Ray had been to church and Sunday-school as usual, and now, dinner having been eaten, he stood on the door-steps looking off toward the hills. "I am in the mood to-day for a tramp," he said, "and it is a long time since I went up to the top of Pine Hill. I guess I'll take a walk up there, and come down the other way in time for the evening service." So calling out to Betsy that he would meet her at the church at the hour for service, he started off on his long tramp.
The path wound around the edge of the hill, and soon ran along a precipice just above the highway. He sat down here and looked off toward the mills, his thoughts busy with the changes of the past year. He was soon lost in his reverie, and took no note of what was passing around him until aroused by the sound of an approaching wagon. He looked down, and saw a pair of horses and a light wagon in which were two men passing directly beneath him. One of the men was Jacob Woodhull and the other was his nephew, George Woodhull, who owned a large farm down on the east shore of the bay. Ray remembered now that Jacob Woodhull had not been at church or Sunday-school that morning, and thought: "He has been down to his nephew's to-day, and is just coming home."
The men were busy talking, and did not notice the boy a hundred feet or so above. "I tell you, George," Mr. Jacob Woodhull was saying to his companion, "this boy will just suit you; I will guarantee that he is thoroughly reliable, and I think he will be glad to leave the mill. Anyway, we can——" And the rest of the sentence was lost by the horses breaking into a fast trot, and soon disappearing around a sharp turn in the road.
Ray rose and went on, his mind busy with what he had overheard. "My!" he ejaculated, "I wonder if they meant me. Wouldn't I just like to work for George Woodhull. I can assure them I am ready to leave the mill any time to go there."
He reached the summit of the hill, and for a time gazed around in delight on the landscape presented to his view. He felt that the scene had never seemed half so beautiful before. He forgot that the change was more within himself than in the outer world. There had been in him a growth that he scarcely realized. His spiritual eyes were opened. He saw beauty where he had never seen it before, because he discerned in all things now the finger prints of God.
His eye finally rested upon the east shore of the bay, and he readily picked out from among the others the farm he knew was Mr. George Woodhull's. This brought to his mind again the conversation he had heard, and falling there upon his knees he prayed that if God so willed he might find an opening out from the old life just here.
He was scarcely surprised, then, when Mr. Jacob Woodhull joined him at the close of the evening service, and, as they walked on together, asked:
"Ray, have you ever felt like giving up your mill life for something better?"
"Yes, sir," he promptly replied. "Just as soon as God gives me the opportunity."
"You know my nephew, George Woodhull, who owns the big farm down on the east shore, don't you?" his companion then asked.