"Col. Baker, on your honor, as a gentleman of truth and veracity, do you
think the excesses of which you speak, occur, as a rule, in those whose
lives have been very tightly bound by the church, or by anything else,
save their own reckless fancies?"

Charlie Shipley laughed outright at this point. He always enjoyed a
sharp thing wherever heard, and without regard to whether he felt
himself thrust at or not.

"Baker, you are getting the worst of it," he said, gayly. "Sis, upon my
word, that two weeks in the woods has made you real keen in argument;
but you play abominably."

"There is no pleasure in the game now!" This the father said, throwing
down his cards somewhat testily. "Flossy, I hope you will not get to be
a girl of one idea--tied to the professional conscience. What is proper
for you could hardly be expected to be just the thing for Dr. Dennis;
and you have nothing to do, as I said before, with what he approves or
disapproves."

"But, father," Flossy said, speaking somewhat timidly, as she could not
help doing when she talked about these matters to her father, "if we
call clergymen our spiritual guides, and look up to them to set examples
for us to follow, what is the use of the example if we don't follow it
at all, but conclude they are simply doing things for their own
benefit?"

"I never call them my spiritual guides, and I have not the least desire
to have my daughter do so. I consider myself capable of guiding my own
family, especially my own children, without any help."

This was said in Mr. Shipley's stiffest tone. He was evidently very much
tried with this interruption to his evening's entertainment. Whatever
might be said of the others, he was certainly very fond of cards. He,
however, threw down the remaining ones, declaring that the spirit of the
game was gone.

"Merged into a theological discussion," Charlie said, with a half laugh,
half sneer; "and of all the people to indulge in one, this particular
circle would be supposed to be the last."

"Well, I am certainly very sorry that I was the innocent cause of such
an upheaval," Col. Baker said, in the half serious, half mocking, tone
that was becoming especially trying to Flossy. "It seems that I
unwittingly burst a bombshell when I overturned those cards. I hadn't
an idea of it. Miss Flossy, what can I do to atone for making you so
uneasy? I assure you it was really pure benevolence on my part. What can
I do to prove it?"

"Nothing,"