"Ray, get a Bible, quick!"
The boy knew there was none in the house, and hastened out into the street.
"Grandfather Peck is the only one I know of that would be likely to have a Bible," he said to himself, and hurried down a lane toward a little brown house at the extreme end.
To his hasty knock a pleasant voice responded: "Come in!"
"Ho! Ray, is it you?" an old white-haired man, confined to the bed in one corner of the room, asked.
"Yes, grandfather," responded Ray. "But mother is very sick, and wants a Bible. Have you got one?"
"Yes; there it is at the foot of the bed," the old man answered. "And, Ray, read her the first part of the forty-third chapter of Isaiah. That'll comfort her."
"Who's he?" Ray asked, quickly.
"I forgot how little you and the others around here know of that blessed book," the old man replied, with a heavy sigh. "Here, I have opened the book at the place. Hurry home with it now."
Ray, with the Bible open at the specified chapter, ran back to his home. His mother was bolstered up in bed, and, kneeling by her side, he read as best he could the holy words: "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name: thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour."