"Only to knock his hat off, mam," he replied. Then, knowing it would please his mother, he added: "But he got the best of me, as I have promised to go up to his church next Sunday." "The Lord be praised for that!" fervently ejaculated his mother. "If you would only go every Sunday, Ray." "Perhaps I'll like it so well I'll keep on going." And the boy laughed at the very thought. Then the whistle blew, and he hurried off to the mill. Two hours later his sister-in-law came hurriedly into the mill, and, with blanched cheeks, said: "Ray, your mother is dying, and wants you at once." "Have you told pop?" he inquired, adjusting his jack so that he could leave it. "Yes, and the others," she hastily replied. "Your sisters are over at the house already; but father and the boys won't come." With a word of explanation to the overseer of his room, Ray started on the run for the house. His mother was still conscious when he entered the room, and, recognizing him, gasped out: "Ray, get a Bible, quick!" The boy knew there was none in the house, and hastened out into the street. "Grandfather Peck is the only one I know of that would be likely to have a Bible," he said to himself, and hurried down a lane toward a little brown house at the extreme end. To his hasty knock a pleasant voice responded: "Come in!" "Ho! Ray, is it you?" an old white-haired man, confined to the bed in one corner of the room, asked. "Yes, grandfather," responded Ray. "But mother is very sick, and wants a Bible. Have you got one?" "Yes; there it is at the foot of the bed," the old man answered. "And, Ray, read her the first part of the forty-third chapter of Isaiah. That'll comfort her." "Who's he?" Ray asked, quickly. "I forgot how little you and the others around here know of that blessed book," the old man replied, with a heavy sigh. "Here, I have opened the book at the place. Hurry home with it now." Ray, with the Bible open at the specified chapter, ran back to his home. His mother was bolstered up in bed, and, kneeling by her side, he read as best he could the holy words: "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name: thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." A sudden movement of his mother caused him to stop his reading and look up. She had raised herself up to a sitting position, her arms were extended, her eyes were turned heavenward, her lips moved: "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name: thou art mine." She repeated the words once, twice, thrice, in a clear, strong voice, and then fell back upon the pillow--dead!