It was snowing, and there was a biting wind that January morning when Neal Manfred started out for work. Gale left the breakfast dishes and followed him to the door. "Now, don't ask me for another cent, at least 'til Easter", teased her husband, who then reached over and kissed her cheek. "That will give me some time, you see, to put this money back in the bank."

Gale gave him a tepid smile, displaying even, white teeth to go with her smoky gray eyes and cool-blonde hair. Taking the five twenty-dollar bills from her husband's warm, weathered hand, she said firmly, "Honey, I know it's a big price to pay for a coat, but I've wanted it since the day I saw it in the show window early in the winter. And now they have reduced it thirty dollars."

Soon after her husband went out, the storm abated, and Gale dressed, eagerly anticipating her trip to town. She was on her way out when the doorbell rang. "Please, Mrs. Manfred," pleaded a distressed young girl, shivering and covered with snow, "Papa is in great need of a hundred dollars. Do you suppose your husband could let him have it? Could you call him and see? I remember you told Papa when I was sick last fall that he could have gotten the doctor's money from you and your husband. I know Papa can't live unless something is done for him, and done quickly. I haven't been able to work at all since the first of July, when he had that last stroke. And his small pension check doesn't go far. We owe the hospital for the last time he was there, and they won't take him unless we can put up a hundred dollars."

"Well, Sarah," said Gale as she drew a long, sympathetic breath, "Al told me emphatically this morning before he went to work not to ask him for another cent until after Easter." Then with the price of her new coat pressed tightly in her purse, Gale said, after swallowing a time or two, "I wish there was some way I could help you, Sarah, but I'd rather not call Neal, since he said what he did this morning. Don't you know anyone else who would let you have the hundred dollars? How about Mr. Sparrow down at the market?"

"I tried him last night", the girl replied. "He said that he just didn't have it. I've tried everyone I can think of. I guess they think I can't pay it back if Papa dies. Dr. Jones knows how everything is with us, but he says we must have the money before he will admit him. I just don't know what to do, Mrs. Manfred."

Sarah's pitiful appearance and large dripping tears almost persuaded Gale to postpone buying the coat. Nevertheless, the new coat - that lovely coat which she had wanted for so long - could not be given up. Al, of course, would persuade her to deny herself and let Sarah have the money for her father, if he were here.

In a despondent voice, the young Miss Whitaker said as she tied her kerchief and arose to go, "I do wish we had the hundred dollars. I know you would help us if you could. I hope, Mrs. Manfred, that you never have to feel the way I do now, having to go back and face Papa lying there helpless and then having to let him know I couldn't get the money. Don't forget him, please, when you and Mr. Manfred have your evening prayer."

Shortly after noon that day, Gale Manfred returned from Newman's Fashion Shoppe with her new coat. How proud she had felt in the store when Mrs. Horner lavished a number of praises on her new garment! She had saved thirty dollars, too, by waiting to buy it.

The shadows of the evening were gently stealing across the sky when Neal came in from his work. "Gale," he said as he viewed her new prize, "you look wonderful in it, but - by the way, have you heard about old Tom Whitaker? He died about an hour ago." "What!" Gale exclaimed. "Well, it was no surprise, really. I just feel so sad when I think of how destitute he was. Hard worker, too. And Johnny Dorsey just told me that Dr. Jones let him stay home and die just because the old fellow couldn't raise a hundred dollars to get in the hospital."

"No!" cried Gale. She began crying, tear beads clinging to her eyelashes and running in wet lines on her face. It was twilight, the sudden twilight of winter. The snow-covered streets of Pineville were empty. Everyone had gone home from work in the shops and factory. The snowstorm had ceased. The day was dying, and the fading glow of a spectacular sunset slowly surrendered its glory to the dimness of a still, wintry night. But it was a black night in the heart of Gale Manfred.

"Why didn't his daughter ask us for the money?", Neal wondered aloud as he prepared for bed. "I would have let them have my last penny - yes, in case like that. Seems like the worst things happen to the best people sometimes. And that girl's barely grown. What's she going to do? They say she has no relatives. Where were they from, anyway?"

Gale met her husband's glance and sighed but sat silent for a short moment, her fingers feeling their way along the seams of her beautiful new coat. Sorrow, mingled with fear gripped their hearts as they looked at each other inquiringly. Suddenly, the full realization of the tragedy broke upon Gale's consciousness and her cry shattered the quiet of the dimly lighted room. "Oh, I can't bear it, Neal! I could have saved the old man's life!" She bent over, burying her face in her hands. "Will God ever forgive me? The girl did come here. She asked me for the money, Neal. She was crying and pleading. And I had the money right there in my pocketbook and refused to help her. Neal, please ask God to forgive me and take this pain out of my heart."

"Gale, darling, don't take it so hard", Neal pleaded as he took her in his arms, "I shouldn't have said what I did this morning about not asking for any more money. Now hush crying. You haven't committed any unpardonable sin. You didn't know Mr. Whitaker was so near death. Besides, if you had given her the money, it probably wouldn't have helped. And you had wanted that coat for so long..."

"Oh, I can still see the tears of that poor girl's eyes, and the sadness in her face when she saw I was not going to help her. It will always haunt me. I can never, never forget how pitiful she looked. Here, take this coat, Neal. I can't stand to see it again. It was bought with Mr. Whitaker's death, probably the best man in Pineville. Why did I refuse her? I will never get over this unless Jesus helps me. I feel like a murderer, Neal."

Gale fell to her knees and wept until there were no more tears. Outside, the snow-covered cedars along the fence shook in a sudden breeze, loosing some of their burden of snow which, falling down, made small mounds all around. The pasture was shrouded in a blanket by this first big snowfall of the season, but, for once, Gale Manfred could not enjoy the scene. She was not walking in her parent's footsteps. She knew she had wandered far from what true faith called for. She remembered her father and mother, how free and happy they had been, though very poor, and now she would gladly give all she owned for the peace they had with God. Even when dying, she remembered, they would praise God in a heavenly language, unafraid of, indeed, longing for what eternity held for them.

As she lay awake in bed that night, her yearning for the peace her parents had with God grew so intense that she woke Neal and said, "Neal, I love you, but I've got to find God or I'll die."

"I know, Gale. I know. I feel the same way. But what do we do?"

"We do whatever we have to do to get the Holy Ghost and obey God, Neal. My father told me I'd never be saved without the Holy Ghost, and I really do believe it. I . . . I guess I was always afraid of losing you, Neal, but now I find that life isn't worth living if God isn't pleased with me. If you tell me to leave, Neal, I will, but I've just got to get to God."

"Oh, Gale, I want to be right, too. Let's pray, Gale. Right now. I want us to be happy. "

So, Neal and Gale prayed - and found - that God would forgive them, and fill them with His Holy Spirit. There is a "rest" for the human soul, and it is found when one is filled with "righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghost".

Many, many years have passed since Tom Whitaker was laid to rest. And Gale Manfred, now elderly and gray, is one of the precious "mothers in Christ" in a little group of Spirit- filled believers in Pineville. To know her is to love her. In her home lives a middle-aged woman named Sarah Whitaker - the same young girl who was refused help for her father many winters ago, but now is nearer to Gale Manfred than her own dear sisters.

Neal still has his little account in the bank, yet he is always ready to help the needy. He has long ago learned the profound meaning of the words of Jesus, "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow from thee turn not thou away."

And that new coat, the one which was reduced thirty dollars, but was never worn, is being kept as a memorial of many sad but penitent years. Many a poor soul in and around Pineville has had his or her need supplied by its silent influence.

Remember, friend, "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." And the Psalmist tells us, "A good man sheweth favor, and lendeth. He will guide his affairs with discretion.... He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord."