Annie laughed heartily, as she said, "If the rest is as fine as your first verse, no doubt there will be a great sale. I'm so glad Mr. Angus is to live here."
"Only for the present. He said he wouldn't ask more, and then he whispered baby to plead for him. Wasn't it funny how seriously the little puss took it? When she found there was even a possibility of his going away, she walked right up to pa and said,"—
"'Do you want your little girl to go way off?'"
"'No, puss, what do you mean?'"
"'Why, you know if Mr. Angus goes I shall have to go. He can't go alone, and he hasn't any little girl but me.'"
"'In that case,' pa said, 'the matter is soon settled; pa can't spare his baby any way.'"
In a few weeks the Sunday school was completely reorganized. Every teacher was obliged to be present at the teachers' meeting on Saturday afternoon, to be promptly in her or his place every Sunday; or, if unable to do so, to send a substitute. A Bible class for adults had been formed, taught by the pastor, and this soon outgrew the accommodations in the Sunday-school room, and had to adjourn into the church.
Here more than anywhere else Mr. Angus felt at home. If it were a mistake for one with a past like his to stand up in God's place, it certainly was right for him to help others to study God's word, and so to study it that the effect on their lives might be for the honor of Christ.
Honestly and truly, he did try to throw off the burden which often weighed his spirits to the earth, and yet there were hours when the agony of his mind was almost more than he could bear, when he could only cry,—
"Dear Lord, Thou knowest all. Put Thine almighty arm around me. Hear my prayers and grant me relief. Visit not, O Lord, upon others the chastening for my deserts. Save me, and I will praise Thy name for ever and ever."