Madeline Leslie

“ I think Lionel is the ugliest, meanest boy I ever saw. I dare say he found the chain himself."
"Don't—oh, Annie! I'm afraid it's wrong for you to feel so."
May understood now why Mr. Monks had said, "you and I know that Frank is innocent." He had heard this awful charge. "Oh, it is too cruel!" she exclaimed, laying her head on the seat.
"I shouldn't think the big girls would act so," continued Annie. "Sophy, and Maria, and Sarah Ann said, they shouldn't speak to you. They called you sister to a thief; and Maggie said, like as not you knew all about it. Everybody said you were awful poor now." ”

“ I am sorry to lose my chain and seals; but I am glad to say I suspect no one in school or out. I find the ring of my watch is broken, and no doubt, it slipped off during some of my walks."
May was thoughtful for a few moments. "Mr. Monks," she said at last, "do you think anybody can, really and truly, obey the rule about charity?"
"Let me answer your question by asking another. Do you think our Father in Heaven would have commanded us to do anything which he knew we could not do?"
"No, sir; on, no, indeed! I didn't mean that; but it is very hard sometimes to have charity for everybody." ”

“ LITTLE did May realize how soon her schoolmates would have occasion for charity toward one dear to her as her own right hand.
On her way to school, she met two or three of the girls of her own class, who were talking, but who stopped as soon as she came within hearing. She spoke to them in her usual pleasant tone, but perceived that they were embarrassed, and, more annoyed than she liked to show, she passed on alone.
Before she reached the Academy, she heard Lionel talking in a loud tone to a group around the steps, and at last heard the words:
"How mean! I despise a thief." ”

“ I never can live here where they think me a thief."
"Oh, sis! and Lionel too! Why I have helped him to keep his place in the class by going over his lessons with him for a year. He knows I didn't take the chain. He does it out of envy, because; though I'm younger, I'm always above him."
He spoke bitterly, and poor May, who had been silently weeping, said softly:
"Don't, Frank; don't feel so. I'm sure it isn't right. There's mother at the window. She'll feel badly enough."
Mrs. Monks ran to the door to see what brought them home; and Ida held out her arms to Frank begging to be taken to ride. ”

“ Monks," she said, choking back a sob, "I'm so sorry. I can't help loving Arthur dearly. I know Jesus forgave you."
He caught her in his arms; and blessed tears came to his relief.
"You did not need the lesson," he faltered, at last. "You did have charity for poor Frank."
"Oh, I knew he didn't take the chain! He isn't such a kind of boy. I'm almost sure now the scholars wont treat him unkindly any more. ”

“ He was all that a brother could be: noble, brave, generous, loving, faithful; aye, even till death. We loved each other as few boys love; and when I, who was the oldest by eleven months, entered a store as book-keeper, I was not happy until he joined me in learning to be a merchant. I was called grave; and he was mirthful. I heard my employers praise him. I saw them watch his active, pleased endeavors to be useful, and the serpent of suspicion began to steal into my breast. At last one of the clerks left, and Arthur was promoted to a position higher than my own. ”

“ The room seemed to whirl around, growing darker and darker every minute, until, with a groan, she fell to the floor.
The bell for study to commence was just ringing when, with a shriek, Annie rushed into the school-room exclaiming:
"She's dead! Oh come! Do come!" ”

“ Monks thinks I stole the chain."
He merely told his mother that May had fainted in the school, and the teacher sent them home. Then jumping into the buggy, he rode away.
In the mean time, Mr. Monks returned to the recitation room and shut the door.
"Shall I tell them of my own experience?" he asked himself. "Can I open again the wound? They need a warning as to the danger of thinking evil of those about them. A lesson on charity would have double force now. But I cannot; no, such a confession is not required." ”

“ But there are some who have not your charity."
May Jocelyn, who also attended Mr. Monk's school, repeated to her mother the account of her teacher's loss, and innocently wondered who Lionel Trask meant.
"The scholars all love our teacher so dearly," she went on, "that they would carry him the chain at once. I can't think of a boy so likely to conceal it as Lionel himself."
"Charity thinketh no evil," repeated a manly voice from behind. ”

“ Not a sound could be heard except the sobs by which the scholars showed their sympathy with their teacher, and presently, in a broken voice, he asked God to teach them all, both instructors and scholars, to cultivate charity which is the bond of perfectness. ”

“ If the recital will teach you to be more forbearing, to think no evil of your neighbors, to hope for the best, to rejoice not in iniquity, but to rejoice in good, then I shall be willing to endure the pain. ”

“ He was locking his desk, when he thought he heard a noise in the hall, and presently Lionel came in, blushing painfully.
"I forgot my geography," he muttered, going toward his seat, "and oh, Mr. Monks, I believe Frank is innocent! I'm sorry I said what I did. He isn't such a kind of boy as that. He found my rubbers when I thought they were lost; and he might have kept them if he'd been a thief; and oh, Mr. Monks! If it hadn't been for Frank, I never could have kept up with the class. He makes me study my lessons over and over, when a great many times I think I can't do it ”

“ Monday afternoon, when the scholars were out at recess, and the teacher was examining copy books, Annie came timidly toward him. The dear child had regarded him with a kind of awe since the night she saw him weep, and did not speak until he addressed her.
"What is it, Annie? Can I help you?"
"Yes, sir," she answered, clasping her hands, her eyes sparkling. "We're going to do something splendid. May I tell you about it."
"Yes, yes, indeed."
"We're going to have a society; and we'll call it for charity. I mean we're going to try and feel kindly to everybody ”

“ Monks, "and ask your mother to give her some ammonia. You can return or not, as you please. No marks for absence will be given to either of you."
Lionel started, when he saw May looking so pale and wan. "For the first time," he reflected, "I may be mistaken. Frank certainly does not look nor act like a thief." ”

“ CHAPTER VII. CHARITY REVIVED.
MR. MONKS was here so overcome that he groaned aloud, seizing the chair to support himself. It was several minutes before he recovered his voice.
"If I have learned to be careful in judging others, to try and think and hope for the best, instead of the worst," he went on at last, "I acquired the lesson in a fearful school. That night, Arthur, my beloved, my only brother, was seized with delirium. He lived ten days ”