The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917, November 28, 1902, Image 3
•<*•♦++++++♦ The Bow of Orange Rjbbon A ROMANCE OF NEW YORK By AMELIA E. BARR. Author of 'Trlond Ollvto," "I, Thou and th«s Other Ono,w Cto. Copyright, 1285, by Dodd, Head and Company. {♦++++++ ■S--C—fi**> ♦+•!• •!■<*❖++++•!•++■••<••{•+•}•+■{•+•>+♦++++•!• 4*4,++ ♦++-K *++*+++>++++ CHAPTER I. The Van Heemskirks. It was May in New York one hun dred and twenty-one years ago, and yet the May A. D. 1S86—the same clear -air and wind, the same rarefied fresh ness, full of laint, passing aroma3 from the wet earth and the salt sea and the blossoming gardens. In the city the business of the day was over; but at the open doors of many of the shops little groups of ap prentices in leather aprons were talk ing, and on the broad steps of the City Hall a number of grave-looking men were slowly separating after a very satisfactory civic session. They were all noticeable men. but Joris Van lieemskirk specially so. His bulk was so great that it seemed as if he must have been built up; it was too much to expect that he had ever been a baby. He had a fair, ruddy face, and large, firm eyes, and a mouth that was at once strong and sweet. And he was also very handsomely dressed. The long, stiff skirts of his dark-blue coat were Heed with satin, his breeches were of black velvet, his rut iles edged with Flemish lace, his shoes claspeu with silver buckles, his cocked hat made of the finest beaver. With his head a little forward, and his right arm across his back, he walked slowly up Wal) street into Broadway, and then took a northwest erly direction towards the river bank. His home was on the outskirts of the city, but not far away; and hi3 face lightened as he approached it. Councillor Van Heemskirk’3 father had built the house and planted the garden, and he had the Dutch rever ence for a good ancestry. Often he sent his thoughts backward to remember now ht- walked by his father’s side, or leaned against his mother's chair, as they told him the tragic tales of the tld Barneveldt and the hapless I)e Witts; or how his young heart glowed to their memories of the dear father land, and the proud march of the Ba tavian republic. "Good evening, Mr. Justice. Good evening, neighbor,’’ and he stood a minute, with his hands on his garden gate, to bow to Justice Van Gnasbeeck and to Peter Sluytc-r, who, with their wives, were going to spend an hour or two at Christopher Laer’s garden. "Men can bear all things but good days," said Peter Sluyter, when they had gone a dozen yards in silence; "since Van Heemskirk has a seat in the council room, it is a long way to his hat. Come, now, lie was very civil, Sluyter. He oows like a man not used to make a low bow, that is all.” "Well, well, with time, every one gets into his right place. In the city Hall, I may yet put my chair beside his. Van Gaasbeeck.” "So say 1. Sluyter. and for the pres ent it is all well as it is.” This little envious fret of his neigh bar lost itself outside Juris Van Heem skirk’s home. Within it, all was love and content. Madam Van Hcfimskirk was a little woman, with clear-cut features, and brown hair drawn back ward under a cap of lace very stilly starched. Her tight-fitting dress of blue taffeta was open in front, and looped up behind in order to show an elaborately quilted petticoat of light blue camblet. Her white wrool stock ings were clocked with blue, her nigh heeled shoes cut very low, and clasped with small silver buckles. From her trim cap to lier trig shoes she was a pleasant and comfortable picture of a happy, domestic woman; smiling, peaceful, and easy to live with. When the last duty of the day was finished, she let her bunch of keys fall with a satisfactory "all done” jingle, that mnde her Jorls look at her with a smile. Then he asked: “Where Is Joanna and the little one? « And Bram should be home ere this.” “I am not uneasy, Joris. They were to drink a dish of tea with Madam Semple, and Bram premised \o go for them. And, see, they are tomlng; hut Bram is not with them, only the elder.” Elder Alexander Semple wras a great man in his sphere. He had a reputa tion both for riches and godliness and was scarcely more respected In the market-place than he was in the Mid dle Kirk. And there was an old tie between the Semples and the Van Heemskirks—a tie going back to the flays when the Scotch Covenanters and Jje N'etherland Confessors clasped tlands as brothers in their “churches tinder the cross.” Then one of the Semples had fled for life from Scot land to Holland, and been sheltered in the house of a Van Heemskirk; and from generation to generation the friendship had been continued. So there was much real kindness and very little ceremony between the fami lies, and the elder met his friend Jorls with a pleasant "good evening,” and sat down in front of the blazing logs. Joanna tied on her white apron, and. at a word from her mother, began to take from the cupboards various Dutch dainties, and East Indian jars of fruits and sweetmeats, and a case of crystal bottles, and some fine lemons. She wa3 a fair, rosy girl, with a kind, cheerful face, a pleasant voice, and a smile that was at once innocent and bright. Her fine light hair was rolled high and backward; and no one could have imagined a dress more suitable to her than the trig dark bodice, the quilted skirt, and the white apron she wore. Her father and mother watched her with a loving satisfaction, and Elder Semple was quite sensible of Joan na's prescaeo, and of wbat she was doing. At this point Katherine Van Hcents kirk came into the room, and the elder slightly moved his chair and said. "Come awa’, my bonnie lassie, and Tel us hae a look at you." And Katherine laughingly pushed a stool towards the fire, and sat down between the two men on the hearthstone. She was the daintiest little Dutch maiden that ever latched a shoe—very diminutive, with a complexion like a sea-shell, great blue eyes, and such a quantity of pale yellow hair that it made light of its ribbon snood, and rippled over her brow and slender white neck in bewildering curls. Long before supper was over, Madam Van Heemskirk had discov ered that this night Elder Semple had a special reason for his call, and when the meal was finished, and the girls gone to their room, she was not aston ished to hear him say, "Juris, let us light another pipe. 1 hae something to speak anent—Sit still, guidewife, we shall want your word on the mat ter.’’ vjn w.'iai matter, finer: “Anent a marriage between my son Neil and your daughter Katherine.” The words fell with a sharp dis tinctness, not unkindly, but as if they were more than common words. They were followed by a marked silence, a silence which in no way disturbed Semple. He knew' his friends well, and therefore he expected it. Juris at last said slowly, "For Kath erine the marriage would be good, and Lysbet and I would like it. However, we will think a little about it; there is time, and to spare. One should not run on a now road. Say what you think, Lysbet." “Neil is to my mind, when the time comes. But yet the child knows not perfectly her Heidelberg. And there Is more; she must learn to manage a house of her own. So in time, I say, it would be a good thing. We have been long good friends.” “We hae been friends for four gen erations, and we may safely tie the knot tighter row. The land between this place and my place, on the river side.-, is your land, Joris. Give it to Kathmine, and I will build the young things a house; and the furnishing and plenishing ffCj ll share between us.” “There is more to a wedding than hotifco and land, elder. A young girl should be wcoed before she is mar ried. You know how it is; and Kath erine, the little one, she thinks not of such a thing as love and marriage.” “Wha kens what thoughts are under curly locks at seventeen? You’ll hae noticed, madam, that Katherine has come moir often than ordinar’ to Sem ple House lately?” “That is so. It was because of Col. Gordon's wife, who likes Katherine. She is teaching her a new stitch in her crewel-work.” “Hum—m—m! Mistress Gordon has likewise a nephew, a vera hand some lad. I hae seen that he takes a deal o' interest in the crewel-stitch likewise. And Nell has seen it too— for Neil has set his heart on Kather ine—and this afternoon there was a look passed between the young men 1 dlnna like. We’ll bo haeing a chal lenge, and twa fools playing at mur der, next.” “I am glad you spoke, elder. Thank you. I’ll turn your words over in my heart.” But Van Heemskirk was un der a certain constraint; he was be ginning to understand the situation, to see In what danger his darling might be. He was apparently calm; but an angry fire was gathering In his eyes, and stern lines settling about the lower part of his face. “My Lysbet is the finest lady In the whole land. Let her daughters walk in her steps. That Is what I want. Now, there la enough, and also there is some one coming.” “It will be Neil and Bram”; and, as the words were spoken, the young men entered. “Again you are late, Bram”; and the father looked curiously In his son’s face. It was like looking back upon his own youth; for Bram Van Heemskirk had all the physical traits f his father—his great size. his eotn .landing presence and winning ad ;ress, his large eyes, his deep, sonor us voice and slow speech. With the advent of Bram and Neil, he consultation ended. The elder, grumbling at the chill and mist, .vrapped himself in his plaid, and leaning on his aon’s arm, cautiously dcked his way home by the light of a lantern. Van Heemskirk put aside his pipe, nodded gravely to his son, and vent thoughtfully upstairs. In his own room he sat dawn on a big oak chest; and, as ho thought, hie wrath slowly gathered. Semple knew that gay young English officers were coming and going about his house, and he had not told him until he feared they would interfere with his own plans for keeping Neil near to him. He remembered that Semple had spoken with touching emphasis of his longing to keep his last son near home; but must he give up his darling Katherine to further this plan? "I like not it,” he muttered. "God for the Dutchman made the Dutch woman. That is the right way; but I will not make angry myself for so much of passion, so much of nothing at all to the purpose. That is the truth. Always 1 have found It so.” Then Lysbet, having finished her second locking up, entered the room. She came In as one wearied and trou bled, and said with a sigh, as she un tied her apron: “Joris, the elder’s words have made trouble in my heart. What did the man moan?” \\ no can leur wnat. a man says, we know; but only God understands what lie means. But i will say this, I.ysbet, and it is ws»at I mean; If Semple has led my daughter into the way of temptation, then, for all that is past and gone, we shall be un friends.” “Give yourself no kommer on that matter, Joris. Hove not some of our best maidens married into the Eng lish set? There is no harm, I think, in a girl taking a few steps up when she puts on the wedding ring.” Mean you that our little daughter should marry some English good-for nothing? Look, then, I would rather see her white and cold in the dead chamber. I will have no Englishman among the Van Heemskirks. There, let us sleep. To-night I will sjsak no more.” But madam could not sleep. She was quite sensible that she had tacitly encouraged Katherine’s visits to Sem ple House, even after she understood that Capt. Hyde and other fashion able and notable persons were fre quent visitors there. Lysbet Van Heemsklrk saw no reason why her younger children should not move with the current, when it might set them among the growing aristocracy of the New World. She tried to recall Katherine’s de meanor and words during the past day, and she could find no cause for alarm in them. She could not remem ber anything at all which ought to make her uneasy; and what Lysbet did not see or hear, she could not imagine. Yet the past ten hours had really been full of danger to the young girl. Early in the afternoon, some hours before Joanna was ready to go, Kath erine was dressed for her visit to Semple House. It stood, like Van Heemskirk s, at the head of a garden sloping to the river; and there was a good deal of pleasant rivalry about these gardens, both proprietors hav ing impressed their own individuality upon their pleasure grounds. The space between the two houses was an enclosed meadow; and this af ternoon, tho grass being warm and dry and full of wild flowers, Kather ine followed the narrow footpath through it, and entered the Semple garden by the small side gate. Near this gate was a stone dairy, sunk be low the level of the ground—a deli ciously cool, clean spot even in the hottest weather. Passing it, she saw that the door was open, and Madam Semple was busy among Its large, shallow, pewter, cream-dishes. She was beating some rich curd with eggs and currants and spices; and Kather ine, with a sympathetic smile, asked delightedly: u/iiccowancs, uiauaui ; “Just cheesecakes, dearie.” "Oh, I am glad! Let me fill some of these pretty little patty pans.” “I’ll do naethlng o’ the kind, Kath erine. You'd be spoiling the bonnie silk dress you hae put on. Go to the house and sit wi’ Mistress Gordon. She was asking for you no’ an hour ago. And, Katherine, my bonnie las sie, dinna gie a thought to one word that black-eyed nephew o’ hers may say to you. He’s here the day and gane to-morrow, and the lasses that heed him will get sair hearts to them ed's.” TV# bright young face shadowed, a sudden fear came into Madam Semple’s heart as she watched the girl turn thoughtfully and slowly away into the house. (To be continued.) Then He Saw it. Von Biumer (roaring)—Who told you to put this paper on the wall? Decorator—Your wife, sir. Von Biumer—Pretty, isn’t it?—Har> per's Bazaar Calcareous Woman. A woman has just died in a Phil adelphia hospital who has been for some time an object of interest to medical men. The disease of which she finally died changed her bones to a chalky substance, and several times she fractured her arms and legs by slight movements of her body. So brittle did her frame become that the doctors feared her neck might be dis located, and she was placed in her bed in such a position that she could only move her head a few inches. i ne manner oi accni. A medical practitioner calls atten tion to the danger of scent-drinking. He says he has known a number of cases, chiefly among ladies, where the eau-de-Cologne habit has produced shattered health and mental disor ders. It is curious that the most ar dent abstainers from ordinary alco holic drink have been known to fall victims to this unnatural craze. In one case of delirium tremens a ward K.be was found stocked with empty I tau-de Cologne bottle. iNoisy risn. Many nsh can produce musical sounds. The red gurnard has earned the name of sea-cock from the crow ing noise which it makes, while an other species is cailod the piper. Others, notably two species of ophi dium, have sound-producing apparatus, consisting of small, movable bones, which can be made to produce a sharp rattle. The curious ‘'drumming1* made by the Mediterranean flsh known as the maigre can be heard from a depth of thirty fathoms. WOItbS OK WARNING SOME FALLACIES OF LOPSIDED PROTECTIONISM POINTED OUT. Protection Is a Policy Designed for the Benefit of the Country as a Whole and Not for the Advantage of Special Interests. The Boston Herald of a rercnt date iontained an editorial on “Haw Ma terials” In which the writer remarked: ‘The reason why there is an outspok en desire for free raw materials to the obviously logical one that when a duty a Imposed on raw material which greatly increases its price it greatly burdens the processes of manufacture from the very first, and when under such circumstances we attempt to compete in manufactured products with nations which do not have their industries thus handicapped we are placed at a terrible disadvantage.” The outspoken desire to which the Herald refers is only heard in New England, and it speedily becomeb hushed when the manufacturers of that section are reminded, as they have been at times, that the parts of the country which produce raw mate rials will not waive the protection on their products and permit the New Englanders to retain the tariff on man ufactured articles. Once before the West gave New England a sharp re minder on this point, and it will be apt to repeat its warning if the “Pro tectionists” of that section do not thoroughly learn the lesson that the policy is designed for the benefit of the whole country and not alone for the New England states. But it is not true that the demand for free raw materials is inspired by the desire spoken of by the Herald. Eugene N. Pass, a candidate for Con gress in a Massachusetts district, gave the real reason a few days ago in a speech made by him at Jamaica Plain, when he said: i ueueve mat unless mere is a re adjustment of the tariff on the lines of freer raw material the next ten years will see our great shoe manufacturing establishments, our cotton and woolen mills, our iron and steel plants march out of New England to the West, where they will get their wool and hides at their door; to the South, where they will pick the cotton from the fields; to Pennsylvania and Ohio, where they will dig the Iron and coal from the mountain side and transform them on the Bpot to the manufactured article." Here we have the true motive. Fear that the manufacturers of the West may enjoy an advantage of those of New England is at the bottom of the movement, and not any well grounded belief that free raw materials would mean cheaper products for the Ameri can consumer. But does Mr. Foss imagine for a single moment that the West, having plain notice served upon it that the protection for its peculiar products will be struck at, will not strike at Massachusetts in return? He must be afflicted with brain softening if he thinks wool can be attacked anJ woolen manufactures go unscathed. But it is not to call attention to the lopsided ideas of the alleged Massa chusetts protectionists that Mr. Foss’ remarks are quoted. They are simply cited to emphasize an assertion which the Chronicle has frequently made, that the symmetrical application of the protective dostrine is sure to prove economical in the long run. Mr. Foss unconsciously points out the method when he says that the effect will be to build up great manufactur ing industries in the West. That is what it all tends to, and very properly. The center of population has moved westward steadily, and the center of the manufacturing industry is pursu ing it closely. This accomplishes the highly desirable result of eliminating waste. It must be obvious if the West as Mr. Foss implies has iron ore and wool and accessible supplies of raw cotton, and works them up in mills near the fields of production, an un necessary double carriage will be avoided, and that means an Immense saving to the vast body of consumers living in the central sections of our Union. Ann uiaL is me proieaseu purpose oi protection. Its object is to bring the workshop and consumer close together whenever it can be done profitably. That it can be in the central section of the Union Mr. Foss makes quite clear when he dwells on the fact that the West has cheap raw materials, plenty of fuel and foodstuffs and a big popu lation, capable of supplying skillful workers in abundance and able to con sume a vast quantity of what they produce.—San Francisco Chronicle. TARIFF COMMISSION. Would It Prove More a Benefit Than a Nuisance to Business Interests? While greatly admiring the skill and energy with which the New York commercial Is conducting Its tariff commission propaganda among the business men of the country, we could wish that its zeal might bo expended in a bette* cause, not to say a cause that is more i'.kely to prevail. There is, we feel sure, small proba bility that the tarlfT Is going to be divorced from politics either tnrough the creation of a bi-partisan board, a non-partisan board, or any other sort of board. The tariff will stay In poli tics as long as its enemies stay in polities, and that promises to be a long while. The Commercial, how ever, is very much in earnest in its crusade, and to this end is circulat ing blank petitions for the signatures cf business men. The petition reads as follows: “A Petition for a Permanent Tariff Commission. “To the President of the United States, and Members of the Fifty Seventh Congress: “We, the undersigned, citizens, taxpayers and business men of the United States, believe that any whole tule revision of our tarilT schedules is inadvisable, as such action is sure to seriously disturb business condi tions and cripple many business en terprises. But realizing, as we do, tbat it is only a question of time when some changes must be made in these schedules, to provide for such changes we respectfully and most earnestly petition you to enact, with out unnecessary delay, such legisla tion as may be necessary for a bi partisan and permanent tariff com mission, whose duty It will be to In telligently assist congress to make such changes in our tariff and reci procity laws, from time to time, as may be found necessary.” Busy men are apt to sign and re turn this petition without stopping to think that it contemplates the crea tion of something which we already have and do not need. The country is now provided with a tarifT commission tbat is both permanent and bi-parti san. As a matter of fact, we have two tariff commissions of this bi partisan character. First, the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance, acting separately at first and after ward concurrently, and having full charge of all tariff matters. Second, and auxiliary to this, we have the Board of United States General Ap praisers, a permanent body or bi partisan (supposed) tariff experts, composed of live Republicans and four Democrats—that is to say, five protectionists and four free traders— holding office for life, or during good behavior, and subject to removal only ‘■for cause” and by death. The two committees of Congress are made up for the most part of men who have made the tariff a special study and hence are familiar with its relations to the industries and the trade of the country taken as a whole and also taken in all its parts. They are men who know, for example, that a protective tariff must be uniform and fair in its operations; that you must not deprive one interest of pro tection for the benefit of another in terest which retains its protection. Along these and parallel lines these men have framed all our tariff laws, and just as the committees have had protection or free trade majorities, so have they framed protective or free trade tariffs. In short, a permanent bi-partisan commission taking its I owers and its instructions direct from the people, and from no other source. Not a bad sort of tariff commission, one would think. One of its very best features is to be noted in the fact that this permanent bi-partisan tariff commission lets the tariff alone for years together and never touches it at all save when ordered so to do by the votes of the people. In this way business and industry and trade go along with certainty and safety. They know “where they are at” all the time, so far as the tariff is concerned. Should wo improve on this if we had an additional body of bi-partisan Irre rponsibles who, as Andrew Carnegie expresses it, "would havo to be doing something with the tariff” all the time? As to the second bi-partisan tariff commission, which we already have, the United States Board of General Appraisers, these functionaries, some cf them protectionists and some free traders, afford a splendid example of the idea of bi-partisan irresponsibility as worked out In tariff matters. They often reverse themselves, and are still oftener reversed by the courts. You never know where to find them. Their rulings havo been so varied, so confusing, in many cases so ridicu lous, so essentially and so character istically "bi-partisan” that Congress has for some time past had under serious consideration the passage of a bill legislating them out of office. Originally constituted to serve as an intervening qpasl-judicial body which should lighten the labors of the regu lar courts, this bi-partisan tariff com mission has bo muddled and messed matters as to add materially to busi ness uncertainties and the labors of the regular courts. we wuuiu Bugge»i uim uuaiuess men, before signing the New York Commercial’s petition, should ask themselves: ‘‘What is to be gained by the crea tion of a third bi-partisan tariff com mission that shall have no final Juris diction or authority, and whose func tions shall consist in part in volun teering to Congress advice which Congress does not need and will not heed, together with the continual stirring up of things which had bet ter be left alone until Congress gets ready to stir them up?" ‘‘Would not the proposed perma i ent bi-partisan tariff commission be more likely to prove itself a nuisance than a benefit?" What Do They Want? The tariff reformers should at anee designate what duties should be low ered and how much. If congress is expected to agree within thirty days after convening, these tariff reformer editors should be able to agree within a number of days. If the reformers want to hit high prices they will have to hit farm produce. The understand ing is that if the prices of everything had been low there would have been no tariff discussion. Therefore the reformers must want lower prices. If this be true they should tell us what prices should come down. Prices are always high in good times and low in poverty-stricken times. Do they v/ant 1 poverty again?—Des Moines Capital. Like the dumb waiter, some people keep silent about their ups and downs. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. LESSON IX, NOV. 30; JUDGES 7:1-8 —THE THREE HUNDRED. Golden Text—“It Is Better to Trust in the Lord Than to Put Confidence in Man”—Psalma 118:8—God’s Won derful Deliverance. Israel's Life for Two Centuries. In Lesson VII. we had a general view of the two centuries before Gideon,—the suc cess, the moral defections and decadence following a religious decline, then out ward troubles and disasters which led the people to see the evil of their ways, and to repent. Judges were raised up who delivered them. After God, through Deborah and Barak, had saved the people from the oppression of the Lowlander Canaanltes, they had a peaceful time of prosperity for forty years, at the close of which period nnother enemy overran the country, the deliverance from whom Is the subject of to-day’s lesson. As the former deliverance from the punishment for their sins faded In the passing years, the Israelites began again to decline, first In their religious life. Re ligious decline was easily followed by "a condition of lassitude, sensuality, and Im potence.” II. The Ravages of the Bedouins from beyond Jordan.—The wandering hordes of the desert coveted the riches of this favored region which seemed the very gates of paradise; and to the number of at least one hundred and thirty-live thou sand (Judg. 8:10) "streamed over the fords of the Jordan year by year, migrat ing thither, with their households and herds. In such numbers as could only be compared, by those whom they Invaded, to a flight of locusts; which, indeed, they rivaled In destructiveness.”—Golkle. III. Gideon called to be the Deliverer of his People.—One day Gideon wns threshing wheat. An angel messenger from Jehovah came to him thus em ployed, and bade him deliver Israel. iv. uiaeon s ocnoois ana oi'iiuummu ters.—All Gideon's previous faithfulness In daily life, Ills unselfishness, his piety, had been preparing him unconsciously for the great work of his life, By dally duties done from worthy motives we aro prepared for our life's work. Gideon had a work to do In his own village and In his father's house. That very night he bravely threw down the altar of Baal. And not only cut down the pillar of Ashtaroth. hut split It up for fuel: and, having laid It on the altar of Jehovah, used It to consume, In sacri fice to him, a bullock which his father had apparently consecrated to Baal. The citizens were angry when they discovered what Gideon had done, anil would have put him to death, but Ills father's clever Irony saved him. This test was both for himself, to give him confidence, and as a proof to the Israelites that he had the qualities of a leader In God's service V. The Assembling of Gideon's Army. —V. 1. Gideon blew hts trumpet and first gathered his own clan Into the nucleus of an army. Then he sent messengers through his own tribe of Manasseh, In the region of Samaria, and omitting Issachar who dwelt in Ksdraelon, then held by the Mtdlanltea, summoned the three northern tribes of Zebulon, Asher and Nnphtall who occupied what later was called northern Galilee. Thirty-two thousand were assembled to meet the one hundred and thirty-five thousand Mldlunites, not quite one to four. The Situation. 1. “Jerubbaal, who is Gideon." Jerubbaal means “Let Baal plead" his own cause, "the antagonist of Baal,” and was given to Gideon because he destroyed the altar of Baal in his own town of Ophrah. "Pitched" their camp "beside the well" (or “spring”) “of Ha rod," at the eastern end of the plain of Esdraelun. | VI. Thp Famous Three Hundred.—Vs. 2-7. 2 "And the Lord said unto Gideon" (In what way we do not know) “The peo ple . . . are too many.” etc. Since the object of tills deliverance was not chiefly to save the people’s farms and crops from the Mldlanlfes, but to save them from their sins, and to teach them to trust and obey God, the method of gain ing the victory must be such as to pro duce this efTect. The first test. 3. "Proclaim . . . Who soever Is fearful let him . . . depart." Therefore Gideon thinned out his army, and everybody afraid or half-hearted had to retire from the critical scene.”- -Elms lie. Second Test. 4. "The people are yet too many. 'lo produce the desired moral ef fect. “I will try them.” The ten thou sand were brought down to the stream flowing between the armies, to drink. 5. "Every one that lappeth of the wat er with his tongue, as a dog lappeth . . . putting their hand to their mouth" (v. 6), using their hands as a dog uses his tongue. Three hundred "did not break rank or stop In their march, but dipped their hollowed palm Into the stream, and tossed a little In their mouth as they ran,’’—Murcus Dods. 6. “All the rest of the people bowVd down upon their knees to drink.” 7. “By the three hundred men . . . will I save you.” God did it, through these fitting instruments thus selected. VII. The Great Victory—V. 8. Then the three hundred In the night divided Into three bands, and silently surrounded the Mldlanltes. Each soldier had a lamp or torch, a pitcher In which he placed it while marching, and a trumpet. Sudden ly, at a signal from Gideon, each one took out his lamp, smashed the pitchers vrlth a crashing noise, shouted, "The o-rord of the Lord and of Gideon,” and blew the trumpets. It seemed to the Mldlanltes that there were three hundred leaders each with a company behind him; and they began to destroy one another, think ing they were enemies. All the Israelites had to do was to hold their lamps and keep blowing their trumpets, and shout ing. as If an army were behind them. The result was a complete rout of the enemy, and deliverance from their raids for a long time, while Gideon became the judge of Israel for forty years. VIII. Some Practical Lessons.—So God's church during the ages has been exposed to many assaults from the world; some times the worldly spirit has overrun It; sometimes the hordes of false doctrines, of dead forms, of ungodly ease, have ■ought to plunder Its treasures. 2. The value and power of God's people are to be found not so much in numbers us In quality. 3. "Many who have real faith and grace are unfit for special services, and unable to boar peculiar trials .from which, there fore, the Lord will exempt them, and to which he will appoint those to whom he has given superior hardiness, boldness, and firmness of spirit.’’—Scott. The True Estimate. Our world Is not made for geniuses, nor managed by them. Its beat work Is done by people of moderate ability and more than mode.Yite faithfulness. Their loyalty to duty in home, churches, business, and public life is the salt which keeps the world sweet and clean. They are not much known to the newspapers, but their names are written in heaven as its agents and correspondents in the busy life of earth. When the final verdict comes, they will be the astonished people at hearing of their worth.