The aged shepherd was startled back to the present—to the sheep and
the young nephew, and the sun, now high in the heavens. "Ah, yes, we
grow foolish as we grow old, and see ghosts. But come, it is time for
our early meal. It will be the same as ever—cheese, rye bread and goat's
milk. How | should like to ask my sister to change it, just once—but |

do not ask, because | am afraid.
—FRED AMESS.

LIFE WAS A BOX OF COLORS.

IFE was a box of colors,

We'd use it together, you said;
But how could | paint a sunset
When you took all the red?
How could | paint a daffodil
When no yellow was left for me?
There was no blue,
What could | do
With the shining face of the sea?

So | painted the fog in the valley,
| painted the dark cruel night,
And God rode through my stormclouds,
ia Terrible—and right!
Now people passing casually
1 | Turn to look at my storm-tossed sky;
ie They stop, and stare,
And say a prayer—
And pass your pictures by.

EE SE