240 



THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. xm. 



stood. One by one the grains of golden sand which 

 we had gathered creep through our fingers back to the 

 deep. One by one the bright pebbles or shells we 

 had picked up are dropped in weariness and loss of 

 interest. Many of the friends who walked with us 

 have crossed over to the other side, and as the warm 

 soft sand received ages ago the impress of some 

 creature that crawled over it. and we cleave the dark 

 bosom of the rock and see the immemorial print safe 

 in its core, so our hearts retain the memory of the 

 friends who vanished on the eternal shore, and of the 

 days and things that are past. Our own day is far 

 spent, and the shades of evening will soon fall. Soon 

 our time too will come. But if we have the talisman of 

 the Pearl of Great Price in our bosom, for whose sake 

 we may well part with all our own goodly pearls, our 

 eyes will be opened like those of the Seer of Patmos; 

 and beyond the sunset and the darkness, and on the 

 other side of the sea, we shall behold the battlements 

 of the celestial city ; we shall trust the wave with Him 

 who made the rolling deep a crystal pavement, and 

 death itself will be to us only a warder beside a gate of 

 pearl ! 



