nd called at
my office on my way home to write a letter to a brother, of whom the old
man told me, who is now residing in the country. The little grandson
will probably be wealthy now, but I do not believe the enjoyment of it
will make up for his past suffering.'

'I hope he won't be a miser,' said Effie.

'I shouldn't think it very strange if he should be,' replied her
brother, 'the example of his grandfather is enough to spoil him.'

'But you forget, Harry,' said Mrs Maurice, 'what a terrible example it
was. I think the little fellow will be likely to avoid it.'

'Very probably,' added Mr Maurice, 'there is more danger of his going
into the opposite extreme.'

'I am sure, father,' said Harry, 'that it can't be so bad to spend money
foolishly, as to hoard it up the way that old man did.'

'No,' said Effie, 'for he made a _god_ of it, and it is better to care
too little about it, than too much.'

'But the man that spends his money in frivolous pursuits, or what would
be called slightly criminal adventures, who lavishes the money which God
has given him to do good with, upon himself, seeking only his own
gratification--'

'O father!' interrupted Harry, 'he made a _god_ of himself.'

'Such a man,' continued Mr Maurice, 'may be led on from one step to
another until he becomes as guilty as the old man of whom I have told
you to-night.'

'If I were a man,' said little Effie, shuddering, 'I should be afraid to
do anything lest I should do wrong.'

'And why so?' asked Mrs Maurice; 'you forget, my dear, that you, too,
are exposed to temptations, that none of us are exempt from trials, and
our only hope is in the promise that the child of God shall not be
tempted above what he is able to bear.'

'Remember,' added Mr Maurice, taking the family Bible from its shelf
preparatory to their evening devotions, 'to love not the world, neither
the things that are in the world. And remember, when you are searching
your hearts to discover their hidden idols, that the same Divine Being
has said, "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him."'

CHAPTER V.

THE POOR WIDOW.

The next morning, in accordance with his children's wishes, Mr Maurice
accompanied Harry to the residence of the poor woman they had seen at Mr
T.'s shop. It was a miserable hovel, but after all there was an air of
cleanliness and comfort about it, that the most abject poverty can
seldom of itself destroy. A white curtain, men