The woman took the money and went away, muttering to herself.
"Where are we going to-morrow, father?" Gus asked, as soon as they were alone.
His father had seated himself by the table, and was drearily contemplating the few shillings that remained on it. He looked up only to say, "I do not know."
Gus was startled, but something in his father's manner withheld him from asking further questions.
"Come and read to me, Gus," said his father, after a minute.
"What shall I read?" asked the boy.
"We have but one book now," said his father, pointing to the Bible.
Gus took the Bible and opened it. He remembered that the chapter he had last read to his father was the first of St. Mark's Gospel, so now he began to read the second chapter. His father did not appear to be paying much attention to what he read; but as Gus finished the account of the healing of the paralytic, his father suddenly said, as if speaking to himself:
"He called him 'son;' and yet I suppose he had led a wicked life. And without a word spoken between them, He forgave his sins."
Gus waited a few moments, but his father said no more, so he went on and finished the chapter. Then, being very tired with their long tramp, the little boy closed the book, and began to prepare for bed.