th' voice aatsoide, 'vary sorry to
trouble you, but a friend o' mine that's on a journey, has just come to
aar haase, and wants his supper and a noight's lodgings, and we ha'nt a
morsel o' bread to set before him, and I want to knaw if thaa'll lend
us a loaf till my wife bakes.'

"'Get away hoam wi' the',' replied the man of th' haase. 'I'm i' bed,
and canna be bothered; candle's aat, and we ha' no matches upstairs; go
home and come agean in th' mornin', and I'll lend the' some. Remember
me to the' friend, good-noight:' whereupon he shuffles daan into bed
agean, and tries to compose himsen to sleep.

"But th' man aatsoide has been and fetched a big thick stick, and with
this he starts to hammer th' door laader than ever, till he startles
all th' sleepers in th' haase.

"'Naa then, what's th' matter?' shaats th' man from insoide, 'I thought
thaa war gone hoam.'

"'Will thaa lend me a loaf till my wife bakes?' This was said in such
a deliberate, determined voice, that the good man knows in a moment he
won't be put off.

"'What thinks ta, lass? Mun I get up and gie him one? I don't believe
he'll goa away; he'll bray t' door daan afore dayloight.'

"While th' wife is rubbing her eyes and hesitating a bit, th' man
aatside rings sich a clash of bells on th' front door, as brought th'
good man aat on th' floor in a twinkling.

"'Hold on! hold on, mon, I'm coming!' and he was off daanstairs to the
cupboard like a shot, aat with a loaf, unlocked th' front door, handed
forth th' bread to the man, who was just getting ready for another
knock. 'I see,' said he, 'thaa weant be put off; tak' this, and go
hoam wi' the'.'"

This story, told in the vernacular of the district, of which this is a
very imperfect rendering, and accompanied with Abe's expressive
gestures, was exceedingly effective, and not easily forgotten. Nor did
he omit the beautiful moral of the parable, showing the necessity of
prayer, importunate prayer, prayer at all times. "Keep knocking!" Abe
would say, "God is only trying you a bit in not answering first knock;
it's His way of proving whether you really mean it or not. Knock
laader, pray on and on, He hears, He is coming, bless Him! He never
said to th' seed of Jacob, 'Seek ye my face in vain.'"

"PUT UM ON THEESEN."

The Prodigal Son was a favourite subject with the "Little Bishop," and
many are the quaint sayings which fell from his lips while dwelling on
this interesting parable. The s