Page:Armistice Day.djvu/369

Rh the road was too bad for the mules to climb safely, the people took the ropes and helped, for fear the precious statue might fall and break.

There was great joy on the day when the statue was finally ready in its place. Hundreds of people toiled up the steep road the night before, to be ready for the hymns and prayers when the statue should be uncovered. The Argentines camped on the Chilean side of the boundary, and the Chileans on the Argentine side, to show their friendship and good-will. When the statue was at last all ready to be seen, there was a great burst of music and firing of guns. The sound echoed far over the mountains and through the valleys, where all the people could hear and add their voices to the chorus.

Then every one waited in breathless silence while the cover was taken off, and the lovely face of Christ looked at them, seeming to say again, as of old, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." In the hearts of those hundreds of people the angels sang again their chorus of "Peace on earth, good-will to men."

There stands that statue now, strong and immovable as the Andes themselves, where Chile and Argentina may look and remember for ages to come. They have learned the lesson of peace,