A Close, Hard Man.

A CLOSE , HARD MAN .

A hard , close man was Solomon Ray , Nothing of A'alue he gave away ; He hoarded and saved ; He pinched and shaved ; Ancl the more ho had the more he craved .

The hard-earned money he toiled to gain , Brought him little but care and pain ; For little he spent , And all he lent , He made it bring him twenty per cent .

Such was the life of Solomon Ray . The years went by , and his hair grew gray , His cheeks grew thin , Ancl his soul within , Grew hard as tbe monev be Avorked to Avin .

But he died one clay , as all men must , For life is fleeting , and man but dust . The heirs were gay , That laid him away , And that Avas the end of Solomon Ray .

They quarrelled now , Avho had little cared For Solomon Ray Avhile his life Avas spared . His lands Avere sold , And bis hard-earned gold , All Avent to the laAvyers , I am told .

Yet men will cheat and pinch and save , Nor carry their treasures beyond the grave . All their gold some day , Will melt away , Like the selfish savings of Solomon Ray . Freemason , St . Louis .

Chippings.

Chippings .

BY AVE NIK . " They also serve , who only stand and Avait . " Yesthat ' s Scriptureand a very « WAITING . "

, , comforting passage it is sometimes . But don ' t you think there is more than one kind of waiting 1 NOAV , there is 'Zekiel Hull , just round be corner , who has been Avaiting this

tAventy years for something to turn up . He is a very patient man . I have seen him stand for an hour and not ansAver back Avhile his hard Avorking Avife teased him to saw a little AVOOCI . He never mends his gates , or rakes up his yard , or brings in a pail of water for his Avife , but he'll sit for

hours and talk about the Lord ' s doings . If a rich man fails , he ahvays talks about tbe mercy of the Lord , but if a poor man gets rich suddenly , or even slowly and by his OAVII perseverance , then 'Zekiel straightway Avonders Avhether he has been given over

to—well , the other person you knoAV . He sighs a great deal over the hard times , but be is always patient . In fact , he is preemminently a waiting man . There ' s Theodosia Alison . She has been waiting—well I Avon't try to tell how long

¦ —but a great while for a husband . She always keeps lier hands A'cry soft and Avhite for bis future admiration , and dresses her hair in the very latest style . Very sweet ancl patient she looks , sitting in the cool parlourAvbile her mother

, drudges away in the back kitchen . But I wonder if the Lord wouldn ' t be about as g lad as I Avould to see her mother do part of the waiting . I don't believe in monopoly , even of the Avaiting business . In the little broAvn cottage over the Avay

lies the Widow Stoddard , waiting for the angel of death . For six years she has been a Avidow , toiling along for her little ones .

Now that fell destroyer , consumption , has laid her IOAV , and she can do nothingmore but wait . I went to see her the other clay . Deacon Skinner ' s Avife was there before me , baking , scrubbing , sweeping and dusting . I passed

her into the little bed-room Avhere the sick Avoman lay , her face as Avhite as the pillow on Avhich it rested , ber large , dark eyes looking aAvay out of the window , and up into the blue , blue sky . HOAV sweet her smile of Avelcome !

Plow cheerful her Avords ! We talked of the Spring-time , the flowers , the birds , the sunshine , and most of all , of the Father's love that shone in and through them all . The sweeping and the dusting in the outer room continuedbut as I

, gazed on tbe Avhite , patient face before me , I could not but think that there is a Avaiting which is also serving . —New York Dispatch ,