welcomed us to a resting-place in his shadow. And
where was the soft green carpet of moss and tender grass that was spread
out so beautifully at the bottom of the hollow? It was all changed, as
if the breath of an evil spirit had blown upon it. 'Isn't it too bad!'
we all exclaimed; and after we had given expression to our feelings by
these few words, we proceeded to a closer examination. All the trees
along the hill-side had been cut down, and little piles of wood were put
up, to carry away. The May flowers were all dried up in the sun, and the
ground pine and bear's grass were as sere and yellow as the autumn
leaves. Down in the bottom of the hollow, the turf had been cut up and
carried off, and there lay the bones of an old horse bleaching in the
sun. There was only a little stump left of the acorn tree, with a few
withered branches. 'Isn't it a sin, and a shame!' said Alfred,
indignantly. 'I never want to come here again,' murmured Charlie; and I
sat down on the stump and cried. If all the world had been looking at me
I couldn't have helped it.

"Then I thought how strangely everything was changing around me. Nothing
appeared the same to me, save the sun and stars and the broad blue sea.
Father and mother, brothers and sisters, and the great world itself,
were all changing. I too was changed. Time and study, with daily trial,
were making me an altogether different being from what I had been, and I
knew that the finger of the Almighty was writing lessons upon my heart,
which I could never forget; no, not through all eternity. I wept; and
then a truth--a great and a good one--rose in my heart, like the morning
star, for I knew, at that moment, that all these changes were but the
lessons which the angel teachers are giving us, to fit us for higher
duties in the world to come. The memory of that beautiful spot is as
fresh and fair in my heart as ever, and the lesson which I learned there
has had a blessed influence upon my life; for now, when I feel sad and
disheartened, I strive to keep my eye fixed on the great point to which
we all tend, forgetting the little sorrows that lie between. And I hear
the calm sweet voice of him who died on Calvary, saying, 'fear not; I am
thy friend and brother. I too have dwelt in the flesh and know its
conflicts and trials; trust in me, for I am the same, yesterday, to-day,
and forever.'

"Hark! don't I hear the clock strike?--eight, nine, ten. O, naughty
children! when I only came in h