Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
[Illustration: MRS. LESLIE'S BIBLE PEARLS.]
The Pearl of Charity:
OR,
THE CHAIN AND SEALS.
BY MRS. MADELINE LESLIE.
"Above all things put on charity, which is the bond of
perfectness." COL. 3:14.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY A. F. GRAVES,
20 CORNHILL.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
REV. A. R. BAKER,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of
Massachusetts.
MRS. LESLIE'S
BIBLE PEARLS.
Series for Boys.
VOL. I. THE PEARL OF LOVE.
VOL. II. THE PEARL OF CHARITY.
VOL. III. THE PEARL OF OBEDIENCE.
VOL. IV. THE PEARL OF PENITENCE.
VOL. V. THE PEARL OF HOPE.
VOL. VI. THE PEARL OF PATIENCE.
MRS. LESLIE'S
BIBLE PEARLS.
Series for Girls.
VOL. I. THE PEARL OF FAITH.
VOL. II. THE PEARL OF DILIGENCE.
VOL. III. THE PEARL OF MEEKNESS.
VOL. IV. THE PEARL OF FORGIVENESS.
VOL. V. THE PEARL OF CONTENTMENT.
VOL. VI. THE PEARL OF PEACE.
To
FRANK RANDALL, RUTH, MAY, RANDOLPH MORGAN,
AND JAMES WALDINGFIELD,
CHILDREN OF
D. F. APPLETON, ESQ., NEW YORK,
THESE "BIBLE PEARLS" ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
BY THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. ORFORD BOYS
CHAPTER II. THE LOST CHAIN
CHAPTER III. FRANK'S FRIENDS
CHAPTER IV. WANT OF CHARITY
CHAPTER V. FRANK'S TROUBLE
CHAPTER VI. THE TEACHER'S WARNING
CHAPTER VII. CHARITY REVIVED
CHAPTER VIII. THE CHAIN RESTORED
CHAPTER IX. THE CHARITY CIRCLE
The Pearl of Charity.
CHAPTER I.
ORFORD BOYS.
"WHAT are you looking for, Frank?" called out Lionel Trask to his
school companion.
"I thought I dropped my slate-pencil," answered Frank, hesitating and
growing very red.
"Looking for a slate-pencil in that high grass! That's a good joke!
Come on, now; I'm going to the Common for a game of base ball."
"I wish I could," muttered Frank, speaking to himself, "but I can't,
no," he added, in a louder voice. "I haven't the time." And away he ran
without giving himself opportunity to be tempted.
"Hurrah, boys! That's cool," exclaimed Lionel.
But as there were no boys near to answer, he satisfied himself by a
long whistle to the tune of "Dan Tucker."
Frank darted off down the street, and presently leaped a wall without
touching it, and hurried across a well-trodden path to a cottage on the
opposite corner of the field.
Frank Jocelyn was an active, handsome lad of thirteen summers. He was
tall of his age, and expert at all the games that boys love. The side
he was on was sure to beat at ball, and his kite always flew higher
than that of any of his companions. Though the youngest in the "Orford
Boys," the name of the Orford boat-club, yet he was accounted one of
their best rowers.
But Frank had a great fault. He was proud, not exactly of his personal
appearance, though he received praise enough for that to spoil him;
but proud of being Frank Jocelyn, the smartest boy in Orford; proud of
being the first scholar in his classes, and always at their head in
spelling.
Two years before this time, Frank's father was considered to be in as
good circumstances as anybody in town except Squire Rawson, who owned
the large farm beyond Cedar Hill. But most unfortunately, he endorsed
his name on a note to oblige a neighbor. When the time for payment
came, the neighbor was missing, and, of course, Mr. Jocelyn had to foot
the bill.
It was a heavy loss, but he could have gone through with it, if he
had not taken it so much to heart. The disappointment preyed on his
spirits; he took cold, and could not readily throw it off. Fever
followed, and in less than three months, he was sleeping his long sleep
beneath the sods of his native valley.
When his business came to be examined, it was found to be in a bad
condition, and his wife, instead of having a competence for herself and
her two children, realized only a thousand dollars besides the house
and farm where they lived.
Everybody sympathized with the widow, and was indignant at the fraud
of their dishonest neighbor; but sympathy, though very soothing to the
feelings, does not fill the mouths of the hungry.
Mrs. Jocelyn, after satisfying herself that the reports of the executor
were true, made up her mind that she must earn her own bread. Whether
she able to have butter with it remained to be proved.
Beside Frank, she had a daughter May, as sweet and fair a girl as one
would wish to see. May was two years older than her brother, and loved
him with all her heart.
Mrs. Jocelyn, after making and rejecting a number of plans, at last
resolved that if she could take a few boarders to occupy her vacant
rooms, and thus continue her children at school, she should be very
grateful.
This was happily accomplished. The teacher of the high school, with his
wife and one child became inmates of her family, and recommended her to
their friends so earnestly that she had as many boarders as she could
accommodate.
[Illustration]