What with the tackings frequently necessary, and the taking down sail in one place, and then putting it up in another, the time passed on rapidly; and we were quite surprised, as we finished the exploration of one of the little inlets, to hear Groves remark that it was "nigh upon two o'clock, and that we'd all be the better of a little food." For the first time in our lives we had forgotten to be hungry.
It was decided that we should spread the luncheon on a broad flat stone, near which our boat was now curtseying listlessly on the water, and take our repast ashore. George and Ralph lifted out the hamper, and spread the cloth, and arranged the various good things we found inside.
"And don't let us forget," said old George, reverently, lifting his hat, "the thanks we owe to our Father, which art in heaven, for His bounties provided for us."
The train of thought thus started seemed to go on in his mind, after we had set to the serious business of luncheon. "You see, young gentlemen," he presently continued, "we're to remember that all the good things He sends us come from the same hand that sends us our disappointments too; and though we don't always see it, it's true that the troubles and trials are amongst the _good_ things. Many a time I've kept a-thinking of that verse which says, 'He that spared not His only-begotten Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not, with Him, also freely give us all things'--the _all things_ there meaning, you see, the troubles and losses as much as the gains, and successes, and pleasures. And I think it's the same with children as with grown people; _their_ trials, which are small to grown-up people, are great to _them_, and they don't come by chance. And, when we are able to feel this way, young gentlemen, it's easier to bear up when the wind seems dead against you, and to say, when things go wrong, and there's a deal of beating about, and a shipping of heavy seas, as you're taught to say in the Lord's prayer, 'Thy will be done.'"
I forget what was said after George finished this homely, but practical and excellent children's sermon; but I can remember that Aleck's face looked somewhat lighter; the words seemed to have touched some inner chord, and to have met _his_ troubles more than they did _mine_. _My_ load, on the contrary, lay all the more heavily on my conscience; as I realized that I was entirely shut out from such consolations as George tried to offer, so that I became _more_ rather than _less_ gloomy.