They did not know what to do with themselves as they stood on the shore that evening. So, when one said, "I go a-fishing," all the rest said they would go, too. They were glad to be at work again, at something they had done all their lives. They started out on the dark water under the stars, and cast their nets, but when they drew them in, they had caught nothing. They cast them again, and rowed here and there, and worked as hard as they could, but they got no fish for their pains, and the night was passing. One cannot tell whether or not they thought it strange, that men who had made sick people well, and cast out devils, could not now catch a few fish. Whatever they thought, they were wet and tired, and hungry, and the cold, gray early morning had come. When it began to dawn, they rowed toward the shore. As they drew near, they saw some one standing on the beach who called to them and asked if they had any fish. They had to say no. Then the Stranger said "Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find." They had cast it, perhaps, in that very place during the night, but they did not say so; they just cast the net. When they began to draw it, it was heavy with fish. This was a strange thing. One of the men said very low, "It is the Lord." Then the one who had suggested that they go fishing, threw himself into the water and swam to the shore; he just could not wait. The others came in the boat, dragging the net full of fishes. As all through the night everything had seemed to go wrong, so now, everything was all right. On the shore was just the thing that tired, hungry, cold people want--a fire, burned down to glowing coals, with fish and bread baking on it. But that was not the best thing they found on the shore. The Stranger told them to draw up the net, and they did, and counted the fish, one hundred and fifty-three. Then He told them to come and eat, and He said grace for them and waited on them, and they knew every word and every gesture, but they could not speak. They just ate and rested and looked at Him. It made them so glad, and yet it almost made them afraid, too, that He should care about their hard work, and come and cook for them and wait on them Himself. Perhaps it often happened in the years which followed, that when a friend, or a woman, or a slave came to these men, bringing food and comfort for their weariness, that with them came also the memory of the dawn on the beach, and the fire of coals, and the blessing of a Presence more than theirs. PART II LEARNING AND HELPING LEARNING AND HELPING "She was one of those persons who possess, as their exclusive patrimony, the gift of practical arrangement. It is a kind of natural magic that enables these favoured ones to bring out the hidden capabilities of things around them; and particularly to give a look of comfort and habitableness to any place which, for however brief a period, may happen to be their home."