lways ways of
gettin' a drink,--sweepin' out a saloon, or cuttin' wood agin' winter,
when the saloon'll need it. But there wasn't no chance to get a drink
in jail, an' I was feelin' as if the under-pinnin' of me was gone.

"Well, the man said he knowed a friend that would stand by me an' cheer
me up. His name was Jesus. I told him I'd heerd of Him before, 'cause
I'd been to revival meetin's an' been preached to lots by one man an'
another. He said that wasn't exactly the way he wanted me to think
about Him,--said Jesus used to be alive and go around bein' sorry for
folks that was in trouble, an' He once comforted a thief that was bein'
killed in a most uncomfortable way, though Jesus was havin' a hard time
of it Himself about that time.

"That hit me where I lived, for I--well, you know what I was sent up
for. He said Jesus was God, but he came here to show men how to live,
an' he wanted me to think about Him only as a man, while I was in
trouble. He said the worse off a man was, the more sorry Jesus was for
him: so I said,--

"'I wish He was here now, then.'

"'He _is_ here, my friend,' said the man. 'He's here, though you can't
see Him. He ain't got nothin' to make out of you: neither have I: so
you needn't be afraid to take my word for it. I'll tell you some of the
things he said.' Then he read me a lot of things that did make me feel
lots better. Why, Nan, that man Jesus was so sorry for men in jail that
He went back on some high-toned folks that didn't visit 'em: just think
of that!

"After a while the man said, 'You seem to be feelin' better.'

"'So I am,' said I.

"'Then believe in him,' says he, 'an' you'll feel better always.'

"'I've been told that before,' says I, 'but I don't know how.'

"The man looked kind o' puzzled like, an' at last says he,--

"'What's yer politics?'

"'I'm a Jackson Democrat,' says I.

"'All right,' says he, 'but Andrew Jackson's dead, ain't he?'

"'So I've heerd,' said I.

"'But you still believe in him?' says he.

"'Of course,' said I.

"'Well,' says he, 'just believe in Jesus like you do in Andrew Jackson,
and you'll be all right in the course of time. Believe that what He
said was true, an' get your mind full of what He said, an' keep it
full, remindin' yourself over an' over again for fear you forget it or
other things'll put it out of your mind, an' you'll be happier while
you're in jail, an' you won't get back here again, nor in any other
jail, after you've