Miss Amy thought the farmer ought to say something more, but she shook hands with him, thanked him heartily, and ran off to tell Bob the good news.
"I can't do any good. Everybody says so—mother, and granny, and the neighbours. They don't listen to me, and when I tell the truth they don't believe me. There's only you, Miss Amy, that does not think I am bad on purpose. They all say I am good for nothing. I can't do right," sobbed the lad.
"Not of yourself, Bob—I know that well enough. No more can I. But you can pray, Bob, and you can try. You surely have not forgotten all your old Sunday-school lessons. Don't you remember that the Saviour who says, 'ask,' promises that we shall have? The best people in the world will tell you that they get their strength and comfort through going to Jesus. They always say, 'I can't,' until He shows them how to do right, and then they are like St. Paul, full of joy, and cry, 'I can do all things through Christ.' So can you, Bob, and you must begin from this very minute."
And Bob did begin. His dear old yet young teacher, cheered him on, prayed with him, talked with him, and to other people about him, until at last the village folk began to discover that there was good in Bob Marsh after all.
He has lost his bad name now, but he always says that he turned the right corner, and started on the new and happier road, on the night that Miss Amy persuaded him to say, "I'll try," instead of "I can't."
WILLIAM RIDER AND SON, PRINTERS, LONDON.