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Show i "A GLASS BAIIIOjY."!. (nominee from a Now Year'a Sermon.) Sir ,-. LIVE THOMPSON 1 ikm JnD "l ln her Iow " J 1S273k cushioned seat In O.wSviRj&i'J "t lUtle country 'lfcMKS'K church, paring KrtSff0lb8N,wY'",,8r ! rtSS&SiiiKj&S mon. It wai her fci,rfv"tS habit to pay atrlct ' K??m If" attention to tho lKll llll 11 If regular Bundny IMIlllllM' .erroon. but this Sunday being Now Vear day ibo wai I Tory devoted In her attention. Her eyes never wandered from tho face or tho preacher, the lact that had been her Sunday etudy for thirty yeara. Sh was tiro ytara old when ah began the tudy. The (act bad never grown any ' older to her. There wero tho tame Millie seml-clrcutar wrtnklea under ths I llobe of the ear neareit her, which ahe hod alwaya teen, and the dtvloua create abort tho eye continued at- ) wayt ot the iama titration, except j Ithat they had grown Inwarda, tending ! to tht hor "tital rlpplt above tbt boss, and .icntng at that point. Tbt iu. n. to the mind of Olive Thompson, waa "more beautiful" on thla particular day than bad ever been before. "Now wo ice through n glass darkly, dark-ly, but then face to face," be Bald. 1 TAKE IT: IT 19 GOOD. I "The mlita ot our preient condition I aloud our Tlew; itormy dayi have tent 1 duet and alect agalnat our windows 0 until, for the dlmneaa of our glass. 1 we cannot tea tho tky." I Olive Tbompion'a eyet filled with taara. She remembered the "duat and II tleet" of weary yeara. How tho alorm had breathed upon the wlndowa ot her i aoul, turning Into trotted tableta what otherwlac might bavo been avenuci for aunllght. "Take heart" the preacher went oa, "spring daya aro coming when tho window will bo open to the tky, and we aball aet faco to face what baa alwaya al-waya been, but which we could not ace for looking through a glass dark- A few montha later Olive Thompion '" atood making apple pirn In tho pan try. The pantry window wai up and the aong of blrda came In. Alio thert came In the voice of Joseph, tho hired man, who was coaling the new calf to drink. "Tako It," be waa saying to I the inexperienced animal: "It la good." "Take It: It Is good," Ollvo repeated to herself In tht pantry "What Is goodt" asked the old wrinkled mother knitting In the warm kitchen. ..y.. . .-,.. T , ., ol, . answered, atlll listening with ono ear to what Joseph was saying. "It doesn't seem good now, bossy; but It Is good, tako It." "Olive," aald her mother, "It la time to wash the wlndowa. The frost Is nil off and they look dingy," "I know It," Ollvo said, "I will do It tomorrow." , "Olive Thompson obeyed her mother from a lift-long habit, and from religious re-ligious principle. Was she not her mother's child, and ought not children to obey their parents; oW, wrinkled, feeble parental" In tno morning tho took her pan jf suds and tho polishing cloth and stood In a chair to wash tho windows, flho would begin In tho kitchen, she thought, and to clear around to the parlor. She tried to pull out tho old fashioned spring of tho upper aasb, but It would not yield. "Olive," said her mother, "Joseph had better help to waah the windows lie can stand on the ladder on tho outside" "Joseph." she called at tbt door, "come In and pull the spring for Ollvo." And, "Joseph, polish the glass on the outside. It Is too hard for Olive." Joseph was obedient, llo hail been "the hired man" for live years. No one would bava known bo waa tho hired man except the two women. He might havo been the old lady's son and Olhe'a brother, so kind and true bad he alsays been to tbest two. Ollvo stood on a chair on tha in-stdo in-stdo and Joseph on tho ladder outside. The features of each wero dim through the sloes, and tha two scrubbed away with soap and polish. What waa left ot smoko and frost yielded to double persuasion, and Joseph called from the outsldt: "Is It clear, Olivet" "Olive, scrutinising closely, called back, pointing to tha upper corner, "Just a little more rubbing right there." Sho did not notice that Joseph was looking Into her eyes, and thinking to himself "how clear" they were. He rubbed away at the filmy place, and then called again: "It Isn't Quito clear down In that corner." Olive polished away on her side catching Joseph'a eyo full of a light that shot right through tha obacurlty and mado her remember tho ttxt ot the Now Year sermon "Now wa see through a glass darkly." Around the bouse went the two, Olive on tha Inside and Joseph on tha outside, and only tbt last pcrlor window win-dow waa left. The morning bad sped away like a glint of sunshine from the pan of water In tho chair. Ollvo had watched this broken bit ot radiance, rad-iance, M It played on tho celling abovo tho table with tbo album and pictorial Illblt on It. It was like a halo above the precious spot. Bho moved her chair up to the window with a llttlo sigh. Joseph moved his lsdder up to the same window on tho opposite tide. "Let It down from tbo top, Ollvo," be said. "I can't," Ollvo called back, "It sticks." Joseph was on her side In a moment. Ills tinners just touched hers as they pulled on tho aprlng togother, and something which was not unlike a glint ot sunshine psssed through tho two. Tho spring slipped back and Joseph waa on the outside again, Joseph lowered low-ered the window to bring It within easy reach ot tha woman on tha othtr tide. Strange he hadn't thought ot that before. Standing atralgbt up, Olive on her chair and Joseph on bis ladder, the two looked Into each other's 18 IT CLEAIl, OLIVEJ" eyes. There was nothing on Joseph'a aide and nothing on Olive's aide to dim their vision. It waa all clear. "Hut now faco to face," thought Olive. Tha old mother passing by tbe far-tor, far-tor, smiled, and spoke not a word. From tha kitchen tbt called: "Art tbe wlndowa all clean, daughter?" "All clean, mother," came tho answer, an-swer, and Olive Thompson recalled tbt words ot the sermon, "Take heart; spring days aro coming when tbo windows win-dows will bo open to tht sky; and wo aball see faco to face what baa always been." |
