wealth. Like the mysteries of time and space, it appeared too
grand for comprehension. Then his reveries strayed into another
channel. What noble fellows were Ragem & Co. Why, among forty
millions of people, did they pick out him, an unknown clergyman,
living in an obscure place hundreds of miles from the metropolis,
to be the favored recipient of untold wealth? Surely, this is a
special Providence. Not a sparrow falleth to the ground without
His knowledge. He watches over his own. Suddenly the erring
clergyman feels a terrible pull at his heart-strings. What right
has he, about to betray a sacred trust, and engage in operations
branded as infamous by the laws of the land, to claim the watchful
care of Providence? Will not the all-seeing eye follow him? Will
not the omnipotent hand strike him heavily in wrath? The poor man
wipes the cold perspiration from his forehead, and wonders if it
will pay.

But he has paltered too long, and now the devil claims him for his
own.

Returning home, Sapp wrote to Ragem & Co., stating the amount of
his available resources, and saying that upon a given day and hour
he would meet them at the appointed rendezvous. On the following
Sunday the congregation were startled at the close of the afternoon
services by an extraordinary announcement from the pulpit.

Before pronouncing the benediction the pastor said: "I take this
opportunity to communicate to you collectively a piece of personal
intelligence which I have hitherto kept secret. Under the will of
a relative who recently died in the State of Michigan, I inherit a
large sum--to me, with my humble wants, a very large sum. By