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THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
Co'^Y^ 
 
THE LIBRARY OF 
 CONGRESS, 
 
 Tmvo Copici Received 
 
 SEP 24 1903 
 
 ( Cepyright Ent^ 
 
 CUSS ^ XXa N« 
 
 COPY A. 
 
 Gdptright, 1903, 
 By Little, Brown, axd Compaky. 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 Published October, 1903 
 
 UNIVERSITY PRESS • JOHN WILSON 
 AND SON • CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 
 
w 
 
 " *; To H. R. 
 
 ffL Once more I turn to you and give 
 
 Into your hand my little book, 
 
 ^ Since through the years and while I live, 
 
 It is to you I still must look 
 For hand of strength, for heart of cheer. 
 For all that 's wise and kind and dear. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 The Golden Windows 1 
 
 Two Ways 7 
 
 The Wheat-field 9 
 
 To-MORROW . , 12 
 
 The Coming of the King . 14 
 
 The Tree in the City 18 
 
 The House of Love 22 
 
 The Great Feast 26 
 
 The Desert 30 
 
 The Walled Garden 33 
 
 The Pig Brother . 35 
 
 The Hill 39 
 
 About Angels 41 
 
 The Point of View 46 
 
 The Open Door 49 
 
 The Day 51 
 
 The Baby 53 
 
 The Apron-string 55 
 
 The Shadow 58 
 
 The Prominent Man 60 
 
 Good Advice 63 
 
viii COxXTENTS 
 
 Paok 
 For Remembrance 64 
 
 • The Sailor Man 66 
 
 The Road 69 
 
 The Bund Mother 72 
 
 ^«Go" and "Come" 75 
 
 y Child's Play 77 
 
 The Windows 80 
 
 A Misunderstanding 82 
 
 From a Far Country 84 
 
 A Fortune 90 
 
 The Stars 92 
 
 ^The Cooky 94< 
 
 Ti^E Strong Child .96 
 
 Anybody 98 
 
 The Giftie 99 
 
 The Staff 101 
 
 The Door 103 
 
 Theology IO6 
 
 A Matter of Importance 108 
 
 The Scar .112 
 
 The Stranger 113 
 
 The Wedding Guests 115 
 
 Home • 120 
 
(( 
 
 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Angel said to this child, ^ Where are 
 
 your sheaves?'" Frontispiece 
 
 " Two Angels sat together, bending over a 
 
 book" Page 46 
 
 i( 
 
 cc 
 
 They found the sailor man sitting in his 
 
 doorway knotting ropes " .... " QQ 
 
 Laid his arm round the stranger's neck, 
 
 and led him away into his garden " . "87 
 
 These were evil days for the wedding 
 
 guest" "117 
 
THE 
 
 GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 A BOOK OF FABLES 
 
 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 LL day long the little boy 
 worked hard, in field and 
 barn and shed, for his people 
 were poor farmers, and 
 could not pay a workman ; 
 but at sunset there came 
 an hour that was all his 
 own, for his father had given it to him. 
 Then the boy would go up to the top of 
 a hill and look across at another hill that 
 rose some miles away. On this far hill 
 stood a house with windows of clear gold 
 and diamonds. They shone and blazed 
 so that it made the boy wink to look at 
 them : but after a while the people in the 
 house put up shutters, as it seemed, and 
 then it looked like any common farm- 
 1 1 
 
2 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 house. The boy supposed they did this 
 because it was supper-time ; and then he 
 would go into the house and have his 
 supper of bread and milk, and so to bed. 
 
 One day the boy's father called him and 
 said : " You have been a good boy, and 
 have earned a holiday. Take this day for 
 your own ; but remember that God gave 
 it, and try to learn some good thing." 
 
 The boy thanked his father and kissed 
 his mother ; then he put a piece of bread 
 in his pocket, and started off* to find the 
 house with the golden windows. 
 
 It was pleasant walking. His bare feet 
 made marks in the white dust, and when 
 he looked back, the footprints seemed to 
 be following him, and making company 
 for him. His shadow, too, kept beside 
 him, and would dance or run with him as 
 he pleased ; so it was very cheerful. 
 
 By and by he felt hungry ; and he sat 
 down by a brown brook that ran through 
 the alder hedge by the roadside, and ate 
 his bread, and drank the clear water. 
 Then he scattered the crumbs for the 
 birds, as his mother had taught him to 
 do, and went on his way. 
 
THE GOLDEN WINDOWS S 
 
 After a long time he came to a high 
 green hill ; and when he had climbed the 
 hill, there was the house on the top ; but 
 it seemed that the shutters were up, for 
 he could not see the golden windows. He 
 came up to the house, and then he could 
 well have wept, for the windows were of 
 clear glass, like any others, and there was 
 no gold anywhere about them. 
 
 A woman came to the door, and looked 
 kindly at the boy, and asked him what he 
 wanted. 
 
 " I saw the golden windows from our 
 hilltop," he said, " and I came to see them, 
 but now they are only glass." 
 
 The woman shook her head and laughed. 
 
 " We are poor farming people," she said, 
 "and are not likely to have gold about 
 our windows ; but glass is better to see 
 through." 
 
 She bade the boy sit down on the 
 broad stone step at the door, and brought 
 him a cup of milk and a cake, and bade 
 him rest; then she called her daugh- 
 ter, a child of his own age, and nodded 
 kindly at the two, and went back to her 
 work. 
 
4 THE GOLDExN WINDOWS 
 
 The little girl was barefooted like him- 
 self, and wore a brown cotton gown, but 
 her hair was golden like the windows he 
 had seen, and her eyes were blue like the 
 sky at noon. She led the boy about the 
 farm, and showed him her black calf with 
 the white star on its forehead, and he 
 told her about his own at home, which 
 was red like a chestnut, with four white 
 feet. Then when they had eaten an apple 
 together, and so had become friends, the 
 boy asked her about the golden windows. 
 The little girl nodded, and said she knew 
 all about them, only he had mistaken the 
 house. 
 
 " You have come quite the wrong way ! " 
 she said. *' Come with me, and I will 
 show you the house with the golden win- 
 dows, and then you will see for yourself." 
 
 They went to a knoll that rose behind 
 the farmhouse, and as they went the little 
 girl told him that the golden windows 
 could only be seen at a certain hour, about 
 sunset. 
 
 " Yes, I know that ! " said the boy. 
 
 When they readied the top of the knoll, 
 the girl turned and pointed ; and there on 
 
THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 5 
 
 a hill far away stood a house with windows 
 of clear gold and diamond, just as he had 
 seen them. And when they looked again, 
 the boy saw that it was his own home. 
 
 Then he told the little girl that he must 
 go ; and he gave her his best pebble, the 
 white one with the red band, that he had 
 carried for a year in his pocket ; and she 
 gave him three horse-chestnuts, one red 
 like satin, one spotted, and one white like 
 milk. He kissed her, and promised to 
 come again, but he did not tell her what 
 he had learned ; and so he went back down 
 the hill, and the little girl stood in the 
 sunset light and watched him. 
 
 The way home was long, and it was 
 dark before the boy reached his father's 
 house ; but the lamplight and firelight 
 shone through the windows, making them 
 almost as bright as he had seen them from 
 the hilltop ; and when he opened the door, 
 his mother came to kiss him, and his little 
 sister ran to throw her arms about his 
 neck, and his father looked up and smiled 
 from his seat by the fire. 
 
 " Have you had a good day ? " asked his 
 mother. 
 
6 THE GOLDExN WINDOWS 
 
 Yes, the boy had had a very good day. 
 
 " And have you learned anything ? " asked 
 his father. 
 
 " Yes ! " said the boy. " I have learned 
 that our house has windows of gold and 
 diamond." 
 
TWO WAYS 
 
 WO little weeds grew 
 on a bank by the road- 
 side. All summer they 
 had drunk dew and 
 sunshine, and had been 
 happy ; but now au- 
 tumn was come, with 
 gray skies, and winds that nipped and 
 pinched them. 
 
 "We shall die soon!" said one little 
 weed. " I should like to do something 
 pleasant before I die, just to show what 
 a happy time I have had. I think I will 
 turn red, and then people will see how I 
 feel." 
 
 " You will be a great fool to waste your 
 strength in any such nonsense ! " said the 
 other little weed. " I shall live as long as 
 I can, and hug the brown bank here." 
 
 So the first little weed turned bright 
 scarlet, and was so pretty that every one 
 
8 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 who passed that way turned to look at it. 
 By and by there came along a most beau- 
 tiful maiden with her lover ; and when 
 the lover saw the scarlet leaves, he plucked 
 them, and set them in his maiden's hair, 
 and they lent her a new grace. This made 
 the little weed so happy that he died for 
 pure joy. 
 
 The second little weed lived on, and 
 turned slowly brown, like the bank. 
 
 " He was a fool ! " he said, speaking of 
 his companion. " He put all his strength 
 into turning red, and so he died." 
 
 *' I was proud of him ! " said the brown 
 bank. " He did what he could, and people 
 observed him." 
 
 " Yes, but I am alive, and stay with 
 you ! " said the weed. 
 
 " Much I care ! " said the brown bank. 
 
THE WHEAT-FIELD 
 
 OME children were set 
 to reap in a wheat-field. 
 The wheat was yellow 
 as gold, the sun shone 
 gloriously, and the but- 
 terflies flew hither and 
 thither. Some of the 
 children worked better, and some worse ; 
 but there was one who ran here and there 
 after the butterflies that fluttered about 
 his head, and sang as he ran. 
 
 By and by evening came, and the Angel 
 of the wheat-field called to the children 
 and said, " Come now to the gate, and 
 bring your sheaves with you." 
 
 So the children came, bringing their 
 sheaves. Some had great piles, laid close 
 and even, so that they might carry more ; 
 some had theirs laid large and loose, so 
 that they looked more than they were ; 
 but one, the child that had run to and fro 
 after the butterflies, came empty-handed. 
 
10 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 The Angel said to this child, " Where 
 are your sheaves ? " 
 
 The child hung his head. " I do not 
 know ! " he said. " I had some, but I 
 have lost them, I know not how." 
 
 " None enter here without sheaves," said 
 the Angel. 
 
 " I know that," said the child. " But 
 I thought I would like to see the place 
 where the others were going ; besides, they 
 would not let me leave them." 
 
 Then all the other children cried out 
 together. One said, " Dear Angel, let him 
 in ! In the morning I was sick, and this 
 child came and played with me, and 
 showed me the butterflies, and I forgot 
 my pain. Also, he gave me one of his 
 sheaves, and I would give it to him again, 
 but I cannot tell it now from my own." 
 
 Another said, " Dear Angel, let him in I 
 At noon the sun beat on my head so 
 fiercely that I fainted and fell down like 
 one dead ; and this child came running by, 
 and when he saw me he brought water 
 to revive me, and then he showed me the 
 butterflies, and was so glad and merry 
 that my strength returned ; to me also he 
 
THE WHEAT-FIELD 11 
 
 gave one of his sheaves, and I would give 
 it to him again, but it is so hke my own 
 that I cannot tell it." 
 
 And a third said, " Just now, as evening 
 was coming, I was weary and sad, and 
 had so few sheaves that it seemed hardly 
 worth my while to go on working ; but 
 this child comforted me, and showed me 
 the butterflies, and gave me of his sheaves. 
 Look ! it may be that this was his ; and 
 yet I cannot tell, it is so like my own." 
 
 And all the children said, " We also had 
 sheaves of him, dear Angel ; let him in, 
 we pray you ! " 
 
 The Angel smiled, and reached his hand 
 
 inside the gate and brought out a pile 
 
 • of sheaves ; it was not large, but the glory 
 
 of the sun was on it, so that it seemed to 
 
 lighten the whole field. 
 
 " Here are his sheaves ! " said the Angel. 
 " They are known and counted, every one." 
 And he said to the child, " Lead the way 
 in!" 
 
TO-MORROW 
 
 N the Land of To-morrow, 
 near the entrance-gate, two 
 newly arrived spirits met, 
 and looked each other in 
 the face. One of them 
 was a strong and beautiful 
 spirit, with shining gar- 
 ments, and a face full of clear light ; but 
 the other was little and pinched and gray, 
 and she trembled and cowered as she went. 
 " What ails you," asked the first spirit, 
 " that you cower thus ? " 
 
 " I am afraid ! " answered the second. 
 "It is all so strange here : I hav^e no 
 home, no friends, and I am alone and 
 frightened." 
 
 " That is strange I " said the strong spirit. 
 " I never felt so at home before. Every- 
 thing is friendly to my eyes ; the very 
 trees are as if I had known them always." 
 
 " I^et me hold your hand I " said the 
 frightened one. *' You seem so strong, 
 
 12 
 
TO-MORROW 13 
 
 and tread so freely, I shall perhaps not be 
 so afraid if I am with you. I was a great 
 lady on the earth. I lived in a fine house, 
 and had servants to run and ride for me, 
 and jewels and rich dresses, and every- 
 thing that heart could desire ; yet I had 
 to leave them all in haste, and come alone 
 to this strange place. It is very terrible ! 
 was it so with you ? " 
 
 " Nay," said the other ; "I came will- 
 ingly." 
 
 The frightened spirit clung to the other, 
 and peered in her face. 
 
 *' Tell me ! " she cried. " Did we ever 
 meet on the earth ? your face is not only 
 friendly, it is familiar. It is as if I had 
 seen you often, yet none of the noble 
 ladies I knew had such strength and grace. 
 Who were you, beautiful angel ? " 
 
 " I was your washerwoman ! " said the 
 other. 
 
THE COMING OF THE KING 
 
 OME children were at play 
 in their play-ground one 
 day, when a herald rode 
 through the town, blow- 
 ing a trumpet, and crying 
 aloud, " The King ! the 
 King passes by this road 
 to-day. Make ready for the King ! " 
 
 The children stopped their play, and 
 looked at one another. 
 
 " Did you hear that ? " they said. " The 
 King is coming. He may look over the 
 wall and see our playground ; who knows ? 
 We must put it in order." 
 
 The playground was sadly dirty, and 
 in the corners were scraps of paper and 
 broken toys, for these were careless chil- 
 dren. But now, one brought a hoe, and 
 another a rake, and a third ran to fetch 
 tlie wheelbarrow from behind the garden 
 gate. They labored hard, till at length 
 all was clean and tidy. 
 
 14 
 
THE COMING OF THE KING 15 
 
 " Now it is clean ! " they said ; " but we 
 must make it pretty, too, for kings are 
 used to fine things ; maybe he would not 
 notice mere cleanness, for he may have it 
 all the time." 
 
 Then one brought sweet rushes and 
 strewed them on the ground ; and others 
 made garlands of oak leaves and pine 
 tassels and hung them on the walls ; and 
 the littlest one pulled marigold buds and 
 threw them all about the playground, " to 
 look like gold," he said. 
 
 When all was done the playground was 
 so beautiful that the children stood and 
 looked at it, and clapped their hands with 
 pleasure. 
 
 ''Let us keep it always like this!" said 
 the littlest one ; and the others cried, 
 " Yes ! yes ! that is what we will do." 
 
 They waited all day for the coming 
 of the King, but he never came ; only, 
 towards sunset, a man with travel-worn 
 clothes, and a kind, tired face passed along 
 the road, and stopped to look over the 
 wall. 
 
 " What a pleasant place ! " said the man. 
 " May I come in and rest, dear children ? ' 
 
16 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 The children brought him in ghidly, and 
 set him on the seat that they had made 
 out of an old cask. They had covered it 
 with the old red cloak to make it look like 
 a throne, and it made a very good one. 
 
 "It is our playground ! ' they said. 
 " We made it pretty for the King, but he 
 did not come, and now we mean to keep 
 it so for ourselves." 
 
 " That is good ! " said the man. 
 
 " Because we think pretty and clean is 
 nicer than ugly and dirty ! " said another. 
 
 " That is better ! " said the man. 
 
 " And for tired people to rest in ! " said 
 the littlest one. 
 
 ** That is best of all ! " said the man. 
 
 He sat and rested, and looked at the 
 children with such kind eyes that they 
 came about him, and told him all they 
 knew ; about the five puppies in the barn, 
 and the thrush's nest with four blue 
 eggs, and the shore where the gold shells 
 grew ; and the man nodded and under- 
 stood all about it. 
 
 By and by he asked for a cup of water, 
 and they brought it to him in the best 
 cup, with the gold sprigs on it : then he 
 
THE COMING OF THE KING 17 
 
 thanked the children, and rose and went 
 on his way ; but before he went he laid 
 his hand on their heads for a moment, 
 and the touch went warm to their hearts. 
 
 The children stood by the wall and 
 watched the man as he went slowly along. 
 The sun was setting, and the light fell in 
 long slanting rays across the road. 
 
 " He looks so tired ! " said one of the 
 children. 
 
 " But he was so kind ! " said another. 
 
 " See ! " said the littlest one. " How 
 the sun shines on his hair ! it looks like 
 a crown of gold." 
 
THE TREE IN THE CITY 
 
 N a narrow space between two 
 buildings, in a crowded city, grew 
 a tree. There was no other green 
 thing near it. On one side its 
 leaves touched the blank wall of a 
 warehouse, on the other they swept 
 1^ the window of a poor tenement ; 
 the space under it was paved up to its 
 very roots ; but still it lived, and put forth 
 its fresh leaves every spring. 
 
 " Why do you take so much trouble ? " 
 asked the old rat who lived under the 
 roots. " I would not, if I were in your 
 place." 
 
 "It is my business ! " said the tree. " It 
 is the thing I have to do. All my family 
 do it." 
 
 " But there is no one to see you," said 
 the rat, " except me, and I do not care." 
 " That is not my affair I " said the tree. 
 But the sick girl in the tenement said, 
 ** Mother I mother dear ! the tree outside 
 
 18 
 
THE TREE IN THE CITY 19 
 
 the window is putting out little new leaves, 
 soft and green. It is spring, even here 
 in the city. I shall grow better now, I 
 am sure." 
 
 " Thank God ! " said the mother. 
 
 Summer came. The leaves of the tree 
 were large and long, and the branches 
 were heavy with them ; they quivered and 
 rustled with every breath of wind. 
 
 " It does really seem a pity for you to 
 exert yourself so 1 " said the old rat who 
 lived under the roots. " If you caught 
 beetles, now, or did anything useful, I 
 should feel better about it. Wliy do you 
 take all this trouble ? " 
 
 " It is the thing I have to do I " said the 
 tree. " All my family do it." 
 
 "But if anybody cared," said the rat, 
 "it would be different." 
 
 " That is not my affair 1 " said the tree. 
 
 But the sick girl in the tenement said, 
 " Mother, the heat is stifling. I could not 
 bear it if it were not for the shade of this 
 dear tree. The wind rustles the leaves, 
 and I seem to hear coolness in the sound ; 
 it tells me that somewhere in the world 
 there are whole forests of trees, rustling 
 
20 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 and waving, and green fields with flowers 
 in them, and streams of cool water flowing 
 and falling. The tree makes summer for 
 me." 
 
 " Thank God ! " said the mother. 
 
 By and by it was autumn. The air 
 grew thin and chill ; the leaves of the tree 
 turned yellow, and one by one dropped 
 off and fell to the ground. The paved 
 court was covered with them, and they 
 shone like gold. 
 
 " Now you see ! " said the old rat who 
 lived under the roots. " Now it is over, 
 and what have you for your pains ? " 
 
 " I have done the thing I had to do ; " 
 said the tree. " That is enough for me." 
 
 " Poor-spirited vegetable ! " said the rat. 
 " If you had borne acorns for people to 
 gnaw, it would at least have been some- 
 thing, but you have nothing to show for 
 your trouble save dead leaves and empty 
 branches." 
 
 " That is not my affair !" said the tree. 
 
 But the sick girl in the tenement said, 
 " Mother 1 mother dear, I am tired. Sum- 
 mer is over. Look I the leaves have fallen 
 from my dear tree, and the bare branches 
 
THE TREE IN THE CITY 21 
 
 tap against the window like summoning 
 hands. The tree is going to sleep for the 
 winter, and I think that I shall sleep too. 
 Mother dear, when I am asleep, gather 
 the leaves from the ground and strew them 
 over me, for they have been my joy." 
 
 And she turned her face to the wall and 
 slept. 
 
 " Thank God ! " said the mother. 
 
THE HOUSE OF LOVE 
 
 MAN and a woman were 
 walking together along 
 the way, when they 
 met a child, who was 
 so beautiful that they 
 stopped to speak to him. 
 " Who are you, lovely 
 child ? " they asked. " What is your 
 name, and whence do you come ? " 
 
 *' My name is Love," said the child. 
 " I live hard by here, in my house. Come 
 and see it, and if it pleases you, you shall 
 live in it with me." 
 
 So presently they came to the house ; 
 and the child took them by the hands and 
 drew them in. 
 
 " Look ! " he said. " See what a pleasant 
 house this is of mine ! Feel the carpet, 
 how soft it is under our feet I the cushions 
 are soft too. Here are my flowers in the 
 window ; did you ever smell sweeter ones ? 
 
 22 
 
THE HOUSE OF LOVE 23 
 
 the whole house is hke a garden with them. 
 And feel the sun, how it conies pouring 
 in, warming one through and through ! do 
 you like my house ? will you stay with 
 me?" 
 
 And the man and woman joined hands, 
 and said, " We will stay." 
 
 For a time all went well. The child 
 Love sang the sweetest songs, and flitted 
 from room to room ; and wherever he 
 came the sun shone brighter. 
 
 But one day the man said : "I begin 
 to see things in this house that I did not 
 notice at first. This child has deceived 
 us ; now that I look closely, it seems a 
 poor place. This carpet that he boasted 
 of, for example, is nothing but a rag- 
 carpet ; the curtains are poor and patched ; 
 and it is the same with everything." 
 
 " You are right ! " said the woman. 
 " How strange that we did not notice this 
 at first ! " 
 
 They called the child Love, and said to 
 him : " You have deceived us. You are 
 a false child, and this house of yours is 
 nothing but a sham. Shame on you, for 
 cheating folk ! " 
 
24 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " Nay ! " said Love. " I meant no harm." 
 
 " These carpets and cushions," said the 
 man and woman, " are nought but rags 
 and patches, ugly and faded." 
 
 " Nay ! " said Love. ** I only feel them 
 soft." 
 
 " These flowers you make such brag of 
 are nothing but common wildings, such 
 as grow in every hedgerow." 
 
 " Nay ! " said Love. " I only smell 
 them sweet." 
 
 " This very sunshine you boast of comes 
 filtered through poor flimsy curtains and 
 discolored glass." 
 
 " Nay 1 " said Love. " I only feel it 
 warm." 
 
 " But," said they both, " look ! look with 
 your eyes, and see for yourself the truth of 
 all we say." 
 
 As they spoke, they looked into the 
 child's eyes ; and lo ! he was blind. 
 
 Then they cried with one voice, " Out 
 upon you, deceiver ! we must stay in this 
 wretched place because we have joined 
 hands and given our word, but we will no 
 longer liave you about us. Go ! " 
 
 " But it was my house ! " said Love. 
 
THE HOUSE OF LOVE 25 
 
 " It is yours no longer, " they said. 
 »^^ Go ! " 
 
 Then the child Love went out, weeping 
 bitterly ; and the man and woman turned 
 and faced each other in the naked house. 
 
THE GREAT FEAST 
 
 NCE the Play Angel 
 ca,me into a nursery 
 where four little chil- 
 dren sat on the floor 
 with sad and troubled 
 faces. 
 
 " What is tlie matter, 
 dears ? " asked the Play Angel. 
 
 " We wanted to have a grand feast ! " 
 said the child whose nursery it was. 
 
 " Yes, that would be delightful ! " said 
 the Play Angel. 
 
 " But there is only one cooky ! " said the 
 child whose nursery it was. 
 
 '* And it is a very small cooky ! " said 
 the child who was a cousin, and therefore 
 felt a right to speak. 
 
 "Not big enough for myself!" said the 
 child whose nursery it was. 
 
 The other two children said nothing, 
 because they were not relations ; but they 
 
 26 
 
THE GREAT FEAST 27 
 
 looked at the cooky with large eyes, and 
 their mouths went up in the middle and 
 down at the sides. 
 
 " Well," said the Play Angel, " suppose 
 we have the feast just the same ! I think 
 we can manage it." 
 
 She broke the cooky into four pieces, 
 and gave one piece to the littlest child. 
 
 " See ! " she said. ** This is a roast 
 chicken, a Brown Bantam. It is just as 
 brown and crispy as it can be, and there 
 is cranberry sauce on one side, and on the 
 other a little mountain of mashed potato ; 
 it must be a volcano, it smokes so. Do 
 you see ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " said the littlest one ; and his 
 mouth went down in the middle and up 
 at the corners. 
 
 The Play Angel gave a piece to the 
 next child. 
 
 " Here," she said, " is a little pie ! Out- 
 side, as you see, it is brown and crusty, 
 with a wreath of pastry leaves round the 
 edge and * For You ' in the middle ; but 
 inside it is all chicken and ham and jelly 
 and hard-boiled eggs. Did ever you see 
 such a pie ? " 
 
^8 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " Never I did ! " said the child. 
 
 " Now here," said the Angel to the 
 third child, "is a round cake. Look at 
 it ! the frosting is half an inch thick, with 
 candied rose-leaves and angelica laid on 
 in true-lovers' knots ; and inside there are 
 chopped-up almonds, and raisins, and great 
 slices of citron. It is the prettiest cake 
 I ever saw, and the best." 
 
 " So it is I did ! " said the third child. 
 
 Then the Angel gave the last piece to 
 the child whose nursery it was. 
 
 " ]My dear ! " she said. " Just look ! 
 Here is an ice-cream rabbit. He is 
 snow-white outside, with eyes of red 
 barley sugar ; see his ears, and his little 
 snubby tail ! but inside, I think you will 
 find him pink. Now, when I clap my 
 hands and count one, two, three, you 
 must eat the feast all up. One — two — 
 three ! " 
 
 So the children ate the feast all up. 
 
 " There I " said the Angel. " Did ever 
 you see such a grand feast ? " 
 
 ** No, never we did ! " said all the four 
 children together. 
 
 " And there are some crumbs left over," 
 
THE GREAT FEAST 29 
 
 said the Angel. " Come, and we will give 
 them to the brother birds ! " 
 
 ** But you did n't have any ! " said the 
 child whose nursery it was. 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " said the Angel. " I had 
 it all ! " 
 
THE DESERT 
 
 NCE a child was sent on 
 a long journey, and mid- 
 way in the journey he 
 came to a desert. It was 
 a dreadful place. Tlie 
 sand was like grains of 
 fire about his feet ; tliere 
 was no shade, and the sun beat down upon 
 his head ; but the worst of all was that 
 there was no water. 
 
 " There must be water," said the child, 
 " or I and all that come after me must 
 perish." 
 
 So he dug in the burning sand, down 
 and down, with hands that bled and 
 smarted, for he had no tools ; and at 
 length he found water. l^ubbhng up 
 through the sand it came, and the child's 
 heart rejoiced ; but when he tasted the 
 water, it was bitter as gall. 
 
 30 
 
THE DESERT 31 
 
 " Bitter or sweet, it still is water ! " said 
 the child ; and he drank, and went on his 
 way. 
 
 Again and again, as he toiled across the 
 desert, he was overcome by thirst, and 
 stopped and dug in the sand with his bare 
 hands, and found water, but every time 
 it was bitter. 
 
 At last he came to the end of the 
 desert, and lay down to rest, stretching 
 himself at length in the cool grass, and 
 looking back along the way he had come. 
 And as he looked, he saw another child 
 coming across the desert, not slowly and 
 painfully, as he had come, but tripping 
 joyously along, and singing as he came. 
 The first child wondered much at this, 
 and when the other was near enough he 
 called to him, and said, " Have you too 
 come across the desert ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " said the other. 
 
 " But how is it that you came so 
 quickly ? " asked the first. 
 
 " Oh," said the other, " it was not nearly 
 so bad as people would make it out. 
 Every little way there were springs of 
 water bubbling up ; moreover, between 
 
32 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 the springs ran a narrow path of green 
 grass, new-sprung, and soft and cool under 
 the feet." 
 
 " But was not the water bitter ? " asked 
 the first child. 
 
 " Never in my life," answered the other, 
 " have I tasted sweeter water." 
 
THE WALLED GARDEN 
 
 NCE, on a winter day, a 
 man walked to and fro 
 under his garden wall. 
 " What a glorious day 
 this is ! " he said to him- 
 self. " The snow sparkles 
 in the sun like pearl and 
 diamond, the air is frosty yet genial, the 
 whole world is full of life and vigor. It 
 is good to be alive on such a day." 
 
 Presently he saw his brother passing by 
 on the other side of the road. He looked 
 blue with cold ; his teeth chattered, and 
 his head was drawn down between his 
 shoulders as if in the face of something 
 bitter. 
 
 When the man saw him, he cried out, 
 " How now, brother ? why do you look 
 so ill at ease on a day like this, a day that 
 fills one with the very wine of life ? " 
 
 " I look ill because I am so I " replied 
 the other. " The cold plucks at my very 
 
 3 33 
 
34 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 heart, and the north wind pinches the 
 marrow in my bones." 
 
 " Wind I " said the first man. " I feel 
 no wind." 
 
 The other threw him a glance. '* No I " 
 he said. "If I were in a walled garden 
 that took the sun, maybe I should not feel 
 it either." 
 
THE PIG BROTHER 
 
 HERE was once a child 
 who was untidy. He 
 left his books on the 
 floor, and his muddy 
 shoes on the table ; 
 he put his fingers in 
 the jam-pots, and spilled 
 ink on his best pina- 
 fore ; there was really no end to his un- 
 tidiness. 
 
 One day the Tidy Angel came into his 
 nursery. 
 
 " This will never do 1 " said the Angel. 
 "This is really shocking. You must go 
 out and stay with your brother while I 
 set things to rights here." 
 
 " I have no brother ! " said the child. 
 " Yes, you have ! " said the Angel. *' You 
 may not know him, but he will know you. 
 Go out in the garden and watch for him, 
 and he will soon come." 
 
 35 
 
36 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " I don't know what you mean ! " said 
 the child ; but he went out into the garden 
 and waited. 
 
 Presently a squirrel came along, whisk- 
 ing his tail. 
 
 " Are you my brother ? " asked the child. 
 
 The squirrel looked him over carefully. 
 
 "Well, I should hope not!" he said. 
 " My fur is neat and smooth, my nest is 
 handsomely made, and in perfect order, 
 and my young ones are properly brought 
 up. Why do you insult me by asking 
 such a question ? " 
 
 He whisked off, and the child waited. 
 
 Presently a wren came hopping by. 
 
 " Are you my brother ? " asked the child. 
 
 " No indeed ! " said the wren. " What 
 impertinence ! You will find no tidier 
 person than 1 in the whole garden. Not 
 a feather is out of place, and my eggs 
 are the wonder of all for smoothness and 
 beauty. Brother, indeed ! " He hopped 
 off, ruffling his feathers, and the child 
 waited. 
 
 By and by a large Tommy Cat came 
 along. 
 
 " Are you my brother ? " asked the child. 
 
THE PIG BROTHER 37 
 
 " Go and look at yourself in the glass," 
 said the Tommy Cat haughtily, " and you 
 will have your answer. I have been wash- 
 ing myself in the sun all the morning, 
 while it is clear that no water has come 
 near you for a long time. There are no 
 such creatures as you in my family, I am 
 humbly thankful to say." 
 
 He walked on, waving his tail, and the 
 child waited. 
 
 Presently a pig came trotting along. 
 
 The child did not wish to ask the pig 
 if he were his brother, but the pig did not 
 wait to be asked. 
 
 " Hallo, brother ! " he grunted. 
 
 " I am not your brother ! " said the child. 
 
 " Oh, yes, you are ! " said the pig. " I 
 confess I am not proud of you, but there 
 is no mistaking the members of our family. 
 Come along, and have a good roll in the 
 barnyard ! There is some lovely black 
 mud there." 
 
 " I don't like to roll in mud ! " said the 
 child. 
 
 " Tell that to the hens ! " said the pig 
 brother. " Look at your hands, and your 
 shoes, and your pinafore ! Come along. 
 
38 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 I say ! You may have some of the pig- 
 wash for supper, if there is more than I 
 want." 
 
 ** I don't want pig- wash ! " said the child ; 
 and he began to cry. 
 
 Just then the Tidy Angel came out. 
 
 ** I have set everything to rights," she 
 said, " and so it must stay. Now, will 
 you go with the Pig Brother, or will you 
 come back with me, and be a tidy child ? *' 
 
 ** With you, with you ! " cried the child ; 
 and he clung to the Angel's dress. 
 
 The Pig Brother grunted. 
 
 ** Small loss ! " he said. " There will be 
 all the more wash for me ! " and he trotted 
 on. 
 
THE HILL 
 
 fi 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 
 Mm 
 
 
 B^n 
 
 
 ffl 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 ^ 
 
 CANNOT walk up this 
 hill," said the little boy. 
 " I cannot possibly do it. 
 What will become of me ? 
 I must stay here all my 
 life, at the foot of the hill : 
 it is too terrible ! " 
 " That is a pity ! " said his sister. " But 
 look, little boy ! I have found such a 
 pleasant thing to play. Take a step, and 
 see how clear a footprint you can make 
 in the dust. Look at mine ! every single 
 line in my foot is printed clear. Now, do 
 you try, and see if you can do as well I " 
 The little boy took a step. 
 " Mine is just as clear ! " he said. 
 " Do you think so ? " said his sister. 
 " See mine, again here ! I tread harder 
 than you, because I am heavier, and so 
 the print is deeper. Try again." 
 
 39 
 
40 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " JVoiv mine is just as deep ! " cried the 
 little boy. ** See I here, and here, and here, 
 they are just as deep as they can be." 
 
 " Yes, that is very well," said his sister ; 
 ** but now it is my turn ; let me try again, 
 and we shall see." 
 
 They kept on, step by step, matching 
 their footprints, and laughing to see the 
 gray dust pufF up between their bare toes. 
 
 By and by the little boy looked up. 
 
 " Why I " he said, " we are at the top 
 of the hill ! " 
 
 " Dear me I " said his sister. " So we 
 are I 
 
ABOUT ANGELS 
 
 OTHER," said 
 
 the child ; " are 
 there really an- 
 gels ? " 
 
 "The Good 
 
 Book says so," 
 
 said the mother. 
 
 " Yes," said the child ; " I have seen 
 
 the picture. But did you ever see one, 
 
 mother ? " 
 
 " I think 1 have," said the mother ; " but 
 she was not dressed like the picture." 
 
 ** I am going to find one ! " said the 
 child. " I am going to run along the road, 
 miles, and miles, and miles, until I find an 
 angel." 
 
 " That will be a good plan I " said the 
 mother. " And I will go with you, for 
 you are too little to run far alone." 
 
 " I am not little any more ! " said the 
 child. " I have trousers ; I am big." 
 
 41 
 
42 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " So you are I " said the mother. " I 
 forgot. But it is a fine day, and I should 
 like the walk." 
 
 " But you walk so slowly, with your 
 lame foot." 
 
 " I can walk faster than you think I " 
 said the mother. 
 
 So they started, the child leaping and 
 running, and the mother stepping out so 
 bravely with her lame foot that the child 
 soon forgot about it. 
 
 The child danced on ahead, and pres- 
 ently he saw a chariot coming towards 
 him, drawn by prancing white horses. 
 In the chariot sat a splendid lady in 
 velvet and furs, with white plumes wav- 
 ing above her dark hair. As she moved 
 in her seat, she flashed with jewels and 
 gold, but her eyes were brighter than her 
 diamonds. 
 
 " Are you an angel ? " asked the child, 
 running up beside the chariot. 
 
 The lady made no reply, but stared 
 coldly at the child : then she spoke a word 
 to her coachman, and he flicked his whip, 
 and the chariot rolled away swiftly in a 
 cloud of dust, and disappeared. 
 
ABOUT ANGELS 43 
 
 The dust filled the child's eyes and 
 mouth, and made him choke and sneeze. 
 He gasped for breath, and rubbed his 
 eyes ; but presently his mother came up, 
 and wiped away the dust with her blue 
 gingham apron. 
 
 " That was not an angel ! " said the child. 
 
 " No, indeed ! " said the mother. " Noth- 
 ing like one ! " 
 
 The child danced on again, leaping and 
 running from side to side of the road, 
 and the mother followed as best she 
 might. 
 
 By and by the child met a most beauti- 
 ful maiden, clad in a white dress. Her 
 eyes were like blue stars, and the blushes 
 came and went in her face like roses look- 
 ing through snow. 
 
 ** I am sure you must be an angel ! " cried 
 the child. 
 
 The maiden blushed more sweetly than 
 before. " You dear little child ! " she cried. 
 " Some one else said that, only last even- 
 ing. Do I really look like an angel ? " 
 
 " You are an angel ! " said the child. 
 
 The maiden took him up in her arms 
 and kissed him, and held him tenderly. 
 
44 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " You are the dearest little thing I ever 
 saw ! " she said. " Tell me what makes 
 you think so 1 " But suddenly her face 
 changed. 
 
 ** Oh ! " she cried. " There he is, com- 
 ing to meet me ! And you have soiled 
 my white dress with your dusty shoes, 
 and pulled my hair all awry. Run away, 
 child, and go home to your mother ! " 
 
 She set the child down, not unkindly, 
 but so hastily that he stumbled and fell ; 
 but she did not see that, for she was hasten- 
 ing forward to meet her lover, who was 
 coming along the road. (Now if the 
 maiden had only known, he thought her 
 twice as lovely with the child in her arms ; 
 but she did not know.) 
 
 The child lay in the dusty road and 
 sobbed, till his mother came along and 
 picked him up, and wiped away the tears 
 with her blue gingham apron. 
 
 " I don't believe that was an angel, after 
 all," he said. 
 
 " No ! " said the mother. " But she may 
 be one some day. She is young yet." 
 
 "I am tired!" said the child. "Will 
 you carry me liome, mother ? " 
 
ABOUT ANGELS 45 
 
 " Why, yes ! " said the mother. " That 
 is what I came for." 
 
 The child put his arms round his mother's 
 neck, and she held him tight and trudged 
 along the road, singing the song he liked 
 best. 
 
 Suddenly he looked up in her face. 
 
 " Mother," he said ; " I don't suppose 
 you could be an angel, could you ? " 
 
 " Oh, what a foolish child ! " said the 
 mother. **^Who ever heard of an angel 
 in a blue gingham apron ? " and she went 
 on singing, and stepped out so bravely on 
 her lame foot that no one would ever have 
 known she was lame. 
 
THE POINT OF VIEW 
 
 WO angels sat together, 
 bending over a book 
 that was written full 
 of names. 
 
 " I see ! " said one. 
 "You have your orders, 
 and of course it is 
 right ; but it does seem such a pity. I 
 hoped that this poor old woman might 
 be released ; she suffers so much, and there 
 is no cure for her poor body ; and she is 
 tired, and longs to go. And the girl is 
 so young and pretty and gay, and looking 
 forward so joyfully ; it makes me sad, 
 even though I know sadness is wrong." 
 
 " My dear," said the other, " I felt just 
 as you did at first, till I came to look into 
 it. But I found that the old woman could 
 not possibly be spared at present. Why, 
 all the soul-light of the neighborliood, or 
 nearly all, comes from her. Not only lier 
 own family, but the doctor, and the wo- 
 
 4.G 
 
THE POINT OF VIEW 47 
 
 man who nurses her, and all the neighbors, 
 are finding their way by the light she gives, 
 and better still, are getting light of their 
 own. Her old husband used to be a poor 
 creature, with his soul-clothes all black 
 and dirty and ragged, just because she 
 did everything for him ; and now he must 
 do for her, and really, you have no idea 
 how much better he is getting to look. 
 I think he may have a very decent 
 little soul if she can only stay a few years 
 longer." 
 
 " But the girl ? " asked the first angel. 
 
 " Oh, the girl ! " said the second. " She 
 simply must not stay. She started wrong, 
 poor child. Her father is a millionnaire, 
 you know, not one of those who prosper, 
 but really quite destitute ; none of her 
 people can do anything for her, for they 
 are starving themselves. I examined her 
 soul-robe yesterday ; it is already badly 
 spotted, and some of the spots will be very 
 hard to get out. Now, if she is taken 
 away at once, she can make a new start, 
 and have a better chance, poor lamb ! and 
 meanwhile the pain of losing her will be 
 not only medicine, but food and drink, to 
 
48 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 her suffering family. I expect it to do 
 wonders for them, I truly do." 
 
 " I see ! " said the first angel. " How 
 little we know ! " 
 
 " Yes," said the second ; " but at least 
 we do know something. We know that 
 we only know a little ; whereas formerly, 
 we knew nothing at all, and thought we 
 knew everything ; just like these other 
 people, poor dears ! " 
 
 " Poor dears I " echoed the other angel, 
 thoughtfully. 
 
THE OPEN DOOR 
 
 MAN who had grown old in prison 
 sat and bewailed his imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 "Alas!" he said, "what a 
 dreadful place is this in which 
 I must stay ! All around 
 me is sighing and sobbing, 
 pale sorrow and black wickedness. 
 The loathly walls hem me in straitly ; the 
 window-bars are strong and heavy ; there 
 is no escape. Hateful is this prison, hate- 
 ful the days I pass in it, hateful the faces 
 of men and women, prisoners like myself. 
 Oh, that the door were open, and I a free 
 man 1 
 
 By and by came One in white, who set 
 open the door, and beckoned to the man, 
 and said " Come forth ! " 
 
 But the man crouched down where he 
 sat, and cried out : 
 
 " No ! no ! I am not ready to go yet. 
 After all, the prison is tight and dry, and 
 
 4 49 
 
50 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 not so very cold, save in winter. Outside 
 it is strange and empty, and a wind blows, I 
 know not whither. Moreover, my fellow- 
 prisoners are friendly, even if they are not 
 so very virtuous. Let me stay here, where 
 at least I am dry and warm, and safe from 
 the things that are not known." 
 
 And he turned to his fellow-prisoners, 
 and laid hold on their clothes, and cried, 
 ** Save me 1 save me from him in white, 
 and from the open door ! " 
 
THE DAY 
 
 OME with me," said the 
 
 Day, " and let us do things 
 
 together ! " 
 
 " What kind of things ? " 
 
 asked the man. 
 
 " Beautiful things ! " 
 said the Day. ** Your 
 friend is sick, and a visit from you would 
 give him infinite pleasure. Also, it is long 
 since you saw your sister, who is poor and 
 sorrowful ; and on the way, you might get 
 some presents for her children, since they 
 have no father to buy them gifts. Then, 
 suppose we take a walk in those woods, 
 outside the city, where you and your 
 brother used to play ! How long is it 
 since you saw them ? or saw your brother ? 
 He is back again, I hear, and is minded 
 to lead a new life. We might go to him, 
 and take him by the hand, and go a few 
 steps with him. Then we might — " 
 
 31 
 
52 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " What nonsense is all this ? " cried the 
 man. " These are things that I should 
 like well enough to do some time, but not 
 with you. I expect to make ten thousand 
 dollars with your aid ; sit down with me 
 at the desk, instead of talking idly." 
 
 They sat down together, and the hours 
 passed. 
 
 By and by it was time for the Day to 
 
 go. 
 
 *' Good-bye ! " she said. 
 
 " Oh, good-bye ! " said the man. " Why 
 do you look at me so sadly and strangely ? 
 I mean to do all those things that you 
 spoke of; I certainly mean to do them, 
 with one of your sisters." 
 
 " I have no more sisters ! " said the Day. 
 
 And passing through the door, she met 
 the entering Night. 
 
THE BABY 
 
 MAN sat by the door 
 of his house, smoking 
 his pipe ; and his neigh- 
 bor (who was an enemy, 
 though neither of them 
 knew it), sat beside 
 him and tempted him. 
 " You are poor and 
 out of work," said the neighbor, " and 
 here is a way of bettering yourself. It 
 will be an easy job, and will bring you 
 in money ; and it is no more dishonest 
 than many things that are done every 
 day by respectable people. You will be a 
 fool to throw away such a chance as this ; 
 come with me, and we will settle the 
 matter." 
 
 And the man listened. 
 Just then his young wife came to the 
 door of the cottage ; she was warm and 
 rosy, for she had been washing, and she 
 had the baby in her arms. 
 
 53 
 
54 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " Will you hold Baby for a few minutes, 
 John ? " she asked. "He is fretful, and I 
 must hang out the clothes." 
 
 The man took the baby and held it on 
 his knees ; and as he held it, the child 
 looked up in his face and spoke. 
 
 " Flesh of your flesh ! " said the baby ; 
 " soul of your soul ! what you sow I shall 
 reap, and where you lead I shall follow. 
 Lead the way, father, for my feet come 
 after yours." 
 
 Then the man said to the neighbor, 
 " Go, and come here no more ! " 
 
 He rocked the baby on his knees, and 
 whistled a tune ; presently his wife came 
 out and took the child. 
 
 " Baby, Baby," she said ; " how could 
 you cry when father was holding you ? 
 such a father as you have, too ! mind you 
 grow up as good a man as he is ! " 
 
 And she went into the house, singing 
 to the child as she went. 
 
THE APRON-STRING 
 
 NCE upon a time a boy 
 played about the house, 
 running by his moth- 
 er's side ; and as he 
 was very httle, his 
 mother tied him to the 
 string of her apron. 
 "Now," she said, "when you stumble, 
 you can pull yourself up by the apron- 
 string, and so you will not fall." 
 
 The boy did that, and all went well, 
 and the mother sang at her work. 
 
 By and by the boy grew so tall that his 
 head came above the window-sill ; and 
 looking through the window, he saw far 
 away green trees waving, and a flowing 
 river that flashed in the sun, and rising 
 above all, blue peaks of mountains. 
 
 " Oh, mother," he said ; " untie the 
 apron-string and let me go ! " 
 
 But the mother said, "Not yet, my 
 child ! only yesterday you stumbled, and 
 
 55 
 
66 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 would have fallen but for the apron-string. 
 Wait yet a little, till you are stronger." 
 
 So the boy waited, and all went as be- 
 fore ; and the mother sang at her work. 
 
 But one day the boy found the door of 
 the house standing open, for it was spring 
 weather; and he stood on the threshold 
 and looked across the valley, and saw the 
 gi^een trees waving, and the swift-flowing 
 river with the sun flashing on it, and the 
 blue mountains rising beyond ; and this 
 time he heard the voice of the river call- 
 ing, and it said " Come ! " 
 
 Then the boy started forward, and as 
 he started, the string of the apron broke. 
 
 " Oh ! how weak my mother's apron- 
 string is ! " cried the boy ; and he ran out 
 into the world, with the broken string 
 hanging beside him. 
 
 The mother gathered up the other end 
 of the string and put it in her bosom, and 
 went about her work again ; but she sang 
 no more. 
 
 The boy ran on and on, rejoicing in his 
 freedom, and in the fresh air and the 
 morning sun. lie crossed the valley, and 
 began to climb the footliills among which 
 
THE APRON-STRING 57 
 
 the river flowed swiftly, among rocks and 
 cliffs. Now it was easy climbing, and 
 again it was steep and craggy, but always 
 he looked upward at the blue peaks be- 
 yond, and always the voice of the river 
 was in his ears, saying " Come ! " 
 
 By and by he came to the brink of a 
 precipice, over which the river dashed in 
 a cataract, foaming and flashing, and send- 
 ing up clouds of silver spray. The spray 
 filled his eyes, so that he did not see his 
 footing clearly ; he grew dizzy, stumbled, 
 and fell. But as he fell, something about 
 him caught on a point of rock at the 
 precipice-edge, and held him, so that he 
 hung dangling over the abyss ; and when 
 he put up his hand to see what held him, 
 he found that it was the broken string of 
 the apron, which still hung by his side. 
 
 " Oh ! how strong my mother's apron- 
 string is ! " said the boy : and he drew 
 himself up by it, and stood firm on his 
 feet, and went on climbing toward the 
 blue peaks of the mountains. 
 
THE SHADOW 
 
 N Angel heard a child 
 crying one day, and 
 came to see what 
 ailed it. He found 
 the little one sitting 
 on the ground, with 
 the sun at its back 
 (for the day was young), looking at its 
 own shadow, which lay on the ground 
 before it, and weeping bitterly. 
 
 " What ails you, little one ? " asked the 
 Angel. 
 
 *' The world is so dark I " said the child. 
 " See, it is all dusky gray, and there is no 
 beauty in it. Why must I stay in this 
 sad, gi'ay world ? " 
 
 " Do you not hear the birds singing, and 
 the other children calling at their play ? " 
 asked the Angel. 
 
 " Yes," said the child ; "I hear tliem, 
 but I do not know where they are. I 
 cannot see them, 1 see only the shadow. 
 
 58 
 
THE SHADOW 59 
 
 Moreover, if they saw it, they would not 
 sing and call, but would weep as I do." 
 
 The Angel lifted the child, and set it on 
 its feet, with its face to the early sun. 
 
 " Look ! " said the Angel. 
 
 The child brushed away the tears from 
 its eyes and looked. Before them lay the 
 fields all green and gold, shining with 
 dewdrops, and the other children were 
 running to and fro, laughing and shout- 
 ing, and crowning one another with 
 blossoms. 
 
 " Why, there are the children ! " said the 
 little one. 
 
 *' Yes," said the Angel ; " there they 
 are. 
 
 " And the sun is shining ! " cried the 
 child. 
 
 " Yes," said the Angel ; " it was shining 
 all the time." 
 
 " And the shadow is gone ! " 
 
 " Oh, no ! " said the Angel ; " the shadow 
 is behind you, where it belongs. Run, 
 now, and gather flowers for the littlest 
 one, who sits in the grass there ! " 
 
THE PROMINENT MAN 
 
 NCE a prominent man 
 was hurrying to his 
 business ; and as he 
 hurried along the 
 street, he sHpped on 
 a piece of ice, and fell 
 and broke his leg. He 
 was carried home on a stretcher, and lay 
 on his bed in pain of body and distress 
 of mind. 
 
 " What will become of everything ? " he 
 cried. " By now I should have been at 
 the committee-meeting, where they can 
 do nothing without me. This afternoon 
 there is a directors' meeting, where 1 was 
 to be chairman, and this evening I am 
 engaged to lecture on a subject of vital 
 importance. This means disaster to the 
 State, and it may be to the whole country. 
 It is terrible ! " 
 
 Just then came in the Angel-who-at- 
 tends-to-things. 
 
 60 
 
THE PROMINENT MAN 61 
 
 " How are you feeling ? " asked the 
 Angel. 
 
 " Oh, I am in a dreadful condition ! " 
 said the man. " I slipped on a piece of 
 ice this morning, and broke my leg." 
 
 " Yes," said the Angel ; " I saw you 
 fall." 
 
 " But," said the man, " my pain, which 
 by the way is very severe " (for he did 
 not think the Angel looked sympathetic 
 enough), " is the smallest part of it. I 
 should by now be at a committee-meet- 
 ing, where they can do nothing without 
 me. This afternoon there is a directors' 
 meeting, where I was to be chairman ; and 
 this evening I was engaged to lecture on 
 a subject of vital interest. This means 
 disaster to the State, and it may be to the 
 whole country." And he groaned aloud. 
 
 " Oh, well," said the Angel, " I would 
 not worry about all that, if I were you." 
 
 " Not worry I " said the prominent man. 
 
 " No," said the Angel. " The truth is, 
 I put that piece of ice there myself I 
 wanted to get rid of you." 
 
 " Get rid of — " said the prominent 
 man ; and the rest was gasps. 
 
62 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " Yes," said the Angel. " You see, T 
 did n't want you at the committee-meet- 
 ing. There is a new man ready to come 
 forward who knows much more than you, 
 and if you had been there he would have 
 been too modest to speak. Then, the 
 directors are going to take action this 
 afternoon on that important case, and if 
 you were there they would vote the wTong 
 way. As to the lecture, it would do more 
 harm than good just now ; but when the 
 crisis is passed, you may deliver it with- 
 out doing any serious damage. So you 
 see ! " 
 
 " Good heavens ! " cried the prominent 
 man. " Am I awake, or is this a dream ? " 
 
 " More or less," said the Angel. " It is 
 what you call Life." 
 
 ** But — but — but — " cried the man, 
 " this is terrible ! You don't know any- 
 thing about business." 
 
 " My dear soul," said the Angel, " what 
 do you take me for ? " and he went away, 
 and told the nurse to give her patient a 
 composing draught. 
 
GOOD ADVICE 
 
 » «-«-<=«-<=-*-«=<^<^< 
 
 YOUNG man came 
 an old one, and 
 asked his advice on a 
 certain matter. 
 
 "You are my 
 friend," he said, ** and 
 my father's friend. 
 I think more of your judgment than of 
 almost any one else's, and I shall be largely 
 guided by it. This is a matter which 
 affects my whole life. Shall I do this 
 thing, or shall I not ? Give me your 
 honest advice." 
 
 The old man gave it ; and the young 
 man thanked him and went away. As 
 he went he shook his head and sighed. 
 
 " What a pity ! " he said. " His judg- 
 ment, which used to be so clear and vigor- 
 ous, is now timorous and one-sided. He 
 is not the man he used to be ; his mind 
 
 is failing. What a pity ! " 
 
 And he went and did the thing. 
 
 63 
 
FOR REMEMBRANCE 
 
 MAN sat by the coffin of 
 the one who had been near- 
 est to him, in black and 
 bitter care. And as he sat, 
 he saw passing beyond the 
 coffin a troop of bright and 
 lovely shapes, with clear 
 eyes and faces full of rosy light. 
 
 " Who are you, fair creatures ? " asked 
 the man. And they answered : 
 
 " We are the words you might have 
 spoken to her." 
 
 " Oh, stay with me I " cried the man. 
 " Your sweet looks are a knife in my 
 heart, yet still I would keep you, for she 
 is cold and deaf, and 1 am alone." 
 
 But they answered : " Nay ; we cannot 
 stay, for we have no being, but are only 
 a light that never shone." 
 
 And they passed on and were gone. 
 And still the man sat in black and bitter 
 
 care. 
 
 64 
 
FOR REMEMBRANCE 65 
 
 And as he sat he saw rising up between 
 him and the coffin a band of pale and ter- 
 rible forms, with bloodless lips and hollow 
 eyes of fire. 
 
 The man shuddered. 
 
 *' What are you, dreadful shapes ? " he 
 asked ; and they answered : 
 
 " We are the words she heard." 
 
 Then the man cried aloud in anguish: 
 " Depart from me, and leave me with 
 my dead ! Better solitude than such 
 company." 
 
 But they, sitting down in silence round 
 him, fixed their eyes upon him ; and gaz- 
 ing into the hollow eyes of fire, the man 
 saw it was his own soul that looked at 
 him. 
 
THE SAILOR MAN 
 
 NCE upon a time two chil- 
 dren came to the house 
 of a sailor man, who 
 lived beside the salt 
 sea; and they found the 
 sailor man sitting in his 
 doorway knotting ropes. 
 " How do you do ? " asked the sailor 
 man. 
 
 " We are very well, thank you," said the 
 children, who had learned manners, " and 
 we hope you are the same. We heard 
 that you had a boat, and we thought that 
 perhaps you would take us out in her, and 
 teach us how to sail, for that is what we 
 wish most to know." 
 
 " All in good time," said the sailor man. 
 " 1 am busy now, but by and by, when my 
 work is done, I may perhaps take one of 
 you if you are ready to learn. JNleantime 
 here are some ropes that need knotting ; 
 you might be doing that, since it has to 
 
THE SAILOR MAN 67 
 
 be done." And he showed them how the 
 knots should be tied, and went away and 
 left them. 
 
 When he was gone the first child ran 
 to the window and looked out. 
 
 " There is the sea," he said. " The 
 waves come up on the beach, almost 
 to the door of the house. They run 
 up all white, like prancing horses, and 
 then they go dragging back. Come and 
 look ! " 
 
 " I cannot," said the second child. " I 
 am tying a knot." 
 
 " Oh ! ' cried the first child, " I see the 
 boat. She is dancing like a lady at a 
 ball ; I never saw such a beauty. Come 
 and look ! " 
 
 " I cannot," said the second child. " 1 
 am tying a knot." 
 
 " I shall have a delightful sail in that 
 boat," said the first child. " I expect that 
 the sailor man will take me, because I am 
 the eldest and I know more about it. 
 There was no need of my watching when 
 he showed you the knots, because I knew 
 how already." 
 
 Just then the sailor man came in. 
 
68 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 ** Well," he said, " my work is over. 
 What have you been doing in the 
 meantime ? " 
 
 " 1 have been looking at the boat," said 
 the first child. ** What a beauty she is ! 
 I shall have the best time in her that ever 
 I had in my life." 
 
 ** I have been tying knots," said the 
 second child. 
 
 "Come, then," said the sailor man, and 
 he held out his hand to the second child. 
 " I will take you out in the boat, and teach 
 you to sail her." 
 
 ** But I am the eldest," cried the fii'st 
 child, " and I know a great deal more 
 than she does." 
 
 " That may be," said the sailor man ; 
 " but a person must learn to tie a knot 
 before he can learn to sail a boat." 
 
 " Rut I have learned to tie a knot," cried 
 the child. " I know all about it ! " 
 
 " How can I tell that ? " asked the sailor 
 man. 
 
THE ROAD 
 
 NCE upon a time a boy 
 was going on a journey 
 to the Great City ; and 
 his family gathered at 
 the door to bid him 
 good-bye. 
 " Be sure you take the 
 right road," said his mother. 
 
 "No fear," said his sister. "He is sure 
 to do that." 
 
 " There is but one good road," said the 
 old grandfather, who sat in the corner; 
 " that is the straight road that runs up 
 the hill." 
 
 The boy laughed, and kissed the grand- 
 father on the forehead. 
 
 " You are a dear old grandfather," he 
 said, "but you forget more than you re- 
 member. The road that I shall take is 
 the one that goes through the flowering 
 fields and beside the cool river." 
 
 69 
 
70 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 He bade them all farewell, and went 
 forth with a light heart, for it was morn- 
 ing, and the sun was shining clear. He 
 took his way through the flowering fields, 
 and it was beautiful there ; the air was full 
 of bird-songs, and the grass glittered with 
 blossoms like a king's treasure-chamber ; 
 red and blue and purple they were, and 
 the boy gathered one, and threw it away 
 to gather another, and sang as he went. 
 
 After a wliile he felt the ground wet be- 
 neath him, and soft ; the grass grew long, 
 climbing about his knees and tangling his 
 feet. At every step he sank deeper in mud 
 and slime, and black bog- water bubbled up 
 around him. He perceived that he was 
 in a morass, bottomless and treacherous ; 
 moreover, when he looked about him, the 
 morass stretched far ahead and on every 
 side, and there was no patli through it. 
 
 " It is strange," said the boy, ** that I 
 did not see this morass before. I must 
 go back, or I shall lose my way, and per- 
 chance my life." 
 
 With care and })ain he dragged his feet 
 out of the slougli, and made his way back 
 to firm land. When he turned his face in 
 
THE ROAD 71 
 
 the opposite direction, he saw the great hill 
 rising before him, and over the hill a road 
 ran straight among rocks and brambles. 
 
 " That looks like a hard road," said the 
 boy, " but it must be a good one, for it is 
 straight and dry. I will take that next 
 time." 
 
 At nightfall the boy reached his home, 
 weary and bedraggled. 
 
 " That was a wretched road I took this 
 morning," he said. ** To-morrow I shall 
 start again, and take the straight road that 
 runs over the hill, for that is the only good 
 one." 
 
 " Is it, truly ? " said the old grandfather, 
 who sat in the corner. " That is good to 
 know." 
 
 The boy laughed, and kissed him on the 
 forehead. 
 
 " You are a dear old grandfather," he 
 said, " but you forget more than you 
 remember." 
 
THE BLIND MOTHER 
 
 BLIND woman had a 
 son, who was the joy 
 of her Hfe. Though she 
 had no sight of her eyes, 
 yet she was skilful of her 
 hands ; and it was her 
 delight to make pretty 
 clothes for her boy, soft and fine and full 
 of delicate stitches. 
 
 By and by the boy came to her and said : 
 " Mother, give me some other clothes to 
 wear. These are too small for me; they 
 pinch and bind me. Moreover, they are 
 baby clothes, and my playfellows mock and 
 laugh at me because of them." 
 
 But the mother said : " Nay, my dar- 
 ling ; these are by far the best clothes for 
 you. See how soft and warm they are ! 
 they are pretty too, I know, although I 
 cannot see them. Be content, for you are 
 my own darling little son, and so you must 
 
 remain." 
 
 n 
 
THE BLIND MOTHER 73 
 
 When he found he could not persuade 
 her, the boy held his peace ; and he went 
 out and looked about him, and found the 
 hide of a wolf and the pelt of a fox, and 
 huddled them round him over his baby 
 frock, and so went among his mates. Only, 
 when he came back to the room where his 
 mother sat, he threw aside the skins, and 
 came to her in his frock ; and she kissed 
 him, and felt the frills and the silken 
 stitches, and said rejoicing : " You are my 
 own darling little son, and the light of 
 my life." 
 
 By and by again there was a war in that 
 country, and all the young men went out 
 to meet the enemy. Some were clad in 
 armor of proof, others in leathern jacks and 
 doublets ; and with them went the son of 
 the blind woman. 
 
 Then when the woman knew that her 
 son was gone, she wept and lamented, and 
 ran out into the street. There she met 
 one who was returning from the field of 
 battle, and she asked him how went the 
 fight. 
 
 " Bravely," he replied. " Our men did 
 well, all save one, who had no arms, and 
 
74 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 whom I saw beaten down and at sore 
 odds with the enemy." 
 
 ** Oh ! stranger," cried the blind woman, 
 "was that one a boy, who had wandered 
 by mistake into that dreadful field, — a 
 sweet child, with the prettiest clothes, all 
 wrought with needlework ? " 
 
 " Nay," said the stranger. " It was a 
 man, half-naked, huddled in the skins of 
 beasts, with strange rags showing under 
 the skins." 
 
 " Oh ! " said the woman. " I wonder 
 who that poor soul might be ; and I won- 
 der when my little darling son will come 
 home to me again." 
 
 And even while she spoke her son lay 
 dead, and huddled round him was the 
 hide of a wolf and the pelt of a fox, with 
 the baby clothes fluttering from under 
 them. 
 
"GO" AND "COME " 
 
 ITTLE boy," said the nurse 
 one day, " you would be far 
 better at work. Your gar- 
 den needs weeding sadly ; 
 go now and weed it, like 
 
 ^*^* But the little boy did not feel like 
 
 weeding that day. 
 
 " I can't do it," he said. 
 
 " Oh ! yes, you can," said the nurse. 
 
 " Well, I don't want to," said the little 
 boy. 
 
 " But you must ! " said the nurse. 
 " Don't be naughty, but go at once and 
 do your work as I bid you ! " 
 
 She went away about her own work, for 
 she was very industrious ; but the little boy 
 sat still, and thought himself ill-used. 
 
 By and by his mother came into the 
 room and saw him. 
 
 75 
 
7() THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 "What is the matter, httle boy?" she 
 asked ; for he looked hke a three-days' 
 rain. 
 
 " Nurse told me to weed my garden/' 
 said the little boy. 
 
 " Oh," said his mother, *' what fun that 
 will be ! I love to weed, and it, is such a 
 fine day ! May n't I come and help ? " 
 
 " Why, yes," said the little boy. " You 
 may." And they weeded the garden beau- 
 tifully, and had a glorious time. 
 
CHILD'S PLAY 
 
 NCE a child was sitting 
 on a great log that 
 lay by the roadside, 
 playing ; and an- 
 other child came 
 along, and stopped to 
 speak to him. 
 " What are you doing ? " asked the 
 second child. 
 
 ** I am sailing to the Southern Seas," 
 replied the first, "to get a cargo of mon- 
 keys, and elephant tusks, and crystal balls 
 as large as oranges. Come up here, and 
 you may sail with me if you like." 
 
 So the second child climbed upon the 
 log. 
 
 " Look ! " said the first child. " See 
 how the foam bubbles up before the ship, 
 and trails and floats away behind ! Look ! 
 the water is so clear that we can see the 
 fishes swdmming about, blue and red and 
 
 77 
 
78 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 green. There goes a parrot-fish ; my 
 father told me about them. I should not 
 wonder if we saw a whale in about a 
 minute." 
 
 " What are you talking about ? " asked 
 the second child, peevishly. " There is no 
 water here, only grass ; and anyhow this 
 is nothing but a log. You cannot get to 
 islands in this way." 
 
 " But we have got to them," cried the^ 
 first child. " We are at them now. I see 
 the palm-trees waving, and the white sand 
 glittering. Look ! there are the natives 
 gathering to welcome us on the beach. 
 They have feather cloaks, and necklaces, 
 and anklets of copper as red as gold. 
 Oh ! and there is an elephant coming 
 straight toward us." 
 
 *' I should think you would be asliamcd," 
 said the second child. " That is Widow 
 Slocum." 
 
 " It 's all the same," said tlie first child. 
 
 Presently the second child got down 
 from the log. 
 
 " I am going to play stick-knife," he 
 said. " I don't see any sense in this. I 
 think you are pretty dull to play things 
 
CHILD'S PLAY 79 
 
 that aren't really there." And he walked 
 slowly away. 
 
 The first child looked after him a 
 moment. 
 
 " I think you are pretty dull," he said 
 to himself, "to see nothing but what is 
 under your nose." 
 
 But he w^as too well-mannered to say 
 this aloud ; and having taken in his cargo, 
 he sailed for another port. 
 
THE WINDOWS 
 
 MAN who lived alone (for 
 
 he did not get on well with 
 
 his family) was sitting in 
 
 his room one day, thinking 
 
 gloomy thoughts. 
 
 " I cannot see so well as 
 I used," he said to him- 
 self. " I can hardly see to do my work. 
 It is evident that my eyes are growing 
 dim. Probably I shall be blind before 
 long, and unable to do any work ; and 
 then I must starve to death, or go to the 
 almshouse. Perhaps it will be better for 
 me to go there now, while I can yet see 
 a little.'' 
 
 Just then his neighbor, who was a stir- 
 ring woman, came in to pass the time of 
 day and ask for his health. 
 
 " Why do you sit here," she asked, 
 " looking like beanstalks after frost ? " 
 
 So the man told her his thoughts : how 
 his eyes were failing, and he could hardly 
 
 80 
 
THE WINDOWS 81 
 
 see to do his work, and he must starve 
 or go to the almshouse ; and while he 
 was talking she bustled about the room, 
 drawing water, and rummaging among the 
 clothes in the drawer of the dresser. 
 
 When he had finished talking, " Man 
 alive," she said, " your windows are dirty ; 
 that is all the matter." 
 
 So she washed the windows. 
 
 " There ! " she said, and went about her 
 business. 
 
 " Dear me ! " said the man, " how^ this 
 glare hurts my eyes ! They must be 
 weaker than I thought." 
 
A MISUNDERSTANDING 
 
 NCE a child who thought 
 well of herself was 
 walking along the 
 street, and saw an- 
 other child, who 
 was poorly clad. 
 *' How wretched it 
 must be," she said to 
 herself, "to be poor and shabby like that 
 child ! How thin she is ! and how her 
 patched cloak flutters in the wind ; so dif- 
 ferent from my velvet dress and coat ! " 
 Just then an Angel came along. 
 " What are you looking at ? " asked the 
 Angel. 
 
 " I was looking at that girl 1 " said the 
 child. 
 
 ** So was I," said the Angel. " How 
 beautifully she is dressed ! " 
 
 " What do you mean ? " said the child. 
 " I mean this one coming towards us. 
 She is in rags, or at least if her clothes 
 
 82 
 
A MISUNDERSTANDING 83 
 
 are not ragged, they are wretchedly thin 
 and shabby." 
 
 " Oh, no," said the Angel. " How can 
 you say so ? She is in sparkling white, as 
 clear as frost. I never saw anything so 
 pretty. But you, you poor little thing, 
 you are indeed miserably clad. Does not 
 the wind blow through and through these 
 flimsy tatters? But at least you could 
 keep them clean, my dear, and mended. 
 You should see to that." 
 
 " I dpn't know what you can mean ! " 
 said the child. "That girl is a ragged 
 beggar, and my father is the richest man 
 in town. I have a velvet dress and coat, 
 trimmed with expensive fur. What are 
 you talking about ? " 
 
 "About the clothes of your soul, of 
 course ! " said the Angel, who was young. 
 
 " I don't know anything about souls," 
 said the child. 
 
 " I should n't think you did I " said the 
 Angel. 
 
FROM A FAR COUNTRY 
 
 HERE lived a Spirit 
 once upon a time. 1 
 cannot tell the name 
 of the place where he 
 lived, but it was a 
 good place, and there 
 were many other 
 spirits in it, beautiful and bright, and they 
 all wrought together at happy tasks, fol- 
 lowing the bidding of a heavenly Voice. 
 
 But the Spirit of whom I speak was not 
 happy. He knew not what ailed him, but 
 it was a cruel ail, and left him no rest. 
 He saw some spirits who were set at higher 
 tasks than his, and he said : " They are 
 wiser than I ; they can tell me what my 
 ail is, and how to cure it." 
 
 So he went to those spirits, and looking 
 in their faces, he saw them full of peace 
 and light. And he asked them : " Whence 
 have ye this peace and this light, while 1 
 
 84 
 
FROM A FAR COUNTRY 85 
 
 am empty save of darkness, and cannot 
 rest ? " 
 
 They looked kindly on him and said : 
 " We have learned the Earth-lesson ; now 
 your time is come to learn it, and therefore 
 you cannot rest. Ask of the Voice, and 
 do what it bids you ! " 
 
 Then the Spirit asked, and the Voice 
 said : " They speak the truth ; your time 
 is come. Shall I send you, or will you 
 choose for yourself ? " 
 
 And he said, " I will choose." 
 
 Then the Earth Book was opened before 
 him, and he saw many pictures therein, 
 as it were spirits like himself, clothed in 
 mortal flesh. He saw a beggar in flutter- 
 ing rags, and a soldier in a red coat ; a 
 poet with threadbare cloak, his eyes fixed 
 on the stars, and a prince clad all in gold 
 and silver. And he said, "I will be a 
 prince." 
 
 Then sleep fell upon him like a mantle ; 
 and the next hour, in a kingly house on 
 the earth, a prince was born. 
 
 Every one said that so beautiful a prince 
 had never been seen. Courtiers and ladies 
 bowed around his cradle, and whenever he 
 
86 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 opened his baby eyes, he saw smiles and 
 soft faces, and rich colors of gold and gems. 
 
 " But why does he cry ? " asked the 
 Queen his mother ; and that no one, not 
 even the wisest, could tell her. 
 
 The prince grew up. All the days of 
 his youth were filled with gay and joyous 
 things, and every hour brought its pleas- 
 ure ; for his parents said : "His life shall 
 be perfect. He shall lack nothing that 
 earth can give." 
 
 Yet no one thought the prince a happy 
 youth. True, no one heard an ungentle 
 word from him, and his lips wore a smile, 
 because he was kind at heart ; but his eyes 
 were grave, and seemed to be always ask- 
 ing a question that was never answered. 
 Sometimes those who were about him 
 would see him take up a corner of his rich 
 cloak and look at it wonderingly, as if it 
 were strange to him ; and when travellers 
 came from foreign countries, the prince 
 would send for them, and look earnestly 
 on them, and ask them searchingly of the 
 lands whence they came. 
 
 One day came one in a threadbare cloak, 
 with a lute on his arm, and bright eyes that 
 
FROM A FAR COUNTRY 87 
 
 were at once sad and joyful. The prince 
 looked on him and trembled, yet could 
 not cease looking. 
 
 " Who are you, stranger ? " he cried. 
 
 The man laughed. 
 
 " A stranger indeed," he said ; " yet no 
 more strange than you. Brother ; " and he 
 touched his lute, and sang a few words in 
 an unknown tongue. 
 
 Then the prince came down from his 
 throne, and laid his arm round the 
 stranger's neck, and led him away into 
 his garden. Long they walked and talked 
 together there, this one questioning and 
 the other making answer ; and the prince's 
 laughter came ringing through the trees. 
 
 " But why does he laugh ? " asked the 
 Queen his mother; and that no one, not 
 even the wisest, could tell her. 
 
 When the stranger was gone, the prince 
 laughed no more, but he smiled often, 
 with kind lips. He sought no more for 
 pleasures, but set himself to labor for 
 his people, toiling early and late to raise 
 them from poverty and ignorance, and 
 to make them happy. After a time he 
 died, and his people said : " He was a 
 
88 THE GOLDEN WLNDOWS 
 
 good prince, but a stranger to us ; the 
 others loved festivals and good cheer, 
 and that we could understand, for it is 
 the same with us." 
 
 But the free Spirit went back to the 
 good place whence he came, and where 
 the other spirits went to and fro at their 
 happy tasks. They crowded about him 
 with joyful faces, welcoming him home. 
 
 " Have you learned your lesson ? " they 
 cried. 
 
 But he shook his head and answered 
 sadly : " It was not my lesson that I tried 
 to learn, but another's. Pray for me, that 
 I may be suffered to try once more." 
 
 Then all the spirits prayed, and he with 
 them ; and the Voice said, '* Be it so ; he 
 shall try once more." 
 
 Then again the Earth Book was spread 
 open before him, with the pictures of 
 prince and peasant, gay soldier and learned 
 sage ; but he laid his hands over his eyes. 
 "Choose thou!" he said. 
 
 And sleep fell upon him like a mantle ; 
 and in that hour, in a green place under 
 a blossoming tree, in a humble cottage 
 on the earth, a poet was born. 
 
FROM A FAR COUNTRY 89 
 
 " He is a healthy child," said the village 
 gossips. *' May he have strength to earn 
 his bread ! " 
 
 " But why does he laugh ? " asked the 
 poor mother ; and that no one, not even 
 the wisest, could tell her. 
 
A FORTUNE 
 
 NE day a man was walking 
 along the street, and he 
 was sad at heart. Busi- 
 ness was dull ; he had 
 set his desire upon a 
 horse that cost a thousand 
 dollars, and he had only eight 
 hundred to buy it with. There were other 
 things, to be sure, that might be bought 
 with eight hundred dollars, but he did 
 not want those ; so he was sorrowful, and 
 thought the world a bad place. 
 
 As he walked, he saw a child running 
 toward him ; it was a strange child, but 
 when he looked at it, its face lightened 
 like sunshine, and broke into smiles. The 
 child held out its closed hand. 
 
 " Guess what I have ! " it cried gleefully. 
 " Something fine, I am sure ! " said the 
 man. 
 
 The child nodded and drew nearer ; then 
 opened its hand. 
 
 90 
 
A FORTUNE 91 
 
 " Look I " it said ; and the street rang 
 with its happy laughter. The man looked, 
 and in the child's hand lay a penny. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " said the child. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " said the man. 
 
 Then they parted, and the child went 
 and bought a stick of candy, and saw vAl 
 the world red and white in stripes. 
 
 The man went and put his eight hun- 
 dred dollars in the savings-bank, all but 
 fifty cents, and with the fifty cents he 
 bought a hobby-horse for his own little 
 boy, and the little boy saw all the world 
 brown, with white spots. 
 
 " Is this the horse you wanted so to 
 buy, father ? " asked the little boy. 
 
 "It is the horse I have bought I " said 
 the man. 
 
 " Hurrah I " said the little boy. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " said the man. And he saw 
 that the world was a good place after all. 
 
THE STARS 
 
 LITTLE dear child lay in its 
 crib and sobbed, because it was 
 afraid of the dark. And its 
 father, in the room below, heard 
 the sobs, and came up, and said, 
 " What ails you, my dearie, 
 and why do you cry ? " 
 And the child said, " Oh, father, I am 
 afraid of the dark. Nurse says I am too 
 big to have a taper ; but all the corners 
 are full of dreadful blackness, and I think 
 there are Things in them with eyes, that 
 would look at me if I looked at them ; 
 and if they looked at me I should die. 
 Oh, father, why is it dark ? why is there 
 such a terrible thing as darkness ? why 
 cannot it be always day ? " 
 
 The father took the child in his arms 
 and carried it downstairs and out into the 
 summer night. 
 
 92 
 
THE STARS 93 
 
 " Look up, dearie ! " he said, in his strong, 
 kind voice. " Look up, and see God's 
 little lights!" 
 
 The little one looked up, and saw the 
 stars, spangling the blue veil of the sky ; 
 bright as candles they burned, and yellow 
 as gold. 
 
 " Oh, father," cried the child ; " what are 
 those lovely things ? " 
 
 " Those are stars," said the father. 
 "Those are God's little lights." 
 
 " But why have I never seen them be- 
 fore ? " 
 
 " Because you are a very little child, and 
 have never been out in the night before." 
 
 " Can I see the stars only at night, 
 father?" 
 
 " Only at night, my child ! " 
 
 " Do they only come then, father ? " 
 
 " No ; they are always there, but we 
 cannot see them when the sun is shining." 
 
 " But, father, the darkness is not terrible 
 here, it is beautiful ! " 
 
 " Yes, dearie ; the darkness is always 
 beautiful, if we will only look up at the 
 stars, instead of into the corners." 
 
THE COOKY 
 
 CHILD quarrelled with his 
 brother one day about a 
 cooky. 
 
 " It is my cooky ! " said 
 the child. 
 
 " No, it is mine ! " said his 
 brother. 
 " You shall not have it ! " said 
 the child. " Give it to me this minute ! " 
 And he fell upon bis brother and beat 
 him. 
 
 Just then came by an Angel who knew 
 the child. 
 
 " Who is this that you are beating ? " 
 asked the Angel. 
 
 " It is my brother ! " said the cliild. 
 " No, but truly," said the Angel ; " who 
 is it { 
 
 " It is my brother, I tell you ! " said the 
 child. 
 
 " Oh, no ! " said the Angel. " That can- 
 not be, and it seems a pity for you to tell 
 
 94 
 
THE COOKY 95 
 
 an untruth, because that makes spots on 
 your soul. If it were your brother, you 
 would not beat him." 
 
 " But he has my cooky ! " said the child. 
 
 "Oh!" said the Angel. "Now I see 
 my mistake. You mean that the cooky 
 is your brother ; and that seems a pity, 
 too, for it does not look like a very good 
 cooky, and besides, it is all crumbled to 
 pieces." 
 
THE STRONG CHILD 
 
 HERE was once a child 
 who was so big and strong 
 that he thought he was 
 a man. 
 " See ! " he said to his 
 mother. " I am a man ! 
 Give me my father's 
 sword, and I will take care of you." 
 
 ** That will be beautiful ! " said his 
 mother ; and she gave him the sword, and 
 sighed and smiled. 
 
 The child held the sword lightly, he was 
 so strong, and brandished it about. 
 
 " Look I " he said. " 1 can wield it 
 easily. If we meet a lion or a bear on 
 the road, I will kill it with one blow, 
 thus 1 " 
 
 " That will be glorious ! " said the mother ; 
 and she sighed and smiled. 
 
 But when the child put the sword back 
 in the sheath, it chanced that he caught 
 
 96 
 
THE STRONG CHILD 97 
 
 his finger on a pin that was about his 
 dress, and tore the flesh. 
 
 " Oh, mother ! " he cried. " This dread- 
 ful pin has scratched my finger. Look ! 
 here is a great drop of blood ! oh ! how it 
 hurts ! " and he wept bitterly. 
 
 " Thank God ! " said the mother. " You 
 are still a child." 
 
 And she kissed the finger, and bound 
 it up, and wept too, for joy. 
 
ANYBODY 
 
 ^ MAN knelt at the altar and 
 prayed. 
 
 " O God," he said, " I am all 
 evil, without and within. JNIy 
 soul is black with the color 
 of my sin, and my shoulders 
 are bowed with the weight 
 of it. God of all mercies, 
 be merciful to me, the 
 chief of sinners ! " 
 
 As he went out he met a friend. 
 " AYhere have you been ? " asked the 
 friend. 
 
 " I have been at the altar," said the 
 man, " confessing my sins." 
 
 " Speaking of sins," said the friend, 
 " there is a fault that I have often noticed 
 in you." 
 
 And he told him of his fault. 
 " Liar I " said the man, and smote him 
 on the mouth. 
 
 98 
 
THE GIFTIE 
 
 MAN was complaining of his 
 
 neighbors. 
 
 "I never saw such a wretched 
 
 set of people," he said, *' as are in 
 
 this village. They are mean, self- 
 jL ish, greedy of gain, and careless 
 
 of the needs of others. Worst of 
 all, they are forever speaking evil of one 
 another." 
 
 " Is it really so ? " asked an Angel who 
 happened to be walking with him. 
 
 *' It is indeed ! " said the man. *' Why, 
 only look at this fellow coming towards 
 us I I know his face, though I cannot 
 tell you his name. See his little sharp, 
 cruel eyes, darting here and there like a 
 ferret's, and the lines of covetousness about 
 his mouth ! The very droop of his shoul- 
 ders is mean and cringing, and he slinks 
 along instead of walking." 
 
 99 
 
100 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " It is very clever of you to see all this," 
 said the Angel ; " but there is one thing 
 that you do not perceive." 
 
 " What is that ? " asked the man. 
 
 " Why, that it is a looking-glass we are 
 approaching ! " said the Angel. 
 
THE STAFF 
 
 NCE there was a woman 
 
 who had a sword in her 
 
 heart ; but because she 
 
 was a decent body, 
 
 she covered it with 
 
 her shawl, and went 
 
 about her business, and 
 
 no one knew of it. 
 
 Once as she went along the way, she 
 
 saw another woman, tottering slowly along, 
 
 groping with her hands, and moaning as 
 
 she went. 
 
 " Why do you grope thus ? " asked the 
 first woman, " and why do you moan as 
 you go ? " 
 
 " I am sick and wounded," said the 
 second woman ; " moreover, I am blind, 
 and I am groping for something that may 
 serve as a staff, to stay my steps as far as 
 the end of the way." 
 
 101 
 
102 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 The first woman looked about for a tree, 
 but there was none, nor any bush from 
 which she could cut a staff. 
 
 Then she drew the sword out from under 
 her shawl, and put it in the blind woman's 
 hand, and said, " Take this, since it is all 
 1 have to give." 
 
 The blind woman took it, and felt it 
 all over, and leaned on it. 
 
 " Oh," she cried joyfully, *' here is a 
 good staff; with tliis I shall do well." 
 And she thanked the other, and blessed 
 her. 
 
 And when the first woman looked at 
 that which had been her sword, it was 
 a staff indeed. 
 
THE DOOR 
 
 BOY was running through flower- 
 starred meadows, chasing butter- 
 flies and answering the songs of 
 the birds. By and by he came 
 to a wafl, and in the wall was 
 set a wide and lofty door; 
 but the door was locked, 
 and guarded by spirits, with 
 names written in their foreheads. 
 " Shall I knock at the door ? " asked the 
 boy. 
 
 " Not yet ! " said one, rising from the 
 ground where she had been lying. The 
 name on her forehead was Indolence, and 
 she had soft eyes, and a slow, soft smile. 
 
 " On the other side is work to do, — 
 work all day long, and no time or chance 
 to play. See the flowers here, and the 
 ripe fruit on the trees, and the soft grass 
 where we may lie at length and look up 
 at the blue sky ! Do not knock at the 
 door yet ! " 
 
 103 
 
104 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 " Not yet ! " said another, who wore a 
 green robe. His face was subtle, and the 
 letters on his forehead seemed to shift and 
 blur so that the name was hard to read ; 
 but when one looked steadfastly, it was 
 Selfishness. 
 
 " On the other side are people who will 
 ask you to do things for them, — poor and 
 sick and suffering people, with doleful tales 
 to tell and ugly scars to show ; all trouble- 
 some and importunate. Here, on this side 
 of the wall, everything is done for you ; 
 on the other side, it is you who must do 
 things for the rest of the world. Stay 
 here as long as you can, in the flowery 
 meadow ; do not knock at the door yet ! " 
 
 " Not yet ! " cried two twin spirits in 
 gray, with frightened eyes ; the names 
 on their foreheads were Timidity and Ig- 
 norance. 
 
 " On the other side are two terrible things, 
 hobgoblin sluipes of horror and cruelty. 
 One is called Life, the other Death. No 
 sooner will you cross the threshold of the 
 door than they will come ravening at you, 
 and clutch you, and tear you with their 
 dreadful claws, and finally devour you. 
 
THE DOOR 105 
 
 Do not knock at the door, we implore 
 you! 
 
 " You interest me extremely," said the 
 boy. " I must look into this ! " 
 
 He knocked, and Destiny opened the 
 door. 
 
THEOLOGY 
 
 lOME children were quarrel- 
 ling one day, and calling 
 one another names. 
 
 "You are stupid," said 
 one ; " if you were not, you 
 would think as I do." 
 " If you were not wholly 
 blind," said another, '* you would see with 
 my eyes." 
 
 ** Your ignorance is what troubles me ! " 
 said a third. 
 
 " Ignorance is not so bad as ill-will ! ' 
 said a fourth. 
 
 Just then came by the Angel-who- 
 understands-things. 
 
 " What are you quarrelling about, chil- 
 dren ? " asked the Angel. 
 
 " About our God ! " said the children. 
 " Oh ! " said the Angel. " The God of 
 Strife, I presume?" 
 
 106 
 
THEOLOGY 107 
 
 "No!" cried one. "He is the God of 
 Peace ! " 
 
 " He is the God of Wisdom ! " said 
 another. 
 
 " He is the God of Love ! " said a third. 
 
 ** Indeed I " said the Angel. " I never 
 should have thought it." 
 
A MATTER OF IMPORTANCE 
 
 T happened one day that the 
 Angel-who-attends-to-things 
 was hastening along the 
 street, with his wings tucked 
 in and his robes tucked up, 
 for he was in a hurry, when 
 a Duke looked out of his 
 castle window and called to him. 
 
 " Stop a moment, please ! " said the Duke. 
 " T wish to consult you about the succes- 
 sion to my dukedom. You know my 
 grandfather, the Archduke — " 
 
 " I cannot attend to you this morning ! " 
 said the Angel. " I am engaged on busi- 
 ness of importance ; your affair must wait 
 till another time." And he passed on. 
 
 "Dear me!" said the Duke. "What 
 can be more important than the succes- 
 sion ? I really must follow him, and see 
 what this great matter is." 
 So lie followed the Angel. 
 
 108 
 
A MATTER OF IMPORTANCE 109 
 
 The Angel hurried along, and presently 
 he passed by a Bishop's palace, and the 
 Bishop put his head out of the window 
 and called to him. 
 
 *' Please come in a moment ! " said the 
 Bishop. " I wish to consult you about the 
 Great Synod which is to be held — " 
 
 The Angel shook his head. 
 
 " I am on business of importance," he 
 said. " I cannot attend to trifles this 
 morning." And he passed on. 
 
 The Bishop looked after him. "What 
 mighty business can this be," he said, 
 "that makes the Great Synod seem a 
 trifle ? I really think I must go and see." 
 And he followed the Angel and the Duke. 
 
 Presently the Angel passed by a King's 
 palace, and the King looked out of the 
 window and called to him. 
 
 " Please come in here ! " said the King. 
 " The enemy's forces have crossed the 
 border, and threaten to besiege the capital. 
 I wish to consult you at once on the steps 
 to be taken." 
 
 " By and by ! " said the Angel. " I am 
 on business of importance now, and cannot 
 stop for trifles." And he hurried on. 
 
110 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 The King looked after liim. " It must 
 be something of world-wide importance," 
 he said, " which can make the invasion of 
 my kingdom seem a trifle. I must really 
 go and see what it is." And he followed 
 the Angel and the Duke and the Bishop. 
 
 The Angel turned from the wide street, 
 and passed down a narrow lane, and into 
 a dingy court, where poor clothes himg 
 drying. In the middle of the court stood 
 a little child, with its eyes tight shut and 
 its mouth wide open, crying and roaring 
 as if its heart would break. 
 
 The Angel ran to the child, and knelt 
 down and took it in his arms. 
 
 "Hush! hush!" he cried. "It is all 
 right, dear. You took the wrong turning, 
 that was all. She is just round the corner. 
 Quick, let me wipe the tears away ! Look ! 
 there she comes this minute." 
 
 A woman came flying round the corner, 
 wild-eyed and panting. The Angel put 
 the child into her arms, and tlie two 
 melted together, and sobbed and laughed 
 themselves away out of sight. 
 
 The Angel drew a long breath, and 
 rustled his wings a little, and turned to 
 
A MATTER OF IMPORTANCE 111 
 
 go back ; and as he turned, he saw the 
 Duke and the Bishop and the King, all 
 out of breath and crimson, and staring 
 with big round eyes. 
 
 " Oh ! are you there ? " said the Angel. 
 " Well, now I can attend to your little 
 matters." 
 
THE SCAR 
 
 ROTHER, what is that 
 scar above your heart ? " 
 
 " Brother, the mark of 
 a sword." 
 
 " Of whose sword ? " 
 " Brother, of yours." 
 *'Nay!" 
 " Even so ! " 
 
 ** Brother of my heart, could I wound 
 you thus, and still forget ? " 
 " Yes, since you bear no scar." 
 ** Brother of my soul, could I wound you 
 thus, and go myself unscarred ? " 
 
 ** Verily, yes ; since it is not the hilt 
 that wounds." 
 
 112 
 
THE STRANGER 
 
 GOOD man was worshipping 
 his God in sincerity and in 
 truth ; and as he worshipped, 
 a Stranger came by, and 
 stopped to observe him. 
 
 " Why do you worship 
 alone, brother ? " asked the 
 Stranger. 
 
 " Because there is none in this place to 
 worship with me," said the man. 
 
 " How is that ? " asked the Stranger. 
 " Do I not hear sounds as of worship from 
 yonder open door, as if two or three were 
 gathered together ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " said the good man. " Those 
 people are no doubt worshipping after 
 their manner, but it is not the manner to 
 which I am accustomed." 
 
 " But is it the same God whom they 
 worship ? " asked the Stranger. 
 
 *' Oh, yes 1 " said the good man. " It is 
 the same God, but there is everything in 
 the way in which the thing is done." 
 
 113 
 
114 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 "Is there truly ? " said the Stranger. 
 And he passed on, and went in at the open 
 door. 
 
 The good man looked after him ; and 
 just then came by an Angel of his acquaint- 
 ance. 
 
 " Do you know who that was who just 
 spoke to me ? " asked the man. 
 
 " Do you not know ? " said the Angel. 
 
 " No ! " said the man. " He is a stranger 
 to me." 
 
 " Oh I " said the Angel. " If he is a 
 stranger to you, I fear I can do nothing 
 for you." And he followed his JNIaster in 
 at the door. 
 
THE WEDDING GUESTS 
 
 F the guests who were 
 bidden to the Wed- 
 ding Feast, there 
 were two who started 
 at the same moment ; 
 and both were given 
 the same equipment 
 for the journey, 
 namely, a staff in the hand, and a jewel to 
 wear in the breast. 
 
 The first one said, " A staff is well enough, 
 but why should I walk, when I might ride ? 
 I should soil my wedding garment." 
 
 So he got him an easy carriage, and stout 
 and swift horses, and servants to drive him, 
 and clad himself in a rich garment, and 
 started on his journey. As he travelled, 
 the road, which at first was smooth and 
 flowery, grew ever steeper and rougher ; 
 and at each steep pitch, he called for more 
 and softer cushions, and for stronger horses ; 
 
 115 
 
116 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 and he wrapped himself in fold on fold of 
 rich stuffs, lest any whifF of dust or drop 
 of mud should stain his wedding garment ; 
 the folds were so thick across his bosom 
 that they hid the jewel he wore, and 
 quenched its light. And as he went, many 
 by the wayside cried to him to stop and 
 help them, for it was a weary way, and full 
 of pitfalls, and of sharp flints that bruised 
 the feet, and sharp thorns that tore the 
 flesh. But he only bade his servants drive 
 on the faster. " These be evil ways and 
 evil days," he said ; " I fear for the jewel in 
 my breast, and for my wedding garment ; 
 drive on, lest ill befall us ! " 
 
 The second guest started out staff in 
 hand on his journey, and for a while strode 
 merrily on ; but by and by he too came to 
 the rough steep hills, and to the pitfalls, 
 and the sharp flints that bruised the feet, 
 and the sharp thorns that tore the flesh. 
 Then, because he was slender of mould, he 
 many times stumbled and fell, and got up 
 again all bleeding and bemired from the 
 flints and the pitfalls. His staff bent in 
 his hand, and seemed like to break, yet it 
 did not break ; and the thorns tore his 
 
THE WEDDING GUESTS 117 
 
 clothes to tatters, and the wind whistled 
 through them. These were evil days for 
 the wedding guest. Moreover, the men 
 who were travelling that same road called 
 to him, some praying for help, and others 
 jeering at him, and making mock of his 
 ragged clothing and slender staff. Yet 
 many times, when one cried to him from 
 the depth of a pit, he stopped, and held out 
 his staff to the fallen man, and drew him 
 out; and then the staff seemed stout 
 enough. 
 
 Still other men there were who called to 
 him, saying, " Give up the rough road and 
 the weary way, and come and revel here 
 with us ! " and laid hold on him ; and when 
 he would not, they fell upon him and beat 
 him, and tried to take his jewel from him. 
 But he beat them off with his staff, and 
 again it seemed stout enough for this. 
 
 Now the Lord of the Feast waited to 
 receive his guests ; and as these two had 
 started at the selfsame moment, even so 
 they came together to the door of the ban- 
 queting hall ; and the first one entered 
 proudly, but the other stood without at the 
 door. 
 
118 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 Then said the Lord to the first guest, 
 *' Where is your staiF ? " 
 
 " Lord," said the man, *' I had no need 
 of a staff, for I came liither in a carriage, 
 lest I soil my wedding garment." 
 
 " And have you your jewel ? " asked the 
 Lord. 
 
 " Yea, Lord ! " said the man. " I have 
 it safe, and so well covered with rich stuffs 
 that nothing could come near it, neither 
 dust nor soil." 
 
 As he spoke, he drew back the thick 
 folds from his breast ; and there lay the 
 jewel indeed, but it gave no liglit, and was 
 as a thing dead. 
 
 *' And you, son," said the Lord of the 
 Feast to the other guest ; " why do you 
 stand at the door and lean upon your staff, 
 when the feast is ready ? " 
 
 And the second answered, " Lord, my 
 garment was poor at the starting, and now 
 it is torn and stained with brambles and 
 dust, so that I am not fit to come in ; and 
 as for the staff, I am weary to ftiintness, 
 and I lean upon it because it holds me 
 well, though it be slender ; and indeed it is 
 stouter than it was, I know not how." 
 
THE WEDDING GUESTS 119 
 
 " And your jewel ? " asked the Lord. 
 
 " Alas ! " said the man. " I have striven 
 so hard and fallen so often by the way that 
 I many times forgot the jewel, and know 
 not even now whether I have it ; and even 
 if I have, it may well be dim with dust, 
 and dead of its light, like this man's." 
 
 " Show it me ! " said the Lord of the 
 Feast. 
 
 Then the man drew aside the ragged 
 cloak that covered him ; and the jewel 
 shone out, and lighted the room. 
 
 Then said the Lord of the Feast to him, 
 " Come in, and sit with me at my table ! " 
 
 And as the man crossed the threshold, 
 the tattered clothes fell from him, and he 
 stood robed as it were in a garment of 
 light, and the jewel shining in his breast ; 
 and he passed in to the feast. 
 
 Now when the other guest saw that, he 
 cried out bitterly, and said, "Lord, does 
 this man pass in, and I stay without ? " 
 
 And the Lord said, " Nay ! come you in 
 also, and serve him and me ! " 
 
HOME 
 
 NCE, in these later days, 
 there came to this 
 earth a Child who 
 had been here once 
 before. The day 
 was cold, and late the 
 hour, and the Child 
 wandered far and wide, as if seeking some- 
 thing. As he went, the little foxes peeped 
 from their holes, and said, " Where are 
 you going, little Master?" and the Child 
 answered, *' I am seeking something, but 
 I cannot well tell what," and he wandered 
 further. 
 
 By and by he came to a great door, from 
 which came sounds of music, sweet and 
 solemn. He pushed the door open and 
 looked in ; and there was a great place 
 full of dim, rich light, and tlie music 
 flowin<ir throut^h it in waves as of a sea. 
 
 120 
 
HOME m 
 
 Here and there men and women were 
 kneeling on the marble floor, looking up 
 at a figure that hung carved upon a 
 cross, fixed as in pain and anguish ; and, 
 before this figure men in rich garments 
 passed to and fro, muttering prayers and 
 offering perfumes. 
 
 The Child looked at the figure, which 
 hung in unending pain. " That is some- 
 thing that I have known," he said, " but 
 it is not what I am seeking ; " and he 
 wandered further. 
 
 After a time he came to a tall house, 
 and here again he heard sounds of music, 
 women's voices singing thin and sweet. 
 
 He pushed the door open and looked in ; 
 and here were many women, robed and 
 veiled in black, kneeling and singing before 
 the picture of a woman with seven swords 
 in her heart ; and the women sang : 
 
 " For He that is mighty hath done to 
 me great things, and holy is His name." 
 
 The Child looked at the picture of the 
 woman, and said, " This, too, is some- 
 thing that 1 have known, but it is not 
 what I am seeking ; " and he wandered 
 further. 
 
122 THE GOLDEN WINDOWS 
 
 And as lie went, the little birds peeped 
 from their nests and said, " A\^here are 
 you going, Httle Master ? " 
 
 And the Child answered, " I am seeking 
 something, but I cannot yet tell what." 
 
 Now it was growing very late, and the 
 Child was cold and weary ; and as he went, 
 he heard yet once more the sound of music, 
 but this time it was one voice that sang, 
 and that a low one ; it came from a humble 
 cabin that stood beside the way, and 
 from the cabin window came a gleam 
 of light that lay bright across the bare 
 road. 
 
 The Child pushed open the door and 
 looked in. There by a small bright fire sat 
 a woman with a child on her knee, and 
 another leaning beside her, and a third 
 lying in the cradle beyond her ; and the 
 woman stirred the fire as she sat, and 
 sang to the babe in her lap. And as 
 she sang, it chanced that she turned her 
 head, and saw the Child standing in the 
 doorway. 
 
 *' Little one," said the woman, " come 
 in, an(J let me warm the little cold feet 
 of you by the fire, and the little cold 
 
HOME 
 
 123 
 
 hands of you in my bosom ; and drink 
 warm milk, and then sleep beside the babe 
 in the cradle here." 
 
 " Oh ! Mary Mother ! " said the Child, 
 " now I know : I was seeking where to lay 
 my head." 
 
 And he entered in. 
 
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