C. E. Bowen

“ Did you ever see a sovereign?" he asked.
"Never but once or twice," replied Dick, "and they looked exactly like that;" and he pointed to the bright yellow farthing in Sir John's fingers.
"Your mistake is a very natural one, my boy. Eyes more accustomed than yours to look at gold might easily have been deceived. Now come in with me and tell me all about yourself, and where you learned to be so honest." ”

“ Dick eagerly opened the paper; there were four pennies inside—and he stared with amazement, there was also a small, very bright yellow coin!
He had only once or twice seen a sovereign in his life, and never had had one in his hand. His companion, a boy named Larkins who lived near Roan's Court, uttered an exclamation. "Why, Dick, he's given you a bit of yellow money; you lucky fellow!" Dick gave quite a shout of joy.
[Illustration: "THERE, MY LAD, HOLD IT FIRMLY; THE HORSE IS QUIET ENOUGH."]
He felt almost giddy, and as if a large fortune had fallen into his hands. ”

“ I know twenty ways in which I can do him a bad turn."
"Stop, stop, my boy," said Walters, "I don't like to hear you speak so. That would be spite for spite. The dear Master did not act so when they tried all they could to vex Him. Yet He never did wrong in any way. You, on the contrary, are constantly standing in need of forgiveness from God. So you must learn to forgive even as you would be forgiven."
"I will try," said Dick, feeling rather ashamed of his speech.
"Do, my lad; but you won't be able to do it in your own strength, for it goes contrary to human nature. ”

“ Dick was getting older and taller, and Walters thought it was time for him to have some regular employment. He was so interested in the lad that he took a walk to Roan's Court one day to speak to his parents about him; but it was unfortunately an evening when they were neither of them quite in a state to be talked to on the subject. He left them in disgust, and with feelings of deep pity for their child. He did not know how to help him, for he lived his own lonely life, knowing scarcely any one; certainly no one who could be of use to Dick. ”

“ Soon, great, busy London was left behind, and houses and churches only came at intervals, but green fields and trees took their place, and they were in the country, which was far more beautiful than Dick's wildest dreams had ever pictured it. He was quite surprised that all the servants talked away to each other, and scarcely ever turned their heads to look out of the window. Susan was the only one who seemed to understand his admiration. ”

“ Amongst the servants going away was Susan, who had been so terrified lest Dick should prove an accomplice of burglars. She looked at him with very complacent feelings now, for Sir John had told the story of the bright farthing, and explained that he had spoken truth when he said he wanted to give the gentleman some money and not to beg of him. With his usual kind thoughtfulness, the baronet had been anxious that the servants should feel an interest in their young fellow-traveller, who would naturally be strange and shy amongst them all. ”

“ For Dick had a very tender heart, and one that was quite ready to receive all that was said to him. He brought the three apples out of his pockets and asked Walters to take them away from him.
"But they are not mine; I can't take them," he said.
"Then I will throw them away," said Dick.
"That will not be right," said Walters, "for they are not yours to throw away; they are the woman's."
Dick looked bewildered; he did not know what to do with them.
"I think you ought to give them back to their owner," said Walters. "I know her, and she is very kind and will forgive you directly, I am sure. ”

“ But though Dick was a stranger to both church and Sunday-school, an instructor was raised up for him in a quarter no one would have expected. Not far from Covent Garden, in a single room, lived an old man named John Walters, who had a small pension from a gentleman whose servant he had once been, and who increased his means by doing a variety of jobs about the market, where he was quite an institution. This old man loved his God and loved his Bible. ”

“ When tea was over, the methodical old gentleman washed up the cups and saucers and plates, and put everything away in the cupboard. Then he said—
"Now, Dick, I have something to say to you—something you won't like half as much as eating the bacon. You have some apples in your pockets, which you stole from the woman when she dropped them and they rolled under the hamper. Dick, it is a very shocking thing to be a thief, and yet you are one!" ”

“ There was an excellent village school in Denham, and a superior schoolmaster. So it was arranged for Dick to attend school every morning, and be in the garden in the afternoon. The schoolmaster also agreed to teach him Latin three evenings in the week.
"Sir John never does things by halves," remarked Mrs Naylor to her husband. "He'll be the making of that boy, you'll see."
"He'll help him to be the making of himself," replied Naylor. "Dick is a boy, if I mistake not, who will make good use of whatever advantages are held out to him." ”

“ After a drive of about a mile, they came in sight of a large mansion standing on a rising ground in the midst of beautiful gardens, which glowed with flowers of every colour. The carriage stopped at a lodge, and now Dick was told he was to get down, as here he was to live with the gardener and his wife. A pleasant, motherly-looking woman appeared at the door, who was addressed as Mrs Naylor. She gave the servants a kindly greeting, and as the carriage drove on, took hold of Dick's hand, and said she was sure he must be tired and hungry, and had better have some tea directly. ”

“ The child seldom knew real hunger, for there was generally something to be found in the three-cornered cupboard to which he had free access, nor did he often get the hard words and blows that are so apt to fall to the lot of the unfortunate children of drinking parents. Neither Nason nor his wife were ranked amongst the more brawling and disorderly inhabitants of Roan's Court; though drink stupefied and rendered them helpless and good-for-nothing often for days together, especially after Nason had had a good haul into his big clothes-bag, and had turned its contents into money. ”

“ They never look after him; they leave him to play about and shift for himself. I believe they would be glad enough to have him taken off their hands."
"Do you think he would like to be brought up as a gardener?" asked Sir John. "As he is so fond of flowers, I should think his tastes would lie that way."
"It would be just what would suit him," said Walters. "The lad is wild after flowers. The first thing he did yesterday after you gave him half a-crown, was to go and spend a shilling of it in buying a rose-tree in a pot for my window. ”

“ The woman, Mrs. Needham by name, was greatly surprised when Walters came to her stall as she was laying it out, and told her that Dick wished to return her three apples he had been tempted to put into his pockets the day before. Poor Dick scarcely said a word himself, he felt so frightened lest Mrs. Needham should be very angry; but she only spoke kindly to him, and said she hoped he would never do such a thing again. Indeed, she was just going to give him back one of the apples; but Walters was wiser, and shook his head at her and led Dick away. ”

“ CHAPTER I DICK AND THE APPLES.
Few children, if any, who read this tale will probably be able to form any idea of such a wretched home as that in which lived little Dick Nason, the ragman's son. There are houses and rooms in some of the back streets in London where men, women, and children herd almost like wild beasts—haunts of iniquity and misery, and where the name of God is never heard except in the utterance of terrible oaths or execrations. Such was Roan's Court, a place which gave the police continual trouble, and many a hard blow in the execution of their duty. ”

“ This caused Mr Naylor to reprove Dick for idleness, and he seemed inclined to think that what he said about the leaves having been scattered was all an excuse, especially as Dick could not say who had done it, though in his secret heart he felt quite sure he knew.
Another ill-natured trick that was played on Dick by an unseen, though to him not an unknown hand, was when he one day left his slate for a few minutes on a seat just inside the lodge gate, on which was a difficult sum over which he had spent a long time the evening before, and had at last mastered, though with great difficulty. ”

“ Lessons of far higher value were being constantly given to him by Walters, whose heart was full of love for his Saviour, and who longed to bring this little lamb into His fold, and secure him against all the temptations that, with such parents and in such a neighbourhood as Roan's Court, he would be subjected to as he grew older. Fortunately for Dick, his father's and mother's carelessness about him turned to good account by enabling him to be a great deal with Walters. ”

“ Some boys make thieving a trade and exult in it. Dick had sometimes purloined what was not his own, in the same manner that he had done the apples. He did not look out for opportunities, but if one such as this came in his way he did not try to resist the temptation.
He was rather startled when he felt some one lay a hand firmly on his shoulder. It was the hand of John Walters, who said to him—
"I want to speak a word to you, my man. Come home with me and I'll give you a cup of tea. I'm going to have mine directly." Dick looked up into his face. ”

“ It is not enough merely to tell God we are sorry and to ask His forgiveness; we must prove to God and to ourselves that we really are grieved for our sin by humbling ourselves to ask pardon of those to whom we have done wrong, and by trying to repair the wrong. ”

“ After a time I heard horse's hoofs, and saw James come up. He walked by the pond, slowly at first, then he went quicker, and next he trotted. The pretty creature was quite quiet. Then he went to a little distance, and put him into a canter. Now was my time; I pulled my cracker just as he got to the pond. The horse sprang up into the air, bolted forward, and the next instant was running away fast and fleet as the very wind. I heard the hoofs going at a mad pace, and I knew his rider had lost all control over him. Not for one moment had I intended to drive the horse wild like that. ”

“ In a very short time he was quite settled, and seeing that he would really prefer it, Mrs Benson allowed him to wait a good deal on himself, and to do in every respect as he had been accustomed. The neighbours soon learned to like the gentle, kind old man who was ever ready to perform any little service for them in his power, such as going on an errand, sitting with a sick child, or reading to an invalid of riper years. ”

“ Sir John's domestics went off as usual a day or two before the rest of the family, to make all ready for their arrival. No one was better pleased than Dick that the season was over. He liked to see the ladies walking or riding about the grounds, and to have their kind smile and almost daily greeting. Also he loved to have the encouraging word which was sure to be given by Sir John when he had questioned Naylor and the schoolmaster about him, and heard a good report. ”

“ George Bentham's character did not improve as he got older. He was so unsatisfactory in many ways that Mr Naylor would have dismissed him altogether, had it not been for Sir John's kind desire to keep him on, for he knew the wages he gave were higher than he would obtain elsewhere. Neither he nor Naylor were aware of the dislike he had from the first taken to Dick, who never named the annoyances he had to bear from him to any one except Walters.
"I have never done anything to him," he said one day; "yet he is always trying to spite me in every way he can. ”

“ Old Walters did not forget his little friend, nor did Dick lose his warm, affectionate love for him. They exchanged letters from time to time, and the correspondence was very useful in keeping up in Dick's mind the remembrance of all Walters had taught him. Sir John kindly sent for the old man when he was in town to give a favourable report of the boy, and tell him that Mr Naylor was well satisfied with him, and believed he would one day make a first-rate gardener, for that his good taste was something quite unusual, and his general intelligence of no ordinary stamp. ”

“ George never again annoyed Dick.
We must pass over the next few years of Dick's history more rapidly. He did not disappoint the expectations of those who had done so much for him. He improved rapidly, and developed so strong a taste for landscape gardening that Sir John and Mr Naylor advised him to lay himself out chiefly for that branch of the profession, and every aid was given him to do so. Sir John thought that his steady character, united to considerable natural talent, well deserved encouragement. ”

“ It will be easier for the reader to imagine than for me to describe the delight of a young London boy, removed from such a home as that of Dick's in Roan's Court, to this in which he awoke the morning after his arrival. Mrs Naylor was disposed to be pleased with her young charge. Her husband at first thought him too young and ignorant to have been worth transplanting from London to Denham Court. It was "one of Sir John's whims," he said to his wife. ”

“ It seems to me that just as it was put into my heart to take Dick from the scenes of sin and temptation he was exposed to in Roan's Court, so now it is given me to have the privilege of making your last years far more comfortable than they would be in your lodging in town. The proposal I wish to make to you is this: I have a cottage in the village which I have given for her life to an attached faithful old servant, who lives there with her niece. ”

“ They were sitting by the fireside in Walters' little parlour. Dick had been to take his Latin lesson. As Mrs Benson's cottage lay on his way home, he had turned in to see Walters. He was about to bid good-bye to him after these last words, but the old man stopped him and said—
"Wait a bit, and I'll tell you something that will show you how bad a thing is spite or revenge. Maybe it will prevent you ever feeling the desire to vex a person back because they vex you. ”

“ I used to see James ride by, exercising his new master's horse, and my thoughts were very bitter.
"Mr Anderson had a daughter who was very delicate, and was ordered horse exercise. Her father had bought her a beautiful creature which had Arab blood in its veins—that means that it was high bred and full of spirit. Now Miss Anderson had not yet been allowed to mount him because he had such a bad trick of shying when he came to any water. There was a certain pool which lay by the roadside between our village and Mr Anderson's house, which he would never pass without a great fuss. ”