Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-03-09

uduO4luE luS1 udO given H1Lns viz SAO"N
now returned the unlucky man to his own
house. Here they forced him upon his own
bed, and tied him thereupon with strips OF
the coverlets till he Law bound hand ana
foot.
Lie there" shouted merry voice. "till
YOU have learned what it is like to be bed
ridden, and arise not till she whom you
have wronged shall have the mind to free
you! II the maiden taketh our advice she
will let you stay when we do leave you for
this many a dav to come!
With this the people departed, leaving
the thoroughly subjugated Pharisee to the
mercy of his women.
Now, among the happy marvels crowdlng
the blind mans experience in these wonder
tul days, certain circumstances may have
interest for those who are inclined by nature
to view a wonder always from its natural or
scientific side. Many curious incidents
befell Baruch in the first use of his eyesight.
Common objects had phenomenal proper
tions for him.
'.What manner of man is this ?'' he asked,
when he lifted his ewes to the olIve-tree of
Bethany. The sight of the mountaln-top
covered him with perplexity. He said that
he had thought it like a timbrel, but this
was like trumpet. AT the view OF the
great Desert of Judea, Baruch was over
come. He remained silent before 1t for
long time, and when he was spoken to, he
was found to be in tears.
"The lives of all the blind and sick of all
the world lie there, he said. At his first
sight of the sunset he fell upon his knees.
behold" he cried, 81 see the garment
of the living God"
When the full moon flooded Judea,
Baruch walked forth unto the brows of
Olivet. Here he remained for that night,
until the dawn, alone. His mother fol-
lowed him for a space, but when she saw
the high look upon his enraptured face, she
turned back and left him to his solitary
ecstacy. AT dawn he returned to her and
said:
1.-The moon is a lady She is of high
birth. The earth is her lover, and worship
eth her from afar. l have witnessed the
loves of earth and heaven
Mother" added Baruch, after some
thought, "why might not Ariella have ac-
companied me to the mountain, as 1 did be-
seeeh her? 1 lacked ArieIla. 1 had seen
two moons with Ariella. She withdraweth
from me-"
''Becsuse thou art no longer blind boy,"
returned Rachel, "but whole man. Thou
must deal with the maiden like other men,"
81 deal with her as the earth dealeth with
the moon,' said Baruch.
but that is no way to treat girl, :" re-
torted Rachel. There is no moonshine
about Ariella. She has as good sense for
that matter as any girl 1 know. She
knows, if thou dost not, that except she wed
thee, she must withhold herself from thee.
Ye are no longer two poor fools of affection,
set apart from the laws of God and men,
that We may be trusted together by the hour
as of old. All Bethany-nay all Jerusalem
for the fame of the wonder hath gone
abroad-would teach We better in the gossip
of one day.'
But why did not Ariella tell me so?'
protested Baruch naively. "She said unto
me that she did not wish to climb the noun
tain
"Why doth damsel not WOO man, in
deed!'' cried Rachel, laughing loudly.
Verify, my son, thou provost thyself born
blind in spite of the miracle
Baruch blushed, and was silent. In a
few moments he said, carelesSly, as il he
sought rather to divert than to continue the
conversation.
"When 1 behold ArielIa, L behold two
Ariellas. This perplexes me. With one
eye do see the old Ariella, a poor maiden,
thin and tender, lying on her long, lonely
couch. With the other behold the new
Ariella; she springeth and walketh to and
fro; she is like the sunrise; she hath an eve
like a waterfall. Always Go 1 behold the
two Ariellas."
If Rachel had been a modern scientific
student she would probably have suggested
'astigmatism" to Baruch, as an explana-
ton of his peculiar visual condition. As it
was, she only remarked that she supposed
this was part of the miracle.
It could not be said that Baruch's attach
ment to Ariella had suffered default in con-
sequence of his tremendous experience But
it was true for a time, at least, that higher
absorption seemed to add fine excitement
m hiS aondition Rarunb'c III
him who had wrought the wonder upon his
own life, amounted TO fever Since his
journey he had again sought for the Naza-
rene everywhere, but this time in vain. 1t
was rumored that Jesus was travelling in
Perea, heather place, pityingly regarded
where, if there were anything in the new re-
ligion. it was sadly needed: at any rate the
Rabbi was beyond reach for the present
Baruch fell into the habit of haunting the
localities frequented by Jesus, in Bethany
and Jerusalem; the Mount of Olives especi-
ally had fascination for him. He spent
many nights there as solitary as the lonely
devotee whom he sought AS the autumn
came on and the nights cooled, his mother
demonstrated with him for the exposure, but
he said: 'Stay me not, o nv mother, till
mine eyes have beheld him who hath
blessed me above all living men,
But Arella said nothing at all. She was
pang felt by Baruch when she herself was
healed. She seemed to be less precious to
Baruch than when he was blind Was it
So? Or only that another was grown more
dear?
At all events Baruch Urod the familiar
path to Mount Olivet with patient, persist
eut feet; and there he kept watch of many
weeks.
One night at the decline of the moon, it
being cool and the dewfall almost frosty,
Baruch on the brow of Olivet looked down.
and yonder, tteading the ascending path,
he beheld the climbing figure of solitary
man. 1t was late and deserted on the noun
tain. No idle visitor had ever interrupted
Baruch's seclusion upon that lonely spot.
When he saw the figure of the man who ap- |
preached him his heart beat with a violent.
suffocatIng motion. The figure was tall and |
commanding; but it bent YEARLY, as if the |
ascent proved hard. Baruch watched it |
climb with passionate desire to run and
help the man and be tender to him, as one |
human heart doth yearn to another: but
this he dared not. So he remained as he
was until the man had reached the noun
tain top.
The moon at that moment fled into dark
cloud, and as the two met-one standing,
the other kneelingAthe face bent above
Baruch was invisible.
Master" whispered Baruch," this many
a night have 1 sought thee here to bless thee
and now thou hast come
The Nazarene stretched out his hand and
gently touched or stroked the cheek of the
kneeling man. The action was as tender as
a woman's But it had in it more than fem-
mime tenderness-a pathetic, manful long,
ing for sympathy too seldom received. too
sorely needed. Itseemed as if the man were