angely in the setting sun. They gathered as many as
they could with their other treasures, and then all but one of the group
began to prepare for home, while he lingered, eager to gather the shining
pebbles.

"We must return," they all said in chorus to him. They disliked to
leave without him; but darkness was fast coming on, and they must obey
their parents' command and return before the shades of evening had
covered the earth. One voice after another died away on the air as they
pleaded vainly for him to go with them, but he heeded them not: the
golden stones were far more precious in his eyes than kindred, home, or
friends; and they departed sorrowfully without him, while he remained
and added stone to stone, till he was obliged at last, from exhaustion,
to lie down on the damp ground.

It was not like his warm bed in his pleasant home; and he missed the
cheerful voices of his brothers, and more than all his parents' fond
goodnight, after the evening prayer. He slept; but his dreams were wild
and feverish, and there was no atmosphere of love about him to soothe the
weary brain.

The next day at noon his parents sent a messenger to him, bidding him
return. But the love of his golden stones was paramount to the wishes
of kindred, and the unnumbered comforts of a happy home; and his reply to
the messenger was, "I will return, when I have enough of these," pointing
to a large collection which was already higher than his head. At
nightfall hunger seized him. He felt too weary to go in search of
food, but the demand of nature asserted its claim, and he dragged himself
to a field near by, where grew berries and fruits in abundance. His
spirits rose after the cravings of hunger were satisfied, and he lay down
again by his precious pile of stones.

The days glided into weeks, and still he fed upon the berries and
gathered the golden pebbles. His father had ceased to send messengers to
him, knowing that nothing but a long experience would teach his child
the value of life's many blessings, and that gold _alone_ has no power to
bless us. The father suffered much in knowing and realizing that his
son must learn the truths of life through such severe lessons; but wisdom
told him it could not be otherwise.

The chill air of autumn came, and no longer could the fruits and berries
ripen for him. He saw some laborers one day in a field near by, eating
their meal which they had brought from their homes. Oh; what would he not
now