“At one time, he found himself in debt to the amount of five hundred pounds.  After a sleepless, anxious night, he found, on his table, seven letters.  Opening five, he found them to be all applications, some of them most painful in their details, for the admission of new inmates.  His excited mind could not bear it.  Without opening the other two letters he threw them to his wife.  ‘Put them into the fire,’ he said, and turned to seek relief in the open air.  ‘John,’ said a sweet voice, ‘this won’t do.  Come back.’  So he did, taking up the sixth letter, which proved to be from a stranger, enclosing a check for three hundred pounds.  The other envelope gave him just what was needed, just that and no more.  He thanked God, and took courage.  Will he ever again hear the sweet, sad voice, ‘Wherefore didst thou doubt?’”

THE LORD DID NOT FORGET THE POTATOES.

“A correspondent of Arthur’s Magazine tells of a poor woman who had been washing for us, who said:  ’Seems as if the Lord took very direct ways to reach people’s feelings sometimes.  Now, I was astonished once in my life.  I lived away out West, on the prairie, I and my four children, and I couldn’t get much work to do, and our little stock of provisions kept getting lower and lower.  One night, we sat hovering over our fire, and I was gloomy enough.  There was about a pint of corn-meal in the house, and that was all.  I said, ’Well, children, may be the Lord will provide something.’ ‘I do hope it will be a good mess of potatoes,’ said cheery little Nell; ’seems to me I never was so hungry for taters before.’  After they were all asleep, I lay there tossing over my hard bed, and wondering what I would do next.  All at once, the sweetest peace and rest came over me, and I sank into such a good sleep.  Next morning, I was planning that I would make the tinfull of meal into mush, and fry it in a greasy frying-pan, in which our last meat had been fried.  As I opened the door to go down to the brook to wash, I saw something new. There, on the bench, beside the door, stood two wooden pails and a sack.  One pail was full of meat, the other full of potatoes, and the sack filled with flour.  I brought my hands together in my joy, and just hurrahed for the children to come.  Little dears!  They didn’t think of trousers and frocks then, but came out all of a flutter, like a flock of quails.  Their joy was supreme.  They knew the Lord had sent some, of his angels with the sack and pails.  Oh, it was such a precious gift! I washed the empty pails, and put the empty sack in one of them, and, at night, I stood them on the bench where I had found them, and, the next morning, they were gone.  I tried and tried to find out who had befriended us, but I never could.  The Lord never seemed so far off after that time,’ said the poor woman, looking down with tearful eyes.”

THE PRAYER IN THE WOODS.