THE CHILDREN'S COLUMN.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 41, 24 December 1920, Page 12

THE CHILDREN'S COLUMN.

MATER'S letter box. Mater invites children to send in stories for this column, or correspondence which will be replied to through these columns. All matter to be clearly written in ink, on one side of the paper only. Name, age, and address, must be always given, and correspondence direeted to "Mater," care of Editor, "The Digger," Box 31Q, Invercargill. THE LEGEND OF ST. DOROTHEA. Have you ever read the legend of St. Dorothea? It is told by Charles Kingsley in his essay on "The Poetry of Sacred and Lengendary Lore,(" and from his version Uncle William will give part of the old but very beautiful legend. In the province of Cappadocia and in the city of Caesarea, dwelt a noble virgin whose name was Dorothea. In the whole city there was none to be compared to her in beauty and gra-ce of person. She was a Christian, and served God day and night with prayers, with fasting, and with alms. The Governor of tlie city, -y name Sapritius, was a very terri'ole persecutor cf the Christians, and hearing of the maiden and her beauty he ordered her to be brought before him. She came with her mantle folded on her bosom and her eyes meekly cast down. The Governor asked "Who art thou?" and she replied "a am Dorothea, a virgin and servant of' Jesus Christ." He said, "Thou must serve * our gods or die." She answered mildly, "Be it so, the sooner shall I stand in the presence of Him whom I most desire to behold." Then Sapritius ordered her to be carried back to the dungeon. He sent to her two sisters whose names were Calista and Christete, who had once been Christians but who from terror of the torments witn which they were threatened had renounced their faith in Christ. To these women the Governor promised large rewards .'f they would induce Dorothea to follow their evil example; and they, never doubting theif success, boldly undertook the task. The yesult however, was far different, for Dorothea, full of courage and constancy, reprov,ed them as one having authority, and drew such a picture of the joys they had forfeited through their falsehood and cowardice that they fell at her feet saying : "0 blessed Dorothea, pray for us, that through thy intercession our sins may be forgiven and our penitence accepted!" And she did so. When they had left the dungeon they proclaimed aloud that they were servants of Christ. *Then the Governor, furious, commanded that they should be burned, and that Dorothea should witness their torments. And she stood by bravely, encouraging $hem and saying, "u sisters, fear not; auffer to the end, for these transient pains ihall be folkrjged by eternal life." Thus they died, and Dorothea herself" was condemned to be tortured cruelly and then beheaded. The first part of her sentence she endured with invincible fortitnde. She was then led forth to death. .... When she came to the place of execution she knelt down and prayed. Then she bent her head and received the death stroke. 9 WHY HE LIKED HIS CAP. There was once a city missioner who worked much in mean streets and looked after the people who liye'd there. Kind friends who were well-to-do sent him a number of quite good suits of clothes their own boys could no .longer wear, and when he received them he rejoiced, for he knew lots of boys who would be glad to have them. One suit had knicker-bockers and waistcoat and coat all made of the same cloth} and in addition there was a cap of the same matetiai.

Yery quickly the city missioner decided to which particular poor boy this suit should go, and one -day he sent for him. Into the classroom of the Mission Hall, which was both wardrobe and dressingroom, the poor boy came, and the clothes he was wearing were a sight. His coat was just one big tear with lost of holes tied up with rags. Though it was winter he had no waistcoat, and his knickerbockers were too big for him and extremely well ventilated. "Off with your clothes," said the city missiqnary to the boy, and hoping very much that he was not .going to have a bath, the boy took on his rags and flung them into the corner of the room. "Leave them there," said the city missionary, "I am going to burn them later on. Now put on this suit." He gave the boy the other snit, arid very quickly he was magnificently and wonderfully arrayed. Fortunately;

they do not keep Jooking glasses in the classrooms of mission halls or else the boy would simply have swollen with pride. He said "Thank you," in his own strange way, and then just as he was going away he weat over to the heap of rags he had just disearded and picked up something. "What's that?" asked. the city missionary quickly. "My^pld cap, sir," said the boy. • "Oh, never mind that, my lad," said the missionary. "It's true I never saw another like it, but it is dirty, and torn, and old, and I want to bnrn it with the. other rags." "Well, sir," said the boy "Fd rather keep it if you don't mind!" "WhylF asked his friend. "Oh," exclaimed the boy, "it's a home-made cap. My mother made it out of a piece of lin-. ing of her dress, and I like mother.'' He smiled a large smile when he said this last, and, of course the missionary let him have his - way. Great boy, wasn't he? And how well he deserved his suit. * (