ble. As soon as she arrived
at the house she went hastily up stairs, and took off the hateful
ribbon, as it now appeared, with a feeling of disgust, and throwing
herself on the bed cried long and bitterly. Charlotte did not know how
to pray to God to give her a clean heart and forgive her sin; she never
thought of asking His forgiveness, or confessing her fault; she felt
sick at heart, restless and unhappy. Such are ever the consequences of
sin. She ate no dinner, and her mother told her to go and lie down, as
she did not look well. Charlotte gladly went up stairs again, and after
another hearty crying spell fell fast asleep.

When she awoke it was evening, and going down stairs she found that her
mother had gone to visit a neighbor. Charlotte stood out by the door,
and although it was a lovely summer night, a gloom seemed to her to
overhang everything. Her little brothers spoke to her, and she answered
them harshly and sent them away. While she stood idly musing a miserable
old beggar woman, who bore but an indifferent character in the
neighborhood, came hobbling along; she came up to the little girl and
asked an alms. Almost instinctively she put her hand in her pocket, and
taking thence the three cents placed them with a feeling of relief in
the beggar's hand. She thought she was doing a good act, and would atone
for her wicked conduct. The old woman was profuse of thanks, and taking
from her dirty apron a double handful of sour and unripe fruit, placed
it in Charlotte's lap and went away.

Charlotte's parents had forbidden her eating unripe fruit; but a day
begun in sin was not unlikely to end in disobedience. She felt feverish
and thirsty, and so biting one of the apples went on eating until all
were gone. She then went up to bed, and feeling afraid to be alone, for
a bad conscience is always fearful, she closed her eyes and fell almost
immediately asleep.

She was awakened in the night by sharp and violent pain; she dreaded to
call her mother, as she would have to tell her what she had been eating,
and so she bore the suffering as long as she could; but her restless
tossings and moans aroused her mother, who slept in an adjoining room,
and hastening in to her daughter, she found her in a high state of
fever. She did all she could for her, but the next morning Charlotte was
so much worse that a physician was sent for. She was quite delirious
when he came, and he pronounced her situation dangerous.

The poor gir