“Perhaps, after all,” he thought, “kind Providence has sent this messenger to help me in my dire distress and that now the poverty which has harassed me and my dear ones will be replaced by wealth and prosperity.”
He ran home as quickly as his legs would carry him and told his wife all that had transpired. He emphasized the insistence displayed by the stranger. He said to his wife,—
“Assuming that the stranger is speaking the truth and that I am to be rich for a period of six years, when do you advise me to choose our time of prosperity—now or later in life?”
After a moment’s consideration she cried,—
“Now, now.”
Her husband returned to the field without further delay and found the stranger awaiting his decision. When the labourer told him his wish to enjoy there and then the promised wealth and prosperity, the stranger opened his purse and took out two pieces of silver. [[80]]
“Here, my friend,” he said, “take these two coins and return them to me six years hence when I shall call on thee. Do not forget I shall require my money to be restored to me when I come to demand it.”
After the labourer had taken the coins he thanked his benefactor and promised to return the gift as arranged. In a second the stranger had disappeared; no trace of the direction he had taken was discerned by the labourer, who also recalled the fact that the stranger had come upon him all of a sudden.
“Very strange,” he said; “there is some mystery about this stranger, he seems to come from nowhere and to return to the same place.”
No sooner had the labourer placed the silver coins in his pocket than he perceived a sudden change coming over him. He no longer felt the same man. His poverty and sorrow fled away from him and a new feeling of contentment and security arose in his heart. He bowed his head in gratitude and thanked God for His manifold mercies.