The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1869-03-04

and the teeth Of tiger were visible
between it and the long masses of black
hair which covered all the lower part
Of his. face and fell to his waist. His
brow was encircled by an ebon crown,
on which CLEANED, in letters Of burn
ing gold, "THE WAGES OF s1N~ In
bis left hand was sceptre, which he
waved defantly. His robe was held up
by "a bright two-edged sword, which
passed through the border, with the
point lying on his back between his
raven wings, and the hilt of pure gold
resting on bis shoulder, like soldiers
loslgnia Of Office. This robe fell back
so that bis feet were visible, the feet of
lion, bat his hands we're the hands of
man. Around his right arm was
coiled in many ring = serpent, whose
scales were cleaning with emerald,
gold and shimmeriDg Tyrian purple.
The tail formed his girdle, then looped
and hung pendant at his right side,
while the head projected from his hand
as the point of weapon. Before this
terrible presence the heavenly visitauts
shank, all save one, whom Margaret
had not before seen Zone like unto
the Sen of Man. one in that human
form divine in which He "bore our
griets and carried our sorrows." He
no| held Peter closely in His arms-He
who s;icketh closer than brother-and
looked steadily on the dark vindictive
angel as though He bade him do his
work.
The cleaning weapon was raised,
aud fell; the fo@ked tongue struck the
laboring heart; there was sound Of
Kissing, rush Of wings, aud sweep of
silken drapery. The shadow was gone,
and Peter lay in his mothers arms, no
longer pioched OF poor OF unlovely, but
a cherub child. Margaret raised her
clas2ed hands and whispered:
COB, death, where is thy sting:
aud thou, too grave, shalt be dis:rovn-
ed Of thy victory!'
When the mother had received her
child at the hand of death, she kissed
Becky's brow, looked yearningly on the
little broken chrysalis, and with her
companions clustering around, ~elcom-
ing the newly born, and the strong
angel bearing her up, she carried her
little one to the foot of the throne, as
she had once carried him to the baptis-
NAL font, to give him back again to
Him who gave.
AS they passed out the light was
withdrawn, and nothing was visible
above but the ugh board roof and
cross-ties, dimly seen by the light of
Miss Ironton's lamp; but to Margaret
all the humiliation of her position, all
the meanness Of her surroundings were
gone. She had seen Him who, while
proprietor of the universe, had not
"here to lay His head Him who,
while counting as His "the cattle on
thousand hills" had sat wearily by the
veil waiting for food; Him who, while
clothing every beast of the field, every
fowl of the air, every fish of the sea
and every creeping thing which creep
eth or Ayeth, in its appropriate gar
mcnt, had sent His special messengers
forth on His most important embassy
without second coat. What to Him
were the distinctions of wealth and
poverty? what that transient success
and power aud dominion which He so
freely threw to His enemies, as ancient
monarchs threw small coins to scrambling
crowds of mendicants, while consign-
ing the heirs of their Kingdoms to the
stern discipline Of exacting schoolmas-
ters?
When she had chosen to be one of
His followers she knew that His King
dom was not of this world, and know
ing this had bound her soul in solemn
sacramental oath to follow Him through
good and through evil report, to palace
or to a prison. The only question
left her to ask Of any course was, "Is
this the way in which He leads ?"
This answered in the affirmative, aud
nothing was left but to 60 forward.
She thought she had been following
Him; that through the mist and fogs
of earth she had caught sight Of the
white garment just before Why He
had led her into poverty, sickness and
evil report among strangers, she knew
not, but felt that He knew, and that it
could not be otherwise than we'll With
her. So Miss Ironton was not the only
inmate of "The Home" who slept
soundly that night; for Margaret slept
as she had not before since coming to
the Institution.
She woke and heard the school room
clock strike one. The large room vas
full Of moving shadows cast by the
Pickering rays Of the one lamp. The
little corpse lay peacefully under its
white cover, the sharp outlines made
more prominent by the deep shades
and points of light. Every sound Was
stilled save that Of the deep breathing
Of the sleepers, and the moan Of the
autumn wind. IS it whirled the dead
leaves, sighed around and Whistled