But this was not the end of it.  For not long after this, the captain and his wife were taken suddenly ill with a fatal disease that was prevailing in that region of the country.  They both died; leaving two little orphan children, with no one to take care of them.  The soldier’s father heard of it; and he went at once and asked that he might be permitted to take the two helpless little ones and adopt them as his own children.  He took them home; and was a father and a friend to them as long as he lived.

How beautifully our Saviour’s words—­“Give, and it shall be given unto you,” are illustrated in this story!  How clearly we see here, that “Giving is God’s rule for getting!”

I have just one other illustration before closing this subject.  We may call it: 

“The Miser and the Hungry Children.”  In a village in England were two little motherless girls who lived in a small cottage.  Sally, the elder, was about eight years old and her sister Mary was six.  They were very poor.  Their father was a laboring man, and he found great difficulty in supporting himself and his children.

Once, in the midst of winter, these two little girls were left alone all day, as their father had gone out to work.  They had their breakfast in the morning with their father, before he left.  But they had no dinner, nor anything to eat during the rest of the day.  About the middle of the afternoon, Mary said to her sister:  “Sally, I’m very hungry.  Is there anything in the closet that we can get to eat?”

“No,” said Sally; “I’ve looked all through the closet; but there isn’t a crust of bread, or a cold potato; nor anything to eat.  I wish there was something; for I’m hungry too.”

“O, dear! what shall we do?” cried Mary; “I’m too hungry to wait till father comes home!”

“Mary,” said her sister, “suppose we ask our Father in heaven to give us something to eat?  Let us kneel down, and say the Lord’s Prayer.  When we come to that part about ‘daily bread’ we’ll say it over three times, and then wait, and see if God will send us some.”

Mary agreed to this.  They both kneeled down, and Sally began:  “Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven:  give us this day our daily bread; give us this day our daily bread; give us this day our daily bread.”  Then they waited quietly, to see if anything would come.

And now, while this was going on inside of that little cottage, let me tell you what was taking place outside.

Not far from this cottage lived an old man who was a miser.  He had a good deal of money, but he never gave any of it to others; and never would spend a penny for himself, if he could possibly help it.  But, on that afternoon, he had left home to go to the baker’s and buy a loaf of bread.  He got the loaf, and, as it was a stormy afternoon, he put it under his coat before starting to walk home.