Next morning Johnny sat by the window waiting for Jack. He did not have to wait long. As soon as he saw Jack coming; he motioned to him to come near. “Here, I have a beautiful apple, which I will give to you, Jack,” said Johnny, handing him the apple. Jack blushed, and refused to accept the apple, for he felt how wicked he had been to the poor child. Johnny urged him so warmly that Jack could not refuse. “How can Johnny,” thought he, “be so kind to me, when I have been so rude to him? I am sorry that I accepted it, for how seldom does he get an apple like this.” Jack’s repeated refusal was in vain, for Johnny would not take the apple back. Jack went home slowly. He felt queer, and his brothers and sisters were astonished, when he called them and divided the apple among them. They could not remember when they had ever received anything from him. From then on, Jack was different to the poor boy. When passing by he would salute Johnny with a smile. Though with this, Jack was not satisfied but kept thinking how he could make the cripple happy. At last he decided to go to the woods and gather sticks to sell for wood. He began his work with eagerness and soon had a big bundle, which he sold and with the money bought nuts and plums and brought them to Johnny with a smile. For the first time in his life, he enjoyed the pleasure of being a cheerful giver. He took the cripple’s hand and asked him if he had any bitter feelings against him any more. It was sometime before Johnny could answer, for he was so overcome with joy. “Oh! I haven’t hated you for a long time,” said Johnny. “You are a good boy, Jack.” “But how could you be so kind to me, since I have been so wicked?” asked Jack. “The Lord Jesus taught me. My heart used to be full of bitterness against you, and I murmured because I could not run about as other boys do. But my father read the Bible to me and so I learned to love you and everybody,” answered Johnny. “What! you learned that from the Bible!” said Jack, astonished. “Yes, I found there that all men, by nature, are sinners and hurrying on the broad road to destruction, and that the Lord Jesus came from heaven to die on the cross for lost sinners and to bear their sins. Oh! you don’t know how much He suffered for us and as patiently as a lamb. I felt that I was a sinner and that He hung on the cross for me. Then I could not be bitter against you any more. I prayed to Him about it and I was happy. Then my hatred against you was gone.” Jack was very sober. He had never read the Bible. After a pause he asked, “Do you often read the Bible, Johnny?” “Alas; no, reading is too difficult for me,” said Johnny sadly, “but my dear father reads for me every morning and evening.” “May I come when I have time and read to you?” asked Jack. How the poor boy’s face brightened and he pressed his new friend’s hand warmly. A better offer, Jack could not have made. It was decided to read a chapter every afternoon, and Jack kept his promise. From then on he could often be seen at his friend’s side. The reading of God’s word was not without blessing to Jack, the once mean boy, who was now pleasant to everyone. Soon Jack, too, found the Lord Jesus as his Saviour and Lord.
—Translated by H. R. E.
ML 08/27/1899