"How do you do, Aunt Mary? I am very glad to see you," said the minister, extending his hand.
Aunt Mary looked troubled and confused; but she received him in the best way she could. Still her manner embarrassed them both. After a few leading observations, the minister at length said—
"You seem troubled, Aunt Mary. Can any thing that I might say relieve the pain of mind you evidently feel?"
The tears came into Aunt Mary's eyes, but she could not venture to reply. The minister observed her emotion, and also the meek expression of her countenance.
"Do not vex yourself unnecessarily," he remarked. "If any thing has gone wrong with you, deal frankly with your minister. You know that I am ever ready to counsel and advise."
"I know it," said Aunt Mary, and her voice trembled. "And I need much your kind direction. Yet I hardly know how to tell you my troubles. One thing, however, is certain. I have done wrong. But how to mend that wrong I know not, while there exists an unwillingness on my part to correct it."
"You must shun evil as sin," the minister remarked in a serious tone.
"I know, and it is for that reason I am troubled. I have unkind thoughts, and they are evil, and yet I cannot put these unkind thoughts away."
For a moment the minister sat silent, and then, looking up with a smile, said—
"Come, Aunt Mary, be open and frank. Tell me all the particulars of your troubles, and then I am sure I can help you."