Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards

“ When the Little Sister went away, it was in such haste that she left her convent robes behind; and this troubled her so that she spoke of it to the Angel at the Gate. "You see," she said, "I had no idea that I was coming; I fell asleep in my cell, and woke up in this beautiful homelike place. But these white garments are not suitable for me; could I find a black robe, do you think?"
"Oh no!" said the Angel; "we all wear white here, and it is so much prettier and more becoming. Besides, you must make haste, for they have been waiting long for you." ”

“ I am of less worth than yonder broken bough that lies on the ground, for that at least gives trouble to no one, and by and by it will make a fire to warm some poor soul. But still I must smile, lest my mother should be sad. ”

“ It was wofully tangled, and knotted about the child's hands and feet; it was a wonder she could move at all; but at last it was all clear, and the Angel handed her the ball.
"I thank you so very much!" said the child. "I was not naughty, was I?"
"Not naughty, only foolish; but that does just as much harm sometimes."
"But I was doing right things!" said the child.63
"But you were doing them in the wrong way!" said the Angel. "It is good to do an errand, and it is good to go to school, but when you have a skein to wind you must sit still." ”

“ A man was toiling, seeking, toiling, by hot sun and cold moon, with pickaxe and with spade; and as he toiled there came a bright Spirit, and looked him in the face, and smiled.
"Who are you, fair Spirit?" asked the man. And the other answered, "My name is Truth!"
Then the man threw down his pick and spade, and ran, and brought costly robes and wrapped the Spirit in them; and set him on a throne, and bound him fast with chains of gold, and covered his face with a veil of precious web, and fell down and worshipped him. Happy man was he! ”

“ He looked down, and saw that the plant came up out of the ground.
"This is strange!" he said. "How should so fair a thing come up out of this black and dirty soil? I must look to this!"
He dug away the soil, and found the roots of the plant, bare and twisted, clinging to the soil and dark with the touch of it.
"Ah!" said the child, "this is terrible. Has that fair crown of rose and green38 drawn its life from so foul a source as this? Oh, sorrow and shame!" and he wept, and wrung his hands.
As he sorrowed, the Angel of the Garden passed by, with her arms full of flowers and fruit. ”

“ He said to the first man, "What of your fire?"
And the man said, "I found folk struggling in darkness, and I made a torch of my fire, and showed them the way; now is it well-nigh wasted, yet still it burns."
And he in white said, "It is well; this fire shall never die."
Then came the second, and of him, too, that one asked, "What of your fire?"
And he said, "I found men shivering, with nought to warm them, and I gave my fire, that they might live, and not die."
And he in white answered again, "It is well; this fire too shall never die." ”

“ One day the Grumpy Saint died, and went to Heaven, a place in which he had never believed. As he entered that country, the first person he met was an Angel, with a bright gold aureole round her head, and in her hand a staff of lilies.7
"Welcome!" said the Angel. "Welcome, dear and great saint! I am sent to greet you, and lead you to the feast that is making in your honor."
"Some mistake!" said the Grumpy Saint. "I don't know what you are talking about, and I don't like play-acting. What place is this?"
"This is Heaven!" said the Angel.
"Nonsense!" said the Saint. "I don't believe in Heaven." ”

“ Its nerves are all atwist, its brain does not work properly, its heart is too small. I am all right: if I could have another chance, in a decently furnished body, you would see what a different creature I should be."
"Very well!" said the Angel-who-attends-to-things. "I know several other souls who are wishing for a change; you may try their bodies, and see if you can suit yourself."
The Soul thanked the Angel joyfully, and flew in the direction he pointed out. Presently he came to the body of a fair woman, clad in white, with roses in its hands.77
"This is beautiful!" said the Soul. ”

“ And fare you well, Heart-of-mine, for I must be gone, and now the time is long indeed."
"Oh! whither, Beloved of my soul, from my arms that clasp yet cannot hold you?"
"Heart-of-mine, where but back to earth, to do the work you left undone, to gather up, with patience and with toil, the sheaves you left behind!"
50 GILLYFLOWER GENTLEMAN
"Why do you play alone, dear," asked the Play Angel, "and look so sadly over your shoulder at the other children?"
"Because they are so selfish!" said the child. "They will not play with me."
"Oh, the pity!" said the Angel. ”

“ Then, as he sighed and looked, he was ware of two coming towards him with pick and mattock on their shoulders. Swiftly they came, and soon they were at his side, fawning on him, and speaking in soft, wheedling voices. Their faces were eager and servile, their eyes bright as flame.
"Dear youth," they said, "we are come to smooth the road for you. It is our trade; look, we have our tools with us! Give us but leave and we will work for you gladly, and ask no pay."
"What men are ye?" ”

“ While they wrangled, the children of the wood peeped in at the door, ragged and rosy and bright-eyed, and laughed, and ran away.
"Let us make a feast too," they said, "even if we have no fine things."
They set them down under a great oak tree that grew beside the way, and one gathered acorn cups, and another pulled burdock leaves and laid them for a cloth, and a third plucked the wild strawberries that shone like rubies in the grass. ”

“ Presently he came to a stalwart body of a man, with bones and sinews knit of iron.
"Ah!" said the Soul. "Beauty is after all a slight thing. Strength is what one needs; this is the body for me." And he slipped in, and flowed through the body, and it moved, and rose up with him, and walked with swift and powerful strides.
"Good heavens!" cried the Soul. "This will never do. This body is far too big for me; I feel it all loose, and full of cold draughts. I shall certainly get the rheumatism. And I don't care about these things it is doing, hewing wood and carrying water78 for other people. ”

“ But she in the tower tended ever the white fire, and wept over it, saying, "How,95 in this tower, shall I do the will of Love the Lord, seeing here are only my fellow Pain and I? and the tower is full of seams and cracks, so that the wind blows cold upon my fire, and would fain quench it; and in no case can I lighten any darkness save my own." ”

“ By and by a horse came along the road, dragging a heavy load. He was old, and his bones ached, and the collar hurt his neck.
"Why should I not give up," he said to himself, "and refuse to go on? my master could only beat me, and he does46 that as it is. If I were dead, I should not feel the blows; why should I struggle further with this burden?"
Just then he happened to lift his eyes, and saw the child smiling at the window.
"Ah!" he said, "that child is smiling at me. He sees that I was once a fine animal; he knows good blood when he sees it. Ah! ”

“ I found joy and sorrow," said the child, "good measure of both; but never a crown, such as you promised me, and never a kingdom."
"Oh, dear, foolish child," said the Angel. "You are wearing your crown. It is of purest silver, and shines like white frost; and as for your kingdom, the name of it is Rest, and here the entrance to it."
5 THE GRUMPY SAINT
Once upon a time there was a Grumpy Saint, who thought that all the world were sinners, himself included. ”

“ So he put it up on the wall, and the sunbeams, hardly brighter than itself, sparkled on it.
"It must be pure gold," said the Child; "there is nothing else so beautiful in the world." And then he began his task.
By and by the lesson time was over, and the Teacher-Angel came to see what had been done. ”

“ Then, with her blessing warm at my heart, I turned me homeward: and oh! and oh! in the ruined garden where all lay black and prone, a thread of green creeping, a tiny bud peeping, a breath of spring upon the air. Glad woman, I fell upon my knees, and stretched out trembling hands to where, faint and feeble, yet alive, bloomed once more my flower of joy.
102 THE BURNING HOUSE
Some neighbours were walking together in the cool of the day, watching the fall of the twilight, and talking of this and that; and as they walked, they saw at a little distance a light, as it were a house on fire. ”

“ He hearkened, and the voice went crying on:70
"Oh! the blackness and the horror! oh! the dreadful, dreadful place! will none help me out?"
"What ails you at the place?" asked the man. "One sleeps well enough, if folk would but be quiet."
And the voice went clamoring on; the piteousness of it might have stirred the dead things under foot. ”

“ Now it was a poor man asking for food.
"Go along with you!" said the Grumpy Saint. "It is an abomination to feed sturdy beggars like you."
And he gave the man his dinner, and went hungry.
Again, it was an old woman, creeping along the road, bent double under a heavy burden.
"Shame on you!" said the Grumpy Saint. "Why are you not at home, tending6 your fire, instead of gadding along the road in this fashion?" ”

“ Now it chanced that he passed by a spot where the earth lay bare, with no tree or plant to cover its brown breast.40
"Oh!" said the child. "Poor place, will nothing grow in you? here is a seed for you, and now I will plant it properly." ”

“ She took a piece of bread from the84 folds of her robe and gave it to the baby; and the baby stopped crying, and ate the bread, and laughed and crowed.
"See!" said the Angel. "Now she is happy. Remember, dear, that when babies are hungry, stone blocks do them no good."
"You are a very clever angel to know that!" said the child.
"You are a rather foolish child," said the Angel, "or you would have found it out for yourself."
85 THE POTTER
A potter wrought at his wheel, singing as he wrought, turning out crocks and pipkins of red clay. ”