“Hardly,” said I, “if one is honest at all times. And perhaps the meanest, most cowardly lie is the lie of evasion and shirking of punishment in such a case.”
Henry said: “Teachers ought not to ask boys and girls, ‘did you do this or that?’”
“You are right,” I answered; “but, again, no boy or girl of spirit, courage and character would hesitate to answer truthfully.
“Self-sacrifice,” I said, “is a good example of the sort of action that is called good in itself, when it is not at all so, but has only a definite and limited purpose in the scheme. I wish to explain it to you. But first I want to be sure that you understand this idea of good. Is it new to you?”
“Yes,” said Marian, “I never thought of it in that way before.”
“You all have said so little,” I went on, “I am afraid you may not fully understand.”
“There is nothing to say,” answered Marian, “for it grows so naturally out of everything we have done.”
“Our whole thought is like a chain,” said Virginia, “link within link.”
“Alfred,” I said, “you are so silent, you don’t give us a chance to see how bright you are. Now, tell me, what is the good? What do I mean? I want to be sure you understand.”
He hesitated. “The good is completeness, harmony.”