y. At first the lark was
silent, and plumed his wings and went up--up--up, as if to gather wisdom
for his answer; and then he came, singing, down and said,--

"'I'll tell you something about your charge; but you won't believe me.
These young butterflies that you look for will become caterpillars.'

"'Poh! poh!' said the old caterpillar. 'I don't believe a word of it.'

"'No; I told you you wouldn't. And what do you suppose they will live
upon?' said the lark.

"'Why, the dew and the sweet honey from the flowers, to be sure,' replied
the caterpillar. 'That is what all butterflies live on.'

"'They won't, indeed,' said the lark. 'They will eat cabbage-leaves.'
And he went soaring away again into the clear heavens.

"Presently, back he came and said to the caterpillar,--

"'I'll tell you something stranger still about yourself. You'll be a
beautiful butterfly.'

"The caterpillar laughed at the idea; but, as she turned around and saw
the eggs upon the leaf all hatched into little crawling caterpillars, she
was forced to believe what the lark had said concerning herself; and she
went about as happy as could be, telling everybody what a glorious change
would come to her after she had folded herself in her close chrysalis."

The minister told Lolly that this caterpillar in the chrysalis was like
us worms of the dust when lying in the narrow grave enshrouded in our
death-robes; and that, like as the caterpillar bursts his darksome bonds
and soars away upon butterfly pinions, so shall we come forth from the
tomb on the resurrection day, and with angel-wings mount upward to the
world of light and peace. Then he read a few verses to her from that
beautiful account of the rising from the dead, in the fifteenth chapter
of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

Lolly would lie upon her sick-bed and fasten her earnest eyes upon him as
he read and as he spoke so sweetly to her of the other life; and then she
would look away through the open window to the heavens above, and seem to
see the face of her Father, who was drawing her slowly to himself.

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE ALICE'S PALACE***

******* This file should be named 19063.txt or 19063.zip *******

This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/0/6/19063

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public doma