Chapter XI: Brown-Haired Bess

“They said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.” 2 Kings
2:15.

Fan, handkerchief, and gloves in waiting lay;
She turned them gently over,—brown-haired Bess,
Stroked each one fondly, then looked up to say,
“There’s lilies, mamma, in your drawer, I guess.”

Mamma smiled down upon the upturned face,
And ’gainst the rosy cheek she softly laid
A letter. “Oh! they made it in the place
Where violets blossom,” said the little maid.

All out of sight and sound played noisy Fred;
Came in, so happy, when the sun went down.
“Out in the field you’ve been,” his mother said,
“Among the clover and the grass, new-mown.”

“How could you tell? Oh! I know,” laughed the boy,
“I’ve caught the sweet, and brought it all away;
Just so, you said, I’d bring a pain or joy,
As with the bad or good I chose to play.

“And in my lesson on the apostles bold,
It said, ‘They’d been with Jesus.’ Did it mean
They brought away the pleasant things he told,
And showed to other men what they had seen?”

So brown-haired Bess, trying the livelong day,
To be obedient, patient, loving, true,
Serving the Master in her child-like way,
Can show as plainly as the violets blue

The fragrance of a life “hid evermore
With God, in Christ.” Lord, humbly we implore
Thy Spirit on each little child may rest,
And make them, one and all, forever blest!