Morris tribune., 1885-12-23

wan face belied the assertion, and he
was trying to reach the pine country
again.
In vain the stranger told his sad
story. The discerning conductor felt
sure it was false, and when the next
stop was made at little, lonely sta
ton, the poor stranger was thrust into
the cold and bitter night.
AS the train steamed slowly by the
solitary figure on the platform he
heard thesound ofhappy laughter and
saw the smiling passengers with their
load of Christmas toys. 1t was like
vision of heaven. The next moment
it was past, and naught but the fast
Lying rattle on the'rails was left.
Stii that lone figure tried to pierce
the thick falling snow in his gaze after
the train, and then, at last, realizing
that it had left him all alone in the
cold darkness, something like a sob
burst from his throat.
Thenight was cold. The wind came
shrieking across the wide expanse of
the prairie, driving the snow before it
in binding clouds. There wasno living
soul in sight, save that lone figure
that now turned toward the little
town, which lay about a mile away.
Weak and faint from the pangs of
hunger, the stranger tottered in the wild
blasts that swept against him, and
with trembling, feeble footsteps, he
struggled on through the drifting
| snow.
The night grows colder. Oh, the icy
breath of that piercing wind. The
stranger draws his thin garments
closer round his shivering form and
staggers blindly on. He can go no
further. His fozen limbs refuse to
carry him. and he sinks unconscious
in the white drifts. Oh, God! To die
in the snow like homeless dog.
His senses soon return, but the pain
has left him now. He does not feel
the chill touch of the wind. Thesound
of singing falls upon his ear. 1t is
choir rehea1s sing Christmas carolln a
church close by. 1t is an old tune
that he has often sung in his boy
hoods home.
The wind is not as wild now.
He listens again to the familiar mel
ody, as the sound thrills out thro' the
night, telling the story of One who was
born in Bethlehem. AS he harkens to
the singing, the land OF his birth comes
back to him, and before his minds
eye a vision is unfolded. He sees a
soft-eyed woman smiling at the lnno-
cent delight of two joyous children in
merry gambols around a Christmas
tree, while a peaceful old couple look
on with approving eye. He thinks OF
that old-fashiOned house and its Oc-
cupants sitting in the cheerful glow OF
| the embers on the wide hearth, and
he wonders of what they are thinking.
Himself, of course.
He will 60 back to the quiet home in
his fatherland The new country is a
disappointment, and his bright hopes
have not been realized. But he will be
happy again in the old home. He will
see his parents. He will clasp his wife
and little ones in his arms again. He
will
The wind is quieter now, and the
snow begins to fall. How gently the
white flakes futter from the skies.
The carol breaks forth again, but
this time in a sweeter strain. He
listens entranced. The tones are
sweeter far than ever mortal sang, land
the music's sound is like the liquid
gold. The singers are not ofthis earth.
He has heard the halleluiah of the re-
deemed.
Mortal ear cannot detect the rustic
of angels wings, and yet he hears them
at his side.
The lights in the church are dimmed.
The earthly strain is ended, and he is
Joining in sweeter melody than ever
thrilled on earth.
The moon steals out from behind a