sail on! sail on! and on!"

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck,
And peered through darkness. Ah, that night
Of all dark nights! And then a speck--
It grew, a starlit flag unfurled!
It grew to be Time's burst of dawn.
He gained a world; he gave that world
Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!"

_Joaquin Miller._

From "Joaquin Miller's Complete Poems."

PER ASPERA

A motto has been made of the Latin phrase "per aspera ad astra," of
which the translation sometimes given is "through bolts and bars to the
stars."

Thank God, a man can grow!
He is not bound
With earthward gaze to creep along the ground:
Though his beginnings be but poor and low,
Thank God, a man can grow!
The fire upon his altars may burn dim,
The torch he lighted may in darkness fail,
And nothing to rekindle it avail,--
Yet high beyond his dull horizon's rim,
Arcturus and the Pleiads beckon him.

_Florence Earle Coates._

From "Poems."

TIT FOR TAT

We are quick to notice obstacles, grudges, affronts. Are we equally
quick to recognize the kindly influences that speed us on our way? The
truth is we are each of us a debtor to life, and as honest men we should
do all we can to discharge the obligation.

"Life," you say, "'s an old curmudgeon; yes, a thing whose heart is
flint;
When I ask a friendly greeting, all I get's an angry glint.
Let me do it every good turn that I can--my very best,
Still it strikes me, trips, maligns me, and denies my least request.

"So," you say, "my patience ended, I will give it tit for tat."
What a bunch of animosities is covered by your hat!
All the roses life can offer bloom and beckon to your soul,
But you close your eyes to roses and in thorns lie down and roll.

Life does nothing for you, sonny? What a notion you have! Say,
Make a little inventory of its gifts to you to-day.
You've a house or room to sleep in--did you build it with your hand?
If you did, who made the hammer and who cleared for you the land?

And electric lights--you use them; did you also put them there?
Beefsteak, coal, your mail, shoes, street cars--do they come like
rain from air?
Or do countless men, far-scattered, toil that you may have more
ease?--
Stokers, hodmen, farmers, plumbers, Yankees, dagoes, Japanese?

"Oh, that's general," you tell me. You