Year: 1864

in wearing them. He was slngularly IN
dustrious, too, and INDUCED in no ex-
pense, except when he now and then
bought god book. or few flower seeds
for his garden. He was, withal, a single
man, with only an elderly sister, who
lived with him, and himself, to provide
for, and what between the regularity of
his gains on the one hand, and the mode
ration of his desires on the other, Willie,
for person in his sphere of life, was in
easy circumstances II was found that
all the children in the neighborhood had
taken wonderful fancy to his shop.
He was fond of telling them good little
stories out of the Bible. and of explain
ing to them the prints he had pasted on
the walls. Above all, he was anxiously
bent on teaching them to read. Some of
their parents were poor, and some of them
were careless and he saw that, unless
they learned their letters from him, there
was little chance of their ever learning
them at all. Willie, in small way and
to very limited congregation, was kind
of missionary, and what between his sto-
ries, and his flowers, and his apples, his
labors were wonderfully successful New
er yet was school or church half so de-
lightful to the little men and women of
the place as the shop of Willie Walton,
"the poor, lost lad"


Years of scarcity came on; taxes were
high, and crops not abundant; and the
soldiery abroad, whom the country en-
ployed to fight in the great revolutionary
war, got an appetite at their work, and
were consuming a great deal of meat and
corn. Willic's small congregation began
to find that the times were exceedingly
bad There were no more morning pieces
among them, and the porridge was al
ways less than enough. 1t was observed,
however, that. in the midst of their dis
tresses, Willie got in large stock of
meal, and that his sister had begun to
bake as if she were making ready for a
wedding. The children we're wonderfully
interested in the work and watched it to
the, cnd,-when, 10 to their great and
Joyful surprise, Willie began and divided
the whole baking amongst them. Every
member of the congregation got cake.
There we're some who had little brothers
and sisters at home, who got two and
from that day forward till times got bet
ter, none of Willie,s young people lacked
their morning piece The ncighbors
marvelled at Willie, and all agreed there
was something strangely puzzllng in the
character of the 'poor, lost lad"


Every thing earthly must have its day.
Willies constitution, never a strong one,
was gradually failing; he lost strength
and appetite and at length there came q
morning on which he could no longer
open his shop. He continued to creep
out at noon, however, for a few days af-
ter, to enjoy himself among his flowers,
with only the Bible for his companion !;
but in few days more he had declined
so much lower that the effort proved too
much for him. and he took to his bed. The
neighbors came focking in. All had be-
gun to take an interest in poor Willie,
and now they had learned that he was
dying, and the feeling had deepened i'm
mensely with the intelligence They
found him lying in his neat little room.
with table, bearing the one beloved
volume, drawn in beside his bed He
was the same quiet placid creature he
had ever beer, grateful for the slightest
/, kindness, and with heart full of gratitude
for all,-full to overAowing He said moth
ing of the kirk, and nothing Of the Bap-
lists; but earnestly did he urge on his
visitors the one master truth Of reve-
lation. o. to be secure of an interest in
Christ! There was nothing else, he as
sured them, that would stand them in
least stead when they came to die AS
for himself, he had not single anxiety.
God, for Christ's sake, had been good to
him all the long time he had been in the
world, and He was now kindly calling
/ La asst &c L Tha haarta af Willia,a