The Host Prayed

.....I have heard an anecdote of two gentlemen travelling together,
somewhere in Switzerland.  Presently they came into the midst of
the forests; and you know the gloomy tales the people tell about
the inns there, how dangerous it is to lodge in them. 
     One of them, an Infidel, said to the other, who was a Christian,
"I don't like stopping here at all; it is very dangerous indeed." 
     "Well," said the other, "let us try." 
     So they went into a house; but it looked so suspicious that neither
of them liked it; and they thought they would prefer being at home in
England. 
     Presently the landlord said, "Gentlemen, I always read and pray
with my family before going to bed; will you allow me to do so to-night?" 
     "Yes," they said, "with the greatest pleasure."  
     When they went up stairs, the Infidel said, "I am not at all afraid now."
     "Why?" said the Christian.
     "Because our host has prayed." 
     "Oh!" said the other, "then it seems, after all, you think something of
religion; because a man prays, you can go to sleep in his house." 
     And it was marvellous how both of them did sleep.  Sweet dreams
they had, for they felt that where the house had been roofed by prayer,
and walled with devotion, there could not be found a man living that would
commit an injury to them. 
                                              C. H. Spurgeon