mfjm
V
I
MlMTIONAL
ESSON
(By E. O. SELLERS, Director of Evening
Department, The Moody Bible Institute,
Chicago.)
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SDNWSC1I
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SYNOPSIS.
Fran arrives at Hamilton Gregory's
homo In Littleburgr, but finds him absent
VimiiTins the l!oir at ft camp meeting;.
She repairs thither in search of him,
laughs during the service and is asked to
leave. Abbott Ashton, superintendent of
schools, escorts Fran from the tent. He
tells her Grejrory is a wealthy man.
deeply .interested in charity work, and a
pillar of the church. Ashton becomes
preatly interested In Fran and while tak
ing leave of her, holds her hand -and Is
seen by Sapphlra Clinton, sister of Rob
ert Clinton, chairman of the school board.
Fran tells Gregory she wants a home
with him. Grace Noir. Gregory's private
secretary, takes a violent dislike to Fran
and advises her to go away at once.
Fran hints at a twenty-year-old secret,
and Gregory In agitation asks Grace to
leave the room. Fran relates the story
of how Gregory married a young girl at
Springfield while attending college and
then deserted her. Fran is the child of
that marriage. Gregory had married his
present wife three years before the death
of Fran's mother. Fran takes a liking to
Mrs. Gregory. Gregory explains that
Fran is the daughter of a very dear friend
who is dead. Fran agrees to the story.
Mrs. Gergory insists on her making her
home with them and takes her to her
arms. The breach between Fran and
flraee widens. It is decided that Fran
must go to school.
CHAPTER VIII. Continued.
Fran's quick eye caught the expres
sion of baffled reaching-forth, of un
certain striving after sympathetic un
derstanding. "You darling lady!" she
cried, clasping her hands to keep her
arms from flying about the other's
neck, "don't you be troubled about me.
Bless your heart, I can take care of
myself and you, too! Do you think
I'd add a straw to your . . . Now
you hear me: if you want to do it, Just
put me in long trains with Pullman
sleepers, for I'll do whatever you say.
If you want to show people how tame
I am, just hold up your hand, and I'll
crawl into my cage."
The laughter of Mrs. Gregory sound
ed wholesome and deep-throated the
child was so deliciously ridiculous.
"Come, then," she cried, with a light
ness she had not felt for months,
"come, crawl into your cage!" And
she opened her arms.
With a flash of her lithe body, Fran
was in her cage, and, for a time, rest
ed there, while th'e fire in her dark
eyes burned tears to all sorts of rain
bow colors. It seemed to her that of
all the people in the world, Mrs. Greg
ory was the last to hold her in affec
tionate embrace. She cried out with a
sob, as if in answer to her dark mis
givings "Oh, but I want to belong to
somebody!"
"You shall belong to me!" ex
claimed Mrs. Gregory, folding her
closer.
"To you?" Fran sobbed, overcome
by the wonder of it. "To you, dear
heart?" With a desperate effort she
crowded back intruding thoughts, and
grew calm. Looking over her shoul
der at Simon Jefferson "No more
short dresses, Mr. Simon," she called,
"you know your heart mustn't be ex
cited." "Fran!" gasped Mrs. Gregory in dis
may, "hush!"
But Simon Jefferson beamed with
pleasure at the girl's artless way3. He
knew what was bad for his heart, and
Fran wasn't. Her smiles made him
feel himself a monopolist in sunshine.
"Love Him? This Is Merely a Ques
tion of Doing the Most Good."
Simon Jefferson might be fifty, but he
still had a nose for roses.
Old Mr3. Jefferson was present, and
from her wheel-chair bright eyes read
much that dull ears missed. "How
gay Simon is!" smiled the mother he
was always her spoiled boy.
Mrs. Gregory called through the
trumpet, "1 believe Fran has given
brother a fresh interest in life.''
Old Mrs. Jefferson beamed upon
Fran and added her eonimendHtion:
"She pushes me when I want to be
pushed, and pulls me when I want to
bo pulled."
Fran clapped her hands like a child,
indeed. "Oh, what a gay old world!"
ehe cried. "There are eo many people
In it that like me." She danced before
the old lady, then wheeled about with
such energy that her skirts threat
ened to level to the breeze
"Don't, don't!" cri?d Mrs. Gregory
precipitately. "Fran!"
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"Bravo!" shouted Simon Jeff ei son.
"Encore!"
Fran widened her fingers to push
down the rebellious dress. "If 1 don't
put leads on me," she said with con
trition, "I'll be floating away. When
I feel good, I always want to do some
thing wrong it's awfully dangerous
for a person to feel good, I guess. Mrs.
Gregory, you say J can belong to you
when I think about that, I want to
dance. ... I guess you hardly
know what it means for Fran to be
long to a person. You're going to find
out. Come on," she shouted to Mrs.
Jefferson, without using the trumpet
always a subtle compliment to those
nearly stone-deaf, "I mustn't wheel
myself about, so I'm going to wheel
you."
As she passed with her charge into ;
the garden, her mind was busy with
thoughts of Grace Noir. Belonging to j
Mrs. Gregory naturally suggested get
ting rid of the secretary. It would
be exceedingly diflicult. "But two
months ought to settle her," Fran
mused.
In the meantime, Grace Noir and
Gregory sat in the library, silently
turning out an immense amount of
work, feeding the hungry and consol
ing the weak with stroke of pen and
click of typewriter.
"About this case, number one hun
dred forty-three," Grace said, looking
u;i from her work as copyist, "the
girl whose father wouldn't acknowl
edge her ..."
"Write to the matron to give her
good clothing and good schooling." He
spoke softly. There prevailed an at
mosphere of subtle tenderness; on
this island the library blossomed
love of mankind and devotion to lofty
ideals. These two mariners found
themselves ever surrounded by a sea
of indifference; there was not a sail
in sight. "It is a sad case," he mur
mured. "You think number one hundred
forty-three a sad case?" she repeated,
always, when possible, building her
next step out of the material furnished
by. her companion. "But suppose she
is an impostor. He says she's not his
daughter, this number one hundred
forty-three. Maybe she isn't. Would
you call her conduct sad?"
Gregory took exquisite pleasure in
arguing with Grace, because her se
rene assumption of being in the right
gave to her beautiful face a touch of
the angelic. "I should call it impos
sible." "Impossible? Do you think it's im
possible that Fran's deceiving you?
How can ycu know that she is the
daughter of your friend?"
He grew pale. Oh, if he could have
denied Fran if he could have joined
Grace in declaring her an impostor!
But she possessed proofs so irrefutable
that safety lay in admitting her claim,
lest she prove more than he had al
ready admitted. . "I know it, absolute
ly. She is the daughter of one who
was my most my most intimate
friend."
Grace repeated with delicate re
proof "Your intimate friend!"
"I know it was wrong for him to de
sert his wife."
"Vrong!" How inadequate seemed
that word from her pure lips!
"But," he faltered, "we must make
allowances. My friend married Fran's
mother in secret because she was ut
terly worldly frivolous a butterfly.
Her own uncle was unable to control
her to make her go to church. Soon
after the marriage he found out his
mistake it broke his heart, tho trag
edy of it. I don't excuse him for go
ing away to Europe "
"I am glad you don't. He was no
true man, but a weakling. I am glad
I have never been thrown with such
a a degenerate."
"But, Miss Grace," he urged tlead
ingly, "da you think my friend, when
he went back to find her and she was
gone do you think he should have
kept on hunting? Do you think, Grace,
that he should have remained yoked
to an unbeliever, after he realized his
folly?"
There was heavenly compassion in
her eyes, for suddenly she had di
vined his purpose in defending Fran's
father. He was thinking of his "own
wife, and of . his wife's mother and
brother how they had ceased to show
sympathy in what he regarded as the
essentials of life. Her silence suggest
ed that as ehe could not speak without
casting reflection upon Mrs. Gregory,
she would say nothing, and this fact
was grateful to his grieved heart.
"I have been thinking of something
very strange," Grace said, with a
marked effort to avoid the issue lest
she commit the indiscretion of blam
ing her employer's wife. "I remem
ber having heard you say that when
you were a young man, you left your
father's home to live with a cousin in
a distant town who happened to be a
? Bin i -
JOHNBraCICENMBGE E
;S i'lit ' ILLUSTRATIONS BY
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teacher in a college, and that you were
graduated from his college. Don't you
think it marvelous, this claim of Fran,
who says that her father, when a
young man, went to live with a cousin
who was a college professor, and that
he was graduate! from that college?
And she says that her father's father
was a rich man just as yours was
and that the cousin is dead just as
yours is." i
At these piercing words, Gregory
bowed his head to conceal his agita
tion. Could it be possible that she
had guessed all and yet, in spite of all,
could use that tone of kindness? It
burst upon him that if he and she
could hold this fatal secret in common,
they might, in sweetest comradeship,
form an alliance against fate itself.
She persisted: "The account that
Fran gives of her father is really your
own history. What does that show?"
He spoke almost in a whisper. "My
friend and I were much alike." Then
he looked up swiftly to catch a look
of comprehension by surprise, if such
a look were there.
Grace smiled coolly. "But hardly
Identical, I presume. Don't you see
that Fran has invented her whole
story, and that she didn't have enough
"Bring on Your Dragons," She Said
Boastfully.
imagination to keep from copying
after your biographical sketch in the
newspaper? I don't believe fihe is
your friend's daughter. I don't be
lieve you could ever have liked the
father of a girl like Fran that he
could have been your intimate friend."
"Well-" faltered' Gregory. But why
should he defend Fran? "
"Mr. Gregory," she asked, as if what
she was about to say belonged to what
had gone before, "would it greatly in
convenience you for me to leave your
employment?"
He was electrified. "Grace! Incon
venience me ! would you could . . ."
"I have not decided not yet.
Speaking of being yoked with unbe
lievers I have never told you that Mr.
Robert Clinton has wanted me to mar
ry him. As long as he was outside of
the church, of course it was impos
sible. But now that he is converted "
"Grace!" groaned the pallid listener.
"He would like me to go with him
to Chicago."
"But you couldn't love Bob Clinton
he isn't worthy of you, Grace. It's
impossible. Heaven knows I've had
disappointments enough " He start
ed up and came toward her, his eyes
glowing. "Will you make my lite a
complete failure, after all?"
"Love him?" Grace repeated calmly.
"This is merely a question of doing
the most good. I know nothing about
love."
"Then let me teach you, Grace,
let"
"Shall we not discuss it?" she said
gently. "That is best, I think. If I de
cide to marry Mr. Clinton. I will tell
you even before I tell him. I don't
know what I shall choose as my Lest
course."
"But, Grace! What could I do
without" "Shall we just agree to say no more
about it?" she softly interposed. "That
is wisest until my decision is made.
We were talking about Fran do you
think this a good opportunity for Mrs.
Gregory to attend services? Fran can
stay with Mrs. Jefferson."
"I have no doubt," he said, still agi
tated, "that my wife would find it easy
enough to go to church, if she really
wanted to go."
"Mr. Gregory!" she reproved him.
"Well," he cried, somewhat defiant
ly, "don't you think she could go, if
she wanted to?"
"Well," Grace answered slowly,
"this girl will leave her without any
any excuse."
"Oh, Miss Grace, if my wife were
only like you I mean, about going
to church!"
o,
BOBBS-MEPeiLLCO.)
"I consider it," ehe responded, "the
most important thing in tho world."
Her emphatic tone proved her sin
cerity. The church on Walnut street
stood, for her, as the ark; those who
remained outside, at the call of the
bell, were in danger of engulfmeut.
After a long silence, Grace looked
up from her typewriter. "Mr. Greg
ory," she said pausingly, "you are un
happy." Nothing could have been sweeter to
him than her sympathy, except happi
ness itself. "Yes," he admitted, with
a great sigh, "I am very unhappy, but
you understand me, and that is a little
comfort. If you should marry Bob
Clinton Grace, tell me you'll not
think of it again."
"And you are unhappy," said Grace,
steadfastly ruling Bob Clinton out of
the discussion, "on account of Fran."
He burst forth Impulsively "Ever
since she came to town!" He checked
himself. "But I owe it to my friend
to shelter her. She wants to stay and
and she'll have to, if she demands
it." '
"Do you owe more to your dead
friend," Grace asked, with passionate
solemnity, "than to the living God?"
He shrank back. "But I can't send
her away," he persisted in nervous
haste. "I can't. But heaven bless you.
Grace, for your dear thought of me."
"You will bless me with more rea
son," said Grace softly, "when Fran
decides to go away. She'll tire of this
house I promise it. She'll go just
wait! she'll go, as unceremoniously
as she came. Leave it to me, Mr. Greg
ory." In her earnestness she started
up, and then, as if to conceal her
growing resolution, she walked swiftly
to the window as if to hold her manu
script to the light. Gregory followed
her.
"If she would only go!" he groaned.
"Grace! Do you think you could?
Yes, I will leave everything to you."
"She'll go," Grace repeated fixedly.
The window at which they stood
overlooked the garden into which Fran
had wheeled old Mrs. Jefferson.
Fran, speaking through the ear
trumpet with as much caution as deaf
ness would tolerate, said, y'Dear old
lady, look up at the library window,
if you please, for the muezzin has
climbed his minaret to call to prayers."
Very little of this reached its desti
nation muezzin was in great danger
of complicating matters, but th-3 old
lady caught "library window," and held
it securely. She looked up. Ham
ilton Gregory and Grace Noir were
standing at the tower window, to
catch the last rays of the sun. The
flag of truce between them was only
a typewritten sheet of manuscript.
Grace held the paper obliquely toward
the west; Hamilton leaned nearer and,
with his delicate white finger, pointed
out a word. Grace nodded her head
in gentle acquiescence.
"Amen," muttered Fran. "Now let
everybody sing!"
The choir leader and his secretary
vanished from sight.
LESSON FOR ARDENT SWAIN
Startling Experience Cures Him of
Making Love to Maidens
at Balls.
It happened at a public ball. He
was a man of serious intentions and
numerous attentions, and she was
rich and weddable. They sat in the
hall under the stairway. It was a I
nook for lovers. There was not a
soul in sight and, and he thought his
golden opportunity had arrived. Down
he flopped on his knees, and clasped
her hand.
"Dear one," he whispered, not very
loud, but loud enough, "I have loved
you with the- whole strength and
ardour of a man's nature when it is
roused by all that is pure and good
and lovely in woman, and I can no
longer restrain my pent-up feelings.
I must tell you what is in my heart,
and assure you that never yet has
woman heard from my lips the se
crets that are throbbing and "
Just then a rustle was heard on
the 6tairs above them, and a card
fastened to a thread swung down and
dangled not two inches from the lov
er's nose. On it were these porten
tous words;
"I'm a bit of c liar myself."
Then the awful truth Cashed -upon
l.hiTn, and he fled. As he went out of
tf-
"Just like the play In Hamlet," Fran
said half-aloud. "And now that the
inside play Is over, I guess it's time
for old Ham to be doing something."
Mrs. Jefferson gripped the arms of
her wheel-chair and resumed her .tale,
as if she had not been interrupted. It
was of no interest as a story, yet pos
sessed a sentimental value from the
fact that all the characters save the
raconteur were dead, and possibly all
but her forgotten. Fran loved to hear
the old lady evoke the shades of long
ago, shades who would never again
assume even the palest manifestation
to mortals, when this old lady had
gone to join them.
Usually Fran brought her back,
with gentle hand, but today she di
vined subterfuge; the tale was meant
to hide .Mrs. Jefferson's real feelings.
Fran ventured through the trumpet:
"I Wish there was a man-secretary
on this place, instead of a woman.
And let me tell you one thing, dear
old soldier there's going to be a fight
put up on these grounds. I guess you
ought to stay out of it. But either
I or the secretary has got to git."
Fran was not unmindful of gram
mar, even of rhetoric, on occasion.
She knew there was no such word as
"git," but she was seeking to symbol
ize her idea in sound. As she closed
her teeth, each little pearl meeting a
pearly rival, her "git" had something
of the force of physical ejectment.
Behind large spectacle lenses,
sparks flashed from Mrs. Jefferson's
eyes. She sniffed battle. , But her
tightly compressed lips showed that
she lacked both Fran's teeth and
Fran's intrepidity. One steps cau
tiously at seventy-odd.
Fran comprehended. The old lady
must not let it be suspected that she
was aware of Gregory's need of cotton
in straining ears, such as had saved
Ulysses from siren voices. The pre
tense of observing no danger kept the
fine old face uncommonly grim.
"Little girls shouldn't fight," was
her discreet rejoinder. Then leaning
over the wheel, she advanced her
snow-white head to the head of coal
black. "Better not stir up dragons."
Fran threw back her head and
laughed defiantly. "Bring on your
dragons," she cried boastfully. "There's
not one of 'em I'm afraid of." She
extended one leg and stretched forth
her arm. "I'll say to the Dragon.
'Stand up' and she'll stand; 111 say
'Lie down' and down she'll lie. I'll
say 'Git and she'll " Fran waved
her dragon to annihilation.
"Goodness," the old lady exclaimed,
getting nothing of this except tho pan
tomime; that, however, was eloquent.
She recalled the picture of David in
her' girlhood's Sunday-school book.
"Are you defying the Man of Gath?"
She broke into a delicious smile which
seemed to flood the wrinkles of her
face with the sunshine of many dear
old easy-going years.
Fran smote her forehead. "I have
a few pebbles here," she called
through the trumpet.
Mrs. Jefferson grasped the other's
thin arm, and said, with zestful ener
gy, "Let her have 'em, David, let her
have 'em!"
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
the door, sixteen girls from the head
of the stairs sent sixteen laughs out
into the damp night after him. He
makes no love at balls now.
Marine Telescope.
. Make an oblong narrow box out of
four pieces of quarter-inch board about
two feet long by sixteen inches wide,
and fit a piece of clear, clean glass
across one end, held In place by brass-
headed tacks, driven into the wood
and overlapping the glass. Fill all the
cracks with sealing wax to keep out
the light Then plunge the glass end
two or three inches into the water and
look through the open end. This sim
ple marine telescope Is made on the
principle of the more elaborate glasses
through which to look at the famous
gardens under the sea near the Cata
lina islands. Christian Herald.
Storekeepers in Difficulties.
A number of shopkeepers were
summoned at the Gfimsby police court
recently for contravbnlng the closing
order under the shops act. They com
plained that they had difficulty in un
derstanding what they could and
could not sell. One of the defendants
admitted selling soap to a man who
was very dirty. "Ttinklng eleanlinrss
was next to godliness, I let him h;iv
a packet," said thb jefendant. Lo;
don MaiL
LESSON FOR SEPTEMBER 28
REVIEW.
Deliverance and Disobedience.
READING LESSON ONLY Nehemlah
9:9-21. See also Acts 7:30-34.
' GOLDEN TEXT "Thou art a God
ready to pardon, gracious and full of com
passion, slow to anper and plenteous In
mercy." Neh. 9:17 (Am. R. V.)
The lessons for the past quarter be
gin with the deliverance of the child
Moses and end with the apostasy of
the golden calf and cover a period
of approximately 80 years. In almost
every lesson there is something pro
phetic or typical of Christ, but two
things may be mentioned with special
emphasis, viz., the passover, lesson VI,
see I Cor. 5:7, and the bread from
heaven, lesson VIII, see Matt. 26:26, I
Cor. 11:23, 24.
For the younger classes a most fas
cinating story can be told when pre
senting this review. Describe Miriam
watching the ark, Pharaoh's daughter
espying the ark, sending the babe to
Its mother and later adopting it as
her son. . Tell of the day when Moses
made his great choice, of the time he
thought he could free his brethren,
but failed, not yet having the neces
sary power from God. Then the 40
years as a shepherd (John 10:14), the
revelation at Horeb, the conflict at
Pharaoh's court, the passover, and the
flight by night, the crossing of the
Red eea, the gift of the quails and
the manna and that dramatic scene of
the giving of the law. Enough Is hero
presented to more than occupy the
lesson period.
Four Episodes.
For the older classes. The lessons
of this quarter seem to group them
selves into four general episodes:
(1) Moses, his salvation, education,
flight and call; (2) Pharaoh, his pride,
humiliation and the passover; (3) the
flight, at the Red sea, being fed in the
wilderness, and (4) the law, God's
holiness, his commandments and the
great apostasy.
The following brief review Is sug
gested: Have one class member tell
of the steps leading up to the Israelit
ish slavery in Egypt Let another pu
pil present either orally or written, an
account of the life of Moses up to
the time of his appearing before Pha
raoh with his apparently audacious
request, "Let my people go." Let that
Gtudent not only recite the historical
facts but also show God's dealing
with this son of an obscure slave. He
might illustrate by alluding to others
whom God has raised up to "do ex
ploits" In his dealings with men, Dan
iel 11:32. This will cover four les
sons. Another pupil should then pre
sent as concisely as possible that re
markable conflict which God, through
his representative Moses, worked out '
with Pharaoh. This whole episode
was treated as lesson V, the text be
ing Ps. 105:23-36, and in lesson VI
the record of the passover. This lat
ter, the great feast of the Jews and
Christ who is our passover ought to
be carefully and yet emphatically pre
sented. Let us not neglect to present
the Bible teaching on this, one of the
greatest truths ever revealed to man
by a gracious, loving, heavenly father,
Heb. 9:22.
Member as Spokesman.
The third episode can be presented
if in class by a student, or if the re
view is a general one by the whole
School. Let some particular class se
lect one of its members as spokesman.
This embraces lessons VII and VIII
and is a gracious revelation of God's
protecting care and also his abundant
supply for our every need. In this
section is another and a most beauti
ful suggestion of that "living bread"
so freely provided for all who will
accept.
Coming now to the last great epi
sode of this quarter, the events in con
nection with the giving of the law, .
we embrace lessons IX, X, XI and XII.
Before God gave them the various
commandments he sought to empha
size his majesty and his holiness by
the smoking mountain, etc. We then
have two lessons on the decalogue, a
most fitting arrangement inasmuch as
the first part deals with the God-side
of life man's relation to his creator
and the second part has to do with
man's relations to his brother man.
The last lesson is a terrible illustra
tion of this dual fact. The utter ina
bility of the natural heart to fulfill its
high sounding promises, Its exceeding
sinfulness and the necessity of right
relations with him who alone can keep
it pure is, it seems to us, the impor
tant lesson of the setting up of the
golden calf.
The two reading lessons give us the
true light of the divine patience and
the divine persistence.
The golden text is also an epitome
of the spirit of these lessons.
Outline:
1. Moses (a)Training, Lesson I; (b)
Fugitive, Lesson II; (c) Called, Lesson
III.
2. Pharaoh (a) Commanded, Lesson
IV; (b) Humbled, Lesson V; (c) Con
quered, Lesson VI.
3. Flight (a) Deliverance, Lesson
VII; (b) Fed, Lesson VIII.
4. Law (a) Holinees and Majesty,
Lesson IX; (b), (c) Commandments,
Lessons X, XI; (d) Apostasy (Golden
Calf), Lesson XII.