to a courtship, but the end was rummer. The
girl was willing to marry him if he would turn honest. Joe wanted to
turn honest, but didn't know how.

"'It's no use fixing me down, my dear, to any quiet, respectable
calling,' says Joe to the gal, 'because, even if the police would let me
alone, I wouldn't be able to stop there. I'd break out, sooner or later,
try as I might.'

"The girl went to her master, who seems to have been an odd sort of a
cove, and told him the whole story. The old gent said he'd see Joe, and
Joe called on him.

"'What's your religion?' says the old gent to Joe.

"'I'm not particular, sir; I'll leave it to you,' says Joe.

"'Good!' says the old gent. 'You're no fanatic. What are your
principles?'

"At first Joe didn't think he'd got any, but, the old gent leading, he
found to his surprise as he had.

"'I believe,' says Joe, 'in doing a job thoroughly.'

"'What your hand finds to do, you believe in doing with all your might,
eh?' says the old gent.

"'That's it, sir,' says Joe. 'That's what I've always tried to do.'

"'Anything else?' asks the old gent.

"'Yes; stick to your pals,' said Joe.

"'Through thick and thin,' suggests the old gent.

"'To the blooming end,' agrees Joe.

"'That's right,' says the old gent. 'Faithful unto death. And you
really want to turn over a new leaf--to put your wits and your energy and
your courage to good use instead of bad?'

"'That's the idea,' says Joe.

"The old gent murmurs something to himself about a stone which the
builders wouldn't have at any price; and then he turns and puts it
straight:

"'If you undertake the work,' says he, 'you'll go through with it without
faltering--you'll devote your life to it?'

"'If I undertake the job, I'll do that,' says Joe. 'What may it be?'

"'To go to Africa,' says the old gent, 'as a missionary.'

"Joe sits down and stares at the old gent, and the old gent looks him
back.

"'It's a dangerous station,' says the old gent. 'Two of our people have
lost their lives there. It wants a man there--a man who will do
something besides preach, who will save these poor people we have
gathered together there from being scattered and lost, who will be their
champion, their protector, their friend.'

"In the end, Joe took on the job, and went out with his wife. A better
missionary that Society never had and never wanted. I read one of his
early reports home; and if the others were anything like it