"
Then, he raised his other hand, shook his finger, and in awe-inspiring
tone continued: "Yes, I be sure die chicken do dat, but vot for you
tell grandma dat Heinrick do dat? Der debil makes peoples tell lies,
and den he ketch sie for his fire, und he vill ketch you, if you do dat
some more. Gott, who you mutter telled you 'bout, will not love you. I
will not love you, if you do dat some more. I be sorry for you, because
I tought you vas His little girl, and mine little girl."
Jakie must have spent much time in collecting so many English words,
and they were effective, for before he got through repeating them to
me, I was as heart-sore and penitent as a child could be.
After he had forgiven me, he sent me to grandma, later to acknowledge
my wrong to Hendrik, and before I slept, I had to tell God what a bad
child I had been, and ask Him to make me good.
I had promised to be very careful and to try never to tell another lie,
and I had been unhappy enough to want to keep the promise. But, alas,
my sympathy for Jakie led me into more trouble, and it must have been
on Sunday too, for he was not working, but sitting reverently under the
tree with his elbows upon a table, and his cheeks resting in the
hollows of his hands. Before him lay the Holy Scriptures from which he
was slowly reading aloud in solemn tones.
Georgia and I standing a short distance from him, listened very
intently.
Pages:
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189