spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball?
What though nor real voice nor sound
Amidst the radiant orbs be found?
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing as they shine,
"The hand that made us is divine."
--_Addison_.

_Adapted from the nineteenth Psalm_.

{435}{436}

[Illustration]
JESUS AND JOHN
By Murillo (1618-1682)
[End illustration]

{437}

TWILIGHT

The twilight is sad and cloudy,
The wind blows wild and free,
And like the wings of sea-birds
Flash the white caps of the sea.

But in the fisherman's cottage
There shines a sudden light;
And a little face at the window
Peers out into the night.

Close, close it is pressed to the window,
As if those childish eyes
Were looking into the darkness
To see some form arise.

And a woman's waving shadow
Is passing to and fro,
Now rising to the ceiling,
Now bowing and bending low.

What tale do the roaring ocean,
And the night wind, bleak and wild,
As they beat at the crazy casement,
Tell to that little child?

And why do the roaring ocean,
And the night wind, wild and bleak,
As they beat at the heart of the mother,
Drive the color from her cheek?
--_Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_.

By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

{438}

THE PEBBLE AND THE ACORN

"I am a Pebble and yield to none!"
Were the swelling words of a tiny stone;
"Nor change nor season can alter me:
I am abiding while ages flee.
The pelting hail and the drizzling rain
Have tried to soften me long in vain;
And the tender dew has sought to melt
Or to touch my heart,--but it was not felt.

"None can tell of the Pebble's birth;
For I am as old as the solid earth.
The children of men arise and pass
Out of the world like blades of grass;
And many a foot on me has trod
That's gone from sight and under the sod!
I am a Pebble! but who art thou,
Rattling along from the restless bough?"

The Acorn was shocked at this rude salute,
And lay for a moment abashed and mute;
And she felt for a while perplexed to know
How to answer a thing so low.
But to give reproof of nobler sort
Than the angry look or the keen retort,
At length she said, in a gentle tone,
"Sin