Year: 1872

One evening, poor man and his son, ILL.,
tie boy, sat by the waysde, near the gate of
an old town in Germany. The father took a
loaf of bread which he had bought in town
and broke it, and gave half to his son.


"Not so, father" said the boy; 81 shall not
eat until after you. You have been working
all day, for small wages, to support me, and
you must be very hungry. shall wait until
you are done"


"You speak kindly, my son." replied the
father. "Your love to me does me more good
than my food and those eyes Of yours remind
me of your dear mother, who has left us, and
told YOU to love me as she used to do; and, in
deed, my boy, you have been great strength
and support to me. But now I have eaten
the first morsel to please you /; it is your turn
now to eat"


"Thank you, father, but break this piece in
two and take little more; you see the Loaf
is not large and you require more than DO.


II shall divide the loaf for you, my boy,
but eat it shall not. I have abundance
and let US thank God for his goodness in CIV
ing us what is better still, cheerful and conten-
ted hearts. He who gave US the living bread
to nourish our immortal souls, shall He not
give us all other food, which is necessary to
support our mortal bodies"


The father and son thanked God, and they
began to cut the loaf, to begin their frugal
meal. But as they cut one portion of the
loaf, there fell out several large pieces of gold
of great value. The little boy gave shout
ofjoy, and was springing forward to grasp
the unexpected treasures, when he was pulled
back by his father.


"My son, my SON." he cried, edo not touch
that money; it is not ours"


"But whose is it, father, if it is not ours !"


"I know not as to whom it belongs, but
probably it was put there by the baker through
some mistake We must inquire. Run"


"But, father" interrupted the boy, "you
are poor and needy, and you have bought the
loaf, and then the baker may tell lie, and"


81 will not listen to you, my boy l bought
the loaf, but I did not buy the gold in it. If
the baker sent it to me in ignorance, | shall
not be so dishonest as to take advantage of
him remember Him who told US tc do unto
others as we would have others do to US. The
baker may possibly cheat US; | am poor, but
that is no sin. If we share the poverty OF
Jesus, Gods own Son, oh let US share His
good and His trust in God. We may never
be rich, but we may always be honest. We
may die in starvation, but Gods will be done,
should we die in doing it. Yes, my boy, trust
in God, and walk in his ways, and you shall
never be put to shame. Now, run to the ba-
ker, and bring him here, and I will watch the
gold until he comes"


So tho hov ron after the hakar


"Brother workman" said the old man, "you
have made some mistake, and almost lost
your money" and he showed the baker the
gold and told how it had been found. "Is it
thine?" asked the father. "If it is take it
away"


"My father, baker, is very poor, and"


"Silence, my child ; put me not to shame
by thy complaints. I am glad we have saved
the man from losing his money"


The baker had been gazing alternately at
the honest father and eager boy, the gold lay
glittering on the green turf. "Thou art in
deed, an honest fellow" said the baker "and
my neighbor, David, the fax dresser, spoke
the truth when he said thou vert the most
honest man in town. "Now, shall tell thee
about the gold. A stranger came to my shop
three days ago, and gave me that loaf and
told me to sell it cheaply, to give it to the
most honest poor man whom l knew IN the
city. 1 told David to send thee to me as a
customer this morning. As thou @ouldst
not take the loaf for nothing, 1 sold it to thee,
as thou knowest, for the last penny in thy
purse and the loaf with all its treasure-and
certainly it is not small-is thine and God
grant thee blessing with it!'


The poor man bent his head to the ground,
while tears fell from his eyes. His boy ran
and put his arms around his neck, and said {:


81 shall always, like you, my father, trust
in God, and do what is right; for l am sure
it will never put US to shame"