arlie's happiness now was the increasing illness
of his father. Sanguine and hopeful as he was, he could not blind
himself to the fact that every day his father got weaker and weaker.

A visit to John Heedman was a lesson in Christianity to any one,--his
wonderful patience under suffering, his perfect trust in the Saviour,
his quiet waiting for the end--happy to go, yet happy to stay and suffer
so long as it pleased God.

CHAPTER XI.

SORROW, HUMILIATION, AND REPENTANCE.

We are quite sure that you have been very glad to read of the progress
which Charlie has made since we first met him on the pier a little
sunburnt boy only eight years old. You have seen what good, kind friends
he met with; how well he was trained; how nobly he came out when his
father was ill in denying himself and going down the mine, and how he
was rewarded; and you have seen, too, how he tried to do something for
God in helping Brownlee and Bob White; and yet we are so sorry to have
to tell you that all this time his old habit of putting off was still
growing up with him, and latterly a good deal of self-righteousness had
crept into his heart. Unconsciously he began to have a very high opinion
of himself, and would often think with pride how different he was from
many boys that he knew.

Unfortunately he seemed to have no idea how completely he was in the
power of his old enemy, procrastination. It would have made our story
much too long if we had told you every instance in which he gave way to
it, but we think you will see that this habit of putting off was his
besetting sin, the one flaw in his character. The ship was sailing
pleasantly along, with decks clean swept, with colours flying, and all
looking well and prosperous; but there was a leak, one little
treacherous leak, which, if it remained unnoticed and unstopped, would
soon bring confusion and destruction upon the ship, gay and gallant
though she looked.

We may often be deceived in ourselves, and think that we are going on
well, but God cannot be deceived. He sees us as we really are, not as we
appear to ourselves and to others. He is training each one of us, and He
saw in Charlie's case that a fiery trial was needed to burn out of him
that besetting sin that had been so long indulged. Just as gold is
purified by being passed through a fiery furnace, so our hearts need to
be purified sometimes by great sorrows, by fiery trials; and so it was
that Charlie had to suffer a mos