I’ve been cataloging the food in the short story collection Katherine’s Yesterday and came across another of those “little booklets” that Grace liked to “recommend” through her characters. It’s “The Greatest Thing In The World” by Professor Henry Drummond. I read the stories a bit out of order and came across a book mentioned in Some Carols For The Lord.

In this short story, the church young people have decided that instead of having that same old children’s Christmas Party that they have every year where they spent lots of money buying the children gifts they were generally unhappy with, that they would do something different this year.

Read the story for the particulars, but they all met at dawn on Christmas Day, caroling through the town and leaving carefully chosen gifts and food at various houses, along with an invitation to a Christmas Day service that evening. Here’s where the book comes in:

“It came to the houses of the rich, as well as the poor, this story sweet and old. There had been no respecting of persons that day. There were dainty cards with sprays of lovely flowers or bits of landscape and a sweet Bible verse for some, and there were a few copies of Professor Drummond’s little white book, left where it was thought they might do good.”

I have to say I was interested, especially since we’ve recently found a few of these little books from “The Girl From Montana” and “Lone Point”. I made a note of it, hoping I would be able to find it with only his name to go on.

Later I was reading the serial Katherine’s Yesterday. In Chapter 7, Katherine receives a Christmas present from one of her summer friends: “Katherine opened one small, thin package, neatly wrapped in white paper, and addressed in a bold, clear hand. Then she gave her undivided attention to the package, and to the letter accompanying it. The opened paper disclosed a small white-clad book with gold letters. The Greatest Thing In The World was the title. On the flyleaf was written, ” A Merry Christmas and Joyful New Year, from your friend, Frank Warner.” Katherine’s cheeks flushed and a pleased look came into her eyes as she turned to the letter. It read:

My dear friend,

The accompanying little book has helped me very much, and I pass it on to you in the hope that you will enjoy it as much as I have. It is Professor Drummond’s address on that wonderful love chapter, I Cor. 13. You will notice that he asks all who will to read that chapter every day for three months. I have begun to do so. Will you join me in it for the first three months of the new year? And may the greatest, the best thing in all the world be yours, is the wish of your friend,

Frank Warner

The next Sunday afternoon the new book was brought out and read; and not only the sister, but the brother, joined the young man in reading that marvelous chapter every day. Assisted by Professor Drummond’s clear, helpful words, they studied Paul’s analysis of “love”, and tried to measure their own lives by it, and alter them so that they would fit the perfect pattern.

Aren’t you curious, too? Well, now that I had the title, I was able to find a copy of the “little white-clad book with gold letters” at archive.org. This edition is from the Cornell University Library and the artwork is lovely. Enjoy!