pest battle with the tempter of all his
early boyhood. It happened in this way:

As already mentioned, Squire Stewart kept a supply of these lozenges in
his big mahogany desk, that had a table to itself in the parlour. This
desk was always kept locked, and Bert had many a time, when alone in the
room, gone up to it, and passed his hand over its polished surface,
thinking to himself how nice it would be if the package of lozenges was
in his pocket instead of shut up in there where nobody could get at it.

One morning, as Bert was playing about the house, a message came that
the Squire was wanted at once at the farthest barn, as one of the horses
had been hurt by another. He went out hastily, and shortly after, Bert,
going into the parlour, saw the desk wide open, his grandfather having
been looking for a paper when so suddenly called away. The moment his
eyes fell upon the open desk, a thought flashed into his mind that set
every nerve tingling. As though the old desk exerted some strange and
subtle fascination, he drew near it; slowly, hesitatingly, almost on
tiptoe, yet steadily. His heart beat like a trip-hammer, and his ears
were straining to catch the slightest sound of any one's approach. The
house was wonderfully quiet. He seemed to be quite alone in it; and
presently he found himself close beside the desk. Although open, the
inner lids were still shut, and ere Bert put out his hand to lift the
one under which he thought the package of lozenges lay, the thought of
the wrong he was doing came upon him so strongly as well-nigh to
conquer the temptation. For a moment he stood there irresolute; and then
again the hand that had dropped to his side was stretched forth. As it
touched the desk lid a thrill shot through his heart; and again he
hesitated and drew back.

It was really a tremendous struggle, and one upon which great issues
hung, so far as that boy, alone in that room with the tempter, was
concerned. Bert fully realized how wrong it would be for him to touch
the lozenges; but, oh! what a wonderful fascination they had for him!

Reaching forward again, he lifted up the desk lid, and there, fully
exposed to view, lay the package temptingly wide open, displaying its
toothsome contents. The crisis of the temptation had come. An instant
more, and Bert would have yielded; when suddenly his better nature got
the upper hand, and with a quick resolution, the secret of which he
never fully understood, he cried out: