146 CONVERSATIONS. 



" I will tell you a story. A farmer once 

 had a few acres of land, which, by his great 

 industry, gave him and his family a good 

 living. One day a gold mine was discovered 

 in his ground ; and he began to dig for the 

 precious metal, rejoicing in the hope of abun- 

 dant riches. But it lay very deep, and he 

 had to hire men to help him ; and then his 

 wife and children wanted food and clothes ; 

 he had no money, and his farm, you know, 

 brought him nothing while he was digging. 

 He sold his horse, then his oxen, then his 

 cow and pigs ; and when they were gone, he 

 ran in debt. At last he found some gold, but 

 it was in the ore, and had to be pounded, and 

 washed, and melted, and all this was expen- 

 sive. At the end of the year, he had got 

 several pounds, but it all went to pay his debts. 

 His horse and cattle, his crops and his gold 

 were all gone ; and he had been working hard 

 all this time only to find himself poorer than 

 when he began. He had bought wisdom, 

 however. He gave up his digging and went 

 to work again on his farm ; but it was not 

 until after several years of hard labour that 

 he recovered what he had lost by his gold 



mine." 



