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diff --git a/14543-0.txt b/14543-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..29429aa --- /dev/null +++ b/14543-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,694 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14543 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 14543-h.htm or 14543-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/5/4/14543/14543-h/14543-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/5/4/14543/14543-h.zip) + + + + + +FALSE FRIENDS + +THE SAILOR'S RESOLVE + +1884 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: LADY GRANGE READING TO HER SON. _Page 19._] + + +[Illustration: A TALK ABOUT THE PICTURE. _Page 33._] + + + + +FALSE FRIENDS + + "Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward."--PROV. xxii. 5. + +[Illustration: REFLECTION. _Page 25._] + +"Philip, your conduct has distressed me exceedingly," said Lady Grange, +laying her hand on the arm of her son, as they entered together the +elegant apartment which had been fitted up as her boudoir. "You could +not but know my feelings towards those two men--I will not call them +gentlemen--whose company you have again forced upon me. You must be +aware that your father has shut the door of this house against them." + +"My father has shut the door against better men than they are," said the +youth carelessly; "witness my own uncles Henry and George." + +The lip of the lady quivered, the indignant colour rose even to her +temples; she attempted to speak, but her voice failed her, and she +turned aside to hide her emotion. + +"Well, mother, I did not mean to vex you," said Philip, who was rather +weak in purpose than hardened in evil; "it _was_ a shame to bring Jones +and Wildrake here, but--but you see I couldn't help it." And he played +uneasily with his gold-headed riding-whip, while his eye avoided meeting +that of his mother. + +"They have acquired some strange influence, some mysterious hold over +you," answered the lady. "It cannot be," she added anxiously, "that you +have broken your promise,--that they have drawn you again to the +gaming-table,--that you are involved in debt to these men?" + +Philip whistled an air and sauntered up to the window. + +Lady Grange pressed her hand over her eyes, and a sigh, a very heavy +sigh, burst from her bosom. Philip heard, and turned impatiently round. + +"There's no use in making the worst of matters," said he; "what's done +can't be helped; and my debts, such as they are, won't ruin a rich man +like my father." + +"It is not that which I fear," said the mother faintly, with a terrible +consciousness that her son,--her hope, her pride, the delight of her +heart,--had entered on a course which, if persevered in, must end in his +ruin both of body and soul. "I tremble at the thought of the misery +which you are bringing on yourself. These men are making you their +victim: they are blinding your eyes; they are throwing a net around you, +and you have not the resolution to break from the snare." + +"They are very pleasant, jovial fellows!" cried Philip, trying to hide +under an appearance of careless gaiety the real annoyance which he felt +at the words of his mother. + +"I've asked them to dine here to-day and--" + +"I shall not appear at the table," said Lady Grange, drawing herself up +with dignity; "and if your father should arrive--" + +"Oh! he won't arrive to-night; he never travels so late." + +"But, Philip," said the lady earnestly again laying her cold hand on his +arm. She was interrupted by her wayward and undutiful son. + +"Mother, there's no use in saying anything more on the subject; it only +worries you, and puts me out of temper. I can't, and I won't be uncivil +to my friends;" and turning hastily round, Philip quitted the apartment. + +"Friends!" faintly echoed Lady Grange, as she saw the door close behind +her misguided son. "Oh!" she exclaimed, throwing herself on a sofa, and +burying her face, "was there ever a mother--ever a woman so unhappy as +I am!" + +Her cup was indeed very bitter; it was one which the luxuries that +surrounded her had not the least power to sweeten. Her husband was a man +possessing many noble qualities both of head and heart; but the fatal +love of gold, like those petrifying springs which change living twigs +to dead stone, had made him hardened, quarrelsome, and worldly. It had +drawn him away from the worship of his God; for there is deep truth in +the declaration of the apostle, that the covetous man is _an idolater_. +It was this miserable love of gold which had induced Sir Gilbert to +break with the family of his wife, and separate her from those to whom +her loving heart still clung with the fondest affection. Lady Grange +yearned for a sight of her early home; but gold had raised a barrier +between her and the companions of her childhood. And what had the +possession of gold done for the man who made it his idol? It had put +snares in the path of his only son; it had made the weak-minded but +head-strong youth be entrapped by the wicked for the sake of his wealth, +as the ermine is hunted down for its rich fur. It had given to himself +heavy responsibilities, for which he would have to answer at the bar of +Heaven; for from him unto whom much has been given, much at the last day +will be required. + +Yes, Lady Grange was very miserable. And how did she endeavour +to lighten the burden of her misery? Was it by counting over her +jewels,--looking at the costly and beautiful things which adorned her +dwelling,--thinking of her carriages and horses and glittering plate, or +the number of her rich and titled friends? No; she sought comfort where +Widow Green had sought it when her child lay dangerously ill, and there +was neither a loaf on her shelf nor a penny in her purse. The rich lady +did what the poor one had done,--she fell on her knees and with tears +poured out her heart to the merciful Father of all. She told him her +sorrows, she told him her fears; she asked him for that help which she +so much required. Her case was a harder one than the widow's. A visit +from the clergyman, a present from a benevolent friend, God's blessing +on a simple remedy, had soon changed Mrs. Green's sorrow into joy. +The anguish of Lady Grange lay deeper; her faith was more sorely tried; +her fears were not for the bodies but the souls of those whom she +loved;--and where is the mortal who can give us a cure for the disease +of sin? + +While his mother was weeping and praying, Philip was revelling and +drinking. Fast were the bottles pushed round, and often were the glasses +refilled. The stately banqueting-room resounded with laughter and +merriment; and as the evening advanced, with boisterous song. It was +late before the young men quitted the table; and then, heated with wine, +they threw the window wide open, to let the freshness of the night air +cool their fevered temples. + +Beautiful looked the park in the calm moonlight. Not a breath stirred +the branches of the trees, their dark shadows lay motionless on the +green sward: perfect silence and stillness reigned around. But the holy +quietness of nature was rudely disturbed by the voices of the revellers. + +With the conversation that passed I shall not soil my pages. The window +opened into a broad stone balcony, and seating themselves upon its +parapet, the young men exchanged stories and jests. After many sallies +of so-called wit, Wildrake rallied Philip on the quantity of wine which +he had taken, and betted that he could not walk steadily from the one +end of the balcony to the other. Philip, with that insane pride which +can plume itself on being _mighty to mingle strong drink_, maintained +that his head was as clear and his faculties as perfect as though he had +tasted nothing but water; and declared that he could walk round the edge +of the parapet with as steady a step as he would tread the gravel-path +in the morning! + +Wildrake laughed, and dared him to do it: Jones betted ten to one that +he could not. + +"Done!" cried Philip, and sprang up on the parapet in a moment. + +"Come down again!" called out Wildrake, who had enough of sense left to +perceive the folly and danger of the wager. + +Philip did not appear to hear him. Attempting to balance himself by his +arms, with a slow and unsteady step he began to make his way along the +lofty and narrow edge. + +The two young men held their breath. To one who with unsteady feet walks +the slippery margin of temptation, the higher his position, the greater +his danger; the loftier his elevation, the more perilous a fall! + +"He will never get to the end!" said Jones, watching with some anxiety +the movements of his companion. + +The words had scarcely escaped his lips when they received a startling +fulfilment. Philip had not proceeded half way along the parapet when a +slight sound in the garden below him attracted his attention. He glanced +down for a moment; and there, in the cold, clear moonlight, gazing +sternly upon him, he beheld his father! The sudden start of surprise +which he gave threw the youth off his balance,--he staggered back, lost +his footing, stretched out his hands wildly to save himself, and fell +with a loud cry to the ground! + +All was now confusion and terror. There were the rushing of footsteps +hither and thither, voices calling, bells loudly ringing, and, above +all, the voice of a mother's anguish, piercing to the soul! Jones and +Wildrake hurried off to the stables, saddled their horses themselves, +and dashed off at full speed to summon a surgeon, glad of any excuse +to make their escape from the place. + +The unfortunate Philip was raised from the ground, and carried into the +house. His groans showed the severity of his sufferings. The slightest +motion was to him torture, and an hour of intense suspense ensued before +the arrival of the surgeon. Lady Grange made a painful effort to be +calm. She thought of everything, did all that she could do for the +relief of her son, and even strove to speak words of comfort and hope +to her husband, who appeared almost stupified by his sorrow. Prayer was +still her support--prayer, silent, but almost unceasing. + +The surgeon arrived,--the injuries received by the sufferer were +examined, though it was long before Philip, unaccustomed to pain and +incapable of self-control, would permit necessary measures to be taken. +His resistance greatly added to his sufferings. He had sustained a +compound fracture of his leg, besides numerous bruises and contusions. +The broken bone had to be set, and the pale mother stood by, longing, in +the fervour of her unselfish love, that she could endure the agony in +the place of her son. The pampered child of luxury shrank sensitively +from pain, and the thought that he had brought all his misery upon +himself by his folly and disobedience rendered it yet more intolerable. +When the surgeon had at length done his work, Lady Grange retired with +him to another apartment, and, struggling to command her choking voice, +asked him the question on the reply to which all her earthly happiness +seemed to hang,--whether he had hope that the life of her boy might be +spared. + +"I have every hope", said the surgeon, cheerfully, "if we can keep down +the fever." Then, for the first time since she had seen her son lie +bleeding before her, the mother found the relief of tears. + +Through the long night she quitted not the sufferer's pillow, bathing +his fevered brow, relieving his thirst, whispering comfort to his +troubled spirit. Soon after daybreak Philip sank into a quiet, +refreshing sleep; and Lady Grange, feeling as if a mountain's weight had +been lifted from her heart, hurried to carry the good news to her husband. + +She found him in the spacious saloon, pacing restlessly to and fro. His +brow was knit, his lips compressed; his disordered dress and haggard +countenance showed that he, too, had watched the live-long night. + +"He sleeps at last, Gilbert, thank God!" Her face brightened as she +spoke; but there was no corresponding look of joy on that of her husband. + +"Gilbert, the doctor assures me that there is every prospect of our +dear boy's restoration!" + +"And to what is he to be restored?" said the father gloomily; "to +poverty--misery--ruin!" + +Lady Grange stood mute with surprise scarcely believing the evidence of +her senses almost deeming that the words must have been uttered in a +dream. But it was no dream, but one of those strange, stern realities +which we meet with in life. Her husband indeed stood before her a ruined +man! A commercial crash, like those which have so often reduced the rich +to poverty, coming almost as suddenly as the earthquake which shakes the +natural world, had overthrown all his fortune! The riches in which he +had trusted had taken to themselves wings and flown away. + +Here was another startling shock, but Lady Grange felt it far less than +the first. It seemed to her that if her son were only spared to her, she +could bear cheerfully any other trial. When riches had increased, she +had not set her heart upon them; she had endeavoured to spend them as a +good steward of God and to lay up treasure in that blessed place where +there is no danger of its ever being lost. Sir Gilbert was far more +crushed than his wife was by this misfortune. He saw his idol broken +before his eyes, and where was he to turn for comfort? Everything upon +which his eye rested was a source of pain to him; for must he not part +with all, leave all in which his heart had delighted, all in which his +soul had taken pride? He forgot that poverty was only forestalling by a +few years the inevitable work of death! + +The day passed wearily away. Philip suffered much pain, was weak and +low, and bitterly conscious how well he had earned the misery which he +was called on to endure. It was a mercy that he was experiencing, before +it was too late, that _thorns and snares are in the way of the froward_. +He liked his mother to read the Bible to him, just a few verses at a +time, as he had strength to bear it; and in this occupation she herself +found the comfort which she needed. Sir Gilbert, full of his own +troubles, scarcely ever entered the apartment of his son. + +Towards evening a servant came softly into the sick-room, bringing +a sealed letter for her lady. There was no post-mark upon it, and +the girl informed her mistress that the gentleman who had brought +it was waiting in the garden for a reply. The first glance at the +hand-writing, at the well-known seal, brought colour to the cheek of +the lady. But it was a hand-writing which she had been forbidden to +read; it was a seal which she must not break! She motioned to the maid +to take her place beside the invalid who happened at that moment to be +sleeping and with a quick step and a throbbing heart she hurried away +to find her husband. + +He was in his study, his arms resting on his open desk, and his head +bowed down upon them. Bills and papers, scattered in profusion on the +table, showed what had been the nature of the occupation which he had +not had the courage to finish. He started from his posture of despair +as his wife laid a gentle touch on his shoulder; and, without uttering +a word, she placed the unopened letter in his hand. + +My reader shall have the privilege of looking over Sir Gilbert's +shoulder, and perusing the contents of that letter:-- + + "Dearest Sister,--We have heard of your trials, and warmly + sympathize in your sorrow. Let Sir Gilbert know that we have placed + at his banker's, after having settled it upon you, double the sum + which caused our unhappy differences. Let the past be forgotten; + let us again meet as those should meet who have gathered together + round the same hearth, mourned over the same grave, and shared joys + and sorrows together, as it is our anxious desire to do now. I + shall be my own messenger, and shall wait in person to receive your + reply.--Your ever attached brother, + + "HENRY LATOUR." + +A few minutes more and Lady Grange was in the arms of her brother; while +Sir Gilbert was silently grasping the hand of one whom, but for +misfortune, he would never have known as a friend. + +All the neighbourhood pitied the gentle lady, the benefactress of the +poor, when she dismissed her servants, sold her jewels, and quitted +her beautiful home to seek a humbler shelter. Amongst the hundreds who +crowded to the public auction of the magnificent furniture and plate, +which had been the admiration of all who had seen them, many thought +with compassion of the late owners, reduced to such sudden poverty, +though the generosity of the lady's family had saved them from want +or dependence. + +And yet truly, never since her marriage had Lady Grange been less an +object of compassion. + +Her son was slowly but surely recovering, and his preservation from +meeting sudden death unprepared was to her a source of unutterable +thankfulness. Her own family appeared to regard her with even more +tender affection than if no coldness had ever arisen between them; and +their love was to her beyond price. Even Sir Gilbert's harsh, worldly +character, was somewhat softened by trials, and by the unmerited +kindness which he met with from those whom, in his prosperity, he +had slighted and shunned. Lady Grange felt that her prayers had been +answered indeed, though in a way very different from what she had hoped +or expected. The chain by which her son had been gradually drawn down +towards rum, by those who sought his company for the sake of his money, +had been suddenly snapped by the loss of his fortune. The weak youth +was left to the guidance of those to whom his welfare was really dear. +Philip, obliged to rouse himself from his indolence, and exert himself +to earn his living, became a far wiser and more estimable man than he +would ever have been as the heir to a fortune; and he never forgot the +lesson which pain, weakness, and shame had taught him,--that the way of +evil is also the way of sorrow. _Thorns and snares are in the way of +the froward._ + + Who Wisdom's path forsakes, + Leaves all true joy behind: + He who the peace of others breaks, + No peace himself shall find. + Flowers above and thorns below, + Little pleasure, lasting woe,-- + Such is the fate that sinners know! + + The drunkard gaily sings + Above his foaming glass; + But shame and pain the revel brings, + Ere many hours can pass. + Flowers above and thorns below, + Little pleasure, lasting woe,-- + Such is the fate that sinners know! + + The thief may count his gains;-- + If he the sum could see + Of future punishment and pains, + Sad would his reckoning be! + Flowers above and thorns below, + Little pleasure, lasting woe,-- + Such is the fate that sinners know! + + The Sabbath-breaker spurns + What Wisdom did ordain: + God's rest to Satan's use he turns,-- + A blessing to a bane. + Flowers above and thorns below, + Little pleasure, lasting woe,-- + Such is the fate which sinners know! + + O Lord, to thee we pray; + Do thou our faith increase; + Help us to walk in Wisdom's way,-- + The only way of peace: + For flowers above and thorns below, + Little pleasure, lasting woe,-- + Such is the fate which sinners know! + + + + + + + + +THE SAILOR'S RESOLVE. + + "An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in + transgression."--PROV. xxix. 22. + +The old sailor Jonas sat before the fire with his pipe in his mouth, +looking steadfastly into the glowing coals. Not that, following a +favourite practice of his little niece, he was making out red-hot +castles and flaming buildings in the grate, or that his thoughts were in +any way connected with the embers: he was doing what it would be well if +we all sometimes did,--looking into himself, and reflecting on what had +happened in relation to his own conduct. + +"So," thought he, "here am I, an honest old fellow,--I may say it, with +all my faults; and one who shrinks from falsehood more than from fire; +and I find that I, with my bearish temper, am actually driving those +about me into it--teaching them to be crafty, tricky, and cowardly! I +knew well enough that my gruffness plagued others, but I never saw how +it _tempted_ others until now; tempted them to meanness, I would say, +for I have found a thousand times that _an angry man stirreth up +strife_, and that a short word may begin a long quarrel. I am afraid +that I have not thought enough on this matter. I've looked on bad temper +as a very little sin, and I begin to suspect that it is a great one, +both in God's eyes and in the consequences that it brings. Let me see +if I can reckon up its evils! It makes those miserable whom one would +wish to make happy; it often, like an adverse gale, forces them to +back, instead of steering straight for the port. It dishonours one's +profession, lowers one's flag, makes the world mock at the religion +which can leave a man as rough and rugged as a heathen savage. It's +directly contrary to the Word of God,--it's wide as east from west of +the example set before us! Yes, a furious temper is a very evil thing; +I'd give my other leg to be rid of mine!" and in the warmth of his +self-reproach the sailor struck his wooden one against the hearth with +such violence as to make Alie start in terror that some fierce explosion +was about to follow. + +"Well, I've made up my mind as to its being an evil--a great evil," +continued Jonas, in his quiet meditation; "the next question is, how +is the evil to be got rid of? There's the pinch! It clings to one like +one's skin. It's one's nature,--how can one fight against nature? And +yet, I take it, it's the very business of faith to conquer our evil +nature. As I read somewhere, any dead dog can float with the stream; +it's the living dog that swims against it. I mind the trouble I had +about the wicked habit of swearing, when first I took to trying to serve +God and leave off my evil courses. Bad words came to my mouth as natural +as the very air that I breathed. What did I do to cure myself of that +evil? Why, I resolved again and again, and found that my resolutions +were always snapping like a rotten cable in a storm; and I was driven +from my anchorage so often, that I almost began to despair. Then I +prayed hard to be helped; and I said to myself, 'God helps those who +help themselves, and maybe if I determine to do something that I should +be sorry to do every time that an oath comes from my mouth, it would +assist me to remember my duty.' I resolved to break my pipe the first +time that I swore; and I've never uttered an oath from that day to this, +not even in my most towering passions! Now I'll try the same cure again; +not to punish a sin, but to prevent it. If I fly into a fury, I'll break +my pipe! There Jonas Colter, I give you fair warning!" and the old +sailor smiled grimly to himself, and stirred the fire with an air of +satisfaction. + +Not one rough word did Jonas utter that evening; indeed he was +remarkably silent, for the simplest way of saying nothing evil, he +thought, was to say nothing at all. Jonas looked with much pleasure +at his pipe when he put it on the mantle-piece for the night. "You've +weathered this day, old friend," said he; "we'll be on the look out +against squalls to-morrow." + +The next morning Jonas occupied himself in his own room with his phials, +and his nephew and niece were engaged in the kitchen in preparing for +the Sunday school, which their mother made, them regularly attend. The +door was open between the two rooms and as the place was not large, +Jonas heard every word that passed between Johnny and Alie almost as +well as if he had been close beside them. + +_Johnny_. I say, Alie-- + +_Alie_. Please, Johnny, let me learn this quietly. If I do not know it +my teacher will be vexed. My work being behind-hand yesterday has put me +quite back with my tasks. You know that I cannot learn so fast as you do. + +_Johnny_. Oh! you've plenty of time. I want you to do something for me. +Do you know that I have lost my new ball? + +_Alie_. Why, I saw you take it out of your pocket yesterday, just after +we crossed the stile on our way back from the farm. + +_Johnny_. That's it! I took it out of my pocket, and I never put it in +again. I want you to go directly and look for the ball. That stile is +only three fields off, you know. You must look carefully along the path +all the way; and lose no time, or some one else may pick it up. + +_Alie_. Pray, Johnny, don't ask me to go into the fields. + +_Johnny_. I tell you, you have plenty of time for your lessons. + +_Alie_. It is not that, but-- + +_Johnny_. Speak out, will you? + +_Alie_. You know--there are--cows! + +Johnny burst into a loud, coarse laugh of derision. "You miserable +little coward!" he cried; "I'd like to see one chasing you round the +meadow! How you'd scamper! how you'd scream! rare fun it would be,--ha! +ha! ha!" + +"Rare fun would it be, sir!" exclaimed an indignant voice, as Jonas +stumped from the next room, and, seizing his nephew by the collar of his +jacket, gave him a hearty shake; "rare fun would it be,--and what do you +call this? You dare twit your sister with cowardice!--you who sneaked +off yesterday like a fox because you had not the spirit to look an old +man in the face!--you who bully the weak and cringe to the strong!--you +who have the manners of a bear with the heart of a pigeon!" Every +sentence was accompanied by a violent shake, which almost took the +breath from the boy; and Jonas, red with passion, concluded his speech +by flinging Johnny from him with such force that, but for the wall +against which he staggered, he must have fallen to the ground. + +The next minute Jonas walked up to the mantle-piece, and exclaiming, in +a tone of vexation, "Run aground again!" took his pipe, snapped it in +two, and flung the pieces into the fire! He then stumped back to his +room, slamming the door behind him. + +"The old fury!" muttered the panting Johnny between his clenched teeth, +looking fiercely towards his uncle's room. + +"To break his own pipe!" exclaimed Alie. "I never knew him do anything +like that before, however angry he might be!" + +Johnny took down his cap from its peg, and, in as ill humour as can +well be imagined, went out to search for his ball. He took what revenge +he could on his formidable uncle, while amusing himself that afternoon +by looking over his "Robinson Crusoe." Johnny was fond of his pencil, +though he had never learned to draw; and the margins of his books were +often adorned with grim heads or odd figures by his hand. There was +a picture in "Robinson Crusoe" representing a party of cannibals, +as hideous as fancy could represent them, dancing around their fire. +Johnny diverted his mind and gratified his malice by doing his best so +to alter the foremost figure as to make him appear with a wooden leg, +while he drew on his head a straw hat, unmistakably like that of the old +sailor, and touched up the features so as to give a dim resemblance to +his face. To prevent a doubt as to the meaning of the sketch, Johnny +scribbled on the side of the picture,-- + + "In search of fierce savages no one need roam; + The fiercest and ugliest, you'll find him at home!" + +He secretly showed the picture to Alie. + +"O Johnny! how naughty! What would uncle say if he saw it?" + +"We might look out for squalls indeed! but uncle never by any chance +looks at a book of that sort." + +"I think that you had better rub out the pencilling as fast as you can," +said Alie. + +"Catch me rubbing it out!" cried Johnny; "it's the best sketch that ever +I drew, and as like the old savage as it can stare!" + +Late in the evening their mother returned from Brampton, where she had +been nursing a sick lady. Right glad were Johnny and Alie to see her +sooner than they had ventured to expect. She brought them a few oranges, +to show her remembrance of them. Nor was the old sailor forgotten; +carefully she drew from her bag and presented to him a new pipe. + +The children glanced at each other. Jonas took the pipe with a curious +expression on his face, which his sister was at a loss to understand. + +"Thank'ee kindly," he said; "I see it'll be a case of-- + + "'If ye try and don't succeed, + Try, try, try again.'" + +What he meant was a riddle to every one else present, although not to +the reader. + +The "try" was very successful on that evening and the following day. +Never had Johnny and Alie found their uncle so agreeable. His manner +almost approached to gentleness,--it was a calm after a storm. + +"Uncle is so very good and kind," said Alie to her brother, as they +walked home from afternoon service, "that I wonder how you can bear to +have that naughty picture still in your book. He is not in the least +like a cannibal, and it seems quite wrong to laugh at him so." + +"I'll rub it all out one of these days," replied Johnny; "but I must +show it first to Peter Crane. He says that I never hit on a likeness: if +he sees that, he'll never say so again!" + +The next morning Jonas occupied himself with gathering wild flowers and +herbs in the fields. He carried them into his little room, where Johnny +heard him whistling "Old Tom Bowling," like one at peace with himself +and all the world. + +Presently Jonas called to the boy to bring him a knife from the kitchen; +a request made in an unusually courteous tone of voice, and with which, +of course, Johnny immediately complied. + +He found Jonas busy drying his plants, by laying them neatly between the +pages of a book, preparatory to pressing them down. What was the terror +of Johnny when he perceived that the book whose pages Jonas was turning +over for this purpose was no other than his "Robinson Crusoe"! + +"Oh! if I could only get it out of his hands before he comes to that +horrid picture! Oh! what shall I do? what shall I do?" thought the +bewildered Johnny. "Uncle, I was reading that book," at last he mustered +courage to say aloud. + +"You may read it again to-morrow," was the quiet reply of Jonas. + +"Perhaps he will not look at that picture," reflected Johnny. "I wish +that I could see exactly which part of the book he is at! He looks too +quiet a great deal for any mischief to have been done yet! Dear! dear! +I would give anything to have that 'Robinson Crusoe' at the bottom of +the sea! I do think that my uncle's face is growing very red!--yes! the +veins on his forehead are swelling! Depend on't he's turned over to +those unlucky cannibals, and will be ready to eat me like one of them! +I'd better make off before the thunder-clap comes!" + +"Going to sheer off again, Master Johnny?" said the old sailor, in a +very peculiar tone of voice, looking up from the open book on which his +finger now rested. + +"I've a little business," stammered out Johnny. + +"Yes, a little business with me, which you'd better square before you +hoist sail. Why, when you made such a good figure of this savage, did +you not clap jacket and boots on this little cannibal beside him, and +make a pair of 'em 'at home'? I suspect you and I are both in the same +boat as far as regards our tempers, my lad!" + +Johnny felt it utterly impossible to utter a word in reply. + +"I'm afraid," pursued the seaman, closing the book, "that we've both had +a bit too much of the savage about us,--too much of the dancing round +the fire. But mark me, Jack,--we learn even in that book that a savage, +a cannibal _may_ be tamed; and we learn from something far better, that +principle,--the noblest principle which can govern either the young or +the old,--_may_, ay, and _must_, put out the fire of fierce anger in our +hearts, and change us from wild beasts to men! So I've said my say," +added Jonas with a smile; "and in token of my first victory over my old +foe, come here, my boy, and give us your hand!" + +"O uncle, I am so sorry!" exclaimed Johnny, with moistened eyes, as he +felt the kindly grasp of the old man. + +"Sorry are you? and what were you on Saturday when I shook you as a cat +shakes a rat?" + +"Why, uncle, I own that I was angry." + +"Sorry now, and angry then? So it's clear that the mild way has the best +effect, to say nothing of the example." And Jonas fell into a fit of +musing. + +All was fair weather and sunshine in the home on that day, and on many +days after. Jonas had, indeed, a hard struggle to subdue his temper, and +often felt fierce anger rising in his heart, and ready to boil over in +words of passion or acts of violence; but Jonas, as he had endeavoured +faithfully to serve his Queen, while he fought under her flag, brought +the same earnest and brave sense of duty to bear on the trials of daily +life. He never again forgot his resolution, and every day that passed +made the restraint which he laid upon himself less painful and irksome +to him. + +If the conscience of any of my readers should tell him that, by his +unruly temper, he is marring the peace of his family, oh! let him not +neglect the evil as a small one, but, like the poor old sailor in my +story, resolutely struggle against it. For _an angry man stirreth up +strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression._ + + There is sin in commencing strife; + Sin in the thoughtless jest + Or angry burst, + Which awakens first + The ire in a brother's breast! + + There is sin in stirring up strife, + In fanning the smouldering flame, + By scornful eye, + Or proud reply, + Or anger-stirring name. + + There is sin in keeping up strife, + Dark, soul-destroying sin. + Who cherishes hate + May seek heaven's gate, + But never can enter in. + + For peace is the Christian's joy, + And love is the Christian's life; + He's bound for a home + Where hate cannot come, + Nor the shadow of sin or strife! + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14543 *** |