Matters were now getting desperate. Food was wanted. Strain and economize as she might, Mary could not make things hold out much longer. The pennies followed the shillings, until when the last half-penny had to be taken for flour, William looked at Mary and said, "Mary, what are we coming to? Must our children starve?" "No, William, please God! But do you remember my dream? You may not believe it, but I know it was a true dream. Oh, William, why did we not go to Zion when we were told? Surely our sufferings could not be more than they are here. Here, take these clothes, they are things that I can spare; you will have to sell them for bread." And so it went. Garment followed garment, and yet there seemed no chance of earning a penny. Finally, there were no more clothes; everything was sold. Then William took his gun, and went to the woods. But after a very short time that, too, failed and they were starving. That night, when the little children were put hungry to bed, William walked the floor in the agony of his mind. "My God!" groaned the wretched man, "must my children starve before my very eyes? In my pride I fancied my family would be better in my hands than in the hands of their Almighty Father! Oh, that I had listened to counsel! Now my family are fast leaving my roof, and we that are left are starving. Starving in a land of plenty!" God listened to the prayers of His humbled son, and he was enabled to get a little something to eat. But the lesson was not over yet. Mary had obtained a situation as nurse and this helped them. William thought he would go up to Goulburn, a large inland town, where he felt sure he would find some employment. Accordingly he left the family with Mary, but of course in very wretched circumstances. It was the best that he could do, so Mary was satisfied to be left. The trip to Goulburn was made in the old spring cart, which had been left of the wreck of their comfortable traveling outfit. The horse, which William had just found previous to starting, was one of the four he had lost on the Yass river. The poor thing had been so abused that it was almost worthless. In fact, it had no money value, for in that country where good stock was comparatively cheap he had tried again and again before leaving Mack's Reef to sell the horse and the cart, or either alone, in order to get flour for his starving family, but no purchaser could be found. So he went up to Goulburn and took odd jobs as he could get them. When he had been gone some few months, a company of prospecters brought in a new machine to crush the quartz. This fanned the dead embers of hope in every one's breast, and even Mary thought if she could get William to come down and try his quartz in this new mill, they would succeed at last.