Nebraska Newspapers

    HEXlale oT f
Hif Three Lions
K > J H. RIDER HAGGARD L
Kt CHAPTER IL ( Cojjtisued. )
HI' ' " 'Lions , my boy , ' I said ; 'they are
BV"hunting down by the river there ; but
B/W " % * dent thInk > 'ou need malce yourself
BiC uneflsyWe have been here three
f
KA b * nights now , and if they were going to
H'\ Pay us a visit I should think that they
V g would have done so before this. HowE -
E C ever , wo will make up the fire. '
L \ " 'Here , Pharaoh , do you and Jim-
B > F Jim get some more wood before we go
H jr to sleep , else the cats will be purring
Kjr' round you before morning. '
I F-W' \ "Pharaoh , a great brawny Swazi , who
ROL * had been working for me at Pilgrims'
M , * Rest , laughed , rose , and stretched
H himself , and then calling to Jim-Jim
H BL : to bring the ax and a reim , started off
fc > \ . in the moonlight toward a clump of
B' / sugar-bush where we cut our fuel rom
Kk some dead trees. He was a fine fellow
Vl jr. this way , was Pharaoh because he
BMhad an Egyptian cast of countenance
T m and a royal sort of swagger about "him.
fl \ But his -way was a somewhat peculiar
H v .way , on account of the uncertainty of
K hid temper , and very few people could
KJH get on wit-h him ; also if he could get
HJ\y it he would drink like a fish , and when
Kto h. he drank he became shockingly blood-
V | \ thirsty. These were his bad points ;
Ljft h his good ones were that , like most peo-
Hr ] pie of the Zulu blood , he became ex-
B \ ceedingly attached to you if he took to
B/ you at all ; he was a hard-working and
K | , intelligent man , and about as darc-
BfV devil and plucky a fellow at a pinch as
Hj l I ever had to do with. He was about
l | five-and-thirty years of age or so , but
K . f not a 'keskla' or ringed-man. I be-
Kfr \ lieve he got into trouble in some way
H\ [ in Swaziland , and the authorities of
H t his tribe would not allow him to as-
Hr sume the ring , and that is why he
R tf & came to work at the gold fields. The
B > / other man , or rather lad , Jim-Jim , was
BDf\ a Mapoch Kafir , or Knobnose , and
Ejp even in the light of subsequent events
HC \ I fear at * canil0t speak very well of
\ . him. He was an idle and careless
K | young rascal , and only that very morn-
HBL\ ing I had to tell Pharaoh to whip him
Bj / \ for letting the oxen stray , which he did
flT J -with the greatest gusto , although he
BL was , in his own way , very fond of Jim-
Bf X * Jim an * saw him consoling him af-
K ( terward with a pinch of snuff from his
flkirf ; own ear-box , whilst he explained to
M \ him that the next time it came in the
Kty way of duty to flog him , he meant to
Bfc | A thrash -with the other hand , so as to
Bj\ cross the old cuts and make a 'pretty
Rr pattern' on his back.
K | "Well , off they went , though Jim-
By Jim did not at all like leaving the
Br camp at that hour , even though the
Kr moonlight was so bright , and in due
B\ course returned safely enough with a
BlVL great bundle of wood. I laughed at
Bk Jim-Jim , and asked him if he had seen
HPg- anything , and he said yes , he had ; he
n | , had seen two large yellow eyes staring
Hjr at him from behind a bush , and heard
Hjj something snore.
HLv "As , however , on further investiga-
t tion the yellow eyes and the snore appeared -
/ peared to have existed only in Jim-
_ i Jim's lively imagination , I was not
Hv greatly disturbed by this alarming re-
0\ [ port ; but having seen to making up of
kA the fire , got into the skerm and went
B quietly to sleep with Harry by my
Bi ] "Some hours afterward I woke up
H twith a start. I don't know what woke
ELf nie. The moon had gone down , or at
B , least was almost hidden behind the
B > soft horizon of bush , only her red rim
B | being visible. Also a wind had sprung
B\ up and was driving long hurrying lines
B\ g cloud across the starry sky , and al-
fl / together a great change had came over
Pkrhe rnoo& ° - the night. By the look
fl f of the sky I judged that we must be
Bf * about two hours from day-break.
Ht "The oxen , which were as usual tied
Hl < to the disselbocm of the Scotch cart.
Hf f -were very restless they kept snuffing
HV aQd blowing , and rising up and lying
H& ' down again , and I at once suspected
Br\ that they must wind something. Pres-
B 5 ently I knew what it was that they
iff winded , for within fifty yards of us a
BMlion roared not very loud.
Bo' "Pharaoh was sleeping on the other
Blyl side of the cart , and beneath it I saw
Bikv him raise his head and listen.
Bp s " 'Lion , Inkoos , ' he whispered , 'lion. '
B/ / "Jim-Jim also jumped up , and by
K | the faint light I could see that he was
Hy f in a very great fright indeed.
H / "Thinking that it was as well to be
Hjff prepared for emergencies , I told
Bf / Pharaoh to throw wood upon the fire ,
Biand woke up Harry , wrho I verily be-
Hk7 lieve was capable of sleeping through
BAthe crack of doom. He was a little
H Rf scared at first , but presently the excite-
[ 4' ment of the position came home to him ,
I MaJv and U8 hecame quite anxious to see his
Bff majesty face to face. I got my rifle
Hf\ handy and gave Harry his a Westley
Hv \ Richard falling block , which is a very
Ur. ' aisr ul gun for a youth , being light and
H/ ' yet a good killing rifle , and then we
m -waited.
B' "For a long time nothing happened ,
B nnd I began to think that the best
L' thing that we could do would be to go
B v. to sleep again , when suddenly I heard
B"a sound more like a cough than a roar
H [ -within about twenty yards of the
L skerm. We all looked out , but could
Bb see nothing ; and then followed an-
H \ other period of suspense. It was very
V X ttyfoff t0 tfle nerves , -this waiting for
K y _ an attack that might be developed from
B { V any quarter or might not be developed
P. M- at all ; and though I was a very old
LjnL liand at this sort of business I was
B\ anxious a-bout Harrj , for it is wonder-
'
Bl ful haw the presence of anybody to
bJLwhom one is attached unnerves a man
Bft. in moments of danger , and that made
BB ine nervous. I laiow , although it was
B now chilly enough , I could feel the per-
spiratlon running down my nose , and
In order to relieve the strain on my
attention employed myself watching a
beetle which appeared to be attracted
by the fire-light , and was sitting before
it thoroughly rubbing his antennae
against each other.
"Suddenly the beetle gave such a
jump that he nearly jumped headlong
into the fire , and so did we all give
jumps , I mean , and no wonder , for
from right under the skerm fence there
came the most frightful roar a roar
that literally made the Scotch cart
shake and took the breath out of you.
"Harry ejaculated and turned rather
green , Jim-Jim howled outright , while
the poor oxen stood and shivered and
lowed piteously.
"The night was almost entirely dark
now , for the moon had quite set and
the clouds had covered up the stars ,
so that the only light we had was from
the fire , which was burning up bright
ly again now ; but , as you know , fire
light is absolutely useless to shoot by ,
it is so uncertain , and besides it pene
trates but a very little way into the
darkness , although if one is in the
dark outside one can see it from so
far away.
"Presently the oxen , after standing
.still for a moment , suddenly winded
the lion and did what I feared they
would do began to 'shrek , ' that is to
try and break loose from the trektow to
which they were tied , and rush off
madly into the wilderness. Lions know
of this habit on the part of oxen , which
are , I do believe , the most foolish ani
mals under the sun , a sheep being a
very Solomon compared to them ; and it
is by no means uncommon for a lion
to get in such a position that a herder
or span of oxen may wind him , shrek ,
break their reins , and rush off into
the bush. Of course , once they are
there , they are helpless in the dark ;
and then the lion chooses the one that
he loves best and eats him at his
leisure.
"Well , round and round went our six
poor oxen , nearly trampling us to
death in their mad rush ; indeed , had
we not hastily tumbled out of the
way , we should have been trampled to
death , or at least seriously injured.
As it was , Harry was run over , and
poor Jim-Jim being caught by the trek
tow somewhere beneath his arm , was
hurled right across the skerm , landing
by my side only some paces off.
"Snap went the disselboom of the
cart beneath the transverse strain put
upon it. Had it not broken the cart
would have overset ; as it was , in an
other minute , oxen , cart , trektow ,
reins , broken disselboom , and every
thing were soon tied in one vast heav
ing , plunging , bellowing , and seeming
ly inextricable knot.
"For a moment or two this state of
affairs took my attention off from the
lion that had caused it , but whilst I
was wondering what on earth was to
be done next , and what we should do
if the cattle broke loose into the bush
and were lost , for cattle frightened in
this manner will go right away like
mad things , it was very suddenly re
called in a very painful fashion.
"For at that moment I perceived by
the light of the fire , a kind of gleam of
yellow traveling through the air
toward us.
" 'The lion ! the lion ! ' hallooed
Pharaoh , and as he did so , he , or rather
she , for it was a great gaunt lioness ,
half wild no doubt with hunger , lit
right in the middle of the skerm , and
stood there in the smoky gloom , and
lashed her tail and roared. I seized
my rifle and fired at her , but what be
tween the confusion , and my agita
tion , and the uncertain light , I missed
her and nearly shot Pharaoh. The
flash of the rifle , however , threw the
whole scene into stroug relief , and a
wild one it was I can tell you with the
seething mass of oxen twisted all
around the cart , in sucn a fashion that
their heads looked as though they were
growing out of their rumps and their
horns seemed to protrude from their
backs ; the smoking lire with just a
blaze in the heart of the smoke ; Jim-
Jim in the foreground , where the oxen
had thrown him in their wild rush ,
stretched out there in terror ; and then
as a center to the picture the great
gaunt lioness glaring round with
hungry yellow eyes , and roaring and
whining as she made up her mind
what to do.
"It did not take her long , just the
time that it takes a Hash-to die into
darkness , and then , before I could fire
again or do anything , with a most
fiendish snort she sprang upon poor
Jim-Jim.
"I heard the unfortunate "lad shriek ,
and then almost instantly I saw his
legs thrown into the air. The lioness
had seized him by the neck , and with
a sudden jerk thrown his body over
her back so that his legs hung down
upon the further side. Then , without
the slightest hesitation , and apparently
without any difficulty she cleared the
skerm fence at a single bound , and
bearing poor Jim-Jim with her , van
ished into the darkness beyond , in the
direction of the bathing-place that I
have already described. We jumped
up perfectly mad with horror and fear ,
and rushed wildly after her , firing shots
at hap-hazard on the chance that she
would be frightened by them into drop
ping her prey , but nothing could we
see , and nothing could we hear. Tie
lioness had vanished into the darkness
taking Jim-Jim with her , and to at
tempt to follow her until daylight was
madness. We should only expose our
selves to the risk of a like fate.
"So with scared and heavy hearts we
crept back to the skerm , and sat down
to wait for daylight , which now could
not be much more than an hour off. It
was absolutely useless to try even to
disentangle the oxen till then , so all
that there was left for us to do was to
sit and -wonder how it came to pass
that the one should be taken and the
other left , and to hope against hope
a _ _ -ft
that our poor servant might have been
mercifully delivered from the lion's
jaws. At length the faint light came
stealing like a ghost up the long slope
of bush , and glinted on the tangled
oxen's horns , and with white and
frightened faces we got up and set to
the task of disentangling the oxen till
such time as ther should be light
(
enough to enable us to follow the trail j
of the lioness which had gone off with ;
Jim-Jim. And here a fresh trouble
awaited us , for when at last with in
finite difficulty we had got the helpless
brutes loose. It was only to find
that one of the best of them
was very sick. There was no
mistake about the way he stood
with his legs slightly apart and his
head hanging down. He had got the ;
red water , I was sure of it. Of all the ]
difficulties connected with life and ;
traveling in South Africa , those con
nected with oxen are perhaps the worst.
The ox is the most exasperating ani
mal in the world. He has absolutely
'
no constitution , and never neglects an
opportunity of falling sick of some
mj'sterious disease. He will get thin
upon the slightest provocation , and
from mere maliciousness die of 'pov
erty ; ' whereas it is his chief delight to
turn round and refuse to pull whenever - ,
ever he finds himself well in the cenn
ter of a river , or the wagon-wheel nice
ly fast in a mudhole. There is always
something wrong with him.
"Well , it was no use crying as 1
should almost have liked to do , because ,
if this ox had red-water it was prob
able that the rest of them had it , too ,
although they had been sold to me as ,
'salted , ' that is , proof against such dis-i
eases as red-water and lung-sick. Onei
gets hardened to this sort of thing ia
South Africa in course of time , for t
suppose in no other country in the
world is the waste of animal life so
great.
"So , taking my rifle and telling Har
ry to follow me ( for we had to leave
Pharaoh to look after the oxen , '
Pharaoh's lean kine , I called them ) , I
started to see if anything could be (
found of or appertaining to the un-I
fortunate Jim-Jim. The ground round
our little camp was hard and rocky ,
and wre could not hit off any spoor
of the lioness , though just outside the
skerm we saw a drop or two of blood.
Several hundred yards from the camp ,
and a little to the right , was a patch of
sugar bush mixed up with the usual
mimosa , and for this I made , thinking ;
that the lioness would have been sure ;
to take her prey there to devour it/
On we pushed through the long grass
that was bent down beneath the weight
of the soaking dew. In two minutes
we were wet through up to the thighs ,
as wet as though we had waded through
water. In due course , however , we
reached the patch of bush , and in the
gray light of the morning cautiously
and slowly pushed our way into it.
It was very dark under the trees , for
thesunwas not yet up , so we progressed
with the most extreme care , half ex
pecting every minute to come across
the lioness licking the bones of poor
Jim-Jim. But no lioness could we see ,
and as for Jim-Jim , there was not the
least trace of him to be found. Evi
dently they had not come there.
"So , pushing through the bush we
proceeded to hunt every other likely
spot about , with the same result.
" 'I suppose she must have taken him
right away , ' I said at last , sadly
enough. 'At any rate he will be dead
by now , so God have mercy on him , we
can't help him. What's to be done
now ? '
" 'I suppose that we had better wash
ourselves in the pool and then go back
and get something to eat. '
( TO BE COXTINCED.J
A Glorious Opportunity.
A middle-aged man , with what ap
peared to be a load on his mind , visited
an arctic steamer and seemed interest
ed in what he saw.
"I say , " he said to the officer on
deck , "I'd like to go on the next ex
pedition. "
"It's awfully cold up there , " re
marked the officer , discouragingly.
"I don't care about that. "
"You'd have very little to eat and
might have to starve. "
"That would't be pleasant , " said the
visitor.
"I should say not , " returned the of
ficer , ' and you might be eaten by your
comrades. "
"Is that so ? That would be dis
tinctly bad. "
"And then , " continued the officer ,
"youwouldn't see your -wife for three
years and possibly longer. You know
you can't take her with you. "
"Well , " returned the gentleman , aft
er a long pause , "I think you can put
me down on your books. Your last
argument captured me. " New York
Dispatch.
Jews * Telegrams.
"Sending a telegram , ' - says a Phila
delphia telegraph man , "is serious
business for the ordinary man or wo
man. They think it's expensive and
only use the wires when they have to.
There's one exception , however , and a
kind of complimentary business that
most people would never suspect
Whenever there's a Hebrew wedding ,
that is , one of any importance , we
handle scores of congratulations , hun
dreds sometimes , from all parts of the
country. They are sent with directions
to deliver at a certain hour and we
generally send them all to the house
or place where the reception is held
in one bunch. It's a good thing for
the company , for the senders don't
count the words , and file their tele
grams without any revision. Some
times they run up to 100 or 150 words. "
New York Tribune.
Brandied peaches served with ice
cream form a combination for dessert
that frequently replaces the Christmas
mince pie and plum pudding.
l mS'i if i _ JIIIIMTT1fll " * " ftlSiM
TALMAGE'S SEEMON.
"A RESURRECTION MISTAKE"
EASTER SUNDAY SUBJECT.
From the Text : "She , Snppohinc ' film
to lie the Gardener , Sattii Uuto Hiui ;
Tell Mo Where Thou Must Laid Him and
I 1V1U TuUe 311m Away" John 20:15.
ej < f ? ERE are Mary
j Magdalen and
? j Christ , just after
11 h i s resurrection.
" For four thousand
J % years a grim and
\pj ghastly tyrant had
been killing people
and dragging them
into his cold palace.
He had a passion
for human skulls.
For forty centuries he had been unhin
dered in his work. He had taken down
kings and queens and conquerors , and
those without fame. In that cold pal
ace there were shelves of skulls , and
pillars of skulls , and altars of skulls ,
and even the chalices at the table were
made of bleached skulls. To the skele
ton of Abel had been added the skeleton
of all the ages , and no one had disputed
his right until one good Friday , about
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven
years ago , as near as I can calculate it ,
a mighty stranger came to the door of
that awful place , rolled back the door ,
and went in , and seizing the tyrant
threw him to the pavement and put
' heel of tri
upon the tyrant's neck the
umph.
Then the mighty stranger , exploring
all the ghastly furniture of the place ,
and walking through the labyrinths ,
and opening the dark cellars of mys
tery , and tarrying under a roof the
ribs of which were made of human
bones tarrying for two nights and a
day , the nights very dark and the day
very dismal , he seized the two chief pil
lars of that awful palace and rocked
them until it began to fall , and then
laying hold of the ponderous front gate
hoisted it from its hinges , and marched
forth crying , "I am the Resurrection ! "
That event we celebrate this Easter
morn , Handelian and Beethovcan mira
cles of sound added to this floral decoration -
' ration which has set the place abloom.
There are three or four things which
1
the world and the church have not no
ticed in regard to the resurrection of
Christ. First , our Lord in the garden
er's attire. Mary Magdalen , grief-
struck , stands by the rifled sarcophagus
of Christ , and turns around , hoping she
can find the track of the sacrilegious
i resurrectionist who has despoiled the
grave , and she finds some one in work
ing apparel come forth as if to water
the flowers , or uproot the weeds from
the garden , or to set reclimbing the
fallen vine some one in working ap
parel , his garments perhaps having the
sign of the dust and dirt of the occupa
tion.
tion.Mary
Mary Magdalen , on her face the rain
of a fresh shower of weeping , turns to
this workman , and charges him with
the desecration of the tomb , when lo !
the stranger responds , flinging his
whole soul into one word which trem
bles with all the sweetest rhythm of
earth and heaven , saying , "Mary ! " In
that peculiarity of accentuation all the
incognito fell off , and she found that
instead of talking with an humble gar
dener of Asia Minor , she was talking
with Him who owns all the hanging
gardens of heaven. Constellations the
clusters of forget-me-nots , the sun
flower the chief of all , the morning sky
and the midnight aurora , flaring ter
races of beauty , blazing like a summer
wall with coronation roses and giants
of battle. Blessed and glorious mis
take of Mary Magdalen. "She suppos
ing him to be the gardener. " What
does that mean ? It means that we
have an every-day Christ for every-day
work in every-day apparel. Not on
Sabbath morning in our most seemly
apparel are we more attractive to
Christ than we are in our every-day
work dress , managing our merchan
dise , smiting our anvil , ploughing our
field , tending the flying shuttles , mend
ing the garments for our household ,
providing food for our families , or toil
ing with wearj- pen , or weary pencil ,
or weary chisel. A working-day Christ
in working-day appare ! for us in our
cverj'-day toil. Put it into the highest
strain of this Easter anthem , "Suppos
ing him to be the gardener. "
If Christ had appeared at daybreak
with a crown upon his head , that would
have seemed to suggest especial sym
pathy for monarchs ; if Christ had ap
peared in chain of gold and with robe
bediamonded. that would have seemed
to be especial sympathy for the af
fluent ; if Christ had appeared with sol
dier's sash and sword dangling at his
side , that would have seemed to imply
especial sympathy for warriors ; but
when I find Christ in gardener's habit ,
then I spell it out that he has hearty
and pathetic understanding with every
day work , and every-day anxiety , and
every-day fatigue.
Roll it down in comfort all through
these aisles. A working-day Christ in
working-day apparel. Tell it in the
darkest corridor of the mountain to the
poor miner. Tell it to the factory maid
in most unventilated establishment at
Lowell or Lancaster. Tell it to the
clearer of roughest new ground in the
western wilderness. Tell it to the sew
ing woman , a stitch in the side for
every stitch in the garment , seme of
their cruel employers having no right
to think that they will get through the
door of heaven any more than they
could through the eye of a broken
needle which has just dropped on the
bare floor from the pricked and bleed
ing fingers of the consumptive sewing-
_
girl. Away with your talk about hj -
postatic union , and soteriology of the
Council of Trent , and the metaphysics
of religion which -would freeze practi
cal Christianity out of the world ; but
pass along the gardener's coat to all
nations that they may touch the hem
MMMMMWiitiW jqyjgggiiiJgaBSI
. . . . ' . . "
ruTl i mi nn.m-nnirni i i wjiiit-win i. J - - i i .iriii"
of it and feel the thrill of the Christly
brotherhood. Not supposing the man
to be Caesar , not supposing him to be
Socrates , but "supposing him to bo the
gardener. "
Oh , that is what helped Joseph
Wedgwood , toiling amid the heat and
the dust of the potteries , until he could
make for Queen Charlotte the first
royal table service of English manu
facture. That was what helped James
Watt , scoffed at and caricatured , until
he could put on wheels the thunderbolt
of power which roars by day and night
in every furnace of the locomotive en
gines of America. That Is what helped
Hugh Miller , tolling amid the quarries
of Cromarty , until every rock became
to him a volume of the world's biog
raphy , and he found the footsteps of
the Creator in the old red sandstone.
Oh , the world wants a Christ for the
office , a Christ for the kitchen , a Christ
for the shop , a Christ for the banking-
house , a Christ for the garden , while
spading and planting and irrigating
the territory. Oh , of course , we want
to see Christ at last in royal robe and
bediamoned , a celestial equestrian
mounting the white horse , but from
this Easter of 1897 to our last Easter on
earth we most need to see Christ as
Mary Magdalen saw him at the day
break , "supposing him to be a gar
dener. "
Another thing which the church and
the world have not noticed in regard
to the resurrection of Christ is that he
made his first post-mortem appearance
to one who had been the seven-deviled
Mary Magdalen. One would have sup
posed he would have made hi * first
posthumous appearance to a woman
Avho had always been illustrious for
goodness. There are saintly women
who have always been saintly , saintly
in girlhood , saintly in infancy , always
saintly. In nearly all our families
there have been saintly aunts. In my
family circle it was aunt Phebe ; in
yours saintly aunt Martha or saintly
aunt Ruth. One always saintly. But
not so with the one spoken of in the
text.
text.While
While you are not to confound her
with the repugnant courtesan who had
made her long locks do the work of
towel at Christ's footwashing , you are
not to forget that she was exorcised of
seven devils. What a capital of demonology -
menology she must have been. What
a chorus of all diabolism. Seven devils
two for the eyes , and two for the
hands , and two for the feet , and one for
the tongue. Seven devils. Yet all
these are extirpated , and now she is as
good as once she was bad , and Christ
honors her with the first posthu
mous appearance ? What doth that
mean ? * * *
There is a man seven-deviled devil
of avarice , devil of pride , devil of hate ,
devil of indolence , devil of falsehood ,
devil of strong drink , devil of impuri
ty. God can take them all away , sev
en or seventy. I rode over the new
cantilever bridge that spans Niagara
a bridge 900 feet long , 850 feet of
chasm from bluff to bluff. I passed
over it without anxiety. Why ? Be
cause twenty-two locomotives and
twenty-two cars laden with gravel had
tested the bridge , thousands of people
standing on the Canadian side , thous
ands standing on the American side to
applaud the achievement. And how
ever long the train of our immortal in
terests may be we are to remember
that God's bridge of mercy spanning
the chasm of sin has been fully tested
by the awful tonage of all the pardoned
sin of all ages , church militant stand
ing on one bank , church triumphant
standing on the other bank. Oh , it
was to the seven-deviled Mary that
Christ made His first post-mortem ap
pearance.
There is another thing that the world
and the church have not observed in
regard to this resurrection , and that is ,
it ws the morning twilight.
If the chronometer had been invent
ed and Mary had as good a watch as
som ol the Marys of our time have ,
she would have found it was about
half-past 5 o 'clock a. m. Matthew says
it was in the dawn. Mark says it was
at the sunrising ; Luke says it was very
early in the morning ; John says it was
while it was yet dark. In other words ,
it was twilight. That was the o'clock
at which Mary Magdalen mistook Christ
for the gardener. What does that
mean ? It means there are shadows
over the grave unlifted , shadows of
mystery that are hovering. Mary
stooped down and tried to look to the
other end of the crypt- She gave hys
teric outcry. She could not see to the
other end of the crypt. Neither can you
see to the other end of the grave of
your dead. Neither can we see to the
other end of our grave. Oh , if there
were shadows over the family plot be
longing to Joseph of Arimathea , is it
strange that there should be some
shadows over our family lot ? Easter
dawn , not Easter noon.
Shadow of unanswered question !
Why were they taken away from us ?
why were they ever given to us if they
were to be taken so soon ? why were
they taken so suddenly ? why could they
not have uttered some farewell words ?
why ? A short question , but a whole
crucifixion of agony in it. Why ?
Shadow on the graves of good men and
women who seemed to die before their
work was done. Shadow on all the
graves of children because we ask our
selves why so beautiful a craft launch
ed at all if it was to be wrecked
one mile outside of the harbor ? But
what did Mary Magdalen have to do
in order to get more light on that
grave ? She had only to wait. After
a while the Easter sun rolled up , and
the whole place was flooded with light.
What have you and I to do in order
to get more light on our own graves
and light upon the graves of our dear
loved ones ? Only to wait.
* * *
After Christ's interment every cellu
lar tissue broke down , and nerve and
artery and brain were a physiological
wreck , and yet he comes up swarthy ,
rubicund and well. When I see after
such mortuary silence such radiant ap-
" " T : " " ' '
TilI
il
= = = = = = = = = = = • 1
pearance , that settles It that whatever ;
should become of the bodies of our % M
Christian dead , they are going to cotno , 'I
up , the nerves restrung , the optic nerve I
Telllumined , the ear drum a-vlbrate , the fl
whole body lifted up , without Its weak- fl
ness and worldly uses for which there fl
is no resurrection. Come , Is It not almost - H
most time for us to go out to meet our I fl
reanimated dead ? Can you not hear f fl
the lifting of the rusted latch ? fl
Oh , the glorious thought , the glorious fl
consolation of this subject when I find B
Christ coming up without any of the fl
lacerations , for you must remember He B
was lacerated and wounded fearfully H
in the crucifixion coming up without
one. What docs that make me think ?
That the grave will get nothing of us
except our wounds and imperfections. H
Christ went Into the grave exhausted
and bloodless. All the currents of His H
life had poured out from His wounds. . H
He had lived a life of trouble , sorrow. H
and privation , and then He died a Hn- H
gering death. His entire body hung on H
four spikes. No invalid of twenty ' B
years' suffering ever went into the H
grave so white and ghastly and broken j H
down as Christ , and yet here He comes H
up so rubicund and robust she supposed H
Him to be the gardener. H
Ah ! all the side-aches , and the headaches - H
aches , and the back-aches , and the leg- H
aches , and the heart-aches we will leave H
where Christ left His. The ear will
come up without Its heaviness , the eye H
will come up without its dimness , the H
lungs will come up without oppressed M
respiration. Oh , what races we will M
run when we become Immortal athletes - H
letes ! Oh , what circuits we will take H
when all earthly imperfections subtracted - M
tracted and all celestial velocities added - M
ded we shall set up our residence In H
that city which , though vaster than all fl
the cities of this world , shall never HH
have one obsequy ! B
Standing this morning round the H
shattered masonry of our Lord's tomb , B
I point you to a world without hearse. B
without muflled drum , without tumu- fl
lus , without catafalque , and without a H
tear. Amid all the cathedrals of the H
blessed no longer the "Dead March in H
Saul , " but whole libretti of "Hallelujah \ M
Chorus. " Oh , put trumpet to lip and ' H
finger to key , and loving forehead , B
against the bosom of a risen Christ. B
Hallelujah , Amen. Hallelujah , Amenl B
CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. fl
The Junior Society of Christian Endeavor - H
deavor was thirteen years old on March M
27. On March 20 there were enrolled B
on Secretary Baer's books 11,537 societies - H
cieties , with C4G.110 members. The first M
society was organized in Tabor , Iowa. H
by Rev. John W. Cowan. The first H
signer of the Junior pledge is now a B
clergyman. M
"She hath done what she could. " The M
members of the Christian Endeavor society - B
ciety in the Indiana state prison at H
Michigan City have no money to contribute - H
tribute toward state Christian Endeav- B
cr work , but the other day the state B
treasurer received from this society fif- H
ty-two stamped envelopes. One of B
these envelopes is issued to each prisoner - B
oner every two weeks and an extra one H
is given instead of a ration of tobacco. B
By abstaining from the luxury of cor- fl
respondence , and from the use of tobacco - H
bacco , the men were enabled to fulfill H
their pledge. < H
An endeavor after apostolic fashion H
is recorded of a native Christian Endeavor - H
deavor society in Shaingay , West Af- |
rica. The young men of the society set 1
out , two by two , to preach the gospel H
throughout all their district , a region - H
forty by seventy miles in extent. They H
held 238 services and reached 4,572 H
hearers , and all without a penny of ex- H
pense. The young men had many interesting - H
teresting experiences. One of them B
philosophically remarked , when deterred - B
terred from crossing a river by the alligators - H
ligators in the stream , "The Lord sent B
us to preach the gospel , not to feed H
these fellows. " H
A company of Endeavorers from the H
Broadway Baptist church , Cambridge- H
port , Mass. , hold weekly meetings in a H
rescue mission in Boston , providing a H
free lunch for the men , in opposition H
to a free lunch saloon in the neigh- H
borhood. These meetings have resulted - |
ed in many conversions , and in several |
accessions to the church. The Endeav- J
orers make it a practice to secure em- j H
ployment for the converts when possi- |
The Endeavorers in the State of |
Washington have made earnest efforts |
to secure temperance and Sabbath observance - H
servance legislation. A temperance bill |
was recently before the legislature and |
the Endeavorers prompted prominent |
representatives to personally visit the |
capitol , while about five hundred telegrams - | |
grams were sent from all parts of the B
state to the senators and representa- | |
tives. Mass meetings were also held in 1
many districts , all with the aim of H
properly influencing legislation. |
The first year of Christian Endeavor j H
in Tremont Temple Baptist church , H
Boston , has been a fruitful one. Several - H
eral members of the society have unit- i B
ed with the church. One of the first H
deeds of the society was the publication |
of a sermon en baptism by Dr. Lori- |
mer. Two more of the pastor's sermons - H
mons were published during the year. |
a total of eight thousand copies. The H
instruction committee of the society |
has maintained a Bible history class fl
under the direction of the assistant B
pastor , and it has also provided two |
courses of university extension lee- |
tures. Since Tremont Temple is very |
peculiarly situated in the business district - B
trict , the society has made every effort |
to apply business enterprise to its B
methods , and at the beginning of the * < B
year it issued for general distribution !
a. beautiful calendar , advertising the IbH bI
church and society and time of meet- laiHll
ings. t' l
As a recognition of the good work B
done by the Salvation Army in Detroit B
in relieving distress among the poor. H
the citizens have contributed $74,000 B
to purchase the building used by tha fl
army as headquarters. B