And so it had come to pass with Tom, as with all who will
not confess their Lord before men; and for the last year he had probably
not said his prayers in earnest a dozen times.
4. Poor Tom! the first and bitterest feeling, which was like to break his
heart, was the sense of his own cowardice. The vice of all others which he
loathed was brought in and burned in on his own soul. He had lied to his
mother, to his conscience, to his God. How could he bear it? And then the
poor, little, weak boy, whom he had pitied and almost scorned for his
weakness, had done that which he, braggart as he was, dared not do.
5. The first dawn of comfort came to him in vowing to himself that he
would stand by that boy through thick and thin, and cheer him, and help
him, and bear his burdens, for the good deed done that night. Then he
resolved to write home next day and tell his mother all, and what a coward
her son had been. And then peace came to him as he resolved, lastly, to
bear his testimony next morning.
6. The morning would be harder than the night to begin with, but he felt
that he could not afford to let one chance slip.
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