Mush had a pretty rough go of it after the lodging house shut down. He continued to sell papers for a while after that, but the income came nowhere near to paying for rent (as it was for most of the newsies) and he found himself sleeping on the streets more often than not. Finally, he found himself at the end of his rope. He was penniless, homeless, starving, and his clothes were practically rotting off his back. He didn't even have shoes any more. He wandered around, begging for work, but none was to be had, until he was approached by a decent looking man in a blue suit two months after leaving the lodging house.
The man inquired his name and about his family and work, then, after looking the boy over critically, made him an offer. "Listen Mush," he said. "My name is Jeffrey Chambers. My wife and I are traveling by wagon to California. We're taking two wagons, due to the fact that we are taking seven children, and I will need a driver for the second wagon. If you want to help me, you will be paid with food, clothes, and as much shelter as I can offer."
Mush was so shocked by the abrupt offer, that he could barely stutter out his acceptance, but, once he made himself clear, Jeffrey Chambers broke into a wide smile. "All right, then." he said. "Let's go get you some new clothes."
Mush endured the most wonderful evening he'd had in a long time. Mr. Chambers bought him a whole new set of clothes, as well as some extras, and took him to his home to meet his wife and have a hot meal.
The Chambers were a fairly wealthy couple who were unable to have children. Jeffrey was an ordained minister, but had been removed from his pulpit due to objections to his teaching. Since then, he and his wife, feeling called to parenthood, had adopted seven children from orphanages. His means of support was a large inheritance left him by his father after his death.
Recently, Jeff and Mary, his wife, felt called by God to go to San Francisco, California and begin a children's home and a church there. Jeff began making plans, but quickly realized that he would have to have help on the trip. He was walking towards the employment agency when he noticed a young mulatto man. The boy was sitting on the front steps of a house and looking very forlorn. Jeff was going to pass by, but as he walked on, a voice inside of him said, "Go back. There's the help you're looking for."
Jeff hesitated. "But Lord," he said. "I don't know this boy or anything about him. He could murder my family for all I know."
Once again, that voice, telling him to go back. With a sigh, Jeff obeyed and went back to the boy sitting on the steps. And so our story picks up.
The Chamber family and Mush headed out on the trail about a week later. The novelty of riding in a wagon quickly wore off and Mush found himself falling into his bedroll every night exhausted. Not only was he driving a wagon, but was also responsible for the three little boys that rode inside. But, as the days and weeks passed, he found himself growing stronger and more and more drawn to Jeff and Mary Chambers. They had something in them. Something that made them different from the adults Mush had been around most of his life. There was no yelling, no cussing, no fighting. Even the children seemed more peaceful than any Mush had ever known.
Three months after leaving New York, the little group pulled into Kansas City. There was a revival there that night, Jeff excitedly informed his family when he returned from getting supplies in the city. They would all go, Mush included, he decided. So Mush found himself sitting in a huge tent that night, listening as the speaker began to tell the story of Jesus. The man spoke of Jesus' miraculous birth, of His perfect life and of His teachings. Of sin, and how it entered the world and it's affect on man's relationship with God. Then the speaker told about Jesus' death, how He was flogged, mocked, unjustly accused, and crucified. "Why? Why would such a good man, the Son of God, be treated like this? Why didn't God just reach down and smite those hurting His precious Son? Why did Jesus allow it? The reason is summed up in this: God so loved the world that He gave His Son for it to be reconciled to Him. And the Son did as His Father asked. He died so that you, and I, might not get what we deserve-hell for eternity. Are you going to reject this gift? This gift of life offered so freely, though at such a great price?"
Mush sat in his seat, trembling. He had never heard, or felt, anything like this before. Something welled up inside of him, and suddenly he realized that it was hate and disgust. Hate and disgust at himself. He saw himself as he truly was. An immoral, unjust wretch. And he began to see that he was filthy before God, and, yes, truly deserving of an eternity of torture. What could he do? He moaned, with his head down. He was lost-had sinned and was lost from the presence of God and everything good forever. Then he heard the speaker say, "Do you see your guilt? Do you see your eternity? Do not sit and wail, ask forgiveness of your God. Ask that the blood of Jesus, which was shed for those very sins you feel now, would cover you. Jesus will answer."
Mush found himself on his knees, crying out in anguished tones, "God have mercy on me! Do not throw me into hell! Jesus cover me!" And suddenly he was filled with a huge peace and joy that he had never felt before. He was forgiven, and he knew it.
For some time, he remained on his knees, filled with inexpressible joy, thanking Jesus. When he finally stood, wiping the tears from his eyes, Jeff stood before him. Neither of them said a word, but Jeff just pulled him into a tight embrace, saying "Thank you, God." over and over again.
Mush's newfound faith came alive to him in the next few weeks as he studied the Bible that Jeff gave him at night. He learned more about God and about history as he pored over its pages by the light of the fire. The journey didn't seem as hard now, although it, and he, had its moments.
They reached San Francisco three months later and Mush threw himself into the mission that Jeff and Mary started soon after arriving. He found that he had the gift of communicating with poor, wretched boys in similar situations to what he had lived before. He found his faith almost daily lifted as he was able to minister to one boy or another.
One evening, late in November, Mush found himself wandering the streets. He didn't know why he was out this late, only that the Lord wanted him to be. It was snowing pretty heavily, as it had been for the last three nights. He was cold and hungry and just about ready to head back to the mission, thinking that he must have made some mistake, when he heard a groan coming from an alley nearby. Peering carefully into the shadowy darkness, he heard it again. He stepped into the alley, glancing around, aware that it could be muggers, or murderers for that matter, trying to entice a victim. He heard a ruffling sound, and moving toward it, saw a figure lying on the ground, curled up in a ball. Mush put his hand tentatively on the shoulder of what he now saw to be a man. The figure hardly moved, just stiffened up at his touch and groaned again. Mush carefully turned the man over. Shock and pity struggled for a place in his countenance as he looked down on that of his old friend, Jack Kelly.