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"My mother knows!" said Darky wisely. It was quite enough for him that his mother knew.

"Oh, but I'd like to see for myself," insisted Snowy. "And why shouldn't I?”

"Because I wouldn't, if I were you," advised Darky. "Don't stray away, my child!" cautioned mother, who was lying down, for the sun had left off playing bo-peep, and was shining with all his might, so there was no fear of rain.

Snowy said nothing. Perhaps he did not hear; perhaps he did not heed. What a fine, smooth place for a game, if we could only get across, he thought. But there was the brook to cross, and Snowy had no acquaintance with water; he drew his foot back quickly when it touched the cold, shining mystery. Then, he set forth to stagger along the bank by himself, for Darky had timidly sheered up alongside of his mother.

"Silly frightened thing!" scornfully said the adventurer, feeling quite a man of the world as he glanced back once at the peaceful group. On and on he staggered until, to his surprise, he suddenly lost the brook. It had gone out of sight under the meadow-grass; so Snowy had plenty of room, now, to skip and tumble and pick himself up again. Oh, what fun it was, to be sure! How tame it must be for Darky over yonder between the sedate old folk. At last, for he was only a day old, Snowy grew tired and hungry; his unmanageable legs bent again and again with sheer weariness.

"I want to go home!" he suddenly said. He wanted his soft, warm, woolly mother all at once and badly. That is how all wanderers feel; they want to get home, when they have had quite enough of freedom's delights. Then, in the still, clear air, there came a sound from faraway which made Snowy hurriedly stagger up on his feet. It was his mother's voice. She had discovered that her lamb was missing, and she was calling, calling for him.

"Ma-a!" feebly shouted Snowy in answer, and he stumbled along on his return. But the way back from wrong-doing is different from the way forward; it is twice as long, twice as difficult. How many times the weak little wayfarer fell one could not count, but he still struggled on. At length, he could see mother, and Darky too, pressing close to his mother, wise little lamb. At the sight, Snowy broke into a frantic trot. Oh, the joy to meet mother again. But-but the joy sank into consternation, for Snowy found himself on the wrong side of the little brook, which separated him from mother and from Darky. He had come back on the opposite side of the stream-the wrong side. He was stranded on the tiny wall, and there he stood bleating disconsolately. Her child was cut off, to the wild distress of his mother, and she lifted up her voice in mournful lamentations, in which Darky and his mother vociferously joined, with neighbourly sympathy.

To be parted was distracting. Bitterly did the frightened Snowy regret his folly in neglecting his mother's caution and his wise little friend's advice.

He would be left to die, he supposed, on that dreadful wall which, in his day-old eyes, was mountain-high, while the tiny watercourse looked a river, for, when we are small and weak and young, all things as well as all joys and sorrows are magnified beyond their actual size.

As for the mother sheep she was at her wits' end, not that sheep possess much wit to speak of. But any mother bereft of her child becomes desperate. Bleating dolorously

she would have ventured to cross the streamlet, but how to climb the little wall was altogether beyond her ken.

As far as the eye could reach over the downs nothing living, but sheep, was in sight-no help was nigh. Matters were serious, indeed. The cries of the separated mother and child grew shriller, more heart-rending, those of Snowy saying plainly enough, "I am sorry, sorry for my naughty disobedience!"

It is when we say out loud that we sincerely repent us that help is certain to come. A loud, cheery whistle pierced through the sorrowful bleatings, and Snowy, turning his head, saw a short figure, with its limbs windmilling round as it came tearing along the meadow. It was Robbie the farm-boy, who was a son of the old shepherd. Of course, Robbie saw the situation at a glance.

"Howsumever a teeny-weeny thing like you got up there, I'd like to know. But, come along!" The boy reached up, and gently gathered the trembling, longlegged lamb in his strong arms and splashed through the tiny brook with his burden to deposit the little wanderer by his enraptured mother's side.

After that, for doing kindly actions was all in the day's work with good hearted Robbie, he trudged away whistling more loudly than ever.

As for Snowy and his mother, there never, surely, was a warmer welcome vouchsafed to a truant.

By-and-by, when the sun went down and the sheep were safely folded for the night, this little one, who was lost and was found, nestled close and warm beside his own mother, feeling inclined to tell himself, between sleeping and waking, that his naughty adventure had been but an ugly dream.

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DARESAY if I were to ask a hundred children who knew their Bible, what name of Jesus they like best, perhaps ninetynine would say, "The Good Shepherd." And if I were to ask them, "Now, what do you like best of all the things that Jesus ever said, after that text, 'Suffer little children to come unto Me'?" I think they would most likely say, "Those words in which He calls Himself the Good Shepherd.'"

And if children only knew how much the name of shepherd" means in the east, where Jesus lived, and so how much He must have meant when He said, "I am 'the' Good Shepherd," I think they would like the name still better. Ah! and some naughty children would not like it so well, for they would say, "I don't want any one to look so closely after me; I want to go my own way; I can take care of myself"; and they would like a careless, easy-going shepherd who would let them wander just where they liked; and shall I tell you where they would wander to-why, sooner or later down the wolf's throat.

The eastern shepherd is full of feelings towards his sheep. He is very fond of them. Even though there may be a great flock of them, he knows them all by their names, and he knows their faces too. He would never mistake one for another. He knows them one by one. If Jesus the Good Shepherd did not do the like, and made a mistake about some little boy or girl, what a dreadful thing that would be! Would it not be a shocking thing, if when Jesus is gathering all His sheep and lambs at the list, to bring them into the green pastures of heaven for ever, He were to say to any one of you, "I have made a mistake-you are not one of My lambs at all." Do not be afraid; there will not be any mistake. Jesus has His own mark on all His sheep and lambs. He never made a mistake yet, and He will not begin with you.

And this brings me to the thought that, if it is a very pleasant thing for any boy or girl to think "Jesus knows me by sight and by name, and can never mistake me for any one else, or any one else for me," so it is a very serious one one also, for if the shepherd in eastern countries saw a foolish wayward lamb going where it ought not, he would know at once which lamb it was. And so, now, when Jesus, the Good Shepherd, sees some of His lambs doing and being what they ought not, and going into wrong places and ways, He knows which it is.

I was saying how kind and tender the feelings of the eastern shepherd are towards his sheep, and especially towards his lambs. These shepherds are just the same now in this respect as they were in the days of our Lord. There was a large coloured picture of the Good Shepherd hanging up in the hall of a house in Egypt, where

some Christian people used to do what they could for the people around, in the way of attending to their wants in illness. One day one of the fellaheen, or country people, came to get medicine for his wife, who was being attended by one of the nurses. While he was waiting, he asked "Who that was?" The lady he asked told him in his own language in simple words the story of the Good Shepherd. His eyes were riveted on the little lamb, and he had a loving sympathy in his face. He put his hand upon his breast in imitation of the figure in the picture, and said: "I too am a good shepherd. I carry my lambs the moment they are born. I don't let them walk the first day at all. Yes," he said, "I watch for the lamb, and take it up just like the Good Shepherd."

Now, how does the Eastern shepherd deal with his sheep? He considers that he has great responsibilities for them; and he acts accordingly. But there are two things which he has particularly in view-one is the provision for his sheep, and the other is their protection. And so he always finds out where there is grass and water enough for them, and he has a fold in which he shuts them up at night, so that they are safe. The poor sheep could not find out grass for themselves, and especially water, in that hot country; and they never could make a fold for themselves in which they could be sure of being safe. And so the shepherd walks on before his sheep, and they follow; and thus are led to what they need. For the shepherd in the East does not drive his sheep, nor has he a dog to hunt and frighten them; they know him, and follow him, and that is enough.

Yes! and if only we know Jesus, that will be enough for us too. If any boy or girl would just say, "Blessed Jesus, are you on before?" and stop and listen to hear Jesus answer with perhaps only a still small voice in his heart, then, oh, how many boys and girls would be kept in the right way who now go into the wrong.

I should not be at all surprised if it were with lambs as it is with children. I do not know how far sheep can reason and think, but I can quite understand a young lamb thinking that it will get a nice little bit to pick here and there, though the shepherd is moving on; and so, stopping or straying away from the flock. And just because he knows nothing about a wolf and has never seen one, I can quite understand how he thinks there is no such great need of being pent up in the fold. The lamb may enjoy itself for a little while, but, ah! how will it all end--what will happen by-and-by!

A friend of mine in Australia was riding one day in the bush, when he came across a sheep entangled in a thicket. The more he tried to pull the creature out, the more did it thrust itself back, until at last he had to go away, and leave it there.

I should like to say to every boy and girl, Don't be tempted away from keeping close to the Good Shepherd.

The way to be Christ's sheep when you are old is to be Christ's lamb when you are young-the way to be for ever in His fold in heaven, is first, to be in time in His fold on earth.

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Search and See.

THE STORY OF THE FAITH.

PARTICULARS CONCERNING INDIVIDUAL APOSTLES.

1. Which of the apostles followed another calling than that of fisherman?

2. To whom was the term "Boanerges" applied, and why?

3. To whose care did the Saviour, when dying, commit His mother?

4. Which of the apostles was once addressed as Satan, and why?

5. On what occasions did Thomas show (1) courage, (2) slowness to believe?

6. Which of the apostles introduced some Greeks to Jesus?

7. Which of the apostles do we know to have been married?

8. Who was displeased at Mary for anointing Jesus's feet, and why?

9. On what three occasions were Peter, James, and John, taken apart from the other disciples?

10. What was the end of Judas Iscariot?

11. Give other names for Matthew, Thomas, Judas the brother of James.

12. Of which apostle was it reported that he should not die?

13. Mention two acts of daring on the part of Peter.

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A verse in the epistle of James gives, in a few words, the spirit of the whole prayer mentioned in the previous exercise. Find some words of Christ which teach the same lesson, and also two verses from one of Peter's epistles, one from Ecclesiastes, and one from Proverbs, all treating of patience and humility. One of these passages appears as the following buried text. It contains fourteen words, but only nine are given as a key to the rest. One is found in each verse, except the third and fourth, which contain three each.

1. He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.-Psa. ix. 12.

2. Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.-Rom. xii. 19.

3. A meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.-1 Peter iii. 4.

4. I will go in the strength of the Lord God.-Psa. lxxi. 16.

5. Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.-Psa. lxxv. 5.

SCRIPTURE SCENE.

L. T.

A fugitive with many followers has just left his home, and is flying from his foes. He soon meets one who is engaged in "tilling the land," and is bringing two animals and a quantity of food, which he offers as a present. The fugitive enquires for the grandson of a king, and the reply he receives is a lie and a cruel slander. Believing the falsehood too hastily, and thus illustrating a verse in Proverbs xviii., the fugitive is deluded by this cunning deceiver, who gains the purpose he had in view, and replies with mock devotion and humility. A short time after his treachery is exposed, but the injured man shows no disposition to take revenge.

L. T.

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