Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1869-06-04
The Last Dollar.

a look of resignation.
"It is our last dollar" he said. tBut tn,
Lord will provide"
The Rev. James Spring was minister ii
the little mountain village of Thornville. HI
was poor, and his congregation poorer. OF
ten before lie had been very near his last
dollar but he had never got out until to day.
$50 you've boan always saying" sobbed
his wife; "but what is to become of us when
this is gone! They won't trust us any moro
at tho store, and your salary won't be duo for
three weeks, even if you get it then. Why do
you stay here when the people arc so poor"
81 have no other place to go to nor mon
oy to travel to it, if the Lord opened the way.
My work for the present is here. lie feed
eth the young ravens; He will surely feed
u.s."
III wish I had your faith, but 1 haven't,
and it won't come to me. Oh! what shall
wo do T. and she wrung her hands despair
ingly. "nIy poor children"
"Oncc l was young, and now I am old"
solomnly said her husband, speaking in the
words of the Psalmist, '.yct mover have 1 seen
the righteous forsakcn, nor his seed begging
bread"
AS If in answer to this pious ejaculation,
there came a sudden knock at the door. All
the while the minister and his wife had been
talking, a storm had been raging outside
On opening the door, a traveller quite wet
through entered.
81 was coming through the forest from
Maryvi!lc," he said, "and ycnturcd to stop
at the first house l saw. My horse is in tho
shed. Do take too great a liberty ?"
mot at all" answered the master of the
house. owe have but a poor shelter, as you
see; there is a good fire at any rate"
For it was in the kitchen where this con-
ycrsatlon took place. Indeed this humble
house boastcd no parlor, and the kitchen was
dlnins-room, drawing room, liying-room and
all.
The stranger proved to be a man of cduca.
ton and intelligence, and in conversation with
him, the minister forgot his trouble, and was
reminded of his earlier and brighter days,
when intellectual companionship had not been
the rare thing it was now, among these hills.
at last the storm abatcd, aud the stranger
arose to go. His host accompanied him to
the gate, and watched him until he disap.
pcarcd behind a turn of the road.
"Sce horc James, said his wife, eagerly,
when he returned to the house.-"I found
this on the table near where the gentleman
sat-"
1t was a fifty dollar g%rccnback, wrapped
hastily in a bit Of paper, that looked as if it
had been torn from a pocket-b book, and on the
inside of the paper was written the verse of
the Psalmist, which was now apparent the
traveller had overheard.
81 thought he was writing the directions
he asked for" said the ministcr.-Hc mcaus
it for us. Thanks be to the Lord Did I
not say, my dear, he would provide !"
His wife burst into tears.
Good forgive me " she said' ri will never
doubt again. The Lord surely sent this
stranger to our aid"
"And he will provide" replied her hus-
band. "Whatcvcr my lot may be-, here or
elsewhere, in Him l trust"
a month after, q letter, a rare event camo
to the "Rcv. James Spring" 1t was as fol-
lows: Grey. and dear Sir-Thc church at
Maryvillc has unanimously called you to its
Passionate. The salary is fifteen hundred dol
lars and a good parsonage house" The let.
ter concluded by saying: "Thc writer of
this first came to know you by your hospital
ity to him during a storm a few weeks ago.
lilo overheard you, in a moment in great dis
trcss, speak with such full faith, that he feels
you are just the person for this charge, and
on his recommendation this call has been
made" Maryvillo was the county town, a
rich and thriving place in a broad and fertile
valley, at the foot Of tho hills. 1t was a far
filter sphere Of labor for a man of the minis.
tors abilities, than the wild village in the
mountains.
So young man as yet without q family
took the missionary church among tho hills,
and the Rev. James Spring accepted tho call.
But he. docs not forget the past, and often
when the people show want Of faith, tells
them the story of his Last Dollar.
Josh Billings Insures His Life.
l KUN tcw the konklusion lately that life