and senior warden, so I believe."

"You know him, then?"

"Yes, in a way. I have had some business dealings with him, and
incidentally I have talked with him about Church affairs at Rixton. He
has always seemed greatly interested."

"And he laid the blame, I suppose, upon the clergymen?"

"Invariably. He said they did not understand country people, and could
not adapt themselves to their ways, but held severely aloof."

"There must be some other cause," Douglas mused, "and I must find out
what it is."

"When do you expect to go?" Garton enquired.

"To-morrow."

"What! so soon! Why not take a holiday? You certainly need it, if any
one does."

"I have asked for two months. I told the Bishop this afternoon that
only on that understanding would I take charge of Rixton."

"But you have just told me that you are going there to-morrow!" Garton
exclaimed.

Douglas laughed.

"Look here, old man, I have a plan, and I want to tell it to you, if
you will promise that you will not speak of it to any one except your
wife. I know she will keep the secret."

"And I guess I can, too," Garton assented. "I keep a good many for my
clients, and one more will not overburden me."

"I am going to spend my vacation in Rixton," Douglas explained. "What
do you think of that?"

"What do you mean?" Garton asked in surprise.

"Simply that I am going there as an ordinary farmhand and work for my
living for two months."

"Good heavens!" Garton was so astonished at this revelation that he
knocked the ashes from his cigar over his clothes. "Are you going
crazy, Stanton? What will the Bishop and the people of Rixton think of
such a thing?"

"They are not to know anything about it until it is all over. You and
Mrs. Garton will be the only ones who will be aware of this freak of
mine, so if I get killed, you might give me a decent burial."

"Suppose in case of your death it should be considered wilful suicide,
what then?" Garton asked, while an amused twinkle shone in his eyes.
"We won't be able to get any one to read the Burial Service over you."

"Oh, I don't believe it will be as bad as that. The people won't know
that I am a clergyman, and they will not think it worth while to bother
a farm-hand. I shall be just plain John Handyman to them, and nothing
more."

"What put such a notion into your head, anyhow?" Garton enquired.

"I wish to learn what is wrong with the parish of Rixton," was the
reply. "I want