234 THE CHERRY-STONES.

had known how much pain I was caus
ing.” |

«Well, Seymour,” said the Doctor, m
a milder tone, “you are not so much to
blame as I had supposed. J am no ad-
mirer of practical jokes. They are always
unkind, and often do serious mischief.
But whilst I do not approve of what you
have done, I must, in justice, say you
are not answerable for the pain and mis-
ery which has fallen upon Henry Mer-
toun. He owes all that he has suffered
to his own misconduct. Had his con-
science been void of offence, your jokes
might have perplexed and teased him,
but they would have caused him no real
pain. It was the sense of guilt, and the
disquietude which guilt always produces,
which created all the idle alarms which
caused him to bury the cherry-stones, and