“But do you think, grandma,” inquired Henry, “that Jacob would have acted so independently if he had had no home to return to?”

“Yes, dear, I think he would,” was the prompt reply.  “He had learned to obey the commands of God and to believe His promises.  He knew that the injunction, ‘Come out from among them,’ was followed by the assurance, ‘I will receive you,’ and such was his trust in his heavenly Father’s word that no thought for his future provision would have interfered with the performance of what he deemed to be his duty.”

“Well, grandma,” said Henry, “I like the stand taken by the honest boy.  Please go on with the story.”

“Jacob remained at home for the next three years, making himself useful in teaching his younger brothers and sisters, besides assisting his father in the management of his affairs.  In the meantime his own education was advancing.  Nor was he without receiving many offers of clerkship in the neighboring cities, whither the good report of his honesty and integrity had come.

“But a cousin of his father, who was a merchant of some eminence in New Orleans, had proposed to take him into his counting house in a confidential capacity when he should reach a more mature age, and for this important post he was qualifying himself.

“Accordingly, when he was eighteen years of age, at the request of his relative, he again left home.  This time his departure was a more serious affair than it had been when, a few years before, he left for school in Louisville.

“Now he was going to a large and populous city, where fashion and vice walked hand in hand, and where snares and pitfalls were spread for the simple and unwary, with scarcely a finger-mark cautioning them to beware.

“All the neighborhood was moved with anxiety and friendly interest for the youth, and the last Sabbath of his attendance at our rural church, the good pastor made an earnest and affectionate address from the same text which the minister presented to-day.

“Our friend’s journey to the great maritime city of the South was not without incident.  Mr. Wise accompanied his son to Louisville, and, after the necessary preliminary arrangements, went with him on board the boat that was to bear him down the broad waters of the Mississippi.

“The parting advice and benediction of his father were then given.  He reminded him of the subject of his pastor’s last sermon, and closed by giving him, as the motto of his life, the imperative charge, ’Come out from among them.’

“Then, as he desired to return home by daylight, and the boat was not to start for a couple of hours, he once more committed his son to the care and guidance of heaven, and left him, with a calm trust that he would be kept in the way of safety.

“After a pleasant trip on board the ‘Southern Belle,’ our young friend arrived in New Orleans.