"I was thinking of you," she replied gravely.
"And was that a thought to give you pain?" said Walter, sitting down at her side, "Tell me, Nelly, what were you thinking of me?"
"I am afraid—perhaps you would be vexed or angry—"
"Vexed I may be, but angry with you, never! Have I done anything to displease you?"
"It is not so much what you do, Walter, as what I fear that you feel. It seems to me—I trust that I am wrong—but it seems to me that you almost hate Ned Goldie."
"It is natural that I should—he is always insulting me!"
"It is natural, Walter; but is it right? Father has so often told us that the adopted children of God must struggle against and overcome their evil nature, must try, with God's help, to gain a likeness to their Father—to be merciful as He is merciful, forgive as He forgives; if we do not try this, with faith and with prayer, we have no right to think ourselves God's children at all."
"Can you prove that from the Bible?" said Walter.
"I think that I can," replied Nelly, after a moment's thought. "It is written, 'If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.'"
"That last verse has brought another into my mind, Nelly, which has often given me a feeling of uneasiness. It is from the same chapter, I believe. 'Whoso hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.'"