Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1901-08-23

I'VE can arrange lhdt dll'I ''hiV'
Barbara spoke gently again. THAT is,
If | am 20 come"
''Yes-yes"-Mrs. Ward looked at
Barbara very sharply-"yes, you can
come on trial; / am glad TO get any
one"
Barbara colored again, and the 9th
er woman saw il.
"Of course. did not mean mean
am Just about discouraged over my
housekeeping, and | am nearly down
sick over it,"
IL am very sorry" replied Barbara
gravely. Mrs. Ward looked at her
doubtfully. 1t was one woman's sym
pathy for another spoken in four short
words. but the older woman had had
her faith in servants SO rudely broken
so many times that she could not at
once accept the sympathy as real She
kept coldly silent as Barbara rose.
shall | come in the morning?" she
asked
yes, say nine o'clock"
Il will bring Prof. Whites letters
then"
Mamma" cried Carl, at that mo-
ment appearing at the head of the
stairs, Lewis wants 10 know if that
hired girl is going to"
There was a mufiied cry from the
bedroom upstairs as Carl suddenly dis
appeared, dragged back into the room
by the older brother. Barbara smiled,
and said Good night" and went out,
saying TO herself as she went down the
steps: after all, the dragon was not
so bad as / feared. feel rather sorry
for the dragon keeper. Mrs. Ward her
self" on whose character and prob
able behavior, together with that of
her family, Barbara gravely dwelt as
she walked home.
She grew quite animated as she told
her mother the story of her adventures
so far. The matter of staying with
her mother evenings was a subject of
earnest discussion. Both agreed that
it must be managed if possible. Bar
bara went over the interview and gave
her mother the best possible picture
of Mrs. Ward.
81 am sure we shall get on very well.
She is a tired-out woman, irritable be-
cause of her nerves. But am sure she
is a good woman when she is WELL"
Barbara concluded, innocently. THE
children will bother me, l have no
doubt. But l know l can get on. I
saw only one child. He has roguish
face, but not bad at all. Oh, the dragon
is not what he's painted, mother"
"Not yet," said Mrs. Clark, in
prophecy.
NO, not yet" answered Barbara,
cheerfully. She felt almost light
hearted 70 think she had a position,
even if it was only that of a servant.
Yet she had herself said many times
during her college course in the study
of social economies that service was a
noble thing. And, as she went up TO
her room that night after long and
tender conference with her mother, in
which the two had grown nearer to-
gether than ever before, she seemed
to call to mind the many passages of
the New Testament which speak Of
Jesus not only as household servant
but even as bond servant" And il
came TO her with heaven-born courage
that if the Son of God became full
grown" through His sufferings en-.
dured in ministering TO others, why
might il not be the way in which she
and all other of Gods children should
develop their real lives and grow into
power as kings and queens in the King
dom? II is doubtful if ever before
that evening Barbara had caught a
real glimpse of the meaning of serv-
ice. She did catch something Of il
now. She opened her New Testament,
and il was not by chance that she
turned to the passage in Luke, twenty
second chapter:
And there arose also a contention
among them which of them is account
Ed 10 be the greatest. And He said
unto them, The kings of the Gentiles
have lordship over them; and they that
have authority over them are called
benefactors. But We shall not be so;
but he that is greater among you, let
him become as the younger, and he
that is chief as he that doth serve. For
which is greater, he that stitch at
meat or he that serveth? Is not he
that stitch at meat? But am in the
midst of you as he that serveth. But
We are they which have continued with
me in my temptations. And l appoint
unto you a kingdom even $ my Father
appointed unto me, that We may eat
and drink at my table in my kingdom"
duke 22:24-29)
Then she kneeled and prayed:
Dear Lord. make me fit to serve,
use me TO the glory Of Thy kingdom in
the new life before me. Make me
worthy 10 be a servant, TO be like my
Master. Amen"
So Barbara Clark began her new ex-
perience, which profoundly affected
not only her own life for all time TO
come, but the lives Of very many other
sous in the world. And that night she
slept the sleep which belongs TO all
the children of the kingdom, whose
earthly peace is as the peace Of God.
CHAPTER II.