A Little Book of Profitable Tales | Page 3

the south, and sought to
blight the forest and all its verdure: the angel kept them from the little
tree. Serene and beautiful it grew, until now it was no longer a little tree,
but the pride and glory of the forest.
One day the tree heard some one coming through the forest. Hitherto
the angel had hastened to its side when men approached; but now the
angel strode away and stood under the cedars yonder.
"Dear angel," cried the tree, "can you not hear the footsteps of some
one approaching? Why do you leave me?"
"Have no fear," said the angel; "for He who comes is the Master."
The Master came to the tree and beheld it. He placed His hands upon its
smooth trunk and branches, and the tree was thrilled with a strange and
glorious delight. Then He stooped and kissed the tree, and then He
turned and went away.
Many times after that the Master came to the forest, and when He came
it always was to where the tree stood. Many times He rested beneath
the tree and enjoyed the shade of its foliage, and listened to the music
of the wind as it swept through the rustling leaves. Many times He slept
there, and the tree watched over Him, and the forest was still, and all its
voices were hushed. And the angel hovered near like a faithful sentinel.
Ever and anon men came with the Master to the forest, and sat with
Him in the shade of the tree, and talked with Him of matters which the
tree never could understand; only it heard that the talk was of love and
charity and gentleness, and it saw that the Master was beloved and
venerated by the others. It heard them tell of the Master's goodness and
humility,--how He had healed the sick and raised the dead and
bestowed inestimable blessings wherever He walked. And the tree
loved the Master for His beauty and His goodness; and when He came
to the forest it was full of joy, but when He came not it was sad. And
the other trees of the forest joined in its happiness and its sorrow, for
they, too, loved the Master. And the angel always hovered near.
The Master came one night alone into the forest, and His face was pale
with anguish and wet with tears, and He fell upon His knees and prayed.
The tree heard Him, and all the forest was still, as if it were standing in
the presence of death. And when the morning came, lo! the angel had
gone.

Then there was a great confusion in the forest. There was a sound of
rude voices, and a clashing of swords and staves. Strange men appeared,
uttering loud oaths and cruel threats, and the tree was filled with terror.
It called aloud for the angel, but the angel came not.
"Alas," cried the vine, "they have come to destroy the tree, the pride
and glory of the forest!"
The forest was sorely agitated, but it was in vain. The strange men
plied their axes with cruel vigor, and the tree was hewn to the ground.
Its beautiful branches were cut away and cast aside, and its soft, thick
foliage was strewn to the tenderer mercies of the winds.
"They are killing me!" cried the tree; "why is not the angel here to
protect me?"
But no one heard the piteous cry,--none but the other trees of the forest;
and they wept, and the little vine wept too.
Then the cruel men dragged the despoiled and hewn tree from the
forest, and the forest saw that beauteous thing no more.
But the night wind that swept down from the City of the Great King
that night to ruffle the bosom of distant Galilee, tarried in the forest
awhile to say that it had seen that day a cross upraised on Calvary,--the
tree on which was stretched the body of the dying Master.
1884.

+THE SYMBOL AND THE SAINT+

THE SYMBOL AND THE SAINT
Once upon a time a young man made ready for a voyage. His name was
Norss; broad were his shoulders, his cheeks were ruddy, his hair was
fair and long, his body betokened strength, and good-nature shone from
his blue eyes and lurked about the corners of his mouth.
"Where are you going?" asked his neighbor Jans, the forge-master.
"I am going sailing for a wife," said Norss.
"For a wife, indeed!" cried Jans. "And why go you to seek her in
foreign lands? Are not our maidens good enough and fair enough, that
you must need search for a wife elsewhere? For shame, Norss! for
shame!"
But Norss said, "A spirit came to me in my dreams last night and