off that
check to the builder of the Mission Hall, you must let it stand over. No,
no, don't shake your head like that. I only want the money for a day or
so, until I can see father, and get another check from him. But, in the
meantime, I must have the money. It means dreadful trouble, if I can't
have it."

"Mary, Mary, what are you saying! I can't let you have the money. I sent
it away two days ago. I was afraid to hold it. Your plight can't be worse
than mine, Mary," he groaned. "God help me, I didn't mean to tell you,
but perhaps it's best, after all, that you should know everything--for
it will make the parting with Dick less hard."

"With Dick? What has your trouble got to do with Dick? Tell me
quickly--tell me," and her voice dropped to a sobbing whisper. She was
terribly overwrought, and ready to expect anything.

"I've had a letter threatening his arrest."

"Arrest!" she cried, starting up. Her voice was a chord of fear.

"A money-lender intends to arrest him, if he attempts to leave the
state--that is, unless I'm prepared to pay a debt of seven hundred and
fifty dollars. I," added the rector, in a broken voice, "a man without a
penny in the world--a spendthrift, a muddler, a borrower, a man dependent
upon the bounty of others."

"Hush, John, hush!" cried his wife, coming closer to him. "You are not to
blame. Your life is one long sacrifice to others. It is I who am
wrong--oh! so wrong! But it shall all be different soon. I will stand by
you and help you. No one shall be able to say that you work alone in the
future. I'll live your life, dear. Only let us get out of this awful
tangle, and all will be right. I'll go to father again, and tell him just
how things stand; and, if he won't give me the money, he shall lend it to
me. It will be ours some day. It is ours--it ought to be ours. He can't
refuse--he shall not!"

She turned to pace the room feverishly for a few moments, then, going
over to her husband again, she linked her arm affectionately in his. "It
will be all right. Our luck must surely change, John. I feel it in my
bones--not that there is any sign of it to-day. How can they arrest Dick
if he goes to the war?"

"Oh! It's some legal technicality. I don't understand it. I've heard of
it before. Some judgment has been given against him, and the money-lender
has power to make him pay with the first cash he gets, or something of
that kind. They've found out that he's been paying other people, I
su