GOLD AND SILVER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 204, 30 August 1933, Page 16

GOLD AND SILVER.

(Zcla Carter. Hikimutu, R.R.2., Taumarunui) It was late in the day, and tlie big, silent room, in which old Nathaniel Grimm sat, busy sorting his precious coins of gold and silver, was already filling with the darkening shadows of evening. The rays of the setting sun peeped in through the windows and made a golden bar of light across the gloomy room. Nathaniel Grimm heeded not the gathering gloom; he was too busy—gold in that bag, silver in this, and so on. As the sun sank lower in the western sky, throwing a longer bar of light across the room, a figure, silent and mysterious, gently touched the old man's arm. "My friend," he said softly, "come with me ere it is too late, and I will i show you my gold and silver, which all; yours could never buy." ' Although am;ized at the appearance' of this stranger, the old man aroae and i followed. The stranger led him through an avenue of tell popla: - s, clad in autumn gowns of shining gold. He turned to i old Nathaniel and said: "Could your| gold buy this gold of mine ?"—pointing 1 to tlio trees. The old man answered "No." | On they went and soon reached the top of a hill, where the stranger bade him sit down and face the west. The sun had sunk to rest, but had left behind his golden trail of glory; each fleecy, cloud was rimmed with gold, and formed | a dome-like pattern. The stranger again i spoke: "Could your gold buy my gold?" "No," answered the old man rather I earnestly, "it could not." I "Sleep, Nathaniel, for a while till Ii bid you wake." I Tlie earth was clad in the dark hood, of night, and it was not until a thin streak of silver peeped over the horizon of the far-off liills that the stranger awakened the sleeping man. _ "Awake," he said, "and see my silver. The old man sat up—the moon had risen fully and the earth was clad now in silvery raiment; far away in the immense space the silvery stars twinkled, as if trying to send a friendly message. The river down below murmured drowsily under its silvery sheen; the whole night was filled with beauty and enchantment". The stranger spoke. "Could your silver btiv my silver?" "No," answered the old man sadly, "it could not." "Come, I have still something more to show you, my friend." He led to a window, lit from tlie rosy glow of a small room; they peeped in. A woman suit in an armchair; a woman with silvery hair, while at her knees knelt a small child, who looked up to her with loving trust. The old man knew instantly that the silvery-haired lady had a heart of gold. The stranger again spoke: "Could your gold and silver buy a heart of gold and loving trust?" Old Nathaniel turned to answer, but the stranger had disappeared, and the morning's sunny beams played over a sleeping man, brinprinjr him back to life and reality—to _ a life filled with a I new meaning to him. I —Original. I