They hear, sweet-toned, the low music of bells

Roll, calling the town to prayer.

So ever the shadowy joy of old

Rings on, and forever the bells are tolled

To echo some soul's despair.

Each life is a sea still sweeping above

Some sunken city of Is

The long-cherished dream of a cherished love
That only in dreams we kiss.

What yesterdays are sunk deep in the soul
Above whose lost treasures to-day's waves roll
To mock what our sad hearts miss!

Oh! the glimpses are rare of the submerged past! They gleamed in the light awhile,

To mock us with visions that may not last,

Of faces that used to smile.

And now and then from the busy to-day
The echoing tones of the far away
Our listening hearts beguile.

But not in the sunken city of Is
Shall the heart its treasures see.
No pilgrims forlorn to an old-time bliss
And a vanished past are we;
For all the glad music of olden times
Is only faint echoes of grander chimes.
That ring in the time to be!

M. J. SAVAGE

FRAUE

LITTLE CHRISTEL.

RÄULEIN, the young schoolmistress, to her pupils said one day,

"Next week, at Pfingster holiday, King Ludwig rides this way;

And you will be wise, my little ones, to work with a will at your tasks,

That so you may answer fearlessly whatever question he asks.

It would be a shame too dreadful if the King should have it to tell

That Hansel missed in his figures, and Peterkin could not spell."

“Oho! that never shall happen," cried Hansel and Peterkin too;

“We'll show King Ludwig, when he comes, what the boys in this school can do."

"And we," said Gretchen and Bertha, and all the fair little maids

Who stood in a row before her, with their hair in flaxen

braids,

"We will pay such good attention to every word you

That

say,

you shall not be ashamed of us when King Ludwig rides this way."

She smiled, the young schoolmistress, to see that they loved her so,

And with patient care she taught them the things it was good to know.

Day after day she drilled them till the great day came

at last,

When the heralds going before him blew out their sounding blast;

And with music, and flying banners, and the clatter of horses' feet,

The King and his troops of soldiers rode down the village street.

Oh! the hearts of the eager children beat fast with joy and fear,

And Fräulein trembled and grew pale as the cavalcade drew near;

But she blushed with pride and pleasure when the lessons came to be heard,

For in all the flock of the boys and girls not one of them missed a word.

And King Ludwig turned to the teacher with a smile and a gracious look;

"It is plain," said he, "that your scholars have care fully conned their book.

"But now let us ask some questions, to see if they understand:"

And he showed to one of the little maids an orange in his hand.

It was Christel, the youngest sister of the mistress fair and kind

A child with a face like a lily, and as lovely and pure a mind.

“What kingdom does this belong to?" as he called her to his knee;

And at once-" The vegetable,” she answered quietly.

"Good," said the monarch, kindly, and showed her a piece of gold;

"Now tell me what this belongs to the pretty coìn that I hold?"

She touched it with careful finger, for gold was a metal

rare,

And then-" The mineral kingdom!" she answered with confident air.

"Well done for the little mädchen!" And good King Ludwig smiled

At Fräulein and her sister, the teacher and the child.

"Now answer me one more question ”—with a twinkle of fun in his eye:

"What kingdom do I belong to?" For he thought she would make reply,

“The animal ;" and he meant to ask with a frown if that was the thing

For a little child like her to say to her lord and master, the King?

He knew not the artless wisdom that would set his wit

at naught,

And the little Christel guessed nothing at all of what was in his thought.

But her glance shot up at the question, and the brightness in her face,

Like a sunbeam on a lily, seemed to shine all over the

place.

"What kingdom do you belong to ?" her innocent lips

repeat;

Why, surely, the kingdom of Heaven!" rings out the

answer sweet.

And then for a breathless moment, a sudden silence

fell,

And you might have heard the fall of a leaf as they looked at little Christel.

But it only lasted a moment, then rose as sudden a shout

"Well done! well done for little Christel!" and the bravos rang about.

For the King in his arms had caught her, to her woudering, shy surprise,

And over and over he kissed her, with a mist of tears

66

in his eyes.

May the blessing of God," he murmured, "forever rest on thy head!

Henceforth, by His grace, my life shall prove the truth of what thou hast said."

He gave her the yellow orange, and the golden coin for her own,

And the school had a royal feast that day whose like they had never known.

To Fräulein, the gentle mistress, he spoke such words of

cheer

That they lightened her anxious labor for many and many a year.

And because in his heart was hidden the memory of

this thing,

The Lord had a better servant, the Lord had a wiser

King!

MRS. MARY E. BRADLEY.