subjects, I sat nearly dumb; I could summon no thoughts nor words to
frame them. Even this stupidity had its advantage, for Mr. Benton (Hal
called him Will) was a good talker, and had, as all talkers have, a
great respect for a good listener, and he often said to me:

"You have a heart to appreciate rare truths, Miss Minot."

Clara was gifted in conversation, but did not always express her
sentiments with great freedom.

If we touched on things nearest her heart, and I believe the doing of
good each to the other was her highest thought, she was at home, and her
blue eyes would glow with light, as in her own sweet way she talked long
and earnestly. I shall never forget the first time Mr. Benton noticed
this point in her organization. The newsmonger of our town had been to
see us, had spent the afternoon and taken tea, and while it was
amusement for me to hear her gossip incessantly about this thing and
that, this person and the other, Clara was greatly annoyed by it. It
caused a righteous indignation to rise within her, and when after the
visit we were seated by the antique centre table in her sitting-room,
the conversation turned upon the peculiarities of this scandal-loving
Jane North.

Clara expressed herself freely on the subject of small talk, as she
termed scandal. Her eyes dilated, her small hands were folded tightly,
and when she closed it was with this last feeling sentence:

"I can only say, 'Father, forgive them, they know not what they do,' who
scatter the theme of contention where roses should appear, and in
tearing down the habitation of their neighbors lose also their own; for