consciousness, then he gasped in a whisper, "I--believe--I--know."
He paused a moment, then continued, "It must be that--I see it all
now; I see my mistake. I prayed to God for health, and in the next
instant doubted Him, doubted that He would heal me. In fact, I never
really believed that He would heal me, and Jesus said, 'Believe that
ye receive.' Oh, can this really be true. I am so excited I can hardly
think. Here I am again, this time doubting the word of Christ." Then
he jumped up with the exclamation, "I must tell father, for his prayers
are not answered, and it must be for the same reason. No, I don't mean
that. My father is a minister and he could not doubt God. But why
aren't his prayers answered? I don't know what to do. If I tell father
or mother, they may take the book away, and then my last hope would
be gone. I think I will read it first." So saying, he sat down in an
easy rocker, and was soon absorbed in what he was reading, nor did he
notice how the time flew until he heard his mother's anxious voice and
knock at the door.

He answered at once, and hastily put the book back in his trunk, then
went to the door and opened it.

His mother greeted him with, "Why, Walter, what is the matter? Since
when have you taken to locking your door in the daytime? You look so
flushed and excited, and we haven't heard a sound from you all the
afternoon. We were beginning to get alarmed about you, so I came up
to see what was the matter, and to tell you that supper was ready.
What have you been doing? Don't you feel as well as usual? Tell me,
Walter, are you worse?"

"No, mother, I am not worse, I only became so absorbed in reading that
I forgot all about time, and also that I had locked the door."