The tears sprang into the eyes of James. He exclaimed,—
“Grandfather, don’t talk so; I can’t bear to hear you talk in that way. You will live a good many years to make us all happy.”
“That’s impossible according to the course of nature. I have lived to see all my children settled and making a good living, and what is more, giving evidence of grace, though Jonathan and Alice have not as yet seen their way clear to come forward, and I am ready to go; but I would like to see you and Peter, Bertie and Maria, rejoicing in the Lord.”
This conversation affected James as had nothing else in the course of his life. He loved and revered the old gentleman, and though he was aware of his great age yet the idea of parting with him had never crossed his mind, and when at night he repeated the Lord’s prayer as usual, the words “forgive us our sins” were fraught with a new meaning. He resolved to search the scriptures and find out if he was a sinner or not.
A few days after this one half-holiday Bertie came into the shop and hung around, sat upon the bench and whittled, a thing quite unusual, as he had no desire to handle tools, and was seldom in the shop except James or Peter was making something for him, at length he said,—
“Grandpa, I want you to pray for me.”
“My child, I have done that ever since you were born, but what makes you ask me now? How do you feel?”
“I don’t know, I never felt as I have these last two days. I want to be good. Mother says I am a good boy and so does father and the schoolmaster, but I know I am not good the way the Bible calls good.”
“My dear boy, it is the blessed spirit that is showing you your heart. We must both pray, for in these things one cannot take another’s place. Tomorrow is the Sabbath day and I hope you will find pardon through the Saviour, and that it will be the happiest Sabbath you ever spent. How came you to turn your thoughts that way?”
“I was hurrying to get my part of the chores done before school time when these thoughts came into my mind just like a flash, and they won’t go away.”