Frederick, Marie Louise and Wilberforce
formed the higher group of malcontents, and their mutterings reached
the acute ears of a second and less formidable group composed of
Reginald, Henrietta and Guinivere. The influence of the three older
children, envied and imitated by the next three in order of age, was
responsible for the inclusion of this second group in the general
tendency toward unruliness and resentfulness.
Mr. Bingle sensed this unhappy condition of affairs. His soul was
sorely tried. Was he doing the right thing by these children? He was
doing his best, but was his best all that they were entitled to under
the circumstances? Was he depriving them of a bigger chance in life?
He had taken them out of the byways, but was he leading them to the
highways? The whining, peevish submission on the part of the larger
boys and girls; the unmistakable interrogation that always lurked in
their eyes; the frequent outbursts of temper; the quarrels that came
up every day among them--all of these went to prove they were sliding
back into the byways.
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