"It was this Child, said the angel, who would give to Adam the oil of mercy when the due time should come. Meanwhile the angel gave Seth three seeds from the fruit of the tree of which Adam had eaten. These were to be placed in the mouth of Adam before his burial, and three trees would spring from them--a cedar, a cypress, and a pine. The trees were symbolical of the Holy Trinity." {54} "It happened as the angel foretold. The trees were hardly a foot above the ground in the days of Abraham. Moses, to whom their true nature was revealed, took them up carefully, carried them with him during the years of wandering in the desert, and then replanted them in a mysterious valley named Comprafort (Comfort?). From Comprafort David was directed to bring them to Jerusalem. He planted them close to a fountain, and within thirty years they had grown together so as to form a single tree of wonderful beauty, under the shade of which David composed his psalms and wept for his sins. In spite of its beauty, Solomon cut it down in order to complete his temple, for which a single beam was wanted, of a size such as no other tree could furnish. But in fitting the beam to its place, it was found, after repeated trials, either too long or too short, and this was accepted as a sign that it was not to be so employed." It was then, says one version of the story, reverently preserved in the temple. According to another version, when it was found too short or too long "it was flung aside into a certain marsh, where it served as a bridge. But when the Queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and was about to cross the marsh, she {55} saw in a vision how the Saviour of the world was to be suspended on that tree, and so would not walk over it. It was buried in the earth on the spot where the Pool of Bethesda was afterward made, so that it was not only the descent of the angel, but the virtues of the buried wood, which gave to the water its healing qualities. At the time of the passion the wood rose and floated on the surface. The Jews took it to make the cross of our Lord." More attractive is the legend of how the cross was found, deeply buried in the ground at Jerusalem, by St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor. All three crosses were found, according to the story, and that of our Lord was recognized by certain miracles which it wrought on those who touched it. In representations of the cross we trace two principal forms, the Latin and the Greek cross, from which a great variety, with various significations, have been produced. [Illustration: Latin cross]