""I didn"t mean to eat the orange, mamma; it smelled so good, I only thought I would suck it a little."
""If you had told me that at first, I would gladly have forgiven you,"
said mamma; "but you told wicked lies to hide your sin. You forgot that G.o.d was looking at you all the time, and knew all that was in your heart. You must pray to him to forgive you, and to make you a good boy."
"Moses cried so that he could hardly stand. His mother took off his clothes, put on his night gown, and helped him into bed. Then she knelt by his bed side, and prayed that the means used to punish him might help him to remember what a great sin lying is. She asked G.o.d to forgive him, and help him from that hour to be an honest, truthful boy.
"Moses slept in a small room, next to her own, and as the lady thought some of the little party might run up there, she locked the door, and went herself down the back way.
"Pretty soon the bell rang, and Moses stopped crying to listen. He heard happy voices of children running through the hall. Then they asked, "Where"s Moses?" But he could not hear what his mother answered.
"In a few minutes a carriage drove up, and there was another ring of the bell. This time it was his cousins, and he heard them laughing and talking together.
"Before half an hour all the company had a.s.sembled. Some of the little girls went up to the front room, and he could hear his mother"s voice as she went with them. She was talking very kindly, but he thought she did not feel happy, it was so sad.
"O, what a long evening that was! He could not go to sleep, for every few minutes there was a merry burst of laughter from the room below; and he knew that his papa was teaching them some pretty games. Every time he heard this he began to cry again. And then he wondered whether his mother would tell them why he was not there, and what they would say.
"At last he heard them all walk out into the dining room, and papa"s voice saying, "I will take Katy because she is the youngest." Now he knew they were going to sit at table and eat the nice fruit.
""O, dear!" he sobbed, "how sorry I am!" And then, for the first time, he began to think how wicked it was to deceive his dear parents, who had been so kind to him all his life. "I made mamma cry," he said softly.
"I"m sorry for that, too."
"As soon as Satan heard Moses say that, he ran away and hid; and the good Spirit came, and whispered to Moses, and presently he got out of his bed, and knelt down by his low chair, and prayed softly. But Jesus heard what he said, and looked into his heart, and saw he was really sorry he had been a wicked boy, and then G.o.d forgave him.
"Pretty soon the children all came rushing up the stairs to put on their clothes, for the carriages had come to take them home. Moses was not crying now. He lay quiet and still; and he heard them say, "Good by!
good by! Please give my love to Moses;" and then the door was shut, and the house all still again.
"When mamma came up stairs she carried the light into her little boy"s room to see if he was awake. His eyes were wide open, and as soon as he saw her, he said, "You might give my orange to Sarah Christie, mamma, because I wasn"t down there to eat it."
"Then mamma put up her handkerchief quick to wipe the tears from her eyes; and she went up to the bed and kissed her boy, for she knew that he had repented of his sin.
""I am sorry, very sorry," he said, pulling her face down to his; "I prayed hard to G.o.d to forgive me, and make me good. Will you forgive me, mamma?"
""Yes, my darling. I will gladly forgive you, and I hope this may be a lesson to you as long as you live.""
Nelly looked very sober while her aunt was telling this story. She began to see how naughty she had been, and to hope that G.o.d would forgive her too.
As soon as his mother had finished, Frankie said, "O, I"m so glad Moses became a good boy! Did he ever steal or tell lies again?"
"No, my dear, I am happy to tell you that from the hour when he so heartily repented of his great sin, and so earnestly asked G.o.d to forgive him, he became an honest and truthful boy. But I have talked a long time, and can only add one incident, which occurred nearly six months later than the birthday party.
"Moses had a cousin whose name was Eugene. He lived in a city many hundred miles distant. He was also an only child; but unlike Moses, he had been foolishly indulged in every desire of his heart, until he had become exceedingly selfish, wilful, and pa.s.sionate. Eugene accompanied his parents on a visit to his aunt, and though younger than his cousin, began at once to tyrannize over him.
"One day a loud cry was heard from the play room, and presently Eugene came running to his mother, complaining that Moses had broken his little wagon, and then had struck him with his Indian bow.
""How is this, Moses?" asked his mother; "did you strike your cousin?"
"The little fellow fixed his large, earnest eyes full upon hers, as he exclaimed, "O, no, indeed, mother! Eugene knows I did not touch him. We were playing together, when the wagon wheel hit the trunk and broke it.
Then he got angry, and pinched me on my arm.
""I don"t mind that," he added, as his aunt pointed to a large red spot near his elbow; "but I"m dreadfully sorry he didn"t tell the truth.""