"On the evening of the 21st of February, as we came out of the schoolhouse, a light appeared on the northeastern horizon and spread to the west, and soon rolled over our heads. It had the appearance of fire, blood, and smoke, and at times resembled contending armies. The heavens were illuminated for a period of half an hour. It seemed at times as though the veil were about to rend in twain, and the elements were contending with each other. We looked upon it as one of the signs in the heavens predicted by the prophets of old to appear in the last days. We were wading through deep snowdrifts most of the time while witnessing this remarkable scene. "The following day we walked fifteen miles through deep snow to Belfast, and, after being refused lodging for the night by eight families, were kindly entertained by a Mr. Thomas Teppley. There was an interesting incident connected with our stay at his house. After eating our supper (it being late in the evening), a stand was placed before me by Mr. Teppley, with a Bible upon it, and he asked me to read a chapter and have prayers with them, he being a religious man. I opened the Bible mechanically, and the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew being the first to catch my eye, I read it; as I closed the book Mr. Teppley turned to his wife and said, 'Is not this a strange thing?' Then he explained to us that he had just read that chapter and closed the book when we rapped at the door, and he felt impressed to say, 'Walk in, gentlemen.' There is probably no other chapter in the whole book that would have the same influence in causing any one to feed a person who professed to be a servant of God and asked for bread. "After becoming acquainted with Mr. Teppley's circumstances I thought it providential that we were led to his house, for although he was a professor of religion and a Methodist, he was in a state of despair, believing that he had committed the unpardonable sin. However, I told him what the unpardonable sin was, and that he had not committed it, but that it was a trick of the devil to make him think so, in order to torment him. He then acknowledged that a few evenings before he went down to the wharf with the intention of drowning himself, but when he looked {86} into the cold, dark water, he desisted and returned home, and said nothing about it to anyone previous to telling me. I taught him the principles of the gospel, which proved a comfort to him.