"PLEASE, SIR, WILL YOU READ IT?"
"SIR," said an old man, one day, to a minister, "would you like to know how it was that I, an old, gray-headed sinner, was instrumentally led to become a Christian?" "Yes," replied the minister; "I should very much like to know." "Well, sir, I was walking along the street one morning, when I met a bright-eyed boy. The little fellow stepped up to me, and in the most polite manner imaginable, said: 'Please, sir, will you take a tract? And, please, sir, will you read it?'" "Now, I had always hated tracts, and when anybody offered them to me I generally got angry, and, shame to say it, I sometimes swore dreadfully at them. But that 'please, sir,' overcame me that morning. I could not swear at that gentlemanly little fellow, with his kind 'please, sir.' No, no; so I took the tract, and I thanked the boy. As I had promised him that I would read it, I did read it. By God's mercy, the reading of that tract led me to see that I was a sinner. It showed me that Jesus Christ was my only Saviour. It was the means of bringing me to Christ. That 'please, sir,' was the key that unlocked my hard old heart."—Selected.