Year: 1872

DY REV. 1. Z. uoLToN.


This world is for the strong" said
Cain "the weak have no right in it."


Nay, brother" answered Abel, this
world is for the good; it is the wicked
that have no right here"


"Neither Allah nor Sheetahn can make
the weak to triumph over the strong"
said Cam.


behold, O unbeliever,' spoke voice
from the wind IL create wonder for
,uy confusion u thing weaker than thou
shalt rob thee OF thy choicest fruit, 80
that neither thou nor thy children shall
taste it more forever"


"Perchance my weak robber shall be
as swift as the wind, or as Invisible and
Intangible as the pestilence, or mailed in
adamant ?"


"None Of these the weight of IA peb-
BILE shall crush her; she shall be no larger
than barley-corn the tortoise shall
outrun her a hundred fold"


Allah, thou canst not do it :" cried
the bold blasphemer.


"Evcn now she is at work !" said the
Voice. II will show her to thee, pro-
vidcd that thy warfare against her shall
not begin until the moon shall thrice fill
her round"


IL PROMISE" replied Cain, with a
sneer.


Look at the leaf that is nearest thee. ~


Cain turned, for bough of the Ats
Hattob nearly touched his shoulder This
tree had been a wand which the Mo ther
of all Living had been permitted to carry
with her from Ell Furedis She had
stuck it into the ground at the close of
the first day of her wandering, and it
took root there When next she visited
the spot, the shoot had become small
tree, and she made gift of it to her first
born. The boy had transplanted it into
this deep and secluded v'lley, and multi
piled it here beyond all the wants of the
human race. Its fruit was large as the
bread-fruit, as beautiful as gold, as fra
grant as the rose, as sweet us honey, as
acid as the lemon, as oily as the olive, as
nourishing as the banana, and as spicy as
cinnamon. He that ate it wished no 9th
er fruit. In exchange for it the eldest
son received all he wished of every other
human product.


Upon the edge Of the leaf that was
nearest him, he saw a semi-circular notch.
A green creature that measured fin
gers breadth in length, soft as pulp, slow
moving as the shadow on the dial, nipped
away ten.thousandth of the leaf each
time she closed her jaws, There were
ten thousand leaves on the tree, and ten
thousand trees in the valley. Cain de.
rided his puny foe, and SO derided his
God. 81 will leave this contest" said
he, "to my baby Enoch."


Nevertheless, he watched his enemy.
Scarcely had she eaten three leaves when
she tied the edges Of a fourth together
and spun siken case within, with her.
self in its midst. There che lay as il
dead. But in fortnight he saw her is.
sue forth from her slken tomb, a thing
Of beauty. Bat the First Rough cared
oothing for the beautiful, aud he saw the
animal-hower no more.


lu few weeks more be saw an entire
branch beroi. Of its leaves. The green
i,rva had been multiplied thousand.
iold. "Whence came these ?" cried the
astonished scotfer.


These" replied the Voice, "and all
their offspring to last generation were
in the body Of the thing | showed thee
They are but part of thy contemned
robber."


Cain broke his truce with God aud
destroyed as many Of his ravagers as he
could. Fifty escaped his notice Theil
progeny took every leaf from seyera
trees. Nor did the multiplication cease
til the spoilers were pe.ishing in the leaf
less forest by millions from starvation
But the last Ats Hattob that grew with
in the reach of mortals died under the
attacks of its innumerabe, starving in
habitants.


Then the First Murderer learned thai
this world is not for the strongest.