Christian fiction; Didactic fiction; Domestic fiction; England -- Juvenile fiction; Mothers and sons -- Juvenile fiction
Fred, being no longer a boy, was becoming just as anxious as any one to
make money, live comfortably, and provide well for his children. The
misfortune was that this wish, instead of making him work hard and find
pleasure in it, made him discontented and anxious to find some short
cut to fortune. He found it very galling that he was not as completely
manager of the brewery as his father had been, forgetting that if such
a manager as his father had been wanted, he would not have got the
situation. Mr. Frank Hopper was very kind and pleasant, but he was
distinctly the master; and although Fred was flattered by his friendly
manner, and much pleased when he offered to be godfather to his first
boy—the eldest child was a girl—still, he felt that he was only a kind
of head clerk, or foreman, instead of managing the business himself,
and he resented this in private.
I wonder how often "lead me not into temptation" means "give me grace
to be contented"? Certainly a discontented man is a man peculiarly
open to temptation. And it came to Fred through his stepmother. I do
not know exactly how he discovered that she was using her money, her
"insignificant little sum of money," as she called it when he spoke to
her, in speculating. He warned her that she was running a risk. She
assured him that she ran no risk, and that she had really increased
her store "a little." But she never mentioned to him her brother, the
stockbroker's clerk.
Not unnaturally Fred began to think that if a woman like his stepmother
could make money in this way, he could no doubt do very much better.
There was a rule in the firm that no employé should speculate, on pain
of dismissal. But, then, no one need ever know! So Fred Rayburn set out
gaily on the road to ruin.
When he had been married for some years, a great grief befell him and
Janet. They had three children, a girl and two boys, and they all three
got the measles, and the little girl died. Little Frank and the baby,
Fred, recovered. Frank was a very loving little fellow, and long after
they hoped he would have forgotten his playfellow, he would begin to
cry at the sight of some toy or picture which reminded him of her, and
his words:
"Where is Lily? Oh, I want Lily," went to his mother's heart.
At first, Janet tried to turn his thoughts into some other channel; but
Frank still "wanted Lily," and at last Janet began to comfort him by
telling him that Lily had gone to heaven, and was very happy—every one
was happy there.
"Who takes care of her, muddie?"
"God, my dear."
"Does He love her?"
"Oh, yes; very much!"
Frank thought this over for a while, and presently remarked—
"But we love her too. Oh, I want Lily back again, muddie!"
"She cannot come," poor Janet said slowly; "but you must be very good,
and then some day you will go to heaven too, and see her again."
Hereupon Frank startled her by asking, "Who told you that, muddie? How
do you know about it?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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