Mills. "It came to me with such power last Sabbath, when I took my
Bible to look out some texts for the meeting to-day, that I almost
felt as if I had never known it before. It is so wonderful that God
and the Holy Spirit have written a Book and we have it! and, what is
stranger still, that we dare to neglect it. One would suppose that a
superstitious fear would make people read it, if nothing else. I
believe that the Lord himself sent that solemn realisation to me; it
has seemed a different Book to me ever since. If an angel should come
down and bring me ever so short a letter from the Lord, with some
expressions of favour, I should be consumed with joy; and here I have
not only one, but so many, and never took it in before."

"My heart standeth in awe of thy word," repeated Mrs. Lewis; then,
turning to one who sat near her, said, "We want a word from you, Mrs.
Barnes." Mrs. Barnes had slipped into the most obscure seat in the
room, almost behind Mrs. Lewis' chair. She was one of Mrs. Lewis'
most intimate friends, and herein was another proof of "queerness" in
the eyes of some of Mrs. Lewis' neighbours, "because she made so much
of that Mrs. Barnes." No one had ever thought of calling such a
dignified, intelligent-looking woman a "washer-woman," and yet she
did take some of her neighbours' clothes to her home and wash and
iron them--why not? since she was strong and they were not, and she
wanted money and they wanted clean clothes. However it was, these two
women saw eye to eye. It was no uncommon thing when Mrs. Barnes'
snowy wash was flapping in the wind, and she had slipped on her clean
gingham, and stepped over to Mrs. Lewis' a minute, to have the minute
lengthen to an hour or more, they had so much in common to talk
about. Their absent Lord--His work, and how to further it, were
themes they did not weary of.