“Yes, or p'raps he just does n't want to climb any more; but it must be frightensome, sliding backwards.”
“I suppose it is.”
“Is it wicked?”
“Why, yes, it is, generally; perhaps always.”
“Brother Nathan and Sister Hetty were backsliders; Sister Tabitha said so. She told Jane never to speak their names again any more than if they was dead.”
“Then you had better not speak of them, either.”
“There's so many things better not to speak of in the world, sometimes I think 't would be nicer to be an angel.”
“Nicer, perhaps, but one has to be very good to be an angel.”
“Backsliders could n't be angels, I s'pose?”
“Not while they were backsliders; but perhaps they'd begin to climb again, and then in time they might grow to be angels.”