ld do it. From that day he tried to fall gradually back in his work;
but it was too late; the good record which he had unwittingly piled up
carried him through, _nolens volens_.

The week before Conference met, Frederick Brent, residing at Dexter, by
special request of the faculty, was presented as a candidate for
ordination. Even his enemies in the community said, "Surely there is
something in that boy."

Mrs. Hester Hodges was delighted. She presented him with his ordination
suit, and altogether displayed a pride and pleasure that almost
reconciled the young man to his fate. In the days immediately preceding
the event she was almost tender with him, and if he had been strong
enough to make a resolve inimical to her hopes, the disappointment which
he knew failure would bring to her would have greatly weakened it.

Now, Conference is a great event in the circles of that sect of which
Cory Chapel was a star congregation, and the town where it convenes, or
"sets," as the popular phrase goes, is an honoured place. It takes upon
itself an air of unusual bustle. There is a great deal of
house-cleaning, hanging of curtains, and laying of carpets, just prior
to the time. People from the rural parts about come into town and settle
for the week. Ministers and lay delegates from all the churches in the
district, comprising perhaps half of a large State or parts of two,
come and are quartered upon the local members of the connection. For two
weeks beforehand the general question that passes from one housewife to
another is, "How many and whom are you going to take?" Many are the
heartburnings and jealousies aroused by the disposition of some popular
preacher whom a dozen members of the flock desire to entertain, while
the less distinguished visitors must bide their time and be stuck in
when and where they may. The "big guns" of the Church are all present,
and all the "little guns" are scattered about them, popping and snapping
every time a "big gun" booms.

But of all the days of commotion and excitement, the climax is
ordination day, when candidates for the ministry, college students, and
local preachers are examined and either rejected or admitted to the
company of the elect. It is common on that day for some old dignitary of
the church, seldom a less person than the president of the Conference
himself, to preach the sermon. Then, if the fatted calf is not killed,
at least the fatted fowls are, and feasting and rejoicing rule