chamber-maids, waiters, bar-keepers, and stable-boys at the hostelry
were laughing and jeering, in which they were led by Jane, as Mary told
of her father's announcement that he had been converted and would have
no more stealing done in the interest of the family larder. The fun
became so fast and furious that it was obliged to end in sheer
exhaustion; so when Tom came in an hour later, he was unable to revive
it sufficiently to secure the stolen glass of beer which he had
coveted.

Sam Kimper did not seem to notice the disappearance of the more active
portion of the family. Taking the baby in his arms, he sat with closed
eyes while his wife cleared the table. Finally he said,--

"Nan, ain't you got nothin' else to do?"

"Nothin', that I know of," said the wife.

"Come an' set down alongside o' me, then, an' let me tell you about
somethin' that come about while I was in the penitentiary. Nan, a man
that used to come there Sundays found me a-cryin' in my cell one
Sunday; I couldn't help it, I felt so forlorn an' kind o' gone like.
I'd felt that way lots o' times before, when I was out an' around, but
then I could get over it by takin' a drink. There's always 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'