"Who wants shupper?" said Father Slessor, and he threw the precious food
into the fire. He staggered to his bed and fell into drunken sleep. With a
deep sigh Mother Slessor put out the light and she, too, retired for the
night. Early the next morning she was up, preparing breakfast. Carefully
she scraped every bit of oatmeal out of the container and boiled it for
breakfast.

"Come, children, it's time to get up. Sunday school this morning," called
Mrs. Slessor. Up jumped the six little Slessors. The older ones helped the
smaller ones get dressed. When they had eaten the little oatmeal that
Mrs. Slessor had for breakfast, they lined up for inspection.

"John," declared Mrs. Slessor, "you did not wash behind your ears. Go with
Mary and let her scrub the dirt away. Now I'll put a bit of perfume on your
hankies, and here's a peppermint for each of you. There, off we go to
Sunday school and church."

Father Slessor snored in his drunken sleep, while the family went off to
hear God's Word and to sing His praises. When they returned, Father Slessor
was awake. He was sitting on the side of the bed and holding his head. He
had "morning after" sickness.

"Come, Robert," said Mrs. Slessor, "and sit up to the table. Good Elder
McDougal has given us a bit of meat and some bread, so we can eat this
day."

Father Slessor groaned, but sat up to the table and ate dinner with his
family. It wasn't much of a dinner. It would have been even less were it
not for the kindness and charity of friends, because Father Slessor had