But the
pious child can be happy even when dying. I was once called to see a
boy who was very dangerously sick, and expected soon to die. I
expected to have found him sorrowful. But, instead of that, a happy
smile was on his countenance, which showed that joy was in his heart.
He sat in bed, leaning upon his pillow, with a hymn book in his hand,
which he was reading. His cheeks were thin and pale, from his long
sickness, while, at the same time, he appeared contented and happy.
After conversing with him a little while, I said,
"Do you think you shall ever get well again?"
"No, sir," he cheerfully replied, "the doctor says I may perhaps
live a few weeks, but that he should not be surprised if I should die
at any time."
"Are you willing to die?" I said.
"O yes, sir," he answered; "sometimes I feel sad about leaving
father and mother. But then I think I shall be free from sin in
heaven, and shall be with the Savior. And I hope that father and
mother will soon come to heaven, and I shall be with them then. I am
sometimes afraid that I am too impatient to go."
"What makes you think," I asked, "that you are prepared to die?"
He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Because Jesus Christ has
said, Whosoever cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. I do think
that I love the Savior, and I wish to go to him, and to be made holy."
While talking with him, I heard some boys laughing and playing under
the window.
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