Page:The old stone house.djvu/16

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8
The Old Stone House.


thing wrong in my system, for now, at the end of ten years, I begin to fear that she is no better, if indeed, she is as good as she was when she first came to me, a child of six years. I must be greatly to blame ; I must have erred in my duty. And yet, I have labored su earnestly ! " Another tear stole down Aunt Faith's cheek as she thought of the heavy responsibility resting upon her life. " Shall I be able to answer to my brothers and sisters for all these little souls ? " she mused. " There is Hugh also. Can I dare to think he is a true Christian ? He is not an acknowledged soldier of the Cross ; and, in spite of all the care and instruction that have been lavished upon him, what more can I truthfully say than that he is generous and brave ? Can I disguise from, myself his faults, his tendencies towards free- thinking, his gay idea of life, — ideas, which, in a great city, will surely lead him astray ? No ; I cannot! And yet he is the child of many prayers. How well I remember his mother ! how earnestly she prayed for the little boy !