kept them in tune, thrilled the listeners in the room far above it all. The Stadium is the center of interest daily; contests of all kinds are held here. Bicycle races, ball games, tennis, foot races, all draw the people. It seats 12,000. On Army Day, when General Miles was the guest of the Exposition, three times this great arena held over 15,000 people. Tier on tier around the great expanse the people waited. When the soldiers appeared, what a roar of applause! It broke out again and again. When, in the late afternoon, the cadets from West Point entered the arena for dress parade, the enthusiasm of the multitude was a tribute to the Nation that produced such men. For that multitude had been observing the "West Point boys." They had seen the gray uniformed figures escorting about the grounds proud, hard-working fathers and mothers, and happy, proud sisters. Fathers and mothers had made sacrifices to fit the "boys" for the place they were now occupying. Each youth represented a contest in which he had come out victor; each one maintained his place by hard work, for one of the strongest of the educational exhibits at the Pan-American Exposition is the day's work required from these cadets. It was all this that added a new note to the enthusiastic welcome accorded them on Army Day at the Exposition. The Temple of Music is another Mecca for the people. The building holds hundreds during each of the two daily concerts, while hundreds more, from lack of time, leave regretfully between the numbers of the programme. This is possible without interruption, as the doors are closed through the rendering of each number of the programme. The climax of the day for every one is eight o'clock in the evening. As early as seven o'clock the crowds begin to gather in the Court of the Fountains, the Esplanade, on the Triumphal Bridge. The band from the Carlisle Indian School takes its place in the East Stand on the Esplanade. The light of day dies out of the sky. The soft gray of evening falls over the Tower, domes, and turrets; with it voices grow soft and low. Who can picture that multitude? There a group of swarthy men and women tell of southern suns; there a group, tired, worn, but alert, with rounded shoulders, sunburned skins, loosely fitting clothes, broad-brimmed hats, tell of fields and barns; there a group of Japanese in American clothes, over yonder a group of Chinese with hands crowded into pockets, stand huddled apart from the crowd. There on a bench sit four Turks in bagging trousers, fezes, and goldtrimmed jackets. Here stands a man carefully dressed, whose every movement bespeaks power. College girls, workinggirls, soldiers, cadets, officers, and hundreds and thousands from the ranks of American men and women are gathered waiting. The few lights on the posts have disappeared, and semi-darkness envelops the scene. Pink dots appear everywhere. The Tower is softly luminous, the light coming from within; arches, domes, roofs, windows, columns, capitals, statues, are outlined by those pink dots of light. Softly but clearly the notes of the 'Star-Spangled Banner" float on the air. The people sitting rise, hats are removed; here and there a head is bowed; one feels the thrill of thousands of hearts moved by one great emotion. The dots of pink have now become lines of soft radiance growing whiter each minute. Strong and full are the notes of a song that, under the influence of the time, is a nation's anthem. So perfectly timed is this wonder of light that its fullest radiance is reached as the last note of music dies away. 66 The thou But the spell is not broken. sands stand transfixed. Was there ever such a sight as this wonder of light and beauty and comradeship? Night after night the same miracle is wrought. North and South, East and West, and the land beyond the seas stand together patriots and brothers, each conscious that a spark of that Genius of Man that has made this moment possible lies within himself, that he is a contributor to the moment. Each goes forth a man of wider sympathies, with a clearer comprehension of the spirit of the civilization of which he is a part. Many men of many nations stand here together. Each will be a better citizen under whatever flag he claims protection, because he has had born within him a new conception of what it is to serve his country as one in the brotherhood of nations made visible at the Pan-American Exposition. that have made and divided political par- and the Pan-American is one. The spirit of homogeneity developed is perhaps best in evidence in the programme of one evening entertainment at the building of one of the Western States. A resident of a Southern State gave two dialect On the human side of the Pan-Ameri- stories and a negro sermon, the daughcan Exposition the State buildings are, on ter of one of the Commissioners for Honthe whole, the most interesting centers. duras a piano solo, as did also a señorita In these buildings people gather with a from Porto Rico. A flute solo was given sense of ownership. You can distinguish by a resident of San Domingo, in addition the aliens by the way they enter one to music and an address by residents of of these buildings. The early morning the State. One afternoon the people in is the most interesting time. The travelers this part of the Exposition grounds gathby the night trains have arrived. Parcels ered till verandas, rooms. and the grounds and lunch-boxes are checked, toilets made, about were crowded with people listening and then people register. These registers to a lady singing. She had sat down at are in three columns, " Name," "Birth- the piano to gratify a friend who had not place," "Present Address." As the home heard her sing in many years. They visitor turns these pages after registering, were almost alone in the room when she there are exclamations of delight, invari- began. The hush that fell on the crowds ably, "Why, So-and-so is here. I haven't on the piazzas of the buildings near by, seen him since I went to school." "There! the silently gathering crowds who stood I am so glad, So-and-so was here last in the room and outside until the singing week, and he or she lives at I'll ceased, after the singer had responded to write at once." Each State building pro- many encores, the keen enjoyment corvides post-office facilities, and the broken dially expressed to the singer, made an threads of friendship are soon knitted impromptu musicale attended by friends. together. Then the unexpected meetings! Scarcely a quarter of an hour passes that does not reveal old friends in unexpected meetings. Sometimes two will watch each other for several minutes, and one then decides to ask, "Are you not So-and-so?" usually followed by quick grasping of hands. The sights and sounds of the moment are forgotten, and the two, or groups to which the two belong, are living over again the days of childhood and youth. In one of the State buildings every evening a special effort is made to draw together the people of the State who are visiting the Exposition; this is due to the efforts of one of the State Senators present who is deeply interested in the Exposition. Hurried invitations were sent out one noon to a barn dance to be given in the State building that evening. Gray hair, age, and care forgotten, neighbors and friends long sundered, young men and maidens, sons and daughters of these friends, were introduced, and the barn dance under electric lights was a success. The building is admirably designed for purposes of entertaining. A large room with smaller rooms adjoining, broad balconies and veranda, provided for quiet conversations as well as dancing. Here, The Midway is interesting always, but especially so in the evening. Its incongruity is perhaps its chief charm. amid surroundings that suggest everything but America, wander people of every age and condition of life. Darling old ladies whose lives are devoted to the church and its missions saunter from show to show, not missing an audible or visible evidence of the foreign lives imitated so well here. Sitting in the restaurant of one of the foreign villages on the upper floor just as the sun was sinking, the ear and heart were stirred by the sweet silver tones of a cornet. "Abide with Me" floated out on the evening air. The Midway was crowded. The hideous "barkers" had ceased for a moment. The crowds stood still. The accompaniment was softly and sweetly played by a string orchestra. "Rock of Ages" followed. The player was a woman in the dress of a Japanese in the balcony of that village. One seemed a part of a dream. Below, Turk and Caucasian, Indian, African, Eskimo, and imitators of all, could be seen. As the sunset gun was fired from Fort Niagara “America” was played, and the hum of thousands of voices, modulated so well that the silver notes of the cornet 123 iasm that d him to al singing l well bal the minEpistle to study, and edoubtable Calvinistic ated by the mbers vied is a perfect the chapter cid speech. d to the disither by the of the class. w in asking to face with rine of Sov nt that by r, and the ed members regarded as is accepted Yankee and members of erce resent Deen taught and often ld strife, e ques- reignty › into a presen- f mind, the Dove all, the lled her COPYRIGHT, 1901, FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY Chapter XIV. The Bible Class I F Mrs. Murray was not surprised to see Macdonald Dhu and Yankee walk in on Sabbath evening and sit down in the back seat, her class was. Indeed, the appearance of these two men at the class was considered an event so extraordinary as to give a decided shock to those who regularly attended, and their presence lent to the meeting an unusual interest and an undertone of excitement. To see Macdonald Dhu, whose attendance at the regular Sabbath services was something unusual, present at a religious meeting, which no one would consider it a duty to attend, was enough in itself to excite surprise; but when Yankee came in and sat beside him, the surprise was considerably intensified. For Yankee was considered to be quite outside the pale, and indeed in a way incapable of religious impression. No one expected Yankee to be religious. He was not a Presbyterian, knew nothing of the Shorter Catechism, not to speak of the Confession of Faith, and consequently was woefully ignorant of the elements of Christian knowledge that were deemed necessary to any true religious experi ence. It was rumored that upon Yankee's first appearance in the country, some few years ago, he had, in an unguarded moment, acknowledged that "his people" had belonged to the Methodists, and that he himself "leaned toward" that peculiar sect. Such a confession was in itself enough to stamp him in the eyes of the community as one whose religious history must always be attended with more or less uncertainty. Few of them had ever seen a Methodist in the flesh. There were said to be some at Moose Creek (Mooscrick, as it was called), but they were known only by report. The younger and more untraveled portion of the community thought of them with a certain amount of awe and fear. It was no wonder, then, that Yankee's appearance in Bible class produced a sensation. It was an evening of sensations, for not only were Macdonald Dhu and Yankee present, but Aleck McRae had driven up a load of people from below the Sixteenth. Ranald regarded his presence with considerable contempt. "It is not much he cares for the Bible class, whatever," he confided to Don, who was sitting beside him. But more remarkable and disturbing to Ranald than the presence of Aleck McRae was that of a young man sitting between Hughie and Maimie in the minister's pew. He was evidently from the city. One could see that from his fine clothes and his white shirt and collar. Ranald looked at him with deepening contempt. "Pride" was written all over him. Not only did he wear fine clothes and a white shirt and collar, but he wore them without any sign of awkwardness or apology in his manner, but, indeed, as if he enjoyed them. But the crowning proof of his "pride " Don noted with unutterable scorn. "Look at him!" he said: "splits his head in the middle !" Ranald found himself wondering how the young fop would look sitting in a pool of muddy water. How insufferable the young fellow's manners were! He sat quite close to Maimie, now and then whispering to her, evidently quite ignorant of how to behave in church. And Maimie, who ought to know better, was acting most disgracefully as well, whispering back, and smiling right into his face. Ranald was thoroughly ashamed of her. He could not deny that the young fellow. was handsome, hatefully so, but he was evidently stuck full of conceit, and as he let his eyes wander over the congregation assembled, with a bold and critical stare, making remarks to Maimie in an undertone which could be heard over the church, Ranald felt his fingers twitching. The young man was older than Ranald, but Ranald would have given a good deal for an opportunity to "take him with one hand." At this point Ranald's reflections were interrupted by Mrs. Murray rising to open the class. "Will some one suggest a Psalm?" she asked, her cheek, usually pale, showing a slight color. It was always an ordeal for her to face her class ever since the men had been allowed to come, and the first moments were full of trial to her. Only her conscience and her fine courage kept her from turning back from this her path of duty. At once from two or three came responses to her invitation, and a Psalm was chosen. The singing was a distinct feature of the Bible class. There was nothing like it, not only in the other services of the congregation, but in any congregation in the whole county. The young people that formed that Bible class have long since grown into old men and women, but the echoes of that singing still reverberate through the chambers of their hearts when they stand up to sing certain tunes or certain Psalms. Once a week through the long winter they used to meet and sing to John " Aleck's" sounding beat for two or three hours. They learned to sing not only the old Psalm tunes but Psalm tunes never heard in the congregation before, as also hymns and anthems. anthems and the hymns were, of course, never used in public worship. They were reserved for the sacred concert which John "Aleck" gave once a year. It was in the Bible class that he and his fellow-enthusiasts found opportunity to sing their new Psalm tunes, with now and then a hymn. When John "Aleck," a handsome, broadshouldered six-footer, stood up and bit his tuning-fork to catch the pitch, the people straightened up in their seats and prepared to follow his lead. And after his great resonant voice had rolled out the first few notes of the tune, they caught The him up with a vigor and enthusiasm that carried him along and inspired him to his mightiest efforts. Wonderful singing it was, full-toned, rhythmic, and well balanced. With characteristic courage, the minister's wife had chosen Paul's Epistle to the Romans for the subject of study, and to-night the lesson was the redoubtable ninth chapter, that arsenal for Calvinistic champions. First, the verses were repeated by the class in concert, and the members vied with each other in making this a perfect exercise; then the teaching of the chapter was set forth in simple, lucid speech. The last half-hour was devoted to the discussion of questions raised either by the teacher or by any member of the class. To-night the class was slow in asking questions. They were face to face with the tremendous Pauline Doctrine of Sovereignty. It was significant that by Macdonald Dhu, his brother, and the other older and more experienced members of the class the doctrine was regarded as absolutely inevitable and was accepted without question, while by Yankee and Ranald and all the younger members of the class it was rejected with fierce resentment. The older men had been taught by the experience of long and bitter years that above all their strength, however mighty, a Power, resistless and often inscrutable, determined their lives. The younger men, their hearts beating with conscious power and freedom, resented this control, or, accepting it, refused to assume the responsibility for the outcome of their lives. It was the old, old strife, the insoluble mystery; and the minister's wife, far from making light of it, allowed its full weight to press in upon the members of her class, and wisely left the question as the Apostle leaves it, with a statement of the two great truths of sovereignty and free will, without attempting the impossible task of harmonizing these into a perfect system. After a half-hour of discussion she brought the lesson to a close with a very short and very simple presentation of the practical bearing of the great doctrine. And while the mystery remained unsolved, the limpid clearness of her thought, the humble attitude of mind, the sympathy with doubt, and, above all, the sweet and tender pathos that filled her |