THREE BRAVE YOUNG MEN

"O ye priests of the Lord, bless the Lord, Praise and exalt Him above all forever.

ye servants of the Lord, bless the Lord, Praise and exalt Him above all forever.

"O ye spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord, Praise and exalt Him above all forever.

"O ye holy and humble of heart, bless the Lord, Praise and exalt Him above all forever.

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"O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael,* bless ye the Lord; Praise and exalt Him above all forever. For He hath delivered us out of hell, and saved us out of the hand of death, and delivered us out of the burning flame, and saved us out of the midst of fire.

"O give thanks to the Lord, because He is good; Because His mercy endureth forever and ever.

"O all ye religious, bless the Lord, the God of gods; Praise Him and give Him thanks, because His mercy endureth forever and ever."

Then Nabuchodonosor the King was astonished, and rose up in haste, and said to his nobles: "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of fire?"

They answered the king, and said: "True, O king.”

He answered and said: “Behold, I see four men loose,

*In Judea, the three young men were called Ananias, Azarias, and Misael; but in Babylon they were known by the names Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago.

and walking in the midst of the fire, and there is no hurt in them, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

Then Nabuchodonosor came to the door of the burning fiery furnace, and said: “Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, ye servants of the most high God, go ye forth, and come." And immediately Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago went out from the midst of the fire.

And the nobles, and the magistrates, and the judges, and the great men of the king being gathered together, considered these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, and that not a hair of their head had been singed, nor their garments altered, nor the smell of the fire had passed on them.

Then Nabuchodonosor, breaking forth, said: "Blessed be the God of them, to wit, of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, who hath sent His Angel, and delivered His servants that believed in Him; and they changed the king's word, and delivered up their bodies that they might not serve nor adore any God, except their own God.

By me therefore this decree is made, that every people, tribe, and tongue, which shall speak blasphemy against the God of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, shall be destroyed, and their houses laid waste: for there is no other God that can save in this manner."

Then the king promoted Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago in the province of Babylon.

-Adapted from the Book of Daniel.

ST. MARTIN AND THE BEGGAR

MARGARET E. SANGSTER

MARGARET SANGSTER, an editor and poet, was born in New Rochelle, New York, February 22, 1838. She received her early education at Vienna, and when very young displayed considerable literary talent. About 1872, her poems entitled "Elizabeth, Aged Nine" and "Are the Children at Home?" were first published. At different times she has been connected with Hearth and Home, Christian Intelligencer, Christian at Work, Harper's Young People, and, in 1889, she succeeded Mary L. Booth as editor of Harper's Bazar. Her chief works are "Poems for the Household"; "Home Fairies and Heart Flowers"; and "Twenty Studies of Children's Heads with Floral Embellishments."

In the freezing cold and the blinding snow
Of a wintry eve in the long ago,

Folding his cloak o'er clanking mail,
A soldier is fighting the angry gale
Inch by inch in the camp-fire's light,
Star of his longing this wintry night.

All in a moment his path is barred;
He draws his sword as he stands on guard.
But who is this with a wan, white face,
And piteous hands upheld for grace?
Tenderly bending, the soldier bold
Raises a beggar faint and cold.

Famished he seems, and almost spent,

The rags that cover him worn and rent.

Crust nor coin can the soldier find;
Never his wallet with gold is lined;
But his soul is sad at the sight of pain,
The sufferer's pleading is not in vain.

His mantle of fur is broad and warm,
Armor of proof against a storm.

He snatches it off without a word;

One downward pass of the gleaming sword,

And cleft in twain at his feet it lies,

And the storm-wind howls 'neath the frowning skies.

"Half for thee"-and with tender art

He gathers the cloak round the beggar's heart

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And half for me"; and with jocund song

In the teeth of the tempest he strides along,
Daring the worst of the sleet and snow,
That brave young spirit of long ago.

Lo! as he slept at midnight's prime,
His tent had the glory of summer time;
Shining out of a wondrous light,

The Lord Christ beamed on his dazzled sight!

"I was a beggar," the Lord Christ said,

As He stood by the soldier's lowly bed.

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Half of thy garment thou gavest Me;

With the blessing of heaven I dower thee."
And Martin rose from the hallowed tryst,
Soldier and servant and knight of Christ.

COLUMBIA

DAVID T. SHAW

Oh, Columbia, the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of each patriot's devotion,
A world offers homage to thee.
Thy mandates make heroes assemble,
When Liberty's form stands in view;
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white, and blue.
When war winged its wide desolation,
And threatened the land to deform,
The ark, then, of freedom's foundation,
Columbia, rode safe through the storm;
With her garlands of victory around her,
When so safely she bore her brave crew,
With her flag floating proudly before her,
The boast of the red, white, and blue.

The star-spangled banner bring hither,
O'er Columbia's sons let it wave;

May the wreaths they have won never wither.
Nor its stars cease to shine on the brave.

May the service united ne'er sever,

But they still to their colors prove true. The army and navy forever,

Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!