Had he followed his inclination he would have gone to the church, only that would have looked spiteful.

His late congregation would easily excuse his non-attendance with them; they would even pitifully explain to each other why he could not appear just yet; but to go to church would be in their eyes unpardonable--a declaration of a war of revenge.
There was, however, a reason besides, why Mr.Drake could not go to church that morning, and if not a more serious, it was a much more painful one.

Some short time before he had any ground to suspect that his congregation was faltering in its loyalty to him, his daughter had discovered that the chapel butcher, when he sent a piece of meat, invariably charged for a few ounces beyond the weight delivered.

Now Mr.
Drake was a man of such honesty that all kinds of cheating, down to the most respectable, were abominable to him; that the man was a professor of religion made his conduct unpardonable in his eyes, and that he was one of his own congregation rendered it insupportable.

Having taken pains to satisfy himself of the fact, he declined to deal with him any further, and did not spare to tell him why.