and soul?"

"I am sure I did not know it. Why, I knew, of course, that gambling
houses were not proper; but what is the harm in a game of cards? What
can Dr. Dennis see, for instance, in our playing together here in this
room, and simply for amusement?"

Col. Baker shrugged his handsome shoulders. That shrug meant a great
deal, accomplished a great deal. It was nearly certain to silence a
timid opposer; there was something so expressively sarcastic about it;
it hid so much one felt sure Col. Baker _might say_ if he deemed it
prudent or worth while. It had often silenced Flossy into a conscious
little laugh. To-night she was in earnest; she paid no attention to the
shrug, but waited, questioningly, for her answer, and as it was her
turn to play next, it seemed necessary to answer her if one wanted the
game to go on.

"I am sure I don't know," Col. Baker said, at last. "I have very little
idea what he would consider the harm; I am not sure that _he_ would be
able to tell. It is probably a narrow, strait-laced way that the cloth
have of looking at this question, in common with all other questions,
save prayer-meetings and almsgiving. Their lives are very much narrowed
down, Miss Flossy."

Flossy was entirely unsatisfied. She had a higher opinion of Dr. Dennis'
"breadth" than she had of Col. Baker's; she thought his life had a very
much higher range; she was very much puzzled and annoyed. Her father
came into the conflict:

"Come, come, Flossy, how long are you going to keep us waiting? It is of
no particular consequence what Dr. Dennis thinks or does not think. He
has a right to his own opinions. It is a free country."

Ah, but it did make a tremendous difference to Flossy. She had accepted
Dr. Dennis as her pastor; she had determined to look to him for help
and guidance in this new and strange path on which her feet had so
lately entered.

She wondered if Col. Baker could be right. Was it possible that Dr.
Dennis disapproved of cards played at home in this quiet way! If he did,
why did he? And, another puzzling point, how did Col. Baker know it?
They two certainly did not come in contact, that they should understand
each other's ideas.

She went on with her card-playing, but she played very badly. More than
once Col. Baker rallied her with good-humored sarcasm, and her father
spoke impatiently. Flossy's interest in the game was gone; instead, her
heart was busy with this new idea. She went back to it again in on