A SEA FAN AND A SEA PARABLE. 131 



dered a power came upon us to build. We 

 gave ourselves ; we could do no more. The 

 vision is ever before us. We would that we 

 could better accomplish the work that was 

 given us to do." 



A wave circled among the bi'anches of coral 

 and whispered to the little polypi : " I come 

 from laving a beautiful island where palm trees 

 grow and homes of mankind are clustering. It 

 was you, little ' reef builders,' who laid the 

 foundations of that island. Ye builded better 

 than ye knew." And the wave with the sil- 

 very crest sped on. 



Upon the sand crawled a crab — he with the 

 " compound faceted eyes " ! He of the race of 

 armored knights ! But, alas ! by generations 

 of indulgence and selfishness, lost was half his 

 coat-of-mail — which had been a family heir- 

 loom — ^two of his sets of claws, made strong 

 for service, had become enfeebled by disuse or 

 wholly followed the lost armor. He crawled 

 in terror upon the sand, seeking safety from 

 his legion of enemies. Spying the shell of an 

 industrious mollusk, he hastily devoured the 

 helpless creature and backed crabbedly into 

 its empty shell. The crab had become the 

 half -naked vagabond tramp of the seashore ! 



A wave broke upon the sand. It gave the 



