O ye beloved of spring time, Can ye come back no more? Bending I trace your footsteps Over the distant shore; Down to the misty river, Into the depths of death, Seeking your presence ever, Praying with sobbing breath, “Can ye come back no more?” Echoing clear from the unseen shore, Answer sweet voices “No more, no more!” O for the pearly gates Of the golden nightless plain, Where your gentle spirit waits For the hour we meet again. Out from the darkness, soft and plain, Comes the glad echo, “_We meet again_.” CHAPTER XVIII. RELIEF MEASURES. “Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw within the moonlight of his room, Making it rich and like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold: Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the presence in the room he said, “What writest thou?” The vision raised its head, And with a look made all of sweet accord, Answered: “The names of those who love the Lord.” “And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,” Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerily still, and said, “I pray thee then Write me as one who loves his fellow men.” The angel wrote and vanished. The next night It came again with a great wakening light And showed the names of whom love of God had blessed, And lo, Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest!” It goes without saying that the destitution and suffering occasioned by the flood were fearful. Everywhere might be seen hundreds of sad-eyed, disconsolate, almost famished creatures, groping about the wreck, almost unconscious of present necessities by reason of present woe. Scores were compelled to drag their precious dead from the wreck and bury them with their own hands--a trying task. Other scores found never a trace of many whom they sought. Hundreds of telegrams of anxious inquiries will never be answered. The pressing necessities of the hungry people soon drove many to seek escape from the place. Yet all railroads were damaged, and in Johnstown itself one could hardly get about the streets. A stranger describes it as it appeared on June 1: