How well she remembered the time when his cousin, a rude girl, was visiting them, and insisted on having all his toys! Charley gave up one after another of his treasures, until they came to a wooden horse and cart, which he greatly prized. This he held behind him, until she snatched it from his grasp.
For one moment his face looked red and angry; but he left his rude playmate and came to his mother's side. Then, when she asked him about it, he only said,—
"I suppose Carrie didn't know any better."
Do you wonder that, when his mother thought of all this, she felt sure that Jesus had given her darling a new heart, and that, whether he lived or died, he would still be happy?
[CHAPTER IV.]
WICKED OSCAR.
I MUST now go back a little, and tell you how it happened that Oscar, who lived nearly a mile away, should come to Charley's house, and be so angry with him.
Mr. Russel, Oscar's father, was a brickmaker; that is, he made bricks, such as many houses are built with. The brick-yard, as it was called, was but a short distance from Mr. Monson's house, and the man had to pass it to get to his work.
He toiled very hard for twelve long hours, and of course needed good food to sustain him. He used to ask his wife to send Oscar at noon with some warm dinner; and she would often have cooked it, if she could have persuaded her boy to carry it.
But many times he would say, "I wont," or he would cry and stamp his foot, and complain that no other boy had to walk so far.