CHAPTER IV.

"THE PLOUGH."

"I WISH you were coming with me to-night, Frank," said Walter, as he and his companion were at work together the following morning.

"Is that what you wanted to speak to me about yesterday?" said Frank.

"Yes it was; I thought I would just try once more whether I could not turn you."

"Then you might just as well have saved yourself the trouble, Walter. What can it possibly signify to you whether I go to the evening school or not?"

"Simply this, that it would be nice and sociable-like, Frank; we've been working together now for these two years and more, and it would be pleasant for us both to go together to the night school."

"Speak for yourself, Walter, when you talk of it being 'pleasant.'"

"What I mean is, that it would only seem natural for us to do so; our interests are the same, or ought to be. What is good for me must surely be good for you; what will help me on in my trade would do the same for you; and I do think it's a pity to throw away a chance like the present one."

"One would think you were going to set up for a parson, to hear you talk, Walter. But you might as well spare yourself all this trouble; you'll not change me. You go your path, and leave me to follow mine."

"Well, don't be angry, Frank; I meant no harm; and if your mind is made up, why, I'll say no more about it."

"I don't set myself up for being better than other people," said Frank, "but I want my time to myself. It's little enough we have when our work is over."

"See that you make a good use of it, then," said Mr. King, who had entered the yard unobserved by the lads, and had overheard Frank's last remark. "Time is a precious gift, lad, and one for the use or misuse of which God will call us all one day to give an account. Don't think I wish to stop young people from enjoying themselves at proper times; I know full well that all work and no play would be good for no one. We all want some sort of relaxation from our daily labours; but what young people call enjoyment is not always innocent; and a lad of your age, with much spare time on his hands, is exposed to much temptation.

"I have no right to dictate to you how you should employ your time when you leave the yard; I have then no further claim upon you. But as your friend and well-wisher, as one who has lived very much longer in the world than you have, I should not be doing my duty by you did I not warn you against the many devices which Satan makes use of to lead young lads into sin, and almost the first of all is the tempting them to idle away their time. I was sorry to find you had not joined the evening school. You little know what advantages you are throwing away by neglecting to do so; but I trust you may yet think better of it. In these days, education is better than money to a young man; for with a head well-stocked with useful knowledge, he is sure, so long as he conducts himself well, to go ahead in life. I should never have been what I am now had it not been for the opportunities of improving myself which offered when I was about your age, and which, I am thankful to say, I availed myself of."

Mr. King then took out of his pocket a neat mahogany case, and gave it to Walter.

[Illustration: "Here are the drawing instruments I promised you."]

"Here are the drawing instruments I promised you," he said, "and I daresay I shall look in this evening and see how you all get on."

Squire Forbes called at the yard during the day to give some further directions about his greenhouse.

"I have tried again, sir," said Walter to him, "and it's of no use; Frank won't join."

"It's his loss, then," said the Squire, "and you have done your duty."

When Walter left the yard that evening, he hurried home to his tea; and then, having "tidied himself," as he called it, he went towards the school-house in which the classes were to be held.

It was nearly dark when he passed through the village, but he saw Frank lounging against a gate at the corner of the little lane which led to the Mill Cottage. Tom Haines was with him, and Walter heard them laughing as he passed.

He seemed not to notice the laugh, however, and called out "Good evening," in his usual tone.

The only answer was another laugh.

Walter passed on without taking any further notice of them. A saying of his mother's—"Let those laugh that win" recurred to his mind, and he felt that he had more real cause for merriment than they had.

There were nearly thirty boys assembled in the school-room that evening, varying in ages from twelve to eighteen. The clergyman of the parish, the national schoolmaster, and several gentlemen resident in the neighbourhood, all took classes. Lessons were given in reading, writing, arithmetic, and drawing. The teachers were kind and painstaking, the scholars well-behaved and attentive, and Walter was surprised when he found it was time to leave off; the two hours had passed away so pleasantly.

Squire Forbes, who had taken the arithmetic class, told the boys before they left, that he hoped to be able once a week to give them a few interesting particulars about modern geography, English history, and the sun, moon, and stars.

"I shall not call it a lecture, boys, first, because most of you will fancy I am going to deliver a long, dry discourse, to which you will not care to listen; and, secondly, because, as it will not last more than a quarter of an hour, it will not deserve the name. I shall call it, then, a pleasant talk; and I hope to make it so entertaining that you may not feel I have given it a wrong name. You can ask me any questions you like when I have finished, and I will answer them to the best of my power.

"I have read a great many more books in my life than you are likely to do, and I think that if I take a number of great and interesting facts out of some of those books, and tell them to you in simple language, such as even the youngest amongst you will be able to understand, it may give you a little stock of useful general knowledge, which will be of service to you in life, and which it would take more time than you have at command to acquire from books. I congratulate you, boys, upon your good behaviour this evening, and I hope we shall live to spend many more such pleasant and profitable hours together."

Walter walked home with William Day, a neighbour's son. It was a cloudy night, and the moon, which was nearly at its full, was partially obscured. All was quiet as they passed the turning to the Mill Cottage, but they had not proceeded far before they met Frank Hardy and Tom Haines. The latter had evidently been drinking, for he was staggering along the road, and would have fallen had not Frank supported him.

Walter shuddered as he passed them by. He thanked God in his heart, and with all humility, that he had hitherto been kept from such acquaintances as Tom Haines, and that he had a mother who had brought him up to see all the horror and evil of intemperance. What might not Frank Hardy become with such an example as Tom Haines always before him! Then he remembered Frank's uncomfortable home, the constant scenes of ill-humour and selfishness which were going on there, and he thought of that text which says, "To whom much is given, of him shall much be required."

"How much more have I than Frank!" he thought, and the thought made him humble.

"How silent you are, Walter!" said Willy Day.

"I was thinking very sad thoughts, Willy."

"Why, you seemed so happy at the school, Walter."

"Yes, I know; but it was meeting Tom Haines and Frank that set me thinking. Suppose we should ever come to be like Tom, Willy!"

"We need not, unless we like, Walter."

"But we can never tell how soon we may fall into temptation; I think mother is right, after all."

"What about?" asked Willy.

"She says it would be better for the world if there were no such places as 'The Plough.'"

"Oh, Walter!"

"It's quite true, Willy; and she says also that beer and spirits are really necessary to no one, and that at least a fourth part of the earnings of every working man who drinks beer are spent in the public-house."

Willy Day know that his father went every evening for an hour or so to "The Plough," but he never remembered seeing him the worse for drink, and he told Walter so.

"I was not speaking of regular drunkards, Willy, when I spoke about a fourth part of a man's wages. Drunkards often spend half, and sometimes more than that, of what they earn in the public-house. That is why Frank Hardy's family are so badly off; the greater part of all the money earned by Frank's father goes to 'The Plough.' But even those people who never 'get the worse for drink,' as you call it, how much money they spend upon it, and what a number of home-comforts—better food, better clothes, and something put by against a rainy day—that money would have procured!"

Walter had arrived at the door of his mother's house as he uttered the last words, and he and Willy stood still for a moment.

"Did your mother tell you all this, Walter?"

"And much more, Willy, I can tell you."

"She must be as good as a book, Walter."

"She always tells me, too, that it is so easy for young people to learn a bad habit, and so difficult to un-learn it; and therefore I have promised her never to go into such places as 'The Plough,' for fear of being tempted to do what it might afterwards be so hard to leave off."

Willy Day wished his friend good-night, and the boys separated.

Willy was a thoughtful boy, and as he walked homewards, he pondered upon all that Walter had said. He remembered many instances in his own home life when an extra three or four shillings a week would have been a great help, and when the want of it was the cause of much inconvenience.

He particularly recollected the time when his sister Lucy was kept away from school for many weeks through having no shoes fit to go in. His mother had told him she could not afford to buy her any. Now, if what Walter's mother said was true, the money which his father spent in one fortnight only at "The Plough," would have bought Lucy a capital pair of shoes.

When he reached home, he found his mother sitting by the fire, nursing the youngest child, a baby of a year old, who was crying as if in great pain.

"Is baby no better, mother?"

"No, Willy; the doctor came again this evening, and he says its chest is very delicate, and that it must wear flannel. I am sure I don't know where the money is to come from."

"How much would the flannel cost, mother?"

"Three or four shillings at least, Willy."

"Just one week at 'The Plough,'" thought Willy.

———————

"Who were you talking to at the gate, Walter?" said his mother, as he entered the house; "I heard your voice for several minutes before you came in."

"It was Willy Day, mother; I was trying to make him understand all that you told me about the harm done by public-houses, and I think I made him see things in a different light to what he had ever done before."

Mrs. White smiled at her son's enthusiasm. "That's right, Walter; there is no one but what has opportunities, at some time or another, of influencing a companion, either by his advice or example. Take advantage of every such occasion; and remember that, as in the old fable, the efforts of a tiny mouse were of service in setting free a great lion, so even young people have it in their power to help forward great and important results."

Mrs. White then asked her son all about the evening school, and Walter gave her an animated description of all that passed there.

"Squire Forbes told us, mother, that every fresh piece of knowledge we acquire is like opening a new window in our minds."

"True, Walter; but we must guard against pride of self-conceit in our knowledge. It is quite right to resolve, in the strength of God, never to spend an unprofitable hour; it is quite right to try and improve our talents to the very utmost, and to employ them to the best advantage; but the motive throughout all should be, not an over-anxiety to appear more clever than other people, or to obtain the praise of men for our superior knowledge; but rather how we shall best be fulfilling God's will in that path of life in which He has placed us."

"Mother, I think you know everything; I am afraid I did feel a little conceited when talking to Willy Day, at least I know I thought how much more I knew than he did. It is hard to think right thoughts, mother."

"God only can enable us to do so, my son. Jeremiah says, in speaking of man's thoughts, 'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.' And David earnestly prays to God that the 'meditations,' that is, the thoughts of his heart, may be acceptable in God's sight."

"There's one thing I don't quite understand, mother; if God places us in a 'path of life,' how can we be said to choose our path?"

Mrs. White took down her Bible, and turning to the second chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, she bade Walter read the 10th verse: "'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.'"

"St. Paul here plainly tells us that we were created by God unto 'good works.' When, through the disobedience of our first parents, sin entered into the world, man's whole nature became changed and corrupted, and he who had been made in God's holy image, became the servant and slave of sin. But God's purpose still remained unchanged; He had created us unto 'good works,' not unto 'evil,' and 'for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins,' He now brings us nigh unto Him through Christ's blood, who is our 'peace' with God.

"In God's strength, then, and through His Holy Spirit strengthening us, we may still do those good works which He hath before ordained that we should walk in; and it is when we are thus, for Jesus Christ's sake, led by the Spirit, that we regain our lost place as God's children, and walk in the path of holiness which He has appointed us. How many of us resist God's Holy Spirit, and choose the path of sin! And how thankful we ought to be when we are enabled to walk in the path of God's commandments, which can only be through His grace helping us. 'For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.'"

"I think I understand it all now," said Walter; and then, he added, "Oh, mother, Gracie says she wishes her mother would talk to her as you do to me."