ividual_ men. Suppose that there had
been found ten righteous men in Sodom, for whose sake that wicked city
would have been spared its awful doom. Humble and obscure they might
have been; but would not they, who brought such a blessing down on the
neighborhood where they dwelt, be worthy of the name of patriots? My
son, if you were willing to lay down your life for your country, and yet
were guilty of the foul sin of swearing, and taught all around you to
blaspheme, would you not be laying up wrath against your native land,
though you fought with the bravery of an Alexander? These are times to
think on these things, my boy, if we really love our country. No man
liveth unto himself. His home, his state, his country is in a degree
blessed or cursed for his sake. Dear Blair, you cannot be a true patriot
without God's grace to help you rule your heart, guard your lips, and
purify your life. May you this day begin, for your own sake as well as
for that of your country, to serve the God of our fathers. He has
mercifully spared you the bitter self-reproach to which you might have
been doomed. Go in repentance to his footstool, and he will abundantly
pardon. Resolve henceforward to walk humbly before him, trusting in his
grace and striving to do his will, and you shall count this day the most
blessed of your life."

Mrs. Robertson put her arm round the tall, strong boy at her side. He
yielded to her touch, as if he had been a little child. Side by side
they knelt, while the mother poured out such a prayer as can only flow
from the lips of a Christian mother pleading for her only son.

Blair Robertson spent that long Saturday evening alone in his room. That
was indeed to be the beginning of days to him. He was no longer to be a
self-willed seeker of his own pleasure and honor. He was "bought with a
price," and was henceforward to be a servant of the King of kings.

CHAPTER III.

THE ENGLISH BOY.

No loving friends came to inquire after the fate of Hal Hutchings, the
English boy. His efforts to save his basket of clean linen had been as
vain as his struggles to free himself from the hands of his persecutors.
The garments that had been starched and ironed with such scrupulous care
were scattered along the wharf, and trampled under the feet of the
thoughtless young mob. The old washerwoman on whose errand Hal had been
sent forth, was too indignant at the destruction which had befallen her
handiwork, to give one kindly