A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 71

A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM.

♦ By Gaiahill/. Jonas Silas was an eccentric cobbler who lived alone in a dingy room in the little village street. His sole comfort seemed to be found in the black bottle, which stood in the cupboard at his side, as he sat day in, day out, crooning some old-world song to the stitch of the thread or the clack of the hammer. On Saturday nights Jonas fell under the evil influence of the bottle. On Sundays he strolled out amongst the .fields and 'liedgeways, glorying in -the. wild flowers all round.- At times he might be. seen twining a garland of daisies or sitting playing i With a flower chain round his neck ; or; as j he plucked a" wild rose or tiny, sweet j' forget-me-aot, a brightness spread over the ;l; l gnarled old face, lighting it up with an inward light, which showed that Jonas had a soul, though no one otherwise might have j thought so. i Drink seemed to have dulled the man to . every good influence, save when the little Mild flowers touched some hidden spring, and for a moment raised the man to higher things. It was on a Sunday- afternoon, as Jonas i ' sat by the banks of a little stream, a flower f chain round his neck, a bunch of violets in ' his hard, wrinkled hands, and the inward - light brightening up the sunken .eyes, that : he was awakened fiom his reverie by the cry of a child close beside him. A little , arm twined round his neck, and a childish < voice whispered in his ear, "Dada." A young woman stood apart with tears ■ i in her c3 r es, but yet unable to speak. J Her tale need not be told. Suffice to say 1 the father of the child was gone and she ' was seeking service, but was encumbered with the child. ! An hour later Jonas trudged home to i Ids dingy, room, the brightness still in his i eye, leading by the hand a- little laughing i child. ] j As the days passed on the little lily 1 • that Jonas had transplanted seemed to j < brighten all round. j ; Gradually the dust disappeared from the j shelves and walls, and the panes in the ] little window shone like burnished gold. ] A little crib stood in the corner, hung i with ever-fresh garlands of wild flowers, i while a little stool was placed beside the j cobbler's bench. Senile and childhood's j laughter wuudef with the hammer's claek^ i

and a new order of things showed all round." The black bottle was - forgotten for a time. But in an evil hour when "Little Sunshine" had crossed the passage to brighten for a time a> neighbour's den, the cupboard door stood open. Temptation proved too much. Just a taste ! But as conscience smote, at which the devil shamed him, Jonas drained""the bottle to the dregs, and ' sunk upon his bench. i A little face peeped through the doorway. What was wrong with "Dada"? "Nushing, nushing," leered the drunken cobbler, and, rising, he made to embrace ; the child ; but, stumbling, fell against "Sun- ; shine," who, striking her head upon a • last, lay senseless on the- floor. - v j For some time the cobbler lay in a drunken stupor, but, wakifig up, he - saw the pale face of the child, marked by a crimson trickle down the temple. ! "Sunshine, Sunshine, ' speak to- me, ' speak to me" ; but the child moved not. ' Raising the little silent form he fondled ! it, kissing the sweet young face, and calli ing, but -coaxing all in vain. The old man's fingers slacken,) his grasp ', fails, and . his head- sinks .on .his breast, ,the little child slide's gently t.tf the" 'floor. ■ " - : ,".--' . ' "Dada! Dada!" ,"- N .'-/.* ■ i The old man's eyes- are open In. ,a -vacant [ stare. '- -',-'"' -^ ,-'■ ,/"•<-•.' , . ' "Sunshine, \ '.Sunehine'V. ' I , hear' s c her voice, but she' is not, but;she-'is not." 7 ..,- Some time,. afterwards a. neighbour, entering, found the old mail stretched upon the floor, with a little child stroking and- Iris's";- ' ing the furrowed face, over which tttere 1 passed at times a nervous' twitching, show--ing there was still life within. **• ' 'Tis only a year afterwards. An old man\ with snow-white hair passes along the village street led by a little, bright-faced", maiden, bearing a -wreath of wild flow,erS;i in her hand. They pass, into the churchM yard and place the flowers on a newly-made;-grave. The old man, bareheaded, , raises* his eyes to heaven .in earnest;-, prayer and' thanksgiving. Seated on a stone, lie tellsthe child of heaven,, where her 'dear mother, now ;s gone, and, where they will all .mee^,} some day. He stoops and kisses the curly, head, and as he passes from the gate..hewhispers half aloud, "A little child shall" lead them." . .