that it was a miraculous use of the laws of refraction. "Dial of Ahaz." "Steps of Ahaz." R. V., margin. The dial which Ahaz set up. and which he probably obtained from Babylon, for he appears to have been fond of foreign objects of art (2 Kings 1??: 10). The Assyrians were the first to divide the day into twenty-four hours. Herodotus states that the (ireeks obtained their knowledge of the dial and the division of the day into twelve parts from the Babylonians. who were in constant intercourse with the Assyrians. "Returned ten steps'' <R. V.) We must suppose that the "steps.'' whatever they were, could be seen from the sick chamber of HezekJah. to whose mind the sign was significant. The retreating shadow meant added years to his life. What k::nd of apparatus Is denoted by the "ite rs of Ahaz'' we have no means of determining. License to Sell Bibles. The Itev. T. J. O'Connor, the pastor of the Christian Church at New Sharon, Iowa, was threatened with arrest if he attempted to sell Bibles in the town. The Mayor had prevented evangelists who were holdinga meeting in the town under the auspices of one of the church organizations, selling Bibles without a license. The minister went to the Mayor's office and remonstrated, with the result that he himself was threatened with arrest if he sold a Bible without a peddler's license. Schooner 3 I'loatiug liomb. When tlie four-masted schooner Goodwin. Stoddard sailed for San Juan, P. R., from New York City, she .was an immense floating bomb shell. On her deck was stored gasoline and naphtha, the former in fifty drums containing fifty gallons each and the hitter in 100 cases. In the hold, with a large quantity of gunpowder, was mickou awav five tons of dynamite. Treaiams In a Monastery. 'Ancient Jewels, silver work and pic* -ores valued at several tens of thousands of pounds have been discovered In a monastery at Messina, In Sicily. rW/V-i. . i ... . -A, 1 GIVE US MEN. BI TEI BI?BpP 01 EXXTEB. Give us men! Men from every rani, Fresh and free and frank; Men of thought and reading* Men of light and leading, Men of loyal breeding, Men of faith, and not of faction. Give us men! I gay again, (five us men! Give us men! Strong and stalwart ones; -r Men whom highest hope inspire*. Men whom purest honor firec, \ Men who trample self beneath them, 1 Men who make their country wreatal them if'-' i As her noble sons. Worthy of their sires! Men who never shame their mothers. \Tfi? nrrllA /A?1 t- 1.1 ? TV UV UCVCl l?Ui tUCil' UrUWt^V* True; however false are other*, Give us men! I say again, Give us men! Give us men! Men who, when the tempest gather^ , Grasp the standard of theft fathers, In tne thickest of the fight; Men who strike for home and altar (Let the coward cringe and falter). Go defend the right! True as truth, though lorn and lonely, Tender as the brave are only; (. Men who tread where saints have trod. \ Men for country and for God. ', 'at Give us men! I say again, again, Give us men! ^ A Remarkable Letter. The Sermon on the Mount?Illustrated as it is by Christ's life?contains ft* series of ideals. Here are some: The ideal of poverty. The ideal of humility. The ideal of "turning the other cheek" (the absence of revenge). The ideal of self-sacrifice. The ideal of loving ail enemy. ; The ideal of innocence. 1 The ideal of sexual purity, tuougnt, as well as m action. And here are some of .the axioms of the world's creed: , ' The ideal of wealth. The ideal of ostentation, smartness notoriety. The ideal of self-assertion and blow ing one's own trumpet. The ideal of trampling on others an< rising at their expense. The ideal of personal enjoyment, self Ishness, refined or coarse. The ideal of compromise (the pol] tician's ideal). The ideal of sowing one's wfl( oats," and "a rake makes the beBt'hns band, etc." The ideal of fashionable impurity* Which of these two creeds do we be* lieve? They are absolutely antithetic cal ana contradictory. We cannot believe both. It would seem, judging by the world as we find it, and see It every day before our eyes in every great capital, that we act on the see* ond creed and murmur with our lipfl the first. The Christian ethics are a vivid example of the "credo quia impossible." The worldly ethics is an in* stance of The faith which issues In works. Our Christianity would seem to be a splendid hypocrisy. Again I ask, do we believe? What do we believe? Have I drawn this picture too harshly? Good Heavens! Think of the millionaire calling himself a Christian Ii the face of the test, "How hardly shall they that have riches (or trust in riches) enter the Kingdom of God." Think of the politician calling himsell a Christian in view of the texts, cannot serve God and mammon," ani "Ye shall not do evil that good maj come!" Think of the sensualist calling himself a Christian confronted by th text, "Whosoever shall look upon e woman?!" Think of our smart lead ers of society calling themselves Chris tians and repeating the words* "Blessed are ye poor?blessed are yfl when men shall bate you and reviiA you and persecute you!" I am not ? preacher not a prophet, although I anfl afraid that my theme tends to be dlH dactic. I am only an observer of lifeM And I ask, do we believe??OzeniensiaH 'Christians Are the Happy People." H Said one young man to another reB oently in Japan, writes Miss M. BH Griffis, a missionary: "I t*ll you, w? Japanese are too Indifferent on subject of religion. The Christians? they are the happy people." An<S when a few days later, in the provlH dence of God, we handed a copy o| John's gospel to that same.gentlemanM feough unknown to us, and . askedH "Have you ever read this?" he replie^B as he accepted the little book and couiH teously lifted his hat, "Thank yon, ncH I have never read it, but I want to. must find out about this 'Jesus do<^| trine,' for I fear I have been wandei^B ing. Many of my friends, too, feel al I do about it." H Sins of I^ove. _ HH The common mercies we enjoy sing of love, just as the sea shell, wheH| we put it to our e^rs, whispers of thHg deep sea whence it came; but if w^B desire to hear the ocean itself, we mu^H I not lnnk at evervdav blessines. bt^H at the transactions of the crucifixioi^H He who would know love, let him tire to Calvary and see the Man Sorrows die.?Spurgeon. rfll Christianity Wants Sonny Peopl^T^'^H Christianity wants nothing so muc^f In the world as sunny people; and tlfl? old are hungrier for love than f<^J bread; and the oil of Joy is very chea^H and, if you can help the poor on wiiH| a garment of praise, it will be bett^B for tliein than blankets.?Henry Drui^H rnond. Clear Shining: After Rain. SfiH One of the numberless touches or e^H quisite poetry in the Old Testament that which describes the "tender gra^R springing out of the tarth by cle^H shining after rain." The verdant gra^H plot which gladdens the1 oye is the r^H suit of a double process: 'shower ai^H sunshine. Both are indispensabl^H W? Mnd in this beautiful expression?? type of our deepest and richest spir^H ual experiences. It is a type of tH most tiiorough work of conversion the Holy Spirit.?'Theodore L. Cuyl^B D. Gathering Cascara Bark. SfiWI Cascava Dark peeling uas uecome active industry in vhe forests of We^H ern Washington. The bark is tak^H from the barberry or cliittimwood tr^Hj that grow profusely in the Grays H An bor district. It has a commercial yal^H of eight cents a .pound. An ordina^H tree yields from fifty to 100 pounds Jfi the dried bark. Whole families are AH gaged in collecting the bark and selll^H| to dealers. Some men make $5 a dHSj at the work. The bark is used medicinal purposes.