n all its multitude
that will be glad to see you. They have better company. Stranger! go
which way you please, Heaven will be as uncomfortable as hell."

"Deacon Joe gave me close attention, and I saw that my sword had
nicked him a little. Anything that affected his hope of Paradise was
sure to engage his thought. He shook his head, and said that he didn't
believe it. But he couldn't fool me. I knew that the seed of change
had struck into him.

"I gave him another thrust. 'Deacon, you knew Harry Delance when he
was a fool. But the truth about _him_ has changed. He is now a
hard-working, level-headed young fellow, and you ought to be his
friend.'

"'Wal, I like the way he cuffed them fellers over at Trent,' said the
Deacon. 'He pounded 'em noble--that's sartin. Mebbe if he licks a few
more men I'll begin to like him.'

"'Give him a chance,' was my answer. 'I hear that you are going to
move for the summer.'

"'Goin' to my island to-morrow,' said Deacon Joe. 'I'm sick of the
autymobiles an' the young spendthrifts hangin' around Marie, an' her
extravagance, an' the new church nonsense, an' the other goin's-on.
I've got a good house there, an' Marie an' I are goin' to rest an'
stroll around without bein' run over until her mother comes back. The
only trouble I have there is the hired men. They rob me right an'
left. I wish somebody would lick them.'

"'You really need a young man like Harry,' I urged. 'And Marie needs
him. She'll be lonely over there.'

"'Not a bit,' said the Deacon. 'She'll have a saddle-horse, and young
Knowles can come over once a week, if he wants to. I hear he's done
splendid lately.'

"'He's doing well, but I am inclined to think that Harry is the better
man,' I said, taking sides for the first time.

"'I don't believe it,' was the answer of Deacon Joe. 'Knowles is
getting pretty sensible, and his voice is stronger.'

"The Deacon moved next day, and when Sunday came I went over in a boat
with the Reverend Robert at eight o'clock in the morning. I was taking
a stroll on the beach when I met him, and he asked me to go along. It
was just a social call, he explained. Incidentally, he was going to
pray and read a Scripture lesson at the Deacon's request. As we left
the dock, Harry came riding by on one of his thoroughbreds and I
waved my hand to him. When we got to the Deacon's landing, I said to
Robert:

"'As I am not invited, perhaps you had better announce me to Deacon
Joe, while I stay h