Dr. Richard Newton tells the sad story of a sailor who stopped at a small inn at a village in Normandy. He engaged supper and a night’s lodging. The landlord and his wife were quite old and seemed to be poor. The sailor asked them to eat with him and during the meal he inquired about all their family, asking especially about a son who went to sea when a lad. They supposed he was dead, as nothing had been heard from him for years. At bedtime the landlady lighted the sailor to his room. He bade her goodnight, then slipped a little purse of gold into her hand. She showed the purse to her husband and the eyes of the two delighted at the sight of it. They surmised that the sailor must have a lot more in his possession. During the night they murdered him in bed and took all his money. Early next morning two relations came to enquire about the lodger. They said he had left. ‘That isn’t possible,’ they said, ‘for he was your son and had come home to spend his life with you. He told us he would stay with you one night and see how kind you might be to a stranger.’ They had murdered their own son from the cursed love of gold. How many today are ready to sell their souls to the devil for a purse of gold!
Quiet Hour Stories with Scripture Readings
- Keith L. Brooks -- page 87
No comments:
Post a Comment