{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_7036/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_7036","id":"gutenberg_7036","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7036","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Other","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian life -- Fiction","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction"],"text":"This eBook was produced by Joel Erickson, Charles Franks, Juliet Sutherland\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE POORHOUSE WAIF\n\nand\n\nHIS DIVINE TEACHER\n\nA True Story\n\nBY ISABEL C. BYRUM\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nPreface\n\nI The Deserted Child\n\nII Life in the Almshouse\n\nIII From Bad to Worse\n\nIV Finding Friends\n\nV Suffering for the Faults of Others\n\nVI The Strange Visitor\n\nVII Mysteries Unfolding\n\nVIII Discovers the Existence of God\n\nIX In the Home of a Witch\n\nX A Contrast\n\nXI Searching for Light\n\nXII A Revelation on Eternity\n\nXIII Puzzled about Prayer\n\nXIV A Prayer-Meeting\n\nXV A Star of Hope\n\nXVI A Revelation on Tobacco\n\nXVII The Camp-Meeting\n\nXVIII Discovers the Existence of God's Word\n\nXIX Devotion and Works\n\nXX Called to Service\n\nXXI Discovers God's Church\n\nXXII Visits the Poorhouse\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nTHE DESERTED CHILD\n\n  In this wide world the fondest and the best\n  Are the most tried, most troubled, and distressed.\n\n  --Crabbe.\n\n\"Why, woman, you are not thinking of leaving that child in this place for\nus to look after, I hope! Our hands are more than full already. You say\nthat the child is scarcely a month old. How do you suppose that we could\ngive it a mother's care? More than this, the board that governs the affairs\nof this institution has given us orders to accept no children under seven\nmonths of age whose mothers are not with them. So if we should take the\nchild, as you say we must, you would be obliged to remain for that length\nof time, at least, to help us care for it.\"\n\nIt was August Engler, steward of the county poorhouse in one of the eastern\ncounties of Pennsylvania during the sixties, that spoke these words, and\nthe circumstance that called forth the language was the appearance and\nrequest of Mrs. Fischer, a well-dressed young widow. The latter had come to\nthe poorhouse with the intention of leaving her infant child. To this plan\nMr. Engler had objected unless she was willing to comply with the rules of\nthe place.\n\nMrs. Fischer, the mother of three little children, had recently heard that\nher husband, a soldier in the Civil War, had been killed in battle, and\nimmediately she had gone into deep mourning as far as her dress was\nconcerned. The care of her family, however, she felt was too great a\nresponsibility to assume alone, and she had decided that the best thing for\nher to do was to give her three small children away and that the sooner it\nwas done the better it would be. It was not hard to find homes for the girl\nand the boy, but with baby Edwin it was different He was so young that\nnobody cared to be bothered with him, and although she had tried hard, she\nhad not succeeded in finding him a home.\n\nIn her perplexity she rushed to the infirmary. So confident had she been\nthat it would be the duty of this institution to help her out that she had\nnot thought of asking the privilege of leaving her baby as a favor.\n\nAs steward and matron of the poorhouse, Mr. and Mrs. Engler did what they\ncould to keep things going smoothly and in order, but the work was too\nlarge for them to handle it properly. At that early date no special place\nexcept the poor farm had been provided for the simple and the insane; so it\nwas necessary to have several buildings, both large and small, to provide\nfor the needs of the people.\n\nIn the building that was known as the poorhouse proper was the main office.\nIt was here that Mrs. Fischer appeared. Several other rooms of importance\nwere also in this building, such as the dining-room and some\nliving-apartments, but the bakery and the kitchen were in a building just a\nshort distance away. And there was still another building, a large brick\nstructure close to the main building. This was used for the confinement of\nsuch persons as the insane and the unmanageable, and the doors and windows,\nas well as the transoms, on both the inside and the outside were secured by\niron bars. From these dark prison walls many strange and hideous sounds\ncould be heard at any hour of the night or day.\n\nIn the entire establishment the furnishings were scant and poor, and in\nevery way things were vastly different from what we find them in the\npoorhouse of our modern times. In the main office, where Mr. Engler\ntransacted his business affairs and entertained strangers, there was simply\na rude desk, a homemade couch without springs or mattress, and a few\nrush-bottomed chairs. For years the walls had been growing darker because\nof the constant use of tobacco by those who frequented the place.\n\nHad it not been that the steward and the matron of this home for the poor\nwere capable persons and able to get considerable help out of the inmates,\nthey could not have managed to keep up the place at all. To conceal the\nfact that the poorhouse was a miserable place to stay would have been an\nimpossibility.\n\nTo the selfish mother it mattered not that the office within which she was\nstanding was an index to the entire building. Regardless of consequences,\nshe cared only to be freed from her burdens and responsibilities as a\nmother. So the answer that Mr. Engler gave her only stirred within her evil\nheart the anger and cruelty already there, and with a fiendish glare of\nderision toward the one who was endeavoring to do his duty, she took a step\ntoward the hard couch and threw, rather than laid, the bundle she held in\nher arms upon it. An instant later she disappeared through the open\ndoorway. When Mr. Engler recovered from his surprize and went to look for\nher, he saw her running up the road as fast as her feet would carry her.\n\nRealizing in part the seriousness of the situation, Mr. Engler went at once\nto notify his wife, and, leaving her in charge of the little one, he, with\nothers, set out to find the runaway mother. The task proved to be\ndifficult. Owing to the fact that the woman was a stranger in the community\nand had gotten the advantage of her pursuers, it took some time to find\nher, but at last she was returned to the infirmary and was given orders by\nthe authorities not to repeat the offense of deserting her baby.\n\nAs the feeble-minded people at the almshouse sometimes caused trouble by\nrunning off, large balls of iron had been provided to be chained to the\nfeet of such persons. Thus their progress would be hindered and their\nescape be less probable. Still they could take a part in the work that had\nbeen assigned them about the place. It was thought best to use this method\nof securing Mrs. Fischer. When the chains were fastened about her ankles,\none of the authorities who had helped in capturing her remarked, \"I guess\nnow you'll not raise your feet for a while as nimbly as you have been doing\nof late.\"\n\nThat evening Mr. Engler said to his wife: \"It's the strangest case I ever\nheard tell of. Surely that woman has made the future of her infant son dark\nand uncertain. It doesn't seem possible that any mother could treat her\nchild in such a shameful manner. I'm sure if that woman could get loose\nthis minute she'd run away again, and we'll have to watch her closely while\nshe's here.\"\n\n\"Did you see the baby's large brown eyes?\" Mrs. Engler asked, as her\nhusband ceased speaking. \"He's certainly a nice child, and it's a shame to\nsee him grow up among all these paupers; but if his mother doesn't care, I\ndon't know who will.\"\n\n\"Well, I don't know that it's any of our business, either, except to see\nthat she takes care of him while she's here, and after that I guess we can\nmanage some way as we always have,\" Mr. Engler replied. \"You've got too\nmuch to do to take any of her responsibilities on your shoulders, and you\nmust not try. If people will force their children on the charity of the\ncommunity, they must take the consequences.\"\n\nThe constant work and worry incident to caring for so many poor,\ndisheartened people was indeed great, and Mr. Engler was right when he told\nhis wife that she already had too much work to do; but it was very hard for\nher to think of the neglect that the poor little child would undergo even\nwhile its mother was there, for such a heartless woman could not be\nexpected to do her duty. As the days and weeks glided by, it was as Mrs.\nEngler had feared, and the cruel manner in which the babe was handled was\npitiful to behold. But scolding and criticizing the mother did neither the\nmother nor the child any good, and Mrs. Engler endeavored to forget about\nthe matter and to let the baby get along as well as it could.\n\nWhen at last the seven months had expired and the day for the departure of\nMrs. Fischer had arrived, the woman who had so disgraced the name of\nmotherhood was glad. The pretty costume of black was faded and worn, and\nthe glossy hair was tangled and unkempt, but within the eye the light of\nevil was shining brighter than ever. It was indeed a glad moment for her\nwhen she heard the chains about her ankles clanking heavily upon the floor\nand she knew that she was once more a free woman and could go and do as she\npleased. And without a thought for the comfort or a plan for the future of\nher helpless child, she left him to the generosity of the people.\n\nIt truly might seem that the young life was blighted, but there was One far\nbetter than mother, brother, or sister who cared and was ready to lend a\nhelping hand.\n\n\"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good\"\n(Prov. 15:3).\n\n\"Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have\nstorehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than\nthe fowls?\" (Luke 12:24).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nLIFE IN THE ALMSHOUSE\n\n  Few save the poor feel for the poor:\n  The rich know not how hard\n  It is to be of needful rest\n  And needful food debarred;\n  They know not of the scanty meal,\n  With small, pale faces round;\n  No fire upon the cold, damp hearth\n  When snow is on the ground.\n\n  --Miss Landon.\n\nMrs. Engler had long since given the care and feeding of the children over\ninto the hands of inexperienced women, who might have utterly ruined the\ndelicate digestive organs had it not been that the food allowed was\nwholesome and the quantities too small for them to overfeed. The children,\nafter being provided with pewter spoons, were seated in groups around large\npans and were allowed to dip as they chose into the mixture that the pan\ncontained. For a time after his mother's departure baby Edwin was fed from\na cup, but as soon as he was able to handle the spoon and to toddle about\nthe floor, he had to take his place with the others. Thus, table manners\nand politeness were unknown, and the earliest picture stamped upon the mind\nof little Edwin that he could in after-years remember was a group of boys\nand girls, of all ages and of whom he numbered one, hovering about a large\ndishpan, each eagerly watching for an opportunity to \"dip\" for his or her\nshare of the food.\n\nWith the picture came a desire to be good and kind to all. Perhaps some\nChristian friend of the family had offered just such a prayer for him, and\nGod, knowing the evil surroundings that would have a tendency to make him\nselfish or unkind, protected and shielded him with this very wall of\nkindness. At least God saw and understood, and he cared enough to help the\npoor little innocent, untaught boy as he matured from babyhood not only to\nbe unselfish but to avoid doing many things that might have provoked others\nto anger. In short, God became his teacher, and many times while Edwin was\nstill very young, when he discovered his playmates doing that which was\nevil, there was something within his heart that said it was wrong and that\nhe ought not to do as they were doing. His ideas in regard to the right and\nwrong of different things he for a time expressed quite freely among the\nchildren; but, finding that he was only ridiculed for his pious thoughts,\nhe learned to keep his views to himself. Although he was silent, he\nendeavored to keep as far away as possible from the scenes that troubled\nhis finer nature.\n\nBut not all the days were dark for Edwin. There were times when the\nchildren were taken for long walks out in the fields or woods, where the\nflowers grew and where the birds sang their sweet songs. Upon such\noccasions Edwin's heart would be so filled with gladness that he would be\nalmost beside himself. Not only the brown and yellow butterflies gliding\nhither and thither, lighting now and then upon some pretty blossom, only to\nsoar away again high above his head as they discovered him approaching,\nattracted his attention; but their cousins, the little black crickets and\nthe green and brown grasshoppers, springing about him in the meadowlands,\nmade him shout aloud with delight. Not knowing the true names of the lively\nlittle fellows in the grass, he called them \"jumper-men.\" Sometimes he\nwould catch them in his hands, but he never thought of hurting them just\nfor fun. And the turnip-patch! What a treat it was for all the children to\npull the pretty white balls from the earth and to eat them, dirt and all,\nfor it must be remembered that none of the children had been taught by\ntheir overseers to be clean and neat. It was too great an undertaking for\nMrs. Engler to attend to such minor points. So the turnip just out of the\nground was more of a luxury to Edwin in his half-starved condition than\ncandy could have been, and candy at the poorhouse was practically unknown.\n\nOnce there was a kind old lady who came to stay for a short time in the\nhome. From the first she seemed interested in Edwin, and, seeing his great\ndesire to do the right, she endeavored to help and to encourage him. She\nhad a son of her own, who once had been small like Edwin, and she could\nunderstand how very hard some things were for Edwin to bear.\n\nAmong the things that the lady taught him to do was to kneel down and with\nhis little hands folded and in her lap, repeat after her the little prayer,\n\"Now I lay me down to sleep.\" But she failed to tell him that it was\npraying or what it meant to pray. Neither did she explain that there was a\ngreat God over all, to whom he could tell all his troubles. But although\nEdwin did not know the meaning of prayer, there was something about the\nwords and the repeating of them that he enjoyed, and long after the dear\nold lady had gone away from the almshouse, the words seemed to bring a real\ncomfort and satisfaction to his poor little hungry soul.\n\nUntil the sixth year of Edwin's life he never heard that he had ever had a\nfather, a mother, or a home other than the place in which he was then\nliving. He knew only that he existed, and that from day to day there were\nmany things happening about him, some of which he enjoyed, but a great many\nof which were distasteful to him. But all that took place he quietly\nendured, thinking that it was the best that there was in life for him. The\nfact that some were more favored than he was caused him no jealous or\ncovetous feelings. He reasoned that it was all right for them, but for\nhimself it could not be.\n\nDuring the play-hours when the children were allowed to amuse themselves\noutside of the building, Edwin soon discovered that \"a soft answer turneth\naway wrath, but grievous words stir up anger\" (Prov. 15:1). God must surely\nhave taught Edwin the meaning of this proverb; for the old lady did not\nmention it in any of her talks, and there was no one else in that wretched\nplace to tell him.\n\nMany times the childish games were interrupted by the screaming and the\nswearing of the people in the insane-apartment. The timid children would\ncry out and tremble, but those who were older often tried to repeat the\nprofane language. All these things, like many others, made deep impressions\nupon the sensitive nature of Edwin, and although he was not afraid, he\noften pondered them in his heart. Sometimes seated in a secluded corner he\nwould watch the poor demented creatures with a pitying gaze, wondering why\nthey talked and acted so strangely, but whether he could or could not\nunderstand them, he studied the sane and the mad alike, and what he felt\nwas right in the conduct of either he made his pattern, but the wrong he\nrejected.\n\nAt times during the play-hours the children, overcome by hunger, would slip\naround to the large window that opened into the bakery and there stand\ngazing wistfully down upon the loaves of fresh bread as they were taken\nfrom the large oven. Sometimes some crusts or stale biscuits were given\nthem, and with these they would scamper away to the pump to moisten the\nbread before dividing it. It sometimes happened that there was not\nsufficient bread for each child to have even a bit, and when it happened\nthus, Edwin always gave his share to some one else. And when asked if he\nwould like some certain thing, his answer was always, \"If no one else wants\nit.\"\n\nBecause of his thoughtfulness he was often obliged, because of the\nselfishness of others, to eat foods that had been rejected as refuse, but\nin his heart he never complained nor felt that he had not acted wisely.\nThus, the Golden Rule, although in words unknown to him, became a governing\nprinciple in his life.\n\nWhen the days were pleasant and warm during the summer months, groups of\nmen and women often gathered about upon the large platform that surrounded\nthe pump, or under the shade of an apple-tree, to prepare the vegetables\nfor the table or the fruits for the coming winter's use. As little was\nknown at that time about home canning, the fruits were usually dried in the\nsun or in the large ovens after the baking was done. The children loved to\ngather about the groups at work to keep close watch for stray bunches of\nberries or raw potatoes and turnips, that might be carelessly dropped. In\nthis they were now and then successful, but the rounds of Mrs. Engler were\nfrequent, and for several reasons the workers were particular that nothing\nbe lost or wasted.\n\nInstead of horses, heavy teams of oxen were used for all farming purposes.\nThese animals, although faithful and trusty under ordinary circumstances,\ndid not like to have children playing about their feet; and as there was no\none to pay especial attention to the little ones, it sometimes happened\nthat a child was either crippled or killed by the hoofs or horns of the\npowerful animals. On one occasion Edwin saw one of his playmates bruised\nand trampled in this way.\n\nThese scenes, as well as the regular rounds of the chore-boy Jim with his\nwater-yoke upon his shoulders, carrying either water for the home or slop\nfor the pigs, were sights that were common and in many cases interesting to\nEdwin. But from them he could learn practically nothing of the things that\nhe would need before he could become a useful man in the world. Aside from\na few instructions that were given them in hard labor, the poorhouse\nchildren were allowed to grow up as a flock of poorly fed chickens or\nanimals. They were given their rations, a place to sleep, and that was\nabout all.\n\nThe daily routine of the almshouse from year to year was little changed.\nSome passed on to their reward in the beyond, but the general order of\nthings remained the same. The steward and his wife were busy from early\ndawn until late at night looking after everything and everybody, but many\nof the things of vital importance had to be neglected for a lack of\nsufficient time and strength.\n\n\"Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is\nperverse in his ways, though he be rich\" (Prov. 28:6).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nFROM BAD TO WORSE\n\n  \"What bliss is born of sorrow!\n  'Tis never sent in vain--\n  The heavenly Surgeon maims to save,\n  He gives no useless pain.\"\n\n  --Watt.\n\nSomething more than six years had passed since the departure of Mrs.\nFischer from the county poor-house, but still the place was little changed.\nMr. Engler was once more in the office of the institution. This time he was\nthere to interview a stranger concerning the child Edwin. There was still\nthe same strong odor of nicotine in the room, and the furniture and the\ncondition of the walls and the floor still told of much want and\nwretchedness, as well as of habits that were unclean; but apparently as\nlittle heed was given to the fact by the stranger as had been manifested by\nthe selfish mother.\n\nIt seems that the word that Mrs. Fischer was receiving generous pensions\nboth for herself and for the support of her children had been carried to\nthe board that governed the affairs of the poorhouse. Finding that none of\nthe amount had been paid into that institution, orders had been issued to\nthe effect that Mrs. Fischer must either pay for the support of her child\nor take him away from the almshouse. Having received a notice from Mr.\nEngler of the board's decision, she had decided to have him brought to her\nown home, and the stranger was no other than the boy's own uncle. He had\ncome with horse and buggy, at the mother's request, he had told Mr. Engler,\nand he would appreciate having the child brought to him as quickly as\npossible, as he had no time to lose.\n\n\"And so the heartless woman's sent for her child at last, has she?\" Mr.\nEngler said in a tone that might have inferred several things.\n\n\"Yes, that was her order,\" was the reply, and Mr. Engler left the room at\nonce to bring the fatherless and worse than motherless boy. The steward\nsmiled as he thought of the contrast between Edwin and his uncle. The\nlatter, a large, powerful man, was well-dressed and was apparently of a\nstrong will, and the peculiar light within his eye and the hard lines about\nhis mouth revealed the same characteristics that had been so prominent in\nthe mother. Edwin, on the other hand, was small for his age and hollow-eyed\nfrom lack of sufficient food to satisfy his hunger, and his clothes were\nragged and soiled. The honest, straightforward expression of the large\nbrown eyes and the marks of refinement around his mouth made up, however,\nfor what he otherwise lacked.\n\nIn a room where several other children were playing Edwin was found, but he\nwas taking no part in the games. In fact, many things were done by the\nchildren in the poorhouse day after day that he did not enjoy and in which\nhe would take no part. If questioned he could not have explained why he\nfelt as he did about their actions, but he preferred turning to the window,\nwhere he could look out upon God's creation. The little birds that had\ncharmed him in his rambles had long been his friends, and as he gazed\nthrough an open window, he could see a nest full of small fuzzy heads\nwaiting for the parent birds to bring them a meal of worms. Many times the\nbills had been raised and the mouths opened wide because of the rustling of\nthe leaves above or below them, and the boy was glad when they could\nrealize that their expected meal was there.\n\nIn answer to Mr. Engler's order to come at once to the office, Edwin\nfollowed, but before he entered the room, Mrs. Engler saw to it that his\nclothing was changed, so that he would be a little more respectable to\nappear in public.\n\nIt was evident that, when Edwin, clad in a pair of faded blue overalls and\nshirt, entered the presence of his uncle, the latter was greatly surprized\nat the slight figure before him, but he sought to conceal his thoughts and\nsaid, \"Edwin, I'm your uncle and have come to take you home to your\nmother.\"\n\nVery pleasantly these words fell upon Edwin's ears, but he associated them\nwith his rambles; for he knew nothing at all about his father or mother,\nnot even that any such relation was necessary in life. He therefore was\nglad, but said nothing, for he knew not what to say. Mistaking the meaning\nof his silence for timidity, the uncle spoke again.\n\n\"Come on now, boy; I am here with a horse and buggy to take you to your\nmother's home. Will you be glad to see your mother?\"\n\nBut again Edwin was at a loss to know what to say, but his thoughts were\nthat the man before him was very large. It was not until his uncle said\nimpatiently, \"Come along!\" that he understood, and this command he\ninstantly obeyed.\n\nA moment later the two were standing beside a large noble-looking brown\nhorse that was hitched to an open buggy. Next he felt a pair of strong\nhands placed upon his shoulders, and then he was lifted high in the air to\na seat that was so different from the bed of the old ox-wagon that he had\nto examine and rub his hand over the soft cushion. When his uncle took the\nseat beside him, everything about him began to move, and he thought of the\nfew times when the children had been taken for rides behind the large team\nof oxen. But he had never been away from the poorhouse farm, and when they\npassed from the driveway on to the public highway, he remembered that the\nchildren had been forbidden to leave the place, and he wondered what it all\nmeant. He was not troubled, however, for Mr. Engler knew of his going, and\nhe reasoned that since he was not going of his own accord, it must be all\nright.\n\nAs there was nothing else for him to do as he and his uncle rode along, he\nbegan to look about at the many interesting things. The herds in the large\nmeadow-lands reminded him of the poorhouse cattle, and as he saw the little\n\"jumper-men\" skipping about in the tall grass, so many pleasant\nrecollections were brought to his mind that he laughed aloud. They met\nother horses and buggies similar to their own as well as covered carriages,\nand passed some horses quite like his uncle's tied to hitching-racks in\nfront of houses or running about in the rich pasturelands.\n\nThe musical birds also added much to the boy's enjoyment when he heard them\nnow and then singing in some tree-top or bower, but all that he thought\nabout any of the beautiful things around him was unexpressed and securely\nfastened within his little mind for future meditation. His small store of\nknowledge had been gained in this way, but it seemed to be God's method of\nteaching him the lessons that in later years would be the most useful to\nhim.\n\nOccasionally he turned to look at the \"big man\" by his side, and each time\nbeneath the poverty-branded garments there throbbed a heart full of the\ndeepest esteem, and his desire to do his very best to win the confidence\nand friendship of his new companion was strong. This was not a new impulse\nin Edwin, for he had always endeavored to please every one, and in doing\nthis he had found real pleasure.\n\nThe afternoon was rapidly passing away, and as the sun sank in the western\nhorizon, the blue sky above him became streaked with crimson and gold. Then\nEdwin noticed that the houses were closer together, but he did not know\nthat it was because he was entering a village and was close to his mother's\nhome.\n\nDuring the entire journey from the poorhouse the uncle had been silent, but\nsuddenly Edwin saw the right line tightening, and in answer to the uncle's\ncommand, \"Whoa there, Bill!\" they stopped close beside a hitching-post.\n\nWithout a word of explanation the uncle sprang lightly to the ground and\nafter tying the horse grasped Edwin's shoulders and roughly placed him upon\nthe ground. Again the boy's decision to endeavor to please was\nstrengthened, and when the uncle started toward the pretty brown house just\ninside the picket fence and repeated the words he had used at the\npoorhouse, \"Come along,\" Edwin instantly obeyed.\n\nAs they passed in through the open gateway, Edwin noticed pretty\nflower-bushes. His uncle told him that it was his mother's home. As they\nstepped upon the porch, Edwin could not refrain from sniffing in some of\nthe delicious fragrance of the honey-suckle blossoms dangling so gracefully\nhere and there from the pillars of the porch, but he was hurried on.\n\nWhen they entered the house, Edwin looked about in amazement, for\neverything seemed so very beautiful. Then he saw a woman sitting near a\nwindow with a piece of sewing in her hands and three children--a boy about\nhis own size, a girl, and a boy younger--playing on the floor.\n\n\"This is your mother,\" he heard his uncle say.\n\nWithout rising or giving the child a word of welcome, the unfeeling woman\nsaid to the uncle:\n\n\"What do you think of him?\"\n\n\"I don't know what to think,\" was the uncle's answer. \"He hasn't said a\nword since Engler turned him over into my care, and I certainly tried hard\nto get something out of him. All he did until I told him to come along was\nto stare at me with those large brown eyes of his. While we were riding\nalong, though, he seemed to see everything there was to see, and by the way\nhe kept smiling to himself one would have supposed he was looking at a\ncircus.\"\n\nAh, could they have known the deep thoughts that had been passing through\nthe childish mind even upon that trip, they would have understood better\nhow to encourage him. With no consideration for the manner in which Edwin\nhad been shut away from the better class of society and the proper helps\nthat are usually thrown about the young, they at once gave him a low and\ndegraded place in their estimation and pronounced him dull, stupid, and\nidiotic. All commands were given in a harsh tone and in such a manner that\nhe could not comprehend them.\n\nBefore going farther into the life of Edwin, it might be well to explain\nthat the uncle and his three small children were making their home with\nEdwin's mother. The house in which they were living, although rented,\ncontained many comforts and even luxuries; for the mother, aside from her\npension-money, was being liberally paid by the uncle for keeping him and\nhis family. And Edwin's ignorance, as has already been inferred, was due to\nhis lack of training and to the fact that everything in his mother's house\nwas so new and different from what he had been used to in the poorhouse.\n\n\"Go and wash yourself and get ready for supper,\" he heard his mother say;\nbut he had not been taught that this was necessary, and because he did not\nunderstand and so failed to obey, he was scolded and abused.\n\n\"You worthless thing!\" his mother said. \"I'm sorry I didn't leave you at\nthe poorhouse now and let you grow up with the cattle if you don't know\nenough to wash before you eat.\"\n\nWhen supper was ready, she ordered Edwin to get around behind the table in\na corner where he would be the farthest from her, and added, \"Any place in\nmy home is too good for the like of you, and you shall stand while you eat.\nDo you hear?\"\n\nEvidently Edwin understood this command, for he had been used to eating his\nmeals under just such trying circumstances, and he went at once to the\nplace assigned him. The good food upon the table was very tempting, and\nwhen he had eaten all that was on his plate, he watched the other children\nto see what they would do when more was wanted, and when he saw them\npassing plates, he did the same.\n\nHe did not repeat this, however, for he found that he was not expected to\nshare with the rest or to eat until his hunger was satisfied. Without a\nmurmur he did without the dainties that were given freely to the other\nchildren, and with a dry crust he finished his meal in silence.\n\nWhen bedtime came, Edwin was given a place to sleep in an unused part of\nthe house, and there alone in the darkness he could repeat the words that\nthe kind old lady at the poorhouse had taught him. Then while the rats and\nmice played hide-and-seek in the room about him, his eyelids closed in\npeaceful slumber.\n\nWe have heard that \"there is nothing so bad that it could not have been\nworse.\" For Edwin life seemed to be constantly growing more serious and\ndark, but \"man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh upon\nthe heart\" (I Sam. 16:7).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nFINDING FRIENDS\n\n  Oh! ask not, hope thou not too much\n  Of sympathy below;\n  Few are the hearts whence one same touch\n  Bids the sweet fountains flow.\n\n  --Mrs. Hemans.\n\nThe first morning for Edwin in his mother's home dawned clear and bright,\nand as the soft gleams of brilliant sunlight shone in upon the coverlet of\nhis bed, he, who had been a poorhouse waif, opened his eyes and in\nbewilderment gazed about the place. Suddenly he remembered some of the\nevents of the previous day, and especially the form of the \"big man\" and\nthat of the \"woman,\" who, he had been told, was his mother. He remembered,\ntoo, his decision to do all in his power to please both.\n\nHis heavenly Father understood his heart if his earthly parent did not, and\nthis all-wise guardian, knowing how very hard it was going to be for the\nchild in this new home, enabled him to find friendship that was really warm\nand true.\n\nSlipping noiselessly from beneath the covers--for the night had been\ncold--Edwin went to the window through which the morning sun was streaming,\nand there he saw a scene that thrilled him with delight. Lying asleep upon\nthe walk in the warmest spot that could be found was a large Newfoundland\ndog. Clad in his heavy coat of shaggy fur and surrounded by a bed of green,\nhe was indeed a pleasing picture. There had been several dogs at the\npoorhouse of which Edwin had been especially fond, but there had been none\nso beautiful as the one upon the walk below. The bees, too, were busy\ngathering among the flowers the honey for their winter's supply, and\nhopping about here and there over the lawn were the little \"jumper-men.\"\n\nAs Edwin from his elevation beheld the part of God's creation that he had\nalready chosen for his friends, his loneliness was quite forgotten. He was\nstill gazing down upon the scene when his mother appeared in the doorway\nand with cruel words ordered him to hasten below to the kitchen. Little did\nshe know that her child was finding in the animal kingdom the friendship\nthat she had denied him, and she would not have cared had she known.\n\nDuring the day and those that followed, Edwin endeavored in every possible\nway to help his mother, but his understanding so little about her ways and\nthe names and uses of the simplest articles about the house seemed only to\nincrease his troubles and hardships. And as slaps and bruises such as the\ndog had not known were his portion, the unfortunate child endeavored,\nwhenever it was possible to do so, to hide from sight, but he always tried\nto be ready to give heed to the slightest order. But even this\nfaithfulness, as well as the fact that he had so much difficulty in\ncomprehending her meaning, made the mother still more unkind.\n\nOne duty that was assigned him as a daily task was sweeping the crumbs from\nbeneath the dining-table, and when he had learned how, so thoroughly did he\ndo this work that he never stopped brushing until he had found every\nparticle of dust or lint in sight that had settled under other articles of\nfurniture.\n\nAnother duty was carrying food to the dog, and he soon found that the\nwell-filled plate of scraps contained far better food in many instances\nthan he was allowed to share at the table. Whenever this happened, as it\noften did, and there was plenty of other food for the dog, Edwin ate a\nportion, but never without feeling confident that he was not robbing his\nfriend. As the dog usually looked very wise, Edwin took it for granted that\nhis motive was understood as right and just, and in this way the child was\nable to get some of the food that he would otherwise have been denied, and\nthe dog's allowance was still sufficient. Rather than rob the dog, he would\nalways have gladly done without.\n\nWhen Edwin was given the care of his little baby cousin, who was just\nbeginning to walk, he felt that this work was very hard indeed, but he did\nhis best to understand just what was expected of him. Having been the\nyoungest child at the almshouse and having spent so much of his time apart\nfrom the others, Edwin was unable to think of many ways in which he could\namuse the little fellow, and sometimes it seemed that all of his efforts to\nplease had been in vain.\n\nA few weeks after Edwin's arrival in his mother's home the children--Edwin\nand his three cousins, Elmer, Jennie, and the baby--were playing in the\nyard with Perry the dog. Elmer, a lad scarcely a year younger than Edwin,\nwas tossing a stick for the dog to return to him, and Edwin was astonished\nto find that his friend Perry was so very wise. The baby, who was in\nEdwin's charge, was barely able to keep upon his feet, but Edwin was doing\nhis best to protect him from falling and to keep his eyes upon both the\nchild and the dog at once.\n\nSuddenly above his head in a large apple-tree Edwin heard a rustling of the\nleaves and a chattering of little birds, and he realized that his feathered\nfriends had returned with a breakfast for the little ones. As he gazed\nupward endeavoring to locate the nest, he was just pointing to the spot\nwhen whiz went the stick with which Elmer had been amusing the group. So\ndangerously near to the nest did the missile go that Edwin, crying out with\nterror and anxiety, for the moment forgot all about his baby cousin.\nRunning toward the tree as though hoping to protect the nest, he was just\nin time to see the stick miss the mark and then fall upon the ground\nalarmingly near the baby's foot. Although unhurt, the baby screamed, and a\nmoment later Mrs. Fischer came rushing from the house and demanded a reason\nfor the little one's crying.\n\nElmer, ever willing to justify himself at any cost, said hurriedly: \"It was\nall Ed's fault! I just tried to throw that little stick up there in the\ntree, and when it came down it struck the baby's foot. If Ed had been\nminding his work, the baby wouldn't have been there.\" But Elmer failed to\ntell that he was throwing at the little nest with the intention of knocking\nit out of the tree and that the stick had done no harm to the baby's foot.\n\nAccepting the explanation without any further details, Mrs. Fischer became\nfurious, and, picking up the stick, she struck Edwin time and again upon\nthe head and shoulders. Then, after calling him many hard and cruel names,\nshe said, \"I'll teach you how to attend to your business if there's any\nsense in you at all!\"\n\nAfter looking at the baby's foot and finding that there was nothing wrong\nwith it at all, the woman, without a word of apology or sympathy for her\nsuffering child, returned to the house.\n\nOnce again when the poor boy was so much alone, as far as a human friend\nwas concerned, his heavenly Father understood and supplied his need. Perry\nat once left his former master and, going close to Edwin, did all within\nhis power to soothe the little sufferer, and his sympathy was as balm to\nthe wounded, troubled spirit of the child. Casting aside his grief and\nreserve, he caressed the noble animal, and when comforted he arose and was\nsoon able to care for the little child that had been placed in his charge.\nAnd thus the afternoon slipped slowly away.\n\nSo thoroughly seasoned with bitterness and grief had the day been that\nEdwin was glad when he saw the shadows lengthening, for he knew that it\nwould soon be dark. The sweet quiet and rest of the night were inviting. He\nthought of the pattering of tiny feet upon his coverlet and wondered if the\nrats and mice would call again. He hoped that they would, for they too were\nhis friends. But after supper another surprize and disappointment was\nawaiting him. At bedtime he was told that he need not go to the attic to\nsleep any more, as there was room for him in Elmer's bed, and that\nthereafter the two would sleep in his mother's room. Edwin would have\npreferred the attic, but he submissively did as he was told, and as he\nslept the Lord kept vigil and watched tenderly over the sleeping child, for\n\"his eye seeth every precious thing\" (Job 28:10).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nSUFFERING FOR THE FAULTS OF OTHERS\n\n  In silence weep.\n  And thy convulsive sorrows inward keep.\n\n  --Prior.\n\nEdwin's head was still aching when he awoke in the morning, but he arose,\ndressed hurriedly, and hastened to the kitchen to see if his services were\nneeded by his mother. There was little that he could do, but with brush and\npan he gathered the dust and lint from under the various articles of\nfurniture. It was such a comfort and satisfaction to Edwin to know the\nnames of those articles, and their uses.\n\nAfter the meal was over, he carried the scraps to the dog; but as the\nsupply was short, he did not help himself to a part as he did when there\nwas plenty, for the golden rule was too much a part of his nature. When his\nmorning duties were done, his mother told him to go and take care of the\nbaby; but when he went out into the yard, he could find no one but Perry\nthe dog.\n\nFor the moment Edwin forgot what his mother had told him to do. The eyes of\nhis noble friend seemed beckoning him to the spot where he was lying, and\nEdwin obeyed. Sitting down by Perry's side, he buried his little face in\nthe furry neck of the graceful animal, and all about him seemed to say:\n\"Good morning, my boy. Cheer up, cheer up! Our meals you shall share and\nour songs you shall hear.\" The fact that there was no regret within his\nheart because of the lack of human friendship made it easy for him to\naccept the comfort and encouragement that was sent him through other\nchannels by his loving, tender heavenly Father.\n\nThe small hand was stroking the sleek side of the huge animal, and the\nlittle bird-song in the tree close by added much to his enjoyment, and,\nsitting erect, he chirped in reply a sweet little song that he had learned\nat the poorhouse from the birds. This peaceful condition, however, was too\ngood to last. In a very short time he heard the voice of his mother asking\nhim where his cousins had gone.\n\n\"I haven't seen them yet,\" he said simply.\n\n\"And didn't you know that I meant for you to hunt them up?\" she exclaimed\nin a tone that was much more harsh and severe than that in which her other\nwords had been spoken. Then adding, \"I'll teach you to pay attention to\nwhat I say!\" she picked up a board that was lying near and began to beat\nhim as she had done the day before. Hoping to escape some of the blows, the\nchild drew closer to his mother, but the following instant he found himself\ntumbling head foremost toward a stone wall and heard the woman say, \"Get\naway from me, you blockhead, or I'll dash out your brains on that stone\nwall. You are dumber than the dumb and not fit to live, and I wish you had\nnever been born.\"\n\nWhen the awful treatment was ended, Edwin was lying in the grass in almost\na helpless condition, but he was left there piteously moaning while his\nmother went to find the other children. The baby was in the house in his\ncrib and was still asleep, and the other two children, who had been on the\nopposite side of the house at play, were standing in full view of the\nscene. Without a word of comfort for her suffering child, she told Elmer\nand Jennie to go quickly to her room, as she intended to take them to the\ncountry, and the three disappeared to prepare for the trip.\n\nIt was some time before Edwin could arise, but at last, bruised and\nbleeding, he got upon his feet and hobbled to a place that was not quite so\nconspicuous. There he was sitting when his mother came from the house. The\nbaby, then awake and dressed, was sitting in its carriage, and the other\nchildren were by her side. Before leaving the yard, she called loudly for\nEdwin, asking where he was hiding, and as the child came limping toward\nher, she threw him a package, saying as she did so: \"Here's some dinner for\nyou and Perry. We'll not be back before night, but you see to it that you\nstay right here in the yard. If it rains, you can crawl in with the dog.\"\nWithout any other information as to what she intended to do or where she\nwas going, and without a word of sympathy, the little group passed through\nthe gate and were soon out of sight.\n\nTo be thus left alone at so tender an age with no other companions than\nnature and the dog, to some might seem cruel, but to Edwin life was already\ntoo full of varied experiences for this fact to make any material\ndifference in his feelings. He did think, however, that it was very kind of\nhis mother to leave Perry and the birds as his companions, and no better\ncompany could he have desired.\n\nThe small package that Edwin had received from his mother was of great\ninterest to the half-fed child. Knowing that it was intended for the dog as\nwell as for him, he called for Perry to come, and together they went to the\nplace beneath the little nest where the scene of cruelty had occurred the\nday before.\n\nOpening the package, he found that the dinner consisted of a small piece of\nboiled pork, all fat, and a little dry bread, in all scarcely enough for\none, and yet two, one of which was a hungry dog, were to dine upon it.\nAfter Edwin had considered all this, feelings arose in his heart, but they\nwere not of ingratitude or displeasure. He was anxious to know just how to\ndivide the food so that each would receive his just portion. He concluded\nthat since Perry and he were the parties concerned, Perry must help him to\ndecide.\n\n\"Perry,\" he said, \"you are the biggest, and you eat much more than I do,\nbut, Perry, you get all you want very often, and I never do. Now, this\nmorning your plate wasn't quite as full as it is sometimes, so I didn't\ntake any bites. I gave it all to you, Perry, and I was so hungry. Don't you\nthink that it would be all right now if we divided this dinner in halves?\nIt would be all right with me if it would with you.\"\n\nThe dog had been an attentive listener, and as his little master waited for\nan answer. Perry, who had been taught to \"speak\" in his dog language,\nanswered, \"You, you,\" and Edwin understood it as being his perfect consent.\nStill fearing that he might not have been perfectly understood, Edwin began\nagain, \"Now, Perry, are you really willing to have it that way, and can you\ntrust me to divide both the meat and the bread?\" Again the dog's \"You, you\"\nmeant \"Yes\" to Edwin; so, taking the bread in his fingers, he proceeded to\ndivide it as evenly as he could. Then he did the same with the meat, and\ntheir dinner was all ready.\n\nThe next thing that puzzled them was the time of day and when to eat. This\nwas also decided by Perry, and at last the two faithful friends began their\nscanty meal. There being no dishes, table manners, or napkins to bother\nwith, the dinner was soon eaten, and after a little romp (for Edwin had\nquite forgotten his bruises) the two lay down together beneath the\napple-tree. Here they were soon lulled to sleep by the murmuring of the\nwind among the leaves, the chirping of the birds in the branches, and the\nsinging of various insects in the grass; and their dreams were sweet.\n\nWhen Edwin awoke the sun was high and its rays were streaming down directly\ninto his eyes. Again he wondered where he could be, but Perry's cold nose\nagainst his cheek reminded him of what had happened before he fell asleep,\nand, sitting up, he looked around to see if he was right. Everything in the\nyard was just as he had seen it before his nap, and the empty newspaper by\nhis side brought to his mind the humble lunch that had been given him by\nhis mother.\n\nNext he gazed around at the landscape before him. His mother's home being\nin the very edge of the village, Edwin could look for a long distance in\none direction. But it was not the gardens nor the corn-fields that\nattracted his attention; he was considering the sky, which was to him as a\nhigh blue arch, and he wished that he could know what was above it.\n\nPresently he began playing with Perry, throwing a stick as he had watched\nhis cousin do the day before. He found it great sport. Once when near the\npicket fence that surrounded the garden, he noticed some chickens near the\ngate scratching in the soft earth. After watching them for a little while,\nhe saw something smooth and round lying where he could easily reach it, and\nhe found that it was a pretty white stone with pink stripes in it To Edwin\nit was a valuable treasure, and by searching carefully he soon discovered\ntwo other stones that were equally pretty. A number of playthings belonging\nto his cousins were scattered about the yard, but thinking that they might\nbe displeased if he touched them, he let them alone.\n\nWhen he returned to the place beneath the apple-tree, he carefully examined\neach little stone in its turn, and he considered them very pretty indeed.\nThe one with the pink stripes was so nearly round that it might have been\nmistaken for a marble; the next was oval in shape and was of a pearly\nwhiteness; the third, although not quite so round as the first, was brown\nand was a very handsome little stone.\n\nWhile he was still admiring his treasures, he heard voices and, looking up,\nsaw his mother and the children returning from their visit. A sudden fear\nthat Elmer might want the stones made him thrust them out of sight, but he\nwas not swift enough to escape the eyes of that young lad. Elmer saw the\nact and, thinking that Edwin might have discovered something valuable, said\nauthoritatively: \"Ed, what was that that you put in your pocket just now?\nLet me see it.\"\n\nEdwin hesitated, for he did not want to part with what seemed to him his\nonly earthly possessions; bui when he saw his mother's threatening look and\nheard her say, \"Out with whatever you've got, Ed, or I'll see why! You\nneedn't try to show any of your authority around here!\" he said, \"I haven't\nanything except these little stones that I found in the yard over there.\"\nThen taking the stones from his pocket, he handed them to his mother for\ninspection.\n\nFinding that the stones were of no value, Mrs. Fischer returned them to her\nson, and with the two younger children she passed on into the house. Elmer,\nhowever, did not go with the rest, but sat down on the grass near Edwin,\nand watched him closely as he returned the little stones to his pocket.\nEdwin, although so young and seemingly ignorant along some lines, knew what\nit was to be robbed of similar treasures; and, noticing the same evil light\nin his cousin's eye that he had noted many times before at the poorhouse\namong the children there, young as he was, he felt sure that, if given an\nopportunity, Elmer would steal. He hoped that his cousin would forget about\nthe stones; so he decided not to refer to them any more and to play with\nthem only when he was alone.\n\nDuring the evening nothing unusual happened, and when it was time to retire\nfor the night, Edwin was told that the bed that he had occupied the night\nbefore was to be his permanent sleeping-quarters. The moon was shining\nbright and clear, and beneath its silver rays the two boys crept into bed.\nBoth were very still; in fact, they were so very quiet that in a short time\neach thought the other asleep. It was therefore a surprize to Edwin when he\nfelt his cousin creeping stealthily from the bed and out upon the floor\nwhere the rays of the moon were the brightest.\n\nAs Edwin had inherited from his mother a natural love for neatness, he had\nalready formed the habit of hanging his clothing upon the bedpost, and,\nturning softly in the bed, he could see from where he was lying, a sight\nthat made him tremble with excitement. Elmer's hand was already in the\npocket containing the treasured stones, and Edwin could not help\nexclaiming:\n\n\"What are you doing there, Elmer? Don't take those stones! They are mine!\"\n\nElmer quickly withdrew his hand when he heard his cousin speak, for he did\nnot expect to be caught; but in an irritated tone a voice from the bed\nopposite the boys said:\n\n\"Ed, what's the matter with you? Can't you let that boy alone? Shut your\nmouth I say and let him have those stones if he wants them, for what are\nthey worth, anyway?\"\n\nThus rebuked. Edwin said no more; and Elmer, glad to have his own way,\nyielded to his selfish desire and, again thrusting his hand into the\ntrousers-pocket, became a thief indeed.\n\nHow sad! Edwin had early chosen the path of right because it was right, but\nElmer was already on the road that leads to destruction and death! Why?\nBecause he had decided in his heart to do evil. Even the kind old lady at\nthe almshouse had not entered his life. Was it Elmer's fault? Not\naltogether. Temptation comes to all, but with the temptation there is a way\nof escape (1 Cor. 10: 13). Elmer could have chosen to do right and leave\nthe stones where they belonged; but when he was caught in the act of\nstealing, Mrs. Fischer, who was responsible for his training, should have\ncarefully taught him the dangers connected with stealing. A little seed of\ndishonesty sown in the heart needs only cultivation to help it to grow.\n\nThe following morning when Edwin's tasks in the house were completed, he\nwas told to go outside to look after the baby, and here it was that he\nrecalled Elmer's act. After making sure that the stones were not in his\npocket, Edwin went over to that part of the yard in which his cousin was\nplaying, and as their eyes met he said:\n\n\"Elmer, why did you steal my stones last night? I want them back.\"\n\n\"I haven't got anything that belongs to you, and I didn't steal your\nstones,\" Elmer almost shouted; and, running to Mrs. Fischer, he said\nexcitedly, \"Ed called me a thief and said I stole those stones out of his\npocket last night.\"\n\n\"I'll teach him to call you a thief!\" the woman exclaimed in an exasperated\ntone and ran toward her son with a club and began using it freely upon him,\nsaying as she did so: \"Ed, you wretched child! Is that all you've learned\nat the poorhouse? What are those little old stones good for, anyway? And to\nthink you'd dare to accuse Elmer of stealing them!\"\n\nThe beating that Edwin received was far worse than the one given him the\nday before, and in the evening when he laid his little tired and aching\nbody upon the bed beside his cousin, he wondered why he was forced to\nsuffer and bear the punishment that rightfully belonged to some one else,\nbut he did not complain or feel unkindly toward those who justly deserved\nthe blame.\n\nWhen at last he fell asleep, God sent angels to minister to the needs of\nthe little forlorn child, and they cared for him tenderly while he slept.\n\n\"When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up\"\n(Psa. 27: 10).\n\n\"But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an\nevil-doer\" (1 Pet. 4: 15).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nTHE STRANGE VISITOR\n\n  How shall I ever go through this rough world!\n  How find me older every setting sun!\n  How merge my boyish heart in manliness!\n\n  --Coxe.\n\nThe little seed that had been planted in Elmer's heart was not long in\nsending forth a sturdy sprout; for it was in fertile soil, and there was\nnothing to hinder rapid growth. Not only did he continue to watch Edwin's\npockets for coveted articles like the stones, but from the match-safe in\nthe kitchen to the purse of Mrs. Fischer in the bureau-drawer he stole\nfrequently. Nor did it stop with this. At the village grocery he often\nslipped behind the counter and took articles for which he did not pay, and\nfinally he visited the combination money-drawer.\n\nOf much of Elmer's dishonesty Edwin was aware; but, feeling that his mother\nwould believe no report about his cousin that he might bring, and dreading\nher punishments for tattling, he kept all such knowledge to himself. Even\nwhen blamed and abused for the things that Elmer had done, he bore it\npatiently, unless questioned; then he told the truth and took the\nconsequences, usually a beating.\n\nElmer, on the other hand, while endeavoring to cover up his misdeeds, told\nlie after lie, and when accused and blamed by the grocer and others, he was\nscreened and helped out of his difficulties by Mrs. Fischer.\n\nWhen Edwin was about ten years of age, his mother moved from the village in\nwhich she had been living to a farm among the foothills of the Alleghany\nMountains. Here it was that Edwin for the first time saw an outline of the\nwonderful Blue Mountain of which he had at Christmas time heard many weird\nand frightful legends. Blue Mountain was one of the tall mountain-peaks\nthat stood out a little apart from the main ridge and was known among the\npeople as the home of St. Nicholas and his elves. Strange stories were\nconnected with the place, and all who believed them were full of\nsuperstition and awe.\n\nIt was reported that during the year St. Nick, as he was commonly called,\nwas busy manufacturing and preparing wonderful toys to be distributed\nthroughout the country among the children who were deserving. In order to\nknow to whom the presents were to go, he sent out his elves into the homes\nto take an inventory of the lives of die children. These reports were to be\nreturned just before Christmas eve so that he could use them as a guide in\ndistributing his gifts. For all the children who were not entitled to\npresents tortures of many kinds were invented. These were to be inflicted\nwhen the annual tours were made.\n\nAll this and much more Edwin had heard in his former home at each\nChristmas-tide, and as the tortures had always been his lot, he did not\nlike to think about the great mountain any more than he could help. It was\nlittle wonder that he felt this dread, for to him St. Nick was a fierce and\nterrible monster. But it was a great mystery to him why St. Nick had never\nfound out about Elmer's misdeeds.\n\nEven at the age of ten Edwin was very small, and his ignorance concerning\nthe ordinary things of life was really painful. A dread of not being\nunderstood seemed constantly to hover over him, and as he had been taught\nto feel himself inferior and in the way, there was no opportunity for him\nto improve. When company came to the house, he was ordered to remain in the\nkitchen or in the yard, but never in hearing-distance, and he was always\ntoo busy to visit had he been permitted to do so. A few times he had been\nsent to school to help the smaller children through the snow or mud, but it\nwas only occasionally and with no explanation as to the meaning of school\nor the value of learning.\n\nOnce the teacher sent word to Mrs. Fischer that if she cared to have her\nson learn to read she must supply him with a primer. Before doing as the\nteacher had told her, Mrs. Fischer took up a primer belonging to one of the\nother children, turned to a lesson well over in the book, and commanded\nEdwin to read the paragraph to which she was pointing. Seeing that he was\nunable to tell one letter from another, she shouted at him: \"Ed, you\nblockhead! there is no use for you to try to learn anything, and I will\nnever spend any money for books to help you to disgrace me any more.\" Then\nso great was her cruelty that the child fell prostrate at her feet in a\nswoon. But even this did not cause the heartless mother to be sorry for\nwhat she was doing to her child. Almost before he had recovered from the\neffects of this severe punishment, she ordered him, if he knew anything at\nall, to tell her the time of day. When he could not do this, he was again\nmistreated.\n\nShut away as he had been from the society of every one who could have\nhelped him, he was, of course, unable to unravel the untruth that had been\nrelated to him about Blue Mountain; and when told that the time for St.\nNick to pay them another visit was drawing near, he looked upon the event\nwith increasing dread.\n\n\"No good thing, Ed, can you expect this year on Christmas eve,\" he heard\nElmer say a few days before that eventful night. \"He never has remembered\nyou with any good, and I don't think he ever will.\"\n\nYes, Edwin knew all about the neglect. He remembered, too, that he had been\ntold that upon Christmas eve, instead of going to bed, he must sit before\nthe fireplace upon a certain chair in the sitting-room to await the arrival\nof St. Nick. Perfect obedience being so impressed upon his mind, Edwin\nobeyed, but imagined many things, one of which was that instant death would\nfollow any refusal to do the bidding of St. Nick. Therefore when the\nappointed time arrived, Edwin was ready and seated in his chair even before\nthe remainder of the family had retired. Then, while his cousins were\nthinking of the happiness the morrow held in store for them, and the\nchildren in other homes were dreaming of the sweet stories to which they\nhad listened concerning the Christ-child and God's great love in sending\nhis only Son as a Christmas gift to all the world, Edwin heard a sound in\nthe yard as of heavy tramping. Then the lashing of a whip upon the\nwindow-pane and house caused him to spring from his chair and seek for a\ncorner in which to hide. Presently he again heard the lashing upon another\nwindow-pane, followed by a fierce blow upon the kitchen-door, which had\nbeen purposely left ajar, and he saw the door fly open and beheld an object\nso completely hideous that he was more frightened than he had been upon any\nprevious occasion.\n\nThere, clad in a pair of old trousers that were partly covered by a short\npetticoat, and wearing a bright red blouse elaborately trimmed with white\ncotton batting in imitation of white fur, a sunbonnet of faded blue, and a\nfalse face in the form of a mule's head, stood the object posing himself as\nSt. Nicholas.\n\nOne glance at the frightful creature with the long whip in his hand would\nhave been sufficient to strike terror through the heart of a more\nenlightened mind, and Edwin, with the remembrance of the suffering of\nprevious years still fresh in his mind, was under a mental strain that was\nfearful indeed.\n\nThe strange form, pretending not to notice Edwin, laid down his whip and\nbegan loosening the large pack of toys that were upon his shoulders. As the\nsack was laid down in front of the old fireplace, a rubber ball rolled out\nupon the rug, whereupon Edwin heard him say in a gruff tone:\n\n\"Now, if that hain't a mess! Guess I've come off without that there list,\nafter all. Thought those little imps wasn't going to get it in, and when\nthey did\"--here he pulled out a long strip of paper that appeared to have\nwriting upon it and from which he began reading the names of the children\nand the presents that each one was to receive.\n\nAs Edwin saw the costly gifts that were one by one taken from the sack,\nthere seemed to be nothing lacking and plenty for him to have at least one\ntoy, but his name was not called. There was a hobby-horse, a top, a horn, a\nball, a wagon, a doll, dishes, a rocker, candy, and nuts. A sudden longing\ncame into his heart to be remembered.\n\nAs if divining Edwin's thoughts, the monster, who was the child's own uncle\ndisguised, turned suddenly and, facing Edwin, said:\n\n\"Now, sir, I'll become acquainted with you! I'm the person that some folks\ncall Santa Claus, but by others I'm known as St. Nick. To you, Edwin, I\nshall be St. Nick, and I want to say that if you touch any of these things\nthat I have placed here for your cousins, you'll find out what Old Nick can\ndo.\" Then with a wave of his hand he said, \"Come on out here now before I\nleave to go to another home. I want you to look at each of these things, so\nthat you will know just what they are like, and then you see to it that you\nkeep your stupid hands forever off!\"\n\nIn obedience to the commanding voice of the frightful being, Edwin went\nbreathlessly forward and listened to the words:\n\n\"Do you see that horse? Well, that's Elmer's, and because he has been such\na good boy he shall have the ball and the top. The other things are for his\nsister and brother. Now that you have seen these nice things that are for\ngood children, I want to show you the part that is to be yours, but you\nwill have to go out in the kitchen to see it.\"\n\nOn the way to the kitchen Old Nick, who had taken up his whip, flourished\nit to hurry the child along, saying as he did so, \"Now, you little gump,\nhere's your treat.\" Then he threw a few nuts upon the kitchen-floor and\nordered Edwin to hurry and pick them up. As the child obeyed, down came the\nlash of the whip upon his fingers, and the blood began at once to ooze from\nthe deep gashes. When the hand was withdrawn, the lash fell upon his body.\nNext he was told to dance and then to sing and at last to pray. As he each\ntime tried to obey, the whip was used upon him. The dance and the song were\nboth very crude, but the prayer was the words that he had learned from the\nold lady at the alms-house. Those words Edwin felt were appropriate because\nOld Nick had knelt beside a chair when explaining what he wanted him to do,\nand he remembered that he had knelt thus at the old lady's knee. But before\nthe list of terrible tortures was exhausted, Edwin could stand no more.\nWeakened by the loss of blood from his wounds and by the extreme fear, he\nfell as though dead.\n\nHow long he was there or what happened after he had fainted Edwin could\nnever tell, but when he became conscious, he was alone and the room was\ncold. Painfully he arose and by the aid of the lamp that was still burning\nlow, he crept away to his bed, which was fortunately very close to the\nkitchen.\n\nAs the sun arose in the eastern sky, it cast its bright rays upon the\nsnow-covered ground around the home of Mrs. Fischer and caused a dazzling\nbrightness, but it did not erase the many footprints that had been made the\nevening before by the supposed St. Nicholas, nor was it sufficient to\nsoothe the poor little aching head of the unfortunate Edwin.\n\nEdwin had been in bed but a few hours when he heard the children's voices.\nHe listened to their remarks as they examined in turn the beautiful gifts,\nand then--was it possible? He thought he heard the youngest child in a tone\nof disappointment saying, \"Why, where are Ed's stocking and things? Didn't\nhe get anything at all?\"\n\nThe answer from Elmer was spoken differently. \"No, hush!\" he said. \"Ed\nhasn't anything here. Santa Claus, you know, doesn't bring gifts to every\none. There are only certain people who are allowed presents.\"\n\nThen Edwin heard his cousin explaining the story of Blue Mountain and St\nNicholas as he had often heard it before; but when his cousin said, \"The\nreason that Ed wasn't remembered is because he does so many bad things,\"\nEdwin wondered again what kind of report the elves had carried concerning\nthe pebbles and the other things that Elmer had taken dishonestly and what\nexplanation they had given regarding the lies. But there was seemingly no\nway for Edwin to know these things. His storehouse of knowledge was\napparently closed, but still he was not discouraged in well-doing nor was\nhe tempted to do evil. Like Job, he could have said: \"Thou knowest that I\nam not wicked ... I am full of confusion ... Even when I remember I am\nafraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh\" (Job 10:7, 15; 21:6).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nMYSTERIES UNFOLDING\n\n  The brave are ever tender.\n  And feel the miseries of suffering virtue.\n\n  --Martyn.\n\nHedged about by such walls of difficulty, Edwin seemed to be shut entirely\naway in a little world that was all his own. As he had no one to help him\nto understand the every-day happenings about him, it was not strange that\nthe mysteries of nature were hidden as well. Shunned and abused as he was,\neven curiosity was almost of no avail. But although he knew it not, the\nall-seeing Eye was watching over him and angels were rejoicing over the\nmanner in which he was laying a foundation for a strong and noble Christian\ncharacter.\n\nEdwin's holding no revenge in his heart toward those who had so repeatedly\nwronged him made it easier, in a way, for him to endure his hardships. And\nby constantly being watchful and on his guard, he was many times able to\nimprove little opportunities to assist either his mother or his uncle, and\nin this way he sometimes evaded punishments that he would have otherwise\nreceived. His always being on the alert made it easier for him to become\nfamiliar with the names of various things that he could not have otherwise\nknown. To gain any knowledge at all was indeed a pleasure, and it enabled\nhim to escape so much unjust abuse.\n\nAs his love for doing good increased, so also his admiration for and\ninterest in the things of nature and that which was strange and mysterious\nwere deepened. He often wondered about the blue arch above his head, and,\nsupposing it to be an upper story to the earth, believed it to be inhabited\nby a family similar to St. Nick and his elves. He often tried to imagine\nwhat kind of man this being could be and wondered whether in any way he\nresembled St. Nick.\n\nIn electrical storms he supposed that the man must be very angry and that\nthe sounds and flashes were the result of throwing or rolling heavy or\ncombustible articles of furniture as he had so repeatedly known his mother\nand uncle to do. As such a view of life was all that he knew, it was not\nstrange that he could make no better comparison.\n\nOccasionally he noticed his uncle and Elmer throwing stones high up in the\nair, and sometimes when the stones went too high to be followed by the\nnaked eye, he supposed that they pierced the arch and lodged on the other\nside.\n\nThe fact that while he was at the poorhouse a few persons had died and been\nburied in the ground was till fresh in his memory, and from the oaths and\nunkind language of his mother he had come to the conclusion that all must\ndie and be buried in the same manner. What became of them after death he\ncould not fathom, but he concluded that the frost in the winter-time was a\nsort of cold vapor arising from the bodies of those who were dead and that\nsuch things were all governed by the great man above the arch.\n\nIn the village where his mother had lived, very little attention was given\nto family quarrels or to the troubles of children, but in this new\nneighborhood it was different. A dear old couple by the name of Hahn,\nliving very close, soon became greatly interested in the child Edwin. Many\ntimes they listened with deepest sympathy to his cries of agony and terror,\nknowing that his cries were caused by cruel blows or kicks. Then when the\nlittle fellow, all bleeding and bruised, would be discovered hobbling about\nand endeavoring to comprehend what was expected of him that he might the\nmore perfectly perform the task THat had been assigned him, their hearts\nwere filled with indignation and pity.\n\n\"I don't see how it is,\" said Mrs. Hahn one day to her husband at the close\nof the midday meal.\n\n\"Now, that Mrs. Fischer seems in some ways to be a pretty good sort of\nwoman, but when she speaks to her son, she acts like Satan himself. Only\nyesterday I saw her out cleaning up the yard, and she seemed quite\ngood-natured until she discovered Ed coming out to help her. Then, without\ntelling him where to get it, she told him to hustle around and find her a\npicket, for she wanted to fix the fence. I saw right away that he didn't\nknow what a picket was, but I wanted to see what he would do. He didn't\nask. Instead he ran around the house looking in every direction and came\nback to tell her that he couldn't find any. Then, in a tone that she would\nnot have used for the dog she yelled at him that it was of no use to expect\nan idiot like him to find anything. Next she went to a pile of pickets that\nwas near the barn and easily got herself what she was wanting. Still she\ndidn't explain anything to Edwin, but I could see that the boy knew then\nwhat a 'picket' looked like.\n\n\"Now, Pa, I'll tell you what I'd like to do. Since his mother acts toward\nhim as she does, I'd like to ask him over here whenever he can come, just\nas though he were coming to help us, you know, and then we could tell him\nabout many of these things that he doesn't know. Perhaps if he knew better\nwhat they meant, it would not be so hard for him, and he would escape some\nof the abuse.\"\n\n\"That's a bright idea, my good little wife,\" said Mr. Hahn smiling his\napproval. \"I believe that we ought to help the boy all that we can, for\nhe's sure having a hard time of it. Do what you think is best, but be\ncareful not to let Mrs. Fischer think you want to help her son, or all your\nplans will be upset. She doesn't care what becomes of the boy, and I think\nshe would be glad to see him die, but doesn't dare to be the one to end his\nlife. But she'll do it if she keeps on as she is going.\"\n\n\"Well, with your consent I'll do what I can,\" replied Mrs. Hahn, and with a\nrelieved expression she hastened to make some plans that were to amount\nvery much to Edwin.\n\nMrs. Fischer graciously consented to let her son go to help the old couple\nnow and then, \"but,\" she added, \"you'll soon find that he's no good to\nanybody. I find him lots more bother than he's worth.\"\n\n\"I'll risk that part of it,\" Mrs. Hahn answered, and from that day a great\nchange came into the poor boy's life.\n\nIn the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hahn, Edwin was still very timid, but they were\nso kind and considerate that his intense fear gradually gave way to\nconfidence and trust. It seemed that his new friends were never vexed\nbecause of his extreme ignorance. Instead of reproaching him for what he\ndid not know or understand, they took extra pains to explain their meaning\nin the simplest language possible. To Edwin the explanation of the most\ntrifling every-day occurrences seemed wonderful, and to the unenlightened\nchild it opened up many avenues for thought that had hitherto been closed.\nNever once while he was with them did they seem to grow weary of trying to\nmake things more simple and plain for the inquiring child.\n\nThe more Edwin associated with these friends, the more he began to\nunderstand how he had been wronged; for many questions concerning the\nearth, the sky, and himself were corrected. In explaining about St. Nick,\nMr. Hahn said:\n\n\"Edwin, that terrible creature that treated you so shamefully on Christmas\neve was not St. Nicholas at all. It was your uncle, who had, with the\nconsent of your mother, dressed himself in the hideous clothing in which he\nappeared to you. He must have wanted to see just how much he could deceive\nand frighten you.\"\n\n\"But how about his home in Blue Mountain?\" Edwin asked in amazement. \"If\nSanta Claus doesn't make the toys up there, where does he make them?\"\n\n\"Edwin, don't you believe those stories any longer,\" Mr. Hahn answered.\n\"Your uncle bought from a store in the city of M----all those presents that\nhe gave to his children. The stories that he told you about the elves\nvisiting the homes to discover who were bad are untrue. I know it seems\nvery strange to you, but what is the most difficult for me to understand is\nhow your mother and uncle could find pleasure in frightening and deceiving\nyou in such a way.\n\n\"Well, if Blue Mountain isn't the home of St. Nick, what is it?\" Edwin\nasked in a mystified tone.\n\nThen in very simple words Edwin heard for the first time the real facts\nregarding the great mountain that had until then been as an awful nightmare\nto the unenlightened boy. Pointing away toward the line of blue and white\ndomes and peaks that grew more and more faint as they faded away in the\ndistance, Mr. Hahn explained that they were only high parts of the earth.\n\"Blue Mountain,\" he said, \"is only one part of the range, and those dark\nplaces that you see on its sides are just trees and bushes such as grow\nright here in our yard. Then there are large rocks, some of them the size\nof this house, and springs of water where many animals and birds may drink.\nAnd in some places there are large flower-gardens, where the flowers grow\nwithout the use of the spade or the hoe. I would certainly like to take you\nto see the mountain, Edwin, if it were not so far away, but it would take\nus too long to go and come, for it is very much farther away than it\nseems.\"\n\nReasons were given also for the strange noises that Edwin had attributed to\nthe rolling of heavy articles of furniture, and the names sky, thunder, and\nlightning were rightly applied. But with all their information, Mr. and\nMrs. Hahn gave no hint that there was a great and supreme Being over all,\none who had created all the wonders that they had been describing, for they\nwere not Christian people and were not acquainted with the love of God.\nThey were greatly interested in the things that pertain to this life, but\nseemed unconcerned about heaven, eternity, and the Bible. So Edwin\ncontinued to believe that some great man who had died and left the earth\nwas living above the blue arch and that the electrical storms were in some\nway the result of fireside quarrels and confusion.\n\nTo Edwin it seemed that every moment that he from time to time spent with\nthese kind friends was precious indeed, but the effect upon the mother was\nnot what Mrs. Hahn had desired. Finding that her son could understand more\nabout the work, she became more particular and increased his tasks\naccordingly until it seemed that he could do nothing to suit her. Poor\nnervous child! if only he could have known the words of the Psalmist, what\na comfort they would have been--\"He shall deliver the needy ... and\nprecious shall their blood be in his sight.\" (Psa. 72:12, 14).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nDISCOVERS THE EXISTENCE OF GOD\n\n  Where'er thou art, He is; the eternal mind\n  Acts through all places; is to none confined;\n  Fills ocean, earth and air and all above,\n  And through the universal mass does move.\n\n  --Dryden.\n\nMrs. Fischer may have felt that her neighbors were learning too much about\nher family matters and business affairs, and it may have been for other\nreasons best known to herself, but she soon became dissatisfied with the\nfarm and thought best to move away to another part of the country. The\nplace decided upon was near a public highway where there was an extra\nbuilding that could be used by the uncle as a blacksmith-shop, and there\nwas also a good barn, where the horse, cow, and chickens could be kept.\n\nWhen Mrs. Hahn heard of her neighbor's plans, she was sorry, for she had\nbecome very much attached to Edwin and did not like to see him go so far\naway from her home. She therefore decided to ask Mrs. Fischer to allow the\nboy to stay through the summer months with them in their home. \"He could do\nlots of little light things that would be a great help to husband and me,\"\nshe said.\n\n\"Well, I can't see why you are taking such an interest in that boy,\" the\nmother replied. \"Now, if he were bright like Elmer, I wouldn't be\nsurprized, but Ed is such a blockhead. You can have him, though, if you can\nmake any use of him, but I'm sure that you will very soon be sick of your\nbargain.\"\n\nMrs. Hahn assured the mother they were willing to run the risk, and it was\ndecided that Edwin should stay with the Hahns for a while. So it happened\nthat Edwin saw his people pack their goods and drive away from the farm\nleaving him behind. To be left in the care of the old couple whom he was\nlearning to love so dearly was indeed a happy change, but how great it was\nnone but him and his heavenly Father could understand. Surrounded as he was\nin this home by kind friends, provided good food, and enabled to think\nhappy thoughts, he soon grew well and strong and was able to do all the\nwork that could be expected of any eleven-year-old boy.\n\nIn the new home of Mrs. Fischer things went along seemingly well enough for\na time, but as Elmer continued his underhanded work of taking things that\ndid not belong to him, he became more and more bold, and Mrs. Fischer, not\nhaving Edwin to blame, was forced to see some of his faults.\n\nOne day shortly after the family were settled in their new home, word that\nthe barn was on fire rang out loud and clear, and a smell of burning wood\nand hay and clouds of smoke filled the air. Rushing to the door, Mrs.\nFischer saw that the barn was wrapped in flames. With a scream for help she\nran out into the yard, where she discovered the uncle and several others\nendeavoring to deaden the flames, but their efforts seemed all in vain.\n\nIt was too late to save the barn, so the attention of all was turned to the\nhouse and other buildings. As the wind was in their favor, no other\nbuilding besides the barn was lost, and fortunately the disaster had\noccurred in the daytime, when the animals and chickens were out in the lot,\nso that the damage was not so great.\n\nWhen the excitement had somewhat subsided, and Mrs. Fischer looked about\nfor some one to blame for carelessness, she found that Edwin was not there\nand that Elmer was the guilty person. Having repeatedly watched his father\nsmoking a pipe or a cigar, Elmer had decided that it was time for him to\nlearn to smoke if he ever expected to appear like a man. Accordingly, with\na few stolen matches in his pocket and some corn-stalks cut into\ncigar-lengths, he had gone to a place back of the barn for his first\nlesson. He had not intended to have his actions upon this particular\noccasion known, because both his father and Mrs. Fischer had seemed to be\nagainst his learning to smoke so young. But through the fire, caused by the\ndropping of burning matches among the litter at his feet, and the testimony\nof his little brother, who had been present, his guilt became known.\n\nAlthough Mrs. Fischer knew that Elmer deserved correction for this deed,\nshe simply smoothed the matter over and allowed it to pass by unnoticed.\nBut when the news of the burning of the barn reached the ears of Mrs. Hahn,\nshe said: \"Edwin, you should be very thankful that you were not there. Had\nyou been, Elmer would no doubt have laid the blame on you, and in her fury\nyour mother might have thrown you into the flames.\" Edwin understood that\nwhat Mrs. Hahn had said could very easily have been true, and he was very\nglad that he had not been present when the barn was burned.\n\nHis life in this new home was so different in every way from what it had\nbeen in his mother's and he was so happy and content that he had no desire\nto return. He was therefore very sad when he was told in the fall that the\nfarm was sold and that as his old friends would go to the city to live with\ntheir children, it would be necessary for him to return to his mother.\n\n\"I'm very sorry,\" Mrs. Hahn said, \"that you must leave us; but, Edwin, I\nbelieve that your mother will be more kind to you, because you have learned\nhow to do so many things and can do your work so well. I will see that Mr.\nHahn goes with you and will have him explain to your mother what you can\ndo, and when she sees that you can learn when you are taught and can do the\nthings that she expects of you, we shall hope that she will have more\npatience with you than she has had in the past.\"\n\nThus it was that one day late in the fall as the sun was slowly sinking\ndown into a bed of crimson and gold, Mr. Hahn and Edwin drove up to the\nplace of which they had both heard but only Mr. Hahn had seen. If Edwin had\nexpected to find a pile of rubbish to be cleared away where the ruins of a\nbarn was resting, he was mistaken; for the owner of the property had\nattended to that, and a new building had been erected upon the old\nfoundation, and everything else was neat and clean.\n\n\"Well, Mr. Hahn,\" Mrs. Fischer began in answer to the announcement that her\nson had arrived, \"I suppose you are very glad to be rid of your charge. I'm\nafraid he has made you lots of trouble.\"\n\n\"Oh, no, Mrs. Fischer,\" Mr. Hahn replied, \"we got along just fine! I have\nno fault whatever to find with your son. He is as good-hearted and faithful\na boy about his work as I have ever seen, and if we were not going to leave\nthe farm, I wouldn't think of bringing him back. I think you have\nmisunderstood Edwin; for he seems so very anxious to learn and asks so many\nquestions about everything that I have found it hard to find enough answers\nfor them all. Then, when he has once learned a thing, he never forgets it,\nand he seems to want to put every bit of his knowledge into use. I'm sure\nyour fears about his being dull are groundless, but he does need to be\ntaught, and you will do well to give him a fair chance along with the other\nchildren.\"\n\nAfter making a few other remarks and giving Edwin the promise, \"If I ever\nreturn to the farm again, I will let you know and will take you back\nagain,\" Mr. Hahn said, \"Good-by,\" and Edwin was left behind to begin again\nthe kind of life that had been so hard and bitter. The kindnesses shown him\nduring the summer and the greater keenness of his judgment and\nunderstanding made the renewal of past cruelties even harder to bear than\nthey had been before.\n\nAfter Edwin's home-coming Elmer and the other children found more time to\nshirk, and, seeing his eagerness and ability to do so many things that he\nhad not before understood, the family forced the poor little tired form to\nwork far beyond its strength. But without complaint Edwin strove to do all\nthe work assigned to him and to make every move count so that he would be\nable to accomplish more than that if possible, but on every hand only\nfailure and unhappiness seemed to be awaiting him.\n\nLate in November, one evening just before time to do the milking, Mrs.\nFischer, while in a terrible fit of anger because of some little mistake of\nEdwin's hardly worth the mentioning, ordered him to go out in the yard and\nbring her a good strong stick and to hurry. And Edwin, though knowing that\nthe stick was to be used upon himself, went to an apple-tree and cut from\nit a good strong branch. Even under such extreme circumstances he was\ndetermined to do his best. As he handed the stick to his mother, she\nclutched it and with a fiendish expression she beat her son so cruelly that\nhe fell upon the floor. Then with her foot she kicked him about the room\nuntil the blood was flowing freely from various wounds and gashes made by\nher shoe and the stick.\n\nThe condition of the room and the helpless state of the child seemed to\nenable the wicked woman at last to realize what she was doing, and, fearful\nlest some one discover him thus, she ceased her cruelties and commanded\nEdwin to get up and clean the room. Then, without waiting to be sure that\nhe could do so, she went out to the barn to milk the cow.\n\nEdwin, in almost an unconscious state, realized at last that he was in the\nkitchen alone, and he endeavored to arise, but there seemed to be a pain in\nevery part of his body, and he was lying in a pool of blood. After a great\neffort he managed to reach the sink, but it was some time before he could\nstop the flow of blood from his mouth. Looking at himself in the glass, he\nsaw that a portion of his lip was cut and loosely hanging so that the teeth\nbehind it were exposed, and the blood was still running from his mouth.\nUntil then, though he would not have known how to express the thought, he\nhad never ceased to hope that in some way or other he would be able to win\nhis mother's love and confidence, but with this terrible outbreak of\npassion all desire to try to live seemed to vanish.\n\nAfter doing what he could to cover up his mother's cruel conduct, he\nstaggered through the open door and down the walk that led to the barn. He\nwas intending to do what he could to help with the evening work, but he\ncould not suppress the sobs that were welling up from his poor troubled and\nwounded heart. Only hardships and discouragements seemed to be his portion,\nand without considering who was liable to hear him, he cried out in his\nanguish:\n\n\"If such it the best that a person can have in life, it would be better for\nhim not to live at all.\"\n\nAs the cry of distress floated in through the partly open stable-door, Mrs.\nFischer was filled with wonder. Never before had she heard her son speak so\nsensibly, and, hastening to see what it all meant, she said: \"Ah, Ed! I\nheard you speak, and this time your words were not those of an idiot, but\nwise and full of reason. But how dare you wish yourself dead? Don't you\nknow that there is a God over us who hears every word we say?\" Then she\nadded, \"Why is it on such things you can talk so well and on others you\nseem so dull?\"\n\nAt the sight of his mother's face and the sound of her words, two thoughts\nflashed through his mind: \"Have I done anything to displease her?\" and \"Is\nthere really some powerful being by the name of God above me in the sky?\"\nInstantly a feeling of awe and reverence filled his soul, and something\nwithin him told him that this great Being who could hear all that he said\nmust be more than a common man. The very thought that God could hear him\nspeak made Him seem strangely near.\n\nAs he continued to think, his troubles seemed to vanish and the suffering\nfrom his wounds became less intense. Then he remembered that the name of\nGod had been used many times by his mother, uncle, and the children in ways\nthat he was sure were wrong. If God could hear everything, what must he\nthink of the people who would talk about him thus? He wondered, too, why\nMr. Hahn had not mentioned the name of God when explaining the reasons for\nthe sounds above the sky, or \"high blue arch,\" as he had called it. Poor\nuntaught child! God alone could be his teacher.\n\n\"Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, who humbleth\nhimself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in earth! He raiseth\nup the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;\nthat he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people\"\n(Psa. 113:5-8).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nIN THE HOME OF A WITCH\n\n  A mother's love--how sweet the name!\n  What is a mother's love?\n  A noble, pure, and tender flame.\n  Enkindled from above.\n  To bless a heart of earthly mold;\n  The warmest love that can grow cold;\n  This is a mother's love.\n\n  --Montgomery.\n\nYes, this is the nature of a true mother's love, but such love poor Edwin\nhad never known. At the age of fourteen the unwelcome child felt that there\nwas nothing in life for him except that which was hard and unreasonable.\nThe things that he had learned from his kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hahn\nconcerning nature often helped him to forget his sorrows, and the fact\ngained from his mother, that God's eyes were ever upon him, beholding his\nactions all the time, was a constant source of comfort and satisfaction,\nfor he was sure that he was always trying to do his best.\n\n\"If I do as well as I can, God will surely know and care,\" he reasoned.\nThus, his Creator filled a place in the lonely life that had never known a\nfather's or mother's love. And strange as it may seem, the neglect and\nabuse that Edwin endured did not rob him of his strength and ability to\nperform all the duties assigned him. So if Mrs. Fischer had hoped to bring\non the premature death of her son through her cruel treatment, she was\ndisappointed, and within her evil heart she conceived another plan.\n\nIn a distant part of the country, among the hills where two public highways\ncrossed was a home, large, aristocratic, and almost elegant in appearance.\nThe large two-story-and-a-half brick house nestled amidst the dense\nevergreen and floral shrubbery, the large luxuriant orchards widening\naround it, the immense barn on the corner opposite, and the wheat- and\ncorn-fields waving in the distance, caused many a passer-by to envy the\npossessors; but a look at the interior of the house and only a brief\nacquaintance with the occupants were sufficient to disillusion any one\nregarding the family's culture and happiness.\n\nMr. Fitch, a thriving and ambitious young farmer, had inherited the home\nand, having married a woman of an evil and superstitious family, soon\ndiscovered that he was bound to a person whom the community looked upon as\na witch. The years had rolled by, and Mr. and Mrs. Fitch were now old. The\nfame of the evil woman had been published, and she was considered as one\nwho was able to relieve people of any sickness or to drive trouble away\nfrom their doors. The treatment, called powwowing, consisted of repeating\nlong lists of words that she had learned from a book called \"The Black\nArts.\" This book and an almanac made up the entire Fitch library.\n\nAs this Mr. Fitch passed the home of Mrs. Fischer on his way to and from\nthe city, it became his custom to stop at the uncle's blacksmith shop. In\nthis way the two families became acquainted, and Mrs. Fischer learned\nsomething of the nature of the witch. Just why and how it was suggested to\nthe mind of Mrs. Fischer that the Fitch home would be the proper place to\nsend her son is hard to tell. It would seem that Satan (understanding\nEdwin's desire to do right) helped her strive to throw every wicked\ninfluence possible about him and plan to discourage, deceive, and tempt him\nto do evil and become like the rest of the family. And she may have thought\nthat there was a possibility of a mysterious and unquestioned death. At\nleast, it happened that one day late in the summer she asked Mr. Fitch the\nquestion:\n\n\"How would you like a fourteen-year-old boy who would work for you for his\nboard and clothes?\"\n\n\"To be sure, I need one very much!\" was the old man's reply. \"My wife has a\nlittle girl to help her, and I need a boy to be with me. He could help with\nthe chores and herd the cows. I've tried several lads, but they always run\noff.\"\n\n\"Well, my Ed will be just the one for you then,\" said Mrs. Fischer\nconfidently. \"You needn't be afraid that he will run off, for he knows too\nwell that he must stay where I put him.\"\n\n\"How about his wages and schooling?\" Mr. Fitch inquired with a suspicious\nglance at Mrs. Fischer, but he was instantly assured that such would not be\nnecessary. \"Only his clothes and board will be required, and I shall expect\nyou to see that he earns them.\"\n\n\"Very well, ma'am, then we can count it a bargain, and I will take your son\nright home with me today if you like,\" and the old farmer and Mrs. Fischer\nhastened to the house to inform Edwin of the plan.\n\nEdwin, brush in hand and down upon his knees, was diligently brushing away\nthe crumbs from under the table in the dining-room when he was told in a\nfew words to stop his work and prepare for the journey.\n\n\"You are to go home with Mr. Fitch,\" his mother explained. \"He wants you to\nlive with him and be his choreboy.\"\n\nPerhaps Mrs. Fischer did not understand the expression that came over\nEdwin's face, but the news gave him intense satisfaction. He could compare\nthe change only to his visit in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hahn, and he could\ndesire nothing better. Any place, Edwin reasoned, must be better than his\nmother's home, and he was soon sitting beside Mr. Fitch as he drove away in\nthe direction of the mountains.\n\nWhen they arrived at the place that Mr. Fitch explained was his home, Edwin\nwas more delighted than ever, for he had never pictured anything more\nbeautiful. But when they drew near the house and he heard oaths and\nlanguage still more vile than he had ever heard from his mother's tongue,\nhe wondered if he heard aright. Even during her most terrible tantrums he\nhad never heard such words, and when through the open kitchen-door he saw\nMrs. Fitch with a rolling-pin in one hand and a pie-pan in the other and\nwith her face turned toward the sky, blaspheming the great God of the\nuniverse for permitting a certain crop to fail, he felt faint and sick.\n\nAgain and again the wicked woman blasphemed that holy name because of the\nfailure caused by drought, and threatened, on account of the failure, to\nenter other fields and with a burning torch to set fire to them all. Then\nas curse after curse upon other things rang from her lips, she continued\nbeating the air with rolling-pin and pan until it was dangerous to be\ninside the room. Edwin remained very close to the door, and the girl whom\nMr. Fitch had mentioned as being his wife's helper, he saw spring to one\nside just in time to escape being struck by a huge piece of dough that was\nthrown by the wicked woman at her head.\n\nHow long the unearthly scene had been going on or would have continued is\nhard to say, but from exhaustion Mrs. Fitch sank heavily upon the floor and\nfor some time was in an unconscious condition. In answer to Edwin's worried\nexpression Mr. Fitch remarked, \"Oh, that's nothing! She'll be all right\nafter a while,\" and together they went out to the barn. Edwin asked no\nquestions, but he wondered if such things were right and had to be.\n\nIn this new place he soon discovered that he must bear, in some ways, even\ngreater cruelties than had been forced upon him in his mother's home, for\nin rainy weather or during the hardest storms as much was expected of him\nas when the sun was shining. Many times he was forced to work all day long\nwithout a dry thread of clothing upon his body and often without sufficient\nfood. For all this he never complained, but he wondered why it was\nimpossible to please some people, when he was always satisfied with so\nlittle.\n\nThe greater part of the Fitch property that was used for pasturing purposes\nwas low and swampy and had long been the haunt of many poisonous snakes.\nOne portion of the land that was higher than the rest, Mr. Fitch had\ndecided to have prepared for spring plowing, and Edwin's work was to gather\nthe brush and the stones into piles that they might be burned or hauled\naway. He was also instructed to drive the cows from those parts of the\npasture in which the snakes were the most numerous. With nothing to protect\nhis bare feet and with no understanding of the danger of snakebites, he was\noften tramping in places where the reptiles were gliding past him in many\ndirections, but upon none of these occasions was he ever bitten.\n\nIt was said that ghosts and many strange objects were often discovered in\nthe house or grove of the Fitch property, and also that some unearthly\ncreatures had been frequently known to rise from an unused chimney and,\nmoving slowly toward the large field, to disappear always at a certain\nplace. Others said that ghosts and horrible-looking forms had been met in\nthe grove, and still others had heard strange noises, as the slamming of\ndoors and windows when no breeze was blowing, the moving of heavy pieces of\nfurniture, and the rattling and dragging of heavy chains.\n\nOne man said that once while working for Mr. Fitch he was sleeping in a\ncertain room when suddenly the covers from the bed began to move and that\nalthough he resisted with all his strength, they were torn away. Feeling\nconfident that he was the only occupant of the room, he left the place in\nthe night vowing that he would never return.\n\nThese stories and many more were told by the visitors who congregated in\nthe evening about the home from time to time, and they were usually\napproved and strengthened by Mr. and Mrs. Fitch, who could tell of many\nworse and more absurd happenings. Edwin often listened to the weird tales\nbecause those telling them were anxious to frighten him, but sometimes it\nwas because of his own curiosity. He was often seized with a strong desire\nto investigate and to find out for himself whether the things that they\nsaid were really true. Upon different occasions he was allowed to sleep in\nthe rooms that were supposed to be haunted, but never did he see or find\nout anything that was unusual.\n\nLying and stealing and other evils were often freely discussed by the boys\nand girls of the neighborhood when they gathered in the grove, and it was\nno uncommon thing to hear some one telling of a narrow escape from\ndetection. Occasionally Eldwin was asked to tell a lie to help another\ncover up some evil deed, but this Edwin always stoutly refused to do. When\nfun was made of him or he was mocked for his principles of right, his\nanswer was always, \"I never want any one to lie or steal for me, and I will\nnot do such things for any one else.\" His reason for speaking thus was not\nthat he looked upon either of these things as sins, for he had no\nconception of what sin was. It was simply his sense of duty and his\nadmiration of doing that which was right and just. Thus, his mother's\ndesire to have him educated in wrong-doing was in no wise gratified, and\nhis young life, even in the home of one of Satan's most efficient servants,\nwas protected and preserved pure and blameless.\n\n\"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor\nstandeth in the way of sinners.\" (Psa. 1:1).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nA CONTRAST\n\n  When people once are in the wrong,\n  Each line they add is much too long;\n  Who fastest walks, but walks astray,\n  Is only furthest from his way.\n\n  --Prior.\n\nAt the age of nineteen Edwin was still untaught by man regarding the\nhereafter and God. The little that he had gleaned from the words and\nactions of the sinful people with whom he was forced to associate had\nopened his understanding sufficiently for him to know that there is a\nspirit life and some sort of reward for the evil and the good, but that was\nabout all.\n\nHis life in the home of Mr. Fitch had been hard indeed, but through all his\nhardships the desire to do right had never left him, and the little prayer\nlearned in the poorhouse was still a comfort when he was lonely and sad.\nMany times in the silent hours of the night as he repeated the words softly\nto himself and realized the waves of strength and courage sweeping over\nhim, he was made to wonder, but he never thought of connecting the prayer\nwith God. To Edwin the words were simply a pleasant and sacred memory that\nwas treasured and appreciated, but his divine Teacher was using them as a\nfoundation for his spiritual education.\n\nAlthough Elmer knew little more concerning the hereafter, he was far better\ninformed in the ways of the world, for his life had been paved with\nopportunities, and he had made use of them. However, without a standard in\nhis heart such as Edwin had erected and with no home government to protect\nand guide him, as a petted and humored and spoiled child he had indulged in\nmany sins until some of the crimes traced to his door were of the blackest\nhue. He had already been tried for various crimes, but the latest trial was\nfor his having promised to marry a young girl, when he had already a living\nwife and child in another part of the city. \"Why,\" do you ask? \"could this\ndifference be?\" Take a look into the heart and life of each, and you will\ndiscover the answer. Every thought and purpose of the one, regardless of\nconsequences, had been to do the right for principle's sake and because it\nwas right, and God, noting his good intentions, had guided him onward. The\nother, from the time that he had stolen the pebbles in the silent hours of\nthe night, had sought for opportunities to do similar underhand deeds.\n\nWas it the fault of Elmer that such things should be? Not altogether. The\ngreater blame must be laid at the door of those whose duty it was to warn\nand advise him of his danger and to see to it that he obeyed them while he\nwas young; for it is very plainly stated in the Bible that the child should\nbe trained in its youth (Prov. 22:6). Nevertheless, the evil-doer must have\nhis just deserts; for \"whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap\"\n(Gal. 6:7).\n\nElmer had continued his stealing until among the stolen articles were suits\nof men's clothing, sums of money, and other things too numerous to mention.\nHe had also been guilty of forging notes. But the crime of deceiving the\nyoung girl seemed to his friends the most humiliating.\n\nAlthough Edwin no longer lived in the community of his mother or Mr. Fitch,\nfor he was supporting himself, he had learned what a mother's place in his\nlife should be and the attitude that a son should hold toward her. He\ntherefore, regardless of her former shortcomings, went occasionally to see\nher. In answer to those who questioned how he could respect or visit his\nmother after all that she had caused him to suffer, he would say: \"She is\nstill my mother, just as though she had always been good to me, and I shall\nalways regard her as a mother. During my childhood I held nothing against\nher for all the things I suffered, and why should I now?\" Hearing of\nElmer's trouble, Edwin hastened to his mother's home, and while listening\nto her tale of woe he heard her say:\n\n\"I just can't understand what Elmer means by doing such outlandish things\nnow that he is grown up. If he were a boy, I wouldn't think so much about\nit, but here he is a man and bringing home to us nothing but sorrow and\ndisgrace. He can scarcely get out of one trouble until he is in another,\nand he even sets the other children up to do things that are bad. Now, how\nis it that you, whom I never gave credit for knowing anything, have never\ncaused me any anxiety or trouble in any way? No matter where you are or how\nhard you have to work, I can never find any one that has anything bad to\nsay about you. I can't see why there should be such a difference.\"\n\n\"Why, Mother,\" Edwin answered, \"it is very plain. I can tell you all about\nit. Do you remember the time when Elmer took the pebbles from my pocket in\nthe night time? That was his start. After that he often took things from\nyour dress-pockets and money-drawer, and it was easy for him to slip in\nbehind the counters at the stores to help himself, for you always took his\npart and shielded him; and you never taught him that he must be true to his\nwife. You told me I must never speak to you of these things, and I did not\nbefore, for I knew that it would do no good; but the little seed that was\nplanted in his heart that night when he was allowed to keep the pebbles has\ngrown until it is what you see it now. Elmer is a thief and will have to\nreceive from the law the punishment that you ought to have given him long\nago.\"\n\n\"I don't see how taking a few little stones out of your pocket could make\nhim a thief or amount to this,\" his mother said as the truth began to dawn\nupon her.\n\n\"Why, Mother,\" Edwin answered, \"it is just as natural for that little deed\nto grow and multiply as for a thistle-seed to grow and increase when it is\ndropped in the ground. One healthy stalk will bear a great many blossoms,\nand every blossom will have an abundant crop of seeds. The little\nthistle-seed is very small and perfectly harmless if watched and destroyed\nbefore it has time to grow, but let it take root in fertile soil and get a\nstart, and it will surely yield many more thistles and continue to increase\nlong after the plant itself is forgotten.\"\n\nWhile Edwin was speaking, his mother seemed to realize something of the\nmeaning of his words. The time to undo many of the wrongs that she had done\nthe growing boys when they were under her care had gone; but had she known\nit, there was still a chance to help poor Edwin, who, through observation,\nhad discovered some deep and mysterious truths.\n\nHe had found that there is nothing certain upon the earth except that\neverything must have a beginning and an ending, and that old age and death\nare unavoidable. The stories of ghosts and superstitious sayings had opened\nup avenues for thought, and he reasoned that if everything must die, and if\nthere is a heaven and a hell, and if God knows all we do and say, there\nmust be some way for a person to know in which of these places he will live\nafter he is dead.\n\nFor a long time the thought had troubled him, but although he had asked\nmany people regarding the matter, no one had explained it to his\nsatisfaction. Taking note of his mother's friendly attitude toward him, he\nventured to ask if she could give him any information on the subject, but\nher answer was: \"We can not know these things until after we are dead. We\nmust wait and see.\"\n\nAs Edwin left his mother's home to return to the place where he had been\nworking, he was more perplexed than ever; but he had decided that since the\ngood place and the bad had been made for a purpose and since the good and\nthe bad must inhabit their own proper places, he would not cease trying to\nsolve the problem until he proved that it was an impossibility to do so.\n\nPoor Edwin! Could some one have read to him from the Bible--but no! Had he\nlistened, he could not have understood; he had no way of knowing that it\nwas God's word to man.\n\n\"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the\ntree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city\" (Rev.\n22:14).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nSEARCHING FOR LIGHT\n\n  The inquiring spirit will not be controlled;\n  He would make certain all, and all behold.\n\n  --Sprague.\n\nAt the age of twenty-one Edwin had formed one bad habit. Having had nobody\nto tell him that the use of tobacco was harmful to his body and seeing it\nused as commonly as a food by nearly all, regardless of age or sex, he had\nlearned both to smoke and to chew. By the permission of the farmers for\nwhom he had worked, he had raised a few tobacco-plants for himself, and the\nleaves of these plants, when carefully dried, were what he used as\nsmoking-tobacco, but the cigars and chewing-tobacco he purchased at the\nstore.\n\nBut although Edwin had never heard that tobacco was in any way unfit for\nthe use of man, something within him seemed to suggest that there were some\nthings about its use that were filthy and unclean. One thing that he\nabhorred was the chewing of tobacco in the house, because he pitied the\nwomen who were forced to look after and clean the spittoons. When in the\nhouse in the evening or on Sunday he considered smoking his pipe or cigars\nmore appropriate, and he had supplied himself with special mouth-pieces for\nhis cigars and convenient cases in which to carry them in his pockets. He\ndid his chewing when at his work in the field. He also felt that it was\nplacing his employer's property in too much danger to smoke when about his\nwork in the barn, and this he always avoided. Thus, the same principle that\nhad governed his earlier years was still his ruling trait.\n\nAlthough for so many months Edwin had been seeking carefully and often with\ntears for some clue to the mystery connected with the hereafter, he had as\nyet found no one who could inform him on the subject; for those whom he\nconsidered the best people living were as uncertain concerning the future\nreward as the most vile. But from information gleaned he felt that there\nmust be a place somewhere beyond the grave where the good and the bad would\nlive again. When reasoning about the matter, he would say, \"Now, if I am on\nthe road to heaven, how am I to know if I get off that road and take a\nbranch that will land me in hell?\"\n\nThe thought of his own good behavior and abhorrence of all that he\nconsidered evil did not suggest to his mind that for this reason he might\nbe the more entitled to enter the better place, for all his actions had\nbeen prompted by a sense of justice and his duty toward his fellow men.\n\nHaving become acquainted with a young married couple named Frank and Amanda\nKauffman, Edwin went often to their home to pour out his troubles and\nperplexities. But although these people tried hard to help him, their\nefforts often plunged him into greater doubts and confusion. Whenever he\nwent to them or to any one else with his question, it seemed that the\nanswer was still the same: \"No one can know about these things. We must all\nwait and see.\" Still he was not discouraged. Instead he was more than ever\ndetermined to keep on trying until he did find out.\n\nHad Edwin been able to reason about the drunkard, the thief, or the liar,\nas not being fit for the good place, it might have been different, but to\nhim the evils with which they were bound were a matter of choice. He had\nnever heard the story of Adam and Eve, and so did not know that their first\nsin had severed not only them but also the entire human race from God's\nfamily (Rom. 5:19). Had he known that it is impossible for any one to know\nGod or to enter the better world without first realizing that he is already\ncondemned and on the road to destruction, and that the only way to be\ntransferred to the highway leading to heaven is to be forgiven and adopted\nback into the family of God as a redeemed child, it would not have been so\nhard for him to understand upon which road he was traveling.\n\nIt was springtime, and as the days grew warm and bright, the tiny\ngrass-blades in the meadowlands made their appearance. Then it was that the\nfarmer for whom Edwin was working realized that it was time to gather the\nstones that were scattered here and there throughout the meadow into piles\nthat they might be hauled away before they became lost in the soft, velvety\ncarpet of green; for should they be left where they were, later on the\nknives of the mowing-machine and the teeth of the hay-rake would be badly\ndamaged and perhaps broken. Edwin was told, therefore, that his work for a\ntime would be to gather all the stones, both large and small, into heaps in\nsystematic order so that they could be easily hauled away by the team in\nthe large farm-wagon.\n\nAs THe field was large and level, it was a pleasant place to work, and\nEdwin, having plenty of time to think, confined his thoughts principally to\nthe things that were uppermost in his mind. He reasoned thus:\n\n\"Now, if a man must walk every step of the way through life in uncertainty\nand doubt as to what the end will be, and has such a short time to stay in\nthis world how miserable THe remainder of my life will be! If only I could\ndo something whereby I could know surely that I would at the last have my\ndesire, I would be so glad! Still,\" he reasoned on, \"there must be some way\nto know these things, and I will not stop trying to find out just what it\nis. It's altogether unreasonable to believe that we can not know until\nafter we die about these things. God surely has some way to let us\nunderstand; for if he didn't what would there be to hinder every person on\nearth from going to hell? Surely God wants some of the people to go to the\nother place.\"\n\nHis belief that some were surely on their way to heaven was firm, and he\nfelt that those few must not be in doubt as to where they were going, and\nthat God must in some way let them know how to live in order to keep on the\nright road, and also that their lives must be peaceful and happy. But he\nfelt that some great change would have to take place in one's life before\nthis assurance could come.\n\nThus, God again, when all men failed him, became Edwin's teacher, for these\nthoughts were in accordance with the Bible, and in wisdom and love his\nheavenly Father helped him to comprehend the very principles of a true\nChristian life. The truths he thus learned were so deeply stamped upon his\nmind with the divine seal that they could never be erased. Still within his\nheart there was another question that had not been answered: \"How can I get\nthis assurance within my own heart?\" Nothing could ever bring satisfaction\nuntil he knew without a doubt that he was going aright, and nothing but\nfacts would ever dispel his doubts.\n\n\"God,\" he reasoned, \"is the only one who knows, and the only way for me to\nunderstand is for God to let me know just what he thinks about me. God will\nnot deal with me according to what the people may think of me, or by what\nthey may say. Some say that I am all right now; but if I were all right, I\nshould be the first to know it, and I do not feel that I am fit now for\nheaven if I should die.\"\n\nThe knowledge that he had always tried to do the best that he could and\nthat he had endeavored to treat every creature living as fairly as he knew\nhow was not enough to satisfy him, and he said: \"There is something still\nof which I have never heard or dreamed. If only I could find out what it is\nor by what means I could get it, how glad I should be! Can it be that I\nmust die before I know what it is?\"\n\n\"Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart\"\n(Psa. 44:21).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nA REVELATION ON ETERNITY\n\n  Life is real! Life is earnest!\n  And the grave is not its goal;\n  Dust thou art, to dust returnest,\n  Was not spoken of the soul.\n\n  --Longfellow.\n\nWhile Edwin was still laboring among the stones in the field of grass, this\nthought came suddenly to his mind:\n\n\"If I should be so unfortunate as to die before I receive the assurance\nthat I am going to heaven and I should happen to find myself in hell, how\nlong would I have to be there? And how hot would be that fire that I have\nheard so much about from profane tongues? Would there be any ending or\nwearing away of eternity? and would the suffering after a while be less\nsevere? or would it go right on just the same forever and ever?\"\n\nAs his desire to know these things increased, he was willing to lay aside\nhis thoughts concerning how he was to get the assurance that he was going\nto heaven, and as he passed from one heap of stones to another, he became\nsorely troubled. He longed for a friend to whom he could go for help, but\nno one was suggested to his mind. Even his friend Frank Kauffman, he was\nsure, could not enlighten him; for to none of the questions he already\nasked upon these subjects had he received satisfactory answers.\n\nThen suddenly, as though he had passed into the great beyond, everything\nabout him appeared to be changed. He seemed to have died and passed into\nhell, and the flames, as they rose in imagination about him, were\npenetrating every fiber of his being, and he cried out in his distress. But\nas though the vision had been only to teach him of the reality of that\nplace of torment, Edwin felt himself caught up, as it were, and he was\nseemingly suspended in an endless space with the eternal realities of life\nopened up for him to view. For miles and miles nothing but space appeared\nto stretch before, above, and around him, with the glaring flames that he\nhad just left but a short distance behind him.\n\nThen the scene was changed, and he saw before him a great and high mountain\nof sand, and the thought of the impossibility of counting the grains was\nsuggested to his mind. Again the scene changed, and each grain in the\nmountain seemed to be a year, and the grains as years began to form\nthemselves into one continuous straight line, so long that the distance\ncould not be measured by the human eye, for there was no end. Once more\nthere was a change. The line of years took the form of a great\nmeasuring-rod, and strength was given Edwin to grasp the rod and to try to\nmeasure the duration of hell-fire; and he tried to see if in eternity there\ncould be any possible way of forgetting the past. Twice with the immense\nrod he measured into the sea of Forgetfulness, but before the third\nmeasurement was taken, he saw from a backward glance that hell was no\nfarther away from him than it had been at the first. In great distress\nEdwin dropped the rod, and the vision passed away.\n\nWhen he realized that he was still in the field of grass and was on time's\nside of eternity, he was very glad indeed. Through the vision he was\nconvinced of two things--that hell and its torments were certain, and that\neternity was without end--and he was filled with a new determination and\nzeal to do everything in his power to obtain an assurance within himself\nthat he was really on the road to the better world.\n\nHow sad that Edwin could not have gone directly to Jesus as some did in\nolden time and have heard him explain that to enter heaven one must be born\nagain.\n\n\"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but\ncanst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that\nis born of the Spirit.\" \"Except a man be born again, he can not see the\nkingdom of God.\" (John 3:8,3).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nPUZZLED ABOUT PRAYER\n\n  Heaven asks no surplice round the heart that feels,\n  And all is holy where devotion kneels.\n\n  --Holmes.\n\nEdwin's distress of mind and his confusion of thought were greatly\nincreased when, a few days after the vision in the field, there was another\nstrange occurrence. The stones had not all been gathered into piles, but\nthe work was progressing well, and when Edwin occasionally stopped in his\nwork to note the appearance of the large field, he was pleased with what he\nhad accomplished. The burden of his thought, however, was not the work nor\nthe neatness of the place. Neither was it the beautiful scenery of slightly\nrolling country, the Christmas stories and legends connected with Blue\nMountain, nor the ghost-stories and horrors in the home of the witch. Even\nthe vision of eternity was a thing of the past.\n\n\"If only I knew! If only I could tell, before I die, on which of the roads\nI am traveling to eternity!\" was the constant cry of his troubled soul.\nOnce when these words had just escaped his lips, he suddenly heard a\nstrange and rumbling sound that seemed to come from the very heart of the\nearth, and he felt the ground beneath his feet begin to shake. Unable to\nunderstand what had happened, Edwin hastened to the house, but the people\nthere were as mystified as he himself, except that they said, \"Surely it\nmust have been an earthquake!\" and some suggested that the end of the world\nmight be near. With this bit of knowledge, Edwin returned to his work, but\noh, how heavy was his heart!\n\n\"Why is it so hard,\" he cried, \"to discover the secret that is causing me\nall this worry and trouble?\" But the words had no sooner escaped his lips\nthan he added, \"There is and there must be some way to find out, and I'll\nkeep on trying until I know that it is of no use to try.\"\n\nAcross the fields on a pretty knoll stood the humble little dwelling of\nFrank Kauffman and his wife, and as Edwin glanced occasionally in that\ndirection, he wondered if his friend would be able to enlighten him about\nthe earthquake, and he planned to visit him that very evening after supper.\n\nFrank's home, although small, was always cozy and inviting; for Amanda,\nlong before Frank married her, had been taught by her energetic, systematic\nmother, Mrs. Miller, the principles of good housekeeping. And Frank,\nalthough not a Christian, had been reared by a pious and devoted mother,\nwho in all her ways endeavored to set before her children an example that\nshe would not be ashamed to have them follow, and she was a woman who knew\nthe value of prayer. For this reason Frank could easily talk on a few of\nthe principles of religion; but when it came to the actual experiences, he\nwas at a loss to know what to say.\n\nBut although Frank's mother was so noble and true, his father's goodness\nwas only from a moral standpoint, and regardless of the evil effect that\nhis smoking might have upon his three growing boys, he very much enjoyed\nhis pipe. As a result of the father's indulgence, Frank and his two\nbrothers, when scattered out in homes of their own, said, \"Father smoked\nand seems none the worse for it, and I guess a little tobacco will not hurt\nus.\"\n\nBut the fact that some of her family smoked at all never ceased to be a\ngreat worry to Mrs. Kauffman, and whenever there was an opportunity she\nreminded them of their fault. And as Frank's home was but a short distance\nfrom his mother's, Edwin's visits were noticed by the anxious woman, and\nwhen she found that he too was a tobacco-user, she was much worried about\nthe influence he might have over her son.\n\nAfter she had expressed her fears concerning Edwin, one day to Frank, her\nson answered, \"Mother, you are doing Edwin a great injustice; for instead\nof his being an evil associate, he is not only noble and good, but a\npattern of good works, for even in the use of tobacco he is moderate and\nneat. More than this,\" Frank continued, \"Edwin is very much interested in\nreligion, and many times I am unable to answer his questions because they\nare so deep.\"\n\nCould Mrs. Kauffman have known Edwin at this time, she would certainly have\nbeen of a different opinion, and she might have helped him through some of\nhis difficulties; but she knew nothing of the perplexities of his mind, and\nEdwin did not know of her anxieties concerning his influence over her son.\n\nWhen Edwin saw the evening shades beginning to gather, he was glad, and as\nsoon as his supper and evening duties were over, he made his way across\nmeadow and fields to the home of his friend, and he did not forget to carry\nwith him a generous supply of dried tobacco-leaves, which he had tied up in\na large red handkerchief. The leaves were for his friend and him to smoke\nwhile they talked.\n\nAs he passed the place in the field where he had felt the shock of the\nearthquake, he remembered, that he had not told Frank about the vision of\neternity and hell that was still fresh in his memory, and then so rapidly\nwere the things suggested to his mind that he would like to say, that he\nbegan to wonder if he would be able to unburden his heart in so short a\ntime.\n\nWhen he approached the house, he saw his friend Frank seated upon the\nporch. Frank was resting after a hard day's work in the field, but he gave\nEdwin a hearty welcome and bade him be seated beside him. Edwin took the\nchair, and the two were soon loading their pipes from the dried\ntobacco-leaves contained in the red handkerchief. Then as the circles of\nblue smoke began to arise in the air, Frank asked:\n\n\"Did you feel or hear over at your place anything of the earthquake?\"\n\n\"Yes, and I should like to know more about it,\" Edwin answered.\n\n\"It shook the windows and doors in our house so hard that my wife couldn't\nimagine for a time what was happening,\" Frank continued, \"and my horse in\nthe field came very near getting away from me.\"\n\n\"It seemed to me,\" Edwin remarked, \"that the whole field where I was\nworking was going to pieces and that I was going right down into eternity.\"\n\nThen, as they smoked, Edwin told his friend all about his vision and\nexplained how dreadful he felt it would be to land in such an awful place\nwhen he came to leave this world.\n\n\"I guess you felt like saying a prayer about the time you found yourself in\nhell, didn't you?\" Frank asked as Edwin finished relating the incident.\n\nThe awful picture of the future world that had been painted in words had\ncaused Frank to shudder, for he was not prepared to die. It might have been\nFrank's manner and it might have been the tone in which the word \"prayer\"\nwas spoken that caused Edwin to exclaim:\n\n\"Prayer! what is prayer?\"\n\n\"Prayer,\" Frank replied, \"is man's way of talking with God. When anybody\ntells God what he wants, he prays; and God has promised to hear his words\nand to help him out of his troubles. But the person who prays must speak\nfrom his heart and not try to say a lot of words that he has learned from\nsome one else or from a book. A prayer from the heart is the only kind that\nGod will hear.\"\n\n\"What do you mean by talking with God?\" Edwin asked in a still more\nmystified tone, for he had never thought of man while still on the earth or\nin fact anywhere else, as speaking with God in heaven.\n\nAfter Frank had explained that such a thing was possible, Edwin exclaimed:\n\n\"Who can make such a prayer? Do you know of any one who can?\"\n\nThe twilight shades had all disappeared from the sky above, and it was\nalready dark where Frank and Edwin were sitting, but inside the cozy\nliving-room Amanda, seated beside a table, upon which a kerosene-lamp was\nburning, was quietly knitting. Pointing in her direction, Frank said,\nconfidently:\n\n\"There's one who can pray. And she prays from the heart.\"\n\nAlthough Edwin had been in the home a number of times and had noticed\nFrank's wife, he had never talked with her, and as he gazed through the\nopen window, he wondered what kind of person she could be. Turning suddenly\nto his friend, he said:\n\n\"By what means does a person become able to pray such a prayer?\"\n\n\"By being converted,\" Frank answered.\n\n\"Converted!\" Edwin exclaimed with even more wonder shining in his large\nbrown eyes, for he seemed to realize instantly that another great and\nimportant subject had been introduced.\n\nIn answer to Edwin's question as to how it was possible to be converted,\nFrank explained that one was converted through prayer or by praying; but\nthis answer was more confusing than any other had been, and Edwin\nexclaimed:\n\n\"Why, Frank, how is this? You say that the only kind of prayer that will\namount to anything is that prayer that comes right out of the heart, and\nthat to pray such a prayer one must be converted. And now you say that one\nis converted through prayer. Now tell me, if this is true, how and where\ndoes a person get his start?\"\n\nNot being a Christian himself, or ever having had the experience of\nsalvation, Frank did not know how to unravel the tangle of thought that he\nhad woven within Edwin's mind, and he was at a loss to know what to say.\n\nHow easy it would have been for Mrs. Kauffman to help Edwin out of his\ndifficulty had she known, but she was in her own home a short distance away\nburdened and sad. She had watched Edwin as he crossed the fields on his way\nto the home of her son and knew that they were smoking upon the porch.\n\nWhen the subject of prayer was dropped, Edwin told his friend that the\nfarmer for whom he was working would soon be caught up with his work and\nthat it would be necessary for him to look for a new place to work, and he\nasked Frank if he knew of any farmers who were needing help. As Edwin had\nexpressed a desire to get into another neighborhood, if possible, for the\nexperience, Frank said that his father-in-law, Mr. Miller, would be in need\nof hired men during harvest, and added, \"If you wish, I will speak a good\nword in your behalf.\"\n\nEdwin expressed his gratitude for his friend's interest, and then after a\nfew other remarks he arose to go. Before leaving, however, he emptied the\ncontents of the red handkerchief out upon a piece of paper. Then, putting\nthe handkerchief in his pocket, he bade his friend goodnight.\n\nIt was a beautiful evening, but Edwin paid no attention to the stars as\nthey gazed down upon him from above. He was thinking of his friend's words,\nand he said aloud: \"To be converted must be the very thing for me and just\nwhat I need. But how am I to get converted, since I must pray and since I\ncan not pray until I get converted?\" The words taught him at the poorhouse\ncame quickly to his mind, but he said sadly: \"No, they won't do! Frank said\nthat a prayer is words, but that the words must not be any that have been\nlearned from any person or book. They must come right out of one's heart.\nWhat can it all mean?\" And that night, for the first time in many years,\nthe little prayer failed to bring him comfort before he closed his eyes in\nsleep.\n\n\"O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come\" (Psa. 65: 2).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nA PRAYER-MEETING\n\n  Oh the precious privilege\n  To the pious given,\n  Sending by the dove of prayer\n  Holy words to heaven!\n  Arrows from the burning sun\n  Cleave the quivering air;\n  Swifter, loftier, surer on,\n  Speeds the dove of prayer,\n  Bearing from the parted lips\n  Words of holy love,\n  Warm as from the heart they gushed,\n  To the throne above.\n\n  --Mrs. Hale.\n\nNot long after the excitement caused by the earthquake had subsided, Frank\nKauffman informed his father-in-law, Mr. Miller, of Edwin's intention to\nchange his place of employment and took great pains to mention the young\nman's good qualities. As a result, Frank returned with the message: \"My\nfather-in-law will be glad to have you help him on the farm even before\nharvest, and you are at liberty, he said, to come just as soon as you care\nto do so.\" Accordingly, at the end of the month Edwin, together with his\ntrunk and other baggage, was transferred to the home of Mr. Miller.\n\nWhen the news of Edwin's departure from the neighborhood came to the ears\nof Mrs. Kauffman, she rejoiced, because she felt that his influence over\nher son in regard to smoking would not be so great; but little did she know\nwhat the move was to mean to Edwin or that it would bring him even more\ndirectly into her life.\n\nMr. Miller, a well-to-do old farmer, was still strong for his age and well\nable to assume the responsibilities connected with his business; so the\ngreater part of his help was hired by the day. But since he would need one\nsteady hand to help him throughout the harvest-season with the barn- and\nhouse-chores, he hired Edwin for two months. Finding that all that Frank\nhad said of him was true, the Millers took Edwin into the home as a member\nof the family.\n\nEdwin was not long in discovering that he greatly enjoyed being in this\nhome, for both Mr. and Mrs. Miller were good people, and Mrs. Miller was a\nprofessor of religion. But to the young man so hungry for the right kind of\nliving the lack of profanity between the husband and wife was the thing\nmost noticeable and gratifying.\n\nHe had been there but a short time when the motherly sympathy of Mrs.\nMiller was aroused on account of his extreme ignorance on many subjects,\nand she did not grow weary in explaining the meaning of new words and in\ndoing all else that she knew to do to enlighten his mind. That she might\nhave a better opportunity to talk with Edwin, he was invited to share with\nthe old couple the smoking-hour that was spent in the little summer-kitchen\n(for both Mr. and Mrs. Miller were fond of their tobacco). For this\nkindness Edwin was very grateful.\n\nThe little summer-kitchen, which had been built just back and a little\napart from the large, convenient farm-house, was principally for the\npurpose of keeping the larger building free from the offensive odors that\nmight arise from the cooking or the use of tobacco; but Mrs. Miller was so\nextremely neat and clean about her housekeeping that this room too was\nalways cozy and inviting. In the chimney-corner of the kitchen a large\nfireplace had been built, and the latter had been covered by a closed iron\ncooking-grate. Above the rustic stove was a mantel, upon which the tobacco\nsupplies of the old people were kept, and Edwin was told that he was\nwelcome to place his pipes and cigars with theirs if he desired to do so.\nThe invitation was gladly accepted, and when Edwin's things were arranged,\nthe mantel was well filled. The other furnishings of the room were a large\ncupboard, the necessary articles for cooking, a long home-made dining-table\nin the center of the room with long benches on both sides, and a few\nold-fashioned straight-backed chairs. And here they met night after night\nto smoke and to talk.\n\nThe congregation to which Mrs. Miller belonged was in the habit of holding\ntheir weekly prayer-services in the residences of the different\nchurch-members, and soon after Edwin's arrival in her home Mrs. Miller told\nhim that on the following Thursday evening there was to be a prayer-meeting\nat her house.\n\n\"A prayer-meeting!\" Edwin exclaimed with as much wonder and astonishment as\nhe had displayed when talking with Frank about prayer; and immediately he\nconnected the words with those that he had listened to on the porch of his\nfriend's home. And when he asked simply, \"What is a prayer-meeting?\" she\nhid her surprize and explained that some people from different parts of the\nneighborhood would come together after supper in some room and spend an\nhour in reading, praying, and singing hymns.\n\n\"Can I be with you too?\" Edwin asked as though he expected to be denied the\nprivilege; but when Mrs. Miller answered, \"Certainly,\" the beseeching look\nimmediately changed to one of gladness.\n\n\"Can it be possible,\" thought Edwin the following day as he went about his\nwork, \"that in this very home where I am now living they will have prayer.\nOnly three more days! How can I wait until Thursday night?\"\n\nWhen at last the appointed evening had arrived, Edwin with great inward\nemotion and with bright anticipations watched the people as they arrived in\ngroups of twos and threes, some on foot and others in carriages. When all\nhad arrived and had passed on into the house, they were greeted by Mrs.\nMiller, and Edwin was invited to join them in the comfortable sitting-room\nof the large house.\n\nEdwin felt that these people were conferring upon him a wonderful privilege\nand honor, but he could not get away from the feeling that he was an\nintruder in their meeting. He was surprized that no one else seemed to look\nupon his being there as strange. In fact, all were so very kind that he\ndecided to get all the good possible from being there and to solve, if he\ncould, the puzzle of prayer, also to find out what it meant to become\nconverted.\n\nNow, Edwin had never learned that there was any other language than the\nPennsylvania Dutch dialect, and having never been in a neighborhood where\nthe Bible truths in any language were taught in his hearing, and not\nknowing that there was a Bible or a Savior, he had no way of understanding\n(even in his mother-tongue) what to most people would have been simple and\nreadily comprehended.\n\nWhen all was in readiness for the service to begin, a song was sung and\nthen a chapter from the large German family Bible was read. After that all\nknelt to pray. Edwin knelt also, but he faced the others and gazed upon the\nupturned faces as though they belonged to creatures from another world.\nWhen Amanda and Mrs. Kauffman prayed and he saw their faces beaming with\nthe glory of God, he was sure that their prayers were informal, for no\nbooks were before them and the words seemed to come from their hearts. The\nreason that he could not understand what was said, he felt sure, was\nbecause they were talking to God, and the language was that of another\nworld.\n\nWhen they arose and began telling of God's goodness to them, some even\nleaping and shouting at times, Edwin supposed that it was another form of\nprayer, and as the words spoken were all in German, they too, he reasoned,\nmust belong to another world. Notwithstanding he rejoiced because he was\nthere, and he believed that everything was just as it should have been.\n\nWhen the meeting had been dismissed and the people had gone to their homes,\nEdwin and Mr. and Mrs. Miller went to the summer-kitchen to smoke before\nretiring. While they were filling their pipes and selecting the coals to\nlight them, Mrs. Miller inquired, \"How did you like the meeting tonight.\nEdwin? Was it like you thought it would be?\" His answer did not reveal the\nfact that he had not understood enough of what had been said or done to\nform any new conclusion. He did tell her, however, that he thought the\nmeeting was really wonderful, and he asked how they all knew that they were\non the road to heaven. For Mrs. Miller this was a very hard question to\nanswer, for she too was living in great uncertainty regarding the future\nand her reward; so she said:\n\n\"They don't know anything about that for sure in this life. They must wait\nuntil after they die before they can find that out.\"\n\nIn reply to Edwin's questions on prayer and what it means to be converted,\nMrs. Miller explained that she had gone forward and given her hand to the\nminister a long time before and that after waiting a year's time he had\ntold her she was in the church, and that joining church was what was meant\nby being converted.\n\n\"What do you mean by 'church'?\" Edwin asked, feeling that he had found\nanother word bearing upon the great subject that was perplexing him.\n\n\"Why the church is that big building down on the first four corners as you\ngo into town. You can't miss it, for it's the only building there, and if\nyou want to go down there with us some time to a meeting, you can. We have\nmeeting, you know, every Sunday at the church.\"\n\nBut Edwin did not know, so he said, \"Do you mean that you have\nprayer-meeting every Sunday?\"\n\n\"Oh, no,\" she answered; \"it isn't a prayer-meeting. We just get together\nand listen to the minister talk, but we always sing, and the minister prays\nfor us.\"\n\n\"And don't you know, because you go to that church, that you will go to\nheaven when you die?\" Edwin said in astonishment, but the answer was, \"Oh,\nno; we don't really know anything about that.\"\n\nAs Edwin pondered over the matter that night when alone, he said, \"If it\ntook Mrs. Miller a whole year to get into the church, it will take me that\nlong to get converted; but I can't see why she doesn't know any more than\nshe does about getting to heaven.\"\n\nAlthough Edwin could get no understanding in regard to the deep things that\nwere upon his mind, he never for one moment thought of giving up in his\nefforts to search for them and to find out. In his heart he was still sure\nthat there was a way to know these things, and although his friends had\nfailed to discover them, his confidence in their sincerity was not in the\nleast shaken.\n\n\"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;\nbut is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but\nthat all should come to repentance\" (2 Pet. 3: 9).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nA STAR OF HOPE\n\n  Come then, O care! O grief! O woe!\n  O troubles! mighty in your kind;\n  I have a balm ye ne'er can know,\n  A hopeful mind.\n\n  --Vane.\n\nDuring the weeks that followed, Edwin was very busy, but most of the time\nthat he was at work about the chores or in the harvest-field where the men\nwere gathering in the ripened grain or preparing for the threshers, he was\nreviewing in his mind the scene on eternity, the talks with Frank, the\nprayer-meeting, and what Mrs. Miller had told him in regard to the church.\n\n\"It will take me just a year from the time I start to go to church before I\ncan become converted, or be able to pray the right kind of prayer,\" he said\nto himself; \"and how much longer will it take before I know that I am on\nthe road to heaven?\" for regardless of Mrs. Miller's confident statement\nthat nobody in this world could know of his future reward, Edwin was still\nof the opinion that people could. \"It's just because they haven't got that\nfar along, I guess,\" he reasoned, and he felt very sure that some of the\npeople who were at the prayer-meeting must know.\n\nAmong the day-laborers who worked for Mr. Miller was a Mr. Kunz, who,\nalthough not a Christian, was a good, intelligent, and friendly fellow, and\nwho lived only about a mile away. For this young man Edwin soon formed a\ngreat attachment, and as the weeks slipped by he occasionally found time\nand opportunity to visit him in his home. During one of these visits Mr.\nKunz said in answer to Edwin's questions on prayer and the other things\nthat were troubling him:\n\n\"I don't know very much about such things, Edwin, but I think that you can\nfind out all you want to know if you will go to the big camp-meeting that\nis soon to be held on the camp-ground yonder,\" and with his finger Mr. Kunz\npointed to a strip of woods that Edwin had heard spoken of as the\n\"Camp-Ground.\"\n\n\"Why! what has the camp-meeting to do with such things?\" Edwin asked,\ngreatly surprized; for his idea of the camp-ground had been that it was a\nplace for worldly amusements to be held, such as picnics, festivals, and\nball-games, and it was hard for him to connect it with anything that he\nconsidered so solemn as prayer and getting an assurance of heaven.\n\n\"It has much to do with it, Edwin,\" Mr. Kunz replied. \"The meeting is held\nby men and women who are converted and whose business it is to see that\nthose who come to the meeting get converted. They will know what you need\nand will help you to understand how to get it.\"\n\n\"Do you mean,\" Edwin asked, his eyes opening wide in wonder, \"that one can\nget converted right there at the meeting?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed, I mean it,\" Mr. Kunz replied, smiling at the eagerness of\nEdwin. \"Every year many are converted, and it is for that very purpose that\nthe meeting is held.\"\n\nPoor Edwin! It was hard for him to make the words of Mrs. Miller and those\nof Mr. Kunz harmonize; but as he considered what his friend had said, a\nbright star of hope arose in his sky, and he at once decided that the thing\nfor him to do was to attend that meeting. He asked Mr. Kunz how it was\npossible for those people to get any one converted in so short a time. As\nMr. Kunz was not a Christian himself, he could only answer that he did not\nknow how it was, but that somehow they did it. With this knowledge Edwin\narose to return to the place where he was making his home.\n\nIt was Sunday afternoon early in August, but Edwin gave no heed to the warm\nrays of the sun. As he walked along the highway toward the home of his\nemployer, his heart was light and happy, and as he was alone he swung his\narms and clapped his hands in his delight. The thought that it was possible\nto become converted within a week's time, or eight days, as the meeting was\nto continue over two Sundays, seemed almost too good to be true. \"But why\nnot,\" he reasoned, \"when there will be such able men and women at the\nmeeting to do the work. At the church where Mrs. Miller was converted, it\nmight have taken a year, for there was but one man to do the work; but at\nthe camp-meeting there will be many.\"\n\nThen he began to wonder how the work would be accomplished, and he\nconcluded that it would take some kind of a scientific, systematic\nperformance, together with a wonderful prayer, and that then, if the work\nhad been properly done, an assurance that the person was converted and safe\nfor heaven would come.\n\nSuddenly as he walked along, he felt that he was not alone, but no one was\nin sight. Then these words seemed to be whispered in his ear:\n\n\"You had better not rejoice too soon, for your hope may be in vain. Your\nmaster may refuse to let you go to the camp-meeting; for you know how busy\nhe is just now and how necessary that he should have your help.\"\n\nBut without the slightest fear Edwin answered in an audible tone:\n\n\"Yes, sir, I know that the work is pushing us hard just now, but this\nmatter, to my mind at least, is of far greater importance than all the work\non the farm. And then I do not expect my master to give me the time off to\nattend the camp-meeting. I'll tell him how much I dislike to leave him and\nthat nothing else at such a time would induce me to go. Then I'll say that\nI will not only work for him as hard as I can the four weeks before I go,\nbut that I will stay two weeks longer than I agreed to stay and will give\nhim that work free, if he will only let me attend that meeting.\"\n\nHad Edwin thought to ask Mr. Kunz if anyone could get converted in less\nthan the eight days, he might not have been so determined to remain for the\nentire meeting; but, supposing that it would take at least that long for\nthe operation, he did not want to run any chances of failure in his\nundertaking.\n\nHe had hardly finished telling what he would do in return for the favor\nthat he was expecting to ask of his master, when again he seemed to hear\nthe voice speaking. It said:\n\n\"Your week's absence from the farm at this busy time might cause your\nmaster so much inconvenience and loss that he would not even consider your\noffer of two extra weeks of labor in return.\"\n\n\"Under such circumstance I'd give him a month's time for the one week,\"\nEdwin answered bravely.\n\nThen the voice suggested that he might be unable to leave under any\ncircumstances, but at this suggestion Edwin exclaimed:\n\n\"Well, sir, then I shall go anyway! My matter is of far greater importance\nthan anything that is connected with his farm, and I can not afford to miss\nthat meeting. I can not give up a chance to get converted; for if I do and\nshould die, I shall go into eternity unprepared. I will just tell him that\nI am going anyway and will take my chances on all the rest.\"\n\nBecause of this decision on Edwin's part, the tempter, who was Satan, the\nenemy of all who will do right, was forced to flee. Had Edwin listened to\nthe suggestions longer or given the wicked one any encouragement to stay,\nthere would have been no end to his arguments; for it is the business of\nSatan to discourage and dishearten all who seek to travel upon the highway\nthat leads to heaven.\n\nThus, we find that Edwin in his ignorance had once more been guided by\nDivine Providence and that his heavenly Teacher had taught and aided him in\nhis hour of need. God never fails when a soul is doing his best to please\nhim. Failure comes, not merely from a lack of understanding, but from a\nlack of decision and purpose to go all the way at any cost. Every one who\nis honest with himself and anxious to do the will of his Maker will be\nshown the way.\n\n\"The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the\nplace of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.\nHe fashioned their hearts alike; he considereth all their works... Behold,\nthe eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his\nmercy; to deliver their soul from death.\" (Psa. 33: 13-19).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\nA REVELATION ON TOBACCO\n\n  Who is it that will doubt\n  The care of Heaven, or think the immortal\n  Pow'rs are slow?\n\n  --Davenaut.\n\nWhen Edwin entered the barn on the morning following his Sunday afternoon\nvisit, he found that Mr. Miller was there ahead of him and that the large\nforkfuls of fresh hay for the horses' breakfasts were already tumbling\nrapidly from the large mow above.\n\n\"As soon as he comes down,\" thought Edwin, \"I'll ask him about my going to\nthat meeting, for it'll be as good a chance as I'll have.\" Then as he went\nabout among the feed-bins, measuring grain for the stock, he rehearsed in\nhis mind the little speech that he had planned, to see if it could be\nimproved; but he decided that it was just what he should say, and with all\nhis heart he hoped that his generous offer would be accepted. If possible,\nhe wanted to go without causing any hard feelings on the part of his\nemployer. Still he felt that he must go, and was resolved to go even if Mr.\nMiller should be stubborn.\n\nIt was really but a few minutes until Mr. Miller was descending the\nstairway that led from the loft above, but to Edwin in his anxious state of\nmind it seemed a long, long time. It was a little hard at first to break\nthe silence, but finally he said:\n\n\"Mr. Miller, Mr. Kunz was telling me that the camp-meeting that is to be\nheld on the camp-ground before long is for the purpose of getting people\nconverted and that the work can be done in a week's time. I should like to\ngo to that meeting, but I hate to leave you, for I know how much work there\nis to be done just now. But I feel that I must get converted as soon as I\ncan, for I don't know how soon I may die. Now, I'll work for you as hard as\nI can before I go, and when I serve the time that I've agreed to stay, I'll\nwork two weeks longer for you for nothing if you will only let me go to\nthat meeting!\"\n\nEdwin had spoken excitedly, and every nerve in his body was on a tension\nwhen Mr. Miller said slowly:\n\n\"Why, yes, I guess you can go. To me this matter of getting converted\ndoesn't seem so important, but I think I can manage the work all right if\nyou want to go.\"\n\nEdwin could scarcely believe his ears, and when he found that no second\noffer was necessary, it was as though a great and heavy burden had been\nrolled from his heart. During the days that followed he endeavored to live\nup to the agreement that he had made to work faithfully for his master.\nMany times he thought of the meeting, and as often he asked himself: \"Is\nthere anything special that I can do to help in this matter? Is there\nanything that I ought to do so as to be better able to go through the\noperation?\"\n\nHe even asked Mrs. Miller if she could think of anything more that he could\ndo, but she, failing to understand his meaning, said: \"No, there isn't much\nthat you can do. The things about the camp-ground are pretty handy, and\nit's only a few miles away, and I will see to it that your clothes are\nclean and mended.\" But still Edwin was not satisfied. Every day he reviewed\nhis conduct to see if there was any possible way that he could improve\nhimself.\n\nOne evening his divine Teacher again came to his assistance. It was after\nsupper, and Edwin was still in the summer-kitchen. The smoking-hour, too,\nwas over, and his pipe and tobacco were on the shelf. Mrs. Miller had\nretired to her room in the large house for the night, and her husband was\nmaking his usual rounds about the place to see that all the pasture-fences\nwere secure.\n\nSometimes when the horses and cows were trying to rid themselves of the\ntormenting flies and mosquitoes, they would loosen the rails of the fences\nby rubbing their itching sides against them. Thus an opening would often be\nmade, through which, if not repaired, the entire herd might find their way\nand do much damage both to themselves and to the large fields of waving\ncorn that were growing all around the pasture-land. For this reason it was\nnecessary after the animals had quieted down for the night to see that\neverything was in good condition, and Mr. Miller would trust no one to do\nthis chore but himself.\n\nSeated in his accustomed place on the bench near the end of the long\ndining-table, Edwin, with both elbows upon the table, was resting his face\nupon his hands. Again he was thinking of the one great subject about which\nhe was so seriously concerned. Suddenly he seemed not to be alone. Looking\nabout him as though expecting to see some person standing near, he heard a\nvoice seemingly from above his head, and he was told to listen.\n\nWhen the voice of the tempter had spoken discouragingly on the way from Mr.\nKunz's, Edwin had felt no fear, but now a fear that caused him to tremble\ncrept over him. But when the voice in tender, loving tones said softly, \"Do\nnot be afraid, for I am your friend,\" he turned with eagerness to listen.\n\n\"You want to be prepared for heaven,\" the voice continued. \"Now,\ntobacco-using is unbecoming and unclean in my eyes, and before you can get\non the highway that leads to heaven, you must stop using tobacco.\"\n\nUntil then Edwin had not been told by a living creature that tobacco was\nnot a food, or that it was unfit for the use of mankind, or unclean in the\nsight of God; but as he listened to the words of his divine Guide and\nTeacher, the great truth of the matter sank deep within his heart, and he\nhad no thought or desire to dispute them. Neither did he stop to think or\nreason that his best friends Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Frank Kauffman, and Mr.\nKunz were all using tobacco. Instead he arose and, going to the mantel,\nselected all his smoking-materials there, opened the grate, and dumped them\none and all upon the few living coals that were still smoldering among the\nashes. He also brought from his room in the large house a box of cigars,\nsome pipes and cigar-holders, and threw them in upon the other things.\n\nWhen Edwin, all unconscious of the dense smoke and the strong odor that\nwere beginning to arise from the old-fashioned chimney, returned to his\nplace by the table, he resumed his former position on the bench and\nendeavored to continue his meditation as it was before the revelation.\n\nOutside the night was perfect. A bright moon looked down from its lofty\nheight among the stars and revealed the farmer repairing a place in the\nfence-corner where the rails had been loosened. Scarcely had he finished\nthe task, when a glance from the hollow in which he was busy toward the\nhill upon which his home was located, caused him to gasp and shudder with\nfear. Then with his nose in the air he began to inhale and said, \"Why, that\nsmells like tobacco-smoke.\" The time of night and the fact that the smoke\nwas coming in great volumes from the chimney of the summer-kitchen made him\nthink that the kitchen was on fire and that the tobacco on the mantel-shelf\nwas causing the smoke.\n\nWith anxious haste the excited old gentleman turned his steps toward the\nhouse and hurried forward in that direction. A few minutes later Edwin's\nsurprize was no less than his employer's had been; for the latter,\nbreathing heavily and nearly exhausted from the exertion of climbing the\nhill in such haste, threw open the door and rushed in. For the moment\nneither spoke, and then after a curious glance first toward the mantel and\nthen at Edwin, who was still sitting calmly beside the table, Mr. Miller\nhastened to the grate and, lifting the lid, gazed in wonder upon the heap\nof burning tobacco.\n\nThat the old farmer was displeased and even vexed at what he saw could be\neasily detected in his features. Seeing that only Edwin's belongings were\nin the fire, he hastily demanded an explanation. Edwin replied that he had\ndestroyed the tobacco and cigars because he did not feel that they were fit\nfor him to use, but he said nothing about the manner in which he had\ndiscovered the fact. \"I put them in the fire,\" Edwin continued, \"because I\ndid not want any one else to defile himself with what I could not use\nmyself.\" Then seeing that Mr. Miller was taking a few of the cigars from\nthe grate, he said, \"If you take them out of the fire and use them, I shall\nnot be to blame, but I have no more use for tobacco, and I will not give to\nany one else what I consider unfit to use myself.\"\n\nTo Edwin the use of tobacco had been a great source of comfort in his\nlonely hours, and he had endeavored to secure for himself every little\nconvenience that would make its use more pleasant and cleanly. Aside from\nhis pipes and cigar-holders, he had provided himself with a self-lighting\nmatch-safe for his vest-pocket, a self-closing rubber chewing-tobacco\npouch that kept the tobacco clean and moist, and other things that appealed\nto his sense of cleanliness. His efforts had always been to do away with\nthe filthy part connected with its use. In fact, he had often been\ncommended for his neatness in regard to his tobacco; but when God said that\nit was unclean and unfit for the use of any one who was seeking to be on\nthe highway to Heaven, he did not care for it at all. It was no trial to\ngive it up, and he was glad to part with everything connected with its use.\n\nEdwin's example should have been a real rebuke to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, but\ninstead, they attributed his conduct to his ignorance and even made almost\nunkind remarks about his unnecessary waste. But this couple should not\nreceive too much blame; for they, like Edwin, had never been taught that\nthe use of tobacco was anything that should be avoided. In their home life\nthey had all respect for Edwin, and in their efforts to help him in his\nignorance to understand their views of the Christian life they had been\nhonest and earnest.\n\nTheir displeasure at his destruction of his tobacco-supplies was due to the\nfact that they had never heard that tobacco was injurious to their bodies\nand not a food. In their minds Edwin's conduct was justly worthy of\ncriticism. Had they known that the pleasure derived from the use of tobacco\nis like the sensation produced by scratching and rubbing the skin when one\nhas a skin-disease, they might have understood. If it were not for the\ndisease, no pleasure would result from the friction. Likewise, were it not\nfor the disease of the tobacco-appetite, the use of tobacco would sicken\ninstead of give pleasure. Tobacco contains a deadly poison. Its constant\nuse will in time injure both body and mind past repair. In many cases it\nhas been the direct cause of various diseases and insanity, and it may land\nthe soul in hell.\n\n\"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to\nreserve the unjust... to be punished: but chiefly them that walk after the\nflesh in the lust of uncleanness\" (2 Pet. 2:9, 10).\n\n\"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in\nthe lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of\nunrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are\nalive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto\nGod.\" (Rom. 6:12, 13).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVll\n\nTHE CAMP-MEETING\n\n  And many learned to trust the Lord\n  From precious truths that here were heard,\n  While sounded out God's precious Word\n  From pulpit and from altar too.\n  By hearing of its meaning true,\n  They learned to know that God would do\n  Just as his Holy Word had said,\n  In leading all that would be led.\n\n  --A. B. Gildersleeve.\n\nEdwin was faithful to his promise regarding his employer's interests, and\nat the end of the month the farm-work was under such good control that both\nMr. and Mrs. Miller had decided that they too could attend a part of the\nmeeting. Several times Edwin had visited his friend Mr. Kunz, and upon one\noccasion he had noticed that where the roads crossed there was a large\nadvertisement It read:\n\n  CAMP-MEETING\n  AUGUST 31--SEPTEMBER 7\n\n  A series of religious open-air meetings will be\n  held on the\n  CAMP-GROUND AT MAPLE GROVE\n  Everybody invited. Come and bring your friends.\n  Camp-Meeting Committee.\n\nBut as he could not read the words, he was at a loss to understand what was\nmeant by the sign; but when his friend explained that it was a notice of\nthe camp-meeting of which he had been telling him, Edwin thought he\ncomprehended, and he felt that it was indeed a wonderful thing.\n\nWhen at last the morning of the thirty-first arrived, everything about the\nfarm was in excellent condition to leave. Mrs. Miller brought Edwin his\nclean clothes that she had so carefully mended, and said: \"On the\ncamp-ground, Edwin, you will find a large boarding-tent. There you can buy\nyour meals, and there will be some place given you to sleep at night. Of\ncourse, you can do as you like, but I wouldn't take along anything that I\ndidn't need, for bundles will only be in your way.\" So when Edwin set out\nfor the camp-ground, which was a distance of about five miles, he was\nempty-handed.\n\nThe day was perfect, and Edwin, dressed in a neat suit of clothes, straw\nhat, and colored shirt, appreciated it as such. The little birds and nature\nhad lost none of their charms for him in all the trying scenes through\nwhich he had passed, but upon this occasion they were merely passing\nthoughts, for his mind was upon the meeting and his purpose in going to it.\n\nFrom his experiences in the prayer-meetings Edwin had learned that he could\nnot understand the words that were used in prayer, and he did not know why\nthis was so; consequently the thought was suggested to his mind that now\nperhaps he would be unable to know when the operation through which he was\nsoon to pass would begin.\n\nDinner was just over when he reached the grounds, but although the\nboarding-tent was pointed out to him by a man who was working hard to get\nhis tent-pole in position, Edwin did not go to ask whether there would be a\nsecond table, partly from ignorance and partly because of his not being\nvery hungry. He was more anxious to examine the place where the meetings\nwere to be held. Mr. Kunz had given him a description of what to expect,\nbut he wanted to see it all for himself. He soon discovered the crude\nstructure that was to serve as a pulpit, and he found that it was just as\nhis friend had described it. The rows of seats, which were simply some\nboards laid upon large blocks of wood, were also as he had expected to see\nthem. There were enough of these rude benches to accommodate a large\ncongregation. Only above the stand was there a covering, and Edwin wondered\nwhat would happen in case of a storm, but this also was but a passing\nthought.\n\nFinding, by inquiring of a neighbor whom he happened to know and whose name\nwas James Hass, that the meeting-hour was close at hand, Edwin suddenly\nrealized that if he was to have an interpreter he must make haste in\nfinding one, and as Mr. Hass did not seem to have any special duties, he\nasked the favor of him. After Edwin had explained that his object in coming\nto the meeting was to be converted and that all he wanted of Mr. Hass was\nthat he inform him when to act, the two went at once and took their places\non the front row of seats very close to the pulpit, and there they waited\npatiently while the rest of the people assembled. Judging that Mr. Hass\nwould be as anxious to help him as Edwin had himself always been to do kind\nacts for others, he had no thought of doubting his interpreter's sincerity.\nAfter the bell had rung the minister soon arrived, and the meeting was\nbegun.\n\nThe opening exercises were similar to those of the prayer-meetings that\nEdwin had attended and were in the German language. The minister arose and\nread as his text Titus 3:7: \"That being justified by his grace, we should\nbe made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.\" As he talked upon the\nhope of the righteous, his words would have been a great inspiration and\nencouragement to Edwin could he have understood them. The speaker went into\ndetail regarding the sinful state of mankind and endeavored to make\nperfectly clear why it was necessary that a person should see his lost\ncondition before he could become a Christian by being born again, but of\ncourse Edwin did not receive the least light.\n\nAt the close of the sermon the minister said, \"If any one desires to be\nconverted and become an heir to these promises, let him stand.\"\n\n\"It's time to act now,\" Mr. Hass whispered in Edwin's ear, not knowing that\nEdwin had thus far understood nothing of the sermon; but he explained his\nmeaning by adding. \"You must stand up and let him know that you want to be\nconverted.\"\n\nWithout a moment's hesitation Edwin arose, and while he waited to be told\nwhat next to do, his heart was bounding with joy and bright anticipation,\nfor he was positive that the wonderful operation of which he had been so\nlong dreaming had at last actually commenced. He was sure that they were\nbeginning with him all right, for they were commencing with his case on the\nvery first day of the meeting. And, because he supposed that it would\nrequire the entire season of the camp-meeting to complete the work, he was\nvery grateful to his interpreter for telling him what to do.\n\nWhile standing thus in front of the audience, he turned about to see if\nthere were any in the congregation that he knew, and to his surprize he\ndiscovered in one of the back seats his mother and a few others with whom\nhe had been acquainted. With a thrill of satisfaction he again faced the\nminister, wondering if they too had come to the meeting to get converted.\nHe did not know that his mother had lately taken up a \"faith,\" as she\ncalled it, and by her old associates was being termed religious. But he\nbelieved that she must have had some good intention in coming to so sacred\na place and that she would approve of the step he had taken.\n\nHe was still standing, facing the minister and wondering what the next step\nwould be for him to take, when his interpreter explained that he must be\nseated. Edwin was greatly disappointed, for he desired that since the work\nhad commenced it might go right on to its completion. Still he made no\ncomplaint, believing that the minister knew his business and would be\nfaithful to him.\n\nAs Edwin sat down beside Mr. Hass, feeling that everything would come out\nall right in the end, he did not see the expression of disgust that\nshadowed his mother's face. Feeling that he was disgracing her by his\nignorance, she would have enjoyed punishing him as she was in the habit of\ndoing in his childhood, but this was beyond her power.\n\nIt was but a few minutes after Edwin had taken his seat until the meeting\nwas dismissed, and the people scattered out over the grounds, a few to the\npump, some to the boarding-house entrance, and others to their private\ntents. Edwin followed the largest crowd, for Mr. Hass had left him as soon\nas the meeting was dismissed, and he went to the boarding-house for his\nsupper. He was very hungry, having had no dinner. After the meal was ended,\nhe walked about over the grounds until it was time for the evening service.\nVery glad he was when he heard the meeting-bell ringing as Mr. Kunz had\nexplained it would, and, finding his interpreter, he was soon again seated\nin front of the pulpit.\n\nThe evening's discourse was given in the English language, but it was no\nmore enlightening to Edwin than the afternoon's sermon had been; still, by\nhis expression of reverence and awe the congregation was not aware of this\nfact. At the close of the service Edwin was surprized to see that the\nentire congregation arose and remained standing as he had done in the\nafternoon. By this he supposed that all who were there had come to be\nconverted. Then an altar-call was made, and Edwin's interpreter whispered,\n\"That means to go forward.\"\n\nNow, if Edwin had not already been in front of the entire audience, he\nwould have gone forward; but supposing that the call was for some one else,\nhe remained standing as he had done in the afternoon, but he made no move\ntoward the altar. Still the singing continued and no one came forward, and\nas the minister's manner became more and more earnest, all eyes were turned\ntoward him. Edwin became sorely troubled; for he feared that he was not\ndoing all that he should do to get the best results, and he did not want to\nhinder the operation.\n\nHe saw the long vacant bench in front of the pulpit, but he had no way of\nknowing that \"going forward\" meant to kneel in prayer before the altar\nwhere the spiritual workers might pray with and help him to understand what\nit meant to be converted. For this ignorance he was misjudged, many\nsupposing that he was stubborn and unwilling to bow before the altar in so\nhumble a manner.\n\nNoticing that Mr. Hass had occasionally spoken to him, no one else thought\nit necessary to do so. It seemed that night that the singing and\ninvitations were continued an unusually long time, for Edwin's case was\nalready creating an interest. The fact that he was a subject for prayer and\nthe anxiety pictured upon his face made many long to see him move out and\nget an experience of salvation. And Edwin, feeling that something was\nexpected of him and that he was losing much valuable time, became more\nanxious and concerned as the moments crept by.\n\nIt was another opportunity for his divine Teacher to act, and suddenly he\nseemed to feel the pressure of a strong hand placed upon his shoulder, and\nby an unseen power he was forced downward upon his knees directly in front\nof the altar. Although he could not have told how or why he was there, he\nwas sure that it was the right thing for him to do, and immediately his\nworry was gone. Thus, unconsciously and mysteriously he was being led one\nstep at a time, but always he was unable to know just what thing to do\nnext.\n\nSeeing Edwin kneeling at the altar, the minister soon came and, kneeling\nbeside him, began to ask various questions, but to all that he said he\nreceived no answer, and he wondered at Edwin's silence. Then again Edwin\nwas misjudged. Not knowing that it was because the young man did not\nunderstand the language, the minister arose, leaving Edwin still kneeling\nat the altar, and dismissed the meeting.\n\nWhen Edwin realized that the people were scattering out over the grounds,\nhe too arose from the altar and followed them. Then he remembered that Mrs.\nMiller had said that some place would be found for him to sleep, and as Mr.\nMeyer, one of Mr. Miller's neighbors, appeared among the crowd, Edwin made\nhis wants known, and the kind old gentleman hastened to show him a good bed\nthat he had prepared in his covered wagon. It had been made, he told Edwin,\nfor another brother, but he could share it if he liked.\n\nEdwin lost no time in getting into the place assigned him, but before sleep\nwould come to his eyes, he had carefully reviewed in his mind all the\nevents of the day. Charging his mind with the place where he had left off\nin the evening, he was determined to commence again right there at the very\nfirst opportunity that was offered him, and he was confident that he would\nsomehow discover just what was the next best thing to do. Still he could\nnot help wondering just what that step would be. He was still pondering\nupon these things when sleep came to his relief, and it was not until the\nearly songs of the little birds peeled merrily forth through the grove the\nfollowing morning that he awoke from his dreams.\n\nEdwin was soon dressed and out upon the grounds, feeling thankful indeed\nthat he was still permitted to live and enter upon another day of life.\nOnly a few people were in sight, and he began to wonder how long it would\nbe before breakfast would be ready. Then he thought he could hear the sound\nof singing such as he had heard in the meetings, and he listened carefully.\n\"I can not afford,\" he told himself, \"to miss anything that pertains to the\nmeeting.\" He found that the sound was coming from the tent near where he\nhad spent the night, and, walking up to it, he quickly lifted the flap that\nserved as a door.\n\nThe tent was owned by Mr. Meyer, as was the wagon in which Edwin had spent\nthe night, and the occupants of the tent, which were Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman,\nMr. and Mrs. Gardner, and the Meyers, were having their morning worship\ntogether. To Edwin the little scene that met his gaze was a pleasant\nsurprize; for he at once connected it with the prayer-meetings that had\nbeen held at the residence of his employer, as he recognized some of the\npeople who had been at the meeting and whose countenances and earnestness\nin prayer he would never forget.\n\nThe worship was over, and the song to which Edwin had listened had been\nintended for the closing-song. Then they were to separate and each family\ngo to their own tent for the morning meal. Edwin's appearance in the\ndoorway changed their plans, and Mrs. Meyer, a dear old lady who had felt a\ndeep interest in Edwin from the time she had first seen him in the\nprayer-meeting, arose and, offering her chair to Edwin, bade him enter and\nbe seated, while she found a seat for herself on the foot of a temporary\nbed. Edwin needed no second invitation, for Mrs. Meyer had spoken in his\nmother-tongue, and he could understand what she said. Then she said, \"Let\nus once more kneel down and pray,\" and they all knelt down, Edwin following\nthe others' example.\n\nAs they prayed, Edwin once more watched their faces and carefully listened\nto every word, but not a word could he understand. He knew that the people\nwere praying, but he did not know that they were praying for him.\n\nSo deeply was Edwin impressed with the earnestness of these people and so\nsincerely did he wish to join them in prayer, that he decided to watch\ncarefully for small words that he could say regardless of their meaning and\nto repeat such words as a prayer for himself.\n\n\"If I take some words from a real prayer, they will be a part of a prayer,\nand it will not be as though I had learned the words from a book or from\nsome person.\"\n\nThus, in his ignorance he listened and reasoned, and when he had found\nthree small words, meaningless in themselves, he began to repeat them in\naudible tones. The fact revealed to Edwin while working among the stones in\nthe field of grass that God had made a provision whereby man could be able\nin this life to understand upon which road he was traveling toward eternity\nhad never left him, and although he had not as yet discovered anything at\nall about God's great plan of salvation, he was still certain that as soon\nas he was converted he would discover all the things he was longing to\nknow. At that moment it seemed to Edwin that the only way to unravel\nFrank's definition of prayer and what it meant to be converted was to use\nsome words from a real prayer until he could form a prayer of his own, and\nfor this reason he had selected the three little words.\n\nGod, as a \"discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart\" (Heb. 4:12),\nsaw the sincerity of Edwin's purpose, and the little unintelligible words\nreached his throne as though they had been an eloquent prayer, and the more\nhe prayed the more desperately in earnest did he become.\n\nSuddenly Edwin felt that his prayer must have taken hold on God, for a\nburden new and strange and different from anything that he had ever\nexperienced semed to settle down upon him, and as it grew heavier and\nheavier, he felt that he was being crushed to the earth. Then a feeling of\nunworthiness that even the earth should hold him up and keep him from\ninstant destruction in hell until God in his mercy would deliver him swept\nover him, and in his desperate condition he cried out until his voice was\nheard all over the camp-ground, and the people in crowds came to discover,\nif possible, what was taking place in Meyer's tent.\n\nThen a strange and wonderful thing occurred. Heaven in all its beauty\nseemed to open to his view, and as the great burden rolled away he sprang\nto his feet, and while leaping about the tent he shouted for joy and\nthanked God because he was at last sure that he was on the road to heaven.\n\nWhen at last Edwin could think about his surroundings, he saw that both\n\"flaps\" of the tent were open wide and that Mrs. Kauffman, Frank's mother,\nwas earnestly preaching salvation from sin to an immense congregation. The\nlatter had been drawn together by the sound of Edwin's agonizing cries, and\nalthough Edwin could not understand what she was saying, for she was\nspeaking in the German language, he was sure that she was telling them of\nGod's wonderful power and goodness to him. And as he looked about him, he\nwondered why the people and trees had never appeared so beautiful to him\nbefore.\n\nWhen the curiosity of the crowd had been satisfied and Edwin was once more\non the outside of the tent, he was surprized to find that all nature was\nbeautified and that the songs of the birds were sweeter and more thrilling\nthan he had ever known them to be. In recovering from his state of rapture,\nhe realized that only one half day of the camp-meeting was over and that he\nnot only was converted but had all the remainder of the meeting before him.\nIt was his blessed privilege to enjoy the remainder of the time with all\nthe rest of God's good people.\n\nSuch had been his breakfast, and when the meeting-bell began to ring, Edwin\ndid not look for his interpreter; for he felt that since he had received\nthat for which he had come to the meeting, it was no longer necessary to\ntrouble Mr. Hass.\n\nThe all-seeing Father not only had understood Edwin's ignorance and taught\nhim his need, but had helped him to know how to approach his throne in an\nacceptable manner.\n\n\"For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that\nhath no helper ... and precious shall their blood be in his sight\" (Psa.\n72:12, 13).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII\n\nDISCOVERS THE EXISTENCE OF GOD'S WORD\n\n  O precious volume! only in thy pages\n  We read the duty of all our race;\n  Only thy sunbeams, shining through the ages.\n  Reveal the wonders of saving grace.\n\n  --Daniel S. Warner.\n\nEdwin had heard that there was such a book as the Bible, but that the Bible\nwas a good book or of any more value in the world than the almanac or the\n\"Book of Black Arts,\" that had been in the home of Mrs. Fitch, had never\nbeen suggested to his mind. So of course he did not know that the Bible was\nGod's great message to the world. It was therefore a wonderful thought when\nthe truth first dawned upon his mind.\n\nThe little group that had been present at the time of his conversion were\nthe first to explain the matter to him, and when Mrs. Kauffman added, in\nwords that he could understand, that the Bible contained the story of\nJesus, she found that he had never heard that there had ever been any one\non the earth by that name. It was a long story, but after hearing a little,\nEdwin was anxious to hear the remainder, and when his kind friend had\nfinished speaking, he asked simply, \"Was Jesus God's son and yet a man just\nas I am?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Mrs. Kauffman replied; \"God made man in the first place, good and\npure like himself, and he was made master of all that was in the world. In\nreturn for all these blessings, God demanded obedience and said that death\nto all the human race would be the penalty for his disobedience.\"\n\nThen she related that man yielded to sin and fell from the holy state in\nwhich he was created, receiving as his penalty eternal banishment from\nGod's presence, and she went on to tell of the provision that had been\npromised at the time of the fall.\n\n\"For more than four thousand years,\" she said, \"this awful blight of sin\ncontinued; then Jesus, the provision that God had promised, came into the\nworld to live a life of perfect obedience to God. And God sent to all the\nworld by his Son the message that any and all who would follow Christ's\nexample and live as he had told them at the first to live, would be\nforgiven and with his Son would become a part of his own great family (Heb.\n5: 8,9). God in this way formed a bridge across the gulf that had been\nfixed between the sinner and his Maker. Now it is possible for any one who\nwill, to cross the bridge and to enter heaven, but they must prepare for\nthe journey before they die.\"\n\n\"Is all that in the Bible?\" Edwin asked in astonishment; \"and is it so that\nGod's Son once lived upon this earth?\"\n\n\"Yes, Edwin, it is true,\" Mrs. Kauffman answered. Then she read and\nexplained Heb. 1:1-3 and 5:8, 9: \"God, who at sundry times and in divers\nmanners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these\nlast days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all\nthings, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his\nglory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the\nword of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the\nright hand of the Majesty on high.\" \"Though he were a Son, yet learned he\nobedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he\nbecame the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.\"\n\nShe then told him that the place where Jesus had lived was far away from\nthere, but that it was a country similar to our own. As she continued to\ntalk about Jesus' home, Edwin exclaimed, \"Oh, if only I could some time go\nand see that place for myself!\" But when he thought of what such a trip\nwould cost, his hope of ever getting there was destroyed. As Edwin\nconsidered the wonderful love that had prompted God and his Son to make so\ngreat a sacrifice for men and women who had been disobedient to his laws\nand commands, his heart was flooded with love for his Creator, and he\ncried:\n\n\"I knew that God must have made some way for man to know where he was going\nto land in eternity! Jesus is that provision. I can see it all now, and the\nassurance that we are going aright is that we are obedient to God?\" he\nadded with a rising inflection.\n\n\"Yes, it is obedience to God,\" Mrs. Kauffman explained. \"But there is more\nto his plan than that. God wants us to love and reverence his Son for all\nthat he has done. To do this we must ask God to forgive and to receive us\nback into his family for Jesus' sake. This is a true prayer when it comes\nfrom the heart.\"\n\n\"Is that the prayer that I prayed when I was converted?\" Edwin asked,\nremembering the three little words that he had selected from one of the\nprayers in Mr. Meyer's tent.\n\n\"No,\" Mrs. Kauffman replied; \"your prayer was different. It was really no\nprayer at all, but you see you did not understand these things or know how\nto pray. God knew what you wanted, because he understands the heart, and he\nknew that you would have asked for it in proper words if you could have\nunderstood.\"\n\nBoth Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman were very good to Edwin; for after he had left\ntheir neighborhood, they had learned something of his worth. Every day\nduring the meeting they endeavored in some way to help him to understand\nwhat it means to be a Christian, and some of the wonderful things that are\nin the Bible. Much of their effort was lost, however, because of his\nignorance, but it seemed that each time he was able to grasp a new thought\nthat would correspond and link on to his own experience.\n\nWhen the last day of the camp-meeting arrived, Edwin was sorry, for he felt\nthat it had been a good place to be; but since he had received the benefit\nfor which he had come, he was ready to return to the farm and fulfil his\nagreement with Mr. Miller and do all that he could to make up for the time\nthat he had been away at the meeting. The Kauffmans, Itterlys, and Meyers\nhad all given him pressing invitations to visit them in their homes, and\nwith many happy remembrances of the meeting in his mind he was soon well on\nhis way down the dusty road in the direction of his employer's home.\n\nAgain he noted the sweet songs of the little birds, and nature seemed all\naglow with her beauty and grandeur; but as before, when he was on his way\nto the meeting, his mind was too full of weightier things to give outside\nthings much thought or attention.\n\nAs he passed in through the open gate, he remembered that Mrs. Kauffman had\nsaid that in a certain city not more than ten miles away a Bible could be\npurchased, and, knowing that Mr. Miller occasionally went to that city to\ndo his trading, he decided to ask him to get him a copy while there.\n\nWhen he reached the summer-kitchen, he found the old couple partaking of\ntheir evening meal, and when Edwin had taken his accustomed place on the\nend of the bench, he was asked to give an account of the meeting and to\ntell how he had enjoyed himself while there. It was in glowing terms that\nEdwin described each little detail and the effect that the entire meeting\nhad produced in his life. When he had finished, Mrs. Miller remarked:\n\n\"I'm glad, Edwin, that you have at last found out what it means to be\nconverted. But of course you will have to join the church. You can go with\nus to our church every Sunday if you want to, and after you go a while they\nwill tell you whether they want you to become a member.\"\n\nEdwin gladly accepted the invitation, and then after telling what Mrs.\nKauffman had said about the Bible, he asked Mr. Miller if he would buy him\na copy the next time he went to the city. The latter said that he would do\nthe best that he could. When the smoking-hour arrived, Edwin remained, but\nto visit, not to smoke. He cared no longer for his pipe, for the appetite\nfor tobacco was all gone.\n\nAlthough Edwin was disappointed a number of times because of his employer's\nforgetfulness to do his errand, a few weeks after the camp-meeting had\nclosed, a little red leather pocket Testament in both the German and\nEnglish languages was placed in his hand, and what a treasure it was! The\nprice that Edwin had paid for it seemed very small indeed, but he did not\nknow that the little volume was only a part of the wonderful book of which\nhe had heard such thrilling accounts.\n\nIn the days that followed a great longing to read the sacred pages of his\nlittle Testament came into his heart, but even to have the little book in\nhis possession was a great comfort, and very often he drew it from his\npocket and pressed it to his heart while he was at his work.\n\nOn Sunday, Edwin never failed to go with Mr. and Mrs. Miller to the little\nchurch that was on the corner where the roads met and crossed, and he was\nstill as earnest and anxious to learn as he had been at the camp-meeting;\nbut the difficulty of the language was ever before him, and his extreme\nignorance concerning the Bible was very noticeable.\n\nAt last when the subject concerning whether he should be accepted as a\ncandidate for a member of their denomination arose, a lengthy discussion\namong the most prominent brethren followed, and it was decided in Edwin's\nhearing that he was far too ignorant on Bible lines ever to amount to\nanything among them. It would therefore, they said, be best to drop the\nmatter at once.\n\n\"Think of it!\" said one, \"it doesn't stand to reason that any one with so\nlittle education and knowledge concerning the Bible could be so easily\nconverted. He will be like a wave of the sea--lost and forgotten, in a very\nshort time. Why, he can't even understand the preaching yet or the things\nthat you try to explain to him! To my mind his case isn't worth bothering\nwith.\"\n\nAfter Edwin had heard this man's reasoning and had found that it was the\ndecision of all, he was given an opportunity to speak for himself. He said:\n\n\"I'm sure that you are mistaken when you say that I will not stand. I know\nthat I am very ignorant about what is in the Bible, but if you will just\ngive me ten years, I will prove to you that God, who has brought me through\nall my past difficulties, and in spite of all my ignorance has directed me\nalways in the right way, will never fail to teach me the next best thing to\ndo.\"\n\nAfter Edwin's speech it was decided that it would be all right for him to\nattend the meetings, but that they could not accept his name even on\nprobation.\n\nIt was with a sad heart the following day that Edwin went about his work\nupon the farm. He could not understand why the brethren had doubted his\nability to stand nor their reason for not allowing him the same privilege\nthat was given to others, simply because he was ignorant and his conversion\nhad not required so long a time as they were in the habit of allowing their\nmore enlightened members. \"God surely knew what he was doing,\" he reasoned,\n\"and I believe that my life is as precious to him as that of any other man,\nthough he may know a great deal more than I do.\"\n\nAll day long he was burdened and sad, and when night came, instead of\nresorting to the summer-kitchen as had been his habit for so long, he went\nto his room immediately after the evening chores were done. Falling upon\nhis knees and taking from his pocket his little red Testament, he opened it\nand laid it upon the chair before him. Then as tears blinded his eyes, he\nburied his face in his hands and, bending reverently over the little\nvolume, made his request known to God.\n\n\"O God!\" he cried, not caring by whom he was heard, \"you who have been so\nfaithful to me in the past, in helping me out of all my difficulties, help\nme now! I have learned that this little book is to make me know what you\nwant me to do, so help me to be able to read what is in it.\"\n\nTo Edwin this task was no greater for him than others had been that he had\nmastered, and with perfect faith, believing that God would open his\nunderstanding sufficiently for him to comprehend the meaning of all that he\nneeded to know, he began the work of learning what he should have known\nmany years before.\n\nWith his finger Edwin carefully traced in several words the outline of the\nletters, until suddenly a few of the characters that he had learned from\nthe school-teacher when, in his early childhood days, he was sent to school\nas protector of his younger cousins, returned to his mind, and although\nthey had been meaningless then and had been long since forgotten, they\ncorresponded perfectly with those before him. Thus he continued to labor\nlong into the night, and during the days and evenings that followed,\nwhenever there was a moment to spare, a moment that he could feel was his\nown, he endeavored to locate the same letters in other words. But although\nhe could locate several of the letters, he did not know their names.\n\nLater on, after the corn-husking was done, Mr.\n\nMiller decided that he could get along with the work by himself, and Edwin\nbegan looking for another place. When the word became circulated that Edwin\nwas wanting a job, several opportunities to get into good families were\noffered him, but he would decide on none of them until he had spent a few\nweeks in visiting the kind friends whom he had met at the camp-meeting.\n\nDuring Edwin's stay with Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Edwin had learned to respect\nthem very highly, and their kindness and sympathy meant very much to him,\nbut he felt that he was sadly misunderstood by them both and that their\njudgment was not altogether good. He was sad, too, because of the attitude\nof the church-members toward him, but his only thought was to prove to all\nthat he was sincere, and although so coldly held off by some he continued\nto attend the meetings regularly.\n\nOn the morning of his departure, Mrs. Miller in her motherly way invited\nhim to visit them occasionally, and after thanking them kindly for all\ntheir interest in him, Edwin left for the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman.\nFrank Kauffman was at his mother's home when Edwin arrived, and when he saw\nthe welcome that she gave to the one whom she had so severely condemned,\nbecause of the influence she was afraid he might have upon her son, he\ncould not help smiling. He had heard that Edwin had given up the use of\ntobacco, and it was not long until he learned from Edwin himself his\nreasons for doing so. Frank was much impressed by the story and felt that\nperhaps Edwin was right about the matter, and he would have been glad to\ngive up the use of tobacco himself, but the power of habit was great, and\nthe poisonous nicotine was so working in his system that his strength of\ndecision was limited.\n\nEdwin's stay with the Kauffman's was prolonged to several months; for these\npeople, finding that Edwin was so anxious to learn to read his Bible, began\nat the foundation and taught him both the English and the German alphabets\nand instructed him how to use them in forming words. Until then Edwin had\nnot understood the difference in the languages, and, finding that the words\nused in prayer and preaching, were not a heavenly language as he had\nsupposed, but were meant for any one to speak, he decided at once to master\nthem both. He reasoned that what he could not comprehend in the one\nlanguage he might in the other, and his progress in the undertaking was so\nrapid that it was marvelous.\n\nWhen he learned that the Bible was in two parts--a New and an Old\nTestament--and that his little red-covered book was only the New, he longed\nfor the complete volume and was soon in possession of one.\n\n\"Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me,\nlest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy\nloving-kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know\nthe way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee\" (Psa. 143:\n7, 8).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX\n\nDEVOTION AND WORKS\n\n  Faith builds a bridge across the gulf of death,\n  To break the shock blind nature can not shun,\n  And lands thought smoothly on the further shore.\n\n  --Young.\n\nDuring his visit in the Kauffman home, Edwin learned what was meant not\nonly by prayer but by a life of true devotion, for Mrs. Kauffman was a very\nspiritual woman. She was sorry for the decision of the brethren to refuse\nEdwin even a trial for membership in the church, but she endeavored to\nencourage him in the belief that all would come out right in the end, and\nEdwin very courageously said that he was sure it would. And the fact that\nhe was misunderstood by some did not lessen his confidence in the brethren\nnor cool his intense love for humanity. Neither did it dampen his desire to\nbe a blessing to mankind, and so great did the latter longing become that\nhe began to seek for opportunities of doing good.\n\nBy living in such sweet communion with God he learned a great many lessons\nthat were very helpful to him in different ways; and with a little help\nfrom his kind friends he learned to read in such a marvelously short time\nthat it was plain to all that God was truly his teacher.\n\nOne day while Edwin was quietly meditating upon the wonderful things that\nhe had read within the Bible, he compared them with the experiences through\nwhich he had passed, and he marveled at the manner in which they\ncorresponded. Then, while thinking of what had taken place at the camp\nmeeting, he remembered his mother and his surprize at seeing her at such a\nplace. \"Could it be possible,\" he said to Mrs. Kauffman, \"that my mother's\nreason for attending the meeting was that she was interested in spiritual\nthings?\" His friends thought it was probable, and then Edwin said that if\nsuch was the case he would like to tell her about some of the wonderful\nthings God had done for him. In this Mrs. Kauffman encouraged him, and she\nhelped him to find several appropriate passages of Scripture that he could\nread to his mother, and when he went she bade him Godspeed.\n\nEdwin had not visited his mother since the time when her proud heart was\ncrushed because of the shame and disgrace that had been forced upon her\nthrough Elmer's actions. Since then many things had taken place in her life\nthat had caused her to change some of her ways, but the \"faith\" that she\nclaimed to have taken up and that had encouraged her to attend the\ncamp-meeting was only a \"try to do better\" plan.\n\nWhen Mrs. Fischer saw her son approaching the house, she at once remembered\nhis ignorance at the camp-meeting, the ridicule created by his queer\nactions, and the hard feelings that, in her embarrassment, she had felt\ntoward him; still, she endeavored to treat him kindly, and at first she\npermitted him to talk freely about his experiences before and after the\nmeeting. But when in conclusion, he said, \"Mother, can't you see how\nnecessary it is for any one to be converted, or to be born again into God's\ngreat family?\" she exclaimed: \"Oh, such trash! I won't listen any longer!\nI've committed no sins that I need to repent of. _My_ 'faith' is good\nenough for me, and I don't expect to know everything about heaven in this\nlife. The church that I have joined teaches that if you do as well as you\ncan you'll go to heaven anyway, and after you have pledged any church that\nyou will stand by it and then you go and join another and take up their\n'faith,' you become a shame and disgrace to the church to which you did\nbelong.\"\n\n\"Yes, but you may not get to heaven if you do not anxiously seek to know\nthe right way,\" Edwin said, and the earnestness in his voice could be felt.\n\nThen opening his Bible, which was already well marked, he read: \"Wisdom\ncrieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: she crieth in the\nchief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she\nuttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love\nsimplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate\nknowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto\nyou, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called and ye\nrefused.... I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear\ncometh.... Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall\nseek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge,\nand did not choose the fear of the Lord; they would none of my counsel:\nthey despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of\ntheir own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away\nof the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy\nthem. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet\nfrom fear of evil\" (Prov. 1:20-33).\n\nThat his mother was surprized to hear Edwin reading the words was very\nplain to be seen, but her spirit was still proud, and she cried: \"No,\nEdwin, I won't listen to any more. Those words are in the Old Testament, I\nknow, but they were written for the people who lived at that time, and not\nfor us. The New Testament is for us.\"\n\n\"Well, then, Mother,\" Edwin said, quickly turning to the third chapter of\nSt. John, \"let me read to you something from the New Testament, some of the\nwords of God's own Son to all the world. Jesus was talking to a man who was\na teacher and very wise, but he told him that the only way to get to heaven\nwas to be born again, for he said: 'That which is born of the flesh is\nflesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I\nsaid unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,\nand thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh,\nand whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus\nanswered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered.... God\nso loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever\nbelieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent\nnot his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through\nhim might be saved.' And now, Mother,\" Edwin said, \"here is the part that I\nwant you to listen to especially: 'He that believeth on him is not\ncondemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath\nnot believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the\ncondemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness\nrather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth\nevil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should\nbe reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds\nmay be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.'\"\n\nThe reading of the last scripture had been more difficult for Edwin, but he\nhad reviewed the words so often under the direction of Mr. Kauffman, who\nhad taken a keen interest and delight in the manner in which Edwin was\nlearning, that he was able to read them both plainly and distinctly. But\nstill his mother said:\n\n\"That, too, was long ago. Things are different today. You needn't try to\ntell me that what the people did and said at that time were anything like\nwhat they say and do today.\"\n\nThen as Edwin attempted to explain, she said:\n\n\"No, Edwin, you must not say anything more to me about these things. I'm\nsatisfied to let well enough alone; and if I'm contented, you ought to be.\"\n\nSeeing that his mother was determined to continue in her uncertainty, Edwin\nnext thought of his own brother and sister in the flesh, whom he had never\nseen. Through his mother he had found out where they were living, and\nalthough it was a long distance to their homes and they were as strangers\nto him, he decided to visit them and at once set out upon the journey.\n\nThe brother had heard through the mother some things about Edwin's\nstupidity, as she called his extreme ignorance (for which she was herself\nto blame), and he had also heard of Edwin's willingness to suffer cruel\npunishments and unjust blame. \"But,\" the mother had also said, \"with all\nhis block-headedness, he has never done anything to compare with what\nElmer, his cousin, has done to make me ashamed.\"\n\nIt was therefore with real interest and curiosity that the brother received\nhim into his home, and he was shown much kindness by his brother's wife.\nWhen Edwin explained how wondrously he had been led and taught of God, the\nbrother was astonished, for he could see that all Edwin had said was very\nreasonable and sensible, and he wondered why he had never thought to search\nout some of the things for himself. The brother's wife as well was greatly\ninterested, and when Edwin read and explained the verses from his\nwell-marked Bible, they were both convicted and exclaimed:\n\n\"O Edwin! what must we do to get this great salvation?\"\n\nImmediately Edwin turned to Acts 16: 30, 31, and read the jailer's words to\nPaul and Silas, \"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\" and Paul's answer,\n\"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved, and thy house.\"\nHe then explained that Jesus came to seek and save the people from their\nsins and that he went about preaching the glad tidings of salvation, after\nwhich he gave his life upon the cross that their salvation might be\npossible.\n\nNext he read Isa. 55: 6, 7: \"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call\nye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the\nunrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will\nhave mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.\"\n\n\"To forsake sin,\" Edwin explained, \"is to stop doing anything that one\nknows to be wrong, like stealing, lying, swearing,\" and he named over a\nnumber of other things. \"By the power of the will it is possible for any\nwho have formed such habits to stop doing the things that are wrong, but\nbefore a person can really be delivered from sin, he must be very sorry for\nhaving disobeyed God. That sorrow is repentance if the person is sorry\nenough to ask God to forgive him and to cleanse him from all\nunrighteousness.\"\n\nEdwin did not tell them that it had always been his desire to do to others\nas he would be done by, for to him this had been only his privilege and\nduty to mankind, and he fully realized that before he was converted he was,\nwith all the rest of humanity, in a sense separated from God. Instead he\nsaid:\n\n\"You must think of God's goodness,\" and he read: \"Come unto me, all ye that\nlabor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,\nand learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest\nto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.\" And then he\nread Heb. 10:39: \"But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but\nof them that believe to the saving of the soul.\"\n\n\"O Edwin!\" his brother cried, \"why is it that we have never heard of these\nthings before? Surely God has sent you to us.\"\n\nAs a large revival was being held in the city at that time, they all\ndecided to attend, and at the meeting and with Edwin's help the brother and\nhis wife were gloriously saved.\n\nWhen the meeting was over, Edwin was urged to prolong his stay. This he\ndid, and he spent a few weeks very profitably in helping his relatives to\nbecome established and to learn how to study the Bible that had so long\nbeen only an ornament in their home.\n\nHis sister also was deeply impressed with the wonderful things that God had\ndone for Edwin, but she was the mother of several small children, and her\nlife was such that she thought that she was unable to make the necessary\nsacrifices. Edwin read to her from the seventh chapter of Matthew these\nwords of Jesus: \"Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I\nwill liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the\nrain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that\nhouse; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.\" Then he explained\nto her about the house that fell, but she only answered: \"No, Edwin, it is\nof no use. I can not live it now,\" and thus Edwin left her feeling her need\nbut unwilling to yield.\n\nFrom his sister's home Edwin returned to Mrs. Kauffman's, where he was\nagain treated with the greatest affection and respect. As he told of his\nexperiences, his kind friends were deeply interested as well as astonished\nat the manner in which he had succeeded in his brother's home, and Mrs.\nKauffman thanked God for so wonderfully answering prayer.\n\nLearning that Edwin was again in the neighborhood, the farmers with whom he\nwas acquainted did their best to engage him to work for them, but to all he\nsaid: \"No, not yet. I have not satisfied my mind. I am still a guest in the\nhome of Mrs. Kauffman, and since they are satisfied to have me stay, I\nthink that there must be more things that God would teach me from his Word,\nso I will study my Bible for a while longer.\"\n\nBaptism was the next subject that bothered him. During his recent visit\nwith his mother he had learned from her that, as an infant, before he was\ntaken to the poorhouse, he was baptized; but he had read in his Bible, \"He\nthat _believeth_ and is baptized, shall be saved\" (Mark 16:16). \"No infant\ncould believe or reason anything about the Lord Jesus,\" he told Mrs.\nKauffman, and he asked her advice about having the work done again.\n\n\"You had better go to your minister and ask him what he thinks,\" Mrs.\nKauffman said. Edwin improved the very first opportunity, which happened to\nbe the following Sunday immediately after the morning service. Replying to\nhim, the minister asked:\n\n\"Don't you think the baptism in your infancy amounted to anything?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" Edwin answered cautiously. \"That is what I came to see you\nabout. The Bible says, 'He that believeth and is baptized,' and I'm sure\nthat I didn't know enough at that time to 'believe' anything, and the way\nthat I understand that verse is that I am to be baptized after I am\nconverted.\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" said the minister, \"if you do not feel satisfied, I will, at\nsome convenient season, attend to the matter.\"\n\nFor several weeks Edwin anxiously waited for the \"convenient season\"; then\non entering the chapel one Sunday morning, he noticed on a stand beside the\naltar a large bowl of water, and he wondered if it was in any way connected\nwith his baptism. He was not kept long in suspense, for immediately after\nthe morning exercises he was requested by the minister to come forward and\nto take his seat upon the altar. Edwin quickly obeyed, and the minister,\nafter a short ceremony, took the bowl in his hand and with his fingers\nsprinkled a little of the water upon Edwin's head.\n\nTo Edwin it was a very solemn affair, for he was very sincere. At the close\nof the ordinance the minister said, \"Now, whether you consider that your\nother baptism amounted to anything or not, I hope that your doubts will be\nforever gone.\" At the time Edwin thought they were, but later on when he\nread, \"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him\nthrough faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead\"\n(Col. 2:12), he thought that to be really baptized meant more than merely\nto have a little water sprinkled upon his head; and when he considered that\nJohn baptized people in the river Jordan and that Jesus, his example,\nwalked down into the water, saying, \"Suffer it to be so now: for thus it\nbecometh us to fulfil all righteousness,\" and that when Jesus came up out\nof the water the voice from heaven said, \"This is my beloved Son, in whom I\nam well pleased\" (Matt. 3:15, 17), he felt that he should like to go down\ninto the water as though he had been buried from the sight of the world\njust as his Savior had done.\n\nAs was his custom when perplexed over such problems, he went to Mrs.\nKauffman that he might have the benefit of her judgment. She advised him to\ngo to a body of people that believed in immersion and be baptized by their\nminister. Edwin followed her direction, and as soon as possible he was put\nunder the water as a testimony to the world that he was dead to sin.\n\nThus, day by day God in his wisdom continued to be Edwin's teacher in the\ndeep as well as in the simple things of life until the wisdom of the\npoorhouse waif was in many things far beyond that of many who professed to\nbe leaders of men.\n\n\"For his God doth instruct him to discretion and doth teach him\" (Isa. 28:\n26).\n\n\"Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the\nend. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe\nit with my whole heart.\" \"Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is\ndevoted to thy fear\" (Psa. 119: 33, 34, 38).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX\n\nCALLED TO SERVICE\n\n    Walk\n  Boldly and wisely in that light thou hast;\n  There is a hand above will help thee on.\n\n  --Bailey.\n\nWhen Edwin heard of the heathen in other lands across the sea, a great\nlonging to help them to understand God's love and to bear them the message\nof Jesus' mission to the earth came into his heart. So great did this\nlonging become that he spoke of it to the brethren at the church, but he\nwas told that it would be better to first prove his calling at home, for\nthere were plenty of heathen all around him needing his help.\n\nWithout criticism or feelings that he had been dealt with unwisely, he\naccepted this judgment as proper and right, and at once began by seeking\nfor opportunity to talk about his experiences with both neighbors and\nfriends. In this way he made his efforts for doing good to count, and he\nbecame personally acquainted with the greater part of the community. Mr.\nand Mrs. Kauffman, seeing Edwin's zeal and courage, were surprized and\npleased, and, taking note of the good he was accomplishing, offered him the\nprivilege of holding prayer-meetings in their home. Soon others gave him\nthe same opportunity, and it was evident that God was using him even to the\nsaving of a few souls.\n\nAs Edwin continued to grasp every opportunity for usefulness, the brethren\nwho had refused to accept him as a candidate for membership in their\nchurch, became anxious to have him enroll, but Edwin told them: \"No, my ten\nyears are not yet up. You must remember that I told you I wanted that long\nto prove to you that I could stand and that I am truly converted.\"\n\nWhen Edwin felt that he could spare the time from studying the Bible and\ndoing spiritual work, to resume his labors as a farm-hand, he found that it\nrequired no effort to find a place, as all seemed to know of his ability\nand willingness to work. There was even contention among the farmers as to\nwho would be so fortunate as to secure his services.\n\nFinding out the true state of affairs, Edwin was pleased, and he decided to\ndivide his time among them. In this way he was able to enter other homes\nand lives and to help them spiritually as well as with his labor. But\nthrough all this service Edwin was not without various trials and tests;\nbut in everything he was able to give God thanks and to draw useful\nlessons. \"For thou, O Lord, hast proved us: thou hast tried us as silver is\ntried.\" (Psa. 16:10).\n\nAfter a time Edwin felt that he would like for at least a while to try city\nlife. Finding a man that was engaged in peddling spring-water, he agreed to\nwork for him for a share of the income. The business did not prove to be a\nprofitable one for Edwin, but by very careful management he was able to\nmake both ends meet. But when he had met his necessary expenses, he had\nnothing left that he could use for the work of the Lord.\n\nThis soon became a great trial to Edwin, and when one Sunday there was a\ncall (in the new church he was attending in the city) for a liberal amount\nof money, he felt that he must subscribe twenty-five dollars even though he\ndid not know how he could ever pay it. He believed that in some way or\nother he would be able to raise the money even though the time allowed for\npaying it was only one month. \"God will help me in this thing as he has\nhelped me through all my other difficulties,\" he said as he set out on\nMonday morning in his covered wagon to dispose of his bottled water.\n\nAt first the sales were as they had been on other days, but along in the\nafternoon they began to increase, and when night came and he had time to\nfigure up the amount of the water sold, he found that there was over and\nabove all his expenses five dollars extra to his credit. For four\nsuccessive days this increase of sales continued, until he had four\nfive-dollar bills laid aside.\n\nOn Friday morning Edwin started with a glad heart; for he thought, \"If only\nI succeed today as well as I have been doing all week, by this evening I\nshall have the amount I subscribed.\" He expressed his gratitude in\nthanksgiving and praise to God. To his great disappointment, that day the\nextra amount of water was not sold, and on Saturday and Sunday he did not\npeddle. Climbing into his covered wagon filled with bottles, he started out\nfor his boarding-place; but he was not in the least discouraged, for he was\nsure that the remainder of the money would be raised in some unexpected\nmanner before the month was up.\n\nScarcely had Edwin dismissed the matter from his mind when he came to an\nelectric-car crossing. It was a dangerous place, for a few feet above the\ncrossing the track was completely hidden from view by a large ledge of rock\nand a sudden curve. At this place Edwin always listened carefully for a\nsignal. Hearing nothing and knowing that the car had been due fully ten\nminutes before, he was soon driving upon the track without any thought of\ndanger, as he had so often done before. His surprize was therefore complete\nwhen, just as the back wheels of the wagon were dropping heavily over the\nlast rail, there was a sudden breeze and whiz came the car around the\ncurve. No warning whatever had been given, and a second later Edwin found\nhimself among the legs and hoofs of the faithful animal that he had been\ndriving.\n\nIt was indeed a narrow escape, and as Edwin crept from his dangerous\nposition he found that not only his horse but his wagon and load of bottles\nwere upside down and that the conductor and motorman were by his side\ninquiring of him how badly he was hurt.\n\nEdwin himself was uninjured, and after the harness had been loosened, the\nhorse was able to rise, and when the wagon and bottles were examined, it\nwas found that nothing was at all harmed. But before Edwin was again on his\nseat in the wagon, the conductor had taken his name and address.\n\nAs he drove away from the scene of the accident Edwin was rejoicing in the\nfact that he had escaped so well, and with no thought of ever hearing any\nmore about the affair he was soon putting his things away for the night. In\nthe morning, therefore, he was greatly surprized when he was called to the\ndoor and by the same conductor that had the evening before taken his name\nand address was handed an envelope and told that the contents were his\nbecause of the accident that had occurred the evening before at the\ncrossing. Edwin tried to explain that no harm had been done to anything,\nbut the conductor replied that the blame was his because he had given no\nsignal. \"But,\" he continued, \"it will always be a mystery in my mind how\nsuch an accident could occur without a single injury to anything.\"\n\nThen the conductor went away, and when Edwin opened the envelope, he found\nthat it contained just five dollars, the exact amount that he needed to\ncomplete his purpose-money. One week out of the four had not yet passed,\nand yet he had the full amount of his obligation. And when, on Sunday\nmorning, he carried the money to the church and told of the wonderful\nmanner in which it had been supplied (for indeed it was wonderful), many\nmarveled.\n\nIn the city Edwin continued to do all in his power for the Lord as he had\ndone in the country, and just about two years from the time that he\nattended his first prayer-meeting in the home of Mrs. Miller, he received\nan urgent invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman to return to their home and\nhold a series of revival meetings; \"for\" said the letter, \"our house and\nall that we possess are turned over to the Lord, and we feel that you have\nproved yourself sufficiently to come and be our minister.\"\n\nTo Edwin the privilege of holding the meeting and the confidence of these\npeople meant very much indeed, but he still felt keenly his inability of\ndoing anything in his own strength. To think of himself as a preacher he\ndid not, for God at that time had not revealed to him his calling in life.\nStill, he submitted the matter entirely to the Lord, and when the way was\nopened for him to go he was glad to accept the opportunity. As a result\nthere was a wonderful revival; for Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman did their best to\nhave the meetings advertised, and as Edwin's present, and early history as\nwell, was well known throughout the country, the people for miles around,\nmany of them out of curiosity, however, came to see if what they had been\nhearing about Edwin as a Christian was true.\n\nWhen the meeting closed, Edwin had in the minds of the people proved\nhimself to be a real minister of the gospel, and arrangements were soon\nmade to buy a piece of ground and to build a small meeting-house. The idea\nwas sanctioned by Edwin, and he saw it carried into effect, but when they\nbegged him to stay as their pastor, he refused. \"It is better,\" he said,\n\"for you to get some one else to be your leader until I know positively\nthat God has set me apart for that work\"; and referring them to a certain\nbrother who claimed to be a minister, he left them in his charge and\nreturned to the city where he had been peddling water.\n\nEdwin's object in leaving the community in which he had been holding the\nmeetings was that he might have a better opportunity to know positively\nwhether or not God had really called him to preach the gospel. His first\nduty, therefore, after arriving in the city was to go to the minister for\nadvice and counsel. After confiding his desire to work for the Lord and the\nmanner in which he had been used in the meeting, he was told: \"There are\nmany who mistake their calling in life. Sometimes the enemy of souls puts\nsuch feelings in the heart to mislead honest souls, or to get them out of\nGod's order.\" And the minister related an instance of a young man who had\nonce come to him just as Edwin had come for advice. \"Seeing his\nearnestness, I gave the fellow a chance to prove himself, but it was found\nthat he had no gift or ability at all to teach. In fact, he did so poorly\nin all public work that he was forced to confess that he was really\nmistaken. After that he never wanted to preach again, and it was even\ndifficult for him to testify.\"\n\n\"Well,\" Edwin answered, \"if it is the enemy in my case, I will have no\ntrouble to get rid of this feeling, for I shall only be too glad to know\nthat I am misled. All I want to know is what God wants me to do. If he\ndoesn't want me to preach, that is the last thing I would care to do.\"\n\nFrom that moment Edwin ignored the thought of preaching, and while he\napplied himself to his manual labor, he endeavored to forget all about his\nusefulness during the revival. And as he was thus striving with himself,\nthe minister in whom Edwin had confided, desiring to know if there was\nanything to Edwin's convictions, paid a visit to the community in which\nEdwin had held the revival. Several months had passed, but the fire was\nstill burning in the hearts of the people (although the one left in charge\nof them had done more harm than good), and as the minister listened to the\nglowing accounts of Edwin's works among them and the good that had been\naccomplished through his labors, he was forced to change his mind. \"God's\nhand must surely be on that man for service,\" was his secret thought, and\non the Sunday morning following his tour of investigation he brought the\nmatter before the church.\n\nNearly the entire congregation with the exception of Edwin were present,\nand as the minister related carefully and in detail what had taken place\nrecently in the community where Edwin had been so \"strangely\" converted and\nhad formerly made his home, he added that only the wisdom and power of the\nHoly Spirit could have enabled him to accomplish such a work. \"There is no\ndoubt now in my mind,\" he continued, \"that God's hand is upon the young man\nfor the ministry; for his moral character is without spot and blameless in\nthe eyes of all who know him, and he is well known and respected throughout\nthe country for this and because of his unusual conversion.\"\n\nIn that meeting it was decided that it would be best to have another talk\nwith Edwin before he was encouraged to preach. When the minister went to\nhim, it was with these words:\n\n\"Edwin, do you still feel your desire to preach the gospel?\"\n\n\"Oh yes,\" Edwin answered. \"Since talking with you, I have tried in every\nway to get rid of the thought of preaching, if it was not God's will for me\nto preach, but the burden is only growing heavier. I have submitted the\nmatter to you and the church, however, to decide for me, and I know that\nGod knows the same; so I can quietly trust him until you tell me what you\nthink would be best for me to do.\"\n\n\"Are you still fully agreed to allow the church to consider the matter for\nyou?\" Edwin was then asked.\n\n\"Oh yes, sir!\" he quickly replied. \"I have submitted everything into your\nhands, for I want to know just what you consider is best. I will be\nperfectly satisfied either way it may go. I am not anxious; for I know that\nif God really wants me to preach he will take care of it all and will work\neverything out in his own good time and way. If he does not work it out so\nthat I am considered capable of preaching, then I shall take it for granted\nthat it was a suggestion of the enemy, and I will take a vehement stand\nagainst those feelings as an imposition of the enemy. Now, I consider what\nI have said is sufficient, and it will be no trial for me, for I shall feel\nthat I am in God's order, and I care for nothing else.\"\n\nWhen the minister heard Edwin's humble answer and noted his willingness to\nallow God to have his perfect way with him and compared his manner with the\nmany remarkable reports to which he had listened concerning his\nexperiences, he was more convinced than ever that God's hand for service\nwas surely upon this devoted young man. But he felt that since the thing\nhad been left for the church to decide, he must in Edwin's absence once\nmore place the subject before the congregation.\n\nThe time chosen was the following Sunday. When the minister asked for an\nexpression from the people concerning Edwin's case, with one united vote\nthey said that they were perfectly agreed to accept Edwin as a minister,\nprovided he could prove his gift. It was therefore decided that since they\nhad never heard him preach, they would call him in and let him deliver the\nmorning sermon; and severe as was the test, it was carried out.\n\nWhen Edwin a few minutes later entered the room and looked over that large\naudience, he had not the faintest idea of preaching to the people. His only\nthought was to learn what their decision had been, and his surprize was\ntherefore complete when the almost painful hush that prevaded the room was\nbroken by the request that he take the pulpit and assume full charge of the\nmeeting that morning.\n\nHad it not been that Edwin already knew the Lord to be an unfailing source\nof strength and an able helper in every time of need, his courage might\nhave failed him, for upon the rostrum were several ministers and gospel\nworkers. Instead, he instantly submitted the matter to the Lord, and,\nforgetting about his ignorance, he rejoiced that he could have an\nopportunity to glorify God and took his position between God and poor\nblighted humanity.\n\n\"Let us pray,\" were his first words, and, falling upon his knees, he poured\nout his heart in fervent prayer to God, asking him for help and divine\nguidance in this, his great hour of need. While still upon his knees he was\ngiven a text, and, rising to his feet, he opened his Bible, turned to Luke\n7:47, and read, \"Her sins, which were many, are forgiven; for she loved\nmuch.\"\n\nThen as he explained the meaning of the words, his eyes became blinded by\ntears. As he lost sight of his audience, the Holy Spirit came to his\nrescue, and as the words poured forth from his mouth, it was evident to all\nthat the sermon was given him by divine power. So lost to himself and the\nopinions of others did he become that he seemed to be swimming out into the\nvast ocean of God's boundless love.\n\nThat God was glorified and his name honored it is needless to say, and from\nthat time Edwin was accepted without question as a gifted and qualified\nminister of the gospel, and his calls both in his home community and in\nother places were many. He was even preferred above other able ministers\nbecause of his strange and wonderful experiences.\n\nAs Edwin continued to preach, he remembered how hard it had been for him to\nunderstand that there were other languages than his own mother tongue, and\nhe prepared himself to preach not only in the German and the English\nlanguages, but in Pennsylvania Dutch as well.\n\nWhile studying his Bible he found that there was even healing virtue in\nprayer. In James 5:14, 15, he read, \"Is any sick among you? let him call\nfor the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him\nwith oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the\nsick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they\nshall be forgiven him.\" In his own case he had found this to be true. God\nhad not only healed his soul's sickness but also removed his bodily\nafflictions. Finding that he could receive such instant relief for himself,\nhe was soon exercising his gift for others, and many were healed through\nhis earnest prayers.\n\nIn one place where he was preaching, he made his home with a family in\nwhich there were two small children, a girl three years old and a boy about\none year younger. To these children Edwin soon became greatly attached, and\ntheir love for him was no less than his own. Once when Edwin was away for a\nfew days holding a series of meetings, the little boy became seriously ill\nwith pneumonia. The parents, who knew the worth of prayer in time of\nsickness, took his case at once to their Great Physician; but although they\nprayed very earnestly, their prayers seemed to be of no avail, for the\nchild grew constantly worse. A number of the brethren were repeatedly\ncalled in to pray for little Charley, but the child grew constantly worse\nuntil it seemed that it would be a question only of a few hours until he\nwould be called into eternity. Finally the mother said, \"If Edwin were only\nhere, I believe that the child would be healed,\" but Edwin did not even\nknow that little Charley was ill.\n\nAt last the parents, while gazing down upon the little unconscious form\nburning with fever, gave up all hope of his recovery, consecrated their\nchild afresh, and submitted their own wishes in the matter to the One who\nhad lent them the darling. Then they seemed to see upon the fevered brow\nthe angel touch of death, and the troubled spirit of little Charley,\nmoaning piteously, appeared to be preparing for its upward flight to a\nbetter world.\n\nFeeling that there was nothing more that they could do, the brethren had\ntaken their departure, but only a short distance from the house they met\nEdwin returning unexpectedly from his trip. Had Edwin endeavored to do so,\nhe could not have told them why he was coming just at that hour, but\nsomething seemed to bid him hasten, for his presence was needed. From the\nbrethren he learned of the child's illness, and, hurrying into the house,\nhe was soon beside the parents, who were still weeping over their little\none.\n\nAs Edwin looked down upon the face of the one whom he so dearly loved, the\nwords, \"The prayer of faith shall save the sick\" (Jas. 5:16), appeared to\nbe all that he could see or hear. He went hurriedly to the door and called\nloudly to the brethren and bade them return at once. Fortunately, the\nlatter had been walking slowly, for their hearts were troubled because of\ntheir neighbor's distress, so they heard the sound of Edwin's voice calling\nto them, and they immediately retraced their steps.\n\nThe little group, with the addition of Edwin, once more gathered around the\nchild's crib. As Edwin knelt he clasped his own hands and raised them\nbefore him; then with upturned face and pleading tones, he asked God, for\nJesus' sake, to heal little Charley.\n\nFor several minutes he prayed, and in his earnestness his body swayed\nbackward and forward, and tears flowed freely over his cheeks. When the\nprayer was ended, and Edwin opened his eyes to look about him, to his great\nsurprize and joy he saw before him upon the floor the little child with his\nhands clasped and raised as Edwin's had been and his large blue eyes turned\nheavenward. He too was praying, trying to imitate Edwin's example. At the\nvery first of the prayer when Edwin's voice arose, the child regained\nconsciousness and, seeing his friend upon his knees beside him, he had\nbegged his mother to allow him to \"pway\" too. Lifting him tenderly from the\ncrib, the mother had placed him carefully upon the floor. From that moment\nlittle Charley was well, and soon called for some food.\n\nAt another time, when Edwin was holding a meeting about seventy-five miles\nfrom this home, the little girl became seriously ill. \"Have Edwin pway!\nhave Edwin pway!\" was all they could hear from little Charley; so a letter\nbearing the news and telling the nature of the child's illness was posted\nas soon as possible. When the word reached Edwin, he went to his room and\nthere remained before the Lord until he felt that his little friend was\nhealed. When another letter came from the mother, it brought the word that\nthe little girl was healed, and the day and hour that the work was done\nagreed perfectly with the time when God had witnessed to Edwin in his room\nthat the child was healed.\n\nA few days after the healing of the little girl Edwin received still\nanother letter. This time it was from the wife of a certain man for whom\nEdwin had worked and whose confidence he had won before God called him to\npreach. \"Please pray for my husband,\" the letter ran. \"He is in the\nhospital with a cancerous sore upon his right leg. The doctors give him no\nhopes that he will recover, but we have not forgotten how often God has\nheard your prayers, and we believe that if you will pray for him he will\nrecover. There is no earthly remedy that can help him.\"\n\nEdwin remembered the old gentleman well, and he went out in the woods where\nhe could be alone and prayed earnestly a long time for the man, but he\nreceived no answer or impression that the work was done. For three\nsuccessive days Edwin went alone to the woods to pray. On the third day he\nfelt that the man would recover, and immediately he mailed a letter to the\nlady to that effect.\n\nWhen the message was received and read to the sick husband, the faith of\nboth him and his wife were increased and strengthened, and they too\nbelieved that he would soon be well. From that very hour there was a change\nin the man's condition, and the sore began at once to heal. When the nurses\ncame to dress the sore, they were astonished at the change, and the doctors\nconfessed that it was a mystery too deep for them to fathom, but to Edwin\nit was only another blessing from the Lord.\n\n\"And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power\nagainst unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of\nsickness and all manner of disease\" (Matt. 10: 1).\n\n\"For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.\nFor there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord\nover all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon\nthe name of the Lord shall be saved.... How beautiful are the feet of them\nthat preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!\"\n(Rom. 10:11-15).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI\n\nDISCOVERS GOD'S CHURCH\n\n  O Church of God, thou spotless bride.\n  On Jesus' breast secure!\n  No stains of sin in thee abide.\n  Thy garments all are pure;\n  Of unity and holiness\n  Thy gentle voice doth sing,\n  Of purity and lowliness\n  Thy songs of triumph ring.\n\n  --Clara M. Brooks.\n\nA number of years had passed since Edwin began preaching, and in the\nsuburbs of a large city where the houses were numbered in groups of twos\nand threes, there was a certain quiet dwelling that could not help\nattracting the notice of the passerby; for the place, surrounded as it was\nby a pretty grassy lawn with a few choice flowers scattered here and there,\ndisclosed the fact that the occupants of the cottage were lovers of the\nbeautiful.\n\nThrough an open window a song of praise was floating, and upon the face of\nthe fair and noble young woman within could be read happiness, contentment,\nand love. She was busying herself about the stove, for she was Edwin's\nwife, and she was preparing her husband's evening meal. God not only had\nraised the poorhouse waif above his difficulties, but had given him in\naddition a good Christian companion to comfort and encourage him.\n\nA smile and a cheerful word were Edwin's greeting when he returned from the\npost-office. Seating himself in the large comfortable chair that had been\nplaced by loving hands close beside the window, he began at once to examine\nthe mail. There were several letters, which were each read in turn; but\nwhen Edwin came to the paper, his face wore a puzzled expression, for the\nlatter was not his own.\n\n\"I guess a mistake has been made somehow at the post-office,\" he said, \"for\nthis paper belongs to another person; but I see that the wrapper is loose,\nand I suppose it will be all right for me to slip it off and look the paper\nover, for that's what I hope the other fellow will do with mine.\" Then as\nhe proceeded to unfold the large religious periodical, he remarked, \"I\nhaven't yet found a paper that can come up to our own, and we can rejoice\ntonight because whoever has it will have something good to read.\"\n\nAt the very beginning of their home life, Edwin, feeling that some good\nreligious paper ought to come regularly to their home, had chosen from a\nbundle of sample copies the paper he considered best suited for their\npurpose, and for some time it had been making its weekly visits to their\nhome. Since then it had been his custom to read aloud either from it or the\nBible while his wife was busy about her household duties. In this way they\ncould talk over together the subjects that puzzled them while these were\nstill fresh in their minds.\n\nAs Edwin's eyes fell upon the title of the new paper that he had just\nbrought and found that the name of the paper contained three words and that\nthe middle word was Gospel, he said, \"Well, it at least has a good name,\nand now we'll see if it teaches what its title indicates.\"\n\nThe heading of an article that read, \"God's Word as Our Guide,\" next\nattracted his attention; and when he began reading, his wife left her\npartly prepared supper to come and look over his shoulder.\n\n\"As trusting children of God, we naturally look to him for guidance; for he\nhas said, 'I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt\ngo: I will guide thee with mine eye.' When two paths lie before us and we\nknow not which one to take, we ask God to make known to us the way that he\nwould have us take. God is willing to do this. He is glad to have us follow\nwhere he leads.\"\n\n\"That is very good,\" Edwin's wife remarked.\n\nDrawing a chair beside his own for her, Edwin said:\n\n\"Never mind the supper. Sit down, and we will eat later.\"\n\nThen he read: \"In Exod. 19:5 God says that his people will be a peculiar\ntreasure unto him above all people. This great favor is bestowed upon all\nthose who obey his voice. When we see how much people have cost him, we can\ncomprehend, in a measure, how precious we must be in his sight. Naturally\nwe value anything by its cost. If this rule be applied here, truly God must\nplace great value upon his people; for he spared not his own Son, but\ndelivered him up for us all. He must therefore estimate our value by his\nSon.\"\n\nNext he read under the heading God's Church: \"No one thing on earth is\ncomplete enough in its nature to fully represent the church of God. Neither\nis the human mind able to grasp singly a name that would express every\nfeature of the church. For this reason God has made use of many relative\nnames, such as kingdom, Zion, holy city, house, body of Christ, bride of\nChrist, family, sheepfold, vine and its branches, and other similar\nillustrations.\n\n\"First, let us consider the word 'church.' It means a congregation of\npeople separated from the world (John 15:19). Next, God's church is\ncharacterized by being separate from the world and all its evils (2 Cor.\n6:14), and Christ is the head (Eph. 1:22), the door (John 10:9), the\nfoundation (1 Cor. 3:11), and the chief corner-stone (Eph. 2:19,20).\"\n\nFor a moment the paper dropped idly in Edwin's hands, for the truth of God\nwas streaming down into his heart. Ever since his talk in the\nsummer-kitchen with Mrs. Miller, when she said that she was converted at\nthe time when she joined church and in answer to Edwin's question as to\nwhat the church was replied that the church was the little building where\nthe roads met, he had felt that there was such a thing as \"the church,\" but\nhe could not get it settled that it was the building on the corner, as Mrs.\nMiller had told him that it was. But whenever so situated that he could do\nso, he had continued to be a regular attendant of every religious service\neither at that place or in some adjoining community. In his heart he felt\nthat as the meaning of eternity, prayer, and conversion had been revealed\nto his entire satisfaction, God would in his own good time help him to\ndiscover the true meaning of the word \"church.\"\n\nPresently he read under another heading: \"The gospel of salvation that\nChrist preached penetrated the dark places of sin and idolatry like sun\nrays driving back the darkness of night. Wickedness in the hearts and lives\nof men gave way to grace and truth. Christ then established his church.\nTrue holiness adorned her fair brow. Unity and purity were her chief\ncharacteristics. Of her it is said, 'Thou art all fair, my love; there is\nno spot in thee' (S. of Sol. 4:7). And again, 'My dove, my undefiled, is\nbut one' (S. of Sol. 6:9). 'He [Christ] is the head of the body, the church\n... that in all things he might have preeminence' (Col. 1:18).\n\n\"Having purchased, founded, and built the church, God claims exclusive\nright to the government. She is not 'our church,' but 'God's building,'\nowned by God alone. All her members are the sons of God and bear his holy\nimage. 'God hath set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath\npleased him' (1 Cor. 12:18), for 'ye are the body of Christ, and members in\nparticular.'\"\n\nFor a moment Edwin paused to meditate upon what he had read; then he\ncontinued:\n\n\"It is God himself that assigns each member his place in the church, or the\nbody of Christ, and makes known to him what his line of spiritual work is\nto be--'Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God\nhath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly\nteachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing,' etc. (1 Cor.\n12:27,28).\n\n\"The origin of the church is the immediate result of conversion and is\ninseparable from it. 'I pray not for the world, but for them which thou\nhast given me; for they are thine. Neither pray I for these alone, but for\nthem also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may\nbe one; as thou, Father, art in me ... that the world may believe that thou\nhast sent me' (John 17:9, 20, 21). 'As new-born babes, desire the sincere\nmilk of the word, that ye may grow thereby ... ye also, as lively stones,\nare built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual\nsacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. But ye are a chosen\ngeneration, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye\nshould show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness\ninto his marvelous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now\nthe people of God.' (1 Pet. 2:2, 5, 9, 10).\"\n\nAgain Edwin paused, and as the wonderful beauty and completeness of God's\nplan concerning his people dawned upon his mind, his large brown eyes were\nbrightened with tears of joy, and he said to his wife:\n\n\"I believe I understand at last what is meant by 'the church.' All\nconverted souls, both dead and alive, and of every nation or race of people\nin the world, make up God's church, and to become a member of the church is\nto be converted, or born into God's family.\"\n\n\"Read on,\" his wife said eagerly, and Edwin continued:\n\n\"God's people are not to forsake the assembling of themselves together to\nworship him (Heb. 10:25); 'for where two or three are gathered together in\nmy name there am I in the midst of them.' (Matt. 18:20).\n\n\"It may be a mystery in the mind of some why we read in the Bible of\nchurches, when God has but one church. A little attention to the word will\nconvince any honest mind that the church of God is plural only in regard to\nits geographical location. The people in the different communities could\nnot go up to Jerusalem in order to assemble themselves together in worship,\nfor the distance in some instances would have been too great. Thus, it\nbecame necessary for many to form home congregations. But although they\nwere often widely separated, the same sweet fellowship was flowing in the\nhearts of all, and God looked upon them all together as his church, or the\nbody of his beloved Son. The idea in referring to the church, or the divine\ncongregation, as a bride and wife in relation to Christ was to teach their\nclose relationship. 'And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will\nbetroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in\nloving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in\nfaithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord' (Hosea 2:19, 20). 'For I am\njealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one\nhusband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ' (2 Cor.\n11:2). 'He that hath the bride is the bridegroom' (John 3:29). 'For thy\nmaker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the\nHoly One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called' (Isa.\n54:5). 'Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage\nof the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was\ngranted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the\nfine linen is the righteousness of saints' (Rev. 19:7, 8). Since no man can\nrightly have more than one wife, God has but one church, and Christ is her\nhusband.\"\n\n\"Wife,\" Edwin said, \"this truly is wonderful. I see it all clearly now. God\nhas had a purpose in keeping me from joining the little church on the\ncorner, for I was already born into God's church when I was converted. He\nunderstood my ignorance; and although they have long since changed their\nminds concerning me, the ten years that I requested to prove my sincerity\nhave shielded me from making a mistake, and my name has long ago been\nenrolled in heaven.\"\n\nAs they continued to glance over the pages of the paper, they came to a\nlarge advertisement of a camp-meeting to be held in an adjoining State.\nAfter reading the urgent invitation to all who could to come to the\nspiritual feast, Edwin said that he would like very much to attend that\nmeeting. It was impossible for them to both leave at the same time, but\nEdwin's wife urged him to go while she remained to take care of things at\nhome.\n\nBefore retiring that night Edwin told his companion about the first\ncamp-meeting that he ever attended. \"I know,\" he said, \"that I was looked\nupon by many as a lunatic, but I'm glad that God realized and understood\nall about the difficulties that had surrounded my early life. And, Wife, if\nI had it all to do over again, I could never know more perfectly how to\nconsecrate myself to God and to realize the completeness of his love within\nmy heart.\" And thus their talk continued long into the night. Their supper\nhad been forgotten, for they were feasting on heavenly manna.\n\nWhen the time for the meeting arrived, Edwin bade his wife farewell at the\nstation; and as it was but a few hours' ride, he was soon at his\ndestination. His general appearance as well as his understanding of the\nthree languages helped him to make a far better impression than he had made\nat the time of him conversion, but his same innocence regarding sinful\npleasures was still very noticeable. From his earliest recollections in the\npoorhouse his desire to do right for principle's sake had never left him.\nThis desire and God's wonderful protection had guarded him against many\nevils that might in later years have entangled his feet and obstructed his\npathway.\n\nWhat he saw and heard in the meeting was in such harmony with all that God\nhad taught him and with what he had read in the Bible that he said, \"Of a\ntruth I have found God's church, and his people shall henceforth be my\npeople.\"\n\nHe was still of the same humble, teachable spirit, and when he returned to\nhis home, he carried many rich morsels of truth to his loving and faithful\nwife.\n\n\"One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you\nall\" (Eph. 4: 6). \"He will guide you into all truth\" (John 16: 13).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII\n\nVISITS THE POORHOUSE\n\n  I am not old--though time has set\n  His signet on my brow,\n  And some faint furrows there have met,\n  Which care may deepen now--\n  For in my heart a fountain flows,\n  And round it pleasant thoughts repose,\n  And sympathies and feelings high\n  Spring like the stars on evening sky.\n\n  --Benjamin.\n\nIt was evening in the late summer, and Edwin was sitting upon the porch. He\nhad been reading, but the paper had fallen carelessly by his side. In the\nwestern sky the beautiful tints of gold were rapidly changing to the deeper\nshades of lavender and crimson, and as he gazed upward among the drifting\nclouds he seemed lost to his earthly surroundings. So enraptured and\ncarried away with his meditation had he become that he did not notice the\napproach of his faithful wife as she came to take her place beside him.\n\n\"Edwin, your thoughts tonight seem to be very far away indeed,\" she said.\n\"I hope that you are thinking of things that are pleasant\"\n\nWith a smile and a word of welcome, Edwin awoke from his reverie and said:\n\n\"Yes, Wife, my thoughts were pleasant. In imagination I was living over\nagain some of my early experiences.\"\n\n\"If that is the case, my dear, I greatly fear that a part of your thoughts\nwere not as cheerful as they might have been,\" his wife said as her chair\nwas drawn closer. Taking the hand that was scarred and disfigured in\nseveral places by abuse in his childhood, she continued: \"I fear that many\nthings concerning your childhood would be very hard indeed if you were\nforced to live them over again even in thought.\"\n\n\"Yes, Wife, that is true. There were many hard and bitter things, which are\nindeed painful to recall, especially those pertaining to my mother. To know\nthat she has left this life without any hope for the future world, feeling\nthat such was unnecessary, is hard, but it was not of her nor of her\nattitude toward me that I was thinking altogether. I was meditating upon my\nlife as a whole. You see, more than fifty summers and winters have passed\nsince I left the poorhouse in my boyhood days, and I have passed well over\nthe best part of my life. I am now on the downward slope of life's mountain\nof years, and it will not be long until I shall be entering the valley of\nthe shadow of death.\"\n\nThe soft fingers of the gentle wife closed more tightly over the hand they\nheld, as she said:\n\n\"Yes, dear, neither of us is young any more, for the silvery threads are\nalready in our hair; but whether our years on earth are few or many, I\nbelieve that we both are ready to enter into the presence of our Lord at\nany moment that he should call for us.\"\n\n\"I have no fears on those lines, Wife,\" Edwin said, while his eyes were\nstill upon the beautiful horizon; \"for I have the sweet assurance within my\nsoul that I am a child of God and that I am on the road that leads to\neternal bliss and glory for all who are faithful unto the end. But this\nevening as I sat here gazing upon the beautiful handiwork of God, I\nwondered what could be awaiting us in that brighter and better world beyond\nthe grave.\"\n\n\"That is not for us to know now, Edwin, but some day the curtain will be\ndrawn aside, and I am sure that the scene will be all the brighter for our\nhaving had to await God's time to reveal to us the mysteries that he has\nfor a time thought best to veil.\"\n\nThe silence that followed seemed too sacred to be broken, and the gathering\ndarkness crept slowly about them. When the last shade of crimson had left\nthe sky, Edwin said:\n\n\"I have been thinking of the many good things that have come to me in this\nlife, and the manner in which they have come. It seems that God's hand has\nbeen over me ever since I can remember, and as I look back now I can see\nthat God has always been my guide ever since I chose to do the right\nbecause it was right to do it, and that even in my extreme ignorance, when\nI knew nothing of God's existence, he guided my steps and enabled me to\nlive a life that was upright and consistent in the eyes of the world. Then,\nwhen I had no earthly friend who was able to unfold the mysteries of the\nfuture world to my entire satisfaction, he became my teacher and taught me\nhow to be born into his heavenly family. Surely it was only through his\ndivine protection that I have been brought through all my perplexities to\nthe present time. Then as I was thinking about my childhood home at the\npoorhouse, a great desire to visit the place again crept into my heart. It\nseems to me that it would be a comfort to stand once more upon the same\nground and to see the scenes that I beheld at the time when I was a\nhelpless waif.\"\n\n\"Fifty years, Edwin, have probably made many changes, and nothing would\nseem the same to you now. It could not be as it was when you were a child.\"\n\n\"That may all be true,\" Edwin replied, \"and yet the more I think about it,\nthe greater becomes my desire to go and visit the place again. If you could\ngive your consent, I should be glad to go at once.\"\n\n\"That you certainly have,\" his wife said earnestly, adding, \"I will gladly\ndo all in my power. Edwin, to help you to prepare for the journey.\"\n\nThree days later Edwin kissed his wife good-by and with his handbag in his\nhand started for the railway station. After boarding the train he had a\nlong and tiresome journey, but at last it was at an end. Alighting from the\ntrain, he stood for a moment upon the platform, trying to think which way\nto go. Noticing a man standing near, Edwin inquired the way to the\npoorhouse, and finding that the distance was not too great to walk, he was\nsoon wending his way in that direction.\n\nIn that section of the country the land was quite level, and long before\nEdwin reached the place, he could see the large brick building that during\nhis stay there was the quarters of the vicious and insane. He wondered if\nit was still used for the same purpose and if the same sights and sounds\ncould be seen and heard. In a little while he was in front of the place\nthat was his home half a century before.\n\nLeaving the highway, he passed through the open gateway, and a picture of\nhis uncle in the buggy with the little forlorn poorhouse waif sitting\nbeside him arose in his mind. Looking about, he wondered if either Mr.\nEngler or the chore-boy Jim were in sight; but he was not long in\ndiscovering that a new manager (or \"steward\" as he was called) by the name\nof Blohm had taken Mr. Engler's place and that no one could tell him the\nwhereabouts of Jim. He was beginning to reah'ze that what his wife had said\nconcerning the changes of fifty years was true, but the greatest surprize\nwas before him.\n\nThe room in which he had been left by his heartless mother was still fresh\nin his memory as he had left it to go to his mother's home. When a moment\nlater he stepped inside the up-to-date office that was in the main\nbuilding, he could scarcely believe that the apartment was the same that he\nhad known years before. Nothing, not even the couch upon which the\ncruel-hearted woman had laid her helpless babe, was there, for all the\nfurniture was bright and new.\n\nHere he met Mr. Blohm, and after introducing himself as one who had\nformerly been an inmate of the home, and relating some of the Lord's\ndealings with him, he told a little about his checkered experiences and\nended the story by telling of his divine commission to preach the gospel.\nAfter all this explanation he was shown every possible favor and looked\nupon as an honorable guest. In fact, he was taken by Mr. Blohm himself all\nover the establishment.\n\nA few of the inmates whom Edwin had known in his childhood were still\nliving, and although they were greatly changed in appearance, he recognized\nthem as the same persons. When he passed through the long hall, he thought\nof the time that he had followed Mr. Engler on his way to meet his uncle in\nthe office, and he took a special look at the very spot where he was\nstanding when the steward gave him the order to come.\n\nPassing outside, he was told to examine a large marble stone that had been\nplaced in the side of the building, and he found that all the names of the\ndifferent managers, including August Engler's, were there. In another large\nbuilding he found the bakery, and in this busy place the greater part of\nthe cooking was still done. As he passed through the large double doors\nthat divided the two apartments, everything seemed for a moment as it had\nbeen fifty years before, for just outside he could see the spot where he\nwith other children had stood looking down into the bakery hoping to\nreceive from some one a crust of bread or a stale biscuit.\n\nAt dinner-time he was conducted into the large dining-room. There he found\nmany tables neatly spread with food that was good and wholesome, and it was\nplain to be seen that the needs of all had been taken into consideration.\nOne special table had been assigned to the management and special workers,\nand it was there that Edwin was offered the seat of honor. It is needless\nto say that he greatly enjoyed the good, substantial meal, for he was very\nhungry after all his exertions.\n\nAfter dinner he continued his investigations, and as he went about from\nplace to place, he seemed to be living over again a part of the past. He\nrecognized the place in which the old lady had taught him the words, \"Now I\nlay me down to sleep,\" and as he remembered the comfort that he had\nrealized while repeating them, his heart throbbed with gratitude to the One\nwho knew and understood his childish desire to live right. At night he was\nshown to a clean and comfortable bed, and there he fell asleep with the\npast as a sacred dream.\n\nIn the morning Edwin arose feeling greatly refreshed and ready to enjoy\nanother day in the county poorhouse, but before noon he reentered the main\noffice and wrote a letter home to his beloved wife. It read:\n\n\"Dear Wife: Greeting in Jesus' name. I am sure that you will be anxious to\nhear from me and of my eventful journey. To me this has been a wonderful\nexperience, and although it is true that everything is greatly changed,\nthere are certain associations with every place that bring a flood of\nremembrances. The changes are principally in the people, however, and their\nmanner of living, for very few buildings have been added or torn away.\n\n\"From the window where I am sitting I can see the old well where we\nchildren used to pump the cold water on our dry bread. I can also see the\npath leading down to the large turnip-patch, and as I watch the waving\ntops, I can imagine myself a child again eating the round white balls, dirt\nand all. I have also taken a stroll about the yard and stood upon the very\nspot where I used to stand when watching the queer actions of the insane\nand listening to their horrible sayings. The large brick building for the\ninsane of which I have told you in the past is still as I remember it,\nexcept that it is no longer needed for the insane and the gratings from the\ndoors and windows have all been removed. That part of the work is taken\ncare of by the State asylum, and this building is now used for the weak and\nfeeble-minded women. There is also another building where the men of this\nclass are cared for by special workers.\n\n\"When it became known that a former inmate of the infirmary was a Christian\nand a minister of the gospel, it was considered a great honor to the\nestablishment, and I have been requested to take charge of the morning\nservice in the chapel next Sunday. I have already had the privilege of\nexplaining some verses to a few, and some who knew of my early\ndisadvantages confess with shame their own lack and wish for an experience\nlike mine.\n\n\"Do pray for me that I may be the greatest blessing possible while I am\nhere, and with the prayer that God will bless and keep you until we meet\nagain, I will close.\"\n\nThat Edwin's visit at the poorhouse was profitable, both to himself and to\nothers, it is needless to say. On Sunday he preached to a large audience,\nand he was privileged also to visit and pray for many who were unable to\nmeet in the chapel. Thus, he who was once a poor waif in this institution\nwas enabled to be a help and a blessing to those who were still\nunfortunate.\n\nOn Edwin's return home, he and his wife were in the cozy living-room until\na late hour talking over the events of the past few days. Before retiring\nhe reached for the Bible, and after he had read a chapter, they knelt\ntogether in prayer. In earnest, fervent supplication and praise he opened\nhis heart to the One to whom he was so greatly indebted.\n\n\"O Lord,\" he prayed, \"thou hast been so merciful to me all my days! Thy\nhand of love and protection hath been over me wherever I have been. Thine\neye hath guided my feet past many pitfalls that I could not see. In my\nweakness thou hast been my strength. In my ignorance thou hast been my\nwisdom and teacher. When friends forsook me thou wast mindful of my needs.\nWhen others misunderstood thou hast been my Comforter. To thee, O God, I\nrender thanks for all thy benefits, for thy saving and keeping grace that\nhath reached even to one so unfortunate as I. And now, O Lord, grant that\nall the remainder of my days, be they few or many, may be spent for thee\nand for others who have not yet learned to love thee and to know of thy\ngreat goodness. To thee we commit ourselves for the night and place our\nhands in thine for future service, knowing that when our work on earth is\nended, thou wilt gather us home to live among the faithful forever. Amen.\"\n\nThere is little else to say of Edwin's life except that his determination\nis still on the increase to help men and women to understand their need of\na Savior and to instruct them in the ways of the Lord. As we draw the\ncurtain over the life of the unfortunate poorhouse waif, we should not\nrejoice alone because he has been able to rise above his difficulties but\nalso because his divine Teacher will instruct all who will be taught.\n\n\"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of\nwhom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant\nyou, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by\nthe Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;\nthat ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with\nall saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to\nknow the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled\nwith all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding\nabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that\nworketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout\nall ages, world without end. Amen.\"","title":"The Poorhouse Waif and His Divine Teacher: A True Story","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":48508}