re in your way--God can come near to your soul to
succor and to save, for the words of the holy book are his words, and
he is present in them. If we take them into our thoughts, reverently
seeking to obey them, we make a dwelling-place for the Lord, so that he
can abide with us; and in his presence there is safety."

"And nowhere else," responded Hall, speaking from a deep sense of
personal helplessness.

"Nowhere else," echoed the missionary. "And herein lies the hope or the
despair of men. It is pitiful, it is heart-aching, to see the vain but
wild and earnest efforts made by the slaves of intemperance to get free
from their cruel bondage. Thousands rend their fetters every year after
some desperate struggle, and escape. But, alas! how many are captured
and taken back into slavery! Appetite springs upon them in some
unguarded moment, and in their weakness there is none to succor. They do
not go to the Strong for strength, but trust in themselves, and are cast
down. Few are ever redeemed from the slavery of intemperance but those
who pray to God and humbly seek his aid. And so long as they depend on
him, they are safe. He will be as a wall of fire about them."

As the missionary talked, the face of Mr. Hall underwent a remarkable
change. It grew solemn and very thoughtful. His hands drew together and
the fingers clasped. At the last words of Mr. Paulding a deep groan came
from his heart; and lifting his gaze upward, he cried out,

"Lord, save me, or I perish!"

"Let us pray," said the missionary, and the two men knelt together,
one with bowed head and crouching body, the other with face uplifted,
tenderly talking to Him who had come down to the lowliest and the vilest
that he might make them pure as the angels, about the poor prodigal now
coming back to his Father's house.

After the prayer, Mr. paulding read a chapter from the Bible aloud, and
then, after words of hope and comfort, went away.

CHAPTER XXI.

"_I TAKE_ reproof to myself," said Mr. Dinneford. "As one of your board
of managers, I ought to have regarded my position as more than a nominal
one. I understand better now what you said about the ten or twenty of
our rich and influential men who, if they could be induced to look away
for a brief period from their great enterprises, and concentrate thought
and effort upon the social evils, abuse of justice, violations of law,
poverty and suffering that exist here and in other parts of our city,