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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9314.txt b/9314.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ca5faa --- /dev/null +++ b/9314.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10330 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Calling of Dan Matthews, by Harold Bell Wright + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Calling of Dan Matthews + +Author: Harold Bell Wright + +Illustrator: Arthur I. Keller + +Posting Date: August 7, 2012 [EBook #9314] +Release Date: November, 2005 +First Posted: September 21, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS *** + + + + +Produced by Tiffany Vergon, Mary Meehan, and Project +Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + + +THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS + +BY + +HAROLD BELL WRIGHT + +1909 + +AUTHOR OF + +"THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS" + +"THAT PRINTER OF UDELL'S" + + +_With Illustrations by_ + +ARTHUR I. KELLER + + + + + + + +TO + +WILLIAM WILLIAMS, M.D. + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. THE HOME OF THE ALLY + + II. A REVELATION + + III. A GREAT DAY IN CORINTH + + IV. WHO ARE THEY? + + V. HOPE FARWELL'S MINISTRY + + VI. THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS + + VII. FROM DEBORAH'S PORCH + + VIII. THE WORK OF THE ALLY + + IX. THE EDGE OF THE BATTLEFIELD + + X. A MATTER OF OPINION + + XI. REFLECTIONS + + XII. THE NURSE FORGETS + + XIII. DR. HARRY'S CASE + + XIV. THAT GIRL OF CONNER'S + + XV. THE MINISTER'S OPPORTUNITY + + XVI. DAN SEES THE OTHER SIDE + + XVII. THE TRAGEDY + + XVIII. TO SAVE A LIFE + + XIX. ON FISHING + + XX. COMMON GROUND + + XXI. THE WARNING + + XXII. AS DR. HARRY SEES IT + + XXIII. A PARABLE + + XXIV. THE WAY OUT + + XXV. A LABORER AND HIS HIRE + + XXVI. THE WINTER PASSES + + XXVII. DEBORAH'S TROUBLE + + XXVIII. A FISHERMAN + + XXIX. A MATTER OF BUSINESS + + XXX. THE DAUGHTER OF THE CHURCH + + XXXI. THE REALITY + + XXXII. THE BARRIER + + XXXIII. HEART'S TRAGEDIES + + XXXIV. SACRIFICED + + XXXV. THE TIE THAT BINDS + + XXXVI. GOOD-BYE + + XXXVII. RESULTS + +XXXVIII. A HANDFUL OF GOLD + + XXXIX. THE VICTORY OF THE ALLY + + XL. THE DOCTOR'S GLASSES + + XLI. THE FINAL WORD + + XLII. JUSTICE + + XLIII. THE HOME COMING + + XLIV. THE OLD TRAIL + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +Drawn by +ARTHUR I. KELLER + +WITH THE DOCTOR THE TWO STRANGERS IN CORINTH TOOK DENNY TO HIS HOME + +"--YOU MUST BE IN LIFE A FISHERMAN" + +A GOOD-BYE CARESS + +DAN PLEADED WITH HIM + + + + +The Calling of Dan Matthews + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE HOME OF THE ALLY + +"And because the town of this story is what it is, there came to dwell +in it a Spirit--a strange, mysterious power--playful, vicious, deadly; a +Something to be at once feared and courted; to be denied--yet confessed +in the denial; a deadly enemy, a welcome friend, an all-powerful Ally." + + +This story began in the Ozark Mountains. It follows the trail that is +nobody knows how old. But mostly this story happened in Corinth, a town +of the middle class in a Middle Western state. + +There is nothing peculiar about Corinth. The story might have happened +just as well in any other place, for the only distinguishing feature +about this town is its utter lack of any distinguishing feature whatever. +In all the essential elements of its life, so far as this story goes, +Corinth is exactly like every other village, town or city in the land. +This, indeed, is why the story happened in this particular place. + +Years ago, when the railroad first climbed the backbone of the Ozarks, it +found Corinth already located on the summit. Even before the war, this +county-seat town was a place of no little importance, and many a good +tale might be told of those exciting days when the woods were full of +guerrillas and bushwhackers, and the village was raided first by one +side, then by the other. Many a good tale is told, indeed; for the +fathers and mothers of Corinth love to talk of the war times, and to +point out in Old Town the bullet-marked buildings and the scenes of many +thrilling events. + +But the sons and daughters of the passing generation, with their sons +and daughters, like better to talk of the great things that are going to +be--when the proposed shoe-factory comes, the talked-of mills are +established, the dreamed-of electric line is built out from the city, or +the Capitalist from Somewhere-else arrives to invest in vacant lots, +thereon to build new hotels and business blocks. + +The Doctor says that in the whole history of Corinth there are only two +events. The first was the coming of the railroad; the second was the +death of the Doctor's good friend, the Statesman. + +The railroad did not actually enter Corinth. It stopped at the front +gate. But with Judge Strong's assistance the fathers and mothers +recognized their "golden opportunity" and took the step which the +eloquent Judge assured them would result in a "glorious future." They +left the beautiful, well-drained site chosen by those who cleared the +wilderness, and stretched themselves out along the mud-flat on either +side of the sacred right-of-way--that same mud-flat being, incidentally, +the property of the patriotic Judge. + +Thus Corinth took the railroad to her heart, literally. The depot, the +yards, the red section-house and the water-tank are all in the very +center of the town. Every train while stopping for water (and they all +stop) blocks two of the three principal streets. And when, after waiting +in the rain or snow until his patience is nearly exhausted, the humble +Corinthian goes to the only remaining crossing, he always gets there just +in time to meet a long freight backing onto the siding. Nowhere in the +whole place can one escape the screaming whistle, clanging bell, and +crashing drawbar. Day and night the rumble of the heavy trains jars and +disturbs the peacefulness of the little village. + +But the railroad did something for Corinth; not too much, but something. +It did more for Judge Strong. For a time the town grew rapidly. +Fulfillment of the Judge's prophecies seemed immediate and certain. Then, +as mysteriously as they had come, the boom days departed. The mills, +factories and shops that were going to be, established themselves +elsewhere. The sound of the builder's hammer was no longer heard. The +Doctor says that Judge Strong had come to believe in his own prediction, +or at least, fearing that his prophecy might prove true, refused to part +with more land except at prices that would be justified only in a great +metropolis. + +Neighboring towns that were born when Corinth was middle-aged, flourished +and have become cities of importance. The country round about has grown +rich and prosperous. Each year more and heavier trains thunder past on +their way to and from the great city by the distant river, stopping only +to take water. But in this swiftly moving stream of life Corinth is +caught in an eddy. Her small world has come to swing in a very small +circle--it can scarcely be said to swing at all. The very children stop +growing when they become men and women, and are content to dream the +dreams their fathers' fathers dreamed, even as they live in the houses +the fathers of their fathers built. Only the trees that line the unpaved +streets have grown--grown and grown until overhead their great tops touch +to shut out the sky with an arch of green, and their mighty trunks crowd +contemptuously aside the old sidewalks, with their decayed and broken +boards. + +Old Town, a mile away, is given over to the negroes. The few buildings +that remain are fallen into ruin, save as they are patched up by their +dusky tenants. And on the hill, the old Academy with its broken windows, +crumbling walls, and fallen chimneys, stands a pitiful witness of an +honor and dignity that is gone. + +Poor Corinth! So are gone the days of her true glory--the glory of her +usefulness, while the days of her promised honor and power are not yet +fulfilled. + +And because the town of this story is what it is, there came to dwell in +it a Spirit--a strange, mysterious power--playful, vicious, deadly; a +Something to be at once feared and courted; to be denied--yet confessed +in the denial; a dreaded enemy, a welcome friend, an all-powerful Ally. + +But, for Corinth, the humiliation of her material failure is forgotten +in her pride of a finer success. The shame of commercial and civic +obscurity is lost in the light of national recognition. And that +self-respect and pride of place, without which neither man nor town can +look the world in the face, is saved to her by the Statesman. + +Born in Corinth, a graduate of the old Academy, town clerk, mayor, county +clerk, state senator, congressman, his zeal in advocating a much +discussed issue of his day, won for him national notice, and for his +town everlasting fame. + +In this man unusual talents were combined with rare integrity of purpose +and purity of life. Politics to him meant a way whereby he might serve +his fellows. However much men differed as to the value of the measures +for which he fought, no one ever doubted his belief in them or questioned +his reasons for fighting. It was not at all strange that such a man +should have won the respect and friendship of the truly great. But with +all the honors that came to him, the Statesman's heart never turned from +the little Ozark town, and it was here among those who knew him best that +his influence for good was greatest and that he was most loved and +honored. Thus all that the railroad failed to do for Corinth the +Statesman did in a larger, finer way. + +Then the Statesman died. + +It was the Old Town Corinth of the brick Academy days that inspired +the erection of a monument to his memory. But it was the Corinth of the +newer railroad days that made this monument of cast-iron; and under the +cast-iron, life-sized, portrait figure of the dead statesman, this newer +Corinth placed in cast-iron letters a quotation from one of his famous +speeches upon an issue of his day. + +The Doctor argues in language most vigorous that the broken sidewalks, +the permitted insolence of the railroad, the presence and power of that +Spirit, the Ally, and many other things and conditions in Corinth, with +the lack of as many other things and conditions, are all due to the +influence of what he calls "that hideous, cast-iron monstrosity." By +this it will be seen that the Doctor is something of a philosopher. + +The monument stands on the corner where Holmes Street ends in Strong +Avenue. On the opposite corner the Doctor lives with Martha, his wife. +It is a modest home for there are no children and the Doctor is not rich. +The house is white with old-fashioned green shutters, and over the porch +climbs a mass of vines. The steps are worn very thin and the ends of the +floor-boards are rotted badly by the moisture of the growing vines. But +the Doctor says he'll "be damned" if he'll pull down such a fine old vine +to put in new boards, and that those will last anyway longer than either +he or Martha. By this it will be seen that the Doctor is something of a +poet. + +On the rear of the lot is the wood-shed and stable; and on the east, +along the fence in front, and down the Holmes Street side, are the +Doctor's roses--the admiration and despair of every flower-growing +housewife in town. + +Full fifty years of the Doctor's professional life have been spent in +active practice in Corinth and in the country round about. He declares +himself worn out now and good for nothing, save to meddle in the affairs +of his neighbors, to cultivate his roses, and--when the days are +bright--to go fishing. For the rest, he sits in his chair on the porch +and watches the world go by. + +"Old Doctors and old dogs," he growls, "how equally useless we are, and +yet how much--how much we could tell if only we dared speak!" + +He is big, is the Doctor--big and fat and old. He knows every soul in +Corinth, particularly the children; indeed he helped most of them to +come to Corinth. He is acquainted as well with every dog and cat, and +horse and cow, knowing their every trick and habit, from the old brindle +milker that unlatches his front gate to feed on the lawn, to the bull +pup that pinches his legs when he calls on old Granny Brown. For miles +around, every road, lane, by-path, shortcut and trail, is a familiar way +to him. His practice, he declares, has well-nigh ruined him financially, +and totally wrecked his temper. He can curse a man and cry over a baby; +and he would go as far and work as hard for the illiterate and penniless +backwoodsman in his cabin home as for the president of the Bank of +Corinth or even Judge Strong himself. + +No one ever thinks of the Doctor as loving anyone or anything, and that +is because he is so big and rough on the outside: but every one in +trouble goes to him, and that is because he is so big and kind on the +inside. It is a common saying that in cases of trying illness or serious +accident a patient would rather "hear the Doctor cuss, than listen to +the parson pray." Other physicians there are in Corinth, but every one +understands when his neighbor says: "The Doctor." Nor does anyone ever, +ever call him "Doc"! + +After all, who knows the people of a community so well as the physician +who lives among them? To the world the Doctor's patients were laborers, +bankers, dressmakers, scrub-women, farmers, servants, teachers, +preachers; to the Doctor they were men and women. Others knew their +occupations--he knew their lives. The preachers knew what they +professed--he knew what they practiced. Society saw them dressed up--he +saw them--in bed. Why, the Doctor has spent more hours in the homes of +his neighbors than ever he passed under his own roof, and there is not a +skeleton closet in the whole town to which he has not the key. + +On Strong Avenue, across from the monument, is a tiny four-roomed +cottage. In the time of this story it wanted paint badly, and was not in +the best of repair. But the place was neat and clean, with a big lilac +bush just inside the gate, giving it an air of home-like privacy; and on +the side directly opposite the Doctor's a fair-sized, well-kept garden, +giving it an air of honest thrift. Here the widow Mulhall lived with her +crippled son, Denny. Denny was to have been educated for the priesthood, +but the accident that left him such a hopeless cripple shattered that +dream; and after the death of his father, who was killed while +discharging his duties as the town marshal, there was no money to buy +even a book. + +When there was anything for her to do, Deborah worked out by the day. +Denny, in spite of his poor, misshapen body, tended the garden, raising +such vegetables as no one else in all Corinth could--or would, raise. +From early morning until late evening the lad dragged himself about among +the growing things, and the only objects to mar the beauty of his garden, +were Denny himself, and the great rock that crops out in the very center +of the little field. + +"It is altogether too bad that the rock should be there," the neighbors +would say as they occasionally stopped to look over the fence or to order +their vegetables for dinner. And Denny would answer with his knowing +smile, "Oh, I don't know! It would be bad, I'll own, if it should ever +take to rollin' 'round like. But it lays quiet enough. And do you see, +I've planted them vines around it to make it a bit soft lookin'. And +there's a nice little niche on yon side, that does very well for a seat +now and then, when I have to rest." + +Sometimes, when the Doctor looks at the monument--the cast-iron image of +his old friend, in its cast-iron attitude, forever delivering that speech +on an issue as dead today as an edict of one of the Pharaohs--he laughs, +and sometimes, even as he laughs, he curses. + +But when, in the days of the story, the Doctor would look across the +street to where Denny, with his poor, twisted body, useless, swinging +arm, and dragging leg, worked away so cheerily in his garden, the old +physician, philosopher, and poet, declared that he felt like singing +hymns of praise. + +And it all began with a fishing trip. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A REVELATION + +"And because of these things, to the keen old physician and student of +life, the boy was a revelation of that best part of himself--that best +part of the race." + + +It happened on the Doctor's first trip to the Ozarks. + +Martha says that everything with the Doctor begins and ends with fishing. +Martha has a way of saying such things as that. In this case she is more +than half right for the Doctor does so begin and end most things. + +Whenever there were grave cases to think out, knotty problems to solve, +or important decisions to make, it was his habit to steal away to a +shady nook by the side of some quiet, familiar stream. And he confidently +asserts that to this practice more than to anything else he owes his +professional success, and his reputation for sound, thoughtful judgment +on all matters of moment. + +"And why not?" he will argue when in the mood. "It is your impulsive, +erratic, thoughtless fellow who goes smashing, trashing and banging +about the field and woods with dogs and gun. Your true thinker slips +quietly away with rod and line, and while his hook is down in the deep, +still waters, or his fly is dancing over the foaming rapids and swiftly +swirling eddies, his mind searches the true depths of the matter and +every possible phase of the question passes before him." + +For years the Doctor had heard much of the fishing to be had in the +more unsettled parts of the Ozarks, but with his growing practice he +could find leisure for no more than an occasional visit to nearby +streams. But about the time that Martha began telling him that he was +too old to stay out all day on the wet bank of a river, and Dr. Harry +had come to relieve him of the heavier and more burdensome part of his +practice, a railroad pushed its way across the mountain wilderness. The +first season after the road was finished the Doctor went to cast his +hook in new waters. + +In all these after years those days so full of mystic beauty have lived +in the old man's memory, the brightest days of all his life. For it was +there he met the Boy--there in the Ozark hills, with their great ridges +clothed from base to crest with trees all quivering and nodding in the +summer breeze, with their quiet valleys, their cool hollows and lovely +glades, and their deep and solemn woods. And the streams! Those Ozark +streams! The Doctor wonders often if there can flow anywhere else such +waters as run through that land of dreams. + +The Doctor left the train at a little station where the railroad crosses +White River, and two days later he was fishing near the mouth of Fall +Creek. It was late in the afternoon. The Boy was passing on his way home +from a point farther up the stream. Not more than twelve, but tall and +strong for his age, he came along the rough path at the foot of the bluff +with the easy movement and grace of a young deer. He checked a moment +when he saw the Doctor, as a creature of the forest would pause at first +sight of a human being. Then he came on again, his manner and bearing +showing frank interest, and the clear, sunny face of him flushing a bit +at the presence of a stranger. + +"Hello," said the Doctor, with gruff kindness, "any luck?" + +The boy's quick smile showed a set of teeth--the most perfect the +physician had ever seen, and his young voice was tuned to the music of +the woods, as he answered, "I have caught no fish, sir." + +By these words and the light in his brown eyes the philosopher knew him +instantly for a true fisherman. He noted wonderingly that the lad's +speech was not the rude dialect of the backwoods, while he marveled at +the depth of wisdom in one so young. How incidental after all is the +catching of fish, to the one who fishes with true understanding. The +boy's answer was both an explanation and a question. It explained that +he did not go fishing for fish alone; and it asked of the stranger a +declaration of his standing--why did he go fishing? What did he mean by +fisherman's luck? + +The Doctor deliberated over his reply, while slowly drawing in his line +to examine the bait. Meanwhile the boy stood quietly by regarding him +with a wide, questioning look. The man realized that much depended upon +his next word. + +Then the lad's youth betrayed him into eagerness. "Have you been farther +up the river just around the bend, where the giant cottonwoods are, and +the bluffs with the pines above, and the willows along the shore? Oh, but +it's fine there! Much better than this." + +He had given the stranger his chance. If the Doctor was to be admitted +into this boy's world he must now prove his right to citizenship. Looking +straight into the boy's brown eyes, the older fisherman asked, "A better +place to catch fish?" + +He laughed aloud--a clear, clean, boyish laugh of understanding, and +throwing himself to the ground with the easy air of one entirely at home, +returned, "No, sir, a better place to fish." So it was settled, each +understanding the other. + +An hour later when the shadow of the mountain came over the water, the +boy sprang to his feet with an exclamation, "It's time that I was going, +mother likes for me to be home for supper. I can just make it." + +But the Doctor was loth to let him go. "Where do you live?" he asked. +"Is it far?" + +"Oh, no, only about six miles, but the trail is rough until you strike +the top of Wolf Ridge." + +"Humph! You can't walk six miles before dark." + +"My horse is only a little way up the creek," he answered, "or at least +he should be." Putting his fingers to his lips he blew a shrill whistle, +which echoed and re-echoed from shore to shore along the river, and was +answered by a loud neigh from somewhere in the ravine through which Fall +Creek reaches the larger stream. Again the boy whistled, and a black +pony came trotting out of the brush, the bridle hanging from the saddle +horn. "Tramp and I can make it all right, can't we old fellow?" said the +boy, patting the glossy neck, as the little horse rubbed a soft muzzle +against his young master's shoulder. + +While his companion was making ready for his ride the Doctor selected +four of the largest of his catch--black bass they were--beauties. "Here," +he said, when the lad was mounted, "take these along." + +He accepted graciously without hesitation, and by this the Doctor knew +that their fellowship was firmly established. "Oh, thank you! Mother is +so fond of bass, and so are father and all of us. This is plenty for a +good meal." Then, with another smile, "Mother likes to fish, too; she +taught me." + +The Doctor looked at him wistfully as he gathered up the reins, then +burst forth eagerly with, "Look here, why can't you come back tomorrow? +We'll have a bully time. What do you say?" + +He lowered his hand. "Oh, I would like to." Then for a moment he +considered, gravely, saying at last, "I think I can meet you here day +after tomorrow. I am quite sure father and mother will be glad for me to +come when I tell them about you." + +Was ever a fat old Doctor so flattered? It was not so much the boy's +words as his gracious manner and the meaning he unconsciously put into +his exquisitely toned voice. + +He had turned his pony's head when the old man shouted after him once +more. "Hold on, wait a moment, you have not told me your name. I am Dr. +Oldham from Corinth. I am staying at the Thompson's down the river." + +"My name is Daniel Howitt Matthews," he answered. "My home is the old +Matthews place on the ridge above Mutton Hollow." + +Then he rode away up the winding Fall Creek trail. + +The Doctor spent the whole of the next day near the spot where he had met +the boy, fearing lest the lad might come again and not find him. He even +went a mile or so up the little creek half expecting to meet his young +friend, wondering at himself the while, that he could not break the spell +the lad had cast over him. Who was he? He had told the Doctor his name, +but that did not satisfy. Nor, indeed, did the question itself ask what +the old man really wished to know. The words persistently shaped +themselves--_What_ is he? To this the physician's brain made answer +clearly enough--a boy, a backwoods boy, with unusual beauty and strength +of body, and uncommon fineness of mind; yet with all this, a boy. + +But that something that sits in judgment upon the findings of our brain, +and, in lofty disregard of us, accepts or rejects our most profound +conclusions, refused this answer. It was too superficial. It was not, in +short, an answer. It did not in any way explain the strange power that +this lad had exerted over the Doctor. + +"Me," he said to himself, "a hard old man calloused by years of +professional contact with mankind and consequent knowledge of their +general cussedness! Huh! I have helped too many hundreds of children +into this world, and have carried too many of them through the measles, +whooping-cough, chicken-pox and the like to be so moved by a mere boy." + +The Thompsons could have told him about the lad and his people, but the +Doctor instinctively shrank from asking them. He felt that he did not +care to be told about the boy--that in truth no one could tell him about +the boy, because he already knew the lad as well as he knew himself. +Indeed the feeling that he already knew the boy was what troubled the +Doctor; more, that he had always lived with him; but that he had never +before met him face to face. He felt as a blind man might feel if, after +living all his life in closest intimacy with someone, he were suddenly +to receive his sight and, for the first time, actually look upon his +companion's face. + +In the years that have passed since that day the Doctor has learned that +the lad was to him, not so much a mystery as a revelation--the revelation +of an unspoken ideal, of a truth that he had always known but never fully +confessed even to himself, and that lies at last too deeply buried +beneath the accumulated rubbish of his life to be of any use to him or to +others. In the boy he met this hidden, secret, unacknowledged part of +himself, that he knows to be the truest, most precious and most sacred +part, and that he has always persistently ignored even while always +conscious that he can no more escape it than he can escape his own life. +In short, Dan Matthews is to the Doctor that which the old man feels he +ought to have been; that which he might have been, but never now can be. + +It was still early in the forenoon of the following day when the Doctor +heard a cheery hail, and the boy came riding out of the brush of the +little ravine to meet his friend who was waiting on the river bank. As +the lad sprang lightly to the ground, and, with quick fingers, took some +things from the saddle, loosed the girths and removed the pony's bridle, +the physician watched him with a slight feeling of--was it envy or +regret? "You are early," he said. + +The boy laughed. "I would have come earlier if I could," Then, dismissing +the little horse, he turned eagerly, "Have you been there yet--to that +place up the river?" + +"Indeed I have not," said the Doctor, "I have been waiting for you to +show me." + +He was delighted at this, and very soon was leading the way along the +foot of the bluff to his favorite fishing ground. + +It is too much to attempt the telling of that day: how they lay on the +ground beneath the giant-limbed cottonwoods, and listened to the waters +going past; how they talked of the wild woodland life about them, of +flower and tree, and moss and vine, and the creatures that nested and +denned and lived therein; how they caught a goodly catch of bass and +perch, and the Doctor, pulling off his boots, waded in the water like +another boy, while the hills echoed with their laughter; and how, when +they had their lunch on a great rock, an eagle watched hungrily from his +perch on a dead pine, high up on the top of the bluff. + +When the shadow of the mountain was come once more and in answer to the +boy's whistle the black pony had trotted from the brush to be made ready +for the evening ride, the Doctor again watched his young companion +wistfully. + +When he was ready, the boy said, "Father and mother asked me to tell you, +sir, that they--that we would be glad to have you come to see us before +you leave the hills." Seeing the surprise and hesitation of the Doctor, +he continued with fine tact, "You see I told them all about you, and they +would like to know you too. Won't you come? I'm sure you would like my +father and mother, and we would be so glad to have you. I'll drive over +after you tomorrow if you'll come." + +Would he _go_! Why the Doctor would have gone to China, or Africa, or +where would he not have gone, if the boy had asked him. + +That visit to the Matthews' place was the beginning of a friendship that +has never been broken. Every year since, the Doctor has gone to them for +several weeks and always with increasing delight. Among the many +households that, in his professional career, he has been privileged to +know intimately, this home stands like a beautiful temple in a world of +shacks and hovels. But it was not until the philosopher had heard from +Mrs. Matthews the story of Dad Howitt that he understood the reason. In +the characters of Young Matt and Sammy, in their home life and in their +children, the physician found the teaching of the old Shepherd of the +Hills bearing its legitimate fruit. Most clearly did he find it in +Dan--the first born of this true mating of a man and woman who had never +been touched by those forces in our civilization which so dwarf and +cripple the race, but who had been taught to find in their natural +environment those things that alone have the power to truly refine and +glorify life. + +Understanding this, the Doctor understood Dan. The boy was well born; he +was natural. He was what a man-child ought to be. He did not carry the +handicap that most of us stagger under so early in the race. And because +of these things, to the keen old physician and student of life, the boy +was a revelation of that best part of himself--that best part of the +race. With the years this feeling of the Doctor's toward the boy has +grown even as their fellowship. But Dan has never understood; how indeed +could he? + +It was always Dan who met the Doctor at the little wilderness station, +and who said the last good-bye when the visit was over. Always they were +together, roaming about the hills, on fishing trips to the river, +exploring the country for new delights, or revisiting their familiar +haunts. Dan seemed, in his quiet way, to claim his old friend by right +of discovery and the others laughingly yielded, giving the Doctor--as +Young Matt, the father, put it--"a third interest in the boy." + +And so, with the companionship of the yearly visits, and frequent letters +in the intervening months, the Doctor watched the development of his +young friend, and dreamed of the part that Dan would play in life when he +became a man. And often as he watched the boy there was, on the face of +the old physician, that look of half envy, half regret. + +In addition to his training at the little country school, Dan's mother +was his constant teacher, passing on to her son as only a mother could, +the truths she had received from her old master, the Shepherd. But when +the time came for more advanced intellectual training the choice of a +college was left to their friend. The Doctor hesitated. He shrank from +sending the lad out into the world. He foolishly could not bear the +thought of that splendid nature coming in touch with the filth of life as +he knew it. "You can see," he argued gruffly, "what it has done for me." + +But Sammy answered, "Why, Doctor, what is the boy for?" And Young Matt, +looking away over Garber where an express train thundered over the +trestles and around the curves, said in his slow way, "The brush is about +all cleared, Doctor. The wilderness is going fast. The boy must live in +his own age and do his own work." When their friend urged that they +develop or sell the mine in the cave on Dewey Bald, and go with the boy, +they both shook their heads emphatically, saying, "No, Doctor, we belong +to the hills." + +When the boy finally left his mountain home for a school in the distant +city, he had grown to be a man to fill the heart of every lover of his +race with pride. With his father's powerful frame and close-knit muscles, +and the healthy life of the woods and hills leaping in his veins, his +splendid body and physical strength were refined and dominated by the +mind and spirit of his mother. His shaggy, red-brown hair was like his +father's but his eyes were his mother's eyes, with that same trick of +expression, that wide questioning gaze, that seemed to demand every vital +truth in whatever came under his consideration. He had, too, his mother's +quick way of grasping your thoughts almost before you yourself were fully +conscious of them, with that same saving sense of humor that made Sammy +Lane the life and sunshine of the countryside. + +"Big Dan," the people of the hills had come to call him and "Big Dan" +they called him in the school. For, in the young life of the schools, as +in the country, there is a spirit that names men with names that fit. + +Secretly the Doctor had hoped that Dan would choose the profession so +dear to him. What an ideal physician he would make, with that clean, +powerful, well balanced nature; and above all with that love for his +race, and his passion to serve mankind that was the dominant note in his +character. The boy would be the kind of a physician that the old Doctor +had hoped to be. So he planned and dreamed for Dan as he had planned and +dreamed for himself, thinking to see the dreams that he had failed to +live, realized in the boy. + +It was a severe shock to the Doctor when that letter came telling him of +Dan's choice of a profession. For the first time the boy had disappointed +him, disappointed him bitterly. + +Seizing his fishing tackle the old man fled to the nearest stream. And +there gazing into the deep, still waters, where he had cast his hook, he +came to understand. It was that same dominant note in the boy's life, +that inborn passion to serve, that fixed principle in his character that +his life must be of the greatest possible worth to the world, that had +led him to make his choice. With that instinct born in him, coming from +the influence of the old Shepherd upon his father and mother, the boy +could no more escape it than he could change the color of his brown eyes. + +"But," said the Doctor to his cork, that floated on the surface in a +patch of shadow, "what does he know about it, what does he really know? +He's been reading history--that's what's the matter with him. He sees +things as they were, not as they are. He should have come to me, I could +have--" Just then the cork went under. The Doctor had a bite. "I could +have told him," repeated the fisherman softly, "I--" The cork bobbed up +again--it was only a nibble. "He'll find out the truth of course. He's +that kind. But when he finds it!" The cork bobbed again--"He'll need me, +he'll need me bad!" The cork went under for good this time. Zip--and the +Doctor had a big one! + +With fresh bait and his hook once more well down toward the bottom the +Doctor saw the whole thing clearly, and so planned a way by which, as he +put it, he might, when Dan needed him, "_stand by_." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A GREAT DAY IN CORINTH + +"'Talk of the responsibilities of age; humph! They are nothing compared +to the responsibilities of youth. There's Dan, now--'" + + +Corinth was in the midst of a street fair. The neighboring city held a +street fair that year, therefore Corinth. All that the city does Corinth +imitates, thereby with a beautiful rural simplicity thinking herself +metropolitan, just as those who take their styles from the metropolis +feel themselves well dressed. The very Corinthian clerks and grocery +boys, lounging behind their counters and in the doorways, the lawyer's +understudy with his feet on the window sill, the mechanic's apprentice, +the high school youths and the local sporting fraternity--all imitated +their city kind and talked smartly about the country "rubes" who came to +town; never once dreaming that they themselves, when they "go to town," +are as much a mark for the like wit of their city brothers. So Corinth +was in the midst of a street fair. + +On every vacant lot in the down town section were pens, and stalls, and +cages, wherein grunted, squealed, neighed, bellowed, bleated, cackled +and crowed, exhibits from the neighboring farms. In the town hall or +opera house (it was both) there were long tables covered with almost +everything that grows on a farm, or is canned, baked, preserved, pickled +or stitched by farmers' wives. The "Art Exhibit," product mainly of +Corinth, had its place on the stage. Upon either side of the main street +were booths containing the exhibits of the local merchants; farm +machinery, buggies, wagons, harness and the like being most conspicuous. +The chief distinction between the town and country exhibits were that +the farmer displayed his goods to be looked at, the merchant his to be +sold. It was the merchants who promoted the fair. + +In a vacant store room the Memorial Church was holding its annual bazaar. +On different corners other churches were serving chicken dinners, or ice +cream, or in sundry ways were actively engaged for the conversion of the +erring farmer's cash to the coffers of the village sanctuaries. In this +way the promoters of the fair were encouraged by the churches. From every +window, door, arch, pole, post, corner, gable, peak, cupola--fluttered, +streamed and waved, decorations--banners mostly, bearing advertisements +of the enterprising merchants and of the equally enterprising churches. + +Afternoons there would be a baseball game between town and country teams, +foot races, horseback riding, a greased pig to catch, a greased pole to +climb and other entertainments too exciting to think about, too +attractive to be resisted. + +From the far backwoods districts, from the hills, from the creek bottoms +and the river, the people came to crowd about the pens, and stalls and +tables; to admire their own and their neighbors' products and +possessions, that they had seen many times before in their neighbors' +homes and fields. They visited on the street corners. They tramped up +and down past the booths. They yelled themselves hoarse at the games and +entertainments, and in the intoxication of their pleasures bought ice +cream, chicken dinners and various other things of the churches, and much +goods of the merchants who promoted the fair. + +The Doctor was up that day at least a full hour before his regular time. +At breakfast Martha looked him over suspiciously, and when he folded his +napkin after eating only half his customary meal she remarked dryly, +"It's three hours yet till train time, Doctor." + +Without answer the Doctor went out on the porch. + +Already the country people, dressed in their holiday garb, bright-faced, +eager for the long looked for pleasures, were coming in for the fair. +Many of them catching sight of the physician hailed him gaily, shouting +good natured remarks in addition to their salutations, and laughing +loudly at whatever he replied. + +It may be that the good Lord had made days as fine as that day, but the +Doctor could not remember them. His roses so filled the air with +fragrance, the grass in the front yard was so fresh and clean, the +flowers along the walk so bright and dainty, and the great maples, that +make a green arch of the street, so cool and mysterious in their leafy +depths, that his old heart fairly ached with the beauty of it. The Doctor +was all poet that day. Dan was coming! + +It had worked out just as the Doctor had planned it on that fishing trip +some three months before. At first Martha was suspicious when he broached +the subject. Mostly Martha is suspicious when her husband offers +suggestions touching certain matters, but the wise old philosopher knew +what strings to pull, and so it all came out as he had planned. Sammy had +written him expressing her gladness, that her boy in the beginning of his +work was to be with the friend whose counsel and advice they valued so +highly. The Doctor had growled over the letter, promising himself that he +would "stand by" when the boy needed him, but that was all he or an angel +from heaven could do now. And the Doctor had written Dan at length about +Corinth, but never a word about his thoughts regarding the boy's choice, +or his fears for the outcome. + +"There are some things," he reflected, "that every man must find out for +himself. To some kinds of people the finding out doesn't matter much. To +other kinds, it is well for them if there are those who love them to +stand by." Dan was the kind to whom the finding out would mean a great +deal, so the Doctor would "stand by." + +There on his vine covered porch that morning, the old man's thoughts went +back to that day when the boy first came to him on the river bank, and to +all the bright days of Dan's boyhood and youth that he had passed with +the lad in the hills. "His life--" said he, talking to himself, as he has +a way of doing--"His life is like this day, fresh and clean and--". He +looked across the street to the monument that stood a cold, lifeless mask +in a world of living joy and beauty; from the monument he turned to +Denny's garden. "And," he finished, "full of possibilities." + +"Whatever are you muttering about now?" said Martha, who had followed +him out after finishing her breakfast. + +"I was wishing," said the Doctor, "that I--that it would be always +morning, that there was no such thing as afternoon, and evening and +night." + +His wife replied sweetly, "For a man of your age, you do say the most +idiotic things! Won't you ever get old enough to think seriously?" + +"But what could be more serious, my dear? If it were morning I would +always be beginning my life work, and never giving it up. I would be +always looking forward to the success of my dreams, and never back to +the failures of my poor attempts." + +"You haven't failed in everything, John," protested Martha in softer +tones. + +"If it were morning," the philosopher continued, with a smile, "I would +be always making love to the best and prettiest girl in the state." + +Martha tossed her head and the ghost of an old blush crept into her +wrinkled cheeks. "There's no fool like an old fool," she quoted with a +spark of her girlhood fire. + +"But a young fool gets so much more out of his foolishness," the man +retorted. "Talk of the responsibilities of age; humph! They are nothing +compared to the responsibilities of youth. There's Dan now--" He looked +again toward the monument. + +"My goodness me, yes!" ejaculated Martha. "And I've got a week's work to +do before I even begin to get dinner. You go right off this minute and +kill three of those young roosters--three, mind you." + +"But, my dear, he will only be here for dinner." + +"Never you mind, the dinner's my business. Kill three, I tell you. I've +cooked for preachers before. I hope to the Lord he'll start you to +thinking of your eternal future, 'stead of mooning about the past." She +bustled away to turn the little home upside down and to prepare dinner +sufficient for six. + +When the Doctor had killed the three roosters, and had fussed about until +his wife ordered him out of the kitchen, he took his hat and stick and +started down town, though it was still a good hour until train time. As +he opened the front gate Denny called a cheery greeting from his garden +across the street, and the old man went over for a word with the crippled +boy. + +"It's mighty fine you're lookin' this mornin', Doctor," said Denny +pausing in his work, and seating himself on the big rock. "Is it the +ten-forty he's comin' on?" + +The Doctor tried to appear unconcerned. He looked at his watch with +elaborately assumed carelessness as he answered: "I believe it's +ten-forty; and how are you feeling this morning, Denny?" + +The lad lifted his helpless left arm across his lap. "Oh I'm fine, thank +you kindly, Doctor. Mother's fine too, and my garden's doing pretty good +for me." He glanced about. "The early things are all gone, of course, but +the others are doing well. Oh, we'll get along; I told mother this +morning the Blessed Virgin hadn't forgotten us yet. I'll bet them +potatoes grew an inch some nights this summer. And look what a day it is +for the fair, and the preacher a comin' too." + +The Doctor looked at his watch again, and Denny continued: "We're all so +pleased at his comin'. People haven't talked of anything else for a +month now, that and the fair of course. Things in this town will liven +up now, sure. Seems to me I can feel it--yes sir, I can. Something's +goin' to happen, sure." + +"Humph," grunted the Doctor, "I rather feel that way myself." Then, "I +expect you two will be great friends, Denny." + +The poor little fellow nearly twisted himself off the rock. "Oh Doctor, +really why I--the minister'll have no time for the likes of me. And is +he really goin' to live at Mrs. Morgan's there?" He nodded his head +toward the house next to his garden. + +"That's his room," the other answered, pointing to the corner window. +"He'll be right handy to us both." + +Denny gazed at the window with the look of a worshiper. "Oh now, isn't +that fine, isn't it grand! That's such a nice room, Doctor, it has such +a fine view of the monument." + +"Yes," the Doctor interrupted, "the monument and your garden." And then +he left abruptly lest he should foolishly try to explain to the +bewildered and embarrassed Denny what he meant. + +It seemed to the Doctor that nearly every one he met on the well-filled +street that morning, had a smile for him, while many stopped to pass a +word about the coming of Dan. When he reached the depot the agent hailed +him with, "Good morning, Doctor; looking for your preacher?" + +"_My_ preacher!" The old physician glared at the man in the cap, and +turned his back with a few energetic remarks, while two or three loafers +joined in the laugh, and a couple of traveling men who were pacing the +platform with bored expressions on their faces, turned to stare at him +curiously. At the other end of the platform was a group of women, active +members of the Memorial Ladies' Aid who had left their posts of duty at +the bazaar, to have a first look at the new pastor. The old Elder, Nathan +Jordan, with Charity, his daughter, was just coming up. + +"Good morning, good morning, Doctor," said Nathan grasping his friend's +hand as if he had not seen him for years. "Well I see we're all here." +He turned proudly about as the group of women came forward, with an air +of importance, the Doctor thought, as though the occasion required their +presence. "Reckon our boy'll be here all right," Nathan continued. + +"_Our_ boy!" The Doctor caught a naughty word between his teeth--a feat +he rarely accomplished. + +The ladies all looked sweetly interested. One of them putting her arm +lovingly about Charity cooed: "So nice of you to come, dear." She had +remarked to another a moment before, "that a fire wouldn't keep the girl +away from the depot that morning." + +The Doctor felt distinctly the subtle, invisible presence of the Ally, +and it was well that someone just then saw the smoke from the coming +train two or three miles away, around the curve beyond the pumping +station. + +The negro porter from the hotel opposite the depot, came bumping across +the rails, with the grips belonging to the two traveling men, in his +little cart; the local expressman rattled up with a trunk in his shaky +old wagon; and the sweet-faced daughter of the division track +superintendent hurried out of the red section-house with a bundle of big +envelopes in her hand. The platform was crowded with all kinds of people, +carrying a great variety of bundles, baskets and handbags, asking all +manner of questions, going to and from all sorts of places. The train +drew rapidly nearer. + +The Doctor's old heart was thumping painfully. He forgot the people, he +forgot Corinth, he forgot everything but the boy who had come to him that +day on the river bank. + +Swiftly the long train with clanging bell and snorting engine came up to +the depot. The conductor swung easily to the platform, and, watch in +hand, walked quickly to the office. Porters and trainmen tumbled off, and +with a long hiss of escaping air and a steady puff-puff, the train +stopped. + +In the bustle and confusion of crowding passengers getting on and off, +tearful good-byes and joyful greetings, banging trunks, rattling trucks, +hissing steam, the doctor watched. Then he saw him, his handsome head +towering above the pushing, jostling crowd. The Doctor could not get to +him, and with difficulty restrained a shout. But Dan with his back to +them all pushed his way to an open window of the car he had just left, +where a woman's face turned to him in earnest conversation. + +"There he is," said the Doctor, "that tall fellow by the window there." + +At his words the physician heard an exclamation, and, glancing back, saw +the women staring eagerly, while Charity's face wore a look of painful +doubt and disappointment. The Elder's countenance was stern and frowning. + +"Seems mightily interested," said one, suggestively. + +"What a pretty face," added another, also suggestively. + +The Doctor spoke quickly, "Why that's--" Then he stopped with an +expression on his face that came very near being a malicious grin. + +The conductor, watch again in hand, shouted, the porters stepped aboard, +the bell rang, the engineer, with his long oil-can, swung to his cab, +slowly the heavy train began to gather headway. As it went Dan walked +along the platform beside that open window, until he could no longer +keep pace with the moving car. Then with a final wave of his hand he +stood looking after the train, seemingly unconscious of everything but +that one who was being carried so quickly beyond his sight. + +He was standing so when his old friend grasped his arm. He turned with a +start. "Doctor!" + +What a handsome fellow he was, with his father's great body, powerful +limbs and shaggy red-brown hair; and his mother's eyes and mouth, and +her spirit ruling within him, making you feel that he was clean through +and through. It was no wonder people stood around looking at him. The +Doctor felt again that old, mysterious spell, that feeling that the boy +was a revelation to him of something he had always known, the living +embodiment of a truth never acknowledged. And his heart swelled with +pride as he turned to lead Dan up to Elder Jordan and his company. + +The church ladies, old in experience with preachers, seemed strangely +embarrassed. This one was somehow so different from those they had +known before, but their eyes were full of admiration. Charity's voice +trembled as she bade him welcome. Nathaniel's manner was that of a +judge. Dan himself, was as calm and self possessed as if he and the +Doctor were alone on the bank of some river, far from church and church +people. But the Doctor thought that the boy flinched a bit when he +introduced him as Reverend Matthews. Perhaps, though, it was merely the +Doctor's fancy. The old man felt too, even as he presented Dan to his +people, that there had come between himself and the boy a something +that was never there before, and it troubled him not a little. But +perhaps this, too, was but a fancy. + +At any rate the old man must have been somewhat excited for when the +introductions were over, and the company was leaving the depot, he +managed to steer Dan into collision with a young woman who was standing +nearby. She was carrying a small grip, having evidently arrived on the +same train that brought the minister. It was no joke for anyone into +whom Big Dan bumped, and a look of indignation flashed on the girl's +face. But the indignant look vanished quickly in a smile as the big +fellow stood, hat in hand, offering the most abject apology for what he +called _his_ rudeness. + +The Doctor noted a fine face, a strong graceful figure, and an air of +wholesomeness and health that was most refreshing. But he thought that +Dan took more time than was necessary for his apology. + +When she had assured the young fellow several times that it was nothing, +she asked: "Can you tell me, please, the way to Dr. Abbott's office?" + +Dr. Abbott! The Doctor's own office--Dr. Harry's and his now. He looked +the young woman over curiously, while Dan was saying: "I'm sorry, but I +cannot. I am a stranger here, but my friend--" + +The older man interrupted gruffly with the necessary directions and the +information that Dr. Abbott was out of town, and would not be back until +four o'clock. "Will you then direct me to a hotel?" she asked. The Doctor +pointed across the track. Then he got Dan away. + +The church ladies, with Charity and her father, were already on their way +back to the place where the bazaar was doing business. Half way down the +block the Doctor and Dan were checked by a crowd. There seemed to be some +excitement ahead. But in the pause, Dan turned to look back toward the +young woman who had arrived in Corinth on the same train that had brought +him. She was coming slowly down the street toward them. + +Again the thought flashed through the Doctor's mind that the boy had +taken more time than was necessary for his apology. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +WHO ARE THEY? + +"And the old man pointed out to Dan his room across the way--the room +that looked out upon the garden and the monument." + + +Jud Hardy, who lives at Windy Cove on the river some eighteen miles +"back" from Corinth, had been looking forward to Fair time for months. +Not that Jud had either things to exhibit or money to buy things +exhibited. For while Jud professed to own, and ostensibly to cultivate a +forty, he gained his living mostly by occasional "spells of work" on the +farms of his neighbors. In lieu of products of his hand or fields for +exhibition at the annual fair, Jud invariably makes an exhibition of +himself, never failing thus to contribute his full share to the "other +amusements," announced on the circulars and in the Daily Corinthian, as +"too numerous to mention." + +The citizens of the Windy Cove country have a saying that when Jud is +sober and in a good humor and has money, he is a fairly good fellow, if +he is not crossed in any way. The meat of which saying is in the well +known fact, that Jud is never in a good humor when he is not sober, that +he is never sober when he has money; and that with the exception of +three or four kindred spirits, whose admiration for the bad man is +equalled only by their fear of him, no one has ever been able to devise +a way to avoid crossing him when he is in his normal condition. + +With three of the kindred spirits, Jud arrived in Corinth that day, with +the earliest of the visitors, and the quartette proceeded, at once, to +warm up after their long ride. By ten o'clock they were well warmed. +Just as the ten-forty train was slowing up at the depot, Jud began his +exhibition. It took place at the post office where the crowd was +greatest, because of the incoming mail. Stationing himself near the +door, the man from Windy Cove blocked the way for everyone who wanted to +pass either in or out of the building. For the women and young girls he +stepped aside with elaborate, drunken politeness and maudlin, +complimentary remarks. For the men who brushed him he had a scowling +curse and a muttered threat. Meanwhile, his followers nearby looked on +in tipsy admiration and "'lowed that there was bound to be somethin' +doin', for Jud was sure a-huntin' trouble." + +Then came one who politely asked Jud to move. He was an inoffensive +little man, with a big star on his breast, and a big walking stick in +his hand--the town marshal. Jud saw an opportunity to give an exhibition +worth while. There were a few opening remarks--mostly profane--and then +the representative of the law lay in a huddled heap on the floor, while +the man from the river rushed from the building into the street. + +The passing crowd stopped instantly. Scattered individuals from every +side came running to push their way into the mass of men and women, +until for a block on either side of the thoroughfare there was a solid +wall of breathless humanity. Between these walls strolled Jud, roaring +his opinion and defiance of every one in general, and the citizens of +Corinth in particular. + +It could not last long, of course. There were many men in the crowd who +did not fear to challenge Jud, but there was that inevitable hesitation, +while each man was muttering to his neighbor that this thing ought to be +stopped, and they were waiting to see if someone else would not start +first to stop it. + +Nearly the length of the block, Jud made his triumphant way; then, at the +corner where the crowd was not so dense, he saw a figure starting across +the street. + +"Hey there," he roared, "get back there where you belong! What th' hell +do you mean? Don't you see the procession's a comin'?" + +It was Denny. He had left his garden to go to the butcher's for a bit of +meat for dinner. The crippled lad had just rounded the corner, and, +forced to give all his attention to his own halting steps, did not grasp +the situation but continued his dragging way across the path of the +drunken and enraged bully. The ruffian, seeing the lad ignore his loud +commands, strode heavily forward with menacing fists, heaping foul +epithets upon the head of the helpless Irish boy. + +The crowd gasped. + +"Oh, why does someone not do something!" moaned a woman. A girl screamed. + +Several men started, but before they could force their way through the +press, the people saw a stranger, a well-dressed young giant, spring +from the sidewalk, and run toward the two figures in the middle of the +street. But Dan had not arrived upon the scene soon enough. Almost as he +left the pavement the blow fell, and Denny lay still--a crumpled, pitiful +heap in the dirt. + +Jud, flushed with this second triumph, turned to face the approaching +stranger. + +"Come on, you pink-eyed dude! I've got some fer you too. Come git your +medicine, you--" + +Dan was coming--coming so quickly that Jud's curses had not left his +lips when the big fellow reached him. With one clean, swinging blow the +man from Windy Cove was lifted fairly off the ground to fall several +feet away from his senseless victim. + +There was an excited yell from the crowd. But Jud, lean, loose-jointed +and hard of sinew, had the physical toughness of his kind. Almost +instantly he was on his feet again, reaching for his hip pocket with a +familiar movement. And there was a wild scramble as those in front sought +cover in the rear. + +"Look out! Look out!"--came from the crowd. + +But the mountain bred Dan needed no warning. With a leap, cat-like in +its quickness, he was again upon the other. There was a short struggle, +a sharp report, a wrenching twist, a smashing blow, and Jud was down +once more, this time senseless. The weapon lay in the dust. The bullet +had gone wide. + +The crowd yelled their approval, and, even while they applauded, the +people were asking each of his neighbor: "Who is he? Who is he?" + +Several men rushed in, and Dan, seeing the bully safe in as many hands as +could lay hold of him, turned to discover the young woman whom he had met +at the depot kneeling in the street over the still unconscious Denny. +With her handkerchief she was wiping the blood and dirt from the boy's +forehead. Dan had only time to wonder at the calmness of her face and +manner when the crowd closed in about them. + +Then the Doctor pushed his way through the throng, and the people, at +sight of the familiar figure, obeyed his energetic orders and drew aside. +A carriage was brought and Dan lifted the unconscious lad in his arms. +The Doctor spoke shortly to the young woman, "You come too." And with the +Doctor the two strangers in Corinth took Denny to his home. + +In the excitement no one thought of introductions, while the people +seeing their hero driving in the carriage with a young woman, also a +stranger, changed their question from, "Who is he?" to "Who are they?" + +When Denny had regained consciousness, and everything possible for his +comfort and for the assistance of his distracted mother, had been done; +and the physician had assured them that the lad would be as good as ever +in a day or two, the men crossed the street to the little white house. + +"Well," ejaculated Martha when Dan had been presented, and the incident +on the street briefly related, "I'm mighty glad I cooked them three +roosters." + +Dan laughed his big, hearty laugh, "I'm glad, too," he said. "Doctor +used to drive me wild out in the woods with tales of your cooking." + +The Doctor could see that Martha was pleased at this by the way she +fussed with her apron. + +"We always hoped that he would bring you with him on some of his trips," +continued Dan, "we all wanted so much to meet you." + +To the Doctor's astonishment, Martha stammered, "I--maybe I will go some +day." Then her manner underwent a change as if she had suddenly +remembered something. "You'll excuse me now while I put the dinner on," +she said stiffly. "Just make yourself to home; preachers always do in +this house, even if Doctor don't belong." She hurried away, and Dan +looked at his host with his mother's questioning eyes. The Doctor knew +what it was. Dan had felt it even in the house of his dearest friend. It +was the preacher Martha had welcomed, welcomed him professionally +because he was a preacher. And the Doctor felt again _that_ something +that had come between him and the lad. + +"Martha doesn't care for fishing," he said gently. + +Then they went out on the porch, and the old man pointed out to Dan his +room across the way--the room that looked out upon the garden and the +monument. + +"Several of your congregation wanted to have you in their homes," he +explained. "But I felt--I thought you might like to be--it was near +me you see--and handy to the church." He pointed to the building up +the street. + +"Yes," Dan answered, looking at his old friend curiously--such broken +speech was not natural to the Doctor--"You are quite right. It was very +kind of you; you know how I will like it to be near you." Then looking +at the monument he asked whose it was. + +The Doctor hesitated again. Dan faced him waiting for an answer. + +"That--oh, that's our statesman. You will need time to fully appreciate +that work of art, and what it means to Corinth. It will grow on you. It's +been growing on me for several years." + +The young man was about to ask another question regarding the monument, +when he paused. The girl who had gone to Denny in the street was coming +from the little cottage. As she walked away under the great trees that +lined the sidewalk, the two men stood watching her. Dan's question about +the monument was forgotten. + +"I wonder who she is," he said in a low voice. + +The Doctor recalled the meeting at the depot and chuckled, and just then +Martha called to dinner. + +And the people on the street corners, at the ladies' bazaar, in the +stores, the church booths and in the homes, were talking; talking of the +exhibition of the man from Windy Cove, and asking each of his neighbor: +"Who are they?" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +HOPE FARWELL'S MINISTRY + +"Useful hands they were, made for real service." + + +After dinner was over and they had visited awhile, the Doctor introduced +Dan to his landlady across the way and, making some trivial excuse about +business, left the boy in his room. The fact is that the Doctor wished +to be alone. If he could have done it decently, he would have gone off +somewhere with his fishing tackle. As he could not go fishing, he did +the next best thing. He went to his office. + +The streets were not so crowded now, for the people were at the ball +game, and the Doctor made his way down town without interruption. As he +went he tried to think out what it was that had come between him and the +boy whom he had known so intimately for so many years. Stopping at the +post office, he found a letter in his care addressed to "Rev. Daniel H. +Matthews." In his abstraction he was about to hand the letter in at the +window with the explanation that he knew no such person, when a voice at +his elbow said: "Is Brother Matthews fully rested from his tiresome +journey, Doctor?" + +The Doctor's abstraction vanished instantly, he jammed that letter into +his pocket and faced the speaker. + +"Yes," he growled, "I think Brother Matthews is fully rested. As he is +a grown man of unusual strength, and in perfect health of body at least, +and the tiresome journey was a trip of only four hours, in a comfortable +railway coach, I think I may say that he is fully recovered." + +Then the Doctor slipped away. But he had discovered what it was that had +come between the boy and himself. The _man_, Dan Matthews, was no longer +the Doctor's boy. He was "Reverend," "Brother," the _preacher_. All the +morning it had been making itself felt, that something that sets +preachers apart. The Doctor wondered how his young hill-bred giant would +stand being coddled and petted and loved by the wives and mothers of men +who, for their daily bread, met the world bare-handed, and whose +hardships were accepted by them and by these same mothers and wives as a +matter of course. + +By this time the Doctor had reached his office, and the sight of the +familiar old rooms that had been the scene of so many revelations of real +tragedies and genuine hardships, known only to the sufferer and to him +professionally, forced him to continue his thought. + +"There was Dr. Harry, for instance. Who, beside his old negro +housekeeper, ever petted and coddled _him_? Who ever thought of setting +him apart? Whoever asked if he were rested from his tiresome +journey--journeys made not in comfortable coaches on the railroad, but +in his buggy over all kinds of roads, at all times of day or night, in +all sorts of weather winter and summer, rain and sleet and snow? Whoever +'Reverended' or 'Brothered' him? Oh no, he was only a man, a physician. +It was his business to kill himself trying to keep other people alive." + +Dr. Harry Abbott had been first, the Doctor's assistant, then his +partner, and now at last his successor. Of a fine old Southern family, +his people had lost everything in the war when Harry was only a lad. The +father was killed in battle and the mother died a year later, leaving +the boy alone in the world. Thrown upon his own resources for the +necessities of life, he had managed somehow to live and to educate +himself, besides working his way through both preparatory and medical +schools, choosing his profession for love of it. He came to Dr. Oldham +from school, when the Doctor was beginning to feel the burden of his +large practice too heavily, and it was while he was the old physician's +assistant that the people learned to call him Dr. Harry. And Dr. Harry +he is to this day. How that boy has worked! His profession and his church +(for he is a member, a deacon now, in the Memorial Church) have occupied +every working minute of his life, and many hours beside that he should +have given to sleep. + +As the months passed Dr. Oldham placed more and more responsibilities +upon him, and at the end of the second year took him into full +partnership. It was about this time that Dr. Harry bought the old Wilson +Carter place, and brought from his boyhood home two former slaves of his +father to keep house for him, Old Uncle George and his wife Mam Liz. + +Every year the younger man took more and more of the load from his +partner's shoulders, until the older physician retired from active +practice; and never has there been a word but of confidence and +friendship between them. Their only difference is, that Harry will go to +prayer meeting, when the Doctor declares he should go to bed; and that +he will not go fishing. Always he has been the same courteous, kindly +gentleman, intent only upon his profession, keeping abreast of the new +things pertaining to his work, but ever considerate of the old Doctor's +whims and fancies. Even now that Dr. Oldham has stepped down and out +Harry insists that he leave his old desk in its place, and still talks +over his cases with him. + +The Doctor was sitting in his dilapidated office chair thinking over all +this, when he heard his brother physician's step on the stairs. Harry +came in, dusty and worn, from a long ride in the country on an all-night +case. His tired face lit up when he saw his friend. + +"Hello, Doctor! Glad to see you. Has he come? How is he?" While he was +speaking the physician dropped his case, slipped out of his coat, and +was in the lavatory burying his face in cold water by the time the other +was ready to answer. That was Harry, he was never in a hurry, never +seemed to move fast, but people never ceased to wonder at his quickness. + +"He's all right," the Doctor muttered, his mind slipping back into the +channel that had started him off to thinking of his fellow physician. +"Got in on the ten-forty. But you look fagged enough. Why the devil don't +you rest, Harry?" + +Standing in the doorway rubbing his face, neck, and chest, with a coarse +towel the young man laughed, "Rest, what would I do with a vacation? I'll +be all right, when I get outside of one of Mam Liz's dinners. It was that +baby of Jensen's that kept me. Poor little chap. I thought, two or three +times he was going to make a die of it sure, but I guess he'll pull +through now." + +Dr. Oldham knew the Jensens well, eighteen miles over the worst roads in +the country. He growled hoarsely: "It'll be more years than there are +miles between here and Jensen's before you get a cent out of that case. +You're a fool for making the trip; why don't you let 'em get that old +bushwhacker at Salem, he's only three miles away?" + +Harry pulled on his coat and dropped into his chair with a grin. "What'll +you give me to collect some of your old accounts, Doctor? The Jensens say +that the reason they have me is because you have always been their +physician." + +Then the Doctor in characteristic language expressed his opinion of the +whole Jensen tribe, while Harry calmly glanced through some letters on +his desk. + +"See here, Doctor," he exclaimed, wheeling around in his chair and +interrupting the old man's eloquent discourse. "Here is a letter from +Dr. Miles--says he is sending a nurse; just what we want." He tossed the +letter to the other. "There'll be the deuce to pay at Judge Strong's +when she arrives. Whew! I guess I better trot over home and get a bite +and forty winks. A Jensen breakfast, as you may remember, isn't just the +most staying thing for a civilized stomach, and I need to be fit when I +call at the Strong mansion. Wonder when the nurse will get here." + +"She's here now," said the old Doctor, and he then told him about the +meeting at the depot and the fight on the street. "But go on and get your +nap," he finished. "I'll look after her." + +Harry had just taken his hat when there came a knock on the door leading +into the little waiting room. He hung his hat back in the closet, and +dropped into his chair again with a comical expression of resignation on +his face. But his voice was cheerful, when he said: "Come in." + +The door opened. The young lady of the depot entered. The old physician +took a good look at her this time. He saw a girl of fine, strong form and +good height, with clear skin, showing perfect health, large, gray +eyes--serious enough, but with a laugh back of all their seriousness, +brown hair, firm, rounded chin and a generous sensitive mouth. +Particularly he noticed her hands--beautifully modeled, useful hands +they were, made for real service. Altogether she gave him the impression +of being very much alive, and very much a woman. + +"Is this Dr. Abbott?" she asked, looking at Harry, who had risen from +his chair. When she spoke the old man again noted her voice, it was low +and clear. + +"I am Dr. Abbott," replied Harry. + +"I am Hope Farwell," she answered. "Dr. Miles, you know, asked me to +come. You wanted a nurse for a special case, I believe." + +"Oh, yes," exclaimed Harry, "we have the letter here. We were just +speaking of you, Miss Farwell. This is Dr. Oldham; perhaps Dr. Miles +told you of him." + +She turned with a smile, "Yes indeed, Dr. Miles told me. I believe we +have met before, Doctor." + +The girl broke into a merry laugh, when the old man answered, gruffly: "I +should think we had. I was just telling Harry there when you came in." + +Then the younger physician asked, "How soon can you be ready to go on +this case, Nurse?" + +She looked at him with a faint expression of surprise. "Why I'm ready +now, Doctor." + +And the old Doctor broke in so savagely that they both looked at him in +astonishment as he said: "But this is a hard case. You'll be up most of +the night. You're tired out from your trip." + +"Why, Doctor," said the young woman, "it is my business to be ready at +any time. Being up nights is part of my profession. Surely you know +that. Besides, that trip was really a good rest, the first good rest +I've had for a long time." + +"I know, of course," he answered. "I was thinking of something else. You +must pardon me, Miss. Harry there will explain that I am subject to these +little attacks." + +"Oh, I know already," she returned smiling. "Dr. Miles told me all about +you." And there was something in her laughing gray eyes that made the +rough old man wonder just what it was that his friend Miles had told her. + +"All right, get back to business you two," he growled. "I'll not +interrupt again. Tell her about the case, Harry." + +The young woman's face was serious in a moment, and she gave the +physician the most careful attention as he explained the case for which +he had written Dr. Miles to send a trained nurse of certain +qualifications. + +The Judge Strong of this story is an only son of the old Judge who moved +Corinth. He is a large man--physically, as large as the Doctor, but where +the Doctor is fat the Judge is lean. He inherited, not only his father's +title (a purely honorary one) but his father's property, his position as +an Elder in the church, and his general disposition; together with his +taste and skill in collecting mortgages and acquiring real estate. The +old Judge had but the one child. The Judge of this story, though just +passing middle age, has no children at all. Seemingly there is no room in +his heart for more than his church and his properties--his mind being +thus wholly occupied with titles to heaven and to earth. With Sapphira, +his wife, he lives in a big house on Strong Avenue, beyond the Strong +Memorial Church, with never so much as a pet dog or cat to roughen the +well-kept lawn or romp, perchance, in the garden. The patient whom Miss +Farwell had come to nurse, was Sapphira's sister, a widow with neither +child nor home. The Judge had been forced by his fear of public sentiment +to give her shelter, and he had been compelled by Dr. Oldham and Dr. +Harry to employ a nurse. The case would not be a pleasant one; Miss +Farwell would need all that abundant stock of tact and patience which Dr. +Miles had declared she possessed. + +All this Dr. Harry explained to her, and when he had finished she asked +in the most matter-of-fact tone: "And what are your instructions, +Doctor?" + +That caught Harry. It caught the old Doctor, too. Not even a comment on +the disagreeable position she knew she would have in the Strong +household, for Harry had not slighted the hard facts! She understood +clearly what she was going into. + +A light came into the young physician's eyes that his old friend liked +to see. "I guess Miles knew what he was talking about in his letter," +said the old Doctor. And the young woman's face flushed warmly at his +words and look. + +Then in his professional tones Dr. Harry instructed her more fully as to +the patient's condition--a nervous trouble greatly aggravated by the +Judge's disposition. + +"Nice job, isn't it, Miss Farwell?" Harry finished. + +She smiled. "When do I go on, Doctor?" + +Harry stepped to the telephone and called up the Strong mansion. "This +you, Judge?" he said into the instrument. "The nurse from Chicago is +here; came today. We want her to go on the case at once. Can you send +your man to the depot for her trunk?" + +By the look on his face the old Doctor knew what Harry was getting. The +younger physician's jaw was set and his eyes were blazing, but his voice +was calm and easy. "But Judge, you remember the agreement. Dr. Oldham is +here now if you wish to speak to him. We shall hold you to the exact +letter of your bargain, Judge. I am very sorry but--. Very well sir. I +will be at your home with the nurse in a few moments. Please have a room +ready. And by the way, Judge, I must tell you again that my patient is in +a serious condition. I warn you that we will hold you responsible if +anything happens to interfere with our arrangements for her treatment. +Good-bye." + +He turned to the nurse with a wry face. "It's pretty bad, Miss Farwell." + +Then, ringing up the village drayman, he arranged to have the young +woman's trunk taken to the house. When the man had called for the checks +Harry said: "Now, Nurse, my buggy is here, and if you are ready I guess +we had better follow your trunk pretty closely." + +From the window the old Doctor watched them get into the buggy, +and drive off down the street. Mechanically he opened the letter +from Dr. Miles, which he still held in his hand. "An ideal nurse, who +has taken up the work for love of it,--have known the family for +years--thoroughbreds--just the kind to send a Kentuckian like you--I +warn you look out,--I want her back again." + +The Doctor chuckled when he remembered Harry's look as he talked to the +young woman. "If ever a man needed a wife Harry does," he thought. "Who +knows what might happen?" + +Who knows, indeed? + +Then the Doctor went home to Dan. He found him in Denny's garden, with +Denny enthroned on the big rock--listening to his fun, while Deborah, +from the house, looked on, unable to believe that it was "the parson +sure enough out there wid Denny,"--Denny who was to have been a priest +himself one day, but who would never now be good for much of anything. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS + +"'In the battle of life we cannot hire a substitute; whatever work one +volunteers to make his own he must look upon as his ministry to the +race.'" + + +Dan, with the Doctor and Mrs. Oldham were to take supper and spend the +evening at Elder Jordan's. Martha went over early in the afternoon, +leaving the two men to follow. + +As they were passing the monument, Dan stopped. "Did you know him?" he +asked curiously, when he had read the inscription. It was not like Dan +to be curious. + +The Doctor answered briefly: "I was there when he was born and was his +family physician all his life, and I was with him when he died." + +Something in the doctor's voice made Dan look at him intently for a +moment, then in a low tone: "He was a good man?" + +"One of the best I ever knew, too good for this town. Look at that thing. +They say that expressed their appreciation of him--and it does," he +finished grimly. + +"But," said Dan, in a puzzled way, turning once more to the monument, +"this inscription--" he read again the sentence from the statesman's +speech on the forgotten issue of his passing day. + +The Doctor said nothing. + +Then gazing up at the cast-iron figure posed stiffly with outstretched +arm in the attitude of a public speaker, Dan asked: "Is that like him?" + +"Like him! It's like nothing but the people who conceived it," growled +the Doctor indignantly. "If that man were living he would not be always +talking about issues that have no meaning at this day. He would be giving +himself to the problems that trouble us now. This thing," he rapped the +monument with his stick until it gave forth a dull, hollow sound, "this +thing is not a memorial to the life and character of my friend. It +memorializes the dead issue to which he gave himself at one passing +moment of his life, and which, had he lived, he would have forgotten, as +the changing times brought new issues to be met as he met this old one. +He was too great, too brave, to ever stand still and let the world go by. +He was always on the firing line. This thing--" he rapped the hollow iron +shaft again contemptuously, and the hollow sound seemed to add emphasis +to his words--"this is a dead monument to a dead issue. Instead of +speaking of his life, it cries aloud in hideous emphasis that he is +dead." + +They stood silently for a moment then Dan said, quietly: "After all, +Doctor, they meant well." + +"And that," retorted the old man grimly, "is what we doctors say when we +see our mistakes go by in the hearse." + +They went on up the street until they reached the church. Here Dan +stopped again. He read the inscription cut large in the stone over the +door, "The Strong Memorial Church." Again Dan turned to his friend +inquiringly. + +"Judge Strong, the old Judge," explained the Doctor. "That's his picture +in the big stained-glass window there." + +In all his intentions Nathaniel Jordan was one of the best of men. +Surely, if in the hereafter, any man receives credit for always doing +what his conscience dictates, Nathan will. He was one of those +characters who give up living ten years before they die. Nathan stayed +on for the church's good. + +Miss Charity, the Elder's only child is--well, she was born, raised and +educated for a parson's wife. The Doctor says that she didn't even cry +like other babies. At three she had taken a prize in Sunday school for +committing Golden texts, at seven she was baptized, and knew the reason +why, at twelve she played the organ in Christian Endeavor. At fourteen +she was teaching a class, leading prayer meeting, attending conventions, +was president of the Local Union, and pointed with pride to the fact that +she was on more committees than any other single individual in the +Memorial Church. The walls of her room were literally covered with +badges, medals, tokens, prizes and emblems, with the picture of every +conspicuous church worker and leader of her denomination. Between times +the girl studied the early history of her church, read the religious +papers and in other ways fitted herself for her life work. Poor Charity! +She was so cursed with a holy ambition, that to her men were not men, +they simply _were_ or were _not_ preachers. + +When Dan and the Doctor reached the Jordan home they found this daughter +of the church at the front gate watching for them, a look of eager hope +and expectancy on her face. The Elder himself with his wife and Mrs. +Oldham were on the front porch. Martha could scarcely wait for the usual +greeting and the introduction of Dan to Mrs. Jordan, before she opened on +the Doctor with, "It's a great pity Doctor, that you couldn't bring +Brother Matthews here before the last possible minute; supper is ready +right now. A body would think you had an important case, if they didn't +know that you were too old to do anything any more." + +"We did have an important case, my dear," the Doctor replied, "and it +was Dan who caused our delay." + +"That's it; lay it on to somebody else like you always do. What in the +world could poor Brother Matthews be doing to keep him from a good meal?" + +"He was studying--let me see, what was it, Dan? Art, Political +Economy--or Theology?" + +Dan smiled. "I think it might have been the theory and practice of +medicine," he returned. At which they both laughed and the others joined +in, though for his life the Doctor couldn't see why. + +"Well," said the Elder, when he had finished his shrill cackle, "we +better go in and discuss supper awhile; that's always a satisfactory +subject at least." Which was a pretty good one for Nathaniel. + +When the meal was finished, they all went out on the front porch again, +where it soon became evident that Nathaniel did not propose to waste +more time in light and frivolous conversation. By his familiar and +ponderous "Ahem--ahem!" even Dan understood that he was anxious to get +down to the real business of the evening, and that he was determined to +do his full duty, or--as he would have said--"to keep that which was +committed unto him." + +"Ahem--ahem!" A hush fell upon the little company, the women turned +their chairs expectantly, and the Doctor slipped over to the end of the +porch to enjoy his evening cigar. The Elder had the field. + +With another and still louder "Ahem!" he began. "I am sorry that Brother +Strong is not here this evening. Judge Strong that is, Brother Matthews; +he is our other Elder, you understand. I expected him but he has +evidently been detained." + +The Doctor, thinking of Dr. Harry and the nurse, chuckled, and Nathan +turned a look of solemn inquiry in his direction. + +"Ahem--ahem,--you did not come to Corinth directly from your home, I +understand, Brother Matthews?" + +The Doctor could see Dan's face by the light from the open window. He +fancied it wore a look of amused understanding. + +"No," answered the minister, "I spent yesterday in the city." + +"Ahem--ahem," coughed the Elder. "Found an acquaintance on the train +coming up, didn't you? We noticed you talking to a young woman at the +car window." + +Dan paused a moment before answering, and the Doctor could feel the +interest of the company. Then the boy said, dryly, "Yes, I may say +though, that she is something more than an acquaintance." + +Smothered exclamations from the women. "Ah hah," from the Elder. The +Doctor grinned to himself in the dark. "The young scamp!" + +"Ahem! She had a pretty face, we noticed; are you--that is, have you +known her long?" + +"Several years, sir; the lady you saw is my mother. I went with her to +the city day before yesterday, where she wished to do some shopping, and +accompanied her on her way home as far as Corinth." + +More exclamations from the women. + +"Why, Doctor, you never told us it was his mother," cried Martha, and +Nathaniel turned toward the end of the porch with a look of righteous +indignation. + +"You never asked me," chuckled the Doctor. + +After this the two older women drifted into the house. Charity settled +herself in an attitude of rapt attention, and the program was continued. + +"Ahem. You may not be aware of it Brother Matthews, but I know a great +deal about your family, sir." + +"Indeed," exclaimed Dan. + +"Yes sir. You see I have some mining interests in that district, quite +profitable interests I may say. Judge Strong and I together have quite +extensive interests. Two or three years ago we made a good many trips +into your part of the country, where we heard a great deal of your +people. Your mother seems to be a remarkable woman of considerable +influence. Too bad she is not a regular member of the church. Our +preachers often tell us, and I believe it is true, that people who do +so much good out of the church really injure the cause more than +anything else." + +Dan made no answer to this, but as the Doctor saw his face in the light +it wore a mingled expression of astonishment and doubt. + +The Elder proceeded, "They used to tell us some great stories about your +father, too. Big man, isn't he?" + +"Yes sir, fairly good size." + +"Yes, I remember some of his fights we used to hear about; and there was +another member of the family, they mentioned a good deal. Dad--Dad--" + +"Howitt," said Dan softly. + +"That's it, Howitt. A kind of a shepherd, wasn't he? Discovered the big +mine on your father's place. One of your father's fights was about the +old man. Ahem--ahem--I judge you take after your father. I don't know +just what to think about your whipping that fellow this morning. Someone +had to do something of course, but--ahem, for a minister it was rather +unusual. I don't know how the people will take it." + +"I'm afraid that I forgot that I was a minister," said Dan uneasily. "I +hope, sir, you do not think that I did wrong." + +"Ahem--ahem, I can't say that it was wrong exactly, but as I said, we +don't know how the people will take it. But there's one thing sure," and +the Elder's shrill cackle rang out, "it will bring a big crowd to hear +you preach. Well, well, that's off the subject. Ahem--Brother Matthews, +why haven't your people opened that big mine in Dewey Bald?" + +"I expect it would be better for me to let father or mother explain that +to you, sir," answered Dan, as cool and calm as the evening. + +"Yes, yes of course, but it's rather strange, rather unusual you know, +to find a young man of your make-up and opportunities for wealth, +entering the ministry. You could educate a great many preachers, sir, if +you would develop that mine." + +"Father and mother have always taught us children that in the battle of +life one cannot hire a substitute; that whatever work one volunteers to +make his own he must look upon as his ministry to the race. I believe +that the church is an institution divinely given to serve the world, and +that, more than any other, it helps men to the highest possible life. I +volunteered for the work I have undertaken, because naturally I wish my +life to count for the greatest possible good; and because I feel that I +can serve men better in the church than in any other way." + +"Whew!" thought the Doctor, "that was something for Nathan to chew on." +The lad's face when he spoke made his old friend's nerves tingle. His was +a new conception of the ministry, new to the Doctor at least. Forgetting +his cigar he awaited the Elder's reply with breathless interest. + +"Ahem--ahem, you feel then that you have no special Divine call to the +work?" + +"I have always been taught at home, sir, that every man is divinely +called to his work, if that work is for the good of all men. His +faithfulness or unfaithfulness to the call is revealed in the _motives_ +that prompt him to choose his field." The boy paused a moment and +then added slowly--and no one who heard him could doubt his deep +conviction--"Yes sir, I feel that I am divinely called to preach the +gospel." + +"Ahem--ahem, I trust, Brother Matthews, that you are not taken up with +these new fads and fancies that are turning the minds of the people from +the true worship of God." + +"It is my desire, sir, to lead people to the true worship of God. I +believe that nothing will accomplish that end but the simple old +Jerusalem gospel." + +The Doctor lit his cigar again. They seemed to be getting upon safer +ground. + +"I am glad to hear that--" said the Elder heartily--"very glad. I feared +from the way you spoke, you might be going astray. There is a great work +for you here in Corinth--a great work. Our old brother who preceded you +was a good man, sound in the faith in every way, but he didn't seem to +take somehow. The fact is the other churches--ahem--are getting about +all our congregation." + +Then for an hour or more, Elder Jordan, for the new minister's benefit, +discussed in detail the religious history of Corinth, with the past, +present and future of Memorial Church; while Charity, drinking in every +word of the oft-heard discussion, grew ever more entranced with the +possibilities of the new pastor's ministry, and the Doctor sat alone at +the farther end of the porch. The Elder finished with: "Well, well, +Brother Matthews, you are young, strong, unmarried, and with your +reputation as a college man and an athlete you ought to do great things +for Memorial Church. We are counting on you to build us up wonderfully. +And let me say too, that we are one of the oldest and best known +congregations in our brotherhood here in the state. We have had some +great preachers here. You can make a reputation that will put you to the +top of your--ah, calling." + +Dan was just saying, "I hope I will please you, sir," when the women +appeared in the doorway. Martha had her bonnet on. + +"Come, come Nathan," said Mrs. Jordan, "you mustn't keep poor Brother +Matthews up another minute. He must be nearly worn out with his long +journey and all the excitement." + +The Doctor thought again of the girl who had made the same journey in +the car behind Dan, and who had also shared the excitement. He wondered +how the nurse was enjoying her evening and when she would get to bed. +"That's so," exclaimed the Doctor, rising to his feet. "We're all a lot +of brutes to treat the poor boy so." + +Dan whirled on him with a look that set the old man to laughing, "That's +all right, sonny," he chuckled. "Come on, I've been asleep for an hour." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +FROM DEBORAH'S PORCH + +"'With nothin' to think of all the time but the Blessed Jesus an' the +Holy Mother; an' all the people so respectful, an' lookin' up to you. +Sure 'tis a grand thing, Doctor, to be a priest.'" + + +Nathaniel Jordan's prediction proved true. + +In the two days between Dan's arrival and his first Sunday in Corinth, +the Ally was actively engaged in making known the identity of the big +stranger, who had so skillfully punished the man from Windy Cove. Also +the name and profession of the young woman who had gone to Denny's +assistance were fully revealed. + +The new minister of the Memorial Church was the sensation of the hour. +The building could scarcely hold the crowd, while the rival churches +were deserted, save only by the few faithful "pillars" who were held in +their places by the deep conviction that heaven itself would fall should +they fail to support their own particular faith. With the people who had +attended the fair, the Ally journeyed far into the country, and the roads +being good with promise of a moon to drive home by, the country folk for +miles around came to worship God, and, incidentally, to see the preacher +who had fought and vanquished the celebrated Jud. Many were there that +day who had not been inside a church before for years. The Ally went +also, but then the Ally, they say, is a regular attendant at all the +services of every church. + +Judge Strong, with an expression of pious satisfaction on his hard face, +occupied his own particular corner. From another corner Elder Jordan +watched for signs of false doctrine. Charity, except when busy at the +organ, never took her adoring eyes from the preacher's face. At the last +moment before the sermon, Dr. Harry slipped into the seat beside the +Doctor. And many other earnest souls there were who depended upon the +church as the only source of their life's inspiration and strength. + +Facing this crowd that even in the small town of Corinth represented +every class and kind, Dan felt it all; the vulgar curiosity, the craving +for sensation, the admiration, the suspicion, the true welcome, the +antagonism, the spiritual dependence. And the young man from the +mountains and the schools, who had entered the ministry from the truest +motives, with the highest ideals, shrank back and was afraid. + +Dan was, literally, to this church and people a messenger from another +world. It was not strange that many of the people thought, "How out of +place this big fellow looks in the pulpit." Many of them felt dimly, +too, that which the Doctor had always felt, that this man was somehow a +revelation of something that might have been, that ought to be. But no +one tried to search out the reason why. + +The theme of the new minister's sermon was, "The Faith of the Fathers," +and it must have been a good one, because Martha said the next day, that +it was the finest thing she had ever heard; and she had it figured out +somehow that the members of neighboring churches, who were there, got +some straight gospel for once in their lives. Elder Jordan assured the +Doctor in a confidential whisper, that it was a splendid effort. The +Doctor knew that Dan was splendid, and he could see that the boy had +fairly hypnotized the crowd, but he could not understand why it should +have been much of an effort. He confided to Martha that "so far as he +could see, the sermon might have been taken from the barrel of any one +of the preachers that had served the Memorial Church since its +establishment." But the sermon was new and fresh to Dan, and so gained +something of interest and strength from the earnestness and personality +of the speaker. "The boy had only to hold that gait," reflected the +Doctor, "and he would, as Nathan had said, land at the very top of his +profession." + +In the evening, the Doctor slipped away from church as soon as the +services were over, leaving Dan with those who always stay until the +janitor begins turning out the lights. Martha would walk home with +fellow workers in the Ladies' Aid, who lived a few doors beyond, and the +Doctor wished to be alone. + +Crossing the street to avoid the crowd, he walked slowly along under +the big trees, trying to accustom himself to the thought of his boy +dressed in the conventional minister's garb, delivering time worn +conventionalities in a manner as conventional. It was to this strange +thinking old man, almost as if he had seen Dan behind the grated doors +of a prison cell. + +Very slowly he went along, unmindful of aught but the thoughts that +troubled him, until, coming to the Widow Mulhall's little cottage, where +Deborah and Denny were sitting on the porch, he paused. Across the street +in front of his own home, Martha and her friends were holding an animated +conversation. + +"Come in, come in, Doctor," called Deborah's cheery voice, "it's a fine +evenin' it is and only beginnin'. I was just tellin' Denny that 'tis a +shame folks have to waste such nights in sleep. Come right in, I'll +fetch another chair--take the big rocker there, Doctor, that's right. +And how are you? Denny? Oh the bye is all right again just as you said; +sure the minister had him out in the garden that same afternoon. 'Twas +the blessin' of God, though, that his Reverence was there to keep that +devil from batin' the poor lad to death. I hope you'll not be forgettin' +the way to our gate entirely now, Doctor, that you'll be crossin' the +street so often to the house beyond the garden there." + +In the Widow's voice there was a hint of her Irish ancestry, as, in her +kind blue eyes, buxom figure and cordial manner, there was more than a +hint of her warm-hearted, whole-souled nature. + +"How do you like your new neighbor, Deborah?" asked the Doctor. + +"Ah, Doctor, it's a fine big man he is, a danged fine man inside an' out. +Denny and me are almighty proud, havin' him so close. He's that sociable, +too, not at all like a priest. It's every blessed day since he's been +here he's comin' over to Denny in the garden, and helpin' him with the +things, a-talkin' away all the time. ''Tis the very exercise I need,' +says he. 'And it's a real kindness for ye to let me work a bit now and +then,' says he. But sure we kin see, 'tis the big heart of him, wishful +to help the bye. But it's queer notioned he is fer a preacher." + +"Didn't I see you and Denny at church this evening?" asked the Doctor. + +"You did that, sir. You see not havin' no church of our own within reach +of our legs, an' bein' real wishful to hear a bit of a prayer and a +sermon like, Denny an' me slips into the protestant meetings now and +then. After all there's no real harm in it now, do you think, Doctor?" + +"Harm to you and Denny, or the church?" the Doctor asked. + +"Aw, go on now, Doctor you do be always havin' your joke," she laughed. +"Harm to neither or both or all, I mane, for, of course--well, let it go. +I guess that while Denny and me do be sayin' our prayers in our little +cabin on this side of the street, and you are a-sayin' yours in your fine +house across the way, 'tis the same blessed Father of us all gets them +both. I misdoubt if God had much to do wid layin' out the streets of +Corinth anyhow. I've heard how 'twas the old Judge Strong did that." + +"And what do you think of Mr. Matthews' sermon?" + +"It's ashamed I am to say it, Doctor, but I niver heard him." + +"Never heard him? But I thought you were there." + +"And we was, sir, so we was. And Denny here can tell you the whole thing, +but for myself I niver heard a blessed word, after the singin' and the +preacher stood up." + +"Why, what was the matter?" + +"The preacher himself." + +"The preacher?" + +"Yes sir. 'Twas this way, Doctor, upon my soul I couldn't hear what he +was a-sayin' for lookin' at the man himself. With him a-standin' up there +so big an' strong an'--an' clean like through an' through an' the look on +his face! It set me to thinkin' of all that I used to dream fer--fer my +Denny here. Ye mind what a fine lookin' man poor Jack was, sir, tho' I do +say it, and how Denny here, from a baby, was the very image of him. I +always knowed he was a-goin' to grow up another Jack for strength an' +looks. And you know yourself how our hearts was set on havin' him a +priest, him havin' such a turn that way, bein' crazy on books and +studyin' an' the likes--an' now--now here we are, sir. My man gone, an' +my boy just able to drag his poor broken body around, an' good fer +nothin' but to dig in the dirt. No sir, I couldn't hear the sermon fer +lookin' at the preacher an' thinkin'." + +Denny moved his twisted, misshapen body uneasily, "Oh, come now, mother," +he said, "let's don't be spoilin' the fine night fer the Doctor with our +troubles." + +"Indade, that we will not," said Deborah cheerfully. "Don't you think +Denny's garden's been doin' fine this summer, Doctor?" + +"Fine," said the Doctor heartily. "But then it's always fine. There's +lots of us would like to know how he makes it do so well." + +Denny gave a pleased laugh. + +"Aw now Doctor you're flatterin' me. They have been doin' pretty well +though--pretty well fer me." + +"I tell you what it is, Doctor," said Deborah, "the bye naturally loves +them things into growin'. If people would be takin' as good care of their +children as Denny does for his cabbage and truck it would be a blessin' +to the world." + +"It is funny, Doctor," put in Denny, "but do you know those things out +there seem just like people to me. I tell mother it ain't so bad after +all, not bein' a priest. The minister was a-sayin' yesterday, that the +people needed more than their souls looked after. If I can't be tellin' +people how to live, I can be growin' good things to keep them alive, and +maybe that's not so bad as it might be." + +"I don't know what we'd be doin' at all, if it wasn't fer that same +garden," added Deborah, "with clothes, and wood and groceries to buy, to +say nothin' of the interest that's always comin' due. We--" + +"Whist," said Denny in a low tone as a light flashed up in the corner +window of the house on the other side of the garden. "There's the +minister come home." + +Reverently they watched the light and the moving shadow in the room. The +moon, through the branches of the trees along the street, threw waving +patches of soft light over the dark green of the little lawn. Martha's +friends had moved on. Martha herself had retired. The street was +seemingly deserted and very still. + +Leaning forward in her chair Deborah spoke in a whisper. "We can always +tell when he's in of nights, and when he goes to bed. Ye see it's almost +like we was livin' in the same house with him. An' a great comfort it is +to us too, wid him such a good man, our havin' him so near. Poor bye +I'll warrant he's tired tonight. But oh, it must be a grand thing, +Doctor, to be doin' such holy work, an' a livin' with God Almighty like, +with nothin' to think of all the time but the Blessed Jesus and the Holy +Mother; an' all the people so respectful, an' lookin' up to you. Sure +'tis a grand thing, Doctor, to be a priest, savin' your presence sir, +for I know how you've little truck wid churches, tho' the lady your wife +does enough fer two." + +The Doctor rose to go for he saw that the hour was late. As he stood on +the steps ready to depart the steady flow of Deborah's talk continued, +when Denny interrupted again, pointing toward a woman who was crossing +to the other side of the street. She walked slowly, and, reaching the +sidewalk in front of the Doctor's house, hesitated, in a troubled, +undecided way. Approaching the gate, she paused, then drew back and +moved on slowly up the street. Her movements and manner gave the +impression that she was in trouble, perhaps in pain. + +"There's something wrong there," said the Doctor. "Who is it? Can you +see who it is, Denny?" + +"Yes, sir," he answered, and Deborah broke in, "it's that poor girl +of--of Jim Conner's, sir." + +The Doctor, at once nervous and agitated, was not a little worried and +could make no reply, knowing that it was Jim Conner who had killed +Deborah's husband. + +"Poor thing," murmured Deborah. "For the love of God, look at that now, +Doctor!" + +The girl had reached the corner, and had fallen or thrown herself in a +crouching heap against the monument. + +The widow was starting for the street, but Denny caught her arm: "No--no +mother, you mustn't do that, you know how she's scared to death of you; +let the Doctor go." + +The physician was already on his way as fast as his old legs would take +him. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE WORK OF THE ALLY + +"In the little room that looked out upon the Monument and the garden, +Dan--all unknowing--slept. And over all brooded the spirit that lives in +Corinth--the Ally--that dread, mysterious thing that never sleeps." + + +Grace Conner is a type common to every village, town and city in the +land, the saddest of all sad creatures--a good girl with a bad +reputation. + +Her reputation Grace owed first to her father's misdeeds, for which the +girl could in no way be to blame, and second, to the all-powerful Ally, +without whom the making of any reputation, good or bad, is impossible. + +The Doctor knew the girl well. When she was a little tot and a member +of Martha's Sunday school class, she was at the house frequently. Later +as a member of the church she herself was a teacher and an active worker. +Then came the father's crime and conviction, followed soon by the +mother's death, and the girl was left to shift for herself. She had +kept herself alive by working here and there, in the canning factory +and restaurants, and wherever she could. No one would give her a place +in a home. + +The young people in the church, imitating their elders, shunned her, and +it was not considered good policy to permit her to continue teaching in +the Sunday school. No mother wanted her child to associate with a +criminal's daughter; naturally she drifted away from the regular +services, and soon it was publicly announced that her name had been +dropped from the roll of membership. After that she never came. + +It was not long until the girl had such a name that no self respecting +man or woman dared be caught recognizing her on the street. + +The people always spoke of her as "that Grace Conner." + +The girl, hurt so often, grew to fear everyone. She strove to avoid +meeting people on the street, or meeting them, passed with downcast +eyes, not daring to greet them. Barely able to earn bread to keep life +within her poor body, her clothing grew shabby, her form thin and worn; +and these very evidences of her goodness of character worked to +accomplish her ruin. But she was a good girl through it all, a good girl +with a bad reputation. + +She was cowering at the foot of the monument, her face buried in her +hands, when the Doctor touched her on the shoulder. She started and +turned up to him the saddest face the old physician had ever seen. + +"What's the matter, my girl?" he said as kindly as he could. + +She shook her head and buried her face in her hands again. + +"Please go away and let me alone." + +"Come, come," said the Doctor laying his hand on her shoulder again. +"This won't do; you must tell me what's wrong. You can't stay out here +on the street at this time of the night." + +At his tone she raised her head again. "This time of the night! What +difference does it make to anyone whether I am on the street or not?" + +"It makes a big difference to you, my girl," the Doctor answered. "You +should be home and in bed." + +God! What a laugh she gave! + +"Home! In bed!" She laughed again. + +"Stop that!" said the physician sharply, for he saw that just a touch +more, and she would be over the line. "Stand up here and tell me what's +the matter; are you sick?" + +She rose to her feet with his help. + +"No sir." + +"Well, what have you been doing?" + +"Nothing, Doctor. I--I was just walking around." + +"Why don't you go back to the Hotel? You are working there, are you not?" + +At this she wrung her hands and looked about in a dazed way, but answered +nothing. + +"See here, Grace," said the physician, "you know me, surely--old Doctor +Oldham, can't you tell me what it is that's wrong?" + +She made no answer. + +"Come, let me take you to the Hotel," he urged; "it's only a step." + +"No--no," she moaned, "I can't go there. I don't live there any more." + +"Well where do you live now?" he asked. + +"Over in Old Town." + +"But why did you leave your place at the Hotel?" + +"A--a man there said something that I didn't like, and then the +proprietor told me that I must go, because some of the people were +talking about me, and I was giving the Hotel a bad name. Oh, Doctor, I +ain't a bad girl, I ain't never been, but folks are driving me to it. +That or--or--" she hesitated. + +What could he say? + +"It's the same everywhere I try to work," she continued in a hopeless +tone. "At the canning factory the other girls said their folks wouldn't +let them work there if I didn't go. I haven't been able to earn a cent +since I left the Hotel. I don't know what to do,--oh, I don't know what +to do!" She broke down crying. + +"Look here, why didn't you come to me?" the Doctor asked roughly. "You +knew you could come to me. Didn't I tell you to?" + +"I--I was afraid. I'm afraid of everybody." She shivered and looked over +her shoulder. + +The Doctor saw that this thing had gone far enough. "Come with me," he +said. "You must have something to eat." + +He started to lead her across the street toward Mrs. Mulhall whom he +could see at the gate watching them. But the girl hung back. + +"No, no," she panted in her excitement. "Not there, I dare not go there." +The Doctor hesitated. + +"Well, come to my house then," he said. She went as far as the gate then +she stopped again. + +"I can't, Doctor. Mrs. Oldham, I can't--" The girl was right. The Doctor +was never so ashamed in all his life. After a little, he said with +decision, "Look here, Grace, you sit down on the porch for a few minutes. +Martha is in bed and fast asleep long ago." He stole away as quietly as +possible, and in a little while returned with a basket full of such +provisions as he could find in the pantry. He was chuckling to himself as +he thought of Martha when she discovered the theft in the morning, and +cursing half aloud the thing that made it necessary for him to steal from +his own pantry for the girl whom he would have taken into his home so +gladly, if-- + +He made her eat some of the cold chicken and bread and drink a glass of +milk. And when she was feeling better, walked with her down the street a +little way, to be sure that she was all right. + +"I can't thank you enough, Doctor," she said, "you have saved me from--" + +"Don't try," he broke in. He did not want her to get on that line again. +"Go on home like a good girl now, and mind you look carefully in the +bottom of that basket." He had put a little bill there, the only money +he had in the house. "This will help until times are better for you, and +mind now, if you run against it again, come to me or go to Dr. Harry at +the office, and tell him that you want me." + +He watched her down the street and then went home, stopping for a word +of explanation to Deborah and Denny, who were waiting at the gate. + +The light was still burning in Dan's window when the Doctor again entered +his own yard. He thought once that he would run in on the minister for a +minute, and then remembered that "the boy would be tired after his great +effort defending the faith of Memorial Church." It was long past the old +man's bed time. He told himself that he was an old fool to be prowling +about so late at night, and that he would hear from Martha all right +tomorrow. Then, as he climbed into bed, he chuckled again, thinking of +the empty kitchen pantry and that missing basket. + +The light in Dan's room went out. Some belated person passed, going home +for the night; a little later, another. Then a man and woman, walking +closely, talking in low tones, strolled slowly by in the shadow of the +big trees. The quick step of a horse and the sound of buggy-wheels came +swiftly nearer and nearer, passed and died away in the stillness. It was +Dr. Harry answering a call. In Judge Strong's big, brown house, a nurse +in her uniform of blue and white, by the dim light of a night-lamp, +leaned over her patient with a glass of water. In Old Town a young woman +in shabby dress, with a basket on her arm, hurried--trembling and +frightened--across the lonely, grass-grown square. Under the quiet stars +in the soft moonlight, the cast-iron monument stood--grim and cold and +sinister. In the peace and quiet of the night, Denny's garden wrought +its mystery. In the little room that looked out upon the monument and +the garden, Dan--all unknowing--slept. + +And over all brooded the spirit that lives in Corinth--the Ally--that +dread, mysterious thing that never sleeps. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE EDGE OP THE BATTLEFIELD + +"But it was as if his superior officers had ordered him to mark time, +while his whole soul was eager for the command to charge." + + +Dan was trying to prepare his evening sermon for the third Sunday of what +the old Doctor called his Corinthian ministry. The afternoon was half +gone, when he arose from his study table. All day he had been at it, and +all day the devils of dissatisfaction had rioted in his soul--or wherever +it is that such devils are supposed to riot. + +The three weeks had not been idle weeks for Dan. He had made many +pastoral calls at the homes of his congregation; he had attended +numberless committee meetings. Already he was beginning to feel the +tug of his people's need--the world old need of sympathy and inspiration, +of courage and cheer; the need of the soldier for the battle-cry of his +comrades, the need of the striving runner for the lusty shout of his +friends, the need of the toiling servant for the "well-done" of his +master. + +Keenly sensitive to this great unvoiced cry of life, the young man +answered in his heart, "Here am I, use me." Standing before his people +he felt as one who, on the edge of a battlefield longs, with all his +heart, to throw himself into the fight. But it was as if his superior +officers had ordered him to mark time, while his whole soul was eager +for the command to charge. + +Why do people go to church? What do men ask of their religion? What have +they the right to expect from those who assume to lead them in their +worship? Already these questions were being shouted at him from the +innermost depths of his consciousness. He felt the answer that his Master +would give. But always between him and those to whom he would speak there +came the thought of his employers. And he found himself, while speaking +to the people, nervously watching the faces of the men by whose +permission he spoke. So it came that he was not satisfied with his work +that afternoon, and he tossed aside his sermon to leave his study for the +fresh air and sunshine of the open fields. From his roses the Doctor +hailed him as he went down the street, but the boy only answered with a +greeting and a wave of his hand. Dan did not need the Doctor that day. +Straight out into the country he went walking fast, down one hill--up +another, across a creek, over fences, through a pasture into the woods. +An hour of this at a good hard pace, and he felt better. The old familiar +voices of hill and field and forest and stream soothed and calmed him. +The physical exercise satisfied to some extent his instinct and passion +for action. + +Coming back through Old Town, and leisurely climbing the hill on the +road that leads past the old Academy, he paused frequently to look back +over the ever widening view, and to drink deep of the pure, sun-filled +air. At the top of the hill, reluctant to go back to the town that lay +beyond, he stood contemplating the ancient school building that held so +bravely its commanding position, and looked so pitiful in its shabby old +age. Then passing through a gap in the tumble-down fence, and crossing +the weed-filled yard, he entered the building. + +For a while he wandered curiously about the time-worn rooms, reading the +names scratched on the plaster walls, cut in the desks and seats, on the +window casing, and on the big square posts that, in the lower rooms, +supported the ceiling. He laughed to himself, as he noticed how the sides +of these posts facing away from the raised platform at the end of the +room were most elaborately carved. It suggested so vividly the life +that had once stirred within the old walls. + +Several of the names were already familiar to him. He tried to imagine +the venerable heads of families he knew, as they were in the days when +they sat upon these worn benches. Did Judge Strong or Elder Jordan, +perhaps, throw one of those spit-balls that stuck so hard and fast to +the ceiling? And did some of the grandmothers he had met giggle and hide +their faces at Nathaniel's cunning evasion of the teacher's quick effort +to locate the successful marksman? Had those staid pillars of the church +ever been swayed and bent by passions of young manhood and womanhood? +Had their minds ever been stirred by the questions and doubts of youth? +Had their hearts ever throbbed with eager longing to know--to feel life +in its fullness? + +Seating himself at one of the battered desks he tried to bring back the +days that were gone, and to see about him the faces of those who once +had filled the room with the strength and gladness of their youth. He +felt strangely old in thus trying to feel a boy among those boys and +girls of the days long gone. + +Who among the boys would be his own particular chum? Elder Jordan? He +smiled. And who, (the blood mounted to his cheek at the thought) who +among the girls would be--Out of the mists of his revery came a face--a +face that was strangely often in his mind since that day when he arrived +in Corinth. Several times he had caught passing glimpses of her; once he +had met her on the street and ventured to bow. And Dr. Harry, with whom +he had already begun an enduring friendship, had told him much to add to +his interest in her. But to dream about the stranger in this way-- + +"What nonsense!" he exclaimed aloud, and rising, strode to the window to +clear his mind of those too strong fancies by a sight of the world in +which he lived and to which he belonged. + +The next moment he drew back with a start--a young woman in the uniform +of a trained nurse was entering the yard. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A MATTER OF OPINION + +"'Who spoke of condemnation? Is that just the question? Are you not +unfair?'" + + +Miss Farwell had heard much of the new pastor of the Memorial Church. +Dr. Harry frequently urged her to attend services; Deborah, when Hope +had seen her was eloquent in his praise. Mrs. Strong and the ladies who +called at the house spoke of him often. But for the first two weeks of +her stay at Judge Strong's the nurse had been confined so closely to +the care of her patient that she had heard nothing to identify the +preacher with the big stranger whom she had met at the depot the day of +her arrival. + +By the time Miss Farwell began hearing of the new preacher the interest +occasioned by his defense of Denny had already died down, and it chanced +that no one mentioned it in her presence when speaking of him, while each +time he had called at the Strong home the nurse had been absent or busy. +Thus it happened that so far as she knew, Miss Farwell had never met the +minister about whom she had heard so much. But she had several times seen +the big fellow, who had apologized at such length for running into her at +the depot, and who had gone so quickly to the assistance of Denny. It was +natural, under such conditions, that she should remember him. It was +natural, too, that she never dreamed of connecting the young hero of the +street fight with the Reverend Matthews of the Memorial Church. + +Her patient had so far improved that the nurse was now able to leave her +for an hour or two in the afternoon, and the young woman had gone for a +walk just beyond the outskirts of the village. Coming to the top of the +hill she had turned aside from the dusty highway, thinking to enjoy the +view from the shade of a great oak that grew on a grassy knoll in the +center of the school grounds. + +Dan watched her as she made her way slowly across the yard, his eyes +bright with admiration for her womanly grace as she stopped, here and +there, to pick a wild flower from the tangle of grass and weeds. Reaching +the tree she seated herself and, laying her parasol on the grass by her +side, began arranging the blossoms she had gathered--pausing, now and +then, to look over the rolling country of field and woods that, dotted by +farm houses with their buildings and stacks, stretched away into the blue +distance. + +The young fellow at the window gazed at her with almost superstitious +awe. That her face had come before him so vividly, as he sat dreaming in +the old school-room, at the very moment when she was turning into the +yard, moved him greatly. His blood tingled at the odd premonition that +this woman was somehow to play a great part in his life. Nothing seemed +more natural than that he should have come to this spot this afternoon. +Neither was it at all strange that, in her walk, she too, should be +attracted by the beauty of the place. But the feeling forced itself upon +him nevertheless that this perfectly natural incident was a great event +in his life. He knew that he would go to her presently. He was painfully +aware that he ought not to be thus secretly watching her, but he +hesitated as one about to take a step that could never be retraced. + +She started when he appeared in the doorway of the building and +half-arose from her place. Then recognizing him she dropped back on the +grass; and there was a half-amused frown on her face, though her cheeks +were red. She was indignant with herself that she should be blushing +like a schoolgirl at the presence of this stranger whose name even she +did not know. + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Farwell, I fear that I startled you," he said, +hat in hand. Already Dan had grown so accustomed to being greeted by +strangers, that it never occurred to him that this lady did not know +who he was. + +She saw the sunlight on his shaggy red-brown hair, and the fine poise of +the well-shaped head, as she answered shortly, "You did." + +Woman-like she was making him feel her anger at herself; and also +woman-like, when she saw his embarrassment at her blunt words and manner, +she smiled. + +"I am sorry," he said, but he did not offer to go on his way. + +When she made no reply but began rearranging her handful of blossoms, he +spoke again, remarking on the beauty of the view before them; and +ventured to ask if the knoll was to her a favorite spot, adding that it +was his first visit to the place. + +"I have never been here before either," she answered. The brief silence +that followed was broken by Dan. + +"We seem to have made a discovery," he said, wondering why she should +seem confused at his simple remark. "I know I ought to go," he continued. +"I will if you say the word, but--" he paused. + +"You were here first," she returned with a smile. Really, she thought, +there was no reason why she should drive him away. He was so evidently a +gentleman, and the place was on the public thoroughfare. + +"Then I may stay?" He dropped on the grass at her feet with an +exclamation of satisfaction and pleasure. + +Looking away over the landscape where the clouds and shadows were racing, +and the warm autumn light lay on the varying shades of green and brown, +he remarked: "Do you know when I see a bit of out-doors like that, on +such a day as this, or when I am out in the woods or up in the hills, I +wonder what men build churches for, anyway. I fear I must be something of +a pagan, for I often feel that I can worship God best in his own temple. +Quite heathenish isn't it?" He laughed, but under the laugh there was a +note of troubled seriousness. + +She looked at him curiously. "And is it heathenish to worship God outside +of a church? If it is I fear that I, too, am a heathen." + +He noted the words "I, too," and saw instantly that she did not know him +but had understood from his words that he was not a church man. He felt +that he ought to correct her false impression, that he ought to tell her +who and what he was, but he was possessed of a curious feeling of +reluctance to declare his calling. + +The truth is, Dan Matthews did not want to meet this woman as a priest, +but as a man. He had already learned how the moment the preacher was +announced the man was pushed into the background. + +While he hesitated she watched him with increasing interest. His words +had pleased her; she waited for him to speak again. + +"I suppose your profession does keep you from anything like regular +church attendance," he said. + +"Yes," she answered, "I have found that sick people do not as a rule +observe a one-day-in-seven religion. But it is not my professional +duties that keep me from church." + +"You are not then--" + +"Decidedly I am not," she answered. + +"Really, you surprise me. I thought of course you were a member of some +church." + +There was a touch of impatience in her quick reply. "You thought 'of +course'? And why of course, please?" + +He started to answer, but she went on quickly, "I know why; because I am +a woman, _the weaker sex_!" + +It is not possible to describe the fine touch in her voice when she said +"the weaker sex." It was so delicately done, that it had none of the +coarseness that commonly marks like expressions, when used by some women. +Dan was surprised to feel that it emphasized the fineness of her +character, as well as its strength. + +"Because I am not a man must I be _useless_?" she continued. "Is a +woman's life of so little influence in the world that she can spend it in +_make-believe living_ as little girls play at being grown up? Have I not +as great a right to my paganism as you call it, as you have to yours?" + +Again he saw his opportunity and realized that he ought to correct her +mistake in assuming from his words that he was not a man of church +affiliation, but again he passed it by saying slowly, instead: "I think +your kind of paganism must be a very splendid thing; no one could think +of one in that dress as useless." + +"I did not mean--" + +"I understand I think," he said earnestly, "but won't you tell me why +you feel so about the church?" + +She laughed as she returned, "One might think from your awful seriousness +that you were a preacher. Father Confessor, if you please--" she began +mockingly, then stopped--arrested by the expression of his face. "Oh I +beg your pardon, have I been rude?" + +With a forced laugh he answered, "Oh no, indeed, not at all. It is only +that your views of the Christian religion surprise me." + +"My views of the Christian religion," she repeated, very serious now. "I +did not know that my views of Christianity were mentioned." + +He was bewildered. "But the church! You were speaking of the church." + +"And the church and Christianity are one and the same of course." Again +with a touch of sarcasm, more pronounced, "You will tell me next, I +suppose, that a minister really ministers." + +Dan was astonished and hurt. He had learned much of the spirit of +Christianity in his backwoods home, but he knew nothing of churches +except that which the school had taught him. He had accepted the church +to which he belonged at its own valuation, highly colored by biased +historians. Such words as these were to his ears little less than +sacrilege. He was shocked that they should come from one whose +personality and evident character had impressed him so strongly. His +voice was doubtful and perplexed as he said: "But is not that true +church of Christ, which is composed of his true disciples, Christian? +Surely, they can no more be separated than the sun can be separated from +the sunshine; and is not the ministry a vital part of that church?" + +Miss Farwell, seeing him so troubled, wondered whether she understood +him. She felt that she was talking too freely to this stranger, but his +questions drew her on, and she was curiously anxious that he should +understand her. + +"I was not thinking of that true church composed of the true disciples +of Christ," she returned. "And that is just it, don't you see? _This +true church that is so inseparable from the religion of Christ is so far +forgotten that it never enters into any thought of the church at all._ +The sun always shines, it is true, but we do not always have the +sunshine. There are the dark and stormy days, you know, and sometimes +there is an eclipse. To me these are the dark days, so dark that I +wonder sometimes if it is not an eclipse." She paused then added +deliberately, "This selfish, wasteful, cruel, heartless thing that men +have built up around their opinions, and whims, and ambitions, has so +come between the people and the Christianity of the Christ, that they +are beginning to question if, indeed, there is anywhere such a thing as +the true church." + +Again Dan was startled at her words and by her passionate earnestness; +the more so that, in the manner of her speaking as in her words, there +was an impersonal touch very unusual to those who speak on religious +topics. And there was a note of sadness in her voice as well. It was as +if she spoke to him professionally of the sickness of some one dear to +her and sought to keep her love for her patient from influencing her +calm consideration of the case. + +His next words were forced from him almost against his will. And his eyes +had that wide questioning look so like that of his mother. "And the +ministry," he said. + +She answered, "You ask if the ministry is not a vital part of the church, +and your very question expresses conditions clearly. What conception of +Christianity is it that makes it possible for us to even think of the +ministry as a part of the church? Why, the true church is a ministry! +There can be no other reason for its existence. But don't you see how we +have come to think of the ministry as we have come to think of the +church? It is to us, as you say, a part of this great organization that +men have created and control, and in this we are right, for this church +has made the minister, and this minister has in turn made the church. +They are indeed inseparable." + +Dan caught up a flower that she had dropped and began picking it to +pieces with trembling fingers. + +"To me," he said slowly, "the minister is a servant of God. I believe, +of course, that whatever work a man does in life he must do as his +service to the race and in that sense he serves God. But the ministry--" +he reached for another flower, choosing his words carefully, "the +ministry is, to me, the highest service to which a man may be called." + +She did not reply but looked away over the valley. + +"Tell me," he said, "is it not so?" + +"If you believe it, then to you it is so," she answered. + +"But you--" he urged, "how do you look upon the minister?" + +"Why should I tell you? What difference does it make what I think? You +forget that we are strangers." She smiled. "Let us talk about the +weather; that's a safe topic." + +"I _had_ forgotten that we are strangers," he said, with an answering +smile. "But I am interested in what you have said because you--you have +evidently thought much upon the matter, and your profession must +certainly give you opportunities for observation. Tell me, how do you +look upon the minister and his work?" + +She studied him intently before she answered. Then--as if satisfied with +what she found in his face, she said calmly: "To me he is the most +useless creature in all the world. He is a man set apart from all those +who live lives of service, who do the work of the world. And then that +he should be distinguished from these world-workers, these servers, by +this noblest of all titles--_a minister_, is the bitterest irony that +the mind of the race ever conceived." + +Her companion's face was white now as he answered quickly, "But surely a +minister of the gospel is doing God's will and is therefore serving God." + +She answered as quickly, "Man serves God only by serving men. There can +be no ministry but the ministry of man to man." + +"But the minister is a man." + +"The world cannot accept him as such, because his individuality is lost +in the church to which he belongs. Other institutions employ a man's +time, the church employs his life; he has no existence outside his +profession. There is no outside the church for him. The world cannot +know him as a man, for he is all preacher." + +"But the church employs him to minister to the world?" + +"I cannot see that it does so at all. On the contrary a church employs a +pastor to serve itself. To the churches Christianity has become a +question of fidelity to a church and creed and not to the spirit of +Christ. The minister's standing and success in his calling, the amount +of his salary, even, depends upon his devotion to the particular views +of the church that calls him and his ability to please those who pay him +for pleasing them. His service to the world does not enter into the +transaction any more than when you buy the latest novel of your favorite +author, or purchase a picture that pleases you, or buy a ticket to hear +your favorite musician. We do not pretend, when we do these things that +we are ministering to the world, or that we are moved to spend our money +thus to serve God, even though there may be in the book, the picture, or +the music, many things that will make the world better." + +The big fellow moved uneasily. + +"But" he urged, eagerly, "the church is a sacred institution. It is not +to be compared to the institutions of men. Its very purpose is so holy, +so different from other organizations." + +"Which of the hundreds of different sects with their different creeds do +you mean by the church?" she asked quickly. "Or do you mean all? And if +all are equally sacred, with the same holy purpose, why are they at such +variance with each other and why is there such useless competition +between them? How are these institutions--organized and controlled, as +they are, by men, different from other institutions, organized and +controlled by the same men? Surely you are aware that there are +thousands of institutions and organizations in the world with aims as +distinctly Christian as the professed object of the church. Why are +these not as holy and sacred?" + +"But the church is of divine origin." + +"So is this tree; so is the material in that old building; so are those +farms yonder. To me it is only the spirit of God in a thing that can make +it holy or sacred. Surely there is as much of God manifest in a field of +grain as in any of these churches; why, then, is not a corn field a holy +institution and why not the farmer who tends the field, a minister of +God?" + +"You would condemn then everyone in the church?" he asked bitterly. "I +cannot think that--I know--" he paused. + +"Condemn?" she answered questioningly, "I condemn?" Those deep gray eyes +were turned full upon him, and he saw her face grow tender and sad, while +the sweet voice trembled with emotion. "Who spoke of condemnation? Is +that just the question? Are you not unfair? In my--" she spoke the words +solemnly, "my ministry, I have stood at the bedside of too many heroes +and heroines not to know that the church is filled with the truest and +bravest. And that--Oh! don't you see--that is the awful pity of it all. +That those true, brave, noble lives should be the--the cloud that hides +the sun? As for the ministry, one in my profession could scarcely help +knowing the grand lives that are hidden in this useless class set apart +by the church to push its interests. The ministers are useless only +because they are not free. They cannot help themselves. They are slaves, +not servants. Their first duty is, not service to the soul-sick world +that so much needs their ministry, but obedience to the whims of this +hideous monster that they have created and now must obey or--" she +paused. + +"Or what?" he said. + +She continued as if she had not heard: "They are valued for their +fidelity to other men's standards, never for the worth of their own +lives. They are hired to give always the opinions of others, and they +are denied the only thing that can make any life of worth--freedom of +self-expression. The surest road to failure for them is to hold or +express opinions of their own. They are held, not as necessities, but as +a luxury, like heaven itself, for which if men have the means to spare, +they pay. They can have no real fellowship with the servants of the race, +for they are set apart by the church not to a ministry but from it. Their +very personal influence is less than the influence of other good men +because the world accepts it as professional. It is the way they earn +their living." + +"But do you think that the ministers themselves wish to be so set apart?" +asked Dan. "I--I am sure they must all crave that fellowship with the +workers." + +"I think that is true," she answered. "I am sure it is of the many grand, +good men in the ministry whom I have known." + +"Oh," he said quickly, "then there are good men in the ministry?" + +"Yes," she retorted, "just as there are gold and precious stones +ornamenting heathen gods and pagan temples, and their goodness is as +useless. For whether they wish it or not the facts remain that their +masters set them apart and that they are separated, and I notice that +most of them accept gracefully the special privileges, and wear the +title and all the marks of their calling that emphasize the distinction +between them and their fellow men." + +"Yet you wear a distinguishing dress," he said. "I knew your calling the +first time I saw you." + +She laughed merrily. + +"Well what amuses you?" he demanded, smiling himself at her merriment. + +"Oh, it's so funny to see such a big man so helpless. Really couldn't you +find an argument of more weight? Besides you didn't know my profession +the first time you saw me. I only wear these clothes when I am at work, +just as a mechanic wears his overalls--and they are just as necessary, as +you know. The first time you--you bumped into me, I dressed like other +people and I had paid full fare, too. Nurses don't get clergy credentials +from the railroad." + +With this she sprang to her feet. "Look how long the shadows are! I must +go right back to my patient this minute." + +As she spoke she was all at once painfully conscious again that this man +was a stranger. What must he think of her? How could she explain that it +was not her habit to talk thus freely to men whom she did not know? She +wished that he would tell her his name at least. + +Slowly--silently they walked together across the weed-grown yard. As +they passed through the gap in the tumble-down fence, Dan turned to look +back. It seemed to him ages since he had entered the yard. + +"What's the matter, have you lost something?" she asked. + +"No--that is--I--perhaps I have. But never mind, it is of no great +importance, and anyway I could not find it. I think I will say good-bye +now," he added. "I'm not going to town just yet." + +Again she wondered at his face, it was so troubled. + +He watched her down the street until her blue dress, with its white +trimming became a blur in the shadows. Then he struck out once more for +the open country. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +REFLECTIONS + +"And gradually, out of the material of his school experience, he built +again the old bulwark, behind which he could laugh at his confusion of +the hour before." + + +Since that first chance meeting at the depot when he had looked into the +nurse's eyes and heard her voice only for a moment, Dan had not been +able to put the young woman wholly out of his mind. The incident on the +street when she had gone to Denny, and the scene that followed in Denny's +home had strengthened the first impression, while the meeting at the old +Academy yard had stirred depths in his nature never touched before. The +very things she had said to him were so evidently born out of a nature +great in its passion for truth and in its capacity for feeling that, even +though her words were biting and stung, he could not but rejoice in the +beauty and strength of the spirit they revealed. + +The usual trite criticisms of the church Dan had heard, and had already +learned to think somewhat lightly of the kind of people who commonly +make them. But this young woman--so wholesome, so good to look at in her +sweet seriousness, so strong in her womanliness and withal so useful in +what she called her ministry--this woman was--well, she was different. + +Her words were all the more potent, coming as they did after the +disquieting thoughts and the feeling of dissatisfaction that had driven +him from his study that afternoon. The young minister could not at first +rid himself of the hateful suggestion that there might be much truth in +the things she had said. After all under the fine words, the platitudes +and the professions, the fact remained he _was_ earning his daily bread +by being obedient to those who hired him. He had already begun to feel +that his work was not so much to give what he could to meet the people's +need as to do what he could to supply the wants of Memorial Church, and +that his very chance to serve depended upon his satisfying these +self-constituted judges. He saw too, that these same judges, his masters, +felt the dignity of their position heavily upon them, and would not be in +the least backward about rendering their decision. They would let him +know what things pleased them and what things were not to their liking. +Their opinions and commandments would not always be in definite words, +perhaps, but they would be none the less clearly and forcibly given for +all that. + +He had spoken truly when he had told Miss Farwell, as they parted, that +he had lost something. And now, as he walked the country road, he sought +earnestly to regain it; to find again his certainty of mind; to steady +his shaken confidence in the work to which he had given his life. + +Dan's character was too strong, his conviction too powerful, his purpose +too genuine, for him to be easily turned from any determined line of +thought or action. Certainly it would require more than the words of a +stranger to swing him far from his course, even though he felt that there +might be a degree of truth in them. And so, as he walked, his mind began +shaping answers to the nurse's criticism and gradually, out of the +material of his school experience, he built again the old bulwark, behind +which he could laugh at his confusion of the hour before. + +But withal Dan's admiration of the young woman's mind and character was +not lessened. More, he felt that she had in some way given him a deeper +view into her life and thoughts than was due a mere stranger. He was +conscious, too, of a sense of shame that he had, in a way, accepted her +confidence under false pretense. He had let her believe he was not what +he was. But, he argued with himself, he had not intentionally deceived +her and he smiled at last to think how she would enjoy the situation +with him when she learned the truth. + +How different she was from any of the women he had known in the church! +They mostly accepted their religious views as they would take the +doctor's prescription--without question. + +And how like she was to his mother! + +Then came the inevitable thought--what a triumph it would be if he could +win such a character to the church. What an opportunity! Could he do it? +He must. + +With that the minister began putting his thoughts in shape for a sermon +on the ministry. Determined to make it the effort of his life, he planned +how he would announce it next Sunday for the following week, and how, +with Dr. Harry's assistance, he would perhaps secure her attendance at +the service. + +Meanwhile Hope Farwell passing quickly along the village street on her +way home from the old Academy yard, was beset by many varied and +conflicting emotions. Recalling her conversation with the man who was to +her so nearly a total stranger, she felt that she had been too earnest, +too frank. It troubled her to think how she had laid bare her deepest +feelings. She could not understand how she had so far forgotten her +habitual reserve. There was a something in that young man, so tall and +strong, and withal so clean looking, that had called from her, in spite +of herself, this exposition of her innermost life and thoughts. She ought +not to have yielded so easily to the subtle demand that he--unconsciously +no doubt--had made. + +It was as though she had flung wide open the door to that sacred, inner +chamber at which only the most intimate of her friends were privileged +to knock. He had come into the field of her life in the most commonplace +manner--through the natural incident of their meeting. He should have +stopped there, or should have been halted by her. The hour should have +been spent in conversation on such trivial and commonplace topics as +usually occupy strangers upon such occasions, and they should have parted +strangers still. She felt that after this exhibition of herself, as she +termed it in her mind, she at least was no stranger to him. And she was +angry with herself, and ashamed, when she reflected how deeply into her +life he had entered; angry with him too, in a way, that he had gained +this admittance with apparently no effort. + +She reflected too, that while she had so freely opened the door to him, +and had admitted him with a confidence wholly inexcusable, he had in no +way returned that confidence. She searched her memory for some +word--some expression of his, that would even hint at what he thought, +or believed, or was, within himself; something that would justify her in +feeling that she knew him even a little. But there was nothing. It was +as though this stranger, whom she had admitted into the privacy of the +inner chamber, had worn mask and gown. No self-betraying expression had +escaped him. He had not even told her his name. While she had laid out +for his inspection the strongest passions of her life; had felt herself +urged to show him all, and had kept nothing hidden. He had looked and +had gone away making no comment. + +"Of course," she thought, "he is a gentleman, and he is cultured and +refined, and a good man too." Of this she was sure, but that was nothing. +One does not talk as she had talked to a man just because he is not a +ruffian or a boor. She wanted to know him as she had made herself known +to him. She could not say why. + +The nurse's work in Corinth was nearly finished; she would probably never +meet this man again. She started at the thought. Would she ever meet him +again? What did it matter? And yet--she would not confess it even to +herself, but it did, somehow, seem to matter. Of one thing she was +sure--he was well worth knowing. She had felt that there was a depth, a +richness, a genuineness to him, and it was this feeling, this certainty +of him, that had led her to such openness. Yes--she was sure there were +treasures there--deep within, for those whom he chose to admit. She +wished--(why should she not confess it after all)--she wished that she +might be admitted. + +Hope Farwell was alone in the world with no near living relatives. She +had only her friends; and friends to her meant more than to those who +have others dearer to them by ties of blood. + +That evening when Dr. Harry was leaving the house after his visit to his +patient, the nurse went with him to the door, as usual, for any word of +instruction he might wish to give her privately. + +"Well, Miss Hope," he said, "you've done it." + +"What have I done?" she asked, startled. + +"Saved my patient in there. She would have gone without a doubt, if you +had not come when you did. It's your case all right." + +"Then I'm glad I came," she said quietly. "And I may go back soon now, +may I not, Doctor?" + +He hesitated, slowly drawing on his gloves. + +"Must you go back Miss Farwell? I--we need you so much here in Corinth. +There are so many cases you know where all depends upon the nurse. There +is not a trained nurse this side of St. Louis. I am sure I could keep you +busy." There was something more than professional interest in the keen +eyes that looked so intently into her own. + +"Thank you Doctor, you are very kind, but you know Dr. Miles expects me. +He warned me the last thing before I left, that he was only lending me to +you for this particular case. You know how he says those things." + +"Yes," said the man grimly, "I know Miles. It is one of the secrets of +his success, that he will be satisfied with nothing but the best. He +warned me, too." + +He watched her keenly. "It would be just like Miles," he thought, "to +tell the young woman of the particular nature of the warning." But Miss +Farwell betrayed no embarrassing knowledge, and the doctor said, "You +did not promise to return to Chicago did you?" + +She answered slowly, "No, but he expects me, and I had no thought of +staying, only for this case." + +"Well won't you think of it seriously? There are many nurses in Chicago. +I don't mean many like you--" interrupting himself hastily--"but here +there is no one at all," and in his low-spoken words there was a note of +interest more than professional. + +She lifted her face frankly and let him look deep into her eyes as she +answered--"I appreciate your argument, Dr. Abbott, and--I will think +about it." + +He turned his eyes away, and his tone was quite professional as he said +heartily, "Thank you, Miss Farwell. I shall not give up hoping that we +may keep you. Good night!" + +"Isn't he a dear, good man?" exclaimed the invalid, as the nurse +re-entered the sick room. + +"Yes," she answered, "he is a good man, one of the best I think, that I +have ever known." + +The patient continued eagerly, "He told me the ladies could come here +for their Aid Society meeting next week, if you would stay to take care +of me. You will, won't you dear?" + +The nurse busy with the medicine the doctor had left did not answer at +once. + +"I would like it so much," came the voice from the bed. + +Hope turned and went quickly to her patient saying with a smile, "Of +course I will stay if you wish it. I believe the meeting will do you +good." + +"Oh thank you, and you'll get to meet our new minister then, sure. Just +to think you have never seen him, and he has called several times, but +you have always happened to be out or in your room." + +"Yes," said the young woman, "I have managed to miss him every time." + +Something in the voice, always so kind and gentle, caused the sick woman +to turn her head on the pillow and look at her nurse intently. + +"And you haven't been to church, since you have been here, either." + +"Oh, but you know I am like your good doctor in that, I can plead +professional duties." + +"Dr. Harry is always there when he can possibly go. I never thought of +it before. Will you mind, dearie, if I ask you whether you are a +Christian or not? I told Sapphira this afternoon that I knew you were." + +"Yes," said Hope, "you are right. I cannot often go to church, but--" +and there was a ring of seriousness in her voice now, "I am a Christian +if trying to follow faithfully the teachings of the Christ is +Christianity." + +"I was sure you were," murmured the other, "Brother Matthews will be so +glad to meet you. I know you will like him." + +To which the nurse answered, "But you will be in no condition for the +visit of the ladies, if I don't take better care of you now. Did you know +that you were going to sleep? Well you are. You have had a busy day, and +you are not to speak another word except 'good night.' I am going to turn +the light real low--so--And now I am going to sit here and tell you about +my walk. You're just to shut your eyes and listen and rest--rest--rest." + +And the low, sweet voice told of the flowers and the grass and the trees, +the fields lying warm in the sunlight, with the flitting cloud-shadows, +and the hills stretching away into the blue, until no troubled thought +was left in the mind of the sick woman. Like a child she slept. + +But as the nurse talked to make her patient forget, the incident of the +afternoon came back, and while the sick woman slept, Hope Farwell sat +going over again in her mind the conversation on the grassy knoll in the +old Academy yard, recalling every word, every look, every expression. +What was his work in life? He was no idler, she was sure. He had the air +of a true worker, of one who was spending his life to some purpose. She +wondered again at the expression on his face as she had seen it when +they parted. Should she go back to the great city and lose herself in +her work, or--she smiled to herself--should she yield to Dr. Abbott's +argument and stay in Corinth a little longer? + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE NURSE FORGETS + +"He seemed so made for fine and strong things." + + +The affairs of Memorial Church were booming. + +Or, in the more orthodox language of Elder Jordan, in an article to the +official paper of the denomination, "the congregation had taken on new +life, and the Lord's work was being pushed with a zeal and determination +never before equalled. The audiences were steadily increasing. The +interest was reviving in every department, and the world would soon see +grand old Memorial Church taking first place in Corinth, if not in the +state. Already Reverend Matthews had been asked to deliver a special +sermon to the L. M. of J. B.'s, who would attend the service in a body, +wearing the full regalia of the order. Surely God had abundantly blessed +the brethren in sending them such an able preacher." + +The week following Dan's talk with Miss Farwell in the old Academy yard, +the ladies of the Aid Society assembled early, and in unusual numbers, +for their meeting at the home of Judge Strong. As the announcement from +the pulpit had it--there was business of great importance to transact; +also there was work on hand that must be finished. + +The business of importance was the planning of a great entertainment to +be given in the opera house, by local talent, both in and out of the +church, for the purpose of raising money that the church still owed their +former pastor. The unfinished work was a quilt of a complicated wheel +pattern. Every spoke of each wheel contained the name of some individual +who had paid ten cents for the honor. The hubs cost twenty-five cents. +When finished this "beautiful work of the Lord" (they said their work was +the Lord's work) was to be sold to the highest bidder; thereby netting a +sum of money for the pulpit furniture fund, nearly equal to the cost to +anyone of the leading workers, for the society's entertainment, in a +single afternoon or evening, for what would appear in the Sunday issue of +the Daily Corinthian as a "social event." + +It must not be understood that all the women enrolled as members of Dan's +congregation belonged to the Ladies' Aid. Only the workers were active in +that important part of the "Body of Christ." Many there were in the +congregation, quiet, deeply--truly--religious souls, who had not the time +for this service, but in the scheme of things as they are, those were not +classed as active members. They were not of the inner circle on the +inside. They were reckoned as counting only on the roll of membership. +But it was the strength, the soul, the ruling power, the spirit of this +Temple of God that assembled that afternoon at Judge Strong's big, brown +house, on Strong Avenue, just beyond Strong Memorial Church. + +The Ally came also. The Ally, it is said, never misses a Ladies' Aid +meeting in Corinth. + +Miss Farwell was there with her patient as she had promised, and Mrs. +Strong took particular care that as fast as they arrived each one of her +guests met the young woman. To some--women of the middle class--the +trained nurse, in her blue dress with white cap and apron, was an object +of unusual interest. They did not know whether to rank her with servants, +stenographers, sales-ladies or teachers. But the leading ladies (see the +Daily Corinthian) were very sure of themselves. This young woman worked +for wages in the homes of people, waited on people; therefore she was a +working girl--a servant. + +No one wasted much time with the stranger. The introduction was +acknowledged with a word or a cool nod and an unintelligible murmur of +something that meant nothing, or--worse--with a patronizing air, a sham +cordiality elaborately assumed, which said plainly "I acknowledge the +introduction here, because this is the Lord's business. You will be sure +please, that you make no mistake should we chance to meet again." And +immediately the new arrival would produce the modern weapon of the +Christian warfare, needle, thread and thimble; and--hurrying to the side +of some valiant comrade of her own set--join bravely in the fray. + +That quilt was attacked with a spirit that was worth at least a half +column in the denominational weekly, while the sound of the conflict +might almost have been heard as far as Widow Mulhall's garden where +Denny was cheerily digging away, with his one good side, while the +useless, crippled arm swung from the twisted shoulder. + +To Miss Farwell sitting quietly--unobserved, but observing--there came a +confused sound of many voices speaking at once, with now and then a +sentence in a tone stronger than the common din. + +"She said the Memorial Church didn't believe in the Spirit anyhow, and +that all we wanted was to get 'em in ... I told them that Brother +Matthews would surely be getting some of their folks before the year was +out, if they kept on coming to our services ... I says, says I--'Brother +Matthews never said that; you'd better read your Bible. If you can show +me in the Book where you get your authority for it, I'll quit the +Memorial Church right then and join yours' ... Yes, all their people +were out ... Sure, he's their church clerk. I heard him say with my own +ears that Brother Matthews was the biggest preacher that had ever been +in Corinth ... I'll venture that sermon next Sunday on 'The Christian +Ministry' will give them something to think about. The old Doctor never +misses a service now. Wouldn't it be great if we was to get him? Wasn't +that solo the sweetest thing? Wish he would join; we'd be sure of him +then ... They would like mighty well to get him away from us if they +could. He'll stay fast enough as long as Charity plays the organ!" + +There was a laugh at this last from a group near the window and Miss +Charity blushed as she answered, "I've worked hard enough to get him, +and I certainly intend to keep him if I can! I've been urging all the +girls to be particularly nice to him." + +Someone nearer to Miss Farwell said, in low tone--"Of course there's +nothing in it. Charity's just keeping him in the choir. She wouldn't +think of anyone but the preacher. I tell you if Brother Matthews knows +what's best for him, he won't miss that chance. I guess if the truth was +known old Nathan's about the best fixed of anyone in Corinth." + +Sometimes a group would put their heads closer together and by the quick +glances in her direction the nurse felt that she was contributing her +full share to the success of the meeting. On one of these occasions she +turned her back on the company to speak a few words to her patient who +was sitting in an easy chair a little apart from the circle. + +The invalid's face was all aglow. "Isn't it fine!" she said. "I feel as +if I had been out of the world. It's so kind of these dear sisters to +have the meeting here today so that I could look on. It's so good of you +too, dear, to stay so they could come." She laughed. "Do you know, I +think they're all a little bit afraid of you." + +The nurse smiled and was about to reply when there was a sudden hush in +the room and her patient whispered excitedly, "He's come! Now you'll get +to meet our minister!" + +Mrs. Strong's voice in the hall could be heard greeting the new arrival, +and answering her the deeper tones of a man's voice. + +Miss Farwell started. Where had she heard that voice before? Then she +felt him enter the room and heard the ladies greeting him. Something held +her from turning and she remained with her back to the company, watching +her patient's face, as the eyes of the invalid followed the minister +about the room. + +Charity alone was noting the young woman's too obvious lack of interest. + +The hum had already commenced again when Mrs. Strong's hand was placed +lightly on the nurse's arm. + +"Miss Farwell, I want you to meet our minister, Reverend Matthews." + +There was an amused smile on Dan's face as he held out his hand. "I +believe Miss Farwell and I have met before." + +But the young woman ignored the out-stretched hand, and her voice had an +edge, as she answered, "It is possible sir. I am forced to meet so many +strangers in my profession, you know, but I--I have forgotten you." + +Charity was still watching suspiciously. At the minister's words she +started and a touch of color came into her pale cheeks, while at Miss +Farwell's answer the look of suspicion in her eyes deepened. What +could it mean? + +Dan's embarrassment was unmistakable. Before he could find words to +reply, the sick woman exclaimed, "Why, how strange! Do tell us about it, +Brother Matthews. Was it here in Corinth?" + +In a flash the minister saw his predicament. If he said he had met the +young lady in Corinth they would know that it was impossible that she +should have literally forgotten him. He understood the meaning of her +words. These women would give them a hundred meanings. If he admitted +that he was wrong and that he had not met her, there was always the +chance of the people learning of that hour spent on the Academy grounds. + +Meanwhile the young woman made him understand that she realized the +difficulties of his position, and all awaited his next words with +interest. Looking straight into her eyes he said, "I seem to have made a +mistake. I beg your pardon, Miss Farwell." + +She smiled. It was almost as good as if he had deliberately lied, but it +was the best he could do. + +"Please do not mention it," she returned, with a meaning for him alone. +"I am sorry that I will not be here next Sunday to hear your sermon on +'The Christian Ministry!' So many have urged me to attend. There is no +doubt it will be interesting." + +"You are leaving Corinth, then?" he asked. + +At the same moment her patient and Mrs. Strong exclaimed, "Oh Miss Hope, +we thought you had decided to stay. We can't let you go so soon." + +She turned from the man to answer the invalid. + +"Yes I must go. I did not know the last time we talked it over, but +something has happened since that makes it necessary. I shall leave +tomorrow. And now, if you will excuse me please, I will run away for a +few moments to get my things together. You are doing so nicely, you +really don't need me at all, and there is no reason why I should stay +longer--now that I have met the minister." She bowed slightly to Dan and +slipped from the room. + +The women looked significantly at one another, and the minister too came +in for his full share of the curious glances. There was something in the +incident that they could not understand and because Dan was a man they +naturally felt that he was somehow to blame. It was not long until +Charity, under the pretext of showing him a sacred song which she had +found in one of Mrs. Strong's books, led him to another room, away from +the curious crowd. + +All the week Dan had looked forward to this meeting of the Ladies' Aid +Society for he knew that he would see the nurse again. Charmed by the +young woman's personality and mind, and filled with his purpose to win +her to the church, he was determined, if chance did not bring it about, +to seek another opportunity to talk with her. He had smiled often to +himself, at what he thought would be a good joke between them, when she +came to know of his calling. Like many such jokes it was not so funny +after all. Instead of laughing with him she had given him to understand +that the incident was closed, that there must be no attempt on his part +to continue the acquaintance--that, indeed, she would not acknowledge +that she had ever met him, and that she was so much in earnest that she +was leaving Corinth the next day because of him. + +"Really, Brother Matthews, if I have offended you in any way, I am very +sorry." Dan awoke with a start. He and Charity were alone in the room. +From the open door, came the busy hum of the workers in the Master's +vineyard. + +"I beg your pardon, what were you saying?" he murmured. + +"I have asked you three times if you liked the music last Sunday." + +Apologizingly he answered, "Really I am not fit company for anyone +today." + +"I noticed that you seemed troubled. Can I help you in any way? Is it +the church?" she asked gently. + +He laughed, "Oh no, it's nothing that anyone can help. It's myself. +Please don't bother about it. I believe if you will excuse me, and +make my excuses to the ladies in there, I will go. I really have some +work to do." + +She was watching his face so closely that she had not noticed the nurse +who passed the window and entered the garden. Dan rose to his feet as he +spoke. + +"Why, Brother Matthews, the ladies expect you to stay for their business +meeting, you know. This is very strange." + +"Strange! There is nothing strange about it. I have more important +matters that demand my attention--that is all. It is not necessary to +interrupt them now, you can explain when the business meeting opens. +They would excuse me I am sure, if they knew how important it was." And +before poor Charity had time to fairly grasp the situation he was gone, +slipping into the hall for his hat, and out by a side door. + +Miss Farwell from meeting the minister, had gone directly to her room, +but she could not go about her packing. Dropping into a chair by the +window she sat staring into the tops of the big maples. She did not see +the trees. She saw a vast stretch of rolling country, dotted with +farm-buildings and stacks, across which the flying cloud-shadows raced, +a weed-grown yard with a gap in the tumble-down fence, an old deserted +school building, and a big clean-looking man standing, with the sun-light +on his red-brown hair. + +"And he--he was that." She had thought him something so fine and strong. +He seemed so made for fine and strong things. And he had let her go +on--leading her to talk as she would have talked only to intimate friends +who would understand. She had so wanted him to understand. And then he +had thought it all a joke! The gray eyes filled with angry tears, and the +fine chin quivered. She sprang to her feet. "I won't!" she said aloud, "I +won't!" + +Why should she indeed think a second time of this stranger--this +preacher? The room seemed close. She felt that she could not stay +another minute in the house, with those people down stairs. Catching up +a book, she crept down the back way and on out to a vine covered arbor +that stood in a secluded corner of the garden. + +Miss Farwell had been in her retreat but a few minutes when the sound of +a step on the gravel walk startled her. Then the doorway was darkened by +a tall, broad-shouldered figure, and a voice said, "May I come in?" + +The gray eyes flashed once in his direction. Then she calmly opened her +book, without a further glance, or a sign to betray her knowledge of his +presence. + +"May I come in?" he asked again. + +She turned a page seeming not to hear. + +Once more the man repeated the same words slowly--sadly. + +The young woman turned another page of her book. + +Then suddenly the doorway was empty. She rose quickly from her place and +started forward. Then she stopped. + +Charity met him on his way to the gate. + +"Have you finished that important business so soon?" she asked sharply. +Then with concern at the expression of his face she exclaimed, "Tell me, +won't you, what is the matter!" + +He tried to laugh and when he spoke, his voice was not his voice at all. + +The daughter of the church turned to watch her minister as he passed +through the gate, out of the yard and down the street. Then she went +slowly down the path to the arbor, where she found a young woman crouched +on the wooden bench weeping bitter tears;--a book on the floor at her +feet. + +Quickly Charity drew back. Very quietly she went down the walk again. And +as she went, she seemed all at once to have grown whiter and thin and +old. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +DR. HARRY'S CASE + +"'Whatever or whoever is responsible for the existence of such people and +such conditions is a problem for the age to solve. The fact is, they are +here.'" + + +The meeting of the Ladies' Aid adjourned and its members, with sighs and +exclamations of satisfaction over work well done, separated to go to +their homes--where there were suppers to prepare for hungry husbands, +and children of the flesh. + +Thus always in the scheme of things as they are, the duties of life +conflict with the duties of religion. The faithful members of Memorial +Church were always being interrupted in their work for the Lord by the +demands of the world. And as they saw it, there was nothing for them to +do but to bear their crosses bravely. What a blessed thought it is that +God understands many things that are beyond our ken! + +The whistles blew for quitting time. The six o'clock train from the West +pulled into the yards, stopped--puffing a few moments at the water +tank--and thundered on its way again. On the street, business men and +those who labored with their hands hurried from the scenes of their +daily toil, while the country folk untied their teams and saddle-horses +from the hitch-racks to return to their waiting families and stock on +the distant farms. + +A few miles out on the main road leading northward the home-going farmers +passed a tired horse hitched to a dusty, mud-stained top-buggy, plodding +steadily toward the village. Without exception they hailed the driver of +the single rig heartily. It was Dr. Harry returning from a case in the +backwoods country beyond Hebron. + +The deep-chested, long-limbed bay, known to every child for miles around, +was picking her own way over the country roads, for the lines hung slack. +Without a hint from her driver the good horse slowed to a walk on the +rough places and quickened her pace again when the road was good, and of +her own accord, turned out for the passing teams. The man in the buggy +returned the greetings of his friends mechanically, scarcely noticing who +they were. + +It was Jo Mason's wife this time. Jo was a good fellow but wholly +incapable of grasping, single-handed, the problem of daily life for +himself and brood. There were ten children in almost as many years. +Understanding so little of life's responsibilities the man's dependence +upon his wife was pitiful, if not criminal. With tears streaming down +his lean, hungry face he had begged, "Do somethin', Doc! My God Almighty, +you jest got to do some-thin'!" + +For hours Dr. Harry had been trying to do something. Out there in the +woods, in that wretched, poverty-stricken home, with only a neighbor +woman of the same class to help he had been fighting a losing fight. + +And now while the bay mare was making her tired way home he was still +fighting--still trying to do something. His professional knowledge and +experience told him that he could not win; that, at best, he could do no +more than delay his defeat a few days, and his common sense urged him to +dismiss the case from his mind. But there was something in Dr. Harry +stronger than his common sense; something greater than his professional +skill. And so he must go on fighting until the very end. + +It was nearly twilight when he reached the edge of the hill on the +farther side of the valley. He could see the lights of the town twinkling +against the dark mass of tree and hill and building, while on the +faintly-glowing sky the steeple of Memorial Church, the cupola of the old +Academy building, and the court-house tower were cut in black. Down into +the dusk of the valley the bay picked her way, and when they had gained +the hill on the edge of town it was dark. Now the tired horse quickened +her pace, for the home barn and Uncle George were not far away. But as +they drew near the big brown house of Judge Strong, she felt the first +touch of the reins and came to a walk, turning in to the familiar +hitching post with reluctance. + +At that moment a tall figure left the Judge's gate to pass swiftly down +the street in the dusk. + +Before the bay quite came to a stop at the post her master's hand turned +her head into the street again, and his familiar voice bade her, somewhat +sharply, to "go on!" In mild surprise she broke into a quick trot. How +was the good horse to know that her driver's impatience was all with +himself, and was caused by seeing his friend, the minister coming--as he +thought--from the Strong mansion? Or how was Dr. Harry to know that Dan +had only paused at the gate as if to enter, and had passed on when he saw +the physician turning in? + +Farther down the street at the little white cottage near the monument, +the bay mare was pulled again to a walk, and this time she was permitted +to turn in to the curb and stop. + +The old Doctor was sitting on the porch. "Hello!" he called cheerily, +"Come in." + +"Not tonight, thank you Doctor, I can't stop," answered the younger man. +At his words the old physician left his chair and came stiffly down the +walk to the buggy. When he was quite close, with one hand grasping the +seat, Dr. Harry said in a low tone, "I'm just in from Mason's." + +"Ah huh," grunted the other. Then inquiringly--"Well?" + +"It's--it's pretty bad Doctor." + +The old man's voice rumbled up from the depth of his chest, "Nothing to +do, eh? You know I told you it was there. Been in her family way back. +Seen it ever since she was a girl." + +"Yes I knew it was of no use, of course. But you know how it is, Doctor." + +The white head nodded understandingly as Dr. Harry's hand was slowly +raised to his eyes. + +"Yes I know Harry. Jo take it pretty bad?" + +"Couldn't do anything with, him, poor fellow, and those children, too--" + +Both men were silent. Slowly the younger man took up the reins. "I just +stopped to tell you, Doctor." + +"Ah huh. Well, you go home and rest. Get a good night whatever you do. +You'll have to go out again, I suppose. Call me if anything turns up; +I'm good for a little yet. You've got to get some rest, Harry, do you +hear?" he spoke roughly. + +"Thank you, Doctor. I don't think I will need to disturb you, though; +everybody else is doing nicely. I can't think of anything that is likely +to call me out." + +"Well, go to bed anyway." + +"I will, good night, Doctor." + +"Good night, Harry." + +The mare trotted on down the dark street, past the twinkling lights. The +Doctor stood by the curb until he heard the buggy wheels rattle over the +railroad tracks, then turned to walk stiffly back to his seat on the +porch. + +Soon the tired horse was in the hands of old Uncle George, while Mam Liz +ministered to the weary doctor. The old black woman lingered in the +dining room after serving his dinner, hovering about the table, calling +his attention to various dishes, watching his face the while with an +expression of anxiety upon her own wrinkled countenance. At last Harry +looked up at her with a smile. + +"Well Mam Liz, what is it? Haven't I been good today?" + +"No sah. Mars Harry yo ain't. Yo been plumb bad, an' I feel jest like I +uster when yo was er little trick an' I tuk yo 'cross my knee an' +walloped yo good." + +"Why, Mammy, what have I done now? Wasn't that new dress what you wanted? +You can change it, you know, for anything you like." + +"Law, chile, 'tain't _me_. Yo ole Mammy mighty proud o' them dress +goods--they's too fine fo ole nigger like me. 'Tain't nothin' yo done to +other folks, Mars Harry. Hit's what yo all's doin' to yoself." A tear +stole down the dusky cheek. "Think I can't see how yo--yo plumb tuckered +out? Yo ain't slep in yo bed fo three nights 'ceptin' jest fo a hour one +mo'nin' when other folks was er gettin' up, an' only the Good Lawd knows +when yo eats." + +The doctor laughed. "There, there Mammy, you can see me eating now all +right can't you?" But the old woman shook her head mournfully. + +Harry continued, "One of your dinners, you know, is worth at least six +of other folks' cooking. Fact--" he added grimly, "I believe I might +safely say a dozen." Then he gave her a laughing description of his +attempt to cook breakfast for himself and the ten children at the Masons +that morning. + +The old woman was proudly indignant, "Dem po'r triflin' white trash! To +think o' yo' doin' that to sech as them! Ain't no sense 'tall in sech +doin's, no how, Mars Harry. What right dey got to ax yo', any how? Dey +shore ain't got no claim on yo'--an' yo' ain't got no call to jump every +time sech as them crooks they fingers." + +Dr. Harry shook his head solemnly. + +"Now Mam Liz, I'm afraid you're an aristocrat." + +"Cos I's a 'ristocrat. Ain't I a Abbott? Ain't I bo'n in de fambly in +yo' grandaddy's time--ain't I nuss yo' Pa an' yo? 'Ristocrat! Huh! Deed +I is. No sah, Mars Harry, yo' ought to know, yo ain't got no call to +sarve sech as them!" + +"I don't know," he returned slowly, "I'm afraid I have." + +"Have what?" + +"A call to serve such as them." He repeated her words slowly. "I don't +know why they are, or how they came to be. Whatever or whoever is +responsible for the existence of such people and such conditions is a +problem for the age to solve. The fact is, they are here. And while the +age is solving the problem, I am sure that we as individuals have a call +to personally minister to their immediate needs." The doctor had spoken +half to himself, following a thought that was often in his mind. + +It was a little too much for the old servant. She watched him with a +puzzled expression on her face. + +"Talkin' 'bout ministers, de Pa'son was here to see yo' yest'day +evenin'." + +"Brother Matthews? I am sorry I was not at home." + +"Yes sah, I was sorry too; he's a right pious-lookin' man, he sho is. I +don tole him de Lawd only knowed whar yo' was or when yo'd git back. He +laughed an' says he sho de Lawd wasn't far away wherever yo' was, an' +that I mus' tell yo' hit was only a little call, nothin' of +impo'tance--so's yo wouldn't bother 'bout it, I reckon." + +Dr. Harry rose from the table. "Perhaps he will run in this evening. No, +this is prayer meeting night. Heigh-ho!" He stretched his tired body--"I +ought--" + +The old woman interrupted him. "Now look a here Mars Harry, yo' ain't +goin' to leave this yer house tonight. Yo' goin' jest put on yo' slippa's +an' jacket an' set down in thar an' smoke yo' pipe a lille an' then yo' +goin' to bed. Yo' ain't et 'nough to keep er chicken 'live, an' yo' eyes +like two holes burned in er blanket. Won't yo' stop home an' res', +honey?" she coaxed, following him into the hall. "Yo' plumb tuckered." + +The weary physician looked through the door into the library where the +lamp threw a soft light over the big table. The magazines and papers lay +unopened, just as they had been brought from the office by Uncle George. +A book that for a month, Harry had been trying to read, was lying where +he had dropped it to answer a call. While he hesitated, the old negro +came shuffling in with the doctor's smoking jacket and slippers. + +"Yes sah, here dey is--an' de mare's all right--ain't hurted a +bit--takin' her feed like er good one. Oh, I tell yo' der ain't no betta +on de road dan her." + +Dr. Harry laughed. "Uncle George, I give you my honest professional +opinion--Mother Eve was sure a brunette." As he spoke he slipped out of +his coat and Mam Liz took it from his hand, while Uncle George helped +him into the comfortable jacket. + +"He--he--he--" chuckled the old servant. "A brunette, he--he. That air's +yo Liz, ol' 'oman, yo' sho brunette. Yes sah, 'pon my word, Mars Harry, +I believe yo'. He--he--" + +And the black woman's deep voice rolled out--"Yo' go on now--yo' two, +'tain't so--'cause Adam he sho po'r white trash. Ain't no decent colored +body goin' to have no truck wid sech as him." + +With the doctor's shoes in his hand the old servant stood up, "Anythin' +else, sah? No? Good night, sah! Good night, Mars Harry!" They slipped +noiselessly from the room. + +Is there, after all, anything more beautiful in life than the ministry +of such humble ones, whose service is the only expression of their love? + +Many of the Master's truths have been shamefully neglected by those into +whose hands they were committed. Many of His grandest lessons are ignored +by His disciples, who ambitious for place and power--quarrel among +themselves. Many of His noblest laws have been twisted out of all +resemblance to His spirit by those who interpret them to meet the demands +of their own particular sects and systems. But of all the truths the +Master has given to men, none, perhaps, has been more neglected, or +abused than the simple truth He illustrated so vividly when He washed +His disciples' feet. + +Left alone Dr. Harry picked up one magazine after another, only to turn +the leaves impatiently and--after a moment--toss them aside. He glanced +at his medical journal and found it dull. He took up his book only to lay +it down again. Decidedly he could not read. The house with its empty +rooms was so big and still. He seated himself at his piano but had +scarcely touched the keys, when he rose again to go to the window. + +"After all," he thought, "it would have been better to have gone to +prayer meeting. I am not fit to be alone tonight. If I could only go to +bed and sleep, but I feel as if I had forgotten how. Those Masons +certainly got on my nerves." Indeed, the strain was plainly visible, for +his face was worn and haggard. In his ears poor Jo's prayer was ringing, +"Do somethin' Doc! My God Almighty, you jest got to do somethin'!" + +Turning from the window the doctor's eyes fell on his medicine case, +which Uncle George had brought in from the buggy and placed near the +hall door. + +"Why not?" he thought. + +Picking up the case he went to the table, where he opened it +hesitatingly. + +"After all, why not?" he repeated half-aloud. "I would give it to a +patient in my condition." + +"But the patient wouldn't know what it was," a voice within himself +answered. + +"I need something. I--" his hand went out toward the case--"I have never +done it before." + +"You have seen others who have," said the voice again. + +"This is an exceptionally trying time," he argued. + +"There will be many more such times in your practice." + +"But I must get some rest!" he cried, "I must!" He reached again for the +open case but paused--startled by the ringing of the door-bell. + +Obeying the impulse of the moment he dropped into his chair and caught up +a paper. + +Mam Liz's voice, in guarded tones came from the hall, "Yes marm, he's to +home, but he's plumb tuckered out. Is yo' got to see him? Yo' ain't +wantin' him to go out agin is yo'?" + +Another voice answered, but the listening doctor could not distinguish +the reply. + +"Oh sho mam. Come in, come in. He's in the library." + +A moment the nurse stood, hesitating, in the doorway. + +Dr. Harry sprang to his feet. "Miss Farwell! I'm glad to see you. I--" +Then he stopped looking at her in astonishment. + +Very softly she closed the door behind her, and--going to the +table--closed the medicine case. Then lifting her eyes to him with a +meaning look she said simply, "I am glad, too." + +He turned his face away. "You--you saw?" + +"The window shades were up. I could not help it." + +He dropped into the chair. "I'm a weak fool, Miss Farwell. No man in my +profession has a right to be so weak." + +"Yes, that's it," she said gently. "Your profession--those who depend +upon you for their own lives and the lives of their dear ones--you must +remember that always. Your ministry." + +He raised his face and looked at her squarely. "I never did this before. +You believe me, Miss Farwell, that this is the first time?" + +She returned his look frankly. "Yes," she said. "I believe you, and I +believe it will be the last." + +And it was. + +For there was something in that voice, something in the calm still depth +of those gray eyes that remained with Dr. Harry Abbott and whenever +afterwards he reached the limit of his strength, whenever he gave so +much of himself in the service of others that there was nothing left for +himself--this incident came back to him, that something held him--kept +him strong. + +Very quickly the nurse changed the subject and led the physician's mind +away from the sadness and horror of his work that had so nearly wrought +such havoc. The big empty house no longer seemed so big and empty. She +made him light his pipe again and soon the man felt his tired nerves +relax while the weary brain ceased to hammer away at the problems it +could not solve. + +Then at last she told him why she had come--to bid him good-bye. + +"But I thought you were going to stay!" he cried. + +"I had thought of doing so," she admitted. "But something--something +makes it necessary for me to go." + +His arguments and pleadings were in vain. Her only answer was, "I cannot, +Dr. Abbott, truly I cannot." Nor would she tell him more than that it was +necessary for her to go. + +"But we need you so. I need you; there is no one can take your +place--Hope--" Then he stopped. + +She was frankly permitting him to look deep into her eyes. "I am sorry, +Doctor, but I must go." And the strength of her held him and made him +strong. + +"Just one thing, Miss Farwell. You are not going because of--because of +me?" + +She held out her hand. "No indeed, Doctor. Whatever you think, please +don't think that." + +He would have accompanied her home but she would not permit it and +insisted so strongly that he retire at once, that he was forced to +yield. But he would not say good-bye, declaring that he would be at the +depot in the morning to see her off. + +Mrs. Oldham, coming home from prayer meeting, found her husband still +sitting on the porch. When she could not force him to listen to reason +and go to bed, she left him to his thoughts. A little later the old +Doctor saw the tall form of the minister turn in at the gate opposite. +Then the light in the corner window flashed brightly. A few moments +more, and he saw a woman coming down the street, going toward Judge +Strong's. Nearing the house across the way, she slackened her pace, +walking very slowly. Under the corner window she almost stopped. As she +went on she turned once to look back, then disappeared under the trees +in the dusk. + +It was almost morning when Miss Farwell was awakened by a loud knocking +at the front door. Then Mrs. Strong came quickly up stairs to the nurse's +room. The young woman was on her feet instantly. + +"That old negro of Dr. Abbott is here asking for you," explained Mrs. +Strong. "He says Dr. Harry sent him and that he must see you. What in +the world can it mean?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THAT GIRL OF CONNER'S + +"'You will tell the people that this poor child wanted to kill herself, +and the people will call it suicide. But, by God--it's murder! Murder--I +tell you!'" + + +Slipping into her clothing the nurse went down to the front door where +Uncle George was waiting. A horse and buggy stood at the front gate. + +"Evenin' mam, is yo' de nurse?" said the old negro, lifting his cap. + +"Yes, I am the nurse, Miss Farwell. Dr. Abbott sent you for me?" + +"'Deed he did, mam, 'deed he did--said I was to fetch yo' wid big Jim +out dar. Tol' me to say hit was er'mergency case. I dunno what dat is, +but dey sho needs yo' powerful bad over in Old Town--'deed dey does." + +The latter part of this speech was delivered to the empty doorway. The +nurse was already back in her room. + +The old negro rubbed his chin with a trembling hand, as he turned with a +puzzled look on his black face from the open door to the horse and buggy +and back to the door again. + +"Dat young 'oman run lak a scared rabbit," he muttered. "What de ole +scratch I do now?" + +Before he could decide upon any course of action, Miss Farwell, fully +dressed was by his side again, and half way to the gate before he could +get under way. + +"Come," she said, "you should have been in the buggy ready to start." + +"Yas'm, yas'm, comin' comin'," he answered, breaking into a trot for the +rig, and climbing in by her side. "Come Jim, git! Yo' black villen, don' +yo' know, dis here's er'mergency case? Yo' sho got to lay yo' laigs to +de groun' dis night er yo' goin' to git left sartin! 'Mergency case!" he +chuckled. "Dat mak him go, Miss. Funny I nebber knowed dat 'fore." + +Sure enough, the black horse was covering the ground at a pace that +fairly took Miss Farwell's breath. The quick steady beat of the iron-shod +feet and the rattle of the buggy wheels echoed loudly in the gray +stillness. Above the tops of the giant maples that lined the road, the +nurse saw the stars paling in the first faint glow of the coming day, +while here and there in the homes of some early-rising workers the +lights flashed out, and the people--with the name of Dr. Harry on their +lips--paused to listen to the hurried passing of big Jim. + +"Can you tell me something of the case?" asked the nurse. + +"Case? Oh you mean de po'r gal what tried to kill herse'f. Yes, Miss, I +sho can. Yo' see hit's dis away. Hit's dat po'r Conner gal, her whose +Daddy done killed Jack Mulhall, de town marshal yo' know. De Conners +used to be nice folks, all 'ceptin' Jim. He drink a little sometimes, +an' den he was plumb bad. Seems lak he got worse dat way. An' since dey +took him off an' Mrs. Conner died de gal, she don't git 'long somehow. +Since she left de hotel she's been livin' over in Old Town along some +colored folks, upstairs in de old town-hall building. I knows 'bout hit +'y see, coz Liz an' me we all got friends, Jake Smith an' his folks, +livin' in de same buildin', yo see. Wal, lately de gal don't 'pear to be +doin' even as well as usual, an' de folks dey got plumb scared she ac' +so queer like. Sometime in de night, Jake an' Mandy dey waked up hearin' +a moanin' an' a cryin' in de po'r gal's room. Dey call at de door but +dey ain't no answer an' so dey stan 'round for 'while 'thout knowin' +what to do, till de cryin' an' screechin' gits worse, an' things 'pears +to be smashin' round lak. Den Mandy say to de folks what's been waked up +an' is standin' 'round de door she ain't goin' to stan dare doin' +nothin' no mo', an' she fo'ce open de door an' goes in. + +"Yes sah, Miss Nurse, Mandy say dat gal jest throwin' herself 'round de +room an' screechin', an' Mandy grab her jest as she 'bout to jump out de +winder. She won't say nothin' but how she's burnin' up an' Mandy she +send Jake to me quick. I sho don' want to wake Dr. Harry, Miss coz he's +done tuckered out, but I'se scared not to, coz once 'fore I didn't wake +him when somebody want him an' I ain't nebber done hit no more. Go on +dar, Jim. Yes sah, Mars Harry Abbott he's a debbil, Miss, when he's mad, +'deed he is, jest lak de old Mars--he's daddy. So I calls him easy-like +but Lawd--he's up an' dress 'fore I can hook up big Jim here, an' we +come fer Old Town on de run. Quick as he get in de room he calls out de +winder fo' me to drive quick's I can to de Judge's an' fotch yo. An' +dat's all I know--'ceptin' Dr. Harry say hit's a'mergency case. We most +dare now. Go on Jim--go on sah!" + +While the old negro was speaking the big horse was whirling them through +the quiet streets of the village. As Uncle George finished they reached +the top of Academy Hill, where Miss Farwell saw the old school +building--ghostly and still in the mists that hung about it like a +shroud, the tumble-down fence with the gap leading into the weed-grown +yard, the grassy knoll and the oak--all wet and sodden now, and--below, +the valley--with its homes and fields hidden in the thick fog, suggestive +of hidden and mysterious depths. + +"Is yo' cold, Miss? We's mos dar, now." The nurse had shivered as with a +sudden chill. + +Turning sharply to the north a minute later they entered the square of +Old Town where a herd of lean cows were just getting up from their beds +to pick a scanty breakfast from the grass that grew where once the farmer +folk had tied their teams, and in front of the ruined structure that had +once been the principal store of the village, a mother sow grunted to her +squealing brood. + +Long without touch of painter's brush, the few wretched buildings that +remained were the color of the mist. To the nurse--like the fog that hid +the valley--they suggested cold mysterious depths of life, untouched by +any ray of promised sun. And out of that dull gray abyss a woman's voice +broke sharply, on the stillness, in a scream of pain. + +"Dat's her, dat's de po'r gal, now, nurse. Up dare where yo' sees dat +light." + +Uncle George brought the big black to a stand in front of the ancient +town-hall and court-house, a two-story, frame building with the stairway +on the outside. A group of negroes huddled--with awed faces--at the foot +of the stairs drew back as the nurse sprang from the buggy and ran +lightly up the shaky old steps. The narrow, dirty hallway was crowded +with more negroes. The odor of the place was sickening. + +Miss Farwell pushed her way through and entered the room where Dr. Harry, +assisted by a big black woman, was holding his struggling patient on the +bed. The walls and ceiling of the room--stained by the accumulated smoke +of years, the rough bare floor, the window--without shade or curtain, the +only furniture--a rude table and a chair or two, a little stove set on +broken bricks, a handful of battered dishes and cooking utensils, a +trunk, and the bed with its ragged quilts and comforts, all cried aloud +the old, old familiar cry of bitter poverty. + +Dr. Harry glanced up as the nurse entered. + +"Carbolic acid," he said quietly, "but she didn't get quite enough. I +managed to give her the antidote and a hypodermic. We better repeat the +hypodermic I think." + +Without a word the nurse took her place at the bedside. When the patient, +under the influence of the drug, had grown more quiet, Dr. Harry +dismissed the negro woman with a few kind words, and the promise that he +would send for her if she could help them in any way. Then when he had +sent the others away from the room and the hallway he turned to the +nurse. + +"Miss Farwell, I am sorry that I was forced to send for you, but you can +see that there was nothing else to do. I knew you would come without loss +of time, and I dared not leave her without a white woman in the room." He +paused and went to the bedside. "Poor, poor little girl. She tried so +hard to die, nurse; she will try again the moment she regains +consciousness. These good colored people would do anything for her, but +she must see one of her own race when she opens her eyes." He paused +seemingly at a loss for words. + +Miss Farwell spoke for the first time, "She is a good girl, Doctor? Not +that it matters you know, but--" + +Dr. Harry spoke positively, "Yes, she is a good girl; it is not that, +nurse." + +"Then how--" Miss Farwell glanced around the room. "Then why is she +here?" + +No one ever heard Dr. Harry Abbott speak a bitter word, but there was a +strange note in his voice as he answered slowly, "She is here because +there seems to be no other place for her to go. She did this because +there seemed to be nothing else for her to do." + +Then briefly he related the sad history of this good girl with a bad +reputation. "Dr. Oldham and I tried to help her," he said, "but some ugly +stories got started and somehow Grace heard them. After that she avoided +us." + +For a little while there was silence in the room. When Dr. Harry again +turned from his patient to the nurse, Miss Farwell was busily writing +upon his tablet of prescription blanks with a stub of a pencil which she +had taken from her pocket. The doctor watched her curiously for a moment, +then arose, and taking his hat, said briskly: "I will not keep you longer +than an hour Miss Farwell. I think I know of a woman whom I can get for +today at least, and perhaps by tonight we can find someone else, or +arrange it somehow. I'll be back in plenty of time, so don't worry. Your +train does not go until ten-thirty, you know. If the woman can't come at +once, I'll ask Dr. Oldham to relieve you." + +The nurse looked at him with smiling eyes, "I am very sorry, Dr. Abbott, +if I am not giving satisfaction," she said. + +The physician returned her look with amazement, "Not giving satisfaction! +What in the world do you mean?" + +"Why you seem to be dismissing me," she answered demurely. "I understood +that you sent for me to take this case." + +At the light that broke over his face she dropped her eyes and wrote +another line on the paper before her. + +"Do you mean--" he began, then he stopped. + +"I mean," she answered, "that unless you send me away I shall stay on +duty." + +"But Dr. Miles--that case in Chicago. I understood from you that it was +very important." + +She smiled at him again. "There is nothing so important as the thing +that needs doing now," she answered. "And," she finished slowly, turning +her eyes toward the unconscious girl on the bed--"I do seem to be needed +here." + +"And you understand there will be no--no fees in this case?" he asked. + +The color mounted to her face. "Is our work always a question of fees, +Doctor? I am surprised, cannot I collect my bill when you receive yours?" + +He held out his hand impulsively. + +"Forgive me, Miss Farwell, but it is too good to be true. I can't say +any more now. You are needed here--you cannot know how badly. I--we all +need you." She gently released her hand, and he continued in a more +matter-of-fact tone, "I will go now to make a call or two so that I can +be with you later. Your patient will be all right for at least three +hours. I'll send Uncle George with your breakfast." + +"Never mind the breakfast," she said. "If you will have your man bring +these things, I will get along nicely." She handed him a prescription +blank. "Here is a list that Mrs. Strong will give him from my room. And +here--" she gave him another blank, "is a list he may get at the grocery. +And here--" she handed him the third blank, "is a list he may get at some +dry goods store. I have not my purse with me so he will need to bring the +bills. The merchants will know him of course--" Dr. Harry looked from the +slips in his hand to the young woman. + +"You must not do that, Miss Farwell. Really--" + +She interrupted, "Doctor, this is my case, you know." + +"It was mine first," he answered grimly. + +"But Doctor--" + +"Shall I send you my bill, too?" he asked. + +A few moments later she heard the quick step of big Jim and the rattle +of the wheels. + +Two hours had passed when in response to a low knock, the nurse opened +the door to find Dr. Oldham standing in the narrow hall. The old +physician was breathing heavily from his effort in climbing the rickety +stairs. His arms were full of roses. + +Miss Farwell exclaimed with delight, "Oh Doctor, just what I was wishing +for!" + +"Uh huh," he grunted. "I thought so. They'll do her good. Harry told me +what you were up to. Thought I better come along in case you should need +any help." + +He drew a chair to the bedside, while the nurse with her sleeves rolled +up returned to the work which his knock at the door had interrupted. + +Clean, white sheets, pillows and coverings had replaced the tattered +quilt on the bed. The floor was swept. The litter about the stove was +gone, and in its place was a big armful of wood neatly piled, the +personal offering of Uncle George, who had returned quickly with the +things for which the nurse had sent. The dirt and dust had vanished from +the windows. The glaring light was softened by some sort of curtain +material, that the young woman had managed to fix in place. The bare old +cupboard shelves covered with fresh paper were filled with provisions, +and the nurse, washing the last of the dishes and utensils, was placing +them carefully in order. She finished as Dr. Oldham turned from the +patient, and--throwing over the rough table a cloth of bright +colors--began deftly arranging in such dishes as the place afforded, the +flowers he had brought. Already the perfume of the roses was driving +from the chamber that peculiar, sickening odor of poverty. + +The old physician, trained by long years of service to habits of close +observation, noted every detail in the changed room. Silently he watched +the strong, beautifully formed young woman in the nurse's uniform, +bending over his flowers, handling them with the touch of love while on +her face, and in the clear gray eyes, shone the light that a few truly +great painters have succeeded in giving to their pictures of the Mother +Mary. + +The keen old eyes under their white brows filled and the Doctor turned +hastily back to the figure on the bed. A worn figure it was--thin and +looking old--with lines of care and anxiety, of constant pain and +ceaseless fear, of dread and hopelessness. Only a faint suggestion of +youth was there, only a hint of the beauty of young womanhood that might +have been; nay that would have been--that should have been. + +Miss Farwell started as the old man with a sudden exclamation--stood +erect. He faced the young woman with blazing eyes and quivering face--his +voice shaken with passion, as he said: "Nurse, you and Harry tell me this +is suicide." He made a gesture toward the still form on the bed. "You +will tell the people that this poor child wanted to kill herself, and the +people will call it suicide. But, by God--it's murder! Murder--I tell +you! She did not want to kill herself. She wanted to live, to be strong +and beautiful like you. But this community with its churches and Sunday +schools and prayer meetings wouldn't let her. They denied her the poor +privilege of working for the food she needed. They refused even a word of +real sympathy. They hounded her into this stinking hole to live with the +negroes. She may die, nurse, and if she does--as truly as there is a +Creator, who loves his creatures--her death will be upon the unspeakably +cruel, pious, self-worshiping, churchified, spiritually-rotten people in +this town! It's _murder_! I tell you, by God--it's _murder_!" The old man +dropped into his chair exhausted by his passionate outburst. + +For a few moments there was no sound in the room save the heavy breathing +of the physician. The nurse stood gazing at him--a look of mingled +sadness and horror on her face. + +Then the figure on the bed stirred. The sick girl's eyes opened to stare +wildly--wonderingly, about the room. With a low word to the Doctor, Miss +Farwell went quickly to her patient. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE MINISTER'S OPPORTUNITY + +"He saw only the opportunity so mysteriously opened to him." + + +When Dan left Miss Farwell in the summer house at Judge Strong's he went +straight to his room. + +Two or three people whom he met on the way turned when he had passed to +look back at him. Mrs. James talking over the fence with her next door +neighbor, wondered when he failed to return her greeting. And Denny from +his garden hailed him joyfully. But Dan did not check his pace. Reaching +his own gate he broke fairly into a run, and leaping up the stairway, +rushed into his room, closing and locking his door. Then he stood, +breathing hard, and smiling grimly at the foolish impulse that had made +him act for all the world like a thief escaping with his booty. + +He puzzled over this strange feeling that possessed him, the feeling +that he had taken something that did not belong to him, until the thought +struck him that there might, after all, be good reason for the fancy; +that it might indeed be more than a fancy. + +Pacing to and fro the length of his little study he recalled every +detail of that meeting in the Academy yard. And as he remembered how he +had consciously refrained from making known his position to the young +woman--not once, but several times when he knew that he should have +spoken, and how his questions, combined with the evident false impression +that his words had given her had led her to speak thoughts she would +never have dreamed of expressing had she known him, the conviction grew +that he had indeed--like a thief, taken something that did not belong to +him. And as he realized more and more how his silence must appear to her +as premeditated, and reflected how her fine nature would shrink from what +she could not but view as a coarse ungentlemanly trick he grew hot with +shame. No wonder, he told himself, that he had instinctively shrunk from +looking into the faces of the people whom he had met and had fled to the +privacy of his rooms. + +Dan did not spare himself that afternoon, and yet beneath all the self +scorn he felt, there was a deeper sub-conscious conviction, that he was +not--at heart--guilty of the thing with which he charged himself. This +very conviction, though felt but dimly, made him rage the more. He had +the hopeless feeling of one caught in a trap--of one convicted of a +crime of which in the eyes of the law he was guilty, but which he knew +he had unwittingly committed. + +The big fellow in so closely analyzing the woman's thoughts and feelings, +and in taking so completely her point of view, neglected himself. He +could not realize how true to _himself_ he had been that afternoon, or +how truly the impulse that had prompted him to deny his calling was an +instinct of his own strong manhood--the instinct to be accepted or +rejected for what he was within himself, rather than for the mere +accident of his calling and position in life. + +One thing was clear, he must see Miss Farwell again. She must listen to +his explanation and apology. She must somehow understand. For apart from +his interest in the young woman herself, there was that purpose of the +minister to win her to the church. It was a monstrous thought that he +himself should be the means of strengthening her feeling against the +cause to which he had given his life. So he had gone to Judge Strong's +home early that evening determined to see her. But at the gate, when he +saw Dr. Harry turning in as if to stop, he had passed on in the dusk. +Later at prayer meeting his thoughts were far from the subject under +discussion. His own public petition was so faltering and uncertain that +Elder Jordan watched him suspiciously. + +It would be interesting to know just how much the interest of the man in +the woman colored and strengthened the purpose of the preacher to win +this soul so antagonistic to his church. + +The next day, Dan was putting the finishing touches to his sermon on +"The Christian Ministry" when his landlady interrupted him with the news +of the attempted suicide in Old Town. Upon hearing that the girl had at +one time been a member of his congregation, he went at once to learn +more of the particulars from Dr. Oldham. He found his old friend who +had returned from Old Town a half hour before, sitting in his big chair +on the front porch gazing at the cast-iron monument across the way. To +the young man's questions the Doctor returned only monosyllables or +grunts and growls that might mean anything or nothing at all. Plainly +the Doctor did not wish to talk. His face was dark and forbidding, and +under his scowling brows, his eyes--when Dan caught a glimpse of +them--were hard and fierce. The young man had never seen his friend in +such a mood and he could not understand. + +Dan did not know that the kind-hearted old physician had just learned +from his wife that the girl with the bad reputation had called at the +house to see him a few hours before she had made the attempt to end her +life, and that she had been sent away by the careful Martha with the +excuse that the doctor was too busy to see her. Neither could the boy +know how the old man's love for him was keeping him silent lest, in his +present frame of mind, he say things that would strengthen that something +which they each felt had come between them. + +Suddenly the Doctor turned his gaze from the monument and flashed a +meaning look straight into the brown eyes of the young minister. "She +was a member of your church. Why don't you go to see her? Ask the nurse +if there is anything the church can do." As Dan went down the walk he +added, "Tell Miss Farwell that I sent you." Then smiling grimly he +growled to himself, "You'll get valuable material for that sermon on +the ministry, or I miss my guess." + +The nurse! The nurse! He was to see her again! The thought danced in +Dan's brain. How strangely the opportunity had come. The young minister +felt that the whole thing had, in some mysterious way, been planned to +the end he desired. In the care that the church would give this poor +girl the nurse would see how wrongly she had judged it. She would be +forced to listen to him now. Surely God had given him this opportunity! + +What--the poor suicide? + +Oh, but Dan was not thinking of the suicide. That would come later. Just +now his mind and heart were too full of his own desire to win this young +woman to the church. He saw only the opportunity so mysteriously opened +to him. Dan was thoroughly orthodox. + +So in the brightness of the afternoon the pastor of Memorial Church went +along the street that, in the gray chill of the early morning, had echoed +the hurried steps of the doctor's horse. The homes--so silent when +the nurse had passed on her mission--were now full of life. The big +trees--dank and still then, now stirred softly in the breeze, and rang +with the songs of their feathered denizens. The pale stars were lost in +the infinite blue and the sunlight warmed and filled the air--flooding +street and home and lawn and flower and tree with its golden beauty. At +the top of Academy Hill Dan paused. For him no shroud of mist wrapped the +picturesque old building; no fog of mysterious depths hid the charming +landscape. + +Recalling the things the nurse had said to him there under the oak on the +grassy knoll, and thinking of his sermon in answer--he smiled. It was a +good sermon, he thought, with honest pride--strong, logical, convincing. + +And it was--_at that moment_. + +With a confident stride he went on his way. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +DAN SEES THE OTHER SIDE + +"'What right have you, Mr. Matthews, to say that you do not +understand--that you do not know? It is your business to understand--to +know.'" + + +Miss Farwell was alone with her patient. Dr. Harry, who had returned +soon after the girl regained consciousness, had gone out into the +country, promising to look in again during the evening on his way home, +and the old Doctor finding that there was no need for him to remain had +left a few moments later. + +Except to answer their direct questions the sick girl had spoken no +word, but lay motionless--her face turned toward the wall. Several +times the nurse tried gently to arouse her, but save for a puzzled, +half-frightened, half-defiant look in the wide-open eyes, there was no +response, though she took her medicine obediently. But when Miss Farwell +after bathing the girl's face, and brushing and braiding her hair, +dressed her in a clean, white gown, the frightened defiant look gave +place to one of wondering gratitude, and a little later she seemed to +sleep. + +She was still sleeping when Miss Farwell, who was standing by the window +watching a group of negro children playing ball in the square, saw a man +approaching the group from the direction of the village. The young +woman's face flushed as she recognized the unmistakable figure of the +minister. + +Then an angry light shone in the gray eyes, and she drew back with a low +exclamation. As in evident answer to his question, a half dozen hands +were pointed toward the window where she stood. Watching, she saw him +coming toward the building. + +His purpose was clear. What should she do? Her first angry impulse was +to refuse to admit him. What right had he to attempt to see her after her +so positive dismissal? Then she thought--perhaps he was coming to see the +sick girl. What right had she to refuse to admit him, when it could in no +way harm her patient? The room, after all, was the home of the young +woman on the bed--the nurse was only there in her professional capacity. + +Miss Farwell began to feel that she was playing a part in a mighty drama; +that the cue had been given for the entrance of another actor. She had +nothing to do with the play save to act well her part. It was not for her +to arrange the lines or manage the parts of the other players. The +feeling possessed her that, indeed, she had somewhere rehearsed the scene +many times before. Stepping quickly to the bed she saw that her patient +was still apparently sleeping. Then she stood trembling, listening to the +step in the hall as Dan approached. + +He knocked the second time before she could summon strength to cross the +room and open the door. + +"May I come in?" he asked hat in hand. + +At his words--the same that he had spoken a few hours before in the +garden--the nurse's face grew crimson. She made no answer, but in the +eyes that looked straight into his, Dan read a question and his own face +grew red as he said, "I called to see your patient. Dr. Oldham asked me +to come." + +"Certainly; come in." She stepped aside and the minister entered the +sick-room. Mechanically, without a word she placed a chair for him +near the bed, then crossed the room to stand by the window. But he did +not sit down. + +Presently Dan turned to the nurse. "She is asleep?" he asked in a low +tone. + +Miss Farwell's answer was calmly--unmistakably professional. Looking at +her watch she answered, "She has been sleeping nearly two hours." + +"Is there--will she recover?" + +"Dr. Abbott says there is no reason why she should not if we can turn +her from her determination to die." + +Always Dan had been intensely in love with life. He had a strong, +full-blooded young man's horror of death. He could think of it only as a +fitting close to a long, useful life, or as a possible release from +months of sickness and pain. That anyone young, and in good health, with +the world of beauty and years of usefulness before them, with the +opportunities and duties of life calling, should willfully seek to die, +was a monstrous thought. After all the boy knew so little. He was only +beginning to sense vaguely the great forces that make and mar humankind. + +At the calm words of the nurse he turned quickly toward the bed with a +shudder. "Her determination to die!" he repeated in an awed whisper. + +Miss Farwell was watching him curiously. + +He whispered half to himself, wonderingly, "Why should she wish to die?" + +"Why should she wish to live?" The nurse's cold tones startled him. + +He turned to her perplexed, wondering, speechless. + +"I--I--do not understand," he said at last. + +"I don't suppose you do," she answered grimly. "How could you? Your +ministry is a matter of schools and theories, of doctrines and beliefs. +This is a matter of life." + +"My church--" he began, remembering his sermon. + +But she interrupted him, "Your church does not understand, either; it is +so busy earning money to pay its ministers that it has no time for such +things as this." + +"But they do not know," he faltered. "I did not dream that such a thing +as this could be." He looked about the room and then at the still form on +the bed, with a shudder. + +"You a minister of Christ's gospel and ignorant of these things? And yet +this is not an uncommon case, sir. I could tell you of many similar cases +that have come under my own observation, though not all of them have +chosen to die. This girl could have made a living; I suppose you +understand. But she is a good girl; so there was nothing for her but +this. All she asked was a chance--only a chance." + +The minister was silent. He could not answer. + +The nurse continued, "What right have you, Mr. Matthews, to say that you +do not understand--that you do not know? It is your business to +understand--to know. And your church--what right has it to plead +ignorance of the life about its very doors? If such things are not its +business what business has this institution that professes to exist for +the salvation of men; that hires men like you--as you yourself told +me--to minister to the world? What right I say, have you or your church +to be ignorant of these everyday conditions of life? Dr. Abbott must +know his work. I must know mine. Our teachers, our legal and professional +men, our public officers, our mechanics and laborers, must all know and +understand their work. The world demands it of us, and the world is +beginning to demand that you and your church know your business." As the +nurse spoke in low tones her voice was filled with sorrowful, passionate +earnestness. + +And Dan, Big Dan, sat like a child before her--his face white, his brown +eyes wide with that questioning look. His own voice trembled as he +answered, "But the people are not beasts. They do not realize. At heart +they--we are kind; we do not mean to be carelessly cruel. Do you believe +this, Miss Farwell?" + +She turned from him wearily, as if in despair at trying to make him +understand. + +"Of course I believe it," she answered. "But how does that affect the +situation? The same thing could be said, I suppose, of those who +crucified the Christ, and burned the martyrs at the stake. It is this +system, that has enslaved the people, that feeds itself upon the strength +that should be given to their fellow men. They give so much time and +thought and love to their churches and creeds, that they have nothing +left--nothing for girls like these." Her voice broke and she went to the +window. + +In the silence Dan gazed at the form on the bed--gazed as if fascinated. +From without came the shouts of the negro boys at their game of ball, +and the sound of the people moving about in other parts of the building. + +"Is there--is there no one who cares?" Dan said, at last in a hoarse +whisper. + +"No one has made her feel that they care," the nurse answered, turning +back to him, and her manner and tone were cold again. + +"But you" he persisted, "surely you care." + +At this the gray eyes filled and the full voice trembled as she answered, +"Yes, yes I care. How could I help it? Oh, if we can only make her feel +that we--that someone wants her, that there is a place for her, that +there are those who need her!" She went to the bedside and stood looking +down at the still form. "I can't--I won't--I won't let her go." + +"Let us help you, Miss Farwell," said Dan. "Dr. Oldham suggested that I +ask you if the church could not do something. I am sure they would gladly +help if I were to present the case." + +The nurse wheeled on him with indignant, scornful eyes. + +He faltered, "This is the churches' work, you know." + +"Yes," she returned, and her words stung. "You are quite right, this is +the churches' work." + +He gazed at her in amazement as she continued hotly, "You have made it +very evident Mr. Matthews, that you know nothing of this matter. I have +no doubt that your church members would respond with a liberal collection +if you were to picture what you have seen here this afternoon in an +eloquent public appeal. Some in the fullness of their emotions would +offer their personal service. Others I am sure would send flowers. But I +suggest that for your sake, before you present this matter to your church +you ask Dr. Oldham to give you a full history of the case. Ask him to +tell you why Grace Conner is trying to die. And now you will pardon me, +but in consideration of my patient, who may waken at any moment, I dare +not take the responsibility of permitting you to prolong this call." + +Too bewildered and hurt to attempt any reply, he left the room and she +stood listening to his steps as he went slowly down the hall and out of +the building. + +From the window she watched as he crossed the old square, watched as he +passed from sight up the weed-grown street. The cruel words had leaped +from her lips unbidden. Already she regretted them deeply. She knew +instinctively that the minister had come from a genuine desire to be +helpful. She should have been more kind, but his unfortunate words had +brought to her mind in a flash, the whole hideous picture of the poor +girl's broken life. And the suggestion of such help as the church would +give now, came with such biting irony, that she was almost beside +herself. + +The situation was not at all new to Miss Farwell. Her profession placed +her constantly in touch with such ministries. She remembered a +saloonkeeper who had contributed liberally to the funeral expenses of a +child who had been killed by its drunken father. The young woman had +never before spoken, in such cruel anger. Was she growing bitter? She +wondered. All at once her cheeks were wet with scalding tears. + +Dan found the Doctor sitting on the porch just as he had left him. Was +it only an hour before? + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE TRAGEDY + +"Now, for the first time, he was face to face with existing conditions. +Not the theory but the practice confronted him now. Not the traditional, +but the actual. It was, indeed, a tragedy." + + +Dan went heavily up the path between the roses, while the Doctor observed +him closely. The young minister did not sit down. + +"Well?" said the Doctor. + +Dan's voice was strained and unnatural. "Will you come over to my room?" + +Without a word the old man followed him. + +In the privacy of his little study the boy said, "Doctor, you had a +reason for telling me to ask Miss Farwell if the church could do anything +for--for that poor girl. And the nurse told me to ask you about the case. +I want you to tell me about her--_all_ about her. Why is she living in +that wretched place with those negroes? Why did she attempt to kill +herself? I want to know about this girl as you know her--as Miss Farwell +knows." + +The old physician made no reply but sat silent--studying the young man +who paced up and down the room. When his friend did not speak Dan said +again, "Doctor you must tell me! I'm not a child. What is this thing +that you should so hesitate to talk to me freely? I must know and you +must tell me now." + +"I guess you are right, boy," returned the other slowly. + +To Big Dan, born with the passion for service in his very blood and +reared amid the simple surroundings of his mountain home, where the +religion and teaching of the old Shepherd had been felt for a generation, +where every soul was held a neighbor--with a neighbor's right to the +assistance of the community, and where no one--not even the nameless +"wood's colt"--was made to suffer for the accident of birth or family, +but stood and was judged upon his own life and living, the story of Grace +Conner was a revelation almost too hideous in its injustice to be +believed. + +When the Doctor finished there was a tense silence in the minister's +little study. It was as though the two men were witnessing a grim +tragedy. + +Trained under the influence of his parents and from them receiving the +highest ideals of life and his duty to the race, Dan had been drawn +irresistibly by the theoretical self-sacrificing heroism and +traditionally glorious ministry of the church. Now, for the first time, +he was face to face with existing conditions. Not the theory but the +practice confronted him now. Not the traditional, but the actual. + +It was, indeed, a tragedy. + +The boy's face was drawn and white. His eyes--wide with that questioning +look--burned with a light that his old friend had not seen in them +before--the light of suffering--of agonizing doubt. + +In his professional duties the Doctor had been forced to school himself +to watch the keenest suffering unmoved, lest his emotions bias his +judgment--upon the accuracy of which depended the life of his patient. +He had been taught to cause the cruelest pain with unshaken nerve by the +fact that a human life under his knife depended upon the steadiness of +his hand. But his sympathy had never been dulled--only controlled and +hidden. So, long years of contact with what might be called a disease of +society, had accustomed him to the sight of conditions--the revelation +of which came with such a shock to the younger man. But the Doctor could +still appreciate what the revelation meant to the boy. Knowing Dan from +his childhood, familiar with his home-training, and watching his growth +and development with personal, loving interest, the old physician had +realized how singularly susceptible his character was to the beautiful +beliefs of the church. He had foreseen, too, something of the boy's +suffering when he should be brought face to face with the raw, naked +truths of life. And Dan, as he sat now searching the rugged, but kindly +face of his friend, realized faintly why the Doctor had shrunk from +talking to him of the sick girl. + +Slowly the minister rose from his chair. Aimlessly--as one in perplexing, +troubled thought--he went to the window and, standing there, looked out +with unseeing eyes upon the cast-iron monument on the opposite corner of +the street. Then he moved restlessly to the other window, and, with eyes +still unseeing, looked down into the little garden of the crippled +boy--the garden with the big moss and vine-grown rock in its center. Then +he went to his study table and stood idly moving the books and papers +about. His eye mechanically followed the closely written lines on the +sheets of paper that were lying as he had left them that morning. He +started. The next moment, with quick impatient movement, he crushed the +pages of the manuscript in his powerful hands and threw them into the +waste basket. He faced the Doctor with a grim smile. + +"My sermon on 'The Christian Ministry.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TO SAVE A LIFE + +"It was not Hope Farwell's way to theorize about the causes of the wreck, +or to speculate as to the value of inventions for making more efficient +the life-saving service, when there was a definite, immediate, personal +something to be done for the bit of life that so closely touched her +own." + + +"Nurse!" + +Miss Farwell turned quickly. The girl on the bed was watching her with +wide wondering eyes. She forced a smile. "Yes, dear, what is it? Did you +have a good sleep?" + +"I was not asleep. I--oh nurse, is it true?" + +Hope laid a firm, cool hand on the hot forehead, and looked kindly down +into the wondering eyes. + +"You were awake while the minister was here?" + +"Yes I--I--heard it all. Is it--is it true?" + +"Is what true, child?" + +"That you care, that anyone cares?" + +Miss Farwell's face shone now with that mother-look as she lowered her +head until the sick girl could see straight into the deep gray eyes. The +poor creature gazed hungrily--breathlessly. + +"Now don't you know that I care?" whispered the nurse, and the other +burst into tears, grasping the nurse's hand in both her own and with a +reviving hope clinging to it convulsively. + +"I'm not bad, nurse," she sobbed. "I have always been a good girl even +when--when I was so hungry. But they--they talked so about me, and made +people think I was bad until I was ashamed to meet anyone. Then they put +me out of the church, and nobody would give me work in their homes, and +they drove me away from every place I got, until there was no place but +this, and I was so frightened here alone with all these negroes in the +house. Oh nurse, I didn't want to do it--I didn't want to do it. But I +thought no one cared--no one." + +"They did not mean to be cruel, dear," said the nurse softly. "They did +not understand. You heard the minister say they would help you now." + +The girl gripped Miss Farwell's hand with a shudder. + +"They put me out of the church. Don't let them come, don't! Promise me +you won't let them in." + +The other calmed her. "There, there dear, I will take care of you. And no +one can put you away from God; you must remember that." + +"Is there a God, do you think?" whispered the girl. + +"Yes, yes dear. All the cruelty in the world can't take God away from us +if we hold on. We all make mistakes, you know, dear--terrible mistakes +sometimes. People with the kindest, truest hearts sometimes do cruel +things without thinking. Why, I suppose those who crucified Jesus were +kind and good in their way. Only they didn't understand what they were +doing, you see. You will learn by-and-by to feel sorry for these people, +just as Jesus wept over those who he knew were going to torture and kill +him. But first you must get well and strong again. You will now, won't +you dear?" + +And the whispered answer came, "Yes, nurse. I'll try now that I know you +care." + +So the strong young woman with the face of the Mother Mary talked to the +poor outcast girl, helping her to forget, turning her thoughts from the +sadness and bitterness of her experience to the gladness and beauty of a +possible future, until--when the sun lighted up the windows on the other +side of the square with flaming fire, and all the sky was filled with +the glory of his going--the sick girl slept, clinging still to her +nurse's hand. + +In the twilight Miss Farwell sat in earnest thought. Deeply +religious--as all true workers must be--she sought to know her part in +the coming scenes of the drama in which she found herself cast. + +The young woman felt that she must leave Corinth. Her experience with +Dan had made the place unbearable to her. And, since the scene that +afternoon, she felt, more than ever, that she should go. She had no +friends in Corinth save her patient at Judge Strong's, Mrs. Strong, the +two doctors, Deborah and Denny. At home she had many friends. Then from +the standpoint of her profession--and Hope Farwell loved her +profession--her opportunities in the city with Dr. Miles were too great +to be lightly thrown aside. + +But what of the girl? This girl so helpless, so alone--who buffeted and +bruised, had been tossed senseless at her very feet by the wild storms +of life. Miss Farwell knew the fury of the storm; she had witnessed +before the awful strength of those forces that overwhelmed Grace Conner. +She knew, too, that there were many others struggling hopelessly in the +pitiless grasp of circumstances beyond their strength--single handed--to +overcome. + +As one watching a distant wreck from a place of safety on shore, the +nurse grieved deeply at the relentless cruelty of these ungoverned +forces, and mourned at her own powerlessness to check them. But she felt +especially responsible for this poor creature who had been cast within +her reach. Here was work to her hand. This she could do and it must be +done now, without hesitation or delay. She could not prevent the +shipwrecks; she could, perhaps, save the life of this one who had felt +the fury of the storm. It was not Hope Farwell's way to theorize about +the causes of the wreck, or to speculate as to the value of inventions +for making more efficient the life-saving service, when there was a +definite, immediate, personal something to be done for the bit of life +that so closely touched her own. + +There was no doubt in the nurse's mind now but that the girl would live +and regain her health. But what then? The people would see that she was +cared for as long as she was sick. Who among them would give her a place +when she was no longer an object of ostentatious charity? Her very +attempted suicide would mark her in the community more strongly than +ever, and she would be met on every hand by suspicion, distrust and +cruel curiosity. Then, indeed, she would need a friend--someone to +believe in her and to love her. Of what use to save the life tossed up +by the storm, only to set it adrift again? As Miss Farwell meditated in +the twilight the conviction grew that her responsibility could end only +when the life was safe. + +It is, after all, a little thing to save a life; it is a great thing to +make it safe. Indeed, in a larger, sense a life is never saved until it +is safe. + +When Dr. Harry called, later in the evening as he had promised, he handed +the nurse an envelope. "Mr. Matthews asked me to give you this," he said. +"I met him just as he was crossing the square. He would not come in but +turned back toward town." + +He watched her curiously as she broke the seal and read the brief note. + +"I have seen Dr. Oldham and he has told about your patient. You are +right--I cannot present the matter to my people. I thank you. But this +cannot prevent my own personal ministry. Please use the enclosed for +Miss Conner, without mentioning my name. You must not deny me this." + +The "enclosed" was a bill, large and generous. Miss Farwell handed the +letter to Dr. Harry with the briefest explanation possible. For a long +time the doctor sat in brown study. Then making no comment further than +asking her to use the money as the minister had directed, he questioned +her as to the patient's condition. When she had finished her report he +drew a long breath. + +"We are all right now, nurse. She will get over this nicely and in a week +or two will be as good as ever. But--what then?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ON FISHING + +"'It is not for you to waste your time in useless speculation as to the +unknowable source of your life-stream, or in seeking to trace it in the +ocean. It is enough for you that it is, and that, while it runs its brief +course, it is yours to make it yield its blessings. For this you must +train your hand and eye and brain--you must be in life a fisherman.'" + + +"Come boy," said the Doctor at last, laying his hand upon the young +minister's shoulder. "Come, boy--let's go fishing. I know a dandy place +about twelve miles from here. We'll coax Martha to fix us up a bite and +start at daylight. What do you say?" + +"But I can't!" cried Dan. "Tomorrow is Saturday and I have nothing now +for Sunday morning." He looked toward the waste basket where lay his +sermon on "The Christian Ministry." + +"Humph," grunted the Doctor. "You'll find a better one when you get away +from this. Older men than you, Dan, have fought this thing all their +lives. Don't think that you can settle it in a couple of days thinking. +Take time to fish a little; it'll help a lot. There's nothing like a +running stream to clear one's mind and set one's thoughts going in fresh +channels. I want you to see Gordon's Mills. Come boy, let's go fishing." + +The evening was spent in preparation, eager anticipation and discussion +of the craft, prompted by the Doctor. And as they overhauled flies and +rods and lines and reels, and recalled the many delightful days spent as +they proposed to spend the morrow, the young man's thoughts were led +away from the first real tragedy of his soul. At daylight, after a +breakfast of their own cooking--partly prepared the night before by +Martha, who unquestionably viewed the minister's going away on a Saturday +with doubtful eyes--they were off. + +When they left the town far behind and--following the ridge road in the +clear wine-like air of the early day--entered the woods, the Doctor +laughed aloud as Dan burst forth with a wild boyish yell. + +"I couldn't help it Doctor, it did itself," he said in half apology. +"It's so good to be out in the woods with you again. I feel as if I were +being re-created already." + +"Yell again," said the physician with another laugh, and added dryly, "I +won't tell." + +Gordon's Mills, on Gordon's creek, lay in a deep, narrow valley, shut in +and hidden from the world, by many miles of rolling, forest-covered +hills. The mill, the general store and post office, and the blacksmith +shop were connected with Corinth, twelve miles away, by daily stage--a +rickety old spring wagon that carried the mail and any chance passenger. +Pure and clear and cold the creek came welling to the surface of the +earth full-grown, from vast, mysterious, subterranean caverns in the +heart of the hills--and, from the brim of its basin, rushed, boiling and +roaring, along to the river two miles distant, checked only by the dam +at the mill. For a little way above the dam the waters lay still and +deep, with patches of long mosses, vines and rushes, waving in its quiet +clearness--forming shadowy dens for lusty trout, while the open +places--shining fields and lanes--reflected, as a mirror, the steep +green-clad bluff, and the trees that bent far over until their drooping +branches touched the gleaming surface. + +As the two friends tramped the little path at the foot of the bluff, or +waded, with legs well-braced, the tumbling torrent, and sent their flies +hither and yon across the boiling flood to be snatched by the +strong-hearted denizens of the stream, Dan felt the life and freshness +and strength of God's good world entering into his being. At dinner time +they built a little fire to make their coffee and broil a generous +portion of their catch. Then lying at ease on the bank of the great +spring, they talked as only those can talk who get close enough to the +great heart of Mother Nature to feel strongly their common kinship with +her and with their fellows. + +After one of those long silences that come so easily at such a time, Dan +tossed a pebble far out into the big pool and watched it sink down, down, +down, until he lost it in the unknown depths. + +"Doctor, where does it come from?" + +"Where does what come from?" + +"This stream. You say its volume is always the same--that it is +unaffected by heavy rains or long droughts. How do you account for it?" + +"I don't account for it," grunted the Doctor, with a twinkle in his eye, +"I fish in it." + +Dan laughed. "And that," he said slowly, "is your philosophy of life." + +The other made no answer. + +Choosing another pebble carefully, Dan said, "Speaking as a +preacher--please elaborate." + +"Speaking as a practitioner--you try it," returned the Doctor. + +The big fellow stretched himself out on his back, with his hands clasped +beneath his head. He spoke deliberately. + +"Well, you do not know from whence your life comes, and it goes after a +short course, to lose itself with many others in the great stream that +reaches--at last, and is lost in--the Infinite." The Doctor seemed +interested. Dan continued, half talking to himself: "It is not for you +to waste your time in useless speculation as to the unknowable source of +your life-stream, or in seeking to trace it in the ocean. It is enough +for you that it is, and that, while it runs its brief course, it is yours +to make it yield its blessings. For this you must train your hand and eye +and brain--you must be in life a fisherman." + +"Very well done," murmured the Doctor, "for a preacher. Stick to the +knowable things, and don't stick at the unknowable; that is my law and my +gospel." + +Dan retorted, "Now let's watch the practitioner make a cast." + +"Humph! Why don't you stop it, boy?" + +"Stop what?" Dan sat up. + +The other pointed to the great basin of water that--though the stream +rushed away in such volume and speed--was never diminished, being +constantly renewed from its invisible, unknown source. + +The young man shook his head, awed by the contemplation of the mighty, +hidden power. + +And the Doctor--poet now--said: "No more can the great stream of love, +that is in the race for the race and that finds expression in sympathy +and service, be finally stopped. Fed by hidden, eternal sources it will +somehow find its way to the surface. Checked and hampered, for the +moment, by obstacles of circumstances or conditions, it is not stopped, +for no circumstance can touch the source. And love will keep +coming--breaking down or rising over the barrier, it may be--cutting for +itself new channels, if need be. For every Judge Strong and his kind +there is a Hope Farwell and her kind. For every cast-iron, ecclesiastical +dogma there is a living, growing truth." + +Dan's sermon the next day, given in place of the one announced, did not +please the whole of his people. + +"It was all very fine and sounded very pretty," said Martha, "but I would +like to know, Brother Matthews, where does the church come in?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +COMMON GROUND + +"'But we will find common ground,' he exclaimed. 'Look here, we have +already found it! This garden--Denny's garden!'" + + +The following Tuesday morning Dan was at work bright and early in Denny's +garden. Many of the good members of Memorial Church would have said that +Dan might better have been at work in his study. + +The ruling classes in this congregation, that theoretically had no ruling +classes, were beginning to hint among themselves of a humiliation beyond +expression at the spectacle, now becoming so common, of their minister +working with his coat off like an ordinary laboring man. He should have +more respect for the dignity of the cloth. At least, if he had no pride +of his own, he should have more regard for the feelings of his +membership. Besides this they did not pay him to work in anybody's +garden. + +The grave and watchful keepers of the faith, who held themselves +responsible to the God they thought they worshiped, for the belief of the +man they had employed to prove to the world wherein it was all wrong and +they were all right, watched their minister's growing interest in this +Catholic family with increasing uneasiness. + +The rest of the church, who were neither of the class nor of the keepers, +but merely passengers, as it were, in the Ark of Salvation, looked on +with puzzled interest. It was a new move in the game that added a spice +of ginger to the play not wholly distasteful. From a safe distance the +"passengers" kept one eye on the "class" and the other on the "keepers," +with occasionally a stolen glance at Dan, and waited nervously for their +cue. + +The world outside the fold awaited developments with amused and +breathless interest. Everybody secretly admired the stalwart young worker +in the garden, and the entire community was grateful that he had given +them something new to talk about. Memorial Church was filled at every +service. + +Meanwhile wholly unconscious of all this, Big Dan continued digging his +way among the potatoes, helping the crippled boy to harvest and prepare +for market the cabbages and other vegetables, that grew in the plot of +ground under his study window, never dreaming that there was aught of +interest either to church or town in the simple neighborly kindness. It +is a fact--though Dan at this time, would not have admitted it, even to +himself--that the hours spent in the garden, with Denny enthroned upon +the big rock, and Deborah calling an occasional cheery word from the +cottage, were by far the most pleasant hours of the day. + +Every nerve and muscle in the splendid warm-blooded body of this young +giant of the hills called for action. The one mastering passion of his +soul was the passion for deeds--to do; to serve; to be used. He had felt +himself called to the ministry by his desire to accomplish a work that +would be of real worth to the world. He was already conscious of being +somewhat out of place with the regular work of the church: the pastoral +calls, which mean visiting, day after day, in the homes of the members to +talk with the women about nothing at all, at hours when the men of the +household are away laboring, with brain or hand, for the necessities of +life; the meetings of the various women's societies, where the minister +himself is the only man present, and the talk is all women's talk; the +committee meetings, where hours are spent in discussing the most trivial +matters with the most ponderous gravity--as though the salvation of the +world depends upon the color of the pulpit carpet, or who should bake a +cake for the next social. + +For nearly a week now, Dan had found no time to touch the garden; he was +resolved this day to make good his neglect. An hour before Denny was up +the minister was ready for his work. As he went to get the garden-tools +from the little lean-to woodshed, Deborah called from the kitchen, "'Tis +airly ye are this mornin' sir. It's not many that do be layin' awake all +the night waitin' for the first crack o' day, so they can get up to +somebody else's work fer thim." + +The minister laughingly dodged the warm-hearted expressions of gratitude +he saw coming. "I've been shirking lately," he said. "If I don't do +better than this the boss will be firing me sure. How is he?" + +"Fine sir, fine! He's not up yet. You'll hear him yelling at you as soon +as he sees what you're at." + +"Good," ejaculated the other. "I'll get ahead of him this time. Perhaps +I can get such a start before he turns out that he'll let me stay a while +longer, as it would not be pleasant to get my discharge." + +Passing laborers and business men on the way to their daily tasks, smiled +at the coatless figure in the garden. Several called a pleasant greeting. +The boy with the morning papers from the great city checked his whistle +as he looked curiously over the fence, and the Doctor who came out on the +porch looked across the street to the busy gardener and grunted with +satisfaction as he turned to his roses. + +But Dan's mind was not occupied altogether that morning by the work upon +which his hands were engaged. Neither was he thinking only of his church +duties, or planning sermons for the future. As he bent to his homely +tasks his thoughts strayed continually to the young woman whom he had +last seen beside the bed of the sick girl in the poverty-stricken room +in Old Town. The beautiful freshness and sweetness of the morning and +the perfume of the dewy things seemed subtly to suggest her. Thoughts of +her seemed, somehow, to fit in with gardening. + +He recalled every time he had met her. The times had not been many, and +they were still strangers, but every occasion had been marked by +something that seemed to fix it as unusual, making their meeting seem +far from commonplace. He still had that feeling that she was to play a +large part in his life and he was confident that they would meet again. +He was wondering where and how when he looked up from his work to see +her coming toward him, dressed in a fresh uniform of blue and white. + +The young fellow stood speechless with wonder as she came on, picking +her way daintily among the beds and rows, her skirts held carefully, her +beautiful figure expressing health and strength and joyous, tingling life +in every womanly curve and line. + +There was something wonderfully intimate and sweetly suggestive in the +picture they made that morning, these two--the strong young woman in her +uniform of service going in the glow of the early day to the stalwart +coatless man in the garden, to interrupt him in his homely labor. + +"Good morning," she said with a smile. "I have been watching you from +the house and decided that you were working altogether too industriously, +and needed a breathing spell. Do you do everything so energetically?" + +It is sadly true of most men today that the more you cover them up the +better they look. Our civilization demands a coat, and the rule seems to +be--the more civilization, the more coat. Dan Matthews is one of those +rare men who look well in his shirt sleeves. His shoulders and body +needed no shaped and padded garments to set them off. The young woman's +eyes, in spite of her calm self-possession, betrayed her admiration as +he stood before her so tall and straight--his powerful shoulders, deep +chest and great muscled arms, so clearly revealed. + +But Dan did not see the admiration in her eyes. He was so bewildered by +the mere fact of her presence that he failed to note this interesting +detail. + +He looked toward the house, then back to the young woman's face. + +"You were watching me from the house," he repeated. "Really, I did not +know that you--" + +"Were your neighbors?" she finished. "Yes we are. Grace and I moved +yesterday. You see," she continued eager to explain, "it was not good for +her to remain in that place. It was all so suggestive of her suffering. I +knew that Mrs. Mulhall had a room for rent, because I had planned to take +it before I decided to go back to Chicago." She blushed as she recalled +the thoughts that had led her to the decision, but went on resolutely. +"The poor child has such a fear of everybody, that I thought it would +help her to know that Mrs. Mulhall and Denny could be good to her, even +though it was Denny's father, that her father--you know--" + +Dan's eyes were shining. "Yes I know," he said. + +"I explained to Mrs. Mulhall and, like the dear good soul she is, she +understood at once and made the poor child feel better right away. I +thought, too, that if Grace were living here with Mrs. Mulhall it might +help the people to be kinder to her. Then someone will give her a chance +to earn her living and she will be all right. The people will soon act +differently when they see how Mrs. Mulhall feels, don't you think they +will?" + +Dan could scarcely find words. She was so entirely unconscious of the +part she was playing--of this beautiful thing she was doing. + +"And you?" he asked, "You are not going away?" + +"Not until she gets a place. She will need me until she finds a home, you +know. And Dr. Harry assures me there is plenty of work for me in Corinth. +So Grace and I will keep house at Mrs. Mulhall's. Grace will do the work +while I am busy. It will make her feel less dependent and," she added +frankly, "it will not cost so much that way. And that brings me to what I +came out here to say." She paused. "I wish to thank you, Mr. Matthews, +for your help--for the money you sent. The poor child needed so many +things, and--I want to beg your pardon for--for the shameful way I +treated you when you called. I--I knew better, and Mrs. Mulhall has been +telling me how much you have done for them. I--" + +Dan interrupted, "Please don't, Miss Farwell; I understand. You were +exactly right. I know, now." Then he added, slowly, "I want you to know, +though, Miss Farwell, that I had no thought of being rude when we talked +in the old Academy yard." She was silent and he went on, "I must make you +understand that I am not the ill-mannered cad that I seemed. I--You know, +this ministry"--he emphasized the word with a smile--"is so new to +me--I am really so inexperienced!" + +She glanced at him quickly. + +He continued, "I had never before heard such thoughts as you expressed, +and I was too puzzled to realize how my silence would appear to you when +you knew." + +"Then this is your first church?" she asked. + +"Yes," he said, "and I am beginning to realize how woefully ignorant I am +of life. You know I was born and brought up in the backwoods. Until I +went to college I knew only our simple country life; at college I knew +only books and students. Then I came here." + +As he talked the young woman's face cleared. It was something very +refreshing to hear such a man declare his ignorance of life with the +frankness of a boy. She held out her hand impulsively. + +"Let's forget it all," she said. "It was a horrid mistake." + +"And we are to be good friends?" he asked, grasping her outstretched +hand. + +Without replying the young woman quietly released her hand and drew back +a few paces--she was trembling. She fought for self-control. There was +something--what was it about this man? The touch of his hand--Hope +Farwell was frightened by emotions new and strange to her. + +She found a seat on the big rock and ignoring his question said, "So +that's why you are so big and strong, and know so well how to work in a +garden. I thought it was strange for one of your calling. I see now how +natural it is for you." + +"Yes," he smiled, "it is very natural--more so than preaching. But tell +me--don't you think we should be good friends? We are going to be now, +are we not?" + +The young woman answered with quiet dignity, "Friendship Mr. Matthews +means a great deal to me, and to you also, I am sure. Friends must have +much in common. We have nothing, because--because everything that I said +to you at the Academy, to me, is true. We do not live in the same world." + +"But it's for myself--the man and not the minister--that I ask it," he +urged eagerly. + +She watched his face closely as she answered, "But you and your ministry +are one and the same. Yourself--your life is your ministry. You are your +ministry and your ministry is you." + +"But we will find common ground," he exclaimed. "Look here, we have +already found it! This garden--Denny's garden! We'll put a sign over the +gate, 'No professional ministry shall enter here!'--The preacher lives +up there." He pointed to his window. "The man, Dan Matthews, works in +the garden here. To the man in the garden you may say what you like about +the parson up there. We will differ, of course, but we may each gain +something, as is right for friends, for we will each grant to the other +the privilege of being true to self." + +She hesitated; then slipping from the rock and looking him full in the +face said, "I warn you it will not work. But for friendship's sake we +will try." + +Neither of them realized the deep significance of the terms, but in the +days that followed, the people of Corinth had much--much more, to talk +about. The Ally was well pleased and saw to it that the ladies of the Aid +Society were not long in deciding that something must be done. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE WARNING + +"From God's sunny hillside pastures to the gloom and stench of the +slaughter pens." + + +It happened two weeks to the day after Dan and Miss Farwell met in +Denny's garden. + +The Ally had been busy to some purpose. The Ladies' Aid, having reached +the point of declaring that something must be done, did something. The +Elders of Memorial Church, in their official capacity, called on their +pastor. + +Dan was in the garden when the Elders came. The Doctor's wife declared +that Dan spent most of his time in the garden now, and that, when there, +he did nothing because that nurse was always helping him. Good Martha +has the fatal gift of telling a bit of news so vividly that it gains +much in the telling. + +Miss Farwell was in the garden that afternoon with the minister and so +was Denny, while Grace Conner and Deborah were sitting on the front porch +of the little cottage when the two church fathers passed. Though neither +of the men turned their heads, neither of them failed to see the two +women on the porch and the three friends in the garden. + +"For the love of Heaven, look there!" exclaimed Deborah in an excited +whisper. "They're turnin' in at the minister's gate, an' him out there +in the 'taters in his shirt, a-diggin' in the ground an' a-gassin' wid +Denny an' Miss Hope. I misdoubt there's somethin' stirrin' to take thim +to his door the day. I must run an' give him the word." + +But Dan had seen and was already on his way to the front gate, drawing +on his coat as he went. From the other side of the street the Doctor +waved his hand to Dan encouragingly as the young man walked hastily down +the sidewalk to overtake the church officials at the front door. + +Truly in this denominational hippodrome, odd yoke-fellows are sometimes +set to run together; the efforts of the children of light to equal in +wisdom the children of darkness leading the church to clap its +ecclesiastical harness upon anything that--by flattery, bribes or +intimidation, can be led, coaxed or driven to pull at the particular +congregational chariot to which the tugs are fast! When the people of +Corinth speak of Judge Strong's religion, or his relation to the Memorial +Church they wink--if the Judge is not looking. When Elder Jordan is +mentioned their voices always have a note of respect and true regard. +Elder Strong is always called "The Judge"; Nathaniel Jordan was known far +and wide as "Elder Jordan." Thus does the community, as communities have +a way of doing, touch the heart of the whole matter. + +Dan recognized instinctively the difference in the characters of these +two men, yet he had found them always of one mind in all matters of the +church. He felt the subtle antagonism of Judge Strong, though he did not +realize that the reason for it lay in the cunning instinct of a creature +that recognized a natural enemy in all such spirits as his. He felt, too, +the regard and growing appreciation of Elder Jordan. Yet the two +churchmen were in perfect accord in their "brotherly administration." + +When the officials met in Dan's study that day, their characters were +unmistakable. That they were both in harness was also clear. The +minister's favorite chair creaked in dismay as the Judge settled his +heavy body, and twisted this way and that in an open effort to inspect +every corner of the apartment with his narrow, suspicious eyes; while +the older churchman sat by the window, studiously observing something +outside. Dan experienced that strange feeling of uneasiness familiar to +every schoolboy when called upon unexpectedly for the private interview +with the teacher. The Elders had never visited him before. It was too +evident that they had come now upon matters of painful importance. + +At last Judge Strong's wandering eye came to rest upon Dan's favorite +fishing-rod, that stood in a corner behind a book-case. The young man's +face grew red in spite of him. It was impossible not to feel guilty of +something in the presence of Judge Strong. Even Elder Jordan started as +his brother official's metallic voice rang out, "I see that you follow +in the footsteps of the early disciples in one thing, at least, Brother +Matthews. You go fishing." He gave forth a shrill, cold laugh that--more +than anything else--betrayed the real spirit he laughed to hide. + +This remark was characteristic of Judge Strong. On the surface it was +the mild jest of a churchman, whose mind dwelt so habitually on the +sacred Book, that even in his lightest vein he could not but express +himself in terms and allusions of religious significance. Beneath the +surface, his words carried an accusation, a condemnation, a sneer. His +manner was the eager, expectant, self-congratulatory manner of a dog +that has treed something. The Judge's method was skillfully chosen to +give him this advantage: it made his meaning clear while it gave no +possible opening for a reply to the real idea his words conveyed, and +forced his listener to an embarrassed silence of self-condemnation, that +secured the Judge in his assumed position of pious superiority. + +Dan forced a smile. He felt that the Judge's laugh demanded it. "Yes," +he said, "I am scriptural when it comes to fishing. Dr. Oldham and I had +a fine day at Gordon's Mills." + +"So I understand," said the other meaningly. "I suppose you and the old +Doctor have some interesting talks on religion?" + +It was impossible not to feel the sneering accusation under the words. It +was as impossible to answer. Again Dan's face flushed as he said, "No, we +do not discuss the church very often." + +"No?" said the Judge. "I should think you would find him a good subject +to practice on. Perhaps, though, he practices on you, heh?" Again he +laughed. + +"Ahem, ahem!" Elder Jordan gave his usual warning. Dan turned to the good +old man with a feeling of relief. At least Nathaniel Jordan's words would +bear their face value. "Perhaps, Brother Strong, we had better tell +Brother Matthews the object of our call." + +The Judge leaned back in his chair with the air of one about to be +pleasantly entertained. He waved his hand with a gesture that said as +plainly as words, "All right, Nathaniel, go ahead. I'm here if you need +me, so don't be uneasy! If you find yourself unequal to the task, depend +upon me to help you out." + +The minister waited with an expectant air. + +"Ahem, ahem! You must not think, Brother Matthews, that there is anything +really wrong because we called. But we, ahem--we thought best to give you +a brotherly warning. I'm sure you will take it in the spirit in which it +is meant." + +The Judge stirred uneasily in his chair, bending upon Dan such a look +as--had he been a real judge--he might have cast upon a convicted +criminal. Dan already felt guilty. He signified his assent to the Elder's +statement and Nathaniel proceeded: + +"You are a young man, Brother Matthews; I may say a very talented young +man, and we are jealous for your success in this community and, ahem--for +the standing of Memorial Church. Some of our ladies feel--I may say that +we feel that you have been a little, ah--careless about some things of +late. Elder Strong and I know from past experience that a preacher--a +young unmarried preacher cannot be too careful. Not that we have the +least idea that you mean any harm, you know--not the least in the world. +But people will talk and--ahem, ahem!" + +Dan's face was a study. He was so clearly mystified by the Elder's +remarks that the good man found his duty even more embarrassing than he +had anticipated. + +Then Judge Strong threw a flood of light upon the situation in a +characteristic manner. "That young woman, Grace Conner, has a mighty bad +name in this town; and the other one, her friend the nurse, is a +stranger. She was in my house for a month and--well, some things about +her look mighty queer to me. She hasn't been inside a church since she +came to Corinth. I would be the last man in the world to cast a suspicion +on anyone but--" he finished with a shake of his head, and an expression +of pious doubt on his crafty face that said he could, if he wished, tell +many dark secrets of Miss Farwell's life. + +Dan was on his feet instantly, his face flaming and his eyes gleaming +with indignation. "I--" then he checked himself, confused, as--in a +flash--he remembered who these men were and his relation to them in the +church. "I beg your pardon," he finished slowly, and dropped back into +his chair, biting his lips and clenching his big hands in an effort at +self-control. + +Elder Jordan broke in nervously. "Ahem, ahem! You understand, Brother +Matthews, that the sisters--that we do not think that you mean any harm, +but your standing in the community, you know, is such that we must shun +every appearance of evil. We, ahem--we felt it our duty to call." + +Big Dan, who had never met that spirit, the Ally, knew not how to answer +his masters in the church. He tried to feel that their mission to him was +of grave importance. He was tempted to laugh; their ponderous dignity +seemed so ridiculous. + +"Thank you, sir," he at last managed to say, gravely, "I think it is +hardly necessary for me to attempt any explanation." He was still +fighting for self-control and chose his words carefully. "I will consider +this matter." Then he turned the conversation skillfully into other +channels. + +When the overseers of the church were gone the young pastor walked the +floor of the room trying to grasp the true significance of the situation. +Gradually the real meaning of the Elders' visit grew upon him. Because +his own life was so big, so broad, because his ideals and ambitions were +so high, so true to the spirit of the Christ whose service he thought he +had entered, he could not believe his senses. + +He might have found some shadow of reason, perhaps, for their fears +regarding his friendship for the girl with the bad reputation, had the +circumstances been other than they were, and had he not known who it was +gave Grace Conner her bad name. But that his friendship for Miss Farwell, +whose beautiful ministry was such an example of the spirit of the +Christian religion; and that her care for the poor girl should be so +quickly construed into something evil--his mind positively refused to +entertain the thought. He felt that the visit of his church fathers was +unreal. He was as one dazed by an unpleasant dream. + +To come from the pure, wholesome atmosphere of his home and the inspiring +study of the history of the Christian religion, to such a twisted, +distorted, hideous corruption of the church policy and spirit, was, to +Dan, like coming from God's sunny hillside pastures to the gloom and +stench of the slaughter pens. He was stunned by the littleness, the +meanness that had prompted the "kindly warning" of these leaders of the +church. + +Slowly he began to see what that spirit might mean to him. + +No man of ordinary intelligence could long be in Memorial Church, without +learning that it was ruled by a ring, as truly as any body politic was +ever so ruled. Dan Matthews understood too clearly that his position in +Memorial Church depended upon the "bosses" then in control. And he saw +farther--saw, indeed, that his final success or failure in his chosen +calling depended upon the standing that should be given him by this, his +first charge; depended at the last upon these two men who had shown +themselves, each in his own way, so easily influenced by the low, vicious +tales of a few idle-minded town gossips. + +As one in the dark--stepping without warning into a boggy hole--Dan +groped for firmer ground. + +As one standing alone in a wide plain sees on the distant horizon the +threat of a gathering storm, and--watching, shudders at the shadow of a +passing cloud, Dan stood--a feeling of loneliness and dread heavy upon +him. + +He longed for companionship, for someone to whom he could speak his +heart. But to whom in Corinth could he go? These men who had just +"advised him" were, theoretically, his intimate counselors; to them he +was supposed, and had expected, to look--in his inexperience, for advice +and help. These men, old in the service of the church--how would they +answer his troubled thoughts? He shrugged his shoulders and smiled +grimly. The Doctor? He smiled again. + +Dan little dreamed how much that keen old fisherman already knew, from a +skillful baiting of Martha, about the visit of the Elders that afternoon; +while his knowledge of Dan's character from childhood, enabled the +physician to guess more than a little of the thoughts that occupied the +young man pacing the floor of his room. But the Doctor would not do for +the young man that day. + +Dan went to the window overlooking the garden. The nurse was still there, +helping crippled Denny with his work. The minister's hoe was leaning +against the big rock, as he had left it when he had caught up his coat. +Should he go down? What would she say if he were to tell her of the +Elders' mission? + +Something caused Miss Farwell to look up just then and she saw him. She +beckoned to him playfully, guardedly, like a schoolgirl. Smiling, he +shook his head. He could not go. + +More than ever, then, he felt very much alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +AS DR. HARRY SEES IT + +"Thus Dr. Harry presented another side of the problem to his bewildered +friend--a phase of the question commonly ignored by every fiery reformer, +whose particular reformation is the one--the only way." + + +The friendship between Dan and Dr. Abbott had grown rapidly, as was +natural, for the two men had much in common. In a town as small as +Corinth, there are many opportunities for even the busiest men to meet, +and scarcely a day passed that the doctor and the preacher did not +exchange greetings, at least. As often as their duties permitted they +were together; sometimes at the office or in Dan's rooms; again, of an +evening, at Harry's home; or driving miles across country behind the bay +mare or big Jim--the physician to see a patient, and the minister to be +the "hitchin' post." + +Harry was just turning from the telephone that evening when Dan entered +the house. + +"Hello, parson!" he cried heartily. "I was just this minute trying to get +you. I couldn't think of anything to do to anybody else, so I thought I'd +have a try at you. That wasn't such a bad guess either," he added, when +he had a good look at his friend's face. "You evidently need to have +something fixed. What is it, liver?" He led the way into the library. + +"Not mine," said Dan shortly. "I don't believe I have one." + +He pushed an arm chair to face the doctor's favorite seat by the table. + +Harry chuckled as he reached for his pipe and tobacco. "You don't need to +have one yourself in order to suffer from liver troubles. Speaking +professionally, my opinion is that you preachers, as a class, are more +likely to suffer from other people's livers than from your own, though +it is also true that the average parson has more of his own than he knows +what to do with." + +"And what do you doctors prescribe when it is the other fellow's?" asked +Dan. + +The other struck a match. "Oh, there's a difference of opinion in the +profession. The old Doctor, for instance, pins his faith to a split +bamboo with a book of flies or a can of bait." + +"And you?" Dan was smiling now. + +The answer came through a cloud of smoke. "Just a pipe and a book." + +Dan's smile vanished. "I fear your treatment would not agree with my +constitution," he said grimly. "My system does not permit me to use the +remedy you prescribe." + +"Oh, I see. You mean the pipe." A puff of smoke punctuated the remark. +The physician was watching his friend's face now, and the fun was gone +from his voice as he said gravely, "Pardon me. Brother Matthews; I meant +no slur upon your personal conviction touching--" + +"Brother Matthews!" interrupted Dan, sharply, "I thought we had agreed to +drop all that. It's bad enough to be dodged and shunned by every man in +town without your rubbing it in. As for my personal convictions, they +have nothing to do with the case. In fact, my system does not permit me +to have personal convictions." + +Dr. Harry's eyes twinkled. "This system of yours seems to be in a bad +way, Dan. What's wrong with it?" + +"Wrong with it! Wrong with my system? Man alive, don't you know this is +heresy! How can there be anything wrong with my system? Doesn't it +relieve me of any responsibility in the matter of right and wrong? +Doesn't it take from me all such burdens as personal convictions. Doesn't +it fix my standard of goodness, and then doesn't it make goodness my +profession? You, poor drudge; you and the rest of the merely humans must +be good as a matter of sentiment! Thanks to my system my goodness is a +matter of business; I am paid for being good. My system says that your +pipe and, perhaps your book, are bad--sinful. I have nothing to do with +it. I only obey and draw my salary." + +"Oh, well," said Harry, soothingly, "there is the old Doctor's remedy. +It's probably better on the whole." + +"I tried that the other day," Dan growled. + +"Worked, didn't it?" + +Dan grinned in spite of himself. "At first the effects seemed to be very +beneficial, but later I found that it was, er--somewhat irritating, and +that it slightly aggravated the complaint." + +The doctor was smiling now. "Suppose you try a little physical exercise +occasionally--working in the garden or--" + +Dan threw up his hands with a tragic gesture. "Suicide!" he almost +shouted. + +Then they both lay back in their chairs and fairly howled with laughter. + +"Whew! That does a fellow good!" gasped Dan. + +"I guess we have arrived," said Harry, with a final chuckle. "Thought we +were way off the track once or twice; but I have located your liver +trouble, all right. When did they call?" + +"This afternoon. Did you know?" + +The doctor nodded. "I have been expecting it for several days. I guess +you were about the only person in Corinth who wasn't." + +"Why didn't you tell me?" + +"If I can avoid it, I never tell a patient of a coming operation until +it's time to operate; then it's all over before they can get nervous." + +Dan shuddered--the laugh was all out of him now. "I have certainly been +on the table this afternoon," he said. "I need to talk it out with +someone. That's what I came to you for." + +"Perhaps you had better tell me the particulars," said Harry, quietly. + +So Dan told him, and when he had finished they had both grown very +serious. + +"I was afraid of this, Dan," said Harry. "You'll need to be very +careful--very careful." + +The other started to speak, but the doctor checked him. + +"I know. I know how you feel. What you say about the system and all that +is all too true, and you haven't seen the worst of it yet, by a good +deal." + +"Do you mean to tell me that Miss Farwell will be made to suffer for her +interest in that poor girl?" demanded Dan warmly. + +"If Miss Farwell continues to live with Grace Conner at Mrs. Mulhall's, +there is not a respectable home in this town that will receive her," +answered the doctor bluntly. + +"My God! are the people blind? Can't the church see what a +beautiful--what a Christ-like thing she is doing?" + +"You know Grace Conner's history," replied Harry, coolly. "What reason +is there to think it will be different in Miss Farwell's case, so far as +the attitude of the community goes?" + +Dan could not keep his seat. In his agitation he walked the floor. +Suddenly turning on the other he demanded, "Then I am to understand that +my friendship with Miss Farwell will mean for me--" + +Dr. Harry was silent. Indeed, how could he suggest, ever so indirectly, +that the friendship between Dan and Miss Farwell should be discontinued. +If the young woman had been anyone else, or if Dr. Harry himself had +not--But why attempt explanation? + +The minister continued tramping up and down the room, stopping now and +then to face the doctor, who sat still in his chair by the library table, +quietly smoking. + +"This is horrible, Harry! I--I can't believe it! So far as my friendship +for Miss Farwell goes, that is only an incident. It does not matter in +itself." + +Dr. Harry puffed vigorously. He thought to himself that this might be +true, but something in Dan's face and voice when he spoke--something of +which he himself was unconscious--made Harry glad that he had not +answered. + +"It is the spirit of it all that matters," the minister continued, +pausing again. "I never dreamed that such a thing could be. That Grace +Conner's life should be ruined by the wicked carelessness of these people +seems bad enough. But that they should take the same attitude toward Miss +Farwell, simply because she is seeking to do that Christian thing that +the church itself will not do, is--is monstrous!" He turned impatiently +to resume his restless movement. Then, when his friend did not speak he +continued slowly, as though the words were forced from him against his +will: "And to think that they could be so unmoved by the suffering of +that poor girl, their own victim, and so untouched by the example of Miss +Farwell; and then that they should give such grave consideration and be +so influenced by absolutely groundless and vicious idle gossip! And that +the church of Christ, that Christianity itself, should be so wholly in +the hands of people so unspeakably blind, so--contemptibly mean and small +in their conceptions of the religion of Jesus Christ!" + +He confronted the doctor again and his face flushed. "Why, Doctor, my +whole career as a Christian minister depends upon the mere whim of these +people, who are moved by such a spirit as this. No matter what motives +may prompt my course they have the power to prevent me from doing my +work. This is one of the strongest and most influential churches in the +brotherhood. They can give me such a name that my life-work will be +ruined. What can I do?" + +"You must be very careful, Dan," said Dr. Harry, slowly. + +"Careful! And that means, I suppose, that I must bow to the people of +this church--ruled as they are by such a spirit--as to my lords and +masters; that I shall have no other God but this congregation; that I +shall deny my own conscience for theirs; that I shall go about the +trivial, nonsensical things they call my pastoral duties, in fear and +trembling; that my ministry is to cringe when they speak, and do their +will regardless of what I feel to be the will of Christ! Faugh!" Big +Dan drew himself erect. "If this is what the call to the ministry means, +I am beginning to understand some things that have always puzzled me +greatly." + +He dropped wearily into his chair. + +"Tell me, Doctor," he demanded, "do the people generally, see these +things?" + +"It seems to me that everyone who thinks must see them," replied the +other. + +"Then why did no one tell me? Why did not the old Doctor explain the +real condition of the church?" + +"As a rule it is not a safe thing to attempt to tell a minister these +things. Would you have listened, Dan, if he had tried to tell you? Or, +because he is not a church man, would you not have misunderstood his +motives? The Doctor loves you, Dan." + +"But you are a church man, a member of the official board of my +congregation. If men like you know these things why are you in the +church at all?" + +Silently Dr. Harry re-filled and lighted his pipe. It was as if he +deliberated over his reply. The membership of every church may be divided +into three distinct classes: those who are the church; those who belong +to the church; and those who are members, but who neither are, nor belong +to. Dr. Harry was a member. + +"Dan," said the physician, "I suppose it is very difficult for such men +as you to understand the religious dependence of people like myself. We +see the church's lack of appreciation of true worth of character, we +know the vulgar, petty scheming and wire-pulling for place, the senseless +craving for notoriety, and the prostitution of the spirit of Christ's +teaching to denominational ends. We understand how the ministers are at +the mercy of the lowest minds and the meanest spirits in their +congregation; but, Dan, because we love the cause we do not talk of these +things even to each other, for fear of being misunderstood. It is useless +to talk of them to our ministers, for they dare not listen. Why man, I +never in my life felt that I could talk to my pastor as I am talking to +you!" He smiled. "I guess that I was afraid that they would tell Judge +Strong, and that the church would put me out. And, with most of them, +that--probably, is exactly what would have happened. I am not sure but +you will consider me unsafe, and avoid me in the future," he added +whimsically. + +Dan smiled at his words, though they revealed so much to him. + +Dr. Harry went on, "We remain in the church, and give it our support, I +suppose, because we are dependent upon it for our religious life; because +we know no religious life outside of it. It is the only institution that +professes to be distinctively Christian, and we love its teaching in +spite of its practice. We are always hoping that some one will show us a +way out. And some one will!" He spoke passionately now, with deep +conviction: "Some one must! This Godless mockery cannot continue. I have +too much faith in the goodness of men to believe otherwise. I don't know +how the change will come. But it will come and it will come from men in +the church--men like you, Dan, who come to the ministry with the highest +ideals. But you must be careful, mighty careful, not for your own sake, +alone, but for the sake of the cause we both love. Some operations are +exceedingly dangerous to the life of the patient; some medicines must be +administered with care lest they kill instead of cure. Men like me, from +long experience with professional reformers, look with distrust upon the +preacher who talks about his church, even while we know that there is a +great need." + +Thus Dr. Harry presented another side of the problem to his bewildered +friend--a phase of the question commonly ignored by every fiery reformer, +whose particular reformation is _the_ one--the only way. + +Later Dan asked, "Do you think Miss Farwell understands what her course +means, Doctor?" + +Harry shook his head. "I wish I knew how much she understands. Already +two or three people who expected to call her have told me they would +find someone else. I have several cases now that need a trained nurse, +but they won't have her because of what they have heard. And yet I +promised her, you know, that she should have plenty of work." + +"Have you told her this?" asked Dan. + +Again Harry shook his head. "What's the good?" + +"But she ought to be told," exclaimed the other. + +"I know that, Dan. But I can't do it, after urging her, as I did, to +stay in Corinth. You are the one to tell her, I am sure." + +Then, as if to avoid any further discussion of the matter he rose. "You +certainly have had enough of this for today, old man. I think I'll +prescribe a little music, now, and, if you don't mind, I'll take some of +my own prescription. I feel the need." + +He went to his piano, and for an hour Dan was under the spell. + +When the last sweet harmony had slipped softly away into the night, the +musician sat still, his head bowed. Dan went quietly to his side, and +laid a hand on the doctor's shoulder. + +"Amen!" he said, reverently. "It is a wonderful, beautiful ministry, +Doctor. You have given me faith and hope and peace. Thank you!" + +When his friend had gone, Dr. Harry went back to the piano. Softly, +smoothly his fingers moved over the ivory keys. He had played for +Dan--he played now for himself. Into the music he put all that he dared +not put into words: all the longing, all the pain, all the surrender, +all the sacrifice, were there. For again, when the minister had spoken +of Miss Farwell the doctor had seen in his friend's face and heard in +his voice that which Dan himself did not yet recognize. And Harry had +spoken the conviction of his heart when he said, "You are the one to +tell her, I am sure." + +Of this man, too, it might be written, "He saved others; himself he could +not save." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +A PARABLE + +"'And do you think, Grace, that anything in all this beautiful world is +of greater importance--of more value to the world--than a human life, +with all its marvelous power to think and feel and love and hate and so +leave its mark on all life, for all time?'" + + +"Miss Farwell!" + +The nurse looked up from her sewing in her hands. + +"What is it, Grace?" + +"I--I think I will try to find a place today. Mrs. Mulhall told me last +night that she had heard of two women who want help. It may be that one +of them will take me. I think I ought to try." + +This was the third time within a few days that the girl had expressed +thoughts similar to these. Under the personal care of Miss Farwell she +had rapidly recovered from her terrible experience, both physically and +mentally, but the nurse felt that she was not yet strong enough to meet +a possible rebuff from the community that, before, had shown itself so +reluctant to treat her with any degree whatever of consideration or +kindness. The girl's spirit had been cruelly hurt. She was possessed of +an unhealthy, morbid fear of the world that would cripple her for life +if it could not somehow be overcome. + +Miss Farwell felt that Grace Conner's only chance lay in winning a place +for herself in the community where she had suffered such ill-treatment. +But before she faced the people again she must be prepared. The +sensitive, wounded spirit must be strengthened, for it could not bear +many more blows. How to do this was the problem. + +Hope dropped her sewing in her lap. "Come over here by the window, dear, +and let's talk about it." + +The young woman seated herself on a stool at the feet of her companion +who, in actual years, was but little her senior, but who, in so many +ways, was to her an elder sister. + +"Why are you so anxious to leave me, Grace?" asked the nurse with a +smile. + +The girl's eyes--eyes that would never now be wholly free from that +shadow of fear and pain--filled with tears. She put out a hand +impulsively, touching Miss Farwell's knee. "Oh, don't say that!" she +exclaimed, with a little catch in her voice. "You know it isn't that." + +The eyes of the stronger woman looked reassuringly down at her. "Well, +what is it then?" The low tone was insistent. The nurse felt that it +would be better for the patient to express that which was in her own +mind. + +The girl's face was down-cast and she picked nervously at the fold of +her friend's skirt. "It's nothing, Miss Farwell; only I feel that I--I +ought not to be a burden upon you a moment longer than I can help." + +"I thought that was it," returned the other. Her firm, white hand slipped +under the trembling chin, and the girl's face was gently lifted until +Grace was forced to look straight into those deep gray eyes. "Tell me, +dear, why do you feel that you are a burden upon me?" + +Silence for a moment; then--and there was a wondering gladness in the +girl's voice--"I--I don't know." + +The nurse smiled, but there was a grave note in her voice as she said, +still holding the girl's face toward her own, "I'll tell you why. It is +because you have been hurt so deeply. This feeling is one of the scars +of your experience, dear. All your life you will need to fight that +feeling--the feeling that you are not wanted. And you must fight +it--fight it with all your might. You will never overcome it entirely, +for the scar of your hurt is there to stay. You will always suffer at +times from the old fear; but, if you will, you can conquer it so far +that it will not spoil your life. You must--for your own sake, and for +my sake, and for the sake of the wounded lives you are going to help +heal--help all the better because of your own hurt. Do you understand, +dear?" + +The other nodded; she could not speak. + +"You are going out into the world to find a place for yourself, of +course, for that is right," Hope continued. "And it will be best for you +to find a place here in Corinth, if possible. But it is not going to be +easy, Grace. It's going to be hard, very hard, and you will need to know +that, no matter what other people make you feel, you have a place in my +life, a place where you belong. Let me try, if I can, to tell you so that +you will never, never forget." + +For a little the nurse looked away out of the window, up into the leafy +depths of the big trees, and into the blue sky beyond, while the girl +watched her with a look that was pathetic in its wondering, hungering +earnestness. When Miss Farwell spoke again she chose her words carefully. + +"Once upon a time a woman, walking in the mountains, discovered by chance +a wonderful mine, of such vast wealth that there was nothing in all the +world like it for richness. And the mine belonged to the woman because +she found it. But the wealth of the mine went out into the world for all +men to use, and thus, in the largest sense, the riches the woman found +belonged to all mankind. But still, because she had found it, the woman +always felt that it was hers. And so, through her discovery of this vast +wealth, and the great happiness it brought to the world, the mine became +to the woman the dearest of all her possessions. + +"Tell me, Grace, do you think that anyone could ever replace the +mountains, the ocean or the stars, or any of these wonderful, wonderful +things in the great universe, if they were to be destroyed?" + +"No." The answer came in a puzzled tone. + +"And do you think, Grace, that anything in all this beautiful world is of +greater importance--of more value to the world--than a human life, with +all its marvelous power to think and feel and love and hate and so leave +its mark on all life, for all time?" + +"No, Miss Farwell." + +"Then don't you see how impossible it is that anyone should ever take +your place? Don't you see that you have a place in the world--a place +that is yours because God put you in it, just as truly as he put the +mountains, the seas, the stars in their places? And don't you see why +you must feel that you have a right to your own life-place, and that you +must hold it, no matter what others say, or do, or think, because of its +great value to God and to the world? And Grace--look at me, child! do you +think that anything in all the universe is dearer to the Father than a +human life, that is so wonderful and so eternal in its power? So life +should be the dearest thing in all the world to us. Not just the life of +each to himself, but every life--any life, the dearest thing to all. I +think this was true of Christ; I think it should be true of Christians. +I believe this with all my heart." + +There was silence for a little while; then Hope said again: "Now tell me, +Grace, ought the mine to have felt dependent upon the woman who found it, +and who valued it so highly, do you think? Then why should you feel +dependent upon me? Why, you belong to me, child! Your life, the most +wonderful--the dearest thing in all the world, belongs to me; just as the +mine belonged to the woman and brought her great joy because it blessed +the world. When others threw your life aside, when you yourself tried to +throw it away, I found it. I took it. It is mine! And it is the dearest +thing in all the world to me, because it is so great a thing, because no +other life can take its place, and because it is of such great worth to +the world. Don't you see?" The calm voice was vibrant now with deep +emotion. + +Looking into those gray eyes that shone with such loving kindness into +her own, Grace Conner realized a mighty truth; a truth that would mould +and shape her own life into a life of beauty and power. + +"So, dear," the nurse continued, "when you go out into the world again, +and people make you feel the old hurt--as they will--you must remember +the woman who found the mine; and, feeling that you belong to me and to +all life, you will not let people rob you of your place in the world. You +will not let them rob me of my great wealth. And now you must try the +very best you can to get work here in Corinth, but if you should fail to +find it, you won't let that matter too much. You'll keep your place right +here with me just the same, won't you, Grace, because you are my mine, +you know?" + +Long and earnestly the girl looked into the face of the nurse, and Miss +Farwell understood what the other could not say. Suddenly the girl caught +her friend's hand and kissed it passionately, then rushed from the room. +Miss Farwell wisely let her go without a word, but her own eyes were +full. + +She turned to the open window to see her neighbor, the minister, coming +in at the gate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE WAY OUT + +"'You see you will need to find a way out for yourself.'" + + +Deborah was in the rear of the house, busily engaged with a big washing. +Denny had gone up town on some errand. Much to Miss Farwell's surprise +Dan did not, as usual, take the path leading to the garden, but kept +straight ahead to the porch, and his face was very grave as he asked if +he might come in. She welcomed him with frank pleasure, and took up at +once the thread of conversation which the visit of the Elders had +interrupted the day before. But it was clear that her big friend's mind +was busy with other thoughts, and soon they were facing an embarrassing +silence. The young woman gazed thoughtfully at the monument across the +street, while Dan moved uneasily. At last the man broke the silence. + +"Miss Farwell I don't know what you will think of me for coming to you +upon the errand that brought me, but I feel that I--I mean, I want you +to believe that I am trying to do what is best." + +She looked at him questioningly. + +Dan went on. "I learned something yesterday, that I am sure you ought to +know, and there seems to be no one else to tell you, so I--I came." + +Miss Farwell's cheeks and brow grew crimson, but in a moment she was her +own calm self again. + +"Go on, please." + +Then he told her. + +While he was speaking of the Elders' visit and his talk with Dr. Abbott, +she watched him closely. Two or three times she smiled. When he had +finished she asked with a touch of sarcasm in her voice, "And do you wish +to see my letters of recommendation? Shall I give you a list of people to +whom you might write?" + +"Miss Farwell!" Dan's voice brought the hot color again to her cheek. + +"Forgive me! That was unkind," she said. + +"Well rather. You might see that I did not come to you with this +for--well for fun," he finished with a grim smile. + +"You don't seem to be enjoying it greatly," she agreed critically. "I can +easily understand how this talk might result in something very serious +for you. You will remember, I think, that I warned you, you could not +leave the preacher on the other side of the fence." She was deliberately +trying him. "But of course you can easily avoid any trouble with your +people, you have only to--" + +She stopped, checked by the expression on his face. + +His voice rang out sharply with a quality in its tone that sent a thrill +to the heart of the woman. "I did not come here to discuss the +possibility of trouble for me. Please believe this--even if I am a +servant of the church." + +He spoke the last words with a shade of bitterness, she thought, and as +she looked at him--his powerful form tense for a moment, with firm-set +lips and square jaw and stern eyes--she found herself wondering what +would happen if this servant should ever decide to be the master. + +"Don't you see how this idle, silly, wicked talk is likely to harm you?" +he asked almost roughly. "You know what the same thing did for Grace +Conner. It is really serious, Miss Farwell--believe me it is, or I should +not have told you about it at all. Already Dr. Harry--" He checked +himself. His reference to his friend was unintentional. + +She finished the sentence quietly, "--has found some people who will not +employ me because of the things that are being said. I knew something +was wrong, for--instead of telling me of possible cases and assuring me +of work, he has been saying lately, 'I will let you know if anything +turns up.'" + +Dan broke in eagerly, "Dr. Abbott has done everything he could, Miss +Farwell. I ought not to have mentioned him at all. You must not think--" + +She interrupted him with quiet dignity. "Certainly I do not think of any +such thing. You and Dr. Abbott are both very kind to consider me in this +way, but really you must not be troubled about this silly gossip. I am +not exactly dependent upon the good people of Corinth, you know. I can go +back to the city at any time. Perhaps," she added slowly, "considering +everything that would be the wisest thing to do, after all. It was only +for Grace Conner's sake I have remained." + +Dan spoke eagerly again, "But you do not need to leave Corinth. This talk +you know, is all because of your companion's reputation." + +"You mean," she said quietly, "the reputation that people have given my +companion." + +"So far as the situation goes it amounts to the same thing," he answered. +"It is your association with her. If you could arrange to board with some +family now--" + +Again she interrupted him. "Grace needs me, Mr. Matthews." + +"But it is all so unjust," he argued lamely. "The sacrifice is too great. +You can't afford to place yourself before the community in such a wrong +light." + +The young woman's face revealed her surprise and disappointment. She had +grown to think of Dan as being big and fine in spirit as in body, and +now, to hear him voice, what she believed to be the spirit and policy of +his profession, was a shock that hurt. She would have flashed out at him +with scornful, cutting words, but she felt, intuitively, that he was not +being true to himself in this--that he was forced, as it were, into a +false position by something deep down in his life. This feeling robbed +her of the power to reply in stinging words, and instead gave her answer +a note of sadness. + +"Are you not advocating the doctrines and policy of the people who are +responsible for the 'wrong light' rather than the teachings of Christ? +Are you not now speaking professionally, having forgotten our agreement +to leave the preacher on the other side of the fence?" + +The big fellow's embarrassment was evident as he said, "Miss Farwell, +you must not--you must not misunderstand me again. I did not mean--I +cannot stand the thought of your being so misjudged because of this +beautiful Christian service. I was only seeking a way out." + +"No," she said gently, "I will not misunderstand you, but there is only +one way out, as you put it." + +"And that?" + +"My ministry." + +Dan sprang to his feet and crossed the room to her side. + +"What a woman you are!" he exclaimed impulsively. + +She arose, trembling; always when he came near--something about this man +moved her strangely. + +"But my way out will not help you," she said. "You must think of your +ministry." + +"I thought we agreed not to talk of that," he returned. + +"But we must. You must consider what the result will be if you are seen +with me--with Grace and me." She caught herself quickly. "Can the pastor +of Memorial Church afford to associate with two women of such doubtful +reputation? What will your church think?" She was smiling as she spoke, +but beneath the smile there was much of earnestness. She was determined +that he should know how well she understood his position. She wondered +if he himself understood it. "You see you will need to find a way out for +yourself," she insisted. + +"I am not looking for a way out," he growled. + +"Ah, but you should. You must consider your influence. Consider the great +harm your interest in Grace Conner will do your church. You must remember +your position in the community. You cannot afford to--to risk your +reputation." + +Under her skillfully chosen words, he again assumed an air of indignant +reserve. She saw his hands clench, and the great muscles in his arms and +shoulders swell. + +Unconsciously--or was it unconsciously?--she had repeated almost the +exact words of Elder Jordan. The stock argument sounded strange coming +from her. Deliberately she went on. "Really there is no reason why you +should suffer from this. It is not necessary for you to continue our +little friendship. You can stay on the other side of the fence. I--we +will understand. You have too much at stake. You--" + +He interrupted. "Miss Farwell, I don't know what you think of me that +you can say these things. I had hoped that you were beginning to look +upon me as a man, not merely as a preacher. I had even dared think that +our friendship was growing to be something more than just a little +friendly acquaintance. If I am mistaken, I will stay on the other side +of the fence. If I am right--if you do care for my friendship," he +finished slowly, "I will try to serve my people faithfully, but I will +not willingly shape my life by their foolish, wicked whims. Denny's +garden may get along without me, and you may not need what you call 'our +little friendship' but I need Denny's garden, and--I need you." + +Her face shone with gladness. "Forgive me," she said. "I only wished to +be sure that you understood some things clearly." + +At her rather vague words, he said, "I am beginning to understand a good +many things." + +"And understanding, you will still come to--" she smiled, "to work in +Denny's garden?" + +"Yes," he answered with a boyish laugh, "just as if there were no other +place in all the world where I could get a job." + +She watched him as he swung down the walk, through the gate and away up +the street under the big trees. + +And as she watched him, she recalled his words, "I need you;--just as +though there were no other place in all the world." The words repeated +themselves in her mind. + +How much did they mean, she wondered. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +A LABORER AND HIS HIRE + +"But it was a reaching out in the dark, a blind groping for +something--Dan knew not exactly what: a restless but cautious feeling +about for a place whereon to set his feet." + + +It was the Sunday evening following the incidents just related that Dan +was challenged. + +His sermon was on "Fellowship of Service," a theme very different from +the subjects he had chosen at the beginning of his preaching in Corinth. +The Doctor smiled as he listened, telling himself that the boy was +already beginning to "reach out." As usual the Doctor was right. But it +was a reaching out in the dark, a blind groping for something--Dan knew +not exactly what: a restless but cautious feeling about for a place +whereon to set his feet. + +With the sublime confidence of the newly-graduated, this young shepherd +had come from the denominational granary to feed his flock with a goodly +armful of theological husks; and very good husks they were too. It should +be remembered that--while Dan had been so raised under the teachings of +his home that, to an unusual degree his ideals and ambitions were most +truly Christian--he knew nothing of life other than the simple life of +the country neighborhood where he was born; he knew as little of +churches. So that--while it was natural and easy for him to accept the +husks from his church teachers at their valuation, being wholly without +the fixed prejudice that comes from family church traditions--it was just +as natural and easy for him to discover quickly, when once he was face to +face with his hungry flock, that the husks were husks. + +From the charm of the historical glories of the church as pictured by the +church historians, and from the equally captivating theories of +speculative religion as presented by teachers of schools of theology, +Dan had been brought suddenly in contact with actual conditions. In his +experience of the past weeks there was no charm, no glory, no historical +greatness, no theoretical perfection. There was meanness, shameful +littleness--actual, repulsive, shocking. He was compelled to recognize +the real need that his husks could not satisfy. It had been forced upon +his attention by living arguments that refused to be put aside. And Big +Dan was big enough to see that the husks did not suffice--consistent +enough to cease giving them out. But the young minister felt pitifully +empty handed. + +The Doctor had foreseen that Dan would very soon reach the point in his +ministerial journey where he was now standing--the point where he must +decide which of the two courses open to him he should choose. + +Before him, on the one hand, lay the easy, well-worn path of obedience +to the traditions, policies and doctrines of Memorial Church and its +denominational leaders. On the other hand lay the harder and +less-frequented way of truthfulness to himself and his own convictions. +Would he--lowering his individual standard of righteousness--wave the +banner of his employers, preaching--not the things that he believed to +be the teachings of Jesus--but the things that he knew would meet the +approval of the church rulers? Or would he preach the things that his +own prayerful judgment told him were needed if his church was to be, +indeed, the temple of the spirit of Christ. In short Dan must now decide +whether he would bow to the official board, that paid his salary, or to +his God, as the supreme authority to whom he must look for an indorsement +of his public teaching. + +In Dan's case, it was the teaching of the four years of school against +the teaching of his home. The home won. Being what he was by birth and +training, this man could not do other than choose the harder way. The +Doctor with a great amount of satisfaction saw him throwing down his +husks, and awaited the outcome with interest. + +That sermon was received by the Elders and ruling classes with silent, +uneasy bewilderment. Others were puzzled no less by the new and +unfamiliar note, but their faces expressed a kind of doubtful +satisfaction. Thus it happened that, with one exception, not a person of +the entire audience mentioned the sermon when they greeted their minister +at the close of the service. The exception was a big, broad-shouldered +young farmer whom Dan had never before met. + +Elder Strong introduced him, "Brother Matthews, you must meet Brother +John Gardner. This is the first time he has been to church for a long +while." + +The two young men shook hands, each measuring the other with admiring +eyes. + +The Judge continued, "Brother John used to be one of our most active +workers, but for some reason he has dropped behind. I never could just +exactly understand it." He finished with his pious, patronizing laugh, +which somehow conveyed the thought that he did understand if only he +chose to tell, and that the reason was anything but complimentary to +Brother John. + +The big farmer's face grew red at the Judge's words. He quickly faced +about as if to retort, but checked himself, and, ignoring the Elder said +directly to Dan, "Yes, and I may as well tell you that I wouldn't be +here today, but I am caught late with my harvesting, and short of hands. +I drove into town to see if I could pick up a man or two. I didn't find +any so I waited over until church, thinking that I might run across +someone here." + +Dan smiled. The husky fellow was so uncompromisingly honest and +outspoken. It was like a breath of air from the minister's own home +hills. It was so refreshing Dan wished for more, "And have you found +anyone?" he asked abruptly. + +At the matter-of-fact tone the other looked at the minister with a +curious expression in his blue eyes. The question was evidently not what +he had expected. + +"No," he said, "I have not, but I'm glad I came anyway. Your sermon was +mighty interesting to me, sir. I couldn't help thinking though, that +these sentiments about work would come a heap more forceful from someone +who actually knowed what a day's work was. My experience has been that +the average preacher knows about as much about the lives of the laboring +people as I do about theology." + +"I think you are mistaken there," declared Dan. "The fact is, that the +average preacher comes from the working classes." + +"If he comes from them he takes mighty good care that he stays from +them," retorted the other. "But I've got something else to do besides +starting an argument now. I don't mind telling you, though, that if I +could see you pitch wheat once in a while when crops are going to waste +for want of help, I'd feel that we was close enough together for you to +preach to me." So saying he turned abruptly and pushed his way through +the crowd toward a group of working-men who stood near the door. + +The Doctor had never commented to Dan on his sermons. But, that night as +they walked home together, something made Dan feel that his friend was +pleased. The encounter with the blunt young farmer had been so refreshing +that he was not so depressed in spirit as he commonly was after the +perfunctory, meaningless, formal compliments, and handshaking that +usually closed his services. Perhaps because of this he--for the first +time--sought an expression from his old friend. + +"The people did not seem to like my sermon tonight?" he ventured. + +The Doctor grunted a single word, "Stunned!" + +"Do you think they will like it when they recover?" asked Dan with an +embarrassed laugh. + +But the old man was not to be led into discussing Dan's work. + +"In my own practice," he said dryly, "I never prescribe medicine to suit +a patient's taste, but to cure him." + +Dan understood. He tried again. + +"But how did _you_ like my prescription, Doctor?" + +For a while the Doctor did not answer; then he said, "Well you see, Dan, +I always find more religion in your talks when you are not talking +religiously." + +Just then a team and buggy passed, and the voice of John Gardner hailed +them cheerily. + +"Good night, Doctor! Good night, Mr. Matthews!" + +"Good night!" they answered, and the Doctor called after him, "Did you +find your man, John?" + +"No," shouted the other, "I did not. If you run across anyone send 'em +out will you?" + +"There goes a mighty fine fellow," commented the old physician. + +"Seems to be," agreed Dan thoughtfully. "Where does he live?" + +The Doctor told him, adding, "I wouldn't call until harvest is over, if +I were you. He really wouldn't have time to give you and he'd probably +tell you so." Which advice Dan received in silence. + +The sun was just up the next morning when John Gardner was hitching his +team to the big hay wagon. Already the smoke was coming from the stack +of the threshing engine, that stood with the machine in the center of the +field, and the crew was coming from the cook-wagon. Two hired men, with +another team and wagon, were already gathering a load of sheaves to haul +to the threshers. + +The house dog barked fiercely and the farmer paused with a trace in his +hand when he saw a big man turning into the barn lot from the road. + +"Good morning!" called Dan cheerily, "I feared I was going to be late." +He swung up to the young fellow who stood looking at him--too astonished +to speak--the unhooked trace still in his hand. + +"I understand that you need a hand," said Dan briefly. And the farmer +noticed that the minister was dressed in a rough suit of clothes, a worn +flannel shirt and an old slouch hat--Dan's fishing rig. + +With a slow smile John turned, hooked his trace, and gathered his lines. +"Do you mean to say that you walked out here from town this morning to +work in the harvest field--a good eight miles?" + +"That is exactly what I mean," returned the other. + +"What for?" asked the farmer bluntly. + +"For the regular wages, with one condition." + +"And the condition?" + +"That no one on the place shall be told that I am a preacher, and +that--for today at least--I pitch against you. If, by tonight, you are +not satisfied with my work you can discharge me," he added meaningly. As +Dan spoke he faced the rugged farmer with a look that made him understand +that his challenge of the night before was accepted. + +The blue eyes gleamed. "I'll take you," he said curtly. Calling to his +wife, "Mary give this man his breakfast." Then to Dan, "When you get +through come out to the machine." He sprang on his wagon and Dan turned +toward the kitchen. + +"Hold on a minute," John shouted, as the wagon began to move, "what'll I +call you?" + +The other answered over his shoulder, "My name is Dan." + +All that day they worked, each grimly determined to handle more grain +than the other. Before noon the spirit of the contest had infected the +whole force. Every hand on the place worked as if on a wager. The +threshing crew were all from distant parts of the country, and no one +knew who it was that had so recklessly matched his strength and staying +power against John Gardner, the acknowledged champion for miles around. +Bets were freely laid; rough, but good natured chaff flew from mouth to +mouth; and now and then a hearty yell echoed over the field, but the two +men in the contest were silent; they scarcely exchanged a word. + +In the afternoon the stranger slowly but surely forged ahead. John +rallied every ounce of his strength but his giant opponent gained +steadily. When the last load came in the farmer threw down his fork +before the whole crowd and held out his hand to Dan. + +"I'll give it up," he said heartily. "You're a better man than I am, +stranger, wherever you come from." Dan took the offered hand while the +men cheered lustily. + +But the light of battle still shone in the minister's eyes. + +"Perhaps," he said, "pitching is not your game. I'll match you now, +tonight, for anything you want--wrestling, running, jumping, or I'll go +you at any time for any work you can name." + +John slowly looked him over and shook his head, "I know when I've got +enough," he said laughing. "Perhaps some of the boys here--" He turned +to the group. + +The men grinned as they measured the stranger with admiring glances and +one drawled, "We don't know where you come from, pardner, but we sure +know what you can do. Ain't nobody in this outfit hankerin' to tackle +the man that can work John Gardner down." + +At the barn the farmer drew the minister to one side. + +"Look here, Brother Matthews," he began. + +But the other interrupted sharply. "My name is Dan, Mr. Gardner. Don't +go back on the bargain." + +"Well then, Dan, I won't. And please remember after this that my name is +John. I started to ask if you really meant to stay out here and work for +me this harvest?" + +"That was the bargain, unless you are dissatisfied and want me to quit +tonight." + +The other rubbed his tired arms. "Oh I'm satisfied all right," he said +grimly. "But I can't understand it, that's all." + +"No," said the other, "and I can't explain. But perhaps if you were a +preacher, and were met by men as men commonly meet preachers, you would +understand clearly enough." + +Tired as he was, the big farmer laughed until the tears came. + +"And to think," he said, "all the way home last night I was wondering +how you could stand it. I understand it all right. Come on in to supper." +He led the way to the house. + +For three days Dan fairly reveled in the companionship of those rough +men, who gave him full fellowship in their order of workers. Then he went +back to town. + +John drove him in and the two chatted like the good comrades they had +come to be, until within sight of the village. As they drew near the town +silence fell upon them; their remarks grew formal and forced. + +Dan felt as if he were leaving home to return to a strange land where he +would always be an alien. At his door the farmer said awkwardly, "Well, +goodbye, Brother Matthews, come out whenever you can." + +The minister winced but did not protest. "Thank you," he returned, "I +have enjoyed my visit more than I can say." And there was something so +pathetic in the brown eyes of the stalwart fellow that the other strong +man could make no reply. He drove quickly away without a word or a +backward look. + +In his room Dan sat down by the window, thinking of the morrow and what +the church called his work, of the pastoral visits, the committee +meetings, the Ladies' Aid. At last he stood up and stretched his great +body to its full height with a sigh. Then drawing his wages from his +pocket he placed the money on the study table and stood for a long time +contemplating the pieces of silver as if they could answer his thoughts. +Again he went to the window and looked down at Denny's garden that +throughout the summer had yielded its strength to the touch of the +crippled boy's hand. Then from the other window he gazed at the cast-iron +monument on the corner--gazed until the grim figure seemed to threaten +him with its uplifted arm. + +Slowly he turned once more to the coins on the table. Gathering them, +one by one, he placed them carefully in an envelope. Then, seating +himself, he wrote on the little package, "The laborer is worthy of his +hire." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE WINTER PASSES + +"And, as the weeks passed, it came to be noticed that there was often in +the man's eyes, and in his voice, a great sadness--the sadness of one who +toils at a hopeless task; of one who suffers for crimes of which he is +innocent; of one who fights for a well-loved cause with the certainty of +defeat." + + +The harvest time passed, the winter came and was gone again, and another +springtime was at hand, with its new life stirring in blade and twig and +branch, and its mystical call to the hearts of men. + +Memorial Church was looking forward to the great convention of the +denomination that was to be held in a distant city. + +All through the months following Dan's sermon on "The Fellowship of +Service," the new note continued dominant in his preaching, and indeed +in all his work. Even his manner in the pulpit changed. All those little +formalities and mannerisms--tricks of the trade--disappeared, while the +distinguishing garb of the clergyman was discarded for clothing such as +is worn by the man in the pew. + +It was impossible that the story of those three days in John Gardner's +harvest field should not get out. Memorial Church was crowded at every +service by those whose hearts responded, even while they failed to grasp +the full significance of the preaching and life of this manly fellow, +who, in spite of his profession, was so much a man among men. + +But the attitude of the church fathers and of the ruling class was still +one of doubt and suspicion, however much they could not ignore the +manifest success of their minister. In spite of their misgivings their +hearts swelled with pride and satisfaction as, with his growing +popularity they saw their church forging far to the front. And, try as +they might, they could fix upon nothing unchristian in his teaching. +They could not point to a single sentence in any one of his sermons that +did not unmistakably harmonize with the teaching and spirit of Jesus. + +It was not so much what Dan preached that worried these pillars of the +church; but it was what he did not preach, that made them uneasy. They +missed the familiar pious sayings and platitudes, the time-worn +sermon-subjects that had been handled by every preacher they had ever +sat under. The old path--beaten so hard and plain by the many "bearers +of good tidings," the safe, sure ground of denominational doctrine and +theological speculation, the familiar, long-tried type of prayer, even, +were all quietly, but persistently ignored by this calm-eyed, +broad-shouldered, stalwart minister, who was often so much in earnest in +his preaching that he forgot to talk like a preacher. + +Unquestionably, decided the fathers, this young giant was "unsafe"; +and--wagging their heads wisely--they predicted dire disasters, under +their breath; while openly and abroad they boasted of the size of their +audiences and their minister's power. + +Nor did these keepers of the faith fail to make Dan feel their +dissatisfaction. By hints innumerable, by carefully withholding words of +encouragement, by studied coldness, they made him understand that they +were not pleased. Every plan for practical Christian work that Dan +suggested (and he suggested many that winter) they coolly refused to +endorse, while requesting that he give more attention to the +long-established activities. + +Without protest or bitterness Dan quietly gave up his plans, and, except +in the matter of his sermons, yielded to their demands. Never was there +a word of harshness or criticism of church or people in his talks; only +firm, but gentle insistence upon the great living principles of Christ's +teaching. And the people, in his presence, knew often that feeling the +Doctor was conscious of--that this man was, in some way, that which they +might have been. Some of his hearers this feeling saddened with regret; +others it inspired with hope and filled them with a determination to +realize that best part of themselves; to still others it was a rebuke, +the more stinging because so unconsciously given, and they were filled +with anger and envy. + +Meanwhile the attitude of the people toward Hope Farwell and the girl +whom she had befriended, remained unaltered. But now Deborah and Denny +as well came to share in their displeasure. Dan made no change in his +relation to the nurse and her friends in the little cottage on the other +side of the garden. In spite of constant hints, insinuations and +reflections on the part of his church masters, he calmly, deliberately +threw down the gauntlet before the whole scandal-loving community. And +the community respected and admired him--for this is the way with the +herd--even while it abated not one whit its determination to ruin him +the instant chance afforded the opportunity. + +So the spirit that lives in Corinth--the Ally, waited. The power that +had put the shadow of pain over the life of Grace Conner, waited for +Hope and Dan, until the minister himself should furnish the motive that +should call it into action. Dan felt it--felt his enemy stirring quietly +in the dark, watching, waiting. And, as the weeks passed, it came to be +noticed that there was often in the man's eyes, and in his voice, a great +sadness--the sadness of one who toils at a hopeless task; of one who +suffers for crimes of which he is innocent; of one who fights for a +well-loved cause with the certainty of defeat. + +Because of the very fine sense of Dan's nature the situation caused him +the keenest suffering. It was all so different from the life to which he +had looked forward with such feelings of joy; it was all so unjust. Many +were the evenings that winter when the minister flew to Dr. Harry and his +ministry of music. And in those hours the friendship between the two men +grew into something fine and lasting, a friendship that was to endure +always. Many times, too, Dan fled across the country to the farm of John +Gardner, there to spend the day in the hardest toil, finding in the +ministry of labor, something that met his need. But more than these was +the friendship of Hope Farwell and the influence of her life and +ministry. + +It was inevitable that the very attitude of the community should force +these two friends into closer companionship and sympathy. The people, +in judging them so harshly for the course each had chosen--because to +them it was right and the only course possible to their religious +ideals--drove them to a fuller dependence upon each other. + +Dan, because of his own character and his conception of Christ, +understood, as perhaps no one else in the community could possibly have +done, just why the nurse clung to Grace Conner and the work she had +undertaken; while he felt that she grasped, as no one else, the +peculiarly trying position in which he so unexpectedly found himself +placed in his ministry. And Hope Farwell, feeling that Dan alone +understood her, realized as clearly that the minister had come to depend +upon her as the one friend in Corinth who appreciated his true situation. +Thus, while she gave him strength for his fight, she drew strength for +her own from him. + +Since that day when he had told her of the talk of the people that matter +had not been mentioned between them, though it was impossible that they +should not know the attitude of the community toward them both. That +subtle, un-get-at-able power--the Ally, that is so irresistible, so +certain in its work, depending for results upon words with double +meanings, suggestive nods, tricks of expression, sly winks and meaning +smiles--while giving its victims no opportunity for defense, never leaves +them in doubt as to the object of its attack. + +The situation was never put into words by these two, but they knew, and +each knew the other knew. And their respect, confidence and regard for +each other grew steadily, as it must with all good comrades under fire. +In those weeks each learned to know and depend upon the other, though +neither realized to what extent. So it came to be that it was not Grace +Conner alone, that kept Miss Farwell in Corinth, but the feeling that Dan +Matthews, also, depended upon her--the feeling that she could not desert +her comrade in the fight, or--as they had both come to feel--their fight. + +Hope Farwell was not a schoolgirl. She was a strong full-blooded, +perfectly developed, workwoman, matured in body and mind. She realized +what the continued friendship of this man might mean to her--realized +it fully and was glad. Dimly, too, she saw how this that was growing +in her heart might bring great pain and suffering--life-long suffering, +perhaps. For--save this--their present, common fight, the life of the +nurse and the life of the churchman held nothing in common. His deepest +convictions had led him into a ministry that was, to her, the sheerest +folly. + +Hope Farwell's profession had trained her to almost perfect self-control. +There was no danger that she would let herself go. Her strong, passionate +heart would never be given its freedom by her, to the wrecking of the +life upon which it fixed its affections. She would suffer the more deeply +for that very reason. There is no pain so poignant as that which is borne +in secret. But still--still she was glad! Such a strange thing is a +woman's heart! + +And Dan! Dan was not given to self-analysis; few really strong men are. +He felt: he did not reason. Neither did he look ahead to see whither he +was bound. Such a strange thing is the heart of a man! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +DEBORAH'S TROUBLE + +"'Oh, I don't know what he'd do, but I know he'd do something. He's that +kind of a man.'" + + +When the first days of the spring bass-fishing came, the Doctor coaxed +Dan away for a three days trip to the river, beyond Gordon's Mills, where +the roaring trout-brook enters the larger stream. + +It was well on toward noon the morning that Dan and the Doctor left, that +Miss Farwell found Deborah in tears, with Denny trying vainly to comfort +her. + +"Come, come, mother, don't be takin' on so. It'll be all right somehow," +Denny was saying as the nurse paused on the threshold of the little +kitchen, and the crippled lad's voice was broken, though he strove so +bravely to make it strong. + +The widow in her low chair, her face buried in her apron, swayed back and +forth in an agony of grief, her strong form shaking with sobs. Denny +looked at the young woman appealingly as--with his one good hand on his +mother's shoulder--he said again, "Come, mother, look up; it's Miss Hope +that's come to see you. Don't, don't mother dear. We'll make it all +right--sure we will though; we've got to!" + +Miss Farwell went to Denny's side and together they managed, after a +little, to calm the good woman. + +"It's a shame it is for me to be a-goin' on so, Miss Hope, but I--but +I--" She nearly broke down again. + +"Won't you tell me the trouble, Mrs. Mulhall?" urged the nurse. "Perhaps +I can help you." + +"Indade, dear heart, don't I know you've trouble enough of your own, +without your loadin' up with Denny's an' mine beside? Ain't I seen how +you been put to it the past months to make both ends meet for you an' +Gracie, poor child; an' you all the time fightin' to look cheerful an' +bright, so as to keep her heartened up? Many's the time, Miss Hope, I've +seen the look on your own sweet face, when you thought nobody'd be +noticin', an' every night Denny an' me's prayed the blessed Virgin to +soften the hearts of the people in this danged town. Oh, I know! I know! +But it does look like God had clean forgotten us altogether. I can't +help believin' it would be different somehow if only we could go to mass +somewhere like decent Christians ought." + +"But you and Denny have helped me more than I can ever tell you, dear +friend, and now you must let me help you, don't you see?" + +"It's glad enough I'd be to let you help, an' quick enough, too, if it +was anything that you could fix. But nothin' but money'll do it, an' I +can see by them old shoes you're a-wearin', an' you goin' with that old +last year's coat all winter, that you--that you ain't earned but just +enough to keep you an' Gracie alive." + +"That's all true enough, Mrs. Mulhall," returned the nurse, cheerfully, +"but I am sure it will help you just to tell me about the trouble." Then, +with a little more urging, the nurse drew from them the whole pitiful +story. + +At the time of Jack Mulhall's death, Judge Strong; had held a mortgage +on the little home for a small amount. By careful planning the widow and +her son had managed to pay the interest promptly, and the Judge, though +he coveted the place, had not dared to push the payment of the mortgage +too soon after the marshal's death because of public sentiment. But now, +sufficient time having elapsed for the public to forget their officer, +who had been killed on duty, and Deborah, through receiving Grace Conner +and Miss Harwell into her home, being included to some extent in the +damaging comments of the righteous community, the crafty Judge saw his +opportunity. He knew that, while the people would not themselves go to +the length of putting Deborah and her crippled boy out of their little +home, he had nothing to fear from the sentiment of the community should +he do so under the guise of legitimate business. + +The attitude of the people had kept Deborah from earning as much as usual +and, for the first time, they had been unable to pay the interest. Indeed +it was only by the most rigid economy that they would be able to make +their bare living until Denny's garden should again begin to bring them +in something. + +Their failure to pay the interest gave the Judge added reason for pushing +the payment of the debt. Everything had been done in regular legal form. +Deborah and Denny must go the next day. The widow had exhausted every +resource; promises and pleadings were useless, and it was only at the +last hour that she had given up. + +"But have you no relatives, Mrs. Mulhall, who could help you? No friends? +Perhaps Dr. Oldham--" + +Deborah shook her head. "There's only me an' Brother Mike in the family," +she said. "Mike's a brick-layer an' would give the coat off his back for +me, but he's movin' about so over the country, bein' single, you see, +that I can't get a letter to him. I did write to him where I heard from +him last, but me letter come back. He don't write often, you see, +thinkin' Denny an' me is all right. I ain't seen him since he was here to +help put poor Jack away." + +For a few minutes the silence in the little room was broken only by poor +Deborah's sobs, and by Denny's voice, as he tried to comfort his mother. + +Suddenly the nurse sprang to her feet. "There is some one," she cried. +"I knew there must be, of course. Why didn't we think of him before?" + +Deborah raised her head, a look of doubtful hope on her tear-wet face. + +"Mr. Matthews," explained the young woman. + +Deborah's face fell. "But, child, the minister's away with the Doctor. +An' what good could he be doin' if he was here, I'd like to know? He's +that poor himself." + +"Oh, I don't know what he'd do, but I know he'd do something. He's that +kind of a man," declared the nurse, with such conviction that, against +their judgment, Deborah and Denny took heart. + +"And he's not so far away but that he can be reached," added Hope. + +That afternoon the dilapidated old hack from Corinth to Gordon's Mills +carried a passenger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +A FISHERMAN + +"'Humph!' grunted the other, 'I've noticed that there's a lot of +unnecessary things that have to be done.'" + + +In the crisis of Deborah's trouble, Hope had turned to Dan impulsively, +as the one woman turns to the one man. When she was powerless in her own +strength to meet the need she looked confidently to him. + +But now that she was actually on the way to him, with Corinth behind and +the long road over the hills and through the forests before, she had time +to think, while the conscious object of her journey forced itself on her +thinking. + +The thing that the young woman had so dimly foreseen, for herself, of her +friendship with this man, she saw now more clearly, as she realized how +much she had grown to depend upon him--upon the strength of his +companionship. How she had learned to watch for his coming, and to look +often toward the corner window of the house on the other side of the +garden! But, after all--she asked herself--was her regard for him more +than a natural admiration for his strong character, as she had seen it +revealed in the past months? Their peculiar situation had placed him more +in her thoughts than any man had ever been before. Was not this all? The +possibility had not yet become a certainty. The revelation of Hope +Farwell to herself was yet to come. + +The hack, with its one passenger, arrived at Gordon's Mills about four +o'clock, and Miss Farwell, climbing down from the ancient vehicle in +front of the typical country hotel, inquired for Dr. Oldham. + +The slouchy, slow-witted proprietor of the place passed her inquiry on +to a group of natives who lounged on the porch, and one, whose horse +was hitched in front of the blacksmith shop across the way, gave the +information that he had seen the Doctor and the big parson at the mouth +of the creek as he came past an hour before. He added that he "reckoned +they wouldn't be in 'til dark, fer they was a-ketchin' a right smart of +bass." + +"Is it far from here?" asked the nurse. + +"Somethin' less than a mile, ain't hit, Bill?" + +Bill "'lowed hit war about that. Mile an' a quarter to Bud Jones', Bud +called hit." + +"And the road?" + +"Foller the creek--can't miss it." This from the chorus. And Miss Farwell +set out, watched by every eye on the place until she disappeared around +the first bend. + +As she drew near the river, the banks of which are marked by a high bluff +on the other side, the young woman felt a growing sense of embarrassment. +What would Mr. Matthews think of her coming to him in such a way? And Dr. +Oldham--. Already she could feel the keen eyes of the old physician, with +their knowing twinkle, fixed upon her face. The Doctor always made you +feel that he knew so much more about you than you knew about yourself. + +Coming to the river at the mouth of the creek, she saw them, and half +hidden by the upturned roots of a fallen tree, she stood still. They were +on the downstream side of the creek; Dan, with rubber boots that came to +his hips, standing far out on the sandy bar, braced against the current, +that tugged and pulled at his great legs; the Doctor farther down, on the +bank. + +Miss Farwell watched Dan with the curious interest a woman always feels +when watching a man who, while engaged in a man's work or play, is +unconscious of her presence. + +She saw the fisherman as he threw the line far out, with a strong, high +swing of his long arm. And as she looked, a lusty bass--heavy, full of +fight--took the hook, and she saw the man stand motionless, intent, +alert, at the instant he first felt the fish. Then she caught the +skillful turn of his wrist as he struck--quick and sure; watched, with +breathless interest as--bracing himself--the fisherman's powerful figure +became instinct with life. With the boiling water grasping his legs, +clinging to him like a tireless wrestler seeking the first unguarded +moment; and with the plunging, tugging, rushing giant at the other end +of the silken line--fighting with every inch of his spring--steel body +for freedom, Dan made a picture to bring the light of admiration to any +woman's eyes. And Hope Farwell was very much a woman. + +Slowly, but surely, the strength and skill of the fisherman prevailed. +The master of the waters came nearer the hand of his conqueror. The young +woman held her breath while the fish made its last, mad attempt, and +then--when Dan held up his prize for the Doctor, who--on the bank--had +been in the fight with his whole soul, she forgot her embarrassment, +and--springing into full view upon the trunk of the fallen tree--shouted +and waved her congratulations. + +Dan almost dropped the fish. + +The Doctor, whose old eyes were not so quick to recognize the woman on +the log, was amazed to see his companion go splashing, stumbling, +ploughing through the water toward the shore. + +"Hope--Miss Farwell!" gasped Dan, floundering up the bank, the big fish +still in his hand, the shining water streaming from his high boots, his +face glowing with healthful exercise--a something else, perhaps. "What +good fortune brings you here?" + +At his impetuous manner, and the eagerness that shone in his eyes, and +sounded in his voice, the woman's face had grown rosy red, but by the +time the fisherman had gained a place by her side the memory of her +mission had driven every other thought from her mind. Briefly she told +him of Deborah's trouble, and a few moments later the Doctor--crossing +the creek higher up--joined them. As they talked Hope saw all the light +and joy go from Dan's face, and in its place came a look of sadness and +determination that made her wonder. + +"Doctor," he said, "I am going back to Corinth with Miss Farwell tonight. +We'll get a team and buggy at the Mills." + +The old man swore heartily. Why had not the foolish Irishwoman let them +know her situation before? Still swearing he drew from his pocket a book +and hastily signed a check. "Here, Dan," he said, "use this if you have +to. You understand--don't hesitate if you need it." + +Reluctantly the younger man took the slip of paper. "I don't think it +will be needed," he responded. "It ought not to be necessary for you to +do this, Doctor." + +"Humph!" grunted the other, "I've noticed that there's a lot of +unnecessary things that have to be done. Hustle along, you two. I'm +going back after the mate to that last one of yours." + +On the way back to the hotel Dan told the nurse that the check would +mean much to the Doctor if it were used at this particular time. "But," +he added thoughtfully, again, "I don't think it will be used." + +They stopped long enough at the hotel for a hurried lunch, then--with +a half-broken team and a stout buggy--started, in the gathering dusk for +Corinth. + +As the light went out of the sky and the mysterious stillness of the +night came upon them, they, too, grew quiet, as if no words were needed. +They seemed to be passing into another world--a strange dream-world +where they were alone. The things of everyday, the common-place incidents +and happenings of their lives, seemed to drift far away. They talked but +little. There was so little to say. Once Dan leaned over to tuck the lap +robe carefully about his companion, for the early spring air was chill +when the sun went down. + +So they rode until they saw the lights of the town; then it all came +back to them with a rush. The woman drew a long breath. + +"Tired?" asked Dan, and there was that in his voice that brought the +tears to the gray eyes--tears that he could not see, because of the dark. + +"Not a bit," she answered cheerfully, in spite of the hidden tears. "Will +you see Judge Strong tonight?" She had not asked him what he was going to +do. + +"Yes," he said, and when they reached the big brown house he drew the +horses to a walk. "I think, if you are not too tired, I had better stop +now. I will not be long." + +There was now something in his voice that made her heart jump with sudden +fear, such as she had felt at times when Dr. Miles, at the hospital, had +told her to prepare to assist him in an operation. But in her voice no +fear showed itself. + +He hitched the team, and--leaving her waiting in the buggy--went up to +the house. She heard him knock. The door opened, sending out a flood of +light. He entered. The door closed. + +She waited in the dark. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +A MATTER OF BUSINESS + +"'You say, sir, that some things are inevitable. You are right.'" + + +At the church prayer meeting, that evening, Judge Strong prayed with a +fervor unusual even for him, and in church circles the Elder was rated +mighty in prayer. In fact the Judge's religious capital was mostly +invested in good, safe, public petitions to the Almighty--such +investments being rightly considered by the Judge as "gilt-edged," +for--whatever the returns--it was all profit. + +Theoretically the Judge's God noted "even the sparrow's fall," and in +all of his public religious exercises, the Judge stated that fact with +clearness and force. Making practical application of his favorite text +the Judge never killed sparrows. His everyday energies were spent in +collecting mortgages, acquiring real estate, and in like harmless +pursuits, that were--so far as he had observed--not mentioned in the +Word, and presumably, therefore, were passed over by the God of the +sparrow. + +So the Judge prayed that night, with pious intonations asking his God +for everything he could think of for himself, his church, his town and +the whole world. And when he could think of no more blessings, he +unblushingly asked God to think of them for him, and to give them all +abundantly--more than they could ask or desire. Reminding God of his +care for the sparrow, he pleaded with him to watch over their beloved +pastor, "who is absent from his flock in search of--ah, enjoying--ah, +the beauties of Nature--ah, and bring him speedily back to his needy +people, that they may all grow strong in the Lord." + +Supplementing his prayer with a few solemn reflections, as was expected +from an Elder of the church, the Judge commented on the smallness of the +company present; lamented the decline of spirituality in the churches; +declared the need for the old Jerusalem gospel, and the preaching of the +truth as it is in Christ Jesus; scored roundly those who were absent, +seeking their own pleasure, neglecting their duties while the world was +perishing; and finished with a plea to the faithful to assist their +worthy pastor--who, unfortunately, was not present with them that +evening--in every way possible. Then the Judge went home to occupy the +rest of the evening with some matters of business. + +In the Strong mansion the room known as the library is on the ground +floor in a wing of the main building. As rooms have a way of doing, it +expresses unmistakably the character of its tenant. There is a book-case, +with a few spick-and-span books standing in prim, cold rows behind the +glass doors--which are always locked. The key is somewhere, no doubt. +There are no pictures on the walls, save a fancy calendar--presented with +the compliments of the Judge's banker, a crayon portrait of the Judge's +father--in a cheap gilt frame, and another calendar, compliments of the +Judge's grocer. + +The furniture and appointments are in harmony; a table, with a teachers' +Bible and a Sunday school quarterly, a big safe wherein the Judge kept +his various mortgages and papers of value, and the Judge's desk, being +most conspicuous. It is a significant comment on the Elder's business +methods that, in the top right-hand drawer of his desk, he keeps a weapon +ready for instant use, and that the window shades are always drawn when +the lamps are lighted. + +Sitting at his desk the Judge heard the front doorbell ring and his wife +direct someone to the library. A moment later he looked up from his +papers to see Dan standing before him. + +The Judge was startled. He had thought the young man far away. Then, too, +the Judge had never seen the minister dressed in rough trousers, belted +at the waist; a flannel shirt under a torn and mud-stained coat; and +mud-spattered boots that came nearly to his hips. The slouch hat in the +visitor's hand completed the picture. Dan looked big in any garb. As the +Judge saw him that night he seemed a giant, and this giant had the look +of one come in haste on business of moment. + +What was it that made the Judge reach out impulsively toward that top +right-hand drawer. + +Forcing his usual dry, mirthless laugh, he greeted Dan with forced +effusiveness, urging him to take a chair, declaring that he hardly knew +him, that he thought he was at Gordon's Mills fishing. Then he entered at +once into a glowing description of the splendid prayer meeting they had +held that evening, in the minister's absence. + +Ignoring the invitation to be seated, Dan walked slowly to the center of +the room, and standing by the table, looked intently at the man at the +desk. The patter of the Judge's talk died away. The presence of the man +by the table seemed to fill the whole room. The very furniture became +suddenly cheap and small. The Judge himself seemed to shrink, and he had +a sense of something about to happen. Swiftly he reviewed in his mind +several recent deals. What was it? + +"Well," he said at last, when Dan did not speak, "won't you sit down?" + +"Thank you, no," answered Dan. "I can stop only a minute. I called to see +you about that mortgage on Widow Mulhall's home." + +"Ah! Well?" + +"I want to ask you, sir, if it is not possible for you to reconsider the +matter and grant her a little more time." + +The man at the desk answered curtly, "Possibly, sir, but it would not be +business. Do you--ah, consider this matter as coming under the head of +your--ah, pastoral duties?" + +Dan ignored the question, as he earnestly replied, "I will undertake to +see that the mortgage is paid, sir, if you will give me a little time." + +To which the other answered coldly, "My experience with ministers' +promises to pay has not been reassuring, and, as an Elder in the church, +I may say that we do not employ you to undertake the payment of other +people's debts. The people might not understand your interest in the +Widow's affairs." + +Again Dan ignored the other's answer, though his face went white, and his +big hands crushed the slouch hat with a mighty grip. He urged what it +would mean to Deborah and her crippled son to lose their little home and +the garden--almost their only means of support. But the face of the Judge +expressed no kindly feeling. He was acting in a manner that was fully +legitimate. He had considered it carefully. As for the hardship, some +things in connection with business were inevitable. + +As the Elder answered Dan's arguments and pleadings, the minister's face +grew very sad, and his low, slow voice trembled at times. When the +uselessness of his efforts were too evident for him to continue the +conversation he turned sadly toward the door. + +Something caused the Judge to say, "Don't go yet, Brother Matthews. You +see, being a minister, there are some things that you don't understand. +You are making a mistake in--" He caught his breath. Instead of leaving +the room, Dan was closing and locking the door. + +He came back in three quick strides. This time he placed his hat on the +table. When he spoke his voice was still low--intense--shaken with +feeling. + +"You say, sir, that some things are inevitable. You are right." + +There was that in his manner now that made the man in the chair tremble. +He started to speak, but Dan silenced him. + +"You have said quite enough, sir. Don't think that I have not fully +considered this matter. I have. It is inevitable. Turn to your desk there +and write a letter to Mrs. Mulhall granting her another year of time." + +The Judge tried to laugh, but his dry lips made a strange sound. With a +quick movement he jerked open the top right-hand drawer, but before he +could lay hand on the weapon, Dan leaped to within easy striking +distance. + +"Shut that drawer!" + +The Judge obeyed. + +"Now write!" + +"I'll have the law on you! I'll put you out of the Christian ministry! +I'll have you arrested if you assault me. I'll--" + +"I have considered all that, too," said Dan. "Try it, and you will stir +up such a feeling that the people of this community will drive you out of +the country. You can't do it and live in Corinth, Judge Strong. You have +too much at stake in this town to risk it. You won't have me arrested for +this; you can't afford it, sir. Write that letter and no one but you and +I will ever know of this incident. Refuse, or fail to keep the promise of +your letter, and no power on earth shall prevent me from administering +justice! You who would rob that crippled boy of his garden--" + +The man shuddered. Suddenly he opened his mouth to call. But Dan, reading +his purpose in his eyes, had him by the throat before he could utter a +sound. + +This was enough. + +With the letter in his pocket Dan stood silently regarding his now +cowering victim, and his deep voice was full of pain as he said, in that +slow way, "I regret this incident, Brother Strong, more than I can say. +I have no apology to make. It was inevitable. You have my word that no +one shall know, from me, what has occurred here this evening. When you +think it all over you will not carry the matter further. You cannot +afford it. You will see that you cannot afford it." + +When the Judge lifted his head he was alone. + +"Did I keep you waiting too long?" asked Dan, when he had again taken +his place by Miss Farwell's side. + +"Oh no! But tell me: is it all right?" + +"Yes, it's all right. Judge Strong has kindly granted our friends another +year. That will give us time to do something." + +Arriving at the house he gave Hope the letter for Deborah. "And here," he +said, "is something for you." From under the buggy seat he drew the big +bass. + +When Dan returned to Gordon's Mills with the team the next morning, he +gave back the Doctor's check, saying simply, "The Judge listened to +reason and decided that he would not press the case." And that was all +the explanation he ever made though it was by no means the end of the +matter. + +Dan himself did not realize what he had done. He did not realize how +potent were the arguments that he had used to convince the Judge. + +The young minister had at last furnished the motive for which the Ally +waited! + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE DAUGHTER OP THE CHURCH + +"Thus the Ally has something for everybody." + + +Dan was right. Judge Strong could not afford to make public the facts +connected with the young man's visit to him that evening. He could not +afford it for more reasons than Dan knew. The arguments with which the +minister had backed up his personal influence were stronger than he +realized. The more the Judge thought about the whole matter the more he +was inclined to congratulate himself that he had been saved from a step +far more dangerous than he had ever before ventured. He saw where, in +his desire to possess all, he had come perilously near losing everything. +But these reflections did not make the Elder feel one whit kindlier +towards Dan. + +While the Judge was held both by his fear of Dan and by his own best +interests, from moving openly against the man who had so effectually +blocked his well-laid plans for acquiring another choice bit of Corinth +real estate, there were other ways, perfectly safe, by which he might +make the minister suffer. + +Judge Strong had not been a ruling elder in the church for so many years +without learning the full value of the spirit that makes Corinth its +home. + +While the Elder himself feared the Ally as he feared nothing else, he was +a past master in the art of directing its strength to the gaining of his +own ends. His method was extremely simple: the results certain. + +When he learned of Hope's trip to Gordon's Mills and the long ride in the +night alone with Dan, the Judge fairly hugged himself. It was all so +easy! + +In the two days preceding the next weekly meeting of the Ladies' Aid +Society, it happened, quite incidentally, that the Elder had quiet, +confidential talks with several of the most active workers in the +congregation. The Judge in these talks did not openly charge the minister +with wrong conduct, with any neglect of his duties, or with any +unfaithfulness to the doctrines. No indeed! The Judge was not such a +bungler in the art of directing the strength of the Ally in serving his +own ends. But nevertheless, each good sister, when the interview was +ended, felt that she had been trusted with the confidence of the very +inside of the innermost circle; felt her heart swell with the +responsibility of a state secret of vast importance; and her soul grow +big with a righteous determination to be worthy. + +That was a Ladies' Aid meeting to be remembered. There had been nothing +like it since the last meeting of its kind. For of course, every sister +who had talked with the Judge was determined that every other sister +should understand that she was on the innermost inside; and every other +sister who had talked with the Judge was equally fired with the same +purpose; and the sisters who had not talked quietly with the Judge were +extraordinarily active in creating the impression that they knew even +more than those who had. So that altogether things were hinted, half +revealed and fully told about Dan and Miss Farwell that would have +astonished even Judge Strong himself, had he not known just how it would +be. + +The Sunday following it seemed almost as if Dan had wished to help the +Judge in his campaign, for while there was much in his sermon about +widows and orphans, there was not a word of the old Jerusalem gospel. + +Monday evening Judge Strong and his wife called upon Elder Jordan and +his family, and the two church fathers held a long and important +conference, with the church mothers and the church daughter assisting. + +The Judge said very little. Indeed he seemed reluctant to discuss the +grave things that were being said in the community about their pastor. +But it was easy to see that he was earnestly concerned for the welfare +of the church and the upbuilding of the cause in Corinth. Nathan himself +was led to introduce the subject. The Judge very skillfully and politely +gave the women opportunities. He agreed most heartily with Elder Jordan +that Dan's Christian character was above reproach, and that it was very +unfortunate that there should be any criticism by the public. Such things +so weakened the church influence in the community! He regretted, however, +that their pastor in his sermons did not dwell more upon first principles +and the fundamental doctrines of the church. His sermons were good, but +the people needed to be taught the true way of salvation. Dan was young: +perhaps he would learn the foolishness of taking up these new ideas of +the church's mission and work, that were sapping the very foundations of +Christianity. + +Nathaniel Jordan, because of the very goodness of his heart and his +deeply religious nature, had learned to love Dan, and to believe in him, +even while he was forced--by his whole life's training--to question the +wisdom of the young man's preaching. And while he was deeply pained by +the things the sisters reported, he found, as the Judge intended, that +Elder Strong's attitude was in close harmony with his own. + +Thus the Ally has something for everybody. Those who did not doubt Dan's +character questioned his preaching; and those who cared but little what +he preached found much to question in his conduct. + +But there was one in the company that evening who contributed nothing to +the discussion, save now and then a word in defense of Dan. And +everything that Charity said was instantly and warmly endorsed by the +Judge. + +When Judge and Mrs. Strong at last bade their friends good night and +left Nathaniel and his wife to cultivate the seed the Ally had so +skilfully planted, Charity retired at once to her room, but not to sleep. +Not for nothing had this young woman been reared in such close touch with +the inner circle of the ruling classes in Memorial Church. This was by no +means the first conference of its kind that she had been permitted to +attend. Her whole life experience enabled her to judge to a day, almost, +the length of any minister's stay in Corinth. Few had stayed more than a +year. + +There was Rev. Swanson--who was too old; and Rev. Wilson--it was his +daughter; and Rev. Jones--it was his wife; and Rev. George--it was his +son; and it was Rev. Kern--who did not get on with the young people; and +Rev. Holmes--who was too young, and got on with the young people too +well. Charity always thought that she might have--. If he had only been +permitted to stay another three months! And Rev. Colby--it was because +he had neither wife nor sons nor daughters. Charity was sure she might +have--. If only he had been given more time! And now--Dan! + +The poor girl cried bitterly in the dark and in her tears determined upon +desperate measures. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE REALITY + +"'Faith,' said Deborah, who, in the kitchen, heard their merry talk and +laughter. 'It must be the garden as does it.'" + + +"Who shall say that the Irishwoman had not the truth of the whole +matter?" + +The incident of Deborah's trouble brought Hope to a fuller dependence +upon Dan than she had ever before known. The long ride alone in the hack, +with her mind so filled with thoughts of her big friend, his greeting of +her and his quick response to her appeal in Deborah's behalf, with the +drive home in the night by his side, and the immediate success of his +call upon the Judge had all led the young woman much nearer a full +realization of herself and a complete understanding of her feeling for +Dan than she knew. But one touch more was needed to make the possibility +which she had long foreseen a reality. + +The touch needed came early in the afternoon of the day following the +Judge's call upon Elder Jordan. Miss Farwell, with Grace and Denny, was +in the garden, making ready for the first early seed. At Dan's urgent +request a much larger space had been prepared this year and they were +all intensely interested in what was to be, they declared, the best and +largest garden that Denny had ever grown. + +Denny with his useless, twisted arm swinging at his side, and his poor, +dragging leg, was marking off the beds and rows, the while he kept up a +ceaseless, merry chatter with the two young women who assisted him by +carrying the stakes and lines. + +Any one would have thought they were the happiest people in all Corinth, +and perhaps they were, though from all usual standards they had little +enough to be joyous over. Denny with his poor, crippled body, forever +barred from the life his whole soul craved, yearning for books and study +with all his heart, but forced to give the last atom of his poor strength +in digging in the soil for the bare necessities of life, denied even a +pittance to spend for the volumes he loved; Grace Conner marred in spirit +and mind, as was Denny in body, by the cruel, unjust treatment of those +to whom she had a right to look first for sympathy and help; and the +nurse, who was sacrificing a successful and remunerative career in the +profession she loved, to carry the burden of this one, who in the eyes of +the world, had no claim whatever upon her. What had they to be joyous +over that sunny afternoon in the garden? + +"Faith," said Deborah, who, in the kitchen, heard their merry talk and +laughter. "It must be the garden as does it." + +Who shall say that the Irishwoman had not the truth of the whole matter? + +The three merry workers were expecting Dan. But Dan did not come. And it +may have been because Hope turned her eyes so often toward the corner +window, that she failed to see the young woman who turned in at their own +gate. Then Deborah's voice called from the kitchen for Miss Hope, and the +nurse went into the house. + +"It's someone to see you," said the widow with an air of great mystery. +"I tuck her into your room, where she's waitin' for you. Dear heart, but +the day has brung the roses to your cheeks, and the sunshine is in your +two eyes. Sure, I can't think what she'd be wantin'. I hope 'tis nothin' +to make ye the less happy than ye are." + +"Oh you, with your blarney!" returned the young woman playfully, and +then, with a note of eagerness in her voice, "Who is it, do you know +her?" + +"Sure I do, and so will you when you see her. Go on in child; don't be +standin' here, maybe it's the job you've been lookin' for come at last. +I can't think that any of them would be sendin' for you, though the good +Lord knows the poor creature herself looks to need a nurse or somethin'." + +She pushed Hope from the kitchen, and a moment later the young woman +entered her own room to find Miss Charity Jordan. + +Hope Harwell was a beautiful woman--beautiful with the beauty of a +womanhood unspoiled by vain idleness, empty pleasures or purposeless +activity. Perhaps because of her interest and care for the girl, to whom +she was filling the place of both mother and elder sister, perhaps +because of something else that had come into her life--the past few +months, in spite of her trials, had added much to that sweet atmosphere +of womanliness that enveloped her always. The deep, gray eyes seemed +deeper still and a light was in their depths that had not been there +before. In her voice, too, there was a new note--a richer, fuller tone, +and she moved and laughed as one whose soul was filled with the best +joys of living. + +Charity arose to her feet when Miss Farwell entered. The nurse greeted +her, but the poor girl who had spent an almost sleepless night, stood +regarding the woman before her with a kind of envying wonder. What right +had this creature to be so happy while she a Christian was so miserable? + +To Charity there were only two kinds of people--those who belonged to the +church and those who belonged to the world. Those of the world were +strangers--aliens. The life they lived, their pleasures, their ambitions, +their loves, were all matters of conjecture to this daughter of the +church. They were, to her, people to save--never people to be intimate +with; nor were they to be regarded without grave suspicion until they +were saved. She wondered, sometimes, what they were like if one were to +really know them. As she had thought about it the night before in the +dark, it was a monstrous thing that a woman of this other world should +have ensnared their minister--her minister. + +Charity was a judge of preachers. She saw in Dan the ability to go far. +She felt that no position in the church was too high for him to reach, +no honor too great for him to attain, if only he might be steadied and +inspired and assisted by a competent helper--one thoroughly familiar +with every detail of the denominational machinery, and acquainted with +every denominational engineer. + +Thus to be robbed of the high place in life for which she had fitted +herself, and to which she had aspired for years, by an alien to the +church was maddening--if only Charity had possessed the capacity for +being maddened. What right had this creature who never entered a +church--what right had she even to the friendship of a minister--a +minister such as Dan? And to ruin his reputation! To cause him to be +sent away from Corinth! To wreck his career! To deprive him of a +companion so fitly qualified to help him realize to the full his +splendid ambition! Small wonder that the daughter of the church had +determined upon a desperate measure. + +Left alone when Deborah had gone to call Miss Farwell, Charity had +examined the nurse's room with interest and surprise. The apartment +bore no testimony to an unholy life. Save that it was in every way a +poorer place than any room in the Jordan house, it might have been +Charity's own. There was even a Bible, well worn at that, lying on a +table by which a chair was drawn as if the reader had but just laid the +book aside. + +And now this woman stood before her. This woman with the deep, kind eyes, +the soft, calm voice, her cheeks glowing with healthful outdoor exercise, +and her air of sweet womanliness. + +The nurse spoke the second time. + +"I am Miss Farwell. You are Miss Jordan, I believe. I see you pass the +house frequently. Won't you be seated, please, you seem to be in +trouble." + +Poor Charity! Dropping weakly into a chair she burst into bitter tears. +Then before Miss Farwell could recover from her surprise, the caller +exclaimed, "I came to see you about our minister, Reverend Matthews." + +The color in the nurse's cheeks deepened. + +"But why should you come to me about Mr. Matthews? I know nothing of +your church affairs, Miss Jordan." + +"I know that you do not," the other returned bitterly. "You have never +been to hear him preach. You know nothing--nothing of what it means to +him--to me, to all of us, I mean. How could you know anything about it?" + +This passionate outburst and the sight of Charity's crimson face and +embarrassed manner caused the color to disappear from the nurse's cheeks. +After a moment she said coolly, "Do you not think it would be well for +you to explain clearly just what you mean and why you come to me?" + +In her effort to explain Charity's words came tumbling recklessly, +impetuously out, in all sorts of disorder. She charged the nurse with +ruining the minister's work, with alienating him from his people, with +injuring the Memorial Church and the cause of Christ in Corinth, with +making him the talk of the town. + +"What is he to you," she finished. "What can he ever be to you? You +would not dare to think of marrying a minister of the gospel--you a woman +of the world. He belongs to us, he does not belong to you, and you have +no right to take him from us." Then she pleaded with her to--as she put +it--let their pastor alone, to permit him to stay in Corinth and go on to +the great future that she was so sure awaited him. + +As the girl talked the other woman sat very still with downcast face, +save now and then when Charity's disordered words seemed to carry a +deeper meaning than appeared upon the surface. Then the gray eyes were +lifted to study the speaker's face, doubtfully, wonderingly, +questioningly. + +In her painful excitement Charity was telling much more than she +realized. And more, Charity was not only laying bare her own heart to +the nurse, but she was revealing Hope Farwell to herself. That young +woman was stirred as she had never been before. + +When her visitor had talked herself out the nurse said quietly, "Miss +Jordan, it is not at all necessary that I should reply to the things +you have said, but you must answer me one question. Has Mr. Matthews +ever, either by word or by his manner towards you, given you reason +to feel that you, personally, have any right whatever to say these +things to me?" + +It was so frank, so direct, and withal so womanly and kind, and so +unexpected--that Charity hung her head. + +"Tell me please, Miss Jordan. After all that you have said, you must." + +The answer came in a whisper. "No." + +"Thank you." There was that in the nurse's voice that left the other's +heart hopeless, and robbed her of power to say more. She rose and moved +toward the door. + +The nurse accompanied her to the porch. "Miss Jordan." Charity paused. +"I am very sorry. I fear you will never understand how--how mistaken you +are. I--I shall not harm either your church or--your minister. Believe +me, I am very, very sorry." + +Miss Farwell could not return to the garden. He would be there. She could +not meet him just yet. She must be alone. She must go somewhere to think +this thing out. + +Stealing from the house, she slipped away down the street. Without her +conscious will, her feet led her toward the open country, to Academy +Hill, to the grassy knoll under the oak in the old Academy yard. + +The possibility had become a reality, and all the pain that she had +foreseen, was hers. But with the pain was a great gladness. + +Miss Farwell need not have fled from meeting Dan in the garden that +afternoon. Dan was not in the garden. While the nurse, in her room, was +greeting Miss Charity, Elder Jordan, who had stopped on his way home from +the post office was knocking at the door of the minister's study. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE BARRIER + +"As he looked at the figure so immovable, so hideously rigid and fixed in +the act of proclaiming an issue that belonged to a dead age, he felt as +if his heart would burst with wild rage at the whole community, people +and church." + + +The Elder's visit to Dan was prompted not alone by the church situation, +as he had come to look upon it in the conference with Judge Strong the +evening before, but by the old man's regard for the young minister +himself. Because of this he had said nothing to his brother official of +his purpose, wishing to make his visit something more than an official +call in the interest of the church. Nathaniel felt that alone he could +talk to Dan in a way that would have been impossible in the presence of +Judge Strong, and in this he was not mistaken. + +In the months of his work in Corinth, Dan had learned to love this old +church father, whose faithfulness to the dead past and to the obsolete +doctrines of his denomination, was so large an element in his religion. +It was impossible not to recognize that, so far as the claims of his +creed would permit, Elder Jordan was a true Christian man--gentle, +tolerant, kind in all things, outside the peculiar doctrine of the +founders of his sect. + +It was impossible for the minister and his Elder to see life from the +same point of view. They belonged to different ages. The younger man, +recognizing this, honored his elder brother for his fidelity to the faith +of his fathers, and saw in this very faith, a virtue to admire. But the +older man saw in Dan's broader views and neglect of the issues that +belonged to the past age, a weakness of Christian character--to be +overcome if possible, but on no ground to be tolerated, lest the very +foundation of the church be sapped. + +Elder Jordan's regard for Dan was wholly personal, entirely aside from +the things of the church. The Elder was capable of sacrificing his own +daughter if, in his judgment, it was necessary for the good of the +cause, but he would not have loved her the less. There was that inhuman +something in his religion that has always made religion a thing of +schools and churches, rather than a thing of farms and shops; a thing of +set days, of forms, rites, ceremonies, beliefs--rather than a thing of +everyday living and the commonplace, individual duties, pleasures and +drudgeries of life. + +The old churchman did not spare Dan that afternoon. Very clearly he +forced the minister to see the situation, making him understand the +significance of the gossip that had been revived, and the growing +dissatisfaction of the church leaders with his sermons. Dan listened +quietly, with no lack of respect for the man who talked to him so +plainly--for, under the sometimes harsh words, he felt always the true +spirit of the speaker and his kindly regard. + +Touching his preaching Dan could make no reply, for he realized how +impossible it was for the Elder to change his point of view. The young +minister had, indeed, neglected the things that, to the Elder and his +kind, were the vital things. That he had taught the truths that to him +seemed most vital made no difference in the situation. The fact remained +that he was the hired servant of Memorial Church and was not employed by +that body to preach what he considered the most vital truths. + +But touching his friendship with the nurse, Dan spoke warmly in defense +of the young woman--of himself he said nothing. As the Elder listened, he +thought he saw how Dan had been influenced in his ministry by this woman +who was not of the church, and the idea that had sent Charity to Miss +Farwell took possession of him. Even as his daughter pleaded with the +nurse to set the minister free, Nathaniel pleaded with Dan to free +himself. Inevitably the results were exactly the same. + +"Think of your ministry, my boy," urged the old man, "of the sacred +duties of your office. Your attitude towards this woman has been, in +every way, just what the people expect the conduct of a man to be toward +the one he is seeking to make his wife. Yet no one for a moment thinks +you expect to marry this woman, who is known to be an alien to the +church. What success could you hope to have as a minister if you take to +wife one who would have nothing to do with your church? What right have +you, then, to be so intimate with her, to seek her company so constantly? +Granting all that you say of her character, and all that Dr. Miles has +written, why does she stay in Corinth, where no one will employ her, when +she could so easily return to her work in the city, taking that Conner +girl with her?" + +Dan could find no words to answer the Elder. He was stunned by the +situation to which he had been so suddenly awakened by the old man's +plain words. But there were elements in the problem unknown to Nathaniel +Jordan, though the old man felt that somehow his lance had gone deeper +than he intended. + +When the Elder was gone Dan's mind and heart clutched those words, "No +one believes for a moment that you expect to marry this woman." + +"To marry this woman--to marry--to marry!" He thought of his father and +mother, and their perfect companionship. "What right have you in this +case, to be so intimate with her, to seek her company so constantly?" + +He started to go to the window that looks down on the garden, thinking to +see her there, but checked himself. He knew now why the garden had grown +to mean so much to him. He tried to realize what his life would be +without this woman who had so grown into it. + +Dan Matthews was no weakling who could amuse himself with a hundred +imitation love affairs. In his veins ran the fierce, red blood of a +strong race that had ruled by the simple strength of manhood their +half-wild mountain wilderness. As the tiny stream, flowing quietly +through peaceful meadow, still woodland, and sunny pasture--growing +always broader and deeper as it runs--is unconscious of its quiet power +until checked by some barrier, and rising, swelling to a mighty +flood--seeks to clear its path; so Dan's love had grown. In the fields +of friendship it had gained always depth and power until now--coming to +the barrier--it rose in all its strength--a flood of passion that shook +every nerve and fibre of the man's being, a mighty force that would not +be denied. + +Going to the other window he saw the cast-iron monument. And as he looked +at the figure so immovable, so hideously rigid and fixed in the act of +proclaiming an issue that belonged to a dead age, he felt as if his heart +would burst with wild rage at the whole community, people and church. + +"What right had he to the companionship of this woman?" + +"The right that God has given to every man--nay to every beast and +bird--the right to seek his mate; the right of the future. What right, +indeed, had anyone to challenge him, to say that he should not win her +if he could? If he could--" + +As suddenly as the rage had come it left him, and he shrank hopeless +within himself, cowering before the thought of his position in life, and +of her attitude toward the church and its ministers. + +"The Elder and his people need give themselves no uneasiness," he +thought. "The barrier was too well-built to be swept aside by love of +man and woman." + +He saw that now, even the old friendship between them would be +impossible. He wondered if his going out of her life would make any +ripple in its calm, even current; if she would care very much? + +The Elder had asked, "Why has she remained in Corinth?" + +"Could it be--No, no! That would be too much. It was her interest in +Grace Conner alone that held her." + +So Big Dan faced this thing against which the very strength of his +manhood was his greatest weakness, and facing it he, too, was afraid to +go into the garden--as he thought--to meet her. He must gain a little +self-control first. He must grow better acquainted with this thing that +had come upon him so quickly. + +Following the instinct of his ancestors to face trouble in the open, he, +too, set out, bound for a long tramp across the country. Perhaps he would +go as far even as John Gardner's, and spend the night there. He went up +the street for a block before turning north, lest his friends in the +garden hail him. Then walking quickly he pushed on towards the outskirts +of town, on the old Academy Hill road. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +HEARTS' TRAGEDIES + +"So she sent him away to fight his battle alone, knowing it was the only +way such a battle could be rightly fought." + + +When Miss Farwell, under the oak tree in the Academy yard, turned her +eyes from the far blue roll of hills to see Dan Matthews coming through +the gap in the tumble-down fence, it was as if he had appeared in answer +to her thoughts, and the intensity of her emotions at the moment, +frightened her. + +Her first impulse was to escape. Then she sat still, watching him as if +fascinated, while her trembling fingers picked at the young grass by her +side. With his face turned toward the valley below, Dan came slowly +across the weed-grown yard, unconscious of the presence of the young +woman on the knoll. Then he looked in her direction. With her face turned +quickly half-aside, she saw him stop suddenly as if halted by the same +feeling that had so moved her. + +For a full minute he stood there as if questioning his senses. The girl +sat very still. Once she thought he would turn back--then he came on +eagerly, as he had come that day from the water when he had looked up to +see her on the river bank. And then he stood before her as he had stood +that other day long weeks ago, with the sunlight on his red-brown hair. + +There was now no word of formal greeting. None was needed. Each seemingly +knew the travail of soul of the other. + +Dropping down on the grass by her side he said quietly, as if it were +unnecessary that he should speak at all, "I thought you were in the +garden this afternoon." + +"And I thought you were in the garden," she returned. + +He looked at her in wondering gladness, saying, "I had a caller. After +that I could not go." + +"And I--I too had a caller; and after that I--I could not go." The words +were spoken almost in a whisper. Her trembling fingers were picking again +at the short young grass; she was looking far away beyond the sweeping +line of blue. One foot had slipped a little from under the protecting +shelter of the blue skirt. He saw with a flush of anger that the shoe was +very shabby. The skirt, too, showed unmistakable signs of wear. He +controlled himself with difficulty, saying, "Your caller was--?" + +"Miss Charity Jordan. And yours?" + +"Elder Jordan." Dan looked away, and when he spoke again he said +bitterly, "Then I suppose you know?" + +At his tone and manner she turned her face quickly to his, permitting him +for the first time to search her eyes. It was as if she wanted to comfort +him, to reassure him. + +"Yes!" she said softly, gladly, triumphantly, "Yes, I know!" + +Something in her confident reply caused the minister to forget all his +half-formed resolutions. His work, his life, the possible outcome, the +world itself--were lost in the overpowering rush of the passion-flood +that swept his being. His deep voice trembled. "Then you know that I +love you--love you!" + +He repeated the simple words as if laying his whole self--body, soul and +spirit, at her feet. + +And the woman, in very wonder at the fullness of the offering, was as one +transfixed and could find no word fit to express her acceptance of the +gift. + +"It is my right to tell you this," he said proudly--defiantly almost, as +though challenging some unseen spirit or power. "And it is your right to +answer me." + +"Yes," she said, "it is our right." + +"Then you do care for me, Hope? I am not mistaken--you do?" + +"Can you doubt it?" she asked. + +He moved quickly toward her but she checked him, and while the love in +her eyes answered to the mastering passion in his, she seemed in some +subtle manner to build up a protecting wall between them, a wall to guard +them both. + +"I do not understand," he faltered. + +"You must think," she bade him quietly, firmly. "Don't you see that, +while it is right for you to tell me what you have, and right for me to +tell you how proud--how glad your words have made me, and how with all +my heart and life I--I--love you, this--," her voice faltered now, "don't +you see that this must be all?" + +"All?" he questioned. + +"All," she answered. "Everything that I said to you the first day that we +met here is still true. Don't you see that I can never, never be more to +you than I am now?" + +As one who hears himself sentenced to life-exile Big Dan dropped his +head, burying his face in his hands. + +And seeing him so, such a figure of helpless strength, the woman's gray +eyes filled with tears, that were not yet permitted to fall. In his +presence she would be strong--afterwards her own heart should have its +way. + +Once her hand went out, slowly towards the shaggy red-brown hair, but +was silently withdrawn, and the trembling white fingers again plucked +the young blades of grass. + +So they sat, these two--face to face with their hearts' tragedy, +each--for the other's sake--striving to be strong. + +"Tell me," he said at last, raising his head but not looking her in the +face, and speaking in tones that were strained and hard, "if I were +anything else, if I were engaged in any other work, would you be my +wife?" + +"Why do you ask that?" + +"Because I must know," he answered almost harshly. + +"If you were a common laborer, a business or professional man, if your +work was anything honorable and right, save what it is--yes, gladly; oh, +how gladly!" + +"Then," he burst forth hotly, "I will give up my work. I will be +something else!" + +"You would give up your ministry for me?" she questioned doubtfully; +"your chosen life work?" + +His voice sank to a hoarse whisper. "Yes, and if it need be--my religion, +my God." + +As he finished speaking she laid her hand on his arm. "Hush, oh hush! +That is not worthy of you; it is not true to our love. You are beside +yourself." + +He continued eagerly, "But I have learned that other work is just as +holy, just as sacred, as the work of the preacher and the church. You do +not know how in the past months I have been teaching this. Why should I +not give my life to some of these other ministries?" + +"Because it is not some other work that calls you now. These other +ministries are not yours," she answered gently. "I have learned to love +you because you are so truly yourself, because you are so true to +yourself. You must not disappoint me now. And you will not," she +continued, confidently, "I know that you will not." + +At last when he had argued, protested and pleaded until she was so beset +by both his passion and her own that she felt her strength going, she +said: "Don't, oh please don't! I cannot listen to more of this now. It +is not fair to either of us. You must have time to think alone. I believe +I know you even better than you know yourself. You must leave me now. You +must promise that you will not try to see me again until tomorrow +afternoon at this same hour. I will be in the garden with the others +until four o'clock, when I will go to the house alone. If then you have +decided that you can, with all truthfulness to yourself and me, give up +your ministry, come to me and I will be your wife. But whether you come +or not you must always believe that I love you, that I shall always love +you, as my other self, and that I shall never, never doubt your love for +me." + +So she sent him away to fight his battle alone, knowing it was the only +way such a battle could be rightly fought, and because she wanted him, +for his own sake, to have the certainty of a self-won victory, never +doubting in her own heart what that victory would be or what it would +mean to her. She indeed knew him better than he knew himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +SACRIFICED + +"Standing in the midst of these things, so much a part of his chosen +life that they seemed a vital part of himself, he heard the voices in +the garden." + + +Alone in his little study--the door locked--Big Dan battled with himself. +Everywhere in the room were things that cried aloud to him of his +ministry; his library--books of peculiar interest to ministers, papers +and pamphlets filled with matters of the church, written for church men, +his sermons--one lying half-finished on the study table, the very +pictures on the walls and the unanswered letters on his desk. Standing in +the midst of these things, so much a part of his chosen life that they +seemed a vital part of himself, he heard, the voices in the garden. He +knew that she was there. + +Since the beginning men like Dan Matthews have fought for women like Hope +Farwell. For such women such men have committed every crime, endured +every hardship, braved every danger, made every sacrifice, accomplished +every great thing. Few of the race today are strong enough to feel such +passion. It was primitive--but it was more. For there had been bred into +this man something stronger than his giant physical strength--a spirit, a +purpose, fitting such a body. + +The little clock on the mantel struck the hour. Softly, slowly, the +sweet-toned notes rang out: + +One! Two! Three! Four! + +With face white and drawn Dan went to the window. All that afternoon, +knowing that she was there, he had denied himself even the sight of her. +Now he would see her. + +He watched as, without a glance toward his window, the young woman left +her friends and went slowly into the house. Five--ten--fifteen--twenty +minutes! The ticking of the little clock seemed to beat on Dan's brain +with sledge-hammer blows. + +Then he saw her come out on the front porch of the cottage. Slowly she +walked out into the yard, until screened from the street by the big lilac +bush. Turning she faced toward his window. She waved a greeting. She even +beckoned to him to come. The man swayed and put out his hand to grip the +window casing. Again she beckoned him--come. When he did not leave his +place and only waved a hand in return, she went slowly back into the +house. + +Then Dan Matthews, minister--man, staggered back from the window to fall +on his knees in prayer. + +It was perhaps two hours before sunrise when Dr. Harry's horse stopped +suddenly in a dark stretch of timber six miles from town. Dimly the man +in the buggy saw a figure coming toward him. + +"Hello!" he said sharply; "what do you want?" + +The man in the road laughed a strange, hoarse, mirthless laugh, saying as +he continued to advance, "I thought it must be you. You nearly ran me +down." And Dan climbed in by the physician's side. + +The minister made no explanation, nor did his friend, after the first few +surprised questions, press him. But when they were turning in towards +Dan's gate the big fellow burst forth, "Don't stop, Harry--not here! For +God's sake, if you love me, take me on to your house for a little while!" + +Then did Dr. Harry guess the truth that later he came to know. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE TIE THAT BINDS + +"The Ally was there in power. The day of the rack, the thumbscrew and +the stake, is long past: in place of these instruments of religious +discipline we have--the Ally." + + +All the next day Dan remained at Dr. Harry's home, returning to his own +rooms in the evening. Early the following morning he was to take the +train for the annual gathering of the denomination, that was to be held +in a distant city. He would be away from Corinth three days at least. + +The minister's little study, when he had lighted the lamp that night, +seemed filled with a spirit that was never there before. It was as if, +during his absence, some unseen presence had moved in to share the +apartment with him. The very books and papers impressed him as intimate +companions, as if, in thus witnessing and--in truth--taking part in the +soul-struggle of the man, they had entered into a closer relation to +him, a relation sacred and holy. He was conscious, too, of an atmosphere +of privacy there that he had never sensed before, and, for the first +time in his life, he drew the window shades. + +In the battle that Hope Farwell had set for him to fight Dan had sought +to be frankly honest with himself, and to judge himself coldly, without +regard to the demands of his heart. If he had erred at all it was in an +over-sensitiveness to conscience, for conscience has ever been a tricky +master, often betraying its too-willing slaves to their own self-injury. +It is, a large question whether one has a greater right to injure himself +than to harm another. + +Dan could not admit, even to himself, that he had in any way neglected +the church, or fallen short of his duties as a hired shepherd. But after +all, was he not to some degree in error in his judgment of his people? +Had he not, perhaps, misunderstood the spirit that moved them? He had +come to Corinth from his school with the thought fixed in his mind that +the church was _all_ right. Had he not, by the unexpected and brutal +directness of his experience, been swung to the other extreme, conceiving +conditions as all wrong? + +Groping in the dark of his ministry he had come to feel more and more +keenly his inexperience. After all, was he right in taking the hard, +seldom-traveled path, or was not the safe way of the church fathers the +true way? Was not his failure to put himself in tune with things as he +found them, only his own inability to grasp the deeper meanings of those +things? He had come to doubt those leaders whom he had been taught to +follow, but he had come to doubt more his own ability to lead, or even +to find the way for himself. It was this doubt that had led him to decide +as Hope Farwell knew he would. + +_For Big Dan could not turn from the church and his chosen work without +the same certainty that had led him to it._ + +Least of all could he, after that which Hope had made so clear, go to her +with a shadow of doubt in his mind. + +His convictions were not, as yet, convincing. His new-born love for the +woman bulked too large in his life for him to trust his own motives. So +it came that he had chosen at such cost to himself, and--making the +greatest sacrifice possible to one of his nature--turned to give himself +wholly to that which he still felt to be his ministry. + +He looked forward now with eagerness to the gathering of church men to +which he was going on the morrow. There he would meet the great leaders +of his church, those with life-long experience in the work to which he +had given himself; those whose names were household names in the homes +of his people. There he would come into touch with the spirit of the +church as a whole, not merely the spirit of his own local congregation, +and in the deliberations of the convention, in their reports of work +accomplished, of conditions throughout the country, and in the plans for +work to be done, he would find--he must find--the key that would put him +in full harmony with those who were his fellow-workers. + +Dan's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar knock at the door. The old +Doctor entered. + +Of the recently-renewed talk of the community regarding Dan and Hope, and +of the growing sentiment of Memorial Church the Doctor knew all that Dan +knew--with this more. From long observation he understood, as Dan did +not, the real significance of this revival of activities by the Ally, and +the part that Judge Strong had in its inspiration. Concerning Dan and +Hope he could only conjecture, but the Doctor's conjectures amounted +almost to certainties. That the lad so dear to him was passing through +some tremendous crisis he knew, for he had talked with Dr. Harry that +afternoon. Seeing by the light in the window that Dan had returned, he +had run across the way to see if all was well with the boy. It was +characteristic of the Doctor that, while he did not make known the object +of his visit in words, he made the minister feel his sympathy and +interest, and his readiness, as he himself would have said, "to stand +by." + +Grasping his young friend's hand in greeting and placing his other hand +on Dan's shoulder, he studied his face as he would have studied a +patient. "Come boy," he said, "don't you think we better go fishing?" + +The minister smiled back at him. "I wish I could, Doctor; I need it, all +right. But you see there's that convention tomorrow." + +"Humph!" grunted the Doctor, as he seated himself. "Heard who's going?" + +Dan named a few of his church people. The Doctor grunted again. They were +nearly all of the inner circle, the Judge's confidantes in matters of the +church. + +"Judge Strong is going too," offered the Doctor. + +Dan said nothing. + +"Uh-huh; told me this evening." The old man chuckled. "I rather thought +I'd go myself." + +"You!" Dan said in surprise. + +The other's eyes twinkled. "Yes, me; why not? I've never been to one of +these affairs, but for that matter neither have you. I don't suppose they +would put me out. Anyway I have some business in the city and I thought +it would be fine for us to go up together. Martha's tickled to death! +Thinks I'll get it sure if I can only hear some of the really _big_ +preachers." + +Dan laughed, well-pleased. He could not know of the real motive that +prompted the Doctor's strange interest in this great meeting of church +men. + +The next morning at an early hour they were off: Dan, the old Doctor, +some six or eight of the active women leaders of the congregation, +Charity, and Judge Strong. The Ally went also. There was no little +surprise expressed, in a half-jesting manner, by the company, at the +presence of Dr. Oldham, and there was much putting together of heads in +whispered consultation as to what it might mean. The Judge and his +competent associates, with the Ally, kept very much together and left +Dan and his friend as much to themselves. Whenever the young minister, +prompted by his thoughts of the last few hours, approached the group +there was a significant hush, while his pleasantries were met by very +formal, and as evidently forced, monosyllables, which very soon sent him +back to his seat again with a face that made the old Doctor say things +under his breath. + +"Look here, Dan," said the old physician, as they neared their +destination, "I understand that at these meetings the visiting delegates +are always entertained at the homes of the local church people. I'm not a +delegate, so I go to a hotel. You come with me; be my guest. Tell 'em you +have already accepted an invitation to stop with a friend. Don't worry, +they'll be glad enough to have one less to care for, and I want you." + +The young man eagerly accepted. + +At the meeting was the usual gathering of the usual types. There were +the leaders, regularly appointed by the denomination, who were determined +to keep that which had been committed to them, at any cost; and to this +end glorified, in the Lord's service, the common, political methods of +distributing the places of conspicuous honor and power, upon program and +committee, among those friends and favorites who could be depended upon +to respond most emphatically, or who were--in the vernacular--"safe." +Equally active, with methods as familiar but not equally in evidence--for +one must be careful--were the would-be leaders, who--"for the glory of +Christ"--sought these same seats of the mighty, and who were assisted by +those who aspired to become their friends and favorites--joint heirs in +their success should they succeed. Then there were the self-constituted +leaders who pushed and pulled and scrambled to the front; content if they +could, only for the moment, be thought by the multitude to be something +more than they were; who were on their feet instantly to speak upon every +question with ponderous weight of words, and were most happy if they +could fill some vacant chair on the platform. There were the heresy +hunters who sniffed with hound-like eagerness for the scent of doctrinal +weakness in the speeches of their brothers; and upon every proposed +movement of the body, guarded with bulldog fidelity, the faith of their +fathers. There were also the young preachers who came to look with awe on +the doings of the great ones, to learn how it was done and to watch for a +possible opening whereby they might snatch their bit of glory here on +earth. + +Many there were of this latter class who, from the highest religious +motives, had answered the call to the ministry as to something sacred +and holy, even as had Dan. These young men, though they knew it not, +were there to learn how their leaders--while theoretically depending +upon God for their strength and guidance in managing the affairs of the +church--depended actually upon the very methods which, when used by the +world in its affairs, they stamped ungodly. + +The Ally was there in power. The day of the rack, the thumbscrew and the +stake, is long past: in place of these instruments of religious +discipline we have--the Ally. + +Mostly those on the firing line were ministers, though here and there a +prominent woman leader pushed to the front. The rest were brothers and +sisters, mainly sisters; who like other mortals, always backed their +favorites in the race that was set before them all. These prayed +sincerely and devoutly that somehow, in ways beyond their bewildered +ken, the good God would bless the efforts that were being made for +righteousness and truth, hoping thus for heavenly results from very +worldly methods. + +Judge Strong was an old campaigner. A heavy contributor to the general +work and missionary funds to which the leaders looked for the practical +solution of their modest bread and butter problems, he had the ears of +them all. Nor was the Elder slow to use his advantage. He could speak his +mind with frankness here, for these great men of the church lived far +from Corinth and, while knowing much of the Elder--the church man, knew +nothing of the Judge--the citizen and neighbor. More than this such +reports as the Elder had to make must, in the very nature of things, for +the good of the cause, be strictly private. + +While the Judge was holding these little confidential chats with the +leaders, and the leaders were holding equally confidential chats with +their friends and favorites, and these in turn were doing as they had +been done by, the Elder's assistants, assigned to various church homes +in the city, were confidentially exchanging confidences with their +hostesses. And this is the simple truth of the whole matter, and the way +it all came about. + +Dan was introduced to the secretary. "Ah--yes, Brother Matthews of +Corinth! Glad to meet you. Ah, excuse me I--ah, see a brother over there +with whom I must speak." + +Dan was presented to the treasurer. "Oh yes, I have heard of you--at +Corinth. Why, hello, Brother Simpkins"--catching a passing preacher by +the arm--"glad to see you! How are you and how is the work?" + +Dan introduced himself to one or two of those whom he had hungered to +see, those who were noted in the church papers for their broad wisdom +and saintly character, and somehow Dan felt rebuked for his forwardness +when each, from his pedestal, looked at him and said, "Oh yes; Brother +Matthews! I have heard of you, Brother Matthews!" + +During the forenoon session of the second day the order of business was +reports of the churches. In response to roll call, one after the other, +the representatives of the various congregations would tell what they +had done and what they were going to do. Dr. Oldham remarked later, "No +one told what they had failed to do, or what they were not going to do." + +As a rule the ministers reported for their own churches, save when some +delegate whom the pastor knew to be peculiarly qualified, was present. +Generally speaking the ministers consider the value of such a report to +be greatly increased if it can be given by some such member. The minister +himself always sees that the report is properly prepared. + +Judge Strong, without consulting Dan, responded to the call for the +Memorial Church. There was a distinct hush, and heads went forward in +interest. The Elder regretted to report that, while they had held their +regular services every Sabbath, and their preacher was the most popular +preacher in Corinth, the conversions for some reason had not been as +numerous as in some previous years. But Memorial Church could be depended +upon to remedy that very soon, for they were contemplating a great +revival meeting to begin as soon as a competent evangelist could be +secured. [Loud applause from the professional evangelists present.] They +felt that a series of good old Jerusalem gospel sermons would put them +again to the front in the matter of additions. [Loud applause from the +defenders of the faith.] + +Dan listened in silent amazement. This was the first he had heard of a +meeting in Corinth. The Doctor saw the boy's face grow burning red. + +The Elder continued his report, touching every department of the church +in like vein, and finished by "regretting exceedingly that their offering +for the missionary, and for the general work for the present year, had +fallen short of previous years." The Judge did not explain that he had +subtracted from his part in the church offering an amount exceeding the +shortage, which amount he had added to his usual personal subscription. +As for the regular expenses of the congregation, he went on, they had +been cared for. + +"And," remarked the state secretary in a loud voice, rising instantly as +the Judge sat down, "I want you all to know that Judge Strong's personal +contribution to our funds is larger this year than ever before. We who +know Brother Strong's splendid Christian generosity will understand how +the regular expenses of Memorial Church have been paid." Whereupon the +leaders-who-were and the leaders-who-would-like-to-be joined with one +accord in loud applause. + +Not a preacher there but understood exactly what the Elder's report +signified. + +Following the reports of the churches came the introductions of the new +pastors. Skilfully the preachers were marshaled upon the platform, Big +Dan towering at the foot of the line. Stunned and embarrassed as he was +by the Judge's report, the boy would not have gone forward at all, had +not the Doctor fairly pushed him into the aisle. The old philosopher told +himself grimly that the lad might as well get all that was coming to him. +In the ceremony that followed Dan got it. + +One after the other the ministers were introduced by the secretary, who +had a glowing word for each. "Brother Williams who has done such +marvelous work at Baxter." [Loud applause for Brother Williams.] "Brother +Hardy who is going to do a wonderful work at Wheeler." [Louder applause +for Brother Hardy.] And so on down the line. Not one, from big church or +little, from city pulpit or country district, but secured the boosting +comment and the applause; for this was Christian enthusiasm. + +Dan's turn came at last. His face was now white. + +"And this," shouted the secretary, "is Brother Matthews, the present +pastor of our church at Corinth." There was a hush still and significant; +for this was church policy. + +After a moment's silence the secretary continued, "Please sing hymn +three-hundred and one: + + 'Blest be the tie that binds + Our hearts in Christian love.' + +Everybody sing!" And the denominational papers agreed that they made a +joyful noise unto the Lord. + +Were the high officials and their mates on this ship of salvation to be +blamed? Not a bit of it! The Elder's report made Dan "unsafe"--and he +was. They were right. More than this, the Lord needed the Judge's +influence--and money. + +When the young minister came back to his seat his old friend thought his +face the saddest he had ever seen. + +At lunch the Doctor told Dan that he was going to call upon several +friends that afternoon, and among them mentioned the superintendent of a +famous steel plant in the city. Agreeing to meet at dinner in the evening +they parted, Dan going alone to the convention building. At the door he +paused. + +Several ministers, chatting gaily with friends passing in for the opening +of the afternoon session, looked curiously at the stalwart, irresolute +figure standing there alone. Two or three greeted him with a word. All +were sorry for him; for not one but understood the meaning of the +incidents of the morning. + +An hour later the superintendent of the great steel works greeted, with +admiring eyes, the big clean-looking fellow and wondered at the look of +sadness on his face. + +"I am in the city with my friend, Dr. Oldham," explained Dan. "I expected +to find him here. He told me at lunch that he was coming." + +"Oldham in town? Good!" exclaimed the man of affairs. "Of course he would +look me up, but he hasn't been here yet. Glad to meet any friend of the +Doctor's. Sit down, Mr. Matthews; he'll be in presently, no doubt. Or +perhaps while you're waiting, you would care to look about." At Dan's +eager reply he touched a bell and, to the man who appeared, he said, +"Jack, show Mr. Matthews around. A friend of my friend, Dr. Oldham." + +And so the Doctor found the boy standing in the very heart of the great +plant, where the brawny workmen, naked to the waist--their bodies shining +with sweat and streaked with grime, wrestled with the grim realities of +life. + +For a little while the Doctor watched him; then, tapping him on the +shoulder, shouted in his ear, above the roar of the furnace, the hissing +of steam and the crash and clank of iron and steel. "Almost as good as a +fishing trip, heh Dan?" + +Back in the office again the superintendent introduced them to a +gray-haired, smooth faced, portly gentleman--the president of the steel +company, a well-known capitalist. The great man repeated Dan's name, +looking him over the while. + +"Matthews. By your name and your build, sir, you are related to the +Grant Matthews who owns Dewey Bald." + +"He is my father, sir," returned Dan, delighted. + +"Ah yes. Through my interests in the lead and zinc industry, I am +familiar with your part of the country, sir. I have met your father +several times. It is not easy to forget such a man." + +Dan now remembered the president's name, having heard it in connection +with the mines on Jake creek, near his home. + +The capitalist continued, "I have tried several times to persuade your +father to open up that hill of his. He has a fortune in that mountain, +sir, a fortune! Are you interested in mining, Mr. Matthews?" + +"Not directly, sir." + +"No? Well, if your people should ever decide to develop that property +come to me; I know what it is. We would be glad to talk it over with you. +Good-bye, sir; glad to have met you. Good day, Doctor." And he was gone. + +The Doctor and Dan dined with the genial superintendent and his family +that evening and the next morning set out for Corinth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +GOOD-BYE + +"But the big house for Dr. Harry is still empty when he returns from his +long drives; empty save for his dreams." + + +When Hope Farwell dismissed Dan that afternoon in the old Academy yard, +because she feared both for her lover and for herself, she had not for a +moment questioned what Dan's decision would be. With all the gladness +that their love had brought, there was in her heart no hope; for she +exacted of herself the same fidelity to her religious convictions that +she demanded of Dan. It would be as wrong for her to accept the church +as for him to reject it. So she had gone to the limit of her strength +for his sake. But when she reached again the privacy of her room, her +woman nature had its way. With the morning, strength returned +again--strength and calmness. Quietly she went about; for, while she had +left the whole burden of decision upon Dan, her heart was with her lover +in his fight. + +At the appointed hour she left her friends in the garden and went into +the house as she had planned. She did not expect him but she had said +that she would wait his coming. Her heart beat painfully as the slow +minutes passed, bringing by his absence, proof that she had not misjudged +him. Then she went outside and looking up saw him standing at his window; +smiling, she even beckoned to him. She wished to make the victory +certain, final and complete. Very quietly she returned to her room. She +did not again enter the garden. + +And now the young woman was conscious that she also had a part to do. +For every reason she must not remain in Corinth. She explained her plans +to Grace, for she could not leave the girl, and the two commenced to make +their simple preparations for the journey. Feeling that her strength was +not equal to the strain which another meeting with Dan would occasion, +there was no one left to bid good-bye save Deborah and Denny and--Dr. +Abbott. + +Dr. Abbott's faithful Jim was waiting, ready for a long trip into the +country, when Miss Farwell reached the physician's home. Harry himself, +dressed for the drive, met her at the door. + +"You were just answering a call," said the nurse. "I will not keep you, +Doctor." + +"Not answering a call, just making a visit," he said, "and there is no +need at all for me to hurry, Miss Farwell." He led her to the library. + +"I came to tell you good-bye," she said. "I could not go away without +thanking you, Dr. Abbott, for all your kindness to me." + +The strong hands of the physician, so firm and sure in their professional +duties, trembled, as the man placed his hat and gloves on the table. + +"To tell me 'good-bye,'" he repeated blankly. + +"Yes," she answered, "I cannot remain longer in Corinth." + +Harry's face flushed. + +"Miss Farwell you do not know how sorry I am for my failure to--" + +She interrupted, "Please don't Doctor. I know how you have tried," her +eyes filled, "and I know all that you have done. You understand it has +been for Grace--" she paused. "Grace will go with me. I am sure Dr. Miles +will find her a place in the hospital." + +"Yes," he said, "I understand. I will--will see you again some day, Miss +Farwell." + +"I shall never return to Corinth, Doctor," she answered with a shudder. +"If you come to the city, though, I shall always be glad to see you." The +words were as frank as from one man to another. + +Harry was thinking of his friend, the minister, of the meeting in the +night, and Dan's plea to be taken to the doctor's home, where he had +remained until late the evening before he left for the church convention. +Why was she leaving Corinth while Dan was away attending the convention? +Did she know that he was gone? What did it all mean? Could it be--! He +started from his chair. + +"I may see you again, then? You will be glad to see me, Miss Farwell? +Hope--tell me, surely you know what I would say! I would have said it +long ago but you would not let me. Tell me if there is any chance for +me--ever?" + +She had risen to her feet and into her face there came a look of tender +sadness. She did not turn away, and the man, looking into those gray +eyes, knew that she spoke truly when she said, "I am sorry, Dr. Abbott, +oh so sorry! No, there can never be, for you more than my regard and +friendship." Her voice trembled. "I know how it hurts because for +me--for us--too, there is no chance." + +Then Harry Abbott understood. + +She left him in the library. Outside she paused a moment to bestow a +good-bye caress upon the doctor's horse and then she quickly went away. + +Other helpers have now taken the place of the faithful old Mam Liz and +Uncle George, for these true souls have gone to the Master of all who +truly serve. But the big house for Dr. Harry is still empty when he +returns from his long drives; empty save for his dreams. + +Dr. Harry will never leave Corinth. When the old Doctor berates him +roughly for wearing himself out for those who never express their +appreciation, and from whom he can never hope to receive a fee, he +laughingly retorts in kind, charging the Doctor himself with having +consigned to him such unprofitable patients. He will never give up his +patients; neither will he give up his dreams. + +Miss Farwell's plans for the girl, whose life she had reclaimed, did not +fail. Dr. Miles, when he heard her story, gladly helped Grace to a place +in the school where she might fit herself for her chosen ministry; for, +said the famous physician, "The best nurses in the world are those who +have themselves suffered. No amount of professional skill can make up +for a lack of human sympathy and love." + +As Dan, home from the convention, was turning wearily in at his gate, +Deborah, from the garden, called to him. By her manner as she came slowly +to the fence, Dan knew the good soul was troubled. + +"It's a heavy heart I have, Mr. Matthews," she said; "for she's clean +gone, an' Denny an' me's that lonesome we don't know what to do." + +Dan's big hand gripped the fence. + +"Gone," he repeated blankly. He did not need to ask who was gone. + +"Yes sir, gone--yesterday evenin' be the train, leavin' her kindest +regards and best wishes to you." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +RESULTS + +"When he had finished his letter, he bowed his face in his hands and +wept." + + +Dan could not--or perhaps it should be written would not--understand +rightly his experience at the church convention. Sadly puzzled and +surprised by the spirit and atmosphere of that meeting to which he had +gone with such confidence, and sorely hurt by his reception, he had no +thought of the real reason for it all. He only blamed himself the more +for being so out of harmony--for failing so grievously to find the key +that should put him in tune. + +In the great steel works among the sweating, toiling men; with the +superintendent of the plant, under whose hand men and machinery were +made to serve a great world's need; and with the president whose brain +and genius was such a power in the financial and industrial world Dan +had felt a spirit of kinship. Amid those surroundings he had been as +much at home as if he were again in his native hills, and for the hour +had forgotten his fellow churchmen and their ministries. But as their +train drew nearer and nearer Corinth, the Doctor saw by his companion's +face, and by his fits of brooding silence, that the minister was feeling +again the weight of his troublesome burden. + +By this and by what he had seen at the convention, the old physician knew +that the hour in Dan's life for which he watched with such careful, +anxious interest, was drawing near. + +With Hope gone out of his life he turned to his work with grim, +desperate, determination. What, indeed, had he now to which he might +turn but his work? He realized that now he must find in this work for +which he had made the supreme sacrifice of his life, the only thing that +would, to him, justify his choice--the choice that had cost both him and +the woman he loved so much suffering. His ministry had now become +something more to him than a chosen life work. To those high motives +that had led him to the service of the church, he added now the price he +had paid in giving up the woman who had grown so much into his life. He +_must_ find that in his ministry which would make the great price paid, +not in vain. + +So, with all the strength of his great nature, he threw himself with +feverish energy into what had, in spite of himself, come to be a +too-empty ministry. Crushing every feeling of being misunderstood, and +unjustly criticized; permitting himself no thought that there were under +the surface treacherous currents working for his overthrow; blaming +himself always and others never, when he felt a lack of warmth or +sympathy in his people; yielding for the time even his own conviction as +to his teaching, and striving to shape his sermons to the established +lines of the Elders, he fought to put himself into his work. + +And always, at the beck and call of Dan's real masters, that other +servant of the church--that spirit that lives in Corinth--wrought the +will of those whose ally it is. + +That last meeting of Dan and Hope in the Academy yard, as if by +appointment; the sudden departure of the nurse so soon after; and Dan's +too-evident state of mind, were all skilfully used to give color to the +ugly whispered reasons for the nurse's leaving town so hurriedly. + +The old Doctor knowing, watching, waited for the hour he knew would come; +understanding Dan as he had always understood him; wisely recognizing the +uselessness of doing aught but let him go his own strong, hard, way. And +Dr. Harry also, knowing the malignant power that was forcing the end, and +conscious what the end would be, watched silently, hopelessly, +helplessly, as many a time he had watched the grim drawing near of that +one whose certain coming his professional knowledge enabled him to +recognize, while giving him no power to stay. + +Memorial Church was all astir, and on the tiptoe of expectancy, +preparing--they said--for the greatest revival ever held in Corinth. The +professional evangelist selected by the Elder, whose choice was, as a +matter of course, approved by his fellow officials and congregation, had +sent full instructions for the proper advertising of himself, and--as +his instructions stated--"the working up of the meeting." Dan ignoring +the slight to himself in the matter of calling the evangelist, did +everything in his power to carry out his part of the instructions. + +The evangelist arrived. Royally received by the Elders and the inner +circle, he was escorted in triumph to the Strong mansion, which was to +be his home during the meeting, and within the hour began his +professional duty of "setting the church in order, and gathering a +mighty harvest of souls." + +This evangelist was a good one, of his kind. His kind is that type of +professional soul-winner evolved by the system whereby the church pays +for the increase of its flock at so much per head, inasmuch as the number +of his calls, and the amount of his hire depend upon the number of +additions per meeting to the evangelist's credit. A soul-winner with +small meetings to his credit receives a very modest compensation for +his services, and short notices in the church papers. But the big +fellows--those who have hundreds of souls per meeting, come higher, much +higher; also they have more space given them in the papers, which helps +them to come higher still. Souls may have depreciated in value since +Calvary, but one thing is sure, the price of soul-winners has gone away +up since the days of Paul and his fellow ministers. + +Preaching every night and conducting afternoon meetings, calling at the +homes of the people, directing the efforts of the members of the inner +circle, sometimes with Dan--oftener without him--fully informed and +instructed by the Judge, whose guest he was and to whom he looked for a +larger part of his generous salary, the evangelist made himself no small +power in the church of Corinth. Assisted always by the skill and strength +of the Ally, the effectiveness of his work from the standpoint of Elder +Strong and the inner circle at least, was assured. + +That was a great meeting; a mighty revival, far reaching in its influence +and results! So the denominational papers had it from Judge Strong's +report, written while the services were still in progress, and edited by +the evangelist. And the papers published a greater truth than they knew. +There were influences of which they were ignorant, and the results +reached ends they dreamed not of. + +Night after night--Dan heard the evangelist with harsh words and +startling roughness of expression, declare the awful, eternal disaster +that would befall every soul that did not accept the peculiar brand of +salvation which he and his church alone offered. He listened to the long +arguments planned to prove the rightness, and therefore righteousness, +of the evangelist himself and his denominational way, and the equal +wrongness, and therefore unrighteousness, of every other minister and +church not of his way. Then as he heard these utterances most +emphatically and enthusiastically indorsed by his Elders and people as +the old Jerusalem gospel, the conviction grew upon him that his preaching +would never be acceptable to Memorial Church. + +And what place is there in the scheme of things as they are for the +unacceptable preaching of any gospel? What gospel can a preacher deliver +in order to be acceptable to his peculiar church save that church's +peculiar gospel? Dan was not one to ask the oft repeated question of +the ministry, "What must I preach in order that I may be saved?" + +In the semi-secret workers meetings; in the still more private planning +of the committees; in the jubilant reports of the uneasiness of the other +churches; and in the satisfying accounts of the awakened opposition and +answering sermons of the other preachers; in the evidence of the general +stirring up of the community; and in the schemes for further advertising +and boosting the evangelist and the cause, Dan felt himself growing ever +more and more out of harmony--felt himself more and more alone. + +In those days the sadness of his face grew fixed; his color lost its +healthy freshness; strange lines, that did not belong to his young +manhood, appeared; and the brown eyes that were wont to look at you so +openly, hopefully, expectantly, with laughter half-hidden in their +depths, were now doubting, questioning, fearful, full of pain. + +The Doctor saw, and silently "stood by." Dr. Harry saw and wished that +it was all over. + +Then came a letter from the officials of the Chicago church of which Dr. +Miles was a member. The letter asked if Dan would consider a call to that +congregation. Again and again Dan read the letter. What should he do? He +could not stay in Corinth. The sense of failure haunted him, while he was +unable to fix upon the reason for it. He condemned himself for committing +unknown offenses. Could he honestly go to another church? How should he +answer the letter? He could not answer it at once--perhaps in a few days! + +While he hesitated the meeting drew to its triumphant close. After one +last, mighty, farewell effort, the evangelist departed to some other +grand harvest of souls, to some other church that needed "setting in +order." His work was well done! So well done that he was justified, +perhaps, in making another substantial increase in his stated weekly +"terms." + +That night when the farewell meeting was over, and the last "good-bye" +and "God bless you" had been said to the evangelist, Dan stood alone in +his study, by the window that looked out upon Denny's garden. He was +very tired. Never before in his life had he known such weariness. He +felt that in the past few weeks he had neglected the garden down there. +For Denny and Deborah he had planned that the little plot of ground +should be more profitable that year than it had ever been before. He +would not neglect it longer. There at least were visible, actual returns +for his labor. Tomorrow he would spend in the garden. + +But to-night-- + +Seating himself at his writing table he wrote the Chicago church that he +could not consider their call. And then in that little room where he had +made for his ministry the supreme sacrifice of his life; surrounded by +the silent witnesses of his struggle and victory, he penned his +resignation as the pastor of Memorial Church. + +Dan Matthews will never outlive the suffering of that hour. He had lost +the woman he loved with all the might of his strong passionate manhood. +When she had waited and beckoned him to come, he had chosen his ministry. +And now--God pity him!--now he had lost that for which he had sacrificed +both himself and the woman he loved. + +When he had finished his letter, he bowed his face in his hands and wept. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +A HANDFUL OF GOLD + +"'I fear it is more his church than mine, sir.'" + + +Rising early the next morning Dan looked from his window to see a +stranger already at work in the garden. He was tall, raw-boned, having +the figure and dress of a laborer. A few minutes later Dan was introduced +by the delighted Deborah to her brother Mike McGowan, who had arrived the +afternoon before from somewhere in the west. All the morning the two men +worked side by side with crippled Denny. + +Returning to his self-appointed task in the afternoon, Dan was met by +the brawny Irishman who in a towering rage, was just leaving the house. + +"Parson," he roared, "'tis a good man ye are, if ye be only a protestant +preacher--a damn good man sir, beggin' your pardon! But you've got a +danged poor kind of a boss, thot'll be lookin' more like he ought to +when I git through with him." + +"Why, what's the matter?" asked Dan stopping with his back to the gate, +thus blocking the way, for he saw that the stranger was bent on violence +to someone. "Whom do you mean, by my boss?" + +"Who do I mane? And who should I mane, but him that runs the thing yonder +they call a church, beggin' your pardon, sir. 'Tis the Elder, as you call +him--Judge Strong. I'll judge him, if I can coax him widin reach of my +two hands." He shook his huge, hairy fists in the air. "It's not strong +but wake he'll be when I git through wid him. Leave me pass, if you +please, sir." + +Dan held his place. "Come, come McGowan," he said, "let's go into the +house and you tell me about this." + +Deborah, who with Denny was standing in the doorway, called out to them, +"That's right Mr. Matthews. Come on in Mike, and talk it over quiet like; +let the minister tell ye what to do. It's him that'll save us a sight o' +trouble that nobody wants. Come in sir! Come on Mike, come with the +minister." + +The wrathful Irishman hesitated. Dan laid a hand on his arm and together +they went into the cottage. + +"'Twas this way sir," said McGowan, "I was sayin' to Debby and Denny here +at dinner what a danged fine man I took ye for after workin' wid ye all +mornin' in the garden, an' then she up an' tells me 'bout you fixin' up +the mortgage fer them an' how they niver could find out how you fixed it +with the Judge. 'The mortgage' says I, 'what mortgage is that, Debby?' +'The mortgage on the place, of course,' says she. 'Don't you mind, I was +tellin' you 'bout it when ye was here before?' 'Do I mind' says I, 'I +should think I did,' and wid that it all come out sir, and this is the +way of it. + +"When I come from Colorado that time Jack was killed I found Debby here, +widout even money enough to pay for a mass, to say nothin' of the +buryin', bein' as they had put iverythin' into the little place here, +d'ye see? Well I had a run o' luck the week before, which is neither +here nor there, but I had money. I knowed from experience that it +wouldn't shtay by me long anyway, an' so I thought I'd kinda fix things +up fer Debby an' the kid here, while I could, d'ye see? + +"Well when 'twas all over, I paid the undertaker's bills an' iverythin' +like that, an' then the very day I left I went to that damn thief, +beggin' your pardon, an' paid off that mortgage in good, hard cash. +Explainin' to him, d'ye see, that I wanted the papers all fixed up +straight and clear and turned over to Debby here, as a kind of a +surprise, d'ye see, after I was gone an' she would be feelin' +down-hearted bein' left by her man and me besides. The Judge bein', as I +knew, the main guy in the big church, I niver thought but that'd be all +right, d'ye see? Well sir, I went away that very day as tickled as a boy +over the thing an' niver thought nothin' about not gettin' a letter about +it from her, 'cause ye see wid me on the move so, most of the letters I +git from Debby niver find me at all. An' here she's tillin' me now that +she's niver heard nothin' 'bout it from the Judge an' she's been payin' +the interest right along, an' would a been turned out by him if it han't +a bin fer you, sir. An' me wid no writin' nor nothin' to show for the +good money I paid him. Now, ain't that a hell of a thing, sir? What kin I +do save bate the face off him onless he fixes it up right an' gives back +ivery cint he's had off her besides?" + +As he listened to the Irishman's story, the new, drawn lines in Dan's +face deepened. He sat with bowed head as though he himself were being +charged with theft. When the tale was finished there was silence in the +little room for several minutes. Then Dan raised his head and the others +saw that in his eyes, as though he had received a mortal hurt. + +"Tell me, Mr. McGowan," he said. "Are you sure there is not some mistake +somewhere? It is very hard for me to believe, that an Elder of the +church--would--" his voice broke. + +The Irishman's rough tones were softened as he answered, "An' how could +there be any mistake, sir, wid me givin' him the hard cash out of me own +pocket after his tellin' me how much it was, an' his promise to fix it up +all right fer Debby when I'd explained the surprise I'd meant fer her?" + +"You paid him the money, you say?" + +"That I did sir--gold. Ye see I happened to have that draft--jest a +thousand an' I turned it in here at the bank. I remember how the feller +at the winder tried to make me take thim dirty bills an' I would not, as +neither would you if you lived as long in the west as I have, sir, an' +got used to the good, clean gold. 'It's the gold or nothin' I'll have' +says I to him, 'clean money to pay a clean debt' an' we had some words +over it--his bein' on the other side o' the winder, ye see, where he +could talk to me. An even eight hundred and fifty I gave the Judge, one +hundred and forty I paid the undertaker and the other tin I gave to Denny +here as I was leavin'. The priest I paid out of some I had in me belt." + +"Come," said Dan, "we must go to the bank." + +In the rear room of the little country bank, Dan introduced the Irishman +to the cashier, Colonel Dunwood. + +"I think I have met Mr. McGowan before," said the Colonel with a smile. +"Mrs. Mulhall's brother are you not? You were here when Jack was killed." + +"I was, sir. Glad to meet you again, sir." + +"Do you remember cashing a draft for Mr. McGowan, Colonel?" asked Dan. + +The banker laughed heartily. "I should say I did--a thousand dollars in +gold. I was glad the counter was between us, when I tried to persuade him +to take paper. Why sir, not in twenty years in this state would you find +a man who would even accept the gold, let alone fighting for it!" + +Then Dan explained briefly the situation. + +When he had finished the Colonel sprang to his feet with an oath. "And +that explains something that puzzled us here in the bank, for many a day. +Wait a minute." + +He left the room to return with a slip of paper. "Can you tell me the +exact date on which you cashed the draft?" he said to McGowan. + +"It was the day after the funeral. I disremember the date, but 'twould +be easy to find." + +The banker nodded, "Our books show that I paid you the money the +sixteenth. And here," he laid the slip of paper before them, "is a +deposit slip made out and signed by Judge Strong dated the seventeenth, +showing that on that date he deposited eight hundred and fifty dollars +in gold. That is what puzzled us, Mr. Matthews--that the Judge should +deposit that amount of gold, there being, you see so little gold handled +here. It makes it very easy to trace. I'll illustrate." He turned to +Mike. "Did you spend any more of the gold in Corinth?" + +McGowan told him about paying the undertaker. After a moment the Colonel +triumphantly laid before them a deposit slip made out by the undertaker +dated a day later, showing an item of one hundred and forty dollars in +gold. + +"You see," he said, "how easy it is." + +"Colonel Dunwood," said Dan, "would this be sufficient evidence before a +jury to--" He hesitated. + +The Colonel let fly another oath, "Yes sir, and before any jury you could +get together in this county it wouldn't take half this to send that +damned, long-faced, sniveling, hypocrite where he belongs. He is one of +our best customers, too, but I reckon this bank can get along without his +dirty money. I beg your pardon, sir; I forgot he is an Elder in your +church." + +Dan smiled sadly, "I fear it is more his church than mine, sir." And +they left the banker to puzzle over the minister's remark. + +That evening Dan went again to the home of Judge Strong. He had persuaded +McGowan to let him act in the matter, for he feared that the Irishman's +temper would complicate things and make it more difficult to secure +Deborah's rights by creating some feeling in the community against the +little family. + +Dan found the Judge in his library. Very quietly, sadly indeed, he told +the story. The Elder, righteously indignant, stormed at the minister, +denying everything; accusing Dan of being an impudent meddler; +threatening him with dismissal from, the church and the denomination; +accusing him even, with unlawful interest in the affairs of the widow, +and taunting him with the common reports as to his relations with Miss +Farwell and her companion. + +Dan with a look of sadness growing deeper on his face listened, without +a word until the final insinuation; then he checked the other sharply, +and his voice had the ring of metal in it as he said slowly, "Judge +Strong you shall answer to me later for this insult to these good women. +Just now you will not mention them again. I am here in the interests of +Mr. McGowan. Confine your remarks to that subject." + +Then he laid before the Judge the evidence he had obtained at the bank +and pointed out its damaging strength. The man was frightened now, but +still he obstinately denied having received any money in payment of the +mortgage. Dan pleaded with him, urging even the cause of the church, +telling also how McGowan had agreed to do nothing further if the Judge +would simply make restitution. + +The Judge answered arrogantly that he had been a faithful member, and an +Elder in the Memorial Church, too long to be harmed by the charges of a +stranger, a wandering ruffian, who had nothing but his word to show that +he had paid him a sum of money. "And as for you, young man," he added, +"I may as well tell you now that your time is about up in Corinth, and +I'll take mighty good care that you don't get another church in our +brotherhood either. I'll show you that preachers get along better when +they attend to their own affairs." + +Dan's final words, as he stood by the door, were, "I cannot believe Judge +Strong, that you will force my friends to take this matter into the +courts. But we will certainly do so if I do not receive from you by +tomorrow noon the proper papers and a check for every cent you have +taken from Mrs. Mulhall." + +Until late in the night after Dan's departure, Judge Strong still sat at +his desk, deep in thought. Occasionally he rose to walk the floor. + +When the Judge had received that money from McGowan he had had no thought +but regret at losing the property he coveted. With Deborah and Denny left +alone in the world, he knew that in time the place would be sure to come +to him. He had only to wait. This wild Irish brick-layer--and who knows +what beside--who was he to block the Elder's plans with his handful of +gold? + +The gold! How well the Judge remembered that day, and how when Mike was +gone, he had sat contemplating the shining pieces! What a fool the man +was to carry such stuff on his person! The careful Judge never dreamed +that the money had come from his own bank. The Irishman was going away on +the morrow. Planning gleefully to surprise his sister, he had told no +one. He would wander far. It would be years before he would return, if he +ever came back. By that time the property would be-- + +It was seemingly all too easy. The Judge's character was not a character +to resist such an opportunity. The gold alone perhaps would not have won, +but the gold and the place--the place he had planned for and felt so +certain of owning--that was too much! + +And now this big sad-faced preacher--the Irishman again, and the bank! +The more the Judge thought over Dan's quiet words, the more he saw the +danger. + +So it came about, that the next morning Dan, waiting in his study, +received a visitor--the good old Elder--Nathaniel Jordan. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE VICTORY OF THE ALLY + +"So the old Doctor found him in the late afternoon--his great strength +shaken by rage and doubt; found him struggling like a beast in the trap." + + +Nathaniel was greatly agitated as he faced the minister in the doorway. +He moved unsteadily across the room, stumbling toward the chair Dan +offered, and his hand shook so violently that his cane rattled against +the window ledge, where he attempted to lay it--rattled and fell to the +floor. He jumped in his seat at the sound. Dan picked up the cane and +placed it on the table. Then the Elder found his voice--thin and +trembling--and said, "I came about--about Brother Strong, you know." + +"Yes," said Dan, a great pity for this good old man in his heart. "Did +Judge Strong send anything?" + +The Elder fumbled in his pocket and drew out an envelope. He extended +it with shaking fingers to Dan, who opened it and examined the contents. +Slowly he replaced them in the envelope and, looking at his visitor, +waited. + +Again the Elder found his voice and said with a little more self-control, +"A bad business, Brother Matthews; too bad, too bad; poor Brother +Strong!" + +He shook his head sadly. Dan looked at him curiously, but made no reply. + +"Poor Brother Strong," the Elder repeated. "Brother Matthews, I want to +ask you to use your influence with these people to keep this sad affair +from getting out. Do you think they will insist on--ah, on bringing +action against Brother Strong now--now that he has--ah, complied with +your request?" + +"And why," asked Dan, "should you wish the matter kept secret?" + +The Elder gazed at him blankly. "Why? Why, on account of the church, of +course. Judge Strong is one of our leading members--an Elder. He has been +for years. It would ruin us--ruin us!" + +"But," said Dan coolly, "he is a thief. You must know that he stole this +money. Here--," he stretched forth his hand, holding the envelope, "here +is his confession of guilt." + +The Elder's voice trembled again. "Brother Matthews! Brother Matthews! +I--I protest! Such language, applied to an Elder is unchristian; you +know the scripture?" + +"Is it not true?" persisted Dan. + +"Ahem! Brother Strong may have made a mistake, may--ah, have done wrong, +but the church--the church; we must think of the good name of the cause! +Coming so soon after the revival, too!" + +"Am I to understand, then, that the church will keep this man in his +place as an Elder; that you will protect him when you know his true +character?" + +At the question the other stared blankly. "Why--why how could we get +along without him?" + +"How can you get along with him?" asked Dan. + +"But there isn't a man in Corinth who has done so much for us and for +the missionary cause! No, no, we must be more careful, Brother Matthews." + +"Then for the sake of his contributions and his position in the community +the church will shield him from the results of his crime?" + +The Elder squirmed uneasily in his chair. + +"Is that what you mean?" insisted Dan. + +"Why--I--I don't think, Brother Matthews, for the good of our cause in +Corinth, that it would be good policy to make this matter public and so +create a great stir. Brother Strong has made restitution. We must be +charitable, brother, and forgiving. You must not think too--too hard of +him. Are these people determined to push this matter?" + +"Oh, no," said Dan, "not at all. They want only that which belongs to +them. You may rest easy; as I told the Judge last night, this will end +the matter. It was under that promise that he made restitution, as +you call it. I was simply asking to know how the church would look upon +such a thing when it touches an Elder. You have explained it +clearly--_policy_!" + +The Elder stiffened. It was remarkable how quickly he revived under Dan's +assurance that the danger was past! Very dignified now, as became one in +his position, he said, "Ahem, ahem! I fear, Brother Matthews, that you +are not--ah--not entirely in harmony with our brotherhood in many +things." + +Dan was silent. + +"Ahem! The tone of your sermons has been I may say--ah, questioned by a +good many of us, and your attitude toward the board has not been quite +as cordial as we feel we have a right to expect." + +"Do you speak from personal experience, sir?" + +"Oh, no--no indeed, Brother Matthews; but--ah, Brother Strong has felt +for some time past that you have treated him rather coldly." + +Dan waited. + +"A lack of harmony between a pastor and his Elder is very bad--ah, very +bad. Ahem! Ahem! And so, considering everything we--Brother Str--that is +the board have thought best that your relations with the Memorial Church +should discontinue." + +"And when was this action taken?" asked Dan quietly. + +"The day before the meetings closed. We wished to have the benefit of +Brother Sigman's advice before he left. He met with us and we considered +the whole matter quite carefully and prayerfully. I was appointed to tell +you. I should add that there is no doubt but the people will concur in +the board's decision. Many of the members, I may say, were seen before we +took action." + +Dan glanced toward his desk where, in the envelopes, lay his resignation +and his answer to the Chicago church. In the excitement of McGowan's +trouble he had neglected to mail them. + +"Of course," he questioned, quietly curious now, "the board will give me +a letter?" + +"Ahem! We--ah, discussed that also," said the Elder. "Brother Strong and +the Evangelist--and, I may say, the entire board feel that we cannot +consistently do so." + +"May I ask why?" + +"Ahem! Your teaching, Brother Matthews, does not seem to be in harmony +with the brotherhood. We cannot endorse it, and the talk in the community +about your conduct has been very damaging; very!" + +"Is it charged that my teaching has been false to the principles of +Christianity as taught by Christ?" + +"I cannot discuss that part, Brother Matthews. It is not such teaching +as the churches of our brotherhood want." + +"Does the church, sir, believe that my character is bad?" + +"No, sir--no, sir! No one really believes that, but you have been--ah, +injudicious. There has been so much talk, you know--" + +"Who has talked?" Dan interrupted. + +The Elder continued, "These things follow a minister all his life. We +cannot recommend a man of bad repute to our sister churches; it would +reflect upon us." + +"For the same reason that you keep in a high office in the church a man +who is an unrepentant thief?" said Dan. + +The Elder rose. "Really, Brother Matthews, I cannot listen to such words +about our Elder!" + +"I beg your pardon, sir," said Dan huskily. "I was thinking aloud. Please +tell me one thing more. I have here a letter from a church in Chicago +asking me to consider a call. Have the Elders received a letter from +them?" + +"Ahem! Yes, we considered it at that same meeting." + +"And you have written them?" + +"We could not recommend you. I am sorry, Brother Matthews." + +"I believe you are," said Dan slowly. "Thank you." + +When the Elder was gone Dan turned sadly back to his little study; the +study that had come to stand so for everything to which he had devoted +his life with such holy purpose, for which he had sacrificed so much. + +Slowly he went to his desk and looked down upon the work scattered over +it. Taking up the two letters he tore them slowly into fragments and +dropped them into the waste basket. Then as slowly he turned to his +books, touching many of the familiar volumes with a caressing hand. Then +he went to the table where lay his church papers and the missionary +pamphlets and reports. The envelope from Judge Strong caught his eye. + +Mechanically he took his hat and went to carry the message to his friends +on the other side of the garden. From across the street the old Doctor +hailed him but he did not hear. + +Delivering the envelope, with a few brief words, the minister left his +friends and wandered on down the street in a bewildered, dazed fashion, +scarce knowing where he went, or why; until he turned in through the gap +in the tumble-down fence to the old Academy yard. + +But he could not stay there. The place was haunted, he could not stay! +He turned his face toward the open country, but the fields and woodlands +had no call for him that day. It was his little study that called; his +books, his work. + +As one goes to sit beside the body of a dear friend, conscious that the +friend he loved is not there, yet unable to leave the form wherein the +spirit had lived, so Dan went back to his room, his desk, his books, his +papers--that which had been his work. + +And now the deep passions of the man stirred themselves--awoke. Wild +anger, mad rage, seized and shook him. His whole sense of justice was +outraged. This was not Christianity, this thing that had caught him in +its foul snare! And if the church was not Christian what was +Christianity? Was there, indeed, such a thing? Was it all such a hollow +mockery? + +So the Doctor found him in the late afternoon--his great strength shaken +by rage and doubt; found him struggling like a beast in the trap. + +And the Doctor saw that the hour for which he had waited had come. + +Dan needed him--needed him badly! + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +THE DOCTOR'S GLASSES + +"'There is no hatred, lad, so bitter as that hatred born of a religious +love; no falsehood so vile as the lie spoken in defense of truth; no +wrong so harmful as the wrong committed in the name of righteousness; no +injustice so terrible as the injustice of those who condemn in the name +of the Saviour of the world!'" + + +When Dan, forced into something of his habitual self-control and calmness +by the presence of his old friend, began telling the Doctor of the action +of the church the other checked him abruptly with, "I know all about +that, lad." + +"You know!" ejaculated Dan. + +"Certainly I know. Isn't Martha one of the elect? I reckon everybody in +the whole town but you knew it before noon of the day after the meeting." + +Dan muttered something about being a blind fool and the old Doctor +answered, "Humph! The fools are they who see too much, boy. Such +blindness as yours is a gift of the gods; for Heaven's sake don't let +any quack fit you out with glasses!" + +Dan threw himself wearily into a chair and there was a spirit of +recklessness in his reply, as though he were letting go of himself again. +"How is a blind man to recognize a quack? I would to God I had your +glasses!" + +"Perhaps," said the Doctor deliberately, "I might lend them to you, just +for once, you know." + +"Well then," said the other, sitting up suddenly, "let me have them! How +do you see this thing? What have I done or not done? For what shall I +blame myself? What fatal error have I made that, with the best of +motives, with the--," he hesitated, then--"I can say it to you, Doctor, +and I will--with the sacrifice of the dearest thing in the world to me, I +am cast out in this fashion? If I can find a reason for it, I can bear +it." + +"It is your blindness, boy. You could not help it; you were born blind. +I have always known this would come." + +"You have always known this would come?" repeated Dan questioningly. + +"Yes, I have always known, because for half a century, boy, I have +observed the spirit of this institution. Mind, I do not say the spirit +of the people in the institution. Strong people, Dan, sometimes manage +to live in mighty sickly climates. The best people in the world are +sometimes held by evil circumstances which their own best intentions +have created. The people in the church are the salt of the earth. If +it were not for their goodness the system would have rotted long ago. +The church, for all its talk, doesn't save the people; the people save +the church. And let me tell you, Dan, the very ones in the church who +have done the things you have seen and felt, at heart respect and believe +in you." + +Dan broke forth in such a laugh as the Doctor had never heard from his +lips. "Then why?" + +"Because," said the old man, "it is their religion to worship an +institution, not a God; to serve a system, not the race. It is history, +my boy. Every reformation begins with the persecution of the reformer +and ends with the followers of that reformer persecuting those who would +lead them another step toward freedom. Misguided religious people have +always crucified their saviors and always will!" + +Dan was silent, awed by the revelation of his old friend's mind. +Presently the Doctor continued, "There is no hatred, lad, so bitter as +that hatred born of a religious love; no falsehood so vile as the lie +spoken in defense of truth; no wrong so harmful as the wrong committed +in the name of righteousness; no injustice so terrible as the injustice +of those who condemn in the name of the Saviour of the world!" + +"What then, as you see it--what can I do?" demanded Dan. + +The Doctor changed his tone. His reply was more a question than an +answer. "There are other churches?" + +Dan laughed bitterly. "They have taken care of that, too." He began to +tell of the call to Chicago and the Elders' refusal to give him a letter, +but again the Doctor interrupted him. "Yes, I know about that, too." + +"Well," demanded Dan almost angrily. + +"Well," answered the other easily, "there are still other churches." + +"You mean--." + +"I mean that you are not the only preacher who has been talked about by +his church, and branded by his official board with the mark of the devil +in the name of the Lord. It's easy enough! Go farther, get a little +obscure congregation somewhere, stay long enough to get a letter, not +long enough to make another name; try another in the same fashion. Lay +low, keep quiet, stay away from conventions, watch your chance, and--when +the time is ripe--make a hit with the state workers in some other state. +You know how! It's all easy enough!" + +Dan leaped to his feet. "Good God, Doctor! I have done nothing wrong. Why +should I skulk, and hide, and scheme to conceal something I never did, +for the privilege of serving a church that doesn't want me? Is this the +ministry?" + +"It seems to be a large part of it," answered the other deliberately. +"My boy, it's the things that preachers have not done that they try +hardest to hide. As to why, I must confess that I am a little +near-sighted myself sometimes." + +"I can't, I can't do it, Doctor!" + +"Humph! I didn't suppose you could," came dryly from the old man. + +Dan did not heed but went on in a hopeless tone to tell the Doctor how he +had written his resignation, and had declined to consider the call to +Chicago. "Don't you see that I couldn't take a church if one were offered +me now?" he asked. "Don't you understand what this has done for me? It's +not the false charges. It's not that! It's--it's the thing, whatever it +is, that has made this action of the church possible. I am forced to +doubt, not alone the church, but everything--the people, myself, God, +Christ, Christianity, life itself; everything! How can I go on with a +work, in which I cannot say to myself with truth that I believe?" His +voice ended in a groan. + +And the old man, who knew the lad so well felt as though he were gazing +upon the big, naked soul. Then, indeed, the Doctor knew that the hour had +come. + +There are those who, capable of giving but little to life, demand of life +much in return. To such weak natures doubt means not much. But souls like +this one, capable of giving themselves to the last atom of their +strength, demand no small returns in convictions as to the worthiness of +the cause to which they contribute. To such, doubt is destruction. It was +because Dan had believed so strongly, so wholly in the ministry of the +church that he had failed. Had he not accepted so unreservedly, and given +himself so completely to the ministry as it was presented to him in +theory, had he in some degree doubted, he would have been able to adjust +himself to the actual conditions. He would have succeeded. + +For while, theoretically, the strength of the church is in its fidelity +to the things in which it professes to believe; practically and actually +the strength of the church of today is in its tacit acceptance of its +unbeliefs. Strange things would befall us if we should ever get the habit +of insisting that our practice square with our preaching; if churches +should make this the test of fellowship--that men must live their +doctrines, rather than teach them--that they must live their beliefs +rather than confess them--that they must live their faiths, rather than +profess them. + +Dan's was not a nature that could preach things in which he only half +believed to a people whose belief he knew to be no stronger than his own. +It was with these things in mind that the Doctor had waited for this +moment in Dan's life, for the old man realized, as the young man could +not, what such moments mean. + +Rising and going to the window overlooking the garden the Doctor called +to Dan, "Come here, boy!" + +Together they stood looking down on the little plot of ground with its +growing vegetables, where Denny, with his helpless, swinging arm, and +twisted, dragging foot, was digging away, his cheery whistle floating up +to them. The physician spoke with a depth of feeling he had never +betrayed before, while Dan, troubled as he was, listened in wonder to +his friend, who had always been so reticent in matters such as this. + +"Dan," he said, "you wished for my glasses. 'Tis always a mighty +dangerous thing to try to see through another man's eyes, but here are +mine." He pointed below. + +"Down there I see religion--Christianity--what you will, but religion; +living, growing, ever-changing, through the season-ages; lying dormant +sometimes, it may be, but always there; yielding to each season the +things that belong to that season; depending for its strength and power +upon the Great Source of all strength and power; depending as truly upon +man's efforts, upon his cultivation and care. There is variety, harmony, +law, freedom. There is God! Something for all--potatoes, peas, turnips, +cabbage. If you do not care for lettuce, perhaps radishes will satisfy. +And there, boy, in the midst of his church, ministering to the needs of +his congregation, and thus ministering to men--is my minister: crippled, +patient Denny, who gives his frail strength to keep the garden growing. + +"And look you, boy, at the great rock in the very center of the field! +How often Denny has wished it out of his way! I caught the poor lad +digging, one time, to find, if he could, how deep it is in the earth, +and how big. For three days I watched him. Then he gave it up. It is +beyond his strength and he wisely turned to devote his energies to the +productive soil around it. + +"There is a rock in every garden, Dan. Religion grows always about the +unknowable. But Denny's ministry has naught to do with the rock, it has +to do with the growing things about it. So religion is in the knowable +things not in the unknowable; there such men as you, lad, must find it. +And the rock, boy, was not put in the garden by men. It belongs to the +earth itself." + +While the Doctor was speaking his eyes had been fixed on the crippled +boy in the garden. He turned now, for the first time, to face the young +man by his side. Dan's eyes had that wide, questioning look. The old +physician moved to the other window. + +"Now come, see what men have done." He pointed to the cast-iron monument. +"These people will tell you that was erected to commemorate the life of +my friend. His was a warm, tender, loving spirit--a great, ever-growing +soul. What can that hard, cold, immovable mass tell of him? How can that +thing--perpetuating an issue that belongs to a past age, that has nothing +to do with the life of today--how can that thing speak of the great heart +that loved and gave itself always to men? + +"Through my glasses that is the church! How can an institution, or a +system of theological beliefs--with cast-iron prejudices, cast-iron +fidelity to issues long past and forgotten, cast-iron unconcern of vital +issues of the life of today and cast-iron want of sympathy with the +living who toil and fight and die on every side--how can such speak the +great loving, sympathetic, helpful spirit of Him whose name only it +bears, as that bears only the name of my friend? + +"But would the people of this town, out of love for my dead friend, tear +down that monument if Denny should leave his garden to argue with them +about it? Why, they would tell him that it is because of their love for +the statesman that they keep it there and they believe it--and it is +true. Well, then, let them keep their monument and let Denny work in his +garden! And don't you see, Dan, that the very ones who fight for the +cast-iron monument must depend at last for their lives and strength upon +the things that Denny grows in his garden. Now boy, that's the first and +only time I ever preached." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE FINAL WORD + +"'This closes my ministry as you understand it. It by no means closes my +ministry as I have come to understand it.'" + + +Dan's farewell sermon was to be given in the evening. John Gardner, +who--true to the promise he had made when he challenged the minister, +after that sermon on "Fellowship of Service"--had become a regular +attendant, was present in the morning. + +In the afternoon the farmer called on Dan in his study. + +"Look here, Dan," he said. "You are making the mistake of your life." + +"You're wrong, John. I made that mistake nearly two years ago," he +answered. + +"I mean in leaving Corinth as you are leaving it." + +"And I mean in coming to Corinth as I came to it." + +"But wait a minute; let me tell you! You have done a lot of good in this +town; you don't know--." + +"So have you done a lot of good, John; you don't know either." + +The farmer tried again. "You have helped me more than you know." + +"I'm glad, John, because you have helped me more than _you_ know." + +"Oh, come; you know what I mean!" + +"Well, don't you know what I mean?" + +"Yes, I think I do. I've been listening pretty close to your sermons and +so have a lot of others. I have managed to talk with a good many church +people since it was known that you were going; just common plugs in the +congregation, like me, you know." Dan smiled. "We all understand what +you have been driving at in your preaching, and we know pretty well what +the bosses think about it, and why they have let you out. No one takes +any stock in that foul gossip, not even Strong himself. Now what I came +to say is this: a lot of us want you to stay. Why can't we have another +church for our people right here in Corinth? There's enough of us to back +you, and we mean business." + +Dan shook his head sadly. + +"Thank you, John," he said simply. "It is useless for me to try to tell +you how much good this does me; but I can't accept. I have thought of the +possibility you mention, but I can't do it. You do not need another +church in Corinth. You have more than you need now." + +Nor could any argument move him. + +"Well," said the farmer, when at last he gave it up and rose to say +good-bye, "I suppose I'll keep right on being a church member, but I +reckon I'll have to find most of my religion in my work." + +"And that," said Dan, as he gripped his friend's hand, "is the best place +I know of to look for it. If you cannot find God in your everyday work, +John, you'll not find Him on Sunday at the church." + +That farewell sermon is still talked about in Corinth or rather--it +should be said--is still remembered, for it was one of those sermons of +which, while little could be said, much could never be forgotten. And the +picture of the big lad, whose strong, clean-looking body drooped so as if +in great weariness; whose frank open countenance was marked with drawn +lines; in whose clear brown eyes were shadows of trouble and pain; whose +voice betrayed the sadness of a mighty soul, will also remain long in the +memory of those who were there that evening. + +The place was crowded. The triumphant Judge and his friends of the inner +circle were there in force, striving in vain to hide, with pious +expression of countenance, the satisfaction and pride they felt in their +power. The other members were there, curious to hear what Dan would say; +wondering how much he knew of the methods that had brought about his +dismissal; a little sorry for him; a little indignant; and with a feeling +of impotence withal that made their sorrow and indignation of no worth +whatever. With identically the same emotions as the members, except that +it felt free to express them more freely, the world was there. To a +portion of the congregation Dan stood in the peculiar position of a +friend whom, as an individual, they loved and trusted, but whom, as a +preacher, they were forced to regard as unsafe and dangerous. + +It would not do to report all he said, for much of his sermon was not +fashioned for the printed page. + +But his final words were: "It is not the spirit of wealth, of learning, +or of culture that can make the church of value, or a power for good in +the world, but the spirit of Christ only. It is not in fidelity to the +past but in fidelity to the present that the church can be Christian. It +is not the opinion of man, but the eternal truths of God that can make it +a sacred, holy thing. It is holy to the degree that God is in it. God is +as truly in the fields of grain, in the forests, in the mines, and in +those laws of Nature by which men convert the product of field and forest +and mine into the necessities of life. Therefore these are as truly holy +as this institution. Therefore, again, the ministry of farm, and mine, +and factory, and shop; of mill, and railroad, and store, and office, and +wherever men toil with strength of body or strength of mind for that +which makes for the best life of their kind--that ministry is sacred and +holy. + +"Because I believe these things I am, from this hour, no longer a +professional preacher, hired by and working under the direction of any +denomination or church leaders. This closes my ministry as you understand +it. It by no means closes my ministry as I have come to understand it." + +When he had finished they crowded around him to express regret at his +going--sorry that he was leaving the ministry; the church needed men of +his great ability--prayed God to bless him wherever he should go--all +this and much more, with hand-shaking and many tears from the very people +who had made it impossible for him to stay. For this is the way of us +all! + +As quickly as he could Dan left the church, and with the Doctor walked +toward home. The two made no exchange of words, until they reached the +monument, where they paused to stand silently contemplating the cast-iron +figure. At last Dan turned with a smile. "It is very good cast-iron, I +suppose, Doctor." + +Then, as if dismissing the whole matter, he took his old friend's arm +and, with a joyous ring in his voice that had not been there for many +months, said, "Doctor, you'll do me one favor before I leave, won't you?" + +"What?" + +"Go fishing with me tomorrow. There is something, still, before I can +leave Corinth--. I do not know how--Will you go?" + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +JUSTICE + +"The last shadow of his Corinthian ministry had been lifted from his +soul." + + +Early the next morning Dan and the old Doctor set out for Wheeler's Ford. +It was the nearest point, and while the fishing was not so good as at +other places they knew the spot was what they wanted. This was one of the +days when they would go fishing--but not for fish. + +Leaving their rig by the roadside near the fence, the two friends +wandered away up the stream; casting their hooks now and then at the +likely places; taking a few fish; pausing often to enjoy the views of +silver water, over-hanging trees, wooded bluffs, rocky bank or grassy +slope, that changed always with the winding of the creek. + +Returning to the rig for their lunch and to give the old horse his +generous allowance, they went downstream in the afternoon, this time +leaving their rods behind. + +"Really, you know," said the Doctor, "the tackle is such a bother on this +kind of a fishing trip." At which sage remark Dan's laugh rang out so +freely that the woods on the other side of the little valley gave back +the merry sound. + +Dan felt strangely light-hearted and free that day. The Doctor thought +the lad was more like himself than he had been for months. The truth is +that Dan's gladness was akin to the gladness of home-coming. He felt as +one who, having been for long years in a foreign land, returns to his +own country and his own people. He was again a man among his fellow-men, +with no barrier between him and his kind. Once more he was in the world +to which he belonged, and it was a good world. + +There was, too, a strange, delightful feeling of nearness to her--the +woman he loved. He had had no word since she left Corinth, nor did he +know where she was. He would never find her again, perhaps, but he no +longer belonged to a world separate and apart from her world. He felt +nearer to her even than when they were together that last time in the +old Academy yard. + +Dan was conscious, too, of a sense of freedom--of a broader, fuller life +than he had ever known. Through the old Doctor's timely words, setting +his thoughts into new channels, he had come out of his painful experience +with a certain largeness of vision that made him stronger. He had found +himself. He did not know yet what he would do; he had plans dimly formed, +but nothing fixed. What did it matter? Somewhere he felt his garden +waited for him; he would find his work. He was free from the deadening +influence of the cast-iron monument and that, for the moment, was enough. +So far as his Corinthian ministry was concerned only one shadow, out of +all the dark cloud of his troubled experience remained. When that was +lifted he would turn his back upon Corinth forever, but until then he did +not feel free to go. + +They were lying on the grassy bank of a woodland pasture, where a herd +of cattle grazed or lay contentedly in the shade of the scattered trees. + +"Heigh-ho," said the Doctor, "I believe I will go with you, lad." + +For some time they had been silent and it was almost as though the old +man had spoken to his companion's thoughts. + +"Go where?" asked Dan, turning over on his side and half-raising himself +on his elbow. + +"Why home to Mutton Hollow, of course. You'll be leaving pretty soon now, +I reckon." + +"I suppose so," mused Dan vaguely. "But I'm not going home." + +The old Doctor sat up. "Not going home!" + +Dan smiled. "Not just yet," he answered. "I want to run about a little +first." + +"Uh-huh," the Doctor nodded. "Want to get your hair dry and your shirt on +right side out before you face the folks." + +Dan laughed. "Perhaps I want to look for my garden," he said. + +"Good!" ejaculated the other, now very much in earnest. "Let me help you, +lad. You know what I have always hoped for you. My profession needs--." + +Dan interrupted gently, "No. No Doctor, not that. I have a notion--but +there--it's all too vague yet to even discuss. When I am ready to go home +I'll write you and you can meet me there. Will you?" + +The old man hid his disappointment, answering heartily, "Sure I will! +I'll be there when you arrive, to help kill the fatted calf." He did not +tell Dan of a letter from his mother urging him, for certain reasons, to +visit them, or that he had already promised her to be with them when Dan +should return. + +The shadows were beginning to stretch toward the river, and the cattle +were moving slowly in the direction of the farmyard, hidden somewhere +beyond the fringe of timber, when the two friends went leisurely back to +the road to find their rig and start for home. + +Climbing the fence they paused and--seated on the top rail--watched a +team and buggy just coming down the opposite bank of the stream to cross +the ford. Midway the horses stopped to drink. + +"By George," muttered the Doctor, "it's our friend the Judge!" + +The same instant, Dan recognized the man in the buggy. With the +recognition all the brightness went out of his face--as a cloud, all the +sadness returned. + +"Doctor," Dan said, slipping down from the fence as he spoke, "excuse me +a minute. I must speak to that man." + +The Doctor kept his place on the fence, while Dan stepped into the road. +The team, when they had left the ford, stopped as they reached him. + +"How do you do, Doctor?" called the man in the buggy in a loud voice; +then to Dan, "Well, sir, what do you want now?" + +Dan stood near the horses' heads, his eyes fixed on their driver, and the +Judge, seeing the sorrow in his face, misunderstood, as always. + +"Judge Strong," said Dan. "You are the only man in the world with whom I +am not at peace. I cannot be content to leave Corinth, sir, with anything +between us." + +The crafty Judge thought he understood. He took Dan's words, with his +manner, as an acknowledgment of defeat; an act of submission. The Elder +had not believed that the young man had really wished to leave the +ministry. He was quite sure now that the preacher, recognizing at last +the power that had thrust him from his position and place in the church, +wished to sue for peace, that the same power might help him to another +position. So this big upstart was tamed at last, was he? + +The Doctor, sitting on the fence and hearing every low-spoken word, held +a different view of the situation. + +"Well," said the Judge haughtily. + +Dan hesitated. "I--I wished to ask a favor, sir; one that I feel sure a +Christian could not refuse." + +Now the Judge was confident of his position and power. He grew still more +dignified and looked at Dan with the eye of a master. + +"Well, out with it. It is growing late and I must be going." + +"You will remember, sir, that the last time I called on you in your home, +you made certain grave charges against three women who are my friends." + +"I repeated only the common--" + +"Wait, please," interrupted Dan. "This is a matter between you and me. I +understand that you were angry and spoke hastily. Won't you please +retract those words now?" Dan's voice was almost pleading in its sad +slowness; his eyes were on the Judge with an anxious, appealing look. +Disappointed at the request so different from that which he had expected, +the Judge angrily answered, "Stand out of my way; I have no time for +this, sir!" + +But quietly, carelessly it seemed, Dan laid one hand on the back of the +nearest horse, almost touching the rein, and moved a step or two closer +to the buggy. + +"Sir, I am sure you do not understand. Miss Farwell and I--I had hoped +to make her my wife. We--we parted because of the church." + +The Doctor on the fence felt a lump in his throat at the pain in the +boy's voice. Dan continued, "I am telling you, sir, so that you will +understand. Surely you cannot refuse to take back your words under the +circumstances." + +"Oh, I see," sneered the Judge. "You lost the girl because of the church +and then you lost the church! A fine mess you made of your pious +interference with other people's business, didn't you?" And then he +laughed. Looking straight into those sad, pleading eyes--he laughed. + +"The damned fool," muttered the old Doctor on the fence. + +"Am I to understand that you refuse to retract your words after my +explanation?" Dan's tone was mildly doubtful. + +The Judge was well pleased at what he had heard. + +"I have absolutely nothing to take back, sir." He laughed again. "Now +if that is all, stand aside!" + +But suddenly the light in Dan's eyes flashed red. + +"No!" he cried, "that is not all!" With a long step he reached the side +of the buggy. + +The next moment the Judge found himself on the ground. + +"Wh--what do you mean sir?" he roared. "Take your hands off of me!" + +Dan's voice was trembling with rage, but he spoke deliberately. + +"You unspeakable cur, I have felt sorry for you because of your warped +and twisted nature; because you seemed so incapable of being anything +more than you are. I have given you a chance to act like a man, +and--you--you laugh at me! You escaped punishment for your theft from +that poor widow. You have escaped from God knows how many such crimes. +But now, in the name of the people you have tricked and robbed under the +cover of business, in the name of the people you have slandered and +ruined under cover of the church, I'm going to give you what such a +contemptible rascal as you are, deserves." + +The Judge was a large man, in the prime of life, but his natural weapons +of warfare were those of the fox, the coyote and their kin. Cornered, he +made a show of resistance, but he was as a child in the hands of the +young giant, who thrashed him until he lay half-senseless, moaning and +groaning in pain, on the ground. + +When Dan at last drew back the Doctor, who through it all had remained +quietly seated on the fence--an interested spectator--climbed down from +his position and came slowly forward. Looking the Judge over with a +professional eye he turned to Dan with a chuckle. + +"You made a mighty good job of it, lad; a mighty good job. Lord, how I +envied you! Chuck him into his buggy now, and I'll take him home. You +can follow in our rig." + +So they went home in the dusk of the evening. And the old Doctor told +around town a tale of how the Judge had met with an accident at Wheeler's +Ford that would keep him in the house for quite a spell. + +Dan spent his last evening in Corinth with Dr. Harry and the next morning +he left. The last shadow of his Corinthian ministry had been lifted from +his soul. + +Corinth still talks of the great days that are gone, and the greater days +that are to come, while still the days that are, are dead days--shadowed +by the cast-iron monument which yet holds its place in the heart of the +town, and makes of the community a fit home for the Ally. + +Judge Strong has gathered to himself additional glory and honor by his +continued activity and prominence in Memorial Church and in his +denomination, together with his contributions to the various funds for +state and national work. + +Elder Jordan has been gathered to his fathers. But Nathaniel came to feel +first, the supreme joy of seeing his daughter Charity proudly installed +as the assistant pastor to the last of Dan's successors. They live at the +old Jordan home and it is said he is the most successful preacher that +the Memorial Church has ever employed, and the prospects are he will +serve for many years to come. + +Denny, through his minister friend, has received his education +and--surrounded now by the books he craved--cultivates another garden, +wherein he bids fair to grow food for men quite as necessary as cabbages +or potatoes. Deborah is proud and happy with her boy; who, though he be +crippled in body, has a heart and mind stronger than given to many. + +The Doctor seldom goes fishing now, though he still cultivates his roses +and, as he says, meddles in the affairs of his neighbors. And still he +sits in his chair on the porch and watches the world go by. Martha says +that, more and more, the world, to the Doctor, means the doings of that +minister Dan Matthews. + +It was a full month after Dan left Corinth when he wrote his old friend +that he was going home. The Doctor carefully packed his fishing tackle +and started for Mutton Hollow. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +THE HOME COMING + +"Some things, thank God, are beyond the damning power of our +improvements." + + +And now this story goes back again to the mountains to end where it +began: back to where the tree-clad ridges roll, like mighty green billows +into the far distant sky; where the vast forests lie all a-quiver in the +breeze, shimmering in the sun, and the soft, blue haze of the late summer +lies lazily over the land. + +Beyond Wolf ridge, all up and down Jake and Indian creeks, and even as +near as Fall creek, are the great lead and zinc mines. Over on Garber +the heavily loaded trains, with engines puffing and panting on the heavy +grades, and waking the echoes with wild shrieks, follow their iron way. +But in the Mutton Hollow neighborhood, there are as yet no mines, with +their unsightly piles of refuse, smoke-grimed buildings, and clustering +shanties, to mar the picture. Dewey Bald still lifts its head in proud +loneliness above the white sea of mist that still, at times, rolls over +the valley below. The paths are unaltered. From the Matthews house on +the ridge, you may see the same landmarks. The pines show black against +the sunset sky. And from the Matthews place--past the deerlick in the +big, low gap past Sammy's Lookout and around the shoulder of +Dewey--looking away into the great world beyond, still lies the trail +that is nobody knows how old. + +So in life. With all the changes that time inevitably brings, with all +our civilization, our inventions and improvements, some things must +remain unchanged. Some things--the great landmarks in life and in +religion, the hills, the valleys, the mists, must ever remain the same. +Some things, thank God, are beyond the damning power of our improvements. + +In minor things the Matthews home itself is altered. But Dan's father +and mother are still--in spite of the years that have come--Young Matt +and Sammy. + +It was that best of all seasons in the Ozarks--October--the month of +gold, when they were sitting on the front porch in the evening with the +old Doctor, who had arrived during the afternoon. + +"Now, Doctor," said the mother, "tell us all about it." There was no +uneasiness in her calm voice, no shadow of worry in her quiet eyes. And +the boy's father by her side was like her in serene confidence. They knew +from Dan's letters something of the trials through which he had passed; +they had assured him often of their sympathy. It never occurred to them +to doubt him in any way or to question the final outcome. + +"Yes, Doctor," came the deep voice of the father. "We have had Dan's +letters of course, but the lad's not one to put all of his fight on +paper. Let's have it as you saw it." + +So the Doctor told them--told of the causes that had combined to put Dan +on the rack, that had driven him in spite of himself to change his views +of the church and its ministry; told of the forces that had been arrayed +against him, how the lad had met these forces, and how he had battled +with himself--all that the Doctor had seen in the months of watching; all +that he knew of Dan, even to the time when Dan declared his doubt of +everything, and to the chastising of Judge Strong. He omitted nothing +except the declaration he had heard Dan make to the Judge. + +Several times the narrator was interrupted by the deep-voiced, hearty +laugh of the father, or with exclamations of satisfaction. Sometimes the +Doctor was interrupted by a quick, eager question from the mother, that +helped to make the story clear. Many times they uttered half-whispered +exclamations of wonder, distress or indignation. + +"When he left Corinth," said the Doctor in conclusion, "he told me that +he had no clearly-defined plans, though he hinted at something that he +had in mind." + +"But, Doctor, haven't you forgotten a very important part of your story?" +the mother asked. + +"What have I forgotten?" he questioned. + +"Why, the girl of course. What is a story without a girl?" she laughed +merrily. + +To which the Doctor answered, "I reckon Dan will tell you about that +himself." + +At this they all joined in a hearty laugh. + +The next day Dan arrived and after a brief time, given up to the joy of +family reunion, he took up the story where the Doctor had left off. + +From Corinth Dan had gone directly to the president of the big steel +works, whom he had met at the time of the convention. With the assistance +and advice of this man of affairs he had been visiting the big mines and +smelters and studying zinc and lead. He had worked out his plan and had +interested capital and had come home to consult with his parents +concerning the opening and development of the mine on Dewey Bald. + +Then he talked to them of the power of wealth for good, of the sacredness +of such a trust--talked as they had never heard him talk before of the +Grace Conners, and the crippled Dennys, who needed elder brothers willing +to acknowledge the kinship. + +When he had finished his mother kissed him and his father said, "It is +for this, son, that mother and I have held the old hill yonder. It is a +part of our religious belief that God put the wealth in the mountains, +not for us alone, but for all men. So it has been to us a sacred trust, +which we have never felt that we were fitted to administer. We have +always hoped that our first born would accept it as his life work--his +ministry." + +So Dan found his garden--and entered the ministry that has made his life +such a blessing to men. + +The next morning he saddled his mother's horse early. At breakfast she +announced that she was going over to the Jones ranch on the other side +of Dewey. "And what are you planning to do today?" she said to Dan as he +followed her out of the house. + +"I was going over to old Dewey myself," he answered. "I thought I would +like to look the ground over." He smiled down at her. "But now I'm going +with you. Just wait a minute until I saddle a horse." + +She laughed at him. "Oh no, you're not." + +"But, mother, I want to talk to you. I--I have something to tell you." + +"Yes, I know," she nodded. "You have already told me--" + +"Has Doctor--" he burst forth. + +"No indeed! For shame, Dan. You know Doctor wouldn't. It was in your +letters, and--But I have planned for you to tell me the rest this +evening. Go with your father and Doctor to look at the stock this +morning and write your business letters while I attend to _my_ affairs. +Then, the first thing after dinner, you slip away alone over to Dewey +and do your planning. Perhaps I'll meet you on the old trail as you come +back. You see I have it all fixed." + +"Yes," he said slowly, "you always have things fixed, don't you? What a +mother you are! There's only one other woman in all the world like you." + +And at this she answered bravely, "Yes, I know dear. I have always known +it would come, and I am glad, glad my boy--but--I--I think you'd better +kiss me now." So she left him standing at the fence and rode away alone +down the old familiar path. + +After dinner Dan set out. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +THE OLD TRAIL + +"... Those whose hearts and souls are big enough to follow the trail +that is nobody knows how old." + + +Leaving the ridge just beyond the low gap, Dan made his way down the +mountain side into the deep ravine, below Sammy's Lookout, that opens +into the hollow. + +For an hour he roamed about, his mind upon his plans for the development +of the wealth that lay in the heart of the mountain. After a time, still +intent upon his work, he scrambled up the end of the little canyon, +regained the ridge near the mouth of the cave, then climbed up on the +steep slope of Dewey to the top. From here he could follow with his eye +a possible route for the spur that should leave the railroad on Garber +to the east, round the base of the mountain and reach the mine through +the little ravine on the west. + +From the top he made his way slowly toward the Lookout, thinking from +there to gain still another view of the scene of his proposed operations +and to watch the trail for the coming of his mother. + +Drawing near the great ledge of rock that hangs so like a cornice on the +mountain side, he caught a glimpse--through the screen of trees and +bushes--of a figure seated on the old familiar spot. His mother must +have come sooner than she intended, he thought, or else he had been +longer than he realized. He looked at his watch; it was early yet. Then +going on a little, he suddenly stopped--that was not his mother! He drew +nearer and pushed aside a bush for a better view. + +His heart leaped at sight of the familiar blue dress and its white +trimming! The figure turned slightly as if to look up the trail. The big +fellow on the mountain side trembled. + +"How like," he whispered half aloud, "God, how like--" + +Softly as one fearing to dispel a welcome illusion he drew +nearer--nearer--nearer. Suddenly a dry bush on the ground snapped under +his foot. She turned her face quickly toward him. + +Then, springing to her feet Hope Farwell stood waiting with joy--lighted +face, as Dan went stumbling in wondering haste down the hill. + +"I thought you were never coming," she said. "I have been waiting so +long." And then for a little while there was nothing more said that we +have any right whatever to hear. + +When he insisted upon an explanation of the miracle, she laughed merrily. + +"Why it's like most miracles, I fancy, if only one knew about them--the +most natural thing that could happen after all. Dr. Miles came to me some +two months ago, and said that he had a patient whom he was sending into +the mountains with a nurse, and asked me if I would take the case. He +said he thought that I would like to see the Mutton Hollow country, +and--and that he thought that I needed the trip. You can imagine how +quickly I said that I would go. I am living down at the Jones place." + +"Where my mother went this morning?" Dan broke in eagerly. + +She nodded, "Your mother and I are--are very good friends," she said +demurely. + +"Does she--" + +Hope blushed. "I couldn't help telling her. You see she had your letters +and she already knew a great deal. She--" + +"I suppose she told you all about it--my finish at Corinth--I mean, and +my plans?" interrupted Dan. + +"Yes," Hope replied. + +"Then there's nothing more to do but--How is your patient?" he finished +abruptly. "How long must you stay with the case?" + +She turned her head away. "My patient went home three days ago." + +When the sun was touching the fringe of trees on the distant ridge, and +the varying tints of brown and gold, under the softening tone of the +gray-blue haze that lies always over hollow and hill, were most clearly +revealed in the evening light--Dan and Hope followed the same path that +Young Matt and Sammy walked years before. + +In the edge of the timber beyond the deerlick, the two young lovers +found those other older lovers, and were welcomed by them with the +welcome that can only be given or received by those whose hearts and +souls are big enough to follow the trail that is nobody knows how old. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Calling of Dan Matthews, by Harold Bell Wright + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS *** + +***** This file should be named 9314.txt or 9314.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/3/1/9314/ + +Produced by Tiffany Vergon, Mary Meehan, and Project +Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Calling Of Dan Matthews + +Author: Harold Bell Wright + +Release Date: November, 2005 [EBook #9314] +[This file was first posted on September 21, 2003] +[Most recently updated March 16, 2008] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Tiffany Vergon, Mary Meehan, and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + +THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS + +BY + +HAROLD BELL WRIGHT + +1909 + +AUTHOR OF + +"THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS" + +"THAT PRINTER OF UDELL'S" + + +_With Illustrations by_ + +ARTHUR I. KELLER + + + + + + + +TO + +WILLIAM WILLIAMS, M.D. + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. THE HOME OF THE ALLY + + II. A REVELATION + + III. A GREAT DAY IN CORINTH + + IV. WHO ARE THEY? + + V. HOPE FARWELL'S MINISTRY + + VI. THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS + + VII. FROM DEBORAH'S PORCH + + VIII. THE WORK OF THE ALLY + + IX. THE EDGE OF THE BATTLEFIELD + + X. A MATTER OF OPINION + + XI. REFLECTIONS + + XII. THE NURSE FORGETS + + XIII. DR. HARRY'S CASE + + XIV. THAT GIRL OF CONNER'S + + XV. THE MINISTER'S OPPORTUNITY + + XVI. DAN SEES THE OTHER SIDE + + XVII. THE TRAGEDY + + XVIII. TO SAVE A LIFE + + XIX. ON FISHING + + XX. COMMON GROUND + + XXI. THE WARNING + + XXII. AS DR. HARRY SEES IT + + XXIII. A PARABLE + + XXIV. THE WAY OUT + + XXV. A LABORER AND HIS HIRE + + XXVI. THE WINTER PASSES + + XXVII. DEBORAH'S TROUBLE + + XXVIII. A FISHERMAN + + XXIX. A MATTER OF BUSINESS + + XXX. THE DAUGHTER OF THE CHURCH + + XXXI. THE REALITY + + XXXII. THE BARRIER + + XXXIII. HEART'S TRAGEDIES + + XXXIV. SACRIFICED + + XXXV. THE TIE THAT BINDS + + XXXVI. GOOD-BYE + + XXXVII. RESULTS + +XXXVIII. A HANDFUL OF GOLD + + XXXIX. THE VICTORY OF THE ALLY + + XL. THE DOCTOR'S GLASSES + + XLI. THE FINAL WORD + + XLII. JUSTICE + + XLIII. THE HOME COMING + + XLIV. THE OLD TRAIL + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +Drawn by +ARTHUR I. KELLER + +WITH THE DOCTOR THE TWO STRANGERS IN CORINTH TOOK DENNY TO HIS HOME + +"--YOU MUST BE IN LIFE A FISHERMAN" + +A GOOD-BYE CARESS + +DAN PLEADED WITH HIM + + + + +The Calling of Dan Matthews + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE HOME OF THE ALLY + +"And because the town of this story is what it is, there came to dwell +in it a Spirit--a strange, mysterious power--playful, vicious, deadly; a +Something to be at once feared and courted; to be denied--yet confessed +in the denial; a deadly enemy, a welcome friend, an all-powerful Ally." + + +This story began in the Ozark Mountains. It follows the trail that is +nobody knows how old. But mostly this story happened in Corinth, a town +of the middle class in a Middle Western state. + +There is nothing peculiar about Corinth. The story might have happened +just as well in any other place, for the only distinguishing feature +about this town is its utter lack of any distinguishing feature whatever. +In all the essential elements of its life, so far as this story goes, +Corinth is exactly like every other village, town or city in the land. +This, indeed, is why the story happened in this particular place. + +Years ago, when the railroad first climbed the backbone of the Ozarks, it +found Corinth already located on the summit. Even before the war, this +county-seat town was a place of no little importance, and many a good +tale might be told of those exciting days when the woods were full of +guerrillas and bushwhackers, and the village was raided first by one +side, then by the other. Many a good tale is told, indeed; for the +fathers and mothers of Corinth love to talk of the war times, and to +point out in Old Town the bullet-marked buildings and the scenes of many +thrilling events. + +But the sons and daughters of the passing generation, with their sons +and daughters, like better to talk of the great things that are going to +be--when the proposed shoe-factory comes, the talked-of mills are +established, the dreamed-of electric line is built out from the city, or +the Capitalist from Somewhere-else arrives to invest in vacant lots, +thereon to build new hotels and business blocks. + +The Doctor says that in the whole history of Corinth there are only two +events. The first was the coming of the railroad; the second was the +death of the Doctor's good friend, the Statesman. + +The railroad did not actually enter Corinth. It stopped at the front +gate. But with Judge Strong's assistance the fathers and mothers +recognized their "golden opportunity" and took the step which the +eloquent Judge assured them would result in a "glorious future." They +left the beautiful, well-drained site chosen by those who cleared the +wilderness, and stretched themselves out along the mud-flat on either +side of the sacred right-of-way--that same mud-flat being, incidentally, +the property of the patriotic Judge. + +Thus Corinth took the railroad to her heart, literally. The depot, the +yards, the red section-house and the water-tank are all in the very +center of the town. Every train while stopping for water (and they all +stop) blocks two of the three principal streets. And when, after waiting +in the rain or snow until his patience is nearly exhausted, the humble +Corinthian goes to the only remaining crossing, he always gets there just +in time to meet a long freight backing onto the siding. Nowhere in the +whole place can one escape the screaming whistle, clanging bell, and +crashing drawbar. Day and night the rumble of the heavy trains jars and +disturbs the peacefulness of the little village. + +But the railroad did something for Corinth; not too much, but something. +It did more for Judge Strong. For a time the town grew rapidly. +Fulfillment of the Judge's prophecies seemed immediate and certain. Then, +as mysteriously as they had come, the boom days departed. The mills, +factories and shops that were going to be, established themselves +elsewhere. The sound of the builder's hammer was no longer heard. The +Doctor says that Judge Strong had come to believe in his own prediction, +or at least, fearing that his prophecy might prove true, refused to part +with more land except at prices that would be justified only in a great +metropolis. + +Neighboring towns that were born when Corinth was middle-aged, flourished +and have become cities of importance. The country round about has grown +rich and prosperous. Each year more and heavier trains thunder past on +their way to and from the great city by the distant river, stopping only +to take water. But in this swiftly moving stream of life Corinth is +caught in an eddy. Her small world has come to swing in a very small +circle--it can scarcely be said to swing at all. The very children stop +growing when they become men and women, and are content to dream the +dreams their fathers' fathers dreamed, even as they live in the houses +the fathers of their fathers built. Only the trees that line the unpaved +streets have grown--grown and grown until overhead their great tops touch +to shut out the sky with an arch of green, and their mighty trunks crowd +contemptuously aside the old sidewalks, with their decayed and broken +boards. + +Old Town, a mile away, is given over to the negroes. The few buildings +that remain are fallen into ruin, save as they are patched up by their +dusky tenants. And on the hill, the old Academy with its broken windows, +crumbling walls, and fallen chimneys, stands a pitiful witness of an +honor and dignity that is gone. + +Poor Corinth! So are gone the days of her true glory--the glory of her +usefulness, while the days of her promised honor and power are not yet +fulfilled. + +And because the town of this story is what it is, there came to dwell in +it a Spirit--a strange, mysterious power--playful, vicious, deadly; a +Something to be at once feared and courted; to be denied--yet confessed +in the denial; a dreaded enemy, a welcome friend, an all-powerful Ally. + +But, for Corinth, the humiliation of her material failure is forgotten +in her pride of a finer success. The shame of commercial and civic +obscurity is lost in the light of national recognition. And that +self-respect and pride of place, without which neither man nor town can +look the world in the face, is saved to her by the Statesman. + +Born in Corinth, a graduate of the old Academy, town clerk, mayor, county +clerk, state senator, congressman, his zeal in advocating a much +discussed issue of his day, won for him national notice, and for his +town everlasting fame. + +In this man unusual talents were combined with rare integrity of purpose +and purity of life. Politics to him meant a way whereby he might serve +his fellows. However much men differed as to the value of the measures +for which he fought, no one ever doubted his belief in them or questioned +his reasons for fighting. It was not at all strange that such a man +should have won the respect and friendship of the truly great. But with +all the honors that came to him, the Statesman's heart never turned from +the little Ozark town, and it was here among those who knew him best that +his influence for good was greatest and that he was most loved and +honored. Thus all that the railroad failed to do for Corinth the +Statesman did in a larger, finer way. + +Then the Statesman died. + +It was the Old Town Corinth of the brick Academy days that inspired +the erection of a monument to his memory. But it was the Corinth of the +newer railroad days that made this monument of cast-iron; and under the +cast-iron, life-sized, portrait figure of the dead statesman, this newer +Corinth placed in cast-iron letters a quotation from one of his famous +speeches upon an issue of his day. + +The Doctor argues in language most vigorous that the broken sidewalks, +the permitted insolence of the railroad, the presence and power of that +Spirit, the Ally, and many other things and conditions in Corinth, with +the lack of as many other things and conditions, are all due to the +influence of what he calls "that hideous, cast-iron monstrosity." By +this it will be seen that the Doctor is something of a philosopher. + +The monument stands on the corner where Holmes Street ends in Strong +Avenue. On the opposite corner the Doctor lives with Martha, his wife. +It is a modest home for there are no children and the Doctor is not rich. +The house is white with old-fashioned green shutters, and over the porch +climbs a mass of vines. The steps are worn very thin and the ends of the +floor-boards are rotted badly by the moisture of the growing vines. But +the Doctor says he'll "be damned" if he'll pull down such a fine old vine +to put in new boards, and that those will last anyway longer than either +he or Martha. By this it will be seen that the Doctor is something of a +poet. + +On the rear of the lot is the wood-shed and stable; and on the east, +along the fence in front, and down the Holmes Street side, are the +Doctor's roses--the admiration and despair of every flower-growing +housewife in town. + +Full fifty years of the Doctor's professional life have been spent in +active practice in Corinth and in the country round about. He declares +himself worn out now and good for nothing, save to meddle in the affairs +of his neighbors, to cultivate his roses, and--when the days are +bright--to go fishing. For the rest, he sits in his chair on the porch +and watches the world go by. + +"Old Doctors and old dogs," he growls, "how equally useless we are, and +yet how much--how much we could tell if only we dared speak!" + +He is big, is the Doctor--big and fat and old. He knows every soul in +Corinth, particularly the children; indeed he helped most of them to +come to Corinth. He is acquainted as well with every dog and cat, and +horse and cow, knowing their every trick and habit, from the old brindle +milker that unlatches his front gate to feed on the lawn, to the bull +pup that pinches his legs when he calls on old Granny Brown. For miles +around, every road, lane, by-path, shortcut and trail, is a familiar way +to him. His practice, he declares, has well-nigh ruined him financially, +and totally wrecked his temper. He can curse a man and cry over a baby; +and he would go as far and work as hard for the illiterate and penniless +backwoodsman in his cabin home as for the president of the Bank of +Corinth or even Judge Strong himself. + +No one ever thinks of the Doctor as loving anyone or anything, and that +is because he is so big and rough on the outside: but every one in +trouble goes to him, and that is because he is so big and kind on the +inside. It is a common saying that in cases of trying illness or serious +accident a patient would rather "hear the Doctor cuss, than listen to +the parson pray." Other physicians there are in Corinth, but every one +understands when his neighbor says: "The Doctor." Nor does anyone ever, +ever call him "Doc"! + +After all, who knows the people of a community so well as the physician +who lives among them? To the world the Doctor's patients were laborers, +bankers, dressmakers, scrub-women, farmers, servants, teachers, +preachers; to the Doctor they were men and women. Others knew their +occupations--he knew their lives. The preachers knew what they +professed--he knew what they practiced. Society saw them dressed up--he +saw them--in bed. Why, the Doctor has spent more hours in the homes of +his neighbors than ever he passed under his own roof, and there is not a +skeleton closet in the whole town to which he has not the key. + +On Strong Avenue, across from the monument, is a tiny four-roomed +cottage. In the time of this story it wanted paint badly, and was not in +the best of repair. But the place was neat and clean, with a big lilac +bush just inside the gate, giving it an air of home-like privacy; and on +the side directly opposite the Doctor's a fair-sized, well-kept garden, +giving it an air of honest thrift. Here the widow Mulhall lived with her +crippled son, Denny. Denny was to have been educated for the priesthood, +but the accident that left him such a hopeless cripple shattered that +dream; and after the death of his father, who was killed while +discharging his duties as the town marshal, there was no money to buy +even a book. + +When there was anything for her to do, Deborah worked out by the day. +Denny, in spite of his poor, misshapen body, tended the garden, raising +such vegetables as no one else in all Corinth could--or would, raise. +From early morning until late evening the lad dragged himself about among +the growing things, and the only objects to mar the beauty of his garden, +were Denny himself, and the great rock that crops out in the very center +of the little field. + +"It is altogether too bad that the rock should be there," the neighbors +would say as they occasionally stopped to look over the fence or to order +their vegetables for dinner. And Denny would answer with his knowing +smile, "Oh, I don't know! It would be bad, I'll own, if it should ever +take to rollin' 'round like. But it lays quiet enough. And do you see, +I've planted them vines around it to make it a bit soft lookin'. And +there's a nice little niche on yon side, that does very well for a seat +now and then, when I have to rest." + +Sometimes, when the Doctor looks at the monument--the cast-iron image of +his old friend, in its cast-iron attitude, forever delivering that speech +on an issue as dead today as an edict of one of the Pharaohs--he laughs, +and sometimes, even as he laughs, he curses. + +But when, in the days of the story, the Doctor would look across the +street to where Denny, with his poor, twisted body, useless, swinging +arm, and dragging leg, worked away so cheerily in his garden, the old +physician, philosopher, and poet, declared that he felt like singing +hymns of praise. + +And it all began with a fishing trip. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A REVELATION + +"And because of these things, to the keen old physician and student of +life, the boy was a revelation of that best part of himself--that best +part of the race." + + +It happened on the Doctor's first trip to the Ozarks. + +Martha says that everything with the Doctor begins and ends with fishing. +Martha has a way of saying such things as that. In this case she is more +than half right for the Doctor does so begin and end most things. + +Whenever there were grave cases to think out, knotty problems to solve, +or important decisions to make, it was his habit to steal away to a +shady nook by the side of some quiet, familiar stream. And he confidently +asserts that to this practice more than to anything else he owes his +professional success, and his reputation for sound, thoughtful judgment +on all matters of moment. + +"And why not?" he will argue when in the mood. "It is your impulsive, +erratic, thoughtless fellow who goes smashing, trashing and banging +about the field and woods with dogs and gun. Your true thinker slips +quietly away with rod and line, and while his hook is down in the deep, +still waters, or his fly is dancing over the foaming rapids and swiftly +swirling eddies, his mind searches the true depths of the matter and +every possible phase of the question passes before him." + +For years the Doctor had heard much of the fishing to be had in the +more unsettled parts of the Ozarks, but with his growing practice he +could find leisure for no more than an occasional visit to nearby +streams. But about the time that Martha began telling him that he was +too old to stay out all day on the wet bank of a river, and Dr. Harry +had come to relieve him of the heavier and more burdensome part of his +practice, a railroad pushed its way across the mountain wilderness. The +first season after the road was finished the Doctor went to cast his +hook in new waters. + +In all these after years those days so full of mystic beauty have lived +in the old man's memory, the brightest days of all his life. For it was +there he met the Boy--there in the Ozark hills, with their great ridges +clothed from base to crest with trees all quivering and nodding in the +summer breeze, with their quiet valleys, their cool hollows and lovely +glades, and their deep and solemn woods. And the streams! Those Ozark +streams! The Doctor wonders often if there can flow anywhere else such +waters as run through that land of dreams. + +The Doctor left the train at a little station where the railroad crosses +White River, and two days later he was fishing near the mouth of Fall +Creek. It was late in the afternoon. The Boy was passing on his way home +from a point farther up the stream. Not more than twelve, but tall and +strong for his age, he came along the rough path at the foot of the bluff +with the easy movement and grace of a young deer. He checked a moment +when he saw the Doctor, as a creature of the forest would pause at first +sight of a human being. Then he came on again, his manner and bearing +showing frank interest, and the clear, sunny face of him flushing a bit +at the presence of a stranger. + +"Hello," said the Doctor, with gruff kindness, "any luck?" + +The boy's quick smile showed a set of teeth--the most perfect the +physician had ever seen, and his young voice was tuned to the music of +the woods, as he answered, "I have caught no fish, sir." + +By these words and the light in his brown eyes the philosopher knew him +instantly for a true fisherman. He noted wonderingly that the lad's +speech was not the rude dialect of the backwoods, while he marveled at +the depth of wisdom in one so young. How incidental after all is the +catching of fish, to the one who fishes with true understanding. The +boy's answer was both an explanation and a question. It explained that +he did not go fishing for fish alone; and it asked of the stranger a +declaration of his standing--why did he go fishing? What did he mean by +fisherman's luck? + +The Doctor deliberated over his reply, while slowly drawing in his line +to examine the bait. Meanwhile the boy stood quietly by regarding him +with a wide, questioning look. The man realized that much depended upon +his next word. + +Then the lad's youth betrayed him into eagerness. "Have you been farther +up the river just around the bend, where the giant cottonwoods are, and +the bluffs with the pines above, and the willows along the shore? Oh, but +it's fine there! Much better than this." + +He had given the stranger his chance. If the Doctor was to be admitted +into this boy's world he must now prove his right to citizenship. Looking +straight into the boy's brown eyes, the older fisherman asked, "A better +place to catch fish?" + +He laughed aloud--a clear, clean, boyish laugh of understanding, and +throwing himself to the ground with the easy air of one entirely at home, +returned, "No, sir, a better place to fish." So it was settled, each +understanding the other. + +An hour later when the shadow of the mountain came over the water, the +boy sprang to his feet with an exclamation, "It's time that I was going, +mother likes for me to be home for supper. I can just make it." + +But the Doctor was loth to let him go. "Where do you live?" he asked. +"Is it far?" + +"Oh, no, only about six miles, but the trail is rough until you strike +the top of Wolf Ridge." + +"Humph! You can't walk six miles before dark." + +"My horse is only a little way up the creek," he answered, "or at least +he should be." Putting his fingers to his lips he blew a shrill whistle, +which echoed and re-echoed from shore to shore along the river, and was +answered by a loud neigh from somewhere in the ravine through which Fall +Creek reaches the larger stream. Again the boy whistled, and a black +pony came trotting out of the brush, the bridle hanging from the saddle +horn. "Tramp and I can make it all right, can't we old fellow?" said the +boy, patting the glossy neck, as the little horse rubbed a soft muzzle +against his young master's shoulder. + +While his companion was making ready for his ride the Doctor selected +four of the largest of his catch--black bass they were--beauties. "Here," +he said, when the lad was mounted, "take these along." + +He accepted graciously without hesitation, and by this the Doctor knew +that their fellowship was firmly established. "Oh, thank you! Mother is +so fond of bass, and so are father and all of us. This is plenty for a +good meal." Then, with another smile, "Mother likes to fish, too; she +taught me." + +The Doctor looked at him wistfully as he gathered up the reins, then +burst forth eagerly with, "Look here, why can't you come back tomorrow? +We'll have a bully time. What do you say?" + +He lowered his hand. "Oh, I would like to." Then for a moment he +considered, gravely, saying at last, "I think I can meet you here day +after tomorrow. I am quite sure father and mother will be glad for me to +come when I tell them about you." + +Was ever a fat old Doctor so flattered? It was not so much the boy's +words as his gracious manner and the meaning he unconsciously put into +his exquisitely toned voice. + +He had turned his pony's head when the old man shouted after him once +more. "Hold on, wait a moment, you have not told me your name. I am Dr. +Oldham from Corinth. I am staying at the Thompson's down the river." + +"My name is Daniel Howitt Matthews," he answered. "My home is the old +Matthews place on the ridge above Mutton Hollow." + +Then he rode away up the winding Fall Creek trail. + +The Doctor spent the whole of the next day near the spot where he had met +the boy, fearing lest the lad might come again and not find him. He even +went a mile or so up the little creek half expecting to meet his young +friend, wondering at himself the while, that he could not break the spell +the lad had cast over him. Who was he? He had told the Doctor his name, +but that did not satisfy. Nor, indeed, did the question itself ask what +the old man really wished to know. The words persistently shaped +themselves--_What_ is he? To this the physician's brain made answer +clearly enough--a boy, a backwoods boy, with unusual beauty and strength +of body, and uncommon fineness of mind; yet with all this, a boy. + +But that something that sits in judgment upon the findings of our brain, +and, in lofty disregard of us, accepts or rejects our most profound +conclusions, refused this answer. It was too superficial. It was not, in +short, an answer. It did not in any way explain the strange power that +this lad had exerted over the Doctor. + +"Me," he said to himself, "a hard old man calloused by years of +professional contact with mankind and consequent knowledge of their +general cussedness! Huh! I have helped too many hundreds of children +into this world, and have carried too many of them through the measles, +whooping-cough, chicken-pox and the like to be so moved by a mere boy." + +The Thompsons could have told him about the lad and his people, but the +Doctor instinctively shrank from asking them. He felt that he did not +care to be told about the boy--that in truth no one could tell him about +the boy, because he already knew the lad as well as he knew himself. +Indeed the feeling that he already knew the boy was what troubled the +Doctor; more, that he had always lived with him; but that he had never +before met him face to face. He felt as a blind man might feel if, after +living all his life in closest intimacy with someone, he were suddenly +to receive his sight and, for the first time, actually look upon his +companion's face. + +In the years that have passed since that day the Doctor has learned that +the lad was to him, not so much a mystery as a revelation--the revelation +of an unspoken ideal, of a truth that he had always known but never fully +confessed even to himself, and that lies at last too deeply buried +beneath the accumulated rubbish of his life to be of any use to him or to +others. In the boy he met this hidden, secret, unacknowledged part of +himself, that he knows to be the truest, most precious and most sacred +part, and that he has always persistently ignored even while always +conscious that he can no more escape it than he can escape his own life. +In short, Dan Matthews is to the Doctor that which the old man feels he +ought to have been; that which he might have been, but never now can be. + +It was still early in the forenoon of the following day when the Doctor +heard a cheery hail, and the boy came riding out of the brush of the +little ravine to meet his friend who was waiting on the river bank. As +the lad sprang lightly to the ground, and, with quick fingers, took some +things from the saddle, loosed the girths and removed the pony's bridle, +the physician watched him with a slight feeling of--was it envy or +regret? "You are early," he said. + +The boy laughed. "I would have come earlier if I could," Then, dismissing +the little horse, he turned eagerly, "Have you been there yet--to that +place up the river?" + +"Indeed I have not," said the Doctor, "I have been waiting for you to +show me." + +He was delighted at this, and very soon was leading the way along the +foot of the bluff to his favorite fishing ground. + +It is too much to attempt the telling of that day: how they lay on the +ground beneath the giant-limbed cottonwoods, and listened to the waters +going past; how they talked of the wild woodland life about them, of +flower and tree, and moss and vine, and the creatures that nested and +denned and lived therein; how they caught a goodly catch of bass and +perch, and the Doctor, pulling off his boots, waded in the water like +another boy, while the hills echoed with their laughter; and how, when +they had their lunch on a great rock, an eagle watched hungrily from his +perch on a dead pine, high up on the top of the bluff. + +When the shadow of the mountain was come once more and in answer to the +boy's whistle the black pony had trotted from the brush to be made ready +for the evening ride, the Doctor again watched his young companion +wistfully. + +When he was ready, the boy said, "Father and mother asked me to tell you, +sir, that they--that we would be glad to have you come to see us before +you leave the hills." Seeing the surprise and hesitation of the Doctor, +he continued with fine tact, "You see I told them all about you, and they +would like to know you too. Won't you come? I'm sure you would like my +father and mother, and we would be so glad to have you. I'll drive over +after you tomorrow if you'll come." + +Would he _go_! Why the Doctor would have gone to China, or Africa, or +where would he not have gone, if the boy had asked him. + +That visit to the Matthews' place was the beginning of a friendship that +has never been broken. Every year since, the Doctor has gone to them for +several weeks and always with increasing delight. Among the many +households that, in his professional career, he has been privileged to +know intimately, this home stands like a beautiful temple in a world of +shacks and hovels. But it was not until the philosopher had heard from +Mrs. Matthews the story of Dad Howitt that he understood the reason. In +the characters of Young Matt and Sammy, in their home life and in their +children, the physician found the teaching of the old Shepherd of the +Hills bearing its legitimate fruit. Most clearly did he find it in +Dan--the first born of this true mating of a man and woman who had never +been touched by those forces in our civilization which so dwarf and +cripple the race, but who had been taught to find in their natural +environment those things that alone have the power to truly refine and +glorify life. + +Understanding this, the Doctor understood Dan. The boy was well born; he +was natural. He was what a man-child ought to be. He did not carry the +handicap that most of us stagger under so early in the race. And because +of these things, to the keen old physician and student of life, the boy +was a revelation of that best part of himself--that best part of the +race. With the years this feeling of the Doctor's toward the boy has +grown even as their fellowship. But Dan has never understood; how indeed +could he? + +It was always Dan who met the Doctor at the little wilderness station, +and who said the last good-bye when the visit was over. Always they were +together, roaming about the hills, on fishing trips to the river, +exploring the country for new delights, or revisiting their familiar +haunts. Dan seemed, in his quiet way, to claim his old friend by right +of discovery and the others laughingly yielded, giving the Doctor--as +Young Matt, the father, put it--"a third interest in the boy." + +And so, with the companionship of the yearly visits, and frequent letters +in the intervening months, the Doctor watched the development of his +young friend, and dreamed of the part that Dan would play in life when he +became a man. And often as he watched the boy there was, on the face of +the old physician, that look of half envy, half regret. + +In addition to his training at the little country school, Dan's mother +was his constant teacher, passing on to her son as only a mother could, +the truths she had received from her old master, the Shepherd. But when +the time came for more advanced intellectual training the choice of a +college was left to their friend. The Doctor hesitated. He shrank from +sending the lad out into the world. He foolishly could not bear the +thought of that splendid nature coming in touch with the filth of life as +he knew it. "You can see," he argued gruffly, "what it has done for me." + +But Sammy answered, "Why, Doctor, what is the boy for?" And Young Matt, +looking away over Garber where an express train thundered over the +trestles and around the curves, said in his slow way, "The brush is about +all cleared, Doctor. The wilderness is going fast. The boy must live in +his own age and do his own work." When their friend urged that they +develop or sell the mine in the cave on Dewey Bald, and go with the boy, +they both shook their heads emphatically, saying, "No, Doctor, we belong +to the hills." + +When the boy finally left his mountain home for a school in the distant +city, he had grown to be a man to fill the heart of every lover of his +race with pride. With his father's powerful frame and close-knit muscles, +and the healthy life of the woods and hills leaping in his veins, his +splendid body and physical strength were refined and dominated by the +mind and spirit of his mother. His shaggy, red-brown hair was like his +father's but his eyes were his mother's eyes, with that same trick of +expression, that wide questioning gaze, that seemed to demand every vital +truth in whatever came under his consideration. He had, too, his mother's +quick way of grasping your thoughts almost before you yourself were fully +conscious of them, with that same saving sense of humor that made Sammy +Lane the life and sunshine of the countryside. + +"Big Dan," the people of the hills had come to call him and "Big Dan" +they called him in the school. For, in the young life of the schools, as +in the country, there is a spirit that names men with names that fit. + +Secretly the Doctor had hoped that Dan would choose the profession so +dear to him. What an ideal physician he would make, with that clean, +powerful, well balanced nature; and above all with that love for his +race, and his passion to serve mankind that was the dominant note in his +character. The boy would be the kind of a physician that the old Doctor +had hoped to be. So he planned and dreamed for Dan as he had planned and +dreamed for himself, thinking to see the dreams that he had failed to +live, realized in the boy. + +It was a severe shock to the Doctor when that letter came telling him of +Dan's choice of a profession. For the first time the boy had disappointed +him, disappointed him bitterly. + +Seizing his fishing tackle the old man fled to the nearest stream. And +there gazing into the deep, still waters, where he had cast his hook, he +came to understand. It was that same dominant note in the boy's life, +that inborn passion to serve, that fixed principle in his character that +his life must be of the greatest possible worth to the world, that had +led him to make his choice. With that instinct born in him, coming from +the influence of the old Shepherd upon his father and mother, the boy +could no more escape it than he could change the color of his brown eyes. + +"But," said the Doctor to his cork, that floated on the surface in a +patch of shadow, "what does he know about it, what does he really know? +He's been reading history--that's what's the matter with him. He sees +things as they were, not as they are. He should have come to me, I could +have--" Just then the cork went under. The Doctor had a bite. "I could +have told him," repeated the fisherman softly, "I--" The cork bobbed up +again--it was only a nibble. "He'll find out the truth of course. He's +that kind. But when he finds it!" The cork bobbed again--"He'll need me, +he'll need me bad!" The cork went under for good this time. Zip--and the +Doctor had a big one! + +With fresh bait and his hook once more well down toward the bottom the +Doctor saw the whole thing clearly, and so planned a way by which, as he +put it, he might, when Dan needed him, "_stand by_." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A GREAT DAY IN CORINTH + +"'Talk of the responsibilities of age; humph! They are nothing compared +to the responsibilities of youth. There's Dan, now--'" + + +Corinth was in the midst of a street fair. The neighboring city held a +street fair that year, therefore Corinth. All that the city does Corinth +imitates, thereby with a beautiful rural simplicity thinking herself +metropolitan, just as those who take their styles from the metropolis +feel themselves well dressed. The very Corinthian clerks and grocery +boys, lounging behind their counters and in the doorways, the lawyer's +understudy with his feet on the window sill, the mechanic's apprentice, +the high school youths and the local sporting fraternity--all imitated +their city kind and talked smartly about the country "rubes" who came to +town; never once dreaming that they themselves, when they "go to town," +are as much a mark for the like wit of their city brothers. So Corinth +was in the midst of a street fair. + +On every vacant lot in the down town section were pens, and stalls, and +cages, wherein grunted, squealed, neighed, bellowed, bleated, cackled +and crowed, exhibits from the neighboring farms. In the town hall or +opera house (it was both) there were long tables covered with almost +everything that grows on a farm, or is canned, baked, preserved, pickled +or stitched by farmers' wives. The "Art Exhibit," product mainly of +Corinth, had its place on the stage. Upon either side of the main street +were booths containing the exhibits of the local merchants; farm +machinery, buggies, wagons, harness and the like being most conspicuous. +The chief distinction between the town and country exhibits were that +the farmer displayed his goods to be looked at, the merchant his to be +sold. It was the merchants who promoted the fair. + +In a vacant store room the Memorial Church was holding its annual bazaar. +On different corners other churches were serving chicken dinners, or ice +cream, or in sundry ways were actively engaged for the conversion of the +erring farmer's cash to the coffers of the village sanctuaries. In this +way the promoters of the fair were encouraged by the churches. From every +window, door, arch, pole, post, corner, gable, peak, cupola--fluttered, +streamed and waved, decorations--banners mostly, bearing advertisements +of the enterprising merchants and of the equally enterprising churches. + +Afternoons there would be a baseball game between town and country teams, +foot races, horseback riding, a greased pig to catch, a greased pole to +climb and other entertainments too exciting to think about, too +attractive to be resisted. + +From the far backwoods districts, from the hills, from the creek bottoms +and the river, the people came to crowd about the pens, and stalls and +tables; to admire their own and their neighbors' products and +possessions, that they had seen many times before in their neighbors' +homes and fields. They visited on the street corners. They tramped up +and down past the booths. They yelled themselves hoarse at the games and +entertainments, and in the intoxication of their pleasures bought ice +cream, chicken dinners and various other things of the churches, and much +goods of the merchants who promoted the fair. + +The Doctor was up that day at least a full hour before his regular time. +At breakfast Martha looked him over suspiciously, and when he folded his +napkin after eating only half his customary meal she remarked dryly, +"It's three hours yet till train time, Doctor." + +Without answer the Doctor went out on the porch. + +Already the country people, dressed in their holiday garb, bright-faced, +eager for the long looked for pleasures, were coming in for the fair. +Many of them catching sight of the physician hailed him gaily, shouting +good natured remarks in addition to their salutations, and laughing +loudly at whatever he replied. + +It may be that the good Lord had made days as fine as that day, but the +Doctor could not remember them. His roses so filled the air with +fragrance, the grass in the front yard was so fresh and clean, the +flowers along the walk so bright and dainty, and the great maples, that +make a green arch of the street, so cool and mysterious in their leafy +depths, that his old heart fairly ached with the beauty of it. The Doctor +was all poet that day. Dan was coming! + +It had worked out just as the Doctor had planned it on that fishing trip +some three months before. At first Martha was suspicious when he broached +the subject. Mostly Martha is suspicious when her husband offers +suggestions touching certain matters, but the wise old philosopher knew +what strings to pull, and so it all came out as he had planned. Sammy had +written him expressing her gladness, that her boy in the beginning of his +work was to be with the friend whose counsel and advice they valued so +highly. The Doctor had growled over the letter, promising himself that he +would "stand by" when the boy needed him, but that was all he or an angel +from heaven could do now. And the Doctor had written Dan at length about +Corinth, but never a word about his thoughts regarding the boy's choice, +or his fears for the outcome. + +"There are some things," he reflected, "that every man must find out for +himself. To some kinds of people the finding out doesn't matter much. To +other kinds, it is well for them if there are those who love them to +stand by." Dan was the kind to whom the finding out would mean a great +deal, so the Doctor would "stand by." + +There on his vine covered porch that morning, the old man's thoughts went +back to that day when the boy first came to him on the river bank, and to +all the bright days of Dan's boyhood and youth that he had passed with +the lad in the hills. "His life--" said he, talking to himself, as he has +a way of doing--"His life is like this day, fresh and clean and--". He +looked across the street to the monument that stood a cold, lifeless mask +in a world of living joy and beauty; from the monument he turned to +Denny's garden. "And," he finished, "full of possibilities." + +"Whatever are you muttering about now?" said Martha, who had followed +him out after finishing her breakfast. + +"I was wishing," said the Doctor, "that I--that it would be always +morning, that there was no such thing as afternoon, and evening and +night." + +His wife replied sweetly, "For a man of your age, you do say the most +idiotic things! Won't you ever get old enough to think seriously?" + +"But what could be more serious, my dear? If it were morning I would +always be beginning my life work, and never giving it up. I would be +always looking forward to the success of my dreams, and never back to +the failures of my poor attempts." + +"You haven't failed in everything, John," protested Martha in softer +tones. + +"If it were morning," the philosopher continued, with a smile, "I would +be always making love to the best and prettiest girl in the state." + +Martha tossed her head and the ghost of an old blush crept into her +wrinkled cheeks. "There's no fool like an old fool," she quoted with a +spark of her girlhood fire. + +"But a young fool gets so much more out of his foolishness," the man +retorted. "Talk of the responsibilities of age; humph! They are nothing +compared to the responsibilities of youth. There's Dan now--" He looked +again toward the monument. + +"My goodness me, yes!" ejaculated Martha. "And I've got a week's work to +do before I even begin to get dinner. You go right off this minute and +kill three of those young roosters--three, mind you." + +"But, my dear, he will only be here for dinner." + +"Never you mind, the dinner's my business. Kill three, I tell you. I've +cooked for preachers before. I hope to the Lord he'll start you to +thinking of your eternal future, 'stead of mooning about the past." She +bustled away to turn the little home upside down and to prepare dinner +sufficient for six. + +When the Doctor had killed the three roosters, and had fussed about until +his wife ordered him out of the kitchen, he took his hat and stick and +started down town, though it was still a good hour until train time. As +he opened the front gate Denny called a cheery greeting from his garden +across the street, and the old man went over for a word with the crippled +boy. + +"It's mighty fine you're lookin' this mornin', Doctor," said Denny +pausing in his work, and seating himself on the big rock. "Is it the +ten-forty he's comin' on?" + +The Doctor tried to appear unconcerned. He looked at his watch with +elaborately assumed carelessness as he answered: "I believe it's +ten-forty; and how are you feeling this morning, Denny?" + +The lad lifted his helpless left arm across his lap. "Oh I'm fine, thank +you kindly, Doctor. Mother's fine too, and my garden's doing pretty good +for me." He glanced about. "The early things are all gone, of course, but +the others are doing well. Oh, we'll get along; I told mother this +morning the Blessed Virgin hadn't forgotten us yet. I'll bet them +potatoes grew an inch some nights this summer. And look what a day it is +for the fair, and the preacher a comin' too." + +The Doctor looked at his watch again, and Denny continued: "We're all so +pleased at his comin'. People haven't talked of anything else for a +month now, that and the fair of course. Things in this town will liven +up now, sure. Seems to me I can feel it--yes sir, I can. Something's +goin' to happen, sure." + +"Humph," grunted the Doctor, "I rather feel that way myself." Then, "I +expect you two will be great friends, Denny." + +The poor little fellow nearly twisted himself off the rock. "Oh Doctor, +really why I--the minister'll have no time for the likes of me. And is +he really goin' to live at Mrs. Morgan's there?" He nodded his head +toward the house next to his garden. + +"That's his room," the other answered, pointing to the corner window. +"He'll be right handy to us both." + +Denny gazed at the window with the look of a worshiper. "Oh now, isn't +that fine, isn't it grand! That's such a nice room, Doctor, it has such +a fine view of the monument." + +"Yes," the Doctor interrupted, "the monument and your garden." And then +he left abruptly lest he should foolishly try to explain to the +bewildered and embarrassed Denny what he meant. + +It seemed to the Doctor that nearly every one he met on the well-filled +street that morning, had a smile for him, while many stopped to pass a +word about the coming of Dan. When he reached the depot the agent hailed +him with, "Good morning, Doctor; looking for your preacher?" + +"_My_ preacher!" The old physician glared at the man in the cap, and +turned his back with a few energetic remarks, while two or three loafers +joined in the laugh, and a couple of traveling men who were pacing the +platform with bored expressions on their faces, turned to stare at him +curiously. At the other end of the platform was a group of women, active +members of the Memorial Ladies' Aid who had left their posts of duty at +the bazaar, to have a first look at the new pastor. The old Elder, Nathan +Jordan, with Charity, his daughter, was just coming up. + +"Good morning, good morning, Doctor," said Nathan grasping his friend's +hand as if he had not seen him for years. "Well I see we're all here." +He turned proudly about as the group of women came forward, with an air +of importance, the Doctor thought, as though the occasion required their +presence. "Reckon our boy'll be here all right," Nathan continued. + +"_Our_ boy!" The Doctor caught a naughty word between his teeth--a feat +he rarely accomplished. + +The ladies all looked sweetly interested. One of them putting her arm +lovingly about Charity cooed: "So nice of you to come, dear." She had +remarked to another a moment before, "that a fire wouldn't keep the girl +away from the depot that morning." + +The Doctor felt distinctly the subtle, invisible presence of the Ally, +and it was well that someone just then saw the smoke from the coming +train two or three miles away, around the curve beyond the pumping +station. + +The negro porter from the hotel opposite the depot, came bumping across +the rails, with the grips belonging to the two traveling men, in his +little cart; the local expressman rattled up with a trunk in his shaky +old wagon; and the sweet-faced daughter of the division track +superintendent hurried out of the red section-house with a bundle of big +envelopes in her hand. The platform was crowded with all kinds of people, +carrying a great variety of bundles, baskets and handbags, asking all +manner of questions, going to and from all sorts of places. The train +drew rapidly nearer. + +The Doctor's old heart was thumping painfully. He forgot the people, he +forgot Corinth, he forgot everything but the boy who had come to him that +day on the river bank. + +Swiftly the long train with clanging bell and snorting engine came up to +the depot. The conductor swung easily to the platform, and, watch in +hand, walked quickly to the office. Porters and trainmen tumbled off, and +with a long hiss of escaping air and a steady puff-puff, the train +stopped. + +In the bustle and confusion of crowding passengers getting on and off, +tearful good-byes and joyful greetings, banging trunks, rattling trucks, +hissing steam, the doctor watched. Then he saw him, his handsome head +towering above the pushing, jostling crowd. The Doctor could not get to +him, and with difficulty restrained a shout. But Dan with his back to +them all pushed his way to an open window of the car he had just left, +where a woman's face turned to him in earnest conversation. + +"There he is," said the Doctor, "that tall fellow by the window there." + +At his words the physician heard an exclamation, and, glancing back, saw +the women staring eagerly, while Charity's face wore a look of painful +doubt and disappointment. The Elder's countenance was stern and frowning. + +"Seems mightily interested," said one, suggestively. + +"What a pretty face," added another, also suggestively. + +The Doctor spoke quickly, "Why that's--" Then he stopped with an +expression on his face that came very near being a malicious grin. + +The conductor, watch again in hand, shouted, the porters stepped aboard, +the bell rang, the engineer, with his long oil-can, swung to his cab, +slowly the heavy train began to gather headway. As it went Dan walked +along the platform beside that open window, until he could no longer +keep pace with the moving car. Then with a final wave of his hand he +stood looking after the train, seemingly unconscious of everything but +that one who was being carried so quickly beyond his sight. + +He was standing so when his old friend grasped his arm. He turned with a +start. "Doctor!" + +What a handsome fellow he was, with his father's great body, powerful +limbs and shaggy red-brown hair; and his mother's eyes and mouth, and +her spirit ruling within him, making you feel that he was clean through +and through. It was no wonder people stood around looking at him. The +Doctor felt again that old, mysterious spell, that feeling that the boy +was a revelation to him of something he had always known, the living +embodiment of a truth never acknowledged. And his heart swelled with +pride as he turned to lead Dan up to Elder Jordan and his company. + +The church ladies, old in experience with preachers, seemed strangely +embarrassed. This one was somehow so different from those they had +known before, but their eyes were full of admiration. Charity's voice +trembled as she bade him welcome. Nathaniel's manner was that of a +judge. Dan himself, was as calm and self possessed as if he and the +Doctor were alone on the bank of some river, far from church and church +people. But the Doctor thought that the boy flinched a bit when he +introduced him as Reverend Matthews. Perhaps, though, it was merely the +Doctor's fancy. The old man felt too, even as he presented Dan to his +people, that there had come between himself and the boy a something +that was never there before, and it troubled him not a little. But +perhaps this, too, was but a fancy. + +At any rate the old man must have been somewhat excited for when the +introductions were over, and the company was leaving the depot, he +managed to steer Dan into collision with a young woman who was standing +nearby. She was carrying a small grip, having evidently arrived on the +same train that brought the minister. It was no joke for anyone into +whom Big Dan bumped, and a look of indignation flashed on the girl's +face. But the indignant look vanished quickly in a smile as the big +fellow stood, hat in hand, offering the most abject apology for what he +called _his_ rudeness. + +The Doctor noted a fine face, a strong graceful figure, and an air of +wholesomeness and health that was most refreshing. But he thought that +Dan took more time than was necessary for his apology. + +When she had assured the young fellow several times that it was nothing, +she asked: "Can you tell me, please, the way to Dr. Abbott's office?" + +Dr. Abbott! The Doctor's own office--Dr. Harry's and his now. He looked +the young woman over curiously, while Dan was saying: "I'm sorry, but I +cannot. I am a stranger here, but my friend--" + +The older man interrupted gruffly with the necessary directions and the +information that Dr. Abbott was out of town, and would not be back until +four o'clock. "Will you then direct me to a hotel?" she asked. The Doctor +pointed across the track. Then he got Dan away. + +The church ladies, with Charity and her father, were already on their way +back to the place where the bazaar was doing business. Half way down the +block the Doctor and Dan were checked by a crowd. There seemed to be some +excitement ahead. But in the pause, Dan turned to look back toward the +young woman who had arrived in Corinth on the same train that had brought +him. She was coming slowly down the street toward them. + +Again the thought flashed through the Doctor's mind that the boy had +taken more time than was necessary for his apology. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +WHO ARE THEY? + +"And the old man pointed out to Dan his room across the way--the room +that looked out upon the garden and the monument." + + +Jud Hardy, who lives at Windy Cove on the river some eighteen miles +"back" from Corinth, had been looking forward to Fair time for months. +Not that Jud had either things to exhibit or money to buy things +exhibited. For while Jud professed to own, and ostensibly to cultivate a +forty, he gained his living mostly by occasional "spells of work" on the +farms of his neighbors. In lieu of products of his hand or fields for +exhibition at the annual fair, Jud invariably makes an exhibition of +himself, never failing thus to contribute his full share to the "other +amusements," announced on the circulars and in the Daily Corinthian, as +"too numerous to mention." + +The citizens of the Windy Cove country have a saying that when Jud is +sober and in a good humor and has money, he is a fairly good fellow, if +he is not crossed in any way. The meat of which saying is in the well +known fact, that Jud is never in a good humor when he is not sober, that +he is never sober when he has money; and that with the exception of +three or four kindred spirits, whose admiration for the bad man is +equalled only by their fear of him, no one has ever been able to devise +a way to avoid crossing him when he is in his normal condition. + +With three of the kindred spirits, Jud arrived in Corinth that day, with +the earliest of the visitors, and the quartette proceeded, at once, to +warm up after their long ride. By ten o'clock they were well warmed. +Just as the ten-forty train was slowing up at the depot, Jud began his +exhibition. It took place at the post office where the crowd was +greatest, because of the incoming mail. Stationing himself near the +door, the man from Windy Cove blocked the way for everyone who wanted to +pass either in or out of the building. For the women and young girls he +stepped aside with elaborate, drunken politeness and maudlin, +complimentary remarks. For the men who brushed him he had a scowling +curse and a muttered threat. Meanwhile, his followers nearby looked on +in tipsy admiration and "'lowed that there was bound to be somethin' +doin', for Jud was sure a-huntin' trouble." + +Then came one who politely asked Jud to move. He was an inoffensive +little man, with a big star on his breast, and a big walking stick in +his hand--the town marshal. Jud saw an opportunity to give an exhibition +worth while. There were a few opening remarks--mostly profane--and then +the representative of the law lay in a huddled heap on the floor, while +the man from the river rushed from the building into the street. + +The passing crowd stopped instantly. Scattered individuals from every +side came running to push their way into the mass of men and women, +until for a block on either side of the thoroughfare there was a solid +wall of breathless humanity. Between these walls strolled Jud, roaring +his opinion and defiance of every one in general, and the citizens of +Corinth in particular. + +It could not last long, of course. There were many men in the crowd who +did not fear to challenge Jud, but there was that inevitable hesitation, +while each man was muttering to his neighbor that this thing ought to be +stopped, and they were waiting to see if someone else would not start +first to stop it. + +Nearly the length of the block, Jud made his triumphant way; then, at the +corner where the crowd was not so dense, he saw a figure starting across +the street. + +"Hey there," he roared, "get back there where you belong! What th' hell +do you mean? Don't you see the procession's a comin'?" + +It was Denny. He had left his garden to go to the butcher's for a bit of +meat for dinner. The crippled lad had just rounded the corner, and, +forced to give all his attention to his own halting steps, did not grasp +the situation but continued his dragging way across the path of the +drunken and enraged bully. The ruffian, seeing the lad ignore his loud +commands, strode heavily forward with menacing fists, heaping foul +epithets upon the head of the helpless Irish boy. + +The crowd gasped. + +"Oh, why does someone not do something!" moaned a woman. A girl screamed. + +Several men started, but before they could force their way through the +press, the people saw a stranger, a well-dressed young giant, spring +from the sidewalk, and run toward the two figures in the middle of the +street. But Dan had not arrived upon the scene soon enough. Almost as he +left the pavement the blow fell, and Denny lay still--a crumpled, pitiful +heap in the dirt. + +Jud, flushed with this second triumph, turned to face the approaching +stranger. + +"Come on, you pink-eyed dude! I've got some fer you too. Come git your +medicine, you--" + +Dan was coming--coming so quickly that Jud's curses had not left his +lips when the big fellow reached him. With one clean, swinging blow the +man from Windy Cove was lifted fairly off the ground to fall several +feet away from his senseless victim. + +There was an excited yell from the crowd. But Jud, lean, loose-jointed +and hard of sinew, had the physical toughness of his kind. Almost +instantly he was on his feet again, reaching for his hip pocket with a +familiar movement. And there was a wild scramble as those in front sought +cover in the rear. + +"Look out! Look out!"--came from the crowd. + +But the mountain bred Dan needed no warning. With a leap, cat-like in +its quickness, he was again upon the other. There was a short struggle, +a sharp report, a wrenching twist, a smashing blow, and Jud was down +once more, this time senseless. The weapon lay in the dust. The bullet +had gone wide. + +The crowd yelled their approval, and, even while they applauded, the +people were asking each of his neighbor: "Who is he? Who is he?" + +Several men rushed in, and Dan, seeing the bully safe in as many hands as +could lay hold of him, turned to discover the young woman whom he had met +at the depot kneeling in the street over the still unconscious Denny. +With her handkerchief she was wiping the blood and dirt from the boy's +forehead. Dan had only time to wonder at the calmness of her face and +manner when the crowd closed in about them. + +Then the Doctor pushed his way through the throng, and the people, at +sight of the familiar figure, obeyed his energetic orders and drew aside. +A carriage was brought and Dan lifted the unconscious lad in his arms. +The Doctor spoke shortly to the young woman, "You come too." And with the +Doctor the two strangers in Corinth took Denny to his home. + +In the excitement no one thought of introductions, while the people +seeing their hero driving in the carriage with a young woman, also a +stranger, changed their question from, "Who is he?" to "Who are they?" + +When Denny had regained consciousness, and everything possible for his +comfort and for the assistance of his distracted mother, had been done; +and the physician had assured them that the lad would be as good as ever +in a day or two, the men crossed the street to the little white house. + +"Well," ejaculated Martha when Dan had been presented, and the incident +on the street briefly related, "I'm mighty glad I cooked them three +roosters." + +Dan laughed his big, hearty laugh, "I'm glad, too," he said. "Doctor +used to drive me wild out in the woods with tales of your cooking." + +The Doctor could see that Martha was pleased at this by the way she +fussed with her apron. + +"We always hoped that he would bring you with him on some of his trips," +continued Dan, "we all wanted so much to meet you." + +To the Doctor's astonishment, Martha stammered, "I--maybe I will go some +day." Then her manner underwent a change as if she had suddenly +remembered something. "You'll excuse me now while I put the dinner on," +she said stiffly. "Just make yourself to home; preachers always do in +this house, even if Doctor don't belong." She hurried away, and Dan +looked at his host with his mother's questioning eyes. The Doctor knew +what it was. Dan had felt it even in the house of his dearest friend. It +was the preacher Martha had welcomed, welcomed him professionally +because he was a preacher. And the Doctor felt again _that_ something +that had come between him and the lad. + +"Martha doesn't care for fishing," he said gently. + +Then they went out on the porch, and the old man pointed out to Dan his +room across the way--the room that looked out upon the garden and the +monument. + +"Several of your congregation wanted to have you in their homes," he +explained. "But I felt--I thought you might like to be--it was near +me you see--and handy to the church." He pointed to the building up +the street. + +"Yes," Dan answered, looking at his old friend curiously--such broken +speech was not natural to the Doctor--"You are quite right. It was very +kind of you; you know how I will like it to be near you." Then looking +at the monument he asked whose it was. + +The Doctor hesitated again. Dan faced him waiting for an answer. + +"That--oh, that's our statesman. You will need time to fully appreciate +that work of art, and what it means to Corinth. It will grow on you. It's +been growing on me for several years." + +The young man was about to ask another question regarding the monument, +when he paused. The girl who had gone to Denny in the street was coming +from the little cottage. As she walked away under the great trees that +lined the sidewalk, the two men stood watching her. Dan's question about +the monument was forgotten. + +"I wonder who she is," he said in a low voice. + +The Doctor recalled the meeting at the depot and chuckled, and just then +Martha called to dinner. + +And the people on the street corners, at the ladies' bazaar, in the +stores, the church booths and in the homes, were talking; talking of the +exhibition of the man from Windy Cove, and asking each of his neighbor: +"Who are they?" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +HOPE FARWELL'S MINISTRY + +"Useful hands they were, made for real service." + + +After dinner was over and they had visited awhile, the Doctor introduced +Dan to his landlady across the way and, making some trivial excuse about +business, left the boy in his room. The fact is that the Doctor wished +to be alone. If he could have done it decently, he would have gone off +somewhere with his fishing tackle. As he could not go fishing, he did +the next best thing. He went to his office. + +The streets were not so crowded now, for the people were at the ball +game, and the Doctor made his way down town without interruption. As he +went he tried to think out what it was that had come between him and the +boy whom he had known so intimately for so many years. Stopping at the +post office, he found a letter in his care addressed to "Rev. Daniel H. +Matthews." In his abstraction he was about to hand the letter in at the +window with the explanation that he knew no such person, when a voice at +his elbow said: "Is Brother Matthews fully rested from his tiresome +journey, Doctor?" + +The Doctor's abstraction vanished instantly, he jammed that letter into +his pocket and faced the speaker. + +"Yes," he growled, "I think Brother Matthews is fully rested. As he is +a grown man of unusual strength, and in perfect health of body at least, +and the tiresome journey was a trip of only four hours, in a comfortable +railway coach, I think I may say that he is fully recovered." + +Then the Doctor slipped away. But he had discovered what it was that had +come between the boy and himself. The _man_, Dan Matthews, was no longer +the Doctor's boy. He was "Reverend," "Brother," the _preacher_. All the +morning it had been making itself felt, that something that sets +preachers apart. The Doctor wondered how his young hill-bred giant would +stand being coddled and petted and loved by the wives and mothers of men +who, for their daily bread, met the world bare-handed, and whose +hardships were accepted by them and by these same mothers and wives as a +matter of course. + +By this time the Doctor had reached his office, and the sight of the +familiar old rooms that had been the scene of so many revelations of real +tragedies and genuine hardships, known only to the sufferer and to him +professionally, forced him to continue his thought. + +"There was Dr. Harry, for instance. Who, beside his old negro +housekeeper, ever petted and coddled _him_? Who ever thought of setting +him apart? Whoever asked if he were rested from his tiresome +journey--journeys made not in comfortable coaches on the railroad, but +in his buggy over all kinds of roads, at all times of day or night, in +all sorts of weather winter and summer, rain and sleet and snow? Whoever +'Reverended' or 'Brothered' him? Oh no, he was only a man, a physician. +It was his business to kill himself trying to keep other people alive." + +Dr. Harry Abbott had been first, the Doctor's assistant, then his +partner, and now at last his successor. Of a fine old Southern family, +his people had lost everything in the war when Harry was only a lad. The +father was killed in battle and the mother died a year later, leaving +the boy alone in the world. Thrown upon his own resources for the +necessities of life, he had managed somehow to live and to educate +himself, besides working his way through both preparatory and medical +schools, choosing his profession for love of it. He came to Dr. Oldham +from school, when the Doctor was beginning to feel the burden of his +large practice too heavily, and it was while he was the old physician's +assistant that the people learned to call him Dr. Harry. And Dr. Harry +he is to this day. How that boy has worked! His profession and his church +(for he is a member, a deacon now, in the Memorial Church) have occupied +every working minute of his life, and many hours beside that he should +have given to sleep. + +As the months passed Dr. Oldham placed more and more responsibilities +upon him, and at the end of the second year took him into full +partnership. It was about this time that Dr. Harry bought the old Wilson +Carter place, and brought from his boyhood home two former slaves of his +father to keep house for him, Old Uncle George and his wife Mam Liz. + +Every year the younger man took more and more of the load from his +partner's shoulders, until the older physician retired from active +practice; and never has there been a word but of confidence and +friendship between them. Their only difference is, that Harry will go to +prayer meeting, when the Doctor declares he should go to bed; and that +he will not go fishing. Always he has been the same courteous, kindly +gentleman, intent only upon his profession, keeping abreast of the new +things pertaining to his work, but ever considerate of the old Doctor's +whims and fancies. Even now that Dr. Oldham has stepped down and out +Harry insists that he leave his old desk in its place, and still talks +over his cases with him. + +The Doctor was sitting in his dilapidated office chair thinking over all +this, when he heard his brother physician's step on the stairs. Harry +came in, dusty and worn, from a long ride in the country on an all-night +case. His tired face lit up when he saw his friend. + +"Hello, Doctor! Glad to see you. Has he come? How is he?" While he was +speaking the physician dropped his case, slipped out of his coat, and +was in the lavatory burying his face in cold water by the time the other +was ready to answer. That was Harry, he was never in a hurry, never +seemed to move fast, but people never ceased to wonder at his quickness. + +"He's all right," the Doctor muttered, his mind slipping back into the +channel that had started him off to thinking of his fellow physician. +"Got in on the ten-forty. But you look fagged enough. Why the devil don't +you rest, Harry?" + +Standing in the doorway rubbing his face, neck, and chest, with a coarse +towel the young man laughed, "Rest, what would I do with a vacation? I'll +be all right, when I get outside of one of Mam Liz's dinners. It was that +baby of Jensen's that kept me. Poor little chap. I thought, two or three +times he was going to make a die of it sure, but I guess he'll pull +through now." + +Dr. Oldham knew the Jensens well, eighteen miles over the worst roads in +the country. He growled hoarsely: "It'll be more years than there are +miles between here and Jensen's before you get a cent out of that case. +You're a fool for making the trip; why don't you let 'em get that old +bushwhacker at Salem, he's only three miles away?" + +Harry pulled on his coat and dropped into his chair with a grin. "What'll +you give me to collect some of your old accounts, Doctor? The Jensens say +that the reason they have me is because you have always been their +physician." + +Then the Doctor in characteristic language expressed his opinion of the +whole Jensen tribe, while Harry calmly glanced through some letters on +his desk. + +"See here, Doctor," he exclaimed, wheeling around in his chair and +interrupting the old man's eloquent discourse. "Here is a letter from +Dr. Miles--says he is sending a nurse; just what we want." He tossed the +letter to the other. "There'll be the deuce to pay at Judge Strong's +when she arrives. Whew! I guess I better trot over home and get a bite +and forty winks. A Jensen breakfast, as you may remember, isn't just the +most staying thing for a civilized stomach, and I need to be fit when I +call at the Strong mansion. Wonder when the nurse will get here." + +"She's here now," said the old Doctor, and he then told him about the +meeting at the depot and the fight on the street. "But go on and get your +nap," he finished. "I'll look after her." + +Harry had just taken his hat when there came a knock on the door leading +into the little waiting room. He hung his hat back in the closet, and +dropped into his chair again with a comical expression of resignation on +his face. But his voice was cheerful, when he said: "Come in." + +The door opened. The young lady of the depot entered. The old physician +took a good look at her this time. He saw a girl of fine, strong form and +good height, with clear skin, showing perfect health, large, gray +eyes--serious enough, but with a laugh back of all their seriousness, +brown hair, firm, rounded chin and a generous sensitive mouth. +Particularly he noticed her hands--beautifully modeled, useful hands +they were, made for real service. Altogether she gave him the impression +of being very much alive, and very much a woman. + +"Is this Dr. Abbott?" she asked, looking at Harry, who had risen from +his chair. When she spoke the old man again noted her voice, it was low +and clear. + +"I am Dr. Abbott," replied Harry. + +"I am Hope Farwell," she answered. "Dr. Miles, you know, asked me to +come. You wanted a nurse for a special case, I believe." + +"Oh, yes," exclaimed Harry, "we have the letter here. We were just +speaking of you, Miss Farwell. This is Dr. Oldham; perhaps Dr. Miles +told you of him." + +She turned with a smile, "Yes indeed, Dr. Miles told me. I believe we +have met before, Doctor." + +The girl broke into a merry laugh, when the old man answered, gruffly: "I +should think we had. I was just telling Harry there when you came in." + +Then the younger physician asked, "How soon can you be ready to go on +this case, Nurse?" + +She looked at him with a faint expression of surprise. "Why I'm ready +now, Doctor." + +And the old Doctor broke in so savagely that they both looked at him in +astonishment as he said: "But this is a hard case. You'll be up most of +the night. You're tired out from your trip." + +"Why, Doctor," said the young woman, "it is my business to be ready at +any time. Being up nights is part of my profession. Surely you know +that. Besides, that trip was really a good rest, the first good rest +I've had for a long time." + +"I know, of course," he answered. "I was thinking of something else. You +must pardon me, Miss. Harry there will explain that I am subject to these +little attacks." + +"Oh, I know already," she returned smiling. "Dr. Miles told me all about +you." And there was something in her laughing gray eyes that made the +rough old man wonder just what it was that his friend Miles had told her. + +"All right, get back to business you two," he growled. "I'll not +interrupt again. Tell her about the case, Harry." + +The young woman's face was serious in a moment, and she gave the +physician the most careful attention as he explained the case for which +he had written Dr. Miles to send a trained nurse of certain +qualifications. + +The Judge Strong of this story is an only son of the old Judge who moved +Corinth. He is a large man--physically, as large as the Doctor, but where +the Doctor is fat the Judge is lean. He inherited, not only his father's +title (a purely honorary one) but his father's property, his position as +an Elder in the church, and his general disposition; together with his +taste and skill in collecting mortgages and acquiring real estate. The +old Judge had but the one child. The Judge of this story, though just +passing middle age, has no children at all. Seemingly there is no room in +his heart for more than his church and his properties--his mind being +thus wholly occupied with titles to heaven and to earth. With Sapphira, +his wife, he lives in a big house on Strong Avenue, beyond the Strong +Memorial Church, with never so much as a pet dog or cat to roughen the +well-kept lawn or romp, perchance, in the garden. The patient whom Miss +Farwell had come to nurse, was Sapphira's sister, a widow with neither +child nor home. The Judge had been forced by his fear of public sentiment +to give her shelter, and he had been compelled by Dr. Oldham and Dr. +Harry to employ a nurse. The case would not be a pleasant one; Miss +Farwell would need all that abundant stock of tact and patience which Dr. +Miles had declared she possessed. + +All this Dr. Harry explained to her, and when he had finished she asked +in the most matter-of-fact tone: "And what are your instructions, +Doctor?" + +That caught Harry. It caught the old Doctor, too. Not even a comment on +the disagreeable position she knew she would have in the Strong +household, for Harry had not slighted the hard facts! She understood +clearly what she was going into. + +A light came into the young physician's eyes that his old friend liked +to see. "I guess Miles knew what he was talking about in his letter," +said the old Doctor. And the young woman's face flushed warmly at his +words and look. + +Then in his professional tones Dr. Harry instructed her more fully as to +the patient's condition--a nervous trouble greatly aggravated by the +Judge's disposition. + +"Nice job, isn't it, Miss Farwell?" Harry finished. + +She smiled. "When do I go on, Doctor?" + +Harry stepped to the telephone and called up the Strong mansion. "This +you, Judge?" he said into the instrument. "The nurse from Chicago is +here; came today. We want her to go on the case at once. Can you send +your man to the depot for her trunk?" + +By the look on his face the old Doctor knew what Harry was getting. The +younger physician's jaw was set and his eyes were blazing, but his voice +was calm and easy. "But Judge, you remember the agreement. Dr. Oldham is +here now if you wish to speak to him. We shall hold you to the exact +letter of your bargain, Judge. I am very sorry but--. Very well sir. I +will be at your home with the nurse in a few moments. Please have a room +ready. And by the way, Judge, I must tell you again that my patient is in +a serious condition. I warn you that we will hold you responsible if +anything happens to interfere with our arrangements for her treatment. +Good-bye." + +He turned to the nurse with a wry face. "It's pretty bad, Miss Farwell." + +Then, ringing up the village drayman, he arranged to have the young +woman's trunk taken to the house. When the man had called for the checks +Harry said: "Now, Nurse, my buggy is here, and if you are ready I guess +we had better follow your trunk pretty closely." + +From the window the old Doctor watched them get into the buggy, +and drive off down the street. Mechanically he opened the letter +from Dr. Miles, which he still held in his hand. "An ideal nurse, who +has taken up the work for love of it,--have known the family for +years--thoroughbreds--just the kind to send a Kentuckian like you--I +warn you look out,--I want her back again." + +The Doctor chuckled when he remembered Harry's look as he talked to the +young woman. "If ever a man needed a wife Harry does," he thought. "Who +knows what might happen?" + +Who knows, indeed? + +Then the Doctor went home to Dan. He found him in Denny's garden, with +Denny enthroned on the big rock--listening to his fun, while Deborah, +from the house, looked on, unable to believe that it was "the parson +sure enough out there wid Denny,"--Denny who was to have been a priest +himself one day, but who would never now be good for much of anything. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS + +"'In the battle of life we cannot hire a substitute; whatever work one +volunteers to make his own he must look upon as his ministry to the +race.'" + + +Dan, with the Doctor and Mrs. Oldham were to take supper and spend the +evening at Elder Jordan's. Martha went over early in the afternoon, +leaving the two men to follow. + +As they were passing the monument, Dan stopped. "Did you know him?" he +asked curiously, when he had read the inscription. It was not like Dan +to be curious. + +The Doctor answered briefly: "I was there when he was born and was his +family physician all his life, and I was with him when he died." + +Something in the doctor's voice made Dan look at him intently for a +moment, then in a low tone: "He was a good man?" + +"One of the best I ever knew, too good for this town. Look at that thing. +They say that expressed their appreciation of him--and it does," he +finished grimly. + +"But," said Dan, in a puzzled way, turning once more to the monument, +"this inscription--" he read again the sentence from the statesman's +speech on the forgotten issue of his passing day. + +The Doctor said nothing. + +Then gazing up at the cast-iron figure posed stiffly with outstretched +arm in the attitude of a public speaker, Dan asked: "Is that like him?" + +"Like him! It's like nothing but the people who conceived it," growled +the Doctor indignantly. "If that man were living he would not be always +talking about issues that have no meaning at this day. He would be giving +himself to the problems that trouble us now. This thing," he rapped the +monument with his stick until it gave forth a dull, hollow sound, "this +thing is not a memorial to the life and character of my friend. It +memorializes the dead issue to which he gave himself at one passing +moment of his life, and which, had he lived, he would have forgotten, as +the changing times brought new issues to be met as he met this old one. +He was too great, too brave, to ever stand still and let the world go by. +He was always on the firing line. This thing--" he rapped the hollow iron +shaft again contemptuously, and the hollow sound seemed to add emphasis +to his words--"this is a dead monument to a dead issue. Instead of +speaking of his life, it cries aloud in hideous emphasis that he is +dead." + +They stood silently for a moment then Dan said, quietly: "After all, +Doctor, they meant well." + +"And that," retorted the old man grimly, "is what we doctors say when we +see our mistakes go by in the hearse." + +They went on up the street until they reached the church. Here Dan +stopped again. He read the inscription cut large in the stone over the +door, "The Strong Memorial Church." Again Dan turned to his friend +inquiringly. + +"Judge Strong, the old Judge," explained the Doctor. "That's his picture +in the big stained-glass window there." + +In all his intentions Nathaniel Jordan was one of the best of men. +Surely, if in the hereafter, any man receives credit for always doing +what his conscience dictates, Nathan will. He was one of those +characters who give up living ten years before they die. Nathan stayed +on for the church's good. + +Miss Charity, the Elder's only child is--well, she was born, raised and +educated for a parson's wife. The Doctor says that she didn't even cry +like other babies. At three she had taken a prize in Sunday school for +committing Golden texts, at seven she was baptized, and knew the reason +why, at twelve she played the organ in Christian Endeavor. At fourteen +she was teaching a class, leading prayer meeting, attending conventions, +was president of the Local Union, and pointed with pride to the fact that +she was on more committees than any other single individual in the +Memorial Church. The walls of her room were literally covered with +badges, medals, tokens, prizes and emblems, with the picture of every +conspicuous church worker and leader of her denomination. Between times +the girl studied the early history of her church, read the religious +papers and in other ways fitted herself for her life work. Poor Charity! +She was so cursed with a holy ambition, that to her men were not men, +they simply _were_ or were _not_ preachers. + +When Dan and the Doctor reached the Jordan home they found this daughter +of the church at the front gate watching for them, a look of eager hope +and expectancy on her face. The Elder himself with his wife and Mrs. +Oldham were on the front porch. Martha could scarcely wait for the usual +greeting and the introduction of Dan to Mrs. Jordan, before she opened on +the Doctor with, "It's a great pity Doctor, that you couldn't bring +Brother Matthews here before the last possible minute; supper is ready +right now. A body would think you had an important case, if they didn't +know that you were too old to do anything any more." + +"We did have an important case, my dear," the Doctor replied, "and it +was Dan who caused our delay." + +"That's it; lay it on to somebody else like you always do. What in the +world could poor Brother Matthews be doing to keep him from a good meal?" + +"He was studying--let me see, what was it, Dan? Art, Political +Economy--or Theology?" + +Dan smiled. "I think it might have been the theory and practice of +medicine," he returned. At which they both laughed and the others joined +in, though for his life the Doctor couldn't see why. + +"Well," said the Elder, when he had finished his shrill cackle, "we +better go in and discuss supper awhile; that's always a satisfactory +subject at least." Which was a pretty good one for Nathaniel. + +When the meal was finished, they all went out on the front porch again, +where it soon became evident that Nathaniel did not propose to waste +more time in light and frivolous conversation. By his familiar and +ponderous "Ahem--ahem!" even Dan understood that he was anxious to get +down to the real business of the evening, and that he was determined to +do his full duty, or--as he would have said--"to keep that which was +committed unto him." + +"Ahem--ahem!" A hush fell upon the little company, the women turned +their chairs expectantly, and the Doctor slipped over to the end of the +porch to enjoy his evening cigar. The Elder had the field. + +With another and still louder "Ahem!" he began. "I am sorry that Brother +Strong is not here this evening. Judge Strong that is, Brother Matthews; +he is our other Elder, you understand. I expected him but he has +evidently been detained." + +The Doctor, thinking of Dr. Harry and the nurse, chuckled, and Nathan +turned a look of solemn inquiry in his direction. + +"Ahem--ahem,--you did not come to Corinth directly from your home, I +understand, Brother Matthews?" + +The Doctor could see Dan's face by the light from the open window. He +fancied it wore a look of amused understanding. + +"No," answered the minister, "I spent yesterday in the city." + +"Ahem--ahem," coughed the Elder. "Found an acquaintance on the train +coming up, didn't you? We noticed you talking to a young woman at the +car window." + +Dan paused a moment before answering, and the Doctor could feel the +interest of the company. Then the boy said, dryly, "Yes, I may say +though, that she is something more than an acquaintance." + +Smothered exclamations from the women. "Ah hah," from the Elder. The +Doctor grinned to himself in the dark. "The young scamp!" + +"Ahem! She had a pretty face, we noticed; are you--that is, have you +known her long?" + +"Several years, sir; the lady you saw is my mother. I went with her to +the city day before yesterday, where she wished to do some shopping, and +accompanied her on her way home as far as Corinth." + +More exclamations from the women. + +"Why, Doctor, you never told us it was his mother," cried Martha, and +Nathaniel turned toward the end of the porch with a look of righteous +indignation. + +"You never asked me," chuckled the Doctor. + +After this the two older women drifted into the house. Charity settled +herself in an attitude of rapt attention, and the program was continued. + +"Ahem. You may not be aware of it Brother Matthews, but I know a great +deal about your family, sir." + +"Indeed," exclaimed Dan. + +"Yes sir. You see I have some mining interests in that district, quite +profitable interests I may say. Judge Strong and I together have quite +extensive interests. Two or three years ago we made a good many trips +into your part of the country, where we heard a great deal of your +people. Your mother seems to be a remarkable woman of considerable +influence. Too bad she is not a regular member of the church. Our +preachers often tell us, and I believe it is true, that people who do +so much good out of the church really injure the cause more than +anything else." + +Dan made no answer to this, but as the Doctor saw his face in the light +it wore a mingled expression of astonishment and doubt. + +The Elder proceeded, "They used to tell us some great stories about your +father, too. Big man, isn't he?" + +"Yes sir, fairly good size." + +"Yes, I remember some of his fights we used to hear about; and there was +another member of the family, they mentioned a good deal. Dad--Dad--" + +"Howitt," said Dan softly. + +"That's it, Howitt. A kind of a shepherd, wasn't he? Discovered the big +mine on your father's place. One of your father's fights was about the +old man. Ahem--ahem--I judge you take after your father. I don't know +just what to think about your whipping that fellow this morning. Someone +had to do something of course, but--ahem, for a minister it was rather +unusual. I don't know how the people will take it." + +"I'm afraid that I forgot that I was a minister," said Dan uneasily. "I +hope, sir, you do not think that I did wrong." + +"Ahem--ahem, I can't say that it was wrong exactly, but as I said, we +don't know how the people will take it. But there's one thing sure," and +the Elder's shrill cackle rang out, "it will bring a big crowd to hear +you preach. Well, well, that's off the subject. Ahem--Brother Matthews, +why haven't your people opened that big mine in Dewey Bald?" + +"I expect it would be better for me to let father or mother explain that +to you, sir," answered Dan, as cool and calm as the evening. + +"Yes, yes of course, but it's rather strange, rather unusual you know, +to find a young man of your make-up and opportunities for wealth, +entering the ministry. You could educate a great many preachers, sir, if +you would develop that mine." + +"Father and mother have always taught us children that in the battle of +life one cannot hire a substitute; that whatever work one volunteers to +make his own he must look upon as his ministry to the race. I believe +that the church is an institution divinely given to serve the world, and +that, more than any other, it helps men to the highest possible life. I +volunteered for the work I have undertaken, because naturally I wish my +life to count for the greatest possible good; and because I feel that I +can serve men better in the church than in any other way." + +"Whew!" thought the Doctor, "that was something for Nathan to chew on." +The lad's face when he spoke made his old friend's nerves tingle. His was +a new conception of the ministry, new to the Doctor at least. Forgetting +his cigar he awaited the Elder's reply with breathless interest. + +"Ahem--ahem, you feel then that you have no special Divine call to the +work?" + +"I have always been taught at home, sir, that every man is divinely +called to his work, if that work is for the good of all men. His +faithfulness or unfaithfulness to the call is revealed in the _motives_ +that prompt him to choose his field." The boy paused a moment and +then added slowly--and no one who heard him could doubt his deep +conviction--"Yes sir, I feel that I am divinely called to preach the +gospel." + +"Ahem--ahem, I trust, Brother Matthews, that you are not taken up with +these new fads and fancies that are turning the minds of the people from +the true worship of God." + +"It is my desire, sir, to lead people to the true worship of God. I +believe that nothing will accomplish that end but the simple old +Jerusalem gospel." + +The Doctor lit his cigar again. They seemed to be getting upon safer +ground. + +"I am glad to hear that--" said the Elder heartily--"very glad. I feared +from the way you spoke, you might be going astray. There is a great work +for you here in Corinth--a great work. Our old brother who preceded you +was a good man, sound in the faith in every way, but he didn't seem to +take somehow. The fact is the other churches--ahem--are getting about +all our congregation." + +Then for an hour or more, Elder Jordan, for the new minister's benefit, +discussed in detail the religious history of Corinth, with the past, +present and future of Memorial Church; while Charity, drinking in every +word of the oft-heard discussion, grew ever more entranced with the +possibilities of the new pastor's ministry, and the Doctor sat alone at +the farther end of the porch. The Elder finished with: "Well, well, +Brother Matthews, you are young, strong, unmarried, and with your +reputation as a college man and an athlete you ought to do great things +for Memorial Church. We are counting on you to build us up wonderfully. +And let me say too, that we are one of the oldest and best known +congregations in our brotherhood here in the state. We have had some +great preachers here. You can make a reputation that will put you to the +top of your--ah, calling." + +Dan was just saying, "I hope I will please you, sir," when the women +appeared in the doorway. Martha had her bonnet on. + +"Come, come Nathan," said Mrs. Jordan, "you mustn't keep poor Brother +Matthews up another minute. He must be nearly worn out with his long +journey and all the excitement." + +The Doctor thought again of the girl who had made the same journey in +the car behind Dan, and who had also shared the excitement. He wondered +how the nurse was enjoying her evening and when she would get to bed. +"That's so," exclaimed the Doctor, rising to his feet. "We're all a lot +of brutes to treat the poor boy so." + +Dan whirled on him with a look that set the old man to laughing, "That's +all right, sonny," he chuckled. "Come on, I've been asleep for an hour." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +FROM DEBORAH'S PORCH + +"'With nothin' to think of all the time but the Blessed Jesus an' the +Holy Mother; an' all the people so respectful, an' lookin' up to you. +Sure 'tis a grand thing, Doctor, to be a priest.'" + + +Nathaniel Jordan's prediction proved true. + +In the two days between Dan's arrival and his first Sunday in Corinth, +the Ally was actively engaged in making known the identity of the big +stranger, who had so skillfully punished the man from Windy Cove. Also +the name and profession of the young woman who had gone to Denny's +assistance were fully revealed. + +The new minister of the Memorial Church was the sensation of the hour. +The building could scarcely hold the crowd, while the rival churches +were deserted, save only by the few faithful "pillars" who were held in +their places by the deep conviction that heaven itself would fall should +they fail to support their own particular faith. With the people who had +attended the fair, the Ally journeyed far into the country, and the roads +being good with promise of a moon to drive home by, the country folk for +miles around came to worship God, and, incidentally, to see the preacher +who had fought and vanquished the celebrated Jud. Many were there that +day who had not been inside a church before for years. The Ally went +also, but then the Ally, they say, is a regular attendant at all the +services of every church. + +Judge Strong, with an expression of pious satisfaction on his hard face, +occupied his own particular corner. From another corner Elder Jordan +watched for signs of false doctrine. Charity, except when busy at the +organ, never took her adoring eyes from the preacher's face. At the last +moment before the sermon, Dr. Harry slipped into the seat beside the +Doctor. And many other earnest souls there were who depended upon the +church as the only source of their life's inspiration and strength. + +Facing this crowd that even in the small town of Corinth represented +every class and kind, Dan felt it all; the vulgar curiosity, the craving +for sensation, the admiration, the suspicion, the true welcome, the +antagonism, the spiritual dependence. And the young man from the +mountains and the schools, who had entered the ministry from the truest +motives, with the highest ideals, shrank back and was afraid. + +Dan was, literally, to this church and people a messenger from another +world. It was not strange that many of the people thought, "How out of +place this big fellow looks in the pulpit." Many of them felt dimly, +too, that which the Doctor had always felt, that this man was somehow a +revelation of something that might have been, that ought to be. But no +one tried to search out the reason why. + +The theme of the new minister's sermon was, "The Faith of the Fathers," +and it must have been a good one, because Martha said the next day, that +it was the finest thing she had ever heard; and she had it figured out +somehow that the members of neighboring churches, who were there, got +some straight gospel for once in their lives. Elder Jordan assured the +Doctor in a confidential whisper, that it was a splendid effort. The +Doctor knew that Dan was splendid, and he could see that the boy had +fairly hypnotized the crowd, but he could not understand why it should +have been much of an effort. He confided to Martha that "so far as he +could see, the sermon might have been taken from the barrel of any one +of the preachers that had served the Memorial Church since its +establishment." But the sermon was new and fresh to Dan, and so gained +something of interest and strength from the earnestness and personality +of the speaker. "The boy had only to hold that gait," reflected the +Doctor, "and he would, as Nathan had said, land at the very top of his +profession." + +In the evening, the Doctor slipped away from church as soon as the +services were over, leaving Dan with those who always stay until the +janitor begins turning out the lights. Martha would walk home with +fellow workers in the Ladies' Aid, who lived a few doors beyond, and the +Doctor wished to be alone. + +Crossing the street to avoid the crowd, he walked slowly along under +the big trees, trying to accustom himself to the thought of his boy +dressed in the conventional minister's garb, delivering time worn +conventionalities in a manner as conventional. It was to this strange +thinking old man, almost as if he had seen Dan behind the grated doors +of a prison cell. + +Very slowly he went along, unmindful of aught but the thoughts that +troubled him, until, coming to the Widow Mulhall's little cottage, where +Deborah and Denny were sitting on the porch, he paused. Across the street +in front of his own home, Martha and her friends were holding an animated +conversation. + +"Come in, come in, Doctor," called Deborah's cheery voice, "it's a fine +evenin' it is and only beginnin'. I was just tellin' Denny that 'tis a +shame folks have to waste such nights in sleep. Come right in, I'll +fetch another chair--take the big rocker there, Doctor, that's right. +And how are you? Denny? Oh the bye is all right again just as you said; +sure the minister had him out in the garden that same afternoon. 'Twas +the blessin' of God, though, that his Reverence was there to keep that +devil from batin' the poor lad to death. I hope you'll not be forgettin' +the way to our gate entirely now, Doctor, that you'll be crossin' the +street so often to the house beyond the garden there." + +In the Widow's voice there was a hint of her Irish ancestry, as, in her +kind blue eyes, buxom figure and cordial manner, there was more than a +hint of her warm-hearted, whole-souled nature. + +"How do you like your new neighbor, Deborah?" asked the Doctor. + +"Ah, Doctor, it's a fine big man he is, a danged fine man inside an' out. +Denny and me are almighty proud, havin' him so close. He's that sociable, +too, not at all like a priest. It's every blessed day since he's been +here he's comin' over to Denny in the garden, and helpin' him with the +things, a-talkin' away all the time. ''Tis the very exercise I need,' +says he. 'And it's a real kindness for ye to let me work a bit now and +then,' says he. But sure we kin see, 'tis the big heart of him, wishful +to help the bye. But it's queer notioned he is fer a preacher." + +"Didn't I see you and Denny at church this evening?" asked the Doctor. + +"You did that, sir. You see not havin' no church of our own within reach +of our legs, an' bein' real wishful to hear a bit of a prayer and a +sermon like, Denny an' me slips into the protestant meetings now and +then. After all there's no real harm in it now, do you think, Doctor?" + +"Harm to you and Denny, or the church?" the Doctor asked. + +"Aw, go on now, Doctor you do be always havin' your joke," she laughed. +"Harm to neither or both or all, I mane, for, of course--well, let it go. +I guess that while Denny and me do be sayin' our prayers in our little +cabin on this side of the street, and you are a-sayin' yours in your fine +house across the way, 'tis the same blessed Father of us all gets them +both. I misdoubt if God had much to do wid layin' out the streets of +Corinth anyhow. I've heard how 'twas the old Judge Strong did that." + +"And what do you think of Mr. Matthews' sermon?" + +"It's ashamed I am to say it, Doctor, but I niver heard him." + +"Never heard him? But I thought you were there." + +"And we was, sir, so we was. And Denny here can tell you the whole thing, +but for myself I niver heard a blessed word, after the singin' and the +preacher stood up." + +"Why, what was the matter?" + +"The preacher himself." + +"The preacher?" + +"Yes sir. 'Twas this way, Doctor, upon my soul I couldn't hear what he +was a-sayin' for lookin' at the man himself. With him a-standin' up there +so big an' strong an'--an' clean like through an' through an' the look on +his face! It set me to thinkin' of all that I used to dream fer--fer my +Denny here. Ye mind what a fine lookin' man poor Jack was, sir, tho' I do +say it, and how Denny here, from a baby, was the very image of him. I +always knowed he was a-goin' to grow up another Jack for strength an' +looks. And you know yourself how our hearts was set on havin' him a +priest, him havin' such a turn that way, bein' crazy on books and +studyin' an' the likes--an' now--now here we are, sir. My man gone, an' +my boy just able to drag his poor broken body around, an' good fer +nothin' but to dig in the dirt. No sir, I couldn't hear the sermon fer +lookin' at the preacher an' thinkin'." + +Denny moved his twisted, misshapen body uneasily, "Oh, come now, mother," +he said, "let's don't be spoilin' the fine night fer the Doctor with our +troubles." + +"Indade, that we will not," said Deborah cheerfully. "Don't you think +Denny's garden's been doin' fine this summer, Doctor?" + +"Fine," said the Doctor heartily. "But then it's always fine. There's +lots of us would like to know how he makes it do so well." + +Denny gave a pleased laugh. + +"Aw now Doctor you're flatterin' me. They have been doin' pretty well +though--pretty well fer me." + +"I tell you what it is, Doctor," said Deborah, "the bye naturally loves +them things into growin'. If people would be takin' as good care of their +children as Denny does for his cabbage and truck it would be a blessin' +to the world." + +"It is funny, Doctor," put in Denny, "but do you know those things out +there seem just like people to me. I tell mother it ain't so bad after +all, not bein' a priest. The minister was a-sayin' yesterday, that the +people needed more than their souls looked after. If I can't be tellin' +people how to live, I can be growin' good things to keep them alive, and +maybe that's not so bad as it might be." + +"I don't know what we'd be doin' at all, if it wasn't fer that same +garden," added Deborah, "with clothes, and wood and groceries to buy, to +say nothin' of the interest that's always comin' due. We--" + +"Whist," said Denny in a low tone as a light flashed up in the corner +window of the house on the other side of the garden. "There's the +minister come home." + +Reverently they watched the light and the moving shadow in the room. The +moon, through the branches of the trees along the street, threw waving +patches of soft light over the dark green of the little lawn. Martha's +friends had moved on. Martha herself had retired. The street was +seemingly deserted and very still. + +Leaning forward in her chair Deborah spoke in a whisper. "We can always +tell when he's in of nights, and when he goes to bed. Ye see it's almost +like we was livin' in the same house with him. An' a great comfort it is +to us too, wid him such a good man, our havin' him so near. Poor bye +I'll warrant he's tired tonight. But oh, it must be a grand thing, +Doctor, to be doin' such holy work, an' a livin' with God Almighty like, +with nothin' to think of all the time but the Blessed Jesus and the Holy +Mother; an' all the people so respectful, an' lookin' up to you. Sure +'tis a grand thing, Doctor, to be a priest, savin' your presence sir, +for I know how you've little truck wid churches, tho' the lady your wife +does enough fer two." + +The Doctor rose to go for he saw that the hour was late. As he stood on +the steps ready to depart the steady flow of Deborah's talk continued, +when Denny interrupted again, pointing toward a woman who was crossing +to the other side of the street. She walked slowly, and, reaching the +sidewalk in front of the Doctor's house, hesitated, in a troubled, +undecided way. Approaching the gate, she paused, then drew back and +moved on slowly up the street. Her movements and manner gave the +impression that she was in trouble, perhaps in pain. + +"There's something wrong there," said the Doctor. "Who is it? Can you +see who it is, Denny?" + +"Yes, sir," he answered, and Deborah broke in, "it's that poor girl +of--of Jim Conner's, sir." + +The Doctor, at once nervous and agitated, was not a little worried and +could make no reply, knowing that it was Jim Conner who had killed +Deborah's husband. + +"Poor thing," murmured Deborah. "For the love of God, look at that now, +Doctor!" + +The girl had reached the corner, and had fallen or thrown herself in a +crouching heap against the monument. + +The widow was starting for the street, but Denny caught her arm: "No--no +mother, you mustn't do that, you know how she's scared to death of you; +let the Doctor go." + +The physician was already on his way as fast as his old legs would take +him. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE WORK OF THE ALLY + +"In the little room that looked out upon the Monument and the garden, +Dan--all unknowing--slept. And over all brooded the spirit that lives in +Corinth--the Ally--that dread, mysterious thing that never sleeps." + + +Grace Conner is a type common to every village, town and city in the +land, the saddest of all sad creatures--a good girl with a bad +reputation. + +Her reputation Grace owed first to her father's misdeeds, for which the +girl could in no way be to blame, and second, to the all-powerful Ally, +without whom the making of any reputation, good or bad, is impossible. + +The Doctor knew the girl well. When she was a little tot and a member +of Martha's Sunday school class, she was at the house frequently. Later +as a member of the church she herself was a teacher and an active worker. +Then came the father's crime and conviction, followed soon by the +mother's death, and the girl was left to shift for herself. She had +kept herself alive by working here and there, in the canning factory +and restaurants, and wherever she could. No one would give her a place +in a home. + +The young people in the church, imitating their elders, shunned her, and +it was not considered good policy to permit her to continue teaching in +the Sunday school. No mother wanted her child to associate with a +criminal's daughter; naturally she drifted away from the regular +services, and soon it was publicly announced that her name had been +dropped from the roll of membership. After that she never came. + +It was not long until the girl had such a name that no self respecting +man or woman dared be caught recognizing her on the street. + +The people always spoke of her as "that Grace Conner." + +The girl, hurt so often, grew to fear everyone. She strove to avoid +meeting people on the street, or meeting them, passed with downcast +eyes, not daring to greet them. Barely able to earn bread to keep life +within her poor body, her clothing grew shabby, her form thin and worn; +and these very evidences of her goodness of character worked to +accomplish her ruin. But she was a good girl through it all, a good girl +with a bad reputation. + +She was cowering at the foot of the monument, her face buried in her +hands, when the Doctor touched her on the shoulder. She started and +turned up to him the saddest face the old physician had ever seen. + +"What's the matter, my girl?" he said as kindly as he could. + +She shook her head and buried her face in her hands again. + +"Please go away and let me alone." + +"Come, come," said the Doctor laying his hand on her shoulder again. +"This won't do; you must tell me what's wrong. You can't stay out here +on the street at this time of the night." + +At his tone she raised her head again. "This time of the night! What +difference does it make to anyone whether I am on the street or not?" + +"It makes a big difference to you, my girl," the Doctor answered. "You +should be home and in bed." + +God! What a laugh she gave! + +"Home! In bed!" She laughed again. + +"Stop that!" said the physician sharply, for he saw that just a touch +more, and she would be over the line. "Stand up here and tell me what's +the matter; are you sick?" + +She rose to her feet with his help. + +"No sir." + +"Well, what have you been doing?" + +"Nothing, Doctor. I--I was just walking around." + +"Why don't you go back to the Hotel? You are working there, are you not?" + +At this she wrung her hands and looked about in a dazed way, but answered +nothing. + +"See here, Grace," said the physician, "you know me, surely--old Doctor +Oldham, can't you tell me what it is that's wrong?" + +She made no answer. + +"Come, let me take you to the Hotel," he urged; "it's only a step." + +"No--no," she moaned, "I can't go there. I don't live there any more." + +"Well where do you live now?" he asked. + +"Over in Old Town." + +"But why did you leave your place at the Hotel?" + +"A--a man there said something that I didn't like, and then the +proprietor told me that I must go, because some of the people were +talking about me, and I was giving the Hotel a bad name. Oh, Doctor, I +ain't a bad girl, I ain't never been, but folks are driving me to it. +That or--or--" she hesitated. + +What could he say? + +"It's the same everywhere I try to work," she continued in a hopeless +tone. "At the canning factory the other girls said their folks wouldn't +let them work there if I didn't go. I haven't been able to earn a cent +since I left the Hotel. I don't know what to do,--oh, I don't know what +to do!" She broke down crying. + +"Look here, why didn't you come to me?" the Doctor asked roughly. "You +knew you could come to me. Didn't I tell you to?" + +"I--I was afraid. I'm afraid of everybody." She shivered and looked over +her shoulder. + +The Doctor saw that this thing had gone far enough. "Come with me," he +said. "You must have something to eat." + +He started to lead her across the street toward Mrs. Mulhall whom he +could see at the gate watching them. But the girl hung back. + +"No, no," she panted in her excitement. "Not there, I dare not go there." +The Doctor hesitated. + +"Well, come to my house then," he said. She went as far as the gate then +she stopped again. + +"I can't, Doctor. Mrs. Oldham, I can't--" The girl was right. The Doctor +was never so ashamed in all his life. After a little, he said with +decision, "Look here, Grace, you sit down on the porch for a few minutes. +Martha is in bed and fast asleep long ago." He stole away as quietly as +possible, and in a little while returned with a basket full of such +provisions as he could find in the pantry. He was chuckling to himself as +he thought of Martha when she discovered the theft in the morning, and +cursing half aloud the thing that made it necessary for him to steal from +his own pantry for the girl whom he would have taken into his home so +gladly, if-- + +He made her eat some of the cold chicken and bread and drink a glass of +milk. And when she was feeling better, walked with her down the street a +little way, to be sure that she was all right. + +"I can't thank you enough, Doctor," she said, "you have saved me from--" + +"Don't try," he broke in. He did not want her to get on that line again. +"Go on home like a good girl now, and mind you look carefully in the +bottom of that basket." He had put a little bill there, the only money +he had in the house. "This will help until times are better for you, and +mind now, if you run against it again, come to me or go to Dr. Harry at +the office, and tell him that you want me." + +He watched her down the street and then went home, stopping for a word +of explanation to Deborah and Denny, who were waiting at the gate. + +The light was still burning in Dan's window when the Doctor again entered +his own yard. He thought once that he would run in on the minister for a +minute, and then remembered that "the boy would be tired after his great +effort defending the faith of Memorial Church." It was long past the old +man's bed time. He told himself that he was an old fool to be prowling +about so late at night, and that he would hear from Martha all right +tomorrow. Then, as he climbed into bed, he chuckled again, thinking of +the empty kitchen pantry and that missing basket. + +The light in Dan's room went out. Some belated person passed, going home +for the night; a little later, another. Then a man and woman, walking +closely, talking in low tones, strolled slowly by in the shadow of the +big trees. The quick step of a horse and the sound of buggy-wheels came +swiftly nearer and nearer, passed and died away in the stillness. It was +Dr. Harry answering a call. In Judge Strong's big, brown house, a nurse +in her uniform of blue and white, by the dim light of a night-lamp, +leaned over her patient with a glass of water. In Old Town a young woman +in shabby dress, with a basket on her arm, hurried--trembling and +frightened--across the lonely, grass-grown square. Under the quiet stars +in the soft moonlight, the cast-iron monument stood--grim and cold and +sinister. In the peace and quiet of the night, Denny's garden wrought +its mystery. In the little room that looked out upon the monument and +the garden, Dan--all unknowing--slept. + +And over all brooded the spirit that lives in Corinth--the Ally--that +dread, mysterious thing that never sleeps. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE EDGE OP THE BATTLEFIELD + +"But it was as if his superior officers had ordered him to mark time, +while his whole soul was eager for the command to charge." + + +Dan was trying to prepare his evening sermon for the third Sunday of what +the old Doctor called his Corinthian ministry. The afternoon was half +gone, when he arose from his study table. All day he had been at it, and +all day the devils of dissatisfaction had rioted in his soul--or wherever +it is that such devils are supposed to riot. + +The three weeks had not been idle weeks for Dan. He had made many +pastoral calls at the homes of his congregation; he had attended +numberless committee meetings. Already he was beginning to feel the +tug of his people's need--the world old need of sympathy and inspiration, +of courage and cheer; the need of the soldier for the battle-cry of his +comrades, the need of the striving runner for the lusty shout of his +friends, the need of the toiling servant for the "well-done" of his +master. + +Keenly sensitive to this great unvoiced cry of life, the young man +answered in his heart, "Here am I, use me." Standing before his people +he felt as one who, on the edge of a battlefield longs, with all his +heart, to throw himself into the fight. But it was as if his superior +officers had ordered him to mark time, while his whole soul was eager +for the command to charge. + +Why do people go to church? What do men ask of their religion? What have +they the right to expect from those who assume to lead them in their +worship? Already these questions were being shouted at him from the +innermost depths of his consciousness. He felt the answer that his Master +would give. But always between him and those to whom he would speak there +came the thought of his employers. And he found himself, while speaking +to the people, nervously watching the faces of the men by whose +permission he spoke. So it came that he was not satisfied with his work +that afternoon, and he tossed aside his sermon to leave his study for the +fresh air and sunshine of the open fields. From his roses the Doctor +hailed him as he went down the street, but the boy only answered with a +greeting and a wave of his hand. Dan did not need the Doctor that day. +Straight out into the country he went walking fast, down one hill--up +another, across a creek, over fences, through a pasture into the woods. +An hour of this at a good hard pace, and he felt better. The old familiar +voices of hill and field and forest and stream soothed and calmed him. +The physical exercise satisfied to some extent his instinct and passion +for action. + +Coming back through Old Town, and leisurely climbing the hill on the +road that leads past the old Academy, he paused frequently to look back +over the ever widening view, and to drink deep of the pure, sun-filled +air. At the top of the hill, reluctant to go back to the town that lay +beyond, he stood contemplating the ancient school building that held so +bravely its commanding position, and looked so pitiful in its shabby old +age. Then passing through a gap in the tumble-down fence, and crossing +the weed-filled yard, he entered the building. + +For a while he wandered curiously about the time-worn rooms, reading the +names scratched on the plaster walls, cut in the desks and seats, on the +window casing, and on the big square posts that, in the lower rooms, +supported the ceiling. He laughed to himself, as he noticed how the sides +of these posts facing away from the raised platform at the end of the +room were most elaborately carved. It suggested so vividly the life +that had once stirred within the old walls. + +Several of the names were already familiar to him. He tried to imagine +the venerable heads of families he knew, as they were in the days when +they sat upon these worn benches. Did Judge Strong or Elder Jordan, +perhaps, throw one of those spit-balls that stuck so hard and fast to +the ceiling? And did some of the grandmothers he had met giggle and hide +their faces at Nathaniel's cunning evasion of the teacher's quick effort +to locate the successful marksman? Had those staid pillars of the church +ever been swayed and bent by passions of young manhood and womanhood? +Had their minds ever been stirred by the questions and doubts of youth? +Had their hearts ever throbbed with eager longing to know--to feel life +in its fullness? + +Seating himself at one of the battered desks he tried to bring back the +days that were gone, and to see about him the faces of those who once +had filled the room with the strength and gladness of their youth. He +felt strangely old in thus trying to feel a boy among those boys and +girls of the days long gone. + +Who among the boys would be his own particular chum? Elder Jordan? He +smiled. And who, (the blood mounted to his cheek at the thought) who +among the girls would be--Out of the mists of his revery came a face--a +face that was strangely often in his mind since that day when he arrived +in Corinth. Several times he had caught passing glimpses of her; once he +had met her on the street and ventured to bow. And Dr. Harry, with whom +he had already begun an enduring friendship, had told him much to add to +his interest in her. But to dream about the stranger in this way-- + +"What nonsense!" he exclaimed aloud, and rising, strode to the window to +clear his mind of those too strong fancies by a sight of the world in +which he lived and to which he belonged. + +The next moment he drew back with a start--a young woman in the uniform +of a trained nurse was entering the yard. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A MATTER OF OPINION + +"'Who spoke of condemnation? Is that just the question? Are you not +unfair?'" + + +Miss Farwell had heard much of the new pastor of the Memorial Church. +Dr. Harry frequently urged her to attend services; Deborah, when Hope +had seen her was eloquent in his praise. Mrs. Strong and the ladies who +called at the house spoke of him often. But for the first two weeks of +her stay at Judge Strong's the nurse had been confined so closely to +the care of her patient that she had heard nothing to identify the +preacher with the big stranger whom she had met at the depot the day of +her arrival. + +By the time Miss Farwell began hearing of the new preacher the interest +occasioned by his defense of Denny had already died down, and it chanced +that no one mentioned it in her presence when speaking of him, while each +time he had called at the Strong home the nurse had been absent or busy. +Thus it happened that so far as she knew, Miss Farwell had never met the +minister about whom she had heard so much. But she had several times seen +the big fellow, who had apologized at such length for running into her at +the depot, and who had gone so quickly to the assistance of Denny. It was +natural, under such conditions, that she should remember him. It was +natural, too, that she never dreamed of connecting the young hero of the +street fight with the Reverend Matthews of the Memorial Church. + +Her patient had so far improved that the nurse was now able to leave her +for an hour or two in the afternoon, and the young woman had gone for a +walk just beyond the outskirts of the village. Coming to the top of the +hill she had turned aside from the dusty highway, thinking to enjoy the +view from the shade of a great oak that grew on a grassy knoll in the +center of the school grounds. + +Dan watched her as she made her way slowly across the yard, his eyes +bright with admiration for her womanly grace as she stopped, here and +there, to pick a wild flower from the tangle of grass and weeds. Reaching +the tree she seated herself and, laying her parasol on the grass by her +side, began arranging the blossoms she had gathered--pausing, now and +then, to look over the rolling country of field and woods that, dotted by +farm houses with their buildings and stacks, stretched away into the blue +distance. + +The young fellow at the window gazed at her with almost superstitious +awe. That her face had come before him so vividly, as he sat dreaming in +the old school-room, at the very moment when she was turning into the +yard, moved him greatly. His blood tingled at the odd premonition that +this woman was somehow to play a great part in his life. Nothing seemed +more natural than that he should have come to this spot this afternoon. +Neither was it at all strange that, in her walk, she too, should be +attracted by the beauty of the place. But the feeling forced itself upon +him nevertheless that this perfectly natural incident was a great event +in his life. He knew that he would go to her presently. He was painfully +aware that he ought not to be thus secretly watching her, but he +hesitated as one about to take a step that could never be retraced. + +She started when he appeared in the doorway of the building and +half-arose from her place. Then recognizing him she dropped back on the +grass; and there was a half-amused frown on her face, though her cheeks +were red. She was indignant with herself that she should be blushing +like a schoolgirl at the presence of this stranger whose name even she +did not know. + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Farwell, I fear that I startled you," he said, +hat in hand. Already Dan had grown so accustomed to being greeted by +strangers, that it never occurred to him that this lady did not know +who he was. + +She saw the sunlight on his shaggy red-brown hair, and the fine poise of +the well-shaped head, as she answered shortly, "You did." + +Woman-like she was making him feel her anger at herself; and also +woman-like, when she saw his embarrassment at her blunt words and manner, +she smiled. + +"I am sorry," he said, but he did not offer to go on his way. + +When she made no reply but began rearranging her handful of blossoms, he +spoke again, remarking on the beauty of the view before them; and +ventured to ask if the knoll was to her a favorite spot, adding that it +was his first visit to the place. + +"I have never been here before either," she answered. The brief silence +that followed was broken by Dan. + +"We seem to have made a discovery," he said, wondering why she should +seem confused at his simple remark. "I know I ought to go," he continued. +"I will if you say the word, but--" he paused. + +"You were here first," she returned with a smile. Really, she thought, +there was no reason why she should drive him away. He was so evidently a +gentleman, and the place was on the public thoroughfare. + +"Then I may stay?" He dropped on the grass at her feet with an +exclamation of satisfaction and pleasure. + +Looking away over the landscape where the clouds and shadows were racing, +and the warm autumn light lay on the varying shades of green and brown, +he remarked: "Do you know when I see a bit of out-doors like that, on +such a day as this, or when I am out in the woods or up in the hills, I +wonder what men build churches for, anyway. I fear I must be something of +a pagan, for I often feel that I can worship God best in his own temple. +Quite heathenish isn't it?" He laughed, but under the laugh there was a +note of troubled seriousness. + +She looked at him curiously. "And is it heathenish to worship God outside +of a church? If it is I fear that I, too, am a heathen." + +He noted the words "I, too," and saw instantly that she did not know him +but had understood from his words that he was not a church man. He felt +that he ought to correct her false impression, that he ought to tell her +who and what he was, but he was possessed of a curious feeling of +reluctance to declare his calling. + +The truth is, Dan Matthews did not want to meet this woman as a priest, +but as a man. He had already learned how the moment the preacher was +announced the man was pushed into the background. + +While he hesitated she watched him with increasing interest. His words +had pleased her; she waited for him to speak again. + +"I suppose your profession does keep you from anything like regular +church attendance," he said. + +"Yes," she answered, "I have found that sick people do not as a rule +observe a one-day-in-seven religion. But it is not my professional +duties that keep me from church." + +"You are not then--" + +"Decidedly I am not," she answered. + +"Really, you surprise me. I thought of course you were a member of some +church." + +There was a touch of impatience in her quick reply. "You thought 'of +course'? And why of course, please?" + +He started to answer, but she went on quickly, "I know why; because I am +a woman, _the weaker sex_!" + +It is not possible to describe the fine touch in her voice when she said +"the weaker sex." It was so delicately done, that it had none of the +coarseness that commonly marks like expressions, when used by some women. +Dan was surprised to feel that it emphasized the fineness of her +character, as well as its strength. + +"Because I am not a man must I be _useless_?" she continued. "Is a +woman's life of so little influence in the world that she can spend it in +_make-believe living_ as little girls play at being grown up? Have I not +as great a right to my paganism as you call it, as you have to yours?" + +Again he saw his opportunity and realized that he ought to correct her +mistake in assuming from his words that he was not a man of church +affiliation, but again he passed it by saying slowly, instead: "I think +your kind of paganism must be a very splendid thing; no one could think +of one in that dress as useless." + +"I did not mean--" + +"I understand I think," he said earnestly, "but won't you tell me why +you feel so about the church?" + +She laughed as she returned, "One might think from your awful seriousness +that you were a preacher. Father Confessor, if you please--" she began +mockingly, then stopped--arrested by the expression of his face. "Oh I +beg your pardon, have I been rude?" + +With a forced laugh he answered, "Oh no, indeed, not at all. It is only +that your views of the Christian religion surprise me." + +"My views of the Christian religion," she repeated, very serious now. "I +did not know that my views of Christianity were mentioned." + +He was bewildered. "But the church! You were speaking of the church." + +"And the church and Christianity are one and the same of course." Again +with a touch of sarcasm, more pronounced, "You will tell me next, I +suppose, that a minister really ministers." + +Dan was astonished and hurt. He had learned much of the spirit of +Christianity in his backwoods home, but he knew nothing of churches +except that which the school had taught him. He had accepted the church +to which he belonged at its own valuation, highly colored by biased +historians. Such words as these were to his ears little less than +sacrilege. He was shocked that they should come from one whose +personality and evident character had impressed him so strongly. His +voice was doubtful and perplexed as be said: "But is not that true +church of Christ, which is composed of his true disciples, Christian? +Surely, they can no more be separated than the sun can be separated from +the sunshine; and is not the ministry a vital part of that church?" + +Miss Farwell, seeing him so troubled, wondered whether she understood +him. She felt that she was talking too freely to this stranger, but his +questions drew her on, and she was curiously anxious that he should +understand her. + +"I was not thinking of that true church composed of the true disciples +of Christ," she returned. "And that is just it, don't you see? _This +true church that is so inseparable from the religion of Christ is so far +forgotten that it never enters into any thought of the church at all._ +The sun always shines, it is true, but we do not always have the +sunshine. There are the dark and stormy days, you know, and sometimes +there is an eclipse. To me these are the dark days, so dark that I +wonder sometimes if it is not an eclipse." She paused then added +deliberately, "This selfish, wasteful, cruel, heartless thing that men +have built up around their opinions, and whims, and ambitions, has so +come between the people and the Christianity of the Christ, that they +are beginning to question if, indeed, there is anywhere such a thing as +the true church." + +Again Dan was startled at her words and by her passionate earnestness; +the more so that, in the manner of her speaking as in her words, there +was an impersonal touch very unusual to those who speak on religious +topics. And there was a note of sadness in her voice as well. It was as +if she spoke to him professionally of the sickness of some one dear to +her and sought to keep her love for her patient from influencing her +calm consideration of the case. + +His next words were forced from him almost against his will. And his eyes +had that wide questioning look so like that of his mother. "And the +ministry," he said. + +She answered, "You ask if the ministry is not a vital part of the church, +and your very question expresses conditions clearly. What conception of +Christianity is it that makes it possible for us to even think of the +ministry as a part of the church? Why, the true church is a ministry! +There can be no other reason for its existence. But don't you see how we +have come to think of the ministry as we have come to think of the +church? It is to us, as you say, a part of this great organization that +men have created and control, and in this we are right, for this church +has made the minister, and this minister has in turn made the church. +They are indeed inseparable." + +Dan caught up a flower that she had dropped and began picking it to +pieces with trembling fingers. + +"To me," he said slowly, "the minister is a servant of God. I believe, +of course, that whatever work a man does in life he must do as his +service to the race and in that sense he serves God. But the ministry--" +he reached for another flower, choosing his words carefully, "the +ministry is, to me, the highest service to which a man may be called." + +She did not reply but looked away over the valley. + +"Tell me," he said, "is it not so?" + +"If you believe it, then to you it is so," she answered. + +"But you--" he urged, "how do you look upon the minister?" + +"Why should I tell you? What difference does it make what I think? You +forget that we are strangers." She smiled. "Let us talk about the +weather; that's a safe topic." + +"I _had_ forgotten that we are strangers," he said, with an answering +smile. "But I am interested in what you have said because you--you have +evidently thought much upon the matter, and your profession must +certainly give you opportunities for observation. Tell me, how do you +look upon the minister and his work?" + +She studied him intently before she answered. Then--as if satisfied with +what she found in his face, she said calmly: "To me he is the most +useless creature in all the world. He is a man set apart from all those +who live lives of service, who do the work of the world. And then that +he should be distinguished from these world-workers, these servers, by +this noblest of all titles--_a minister_, is the bitterest irony that +the mind of the race ever conceived." + +Her companion's face was white now as he answered quickly, "But surely a +minister of the gospel is doing God's will and is therefore serving God." + +She answered as quickly, "Man serves God only by serving men. There can +be no ministry but the ministry of man to man." + +"But the minister is a man." + +"The world cannot accept him as such, because his individuality is lost +in the church to which he belongs. Other institutions employ a man's +time, the church employs his life; he has no existence outside his +profession. There is no outside the church for him. The world cannot +know him as a man, for he is all preacher." + +"But the church employs him to minister to the world?" + +"I cannot see that it does so at all. On the contrary a church employs a +pastor to serve itself. To the churches Christianity has become a +question of fidelity to a church and creed and not to the spirit of +Christ. The minister's standing and success in his calling, the amount +of his salary, even, depends upon his devotion to the particular views +of the church that calls him and his ability to please those who pay him +for pleasing them. His service to the world does not enter into the +transaction any more than when you buy the latest novel of your favorite +author, or purchase a picture that pleases you, or buy a ticket to hear +your favorite musician. We do not pretend, when we do these things that +we are ministering to the world, or that we are moved to spend our money +thus to serve God, even though there may be in the book, the picture, or +the music, many things that will make the world better." + +The big fellow moved uneasily. + +"But" he urged, eagerly, "the church is a sacred institution. It is not +to be compared to the institutions of men. Its very purpose is so holy, +so different from other organizations." + +"Which of the hundreds of different sects with their different creeds do +you mean by the church?" she asked quickly. "Or do you mean all? And if +all are equally sacred, with the same holy purpose, why are they at such +variance with each other and why is there such useless competition +between them? How are these institutions--organized and controlled, as +they are, by men, different from other institutions, organized and +controlled by the same men? Surely you are aware that there are +thousands of institutions and organizations in the world with aims as +distinctly Christian as the professed object of the church. Why are +these not as holy and sacred?" + +"But the church is of divine origin." + +"So is this tree; so is the material in that old building; so are those +farms yonder. To me it is only the spirit of God in a thing that can make +it holy or sacred. Surely there is as much of God manifest in a field of +grain as in any of these churches; why, then, is not a corn field a holy +institution and why not the farmer who tends the field, a minister of +God?" + +"You would condemn then everyone in the church?" he asked bitterly. "I +cannot think that--I know--" he paused. + +"Condemn?" she answered questioningly, "I condemn?" Those deep gray eyes +were turned full upon him, and he saw her face grow tender and sad, while +the sweet voice trembled with emotion. "Who spoke of condemnation? Is +that just the question? Are you not unfair? In my--" she spoke the words +solemnly, "my ministry, I have stood at the bedside of too many heroes +and heroines not to know that the church is filled with the truest and +bravest. And that--Oh! don't you see--that is the awful pity of it all. +That those true, brave, noble lives should be the--the cloud that hides +the sun? As for the ministry, one in my profession could scarcely help +knowing the grand lives that are hidden in this useless class set apart +by the church to push its interests. The ministers are useless only +because they are not free. They cannot help themselves. They are slaves, +not servants. Their first duty is, not service to the soul-sick world +that so much needs their ministry, but obedience to the whims of this +hideous monster that they have created and now must obey or--" she +paused. + +"Or what?" he said. + +She continued as if she had not heard: "They are valued for their +fidelity to other men's standards, never for the worth of their own +lives. They are hired to give always the opinions of others, and they +are denied the only thing that can make any life of worth--freedom of +self-expression. The surest road to failure for them is to hold or +express opinions of their own. They are held, not as necessities, but as +a luxury, like heaven itself, for which if men have the means to spare, +they pay. They can have no real fellowship with the servants of the race, +for they are set apart by the church not to a ministry but from it. Their +very personal influence is less than the influence of other good men +because the world accepts it as professional. It is the way they earn +their living." + +"But do you think that the ministers themselves wish to be so set apart?" +asked Dan. "I--I am sure they must all crave that fellowship with the +workers." + +"I think that is true," she answered. "I am sure it is of the many grand, +good men in the ministry whom I have known." + +"Oh," he said quickly, "then there are good men in the ministry?" + +"Yes," she retorted, "just as there are gold and precious stones +ornamenting heathen gods and pagan temples, and their goodness is as +useless. For whether they wish it or not the facts remain that their +masters set them apart and that they are separated, and I notice that +most of them accept gracefully the special privileges, and wear the +title and all the marks of their calling that emphasize the distinction +between them and their fellow men." + +"Yet you wear a distinguishing dress," he said. "I knew your calling the +first time I saw you." + +She laughed merrily. + +"Well what amuses you?" he demanded, smiling himself at her merriment. + +"Oh, it's so funny to see such a big man so helpless. Really couldn't you +find an argument of more weight? Besides you didn't know my profession +the first time you saw me. I only wear these clothes when I am at work, +just as a mechanic wears his overalls--and they are just as necessary, as +you know. The first time you--you bumped into me, I dressed like other +people and I had paid full fare, too. Nurses don't get clergy credentials +from the railroad." + +With this she sprang to her feet. "Look how long the shadows are! I must +go right back to my patient this minute." + +As she spoke she was all at once painfully conscious again that this man +was a stranger. What must he think of her? How could she explain that it +was not her habit to talk thus freely to men whom she did not know? She +wished that he would tell her his name at least. + +Slowly--silently they walked together across the weed-grown yard. As +they passed through the gap in the tumble-down fence, Dan turned to look +back. It seemed to him ages since he had entered the yard. + +"What's the matter, have you lost something?" she asked. + +"No--that is--I--perhaps I have. But never mind, it is of no great +importance, and anyway I could not find it. I think I will say good-bye +now," he added. "I'm not going to town just yet." + +Again she wondered at his face, it was so troubled. + +He watched her down the street until her blue dress, with its white +trimming became a blur in the shadows. Then he struck out once more for +the open country. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +REFLECTIONS + +"And gradually, out of the material of his school experience, he built +again the old bulwark, behind which he could laugh at his confusion of +the hour before." + + +Since that first chance meeting at the depot when he had looked into the +nurse's eyes and heard her voice only for a moment, Dan had not been +able to put the young woman wholly out of his mind. The incident on the +street when she had gone to Denny, and the scene that followed in Denny's +home had strengthened the first impression, while the meeting at the old +Academy yard had stirred depths in his nature never touched before. The +very things she had said to him were so evidently born out of a nature +great in its passion for truth and in its capacity for feeling that, even +though her words were biting and stung, he could not but rejoice in the +beauty and strength of the spirit they revealed. + +The usual trite criticisms of the church Dan had heard, and had already +learned to think somewhat lightly of the kind of people who commonly +make them. But this young woman--so wholesome, so good to look at in her +sweet seriousness, so strong in her womanliness and withal so useful in +what she called her ministry--this woman was--well, she was different. + +Her words were all the more potent, coming as they did after the +disquieting thoughts and the feeling of dissatisfaction that had driven +him from his study that afternoon. The young minister could not at first +rid himself of the hateful suggestion that there might be much truth in +the things she had said. After all under the fine words, the platitudes +and the professions, the fact remained he _was_ earning his daily bread +by being obedient to those who hired him. He had already begun to feel +that his work was not so much to give what he could to meet the people's +need as to do what he could to supply the wants of Memorial Church, and +that his very chance to serve depended upon his satisfying these +self-constituted judges. He saw too, that these same judges, his masters, +felt the dignity of their position heavily upon them, and would not be in +the least backward about rendering their decision. They would let him +know what things pleased them and what things were not to their liking. +Their opinions and commandments would not always be in definite words, +perhaps, but they would be none the less clearly and forcibly given for +all that. + +He had spoken truly when he had told Miss Farwell, as they parted, that +he had lost something. And now, as he walked the country road, he sought +earnestly to regain it; to find again his certainty of mind; to steady +his shaken confidence in the work to which he had given his life. + +Dan's character was too strong, his conviction too powerful, his purpose +too genuine, for him to be easily turned from any determined line of +thought or action. Certainly it would require more than the words of a +stranger to swing him far from his course, even though he felt that there +might be a degree of truth in them. And so, as he walked, his mind began +shaping answers to the nurse's criticism and gradually, out of the +material of his school experience, he built again the old bulwark, behind +which he could laugh at his confusion of the hour before. + +But withal Dan's admiration of the young woman's mind and character was +not lessened. More, he felt that she had in some way given him a deeper +view into her life and thoughts than was due a mere stranger. He was +conscious, too, of a sense of shame that he had, in a way, accepted her +confidence under false pretense. He had let her believe he was not what +he was. But, he argued with himself, he had not intentionally deceived +her and he smiled at last to think how she would enjoy the situation +with him when she learned the truth. + +How different she was from any of the women he had known in the church! +They mostly accepted their religious views as they would take the +doctor's prescription--without question. + +And how like she was to his mother! + +Then came the inevitable thought--what a triumph it would be if he could +win such a character to the church. What an opportunity! Could he do it? +He must. + +With that the minister began putting his thoughts in shape for a sermon +on the ministry. Determined to make it the effort of his life, he planned +how he would announce it next Sunday for the following week, and how, +with Dr. Harry's assistance, he would perhaps secure her attendance at +the service. + +Meanwhile Hope Farwell passing quickly along the village street on her +way home from the old Academy yard, was beset by many varied and +conflicting emotions. Recalling her conversation with the man who was to +her so nearly a total stranger, she felt that she had been too earnest, +too frank. It troubled her to think how she had laid bare her deepest +feelings. She could not understand how she had so far forgotten her +habitual reserve. There was a something in that young man, so tall and +strong, and withal so clean looking, that had called from her, in spite +of herself, this exposition of her innermost life and thoughts. She ought +not to have yielded so easily to the subtle demand that he--unconsciously +no doubt--had made. + +It was as though she had flung wide open the door to that sacred, inner +chamber at which only the most intimate of her friends were privileged +to knock. He had come into the field of her life in the most commonplace +manner--through the natural incident of their meeting. He should have +stopped there, or should have been halted by her. The hour should have +been spent in conversation on such trivial and commonplace topics as +usually occupy strangers upon such occasions, and they should have parted +strangers still. She felt that after this exhibition of herself, as she +termed it in her mind, she at least was no stranger to him. And she was +angry with herself, and ashamed, when she reflected how deeply into her +life he had entered; angry with him too, in a way, that he had gained +this admittance with apparently no effort. + +She reflected too, that while she had so freely opened the door to him, +and had admitted him with a confidence wholly inexcusable, he had in no +way returned that confidence. She searched her memory for some +word--some expression of his, that would even hint at what he thought, +or believed, or was, within himself; something that would justify her in +feeling that she knew him even a little. But there was nothing. It was +as though this stranger, whom she had admitted into the privacy of the +inner chamber, had worn mask and gown. No self-betraying expression had +escaped him. He had not even told her his name. While she had laid out +for his inspection the strongest passions of her life; had felt herself +urged to show him all, and had kept nothing hidden. He had looked and +had gone away making no comment. + +"Of course," she thought, "he is a gentleman, and he is cultured and +refined, and a good man too." Of this she was sure, but that was nothing. +One does not talk as she had talked to a man just because he is not a +ruffian or a boor. She wanted to know him as she had made herself known +to him. She could not say why. + +The nurse's work in Corinth was nearly finished; she would probably never +meet this man again. She started at the thought. Would she ever meet him +again? What did it matter? And yet--she would not confess it even to +herself, but it did, somehow, seem to matter. Of one thing she was +sure--he was well worth knowing. She had felt that there was a depth, a +richness, a genuineness to him, and it was this feeling, this certainty +of him, that had led her to such openness. Yes--she was sure there were +treasures there--deep within, for those whom he chose to admit. She +wished--(why should she not confess it after all)--she wished that she +might be admitted. + +Hope Farwell was alone in the world with no near living relatives. She +had only her friends; and friends to her meant more than to those who +have others dearer to them by ties of blood. + +That evening when Dr. Harry was leaving the house after his visit to his +patient, the nurse went with him to the door, as usual, for any word of +instruction he might wish to give her privately. + +"Well, Miss Hope," he said, "you've done it." + +"What have I done?" she asked, startled. + +"Saved my patient in there. She would have gone without a doubt, if you +had not come when you did. It's your case all right." + +"Then I'm glad I came," she said quietly. "And I may go back soon now, +may I not, Doctor?" + +He hesitated, slowly drawing on his gloves. + +"Must you go back Miss Farwell? I--we need you so much here in Corinth. +There are so many cases you know where all depends upon the nurse. There +is not a trained nurse this side of St. Louis. I am sure I could keep you +busy." There was something more than professional interest in the keen +eyes that looked so intently into her own. + +"Thank you Doctor, you are very kind, but you know Dr. Miles expects me. +He warned me the last thing before I left, that he was only lending me to +you for this particular case. You know how he says those things." + +"Yes," said the man grimly, "I know Miles. It is one of the secrets of +his success, that he will be satisfied with nothing but the best. He +warned me, too." + +He watched her keenly. "It would be just like Miles," he thought, "to +tell the young woman of the particular nature of the warning." But Miss +Farwell betrayed no embarrassing knowledge, and the doctor said, "You +did not promise to return to Chicago did you?" + +She answered slowly, "No, but he expects me, and I had no thought of +staying, only for this case." + +"Well won't you think of it seriously? There are many nurses in Chicago. +I don't mean many like you--" interrupting himself hastily--"but here +there is no one at all," and in his low-spoken words there was a note of +interest more than professional. + +She lifted her face frankly and let him look deep into her eyes as she +answered--"I appreciate your, argument, Dr. Abbott, and--I will think +about it." + +He turned his eyes away, and his tone was quite professional as he said +heartily, "Thank you, Miss Farwell. I shall not give up hoping that we +may keep you. Good night!" + +"Isn't he a dear, good man?" exclaimed the invalid, as the nurse +re-entered the sick room. + +"Yes," she answered, "he is a good man, one of the best I think, that I +have ever known." + +The patient continued eagerly, "He told me the ladies could come here +for their Aid Society meeting next week, if you would stay to take care +of me. You will, won't you dear?" + +The nurse busy with the medicine the doctor had left did not answer at +once. + +"I would like it so much," came the voice from the bed. + +Hope turned and went quickly to her patient saying with a smile, "Of +course I will stay if you wish it. I believe the meeting will do you +good." + +"Oh thank you, and you'll get to meet our new minister then, sure. Just +to think you have never seen him, and he has called several times, but +you have always happened to be out or in your room." + +"Yes," said the young woman, "I have managed to miss him every time." + +Something in the voice, always so kind and gentle, caused the sick woman +to turn her head on the pillow and look at her nurse intently. + +"And you haven't been to church, since you have been here, either." + +"Oh, but you know I am like your good doctor in that, I can plead +professional duties." + +"Dr. Harry is always there when he can possibly go. I never thought of +it before. Will you mind, dearie, if I ask you whether you are a +Christian or not? I told Sapphira this afternoon that I knew you were." + +"Yes," said Hope, "you are right. I cannot often go to church, but--" +and there was a ring of seriousness in her voice now, "I am a Christian +if trying to follow faithfully the teachings of the Christ is +Christianity." + +"I was sure you were," murmured the other, "Brother Matthews will be so +glad to meet you. I know you will like him." + +To which the nurse answered, "But you will be in no condition for the +visit of the ladies, if I don't take better care of you now. Did you know +that you were going to sleep? Well you are. You have had a busy day, and +you are not to speak another word except 'good night.' I am going to turn +the light real low--so--And now I am going to sit here and tell you about +my walk. You're just to shut your eyes and listen and rest--rest--rest." + +And the low, sweet voice told of the flowers and the grass and the trees, +the fields lying warm in the sunlight, with the flitting cloud-shadows, +and the hills stretching away into the blue, until no troubled thought +was left in the mind of the sick woman. Like a child she slept. + +But as the nurse talked to make her patient forget, the incident of the +afternoon came back, and while the sick woman slept, Hope Farwell sat +going over again in her mind the conversation on the grassy knoll in the +old Academy yard, recalling every word, every look, every expression. +What was his work in life? He was no idler, she was sure. He had the air +of a true worker, of one who was spending his life to some purpose. She +wondered again at the expression on his face as she had seen it when +they parted. Should she go back to the great city and lose herself in +her work, or--she smiled to herself--should she yield to Dr. Abbott's +argument and stay in Corinth a little longer? + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE NURSE FORGETS + +"He seemed so made for fine and strong things." + + +The affairs of Memorial Church were booming. + +Or, in the more orthodox language of Elder Jordan, in an article to the +official paper of the denomination, "the congregation had taken on new +life, and the Lord's work was being pushed with a zeal and determination +never before equalled. The audiences were steadily increasing. The +interest was reviving in every department, and the world would soon see +grand old Memorial Church taking first place in Corinth, if not in the +state. Already Reverend Matthews had been asked to deliver a special +sermon to the L. M. of J. B.'s, who would attend the service in a body, +wearing the full regalia of the order. Surely God had abundantly blessed +the brethren in sending them such an able preacher." + +The week following Dan's talk with Miss Farwell in the old Academy yard, +the ladies of the Aid Society assembled early, and in unusual numbers, +for their meeting at the home of Judge Strong. As the announcement from +the pulpit had it--there was business of great importance to transact; +also there was work on hand that must be finished. + +The business of importance was the planning of a great entertainment to +be given in the opera house, by local talent, both in and out of the +church, for the purpose of raising money that the church still owed their +former pastor. The unfinished work was a quilt of a complicated wheel +pattern. Every spoke of each wheel contained the name of some individual +who had paid ten cents for the honor. The hubs cost twenty-five cents. +When finished this "beautiful work of the Lord" (they said their work was +the Lord's work) was to be sold to the highest bidder; thereby netting a +sum of money for the pulpit furniture fund, nearly equal to the cost to +anyone of the leading workers, for the society's entertainment, in a +single afternoon or evening, for what would appear in the Sunday issue of +the Daily Corinthian as a "social event." + +It must not be understood that all the women enrolled as members of Dan's +congregation belonged to the Ladies' Aid. Only the workers were active in +that important part of the "Body of Christ." Many there were in the +congregation, quiet, deeply--truly--religious souls, who had not the time +for this service, but in the scheme of things as they are, those were not +classed as active members. They were not of the inner circle on the +inside. They were reckoned as counting only on the roll of membership. +But it was the strength, the soul, the ruling power, the spirit of this +Temple of God that assembled that afternoon at Judge Strong's big, brown +house, on Strong Avenue, just beyond Strong Memorial Church. + +The Ally came also. The Ally, it is said, never misses a Ladies' Aid +meeting in Corinth. + +Miss Farwell was there with her patient as she had promised, and Mrs. +Strong took particular care that as fast as they arrived each one of her +guests met the young woman. To some--women of the middle class--the +trained nurse, in her blue dress with white cap and apron, was an object +of unusual interest. They did not know whether to rank her with servants, +stenographers, sales-ladies or teachers. But the leading ladies (see the +Daily Corinthian) were very sure of themselves. This young woman worked +for wages in the homes of people, waited on people; therefore she was a +working girl--a servant. + +No one wasted much time with the stranger. The introduction was +acknowledged with a word or a cool nod and an unintelligible murmur of +something that meant nothing, or--worse--with a patronizing air, a sham +cordiality elaborately assumed, which said plainly "I acknowledge the +introduction here, because this is the Lord's business. You will be sure +please, that you make no mistake should we chance to meet again." And +immediately the new arrival would produce the modern weapon of the +Christian warfare, needle, thread and thimble; and--hurrying to the side +of some valiant comrade of her own set--join bravely in the fray. + +That quilt was attacked with a spirit that was worth at least a half +column in the denominational weekly, while the sound of the conflict +might almost have been heard as far as Widow Mulhall's garden where +Denny was cheerily digging away, with his one good side, while the +useless, crippled arm swung from the twisted shoulder. + +To Miss Farwell sitting quietly--unobserved, but observing--there came a +confused sound of many voices speaking at once, with now and then a +sentence in a tone stronger than the common din. + +"She said the Memorial Church didn't believe in the Spirit anyhow, and +that all we wanted was to get 'em in ... I told them that Brother +Matthews would surely be getting some of their folks before the year was +out, if they kept on coming to our services ... I says, says I--'Brother +Matthews never said that; you'd better read your Bible. If you can show +me in the Book where you get your authority for it, I'll quit the +Memorial Church right then and join yours' ... Yes, all their people +were out ... Sure, he's their church clerk. I heard him say with my own +ears that Brother Matthews was the biggest preacher that had ever been +in Corinth ... I'll venture that sermon next Sunday on 'The Christian +Ministry' will give them something to think about. The old Doctor never +misses a service now. Wouldn't it be great if we was to get him? Wasn't +that solo the sweetest thing? Wish he would join; we'd be sure of him +then ... They would like mighty well to get him away from us if they +could. He'll stay fast enough as long as Charity plays the organ!" + +There was a laugh at this last from a group near the window and Miss +Charity blushed as she answered, "I've worked hard enough to get him, +and I certainly intend to keep him if I can! I've been urging all the +girls to be particularly nice to him." + +Someone nearer to Miss Farwell said, in low tone--"Of course there's +nothing in it. Charity's just keeping him in the choir. She wouldn't +think of anyone but the preacher. I tell you if Brother Matthews knows +what's best for him, he won't miss that chance. I guess if the truth was +known old Nathan's about the best fixed of anyone in Corinth." + +Sometimes a group would put their heads closer together and by the quick +glances in her direction the nurse felt that she was contributing her +full share to the success of the meeting. On one of these occasions she +turned her back on the company to speak a few words to her patient who +was sitting in an easy chair a little apart from the circle. + +The invalid's face was all aglow. "Isn't it fine!" she said. "I feel as +if I had been out of the world. It's so kind of these dear sisters to +have the meeting here today so that I could look on. It's so good of you +too, dear, to stay so they could come." She laughed. "Do you know, I +think they're all a little bit afraid of you." + +The nurse smiled and was about to reply when there was a sudden hush in +the room and her patient whispered excitedly, "He's come! Now you'll get +to meet our minister!" + +Mrs. Strong's voice in the hall could be heard greeting the new arrival, +and answering her the deeper tones of a man's voice. + +Miss Farwell started. Where had she heard that voice before? Then she +felt him enter the room and heard the ladies greeting him. Something held +her from turning and she remained with her back to the company, watching +her patient's face, as the eyes of the invalid followed the minister +about the room. + +Charity alone was noting the young woman's too obvious lack of interest. + +The hum had already commenced again when Mrs. Strong's hand was placed +lightly on the nurse's arm. + +"Miss Farwell, I want you to meet our minister, Reverend Matthews." + +There was an amused smile on Dan's face as he held out his hand. "I +believe Miss Farwell and I have met before." + +But the young woman ignored the out-stretched hand, and her voice had an +edge, as she answered, "It is possible sir. I am forced to meet so many +strangers in my profession, you know, but I--I have forgotten you." + +Charity was still watching suspiciously. At the minister's words she +started and a touch of color came into her pale cheeks, while at Miss +Farwell's answer the look of suspicion in her eyes deepened. What +could it mean? + +Dan's embarrassment was unmistakable. Before he could find words to +reply, the sick woman exclaimed, "Why, how strange! Do tell us about it, +Brother Matthews. Was it here in Corinth?" + +In a flash the minister saw his predicament. If he said he had met the +young lady in Corinth they would know that it was impossible that she +should have literally forgotten him. He understood the meaning of her +words. These women would give them a hundred meanings. If he admitted +that he was wrong and that he had not met her, there was always the +chance of the people learning of that hour spent on the Academy grounds. + +Meanwhile the young woman made him understand that she realized the +difficulties of his position, and all awaited his next words with +interest. Looking straight into her eyes he said, "I seem to have made a +mistake. I beg your pardon, Miss Farwell." + +She smiled. It was almost as good as if he had deliberately lied, but it +was the best he could do. + +"Please do not mention it," she returned, with a meaning for him alone. +"I am sorry that I will not be here next Sunday to hear your sermon on +'The Christian Ministry!' So many have urged me to attend. There is no +doubt it will be interesting." + +"You are leaving Corinth, then?" he asked. + +At the same moment her patient and Mrs. Strong exclaimed, "Oh Miss Hope, +we thought you had decided to stay. We can't let you go so soon." + +She turned from the man to answer the invalid. + +"Yes I must go. I did not know the last time we talked it over, but +something has happened since that makes it necessary. I shall leave +tomorrow. And now, if you will excuse me please, I will run away for a +few moments to get my things together. You are doing so nicely, you +really don't need me at all, and there is no reason why I should stay +longer--now that I have met the minister." She bowed slightly to Dan and +slipped from the room. + +The women looked significantly at one another, and the minister too came +in for his full share of the curious glances. There was something in the +incident that they could not understand and because Dan was a man they +naturally felt that he was somehow to blame. It was not long until +Charity, under the pretext of showing him a sacred song which she had +found in one of Mrs. Strong's books, led him to another room, away from +the curious crowd. + +All the week Dan had looked forward to this meeting of the Ladies' Aid +Society for he knew that he would see the nurse again. Charmed by the +young woman's personality and mind, and filled with his purpose to win +her to the church, he was determined, if chance did not bring it about, +to seek another opportunity to talk with her. He had smiled often to +himself, at what he thought would be a good joke between them, when she +came to know of his calling. Like many such jokes it was not so funny +after all. Instead of laughing with him she had given him to understand +that the incident was closed, that there must be no attempt on his part +to continue the acquaintance--that, indeed, she would not acknowledge +that she had ever met him, and that she was so much in earnest that she +was leaving Corinth the next day because of him. + +"Really, Brother Matthews, if I have offended you in any way, I am very +sorry." Dan awoke with a start. He and Charity were alone in the room. +From the open door, came the busy hum of the workers in the Master's +vineyard. + +"I beg your pardon, what were you saying?" he murmured. + +"I have asked you three times if you liked the music last Sunday." + +Apologizingly he answered, "Really I am not fit company for anyone +today." + +"I noticed that you seemed troubled. Can I help you in any way? Is it +the church?" she asked gently. + +He laughed, "Oh no, it's nothing that anyone can help. It's myself. +Please don't bother about it. I believe if you will excuse me, and +make my excuses to the ladies in there, I will go. I really have some +work to do." + +She was watching his face so closely that she had not noticed the nurse +who passed the window and entered the garden. Dan rose to his feet as he +spoke. + +"Why, Brother Matthews, the ladies expect you to stay for their business +meeting, you know. This is very strange." + +"Strange! There is nothing strange about it. I have more important +matters that demand my attention--that is all. It is not necessary to +interrupt them now, you can explain when the business meeting opens. +They would excuse me I am sure, if they knew how important it was." And +before poor Charity had time to fairly grasp the situation he was gone, +slipping into the hall for his hat, and out by a side door. + +Miss Farwell from meeting the minister, had gone directly to her room, +but she could not go about her packing. Dropping into a chair by the +window she sat staring into the tops of the big maples. She did not see +the trees. She saw a vast stretch of rolling country, dotted with +farm-buildings and stacks, across which the flying cloud-shadows raced, +a weed-grown yard with a gap in the tumble-down fence, an old deserted +school building, and a big clean-looking man standing, with the sun-light +on his red-brown hair. + +"And he--he was that." She had thought him something so fine and strong. +He seemed so made for fine and strong things. And he had let her go +on--leading her to talk as she would have talked only to intimate friends +who would understand. She had so wanted him to understand. And then he +had thought it all a joke! The gray eyes filled with angry tears, and the +fine chin quivered. She sprang to her feet. "I won't!" she said aloud, "I +won't!" + +Why should she indeed think a second time of this stranger--this +preacher? The room seemed close. She felt that she could not stay +another minute in the house, with those people down stairs. Catching up +a book, she crept down the back way and on out to a vine covered arbor +that stood in a secluded corner of the garden. + +Miss Farwell had been in her retreat but a few minutes when the sound of +a step on the gravel walk startled her. Then the doorway was darkened by +a tall, broad-shouldered figure, and a voice said, "May I come in?" + +The gray eyes flashed once in his direction. Then she calmly opened her +book, without a further glance, or a sign to betray her knowledge of his +presence. + +"May I come in?" he asked again. + +She turned a page seeming not to hear. + +Once more the man repeated the same words slowly--sadly. + +The young woman turned another page of her book. + +Then suddenly the doorway was empty. She rose quickly from her place and +started forward. Then she stopped. + +Charity met him on his way to the gate. + +"Have you finished that important business so soon?" she asked sharply. +Then with concern at the expression of his face she exclaimed, "Tell me, +won't you, what is the matter!" + +He tried to laugh and when he spoke, his voice was not his voice at all. + +The daughter of the church turned to watch her minister as he passed +through the gate, out of the yard and down the street. Then she went +slowly down the path to the arbor, where she found a young woman crouched +on the wooden bench weeping bitter tears;--a book on the floor at her +feet. + +Quickly Charity drew back. Very quietly she went down the walk again. And +as she went, she seemed all at once to have grown whiter and thin and +old. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +DR. HARRY'S CASE + +"'Whatever or whoever is responsible for the existence of such people and +such conditions is a problem for the age to solve. The fact is, they are +here.'" + + +The meeting of the Ladies' Aid adjourned and its members, with sighs and +exclamations of satisfaction over work well done, separated to go to +their homes--where there were suppers to prepare for hungry husbands, +and children of the flesh. + +Thus always in the scheme of things as they are, the duties of life +conflict with the duties of religion. The faithful members of Memorial +Church were always being interrupted in their work for the Lord by the +demands of the world. And as they saw it, there was nothing for them to +do but to bear their crosses bravely. What a blessed thought it is that +God understands many things that are beyond our ken! + +The whistles blew for quitting time. The six o'clock train from the West +pulled into the yards, stopped--puffing a few moments at the water +tank--and thundered on its way again. On the street, business men and +those who labored with their hands hurried from the scenes of their +daily toil, while the country folk untied their teams and saddle-horses +from the hitch-racks to return to their waiting families and stock on +the distant farms. + +A few miles out on the main road leading northward the home-going farmers +passed a tired horse hitched to a dusty, mud-stained top-buggy, plodding +steadily toward the village. Without exception they hailed the driver of +the single rig heartily. It was Dr. Harry returning from a case in the +backwoods country beyond Hebron. + +The deep-chested, long-limbed bay, known to every child for miles around, +was picking her own way over the country roads, for the lines hung slack. +Without a hint from her driver the good horse slowed to a walk on the +rough places and quickened her pace again when the road was good, and of +her own accord, turned out for the passing teams. The man in the buggy +returned the greetings of his friends mechanically, scarcely noticing who +they were. + +It was Jo Mason's wife this time. Jo was a good fellow but wholly +incapable of grasping, single-handed, the problem of daily life for +himself and brood. There were ten children in almost as many years. +Understanding so little of life's responsibilities the man's dependence +upon his wife was pitiful, if not criminal. With tears streaming down +his lean, hungry face he had begged, "Do somethin', Doc! My God Almighty, +you jest got to do some-thin'!" + +For hours Dr. Harry had been trying to do something. Out there in the +woods, in that wretched, poverty-stricken home, with only a neighbor +woman of the same class to help he had been fighting a losing fight. + +And now while the bay mare was making her tired way home he was still +fighting--still trying to do something. His professional knowledge and +experience told him that he could not win; that, at best, he could do no +more than delay his defeat a few days, and his common sense urged him to +dismiss the case from his mind. But there was something in Dr. Harry +stronger than his common sense; something greater than his professional +skill. And so he must go on fighting until the very end. + +It was nearly twilight when he reached the edge of the hill on the +farther side of the valley. He could see the lights of the town twinkling +against the dark mass of tree and hill and building, while on the +faintly-glowing sky the steeple of Memorial Church, the cupola of the old +Academy building, and the court-house tower were cut in black. Down into +the dusk of the valley the bay picked her way, and when they had gained +the hill on the edge of town it was dark. Now the tired horse quickened +her pace, for the home barn and Uncle George were not far away. But as +they drew near the big brown house of Judge Strong, she felt the first +touch of the reins and came to a walk, turning in to the familiar +hitching post with reluctance. + +At that moment a tall figure left the Judge's gate to pass swiftly down +the street in the dusk. + +Before the bay quite came to a stop at the post her master's hand turned +her head into the street again, and his familiar voice bade her, somewhat +sharply, to "go on!" In mild surprise she broke into a quick trot. How +was the good horse to know that her driver's impatience was all with +himself, and was caused by seeing his friend, the minister coming--as he +thought--from the Strong mansion? Or how was Dr. Harry to know that Dan +had only paused at the gate as if to enter, and had passed on when he saw +the physician turning in? + +Farther down the street at the little white cottage near the monument, +the bay mare was pulled again to a walk, and this time she was permitted +to turn in to the curb and stop. + +The old Doctor was sitting on the porch. "Hello!" he called cheerily, +"Come in." + +"Not tonight, thank you Doctor, I can't stop," answered the younger man. +At his words the old physician left his chair and came stiffly down the +walk to the buggy. When he was quite close, with one hand grasping the +seat, Dr. Harry said in a low tone, "I'm just in from Mason's." + +"Ah huh," grunted the other. Then inquiringly--"Well?" + +"It's--it's pretty bad Doctor." + +The old man's voice rumbled up from the depth of his chest, "Nothing to +do, eh? You know I told you it was there. Been in her family way back. +Seen it ever since she was a girl." + +"Yes I knew it was of no use, of course. But you know how it is, Doctor." + +The white head nodded understandingly as Dr. Harry's hand was slowly +raised to his eyes. + +"Yes I know Harry. Jo take it pretty bad?" + +"Couldn't do anything with, him, poor fellow, and those children, too--" + +Both men were silent. Slowly the younger man took up the reins. "I just +stopped to tell you, Doctor." + +"Ah huh. Well, you go home and rest. Get a good night whatever you do. +You'll have to go out again, I suppose. Call me if anything turns up; +I'm good for a little yet. You've got to get some rest, Harry, do you +hear?" he spoke roughly. + +"Thank you, Doctor. I don't think I will need to disturb you, though; +everybody else is doing nicely. I can't think of anything that is likely +to call me out." + +"Well, go to bed anyway." + +"I will, good night, Doctor." + +"Good night, Harry." + +The mare trotted on down the dark street, past the twinkling lights. The +Doctor stood by the curb until he heard the buggy wheels rattle over the +railroad tracks, then turned to walk stiffly back to his seat on the +porch. + +Soon the tired horse was in the hands of old Uncle George, while Mam Liz +ministered to the weary doctor. The old black woman lingered in the +dining room after serving his dinner, hovering about the table, calling +his attention to various dishes, watching his face the while with an +expression of anxiety upon her own wrinkled countenance. At last Harry +looked up at her with a smile. + +"Well Mam Liz, what is it? Haven't I been good today?" + +"No sah. Mars Harry yo ain't. Yo been plumb bad, an' I feel jest like I +uster when yo was er little trick an' I tuk yo 'cross my knee an' +walloped yo good." + +"Why, Mammy, what have I done now? Wasn't that new dress what you wanted? +You can change it, you know, for anything you like." + +"Law, chile, 'tain't _me_. Yo ole Mammy mighty proud o' them dress +goods--they's too fine fo ole nigger like me. 'Tain't nothin' yo done to +other folks, Mars Harry. Hit's what yo all's doin' to yoself." A tear +stole down the dusky cheek. "Think I can't see how yo--yo plumb tuckered +out? Yo ain't slep in yo bed fo three nights 'ceptin' jest fo a hour one +mo'nin' when other folks was er gettin' up, an' only the Good Lawd knows +when yo eats." + +The doctor laughed. "There, there Mammy, you can see me eating now all +right can't you?" But the old woman shook her head mournfully. + +Harry continued, "One of your dinners, you know, is worth at least six +of other folks' cooking. Fact--" he added grimly, "I believe I might +safely say a dozen." Then he gave her a laughing description of his +attempt to cook breakfast for himself and the ten children at the Masons +that morning. + +The old woman was proudly indignant, "Dem po'r triflin' white trash! To +think o' yo' doin' that to sech as them! Ain't no sense 'tall in sech +doin's, no how, Mars Harry. What right dey got to ax yo', any how? Dey +shore ain't got no claim on yo'--an' yo' ain't got no call to jump every +time sech as them crooks they fingers." + +Dr. Harry shook his head solemnly. + +"Now Mam Liz, I'm afraid you're an aristocrat." + +"Cos I's a 'ristocrat. Ain't I a Abbott? Ain't I bo'n in de fambly in +yo' grandaddy's time--ain't I nuss yo' Pa an' yo? 'Ristocrat! Huh! Deed +I is. No sah, Mars Harry, yo' ought to know, yo ain't got no call to +sarve sech as them!" + +"I don't know," he returned slowly, "I'm afraid I have." + +"Have what?" + +"A call to serve such as them." He repeated her words slowly. "I don't +know why they are, or how they came to be. Whatever or whoever is +responsible for the existence of such people and such conditions is a +problem for the age to solve. The fact is, they are here. And while the +age is solving the problem, I am sure that we as individuals have a call +to personally minister to their immediate needs." The doctor had spoken +half to himself, following a thought that was often in his mind. + +It was a little too much for the old servant. She watched him with a +puzzled expression on her face. + +"Talkin' 'bout ministers, de Pa'son was here to see yo' yest'day +evenin'." + +"Brother Matthews? I am sorry I was not at home." + +"Yes sah, I was sorry too; he's a right pious-lookin' man, he sho is. I +don tole him de Lawd only knowed whar yo' was or when yo'd git back. He +laughed an' says he sho de Lawd wasn't far away wherever yo' was, an' +that I mus' tell yo' hit was only a little call, nothin' of +impo'tance--so's yo wouldn't bother 'bout it, I reckon." + +Dr. Harry rose from the table. "Perhaps he will run in this evening. No, +this is prayer meeting night. Heigh-ho!" He stretched his tired body--"I +ought--" + +The old woman interrupted him. "Now look a here Mars Harry, yo' ain't +goin' to leave this yer house tonight. Yo' goin' jest put on yo' slippa's +an' jacket an' set down in thar an' smoke yo' pipe a lille an' then yo' +goin' to bed. Yo' ain't et 'nough to keep er chicken 'live, an' yo' eyes +like two holes burned in er blanket. Won't yo' stop home an' res', +honey?" she coaxed, following him into the hall. "Yo' plumb tuckered." + +The weary physician looked through the door into the library where the +lamp threw a soft light over the big table. The magazines and papers lay +unopened, just as they had been brought from the office by Uncle George. +A book that for a month, Harry had been trying to read, was lying where +he had dropped it to answer a call. While he hesitated, the old negro +came shuffling in with the doctor's smoking jacket and slippers. + +"Yes sah, here dey is--an' de mare's all right--ain't hurted a +bit--takin' her feed like er good one. Oh, I tell yo' der ain't no betta +on de road dan her." + +Dr. Harry laughed. "Uncle George, I give you my honest professional +opinion--Mother Eve was sure a brunette." As he spoke he slipped out of +his coat and Mam Liz took it from his hand, while Uncle George helped +him into the comfortable jacket. + +"He--he--he--" chuckled the old servant. "A brunette, he--he. That air's +yo Liz, ol' 'oman, yo' sho brunette. Yes sah, 'pon my word, Mars Harry, +I believe yo'. He--he--" + +And the black woman's deep voice rolled out--"Yo' go on now--yo' two, +'tain't so--'cause Adam he sho po'r white trash. Ain't no decent colored +body goin' to have no truck wid sech as him." + +With the doctor's shoes in his hand the old servant stood up, "Anythin' +else, sah? No? Good night, sah! Good night, Mars Harry!" They slipped +noiselessly from the room. + +Is there, after all, anything more beautiful in life than the ministry +of such humble ones, whose service is the only expression of their love? + +Many of the Master's truths have been shamefully neglected by those into +whose hands they were committed. Many of His grandest lessons are ignored +by His disciples, who ambitious for place and power--quarrel among +themselves. Many of His noblest laws have been twisted out of all +resemblance to His spirit by those who interpret them to meet the demands +of their own particular sects and systems. But of all the truths the +Master has given to men, none, perhaps, has been more neglected, or +abused than the simple truth He illustrated so vividly when He washed +His disciples' feet. + +Left alone Dr. Harry picked up one magazine after another, only to turn +the leaves impatiently and--after a moment--toss them aside. He glanced +at his medical journal and found it dull. He took up his book only to lay +it down again. Decidedly he could not read. The house with its empty +rooms was so big and still. He seated himself at his piano but had +scarcely touched the keys, when he rose again to go to the window. + +"After all," he thought, "it would have been better to have gone to +prayer meeting. I am not fit to be alone tonight. If I could only go to +bed and sleep, but I feel as if I had forgotten how. Those Masons +certainly got on my nerves." Indeed, the strain was plainly visible, for +his face was worn and haggard. In his ears poor Jo's prayer was ringing, +"Do somethin' Doc! My God Almighty, you jest got to do somethin'!" + +Turning from the window the doctor's eyes fell on his medicine case, +which Uncle George had brought in from the buggy and placed near the +hall door. + +"Why not?" he thought. + +Picking up the case he went to the table, where he opened it +hesitatingly. + +"After all, why not?" he repeated half-aloud. "I would give it to a +patient in my condition." + +"But the patient wouldn't know what it was," a voice within himself +answered. + +"I need something. I--" his hand went out toward the case--"I have never +done it before." + +"You have seen others who have," said the voice again. + +"This is an exceptionally trying time," he argued. + +"There will be many more such times in your practice." + +"But I must get some rest!" he cried, "I must!" He reached again for the +open case but paused--startled by the ringing of the door-bell. + +Obeying the impulse of the moment he dropped into his chair and caught up +a paper. + +Mam Liz's voice, in guarded tones came from the hall, "Yes marm, he's to +home, but he's plumb tuckered out. Is yo' got to see him? Yo' ain't +wantin' him to go out agin is yo'?" + +Another voice answered, but the listening doctor could not distinguish +the reply. + +"Oh sho mam. Come in, come in. He's in the library." + +A moment the nurse stood, hesitating, in the doorway. + +Dr. Harry sprang to his feet. "Miss Farwell! I'm glad to see you. I--" +Then he stopped looking at her in astonishment. + +Very softly she closed the door behind her, and--going to the +table--closed the medicine case. Then lifting her eyes to him with a +meaning look she said simply, "I am glad, too." + +He turned his face away. "You--you saw?" + +"The window shades were up. I could not help it." + +He dropped into the chair. "I'm a weak fool, Miss Farwell. No man in my +profession has a right to be so weak." + +"Yes, that's it," she said gently. "Your profession--those who depend +upon you for their own lives and the lives of their dear ones--you must +remember that always. Your ministry." + +He raised his face and looked at her squarely. "I never did this before. +You believe me, Miss Farwell, that this is the first time?" + +She returned his look frankly. "Yes," she said. "I believe you, and I +believe it will be the last." + +And it was. + +For there was something in that voice, something in the calm still depth +of those gray eyes that remained with Dr. Harry Abbott and whenever +afterwards he reached the limit of his strength, whenever he gave so +much of himself in the service of others that there was nothing left for +himself--this incident came back to him, that something held him--kept +him strong. + +Very quickly the nurse changed the subject and led the physician's mind +away from the sadness and horror of his work that had so nearly wrought +such havoc. The big empty house no longer seemed so big and empty. She +made him light his pipe again and soon the man felt his tired nerves +relax while the weary brain ceased to hammer away at the problems it +could not solve. + +Then at last she told him why she had come--to bid him good-bye. + +"But I thought you were going to stay!" he cried. + +"I had thought of doing so," she admitted. "But something--something +makes it necessary for me to go." + +His arguments and pleadings were in vain. Her only answer was, "I cannot, +Dr. Abbott, truly I cannot." Nor would she tell him more than that it was +necessary for her to go. + +"But we need you so. I need you; there is no one can take your +place--Hope--" Then he stopped. + +She was frankly permitting him to look deep into her eyes. "I am sorry, +Doctor, but I must go." And the strength of her held him and made him +strong. + +"Just one thing, Miss Farwell. You are not going because of--because of +me?" + +She held out her hand. "No indeed, Doctor. Whatever you think, please +don't think that." + +He would have accompanied her home but she would not permit it and +insisted so strongly that he retire at once, that he was forced to +yield. But he would not say good-bye, declaring that he would be at the +depot in the morning to see her off. + +Mrs. Oldham, coming home from prayer meeting, found her husband still +sitting on the porch. When she could not force him to listen to reason +and go to bed, she left him to his thoughts. A little later the old +Doctor saw the tall form of the minister turn in at the gate opposite. +Then the light in the corner window flashed brightly. A few moments +more, and he saw a woman coming down the street, going toward Judge +Strong's. Nearing the house across the way, she slackened her pace, +walking very slowly. Under the corner window she almost stopped. As she +went on she turned once to look back, then disappeared under the trees +in the dusk. + +It was almost morning when Miss Farwell was awakened by a loud knocking +at the front door. Then Mrs. Strong came quickly up stairs to the nurse's +room. The young woman was on her feet instantly. + +"That old negro of Dr. Abbott is here asking for you," explained Mrs. +Strong. "He says Dr. Harry sent him and that he must see you. What in +the world can it mean?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THAT GIRL OF CONNER'S + +"'You will tell the people that this poor child wanted to kill herself, +and the people will call it suicide. But, by God--it's murder! Murder--I +tell you!'" + + +Slipping into her clothing the nurse went down to the front door where +Uncle George was waiting. A horse and buggy stood at the front gate. + +"Evenin' mam, is yo' de nurse?" said the old negro, lifting his cap. + +"Yes, I am the nurse, Miss Farwell. Dr. Abbott sent you for me?" + +"'Deed he did, mam, 'deed he did--said I was to fetch yo' wid big Jim +out dar. Tol' me to say hit was er'mergency case. I dunno what dat is, +but dey sho needs yo' powerful bad over in Old Town--'deed dey does." + +The latter part of this speech was delivered to the empty doorway. The +nurse was already back in her room. + +The old negro rubbed his chin with a trembling hand, as he turned with a +puzzled look on his black face from the open door to the horse and buggy +and back to the door again. + +"Dat young 'oman run lak a scared rabbit," he muttered. "What de ole +scratch I do now?" + +Before he could decide upon any course of action, Miss Farwell, fully +dressed was by his side again, and half way to the gate before he could +get under way. + +"Come," she said, "you should have been in the buggy ready to start." + +"Yas'm, yas'm, comin' comin'," he answered, breaking into a trot for the +rig, and climbing in by her side. "Come Jim, git! Yo' black villen, don' +yo' know, dis here's er'mergency case? Yo' sho got to lay yo' laigs to +de groun' dis night er yo' goin' to git left sartin! 'Mergency case!" he +chuckled. "Dat mak him go, Miss. Funny I nebber knowed dat 'fore." + +Sure enough, the black horse was covering the ground at a pace that +fairly took Miss Farwell's breath. The quick steady beat of the iron-shod +feet and the rattle of the buggy wheels echoed loudly in the gray +stillness. Above the tops of the giant maples that lined the road, the +nurse saw the stars paling in the first faint glow of the coming day, +while here and there in the homes of some early-rising workers the +lights flashed out, and the people--with the name of Dr. Harry on their +lips--paused to listen to the hurried passing of big Jim. + +"Can you tell me something of the case?" asked the nurse. + +"Case? Oh you mean de po'r gal what tried to kill herse'f. Yes, Miss, I +sho can. Yo' see hit's dis away. Hit's dat po'r Conner gal, her whose +Daddy done killed Jack Mulhall, de town marshal yo' know. De Conners +used to be nice folks, all 'ceptin' Jim. He drink a little sometimes, +an' den he was plumb bad. Seems lak he got worse dat way. An' since dey +took him off an' Mrs. Conner died de gal, she don't git 'long somehow. +Since she left de hotel she's been livin' over in Old Town along some +colored folks, upstairs in de old town-hall building. I knows 'bout hit +'y see, coz Liz an' me we all got friends, Jake Smith an' his folks, +livin' in de same buildin', yo see. Wal, lately de gal don't 'pear to be +doin' even as well as usual, an' de folks dey got plumb scared she ac' +so queer like. Sometime in de night, Jake an' Mandy dey waked up hearin' +a moanin' an' a cryin' in de po'r gal's room. Dey call at de door but +dey ain't no answer an' so dey stan 'round for 'while 'thout knowin' +what to do, till de cryin' an' screechin' gits worse, an' things 'pears +to be smashin' round lak. Den Mandy say to de folks what's been waked up +an' is standin' 'round de door she ain't goin' to stan dare doin' +nothin' no mo', an' she fo'ce open de door an' goes in. + +"Yes sah, Miss Nurse, Mandy say dat gal jest throwin' herself 'round de +room an' screechin', an' Mandy grab her jest as she 'bout to jump out de +winder. She won't say nothin' but how she's burnin' up an' Mandy she +send Jake to me quick. I sho don' want to wake Dr. Harry, Miss coz he's +done tuckered out, but I'se scared not to, coz once 'fore I didn't wake +him when somebody want him an' I ain't nebber done hit no more. Go on +dar, Jim. Yes sah, Mars Harry Abbott he's a debbil, Miss, when he's mad, +'deed he is, jest lak de old Mars--he's daddy. So I calls him easy-like +but Lawd--he's up an' dress 'fore I can hook up big Jim here, an' we +come fer Old Town on de run. Quick as he get in de room he calls out de +winder fo' me to drive quick's I can to de Judge's an' fotch yo. An' +dat's all I know--'ceptin' Dr. Harry say hit's a'mergency case. We most +dare now. Go on Jim--go on sah!" + +While the old negro was speaking the big horse was whirling them through +the quiet streets of the village. As Uncle George finished they reached +the top of Academy Hill, where Miss Farwell saw the old school +building--ghostly and still in the mists that hung about it like a +shroud, the tumble-down fence with the gap leading into the weed-grown +yard, the grassy knoll and the oak--all wet and sodden now, and--below, +the valley--with its homes and fields hidden in the thick fog, suggestive +of hidden and mysterious depths. + +"Is yo' cold, Miss? We's mos dar, now." The nurse had shivered as with a +sudden chill. + +Turning sharply to the north a minute later they entered the square of +Old Town where a herd of lean cows were just getting up from their beds +to pick a scanty breakfast from the grass that grew where once the farmer +folk had tied their teams, and in front of the ruined structure that had +once been the principal store of the village, a mother sow grunted to her +squealing brood. + +Long without touch of painter's brush, the few wretched buildings that +remained were the color of the mist. To the nurse--like the fog that hid +the valley--they suggested cold mysterious depths of life, untouched by +any ray of promised sun. And out of that dull gray abyss a woman's voice +broke sharply, on the stillness, in a scream of pain. + +"Dat's her, dat's de po'r gal, now, nurse. Up dare where yo' sees dat +light." + +Uncle George brought the big black to a stand in front of the ancient +town-hall and court-house, a two-story, frame building with the stairway +on the outside. A group of negroes huddled--with awed faces--at the foot +of the stairs drew back as the nurse sprang from the buggy and ran +lightly up the shaky old steps. The narrow, dirty hallway was crowded +with more negroes. The odor of the place was sickening. + +Miss Farwell pushed her way through and entered the room where Dr. Harry, +assisted by a big black woman, was holding his struggling patient on the +bed. The walls and ceiling of the room--stained by the accumulated smoke +of years, the rough bare floor, the window--without shade or curtain, the +only furniture--a rude table and a chair or two, a little stove set on +broken bricks, a handful of battered dishes and cooking utensils, a +trunk, and the bed with its ragged quilts and comforts, all cried aloud +the old, old familiar cry of bitter poverty. + +Dr. Harry glanced up as the nurse entered. + +"Carbolic acid," he said quietly, "but she didn't get quite enough. I +managed to give her the antidote and a hypodermic. We better repeat the +hypodermic I think." + +Without a word the nurse took her place at the bedside. When the patient, +under the influence of the drug, had grown more quiet, Dr. Harry +dismissed the negro woman with a few kind words, and the promise that he +would send for her if she could help them in any way. Then when he had +sent the others away from the room and the hallway he turned to the +nurse. + +"Miss Farwell, I am sorry that I was forced to send for you, but you can +see that there was nothing else to do. I knew you would come without loss +of time, and I dared not leave her without a white woman in the room." He +paused and went to the bedside. "Poor, poor little girl. She tried so +hard to die, nurse; she will try again the moment she regains +consciousness. These good colored people would do anything for her, but +she must see one of her own race when she opens her eyes." He paused +seemingly at a loss for words. + +Miss Farwell spoke for the first time, "She is a good girl, Doctor? Not +that it matters you know, but--" + +Dr. Harry spoke positively, "Yes, she is a good girl; it is not that, +nurse." + +"Then how--" Miss Farwell glanced around the room. "Then why is she +here?" + +No one ever heard Dr. Harry Abbott speak a bitter word, but there was a +strange note in his voice as he answered slowly, "She is here because +there seems to be no other place for her to go. She did this because +there seemed to be nothing else for her to do." + +Then briefly he related the sad history of this good girl with a bad +reputation. "Dr. Oldham and I tried to help her," he said, "but some ugly +stories got started and somehow Grace heard them. After that she avoided +us." + +For a little while there was silence in the room. When Dr. Harry again +turned from his patient to the nurse, Miss Farwell was busily writing +upon his tablet of prescription blanks with a stub of a pencil which she +had taken from her pocket. The doctor watched her curiously for a moment, +then arose, and taking his hat, said briskly: "I will not keep you longer +than an hour Miss Farwell. I think I know of a woman whom I can get for +today at least, and perhaps by tonight we can find someone else, or +arrange it somehow. I'll be back in plenty of time, so don't worry. Your +train does not go until ten-thirty, you know. If the woman can't come at +once, I'll ask Dr. Oldham to relieve you." + +The nurse looked at him with smiling eyes, "I am very sorry, Dr. Abbott, +if I am not giving satisfaction," she said. + +The physician returned her look with amazement, "Not giving satisfaction! +What in the world do you mean?" + +"Why you seem to be dismissing me," she answered demurely. "I understood +that you sent for me to take this case." + +At the light that broke over his face she dropped her eyes and wrote +another line on the paper before her. + +"Do you mean--" he began, then he stopped. + +"I mean," she answered, "that unless you send me away I shall stay on +duty." + +"But Dr. Miles--that case in Chicago. I understood from you that it was +very important." + +She smiled at him again. "There is nothing so important as the thing +that needs doing now," she answered. "And," she finished slowly, turning +her eyes toward the unconscious girl on the bed--"I do seem to be needed +here." + +"And you understand there will be no--no fees in this case?" he asked. + +The color mounted to her face. "Is our work always a question of fees, +Doctor? I am surprised, cannot I collect my bill when you receive yours?" + +He held out his hand impulsively. + +"Forgive me, Miss Farwell, but it is too good to be true. I can't say +any more now. You are needed here--you cannot know how badly. I--we all +need you." She gently released her hand, and he continued in a more +matter-of-fact tone, "I will go now to make a call or two so that I can +be with you later. Your patient will be all right for at least three +hours. I'll send Uncle George with your breakfast." + +"Never mind the breakfast," she said. "If you will have your man bring +these things, I will get along nicely." She handed him a prescription +blank. "Here is a list that Mrs. Strong will give him from my room. And +here--" she gave him another blank, "is a list he may get at the grocery. +And here--" she handed him the third blank, "is a list he may get at some +dry goods store. I have not my purse with me so he will need to bring the +bills. The merchants will know him of course--" Dr. Harry looked from the +slips in his hand to the young woman. + +"You must not do that, Miss Farwell. Really--" + +She interrupted, "Doctor, this is my case, you know." + +"It was mine first," he answered grimly. + +"But Doctor--" + +"Shall I send you my bill, too?" he asked. + +A few moments later she heard the quick step of big Jim and the rattle +of the wheels. + +Two hours had passed when in response to a low knock, the nurse opened +the door to find Dr. Oldham standing in the narrow hall. The old +physician was breathing heavily from his effort in climbing the rickety +stairs. His arms were full of roses. + +Miss Farwell exclaimed with delight, "Oh Doctor, just what I was wishing +for!" + +"Uh huh," he grunted. "I thought so. They'll do her good. Harry told me +what you were up to. Thought I better come along in case you should need +any help." + +He drew a chair to the bedside, while the nurse with her sleeves rolled +up returned to the work which his knock at the door had interrupted. + +Clean, white sheets, pillows and coverings had replaced the tattered +quilt on the bed. The floor was swept. The litter about the stove was +gone, and in its place was a big armful of wood neatly piled, the +personal offering of Uncle George, who had returned quickly with the +things for which the nurse had sent. The dirt and dust had vanished from +the windows. The glaring light was softened by some sort of curtain +material, that the young woman had managed to fix in place. The bare old +cupboard shelves covered with fresh paper were filled with provisions, +and the nurse, washing the last of the dishes and utensils, was placing +them carefully in order. She finished as Dr. Oldham turned from the +patient, and--throwing over the rough table a cloth of bright +colors--began deftly arranging in such dishes as the place afforded, the +flowers he had brought. Already the perfume of the roses was driving +from the chamber that peculiar, sickening odor of poverty. + +The old physician, trained by long years of service to habits of close +observation, noted every detail in the changed room. Silently he watched +the strong, beautifully formed young woman in the nurse's uniform, +bending over his flowers, handling them with the touch of love while on +her face, and in the clear gray eyes, shone the light that a few truly +great painters have succeeded in giving to their pictures of the Mother +Mary. + +The keen old eyes under their white brows filled and the Doctor turned +hastily back to the figure on the bed. A worn figure it was--thin and +looking old--with lines of care and anxiety, of constant pain and +ceaseless fear, of dread and hopelessness. Only a faint suggestion of +youth was there, only a hint of the beauty of young womanhood that might +have been; nay that would have been--that should have been. + +Miss Farwell started as the old man with a sudden exclamation--stood +erect. He faced the young woman with blazing eyes and quivering face--his +voice shaken with passion, as he said: "Nurse, you and Harry tell me this +is suicide." He made a gesture toward the still form on the bed. "You +will tell the people that this poor child wanted to kill herself, and the +people will call it suicide. But, by God--it's murder! Murder--I tell +you! She did not want to kill herself. She wanted to live, to be strong +and beautiful like you. But this community with its churches and Sunday +schools and prayer meetings wouldn't let her. They denied her the poor +privilege of working for the food she needed. They refused even a word of +real sympathy. They hounded her into this stinking hole to live with the +negroes. She may die, nurse, and if she does--as truly as there is a +Creator, who loves his creatures--her death will be upon the unspeakably +cruel, pious, self-worshiping, churchified, spiritually-rotten people in +this town! It's _murder_! I tell you, by God--it's _murder_!" The old man +dropped into his chair exhausted by his passionate outburst. + +For a few moments there was no sound in the room save the heavy breathing +of the physician. The nurse stood gazing at him--a look of mingled +sadness and horror on her face. + +Then the figure on the bed stirred. The sick girl's eyes opened to stare +wildly--wonderingly, about the room. With a low word to the Doctor, Miss +Farwell went quickly to her patient. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE MINISTER'S OPPORTUNITY + +"He saw only the opportunity so mysteriously opened to him." + + +When Dan left Miss Farwell in the summer house at Judge Strong's he went +straight to his room. + +Two or three people whom he met on the way turned when he had passed to +look back at him. Mrs. James talking over the fence with her next door +neighbor, wondered when he failed to return her greeting. And Denny from +his garden hailed him joyfully. But Dan did not check his pace. Reaching +his own gate he broke fairly into a run, and leaping up the stairway, +rushed into his room, closing and locking his door. Then he stood, +breathing hard, and smiling grimly at the foolish impulse that had made +him act for all the world like a thief escaping with his booty. + +He puzzled over this strange feeling that possessed him, the feeling +that he had taken something that did not belong to him, until the thought +struck him that there might, after all, be good reason for the fancy; +that it might indeed be more than a fancy. + +Pacing to and fro the length of his little study he recalled every +detail of that meeting in the Academy yard. And as he remembered how he +had consciously refrained from making known his position to the young +woman--not once, but several times when he knew that he should have +spoken, and how his questions, combined with the evident false impression +that his words had given her had led her to speak thoughts she would +never have dreamed of expressing had she known him, the conviction grew +that he had indeed--like a thief, taken something that did not belong to +him. And as he realized more and more how his silence must appear to her +as premeditated, and reflected how her fine nature would shrink from what +she could not but view as a coarse ungentlemanly trick he grew hot with +shame. No wonder, he told himself, that he had instinctively shrunk from +looking into the faces of the people whom he had met and had fled to the +privacy of his rooms. + +Dan did not spare himself that afternoon, and yet beneath all the self +scorn he felt, there was a deeper sub-conscious conviction, that he was +not--at heart--guilty of the thing with which he charged himself. This +very conviction, though felt but dimly, made him rage the more. He had +the hopeless feeling of one caught in a trap--of one convicted of a +crime of which in the eyes of the law he was guilty, but which he knew +he had unwittingly committed. + +The big fellow in so closely analyzing the woman's thoughts and feelings, +and in taking so completely her point of view, neglected himself. He +could not realize how true to _himself_ he had been that afternoon, or +how truly the impulse that had prompted him to deny his calling was an +instinct of his own strong manhood--the instinct to be accepted or +rejected for what he was within himself, rather than for the mere +accident of his calling and position in life. + +One thing was clear, he must see Miss Farwell again. She must listen to +his explanation and apology. She must somehow understand. For apart from +his interest in the young woman herself, there was that purpose of the +minister to win her to the church. It was a monstrous thought that he +himself should be the means of strengthening her feeling against the +cause to which he had given his life. So he had gone to Judge Strong's +home early that evening determined to see her. But at the gate, when he +saw Dr. Harry turning in as if to stop, he had passed on in the dusk. +Later at prayer meeting his thoughts were far from the subject under +discussion. His own public petition was so faltering and uncertain that +Elder Jordan watched him suspiciously. + +It would be interesting to know just how much the interest of the man in +the woman colored and strengthened the purpose of the preacher to win +this soul so antagonistic to his church. + +The next day, Dan was putting the finishing touches to his sermon on +"The Christian Ministry" when his landlady interrupted him with the news +of the attempted suicide in Old Town. Upon hearing that the girl had at +one time been a member of his congregation, he went at once to learn +more of the particulars from Dr. Oldham. He found his old friend who +had returned from Old Town a half hour before, sitting in his big chair +on the front porch gazing at the cast-iron monument across the way. To +the young man's questions the Doctor returned only monosyllables or +grunts and growls that might mean anything or nothing at all. Plainly +the Doctor did not wish to talk. His face was dark and forbidding, and +under his scowling brows, his eyes--when Dan caught a glimpse of +them--were hard and fierce. The young man had never seen his friend in +such a mood and he could not understand. + +Dan did not know that the kind-hearted old physician had just learned +from his wife that the girl with the bad reputation had called at the +house to see him a few hours before she had made the attempt to end her +life, and that she had been sent away by the careful Martha with the +excuse that the doctor was too busy to see her. Neither could the boy +know how the old man's love for him was keeping him silent lest, in his +present frame of mind, he say things that would strengthen that something +which they each felt had come between them. + +Suddenly the Doctor turned his gaze from the monument and flashed a +meaning look straight into the brown eyes of the young minister. "She +was a member of your church. Why don't you go to see her? Ask the nurse +if there is anything the church can do." As Dan went down the walk he +added, "Tell Miss Farwell that I sent you." Then smiling grimly he +growled to himself, "You'll get valuable material for that sermon on +the ministry, or I miss my guess." + +The nurse! The nurse! He was to see her again! The thought danced in +Dan's brain. How strangely the opportunity had come. The young minister +felt that the whole thing had, in some mysterious way, been planned to +the end he desired. In the care that the church would give this poor +girl the nurse would see how wrongly she had judged it. She would be +forced to listen to him now. Surely God had given him this opportunity! + +What--the poor suicide? + +Oh, but Dan was not thinking of the suicide. That would come later. Just +now his mind and heart were too full of his own desire to win this young +woman to the church. He saw only the opportunity so mysteriously opened +to him. Dan was thoroughly orthodox. + +So in the brightness of the afternoon the pastor of Memorial Church went +along the street that, in the gray chill of the early morning, had echoed +the hurried steps of the doctor's horse. The homes--so silent when +the nurse had passed on her mission--were now full of life. The big +trees--dank and still then, now stirred softly in the breeze, and rang +with the songs of their feathered denizens. The pale stars were lost in +the infinite blue and the sunlight warmed and filled the air--flooding +street and home and lawn and flower and tree with its golden beauty. At +the top of Academy Hill Dan paused. For him no shroud of mist wrapped the +picturesque old building; no fog of mysterious depths hid the charming +landscape. + +Recalling the things the nurse had said to him there under the oak on the +grassy knoll, and thinking of his sermon in answer--he smiled. It was a +good sermon, he thought, with honest pride--strong, logical, convincing. + +And it was--_at that moment_. + +With a confident stride he went on his way. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +DAN SEES THE OTHER SIDE + +"'What right have you, Mr. Matthews, to say that you do not +understand--that you do not know? It is your business to understand--to +know.'" + + +Miss Farwell was alone with her patient. Dr. Harry, who had returned +soon after the girl regained consciousness, had gone out into the +country, promising to look in again during the evening on his way home, +and the old Doctor finding that there was no need for him to remain had +left a few moments later. + +Except to answer their direct questions the sick girl had spoken no +word, but lay motionless--her face turned toward the wall. Several +times the nurse tried gently to arouse her, but save for a puzzled, +half-frightened, half-defiant look in the wide-open eyes, there was no +response, though she took her medicine obediently. But when Miss Farwell +after bathing the girl's face, and brushing and braiding her hair, +dressed her in a clean, white gown, the frightened defiant look gave +place to one of wondering gratitude, and a little later she seemed to +sleep. + +She was still sleeping when Miss Farwell, who was standing by the window +watching a group of negro children playing ball in the square, saw a man +approaching the group from the direction of the village. The young +woman's face flushed as she recognized the unmistakable figure of the +minister. + +Then an angry light shone in the gray eyes, and she drew back with a low +exclamation. As in evident answer to his question, a half dozen hands +were pointed toward the window where she stood. Watching, she saw him +coming toward the building. + +His purpose was clear. What should she do? Her first angry impulse was +to refuse to admit him. What right had he to attempt to see her after her +so positive dismissal? Then she thought--perhaps he was coming to see the +sick girl. What right had she to refuse to admit him, when it could in no +way harm her patient? The room, after all, was the home of the young +woman on the bed--the nurse was only there in her professional capacity. + +Miss Farwell began to feel that she was playing a part in a mighty drama; +that the cue had been given for the entrance of another actor. She had +nothing to do with the play save to act well her part. It was not for her +to arrange the lines or manage the parts of the other players. The +feeling possessed her that, indeed, she had somewhere rehearsed the scene +many times before. Stepping quickly to the bed she saw that her patient +was still apparently sleeping. Then she stood trembling, listening to the +step in the hall as Dan approached. + +He knocked the second time before she could summon strength to cross the +room and open the door. + +"May I come in?" he asked hat in hand. + +At his words--the same that he had spoken a few hours before in the +garden--the nurse's face grew crimson. She made no answer, but in the +eyes that looked straight into his, Dan read a question and his own face +grew red as he said, "I called to see your patient. Dr. Oldham asked me +to come." + +"Certainly; come in." She stepped aside and the minister entered the +sick-room. Mechanically, without a word she placed a chair for him +near the bed, then crossed the room to stand by the window. But he did +not sit down. + +Presently Dan turned to the nurse. "She is asleep?" he asked in a low +tone. + +Miss Farwell's answer was calmly--unmistakably professional. Looking at +her watch she answered, "She has been sleeping nearly two hours." + +"Is there--will she recover?" + +"Dr. Abbott says there is no reason why she should not if we can turn +her from her determination to die." + +Always Dan had been intensely in love with life. He had a strong, +full-blooded young man's horror of death. He could think of it only as a +fitting close to a long, useful life, or as a possible release from +months of sickness and pain. That anyone young, and in good health, with +the world of beauty and years of usefulness before them, with the +opportunities and duties of life calling, should willfully seek to die, +was a monstrous thought. After all the boy knew so little. He was only +beginning to sense vaguely the great forces that make and mar humankind. + +At the calm words of the nurse he turned quickly toward the bed with a +shudder. "Her determination to die!" he repeated in an awed whisper. + +Miss Farwell was watching him curiously. + +He whispered half to himself, wonderingly, "Why should she wish to die?" + +"Why should she wish to live?" The nurse's cold tones startled him. + +He turned to her perplexed, wondering, speechless. + +"I--I--do not understand," he said at last. + +"I don't suppose you do," she answered grimly. "How could you? Your +ministry is a matter of schools and theories, of doctrines and beliefs. +This is a matter of life." + +"My church--" he began, remembering his sermon. + +But she interrupted him, "Your church does not understand, either; it is +so busy earning money to pay its ministers that it has no time for such +things as this." + +"But they do not know," he faltered. "I did not dream that such a thing +as this could be." He looked about the room and then at the still form on +the bed, with a shudder. + +"You a minister of Christ's gospel and ignorant of these things? And yet +this is not an uncommon case, sir. I could tell you of many similar cases +that have come under my own observation, though not all of them have +chosen to die. This girl could have made a living; I suppose you +understand. But she is a good girl; so there was nothing for her but +this. All she asked was a chance--only a chance." + +The minister was silent. He could not answer. + +The nurse continued, "What right have you, Mr. Matthews, to say that you +do not understand--that you do not know? It is your business to +understand--to know. And your church--what right has it to plead +ignorance of the life about its very doors? If such things are not its +business what business has this institution that professes to exist for +the salvation of men; that hires men like you--as you yourself told +me--to minister to the world? What right I say, have you or your church +to be ignorant of these everyday conditions of life? Dr. Abbott must +know his work. I must know mine. Our teachers, our legal and professional +men, our public officers, our mechanics and laborers, must all know and +understand their work. The world demands it of us, and the world is +beginning to demand that you and your church know your business." As the +nurse spoke in low tones her voice was filled with sorrowful, passionate +earnestness. + +And Dan, Big Dan, sat like a child before her--his face white, his brown +eyes wide with that questioning look. His own voice trembled as he +answered, "But the people are not beasts. They do not realize. At heart +they--we are kind; we do not mean to be carelessly cruel. Do you believe +this, Miss Farwell?" + +She turned from him wearily, as if in despair at trying to make him +understand. + +"Of course I believe it," she answered. "But how does that affect the +situation? The same thing could be said, I suppose, of those who +crucified the Christ, and burned the martyrs at the stake. It is this +system, that has enslaved the people, that feeds itself upon the strength +that should be given to their fellow men. They give so much time and +thought and love to their churches and creeds, that they have nothing +left--nothing for girls like these." Her voice broke and she went to the +window. + +In the silence Dan gazed at the form on the bed--gazed as if fascinated. +From without came the shouts of the negro boys at their game of ball, +and the sound of the people moving about in other parts of the building. + +"Is there--is there no one who cares?" Dan said, at last in a hoarse +whisper. + +"No one has made her feel that they care," the nurse answered, turning +back to him, and her manner and tone were cold again. + +"But you" he persisted, "surely you care." + +At this the gray eyes filled and the full voice trembled as she answered, +"Yes, yes I care. How could I help it? Oh, if we can only make her feel +that we--that someone wants her, that there is a place for her, that +there are those who need her!" She went to the bedside and stood looking +down at the still form. "I can't--I won't--I won't let her go." + +"Let us help you, Miss Farwell," said Dan. "Dr. Oldham suggested that I +ask you if the church could not do something. I am sure they would gladly +help if I were to present the case." + +The nurse wheeled on him with indignant, scornful eyes. + +He faltered, "This is the churches' work, you know." + +"Yes," she returned, and her words stung. "You are quite right, this is +the churches' work." + +He gazed at her in amazement as she continued hotly, "You have made it +very evident Mr. Matthews, that you know nothing of this matter. I have +no doubt that your church members would respond with a liberal collection +if you were to picture what you have seen here this afternoon in an +eloquent public appeal. Some in the fullness of their emotions would +offer their personal service. Others I am sure would send flowers. But I +suggest that for your sake, before you present this matter to your church +you ask Dr. Oldham to give you a full history of the case. Ask him to +tell you why Grace Conner is trying to die. And now you will pardon me, +but in consideration of my patient, who may waken at any moment, I dare +not take the responsibility of permitting you to prolong this call." + +Too bewildered and hurt to attempt any reply, he left the room and she +stood listening to his steps as he went slowly down the hall and out of +the building. + +From the window she watched as he crossed the old square, watched as he +passed from sight up the weed-grown street. The cruel words had leaped +from her lips unbidden. Already she regretted them deeply. She knew +instinctively that the minister had come from a genuine desire to be +helpful. She should have been more kind, but his unfortunate words had +brought to her mind in a flash, the whole hideous picture of the poor +girl's broken life. And the suggestion of such help as the church would +give now, came with such biting irony, that she was almost beside +herself. + +The situation was not at all new to Miss Farwell. Her profession placed +her constantly in touch with such ministries. She remembered a +saloonkeeper who had contributed liberally to the funeral expenses of a +child who had been killed by its drunken father. The young woman had +never before spoken, in such cruel anger. Was she growing bitter? She +wondered. All at once her cheeks were wet with scalding tears. + +Dan found the Doctor sitting on the porch just as he had left him. Was +it only an hour before? + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE TRAGEDY + +"Now, for the first time, he was face to face with existing conditions. +Not the theory but the practice confronted him now. Not the traditional, +but the actual. It was, indeed, a tragedy." + + +Dan went heavily up the path between the roses, while the Doctor observed +him closely. The young minister did not sit down. + +"Well?" said the Doctor. + +Dan's voice was strained and unnatural. "Will you come over to my room?" + +Without a word the old man followed him. + +In the privacy of his little study the boy said, "Doctor, you had a +reason for telling me to ask Miss Farwell if the church could do anything +for--for that poor girl. And the nurse told me to ask you about the case. +I want you to tell me about her--_all_ about her. Why is she living in +that wretched place with those negroes? Why did she attempt to kill +herself? I want to know about this girl as you know her--as Miss Farwell +knows." + +The old physician made no reply but sat silent--studying the young man +who paced up and down the room. When his friend did not speak Dan said +again, "Doctor you must tell me! I'm not a child. What is this thing +that you should so hesitate to talk to me freely? I must know and you +must tell me now." + +"I guess you are right, boy," returned the other slowly. + +To Big Dan, born with the passion for service in his very blood and +reared amid the simple surroundings of his mountain home, where the +religion and teaching of the old Shepherd had been felt for a generation, +where every soul was held a neighbor--with a neighbor's right to the +assistance of the community, and where no one--not even the nameless +"wood's colt"--was made to suffer for the accident of birth or family, +but stood and was judged upon his own life and living, the story of Grace +Conner was a revelation almost too hideous in its injustice to be +believed. + +When the Doctor finished there was a tense silence in the minister's +little study. It was as though the two men were witnessing a grim +tragedy. + +Trained under the influence of his parents and from them receiving the +highest ideals of life and his duty to the race, Dan had been drawn +irresistibly by the theoretical self-sacrificing heroism and +traditionally glorious ministry of the church. Now, for the first time, +he was face to face with existing conditions. Not the theory but the +practice confronted him now. Not the traditional, but the actual. + +It was, indeed, a tragedy. + +The boy's face was drawn and white. His eyes--wide with that questioning +look--burned with a light that his old friend had not seen in them +before--the light of suffering--of agonizing doubt. + +In his professional duties the Doctor had been forced to school himself +to watch the keenest suffering unmoved, lest his emotions bias his +judgment--upon the accuracy of which depended the life of his patient. +He had been taught to cause the cruelest pain with unshaken nerve by the +fact that a human life under his knife depended upon the steadiness of +his hand. But his sympathy had never been dulled--only controlled and +hidden. So, long years of contact with what might be called a disease of +society, had accustomed him to the sight of conditions--the revelation +of which came with such a shock to the younger man. But the Doctor could +still appreciate what the revelation meant to the boy. Knowing Dan from +his childhood, familiar with his home-training, and watching his growth +and development with personal, loving interest, the old physician had +realized how singularly susceptible his character was to the beautiful +beliefs of the church. He had foreseen, too, something of the boy's +suffering when he should be brought face to face with the raw, naked +truths of life. And Dan, as he sat now searching the rugged, but kindly +face of his friend, realized faintly why the Doctor had shrunk from +talking to him of the sick girl. + +Slowly the minister rose from his chair. Aimlessly--as one in perplexing, +troubled thought--he went to the window and, standing there, looked out +with unseeing eyes upon the cast-iron monument on the opposite corner of +the street. Then he moved restlessly to the other window, and, with eyes +still unseeing, looked down into the little garden of the crippled +boy--the garden with the big moss and vine-grown rock in its center. Then +he went to his study table and stood idly moving the books and papers +about. His eye mechanically followed the closely written lines on the +sheets of paper that were lying as he had left them that morning. He +started. The next moment, with quick impatient movement, he crushed the +pages of the manuscript in his powerful hands and threw them into the +waste basket. He faced the Doctor with a grim smile. + +"My sermon on 'The Christian Ministry.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TO SAVE A LIFE + +"It was not Hope Farwell's way to theorize about the causes of the wreck, +or to speculate as to the value of inventions for making more efficient +the life-saving service, when there was a definite, immediate, personal +something to be done for the bit of life that so closely touched her +own." + + +"Nurse!" + +Miss Farwell turned quickly. The girl on the bed was watching her with +wide wondering eyes. She forced a smile. "Yes, dear, what is it? Did you +have a good sleep?" + +"I was not asleep. I--oh nurse, is it true?" + +Hope laid a firm, cool hand on the hot forehead, and looked kindly down +into the wondering eyes. + +"You were awake while the minister was here?" + +"Yes I--I--heard it all. Is it--is it true?" + +"Is what true, child?" + +"That you care, that anyone cares?" + +Miss Farwell's face shone now with that mother-look as she lowered her +head until the sick girl could see straight into the deep gray eyes. The +poor creature gazed hungrily--breathlessly. + +"Now don't you know that I care?" whispered the nurse, and the other +burst into tears, grasping the nurse's hand in both her own and with a +reviving hope clinging to it convulsively. + +"I'm not bad, nurse," she sobbed. "I have always been a good girl even +when--when I was so hungry. But they--they talked so about me, and made +people think I was bad until I was ashamed to meet anyone. Then they put +me out of the church, and nobody would give me work in their homes, and +they drove me away from every place I got, until there was no place but +this, and I was so frightened here alone with all these negroes in the +house. Oh nurse, I didn't want to do it--I didn't want to do it. But I +thought no one cared--no one." + +"They did not mean to be cruel, dear," said the nurse softly. "They did +not understand. You heard the minister say they would help you now." + +The girl gripped Miss Farwell's hand with a shudder. + +"They put me out of the church. Don't let them come, don't! Promise me +you won't let them in." + +The other calmed her. "There, there dear, I will take care of you. And no +one can put you away from God; you must remember that." + +"Is there a God, do you think?" whispered the girl. + +"Yes, yes dear. All the cruelty in the world can't take God away from us +if we hold on. We all make mistakes, you know, dear--terrible mistakes +sometimes. People with the kindest, truest hearts sometimes do cruel +things without thinking. Why, I suppose those who crucified Jesus were +kind and good in their way. Only they didn't understand what they were +doing, you see. You will learn by-and-by to feel sorry for these people, +just as Jesus wept over those who he knew were going to torture and kill +him. But first you must get well and strong again. You will now, won't +you dear?" + +And the whispered answer came, "Yes, nurse. I'll try now that I know you +care." + +So the strong young woman with the face of the Mother Mary talked to the +poor outcast girl, helping her to forget, turning her thoughts from the +sadness and bitterness of her experience to the gladness and beauty of a +possible future, until--when the sun lighted up the windows on the other +side of the square with flaming fire, and all the sky was filled with +the glory of his going--the sick girl slept, clinging still to her +nurse's hand. + +In the twilight Miss Farwell sat in earnest thought. Deeply +religious--as all true workers must be--she sought to know her part in +the coming scenes of the drama in which she found herself cast. + +The young woman felt that she must leave Corinth. Her experience with +Dan had made the place unbearable to her. And, since the scene that +afternoon, she felt, more than ever, that she should go. She had no +friends in Corinth save her patient at Judge Strong's, Mrs. Strong, the +two doctors, Deborah and Denny. At home she had many friends. Then from +the standpoint of her profession--and Hope Farwell loved her +profession--her opportunities in the city with Dr. Miles were too great +to be lightly thrown aside. + +But what of the girl? This girl so helpless, so alone--who buffeted and +bruised, had been tossed senseless at her very feet by the wild storms +of life. Miss Farwell knew the fury of the storm; she had witnessed +before the awful strength of those forces that overwhelmed Grace Conner. +She knew, too, that there were many others struggling hopelessly in the +pitiless grasp of circumstances beyond their strength--single handed--to +overcome. + +As one watching a distant wreck from a place of safety on shore, the +nurse grieved deeply at the relentless cruelty of these ungoverned +forces, and mourned at her own powerlessness to check them. But she felt +especially responsible for this poor creature who had been cast within +her reach. Here was work to her hand. This she could do and it must be +done now, without hesitation or delay. She could not prevent the +shipwrecks; she could, perhaps, save the life of this one who had felt +the fury of the storm. It was not Hope Farwell's way to theorize about +the causes of the wreck, or to speculate as to the value of inventions +for making more efficient the life-saving service, when there was a +definite, immediate, personal something to be done for the bit of life +that so closely touched her own. + +There was no doubt in the nurse's mind now but that the girl would live +and regain her health. But what then? The people would see that she was +cared for as long as she was sick. Who among them would give her a place +when she was no longer an object of ostentatious charity? Her very +attempted suicide would mark her in the community more strongly than +ever, and she would be met on every hand by suspicion, distrust and +cruel curiosity. Then, indeed, she would need a friend--someone to +believe in her and to love her. Of what use to save the life tossed up +by the storm, only to set it adrift again? As Miss Farwell meditated in +the twilight the conviction grew that her responsibility could end only +when the life was safe. + +It is, after all, a little thing to save a life; it is a great thing to +make it safe. Indeed, in a larger, sense a life is never saved until it +is safe. + +When Dr. Harry called, later in the evening as he had promised, he handed +the nurse an envelope. "Mr. Matthews asked me to give you this," he said. +"I met him just as he was crossing the square. He would not come in but +turned back toward town." + +He watched her curiously as she broke the seal and read the brief note. + +"I have seen Dr. Oldham and he has told about your patient. You are +right--I cannot present the matter to my people. I thank you. But this +cannot prevent my own personal ministry. Please use the enclosed for +Miss Conner, without mentioning my name. You must not deny me this." + +The "enclosed" was a bill, large and generous. Miss Farwell handed the +letter to Dr. Harry with the briefest explanation possible. For a long +time the doctor sat in brown study. Then making no comment further than +asking her to use the money as the minister had directed, he questioned +her as to the patient's condition. When she had finished her report he +drew a long breath. + +"We are all right now, nurse. She will get over this nicely and in a week +or two will be as good as ever. But--what then?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ON FISHING + +"'It is not for you to waste your time in useless speculation as to the +unknowable source of your life-stream, or in seeking to trace it in the +ocean. It is enough for you that it is, and that, while it runs its brief +course, it is yours to make it yield its blessings. For this you must +train your hand and eye and brain--you must be in life a fisherman.'" + + +"Come boy," said the Doctor at last, laying his hand upon the young +minister's shoulder. "Come, boy--let's go fishing. I know a dandy place +about twelve miles from here. We'll coax Martha to fix us up a bite and +start at daylight. What do you say?" + +"But I can't!" cried Dan. "Tomorrow is Saturday and I have nothing now +for Sunday morning." He looked toward the waste basket where lay his +sermon on "The Christian Ministry." + +"Humph," grunted the Doctor. "You'll find a better one when you get away +from this. Older men than you, Dan, have fought this thing all their +lives. Don't think that you can settle it in a couple of days thinking. +Take time to fish a little; it'll help a lot. There's nothing like a +running stream to clear one's mind and set one's thoughts going in fresh +channels. I want you to see Gordon's Mills. Come boy, let's go fishing." + +The evening was spent in preparation, eager anticipation and discussion +of the craft, prompted by the Doctor. And as they overhauled flies and +rods and lines and reels, and recalled the many delightful days spent as +they proposed to spend the morrow, the young man's thoughts were led +away from the first real tragedy of his soul. At daylight, after a +breakfast of their own cooking--partly prepared the night before by +Martha, who unquestionably viewed the minister's going away on a Saturday +with doubtful eyes--they were off. + +When they left the town far behind and--following the ridge road in the +clear wine-like air of the early day--entered the woods, the Doctor +laughed aloud as Dan burst forth with a wild boyish yell. + +"I couldn't help it Doctor, it did itself," he said in half apology. +"It's so good to be out in the woods with you again. I feel as if I were +being re-created already." + +"Yell again," said the physician with another laugh, and added dryly, "I +won't tell." + +Gordon's Mills, on Gordon's creek, lay in a deep, narrow valley, shut in +and hidden from the world, by many miles of rolling, forest-covered +hills. The mill, the general store and post office, and the blacksmith +shop were connected with Corinth, twelve miles away, by daily stage--a +rickety old spring wagon that carried the mail and any chance passenger. +Pure and clear and cold the creek came welling to the surface of the +earth full-grown, from vast, mysterious, subterranean caverns in the +heart of the hills--and, from the brim of its basin, rushed, boiling and +roaring, along to the river two miles distant, checked only by the dam +at the mill. For a little way above the dam the waters lay still and +deep, with patches of long mosses, vines and rushes, waving in its quiet +clearness--forming shadowy dens for lusty trout, while the open +places--shining fields and lanes--reflected, as a mirror, the steep +green-clad bluff, and the trees that bent far over until their drooping +branches touched the gleaming surface. + +As the two friends tramped the little path at the foot of the bluff, or +waded, with legs well-braced, the tumbling torrent, and sent their flies +hither and yon across the boiling flood to be snatched by the +strong-hearted denizens of the stream, Dan felt the life and freshness +and strength of God's good world entering into his being. At dinner time +they built a little fire to make their coffee and broil a generous +portion of their catch. Then lying at ease on the bank of the great +spring, they talked as only those can talk who get close enough to the +great heart of Mother Nature to feel strongly their common kinship with +her and with their fellows. + +After one of those long silences that come so easily at such a time, Dan +tossed a pebble far out into the big pool and watched it sink down, down, +down, until he lost it in the unknown depths. + +"Doctor, where does it come from?" + +"Where does what come from?" + +"This stream. You say its volume is always the same--that it is +unaffected by heavy rains or long droughts. How do you account for it?" + +"I don't account for it," grunted the Doctor, with a twinkle in his eye, +"I fish in it." + +Dan laughed. "And that," he said slowly, "is your philosophy of life." + +The other made no answer. + +Choosing another pebble carefully, Dan said, "Speaking as a +preacher--please elaborate." + +"Speaking as a practitioner--you try it," returned the Doctor. + +The big fellow stretched himself out on his back, with his hands clasped +beneath his head. He spoke deliberately. + +"Well, you do not know from whence your life comes, and it goes after a +short course, to lose itself with many others in the great stream that +reaches--at last, and is lost in--the Infinite." The Doctor seemed +interested. Dan continued, half talking to himself: "It is not for you +to waste your time in useless speculation as to the unknowable source of +your life-stream, or in seeking to trace it in the ocean. It is enough +for you that it is, and that, while it runs its brief course, it is yours +to make it yield its blessings. For this you must train your hand and eye +and brain--you must be in life a fisherman." + +"Very well done," murmured the Doctor, "for a preacher. Stick to the +knowable things, and don't stick at the unknowable; that is my law and my +gospel." + +Dan retorted, "Now let's watch the practitioner make a cast." + +"Humph! Why don't you stop it, boy?" + +"Stop what?" Dan sat up. + +The other pointed to the great basin of water that--though the stream +rushed away in such volume and speed--was never diminished, being +constantly renewed from its invisible, unknown source. + +The young man shook his head, awed by the contemplation of the mighty, +hidden power. + +And the Doctor--poet now--said: "No more can the great stream of love, +that is in the race for the race and that finds expression in sympathy +and service, be finally stopped. Fed by hidden, eternal sources it will +somehow find its way to the surface. Checked and hampered, for the +moment, by obstacles of circumstances or conditions, it is not stopped, +for no circumstance can touch the source. And love will keep +coming--breaking down or rising over the barrier, it may be--cutting for +itself new channels, if need be. For every Judge Strong and his kind +there is a Hope Farwell and her kind. For every cast-iron, ecclesiastical +dogma there is a living, growing truth." + +Dan's sermon the next day, given in place of the one announced, did not +please the whole of his people. + +"It was all very fine and sounded very pretty," said Martha, "but I would +like to know, Brother Matthews, where does the church come in?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +COMMON GROUND + +"'But we will find common ground,' he exclaimed. 'Look here, we have +already found it! This garden--Denny's garden!'" + + +The following Tuesday morning Dan was at work bright and early in Denny's +garden. Many of the good members of Memorial Church would have said that +Dan might better have been at work in his study. + +The ruling classes in this congregation, that theoretically had no ruling +classes, were beginning to hint among themselves of a humiliation beyond +expression at the spectacle, now becoming so common, of their minister +working with his coat off like an ordinary laboring man. He should have +more respect for the dignity of the cloth. At least, if he had no pride +of his own, he should have more regard for the feelings of his +membership. Besides this they did not pay him to work in anybody's +garden. + +The grave and watchful keepers of the faith, who held themselves +responsible to the God they thought they worshiped, for the belief of the +man they had employed to prove to the world wherein it was all wrong and +they were all right, watched their minister's growing interest in this +Catholic family with increasing uneasiness. + +The rest of the church, who were neither of the class nor of the keepers, +but merely passengers, as it were, in the Ark of Salvation, looked on +with puzzled interest. It was a new move in the game that added a spice +of ginger to the play not wholly distasteful. From a safe distance the +"passengers" kept one eye on the "class" and the other on the "keepers," +with occasionally a stolen glance at Dan, and waited nervously for their +cue. + +The world outside the fold awaited developments with amused and +breathless interest. Everybody secretly admired the stalwart young worker +in the garden, and the entire community was grateful that he had given +them something new to talk about. Memorial Church was filled at every +service. + +Meanwhile wholly unconscious of all this, Big Dan continued digging his +way among the potatoes, helping the crippled boy to harvest and prepare +for market the cabbages and other vegetables, that grew in the plot of +ground under his study window, never dreaming that there was aught of +interest either to church or town in the simple neighborly kindness. It +is a fact--though Dan at this time, would not have admitted it, even to +himself--that the hours spent in the garden, with Denny enthroned upon +the big rock, and Deborah calling an occasional cheery word from the +cottage, were by far the most pleasant hours of the day. + +Every nerve and muscle in the splendid warm-blooded body of this young +giant of the hills called for action. The one mastering passion of his +soul was the passion for deeds--to do; to serve; to be used. He had felt +himself called to the ministry by his desire to accomplish a work that +would be of real worth to the world. He was already conscious of being +somewhat out of place with the regular work of the church: the pastoral +calls, which mean visiting, day after day, in the homes of the members to +talk with the women about nothing at all, at hours when the men of the +household are away laboring, with brain or hand, for the necessities of +life; the meetings of the various women's societies, where the minister +himself is the only man present, and the talk is all women's talk; the +committee meetings, where hours are spent in discussing the most trivial +matters with the most ponderous gravity--as though the salvation of the +world depends upon the color of the pulpit carpet, or who should bake a +cake for the next social. + +For nearly a week now, Dan had found no time to touch the garden; he was +resolved this day to make good his neglect. An hour before Denny was up +the minister was ready for his work. As he went to get the garden-tools +from the little lean-to woodshed, Deborah called from the kitchen, "'Tis +airly ye are this mornin' sir. It's not many that do be layin' awake all +the night waitin' for the first crack o' day, so they can get up to +somebody else's work fer thim." + +The minister laughingly dodged the warm-hearted expressions of gratitude +he saw coming. "I've been shirking lately," he said. "If I don't do +better than this the boss will be firing me sure. How is he?" + +"Fine sir, fine! He's not up yet. You'll hear him yelling at you as soon +as he sees what you're at." + +"Good," ejaculated the other. "I'll get ahead of him this time. Perhaps +I can get such a start before he turns out that he'll let me stay a while +longer, as it would not be pleasant to get my discharge." + +Passing laborers and business men on the way to their daily tasks, smiled +at the coatless figure in the garden. Several called a pleasant greeting. +The boy with the morning papers from the great city checked his whistle +as he looked curiously over the fence, and the Doctor who came out on the +porch looked across the street to the busy gardener and grunted with +satisfaction as he turned to his roses. + +But Dan's mind was not occupied altogether that morning by the work upon +which his hands were engaged. Neither was he thinking only of his church +duties, or planning sermons for the future. As he bent to his homely +tasks his thoughts strayed continually to the young woman whom he had +last seen beside the bed of the sick girl in the poverty-stricken room +in Old Town. The beautiful freshness and sweetness of the morning and +the perfume of the dewy things seemed subtly to suggest her. Thoughts of +her seemed, somehow, to fit in with gardening. + +He recalled every time he had met her. The times had not been many, and +they were still strangers, but every occasion had been marked by +something that seemed to fix it as unusual, making their meeting seem +far from commonplace. He still had that feeling that she was to play a +large part in his life and he was confident that they would meet again. +He was wondering where and how when he looked up from his work to see +her coming toward him, dressed in a fresh uniform of blue and white. + +The young fellow stood speechless with wonder as she came on, picking +her way daintily among the beds and rows, her skirts held carefully, her +beautiful figure expressing health and strength and joyous, tingling life +in every womanly curve and line. + +There was something wonderfully intimate and sweetly suggestive in the +picture they made that morning, these two--the strong young woman in her +uniform of service going in the glow of the early day to the stalwart +coatless man in the garden, to interrupt him in his homely labor. + +"Good morning," she said with a smile. "I have been watching you from +the house and decided that you were working altogether too industriously, +and needed a breathing spell. Do you do everything so energetically?" + +It is sadly true of most men today that the more you cover them up the +better they look. Our civilization demands a coat, and the rule seems to +be--the more civilization, the more coat. Dan Matthews is one of those +rare men who look well in his shirt sleeves. His shoulders and body +needed no shaped and padded garments to set them off. The young woman's +eyes, in spite of her calm self-possession, betrayed her admiration as +he stood before her so tall and straight--his powerful shoulders, deep +chest and great muscled arms, so clearly revealed. + +But Dan did not see the admiration in her eyes. He was so bewildered by +the mere fact of her presence that he failed to note this interesting +detail. + +He looked toward the house, then back to the young woman's face. + +"You were watching me from the house," he repeated. "Really, I did not +know that you--" + +"Were your neighbors?" she finished. "Yes we are. Grace and I moved +yesterday. You see," she continued eager to explain, "it was not good for +her to remain in that place. It was all so suggestive of her suffering. I +knew that Mrs. Mulhall had a room for rent, because I had planned to take +it before I decided to go back to Chicago." She blushed as she recalled +the thoughts that had led her to the decision, but went on resolutely. +"The poor child has such a fear of everybody, that I thought it would +help her to know that Mrs. Mulhall and Denny could be good to her, even +though it was Denny's father, that her father--you know--" + +Dan's eyes were shining. "Yes I know," he said. + +"I explained to Mrs. Mulhall and, like the dear good soul she is, she +understood at once and made the poor child feel better right away. I +thought, too, that if Grace were living here with Mrs. Mulhall it might +help the people to be kinder to her. Then someone will give her a chance +to earn her living and she will be all right. The people will soon act +differently when they see how Mrs. Mulhall feels, don't you think they +will?" + +Dan could scarcely find words. She was so entirely unconscious of the +part she was playing--of this beautiful thing she was doing. + +"And you?" he asked, "You are not going away?" + +"Not until she gets a place. She will need me until she finds a home, you +know. And Dr. Harry assures me there is plenty of work for me in Corinth. +So Grace and I will keep house at Mrs. Mulhall's. Grace will do the work +while I am busy. It will make her feel less dependent and," she added +frankly, "it will not cost so much that way. And that brings me to what I +came out here to say." She paused. "I wish to thank you, Mr. Matthews, +for your help--for the money you sent. The poor child needed so many +things, and--I want to beg your pardon for--for the shameful way I +treated you when you called. I--I knew better, and Mrs. Mulhall has been +telling me how much you have done for them. I--" + +Dan interrupted, "Please don't, Miss Farwell; I understand. You were +exactly right. I know, now." Then he added, slowly, "I want you to know, +though, Miss Farwell, that I had no thought of being rude when we talked +in the old Academy yard." She was silent and he went on, "I must make you +understand that I am not the ill-mannered cad that I seemed. I--You know, +this ministry"--he emphasized the word with a smile--"is so new to +me--I am really so inexperienced!" + +She glanced at him quickly. + +He continued, "I had never before heard such thoughts as you expressed, +and I was too puzzled to realize how my silence would appear to you when +you knew." + +"Then this is your first church?" she asked. + +"Yes," he said, "and I am beginning to realize how woefully ignorant I am +of life. You know I was born and brought up in the backwoods. Until I +went to college I knew only our simple country life; at college I knew +only books and students. Then I came here." + +As he talked the young woman's face cleared. It was something very +refreshing to hear such a man declare his ignorance of life with the +frankness of a boy. She held out her hand impulsively. + +"Let's forget it all," she said. "It was a horrid mistake." + +"And we are to be good friends?" he asked, grasping her outstretched +hand. + +Without replying the young woman quietly released her hand and drew back +a few paces--she was trembling. She fought for self-control. There was +something--what was it about this man? The touch of his hand--Hope +Farwell was frightened by emotions new and strange to her. + +She found a seat on the big rock and ignoring his question said, "So +that's why you are so big and strong, and know so well how to work in a +garden. I thought it was strange for one of your calling. I see now how +natural it is for you." + +"Yes," he smiled, "it is very natural--more so than preaching. But tell +me--don't you think we should be good friends? We are going to be now, +are we not?" + +The young woman answered with quiet dignity, "Friendship Mr. Matthews +means a great deal to me, and to you also, I am sure. Friends must have +much in common. We have nothing, because--because everything that I said +to you at the Academy, to me, is true. We do not live in the same world." + +"But it's for myself--the man and not the minister--that I ask it," he +urged eagerly. + +She watched his face closely as she answered, "But you and your ministry +are one and the same. Yourself--your life is your ministry. You are your +ministry and your ministry is you." + +"But we will find common ground," he exclaimed. "Look here, we have +already found it! This garden--Denny's garden! We'll put a sign over the +gate, 'No professional ministry shall enter here!'--The preacher lives +up there." He pointed to his window. "The man, Dan Matthews, works in +the garden here. To the man in the garden you may say what you like about +the parson up there. We will differ, of course, but we may each gain +something, as is right for friends, for we will each grant to the other +the privilege of being true to self." + +She hesitated; then slipping from the rock and looking him full in the +face said, "I warn you it will not work. But for friendship's sake we +will try." + +Neither of them realized the deep significance of the terms, but in the +days that followed, the people of Corinth had much--much more, to talk +about. The Ally was well pleased and saw to it that the ladies of the Aid +Society were not long in deciding that something must be done. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE WARNING + +"From God's sunny hillside pastures to the gloom and stench of the +slaughter pens." + + +It happened two weeks to the day after Dan and Miss Farwell met in +Denny's garden. + +The Ally had been busy to some purpose. The Ladies' Aid, having reached +the point of declaring that something must be done, did something. The +Elders of Memorial Church, in their official capacity, called on their +pastor. + +Dan was in the garden when the Elders came. The Doctor's wife declared +that Dan spent most of his time in the garden now, and that, when there, +he did nothing because that nurse was always helping him. Good Martha +has the fatal gift of telling a bit of news so vividly that it gains +much in the telling. + +Miss Farwell was in the garden that afternoon with the minister and so +was Denny, while Grace Conner and Deborah were sitting on the front porch +of the little cottage when the two church fathers passed. Though neither +of the men turned their heads, neither of them failed to see the two +women on the porch and the three friends in the garden. + +"For the love of Heaven, look there!" exclaimed Deborah in an excited +whisper. "They're turnin' in at the minister's gate, an' him out there +in the 'taters in his shirt, a-diggin' in the ground an' a-gassin' wid +Denny an' Miss Hope. I misdoubt there's somethin' stirrin' to take thim +to his door the day. I must run an' give him the word." + +But Dan had seen and was already on his way to the front gate, drawing +on his coat as he went. From the other side of the street the Doctor +waved his hand to Dan encouragingly as the young man walked hastily down +the sidewalk to overtake the church officials at the front door. + +Truly in this denominational hippodrome, odd yoke-fellows are sometimes +set to run together; the efforts of the children of light to equal in +wisdom the children of darkness leading the church to clap its +ecclesiastical harness upon anything that--by flattery, bribes or +intimidation, can be led, coaxed or driven to pull at the particular +congregational chariot to which the tugs are fast! When the people of +Corinth speak of Judge Strong's religion, or his relation to the Memorial +Church they wink--if the Judge is not looking. When Elder Jordan is +mentioned their voices always have a note of respect and true regard. +Elder Strong is always called "The Judge"; Nathaniel Jordan was known far +and wide as "Elder Jordan." Thus does the community, as communities have +a way of doing, touch the heart of the whole matter. + +Dan recognized instinctively the difference in the characters of these +two men, yet he had found them always of one mind in all matters of the +church. He felt the subtle antagonism of Judge Strong, though he did not +realize that the reason for it lay in the cunning instinct of a creature +that recognized a natural enemy in all such spirits as his. He felt, too, +the regard and growing appreciation of Elder Jordan. Yet the two +churchmen were in perfect accord in their "brotherly administration." + +When the officials met in Dan's study that day, their characters were +unmistakable. That they were both in harness was also clear. The +minister's favorite chair creaked in dismay as the Judge settled his +heavy body, and twisted this way and that in an open effort to inspect +every corner of the apartment with his narrow, suspicious eyes; while +the older churchman sat by the window, studiously observing something +outside. Dan experienced that strange feeling of uneasiness familiar to +every schoolboy when called upon unexpectedly for the private interview +with the teacher. The Elders had never visited him before. It was too +evident that they had come now upon matters of painful importance. + +At last Judge Strong's wandering eye came to rest upon Dan's favorite +fishing-rod, that stood in a corner behind a book-case. The young man's +face grew red in spite of him. It was impossible not to feel guilty of +something in the presence of Judge Strong. Even Elder Jordan started as +his brother official's metallic voice rang out, "I see that you follow +in the footsteps of the early disciples in one thing, at least, Brother +Matthews. You go fishing." He gave forth a shrill, cold laugh that--more +than anything else--betrayed the real spirit he laughed to hide. + +This remark was characteristic of Judge Strong. On the surface it was +the mild jest of a churchman, whose mind dwelt so habitually on the +sacred Book, that even in his lightest vein he could not but express +himself in terms and allusions of religious significance. Beneath the +surface, his words carried an accusation, a condemnation, a sneer. His +manner was the eager, expectant, self-congratulatory manner of a dog +that has treed something. The Judge's method was skillfully chosen to +give him this advantage: it made his meaning clear while it gave no +possible opening for a reply to the real idea his words conveyed, and +forced his listener to an embarrassed silence of self-condemnation, that +secured the Judge in his assumed position of pious superiority. + +Dan forced a smile. He felt that the Judge's laugh demanded it. "Yes," +he said, "I am scriptural when it comes to fishing. Dr. Oldham and I had +a fine day at Gordon's Mills." + +"So I understand," said the other meaningly. "I suppose you and the old +Doctor have some interesting talks on religion?" + +It was impossible not to feel the sneering accusation under the words. It +was as impossible to answer. Again Dan's face flushed as he said, "No, we +do not discuss the church very often." + +"No?" said the Judge. "I should think you would find him a good subject +to practice on. Perhaps, though, he practices on you, heh?" Again he +laughed. + +"Ahem, ahem!" Elder Jordan gave his usual warning. Dan turned to the good +old man with a feeling of relief. At least Nathaniel Jordan's words would +bear their face value. "Perhaps, Brother Strong, we had better tell +Brother Matthews the object of our call." + +The Judge leaned back in his chair with the air of one about to be +pleasantly entertained. He waved his hand with a gesture that said as +plainly as words, "All right, Nathaniel, go ahead. I'm here if you need +me, so don't be uneasy! If you find yourself unequal to the task, depend +upon me to help you out." + +The minister waited with an expectant air. + +"Ahem, ahem! You must not think, Brother Matthews, that there is anything +really wrong because we called. But we, ahem--we thought best to give you +a brotherly warning. I'm sure you will take it in the spirit in which it +is meant." + +The Judge stirred uneasily in his chair, bending upon Dan such a look +as--had he been a real judge--he might have cast upon a convicted +criminal. Dan already felt guilty. He signified his assent to the Elder's +statement and Nathaniel proceeded: + +"You are a young man, Brother Matthews; I may say a very talented young +man, and we are jealous for your success in this community and, ahem--for +the standing of Memorial Church. Some of our ladies feel--I may say that +we feel that you have been a little, ah--careless about some things of +late. Elder Strong and I know from past experience that a preacher--a +young unmarried preacher cannot be too careful. Not that we have the +least idea that you mean any harm, you know--not the least in the world. +But people will talk and--ahem, ahem!" + +Dan's face was a study. He was so clearly mystified by the Elder's +remarks that the good man found his duty even more embarrassing than he +had anticipated. + +Then Judge Strong threw a flood of light upon the situation in a +characteristic manner. "That young woman, Grace Conner, has a mighty bad +name in this town; and the other one, her friend the nurse, is a +stranger. She was in my house for a month and--well, some things about +her look mighty queer to me. She hasn't been inside a church since she +came to Corinth. I would be the last man in the world to cast a suspicion +on anyone but--" he finished with a shake of his head, and an expression +of pious doubt on his crafty face that said he could, if he wished, tell +many dark secrets of Miss Farwell's life. + +Dan was on his feet instantly, his face flaming and his eyes gleaming +with indignation. "I--" then he checked himself, confused, as--in a +flash--he remembered who these men were and his relation to them in the +church. "I beg your pardon," he finished slowly, and dropped back into +his chair, biting his lips and clenching his big hands in an effort at +self-control. + +Elder Jordan broke in nervously. "Ahem, ahem! You understand, Brother +Matthews, that the sisters--that we do not think that you mean any harm, +but your standing in the community, you know, is such that we must shun +every appearance of evil. We, ahem--we felt it our duty to call." + +Big Dan, who had never met that spirit, the Ally, knew not how to answer +his masters in the church. He tried to feel that their mission to him was +of grave importance. He was tempted to laugh; their ponderous dignity +seemed so ridiculous. + +"Thank you, sir," he at last managed to say, gravely, "I think it is +hardly necessary for me to attempt any explanation." He was still +fighting for self-control and chose his words carefully. "I will consider +this matter." Then he turned the conversation skillfully into other +channels. + +When the overseers of the church were gone the young pastor walked the +floor of the room trying to grasp the true significance of the situation. +Gradually the real meaning of the Elders' visit grew upon him. Because +his own life was so big, so broad, because his ideals and ambitions were +so high, so true to the spirit of the Christ whose service he thought he +had entered, he could not believe his senses. + +He might have found some shadow of reason, perhaps, for their fears +regarding his friendship for the girl with the bad reputation, had the +circumstances been other than they were, and had he not known who it was +gave Grace Conner her bad name. But that his friendship for Miss Farwell, +whose beautiful ministry was such an example of the spirit of the +Christian religion; and that her care for the poor girl should be so +quickly construed into something evil--his mind positively refused to +entertain the thought. He felt that the visit of his church fathers was +unreal. He was as one dazed by an unpleasant dream. + +To come from the pure, wholesome atmosphere of his home and the inspiring +study of the history of the Christian religion, to such a twisted, +distorted, hideous corruption of the church policy and spirit, was, to +Dan, like coming from God's sunny hillside pastures to the gloom and +stench of the slaughter pens. He was stunned by the littleness, the +meanness that had prompted the "kindly warning" of these leaders of the +church. + +Slowly he began to see what that spirit might mean to him. + +No man of ordinary intelligence could long be in Memorial Church, without +learning that it was ruled by a ring, as truly as any body politic was +ever so ruled. Dan Matthews understood too clearly that his position in +Memorial Church depended upon the "bosses" then in control. And he saw +farther--saw, indeed, that his final success or failure in his chosen +calling depended upon the standing that should be given him by this, his +first charge; depended at the last upon these two men who had shown +themselves, each in his own way, so easily influenced by the low, vicious +tales of a few idle-minded town gossips. + +As one in the dark--stepping without warning into a boggy hole--Dan +groped for firmer ground. + +As one standing alone in a wide plain sees on the distant horizon the +threat of a gathering storm, and--watching, shudders at the shadow of a +passing cloud, Dan stood--a feeling of loneliness and dread heavy upon +him. + +He longed for companionship, for someone to whom he could speak his +heart. But to whom in Corinth could he go? These men who had just +"advised him" were, theoretically, his intimate counselors; to them he +was supposed, and had expected, to look--in his inexperience, for advice +and help. These men, old in the service of the church--how would they +answer his troubled thoughts? He shrugged his shoulders and smiled +grimly. The Doctor? He smiled again. + +Dan little dreamed how much that keen old fisherman already knew, from a +skillful baiting of Martha, about the visit of the Elders that afternoon; +while his knowledge of Dan's character from childhood, enabled the +physician to guess more than a little of the thoughts that occupied the +young man pacing the floor of his room. But the Doctor would not do for +the young man that day. + +Dan went to the window overlooking the garden. The nurse was still there, +helping crippled Denny with his work. The minister's hoe was leaning +against the big rock, as he had left it when he had caught up his coat. +Should he go down? What would she say if he were to tell her of the +Elders' mission? + +Something caused Miss Farwell to look up just then and she saw him. She +beckoned to him playfully, guardedly, like a schoolgirl. Smiling, he +shook his head. He could not go. + +More than ever, then, he felt very much alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +AS DR. HARRY SEES IT + +"Thus Dr. Harry presented another side of the problem to his bewildered +friend--a phase of the question commonly ignored by every fiery reformer, +whose particular reformation is the one--the only way." + + +The friendship between Dan and Dr. Abbott had grown rapidly, as was +natural, for the two men had much in common. In a town as small as +Corinth, there are many opportunities for even the busiest men to meet, +and scarcely a day passed that the doctor and the preacher did not +exchange greetings, at least. As often as their duties permitted they +were together; sometimes at the office or in Dan's rooms; again, of an +evening, at Harry's home; or driving miles across country behind the bay +mare or big Jim--the physician to see a patient, and the minister to be +the "hitchin' post." + +Harry was just turning from the telephone that evening when Dan entered +the house. + +"Hello, parson!" he cried heartily. "I was just this minute trying to get +you. I couldn't think of anything to do to anybody else, so I thought I'd +have a try at you. That wasn't such a bad guess either," he added, when +he had a good look at his friend's face. "You evidently need to have +something fixed. What is it, liver?" He led the way into the library. + +"Not mine," said Dan shortly. "I don't believe I have one." + +He pushed an arm chair to face the doctor's favorite seat by the table. + +Harry chuckled as he reached for his pipe and tobacco. "You don't need to +have one yourself in order to suffer from liver troubles. Speaking +professionally, my opinion is that you preachers, as a class, are more +likely to suffer from other people's livers than from your own, though +it is also true that the average parson has more of his own than he knows +what to do with." + +"And what do you doctors prescribe when it is the other fellow's?" asked +Dan. + +The other struck a match. "Oh, there's a difference of opinion in the +profession. The old Doctor, for instance, pins his faith to a split +bamboo with a book of flies or a can of bait." + +"And you?" Dan was smiling now. + +The answer came through a cloud of smoke. "Just a pipe and a book." + +Dan's smile vanished. "I fear your treatment would not agree with my +constitution," he said grimly. "My system does not permit me to use the +remedy you prescribe." + +"Oh, I see. You mean the pipe." A puff of smoke punctuated the remark. +The physician was watching his friend's face now, and the fun was gone +from his voice as he said gravely, "Pardon me. Brother Matthews; I meant +no slur upon your personal conviction touching--" + +"Brother Matthews!" interrupted Dan, sharply, "I thought we had agreed to +drop all that. It's bad enough to be dodged and shunned by every man in +town without your rubbing it in. As for my personal convictions, they +have nothing to do with the case. In fact, my system does not permit me +to have personal convictions." + +Dr. Harry's eyes twinkled. "This system of yours seems to be in a bad +way, Dan. What's wrong with it?" + +"Wrong with it! Wrong with my system? Man alive, don't you know this is +heresy! How can there be anything wrong with my system? Doesn't it +relieve me of any responsibility in the matter of right and wrong? +Doesn't it take from me all such burdens as personal convictions. Doesn't +it fix my standard of goodness, and then doesn't it make goodness my +profession? You, poor drudge; you and the rest of the merely humans must +be good as a matter of sentiment! Thanks to my system my goodness is a +matter of business; I am paid for being good. My system says that your +pipe and, perhaps your book, are bad--sinful. I have nothing to do with +it. I only obey and draw my salary." + +"Oh, well," said Harry, soothingly, "there is the old Doctor's remedy. +It's probably better on the whole." + +"I tried that the other day," Dan growled. + +"Worked, didn't it?" + +Dan grinned in spite of himself. "At first the effects seemed to be very +beneficial, but later I found that it was, er--somewhat irritating, and +that it slightly aggravated the complaint." + +The doctor was smiling now. "Suppose you try a little physical exercise +occasionally--working in the garden or--" + +Dan threw up his hands with a tragic gesture. "Suicide!" he almost +shouted. + +Then they both lay back in their chairs and fairly howled with laughter. + +"Whew! That does a fellow good!" gasped Dan. + +"I guess we have arrived," said Harry, with a final chuckle. "Thought we +were way off the track once or twice; but I have located your liver +trouble, all right. When did they call?" + +"This afternoon. Did you know?" + +The doctor nodded. "I have been expecting it for several days. I guess +you were about the only person in Corinth who wasn't." + +"Why didn't you tell me?" + +"If I can avoid it, I never tell a patient of a coming operation until +it's time to operate; then it's all over before they can get nervous." + +Dan shuddered--the laugh was all out of him now. "I have certainly been +on the table this afternoon," he said. "I need to talk it out with +someone. That's what I came to you for." + +"Perhaps you had better tell me the particulars," said Harry, quietly. + +So Dan told him, and when he had finished they had both grown very +serious. + +"I was afraid of this, Dan," said Harry. "You'll need to be very +careful--very careful." + +The other started to speak, but the doctor checked him. + +"I know. I know how you feel. What you say about the system and all that +is all too true, and you haven't seen the worst of it yet, by a good +deal." + +"Do you mean to tell me that Miss Farwell will be made to suffer for her +interest in that poor girl?" demanded Dan warmly. + +"If Miss Farwell continues to live with Grace Conner at Mrs. Mulhall's, +there is not a respectable home in this town that will receive her," +answered the doctor bluntly. + +"My God! are the people blind? Can't the church see what a +beautiful--what a Christ-like thing she is doing?" + +"You know Grace Conner's history," replied Harry, coolly. "What reason +is there to think it will be different in Miss Farwell's case, so far as +the attitude of the community goes?" + +Dan could not keep his seat. In his agitation he walked the floor. +Suddenly turning on the other he demanded, "Then I am to understand that +my friendship with Miss Farwell will mean for me--" + +Dr. Harry was silent. Indeed, how could he suggest, ever so indirectly, +that the friendship between Dan and Miss Farwell should be discontinued. +If the young woman had been anyone else, or if Dr. Harry himself had +not--But why attempt explanation? + +The minister continued tramping up and down the room, stopping now and +then to face the doctor, who sat still in his chair by the library table, +quietly smoking. + +"This is horrible, Harry! I--I can't believe it! So far as my friendship +for Miss Farwell goes, that is only an incident. It does not matter in +itself." + +Dr. Harry puffed vigorously. He thought to himself that this might be +true, but something in Dan's face and voice when he spoke--something of +which he himself was unconscious--made Harry glad that he had not +answered. + +"It is the spirit of it all that matters," the minister continued, +pausing again. "I never dreamed that such a thing could be. That Grace +Conner's life should be ruined by the wicked carelessness of these people +seems bad enough. But that they should take the same attitude toward Miss +Farwell, simply because she is seeking to do that Christian thing that +the church itself will not do, is--is monstrous!" He turned impatiently +to resume his restless movement. Then, when his friend did not speak he +continued slowly, as though the words were forced from him against his +will: "And to think that they could be so unmoved by the suffering of +that poor girl, their own victim, and so untouched by the example of Miss +Farwell; and then that they should give such grave consideration and be +so influenced by absolutely groundless and vicious idle gossip! And that +the church of Christ, that Christianity itself, should be so wholly in +the hands of people so unspeakably blind, so--contemptibly mean and small +in their conceptions of the religion of Jesus Christ!" + +He confronted the doctor again and his face flushed. "Why, Doctor, my +whole career as a Christian minister depends upon the mere whim of these +people, who are moved by such a spirit as this. No matter what motives +may prompt my course they have the power to prevent me from doing my +work. This is one of the strongest and most influential churches in the +brotherhood. They can give me such a name that my life-work will be +ruined. What can I do?" + +"You must be very careful, Dan," said Dr. Harry, slowly. + +"Careful! And that means, I suppose, that I must bow to the people of +this church--ruled as they are by such a spirit--as to my lords and +masters; that I shall have no other God but this congregation; that I +shall deny my own conscience for theirs; that I shall go about the +trivial, nonsensical things they call my pastoral duties, in fear and +trembling; that my ministry is to cringe when they speak, and do their +will regardless of what I feel to be the will of Christ! Faugh!" Big +Dan drew himself erect. "If this is what the call to the ministry means, +I am beginning to understand some things that have always puzzled me +greatly." + +He dropped wearily into his chair. + +"Tell me, Doctor," he demanded, "do the people generally, see these +things?" + +"It seems to me that everyone who thinks must see them," replied the +other. + +"Then why did no one tell me? Why did not the old Doctor explain the +real condition of the church?" + +"As a rule it is not a safe thing to attempt to tell a minister these +things. Would you have listened, Dan, if he had tried to tell you? Or, +because he is not a church man, would you not have misunderstood his +motives? The Doctor loves you, Dan." + +"But you are a church man, a member of the official board of my +congregation. If men like you know these things why are you in the +church at all?" + +Silently Dr. Harry re-filled and lighted his pipe. It was as if he +deliberated over his reply. The membership of every church may be divided +into three distinct classes: those who are the church; those who belong +to the church; and those who are members, but who neither are, nor belong +to. Dr. Harry was a member. + +"Dan," said the physician, "I suppose it is very difficult for such men +as you to understand the religious dependence of people like myself. We +see the church's lack of appreciation of true worth of character, we +know the vulgar, petty scheming and wire-pulling for place, the senseless +craving for notoriety, and the prostitution of the spirit of Christ's +teaching to denominational ends. We understand how the ministers are at +the mercy of the lowest minds and the meanest spirits in their +congregation; but, Dan, because we love the cause we do not talk of these +things even to each other, for fear of being misunderstood. It is useless +to talk of them to our ministers, for they dare not listen. Why man, I +never in my life felt that I could talk to my pastor as I am talking to +you!" He smiled. "I guess that I was afraid that they would tell Judge +Strong, and that the church would put me out. And, with most of them, +that--probably, is exactly what would have happened. I am not sure but +you will consider me unsafe, and avoid me in the future," he added +whimsically. + +Dan smiled at his words, though they revealed so much to him. + +Dr. Harry went on, "We remain in the church, and give it our support, I +suppose, because we are dependent upon it for our religious life; because +we know no religious life outside of it. It is the only institution that +professes to be distinctively Christian, and we love its teaching in +spite of its practice. We are always hoping that some one will show us a +way out. And some one will!" He spoke passionately now, with deep +conviction: "Some one must! This Godless mockery cannot continue. I have +too much faith in the goodness of men to believe otherwise. I don't know +how the change will come. But it will come and it will come from men in +the church--men like you, Dan, who come to the ministry with the highest +ideals. But you must be careful, mighty careful, not for your own sake, +alone, but for the sake of the cause we both love. Some operations are +exceedingly dangerous to the life of the patient; some medicines must be +administered with care lest they kill instead of cure. Men like me, from +long experience with professional reformers, look with distrust upon the +preacher who talks about his church, even while we know that there is a +great need." + +Thus Dr. Harry presented another side of the problem to his bewildered +friend--a phase of the question commonly ignored by every fiery reformer, +whose particular reformation is _the_ one--the only way. + +Later Dan asked, "Do you think Miss Farwell understands what her course +means, Doctor?" + +Harry shook his head. "I wish I knew how much she understands. Already +two or three people who expected to call her have told me they would +find someone else. I have several cases now that need a trained nurse, +but they won't have her because of what they have heard. And yet I +promised her, you know, that she should have plenty of work." + +"Have you told her this?" asked Dan. + +Again Harry shook his head. "What's the good?" + +"But she ought to be told," exclaimed the other. + +"I know that, Dan. But I can't do it, after urging her, as I did, to +stay in Corinth. You are the one to tell her, I am sure." + +Then, as if to avoid any further discussion of the matter he rose. "You +certainly have had enough of this for today, old man. I think I'll +prescribe a little music, now, and, if you don't mind, I'll take some of +my own prescription. I feel the need." + +He went to his piano, and for an hour Dan was under the spell. + +When the last sweet harmony had slipped softly away into the night, the +musician sat still, his head bowed. Dan went quietly to his side, and +laid a hand on the doctor's shoulder. + +"Amen!" he said, reverently. "It is a wonderful, beautiful ministry, +Doctor. You have given me faith and hope and peace. Thank you!" + +When his friend had gone, Dr. Harry went back to the piano. Softly, +smoothly his fingers moved over the ivory keys. He had played for +Dan--he played now for himself. Into the music he put all that he dared +not put into words: all the longing, all the pain, all the surrender, +all the sacrifice, were there. For again, when the minister had spoken +of Miss Farwell the doctor had seen in his friend's face and heard in +his voice that which Dan himself did not yet recognize. And Harry had +spoken the conviction of his heart when he said, "You are the one to +tell her, I am sure." + +Of this man, too, it might be written, "He saved others; himself he could +not save." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +A PARABLE + +"'And do you think, Grace, that anything in all this beautiful world is +of greater importance--of more value to the world--than a human life, +with all its marvelous power to think and feel and love and hate and so +leave its mark on all life, for all time?'" + + +"Miss Farwell!" + +The nurse looked up from her sewing in her hands. + +"What is it, Grace?" + +"I--I think I will try to find a place today. Mrs. Mulhall told me last +night that she had heard of two women who want help. It may be that one +of them will take me. I think I ought to try." + +This was the third time within a few days that the girl had expressed +thoughts similar to these. Under the personal care of Miss Farwell she +had rapidly recovered from her terrible experience, both physically and +mentally, but the nurse felt that she was not yet strong enough to meet +a possible rebuff from the community that, before, had shown itself so +reluctant to treat her with any degree whatever of consideration or +kindness. The girl's spirit had been cruelly hurt. She was possessed of +an unhealthy, morbid fear of the world that would cripple her for life +if it could not somehow be overcome. + +Miss Farwell felt that Grace Conner's only chance lay in winning a place +for herself in the community where she had suffered such ill-treatment. +But before she faced the people again she must be prepared. The +sensitive, wounded spirit must be strengthened, for it could not bear +many more blows. How to do this was the problem. + +Hope dropped her sewing in her lap. "Come over here by the window, dear, +and let's talk about it." + +The young woman seated herself on a stool at the feet of her companion +who, in actual years, was but little her senior, but who, in so many +ways, was to her an elder sister. + +"Why are you so anxious to leave me, Grace?" asked the nurse with a +smile. + +The girl's eyes--eyes that would never now be wholly free from that +shadow of fear and pain--filled with tears. She put out a hand +impulsively, touching Miss Farwell's knee. "Oh, don't say that!" she +exclaimed, with a little catch in her voice. "You know it isn't that." + +The eyes of the stronger woman looked reassuringly down at her. "Well, +what is it then?" The low tone was insistent. The nurse felt that it +would be better for the patient to express that which was in her own +mind. + +The girl's face was down-cast and she picked nervously at the fold of +her friend's skirt. "It's nothing, Miss Farwell; only I feel that I--I +ought not to be a burden upon you a moment longer than I can help." + +"I thought that was it," returned the other. Her firm, white hand slipped +under the trembling chin, and the girl's face was gently lifted until +Grace was forced to look straight into those deep gray eyes. "Tell me, +dear, why do you feel that you are a burden upon me?" + +Silence for a moment; then--and there was a wondering gladness in the +girl's voice--"I--I don't know." + +The nurse smiled, but there was a grave note in her voice as she said, +still holding the girl's face toward her own, "I'll tell you why. It is +because you have been hurt so deeply. This feeling is one of the scars +of your experience, dear. All your life you will need to fight that +feeling--the feeling that you are not wanted. And you must fight +it--fight it with all your might. You will never overcome it entirely, +for the scar of your hurt is there to stay. You will always suffer at +times from the old fear; but, if you will, you can conquer it so far +that it will not spoil your life. You must--for your own sake, and for +my sake, and for the sake of the wounded lives you are going to help +heal--help all the better because of your own hurt. Do you understand, +dear?" + +The other nodded; she could not speak. + +"You are going out into the world to find a place for yourself, of +course, for that is right," Hope continued. "And it will be best for you +to find a place here in Corinth, if possible. But it is not going to be +easy, Grace. It's going to be hard, very hard, and you will need to know +that, no matter what other people make you feel, you have a place in my +life, a place where you belong. Let me try, if I can, to tell you so that +you will never, never forget." + +For a little the nurse looked away out of the window, up into the leafy +depths of the big trees, and into the blue sky beyond, while the girl +watched her with a look that was pathetic in its wondering, hungering +earnestness. When Miss Farwell spoke again she chose her words carefully. + +"Once upon a time a woman, walking in the mountains, discovered by chance +a wonderful mine, of such vast wealth that there was nothing in all the +world like it for richness. And the mine belonged to the woman because +she found it. But the wealth of the mine went out into the world for all +men to use, and thus, in the largest sense, the riches the woman found +belonged to all mankind. But still, because she had found it, the woman +always felt that it was hers. And so, through her discovery of this vast +wealth, and the great happiness it brought to the world, the mine became +to the woman the dearest of all her possessions. + +"Tell me, Grace, do you think that anyone could ever replace the +mountains, the ocean or the stars, or any of these wonderful, wonderful +things in the great universe, if they were to be destroyed?" + +"No." The answer came in a puzzled tone. + +"And do you think, Grace, that anything in all this beautiful world is of +greater importance--of more value to the world--than a human life, with +all its marvelous power to think and feel and love and hate and so leave +its mark on all life, for all time?" + +"No, Miss Farwell." + +"Then don't you see how impossible it is that anyone should ever take +your place? Don't you see that you have a place in the world--a place +that is yours because God put you in it, just as truly as he put the +mountains, the seas, the stars in their places? And don't you see why +you must feel that you have a right to your own life-place, and that you +must hold it, no matter what others say, or do, or think, because of its +great value to God and to the world? And Grace--look at me, child! do you +think that anything in all the universe is dearer to the Father than a +human life, that is so wonderful and so eternal in its power? So life +should be the dearest thing in all the world to us. Not just the life of +each to himself, but every life--any life, the dearest thing to all. I +think this was true of Christ; I think it should be true of Christians. +I believe this with all my heart." + +There was silence for a little while; then Hope said again: "Now tell me, +Grace, ought the mine to have felt dependent upon the woman who found it, +and who valued it so highly, do you think? Then why should you feel +dependent upon me? Why, you belong to me, child! Your life, the most +wonderful--the dearest thing in all the world, belongs to me; just as the +mine belonged to the woman and brought her great joy because it blessed +the world. When others threw your life aside, when you yourself tried to +throw it away, I found it. I took it. It is mine! And it is the dearest +thing in all the world to me, because it is so great a thing, because no +other life can take its place, and because it is of such great worth to +the world. Don't you see?" The calm voice was vibrant now with deep +emotion. + +Looking into those gray eyes that shone with such loving kindness into +her own, Grace Conner realized a mighty truth; a truth that would mould +and shape her own life into a life of beauty and power. + +"So, dear," the nurse continued, "when you go out into the world again, +and people make you feel the old hurt--as they will--you must remember +the woman who found the mine; and, feeling that you belong to me and to +all life, you will not let people rob you of your place in the world. You +will not let them rob me of my great wealth. And now you must try the +very best you can to get work here in Corinth, but if you should fail to +find it, you won't let that matter too much. You'll keep your place right +here with me just the same, won't you, Grace, because you are my mine, +you know?" + +Long and earnestly the girl looked into the face of the nurse, and Miss +Farwell understood what the other could not say. Suddenly the girl caught +her friend's hand and kissed it passionately, then rushed from the room. +Miss Farwell wisely let her go without a word, but her own eyes were +full. + +She turned to the open window to see her neighbor, the minister, coming +in at the gate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE WAY OUT + +"'You see you will need to find a way out for yourself.'" + + +Deborah was in the rear of the house, busily engaged with a big washing. +Denny had gone up town on some errand. Much to Miss Farwell's surprise +Dan did not, as usual, take the path leading to the garden, but kept +straight ahead to the porch, and his face was very grave as he asked if +he might come in. She welcomed him with frank pleasure, and took up at +once the thread of conversation which the visit of the Elders had +interrupted the day before. But it was clear that her big friend's mind +was busy with other thoughts, and soon they were facing an embarrassing +silence. The young woman gazed thoughtfully at the monument across the +street, while Dan moved uneasily. At last the man broke the silence. + +"Miss Farwell I don't know what you will think of me for coming to you +upon the errand that brought me, but I feel that I--I mean, I want you +to believe that I am trying to do what is best." + +She looked at him questioningly. + +Dan went on. "I learned something yesterday, that I am sure you ought to +know, and there seems to be no one else to tell you, so I--I came." + +Miss Farwell's cheeks and brow grew crimson, but in a moment she was her +own calm self again. + +"Go on, please." + +Then he told her. + +While he was speaking of the Elders' visit and his talk with Dr. Abbott, +she watched him closely. Two or three times she smiled. When he had +finished she asked with a touch of sarcasm in her voice, "And do you wish +to see my letters of recommendation? Shall I give you a list of people to +whom you might write?" + +"Miss Farwell!" Dan's voice brought the hot color again to her cheek. + +"Forgive me! That was unkind," she said. + +"Well rather. You might see that I did not come to you with this +for--well for fun," he finished with a grim smile. + +"You don't seem to be enjoying it greatly," she agreed critically. "I can +easily understand how this talk might result in something very serious +for you. You will remember, I think, that I warned you, you could not +leave the preacher on the other side of the fence." She was deliberately +trying him. "But of course you can easily avoid any trouble with your +people, you have only to--" + +She stopped, checked by the expression on his face. + +His voice rang out sharply with a quality in its tone that sent a thrill +to the heart of the woman. "I did not come here to discuss the +possibility of trouble for me. Please believe this--even if I am a +servant of the church." + +He spoke the last words with a shade of bitterness, she thought, and as +she looked at him--his powerful form tense for a moment, with firm-set +lips and square jaw and stern eyes--she found herself wondering what +would happen if this servant should ever decide to be the master. + +"Don't you see how this idle, silly, wicked talk is likely to harm you?" +he asked almost roughly. "You know what the same thing did for Grace +Conner. It is really serious, Miss Farwell--believe me it is, or I should +not have told you about it at all. Already Dr. Harry--" He checked +himself. His reference to his friend was unintentional. + +She finished the sentence quietly, "--has found some people who will not +employ me because of the things that are being said. I knew something +was wrong, for--instead of telling me of possible cases and assuring me +of work, he has been saying lately, 'I will let you know if anything +turns up.'" + +Dan broke in eagerly, "Dr. Abbott has done everything he could, Miss +Farwell. I ought not to have mentioned him at all. You must not think--" + +She interrupted him with quiet dignity. "Certainly I do not think of any +such thing. You and Dr. Abbott are both very kind to consider me in this +way, but really you must not be troubled about this silly gossip. I am +not exactly dependent upon the good people of Corinth, you know. I can go +back to the city at any time. Perhaps," she added slowly, "considering +everything that would be the wisest thing to do, after all. It was only +for Grace Conner's sake I have remained." + +Dan spoke eagerly again, "But you do not need to leave Corinth. This talk +you know, is all because of your companion's reputation." + +"You mean," she said quietly, "the reputation that people have given my +companion." + +"So far as the situation goes it amounts to the same thing," he answered. +"It is your association with her. If you could arrange to board with some +family now--" + +Again she interrupted him. "Grace needs me, Mr. Matthews." + +"But it is all so unjust," he argued lamely. "The sacrifice is too great. +You can't afford to place yourself before the community in such a wrong +light." + +The young woman's face revealed her surprise and disappointment. She had +grown to think of Dan as being big and fine in spirit as in body, and +now, to hear him voice, what she believed to be the spirit and policy of +his profession, was a shock that hurt. She would have flashed out at him +with scornful, cutting words, but she felt, intuitively, that he was not +being true to himself in this--that he was forced, as it were, into a +false position by something deep down in his life. This feeling robbed +her of the power to reply in stinging words, and instead gave her answer +a note of sadness. + +"Are you not advocating the doctrines and policy of the people who are +responsible for the 'wrong light' rather than the teachings of Christ? +Are you not now speaking professionally, having forgotten our agreement +to leave the preacher on the other side of the fence?" + +The big fellow's embarrassment was evident as he said, "Miss Farwell, +you must not--you must not misunderstand me again. I did not mean--I +cannot stand the thought of your being so misjudged because of this +beautiful Christian service. I was only seeking a way out." + +"No," she said gently, "I will not misunderstand you, but there is only +one way out, as you put it." + +"And that?" + +"My ministry." + +Dan sprang to his feet and crossed the room to her side. + +"What a woman you are!" he exclaimed impulsively. + +She arose, trembling; always when he came near--something about this man +moved her strangely. + +"But my way out will not help you," she said. "You must think of your +ministry." + +"I thought we agreed not to talk of that," he returned. + +"But we must. You must consider what the result will be if you are seen +with me--with Grace and me." She caught herself quickly. "Can the pastor +of Memorial Church afford to associate with two women of such doubtful +reputation? What will your church think?" She was smiling as she spoke, +but beneath the smile there was much of earnestness. She was determined +that he should know how well she understood his position. She wondered +if he himself understood it. "You see you will need to find a way out for +yourself," she insisted. + +"I am not looking for a way out," he growled. + +"Ah, but you should. You must consider your influence. Consider the great +harm your interest in Grace Conner will do your church. You must remember +your position in the community. You cannot afford to--to risk your +reputation." + +Under her skillfully chosen words, he again assumed an air of indignant +reserve. She saw his hands clench, and the great muscles in his arms and +shoulders swell. + +Unconsciously--or was it unconsciously?--she had repeated almost the +exact words of Elder Jordan. The stock argument sounded strange coming +from her. Deliberately she went on. "Really there is no reason why you +should suffer from this. It is not necessary for you to continue our +little friendship. You can stay on the other side of the fence. I--we +will understand. You have too much at stake. You--" + +He interrupted. "Miss Farwell, I don't know what you think of me that +you can say these things. I had hoped that you were beginning to look +upon me as a man, not merely as a preacher. I had even dared think that +our friendship was growing to be something more than just a little +friendly acquaintance. If I am mistaken, I will stay on the other side +of the fence. If I am right--if you do care for my friendship," he +finished slowly, "I will try to serve my people faithfully, but I will +not willingly shape my life by their foolish, wicked whims. Denny's +garden may get along without me, and you may not need what you call 'our +little friendship' but I need Denny's garden, and--I need you." + +Her face shone with gladness. "Forgive me," she said. "I only wished to +be sure that you understood some things clearly." + +At her rather vague words, he said, "I am beginning to understand a good +many things." + +"And understanding, you will still come to--" she smiled, "to work in +Denny's garden?" + +"Yes," he answered with a boyish laugh, "just as if there were no other +place in all the world where I could get a job." + +She watched him as he swung down the walk, through the gate and away up +the street under the big trees. + +And as she watched him, she recalled his words, "I need you;--just as +though there were no other place in all the world." The words repeated +themselves in her mind. + +How much did they mean, she wondered. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +A LABORER AND HIS HIRE + +"But it was a reaching out in the dark, a blind groping for +something--Dan knew not exactly what: a restless but cautious feeling +about for a place whereon to set his feet." + + +It was the Sunday evening following the incidents just related that Dan +was challenged. + +His sermon was on "Fellowship of Service," a theme very different from +the subjects he had chosen at the beginning of his preaching in Corinth. +The Doctor smiled as he listened, telling himself that the boy was +already beginning to "reach out." As usual the Doctor was right. But it +was a reaching out in the dark, a blind groping for something--Dan knew +not exactly what: a restless but cautious feeling about for a place +whereon to set his feet. + +With the sublime confidence of the newly-graduated, this young shepherd +had come from the denominational granary to feed his flock with a goodly +armful of theological husks; and very good husks they were too. It should +be remembered that--while Dan had been so raised under the teachings of +his home that, to an unusual degree his ideals and ambitions were most +truly Christian--he knew nothing of life other than the simple life of +the country neighborhood where he was born; he knew as little of +churches. So that--while it was natural and easy for him to accept the +husks from his church teachers at their valuation, being wholly without +the fixed prejudice that comes from family church traditions--it was just +as natural and easy for him to discover quickly, when once he was face to +face with his hungry flock, that the husks were husks. + +From the charm of the historical glories of the church as pictured by the +church historians, and from the equally captivating theories of +speculative religion as presented by teachers of schools of theology, +Dan had been brought suddenly in contact with actual conditions. In his +experience of the past weeks there was no charm, no glory, no historical +greatness, no theoretical perfection. There was meanness, shameful +littleness--actual, repulsive, shocking. He was compelled to recognize +the real need that his husks could not satisfy. It had been forced upon +his attention by living arguments that refused to be put aside. And Big +Dan was big enough to see that the husks did not suffice--consistent +enough to cease giving them out. But the young minister felt pitifully +empty handed. + +The Doctor had foreseen that Dan would very soon reach the point in his +ministerial journey where he was now standing--the point where he must +decide which of the two courses open to him he should choose. + +Before him, on the one hand, lay the easy, well-worn path of obedience +to the traditions, policies and doctrines of Memorial Church and its +denominational leaders. On the other hand lay the harder and +less-frequented way of truthfulness to himself and his own convictions. +Would he--lowering his individual standard of righteousness--wave the +banner of his employers, preaching--not the things that he believed to +be the teachings of Jesus--but the things that he knew would meet the +approval of the church rulers? Or would he preach the things that his +own prayerful judgment told him were needed if his church was to be, +indeed, the temple of the spirit of Christ. In short Dan must now decide +whether he would bow to the official board, that paid his salary, or to +his God, as the supreme authority to whom he must look for an indorsement +of his public teaching. + +In Dan's case, it was the teaching of the four years of school against +the teaching of his home. The home won. Being what he was by birth and +training, this man could not do other than choose the harder way. The +Doctor with a great amount of satisfaction saw him throwing down his +husks, and awaited the outcome with interest. + +That sermon was received by the Elders and ruling classes with silent, +uneasy bewilderment. Others were puzzled no less by the new and +unfamiliar note, but their faces expressed a kind of doubtful +satisfaction. Thus it happened that, with one exception, not a person of +the entire audience mentioned the sermon when they greeted their minister +at the close of the service. The exception was a big, broad-shouldered +young farmer whom Dan had never before met. + +Elder Strong introduced him, "Brother Matthews, you must meet Brother +John Gardner. This is the first time he has been to church for a long +while." + +The two young men shook hands, each measuring the other with admiring +eyes. + +The Judge continued, "Brother John used to be one of our most active +workers, but for some reason he has dropped behind. I never could just +exactly understand it." He finished with his pious, patronizing laugh, +which somehow conveyed the thought that he did understand if only he +chose to tell, and that the reason was anything but complimentary to +Brother John. + +The big farmer's face grew red at the Judge's words. He quickly faced +about as if to retort, but checked himself, and, ignoring the Elder said +directly to Dan, "Yes, and I may as well tell you that I wouldn't be +here today, but I am caught late with my harvesting, and short of hands. +I drove into town to see if I could pick up a man or two. I didn't find +any so I waited over until church, thinking that I might run across +someone here." + +Dan smiled. The husky fellow was so uncompromisingly honest and +outspoken. It was like a breath of air from the minister's own home +hills. It was so refreshing Dan wished for more, "And have you found +anyone?" he asked abruptly. + +At the matter-of-fact tone the other looked at the minister with a +curious expression in his blue eyes. The question was evidently not what +he had expected. + +"No," he said, "I have not, but I'm glad I came anyway. Your sermon was +mighty interesting to me, sir. I couldn't help thinking though, that +these sentiments about work would come a heap more forceful from someone +who actually knowed what a day's work was. My experience has been that +the average preacher knows about as much about the lives of the laboring +people as I do about theology." + +"I think you are mistaken there," declared Dan. "The fact is, that the +average preacher comes from the working classes." + +"If he comes from them he takes mighty good care that he stays from +them," retorted the other. "But I've got something else to do besides +starting an argument now. I don't mind telling you, though, that if I +could see you pitch wheat once in a while when crops are going to waste +for want of help, I'd feel that we was close enough together for you to +preach to me." So saying he turned abruptly and pushed his way through +the crowd toward a group of working-men who stood near the door. + +The Doctor had never commented to Dan on his sermons. But, that night as +they walked home together, something made Dan feel that his friend was +pleased. The encounter with the blunt young farmer had been so refreshing +that he was not so depressed in spirit as he commonly was after the +perfunctory, meaningless, formal compliments, and handshaking that +usually closed his services. Perhaps because of this he--for the first +time--sought an expression from his old friend. + +"The people did not seem to like my sermon tonight?" he ventured. + +The Doctor grunted a single word, "Stunned!" + +"Do you think they will like it when they recover?" asked Dan with an +embarrassed laugh. + +But the old man was not to be led into discussing Dan's work. + +"In my own practice," he said dryly, "I never prescribe medicine to suit +a patient's taste, but to cure him." + +Dan understood. He tried again. + +"But how did _you_ like my prescription, Doctor?" + +For a while the Doctor did not answer; then he said, "Well you see, Dan, +I always find more religion in your talks when you are not talking +religiously." + +Just then a team and buggy passed, and the voice of John Gardner hailed +them cheerily. + +"Good night, Doctor! Good night, Mr. Matthews!" + +"Good night!" they answered, and the Doctor called after him, "Did you +find your man, John?" + +"No," shouted the other, "I did not. If you run across anyone send 'em +out will you?" + +"There goes a mighty fine fellow," commented the old physician. + +"Seems to be," agreed Dan thoughtfully. "Where does he live?" + +The Doctor told him, adding, "I wouldn't call until harvest is over, if +I were you. He really wouldn't have time to give you and he'd probably +tell you so." Which advice Dan received in silence. + +The sun was just up the next morning when John Gardner was hitching his +team to the big hay wagon. Already the smoke was coming from the stack +of the threshing engine, that stood with the machine in the center of the +field, and the crew was coming from the cook-wagon. Two hired men, with +another team and wagon, were already gathering a load of sheaves to haul +to the threshers. + +The house dog barked fiercely and the farmer paused with a trace in his +hand when he saw a big man turning into the barn lot from the road. + +"Good morning!" called Dan cheerily, "I feared I was going to be late." +He swung up to the young fellow who stood looking at him--too astonished +to speak--the unhooked trace still in his hand. + +"I understand that you need a hand," said Dan briefly. And the farmer +noticed that the minister was dressed in a rough suit of clothes, a worn +flannel shirt and an old slouch hat--Dan's fishing rig. + +With a slow smile John turned, hooked his trace, and gathered his lines. +"Do you mean to say that you walked out here from town this morning to +work in the harvest field--a good eight miles?" + +"That is exactly what I mean," returned the other. + +"What for?" asked the farmer bluntly. + +"For the regular wages, with one condition." + +"And the condition?" + +"That no one on the place shall be told that I am a preacher, and +that--for today at least--I pitch against you. If, by tonight, you are +not satisfied with my work you can discharge me," he added meaningly. As +Dan spoke he faced the rugged farmer with a look that made him understand +that his challenge of the night before was accepted. + +The blue eyes gleamed. "I'll take you," he said curtly. Calling to his +wife, "Mary give this man his breakfast." Then to Dan, "When you get +through come out to the machine." He sprang on his wagon and Dan turned +toward the kitchen. + +"Hold on a minute," John shouted, as the wagon began to move, "what'll I +call you?" + +The other answered over his shoulder, "My name is Dan." + +All that day they worked, each grimly determined to handle more grain +than the other. Before noon the spirit of the contest had infected the +whole force. Every hand on the place worked as if on a wager. The +threshing crew were all from distant parts of the country, and no one +knew who it was that had so recklessly matched his strength and staying +power against John Gardner, the acknowledged champion for miles around. +Bets were freely laid; rough, but good natured chaff flew from mouth to +mouth; and now and then a hearty yell echoed over the field, but the two +men in the contest were silent; they scarcely exchanged a word. + +In the afternoon the stranger slowly but surely forged ahead. John +rallied every ounce of his strength but his giant opponent gained +steadily. When the last load came in the farmer threw down his fork +before the whole crowd and held out his hand to Dan. + +"I'll give it up," he said heartily. "You're a better man than I am, +stranger, wherever you come from." Dan took the offered hand while the +men cheered lustily. + +But the light of battle still shone in the minister's eyes. + +"Perhaps," he said, "pitching is not your game. I'll match you now, +tonight, for anything you want--wrestling, running, jumping, or I'll go +you at any time for any work you can name." + +John slowly looked him over and shook his head, "I know when I've got +enough," he said laughing. "Perhaps some of the boys here--" He turned +to the group. + +The men grinned as they measured the stranger with admiring glances and +one drawled, "We don't know where you come from, pardner, but we sure +know what you can do. Ain't nobody in this outfit hankerin' to tackle +the man that can work John Gardner down." + +At the barn the farmer drew the minister to one side. + +"Look here, Brother Matthews," he began. + +But the other interrupted sharply. "My name is Dan, Mr. Gardner. Don't +go back on the bargain." + +"Well then, Dan, I won't. And please remember after this that my name is +John. I started to ask if you really meant to stay out here and work for +me this harvest?" + +"That was the bargain, unless you are dissatisfied and want me to quit +tonight." + +The other rubbed his tired arms. "Oh I'm satisfied all right," he said +grimly. "But I can't understand it, that's all." + +"No," said the other, "and I can't explain. But perhaps if you were a +preacher, and were met by men as men commonly meet preachers, you would +understand clearly enough." + +Tired as he was, the big farmer laughed until the tears came. + +"And to think," he said, "all the way home last night I was wondering +how you could stand it. I understand it all right. Come on in to supper." +He led the way to the house. + +For three days Dan fairly reveled in the companionship of those rough +men, who gave him full fellowship in their order of workers. Then he went +back to town. + +John drove him in and the two chatted like the good comrades they had +come to be, until within sight of the village. As they drew near the town +silence fell upon them; their remarks grew formal and forced. + +Dan felt as if he were leaving home to return to a strange land where he +would always be an alien. At his door the farmer said awkwardly, "Well, +goodbye, Brother Matthews, come out whenever you can." + +The minister winced but did not protest. "Thank you," he returned, "I +have enjoyed my visit more than I can say." And there was something so +pathetic in the brown eyes of the stalwart fellow that the other strong +man could make no reply. He drove quickly away without a word or a +backward look. + +In his room Dan sat down by the window, thinking of the morrow and what +the church called his work, of the pastoral visits, the committee +meetings, the Ladies' Aid. At last he stood up and stretched his great +body to its full height with a sigh. Then drawing his wages from his +pocket he placed the money on the study table and stood for a long time +contemplating the pieces of silver as if they could answer his thoughts. +Again he went to the window and looked down at Denny's garden that +throughout the summer had yielded its strength to the touch of the +crippled boy's hand. Then from the other window he gazed at the cast-iron +monument on the corner--gazed until the grim figure seemed to threaten +him with its uplifted arm. + +Slowly he turned once more to the coins on the table. Gathering them, +one by one, he placed them carefully in an envelope. Then, seating +himself, he wrote on the little package, "The laborer is worthy of his +hire." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE WINTER PASSES + +"And, as the weeks passed, it came to be noticed that there was often in +the man's eyes, and in his voice, a great sadness--the sadness of one who +toils at a hopeless task; of one who suffers for crimes of which he is +innocent; of one who fights for a well-loved cause with the certainty of +defeat." + + +The harvest time passed, the winter came and was gone again, and another +springtime was at hand, with its new life stirring in blade and twig and +branch, and its mystical call to the hearts of men. + +Memorial Church was looking forward to the great convention of the +denomination that was to be held in a distant city. + +All through the months following Dan's sermon on "The Fellowship of +Service," the new note continued dominant in his preaching, and indeed +in all his work. Even his manner in the pulpit changed. All those little +formalities and mannerisms--tricks of the trade--disappeared, while the +distinguishing garb of the clergyman was discarded for clothing such as +is worn by the man in the pew. + +It was impossible that the story of those three days in John Gardner's +harvest field should not get out. Memorial Church was crowded at every +service by those whose hearts responded, even while they failed to grasp +the full significance of the preaching and life of this manly fellow, +who, in spite of his profession, was so much a man among men. + +But the attitude of the church fathers and of the ruling class was still +one of doubt and suspicion, however much they could not ignore the +manifest success of their minister. In spite of their misgivings their +hearts swelled with pride and satisfaction as, with his growing +popularity they saw their church forging far to the front. And, try as +they might, they could fix upon nothing unchristian in his teaching. +They could not point to a single sentence in any one of his sermons that +did not unmistakably harmonize with the teaching and spirit of Jesus. + +It was not so much what Dan preached that worried these pillars of the +church; but it was what he did not preach, that made them uneasy. They +missed the familiar pious sayings and platitudes, the time-worn +sermon-subjects that had been handled by every preacher they had ever +sat under. The old path--beaten so hard and plain by the many "bearers +of good tidings," the safe, sure ground of denominational doctrine and +theological speculation, the familiar, long-tried type of prayer, even, +were all quietly, but persistently ignored by this calm-eyed, +broad-shouldered, stalwart minister, who was often so much in earnest in +his preaching that he forgot to talk like a preacher. + +Unquestionably, decided the fathers, this young giant was "unsafe"; +and--wagging their heads wisely--they predicted dire disasters, under +their breath; while openly and abroad they boasted of the size of their +audiences and their minister's power. + +Nor did these keepers of the faith fail to make Dan feel their +dissatisfaction. By hints innumerable, by carefully withholding words of +encouragement, by studied coldness, they made him understand that they +were not pleased. Every plan for practical Christian work that Dan +suggested (and he suggested many that winter) they coolly refused to +endorse, while requesting that he give more attention to the +long-established activities. + +Without protest or bitterness Dan quietly gave up his plans, and, except +in the matter of his sermons, yielded to their demands. Never was there +a word of harshness or criticism of church or people in his talks; only +firm, but gentle insistence upon the great living principles of Christ's +teaching. And the people, in his presence, knew often that feeling the +Doctor was conscious of--that this man was, in some way, that which they +might have been. Some of his hearers this feeling saddened with regret; +others it inspired with hope and filled them with a determination to +realize that best part of themselves; to still others it was a rebuke, +the more stinging because so unconsciously given, and they were filled +with anger and envy. + +Meanwhile the attitude of the people toward Hope Farwell and the girl +whom she had befriended, remained unaltered. But now Deborah and Denny +as well came to share in their displeasure. Dan made no change in his +relation to the nurse and her friends in the little cottage on the other +side of the garden. In spite of constant hints, insinuations and +reflections on the part of his church masters, he calmly, deliberately +threw down the gauntlet before the whole scandal-loving community. And +the community respected and admired him--for this is the way with the +herd--even while it abated not one whit its determination to ruin him +the instant chance afforded the opportunity. + +So the spirit that lives in Corinth--the Ally, waited. The power that +had put the shadow of pain over the life of Grace Conner, waited for +Hope and Dan, until the minister himself should furnish the motive that +should call it into action. Dan felt it--felt his enemy stirring quietly +in the dark, watching, waiting. And, as the weeks passed, it came to be +noticed that there was often in the man's eyes, and in his voice, a great +sadness--the sadness of one who toils at a hopeless task; of one who +suffers for crimes of which he is innocent; of one who fights for a +well-loved cause with the certainty of defeat. + +Because of the very fine sense of Dan's nature the situation caused him +the keenest suffering. It was all so different from the life to which he +had looked forward with such feelings of joy; it was all so unjust. Many +were the evenings that winter when the minister flew to Dr. Harry and his +ministry of music. And in those hours the friendship between the two men +grew into something fine and lasting, a friendship that was to endure +always. Many times, too, Dan fled across the country to the farm of John +Gardner, there to spend the day in the hardest toil, finding in the +ministry of labor, something that met his need. But more than these was +the friendship of Hope Farwell and the influence of her life and +ministry. + +It was inevitable that the very attitude of the community should force +these two friends into closer companionship and sympathy. The people, +in judging them so harshly for the course each had chosen--because to +them it was right and the only course possible to their religious +ideals--drove them to a fuller dependence upon each other. + +Dan, because of his own character and his conception of Christ, +understood, as perhaps no one else in the community could possibly have +done, just why the nurse clung to Grace Conner and the work she had +undertaken; while he felt that she grasped, as no one else, the +peculiarly trying position in which he so unexpectedly found himself +placed in his ministry. And Hope Farwell, feeling that Dan alone +understood her, realized as clearly that the minister had come to depend +upon her as the one friend in Corinth who appreciated his true situation. +Thus, while she gave him strength for his fight, she drew strength for +her own from him. + +Since that day when he had told her of the talk of the people that matter +had not been mentioned between them, though it was impossible that they +should not know the attitude of the community toward them both. That +subtle, un-get-at-able power--the Ally, that is so irresistible, so +certain in its work, depending for results upon words with double +meanings, suggestive nods, tricks of expression, sly winks and meaning +smiles--while giving its victims no opportunity for defense, never leaves +them in doubt as to the object of its attack. + +The situation was never put into words by these two, but they knew, and +each knew the other knew. And their respect, confidence and regard for +each other grew steadily, as it must with all good comrades under fire. +In those weeks each learned to know and depend upon the other, though +neither realized to what extent. So it came to be that it was not Grace +Conner alone, that kept Miss Farwell in Corinth, but the feeling that Dan +Matthews, also, depended upon her--the feeling that she could not desert +her comrade in the fight, or--as they had both come to feel--their fight. + +Hope Farwell was not a schoolgirl. She was a strong full-blooded, +perfectly developed, workwoman, matured in body and mind. She realized +what the continued friendship of this man might mean to her--realized +it fully and was glad. Dimly, too, she saw how this that was growing +in her heart might bring great pain and suffering--life-long suffering, +perhaps. For--save this--their present, common fight, the life of the +nurse and the life of the churchman held nothing in common. His deepest +convictions had led him into a ministry that was, to her, the sheerest +folly. + +Hope Farwell's profession had trained her to almost perfect self-control. +There was no danger that she would let herself go. Her strong, passionate +heart would never be given its freedom by her, to the wrecking of the +life upon which it fixed its affections. She would suffer the more deeply +for that very reason. There is no pain so poignant as that which is borne +in secret. But still--still she was glad! Such a strange thing is a +woman's heart! + +And Dan! Dan was not given to self-analysis; few really strong men are. +He felt: he did not reason. Neither did he look ahead to see whither he +was bound. Such a strange thing is the heart of a man! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +DEBORAH'S TROUBLE + +"'Oh, I don't know what he'd do, but I know he'd do something. He's that +kind of a man.'" + + +When the first days of the spring bass-fishing came, the Doctor coaxed +Dan away for a three days trip to the river, beyond Gordon's Mills, where +the roaring trout-brook enters the larger stream. + +It was well on toward noon the morning that Dan and the Doctor left, that +Miss Farwell found Deborah in tears, with Denny trying vainly to comfort +her. + +"Come, come, mother, don't be takin' on so. It'll be all right somehow," +Denny was saying as the nurse paused on the threshold of the little +kitchen, and the crippled lad's voice was broken, though he strove so +bravely to make it strong. + +The widow in her low chair, her face buried in her apron, swayed back and +forth in an agony of grief, her strong form shaking with sobs. Denny +looked at the young woman appealingly as--with his one good hand on his +mother's shoulder--he said again, "Come, mother, look up; it's Miss Hope +that's come to see you. Don't, don't mother dear. We'll make it all +right--sure we will though; we've got to!" + +Miss Farwell went to Denny's side and together they managed, after a +little, to calm the good woman. + +"It's a shame it is for me to be a-goin' on so, Miss Hope, but I--but +I--" She nearly broke down again. + +"Won't you tell me the trouble, Mrs. Mulhall?" urged the nurse. "Perhaps +I can help you." + +"Indade, dear heart, don't I know you've trouble enough of your own, +without your loadin' up with Denny's an' mine beside? Ain't I seen how +you been put to it the past months to make both ends meet for you an' +Gracie, poor child; an' you all the time fightin' to look cheerful an' +bright, so as to keep her heartened up? Many's the time, Miss Hope, I've +seen the look on your own sweet face, when you thought nobody'd be +noticin', an' every night Denny an' me's prayed the blessed Virgin to +soften the hearts of the people in this danged town. Oh, I know! I know! +But it does look like God had clean forgotten us altogether. I can't +help believin' it would be different somehow if only we could go to mass +somewhere like decent Christians ought." + +"But you and Denny have helped me more than I can ever tell you, dear +friend, and now you must let me help you, don't you see?" + +"It's glad enough I'd be to let you help, an' quick enough, too, if it +was anything that you could fix. But nothin' but money'll do it, an' I +can see by them old shoes you're a-wearin', an' you goin' with that old +last year's coat all winter, that you--that you ain't earned but just +enough to keep you an' Gracie alive." + +"That's all true enough, Mrs. Mulhall," returned the nurse, cheerfully, +"but I am sure it will help you just to tell me about the trouble." Then, +with a little more urging, the nurse drew from them the whole pitiful +story. + +At the time of Jack Mulhall's death, Judge Strong; had held a mortgage +on the little home for a small amount. By careful planning the widow and +her son had managed to pay the interest promptly, and the Judge, though +he coveted the place, had not dared to push the payment of the mortgage +too soon after the marshal's death because of public sentiment. But now, +sufficient time having elapsed for the public to forget their officer, +who had been killed on duty, and Deborah, through receiving Grace Conner +and Miss Harwell into her home, being included to some extent in the +damaging comments of the righteous community, the crafty Judge saw his +opportunity. He knew that, while the people would not themselves go to +the length of putting Deborah and her crippled boy out of their little +home, he had nothing to fear from the sentiment of the community should +he do so under the guise of legitimate business. + +The attitude of the people had kept Deborah from earning as much as usual +and, for the first time, they had been unable to pay the interest. Indeed +it was only by the most rigid economy that they would be able to make +their bare living until Denny's garden should again begin to bring them +in something. + +Their failure to pay the interest gave the Judge added reason for pushing +the payment of the debt. Everything had been done in regular legal form. +Deborah and Denny must go the next day. The widow had exhausted every +resource; promises and pleadings were useless, and it was only at the +last hour that she had given up. + +"But have you no relatives, Mrs. Mulhall, who could help you? No friends? +Perhaps Dr. Oldham--" + +Deborah shook her head. "There's only me an' Brother Mike in the family," +she said. "Mike's a brick-layer an' would give the coat off his back for +me, but he's movin' about so over the country, bein' single, you see, +that I can't get a letter to him. I did write to him where I heard from +him last, but me letter come back. He don't write often, you see, +thinkin' Denny an' me is all right. I ain't seen him since he was here to +help put poor Jack away." + +For a few minutes the silence in the little room was broken only by poor +Deborah's sobs, and by Denny's voice, as he tried to comfort his mother. + +Suddenly the nurse sprang to her feet. "There is some one," she cried. +"I knew there must be, of course. Why didn't we think of him before?" + +Deborah raised her head, a look of doubtful hope on her tear-wet face. + +"Mr. Matthews," explained the young woman. + +Deborah's face fell. "But, child, the minister's away with the Doctor. +An' what good could he be doin' if he was here, I'd like to know? He's +that poor himself." + +"Oh, I don't know what he'd do, but I know he'd do something. He's that +kind of a man," declared the nurse, with such conviction that, against +their judgment, Deborah and Denny took heart. + +"And he's not so far away but that he can be reached," added Hope. + +That afternoon the dilapidated old hack from Corinth to Gordon's Mills +carried a passenger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +A FISHERMAN + +"'Humph!' grunted the other, 'I've noticed that there's a lot of +unnecessary things that have to be done.'" + + +In the crisis of Deborah's trouble, Hope had turned to Dan impulsively, +as the one woman turns to the one man. When she was powerless in her own +strength to meet the need she looked confidently to him. + +But now that she was actually on the way to him, with Corinth behind and +the long road over the hills and through the forests before, she had time +to think, while the conscious object of her journey forced itself on her +thinking. + +The thing that the young woman had so dimly foreseen, for herself, of her +friendship with this man, she saw now more clearly, as she realized how +much she had grown to depend upon him--upon the strength of his +companionship. How she had learned to watch for his coming, and to look +often toward the corner window of the house on the other side of the +garden! But, after all--she asked herself--was her regard for him more +than a natural admiration for his strong character, as she had seen it +revealed in the past months? Their peculiar situation had placed him more +in her thoughts than any man had ever been before. Was not this all? The +possibility had not yet become a certainty. The revelation of Hope +Farwell to herself was yet to come. + +The hack, with its one passenger, arrived at Gordon's Mills about four +o'clock, and Miss Farwell, climbing down from the ancient vehicle in +front of the typical country hotel, inquired for Dr. Oldham. + +The slouchy, slow-witted proprietor of the place passed her inquiry on +to a group of natives who lounged on the porch, and one, whose horse +was hitched in front of the blacksmith shop across the way, gave the +information that he had seen the Doctor and the big parson at the mouth +of the creek as he came past an hour before. He added that he "reckoned +they wouldn't be in 'til dark, fer they was a-ketchin' a right smart of +bass." + +"Is it far from here?" asked the nurse. + +"Somethin' less than a mile, ain't hit, Bill?" + +Bill "'lowed hit war about that. Mile an' a quarter to Bud Jones', Bud +called hit." + +"And the road?" + +"Foller the creek--can't miss it." This from the chorus. And Miss Farwell +set out, watched by every eye on the place until she disappeared around +the first bend. + +As she drew near the river, the banks of which are marked by a high bluff +on the other side, the young woman felt a growing sense of embarrassment. +What would Mr. Matthews think of her coming to him in such a way? And Dr. +Oldham--. Already she could feel the keen eyes of the old physician, with +their knowing twinkle, fixed upon her face. The Doctor always made you +feel that he knew so much more about you than you knew about yourself. + +Coming to the river at the mouth of the creek, she saw them, and half +hidden by the upturned roots of a fallen tree, she stood still. They were +on the downstream side of the creek; Dan, with rubber boots that came to +his hips, standing far out on the sandy bar, braced against the current, +that tugged and pulled at his great legs; the Doctor farther down, on the +bank. + +Miss Farwell watched Dan with the curious interest a woman always feels +when watching a man who, while engaged in a man's work or play, is +unconscious of her presence. + +She saw the fisherman as he threw the line far out, with a strong, high +swing of his long arm. And as she looked, a lusty bass--heavy, full of +fight--took the hook, and she saw the man stand motionless, intent, +alert, at the instant he first felt the fish. Then she caught the +skillful turn of his wrist as he struck--quick and sure; watched, with +breathless interest as--bracing himself--the fisherman's powerful figure +became instinct with life. With the boiling water grasping his legs, +clinging to him like a tireless wrestler seeking the first unguarded +moment; and with the plunging, tugging, rushing giant at the other end +of the silken line--fighting with every inch of his spring--steel body +for freedom, Dan made a picture to bring the light of admiration to any +woman's eyes. And Hope Farwell was very much a woman. + +Slowly, but surely, the strength and skill of the fisherman prevailed. +The master of the waters came nearer the hand of his conqueror. The young +woman held her breath while the fish made its last, mad attempt, and +then--when Dan held up his prize for the Doctor, who--on the bank--had +been in the fight with his whole soul, she forgot her embarrassment, +and--springing into full view upon the trunk of the fallen tree--shouted +and waved her congratulations. + +Dan almost dropped the fish. + +The Doctor, whose old eyes were not so quick to recognize the woman on +the log, was amazed to see his companion go splashing, stumbling, +ploughing through the water toward the shore. + +"Hope--Miss Farwell!" gasped Dan, floundering up the bank, the big fish +still in his hand, the shining water streaming from his high boots, his +face glowing with healthful exercise--a something else, perhaps. "What +good fortune brings you here?" + +At his impetuous manner, and the eagerness that shone in his eyes, and +sounded in his voice, the woman's face had grown rosy red, but by the +time the fisherman had gained a place by her side the memory of her +mission had driven every other thought from her mind. Briefly she told +him of Deborah's trouble, and a few moments later the Doctor--crossing +the creek higher up--joined them. As they talked Hope saw all the light +and joy go from Dan's face, and in its place came a look of sadness and +determination that made her wonder. + +"Doctor," he said, "I am going back to Corinth with Miss Farwell tonight. +We'll get a team and buggy at the Mills." + +The old man swore heartily. Why had not the foolish Irishwoman let them +know her situation before? Still swearing he drew from his pocket a book +and hastily signed a check. "Here, Dan," he said, "use this if you have +to. You understand--don't hesitate if you need it." + +Reluctantly the younger man took the slip of paper. "I don't think it +will be needed," he responded. "It ought not to be necessary for you to +do this, Doctor." + +"Humph!" grunted the other, "I've noticed that there's a lot of +unnecessary things that have to be done. Hustle along, you two. I'm +going back after the mate to that last one of yours." + +On the way back to the hotel Dan told the nurse that the check would +mean much to the Doctor if it were used at this particular time. "But," +he added thoughtfully, again, "I don't think it will be used." + +They stopped long enough at the hotel for a hurried lunch, then--with +a half-broken team and a stout buggy--started, in the gathering dusk for +Corinth. + +As the light went out of the sky and the mysterious stillness of the +night came upon them, they, too, grew quiet, as if no words were needed. +They seemed to be passing into another world--a strange dream-world +where they were alone. The things of everyday, the common-place incidents +and happenings of their lives, seemed to drift far away. They talked but +little. There was so little to say. Once Dan leaned over to tuck the lap +robe carefully about his companion, for the early spring air was chill +when the sun went down. + +So they rode until they saw the lights of the town; then it all came +back to them with a rush. The woman drew a long breath. + +"Tired?" asked Dan, and there was that in his voice that brought the +tears to the gray eyes--tears that he could not see, because of the dark. + +"Not a bit," she answered cheerfully, in spite of the hidden tears. "Will +you see Judge Strong tonight?" She had not asked him what he was going to +do. + +"Yes," he said, and when they reached the big brown house he drew the +horses to a walk. "I think, if you are not too tired, I had better stop +now. I will not be long." + +There was now something in his voice that made her heart jump with sudden +fear, such as she had felt at times when Dr. Miles, at the hospital, had +told her to prepare to assist him in an operation. But in her voice no +fear showed itself. + +He hitched the team, and--leaving her waiting in the buggy--went up to +the house. She heard him knock. The door opened, sending out a flood of +light. He entered. The door closed. + +She waited in the dark. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +A MATTER OF BUSINESS + +"'You say, sir, that some things are inevitable. You are right.'" + + +At the church prayer meeting, that evening, Judge Strong prayed with a +fervor unusual even for him, and in church circles the Elder was rated +mighty in prayer. In fact the Judge's religious capital was mostly +invested in good, safe, public petitions to the Almighty--such +investments being rightly considered by the Judge as "gilt-edged," +for--whatever the returns--it was all profit. + +Theoretically the Judge's God noted "even the sparrow's fall," and in +all of his public religious exercises, the Judge stated that fact with +clearness and force. Making practical application of his favorite text +the Judge never killed sparrows. His everyday energies were spent in +collecting mortgages, acquiring real estate, and in like harmless +pursuits, that were--so far as he had observed--not mentioned in the +Word, and presumably, therefore, were passed over by the God of the +sparrow. + +So the Judge prayed that night, with pious intonations asking his God +for everything he could think of for himself, his church, his town and +the whole world. And when he could think of no more blessings, he +unblushingly asked God to think of them for him, and to give them all +abundantly--more than they could ask or desire. Reminding God of his +care for the sparrow, he pleaded with him to watch over their beloved +pastor, "who is absent from his flock in search of--ah, enjoying--ah, +the beauties of Nature--ah, and bring him speedily back to his needy +people, that they may all grow strong in the Lord." + +Supplementing his prayer with a few solemn reflections, as was expected +from an Elder of the church, the Judge commented on the smallness of the +company present; lamented the decline of spirituality in the churches; +declared the need for the old Jerusalem gospel, and the preaching of the +truth as it is in Christ Jesus; scored roundly those who were absent, +seeking their own pleasure, neglecting their duties while the world was +perishing; and finished with a plea to the faithful to assist their +worthy pastor--who, unfortunately, was not present with them that +evening--in every way possible. Then the Judge went home to occupy the +rest of the evening with some matters of business. + +In the Strong mansion the room known as the library is on the ground +floor in a wing of the main building. As rooms have a way of doing, it +expresses unmistakably the character of its tenant. There is a book-case, +with a few spick-and-span books standing in prim, cold rows behind the +glass doors--which are always locked. The key is somewhere, no doubt. +There are no pictures on the walls, save a fancy calendar--presented with +the compliments of the Judge's banker, a crayon portrait of the Judge's +father--in a cheap gilt frame, and another calendar, compliments of the +Judge's grocer. + +The furniture and appointments are in harmony; a table, with a teachers' +Bible and a Sunday school quarterly, a big safe wherein the Judge kept +his various mortgages and papers of value, and the Judge's desk, being +most conspicuous. It is a significant comment on the Elder's business +methods that, in the top right-hand drawer of his desk, he keeps a weapon +ready for instant use, and that the window shades are always drawn when +the lamps are lighted. + +Sitting at his desk the Judge heard the front doorbell ring and his wife +direct someone to the library. A moment later he looked up from his +papers to see Dan standing before him. + +The Judge was startled. He had thought the young man far away. Then, too, +the Judge had never seen the minister dressed in rough trousers, belted +at the waist; a flannel shirt under a torn and mud-stained coat; and +mud-spattered boots that came nearly to his hips. The slouch hat in the +visitor's hand completed the picture. Dan looked big in any garb. As the +Judge saw him that night he seemed a giant, and this giant had the look +of one come in haste on business of moment. + +What was it that made the Judge reach out impulsively toward that top +right-hand drawer. + +Forcing his usual dry, mirthless laugh, he greeted Dan with forced +effusiveness, urging him to take a chair, declaring that he hardly knew +him, that he thought he was at Gordon's Mills fishing. Then he entered at +once into a glowing description of the splendid prayer meeting they had +held that evening, in the minister's absence. + +Ignoring the invitation to be seated, Dan walked slowly to the center of +the room, and standing by the table, looked intently at the man at the +desk. The patter of the Judge's talk died away. The presence of the man +by the table seemed to fill the whole room. The very furniture became +suddenly cheap and small. The Judge himself seemed to shrink, and he had +a sense of something about to happen. Swiftly he reviewed in his mind +several recent deals. What was it? + +"Well," he said at last, when Dan did not speak, "won't you sit down?" + +"Thank you, no," answered Dan. "I can stop only a minute. I called to see +you about that mortgage on Widow Mulhall's home." + +"Ah! Well?" + +"I want to ask you, sir, if it is not possible for you to reconsider the +matter and grant her a little more time." + +The man at the desk answered curtly, "Possibly, sir, but it would not be +business. Do you--ah, consider this matter as coming under the head of +your--ah, pastoral duties?" + +Dan ignored the question, as he earnestly replied, "I will undertake to +see that the mortgage is paid, sir, if you will give me a little time." + +To which the other answered coldly, "My experience with ministers' +promises to pay has not been reassuring, and, as an Elder in the church, +I may say that we do not employ you to undertake the payment of other +people's debts. The people might not understand your interest in the +Widow's affairs." + +Again Dan ignored the other's answer, though his face went white, and his +big hands crushed the slouch hat with a mighty grip. He urged what it +would mean to Deborah and her crippled son to lose their little home and +the garden--almost their only means of support. But the face of the Judge +expressed no kindly feeling. He was acting in a manner that was fully +legitimate. He had considered it carefully. As for the hardship, some +things in connection with business were inevitable. + +As the Elder answered Dan's arguments and pleadings, the minister's face +grew very sad, and his low, slow voice trembled at times. When the +uselessness of his efforts were too evident for him to continue the +conversation he turned sadly toward the door. + +Something caused the Judge to say, "Don't go yet, Brother Matthews. You +see, being a minister, there are some things that you don't understand. +You are making a mistake in--" He caught his breath. Instead of leaving +the room, Dan was closing and locking the door. + +He came back in three quick strides. This time he placed his hat on the +table. When he spoke his voice was still low--intense--shaken with +feeling. + +"You say, sir, that some things are inevitable. You are right." + +There was that in his manner now that made the man in the chair tremble. +He started to speak, but Dan silenced him. + +"You have said quite enough, sir. Don't think that I have not fully +considered this matter. I have. It is inevitable. Turn to your desk there +and write a letter to Mrs. Mulhall granting her another year of time." + +The Judge tried to laugh, but his dry lips made a strange sound. With a +quick movement he jerked open the top right-hand drawer, but before he +could lay hand on the weapon, Dan leaped to within easy striking +distance. + +"Shut that drawer!" + +The Judge obeyed. + +"Now write!" + +"I'll have the law on you! I'll put you out of the Christian ministry! +I'll have you arrested if you assault me. I'll--" + +"I have considered all that, too," said Dan. "Try it, and you will stir +up such a feeling that the people of this community will drive you out of +the country. You can't do it and live in Corinth, Judge Strong. You have +too much at stake in this town to risk it. You won't have me arrested for +this; you can't afford it, sir. Write that letter and no one but you and +I will ever know of this incident. Refuse, or fail to keep the promise of +your letter, and no power on earth shall prevent me from administering +justice! You who would rob that crippled boy of his garden--" + +The man shuddered. Suddenly he opened his mouth to call. But Dan, reading +his purpose in his eyes, had him by the throat before he could utter a +sound. + +This was enough. + +With the letter in his pocket Dan stood silently regarding his now +cowering victim, and his deep voice was full of pain as he said, in that +slow way, "I regret this incident, Brother Strong, more than I can say. +I have no apology to make. It was inevitable. You have my word that no +one shall know, from me, what has occurred here this evening. When you +think it all over you will not carry the matter further. You cannot +afford it. You will see that you cannot afford it." + +When the Judge lifted his head he was alone. + +"Did I keep you waiting too long?" asked Dan, when he had again taken +his place by Miss Farwell's side. + +"Oh no! But tell me: is it all right?" + +"Yes, it's all right. Judge Strong has kindly granted our friends another +year. That will give us time to do something." + +Arriving at the house he gave Hope the letter for Deborah. "And here," he +said, "is something for you." From under the buggy seat he drew the big +bass. + +When Dan returned to Gordon's Mills with the team the next morning, he +gave back the Doctor's check, saying simply, "The Judge listened to +reason and decided that he would not press the case." And that was all +the explanation he ever made though it was by no means the end of the +matter. + +Dan himself did not realize what he had done. He did not realize how +potent were the arguments that he had used to convince the Judge. + +The young minister had at last furnished the motive for which the Ally +waited! + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE DAUGHTER OP THE CHURCH + +"Thus the Ally has something for everybody." + + +Dan was right. Judge Strong could not afford to make public the facts +connected with the young man's visit to him that evening. He could not +afford it for more reasons than Dan knew. The arguments with which the +minister had backed up his personal influence were stronger than he +realized. The more the Judge thought about the whole matter the more he +was inclined to congratulate himself that he had been saved from a step +far more dangerous than he had ever before ventured. He saw where, in +his desire to possess all, he had come perilously near losing everything. +But these reflections did not make the Elder feel one whit kindlier +towards Dan. + +While the Judge was held both by his fear of Dan and by his own best +interests, from moving openly against the man who had so effectually +blocked his well-laid plans for acquiring another choice bit of Corinth +real estate, there were other ways, perfectly safe, by which he might +make the minister suffer. + +Judge Strong had not been a ruling elder in the church for so many years +without learning the full value of the spirit that makes Corinth its +home. + +While the Elder himself feared the Ally as he feared nothing else, he was +a past master in the art of directing its strength to the gaining of his +own ends. His method was extremely simple: the results certain. + +When he learned of Hope's trip to Gordon's Mills and the long ride in the +night alone with Dan, the Judge fairly hugged himself. It was all so +easy! + +In the two days preceding the next weekly meeting of the Ladies' Aid +Society, it happened, quite incidentally, that the Elder had quiet, +confidential talks with several of the most active workers in the +congregation. The Judge in these talks did not openly charge the minister +with wrong conduct, with any neglect of his duties, or with any +unfaithfulness to the doctrines. No indeed! The Judge was not such a +bungler in the art of directing the strength of the Ally in serving his +own ends. But nevertheless, each good sister, when the interview was +ended, felt that she had been trusted with the confidence of the very +inside of the innermost circle; felt her heart swell with the +responsibility of a state secret of vast importance; and her soul grow +big with a righteous determination to be worthy. + +That was a Ladies' Aid meeting to be remembered. There had been nothing +like it since the last meeting of its kind. For of course, every sister +who had talked with the Judge was determined that every other sister +should understand that she was on the innermost inside; and every other +sister who had talked with the Judge was equally fired with the same +purpose; and the sisters who had not talked quietly with the Judge were +extraordinarily active in creating the impression that they knew even +more than those who had. So that altogether things were hinted, half +revealed and fully told about Dan and Miss Farwell that would have +astonished even Judge Strong himself, had he not known just how it would +be. + +The Sunday following it seemed almost as if Dan had wished to help the +Judge in his campaign, for while there was much in his sermon about +widows and orphans, there was not a word of the old Jerusalem gospel. + +Monday evening Judge Strong and his wife called upon Elder Jordan and +his family, and the two church fathers held a long and important +conference, with the church mothers and the church daughter assisting. + +The Judge said very little. Indeed he seemed reluctant to discuss the +grave things that were being said in the community about their pastor. +But it was easy to see that he was earnestly concerned for the welfare +of the church and the upbuilding of the cause in Corinth. Nathan himself +was led to introduce the subject. The Judge very skillfully and politely +gave the women opportunities. He agreed most heartily with Elder Jordan +that Dan's Christian character was above reproach, and that it was very +unfortunate that there should be any criticism by the public. Such things +so weakened the church influence in the community! He regretted, however, +that their pastor in his sermons did not dwell more upon first principles +and the fundamental doctrines of the church. His sermons were good, but +the people needed to be taught the true way of salvation. Dan was young: +perhaps he would learn the foolishness of taking up these new ideas of +the church's mission and work, that were sapping the very foundations of +Christianity. + +Nathaniel Jordan, because of the very goodness of his heart and his +deeply religious nature, had learned to love Dan, and to believe in him, +even while he was forced--by his whole life's training--to question the +wisdom of the young man's preaching. And while he was deeply pained by +the things the sisters reported, he found, as the Judge intended, that +Elder Strong's attitude was in close harmony with his own. + +Thus the Ally has something for everybody. Those who did not doubt Dan's +character questioned his preaching; and those who cared but little what +he preached found much to question in his conduct. + +But there was one in the company that evening who contributed nothing to +the discussion, save now and then a word in defense of Dan. And +everything that Charity said was instantly and warmly endorsed by the +Judge. + +When Judge and Mrs. Strong at last bade their friends good night and +left Nathaniel and his wife to cultivate the seed the Ally had so +skilfully planted, Charity retired at once to her room, but not to sleep. +Not for nothing had this young woman been reared in such close touch with +the inner circle of the ruling classes in Memorial Church. This was by no +means the first conference of its kind that she had been permitted to +attend. Her whole life experience enabled her to judge to a day, almost, +the length of any minister's stay in Corinth. Few had stayed more than a +year. + +There was Rev. Swanson--who was too old; and Rev. Wilson--it was his +daughter; and Rev. Jones--it was his wife; and Rev. George--it was his +son; and it was Rev. Kern--who did not get on with the young people; and +Rev. Holmes--who was too young, and got on with the young people too +well. Charity always thought that she might have--. If he had only been +permitted to stay another three months! And Rev. Colby--it was because +he had neither wife nor sons nor daughters. Charity was sure she might +have--. If only he had been given more time! And now--Dan! + +The poor girl cried bitterly in the dark and in her tears determined upon +desperate measures. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE REALITY + +"'Faith,' said Deborah, who, in the kitchen, heard their merry talk and +laughter. 'It must be the garden as does it.'" + + +"Who shall say that the Irishwoman had not the truth of the whole +matter?" + +The incident of Deborah's trouble brought Hope to a fuller dependence +upon Dan than she had ever before known. The long ride alone in the hack, +with her mind so filled with thoughts of her big friend, his greeting of +her and his quick response to her appeal in Deborah's behalf, with the +drive home in the night by his side, and the immediate success of his +call upon the Judge had all led the young woman much nearer a full +realization of herself and a complete understanding of her feeling for +Dan than she knew. But one touch more was needed to make the possibility +which she had long foreseen a reality. + +The touch needed came early in the afternoon of the day following the +Judge's call upon Elder Jordan. Miss Farwell, with Grace and Denny, was +in the garden, making ready for the first early seed. At Dan's urgent +request a much larger space had been prepared this year and they were +all intensely interested in what was to be, they declared, the best and +largest garden that Denny had ever grown. + +Denny with his useless, twisted arm swinging at his side, and his poor, +dragging leg, was marking off the beds and rows, the while he kept up a +ceaseless, merry chatter with the two young women who assisted him by +carrying the stakes and lines. + +Any one would have thought they were the happiest people in all Corinth, +and perhaps they were, though from all usual standards they had little +enough to be joyous over. Denny with his poor, crippled body, forever +barred from the life his whole soul craved, yearning for books and study +with all his heart, but forced to give the last atom of his poor strength +in digging in the soil for the bare necessities of life, denied even a +pittance to spend for the volumes he loved; Grace Conner marred in spirit +and mind, as was Denny in body, by the cruel, unjust treatment of those +to whom she had a right to look first for sympathy and help; and the +nurse, who was sacrificing a successful and remunerative career in the +profession she loved, to carry the burden of this one, who in the eyes of +the world, had no claim whatever upon her. What had they to be joyous +over that sunny afternoon in the garden? + +"Faith," said Deborah, who, in the kitchen, heard their merry talk and +laughter. "It must be the garden as does it." + +Who shall say that the Irishwoman had not the truth of the whole matter? + +The three merry workers were expecting Dan. But Dan did not come. And it +may have been because Hope turned her eyes so often toward the corner +window, that she failed to see the young woman who turned in at their own +gate. Then Deborah's voice called from the kitchen for Miss Hope, and the +nurse went into the house. + +"It's someone to see you," said the widow with an air of great mystery. +"I tuck her into your room, where she's waitin' for you. Dear heart, but +the day has brung the roses to your cheeks, and the sunshine is in your +two eyes. Sure, I can't think what she'd be wantin'. I hope 'tis nothin' +to make ye the less happy than ye are." + +"Oh you, with your blarney!" returned the young woman playfully, and +then, with a note of eagerness in her voice, "Who is it, do you know +her?" + +"Sure I do, and so will you when you see her. Go on in child; don't be +standin' here, maybe it's the job you've been lookin' for come at last. +I can't think that any of them would be sendin' for you, though the good +Lord knows the poor creature herself looks to need a nurse or somethin'." + +She pushed Hope from the kitchen, and a moment later the young woman +entered her own room to find Miss Charity Jordan. + +Hope Harwell was a beautiful woman--beautiful with the beauty of a +womanhood unspoiled by vain idleness, empty pleasures or purposeless +activity. Perhaps because of her interest and care for the girl, to whom +she was filling the place of both mother and elder sister, perhaps +because of something else that had come into her life--the past few +months, in spite of her trials, had added much to that sweet atmosphere +of womanliness that enveloped her always. The deep, gray eyes seemed +deeper still and a light was in their depths that had not been there +before. In her voice, too, there was a new note--a richer, fuller tone, +and she moved and laughed as one whose soul was filled with the best +joys of living. + +Charity arose to her feet when Miss Farwell entered. The nurse greeted +her, but the poor girl who had spent an almost sleepless night, stood +regarding the woman before her with a kind of envying wonder. What right +had this creature to be so happy while she a Christian was so miserable? + +To Charity there were only two kinds of people--those who belonged to the +church and those who belonged to the world. Those of the world were +strangers--aliens. The life they lived, their pleasures, their ambitions, +their loves, were all matters of conjecture to this daughter of the +church. They were, to her, people to save--never people to be intimate +with; nor were they to be regarded without grave suspicion until they +were saved. She wondered, sometimes, what they were like if one were to +really know them. As she had thought about it the night before in the +dark, it was a monstrous thing that a woman of this other world should +have ensnared their minister--her minister. + +Charity was a judge of preachers. She saw in Dan the ability to go far. +She felt that no position in the church was too high for him to reach, +no honor too great for him to attain, if only he might be steadied and +inspired and assisted by a competent helper--one thoroughly familiar +with every detail of the denominational machinery, and acquainted with +every denominational engineer. + +Thus to be robbed of the high place in life for which she had fitted +herself, and to which she had aspired for years, by an alien to the +church was maddening--if only Charity had possessed the capacity for +being maddened. What right had this creature who never entered a +church--what right had she even to the friendship of a minister--a +minister such as Dan? And to ruin his reputation! To cause him to be +sent away from Corinth! To wreck his career! To deprive him of a +companion so fitly qualified to help him realize to the full his +splendid ambition! Small wonder that the daughter of the church had +determined upon a desperate measure. + +Left alone when Deborah had gone to call Miss Farwell, Charity had +examined the nurse's room with interest and surprise. The apartment +bore no testimony to an unholy life. Save that it was in every way a +poorer place than any room in the Jordan house, it might have been +Charity's own. There was even a Bible, well worn at that, lying on a +table by which a chair was drawn as if the reader had but just laid the +book aside. + +And now this woman stood before her. This woman with the deep, kind eyes, +the soft, calm voice, her cheeks glowing with healthful outdoor exercise, +and her air of sweet womanliness. + +The nurse spoke the second time. + +"I am Miss Farwell. You are Miss Jordan, I believe. I see you pass the +house frequently. Won't you be seated, please, you seem to be in +trouble." + +Poor Charity! Dropping weakly into a chair she burst into bitter tears. +Then before Miss Farwell could recover from her surprise, the caller +exclaimed, "I came to see you about our minister, Reverend Matthews." + +The color in the nurse's cheeks deepened. + +"But why should you come to me about Mr. Matthews? I know nothing of +your church affairs, Miss Jordan." + +"I know that you do not," the other returned bitterly. "You have never +been to hear him preach. You know nothing--nothing of what it means to +him--to me, to all of us, I mean. How could you know anything about it?" + +This passionate outburst and the sight of Charity's crimson face and +embarrassed manner caused the color to disappear from the nurse's cheeks. +After a moment she said coolly, "Do you not think it would be well for +you to explain clearly just what you mean and why you come to me?" + +In her effort to explain Charity's words came tumbling recklessly, +impetuously out, in all sorts of disorder. She charged the nurse with +ruining the minister's work, with alienating him from his people, with +injuring the Memorial Church and the cause of Christ in Corinth, with +making him the talk of the town. + +"What is he to you," she finished. "What can he ever be to you? You +would not dare to think of marrying a minister of the gospel--you a woman +of the world. He belongs to us, he does not belong to you, and you have +no right to take him from us." Then she pleaded with her to--as she put +it--let their pastor alone, to permit him to stay in Corinth and go on to +the great future that she was so sure awaited him. + +As the girl talked the other woman sat very still with downcast face, +save now and then when Charity's disordered words seemed to carry a +deeper meaning than appeared upon the surface. Then the gray eyes were +lifted to study the speaker's face, doubtfully, wonderingly, +questioningly. + +In her painful excitement Charity was telling much more than she +realized. And more, Charity was not only laying bare her own heart to +the nurse, but she was revealing Hope Farwell to herself. That young +woman was stirred as she had never been before. + +When her visitor had talked herself out the nurse said quietly, "Miss +Jordan, it is not at all necessary that I should reply to the things +you have said, but you must answer me one question. Has Mr. Matthews +ever, either by word or by his manner towards you, given you reason +to feel that you, personally, have any right whatever to say these +things to me?" + +It was so frank, so direct, and withal so womanly and kind, and so +unexpected--that Charity hung her head. + +"Tell me please, Miss Jordan. After all that you have said, you must." + +The answer came in a whisper. "No." + +"Thank you." There was that in the nurse's voice that left the other's +heart hopeless, and robbed her of power to say more. She rose and moved +toward the door. + +The nurse accompanied her to the porch. "Miss Jordan." Charity paused. +"I am very sorry. I fear you will never understand how--how mistaken you +are. I--I shall not harm either your church or--your minister. Believe +me, I am very, very sorry." + +Miss Farwell could not return to the garden. He would be there. She could +not meet him just yet. She must be alone. She must go somewhere to think +this thing out. + +Stealing from the house, she slipped away down the street. Without her +conscious will, her feet led her toward the open country, to Academy +Hill, to the grassy knoll under the oak in the old Academy yard. + +The possibility had become a reality, and all the pain that she had +foreseen, was hers. But with the pain was a great gladness. + +Miss Farwell need not have fled from meeting Dan in the garden that +afternoon. Dan was not in the garden. While the nurse, in her room, was +greeting Miss Charity, Elder Jordan, who had stopped on his way home from +the post office was knocking at the door of the minister's study. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE BARRIER + +"As he looked at the figure so immovable, so hideously rigid and fixed in +the act of proclaiming an issue that belonged to a dead age, he felt as +if his heart would burst with wild rage at the whole community, people +and church." + + +The Elder's visit to Dan was prompted not alone by the church situation, +as he had come to look upon it in the conference with Judge Strong the +evening before, but by the old man's regard for the young minister +himself. Because of this he had said nothing to his brother official of +his purpose, wishing to make his visit something more than an official +call in the interest of the church. Nathaniel felt that alone he could +talk to Dan in a way that would have been impossible in the presence of +Judge Strong, and in this he was not mistaken. + +In the months of his work in Corinth, Dan had learned to love this old +church father, whose faithfulness to the dead past and to the obsolete +doctrines of his denomination, was so large an element in his religion. +It was impossible not to recognize that, so far as the claims of his +creed would permit, Elder Jordan was a true Christian man--gentle, +tolerant, kind in all things, outside the peculiar doctrine of the +founders of his sect. + +It was impossible for the minister and his Elder to see life from the +same point of view. They belonged to different ages. The younger man, +recognizing this, honored his elder brother for his fidelity to the faith +of his fathers, and saw in this very faith, a virtue to admire. But the +older man saw in Dan's broader views and neglect of the issues that +belonged to the past age, a weakness of Christian character--to be +overcome if possible, but on no ground to be tolerated, lest the very +foundation of the church be sapped. + +Elder Jordan's regard for Dan was wholly personal, entirely aside from +the things of the church. The Elder was capable of sacrificing his own +daughter if, in his judgment, it was necessary for the good of the +cause, but he would not have loved her the less. There was that inhuman +something in his religion that has always made religion a thing of +schools and churches, rather than a thing of farms and shops; a thing of +set days, of forms, rites, ceremonies, beliefs--rather than a thing of +everyday living and the commonplace, individual duties, pleasures and +drudgeries of life. + +The old churchman did not spare Dan that afternoon. Very clearly he +forced the minister to see the situation, making him understand the +significance of the gossip that had been revived, and the growing +dissatisfaction of the church leaders with his sermons. Dan listened +quietly, with no lack of respect for the man who talked to him so +plainly--for, under the sometimes harsh words, he felt always the true +spirit of the speaker and his kindly regard. + +Touching his preaching Dan could make no reply, for he realized how +impossible it was for the Elder to change his point of view. The young +minister had, indeed, neglected the things that, to the Elder and his +kind, were the vital things. That he had taught the truths that to him +seemed most vital made no difference in the situation. The fact remained +that he was the hired servant of Memorial Church and was not employed by +that body to preach what he considered the most vital truths. + +But touching his friendship with the nurse, Dan spoke warmly in defense +of the young woman--of himself he said nothing. As the Elder listened, he +thought he saw how Dan had been influenced in his ministry by this woman +who was not of the church, and the idea that had sent Charity to Miss +Farwell took possession of him. Even as his daughter pleaded with the +nurse to set the minister free, Nathaniel pleaded with Dan to free +himself. Inevitably the results were exactly the same. + +"Think of your ministry, my boy," urged the old man, "of the sacred +duties of your office. Your attitude towards this woman has been, in +every way, just what the people expect the conduct of a man to be toward +the one he is seeking to make his wife. Yet no one for a moment thinks +you expect to marry this woman, who is known to be an alien to the +church. What success could you hope to have as a minister if you take to +wife one who would have nothing to do with your church? What right have +you, then, to be so intimate with her, to seek her company so constantly? +Granting all that you say of her character, and all that Dr. Miles has +written, why does she stay in Corinth, where no one will employ her, when +she could so easily return to her work in the city, taking that Conner +girl with her?" + +Dan could find no words to answer the Elder. He was stunned by the +situation to which he had been so suddenly awakened by the old man's +plain words. But there were elements in the problem unknown to Nathaniel +Jordan, though the old man felt that somehow his lance had gone deeper +than he intended. + +When the Elder was gone Dan's mind and heart clutched those words, "No +one believes for a moment that you expect to marry this woman." + +"To marry this woman--to marry--to marry!" He thought of his father and +mother, and their perfect companionship. "What right have you in this +case, to be so intimate with her, to seek her company so constantly?" + +He started to go to the window that looks down on the garden, thinking to +see her there, but checked himself. He knew now why the garden had grown +to mean so much to him. He tried to realize what his life would be +without this woman who had so grown into it. + +Dan Matthews was no weakling who could amuse himself with a hundred +imitation love affairs. In his veins ran the fierce, red blood of a +strong race that had ruled by the simple strength of manhood their +half-wild mountain wilderness. As the tiny stream, flowing quietly +through peaceful meadow, still woodland, and sunny pasture--growing +always broader and deeper as it runs--is unconscious of its quiet power +until checked by some barrier, and rising, swelling to a mighty +flood--seeks to clear its path; so Dan's love had grown. In the fields +of friendship it had gained always depth and power until now--coming to +the barrier--it rose in all its strength--a flood of passion that shook +every nerve and fibre of the man's being, a mighty force that would not +be denied. + +Going to the other window he saw the cast-iron monument. And as he looked +at the figure so immovable, so hideously rigid and fixed in the act of +proclaiming an issue that belonged to a dead age, he felt as if his heart +would burst with wild rage at the whole community, people and church. + +"What right had he to the companionship of this woman?" + +"The right that God has given to every man--nay to every beast and +bird--the right to seek his mate; the right of the future. What right, +indeed, had anyone to challenge him, to say that he should not win her +if he could? If he could--" + +As suddenly as the rage had come it left him, and he shrank hopeless +within himself, cowering before the thought of his position in life, and +of her attitude toward the church and its ministers. + +"The Elder and his people need give themselves no uneasiness," he +thought. "The barrier was too well-built to be swept aside by love of +man and woman." + +He saw that now, even the old friendship between them would be +impossible. He wondered if his going out of her life would make any +ripple in its calm, even current; if she would care very much? + +The Elder had asked, "Why has she remained in Corinth?" + +"Could it be--No, no! That would be too much. It was her interest in +Grace Conner alone that held her." + +So Big Dan faced this thing against which the very strength of his +manhood was his greatest weakness, and facing it he, too, was afraid to +go into the garden--as he thought--to meet her. He must gain a little +self-control first. He must grow better acquainted with this thing that +had come upon him so quickly. + +Following the instinct of his ancestors to face trouble in the open, he, +too, set out, bound for a long tramp across the country. Perhaps he would +go as far even as John Gardner's, and spend the night there. He went up +the street for a block before turning north, lest his friends in the +garden hail him. Then walking quickly he pushed on towards the outskirts +of town, on the old Academy Hill road. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +HEARTS' TRAGEDIES + +"So she sent him away to fight his battle alone, knowing it was the only +way such a battle could be rightly fought." + + +When Miss Farwell, under the oak tree in the Academy yard, turned her +eyes from the far blue roll of hills to see Dan Matthews coming through +the gap in the tumble-down fence, it was as if he had appeared in answer +to her thoughts, and the intensity of her emotions at the moment, +frightened her. + +Her first impulse was to escape. Then she sat still, watching him as if +fascinated, while her trembling fingers picked at the young grass by her +side. With his face turned toward the valley below, Dan came slowly +across the weed-grown yard, unconscious of the presence of the young +woman on the knoll. Then he looked in her direction. With her face turned +quickly half-aside, she saw him stop suddenly as if halted by the same +feeling that had so moved her. + +For a full minute he stood there as if questioning his senses. The girl +sat very still. Once she thought he would turn back--then he came on +eagerly, as he had come that day from the water when he had looked up to +see her on the river bank. And then he stood before her as he had stood +that other day long weeks ago, with the sunlight on his red-brown hair. + +There was now no word of formal greeting. None was needed. Each seemingly +knew the travail of soul of the other. + +Dropping down on the grass by her side he said quietly, as if it were +unnecessary that he should speak at all, "I thought you were in the +garden this afternoon." + +"And I thought you were in the garden," she returned. + +He looked at her in wondering gladness, saying, "I had a caller. After +that I could not go." + +"And I--I too had a caller; and after that I--I could not go." The words +were spoken almost in a whisper. Her trembling fingers were picking again +at the short young grass; she was looking far away beyond the sweeping +line of blue. One foot had slipped a little from under the protecting +shelter of the blue skirt. He saw with a flush of anger that the shoe was +very shabby. The skirt, too, showed unmistakable signs of wear. He +controlled himself with difficulty, saying, "Your caller was--?" + +"Miss Charity Jordan. And yours?" + +"Elder Jordan." Dan looked away, and when he spoke again he said +bitterly, "Then I suppose you know?" + +At his tone and manner she turned her face quickly to his, permitting him +for the first time to search her eyes. It was as if she wanted to comfort +him, to reassure him. + +"Yes!" she said softly, gladly, triumphantly, "Yes, I know!" + +Something in her confident reply caused the minister to forget all his +half-formed resolutions. His work, his life, the possible outcome, the +world itself--were lost in the overpowering rush of the passion-flood +that swept his being. His deep voice trembled. "Then you know that I +love you--love you!" + +He repeated the simple words as if laying his whole self--body, soul and +spirit, at her feet. + +And the woman, in very wonder at the fullness of the offering, was as one +transfixed and could find no word fit to express her acceptance of the +gift. + +"It is my right to tell you this," he said proudly--defiantly almost, as +though challenging some unseen spirit or power. "And it is your right to +answer me." + +"Yes," she said, "it is our right." + +"Then you do care for me, Hope? I am not mistaken--you do?" + +"Can you doubt it?" she asked. + +He moved quickly toward her but she checked him, and while the love in +her eyes answered to the mastering passion in his, she seemed in some +subtle manner to build up a protecting wall between them, a wall to guard +them both. + +"I do not understand," he faltered. + +"You must think," she bade him quietly, firmly. "Don't you see that, +while it is right for you to tell me what you have, and right for me to +tell you how proud--how glad your words have made me, and how with all +my heart and life I--I--love you, this--," her voice faltered now, "don't +you see that this must be all?" + +"All?" he questioned. + +"All," she answered. "Everything that I said to you the first day that we +met here is still true. Don't you see that I can never, never be more to +you than I am now?" + +As one who hears himself sentenced to life-exile Big Dan dropped his +head, burying his face in his hands. + +And seeing him so, such a figure of helpless strength, the woman's gray +eyes filled with tears, that were not yet permitted to fall. In his +presence she would be strong--afterwards her own heart should have its +way. + +Once her hand went out, slowly towards the shaggy red-brown hair, but +was silently withdrawn, and the trembling white fingers again plucked +the young blades of grass. + +So they sat, these two--face to face with their hearts' tragedy, +each--for the other's sake--striving to be strong. + +"Tell me," he said at last, raising his head but not looking her in the +face, and speaking in tones that were strained and hard, "if I were +anything else, if I were engaged in any other work, would you be my +wife?" + +"Why do you ask that?" + +"Because I must know," he answered almost harshly. + +"If you were a common laborer, a business or professional man, if your +work was anything honorable and right, save what it is--yes, gladly; oh, +how gladly!" + +"Then," he burst forth hotly, "I will give up my work. I will be +something else!" + +"You would give up your ministry for me?" she questioned doubtfully; +"your chosen life work?" + +His voice sank to a hoarse whisper. "Yes, and if it need be--my religion, +my God." + +As he finished speaking she laid her hand on his arm. "Hush, oh hush! +That is not worthy of you; it is not true to our love. You are beside +yourself." + +He continued eagerly, "But I have learned that other work is just as +holy, just as sacred, as the work of the preacher and the church. You do +not know how in the past months I have been teaching this. Why should I +not give my life to some of these other ministries?" + +"Because it is not some other work that calls you now. These other +ministries are not yours," she answered gently. "I have learned to love +you because you are so truly yourself, because you are so true to +yourself. You must not disappoint me now. And you will not," she +continued, confidently, "I know that you will not." + +At last when he had argued, protested and pleaded until she was so beset +by both his passion and her own that she felt her strength going, she +said: "Don't, oh please don't! I cannot listen to more of this now. It +is not fair to either of us. You must have time to think alone. I believe +I know you even better than you know yourself. You must leave me now. You +must promise that you will not try to see me again until tomorrow +afternoon at this same hour. I will be in the garden with the others +until four o'clock, when I will go to the house alone. If then you have +decided that you can, with all truthfulness to yourself and me, give up +your ministry, come to me and I will be your wife. But whether you come +or not you must always believe that I love you, that I shall always love +you, as my other self, and that I shall never, never doubt your love for +me." + +So she sent him away to fight his battle alone, knowing it was the only +way such a battle could be rightly fought, and because she wanted him, +for his own sake, to have the certainty of a self-won victory, never +doubting in her own heart what that victory would be or what it would +mean to her. She indeed knew him better than he knew himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +SACRIFICED + +"Standing in the midst of these things, so much a part of his chosen +life that they seemed a vital part of himself, he heard the voices in +the garden." + + +Alone in his little study--the door locked--Big Dan battled with himself. +Everywhere in the room were things that cried aloud to him of his +ministry; his library--books of peculiar interest to ministers, papers +and pamphlets filled with matters of the church, written for church men, +his sermons--one lying half-finished on the study table, the very +pictures on the walls and the unanswered letters on his desk. Standing in +the midst of these things, so much a part of his chosen life that they +seemed a vital part of himself, he heard, the voices in the garden. He +knew that she was there. + +Since the beginning men like Dan Matthews have fought for women like Hope +Farwell. For such women such men have committed every crime, endured +every hardship, braved every danger, made every sacrifice, accomplished +every great thing. Few of the race today are strong enough to feel such +passion. It was primitive--but it was more. For there had been bred into +this man something stronger than his giant physical strength--a spirit, a +purpose, fitting such a body. + +The little clock on the mantel struck the hour. Softly, slowly, the +sweet-toned notes rang out: + +One! Two! Three! Four! + +With face white and drawn Dan went to the window. All that afternoon, +knowing that she was there, he had denied himself even the sight of her. +Now he would see her. + +He watched as, without a glance toward his window, the young woman left +her friends and went slowly into the house. Five--ten--fifteen--twenty +minutes! The ticking of the little clock seemed to beat on Dan's brain +with sledge-hammer blows. + +Then he saw her come out on the front porch of the cottage. Slowly she +walked out into the yard, until screened from the street by the big lilac +bush. Turning she faced toward his window. She waved a greeting. She even +beckoned to him to come. The man swayed and put out his hand to grip the +window casing. Again she beckoned him--come. When he did not leave his +place and only waved a hand in return, she went slowly back into the +house. + +Then Dan Matthews, minister--man, staggered back from the window to fall +on his knees in prayer. + +It was perhaps two hours before sunrise when Dr. Harry's horse stopped +suddenly in a dark stretch of timber six miles from town. Dimly the man +in the buggy saw a figure coming toward him. + +"Hello!" he said sharply; "what do you want?" + +The man in the road laughed a strange, hoarse, mirthless laugh, saying as +he continued to advance, "I thought it must be you. You nearly ran me +down." And Dan climbed in by the physician's side. + +The minister made no explanation, nor did his friend, after the first few +surprised questions, press him. But when they were turning in towards +Dan's gate the big fellow burst forth, "Don't stop, Harry--not here! For +God's sake, if you love me, take me on to your house for a little while!" + +Then did Dr. Harry guess the truth that later he came to know. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE TIE THAT BINDS + +"The Ally was there in power. The day of the rack, the thumbscrew and +the stake, is long past: in place of these instruments of religious +discipline we have--the Ally." + + +All the next day Dan remained at Dr. Harry's home, returning to his own +rooms in the evening. Early the following morning he was to take the +train for the annual gathering of the denomination, that was to be held +in a distant city. He would be away from Corinth three days at least. + +The minister's little study, when he had lighted the lamp that night, +seemed filled with a spirit that was never there before. It was as if, +during his absence, some unseen presence had moved in to share the +apartment with him. The very books and papers impressed him as intimate +companions, as if, in thus witnessing and--in truth--taking part in the +soul-struggle of the man, they had entered into a closer relation to +him, a relation sacred and holy. He was conscious, too, of an atmosphere +of privacy there that he had never sensed before, and, for the first +time in his life, he drew the window shades. + +In the battle that Hope Farwell had set for him to fight Dan had sought +to be frankly honest with himself, and to judge himself coldly, without +regard to the demands of his heart. If he had erred at all it was in an +over-sensitiveness to conscience, for conscience has ever been a tricky +master, often betraying its too-willing slaves to their own self-injury. +It is, a large question whether one has a greater right to injure himself +than to harm another. + +Dan could not admit, even to himself, that he had in any way neglected +the church, or fallen short of his duties as a hired shepherd. But after +all, was he not to some degree in error in his judgment of his people? +Had he not, perhaps, misunderstood the spirit that moved them? He had +come to Corinth from his school with the thought fixed in his mind that +the church was _all_ right. Had he not, by the unexpected and brutal +directness of his experience, been swung to the other extreme, conceiving +conditions as all wrong? + +Groping in the dark of his ministry he had come to feel more and more +keenly his inexperience. After all, was he right in taking the hard, +seldom-traveled path, or was not the safe way of the church fathers the +true way? Was not his failure to put himself in tune with things as he +found them, only his own inability to grasp the deeper meanings of those +things? He had come to doubt those leaders whom he had been taught to +follow, but he had come to doubt more his own ability to lead, or even +to find the way for himself. It was this doubt that had led him to decide +as Hope Farwell knew he would. + +_For Big Dan could not turn from the church and his chosen work without +the same certainty that had led him to it._ + +Least of all could he, after that which Hope had made so clear, go to her +with a shadow of doubt in his mind. + +His convictions were not, as yet, convincing. His new-born love for the +woman bulked too large in his life for him to trust his own motives. So +it came that he had chosen at such cost to himself, and--making the +greatest sacrifice possible to one of his nature--turned to give himself +wholly to that which he still felt to be his ministry. + +He looked forward now with eagerness to the gathering of church men to +which he was going on the morrow. There he would meet the great leaders +of his church, those with life-long experience in the work to which he +had given himself; those whose names were household names in the homes +of his people. There he would come into touch with the spirit of the +church as a whole, not merely the spirit of his own local congregation, +and in the deliberations of the convention, in their reports of work +accomplished, of conditions throughout the country, and in the plans for +work to be done, he would find--he must find--the key that would put him +in full harmony with those who were his fellow-workers. + +Dan's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar knock at the door. The old +Doctor entered. + +Of the recently-renewed talk of the community regarding Dan and Hope, and +of the growing sentiment of Memorial Church the Doctor knew all that Dan +knew--with this more. From long observation he understood, as Dan did +not, the real significance of this revival of activities by the Ally, and +the part that Judge Strong had in its inspiration. Concerning Dan and +Hope he could only conjecture, but the Doctor's conjectures amounted +almost to certainties. That the lad so dear to him was passing through +some tremendous crisis he knew, for he had talked with Dr. Harry that +afternoon. Seeing by the light in the window that Dan had returned, he +had run across the way to see if all was well with the boy. It was +characteristic of the Doctor that, while he did not make known the object +of his visit in words, he made the minister feel his sympathy and +interest, and his readiness, as he himself would have said, "to stand +by." + +Grasping his young friend's hand in greeting and placing his other hand +on Dan's shoulder, he studied his face as he would have studied a +patient. "Come boy," he said, "don't you think we better go fishing?" + +The minister smiled back at him. "I wish I could, Doctor; I need it, all +right. But you see there's that convention tomorrow." + +"Humph!" grunted the Doctor, as he seated himself. "Heard who's going?" + +Dan named a few of his church people. The Doctor grunted again. They were +nearly all of the inner circle, the Judge's confidantes in matters of the +church. + +"Judge Strong is going too," offered the Doctor. + +Dan said nothing. + +"Uh-huh; told me this evening." The old man chuckled. "I rather thought +I'd go myself." + +"You!" Dan said in surprise. + +The other's eyes twinkled. "Yes, me; why not? I've never been to one of +these affairs, but for that matter neither have you. I don't suppose they +would put me out. Anyway I have some business in the city and I thought +it would be fine for us to go up together. Martha's tickled to death! +Thinks I'll get it sure if I can only hear some of the really _big_ +preachers." + +Dan laughed, well-pleased. He could not know of the real motive that +prompted the Doctor's strange interest in this great meeting of church +men. + +The next morning at an early hour they were off: Dan, the old Doctor, +some six or eight of the active women leaders of the congregation, +Charity, and Judge Strong. The Ally went also. There was no little +surprise expressed, in a half-jesting manner, by the company, at the +presence of Dr. Oldham, and there was much putting together of heads in +whispered consultation as to what it might mean. The Judge and his +competent associates, with the Ally, kept very much together and left +Dan and his friend as much to themselves. Whenever the young minister, +prompted by his thoughts of the last few hours, approached the group +there was a significant hush, while his pleasantries were met by very +formal, and as evidently forced, monosyllables, which very soon sent him +back to his seat again with a face that made the old Doctor say things +under his breath. + +"Look here, Dan," said the old physician, as they neared their +destination, "I understand that at these meetings the visiting delegates +are always entertained at the homes of the local church people. I'm not a +delegate, so I go to a hotel. You come with me; be my guest. Tell 'em you +have already accepted an invitation to stop with a friend. Don't worry, +they'll be glad enough to have one less to care for, and I want you." + +The young man eagerly accepted. + +At the meeting was the usual gathering of the usual types. There were +the leaders, regularly appointed by the denomination, who were determined +to keep that which had been committed to them, at any cost; and to this +end glorified, in the Lord's service, the common, political methods of +distributing the places of conspicuous honor and power, upon program and +committee, among those friends and favorites who could be depended upon +to respond most emphatically, or who were--in the vernacular--"safe." +Equally active, with methods as familiar but not equally in evidence--for +one must be careful--were the would-be leaders, who--"for the glory of +Christ"--sought these same seats of the mighty, and who were assisted by +those who aspired to become their friends and favorites--joint heirs in +their success should they succeed. Then there were the self-constituted +leaders who pushed and pulled and scrambled to the front; content if they +could, only for the moment, be thought by the multitude to be something +more than they were; who were on their feet instantly to speak upon every +question with ponderous weight of words, and were most happy if they +could fill some vacant chair on the platform. There were the heresy +hunters who sniffed with hound-like eagerness for the scent of doctrinal +weakness in the speeches of their brothers; and upon every proposed +movement of the body, guarded with bulldog fidelity, the faith of their +fathers. There were also the young preachers who came to look with awe on +the doings of the great ones, to learn how it was done and to watch for a +possible opening whereby they might snatch their bit of glory here on +earth. + +Many there were of this latter class who, from the highest religious +motives, had answered the call to the ministry as to something sacred +and holy, even as had Dan. These young men, though they knew it not, +were there to learn how their leaders--while theoretically depending +upon God for their strength and guidance in managing the affairs of the +church--depended actually upon the very methods which, when used by the +world in its affairs, they stamped ungodly. + +The Ally was there in power. The day of the rack, the thumbscrew and the +stake, is long past: in place of these instruments of religious +discipline we have--the Ally. + +Mostly those on the firing line were ministers, though here and there a +prominent woman leader pushed to the front. The rest were brothers and +sisters, mainly sisters; who like other mortals, always backed their +favorites in the race that was set before them all. These prayed +sincerely and devoutly that somehow, in ways beyond their bewildered +ken, the good God would bless the efforts that were being made for +righteousness and truth, hoping thus for heavenly results from very +worldly methods. + +Judge Strong was an old campaigner. A heavy contributor to the general +work and missionary funds to which the leaders looked for the practical +solution of their modest bread and butter problems, he had the ears of +them all. Nor was the Elder slow to use his advantage. He could speak his +mind with frankness here, for these great men of the church lived far +from Corinth and, while knowing much of the Elder--the church man, knew +nothing of the Judge--the citizen and neighbor. More than this such +reports as the Elder had to make must, in the very nature of things, for +the good of the cause, be strictly private. + +While the Judge was holding these little confidential chats with the +leaders, and the leaders were holding equally confidential chats with +their friends and favorites, and these in turn were doing as they had +been done by, the Elder's assistants, assigned to various church homes +in the city, were confidentially exchanging confidences with their +hostesses. And this is the simple truth of the whole matter, and the way +it all came about. + +Dan was introduced to the secretary. "Ah--yes, Brother Matthews of +Corinth! Glad to meet you. Ah, excuse me I--ah, see a brother over there +with whom I must speak." + +Dan was presented to the treasurer. "Oh yes, I have heard of you--at +Corinth. Why, hello, Brother Simpkins"--catching a passing preacher by +the arm--"glad to see you! How are you and how is the work?" + +Dan introduced himself to one or two of those whom he had hungered to +see, those who were noted in the church papers for their broad wisdom +and saintly character, and somehow Dan felt rebuked for his forwardness +when each, from his pedestal, looked at him and said, "Oh yes; Brother +Matthews! I have heard of you, Brother Matthews!" + +During the forenoon session of the second day the order of business was +reports of the churches. In response to roll call, one after the other, +the representatives of the various congregations would tell what they +had done and what they were going to do. Dr. Oldham remarked later, "No +one told what they had failed to do, or what they were not going to do." + +As a rule the ministers reported for their own churches, save when some +delegate whom the pastor knew to be peculiarly qualified, was present. +Generally speaking the ministers consider the value of such a report to +be greatly increased if it can be given by some such member. The minister +himself always sees that the report is properly prepared. + +Judge Strong, without consulting Dan, responded to the call for the +Memorial Church. There was a distinct hush, and heads went forward in +interest. The Elder regretted to report that, while they had held their +regular services every Sabbath, and their preacher was the most popular +preacher in Corinth, the conversions for some reason had not been as +numerous as in some previous years. But Memorial Church could be depended +upon to remedy that very soon, for they were contemplating a great +revival meeting to begin as soon as a competent evangelist could be +secured. [Loud applause from the professional evangelists present.] They +felt that a series of good old Jerusalem gospel sermons would put them +again to the front in the matter of additions. [Loud applause from the +defenders of the faith.] + +Dan listened in silent amazement. This was the first he had heard of a +meeting in Corinth. The Doctor saw the boy's face grow burning red. + +The Elder continued his report, touching every department of the church +in like vein, and finished by "regretting exceedingly that their offering +for the missionary, and for the general work for the present year, had +fallen short of previous years." The Judge did not explain that he had +subtracted from his part in the church offering an amount exceeding the +shortage, which amount he had added to his usual personal subscription. +As for the regular expenses of the congregation, he went on, they had +been cared for. + +"And," remarked the state secretary in a loud voice, rising instantly as +the Judge sat down, "I want you all to know that Judge Strong's personal +contribution to our funds is larger this year than ever before. We who +know Brother Strong's splendid Christian generosity will understand how +the regular expenses of Memorial Church have been paid." Whereupon the +leaders-who-were and the leaders-who-would-like-to-be joined with one +accord in loud applause. + +Not a preacher there but understood exactly what the Elder's report +signified. + +Following the reports of the churches came the introductions of the new +pastors. Skilfully the preachers were marshaled upon the platform, Big +Dan towering at the foot of the line. Stunned and embarrassed as he was +by the Judge's report, the boy would not have gone forward at all, had +not the Doctor fairly pushed him into the aisle. The old philosopher told +himself grimly that the lad might as well get all that was coming to him. +In the ceremony that followed Dan got it. + +One after the other the ministers were introduced by the secretary, who +had a glowing word for each. "Brother Williams who has done such +marvelous work at Baxter." [Loud applause for Brother Williams.] "Brother +Hardy who is going to do a wonderful work at Wheeler." [Louder applause +for Brother Hardy.] And so on down the line. Not one, from big church or +little, from city pulpit or country district, but secured the boosting +comment and the applause; for this was Christian enthusiasm. + +Dan's turn came at last. His face was now white. + +"And this," shouted the secretary, "is Brother Matthews, the present +pastor of our church at Corinth." There was a hush still and significant; +for this was church policy. + +After a moment's silence the secretary continued, "Please sing hymn +three-hundred and one: + +'Blest be the tie that binds +Our hearts in Christian love.' + +Everybody sing!" And the denominational papers agreed that they made a +joyful noise unto the Lord. + +Were the high officials and their mates on this ship of salvation to be +blamed? Not a bit of it! The Elder's report made Dan "unsafe"--and he +was. They were right. More than this, the Lord needed the Judge's +influence--and money. + +When the young minister came back to his seat his old friend thought his +face the saddest he had ever seen. + +At lunch the Doctor told Dan that he was going to call upon several +friends that afternoon, and among them mentioned the superintendent of a +famous steel plant in the city. Agreeing to meet at dinner in the evening +they parted, Dan going alone to the convention building. At the door he +paused. + +Several ministers, chatting gaily with friends passing in for the opening +of the afternoon session, looked curiously at the stalwart, irresolute +figure standing there alone. Two or three greeted him with a word. All +were sorry for him; for not one but understood the meaning of the +incidents of the morning. + +An hour later the superintendent of the great steel works greeted, with +admiring eyes, the big clean-looking fellow and wondered at the look of +sadness on his face. + +"I am in the city with my friend, Dr. Oldham," explained Dan. "I expected +to find him here. He told me at lunch that he was coming." + +"Oldham in town? Good!" exclaimed the man of affairs. "Of course he would +look me up, but he hasn't been here yet. Glad to meet any friend of the +Doctor's. Sit down, Mr. Matthews; he'll be in presently, no doubt. Or +perhaps while you're waiting, you would care to look about." At Dan's +eager reply he touched a bell and, to the man who appeared, he said, +"Jack, show Mr. Matthews around. A friend of my friend, Dr. Oldham." + +And so the Doctor found the boy standing in the very heart of the great +plant, where the brawny workmen, naked to the waist--their bodies shining +with sweat and streaked with grime, wrestled with the grim realities of +life. + +For a little while the Doctor watched him; then, tapping him on the +shoulder, shouted in his ear, above the roar of the furnace, the hissing +of steam and the crash and clank of iron and steel. "Almost as good as a +fishing trip, heh Dan?" + +Back in the office again the superintendent introduced them to a +gray-haired, smooth faced, portly gentleman--the president of the steel +company, a well-known capitalist. The great man repeated Dan's name, +looking him over the while. + +"Matthews. By your name and your build, sir, you are related to the +Grant Matthews who owns Dewey Bald." + +"He is my father, sir," returned Dan, delighted. + +"Ah yes. Through my interests in the lead and zinc industry, I am +familiar with your part of the country, sir. I have met your father +several times. It is not easy to forget such a man." + +Dan now remembered the president's name, having heard it in connection +with the mines on Jake creek, near his home. + +The capitalist continued, "I have tried several times to persuade your +father to open up that hill of his. He has a fortune in that mountain, +sir, a fortune! Are you interested in mining, Mr. Matthews?" + +"Not directly, sir." + +"No? Well, if your people should ever decide to develop that property +come to me; I know what it is. We would be glad to talk it over with you. +Good-bye, sir; glad to have met you. Good day, Doctor." And he was gone. + +The Doctor and Dan dined with the genial superintendent and his family +that evening and the next morning set out for Corinth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +GOOD-BYE + +"But the big house for Dr. Harry is still empty when he returns from his +long drives; empty save for his dreams." + + +When Hope Farwell dismissed Dan that afternoon in the old Academy yard, +because she feared both for her lover and for herself, she had not for a +moment questioned what Dan's decision would be. With all the gladness +that their love had brought, there was in her heart no hope; for she +exacted of herself the same fidelity to her religious convictions that +she demanded of Dan. It would be as wrong for her to accept the church +as for him to reject it. So she had gone to the limit of her strength +for his sake. But when she reached again the privacy of her room, her +woman nature had its way. With the morning, strength returned +again--strength and calmness. Quietly she went about; for, while she had +left the whole burden of decision upon Dan, her heart was with her lover +in his fight. + +At the appointed hour she left her friends in the garden and went into +the house as she had planned. She did not expect him but she had said +that she would wait his coming. Her heart beat painfully as the slow +minutes passed, bringing by his absence, proof that she had not misjudged +him. Then she went outside and looking up saw him standing at his window; +smiling, she even beckoned to him. She wished to make the victory +certain, final and complete. Very quietly she returned to her room. She +did not again enter the garden. + +And now the young woman was conscious that she also had a part to do. +For every reason she must not remain in Corinth. She explained her plans +to Grace, for she could not leave the girl, and the two commenced to make +their simple preparations for the journey. Feeling that her strength was +not equal to the strain which another meeting with Dan would occasion, +there was no one left to bid good-bye save Deborah and Denny and--Dr. +Abbott. + +Dr. Abbott's faithful Jim was waiting, ready for a long trip into the +country, when Miss Farwell reached the physician's home. Harry himself, +dressed for the drive, met her at the door. + +"You were just answering a call," said the nurse. "I will not keep you, +Doctor." + +"Not answering a call, just making a visit," he said, "and there is no +need at all for me to hurry, Miss Farwell." He led her to the library. + +"I came to tell you good-bye," she said. "I could not go away without +thanking you, Dr. Abbott, for all your kindness to me." + +The strong hands of the physician, so firm and sure in their professional +duties, trembled, as the man placed his hat and gloves on the table. + +"To tell me 'good-bye,'" he repeated blankly. + +"Yes," she answered, "I cannot remain longer in Corinth." + +Harry's face flushed. + +"Miss Farwell you do not know how sorry I am for my failure to--" + +She interrupted, "Please don't Doctor. I know how you have tried," her +eyes filled, "and I know all that you have done. You understand it has +been for Grace--" she paused. "Grace will go with me. I am sure Dr. Miles +will find her a place in the hospital." + +"Yes," he said, "I understand. I will--will see you again some day, Miss +Farwell." + +"I shall never return to Corinth, Doctor," she answered with a shudder. +"If you come to the city, though, I shall always be glad to see you." The +words were as frank as from one man to another. + +Harry was thinking of his friend, the minister, of the meeting in the +night, and Dan's plea to be taken to the doctor's home, where he had +remained until late the evening before he left for the church convention. +Why was she leaving Corinth while Dan was away attending the convention? +Did she know that he was gone? What did it all mean? Could it be--! He +started from his chair. + +"I may see you again, then? You will be glad to see me, Miss Farwell? +Hope--tell me, surely you know what I would say! I would have said it +long ago but you would not let me. Tell me if there is any chance for +me--ever?" + +She had risen to her feet and into her face there came a look of tender +sadness. She did not turn away, and the man, looking into those gray +eyes, knew that she spoke truly when she said, "I am sorry, Dr. Abbott, +oh so sorry! No, there can never be, for you more than my regard and +friendship." Her voice trembled. "I know how it hurts because for +me--for us--too, there is no chance." + +Then Harry Abbott understood. + +She left him in the library. Outside she paused a moment to bestow a +good-bye caress upon the doctor's horse and then she quickly went away. + +Other helpers have now taken the place of the faithful old Mam Liz and +Uncle George, for these true souls have gone to the Master of all who +truly serve. But the big house for Dr. Harry is still empty when he +returns from his long drives; empty save for his dreams. + +Dr. Harry will never leave Corinth. When the old Doctor berates him +roughly for wearing himself out for those who never express their +appreciation, and from whom he can never hope to receive a fee, he +laughingly retorts in kind, charging the Doctor himself with having +consigned to him such unprofitable patients. He will never give up his +patients; neither will he give up his dreams. + +Miss Farwell's plans for the girl, whose life she had reclaimed, did not +fail. Dr. Miles, when he heard her story, gladly helped Grace to a place +in the school where she might fit herself for her chosen ministry; for, +said the famous physician, "The best nurses in the world are those who +have themselves suffered. No amount of professional skill can make up +for a lack of human sympathy and love." + +As Dan, home from the convention, was turning wearily in at his gate, +Deborah, from the garden, called to him. By her manner as she came slowly +to the fence, Dan knew the good soul was troubled. + +"It's a heavy heart I have, Mr. Matthews," she said; "for she's clean +gone, an' Denny an' me's that lonesome we don't know what to do." + +Dan's big hand gripped the fence. + +"Gone," he repeated blankly. He did not need to ask who was gone. + +"Yes sir, gone--yesterday evenin' be the train, leavin' her kindest +regards and best wishes to you." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +RESULTS + +"When he had finished his letter, he bowed his face in his hands and +wept." + + +Dan could not--or perhaps it should be written would not--understand +rightly his experience at the church convention. Sadly puzzled and +surprised by the spirit and atmosphere of that meeting to which he had +gone with such confidence, and sorely hurt by his reception, he had no +thought of the real reason for it all. He only blamed himself the more +for being so out of harmony--for failing so grievously to find the key +that should put him in tune. + +In the great steel works among the sweating, toiling men; with the +superintendent of the plant, under whose hand men and machinery were +made to serve a great world's need; and with the president whose brain +and genius was such a power in the financial and industrial world Dan +had felt a spirit of kinship. Amid those surroundings he had been as +much at home as if he were again in his native hills, and for the hour +had forgotten his fellow churchmen and their ministries. But as their +train drew nearer and nearer Corinth, the Doctor saw by his companion's +face, and by his fits of brooding silence, that the minister was feeling +again the weight of his troublesome burden. + +By this and by what he had seen at the convention, the old physician knew +that the hour in Dan's life for which he watched with such careful, +anxious interest, was drawing near. + +With Hope gone out of his life he turned to his work with grim, +desperate, determination. What, indeed, had he now to which he might +turn but his work? He realized that now he must find in this work for +which he had made the supreme sacrifice of his life, the only thing that +would, to him, justify his choice--the choice that had cost both him and +the woman he loved so much suffering. His ministry had now become +something more to him than a chosen life work. To those high motives +that had led him to the service of the church, he added now the price he +had paid in giving up the woman who had grown so much into his life. He +_must_ find that in his ministry which would make the great price paid, +not in vain. + +So, with all the strength of his great nature, he threw himself with +feverish energy into what had, in spite of himself, come to be a +too-empty ministry. Crushing every feeling of being misunderstood, and +unjustly criticized; permitting himself no thought that there were under +the surface treacherous currents working for his overthrow; blaming +himself always and others never, when he felt a lack of warmth or +sympathy in his people; yielding for the time even his own conviction as +to his teaching, and striving to shape his sermons to the established +lines of the Elders, he fought to put himself into his work. + +And always, at the beck and call of Dan's real masters, that other +servant of the church--that spirit that lives in Corinth--wrought the +will of those whose ally it is. + +That last meeting of Dan and Hope in the Academy yard, as if by +appointment; the sudden departure of the nurse so soon after; and Dan's +too-evident state of mind, were all skilfully used to give color to the +ugly whispered reasons for the nurse's leaving town so hurriedly. + +The old Doctor knowing, watching, waited for the hour he knew would come; +understanding Dan as he had always understood him; wisely recognizing the +uselessness of doing aught but let him go his own strong, hard, way. And +Dr. Harry also, knowing the malignant power that was forcing the end, and +conscious what the end would be, watched silently, hopelessly, +helplessly, as many a time he had watched the grim drawing near of that +one whose certain coming his professional knowledge enabled him to +recognize, while giving him no power to stay. + +Memorial Church was all astir, and on the tiptoe of expectancy, +preparing--they said--for the greatest revival ever held in Corinth. The +professional evangelist selected by the Elder, whose choice was, as a +matter of course, approved by his fellow officials and congregation, had +sent full instructions for the proper advertising of himself, and--as +his instructions stated--"the working up of the meeting." Dan ignoring +the slight to himself in the matter of calling the evangelist, did +everything in his power to carry out his part of the instructions. + +The evangelist arrived. Royally received by the Elders and the inner +circle, he was escorted in triumph to the Strong mansion, which was to +be his home during the meeting, and within the hour began his +professional duty of "setting the church in order, and gathering a +mighty harvest of souls." + +This evangelist was a good one, of his kind. His kind is that type of +professional soul-winner evolved by the system whereby the church pays +for the increase of its flock at so much per head, inasmuch as the number +of his calls, and the amount of his hire depend upon the number of +additions per meeting to the evangelist's credit. A soul-winner with +small meetings to his credit receives a very modest compensation for +his services, and short notices in the church papers. But the big +fellows--those who have hundreds of souls per meeting, come higher, much +higher; also they have more space given them in the papers, which helps +them to come higher still. Souls may have depreciated in value since +Calvary, but one thing is sure, the price of soul-winners has gone away +up since the days of Paul and his fellow ministers. + +Preaching every night and conducting afternoon meetings, calling at the +homes of the people, directing the efforts of the members of the inner +circle, sometimes with Dan--oftener without him--fully informed and +instructed by the Judge, whose guest he was and to whom he looked for a +larger part of his generous salary, the evangelist made himself no small +power in the church of Corinth. Assisted always by the skill and strength +of the Ally, the effectiveness of his work from the standpoint of Elder +Strong and the inner circle at least, was assured. + +That was a great meeting; a mighty revival, far reaching in its influence +and results! So the denominational papers had it from Judge Strong's +report, written while the services were still in progress, and edited by +the evangelist. And the papers published a greater truth than they knew. +There were influences of which they were ignorant, and the results +reached ends they dreamed not of. + +Night after night--Dan heard the evangelist with harsh words and +startling roughness of expression, declare the awful, eternal disaster +that would befall every soul that did not accept the peculiar brand of +salvation which he and his church alone offered. He listened to the long +arguments planned to prove the rightness, and therefore righteousness, +of the evangelist himself and his denominational way, and the equal +wrongness, and therefore unrighteousness, of every other minister and +church not of his way. Then as he heard these utterances most +emphatically and enthusiastically indorsed by his Elders and people as +the old Jerusalem gospel, the conviction grew upon him that his preaching +would never be acceptable to Memorial Church. + +And what place is there in the scheme of things as they are for the +unacceptable preaching of any gospel? What gospel can a preacher deliver +in order to be acceptable to his peculiar church save that church's +peculiar gospel? Dan was not one to ask the oft repeated question of +the ministry, "What must I preach in order that I may be saved?" + +In the semi-secret workers meetings; in the still more private planning +of the committees; in the jubilant reports of the uneasiness of the other +churches; and in the satisfying accounts of the awakened opposition and +answering sermons of the other preachers; in the evidence of the general +stirring up of the community; and in the schemes for further advertising +and boosting the evangelist and the cause, Dan felt himself growing ever +more and more out of harmony--felt himself more and more alone. + +In those days the sadness of his face grew fixed; his color lost its +healthy freshness; strange lines, that did not belong to his young +manhood, appeared; and the brown eyes that were wont to look at you so +openly, hopefully, expectantly, with laughter half-hidden in their +depths, were now doubting, questioning, fearful, full of pain. + +The Doctor saw, and silently "stood by." Dr. Harry saw and wished that +it was all over. + +Then came a letter from the officials of the Chicago church of which Dr. +Miles was a member. The letter asked if Dan would consider a call to that +congregation. Again and again Dan read the letter. What should he do? He +could not stay in Corinth. The sense of failure haunted him, while he was +unable to fix upon the reason for it. He condemned himself for committing +unknown offenses. Could he honestly go to another church? How should he +answer the letter? He could not answer it at once--perhaps in a few days! + +While he hesitated the meeting drew to its triumphant close. After one +last, mighty, farewell effort, the evangelist departed to some other +grand harvest of souls, to some other church that needed "setting in +order." His work was well done! So well done that he was justified, +perhaps, in making another substantial increase in his stated weekly +"terms." + +That night when the farewell meeting was over, and the last "good-bye" +and "God bless you" had been said to the evangelist, Dan stood alone in +his study, by the window that looked out upon Denny's garden. He was +very tired. Never before in his life had he known such weariness. He +felt that in the past few weeks he had neglected the garden down there. +For Denny and Deborah he had planned that the little plot of ground +should be more profitable that year than it had ever been before. He +would not neglect it longer. There at least were visible, actual returns +for his labor. Tomorrow he would spend in the garden. + +But to-night-- + +Seating himself at his writing table he wrote the Chicago church that he +could not consider their call. And then in that little room where he had +made for his ministry the supreme sacrifice of his life; surrounded by +the silent witnesses of his struggle and victory, he penned his +resignation as the pastor of Memorial Church. + +Dan Matthews will never outlive the suffering of that hour. He had lost +the woman he loved with all the might of his strong passionate manhood. +When she had waited and beckoned him to come, he had chosen his ministry. +And now--God pity him!--now he had lost that for which he had sacrificed +both himself and the woman he loved. + +When he had finished his letter, he bowed his face in his hands and wept. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +A HANDFUL OF GOLD + +"'I fear it is more his church than mine, sir.'" + + +Rising early the next morning Dan looked from his window to see a +stranger already at work in the garden. He was tall, raw-boned, having +the figure and dress of a laborer. A few minutes later Dan was introduced +by the delighted Deborah to her brother Mike McGowan, who had arrived the +afternoon before from somewhere in the west. All the morning the two men +worked side by side with crippled Denny. + +Returning to his self-appointed task in the afternoon, Dan was met by +the brawny Irishman who in a towering rage, was just leaving the house. + +"Parson," he roared, "'tis a good man ye are, if ye be only a protestant +preacher--a damn good man sir, beggin' your pardon! But you've got a +danged poor kind of a boss, thot'll be lookin' more like he ought to +when I git through with him." + +"Why, what's the matter?" asked Dan stopping with his back to the gate, +thus blocking the way, for he saw that the stranger was bent on violence +to someone. "Whom do you mean, by my boss?" + +"Who do I mane? And who should I mane, but him that runs the thing yonder +they call a church, beggin' your pardon, sir. 'Tis the Elder, as you call +him--Judge Strong. I'll judge him, if I can coax him widin reach of my +two hands." He shook his huge, hairy fists in the air. "It's not strong +but wake he'll be when I git through wid him. Leave me pass, if you +please, sir." + +Dan held his place. "Come, come McGowan," he said, "let's go into the +house and you tell me about this." + +Deborah, who with Denny was standing in the doorway, called out to them, +"That's right Mr. Matthews. Come on in Mike, and talk it over quiet like; +let the minister tell ye what to do. It's him that'll save us a sight o' +trouble that nobody wants. Come in sir! Come on Mike, come with the +minister." + +The wrathful Irishman hesitated. Dan laid a hand on his arm and together +they went into the cottage. + +"'Twas this way sir," said McGowan, "I was sayin' to Debby and Denny here +at dinner what a danged fine man I took ye for after workin' wid ye all +mornin' in the garden, an' then she up an' tells me 'bout you fixin' up +the mortgage fer them an' how they niver could find out how you fixed it +with the Judge. 'The mortgage' says I, 'what mortgage is that, Debby?' +'The mortgage on the place, of course,' says she. 'Don't you mind, I was +tellin' you 'bout it when ye was here before?' 'Do I mind' says I, 'I +should think I did,' and wid that it all come out sir, and this is the +way of it. + +"When I come from Colorado that time Jack was killed I found Debby here, +widout even money enough to pay for a mass, to say nothin' of the +buryin', bein' as they had put iverythin' into the little place here, +d'ye see? Well I had a run o' luck the week before, which is neither +here nor there, but I had money. I knowed from experience that it +wouldn't shtay by me long anyway, an' so I thought I'd kinda fix things +up fer Debby an' the kid here, while I could, d'ye see? + +"Well when 'twas all over, I paid the undertaker's bills an' iverythin' +like that, an' then the very day I left I went to that damn thief, +beggin' your pardon, an' paid off that mortgage in good, hard cash. +Explainin' to him, d'ye see, that I wanted the papers all fixed up +straight and clear and turned over to Debby here, as a kind of a +surprise, d'ye see, after I was gone an' she would be feelin' +down-hearted bein' left by her man and me besides. The Judge bein', as I +knew, the main guy in the big church, I niver thought but that'd be all +right, d'ye see? Well sir, I went away that very day as tickled as a boy +over the thing an' niver thought nothin' about not gettin' a letter about +it from her, 'cause ye see wid me on the move so, most of the letters I +git from Debby niver find me at all. An' here she's tillin' me now that +she's niver heard nothin' 'bout it from the Judge an' she's been payin' +the interest right along, an' would a been turned out by him if it han't +a bin fer you, sir. An' me wid no writin' nor nothin' to show for the +good money I paid him. Now, ain't that a hell of a thing, sir? What kin I +do save bate the face off him onless he fixes it up right an' gives back +ivery cint he's had off her besides?" + +As he listened to the Irishman's story, the new, drawn lines in Dan's +face deepened. He sat with bowed head as though he himself were being +charged with theft. When the tale was finished there was silence in the +little room for several minutes. Then Dan raised his head and the others +saw that in his eyes, as though he had received a mortal hurt. + +"Tell me, Mr. McGowan," he said. "Are you sure there is not some mistake +somewhere? It is very hard for me to believe, that an Elder of the +church--would--" his voice broke. + +The Irishman's rough tones were softened as he answered, "An' how could +there be any mistake, sir, wid me givin' him the hard cash out of me own +pocket after his tellin' me how much it was, an' his promise to fix it up +all right fer Debby when I'd explained the surprise I'd meant fer her?" + +"You paid him the money, you say?" + +"That I did sir--gold. Ye see I happened to have that draft--jest a +thousand an' I turned it in here at the bank. I remember how the feller +at the winder tried to make me take thim dirty bills an' I would not, as +neither would you if you lived as long in the west as I have, sir, an' +got used to the good, clean gold. 'It's the gold or nothin' I'll have' +says I to him, 'clean money to pay a clean debt' an' we had some words +over it--his bein' on the other side o' the winder, ye see, where he +could talk to me. An even eight hundred and fifty I gave the Judge, one +hundred and forty I paid the undertaker and the other tin I gave to Denny +here as I was leavin'. The priest I paid out of some I had in me belt." + +"Come," said Dan, "we must go to the bank." + +In the rear room of the little country bank, Dan introduced the Irishman +to the cashier, Colonel Dunwood. + +"I think I have met Mr. McGowan before," said the Colonel with a smile. +"Mrs. Mulhall's brother are you not? You were here when Jack was killed." + +"I was, sir. Glad to meet you again, sir." + +"Do you remember cashing a draft for Mr. McGowan, Colonel?" asked Dan. + +The banker laughed heartily. "I should say I did--a thousand dollars in +gold. I was glad the counter was between us, when I tried to persuade him +to take paper. Why sir, not in twenty years in this state would you find +a man who would even accept the gold, let alone fighting for it!" + +Then Dan explained briefly the situation. + +When he had finished the Colonel sprang to his feet with an oath. "And +that explains something that puzzled us here in the bank, for many a day. +Wait a minute." + +He left the room to return with a slip of paper. "Can you tell me the +exact date on which you cashed the draft?" he said to McGowan. + +"It was the day after the funeral. I disremember the date, but 'twould +be easy to find." + +The banker nodded, "Our books show that I paid you the money the +sixteenth. And here," he laid the slip of paper before them, "is a +deposit slip made out and signed by Judge Strong dated the seventeenth, +showing that on that date he deposited eight hundred and fifty dollars +in gold. That is what puzzled us, Mr. Matthews--that the Judge should +deposit that amount of gold, there being, you see so little gold handled +here. It makes it very easy to trace. I'll illustrate." He turned to +Mike. "Did you spend any more of the gold in Corinth?" + +McGowan told him about paying the undertaker. After a moment the Colonel +triumphantly laid before them a deposit slip made out by the undertaker +dated a day later, showing an item of one hundred and forty dollars in +gold. + +"You see," he said, "how easy it is." + +"Colonel Dunwood," said Dan, "would this be sufficient evidence before a +jury to--" He hesitated. + +The Colonel let fly another oath, "Yes sir, and before any jury you could +get together in this county it wouldn't take half this to send that +damned, long-faced, sniveling, hypocrite where he belongs. He is one of +our best customers, too, but I reckon this bank can get along without his +dirty money. I beg your pardon, sir; I forgot he is an Elder in your +church." + +Dan smiled sadly, "I fear it is more his church than mine, sir." And +they left the banker to puzzle over the minister's remark. + +That evening Dan went again to the home of Judge Strong. He had persuaded +McGowan to let him act in the matter, for he feared that the Irishman's +temper would complicate things and make it more difficult to secure +Deborah's rights by creating some feeling in the community against the +little family. + +Dan found the Judge in his library. Very quietly, sadly indeed, he told +the story. The Elder, righteously indignant, stormed at the minister, +denying everything; accusing Dan of being an impudent meddler; +threatening him with dismissal from, the church and the denomination; +accusing him even, with unlawful interest in the affairs of the widow, +and taunting him with the common reports as to his relations with Miss +Farwell and her companion. + +Dan with a look of sadness growing deeper on his face listened, without +a word until the final insinuation; then he checked the other sharply, +and his voice had the ring of metal in it as he said slowly, "Judge +Strong you shall answer to me later for this insult to these good women. +Just now you will not mention them again. I am here in the interests of +Mr. McGowan. Confine your remarks to that subject." + +Then he laid before the Judge the evidence he had obtained at the bank +and pointed out its damaging strength. The man was frightened now, but +still he obstinately denied having received any money in payment of the +mortgage. Dan pleaded with him, urging even the cause of the church, +telling also how McGowan had agreed to do nothing further if the Judge +would simply make restitution. + +The Judge answered arrogantly that he had been a faithful member, and an +Elder in the Memorial Church, too long to be harmed by the charges of a +stranger, a wandering ruffian, who had nothing but his word to show that +he had paid him a sum of money. "And as for you, young man," he added, +"I may as well tell you now that your time is about up in Corinth, and +I'll take mighty good care that you don't get another church in our +brotherhood either. I'll show you that preachers get along better when +they attend to their own affairs." + +Dan's final words, as he stood by the door, were, "I cannot believe Judge +Strong, that you will force my friends to take this matter into the +courts. But we will certainly do so if I do not receive from you by +tomorrow noon the proper papers and a check for every cent you have +taken from Mrs. Mulhall." + +Until late in the night after Dan's departure, Judge Strong still sat at +his desk, deep in thought. Occasionally he rose to walk the floor. + +When the Judge had received that money from McGowan he had had no thought +but regret at losing the property he coveted. With Deborah and Denny left +alone in the world, he knew that in time the place would be sure to come +to him. He had only to wait. This wild Irish brick-layer--and who knows +what beside--who was he to block the Elder's plans with his handful of +gold? + +The gold! How well the Judge remembered that day, and how when Mike was +gone, he had sat contemplating the shining pieces! What a fool the man +was to carry such stuff on his person! The careful Judge never dreamed +that the money had come from his own bank. The Irishman was going away on +the morrow. Planning gleefully to surprise his sister, he had told no +one. He would wander far. It would be years before he would return, if he +ever came back. By that time the property would be-- + +It was seemingly all too easy. The Judge's character was not a character +to resist such an opportunity. The gold alone perhaps would not have won, +but the gold and the place--the place he had planned for and felt so +certain of owning--that was too much! + +And now this big sad-faced preacher--the Irishman again, and the bank! +The more the Judge thought over Dan's quiet words, the more he saw the +danger. + +So it came about, that the next morning Dan, waiting in his study, +received a visitor--the good old Elder--Nathaniel Jordan. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE VICTORY OF THE ALLY + +"So the old Doctor found him in the late afternoon--his great strength +shaken by rage and doubt; found him struggling like a beast in the trap." + + +Nathaniel was greatly agitated as he faced the minister in the doorway. +He moved unsteadily across the room, stumbling toward the chair Dan +offered, and his hand shook so violently that his cane rattled against +the window ledge, where he attempted to lay it--rattled and fell to the +floor. He jumped in his seat at the sound. Dan picked up the cane and +placed it on the table. Then the Elder found his voice--thin and +trembling--and said, "I came about--about Brother Strong, you know." + +"Yes," said Dan, a great pity for this good old man in his heart. "Did +Judge Strong send anything?" + +The Elder fumbled in his pocket and drew out an envelope. He extended +it with shaking fingers to Dan, who opened it and examined the contents. +Slowly he replaced them in the envelope and, looking at his visitor, +waited. + +Again the Elder found his voice and said with a little more self-control, +"A bad business, Brother Matthews; too bad, too bad; poor Brother +Strong!" + +He shook his head sadly. Dan looked at him curiously, but made no reply. + +"Poor Brother Strong," the Elder repeated. "Brother Matthews, I want to +ask you to use your influence with these people to keep this sad affair +from getting out. Do you think they will insist on--ah, on bringing +action against Brother Strong now--now that he has--ah, complied with +your request?" + +"And why," asked Dan, "should you wish the matter kept secret?" + +The Elder gazed at him blankly. "Why? Why, on account of the church, of +course. Judge Strong is one of our leading members--an Elder. He has been +for years. It would ruin us--ruin us!" + +"But," said Dan coolly, "he is a thief. You must know that he stole this +money. Here--," he stretched forth his hand, holding the envelope, "here +is his confession of guilt." + +The Elder's voice trembled again. "Brother Matthews! Brother Matthews! +I--I protest! Such language, applied to an Elder is unchristian; you +know the scripture?" + +"Is it not true?" persisted Dan. + +"Ahem! Brother Strong may have made a mistake, may--ah, have done wrong, +but the church--the church; we must think of the good name of the cause! +Coming so soon after the revival, too!" + +"Am I to understand, then, that the church will keep this man in his +place as an Elder; that you will protect him when you know his true +character?" + +At the question the other stared blankly. "Why--why how could we get +along without him?" + +"How can you get along with him?" asked Dan. + +"But there isn't a man in Corinth who has done so much for us and for +the missionary cause! No, no, we must be more careful, Brother Matthews." + +"Then for the sake of his contributions and his position in the community +the church will shield him from the results of his crime?" + +The Elder squirmed uneasily in his chair. + +"Is that what you mean?" insisted Dan. + +"Why--I--I don't think, Brother Matthews, for the good of our cause in +Corinth, that it would be good policy to make this matter public and so +create a great stir. Brother Strong has made restitution. We must be +charitable, brother, and forgiving. You must not think too--too hard of +him. Are these people determined to push this matter?" + +"Oh, no," said Dan, "not at all. They want only that which belongs to +them. You may rest easy; as I told the Judge last night, this will end +the matter. It was under that promise that he made restitution, as +you call it. I was simply asking to know how the church would look upon +such a thing when it touches an Elder. You have explained it +clearly--_policy_!" + +The Elder stiffened. It was remarkable how quickly he revived under Dan's +assurance that the danger was past! Very dignified now, as became one in +his position, he said, "Ahem, ahem! I fear, Brother Matthews, that you +are not--ah--not entirely in harmony with our brotherhood in many +things." + +Dan was silent. + +"Ahem! The tone of your sermons has been I may say--ah, questioned by a +good many of us, and your attitude toward the board has not been quite +as cordial as we feel we have a right to expect." + +"Do you speak from personal experience, sir?" + +"Oh, no--no indeed, Brother Matthews; but--ah, Brother Strong has felt +for some time past that you have treated him rather coldly." + +Dan waited. + +"A lack of harmony between a pastor and his Elder is very bad--ah, very +bad. Ahem! Ahem! And so, considering everything we--Brother Str--that is +the board have thought best that your relations with the Memorial Church +should discontinue." + +"And when was this action taken?" asked Dan quietly. + +"The day before the meetings closed. We wished to have the benefit of +Brother Sigman's advice before he left. He met with us and we considered +the whole matter quite carefully and prayerfully. I was appointed to tell +you. I should add that there is no doubt but the people will concur in +the board's decision. Many of the members, I may say, were seen before we +took action." + +Dan glanced toward his desk where, in the envelopes, lay his resignation +and his answer to the Chicago church. In the excitement of McGowan's +trouble he had neglected to mail them. + +"Of course," he questioned, quietly curious now, "the board will give me +a letter?" + +"Ahem! We--ah, discussed that also," said the Elder. "Brother Strong and +the Evangelist--and, I may say, the entire board feel that we cannot +consistently do so." + +"May I ask why?" + +"Ahem! Your teaching, Brother Matthews, does not seem to be in harmony +with the brotherhood. We cannot endorse it, and the talk in the community +about your conduct has been very damaging; very!" + +"Is it charged that my teaching has been false to the principles of +Christianity as taught by Christ?" + +"I cannot discuss that part, Brother Matthews. It is not such teaching +as the churches of our brotherhood want." + +"Does the church, sir, believe that my character is bad?" + +"No, sir--no, sir! No one really believes that, but you have been--ah, +injudicious. There has been so much talk, you know--" + +"Who has talked?" Dan interrupted. + +The Elder continued, "These things follow a minister all his life. We +cannot recommend a man of bad repute to our sister churches; it would +reflect upon us." + +"For the same reason that you keep in a high office in the church a man +who is an unrepentant thief?" said Dan. + +The Elder rose. "Really, Brother Matthews, I cannot listen to such words +about our Elder!" + +"I beg your pardon, sir," said Dan huskily. "I was thinking aloud. Please +tell me one thing more. I have here a letter from a church in Chicago +asking me to consider a call. Have the Elders received a letter from +them?" + +"Ahem! Yes, we considered it at that same meeting." + +"And you have written them?" + +"We could not recommend you. I am sorry, Brother Matthews." + +"I believe you are," said Dan slowly. "Thank you." + +When the Elder was gone Dan turned sadly back to his little study; the +study that had come to stand so for everything to which he had devoted +his life with such holy purpose, for which he had sacrificed so much. + +Slowly he went to his desk and looked down upon the work scattered over +it. Taking up the two letters he tore them slowly into fragments and +dropped them into the waste basket. Then as slowly he turned to his +books, touching many of the familiar volumes with a caressing hand. Then +he went to the table where lay his church papers and the missionary +pamphlets and reports. The envelope from Judge Strong caught his eye. + +Mechanically he took his hat and went to carry the message to his friends +on the other side of the garden. From across the street the old Doctor +hailed him but he did not hear. + +Delivering the envelope, with a few brief words, the minister left his +friends and wandered on down the street in a bewildered, dazed fashion, +scarce knowing where he went, or why; until he turned in through the gap +in the tumble-down fence to the old Academy yard. + +But he could not stay there. The place was haunted, he could not stay! +He turned his face toward the open country, but the fields and woodlands +had no call for him that day. It was his little study that called; his +books, his work. + +As one goes to sit beside the body of a dear friend, conscious that the +friend he loved is not there, yet unable to leave the form wherein the +spirit had lived, so Dan went back to his room, his desk, his books, his +papers--that which had been his work. + +And now the deep passions of the man stirred themselves--awoke. Wild +anger, mad rage, seized and shook him. His whole sense of justice was +outraged. This was not Christianity, this thing that had caught him in +its foul snare! And if the church was not Christian what was +Christianity? Was there, indeed, such a thing? Was it all such a hollow +mockery? + +So the Doctor found him in the late afternoon--his great strength shaken +by rage and doubt; found him struggling like a beast in the trap. + +And the Doctor saw that the hour for which he had waited had come. + +Dan needed him--needed him badly! + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +THE DOCTOR'S GLASSES + +"'There is no hatred, lad, so bitter as that hatred born of a religious +love; no falsehood so vile as the lie spoken in defense of truth; no +wrong so harmful as the wrong committed in the name of righteousness; no +injustice so terrible as the injustice of those who condemn in the name +of the Saviour of the world!'" + + +When Dan, forced into something of his habitual self-control and calmness +by the presence of his old friend, began telling the Doctor of the action +of the church the other checked him abruptly with, "I know all about +that, lad." + +"You know!" ejaculated Dan. + +"Certainly I know. Isn't Martha one of the elect? I reckon everybody in +the whole town but you knew it before noon of the day after the meeting." + +Dan muttered something about being a blind fool and the old Doctor +answered, "Humph! The fools are they who see too much, boy. Such +blindness as yours is a gift of the gods; for Heaven's sake don't let +any quack fit you out with glasses!" + +Dan threw himself wearily into a chair and there was a spirit of +recklessness in his reply, as though he were letting go of himself again. +"How is a blind man to recognize a quack? I would to God I had your +glasses!" + +"Perhaps," said the Doctor deliberately, "I might lend them to you, just +for once, you know." + +"Well then," said the other, sitting up suddenly, "let me have them! How +do you see this thing? What have I done or not done? For what shall I +blame myself? What fatal error have I made that, with the best of +motives, with the--," he hesitated, then--"I can say it to you, Doctor, +and I will--with the sacrifice of the dearest thing in the world to me, I +am cast out in this fashion? If I can find a reason for it, I can bear +it." + +"It is your blindness, boy. You could not help it; you were born blind. +I have always known this would come." + +"You have always known this would come?" repeated Dan questioningly. + +"Yes, I have always known, because for half a century, boy, I have +observed the spirit of this institution. Mind, I do not say the spirit +of the people in the institution. Strong people, Dan, sometimes manage +to live in mighty sickly climates. The best people in the world are +sometimes held by evil circumstances which their own best intentions +have created. The people in the church are the salt of the earth. If +it were not for their goodness the system would have rotted long ago. +The church, for all its talk, doesn't save the people; the people save +the church. And let me tell you, Dan, the very ones in the church who +have done the things you have seen and felt, at heart respect and believe +in you." + +Dan broke forth in such a laugh as the Doctor had never heard from his +lips. "Then why?" + +"Because," said the old man, "it is their religion to worship an +institution, not a God; to serve a system, not the race. It is history, +my boy. Every reformation begins with the persecution of the reformer +and ends with the followers of that reformer persecuting those who would +lead them another step toward freedom. Misguided religious people have +always crucified their saviors and always will!" + +Dan was silent, awed by the revelation of his old friend's mind. +Presently the Doctor continued, "There is no hatred, lad, so bitter as +that hatred born of a religious love; no falsehood so vile as the lie +spoken in defense of truth; no wrong so harmful as the wrong committed +in the name of righteousness; no injustice so terrible as the injustice +of those who condemn in the name of the Saviour of the world!" + +"What then, as you see it--what can I do?" demanded Dan. + +The Doctor changed his tone. His reply was more a question than an +answer. "There are other churches?" + +Dan laughed bitterly. "They have taken care of that, too." He began to +tell of the call to Chicago and the Elders' refusal to give him a letter, +but again the Doctor interrupted him. "Yes, I know about that, too." + +"Well," demanded Dan almost angrily. + +"Well," answered the other easily, "there are still other churches." + +"You mean--." + +"I mean that you are not the only preacher who has been talked about by +his church, and branded by his official board with the mark of the devil +in the name of the Lord. It's easy enough! Go farther, get a little +obscure congregation somewhere, stay long enough to get a letter, not +long enough to make another name; try another in the same fashion. Lay +low, keep quiet, stay away from conventions, watch your chance, and--when +the time is ripe--make a hit with the state workers in some other state. +You know how! It's all easy enough!" + +Dan leaped to his feet. "Good God, Doctor! I have done nothing wrong. Why +should I skulk, and hide, and scheme to conceal something I never did, +for the privilege of serving a church that doesn't want me? Is this the +ministry?" + +"It seems to be a large part of it," answered the other deliberately. +"My boy, it's the things that preachers have not done that they try +hardest to hide. As to why, I must confess that I am a little +near-sighted myself sometimes." + +"I can't, I can't do it, Doctor!" + +"Humph! I didn't suppose you could," came dryly from the old man. + +Dan did not heed but went on in a hopeless tone to tell the Doctor how he +had written his resignation, and had declined to consider the call to +Chicago. "Don't you see that I couldn't take a church if one were offered +me now?" he asked. "Don't you understand what this has done for me? It's +not the false charges. It's not that! It's--it's the thing, whatever it +is, that has made this action of the church possible. I am forced to +doubt, not alone the church, but everything--the people, myself, God, +Christ, Christianity, life itself; everything! How can I go on with a +work, in which I cannot say to myself with truth that I believe?" His +voice ended in a groan. + +And the old man, who knew the lad so well felt as though he were gazing +upon the big, naked soul. Then, indeed, the Doctor knew that the hour had +come. + +There are those who, capable of giving but little to life, demand of life +much in return. To such weak natures doubt means not much. But souls like +this one, capable of giving themselves to the last atom of their +strength, demand no small returns in convictions as to the worthiness of +the cause to which they contribute. To such, doubt is destruction. It was +because Dan had believed so strongly, so wholly in the ministry of the +church that he had failed. Had he not accepted so unreservedly, and given +himself so completely to the ministry as it was presented to him in +theory, had he in some degree doubted, he would have been able to adjust +himself to the actual conditions. He would have succeeded. + +For while, theoretically, the strength of the church is in its fidelity +to the things in which it professes to believe; practically and actually +the strength of the church of today is in its tacit acceptance of its +unbeliefs. Strange things would befall us if we should ever get the habit +of insisting that our practice square with our preaching; if churches +should make this the test of fellowship--that men must live their +doctrines, rather than teach them--that they must live their beliefs +rather than confess them--that they must live their faiths, rather than +profess them. + +Dan's was not a nature that could preach things in which he only half +believed to a people whose belief he knew to be no stronger than his own. +It was with these things in mind that the Doctor had waited for this +moment in Dan's life, for the old man realized, as the young man could +not, what such moments mean. + +Rising and going to the window overlooking the garden the Doctor called +to Dan, "Come here, boy!" + +Together they stood looking down on the little plot of ground with its +growing vegetables, where Denny, with his helpless, swinging arm, and +twisted, dragging foot, was digging away, his cheery whistle floating up +to them. The physician spoke with a depth of feeling he had never +betrayed before, while Dan, troubled as he was, listened in wonder to +his friend, who had always been so reticent in matters such as this. + +"Dan," he said, "you wished for my glasses. 'Tis always a mighty +dangerous thing to try to see through another man's eyes, but here are +mine." He pointed below. + +"Down there I see religion--Christianity--what you will, but religion; +living, growing, ever-changing, through the season-ages; lying dormant +sometimes, it may be, but always there; yielding to each season the +things that belong to that season; depending for its strength and power +upon the Great Source of all strength and power; depending as truly upon +man's efforts, upon his cultivation and care. There is variety, harmony, +law, freedom. There is God! Something for all--potatoes, peas, turnips, +cabbage. If you do not care for lettuce, perhaps radishes will satisfy. +And there, boy, in the midst of his church, ministering to the needs of +his congregation, and thus ministering to men--is my minister: crippled, +patient Denny, who gives his frail strength to keep the garden growing. + +"And look you, boy, at the great rock in the very center of the field! +How often Denny has wished it out of his way! I caught the poor lad +digging, one time, to find, if he could, how deep it is in the earth, +and how big. For three days I watched him. Then he gave it up. It is +beyond his strength and he wisely turned to devote his energies to the +productive soil around it. + +"There is a rock in every garden, Dan. Religion grows always about the +unknowable. But Denny's ministry has naught to do with the rock, it has +to do with the growing things about it. So religion is in the knowable +things not in the unknowable; there such men as you, lad, must find it. +And the rock, boy, was not put in the garden by men. It belongs to the +earth itself." + +While the Doctor was speaking his eyes had been fixed on the crippled +boy in the garden. He turned now, for the first time, to face the young +man by his side. Dan's eyes had that wide, questioning look. The old +physician moved to the other window. + +"Now come, see what men have done." He pointed to the cast-iron monument. +"These people will tell you that was erected to commemorate the life of +my friend. His was a warm, tender, loving spirit--a great, ever-growing +soul. What can that hard, cold, immovable mass tell of him? How can that +thing--perpetuating an issue that belongs to a past age, that has nothing +to do with the life of today--how can that thing speak of the great heart +that loved and gave itself always to men? + +"Through my glasses that is the church! How can an institution, or a +system of theological beliefs--with cast-iron prejudices, cast-iron +fidelity to issues long past and forgotten, cast-iron unconcern of vital +issues of the life of today and cast-iron want of sympathy with the +living who toil and fight and die on every side--how can such speak the +great loving, sympathetic, helpful spirit of Him whose name only it +bears, as that bears only the name of my friend? + +"But would the people of this town, out of love for my dead friend, tear +down that monument if Denny should leave his garden to argue with them +about it? Why, they would tell him that it is because of their love for +the statesman that they keep it there and they believe it--and it is +true. Well, then, let them keep their monument and let Denny work in his +garden! And don't you see, Dan, that the very ones who fight for the +cast-iron monument must depend at last for their lives and strength upon +the things that Denny grows in his garden. Now boy, that's the first and +only time I ever preached." + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE FINAL WORD + +"'This closes my ministry as you understand it. It by no means closes my +ministry as I have come to understand it.'" + + +Dan's farewell sermon was to be given in the evening. John Gardner, +who--true to the promise he had made when he challenged the minister, +after that sermon on "Fellowship of Service"--had become a regular +attendant, was present in the morning. + +In the afternoon the farmer called on Dan in his study. + +"Look here, Dan," he said. "You are making the mistake of your life." + +"You're wrong, John. I made that mistake nearly two years ago," he +answered. + +"I mean in leaving Corinth as you are leaving it." + +"And I mean in coming to Corinth as I came to it." + +"But wait a minute; let me tell you! You have done a lot of good in this +town; you don't know--." + +"So have you done a lot of good, John; you don't know either." + +The farmer tried again. "You have helped me more than you know." + +"I'm glad, John, because you have helped me more than _you_ know." + +"Oh, come; you know what I mean!" + +"Well, don't you know what I mean?" + +"Yes, I think I do. I've been listening pretty close to your sermons and +so have a lot of others. I have managed to talk with a good many church +people since it was known that you were going; just common plugs in the +congregation, like me, you know." Dan smiled. "We all understand what +you have been driving at in your preaching, and we know pretty well what +the bosses think about it, and why they have let you out. No one takes +any stock in that foul gossip, not even Strong himself. Now what I came +to say is this: a lot of us want you to stay. Why can't we have another +church for our people right here in Corinth? There's enough of us to back +you, and we mean business." + +Dan shook his head sadly. + +"Thank you, John," he said simply. "It is useless for me to try to tell +you how much good this does me; but I can't accept. I have thought of the +possibility you mention, but I can't do it. You do not need another +church in Corinth. You have more than you need now." + +Nor could any argument move him. + +"Well," said the farmer, when at last he gave it up and rose to say +good-bye, "I suppose I'll keep right on being a church member, but I +reckon I'll have to find most of my religion in my work." + +"And that," said Dan, as he gripped his friend's hand, "is the best place +I know of to look for it. If you cannot find God in your everyday work, +John, you'll not find Him on Sunday at the church." + +That farewell sermon is still talked about in Corinth or rather--it +should be said--is still remembered, for it was one of those sermons of +which, while little could be said, much could never be forgotten. And the +picture of the big lad, whose strong, clean-looking body drooped so as if +in great weariness; whose frank open countenance was marked with drawn +lines; in whose clear brown eyes were shadows of trouble and pain; whose +voice betrayed the sadness of a mighty soul, will also remain long in the +memory of those who were there that evening. + +The place was crowded. The triumphant Judge and his friends of the inner +circle were there in force, striving in vain to hide, with pious +expression of countenance, the satisfaction and pride they felt in their +power. The other members were there, curious to hear what Dan would say; +wondering how much he knew of the methods that had brought about his +dismissal; a little sorry for him; a little indignant; and with a feeling +of impotence withal that made their sorrow and indignation of no worth +whatever. With identically the same emotions as the members, except that +it felt free to express them more freely, the world was there. To a +portion of the congregation Dan stood in the peculiar position of a +friend whom, as an individual, they loved and trusted, but whom, as a +preacher, they were forced to regard as unsafe and dangerous. + +It would not do to report all he said, for much of his sermon was not +fashioned for the printed page. + +But his final words were: "It is not the spirit of wealth, of learning, +or of culture that can make the church of value, or a power for good in +the world, but the spirit of Christ only. It is not in fidelity to the +past but in fidelity to the present that the church can be Christian. It +is not the opinion of man, but the eternal truths of God that can make it +a sacred, holy thing. It is holy to the degree that God is in it. God is +as truly in the fields of grain, in the forests, in the mines, and in +those laws of Nature by which men convert the product of field and forest +and mine into the necessities of life. Therefore these are as truly holy +as this institution. Therefore, again, the ministry of farm, and mine, +and factory, and shop; of mill, and railroad, and store, and office, and +wherever men toil with strength of body or strength of mind for that +which makes for the best life of their kind--that ministry is sacred and +holy. + +"Because I believe these things I am, from this hour, no longer a +professional preacher, hired by and working under the direction of any +denomination or church leaders. This closes my ministry as you understand +it. It by no means closes my ministry as I have come to understand it." + +When he had finished they crowded around him to express regret at his +going--sorry that he was leaving the ministry; the church needed men of +his great ability--prayed God to bless him wherever he should go--all +this and much more, with hand-shaking and many tears from the very people +who had made it impossible for him to stay. For this is the way of us +all! + +As quickly as he could Dan left the church, and with the Doctor walked +toward home. The two made no exchange of words, until they reached the +monument, where they paused to stand silently contemplating the cast-iron +figure. At last Dan turned with a smile. "It is very good cast-iron, I +suppose, Doctor." + +Then, as if dismissing the whole matter, he took his old friend's arm +and, with a joyous ring in his voice that had not been there for many +months, said, "Doctor, you'll do me one favor before I leave, won't you?" + +"What?" + +"Go fishing with me tomorrow. There is something, still, before I can +leave Corinth--. I do not know how--Will you go?" + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +JUSTICE + +"The last shadow of his Corinthian ministry had been lifted from his +soul." + + +Early the next morning Dan and the old Doctor set out for Wheeler's Ford. +It was the nearest point, and while the fishing was not so good as at +other places they knew the spot was what they wanted. This was one of the +days when they would go fishing--but not for fish. + +Leaving their rig by the roadside near the fence, the two friends +wandered away up the stream; casting their hooks now and then at the +likely places; taking a few fish; pausing often to enjoy the views of +silver water, over-hanging trees, wooded bluffs, rocky bank or grassy +slope, that changed always with the winding of the creek. + +Returning to the rig for their lunch and to give the old horse his +generous allowance, they went downstream in the afternoon, this time +leaving their rods behind. + +"Really, you know," said the Doctor, "the tackle is such a bother on this +kind of a fishing trip." At which sage remark Dan's laugh rang out so +freely that the woods on the other side of the little valley gave back +the merry sound. + +Dan felt strangely light-hearted and free that day. The Doctor thought +the lad was more like himself than he had been for months. The truth is +that Dan's gladness was akin to the gladness of home-coming. He felt as +one who, having been for long years in a foreign land, returns to his +own country and his own people. He was again a man among his fellow-men, +with no barrier between him and his kind. Once more he was in the world +to which he belonged, and it was a good world. + +There was, too, a strange, delightful feeling of nearness to her--the +woman he loved. He had had no word since she left Corinth, nor did he +know where she was. He would never find her again, perhaps, but he no +longer belonged to a world separate and apart from her world. He felt +nearer to her even than when they were together that last time in the +old Academy yard. + +Dan was conscious, too, of a sense of freedom--of a broader, fuller life +than he had ever known. Through the old Doctor's timely words, setting +his thoughts into new channels, he had come out of his painful experience +with a certain largeness of vision that made him stronger. He had found +himself. He did not know yet what he would do; he had plans dimly formed, +but nothing fixed. What did it matter? Somewhere he felt his garden +waited for him; he would find his work. He was free from the deadening +influence of the cast-iron monument and that, for the moment, was enough. +So far as his Corinthian ministry was concerned only one shadow, out of +all the dark cloud of his troubled experience remained. When that was +lifted he would turn his back upon Corinth forever, but until then he did +not feel free to go. + +They were lying on the grassy bank of a woodland pasture, where a herd +of cattle grazed or lay contentedly in the shade of the scattered trees. + +"Heigh-ho," said the Doctor, "I believe I will go with you, lad." + +For some time they had been silent and it was almost as though the old +man had spoken to his companion's thoughts. + +"Go where?" asked Dan, turning over on his side and half-raising himself +on his elbow. + +"Why home to Mutton Hollow, of course. You'll be leaving pretty soon now, +I reckon." + +"I suppose so," mused Dan vaguely. "But I'm not going home." + +The old Doctor sat up. "Not going home!" + +Dan smiled. "Not just yet," he answered. "I want to run about a little +first." + +"Uh-huh," the Doctor nodded. "Want to get your hair dry and your shirt on +right side out before you face the folks." + +Dan laughed. "Perhaps I want to look for my garden," he said. + +"Good!" ejaculated the other, now very much in earnest. "Let me help you, +lad. You know what I have always hoped for you. My profession needs--." + +Dan interrupted gently, "No. No Doctor, not that. I have a notion--but +there--it's all too vague yet to even discuss. When I am ready to go home +I'll write you and you can meet me there. Will you?" + +The old man hid his disappointment, answering heartily, "Sure I will! +I'll be there when you arrive, to help kill the fatted calf." He did not +tell Dan of a letter from his mother urging him, for certain reasons, to +visit them, or that he had already promised her to be with them when Dan +should return. + +The shadows were beginning to stretch toward the river, and the cattle +were moving slowly in the direction of the farmyard, hidden somewhere +beyond the fringe of timber, when the two friends went leisurely back to +the road to find their rig and start for home. + +Climbing the fence they paused and--seated on the top rail--watched a +team and buggy just coming down the opposite bank of the stream to cross +the ford. Midway the horses stopped to drink. + +"By George," muttered the Doctor, "it's our friend the Judge!" + +The same instant, Dan recognized the man in the buggy. With the +recognition all the brightness went out of his face--as a cloud, all the +sadness returned. + +"Doctor," Dan said, slipping down from the fence as he spoke, "excuse me +a minute. I must speak to that man." + +The Doctor kept his place on the fence, while Dan stepped into the road. +The team, when they had left the ford, stopped as they reached him. + +"How do you do, Doctor?" called the man in the buggy in a loud voice; +then to Dan, "Well, sir, what do you want now?" + +Dan stood near the horses' heads, his eyes fixed on their driver, and the +Judge, seeing the sorrow in his face, misunderstood, as always. + +"Judge Strong," said Dan. "You are the only man in the world with whom I +am not at peace. I cannot be content to leave Corinth, sir, with anything +between us." + +The crafty Judge thought he understood. He took Dan's words, with his +manner, as an acknowledgment of defeat; an act of submission. The Elder +had not believed that the young man had really wished to leave the +ministry. He was quite sure now that the preacher, recognizing at last +the power that had thrust him from his position and place in the church, +wished to sue for peace, that the same power might help him to another +position. So this big upstart was tamed at last, was he? + +The Doctor, sitting on the fence and hearing every low-spoken word, held +a different view of the situation. + +"Well," said the Judge haughtily. + +Dan hesitated. "I--I wished to ask a favor, sir; one that I feel sure a +Christian could not refuse." + +Now the Judge was confident of his position and power. He grew still more +dignified and looked at Dan with the eye of a master. + +"Well, out with it. It is growing late and I must be going." + +"You will remember, sir, that the last time I called on you in your home, +you made certain grave charges against three women who are my friends." + +"I repeated only the common--" + +"Wait, please," interrupted Dan. "This is a matter between you and me. I +understand that you were angry and spoke hastily. Won't you please +retract those words now?" Dan's voice was almost pleading in its sad +slowness; his eyes were on the Judge with an anxious, appealing look. +Disappointed at the request so different from that which he had expected, +the Judge angrily answered, "Stand out of my way; I have no time for +this, sir!" + +But quietly, carelessly it seemed, Dan laid one hand on the back of the +nearest horse, almost touching the rein, and moved a step or two closer +to the buggy. + +"Sir, I am sure you do not understand. Miss Farwell and I--I had hoped +to make her my wife. We--we parted because of the church." + +The Doctor on the fence felt a lump in his throat at the pain in the +boy's voice. Dan continued, "I am telling you, sir, so that you will +understand. Surely you cannot refuse to take back your words under the +circumstances." + +"Oh, I see," sneered the Judge. "You lost the girl because of the church +and then you lost the church! A fine mess you made of your pious +interference with other people's business, didn't you?" And then he +laughed. Looking straight into those sad, pleading eyes--he laughed. + +"The damned fool," muttered the old Doctor on the fence. + +"Am I to understand that you refuse to retract your words after my +explanation?" Dan's tone was mildly doubtful. + +The Judge was well pleased at what he had heard. + +"I have absolutely nothing to take back, sir." He laughed again. "Now +if that is all, stand aside!" + +But suddenly the light in Dan's eyes flashed red. + +"No!" he cried, "that is not all!" With a long step he reached the side +of the buggy. + +The next moment the Judge found himself on the ground. + +"Wh--what do you mean sir?" he roared. "Take your hands off of me!" + +Dan's voice was trembling with rage, but he spoke deliberately. + +"You unspeakable cur, I have felt sorry for you because of your warped +and twisted nature; because you seemed so incapable of being anything +more than you are. I have given you a chance to act like a man, +and--you--you laugh at me! You escaped punishment for your theft from +that poor widow. You have escaped from God knows how many such crimes. +But now, in the name of the people you have tricked and robbed under the +cover of business, in the name of the people you have slandered and +ruined under cover of the church, I'm going to give you what such a +contemptible rascal as you are, deserves." + +The Judge was a large man, in the prime of life, but his natural weapons +of warfare were those of the fox, the coyote and their kin. Cornered, he +made a show of resistance, but he was as a child in the hands of the +young giant, who thrashed him until he lay half-senseless, moaning and +groaning in pain, on the ground. + +When Dan at last drew back the Doctor, who through it all had remained +quietly seated on the fence--an interested spectator--climbed down from +his position and came slowly forward. Looking the Judge over with a +professional eye he turned to Dan with a chuckle. + +"You made a mighty good job of it, lad; a mighty good job. Lord, how I +envied you! Chuck him into his buggy now, and I'll take him home. You +can follow in our rig." + +So they went home in the dusk of the evening. And the old Doctor told +around town a tale of how the Judge had met with an accident at Wheeler's +Ford that would keep him in the house for quite a spell. + +Dan spent his last evening in Corinth with Dr. Harry and the next morning +he left. The last shadow of his Corinthian ministry had been lifted from +his soul. + +Corinth still talks of the great days that are gone, and the greater days +that are to come, while still the days that are, are dead days--shadowed +by the cast-iron monument which yet holds its place in the heart of the +town, and makes of the community a fit home for the Ally. + +Judge Strong has gathered to himself additional glory and honor by his +continued activity and prominence in Memorial Church and in his +denomination, together with his contributions to the various funds for +state and national work. + +Elder Jordan has been gathered to his fathers. But Nathaniel came to feel +first, the supreme joy of seeing his daughter Charity proudly installed +as the assistant pastor to the last of Dan's successors. They live at the +old Jordan home and it is said he is the most successful preacher that +the Memorial Church has ever employed, and the prospects are he will +serve for many years to come. + +Denny, through his minister friend, has received his education +and--surrounded now by the books he craved--cultivates another garden, +wherein he bids fair to grow food for men quite as necessary as cabbages +or potatoes. Deborah is proud and happy with her boy; who, though he be +crippled in body, has a heart and mind stronger than given to many. + +The Doctor seldom goes fishing now, though he still cultivates his roses +and, as he says, meddles in the affairs of his neighbors. And still he +sits in his chair on the porch and watches the world go by. Martha says +that, more and more, the world, to the Doctor, means the doings of that +minister Dan Matthews. + +It was a full month after Dan left Corinth when he wrote his old friend +that he was going home. The Doctor carefully packed his fishing tackle +and started for Mutton Hollow. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +THE HOME COMING + +"Some things, thank God, are beyond the damning power of our +improvements." + + +And now this story goes back again to the mountains to end where it +began: back to where the tree-clad ridges roll, like mighty green billows +into the far distant sky; where the vast forests lie all a-quiver in the +breeze, shimmering in the sun, and the soft, blue haze of the late summer +lies lazily over the land. + +Beyond Wolf ridge, all up and down Jake and Indian creeks, and even as +near as Fall creek, are the great lead and zinc mines. Over on Garber +the heavily loaded trains, with engines puffing and panting on the heavy +grades, and waking the echoes with wild shrieks, follow their iron way. +But in the Mutton Hollow neighborhood, there are as yet no mines, with +their unsightly piles of refuse, smoke-grimed buildings, and clustering +shanties, to mar the picture. Dewey Bald still lifts its head in proud +loneliness above the white sea of mist that still, at times, rolls over +the valley below. The paths are unaltered. From the Matthews house on +the ridge, you may see the same landmarks. The pines show black against +the sunset sky. And from the Matthews place--past the deerlick in the +big, low gap past Sammy's Lookout and around the shoulder of +Dewey--looking away into the great world beyond, still lies the trail +that is nobody knows how old. + +So in life. With all the changes that time inevitably brings, with all +our civilization, our inventions and improvements, some things must +remain unchanged. Some things--the great landmarks in life and in +religion, the hills, the valleys, the mists, must ever remain the same. +Some things, thank God, are beyond the damning power of our improvements. + +In minor things the Matthews home itself is altered. But Dan's father +and mother are still--in spite of the years that have come--Young Matt +and Sammy. + +It was that best of all seasons in the Ozarks--October--the month of +gold, when they were sitting on the front porch in the evening with the +old Doctor, who had arrived during the afternoon. + +"Now, Doctor," said the mother, "tell us all about it." There was no +uneasiness in her calm voice, no shadow of worry in her quiet eyes. And +the boy's father by her side was like her in serene confidence. They knew +from Dan's letters something of the trials through which he had passed; +they had assured him often of their sympathy. It never occurred to them +to doubt him in any way or to question the final outcome. + +"Yes, Doctor," came the deep voice of the father. "We have had Dan's +letters of course, but the lad's not one to put all of his fight on +paper. Let's have it as you saw it." + +So the Doctor told them--told of the causes that had combined to put Dan +on the rack, that had driven him in spite of himself to change his views +of the church and its ministry; told of the forces that had been arrayed +against him, how the lad had met these forces, and how he had battled +with himself--all that the Doctor had seen in the months of watching; all +that he knew of Dan, even to the time when Dan declared his doubt of +everything, and to the chastising of Judge Strong. He omitted nothing +except the declaration he had heard Dan make to the Judge. + +Several times the narrator was interrupted by the deep-voiced, hearty +laugh of the father, or with exclamations of satisfaction. Sometimes the +Doctor was interrupted by a quick, eager question from the mother, that +helped to make the story clear. Many times they uttered half-whispered +exclamations of wonder, distress or indignation. + +"When he left Corinth," said the Doctor in conclusion, "he told me that +he had no clearly-defined plans, though he hinted at something that he +had in mind." + +"But, Doctor, haven't you forgotten a very important part of your story?" +the mother asked. + +"What have I forgotten?" he questioned. + +"Why, the girl of course. What is a story without a girl?" she laughed +merrily. + +To which the Doctor answered, "I reckon Dan will tell you about that +himself." + +At this they all joined in a hearty laugh. + +The next day Dan arrived and after a brief time, given up to the joy of +family reunion, he took up the story where the Doctor had left off. + +From Corinth Dan had gone directly to the president of the big steel +works, whom he had met at the time of the convention. With the assistance +and advice of this man of affairs he had been visiting the big mines and +smelters and studying zinc and lead. He had worked out his plan and had +interested capital and had come home to consult with his parents +concerning the opening and development of the mine on Dewey Bald. + +Then he talked to them of the power of wealth for good, of the sacredness +of such a trust--talked as they had never heard him talk before of the +Grace Conners, and the crippled Dennys, who needed elder brothers willing +to acknowledge the kinship. + +When he had finished his mother kissed him and his father said, "It is +for this, son, that mother and I have held the old hill yonder. It is a +part of our religious belief that God put the wealth in the mountains, +not for us alone, but for all men. So it has been to us a sacred trust, +which we have never felt that we were fitted to administer. We have +always hoped that our first born would accept it as his life work--his +ministry." + +So Dan found his garden--and entered the ministry that has made his life +such a blessing to men. + +The next morning he saddled his mother's horse early. At breakfast she +announced that she was going over to the Jones ranch on the other side +of Dewey. "And what are you planning to do today?" she said to Dan as he +followed her out of the house. + +"I was going over to old Dewey myself," he answered. "I thought I would +like to look the ground over." He smiled down at her. "But now I'm going +with you. Just wait a minute until I saddle a horse." + +She laughed at him. "Oh no, you're not." + +"But, mother, I want to talk to you. I--I have something to tell you." + +"Yes, I know," she nodded. "You have already told me--" + +"Has Doctor--" he burst forth. + +"No indeed! For shame, Dan. You know Doctor wouldn't. It was in your +letters, and--But I have planned for you to tell me the rest this +evening. Go with your father and Doctor to look at the stock this +morning and write your business letters while I attend to _my_ affairs. +Then, the first thing after dinner, you slip away alone over to Dewey +and do your planning. Perhaps I'll meet you on the old trail as you come +back. You see I have it all fixed." + +"Yes," he said slowly, "you always have things fixed, don't you? What a +mother you are! There's only one other woman in all the world like you." + +And at this she answered bravely, "Yes, I know dear. I have always known +it would come, and I am glad, glad my boy--but--I--I think you'd better +kiss me now." So she left him standing at the fence and rode away alone +down the old familiar path. + +After dinner Dan set out. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +THE OLD TRAIL + +"... Those whose hearts and souls are big enough to follow the trail +that is nobody knows how old." + + +Leaving the ridge just beyond the low gap, Dan made his way down the +mountain side into the deep ravine, below Sammy's Lookout, that opens +into the hollow. + +For an hour he roamed about, his mind upon his plans for the development +of the wealth that lay in the heart of the mountain. After a time, still +intent upon his work, he scrambled up the end of the little canyon, +regained the ridge near the mouth of the cave, then climbed up on the +steep slope of Dewey to the top. From here he could follow with his eye +a possible route for the spur that should leave the railroad on Garber +to the east, round the base of the mountain and reach the mine through +the little ravine on the west. + +From the top he made his way slowly toward the Lookout, thinking from +there to gain still another view of the scene of his proposed operations +and to watch the trail for the coming of his mother. + +Drawing near the great ledge of rock that hangs so like a cornice on the +mountain side, he caught a glimpse--through the screen of trees and +bushes--of a figure seated on the old familiar spot. His mother must +have come sooner than she intended, he thought, or else he had been +longer than he realized. He looked at his watch; it was early yet. Then +going on a little, he suddenly stopped--that was not his mother! He drew +nearer and pushed aside a bush for a better view. + +His heart leaped at sight of the familiar blue dress and its white +trimming! The figure turned slightly as if to look up the trail. The big +fellow on the mountain side trembled. + +"How like," he whispered half aloud, "God, how like--" + +Softly as one fearing to dispel a welcome illusion he drew +nearer--nearer--nearer. Suddenly a dry bush on the ground snapped under +his foot. She turned her face quickly toward him. + +Then, springing to her feet Hope Farwell stood waiting with joy--lighted +face, as Dan went stumbling in wondering haste down the hill. + +"I thought you were never coming," she said. "I have been waiting so +long." And then for a little while there was nothing more said that we +have any right whatever to hear. + +When he insisted upon an explanation of the miracle, she laughed merrily. + +"Why it's like most miracles, I fancy, if only one knew about them--the +most natural thing that could happen after all. Dr. Miles came to me some +two months ago, and said that he had a patient whom he was sending into +the mountains with a nurse, and asked me if I would take the case. He +said he thought that I would like to see the Mutton Hollow country, +and--and that he thought that I needed the trip. You can imagine how +quickly I said that I would go. I am living down at the Jones place." + +"Where my mother went this morning?" Dan broke in eagerly. + +She nodded, "Your mother and I are--are very good friends," she said +demurely. + +"Does she--" + +Hope blushed. "I couldn't help telling her. You see she had your letters +and she already knew a great deal. She--" + +"I suppose she told you all about it--my finish at Corinth--I mean, and +my plans?" interrupted Dan. + +"Yes," Hope replied. + +"Then there's nothing more to do but--How is your patient?" he finished +abruptly. "How long must you stay with the case?" + +She turned her head away. "My patient went home three days ago." + +When the sun was touching the fringe of trees on the distant ridge, and +the varying tints of brown and gold, under the softening tone of the +gray-blue haze that lies always over hollow and hill, were most clearly +revealed in the evening light--Dan and Hope followed the same path that +Young Matt and Sammy walked years before. + +In the edge of the timber beyond the deerlick, the two young lovers +found those other older lovers, and were welcomed by them with the +welcome that can only be given or received by those whose hearts and +souls are big enough to follow the trail that is nobody knows how old. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE CALLING OF DAN MATTHEWS *** + +This file should be named clgdm10.txt or clgdm10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, clgdm11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, clgdm10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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