BOYS OF THE BIBLE. 59

release. And God set a mark on Cain, by which he was
to bear the strongest kind of a charmed life. For whoso-
ever saw this mark should be careful not to slay Cain, lest
vengeance came upon him seven-fold.

It matters little that we are not told what the mark
was, or whether it was on his cheek or on his brow. ‘The
mark was prominent, so that it might be easily seen, and a
mark that could never wear out. Years would come and
years would go, the firm face would become wrinkled, and
the stalwart form bent low; the eyes would lose their lustre
and the raven locks turn gray, but the mark of the mur-
derer would still be upon him.

There are wounds of the body that leave scars that
never wear out. The soldier, who having fought for his
country, comes home battle-scarred and weary, is proud of
his scars—proud that he will carry them to the grave—for
they tell more truly than golden medals ever can, of his
courage and patriotism. But there are wounds also of the
soul, that leave their scars; they go deeper down and have
a sadder meaning than the scars of the body. The grave
cannat hide them; only the mercy of God can make the soul
whiter than snow, and free from the deep, dark marks of sin.

“And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord,
and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.”

May we not hope that this marked murderer—this
branded beacon of the eariy world—may have found in this
strange land of Nod, east of Eden, time and place for
repentance; and that, though exiled from his early home, he
was not lost to the mercy of God. The dreadful mark of Cain
would then become to him, at least, something less terrible
than at first; it would be the sign of how much he had sinned,
and also the blessed sign of how much he had been forgiven.