"At last his ungrateful, inhuman conduct rendered him so notorious that he caused her name to be struck off the parish books, and allowed her the two shillings from his own pocket; but not a penny more, even when he was possessed of thousands of pounds.
"One day some friends of the old lady were assembled, among whom was her clergyman. They expressed great indignation at the base ingratitude of the son, and proposed that a remonstrance be drawn up.
"'No,' said the minister; 'if that man dies possessed of the property which he is now worth, I shall be greatly deceived. God will never suffer such base ingratitude to prosper.'
"Shortly after, the mother died a happy death, and very soon the prospects of her wicked son began to change. He met with great losses; and finally he was reduced to poverty as abject as his mother's had been. No one pitied him; but all felt his suffering was richly deserved, and was a just punishment for his sin."
"What a wicked man!" cried Frederick. "I would never do so; I would have you live with me, ma, and take care of you all your life."
Mrs. Carleton kissed her boy and softly whispered in his ear,--
"Thank you, my darling;" and then it was time for them to get their Bibles, and read aloud in turn. Afterward Mrs. Carleton knelt, and prayed for herself and her absent husband, and for their dear children, that God would make them sensible of all his blessings and would give them hearts to praise him for his great mercies.
Fred usually fell asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow; but this night he was very wakeful. The stories he had heard, both from his teacher and his mother, led him to think of the end of wicked men; and he resolved, as he had never done before, that, with God's help, he would try to be a consistent Christian.
Especially he thought of his father, and wondered where he was, how soon he would be home, and what kind of a present he would bring this time.
Fred's father was a sea-captain. He had once been very successful in business; but two years before the time I have written about, his vessel was wrecked, and he barely escaped with his life.
As he could not afford to lose his time in waiting for the command of a new ship, he took the situation of first mate, in which he had continued ever since. It was now a few days more than a year since he sailed, and Hatty noticed that her mother began to watch the clouds more than she had done, while she supposed him too far off the coast to be affected by storms. Still as he was not now the captain, he might not be able to leave the vessel at once, even if it had arrived in port.