Faye Huntington

“ If you are not Christ's enemy, and if you will not acknowledge yourself as his friend, what are you?"
"I never said I wasn't his friend, only as I was put in a false position. I think I am a great deal better Christian than some who stood up there tonight, but as long as I can't talk about repentance and faith and that sort of thing, I suppose I mustn't call myself one."
"I don't understand you yet," said Herbert, perplexed and sorry. "What do you mean by being a better Christian when you don't pretend to repent of sin or to have faith in Christ?" ”

“ Oh, I am so glad! Of course I am glad that I am going, but it is for Henry that I care the most; he has waited so long and patiently for the opportunity, and now that it has come, he is just as quiet as ever, but I can't keep still. Say, Julia, don't you think it is lovely?"
"I should have said so several minutes ago, if you had given me a chance," returned Julia, laughing. "I am very glad indeed. When do you go?"
"The first of October, and this is the third week in August. Only six weeks to get ready!"
"It is fortunate that it is no longer. Westville couldn't hold you a great while." ”

“ And that day was chosen.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Jenny McNair, coming in from school about a week before Thanksgiving. "What a horrid lonesome house this is! It is the worst place when I come in at night after being with the girls all day. Nobody to speak to, nobody to welcome me. I wish—"
"What do you wish, my daughter?" asked Judge McNair, who unexpectedly appeared at the parlour door, while Jenny talked to herself as she threw off her wraps in the hall.
She hesitated, then spoke out quickly, with something in the tone that begged pardon for her suggestion. ”

“ He has always wanted me to be a lawyer, but I don't incline that way."
"You are not obliged to be a lawyer," said Lewie, laughing.
"I know," returned Herbert, "but my ambition has been to become a rich merchant—not that I should care to be just a rich man and nothing more, but I'd like to do good in the world, and if I had money, I could be so much more useful. I'd like to help poor people, build churches and send out missionaries, and that sort of thing." ”

“ Then, while every head was bowed, Mabel uttered low and reverent words—
"Jesus, dear friend, we have come here to talk with Thee and with each other. Some of us have reached the hard places, and we need help and counsel. Some of us have been sorely tried, and we need help to go forward. Let our hearts be strengthened, our faltering steps steadied and upheld, and our weak faith increased. ”

“ Mrs. Wynn called her daughter odd. "One of Mabel's freaks," or "just one of her odd whims," she would explain to her friends.
If to live for a purpose, if to do one's work with earnestness, if to seek out opportunities for doing good, if to carry the spirit of Christ into every day's living—in short, if to be a sincere, consistent Christian, if this is to be odd, then Mabel was odd. As a child she had been a Sunday-school scholar, but as she grew up, she had yielded to her mother's persuasions and discontinued her attendance. ”

“ Mr. Wynn asked, laughing. "No, I can't do it. Morse must find some other berth for his scapegrace; but I am really sorry for them. I declare," turning to his daughter, "I don't see how you happened to make a failure of him. I thought all those boys were going to turn out paragons. It seems that Perry was too much for you, eh?"
"I do not give Perry Morse up for lost yet," returned Mabel. "The freshness and purity of his boyhood may be sadly marred, but he may make a good and useful man. I have worked hard for him, but Satan has been busy too." ”

“ McNair slipped her letter back into its envelope, smoothed her hair and went down to dinner.
And so they were all following at last. As they were far from perfection as boys, so they are far from being perfect men. It takes years of Christian living and learning before we reach that higher plane where grace so abounds that sin has no foothold. But for fine specimens of noble Christian manhood, you need not go outside the little circle of "Those Boys," who have found that their chosen motto, while it is narrow as regards being of the world, is yet broad in all Christian aims. ”

“ He continued to attend church, and one evening, he arose and said—
"My friends and neighbours, you have known me for an irreligious and worldly man. I hope henceforth to be known as a humble disciple of Christ. I have much to learn. Bear with me if in weakness and ignorance I stumble, and pray that strength and wisdom may be given me."
What a thrill ran through the little company met in sadness for prayer. In sadness because Christ had seemed to withdraw from them, and lo! He was here in their midst. What wonder that a voice took up the glad song—
"Thine, O God, be all the glory." ”

“ When they came to talk it over together, the teacher said, "I hope you will all adopt it as your own motto. It is my earnest prayer that we may all make our lives as near like Christ's as possible. We shall need to 'watch and pray' if we would keep the path he has laid down, for there are many turns in this life and many things to draw us out of the narrow way. But none of you have said how you like it."
"I like it," said Lewie Amesbury. "At school, day schools, I mean, teachers are always holding up some great man for a pattern, but I think it is a great deal better to have a perfect pattern. ”

“ CHAPTER XII. A LESSON OF WAITING.
"Shall we grow weary in our watch,
And murmur at the long delay,
Impatient of our Father's time
And his appointed way?"
"How do you like your new clerk?" asked Mrs. Wynn, as she poured out the coffee one morning few months later.
"Pretty well," replied her husband. "He is teachable and improves; he has made some good sales already. To be sure he is not quite so prompt nor so industrious as Herbert, but then few boys are. I will say that for Master Herbert, if only he had not been quite so certain that his own way was the best. ”

“ The interest growing, the audience increasing in numbers, until at the last session, the great church was filled to its utmost capacity, and many hearts were throbbing with emotion. New thoughts had found their way into the minds of gray-headed old men, and to some of them it now seemed a grand thing this idea of a whole congregation coming together for the study of God's word. And old men and women almost through with church-going, the middle-aged, busy fathers and mothers, and the young, enthusiastic and eager, pledged themselves to the work and joined in the consecrating hymn. ”

“ I remember how I felt when Henry and Herbert made the decision," replied Mabel. "But why should the work stop there? Do you know," she continued, "I sometimes think that perhaps that motto was a mistake. I am afraid that some of the boys have fallen into the error of supposing that an outward observance of the rules and precepts which Christ laid down is sufficient. In their outward lives, they follow closely, but so far as I can judge, their hearts have not been opened to the Saviour. I try to make them understand how worthless is such service; but so far God seems to withhold his blessing. ”

“ Earle told them of the news that had gladdened his heart, and of one or two things that had occurred in their midst, causing him to hope that God was not far from them.
"We will watch more closely, work more diligently and pray more earnestly," said the pastor.
"Yes, we will!" exclaimed Deacon Griffin, whose whole heart—and it was a large one—was warmed by this bit of sunshine; and such a prayer as he then and there offered! Such thanksgiving! Such entreaty! Surely God must have heard.
Meantime a great tumult arose in Herbert Bradford's heart as he read Tom's letter. Tom a Christian! ”

“ As for Mr. Wynn, he was more disturbed by the event than he cared to own. He had been pleased with Herbert in most respects, and had resolved upon promoting him as fast as practicable, with a view to giving him a permanent position in the store.
"Queer, isn't it, that a fellow would spoil his prospects by such a bit of nonsense?" he said that day at dinner time. "I suspect, Mabel, it is some of your work."
"What, father?"
"Why, that boy Herbert thinks he knows all about the principles of business, and in carrying out his theories has forfeited his place, that is all." ”

“ I have somewhere said that Nick Turner was an out-and-out loafer. He worked when obliged to, and the rest of the time, he smoked, drank, and gambled. His father was a well-to-do farmer, living half a mile from the village. Kindly old Mr. Turner and his sweet-faced wife were growing old and sad faster than their years warranted. Years do not bow one down to the earth like the carrying of a heavy heart; and what burden can weigh heavier upon a parent's heart than the living death of the first-born? ”

“ Duncan, if we who profess to be following Christ are in no wise different from those who are walking in the ways of sin, how shall we recommend our faith? If, through fear of repelling, we fail to attract, what have we gained? There is a great deal of that sort of talk nowadays, but I think it is all wrong. We are expressly enjoined to 'come out from the world,' to 'love not the world,' to 'be not conformed to the world.' If these words mean anything, they mean that you and I, and all who are the disciples of Christ, have no part in that which must come under the head of worldly dissipation. ”

“ There is just one thing to prevent a stranger from getting hopelessly lost in the tangle of crossings and twistings. The principal footpath is of white marble, and this leads directly to the Ponte di Rialto. So one has only to keep to this white line to come out all right. And I have often thought," continued the speaker, whom Mabel now recognized as Dr. V., an eminent Sunday-school worker, "how the life of Jesus, pure and perfect, leading straight on to the goal of our aspirations, is laid before us in the Gospels, a sure guide for our feet amid the crooked ways of life." ”

“ Lewie and Duncan met somewhere in the street, and decided to go to meeting together, but soon learned that there was none to go to; and presently they met Miss Wynn coming from the darkened church, herself quite in the dark.
"I wonder what it means," she said. "I thought there was to be service every evening!"
"So there was," Lewie replied. "I couldn't come last night, but I came tonight, to keep my promise. But it seems that science is better than religion—for some folks," he added quickly, as Mabel said, "O Lewie!" ”

“ I tell you, Mabel, this mixing all sorts of fanciful ideas up with the matter of earning one's bread, won't answer. Herbert will find that success don't run in the same track with his sentimental religious notions. Business is one thing and religion is another."
"I confess that such seems to be the prevalent opinion," said Mabel, "but I—well, I like to see people carry their religion with them, not lay it upon the shelf. Our faith is given us to help over hard places, and if one does not keep it about him continually, it is pretty sure to be out of call when most needed. ”

“ McNair branched off upon a less painful topic.
Meanwhile Perry, sullen and defiant, listened to his father's reproaches, which were neither few nor mild.
"To think that a son of mine should be a drunkard! A man of my position in both business and religious circles! Young man, it is positively outrageous!"
"Father," said Perry, with a sneer, "I wouldn't find so much fault with my own work if I were you. If I am a drunkard, you made me one."
"I made you one! What an abominable story to invent! Pray tell me how I, a temperance man, succeeded so admirably in the work you credit me with." ”