PART I. A VINDICATION

BY

JOHN R. BOLLES.

18THE PATHWAY OF THE YEARS.

An onward path we have to tread,

We cannot see the way.

Faith, love and hope their radiance shed,

Here and thus far the years have led;

But of the steps that lie ahead

We know not one to-day.

Then pause, look back and courage take;

How bright the road appears!

Each foot that trod there helped to break

Rough places down, and for our sake

Were lived the lives that shining make

The pathway of the years.

Backward it reaches, firm and sure

The steps that trod the way,

In simple homes, with purpose pure,

Faith to inspire, hope to allure;

Men wrought for ends that still endure

And make us strong to-day.

The days to come are all unread,

Unguessed by hopes or fears;

But press with courage high ahead,

For still there grows beneath our tread,

The highway grand, by pilgrims made,

The pathway of the years.

We come of heroes! Be each soul

Loyal like theirs, and free,

A shrine of honor, a white scroll;

That, as life’s pages fresh unroll,

They who then read, may find the goal

We sought was heavenly.

Mary L. Bolles Branch.

19A VINDICATION.