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All are scattered now and fled,
Some are married, some are dead;
And when I ask, with throbs of pain,
'Ah! when shall they all meet again,
As in the days long since gone by?'
The ancient time-piece makes reply-
'Forever-never!

Never-forever!' "'

"Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on;

The night is dark, and I am far from home-
Lead Thou me on.

Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

"I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;

I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on.

I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will; remember not past years.

"So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on,

O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,

And, with the morn, those angel faces smile,

Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile."

But, after the violet, next in my heart is this fitting blossom of the heathen's god Brahma (signifying "the ever-blessed Trinity "), the plumaria, with a perfume like itself, dainty and golden. The heart of this most exquisite flower is the color of the feather of the oo-a deep gold, which grows lighter, almost to white, often, at the edge of the leaves, that are four in number, stiff and smooth and

firm like wax. It is unlike any other flower- a little larger than a syringa, but, without the least provocation, drops out of the calyx, leaving no stem to it for a bouquet. But they will last a week, put in a saucer of water. They grow on a large, coarse bush or tree, not at all beautiful. The natives fully appreciate this gem of theirs. A boy would bring me one flower to his delight. And if I would draw it on the board, "Oh, Mary! Mary!" they would exclaim, quite in the tone and manner, strange to say, of true devotion. While visiting on a plantation, a little girl came running to me, "Shall I make you a lei, Miss P-?" "With all my heart, my dear, I wish you would; but I hope it isn't anything very bad, that will hurt me, for I never saw a lei, you know. I don't know at all what it is like, and the Islands are so queer, I am sure." "Oh dear, no! Miss P-, it's flowers-a lei,' to put around your neck; and I'll make it of plumarias”—her richest gift, the dear child, and I did not sense it. One can be worn for several days, if put in water at night.

In the large and beautifully kept grounds of Queen Emma's Hospital, in Honolulu, are to be seen magnificent date-palms, the entire avenue (main), and many rare plants—in bush and tree. Dr. McKibben, who has been in charge there for many years, is, I was told, a very scientific botanist, and jealous of the grounds, so that it is a treat to go in there.

This hospital was the gift of Kamehameha IV. and his consort, Queen Emma. It is free to Hawaiians,

but foreigners must pay a moderate board, according to what they require and desire. On entering Hawaii there is a hospital tax of two dollars. It seems to me there must be a very large fund by this time. If my dollars were put to good interest it would give some native a good turkey for Thanksgiving, which is close at hand as I write this-I mean to say, a hungry convalescent. This hospital is a comfortable place for the homeless sick in a foreign land.

"Wondrous honors hast Thou given
To our humblest charity,
In thine own mysterious sentence,
'Ye have done it unto me.'
Can it be, O gracious Master,
Thou dost deign for alms to sue,
Saying by Thy poor and needy,
'Give as I have given to you'?

"Yes; the sorrow and the suffering
Which on every hand we see
Channels are for tithes and offerings
Due by solemn right to Thee;
Right of which we may not rob Thee;

Debt we may not choose but pay,

Lest that Face of love and pity

Turn from us another day."

THE GUAVA.

M

OST certainly a bookful could be written, not of the beauty only, but of the uses as well, of the trees found in the Hawaiian Islands.

There is the sweet guava and the sour (very acid). The yellow fruit is, in shape, like a large lemon, firm pulp and full of bony seeds. The fragrance is most delightful, and peculiar to itself; like that of the pineapple, the strawberry, or the earliest green apples— never to be confounded with any other odor! The natives bring them, from the valleys, in the early morning, and a peck can be bought for half a dollar (hapalua). Jelly is made from them, in almost every family.

It is easy to make, and will not spoil. However, it is not so rich, nor so firm as the West India. Possibly, the guavas are not so choice, or there is a "trick" in the making which the Hawaiians lack. It is said that in the West Indies the natives boil the fruit in the woods; that their recipe has come down to them, as a tradition, and that they would not sell it for money, nor give it away for love!

With the English, it seems to be a law, as binding as that of the Medes and Persians, that cooked fruit,

in one form or another (jelly, jam, marmalade, preserves or sauce) shall be eaten with pudding-not so bad a law! So when the boys of Iolani College, Honolulu, were asked what they liked best, of all the dessert offered to them, day by day-pastry, biscuit and cheese, bananas, sago and apple sauce, tapioca and peach, rice and guava-"Rice and guava!" was the shout, without a dissenting voice.

The rice is of good quality, grown on the Islands, and when cooked to be soft, dry and whole, white as a snow-drift, and fortified with a dish of guava of delicate pink color, each slice perfect, and swimming in juice as clear as crystal, you will not wonder that boys (and they are capital judges and critics) would bid and even "bet" on it! "Rice and guava, you bet!" At Iolani the boys are encouraged to talk at meal-times; but, in subdued tones in the morning, and quietly at dinner-time, so as not to over-talk the Bishop, who, as a rule, dines with any guests in the Hall.

But at supper the head-master permits a general letting-up (or down), when there is much fun, hilarity and general good fellowship. Nor this alone; they learn a great deal at the table from one another.

Boys like to tell an ignorant neighbor how to spell a word or name a river, or give to him a bit of school gossip which he has been too unfortunate to hear! In the "waits," too, at table, they will invent games, often quite ingenious. "The game of seven." Each boy at one long table would "guess" what the dessert

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