“Our friends and brethren in Cadereita tried hard to deter us from going, as most likely we would fall into the hands of General Cortinas; in which event, they said, the very utmost we could expect would be to escape with our lives, being left destitute of everything, in a wilderness road; but, as God had seemed to open up the way, providing the means, we determined to go forward, trusting that He also would protect us in the way.  Therefore, having completed our arrangements, we started for Matamoras, some three hundred miles distant, on the 19th of March, the wives of the two men accompanying their husbands, making our party six adults and one child; the brethren in Cadereita promising to pray daily for our safety.  The third morning, after commending ourselves, as usual, into the care of our covenant-keeping God, we started on our journey.  Some two hours later, we espied the troops of General Cortinas, about two miles distant, marching toward us.  We again all looked to God for protection, and prayed that, as he shut the mouths of the lions, that they should not hurt his servant Daniel, so He would now restrain the evil passions of men, that they might not hurt nor injure us—­then we went on till we met the advance guard, who commanded us to halt and wait till the General came up.  After nearly half an hour, General Cortinas, with his escort, rode up to where we were waiting for him.  After the ordinary salutation, he asked:  (_?de adonde vienen y adonde van?_) ’From whence have you come, and where are you going?’—­to which we replied properly; then he asked:  ’What is the news from Nueva Leon?’ (the State we left)—­to which we replied as faithfully as we could.  Then I asked him, ‘Is the road safe between us and Matamoras?’ He replied:  ’Perfectly; you can go on without any fear, and as safely as you would in your own country.’  Then, bidding us ‘good morning,’ he rode on, not even inquiring about or examining any of our baggage.

“When we arrived in Brownsville, Texas, and told of how gentlemanly General Cortinas had treated us, all pronounced it wonderful, and said, ’We could not have believed General Cortinas capable of such kindness to Americans so in his power.  It was truly a miracle.’  We believed that it was God who restrained the naturally vicious passions of the man, in direct answer to prayer.”

AN INFIDEL’S LIFE SPARED A FEW DAYS.

“During the Summer of 1862, I became acquainted with a Mr. A——­, who professed infidelity, and who was, I think, as near an atheist as any I ever met.  I held several conversations with him on the subject of religion, but could not seem to make any impression on his mind, and, when a point was pressed strongly, he would become angry.

“In the Fall, he was taken ill, and seemed to go into a rapid decline.  I, with others, sought kindly and prayerfully to turn his mind to his need of a Saviour, but only met with rebuffs.  As I saw that his end was drawing near, one day I pressed the importance of preparing to meet God, when he became angry and said I need not trouble myself any more about his soul, as there was no God, the Bible was a fable, and when we die that is the last of us, and was unwilling that I should pray with him.  I left him, feeling very sad.