But Louise was telling Nellie a story; and as he listened and watched her, it became evident to him that both Dorothy and John were listening. Dorothy had ceased her restless fidgetings, and settled into absolute quiet, her arm resting on the broad, low window-seat, and her eyes fixed on Louise. John had drawn his hat lower, so that his eyes were hidden entirely; but something in the setting of his lips told Lewis that he heard. Very quietly Louise's voice told the story; very simply chosen were the words.
"Yes, there He was in the wilderness, for forty days, without anything to eat, and nowhere to rest, and all the time Satan tempting him to do what was wrong. 'Come,' he said to him; 'if you are the Son of God, why do you stay here hungry? What good will that do anybody? Why don't you make bread out of these stones? You can do it—you could make a stone into a loaf of bread in an instant; why don't you?"
"And could he?" Nellie asked, her eyes large and wondering.
"Oh yes indeed. Why not? Do you suppose it would be any harder to turn a stone into bread than it would be to make a strawberry, or a potato, or an apple?"
"Strawberries and apples and potatoes grow," said this advanced little sceptic.
"Yes; but what makes them grow? And why does a strawberry plant always give us strawberries, and never plums or grapes? It never makes a mistake. Somebody very wise is taking care of the little plant. It is this same person whom Satan was trying to coax to make bread out of stones."
"Well, why didn't he do it? I don't think it would have been naughty."
"I'll tell you. It is very hard to be hungry; it was a great temptation; but Jesus had promised his Father that he would come here and bear everything that any man could have to—that he would just be a man. Now a man couldn't make bread out of stones, you know, so Jesus wouldn't be keeping his promise if he did it; and then, another thing, if he had used his great power and gotten himself out of this trouble, all the poor hungry boys and girls, who are tempted to steal, would have said: 'Oh yes, Jesus don't know anything about how it feels to be hungry; he could turn stones into bread. If we could do that we wouldn't steal either.' Don't you see?"
"Yes," said Nellie, "I see. Go on, please; he didn't make any bread, did he?"
"Not at that time; he told Satan it was more important that he should show his trust in God than to show his power by making stones into bread. Then Satan coaxed him to throw himself down from a great high steeple, so that the people below would see him, and see that he wasn't hurt at all. He reminded him of a promise that God made about the angels taking care of him."