front room, and he could hear his mother's voice as
she went with them. She was talking very kindly, but he thought she did
not feel happy, it was so sad.

"O, what a long evening that was! He could not go to sleep, for every
few minutes there was a merry burst of laughter from the room below;
and he knew that his papa was teaching them some pretty games. Every
time he heard this he began to cry again. And then he wondered whether
his mother would tell them why he was not there, and what they would
say.

"At last he heard them all walk out into the dining room, and papa's
voice saying, 'I will take Katy because she is the youngest.' Now he
knew they were going to sit at table and eat the nice fruit.

"'O, dear!' he sobbed, 'how sorry I am!' And then, for the first time,
he began to think how wicked it was to deceive his dear parents, who had
been so kind to him all his life. 'I made mamma cry,' he said softly.
'I'm sorry for that, too.'

"As soon as Satan heard Moses say that, he ran away and hid; and the
good Spirit came, and whispered to Moses, and presently he got out of
his bed, and knelt down by his low chair, and prayed softly. But Jesus
heard what he said, and looked into his heart, and saw he was really
sorry he had been a wicked boy, and then God forgave him.

"Pretty soon the children all came rushing up the stairs to put on their
clothes, for the carriages had come to take them home. Moses was not
crying now. He lay quiet and still; and he heard them say, 'Good by!
good by! Please give my love to Moses;' and then the door was shut, and
the house all still again.

"When mamma came up stairs she carried the light into her little boy's
room to see if he was awake. His eyes were wide open, and as soon as he
saw her, he said, 'You might give my orange to Sarah Christie, mamma,
because I wasn't down there to eat it.'

"Then mamma put up her handkerchief quick to wipe the tears from her
eyes; and she went up to the bed and kissed her boy, for she knew that
he had repented of his sin.

"'I am sorry, very sorry,' he said, pulling her face down to his; 'I
prayed hard to God to forgive me, and make me good. Will you forgive
me, mamma?'

"'Yes, my darling. I will gladly forgive you, and I hope this may be a
lesson to you as long as you live.'"

Nelly looked very sober while her aunt was telling this story. She began
to see how naughty she had been, and to hope that God would forgive her
too.

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