Middletown transcript., 1916-02-26

rave, but there was The light OF ths
great happiness in his gravity.
Il have resigned" he told her.
That was part Of what she had
known.
/ "And not for mel" she exulted. II
was not a question. She saw that in
him was no doubt. no quandary. nc
struggle between faith and disbelief
Il see my way clearly" he smiled
down at her; "and there are no thorns
to cut for me. shall never change"
And we shall walk hand in hand
about the greatest work in the world, -
she softly reminded him, and there
were tears in her eyes. but what
work shall that be, Ted?" She looked
up ut him for guidance, now.
''lO shed into other lives some of
the beauty which blossoms In our
J own" he replied, walking with her in
/ to to great dim nave, where the
shadows still quivered with the under
echoes OF the mighty Bach prelude. "a
have been thinking much of the many
! things you have said to me-" he told
her, "and particularly of the need, not
for new religion, but for a re-birth
of the old; that same new impulse to-
wards the better and the higher life
which Christ brought into the world
have been thinking on the mission of
him, and it was the very mission to
the need of which you have held so
firmly. He came to clear away the
thorns of creed which had grown up
between the human heart and God!
The brambles have grown again. The
time is almost ripe. Gail, for a new
quicxening of the spirit; for the Sec
ond coming"
She glanced at him, startled.
For new voice in the Wilderness"
she wondered.
mot yet" he answered. I'VE have
signs in the hearts of men, for there is
a great awakening of the public con-
science throughout the world; but be-
fore the day Of harvest arrives, we
must have sign in the sky. No great
SPA4 AS0oA AOb4FOA hcl0 CNCA swept NHG
world without its attendant supernat-
ural phenomena. for mysticism is a
part of religion, and will be to the end
of time. Reason, by the very nature
of itself, realizes it's own limitations,
and demands something beyond it's un-
derstanding upon which to hang it's
faith. 1t is the need of faith which
distinguishes the soul from the mind"
"A sign," mused Gail, her eyes aglow
with the majesty of the thought.
ut will come" he assured her, with
the calm prescieuce of prophecy it.
self. "As no great spiritual revival has
ever swept the world without its at
tendant supernatural phenomena. so 10
great spiritual revival has ever swept
the world without its concreted symbol
which men might wear upon their
breasts. The cross! What shall be it's
successor? A ball of fire in the sky?
Who knows! If that symbol of mans
spiritual rejuvenation, of his renewed
nearness to God, were, in reality, a
bail of fire, Gail, would hold it up in
the sight OF all mankind though it
shriVeled my arm!"
The thin treble note stole out of the
organ loft, pulsing its timid way among
the high, dim arches, as if seeking a
where it might fasten it's
tiny thread of harmony. and grow into
a song of new glory, the glory which
had been born that day in the two
earnest hearts beneath in the avenue
of slender columns. The soft light |
from one of the clerest0ry windows
flooded in on the compassionate son of |
man above the altar. The very air
seemed to vibrate with the new in-
spiration which had been voiced in the
old Market Square church Gail gazed |
up at Smith Boyd, with the first con-
tent her heart had ever known; con-
tent in which there was both earnest
ness and serenity, to replace all her
cropping. He met her gaze with eyes
IN which there glowed the endless love
which it is beyond the power of speech
10 tell. There was moment of ecstasy,
1f complete understanding, of the per-
'ect unity which should last through
1ut their lives. In that harmony. they
walked from the canopy of dim arches.
,ut through the vestry. and beneath
he door above which perched the two
gray doves cooling. For an instant Gail
ooked back into the solemn depths.
md a wistfulness came into her eyes
1.-The ball of fire she unused. when
hall we see it in the SKYE"
THE END.