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Show MOTHER'S LOVE. It is nightfall, the. hour moat sacred in the home, ths time when- the mother is the home center.-toward whom each memlber.of the fireside turns, , as the leaves turn toward, the sun. From the grown son and daughter to the helpless -babe, each comes in for a share of mother's love. The father, weary with the labors of the day, has a sacred corner cor-ner in her heart. To. the mother the hour of reunion is a lustrous gem growing grow-ing more beautiiul as the years go by. To the youth, it has often proved a safeguard against evil," and again it has been the on .bright spet in life that memory held cltar, ..This. is -"home, sweet home." Blessed are the parents who can say, at eventide;. "We are all here." In a tmvn 'in .oJd Maryland, there were just such homes. One evening, even-ing, as the darkness was spreading its mantle over the outer world, a young man was wendins his way toward the town. He had left a loved home, where fond parents and -loving sisters had done all that love could do for him, hard times pressed them sorely, and he felt his duty of doing something for those who had been so faithful to him. He had made up Tii's mind to leave' his humble home and go into the, wide world in search of employment. - Inexperienced, Inex-perienced, a stranger with 'no money to pay lodgings, he naturally - bent ' his steps in the direction of private dwellings, dwell-ings, hoping to obtain lodging for the night. He peered anxiously through the darkness if, per chance,, a ray of light from some window might gleam his path, and give him. courage to go on. But also he looked in vain as he approached the sound of happy voices and music which fell upon- his ear, reminded, re-minded, him of his home. He tnrned away in sadness. What could he do? Weary, cold and hungry, he must find a shelter somewhere for the night. He He knew there were several bright lights in town, where he could go to the saloon. Reluctantly for he had been tenderly reared and faithfully warned against such places, he turned his steps thither. As he approached his heart sank within him and he hesitated, but. the demand of cold and hunger prevailed. He opened the. door and went in. The door closed behjnd him. You, reader, have but a .faint idea of the temptations awaiting him in the. enemy's camp, forlorn and helpless as he was. This case is one of many. Who Is to blame? Are not parents, sons and daughters who are so shut in with themselves as to forget to let our home light shine out into the darkness as a cheer and a welcome to the lonely ones who are famishingforsympathy ? |