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A r o u n d t h e O l d A r m C h a i r ,
THE DAWN OF PEACE being- naturally the most timid and
By John Ruskin.
unassuming little bO'dy in the
Awake; awake! the stars are pale,
the east is russet gray;
world, it was with a troubled heart
They fade, behold, the phantoms fade that she set forth to do' her duty
that kept the gates of day; by the Lord. But she was determined,
nevertheless. "Ob, Lord,"
Throw wide the burning valves, and
let the golden -streets be free.
Miss Sibbie had prayed, "they are
The morning watch is past—the
watch of evening shall not be.
so unconscious of their souls and
so ignorant of the Scriptures!
Put off, put off your mail, ye kings, They might also be heartless for
and beat your brands to dust! all the mind we've paid them."
A surer grasp vour hands must know,
your hearts a better trust.
Nay, bend aback the lance's point and
break the helmet bar;
By "we" Miss Sibbie meant the
A noise is on the morning winds, but
not the noise ot war.
Among the grassy mountain paths the
glittering troops increase—
They come! They come!—How fair
their feet—They come that publish
peace!
Yea, victory, fair victory! your enemies
and ours!
And all the clouds are clasped in
light, and all the earth with
flowers.
THE CHRISTIAN NATION. Vol. 511.
far for the women to walk, and Sibbie to herself, "if I can just
they Avould not have gone away, once get them started and interested,
they will feel the weight of
for their calicoes and slat bonnets
would not have felt at ease in the their ignorance and accept the
midst of the Smithville fashions. preacher. But, O Lord, I am
Ah, still depressed and dim with dew; So year by year the Bend folks such a poor leader! Like Moses,
but yet a little while.
had gone theirs, each unconscious I am so slow of speech and stammering
of tongue. But I ain't one
And radiant -n'ith the deathless rose
the wilderness shall smile; of the other. But with Miss Sibbie
it was different. Her own to shirk my duty."
And every, tender living thing shall
feed by streams of rest; farm was not far from the Bend, If Miss Sibbie had feared that
Kor lamb •shall from the fold be lost and she had gone there on her they would not come, she was sur­
nor nursling from the nest.
For aye, the time of wrath is past,
and near the time of rest.
And honor binds the brow of man,
and faithfulness his breasi,—
Behold, the time of wrath is past,
and righteousness shall be.
And the Wolf is dead in Arcady, and
the Dragon in the sea! —Ex.
THE FRUIT OF LABOR.
l!y Lydia !\Iarion Weakley.
When ]\Iiss Sibbie slapped the
reins on old ?>Iaud's back and
leisurely started on her way to
t'.'e rounds of the Fend she did
r
^o with a troubled heart. Not that
>.!is^ Sibhie minded .Q'oing the
rriip.ds of thie Bend. Sbe frequentlv
did tbat, carr^dns" with her a
l)ottle of cordial for ^Irs. Potts"
babv, or a new quilt pattern ior
old Granny Lewis, or some chicken
and jelly for some sick or
needy one, and it was always with
J feeling of pleasure and a little
giow at her heart that the trip was
I'.egun. But this time it was different.
]\Hss Sibbie had decided
tlinl she owed it to the Lord to
r^j.en up a little Sabbath school
;imong the poor families living on
ibeir hits of farm? scattered np
ar.d down Rush River Bend. And
members of the Smithville church.
That church was tbe boast of the
town and of the many in the surrounding
country who drove miles
each Sabbath to listen to the rousing
sermons by the young preacher.
But the Bend folks had never
felt the influence; for the Bend
was six miles from Smithville, too
errands of mercy until she had
entered Miss Sibbie's conscience,
and she was weighed down with
the extent of their ignorance and
t'.'eir indifference to all matters
religious. So she had begun to
talk of a mission church and to
try to interest the town folks in
their behalf, with the result that
I hev had agreed to send the
S k i n
L o v e l i n e s s
preacher, to the Bend
two Sabbaths
a month, provided the farmers
would raise two hundred dollars
towards his increased salary.
But alas for the Bend! They did
not want the preacher.
"No," said Jeb Stevens, a sort
of spokesman for them, "we have.
been making it purty well so fur
'ithout a parson, and I 'low we
can git on a\ spell longer. We
needs the two hundred worse than
conversion, though^ we hates to go
ag'in you, ^Jiss Sibbie."
And Miss Sibbie had sighed and
smiled and begun her work all
over again, this time to persuade
the Bend to recei\ie the preacher.
So with mudh trepidation and
abundant faith she had gone the
rounds and asked the Bend to
meet wdth her in the little log
schoolhouse. ''For," argued Miss
prised. Of course they came. It
was a sort of mild dissipation in
their dull lives—a chance for the
women to show their new calico,
and thie girls to see their sweethearts,
and the men tO' swap 3-arns.
Each Sabbatb they came—ithe
poor, faded mothers and the fretful
babies, the girls all crimped
and curled and the 3roung men
is easy enough of attainment if,"every time
you wash yourself, you use
P e a r s ' S
It forms suf-h an effective combination of detergent and
emollient properties that, as the late Professor Sir Erasmus
Wilson, the greatest skin specialist of the 19th century, said,
" Pears is the most refreshing and agreeable
of balms for the skin" and it is
Matchless for the
lexion
n
slicked and shining—and reotilar
ly Miss Sibbie, in her sweet, un
trained voice, told them the les^
sons of the Scriptures. Sometime!
it was the story of Christ on Calvary,
again it was David and thf
giant, and always the singing
Miss Sibbie would lead off in hei
sweet old-fashioned voice, and tht
others followed in that peculiar
discordant tone tbat belongs to
that class. It was not melody tha'.
they made, and it would have pained
any ear less in harmony than
iMiss Sibbie's. But I tbink the
angels themselves must have stopped
to listen. For it was tbe simple
prayers of an uncouth people,
too ignorant to frame their own
petitions, but in all sincerity pouring
out tbeir humble gratitude in
the language of tbe poets. That
was all. Just the story and the
songs, then they went home. So'
it continued for a year or more,
Miss Sibbie hugged the hope thaf
soon they would receive thc^
preacher, but always received a",
positive "No," until her spirit wfii
discouraged. "It is not any usf*
at all," sbe sighed. "I am not do-^
ing anything but running a sing'
ing school. They dc not want sal
vation and the minister any mon*
than tbey did at first."
Then the accident happened—"
the dark old cellar, tbe slipper;-
steps, and poor Miss Sibbie wa"
laid up a cripple.
It was some weeks afterwari
111 at Jeb Stevens and) his wif.
came to see her. "Yes," he saic
"we 'low? we'd like to have th
parson now if he's a mind to coiw
We was mighty pleased with yor
teachin's. Miss Sibbie. But sine
the Lord seed fit to put you c
your b.^ck, we wants the preacher'
"Yes," chimed in his little wif
(Conclu'-'e.t on p'age 12.)
Young People^s Top:
YOUNG PEOPLE'S TOFF
FOR SEPT. 28, 1913-
By the Rev. Geo. S. Coleman, i
Missionary
Essentials at Hon,
and Aliroad. Giving. 2 Cor. '
6-15. ^
Psahns: g6:i-2; 86/1-7; 112:
5, 0; i^,=i:4-8; 68:30-.^i; '''.vS
(7s and 6s).
Bible iReference?.—Acts 20:3'
2 Cor. 8:9: Prov. 11:25; Malt.
I ; Luke 12:33-34; Acts 10:
Rom. T2:8; I Tim. 6:t,7-'9-' ^^"
(.Conclude,1 on pa-e ?•)