Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 March 1889 — Page 6

KING SOLOMON’S MINES.

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

CHAPTER XIV. ' THt JAST BTAWD OF THZ OKAYS. In a fe# more minutes the regiments destined to carry out the flanking movements had tramped off in silence; keeping carefully under the lee of the rising ground in 'order to conceal the movements of Twala’s scouts. Half an* hour or more was allowedto ’elapse between the setting on t o! lU horns or wings of the army before any movement was made by the Grays and the, supporting regiment, known as the Buffaloes, which formed its chest, and which were destined to bear the brunt of the battle. Both of these regiments were both perfectly fresh, and of full strength, the Grays having been in full reserve in the morning, and having lost but a small number of men in sweeping back that part of the attack which had provensuccessful in breaking the Hne of defense, on the occasion when I -chaffed with them and got knocked silly for my pains. As for the; Buffaloes, they had formed the third line of the defense on the left, and aathe attacking force at that point had hot Succeeded in breaking through the second, bad scarce!v come into action at all. . Infadoos, who was a wary old general, and knew the absolute; importance of keeping up the spirits d£ bis men on the eve ot such a desperate encounter employed the pause in foldreasing his own regiment, the Grays, in poetical language: in explaining‘to them the honor that they were receiving in being put thus in the forefront of the battle, and in having the great white warrior 4 from the stars to fight with them in their ranks, and in promising large rewards of cattle and promotion to all who survived in the event of. Ignosi’s arms beng successful. I looked down the long lines of wav .ing black plumes and stern faces be* neath them, and sighed to think that within one short hour most, if not all, of those magnificent veteran warriors, --- not a man of whom was under forty years of age, would be laid dead or dying in the dust. It could not be otherwise; they were being condemned, with that wise recklessness of human life that marks the great general, and often saves bis forces and attains his ends, to certain ; slaughter, in order to give the cause and the remainder of the army a chance of success. They were foredoomed to die, and they knew it. It was to be their task to engage regiment after regiment of Twala’s army on the narrow strip of green beneath us, till they were exterminated, or till the wings found a favorable opportunity for their onslaught. And yet they never hesitated, nor could I detecta sign of fear upon the face of a tingle warrior. There they were—going to certain death, about to quit the blessed light of day forever, and yet able to comprehend their doom without a tremor. I could not even at that moment help contrasting their stated mind with my own, which was far from comfortable, and breathing a sigh of envy and admiration. Never before had I seen cuch an absolute devotion to the idea of duty, and such a complete indifference to its bitter fruits. “Behold your king!” ended old Infar doos, pointing to Jgnosi; “go fight and fall for him, as is the duty of brave men, and cursed and shameful forever be the name of him who shrinks from death for his king or who turns his back to his enemy. Behold your king! chiefs, captains, and soldiers, now do your homage to the sacred snake, and then follow on, that Incubu and I may show ye the road to the heart of Twala’s forces." There was a, moment’s pause,' then suddenly there rose from the serried phalanxes before us a murmur, like the distant whisperof the sea, caused by gentle tappings of the handles ot) six thousand spears against ‘their holders’ / shields. Slowly it swelled, till its growing volume deepened and widened into a roar of rolling noise that echoed like thunder against the mountains, and filled the air with heavy waves iof sound. Then it decreased and slowly died away into nothing, and suddenly out crashed the royal salute. ' ’ , Ignoei, I thought to myself, -might well be a proud man that day, for no Roman emperor ever had such a salu- . tation from gladiators “about to die.” Ignoei acknowleJged this magnificent . act of homage by lifting his battle-ax, and then the Grays filed off in a tripleline formation, each line containing ' About one thousand fighting men, exclusive of officers. When the last line ' had g«ne some five hundred yards, - Ignoti put himself at the head of the Buffaloes, which was drawn up in a similar tliree-line formation, and gave the word to march, and off we went, I, needless to say, Uttering the • most heartfelt prayers that I might come out of that job with a whole skin. Many a qut er position have 1 found myself in, but never before in one quite so unpleasant as the present, or one in which my chance of coming off safe was so small. By the time that we reached the edge of the plateau the Grayg were already hall-way down the slope ending in the ( tongue of grass land that ran up into the bend of the mountain, something as the frog of a horse’s foot runs up into the shoe. The excitement in Twala’s camp on the plain beyond was very great, and regimentafter regiment were starting forward at a long swinging trot in order to reach the root of the tongue of land before the attacking force could emerge into the plain of Loo. This tongue of land, which was some three hundred yards in depth, was even at its root or widest part not more than one; hundred and fifty paces across, _ while at its tip it scarcely measured sixty. The Grays, who, in passing down I the side of the hill and on to the tip of the tongue, had formed in column, on reaching the spot where it broadened out again reassumed their triple-line formation. and halted dead. Then we—that is, the Buffaloes—moved down the tip of the tongue and took onr stand in reserve, about one hundred yards behind Ihe last line of the Grays, and on slightly higher ground. Meanwhile we had leisure to observe Twala’s entire force, which had evidently been re-enforced since the morning attack, and could not now, notwithstanding their losses, number less than forty thousand, moving swiftly np toward us. But as they drew near the rootof the tongue they hesitated, having discovered that only one regiment would advance into the gorge at a time, and that there, some seventy yards from

the mouth ot it, unassailable exceot in front, on account of the high walla pf bowlder strewn ground on either side, stood the famous regiment of Grays, the pride and glory of the Kuanana army, ready to hold the way against their forces as the three Romans once held the bridge against thousands. They hesitated, and finally stopped their advance, there was no eagerness to cross spears with those three lines of grim warriors who stood so firm and ready. Presently, however, a tall general, with the customary head-dress of nodding ostrich plumes, came running up, attended by a group of chiefs and orI thought, none other thanfwala himself. and gave an order, and the first regiment raised a shout, and charged up toward the Grays, who remained perfectly sti|l and silent till the attacking troops were within forty yards, and a volley of tollas, or throw-ing-knives, came rattling among their ranks. Then suddenly, with a bound and a roar, they sprung forward with uplifted spears/ and the two regiments met in deadly strife. Next second the rpll of ■ the meeting shields came to our eark like the sound of thunder, and the whole plain seemed to be alive with flashes of light reflected from the stabbing spears. To and fro swung the heaving mass of struggling, stabbing humanity, but not for long. Suddenly the attacking lines seemed to grow thinner, and then with a slow, long'heave the Grays passed over them, just as a great wave heaves* up. and passes over a sunken ridge. It was. done; that regiment was completely destroyed, but the Grays had out two lines left now; a third of theirnufober were dead. Closing up shoulder to shoulder once mote they halted insilence and awaited attack, and I was rejoiced to catch sight of Sir Henry’s yellow beard as he moved to and fro, arrangiug the ranks. So he was yet alive! . ‘

Meanwhile we moved up to the ground of the encounter, which was cumbered ,by about four thousand prostrate human beings, dead, dying, and wounded, and litterally stained red with blood. Ignosi issued an order, which was rapidly passed down the ranks, to the effect that none of the enemies’ wounded were to be killed, and so far as we could see, this order was scrupulously carried out It would have been a shocking sight, if we had had time to think of it But now a second regiment, distinguished by white plumes, kilts, and shields, was moving up to the attack’ of the two thousand remaining Grays, who stood waiting in the same ominous silence as before, till the foe was within forty yards or so, when they hurled themselves with irresistible force upon them. Again there came the awful roll of the meeting shields, and we watched the grim tragedy repeat itself. But this time the issue was left longer in doubt; indeed it seemed for awhile almost impossible that the Grays should again prevail. The attacking regiment, which was one formed of young men, fought with the utmost fury, and at first seemed by sheer weight to be driving the veterans back. The slaughter was something awful, hundreds falling every minute; and from among the shouts of the warriors and the groans of the dying, set to the clashing music of meeting spears, came a continuous hissing undertone of “S’gee, s’gee,” the note of triumph of each victor as he passed his spear through and through the body of his fallen foe. But perfect discipline and steady and unchanging valor can do wonders, and one veteran soldier is worth two young ones, as soon became apparent in the present case. For just as we thought that it was a'l up with the Grays,, and were preparing to take their place so soon as they made room by being destroyed, I heard Sir Henry’s deep voice ringing out above the din, and caught a glimpse of his circling battle-ax as he waved it high above his plumes. Then came a change; the Grays ceased to give; they stood still as a rock, against which the furious waves of spearmen broke again and again, only to recoil. Presently they began to move again—forward this time, as they bad no firearms, there was no smoke, so we' could see it all. Another minute and the onslaught grew fainter. “Ah, they are men, indeed; they will conquer again,” called out Ignosi, who was grinding his teeth with excitement at my side. “See, it is done!” Suddenly, like puffs of smoke from the mouth of a cannon, the attacking regiment broke away in flying groups, their white head-dresses streaming be Kind them in the wind, and left their opponents victors* indeed, but, alas! no morea regiment. Of the gallant triple line, which, forty minutes before, Led gone into action three thousand strong, there remained at most six hundred blood-bespattered men; the rest, were under-foot. And yet they cheered* and waved their spears in triumph, and then, instead of falling back uponifoas we expected, they an forward, tor a hundred yards or so, after the flying groups of foemen, took possession of a gently rising knoll of ground, and, resuming the old triple of formation, formed a threefold -ring around it And then, thanks be to God, standing on the top of the mound for a minute, I saw Sir Henry, apparently unharmed, and with him our old friettdf Infadoos. Then Twala’s regiments rolled down upon the doomed band.and once more the battie closed in. As those who read this history, will probably long ago haye gathered, I am, to be honest, a bit of a coward, and certainly in no given to fighting, though; somehow, it nas often been my lot to get into unpleasant positions, and to be obliged tb man’s blood. But I have always hated it. and kept my own blood as dindiminished in quantity as possible, sometimes by a judicious use of my> heels. At this moment, however, for tbe first time in my life, I felt my bosom burn with martial ardor. Warlike fragments from the“lngoldsby Legend, together with numbers of sanguinary verses from the Old Testament, sprung up in my brain like mushrooms in the dark; my blood, which hitherto had been half frozen with horror, went beating tnrough my veins, andthere came npon me a savage desire to kill and spare not. 1 .glanced round at the serried ranks of warriors i ehind us, and somehow, all in an instant, began to wonder if my face-looked like theirs. There they stood, their heads craned forward over their shields, the hands twitching, tbe lips apart, the fierce features instinct with the hungry lust of battle, an&jn the eyes a look like the glare of a blood-hound when he sights his quarry. \ Only Ignoai’s heartiseemed, to judge from his comparative s^lf- possession, to

all appearance, to beat as calmly as ever beneath bls leopard-skin cloak, though even bp still kept on grinding his teeth I could stand it no longer. V “Are we to stand here till we put ont roots, Umbopa—lgnoei, I mean-while Twala swallows our brothers yonder?” I asked. “Nky, Macumazahn,” was the answer; "see, how is the ripe moment; let ns pluck it.” As he spoke a fresh regiment rushed past the ring npon the little mound,and wheeling round, attacked it from the hither side. Then, lifting his battle ax Ignosi gave the signal to advance, and, raising the Kukuana battle-cry, the Buffaloes charged home. What followed immediately on this it is out of my power to tell. All I can remember is a wild yet ordered rush, that seamed to shake the ground; a sudden change of front and forming on the part of the regiment against which the charge was directed; then an awful shock, a dull roar of voices, and a continuous flashing of spears, seen, through a red mist of blood. "

When my mind cleared I found myself standing inside the remnant of the Grays near the top of the mound, "and j ust behind no less a person than Sir Henry himself. How 1 got there I had, at the moment, no idea, bnt Sir Henry afterward told me that I was borne up by the first furious cbaige of the Buffaloes almost to his feet, and then left, as they in turn were pressed back. Thereon he dashed out of the circle and dragged me ihto it. As for the fight that followed who can describe it? Again and again the multitudes surged up against our momentarily lessening circle, and again and again we beat them back. “The stubborn upearmen still made good Tbe dark, impenetrable wood; Each stepping where his comrade stood The instant Uiat he fell," as the “Ingoldeby Legends” beautiful puts it. ij It was a splendid thing to see those ,brave battalions come on time after time over the barriers of their dead, sometimes holding corpses before them to receive our spear thrusts, only to leave their own corpses to swell the rising piles. It was a gallant sight to see that sturdy old warrior, Infadoos, as cool as though he were on parade,shouting out orders, taunts and even jests, to keep up the spirits of his few remaining men, and then, as each charge rolled up, stepping forward to wherever the fight was thickest to bear his share in repelling it And yet more gallant was the vision of Sir Henry, whose ostrich plumes had been shorn off by a spear stroke, so that his long yellow hair streamed out in the breeze behind him. There he stood, the great Dane, for he was nothing else, his hands, his ax, and his armor, all red with blood, and none could live before his stroke. Time after time I saw it come sweeping down as some great warrior ventured to give him battle, and as he struck he shouted, ‘ 0-hoy! 0-hoy!” like his Bersekir ferefathers, and the blow went crashing through shield and spear, through head-dress, hair, and skull, till at last none would of their own will cone near the great white “tagati” (wizard), who killed and failed not. But suddenly there rose a cry of “Twala, y’ Twala,” and out of the press sprung forward none other than the gigantic, one-eyed king himself, also armed with battleax and shield,and clad in chain armor.

“Where art thou, Incubu, thou white man. who slew Scragga, my son - see if thou canst kill me!” he shouted, and at the same time hurled a tolla stright at Sir Henry who, fortunately, saw it coming, and caught it on his shield, which it transfixed, remaining wedged in the, iron plate behind the hide. Then, with a cry, Twala sprung forward straight at him, and with his batlie ax struck him such a blow upon the shield that the mere force and shock of it brought Sir Henry, strong man as he was. down upon his knees. But at the time the matter went no further, for at that instant there rose from the regiments pressing round us something like a shout of dismay, and on looking up I saw the cause. To the right and to the left the plain was alive with the plumes of charging warriors. The outflanking squadrons had come to our relief. The time could not have been better chosen. All Twala’s army had, as Ignosi had predicted would be the case, fixed their attention on the bloody strug gle which was raging around the remnant of the Grays and the Buff does, who were now carrying on a battle of their own at a littie distance, Which two regiments had formed the chest of our army. It was not until the horns were about to gall them that they h.-*d dreamed of their approach. And now, before they could even assume a proper formation for defense, these had leaped, like greyheunds, on their flanks. In five minutes the fate of the battle was decided. Taken on both flanks.and. disinayeuhythe awfqlslaughter inflicted upon them by the Grays and Buffaloes, .Twala’s regiments broke intq flight, and soon the whole plain between us and Loo was covered with groups of flying soldiers, making good their retreat. As for the forces that had so recently surrounded us and the Buffaloes, they melted away a i though by magic, and presently we were left standing there like a rockjrom which the sea has retreatea. But what a sight it was! Around us the dead and dying lay in heaped-up masses, and of the gallant Grays .there remained alive but ninety-five men. Mere than 3,900 had fallen in this one regiment, most of them never to rise again. | . “Men,” said. Infadoos, calmly, as between the intervals of binding up a wound in his arm he surveyed what remained to him of his corps, “ye have kept np the reputation of your regiment, and this day’s fighting will be spoken of by your childrens* children. Then he turned round and shook Sir Henry Curtis by the hand. “Thou art a great man, Incubu,’! he said, simnly; “I have lived a long life among warriors, and known many a brave one, yet have I never seen a man like thee.” [Continued next wet kJ - J

A German ’Phone.

“Hello!” re marled a Chicago gentleman in the Boody house ’phone This morning, in low, careful tones, “Hello!" “Was wollen sie'h.oben?” answered the elerk who was at the other end of the line. “Well, Ibe damned” exclaimed tbe Chicagoan, dropping the ’phone, “That’s the ’ first German telephone I ever say.”

TALMAGE ON THE BIBLE.

jkKSE tRDHUNABLETO SUBSTANTIATE SCIENTIFIC SLURS. * ••Tough Things in the Bible” Viewed in a Common-Sense Light—The Creation and Flood. * • • - The subject of Dr. Talmage’s sermon last Sunday was, “Tough Things in the Bible,” and his text, IL Peter, iil, 16: “In which are some things hard to be’ understood.” Dr. Talmage said: The Bible is the most common-sense book in all tbe world. But there are many things which require an explanation. It all depends on the mood in which you come to this grand old book. You may take bold of the handle of the sword or its sharp edge. You may employ on its mysteries the rule of multiplication or subtraction. There are things, as my text suggests, hard; to be understood, but I shall solve some of them, hoping to leave upoq all honest-minded people the impression that if fouitor five of them can be explained, perhaps they may all be explained. Hard thing the first! The Bible says the world was created in six days, while geology says it was hundreds of thousands of years in process of building. “In the beginning, *God created the heaven and the earth.” “In the the beginning.” Thtre you can roll in 10,000 years, if you went to. There is no particular date given—no contest between science and revelation. Though the world may have been in process of creation for millions of years, suddenly and quickly, and in one week, it may have been fitted up tor man’s residence. Just as a great mansion may have been many years in building, and yet in one week it may be curtained and chandeliered and cushioned and upholstered for a bride and groom. You are not compelled to believe that the world was made in our six days. It mav not have been a day of twentyfour hours, the day spoken of in the first chapter, it may have been God’s day, and a thousand years with him are as one day. “And the evening and the morning were the first day”—God’s day. “And the evening and the morning were the second day”—God’s day. “And the evening and the morning were the sixth day”—God’s day. You and I living in the seventh day, the Sabbath of the world, the day of Gospel redemption, the grandest day of all the week, in which each day may have been made up of thousands of years. Can you tell me how a man can get his mind and soul into such a blasphemous twist as to scoff at that first chapter of Genesis, its verses billows of light surging up from sapphire seas of glory? The creation of light The Bible represents that light was created on Monday, and tbe sun was not created until Thursday. Just think of it! A book declaring that light was created three days before the sun shone! Why don’t you know that heat and electricity emit heat and light independent of the sun? Besides that, when the earth was in process of condensation, it was surrounded by thick vapors and the discharge of many volcanoes in the primary period, and all this obscuration may have hindered the light of the sun from falling on the earth until that Thursday morning. Besides that, David Brewster and Herschel, the astronomer, and all the modern men of their class, agree in the fact that the sun is not light, that it is an opaque mass, that it is only the candlestick that holds the light, a phosphorescent atmosphere floating around it, changing and changing, so it is not to be at all wondered at that not until that Thursday morning its light fell on the earth.

Another hard -thing: The story of the deluge and Noah’s Ark. They say that from the account there it must have rained 800 feet of water each day in order that it might be 15 cubits above the hills. They say that the ark could not have been large enough to contain “two of every sort,” for there would have been hundred of thousands of creatures. They say that these creatures would from all lands and all zones. They say there was only one small window in the ark, and that would not have given fresh air to keep the animals inside the ark from suffocation. They say that the ark finally landed on a mountain 17,000 feet bight. They say they do not belieie the story. Neither do I. There is no such fitory in the Bible. I will tell you What the Bible story is. I must say that I .have changed my mind in regard to some matters which onpe were to me very mysterious. They ate no more mysteries. This is the key to the facts. This is the story of an eye witness. Noah, hia story incorporated afterward by Moses in the account. Noah described, the scene jlist as it appeared to him. He saw the flood and he fathomed its depth. As far as eye could reach everything was covered up, from horizon, or, as it Bays, “under the whole heaven.” fie did not refer to the’ Sierra Neyadas, or to Mount Washington, for America had not been discovered, or, if it had been discovered, he could not h av ® seen so for off. He is giving the testimony Of ah eye-witness. God speaks af|er the mannifoqf men when he says everything went under;- and Noah, speaks after the manner of men When he says everything did go under. An eyewitness. Tuere is nd uejßd of thinking that the kangaroo leaped the <qcehb or that the polar bear came Jojvn from the ice. Why did the deluge comfe? It carni&; for the purpose of destroying the outrageous inhabitants of the then thinly populated earth, nearly all the population, probably very near the Ark before it was launched, What would have been the use of submerging North and South America, or Europe, or Africa, when they were not inhabited? And as to the skeptical suggestion than in order to have the water as deep as the Bible states, it must have rained 800 feet every day, I feply, the Bible distinctly declares that the most of the flood rose instead of falling. Before the account where it. saya “the windows of heaven were opened.” it says, “all the fountains of the great deep were broken np.” All geologists agree in saving that there are cayernsiu the earth filled with water, and they rushed forth, and all the lakes and rivers forsook their beds. The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and then the windows of heaven were opened. Is it a strange thing that we should be asked to believe in this flood of the Biole, when geologists tell us that again and again and again the

dry earth has been drowned out! Just open your geology and you will read of twenty floods. Is it not strange that infidel scientists wanting us to belieye in the twenty floods of geological discovery, should as sosn as we believe in one flood of the Bible, pronounce us non compos mentis. Well, then, another thing, in regard to the size of the ark. Instead of being a mud scow, as some of those skeptics would have us understand, it was a magnificent ship, nearly as large as the Great Eastern, three times tbe size of an ordinary man-of-war. At the ti ne in ‘the world when ship building was unknown, God had this vessel constructed, which turned out to be almost in the same proportions as our staunchest mo fom vessels. After thousands of years of experimenting in naval architecture and ship carpentry, we have at last got up to Noah’s ark, that ship leading all the fleets of the world on all the oceans. Well, Noah saw the animal creation going into this ark. He gave the account of an eye witness. They were the animals from the region where he lived; for the most part they were animals useful to man, and if noxious insects or poisonous reptiles went in it was only to discipline the patience and to keep alert the generations after' the flood. He saw them going in. There were a great number of them, and he gives the account of ah eye-witness. They went/to two and two of all flesn. Phen infidels say that the ark landed on a mountain 17,000 feet high, and that, of course, as soOn as the animals came forth, they would all be frozen in* the ice. That is geographical ignorance! Ararat is not merely the name for a mountain, but,for a hilly district* japd it may have been a hill 100 feet high,. or 500; or 1,000 feet high oh which the ark alighted. * Noah measured the depth Of the water above the hifoand it is. 15 cubits, or 27 feet. Ahl iny friends, thia, story of the ark is no more incredible than if you should say to me: “Lati; summer I was among the hills oi New England, and there came on the most terrific storm I ever saw, anfl the whole country was flooded. The waters came up over the hills, and to save our lives we got in a boat on the river, and even the dumb creatures weje so affrighted they egme moaning and bleating until we lefthem in the same boat.”

My prayer is that the God. who created the world may create us anew in Christ Jesus; and that the God who made the light three days before the sun shone may kindle in our hearts a light that will burn on long after the aun has expired; and that the God who ordered the ark built and kept it open morejthan 10J years that the antediluvians might enter it for shelter, may graciously incline us to accept the invitation which this morning rose from the throne, saying: “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” Another hard thing to be understood: The story that the sun and moon stood still to allow Joshua to complete his victory. Infidel scientists declare that an impossibility. But if a man have brain and strength enough to make a clock, can he not start it and stop it, and start it again and stop it again? Is a world greater than its God? But, people ask, how could the moon have been seen to stop in the daytime? Well, if you have never seen the moon in the daytime, it is because you have not been a very diligent observer of the heavens. Besides that, it was not necessary for the world literally to stop. Bv unusual refraction of the sun’s rays the day might have been prolonged. 8o that, while the earth continued on its path in the heavens, it figuratively stopped. You must remember that these Bible authors used the

■vernacular of their own day, just as you and I say the sun went down. The sun never goes down. We simply describe what appears to the human eye. Besides that, the world, our world,* could have literally stopped without throwing the universe out of balance. Our world has two motions-the one around the sun and tne other on its own axis. It might have stooped on its own axis, while at the same time it kept on its path through the heavens. So there was no need of stellar confusion because our world slackened its speed or entirely stopped in its revolution on its own axis.

, Besides that, within the memory of man, there have been worlds that were born and that died. A few years ago astronomers telegraphed, through the Associated Press, to a l the world—the astronomers from the city of Washington—that another world had been discovered. Within a comparatively short spafle of time, astronomers tell us, thirteen worlds have burned down. From their observatory they notice first that the Worlds look like other,worlds, then they became a deep-red, showing that they were on fire; then they became ashen, showing that they were burned down; then they entirely disappeared, showing that even the ashes were scattered. Now, I say, if God can start a world, and swing a world, and destroy a world, he could stop ope or two of them without a great deal of exertion, or he could by unusual refraction of the suh*S rays continue the illumination. But infidel scientists say it would ha Vo been belittling for other worlds to stop on account of such a battle. Why, sirs, what Yorktown was for Revolutionary times, and what Gettysburg was in our civil contest,,and what Sedan wasinthe Franco-German war, and what Waterloo was in the Napoleonic destiny—that was this battle of Joshua against the five allied armies of Gibeom It was that battle that changed the entire course of history. It was'.A battle to Joshua as important as though a battle now should occur in Whie ' England and the United States and France and Germany and Italy and Turkdy and Russia should fight for victory or annihilation. However much any other world, solar, lunar or stellar, nqight be hastened !n its errand of light, it would be excushbteif tt lingered in the Keavens for a little while anfl put down its sheaf of beams and gazed on such an Armageddon. Then there is the Bible statement that a whale swallowed Jonah and ejected him upon the dry ground in three days. If you will go to the museum at Nantucket, Maas., you will find the skeleton of a whale’large enough to ’swallow a man. I said to the janitor, while I was standing in the museum, “Why, it does not seem from the looks bf this .skeleton that that story in the Book of Jonah is so very improbable, does it?” “Oh, no,” he replied, “It doeb not” There is a cavity in the month of the common whale large enough for a man to live in. There have been sharkes found again and again with an efitire human body in them. Besides that, the Bible save nothing about a whale.

• It says, “The Lord prepared a great fish;” and there are scientists who tell us - that there were sea monsters in other days that make the modern whale seem Very insignificant I know in one place .in the New Teatament it speaks of the whale as appearing in the occurrence I have just mentioned, but the word may just as well be translated “sea monster” —any kind of a sea monster. Procopius says, in the rear 532, a sea monster was slain which had for fifty years destroyed ships. — ■ I suppose this sea monster that took care of Jonah may have been one of the great sea monsters that could have easily taken down a prophet, and Ke could have lived there three days if he had kept in motion so as to keep the gastric juices from taking hold of him and destroying him, and at the end of three days the monster would naturally be sick enough to regurgitate Jonah. Besides that, my friends, there is one word wnich explains the whole thing. It save: “The Lord prepared a great fish.” So all the strange thipgs in the Bible can be explained if you wish to have them explained. And you can bujld them into a beautiful and healthful fire for your hearth, or you can with them put your immortal interests into conflagration. But you had better decide about the veracity of the Bible very soon. I want this morning to caution J ou against putting off making up your find about this book. Ever since 1772 there has been great discussion as to who was the author of Junius’ Letters, those letters so full of sarcasm and virtuperaiion And power. The whole English nation stirred up with it. More than 100 volumes written to discuss that question, .“.Who was Junius?” “Who wrote the letters of Junius?” Well, it is an interesting question to discuss, but still, after all, it makes but little practical difference to you and to me who Junius was, whether Sir Philip Francis, or Lord Chatham, or John Horne Tooka or Horace Walpole, or Henry Grattan, or any one of the forty-four men who were, seripusly charged with the authorship; But it is an absorbing question, it is a practical question, it is an overwhelming question to you and to me, the authorsbio of this Holy Bible—whether the Lord God ot Heaven and earth or a pack of dupes, scoundrels or impostors. We can not afford to adjourn that question a week or a day or an hour. Would God that there might be some one to-day who would go forth and bring in these souls that are drifting. In this assemblage, how many a score shall I say, or a hundred, ora thousand?—not quite certain about the truth of the Bible, not certain about anything. Drifting, drifting, drifting. Ob, how I would like to tow them in. I throw you this cable. Lay hold of that cable of the Gospel. Lay hold of it. 1 invite you all in. The harbor is wide enough, large enough for all the shipping. Come in, oh you wanderers on the deep. Drift no more, drift no more. Come into the harbor. See the glorious lighthouse of the Gospel, “Peace on earth, good will to men.’’

The Ice Lens and the Sun’s Nature.

Dr. Henry Raymond Rogen, of Dunkirk, N: 1Y: before the Chautauqua Society: For example, the sun and earth are separated by the distance of 93,000,000 miles and this.space is indefinitely cold and dark. The sun’s rays as they pass through this infinity of distance and cold and darkness are invisible. They reach out from the sun to onr atmosphere without in the slightest manner revealing their presence. They contain neither warmth nor brightness. In fact, the temperature of the universal space is estimated by* Secchi at 18,000,000 degrees below zero (Fab.). Yet, notwithstanding the infinity of the distance which separates the sun and earth, and the cold and which pervade all space, the ice lens is able to gather these Invisible and inconceivably cold sun rays and converge them to a focus and thereby set fire to combustibles, explode gunpowder and even to melt lead. It mey not consistently be claimed that actual heat can cross the voi<| of space so cold, or that actual light penetrates such utier darkness. The ice lens of Metius, therefore, furnishishes a practical demonstration of the fact,-that the sun need not be actually hot, in order to warm the earth, and that it need not be essentially bright in order, to supply its light. It most forcibly teaches that there is something which incessantly comes from the sun which is not itself heat or light, but of which these are the direct effects. The legitimate inference from these teachings is that the so-called sunheat and sunlight are developed solely in our own atmosphere, and not in the sun itself, as science and superficial appearances have ever led us to believe.

The littfe ice lens, therefore, furnishes conclusive and even incontrovertible evidence against the so-called fireball theory of the sun, which is to-day and ever has been the theory accepted by science. The great significance and power of this wonderful invention lies, therefore, in the fact that if this evidence were accepted at its real value, it would aione, and unaided’ By corroborative fasts, compel a new explanation of the sun and its phenomena ab initio.- it would thus change the existing philosophy of the universe. ‘ ' ■ /

Catching an Heiress.

Bazar. Citizen (to Uncle Rastas)—So that i« tne woman you’re going to marry, is ifo Uncle Rastas? Uncle Rast us—Yes, sab, dat am de lady. She yain’t much to look at. Citizen—Well, no, nqt very much, Uncle Rastas. 1 Uncle Rastus —But she hab got fortyseben dollahs in de bank, boss, an* sKe hab promised ter gib me de power ob attorney-generalship. £ Shakespeare said “There is a tide in the affaire of man,” but we think it appears to be pretty much all tied back in the affaire of woman. What did the oar-lock?