I HOLD in my hand what I suppose most of you have seen, and perhaps many of you have eaten. It is what boys oftentimes call "Johnny bread." It looks very much like the long pods which grow on the honey locust trees. It is sometimes called "Johnny bread," because some people mistakenly think that this was the kind of locust that John the Baptist ate when he came in the Wilderness, preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and that men should repent. We are told in the Scriptures that he ate locusts and wild honey. The locusts which he ate were very much like our grasshoppers, such as are still eaten by very poor people in the East. [Illustration: Husks.] In the 15th chapter of the gospel by St. Luke, we have a very beautiful parable, called the parable of the prodigal son. In connection with the husk which I hold in my hand, I want to tell you something about this prodigal son. In this parable Jesus tells of a very kind father who had two sons, but the younger son was dissatisfied and discontented. He was a boy very much like many who live in this country and at this time. He was a boy who wanted to have his own way. He thought that his father was an "old fogy." The son wanted gay company and gay clothing. He wanted to travel and see something of the world; so he asked his father to give him the money which would come to him at his father's death, in order that he might go immediately and have his own way, and have a good time, as he supposed. His father was very sad, for he had tried to bring up his boy in the right way. But when he could not prevail upon him, and his son would not listen to him any longer, but insisted upon having the money, and going away from home, the father granted his request. When the money had been counted out, the son gathered it all up, bade his father and brother and all his friends good-bye, telling them what a happy time he was going to have, and started out for a far country. This same desire to see something of the world has induced many boys to run away from home. Many years ago, when there were numerous ships that went out on long voyages to catch whales, oftentimes boys who had run away from home went away to sea with these ships. Now, however, restless and discontented boys, who have read worthless and deceptive books, sometimes go to live a wild life on the plains in the West. Sometimes boys even become tramps. Scores and sometimes hundreds of them can be met any week by going to the Breakfast Association, in Philadelphia; or some of the Rescue Homes, in New York, where poor, wandering boys and tramps are given a free meal on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. Prodigals now, as in the time when Christ lived, have a very hard time of it. They start out with high hopes, sometimes with money in their pockets, with fine clothing and bright anticipations, expecting to have a good time in the far country which they are seeking. But their experience is always the same.