CONSCIENCE
BY
MRS. FOLLEN
Illustrated with engravings.
CONTENTS
CONSCIENCE
"IT IS ONLY A TRIFLE."
CONSCIENCE.
The short wintry days were beginning to lengthen, the sun roseearlier and staid up longer. Now and then a bluebird was heardtwittering a welcome to the coming spring. As for the robins, theywere as pert and busy as usual. The little streams were beginning tofind their way out of their icy prison slowly and with trembling, asif they feared old winter might take a step and catch them, andpinch them all up again.
Frank and Harry were sorry to see their snow man growing smaller andsmaller every day; from being a large, portly gentleman, he wasshrunk into a thin, shabby, ugly-looking fellow. His strong armswere about falling to the ground; his fat nose had entirelydisappeared, and his mouth had grown so big that you might look downhis great throat, and see the place where one of the boys used to goin to make his snowship talk. Frank and Harry loved all their winteramusements, and were loath to give up skating, sliding, andcoasting, and above all, snowballing. Yet the boys enjoyed thelengthening twilight—-the hour their mother devoted to them.
"Will you please to give me two cents, Mother?" said Frank, one day.
"For what?"
"To buy a piece of chalk."
"And two for me, Mother," said Harry, "for I want a piece as well asFrank."
"What are you both going to do with chalk?" asked their mother. Theywere silent. She asked again, but they made no reply. "I cannot giveyou the money till you tell me what you want of the chalk. Why areyou not willing that I should know?"
The boys continued silent for a short time, and then Frank said, "Iam afraid that, if you know what we are going to do with the chalk,you will not let us have the money."
"Then," replied their mother, "you think what you want to do iswrong. I, perhaps, ought to insist upon your telling me what youwant of the chalk. I love to give you every innocent pleasure, andwhat is right for you to do I think I may know about. However, ifyou will assure me it is for nothing wrong that you want the chalk,I will ask no more questions, and give you the money."
"We do not mean to do any great harm with it," said Harry. "Still Iam afraid you will not quite like to have us do it, mothers are somuch more particular than boys, you know."
"Try and see if we disagree about this matter," said their mother.
"Shall I tell?" said Harry to Frank.
"Yes," he replied. "It is no such dreadful affair. Let's tell motherall about it. You know, she said the other day that she rememberedwhen she was a boy."
They all laughed at this often quoted blunder, and Harry began: "Yousee, Mother, that yesterday John Green contrived, while we were inschool, and engaged in doing our lessons, to make a great B onFrank's and my back, with a piece of chalk. John is a good hand atsuch things, and he did it so nicely, that the master did not seehim, and neither of us saw the B on the other. When we went out toplay, all the boys cried out, "B for blockhead, B for blu