Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
[Illustration: "REMEMBER THIS IS GOD'S DAY."]
Little Dot Series.
——————————————
GRATEFUL PETER'S
NEW YEAR'S GIFT.
BY
RUTH LAMB
AUTHOR OF "COMFORTABLE MRS. CROOK," ETC.
[Illustration]
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY:
56, PATERNOSTER ROW; 65, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD;
AND 164, PICCADILLY.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
CONTENTS.
[Illustration]
CHAP.
I. AN UNEXPECTED PRESENT
II. RUN OVER
III. GLAD TIDINGS
IV. NEW HOMES
[Illustration]
GRATEFUL PETER'S
NEW YEAR'S GIFT.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
An Unexpected Present.
[Illustration] ON the last evening of the year, the snow was falling
heavily, and the same shrill wind that howled and whistled through the
keyholes and roared in the chimneys was whirling the white flakes round
the heads of the few people to be found in the streets.
What a night it was! That piercing wind laid hold of all the
passengers. Some it drove onwards, nearly lifting them off their feet;
others it forced backwards, making them fight for every inch of the way
through the snow which it flung in their faces.
Umbrellas were of no use that night. Those who tried to use the frail
shelters of silk or alpaca saw them turned into playthings by that
unruly pitiless wind. Glad were they to furl them tightly again, though
in many cases they only managed to carry home a battered bundle of
broken ribs and silk. Nobody that could help it would be out of doors
at all.
"I wish I weren't forced to be out," thought a little fellow called
Peter Grant, as, tired with battling against the wind, he leaned
against some railings to regain breath. "And it's little use stopping
out. I've only taken three coppers to-night. Who'd stay to buy baked
taters in this snow and wind? I've shouted myself hoarse, and nobody
stops to listen. If plenty of folks were out, the wind wouldn't let
them hear me."
Peter Grant was twelve years old, and a baked-potato merchant. He had
a home—if that poor cellar in Number Three Court, Back Potter Street,
could be called one—and he possessed what all great and rich people do
not—a true friend. While Peter is leaning against the railings, I will
tell you his story, so far as he can remember it.
Peter Grant was only a trotting thing of four years old when he lost
his father, and from the neat little home they had been accustomed to,
he and his mother were obliged to remove to one room in the court I
have mentioned. Peter's mother went out washing and working; but a day
came when she returned earlier than usual because she was too ill to
finish her work.
Old Sally Graham, who lived in the cellar, used to take care of Peter
during his mother's absence. She loved the little fellow dearly, and
was Mrs. Grant's faithful nurse until, after a fortnight's illness,
Peter was left motherless too. There was a talk of taking Peter to the
workhouse, but his tears and Old Sally's pleadings induced the parish
officers to give her a little weekly sum. So he stayed on with the only
friend who loved him and could talk to him of his mother.
Perhaps it would have been better for Peter if he had been taken to the
workhouse. There he would have had good plain schooling, and have been
put to some regular trade. As it was, he grew up very ignorant.
Being a sharp lad, and eager to learn, he had somehow got to read
pretty well, partly taught by other lads, partly by old Sally. He
knew just so much of figures as a boy who sells small articles in the
streets and goes on errands must obtain by every-day practice. Sally
was too ignorant to teach Peter more than this.
As to God, religion, the Bible, church, or Sunday-school, neither she
nor the boy ever looked on these things as concerning them at all. To
be sure, Peter heard the bells calling people to the house of God on
Sundays. And sometimes, when tempted out of Number Three Court into the
wider streets, where on other days, he cried "Baked taters," he could
see well-dressed folk going into the churches and chapels. But he only
looked wonderingly at their nice clothes, and never thought of taking
part himself.
Sunday! What was Sunday to Peter? I'll tell you, children. It was
the day on which Peter had a clean shirt, and on which he often went
without a jacket while Sally mended it, and he played at marbles out in
the court with other lads. Sunday! Well, there was a little difference
between it and other days. They had a bit of warm meat for dinner when
they could, and Peter did not go out selling.
At one time, Peter plied his trade on Sundays the same as on other
days. But on a particular Sunday evening in early autumn, as he was
shouting to the passers-by to purchase "rosy apples three a penny," a
gentleman said something to him which stopped his Sunday trading. Peter
always remembered that gentleman's face. It was kind, though grave,
and his hair was white, but his eyes were bright and his cheeks ruddy.
Peter had pushed his hand full of apples in front of the gentleman,
and, in his bold way, asked him to buy.
"No, my boy; I do not buy, and you should not sell, on Sundays," was
the answer. "Do you not know this is God's day?"
Peter stared open-mouthed, and the gentleman went on speaking. "I was
once a poor boy, and I believe I should be a poor man now if I had not
been content to work on six days, and give the seventh part of my time
to God. You have a ragged jacket. Do you expect to buy a good coat out
of money earned on Sundays?"
Peter looked ruefully at his ragged jacket as the gentleman named it.
He had been long vainly trying for a new one.
"I didn't know, sir," he stammered out; "I'm an honest lad, sir. I work
hard for my living, and other lads and men too work o' Sundays as well
as me."
"Did you not know it was wrong to sell and tempt people to buy on
Sundays? If other people do wrong that does not make you right. You may
be honest to your fellow-creatures, but you are robbing God of the day
that belongs to Him. Do you go to school?"
"Can't afford it, sir."
"What is your father?"
"Haven't got one, sir; nor mother neither. I live with old Sally
Graham, and she's a very good friend, sir. She always says I must never
steal nor tell lies, nor do anything to get took up by the police."
This was about the sum of Sally's moral teachings.
Poor Sally! She could not tell him of the loving Father in heaven,
who has said He is "a Father of the fatherless." Neither had Peter
ever heard of that dear Saviour who held out His tender arms for the
children whom Jewish mothers brought to seek His blessing. Sally could
not repeat the sweet invitation, "Suffer the little children to come
unto Me, and forbid them not," or tell him that he too might go to the
same dear Saviour, and be sure of a welcome.
The gentleman seemed to understand Peter's position from these answers
of his. He was one who had been raised from poverty to a high and
honourable position, and he delighted to help others.
So he thought, "I will do something for this lad. Poor, ignorant,
fatherless, motherless, living without hope and without God in the
world, where could I find a better object to work on?"
Turning to Peter, he said, "Where do you live, my boy?"
"At Number Three Court, Back Potter Street—end house, sir, right-hand
side."
"And what is your name?"
"Peter Grant; and I live with Sally Graham."
The white-haired gentleman wrote down Peter's name and address on a
slip of paper, which he put into his purse for safety, and then said,
"Do you think you would make sixpence more by selling apples to-night?"
"Oh dear no, sir; maybe twopence or threepence at most."
"Then take this sixpence. Go home, and try to remember this is God's
day."
"Yes, sir," said Peter.
"I shall keep this paper, and you will most likely see me again."
"Thank you, sir," said Peter, and he touched his cap as the gentleman,
with a kind good-night, turned away.
Peter at once started homeward, resolved that this unexpected windfall
should buy an extra good cup of tea and a quarter of lump sugar for old
Sally.
Poor and ignorant as Peter was, he was a truly loving grateful lad. He
was not able to do much in return for his friend's kindness, but he did
what he could.
Is it so with you, dear child-readers? Are you grateful to the parents
who load you with so many marks of tenderness? Do you give them ready,
joyful obedience, or deny yourselves for their sakes? And when you keep
Christmas, feasting on good things, or delighting in your pretty gifts,
while you watch the blazing lights on the Christmas-tree, decked by
loving hands, what is your chief thought? Do you think of the gifts, or
the Chief Giver? Of the pretty presents, or of Him who gave His dear
Son that you, believing in Him, might have pardon and life?
Old Sally was standing at the end of the court when Peter returned home.
"You're home soon, Peter; are you sold out?" she asked.
"No; but a gentleman gave me sixpence, and said I mustn't sell on
Sundays. And he wrote my name on a paper, and said I should see him
again."
Sally asked many questions, considering that a person who bestowed
sixpence without being asked for it, and held out hopes of future
favours, was worth inquiring about. Peter told her all that had passed,
described his appearance, from his gold-rimmed spectacles down to his
quick firm step, and finished by saying, "He told me he was once a poor
boy, too."
"That made the gentleman give you sixpence. When folks have known what
it is to work for their money, they think about others; they know how
hard it is to make ends meet if they keep honest."
"He had the sort of face you say it does you good to look at; and I
should like to see him again," said Peter.
"I hope you will, then. But oh, dear me! Gentlefolks often promise
things and forget all about 'em. I daresay they mean to keep them, but
other things come in the way, and they forget."
"But this gentleman did not look as if he would."
"Maybe not. To my mind, they're much of a muchness, as the saying is. I
never saw one I could altogether trust to."
(No, Sally; because the eyes of your understanding have not yet been
opened to see Him whose "word is truth," and who, having promised, is
ever faithful to perform.)
Peter gave Sally all the money he had taken, but kept back the
sixpence. Though short of many things, she did not ask for it, but
hoped he would save it towards the price of a new jacket. But he only
thought of her comfort. He would have gone then to buy the tea and
sugar, but he remembered that if it were not right for him to sell
apples on Sunday, neither was it for others to sell tea and sugar.
It was hard work to keep the sixpence, when he saw how few grains of
tea were left in the wide-necked bottle which did duty as a caddy. But
he did keep it.
On Monday morning, he bought with it an ounce of tea, a quarter of
sugar, and a bloater. He had the happiness of seeing his old friend
enjoy her breakfast, though she exclaimed, "Eh, Peter, you'll never get
a jacket if you spend all your money for me."
The boy ran off to his business, very happy at the thought of Sally's
good breakfast. Many times he wondered if the white-haired gentleman
would find Back Potter Street; it was such an out-of-the-way place. And
then the question, "Will he try?" suggested itself.
He pictured again the kind face, answered the question, "Yes, I'm sure
he will," then made extra haste to be home early.
He reached home out of breath, and gasped out, "Has the gentleman been?"
"No, Peter," answered Sally; "and if I was you, I wouldn't think too
much about him. If he comes, it will be all right; and if doesn't, you
will be less disappointed."
So many a day passed, and no gentleman came. Peter's heart sank within
him when days grew into months.
And old Sally said, "I told you how it would be, Peter; there's no
trusting to anybody's promises."
Peter sadly confessed that Sally was right, adding, "If that gentleman
could go and say a thing just to disappoint a poor lad, I wouldn't
trust anybody."
Still, the gentleman's words influenced Peter almost without his
knowing it. He did not go to church or school, but, on the other
hand, he neither bought nor sold on Sundays. It was not so much the
words about God and the Sabbath that lingered in his mind. But he did
remember the question, "Do you ever expect to earn a good coat with
what you get by selling on Sundays?"
Of respect for God's day Peter knew nothing. But the ever-present need
of a new jacket in place of his ragged one made every word relating
to it of great importance. Somehow he felt that if he were to work
on Sundays, he should have no luck. On the other hand, he looked for
the new jacket as a reward which he deserved for giving up his Sunday
business.
He was confirmed in the belief when his own and old Sally's combined
savings did amount to enough for the purchase of a warm suit of
second-hand clothes. In these garments, he was clothed on that cold
December night—the last of the year—when we left him standing against
the railings, amid the falling snow and piercing wind.
We must go back to him now. It is well he does not really stand there
expecting us, is it not, dear children? Or he would be weary with
remaining so long in the cold.
[Illustration]