The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1899-12-28

! His HOck gave MIN little lIouUIe. IL
I was too rot for them to move far.
They gathered round every little milk
bush as though they hoped to find
| shade and stood there motionless in
clumps. He himself crept under a
shelving rock that lay at the foot of
the ..kopje," stretched himself on his
stomach and waved his dilapidated lit
tie shoes in the air.
Soon, from the blue bag where he
kept his dinner, he produced frag-
ment of slate, an arithmetic and pen
ell. Proceeding to put down a sum
| with solemn and earnest demeanor, he
| began to add it up aloud, "Six and 2
is 8. and is IL, and 2 is IA, and 4 is
! 49," Here he paused. Sand is IS,
Gnd- ISIS" The last was very much
! drawled. Slowly the pencil slipped
from his fingers, and the slate follow
/, ed it into the sand. For awhile he lay
| motionless, then began muttering to
himself, folded his little arms, laid his
head down upon them and might have
been asleep but for a muttering sound
| that from time to time proceeded from
| him. A curious old eve came to sniff
! at him, but it was long before he rails
! ed his head. When he did, he looked
at the faroff hills with his heavy eyes.
"Ye shall receive-ye shall receive
shall, shall, SHALL" he muttered.
He sat up then. Slowly the dizziness
! and heaviness melted from his face.
1t became radiant. Midday had come
| now, and the suns rays were poured
down vertically. The earth throbbed
before the eye.
The boy stood up quickly and cleared
a small space from the bushes which
covered it. Looking carefully, he found
| IL small stones Of somewhat the same
size. Kneeling down, he arranged
| them carefully on the cleared space
| in square pile, in shape like an altar.
Then he walked to the bag where his
| dinner was kept. In it were mutton
chop and large slice of brown bread.
The boy took them out and turned the
bread over in his hand. deeply consid-
ering it. Finally he threw it away and
walked to the altar with the meat and
| laid it down on the stones. Close by
| in the red sand he knelt down. Sure,
never since the beginning Of the world
was there so ragged and so small
priest. He took off his great hat and
placed it solemnly on the ground, then
closed his eyes and folded his hands.
He prayed aloud:
20 God, my Father. l have made
thee sacrifice. l have only twopence,
so cannot buy a lamb. If the lambs
were mine, would give thee one. But
now l have only this meat. 1t is my
dinner meat. Please, my Father, send
fire down from heaven to burn it, Thou
hast said. whatsoever shall say unto
this mountain, Be thou cast into the
sea. nothing doubling. it shall be done
l ask for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Amen"
He knelt down with his face upon
the ground, and he folded his hands
upon his curls. The fierce sun poured
down it's heat upon his head and upon
his altar. When he looked up, be knew
what he should see-the glory OF God!
For fear his very heart stood still; his
breath came heavily; he was half suf-
located. He dared not look up. Then
at last he raised himself Above him
was the quiet blue sky, about him the
red earth. There were the clumps of
silent ewes and his altar; that was all.
He looked up. Nothing broke the
intense stiffness Of the blue overhead.
He looked around in establishment.
Then he bowed again and this time
longer than before.
When he raised himself the second
time, all was unaltered. Only the sun
had melted the fat Of the little NUT
ton chop, and it ran down upon the
stones.
Then the third time he bowed him
self. When at last he looked up, some
ants had come to the meat on the altar.
He stood up and drove them away.
Then he put his hat on his hot curls
and sat in the shade. He clasped his
hands about his knees. He sat to watch
what would come to pass. The glory
Of the Lord God Almighty-he knew
he should see it!
"My dear God is trying me-" he said,
and he sat there through the fierce
heat Of the afternoon. Still he watched
and waited when the sun began to
slope. and when it neared the horizon
and the sheep began to cast long shad-
ows across the "karroo" he still sat
there. He hoped when the first rays
touched the hills till the sun dipped be-
hind them and was gone. Then he
called his ewes together and broke
down the altar and threw the meat
far, far away into the field.
He walked home behind his flock.
His heart was heavy. He reasoned so:
God cannot lie. l had faith. No fire
came. l am like Cain-I am not his.
He will not hear my prayer. God
hates me-" -
The boys heart was heavy. When
he reached the kraal gate, the two girls
met him.
Come" said the yellow haired EN-.
LET us play coop. There Is still time
before it gets quite dark. You, Waldo,
go and hide on the 'kopje.' Lyndan
and l will shut eyes here. and we will
not look"
The girls hid their faces In the stone
wall Of the sheep kraal. and the boy
clamherad half wav nm the "konip - He