lost it a hundred times over than have my darling tell a
lie. It is so wicked, so wicked! God hates lying. He says, 'All liars
shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.'
'He that speaketh lies shall not escape.' He says that Satan is the father
of lies, and that those who are guilty of lying are the children of that
wicked one.

"Have you forgotten how God punished Gehazi for lying by making him a
leper, and struck Ananias and Sapphira dead for the same sin? O my
darling, my darling, it breaks my heart to think you have both acted and
spoken a falsehood!" she cried, clasping the child still closer to her
bosom and weeping over her afresh.

Gracie, too, cried bitterly. "Mamma, mamma," she said, "will God never
forgive me? will He send me to that dreadful place?"

"He will forgive you if you are truly sorry for your sin because it is
dishonoring and displeasing to Him, and if you ask Him to pardon you for
Jesus' sake; and He will take away the evil nature that leads you to
commit sin, giving you a new and good heart, and take you to heaven when
you die.

"But no one can go to heaven who is not first made holy. The Bible bids us
follow 'holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.' And Jesus is a
Saviour from sin. 'Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His
people from their sins.' Shall we kneel down now and ask Him to save you
from yours?"

"Yes, mamma," sobbed the child.

Violet's prayer was short and to the point. Then she held Gracie for some
time in her arms, while they mingled their tears together.

At length, "Gracie dear," she said, "I believe God has heard our prayer
and forgiven you. I am sure He has if you are truly sorry in your heart
and asked with it, and not only with your lips, for forgiveness; but I
want you to stay here alone for an hour and think it all over quietly, I
mean about your wrongdoing and God's willingness to forgive for Jesus'
sake, and that we could not have been forgiven and saved from sin and hell
if the dear Saviour had not died for us the cruel death of the cross.

"Oh, think what a dreadful thing sin must be that it could not be blotted
out except by Jesus suffering and dying in our stead! And think how great
was His love for us, when He was willing to lay down His own life that we
might live!"

Then with a kiss of tender motherly love, she went out and left the child
alone.

Gracie was sincerely penitent. She had always been t