Daniel was a lame little boy. He could not walk at all, nor play about
with the other children, so he was very puny and pale. His mother used
to put his little chair near the door of the cottage where they lived,
so that he could watch the people pass, and one day, as he sat there, a
lady came by with a well-dressed little boy, and when she saw the
pale-faced child she stopped and spoke to him, and then Daniel's mother
came to the door, and invited her to step inside the cottage.
The lady's little boy was called Emil, and he stood on the doorstep
talking to Daniel, while the two mothers spoke together within the
cottage. Emil, who was a kind-hearted little fellow, felt very sorry for
the lame child, and when he found that Daniel was never able to go any
farther than the street where he lived, Emil said: "I will ask my father
to bring his carriage round and take you for a drive; I am sure he will,
and then you can see the green fields and trees, and hear the birds
sing".
Daniel's little face flushed with pleasure, and he said; "Oh that would
be lovely!"
By-and-by the lady and her boy said "Good-bye," and went away, and then
Daniel told his mother all that Emil had said. "Do you think he will
come to-morrow, mother?" asked Daniel.
"Perhaps not to-morrow, dear," replied she, "but some day soon maybe."
So Daniel sat at the door each day, and waited for the carriage, but it
never came, and when he grew too ill to sit up he would still lie and
listen for the sound of the wheels, and say: "I think it will come
to-day, mother," but it never did. And do you know why? Emil had
forgotten to ask his father, and so Daniel waited in vain for the drive.
You see how much pain and disappointment can be caused by forgetting,
and when you promise to do a thing and forget to =keep= the promise it
is just like telling an untruth. You do not =intend= to speak what is
not the truth, but you do it all the same. Remember, then, that it is
=not= a little fault to forget, and that those who do it are not
building on the firm foundation of truth.
(Blackboard.)
When we Promise and Forget, we are not True.
_To the Parent or Teacher._--However culpable it
may be to break promises to adults (and it is in
reality nothing less than untruth), it is
infinitely worse to break faith with children. An
unredeemed promise is a sure way of shaking a
child's confidence in truth and goodness. Let us
keep our word with the little ones at whatever
cost.