put me in stocks made out of hassocks--you may rope me to the
Flodden Field man's monument, of the ominous name of 'Constable;' but
whatever you do, I shall never attend; and I feel that it is so sinful."

"Janetta, your mamma has that feeling sometimes; for instance, she has
it this afternoon; and there is a good deal to be said for it. But I
fear that it would grow with indulgence."

"I can firmly fancy that it never would; though one can not be sure
without trying. Suppose that I were to try it just once, and let you
know how it feels at tea-time?"

"My dear, we are quite round the corner of the lane. The example would
be too shocking."

"Now don't you make any excuses, papa. Only one woman can have seen
us yet; and she is so blind she will think it was her fault. May I go?
Quick, before any one else comes."

"If you are quite sure, Janetta, of being in a frame of mind which
unfits you for the worship of your Maker--"

"As sure as a pike-staff, dear papa."

"Then, by all means, go before anybody sees you, for whom it might
be undesirable; and correct your thoughts, and endeavor to get into a
befitting state of mind by tea-time."

"Certainly, papa. I will go down on the stones, and look at the
sea. That always makes me better; because it is so large and so
uncomfortable."

The rector went on to do his duty, by himself. A narrow-minded man might
have shaken solemn head, even if he had allowed such dereliction. But
Dr. Upround knew that the girl was good, and he never put strain upon
her honesty. So away she sped by a lonely little foot-path, where nobody
could take from her contagion of bad morals; and avoiding the incline
of boats, she made off nicely for the quiet outer bay, and there, upon a
shelfy rock, she sat and breathed the sea.

Flamborough, excellent place as it is, and delightful, and full of
interest for people who do not live there, is apt to grow dull perhaps
for spirited youth, in the scanty and foggy winter light. There is not
so very much of that choice product generally called "society" by a man
who has a house to let in an eligible neighborhood, and by ladies who do
not heed their own. Moreover, it is vexatious not to have more rogues to
talk about.

That scarcity may be less lamentable now, being one that takes care
to redress itself, and perhaps any amateur purchaser of fish may find
rogues enough now for his interest. But the rector's daughter pined for
neither society nor scandal: