‘That is our coal cellar, miss,’ said Mary; ‘and this,’ opening a door, ‘is for the beer and cider.’
The children looked in, and saw several tubs of beer and cider placed side by side. Then grandmamma unlocked another door, and that was the wine cellar. They all went in; it was much cleaner and drier than the other cellars, and all the bottles were arranged neatly: and just when the children were going to ask some questions, grandmamma remembered that Mary had forgotten to bring down a bottle of wine to exchange for another bottle; so Mary went back with the candle, and Alice and Beatrice were left in the dark cellar with their grandmamma.
At first the two children were quite silent, till Beatrice, who held grandmamma’s hand, said, ‘Grandmamma, can God see us everywhere?’
‘Yes, Beatrice; everywhere and always.’
‘Can God see us in this dark cellar?’
‘Yes, dear children. God sees in the dark as in the light; by night and by day: God sees everybody and everything. In the Psalms[[1]] you will read, “He who planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he who made the eye, shall he not see?” which means that God who made our ears must be able to hear everything, and God who made our eyes surely can see everything.’
[1]. Psa. xciv. 9.
Little Beatrice thought a little while, and then she said, ‘But God cannot tell mamma when I am naughty, can He?’
‘No, my dear little girl; but you must fear God more than you fear mamma. You can never be naughty without God’s knowing it; and are you not afraid of God’s being angry with you?’
‘Mamma says that God is very good and very great,’ said Alice, ‘and that He takes care of us always, and of the whole world; and will God be angry with such a little girl as Beatrice?’