Heavily rolleth the wintry clouds,
And the ceaseless snow is falling, falling,
As the frost king's troops in their icy shrouds,
Whistle and howl, like lost spirits calling.

But a warm luxuriantly furnished room,
Is an antidote to the wild night storm,
Lamplight and firelight banish the gloom,
No poverty stalks there with cold gaunt form.

Yet there seems a shadow, yes even there,
Where all is so peacefully grand and still,
No fair young face with its shining hair,
No voice of love with its musical thrill.

One reigneth alone in that mansion grand,
And his day of life has long past its noon,
The wanderer of many a foreign land,
Rests, calmly waiting Heaven's final boon.

There are lines on his brow of grief and care,
Writ with a quill from Time's feathered wing.
There are silver threads in the chesnut hair,
The blossoms white of a fair dawning spring.

Yet Victor Roy has a kindly word,
And a kindly smile for all he meets;
No cry of distress is by him unheard,
While many a blessing his pathway greets.

"Yes, that's right Jasper, draw the curtains close,
And make the fire burn bright;
God help the poor and suffering ones
Within this city to-night.
Did your wife send food to that sick girl in the market lane to-day?
Did you carry coals to the man whose limbs were crushed by the loaded dray?
Well, that's all right, what is it you say? you wish that I did but know
The comfort I give to hearts that are weak, or erring or low.
Have you turned lecturer, Jasper? no; but it makes you sad,
To see me lonely and quiet when I'm making others glad.
But Jasper, remember that you and I, hold certain things in trust,
We must gain some interest on our gold, not let it lie and rust.
I am but a steward for the King, till the time of his return,
There, that will do, supper at ten; how bright those fresh coals burn."
Poor Jasper, he thinks me moping and sad; well, well, I only know
I do not wish that he or aught should ever consider me so,
It would seem like base ingratitude to the Ruler of my way,
Who showers His blessings about and around me every day.
But oh, Great Architect, whose hand has carved my destiny,
There was a time when in my pride, I owned not Thine nor Thee,
Unheeding the Holy Light Divine to man's dark pathway sent,
Unheeding the Bible, blessed chart, to storm tossed sailors sent;
With a film in my eyes, I would not see the ladder based on earth,
Yet reaching to the cloud-crowned height, where the true Light has birth.
The beautiful angels passing up, with all our prayers to God,
Our tears and moans, our fading flowers, all stained with mire and sod--
And coming down; ah, many a time I have blessed the Lord above,
For His pure descending angels, bringing Faith, and Hope, and Love.
There was a time when all this wealth of glory was lost on me,
And I was like a rudderless ship, far out on the rocking sea,
I had a friend, oh that blessed word, we had been parted for years,
And I wandered one day to find him, my heart had no cloudy fears.
That day stands out in bold relief upon Memory's wreck-strewn shore,
Like a beacon light in the lighthouse, undimned by the rush and roar.
'Twas a day in the early June, the clover was red in the field,
And the zephyrs garnered the kisses, the gentle violets yield.
Birds sang, and the sunshine flickered out and about through the cloud,
What had a day like that to do with a pall, a coffin, a shroud?
I stood in a flower-decked churchyard, and on the procession came,
Why did I ask to be answered back, that his was the sleeper's name,
Nearer now to the dark brown earth the band of his brothers turned,
And on snowy aprons and collars of blue the merry sunbeams burned,
I, like a suddenly petrified stone, stood mid the crowd that day,
And with ears which seemed to be leaden, I listened and heard one say:

"Brother, we have met before,
Where the Tyler guards the door,
We have given the well-known sign,
That has blent our souls with thine,
Now this eve, thou giv'st no word,
Back to our souls deep stired,
For the Angel Tylers wait,
At thy Lodge Room's mystic gate.

"Brother, thou art taking rest,
We must still the wild storm breast,
We must build through mist and night,
Thou hast seen the quenchless Light,
While we hew the shapeless stone,
Thou hast bowed before the Throne,
While we tread the chequered floor,
Thou hast pass'd the golden door.

"Oh Companion, were we there,
Ended every pleading prayer,
Ended all the work and toil,
Gathered all the fruit and spoil,
Finished all the war of sin,
By the Warden's hand shut in,
Brother; once again with thee,
What would our first greeting be?

"Loved Companions, we have given,
To the guardianship of Heaven,
Our Brother's precious dust,
And in memory of the just,
Be it ours still to guard,
All he loved, with watch and ward,
Till like him we reach a shore,
Where these sorrows come no more."

"All he loved," I knew as I stood there, he loved not one of that band
As we had loved in our boyhood days, heart to heart and hand to hand,
They called us David and Jonathan, for our hearts were knit as one,
And now I saw him left alone, in the shades of of the dying sun;
Was it his spirit beside me stood; for do not their spirits come,
Relieved from all burden of earthly dross, and win us up to their home?
Was it his spirit urged me on, to seek for the Orient Light?
It seemed that I should be nearer him if one in that mystic rite,
Never a Syrian ready to perish, needed more timely aid,
Never a pilgrim knocked at the door and found more restful shade,
Aye, time has carried me on some way, since the hour I saw the light,
And morning has gone, noontide has gone, now soon must draw on the night.
I heard the young lads in the office talking about me to-day,
I did not mean to play the part of eaves-dropper in their way,
They were wondering who in the name of fate, I would find for my heir,
Wondering why I never was married, there are some so proud and fair,
They knew I could have for the asking, and so they went on with their fun,
Till the "Senior Partner" gave a cough, and then all their mirth was done.
But I asked from Heaven though I know the way is mingled flower and thorn,
That not one from partner to porter may bear all I have borne.
So Jasper thinks I am sad; how the wintry winds whistle to-night!
Heaven grant no poor woman or children are out in this sleety blight.
I cannot read this eve; what ails me? "Chronicle," "Tribune" and "Times,"
Lie looking coaxingly at me, I heed not their prose or rhymes,
Is it thinking so much of Arthur, brings Aimee before me here,
Aimee, my idol, my darling, my pet, who always spoke words of cheer,
Did I say what brings her near me to-night, she is with me every day.
God help me, for Aimee's another man's wife three thousand miles away,
Oh how we loved! there's no use in talking, all do not love the same,
To some 'tis the bread and breath of life, to some it is only a name.
We were going to be married the coming spring, we had planned our nest,
Down in the fairest of fairy dells, in sight of the blue sea's breast,
When Uncle Roy who had sailed to India, many long years before,
Gone from the towers of Edinburgh, and made piles of golden store,
Sent for me all in a hurry and ere long he died on my breast,
And far from the land of the heather we laid him gently to rest.
And then came the fever to me, sick and weak at the point of death,
Raving for Aimee--they told me 'twas Aimee at every breath.
Weeks passed and I woke again one day to breath as it were new air.
The crisis over; now health, life, love and myself a millionaire.
But Victor Ellis came back no more, I was changed into Victor Roy.
Yes, a king with a crown of gold, but the gold was a broken toy,
For a letter lay by me from England, a strange hand-writing to me,
Telling me Aimee, my star of hope, was lost in the treacherous sea.
A party went boating one eve, and the pleasure boat struck the bar,
And before any help could be given, Aimee had floated out far.
Every available thing was done, that landsman or sailor could try,
So fell the burning shower of words that met my bewildered eye.
Oh the night at noon, I have wondered oft how much the heart will bear,
As strand after strand of the toughened cord, strains with the weight and wear.
I felt I must fly, weak as I was, to where she was lying; perhaps
'Twas a merciful Providence after all, that I took a relapse.
Oh, the weary months that crawled slowly by at a tortoise creeping pace,
I seeming to hear the dash of the waves, that hid a beloved face.
Time passed, and I learnt that the roaring sea was not the treacherous thing.
'Twas not the dumb wave, but a living man that turned to Winter my Spring,
And Aimee had married another and sought the Australian shore.
She must have thought I was dead, Heaven help me, betwixt us ocean's roar.
I have sometimes wondered if gold is ever aught but a curse,
No, that's wrong--if honestly gained, no harm in a well filled purse,
But I often think of the little home standing there by the sea,
For far off merry England, the home planned for Aimee and me.
Oh to have toiled for her from dawn till the dews of restful night,
Her smile my guerdon, her love my prize, her heart so happy and bright.
Often I wonder if peace and love have sheltered her with their wings;
Of wealth I suppose they have plenty, and the comforts money brings,
For Montrose was the heir to a large amount of money I know,
And he certainly was not the kind of man to let his money go.
But there must be something warmer than gold to brighten Aimee's sky,
And I hav'nt much faith in a man who could win such a prize by a lie.
But Heaven is good that I found him not when my soul was passion rife,
'Twould only have brought her grief, for my aim was a life for a life,
Well-a-day! come here "Chronicle," let us see if you have a word
To calm the current of burning thoughts that down to their depths are stirred,
I'll read the first thing I meet with, murders, fires, or kingdoms riven;
Oh you are the first on the page, "Vera, to her lover in Heaven."

"My lover why is it this night of storms,
My thoughts are ever turning to thee?
You who are sheltered from all the blast,
Hear the murmuring sounds of the crystal sea.

"My lover; do you remember the day,
When last my hands were in yours entwined,
And the air was faint with the summer flowers,
While a roll of thunder came on the wind.

"My lover; who always spoke words of love,
The tone of thy voice is so clear but far,
A bridge is between us I cannot cross,
But God's will stands at each end of the bar.

"My lover; did you with your mist-cleared eyes,
See me when I thought you were far away,
Did you bring down Hope from your new-found skies,
While my heart was breaking over your clay?

"My lover; how long have the seasons been,
Since I tried to spell out the small word 'wait,'
And learnt to know that your love and life,
Grow ever more strong as the years grow late.

"My lover; in dreams of the night you come,
Out of God's goodness sent from afar,
He arches the barriers for the best,
And Christ's love stands at each end of the bar.

"Some day that arch will widen its breadth,
There'll be room for two, you'll not come in vain,
And over the darkness of weeping and death,
We'll be always together, and happy again."

Why did I read these lines, was it only to mock my woe?
For less would the burden be and the sin would be less I know,
If I knew that my darling was safe and blest where the angels are.
Why do I murmur? for God's will stands at each end of the mystic bar.
Well, why do I stay here gazing hopelessly into the fire?
Watching the coals that glow and burn, then fall away and expire,
It seems that out of their flashing light my lost love appears to rise,
And another face that has haunted me all day with its wistful eyes
As we halted at church to-day; a face, a young girl's face, so sad,
Looked out among the crowd that gazed, and her dark eyes made me glad.
What strange, queer beings we are, a look, or a song, or a flower,
A scent on the air, a sound of the sea, they come with such power,
That the long years vanish away, and over death's murky tide
Spiritual bodies fearlessly walk, and stand with us side by side.
Gone is all distance and time, vanished far is the grave's eclipse.
Again sweet voices are in our ears, their breath upon our lips,
So, with that poor, strange child to-day, who has never heard Aimee's name,
Little she thought that her earnest eyes rekindled a smouldering flame.
There was an old familiar look of the happy days once fled,
An old familiar look of one that I love as we love the dead.
Love her? love Aimee? do I love her less, because since I kissed her last
Over my desolate heart the tides of twenty-five years have passed?
I am longing to-night to hear her hymn, her sweet "Abide with me,"
As she sang it, leaning upon my breast the night I put out to sea.
I know it was only she I loved, and thought of that eventide;
But now I can fully endorse the draft, "O Lord with me abide,"
And spite of the heavy clouds that hang o'er my life path near and far,
I own with Vera that "Christ's love stands at each end of the mystic bar,"
And so much of the desert life has been travelled by night and day,
That the shores of the summer land are not so very far away.
And although I know there is one dark sea where black waves heave and toss,
I know the Pilot who waits for me will carry me safely across.
My path down to that water's edge is one avenue of pines;
But though I walk amid shadows dim, o'erhead the bright sun shines.