“Why, Jesus; I asked him, but he has not told me yet.” The girls were hushed and awed; how many of them had thought to ask Jesus about it! Lou laid down her pencil and her voice trembled with emotion as she said,
“Girls, boys, we have made a mistake! We have begun wrong! Let us pray about this too!” Dropping upon her knees, while the others followed her example, Lou’s voice led them in a prayer for God’s direction in this matter which they had been considering, and for his blessing upon all their efforts as well.
“That was what they call ‘a new departure,’” said Tom Mason. Another boy remarked,
“It is queer that with so many of us belonging to the church, we should have band meetings without an opening and closing prayer! but that little mouse stirred us up, so that I reckon we shall do better after this.”
Annie Williams came to the next meeting with a bright face; when her name was called she walked over to the treasurer and laid down a bit of paper which read after the usual form of bank checks: “Pay to the order of Annie Williams five dollars;” and was signed “John Williams.”
“Papa showed me how to write on the back—‘endorse it,’ he called it,” and turning the paper over she brought to view, “Pay to the order of Louise Brandt. Annie Williams.” And she added, “Papa said if you took that to any bank they would give you the money, only you would have to put your name under mine.”
“What business women we are getting to be!” said Tom Mason.
“Do you want to hear about it?” asked Annie when the laugh at Tom’s remark subsided.
“Of course we do!” said Lou.
“You know I staid a long time out at uncle John’s last spring; one day uncle brought in a little lamb and said ‘See here, Annie, if you will save this lamb’s life you may have it. The poor thing’s mother will not own it, and unless you feed it it will die.’ Aunt Mary showed me how to feed it, and it grew; and before I came away it was a big lamb. I used to feed it with a spoon out of a bowl, and I grew real fond of it. The other day uncle John wrote to me that he was going to sell all his flock, and that he was sorry, but he thought he must sell my lamb too. He is going to Florida next winter, and there would be no one at the farm who could take care of it, so he sent me five dollars! You can’t think how glad I was; I knew right away that Jesus had answered my prayer.”