n that respect," he admitted. "But
this is different."

"Go on--don't excuse yourself any more."

"Well, his text ... they nearly lynched a priest out in Colorado for
that. You see, he was preaching to strikers, and when he told them that
idleness was the root of all evil ... you couldn't hardly blame them,
now could you?"

She laughed at that. "But there aren't any strikers here," she
persisted.

"No, but to talk about idleness is almost as pointless here as there.
Why didn't he say something that would get under their hides? Look at
them coming up the street. Do they look as if they had been filled with
a fear of the Lord?"

"Do you think people go to church to be frightened?"

"I'm sure I don't know why they go," he said cheerfully. "I never could.
I'd rather do almost anything. Church-going always irritates me. The
preachers are so spineless--like this Mr. Imrie. He had a good theme.
But he didn't carry it out. Maybe he didn't know how. Maybe he didn't
dare...."

"You don't know Mr. Imrie," she said. "He'd dare--anything."

"All right. But that doesn't change what would happen if he did dare, or
did know. I've read the Bible quite a bit. Suppose Jesus came back and
got up in the pulpit and lit into his congregation the way he lit into
the money changers--'vipers' and all that? Why, the vestry would have
his scalp before the sun set, wouldn't they?"

"You seem to be rather hostile to religion, Mr. Good," said Judith,
vaguely offended.

He shrugged his shoulders in a manner indicative of helpless annoyance.

"Oh, Miss Wynrod--I didn't expect that of you. That's what they all say.
Roast the established Church and they call you an atheist or worse. I'm
not opposed to religion--why should I be? I can't say I dislike the air
I breathe, can I? But I haven't much use for an organisation that
doesn't live up to its confession of faith. Here are your Christian
Churches, founded on a rebellion against hypocrisy and privilege and
materialism, deliberately encouraging complacency and selfishness and
peace and quiet and oh--everything that its founder got crucified for.
I've come to know Jesus pretty well. I like him. He's the kind of leader
men want to follow. If he was alive to-day I'd be one of his lesser
disciples. And I'll bet a dollar that all your eloquent, dogmatic,
spiritual, irrelevant Imries would be running to the local Pilate to
have us jugged!"

"What makes you think you know Jesus better than--our I