of a reproach. To this end I have labored late and early; to-day I have
paid the last claim against him, and I am a free man."

"But how came you to find me and pay me to-day?" "I was purchasing in
Jones & Brother's store, when you came in to borrow money, and I heard
Jones tell his younger brother that he was so sorry that he could not
help you, and feared that you would be ruined."

"Who is he?" said I, "for out West I had lost track of you."

"He is Paul Clifford, a friend of your father's. Can you help him? He is
perfectly reliable. We would trust him with ten thousand dollars if we
had it. Can you do anything for him? we will go his security, he is a
fine fellow and we hate to see him go under."

"Yes" said I, "he was one of my father's creditors and I have often
heard my mother speak of his generosity to her little ones, and I am
glad that I have the privilege of helping him. I immediately went to the
bank had a note cashed and I am very glad if I have been of any special
service to you."

"You certainly have been, and I feel that a heavy load had been lifted
from my heart."

Years ago Paul Clifford sowed the seeds of kindness and they were
yielding him a harvest of satisfaction.

Chapter IX

Belle Gordon

Belle Gordon was a Christian; she had learned or tried to realize what
is meant by the apostle Paul when he said, "Ye are bought with a price."
To her those words meant the obligation she was under to her heavenly
Father, for the goodness and mercy that had surrounded her life, for the
patience that had borne with her errors and sins, and above all for the
gift of his dear Son, the ever blessed Christ. Faith to her was not a
rich traditional inheritance, a set of formulated opinions, received
without investigation, and adopted without reflection. She could not
believe because others did, and however plausible or popular a thing
might be she was too conscientious to say she believed it if she did
not, and when she became serious on the subject of religion it was like
entering into a wilderness of doubt and distress. She had been taught to
look upon God, more as the great and dreadful God, than as the tender
loving Father of his human children, and so strong was the power of
association, that she found it hard to believe that God is good, and yet
until she could believe this there seemed to be no resting place for her
soul; but in course of time the shadows were lifted from her life. Faith
too