"She can't upset things worse'n Hester did."
"No; but I don't believe Hester will act up like that again."
"She may, Marjorie," said Mrs. Maynard. "I've heard her mother say she can't seem to curb Hester's habit of flying into a temper. So just here, my two loved ones, let me ask you to be kind to the little girl, and if she gets angry, don't flare back at her, but try 'a soft answer.'"
"But, Mother," said King, "that isn't so awful easy! And, anyway, I don't think she ought to do horrid things,—like tumbling down our palace,—and then we just forgive her, and take her into the club!"
"Why not, King?"
King looked a little nonplussed.
"Why," he said, "why,—because it doesn't seem fair."
"And does it seem fairer for you to lose your temper too, and try what children call 'getting even with her'?"
"Well, Mother, it does seem fairer, but I guess it isn't very,—very noble."
"No, son, it isn't. And I hope you'll come to think that sometimes nobility of action is better than mere justice."