The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Song of our Syrian Guest, by William
Allen Knight

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Title: The Song of our Syrian Guest

Author: William Allen Knight

Release Date: June 14, 2004 [eBook #12615]

Language: English

Character set encoding: US-ASCII

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SONG OF OUR SYRIAN GUEST***

E-text prepared by Al Haines

The Song of our Syrian Guest

by

William Allen Knight

Illustrations and Decorative Designs by Charles Copeland

1904

Psalm XXIII

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence
of mine enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life: and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord for ever.

To the hand that held the tea-ball
and the faces of two little maids

Salutation

Three months have gone by since this little child of my heart went
out into the world, a strayling in the scanty dress of a booklet.
In that time many thousands have looked kindly on the little
wanderer and welcomed it into their homes. Letters from everywhere
have come in, saying in effect: "It came to my door yesterday, and
its voice has been sweet to me, and I am glad to have it stay with
me." For all this I am most thankful. But it is hard to realize
that the small circle of those who loved this story a few months
ago has grown now to a multitude.

Surely none of us ought to be surprised that our story has itself
grown under all this kindness, after the manner of children.
Indeed, as we are sending it forth newly clothed, I find that it is
larger by half than when I last prepared it for journeying.

I am set to wondering whether it will not grow quite away from me
and have a life of its own. Healthy chil