“I asked her to take a little walk with me. In the course of our walk I took her into the room of a sculptor whom I knew. Here were a number of beautiful marble figures and some blocks of rough marble. The artist was at work on one of these, and Annie and I watched him with great interest. Presently I pointed to a great rough, dark block of marble that stood in the middle of the room, and said: ‘Do you like that, Annie?’ “‘Oh, no,’ she said, ‘why did they bring such an ugly block here?’ “‘That block,’ said the artist, ‘I shall begin to work upon to-morrow. Come in and see it again.’ “The next day Annie and I went in again. The artist spent most of that day in simply knocking off the rough places. Day after day we watched him; and every day the block seemed to grow less ugly. The sharp chisel cut here, and there, and everywhere. As we watched him we often thought if the block was alive and could feel how much it would suffer from the blows of that chisel! “After a while the artist sent us an invitation to come to his studio. I took my little friend and went. As we entered, he said: ‘I have something to show Annie.’ Then he drew aside a thin, white veil, and behold! there stood before us, white as the driven snow, the beautiful image of an angel, that had been made out of that rough marble block. Annie shouted with joy when she saw it. “‘Now, Annie, dear,’ I said, ‘do you think the sculptor hated that rough block of marble when he gave it so many hard knocks?’ “‘Oh, no,’ said she, ‘he loved it; and every blow he gave showed his love for it.’ [Illustration: Jesus, His Work Accomplished, Ascends Into Heaven And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.—And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.—_St. Luke xxiv: 50, 51; Acts i: 10, 11._ _NOTE BY THE ARTIST_ _“And he led them out as far as to Bethany,” passing through the streets of the city, thronged with busy crowds, who knew not that Jesus of Nazareth passed by. Over the ridge of Olivet there is a path leading to Bethany, and following this the traveller reaches a secluded spot on the further slope of the hill, and within sight of the home that Jesus had known and loved; and he pauses in reverence, for these silent stones may have witnessed the crowning scene of the world’s Redemption—Jesus, son of God and son of Man, received up to Heaven, a cloud of adoring angels concealing from mortal gaze his entrance through the everlasting doors into the presence of the Father._ 79]