in college, and how the young man
became one of the most eminent preachers in America, you must read a
complete biography of Theodore Parker, the hero of this little story.

THE HIDDEN TREASURE

Long, long ago, in the shadowy past, Ali Hafed dwelt on the shores of
the River Indus, in the ancient land of the Hindus. His beautiful
cottage, set in the midst of fruit and flower gardens, looked from the
mountain side on which it stood over the broad expanse of the noble
river. Rich meadows, waving fields of grain, and the herds and flocks
contentedly grazing on the pasture lands, testified to the thrift and
prosperity of Ali Hafed. The love of a beautiful wife and a large
family of light-hearted boys and girls made his home an earthly
paradise. Healthy, wealthy, contented, rich in love and friendship, his
cup of happiness seemed full to overflowing.

Happy and contented, as we have seen, was the good Ali Hafed, when one
evening a learned priest of Buddha, journeying along the banks of the
Indus, stopped for rest and refreshment at his home, where all
wayfarers were hospitably welcomed and treated as honored guests.

After the evening meal, the farmer and his family, with the priest in
their midst, gathered around the fireside, the chilly mountain air of
the late autumn making a fire desirable. The disciple of Buddha
entertained his kind hosts with various legends and myths, and last of
all with the story of the creation.

He told his wondering listeners how in the beginning the solid earth on
which they lived was not solid at all, but a mere bank of fog. "The
Great Spirit," said he, "thrust his finger into the bank of fog and
began slowly describing a circle in its midst, increasing the speed
gradually until the fog went whirling round his finger so rapidly that
it was transformed into a glowing ball of fire. Then the Creative
Spirit hurled the fiery ball from his hand, and it shot through the
universe, burning its way through other banks of fog and condensing
them into rain, which fell in great floods, cooling the surface of the
immense ball. Flames then bursting from the interior through the cooled
outer crust, threw up the hills and mountain ranges, and made the
beautiful fertile valleys. In the flood of rain that followed this
fiery upheaval, the substance that cooled very quickly formed granite,
that which cooled less rapidly became copper, the next in degree cooled
down into silver, and the last became go