Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-03-11

4
Office a few blocks down Jerusalem
avenue there: the guide will show you
the way"
Accompanied by the guide, whom
you fee with your last quarter, you call
upon the architect angel, and, after a
cordial greeting of new citizen by an
old one, and some trivial discussion of
the weather, you make known the OBJ
ject of your visit. Whereupon the
architect angel asks, rather abruptly:
"Where is your LOTT"
"My lot? did ha"-
"Yes, you know" interrupted the
architect angel, divining the cause OF
your perplexity and kindly wishing to
relieve your embarrassment, " it is me-
cessary first to select a lot upon
which to erect the mansion; and we
ought to know something of its size
and surroundings in order to deter
mine the dimensions of the structure
and adjust its style harmoniously to
its environments"
Impressed with the apparent pains
taken to make your home in Heaven
as satisfactory as possible, you look
through plate glass window out upon
a beautiful strip of unoccupied land
lying Immediately in front OF the
architect angels Office, and, pointing
to it, say:
"That looks like nice place. l
would like to have my mansion there"
(We can easily fancy that you are not
the first tenderfoot to make an innO-
cent break like that.)
al regret to say" the angel reioins,
I" that that land is not in the market.
1t all belongs to Abraham. He came
up here, you know, in the early days,
and pre-empted it. Being we'll heeled,
he has been in no necessity OF dispos-
ing of any of it. He enjoyed great
reputation down there on the earth as
a good business man; he is pretty
shrewd old angel, and is holding the
land for that rise in value which al
ways comes with increased population.
l do not think he will sell any por-
ton of it until the last of the redeemed
come up from the earth, when land
values in Heaven will, of course, have
reached the highest point possible. If
he were willing to accomm odate any
body in that particular. am sure it
would be preacher, especially Meth
odist preacher; for l have heard him
more than once express his high ap-
probation of them as important fac
tors in real estate booms here,
because they were always holding re-
vival meetings on earth for the ex-
press purpose of increasing the popu-
lation of Heaven"
Your bewilderment deepens, but
pointing to land lying to the right OF
Abraham's you ask about that, and
are informed that it belongs to Isaac,
and that the land to the left is the
property of Jacob; that they, too,
had come up early and pre-empted all
the best land they could seize, and
were closely following the father and
grandfather in real estate speculations.
"Where, then, can I get LOTT" you
ask with increasing solicitude.
"Oh, all the landowners in Heaven
are not like these three; there are
plenty of lots here that you can buy"
is the reply.
"Buyw you exclaim, in mingled
wonder and alarm. "Buy! Why,
angel alive, l can't buy anything! I
spent all my time down there on the
earth saving souls; I had no time to
save money. and consequently have
come up here empty-handed. And
now am told that will have to buy
a lot before I can have my mansion.
have no money! can't buy lott
My disappointment is greater than I
can bear! This cannot be real!-this
cannot be Heaven! / must be dream.
ing! I was promised mansion!
That was the one thought that spurred
me on to tireless effort! It filled my
meditations by day and I dreamed of
it at night-that promise of Christie"
"Calm yourself, my friend" breaks
in the architect angel, with desire to
explain matters. "Christ did promise
you mansion, but you must remem-
Der that he said nothing about lot.
Procure you lot, and the promise will
be kept to the letter. Your mansion
will be built upon it in any style you
may elect, perfectly free of cost to
you."
"But how am to buy the lot when
I've nothing to buy it with% you
respond earnestly.
"Come to think of it, there is q way
out of that difficulty" answers the
architect angel, consolingly; "there
is an angel here in the real estate
business by the name Of Iscariot-"
"What! Who-Judas? He here?"
(Heaven seems full of surprises.)
EYES," he admits; ~ don't know
just how he got in, but when he came
he had thirty pieces OF silver which he
invested in land. He is q clever fellow
and has concocted a scheme by which
he helps poor angels out of the con-
dition which confronts you-that of
- Ill Il