"It would have been foolish for his uncle to tell him to be sure not to touch the box, and to offer him a reward for not touching it, if he knew that he could not act according to his own choice. Satan evidently thought that our first parents could eat of the forbidden fruit, or abstain from eating, as they chose; for he presented many arguments to induce them to partake of it. These would have been breath spent in vain, if he was sure they would eat of it. Poor Eve yielded to his wicked solicitations; and when— "'She saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave unto her husband with her, and he did eat.' "By what arguments she prevailed upon him to disobey the only command of their Maker, the Bible does not inform us. Having eaten the forbidden fruit, the covenant of life was forfeited; they fell from the state of purity and holiness, wherein they were created, by sinning against God." "We will now return to the history of Edward. One, two, three weeks of the month had passed away, and Mrs. Rowe had entirely forgotten the conversation about the box; but she had noticed that for a day or two her son had not appeared well. She determined to question him upon the subject. "She was sitting after dinner with her husband, who had not yet left the house, when they were startled by a loud scream of distress. Starting to their feet, they knew not which way to run, when there came another prolonged, agonizing cry. Rushing up stairs in the direction in which the sound seemed to proceed, they distinctly heard dreadful groans from the attic. "There lay poor Edward upon the floor, his hands pressed convulsively to his side, from which the blood was oozing through the clothes. The fatal box was opened, and a pistol, which had been so arranged as to protect the contents, had gone off when the boy lifted the lid." [Illustration: Edward opening the fatal box.] "Mr. Rowe tore open his clothes and tried to stanch the blood, while the almost distracted mother flew down stairs to send for a physician. For weeks Edward lay in bed after the ball had been extracted, suffering the most acute pain, and tortured by bitter remorse for his conduct. The physician at length told his mother that he feared her poor boy would never again be perfectly well.