w her life. As the soft
shadows gathered slowly about her, she seemed to be at home again close
beside her mother's knee, listening to her tender, loving words of
sympathy and advice. Bessie could now see what they had been worth to
her. They not only had prepared her for a common sphere in life, but had
given her a thorough understanding of God's great plan of salvation. As
she recalled her mother's prayers and talks, she realized that, through
them, she had many times escaped what other girls had ignorantly
blundered into, and had been spared a great many of the bitter sorrows
that come into the lives of girls not taught at their mother's knee. In
her thankfulness, she offered a fervent prayer to her heavenly Father
that many more earnest, noble, and prayerful mothers might be found to
guide their children through the critical period of childhood.

After three months Bessie returned home for a short visit with her
parents. Upon her arrival she not only found a loving and tender
welcome, but also learned that both her parents had accepted her call as
from God. After a happy visit of two weeks she returned to her work.
With the blessing of God upon her labors, we shall here bid her
good-by.

In conclusion, we wish to say that what she became was principally in
answer to her faithful mother's prayers. Had she been left--as many
girls are--without a mother's tender love and confidence, mingled with
many earnest prayers, she would have fallen into temptations that she
never knew. She had fully proved the worth of a praying mother.

CHAPTER XXV.

A PLEA TO MOTHERS.

Home as God intended it is built upon the corner-stone of virtue and
prayer. It makes no difference how beautiful the house nor how grand its
contents, if the mother is a woman who does not care for God or virtue,
the corner-stone of that home is lacking. Such a home can not stand when
trial and temptation enter.

A stream never rises above its source, nor a home above the ideals of
its founders. No matter how humble the home, do not belittle its
possibilities. Anything so sacred as home can command heaven's choicest
and best blessings. The humblest cabin may contain that element which
makes home the shrine of happiness and the temple of peace, and will
cause it to send forth saints and heroes.

Oh that parents, especially mothers, could realize their influence in
the home, their power to direct the young minds around them into the
proper channe