Paul Harley's Dream

On a bitter New Year's Eve, two households are tested by hunger, pride, and the need to believe in love. In one, Paul Harley, selfish and contemptuous of faith, enters church only to admire himself and nurse resentment, but a night of terror in the freezing building strips away his bravado and leads him toward repentance. In the other, poor widow Janet Jones waits in bitterness for a letter from her grandson Joe, certain that only money can prove his affection. As the evening unfolds, Paul's spiritual emptiness gives way to genuine fear, and a hymn becomes his first true prayer. Rescued by his kind friend James Barton, he returns home humbled, forgiven, and resolved to live better. Meanwhile, Annie Jones offers her grandmother a different kind of gift: a copied hymn about Christ's sacrifice and the question of what humanity has given in return. That simple act softens Janet's wounded heart, and Joe's later letter, enclosing money, a dinner, and a cloak for Annie, confirms the lesson. Across both stories, sacrifice, gratitude, and forgiveness reveal the deepest proof of love. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.