It was in the late afternoon of a cold winter day. Snow covered the ground. Tom, the little boy from Savoy, still went from door to door offering the contents of his basket for sale; there were mousetraps, wooden spoons and many other useful things. But people were too busy with their own affairs and hardly looked at the pale young boy. He had not earned enough that day to buy a hot supper and to pay for a bed. He went to a sheltered place and ate the dry crust which he had in his pocket, thanking God for the food and asking Him to provide a warm place for the night. His mother had taught him to pray and had told him to always tell the Lord his troubles.
Tom went on, till he came to the last house of the village, and there he noticed a barn behind it. He thought nobody would mind if he went in there to lie down on the hay. He opened the door softly and said, "May I come in here?" All he heard was the breathing of an animal. He groped forward in the dark and touched the thick fur of an animal. "May I lie down beside you?" he asked. It was very cosy and warm and he was soon fast asleep. Early in the morning he left for his day's work and at night he returned to get warm with the big animal. This went on for a week. Then the mayor of the village noticed the boy and asked him where he stayed overnight. When Tom told him about it, the mayor's wife exclaimed:
"That animal is the fierce dancing bear which the keeper has put there, because it was too cold to continue the journey. It is very dangerous to get near the bear without its keeper. It is God alone who has kept the boy." She was very much touched and took the boy into her house and gave him a warm bed and took care of him as long as he was in that village.
Messages of the Love of God 1/26/1958