Little Tim

lic hail boon born in a sliaraeful place, und heir (o unkindness aud evil ilays. ThecBwerefew oiher legacies, but niany gifis wcre thrust upon hira - sneers, snares, neglect and svèmnce rom the Inck er boni- aiul these seenied 'atal. lt may be througli alawandlove nsolnb'e to us t proved not so; that to be Groat Futher's heartthe stains, and vroaga, and sonws thrust upon the oy, as to an enrthly parent's, made ïim bnt the dearer; but measureil in ho CoUl, hard. huniau way, his fate was aorrowful, indeed. The retion where he first took up hc burdën was a low one, a sunken, 10 sonie quarter. the foul and squalid iccretipn of many sad conditions. lere i day of flat, low skies, and sobling quairelsome winds, that ended by i wet fog iliiving in upon the great itv and setlliiii; upon the lilthy quarter ko a ilcalh-clotli, had lilled the neighorbood with umisual gloom. The ipir t of insanity, llic proniptiiij;s to T.ruo and abandon, always exlialed by urli diseased, unhappy inrronndings, icemed to increase and niultiply with ho opprewive darkness. In at the loomvays of tlie low, half-lit saloous lic stoaniing, pltiablo populace jostled ind crowdjed; frora the tliick, throat■loj;giiig medium that lilled. tho reeknr, slippery streels, to the tonguecalding, brain-maildening potious of hc bar; from clistenipered elements vitliout and w thin to mental ruin and orgetfulness. In one of these hanntaof evil, aplace t slianic, of villanous music and dan ng, were negroos, Poles, Italians, and non and woinen, drunk and runicd, rom Ilcaven knows what othcr quartor f tho compasa. What animalism! Wiiat faces! What swallowing of fire! Bv miduight the back room was a ni!i:biiir whirlpool of delirious feeling; ïoüt. sweat. rags, liquor, profanity, the ont and shuffle of feet, cries, andmaudin laughter. Look at the roads along .vhioh these Lves had come! threads umiing from tinder this lecherous roof io every quarter of the globe! to eradles jvcr the sea, to inother-bosonis north ■.ml south. east and west! Dkl God, secing it all. grieve thnt lifo ïad been made a thing so capablc of ü? or was the fault, Bomehow, soototj 's? At thrce o'clock in the morning they egivn to figlit In many the chords of cnsation soemed eaten too raw for inrther pleaaure. Then somc oue was ilruck down, and tbereeling, lialf-blind ■oncourse seemcd suddenly full of ti;crs. Men sprang upon each other; vo w(iie killed, and a woman dividing the pollutcd afmosphurc with shrieks, .vas thrown, jumped upon, kickcd, and Iragged into :i diirk sitli:-room for dead. Flien, when too late, the Lavv stepped n, the piace was cleared, and the unliscovered vromatt, drank and battered vit ii liie coming of the duwn, yielded ittle Tini to the world, and herowndclauchcd spirit to the mystcry of death. 'Jt suob stuff :re soiuu real ties! Out if snch eletuents was fashioned little i'im! It seems wcll-nigh a píty, into what ihadow soever the mothcr had gone, iat he had not followed her. Uut hc .vcil; a (liHnken negress saved him rctu death to lose him to a sadder fate. uto a nest of cvil even more hatefnl han ihat wlicrein he saw hisiirst glimïiriiig. donbtful dawn, she carricd im, and a!l his earlior ycars were passui in gathering rags and bonos, in Ui:iling, and being kicked, and cuffed, nul b.üten. Soiuehow his spinc was t'eakened; I knov,r not if from that lirst rcadful hour, or by blows given aftcr.ard by Ihoso who used him much as nc niiht the boot toe to drive into and oosen garbnge w'.th. One could not :'.s lv have lold how old lm was, if the umber of his ycars were cight or ivelvo. so cowed and deformed a spirit jokod out of his blightcd face. The ollow nnd green of putrid pools and utlcrs sueiiKid selt'ed in his skin, leavig it a Düllid olive, and his blue eycs ad a crin ging, frightcned, fartive tok. Away at oneside of the roaring city, ind in a leprous hovol at the river's ilgo, was wliere the first year weut ■ver liini. inertiless, crusli ng. slownoving in iher passage. üften he arncd siok when digsing in the simnering slime, nnd all his base sur■ound'ngsswain before him; by times he lainted in his loatliiug and weakness.and .v:is earried liome and burned back to life again with liery liquor. The negress iieid his poor l.fe as in a vise, and hei home was a place of cursing, of theft, of fighting, and drunkenncss. The ehilil, liko a weak worm under foot, used lo fight for his life, only to be the liarder ciu'sed. Oh! it waspitiful! Yet i it were thousands more no better off ilian hc; sbme worse; and there ,u:ii ui vuc u iiuumu vu i . i ' "i n.i , housands, clothetl silkenly, fei! r'.chlv, iiid bearing no heavier bnrdeji than time and, porhaps, too mucho! haptiness! Down into wliicli región were the moürnful eyos of tbep'.tyingChriat . lurned most often, Ihink yon? Rut Httla Tini could not go on j iNianned; nmtalion, which ïmikes and imronkVs, bul yet ia nature' s savior. open d :ii last a littlc fissure ia his l.fe. , gvts hira one fatal glimpse of sweet urn) gniteful ight, then abnt him out : n tlie darkness. IIo was ton yonrs old tlicn, yct, from I l.üiioivss and his foster motlier's cat ; l.ke rare, the cbild hud never been bevond his fcstcring quarter, savo in i .uk alloys when gathering garbago at the misty hour of dawn, or when oairi.id or dragged tbitber at night upon soms thieving crrand by the I negress' cvil friends. 'J'hry wcre mimb with liqnor that afternoon when ho luft tliis niidnight niothor and the durab thug who was her consort, and lie had been spnrned into the strect, whero he lay a long time bruised and full of pain. Then dizzy and cry'mg, he c:imc away; dzzy from his lmrt, and crying bacause bo was leaving the little rag-matted hole under Ilio stainvay where he had always slept, bdcause ho was parting from tlie liard faces about him, the venonious creaturc who liad starved and bsalcn him, and her sunkon, shambling hut! Ah. he liad nevor known else! By dny and by night, winter and glimmer, tl 'j liad bsen his all, his world, his ! home! Póndeí it, yon who sleep on down in cliambers frngrant and linod w th rose an gold! Yon wlio are all but on rod witli honey, was not here a anuí? - your owu twin-cssence, sturved and rnined, nioving In brotlior-flesh across the Field of LcssonsP For a time ho followed the river, liniping and sobbing. and gazing througli his toar.-; into its polluted depths, as f yearuing after the soft oblivion il might field. But, whin his soro feet touuhed the water, his poor little heart was not stout cnou;li, and ho turned away, and ere long e.vtne into a beautiful avenue; theu he ceased to weep; wonder swcpt the toara froin his hollow eyes. lt was Sabbath - thongh he knew it not -and thu sim was going down in a gre.it flush of olear vermilion away ai the other end of the beauteous str i-t. lighting a thousand soft and gliramjrihjr fires along tlio stately dwellingi a it sank. Everywhero wvre Qowero nnd exquisitely dressed childrcn, lovek glrls sitting by r'.chly appnreled men and woroon n costly chairs upon thu porches with rings flash ing, brlght rugs boneath their feet, and a backgrono l of tintcd glass and splendid l'uniishings. A liglit that was alien to llie face of little Tiin slowiy bazan to illuniUialo his pinchcd and pallid features; then he wavered and went back; then that look of strange delight cuni) into his eyes again, and lic hurriod on as if he wero entering the borders of Paradiso. Glittoring carriagoa wero rolling softly along the smooth paveraunt, and hunitivds of women and cliildren, ciad in satín and volvet and llowiir like fabrics, ddfted with minglinj; huos along the avenue. The child fm-got his rags, his bare feet, and crookod spine; t ho look of delight began to deepen in his eyes: then hj saw t'iat som; stared at him, that others scowled and pressc 1 back their costly clothing to let him pass, and the light died out of his face, and he shrank from side to side and turned into a little park and hid. It smelled sweet as lieaven there among the blossoms, and h ; lay quitu still on the soft grass with his poor heart fluttcring. Up abjve him he could sse the (leep, serene slimmer sky, hung here and thero witli fllmy loups of lace that seemsd to bnrn with pink and crimson from the far-oft' sunset. It seemed to him that Ae hal never noticed it bcfore; that his hungry eyes had always been pecring into ditches and holes and filth, or blind wrth tears. How calm and sweet it was there whero the rch dwclt! He could hear voice3 hcre and there from wou nd porches fronting on the littlo park, and one, limpidand engaging, was saying near by, "Oh, I shall go to Dr. Easman's church. Do you not think hls ddivery bcautiful? It rests me just to look at him; he is so handsome, too!" "Yos," sa'd a silvnry, affücted voico in replv, "and he is so gentle. He is juite inreasonable about his salan-, ,hourh, they say; will accept but sevcn ;housand! It's too ba:l, ho is so pluasint and handsome; be could surely do better tban that!" Tlien little Tim saw a form garbed n blue, and eapped and beitel, come bclweea hitn and ths píacefiil nzurc of licaven, and he sprang up and mn, but was struck by a cañe, and wavered and feil. But ere the offioer's fat paw ;ould secare him he was gone. The next avenue seemed fairer than the first, and was alive with bcautiful Immanity flowing on torfard tho churchcs. Down tbis, with a little tliread of blood trickling from among his matted caris, he ran like a kind of hunted human animal, and coming to n l.irger park hid himself agan, and lay tlicre panting and sobbing while the shadows bcgan to gather and hudclle and gronp, and the clcar stars swarmoii into the voicclcss dcep abovo him. Then in a litlla time he crept away and canie iuto the broad avenue again, going he knew uot wliither. A huge chureh was jnst boyond him, radiant with light aml colored glass, and he drew back with foar. But at that a great wave of music went mcllowing up through all the glowing strueture, and the child's breath stopped and his grimy hands carne together with a cluteh. He ha.l nevor heard other music than the banjo and dranken. ribald songs, save at long intervals tho far-away playing of a band, and the soft thunder of this, the level, roll, and swcll, and melting fall, drew him like a turning world. Crinffing but palpitant, ho crept into tho shhclows by the wiilo archingentrance and listencd. A sUvaru of people, jeweled, satineJ, and prsniic under tho showering light, were passing in, but he could hardly see them, his blood wafl throbbing so. Suddenly tberu was a sweetor melody; a wave ol human voices, strong, smooth, liarmonious, that swelled and sank upou the andulating orgsn flood anl ohargeii the air with svmpathv. It was strohgor than the raggpd chiM; with lips parted and cycs hungry he entered. Oh! Oh! what a beautiful place! mtisic, light, color, and fragrance! He stood bowildered. Then suddonh he feit hlmseli softly pushed and hcard alow, tneiuicipgyoice bid him quit the place, and hc looked up at the stately, odorous nshcr, and shrank out of the. o-rp.nt doorwav into the shadows agaio. Then the music feil away Into silence, and odois delicate and faint and sounds subdued and restful Üoated out the I splended doorway past the cliild. Tlien I a voice oame wilh the odors- deep, even, mellow, and handled like rnusic. The minister was praylng, but praycr to little Tim was soruething all unknown. Like words that were flowers it driftcd by him, a long train of soit melodious cluuses. He could not understand it, but he feit its beauty. The thrcad of humility running though it, the j der plcading, the palhos, and the tle adoratióh seut a great wavo of i liness aci'oss him; a kind of olear, thlck ! darkness, an isolat;on that was plain, a crushing medium likc heavy enveloping iron. Ah, how w'.dely he was isolated from every heart and every good! ] Ho eould not eonipvehend why, but bis condit on crusliod in upon kim like scendingdeath, unlil quailing and moaning hesank Lenoatk it and rrouched in the shndow on hts bnveknees, with his faco againstthecold wall of the Father' a house, ho wept and strugglcd. Suddenl y a prcat peal of music swept up - Toices and orgau-choi'ds in a lifting, joyous flood, and the child, as if God's voice had called him. lcapeil in al the doorway and stood sliaining and erlng in Ihu liglit. ünly a moment he stood tlicre. wild wilh a ihiist for comfort, quivering to bu savod; tlien lluit i niusky pveseaco roac aga n bof oro him, I and the nsher's big wh'te lutnd grasped liini and led hini to the cnlrance. The re the statcly pn-sence nutttered sometliing, pushod hini a 1 ttlo, and turncil away, and raggeti Tim. lame, aml all bat blind with fright :in 1 foei n;r. tripped and plnngod hcadlong down the ïlglit of granite steps, glnnced from the curving base wilh a cry of puin, rolled nto the shadow, and lay still. The nntheni flowed on, bilt the child did not heur t. "Wo thank thee, O Lord, that thou art ïucrciful," it pealedi "that thy strong anu doth gave ili rightcous and confonnd the wicked!" and it swollod and died away. ïhen the pastor's lingual muse carne iijra'n. rucllow, pleasant, perfect; round, edgtiless words that wovo like vclvet .slinttlus a d ssolvinsr, beautcons fabric buTore liis people. For au honr it rose and feil, sclence and rerelation, link 1 and inturiiisiil with poutry an.l line allusion; but rngReil Tiiu. Ij'illg tlnr. ín Uk; shackow witli liis oozing temp! on the nncushioned granitu, gave uu ïeed. Tha pastor's serrnon meltud inic silence, the glint'ng orjan-pipes llirob!)o.d and trembled w.th tiic r fre'jtht ol melody agaiti, wave af ter wave of blent. liai'inonions voices floated out npoii Ihi1 : buoyant, b.llowinrg medium of ; l)ipcs, the bencdiction feil, and out the arching on trance rnstlcd the thrun. wilh smilcs and Balutatlons, flash . jewel and eyc, soft speech and h.ippv laaghter, but liie Üttle rag-hoap iu tin shadow madt) no sign. The doorway to the Father's honsr was closed; sleep lupped t!ie pastor and liis peoplo in its drcaiu-eiigendorin fleeee; dow gathered on the wal! nbovu the fallen child, and crickets in the grass-fringe_ round the llag-stones rasped the silence. The inoon rode slowly over, the stars strove to taku it in ihe'r silver n t but lost it to the dawn; the cast took lire with niornin?. But little Tim slopt on. No fricnil was there, no word of pity ; only i cricket singing at his e:ir, and the dow trickling down the cold wall upon his piteous face, as if the very roclca Bheil tearfl for theirdead. - Alva Miiton Kerr, in the Currenl.