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CHAPTER X. ( Continued. )
"Better send the young people to
bed , it Is now daylight almost , " sug
gested the aiders , and they carefully
avoided looking at each other.
That some terrible calamity had
'happened even Lady Jane , whoso flrst
fear had been that ttie bride had run
away , was fully convinced.
"But , Leila , you will stay by me ? "
quavered the mistress of the house ,
suddenly transformed into a broken-
down old woman.
, "I will , dear aunty , " gravely said
Leila. "I shall see little Syb safe in
bed , then I shall return to you. "
, Leila Desmond , slenderly graceful ,
soft and caressing , womanly to the
finger-tips , was yet one of those loyal ,
strong natures we turn to lean upon
in the "day of trouble. "
Gervis gave her one look of rever
ence , then he placed his arm round
that mother for wnom he and this
"perfect woman , nobly planned" had
sacrificed themselves so fatally.
Every hour was bringing home to
him the terrible blunder ho had made
in his life. Love between man and
woman was God-given , to be prized
as sacred ; but under the specious pre
text of sacrificing himself for the good
of his house , he had torn love from
his heart , and then sold that empty
shell for gold. That it had been a bit
ter , sinful bargain he now knew.
Perhaps this impending calamity
which he was helplessly waiting for
the new day to discover might be
'heaven's ' punishment for what he had
done.
It was still and quiet in the old
house. There was a lull of expectancy
until the daylight should come to al
low action to be resumed.
In Leila's room it was silent as the
grave. Beside the whke-draperied bed
knelt Leila herself. She was praying ,
with frightened tears now no one was
by to see them praying earnestly for
the hapless girl who had shadowed her
life.
life.That
That something dire had happened
Leila instinctively knew ; but all she
could do was to pray for help from
above.
"Leila ! Sis ! " A hoarse , shrill
voice made her spring to her feet.
Close at her side stood Syb , shiver
ing in her little blue dressing-gown ,
her face working convulsively.
" ' it from longer
"I can't keep you any
er ! I dare not , though I do hate her
so ! " the deformed girl was saying , her
teeth chattering as much , from terror
as from cold.
"Speak , Syb ! "
Leila grioped the thin wrist , her
breath coming thick and fast. Syb
knew , then !
"I heard a cry , a smothered scream
from the old oak chest , as I walked
round the gallery ; but I hated her so
that I would not speak before ! And
when I saw you , through the open door
between our rooms , praying with sobs.
I knew it must be for her. So I must
tell , and you'd better be quick ! "
Syb slipped to the floor in a swoon.
But Leila was already gone. With ,
flying feet she was rushing downstairs
from the third floor , where her bed
room and Syb's were.
"Gervis ! Gervis ! Come , and come
quickly ! Bring Barnes ! " When she
had reached the gallery she shrieked
loudly. Her voice , sharp with fear ,
rang through the old house and made
Gervis leap to his feet.
"It's Leila ! She has found out some
thing ! Mother dear , stay here , I pray
you ! "
He pressed Lady Jane back on her
seat.
"No one knows what we have got
to face ! "
"Bring Barnes ! Oh , be quick ! " Le
ila's voice cried again in an agony of
haste.
Barnes , the white-haired old butler ,
was stiff and rheumatic. It seemed
as though he would never reach the
top of the wide , crimson-covered stair
case , and yet the old man was doing
his best , though Gervis would fain
have dragged him up two steps at a
time.
"Where are you , Leila ? " he hoarsely
shouted.
"Here ! here ! Quick ! "
Round the curve of the gallery they
found Leila , tearing frantically the
holly and moss decorations from what
had been a bank of greenery.
The blood was trickling down her
hands and wrists , as the holly tore
them cruelly. But , unconscious of
pain , Leila continued to pull , until the
old black-oak chest , which had been
the foundation of the green bank , was
displayed.
"Press the spring , Barnes ! Nobody
in Temple-Dene knows the secret but
you. Press , for Gladdy's dear sake ! "
panted the girl , madly beside herself.
"Whatever " Barnes was begin
ning , and -fumbling with his specta
cles.
cles."Man , do as you're bid ! " shouted
Gervis , catching the infection of Le
ila's frenzy. And he dragged Barnes
forward.
Something in his blazing eyes made
the old man pull himself together.
He stooped forward. With shaking
hands , he felt along the carvings ; but
how slow hewas ! The watchers
caught their breaths and shivered.
' "TIs in the shamrock , I do mind
me. 'Tis b'und to be in the sham
rock , the spring , " he was muttering.
In an instant I sila was on her
4 ft * ft * ft * ft * ft * ft * ft * ft * ft * ftft *
knees , and there , among the carved
leaves and flowers of oak , was a single-
dainty anamrock.
It was the spring !
Pressing it hard as she could , the
carved lid clicked as it opened about
an inch. Then Gervis , with strong
arms , forced it back on its hinges , and
a muffled cry broke from his lips.
CHAPTER XI.
Lying huddled In the musty chest
was a little figure in gleaming silver
brocade , stained here and there with
bunches of crushed holly berries.
It waa Gladdy , stiffened and immov
able , but with widely opened , round
blue eyes.
That she was dead was the flrnt
muttered thought of both Gervis and
Leila.
"No ! 'Tain't death ! " quickly said
old Barnes , glancing at their white
faces. "See ye , Mr. Gervis , there's a
row of air-holes down each side o' the
chest. I saw 'em made myself In the
old squire's time , purpose-like , in case
o' this very kind o' thing that's hap
pened now ! "
But Gervis was not listening. He
and others who had rushed to the gal
lery were carefully lifting the small ,
stiffened form. A mounted groom had
already been dispatched for a doctor.
"But something must be done at
once , " said Gervis , as they laid the
unconscious girl on an Indian rug on
the polished floor of the gallery.
Somebody was trying to force brandy
through the marble white lips.
"Not a drop will go down ! What
are we to do until the doctor comes ? "
piteously cried Leila , who , kneeling
down , had slipped her arm under the
little sunny-brown head.
"Fetch Mr. Ansdell ! " commanded
Gervis , with a sudden inspiration.
Surely the American could give some
help in the pressing emergency , other
wise , what was the value of his so-
called scientific reputation ?
Mr. Ansdell ! Everybody , then re
membered that , oddly enough , the sci
entist had not been once seen during
the hours of anxious search. It was
curious , to say the least of it. And
still more curious did it appear that
no Mr. Ansdell hurried to the gallery
in answer to the summons.
"Never mind , here's young Doctor
Goring himself , which is better , " ejac
ulated Lady Jane , who had struggled
upstairs more dead than alive from
sheer fright , and looked on helplessly.
"It's a trance ! " at last pronounced
the doctor , a young man , with all the
latest medical and scientific theories
at his finger-ends. "She has been
hypnotized ! Who has done this mis
chief ? "
He stood up and glanced round upon
the awe-struck group sternly.
There was no answer , and Doctor
Goring went on wrathfully :
"Somebody "has got to answer for
this night's work ! The poor young
lady has been brought to death's door ,
evidently , by some vile experiment
Now , then , clear out of this every one
of you ! Excuse my bluntness , Lady
Jane , but this is not a moment for po
lite speech. I've got a life to win back
if I can , and I can't have a crowd
round me. Your ladyship can remain ,
and , yes , I must have Miss Desmond ,
if I've anybody. "
One by one the spectators departed
from the gallery , and the young med
ical enthusiast set to work , with the
result that in a quarter of an hour
Gladdy feebly opened her lips and
spoke.
"I want Leila , " was the whisper.
And when she saw that it was Leila
herself who was supporting her head
the bride's round eyes closed content
edly.
"She will sleep now. We must carry
her to her bed , " said Doctor Goring ,
well satisfied.
"You are wanted , sir , at once , " came
an urgent whisper ; while Gervis , lift
ing his wife in his arms , carried her
away.
"What ! another case ? " The doctor
wheeled around , and he was silently
beckoned to the quarter of the house
known p ' -.e bachelors' wing.
Lyin uack in his chair in front oi
a writing table , and grasping a folded
paper , was a dead man.
The room was in perfect order. There
had been no assault , no murder , nc
suicide , so far as one could judge at
the moment.
But that death had entered the half-
open stare of the black eyes , the
dropped jaw , and the marble hue oi
the long , lean fingers gripping the
sheet of paper spoke all too clearly.
Little wonder that Paul Ansdell had
failed to join in the search for the
missing bride , failed to obey the sum
mons for his helpful skill.
"He has been dead quite a couple
of hours , " said Doctor Goring gravely ,
secretly wondering what would be the
outcome of this double tragedy.
"You must keep this business from
the ladies as long as you can , " he said ,
turning to Gervis , who had been hast
ily sent for. "There must be an in
quest , of course ; and , meantime , 1
should take possession of that folded
paper. See , I've managed not to tear
it You'd best lock it away until you
hand it to the coroner , Mr. Temple-
ton. "
"Why , " gasped Gervis , as he caught
sight of the close , upright handwrit
ing , "my wife wrote that ! What vil-
lamy is this ? See here ! "
"It was the last will and testament
of Gladys Ternpleton , and , in correct
legal form it assigned everything the
testator possessed to Paul Ansdell of
Montreal , revoking all fprmer wills and
'odicils. The document was duly
ligned , and the signatures and ad-
Iresses of two Americans were append
ed.
Not a flaw was there from beginning
to end of the deed.
"You hold the key that unlocks the
whole of this night's mystery , " briefly
mid the young doctor. "This unfortu-
late man must be a reckless adven-
, urer , whose wits have put in his
lands a most dangerous weapon. HP
s , we will discover , a criminal hypno
tist , a so-called scientist , seeking some
v.ool to further his own ends. Yes ,
yes ; you'll see we'll find out that's
what he is was , I mean , " said the
medical man.
He was right In his surmise , as the
Inquest brought out , bit by bit , partly
from papers belonging to the dead
man , partly from the unwilling evi
dence of Gladdy , who had been more
or less under hypnotic influence since
the night of the fire in the snow-shed.
As for the villain's own death , it
was proved to be from natural causes ,
and due to long-standing heart disease ,
that caused a breakdown at the cru
cial moment of his career.
But the jury's verdict was the popu
lar one "By the visitation of God. "
Five years have passed away.
So many changes have happened to
Temple-Dene and the Templetons ithat
Lady Jane has come to look back upon
the days , when she wore faded silka
and lived a sorely pinched life as the
happiest she has known.
Today she no longer wears her fa
vorite blue , for Francis Templeton has
gone to his grave , his heart eaten out
by the melancholy nothing would dis
pel.
pel.So
So Lady Jane wears widow's weeds
and has learnt the old lesson Ifcst
"contentment is great gain. "
The dainty American bride , so fra
gile and highly strung , never managed
to weather the repeated shocks to her
frail system. Like a broken flower she
withered , until decline set in.
In Leila's tender , supporting arms ,
her weak hands clinging tight round
Leila's soft throat , Gladdy died peace
fully.
"Take care of my Gervis , Leila. You
will do it better than I , " with the won
drous intuition of the dying she whis
pered at the last.
And now that the years have gone
round , Gervis begins to think it is
time Leila was taking care of him.
Between the two there is a perfect
understanding , and by and by their
wedding bells will ring out ; for though
"sorrow endureth for the night , joy
is bound to come in the morning. "
( The End. )
CHILD POLITICS.
The "Junior Republics" Alarm tlio City
of Datrcit.
Detroit is learning that the "junior
republics" established in the various
schools of the city , whick at first
thought was a fine thing , is having
evil results. The mayor protests and
shows a condition that is hardly bene
ficial. The citizens of these junior r&-
publics , for example , ballotted recently
on such questions as these : Do you
favor city ownership of the street rail
way system at the appraised value of
§ 17,500,000 ? Do you favor the appro
priation of $150,000 for the erection
of another high school building ? Do
you favor expansion ? ( this involving
a discussion of the Philippine ques
tion. ) But more than this the "junior
citizens" developed so rapidly as to
become lobbyists. Children were ask
ed to interview aldermen or school inspectors
specters to urge appropriations for
schools. In short , the junior repuhlics
did1 not confine themselves to theory ,
but got into practical politics with a
unanimity and dispatch that was
something appalling. * The Detroit
Free Press protests that innocent chil
dren that are already struggling
against ninety-nine fads in learning
to read , write and cipher , ought not to
have their heads further muddled by
an attempt to master the methods and
processes by which the people of the
country are governed. Indianapolis
News.
Food's Lowest Da'lly Cost.
By actual experience the Ruskinitea ,
a colony of socialists near Waycross ,
Ga. , have demonstrated what is prob
ably the lowest possible daily cost of
food. They live at an actual cost per
capita of less than 10 cents a day. Of
course this could not hav e 'been ' ac
complished except through co-opera
tion. Everything they consume is
bought at wholesale in large quantities
and is cooked in the community. In
the community dining room tables are
set for 300 people. Those who do not
wish to eat with the crowd are allowed
the privilege of purchasing company
stores and cooking them at home.
j i'
Ancient Deed In Philadelphia.
The flrst deed conveying property to
the proprietor of Pennsylvania , Will
iam Penn , is written in old Dutch , and
is now preserved in the city hall. The
property was what is now known as
Lemon hill , including the mansion and
the Schuylklll river front , where the
old Fairmount waterworks was lo
cated. There Penn kept his barge and
some rowboats , the barge carrying an
admiral's pennant. It is said there is
only one man in Philadelphia who can
read this deed.
It is not work that kills men ; it
Is worry. Work is healthy ; you can
hardly put more on a man than he
can bear. But worry is rust upon the
blade. It is not movement that de
stroys the machinery , but friction.
H. W. Beecher.
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
i
FOR THE WORLD'S DISEN-
THRALLMENT.
A Sermon Kspeclnlljr Appropriate for
the Christmas Benson The Million of
th Saviour of the AVorltl I'roof That
, God la L.OVC.
( Copyright. 1900 , Louts Klopsch , N. Y. )
Washington , Dec. 23. In this dis
course Dr. Talmage describes In a new
way the sacrifices made for the world's
discnthralment and deliverance. His
text is I. John iv. , 16 , "God is love. "
Perilous undertaking would It be to
attempt a comparison between the at
tributes of God. They are not like a
mountain range , with here and there
a higher peak , nor like the ocean , with
here and there a profounder depth. We
cann'ot measure Infinities. We would
not dare to say whether his omnipo
tence , or omniscience , or omnipresence ,
or Immutability , or wisdom , or justice ,
or love is the greater attribute , but
the one mentioned in my text makes
deeper impression upon us than any
other. It was evidently a very old
man who wrote the chapter from
which I take the text. John was not
In his dotage , as Prof. Eichhorn assert
ed , but you can tell by the repetitions
in the epistle and the rambling style
and that he called grown people "little
children" that the author was probably
an octogenarian. Yet Paul , in midlife -
life mastering an audience of Athenian
critics on Mars hill , said nothing
stronger or more important than did
the venerable John when he wrote the
three words of my text , "God is love. "
Indeed the older one gets the more
he appreciates this attribute. The
harshness and the combatlveness and
the severity have gone out of the old
man , and he is more lenient and aware
of his own faults , is more disposed to
make excuses for the faults of others ,
and he frequently ejaculates , "Poor
human nature ! " The young minister
preached three sermons on the justice
of God and one on the love of God , but
when he got old he preached three
sermons on the love of God and one on
the justice of God.
Christ's Descent to Earth.
If high Intelligences looked down and
saw what was going onthey must have
prophesied extermination , complete ex
termination , of these offenders of Jeho
vah. But no ! Who is that coming
out of the throne room of heaven ?
Who is that coming out of the palaces
of the eternal ? It is the Son of the
Emperor of the universe. Down the
stairs of the high heavens he comes
till he reaches the cold air of a Decem
ber night in Palestine and amid the
bleatings of sheep and the lowing of
cattle and the moaning of camels and
the banter of the herdsmen takes his
first sleep on earth and for 33 years
invites the wandering race to return
to God and happiness and heaven.
They were the longest 33 years ever
known in heaven. Among many high
intelligences , what impatience to get
him back ! The Infinite Father looked
down and saw his Son slapped and
spit on and supperless and homeless ,
and then , amid horrors that made the
noonday heavens turn black in the
face , his body and soul parted. And
all for what ? Why allow the Crown
Prince to come on such an errand and
endure such Sorrows and die such a
death ? It was to invite the human
race to put down its antipathies and
resistance. It was because "God is
love. "
Now , there is nothing beautiful in a
shipwreck. We go down to look at
the battered and split hulk of an old
ship on Long Island or New Jersey
coast. It excites our interest. We
wonder when and how it came ashore
and whether it was the recklessness
of a pilot or a storm before which
nothing could bear up. Human nature
wrecked may interest the inhabitants
of other worlds as a curiosity , but
there is nothing lovely in that which
has foundered on the rocks of sin and
sorrow. Yet it was in that condition
of moral break up that heaven moved
to the rescue. It was loveliness hover
ing over deformity. It was the life
boat putting out into the surf that at
tempted its demolition. It was har
mony pitying discord. It was a living
God putting his arms around a re
creant world.
Our World's Wickedness.
But for this divine feeling I think
our world would long ago have been
demolished. Just think of the organ
ized wickedness of the nations ! See
the abominations continental ! Behold
the false religions that hoist Moham
med and Buddha and Confucius ! Look
at the Koran and the Shastra and the
Zend-Avesta that would crowd out of
the world the Holy Scriptures ! Look
at war , digging its trenches for the
dead across the hemispheres ! See the
great cities , with their holocaust of
destroyed manhood and womanhood !
What blasphemies assail the heavens !
What butcheries sicken the centuries !
What processions of crime and atrocity
and woe encircle'the globe ! If justice
had spoken , it would have said , "The
world deserves annihilation , and let
annihilation come. " If Immutability
had spoken , it would have said : "I
have always been opposed to wicked
ness and always will be opposed to it.
The world is to me an affront infinite ,
and away with it. " If omniscience had
spoken , it would have said : "I have
watched that planet with minute and
all comprehensive Inspection , and I
cannot have the offense longer con
tinued. " If truth had spoken , it would
have said , "I declare that they who
offend the law must go down under
the law. " But divine love took a dif
ferent view of the world's obduracy
and pollution. It said : "I pity all those
woes of the earth. I cannot stand
hsre and see no assuagement of those
sufferings. I will go down and reform
the world. I will medicate Its wounds.
I will calm Its frenzy. I will wash off
its pollution. I 111 become Incarnat
ed. T will take on my shoulders and
upon my brow and into my heart the
consequences of that world's misbe
havior. I start now , and between my
arrival at Bethlehem and my ascent
from Olivet I will weep their tears and
suffer their griefs and die their death.
Farewell , my throne , my crown , my
scepter , my angelic environment , my
heaven , till I have finished the work
and come back ! " God was never con
quered but once , and that was when he
was conquered by his own love. "God
is love. "
Christ the Comforter.
If one paragraph of the creed seems
to take you , like a child , out of the
arms of a father , let the next para
graph put you in the arms of a moth
er. "As one whom his mother com-
forteth , so will I comfort you. " Oh ,
what a mother we have In God ! And
my text Is the lullaby sung to us when
we are 111 , or when we are maltreated ,
or when we are weary , or when wo are
trying to do better , or when we are be
reft , or when we ourselves He down to
the last sleep. We feel the warm cheek
of the mother against our cheek , and
there sounds in it the hush of many
mothers : "God is love. "
This was the reason the Bible was
written. The world needs no inspired
page to tell it that God will chastise
sin , for that is proved in the life of
many an offender. You can look
through the wicket of any prison and
see the fact which the world under
stood thousands of years before Solo
mon wrote it "The way of the trans
gressor is hard. " The world needed
no Bible to tell It that God Is omnipo
tent , for any one who has seen Mont
Blanc or Niagara or the Atlantic ocean
in a cyclone knows that. The world
needed no Bible to tell it of God's wis
dom , for everything , from a spider's
web to the upholstery of a summer's
sunset , from the globe of dcwdrop to
the rounding of a world , declares that.
But there was one secret about God
that was wrapped up in a scroll of
parchment , and it staid there until
apostollic hand unrolled that scroll ,
and let out upon the world the start
ling fact , which it could never have
surmised , never guessed , never expect
ed , that he loved our human race so
ardently that he 'will pardon sin and
subdue the offender with a divine kiss
and turn foaming malefactors into
worshipers before the throne. Oh , 1
am so glad that the secret is out and
that it can never again be veiled ! Tell
it to all the sinning , suffering , lying
race ; tell it in song and sermon , on
canvas , and in marble , on arch and
pillar ; tell it all around the earth
"God is love. "
The Domination of Fear.
Notice that the wisest men of the na
tions for thousands of years'did not ,
amid their idolatries , make something
to represent this feeling , this emotion.
They had a Jove , representing might ;
Neptune , the god of the sea ; Minerva ,
the goddess of wisdom ; Venus , the
goddess of base appetite ; Ceres , the
goddess of corn , and an Odin , an an
Osiris , and a Titan , and a Juggernaut ,
and whole pantheons of gods and god
desses , but no shrine , no carved image ,
no sculptured form has suggested aged
god of pure love. That was beyond
human brain. It took a God to think
that , a God to project that , a God let
down from heaven to achieve that.
Fear Is the dominant thought in all
false religions. For that the devote-ss
cut themselves with lances and swing
on iron hooks and fall under wheels
and hold up the right arm so long that
they cannot take it down. Fear , brut
ish fear ! But love is the queen in our
religion. For that we build temples.
For that we kneel at our altars. For
that we contribute our alms. For that
martyrs suffered at Brussels market
place and at Lucknow and Cawnpur
and Pekin. That will yet bejewel the
round earth and put it an emerald on
the great , warm , throbbing heart of
God.
Proof That God Is tore.
Do you want more proof that "God
is love ? " Yea , disinterested love. No
compensation for its bestowal. No re
ward for its sacrifices. But I call that
back. The world did pay him. It paid
him on Calvary , paid him with bram
bles on the brow and four spikes , twofer
for the hands and two for the feet , and
one spear for the side near the heart ;
paid him in execration ; paid him with
straw pillow in a barn and a cross on
a hill ; paid him with a third of a cen
tury of maltreatment and hardship
save one year yea. is paying him yet
in rejection of his mission of mercy.
Having dethroned other kings , the
world would like to dethrone the King
of Kings. But he knew what he was
coming to when he left the portals of
pearl and the land where the sun
never goes down. Yes , he knew the
world , how cold it is , and knew pain ,
how sharp it is , and the night , how
dark it is , and expiation , how excru
ciating it is. Out of vast eternity he
looked forward and saw Pilate's crim
inal courtroom , and the rocky bluff
with three crosses , and the lacerated
body in mortuary surroundings , and
heard the thunders toll at the funeral
of heaven's favorite , and understood
that the palaces of eternity would hear
the sorrow of a bereft God.
What do the Bible and the church
liturgies mean when they say , "He de
scended into hell ? " They mean that
his soul left his sacred body for awhile
and went down into the poison of
moral night , and swung back its great
door , and lifted the chain of captivity ,
and felt the awful lash that would have
come down on the world's back , and
wept the tears of an eternal sacrifice ,
and took the bolt of divine Indigna
tion aganst sin into himself , and , hav
ing vanquished death and hell , came
out and "came up , having achieved an
o
aternal rescue if wo will accept It.
Road It slowly , read It solemnly , road
It with tears , "He descended into hell. "
He knew what kind of pay ho would
et for exchanging celestial splendor
for Bethlehem caravansary , and ho
' .lured all and crime , the moat Illus
trious example In all the ngcs of dlaln-
Kclioliig Hack DUIno Ixivr.
Now , the only fair thing for human
hearts to do is to echo back that sov
ereign love. You and I have stood In
mountainous reglous where , uttering
one distinct word , the echoes would
come back with a resonance startling
and captivating , and from all our
hearts there should sound unto the
heavens responses glorious and long
continued. Let the world change Its
style of payment for heavenly love. No
more payment by lances , by hammers ;
no more payment by blows on the
cheek and scourging on the bnck. an < l
hooting of mobs , but payment In ar
dors of soul , in true surrender of heart
and love to the God that made us.
and the Christ who ransomed us , and
the eternal spirit who by regenerating
power makes us all over again.
Alexander the Great , with his host ,
was marching on Jerusalem to capture
and plunder it. The inhabitants came
out , clothed In white , led on by the
high priest wearing a miter and glit
tering breast plate on which was em
blazoned the name of God. and Alex
ander , seeing that word , bowed and
halted his army , and the city waa
saved. And If we have the love of God
written In all our hearts and on all
our lives and on all our banners at
the sight of it the hosts of temptation
would fall back , and we would go on
from victory unto victory , until we
stand in Zion and before God.
Leander swam across the Hellespont
guided by the light which Hero the fair
held from one of her tower windows ,
and what Ilellesponts of earthly strug
gle can we not breast as long as we
can see the torch of divine love hold
nut from the tower windows of the
King ! Let love of God to us and our
love to God clasp hands this minute.
0 yo dissatisfied and distressed souls ,
who roam the world over looking for
happiness and finding none , why not
try this love of God as a sohico and
inspiration and eternal satisfaction ?
When a. king was crossing a desert in
caravan , no water was to be found , and
man and beast were perishing from
thirst. Along the way were strewn
the bones of caravans that had pro-
ceded. There were harts or reindeer in
the king's procession , and some oiif
knew their keen scent for water and
cried out , "Let loose the hurts or rein
deer ! " It was done , and no Boonor
were these creatures loosenM tlrm
they went scurrying in all direct Join
looking for water and soon found it.
and the king and his caravan Wf-r >
saved , and the king wroce on some
tablets the words which he had i' * .ul
some time before , "As the hart pantfMi
after the water brooks , so pantuli my
soul after thee. O God. "
Some have compared the lov of
God to the ocean , but the comparison
fails , for the ocaan has a shore , an-l
God's love is boundless. But if you
insist on comparing the love of God to
the ocean , put on that ocean four swift
sailing craft , and let one sail to the
north , and one to the south , and ono
to the east , and one to the
west , and let them sail on a
thousand years , and after that let thorn
all return and some one hail the fie l :
and ask them if they have found the
shore of God's love , and their four
voices would respond : "No shore ! No
shore to the ocean of God's mercy ! "
FASTEST TRAINS.
America Lends the "World In the Matter
of Quick Transportation.
Statistics recently published reveal
some interesting facts regarding the
fastest regularly scheduled railroad
trains in the leading countries of the
world. The United State * ; heads the
list with four trains run from Phila
delphia to Atlantic City. Two of thes < ,
running on the Philadelphia and Read
ing , attain a speed of 6G.C miles pel-
hour for a distance of fifty-five and
one-half miles , being the fastest regu
lar runs in the world. The two other
trains , on the Pennsylvania line , nt"
at the rate of 6J.3 miles per hour , the
distance over its line being fi ty-nin >
miles. The Midi of France , In a rim
from Morceaux to Bordeaux , a distance
of sixty-seven and three-quarters
miles , maintains a speed of Cl 6 rnile
per hour. England brings up the rear
with two trains , which are scheduled
to make the run between Doroheter
and Wareham , a distance of only hf-
teen miles , at the rate of CO.l mil s
per hour. The fastest long-distanco
run is made over the Orleans and Mill
railway , in France. The run is from
Paris to Bayonne , a distance of W1/ !
miles , and is made , including six stops ,
at the rate of 54.13 miles per hou
Then follows the New York Central's
empire state express , running from
New York to Buffalo , -140 miles , includ
ing four stops , at 53.33 miles per hour ,
and finally again England , with a tram
on the Great Northern , running be
tween London and Edinburgh , 303MJ
miles , at 50.77 miles per hour.- Chicago
cage Chronicle.
American Honored by Italian KInfi >
General W. F. Draper of Milford.
Mass. , has received from the king of
Italy the grand cordon of the Order
of SS. Maurice and Lazare as a token
of appreciation of the general's serv
ices during his mission in Italy. The
grand cordon is one of the highest dec
orations conferred by that court.
Lord Rosebery's mother , the Duchess
of Cleveland , is 81 years old , but in
the beat of health. She is one of the
most active "woman politicians" of
England.