mbues with a
nameless charm. Here, more than anywhere else, Emerson has caught in a few
simply written stanzas the very essence of mysticism--strange, fleeting,
and yet full of suggestiveness that shifts and shimmers like the shadow
and the sunlight of which the poem tells.

The interpretation of the poem is to be found in an understanding of what
Brahma really means in the Hindu religion and philosophy. It is not a
personal divinity; but rather the creative force of the universe, an
all-pervading presence, bringing power, devotion, and holiness, unlimited
by time or space, and signifying soul and spirit. Hence, Brahma views with
equal unconcern both life and death, both doubt and faith, both shame and
fame. Those who attain to a true conception of this ideal have no need to
think of heaven, since heaven is everywhere.

By RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.

Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

The First Piano in Camp.

BY SAM DAVIS.

The story which is published herewith under the title of
"The First Piano in Camp" originally appeared several years
ago in the Virginia City _Chronicle_, and was then named "A
Christmas Carol." Its literary merit, quaint humor, and
pathos were at once recognized, and in the course of the
next six months it was republished in scores of newspapers
throughout the country. It next reached England, and from
there its popularity spread to the Continent, with the
result that it was translated into nearly every European
language.

In several cases newspapers in reprinting the story failed
to give the name of the author, and, believing that it had
originally been published anonymously, a number of persons
asserted that it had been written by them. These claims were
quickly disproved, however, and in the numerous collections
of specimens of