given away-you have it still in yourself in larger measure than before. No gain one gets in this world is equal to the love of hearts that one receives from those one serves in unselfish love.

"My dear, the little things I did for you

To-day have brought me comfort, one by one, As through the purple dark a shaft of sun Strikes far as dawn, and changes dusk to blue; The little things it cost me naught to do,

Remembering how slow life's sands may run, To-day a web of purest gold have spun Across the gulf that lies between us two."

Christ and I Are Friends

"Shut in. Shut in from the ceaseless din
Of the restless world and its heat and sin;
Shut in from its turmoil, care and strife,
And all the wearisome round of life.

"Shut in with tears that are spent in vain
With the dull companionship of pain;
Shut in with the changeless days and hours,
And the bitter knowledge of failing powers.

"Shut in with dreams of days gone by,
With buried hopes that were born to die;
Shut in with the hopes that have lost their zest
And leave but a longing after rest.

"Shut in with a trio of angels sweet, Patience and grace all pain to meet;

With Faith that can suffer and stand and wait
And lean on the promises strong and great.

"Shut in with Christ—Oh glorious thought!
Shut in with the peace his sufferings brought;
Shut in with the love that wields the rod;
Oh company blest-shut in with God."

CHAPTER XI

Christ and I Are Friends

F we ask what was the beloved disciple's religion, we may put the answer into phrase-Christ and John were friends. It was a great, all-absorbing, overmastering friendship that transformed John. This friendship began that day when the Baptist said to two young men, as Jesus passed near: "Behold the Lamb of God." The two young men followed Jesus and were invited to his lodgings, spending the afternoon with him. What took place during those hours we do not know, but we do know that a friendship began between one of the two-then scarcely more than a boy and Jesus, whose bonds have never slackened since. For three years this friendship grew in sweetness and tenderness, and during those years it was that the wonderful transformation took place in the disciple.