"Why, what did he want at this time of night?"
"His mother is dead, and he came for me to attend the funeral service to-morrow morning."
"To-morrow, Saturday morning! How can you afford the time?"
"I must, even if other things are neglected. You could hardly expect that people to understand that a minister should always be consulted before the hour for a funeral service is decided; and just at this time I am anxious to secure every hold upon them that is possible. It may be that this funeral will prove to be the entering wedge for giving the gospel to them. They certainly stand in sad need of it."
"I knew this Mrs. Branford was dead," he went on, "Mr. Bacon having told me of it last evening; but as they frequently bury their friends down there without any religious service, he did not know whether I would be called upon or not. Nor would I have been but for this boy. His father already lies in a state of beastly intoxication, though the dead body of the wife and mother still lies in the house; his brothers are utterly indifferent whether there is a funeral service or not, but the sisters, through Ray's earnest solicitation, have finally consented that I should come, though they stipulate that there shall be no preaching."
"This boy, then, seems to be the most Christianized of the whole lot," Mrs. Carleton remarked.
"Possibly in some respects," answered her husband. "Still, he unhesitatingly says that but for our meeting yesterday, neither would he have thought of having me. I seem to have quite won his heart by my method of dealing with him. I could hardly repress a smile to-night when, with the air of one who has absolute authority down there, he informed me I need not fear to come and go among that people, as he had already issued his orders that I was not to be molested under any circumstances."
Mrs. Carleton laughed heartily. "An able protector you have in him, surely," she said.
"I am not so sure," Mr. Carleton continued, seriously, "but that he may prove a valuable helper, if not protector. Mr. Bacon says he has almost unlimited power over his associates at the mills; is the ringleader in all their mischief; is wild, daring, and exceedingly profane. On the other hand, he is strenuously opposed to everything that will intoxicate, and prides himself on keeping his word. What little I have seen of him has convinced me that he has in him the material for a noble Christian manhood, only let the Spirit once begin the work. He will come to the Bible school next Sunday, and I am hoping it will be the beginning of better things for him, and for the Black Forge people."
"In whose class will you put him?" Mrs. Carleton asked, with interest.