Not long ago a young man went home late. It had become a habit and his father had begun to believe that he had gone astray.
One night, the father told his wife to go to bed and waited for his son to come home. The boy came home drunk, and his father told him never to enter his house again. He shut the door, then went into the parlor and thought "I may be to blame for his conduct I have never prayed with him. I did not warn him of the dangers of the world."
He put on his coat and hat, and went out to find his son. He eagerly asked a policeman, "Have you seen my boy?" "No."
On he went till he met another. "Have you seen anything of my son?" He ran from one to another all that night, but not until the morning did he find him. The man took his son by the arm and led him home, keeping him till he was sober. Then he said, "My dear boy, please forgive me; I never prayed for you, I led you astray, and I want your forgiveness." The boy was touched, and what was the result? Within twenty-four hours he became a convert and gave up drinking alcohol.