Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-12-25

H So-hiShI Oh Inc pam ...a...
Little Jacob pulled at his fathers
outer garment and looked wistfully
up at him with great soft eyes like
his mothers.
Rachel, too, looked up from the
wai'tng baby in her arms.
May he not 60, David? You
have promised him to 60 for some
time. and the child hero is sick, II
will be quieter II Jacob be with you"
The boy shall co." answered Da-
vid, but he must sleep now, for
there is no sleep for him there. The
wolves have come down from Leba-
non, and we keep opon eyes and
strict watch tonight; but let him be
ready at sunset. Is my scrip filled.
Rachel?"
ut is filled, and the water-gourd
la ready" :
So David left the little hut out
side OF Bethlehem and went to his
sheep in the field; and when the sun
came hotly down at noon Jacob curl
cd up on C. mat IN the corner and
slept long and sweetly, for he longed
to be out at night among the Sleep
ing sheep and the watching shep-
herds, and he hid his own little sling
and store OF smooth pebbles inside
the breast Of his coat, hoping to slay
wolf himself.
Then the night came softly over
Judea; the gentle winds hushed their
whispering; the distant ripple OF
kedron sung a sleepy song, and on
the wide, brown waste of the plain
the fiocks lay like heaps of fallen
clouds, gray in the dim light, and
noiseless except when some tiny
lambs bleated for the mother it could
not find with it's half-opened eyes.
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the silence and the darkness awed
him; the plain seemed to meet the
sky; he could see only a broken line
on that clear dark horizon where the
roofs Of Bethlehem, low and fiat,
crowned the hilltop; his hand grew
chilly in his fathers and David saw
the boy was afraid. He spoke to
the other shepherds, who sat or
stood among the flocks:
Let us sing the folding Psalm,
brethren, for the child is strange to
the night, and remembereth not the
Shepherd Of Israel Is with u.s." So
Two or the men began, in rich, low
voices, to chant:
The Lord Is my shepherd;
And then the rest answered:
! shall not want.
And the first two sang again:
He maketh me to lie down In green
pastures,
And another response came:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
So they went on through the beau
tiful Psalm, and Jacob listened and
felt sure that God was there in the
night. When the Psalm was over he
sat down on the plain beside his
father, or walked about the sleeping
sheep, and held his sling ready to
strike. wolf in the forehead But no
wolves came; the night was still and
soft, the dark blue sky was all alieht
with splendid stars, shining and gilt
tering as they wheeled slowly across
the sky-so slowly that little Jacob
could not see them move. He did
not speak much, for the stiffness was
like finger on his lips, but he
watched the heavens with wondering
eyes. and when his father looked
down at him and smiled Jacob heard
him say softly:
The heavens declare the glory of God,
And the Armament showeth His han
diwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech,
And night unto night showeth knowl-
edge.
the days spoke; If it was with noisy
winds, or birds singing, or the sound
OF waters far Off; and then he fell
into kind Of dream, leaning against
his fathers knee, for 1t was almost
midnight, and David had sat down to
rest.
. Il . Il Il - q 4 Il
But suddenly, in one breathless
moment, both David and Jacob
sprang to their feet, and all the other
shepherds crowded up to them with
rale faces, and open eyes, and tremb-
ling knees; for in an instant, with
out sound or sigh the wide heavens
were flooded with light and glory.
brighter than the sun at noon; the
4 stars were drowned in light, the ra-
Glance flowed in waves Of splenIor
from midheaven down to earth. And
then, in the deepest depths Of glory
far above their heads in the neart or
all the shining, appeared great an
gel, with robes Of whiteness brighter
than the gathered light, and a face
calm with awful gladness; and the
shepherds were sore afraid, for they
thought the Day Of the Lord was
come. But the angel smiled upon
them, like the sun shining In his
strength, and spoke like the voice of
the sea for might, yet sweeter than
the turtle~doves amid the cedars of
Lebanon, and he said unto them:
Fear not! For behold | bring
you good tidings Of great joy, which
shall be 20 all people. For unto you
is born this day In the city of David,
Saviour, which IS Christ the Lord!
And this shall ] a sign unto you:
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