"My son, I know you do not mean to be untruthful, but to say that you cannot learn your lesson is really not the truth; the difficulty is not so much in the ability as in the will. And are you not indulging a naughty temper?" "Mamma," he said, hanging his head, "you don't know how hard Latin is." "Why, what do you mean, my son?" she asked in surprise; "you certainly know that I have studied Latin." "Yes, mamma, but wasn't it easier for you to learn than it is for me?" "I think not," she said with a smile, "though I believe I had more real love for study and was less easily conquered by difficulties; and yet--shall I tell you a little secret?" "Oh yes, ma'am, please do!" he answered, turning a bright, interested face to hers. "Well, I disliked Latin at first, and did not want to study it. I should have coaxed very hard to be excused from doing so, but that I dared not, because my papa had strictly forbidden me to coax or tease after he had given his decision; and he had said Latin was to be one of my studies. There was one day, though, that I cried over my lesson and insisted that I could not learn it." "And what did grandpa do to you?" he asked with great interest. "Treated me just as he does you--told me I _must_ learn it, and that I could not dine with him and mamma or leave my room until I knew it. And, my boy, I see now that he was wise and kind, and I have often been thankful since that he was so firm and decided with me." "But did you learn it?" "Yes; nor did it take me long when once I gave my mind to it with determination. That is exactly what you need to do. The great fault of your disposition is lack of energy and perseverance, a fault grandpa and I must help you to conquer, or you will never be of much use in the world." "But, mamma, it seems to me I shall not need to do much when I'm a man," he remarked a little shamefacedly; "haven't you a great deal of money to give us all?" "It may be all gone before you are grown up," she said gravely. "I shall be glad to lose it if its possession is to be the ruin of my sons. But I do not intend to let any of you live in idleness, for that would be a sin, because our talents must be improved to the utmost and used in God's service, whether we have much or little money or none at all. Therefore each of my boys must study a profession or learn some handicraft by which he can earn his own living or make money to use in doing good. "Now I am going to leave you," she added, rising, "and if you do not want to give me a sad heart you will set to work at that lesson with a will, and soon have it ready to recite to your grandpa." "Mamma, I will, to please you," he returned, drawing the book toward him. "Do it to please God, your kind heavenly Father, even more than to make me happy," she answered, laying her hand caressingly on his head.