Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-12-25

into the stable, up to the mangcr, borne
IN by The vast procession, moved Adam
White, with The rank old ham, the musty
-four, the spoilt sugar, seeming as though
they would weigh him down 10 the earth.
while his heart grew heavier and heavier,
and thumpcd harder and harder at
his side, Before him were the
wise men with gold and frankincense
and myrrh, and behind him came people
of every cline bearing rich gifts. One by
one they knelt before the manager. Holy
babel One by one, with bowed head and
and outstre,ched hands, as though all un.
worthy, they presented their rich gifts,
and as though TO yield up life itself for
| His sake would be a privilege; and then,
as gold and frankincense and silken
stuiis and sparkling jewels rose in frag-
1 rant shimmering heaps, there came a
voice from the rifted clouds, saying,
"Wha, have you TO offer, Adam White "
| And ranked cherubim and seraphim
ceased their song, and through all the
vaults of heaven rolled and reverberated
the dreadful question, "What have you
brought to our Lord, Adam Whitey'
Trembling with a fever that searched
every joint In his frame and seemed al
most to turn 10 water the very marrow in
his bones, poor Adam White faltered out,
in weak, quavering treble, while all the
hosts of heaven and all the thronging
hosts of men kept silence, 81 have only
| this -four this sugar, this ham anu these
apples, oh, Lord; but | did not intend
them for you; was taking them TO the
! poorw
Taking them to the poor!" And the
| angels wept, while demoniac laughs echo
ed around his very feet; and, as he looked
down, Adam White saw yawning pit
where millions of agonized or jeering
faces were lifted to his.
After looking sorrowfully at him for a
moment, the beautiful Babe raised and
| said, know we not that inasmuch as We
| did it unto the least of these we did 1t unto
mey"
Then Adam White felt that he was fall
| ling downtown till his breath failed,
| and he elutched desperately to the right
| and left, and still fell, till with shock he
awoke in his soft bed, covered withsper-
spiration and still shaking with fear.
Adam White slept no more that night;
he had been made TO see some things, in
new light; and in those solemn hours
he had come to think of many duties he
had neglected, many opportunities lost.
| The clock struck one, and he somehow
happened to think of his nephew, whom
he had turned adrift without assistance
nine years ago, when he married pretty
little seamstress, instead of an heiress
whom he had chosen, and to regret his
course of action on that occasion. He
remembered very distinctly how thin and
i'll he looked the last time he had seen
him before he died, and his wan face
seemed now reproach to the lonely old
bachelor. IF l live till daylight, said
Adam, 81 will find his poor wife and
children, and bring them home. / can do
that much anyhow, and will not send that
trash to the poor. No, God forbid?" Then
his shrunken little heart began to glow
with genial warmth that had been
stranger to 1t many long day and he arose
as soon as daylight came. While at his
solitary breakfast he thought of how he
could soonest find his niece, and remem-
bering that the last time he saw Charlie
alive he was dressed in the uniform of a
policeman-which uniform, indeed, look
ed as If it had been hung on live skele-
ton-and he thought perhaps it would be
best to inquire at the station.
After breakfast he wrapped himself up
till he looked like a suffering Egyptian
mummy WIN thC tp vi ulo IItbiC
blue nose visible, and started on his
search. Inquiring at the station, kind
hearted policeman land they are not so
rare) led him into room saying, "It's
| blessing as you came just as you did;
them's her children, and the boy, he's
| with her dead body now. Poor little
things, they don't seem to realize anything
about it, only the boy, and he's very bad
Off"
"Good God! is Carrie dead ?" said
Adam.
"Yes sir; didn't you know itS We
found her cold and dead at daybreak;
she must have been dead more than two
hours"
What more he would have said was lost
in establishment at the little man, for he
dropped on his knees with an agonized
moan, and buried his face in his hands
for a moment, and then he rose and gave
directions for the removal of the two little
ones to his home, and then, with the
policeman trotted briskly off to the house
of desolation, the uncomfortable words of
his midnight vision ringing in his ears
with terrible force.
On reaching the house where the life
less body of his neglected niece lay await
ing burial, he found the orphan boy sob
bling by his dead mother, and he astonish-
ed himself by mingling his tears with
those of the child, and by the warmth of
his affection, and at his own kind, invol-
untary words-the first he had uttered
sincerely for many long day.
After doing all that was necessary for
poor Carrie, Mr.. White took the desolate
orphan home with him, where all the care
that remorseful love could invent was be-
slowed upon him, though for many days
it seemed as If the light of his little sor-
rowful life must go out forever.
Mr.. White sent to the store after the
necessary orders for the funeral, and, to
the great establishment of his clerks, or.
dered the wagon, and with his own hands
loaded it with provisions for the poor. 1t
went a little hard with him, though, to
throw away the unstable groceries which
he intended should cheat the Lord, but
by an effort he did it, even to the ham.
All this was long years ago, and Adam
White still lives; but now he is round,
happy little man, made youthful and mer-
ry by fresh young voices and loving
l,;.,os c~o,,1 hfo 0rnhanad uaphawa and