that he,
their rector, derived his sacerdotal powers. There were, no doubt,
many obscure passages in the Scripture, but men's minds were finite; a
catholic acceptance was imperative, and the evils of the present day--a
sufficiently sweeping statement--were wholly due to deplorable lapses
from such acceptance. The Apostolic teaching must be preserved, since
it transcended all modern wanderings after truth. Hell, though not
definitely defined in terms of flames, was no less a state of torture
(future, by implication) of which fire was but a faint symbol. And
he gave them clearly to understand that an unbaptized person ran no
inconsiderable risk. He did not declare unqualifiedly that the Church
alone had the power to save, but such was the inference.

II

It was entirely fitting, no doubt, when the felicitations of certain of
the older parishioners on his initial sermon were over, that Mr.
Hodder should be carried westward to lunch with the first layman of the
diocese. But Mr. Parr, as became a person of his responsibility, had
been more moderate in his comment. For he had seen, in his day, many
men whose promise had been unfulfilled. Tightly buttoned, silk
hatted, upright, he sat in the corner of his limousine, the tasselled
speaking-tube in his hand, from time to time cautioning his chauffeur.

"Carefully!" he cried. "I've told you not to drive so fast in this part
of town. I've never got used to automobiles," he remarked to Hodder,
"and I formerly went to church in the street-cars, but the distances
have grown so great--and I have occasionally been annoyed in them."

Hodder was not given to trite acquiescence. His homely composure belied
the alertness of his faculties; he was striving to adapt himself to the
sudden broadening and quickening of the stream of his life, and he felt
a certain excitement--although he did not betray it--in the presence of
the financier. Much as he resented the thought, it was impossible
for him not to realize that the man's pleasure and displeasure were
important; for, since his arrival, he had had delicate reminders of this
from many sources. Recurrently, it had caused him a vague uneasiness,
hinted at a problem new to him. He was jealous of the dignity of the
Church, and he seemed already to have detected in Mr. Parr's manner
a subtle note of patronage. Nor could Hodder's years of provincialism
permit him to forget that this man with whom he was about to enter into
personal relation