Mountain Moggy; The Stoning of the Witch, by William H G Kingston. 

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This is quite a short book, taking only 2. 5 hours to read, yet it packsquite a punch. 

It is devoted to the theme of Forgiveness. On a remote mountainside inWales there dwells a broken-down old woman, whom the local childrenbelieve to be a witch. As such she will live for ever, and cannot behurt, so they amuse themselves by going to her hut, taunting her, andthrowing stones at the hut. One evening one of these stones knocks aburning stick from the fire, and sets fire to the old woman, but bychance a young midshipman who has lost his way, is nearby, helps her, and takes word to the village that she is badly hurt. 

The local clergyman had previously been a medical doctor, and rushes upto the hut to see what can be done. One of the local women helps withOld Mountain Moggy as well. Old Moggy shows true forgiveness toWilliam, one of the Doctor's sons, even though he had been one of theringleaders in taunting her. William is very much moved by this. 

Time goes on, and on his next leave the young midshipman brings one ofhis shipmates, Tom, to share his holiday with him. Tom tells the storyof how he had been brought up, and Mountain Moggy tells her story, aswell. 

The story has a happy ending, after a fashion, literally on the verylast page of the book. 

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MOUNTAIN MOGGY; THE STONING OF THE WITCH, BY WILLIAM H G KINGSTON. 

CHAPTER ONE. 

The succession of mountain ranges, precipitous and rugged, which extendfrom the shores of the Irish Sea to the boundaries of England, risingtier above tier, and culminating, at different points, in the heights ofSnowdon, Cader Idris, and Plinlimmon, gives to wild Wales that romanticbeauty for which it is so justly celebrated. That mountain region, too, guarded by the strong arms and undaunted hearts of its heroic sons, formed an impassable bulwark against the advance of barbarian invaders, and remained for many years, while Saxon England was yet pagan, the mainrefuge of that Christian religion to which Britain owes its presentgreatness. Yet subsequently, on account of the inaccessible nature ofthe country, the inhabitants, separated from their more enlightenedfellow-subjects, remained for a long period almost as ignorant as theirancestors in the dark ages; and, till of late years, retained many ofthe grosser superstitions and customs of those times. 

A young traveller was climbing the side of one of these mountain rangesfacing the ocean, the silvery waters of which could be discerned in thedistance, when he observed, far up, a hut. Solitary and cheerless itlooked, scarcely to be distinguished from the sombre colouring of thesurrounding ground and the rocks and bushes amid which it stood. It wasweather-worn and dilapidated, and appeared altogether unfit to be theabode of a human being; indeed, a thin wreath of peat smoke ascendingfrom an aperture in the roof alone made it likely that it was inhabited. Its appearance offered no temptation to the young stranger to turnaside from the path he was pursuing, and he continued his ascent till hegained a rocky pinnacle, from whence he could watch the sun dipping intothe ocean; and hence he could look down, on one side, over a confusedmass of barren hills and fertile valleys, rocks, and precipices, heightscrowned with trees, peaks bare and rugged, and glens with sparklingtorrents dashing and foaming amid them; while on the other side, towardsthe ocean, he saw before him a wide and smiling valley, with a streammeandering through it, and green meadows and groves of trees, from amongwhich a church spire reared its pointed summit; and near it a cheerfulvillage of white-washed cottages and other dwellings of more pretension;and there were sheep feeding, and cattle wending their way slowlyhomeward, all speaking of peace and security. 

"I could not have selected a more lovely spot to spend an evening in, had I been allowed a choice, " said the young traveller to himself, as hetook his seat on the highest point he could find. "As I cannot find myhome, I could not be better off. I thought that I knew perfectly wellthe place my family have got to, but I am fairly puzzled with the Welshnames. I ought to have kept my brother's letters in which he hadclearly written it down. Whether it is Twrog-y-Bwlch, orLlwyd-y-Cynfael, or Dwyryd-y-Ffetiog, I am sure I don't know. I hit theright post-town, of that I am nearly certain. There's a village in thebottom. I might go down and inquire, but then I probably should notfind my way back again over the mountain to the inn where I left mytraps. I hope that I may hit it off to-morrow. It's very tantalising, and provoking too, to be so near home, and yet not able to find it. Itwas very stupid to lose the letter. They do say midshipmen are verycareless chaps, and that I am no exception to the rule. Well, I have noreason to grumble. I haven't enjoyed such a sight as this for many aday, though it's something like being mast-headed, except with thedifference that I may go down when I like. I should enjoy it more if Ihad a messmate to talk to about it. The air is wonderfully fine uphere. It makes me feel inclined to shout out at the top of my voice, `Rule, Britannia, Britannia rules the waves, And Britons never, never, never will be slaves, ' Hurra! That's it. Hurra, boys! `We'll fightand we'll conquer again and again. '"

Thus the happy young midshipman gave full scope to the exuberance of hisspirits, feeling very sure that no one was listening to him. As heceased, a curiously wild, mournful strain struck his ear, ascending frombelow him on the west, and forming a strange contrast to the merry noteshe had been singing. It was like the noonday song of the joyous lark, as he soars into the blue sky, answered by the midnight croak of theraven as he sits on the old abbey's ivy-covered wall. He listened. Itseemed rather like a continued shriek than a song, or the fearful cry ofthe fabled Banshee as she flits by the family mansion in Ireland, towarn the inmates, as is ignorantly supposed, that one of their numbermust prepare to quit the world, its pleasures and its sorrows. Theyoung midshipman's mind was, however, too well trained to indulge evenfor a moment in any such fancies, for he owed his education to a wise, religious, and loving father. Yet he was sorely puzzled at first toaccount for the wild strains which floated through the air, till hecaught sight of the ruined hut he had observed on his way up, anddiscerned a large rent in the roof, through which he supposed the soundsuttered by its inmate must be ascending. He was too far off todistinguish the words; but that there were words uttered, and probablyas strange as the music itself, if music he could call it, he was verycertain. Now the strains rose to a high pitch, now they swelled, nowdecreased into a low moan scarcely audible. 

"Some poor mad creature, " said the midshipman to himself. "I shouldthink nobody but a mad person would live in such a place as that; intruth, if anybody had to live there, its solitude and its forlorncondition would be enough to drive them out of their senses; it wouldme, I know; only I should forthwith set to work to make it habitable. To be sure, I shouldn't be worse off than Tom and I were when we werecast away on that coral island in the Pacific, except that there we hadsummer all the year round and abundance of food of one sort or another. Here it must be terribly cold in winter, and as for food, a person wouldsoon starve if he were compelled to live only on what the hillsideproduces. " The young midshipman had got into the habit of talking tohimself, either during his night watches, or, it is just possible, whileat the mast-head, at which post of honour, in some ships, the younggentlemen of his rank used to spend a considerable portion of theirexistence. 

The strange singing continued for some time. As he looked down from hisrocky height he saw a number of persons coming up the hill, apparentlyfrom the village towards the hut. They appeared from their movements tobe children. They got close to the hut, and were hid from his sight. Now they seemed to be running away--now they returned, leaping andshouting, so that their shrill young voices reached to where he sat. Suddenly he saw them all running down the hill, just as children run, jumping and pushing against each other, and evidently in high glee. Themidshipman was considering that it was time for him to return to his innfor the night, when a loud shriek, which came from the direction of thehut, struck his ear, and he saw a bright light streaming through theaperture in the roof. "Something is the matter, " he exclaimed, asjumping from his seat he ran down the mountain towards the hut: "thecottage or its inmate is on fire; I must do my best to put out theflame, at all events. "

CHAPTER TWO. 

An old woman was the sole occupant of that cheerless hut on the bleakhillside just described. She sat, on that evening, on a low stoolbefore the hearth, on which a few clods of peat, smouldering slowly withsome scarcely dry sticks on the top of them, served as an apology for afire, and threw out the smallest possible heat to warm the shrivelledpalms held up ever and anon before it. As she sat, occasionally rockingherself backwards and forwards, she sang, in a voice which sometimessounded high and shrill, till it rose into almost a shriek, and thenagain sank down into a long-continued moan. She uttered words oftenwith great rapidity, though even the poor creature herself mightscarcely have been able to explain the burden of her song. The gentlebreeze, pleasant in the cheerful sunshine, sighed through the rents inthe tottering walls, and amid the branches of the solitary, crookedpine-tree, which bent its riven head over the building, its distortedlimbs creaking and groaning as they swayed to and fro; while an owlshrieked his twit-to-hoo to the departing sun, as he prepared to goabroad with other creatures of the night in search of prey; and coldgrey twilight covered the mountain-side. There still sat the lone oldwoman, crouching over the mocking fire. Dark and drear was the hovel--floor it had none, save the damp, cold earth--nor was there a chimney orother outlet for the smoke, except a hole which a branch of theill-favoured pine-tree had made in the roof, in one of his most restlessmoods. More light came through this hole than through the window, thebroken panes of which were stuffed with rags, dry grass, and heather, though not tight enough to prevent the wind from whistling, and therain, snow, and sleet from driving in upon the wretched inmate. Exceptwhere the solitary gleam of cold evening light fell upon the crouchingfigure of poor Mountain Moggy, all else in the hovel was gloom andobscurity. Little, however, did Moggy heed the weather. Winter orsummer, chilling blasts or warm sunshine, the changeful seasons broughtno change to her. Her brain was on fire, her heart cold and forlorn, "icy cold, utterly forlorn and deserted, " so she says, and all feelingfor outward things has long since departed. 

Why does Moggy start, clasp her bony hands, open wide her almostsightless eyes, and mutter, "Yes, yes--that's it. Forgive us ourtrespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. But it's hard, very hard to forgive our foes. Does God find it so hard to forgive me?"Then again she starts off in her wild song. 

Once more she is silent, and listens to some noises outside. She seemssorely distressed. Again and again she starts. The noises increase, children's feet and voices are heard around the hut, and--is itpossible?--a stone comes whizzing through the glassless window acrossthe darkened space, and a heavy thump announces that it has found adestination; another, and another follows--some come in sideways, andone striking the window bar glances off and reaches the hearth, whenceit drives before it a lighted stick which sends out sparks on every sideand causes a faint gleam of light in the hitherto gloomy room. Shoutsof laughter accompany each stone; but the sun has set, the sonorous bellof the distant church gives notice, too, that evening has arrived. Thechildren's ears catch the sound. "Away, away! Home, home!" they shout, as they run off from the solitary hut. Out of its window at that momenta bright light shone forth, but they did not heed it as they chased eachother down the steep mountain-side, crying out, "Good-night, old witch. We'll stone you again, old Polly Forty Rags. If we hear any more ofyour witcheries we'll make you wish you'd kept out of this country. Good-night, and bad luck to you, Old Mog. " Notwithstanding the wordsthey used, there was terror in the voices of most of the children. Someof them shouted, "She's coming after us! The witch is coming after us!She's mounting her broom, and out she'll ride. Run--run--run!" On thisthe urchins shrieked louder, and ran faster and faster down the slope. One boy, more daring than the rest, and superior in appearance to mostof them, lingered behind, and finding a stone remaining in his pocket ofthose with which he had, like his companions, provided himself to attackthe old woman, he turned round once more, and flung it in the directionof the hut, saying, as he did so, "That's my parting gift, old Moggy. Ha, ha! I see the old lady is going to have a feast tonight, for shehas lighted up her banqueting-hall. But I would rather not be one ofthe guests, though. " Pleased with what he considered his own wit, heshouted out again, and ran after his idle companions, a prolonged crywhich came from the hut hastening his steps, for he was in no degreefree from the ignorant superstition of the rest of the urchin troop. 

CHAPTER THREE. 

A good log was burning brightly on the hearth, and filling with itsglowing, cheerful light the dining-room of Dr Morgan, the new rector ofthe parish, where he with his wife and the younger members of his familywere collected. The rector sat in his easy-chair, his book had fallenfrom his hand, for he was dozing after a hard day's work of physical andmental labour in the abodes of the sick and afflicted of hiswidely-scattered parish. His wife had a cradle by her side, but sheheld its usual occupant in her arms, putting it to sleep with a lowlullaby, while a group of older children, boys and girls, sat at thetable variously occupied. Charles and Anna having some fresh foreignpostage-stamps, arranged them in a book according to the differentcountries from whence they came, and were preparing a short account ofeach--a plan their father had recommended, so as to give an interest tothis otherwise very useless pursuit. 

"This must surely be American, " said Anna, holding up a stamp. "Howlike a well-done photograph is the head. Can it be that of Washington?"

On this William, who was engaged professedly in learning his lessons forthe next day, looked up. The rest decided that although the stamp wasAmerican, as it was the head of a somewhat sour-looking old gentleman itcould not be that of the great Washington, but of one of the laterPresidents of the United States. The children were talking in anundertone, so as not to disturb their father. 

"Old Polly Forty Rags, the witch, came from America, " said William. "But it was from some place which the English don't know about; a wild, barren sea-coast, just like the mountain-side up there, where they saythat she used to practise her witch tricks on the vessels which camenear, and many and many's the one she has sent to the bottom or drivenon the rocks. "

"How did she practise her witch tricks?" asked Arthur, who did not veryclearly understand his brother's meaning. 

"How!" exclaimed William. "That's more than I can tell. I'm onlyrepeating what those who know all about the matter say. "

"Isn't she a very wicked old woman then?" asked Mabel, with simplicity. 

"Wicked? I should think so! as wicked an old hag as you ever heard of, "answered William. "It would be a good thing to rid the world of such amonster; but they say she can't be killed; not if she was soused overhead and ears in the river or thrown into the fire. That's the natureof witches. "

Anna, who was giving the finishing rub to a stamp just put in, heard thelast words, and, looking up, inquired with a slight tone of irony in hervoice, "What did you say about witches, Willie? Who has been tellingyou those remarkably wise things about them?"

"Oh, the people about here, and the other fellows at school, " answeredWillie in a low tone and somewhat hesitating manner, for he was not fondof having to reply to his sister's pointed questions. 

"Oh, the people about here, " said Anna, repeating his words. "Is itpossible they can believe such nonsense?"

Willie did not reply. "Anna wouldn't think it nonsense if she was tosee Old Polly Forty Rags, " he muttered. After being silent for sometime he added, "If ever there was an old witch she is one. "

"You said she came from America, Willie. Why, that's where Frank's shiphas been to, isn't it?" said Arthur. 

"Of course it is, " cried Willie, as if a bright thought had occurred tohim. "I wonder whether he heard anything of her there? He'll soon beat home, and then he'll tell us. "

"If she didn't send his ship on the rocks, " remarked Arthur. 

"She'd better not have tried to do it, or we'd pay her off for it, " saidWillie, as if speaking of some heroic purpose. 

"But I thought you said that she couldn't be killed; and if she couldn'tbe killed, she couldn't be hurt, I should think, " observed Arthur, whowas called the philosopher of the family. 

"Well, I don't know: they say witches can't be killed, and that OldPolly Forty Rags has lived hundreds and hundreds of years, " said Willie, justly considered the most thoughtless of the family. "Nothing doeshurt her either. You can't think what fun it is to hear the stonesbounce against her, just as if she was made of straw. If anything couldhurt her, I know a big stone I sent in at her window this evening wouldhave given her a cracker she wouldn't forget in a hurry. It's my beliefthat she didn't care for it more than she would if it had been a pea outof a pea-shooter. "

Anna's attention was again drawn to her brother's whisperedconversation. "What are you saying about throwing stones?" she asked. "At whom have you been throwing stones?"

"Why at old Mountain Moggy, of course, or Polly Forty Rags as they callher. Who else should I throw at? She's as hard as she is wicked; andthey say she has a whole suit of elephant's skin under her rags, andthat's one of the reasons the stones don't hurt her. "

Anna had been so busy examining some little three-cornered Cape of GoodHope stamps, that she had not till now clearly comprehended what Williewas speaking about. 

"You throw stones at Mountain Moggy!" she said in an incredulous tone. 

"Of course we do, and awful fun we had this very evening, " answeredWilliam, boldly. "We heard them go in at the window and thump againstthe old witch. The clock struck, and we had to run away, or we shouldhave given her more of it. But it was just as well that we were off, for some of the fellows saw her lighting up her house for herwitcheries, and there's no doubt but that she'd have sent down some ofher imps after us if we hadn't made good use of our legs to get off. "

"What do you really mean, Willie?" said Anna, now quite interested. "You cannot tell me that you have been stoning that poor miserable oldwoman on the mountain?"

"Haven't we though, " said Willie, carelessly, crossing his arms on thetable and beginning to pore over his book. 

"Willie says that she's a wicked black witch, with red eyes and a bluetongue, " remarked little Mabel. 

"Don't stuff the little ones' heads with such abominable nonsense, Will, " said Charles, looking up from his book. "There's nothing I hateto hear so much; it's wrong, and you have no business to do it. "

"No, indeed; it's very wrong to tell stories about her, even in fun, "remarked Anna. 

"Nonsense and stories, indeed!" cried Willie, indignantly. "They areneither one nor the other. If she isn't black she's near it; and Inever said she had red eyes and a blue tongue; but if you two were tohear her screech and howl, as I have, you'd confess fast enough that shewas a witch. " And Willie turned back to his book with the air of aninjured person. 

Poor boy, he had not had the advantages of his brothers and sisters, though worldly people would have said that his prospects were far betterthan theirs. They had been carefully trained in the way they shouldwalk from their earliest days by their parents, who, though notpossessed of worldly wealth, felt that they might yet give them therichest of heritages. William had not, like the others, been brought upentirely by his parents. His godmother, Miss Ap Reece, had offered toleave him her property, provided she might have entire charge of him, and his parents somewhat hastily consented. By her he had been well fedand well clothed, but not well educated. She was capricious, fond ofgossip, and self-indulgent; and continually she would, in order to berid of him, send him down amongst the servants, who, as her countryresidence was in a remote village, were more than usually ignorant. There he imbibed many of their prejudices, and learned to believe inmany of their superstitions. Meanwhile, happily, the good seed sown inhis earlier days was not entirely eradicated, though he and his brothersand sisters always exhibited in their subsequent lives the differentsystems of cultivation to which they had been subjected. The residenceof William with Miss Ap Reece was brought to an abrupt termination bythe failure of the County Bank, in which most of her money was placed. Her means were in consequence so straitened that she was obliged to askDr Morgan to take William home. 

It was soon after this that the conversation took place which we havealready recorded. 

Mrs Morgan had been too much absorbed with her infant, and a book sheoccasionally read, to listen to the undertone conversation carried on bythe rest of her children. Her husband continued dozing in his chair, but his sleep was soon interrupted, as was the conversation of the youngpeople, by the violent ringing of the hall-door bell. A servant came indirectly afterwards to say that the doctor was wanted immediately. DrMorgan at once left the room, and when William, sent by Mrs Morgan, went out to inquire why he was summoned, it was found that he hadquitted the house without leaving any message to say where he had gone. So startled were the younger ones by the sudden noise, that Arthur upsetthe gum-bottle over the beautiful new stamp-book. The little fellowlooked very much alarmed at what he had done, and possibly in somefamilies angry words and blows would have warned him to be more carefulfor the future; but Charles and Anna had learned that "he that rulethhis spirit is greater than he that taketh a city"; and the constantpractice of this principle made it now easy for them to say to theirbrother, who sat crying and looking very sorrowful, "Never mind, littlefellow; we shall soon make it clean. " Then warm water had to beprocured, and the injured book cleansed, and a few more stamps stuck in, and the rest put away, and scraps and writing materials cleared off thetable. Books were then got out, and lessons looked over for the nextday. Mrs Morgan left the room for some time to hear the youngerchildren say their prayers, and to see them put to bed. When shere-entered the room, Dr Morgan had not returned. Dr Morgan'sprolonged absence did not create any alarm. He was a Doctor ofDivinity, but he had also, in his younger days, devoted much time to thestudy of medicine and surgery, so that he was qualified to become aregular practitioner. However, he had taken orders in the Church ofEngland, but he never regretted the time he had spent in walking thehospitals, for, biding his time, he had now a means of access, which heotherwise might have lacked, to even the most hardened and profligate. Those who would not have called him in as a Christian minister to advisethem regarding their souls, were thankful to get him to attend to theailments of their bodies. Once in a house he never left it withoutmaking himself beloved and respected by its inmates, and insuring forhimself, and for his glad tidings, a favourable reception. Although hewas not looked upon as a popular preacher, it was observed that whereverhe went there was a marked change in the religious conduct of thepeople. 

Such was Dr Morgan. His great difficulty was to give thatsuperintendence to the education of his children which he felt theyrequired, without at the same time neglecting the multifarious duties ofhis position. His parishioners gained what his family lost. But thestrict discipline by which he endeavoured to make amends for the want ofthat constant watchfulness so important in training the youthful minddid not answer the same purpose. Yet after all he could do, he knewthat he must fail altogether, had he not gone daily, constantly, to theThrone of Grace for strength and wisdom for himself, and for protectionand guidance for those committed to his charge. 

Mrs Morgan had returned to the sitting-room; the elder children had putdown their books. It was bed-time. They always waited for familyprayers. When the Doctor was absent Mrs Morgan or Charles read them, but as he was momentarily expected, his wife and son were unwilling tousurp his office. At length the hall-door bell rang. It was theDoctor. He appeared unusually sad and serious. The family assembled. His voice, generally so firm, trembled as he prayed. 

When he rose from his knees, shading his eyes with his hand, he said, after he had given them his blessing--

"Go to bed immediately, and be up betimes, for I wish you to breakfastan hour earlier than usual, and to accompany me directly afterwards tovisit a sick, and I fear a dying person. "

The younger children would all have been well pleased at thisinvitation, had it not been for their father's very grave manner; yet noone ventured to ask him the cause of this, and it was, perhaps, notwithout a slight misgiving that some of the party laid their heads ontheir pillows that night. 

CHAPTER FOUR. 

Dr Morgan gave no explanation of what had occurred till Charles andAnna had left the room. He then called his anxious and ever helpfulwife to his side. "I much want your assistance, dearest Maria, " he saidin a tone which showed the depressed state of his feelings; "I wassummoned just now to visit a person in a most melancholy condition. Youhave heard of the forlorn old creature--Moggy, she is called by thecountry people--who lives in that wretched hovel we can see high up onthe side of the mountain. She has been dreadfully burnt. "

The Doctor's wife, ever ready with help and sympathy, in spite of thenumerous maternal cares to which she had to attend, immediatelyexclaimed, "Poor old creature! I am sure that she much wants comforts. Shall I not at once send up some sheets and cotton wool? and is thereanything else you can think of?"

"The comfort that is wanted, dear Maria, is nearer home, " answered theDoctor, taking his wife's hand. "I have a sad story to tell you. Onreaching Old Moggy's hovel I found her with her hands and feet horriblyburnt; so much so, that, should she survive, which I think it possibleshe may not, she will, I fear, never recover their use. I found thatsturdy old Welshwoman, Jenny Davis, watching by her, and tending herwith the care of a daughter. After I had dressed the poor creature'sburnt limbs, and done all I could to alleviate her sufferings, Jennytold me that when crossing the mountain that evening on her way home, and having nearly reached the bottom, she observed an unusual lightstreaming out of the window of Old Mountain Moggy's hovel. Believingthat the hut must be on fire, she hurried up towards it, though shefeared that she should be too late to render any effectual assistance toits half-witted inmate. So indeed she would, had not another personmost providentially arrived before her. On looking in at the window asshe passed she saw a young gentleman--a tourist, she supposed--kneelingdown by the side of the poor creature; his great-coat was off, he havingwith it extinguished the flames with which he said that he had found heralmost surrounded. Happily, from the great number of under-garments shewore, only the outer rags had caught. He had been sitting on a rockabove the hovel, and hearing a scream, and seeing a light break forththrough a hole in the roof, he ran down, on the chance of somethingbeing wrong, and was undoubtedly the means of saving the poor creaturefrom instant destruction. He and Jenny together lifted Moggy on to herstraw bed, and in so doing a piece of burnt stick still smouldering fellout from among her clothes. This was evidently what had set her onfire, but how it had come there, was the question. Jenny was loud inher praise of the young gentleman. He was so gentle, and kind, anddidn't mind touching the dirty old creature, and helping to place her inan easy position. He took out his purse, and observing that he hadn'tmuch money, he gave her a handful of shillings, as he said, to help topay the doctor and to buy her some proper food and clothing. Fortunately he saw a boy crossing the mountain, and running after him hegave him a shilling to go and call a doctor. The lad naturally came tome. The young gentleman would not tell Jenny his name, saying, `namesdon't signify. ' He had to get back to his inn on the other side of themountain, and as it was growing dark he could wait no longer; but, asJenny said, ran off as fast as a deer up the steep, singing and jumpingas merry as a lark. He told Jenny that, if he could, he would come backto learn how the poor old creature might be getting on, but that hefeared he should be living too far off to reach her on foot. Thisaccount was, I own, like a gleam of sunshine, though it threw into a yetdarker shade the sad account of an act of which I am compelled to tellyou. Having dressed Old Moggy's hurts, I observed several stones, somelying on the bed, and others scattered about the floor of the hut. Alarge one I especially remarked on the hearth, and which I had no doubthad struck the embers of the fire, and been the immediate cause of itsbursting into a flame, and igniting the poor creature's clothes. Iasked Jenny if she could account for the stones being, as they were, scattered about in every direction; and she then gave me a history of apiece of barbarous cruelty, the result of a thoughtlessness and anamount of ignorance I should scarcely have expected in the actors. Jenny, though in most respects a true Welshwoman, is free from theignorant superstition which forms so sad an ingredient in the characterof the uneducated peasants of these mountain districts, and was grievedwhen she found that poor Old Moggy had become the victim of the grosssuperstition of her neighbours, by whom she is reputed to be a witch whohas flown across the sea from distant parts for the purpose of takingpossession of the wretched hovel on the mountain. `I do think, sir, 'said Jenny, `if the poor creature had had the power of flying, she'dhave flown to a better sort of a place than this poor shed, scarcely fitto shelter a gipsy's donkey from a snow-storm. When once the mindstrays away from the truth, it's impossible to say what follies it won'tbelieve. People don't seem to see the foolishness and nonsense of theirown stones. If they'd seen her, as I have, in her right mind, they'dknow that a friend of the Evil One couldn't talk as she talks; and asfor flying, poor old creature! she can scarcely drag one foot after theother, ' Jenny Davis is a thoughtful and sensible woman, though herexterior is somewhat rough, " observed the Doctor, who was evidentlyunwilling, sooner than he could, to repeat the story he had heard. Hecontinued, however: "Jenny gave little heed to these foolish stories, till one day one of her boys came from playing on the mountain-side, with a scared look, and almost breathless, saying that the witch had runafter him, shrieking out, and uttering the most dreadful threats. Oncross-questioning the child, she found that he did not actually seeMoggy running after him, but that his companions said she was, while theshrieks and cries were the result of his imagination. She determined, however, to go and see the old woman herself. Being a woman of action, she immediately set off. When she got near the hovel she found a numberof boys yelling, hooting, and throwing stones at it. On her demandingwhy they did so, they said that the old witch was within, and had donethem all some mischief. She had stolen the ducks of the mother of oneof them, had milked the cows of a second, and a third declared that shehad prevented the butter from coming in his mother's churn. One urchinasserted that his father's horse had died in consequence of herincantations, and another, that she had given his younger brother thecroup; indeed, every one had some sort of complaint to make, andvehemently declared that they would pay her out. Whilst she was arguingwith them the door opened, and Old Moggy appeared, an unattractivefigure, bent with age, covered with rags, and her countenanceweather-beaten and scared, and expressive of a melancholy, wild, andrestless spirit. The boys, on catching a momentary glimpse of her (forshe instantly again closed the door), turned round, and scampered downthe mountain. Jenny confessed that she at first felt inclined to followthem, but once more the door slowly opened, and the poor creature lookedout to ascertain if her tormentors had gone off. Not seeing them shecame out, and Jenny heard her in a plaintive voice thanking God forhaving delivered her from her enemies; then she broke into a low wail, the words she uttered being disconnected and incoherent. She was on herknees, with her hands clasped and her countenance upturned towardsheaven. Jenny's heart was more touched than she had expected. Going upto the old woman, she said, `These bad boys have been teasing you sadly, I fear, Moggy. ' A vacant stare was at first the only reply shereceived, but on repeating her words Moggy seemed to gather theirmeaning, and answered, `Ay, sadly, sadly; but ye knows what we have beentaught to say by One who loved us, and died for us. "Forgive us ourtrespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. " So ye seethat I forgive them, and I pray for them. I pray that they may never bepoor and helpless as I am, that they may never be so afflicted in mindand body, and that no evil may fall on their heads; and God will hear myprayers just as much as He will the prayers of the great, and wealthy, and learned, and young, and strong, and happy, ' Then she suddenlystopped, and began to shriek wildly and wring her hands, moaning out, `No father, no husband, no child--all, all gone. Oh, my child, my boy, my hope, my pride!' Jenny tried to soothe and comfort her, and after along time succeeded in leading her back into the hut, where she becamemore tranquil, but still apparently was unable to give any connectedaccount of herself. Jenny then, from the basket she was carrying tomarket, gave her some food, for which she looked grateful, but saidnothing. After this, by little acts of kindness, Jenny graduallyobtained the helpless creature's confidence; and daily, whenever able, went at the same hour to disperse the boys, who after school hours have, it sterns, been in the habit of assembling, for their amusement, totorment her. Jenny had often threatened to complain to the parents ofthe boys, and, should they not attend to her complaints, to place thewhole case before the magistrates. She had complained to several whosechildren she recognised, but they either took no notice of what shesaid, or were very angry with her; and she had therefore resolved, thenext time she found any boys ill-treating the old woman, to put herthreat into execution. `Yes, sir, and that I must do, even though somebe gentlefolks' sons; one be your son, sir, and sorry I have to speakit. It's that young Master William of yours, and he is the most daringand outrageous of the lot, ' she added. `It's a shame, sir, I'm sureyou'll allow, that they should go on so; for a more harmlesssorrow-stricken soul I have never met in my life than poor Old Moggyhere. All she's gone through would make a book, and it's not to bewondered at that with all her trials, and care, and the cruelty shemeets, she is often crazy like. Maybe she's listening now, and knowswhat I say, for at times she has got as much sense as any one; and it'sthen that she feels her loneliness, and poverty, and wretchedness, andthat makes her go off again as bad as ever, so it seems to me, sir. ' Iwould not at first believe the truth of the accusation brought againstWilliam, but on closely questioning Jenny, I found that, without doubt, it is unfortunately the fact that one of our children is capable of thuscruelly ill-treating one of his fellow-creatures; and that he is soignorant as not to be aware of his crime; indeed he has a vague ideathat he was rather performing a meritorious act. "

After sitting silent for some time, and grieving over the delinquenciesof her son, Mrs Morgan, like a tender mother, endeavoured to find someexcuse for his conduct; for one of the hardest trials which parents--whohave learned to look upon sin in its true light--have to bear, is todiscover that any one of their children is guilty of a crime. TheDoctor, however, upright himself, and having a clear and distinct viewof right and wrong, would not allow himself to find any excuses for thecrime, though anxious as his wife for the good of the criminal; nor didhe fail to blame himself, as Mrs Morgan blamed herself, for allowingtheir child, during the most impressible years of his life, to go fromunder their charge. 

"Still, " argued the Doctor, "William has been told what is right andwrong; he has read the Scriptures. He has infringed one of the chiefcommandments in a most cruel and cowardly manner. I must not beindulgent towards a crime which, if his victim dies, the legal authorityof his country will pronounce to be manslaughter. I will endeavour, however, first to ascertain how far he is sensible of his fault byshowing him its consequence. Should he give no proof of penitence Imust resort to severer measures. I purpose to take all the childrenwith me to-morrow morning to Old Moggy's hut, and I trust that the sightWilliam will there witness will prove, as it must if his heart is nothardened, a sufficient punishment for his act. "

"I hope and pray it may, " said Mrs Morgan. "I fear, though, that MissAp Reece was most injudicious in her management of him, and that he hasnow been allowed a long course of self-indulgence; and I believe thatnothing more effectually hardens the heart and makes it indifferent tothe feelings of others, to their sorrows and physical sufferings, thansuch a mode of treatment. "

Long did the Doctor and his wife talk over the subject, and thenkneeling, they earnestly placed the matter before the Throne of Grace, seeking from thence guidance and strength. How little, in manyinstances, are prosperous, healthy, happy children aware that the chiefcause of their prosperity, health, and happiness, is to be found in theearnest, trustful prayers of God-fearing parents. Unhappy the childrenwho have not praying parents! thrice blessed those who have, and who, atthe same time, set high value on their parents' prayers, and learnbetimes to pray aright, and to pray for them as well as for themselves. 

CHAPTER FIVE. 

The sky was bright and blue; a fresh breeze, invigorating and pure, camefrom the distant sea; the sun, just risen above the mountain tops, shonedown with undiminished lustre on the smiling valley, and all naturesparkled with life and light, as the young Morgans, having finishedbreakfast, assembled at the hall-door to accompany their father on hisproposed walk. The elder ones remarked that he looked graver thanusual, but hoped that the fresh air and exercise would soon restore hisspirits. They all enjoyed a walk with him, for he generally took careto make it interesting, by giving them information on one or more of thevarious natural objects they met with. There was not a tree, a flower, or a stone, about which he had not something to say which was well worthhearing. Charles called them "Father's peripatetic lectures. " Thismorning, however, the Doctor was unusually silent. His daughter Annawalked by his side, affectionately waiting, in the hopes of anopportunity to bring forward some subject to enliven him. Charles alsoaccompanied him. The rest of the children kept behind, wondering wherehe was going; Willie especially sauntering at some distance, andthinking that he would rather have been out by himself or with some ofthe boys with whom he had lately associated. Charles, finding that hisfather was not inclined to give one of his lectures, bethought him of asubject likely to interest him. 

"I say, father, I wonder when Frank will be here. His ship was expectedat Plymouth every day. I sent a letter for him to Fox, giving him fulldirections how he was to find his way here, so that if he could getleave he might come up at once. My only fear is that he may not haveany cash for his journey. I begged Fox to advance it, but Frank may notthink of asking him. He'll have a great deal to tell us about thePacific and the coral islands, the Sandwich Islanders, and the othernatives, once horrible savages, now mostly Christians. And those peopleof Fiji--the Black Cannibals of the Pacific as they were called--I wantto know if they are as bad as has been represented. "

"Yes, your brother Frank will have much to say, " remarked the Doctor, and again relapsed into silence. 

"I hope he may bring Tom Holman with him. I should like to see the manwho saved his life, that I might thank him as he deserves for hisbravery, " said Anna. "Dear Frank, if it had not been for Holman wemight never have seen him again. "

"Yes, indeed, I should like to see Holman, the fine and gallant fellow, "exclaimed Charles. "The puzzle will be how to get him here. I knowthat seamen have difficulty in obtaining leave till their ship is paidoff, and then there is the expense of the journey. However, I will domy best to manage that. "

"And I will help you, " said Anna. "I will sell some of my fowls, andthe egg money of last year, which I have never spent, and old MrsTaffety's present, which mamma says I have a right to do just what Ilike with. Oh, there will be no difficulty about money matters if Frankcan get leave for Tom Holman. It will be very nice to see him and tothank him, though it will be difficult to thank him enough. "

Dr Morgan had not joined in the conversation of his elder children. Heappeared to be absorbed in his own thoughts. Once or twice he glancedround to ascertain if William was following. He continued for some timealong the road leading to the village, and then suddenly turned into apath leading up the mountain. William began to feel not verycomfortable when he saw this. Still his father might possibly intend tocross over the mountain. He lingered still farther behind, and when hesaw him turn off again up the uneven path which led to poor Old Moggy'shut he was strongly inclined to run away. 

Surely his father would not wish to go inside the hut. What could hehave to say to the old woman? However, go on he must. Fortunately, Charles dropped behind the Doctor, and Anna and William hurried up tohim. 

"Charley, is papa really going into the witch's den?" he exclaimed in atone of alarm. "She will be doing him some harm, I am sure. "

"Nonsense, Willie, " answered Charles. "I did not fancy that a fellowwith a head on his shoulders could be such a goose. "

"Goose or no goose, I don't wish to fall into the old witch's clutches, nor papa, nor any of us either, " muttered William, as Charles walked onagain rapidly to catch up their father, and to give a helping hand tothe two younger ones. Willie's foolish fears increased when he saw hisfather walk up to the door of the hut, and still more alarmed did hebecome when the Doctor, lifting the latch, went in, and then turnedround and beckoned to him to enter, though Arthur and Mabel were allowedto remain outside. Most unwillingly he obeyed; but when he got insidethe door, not a step farther could he bring himself to advance, and fromthe furtive glances which he ever and anon cast through the doorway, itwas very evident that he would make his escape if he dared. EvenCharles and Anna drew back from the pitiable object which met theirsight. The light streaming through the window fell on a low pallet, onwhich, covered with a sheet, lay the form of Mountain Moggy. By herside sat Jenny Davis, whom William recognised as her champion who hadthreatened him and his companions with condign punishment if they everagain attacked the old woman. Something dreadful was going to happen--William scarcely knew what. A glance his father cast at him made himunderstand that he must not move. Of course Jenny Davis had toldeverything. After exchanging a few words with Jenny, the Doctor liftedthe sheet from off Moggy's feet. 

"William, come here and witness the effects of your cruelty, " he said ina stern voice, very unlike that in which he was accustomed to addresshis children. "Now look at those poor burnt hands. You, and those withyou, I have no doubt, caused all the pain this poor woman is nowsuffering; and should she die, at whose door, think you, will the guiltlie?"

William could not answer. The Doctor, taking out some salves he hadbrought with him, began to dress the poor creature's limbs. Anna couldnot refrain from tears, while she went forward to assist her father andkind Jenny. William stood by without uttering a word, and feeling as hehad never felt before. 

When the sufferer's hands and feet were once more covered up, the Doctordirected Charles to call in the younger children. 

"Listen to what Jenny Davis will tell you, " he said, when they were allassembled round the bed. 

"Ah, sir, I have a tale to tell which would soften a heart of stone; butI hope none of these young people have hearts of that sort, " remarkedJenny, fixing her eyes on William. "She has told me how it allhappened, and it may be a warning to that young gentleman never to throwstones at any human being, even though they may be deserted; or, forthat matter, at any living creature. They cannot tell where the stonemay strike, and what harm it may do. Well, sir, Old Moggy was sittingat her poor fire when those cruel boys came up here again to play offtheir cowardly tricks. They talk of her imps doing mischief, thoughthey were the imps, and they were doing the mischief, I'm thinking. Stone after stone was thrown in on her. At last one struck the hearthand sent a burning stick under her feet. While she stooped down toremove it, another large one gave her a blow on the head which must havestunned her, for she fell to the ground and her clothes began to burn. The agony she was suffering brought her in some degree to her sensesagain, when she found herself surrounded by flames, and believed thatshe was going to be burnt to death. There was nobody near that she knewof to help her, and she couldn't help herself; she knew that, so sheprayed for the help of God. Just then the door burst open, and theyoung gentleman I told you of ran in, and throwing his coat over her, put out the fire. I came in soon after, and helped to put her on thebed. I think that the young gentleman burnt his own hands not a littlein tearing off the burning clothes which his coat couldn't cover, but hesaid it was just nothing, and wouldn't let me look at them even beforehe went away. "

"What a brave, noble fellow!" exclaimed Charles. "I should like to havemade his acquaintance. "

"So indeed should I, " cried Anna. "Do not you know his name, Jenny?"

"No, my sweet miss, I don't, " answered the Welshwoman. "But I think Iknow where it's written, and that's where the names of the cruel, andselfish, and heartless will never be found. "

"God bless him! God bless him!" said a deep voice from the bed. 

The children started; it was the voice of Old Moggy. They had notsupposed she was listening, much less that she was capable of speaking. The rest of the children remembered William's remarks on the previousevening, and all eyes were turned on him. He stood white as ashes, andtrembling in every limb. While they had before been speaking, thewindow had been darkened by a person passing before it. William hadremarked it, and he had taken it into his head that it was that of aperson come to carry him off to prison for his misdeeds. The rest hadbeen so interested in what they were hearing that they had not observedthat a stranger was near them. 

"Ye said that she knows the truth; ay, that she does, and practises whatthe Word of Truth tells us; for instead of railing she blesses, and fromher heart forgives them who have ill-treated her, " said Jenny. "Poor, harmless, weary soul that she is! Those young ones who stand there canknow little of the sorrows and trials she has been called on to endure. She has seen loss of parents, and property, and husband, and child, andher good name, and all that we think makes life pleasant; and now thatshe has found her way to this lone place, to die in peace, the Evil Onehas made these lads come up here to mock and torment her. I mindreading of a good prophet going to a certain village in a foreign land, and the lads came out and mocked him, and called him old bald-head, andwhat do ye think happened? Why, two she-bears came out of a wood anddestroyed forty and two of them. I don't mean to say that Old Moggy islike the old prophet, but yet she is aged and friendless; and those whoabuse and ill-treat her are, in the eyes of the Almighty, doing a greatwickedness; that they are, I'm sure. "

While Jenny was speaking, the lips of the sufferer were seen to move;and in the same deep tones which had before been heard, the words cameforth, "but forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespassagainst us. Yes, yes: oh, I forgive them; they didn't know any better;they thought I was a witch; they thought I could work charms, and hadbad power. Oh! they would not have done as they did if they had knownof my weary, weary, aching heart; my poor boy underneath the sea--myhusband drowned before my eyes--my sad, sad days, my sleepless nights--my wandering brain--my hunger and thirst--my wretched, wretched life forlong, long lonesome years. All these things you did not know of, younggentleman, when you and your companions threw stones at me. Don't thinkI would curse you for it. No, no. Come near, my children. I blessyou, ay! from my heart, all of you. You who ill-treated me and you whonever did me harm. "

Slowly and reluctantly, with awe in their countenances, the childrendrew still nearer to the bed. The old woman's voice had dropped throughweakness and exhaustion, yet she continued--

"My lot has been very hard, very hard; yet I have had a Friend above whohas upheld and comforted me. And yet I have had many trials, manytrials, many trials. My brain reels and wanders. I think of my husbandand my boy, my only boy, many fathoms deep beneath the cold, cold waves, and then my head turns and my heart changes into stone, and I forgetwhere I am and what has happened. "

The old woman began to ramble, and suddenly burst forth in the wild songwhich she had been singing on the previous evening. 

Jenny Davis shook her head, observing, "She'll not be right after thisfor some time. When the fit comes on her there's no more sense to belooked for till she has had some rest. "

"I will send her up a quieting draught and some wholesome food, whichwill probably do her more good than any medicine, " said the Doctor, taking Anna's hand, and motioning the others to move towards the door. 

William had hitherto not spoken a word. "Papa, may I take her up themedicine and food?" he said, and big tears rolled down his cheeks. 

"Yes, William, you may, " was the answer. 

Dr Morgan and his children had got outside the hut, and were on theirway down the steep side of the mountain, when they heard a cheery shoutbehind them. Turning round, Anna instantly sprang up the hill, and inanother moment was in the arms of a young gentleman who was running downto meet them. 

"It is Frank! It is Frank!" burst from the lips of the rest. 

"Why, father! Charley! who would have thought it?" cried the youngstranger, warmly greeting them; "and Willie, and Mabel, and Arthur!What big people they have become! I little expected to have found youso soon; and you were in that poor old woman's hut, too! Well, that iscurious! The truth is, I am lost, or rather I couldn't find you. Imislaid Charley's letter, and though I thought I knew the name of theplace, I found, when I got into the country, that I hadn't the slightestnotion of what it was; and after wandering about for a couple of days, Idetermined to write to old Evans, at Bangor, and to await his answer atthe inn on the other side of the mountain. "

"Then, Frank, you are the young gentleman who saved Old Moggy's life, "said Anna. "How delightful!"

"Oh, did I? I merely threw my jacket over the poor creature's legs, andput out the fire which had caught her clothes and would have burnt her, "answered the midshipman. "I am very glad I was of use, though it's nota thing to be proud of. It was very fortunate, however, for me, for Idon't know how otherwise I should have found you. There is one thing Ishould like to do, and that is to thrash the heartless young monkeys whothrew stones at the poor woman. If I can find them I will. "

William looked down, overwhelmed with shame, and almost wished thatFrank _would_ thrash him. 

"Then what brought you back to the hut, my boy?" asked the Doctor. 

"Oh, to look after the poor old woman, " said Frank, "I understood fromthe nurse--Jenny Davis she told me was her name--that she has nofriends, and so I thought it was but right and proper to come back andsee how she was getting on. I dropped a bundle with some old shirts andother things in at the window; but seeing some people there, notdreaming that they were all of you, I of course wouldn't go in. Iwaited, expecting you soon to go away, and fortunately I made you out, or I should have gone back to my inn, and not known that I had beenclose to you. "

"Bless you, my boy, bless you! may you ever act in the same way fromprinciple, and not merely from the impulse of the heart, good as thatmay be, " said the Doctor, warmly, pressing Frank's hand, and undoubtedlyfeeling the contrast between his conduct and that of William. "And nowlet us hear something about yourself, " he continued, in a more cheerfultone than he had hitherto been speaking in. 

The young sailor had plenty to talk about, though, as he remarked, hefound his words apt to block up the hatchway, he was in such a hurry toget them out of the hold. 

Charles and Anna were eager to hear about Tom Holman, and William wouldhave liked to hear what his brother was saying, but, in shame, he hungback some way behind the rest, and when they reached the house hisfather told him to go to his room, and wait there till summoned Franksaw that there was something wrong, but forbore to inquire, hoping soonto have an opportunity of pleading for the culprit. 

"Ah, that comes, whatever it is, of his being brought up by old Becky ApReece, " he thought to himself. "I am heartily glad he is free of her, though he may never get a farthing of her money. He was a plucky littlechap, and with good training something might be made of him; but shetreated him like one of her poodles, and would soon have made him of nomore use in the world than a puppy dog. "

Though Frank Morgan was thoughtful, he was one of the merriest fellowsunder the sun, and among the lightest of heart though not of head. Frank's return brought life and spirit into the house; for Charles, though highly esteemed, was grave and somewhat reserved; Anna was sedateand quiet; and William, since his return home, had been verytroublesome, and was looked upon generally as an arrant pickle; whilethe Doctor and Mrs Morgan were so much occupied that they were unableto think of amusements for their children. Everything, however, was togive way in order to make Frank enjoy his short visit at home; andpicnics and several pleasant excursions were planned that he might findthe time as pleasant as possible. 

CHAPTER SIX. 

Dr Morgan loved William fully as much as he did the rest of hischildren, but he saw that correction was necessary to cure him. Insteadof being allowed to welcome Frank with the rest of the family, Williamwas sent to his room, where he remained by himself, not knowing what wasnext to happen. He was very sorry for what he had done; he had seen thefearful consequences of his cruelty, by which he might have deprived afellow-creature of life; indeed, he knew not even now whether Old Moggymight not die; and he also saw his own folly in believing that a poorweak old creature, who could not preserve herself from injury, couldinjure others in the way she was accused of doing, and he wished that hehad not thrown stones at her. These thoughts made him veryuncomfortable, and he would have been glad to go anywhere, or doanything which would enable him to cast them away from him. It was agreat relief when his father came with the medicine and other things forOld Moggy, and told him that he might take them to her, but must returnimmediately to his room, without stopping to talk to any one. 

"Solitude is good for our spiritual welfare, to allow of reflection, butwe must not permit it to hinder us in the performance of the activeduties of life, " observed the Doctor to his wife, when he told her howhe purposed treating William. "He wished to take the things to her, andhe is the fittest person to do so. It is well that he should feel thathe is useful and doing his duty; but at the same time it is necessarythat he should understand that the so doing cannot exonerate him fromthe consequences of his transgressions. "

William hastened out of the house with his basket. He knew that if hemet any of his school companions they would ask him how long he hadturned apothecary's boy, what wages he got, and whether he made thepills as well. He determined not to mind. Still he anxiously lookedabout, fearing some might appear. He ran on, therefore, till he reachedthe steep part of the path up the mountain. As he climbed up his heartagain failed him, for he began to fear that Jenny Davis would at allevents scold him, and that perhaps Moggy, seeing him alone, would saysomething disagreeable. Still, as he had volunteered to go, it would bearrant cowardice if he turned back. He reached the hut and looked in atthe window. Jenny saw him, and saw that he had a basket in his hand. 

"Come in, come in, my good young sir, " she exclaimed. 

The words encouraged William, and he entered. 

"It's like your father's son to come and visit the poor and theafflicted, " she added. "I'm sure I thank ye, and so does she who liesthere, though she's ill able to speak now. "

Moggy, whose senses had by this time returned, heard her. 

"Ay--bless you, young gentleman! bless you!" she muttered. "I forgiveyou, and thank you, and am your debtor; and there's One above who'llforgive you if you go to Him. "

It surprised and puzzled him that Moggy bore him no ill-will, after allthe injury he had inflicted on her. He did not stop to inquire how thiswas, but, having left the contents of his basket, bent his stepshomeward. As he wound his way by the path down the mountain-side, at afar more sedate pace than was his wont, he thought over the matter. Suddenly the words of the Lord's Prayer occurred to him--"Forgive us ourtrespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. "

"That's it; she has been very wicked, and so she forgives me that shemay be forgiven, " he said to himself. "But then I have been very wickedtoo, and I have nobody to forgive. I don't know anybody who has done meharm; I wish that somebody would, and then I might forgive them. " Hereached home, and made his way to his room again. No one came near himall day. At dinner-time Anna stole up with a plate of meat andvegetables. She placed it before him, but he felt very littleinclination to eat. Anna was about to quit the room; Willie stoppedher. 

"I know I am very wicked, but I don't know what to do!" he exclaimed, sobbing. "I wish that papa would come and tell me. "

Anna reported these words to their father. The Doctor might havehastened at once to Willie, but he judged it wiser to allow the goodimpression that had been formed to take root. He therefore sent him upthe Bible, by Anna, and begged him to read the answer of Paul to thegaoler at Philippi. Anna showed him other texts of Scripture--"Blessedare the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy"; and then pointed outwarnings against those who wrong and oppress the poor and the afflicted. 

"I know, I know that I have done very wrong, and am very wicked, " sobbedWilliam. "Do you think God will pardon me? I do not feel as if I coulddo anything to make God forgive me, or love me, or be kind to me again. "

Anna stopped to collect her thoughts before she spoke; she then said--

"I am very sure that you never can do anything to make God forgive you, dear Willie; and yet I am sure that God _will_ forgive you if you seekHim through the Mediator He has given us. God loves to be gracious. Ifyou really are sorry for what you have done, if you repent, not becauseyour fault has brought you into trouble and disgrace, but because youhave offended God, then God will assuredly pardon you, for He haspromised in His Holy Word to do so. He says `Knock and it shall beopened to you, seek and ye shall find'; so you see, dear Willie, you maybe pardoned if you seek it in the right way. "

And she spoke of God's love in sending His blessed Son to save us fromour sins, and of the Holy Spirit that He gives us to soften our hardhearts and make them tender, as well as to teach us always what we oughtto do. 

When she ceased speaking he was sobbing, but not bitterly. 

"Pray for me, Anna, " said he; "I am not able to pray for myself. "

"Oh, be sure all those who love you will pray for you, " she answered, kissing him. "Papa and mamma pray for us night and morning, I amcertain of that; and it makes me very happy and confident to think so. But still, dear Willie, remember always that we must pray forourselves. "

"Yes, I know, and I will try, " said William, as his sister left theroom. 

The evening approached. Charles brought him up some tea andbread-and-butter, but said nothing. No one else came near him, not evenFrank. He thought that Frank might have come, but still he could notcomplain. How different had been his brother's conduct and his owntowards poor Old Moggy! He had thought her a witch, and thrown stonesat her, and called her all sorts of bad names; while brave Frank hadrisked burning himself to save her, and had kindly treated her, andgiven her money, and come back to see how she was faring. 

"And they say that there are no such things as witches, or ugly ghostswandering about, or such-like creatures, " he thought to himself. "Ialways fancied there were, but papa must be right, and I am sure I hopethat there are not. And as God loves us I don't think He would let suchthings be, to come and frighten us, certainly not to harm or frightenthose who love Him. How very, very foolish I have been, to believe allthe nonsense I have heard. "

With these thoughts, repentant Willie fell asleep. He did not see thathis parents entered, when the rest of the family were gone to bed, andbending over him observed how placidly he slept. Then they knelt downtogether and earnestly prayed for his spiritual welfare. He had sorelyfelt their absence all day, and was inclined to believe that their lovewas estranged from him. How far was this from the truth! Thus it isthat our Heavenly Father deals with His erring children. He shutsHimself out from them. He allows evil to overtake them, but not theless does He love them. He thus afflicts them that they may more fullyfeel their dependence on Him, and return like the prodigal to His arms. 

CHAPTER SEVEN. 

Frank had to return to his ship, but after a short cruise he wrote wordthat he had again got leave to go home; and this time he hoped to beaccompanied by his shipmate, the preserver of his life, Tom Holman. Thefamily at the rectory were as eager to see Tom as they were before. Some changes had taken place among them. Willie was very different towhat he had been. His masters remarked that he was much improved. Frombeing the most idle, he was now one of the most attentive and obedientof their scholars. His parents, too, believed that they had discovereda real change of heart. His godmother, Miss Becky Ap Reece, had diedand left him her heir, her property realising a far larger sum than hadbeen expected; indeed, it was surmised that the poor lady must have losta considerable portion of her income at cards, or she would have beenable to live in better style, or have done more good with it than shehad done. 

As soon as William heard that cousin Becky's property had been left tohim, though of course he was ignorant of its value, he entreated that hemight give it to Old Moggy to make her comfortable. 

"What, all, Willie? all your fortune?" asked his father, with a feelingof pleasure about his heart. 

"O yes, papa, I do not think that I have a right to spend any of it onmyself, while she is suffering in consequence of my wickedness, "answered Willie, with perfect sincerity. 

"I rejoice to hear you say so, my dear boy, but the matter is not leftin your power, nor indeed in mine. Until you are of age, the interestof the capital can alone be spent; and I, as your guardian, haveauthority only to expend it on your proper maintenance and education. It is only, therefore, by denying yourself all luxuries and amusements, and by saving pocket-money, with which I am directed to supply you, thatyou can help poor Moggy as you desire. "

"Oh then, that is what I will do, " exclaimed Willie. "Don't give me anypocket-money, or let me have any amusements which cost money. That'salmost what I wanted to do; though I should like to set her up as alady, or in a comfortable house, with a servant to attend on her. "

"That would not be wise, Willie, " remarked Dr Morgan. "You wouldexpend all your means on one person, giving her more than she requires;and though it would save you trouble, you would be prevented frombenefiting others; whereas you should calculate the means at yourdisposal, and take trouble to ascertain how much good you can possiblydo with it. I am also bound to give you your pocket-money, provided Ido not find that you make a bad use of it. You must decide how it is tobe spent, and of course you are at liberty to return it to me to spendfor you. "

"Oh, that will do, that will do!" exclaimed Willie, with pleasure in histone. "But you will help me, papa, in doing what is best with it?"

"I have already anticipated some of your wishes with respect to poorMoggy, and we will see what more can be done to make her comfortable. She says that she prefers Windyside to any other spot on earth, and hasno wish to move from it. "

On a fine day, when the sun was shining brightly over mountain and moor, and his beams were lighting up the pine-trees and the once dark, ruinoushovel on the hillside, Dr Morgan with most of his children took theirway towards Old Moggy's abode. It was greatly changed for the better. A chimney was now to be seen rising above the roof, which had been freshtiled; there was glass in the window, a latch on the door, which hadbeen repaired, and the lichen-covered walls had been scraped, freshpointed, and white-washed. When the party got inside they discovered anequally agreeable change. A thick curtain divided the room; a screenkept off the draught when the door was opened; the walls were whitened, and there was a cupboard, and a table and chairs, and several shelves, on which rested some neat crockery. On the inside of the curtain therewas a comfortable bed, and some thick matting on the floor. Old Moggywas seated in a large easy-chair, with her feet on the old stool, whichbefore was one of her sole articles of furniture, and good Jenny Daviswas making up a nice fire of coals, on which to cook some wholesome meatand vegetables which she had just brought from the market. 

"She's getting quite strong and hearty, with the good food andkindness, " answered Jenny to the Doctor's question, "How is Moggyto-day?"

"She can talk to ye as clear and sensibly as any one; ay, and there aresome glorious things she has been saying to me, which have done my soula world of good. "

"Ay, Doctor Morgan, in one thing Jenny speaks truth. I don't feel thepoor demented creature I was a few short months ago, " said Moggy; "andit's your tender kindness, and that of your dear boy, Master Willie, andthe rest of your children, has brought about the change which ye see inme. I am clothed, and in my right mind; and yet, through the mercy ofGod, I never, even when my mind was wrong, was cast out from Him. Istill sought Him, and found Him. He watched over me and protected me. "

"Be assured, Moggy, " said the Doctor, "that we are well repaid for whatwe have done for you. But I must not stay. I came up with my childrento-day to see how you were. You require no doctoring, and so I mustaway. Anna, however, will remain with the rest, as she has brought up abook to read, which may interest you. "

When the Doctor had gone Anna took a seat by Moggy's side, and Williebegged Jenny to give him some employment which might be of use. 

"There's little enough, my sweet young master, that is fit for you todo, " answered Jenny. "There are those few pots and pans to clean, andsome cups and saucers, and plates and spoons, and knives and forks, butsure that's not work fit for a young gentleman's hands. "

"Oh, any work is fit for me, if it is to serve Moggy, " said William, rubbing away at the articles which were placed by his side. 

Anna read on in her sweet, low voice. The book contained a true historyof one who bore suffering and affliction with patience and perfectresignation to the Divine will for long, long years, till health cameback and she enjoyed peace and happiness in this world, and departedfull of joy and hope. Moggy, who seemed deeply interested, instantlyapplied the history to herself. 

"That's me, that's me, " she muttered. "I have got peace and comfort, and it's a happiness to have all these loving, dear children round me. "She paused and sighed deeply, as if a recollection of the past had comesuddenly on her, for she added, "But ah, who can bring back the dead--those who lie far, far away in their ocean grave? No joy for me heretill I know that I am departing to meet them. "

"Dear Moggy, " said Anna, interrupting her gently, and fearing that shemight give way to her feelings too much, "you have more than oncepromised that you would give us some of your past history. We shouldvery much like to hear it, provided you do not dwell too long on themore painful portions. "

Moggy looked up at her with a sad expression in her eyes. 

"Ah, sweet Miss Anna, you do not know what you ask, " she answered. "IfI were to tell you my history without the sad portions there truly wouldbe little to tell; but I will not therefore deny you. It will do megood, maybe, to know that those I love are acquainted with my griefs, and can pity me, and as it were share them with me. "

"We know that you have had sore troubles, and we pity you for them, andwe have all learned to love you because you bear them so patiently, "said Anna; "therefore if it gives you pain do not talk of your pasthistory. "

"Ay, that is kind in you, Miss Anna, to say, but I have the wish now totell you all; what I have been, and how I came to be as I am, " saidMoggy. "Master Willie, ask Master Charles to come in (Charles hadreturned outside the cottage to botanise), then I'll tell ye all, yes, all. Often and often I've thought of the past, so it does not seemstrange to me as it will to you, dear Miss Anna, but ye will not weepfor me, for it's long, long since I wept for myself. "

A shout from William made Anna run to the door, and from thence she sawCharley shaking hands with their brother Frank, and Willie running downthe hill towards them. Another person stood by, who must be, she wascertain, Tom Holman. Looking into the cottage again, and crying out, "Frank has come! Frank has come!" she also ran down the hill towardsher brothers. There were warm greetings, and smiles, and laughter; andthen Frank sang out, "Hillo, Tom, come up here. My brothers and sisterwant to thank you for enabling me to get back and see them; and tellthem how you picked me out of the water and saved my life, and havetaken such good care of me ever since. "

Tom had, with true politeness, gone some way off out of ear-shot of thebrothers and sister when they met. The latter words were addressed tohim, and with the activity of a seaman he sprang up the hill towardsthem. He did not quite come up to the idea Anna had formed of him. Though dressed as a seaman, he was somewhat different to thecommonly-received notions of what a British tar is like; still lesscould he be compared to a refined pirate or dashing rover of romance. He was an ordinary sized, sunburnt, darkish man of middle age, with asomewhat grave expression of countenance. When he spoke, however, apleasant smile lit up his firm mouth, and his eyes beamed withintelligence. Anna, Charles, and Willie went forward, and putting outtheir hands one after the other, shook his cordially, and thanked him, in a few simple words, for the manly services he had rendered Frank;each hoping to find means of proving their gratitude in a moresubstantial way than by words alone. Tom answered them in a pleasantvoice, evidently gratified by the way they had treated him. 

"Why you see, Miss Morgan and young gentlemen, it was your brother firstdid me a service, and a very great one too, and so I felt very grateful, and a liking to him, and that made me have my eye oftener on him whenthere was any danger abroad, and be oftener talking to him; and so, doye see, all the rest followed in course. "

"We never heard of Frank doing anything for you, " answered Anna. "Wethought that the obligation was all on his side. "

"Come, Tom, don't talk about that just now, " cried Frank. "I say, Anna, how's Old Moggy? I'm glad to see that you have painted up her abode. Imust go up and see her at once, and introduce Tom to her; she'll like tohear about the foreign parts he has been to. "

Saying this, he ran up the hill towards the hut. The rest of the partyfollowed more slowly. Tom remained outside; the young Morgans entered. They found Frank seated opposite to Moggy, talking away to her, andtelling her how happy he was to see her so comfortable. The poor oldwoman was much gratified with the attention paid her. 

"But where is Tom?" cried Frank. "Willie, tell him to come in. I wantto introduce him to Moggy. He will be interested in her, for a kinderheart than his does not beat in the bosom of any man, woman, or childthat I know of. "

Tom soon made his appearance, doffing his tarpauling as he entered, andtaking a seat to which Frank pointed, nearly opposite Moggy. 

For a minute or more after Tom had taken his seat Moggy was silent, whenbending forward, and shrouding her grey eyebrows with her withered hand, with unexpected suddenness she said, in a deep, low voice, and a strangeinquiring expression in her countenance--

"Who are you, and where do you come from?"

"A seaman, mother, " answered Tom, "and shipmate for many a year withyoung Mister Morgan here. "

The old woman scarcely seemed to understand what was said, but keptmuttering to herself, and intently gazing at Tom. 

"Come, Moggy, you'll stare my shipmate out of countenance, for he's abashful man, though a brave one, " cried Frank, who fancied that hisfriend did not like the scrutiny he was undergoing. Frank produced theeffect he wished, and Moggy at once resumed the placid manner she had oflate exhibited. 

"Your pardon, sir; strange fancies come over me at times, though it'sseldom now I get as bad as I used to be, " said Moggy. "I forgot howtime passes, ay, and what changes time works, but I will not trouble youwith my wild fancies. Your honoured father has shown me how I may putthem to flight by prayer, by looking to Him who died for us, and thenall becomes peace, and joy, and contentment. "

"Moggy was just going to give me an account of her early days when youarrived, " said Anna. 

"I shall like very much to hear all about her, if Moggy will put off herhistory till another day, " remarked Frank. "I promised to return homeagain without delay, so we must not remain any longer. "

"Remember, children dear, time is in God's hand, not ours. We propose, but He disposes as He knows best. He may think fit to let me live, toenjoy the comforts you have provided for me in my old age, or He maythink fit to call me home; but while I live my wish will be to pleaseyou if I can benefit you, and my last prayers will be for your welfare. "

"Oh, you must live on for many a day, and we must hear your story overand over again, till we know it by heart, " cried Frank, about to go. 

"Once for me to tell and once for you to hear would be enough, my dearlad, " said Moggy, shaking her head. 

"Good-bye, mother, good-bye, " said Tom, his heart evidently touched bythe poor old woman's condition. 

"Fare thee well, my son, fare thee well. May Heaven prosper thee andguard thee on the perilous waters, " answered Moggy, gazing intently athim as before. "So like thy countenance, and thy manners. "

The rest of the party uttered their farewells, and leaving the hut, tooktheir way down the mountain. 

CHAPTER EIGHT. 

Frank was the life of the family in the drawing-room, and Tom interestedand astonished the inmates of the kitchen with the accounts he gave themof his own adventures and his young officer's exploits and gallantdeeds. It is possible that some of his companions might have preferredhearing him sing a rollicking sea song, and seeing him dance a hornpipe, as most seamen are represented as doing on all possible occasions; butthey soon found out that such was not Tom Holman's way. He could talk, though, and laugh, and be very merry at times, and never seemed unhappy;and Mary Jones, Mrs Morgan's old nurse, declared that he was thepleasantest, and nicest, and quietest, ay, and more than that, the bestyoung man she had seen for many a day. Not that he was very young, forhe was certainly over forty. Tom Holman was more than pleasant--he wasan earnest, Christian seaman. Happily there are many such now-a-days, both in the Royal Navy and in the merchant service--men who are notashamed of the Cross of Christ. Tom and Mrs Jones soon became fastfriends, and it was through her that the way in which he and Frank firstbecame intimate was known to Mrs Morgan and the rest of the family. 

"You see, Mrs Jones, " said Tom, as he sat with her in the housekeeper'sroom, "I was pretty well a castaway, without friends, without home, without any one to care for me, or show me the right course to sail on. I had got hold of some books, all about the rights of man, sneering atreligion, and everything that was right, and noble, and holy; and in myignorance I thought it all very fine, and had become a perfect infidel. All that sort of books writ by the devil's devices have broughtcountless beings to destruction--of body as well as of soul. Our shipwas on the coast of Africa, employed in looking after slavers, to tryand put a stop to the slave trade. I entered warmly into the work, forI thought that it was a cruel shame that men, because they had whiteskins, more power, and maybe, more sense, should be allowed to carry offtheir fellow-men and hold them in bondage. I was appointed as coxswainof the boat commanded by Mr Morgan. Often we used to be sent away inher for days together from the ship, to lie in wait for slavers. Theofficers on such occasions used to allow us to talk pretty freely to oneanother and to express our minds. One day I said something which showedMr Morgan what was in my mind--how dark and ignorant it was. Hequestioned me further, and found that I was an infidel, that I had nobelief in God or in goodness, and that I was unhappy. Some officerswould have cared nothing for this, or just abused me, called me a fool, and let me alone; others, who called themselves religious, would havecast me off as a reprobate. But Mr Morgan, whom I always thought onlya good-natured, merry young gentleman, did neither; but he stuck to melike a friend. Day after day, and night after night, he talked to me, and reasoned with me, and read to me out of the blessed Gospel, for henever was without the Book of Life in all our expedition. [See Note 1. ]Whenever he could get me alone he pleaded earnestly with me, as afriend, nay, as affectionately as a brother. In spite of myself, hemade me listen to him, and I learned to love and respect him, even whenI thought myself far wiser than he was. He persevered. I began to seehow vile I was, how unlike a pure and holy God; and then he showed methe only way by which I could become fit to dwell with God. It seemedso plain, so simple, so beautiful, so unlike any idea man couldconceive, that I, as it were, sprang to it, just as a drowning mansprings to a rock, and clutching it, lifts himself up clear of thetangled weeds which are dragging him to destruction. From that moment Ibecame a changed man, and gained a peace and happiness of which I knewnothing before. "

"Dr Morgan's regards, and he hopes you'll step into the dining-room, Mr Holman, " said the parlour-maid, opening the door. 

Tom was soon seated among the family circle, his manner showing that hewas perfectly at his ease without the slightest show of presumption. 

"Tom, they want to hear about our adventures, and I've told them that Imust have you present to confirm my account, lest they should suppose Iam romancing, " said Frank, as Tom entered. 

"They wouldn't think that, Mr Morgan, " answered Tom. "But, however, I'll take the helm for a spell if you get out of your right course. "

"I don't doubt you, old shipmate, " said Frank. "But before I get underweigh with my yarn I want you to give them a few pages out of your logbefore you and I sailed together. "

Tom guessed what this request meant. "Well, sir, if your honourablefather and mother and you wish it, I'll tell you all I know aboutmyself. For what I know to the contrary, I was born at sea. My firstrecollections were of a fearful storm on the ocean. We were tossingabout in a boat. One of them, whom I for a long time afterwards thoughtwas my father, had charge of me. He was a kind-hearted man, and lookedafter me most carefully. He went by the name of Jack Johnson, butsailors often change their names, especially if they have deserted, orhave done anything for which they think that they may be punished. Healways called me Tom, and I didn't know that I had any other name tillhe told me that my name was Holman, that he had known my father, who wasa very respectable man, who, with my mother, and many other people, hadbeen lost at sea. He said that he had saved me, and that we, with a fewothers, were the only people who had escaped from the wreck. We hadbeen picked up by a ship outward bound round the Horn. Two of the mendied, the rest entered on board the whaler, and as the captain could notwell pitch me overboard he was obliged to take me; for indeed Jack, whowas the best seaman of the lot, refused to do duty unless I was put onthe ship's books for rations. It was a rough school for a child, but Ithrove in it, and learned many things, though some of them I had betternot have learned. The captain seemed a stern and morose man, and formany months he took no notice of me; but one day as I was trying toclimb up the rattlins of the lower shrouds I fell to the deck. He ranto me, lifted me up, and carrying me to his cabin, placed me on his ownbed, and with an anxious countenance examined me all over to find whereI was hurt. He rubbed my temples and hands, and Jack, who followed himinto the cabin, said he looked quite pleased when I came to again. Iwas some weeks recovering, and he watched over me all the time with asmuch care as if I had been his own child. 

"`Ah! the man's heart is in the right place, and I'd sooner sail withhim than with many another softer-spoken gentleman I've fallen in with, 'remarked Jack one day after I had recovered. 

"We heard from one of the crew, who had before sailed with the captain, that he had a little son of his own killed from falling on deck, andthis it was which made him take to me. "

"Yes, God has implanted right and good feelings in the bosoms of all Hiscreatures, " observed the Doctor. "But when they are neglected, and sinis allowed to get the better of them, they are destroyed. None of ourhearts are in their right place, as the saying is. They are all bynature prone to ill. The same man who was doing you the kindness mightin other ways have been grievously offending God. "

"Ay, sir, it might have been; but it would not become me to find faultwith one who had rendered me so great a service, " said Tom. "After Iwas well, he used to have me into his cabin every day to teach me toread and write, and the little learning I ever had I gained from him. We had been out four years, and the ship had at last got a full cargo, and was on the point of returning home, when we fell in with anothership belonging to the same owners. The captain of her had died, and thefirst mate had been washed overboard, and so the supercargo invited ourcaptain to take charge of her. As he had no wife nor children living athome, this he consented to do, and thus it happened that I remained outin the Pacific another four years. Tom for my sake went with him to theother ship. We were nearly full. 

"`One more fish, and then hurrah for old England, lads, ' sung out thecaptain, as three sperm whales were seen spouting from the mast-head. 

"All the boats were immediately lowered. Jack was in the captain'sboat. Away they pulled from the ship in chase. Those sperm whales aresometimes dangerous creatures to hunt. We saw that the captain's boatwas fast, that is to say, he had struck the whale. Away went the boat, towed at a great rate. Suddenly she stopped--the whale rose. Thecaptain pulled in to strike another harpoon into her. The monsterreared her powerful tail and struck the boat a blow which split herclean in two. We had not a boat left to go to our shipmates'assistance; the other boats were far away in other directions. The windwas light, but we were able to lay up towards the spot where theaccident had occurred. We could at length see the wreck of the boat andtwo men clinging to her. I hoped that one might be Jack and the otherthe captain; for they were, I may well say, the only two people I caredfor in the world, or who cared for me. Eagerly I looked out. `It's JemRawlins and Peter Garvin, ' I heard some one say. My heart sank withinme. Jem and Peter were got on board. They were, of all the crew, thoseI had the least reason to like. They told us that the poor captain hadgot the line entangled round his leg, and had been drawn down when thewhale sounded, and that Jack had been killed by a blow from her tail. It seemed wonderful that they themselves should have escaped, considering the fury with which the whale attacked the boat. Thus wasthe last link broken which, as it were, connected me with my lostrelations, and I might say that I had not a friend in the world. All Iknew about myself was that Jack had saved me from the wreck of a shipcalled the `Dove, ' which, with my name, `Tom Holman, ' he had tattooed onmy arm. He had also put into a tin case the belt I had on and one ortwo other little articles, which tin case was in his chest. It wasunanimously agreed on board that I should be his heir, so I succeeded tothe chest, the chief article of value in which was the tin case. I tookit out, and have ever since preserved it carefully, though with littlehope of finding it of use. I had become very fond of reading, and hadread all the books in the captain's cabin. There were not many of them, and there was not one which had religion in it, and I am very certainthat there was not a Bible on board. I only knew that there was such abook from the captain, who had read it at home, and I heard him only afew days before his death regretting that he had not got one. I believeour ship was not worse than others, and to the best of my belief not oneof the South Sea whalers we fell in with had a Bible on board. Thecrews, as a rule, were lawless reprobates, and the masters pettytyrants, who cared nothing for the men, provided they would work to gettheir ships full. We sailed for England by the way of Cape Horn. Iwished to go there because I wished to see what sort of a country itwas, and to enjoy the amusements of which I heard the men talking. Wehad a prosperous passage till we were in the latitude of the FalklandIslands, when we were caught in a heavy gale, and after knocking aboutfor some time in thick weather, when no observation could be obtained, we found ourselves with breakers under our lee, and a rocky shorebeyond. The masts were cut away and anchors let go, but to no purpose;the ship parting from her anchors was driven on the rocks. Nearly halfthe crew were washed away, and the rest of us succeeded in gaining theshore, soon after which the ship went to pieces, and all the cargo whichwe had toiled so hard to collect was returned to the sea from whence itwas obtained. Very few provisions came on shore, but there was a fairsupply of canvas and plenty of ropes. We at once therefore put up atent for ourselves, and placed all our more valuable possessions undercover. With some spars which came on shore we formed a lofty flagstaff, on which we hoisted a flag, in the hope that it might be seen by somepassing vessel. There were springs of good water near the shore, and aslong as our provisions lasted we got on pretty well, but when they beganto fail the men looked at each other and asked, `What next?'

"`Oh, some ship must be passing soon, and will take us off, ' cried outtwo or three, who were unwilling to be placed on reduced rations. 

"`But suppose no ship does pass, lads, what will you do? I have to tellyou that, with the greatest economy, our provisions will not lastanother ten days, ' said the first mate, who was now captain. `It isbarren and sandy here, but maybe, if we push our way across the island, we may find a richer country, and some animals on which we may live. '

"Some agreed to the mate's proposal, others determined to remain on thesea-shore. I accompanied the mate. The provisions were equallydivided, and those who remained said they would try and catch some fish, in case theirs ran short. 

"`Try and catch them at once, then, ' said the mate; `don't wait till youare starving. '

"In our party was a man who had been in South America, and could use thelasso with dexterity. He and another man fitted two lines for thepurpose, in the hope of finding some wild animals. The rest laughed atthem, declaring that in an island where there was not a tree to be seen, and only some long tufts of grass, it was not likely that we should findanything but snakes and lizards. We had made good some ten miles or so, when we came upon a scene of desolation such as I have seldom elsewheremet with. Far as the eye could reach the surface of the ground was oneblack mass of cinders. The men looked at each other. 

"`Little prospect of finding any animals hereabouts, ' observed one ofthe men. 

"`Not so sure of that, ' said the mate, kicking up the ashes with hisfoot. Under them appeared some blades of green grass just springing up. 

"`To my mind the fire has run across the island at this part, whichseems to be somewhat narrow, for from the top of that rock I climbed Icould make out the sea on either hand; and thus, you understand, it mayhave driven the animals, if there are any, over to the other partsbeyond, where I hope we may find them. '

"`But how is it that the animals didn't run our way?' asked one of themen. 

"`Because the country where we have been is barren and sandy, and theyhave gone to the opposite side, which is very different. To the best ofmy belief we shall find herds of wild cattle feeding on the other sideif we bravely push on. Here goes, who'll follow?'

"Saying this, the mate walked on quickly into the sea of cinders. I ranafter him, and the rest followed. The mate supposed that the fire hadoccurred only a short time before we reached the island, and had beenput out by the storm which had driven us on shore, or rather by the rainwhich accompanied it. We had to sleep that night in the middle of thecinders, without a drop of water to drink. Some of the men grumbled, but the mate told them that they ought to be thankful, because there wasno chance of our being burned, which there might be if we were sleepingin the long grass. 

"`Ah, lads, every situation has its advantages, if we will but look forthem, ' he remarked; and I have often since thought of that saying ofhis. 

"On we went, the mate leading, the men often unwilling to proceed tillhe uttered a few words of encouragement. At last the sun's rays, bursting out from between the clouds, fell on some green grass whichclothed the side of a hill before us. It was a welcome sight; and stillmore welcome was the sight of a herd of cattle which appeared before usas we got clear of the burnt district. It was important not to frightenthem. We advanced carefully, the two men with lassoes leading, hidingourselves among rocks and bushes, and keeping to leeward of the herd. To our great satisfaction, the animals as they fed moved on towards us. Suddenly the men with the lassoes threw them round the neck of a cow, the nearest animal to us. We sprang forward, laying hold of the ends, one party hauling one way, one the other. In spite of all her violentstruggles, we had her fast, and one of the men, rushing in, hamstrungher, and she was in our power. This capture raised our spirits, for wefelt sure that we should never want food on the island, as we mightcatch the oxen in pitfalls if not with lassoes. The mate was asked howhe came to suppose that there were cattle on the island. 

"`Just because a shipmate, in whose word I could trust, told me he hadseen them, ' was the answer. `What better reason for believing a thingwould you require?'

"We camped where we were, and the South American showed us how to cut upthe heifer and to dry the meat in the sun, so that we had as much puremeat as each of us could carry. As our companions had enough food forsome days longer, the mate wished to see more of the island beforereturning. We saw several large herds of cattle, which fed on the longgrass covering the face of the country, which was generally undulating. We were several days away, and as we caught sight of the flagstaff, wethought of the pleasure the supply of meat we had brought would affordour companions. We saw the tents, but no one came to meet us. Weshouted, but there was no shout in return. We feared that they might beill, or even dead. We reached the tent, but no one was within; welooked about, we could find no one. The mate was looking seaward. Hepointed to the offing, where, sinking below the horizon, the white sailof a ship was seen. It was more than probable that our shipmates hadgone in her, but whether with their own will or carried off by force wecould not conjecture. Some of the men were very angry, but the mateobserved that was wrong. Our shipmates, probably, could not helpthemselves. They might have supposed we should not return, and, if theyhad gone with their own will, might have been unable to leave anymessage for us. The mate was a truly charitable man, for he was anxiousto put the best construction on the conduct of our shipmates. There, however, we were left, with a diminished party, with the possibilitythat another ship might not approach the coast for many months to come. The summer was drawing to a close. It had been somewhat damp and cold, and we expected that the winter would be proportionally severe. 

"`We may get off, but we may possibly have to stay; and if we are wise, lads, we shall prepare for the worst, ' said the mate; and telling themen what would be wanted, forthwith began the work he advised. 

"We were to build a couple of huts, to cut and dry turf for fuel, and tokill some cattle and prepare the flesh; to hunt for vegetables or herbs, which might keep off scurvy, and to do various other things. 

"`Example is better than precept, Tom, as you will find, ' observed themate to me. `I never tell men to do what I am not ready to do myself. That's the reason they obey me so willingly. '

"I've ever since remembered the mate's words, and told them to MrMorgan; and I am sure he never orders men to do what he is not ready totry and do himself if necessary. It was fortunate for all that themate's advice was followed. Some comfortable huts were got up, and astore of provisions and fuel collected before the winter began. It setin with unusual seventy, and I believe that we should all have perishedfrom cold, and damp, and snow, had we not been prepared, though I do notremember that the frost was hard at any time. 

"Some of the men abused their companions for going away without them. 

"`Let be, ' said the mate; `all's for the best. We don't know where theyare now, but we do know that we are not badly off, with a house, clothing, food, and firing. These islands are not so much out of theway, but what we are certain to get off some day or other, and in themeantime we have no cause to complain. Let us rather be thankful, andrejoice that we are so well off. '

"I remembered those words of the mate afterwards. It is now my beliefthat the mate was a God-fearing man, but religion had been so unpopularamong those with whom he had sailed, that he was afraid of declaring hisopinions, and just went and hid his light under a bushel. What a worldof good he might have done us all if he had spoken out manfully! As itwas, all that precious time was lost. The mate did speak to meoccasionally, but timidly, and I did not understand him. How should I?It was not till long afterwards, as Mr Morgan knows, that I becameacquainted with Christianity. Before that I was as a heathen; I knewnothing of Christ, nothing of God. The winter passed away, the springreturned, and the summer drew on, and not a sail had been seen. Allhands became anxious to get off, and from early dawn till nightfall theflag was kept flying, and one or more of the party were on the lookoutfrom Flagstaff Hill. At length a sail hove in sight. Nearer and nearershe came. `Would our flag be seen?' was now the question. The wind wasoff the shore, she tacked, she was beating up towards us. From herwhite canvas and the length of her yards she was pronounced to be aman-of-war corvette, and her ensign showed us that she was English. Some of the men declared that they would rather live the rest of theirdays on the island than go on board a man-of-war; but the mate told themthat they were very foolish, and that if they did their duty they wouldbe better treated than on board most merchantmen. I shared their fears, for I had heard all sorts of stones about the treatment of men on boardmen-of-war, which I have since found to be absurdly false. The end wasthat we all stood ready to receive the boat when she reached the beach. A lieutenant with a midshipman came in her. They were very muchsurprised to hear that we had been a whole year on shore, observing thatwe must have saved a good supply of provisions from the wreck. When themate told them of the wild cattle, and that we could catch some, theybegged us to do so, saying that the purser would purchase the meat fromus for the ship's company. They accordingly returned on board, but sooncame back with the butcher, and by the next day we had six or eight fineanimals ready for them. The officer kindly gave us permission to carryoff any of our property which could be stowed away on board. From theconsiderate treatment the men received, they all volunteered into theservice, and I was rated as a ship's boy, and from that day to this havebelonged to the Royal Navy of England. The mate was promised promotionif he would join. 

"`At all events I do not wish to eat the bread of idleness, ' was hisanswer. `I'll do duty in any station to which I am appointed. '

"The corvette was bound round the Horn, so back again into the Pacific Iwent. We touched at many places in Chili and Peru, and then stood tothe west to visit some of the many islands in those seas. I had beenabout a year on board when one day an object was seen from themast-head, which was made out to be a boat. 

"There was one man sitting up in her, but three others lay dead underthe thwarts. The man was brought on board more dead than alive, and hadit not been for the watchful care of our surgeon he could not have longsurvived. At first he was nothing but skin and bone, with sunken eyesand hollow cheeks, but when he got some flesh on him I recognised him asone of my shipmates who had deserted us on the Falkland Islands. He hadnot, it seemed, discovered any of us, and of course in two years I wasso grown that he did not know me. So one day, sitting by him, I askedhim how it was he came into the plight in which we found him. He toldme many circumstances of which I was cognisant, and how the ship waswrecked on the Falklands, and how part of the people had gone off intothe interior, and deserted those who wisely remained on the sea-shore. `Never mind, they must have got their deserts, and perished, ' he added;and then he told me a ship appearing the day after we left, they had allgone on board. They soon found that the crew had been guilty of somefoul deed; the captain and mate had been killed, with some others, andthe rest had determined to turn pirates. My shipmate was asked if hewould do so. They swore if he did not that he must die. To save hislife, he with the rest consented to join them. I will not repeat theaccount he gave of all the crimes which he and his companions hadcommitted. He said that he had protested against them, and excusedhimself. From bad they went on to worse, and frequently quarrelling, murdered each other. The end was that this ship was cast away on areef, one boat only escaping, and of the people in her, after she hadbeen nearly a month drifting over the ocean, he alone survived. We whohad been left alone on the Falklands had reason to be thankful that wehad not gone off in the pirate ship. Had we done so, who among us couldhave said that we should have escaped the terrible fate which overtookour shipmates? From the time I learned the Lord's Prayer, there is nopart I have repeated more earnestly than `Lead us not into temptation. 'My poor shipmate never completely recovered from the hardships to whichhe had been exposed; his mind, too, was always haunted with the dreadfulscenes he had witnessed, and he often told me that he never could showhis face in England, lest he should be recognised by those he hadwronged. He died the day before we made the coast of England. The shipwas paid off, but I found the naval service so much to my taste, andthere was so little on shore to attract me, that I the next day joinedanother fitting out for the Indian station. After this, I visited inone ship or another most parts of the world. But I think, DoctorMorgan, you and your lady and the young gentlefolks will be gettingtired, so I'll put off an account of my adventures till another evening. One thing I must say now, though. I looked upon it as a blessed day onwhich I joined the `Rover, ' where I met Mister Morgan, and yet there wasa day which I have reason to call still more blessed, when we were offthe coast of Africa. "

"Well, well, Tom. Don't talk of that now, " said Frank. "I just didwhat every Christian man should do. I put the truth before you, and youbelieved it. I did not put myself to any inconvenience even to serveTom, while he risked his life to save mine. That was after the `Rover'had come home and been paid off, and we belonged to the `Kestrel, ' andwere sent out to the Pacific. I had an idea before we went there thatwe were to find at all times calm seas and sunshine. I soon discoveredmy mistake. We were caught in a terrific gale when in the neighbourhoodof coral islands and reefs. I had gone aloft to shorten sail, when theship gave an unexpected lurch, and I was sent clean overboard. I feltthat I must be lost, for the ship was driving away from me, and darknesswas not far off, when I saw that some one had thrown a grating into thesea, and immediately afterwards a man leaped in after it. He wasswimming towards me. There seemed a prospect of my being saved. Still, how the man who had thus nobly risked his life for my sake, and I couldever regain the ship, I could not tell. I struck out with all mystrength to support myself, and prayed heartily. I soon recognised TomHolman's voice, cheering me up. He clutched me by the collar, and aidedby him I gained the grating. Two or three spars had been thrown inafter it, and, getting hold of them we formed a raft which supported usboth. By the time we were seated on it the ship was far away, and itseemed impossible that in the dangerous neighbourhood in which I knewthat we were, the captain would venture to return on the mere chance offinding us, should we indeed be alive. Our prospect outwardly wasgloomy indeed, though we kept up hope. I was sorry when I thought thatwe should be lost; that Tom had, as I fancied, thrown away his life formy sake. However, we will not talk of that now. We were drifting, thatwas certain, and might drift on shore, or we might be driven against areef, when we must be lost. It was now night, though there was lightenough to distinguish the dark white-crested seas rising up around us, and the inky sky overhead. Still we knew that there was the Eye of Lovelooking down on us through that inky sky, and that though the rest ofthe world was shut out from us, we were not shut out from Him, withoutwhose knowledge not a sparrow falls to the ground. I say this to you, dear father and mother, because I wish to show my brothers and sistersthe effect of your teaching. I wished to live, but I was prepared todie. The water was warm, and as we had had supper just before I felloverboard we were not hungry, so that our physical sufferings were asyet not great. Hour after hour passed by; the raft drove on before thewind and sea. We supposed that it must be near dawn, for it seemed asif we had been two whole nights on the raft, when we both heard thesound of breakers. Our fate would soon thus be decided. As far as wewere able, we gazed around when we reached the summit of a sea. Therewere the breakers; we could see the white foam flying up like a vastwaterspout against the leaden sky. We were passing it though, notdriving against it. A current was sweeping us on. The dawn broke. Asthe light increased our eyes fell on a grove of cocoa-nut trees, risingit seemed directly out of the water. The current was driving us nearthem. We sat up and eagerly watched the shore; we had of ourselves nomeans of forcing on the raft a point towards it, or in any degree fasterthan we were going. Had we been driven directly towards it, on theweather side, which, in our eagerness, we might have wished, we shouldprobably have been dashed to pieces; but the current took us round tothe lee side, and finally drifted us into a little bay where we safelygot on shore. You already know how we lived luxuriously on cocoa-nutsand shell-fish, and about the clear fountain which rushed up out of therock in the centre of our island, and how our ship came back after someweeks to water at that very fountain, and found us safe and well; and soI will bring my yarn to an end. "

"We cannot be too thankful that you were preserved, my dear boy, when wehear of the terrific dangers to which you and your brave friend wereexposed, " exclaimed Dr Morgan. "I will not now speak of our debt tohim, never properly to be repaid, but I would point out to you all, mychildren (what struck me as Frank was speaking), how like the way inwhich he and Tom were preserved, is that in which God deals with Hispeople who put their trust in Him. We are in an ocean of troubles, withdarkness around us. We dimly discern breakers rising up on one side, breakers ahead. We can do nothing to help ourselves, except pray on andtrust in Him. We see at length a haven of safety before us. Oureagerness gets the better of our faith, but the current of His mercydrifts round and away from what is really a peril, and we are carried oninto calm waters, and find shelter and rest from danger and trouble. "

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Note 1. The author has a dear friend, a naval officer, who was, as ishere described, the instrument of bringing some of his shipmates to aknowledge and acceptance of the truth; one especially, from being aninfidel, became a faithful follower of Christ. His bones lie sepulchredunder the eternal snows of the Arctic pole. How consolatory to believe, that amid the fearful sufferings that gallant band was called on toendure, he, with many others--it may be all--were supported by faith andhope to the last. We say all, for we cannot say what influence he andother Christian men may have exerted over their companions during thelong, long years they passed in those Arctic regions ere they perished. 

CHAPTER NINE. 

Several circumstances had prevented the young Morgans from paying asufficiently long visit to Old Moggy to enable her to give them herpromised history. Jenny reported that she was better in mind and bodythan she had ever known her, and as the time for Frank and Tom'sdeparture was drawing near, the whole party resolved to go up to hearher tale. They did not fail to carry a few little luxuries which werelikely to please her. They found her as usual, seated before her fire, for even in the summer she seemed to enjoy its warmth, on that bleakhill's side. What with chairs, benches, and stools, a log of wood, apile of turf, and a boulder which Charley rolled in, all found seats. Anna had to exercise a little diplomacy to induce Moggy to begin beforeso formidable an audience. The poor creature was inclined to chide Tomfor not having come up oftener to see her, when she discovered that hewas going away. 

"I took a liking to your face and your manner my son, from the firstminute my eyes fell on you; and it would have been a slight thing for yeto have come up and cheered the old woman's well-nigh withered heart, "she observed, in a more testy tone than she was accustomed to use. 

"Well, mother, don't blame me, " answered Tom. "Many's the time I'vecome round this way, but feared to intrude, or I would have come in, andI'll not now miss the chance another time. "

This promise seemed to satisfy Moggy, and after a little hesitation shebegan. 

"Once I was blithe and gay as any of you dear young people. I had ahome, and parents, and sisters. There were three of us, as pretty andas merry as any to be found in the country around. We merrily grew upinto happy maidens, as merry as could be found, and the glass told us, even if others had been silent, that we were as pretty too. We sang andlaughed from morn till night, and, alack, were somewhat thoughtless too;but we were not idle. Our parents had a farm, and we helped our motherin the dairy, and there was plenty of work for us. It was a pleasantlife. We were up with the lark and to bed in summer with the sun, andin winter we sat by the fire when the cows were housed and the milk wasset in the pans, and all our out-door work was done, and knitted orspun, or plied our needles, and chatted and sung; and guests came in, and some of them came to woo; and we thought not of the morrow, andtaught ourselves to believe that the pleasant life we led would neverhave an end. Ah! we were foolish--like the foolish virgins who had nooil for their lamps, as all are foolish who think only of the present, and prepare not for the future. Bad times were in store for us, such asall farmers must be ready to encounter. Storms injured the crops, anddisease attacked our cattle; a fire broke out in the farm buildings; andthe end was that father had to throw up the farm, to sell his remainingstock, and to go forth almost penniless into the world. Barely enoughremained to pay our passage to America. I was about to go with the restof my family, when one I had loved right well, an honest, steady youth, entreated me to remain. He might soon have enough to wed. He had asick mother whom he could not leave, or he would have gone with us. IfI went we might never meet again. I consented to remain, so that Icould obtain service in which to support myself. A kind, good mistressengaged me. She was more than kind, she was wise; not worldly wise, buther wisdom was from above. She taught me that wisdom. By her means myeyes were opened to things about which I before knew nothing. I sawthat God had dealt mercifully with me; that what I thought was amisfortune was a blessing. I was thus led out of darkness into light. I was happy, with a new happiness of which I before knew nothing. Myintended husband enjoyed it likewise; we both embraced the truth--myonly sorrow being that those who had gone away knew nothing of it. Thomas lived at a distance, but whenever he could he came over to seeme. My kind, good mistress often spoke to him, and approved of mychoice. Time wore on. We waited to hear of those who had crossed thesea. Sad tidings came at length. My mother had died on the voyage. Myfather, heart-broken, and my sisters had landed and found a home, butthey missed her who had been their guide and their friend; and theywanted me to go out and join them, and some cousins who lived a fewmiles off from where I was at service, and Thomas also, if he wouldmarry me. I told my kind mistress. 

"`If Thomas loves you, and will take you to that foreign land, I willnot say you nay, ' was her reply. 

"She gave me leave to go and deliver the message to my cousins, chargingme soon to return. My cousins were not averse to my sister's proposal, and talked with pleasure of the many kindred who would meet in thatfar-off settlement, for far off it seemed to them. On my return I foundthe front door of my mistress's house closed. I went round and gainedan entrance through a window at the back. What was my horror to findher bathed in blood, fallen from the arm-chair in which she sat beforethe fire. I kneeled down to examine where she had been hurt, and wasabout to raise her up when the door was burst open; some men rushed in;I was seized. No one aided my dear mistress. A surgeon at length came. He pronounced her dead. These cruel men had allowed her to dieunaided. I was accused of being her murderess. My horror, myindignation, at the way she had been treated, my grief, my agitation, impressed them with the conviction that I was guilty of the foul crimewhich had been committed; for murdered she had been, of that there wasno doubt. Branded as a murderess I was borne off to prison. Manythought me guilty. It was cruelly said that I was found red-handed bythe side of my victim. But even in prison I sought support, andobtained it whence alone it was to be afforded. As King David, I couldsay, `I have washed my hands in innocency. I cried unto the Lord and Heheard me. ' Oh, my young friends, keep innocency. Do what is right inthe sight of the Lord, and never need you fear what man can do unto you. There was one, however, on earth who knew me to be innocent--my Thomas. He obtained leave to visit me in prison, obtained the best legal aid bythe sacrifice of his savings, and the evidence against me brokecompletely down. I was acquitted. I scarcely knew how, or whatoccurred. I entreated Thomas to let me become his wife, that I mightrepay him by devoting my life to his service. We married; we werehappy; and by watchful care I was enabled to make his wages go fartherthan before his marriage. More than a year had passed away; we had achild born, a son. We believed that he would prove a blessing to us. Some few more years had fled by. Again and again my sisters urged thatwe would go out to join them. At length they were both about to marry, and our father would be left alone. Thomas agreed to go. I thoughtwith delight of showing my young son to my father, of assisting andsupporting him in his old age, and more than all, of imparting to himthose blessed truths which I myself had found such a comfort to my soul. We sailed in as fine a ship as ever put to sea, with many others aboutto seek their fortunes in the New World; but scarcely had we left theshores of England a hundred leagues astern than we encountered a fearfulgale, which washed away the bulwarks and some of our boats, strained thehull, and shattered our masts and spars. It was but the beginning ofdisasters. But, dear young people, I cannot dwell on that most grievousperiod of my existence. The storm had injured our provisions. Afterthe storm came a calm, more dreadful than the storm; our water began torun short. Did any of you ever feel the pangs of thirst? Day after dayour shattered bark lay rolling on the burning ocean. There was theconstant gush of water to tantalise us, for by undiscovered leaks thesea had found an entrance, and in every watch the pumps were kept atwork. We were thankful when a breeze came, and once more the ship movedacross the ocean; but the breeze increased into a gale more fearful thanthe first. On, on we drove; the leaks again increased. Day and nightthe men were kept toiling at the pumps; my husband worked like the rest. In vain, in vain; they could work no longer; the water was gaining onus; the raging seas were washing over our decks. The strength of themen was exhausted. Some of the women offered to try and work the pumps. The night was coming on. I resolved to labour, that I might aid tosave my husband's life, our boy's, my own. 

"My boy had clung to me. I gave him, so I thought, to his father, towatch over, while I laboured like the rest. Would you hear whatoccurred? My heart has grown into stone, or I could not bear to tellit. The raging seas broke more and more frequently over the ship. Thedreadful cry arose, `The ship is sinking, the ship is sinking!' I flewtowards my husband--my child was not with him. He had not received himfrom me. Frantically I rushed along the deck; it was with no hope ofsafety, but to die with my boy in my arms. Once more I was approachingmy husband; a flash of lightning revealed him to me at the moment that avast sea came sweeping down on the ship. It seized him in its cruelembrace, and bore him far, far away, with many other helpless, shriekingbeings. Thankfully would I have followed, but I sought my boy. Invain, in vain! I felt myself seized by a strong arm, and lifted into aboat. I lost all consciousness for the next instant, it seemed. Ifound the boat floating alone amid the tumultuous waves. My husband andmy boy were gone. They said there were other boats, and that some mighthave been saved in them. I know not if any were saved. Neither myhusband nor our child did I ever again see; the cold, cruel waves hadclaimed them. For many days we lay tossed about on the foaming waters. We were more dead than alive when a sail appeared in sight. How I livedI know not; it was, I believe, because all my feelings were dead. Ifelt nothing, thought of nothing; I was in a dream, a cold, heavy weightlay on my heart and brain. I knew not what was going on; the past was ablank, the future was darkness. We were lifted on board--carefullytended. The ship was bound, with settlers, to the same port to which Iwas going. Those who had been saved with me told my story. Some of thepassengers were going to the far-off West, to the very spot where myfather and sisters had settled. Their hearts were touched withcompassion by my misfortunes, and they bore me with them. Truly theywere followers of the good Samaritan. Day after day we journeyed ontowards the setting sun. At length we reached my father's house; he andmy sisters scarcely knew me, so great was the havoc grief had wrought. Kind and gentle treatment by degrees thawed my long frozen faculties, and I began to take an interest in the affairs of the farm. In thatregion the native tribes, the red men of the prairie, were fierce andwarlike, and often were engaged in deadly contests with the whites. Years--many years, passed by, during which our people enjoyed peace. Astorm, however, was brewing, to burst with fury on our heads. It came;in the dead of night the dreadful war-whoop of the red men was heard. On every side arose those horrid cries. Our village was surrounded;young and old, men and maidens, were ruthlessly murdered. My old fatherand sisters were among the first slain. Some few bravely made a stand. They fought their way out through the savages. I felt my arm seized bysome friendly hand, and was borne on amid them. Armed friends came toour assistance, and the savages were driven back through the smokingruins of our home. All, all were gone; relatives, friends, andproperty. Those who had accompanied me to the country, all, all weregone. I was among strangers; they pitied me, but pity cannot last longin the human breast. There is only One whose tender pity never wanes;and it is only that human pity which arises from love of Him which canstand all tests, and can endure for ever. I was left alone, alone inthat far-off land. My reason gave way. An idea had seized me--it wasto visit that mighty ocean beneath which slept my husband and my child. I wandered on. I know not how I found my way, often through vastsolitudes where foot of man but rarely trod, till I reached the moresettled states. Food and shelter were rarely denied to the poor madwoman, though of the roughest sort. At length I reached the easterncities; scant was the charity I found within them, I gained thesea-coast; I gazed upon the ocean, with its majestic billows rolling upfrom the far-off east. They seemed to me like mighty monuments raisedto the memory of those who slept beneath. For many years I had lived onthat wild sea waste, when I was seized and carried to a prison. Idemanded to know my crime. I heard myself branded as a pauper lunatic, and was placed on board a ship to be returned to my native land. Sad, sad was my heart. I had many companions in my misery--helpless beingswhom the strong new world would not receive. We were placed on shore tostarve, or live as best we could. I wandered on towards the spot wherelong, long years before, I had lived a happy maiden. No one knew me; Iwas branded as a witch, and fled away. Should I go to the relatives ofmy husband? Thomas had spoken of them as kind and charitable. Ireached the village; every one looked at me with suspicion as a vagrant. Well they might, for a vagrant I was, poor, wretched, and despised. Ihad been there in my happy days with Thomas; but the place itself lookedstrange. I inquired for his father, Farmer Holman. `Dead many a yearago; all the rest gone away; never held up his head since his son wentoff with that jade who murdered her mistress. ' Such was the answer Ireceived. The words fell like molten lead upon my brain. I fled away. I wandered on, not knowing whither I was going, till I reached thesesheltering walls on the mountain-side. "

Tom had been greatly agitated on hearing the name of Holman. Frank andAnna had exchanged surprised glances with each other. 

"Dame, do you remember the name of Jack Johnson on board the ship whichfoundered with so many on board?" asked Tom. 

"Ay, that I do. He was one who took a great fancy to my precious boy, "answered Moggy, gazing earnestly at Tom. 

"It is strange, mother, but such was the name of a kind seaman who formany years acted as a second father to me; and still stranger, that healways called me Tom Holman, " exclaimed Tom, as he sat himself down onthe stool at her feet, and drawing a tin case from his pocket, took fromit a variety of small articles, which he placed in her lap. 

She gazed at them with a fixed, earnest look for some moments, and then, stretching out her arms, she exclaimed, "Come to me, my son, my boy--long lost, now found! I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me out of mydeep distress. You bear your father's name, you have your father'slooks. Wonderful are the ways of the Lord. The Lord giveth and theLord taketh away. The Lord hath restored me tenfold into my bosom. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!"

Tom threw his arms round the old woman, and sobbed like a child. 

"Mother, mother, I have found you, I have found you!" he cried out, ashe kissed her withered cheek. 

What mattered it to him that she was aged and infirm, poor and despised?She was his mother, of whom he had dreamed in his youth whom he hadalways longed to find. He would now devote himself to cherish andsupport her, and cheer her few remaining days on earth. 

"My dear children, " said Dr Morgan, who had entered soon after Moggyhad begun her history, "let us learn, from what we have heard, never tocease to put our whole trust and confidence in God. Whatever happens, let us go on praying to God and trusting in God, for let us be assuredthat He always careth for us. "

THE END.