"'The slip of a lad looked earnest about it,' said Barton (in telling me the story), 'so much so that I hesitated ere entering; and whilst I was so doing, I seemed to hear the voice of my dead mother saying to me, as she did the day before her death, "Enter not into the path of sinners." So, turning to the lad beside me, I said, "Well, my lad, I believe God sent you to me with a warning from him, and by his help, I'll never cross the threshold of one of these saloons again."'"
"'Will and I,' he continued, 'became regular chums, and went to the Kiandra gold diggings, where I picked up a few nuggets large enough to enable me, when Will grew ill there, to bring him back here and get him into the hospital, where—thank God!—you found him, sir.'"
[CHAPTER XVI.]
"AS A LITTLE CHILD."
"The sun was low in the changing west,
The shadows were heavy from hill and tree,
As the watchman opened the gate of rest—
'I am willing with all my heart,' said he."
HARRY LASCELLES paused a moment ere resuming the tale he had been telling, for his listeners were overcome with emotion.
Dr. Warner was the first to speak. "Thank God," he said, "my boy had learned a lesson on the evil Of gambling; and I am thankful he was instrumental in saving a fellow-creature from that terrible sin."
"I always felt sure," interrupted Austin, "that Lewis was led astray and made the dupe of a set of sharpers who came here on purpose to catch some of the older schoolboys. I always knew Lewis's heart was right."
"Lewis's letter," continued Harry, "will give you full particulars as to what he is now doing; but I want to add that, ere the six weeks of my stay in Sydney had come to an end, Lewis had recovered strength; and he had come as a poor, weak sinner to Jesus, and received forgiveness through his shed blood. He is very distrustful of himself, but has obtained, by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, full confidence in the power of his Saviour to hold him up in the paths of righteousness. Truly it is in the spirit of a little child that he has entered into the kingdom of God.—But now, Austin, you had better read aloud your brother's letter to your father and sister; and meanwhile my grandfather and I will go into the drawing-room, where I hear the sound of little voices, and will await you there. I suppose I'll find my god-daughter among the party." And so saying, he and the vicar left the room.
Then Austin, drawing near his father, read aloud his brother's letter. We will not give details. Suffice it to say it was a manly, earnest letter, making full confession of all that had taken place ere he left home, and imploring forgiveness for the past. He wrote much of the kindness of Harry Lascelles, who, he said, had been the means, not only of restoring his bodily health, but also of leading him to the Saviour. He had also obtained for him the situation of assistant mathematical master in the University of Sydney, where in his spare hours he was to attend two or three classes in order to finish his education.