"He didn't say He would," murmured Johnny. "I didn't hear anything."
"No; but in the Bible He has promised that if we ask for anything we shall receive it; that is, if it is best for us to have it. Now we know it would please Him better to have you the pleasant, good-tempered little fellow you used to be, rather than the whining boy you are now. So if you really ask Him from your heart, I'm sure He will help you to break it off."
When they had made the call, and were returning home, Charlie handed the long whip to his brother.
"Would you like to hold it?" he asked. "I like to please good boys."
Oh, what a happy feeling swelled up in Johnny's heart. Smiles broke out all over his face, and his voice was as cheerful as a canary's. He chattered away about a donkey he expected to have, and a barn he meant to make for it, and a buggy for the donkey to draw him to school.
Charlie laughed heartily at his wonderful plans, and remembered, with a little flush, that once he had done just so.
"I like to be good best," said Johnny, with a smile; "and I'm never going to be naughty again."
The next day his mother was sitting at her work, when she heard Johnny cry out, "Oh, dear! oh, dear! the stones keep rolling out of my wheelbarrow. Oh, dear, I don't want to work any more!"
She sat still, but for some time she could hear his voice fretting and complaining. Then she opened the window and called him in.
"I can't have any dinner, then," he whined out.