TWO TRUE 
 STORIES 
 
 and THEIR SEQUEL 
 
 INTERCHURCH-WORLD-MOVEMENT 
 of NORTH- AMERICA 
 111-FIFTH-AVENUE • NEWYORRC1TY 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/twotruestoriesOOunse 
 
Two True Stories 
 
 and 
 
 Their Sequel 
 
 THE ANGEL IN BLUE 
 
 AND 
 
 ON THE CURB 
 
 INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT 
 OF NORTH AMERICA 
 hi Fifth Avenue, New York City 
 
Price, s cents each; 50 cents per dozen; 
 $ 2 . 75 per hundred 
 
The Angel in Blue 
 
 By C. A. Kelley 
 
 The Policeman who Brought Gifts to a 
 Forgotten Man 
 
 Part I 
 
 ''JpHERE is an old man in a city not far 
 from Chicago who is leading a heroic 
 life. He is retired from active service, and 
 lives with his aged wife in a modest cottage 
 which he purchased a few years ago in order 
 that he and his companion might have a 
 place in which to spend their declining years. 
 
 He receives a pension from his former 
 employer, but it is only half of what he 
 expected, and because of this he has not been 
 able to make the payments on their little 
 home. So he said to his wife: “You take 
 the pension money. It will be enough to 
 care for you alone, and to make the payments 
 on our cottage, and I will go and live in the 
 ‘Old People’s Home.’” So he is living over 
 yonder, a hundred miles from his companion. 
 Once a year he goes to see her, turns over to 
 her his meager pension, and then after a 
 joyful visit returns to the “home” for another 
 year. 
 
 This old man is a hero, and his companion 
 is not less heroic. Few know of the struggles 
 they are making to keep the wolf from the 
 door, for they are quiet souls and do not 
 advertise their poverty. The neighbors 
 wonder at his long absence, for they do not 
 
 5 
 
know the reason. May we not hope that 
 their lives be spared long enough for them to 
 have a few years together before death brings 
 the final earthly separation and they enter 
 the “house not made with hands, eternal, 
 in the heavens ?” 
 
 “Who is this forgotten man?” He is a 
 retired minister of a great church which pays 
 him only half the amount he needs; and few 
 voices have been raised in his behalf. The 
 highest salary he ever received was eight 
 hundred dollars, and upon this meager income 
 he sent two daughters to college. Is it any 
 wonder he could not save ? Perhaps some day 
 his great and prosperous church will realize 
 the terrible injustice meted out to this 
 “forgotten man.” 
 
 Part II 
 
 On the second day after this story was 
 printed, “The Angel in Blue” appeared — 
 a uniformed policeman — and inquired whether 
 the story was true. “It is all true,” we 
 replied. “We know the man well. He is an 
 honored Christian minister.” 
 
 “How much do they owe on their cottage? 
 Find that out and let me know, and if it is 
 not more than one hundred dollars, I will 
 pay it myself. If it is more, I will go among 
 my friends and raise the amount needed to 
 clear the home of debt and to make it possible 
 for the old folks to live together.” 
 
 The debt proved to be two hundred and 
 fifty dollars. With eager heart the policeman 
 went out among his friends and in a few days 
 returned with his face radiant at the thought 
 of the joyful surprise he would bring to the 
 
 6 
 
dear old couple. On Sunday he went to the 
 cottage to deliver the gift with his own hands, 
 receiving the gratitude he so richly deserved. 
 
 It was a happy day for the messenger and 
 for the dear old people. The debt is paid. 
 Their home is free. May they have the 
 privilege of living long together to enjoy 
 the twilight of their departing days! 
 
 From them soon came a letter saying: “We 
 want to tell you that the climax was reached 
 Sunday morning, when that dear, noble 
 policeman, with a heart to be touched by 
 the story of another’s need, exhibiting five 
 crisp fifty-dollar bills, told the story and 
 presented the money. If ‘gratitude is the 
 fragrance of the heart,’ then mine will perfume 
 all his days. May the story of ‘The Angel 
 in Blue’ encourage others in the hours of 
 darkness!” 
 
 7 
 

 
 ? 
 
On the Curb 
 
 By C. W. Karns 
 
 W HILE walking down the street of a certain 
 city one hot August afternoon, a voice 
 called to me from across the shady street. 
 There, seated on the curb, was a retired 
 preacher from a distant part of the state. 
 
 My inquiry as to what he was doing there 
 somewhat embarrassed him, but he replied: 
 
 “I have come down this way to stay awhile. 
 You know that ever since I retired I have 
 been serving a small church which paid me 
 four hundred dollars and, with the help of 
 my small retiring pension, we managed to 
 live. But this spring the people thought 
 that I was too old and wanted a young man. 
 Having no income except my pension we 
 could not pay the rent; we were forced to give 
 up our house and store our goods. My wife 
 has gone to live with her brother, and I am 
 going to live with our married daughter.” 
 
 Tears were streaming down the face of 
 the old man, as he sobbed, “and I am not sure 
 that we will ever keep house together again.” 
 
 I went away with a heavy heart. The 
 burden that this good man carried stayed with 
 me for weeks as I pondered on what could be 
 done to help him. One day, by appoint- 
 ment, I met a certain man at his home and 
 told him the story of the old preacher on the 
 curb. With moist eyes he said: 
 
 “I am heart-broken for that good brother! 
 He is one of our most godly men, a fine Greek 
 and Hebrew scholar, a good preacher, a man 
 
 9 
 
who for fifty years has served the church 
 acceptably without a shadow of reproach. 
 He has raised a large family. His work was 
 always on hard circuits, often with five or 
 six appointments, where it was necessary 
 to keep a horse and buggy and the salary was 
 small. What can we do to help him ?” 
 
 “You have a delightful home,” I said. 
 “Everything is comfortable and convenient. 
 But” — pointing to a little house on the bank 
 across the street — “ I wish that we had a little 
 house like that for that old preacher.” 
 
 Finally my friend said: “I cannot get away 
 from that old preacher on the curb. I have 
 some vacant lots just above here, within five 
 minutes’ walk of the trolley cars. I will build 
 a house for him, a six-room cottage with 
 electric light, bath, hot and cold water, and 
 steam heat. On the quarter of an acre of 
 ground, I will set out fruit trees and build a 
 chicken pen, so that the old preacher may have 
 fruit and chickens. It will be ready by 
 December.” 
 
 I wrote to the old preacher telling him to 
 notify his wife, from whom he was separated 
 one hundred and fifty miles, to get ready to 
 move into a house for which they would never 
 need to pay rent, and which would be their 
 home as long as they should live. Their 
 answer is one of my most precious treasures. 
 
 Friends quietly paid the storage and freight 
 bills, shipped and delivered their goods, and 
 set them up in housekeeping in the delightful 
 little cottage. There was no happier Christmas 
 spent by any people than by these good folks, 
 who through the providence of God, mani- 
 fested by the kindness of His servants, were 
 settled in their comfortable home. 
 
 io 
 
, How we wish that such a home might be 
 provided for every retired minister! May the 
 church, created by the services and sacrifices 
 of such men, make provision for all who have 
 given their lives to building up the kingdom, 
 so that never again shall an aged minister, 
 with home broken up for lack of money to 
 pay the rent, be compelled to sit and mourn 
 on the curb!