Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Oct. 24, 1913, edition 1 / Page 2
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I MimnoNAL (By E.C SELLERS. Director of fcrenlng Department, The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago.) LESSON FOR OCTOBER 26 SIN OF MOSES AND AARON. SlINWSOIOi Lessor lif 10 SYNOPSIS. Fran nrrives at Hamilton. Clrefrory's homo In Lit! lebiirR, but limls him absent ontluotin the choir at a camp meettiiK. She rrnulrs tiiitht-r In search of him. laughs tlurins the servk-p and Is askeJ to leave. Abbott Ashlon. suporintcniieni of "onoois. escorts Fran rroni the tent, lit tnlls her GrcRory is a wtal hy mnn Wplyvinteresiil in charity work, and ; pillar of the church. Ashton "becomes erer!v Interested In Fran ami while tuk Jng leave of her, holds her hand an-1 is Roen by Saprihlra Clinton, sister of Kob ert Clinton, chairman of the school board Fran telis Gregory she wants a home with him. (irai'p Xoir, (ireijorv's private socreU.ry. takes a violent dislike to ! ran and advises her to ko away nt once Fran hints at a twenly-year-old secret. and Gregory in niritatlon asks Grace to leave the room. Fran relates the story of how Gresrorv married a Toun? srirl at prinKticId while attending collece and then deserted her. Fran is the cliild of that marriage. Gregory had married his present wife three years before the dealn f Fran's mother. Fran takes a likinsr to jvirs. uresory. liregory explains mm Fran is the daughter of a very dear friend who Is dead. V ran agrees to the story. Mrs. Greuorv Insists on her making her home with them and takes her to her arms. It Is decided that Fran must ko to chool. Grace shows persistent interest in Grepory's story of his dead friend and nmts that Fran may bo an imposter. J' ran declares that the secretary must jro Grace begins nagging tactics in an effort to drive Fran from the Gregory home, but Mrs. Gregory remains stanch in her friendship. Fran is ordered before Super intendent Ashton to be punished for in subordination in school. Chairman Clin ton is present. The affair ends in Fran leaving the school In comDany of the two men to the amazement of the scandal mongers of the town. Abbott, while tak- tng a walk alone at midnight, finds Fran on a bridge telling her fortune by cards She tells Abbott that she is the famous lion tamer, Fran Nonpareil. She tired of circus life and sought a home. CHAPTER XI. Continued. As he looked into her eyes, all ?ense of the abnormal disappeared. "T have the imagination, Fran," he exclaimed impulsively, "if it is your life." "In spite of the lions?" she asked. almost sternly. "You needn't tell me a word," Ab bott said. "I know all that one need know; it's written in your face, a story of sweet Innocence and brave pa tience." "But I want you to know." "Good!" he replied with a sudden smile. "Tell the story, then; if you were an Odyssey, you couldn't be too Jong." "The first thing I remember is wak ing up to feel the car jerked, or stopped, or started and seeing lights flash past the windows lanterns of the brakemen, or lamps of some town, dancing along the track. The sleeping car was home the only home I knew. All night long there was the groaning of the wheels, the letting off of steam, the calls of the men. Bounder Broth ers had their private train, and moth er and I lived in our Pullman car Aft er a while I knew that folks stared at. us because we were different from oth ers. We were show-people. Then the thing was to lock like you didn't know, or d'dn't care, how much people stared. After that, I found out that I had no father; he'd deserted mother, and her unle had turned her oat of doors for marrying against his wishes, and she'd have starved if it hadn't been for the show-people." "Dear Fran!" whispered Abbott ten derly. "Mother had gone to Chicago, hoping for a position in some respectable of fice, but they didn't want a typewriter j who wasn i a sienograpner. it was Poor Little Nonpareil!" Murmured Abbott Wistfully. winter and mother had me I was so little and bad! ... In a cheap lodging house, mother got to know La Gonizetti, and she persuaded mother '.o wait with her for the season to open jp, then go with Bounder Brothers; They were "wintering in Chicago. It as such a kind of life as mother had -jever dreamed ot, but it was more convenient than starving, and she .'hougm it would give her a chance to Ind father that traveling, all over the country. La Gonizetti was a lion tamer, and that's what mother learned, and those two were the ones who rould go Inside Sarascn's cage. The life was awfully hard, but she got to like It, and everybody was kind to us, W;4 mozef i azne pouring in, and she m vw v. -ssfesirsczr was always hoping to run across a clue to my father and never did." She paused, but at the pressure of Abbott's sympathetic hand, she went on with renewed courage: "When I was big enough, I wore a tiny black skirt, and a red coat with (shiny buttons, and I beat the drum in the carnival band. You ought to have seen me so little. . . Ab bott, you can't imagine how little I was! We had about a dozen Finall shows in our company, fortune-tellers, minstrels, magic wonders, and all that and the band had to march from one tent to the next, and stand out in front and play, to get the crowd in a bunch, so the free exhibition could work on their nerves. And I'd beat away, in my red coat . . . and there were always the strange faces, staring, star ingbut I was so little! Sometimes they would smile at me, but mother had taught me never to speak to any one, but to wear a glazed look like this" "How frightfully cold!" Abbott shivered. Then he laughed, and so did Fran. They had entered Littleburg. He added wickedly: "And how dread fully near we are getting to your home." Fran gurgled. "Wouldn't Grace Noir just die if she could see us!" That sobered Abbott; considering his official position, it seemed high time for reflection. Fran resumed abruptly. "But f nev er really liked it because what I want ed was a home to belong to some body. Then I got to hating the bold stare of people's eyes, and their fool ish gaping mouths, I hated being al ways on exhibition with every gesture watched, as if I'd been one of the trained dogs. I hated the public. I wanted to get away from the world- clear away from everybody like I am now . . . with you. Isn't it great!" "Mammoth!" Abbott declared, wa tering her words with liberal imugina tion. "I must talk fast, or the Gregory house will be looming up at us Mother taught me all she knew, though she hated books; she made herself think she was only in the show life till she could make a little more al ways just a little more she really loved it, you see. But I loved the books study anything that wasn't the show. ' It was kind of friendly when I began feeding Samson." "Poor little Nonpareil!" murmured Abbott wistfully. "And often when the show was be ing unloaded, I'd be stretched out in our sleeper, with a school book pressed close to the cinder-specked window, catching the lirst light. When the mauls were pounding away at the tent- pins, maybe I'd hunt a seat on some cage, if it had been drawn up under a tree, or maybe it'd be the ticket wag on, or even the stake pile there vou'd see me studying away for dear life, dressed in a plain little dress, trying to look like ordinary folks. Such a queer little chap. I was and always trying to pretend that I wasn't! You'd have laughed to see me." "Laughed at you!" cried Abbott in dignantly. "Indeed I shouldn't." "No?" exclaimed Fran, patting his arm irnpulsivelj'. "Dear little wonder!" he returned conclusively. "I must tell you about one time," she continued gaily. "We were in New Orleans at the Mardi Gras, and I was expected to come into the ring ruling Samson not the vicious old lion, but cub that was long after my days of the drum and the red coat, bless you! I was a lion-tamer, now, nearly thir teen years old, if you'll believe me. Well! And what was I saying you keep looking so friendly, you make me forget myself. Goodness, Abbott, it's so much fun talking to you . . I've never mentioned all this to one soul in this town . . . Well oh. yes; I was to have come into the ring, riding Samson. Everybody was wait ing for me. The band nearly blew it self black in the face. And what do you think was the matter?" "Did Sanmm balk?"' "No, it wasn't tl...:. 1 was l.vh g on the cage floor, with my head on Sam son Samson the Second made such a gorgeous and animated pillow! and I was learning geology. I'd just found out that the world wasn't made in sev en United States days, and it was such surprising news that I'd forgot ten all about cages and lions and tents if you could have seen me lying there if you just could!" "But I can!" Abbott declared. "Your long black hair is mingled with hia tawny, mane, and your cheeks are blooming " "And my feet are crossed," cried Fran. "And your feet are crossed; and those little hands hold up the book," Abbott swiftly sketched in the details; "and your bosom is rising and falling, and your lips are parted like now showing perfect teeth " "Dressed in my tights and fluffy lace and jewels," Fran helped, "with bare arms and stars all in my hair But the end came to everything when when mother died. Her last words were about my father how she hoped some day I'd meet him. and tell him she had forgiven. Mother sent ine to her half-uncle. My! but that was mighty unpleasant!" Fran shook her head vigorously. "He began telling me about how mother had doue wrong in marrying secretly, and he threw it up to me "and I just told him But he's dead, now. I had to go back to the show there wasn't any other place. But a few months ago I was of age, and I came into Uncle Ephraim's V It Was as If Abbott Had Suddenly Raised a Window in a Raw Wind. property, because I was the only liv ing relation he had, so he couldn t help my getting it. I'll bet he's mad, now, that he didn't make a will! When he said that mother it don't matter what he said I just walked out of hi.s door, that time, with my head up high like this . . . Oh, goodness, we're here." They stood before Hamilton Greg ory's silent house. "Good night," Fran said hastily. "It's a mistake to begin a long story on a short road My! But wasn't that a short road, though!" "Sometime, you shall finish that story, Fran. I know of a road much longer than the one we've taken we might try it some day, if you say so." T do say so. What road is it?" Abbott had spoken of a long road without definite purpose, yet there was a glimmering perception of the reality. as he showed by saying tremulously: 'This is the beginning of it " He Dent down, as if to take her in his arms. But Fran drew back, perhaps with a blush that the darkness concealed, cer tainly with a little laugh. "I'm afraid i ' ,i . - i . . i . ... i u gci luat uu mar roaa, sne mur mured, "for I don't believe you know the way very well, yourself." ' She sped lightly to the house, un locked the door, and vanished. CHAPTER XII. Grace Captures the Outposts. The next evening there was choir practice at the Walnut Street church. Abbott Ashton, hesitating to make his nightly plunge into the dust-clouds of learning, paused in the vestibule to take a peep at Grace. He knew she never missed a choir practice, for though she could neither sing nor play the organ, she thought it her duty to set an example of regular attendance that might be the means of bringing those who could do one or the other. Abbott was not disappointed; but he was surprised to see Mrs. Jefferson in her wheel-chair at the end of the pew occupied by the fcccretarv, while, be tween th?m sat Mis. Gregory. His 'sur prise became astonishment on discov ering Fran and Simon Jefferson in the choir loft, slyly whispering and nib bling candy, with the air of soldiers off duty for the choir was in the throes of a solo. Abbott, as if hypnotized by what he ad seen, slowly entered the auditori um, t ran s keen eyes discovered him. and her face showed elfish mischief. Grace, following Fran's eyes, found the cause of the odd smile, and beck oned to Abbott. Hamilton Gregory. following Grace's glance for he saw no one but her at the practices, hitice she inspired him with deepest fervor i ten suaaeniy as u ne nad lost some thing; he had often experienced the same sensation on seeing Grace ap- 0Hm I J 7 fi 1 . i i n s--v I i 1 1. ... l I I 1 I If proached by some unattached gentle man. Grace motioned to Abbott to sit be side her, with a concentration of at 'ention that showed her purpose of eaching a definite goal uususpected by the other. "I'm so glad Fran has taken a place in the choir," Abbott whispered to Grace. "And look at Simon Jetlrson who'd have thought it!" Grace looked at Simon Jefferson; he also looked at Fran, but her com pressed lips and reproving eye ex pressed none of Abbott s gladness. However, she responded with ' I am so glad you are here, Professor Ash ton, for I'm in trouble, and I can't de cide which way it is my duty to turn. Will you help me? I am going to trust you it is a matter relating to Mr. Gregory." Abbott was pleased that the should think him competent to advise her re specting her duty; at the same time he regretted that her conJidenco re lated to Mr. Gregory. "Professor Ashton," she said softly, "does my position as hired secretary to Mr. Gregory carry with it the obli gation to warn him of any misconduct in his household?" The solo was dying away, and, sweet and low, it fell from heaven like man na upon his soul, blending divinely with the secretary's voice. Her ex pression "hired" sounded like a tragic note to think of one so beautiful, so meek, so surrounded by mellow hymn notes, being hired! "You hesitate to advise me, before you know all." she said, "and you are right. In a moment the choir will be singing louder, and we can all talk to gether. Mrs. Gregory should be con sulted, too." Grace, conscious of doing all that one could in consulting Mrs. Gregory. too, looked toward the choir loft, and smiled, into Hamilton Gregory's eyes. How his baton, inspired by that smile, cut magic, runes in the air! "Mrs. Gregory," Grace said in a low voice, "I suppose Professor Asluon is so surprised at seeing you in church it has been more than five months. hasn't U? . . . that Urn afraid he isn't thinking about what I'm saying." Mrs. Gregory could not help feeling in the way, because her husband seemed to share Grace's feeling. In stinctively she turned to her mother and laid her hand on the invalid's arm. "They ain't bothering me, Lucy," said the old lady, alertly... "I ;an't hear their noise, and when I shut my eyes I can t see their motions." "I have something to tell you b-th." Grace said solemnly. "Last nUht, I couldn't sleep, and that made me sen sitive to noises. I thought I heard some one slipping from the house just as the clock struck half-past eleven It seemed incredible, for I knew if it were anyone, it was that Fran, surd I didn't think even she would do that." It was as if Abbott had suddenly raised a window in a raw wind His temperature descended. The other's manner of saying "That Fran!" ob scured his glass of the future. Mrs. Gregory said quickly, "Fran leave the house at. half-past eleven? Impossible." "How do you know," Abbott asked, "that Fran left the house' a"t such a time of the night?" The question was PETRIFIED FALLS IN ALGERIA Remarkable Minerel Formation Which Puzzles Scientists Called "The Bath of the Damned." With ah the beauty of a cataract of living water, there is in Algeria a re markable petrified waterfall which re cently has been engaging the attention of scientists. This Is' the Hamniam-Sleskkutin. which means "The Hath of the Danineti," and is located C2 miles from Constantine, on the site of the ancient town of Cirta. This solidified cascade is the production of calcareous de posits from sulphurous and ferrugin ous mineral springs, issuing from the depths of the earth at a temperature of 95 degrees Centigrade. "The Bath of the Damned," even from a near viewpoint, looks for all the world like a great wall of water dash ing into a swirling pool at its foot, yet its gleaming, graceful curves and the apparently swirling eddies at its ba3e are, as fixed nd immovable as if carveo -mm tne lace of a graniti cliif. Many centuries have, of course, gonf to the making of the deposits, and thr springs were well ktown to the an- unfair since it suggested denial, but his feeling for Fran seemed to call for unfairness to Grace. "1 will tell you," Grace responded, with the distinctness of one in power. "At the time, I told myself that even Fran would not do that. But. a long time afterward, I heard another sound, from the yard. I went to my window. I looked out. The moon was bright, but there was a very dark shadow jjiout the front gate. I heard voices. One was that of Fran. The other was the voice of " her tone vibrated in its intensity "the voice of a man!" "It was not Fran's voice," Mrs. Gregory declared earnestly. "What man was it?" Abbott in quired, rather resentfully. "1 do not know. I wish now, that I had called out," responded Grace, pay ing no heed to Mrs. Gregory. "That is where I made my mistake. The man got away. Fran came running into the house, and closed the door as soft-. ly as she could after she'd unlocked It from the outside! I concluded it would be best to wait till morning, be fore I said a word. So this morning, before breakfast, I strolled in the yard, trying to decide what I had better do. I went to the gate, and there on the g.ass what do you suppose 1 found?" Abbott was bewildered. Mrs. Greg-; ory listened, pale with apprehension. I "It was a card," Grace said, with 1 awful significance, "a gambling card! : As long as I have lived in the house, nobody ever dared to bring a card there. Mrs. Gregory will tell ycu the same. But that Fran. . . . - She ' had been playing cards out there at midnight and with a man!" j "I cannot think so," said Mrs. Greg-: ory firmly. j "After making up my mind what to do," continued Grace evenly, "I took her aside. I told her what I had seen and heard. I gave'her back her card. But how can we be sure she will not do it again? That is what troubles me. Oughtn't I to tell Mr. Gregory, so a scandal can be avoided?" Abbott looked blankly at Fran, who was singing with all her might Shu caught his look, and closed her eyes. Abbot asked weakly: "What did she say?" Grace answered: . "She denied it, of course said she hadn t been playing j capds with anybody, hadn't dropped the card I found, and wouldn't evnn d. mit that she'd been with a man. If I tell Mr. Gregory about her playing cards with a man at that hour, I don't believe he will think he ought to keep her longer, even if she does claim to be his friend's daughter." "But you tell us," Mrs. Gregory in terposed swiftly, "that she said cha hadn't been playing cards." "She said!" Grace echoed unpleas antly, "she said!" "That card you found," began Ab bott guiltily, "was it the king of hearts?" Possibly he had dropped it from his pocket when leaning over the gate to But why had he leaned ovr the gate? . Grace, coldly answered, "I do cot know one card from anothe-." "Let me try to describe it." "I hope you cannot describe the card I found," said Grace, the presentiment j that she was on the eve of discoveries I giving her eyes a starlike directness. "I suspect I dropped that card over i the fence." he confessed, "for I had ! the king of hearts, and last sight, about that time 1 was standing at the gate " (TO CE CONTINUED.) yy 3 vSw" 'k&h' cient Romans. The name Uammam Meskhutin was given to the ston cataract in an allusion to a legend lhat the waterfall was petrified by Allah, punishing the impietj of unbe lievers by turning all the members of a tribe into stone. At night, so th story runs, its stone dwellers of the remote past are freed from their strange fetters, come to life and re sumo their normal shapes. Queer Uses for the Crocus. .The crocus is nowadays held to justify its existence by its bea-jty but in bygone centuries it was culti vated with an eye to profit Its saffron being in high demand both as an aromatic and as a flavoring for cakes u jjio. n uisuricuon oi crocus i blossoms, also, was held to be good lor strengthening the lungs and heart, and as a preventive of plague. JCvl dence of the flower's commercial value survives in the name of the chief center of its cultivation. Haf trou Walden, but saffron nowadays is appreciated only by the sparrows, wreck the crocuses to obtain it. Ammonia water mat has been ued for washing may be used for plant It is an excellent fertilizer. LESSON TEXT Numbers M i-13. GOLDEN TEXT "Let the words of mv mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable In Thy Bigh, O Jehovah, my rook and rny redeemer." Ts. 19:14. Forty years have passed since Isreal committed Its fatal mistake of diso bedience. This lesson is a three-sided picture. A murmuring, blindly diso bedient people; God, the righteous di rector of the affairs of men: Moses and Aaron, the divinely appointed but sorely tested leaders of the people. I. The people's petition, vv. 1-5 The name of this place was Meribah (v. 13), -which means strife. It was not the fault of God nor the desired lead ings of Moses that brought these peo ple to this place. Forty years of wan dering seemingly had not taught them this lesson. Many people accuse God when they themselves are to bo blamed for the evil that comes upon them. James 1:13-15. What a terrible sin ingratitude is and how incredibly ungrateful these people are. Their Usual Plan. II. God's Plan, vv. 6-8. Moses and Aaron followed their usual, and tho wisest plan of taking their difficulty to God. Separated from the people ' they throw themselves upon their faces before him and he graciously manifested himself unto them and gave them explicit directions (v. 8). Other times M"-s had had this same experience, ch. 14:5; 16:4, Ex. 17:4, etc. It is an inspiration to recall the multiplied times God has used these : common agencies in the hands of his i consecrated servants to work his I mighty deeds an ox-goad, a boy's sling, a lamp and a pitcher, a few : loaves and two small fishes. III. Moses' and Aaron's Pride, w. 9-13. These servants began very prop- ; erly to carry out God's instructions. They took the rod from God, "as com j manded" (v. 9). They gathered the people together in the right place "be j fore the rock." But then began their ' failure. Some may plead extenuating circumstances or great provocation. But Moses, for he takes the place of leadership, made a four-fold mistake which was too serious to be over- looked or to go unpunished. (1) Ie deceived the people. He had just come from "tent of meeting" (v. C) ana, as neretorore, tne people expect ed some message from Jehovah, whereas . he gave them not God's words, but those of his own coining. This ought to be a warning to minis ters and teachers, viz., that the people have a right to expect from their God called and instructed leaders, his word, not the opinions of mannor the wisdom of the sages. Considered Them Rebels. Moses in his pride separated him self from the people. He assumeU a "holier-that thou" attitude. He looked upon the people, over this line of separation, as being rebels, and God will not allow Christian leaders to uand out admonition upon a platter of anger. (3) He took- the glory to himself. This was more serious still and was in direct violation of the spirit of those laws he had received upon the Mount, Ex. 20:5. "Must we fetch you water," ' is quite different from "Thou shalt bring them forth." This is that which has set aside many Christian workers. We must not lean to our own understanding nor fail to acknowledge that it is God that works, and to him be the glory. Look u; j Gen. 40:8; Dan. 2:28-20; Acts 3: 12-11; I. Cor. 3:7. (4) Moses smote the rock. God had told Moses to "speak Z rOC, -V' ' eas 3 6 J &B though the Pwer j. x 1 i C i wcie hi ma iuu ur me Biiuiig ami back of the rod. Exact obedience is expected by God and to do anything else is to doubt his power, to reflect upon his word and to draw attention away from him and upon ourselves. Our attention has been called to the fact that on a previous occasion, Ex. 17:5, 6, God had commanded Moses to smite the rock, that the rock sug gests Christ (I. Cor. 10:4), that he was to be smitten but once and thereafter nearly a word of prayer would bring forth water, see Luke 11:13. No man is essential to God's plan though God's plans are always worked ou-fr-rhToTrgli men. When men fail to see this God speedily sets them aside and ap points other leaders. Moses and Aaron fell through unbelief (v. 13) and Moses is compelled to give up his place of leadership and is not allowed to enter the land of promise though graciously granted a view of it, (Deut. 3:23-26; 32:49,. 50; 34:4). Mosrs "spake unadvisably with his lipa." Moses, had also to suffer for Israel. IV. The chief points. There are three great teachings in thi3 lesson. The wrong of havins a provoked spirit, one contrary to that of tlui God of Mercy and Grace. It is hard to learn that God is hindered by those who profess to be his servants but who manifest, such a spirit. Again God must be represented, glorified, by those w ho profess to be his serv ants. To let our methods, our per sonality or our ideals come between maw and God invoke his jealousy. And lastly, the measure of privilege ts the measure of responsibility and understanding.
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Oct. 24, 1913, edition 1
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