ed from exposure to the weather. Kermode stopped
his team near-by and the clergyman looked around.

"If you have a good eye, you might tell me whether this chamfer's running
true," he said.

"You want a bit off here." Kermode laid his finger on the spot. "Except
for that, it's good."

The clergyman sat down and pulled out a tobacco pouch.

"I'll attend to it presently, but I feel I'm entitled to a rest. Take a
smoke; you're not paid on time."

"I'm not sure it would matter if I were." Kermode's eyes twinkled as he
filled his pipe. "An idea of the kind you suggested doesn't go far in a
construction camp, unless, of course, a foreman happens to be about.
However, you made one rash statement, didn't you?"

"I'm afraid I make a good many," replied the clergyman good-humoredly.
"But you are right. It would be very rash to claim all that one was
entitled to; in other words, one's deserts. You're Mr. Kermode, I
believe; you must know my name is Ferguson."

Kermode bowed.

"What are you going to do with this log?" he asked.

"It's to be a door-post in the new church. I wonder if you would be
willing to haul it in?"

Kermode said that he would be glad to do so.

"You encourage me to go a little farther," Ferguson continued. "Building
a church is a costly proposition."

"So I should imagine; I can't speak from experience." Kermode was
generally liberal, and he took out some money. "I think you ought to let
me off with this, as I don't belong to your flock."

"It's a generous contribution; better than the excuse. There are, I may
remind you, many kinds of sheep, and the outward difference is often
marked. Since, you're from the old country, you can take the little
Cheviot and the ponderous Shropshire as examples. You see the drift of
this?"

"That they're all sheep. I've noticed, however, that they wear a good
many different brands."

"Ah, the pity of it! After all, a shepherd has his human weaknesses;
perhaps he's too fond of using his private mark or the stamp of his
guild."

"That," Kermode smiled, "is a handsome admission. Anyway, you have no
rival in shepherding the boys here; and taking us all round, we need it.
But can you raise building funds on the spot?"

"Oh, no! I went to Ontario this summer and spent a month begging from
people who have very little to spare. The response was generous--I've a
carload of shiplap lumber coming out; but you may understand how that
adds to one's responsibility."

"