"
"I think we do--in some form or another," said Tempest quietly. "Only
perhaps we don't always recognise the penalty, _as_ a penalty, when it
comes."
"Then it seems rather a waste, doesn't it?" suggested Brett idly.
The rector's quiet eyes rested on the speaker.
"I don't think so. If we recognised it as a punishment, we should probably
resent it so much that it wouldn't do us any good--just as spanking doesn't
really do a child any good but only rouses its naughty temper. Whereas
when it comes unrecognised, even though it may be the outcome of our own
mistaken actions, it educates and changes us--does, in fact, just what
punishment is really designed to do, acts as a remedial force. I think God
often works like that."
"Only, sometimes, the sinner isn't the only one who pays," threw in
Coventry shortly.
"He's the only one who doesn't pay, generally speaking," answered Brett,
with a grin. "He flourishes like a green bay tree instead. I never dream of
paying for my sins," he added cheerfully.
Tempest smiled--that tolerant, good-humoured smile of his which always took
the sting out of anything he might say.
"You're not at the end of life yet, Mr. Forrester," he observed quietly.
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