"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 been let out.'

"Well, that was encouragin', for I didn't want to get in no jails no
more. When the man went away he left me a little book that didn't have
nothin' in it but things Jesus Himself said. I read it lots; some of it
I didn't understand, an' I can't get it through my head yet, but what I
did get done me so much good that I found myself kind o' changin' like,
an' I've been changin' ever since. Nan, I want you to read it too, an'
see if it don't do you good. We ain't been what we ought to be; it's
all my fault. The children ain't had no show; that's all my fault too,