off his clothes, and clean off the mud and dry them; but with all they
could do, John was still in a sad mess, and as it was now late in the
day, he turned to go home with a heavy heart.

When he reached the cottage, he found his father and mother in great
alarm, as they could not think what had become of him. When they found
out what had taken place, their alarm was changed into grief, on account
of the son whom they loved so much, having done wrong. John himself
cried a great deal, and said that he was more vexed because he had
caused them grief, than he should have been, if they had scolded and
whipped him. His mother told him that she left it to his own heart to
scold him, and that he should go to his bed-room and pray to God on his
knees to forgive him, as she had taught him to pray.

John did as she bade him, and he prayed to God with all his heart.
He then went to sleep with a quiet mind; and when he awoke the next
morning, he prayed again that God would give him strength to do his
duty, and to stand firm when he should be tempted again as he had been
by Tom Jones. He then read a chapter in the Bible to his mother, and
went to school. His master kept him in, and gave him only a piece of
bread and a cup of water for dinner. But he did not suffer nearly so
much from this as he had done from having grieved his dear parents; for
he had before this been brought to repent, and he felt that God, and
his father and mother, had forgiven him.

John Cooper never again grieved his father and mother by doing wrong,
and never forgot the lesson he had learned, when Tom Jones led him
astray, as long as he lived.

[Illustration: SUNDAY MORNING]