Margaret's voice was steady and gentle. It was impossible for even that
man not to be impressed by her words.

"Well, let us not quarrel about it," he said, indulgently, as to a
little child. "I'm sure you have a very charming way of stating it, and
I'm not sure that it is not a relief to find a woman of the
old-fashioned type now and then. It really is man's place to look into
these deeper questions, anyway. It is woman's sphere to live and love
and make a happy home--"

His voice took on a sentimental purr, and Margaret was fairly boiling
with rage at him; but she would not let her temper give way, especially
when she was talking on the sacred theme of the Christ. She felt as if
she must scream or jump out over the wheel and run away from this
obnoxious man, but she knew she would do neither. She knew she would sit
calmly through the expedition and somehow control that conversation.
There was one relief, anyway. Her father would no longer expect respect
and honor and liking toward a minister who denied the very life and
foundation of his faith.

"It can't be possible that the school-house is so far from the town,"
she said, suddenly looking around at the widening desert in front of
them. "Haven't you made some mistake?"

"Why, I thought we should have the pleasure of a little drive first,"
said West, with a cunning smile. "I was sure you would enjoy seeing the
country before you get down to work, and I was not averse myself to a
drive in such delightful company."

"I would like to go back to the school-house at once, please," said
Margaret, decidedly, and there was that in her voice that caused the man
to turn the horse around and head it toward the village.

"Why, yes, of course, if you prefer to see the school-house first, we
can go back and look it over, and then, perhaps, you will like to ride a
little farther," he said. "We have plenty of time. In fact, Mrs. Tanner
told me she would not expect us home to dinner, and she put a very
promising-looking basket of lunch under the seat for us in case we got
hungry before we came back."

"Thank you," said Margaret, quite freezingly now. "I really do not care
to drive this morning. I would like to see the school-house, and then I
must return to the house at once. I have a great many things to do this
morning."

Her manner at last penetrated even the thick skin of the self-centered
man, and he realized that he had gone a step too far in his attentions.
He set h