“Well, now I am going to tell you something and I want you to believe it. Nobody on this earth can foretell the future. Nobody knows what is going to happen to-morrow, much less what is going to happen years away. It isn’t possible. God does not give any person that miraculous power. Our Lord Jesus Christ could perform miracles, but he was the only one who could do so. Do you think that God would give to all the thieving gypsies in the world the same divine power that he gave to his only Son, the Savior? No! Now, listen. There is not a word of truth in what that old gypsy woman said—not one word, Oliver. You can believe me, you can trust me. I am God’s minister, and I am telling you to pay no attention to anything Mr. Sikes and Mr. Link said to you to-night. If God would only allow me to do so, I would tell you that they are a pair of silly old fools—but that wouldn’t be kind, so I will not say it. You need not be afraid. All that talk about your being hung some day is poppycock—pure poppycock. Don’t you believe a word of it. I came upstairs with you just for the purpose of telling you this—not really to hear your prayers. Now don’t you feel better?” “But you just said, Uncle Herbert, that nobody could see ahead. How do you know I won’t be—be hung?” “I am not saying that, my lad. I am merely telling you that the gypsy woman did not have the power to see ahead. There is no such thing as true fortune-telling. She claimed to read the stars. Well, do you suppose that all those millions and millions of stars—any one of them much greater than the earth—are interested in little bits of things like you and me? No, siree, Oliver. They don’t even know we exist. That old gypsy was just lying. They all do. They take your money and then they go away and laugh at you for being such a goose. So you need not worry at all about what you were told to-night. And now I am going to say something to you that will surprise you. It is wrong for me, a minister of the gospel, to tell you this, but I love fighting Christians just as much as I love praying Christians. I do not mean that a man should go about looking for fights. That would be very, very wrong. Wouldn’t it?” He asked the question abruptly. “Yes, sir,” said Oliver. “It would.”