rd, don't let Tode ever drink a drop of rum!"

Then the little boy crouching in the corner, rose up and came quickly
over to his mother.

"Keep away, Tode," said the woman at the foot of the bed, speaking in an
awe-stricken voice. "Keep away, don't touch her; she ain't talking to
you."

Not so much as a glance did the mother bestow upon her boy, but repeated
over and over again the sentence, "O Lord, don't let Tode ever touch a
drop of rum."

"Is that the way?" she asked, suddenly turning her sharp bright eyes
full on Mr. Birge.

"Is that the way they pray? are them the right kind of words to use?"

"My poor friend," began he, but she interrupted him impatiently.

"Just tell me if that's the name you call him by when you pray?"

"Yes," he said. "Only won't you add to them, 'And forgive and save _me_
for Jesus' sake.'"

"Never mind me," she answered, promptly. "'Tain't of no consequence
about me, never has been; and I haven't no time to waste on myself. I
want to save him. 'O Lord, don't let Tode ever touch a drop of rum.'"

"He doesn't need time," pleaded her visitor. "He can hear both prayers
at once. He can save both you and Tode in a second of time; and he loves
you and is waiting."

This was her answer:

"O Lord, don't let Tode ever touch a drop of rum."

All that woman's soul was swallowed up in the one great longing. Unable
longer to endure the scene in silence, John Birge dropped on his knees
and said:

"Lord Jesus, hear this prayer for her boy, and save this poor woman who
will not pray for herself."

The words seemed to arrest her attention.

"What do _you_ care?" she added, at length.

"The Lord Jesus cares. He died to save you."

Then John Birge repeated his prayer, adding a few simple words.

The little silence that followed was broken by the repetition of the
poor woman's one solemn sentence:

"O Lord, don't let Tode ever touch a drop of rum."

"And save me," added John Birge.

"And save me"--her lips took up the sentence--"for Jesus' sake."

"For Jesus' sake."

The next time she added these words of her own accord; and again and
again was the solemn cry repeated, until there came a sudden changing of
the purple shadows into solemn ashy gray, and with one half-murmured
effort, "not a drop of rum" and "for Jesus' sake," the voice was forever
hushed.

The neighbor watcher was the first to break the stillness.

"Well, I never in all my life!" she ejaculated, speaking solemnly.