--_Wordsworth._

"Two shall be born the whole wide world apart,
And speak in different tongues and have no thought
Each of the other's being, and no heed;
And these o'er unknown seas and unknown lands
Shall cross, escaping wreck, defying death;
And all unconsciously shape every act
And bend each wandering step to this one end--
That, one day, out of darkness they shall meet
And read life's meaning in each other's eyes."

--_Susan Marr Spalding._




I.

"Even a child is known by his doings."--_Prov. 20:11._


How it did rain! For two long months the sky had been one unchangeable
color of blue; but now the dark clouds hung low and touched the horizon
at every point dropping their long-accumulated water on the thirsty
barrens, soaking the dried-up fields and meadows. The earth was thirsty,
and the sky had at last taken pity. It rained all day. The water-ditches
along the streets of the village ran thick and black. The house-wife's
tubs and buckets under the dripping eaves were overrunning. The dust was