2 THE PENITENT ed very little; and he often sighed. His mother thought something was the matter with him; but she did not say much to him about it. At night, he took leave of his dear mother, and went to bed. About an hour after he had been in bed, the maid went to her mistress, and told her that she was very uneasy about the little boy: for he was very restless; she had heard him often sob; and he desired his mother to come to him, as he could not go to sleep till he had told her something that made him very unhappy. The good mother went to him; and when she came to his bed side, he put his little arms round her neck, and burst into tears, and said to her—“Dear mamma, forgive me! I have been a very naughty boy to-day. I have told a lie; and I have hid it from you. I was playing at marbles with my cousins; I won the game, through a mistake which they did not find out; and I was so much pleased at being conqueror, that I did not tell them of the mistake. I have been very unhappy ever since; and I am afraid to go to sleep, lest that heavenly Father, whom you so often tell me of, should be angry with me. You say he knows and sees every thing.
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