One hot summer day a young medical student was going from house to house in a farming district in Maryland selling books for the purpose of earning money to pay his college expenses. Near the end of the day, over-heated and thirsty, he called at a farmhouse where no one was at home except a girl in her teens. The visitor inquired of the young lady if she would care to purchase some books, to which she answered, "My mother is a widow, and we have no money to buy books." Then the student asked her if she could give him a glass of cold water. She said, "We have plenty of milk in the springhouse. Would you care for a glass of cold milk instead?"

"Yes, I would," he replied, "if it is not too much trouble," added the stranger.

"No trouble at all," said the girl, running to the springhouse.

The thirsty student drank the cold milk very thankfully.

"How about another glass, mister?" said the girl.

"I would enjoy another glass, very much," he answered.

The girl at once complied with his desire, upon which he sought to pay her.

"No, no," said the girl.

"Why not?" he inquired.

"Well, my mother always told me to be kind to strangers, and that's what I am doing."

The student thanked her and plodded on his way.

Several years elapsed, and one day the one-time medical student, now a widely-known surgeon and head of a hospital in which he performed brilliant operations, was visiting the wards of the hospital. His eyes fell upon a face which he well remembered, for he recognized in a moment his former benefactor, the one who had given him a drink of cold milk on the hot summer day long before. The patient herself was too sick to recognize anyone, but he knew her.

Things began to happen. Activity seemed to focus around the woman from the farm. She was moved into a private room with nurses to wait upon her and everything known to medical science was brought to bear upon her condition. The chief surgeon himself took particular interest in her case.

After weeks of medical and surgical attention the patient recovered and was able to sit up in her room. The nurse said to her, "You are going home tomorrow."

"Oh, I am so glad," she responded; "but the cost of all this worries me. The bill must be very great."

"I'll get it," said the nurse, and she soon placed it in the patient's hand.

As the woman looked over the items in the bill and read the staggering cost of her operation and hospital care, it made her weep. "When will I ever get it paid!" she exclaimed, but when she read a little further down, her eyes caught sight of eight words which dried her tears.

The words were: "Paid in full by a glass of milk. —Howard A. Kelly, M.D."

Yes, the former young book agent and the great Dr. Kelly, a surgeon of repute, were one and the same.

Dear believer, nothing that you do for the Lord Jesus will be overlooked in that day. Here are the simple conditions for His approval:

"Not with eyeservice as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free" (Eph. 6:6-8).

—Selected