and foreheads of all the men who
came forward to receive it. Time would not permit me to describe this in
detail; but the baptism of the children, which immediately followed in
another part of the church, was a novel though pitiful sight, and one
that will make you realize what a blessing it is to be born in an
enlightened land.

The women's department is separated from that of the men; they are never
allowed to enter the upper places, and in the ceremony of baptism of
children the fathers do not appear.

[Illustration]

When all was ready, three little creatures were brought in, their dark
eyes looking wonderingly around. Turning to the west, and holding her
child, the mother promised to renounce the devil and all his works;
then, facing the east, she held it forth to signify her acceptance of
Christ for the child, after which it was sprinkled by the priest. But
the ceremony did not end here, for the poor babes were taken to a font,
and in the midst of long Coptic prayers they were disrobed and immersed
three times. Then came the anointing with holy oil, the priest roughly
and awkwardly--for he was very old--rubbing it over all the members and
joints of the child from its wrist.

It was a cruel sight, for the church was quite cold, and as at last the
poor little victims were dressed and handed back to their mothers, we
hurried away. I lay for some time in my narrow berth that night unable
to sleep and thinking of the ceremony I had just witnessed. At last I
fell asleep, but only to see the faces of countless babies calling to me
in vain for help, and when I awoke from my troubled dreams it was with a
firm determination never again to see a Coptic baptism.

[Begun in No. 46 of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, September 14.]

WHO WAS PAUL GRAYSON?

BY JOHN HABBERTON,

AUTHOR OF "HELEN'S BABIES."

CHAPTER V.

THOSE JAIL-BIRDS.

Although the people of Laketon could not forgive Mr. Morton and Paul
Grayson for not talking more about themselves and their past lives, they
could not deny that both the teacher and his pupil were of decided value
to the town. All the boys, whether in Mr. Morton's school or the public
school, seemed to like Paul Grayson when they became acquainted with
him, and the parents of the boys sensibly argued that there could not be
anything very bad about a boy who was so popular. Besides, the other
boys in talking about Paul declared that he never swore and never lied;
and as lying and swea