generation. At
least they don't love Him that way."

"They don't love Him enough to trust him?" she asked wistfully.

"No." He shook his head sadly. "Nobody trusts Him, not even the
preachers themselves. When things happen, they rush for a doctor, or
some other human being to help them out of their difficulty. They
don't turn to Him any more. They seldom speak His name."

"Have--they--forgotten Him?" she asked slowly, her voice sinking to a
whisper.

"Absolutely!" He again buried his head in his hands.

The child stood in silence for some moments. Then:

"What made them forget Him, Padre?"

"I guess, _chiquita_, they turned from Him because He didn't answer
their prayers. I used to pray to Him, too. I prayed hours at a time.
But nothing seemed to come of it. And so I stopped." He spoke
bitterly.

"You prayed! You mean--"

"I asked Him for things--to help me out of trouble--I asked Him to
give me--"

"Why, Padre! Why--that's the very reason!"

He looked up at her blankly. "What is the very reason? What are you
trying to tell me, child?"

"Why, He is everywhere, and He is right here all the time. And so
there couldn't be any real trouble for Him to help you out of; and He
couldn't give you anything, for He has already done that, long ago. We
are in Him, don't you know? Just like the little fishes in the lake.
And so when you asked Him for things it showed that you didn't believe
He had already given them to you. And--you know what you said last
night about thinking, and that when we think things, we see them?
Well, He has given you everything; but you thought He hadn't, and so
you saw it that way--isn't it so?"

She paused for breath. She had talked rapidly and with animation. But
before he could reply she resumed:

"Padre dear, you know you told me that Jesus was the best man that
ever lived, and that it was because he never had a bad thought--isn't
that so?"

"Yes," he murmured.

"Well, did he pray--did he ask God for things?"

"Of course he did, child!" the priest exclaimed. "He always asked Him
for things. Why, he was always praying--the New Testament is full of
it!"

Acting on a sudden impulse, he rose and went into the sleeping room
to get his Bible. The child's face took on an expression of
disappointment as she heard his words. Her brow knotted, and a
troubled look came into her brown eyes.

Jose returned with his Bible and seated himself again at the table.
Opening the book, his eyes