had done nothing wrong, neither he nor Jennie could
help feeling some degree of uneasiness and some little dissatisfaction
with themselves in respect to the manner in which they had spent the
afternoon. They had both been accustomed to consider the Sabbath as a
day solemnly consecrated to the worship of God and to the work of
preparation for heaven. It is true that the day sometimes seemed very
long to them, as it does to all children; and though they had always
been allowed to take quiet walks in the gardens and grounds around the
house, still they usually got tired, before night came, of being so
quiet and still. Notwithstanding this, however, they had no disposition
to break over the rule which, as they supposed, the law of God enjoined
upon them. They fully believed that God himself had ordained that there
should be one day in seven from which all the usual occupations and
amusements of life should be excluded, and which should be consecrated
wholly to rest, to religious contemplation, and to prayer; and they were
very willing to submit to the ordinance, though it brought with it upon
them, as children, burdens and restrictions which it was sometimes quite
onerous for them to bear.

When night came, Rollo found that he always felt much happier if he had
kept the Sabbath strictly, than when he attempted, either secretly or
openly, to evade the duty. There was a sort of freshness and vigor, too,
with which he engaged in the employments of the week on Monday morning,
which, though he had never stopped to account for it philosophically, he
enjoyed very highly, and which made Monday morning the brightest and
most animated morning of the week. So Rollo was accustomed to acquiesce
very willingly in the setting apart of the sacred day to religious
observances and to rest, thinking that the restraints and restrictions
which it imposed were amply compensated for by the peace and comfort
which it brought to his mind when he observed it aright, and by the
novelty and freshness of the charm with which it invested the ordinary
pursuits and enjoyments of life when it was over.

Accordingly, on this occasion, feeling a little dissatisfied with
himself and uneasy in mind, in consequence of the manner in which he had
spent the afternoon, Rollo determined to make all the atonement for his
fault, if fault it was, that was now in his power. Accordingly, when the
family rose from the table after dinner, which was about seven o'clock,
an