"Oh, yes, I've prayed and prayed, and sometimes it seems as though I ought to beg Bob's pardon; but then, you know, he should not buy a violin just now, no matter how cheap it is—we can't afford anything, and he was wrong to worry me when I was doing the accounts, wasn't he?"
"Certainly he seems to have acted rather selfishly and unreasonably. But, Betty, you must remember that he does not know this. If you really mean to help your brother, you will have to teach him to understand many things that are dark to him now. Then, too, dear, you must learn to put yourself in his place. He had evidently been dwelling a good deal on the thought that you would think it very clever of him to learn the violin. Boy-like, he had most likely forgotten the family troubles for the moment, and was trying to 'show off' before you. You had once said you wished him to learn, and no doubt he now thinks you very unkind and changeable because you discourage him."
"But, Captain, just think—father in the hospital, all the accounts and rent-collecting to do, no money scarcely——"
"Yes, yes, but Bob has not thought of all that. He has never heard the Lord's voice calling him. He lives in a world of his own. You must learn to get into his world, to read his thoughts, to make him feel that in you he has a real friend. Step by step, dear, you must lead him to his Saviour."
"But he won't listen. He'll hardly answer when I speak!"
"My dear, it is that very barrier between you which you must find a way to break down."
"Oh, Captain! how? How can I make Bob understand that I want to help him?" asks Betty almost despairingly.
"Perhaps you could show some interest in his music. Do you play at all yourself?"
"The piano—just a little."
"And, evidently, you have a good ear. Couldn't you offer to show him how to get his violin in tune?"