ime it was
to admit the Rev. Hugh Finlay, who had come to return Sordello, which he
had borrowed from Advena, and to find out whether she thought with him
about the interpretation of certain passages, and if not--there was
always the possibility--wherein their divergence lay. The second time
the door opened to Dr Drummond and Mr Cruickshank; and the electric
light had to be turned on in the drawing-room, since the library was
already occupied by Mr Finlay and Advena, Mr and Mrs Murchison never
having got over their early habit of sitting in the dining-room after
tea. Even then Mrs Murchison had to put away her workbasket, and John
Murchison to knock the ashes out of his pipe, looking at one another
with surprised inquiry when Eliza informed them of their visitors.
Luckily, Mr Lorne was also in, and Eliza was sent to tell him, and
Mr Lorne came down the stairs two at a time to join the party in the
drawing-room, which was presently supplied by Eliza with a dignified
service of cake and wine. The hall divided that room from the library,
and both doors were shut. We cannot hesitate about which to open; we
have only, indeed, to follow the recognized tradition of Elgin, which
would never have entered the library. No vivid conclusion should be
drawn, no serious situation may even be indicated. It would simply have
been considered, in Elgin, stupid to go into the library.

"It isn't a case for the High Commissioner for Canada," Mr Cruickshank
was saying. "It's a case for direct representation of the interests
concerned, and their view of the effect upon trade. That's the only
voice to speak with if you want to get anything done. Conviction carries
conviction. The High Commissioner is a very useful fellow to live
in London and look after the ornamental, the sentimental, and
immigration--nobody could do it better than Selkirk. And in England, of
course, they like that kind of agency. It's the good old dignified
way; but it won't do for everything. You don't find our friend Morgan
operating through the American equivalent of a High Commissioner."

"No, you don't," said John Murchison.

"He goes over there as a principal, and the British Government, if he
wants to deal with it, is only another principal. That's the way our
deputation will go. We're practically all shippers, though of course the
matter of tenders will come later. There is big business for them here,
national business, and we propose to show it. The subsidy we wan