“I know there are no errors
    In the great eternal plan,
  And all things work together
    For the final good of man. 
  And I know when my soul speeds onward
    In the grand eternal quest,
  I shall say, as I look earthward,
    Whatever is, is best.”

CHAPTER XIII.

THE ANGELS OF LIFE AND DEATH.

By and by unwonted silence and anxiety reigned in our house.  The family doctor remained all night, then a faint cry was heard, and little baby May came into this world of ours,

  “The gates of heaven were left ajar;
    With clasping hands and dreamy eyes,
    Wandering out of paradise,
  She saw this planet, like a star;
    We felt we had a link between
    This real world and that unseen.”

These beautiful lines of one of the sweetest of earth’s singers, came to us like a new revelation at the advent of our first-born, as also those other immortal words—­

  “Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,
    The soul that rises with us, our life’s star,
  Hath had elsewhere its setting,
    And cometh from afar. 
  Not in entire forgetfulness
  And not in utter nakedness,
  But trailing clouds of glory do we come
  From heaven, which is our home.”

Our little vocalist commenced rehearsing for her chosen profession the very minute that she first saw the light, and she certainly continued the development of her lungs with marvelous persistency.  Then her numerous grandparents, uncles, and aunts all vied with each other in petting and spoiling the one pet lamb of the several families, and she basked in the sunshine of unlimited affection.

A few bright years sped by, all roseate with love, prosperity and contentment in this happy valley.  Then two little cherubs, just alike as “two peas in a pod” came to us at dawn of day, like twin rays from the rising sun, their blue eyes beaming with smiles which have continued ever since.

We named them Ada and Ida:  but were obliged to label them to tell “which was which,” and said label is essential for distinguishment to this very day, though twenty-four bright summers have passed since the sight of them first gladdened our hearts.

But almost with the sunbeams came the terrible cloud overspreading all our lives.  The mother had scarcely welcomed the twin buds of promise, when she faded away like a flower and was

  “Gone beyond the darksome river,
    Only left us by the way;
  Gone beyond the night forever,
    Only gone to endless day;

  Gone to meet the angel faces,
    Where our lovely treasures are;
  Gone awhile from our embraces,
    Gone within the gates ajar.”

There seemed to be no light left on earth; the sun was blotted out forever,

  Oh glory of our youth that so suddenly decays! 
  Oh crimson flush of morning that darkens as we gaze! 
  Oh breath of summer blossoms that on the restless air
  Scatters a moment’s sweetness, and flies we know not where!