"Will you let other boys alone—keep away from them entirely?" asked the doctor.
This was severer than Jack had anticipated, even when in the depths of contrition and apprehension, so he dropped his head again, and realized anew what a dreadful thing sin was when one came to look it fairly in the face.
"Do you hear me?" asked the doctor.
"All but Matt, father," said Jack. "He never does anything wrong, unless I put him up to it, and I'll promise never to tell him any good thing again, if you'll let me go with him."
"Good thing!" ejaculated the doctor. "What sort of repentance do you call that, dominie, when outrageous capers are characterized as good things?"
The minister shook his head gravely, and answered:
"My dear young friend, you must realize that what you call good things are really bad things. Until you fully understand this, there is nothing to prevent your getting into just such trouble again."
"Then I'll call everything bad," said Jack; "blackberrying, fishing, answers to hard sums,——"
"Gently, boy," said the minister. "None of these things do harm to any one."
"I supposed they did," cried Jack, "for I like them all, and it seems as if whatever I like is bad."