St. Paul daily globe., 1893-02-06

dow. laid down my pen to listen
"There is a happy land,
Far, far away
Where saints and sinners stand,
Bright. bright as day.
The children'S voices rose and fell on
The waves of that simple old melody,
and | was borne away; gone were sill
very locks and the shadows of care, and
l was a child again, swinging under the
trees of the old parsonage yard and
singing that little hymn as | swung III
my ship of hemp through an arch Of
fairy land.
Bright in that happy land
Beams every eye"
My pale-faced little mother in her
chair by the window took up the strain:
"Come to this happy land,
Come, come away.
while that look that the angels know
deepeued in her tender eyes. Oh.
mother, can you see your child tonight
ana feel that she understands now the
cord in the music that touched her heart
then? In that land beyond the waiting
and the weeping have you proved the
truth of the lines:
Kept by our Fathers hand,
Love cannot die.
Coming out from town the other night
| passed little church in which the
peonle were singing Retreat"
paused to listen as the tune rose and
waytrrd and broke and fell like the
"riYers of Eden" on the wintry air.
As Listened.
gone were the city streets, the bare,
b"own trees, and the shlVering, hurry
ing crowd, and it was summer time. and
l saw square, white country church.
The congregation was slowly gathering.
AGOul Ia, ,loor staid brethren talked
a N" crops nr politics or neighbOr-
hood news, or gave word of homely,
kindly greeting to belated friends who
rode up i'll comfortable wagons or in
more cosy style in buggIes just big
emo gl to hold two or two and half,
or nay hap riding side by side on horse
back, though the most unpracticed
eye c0uld discern method in such
pairing off as that. Tne riders were
buXom girls with ruddy cheeks and
sparkling eyes, whose fresh dresses
were we'll protected by long skirt that
reQW!gr. frequent fixing ana gave eX-
cuSt for DauscS trat were readily taken
advantage Of by the sunny-faced cava-
liers, whose broad -hrimmed hats COW
ered very long heads, and whose brave
3ung eyes told their own story.
Inside the Church
The congregation was settling into place
in the high-backed, uncomfortable
square pews, with a subdued rustic and
half audible whispers, and a waving Of
fans of all sorts from the gauZy SPAN
gleG, dOwn-tuftel affairs that had come
from st. Louis, and were used with
mighty effect to enhance the value of
the pretty faces of their owners by
''half concealing, half. revealing" their
tender beauties to watchful eyes, to
ness. Polly Joe sat with her bonnet
strings united and lald safely back out
of harms way, as she nodded to right
and left in return to greetings from
Aunt Polly. jim or Aunt Nancy
a. or 4 score of lesser danes who had
grown up under her eye, while she
sever and anOn' surveyed the nosegay
of old-fashioned flowers she held in her
hand, decoration then, but destined to
become a bulwark of defense against
the approaches of the drowsy go
about the time that the minister reached
siXteeuthly and paused to draw a long
breath before he made the "applica-
ton"
Children "nusseled" round IN their
places and peeped over the backs of the
peWs feeling stiff and unnatural in all
the bravery of their Sunday clothes,
and spying now one and another
familiar face of friend or foe, greeted
them with broad or smirking smiles as
fitting the day, or by various facial con-
tOrtionS expressive of the depth of their
rancor or hate, as the case might be !;
the expression being iudiciouSly guard
ed from Watchtul maternal eyes by
widespread palms, whose week day
CRIME, gained by mud pies or dust
clouds, have been all removed by the
Saturday night scrubbing to which they
had been most unwilling martyrs.
On the Mems Side
OF the house, for those pious people
knew nothing of the frivoIity of seating
men and women together, dignifed
deacons were already seated. Uncle
JameS-nO one had ever had the temer-
ity to shorten that name to apply to the
stately old school gentleman. whose
flowing cloak and gold-headed cane
seemed to Ns younger ones as much a
partof his personality as the crown of
snowy hairf or stern blue eyes that
could, but did not often, soften to a
look as sweet and kind as Mothers
sat in his accustomed place, and there,
close in the shelter of his stately pres
ence, sat Uncle Bob, and not far ava
Uncle Joe, uncle TO half the settlement
by virtue of his fun and good temper.
In the back pews the choir was gath
cred and preparing for the coming fray
by half-SuppreSsed hummng Of scraps
of tunes and whispered suggestions as
to the suitableness of Coronation. or
"Dundee," or WARD" or "Autumn,'' -
or some such name that stood for tunes
that swept our souls up on theii chords
like eagles wings, or filled heart and
eyes with thankful tears. to the ''se-
lected hymns" the minister had elected
for the days use. Oh, that choir! shall
we ever forget it? Its component parts
were dainty coquettish Kate B., who
sang air and whose bright eyes and red
lips and tossing head expressed more
Plainly Than Any Words
the knowledge of the queenship that