One touch-one little, scarce-felt touch-
Amid so many! 'Twill only be as though
A leaf had fluttered down upon His robe
From one of these tall sycamores,-as though
One snowflake more had fallen noiselessly
Upon those far, calm heights of Lebanon,
So light, so gentle !And for me-for me
It will be life! The Master will not know;
And I shall lay aside this weight of woe,-
This vestiture of hopeless suffering,
Which hath been mine so long, and shall be whole.
I will not wait, methinks, to kneel to Him,
Till the great multitudes have passed away;
Though in the twilight, when the shadows fall,
Unnoticed I might creep unto His feet;
Nay, I will touch His sacred raiment now;
How many have been straightway healed thus !
It may be with that touch I shall be whole.
The Master will not know that one so vile,
So sin-defiled, is near. I need not fear-
The quivering palm-leaves will not tell Him,
Nor the sycamores which grow beside the way:
I think God set them there lest the hot sun
Should smite upon His Servants's face to-day."

So she came nearer-mingled among those
Who followed closest round Him in the crowd.
A moment more, and her worn hand had touched
The border of His robe :its azure hem
Lay for one moment 'neath those fingers frail,
Which came in contact with its wondrous blue
So quick, so tremblingly !And then she knew,
With one wild throb of joy, that she was whole !
But straightway wonderingly the Master turned,
And looking on the eager, restless crowd
Which pressed around His sacred form,
He asked, "Who touched My clothes?"
Then, heeding not their words,
Nor yet the questionings of those He loved,
He sought her where she stood, and looked on her
With one sweet look, which told her He knew all;
And bade her, irresistibly, to rise
And come to Him. Yes, He knew all. As well
Might mother be unconscious that the babe,
O'er which in speechless agony she bent
To see it die, was given back to her
By God ; as well might she not heed its smile,
Nor yet the first light touch upon her cheek
Of the small baby-fingers. So she came-
Rejoicingly, yet tremblingly, she came-
And, kneeling low at His dear feet, she told
How great had been His grace. And then, in words

Which breathed naught but tenderness, He filled
Yet fuller to the brim her cup of joy-
Sealing her trembling gladness with His word,
" Thy faith hath made the whole :go in peace."

J.S.P.