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About North Georgia times. (Spring Place, Ga.) 1879-1891 | View Entire Issue (May 23, 1889)
NORTH GEORGIA TIMES. £ B," CARTER, I I>r °P r H'Jtof. REY. i DR. TALI AGE • THE BROOKLYN DIVINE’S SUN¬ DAY SERMON. Subject “The Upper Forces In Ameri¬ can History.” Text: “And the Lord opened the eyes .of the young man; and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and char iots of lire round about Elisha .”—It Kings vi, 17. , As it cost England many regiments and two million dollars a year to keep safely a troublesome captive at St. Helena, so the King of Syria sends out a whole army to capture one minister of religion—perhaps 50, 000 men to take Elisha. During the night the army of Assyrians came around the vil¬ lage of Dothan, where the prophet was staying. At Elisha early rushed daybreak in the said; man servant of and “What shall we do? there is a whole army come to destroy you. We must die, we must die.” But "Elisha was not scared a bit, for ho looked up and saw the mountains all around full of super natural forces, aud he knew that if there were 50,000 Assyrians against him there were 100,(XX) angels for him; and in answer to the prophet’s prayer in behalf of his affrighted it too. Horses man of servant," harnessed the young man saw fire to char¬ iots of fire, and drivers of fire pulling reins of fire on bits of fire; and warriors of fire with brandished sword of fire, and the brill¬ iance of that morning sunrise w,v3 eclipsed cavalcade. by the galloping splendors the of th celestial “And Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw; and, behold, tho mountain was full of horses and chariots of firo round about Elisha.” I have which often threaten spoken to you American of the Assyrian institutions, perils one but now as we aro assembling to keep centennial cele¬ bration of the inauguration of Washington, I speak of the upper forces of the text that are to fight on our side. If all tho low levels aro filled with armed threats, I have to tell you that the mountains of our hope and coup age and faith are full of the horses and char¬ iots of Divine rescue. You will notico that tho Divine equipage is always kiel and represented Isaiah as John, a chariot of fire. Eze¬ and when they come to describe the Divino equipage, always repre¬ sent it as a wheeled, a harnessed, an uphol¬ stered conflagration. It is not a chariot like Kings and conquerors of earth mount, Thai but an organized and a compressed fire. means purity> through burning justice, chastisement, deliverance escapes. Chariot of rescue? yes, but chariot of fire. All our national disentliralments agonies and red have disasters. been through Through scorching tribu¬ lation the individual rises. Through tribu¬ lation nations rise. Chariots of rescue, but chariots of fire. But how do I know that this Divino equi¬ page is on the side of our institutions? I know it by the history of the last one hundred and from eight years. the The of American John revolution started pendence Hall, pen in 1776. The Hancock, in Inde¬ colonies without ships, yifhout without ammunition, without guns, trained warriors, mercy, without prestige. On the other side, the armies mightiest and nation the grandest of the navies earth, and the tho largest most distinguished commanders, and resources in¬ exhaustible, back them and in the nearly fight. all Nothing nations ready against to immensity. up as , The cause of the American colonies, which started at zero, dropped still lower through the the quarreling jealousies of small the Generals, and and through at successes, through the winters which surpassed all their prede¬ cessors in depth of snow and horrors of con¬ cealment. Elisha, surrounded by the whole than Assyrian army, did not seem to be worse off did tho thirteen colonies encom pass ed and overshadowed by foreign assault, what decided the contest in our favor? The upper forces, the upper armies. The green And white mountains of New England, the high¬ lands along tho Hudson, the mountains of Virginia, full all the Appalachian ranges were of re-enforcements whioh the young man Washington saw by faith, and his men endured the frozen feet, and the gan¬ grened and wounds, the long and the march exhausting because hun¬ ger, “the Lord opened the eyes of tho young man; and he saw; and, behold, the mountains were full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” Washington himself was a mira¬ cle. What Joshua was in sacred history the first American President was in secular his¬ tory. A thousand other men excelled him in different things, but ho excelled them all in roundness and completeness of character. The world never saw Mg like, and probably there never will see his like again, because probably never will bo another such exi¬ gency. Ho was let down a Divine interposi¬ tion. He was from God direct. I do not know how any man can read tho history of those times without admitting that the contest was decided by the upper forces. Then in 18G1, when our Civil tho War South opened, many at the North aud at pro¬ nounced it national suicide. It was not cour¬ age against against cowardice, it it was large not wealth poverty, was not States against small States. It was heroism against heroism, it was the the resources of pi many 'genei 1 - ations tions, against resources North many genera¬ against it was the prayer of the tile prayer of the South,it was one-half of the nation in armed wrath meeting the other Whkj; half -of cpuld ttiO cpine nation but in extermination? armed indighation. in-chief Aj tile of opening the United of the war States the forces commander was a man who had been great in battle, but old age had come with quietude. many infirmities, He could and ho had mount a right horse, to and ho rode not the a on battle field in a carriage, asking the driver not to jolt it too much. During the most of the four years of the contest, on the Southern side was a man in mid-life, who had in his veins the blood of many th&horoes genera¬ tions of warriors, himself one of o. < Chernbusco and Cerro the Gordo, Contreras af. arid T Chapulteppc. As years passed i*q the scroll pf fgnnage unrobed, there came strength out from both sides a heroism and ft and a determination that tho wqrid hsd never ^eya marshaled but extermination could come when Philip Sheri¬ dan and Stonewall Jackson met, and Nathan¬ iel Lyon and Sidney Johnson rode in from north and south, and Grant and Lee, the two thunderbolts of battle, clashed ? Yet we are a natjon, aud yot wo are at peace. Earthly courage did not decide the conflict. The up¬ per forces of the text. They fell us there was a battle fought above the clouds on Lookout Mountain; than that. but there was something higher Again the horses this and chariots of God came to the rescue of nation in 1876, at the close devilish qf a ferocity, Presidential election famous fqf A darker cloud yet settled down upon this nation. The result of the election was in dispute, and revolution, not between two or three sections, but revolution in every town and village and city of the the United States, seemed imminent. The prospect was that New York would throttle New York, aud Boston, New Orleans Boston, would and grip New Orleans, Savannah, and and 'Washington, Washington. Savannah, Some said Mr. Tilden was elected; others said Mr. Hayes was elected; and how near we came to universal massacre jotne of us guessed, but God only knew. SPRING PLACE. GA., THURSDAY. MAY 23, 1889. 1 ascribe our escape not to the hon esty and righteousness of infuriated pouticians, the but I ascribe it to the upper rolled forces of text. Chariots of mercy in, and though the w heels were not heard and the flash was not seen, yet all through the mountains of the north and the south and the east and the west, though the hoofs did not clatter, the <»valrv of God galloped bv. I tell you God is the friend of this nation. In the awful excitement at the massacre of Lin¬ coln, when there was a prospect that greater slaughter would open upon this nation, God hushed the tempest. In the awful excitement at the time of Garfield's assassination, God put His foot on the neck of the cyclone. To prove that God is on tho side of this na¬ tion, I argue from Tho last eight or nine great health national harvests, and from the national demics of the exceptional—and last quarter of a from century—epi¬ the great revivals very of religion, and from the spreading of the Church of God, and from the continent blossoming with asylums and reformatory which in¬ stitutions, and from an Edenization promises that this whole land is to be a Para¬ dise where God shall walk in the cool of the day. If I what in other sermons showed you was the evil that threatened to upset and demol¬ ish American institutions, I am encouraged moro than I can tell you as I see the regi¬ ments wheeling down doxologies, the sBy, and and that my which lere miads turn into was the Good Friday of the nation’s crucifix¬ ion becomes the Easter mom of its resurroo tion. Of course God works through human instrumentalities, and this national better¬ ment is to come among other things through a scrutinized ballot box. By the law of reg¬ istration it is almost impossible now to have illegal voting. There was a time—you and I remember it very well—when droves Df vagabonds wandered up and down on election day and from poll there, to and poll, voted and voted here and voted everywhere, and there amounted was no challenge; nothing, be- or, if there were, it to cause nothing vagabonds, could so Now, suddenly jn be proved well upon the every organized neighborhood, every voter is watched with severest scrutiny. I must tell tho registrar my name, and how old I am, and how long I have re¬ sided m the State, and how long I have re¬ sided in the ward or township, and if I mis¬ represent, fifty witnesses will rise and Shut mo out from the ballot box. Is not that a great advance? Aud then notice the law that pro¬ hibits a man voting if he has bet on the elec¬ tion. A step further needs to be taken and that man forbidden a vote who has offered or taken a bribe, whether it be in the shape of a free drink or cash paid their down, hand the suspicious the Bible cases obliged their to put in if they on vote at all. and swear vote So through the sacred chest of our nation’s suffrage God also redemption will wifi this come. nation through save has an aroused moral sentiment. There never been so much discussion of morals and im morals. , ,, Men,. whether , ,, or not ... they acknowl- , , edge what is right, have to think what is right. We have men who have had their hands m public treasury the most of then lifetime, hands stealing discoursing all they eloquently could about lay their dis on, public service, and with honesty m families their preaching men two eio ur three of own, of quently about the beauties the seventh and commandment. drunkenness is The thrust question in the of face sobriety of this u«tiL.li 1 ue hove* - kjcfoiti, and to take a pai-t iu our political contests. The question of na tional deferentially sobriety heard is going the to be bar respectfully Iegis- and at of every latiu-e and every house of representatives and every United States Senate, and an pm nipotent voice will ring down the sky and across this land tides and back drunkenness again, saying which to these rising of threaten to wholm home and church and car tion; “Thus far shalt thou come, but no fur ther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.” I have not m my mind a shadow of dis beartenrnent as large aq the shadow of a house fly’s wing. My faith is in the upper forces, the upper armies of the text. God is not dead. The chariots are not unwheeled, If you would only pray moro and wash your eyes the in the Christian cool, blight water, it would fresh bo from well of reform, said of you as of this one of the text: “The Lord opened the eves of the young man; and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of iiorses and chariots of fire round about Elisha,” When the army of Antigonus went into battle his soldiers were very muob discour aged, and they rushed up to' the General and said to him; “Don’t you see we have a few forces and they have so many more?’ and the soldiers were affrighted at the smallness of their number and the greatness of the enemy, Antigonus, himself and their said, commander, with indignation straightened and up “How vehemence; many do you reckon me to be?” And when we see tho vast armios arrayod against the cause of sobriety it I may ask sometimes bo very discouraging, but you of righteousness—I in making up your ask estimate how of the forces Lord God Almighty you many doyou reckon the to be? Ho is our commander. The Lord of Hosts is His name. I have the best authority tor tjiyiijg that the chariots of God ftfe twenty thoU sand, and the mountains are full of them. You will take without my saying it tlAt my only faith is in Christianity and in the upper forces suggested in the text. Political parties come and go, and they may tri right and they may bo wrong; bfit God lives, and I think He has ordained this nation for a career of prosperity that no demagogism will bo able to halt. I expect to live tnwsq political party which Ten Commandments wmhgvo^pmtteirm of SeinM two planks—the When and thd bp the Mount, that party is formed it will sweep across this land, like a tornado it I was fie going to say, but when I think I change is not to the devastation, but resuscitation, that wul figure end this say, land such like a party as gales from sweep heave®, across spoe Have you any dQubt about the need of tho Christian religion to purify and make decent American politics ? At every yearly or quad. rbunlal election we have in this country great manufactories, manufactories of lies, and they half orq run dozen day and night, and they rowdy' turn' out a a day all equipped and for fufi sailing. Large lies tod small lies, Lies Lies private cut bias tod and lies lies putyio and diagonal. lies prurient, Long cut limbed lies and lies with double-back action, Lies complimentary and lies defamatory, t ' i “"tua'i. some people believe, and lies that alTthe people believe, and lies Eke jbet nobody believes. Lies with Lumps camels tma scales add like feet crocodile? ana'neck? antelope’s as long and as Storks tis swift as an scalloped stings like adders. Lies raw and and panned and stewed. Crawling lies-and jumping lies and soaring lies. Lie* and with braiders at tachment screws and rufflers and ready wound bobbers. except Lies during by £hris- elec tian people who by novor lie but H r ,ti c and lies people who always campaign- fie, beat themselves in a Presidential I confess I am ashamed to have a foreigner I should visit this country in such tunes. think he would stand dazed, his bftnfl nights! PU W pocketbook, and dare not go out What will the hundreds of thousands of for signers who come here to live think of usl What a disgust they must have for the land of their adoption? The only good thing about it is, many of them cannot understand £k£f£J“Kffi; 2} sSC Si French papers translate it subscribers. all and peddle out 1 the infernal stuff to their ’ Nothing-but Christianity The 1 will Christian ever stop such a flood of ind&ency. while. The billings- re ligion will speak after a gate and low scandal through which we Wsraq every year or every tour years, must tte re¬ buked by the religion which speaks from its two great mountains, from the one mount¬ ain intoning tho command: “Thou shalt not bear false witnesses against making thy neighbor,” plea and from the other mount for kindness and love and blessing rather than eursing. Yes, we are going to have a na¬ tional religion. There are two kinds of natio xd9? religion, and The one is supported by the 8 tare, is a matter of human politics, and it has great patronage, and under it men will struggle qualifica¬ for prominence without referenco to tions, and its archbishop and is there supported great by a salary of ?T5,000 a year, are cathedrals, with all the machinery of music and canonicals, and room for a thousand peo¬ ple, yet an audience of fifty people or twenty people Tve or ten or such two. religion,as that, such want no no national, religion; hut we want this kind of national religion; tho vast majority of the people converted and evangelised, and then they will manage tho secular as well as the religious. Do this impracticable? No. you say that is The time is coming just as certainly as there is a God and that this is His book and that Ho has the strength and the honesty to fulfill His promises. One of tho ancient Emperors used to pride himself on performing that which his counselors said that was impossible, impossibles and I have to tell you to-dav “Hath man's are God’s easies. He said and shall He not do it? Hath Ho commanded and will He not brine it to pass?” The Christian religion is coming to lake possessiont>f every home, ballot of box, of every school house, of every every valley, of every mountain, of every acre of our national domain. This nation, notwith¬ standing all the evil influences that are trying to Never destroy it, is going according to live. John Miiton, since, to when “Satan was hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal skies in hideous ruin and combustion down,” have the powers of dark¬ ness been so determined to win this continent as they are now. What a jewel it is—a jewel carved in relief, the cameo of this planet! On one side of us the Atlantic ocean, dividing us from the worn out governments of Europe. On tile other side the Pacific ocean, dividing On tho us from the superstitions Arctic which of Asia. is the north of us the sea, gym¬ nasium in which the explorers and navigators develo p their courage. A continent ten thou¬ sand five hundred miles long, seventeen milliou one-seventh square miles, and njl of at rich it culti¬ but about oapnblo vation. Oue hundred millions of popula¬ tion on this continent of North and South America—one hundred millions millions, and All room flora tor many hundred more. and nil fauna, all metals and all precious woods, and all grains and all fruits. The Appalachian the ganglia range carrying the backbone, life all through and the riv¬ and ers out to the extremities. Isthmus of Darien the narrow waist of a giant continent, all to be under one government, unit all free, and all Christian, and tho scene of dirist’s per sonal reign on earth if, according to tho ex¬ potation fast of hi, many throne good people, this world. l:e shall Who at set up in s lmll leave this hemisphere, shore Christ or Satan? ^ho shall have the of h«r inland seas, tho silver- of hw N evedas, the gold of her Colo¬ ra dos, the telescopes of her observatories, the brain of her universities, the wheat of her prairies, the beaches—the rice of her savannas, the two great Baffin’!; ocean Terra one Fuego, reaching! mm bay to del and the other from Behring straits to Cape Horu-- and all the normal and temporal and spiritual and everlasting interests of a population vast beyond all human computation? Who shall have the hemisphere? You and I will decide that, by or help to decide by it maintenance* byconsoien tious vote, earnest prayer, of philanthropies, Christian institutions,'by by body, support of great soul tho right sido putting pf all moral, mind an<\ and national on religious Ah! it will movement^, nut be long before it will not make any difference to you or to me what be. comes of this continent, so far as earthly corn fort is concerned. All we will want of it will be the seven largest, feet and by there three, and that be will take in will room and to spare. That is all of this country \\0 Will need very soon—the youngest of us, But wo have an anxiety of the about generations the welfare that and the happi neas are coming on, and it will be a grand thing if, whop the arch, angel's trumpet like sounds, we find that our sop ulchor, Vided for tqe oue is Joseph of Arimathea pro One of Christ, in the midst of a garden, the seven wonders of the world was the white marble watch tower of Pharos of Egypt. Sostratus, the architect and soulptor, after it, bufldiug Then he that watch tower cut his name on and covered it with Mastering, to please the outside King ho put the monarcVs name on the of the plastering; and the storms beat, and the seas dashed in their fury, they and they washed off the plastering, and washed the it out, and they washed it down, but namo of Sostratus was deep cut in the imperishable rook. So across the face of this nation there have been a great many names written, religions. across our finances, across of remembrance, our amte written niuius worthy n on “ the nrchiti^kir-e sofiOUl^ and of gpr asylums, churches, and’our and our otar homes of mercy, but God is the architoot of this continent, grandeurs, and he was tho sculptor of all its and long the uttei 1 , tldough the wash of the ages apd tempests of centuries all dthof names .hall be obliterated, the Divine signature and brighter and Divine namo, wifi be brighter as the millenniums go Uv and the world shall see that tk* God %ho wade this continent -has redeemed it by His grace from Have afi 'its sorrows faith and from thing afi its crimes After all you ip such a teen ns that? the chariots fiave wnwheeled, and after all the war chargers have been crippled, the the chariots which Elisha saw on umph morning followed of his peril will roll on in tri white hOi’*?a. by God afi could the,.armies it of heaven on do without us, but H® win not The weakest of us, the Tklntest of fls, the smallest brmou.i pf us, shall have a part in the tr iumph. Wo luay not have ouy name. likb the pame of Sos L aius, oilt in imperishable rock and cunsjdm uous bbred foi' in centuries, bettor, ifigeti but than ijjg' that, shall ba remem. in the a even deem heart the u? Him who came to redeem us and re close to workl, and our names will be seen the signature of His wound, for as to-day Ho throws out His arms toward us He says; palms “Behold, My hand.” I have graven thee on the agencies, on the potency By ui the prater, mightiest T uf afi seek iqtUpwtd’sWSar^. hog you feme ptm time there, 4,600,000 letters the dead letter ago wm-o m postoffiee at Washing ton letters that lost tneir way—but pot one prayer ever directed to the heart Of God mis earned. The way is all clear for tho of vonr supplications benyeu*f“i ; d id behalf of this nation, uetvto the postal commnni cauufi Was so ea$y, and long ago, on a rock one hundred feet high en tho coast of Eng land, and there great was letters a barrel the fastened side of the to, a post, in on rock, mx lt c0 “"» be seen far out at scq. were the word?; boa,y “Postoffiee;” take agdwneB ships came by, a Sfcrhd Pfit put to those and fetch letters. And to that barrel were tnat lock deposits of affection in that barrel, although no it contained wft» ever put upon for America, and Europe, and Asia, messages aid Africa, and all the islands of the sea. Many a storm tossed sailor, homesick, got message of kindness by that rook, and many a liGine prosperity wotO ip inthfdhtoge of sympathies —prayers down! Postal going celestial, up meeting blessings coming rock wintry not but by by a storm the struck Ages, on a coast, Rock of A Pig in the Fence. DIM never observe -when a pig in the fence 8snd8 forth his most pitiful shout. How all of his neighbors betake themselves thence To punish him ere he gets out? Wbrta hubbub they raise, so that others i afar, May know his condition, and hence Come running to join them in adding a scar To the pig that is fast in the fence? Well, swine are not all of the creatures that be, Who find themselves sticking between The rails of the fence, and who strive to got free, While tho world is still shoving them in; IV ho find that tho favor they meet with de¬ pends, hot on worth, but on dollars and cents; And that tis but few who will prove them ; selves friends To the pig that is fast in tho fenco. . —Boston Globe. BETSEY’S LITTLE GIRL. Upon the whole, I liked my little house very much. I fio not deny that it had been a sor ttof experiment, my buying that soliti^y 51 cottage among the sand-dunes Long Island coast, where the breakers of the Atlantic washed tlic sb^re, fiery and one tall lighthouse kept its watch on tho long tongue of land whiofc people called “The Devil’s Point.” But the doctor had told me that sea-air and quiet were what I needed, and here surely, I should find them both. It was a very old-fashioned house, with law ceilings, small, lozenge-paned windows and wainscoted rooms. The little parlor was in front, looking ogt uj on the ocean. Beyond this wns a sjnali room iu which I decided to put mv fcwing-machine and writing-desk; then umo a long, dark hall, also wain¬ scoted on either side, and lighted only < by old, little, round windows, placed high up; and the kitchen—a sort of wing—lini ; -had the lower part of the house. The Second story was a mere attic, but (it Sw -ed very well for bed-rooms for mo aud Betsey Balmford, my ser vant. “9’poso it's altogether safo for you two women to live all alone out here?” said Old Peier Smith, whose itinerant wagon served us with butcher's meat, groceries, kerosene, aud all sorts of things, every other day. “Of course it’s safo,” said I. “Whv not?” “Sort o’ lonesome, ain’t it?” squeaked Old Peter. “We came here for quiet and rest.” “And s’poso,” added Old Peter, “you should be sick. Tliero ain’t no family lives nearer than The Devil’s Point, an’ that’s throe good miles away.” “But we don’t propose to be sick,” said I. The longer I stayed in the cottage, the moro I was pleased. The sunsets across the plain of waters were things of constantly-changing beauty: tl\e air was full of saline fresh ussi; my walks along the beach were delightful. J rend and vested, and felt myself growing stronger with every day, while Betsey in the kitchon was reducing things to the apple-pie order that was dwr to her soul. One evening, just at dusk, I rang my bell a little impatiently. Betsey’s round, red face presently appeared in the door¬ way. “Betsey,” said I, “what child have you got out there?” “Tlierq ain’t «o child, ma’am,” said Betsey. t‘I am sure I heard a child’s voice.” Betsey stared fixedly at mo. “I guess likely, Miss Emma, it was me, a-blowin’ out at the cat,” said she. “I left a pan o’ milk on the window¬ sill, and ^hat blamed creetur broke a pan® o' glass, humpin’ through to get at it, and putty’s ono of the things I didn’t think to put into the till of the tool-box when we packed up,” “Well,” said I, “I wish you’d be a little quieter with your cat.” “I will, ma’am,” said Betsey Balm ford. A few minutes later, as I sat dreamily at the window, a light-running figure seemed to pass between me and the purpling glow of the sky—the figure of a child, with its fair hair blowing back like an aureole and both its hands •tretchcd out toward the sunset. (‘ThereI” said I. “I knew it!" I jumped up, and ran out toward the beach. I was almost certain I saw tho track of tiny footsteps on tho damp sand; feut as l gazed the incoming tide cast a fringe of shells and seaweed at my feet, Vol. IX. New Series. NO. 1G. and at tho same time swept away all traces of aught else. ^ “It’s very strange,’’ I thought, “I must have been doing what po*r Aunt Eunice used to accuse mo of—dreaming with my eyes open!” The next morning but one, Old Peter was not perched on his load, as usual. Abigail, his wife, occupied the hard, buffalo-robed seat, and wielded whip and reins. “My ole man’s down with rheuma¬ tic,” said she. “It does seem as if he allays selected the most onconvenieut times and seasons. I’ve got some nice soft-shell clams this morning, Miss Gray, and some of my own home-baked bread. And I thought likely your crackers would be out by this time.” “Thcy is, ma’am,” said Betsey Balm ford, giving my skirt an admonitory pull. I frowued. “It seems to me,” said I, “that we aro eating moro crackers than' usual. There aro only two of us.” Betsey shrugged her shoulders. “Two must eat,” said she, “as well as two and twenty. ” And she went back into the kitchen. “Hired help? Sort o’ sot in her ways,” said Mrs. Smith, “ain’t she?” “She is a very good, faithful ser¬ vant, ” said I, referring to my list of ar¬ ticles needed. “How d’ye like it here?” questioned Abigail, as she measured out a modicum of condensed milk. “Very well,” I responded, secretly wondering how many times I had al¬ ready answered the question. “Hain’t seen nothin’ queer ’bout the place, hev ye?” “Queer?” I repeated. “What should I see—queer?” Abigial Smith craned her neck to look beyond me into tha long, wain¬ scoted entry. “Hired help can’t hear me, can she?” whispered she, mysteriously. “What do you mean?” “Wul, it was r. sister-in-law o’ mine lived here, ten year ago,” said Abigail, with the self-satisfied air of one who has a tail to unfold, ‘ ‘as told mo there was strange sights and sounds. Hain’t the hired help said nothin' to you about it?” “No.” “It’s just as well, mebbe,” said Abi¬ gail, gathering up her reins and prepar¬ ing to drive on. I stopped her with an imperative ges ture. “Stop!" said I. “I insist upon an explanation. There must be some mean¬ ing to your words. What is it?” “Old Miles Moneygale built the house,” said Abigail Smith. “lie and his wife were dreadful queer folks. They had a little niece lived with ’em as peo¬ ple said had money of her own—a like¬ ly child with long yellow hair and the prettiest complexion you ever seen. One night they found her dead at the foot of the cellar steps. Miles Moneygale was tho heir, and they sold the house and moved out west, and lived like rich peo¬ ple arter that. But folks allays calcer latcd—mind, though, there wan’t no proof of it—that there was foul play; that that child never came to her end by fair means. Aud every family that’s lived hero scnce, they’ve seen a little child, where there wan’t nothin’ but sea and sky. And they’ve been most sure they heard a child’s voice cryin’ out, down cellar.” I felt myself growing chill all over, but somehow I contrived to utter the word: “Nonsense!” “That’s what I tell ’em,” said Abi¬ gail, tho wife of Peter. “How could it be? But, all the same, that’s one rea¬ son it ain’t been easy to sell tho place. I wouldfl’t let the hired help know if I was you. They’re dreadful apt to be superstitious, hired help is. Nothing more to-day? Wal, good-mornin’ I” And shaking the reins above the drowsy pony’s back, she drove away, leaving me standing there on the thresh¬ old in a sort of maze. Of course it was nonsense—.supersti¬ tion—tho outcome of foolish nursery tales; but, for all that, it made me feel uncomfortable. However, in the intense morning sun¬ shine, I manage to laugh it away. When the night came on, dark and loaded with the ominous mprmurings of a com¬ ing storm, things assumed quite a dif¬ ferent aspect. I was half sorry that I had bought the cottage. I began to wonder whether it would bo possible to dispose of it without any actual loss. And—this is the strangest of all—as I sat there I heard the unmistakable sound of • child’s half-smothered laugh. “I will not endure this!” I cried, starting with nervous energy to my feet. “I’ll go and git with Betsey in the kitchen first.” The door leading into the kitchen was fastened, but the bolt was old and rust¬ ed, and gave way instantly before tho pressure of my band. I found myself in the cheerful lighted room, where Betsey Balmford sat at her needle-worlc, with a little, fair-haired child playing with some scallop-shells at her feet. I looked incredulously from one to tho other. “Betsey,” said I, “what is this?” Betsey’s work dropped to her feet; she rose up as stiff as a hop-pole. “Ma’am,” said she, “I knowed you’d find it out, sooner or later, and mebbe it’s jest as well sooner. I can’t say I’m sorry, for it's nothin’ more than my bouuden duty 1’vo been doirig. But I vo felt dreadful guilty, with this baby in the house, and me a-kcepin’ a secret from you. And if you say go, why go it must be!” While she spoke, the fair-haired child looked smilingly up into my face. “Betsey,” said I, faintly, “who ia this?” “It’s my brother's- child, ma’am,” said Betsey. “A poor little orphan, as has no one to care for her but me. When wo lived in the city, ma’am, I could see her every day, when I went out of errands or when my work was done at night. I hired her boarded witli the Widow Baker, a motherly soul as ever was; hut when I como out here I missed her more than tongue can tell; and what was I to do, ma’am, fornll I knowed you wasn’t fond of children,—when one night little Flora made her appear¬ ance at this very door? And tho child had walked, ma’am, if you please, all tho way from New York, askin’ her way here and there, and once in a way gettin’ a-lift from a wagon. ..^And I’ve kept her hid nway. - the •anti¬ dunes in the day times, and took her in my own bed of nights. And once I had to shut her down cellar, that rainy day she couldn’t go out, and you was in the house all day. And there was her keep, to be sure—you may remember yourself noticin’ how tho victuals got away—but I've eaten ns little as I could myself, and I'vo been very economical about other things.” Betsey looked imploringly at me. Little Flora laughed silently over her sea-slieels. “Betsey,” said I, “you have done right—perfectly right—except in using any concealment. You ought to have told mo everything." “I was ’fraid you wouldn’t want a child racketin’ about the house, ” said Betsey, humbly. -‘But indeed Flora is very quiet.” “She may stay,” said I. “And you needn't hide her away, Betsey. You and I are neither of us very young. It may do us good to have a little oue about the house.” “Tho Lord bo good to you, ma’am,” said Betsey, with tears in her hard, mid¬ dle-aged eyes, “an’ if I live to be a hun¬ dred years old, I’ll never forget this of you. But, Miss Emma, there’s some¬ thing else I ought to tell youl” “What is it, Betsey?” “I shouldn’t novor ’a tried to hide the girl away, if I hadn’t heard a story of how tho cottage was haunted by the ghost of a little child as came to a vio¬ lent end in this very injusc. Thinks I to myself, there’s always tho ghost to put any unusual sights or sounds off on.” I smiled to think of the secret I had been trying to hide from Betsey. “So you knew about the ghost, Bet¬ sey?” said I. “La, ma’am 1 I’ve heard tho story half a dozen times over,” answered my hand¬ maiden. “And you were not afraid?” “I know there ain’t no such things, calmly responded Betsey. “It’s live folk I’m afeard of, ma’am, not dead ones. Me afeard? I guess notl” “Well, Betsey, said I, cheerfully, “I know of no better recipe to drive a shadow out of the houso than to put a reality into it. Little Flora shall exor¬ cise the ghost! Como here, baby, and kiss me! Your eyes are just the color of the sea at mid-day l” From that day forward the cottage was like a different place. Little Flora brightened it up, as if her eyes had been real stars, instead of ‘ ‘make-believe” ones. No more ghostly shadows crept across the threshold.
