HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1926-07-08, Page 7AI
For the_.L
Boys and Girls
IN THE FIRE -FLIES' KINGDOM
,]3Y IMOGENE H. SYI(ES.
"I have one beautiful rose on my one of the tiny creature's flashed
_4.- bush, which I hays saved to give you through her fingers, as. she held it up
for the side child," said Nile. Drew; •against the vine, "that fire -flies were
to the minister's wife; as they.' left lanterns in the hands of angels, who
the shady porch and walked down the were looking for lost souls. I Wonder.
garden -path toward' the flower -beds, • if mins is ',est for stealing another's
A pair of guilty eyes peeped after rose, and if these are angels hunting.
them, from the screen of vvoodbine at for it?"
one end el the noroh, behind which The fire -flies, oalne closer and closer.
was shrinking a little -girl, who seem- around her, flying in her face, on her
ed afraid to venture after therm. • hair, and dropping down lightly on her
"Oh, doer, ehet•.i find it gone!„ she dress, as she shrank back into the
ejaculated, in diamau,• .s3ypping- down honeysuckle, as' her sense of guilt made
n the -shade of the honeysuclee, and
crouching deep in its fragrant leaves
to hide herself:-
"I wish I hadn't touched the old
thing!" she c.tie.l, :_Cldly, only half -
ashamed of what .the had donee. "But
it was only one rose, and I wanted it
to make rose-water for Bel:lab's party,
and mother needn't -have been so mean
about refusing. Now, the minister's
wife will know,.and one's} tell -the min-
' inter, and he'll preach a sermon at me
.about disobedience 'and atealingi As
if taking one rose was stealing!"
She peeped out again as footsteps
sounded near her, and saw her mother
pairing with her visitor at the garden -
gate, .with a sad look .on Iver usually
cheerful face.
A sudden pang struck' the little
girl's heart as she watched her tuth
off on a by-path leadidng from the
porch, as if she wished to be alone
with her own sad thoughts.
.Jessie plucked the leaves from the
vine with nervous fingers, and strug-
gled with the good spirit that prosnpt-
ed her to run after her mother and
.confess her, fault.
But a sense of shame held her back.
She had clop* xi mean thing, and her shadow•now and then, like a •soft
moral courage was not strong enough cloud, and the lovely plants' with their
to let her confess it. broad leaves growing upward into a
-She was a heave child,. and had a shaded canopy:
good deal of cool nerve, as was proven i She attempted to rise and t en dis:
when the hay -rick fell over on her and I covered that she
was unable to move
she was covered un der the,. hay for from the spot where she was lying, for
hours,' with only a little breathing- !her hands were bound together by a•
Awe about as big as her hand, and heed of silvery light. And, stretched
when she was at last found and re- befo?.'e her, like a barrier, was a screen
leased from her perilous -position,' did of 'tiny sparks which, as they glistened
-not even bry or grow nervous. ' ,` and darkefied, seemed ro, be shutting
But she had -so. bravery for this her out from the
Tpure white iite:osu•>re
great clanger;she *as placed. in, 'no 'beyond. _
strength to resist the overwhelming • Akeavy weight was upon her heart
eeee,- feeling of -Shaine that crushed • her , and 'a burning brand seethed to. burn
down without•even a little breathing- deep into her brow.
`"place. • _ • I' Her eyes dared not meet the holy,
"I don't think it's somagic circlf
very wrong," , radiance of that ma •i
e rom
she' argued, making a pile of her .which she was shut out, and, as they
leaves and idly filling the hole in the sank down with- bitter shame, the
centre with the long ,tongues of_ the tears rushed into them quickly,
woodbine. "Only another is so par "What do you bring me?" asked a
tauter. She wants me to mind .every wondrous voice, so full of love and
little thing. She wonft, care -to-pity that Jessie started up to listen
morrow." -..I with trembling heart.
still •Jessie lingered in her hid -1 . ' And, through the white radiance
ing-piece,. and, despite her bravado, l flitted the shadow, growing g mare dis-
h•ee afraid to meet the angels' eyes.
She looked up through the vine- at
the stars. They shone down serenely
in her face, and, volt/the lovely hush
of night now -all around, filled her
with a sense of .great longing and
sorrow.
Her head drooped back in its leafynest, her hands clasped each other
over the golden lamps in her lap,' and
as the sobs came half -uttered, as -if e
spell was holding them back, she mur-
mured:
"Please, dear angels, are you look-
ing for me?,;
And she sank off into dreamland,' or
into the kingdom of the fire -fides, forthey- glittered over her sleeping face
With a magic wand, and waftedheroff into their mystic realms,
• She was in •e place of de:deinus fra-
grance, and a soft, white light•filled
the air and the cool, green plants that
arose 'up to the dome of heaven, while
the trickling murmur of water made
a sweet rhythm with the sighing sound
of the breeze.
Jessie looked about her in tremulous
awe. Nothing was visible but, the Clear
white light, through which passed a
• fet very, sorry in her heart that she tinct each moment until a White -robed her as it had done in the presence of
e ang-.
RHEIMS,CATHEDRAL
Shelled by the Germans in the war, now being restored through the liberality
of Jahn D. Rockefeller; 85,, who has, given the money to Franco for the pur-
pose. The'scaffolding is being erected around the building, which is one of
the most historic and beautiful in Europe. It was the scene of the corona-
tion of the King of France after the victory of Joan of Are.
Jessie knew she had been dreaming
as she sat up anrubbed her cramped
arms, upon, which her head had been
resting, but. the 'spirit of the dream
was upon her with a holy calm, and as
she stretched out her hands to the fire-
flies gleaming' in and out the woodbine,
she murmured, p•enitentf-y:
"Dear fire -flies, I will never go into
your kingdom again as 4 wicked girl,
And I know now that you do watch
over us for the akar angels."
She saw her mother corning along
the. path in- her. white dress', and ran
to her, joyously:
"Mamma, I aur-Sori,y I pained• you,"
she said, bravely, holding tight*. the
dear hand as she confessed her fault.
Then she told her dream, and the
influence of the pretty. legend clung to
her throughout her childhood, helping.
her to forbear from many a wrong; l
actest the brand of 'her brow and
the weight on her soul should shame
' 'had so wiafuliy peeased her e.f in figure, with wide -spread wings, hever-
*tearing that deep red rose to, pyeces, e1 in the -centre, -
and mixing it up in a glass dish with! "A guilty' soul," murmured a little
water. and sugar, as a delectab' bev-' glittering, sound, like the tinkling of
erege for her -dell, but imbibed by her- gold
y.�eel! in're'n a.•l sips and with much! And the living screen glowed and
"" relish. •' I darkened before the angel, with a
It was toe:have been sent to a sick swift mingling of light and shadow.
boy in the village, and her mother- "Ah!" sighed the loving voice.
had charged her not to touch it, i "What is its sin?"
And she had taken, it, despite Ohs I "Disobedience, theft and cowardice,"
warning, She felt very miserab:e in murmured` the fire lies,.sadly.
her hiding -place, and wished her mo- 1 "And the sinner a little child!" cried
ther would find her, and make confer- the angel, with great sorrow, as the
sion easy by putting he arm around scintillating screen parted, and the
her and questioning her gently. 1 white wings fluttered down beside
-But the evening lengthened, and no Jessie.
one came near her. The porch remain- "My child," said the tender voice,
ed deserted, save for its one occupant, as a soft hand touched -the burning
half -Bidden in the woodbine, and a!'brand on her forehead,"is the fruit of
deep -silence filled the air. your sin still sweet to your willful
A tiny spark glistened suddenly denl lips?"
I
tinder Jessie's fingers; another, an -I Then. it- seemed to Jessie as _if a
other—here t
here,' on her hair, :be- i great dull weight. feel away from her.
tween her fingers, as she idly tore the She Telt her spirit grow light and
leaves—until al at once she was sur- 'happy,. and the dull weight fell a
g way
rounded by the golden light flashing from her. She stood erectbefore the
In and out so rapidly. !White -robed figure .and held out her
Jessie looked at the fire -flies with a bound hands.
sudden thought, and a questioning I' "Forgive me, dear angel!" she cried
� g cried,
awe in her face, as they -flitted pleadingly. "Oh, help meto find my
through the wire=screen above her, in soul , aiid I will try to keep it safe!
and out the fragrant vine.
"Mother read in a little book trans- around liar with a delighted gleam,
lated from the German, the other and raise her up -e their tiny.. wings
p ee.wngs
day," she sdid, with a hushed voice, as to -receive the angel's kissof pardon.
And the fire -flies seemed to flash
REG'LAR '. FEET FRS—By Gene Byrnes.
AW1 leerT For
Y'DoUT NAFTA
TALK TO ttele,
ANYMORE!
WHAT'S
BI -N.
YOU?
Down in. Miami,
She -"Why do you smoke those aw-
ful cigarettes? Don't you know they
slow up the heart'action?"
He—"If they df'dn'.t, ,mine .would be
racing all the time down here at the
shore,"
Divers.
Bobby -"Pa, :did: people go swim-
ming a lot in Bible times?"
Father -"I don't know. ` Why?"
Bobby -" well, it says here that they
died of divas diseases:"
YOU, PROMISED
'
YOU WOULDN'-
GNE AWAY THE
GECItti
Who's Who in Music.
Chopin -1810.1849,.
When Chopin was a boy, his beauty
rare,
And genius won him homage every
where:
Of Polish birth, his parents well to do,
Within a gentle atmosphere he grew.
Though long he lived upon a foreign
strand,
His thoughts turned ever to his native
land.
His sufferings Oiling 111s loving heart
with. woe,
And to this grief much of his work
we owe. .
Once .at the piano, Chopin •nisi and
played.
To his young schoolmates, listening,
half afraid,
To the strange robber talehisfingers
told; •
slow they all broke into a house for
- gold,
And when the deed was done_ ran far
away
Into the woods to sleep until the day.
And while sweet chords described
their slumber deep
His little friends fell, one by one,
asleep.
Then Chopin, all, with lively chords
awoke
The little sleepers laughing at his
Joke.
Poor Chopin died at Paris ere his
prime,
But left a name remembered for all
time,
Charming Thought.
It was after dinner and the talk had
turned to psychology. -This disturbing
question had just been put: "When
does age really begin"?
To establlah a formula was proving
BATH BY THE WAY
Tho Sabbath morn .dawned bright
A iniet went up from the stream. The
whip -poor -will was silent, but row be-
gan the thrush, the mother, the red-
bird, Die, robin and the wren. Break-
fast was so sweet, with the dogwood
around and the log nneeting-house
dreaming in the sun. Early enough—
toward ten by the minister's big -sliver
watoh—appeared a woman, a slight,
person in a plain gray gown
and gray close -fitting bonnet. She
Crossed the stream upon a log fixed
well above the water" and smoothed
fee walking, .but without :a handrail.
When she saw the wagon she stopped
for a .moment, shading her eyes with
her hand, then came On to the meet-
ingbeese, the little green, and the Sel-
She was the first of the Scatter -
goods. Mee, women and children,
others presently appeased: Then came
the Taverners, then the Qarrye and
the wastes, • All were dressed without
any pomp and In one color, but most
neatly. All eaid "thee" and "friend"
and 'John" and "Jean" and 'Chris,
tina" all had. deliberation and gentle-
ness; all were glad that the jeurneyers
to the Shenando county should come
to meeting.
Thee' sat in the meetinghouse, the
Sellcirks and Stephen Trabue, the men
with the men, the women with the wo-
men. G'•eat-"quiet fell. The walls of
the building were of round logs, the
chinks between filled with mortar;
above the beanie• rose a cavernous,
shingled root; . 'the floor was wood,
smoothed as it` might be, the benches
rude, without backs. The two heavy
doors and the small windows stood
open to the sunshine, It poured in, be-
stowing upon theinterior gold bars
and gold dicks and gold dust. But the
Quakers seemed to sit 1n silver—or
maybe gold within and silver without.
A plain silver and•restfuh The forest
pressed around, the forest fragrance
entered with the wandering airs, and
also the song of birds and the ripple
of the Stream,' But the Quakers sat
without ' sound or movement, not
preaching nor praying nor singing.
The elder Selkirks and Trainee doubt-
less knew of that; they sat as culotte'
as their hosts. But Tam and Elizabeth
had not understood. They waited for
•the minister, and when he did not ap-
pear . . no one came to tell about
it; no &Idea' rose and took the situa-
tion in hand. Time went on. • Nothing'
but quiet- Tam, for all the Thistle
brae training, fidgeted, diawing'at 1as
hie father's attention., who bent to him
and whispered. "This is their way
Sit still, and pray and sing within."
Tam subsided, He was used to ab
etracti.on of attention In kirk, and
knew the way—though sometimes
what his father was saying caught
him: Now he went with promptness to
that miraculous Valley before him, and
then far alteration to the moor above
Thistlebrae, • to Rob and "Wil and
Jamie and Angus; the atone fort they
bad there, the curlews in the blue air
above, and the two doge, Dart and
Dover, He sat quite contentedly, pit,:
ing stones for the Wallace Tower.
Elizabeth drew the like' information
from her Aunt Kirstie. "No, nothing's
happened. It's' their way. They just
sit still and try to hear God speaking.
Yon do the same!" So Elizabeth eat
still and tried for it. Like" Tann she
saw Thistiebrae, though she went else-
where than to the moor and the build-
ing fortresses, 'hen she thought of
the Valley to which tlhey were going,
and she also made it a child's para-
dise—only `she hoped that the wolves
would not shown at night. Several
nights ago, waking, she had heard
them, away in the forest, and had seen
Stephen getup and throw a great
branch upon ,bhe fire. She hoped there
wouldn't be wolves—or rattlesnakes—
or Indians, A bird was singing in an
ash tree that pressed close to the win-
dow, He was singing because the
Quakers wouldn't. In Thistlebrae they
Were singing, -/
ages
A PLAGUE OF
THISTLES
t FortnnateIy the world has begun to
take concerted section against weeds,
Probabiy -few people know that even
Britain has Iaws compolliug farmers,
building ayndicates, and owners of gar-
dans to keep thorn reasonably well
weeded, and there are already more
than a thousand. Government weed in-
spotors• in Canada.
It is astonishing how weeds travel,
often causing greater trouble in the
country of their adoption than in the
original soil'
English thistles are an example,
d'hey bother Australian farmers far
more than British cultivators, and are
equally troublesome in many paras cf '
America,
How the Thistles Came,
The invasion a!: the New World by •
Scotch thistles, was due to a curious:
accident.
Some sixty or seventy years ago
emigrants outfittingshops in tire
neighborhood of Liverpool Docks end-
denly developed a big .trad-e in thistle-
down, used for making mattresses for
the use of emigrants,
E'rom Boston, New York, and Phila-
delphia the emigrants passed inland
with their mattresees, which eventual-
ly wore out, and, being thrown on the
farmyard rubbish heap, provided for-
midable centres of dispersal of a
plague of thistles.
As early as the reign of George IV.
one hundred and thirty-seven s:peciefe
of British weed had accompanied voy-
agers to the United States and made
themselves at home,
But America has retaliated with
other weeds, the most troublesome be-
ing two 'water eels, 'which choke
streams in Warwickshire and the West
of England,
Ruthless Remedies.
0 lord unto my prayer give ear,
My cry let come to thee --
A stream of light was flowing from
the door through the meetingghouse. It
struck on this side and on that where,
like a doubled string of beads, sat
without motion men and women, ,
They sat ao still, held in that light.
In the meetinghouse the quietness
continued. The Spirit moved no one
to speak. The plaee grew peace, not
gray peace but crystal peace. Jahn
Selkirk sat with folded hands. "Lord,
Lord, In °a New Land give us peace
with freedom!" The redbird sang, the
crystal peace flowed on.—Mary John-
ston, in "The Great Valley."
At An Iridian Railway Station
An lndian rail: ay station is a naiv
mixture of the old and the new—civil
sation treading on the heels of sup
station, .In the big cities, such as Bom
bay, the stations .themselves are
fairly good imitation of their Londe
pi•ototypfis, In them you will fin
large ticket, telegraph and inquiry o
flees, bookstalls:, • electric luggage
trucks, long platforrne and re-reshmen
rooms. So much for the framework.
The 'figures in the picture however
belong to an earlier day of traveling
when the children of Israel .were
marching through. the desert to the
promised land. Men of every caste
and creed, with turbans of every
shape anandhue—Parsecs in frock coats
cotton. trousers, and shiny fish -shaped
hats; erect Punjabi Mussuhnans, walk-
ing with a swagger; soldiers in khaki
wearing khaki le haps; white -clad
that ascending sing -song that trails;off
on •a questioning note. At Jhansi a
e man sells dolls of ail sizes; dressed in
1- the gaudiest colors and braids, they
er- sit tiffly on a tray poled on his head.
One particular scene will always te-
a main with me. A gravel platform un -
n der the white hot glare of a noonday
d sun; scarlet flowers, and two white
f
sleeping figures stretched out on the
ground: A little boy is splashing- un,
tier the pump. A tongs draws up out-
side the railings, and deposits ite bur-
den of veiled ladies. Like gayly
plumed birds, in their green, red and
Yellow draperies, they flutter onto the
platform and, with .much jingling 0f
bracelets and whispering, squat down
In a circle.' From the branch of a pipal
, tree is swinging a baby monkey, while
its father, of wise and wizened face,
sits at the trunk of the tree watching
the train.
"bearers" watching over their sahib's
belongings like anxious hens over
their brood; coolies staggering along
with enormous loads balanced .on their
beads; a family squatting on the plat-
form, and from its mother's arm two
large black eyes set in a tiny brown
face surveying the scene.
No one hurries';' eo one Is impatient.
It Is doubtful whether the equivalent
of the phrase "to catch a Whin" or "to
miss your train" exists in the vernacu-
lar. In India you go to the "lsteslrun,"
and if you have just missed your train
you squat on the platform and sleep,.
eat and exchange views with your
neighbors until the appearance of an-
other train. You are always sure of
having neighbors, however small the
rather difficult, when one lady, who station, becausehere a station is aI-
id not look her years, found the fol-
lowing:
"To me, old age is always fifteen
years older than I ate"
Hatred,
Mother (scrubbing Johnny's ears)—
"I certainly hate dirt,"
Johnny—"I diol tco, ma,"
most as much a social meeting place
as a means of coming and going. In
fact, many up -country stations at a
first glance look like some sort of open-
air hostel.
When the train art -Ives, innumerable
hawkers 'collect like Ries round the
arriage window. -A man with sticky
weetmeats in a wire cage balanced
n his head
his wicker show stand
ucked under his arm; a little Hindu
oy with English magazines of doubt -
11 age; men with trays of oranges,.
naval, grapes, crying their wares in
0
Mother—T'd never believe it! Why t
do you hate dirt?" b
Jobnuy—"'Cause it make you wash fl
me:'
Y'DID sot
SNoIaTY
BLABBERMOUTH
AN !Rump KNOW
ALL- ASOUV
O 8
IT!
y'cANT sA
flvar Z GAVE
rr AWAY !
0 i�
e
An Ostrich's Appetite. -
Monk—"Let's go have a little lunch."
Ostrich—"I'm not hungry, I just ate
a couple of kegs of nails."
For the 'Waste Basket.
'A round piece of heavy paper or oil
cloth placed in the bottom of a wicker
or other open -mesh waste basket pre-
vents the pencil shavings and other
fine materia:] from sifting through on
the floor. Thissimple precaution
eaves many steps. _
Nonsense.
"Whata's the use of saving $50?"
"None whatever, It's too little far
a car and too much to give` the wife."
Sealing Out to the Enemy.
' oNEY
fl' FOR FIV•R ,
JELL`i BEANS AN
ANOTHEIR
SECRET.
5,
ye-
onrciR af9t yy�t he Bali S adient
1,1
C¢t,w
',$ytz glee _
Some American States are ruthless
In their warfare on weeds, and in Wis-
consin a certificate is withheld from
any crop of seeds if its examined sane
pie is found to contain more than one
weed seed per thousand,
Few pleasant men have had more
harsh things said about them by farm-
ers than the late Mr. Ranstea•d, who,
many Years ago, procared for his gar-
den in Philadelphia from an liinglish
wood some roots of that charming wild
flower, the yellow toadflex.
The balance of .Nature here holds it
in a relatively insignificant position,
but It speedily spf'ead all over Pennsyl-
vania's farms and gave a great deal of
trouble in the neighboring states. It is
known in the United States as Ran -
stead's weed.
Chickweed seeds were a plentiful
constituent of a mixture for feeding
pet birds, which was imported frons
England by a Boston tradesman. A
number sprouted when cages were
cleaned out In the garden and the
plant rapidly apread,
lies$ Ta%IiB�le.
Nothing is more notable In the min
try of Jesus than his self-restraint in
lie use of his mighty power. He con
tautly refused to work miracles either
satisfy the curious or to prove the
thorny of his omission. The final
st of truth is troth itself, and not
y supernatural event supposed to
reify it. Jesus desired that men
ould believe for the.truth's sake,
t, if they were not able to do that,
en, and as a less satisfactory rea-
n, "for the very work's sake." When
had cleaused the temple and was
ked by what miracle He could prove
e authority, He said, "Destroy. this
mple, and in three days 1 will raise
ups,
That was a very ehrewd answer. He
ew that they would die rather than
t. one impious finger toward the-des-
ction of the temple, His very
nemies must have admired the skill
th which he laid upon then the obit-
-ion to provide a preposterous coudi-
n for the working of the miracle
teh-they were demanding: Certain -
they did not suspect, and He did net
end" that they should suspect,; that
e,spalee of the temple of his body."
t they must have remembered at -
ward that it was his. enemies who,
the murder of Jesus, provided for a
rade , greater than any they had de -
he
ended
noblest buildings of antiquity
ere its temples. In China, India,
gYp't, Greece and later in Christian
nds temples were the most costly
artistic of architectural creations.
t Solomon knew, and so did most
pie -builders, that •uo temple could
Con
God. Man himself -1s the real
rnple,
ail made the human bodybeautiu-1
athen peoples are not the only- ones
o have disfigured it with self -in -
tell deformation. Tatooing and foot -
ding and the wearing of nose -rings
e their parallels in modern culture,
paint and the plastic surgery or
drew times have little occasion to
roach savagery,
epochs Which proclaim the wnr-
p of the body and go.no.farther are
iods in which the body itself is de-
fied and the spirit is enslaved: The
y of the body is that its marvelous
ehanis•m is dominated by a purpose,
lean mind, e healthy imaginatioii,'a
1 that does not grovel, these glorify
temple, of God, humanity,
Is
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s
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as
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it
len
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ly
int
"H•
Bu
ter
by
mi
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He
wh
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bin
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The
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the
Cumberous Language,
It must be hard to call a plumber in.
a hurry In Austria,"
"Why so?„
"Over there they cell the bursting of
a water pipe, 'hoehquellenwasserisitnn-
gsr•ohenfatalitatee'.'^ ,