PART 3.
THE old man continued again. The next morning I went to work with that one hundred dollar bill in my pocket. Upon arriving at the office I found my employer already there at his desk. As I entered be looked at his watch to see if I had got there on time.
‘Here, sir, are the receipts,’ said I, approaching his desk.
‘Very well,’ was the answer, ‘lay it altogether over there.’
I asked him, ‘Would you be so kind as to look over bills and ‘receipts, to see if all is in order, Mr. M—’? as I laid the papers before him. It seemed to me he was both surprised and annoyed, as he looked straight at me for some time. He glanced over the papers and continued to write again.
Seeing that I remained at my post before him, he asked me:
‘Well, what are you waiting for?’
‘I desire to know if all is in order,’ I replied.
‘I should have told you at once had it not been so,’ he answered, ‘and now oblige me by going to your work at once.’
‘I want to tell you first that you gave me one hundred dollars too much yesterday.’ With these words I laid the money on the desk before him. The colors in his face chased each other for a few moments, and then he said in a hardly audible tone:
‘Very well, just let it lie there.’
Having nothing more to say I went to my work. You can imagine what my feelings were as I sat all the forenoon. I thought of my dear parents, the difficulties they were in, how I had promised them to do all I could. But what could I do? The Lord comforted me. His word, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,’ was very consoling to me and quieted the loud beating of my heart. Noon hour came on. I took courage to speak to my employer. In a few words I told him of the trouble my parents were in, and asked him if he would pay me part of my salary in advance that I might help them. He answered in a harsh and unfriendly way as usual, and refused to grant my desire, and left the office.
ML 02/21/1904