nd give you a word of welcome to
the village. I'm glad to see you are looking much better."

"I am quite better." The man's answer was curt and dry.

He did not offer his visitors a seat, nor ask them to enter, but stood
there, bent, shabby and forlorn, and looked at the minister with
haggard eyes that besought him to go. But the look only made him more
anxious to stay.

"Do you mind if we sit a moment?" he asked, glancing at an old log near
the doorway.

The man hesitated. "It is a poor thing to refuse a welcome to any
man," he said at last, with a quiet dignity, "and in the years that I
had a fit roof to my head none was turned away; but"--he paused, as
though he disliked to say the words--"but I have spent my life alone
these last few years, and I find it better. So I am afraid I cannot
offer you a seat, sir."

The minister was as much surprised by the stately manner in which the
words were delivered as by the astonishing declaration itself. Yet he
could not feel angry at his dismissal; the man's eyes awakened only
compassion.

"But it is not good for us to shut ourselves away from our fellow-men,"
he said gently. "We miss much happiness and kindness."

"And cruelty," added John McIntyre, with sharp bitterness. "And as to
its being good for me, or otherwise, that matters nothing to any one."

"Ah, but that is where you are mistaken," said the minister eagerly.
"It matters very much to our Father. We are very precious in His
sight. The Almighty----"

He was interrupted by a harsh laugh.

"Hoh!" cried John McIntyre derisively, "what is the use telling that to
a man who knows the world? That's a tale for children and old women!
What do you know about the Almighty's care?" His eyes ran fiercely
over his visitor. "You! Because you are well fed and well clothed,
and prosperous, you think that all the world is the same, and that your
God is a miracle of kindness. He may be to you. But there is another
side. Your God causes the wicked to prosper, and sees the innocent
trampled upon, and never puts forth a hand to help. And you call Him
the Almighty! If there is an Almighty, then He takes pleasure in the
pain of His creatures. He gives them the good things of this life only
that He may take them away and enjoy their suffering. And because your
turn hasn't come yet you would make me believe that every one is as
well off as yourself. Hoh! Lies! Old women's lies!"

The minister stepped back