"The judge had so far kept silence. But he now raised his sagacious and
kindly face and asked the old man, 'Did you pray for your companions and
for the increase of their labors?'

"'I did,' replied the other.

"'Then by your intercession you helped them,' the judge decided, 'and the
third part of the produce is yours and you must keep it.'

"The old man bowed, the three men shook hands, and in a few minutes the
judge was alone in the room again.

"I did not know what had come over me; the complaint of the men and the
decision of the judge seemed to me senseless, and yet both the one and
the other touched my heart. I went to sleep again, and when I awoke
refreshed the next morning the judge came up to me and gave me medicine,
not only for my body but also for my soul, which certainly was not less
in need of it than my poor wounded limbs."

"Who was the judge?" asked Stephanus.

"Eusebius, the Presbyter of Kanopus. Some Christians had found me half
dead on the road, and had carried me into his house, for the widow
Theodora, his sister, was the deaconess of the town. The two had nursed
me as if I were their dearest brother. It was not till I grew stronger
that they showed me the cross and the crown of thorns of Him who for my
sake also had taken upon Him such far more cruel suffering than mine, and
they taught me to love His wounds, and to bear my own with submission.
In the dry wood of despair soon budded green shoots of hope, and instead
of annihilation at the end of this life they showed me Heaven and all its