Clean Hands by Pansy

THEN began a babel of tongues. The book was "elegant! " "Charming! " Everybody said it was the best one from that popular writer's pen. The "critics were just raving over it. " "Certainly it was written in a most fascinating manner."

These were some of the statements which Elsie seemed to be expected to answer. She had very little to say. The truth was, she felt painfully conscious of the fact that many of her arguments would sound to this company like an unknown tongue. What did they know of loyalty to the Master who owned her, heart and hands? What wild fanaticism would they think it, if she said that she felt herself to have dishonored Christ, in having lent her hands and her voice to the book which she had just dropped?