The Yale expositor., 1895-02-22

| a rev days later EleOnOre went 10
visit her mother and while she was
gone, | again had the picture removed
to my study To do this l was obliged
to take down about two hundred books,
together with the shelves.
The light here was eXecrable, hut
that did not matter. L placed my desk
so that my back was toward 1T. On
! New Years day Aunt Caroline dinea
with us, and you may imagine her sur
I prise when. seated in the. chair DR..
! s. had occupied, she looked up and
found the picture gone. She didn't say
q word. however.
1--WE hung your picture-your lovely
| picture. dear aunt-iu my study" L
| answered casually, anddipg. i'm my des-
! peration: Il intend to exhibit it to my
! Sunday school class"
! The dear old soul did not say any
/ thing, nor was she offended; but she
/ appeared so melancholy that / was
cOnscience-strickCn. Before | went to
bed | tried to make amends for the
detestable story had tod Aunt Caro-
line. l wrote TO n friend of mine. and
/ invited him to bring his Sundey school
! class on the following Thursday even
ing and take tea with us. The invita-
tiOn was accepted.
received my friend and his scholars
in the parlOr. I asked the little fellows
all sorts of questions about their stud
les, and Elconore showed them our
photographs. At last came tie well
come summons to tea, after which l
invited the children into my study to
see the picture of the "Prod'gal Son"
The lamps were placed in the most
f1Nn11lAln
ranged themselves in Il row in front of
the picture. | took my station on one
side, my friend on the other. l cleared
my throat, al began, in Il didactic
tone;
This picture. my dear children. is
partly allegorical, partly realistic.
These two rows OF columns on either
side Of the center divide the different
eras of the parable. Here on the left
WOu see the Prodigal. hungry aru
wretched sharing the swine's food-as
the ScTinturcs tell us. IIerc IN The
background You see them singing and
dancing. rejoicing over the return of
the Prodigal Here. again. on the right
is the butcher in the act Of killing the
fatted calf"
While l delivered this highly instruct
i've lecture my friend po nted with
ruler toward the designated Objects.
The silence which followed my re-
maf'ks was actually oppressive. At
last ono little fellow, Frank Diegel,
the butchers son. feeling that some
thing ought to be said, stammeringly
asked:
What kind of pigs are they? What
curly tales they haver'
The laughter which followed the gen.
cral opprcssivenPSs was wonderfully
hearty, and the clock striking nine
soon afterward. Eleonore and l gave
thanks for their release.
These are only Il few of the many
arnoyances which Aunt Carolinc's
well-meant present brought upon us.
Fortunately there We're some very
warm days in March-quite warm
enough to bring to lie two flies in my
study. Once ] should have put on end
TO their premature existence. did not
do so now. I fetched the gauzn vail
and draped it securely over tho "Prodi-
gals" A week later Aunt Caroline
called. Said 1 to her when she came
into the study:
"Have you noticed. dear aunt. how
very early the flies have made their ap-
pearance this spring?"
Aunt Caroline had not noticed.
/ should not be adhering strictly to
the truth were / to say that we were
not perfectly happy in our little home.
! We were-evon though there was hard
/ ly a forenoon. or evening that one of
( the Prodigals'-either the son. one of
his parents the butcher, or one of the
/ swine-did not somehow mix in our
conversation. 1t was not for this
though ii helped sOmewhat-that. when
summer brought my holiday, we de-
termined to spend it in Front nae. On
tario. at the home Of an old college
chum Of mine.
Those were enchanting days!
EleOnore embroidered, sketched and
read to her hearts content. while /
wrote diligently at n new book L had
begun.
Thus we passed SIX delightful weeks,
with never Il thought of the "Prodi-
gals" when one morning, Fate, in the
person Of the village hotelkeeper,
brought me a newspaper.
"Are YOU Mr.. Trubury from Buffalo,
he inquired.
II am"
Then here's something that may In
terest you," he added. pointing TO
paragraph in the Buffalo News. 1
read:
Yesterday, in the suburbs of Buff
| falo, a fire consumed the residence of
Miss Surrey and Mr.. Felix Trubury.
The loss is partially covered by in
surance"
l summoned my poor little wife, to
whom 1 communicated as gently as
possible our great loss.
We began at once TO prepare for our
return journey; and as our train would
not leave until the afternoon, 1 wired
a friend for further particulars of the
fire.
The answer came as we were leaving
the hotel:
Fire started i'm the Surveys house.
Unfortunately, very little saved"
/ As | concluded this rather depressing
message, Eleonore claspcd my hand in
both her own, and whispered assuring
/ ly:
I'VE have each other. dear Felix, we
shall not be poor-we have each other
and our love-
AS the train drew near to Buffalo.
EleOnora leaned toward me, and said,
smiling through her tears:
Felix, dear, we have one comfort"
what is It, loyeT