. 4 w *w-m- vvw ..
, rejoined, in all good faith.
VOL. I._ T. 'i
MERRY omens rims. ' ‘
' Be ye merry, '
Be ye merry,
On thisChristmas day
Do not borrow
Care or sorrow—a,
Drive them far away.
Let not trouble
Like a. bubble
To the silrfzice ride;
Love well founded.
Faith well grounded-—
Look, then, towards the skies!
Joy is springing, .
Hope is singing
In ourhome to-day;
Christmas cheering! I
Now is nearing—
Hail thee, happy day!
' MlSS-MARIA’S SANTA GLAUS
“Well, I must say!” Mr. Joseph
Bascom stood in the kitchen door and
looked about hiln with much disgust.
“Ironing, too. - I thought it was regu-
larly understood, Maria, that you were
a boarder here? ” .
“Well, I am, brother, ” Miss Maria
.“I pay my
$6 every Saturday night of my life.”
. “Yes, I guess that’s about what there
is of it.” Mr. Bascom bid a smile'in his
handkerchief. “Don’t these Conways
ever do any work, .Maria? Isuppose you
took a hand in the washing Monday,
didn’t you?”
To his astonishment his sister began
a voluble excuse :—
“It was the first time, Joseph; upon
my word. Of course I’ve hung them
out, ye know—mild weather, an’ like
that; just to get th’ things out 0’ th’ Way.
But, this week Miss Conway and com-
pany comin’——an’ I’d just as lieve. ' ’Dhere
really Weren’t no reason ” . ‘
“Maria Bascom ain’t overly smart,”
the neighbors used to say, in cruel,
country bluntncss; but that any human
being could impose upon such docile
trust and childlike innocence, had never
entered her brother’s brain to believe.
He stood staring'at her in grieved sur-
prise for a moment, and then, with the
air of a man used to his own way and to
much management, announced, his de—
c1s10n:—— ‘
" I’ll tell you this, Maria :—You go up
stairs and pack your trunk, and tonight
we go back to New York together. I
guess our house is big enough to hold
my sister, and you won’t have to do anv
washing there. Go on!” He waved hei
'to the doof'. “I’ll settle with the Con-
way 3, and they‘ll learn a- little wisdom
before they‘re many days older, I reckon. ”
Poor Miss Maria used always to obedi-
ence to some stronger will, scarcely
' came about—this sudden
'ifasta few mornings later with a very
’ and sez he, ‘We got all out 0’ th’ way 0’
_ show in th’ fam’ly at Chris’muss time,’
. long, rambling reminiscences.
ing her parcels together, “I got some
stun colored cashmere, ’n’—’n’ some
little things.
fell to the. .ground.
\
.NORWALK. CONN... SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, .1890.- .
lClaus is ez much 19 her ez ever he Was 1:"
them Conway children.” '
But Miss Maria came up from .break-
troubled face.~ She found the chamber-
maid making her bed, and, sitting down
by the open fire, began dolcfully
enough: 4
“Why, Molly,” and there was a sus-'
picion of tears in her voice. “do you
know J oseph‘s folks ain’t plottin’ 15’ do a
single thing fer-Chris’mus—not a thing"!
Why, I tell ’cm t’ th’ Conways, wegi'usvet
t’ give half our winter clo’es, that way;
tippets- an’ rubbers an’ all. Lastryear
him ’n”me put together ’n’ got her a
blanket shawl— a reel nice one. 0’
course”—with a fool h smile—“that
couldn’t go in no stocking ’t ever was
made; we jus’ put it on th’ hearth, un-
derneath. We often put, things on th’
hearth. It seemed just as nice.”
“An’ what’d they say to that, Miss
Maria?” asked Molly, in a fashion she
had of recalling the, simple soul from her
. “Oh, the girls they didn‘t say nothin’
nor yet Celia. . Joseph he ,jis’ laughed,
makin’ presents ’t this house; there don’t
seem no cause for it,’ ‘sez he. ‘Wife ’n
.th’ girls an’ you all has your allowances,
an’ can buy jus’ wet ye want, 02 yo wa: t
it. I den’t b’lieVG in a man keepin’ all
his-money to himself ’n’ makin’ a great
sez he. 'It sounds kind 0’ reasonable,
too, don’t it?” _ ' .
She look over wistfully at Molly,
shaking up the pillows. ‘ ‘
“I don’ know.” The second girl
thought for a minute, “ev’rybody has a
chance t’ be his own Senty Claus, then,
of they all git their due, Isuppose he
means. Yes, that does sound 'good.
Ef we was meant to be independent 0’
each other, that is.” . - .
Miss Maria. heard only part of this
speech, and that part haunted her long
after she was left alone.
Everybody his own Santa Claus,
Molly had said. It would ‘not go out of
her mind. Born of the despair which
had seized upon her weak spirit when
she found they were to know, here, no.
Christmas, and no good fairy—a despair
which in turn was~ a part of the great
wave of homesickness creeping up to
her heart—she began to build up a crazy
plan, and formed it on the servant’s
careless speech. ' _
“What did you buy, Aunt Maria?”
asked Sarah, the pretty daughter, with
an attempt at small talk, one afternoon
when the two elder women had paused
in the parlor to rest before going up—
stairs with the wraps. “Your lap is
piled with bundles. Are you going to
have a new dress?”
Miss Maria looked disconcerted.
“Mebbe,” she replied briefly, gather-
. She rose to her feet hug-
Ing up her load. One twist of paper
Mary, the plain.
1d home and its
.,¢wh'o was some-
s an 's superior, and the
Misses Bascom, who went alittle further
up the fsocial ladder, did not welcome
1lhis addition to the family with a great
enthusiasm; But, being the best hearted
folks in the world, they made Aunt
Maria as comfortable as possible, gave
her a pretty room, and, perhai s—as busy
people, and only human, too—did not
very much regret that she stayed a good
deal in the room they gave her.
‘ Indeed, the newcomer found herself
sadly at a loss -in an establishment where
everything went by cloCkwork, where
her own service was in no way needed,
and where there were no children—the
llttle Conways had been many. She
was most at ease withthe servants, and
soon made great friends with Molly, the
second ‘girl, who was from whatMiss
Maria called “over our way,” and whose ,
acuteness had not been long in gauging
the little old woman’s capacity aright.‘
“Th’ folks upstairs,” she said to the
cook, “act like they thought their aunt
was same as them. Whatshc wants is
to be treated childish, and it only flus—
trates ’er, their makin’ out she's grown
up as anybody. ’Taint right; they
ought to understand.” . '
The cook assented to-this.
“What d’ye s’pose she’s frettin’ about
now?” Molly queried, flourishing a dish-
cloth. “She says t’ me this mornin’—--
‘Why,’ says she. ‘here ’tis th’ middle 0‘
November, an’ I ain’t heard a word 0’
Chris’muss yet! Don’t they make much
0’ Chris’muss in New York, Molly?”
“What did yer tell ’er?” asked gth'e
cook. 1‘ _ ‘
“O, I sez, th’ Bascoms wa’nt in th’
way 0’ doin’ much; jus’ plum puddin’ fer
dinner, an’ a turkey, an’ a couple 0’
dollars a piece 13’ you an’ nic, ’n’th’ rest.
They don’t make no presents; sez I; :ln’
she looked all took back: I declare I
was corry fer th’ old lady. Says she,
‘Why, t’ th’Conways there was always a
great time; all them children atalkin’
about Santa Claus, an’. hangin’ up their
stockin’s. We all hung up our stockin‘s
t’ th’ Conways,’ sez she, ‘it was real
pleasant, too. Things §eem difl’runt
some way, that come out 0’ a stockin? o’
course’~——an’ then she (ll-awed ’erself up
and tried to look very'dignificd. ‘ "Of
course,’ scz she, ‘all such talk e7. Senty ,
flaus is foolish, ‘an’ I don’t know ez
children ought t’ be encouraged in it,
but it sounds kind 0’ good, too, t’ have
’cm goin’ on about the reindccrs. I~ like
t’ hear it.’ ” -’
“Poor ole soul!” mused the cook. “I
got; aflsoft sppt ”in my .. heart for Miss
Maria since she made that mustard plas-
ter for me, as if: '1 were'her own flesh ‘n’
blood.." She’s worth all the rest of ’em
put together.” . f , ‘ ,
“O’_ course she is. ” Molly thought
there 'were no two opinions as tothat.
“Do ye mind how she dusted th’ parlons
. that time I had the 'run around? 1 say,
she’d ought to have a Chris’muss tree cf
she wants one an’it’s m o inion Senty
. l . ‘
dauvhter with the nice ‘ Yes an to ick
,back and forth between bureau and
chimney, till the long. dangling, gray
stocking was stuffed, rigid and the floor
beneath piled up with packages. It was
only eight o’clock, but she was used to
early (hours. “I’ll be up before th’
light,” she thought, Twith her simplest
look, as she went to bed straightaway
and very soon to sleep. ‘
Now It happened that the Conways
had not only been generally remembered
by their late boarder ‘at this holiday
time, but, strange to-Lsa’y, they had re-
membered her. Every one, from “him”
down to next to the baby, had helped to
fill a. good sized box, with which the
expressman came banging on the. door
about nine o’clock. The Bascoms were
genuinely pleased and a little ashamed
when they took in this token of good
will. Bella said, after a little talk:—
“Can’t I run up to Aunt Maria’s room
with it right away? She’ll be as happy
as a child, and it seems too good to keep
till morning.”
The rest approved and Bella tugged
bravely at her load to the door, where
only a glimmer of fire-light met her eyes
as she groped her way in. Aunt Maria
was unconscious of her knock and of her
entrance. But some one on the hearth
rug started guiltily and turned to meet
the ybung girl’s face with a very shame-
faced air. ‘
“Molly!” cried Miss Bella.
Molly had a long, plump: stocking in
her hand. Mistress and maid stood to-
gether before each other.
The maid was first to speak.
“See,” she said huskily, “what'that
poor soul’s done for ’erself an’ gone t’
sleep, like th’ baby she is. Been her
own Senty C’aus, she .has,‘ an’ me ’n’
cook makin’ up this,” shading the
strange thing she held, with a superior
smile, “so as she shouldn’t quite miss a
Christmas.” ‘
The ready tears sprang to her mis-
tress’ eyes.
“Oh, I never dreamed it was like that
to her,” she gasped. “You make me so
—-—so shamed, Molly. We must do some-
thing, too.”
She bustled about the room desposit-
ing the Conway box at one side of the
grate and helping Molly suspend her,
own tribute. ‘
“This shall be the sweetest surprise
the deer thing'ever knew,” whispered
Miss Bella, with a. catch in her whisper.
“I hope it isn’t too late to make her very
happy yet.”
And the others were much astonished
at sight a little later of the youngest
Miss Bascom, in furs and dainty toque,
equipped for a walk. Not less aston-
ished when, as in response to their in-
quiries, she burst into tears, and turning
to her mother caught her around the
waist in a gale of kisses.
' “Suppose it had bean you,” she said,
“stranded among a set of heathen, who
never expected you to do anything but
live upon pictures and drink, you dar-
ling!”
' SUNDAY’S SERMON.
ONE on MN. on. TALM’ADGE’S
STERLING onsooonsnsi.
Subjecti'i‘fl‘be‘Waterrof'Merom.’Y
swan - .
TEXT: “And when all these kings were
met together they came and pitched together
at the waters of Merom to fight against Is-
rael.”—-Josh. xi., 5.
We are encamped to-night in Palestine
by the waters of Merom. After a. long
march we have found our tents pitched,
our fires kindled, and, though far away
from olvflisation, a variety of food that
would not compromise a first class American
hotel, for the most of our caravan starts an
hour and_a, half earlier in the morning.
We detain only two mules, carrying
so much of our baggage as we might acci-
dentally need and a tent for the noonday
luncheon. The malarias around this Lake
Merom are so poisonous that at any other
season of the year encampment here is peril--
ous, but this winter night the air is tonic and
healthful, In this neighborhood Joshua
fought his last great battle. The nations
had banded themselves together to crush this
Joshua, but along the banks of these waters
J oshua left their carcasses. Indeed it is time
that we more minutely examine this Joshua
of whom wehave in these discourses caught
only a momentary limpse, although he
crossed and ‘recrossed alestine, and next to
Jesus is the most stirring and mighty charac-
ter whose foot ever touched the Holy Land.
Moses was dead. A beautiful tradition
says the Lord kissed him, and in that act
drew forth the soul of the dying lawgiver
,He had been buried, only one Perton at the
burial, the same One who kissed him. But
God never takes a man away from any place
of usefulness but he has some one ready.
The Lord does dot go looking around amid a
great variety .of candidates to find some one
especially fitted for the vacant position. ‘He
makes a man for that place. Moses has
passed-off the stage, and Joshua, the hero,
puts his foot on the platform of history so
solidly that all the ages echo with its tread.
He was a magnificent fighter, but he
always fought on the right side, and
he never fought unless God told
him to fight. He got his military equipment
from God, who gave him the promise at the
start: “There shall not any 'man be able to
stand before thee all the days of thy life.”
God fulfilled this promise, although Joshua’s
first battle was with the spring freshet, and
the next with a stone wall, and the next
leading on a. regiment of whipped cowards,
and the next battle against darkness. wheel-
lng the sun and the moon into his battalion,
and the last against the king of terrors,
death—five great victories.
This first undertaking ,._of Joshua was
greater than the leveling of Fort Pulaski, or
the thundering down of Gibraltar, or the
overthrow of the Bastile. It was the creme
ing of the Jordan at the time of the spring
freshet, The snows of Mount Lebanon had
just been melting, and they poured down in-
to the valley, and the whole valley was a
raging torrent. So the Canaanites stand on
one bank, and they look across and see
Joshua and the Israelites, and they laugh-
and say, “Aha! aha! they cannot disturb us
in time—until the freshets fall; it is impossi-
ble for them to reach us.” But after a
while they look across the water and they
see a movement in the army of Joshua.
They say: “I’Vhat’s the matter now? Why,
there must be a. panic among these troops,
been spoiled- he thinks because ’hehas (mm
thrown and destroyed the spring freshet
he can overthrow the stone wall.
. Why, it, is not philosophic. Don’t
you see there is no relation
betWeen the blowing of these musical instru-
ments and the knocking down 'of the wall? ,
It isn’t philosophy.” And I an pose there
were many wiseacres who 3 with their
brows knitted and with the forefinger of the
right hand to the forefinger of the left hand
arguing it all out and showing that it was
nuts possible that such a cause could produce
such an effect. 'And I suppose that night in
the encampment there was plenty of philos:
ophy and caricature, and if Joshua had been
nominated for any high military position he ,
would not have got many votes. '
Joshua’s stock Was down. ‘The second day
the priests blowing the musical instruments
go around the city, and a failure. Third day,
and a failure; fourth day, and a failure; fifth
day, and a failure; sixth day, and a. failure.
The seventh day comes, the climacteric day.
Joshua is up early in the morning and ex-
amines the troops, walks ' all around about,
looks at the city Wall. The priests start to
make the circuit of the city. They go all
around once, all around twice, three times,
four times, five times, six times, seven times,
and a failure. '
There is only one more thing to do, and
that is to utter a great shout. I~see the
Israelitish army Straightening themselves
up, filling their. lungs for a vociferation such
as was never heard before and never heard
after. Joshua feels that the hour‘ has come,
and he cries to his host, “Shout, for the Lord
hath given you the city I” All the people
begin to cry. “Down. J erlchol down, J agi-
ichol’” And the long line of solid masonry
begins to quiVer. and to move, and to rock.-
Stand from under! She falls! Crash! go
the walls, the temples, the towers, the pal-
aces, the air blackened with the dust! The
hu‘zza of the victorious Israelites. and the
groan of the conquered Canaamtes. com-
mingle, and"Joshua standing there 1n_the
debris of the wall hears a voice saying,
“There shall not any man be able to stand
before thee all the days of thy life.”
Only one house apared. Who lives there?
Some great king? No, Some woman dis-
tisguished for great kindly deeds? No. She
had been conspicuous for her crimes. It is
the house - of Rehab. Why was her house
spared? Because she had been a great sm-
ner? N 0. but because she repented, demon-
strating to all the ages that there is mercy
for the chief of sinners. The red cord of di-
vine injunction reaching from her window to
the ground, so that when the people. saw
that red cord they knew it was the dlvme
indication they should not disturb the prem-
ises, making us think of the divine cord at a
SaviOur’s deliverance, the red cord of a
Saviour’s kindness, the red cord Of a
Saviour’s mercy, the red cord of our rescue.
Mercy for the chief of sinners. Put your trust
in that God, and no damage shall befall you.
When our world shall be more terribly sur.
rounded than was Jericho, even by the trum-
pets of the judgment day, and the hills and
the mountains, the metal bones and ribs of
nature shall, break, they who have had Ba-
hnb’s faith shall have Rahab's deliverance.
But’ Joshua's troops may not halt here.
The command is. “Forward, march!" There
is the city of Ai, it must be taken. How
shall it be taken? ‘A scouting party comes
back and save. “Joshua. we can do that
without you; it is going to be a. very easy
lab, you just- stay here while we go and
capture it.” They march with a small regi-
ment in front of the city. The men of Ai
look at them and give one yell. and the Is-
raelites run like reindeer. The Northern
tramps at Bull Run did not make such rapid
time as these Israelites with t-h , Canannites
_..__.———— -
NO. {7.
!‘ *
w
and gushed foreheads retreat, the catapults
of the sky pour a volley of hailstones into the
Valley, and all the artillerv of the heavens
with bullets of iron' pound the Canaanites
against the ledges of Beth-boron. _ .~
. “01!!” says Joshua, “this is surely a vic-
tory.” “But do you net‘see the sun is gomg
down? Those Amorites are, going to get
away after all, and then they will come up
some other time and bbthe‘r us, and perhaps
destroy us.” See, the mole going. down.
Oh, for a longer daily than has ever been seen
in this climate! ‘What is the matter with
Joshua? Has he fallen in an apoplectic fit?
No. He is in prayer. Look out when a good
man makes the " Lord his ally. Joshua
raises his face. radiant with prayer, and
looks at the descending sun over Gibeon and ,
at the faint crescent of the moon, for you
know the queen of the night sometimes will
linger around the palaces of the day. Point-
in one hand atthe descending sun and the
ctfier at the faint crescent of the moon, in
the name of that God who shaped the
worlds and moves the worlds, he cries,
“Sun, stand thou still upon Gibson; and
thou moon,‘in the valley of Ajalon.” They
halted.
Whether it was by refraction of the sun’s
rays or by the stopping of the whdle plan-
etary system I do not know and do not
care. I leave it to the Christian Scientists
and the infidel scientists to settle‘that ques-
tion, while I tell you I have. seen the same
thing. “.Whatl” say you, “not the sun
standing still?” Yes. The same miracle is
performed nowadays. The wicked 0 not
live out half their day, and the sun sets at
noon. But let a man start out in battle to:-
Godand truth and against sin, and the day
of his usefulness is prolonged, and prolonged
and prolonged.
But It is time for Joshuar togohome.
He is 110 years old. Washington Went
down the Potomac, and at Mount Vernon
closed his days". Wellington died peace.
fully at Apsley House. Now. where shall
J oshua. rest? Why, he is to have his great-
est battle now. After a. hundred and ten
years he has to meet a king who has more
subjects than all the present population of‘
the earth, his throne a pyramid of skulls.
lusparterre the grave yards and the come;
terms of the world, his chariot the world’s-
hearsedthe King of Terrors. But if this is
Joshua’s battle, it is going 'to be Joshua’s
greatest victory. He' gathers his friends
around him and gives his valedictory, and
ltls full of reminiscence. Young men tell
what they are going to do; old men tell
what they have done. And. as you have
hearda grandfather or great-grandfather,
seated by the evening fire, tell of Monmouth
or Yorktown, and then lift the crutch or
staff as though it were a musket. to fight.
and show how the old battles were won, so
Joshua. gathers his friends around his dy—
ing couch, and he tells them the story of
what he has been through, and as he lies,
there, his white locks snowing down on his
wrinkled forehead, I wonder if God has
kept his promises all the way through.
As he lies there he tells the story one, two
or three times—you have heard old people
tell a. story two or three times over—and he
answers: “1 go the way of all the earth and
not' one word of the promise has failed,
not one word thereof has failed; all has-
come to pass, not one word thereof has
failed.” And then he turns to his family,
as a dying parent will, and says: “Choose
now whom you will serve, the God of Israel.
or the God of the Amorites. As for me and
my house we will serve the Lord.” A dying
parent cannot be reckless o r thoughtless in
regard to his children. Consent to part with
them forever at the door of the tomb we
cannot. By the cradle in which their in-
fancy was rocked. by the bosom on which
they first lay, by the blood of the covenant,
by the God of Joshua. it shall not be. . e
her aunt. .
Miss Maria seized the parcel almost
rudely. “I don’t remember.” Color
rose to her cheeks; her eyes fell. “1
got alot of little things. Mebbe I didn‘t
buy no gloves. I—I ain’t sure.”
The door closed upon her suddenly in
what seemed very like guilty flight.
“Why, mother!” cried all the girls to-
gether, “what has gone 'wrong? Aunt
Maria is always as voluble as a child over
every paper of pins!”
goin’ down street and d’gin’ra little
tradin’ is all that reconciles her to New
York.” .
" Meanwhile upstairs Miss Maria was
hurricdlythrusting her purchases into a
deep drawer she'had‘ emptied for the
purpose. -. ,: ,
“ I don’t believe,” she thought with a
prick from her-tender conscience, “I
' don’t remember of I bought them gloves
or not. They was other things I.was
lookir g ' at, too—I ain’t sure.” She
paused a moment, to. consider Something
else. “.AnyWay,” her face cleared and
hauled; »=“I don’t skursely know how
that'apron looked._ I’think ’twas cross-
- bar, but Iwouldn’t be sure for nothin’.
An’ them mufflers; Celia, sh: chose fer
me, an’ I didn’t look t’ see ef she got th’
red one or that dark blue. I hope,” she
gazed down into the drawer—J“ I hope
’twa‘s the red one, but I' won’t know till
Chl‘is’muss.” - ’ ' - - .
Day after day- Miss Maria added 'to
the contents ofthe drawer. “Whether
or no,” as she phrased it, she meant to
give seme little‘prescnt to each' member
ofthcffamily, from Joseph down to the
errand boy. But with - these weightier
matters her own preparations Went , on.
“The girl§” could not understand why
theirjaunt were those shabby shoes when
Sarah had helped'her to buy a new pair,
or why she made such a mystery of even
a coupleof hat pins which their mother
carelessly bestowed on her one. day, and
which disappeared and. were no, more
seen, though her bonnet hung awry upon
the good gray head as usual. \ 1 '
Poor Miss Maria! She found it hard
work, but she never relaxed her ard‘or,
now that this idea was hers. Her,.winter
plenishing was bought in an offhand,
careless manner which puzzled .Mrs.
Jeseph, used already to - the country
woman’s love of detail and a trifling ex-
citement. . ~ ' .
So Christmas eve came ’round.- .
' After, the six o'clock dinners, through
whose courses ,she hurried her way, Mis:
want of a’é‘ihppier Itahougt, handing it to’
“Bellzi, ar- ,vou daft?” asked Sarah, in
:‘,; I ' l I‘ l"l~ l ; n:L
stockin ” V
They Were sympathetic enough now,
and Bella told the whole story. Every-
body offcred, in much good humored
contrition, to accompany this last Santa
Claus on her tour, till Mrs. Bascom set-
tled the matter, in her comfortable way,
by announcing: .
“We’ll all go out and make an occa-
sion of it, and perhaps papa ’11 take us
into Caramel’s for soda water.”
A, Of course Mr. J ospph did.
' It was ,the gayest time imaginable,
“ I doibelieve,” added Bella, “that! runningalong over the brilliantly light-
ed pavements, jostling busy people,
heavily laden, in and out of the Christ-
mas spirits. . .
They spread out their buying over as
much space as the late" hour would al-
low, for the very joy of it. They tried
to. remember» every fancy Miss Marth
.had expressed and to anticipate ever
want. The girls giggled and so did
their mother. Mr. Joseph was preter-
naturally sclcmn as a man is wont to do
in a new position.
When they at‘last turned homeward
Sarah Called from behind their two par-
cuts:—
“Doesn’t candy come in Christmas
stockings? I’ve a faint memory of it,
and surely these things should be sweet-
ened, father!”
“Oh, let’s do the whole thing !” cried
the good man desperately, and ran into
Fountain’s. . ' ,
_ As they waited by the gayly trimmed-
windows :— -. . .
“I wonder.” Mary reflected—she
wrote poetry sometimes and had been in
print——‘.‘.i-f itls because it is such a sweet,
wholesome thing to be as little children
that the world clings so {to Christmas
Day? Perhaps that IS one sight of the
kingdom of heaven into which wecannot
enter unless we are like to them.”
“If ‘the kingdom of heaven is Within," ”
quoted Bella, softly, “perhaps it is.”
Before the Bascom household rested
< that night two pendant stockings flanked
on the right and upon the left, and with
a remembrance of Mis Conway’s blanket
shawl last year, a little trail -of bundles
out into thé’ room. . _
So, in the dim light of the fire they
, hung before those closed eyes and waited
for the day. -
And thus it was because she- was not
discouraged, but keptrup a good heart,
Santa Claus came to Miss Maria.—'
[Drake’s Magazine. _ ..
Maria shut herself in her own room and; . . . _. z ,
began at once her work for the night,
Her withered checks were a dull r'ed ‘
with excitement; her faded eyes glowed
' like, youth again. _, All the family pres--
cuts hadato be rc-‘sorted apdytied up,
with flavish‘ "expenditure of paper'and
thought. i ,
,
Then came the. only privatelple’asure.
Back and forth tripped ,Miss Maria,
twine. “"It’ssuch fun openin’. 'cm 2” she
I 4? - . RUFFLED MAJESTY..
Lord Salisbury—Your. -Majesty seems,
if Imay'be permitted to say so, to be
’ ruflled this morning. 3, ' ,
7 Queen Victoria-J am, my lord; . A
little incident occurred this morning that
has had quite anervous éffect upontme.
-' ' Lord Salisbury—Did you lone your
collar button? ‘ -
and they are gointr to flyflor perhapst‘hey
"Forward, march !’ and they start for to
bank of the Jordan.
One mile ahead go two priests carrying a
glittering box four feet long and two feet
wide. It is the ark of the convenant. And
they come down, and no sooner do they just
touch the rim of the water with their feet
than by an Almighty flat Jordan parts. The
army of J oshua marches right on without
getting their feet wet over the bottom 'of the
river, a path of chalk and broken shells and
'bbles, until they get to the other bank.
hen they lay hold of the oleanders and tam-
arisks and willows and pull themselves up
a bank thirty or forty feet high, and, having
gained the other bank, they clap their shields
and their cymbals and sing the praises of the
God of Joshua. But no sooner have they
reached the bank than the waters begin to
dash and roar, and with a terrific rush they
break loosefrom their strange, anchorage.
Out yohder they have 'stop ed, thirty miles
of distance they halted. n this side the
waters roll off toward the salt sea. ‘
But as the land of the Lord God is taken
away from the thus uplifted waters‘
waters perhaps uplifted half a mile --as the
Almighty hand is taken away those waters
rush down, and some of the unbelieving
Israelites say: “Alas, alas, what a misfor-
tune! \th could not these waters have
» staid parted? Because perhaps we may want
to go back. 0 Lord, we are engaged in a
risky business. l‘hose Canaanites may eat
us up. How if we want to go back? W'ould
it not have been a more - complete miracle it
the Lord had parted the waters to let us
come through and kept them parted to let us
go back if we are defeated?” ,My friends,
God' makes no provision for a Christian's re-
treat. He clears the path all the way to
Canaan; To go back is to die. The same
gatekeepers that swing back the amethystine
and crystalline gate of the Jordan to let
Israel pass through now swing shut the ame-
thystine and crystalline gate.
L But this is no ttme for the host to stop.
J oshua gives the command, “Forward,
Miss Maria’s own at the mantelpiece,‘ up- ’
began atithe hearth lug and drifted far 1
,1 stone to, base. - .. ._
1 The sevenvpriests' with the rule. musical
_march!’ In the distance there is a long
grove of trees, and at the end of the grove
is a. city It is a city of arhors. a city ,with
, walls seeming toreach to the heaven, to
! buttress the very sky. It is the great me-
tropolis that commamk the mountain pass
, It is Jericho. The city was afterward cap-
tured by'Pompey, and it was afterward
captured by Herod the Great, and it was
l afterward‘ captured by the Mohammedans;
but this campaign the Lord plans. There
shall be no swords, no shields, no battering
ram. There shall be only one weapon of
war, and that alram’s horn. The horn of
the slain ram was sometimes taken. and
holes were punctured in it, and then the
musician" would put the instrument to his
lips, and he would run his fingers over this ‘
rude musical instrument and make a great“
deal of sweet harmony for the people. That
was the only kind of weapon. Seven priests
were to. take these rude rustic musical in—‘
, struments, find they were to go around the
city every ay for .six days—once a day for
, six days and then on the seventh day they
were to go around blo'wing'these rude musical
instruments seven times, and then at the
horns on the seventh day the peroration of
l the whole scene was to be a shout at which
. thesagreat walls should tumble from cap-
instrument's pass all around the city walls on
the first day, and'a failure. Not so much as
a piece, of plaster broke loose from, the wall;
not so much as a loosened rock, not so much
as a. piece of mortar lost from its place. -
“There,” say the ,unbelieving Israelites,
“didn’t I tell you so? Why, those ministers
' arefools. The idea ongoing around the city
with those musical instruments, and expect-
1 ing in that way to destroy it! Joshua. has
I
alter .them. ' They never 0 . h a. sorry
your taking the men of fii, l r en .of Al
will'take you. Look at the church O?" God
on the retreat. The Bur-nesiah cannibals ate
up Munson, the missionary. “Fall backl”
said a great many Christian people. “Fall
back. 0 church of God! Borneo will never be
taken. Don’t you see the Bornesian canni—
bals have eaten up Munson, the missionary?”
Tyndall delivers hislecture at the University
ol'GlasgowLand'a great many good people
say;, “Fall back, 0 church of God! Don’t
you see that Christian philosophy is going
to be overcome by worldly philosophy? Fall
backl” Geology plunges its crowbar into
the mountains, and there are a great many
people'who say: “Scientific investigation’is.
going to overthrow the Mosaic account o‘f
the creation.’ Fall back!" Friends of the
church have never had any right to fall
back. . '
Joshua. falls on his face in chagrin. It is
the only time you ever see the back of his
head. He falls on his face and begins to
whine, and he says: “Oh, Lord God, where-
fdre hast thou at all brought this people
over Jordan to deliver us. into the'h’and of
the Amorites to destroy us? Would to God
We had been content and dwelt on the
other side of Jordan. For the Canaanites
and all the inhabitants of the land shall
hear of it, and shall environ us round and
cut off our name from the earth.”
God comes and rouses him. How does he
rouse him? By complimentary apostrophe?
No. He says: “Get thee up. Wherefore best
thou upon thy face?” Joshua rises, and_I
warrant you with a mortified look, but 1115
old courage comes back. The fact was that
was not his battle. If he had been m it he
would have gone on to victory. He gathers
his troops around him and says, “Now, let
us go up and‘capt-ure the-city of- Al; let us
\go up right away.”
close of the seventh blowing of the rams"
They march on. He puts the majority of
the troops behind a ledge of rocks in the
night, and then :hc sends comparatively
small regiments up in front of the City. The
men of Ai come out with a shout. The
small regiments of Israelites in stratagem
fall back and fall back, and when all the men
of Ai have leftthe city and are in pursuit of
these scattered, or seemingly scattered
regiments, Joshua stands on a' rock—I see
his locks flying in the wind as he pomt-s
his spear towards the doomed city, and that
is the signal. The men“rush _out from be-
hind the rocks and take the city, '
put to the torch, and then these Israelites
in the city march down, and the’flylng regi-
ments of Israelites return. and between theSe
.two waves of Israelitish prowess the men of
Al are destroyed, and the Israelites gain the
victory. And while I see the curling smoke
of that’destroyed city on the sky, and while
I hear the hum. of the Israelites, and the
groan of the Canaanites, Joshua hears
something'louderthan it all, ringing and-
echoing through his soul. “There shall not
any man be able to stand before thee all the,
days of thy life. '»’ ‘ .
- But this is no place for the host of Joshua.
to stop. “Forward, march!” cries J. 'shua
to the troops. There is the city of Gri can
It has put itself under the protection of
Joshua. They sent word._ “There'. are five
kin gs after us; they are gomg tic-destroy us,;
Send troops quick; send us help right away. ’
Joshua has a three days‘ march at more
than doublequick. On’the, morning of the
soon discover something. _'They say.
is Joshua. That is'the .man who conquered
the spring freshet and knocked down '»_the
There is no use, lighting.” ’And they sound.
a. retreat, and as they begin to retreatJoshu'aj)
and ’his best spring upon 'them ‘like {a
panther, pursuing them over therocks; and
as these Canaanites With sprained ankles
.
Jand it is,
third day he is before th9.,.699!13.y; “Thereare,
two long lines of battl'é. ’ Sheila-“1,6913% .1
with great slaughter, _but.the,.Cana.aii‘iizes;g
“ ~ at;
will not part, we cnnot part. a
Jirec we take an at 1,1,.“ . ,.
~I-ea. eo cie III I... --‘
Handle him very gently; that sacre
is over a hundred and ten years of age. .,
him out, stretch out those feet that walked
dry-shod the parted Jordan. Close .those
lips which helped blow the bla-t at which the
walls of Jericho fell. Fold the arm. that
lilted the spear toward the doome'l city ol
Ai. Fold it right over the heart that exulted
when the five kings fell. But where shall We
get the burnished granite for the headstone
and the i‘ootstone‘.’ I bethink myself now. I
image that for the head it shall be the sun
that stood still upon Gibenn, and for the
loot the moon that stood still in the valley
of Ajalon.
________________._
Embarrassed m a Tunnel.
Perhaps they were not so much in-,
terested in each other as they seemed
to be, but they were both young and
she was pretty, and every one. in the
rar got the idea into his head that they
were a good deal in love with each.
other. At any rate, shortly after .the
train left the station only two people
were talking, and these two were the
young man and the young woman. All
the rest werevjust watching. _
“There is a tunnel a little way up the
road,” he said, trying to appear self-1
possessed, but looking a little guilty.
- “Is there?” she said, blushing faintly:
and loooking out the 'vvin'dow.
“I suppose it’s about a mile 10113.. I
don’t know, though,” he added hastily;
“it might be less.” ‘ ' '
“I’ve been through snowsheds out.
West,” she answered, “that took seven
minutes to go through.” , .
“Oh, this is less than two minutes-
long,” he said. Their glances hap:
pened to meet, and they both turned
their eyes quickly. , - _
Every one in the car was now in
breathless suspense, for the tunnel-was
near. ‘ _ ”
, . “Tunnels are such”—but the sen-
tence was lost in the rush of .wind
and the clanging of' the bell as the tram
went rushing through the blackness.
There wals that sudden roar that
combs at such times, a dark shadow
over the car and then a yellow light,
for the lamps were burning, turned
down low enough to be unobserved in
the daylight, but with the flame which
gathered, life underground. .And'the
two young people looked at each other
with startled eyes. It wasn’t so bad.
under such circumstances; There are
so many idiotic people in thei,world.
Some. hard-hearted wretch‘ snickered.
That was all, but it was bad enough, for
twopeople who sat in the same‘seat-
ONE ofvthe results . of the develop-
Iment of Africa. will be an, increase in
3 the ‘isupp‘ly- of ivory. .. _ (
.slaughter'Of the elephant on the con'ti-'
nent at present reaches 65,000. The
:ivony produ it .is‘wo'rth $850,000; ..With
. t- awh- -.cit'. of AL; . ,, , . _ _. ,, .. ., ,
“one “a" and deg to” ‘ e ’ 3 " {the influx of European ocaplt‘al and
_: has been our American buffalo here.
__ .
1.
after all. Perhaps no one likes a tunnel .
A
enterprise, it is to‘ib'e-supposed that:
1; the el‘ephant' ‘will be examinated, as. .
5
“The annual ' “
's
Norwalk Chronicler