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Show I i 1 The Homeland -- ( By Orgou -- FWhitney j ;'7rarB photo post . tle I shall and I can play the piano and play i hall whenever I feel like it and I defy the si. CHRISTMAS AT THE VICARAGE (A Christmas Story.) The Bridal Veil (ByDrson F. Yhitney (Continued from Page 1.) Ye restless souls ' that roam the billow, Through changing scenes, on, onward whirled, Where mighty art and mightier nature Reveal the wonders of the world ! Speak to the eye no nearer splendors Than beautify an alien strand? Behold, what endless gifts and graces Here glorify your native land Look down, lost dreamer, wandering starward, Where glittering fields of azure spread, ' And see the flowers of beauty blushing, Neglected ueath thy careless tread! NeVr has it been my lot to wander : nds or v. 0 Alpine snows; To linger io he vine-cla- d valleys Where K1 i.' 's elea, winding water flows. neer l;a e watched the sun declining classic Grecian hills, the Along of- - Palestine, Nor presBthc-plain- s Nor mused beside Olympian rills I Midway of life, in meditative mood, I lingered where in youthful years I stood, Spelled by the splendor of a crystal fall, A leaping wonder oer a mountain wall. g I listened to the rivers plaintive roar, Anti dreamed, of loved companions gone before; And oer my dream there fell a mist of tears, Veiling the vision of departed years. Behold me still, the torrent seemed to say, But eyes that once looked on me, where are they ? A type of time thy, fleeting race must be, And mine the symbol of eternity. Again, again. I come into the world. From peak to plain my waters downward hurled whence I fell," Then up to riven rain-clou- ' Compelled ly the awful look in his fathers .eyes, Bob once his fathers idol and now an out cast turned and left the room, leaving the old- Alone I gazed, where many once beheld, While foaming, wind-flunwaters surged and swelled. Whirling to wheel and furrow far away, And giving power where prisoned lightnings play. ; ds er man ashen gray, mortified and angry. He Was still standing stricken and disappointed when the door opened and his wife stood staring unbelievingly at him, a world of agonized terror in her eyes. Daddy, yon cannot, oh, you cannot meaij it! she Whispered through frozen Eps. No answer. Our boy who knows his ownyind, a man . at last! Oh, Daddy, you cant to see want never I But I have, Susan. his face again. I am no longer his father, nor you his mother. Robert! Take it all back before it is too late. Hurry, dear, and. tell him its alT right! Please, please, daddy! No! she stood, in - her Straight and white-face- d eyes the look of a lioness at bay. When she spoke her voice was calm and deliberate. Then may Heaven witness that I never address yon again, nor let yoqr name pass my lips, until yon bring him back" to me.1 Thus they stood, defying each other for the space of af few seconds when suddenly a lotmd broke the stillness. A door banged. . He was gone 1 With a scream she fell prostrate at her husbands feet. Then Silence, the Sepulchre Good, stepped into and took possession of that stricken household. V PARTn. ful Mrs. Cutler was never well again. The shock she had received that night left aw- her weak and shaken She never saw her husband while they were home excepting mealtimes, when they met with only a good morning or a good night. beauty And what of Grace, the black-eye- d of the borne? Her heart was torn at the sight of this calamity, which had rvrecked this hitherto wonderfully happy home. She strove day after day to bring about a reconciliation between her foster parents, but without avail. The minister was adamant against pleadings for his son and his little wife had a giants strength of will One day when Grace was at her daily task of pleading with Mrs. Cutler, the latter said: Daughter, I know his hair is much whiter and his hands are shaky. But my hair is very white, too, and my heart very sore. He has robbed me of my greatest treasure and until he returns my You know, son to me we must both suffer vow. Heaven itself witnessed my The spring came, bringing flowers and the birds with their songs to herald the advent of Easter. Bat in the quiet vicarage there was no scent of flowers, no song of sunshine and all semblance of Easter lay in the closely written his pages of the ministers Easter sermon on study table. Grace, tried to the utmost, could no longer endure the suffering silent twain and the long endless days in the eeholess house , so when love May came whispering into her eager ears of rul life with sweet insistence, she obeyed the call, leaving a note announcing her departure. ' , It read: God ever gave to To the dearest parents mortal : Last Monday, our Bob graduated with flying colors. I am going to him now. We shall be married soon, as I insist upon his settling down to serious .work at once. Though I have no doubt that our way will be hard, as I know Bob has nothing to start on, we are going to be as happy as these miserable conditions will permit. We shall make our home very near to you and at a sign from you we wall come home eagerly. Forgive if you can. Your daughter, -- Tvo climbed her Ive 'rested ever-dunmountains. ia her peaceful vales" ng When shook the towering granite height; And trembled where the vivid lightnings Blazed on the angry brow of night. Ive seen the headlong torrent leaping From eragjoloven gulf beneath. And caught the snowslides whelming terrors 'Descendingn-th- e W'inggof deatK Oh, tell me not that grander tempests Reverberate with louder roar On Switzerlands historic summits Than on the Rocky Mountains hoar; That fierce Lauwina leaps unchallenged By floods that shake the flinty wall Where rushing Timpanogos welcomes -- f And weds the beauteous Bridal Fall! Say not the shores of limpid Leman - -- Their cultured eharnmainrivalletL bold.. ?Tiil fades a wild and wondrous beauty The "crystal Cottonwoods unfold. Nor praise the skies of soft Italia. and set, : Wherc suns ia glory-ris- e Till thou. hast seen the days last splendor Af Die oh the hills of Desere- tSing not of Erins famed Killarney ; Laud not the wave of Galilee; For I have sailed the buoyant waters. Of Utahs wondrous saline sea.' Ive climber lier ever-durir- ig maintains, Where rushing Timpanogos welcomes And weds the beauteous Bridal Veil Or back to oceans breast, my source to swell; Ascending and descending, oer and oer, Blessing the myriads I have blessed before. Say, am I not the mightier of the twain? And man less noble than a drop of rain? Then answered I the river on this wise: Dost thou, 0 stream, humanity despise? Long after thou hast lived thy little day. That greater flood shall flow and "Eow away; From world to world lifes endless rivyr runs; Unmeasured are its days by earthly suns,"' Thy waters find a grave in times sad sea; Mans goal the ocean of eternity. wave. Symbols the Spirit thy to comfort, kindle, strengthen, save; Mighty Truths semblahce thou, type of the sacred Word ; But man the very image of his Lord. . When there shall be no sea, no peak, no Eternally Gods imageayill remain. Who told thee man Would come on earth no more? Earth willjie heaven, mans empire evermore.' GRACE. - Susan Cutler looked up with yearning in her eyes only to encounter such ubborn-resistance in those of her husband that she rose her untouched breakfast. from slowly Then two lonesome years passed after Grace departure from the old home. The Reverend Robert Cutler had failed so rapidly in physical strength that his bishop sent him c curate to assist him in his labors a young man vigorous and ' full "pfeagernessto help: not long in winning his John J Right was d fathers heart,' and Susan way into the lonely-olOften he would spend as him a son. loved Cutler -st- th. twilight houra-witschool days anl his li rlvercstedjn Ive quaffed her Ive breathed her peaceful vales, pure and sparkling streamlets, her gales. life-renewi- I love the land that, gave me being ; Her features eer shall seem 'to me More .beautiful than boasted marvels Of all the realms beyond the sea. , ke.r,tllinz-sMrra.ot.t- a work among the poor. He all did not seem at surprised at the. relationship minister and that worthys the between existing seemed he to understand and wife. Rather, though Mrs. Cutler had remarked once about it being a lonely abode for a young giant' so full of life as he, he. laughed, saying. Dont you worry about me. I can sing, and Im going to whenever I feel like it. ' I can whistle and whis- r lence to discourage me. Come and let me play and sing to you awhile. Forthwith he piloted her to the parlor and opening the piano which has been closed ever since Grace had closed it more than two years before, he made the house echo his songs and made the twilight shadows dance to his tune When the music ended and she was passing the study door on her way to her own room she .noticed it was slightly ajar and the minister himself was stretched, out in luxurious ease on the sofa. She knew he had heard and enjoyed the curates music just as she had. But there were times when the most ineffable sadness would hang about the curate like a ekmd. One day Mrs. Cutler surprised a miserable look on his face and going to, him she stooped over his efaair and kissed him lightly on the foreI see you have a sorhead, whispering, emorow, too, my boy. Suddenly his pent-u- p tions broke their bonds' and with heavy sobs he poured forth his story. He told her his name .was not John Right, but James 'Wride, and of the part he had unwittingly played in bringing the shadows into her home.l ... My father turned me out, too, and even demanded that I renounce the name he gave me. Father has always been stern and unbending ' and" I knew he would never forgive, so when I left him I adopted the name of John Right, for yoa see. Im sure I was in the right. Today his lawyers advised me of his death'. He died curs-ingm- e! I His huge frame shook with his uncontrollable sobs and Susan Cutler her heart aching for her own boy stood over him stroking his glossy black hair, crooning the while, My other son, my other son. When .he was calm again and a little chagrined at his stormy outburst of feeling, she urged him to keep silent concerning his identity, saying that once Mr. Cutler was aware of the deception he would turn the curate away, even though he was Che ministers right hand. And, she said, I cannot bear that my other son should Tears ran down her have to go away, .too, cheeks as she spoke and reverently he kissed her, tremulously crying, God bless you, little mother. This incident was never mentioned again and no allusion made to it, save that when Mrs. Cutler addressed the enrate Rhe said son in sueh a tender sweet way that he knew she never forgot. Through the months that followed John Right made two hearts less wear y and less bitter by his insistent good humor. Winter came again, as it had four times since Bob went away. Christmas came and with it the heart-throb- s and longings that were ever present seemed reenforced at Christmas time. Through the Eve preceding years, although the joy of living was gone, Mrs. Cutler did not forget the duties that devolved upon her as the ministers wife. Ev- was at her husbands side-t- o and from the church. - Whenever he was called to the bedside of the sick or 'dying she accompanied him, always ministering where gentle hands could soothe, and tender sympathies could quiet the stricken. Still she spoke- - no word to him., No one ever dreamed of their heavy hearts, though it was often whispered in church, What a sad little Woman she is, or Dont you think the parson and his wife take their troubles too much -- A i to heart? Oh this Christmas J2ve, there was to be a concert held in the parish hall by professional musicians to assist the charity organization in giving a jolly Christmas festivity to the poorlehil-drein the city. Though the snow was falling fast and the wind bitterly cold, the hall was crowded. Such . music as was heard that day is in the charity halls of the poor. Wagner, Schubert, Mozart, all were appreciated. In this age of technicaEty it is one thing to be musician and learn to know and understand the thoughts which inspired our reat masters in their immortal classics. But it is quite another thing to be a musician and great enough and clever enough to interpret the same wonderful themes so that the masses may understand too. Such artists were they whose music throbbed through the hall that day. Sighs smiles, tears, rapture, passion and triumph were registered oiG the faces of the audieneelis the artists played Of ' sang. Toward the end of the program the youn? n not-oftenhea- rd. -- Bee-ihove- n, . lninmedr--v-ioweed- el in bringing he- - fore you today an example of our excellent home talent.' Friends let" me introduce to you young lady who will, sing for us, Miss Mona Jackson. , There was silence as 'Miss Jackson took up ' ' her position on the platform and someone in the enaudience gave a listless band-cla- p by way of ' couragement. Not a sound was heard as she began Liszt P |