asked whence he came. He replied that he was a native of Ephesus, "if this be Ephesus."

9. "Send for your relations-your parents if they live here," ordered the governor.

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They live here, certainly," replied the youth; and he mentioned their names. No such names were known in the town. Then the governor exclaimed, "How dare you say that this money belonged to your parents, when it dates back three hundred and seventy-seven years, and is as old as the beginning of the reign of Decius, and is utterly unlike our modern coinage? Do you think to impose on the old men and sages of Ephesus? Believe me, I shall make you suffer the severities of the law unless you show where you made the discovery."

10. "I implore you," cried Malchus, "in the name of God, answer me a few questions, and then I will answer yours. Where is the Emperor Decius gone to?"

The bishop answered, "My son, there is no emperor of that name; he who was thus called died long ago."

Malchus replied, "All I hear perplexes me more and more. Follow me, and I will show you my comrades who fled with me into a cave of Mount Celion only yesterday, to escape the cruelty of Decius. I will lead you to them.”

11. Then they followed, and a great crowd after them. And Malchus entered first into the cavern to his companions, and the bishop after him. And there they saw the martyrs seated in the cave, with their faces fresh and blooming as roses; so all fell down and glorified God. The bishop and the governor sent notice to Theodosius, and he hurried to Ephesus. All the inhabitants met him and conducted him to the cavern.

12. As soon as the saints beheld the Emperor their faces shone like the sun, and the Emperor gave thanks

unto God, and embraced them, and said, "I see you, as though I saw the Saviour restoring Lazarus." Maximian replied, "Believe us, for the faith's sake, God has resuscitated us before the great resurrection-day, in order that you may believe firmly in the resurrection of the dead. For as the insect is in its chrysalis living and not suffering, so have we lived without suffering, fast asleep." And having thus spoken, they bowed their heads, and their souls returned to their Maker.

BARING GOULD.

The Emperor Trajan Decius (1) reigned during the years 249–251 and was unceasing in his persecution of the Christians. He was slain in a battle with the Goths, against whom he had undertaken a war. Ephesus (1) was an ancient city of Asia Minor. The Emperor Theodosius (5), here referred to, was probably Theodosius II., although the dates do not agree, as he reigned in the East from 408 to 450. Explain the expression "what line they would adopt " (2). Let the pupils write out the legend in their own language.

1. thrō; n. agony.

LESSON LXXIV.

1. strife; n. struggle for victory.

5. trěnd; n. direction.

7. brůnt; n. violence; shock.

8. swath; n. the whole sweep of a scythe in mowing.

8. stead' fast; a. firm; firmly tied.

The Ride of Collins Graves.

On Saturday morning, May 16, 1874, occurred the great flood at Mill River Valley, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, caused by the breaking of a mill-dam. Four villages were swept away, and nearly two hundred lives were lost in the calamity. Collins Graves, a milkman, mounted his horse and spurred through the villages, warning the inhabitants and saving hundreds of lives.

1. No song of a soldier riding down

To the raging fight from Winchester town;
No song of a time that shook the earth
With the nation's throe at the nation's birth;

But the song of a brave man free from fear
As Sheridan's self or Paul Revere ;

Who risked what they risked, free from strife
And its promise of glorious pay-his life!

2. The peaceful valley has waked and stirred,
And the answering echoes of life are heard:
The dew still clings to the trees and grass,
And the early toilers smiling pass,

As they glance aside at the white-walled homes
Or up the valley, where merrily comes

The brook that sparkles in diamond rills
As the sun comes over the Hampshire hills.

3. What was it that passed like an ominous breath-
Like a shiver of fear, or a touch of death?
What was it? The valley is peaceful still,
And the leaves are afire on top of the hill.
It was not a sound-nor thing of sense-
But a pain, like the pang of the short suspense
That thrills the being of those who see
At their feet the gulf of Eternity!

4. The air of the valley has felt the chill:
The workers pause at the door of the mill;
The housewife, keen to the shivering air,
Arrests her foot on the cottage stair,
Instinctive taught by the mother-love,
And thinks of the sleeping ones above.
Why start the listeners? Why does the course
Of the mill-stream widen? Is it a horse-
Hark to the sound of his hoofs, they say-

That gallops so wildly Williamsburg way?

5. Ah! what was that like a human shriek

From the winding valley? Will nobody speak?
Will nobody answer those women who cry
As the awful warnings thunder by?

Whence came they? Listen! And now they hear
The sound of the galloping horse-hoofs near;
They watch the trend of the vale, and see
The rider who thunders so menacingly,
With waving arms and warning scream

To the home-filled banks of the valley stream.

6. He draws no rein, but he shakes the street
With a shout and the ring of the galloping feet;
And this the cry he flings to the wind:

"To the hills for your lives! The flood is behind!'
He cries and is gone; but they know the worst—
The breast of the Williamsburg dam has burst!
The basin that nourished their happy homes
Is changed to a demon-It comes! it comes!

7. A monster in aspect, with shaggy front
Of shattered dwellings, to take the brunt
Of the homes they shatter-white-maned and hoarse,
The merciless Terror fills the course

Of the narrow valley, and rushing raves,
With death on the first of its hissing waves,

Till cottage and street and crowded mill

Are crumbled and crushed.

In front of the rcaring flood is heard
The galloping horse and the warning word.
Thank God the brave man's life is spared!
From Williamsburg town he nobly dared

To race with the flood and take the road
In front of the terrible swath it mowed.
For miles it thundered and crashed behind,
But he looked ahead with a steadfast mind;

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They must be warned!" was all he said,

As away on his terrible ride he sped.

9. When heroes are called for, bring the crown
To this Yankee rider: send him down

On the stream of time with the Curtius old;
His deed as the Roman's was brave and bold,
And the tale can as noble a thrill awake,
For he offered his life for the people's sake.

JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.

The "song of a soldier riding down to the raging fight from Winchester (1) is an allusion to T. Buchanan Reed's poem of "Sheridan's Ride." "Paul Revere's (1) Ride" is a well-known poem by Longfellow. "A time that shook the earth with the nation's throe at the nation's birth" (1) means the time of the Revolution.

Explain the expressions: "What was it that passed like an ominous breath-like a shiver of fear or a touch of death?" (3); "at their feet the gulf of Eternity" (3); "the merciless terror" (7). According to a Roman tradition the earth in the Forum gave way, about the year B.C. 362, and a great chasm appeared which, it was claimed, could be closed only by casting into it the most precious treasure of the city. Thereupon Marcus Curtius (9), a noble youth, declaring that the city held no greater treasure than a brave citizen, sprang to his horse and rode into the yawning gulf; his words were verified, for the earth at once closed over him.

Now, blessings light on him that first invented sleep! It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; it is meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot.-Don Quixote.