The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1894-01-11

FIR, III he transient and the fading.
Home flies the dove;
To the sky cloud is shading,
Home flies the dove;
10 the longed- for. happy meeting.
All the WE'LL beloved erecting.
From the vain and false ANA leeting.
Home flies the dow"
As tn. mellow cadence arose and fell
the Old deacon III the front pew felt
that the time of refreshing had inde ed
come. The tenor leaned forward and
listened 10 tn delicate shading with Il
trained ear.
by Gcorgc.7 he 1nuttcred to himself,
III have to take lessons OF her
teacher"
A smile of grateful vanity spread
over the fac, Of Mr.. Hopkins, the
banker. as he inwardly congratulate ID
himself ont., Judgment in the selec-
ton Of a soprano. and even the fat gro
Ger kept his eyes open while the song
was in prog, ess, which was a greater
compliment than he had ever paid to u
singer before.
But on the back seat sat the one who
appreciated the song the most. 1t was
| the Dove in the scalekin cloak. She
had cla,pcd both her white hands over
| the hack of the seat in front. Her
soul shOnc in her eyes. and every note
and word of the song fell upon her
tired heart with the refreshing Of rain
| in the face in AuGU-t. He" lln5 parted
as she whispered 10 hcr,ol. the re-
| frain, and Il look of infinite peace over
| spread her face, and her head fell upon
| her hands and rested there in the at
titude of prayer.
AS the sopla no resumed her seat the
| tenor said in Il whisper:
IF you don't get the situation Hep
l<ins II have t. nire Patti
| Then they fell to whispering softly
TO each other. The tenor pinched the
sopranos cheek playfully, and she re-
| proved him with q glance that was not
all reproof
The venerable pastor arose in the
pulpit, and, adjusting his gold >pecta-
cles, opened the big Bible on the red
velvet cushion at the eighth chapter
of Genesis and the eleventh verse, and
read
! And the dove came to him in the
| evening: and. 10, in her mouth wa, an
olive leaf plucked Off. So Noah knew
that the waters were abated from Off
| the earth"
| Twas not an exhaustive eNcgoSis that
| the gray pastor preached. He made no
attempt t. prove that the flood had
| occurred q stated in the Sacred Book
But while the grocer went to sleep as
| usual and the brokers' thoughts were
IA away in Wall stcet. and the tenor
ami soprano ate candy Oblivio,:s to the
flight of time. he dwelt on the flight of
the message bird above the waste of
waters He told how on tired wing she
had explored the pillows for an evil
dence Of soldity and had at last secured
it. He drew Il 'homely analogy between
the return of the dove with the olive
branch and the coming of the Christ.
And while many of the congregation
yawncd because they had heard the
old story before, and the boys on the
back seat ate peanuts and threw the
shells on the floor to make the sexton
angry, Dove sat quietly on the back
seat. in the position she had assumed
when the song was sung. and made no
sign that the story of the olive braEch
had reached her ears.
As the pastor closed the Good Book
and resumed his seat, the organist
played again. The fat grocer awoke
with a start as his wife indicated with
her elbow in his ribs that it was time
for him to p4: - around the cOntribu-
tiOn box. Inc cents iingled into the
box as he passed slowly down the mid
die aisle until he came to the seat
where Dove was sitting. He touched
her gently with the box to notify her
that she was expected to contribute
something toward the distressed hea-
then. but she did not respond. The
boys across the aisle sn chered ut what
they thought was an attempt to avoid
paying rent.
The congregation then arose and
l. y. l.
were standing on Il narrow neck Of Ian 1
the mcal ling of the words. The doN-
ology and bencdiction followed, during
which the broker put on his ovcrc al.
As the congregation filed slowly out,
there Were SOLICITORS inquiries As t.
Martha Jones rheumatism and Uncle
Johns lame shoulder. The consensus
of opinion on the late Sunday-sch
concert was heard. and the possibility
of giving the pastor donation was dis
cu>sed. And when the last lingerer
mad gone. Josh went around the church
turning out the lights. He was tired
aud he wanted to get home. As he
came down the middle aisle he noticed
tina; the woman in the sealskln CLOAK
was still sitting in the back seat. Put
ting his great. black hand tende:ly or
her shoulder, he said:
"'Scuse ME. Misslls. amt it time fo,
you TO 20 home: Iou's dc only one
le;.'"
There was no response. He shook
her gently. \ small vial fell from hel
lap and breaking upon the floor scat
tered a thousand pellets en- the carpet
He touched hey hand. 1t was cold As
the icicle that hung from the corner OF
the church. As he stood beside the
bowed figure ii the darkened church.
Josh realized that there would be
mourning on the morrow for the dove
that had flown.
) The tenor was going home with the
soprano. The snow cracked under
) their feet. and the stars twinklet
KIN owingly overhead. As they loitered
along the way they softly sang to
gether:
a. At