re an
auctioneer's block, and pursued the task of exciting liberality in the
bosoms of the congregation by alternating prayer, anecdote, song,
and cheap buffoonery in a manner truly sickening. Would it not be
preferable, he feebly suggested, to raise the money by a festival, or
fair, or some other form of entertainment which the ladies could manage?

Brother Pierce shook his head with contemptuous emphasis. "Our
women-folks ain't that kind," he said. "They did try to hold a sociable
once, but nobody came, and we didn't raise more 'n three or four
dollars. It ain't their line. They lack the worldly arts. As the
Discipline commands, they avoid the evil of putting on gold and costly
apparel, and taking such diversions as cannot be used in the name of the
Lord Jesus."

"Well--of course--if you prefer the 'debt-raiser'--" Theron began, and
took the itemized account from Gorringe's knee as an excuse for not
finishing the hateful sentence.

He looked down the foolscap sheet, line by line, with no special sense
of what it signified, until his eye caught upon this little section of
the report, bracketed by itself in the Secretary's neat hand:

INTEREST CHARGE.

First mortgage (1873) .. $1,000 ... (E. Winch) @7.. $ 70
Second mortgage (1776).. 1,700 ... (L. Gorringe) @6.. 102
Third mortgage (1878)... 2,100 ... (L. Pierce) @7.. 147
------- -----
$4,800 $319

It was no news to him that the three mortgages on the church property
were held by the three trustees. But as he looked once more, another
feature of the thing struck him as curious.

"I notice that the rates of interest vary," he remarked without
thinking, and then wished the words unsaid, for the two trustees in view
moved uneasily on their seats.

"Oh, that's nothing," exclaimed Erastus Winch, with a boisterous display
of jollity. "It's only Brother Gorringe's pleasant little way of making
a contribution to our funds. You will notice that, at the date of all
these mortgages, the State rate of interest was seven per cent. Since
then it's b'en lowered to six. Well, when that happened, you see,
Brother Gorringe, not being a professin' member, and so not bound by our
rules, he could just as well as not let his interest down a cent. But
Brother Pierce an' me, we talked it over, an' we made up our minds
we were tied hand an' foot by our contract. You know how strong the
Discipline lays i