hat is the matter with you, charley?” said george mayne, as he returned home from the factory, and found his little brother crying violently on the door-step. “what has vexed you, charley, my boy?”

“oh, my father will never forgive me,” sobbed the child.

“i cannot think that, he is so good and so kind. come, dry up your tears, and tell me what has happened; perhaps i may be able to help you out of your trouble.”

[30]

charley’s grief.

it was some time before, soothed by the kindness of his brother, the boy became calm enough to explain the cause of his grief. with a voice half choked with tears he began: “father had sent me to pay the baker—he had given me a half-crown to do[31] it—he had trusted me; and now it is all—all gone! oh, father will never forgive me!” and he burst into a fresh agony of sorrow.

“you lost the money, did you? well, father can ill afford it, but he will forgive you for an accident, i am sure.”

“but it was not an accident, that is the worst of it! you see, i met jack and ben; they were playing at pitch-farthing, and they called to me to join them.”

“but father has forbidden us to keep company with those idle boys.”

“i know it—but i disobeyed him—i was very wrong—and i am very miserable.”

“i hope that you did not join the game?”

“not at first—i told them that i had given father my solemn promise never to gamble; but they jeered me, and laughed at me—and i played with them—and they got all my money from me—the half-crown that was not mine, with which i had been trusted. oh, father will never forgive me!”

“now, charley, do you know what i advise you to do?” said george. “go to father at once, confess your fault to him, let not one sin lead you to another.”

[32]

“confess to him!—i dare not.”

“i will go with you, charley; i will plead for you.”

“but father is so poor; he will be in debt, and he cannot bear that! he will be so angry. oh, cannot i say that some one snatched the half-crown out of my hand?”

“charley, charley!” cried his brother, almost sternly, “the evil one is tempting you. he has gained one victory over you; would you be his slave entirely? pray to god for strength to struggle against this temptation: remember that liars have no place in heaven. i will plead for you, i say; and as for the money, i have been saving up pence for the last six months to buy a particular book which i have much wished to have—i have just enough of money, and i will pay the debt.”

“o george, how good you are! but if the debt is paid, need i confess?”

“yes; you have not only lost the money, but broken father’s command, and broken your own promise. hide nothing. take my hand, charley, and come with me at once; every moment that we delay doing[33] what is right, we add to the difficulty of doing it.”

so hand in hand the two brothers appeared before their father, who was resting himself after a hard day’s work. george encouraged poor charley to confess his fault; he entreated forgiveness for the offender; he placed in the hand of his father his own hard-earned savings. the parent opened his arms, and pressed both his sons to his heart! then making charley sit down beside him, the good man thus addressed his repentant child:—

“i forgive you, my boy, for the sake of your brother; but there is another friend whom you have offended, whose commandment you have broken, whose forgiveness you must seek.”

“i know that i have sinned against god,” said charley sadly.

“and for whose sake do you hope to be forgiven?”

charley looked up in the face of his father, and replied, “i hope for forgiveness for the sake of the lord jesus christ.”

“and if you are grateful to an earthly[34] brother for pitying you, and pleading for you, and paying your debt, how can you be thankful enough to that heavenly saviour who shed his own blood to win for you a free pardon, and who now is pleading for you at the right hand of god?”

charley was silent, but his eyes filled with tears.

“and now, george, my boy, bring me the bible,” said his father; “it is time for our evening reading.”

“what part shall i read?” inquired george, reverently opening the sacred book.

“oh, let him read of some one who had sinned and was forgiven!” said poor charley.

at his father’s look of assent, george turned to the touching story of the woman who, weeping and penitent, sought for mercy from the saviour, and found it.

“behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that jesus sat at meat in the pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster-box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet,[35] and anointed them with the ointment. now when the pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. and jesus answering, said unto him, simon, i have somewhat to say unto thee. and he saith, master, say on. there was a certain creditor which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? simon answered and said, i suppose that he to whom he forgave most. and he said unto him, thou hast rightly judged. and he turned to the woman, and said unto simon, seest thou this woman? i entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman, since the time i came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. my head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman[36] hath anointed my feet with ointment. wherefore i say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. and he said unto her, thy sins are forgiven” (luke vii. 37-48).