The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-06

was named Passion and the other Pa tience Men brought a bag of treasure to Passion, and he took it up and rejoiced exceedingly, and laughed Patience to scorn. But in little space he had lav- ished it all away and had nothing left.
 Passion" said the Interpreter, lis the figure of man of this world, who will have all the good things now and cannot stay till next year, that is, until the next world, for their portion of good. Patience waits for the best things and will have them endlessly.'
 Many other things, rare and profitable, pleasant and dreadful, did the Interpre- ter show Christian before he set him on his way again. Now the road was bor- dered on either side by a wall which was named Salvation. Christian went along with great difficulty. being sore burdened with that which was on his back. Sud- denly he came to cross and instantly the burden fell from his shoulders and began to tumble downward to a place where there stood a sepulchre, into the mouth of which it fell and he saw it no more.
 He wept with gratitude and joy Pres ently there came to him three shining ones. "Thy sins be forgiven said the first The second stripped him of his rags and clothed him with new raiment The third set a mark on his forehead and gave him a roll with a seal, which he bade him look upon as he ran and to give it in at the Celestial Gate.
  and so passed on for some time till he spied three men with letters on their heels lying asleep a little way from his road. Their names were Simple, Sloth and Pre- sumption, and when Christian awoke them and would have helped them off with their letters, warning them against the danger of the way, they looked at him heedlessly and went to sleep again.
 While he was still troubled about them two men tumbled over the wall, crying that they were Formalist and Hypocrite, who were bound from the land of Vain glory to Mount Zion. When Christian asked them why they had not come by the straight and narrow path they replied that their countrymen accounted it too far about and always made short cut of it.
 Christian went on, with Formalist and Hypocrite following him, but with them he would hold no further converse re- freshing himself the rather by reading in the great roll.
 They came to a hill named Difficulty, very steep and high, and the narrow way lay straight up. But there were two broad pleasant roads turning around the bottom, one right, one left
 One of these ways was named Danger and the other Destruction. Formalist and Hypocrite, seeing how steep was the hill and rugged, resolved to go the easy ways, and so one was led into great wood and the other into dark mountains, and they fell and rose no more.
 Christian clambered up the straight and narrow path on his hands and knees till he came to a pleasant arbor half way up the hill. where he sat down to rest and, so, presently fell asleep In his sleep his roll fell from his hand, and when he awoke at last and perceived that it was | almost night he was sore alarmed and ran to the top of the hill.
 There he met, running toward him, Tim orous and Mlstrust They told him that they had climbed the hill Difficulty, but were returning now, rather than to con tinue their journey to the City of Zion, | because they saw more dangers the fur 1 ther they went At last they had seen two 1 lions lying in the way, and they would not continue. So they ran on, and Chris tian went forward, though much dis , turbed.
 | Presently he felt for his roll and found | it not Then he retraced his steps with bitter wailings for sleeping in place that was erected only as a little refreshment for his weariness. Joyful was he when he found 1t where it had been lost, but when he went again on his way the night came on, and he saw full well his sin in sleep ing. For" sighed he, 'the lions will