The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1872-11-07

your souls well, and keep them
without stain; they keep you alive.
The Lord has given them to you to
cnlighten your little world, as lie
has put the sun in the sky to warm
and tighten the universe.
"Ysu know that there are coun-
tries where the sun never shines.
Men cannot live there; no flowers
are to be seen, no fruits, no trees,
no birds-nothing but ice and snow,
That il what will happen to you if
you let your souls grow dark your
little world will be left in darkness
and miscry-you will be wrctched.
SO, avoid careful ly all that would
disturb your soul : idlcness, dis
obedience, and, above all, untruth.
All these evil yhings are like mists
which ascend from below, and which
will at last hide the light which the
Lord has given you. IF you keep
your oul free from these mists, it
will always shine like Il bright sun,
and you will be happy"
We all listened to Uncle Bernard,
and resolved to follow his good ad :
vice, and not let the mists from be-
low darken our souls.
After that, | listened more than
ever to the sound Of the shell. |
thought Of the wonders of which
Uncle Bernard had told us, and l
thought if one could only see those
things through q little hole, how
beautiful it would be
But what surprised me moro than
all was that, while | was listening,
it seemed as if / could distinguish
the echo Of my own thoughts in the
humming of the shell. Some were
gentle and sweet; some were joyful
and sang like the birds at the return
Of spring.
One day, however, the shell gave
back to me sounds that were less
agreeable; its music grew harsh
and caused me the greatest terror.
1t was because / was not satisfied
with myself, and dark clouds OBJ
scured my soul. 1t was my fault,
my very great fault. But | must
tell you about it from the begin
ming.
IL the afternoon Of that day, Lud-
wig and | had gone to keep our
goats upon th6AItenberg. We sat
down in the shade of a group of
trees, when Ludwig suddenly point
ed with his whip toward the ravine,
and said to me:
"Look down there, on the edge
Of that great rock. There is a
blackbird's nest in the old beech-trcc
there"
Uncle Bernard had often forbid
den me to take birds nests; and,
besides, this was just over the pre-
cipice in the forks of largo messy
branch. | looked at it thoughtful
ly, and Ludwig said:
"Thcre are young ones in it.
This morning, when | went to gath
or mulbcrries, | heard them calling
for their breakfast. They will be
gone by tomorrow, for they must
be fledged."
| did not say anything, but the
devil urged me on. At last, | got
up and went to the tree, but it was
too large to climb. UnlucEiIy Il
smaller becch-trco grew beside it,
and | climbed this and bent it over
so that ! could reach the lower
branches Of the other. The two
blackbirds uttered plaintive cries
and tluttercd about me, but | took
no notice of them. | seated myself
astride of the messy branch, in or
der to reach the nest, which [ could
see perfectly. There were three lit.
tie ones and an egg in it. The lit
tie ones stretched out their nccks
and opened their great yellow beaks
and thought [ had them. But, as
| went forward, suddenly the branch
broke like glass, and had only time
For one shrek. | whirled twice
over in the air, and fell upon Al
large branch below, to which |
clung with all my strength. The
whole tree trcmblod to the roots,
and the other branch fell, sweeping
down the rock with a noise which
made my hair stand on end. In
spite of myself, | watched it till it
reached the bottom Of the ravine.
1t whirled about in the torrent, and
was borne away amidst the foam to
the great cascade, when 1 saw it no
more.
Then | climbed carefully up the
trunk, clinging closely to it, and
God to forgive me, and at
last, pale and trembling, slid down
among tho bushes. The two old
flew around me with
heartrending cries. Ludwig had
run away, but as he went down the
path, he happened to turn his head,
and seeing me safe and sound,
he returned, all out of breath, cry.
ing:
=" You are there. You did not
fall from the rock 7"
eyes, ! am here" l said, scarcely
able to speak. "The good God has
saved me. Let us go homc--I am
frightened" "
1t was near seven o'clock and the
sun was setting. Neither Ludwig
nor | blew our horns, as usual, to
hear the echo of the Hollow Rock
Il IL L