A bevy of children came dancing through the grounds. Beautiful children they were, full of life and gladness. They caught sight of bruin, stretched under the tree, and with a shout they stormed him. The animal saw them coming, and extending himself at full length on the ground, seemed to enjoy the children's tumbling over his shaggy sides. When they patted him on the head and stroked his nose, he licked their hands.
"We haven't reached quite that far," remarked the king.
"Neither do we behold such sights," added his companion, as he pointed to a tiger crouching on the grass, and gazing with no evil intention at a lamb quietly feeding by.
"You will in time," said Paulus. "The earth is being filled with the knowledge of God. Hate, envy, and destruction are fast disappearing, and you see the natural results: the wolf lying down with the lamb, and children playing with once savage beasts. In this way, Satan is being bound, and the whole earth will soon be released from his power."
They came to another group of children, gathered on the shore of a small lake, who were eagerly listening to a man in their midst.
"We will hear what the lesson is today," said Paulus, and they went up to the group. The instructor was holding up a flower which he had plucked from the margin of the water, and was illustrating some peculiarity of vegetable formation to the class.
"It is botany today," said Paulus. "I hoped that it would be his favorite theme."
"And what is that?"
"The improvements on these grounds are the work of his planning and supervision, and he delights to give lessons on earth and water formations. He often sets a class to digging trenches and waterways. He says that he learned all about such things when he went to school, meaning when he was on the earth before."
"Is he a resurrected being?" asked Remand in a low voice.