The boy's name was Cecil. Cecil's father had a very beautiful and rare canary, which had been brought far over the sea as a present to him.
Cecil often helped to feed the canary and give it fresh water, and sometimes his father would allow him to open the door of the cage, and the bird would come out and perch on his hand, which delighted Cecil very much, but he was not allowed to open the door of the cage unless his father was with him.
One day, however, Cecil came to the cage alone, and while he watched the canary, a little voice said, "Open the door and take him out; father will never know". That was a wrong voice, and Cecil tried not to listen. It would have been better if he had gone away from the cage, but he did not; and the voice came again, "Open the door and let him out". And another little voice said, "No, don't; your father said you must not". But Cecil listened to the wrong voice; he opened the door gently, and out flew the pretty bird. First it perched on his finger, then it flew about the room, and then—Cecil had not noticed that the window was open—then, before he knew, out of the window flew the canary, and poor Cecil burst into tears. "Oh! if I had listened to the good voice, the right voice, and not opened the door! Father will be so angry." Then the bad voice came again and said, "Don't tell your father; say you know nothing about it ". But Cecil did not listen this time; he was too brave a boy to tell his father a lie, and he determined to tell the truth and be punished, if necessary.
Of course his father was very sorry to lose his beautiful canary, and more sorry still that his little son had been disobedient, but he was glad that Cecil told him the truth.
Now do you know the two things that the wrong voice told Cecil to do? It told him (1) Not to obey; (2) Not to tell the truth. I think we have all heard those two voices, not with our ears, but within us. Let us always listen to the good voice—the right voice.
(Blackboard Sketch.)
Two voices:—
1st. Good, says, "Obey," "Speak the truth".
2nd. Bad, says, "Disobey," "Tell untruth".
(Why we Should Obey.)
3. The Pilot.
You know that the country in which you live is an island? That means there is water all round it, and that water is the sea.