Saved From Starvation.
On the second floor of a rear house lived a lady well known once as among the foremost members of a wealthy church. The first blow of adversity opened a wide passage for a succession of disasters. She passed through the whole sliding scale, until the missionary found her in the poor, dilapidated tenement where, for two days and nights, she had lain in bed to keep warm; or as nearly so as her scanty covering would admit.
It was Saturday, and the only food she had to keep her alive until Monday, was two soda biscuits! She had sold everything comfortable in the way of furniture; all her clothing but one respectable suit for the street, and the only thing remaining, that pointed to the history of better days, was a pair of gold eye-glasses, given her by her dying mother. Within a few months her dire necessity had often pointed to the glasses; but she could not see without them, nor could she sell the gold frames unless she had means to have the glass set in commoner ones. Moreover, the harpies who feed and thrive on the miseries of the poor, would in no case have given her more than twenty-five cents for them; and the short respite derived from that amount would not have compensated for the sacrifice. She had looked at them that morning; felt that starve she must and would, but that souvenir of her mother should never leave her. She went back to bed and prayed fervently that the Lord would show her some way of escape, or take her that day to himself. She slept an hour or two, and then awakened, strong in the conviction that he would show her some way before night, and though it was six o'clock P.M., before the missionary called, no doubt had arisen to trouble her mind; and as soon as he entered and introduced himself, she said--"You are a messenger from the Lord, sir; I have been expecting you."