"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Ben Field. That was a mean trick.I'd play fair if I didn't beat." All this Frankie said, as he brushedthe snow from his clothes, and his flashing eyes _looked_ every word ofit.
"Guess I ain't ashamed to beat," Ben said, sullenly.
"But it wasn't fair," said the girls, all in a breath. "You know Frankwas ahead till you steered your sled right into his."
"You'd better keep still. I don't want girls meddlin' with my business,"said Ben, rudely.
"We are the judges," answered Lou White. "We aren't meddling."
By this time, Frankie had thought what he ought to do. It was hard, butJesus gave him strength to do it bravely. "Never mind," he said. "Don'tsay any more about it. Forgive me, Ben, for being angry with you."
Ben _did_ feel ashamed then, and the boys and girls looked very muchsurprised.
"I'd rather not beat than be so mean," Willie said.
"I'd give it to him," said Joe, as he carefully examined Express to seeif it was marred by its tumble into the ditch.
"I beat anyhow," Ben said, sullenly, kicking in the snow.
"I think Frank Western beat the best," said little Millie Ray. "Let'sjudge that Frank beat, girls." So Millie, and Kate, and Lou, and all thegirls said that Frankie beat.
"No," said Frankie, "that isn't fair. I _didn't_ beat. Perhaps I_might_, but I didn't."
"Just like girls," muttered Ben. "Go for a fellow they like." He walkedoff, vexed with himself and his playmates, while the others went intothe school-room and told Miss Ruth all about it.
Miss Ruth opened the large Bible, and turning to Proverbs, read:
"A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger."
"Better is it to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to dividethe spoil with the proud."
"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rulethhis spirit, than he that taketh a city." Then, turning to the NewTestament, she read:
"Love your enemies."
"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in_deed_ and in truth."
Miss Ruth closed the Bible, saying nothing, for she knew that thechildren understood what she had read, and that God's word would reachtheir hearts better than anything she might say.
They took their seats quietly, and when Ben came in, he was muchsurprised to meet none but pleasant looks.
When Frankie was on his way home after school, Ben came running toovertake him, all out of breath.
"Hallo! Frank Western, stop a minute," he shouted. Frank waited for him.It was an awkward thing for Ben to do, something he had probably neverdone before, but he went through with it quite well.
"I say, Frank, that was a mean trick I served you. You took it so cool Iwas ashamed of myself, and I don't blame the boys and girls for beingdown on me."
He had not asked forgiveness, but Frankie did not wait for that.
"Never mind, Ben," he said, cordially. "We'll have another raceto-morrow. Come home with me and see Aleck. Poor fellow! He getslonesome." So they walked on together.
"What makes you so much better than the other boys?" asked Ben,abruptly.
"O Ben, don't speak in that way," said Frankie, looking troubled. "I'mnot good, but, do you know, it is ever so much easier to keep fromgetting angry if you think about Jesus."
Ben looked astonished, but Frankie told him in his own childlike way ofthe Saviour, and how he would help even little children to serve him.
It was in this way that Aleck and Frankie worked for Jesus, by obeyinghim, and by telling others of him.
CHAPTER VIII.
ALECK GOES HOME.
Winter snow gave place to the spring flowers, and now Aleck can go intothe yard, with our sturdy Frankie for a support. The boys are togethernearly all the time. Aleck, with his gentle ways, to soften the moreboyish nature of our robust little hero, and Frankie, with his merryheart, to brighten the life of his suffering friend.
It was Aleck who helped him out of trouble; who urged him to be gentleand forgiving, even to Ben Field; to obey his mother; and to try inevery way to please Jesus. It was Aleck who studied the hard lessonfirst and then helped him, and who sharpened all the slate-pencils; whomade the tops and kites and buzz-wheels, and, in short, shared in all ofFrankie's play and work.
But as the summer heat came on, the busy hands grew strangely idle. Mrs.Western noticed the change and tried at first by giving simple tonics,then by employing a physician, to restore his strength, but it was invain. He would lie for hours on a couch before the open window, dreamilywatching the soft summer sky, and listening to the singing of the birds.
He seldom roused from this dreamy state, excepting to listen to thereading of the Bible, or to his favorite hymn, "My Ain Countree." Two ofthe verses he would say over and over to himself.
"The earth is flecked wi' flowers, mony tinted, fresh an' gay, The birdies warble blithely, for my Father made them sae; But these sights an' these sounds wi' as naething be to me, When I hear the angels singin' in my Ain Countree.
"Like a bairn to its mither, a wee birdie to its nest, I wad fain be gangin' noo unto my Saviour's breast; For he gathers in his bosom witless, worthless lambs like me, An' carries them himsel' to his Ain Countree."
The time was nearer than they thought when he should go to his "AinCountree." Frankie would not believe that Aleck would die. When hismother told him that it must be, he ran at once to Aleck, and, throwinghimself on the bed beside him, cried, "O Aleck, you are _not_ going todie. You _must_ get well. Why, you are only two years older than I am.You oughtn't to die yet."
"Dinna feel bad, Frankie," Aleck said, "I am sorry to leave you, but I'mglad to be wi' mither, an' O Frankie, think of it, how soon I sha' seethe Saviour. I wi' wait for you. You wi' mind a' our talks about Jesuswhen I'm gone, Frankie, and try to do something for him every day.There's Ben, an' Joe, an' Willie, an' a' the lads--tell them how guid itis to hae sic a friend as Jesus."
"Yes, I will, Aleck. I'll try to do better, but I won't have you tohelp me, and it seems so easy for me to do wrong."
"You wi' hae Jesus. O Frankie, trust in Jesus."
Thus did the little sufferer, forgetful of self, seek to comfort others.Very tenderly did the Shepherd bear this wounded lamb away from theearthly fold to the shelter of the heavenly,--so quietly that they knewnot when he died, but thought he slept. In his sleep he murmuredfaintly, "Mither," and again, "Jesus loves me," and a line of hisfavorite hymn, "he wi' carry me himsel' to his Ain Countree." Then camea quiet slumber, followed by that sleep whose waking is in heaven.
CHAPTER IX.
THE VISIT TO ALECK'S GRAVE. THE FATHER'S RETURN.
Frankie missed his friend sadly. He lost all interest in his school, anddid not care for kites, or tops, or marbles. He grew pale, and veryunlike the once happy little fellow,
"With eyes so full of brightness, And lips so rosily red."
One Sabbath morning in the early autumn he went with his mother to thecemetery. There was as yet no stone at Aleck's grave, but Frankie hadplanted a white rose-bush, which was then in all its snowy bloom.
"We must take up the rose-bush," said Mrs. Western. "It is an exotic,and cannot endure our severe frosts and snow."
"What is an exotic?" asked Frankie.
"A plant that does not grow naturally in our climate. This rose belongsto a warmer climate, and that is why we keep it in the house during thewinter. Thus God takes care of his children. Heaven is our home, andwhen the winds blow too coldly and roughly for us here, God transplantsus. He has taken Aleck from all the cold and storms to the heavenlygarden. We should not mourn for him, Frankie. Does not our Father knowbest? Then it will be only a little while before we shall be taken--onlya few years before we shall all be transplanted into the garden of theLord. You must try to be happy, my child. You must not _forget_ Aleck,but remember that you have a work to do for Jesus, and a _part_ of thatwork is to be cheerful and patient, showing
that a little boy who lovesJesus need never be unhappy."
Frankie listened quietly. His mother's words made a deep impression, andhe tried after that to be cheerful, but it was a long time before hisface had its wonted brightness.
Later in the autumn, when the maples were in their gayest colors ofcrimson and gold, a great joy came to Frankie's home. A letter wasreceived, saying that the father would be with them at Christmas time.
Oh, the preparations that were made for his coming! Frankie worked withhis mother, and before winter fairly closed in everything about thehouse and yard was in perfect order. Then came the waiting, the mostdifficult task of all. But the even-footed hours will not hurry theirpace, so Frankie tries to be patient, and now the day is at hand.
The whole house is made fresh and fragrant with boughs of pine and fir.Only one more night! The father will be at home in the morning.
Frankie thought he would not sleep a wink for the thought of it, but hedid sleep soundly; and when he awoke, the sun was shining into thewindow; and by the bedside stood his mother, with tears in her eyes, andbeside her was the tall man with black hair, and smiling, dark eyes,whom he had seen in his dreams, and whose picture he had kissed andcalled "papa" even when a baby.
It was indeed a "merry Christmas," and more than that, a joyous, happyone, full of sweet home pleasures and pleasant memories, sanctified bythe thought of the dear Christ, God's best gift--his Christmas gift to asinful world.
CHAPTER X.
CONCLUSION.
Frankie was the hero of the school after his father's coming. Boys andgirls gathered about him at noon, and recess, and after school, tolisten to his stories of his father's life in California--of the gianttrees, the mines, the snow-covered mountains, and all the wonders of theLand of Gold.
"Let's go some time, boys," said Joe West, one noon, as they stoodlistening, with wide-open eyes.
"I'll go," said Willie Prime, "just as soon as I'm a man."
"I'll go before that," said Ben. "'Tain't no use for me to stay here."
Poor boy! Having a drunken father, it was not strange he thought it ofno use to remain at home.
"Are you ever going, Frank?" asked Millie Ray. "Is it too far for girlsto go?"
"Oh no, Millie," answered Frank. "'Tisn't too _far_, but girls would beafraid of the Indians an' bears and everything. But I'll tell you howwe'll fix it. We'll all go. Joe, and Will, and Ben, and Kate, and Lou,and you, and I. Then, you know, us boys'll keep the Indians and bearsaway."
"That'll be splendid," said Millie, clapping her hands as delightedly asthough Frankie had been planning a school picnic on the bank of thecreek.
The spirit of adventure had so taken possession of the children thatthey found it very hard to study. Every high snow-bank was the RockyMountain range, and every gully or ravine the entrance into a mine.
Miss Ruth had, finally, to insist upon well-learned lessons, under thepenalty of being kept after school. Frankie was one of the first tosuffer this penalty. He had failed in his geography lesson, having spenthis time tracing the overland route to California. Ben Field was theother culprit. It was not new to him, so he cared but little about it,excepting that it pleased him to have such a good boy as Frankie Westernkept too.
"How do you like it, Frank?" he asked, as soon as Miss Ruth had left theroom.
Frankie had begun to study with all his might, so he looked up only amoment as he said, "I _deserve_ it," and after that Ben could not makehim speak. Through the force of Frankie's example, Ben also studiedfaithfully, and when, an hour later, Miss Ruth came in to hear thelesson, both boys recited it perfectly.
It was hard for Frankie to tell his father and mother why he was so latethat night, and, for a moment, he felt tempted to give some otherreason than the true one; but he thought of what the Bible says of him"who loveth or maketh a lie," and decided to tell the whole truth. Itwas the last time he failed to study his Geography lesson, but by nomeans the last time he did wrong. He had the faults and temptations fromwhich none are free, and was but a "babe in Christ," just learning to"walk in the narrow way." But he trusted in Jesus, and tried to imitatehis example. The Saviour loves his "little ones" very tenderly, and oneof his last commands to his disciples, "Feed my lambs."
In the spring a small marble slab was placed at Aleck's grave, andFrankie set out the white rose bush again, and some lilies of thevalley.
The slab had for an inscription only Aleck's name and two lines of hishymn:
"For he gathers in his bosom witless, worthless lambs like me, An' carries them himsel' to his Ain Countree."
Frankie still mourned for his lost playmate and friend; but he was happyin his pleasant home, in trying to please his parents, and inendeavoring to obey his Heavenly Father.
Miss Ruth is still happy in teaching her little ones; Joe, Willie, andMillie have joined in the service of Christ, and Miss Ruth hopes thatKate, and Lou, and even Ben, are _thinking_ of what they owe theirSaviour. Now we must leave them, rejoicing in the thought that thoughthe world lieth in darkness, in Jesus Christ there is "light for littleones."
THE END.
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors repaired. Punctuation, spelling,hyphenation and stylistic presentation standardized when a predominantpreference was found in this book. Otherwise left as printed.
Italicized text is denoted by _underscores_.
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