THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

who brought out our fathers from the
bondage of Egypt, and gave the com-
mandments on Mount Sinai, was the
God of your father and of your mother,
and is your God.”

“Dear mother, cannot we have one
more meal? Is there nothing to eat r
The mother could bear it no longer.
She looked again into the barrel; there
was still ahandful. ‘It was little, and it
was the last. “Sleep, my boy, and I
will try to help you.” This she said in
cheerful accents; but what anguish on
that fine brow! Though wearied and
worn, and herself wasting in absolute
starvation, still an inly light irradiated
her countenance, and high-souled resolve
nerved her, as she left the house, and
closed behind her the door. The dry
soil powdered under her tread; her very
breath died on her lips; all vegetation,
withering, crisped to the touch. ‘Can
there be evil in the city, and the Lord
hath not done it?” thought she ; and as
she approached the gate of the city, she
stooped to gather a few dried branches
that had been broken from an olive-tree.
She was startled at hearing herself ad-
dressed—“ Fetch me, I pray thee, a
little water in a vessel, that I may
drink.” It was the familiar form and
face of him who had spoken to her in her
dream, and she hastened to do his bid-
ding. But he stopped her, saying, “ Bring
me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy
hand.” “As the Lord thy God liveth,”
said she, “I have not a cake, but a
handful of meal in a barrel, and a little
oil in a cruse; and behold, I am gather-
ing two sticks, that I may go in and
dress it for me and my son, that we may
eat it and die.” And Elijah said,
“Fear not; go and do as thou hast

Al

ec ETL

said; but make me thereof a little cake
first, and bring it me; after, make for
thee andfor thy son. [or thus saith the
Lord, the barrel of meal shall not waste,
nor the cruse of oil fail, until the day
that the Lord sendeth rain upon the
earth.” |

In this hour of darkness, her faith
failed not. She went and did according to
the saying of Elijah ; and “ the barrel of
meal wasted not, neither did the cruge
of oil fail.”

The dim light of a lamp just served to

show the pale features of the dying Na-
asson. His mother, with tearless eye,
watched his parting breath; and as she
held his hand in hers, he gave het one
lock of love, and with a single gasp, ex-
pired. ‘
Oh! this was mortal agony. For him,
she had suffered hunger, thirst, priva-
tion; and she had done it with a
willing mind. Their very souls were
welded together by the heat of suffering,
and they had rejoiced together; now,
just at the very fruition of her hopes, he
was taken from her. How naturally she
turned to Elijah! He was an angel of
mercy once—might he not be the agent
of blessing now? She finds him, and
he comes, and brings with him a heart
full of tenderness and compassion.

What an hour of solemn rejoicing
must that have been, in the house of the
widow woman of Zarepeth, when Elijah
the prophet brought back the pre-
cious charge, and laying him in his
mother’s bosom, said, “ See, thy son liv-
eth!” It was no constrained, unwilling
expression of what was in her heart,
when she said, “By this I know that
thou art a man of God, and the word of
the Lord in thy mouth is truth.” w.