anger should be on the conscience of your neighbour, that he should
be driven from the church?'

'Is it as bad as that?' said Jane.

'We do not yet see the full extent of the mischief our idle words may
have done,' said Mr. Devereux.

'But it is their own fault, if they will do wrong,' said Jane; 'they
ought not to be in a rage, we said nothing but the truth.'

'I wish I was clear of the sin,' said her cousin.

'And after all,' said Jane, 'I cannot see that I was much to blame; I
only talked to Mrs. Appleton, as I have done scores of times, and no
one minded it. You only laughed at me on Saturday, and papa and
Eleanor never scolded me.'

'You cannot say that no one has ever tried to check you,' said the
Rector.

'And how was I to know that that mischief-maker would repeat it?'
said Jane.

'I do not mean to say,' said Mr. Devereux, 'that you actually
committed a greater sin than you may often have done, by talking in a
way which you knew would displease your father. I know we are too
apt to treat lightly the beginnings of evil, until some sudden sting
makes us feel what a serpent we have been fostering. Think this a
warning, pray that the evil we dread may be averted; but should it