Читать книгу The Young Pilgrim: A Tale Illustrative of "The Pilgrim's Progress" онлайн

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Mr. Ewart had begun a bold, clever sketch,—stones and moss, trees and grass were rapidly appearing on the paper, but he wanted some living object to give interest to the picture. Naturally his eye fell upon Mark, in his tattered jacket and straw hat, but he forgot his sketch as he looked closer at the boy, and met his sad, anxious gaze.

“You are unhappy, I fear,” he said, laying down his pencil.

Mark cast down his eyes, and said nothing.

“You are in need, or you are ill, or you are in want of a friend,” said the clergyman with kind sympathy in his manner.

“Oh, sir, it is not that—” began Mark, and stopped.

“Come nearer to me, and tell me frankly, my boy, what is weighing on your heart. It is the duty, it is the privilege of the minister of Christ to speak comfort to those who require comfort.”

“Can you tell me,” cried Mark, with a great effort, “the way for sinners—to be saved?”

“The Saviour is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Gate by which alone we enter into salvation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The just shall live by faith.”