erfect as
perfect could be. Then as the sun shone into the box, the exquisite rose
caught also the rays of the sun and slowly the beautiful petals began to
unfold.

There was silence in the group of people about the box. What a wonderful
thing the man had brought to the messenger! It had beauty, but it had also
life.

Yet even as they looked there came another. By his side walked a great
dog. His hair was like silk; his eyes were tender as a child's; his face
was as knowing as a person's. Quietly his owner brought him forward,
saying: "This is to me far more beautiful than the rose. This has beauty
and life, but it has also usefulness. It has saved the lives of many."

And he patted the head of the faithful animal.

Then a mother pressed through the crowd and said: "Surely no animal is so
beautiful as a child. See! here is my little one. She has beauty and life
and usefulness--and she has also the magic beauty of innocence. See her
hands, and her little feet, and her golden curls. I am sure there is no
more beautiful thing in all the world than my baby."

Then the messenger sighed. What could he do? He just could not find the
thing that the King had asked him to find. All were so beautiful. Thinking
to be by himself, he walked away. Into a path alone by himself he went.

Then he heard voices, and, brushing aside the branches, he saw a young
maiden who played with a little child. Her touch was very tender as she
played the childish game. And when they had finished, the messenger held
his breath, for the child had thrown a tiny arm about her neck and the
yellow curls of the baby were close to the brown ones of the maiden. And
the maiden's face was wreathed in a wondrous smile.

"That is beauty," said the messenger. "That is rare beauty. But why is she
so beautiful? I must see."

Quickly he unfastened the glasses from their case and turned them to the
picture before him. Then, because they were magic glasses used only by the
King, he could see why she was beautiful.

In her mind he found clean thoughts; in her life he found kind deeds; in
her soul he found a high ideal; in her heart he found a mother-love for
little children.

Then the messenger took from his arm the scroll which he carried and with
his stylus he wrote these words:

"In all the world I find no more beautiful thing than a maiden who is
reaching toward life's highest goal--a noble womanhood--with love to show
her the way."

THE TREASURE