n introducing people to the public
in his capacity of chairman of the local lecture committee would enable
him to present Sam in a manner which would strengthen the weak knees
and lift up the feeble heart.

"Brethren," said the deacon, arising during the closing cadence of a
hymn, "the consolations of our blessed religion often reach a man in
most unexpected ways, and we have among us to-night a living example of
it. One of our fellow-citizens who left us, against his will, I may
say, about two years ago, found the pearl of great price in the cell of
a prison. He has come here to-night to testify to the hope that is
within him. He feels that he is weak and halting of speech, but,
blessed be the spirit of our Master, that makes all of us brothers, it
does not take eloquence or superfluity of words to let out anything
that the heart is full of. I ask the attention and sympathy of all
present for our brother Samuel Kimper."

As the deacon sat down he put his powerful arm under the shoulder of
his companion, and Sam Kimper found himself upon his feet. The
frightened man looked down at the cushion of the seat in front of him;
then he tried to look around, but there was so much hard curiosity in
each face upon which his eyes fell that he speedily looked down again
and leaned heavily upon the back of the bench upon which his hands
rested. Finally he cleared his throat and said,--

"Ladies an' gentlemen, I've been in State prison nearly two years. I
deserved it. Lots of folks talked kind to me before I went; some of
'em's here to-night, an' I thank 'em for what they done. A good many of
'em talked religion to me, but the more they talked the less I
understood 'em. I guess 'twas my fault; I never had much head-piece,
while some of them had. But when I was in the prison a man come along
that talked to me about Jesus like I never was talked to before.
Somehow I could understand what he was drivin' at. He made me feel that
I had a friend that I could foller, even if I didn't keep up with him
all the time, owin' to things in the road that I hadn't knowed about.
He told me if I'd b'lieve in Jesus as I b'lieved in Andrew Jackson, I'd
pull through in the course of time. I've been tryin' to do it, an'
while I was in the jail I got lots of new idees of how I ort to behave
myself, all from a little book that man left me, that didn't have
nothin' in it but Jesus' own words. I'm a-goin' to keep on at it, an'
if I can't live that way I'm