,,trimblerigg ,a ,book of ,revelation 99 #8,o1 let him pass6 he hates him1 ,that would upon the rack of this tough world ,stretch him out longer4' ,by the ,same ,author ,,angels ,,and ,,ministers ,,dethronements ,,echo ,,de ,,paris ,,moonshine ,,and ,,clover ,a ,,doorway ,,in ,,fairyland ,,all ,,fellows ,,and ,,the ,,cloak ,,of ,,friendship ,illustration3 ,,jonathan ,,trimblerigg ,from a drawing by ,edmond ,x4 ,kapp ,,trimblerigg ,a ,book of ,revelation by ,laurence ,housman 99 ,with a frontispiece from a recent portrait by ,kapp ,illustration ,jonathan ,cape ,ltd ,eleven ,gower ,street ,london ,,first ,,published ,,in ,,mcmxxiv ,,second ,,impression ,,in ,,mcmxxiv ,,made ,,printed ,,in ,,great ,,britain ,,by ,,butler ,,tanner ,,ltd ,,frome ,,and ,,london ,illustration ,contents ,,editorial4 ,the ,editor excuses himself from allegiance to the god of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg #i ,,chapter #a4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg becomes acquainted with his deity and finds him useful3 contends with his sister for virtue1 and acquires grace3 converts his uncle as by a miracle1 and receives the call #ag ,,chapter #b4 ,seeking guidance of ,scripture1 zeal for the ,lord's house consumes him3 the ,lord's house is consumed also1 and the cause of religion is well served #cj ,,chapter #c4 ,the eye of ,davidina3 he puts on himself a price1 which she takes off again4 ,in search of a career he turns to ,true ,belief #ci ,,chapter #d4 ,he wrestles mightily with his ,uncle ,phineas over the interpretation of ,scripture1 and by subtlety prevails4 ,his uncle sends him to college #di ,,chapter #e4 ,calculating his future chances he stands in a minority for truth3 advocates the ministry of women3 preaches his first sermon #fd ,,chapter #f4 ,having tried1 and failed1 to save ,davidina from drowning1 he tells a modest story of himself1 which is allowed to stand #gb ,,chapter #g4 ,he tries to save himself from ,davidina1 and fails4 ,the wicked incredulity of ,davidina1 and its effect upon his after-life #hb ,,chapter #h4 ,meaning to choose a wife1 he has a wife chosen for him4 ,his ,uncle ,phineas dies3 he finds his future is provided for #hh ,,chapter #i4 ,he enters the ministry of ,true ,belief1 and prepares for himself a way out3 is saved by ,davidina from an early indiscretion3 marries1 and has a family #ig ,,chapter #aj4 ,the ministry of women a burning question3 embarrasses his oratory4 ,on the question of verbal inspiration ,true ,belief turns him out #aje ,,chapter #aa4 ,he becomes a ,free ,evangelical3 from the militancy of women takes refuge in the organization of foreign missions #aah ,,chapter #ab4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's deity exercises his divine prerogative1 and watches him take a bath3 his honesty under trying circumstances3 his success as an organizer #abd ,,chapter #ac4 ,his liking for adventure and experiment exposes him to danger3 escaping without loss of character1 he finds cause to complain of his wife's #abi ,,chapter #ad4 ,invents his famous doctrine of #8,relative ,truth'3 his success in the mission field4 ,he begins to invest3 looks for a popular cause1 and finds one #acg ,,chapter #ae4 ,his popular cause being threatened by his investments1 he makes a sacrifice1 and wins3 becomes a power in the financial world1 and achieves fame #add ,,chapter #af4 ,by a very slight departure from the truth 7relative71 he gets the better of ,davidina1 whereby his conscience is greatly comforted #aef ,,chapter #ag4 ,he tastes the sweets of popular success3 forgives an enemy3 sees his star in the ascendant1 reads poetry1 and sleeps the sleep of the just #afa ,,chapter #ah4 ,a strange awakening3 finds himself the recipient of an embarrassing honour3 his difficulty in finding a place for it under present conditions #afh ,,chapter #ai4 ,the effect of heavenly signs on the young and innocent4 ,his wife discovers for the first time that he is a holy man3 her remorse #aha ,,chapter #bj4 ,to escape from the beauty of holiness ,mr4 ,trimblerigg contemplates a life of sin1 but finds himself stuck fast in virtue4 ,effects of his wife's confession3 his fear of ,davidina3 he narrowly escapes death #ahi ,,chapter #ba4 ,refusing to make an exhibition of himself1 he becomes unpopular3 escapes the fury of the mob1 meets ,davidina1 and is saved from further embarrassment4 ,the story of an onlooker #bjj ,,chapter #bb4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg comes out top3 ,relative ,truth in war-time the only solution3 attends funeral of a celebrity1 and makes arrangements for his own #bji ,,chapter #bc4 ,he becomes the voice of the nation3 secures the ministry of women3 makes peace-mottoes for the million3 hears a voice from the ,beyond forbidding him to hew ,agag #bae ,,chapter #bd4 ,relative ,truth in black and white becomes a problem4 ,for the rescue of his own reputation adopts the policy of reprisals3 the ,free ,churches are divided #bbe ,,chapter #be4 ,puto-,congo3 friendly comparison of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg to a crocodile3 why1 in the ,puto-,congo1 a crocodile policy had become indispensable #bcb ,,chapter #bf4 ,the peaceful penetration of ,davidina3 her wonderful ways3 their effect on savages4 ,she returns to civilization1 and encounters ,mr4 ,trimblerigg #bda ,,chapter #bg4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's prayer misses fire3 he finds ,davidina a comfortable person to talk to3 they go their separate ways #bej ,,chapter #bh4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's genius for inconsistency3 its brilliant results3 risks his life1 and becomes founder of the ,puto-,congo ,free ,state ,limited #beg ,,chapter #bi4 ,inspired by a new idea1 he combines ,spiritualism with ,second ,adventism1 and opens campaign to make ,heaven safe for ,democracy #bfc ,,chapter #cj4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 opening a box of prophecy1 finds that his own coming has been foretold3 his ambition is satisfied #bgd ,,chapter #ca4 ,he reverts to ,true ,belief as the best means to ,relative ,truth when prophecies are about4 ,light returns to him3 he uses it to slay an enemy #bia ,,chapter #cb4 ,how he conquers ,america for the new faith1 competes with the ,movies1 and starts building the ,new ,jerusalem #bie ,,chapter #cc4 ,the ,new ,jerusalem encounters unexpected opposition4 ,the effect of sticky gas on ,second ,adventism4 ,davidina puts out ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's light1 and in the darkness that ensues his deity loses sight of him #cjh ,editorial ,the tribal deity to whom ,mr4 ,trimblerigg owed his origin would1 ,i think1 have shown a better sense of the eternal fitness of things had he chosen for his amanuensis one whose theological antecedents were more within his keeping and jurisdiction than my own4 ,but when he visited me with the attack of verbal inspiration which ,i was powerless to throw off in any other form than that which here follows1 he seems rather to have assumed an intellectual agreement which certainly does not exist1 and to have ignored as unimportant a divergence of view which ,i now wish to place on record4 ,for1 to put it plainly1 ,i do not worship the god of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg2 and had these pages been a complete expression of my own feelings1 they would have borne hostile witness not so much against ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 as against his deity4 ,when nations declare war1 or when gods deliver judgment against criminals who are so largely of their own making1--fastening in self-justification on some flagrant instance of wrong-doing which1 for those who do not wish to reflect1 puts the culprit wholly out of court1--they would do well to select their official historians from minds too abject and submissive to form views of their own2 and of course verbal inspiration1 as in the case of ,balaam1 is one way of getting the thing done4 ,but whereas1 in that historical instance1 it was the ass and not the prophet who kicked last1 in this instance1 having delivered my message1 ,i claim the right to exonerate myself in a foreword which is entirely my own4 ,and so here1 in this place--before he makes revelation or utters prophecy--,balaam speaks his own mind4 ,i do not think that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's deity has dealt fairly by him4 ,to me he seems chargeable with the same exploitive elasticity as that which he exposes in ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 whom he first cockered up in his own conceit by a course of tribal theology1 and then callously abandoned to its logical consequences when tribal theology went suddenly out of fashion4 ,for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was emphatically a product of that self-worship of the tribe or clan1 on which divine ,individualism has so long fattened itself4 ,he was brought up to believe himself one of a chosen sect of a chosen people1 and to judge from a theocratic standpoint the ways1 doings1 and morals of other sects1 communities1 principalities1 and powers4 ,he could not remotely conceive1 without being false to his deity1 that his own was not immeasurably the best religion in the world1 his god a god of perfect balance and proportion1 and himself a chosen vessel of the ,lord4 ,in that character he was always anointing himself with fresh oil1 which1 losing its balance1 ran far further than it ought to have done4 ,but if1 in consequence1 he became an oleaginous character1 whose mainly was the blame8 ,i cannot acquit the deity in whose tenets he had been trained4 ,having been brought up to read history as a pre-eminent dispensation of mercies and favours to his own race1 with a slight push of miracle at the back of it--is it any wonder that1 when he applied his gospel to propaganda for the interests of that same race1 or went out a missionary to the heathen1 it was with a conscientious conviction that a little compulsion was necessary for the saving of souls8 ,and so1 in that shadiest episode of all his career1 presented to us by his deity in such an unfavourable light1 when the poor benighted heathen began painting ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's fellow-missionaries black and tan1 and other horrible colours to indicate their hearty dislike for a blended gospel of free salvation in ,christ and duty and allegiance to the ,puto-,congo ,rubber shareholders2 when they did that1 he--quite naturally--invoked the law of the ,mosaic dispensation1 and did the same to them3 and defended himself for these gospel-reprisals by saying that it would have been very unreasonable not to protect ,christian missionaries by the only method which savages could understand as a stepping-stone to the methods of ,christianity4 ,the picture as presented is true3 that was ,mr4 ,trimblerigg all over4 ,he had a lively notion that ,christianity could be induced by pagan methods4 ,but has his deity the right to cast either the first or the last stone at him8 ,if he seemed to be always carrying the ,new ,testament in his coat-tail pocket and making it his foundation for occasions of sitting down and doing nothing1 while1 up and doing1 it was the law of ,moses with which he stuffed his breast3 and if1 when he wanted to thump the big drum 7as he so often did71 he thumped the ,old ,testament1 he was only doing with more momentary conviction and verve and personal magnetism what the larger tribalism of his day had been doing all along2 and his tribal deity never seems to have had the slightest qualms in allowing ,mr4 ,trimblerigg to regard himself as a ,christian4 ,yet all the time the deity himself knew better1 as this record abundantly shows2 for having made ,mr4 ,trimblerigg partly but not entirely in his own image1 he then used him as a plaything1 an object of curiosity2 and committing him to that creed of racial aggrandisement of which he himself was beginning to tire1 thereby reduced him to ridicule1 made a fool of him1 exalted him to the likeness and similitude of a god1 and then--let him go4 ,and though1 in the ensuing pages1 he has helped himself freely to my opinions1 as though they were his own1 ,i do not feel that they were honestly adopted4 ,for a god who tires of his handiwork is still responsible for it1 however disillusioned2 and when1 employing me as his mouthpiece1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's maker mocks at the tribal religions which have brought the world so near to ruin1 he remains nevertheless a deity tribal in character1 albeit a disgruntled one4 ,and if he has manuvred this record in order to wash his hands of responsibility1 it comes1 ,i fear1 too late2 the source is too suspect to be regarded as impartial1 and he himself very much more of a ,mr4 ,trimblerigg than he seems to be aware4 ,and so my business here is to express an utter disbelief 7which ,i hope readers will bear in mind7 that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's deity was one about whom it is possible to entertain the larger hope1 even in the faint degree suggested by ,tennyson1--or that he was anything except a tribal survival to whom ,mr4 ,trimblerigg and others gave names which did not properly belong to him4 ,what finally laid ,mr4 ,trimblerigg by the heels was the fact that having picked up this god as he went along 7finding him favourable to the main chance7 it was the main chance--idealized as #8the larger hope'--which he really worshipped without knowing it4 ,upon the strength of that inspiration environment intoxicated him1 and he drew his spiritual life from the atmosphere around him4 ,then he was like a bottle of seltzer1 which at the first touch of the outer air begins almost explosively to expand2 whereas1 for the bulk of us1 we unbottle to it like still wine without sound or foam1 accepting it as the natural element for which we were born4 ,to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 on the other hand1 it came as a thing direct from ,god3 at the first touch of the herd-instinct he bubbled1 and felt himself divine4 ,and in the rush of pentecostal tongues amid which he lost his head1 he forgot that atmosphere and environment are but small local conditions1 and that1 outside these1 vacuum and interstellar space hold the true balances of ,heaven more surely and correctively than do the brief and shifting lives of men4 ,this spiritual adventurer1 with his alert vision so curiously reduced in scale to seize the opportunities of day and hour1 missed the march of time from listening too acutely to the ticks of the clock4 ,and if he offers us an example for our better learning1 it is mainly as showing what belittling results the herd-instinct and tribal-deism may produce in a mercurial and magnetic temperament1--making him imagine himself something quite other from what he really is1 and his god a person far removed from that category in which he has been placed4 ,my own interpretation of this #8,revelation1' which has made me its involuntary mouthpiece1 is that it shows the beginning--but the beginning only--of mental change in a god who has become tired of deceiving himself about the work of his creation2 and that it has begun to dawn upon his mind--though he denies it in words--that1 in making ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 he has made another little mistake1 and that his creation was really stuffed as full of them as a plum-pudding is stuffed with plums4 ,and ,i have a hope that when tribal deity becomes properly apologetic for its many misshapings of a divided world1 humanity will begin to come by its own1 and acquire a theology which is not an organized hypocrisy for the bolstering up of nationalities and peoples4 ,for here we have a world full of mistakes1 which is governed1 according to the theologians1 by a ,god who makes none4 ,and what between predestination and free-will1 and grace abounding mixed up with original sin1 and orthodoxy and heterodoxy at such universal dash throughout the world that not one honest soul in a million has an even chance of being really right1--when that is the spectacle presented to us in the life of the human race1 it becomes something of a mockery to minds of intelligence to be told that their gods have never made mistakes4 ,those who have been blessed with good parents1 do not like them less because of certain failings and limitations which go to the shaping of their characters2 and when1 arrived at the age of discretion1 they have to withstand their failings and recognize their limitations1 they do so with a certain amount of deference and with undiminished affection2 but they do not1 if they are wise1 or if they have the well-being of their parents really at heart1--they do not let it be thought that they regard them either as immaculate or infallible4 ,i have come to the conclusion that a like duty towards its tribal deities belongs to the human race2 and that man has made many mistakes simply by regarding these tribal emanations as immune from error1 all-seeing1 all-wise1 all-loving--which they certainly are not4 ,and ,i believe that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg would have been a very much better and more useful man if he could have conceived his tribal deity as one liable to error like himself4 ,the terrible ,nemesis which seized the soul of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg and hurled it to destruction was a very limited and one-sided conception of what was good and right1 embodied in the form of a personal deity who could do no wrong4 ,so here1 as ,i read it1 we have the revelation of the detriment done to a human soul by an embodied belief in itself under cover of a religious creed4 ,and the record of that process has been handed over to me1 ,i suppose1 because the tribal deity responsible for the results has got a little tired of the abject flattery of his worshippers1 and a little doubtful whether that relation between the human and the divine is really the right one4 ,he is suffering in fact1 as ,i read him1 from a slight attack of creative indigestion1 and is anxious to get rid of certain by-products which his system cannot properly assimilate3 he is anxious1 amongst other things1 to get rid of responsibility for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,but the responsibility is there2 and ,i allow myself this foreword in order to declare it in spite of the things which hereafter ,i am made to say4 #8,you cannot unscramble eggs1' is a dictum as applicable to gods as to mortals4 ,and if people would remember that in their prayers1 prayers would be less foolish and fatuous than they often are4 ,you cannot unscramble eggs4 ,and so1 having scrambled ,mr4 ,trimblerigg in the making1 his god was attempting a vain thing in trying to unscramble him2 and when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg went on his knees and prayed1 as he occasionally did1 to be unscrambled1 he was only scrambling himself yet more in the fry-pan of his tribal theology4 ,and indeed1 when ,i look at him1 ,i have to admire what a scramble of a man he was6--how the yolk and the white of it1 the good and the evil1 the thick and the thin of his character did mix1 #8yea1 meet and mingle1' as he would have said himself when his platform sense of poetry got the better of him4 ,and so1 in the exercise of those contradictory agilities of soul and brain which made him so mixed yet so divided a character1 he skipped through life like a flea to ,abraham's bosom1 and there--after so many an alias hastily assumed and as hastily discarded--lies waiting to answer to his true name when true names are called4 ,what kind of a name1 one wonders1 did he finally make for himself in the ,book of ,life8 ,in that desperate saving of his own face which constitutes his career1 he put out of countenance many that were his betters2 but it was himself that1 in the process1 he put out of countenance most of all4 ,yet in the end revelation came to him2 and when1 in that ghastly moment of self-discovery1 he stood fully charged with the truth1 who shall say what miraculous1 what fundamental change it may not have wrought in him8 ,when he followed the upward rope which led him so expeditiously ,elsewhere1 it may have been with the equipment of a new self capable of much better and more honest things that he finally entered ,heaven4 ,i cannot believe that such a genius for self-adaptation has incontinently missed its mark4 ,but1 in that forward aim1 it may well be that he and his tribal deity have parted company2 for it is to be noted that1 at the last gasp1 the god loses sight--does not know what has become of him3 thinks1 perhaps1 that he has gone irretrievably and abysmally--,down4 ,i1 on the contrary1 have a suspicion and a hope that his tendency may have been--,,up4 ,l4 ,h4 ,,chapter ,,one ,deus ,loquitur ,of course when ,i made ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 though ,i had shaped him--,i will not say to my liking1 but at least to my satisfaction--,i did not foresee how he would turn out4 ,it is not my custom to look ahead4 ,i can1 to be sure1 do so when ,i please3 but that makes the dnouement so dull4 ,i prefer1 therefore--and have now made it a rule--that my creations shall1 in what they do1 come upon me as a surprise--pleasant or the reverse4 ,for since ,i have given them free-will1 let me also have the benefit of it3 let them make their own plans1 their own careers1--attributing to me1 if they must1 those features of both for which they do not feel themselves responsible2 and let me 7in the moment when they think to have fulfilled themselves7 experience that small stimulus of novelty which the infinite variety and individuality of my creatures is always capable of providing4 ,for it is this spice of novelty alone which keeps me from being unutterably disinterested in the workings of what theologians are pleased to call #8the moral purpose of the universe4' ,so it was that1 having shaped ,mr4 ,trimblerigg to my satisfaction1 ,i let him go4 ,and as1 with his future in his own very confident hands1 he went1 ,i did not for the moment trouble to look after him4 ,when ,i say that ,i shaped him to my satisfaction1 ,i am speaking merely as a craftsman4 ,i knew that ,i had made a very clever man4 ,as to liking him1 that had nothing to do with craftsmanship1 but would depend entirely on what he did with himself--how he appealed to me as a student of life1 when--laying aside my rle of maker1 ,i became merely the observer4 ,it is always an interesting experiment whether ,i shall be drawn to my creations before they become drawn to me4 ,sometimes ,i find that they interest me enormously1 even while denying me with their last breath4 ,but the unrequited affections of a god have always an element of comedy2 for though1 in the spiritual direction1 one's creations may take a way of their own1 they are never as quit of us as they suppose2 and when they know it least they come back to us for inspection and renovation4 ,even the soul that thinks itself lost is not so lost as to leave one unaware of its condition2 though it may have ceased to call1 its address is still known4 ,in ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's case it was all the other way--from the moment that he discovered me he never let me alone2 though ,i had cast him forth like bread upon the waters1 not expecting to see him again for many days1 he came back to me early1 and from that time on gave me the advantage of his intimate and varying acquaintance to the very end4 ,i wonder to myself sometimes whether ,i tried him as much as he tried me1 and whether he managed to like me up to the last4 ,this at least ,i found--that by the time he was five years old1 whether ,i liked him or not1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg liked me2 and the reason for his liking was simple--he found me useful4 ,for one day1 having done something which deserved1 or was supposed to deserve punishment1 he lied about it1 and was discovered4 ,the discovery came to his ears before he was actually taxed with it4 ,the small world on which he stood became suddenly an abyss2 lifting up his feet he fled for refuge to his own chamber1 and was about to hide in the cupboard1 when he heard the awful tread of judgment ascending the stairs4 ,being clever 7for which ,i admit ,i was responsible7 he realized how temporary a refuge the cupboard must necessarily be2 what he needed was the eternal2 and so1 throwing himself on his knees he began praying to me--aloud4 ,and in his prayer he told the truth1 volubly1 abundantly1 and without making any excuse for himself4 #8,i have told a lie1' he cried1 #8,o ,god1 ,i have told a lie6' ,the agony of his prayer was heard1 not so much by me as by the elder for whose entry he had so accurately timed it4 ,and who1 looking upon that youthful and ingenuous countenance1 could doubt the sincerity of his grief8 ,his lips quivered1 his eyes streamed tears1 his nails dug into his tender flesh1 leaving marks4 ,at that sight1 at those sounds1 the paternal heart was deeply moved2 the birch was laid aside2 elder and younger knelt together and prayed for quite a long time1 with great fervour1 fixity1 and unanimity of purpose1 that henceforth young ,mr4 ,trimblerigg should be a good boy1 and never never again be caught telling a lie4 ,that prayer unfortunately was not entirely answered--though between us we did our best4 ,in the years that followed ,mr4 ,trimblerigg lied often and well1 but was very seldom caught1 and still more seldom punished4 ,the only really important outcome of that incident was that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg found he liked me2 ,i had been useful to him4 ,and yet ,i had done1 ,i protest1 absolutely nothing--except making him clever4 ,it was not through my providential intervention that he liked me1 but through his own4 ,the prayer of faith had saved him from a whipping2 it was a lesson he never forgot4 ,and so1 from that day on1 he made me his general help and stay2 and on every occasion of doubt1 difficulty1 or distress1 was able1 by coming to me1 to convince himself that he meant well4 ,never in my whole world's existence have ,i come upon anybody who was able to answer his own prayers about himself1 and about other people1 with such conviction1 avidity1 and enthusiasm as ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,and why should ,i complain8 ,it made him a great power in the world1 without my having to lift a finger1 or turn a hair1 or do anything1 in fact1 except wink an eye1 or seem to4 ,the virtuous incentives of family life1 though only provided on a small scale1 were not lacking for the development of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's character4 ,he had three uncles1 two aunts1 a great-uncle and a grandfather--all fairly contiguous1 the family being of the indigenous not of the migratory kind--besides a father1 a mother and a sister1 with whom contact was continuous and unescapable4 ,even in their naming the children had been linked for lovely and pleasant relationship in after-life2 for when the ,trimblerigg first-born1 whom its parents confidently expected to be a son1 turned into a daughter--adapting the forechosen name to suit her sex1 they called her ,davidina2 and when1 nearly two years later1 our own ,mr4 ,trimblerigg struggled out into the world1 nearly killing his mother in the process1 the destined name ,jonathan was there waiting for him4 ,and so1 very early in his career1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's sister ,davidina became the whetstone of his virtues--its operation summed up in the word #8emulation4' ,nature would perhaps have brought it about in any case1 even if the parental plan had not inculcated and forced it home2 but when it became clear to ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,trimblerigg senior that no more children were to be theirs1 they conceived the idea of blending the business with the moral instincts1 and in the training of their two offspring making virtue competitive4 ,no wonder then1 that1 as their moral sense dawned1 the germ of mutual suspicion and hatred grew lodged in their souls4 ,this1 however1 did not prevent them1 when self-interest prompted1 from being also allies1 as the following may show4 ,the parental idea of making virtue competitive had taken one of its earlier forms--for economic reasons1 ,i fancy--in the matter of pocket-money2 and the weekly penny was tendered not as a right nor even as a reward for good average behaviour1 but as a prize to be wrestled for1 gain by the one involving loss by the other--a device that had the incidental advantage of halving the tax on the pocket which provided it4 ,the fact that ,davidina won it far more frequently and easily than he did1 set ,mr4 ,trimblerigg his first problem in goodness run as a means to profit4 ,he accordingly invited his sister to an arrangement whereby1 irrespective of conduct1 they should go shares2 and when this accommodating olive-branch was scornfully rejected1 he became so offensively good for three weeks on end that ,davidina1 left penniless1 capitulated on terms1 and1 in order to get a remnant of her money's worth1 bargained that they should be good--or at least each better than the other--in alternate weeks1 this being a more tolerable arrangement to her careful soul than that brother ,jonathan1 with no effort at all1 ever secondary in virtue1 should share equally the pennies which she had earned4 ,for a while the plan worked well2 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg by calculated effort bettered his sister in the alternate weeks1 got the penny and shared it grudgingly but honourably--while ,davidina1 remaining merely herself1 received it in the natural course when ,jonathan reverted to his more normal standard4 ,but there came a day when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had privily done certain things about which his elders knew less than did ,davidina1 and so got wrongfully the penny he had not earned4 ,davidina demanded it2 on the denial of her claim they fought1 and between them the penny got lost4 ,the next week1 though ,davidina earned it1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg claimed it1 arguing that as last week's penny had been lost to him through her1 this week's should be his4 ,davidina thought differently2 and putting the penny for safety in her mouth1 in the resulting struggle by accident swallowed it4 ,after that the alliance was over4 ,thenceforth ,jonathan had a permanent and lively incentive for becoming good2 and in the competition that ensued ,davidina was decisively worsted4 ,goodness became for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg a matter of calculation1 habit1 resolute will1 and in the long series of defeats which followed1 ,davidina might1 had she chosen1 have found satisfaction in the large part she played toward the reshaping of her brother's character4 ,so decisive was the change that it became apparent to the world1 and was reckoned as proof of that conversion to grace which was necessary for full church-membership in the sect where he belonged4 ,and so1 at an unusually early age1 ,jonathan was baptized into the congregation of the ,free ,united ,evangelicals4 ,that incident decided his career2 he became destined for the ministry4 ,thus out of evil comes good4 99 99 99 99 99 ,when the matter was first decided ,mr4 ,trimblerigg himself knew nothing about it4 ,it was the elders of the family1 the parents1 grandparents1 uncles and aunts--sitting together in conclave for the adjustment of ways to narrow means1 who foresaw the convenience of the call which in due time came to him4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg himself was then making other plans of his own4 ,a sense of his abilities had begun to stir his mind to the prospects of life4 ,he had become conscious that a career was awaiting him--or1 to put it more accurately1 several careers--of which he had only to choose4 ,one day1 in a weak moment of expansiveness1 when ,davidina by a histrionic show of sisterly sympathy had led him on1 he confided to her the sparkling alternatives which he had in mind4 ,and she1 when her first admiration had become tempered with criticism1 passed word of them carefully on to the ears of his ,uncle ,jonah4 ,jonah1 who was anti-romantic by temperament1 made it his duty to strip these pretensions bare before the eyes of the assembled family--doing it no doubt for his nephew's good4 #8,jonathan is thinking1' said he1 #8that he would like to be ,prime ,minister2 and well he might be if he had the ability to be consistent in his principles4 ,seems also he'd like to be ,president to the ,free ,church ,conference2 but for that he needs to be spiritual and one that speaks nothing but the truth4 ,failing that he's for being ,lord ,chief ,justice and ,master of the ,rolls2 but ,jonathan hasn't the judicial mind4 ,and to be ,field-,marshal rising from the ranks 7which is another flea he has in his bonnet7 ,god in ,his great mercy hasn't given him sufficient inches to meet the military requirements4 ,you'll do well1 ,jonathan2 for you're quick in the turnover1 and your convictions don't trouble you2 and you've a wonderful courage for thinking yourself right when all the evidence is against you4 ,but what you'll do if you're wise is find a master who'll let you hide behind his back and be clever for him in the ways that don't show2 one who'll take over all the responsibility for your mistakes1 for the sake of all the times when you've guessed right4 ,given he's got the patience to put up with you1 you'll be worth it to him1 and a credit to your family4 ,but there's a deal of practice you've to get before you can do the thing well4 ,don't spread yourself4' ,but ,uncle ,jonah1 being an undertaker by trade1 had narrow and confining views2 and the shadow of his daily occupation1 entailing a too-frequent wearing of black1 caused him to set foot on life sombrely1 especially on life that was young4 ,this also was said before the time when nephew ,jonathan had become conspicuously good4 ,with his higher aspirations thus blown upon1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 after watering ,davidina's pet fern with strong tea which it did not like1 diverted his invention to more practical ends1 and for a time wished to be a conjurer1 having read accounts of the wonders performed at the ,egyptian ,hall1 ,london1 by ,messrs4 ,maskelyne ,cooke4 ,but as ill-luck would have it1 his first sight of conjuring came to him at a village fair2 and there1 while others stared and were amazed1 he with his sharp eyes saw how everything was done1 and found the entertainment dull4 ,now had he only been interested and stirred to emulation thus early1 ,i am quite convinced that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg could have become a conjurer such as the world has never seen4 ,if his parents could only have afforded to take him to ,london1 and to the ,egyptian ,hall1 the world's history might have been different4 ,it was not to be4 ,illustration3 ,,jonathan ,,trimblerigg 7aged #g7 with his ,mother ,sister ,davidina ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's attention was first attracted to the career his elders designed for him1 not so much by the habitual goodness with which the rivalry of ,davidina had imbued his character1 as by his observation of the sensation caused in his native village by the missionizing efforts of a certain boy-preacher1 then known to fame as #8,the ,infant ,samuel ,samuel1' whose call1 beginning at his baptism in that strange invocative reduplication of the family name imposed by his godparents1 went on till it suddenly passed in silence to an obscurity from which the veil has never been lifted4 ,what happened then nobody knows1 or nobody chooses to tell4 ,but between the ages of seven and fifteen1 while sustained by the call1 ,samuel ,samuel never saw a vacant seat1 or an uncrowded aisle1 or had sitting under him a congregation unrent by sobs in the hundreds of chapels to which the spirit bore him4 ,when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg heard him1 ,samuel ,samuel at the age of ten was still in the zenith of his powers2 and it has been credibly reported that1 in the mining villages which he passed through1 publicans went bankrupt and committed suicide because of him1 and pit-ponies1 their ears robbed of the familiar expletives to which they had been trained1 no longer obeyed orders2 and that alongside of these manifestations of grace1 the illegitimate birth-rates went up and struck a record2 till1 six months later1 things settled back and became the same2 birth-rates went down1 pit-ponies obeyed a restored vocabulary1 and ruined publicans were vindicated in the prosperity of their successors4 ,but these things only happened after2 and when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg heard the cry of the ,infant ,samuel ,samuel1 he discerned a kindred spirit1 and saw a way opening before his feet1 under a light which thereafter continued to shine4 ,and so at the age of twelve the designs which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's elders had on him1 and the designs which he had on himself1 coalesced and became one2 and even ,davidina1 borne down by the sense of the majority1 had to accept the fact that her brother ,jonathan had received a call4 ,thus early did the conversion of souls enter into the life and calculations of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,a striking justification of his chosen calling followed immediately1 when1 without in the least intending it1 he converted an almost lost soul in a single day--the soul of an ,uncle1 ,james ,hubback by name1 the only uncle upon his mother's side left over from a large family--who while still clinging to the outward respectability of a ,free ,church minister1 had taken secretly to drink4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had been born and brought up in a household where the idea that spirits were anything to drink had never been allowed to enter his head4 ,he only knew of spirit as of something that would catch fire and boil a kettle1 or embrace death in a bottle and preserve it from decay4 ,these aspects of its beneficence he had gathered first in the back kitchen of his own home1 and secondly in the natural history department of the ,county ,museum1 to which as a ,sunday-school treat he had been taken4 ,returning therefrom1 he had been bitten for a short while with a desire to catch1 kill1 and preserve frogs1 bats1 beetles1 snakes1 and other low forms of existence1 and make a museum of his own--his originality at that time being mainly imitative4 ,to this end he clamoured to his mother to release his saved pennies which she held in safe-keeping for him1 in order that he might buy spirit for collecting purposes2 and so pestered her that at last she promised that if for a beginning he could find an adder1 he should have a bottle of spirit to keep it in4 ,close upon that his ,uncle ,james arrived for a stay made sadly indefinite by the low water in which he found himself4 ,he still wore his clerical garb but was without cure of souls3 ,bethel and he had become separated1 and his family in consequence was not pleased with him4 ,nevertheless as a foretaste of reformation he wore a blue ribbon1 and was prevented thereby from letting himself be seen on licensed premises2 while a totally abstaining household1 and a village with only one inn which had been warned not to serve him1 and no shop that sold liquor1 seemed to provide a safe environment for convalescence4 ,it is at this point that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg steps in4 ,one day1 taking down a book from the shelf in the little study1 he discovered behind it a small square bottle of spirits3 he did not have to taste or smell it--the label #8old brandy' was enough2 and supposing in his innocence the word #8old' to indicate that it had passed its best use1 at once his volatile mind was seized with the notion that here was a mother's surprise waiting for him1 and that he had only to provide the adder for the bottle and its contents to become his4 ,and so with that calculating larkishness which made him do audacious things that when done had to be swallowed1 he determined to give his mother a surprise in return4 ,going off in search of his adder and failing to get it himself1 he gave another boy a penny for finding him a dead one4 ,an hour later the adder was inside the brandy bottle behind the books2 and an hour after that his ,uncle ,james had achieved complete and lifelong conversion to total abstinence4 ,the dnouement presented itself to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg at first with a shock of disappointment in the form of smashed glass1 and his dead adder lying in a spent pool of brandy on the study floor2 and only gradually did it dawn upon him after a cautious survey of the domestic situation that this was not as he had at first feared his mother's angry rejection of the surprise he had prepared for her3 on the contrary she was pleased with him4 ,his uncle1 he learned1 was upstairs lying down1 without appetite either for tea or supper4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg heard him moaning in the night1 and he came down to breakfast the next day a changed character4 ,within a year he had secured reinstatement in the ministry1 and was become a shining light on the temperance platform1 telling with great fervour anecdotes which give hope4 ,there was1 however1 one story of a drunkard's reformation which he never told3 perhaps because1 on after-reflection1 though he had accepted their testimony against him1 he could not really believe his eyes1 perhaps because there are certain experiences which remain too deep and sacred and mysterious ever to be told4 ,but to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg the glory of what he had done was in a while made plain4 ,more than ever it showed him destined for the ministry3 it also gave colour to his future ministrations1 opening his mind in the direction of a certain school of thought in which presently he became an adept4 #8,the ,kingdom of ,heaven is taken by tricks1' became the subconscious foundation of his belief2 and when he entered the pulpit at the age of twenty-one1 he was by calculative instinct that curious combination of the tipster1 the thimblerigger1 and the prophet1 the man of vision and the man of lies1 which drew to itself the adoration of one half and the detestation of the other half of the ,free ,united ,evangelical ,connection1 eventually dividing that great body into two unequal portions1 and driving its soul into a limbo of spiritual frustration and ineffectiveness till it found itself again under new names4 ,,chapter ,,two ,the ,early ,worm ,though ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had not at the time taken the advice of his ,uncle ,jonah in very good part1 he did eventually accept a large part of it--good or otherwise--in the shaping of his career4 ,his wish to become a great functionary of ,state gradually faded away1 giving place to others4 ,but his intention to be ,president of the ,free ,church ,conference remained and grew strong4 ,and to that end--spirituality being required--he accepted faithfully ,uncle ,jonah's last bit of advice1 and seeking a master behind whose back he could hide and be clever in ways that didn't show--have responsibility taken for his mistakes1 and get adequate recognition for the many things which he did right--seeking for such a master1 he found him to his own satisfaction in the oldest of old ways2 and never from that day on did the suspicion enter his head1 that the master whom he chose under so devout an alias was himself4 ,if1 in the process1 he received a call1 so did ,i2 and it was at this stage of his career that ,i began to watch him with real interest4 ,his calls became frequent2 and though there was not always an apparent answer there was always an attentive ear4 ,it may well be that when human nature appears1 to those whose business is to understand it1 most unexpected and incalculable1 is the very time when it is or ought to be most instructive to eyes which are open4 ,and certainly at this preliminary period--before ,i got accustomed to him--,mr4 ,trimblerigg did make me open my eyes wider and wider1 till he got me to the point when nothing that he did surprised me4 ,but that was not because ,i became able to anticipate his reactions to any given circumstance or tight hole in which he might find himself3 but merely that experience of him caused me to give up all rules based on the law of averages3 he was a law by himself4 ,what at first baffled me was the passionate sincerity with which he was always able to deceive himself--doing it mainly1 ,i admit1 by invoking my assistance3 that is to say1 by prayer4 ,to see him fall upon his knees and start busily lighting his own little lamp for guidance through the perils immediately surrounding him--while firmly convinced all the time that the lamp was not his lighting but mine--gave me what ,i can only describe as an extraordinary sense of helplessness4 ,the passionate fervour of his prayer to whatever end he desired1 put him more utterly beyond reach of instruction than a conscious plunge into sin4 ,against that there might have been a natural reaction2 but against the spiritual avidity with which he set to work saving his own skin day by day1 no reaction was possible4 ,the day-spring from on high visited him with a light-heeled nimbleness which cleared not only all obstacles of a material kind but all qualms of conscience as well4 ,in the holy of holies of his inmost being self-interest sat rapturously enshrined2 there lay its ark of the covenant1 and over it the twin cherubim of faith and hope stretched their protecting wings4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg might bow himself in single spirit when first his prayer began2 but always1 before it ended1 his spirits had got the better of him1 and he would rise from his knees as beautifully unrepentant as a puppy that has dodged a whipping1 his face radiant with happiness1 having found an answer to his prayer awaiting him in the direction to which from the first it had been set1 much as your ,arctic explorer finds the ,north ,pole by a faithful following of his nose after having first pointed it to the north4 ,i date my completed understanding of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 and of the use he had made of me1 to the day when--faced with an exposure which would have gone far to reduce his ministerial career to a nullity--he put up a prayer which 7had ,i been a mere mortal7 would have made me jump out of my skin4 ,i will not skin him retributively by quoting him in full1 but the gist of it all was that1 much to his perplexity he found himself suffering from a strange temptation1 out of keeping with his whole character1 and threatening destruction to that life of energetic usefulness in the service of others which he was striving to lead4 ,and so he prayed to be kept 7#8kept' was the very word7--#8humble1 and honest1 and honourable4' ,it was no change that he desired2 but only a continuance in that narrow and straight path of acquired virtue down which 7since the truth must be told7 he had hitherto danced his way more like a cat on hot bricks1 than the happily-banded pilgrim he believed himself to be4 #8,kept' was the word2 and as ,i heard him ,i thought of it in all its meanings--and wondered which4 ,i thought of how dead game #8keeps' up to a point1 and is better in flavour for the keeping2 but how1 after that point is reached1 the keeping defeats itself1 and the game is game no longer1 but mere offal4 ,was it in that sense that he wished to be #8kept'8 ,for certainly ,i had found him good game1 quick in the uptake1 and brisk on the wing4 ,it is difficult in this record to remain consecutive4 ,those who would follow with accuracy the career of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 must jump to and fro with the original--one of whom it has to be said that though he denied himself many times 7even in the face of the clearest evidence7 he denied himself nothing that held out any prospect of keeping his fortunes on the move2 and the stitch in time with which he so often and so nimbly saved himself ran in no straight line of machine-made regularity1 but rather in a series of diversions this way and that1 stepping sideways and back preparatory to the next forward leap2 and in this feather-stitching along life's road he covered more ground1 and far more ornamentally1 than do those who go merely upon their convictions1 holding to one opinion and doing only one thing at a time4 ,yet it would be wrong to say that he was ever false to his convictions1 for these he seldom knew4 ,enough that so long as they lasted his intuitions were sacred to him2 and as it is the very essence of intuitions that at any moment they may change1 his changeableness had about it a sort of truth1 of consistency1 to which slower minds cannot attain4 ,but why call it #8intuition'2 why not #8vision'8 ,well1 if a camera of powerful lens and stocked with highly sensitive films may be said to have vision1 vision he had in abundance4 ,adjusting his focus to the chosen point of view1 he clicked the switch of his receptivity1 snapt a picture1 wound it off upon its wheel1 and was ready for another4 ,in the space of a few minutes he had as many pictures stored as he had a mind for4 #8,vision'8 ,you may grant it him1 if you will1 so long as you remember that that was the process4 ,i would rather be inclined to call it #8optics'2 and ,i see his career now rather as a series of optical delusions1 through every one of which he remained quite convinced that he was right1 and that the truth had come to him by way of revelation4 ,an early example will serve4 ,the small hill-side village in which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg first learned to escape the limitations of ordinary life was a place where things seldom happened2 and there were times in his early upbringing when he found himself at a loose end1 a rose wasting its sweetness to the desert air2 there was nothing doing in the neighbourhood on which he could decisively set his mark4 ,this was to live in vain2 and often he searched through his small world of ideas to find inspiration4 ,should he run away from home1 and be found wandering with his memory a blank8 ,should he be kidnapped by gipsies and escape in nothing but his shirt8 ,should a sheep fall into the stone quarry so that he might rescue it1 or a lamb get lost in the snow during the lambing-season1 that he might go out1 and find1 and return bearing it in his bosom8 ,or should he go forth and become famous as a boy-missionary1 preaching to the heathen in an unknown tongue8 ,these were all possibilities1 only the last suggested any difficulty4 ,whenever in doubt1 adopting the method of old ,uncle ,trimblerigg1 he turned to the ,scriptures3 he did not search them1 for that would have been self-willed and presumptuous2 he merely opened them1 putting a blind finger to the spot where divine guidance awaited him4 ,it was in this way that ,uncle ,trimblerigg had become rich2 forty years ago he had invested his savings in house property all through having set thumb to the text1 #8,i have builded an house to ,thy name4' ,and without searching the ,scriptures further he had built twenty of them4 ,at a later date1 slate-quarrying having started in the district1 their value was doubled4 ,so one day1 in a like faith1 our own ,mr4 ,trimblerigg committed himself to the same experiment4 ,his first point on opening drew a startling reply1 #8,get thee behind me1 ,satan1 for thou savourest not the things which be of ,god1 but the things which be of men4' ,very right and proper1 of course3 ,satan thus safely disposed of1 he tried again4 #8,remember ,lot's wife1' failed for the moment to convey any meaning2 he knew that it could not refer to him3 it seemed rather to indicate that his ,bible had not yet given him its thorough attention4 ,to warm it to its task he lifted it as a heave-offering1 administered to it the oath1 as he had seen done in a police court1 kissed it1 and set it down again4 ,this time it answered sharply1 but still not to the point3 #8,ye generation of vipers1 who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come8' ,evidently the ,lord was trying him4 ,he turned from the ,new ,testament to the old3 perhaps it was only the old he should have consulted1 for he had an idea that this was an ,old ,testament method4 ,that would account for the delay4 ,the ,old ,testament made a better response to his appeal4 #8,the zeal of ,thy ,house hath eaten me up1' suggested something at any rate1 but did not make the way quite clear2 #8,down with it1 down with it1 even unto the ground6' was practical in its bearing upon the ,lord's ,house1 but puzzling2 #8,behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth' gave him the light he sought4 ,for at that time ,bethesda1 the chapel of the ,free ,evangelicals1 had fallen lamentably into disrepair1 and since ,uncle ,trimblerigg1 the only man of substance in the district1 had retired from the innovation of hymn-singing to a stricter ,bethel of his own1 there seemed little chance of raising the necessary funds for demolition and restoration4 ,and so decay went on1 while still1 from old habit1 the chapel continued to be insured4 ,now whether we call it #8vision' or #8optical illusion1' there can be no doubt that1 thus aided by ,scripture1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg visualized rapidly and clearly the means to an end which so many desired4 ,and so it came about one ,saturday night1 while frost held the village water-supply firmly in its grip1 and the road running up from the valley slipped with ice1 that ,bethesda1 through a supposed leakage in her heating apparatus1 caught fire2 and only the fact that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg fetched the fire-engine from the town four miles away1 saved it from utter destruction4 ,he had been sent into the town by his mother to do errands1 when at the foot of the hill he suddenly remembered ,lot's wife1 and looking back saw the chapel windows gustily ablaze1 and interpreting the peradventure aright had sped on with the news4 ,the miraculous arrival of the fire-engine with him on it1 only half an hour after the villagers' discovery of an already well-established insurance claim in swift operation1 had caused an immense sensation and some inquiry4 ,but ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had a case on which no suspicion could rest2 that the fire was fought expeditiously1 though under difficulties1 was largely owing to him1 and the subsequent inquiries of the insurance office agent who came to inspect the damage were only of a formal kind4 ,every effort had been made1 and a half-saved chapel was the result2 but its previous dilapidation made it easier to rebuild than to restore1 and when a new ,bethesda rose from the ruins of the old1 the insurance company paid for it4 ,it was two days after the happy catastrophe1 that ,davidina remarked 7when1 to be sure1 he was taking them to light the lamp in another room71 #8,i wish you wouldn't always go taking away the matches6' #8,i'm bringing them back1' said ,jonathan correctively4 #8,you didn't the last time1' ,davidina retorted4 ,and at the word and the tone of her voice1 ,jonathan trepidated and fled4 ,was it #8vision' that made him do so1 or only optical illusion on the mental plane8 ,for as far as ,i have been able to probe into ,davidina's mind1 which is not always clear to me1 she knew nothing4 ,it was merely her way3 the hunting instinct was strong in her1 and he her spiritual quarry3 never in all their born days together was she to let him go4 ,of course ,mr4 ,trimblerigg did not go on doing things like that4 ,it was an act of crude callow youth1 done at a time when the romantic instinct takes unbalanced forms2 yet in a way it was representative of him1 and helped me to a larger insight into his character and motives4 ,for here was ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 thus early1 genuinely anxious to have guidance from above for the exploitation of his superabundant energies2 and when1 at first showing1 the guidance seemed rather to head him off from being energetic at all1 he persisted till his faith in himself found ratification1 and thereafter went his way with the assurance that what he decided to do must almost necessarily be right4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg did not in after days actually set fire to anything in order that he might come running to the rescue when rescue was too late2 but he did inflame many a situation seven times more than it was wont to be inflamed1 setting people by the ears1 and causing many an uprooting in places where no replanting could avail4 ,and when he had got matters thus thoroughly involved1 he would apply thereto his marvellous powers of accommodation and persuasion1 and1 if some sort of peace and order did thereafter emerge1 regard himself quite genuinely as the deliverer4 ,at a later date his zeal for the ,lord's ,house broke up the ,free ,united ,evangelicals into separate groups of an unimportant size1 which when they seemed about to disappear wholly from view1 he reunited again2 and having for the moment redoubled what was left1 regarded his work as good1 though in the religious world the ,free ,evangelicals had forfeited thenceforth their old priority of place1 a circumstance from which 7when convinced of its permanence7 he made his personal escape by embracing second ,adventism4 ,and though doubtless he carried his ,free ,evangelism with him into the field of modern prophecy1 the ,free ,evangelicals within their own four walls knew him no more4 ,very effectively he had burnt them out1 and in their case no insurance policy provided for the rebuilding3 in that seat of the mighty1 probed by the beams of a new day1 only the elderly grey ashes remained of men whose word once gave light4 ,,chapter ,,three ,trial and ,error ,at a very early stage in his career1 before his theological training had overtly begun1 the moral consciousness of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was far more accurately summed up in the words1 #8,thou1 ,davidina1 seest me1' than in the more generally accepted text which shone with symbolic rays from an illuminated scroll hung over his bed4 ,that text with its angel faces and gold edgings did not pierce the joints of his harness1 to the discovery of vulnerable spots1 with the same sharp efficiency as did the dark watchful eye of ,davidina4 ,as he entered into his 'teens with the instinct for spiritual adventure growing strong1 he had an uncomfortable sense of transparency where ,davidina was concerned--or rather where she was not concerned but chose to intrude--which made him cease to feel a self-contained person4 ,if there was anyone in the world who knew him--not as he wished to be known1 but as in his more disconcerted moments he sometimes suspected himself to be--it was ,davidina4 ,under the fixture of her eye he lost confidence2 its calm quizzical gaze tripped his thoughts1 and checked the flow of his words3 initiative and invention went out of him4 ,the result was truly grievous1 for though he could do without self-respect for quite long intervals1 self-complacency was the necessary basis for every action4 ,davidina deprived him of that4 ,her power was horrible2 she could do it in a momentary look1 in a single word2 it seemed to be her mission in life1 whenever he whitewashed the window of his soul for better privacy1 to scratch a hole and look through4 ,when1 for instance1 he first experimented in kissing outside the routine of family life1 ,davidina seemed by instinct to know of it4 ,secretively1 in the presence of their elders1 she held him with her eye1 pursed her lips1 and made the kissing sound2 then1 before he could compose a countenance suitable to meet the charge1 her glance shot off and left him4 ,for ,davidina was a sleek adept in giving that flick of the eye which does not wait for the repartee2 though on other occasions1 when her eye definitely challenged him1 there was no bearing it down2 it stabbed1 it stuck1 it went in1 and came at his back4 ,it was in these wordless encounters that she beat him worst2 till ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 conscious of his inferiority1 went and practised at the glass a gesture which he hoped thereby to make more effective--a lifting of the nose1 a slight closing of the eyelids1 a polished putting-off of the hands1 deprecatory but bland2 and a smile to show that he was not hurt4 ,but the first time he used it upon her was also the last4 #8,did you practise that in the glass8' said ,davidina2 and the gesture died the death4 ,truly at that time of her life he wanted her to die1 and slightly damped her shoes on the inside after they had been cleaned1 that they might help her to do so4 ,but it was no good2 without saying anything1 she damped his also1 rather more emphatically1 so that there could be no mistake2 whereas his damping was so delicately done that she ought not to have found it out4 ,the most afflictive thing about these encounters was his constant failure to score a victory2 only once1 in the affair of the pocket-money already narrated1 had he succeeded in holding his own4 ,perhaps it was all for the good of his soul2 for in matters of finance his sense of probity remained in after years somewhat defective2 victory over ,davidina in that respect had apparently done him no good4 ,but in other directions she continued to do her best to save his soul2 and though he was now committed to the ministry1 and was himself to become a soul-saving apparatus1 he did not like her way of doing it2 temperamentally 7and was there ever a character more largely composed of temperament87 he would much rather have gone his own way and been damned1 than saved by ,davidina on the lines she chose4 ,she stung him like a gad-fly in his weakest spots1 till the unerring accuracy of her aim filled him with a superstitious dread2 and though never once uttered in words1 #8,thou1 ,davidina1 seest me1' was the motive force which thus early drove him so deeply and deviously into subterfuge that it became an infection of his blood4 ,and though against her it availed little1 in other directions1 pricked to it by her incessant skill1 he had a quite phenomenal success1 and was--up to a point--the nimblest being that ever skipped from cover to open and from open to cover1 till1 in the development of speed1 he ceased to distinguish which was which2 and what he told would tell with the most complete conviction that1 if it told to his advantage1 it must be truth2 and then1 on occasion1 would avail himself of the truth to such dazzling effect that1 lost in the blaze of his rectitude1 he forgot those other occasions when he had been truer to himself4 ,of ,davidina's inspired pin-pricks here is an example1 notable for the early date of its delivery1 when they were at the respective ages of twelve and eleven4 ,brother and sister had fallen out in guessing at an event as to which with probability all the other way1 ,davidina proved to be right4 ,not believing this to be a guess1 #8,you knew6' he cried indignantly4 #8,i didn't1' she replied smoothly1 #8,i only knew better4' ,this was superfluous3 it enabled ,mr4 ,trimblerigg to get in with a retort4 #8,even very conceited people1' he said1 #8do sometimes manage to guess right4' ,davidina recovered her ground4 #8,i'm not as conceited as you1' she replied1 #8,i never think myself good4' ,it was the sticking-out of her tongue1 and adding #8so there'6 which gave the barb to those words4 ,at the earliest opportunity ,mr4 ,trimblerigg retired to consider them4 ,it was evident that ,davidina had penetrated another of his secrets2 she had discovered that he thought himself good4 ,many years after1 when asked by an ,american reporter what it felt like to be the greatest man in the world1 he replied that it made him feel shy1 and then was ready to bite his tongue out for having so aimed at modesty and missed4 ,he saw twenty reporters writing down the words1 #8,it makes me feel shy'2 and within twelve hours it was all over the world--a mistake which he couldn't explain away4 ,that was to be one of the worst moments of his life2 and this was another1 that ,davidina should have unearthed so hidden and central a truth4 ,he was deeply annoyed1 partly with her for having discovered it1 much more with himself for having let it appear4 ,yet his cogitations brought him in the end to a conclusion which had in it a measure of comfort4 #8,after all1' he said to himself1 #8,i am good sometimes4' ,it was that #8sometimes1' and the consciousness of it1 that in the future was to work havoc with his soul4 ,he did know desperately well that he was good sometimes2 and the fervour of it used to spread so far beyond the appointed limit that he ceased to know where his goodness began1 and where it left off4 ,as from an oasis in the wilderness exhales fragrance from the blossom of the rose1 regaling the dusty nostrils of sand-bound travellers1 as into its airy horizon ascends mirage from waters1 and palm-trees1 and temples1 that are real somewhere--but not in the place where they so phenomenally display themselves--so from parts of him excellent1 into other parts less excellent1 went the sense that he was #8somehow good'2 and he never perceived1 in spite of the very genuine interest he took in himself that what made him more interesting than anyone else was the extraordinary division of his character into two parts1 a good and a bad1 so dexterously allied that they functioned together as one1 endowing him with that curious gift of sincerity to each mood while it lasted1 which kept him ever true to himself and the main chance1 even as the bits of glass in a kaleidoscope always shape to patterns1 however varied1 having the same fixed centre--a haphazard orderliness which no amount of shaking can destroy4 ,as has been hinted already1 a time unavoidable for youth came in ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's life when kisses began to have an attraction for him3 in his case it came rather early1 and the attraction grew strong4 ,but so also grew his fear of them--or perhaps it would be more true to say his fear lest ,davidina should get wind of them4 ,davidina had an unlovable scorn for kisses1 which she paraded to the world2 she kissed nobody except her parents1 and them only from a sense of duty1 and became known1 in a country-side where kisses were easily come by1 as the girl from whom nobody could get a kiss4 ,few tried2 the first who did so had been made a warning for others4 ,it is likely enough--since moral emblems have their contrary effect--that the impregnable barrier set up by ,davidina was responsible for the thing becoming so much a vogue in other quarters2 and ,lizzie ,seebohm1 the prettiest small wench of the village1 in pure derision of ,davidina's aloofness1 and under her very eyes1 made open sale of her kisses at a price which1 starting from chocolates1 rose to a penny and thence to twopence4 ,for this amiable weakness she got from ,davidina the nickname of #8,tuppenny1' and in view of the feud which thence arose1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was instinctively advised of danger to his peace of mind if he put himself on ,tuppenny's list4 ,and so it came about that1 whatever his natural inclinations in the matter1 he saved his pocket-money and did not apply for her favours4 ,in this ,lizzie ,seebohm saw the influence of ,davidina2 for which reason and sheer spitefulness1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg became her quarry4 ,so one day a communication reached him1 artfully told by the small maiden commissioned thereto as a breach of confidence4 ,she had heard ,lizzie say that ,jonathan might have a kiss of her not merely for nothing2 she would give twopence to get it4 ,a sense that he was really attractive made him fail to see deep enough1 and when the offer rose to sixpence he succumbed4 ,within an hour--,lizzie ,seebohm had seen to it--,davidina got the news4 ,her wrath and sense of humiliation were deep2 in the great battle of life which lay ahead for the possession of her brother's soul1 she had lost a point1 and that to an opponent whom she regarded as insignificant4 ,it was not a case for silence4 ,davidina descended upon him before the sixpence in his pocket had had time to get warm4 #8,you've been kissing ,tuppenny6' she cried4 #8,who says8' he demanded1 scared at discovery so swift4 ,then1 bettering his defence3 #8,tuppenny1 indeed6 she's not worth it4 ,i haven't given her tuppence2 ,i haven't given her a penny4 ,i haven't given her anything1 so there6 ,if she says ,i have1 she's a liar4' ,this seemed almost conclusive2 ,davidina's faith in the report wavered4 ,but whenever ,jonathan was voluble she distrusted him2 so now4 #8,it isn't her word ,i'm going by1' she said4 #8,somebody saw you4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's mind made an alert movement--very characteristic4 ,he was not ashamed of what he had done2 he only didn't like being caught4 #8,you said ,tuppenny1' he retorted4 #8,and ,i say--,i didn't give her tuppence4' ,davidina pressed him along the track1 as he meant her to4 #8,then what did you give her8' #8,i didn't give her anything2 ,i've told you so already4 ,she gave me sixpence4' ,his tone was triumphant1 for now1 in his own time and in his own way1 he had made a clean breast of it4 ,davidina's face was a study4 #8,sold again6' he said1 watching the effect2 and curiously he did not mean himself1 or his virtue1 or anything else belonging to him2 he meant ,davidina4 ,having got ahead of her with the facts1 he considered himself top-dog for that once at least4 ,but within a few hours of that avowal an amazing thing happened4 ,it happened during the night2 for when he went to bed the sixpence was in his trouser pocket1 and when he got up in the morning it was gone2 nor did he dare to tax ,davidina with the theft4 ,in chapel1 the next ,sunday1 when the plate came round for foreign missions1 ,davidina with ostentation put sixpence into it4 ,is it to be wondered that1 before the week was over1 he had got sixpence back from somewhere1 and took care that ,davidina should see him spending it4 ,davidina meant well1 ,i am sure2 but it is to be questioned whether her method of clipping his wings was the right one4 ,he became tangential to the orbit of her spells2 they touched1 but they did not contain him4 ,meanwhile1 without ,davidina's aid1 even without her approval1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's call to the ministry was becoming more assured4 ,and the question mainly was whether1 in that family of cramped means1 money could be found in the years lying immediately ahead to provide the necessary training4 ,it meant two years spent mainly away from home at the ,free ,evangelical ,training ,college2 two years of escape from ,davidina for whole months at a time2 it meant leaving home a boy and coming back very nearly a man4 ,even had the ministry not appealed to him1 it would have been worth it for the peculiar attraction of those circumstances4 ,whether this could become practically possible depended mainly upon old ,uncle ,trimblerigg--,uncle ,trimblerigg whose investments in house property had been inspired by holy scripture1 but whose theological tenets were of a kind for which up-to-date ,free ,evangelicalism no longer provided the college or the training4 ,nor did he believe that either college or training were necessary for the preaching of the ,word4 ,he had done it himself for fifty years1 merely by opening the book where it wished to be opened and pondering what was thus presented4 ,the verbal inspiration of ,scripture1 not merely in its writing but in its presentation to the sense of the true believer1 was the very foundation of his faith4 ,the sect of #8the ,true ,believers' had of late years sadly diminished2 for as all ,true ,believers believed that while they believed truly they could never make a mistake in their interpretations of ,scripture1 it became as time went on dangerous for them to meet often or to exchange pulpits1 since1 where one was found differing from another1 mutual excommunication of necessity followed and they walked no more in each other's ways4 ,only at their great annual congress did they meet to reaffirm the foundation of their faith and thunder with a united voice the ,word which did not change4 ,thus it came about that dotted over the country were many chapels of ,true ,believers cut off from friendly intercourse with any other by mutual interdict2 and the hill-side chapel of ,uncle ,trimblerigg--built by himself for a congregation of some twenty families all told1 his tenants1 or his dependents in the building trade--was one of them4 ,so among the ,true ,believers there was small prospect of a career for the budding ,mr4 ,trimblerigg2 and yet it was upon the financial aid and favour of one of them that he depended for theological training in a direction which they disapproved4 ,it speaks well for the sanguine temperament and courage of our own ,mr4 ,trimblerigg that the prospect did not dismay him1 or even1 in the event1 present much difficulty4 ,,chapter ,,four ,the ,beard of the ,prophet ,uncle ,phineas1 the uncle of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's father1 lived at an elevation1 both physical and spiritual1 among the stone quarries a-top of the village4 ,his house and the chapel where he ministered stood adjoining1 both of his own building2 and in the days when ,jonathan knew him he was seldom seen leaving the one except to go to the other4 ,for he was now very old1 and having made his money and retired from business1 he had only one interest left in life1 the preaching of the strict tenets of ,true ,belief to the small congregation which had trickled under him for the last fifty years4 ,the ,true ,believers had a worship which was all their own2 they flocked by themselves1 never going elsewhere1 though others sometimes came to them4 ,no instrument of music was allowed within their dwelling1 nor did they sing--anything that could be called a tune4 ,when their voices were lifted in praise they bleated upon a single note1 which now and again they changed1 going higher and higher1 and when they could go no higher they stopped4 ,to our own ,mr4 ,trimblerigg this form of worship was terrible2 he liked music and he liked tunes2 diversity attracted him2 and here1 by every possible device1 diversity was ruled out4 ,but the importance of ,uncle ,phineas1 both present and prospective1 obliged certain members of the ,trimblerigg family to ascend once at least every ,sunday1 to hear him preach and pray1 and though none of them professed an exclusive conversion to the teaching of the ,true ,believers1 they kept an open mind about it1 and listened respectfully to all that ,uncle ,phineas had to say4 ,lay-preaching and the ministry of the ,word ran strong in the ,trimblerigg family1 also in that of the ,hubbacks1 to which on his mother's side ,jonathan belonged2 and had he cared to divide himself spiritually among his relations there were five sects from which to choose--a division of creeds which did not amount to much1 except in the case of the ,true ,believers4 ,grandfather ,hubback1 between whom and ,uncle ,phineas there was theological war1 ministered to the ,free ,evangelicals at the ,bethesda which ,jonathan had helped to renovate2 ,uncle ,james was a ,primitive ,brother2 ,uncle ,jonah a ,first ,resurrectionist2 his ,sunday exercise--the practising of the ,last ,trump--a welcome relief perhaps1 from his weekday occupation of undertaker4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 during his childhood1 had sat under all of them2 the difference being that under his ,uncle ,phineas he had been made to sit4 ,then came the question of his own call to the ministry1 and the further question as to ways and means4 ,it was from then on that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg went more constantly and willingly to hear the doctrine of the ,true ,believers1 and began to display towards it something wider than an open mind4 ,at the age of fifteen he had got into the habit of going to see and hear his uncle on weekdays as well1 and very quietly he would endure for hours together while the old man expounded his unchangeable theology4 ,everything about ,uncle ,phineas was long1 including his discourses4 ,he had a long head1 a long nose1 a long upper lip and a long chin4 ,to these his beard served as a corrective2 long also1 it stuck out at right angles from his face1 till with the weight of its projection it began to droop2 at that point he trimmed it hard and square1 making no compromise1 and if none admired it except its owner1 it was at least in character4 ,with such a beard you could not kiss people1 and ,phineas ,trimblerigg was not of a mind to kiss anybody4 ,in spite of old age1 it retained a hue which suggested a too hasty breakfast of under-boiled egg2 while trying to become grey it remained reminiscently golden4 ,and the beard symbolized the man2 square1 blunt and upright1 patriarchal in mind and character1 he lived in a golden age of the past--the age of romantic theology before science had come to disturb it4 ,his only ,tree of ,knowledge was the ,bible1 and this not only in matters of doctrine2 it was his tree of genealogy and history as well4 ,from its topmost branch he surveyed a world six thousand years old1 of six days making1 and all the wonders that followed1--the ,flood1 the ,tower whose height had threatened ,heaven1 and the plagues1 pestilences and famines1 loosed by an outraged ,deity on a stubborn but chosen people1 and the sun and the moon which stood still to assist in tribal slaughter1 and the special vehicles provided for prophets1 at one time a chariot of fire1 at another a great fish1 at another a talking ass1--all these things gave him no mental trouble whatever2 but joy rather1 and confidence1 and an abiding faith4 ,he believed them literally1 and had required that his family should believe them too4 ,and truly he could say that1 in one way or another1 he had to begin with made them all ,god-fearing4 ,if in the process five had died young1 and one run away to sea and got drowned1 and another fallen into evil courses from which he had not returned alive1 so that ,phineas in his old age was left childless--all this had but made him more patriarchal in outlook than ever1 turning his attention upon nephews and nieces of the second generation1 especially upon one2 which1 indeed1 is the reason why here he becomes an important character4 ,fortified by fifty years of prudent investment based upon revelation1 and with a comfortable balance at his bank1 he cast his other cares upon the ,lord2 lived frugally1 gave a just tithe of all he possessed to the foreign and home missions of the ,true ,believers1 drank no wine or strong drink--except tea1 denounced the smoking of tobacco1 but took it as snuff1 believed firmly in ,hell1 war1 and corporal punishment for men1 women and children alike1 was still an elected1 though a non-attending1 member of all local bodies1 but in the parliamentary election 7regarding it as the evil thing7 would take no part4 ,to him life1 in the main1 meant theology4 ,at the now sharply dividing ways he stood with old ,pastor ,hubback 7or rather against him7 a leading and a rival light among the local ,free ,churches2 and because he had money to give and to leave he was still a power in the district as well as in his own family4 ,this was the oracle to which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 in his fifteenth year1 began to give up his half-holidays4 ,uncle ,phineas was always at home2 he had legs which never allowed him to get farther than his own gate1 except once a week to the ,tabernacle of ,true ,belief1 of which he was minister and owner4 ,the larger chapel in the village lower down had not known him for thirty years when the youthful ,jonathan first became aware of his importance1 and began under parental direction to pay a weekly call at #8,pisgah1' and there learn from the old patriarch things about himself and others1 including ,god1 to which he listened with an air of great respect and interest4 ,jonathan's way with him was wily but simple3 he would ask a great number of intelligent questions1 and receiving unintelligent answers would appear satisfied4 ,now and then1 upon his birthday1 or when revivalism was in the air1 the old man would give him sixpence1 sometimes even a shilling1 advising him to bestow it upon the foreign missions of the stricter ,evangelicals1 especially those to the native races of ,central ,africa and ,america1 where the undiluted truth of the ,word had still necessarily to be taught4 ,for those primitive minds the taint of modernism had no effect2 ,heaven had so shaped them to the divine purpose that nothing short of literal ,true ,belief could touch their hearts and soften their understandings4 ,and the old man would talk wondrously to ,jonathan of how1 in the evil days to come1 these black races were destined to become the repository of the true faith and reconvert the world to the purer doctrine4 ,uncle ,phineas was on the look-out for punishment on a world-wide scale1 and had he lived to see it1 the ,war of ,versailles would have gladdened his heart4 ,for he wanted all the ,nations to be punished1 including his own1--a point on which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg ventured privately to differ from him2 being in that matter a ,free ,evangelical1 and preferring ,heaven to ,hell4 ,uncle ,phineas preferred ,hell2 punishment was owing1 and the imaginary infliction of it was what in the main attracted him to religion4 ,punishment3 first and foremost for man's breaking of the ,sabbath2 then followed in order drink1 horse-racing1 gambling1 the increase of divorces1 modernism1 and the higher criticism1 with all its resultant forms of infidelity1 the agitation for ,women's ,suffrage1 and finally the impious attempt of ,labour to depose ,capital4 ,all these things were of the ,devil and must be fought2 and in the discussion of them ,jonathan began--not to be in a difficulty because some of them made an appeal to his dawning intelligence1 but to become agile4 ,luckily for him ,uncle ,phineas's information was very nearly as narrow as his intelligence1 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was able to jump to and fro across his sedentary and parochial mind with small fear of discovery4 ,but the repeated interviews made him brisk1 supple1 and conversationally adaptable2 and once when the old man remarked half-approvingly1 #8,aye1 ,jonathan1 you've got eyes in your head1 but don't let 'em out by the back door1' he had a momentary qualm lest behind that observation dangerous knowledge might lurk4 ,but it was only his uncle's constitutional disapproval of a mind that could move2 and of ,jonathan's outside doings and opinions he had at that time heard nothing to rouse suspicion4 ,but clearly when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was called to the ministry and began to preach there would be a difficulty2 for what would go down at ,bethesda among the ,free ,evangelicals1 where his obvious career was awaiting him1 would not do up at ,horeb1 the chapel on the hill2 and it was well within the bounds of possibility that owing to his family connections ,mr4 ,trimblerigg might find it advantageous to preach at both4 ,that1 however1 was a problem still lying some few years away2 meanwhile ,uncle ,phineas might very reasonably die2 and it was just about this time that ,i heard ,mr4 ,trimblerigg beginning to pray for peace to the old man in his declining years1 that he might not be kept unduly on the rack of this tough world after so good a life4 ,and indeed it was a life in which he had accomplished much2 for a man of his small beginnings he had become of notable substance1 and his income derived from quarries and the houses he had built for his workers was reckoned to amount to anything from six to eight hundred a year1 of which1 in spite of generous gifts to foreign missions1 he did not spend one-half4 ,his expectant relatives did not talk among themselves about the matter where1 of necessity1 interests were divided2 but they thought much1 and occasionally they had their fears4 #8,i shouldn't wonder1' said ,jonathan's father one day1 #8if when ,uncle dies it isn't found that he had an unsound mind4' ,it was to obviate such a calamity that ,jonathan was sent to pay his weekly visit1 and that one or another of the family1 at least once every ,sunday1 went up to ,horeb to pray4 ,quite early in his examination of the tenets of ,true ,belief1 anxious that she should keep him in countenance1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg asked ,davidina what she thought of them4 #8,my belief is1' said ,davidina1 #8that we can all believe what we want to believe2 and if you only believe it enough1 it comes true--for you1 at any rate4 ,you can believe every word of the ,bible is true1 or that every word of it is false2 and either way1 you can live up to it4 ,the ,true ,believers are right there1 anyway4 ,and if1' she added1 #8you've got nothing else to believe1 you can believe in yourself3 and you can smile at yourself in the glass1 and look at your teeth1 and think they are milestones on the road to ,heaven1 till they all drop out4 ,believing's easy2 it's choosing what you mean to believe that matters4 ,i believe the kettle's boiling over4' ,she went1 leaving ,mr4 ,trimblerigg to his meditations1 also to a doubt whether she had taken him quite seriously4 ,with his ,uncle ,phineas it was all the other way2 they were nothing if not serious together2 but it often puzzled his ingenuous mind how his uncle managed to believe all the things he did4 ,one day3 #8,uncle ,phineas1' he said1 #8how did you come to be a ,true ,believer8' #8,when ,i felt the need of conversion as a young man1' replied ,uncle ,phineas1 #8,i started reading the ,scriptures4 ,every day1 before ,i opened the book1 ,i said1 8,lord1 help me to believe60 ,and by the time ,i'd read 'em three times through1 ,i believed every word4' #8,i've only read them twice yet1' said ,jonathan in meek admission1 but glad to get hold of the excuse4 #8,read 'em again1' said his uncle4 #8,and all the genealogies1 too1 ,uncle8' he inquired1 for all the world as though he felt genuinely committed to the task if the other should say #8yes4' #8,why would you leave them out8' queried his uncle4 #8,it's the sowing of the seed4 ,when you sow a field1 you've not to care about this grain or that1 picking and choosing3 it's the sowing that matters4 ,sow your mind with the seed of the ,word1 and don't leave gaps4 ,you never know how you may come to need it hereafter4 8,abram begat ,isaac2 and ,isaac married ,rebecca1 and begat ,jacob30--that was the text the ,lord showed me when ,he would have me choose a wife1 whose name was ,rebecca4' ,he fetched a sigh4 #8,and ,i did1' he said4 #8,she was a poor weak wife to me1 and the children took after her2 so now not one of them is left4 ,it was the ,lord's will4' #8,but if you had married some one else1 wouldn't it have been the ,lord's will too8' inquired ,jonathan4 #8,that we won't discuss1' said his uncle4 #8,i shouldn't have chosen without first looking to ,scripture4 ,there was only one ,rebecca in the village1 and ,i hadn't thought of her till then4 ',twas a marvellous showing1 and she on a bed of sickness at the time4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was properly impressed2 but he doubted whether he would choose his own wife that way1 even should he become a ,true ,believer4 ,so1 not to linger on doubtful ground1 he changed the subject and began to ask about missionaries2 having a wish to see the world1 they attracted him4 #8,if ,i become a ,true ,believer1' he said1 #8,i shan't stay and preach in one place2 ,i shall go out and preach everywhere4' #8,you'll do as the ,lord tells you1' said his uncle4 #8,it's no good one that's not a ,true ,believer talking of what he'll do when he becomes one4' #8,no1 ,uncle1' said ,jonathan meekly1 still out to do business2 #8but living at home makes it very hard for me4 ,i'm much nearer to being a ,true ,believer than ,mother is1 or ,father1 or ,davidina4 ,davidina says you can believe anything if you'll only make yourself4 ,she says she could make herself believe that the ,bible was all false1 if she were to try4' #8,has she tried1 does she mean8' inquired ,uncle ,phineas grimly4 #8,i don't know1' replied ,jonathan ingenuously4 #8,it would be very wicked if anyone did try1 wouldn't it8' #8,it would1' said his uncle4 #8,i've known men struck down dead for less4 ,i knew a man once who tore a leaf out of his ,bible to light his pipe with1 and he was struck by lightning for it the same day4 ,yet his sin was only against one leaf1 one chapter4 ,how much greater the sin if you sin against the whole of it4 ,she thought that1 did she8 ,when you go home1 send ,davidina up to me3 ,i'll talk to her4' ,then ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had a divided mind2 for his fear of ,davidina was not less but rather more than his fear of ,uncle ,phineas4 ,indeed he only feared ,uncle ,phineas for what he might fail to do for him in the near future1 but ,davidina he feared for what she was1 here and now4 #8,i think1 perhaps1 ,davidina only meant--anybody who was wicked enough4 ,but please don't tell ,davidina that ,i said anything6' #8,heh8' cried ,uncle ,phineas1 his eye suspicious3 #8,that so8 ,we'll see4' ,he got up1 went slowly to his ,bible and opened it and without looking put down his thumb4 #8,listen to this1 ,jonathan1' he said2 and in solemn tone and with long pauses1 he read3 8,she put her hand to the nail 444 and her right hand to the workman's hammer 444 and with the hammer she smote ,sisera1 she smote off his head 444 when she had pierced and stricken through his temples40444 ,you hear that1 ,jonathan8' #8,yes1 ,uncle1' he replied1 not yet understanding the application of the text4 #8,you see1 ,jonathan1' said his uncle1 #8,davidina was getting at you4' ,being a ,true ,believer's interpretation1 it was not open to discussion1 not for ,jonathan at any rate4 ,uncle ,phineas was a mighty hunter of the ,scriptures before the ,lord3 the true interpretation never escaped him4 ,it was a curious and unexplained fact that ,davidina was a great favourite of ,uncle ,phineas1 so far as one so entirely without affection could be said to have favourites4 ,davidina was far from being a ,true ,believer1 yet he trusted her2 and he did not yet quite trust ,jonathan4 ,but he saw well enough that ,jonathan had in him the makings of a prophet and of a preacher2 if only he could trust him1 he would help him to go far4 ,but the testing process took time4 ,so1 day by day1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg laboured to win his trust1 and often1 after long hours of boredom in his uncle's company1 success seemed near2 for intellectually he was now growing fast1 and to the cultivation of an agile brain added the cultivation of a wily tongue1 and even where his future career did not depend upon it he loved to sustain an argument4 ,but he never got the better of ,uncle ,phineas2 for when ,phineas could not answer him1 the ,book did4 ,he began to loathe the ,book--that particular copy of it1 ,i mean--and to make faces at it behind his uncle's back4 ,but a day came when he loved it like a brother4 ,at the right time for the forwarding of his plans1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg professed a desire for larger book-learning2 he wanted to study theology1 and that not from one point of view alone4 ,ready to satisfy him1 up to a point1 ,uncle ,phineas plied him with books containing the true doctrine1 some he would make him sit down and read aloud upon the spot while he expounded them2 others he let him take away to study and return1 questioning him closely thereafter to discover how well he had read them4 ,they were all good books--good in the moral sense1 that is to say--books written to inculcate the principles of ,true ,belief2 but all1 from the contemporary point of view utterly useless1 and all deadly dull4 ,one day ,mr4 ,trimblerigg asked his uncle1 #8,where all the other books were--the bad ones1 which taught false doctrine4' ,why did he want to know8 inquired ,uncle ,phineas4 #8,i want to read them1' said ,jonathan greatly daring4 #8,if one doesn't read them1 how is one to know how to answer them8 ,i want to read them because they deceive people4' #8,not ,true ,believers1' said his uncle4 #8,no1' replied ,jonathan1 #8but people who might become ,true ,believers4' #8,they should read their ,bibles4 ,there you find the answer to everything4' #8,yes4 ,so ,i did2 ,i did it last night as ,i was going to bed3 ,i opened it1 just as you do1 ,uncle1 and there it was--written3 the thing ,i was wanting to know4' #8,what was it8' #8,it was this1 ,uncle3 8,oh1 that mine adversary had written a book4 ,surely ,i would take it upon my shoulder and bind it as a crown unto me40' #8,that doesn't say read it1' objected his uncle4 #8,no1 but it means it4 ,it means that if wicked books are written we've got to do with them1 we've not just got to let them alone4' #8,we'll see1' replied the other2 #8we'll ask the ,lord to show us4' ,he got the ,book and opened it4 #8,there1 ,jonathan1 listen to this3 #88,what profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it2 the molten image1 the teacher of lies1 that the maker of his work trusteth therein to make dumb idols0 444 ,god's answered you1 ,jonathan4' #8,but that's about the man who wrote it1' objected ,jonathan4 #8,he trusts in his work1 but ,i don't2 he's not going to make a dumb idol of me4' #8,you're running your head into danger1 ,jonathan4 ,if you are not a ,true ,believer1 the ,book may be only a trap set for you by the ,devil4 ,he can quote ,scripture when it suits him1 as well as any4' #8,but ,i prayed first1' said ,jonathan4 #8,and ,i'm trying to become a ,true ,believer4' #8,when you've become a ,true ,believer1 we'll talk about it1' said his uncle4 ,after that for a whole week his uncle saw no more of him4 ,then one day1 waking up from his afternoon nap1 the old man found ,jonathan sitting and looking at him4 ,it was quite five minutes since ,jonathan had crept in1 and during that time he had not been idle4 ,he had gone to the ,book1 and arranged a marker1 and three and four times he had opened and without looking had put his finger to the exact place2 just a finger's length from the bottom on the right-hand side1 it was easy to find4 ,then1 sitting far away from the ,book1 he had waited for his uncle to wake4 ,he did not allow the haze of sleep to disperse before he made his announcement4 #8,uncle1' he said1 #8,i've become a ,true ,believer4 ,i've had a call3 ,god has shown me the way4' #8,how do you know you're a ,true ,believer8' questioned the old man cautiously4 #8,i've ,his ,word for it4 ,every time ,i open the ,book it speaks to me--so plain1 that at first it frightened me4 ,then ,i felt a great joy and a light filling me4 ,and everything in the world is different to what it was4' #8,aye1' replied his uncle1 #8that sounds the real thing4 ,what has ,he called you to do8' #8,to go out and preach1 ,uncle4 ,and ,he's told me ,i'm to go to college4' #8,how has ,he told you that8' inquired ,phineas1 sceptical again4 #8,i asked ,him to show me what ,i was to do1 where ,i was to go2 ,i opened the ,book and put my finger on the page2 and there--college was the very word6' #8,you tell me that you found the word 8college0 in the ,bible8' inquired his uncle incredulously4 #8,it was found for me1' said ,jonathan3 #8,hilkiah the priest1 and ,achbor1 and ,shaphan1 went unto ,huldah the prophetess1 the wife of ,shallum2 and she dwelt in ,jerusalem in the college2 and they communed with her4' ,so1 by the mouth of his nephew1 ,phineas stood corrected in his knowledge of the ,scriptures4 ,but he did not quite yield yet4 #8,fetch me the ,book1 ,jonathan1' he said4 #8,no1 ,uncle1' replied his nephew1 #8the ,lord is calling to me now1 not to you4 ,this is my affair4' ,and so saying he opened the ,book1 drew out the marker1 and set his finger upon the page4 ,then he brought it across to his uncle4 #8,you read it1 ,uncle1' he said2 and his uncle read3 #8,arise1 go unto ,nineveh1 that great city1 and preach unto it the preaching that ,i bid thee4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg did not wait for his uncle to speak1 he grasped his nettle tight4 #8,will you take the responsibility now1 ,uncle1 of telling me that the ,lord has not called me2 and that ,i have not plainly heard ,his ,word8' ,uncle ,phineas could not quite do that4 ,all he said was3 #8,nineveh8 ,nineveh might mean anything4' #8,yes1' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 #8it might2 but it doesn't4 ,if the ,lord is calling me--and you can't say that ,he isn't--will ,he not also make me sure what the call means8' #8,we will ask ,him again1 ,jonathan4' #8,we will not1' said ,jonathan4 #8,that would be sin1 for it would be tempting ,him1 trying to make ,him think that we have not heard ,him already--in our hearts4' #8,spoken like a ,true ,believer1' said ,uncle ,phineas1 convinced at last4 #8,jonathan1 you shall go4' ,very earnestly that night did ,mr4 ,trimblerigg return thanks that ,i had opened the eyes of his ,uncle ,phineas and made him see light4 ,and all the while that he prayed1 how helpless he made me feel6 ,lost in the delight of the end1 he forgot the means3 and never once did it occur to him that he was really giving thanks to himself4 ,,chapter ,,five ,the ,moving ,spirit ,so ,mr4 ,trimblerigg went to college to learn tribal divinity as falsely taught by the ,free ,evangelicals2 and his ,uncle ,phineas paid for it4 ,he went there as a ,true ,believer2 and his fellow-students viewed with wonder so coming-on a disposition confined to so strait and narrow an interpretation of things spiritual4 ,for at that time a great wave of ,liberalism had entered the larger bodies of the ,free ,church ,movement1 and the ,free ,evangelicals led the way4 ,they had even gone so far as to admit women students to their ,university and to its theological studies1 though not of course to the ministry2 and because of this and similar tendencies1 the wider and easier interpretation of ,scripture concerned them greatly4 ,in this large and tolerant atmosphere1 where modernism was beginning to lift its head1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg stood all alone4 ,it was a challenge that delighted him4 ,he had no illusions as to the lack of a future outlook afforded by adherence to the strict tenets of ,true ,belief3 but he had the sense to realize that what a student believes1 or thinks he believes1 in his teens under the unavoidable influence of the parental upbringing1 matters nothing to his future career4 ,only when he comes to man's estate1 and the full and free possession of his faculties do his opinions and pronouncements begin to measure his qualification for advancement4 ,in the meantime he could sharpen his wits1 acquire knowledge1 and develop his resources for dialectic and for oratory just as well by maintaining the improbable side of the argument as the probable2 what better test indeed for his powers8 ,convictions could come later1 what he wanted now was training2 and though as yet unconvinced himself1 he might on the way convince others1 if only a few1 even of the truth of tenets which he meant presently to discard4 ,there were three hundred students at the college1 fifty of them women1 and he himself the only #8,true ,believer1' with the additional drawback that in most of the points distinguishing his branch of the ,free ,church body from others he did not truly believe4 ,yet he never doubted that in free debate he could profess a belief that would sound plausible1 and put up at least an attractive fight even though eventual defeat awaited him4 ,but though his calculating mind gave a silver lining to the cloud which hung over him1 it was1 ,i maintain1 an act of courage when he stepped so buoyantly into the arena to face a three-years' process of defeat1 and by defeat to learn the ways of victory4 ,and though presently the buffetings which he had to endure were tremendous1 he was able in letters1 and in conversation when he went home1 to convey to his uncle the impression that ,true ,belief was not only holding its own1 but winning its way in the strongholds of infidelity4 ,had he not already made converts1 for proof8 ,three of the students1 two male1 one female1 had become ,true ,believers4 ,one day he brought them over and exhibited them to his uncle1 and when his uncle had examined them thoroughly in their new-found faith his trust in ,mr4 ,trimblerigg became almost complete4 ,but still not quite4 ,uncle ,phineas was a cautious character1 and not for nothing had caution1 assisted by revelation1 been his companion for eighty-four years4 ,it was at this time that he re-made his will1 re-made it in a curious way and let the family know of it4 ,he executed two wills on the same day with the same witnesses2 and laying both by1 waited for time to decide which of the two should survive him4 #8,i have great hopes of you1 ,jonathan1' he said4 #8,i'm watching you1 often when you don't think2 and when ,i'm not quite clear in my own mind the ,book tells me4' ,that was ,uncle ,phineas's strong point in his reading of character3 the ,book could not lead him astray4 ,it was upon that point that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg felt himself most vulnerable4 ,he might trace and traverse to stand in his uncle's good graces1 he might abundantly deserve his confidence and all that should go with it or follow from it after his death2 but nothing that he could do would prevent the ,book opening in the wrong place at the last critical moment1 or prevent ,phineas from believing that whatever it then told him was true4 ,and so though ,mr4 ,trimblerigg did in those three years by all his contemporary acts if not by his calculations1 deserve that his uncle should think well of him1 he could never be quite sure4 ,during his second year he heard from ,davidina that she had fallen out of her uncle's favour1--an event which1 having the two wills in mind he did not disapprove2 but when he heard later that a hitherto unconsidered great-niece had appeared upon the scene and was keeping house for his uncle1 his mind grew troubled4 ,this was a cousin whom he had never seen1 named ,caroline2 the circumstance that she had lately become an orphan made her available as a house-companion for one who1 needing an arm to lean on1 did not yet require a nurse4 ,she was older than ,jonathan by three years1 and had managed from her mother's side to be of fair complexion4 ,davidina nicknamed her #8the dream-cow'2 and when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg saw her for the first time on his return home during vacation he had to admit that the name suited4 ,she was a large creamy creature1 slightly mottled with edges of pink2 vague1 equable1 good-tempered1 taking things as they came2 rather stupid to talk to1 but not uncomely to look upon4 ,as he gazed on her at their first meeting1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's calculating mind got ahead of him before he could prevent2 and #8,shall ,i have to marry her8' was the thought which suddenly presented itself4 ,with equal suddenness came another1 #8,if ,i do1 what will ,isabel ,sparling say8 ,there'll be trouble4' ,isabel ,sparling was the woman student whom he had converted to ,true ,belief2 and the conversion had been of an emotional character4 ,she was an ardent believer in the ministry of women1 and having the prophetess of ,scripture upon her side--,huldah the prophetess who dwelt in the college at ,jerusalem for one1 as ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was quick to remember--had no difficulty in persuading him that the ministry of women was compatible with #8,true ,belief4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had seized on it1 indeed1 with avidity as a forward point for him to score in discussions which forced him generally to take the reactionary line4 ,there was also among ,true ,believers a more obvious opening for women than elsewhere4 ,the ministry of the connection was diminishing together with its funds2 and there does come a point1 in spiritual work as well as industry1 when what cannot support a man will support a woman4 ,in exchange1 therefore1 for the allegiance of a new convert for theological debates which left him so often in a minority of one1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg blithely gave in his adherence to the ministry of women2 and in the ,college debate on the subject1 which took place in his second year1 they won an unexpected victory1 all but three of the women students1 and more than a third of the men students voting in the affirmative4 ,it is symptomatic1 however1 that of this particular victory over the powers of evil ,mr4 ,trimblerigg said not a word to his ,uncle ,phineas4 ,it was a point over which he apprehended that ,true ,believers of the older school might differ from the new4 ,uncle ,phineas1 sedentary in a small hill-side village and a chapel of which he himself was the proprietor1 was scarcely in a position to appreciate the claim of women to spiritual equality2 in the field of politics ,mr4 ,trimblerigg knew that he was decisively against them2 nor was ,cousin ,caroline1 his house-companion1 the sort of person to suggest a quiver of revolt4 ,and so1 while pledged to ,isabel ,sparling and her fellow-aspirants to become their champion when membership of the ,synod should give him a voice1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg for the present allowed the question to sleep4 ,in his own time and in his own way he would make it his policy1 but not probably so long as his ,uncle ,phineas was alive1 and his own financial future unassured4 ,he must first himself become a minister4 ,it was during his third vacation that ,uncle ,phineas showed faith1 by an overt sign1 in his future qualification for the calling4 ,jonathan was invited1 at the next ,wednesday meeting1 to put up a prayer1 and give an address4 ,the invitation was made on the ,sunday1 giving him half a week's notice2 and announcement was made to the congregation4 ,local interest in the preaching ability of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had already been roused4 ,word had come down from ,college that in the debates he had become a shining light1 and there was regret among the ,free ,evangelicals that the burning oratory of which he gave promise should become the exclusive possession of the narrowest and most disunited connection in the union of the ,free ,churches4 ,in the course of the next two days many told him that they were coming to hear him4 ,this helped to make the occasion important2 for if he could fill the chapel and continue filling it on future occasions1 ,uncle ,phineas's recognition of his vocation would become more assured4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was now eighteen1 his uncle was eighty-six2 and he could not regard as unpropitious this timing by ,providence of their respective lives4 ,two or three more years in the propaganda of ,true ,belief would not unduly hold up a career for which wider spheres were waiting4 ,suppose he could1 for a couple of years or so1 kindle ,true ,believers into new life1 make himself indispensable3 and then--6 ,he began to see why possibly he had been called to devote himself temporarily to so narrow a field of service4 ,if he could come bringing his sheaves with him1 he would count in the ,evangelical world more than if he had merely started as one among many1 with no spiritual adventure to single him from the crowd4 ,thus his sanguine mind addressed itself to ,wednesday's meeting and the possibilities which lay beyond4 ,it would be doing him an injustice to say that1 in regarding the occasion as propitious1 he did not also regard it as a solemn one4 ,he made preparation for it--,i might indeed say that we made preparation for it together--with frequency and assiduity2 and what ,i was supposed to hear for the first time on ,wednesday evening1 ,i heard in various stages of development more times than a few1 during the two days preceding4 ,davidina1 it appeared1 heard it also3 not1 ,i think1 by a wilful listening at keyholes1 but with a general awareness that rehearsals were taking place4 ,she paid him the compliment of coming to hear #8how he got on'1 which was her matter-of-fact way of putting it4 ,all the rest of the family did the same3 the meeting was well attended4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 in spite1 or perhaps because1 of previous rehearsal1 managed to deliver himself with a great air of spontaneity4 ,he got to the point when he knew that he was making a success of it1 and was then sufficiently moved and uplifted to launch out into parentheses which were not only unpremeditated but quite happily expressed4 ,people pray in different ways2 some moan1 some become tremulous1 some voluble1 some halting and inarticulate1 some repeat themselves many times as though they suspected one of inattention to their requests4 ,there are very few who say what they want to say in the fewest possible words4 ,i wish they did4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was not one of the few2 but his prayer had undeniable merit2 it was quick1 spirited1 cheerful1 a little shrill and high-flown in a few of its passages1 and in its peroration there was a touch of poetry4 ,he said yea1 several times instead of yes2 a trick which later grew into a habit whenever poetry was his aim2 but in spite of small drawbacks it was a highly creditable performance well-pleasing to both of us2 and that it was so ,mr4 ,trimblerigg knew as well as ,i or anyone else4 ,at the porch-gathering afterwards many praised him2 ,uncle ,phineas had said little1 not praising him at all1 but ,jonathan had been told that he might take ,wednesday meeting till further notice4 ,cousin ,caroline had looked at him with her mild dewy eyes1 saying nothing but meaning much1 as much1 at least1 as so indeterminate a character could mean4 ,only ,davidina1 impenetrable of look1 gave him no inkling of what was in her mind4 ,on the way home1 in order to show a proper attitude of detachment from praise for a gift that was spiritual1 and perhaps also indifference to her blighting silence1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg inquired airily what they were going to have for supper2 whereupon ,davidina replied in a dry indifferent tone3 #8,same as we've just had in chapel1 bubble-and-squeak warmed up again4' ,it was the sort of thing to which there was no answer2 it was true1 yet it was so unjust2 no doubt she intended it for his soul's health1 but can anything so cruel be also sanitary8 #8,bubble-and-squeak1' he could not fail to see1 in caricature1 the likeness to his ebullient enthusiasm which had so moved and uplifted the hearts of his hearers1 his own also2 and as he let the wound go home he felt 7without counting7 how many times he could have killed her6 ,and yet1 if ,i can see truly into ,davidina's mind1 all that she meant was that ,jonathan's prayers would be made much better by his not preparing them4 ,i am not sure that she was right2 ,i have heard both2 and ,i do not think that there was much to choose4 ,prepared and unprepared alike they always moved his audiences more than they moved me4 ,,chapter ,,six ,a ,closed ,incident ,a week later he very nearly did kill her4 ,the good which men imagine1 and the diminished version of it which1 when it actually takes place1 has so little recognizable likeness to the thing desired1 found exemplification in this event4 ,for though ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had often wished ,davidina out of life1 it was a serious shock to him when by sheer accident he one day pushed her into the water1 and was forced for a considerable while to believe that she was drowned4 ,it happened late one evening1 on the edge of night1 as brother and sister were returning from a shopping expedition1 upon which1 rather against his will1 he had been forced to accompany her to help carry parcels4 ,taking the short way back1 they came by a wood to the home fields at a point where a deep flowing stream was crossed by a narrow foot-bridge4 ,there had been rain2 the plank was slippery1 the stream in flood2 it was getting dark4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg thought that he was carrying more than his share of the parcels1 and the unappreciative companionship of ,davidina had made him cross4 ,embarked upon the plank ,davidina suddenly stopped to change over her parcels so as to get help of the hand-rail2 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg coming close behind gave her an impatient nudge harder than he knew4 ,with an exasperated scream ,davidina missing the hand-rail toppled and swung sideways4 ,with quaint heroism she threw him her parcels as she descended streamwards4 ,two of them ,mr4 ,trimblerigg managed to field2 the third made the lethal plunge after her1 and being of lighter substance jaunted gaily along the swift current into which she had wholly disappeared4 ,for a few ghastly seconds that seemed like the threshold of eternity1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 encumbered with his parcels1 stood fixed4 ,the thought flashed that here and now he had done something that he could not help1 for he remembered that he did not swim2 and though it was a pure accident1 he had a swift apprehension that this would be a difficult and also a humiliating matter to explain truthfully4 ,it was a very serious drawback for any young man at the beginning of his ministerial career to push his sister into the water and then have her drown2 stated in the mildest terms it showed incompetence2 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had already begun to pride himself more than most on his efficiency in an emergency4 ,luckily1 however1 nobody had actually seen him give the push2 so1 if the worst came to the worst1 the story would be his own to tell4 ,in the meantime he could but do his best to put matters right4 #8,i'm really awfully sorry6' he said to himself4 ,while these or similar thoughts were dividing his swift mind in the couple of seconds that had ensued1 there was no reappearance of ,davidina4 ,although the fact that he could not swim made direct action difficult1 to attempt her rescue was a debt of honour which did not brook delay4 ,fleet-footed he crossed the plank1 deposited his parcels1 and began to race down-stream4 ,if he could not actually rescue her1 he must at least keep her in sight and give her all the encouragement in his power4 ,sight of the floating parcel bobbing against a willow bough seemed to suggest her present whereabouts4 ,casting off his coat as he stumbled along the bank to outpace the current1 he clutched at an overhanging bough and plunged boldly in4 ,his feet touched bottom3 he came up again and crying1 #8,davidina1 where are you8' felt about him in all directions with his disengaged hand for the life which had so unexpectedly become dear to him4 ,he encountered the parcel1 captured it as a small proof of his efficiency and threw it to land4 ,the stream seemed otherwise quite unoccupied4 ,he called again but got no answer4 ,in order to be thorough1 he took another plunge higher up and two others lower down where boughs offered suitable assistance4 ,each time his feet touched bottom and his hand found emptiness4 ,had it then struck him to venture further and try walking across the stream1 it might have puzzled him how so capable a person as ,davidina should have managed to get drowned4 ,but this he did not do2 he continued to call upon her in loud appealing tones1 and to repeat his dip1 approximating to total immersion1 at various points up and down stream4 ,he could not but feel that these scattered attempts were of a somewhat desultory and speculative character1 and that the drowning ,davidina1 could she have known of them1 would not have been satisfied4 ,but ,davidina's standard was always an exacting one1 and as he had failed to live up to it in the past1 so he must needs fail now4 ,nevertheless these repeated immersions in water that was so astonishingly cold did at least give his conscience the absolution it required4 ,he could say at the inquest1 and afterwards1 that he had done his best2 what a poor best that happened to be was nobody's concern but his own4 ,and so1 here and there1 up and down1 he probed for the dear departed2 and only when quite convinced that his universe was empty of ,davidina did he quit the scene of the disaster and run off to fetch help4 ,poles1 ropes1 lanterns1 and presently a drag-net gave to subsequent efforts a surface appearance of efficiency which his own had lacked2 but below the surface1 where lay all that mattered1 they were attended with no more success4 ,no body was found4 ,going home to his bereaved family the gasping youth told a tale which was readily believed4 ,his exhaustion1 his lively distress1 his drenched condition1 and his chattering teeth gave evidence of the ordeal he had passed through1 and verification to a story which nobody had any reason to doubt4 ,he told how ,davidina had lost her footing and tumbled in1 and he1 plunging after1 had twice caught hold of her clothing2 and how one garment had come off in his hand1 and another had given way4 ,only when she sank from view1 after diving for her repeatedly in vain1 did he relinquish his saving efforts4 ,this was the story in its second telling2 others down by the stream1 in the intervals of their search work1 had heard it all before2 and there was so little to alter from the facts1 so little to leave out1 that at second hearing he had already become convinced of its truth2 and only the sight of ,davidina standing at the door1 carrying the parcels he had forgotten1 reminded him1 with #8that sinking feeling' out of which patent medicines make their fortune1 that another version of the story existed and would probably be told4 ,in the next few minutes he got the surprise of his life3 ,davidina did not tell it4 ,she had1 it is true1 something of her own to tell which was a departure from fact2 for she said the stream had carried her down a mile and over the weir1 at which point she had got upon her feet and waded out2 whereas having fallen from the bridge on the upstream side she had become entangled in its central timbers1 and after keeping low for a while and watching her brother safely out of sight along the further bank1 had climbed out again and gone back into the wood4 ,and there1 ,i regret to say1 she had wilfully stayed--warming herself with sharp exercise the while--listening to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's intermittent cries of distress1 watching the flit of lanterns1 hearing the harsh shouts of the search-party1 and calculating coolly how long they would take to give up quest for the body that was not there4 ,and her motive for all this8 ,her motive was to give ,mr4 ,trimblerigg his chance3 his chance to tell the truth1 or to do otherwise1 just as he chose4 ,now was this charitable of her8 ,i do not know4 ,i only know that she genuinely thought it would do him good3 to give him the chance1 just once1 of his own accord1 to tell something against himself1 bad for his moral credit1 bad for his future prospects1 and bad for his self-esteem4 ,and yet1 though that may have been her motive1 ,i doubt whether it was not practically overborne by her sharp appreciative foresight of the actual shaping of the event4 ,after waiting for well over an hour to give her brother all the rope he needed to tie himself up in glory1 she crossed the bridge1 collected the parcels1 his as well as hers1 and went home4 ,and so well had she timed herself that it was just as the second telling finished that she entered4 ,it took the family some moments to get over their surprise2 but ,mrs4 ,trimblerigg1 an eminently practical woman1 did not let them wait for questions now4 ,she ran them up to their rooms1 got them out of their wet clothes1 then brought them down again1 bundled in hot blankets to sit opposite each other by the fire2 and now to be heard once more1 telling their tale more fully each in their own way4 ,and since ,mr4 ,trimblerigg pleaded exhaustion1 his proud mother told it herself2 and ,davidina listened gratefully1 fixing upon her brother ,jonathan a kind and considerate regard4 ,her mother told it all accurately1 just as she had heard it from ,jonathan2 and when it had all been rehearsed in her ears--our own ,mr4 ,trimblerigg sitting opposite the while and furtively regarding her1 rather like a ,skye terrier that has just been washed and whipped--she said not a word to question the accuracy of the story4 ,she accepted it2 and when her mother said that she ought to feel most grateful to brother ,jonathan for all he had done in trying to save her at the risk of his own life1 she said that she was4 ,she said also that the last thing she remembered was his voice calling1 #8,davidina1 where are you8' ,and as1 weary and weak of tone1 she thus corroborated his story1 she gave him a friendly look and a faint smile2 and then shut her eyes at him1 as if to say1 #8,the incident is now closed4' ,and so upon ,davidina's side1 as far as words went1 it was4 ,but with the mere shutting of her eyes she gave ,mr4 ,trimblerigg a sleepless night2 and for many nights and days after1 she held him in a grip from which there was no escape4 ,and then some of her answers to the maternal inquiries would flash into his memory with a horribly disturbing effect4 #8,but ,davidina1 however did you come to bring the parcels along8' #8,i went back for them3 ,i thought ,jonathan might have forgotten them2 and so he had4' ,and when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg defended such forgetfulness as being only natural under the circumstances1 ,davidina replied1 #8,he didn't forget the other parcel1 he saved that4' #8,which parcel8' #8,the one that fell in4 ,he saw that1 and thought it was me1 and swam after it2 and it must have been a sort of satisfaction saving that1 as he couldn't get me4' ,such clairvoyance was horrible2 it was as if her eye had flown with him like a firefly in the night watching every movement not of his body only but of his mind as well8 ,and what made it so much more terrible was that he could not understand her motive1 or how it was to end4 ,but day followed day1 and no revelation was made2 his story stood uncorrected2 neighbours came to call and congratulate and at each occasion the story was told again4 ,sometimes ,mr4 ,trimblerigg himself was made to tell it1 in spite of a modest reluctance which grew and grew2 and there always sat ,davidina listening with kind eyes and a friendly smile4 ,then the eyes would shut suddenly1 and the smile would remain4 ,when she had done this to him two or three times1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was ready to scream2 and when she also did it to him the first time they were alone together1 he wanted either to die or to murder her4 ,then1 finding he could do neither1 he gathered up his courage and was about to speak4 ,but it was no good4 ,davidina opened her eyes again4 #8,i've god a horrid gold1' she said1 flattening her consonants in comic imitation of a stage ,jew4 #8,dat cubs of falling indo de warder4' ,she blew her nose meticulously 7as certain modern writers would say71 creating an atmosphere which made confession impossible4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had not a word left that he could utter4 ,now1 that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg should have been puzzled by ,davidina's acquiescence in the story he had told--that he should have been puzzled1 that is to say1 after perceiving what use she put it to--reveals the irreflective streak which was always dividing him from self-knowledge1 and was presently to do him so much more mischief4 ,holding her tongue had given ,davidina a power over him which no exposure of his face-saving art of tale-telling could have equalled4 ,the ignominy of that would have blown over2 or he could stoutly have denied the push altogether1 declaring it a figment of her imagination2 and had she forced him to denial often enough he would have come to believe it true4 ,but by saying nothing ,davidina stewed him in his own juice without a bubble to show for it2 and the tender mercy of her eyes made him sensitive where the accusation of her tongue would only have hardened him4 ,what ,davidina loved was power2 and power economically exercised is a far subtler luxury than power which requires repeated effort to sustain it4 ,davidina by doing nothing had acquired power not material but spiritual2 and #8,thou1 ,davidina1 seest me1' became more truly the motto of his life day by day4 ,but the reason why ,mr4 ,trimblerigg failed to read her motive while wincing under the results1 was partly because power of so static a kind had no attraction for him whatever1 and partly because it contradicted the fundamental notion of his whole scheme of life--that he was a man1 namely1 of virtuous character1 one with a destiny of resplendent goodness lying ahead of him4 ,across that conception of himself ,davidina's contrary conception struck like cataract of the eye4 ,the two views could not co-exist4 ,without his quite realizing it1 ,davidina's reading of his character threatened to drive his own out4 ,in the privacy of his own chamber he had more than once sat down to write his own epitaph--the epitaph which he liked to think would appear on his entablature in that day when ,free ,churchmen had got the run of ,westminster ,abbey to burrow in4 ,with the art of simplicity after much trouble he had boiled it down to three words1 #8,little--but good4' ,and if that were to represent finally and truthfully his work on earth1 what place was there for ,davidina's rival epitaph to stand1 if1 as he half-suspected1 it found its expression in the words1 #8,good--for nothing4' ,if ,i had made him good 7and surely ,i had done that1 he thought7 was it to be #8for nothing' after all8 ,before he could believe that1 he must give up his faith4 ,and when he said #8faith1' he never understood that it meant1 and meant only1 faith in himself4 ,so silently1 invisible1 with imperceptible pace1 mind against mind1 ,davidina tightened her grip4 ,one struggle to escape from the blast of her continued silence he made2 but it was no good4 ,new callers had come with their congratulations1 and the story was to be repeated once more4 ,summoned to a fresh drench of ignominy under his sister's calm gaze1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had a flash of inspiration4 ,he laughed jovially4 #8,oh1 ,i just pushed her into the water1' he said2 #8so of course ,i had to go after her4 ,i tried to save her2 but ,davidina preferred to save herself4 ,and that's all there was to it6' ,the visitors laughed1 thinking what a very charming and modest young man he was4 ,and ,davidina laughed too4 ,,chapter ,,seven ,he ,tries to be ,honest ,davidina got over her cold without difficulty4 ,but ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 who from repeated immersion1 had been in the water much longer and with opportunities for severe chills to take him between whiles1 fell seriously ill4 ,it was with a sort of satisfaction that he took to his bed2 for this at any rate was a genuine result of his life-saving efforts1 and seemed in a way to affect their character1 giving them the testimonial he craved4 ,davidina accepted the duty which fate had laid on her1 and nursed him with devoted detachment4 #8,it's wonderful how those two do love each other6' remarked ,mrs4 ,trimblerigg1 after viewing a sick-bed scene where ,jonathan was as one hanging between life and death in ,davidina's arms3 #8,and yet to look at them sometimes you wouldn't think it4' ,that was on the first day of desperate symptoms1 preliminary to the arrival of the doctor1 when ,davidina1 for lack of higher guidance was nursing him with prescriptions of her own choosing4 ,he had horrible pains2 she pursued them with the old-fashioned remedies which1 in remote country districts1 still effect cures1 and for which the undeserving doctor comes presently to receive the fee4 ,fore and aft1 wherever a pain came catching his breath1 she skinned him with untempered applications of hot raw mustard2 and after five hours of it he still survived4 ,when the doctor came he could not but admire her handiwork4 #8,well1 you have punished him6' he said4 ,he examined the patient and gave the illness its name--double pneumonia4 ,its importance was a satisfaction to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg and ,davidina alike2 they took it as a worthy occupation2--he to be ill of it1 she to have the nursing of it4 ,for the next fortnight brother and sister enjoyed each other thoroughly1 more than they had ever done in their lives before4 ,they even became fond of each other4 ,but character remained2 the fondness was critical4 ,the day that the doctor pronounced him out of danger1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had already felt so much better1 that he wanted to get up4 ,life having become attractive again1 he was impatient to go out and meet it once more on his own terms4 ,and when he had seen from the medical eye that all was to be well with him1 he was as anxious to have word of it as though it were a compliment on his good looks4 #8,what does he say of me8' he asked when his sister returned from seeing the doctor to the door4 ,davidina1 having measured him judicially with her eye1 settled that he was well enough for an indulgence that would be mutual4 #8,he says you are out of danger1' she answered2 #8so now you are in it again4' #8,in what8' #8,in your own way1' she replied1 elliptically4 #8,it's done you no harm being ill4 ,to be safe from yourself for a fortnight never happened to you before4 ,mother calls it a ,god's mercy you're still alive4 ,perhaps it is3 ,i don't know4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg lay trying to read her face and the meanings behind it4 #8,have ,i been a great trouble8' he asked at last4 #8,people can't be as ill as you've been1 without giving some trouble1' she answered4 ,yet he had a consciousness that he had been good1 as goodness goes on a bed of sickness2 and he hankered to have it said4 #8,wasn't ,i a good patient8' he inquired in a tone of meek repentance4 #8,i'm so sorry4' #8,you were as good as you knew how1' replied ,davidina1 #8and that's not saying a little2 for you know more than most2 if you'd only do it4' ,she paused1 then added1 #8,you were very good when you were out of your senses4' #8,what did ,i say8' inquired ,mr4 ,trimblerigg anxiously2 for the possibilities of unconscious goodness alarmed him4 #8,your prayers4' 7,his anxiety increased47 #8,you didn't say much4 ',twas either 8,god1 ,i am not as other men are10 or 8,god1 be merciful to me a sinner10 just those two things1 one or other2 and they both sounded real1 as if you meant 'em4' ,there was a long pause1 while ,mr4 ,trimblerigg calculated2 he had got the right atmosphere for it at last2 so gathering his strength he said3 #8,davidina1 it was ,i pushed you into the river4' ,the avowal struck ,davidina a cold blow3 she had not reckoned that feebleness1 or illness1 or affection1 or gratitude1 or anything indeed but fear would ever have made ,mr4 ,trimblerigg own truth against himself so long after the date4 ,then she looked deeper1 and realized that it was fear3 he was trying to get out of her clutches by telling the truth4 ,she countered him by telling a lie herself4 #8,i didn't know it1' she said2 #8,i never felt you touch me4' #8,but ,i did6' he insisted4 #8,well1 if you did1 you didn't do it on purpose4' ,into this trap he fell4 #8,yes1 ,i did6' he declared4 #8,i hated you3 ,i pushed you in because ,i wanted you to drown4' ,reassured1 she saw that once more he was telling lies4 ,it comforted her to find that he had not got out of her depth2 her old ,jonathan1 the ,jonathan she knew1 was safely hers again4 #8,then why did you try to save me8' she inquired4 #8,i didn't try2 not really4 ,i only pretended to4' #8,who was that for8' #8,myself1 ,i suppose4 ,it would have been easier to think of afterwards1 you see3 that ,i--tried4' ,here she saw that he had given her a bit of the real ,jonathan wrongly applied4 #8,ah1 yes1' she commented1 #8you manage to pretend to yourself a good deal1 don't you8 ,i wish ,i could6' ,her voice was gentle1 regretful1 full of compassion and understanding4 #8,what would you like to pretend8' it encouraged him to ask4 ,then she smote him4 #8,that ,i believed you1' she said4 ,so the victory was won4 ,he lay back1 exhausted of his attempt4 ,he had not escaped her after all2 and his final word was uttered without any hope of reversing the issue now decided4 #8,well1 ,i've told you1' he said1 trying to appear indifferent2 #8and it's true1--every word4' #8,then we won't talk about it1' she replied2 #8you can think it's true1 if it amuses you4 ,it would amuse me too1 if ,i'd got the gift for it4' ,she looked at him kindly1 humorously2 and then1 speaking as one who tries to chaff foolish fancies out of a child1 said3 #8,some day1 ,jonathan1 you'll look in the glass and be thinking you've got a halo2 and it'll only be the moon behind you1 or a haystack on fire1 or something of that kind4 ,if ,i'd got an imagination like yours1 ,i should be afraid to believe anything6' ,so she shut him down with his poor weak wish to be privately and confidentially honest4 ,and as he lay back in the cage of her contemptuous affections1 he realized how very nearly he had escaped4 ,if he had only been content to tell merely the truth1 ,davidina might have believed him3 but at the last moment his ,devil--his decorative ,devil--had tempted him to play the murderer2 and to the lurid beauty of it he had succumbed4 ,he turned his head away on the pillow1 for there were tears in his eyes4 ,davidina said3 #8,it's time you took your medicine4' ,she poured it out as she spoke1 and set it beside him1 with the two lumps of sugar that were to follow4 #8,i don't want it1' he cried peevishly4 #8,anyway1 ,i don't want it just yet3 you can leave it4' #8,no1 ,i can't2 ,i'm going downstairs4' #8,well1 you can leave it1 ,i say4' #8,and you'd empty it away and eat the sugar as soon as my back was turned4 ,i know4 ,you've done that before4' ,it was true he had3 but all humans of my acquaintance do similar things when left to themselves4 ,it is their nature4 ,but it was ,davidina's devouring instinct for not leaving him to himself which made him desperate4 #8,davidina1' he cried1 #8why can't you be friends8' #8,friends8' she retorted1 #8you are too anxious to be friends with yourself1 to be a safe friend for anyone else1 ,i'm thinking4 ,the best friend for you is some one who knows how to make you honest to 'em from a distance4' ,she gave him his medicine as she spoke1 and saw him drink it4 #8,well1 there's one thing you're honest about at any rate1' she said4 #8,what's that8' he inquired1 hopefully4 #8,you bite your nails1 and you don't try to hide it4' #8,what does that matter to anybody8' he demanded irritably4 #8,nothing1 except to yourself4 ,i never knew anybody yet that bit his nails who was able to tell the truth4 ,not that that matters to you1 ,i suppose you'll say4' #8,i do tell the truth sometimes1' he declared in a tone of appealing navet4 #8,and when ,i do1 you don't believe me4' #8,when you do1' she said1 #8you show a red light4 ,that frightens me4 ,it's like a train whistling and screaming to say there's going to be an accident4' ,whereat ,mr4 ,trimblerigg put himself resolutely under the bed-clothes3 and so she left him4 ,yet1 in the end1 she did him good4 ,it is a pathetic fact that from that day ,mr4 ,trimblerigg left off biting his nails1 hoping1 perhaps1 that as they grew an instinct for truth would be born in him4 ,eventually he even developed a habit of letting them grow quite long3 securing1 to that extent1 a sense of escape from the supervision of ,davidina4 ,i wish ,i could add that that little addition of grey growth made him become more truthful4 ,but when in later years all his hair turned grey and he wore it long1 almost like a woman's1 even that did not alter the fundamentals of his character4 ,,chapter ,,eight ,where there's a ,will1 there's a ,way ,on his return from college for the summer vacation1 his course almost completed1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg found ,uncle ,phineas with his feet gathered up for death1 though not immediately4 ,he was confined to the house and did not go out2 presently did not even come downstairs4 ,caroline1 of course1 was still with him1 somewhat colourless as a companion1 but efficient as a housekeeper4 ,it would be difficult to say whether she was also a ,true ,believer1 in the doctrinal sense1 because to her doctrine meant nothing4 ,she was one of those comfortable characters who1 in matters of faith1 can believe anything1 and never actively disbelieve anything they are told by those whom they respect and look up to4 ,otherwise1 in worldly affairs1 she was quite sensible4 ,when she opened the door to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg she showed pleasure in his arrival4 ,he called her #8cousin1' and kissed her1 thereby committing himself to nothing but a more open acceptance of the kinship which had existed before intimacy began4 ,still it prepared the ground provisionally1 and the blush with which she accepted the salutation made her look almost pretty3 in her large cream-coloured way1 with under-edges of pink1 she was personable though she lacked personality2 and she was very pleasant to touch1 a point which with ,mr4 ,trimblerigg mattered on the whole more than good looks1 and very much more than intellect4 ,in the balm of her smile she said1 #8,uncle has been expecting you4' #8,so have you1' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg2 #8and ,i've been expecting myself4' ,thus1 footing it easily1 he came into the house of his expectations1 and went up to his uncle's room4 ,it was a momentous interview4 ,the old man's beard had whitened and was beginning to slope from the horizontal to the perpendicular3 voice and hand were tremulous2 but his eyes1 whether he saw well or ill with them1 retained their keen look3 and ,jonathan still felt1 in a lesser degree1 as he did with ,davidina1 that he was being examined as to his character4 ,for in spite of submissive hours in the past1 he suspected that as yet ,uncle ,phineas had never quite trusted him2 that there was something missing which all his art and solicitude could not supply4 ,indeed it was so2 temperamentally ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was not cut to the pattern of ,true ,belief2 whereas1 for ,uncle ,phineas to be outside ,true ,belief1 was to be spiritually in chaos2 and the small ugly chapel which he had built for his own ministry of the ,word was to him a veritable city of light4 ,and now he knew that he was leaving it4 #8,i'm glad you've come1 ,jonathan1' he said4 #8,we haven't got a preacher1 only one that comes once a month2 it's only praying and reading most ,sabbath days now2 and there's some that aren't faithful4 ,are you willing to take the work now you're home again8' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg said that he would4 #8,i wonder1' said the old man1 fixing him with his gaze1 #8whether you'll be contented to stay here after ,i'm gone8' #8,i shall do what the ,lord tells me1' said ,jonathan4 #8,let's ask ,him now1' said ,uncle ,phineas4 #8,bring me the ,book4' ,there was no reason why ,mr4 ,trimblerigg should refuse2 but it was a curious experience to see that the ,book opened where a marker had been placed in it2 to see the old man pass his hand over to the left1 measure his finger up the page and lay it on an exact spot4 ,nor did he wonder then1 when the text was read1 that his future had been fixed for him in terms that he could not dispute4 #8,and ,laban said unto him1 ,i pray thee if ,i have found favour in thine eyes1 tarry2 for ,i have learned by experience that the ,lord hath blessed me for thy sake4 ,and he said1 8,appoint me thy wages1 and ,i will give it04' ,after ,heaven had thus spoken there was a pause2 then ,phineas said1 #8,the word 8,tarry0 is in italics1 ,jonathan4 ,that seems to point1 doesn't it8 ,have you any doubt left in you now1 about what ,god means you to do8' #8,no1 ,uncle1' replied ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 #8,i have none4' ,the text1 in fact1 had not altered by a hair's breadth his views of the career he was to run4 #88,appoint me thy wages and ,i will give it10' went on the old man4 #8,that comes in too4 ,but it isn't wages exactly1 is it1 ,jonathan8 ,though you may call it so for want of a better word4 ,you know that ,i've made two wills1 don't you1 ,jonathan8' ,yes3 ,jonathan had heard it4 #8,i haven't forgotten you1 ,jonathan4 ,i've remembered you in both2 but ,i haven't left you so much in the one as in the other4 ,you see1 ,i'd got ,davidina in my mind1 then3 and there was ,caroline1 too4444 ,i should be leaving you more1 ,jonathan1 if it wasn't for ,caroline4 ,but now1 she's lived with me all these last years1 ,i've got to provide for her--differently to what ,i meant4' ,he spoke slowly1 picking his words a little4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg listened to them without disappointment or dismay4 ,he had no objection to ,caroline being provided for on a generous scale2 and as his own share was apparently to be increased1 ,davidina was now evidently the one who would have to give way4 #8,and then1' said his uncle1 #8there was the chapel to think about4 ,now that you've accepted the ,lord's word ,i know what to do4' ,with quavering hand he drew out a key1 and directed his nephew to a drawer with certain contents4 ,under instruction ,mr4 ,trimblerigg brought him the two documents4 ,he looked them through1 and separating the one from the other had it returned to the drawer and locked back into safety4 ,he then did something which convinced ,mr4 ,trimblerigg that at last he trusted him4 ,he put into his hands the remaining document4 #8,when you go downstairs1 ,jonathan1 put that into the fire1' he said1 #8and see that it burns4 ,it's not wanted now4' ,and as he heard those words ,mr4 ,trimblerigg felt that his future was assured 7and incidentally ,caroline's also74 ,his anxieties were all over1 but curiosity remained4 ,when ,uncle ,phineas dismissed him he went downstairs with spirits quietly elated2 and seeing that his future wife was then busily occupying the kitchen1 he went into the parlour to consider matters4 ,first he opened and read the discarded will2 its contents were not sensational1 but they would1 had they outlived the testator1 have disappointed him4 ,his uncle had left him an income of a hundred pounds1 and his books4 ,the chapel went to ,trustees with a small stipend for the ministry of the ,word according to the tenets of ,true ,belief4 ,the residue of his property1 real and personal1 was divided in equal portions between ,caroline and ,davidina2 ,caroline's share including the house he lived in4 ,this meant that ,caroline and ,davidina would have each got an income of over two hundred a year1 of rising value4 ,when ,caroline went up aloft at the ringing of ,uncle ,phineas's handbell1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg went into the kitchen and without reluctance put the document into the fire according to his instructions4 ,and when ,caroline came down again to go on with the cooking1 he proposed to her and was accepted4 ,this was the beginning of quite the happiest three weeks in his life1 for as soon as ,mr4 ,trimblerigg made up his mind to marry ,caroline1 he also made up his mind to be in love with her4 ,he did not find any more difficulty in this swift embrace of new affections than in the equally swift embrace of new convictions as soon as they suited him4 ,circumstances had provided him with sufficient reasons for making ,caroline his wife2 and as love made the proposal so much more palatable1 he bestowed upon her that extra gift with the demonstrative ardour that was his nature2 and in the extended opportunities afforded by courtship he continued to find her very pleasant to the touch3 a little unemotional perhaps1 but good-tempered1 contented1 and an excellent cook2 and it was clear that in her quiet1 half-motherly way she very much admired him4 ,uncle ,phineas received the news without comment2 and three weeks later1 with a final gathering-up of his patriarchal feet1 died in the beginning of his eighty-seventh year just about tea-time4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg ran for the woman who was to lay him out 7since in that matter old age requires extra haste when the legs have died bent71 then walked on to give instructions to the undertaker4 ,returning presently to a house where the womenfolk were busy at their obsequious duties1 he sought and found a key which he knew by sight1 and got out the will4 ,under it lay a sealed letter addressed to ,davidina4 ,this puzzled and slightly startled him2 but for the present he laid it by as an item of comparative unimportance4 ,what startled him much more1 however1 were the provisions which he found in the surviving will4 ,his own share of it was indeed larger4 ,he found himself owner not only of the house1 the books and the furniture1 but of the chapel also1 with an accompanying income of a hundred and fifty pounds1 to be his so long as he remained the local minister of the ,true ,believers4 ,this stipend was in the hands of ,trustees4 ,all the rest of the estate1 amounting to an annual value of five hundred pounds went to ,davidina4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg lost his temper2 for a moment it almost seemed that his uncle had made him destroy the wrong will4 ,but there1 for himself1 though tied by conditions1 was the larger bequest2 he could not but admit that here a modest livelihood was provided for him3 enough in that retired district where all lived simply to enable him to marry and have a family4 ,on the other hand1 it bound him to the place1 and bound him still more stiffly to the tenets of ,true ,belief4 ,there was the further bewilderment that ,davidina got all the rest1 the bulk of the estate2 and that ,caroline got nothing4 ,and now1 of course1 the letter to ,davidina became important4 ,he went upstairs1 got it from the drawer1 and brought it down4 ,the seal was a purely conventional precaution1 easy to get through and to replace2 while as for the adhesive flap there are ways also of dealing with that which every one knows4 ,adopting one of them he became cognizant of the contents4 ,it appeared then that1 after all1 his ,uncle ,phineas had not trusted him2 and that1 in spite of their apparent estrangement of late years1 he did trust ,davidina absolutely4 ,the letter informed ,davidina that while her benefit under the will was without legal condition1 it was the testator's wish and request that if fifteen years after his death her brother ,jonathan was still an active minister of the ,true ,believers she should surrender to him one-half of the estate now bequeathed to her2 and that1 as a necessary precaution1 she should make a will securing him the same advantage under the same conditions4 ,and following on this came a statement more startling than all3 #8,i have made no special provision for ,caroline1 as ,i intend that she shall marry ,jonathan4' ,and with that the communication ended4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg looked up from it into a changed world4 ,just as he thought to be starting on his forward career1 he had become a cypher in the hands of others4 ,the word #8,tarry' stared him in the face2 in italics1 as his uncle had remarked4 ,here and now he had been left to ,caroline1 in order to provide her with a home2 and in the future to the tender mercies of ,davidina--who was not even legally bound1 when the time came1 to act on her instructions4 ,fifteen years6 ,the time was fatal to his prospects2 it mattered nothing to his career that now1 in his twenty-first year1 he happened to be a member of the antiquated sect of ,true ,believers2 it would matter everything if he were bound to it for another fifteen years4 ,he would then be nearing forty2 how could he become the leader of the ,free ,evangelicals1 foremost figure of the ,free ,church ,union in its march toward liberal ,theology1 if in fifteen years' time he was still saddled with the tenets of ,true ,belief to the extent of having to preach them8 ,he saw the meaning of it4 ,his uncle had not trusted him2 and was as far from trusting him as ever1 at the moment when he had placed in his hands the other will to have it destroyed4 ,it stung him to the quick that a simple and rather stupid old man should thus have got the better of him--to the extent at least of controlling the offer or withdrawal of a prospective income of four hundred a year4 ,a hundred and fifty of it depended on his remaining in the local ministry2 that did not so much matter2 but the rest depended on his remaining in the connection at the very height of his powers2 and that he did not for a moment intend4 ,no2 even in the shock of disappointment and all the callowness of untried youth1 he knew that he was worth more4 ,and in a moment he had decided3 henceforth his career was to be a tussle between him and old ,uncle ,trimblerigg2 they would see which would come out first4 ,while thus he straightened out his problem below1 ,uncle ,phineas was being straightened out upstairs4 ,it was the easier job of the two and would soon be over2 ,jonathan had no time to lose4 ,and so collectedly1 with presence of mind1 he restored the letter to its envelope1 licked and sealed it1 and returned letter and will to the drawer from which he had taken them1 leaving them to be found by others4 ,three days later he prayed and preached at the funeral with great success4 ,people flocked to hear him1 for it was already known in the surrounding district1 which had sampled his early efforts1 that he was going to become a great orator4 ,within a year he was due to enter the ministry3 and the ,true ,believers swelled with a sense of triumph that once more they were going to have among them a shining light4 ,in the domestic privacy of the ,trimblerigg family1 when the funeral was over1 the will was ceremonially opened and read2 and ,jonathan received with ,christian resignation the announcement that ,davidina was her uncle's chief beneficiary4 ,a few days later he gave ,davidina a chance to speak of the thing he knew1 by inquiring3 #8,uncle ,phineas left a letter for you1 didn't he8' #8,yes1' said ,davidina1 and was for saying no more4 ,but ,mr4 ,trimblerigg could not quite let it stop at that4 #8,anything that concerns others besides yourself8' #8,yes1' said ,davidina again4 #8,he told me that you were going to marry ,caroline1 and sent you his love4' ,so apparently ,davidina meant that he was not to know4 ,for once he had beaten her2 and even if it were to bring him nothing in the end there was satisfaction in that thought4 ,,chapter ,,nine ,some ,women and a ,moral ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's call to be minister to the true ,believers of ,horeb was independent of the theological test of his ,college which qualified him for election to a pastorate among the ,free ,evangelicals4 ,but practically it gave him a two-years' start2 the ,free ,evangelicals did not as a rule adopt pastors unless they were either twenty-three1 or married4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was only twenty-one1 but there among the ,true ,believers the vacancy was waiting for him1 and he reckoned that two preliminary years devoted to establishing his fame as a preacher and emancipating himself from the narrower doctrines of ,true ,belief would not be spent amiss4 ,in the short while which must elapse before his marriage with ,caroline1 she and ,davidina changed places domestically2 and brother and sister lived queerly together at the house adjoining the chapel2 an arrangement which1 more than anything else could have done1 decided ,mr4 ,trimblerigg that his engagement should be short4 ,of course it was impossible from the first that ,horeb should absorb all his energies4 ,he started at once as a mid-week missioner1 first among the neighbouring chapels of the connection1 then going further afield2 and so as to avoid for the present the problem of an exchange of pulpits with easier denominations contrary to the traditions of ,true ,belief1 speaking in hired halls where connection did not count2 thus1 without taking up the revolutionary standpoint1 he began to sit loose to the exclusiveness into which the ,true ,believers had reduced themselves1 and to make himself known among the ,free ,churches4 ,he had passed his theological degree brilliantly2 a brilliancy slightly reduced in his own estimation by the fact that ,miss ,isabel ,sparling had tied with him for first place4 ,thus1 except for the sex-barrier1 her qualification for the ministry was mathematically the same as his own4 ,now among ,free ,believers the idea of women in the ministry had been so unthought of that in their constitution there was no word against it2 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was1 by his outspoken advocacy of their claim during his college career1 a predestined champion of the cause4 ,he had not occupied his pulpit a month before ,miss ,isabel ,sparling reminded him4 ,she asked for three things3 that he would circulate a ,women's ,ministry petition to the ,annual ,conference for the signatures of his congregation1 that he would himself present the petition and make an accompanying motion in his ministerial capacity1 and that meanwhile he would invite her as a lay-preacher to his own chapel4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was of a divided mind3 had the proposition at that time been welcome among the ,free ,evangelicals1 he could not have wished for a better means of effecting a breach between himself and the ,true ,believers1 when occasion was ripe for it4 ,but among the ,free ,evangelicals vacancies in the pastorate were not going begging as they were among the ,true ,believers2 and for that and other reasons the rank and file of ,free ,evangelicalism were either opposed or indifferent4 ,the question had indeed already been debated in that great body of ,free ,churchmen1 and they had decisively turned it down as inopportune4 ,the opposition ranged from support of the ,pauline doctrine of womanly silence in the assembly1 to the argument that as they could not go out as missionaries to be eaten by savages they had not a complete qualification for ministerial office2 and when some protested that they were quite willing to take their chance of being eaten like the rest1 it was pointed out that savages did other things to women besides eating them2 at which point it was considered that the discussion had become unsuitable for open debate2 and the previous question was moved and carried4 ,after considering the matter for awhile1 therefore1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg decided to plead his youth and inexperience4 ,it was the only time that he ever did so2 as a rule he revelled in the sense of freedom attaching to both1 finding inexperience quite as valuable as youth in the formation of those momentary opinions on which he ran his career4 ,tentatively1 however1 as a sop to self-approbation he put the matter to his own chapel-members1--did they wish to have a woman come and preach to them8 ,the shade of ,uncle ,phineas presided over the gathering3 they were startled--emphatically they did not4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 fortified by this verdict1 told ,miss ,sparling that being nothing if not democratic1 and his own local democracy having decided against it1 he could go no further at present in that particular direction2 but that in his own time and in his own way he would work for the enlargement of popular opinion1 and as soon as he saw an opening resume advocacy of the cause4 ,thereupon ensued a long dispute between ,mr4 ,trimblerigg and ,miss ,sparling as to what #8democracy' really meant4 ,was democracy1 in matters spiritual1 the will of a single congregation or community1 or of the whole ,church ,militant8 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg said that democracy was merely what you could make it1 a thing not of theory but of practice2 and the whole ,church ,militant being highly divided on party lines1 democracy was divided also4 ,miss ,sparling then created an argumentative diversion by asking1 #8,why did you kiss me when you converted me to ,true ,belief8' ,and thereafter the duel which went on between them was mainly upon those two questions--what democracy meant1 and what the kiss had meant4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg gave to both alike a spiritual and a brotherly interpretation4 ,whereupon ,miss ,sparling adumbrated a letter in which he had signed his name with five crosses after it3 what did the five crosses mean8 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg said that they stood for an unfinished communication--unfinished for lack of time2 and that educated people called them #8asterisks4' ,miss ,sparling refused to be so educated1 and thenceforward was his enemy4 ,in the holiday season she took lodgings in the neighbourhood1 and became a member of his congregation4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg found that he could no longer preach and pray freely1 while ,isabel ,sparling sat with her eye upon him1 saying #8,amen' in a loud voice whenever he came to a full stop1 pretending to think then that his prayer had finished4 ,thus by attacking his nerves she destroyed his spiritual efficiency4 ,constantly he received letters which he did not answer4 ,she followed him up on weekdays also1 attended his mission services in the neighbouring villages and towns2 and though he had ceased to speak to her1 was to be seen following him at a few paces distance1 as though somehow he belonged to her4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg walked fast1 and sometimes1 on turning a corner1 ran to get quit of her4 ,one day1 in front of his gate1 she was seen to make five crosses in the mud1 indicative of an unfinished communication4 ,she left it at that4 ,in desperation he was driven at last to consult ,davidina1 who had remained silently aware of what was going on1 amused but saying nothing4 ,davidina asked how many crossed letters she had had from him4 ,only one1 he assured her4 #8,one may be enough1' was her comment1 which he did not deny4 ,davidina thought awhile1 then said3 #8,have you forbidden her the house8' #8,she has never come4' #8,if you forbade it1 she would4' #8,then ,i won't4' #8,you had much better4 ,tell her that you are in to-morrow between four and five1 and that you will not see her4' #8,and what if she comes8' #8,you have only got to be out2 ,i'll see to her myself4 ,it's a pathological case1 and the sooner you get married the better4' ,for once he trusted her2 and as ,davidina arranged it1 so the thing happened4 ,miss ,sparling called2 ,davidina opened the door1 and said1 in reply to inquiry1 that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was out4 ,miss ,sparling1 not believing her1 walked in4 ,davidina requested her curtly but civilly to walk out again2 and when she refused1 closed the door and fell upon her4 ,in the struggle that ensued ,miss ,sparling was no match for ,davidina4 ,within two minutes her bosom was rifled of its guilty contents1 and so far as written documents were concerned ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's reputation was safe again2 that is to say ,davidina had it in her keeping4 ,she explained her course of action quite coolly to the flabbergasted ,isabel3 #8,you forced my door2 ,i forced your buttons4 ,now we are equals2 you'd better go4' ,she opened the door again as she spoke4 ,eye to eye they looked at each other2 then ,miss ,sparling walked out4 ,and as ,davidina watched her depart1 she said to herself1 #8,i wonder whether she's going to be the making of him8' ,davidina had got it firmly into her head that it was better to provide ,jonathan with enemies than with friends4 ,she saw that popularity might be the ruin of him2 it was sisterly partiality which made her think that unpopularity would be a corrective4 ,in the event ,isabel had the making of him in a direction that ,davidina could never have dreamed4 ,when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg came home1 creeping in by the back way after dark1 ,davidina presented him with the letter ending in five crosses1 saying that ,miss ,sparling had left it for him4 #8,have you read it1' he inquired uncomfortably4 #8,no2 did you want me to8' said ,davidina in a calculated tone of surprise4 ,he could not quite credit her with not having read it2 but it was a great comfort to pretend she had not read it1 and to have the pretence shared4 ,and if a human can understand that state of mind he will understand a good deal of the mind of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg as soon as he was alone1 read the letter carefully through4 ,he remembered the occasion of it1 but had forgotten the actual phrasing2 he was astonished at its moderation4 #8,i don't believe she could ever have used it6' he exclaimed to himself4 ,then he put it into the fire and watched it burn2 and as he did so1 he remembered ,davidina's advice3 #8,the sooner you get married' 7meaning to ,caroline7 #8the better4' ,it may be--,i am not quite sure--that this was what really decided him to marry ,caroline4 ,his feelings toward ,caroline had undergone1 since his uncle's death1 not a revulsion1 but a diminution4 ,he had begun to have his doubts whether he was the right husband for her2 if she could find another and a better1 he did not wish to be selfish4 ,there were episodes in their courtship which had disappointed him2 she was still pleasant to touch2 but her mind was the sort which seemed only capable of responding with a #8just so' to whatever was said to it3 equable1 comfortable1 and contented1 but not stimulating4 ,like a soft cushion1 leaning on which you leave an impression1 and the mark stays for awhile then slowly effaces itself1 so she4 ,looking ahead he could see the sort of wife and mother that she would be2 and if ever it should chance that one of her children were taken from her1 or if he himself were to die young--she would be more like a mother cow separated from its milk than from its calf4 ,caroline was uneventful4 ,it was not an exciting prospect to look forward to4 ,nevertheless--and perhaps ,miss ,sparling had something to do with it--within a year of his uncle's death1 ,jonathan ,trimblerigg married ,caroline4 ,and ,davidina1 out of her newly inherited wealth1 gave them #ajj to start their housekeeping2 returning herself to the parental roof1 where she stayed till a couple of years later ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,trimblerigg senior shared an influenza and died in the same week1 and in the same bed4 ,after that1 for some while ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was comfortably rid of her4 ,she developed a craze for travelling4 ,but regularly every year1 when a new child was born to them1 ,davidina sent them a present of #bj4 ,,chapter ,,ten ,he ,rides for a ,fall ,it would not have been well for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg--for his training as an adept in the art of getting on--had his early ministerial career been entirely without obstacles4 ,had circumstances not kept him on the jump1 his native agility might possibly have diminished2 but from the very beginning obstacles presented themselves1 and they were not all of one kind4 ,the first which confronted him was intellectual and temperamental4 ,it had been all very well in his early novitiate to act as occasional lay-preacher to that sect of rigid ,believers with bottle-necked minds2 a callow and undogmatic theology was then permissible4 ,but now1 being called to the ministry1 he must get to the heart of things1 and let his light shine there4 ,true ,believers expected it2 and elders from afar1 men placed in authority1 came to listen to this young and rising hope of a diminished community1 in order to discover whether his oratory had weight and substance1 or was merely words4 ,it was ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's fixed intention to get himself driven out of that narrow communion so soon as he could afford it2 but meantime he had to maintain the verbal verities of the faith1 a difficult matter when his ministry extended to three discourses a week1 two on the ,sabbath and one every ,wednesday4 ,for awhile he kept himself going on the ,song of ,songs1 the literal interpretation of which provided him with poetic flights and passages of local colour congenial to his youthful temperament4 ,poetry in the pulpit was a new thing4 ,his spiritual interpretations of love attracted the courting couples of the neighbourhood2 youth flocked to hear him1 with occasional results which made the watchful elders uneasy4 ,it is true that on ,sunday evenings the chapel was always crowded1 but his congregation of youths and maidens1 coming from a distance1 showed more punctuality in arriving than in returning home2 and now and then1 as a consequence1 marriages had to be hasty4 ,before long ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's ,watch ,committee called upon him to talk less of love1 with its bundles of myrrh1 its vineyards and gardens of spice1 and to concentrate a little more on those starker and more characteristic verities of the faith--sin1 death1 judgment and damnation4 ,under this doctrinal pressure ,mr4 ,trimblerigg became futurist4 ,he started a course on the literal interpretation of prophecy4 ,it was a branch of theology which the modern school of ,free ,evangelicalism had neglectfully allowed to go out of fashion1 fearing perhaps what definite repudiation might involve4 ,here ,mr4 ,trimblerigg saw his way4 ,unfulfilled prophecy had this advantage3 it could always be apprehended and never disproved4 ,also the sleeping atavisms of human nature favoured it2 just as they favour palmistry and table-turning1 and the avoidance of going under ladders or looking at the new moon through glass4 ,when these currents of instinctive credulity are wisely drawn into the service of religion they may do great things4 ,and so it was that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg made a slight mistake when without meaning to do great things in his present connection1 he let himself go4 ,before he had realized the danger1 his chapel became full to overflowing2 crowds far larger than it would hold waited at the door2 and through that1 and through windows set wide1 his word went forth into the world and stirred it more than he wished it to be stirred4 ,reporters came to listen to him2 ,free ,evangelicals of the older school wobbled and came over2 and while his own congregations increased1 down at the larger chapel below ,grandfather ,hubback's diminished1 and relations became strained4 ,this was not what ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had intended2 meaning only to temporize he had exalted himself to a height from which it would be difficult1 when the time came for it1 to make an unconspicuous descent4 ,he did not wish his ministry among the ,true ,believers to remain memorable2 but when upon the platform the word came to him with power1 it was very difficult to refrain4 ,it was also very difficult to remember afterwards what he had actually said3 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had too much verbal inspiration of a momentary kind4 ,if this sort of thing went on long1 he might establish a record against himself fatal to his future career4 ,the ,free ,evangelicals were beginning to feel sore2 the door which he wished kept open for him in a friendly spirit1 might narrow1 might even close against him in the day of his need4 ,and then two things happened which he turned briskly to account4 ,the first was an invitation from the ,synod of ,true ,believers to deliver the set discourse at the ,annual ,congress4 ,it was a great1 an unexpected1 and an embarrassing honour2 for the set discourse1 by unwritten tradition1 was always given in defiance of modern theology and in defence of the literal interpretation of ,scripture4 ,if he did this to the satisfaction of the ,true ,believers1 his secession to the ,ministry of ,free ,evangelicalism in the immediate future would become almost impossible4 ,but ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 though his other virtues might be fleeting or fluctuating1 had a nimble courage which stayed fixed4 ,after humbly and fervently informing me of his intention1 under the guise of a request for guidance1 he accepted the invitation and sat down to write the thesis which precipitated his career two years ahead of the course he had planned for it4 ,the second circumstance1 embarrassing but helpful to the same end1 was the reappearance of ,isabel ,sparling1 heading a deputation of women who1 feeling called to the ministry1 now saw an opportunity which they were not going to let slip4 ,as select preacher before the ,assembly it was1 they told him1 his bounden duty to crown his allegiance to their cause in public advocacy of the ministration of women2 and when he pleaded that the literal interpretation of ,scripture must be his theme1 they replied by requiring him to concentrate on the literal interpretation of certain texts--mainly in the ,old ,testament--conclusive of their claim4 ,in the discussion that followed1 the deputation saw their opportunity slipping away from them4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was willing to support their cause1 but only1 as he said1 #8in his own time and in his own way4' ,and that time was not now1 and his way was not theirs4 ,tempers grew hot1 words flew1 the deputation went forth in dudgeon2 ,isabel ,sparling gave him a parting look2 it meant business1 it also meant mischief4 ,she was1 he knew1 a woman of high ability1 and a determined character3 and now1 on public and on private ground1 she was become his enemy4 ,in the six months which intervened before the day of ,congress1 the women's spiritual movement broke into flame and heat1 and they began that phenomenal campaign of ,church ,militancy which has since made history4 ,they began by entering a motion for ,congress in support of their claim2 but as women1 though congregational electors1 could not sit in the ,assembly1 and as they could get no member to give his name to their motion1 it was ruled out of order and returned to them4 ,then in the chapels of the ,true ,believers the word of the ,lord was heard by the mouths of women2 what ,congress sought to silence1 at meeting they made known2 they went forth in bands of three or four1 or sometimes they went solitary1 and entering into the congregations like lambs became as wolves4 ,when it seemed good to them that the preacher should end his prayer1 they cried #8,amen'1 and in the midst of his discourse they spoke as the spirit gave them utterance4 ,it was a demonstration that the gift of prophecy1 like murder1 must out1 and that if a place in order be not found for it1 it must come by disorder4 ,so they presented their case1 by example and not by argument1 and the congregations of ,true ,belief dealt with them1 or tried to deal with them1 in various ways painful or persuasive1 but none prevailed4 ,for this phenomenon1 they claimed1 was spiritual1 and could only be cured spiritually in the granting of their demand2 while the coercion practised on them1 being merely material1 must necessarily fail4 ,and so spiritually chaining themselves to their chairs1 they were materially carried out1 and spiritually interrupting the eloquence of others were materially suppressed under extinguishers which deprived them of breath2 and for what they truly believed to be their unconquerable right ,true ,belief could find no remedy4 ,from the moment when it had first sparkled into life1 this sacred flame had1 of course1 found at ,mount ,horeb an altar for its fires1 and in ,mr4 ,trimblerigg a victim suited to its need4 ,there ,isabel ,sparling came in person1 for the first time openly1 but afterwards in disguise1 and there they wrestled together for an eloquence which tried to be simultaneous but failed4 ,and though1 with preparation and practice1 he did better against interruption than she1 yet even there she beat him2 for if her remarks were disjointed and ejaculatory it did not much matter1 whereas for him sound alone was not sufficient1 but he must keep up the thread of his discourse1 rise superior in eloquence as well as in sense to the reiterated #8,alleluias' of ,miss ,sparling's inspired utterance1 and all the while put a ,christian face upon the matter1 which was the most difficult thing of all4 ,three times was ,miss ,sparling cast forth from the midst of the congregation1 before the doorkeepers became efficient in penetrating her disguise4 ,the third time ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 losing his temper1 had used what sounded like incitement to violence1 and ,miss ,sparling getting her leg broken1 brought an action and obtained damages1 fifty pounds4 ,this was regarded by the movement as a great spiritual victory1 and a victory it was4 ,the law of the land1 finding that ,true ,believers had no fixed ritual of public worship1 and that male members of its congregations might preach or pray without comment when the spirit moved them1 acquitted ,miss ,sparling either of brawling or of conduct conducive to a breach of the peace1 and held responsible for the damage those who had so ruthlessly ejected her4 ,it admitted1 however1 that they would be within their rights in keeping her out4 ,this for the future they did1 and when1 as her next spiritual exercise1 ,miss ,sparling returned and broke all the chapel windows as a way of joining in worship1 they got her sent to prison for it4 ,there1 still led by the spirit1 she hunger-struck and got out again2 just too late unfortunately to hear ,mr4 ,trimblerigg deliver his sensational discourse to the ,annual ,congress1 a discourse to the force of which she had1 without knowing it1 contributed3 for six months of the women's ,church ,militancy had been enough to convince ,mr4 ,trimblerigg that a connection in which they had become active was one from which he himself must sever4 ,and so1 on the opening day of ,congress1 setting the note for all that was to follow1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg delivered his mercurial and magnetic address on #8,the ,weight of ,testimony4' ,therein he upheld without a quiver of doubt the verbal inspiration of ,scripture2 it was1 he argued1 the true and literal setting forth of things actually said and done by a chosen people finding their spiritual way and losing it2 but in that to-and-fro history of loss and gain many things were recorded for our learning upon the sole testimony of men whose minds still stumbled in darkness1 and who1 therefore1 had not the whole truth in them2 but where their fallible testimony infallibly recorded by ,scripture actually began1 or where it ended1 was not a matter of inspiration at all but of textual criticism1 because in ancient ,hebrew manuscripts quotation marks were left out4 ,thus ,holy ,scripture1 once written1 had become subject to vicissitudes at the hands of expurgators1 emendators1 and copyists1 even as the sacred ark of the ,covenant which1 having at one time fallen into the hands of the ,philistines1 and at another been desecrated by the polluting touch of ,uzzah1 was finally carried away in triumph to pagan ,rome1 and there lost4 ,having thus shown how the most sacred receptacles of the ,divine purpose were not immune from the accidents of time1 he drew and extended his parallel1 and from this1 his main thesis1 proceeded to give instances1 and to restore quotation marks as an indication of where textual criticism might be said to begin and inspiration to end4 ,before long holy fear like a fluttered dove fleeing from a hawk had entered that assembly1 and beards had begun to shake with apprehension as to what might come next4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg warmed to his work2 his sensations were those of a fireman who1 in order to display his courage and efficiency in the fighting of flames1 has set a light to his own fire-station2 and while it crackles under his feet1 he strikes an attitude1 directs his hose and pours out a flood of salvation4 ,when he started to give his instances1 their devastating effect was all that he could desire4 ,he tackled ,joshua's command to the sun to stand still1 restored the quotation marks1 pointed out how in that instance ,holy ,scripture had expressly referred it back to its only authority1 the ,book of ,jassher3 and how the ,book of ,jassher being outside the canon of ,scripture was of no standing to impose its poetic legends on the mind of a ,true ,believer4 ,why then1 it might be asked1 had reference been made to it at all8 ,he adumbrated a prophetic significance1 a spiritual value1 to which by that parable the human race was afterwards to attain4 ,joshua's command to the sun now found its true address in the human heart1 and the reason why ,scripture had recorded it at so early a date was in order that it might find fulfilment and illustration in that greater ,scripture uttered upwards of a thousand years later by ,st4 ,paul in his ,epistle to the ,ephesians1 #8,let not the sun go down upon your wrath4' ,that was the true meaning of ,joshua's command for those who read ,scripture1 not by picking at it in parts1 but by reading it as it ought to be read as one great harmonious1 consistent1 homogeneous1 and indivisible whole4 ,on that uplifting string of adjectives ,mr4 ,trimblerigg stopped to breathe1 and his hearers breathed with him loud and deep4 ,that answering sound1 whatever it might mean1 gave ,mr4 ,trimblerigg the poetic push which the gasp of a listening audience always supplied1 #8,yea1 ,i say unto you1 yea6' he cried1 and paused4 ,he was in deep waters1 he knew2 so1 breaking into an eloquent passage about ships--ships at sea1 ships that pass in the night1 ships that have ,jonahs on board1 ships that cling to the anchor1 and ships that have no anchor wherewith to cling1 ships of the desert seeking for water and finding none1 ships that making for the ,north ,pole stick fast in ice1 yet continue moving toward their destined goal1 ships that go out like ravens and return no more1 ships that come home like doves to roost carrying their sheaves with them--so experimenting on wings of poesy in that seaward direction to which1 though he had never been there1 his pulpit oratory so often carried him1 he almost succeeded1 or almost seemed to succeed1 in carrying his audience with him2 for indeed it is very difficult1 when beautiful spiritual similes are being uttered1 for an audience to remain cold and critical1 and remind itself that figures of speech have nothing to do with sound doctrine4 ,it is also difficult when a speaker speaks with so much beauty and fervour and imaginative mimicry1 as on this occasion did ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 not to see him as he sees himself2 for the self-hypnotism of the orator is a catching thing--and nations have often been caught by it to their destruction1 and churches to heresy almost before they knew4 ,but the ,true ,believers1 though momentarily moved1 were not carried away2 and when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg returned to his instances his audience was still against him4 ,he took the characters of the ,hebrew prophets and examined them2 he showed that the sins and shortcomings of ,eli's judgeship1 for which ,eli had been condemned1 were reproduced under the judgeship of ,samuel when he1 in his turn1 grew old1 and that it was really only as ,samuel's own word for it that the people stood condemned in asking for a ,king4 ,holy ,scripture had truly recorded that incident2 but was ,samuel1 the ineffective ruler whose sons took bribes and perverted judgment1 was he a witness altogether above suspicion when his own deposition from power was the question to be decided on8 ,and so round the testimony of ,samuel he put quotation marks1 and relieved ,scripture of the burden of that unjust judgment the approval of which was ,samuel's1 and ,samuel's alone4 ,and then he took ,elisha and the cursing of the children1 and the she-bears tearing of them1 and there1 too1 he restored the quotation marks4 ,he threw no doubt upon the incident1 but its reading as a moral emblem was the reading of ,elisha1 and the tearing of the forty-two children had found its interpretation in the wish of the prophet misreading it as the will of ,god4 ,other instances followed3 there with the testimony of ,scripture before him1 stood ,mr4 ,trimblerigg inserting quotation marks for the restoration of its morals1 dividing the sheep from the goats1 trying to show where inspiration ended and where textual criticism began4 ,judged by outside standards it was not a learned discourse1 even ,mr4 ,trimblerigg would not have claimed that for it2 but it was vivacious and eloquent1 and not lacking in common sense2 and as common sense was preeminently the quality for which in relation to the interpretation of ,scripture the ,true ,believers had no use1 the result was a foregone conclusion4 ,when he had finished ,mr4 ,trimblerigg sat down to a dead silence1 and the presiding minister rose4 ,deeply1 bitterly1 unsparingly ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's thesis was there and then condemned as utterly subversive of the revealed ,word4 ,more than that1 ,congress by a unanimous vote expunged it from the record of its proceedings2 not by the most diligent search in the archives of ,true ,belief will any reference to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's address on #8the ,weight of ,testimony' be found4 ,but the discourse had done its work1 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg knew that he left the ,congress theologically free for the new-shaping of his career4 ,it was true that the ,chapel of ,mount ,horeb1 with house attached1 was still his own2 but within a week the stipend pertaining thereto had been withdrawn1 and the ,trustees1 believing themselves to be deprived of the chapel1 had already begun the hire of temporary premises4 ,but ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's instinct did not play him false2 and when acknowledging his dismissal at the hands of the ,trustees he informed them that the chapel was still open to them1 free of charge and without condition4 ,he was sure1 he said1 that this was what his uncle would have wished4 ,and having done all this1 he felt that he had committed a great act of faith2 he felt also that he had done at last something which could not fail to win the admiration of ,davidina4 ,davidina was not herself a ,true ,believer2 but she had done him the compliment to come from a distance to hear his discourse2 and much he wanted to know what she thought of it4 ,there was the added circumstance that she had a direct interest--not theological but financial--in the severance which had now taken place1 and it was with elated curiosity that he looked her in the eyes--with a look more straight and unembarrassed than he could usually muster--to see how she had taken it4 ,he found her waiting for him outside4 #8,well1 what d'you think of that8' he inquired4 #8,i think you'd have made a wonderful jockey1' she replied4 #8,you'd have made your fortune4' #8,jockey8' he said1 puzzled4 #8,i didn't exactly pull it off this time1 at any rate4' #8,no1' she replied4 #8,did you mean to8' #8,yes2 ,i did my best4' #8,that ,i'm sure4' #8,how d'you define a jockey8' he asked uneasily1 irritated by her fixed abstention from further comment4 #8,there's your own definition1' she said1 #8you wrote it in a school essay4 ,i kept it because ,i thought it was good4 ,i won't spoil it2 ,i'll send it you4' ,and the next day the essay1 which he had entirely forgotten1 written in a round boyish hand1 reached him by post4 #8,a jockey1' he read1 #8is one who had trained himself from early years in the dangerous and delicate art of falling from a horse4' ,accompanying it was a cheque for a hundred pounds4 #8,no wonder6' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 #8she feels that she owes me something now4' ,for by what he had just done he was giving her the right1 twelve years hence1 to continue as main beneficiary under the will of ,uncle ,phineas4 ,nevertheless he was pleased that he had pleased her4 ,it was almost the first time he had known it happen4 ,davidina's opinion of him counted much more than he liked4 ,all his growing years he had tried to escape from her1 and still he had failed4 ,,chapter ,,eleven ,scene-shifting ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's fall from the grace of true ,belief--or from the good graces of the ,true ,believers--had a famous reverberation in the ,free ,church ,press2 and at the age of twenty-four he became for the time being--next to the great ,dr4 ,giffard himself--the most controversially talked-of person among the high lights of ,nonconformity4 ,for just at that time the ,free ,churches had nothing on which to grit their teeth1 and badly wanted a new bone4 ,the ,new ,theology of ,dr4 ,ramble had come almost to nothing3 its author had deserted it upon the door-step of the more ancient faith into which he had retired2 and the fight about it had died down4 ,but here was a fight1 not more suddenly sprung than ended2 and in a single round this young ,jonathan of a ,david had been knocked out by the older ,goliath4 ,the common sympathies were with him1 for the ,true ,believers were not a popular sect2 a time had come when it was generally felt that they were doing harm rather than good by an insistence on the literal truth of things which no one really believed4 ,nevertheless many old school ,free ,evangelicals considered that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's method of attack had been inconsiderate and rash2 for if one started to put quotation marks round everything one did not wish to accept1 where would the process end8 ,the world still believed in punishment for the wicked2 ,samuel and ,elisha stood high among the prophets2 and if harvests were not liable to be cursed for a nation's sins1 how then consistently could they--or alterations in the weather--be prayed for8 ,as for the tearing of the she-bears1 in primitive times primitive punishments were not regarded as they are now4 ,besides1 as somebody pointed out in the correspondence which followed in ,the ,rock of ,ages1 the she-bears may only have torn them slightly though sufficiently1 killing none2 merely teaching them to behave better in the future4 ,but though then1 as always1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's plunges in exegesis provoked criticism1 they had at least abundantly released him from the restricting inhibitions of ,true ,belief1 and the way to wider pulpits now lay open4 ,and then in the very nick of time1 on a ,saturday night of all days and hours in the week1 ,grandfather ,hubback was taken ill1 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 who had been much in doubt where to go for his next ,sunday's worship1 came down at short notice and preached at ,bethesda so beautifully1 so movingly1 and in so charitable and resigned a spirit1 that there was no question of asking anyone else to come the following ,sunday and take his place4 ,and so1 informally1 with the goodwill of a congregation where he was native and known1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg became temporary preacher to the ,free ,evangelicals2 and when1 after a six weeks' illness1 ,pastor ,hubback died1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was congregationally recommended to take his place2 and after a certain amount of prayer1 deliberation1 and inquisition before a ,committee1 in answering which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg found no difficulty at all1 his ministerial status was confirmed and the appointment made4 ,in the month following1 to make it as easy as might be for the faithful at ,horeb to find and accommodate a new pastor1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg moved his wife1 family1 and furniture to the larger abode of his late grandfather4 ,but though the chapel was then left to them free of charge1 and the house at a fair rental1 the ,true ,believers of the locality thenceforth dwindled to a small remnant2 while the congregation at ,bethesda increased and multiplied4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 however1 had made his exit so handsomely that though henceforth a suspended and disconnected minister 7for the fiat of the ,synod had gone forth against him to that effect7 there was nevertheless between him and his old congregation a certain measure of goodwill2 those who parted from him parted with regret2 a few1 younger members mostly1 came out and followed him4 ,in that matter1 indeed1 more followed him than he could have wished2 for no sooner had he been cut off from the communion of ,true ,belief1 than it became evident that in that narrow and reactionary following the woman's ministry propaganda had not a dog's chance of success4 ,possibly also1 with him out of it1 the sect ceased to attract the forward spirits of feminism4 ,whatever the cause1 within a few weeks the agitation1 so far as ,true ,belief was concerned1 died the death2 but unfortunately came to life elsewhere1 more vigorously and more abundantly than ever4 ,the long struggle of women1 in the broad fold of ,free ,evangelicalism1 to obtain sex-equality is not to be told here4 ,its main importance1 so far as we are concerned1 is the effect it had on the career of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,the recrudescence of ,isabel ,sparling and her followers in congregations drawn together by his growing reputation as a preacher became a sad impediment to the flow of his oratory4 ,the manifestations were epidemic through all the loosely-knit communions of the ,free ,churches2 but against himself they were directed with a personal animus of which only he and ,isabel ,sparling knew the full inwardness4 ,for public purposes it was sufficient that1 after first disclaiming all further obligation to their cause--since only in the bonds of ,true ,belief had he stood fully committed thereto--he now sought to postpone the question of their admission until the corporate union of the ,free ,churches1 and a few other reforms 7,disestablishment amongst others71 on which he had set his heart1 had been accomplished4 ,a piecemeal extension of the ministerial function to women would1 he maintained1 have a disturbing and a disuniting effect on communions which he sought to draw together in closer bonds of brotherhood4 #8,i am in favour of it1' he said 7to the deputations which continued to wait on him71 #8but ,i am not so much in favour of it1 as of other and more fundamental things which must come first4' ,fundamental3 the word kindled in the hearts of women who had felt that fundamental call of the spirit1 a flame of resentment that crackled and spread4 ,who was he1 who was anybody to dictate times and seasons1 when the signs of that spiritual outpouring were here and now8 ,and so there was ,war in all the ,free ,churches which strove to fulfil themselves under the ministry of one sex alone2 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's prayers and preachings were in consequence broken into shorter paragraphs than was good for them4 ,but the violence with which those spiritual interruptions were carried out could not go on for ever2 it was not in human1 it was not in heavenly nature to utter messages born of the spirit with the drilled regularity and mechanism of a firing-squad4 ,the things they said lacked conviction1 did not come from their hearts or their heads1 but only from their tongues and their tempers2 and when in certain selected cases1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was inspired to pause so that they might speak as the spirit gave them utterance1 the spirit left them badly in the lurch1 they faltered and became dumb4 ,for ,isabel ,sparling had enlisted in her cause many who were the poorest of poor speakers and had no wish whatever to become ministers2 and when these heard themselves speak to a congregation which was artfully prevailed upon to listen they trembled and were afraid1 and felt themselves fools4 ,and so1 for a while1 in his own particular congregation1 it almost seemed that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was on the way to restore order and recover the undivided attention of his audiences4 ,but once again the pin-prick policy of ,isabel ,sparling got the better of him2 and in the third year of her ,church ,militancy1 forces of a new1 a more placid1 and a more undefeatable type were let loose against him4 ,they came1 they behaved themselves1 they said not a word1 cloven tongues of inspiration no longer descended upon them2 but in the most moving passage of prayer or sermon1 they would feel imperatively moved to get up and go4 ,and with much deprecatory fuss and whispered apology1 always from the centre of a well-occupied row--they would go forth and presently return again1 finding that they had left book1 or handbag1 or handkerchief behind them1 or that they had taken away their neighbour's in mistake for their own4 ,and it was all so politely and apologetically done that everybody1 except the preacher1 had to forgive them4 ,and so it came about that after ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had been at ,bethesda for a little more than two years1 he accepted with alacrity a post at the ,free ,evangelical centre for the organization of foreign missions4 ,and when he went out to preach it was at short notice here1 there and everywhere1 where the sedulous attentions of ,miss ,isabel ,sparling and her followers had not time to overtake him4 ,that great work of organization1 and the addressing of meetings for men only1 gave his energies the outlet1 the flourish1 and the flamboyance which they imperatively demanded2 and while he discovered in himself a head for business and a leaning toward speculative finance1 in the great ,free ,evangelical connection his spiritual and oratorical reputation continued to grow4 ,and meanwhile1 in his domestic circumstances1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was living an enlarged life and doing well4 ,his wife had presented him with three children2 and he in return1 by moving them from a remote country district of primitive ways to one of the big centres of civilization1 had presented her with a house containing a basement and a bathroom4 ,the basement enabled them to keep a servant2 while the bathroom--a matter of more importance--enabled me to obtain a clearer view 7which is not quite the same as a complete explanation71 of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's character4 ,,chapter ,,twelve ,theory and ,practice ,it is as a rule 7though not always7 when men are not under the observation of others1 that they most surely reveal themselves4 ,word and face and gesture are not then the concealment which at other times they may become2 and though when a man talks or gesticulates to himself he is often very far from telling the truth1 he is generally near to revealing it4 ,and that1 ,i suppose1 is why writers of fiction have so generally taken the impossible liberty of following their characters into places of solitude and the privacy of their own thoughts2 and from this godlike vantage-ground have pulled the strings of their puppets1 imposing upon the reader a shoddy romanticism which pretends to be science4 ,but the gods can very seldom gaze into the secrecy of the things they have made1 with so omniscient and cocksure a spirit4 ,between mortal man and his maker there is a remove which sometimes baffles each alike4 ,free-will1 inside a fixed radius of determined environment1 creates an obscurity4 ,the outer integument1 the limited viewpoint1 the competing interests and motives1 which go to make up one of those small self-centred individualities called man1 are often obstructive to the larger and more serene intelligence which accompanies the spiritual standpoint2 and ,i confess that in his privacy ,mr4 ,trimblerigg used often to puzzle me4 ,it was seeing the puzzle at work--putting itself elaborately together1 then pulling itself to pieces again--which gave me the clearer view2 though it remained a puzzle still4 ,but it was something to discover1 suddenly and unexpectedly1 that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had a passion for sincerity--towards himself at any rate--which took him to strange lengths2 and though ,i recount what came under my observation1 ,i do not pretend that ,i am able to explain it4 ,it was my privilege1 more frequently at this particular point of his career than ever before1 to see ,mr4 ,trimblerigg take his bath2 a function which1 so far as his wife and the outside world knew1 took place every morning of his life4 ,it is more accurate to say that he went to the bathroom every morning1 and that every morning1 to anyone who cared to listen1 the sounds of a bath being taken came through the door4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had committed himself to the bath-habit with characteristic enthusiasm from the day when1 with enlarged means1 he found himself in a house containing a bathroom4 ,but the house did not--in the first instance at any rate--contain a hot-water system2 except on occasions of special preparation the baths remained cold4 ,but ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's tenancy began in the summer quarter1 when cold baths are almost as much a pleasure as a virtue4 ,he was young1 robust1 vigorous1 a preacher of the strenuous life2 and facilities for the daily cold bath having come his way1 he first boldly proclaimed his faith1 and then got into it4 ,his faith carried him on1 even when colder weather made it a trial2 and often it was beautiful to see1 after a timid bird-like hovering on the brink1 how boldly he would plunge in1 and with pantings and rapid spongings cross the rubicon of agony which leads to the healthy glow of a stimulated circulation4 ,on these occasions he would be very proud of himself1 and standing before the glass gaze with approval on the ruddy blush which suffused his body and limbs under the hard rubbings of the towel4 ,but a day came when he quailed and could not bring himself to get in at all2 for the bath-habit was not in his blood as it is in the blood of those who have had a public-school training4 ,the hill-side-chapel clan from which he sprang bathed only on the day of its baptism1 or medicinally at the order of a doctor2 and early habit1 or the lack of it1 counts with people as they grow older4 ,so now there was controversy between ,mr4 ,trimblerigg and his bath4 ,he tried it first with his hand1 then with his foot3 then he drew a breath and said #8,brrrr6' loudly and resolutely1 and continued saying it as he drove the water up and down the bath with his sponge4 ,he splashed it artfully across the wooden splash-board1 and down on to the floor2 he dipped his feet and made wet marks on the bath-mat1 and all the while he spluttered and panted1 and at intervals stirred the bath-water to and fro1 and round and round with his sponge4 ,then he stood in front of the glass and rubbed himself hard with his towel until he felt quite warm1 until his body glowed with a similar glow to that which followed an actual bathing4 ,and1 as he did so1 he looked at himself roguishly in the glass2 and shaking his head at himself--#8,naughty boy6' he said4 ,he was quite frank about it--to himself2 and when he had done the same trick several times1 as the mornings remained cold1 he gave himself what he called #8a good talking to4' #8,you are getting fat6' he said1 #8you are getting self-indulgent2 you want whipping6' ,and so saying he let out at himself two or three quite hard flicks with the towel--flicks that hurt4 ,it was a new invention for the establishment of pleasant relations between his comic and his moral sense2 and when occasion required he repeated it4 ,that little bit of self-discipline always restored his self-esteem1 leaving his conscience without a wound2 and he would come out of the bathroom feeling as good as gold1 and sometimes would even remark to his wife how fresh a really cold bath on a frosty morning made one feel4 ,and she would assent quite pleasantly1 only begging him not to overdo it2 whereupon he would explain how constant habit hardens a man even to the extremities of water from an iced cistern4 ,and who1 to look at her1 would have any suspicion that she did not entirely believe him8 ,but on more than one occasion on very cold mornings1 when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was safely downstairs1 ,i have seen her go into the bathroom and inspect1 with a woman's eye for details3 appraise the amount of moisture left in the towel1 and various other minute points for the confirmation of her hope that he was not overdoing it4 ,and when she has quite satisfied herself1 ,i have seen her smile and go on down to breakfast1 a good contented soul1 full of the comfortable assurances wives often have1 that though husbands may be clever in their way1 to see through them domestically is not difficult4 ,later on1 when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg moved to a house efficiently supplied with a hot-water system1 his baths were taken daily1 but they were not always cold ones2 and though he still pretended that they were1 the modifications were so various and so habitual1 that he left off saying #8naughty boy6' when he looked at himself in the glass4 ,also1 when he really did begin to become chubby he left off telling himself that he was getting fat4 ,sometimes he would look at himself a little sadly1 and in order to avoid the moral conclusion that you cannot have the fat things of life without the adipose tissue1 preferred to reflect that he was #8getting middle-aged1' which was still ten years away from the truth4 ,but the sadness was only momentary2 he had so good an opinion of himself that he was almost always cheerful1 and easy to get on with4 ,and if after he had turned thirty he did begin to become a little ball of a man1 he kept the ball rolling with energy4 ,the amount of work he could do1 and do happily1 was phenomenal2 and under his stimulus the foreign mission work of the ,free ,evangelicals grew and flourished4 ,,chapter ,,thirteen ,a ,virtuous ,adventure ,nobody who has followed this narrative with any intelligence can suppose that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was a man who did not have his temptations4 ,what happened when he immersed ,davidina in the stream without intending it1 what happened when he did not immerse himself in the bath on a cold morning1 has been faithfully told4 ,but what he did to ,davidina had hurt him far more than what he did to himself4 ,it had hurt him because ,davidina had found him out1 and then had not allowed him to explain4 ,he liked explaining4 ,explaining always made him feel right again with his own conscience4 ,even the look of understanding which he exchanged with himself in the glass1 after some involuntary reversion to type1 was sufficient as a rule to restore him to his own good opinion4 ,to explain things1 therefore1 which generally meant to explain them away1 was spiritual meat and drink to him4 ,but there were two people in the world to whom he very seldom explained anything3 his wife1 the quiet ,caroline1 who understood so little that it was not worth while2 and his sister ,davidina who understood so much that it was dangerous4 ,and between these two ,guardian angels--who should have been his confidantes1 but were not--he led a life of temptations4 ,not gross1 or serious in kind1 or extreme in degree1 but temptations none the less1 and all having their root in a very laudable trait of his character1 his abounding love of adventure4 ,all his life ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had been respectable3 when he married he had no bachelor episodes to conceal from his wife1 except perhaps that sixpenny sale of a kiss to ,lizzie ,seebohm1 of which he had ceased to be proud1 and his temporary infatuation for ,isabel ,sparling which had afterwards so embarrassed him4 ,and this rectitude of conduct was not for lack of opportunity or inclination2 for women attracted him and he attracted them4 ,puritan training and ,puritan ancestry had no doubt something to do with it3 the bath-habit which he had failed in his youth to acquire materially1 he had acquired spiritually4 ,and so also with other things4 ,he had never drunk wine or spirits2 only once or twice a glass of beer1 and that not for its potency or taste1 but because it had froth on the top1 and he liked dipping his lips into it4 ,surreptitiously1 for the mere pleasure of concealment and doing it with boys older than himself1 he had smoked a pipe a few times before becoming an adherent of ,true ,belief1 and he had not1 upon escaping from the confinement of its doctrine1 relinquished the abstention which had become a habit4 ,nor had he ever betted2 though now1 with a little money to turn round in1 he had begun to speculate2 but that was different4 ,finally he had never travelled4 ,in all these ways he1 to whom change and adventure instinctively appealed1 had been cut off from adventure2 and adventure--even when it could not be called wrong--tempted him more than most people4 ,to see himself in a tight place1 and get out of it1 meant self-realization2 to find his way into unaccustomed circumstances1 and fit them perfectly1 was intellectual and moral training of a stimulating kind4 ,during his days at ,college in the annual students' rag on the ,fifth of ,november1 a plot had been formed by the anti-feminists to make a ,guy ,fawkes of him dressed as a woman preacher4 ,and he had escaped by stealing a policeman's helmet1 truncheon1 and overcoat1 which were all much too large for him1 and had then helped to batter the heads of the turbulent crowd which was out seeking for him and breaking the windows of the lodging-house where he was supposed to be4 ,that was a memory which he very much enjoyed3 he had then drawn blood for the first time and heard a skull crack under his inexpert handling of the truncheon which a trained policeman only employs in the way of kindness4 ,his man had gone to hospital4 ,and that was at a time1 too1 when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg considered himself a pacifist4 ,if the truth must be known he had more thoroughly enjoyed that brief hour of a violent laying-on of hands than the subsequent day of his ordination for which all the rest was a preparation4 ,it had been more of an adventure4 ,and there you have the key to the temptations of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,neither then1 nor subsequently did he ever wish to do any man wrong2 but he did wish to experiment4 ,and whether it was the thickness of a fellow-student's skull1 or the rise and fall of a market1 or the gullibility of the common herd1 or the pious employment of superstition for high and noble ends1 or his own susceptibility to a woman's charm1 or hers the other way about--he never had any other aim or object1 or desire1 except to experiment so that he might get to know and manipulate human nature better1 including his own4 ,life itself was for him the great experiment4 ,and it so happened that at the very centre of his life was ,caroline2 and ,caroline was dull4 ,therefore their marital relations were imperfect4 ,it struck him one day that ,caroline would be more interesting if he could make her jealous4 ,without giving her serious cause1 he tried1 and failed4 ,but1 in the process of his experiment1 he engaged the affections of the instrument he employed much more than he intended4 ,it was a great nuisance4 ,he had done everything to make such a dnouement unlikely2 had chosen her indeed rather with a view to the stupidity of ,caroline than to the attraction he found in her4 ,she was rich1 married1 considerably older than himself1 had in fact a grown-up daughter and a husband who was then in the process of earning a title for her and himself1 together with a handsome retiring pension1 in the ,indian ,civil ,service4 ,she also had a motor-car which she could drive independently of chauffeurs4 ,when he found that the affair had become serious he began avoiding her2 and being1 as a pedestrian1 the more agile of the two he might have done it2 but he could not avoid the motor-car4 ,and so one day1 having gone to a distant town to preach and to stay the night1 he found the lady and the motor-car awaiting him at the chapel door1 with an offer to motor him back to town all in the day4 ,in that there seemed a hazardous sort of safety2 tender passages while on a high road and going at high speed1 were compatible with virtue2 there was also a spice of adventure in it2 a half-engagement that they should meet abroad under platonic but unencumbered conditions1 must now probably either be renewed or broken2 to renew it would1 he thought1 be the safest way of temporizing with a situation which must end4 ,caroline had no capacity for jealousy1 and the affair was becoming ridiculous4 ,and so getting into the car1 with four hours of daylight left1 and a hundred and fifty miles to go1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg accommodated himself to the situation that was soon to end1 and renewed with a warm asseveration of feelings that could not change4 ,they were still over fifty miles from their destination1 and the darkness of night had settled1 when the spice of adventure increased for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg in a sudden shock4 ,the car had irremediably and unaccountably broken down in a way which its owner announced would take hours to repair4 ,they found themselves upon the outskirts of a village to which the requirements of motorists had added a small hotel2 and before ,mr4 ,trimblerigg could make up his own mind what to do1 his companion had taken command of the situation and made retreat impossible1 by entering in the visitors' book a ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,somebody3 names not their own4 ,she had done this1 while leaving him in charge of the car4 ,they were booked1 he found1 to stay for the night2 and the accommodation was as their names indicated4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was not prepared to have a scene2 but neither was he to be coerced from the ways of virtue4 ,if he ever left them it would be in his own time and in his own way4 ,and so presently1 when they had dined together very pleasantly1 and when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 in order to restore his sense of adventure1 had experimented by taking wine1 he simply stepped out casually into the darkness of the night and did not return4 ,his suit-case he left as a prey to his lady of the situation now ended2 and walking to the nearest station1 five miles away1 waited there rather miserably for a midnight train which brought him back in the small hours to the virtuous side of his astonished ,caroline4 ,he had a good deal to explain1 including the absence of his suit-case2 which forced him to say things which were not all of them true4 ,and when next day the suit-case arrived #8forwarded by request1' addressed on an hotel label to the name left in the visitors' book1 there was a good deal more to explain2 and for the first time ,caroline became jealous4 ,but it did not make her more interesting2 it took the depressing form of a tearful resignation to the inevitable4 ,she supposed that he had become tired of her1 which was true2 she added1 less truthfully1 that it was what she had always foreseen would happen1 when as a matter of fact her mind had never been sufficiently awake to foresee anything so undomestic as suspicious circumstances pointing toward divorce4 ,being simple1 she spent the rest of the day trimming herself a new hat2 at #f p4m4 she fortified herself in maternity by giving the three children a hot bath before bed-time2 and then1 as it was the servant's evening out1 she descended to the kitchen and made pancakes for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's supper2 and sat to watch him eat them with her hair unbecomingly tied up in a large pink bow4 ,these mild symptoms of jealousy expending itself in domestic steam1 ought to have interested him but did not4 ,he merely recognized and accepted the fact that ,caroline's jealousy was as unimportant as had been her previous lack of it4 ,perhaps his mind was too preoccupied to give it all the attention it deserved4 ,he was amazed by the return of the suit-case under a name not of his own choosing2 and yet somehow it raised the lady in his respect4 ,for he had in him a touch of the sportsman2 and on being struck so shrewd a blow1 was quick to recognize that in going out into the night without warning he had left behind him a situation difficult for the lady to explain4 ,he wondered how she had explained it1 and was a little fretted because he could not quite make things fit4 ,all he saw clearly was that the open forwarding of the suit-case by rail to name and address1 gave to it an air of bona fide which might have served to allay suspicion4 ,but unless it was to avenge herself why had she given the right address8 ,was it1 he wondered1 an unusual combination of vindictiveness with plain horse common sense2 a straight one in the eye for him1 and a bit of smart dodging for herself8 ,if so1 she was more interesting than he had thought3 that was just the sort of thing that ,isabel ,sparling would have done4 ,in that direction he was beginning to have definite regrets4 ,so1 after the pancakes1 he sat and thought1 while his wife1 a mellow picture of domesticity1 bent under the lamplight darning his socks4 ,and then the evening post came and a letter1 in a handwriting which he knew and had hoped never to see again4 ,it was very brief4 #8,whatever happened8' it ran4 #8,did you get your suit-case8' ,that beat him altogether2 it interested1 it bewildered him4 ,his spirit of adventure was suddenly revived2 because it would be difficult1 he felt that he must go and explain--explain that he had suddenly seen somebody at the hotel whom he recognized1 and who would recognize him1 and that the only way of safety for both was instant flight4 ,and so1 not because he loved her any more1 or wished for a renewal of the entanglement1 but because he loved explaining himself out of difficult situations1 he felt that on the morrow or the day after1 he would go and see her again4 ,and though this particular episode here finds no further chronicle1 since thereafter it became in kind only one of many--suffice it to say that1 on the morrow1 he did4 ,just before bed-time1 folding up her work1 his wife1 who had been thinking her own thoughts quite quietly1 looked across at him and said3 #8,if you died before me1 ,jonathan1 should you like me to wear widow's weeds until ,i married again8' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was startled almost out of his skin4 ,had it come from a woman of different character he would have found it a tremendous utterance4 ,but in another moment he saw that this was only ,caroline1 ,caroline composedly thinking aloud where other people did not4 #8,now that1' replied ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 #8is a very interesting question4 ,but it is one which your second husband not ,i had better decide for you4' ,caroline saw that she was being laughed at4 ,but she had already forgiven him4 ,she kissed him1 and went up to bed4 ,as the door closed behind her1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg uttered a half-conscious ejaculation4 #8,o1 ,god6' he cried1 #8how dull1 how dull you are6' ,this personal remark1 though it might seem otherwise1 was really addressed to his wife4 ,,chapter ,,fourteen ,spade ,work ,the free evangelicals had long been honourably known for the extent and zeal of their labours in the mission field4 ,in ,africa1 in the larger islands of the ,pacific1 and elsewhere1 there were whole tracts from which their spiritual competitors were cut out--districts of which they had a practical monopoly4 ,but in others1 of recent years1 the monopoly had broken down4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 with his shrewd eye for business1 investigated the cause1 and found it4 ,he discovered that a gospel-teaching which would not go down in the modern world of civilization was the most successful1 being the most convincing1 among the primitive races4 ,and though the missions of ,true ,belief had everywhere dwindled for lack of funds1 they had nevertheless left their doctrines so firmly rooted among certain tribes that those coming after had found it advisable to take them over without much change or enlargement of view4 ,for the coloured races a form of faith divorced from reason was for practical purposes the best4 ,and so it became ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's work to persuade into the mission field such minds among the ,free ,evangelicals as tended most nearly to the doctrines of ,true ,belief1 and to head off as unsuitable those of a more modernist tendency who were better suited at home4 ,and when1 as sometimes happened1 there was doctrinal war among the missionaries themselves1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's influence was always subtly on the side of those who preached1 as the true word of revelation1 those things which the natives accepted most easily and liked best4 ,it was a point of view for which there is much to be said2 for the knowledge which comes to man mainly through his five senses1 and which has similarly to be passed on to others1 cannot in the nature of things be absolute knowledge2 and directly that is granted and given due weight1 knowledge1 even of things spiritual1 has to adapt itself to forms which bear a sort of proportion to the minds waiting to receive it4 ,and so under the stimulus of reports brought back from the mission field1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg developed his doctrinal thesis that truth is but relative1 thus anticipating in the spiritual world the discovery of ,einstein in the material4 ,it was a thesis which when first put forward provoked a great deal of controversy2 and many of the older school1 for whose larger influence in the mission field it had been practically designed1 denounced it in unmeasured terms as incompatible with ,revelation and dangerous to the integrity of the human conscience4 ,but it was such a convenient doctrine--especially for the establishment of a modus vivendi among missionaries--that it made its way2 and within ten years of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's first lubricating touch to the machinery put in his charge1 the ,free ,evangelicals had redoubled their efficiency in the old world and the new1 by setting forth the evidences of religion on two entirely different and incompatible lines1 and producing as a result forms of faith as diverse in complexion as were the black and white faces of the respective communities to which essential truth was thus made relative4 ,as a further result ,mr4 ,trimblerigg brought about1 more by accident than by design1 an informal alliance in missionary effort between ,true ,believers and ,free ,evangelicals4 ,for out there in the mission fields ,true ,belief was now having won for it the battle which at home it had lost2 and by a strange irony the man most responsible for that turn in its fortunes was he who1 once its rising hope1 had been so uncompromisingly cast forth for a too-relative adherence to revealed ,truth4 ,one day word was brought to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg that certain elders of ,true ,belief had been of a mind to search the ,scriptures concerning him3 and the word had come1 not inappositely--though open to different shades of interpretation3 #8,cast thy bread upon the waters1 and after many days it shall return to thee4' ,and it was reported that the said elders had been impressed and had made a note of it4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was pleased by the news1 for it meant that a door still stood open2 and though he had no intention of passing through it again1 he liked it to be open4 ,for he was now busy opening a door to them2 and theirs being open in return1 they might eventually pass through it to him4 ,the idea of relegating the mission field definitely to ,true ,belief under an agreed coalition of the ,churches began to attract him1 for it was becoming clear to him that among the mentally deficient ,true ,belief was the quickest and most effective way to conversion1 if only it could be made non-sectarian--a means rather than an end4 ,he saw1 with speculative instinct that looked like faith1 how a place might be found for all on a plan of his own making4 ,thus the great fusion of the ,free ,churches toward which he was working came a step nearer to practical politics4 ,his work being the organization of missions1 it was often his duty to entertain missionaries4 ,and as the best time of all1 for establishing confidential relations1 was to meet them in friendly intimacy immediately upon their arrival1 it was beginning to be his practice to invite as guest to his house any prominent missionary who had come home on leave4 ,thus in the course of a few years the very cream of the ,free ,evangelical mission world1 and a few others from connections that were friendly1 passed through his hands4 ,it was from one of these latter that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg received news of the swift civilization that was taking place in parts scarcely heard of as yet1 owing to the beneficent efforts of certain missionary centres not only to sow the seed of the faith but to develop the wealth and resources of the fields in which they laboured4 ,this particular missioner was an optimist about his own districts4 #8,in fifty years' time1' he said1 #8it will be for its size1 the richest country outside ,europe and the ,states4' ,and as its size was nearly half that of ,france such a forecast suggested big possibilities4 ,he went on to tell with what prudent and fatherly care those in control of the missions had headed off the rapacious traders and concession hunters1 who follow in the missionary's track1 by obtaining from the native chiefs exclusive rights strategically based upon the routes of trade1 such for instance as the building of landing-stages at the junction of rivers1 and the setting up of white settlements on the high table-lands of the interior4 ,as a consequence the economic future of the country was controlled1 not indeed by the missionary society itself1 but by a humane-minded organization of business interests working with and through it4 ,and under this happy co-operation the ,native ,industries ,company in the ,ray ,river territory to the north of ,puto-,congo 7not then the familiar name it has become since7 had opened up commercial relations at the cost of only a few score thousand pounds1 which in the near future might be worth millions4 ,they were already paying an interest on shares which compared favourably with larger ventures of longer date2 and as the total number of shares was comparatively small1 they offered to early investors a great future4 ,and so ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 who had a taste for speculative transfer1 sold out and reinvested a few hundred pounds in ,native ,industries ,limited2 and receiving his dividends thereafter on the scale promised1 thought very little further about it1 except as something sound which carried with it the larger hope of value that might increase4 ,the sense in which he thought very little about it1 was as to the actual source of its profits--oil1 rubber1 copra1 or ivory--the methods of its working1 and the men who worked it1 or what it really did for the native beyond making him more accessible to the influence of missions and of trade4 ,as to that last1 a very slight preliminary inquiry had satisfied him that it was so2 and there he left it4 ,it never occurred to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 who was eloquently opposed to corporal punishment in his own country for crimes of violence and such like1 to inquire whether corporal punishment played any part in making his dividends from ,native ,industries ,limited nearer ten than five per cent per annum4 ,and why indeed should it occur to him8 ,the shareholder system1 on which modern trade is run1 does not prompt such mental occurrence2 and where so many millions are satisfied that their responsibilities end in the acceptance of the reports of their directors1 can any particular blame attach to one1 however eminent in the organization of the mission field1 if he also was satisfied1 and become in consequence forgetful8 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had then--as always--a perfectly clear conscience4 ,he was very busy1 he was doing good work2 his doctrine of relative truth was giving theology a more modern and a much more sensible mind about all the things it could not really prove but loved to fight about2 the coalition of the ,free ,churches was advancing under his manipulation by leaps and bounds2 behind that loomed ,disestablishment4 ,given a greater corporate union of ,nonconformity1 the argument for it would be irresistible2 and when it came he would be the up-to-date ,luther before whose assault that final stronghold of religious privilege toppled to ruin4 ,for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had been busy not only in the organization of missions but upon the political side also2 and would no doubt by this time have gone into ,parliament had not somebody already been there before him who was doing what he would have done in exactly the same way--with the same brilliance1 the same elasticity1 the same eloquence1 the same hand-to-mouth conviction1 and the same enthusiastic and catchword-loving following4 ,parliament did not need two wizards to cast upon it the same spell4 ,that was the reason why ,mr4 ,trimblerigg kept his wizardry for the ,churches4 ,and so1 through strenuous years ,mr4 ,trimblerigg laboured to make ,free ,evangelicalism greater1 and more powerful1 and more feared than it had ever yet been2 and before he had touched middle age he began to be spoken of as candidate for the high office of ,president at the ,annual ,conference--a post for which previously no head without grey hair on it had ever qualified4 ,it only wanted some great cause1 some big agitation led by himself1 to carry him through and make him1 before he reached the age of forty1 the most prominent figure in the ,nonconformist world4 ,and then1 while he was looking for it1 came1 just in the nick of time1 the story1 the horrible story of the ,puto-,congo atrocities4 ,he was no missionary and no trader1 but a mere outsider who brought it to ,europe2 and when1 for reasons1 ,government threw a belittling doubt upon it1 questioning the motives and veracity of its reporter1 then ,mr4 ,trimblerigg saw his chance1 and blew a blast to the ,free ,evangelical mission world4 ,he took up the cause1 made it his own1 and gave it all the publicity it required4 ,,chapter ,,fifteen ,the ,sound of a ,trumpet ,when the campaign started the ,puto-,congo ,consolidation ,company was paying its shareholders from #bj to #cj per cent1 independent of bonuses which dropped to them like manna every alternate year2 and its shares stood in the market at #bjj per cent above par4 ,it had held its own against a six months' exposure of its methods1 not only without a drop in the quotations1 but with a slight rise when official cold water had been thrown on the report of the egregious ,mr4 ,morment1 whose unfair and superficial investigation had caused all the trouble4 ,but when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg took the matter in hand1 hiring halls in all the big towns for monster meetings1 and thumping the ,free ,evangelical war-drum1 within a month the shares came tumbling1 and the ,government had begun to hedge by promising a commission of inquiry--not1 as had almost been previously suggested1 into the character of ,mr4 ,morment1 but into the conduct of the ,company4 ,even though the world is said to be wicked1 it often pays and pays well to be on the side of the angels4 ,for trade and commerce1 and politics are largely run on a sort of agreed pretence that man1 though now a little lower than the angels1 is not much lower1 or only in his bad moments1 or only because he doesn't always have time to look into things4 ,the side on which the angels are1 may for a time be violently disputed by guilty interests3 but give it a clear view-halloo and a sight of its quarry on the run1 and you have the great-hearted public up and after it1 quite oblivious to its own record in matters closely similar4 ,so now3 the strewings of the feathers of angels' wings across the landscape made ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's lightning campaign look like a paper-chase from the heavenly or bird's-eye view2 and tens and hundreds of thousands of virtuous shareholders1 in companies of whose ways and doings they did not in the least know or very much care1 attended his meetings to denounce the shareholders of a ,chartered ,company which was paying #bj and #cj per cent upon methods that were now being exposed4 ,i have said before1 and ,i say again1 that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was a man of absolute sincerity to the convictions of the moment2 so also were his audiences1 all people of sincerity2 but it was a sincerity which1 rising to the surface like cream1 when it has been skimmed off leaves a poor thin material behind it4 ,but it was national material after all2 and how1 as somebody once asked1 can one indict a great nation8 ,its greatness is the refuting answer4 ,and so it was1 when those cheering crowds hung upon ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's eloquence1 and when1 being so much carried away by it1 he hung upon it himself--there was not one1 speaker or listener1 who1 while sincerely denouncing the cruelties which had wrung #bj and #cj per cent profits from the blood and bones of indentured black labour1 ever thought of denouncing the system which enabled any who had capital to invest1 to make money out of ventures and industries as to the workings of which they knew nothing4 ,it was not the system which was being denounced1 but individuals who had been oiling the wheels of the system by methods of civilization pushed to logical extremes4 ,and so1 when you strike an average1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was just as innocent and just as sincere as the bulk of his fellow-countrymen4 ,the only difference was that nobody else enjoyed his innocence and sincerity as much as he did1 or thought so highly of it4 ,for now1 being so gloriously upon the side of the angels1 it was with the voice of an angel--and a powerful one--that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg spoke4 ,and the angels and the herd-instinct having got hold of him together1 he did wonders3 not only did he surprise me1 he surprised himself4 ,one day he had before him and behind him1 around him and above him1 an audience of ten thousand breathless listeners--breathless not for any difficulty1 his fine voice being easily heard1 but for the mere joy of him4 ,he was making visible to all1 the forests and swamps and malarious rivers to which he had never penetrated save with the eye of vision and pity and compassion2 and also the things that were being done there for shareholders in a country calling itself ,christian4 ,he gave chapter and verse3 before him had come a speaker1 fresh from the district itself1 with terrible lantern-slides1 some showing life1 many more showing death4 ,as a prelude to his peroration he demanded the last of the slides1 one that had been specially reserved for the occasion4 ,it appeared and a great gasp went through the audience2 they sat so silent for his concluding words1 so motionless that actually not a pin dropped4 ,and after he had ended1 for some seconds the silence lasted1 so deep was the emotion of his hearers4 ,when he sat down he felt that he had made the speech of his life4 ,his auditors apparently thought so too1 having recovered they stood up for five minutes to applaud1 while ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 feeling a little faint but very happy1 sat and drank water4 ,when silence was restored for the announcement of the next speaker--a rather reluctant ,archbishop had been captured for the occasion--a cold staccato voice came from the back of the hall3 #8,is not the gentleman who has just spoken himself a shareholder in the ,puto-,congo ,consolidation ,company8' ,a buzz of horrified consternation went sibilating from stalls to gallery3 the whole movement tottered to its base4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was on his feet4 #8,it's a lie1' he said2 and to show that was the end of it1 sat down again4 ,the audience took a free breath and applauded4 ,once more came the voice3 #8,does the speaker deny that he draws any profit from investment in the forced labour of these unhappy natives8' ,and again ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was on his feet4 #8,not one pound1 not one penny1 not one farthing4 ,i would die rather4' ,the applause at this was terrific4 ,all heads turned towards the interruption3 lost in the dense crowd gathered at the back of the hall it remained merely a voice4 ,there was a pause1 the voice said3 #8,i am quite satisfied4 ,i was misinformed4' ,a sharp burst of laughter rang through the hall2 and everybody was happy again4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg received another ovation2 and when he rose to reply to the vote of thanks the noise was deafening4 ,but though he replied beautifully and in moving terms1 he was not at ease4 ,during the speech of the ,archbishop he had sat thinking3 #8,what shares remotely resembling the ,puto-,congo ,consolidated do ,i possess8 ,whatever can the man have got hold of8' ,suddenly the words1 #8,native ,industries ,ltd4' flashed into his mind4 ,those shares paid him about fifty pounds a year1 on an investment of two hundred2 and every year the directors sent him a reassuring report of the well-being and prosperity of the natives in whose interests it was run4 ,but what had these to do with the ,puto-,congo ,consolidation ,company8 ,he was not good at geography2 beyond the fact that they both hailed from the same continent he was aware of no possible connection4 ,all the same1 as soon as the meeting was over he sped home in trepidation1 and after a short search through a fat bundle of small but varied investments he found the share certificate he was in search of4 ,the sight of it froze him1 as it had been the eye of ,davidina fixed in judgment3 terror and desolation opened under him as a gulf into which he descended alive4 ,for though in the original certificate the name of the ,puto-,congo ,consolidation ,company was nowhere mentioned1 the certificate bore endorsement of a later date 7he remembered faintly sending it1 at request1 for that purpose7 from which it appeared that ,native ,industries had become affiliated--consolidated was perhaps the awful and correct word--with certain other companies operating in the same district1 the ,ray ,river ,rubber ,company being one of them3 and #8,ray ,river ,rubber' with its beautiful rolling sound had now acquired a horrible familiarity to his ears2 only that very night he had himself rolled it upon his oratorical tongue1 enjoying the rich flavour of it4 ,and though the name of the ,puto-,congo ,consolidated did not even now appear1 his certificate bore nevertheless that notorious official stamp which he and the ,free ,churches had so fiercely held up to scorn--a large adhesive label of embossed paper1 blood red1 bearing as its emblem a white man and a black holding hands1 and over them the punning motto #8,nihil alienum puto'--,i hold nothing foreign4 ,how devoutly he wished that for him the motto could have been true4 ,but that he did hold this damnable and damning share in that commercial atrocity which he had been denouncing1 there was no longer room for doubt4 ,and how1 in ,heaven's name1 or the name of anything equally incredible1 how was he to explain it away8 ,that was the question which1 for the next hour or two1 he continued putting to me with great fervour and insistency4 ,i listened1 but ,i said nothing2 for though ,i was much interested1 ,i did not intend to intervene4 ,that is not my method4 ,and so1 while ,i paid due attention to what he actually said1 ,i let the nimbler speed of his brain for one moment escape me2 and was taken suddenly by surprise when ,i saw him jump up from his knees and start into definite action4 ,during the next forty-eight hours the meteoric speed of his career1 his swift adjustment of means to ends1 his varied and almost instantaneous decisions1 and above all the driving force of the moral arguments which he addressed to those larger shareholders of ,native ,industries ,limited whom in so brief a time he succeeded in running to earth1 all this gave me a conception of his abilities to which1 ,i confess1 that till then ,i had hardly done justice4 ,nor do ,i think the average reader could follow through all its ramifications that inspired sauve qui peut1 which1 in such short space of time1 carried moral devastation to so many ,free ,evangelical back-parlours--fortresses for all the virtues4 ,suffice it that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 having obtained a complete list of the shareholders in ,native ,industries ,limited1 discovered for truth what his sanguine mind had envisaged as a blessed possibility--that nearly half of the ,company's shares were actually in the hands of ,free ,church ministers and of other prominent and privileged members of their congregations1 and that all unknown to itself the ,free ,evangelical ,body--that great instrument for the establishment of ,god's ,kingdom on earth--had got one of its feet well planted in that very stronghold of the ,devil against which it was directing its assault--an awkward1 or an advantageous position according to the use made of it4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 whose apprehension and anguish had been so great that in the first ten hours after his discovery he could eat no breakfast1 had during the next ten1 with travel1 telegram1 and telephone1 done such an enormous amount of work and to such good purpose1 that before the day was out he had begun almost to enjoy himself4 ,in that brief space of time he had captured not only the council of the ,free ,church ,congress1 and three of its ex-,presidents1 but the ,president-elect and five of its most shining lights in the financial world as well--men who had always maintained publicly that they held their wealth as a sacred trust from the ,powers above for the service of humanity4 ,now he showed them their chance4 ,while the shares of the affiliated companies in ,puto-,congo ,consolidated lay battered on the market1 opportunity for good ,samaritans presented itself on a large scale4 ,for the preaching missionary1 who also travelled for ,native ,industries ,limited1 had done his agency thoroughly and well1 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's saving hopes were abundantly realized4 ,here they all were1 almost without knowing it--some not knowing it at all2 others knowing it but lying low1 trusting that affiliation carried with it no responsibility for the administrative acts of ,puto-,congo ,consolidated1 and finding much virtue in the difference of a name--here they all were in the same box1 and the lid of it suddenly opened like graves for the day of judgment4 ,yes1 they were all in it2 but1 so ,mr4 ,trimblerigg assured them1 with this important difference4 ,they were there of set purpose and intent like himself3 had gone into it1 for strategical reasons1 with the sword of the spirit1 to prepare the way of the ,lord and bring deliverance to the oppressed4 ,they heard from ,mr4 ,trimblerigg how he had invested his little all for that purpose alone1 watching and waiting1 with never a penny of profit1 biding his time for the great day of deliverance4 7,he had1 in fact1 that very day1 sold out all his other investments in order to secure a yet larger holding for the confirmation of his case47 ,they also1 he had not a doubt1 had invested for a like purpose--or if not1 were eager and willing to do so now that the time had come for that purpose to be declared4 ,for here was the case2 the ,free ,evangelical ,church could now at a push in a falling market obtain a shareholders' majority in one of the most important and prosperous companies which had come together under the gis of the ,puto-,congo ,consolidated3 had1 therefore1 power to call and control a special meeting of the shareholders for the reform--root1 branch1 lock1 stock and barrel--of the whole abominable system to which it had become linked4 ,free ,church ,presidents1 ,evangelical financiers1 shining lights in the ,temperance movement1 and others with reputations above suspicion1 listened1 sat up1 and were amazed2 only too thankful in that dark hour to have good motives so generously imputed to them and their way of salvation made plain4 ,very few attempted to remain irresponsible1 incredulous1 or indifferent2 when they did1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg launched his attack1 and their opposition wilted and crumbled4 ,nor did he mince the inspired word which came to him3 his brisk little figure sparkled with flashes of divine fire1 even as the wireless apparatus sparkles with the message which descends to it from the outer air2 and there to hand was the circular appeal which within twenty-four hours would have received the signatures of over a hundred ,free ,church ministers and elders calling for an emergency meeting of the shareholders4 ,at that meeting the ,puto-,congo atrocities would be denounced1 and the present ,directors of the ,company called on to resign and make room for others4 ,native ,industries ,limited1 by reason of its secured monopolies1 held the key to the position4 ,though small1 it could impose its terms2 close its depots and landing-stages to proved abuse of contract by the affiliated companies1 and if it became a question of law1 dare the rest to come on2 for now it would have the entire country behind it1 even1 if need be1 the power of ,parliament4 ,let them blow their blast loud and long enough1 and the whole huge financial fabric of ,puto-,congo ,consolidated which had sought to absorb them into identity with its own guilty prosperity1 would have to cleanse itself or go4 ,and as these reverend elders listened1 and bent their heads for the whitewash provided by ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 there was the offered vision before them of the great ,free ,church body1 too long couchant in moneyed ease1 rising upon its hind legs at last1 and uttering no meek lowing of kine1 but the combined roar and scream of the ,lion and the ,eagle--and over them in feathers of silver and gold1 the covering wings of the ,dove2 and there was the ,visionary himself wanting to know1 here and now1 whether their voice would swell the chorus or only be raised in futile opposition4 ,that question received but one answer4 ,so1 like fire through stubble1 did ,mr4 ,trimblerigg burn his way into the consciences and fears of the ,native ,industries shareholders2 and by the time the sun had set upon the second day of his labours he knew that he had won4 ,the next day a letter from the #8,voice'--or from its informant--appeared in the press challenging once more ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's publicly uttered denial of having lot or share in the nefarious activities of ,puto-,congo ,consolidated4 ,the letter made no assertion1 but presented a series of neat interrogations--yes or no2 and ended with the smooth reposeful sneer of one certain of his facts4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's reply gave that dirty platter the clean lick it required inside and out4 ,in the ,puto-,congo ,consolidated he held no shares at all3 in the affiliated #8,native ,industries ,limited' he did hold some1 and since the meeting in question had succeeded in getting hold of a few more4 ,his purpose1 which together with others1 he had been obliged hitherto to conceal1 lest the ,puto-,congo ,executive should get wind of it and take steps to prevent1 he could now declare4 ,he did so resoundingly4 ,the same paper which contained his letter1 contained notice of the special meeting convened by its ,free ,church shareholders to purge the ,native ,industries ,limited of complicity in the ,puto-,congo atrocities1 and to terminate all contracts forthwith4 ,for himself ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had only to add that never1 in the years of waiting for the power which had now come to him1 had he applied to his own use one penny of the dividends he had received from ,native ,industries2 all had been saved up for a further investment when the moment should appear opportune4 ,and with that--facts speaking louder than words--his defence was complete4 ,a month later he held the special meeting of the ,native ,industries shareholders in the hollow of his hand1 and in a speech which the press reported verbatim lashed the administration of the ,chartered ,company of ,puto-,congo ,consolidated with a tongue like the whip of an inspired slave-driver4 ,powerless in the face of numbers the opposition fell away in panic2 the conscience of the ,free ,churches asserted itself1 all the ,directors resigned1 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg and nine others1 with clean records like his own1 were elected to their place4 ,two members of the new ,board proposed ,mr4 ,trimblerigg to be chairman2 and he was elected without a dissentient voice4 ,native ,industries ,limited was to be run henceforth on ,christian lines1 and set an example to the world by earning for itself on those lines larger profits than ever before4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was a consistently sanguine soul2 believing the shareholding system to be a device well-pleasing to ,god1 he believed it could be done4 ,and so that night he went home to his house justified1 in beams of glory all of his own making1 very tired1 but more satisfied with himself than he could ever remember to have been before4 ,,chapter ,,sixteen ,reward of ,virtue ,while ,mr4 ,trimblerigg still went in clouds of glory1 high and uplifted on popular applause1 ,davidina1 back from one of her adventurous expeditions and already preparing for the next1 came to see him4 ,she viewed him up and down admiringly4 #8,you don't look much the worse for it1' she said4 #8,i don't know that ,i am1' he replied genially1 even while his dodging mind was at guess as to what exactly she meant by worse4 #8,but it's taken me off my work a good deal2 and ,i was wanting holiday4' #8,take it1' said ,davidina1 #8,i'll pay4' #8,oh1 it isn't a question of paying1' he returned4 #8,besides1 if it were1 ,i'm the better off of the two of us1 now4' ,his eyes twinkled4 #8,you see1 ,i made lucky investments4' ,davidina almost loved him2 that hit at himself was so good-humoured and playful and apposite4 #8,yes1' she agreed1 #8but it was a narrow squeeze4' #8,it was1' he replied1 #8but ,i like being squeezed4 ,it suits me4 ,then ,i always do my best4' #8,jonathan1' said his sister1 #8,i'm beginning to admire you4 ,if ,i didn't know you so well1 you'd take me in too--almost4' #8,my dear ,davidina1 that is the last thing ,i have ever wished to do1' he said4 #8,hopeless adventures do not appeal to me4' ,she laughed1 and let the argument drop to say3 #8,by the way1 what are you now8 ,what do you call yourself8' #8,i still call myself ,jonathan ,trimblerigg1' was his reply4 #8,i don't propose taking a title1 even if it were offered me4' #8,it's fifteen years since ,uncle ,phineas died1' said ,davidina1 #8and ,i've a reason for asking4' ,so8 ,here was ,davidina proposing to broach the subject on which till now no word had ever been uttered between them4 ,it did not exactly surprise him2 he had always believed that ,davidina had a conscience2 but often he had wondered if1 convinced in her own mind upon the point at issue1 she would trouble to tell him of it--unless spitefully to enjoy his disappointment4 ,but there was no longer any question of disappointment now4 ,in the fold of ,true ,belief1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg knew that he could not have done anything like what he had now accomplished1 or have attained to such a standing or such prospects4 ,nevertheless--had the bait been larger--for there the door stood open waiting for him--who knows8 ,the great fusion of the ,free ,churches1 in a form to include ,true ,belief1 might have come earlier1 and he might have remained ,free ,evangelical in practice and yet qualified in the letter and in the spirit for that deferred benefit which he was now denying himself4 #8,i asked1' said ,davidina1 #8because ,i see that next ,sunday you are going down to preach to your old congregation at ,mount ,horeb4' #8,yes1' said ,jonathan1 #8they've asked me4 ,it's the first time such a thing has happened1 and my text is not going to be the repentant ,prodigal1 either4 ,i haven't changed4 ,we shall just go on where we left off4' #8,that's why ,i'm asking--what you call yourself4 ,do you still reckon yourself a ,true ,believer8' #8,i reckon that what ,i believe is true2 but ,i do not regard myself as a ,true ,believer in the technical sense4 ,i don't think ,i ever was4 ,a ,relative ,believer1 ,davidina1 is what ,i am4' #8,it's a pity1' said ,davidina1 #8in a way4 ,uncle ,phineas left me a letter of instruction--not legal2 but still ,i take it as binding4 ,if you had remained a ,true ,believer till now1 ,i was to go shares with you4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had long since1 in his own mind1 got the better of ,uncle ,phineas and his #bjj a year4 ,but now he saw his chance of getting the better of ,davidina4 ,so he said quietly3 #8,i know that1 he told me4' ,davidina stared4 #8,what did he tell you8' #8,he showed me the letter1' said ,jonathan4 #8,and you never said anything6' cried ,davidina1 astonished4 #8,well1 ,i did say something in a way4 ,i mentioned the letter to you once2 but as you chose to say nothing about it1 ,i left it at that4' #8,and you trusted me8' inquired ,davidina4 #8,absolutely4 ,but very soon after that1 you see1 it didn't matter4 ,i got turned out4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was now feeling very happy1 for he saw that ,davidina was right out of her bearings4 ,but without appearing to notice this unusual phenomenon he went quietly on3 #8,after all it's a good thing as it happens4 ,if you had to divide with me now you wouldn't have enough for your expeditions4' #8,plenty1' she assured him4 #8,ah1 to be sure1 ,i haven't told you4 ,and yet that's why it was important that ,i should know2 for ,i didn't suppose his old two hundred would matter to you much now4 ,but the other day ,i got news3 opening a new quarry they struck a seam of something else quite unexpected2 it isn't exactly plumbago1 or ,cumberland lead as they call it2 but it's rather like it2 and as a consequence the property is up to something like twenty times its value4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg took it very quietly2 he made no sign2 even now he was not sure that he wished things differently4 ,he had a great desire1 for his own spiritual comfort1 to get the better of ,davidina1 just once4 #8,well1 ,i congratulate you1' he said2 #8where will the next expedition be8 ,the ,sahara1 ,persia1 ,arabia8 ,it looks as if you were going to be a famous woman traveller2 you've always had the pluck and the brain2 and now you've got the means for it4' #8,do you mind1 ,jonathan8' she asked him4 #8,mind8 ,i'm delighted4' #8,this is the first time1' she confessed1 #8that you've ever taken me by surprise4 ,you knew1 and you didn't say anything4 ,you knew1 and you let them turn you out4 ,you knew1 and you trusted me4' #8,i've always trusted you4' #8,well1 ,i haven't always trusted you4 ,in fact1 ,i've always suspected you4' #8,i know it1 my dear ,davidina1 but as it amuses you and had left off hurting me--why not8' #8,and now1' she went on1 as if he had not interrupted her1 #8,i don't know whether to suspect you or not4' #8,you'd much better1' he said4 #8,the truth is ,i'm puzzled6' #8,the truth often is very puzzling1' assented ,jonathan1 #8it's so relative4' ,then he got up and stretched himself like a cat enjoying the sun4 #8,and ,i still think1' said ,davidina decidedly1 #8that you are capable of being a villain1 and a blood-thirsty villain too1 if it suited you4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg continued to stretch and to smile at her4 #8,oh1 ,davidina1' he said1 #8you are a comfortable person to talk to6' ,and at that he let her go4 ,for once1 just for once in his life he had got the better of her4 ,davidina was puzzled at him4 ,it was a great event4 ,and a week later he received from ,davidina a voluntary transfer duly executed of one-half of the property1 which at its prospectively enhanced value would make him comfortably off for life4 ,it meant1 it must mean1 that at last he had won her approval4 #8,thou ,davidina seest me6' had no longer its old discomfort for him4 ,in her eye too1 as in everybody's1 there was a blind spot1 and he had managed to hit it4 ,,chapter ,,seventeen ,too ,good to be ,true ,the dulling of ,davidina's eye had a fatal effect upon the career of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,it removed the last obstacle from his way to thinking himself good4 ,his own conscience had been malleable2 but hers1 serving in its place1 had kept an integrity of its own which always left him with a doubt4 ,now the doubt vanished1 and on that mercurial and magnetic temperament it had a surprising effect4 ,i wonder whether readers have realized the extraordinary spiritual comfort which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had derived from the friendly disarmament of ,davidina's suspicions4 ,he had just come through a phase of success and public applause1 with its accompanying sense of power1 unprecedented in his career4 ,but behind it all was the uneasy sense that he had been remiss in the protection of his own interests--that it had been a tight squeeze1 and that only by the kind favour of ,heaven had he got through not merely creditably1 but with so much to spare4 ,the ,native ,industries shares might soon be--as he had joked to ,davidina--a good investment2 but he had blundered in holding them1 or1 at least1 in not getting rid of them before starting on his campaign2 and it always hurt ,mr4 ,trimblerigg very much to feel that--even in his own eyes alone--he had made a fool of himself4 ,it was obvious therefore that to make a fool of the redoubtable ,davidina1 who had for so many years given him an uneasy conscience whenever she wished1 had redressed the balance4 ,and so1 according to his own practical standard1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg stood purged and purified of self-reproof1 with his conscience beautifully easy once more4 ,he had fought upon the side of the angels1 and the battle was won hands down2 in the process1 by embarking all his savings in a venture which temporarily had crashed1 he had seriously reduced his income2 but even that1 thanks to the prospect presented to him by ,davidina did not now concern him1 it even pleased him1 for it was a proof of his disinterested devotion to the cause he had championed4 ,and so1 looking at himself from all sides1 the spiritual1 the public1 and the domestic1 he was abundantly satisfied with what he saw4 ,having made good1 he felt good2 and elated by that feeling1 he decided that the family--that part of it which was not away at school--should have a holiday4 ,in order to begin the holiday as soon as possible--for himself as well as the others--he sent off ,caroline and the little ones1 remaining himself for a few days to clear up a few ends of work still in arrears at his central office1 and in spite of those arrears1 when he had seen ,caroline into the train1 his sense of holiday had already begun4 ,for in spite of all the goodness that was in him1 he continued to find her dull1 with a dullness that did not diminish4 ,and yet1 he told himself1 he was fond of her1 and had never denied her anything that was her due4 ,so1 in that matter also1 his conscience had left him nothing with which to reproach himself4 ,that day1 when his office work was over1 he took recreation in a characteristic way4 ,having bought some quite good cigars1 he mounted to the top of a bus1 and started to explore the metropolis1 or1 more accurately1 to let destiny explore it for him4 ,his method was to accompany the bus to its terminus1 and there change into another1 leaving chance to decide in what fresh direction it should carry him1 east or west1 north or south4 ,in this way1 through a variegation of lighted streets--from some wearing the shadiest subterfuge of life to others of a flamboyant brilliance1 and back again1 for a couple of hours and more he thoroughly enjoyed himself--seeing unconsciously in the kaleidoscopic life seething around him a reflex image of his own1 and in it felt justified4 ,it was all so quick1 unexpected1 and yet congruous1 so criss-cross and various1 and vitally abounding1 and yet1 in its main current uniform1 flowing on with one general purpose common to all--meaning business1 whatever the business might be4 ,and here1 sitting enthroned above it on the front seat of a swift-going motor-bus1 he1 a man who on the right side of middle age1 had become almost famous1 went happy and unrecognized1 his hat drawn low over his eyes1 his coat collar turned up to meet it1 absorbing that large life of the crowd with which so deeply and instinctively he felt himself to be one4 ,and meanwhile destiny did its work4 ,to the seat beside him1 vacated at the last stopping-place1 came a fresh occupant--a woman quick and alert of movement1 well-dressed1 not elderly4 ,before he had been able unobtrusively to get a look at her face1 the conductor was collecting her fare4 ,he heard a familiar voice naming a suburban destination2 a moment later1 quick and decided1 annoyed rather than dismayed1 the voice said1 #8,i've lost my purse6' #8,allow me6' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 #8,good evening4' ,he tendered the money as he spoke4 ,one look at him1 and ,miss ,isabel ,sparling rose to go4 #8,you shall do nothing of the sort1' she said1 #8,i'll get down4' ,and then--destiny4 ,in the road below a coster's barrow1 cutting across the track of the swift-moving traffic1 collided1 shed a wheel1 and sat jammed under the head of the oncoming motor-bus4 ,the impact which lifted all the seated occupants from their seats1 caused ,miss ,isabel ,sparling to disappear from view4 ,breaking her fall by a well-sustained clutch upon the rail1 she struck the hood1 and slid sideways into the upset apple-cart4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 with admirable agility1 heels first1 scrambled after her4 ,the first to get to her1 he found her conveniently unconscious1 and taking possession of his implacable foe in her now defenceless condition1 he hailed a taxi and carried her away to hospital4 ,there1 having learned that she was not dangerously hurt1 and would probably have recovered sufficiently to give account of herself in an hour's time1 he left money to pay for conveyances or telegrams1 and took himself off1 a nameless benefactor1 whose identity ,miss ,isabel ,sparling might either nose out or ignore according to taste1 but could not do otherwise than suspect4 ,and so1 if there was one spot in his kaleidoscopic world where ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 in retrospect1 had not hitherto felt quite happy1 he was able to feel happy now4 ,his embrace of ,isabel ,sparling's inanimate form1 the first time for more than fifteen years--had given him the sudden inspiration that now1 in his own time and in his own way1 he should take up and fulfil the rash promise of his early youth1 and be voice and champion of the ministerial call to women4 ,for now at last he had the standing and a following whereof he was the accepted leader1 which would make the achievement no longer theirs but his1 and give credit where the credit was due4 ,through him1 almost through him alone1 the chains of the ,puto-,congo natives were already being struck off2 following upon that1 through him1 the chains of sex-disability should go likewise4 ,there was no time like the present4 ,he would take a brief holiday1 and then he would begin4 ,he dined at an old-fashioned restaurant in the city1 which had its traditions2 the head waiter1 with recognition in his eye1 but not a word said1 installed him in the seat of honour1 the seat once habitually occupied by one of the great eighteenth-century emancipators of the human brain4 ,the attention pleased him1 still more the respectful silence with which it was done--the acceptance of his right to be there incognito without remark4 ,he ate well of a wonderful pie containing oysters1 and he drank white wine1 followed by ,stilton cheese1 port1 and a cigar4 ,to all these good things life had gently led him away from the early training of his childhood4 ,he accepted them now without scruple and felt the better for them4 ,when he got home1 the elderly domestic1 now in sole charge of the house since the family's departure1 had gone up to bed4 ,about half an hour later1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 comfortably sleepy1 went up to his own4 ,from habit1 because he usually needed it1 he took a bed-side book and began briefly to read2 five minutes generally sufficed2 it did so now4 ,the book he had chosen was of poems by an author whom he felt that he ought to admire more than he did2 there was a splendour of beauty in them which yet managed somehow to escape him4 ,this slight intellectual separation of mind from mind was good as a sedative3 it helped his own to wander4 ,his first selection from the poems was a very famous one1 but too spiritual and elusive for his present mood3 a transcendental game of hide-and-seek1 he could not quite follow4 ,he passed on to the next2 large drops of sleep were already entering his brain1 and he knew that presently it would be making nonsense2 but the opening lines attracted him1 gave him a picture of which he himself became a part4 ,in the middle of every line there was a star--why1 he did not know2 but it gave an effect4 ,he liked it1 and making an effort to keep awake for a few moments longer1 he read on3 #8,athwart the sod which is treading for ,god99 the poet paced with his splendid eyes2 #8,isabel ,starling he stately passes--' ,no1 that wasn't right2 ,sparling1 not ,starling4 ,no1 no1 what was he thinking about8 ,not ,sparling1 or ,starling1 or anything resembling it4 #8,paradise verdure he stately passes4' ,that was better4 ,the following line had long words in it which he didn't understand4 ,the next verse started pleasantly-- #8,the angels at play on its fields of ,summer99 7their wild wings rustled his guide's cigars74' ,no1 not cigars1 something else1 word he didn't know3 cigars would do4 #8,looked up from dessert at the passing comer99 as they pelted each other with handfuls of stars4' ,ah6 ,that was why the stars were there1 they'd got loose on to the printed page3 stars did1 if you happened to get a knock or a fall4 #8,and ,isabel ,sparling with startled feet rose199 hand on sword1 by their tethered cars4' ,wrong1 wrong6 not #8,isabel ,sparling'--#8warden spirits'3 whatever made him say ,isabel ,sparling8 she wasn't a warden spirit or anything like one4 ,but #8tethered cars' was right3 #8motor-bus' would have been better4 ,after that his reading ceased to be consecutive or to convey any sense--only colour and a sort of atmosphere4 #8,plumes night-tinctured1 englobed and cinctured1' then a star1 followed by #8saints'3 #8crystalline pale1' and another star3 #8,heaven'--ah1 yes1 ,heaven1 the place the stars came from3 then #8the immutable crocean dawn'--crocean meant yellow--#8enthusing'--no1 not enthusing #8effusing4' #8,crocean dawn effusing' meant #8yellow dawn coming4' ,if that was what he meant1 why couldn't the fellow say so8 ,why did poets always choose the difficult words8 ,ahead lay more light and colour1 mixed with other things he didn't fully understand--or want to2 he was getting too sleepy for it4 #8,bickering ,conference'3 no1 not conference3 #8gonfalons'3 better go back and read again1 he was only making nonsense2 but #8,crocean dawn effusing' was nonsense too4 #8,ribbed fire1' #8flame-plumed fan'--#8globing clusters1' and stars everywhere with no sense to them4 ,but the poet had splendid eyes--must have had1 to see all that6 ,his lids closed1 then opened again3 he had almost gone to sleep with the light still on4 #8,crocean dawn'3 half consciously he switched it off--not the dawn1 the light2 and with the crocean dawn still in his head slept till morning4 ,,chapter ,,eighteen ,nouveau ,riche ,a ,crocean dawn was outside and around him when he awoke--yellow1 of the metropolitan variety2 it was1 that is to say1 a fog4 ,but in spite of the dullness of the outer world1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg awoke happy1 with the happiness of a man whose prayer has been answered4 ,for many days he had been praying fervently that his character might be placed above suspicion3 and now that ,davidina's suspicion of him had gone1 and his own with it1 he had just everything for the present that he could pray for4 ,and on the top of it1 he had forgiven an enemy--in such a way that1 if he did not miscalculate1 his enemy would presently have to forgive him4 ,there1 in that purified spiritual atmosphere1 another great work was awaiting him4 ,all omens were auspicious2 he knew now for certain that he was going to achieve fame1 and that very soon1 among the ,free ,churches1 he would be able to have almost whatever position he liked1 and do almost anything he chose4 ,and so1 as he got up in that crocean dawn1 he felt all about him1 but especially in his brain1 an effusing sense of well-being and happiness4 ,and as he looked at himself in the glass before shaving1 he smiled3 and it seemed to him then that his countenance was wonderfully bright4 ,presently1 as he shaved1 he began to have a suspicion that the illumination was different and strange3 that there was a curious absence of shadow about his chubby cheeks and under his chin1 which made shaving easy2 and this1 too1 on a dark morning4 ,this fact only dawned on him gradually2 for close above his head hung the electric pendant1 with its bulb of powerful light directed downwards by the white porcelain shade4 ,but when1 thoughtful of the high price of electricity1 he turned it out and once more faced his glass to give a final polish to his hair1 there could no longer be any doubt that he was in the presence of something which waited to be explained--something too mysterious1 too incredible to be described as a phenomenon4 #8,crocean dawn'3 the embodied phrase looked him in the face4 ,but how had it located itself8 ,was it physical1 or spiritual1 or was it only mental8 #8,miracle' he did not think of calling it2 his ,free ,church upbringing had given him an instinctive repugnance to such ,romish things as modern miracles2 though he admitted the possibility 7but that was different7 of miraculous answer to prayer4 ,but miracles of a personal and a phenomenal kind he regarded with a certain suspicion--had indeed published in ,the ,rock of ,ages an article against them1 wherein1 with unrelenting logic1 he had traced them to spiritual agencies--if spiritual they might be called--not of good but of evil4 ,and now--this6 ,but if it was not a miracle in the accepted sense1 if it was only something seen with the eye of the spirit1 nevertheless there it was1 carrying implications1 and imposing if not exactly a burden--a problem1 a weight of responsibility1 which he did not quite know how he was to solve4 ,he could not help feeling that1 for the present at least1 he would like to keep it to himself1 until he was a little more sure4 ,but then a sudden sense of elation carried him away2 for of what he had hoped might be true1 this surely was proof2 he really was--good6 ,even if it was only a recognition--an encouragement sent confidentially1 for his eye alone1 it meant--it must mean--that ,heaven approved of him4 ,the beauty of holiness was upon him in visible form--a certificate of character unimpeachable in its completeness2 and yet1 for an uncomfortable instant1 the thought had flashed--how was he going to live up to it8 ,could he be as holy in practice as this advertised him to be8 ,no1 for the present at least1 he would rather that it should not be seen4 ,this was early dawn3 he was hardly up to it4 ,he must acclimatize himself4 ,so here1 in the privacy of his own chamber1 he examined the portent at leisure1 and from all points of view4 ,trying to see himself1 as others might presently be seeing him1 he continued his study of the glass4 ,around a face broader than it was long1 a wide forehead1 puckered eyes1 short nose1 a neat bunch of a mouth1 and hair worn rather long1 turning up at the ends like the hair of the knave of hearts1 a faint lemon-coloured radiance emerged1 effused1 flowed for a few inches1 and then suddenly stopped short4 ,it was that abrupt ending which gave it so uncanny a character4 ,earthly radiance diminishes as it travels from its source2 but this behaved differently--was indeed1 if anything1 brighter where it ended than where it started4 ,thus1 from a front view1 it had that plate-like appearance with which stained-glass windows and pictures of medival saints had made him familiar4 ,going to his wife's dressing-table he took up the hand-mirror1 so as to get a better side-view4 ,the plate-like appearance persisted3 quarter1 three-quarter1 and back view were always the same4 ,the emanation was not flat1 then1 but round2 a glory of three dimensions encircled him1 and he moved in a globe of light which1 like a head of dandelion seed1 was brightest toward the edge1 yet so faint and unsubstantial1 it seemed as though a breath might blow it away4 ,once more he brushed his hair for experiment4 ,the lemon-coloured flame did not deflect or waver from its outward symmetry2 nor did his head experience any electric thrills1 as though virtue were passing either into him or out of him4 ,with a slight sense of disappointment he laid his brushes down1 and put on his coat4 ,this1 he found on consulting the glass1 had made no change1 except that upon the black cloth fell a slight radiance2 but when for further experiment he once more switched on the light1 it almost disappeared2 and against the window1 looking back at himself in the hand-mirror1 for a moment he persuaded himself that it had gone4 ,but if an involuntary wish had fathered that thought1 he had only to move away from the light for its form and colour to reappear as strongly as ever2 and as it responded with unvarying consistency to all the experiments he played on it1 so did his sense of its reality become a conviction4 ,it was not merely an idea1 it was a fact4 ,and then the feeble tinkle of a bell below told him of breakfast4 ,he went out on to the landing and peeped over the banisters4 ,hearing dilatory sounds among the breakfast things1 #8,mrs4 ,james1' he called1 #8you needn't wait4' ,and a minute later1 on hearing her descend to the basement1 he came downstairs at a run4 ,at table1 in case ,mrs4 ,james should find excuse to return1 he took his wife's place instead of his own1 sitting with his back to the window2 and found1 in that position1 though the morning was still dark1 that he could see into his egg quite easily4 ,thus1 even while away from his mirror1 the sense of something real1 not imaginary1 remained with him4 ,but it gave him no joy2 for though in himself he felt at unity with this day-spring from on high that had visited him1 he was doubtful how it would appear to the outside world--whether the world was ripe for it--whether1 indeed1 it was intended for the outside world at all4 ,it was already in his mind that if he entered his ,mission ,centre office by the ordinary way1 he would have to run the gauntlet of a roomful of clerks2 and that his unexplained accompaniment might provoke comment1 possibly even mirth4 ,and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 even with reason on his side1 was not one who liked to be laughed at4 ,unable to make up his mind what he felt about it himself1 now1 as he considered the matter from the worldly point of view1 he began to regard it with less and less favour4 ,he could not but feel that for such a manifestation as this the world needed preparation2 a publicity campaign should have gone first and some more obvious occasion should have been found for its first appearance--this1 in all humility--than one so merely personal to himself1 a testimonial to the integrity of his character4 ,and then--to give the first test to his doubts--came the interrogative ,mrs4 ,james1 merely wishing to know what meals he would be in for1 and whether1 if callers came to inquire for him1 he would name any time when he should be at home4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 keeping his head in the light of the window1 gave her the required instructions1 and saw at once from the uneventful expression of her face that she had noticed nothing4 ,this threw him suddenly back upon doubt2 and no sooner had she returned to her kitchen than he ran upstairs again1 and looked once more in the glass4 ,the visitation was still upon him2 but now that there was more daylight he saw it much less2 nor had it so definite an edge where the radiance left off4 ,had he been a woman a broad-brimmed hat with plenty of veil about it would have made what was there quite unnoticeable2 or had he been a missionary in ,india wearing a turban in all the glare of the ,eastern sun4 ,but fate had decreed otherwise2 the environment he had to face was not of so obscuring a kind4 ,then all at once the thought occurred to him--what would it be like at night8 ,he drew down blinds1 closed curtains1 and went back to the glass4 ,the vivid result made him realize1 with a shock1 the actual state at which his mind had now arrived with regard to facing his fellow-men4 #8,i shan't be able to go out at night1' he said to himself4 #8,i should frighten people4' ,but as a matter of fact he was getting frightened himself4 ,he knew definitely now that he wished it had not happened3 and so1 being of that mind1 more and more did he entreat to be told how it could have happened4 ,was it from his brain1 or his body1 or his soul1 that these rays emanated2 and were they a symptom--physical1 mental1 or spiritual--of sickness or health2 and if of sickness1 were they to be temporary or permanent8 ,so he debated2 yet when it came to addressing himself directly to the possible source of all this trouble1 he was hesitant what to do4 ,he did not wish to seem ungrateful1 or to confess to moral cowardice1 or even to plead the most plausible excuse--that he was unworthy2 and so after hesitating for awhile he kept his thoughts unobtrusively to himself on the earthly plane4 ,what never struck him for a moment was that he had done this himself--that1 just as when you put water in a kettle upon the fire1 it boils till presently it boils over1 so if you put self-belief and self-worship into an ebullient and imaginative brain1 the belief will out1 like murder1 in one form or another2 and as pictorial imagery was ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's strong point--to the point1 one may say1 of intoxication--this halo was but the bouquet or visible fragrance of the life within4 ,and just as his own and his wife's mirror between them reflected it with accuracy and completeness1 with equal accuracy and completeness it reflected him4 ,it ought1 therefore1 to have done him good2 but the experience was too wild and sudden and strange2 for this was the very first time in all his life when he had wished to keep himself to himself1 under circumstances which apparently made it impossible4 ,nor did he yet realize that this was but the preliminary stage--the eruption stage--the stage of concentrated effort outwardly expressed1 in which it sought to establish itself in his mind and consciousness as a fixed part of a pervasive and expansive personality1 destined to go much further in the world than he had ever yet dreamed4 ,being a temperamental halo--pale at first1 rather uncertain of itself and of its relations to the society into which it was born1 it was not yet all that it would wish to be2 it had not yet made itself at home4 ,but even in the first few hours of its existence it fluctuated1 waxing and waning in response to the spirit within2 and when the time came for him to go out into the street and face the world1 when for a few uncomfortable moments he stood hesitating by the hat-stand1 it almost died out4 ,but this would have been to deny himself entirely2 and this he could not do4 ,he put on his overcoat2 then with a wavering mind asked himself what hat he should wear with it--with ,,it1 that is to say4 ,it seemed almost to savour of irreverence that he should wear a hat at all4 ,but unwilling to make himself more noticeable than necessary1 he finally selected one4 ,then1 before putting the hat on1 he went upstairs1 to have a last look at himself4 ,it was then--he saw1 or hoped--almost undetectable2 but when he put on his hat--a black one--it once more leapt into local prominence1 disappointing his hope that what covered his head might have covered that also4 ,on the contrary1 his hat failing to contain it1 it seemed rather to contain his hat4 ,as he went forth1 the undemonstrative ,mrs4 ,james looked out at him from her window4 ,she had not detected1 she did not detect now1 the thing he had striven to conceal3 but his fluttered manner and his talking to her with his back to the light had made her suspicious3 #8,it's my belief he's been having a night out1' she remarked to herself as she watched him go4 ,and though she owned it was no concern of hers1 she allowed the suspicion to entertain her all the rest of the day2 and when in the afternoon a rather agitated lady called1 with a bruised face1 wishing urgently to see him or to know where he was to be found1 but refusing to disclose her name1 she did her best for his morals by giving the address which in another twenty-four hours would be his2 where1 she explained pointedly1 he had gone with his wife and family to have a little rest and be away from people4 ,and while ,mrs4 ,james was thus providing adventure for him1 according to the light that was in her1 he by reason of the light that was not in him but on him1 was having adventures of his own4 ,upon opening the street door he was pleased to find that it was beginning to rain4 ,he went back1 fetched his umbrella1 opened it1 and emerged holding the umbrella rather low in order to protect--his hat4 ,then he stepped out briskly1 trying to think and to move naturally2 but the terrible literalness of the streets troubled him4 ,in such surroundings he felt more than ever the incongruity which under modern conditions1 separates matter from spirit4 ,to walk in the light of the gospel had hitherto seemed to him easy2 but now to walk in his own light was difficult4 ,he was getting along1 however1 and so far had not attracted attention4 ,on the other side of the street went a whistling boy1 casting down newspapers through area railings4 ,as he passed he felt that the boy had become aware of him1 for the whistling had stopped4 ,a moment later from behind1 from across the street1 came the cry1 #8,hullo1 old lamp-shade6' ,was that from the boy8 ,was it intended for him8 ,and was it as a lighted scarecrow that the world was going to regard him8 ,he did not turn to find out2 he made no sign that he had heard2 but passing a shop front he sidled1 and tilting his umbrella took a look at himself4 ,yes1 under the shade of the umbrella1 it was painfully distinct4 ,he lifted the umbrella away2 it almost disappeared4 ,that decided him4 ,it was only humility1 he told himself2 he did not wish to be seen of men2 he furled his umbrella1 and stood with his best hat exposed to the rain4 ,cabs and taxis passed him2 he could1 of course1 have taken one2 but those dark interiors would make more show of him than an umbrella2 a bus with its glass sides1 or better still its top open to the sky1 was what he now waited for4 ,and then down came more rain1 making a bus-top ridiculous4 ,he screwed his courage up to the sticking point2 after all1 it must be done2 he must test his public and find out if life--life on earth1 life inside as well as outside a bus1 life in a modern city--was possible4 ,round the corner came the right numbered motor-bus4 ,as it drew up he had a cowardly sense of relief2 there was no one on the top1 and the inside seemed full4 ,the conductor dispelled his hope4 #8,room for one1' he said2 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg got in4 ,it was unfortunate2 he had to go to the far end1 where there was less light4 ,an old lady1 as he settled beside her1 said to her companion1 #8,i do believe the sun's coming out6' #8,it can't3 it's raining too hard1' was the reply4 ,before long he was aware that those opposite were studying him with curious gaze4 ,elderly gentlemen lowered their papers1 wiped and refixed their glasses1 but did not resume reading4 ,their eyes bulged a little as they tried to believe them4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg grew irritated2 he wished they would make up their minds and have done with it4 ,presently a woman1 sitting opposite1 with a bandaged infant in her arms1 leaned forward and remarked confidentially3 #8,so you've been 'aving it too1 have yer8' #8,i beg your pardon8' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 #8,having what8' #8,haven't they been ,x-raying you8' she explained inquiringly4 #8,they done it to this one 'ere six times2 but it don't show like that on 'im4 ,does it 'urt much8' #8,not at all1' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 smiling3 and then1 taking a plunge at his public1 for others were listening4 #8,this is merely a first experiment1 ,i didn't think anyone would notice it4' ,he was aware that1 as he spoke1 the eyes of all his fellow-passengers had gravitated towards him2 that he was exciting more undivided interest now than when he first got in4 ,just then the conductor came along to collect his fare1 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 who knew the amount of it1 tendered a three-penny bit1 without comment4 #8,angel1 sir8' inquired the man encouragingly1 naming a destination1 intent on his job4 ,somebody at the far end tittered1 and a smile went down the row of faces opposite4 ,that remark1 and its reception1 revealed to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg more than anything which had yet happened1 the unfortunate position in which any approach to the truth placed him4 ,the spirit of the age was not attuned to receive it seriously1 far less with reverence4 ,dispensations of ,providence such as this no longer entered into the calculations of men's minds2 nor was seeing believing1 except on lines purely material4 ,surrounded by that atmosphere of scepticism which he felt in his bones1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had himself succumbed1 and spoken1 not as a man of faith having things of mystery to declare1 but as an experimentalist1 peddling in science--so adapting himself to a public which had no use for things spiritual3 truly an inglorious demonstration of his famous thesis that truth is only relative4 ,the old lady and her companion got out1 looking back at him as they went with slightly scared eyes and puzzled smiles4 ,one of the newspaper readers moved up and sat next to him4 ,the bus had halted under the gloom of a broad railway arch1 and he became aware that a gentle light1 emanating from himself1 fell upon the faces on either side of him4 ,the newspaper reader1 making acknowledgment with a pleased smile1 tilted his newspaper so as to obtain the benefit4 #8,very convenient1' he murmured2 #8quite a new idea4 ,where can one get it8' ,and so challenged ,mr4 ,trimblerigg still had not the courage to explain4 #8,i haven't the maker's name1' he said4 #8,it isn't mine4 ,i'm only trying it4' ,and hearing himself so speak1 he sat aghast2 it was horrible thus to be denying the light that was in him4 ,yet what else could he say1 so as to be believed8 #8,how do you put it on8' pursued his interrogator4 #8,what is it1 luminous paint8' #8,no1 nothing of that sort1' he replied4 #8,it's a secret4 ,i mustn't explain4' ,and then1 though he had not reached his destination1 unable to bear it any more1 he called for a stop and got out4 ,having alighted on the pavement1 feeling painfully the concentration of at least twenty-four pairs of eyes upon his back1 he put up his umbrella to cut off the view1 though it had really ceased to rain1 and made haste away4 ,somebody had got out after him4 ,he heard steps insistently close following him2 then a voice speaking the ,american accent4 #8,say6 pardon me1 sir4 ,do you mind telling whether you are advertising that as a patent8 ,can be got anywhere8' #8,no1 it can't exactly be got1' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 whose own more insistent question was whether it could be got rid of4 #8,it isn't mine4 ,i'm just trying it4' #8,it's very remarkable1 very striking1' said his interlocutor4 #8,there's a future in that contraption1 sure2 or ,i'm much mistaken4 ,you've patented it1 ,i suppose1 before bringing it out8 ,if you're needing capital to develop it1 ,i'm your man4' #8,no1 no1' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg hastily4 #8,i don't want to develop it4 ,it's developing itself2 and--and1' he hesitated--#8it isn't for sale6' ,then1 trying for once to have courage1 and stand a faithful witness for truth3 #8,it's not what you think it is1' he said4 #8,it's not material2 it's spiritual--a visitation2 but the revelation of its meaning has not yet come to me4' ,and so saying he took a perilous run into the traffic1 and dodging death on nimble feet1 got safely away to the other side4 ,he left behind him a stunned patriot4 #8,america1 you're beaten6' said the voice with the accent4 ,,chapter ,,nineteen ,the ,conversion of ,caroline ,mr4 ,trimblerigg joined his family in a small retired bungalow1 standing between estuary and sea1 on the outskirts of a large health-resort looking south4 ,it was the very place for him to be--if not exactly alone--unobserved4 ,the shore was shadeless2 across an arm of the estuary a rickety foot-bridge led to copse and field1 and across the railroad to a wide expanse of heath4 ,after that came the littered margin of the town1 with its cheap and scrubby architecture run up as a trap for holiday-makers4 ,he had arrived by daylight1 and occupying a window-seat on the sunny side of the carriage had managed to get through without further adventures4 ,at the office also he had done fairly well1 entering by the door marked #8private1' and working with the electric light well over him4 ,his children1 who always loved him when they saw him1 but forgot him easily again in absence1 ran boisterously to greet him1 and each in turn entered the charmed circle without making remark4 ,so did ,caroline4 ,they kissed him1 noticing nothing4 ,this cheered him1 but he knew it could only be for a time1 and as soon as they got to #8,the ,mollusc1' which was the bungalow's name1 he said to his wife1 #8,i want to speak to you1' and drawing her into a room apart1 waited--to see4 ,she was slow to realize that anything was amiss2 and this ought to have cheered him still more4 ,but now that it was his wife alone--a public of which he was not afraid--he was irritated4 ,it was an instance of the extreme slowness of her mental uptake4 #8,well8' he said at last1 challengingly1 #8don't you notice anything8' ,he moved from the window as he spoke4 ,then she did4 #8,good gracious6' she exclaimed4 #8,jonathan1 what have you been doing to yourself8 ,have you been going about in town looking like that8' ,this tone1 from ,caroline of all people1 he could not stand2 she at least should be taught to look at the thing properly--with respect4 #8,i have been doing nothing to myself--nothing6' he replied4 #8,as it is the will of ,heaven1 you might try to speak respectfully about it--or else hold your tongue6' ,she looked at him in pained bewilderment4 #8,do you mean you can't help it8' she said at last4 #8,that is exactly what ,i do mean1' he said4 ,his pent-up bitterness broke out4 #8,i've had two days of it--about as much as ,i can stand4 ,yes6 you round your eyes1 but you don't realize what it has made me go through4 ,it's been spiritual desolation4 ,i was like an owl in the wilderness1 with all the other silly owls hooting at me1 taking it for a show1 a trick-turn1 a patent night-light that burns all through the day to amuse itself2 and now you6 ,no2 it's not ,x-ray2 it's not ,tatcho for the hair2 it's not luminous paint2 nor is it a mechanical adjustment to prevent people tumbling against one in the dark or help them to read newspapers in omnibuses4 ,all those things have been said to me in the last twenty-four hours2 and if only one of them were true1 ,i believe to ,god ,i should be a happier man than ,i am6 ,the plagues of ,egypt may have seemed all right to ,moses1 but ,pharaoh didn't like them6 ,why ,heaven has seen fit--,i don't know4' ,he paused4 #8,but there it is1 so ,i must learn to bear it4' ,caroline said3 #8,when you've had your supper1 you'll feel better4' #8,i shall not feel better2 ,i shall never feel better until ,i know--either what sense to make of it1 or how to get rid of it4 ,it's just as if--as if ,heaven didn't know that the world's mind has changed about things4 ,i shall become a laughing-stock4 ,what good will that do8' ,and then ,caroline1 who had been brought up on biblical knowledge1 was very annoying4 #8,didn't ,jeremiah shave one side of his head8' she inquired1 #8or roll in the dirt and eat books1 and things of that sort8 ,or was it ,isaiah6' #8,i don't know1' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg shortly4 #8,it wasn't me1 anyway4 ,if one did that sort of thing to-day1 one's use in the world would be over4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's view was the social3 ,caroline's was only the practical3 trying to be resourceful1 she said4 #8,you might try brushing it4' #8,i might try cutting my head off1' he retorted4 #8,i wish you'd stop talking foolishly4' ,then ,caroline1 being a dutiful wife1 and seeing how much he was put out1 did her best to soothe him4 #8,i don't think people will notice it1' she said2 #8not much if you don't want them to4' #8,then you'd better leave off thinking6' he said4 #8,though ,i haven't wanted them to1 they have noticed3 they've done nothing but notice6 ,if you like1 ,i'll go and put my head into the kitchen now1 and you'll hear that charwoman of yours faint at the mere sight of me4' #8,no1 she won't1' said ,mrs4 ,trimblerigg1 #8she's gone4 ,she lays the table for supper and then goes home1 and doesn't wash up till she comes again in the morning4 ,and it's ,jane's evening out2 so there'll be nobody4' ,these domestic details infuriated him2 ,caroline was so stupid4 ,and she continued to be4 #8,don't you think you ought to see a ,doctor8' she inquired4 #8,i'll see the ,doctor damned first1' replied ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,her suggestion of ice was no better received2 it seemed as if she could only annoy him4 ,and then one of the children outside shouted1 #8,mummy1 when are we going to have supper8' #8,go and give them their supper6' he said2 and his tone was very bitter2 bitter against her1 and against the children1 and against the whole world wanting its supper1 while on his head fate had laid this burden of a blessing1 too grievous for the flesh to bear4 ,yes1 the flesh2 that was the trouble4 ,he saw the spiritual side of it--the symbolic splendour beckoning clear from heights which he could realize but which the world could not4 ,he saw that1 but he saw the other side also6 ,there was no public for it2 and if no public1 where was the good--what could he do with it8 ,live it down8--or so arrange matters that it should never show8 ,that meant cutting his life in half1 and concealing the best of it4 ,there he was1 a furtive fugitive in the bosom of his own family2 the children wanting their supper1 and he avoiding it2 yet surely--if this thing was from ,heaven--children1 his own children at least1 ought to be trained to grow accustomed to it1 and take a right view of it4 ,then why not begin8 ,caroline had gone into the kitchen to get the supper ready4 ,he called her back4 #8,i'll come1' he said1 #8they'll have to see it sometime4 ,tell them--for to-night at any rate--not to make remarks4' ,so ,mrs4 ,trimblerigg went off to impose discipline on the family4 ,to the maid she said1 #8you can go out now4' ,to the children when the maid had gone3 #8your father has got something the matter with his head4 ,you are not to make remarks4' ,presently she went and told him that supper was ready4 ,a lamp was upon the table2 but it wore a shade2 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg did not1 it would have been no use4 ,he entered the room aware1 in that half-light1 that he had become conspicuous2 nor could he be unconscious of the three pairs of eyes turning upon him an expectant gaze which became riveted4 ,benjie1 the youngest1 gave an instinctive squeak of excitement2 then1 hushed by his mother but forgetting to close his mouth1 he dribbled4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 according to custom1 stood to ask a blessing4 #8,for these1 and all ,thy other mercies1' he said1 and stopped short3 #8a mercy' was what he could not feel it to be4 ,conversation was slow to begin4 ,all the children reached out with healthy appetites for the bread and butter4 ,amy1 conscientious child1 still all eyes1 seeking an unforbidden topic of conversation1 surmounted the impediment by saying1 #8,ma1 why didn't we have pancakes to-day8' #8,hush1 my dear6' said ,caroline1 who had a feeling that the remark was too apposite2 and indeed the barbed point had already gone home4 ,so that--thought ,mr4 ,trimblerigg--was how it appeared to a child's eyes6 ,he helped them all quickly from the dish before him2 after that they looked at him less continuously1 but not less admiringly4 ,this eased the situation till ,martin1 the elder of the two boys1 inquired concerning the food upon his plate4 #8,mummy1 why don't poached eggs have their yellow outside8 ,why don't they1 ,mummy8' ,caroline told him not to talk1 but to go on eating4 ,amy remedied matters in her own way1 saying wisely1 #8,they do come outside when they're hatched2 they turn into chickens then1 don't they1 ,mummy8' ,martin said1 #8,no1 they don't6' and looked corroboratively at his father4 ,benjie said3 #8,yes1 they do3 eggs do4' ,caroline said3 #8,i told you not to talk4' ,but children must talk1 especially if there are three of them2 and ,martin being now silent1 ,benjie took up the running4 ,laying his head on one side1 and stroking it with his spoon1 #8,mummy1' he said1 #8if ,i was to catch fire1 wouldn't ,i get burned up8 ,wouldn't ,i1 ,mummy8' ,then ,mr4 ,trimblerigg could stand it no longer2 he took up his plate1 and left the room4 ,as soon as he had closed the door he heard ,benjie give a howl1 and knew that ,caroline1 applying useless remedies1 had slapped him4 ,presently1 having sent the children to bed1 she came in to comfort him4 #8,they'll get used to it presently1' she assured him1 #8if it doesn't go off4 ,but ,i wish you'd see somebody4' ,this time she avoided the word #8doctor1' because it irritated him4 #8,i suppose they talked of me as soon as ,i'd gone8' he said1 ignoring the suggestion4 #8,a little1 naturally1' she replied4 #8,what did they say8' #8,d'you think ,i'd better tell you1' queried ,caroline1 wishful to spare him4 #8,yes1 ,i may as well hear the worst4' #8,well1' ,martin said1 #8,is ,father a holy man1 ,mother8' ,caroline had made her selection apparently3 she uttered it without conviction2 and to hear it so repeated gave ,mr4 ,trimblerigg no joy4 ,truth from the mouths of babes and sucklings--even revealed truth sceptically reported--failed to comfort him4 #8,i think ,i'll go out for a turn by myself1' he said4 ,then stopped2 for outside it was dark4 ,he went into the bedroom instead2 and ,caroline took advantage of his absence1 though too late for it to get through that night1 to go and send off a telegram4 ,it was addressed to ,davidina1 and it merely repeated what she had said to the children3 #8,jonathan has something the matter with his head4 ,come at once4' ,but though that was her view of it1 ,caroline had no notion how much really was the matter with his head--having only seen the malady in its fainter and less convincing manifestations2 she had not encountered it in the dark4 ,when she went up to bed she found him already in it1 with a lamp on the table beside him1 reading2 and at first1 as she looked at him1 she thought he was already cured2 the globe of light had become quite unapparent4 ,wise in her way1 instead of exclaiming on the fact1 she said nothing4 #8,better wait1' she thought1 #8and give it time1'--hoping that by the morning he would have quite got over it4 ,and so with composed leisure1 she went first to bed1 and then presently to sleep1 leaving him still at his reading4 ,and only when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was quite sure she was safely asleep1 did he put out the light and resign himself to the rest he so much needed4 ,the reason was that ,caroline's composed materialism had got upon his nerves2 her detached reception of ,martin's godly suggestion had dealt him the shrewdest blow of all4 ,so little apparently was her mind open to conviction of a spiritual kind1 that she had passed it over as not worth a thought4 ,but in this ,mr4 ,trimblerigg did ,caroline an injustice2 she was merely dense to nuances2 half-tones had not impressed her1 and a thing which she could only half-see she could only half-believe in4 ,it was far otherwise when1 waking up in the small hours1 she beheld ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's head1 unconscious but luminous1 lying in a charger of golden light--light so strong that she might have read by it4 ,so overwhelming was the effect of it then1 that she got out of bed1 fell upon her knees beside him1 and in meek simplicity1 though a little late in the day1 gave him the worship which was his due2 for now truly he looked beautiful4 ,her mind experienced a revulsion2 he had been concealing himself from her4 ,all these years she had been married to a holy man and had not known it2 had even had her doubts of him4 ,now they were gone2 that he should be able to look like that while unconscious and asleep1 convinced her utterly4 ,contrite1 she wept4 ,how could she guess that in his sleep he was only carrying on with so much more success that to which conscious life presented difficulties8 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was having a pleasant dream4 ,,chapter ,,twenty 8,the ,desire of the ,moth for the ,star0 ,he woke from his dream to conditions favourable to peace of mind2 a rippling sea1 a sunny shore1 and a day that promised to be cloudless4 ,they breakfasted in a verandah looking seawards1 the children seemed to miss something but said nothing2 and ,caroline's manner showed an improved change4 ,reserve and deference mingled with tenderness when she spoke to him4 ,when she suggested plans for the day she was shy and a little nervous3 for now her conscience was troubled3 she had ,davidina on her mind1 and was expecting the reply-telegram4 ,she had sent off the message without consulting him1 under what she now felt to be a misapprehension4 ,if ,davidina wired that she was coming she would have to break it to him2 and fearing that the news would not please him1 she put off the evil moment as long as possible4 ,her immediate anxiety was to get him out of the house before the arrival of the telegram4 ,this she managed to do3 and all day nursed her guilty secret that ,davidina would arrive by a late train to know what was the matter4 ,and as a consequence1 as much as possible she avoided him4 ,meanwhile ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was thinking4 ,immediate conditions were conducive to a quiet examination of the problem2 but though temporarily at ease1 he was not getting more reconciled to the prospect4 ,he had been long accustomed to hear and speak of people being overtaken in sin2 but it had never entered his mind that1 by a similar involuntary capitulation to a stronger power1 they could also be overtaken in goodness--still less in goodness of so conspicuous a character1 attaching itself like a disease1 independent of the will4 #8,the white flower of a blameless life' was a poetic phrase which1 like that other about sin1 had passed into the currency of the language3 and mentally he had always been able to wear it1 and feel the better for the consciousness that it was there4 ,but it was a different matter when becoming visible and almost concrete1 it turned into an evening primrose1 catching him by the hair of his head1 and refusing to let go4 ,martin's question1 #8,is ,father a holy man8' was a child's way of putting it2 but substantially it was so much his own point of view about the visitation now afflicting him1 that he began to wonder whether he might not get rid of it by ceasing to be holy4 ,if he went into the kitchen and kissed the charwoman1 if he made himself drunk1 if he went down to the marine parade and extracted cigarettes from the automatic slot-machine by inserting metal discs instead of pennies1 or if--to make the matter worse--he were to add sacrilege to dishonesty1 go into the church and rob the poor box--if he did those or other similar things1 would this outward expression of his sanctity take itself off--go away and leave him8 ,but while entertaining the fancy that it might do so1 he more than doubted it2 for he felt that in his own heart he would not be doing any of those things2 that it would not really be him2 internally his good qualities and motives would remain unaffected4 ,on such lines it would be useless1 therefore1 to experiment4 ,but mentally was there nothing which1 if sedulously entertained1 might bring him back to a more mundane and normal condition8 ,here1 as he sat on the shore1 with his children building sand-castles near by1 and his wife making domestic sounds in the bungalow behind him1 could he not definitely will away the manifestation by a slight deflection from his high ideals towards what is called temptation8 ,he began to think of ,isabel ,sparling2 and to think of her pleasurably2 she was still attractive to him2 and that he had once again held her in his arms counted for something1 gave to youthful memories a livelier flavour--a bouquet which hitherto they had lacked4 ,he and ,isabel ,sparling had become enemies--or rather she had become his1 and had all the more remained so because he had successfully evaded and got the better of her4 ,but he had always liked her1 her pluck1 her perseverance1 her capacity1 and the spark of zealous fire for a cause which had burned in her for years1 and which nothing could quench4 ,provocative1 annoying1 unscrupulous and vindictive though she might be1 she was never dull4 ,he knew that with her he would have had a more uneasy time than with ,caroline--yet now he wished--or told himself he wished--that he had taken the risk1 adopted her crusade as his own1 and married her4 ,it would have been harder1 more uphill work--but looking back complacently on his successful career1 due entirely to his own powers and intuitions--he believed he could have done it4 ,and had he adopted that course1 life1 otherwise so interesting1 would not have had at its centre that dull1 that very dull spot which was ,caroline4 ,so ,mr4 ,trimblerigg sat and thought1 indulging himself with the imagined sweetness of forbidden fruit4 ,but as he was not in the very least ashamed or put out of countenance by the entertainment of these wayward fancies they had of course no effect upon him4 ,his internal unity of purpose not consciously weakened1 he continued to feel complacent and good1 in the sense that he had always been--good to himself4 ,it was not as if anybody had found him out2 then it would have been different4 ,the only person who ever found him out was ,davidina2 and as to her1 since their last encounter1 his mind was at peace4 ,the evening post brought letters forwarded from town2 and ,caroline1 having to confess what she had done1 made them the occasion for breaking into the solitude in which all day she had left him4 ,an added reason was that one of the bunch was in the handwriting of ,davidina4 ,it was futile any longer to postpone the news that ,davidina was on her way to see him4 ,caroline handed him the letters1 and as after sorting them through he seemed in no hurry to open them--,davidina's she noticed1 he put aside from the rest--she opened1 on her own account1 the matter wherewith she was charged4 ,the ,presence had begun to manifest itself again1 though not as powerfully yet1 as at the moment which had brought her to her knees and to conversion4 ,she was moved1 feeling very humble towards him2 and her eyes grew full of tears4 #8,i am sorry1 ,jonathan1 ,i have misjudged you1' she said4 ,the announcement1 though it surprised1 rather pleased him2 for he saw plainly by her look that misjudgment was over4 #8,how have you misjudged me1 my dear8' he asked4 #8,i--,i didn't think you were always quite straight1' she said4 #8,straight'3 the word had a certain sting4 ,it stirred faintly the slumbers of that small sleeping dog--his conscience1 which he was so accustomed to let lie4 ,then his sure instinct for defence brought him gaily to the attack4 #8,oh1 yes1 ,i know1 my dear child1 sometimes you've been jealous4' #8,no1 no1 never really1' she said1 #8only ,i know ,i'm stupid--so1 of course1 sometimes--' ,at that she left it and returned to her point--the point she had been wondrously cogitating all day in her slow mind4 #8,no1 ,i mean straight in quite little things4 ,you see1 ,jonathan1 ,i know now ,martin was right4 ,i haven't understood you--not properly4 ,and when ,i say #8not straight1' ,i mean in such little1 little things1 that never seemed to matter till now4' ,this was a new experience altogether4 ,caroline was thoroughly surprising him4 #8,how didn't you think ,i was straight8' he asked4 #8,well1 for one thing1' she replied1 #8,i know now that you do take your cold bath4 ,i thought you didn't4' ,had ,heaven thundered and shaken off the roof1 leaving nothing above but bare sky1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg could not have been more startled than at those words4 ,to poor honest ,caroline1 the acceptance of the spiritual interpretation of what had happened to him meant1 meant necessarily that he had always not merely been good in his own sense of the term1 but done the straight thing--taken his baths1 and in all quite small things told the truth1 the whole truth1 and nothing but the truth4 ,and then1 on the top of that1 while the shock of it still reverberated through his soul1 ,caroline let go the thing she had come to tell him4 #8,davidina is coming1' she said4 #8,forgive me1 ,jonathan1 ,i didn't understand then4 ,and when you refused to see a doctor ,i telegraphed for her4' #8,what did you tell her8' #8,only that you'd got something the matter with your head4 ,she's coming by the late train4 ,it's nearly due4' ,he sat so still that she grew frightened4 ,she reached out a hand and touched him4 #8,go away1' he said1 #8let me alone6' ,and weeping she got up and left him4 ,for a long while he sat on1 motionless1 unable to move4 ,doubt leapt in on him1 engulfed him3 blackness--such as he had never known before--was upon his soul4 ,not ,davidina--no1 not ,davidina herself1 whom he had now to expect by the late train--had ever dealt him so devastating a blow4 #8,now ,i know you take your cold bath3 ,i thought you didn't4' ,o pellucid ,eve3 ,o rib of ,adam1 how naked hast thou made the man for whom thou wast formed6 ,and this without in the least intending it1 or knowing what she had done4 ,it was true that1 even now1 she had not found him out2 but she had revealed to him with fatal clearness the fact that the shirking of a cold bath and the wearing of a yellow halo were incompatible4 ,and this was the worst thing she had against him1 this trivial doubt2 but it was enough4 ,down came his castle4 ,a horrid blush went over him--down even into his clothes2 it went farther1 had he only known4 #8,thou1 ,lord1 seest me6' he said to himself1 got up1 and went swiftly out into the starlit dusk carrying a red light4 ,and then the thought of ,davidina1 coming on the top of this1 struck him cold4 ,he remembered that he had upon him a letter from her which he had not yet read2 opening it1 he drew out the contents4 ,there was no need to go indoors to get a light2 that which he had was sufficient4 ,the letter was very brief and to the point4 #8,found you out6 but no matter3 you did the honest thing with your eyes open--for once4' ,enclosed was an old envelope1 cut open across the top1 still bearing its seal1 addressed to ,davidina in ,uncle ,phineas's handwriting4 ,minutely examining the seal1 he found--what ,davidina also had found--traces of his own handiwork1 a scar showing where it had been removed and put on again4 #8,idiot6' he said to himself--why hadn't he covered up the breakage with a larger seal8 ,or why1 again1 after all those years had he troubled to tell a lie about it8 ,but the reason for that he knew2 it was so that he might stand well--better than he had ever stood before--in ,davidina's eyes4 ,just that once1 so simply1 so easily1 by so slight a departure from the truth--he had got the better of her2 and now her clutch was upon him again4 ,she was coming through the dark night2 he must meet her face to face1 and hear her asking in hard matter-of-fact tone3 #8,well1 what's the matter now8' ,through the house he heard a knock at the front door2 the thought that it might possibly be ,davidina1 come earlier than she was expected1 drove him down the garden in flight and out by the back way4 ,he was suffering badly4 ,the double buffet--,caroline's1 followed by ,davidina's1 had left him dazed2 he had no spirit left4 ,if there had ever been doubt of him in his wife's easy-going and utterly domesticated mind1 how could he meet the all-seeing eye of ,davidina1 in the expectation that his shining certificate of virtue would1 even for a moment1 divert her from common sense8 ,all the haloes in the world would not convince ,davidina that he really took his bath of a cold morning3 it would convince her of nothing of which he would like her to be convinced1 but only of other things that he would rather she did not know4 ,and yet the thought stuck to him1 #8,i am good1 sometimes4' ,to that anchor he clung like a drowning man who happens also to be a little drunk4 ,if he could only have let the anchor go it would have given him a better chance4 ,but no--a sense of his sometimes exceeding goodness still clung to him4 ,out into the night he went1 and his blush went with him--extending farther than he knew4 ,all the mercury of his composition had gone down into his boots2 and though he still believed in himself he was very1 very miserable4 ,the fact that he attracted moths1 added to his depression4 ,it was merely one more indication of the futility of the moral emblem which had fastened in on him4 ,coming to a stile leading into fields1 he made it his prie-,dieu1 and kneeling on the foot-rest bowed his head and prayed3 #8,o ,lord1 take away my life2 thou hast laid on me a burden too heavy for me to bear6' ,so1 characteristically--,i had often heard him do it before--still shifting the blame from himself to others4 ,one did for him what one could--stirred memories he had striven to make dormant1 suggested to him interpretations of his action in the past which at other times he would have denied vehemently4 ,all ,i could do ,i did to make him shake off for good that halo of self-worship with which he had surrounded himself4 ,but1 as always when he took to his knees1 he left me with a peculiar sense of helplessness4 ,his tendency to defend himself in prayer not only from the imputations the world made against him1 but from the imputations of his own conscience1 was just as much in evidence as ever2 and familiarity with the ,scriptures continued to make sincerity of speech difficult4 ,quotations from the ,old ,testament kept coming into his head to be hurled at mine1 as though1 from such a source1 they must needs be true statements of fact4 #8,i have been very zealous for the ,lord ,god1' he cried2 and then having chosen his prophet1 started upon variations4 #8,the priests of ,baal ,i have slain2 ,i have broken down their altars2 and ,i1 only ,i1 am left1 desolate4' ,he was not arguing1 he was telling me4 ,with his persistencies and his prevarications he made me really angry at last2 for he would not leave off4 ,as ,jonah once had a great fish prepared for him1 so ,i prepared and drove a cow up to the stile where he was kneeling4 ,it touched him with its nose4 ,in the darkness he mistook it for a passer-by1 waiting to get over4 ,apologizing he got up and stood aside2 and when he discovered his mistake it made him feel very foolish4 ,he ceased praying1 and rambling quickly across the field1 found himself presently at a level-crossing4 ,away on the other side he heard mixed music1 shouting1 laughter1 and the crack of toy fire-arms1 where the heath had temporarily become a fair-ground4 ,from farther away in the distance came the mumble of an approaching train4 ,as he trod the metals1 he wondered--his sense of direction being defective--which was the up and which the down line4 ,he stood still on the track4 ,suddenly into his quick divided mind the thought flashed--suppose there were an accident6 ,he had heard of people standing to watch trains becoming fascinated by them1 hypnotized1 unable to move4 ,hypnotism would1 he supposed1 provide a comparatively happy death3 it would also make the recipient irresponsible for his actions4 ,well1 an express train might do it2 but of local or luggage trains he was doubtful2 they had not sufficient thunder or speed4 ,and so1 between two rails1 and still of two minds as usual1 he halted and waited4 ,the idea began to fascinate him1 as always where so much hung upon chance4 ,was he standing on the right track8 ,would it be an express1 or would it be a local4 ,and then the thought--if it were an express1 and with track coinciding1 would he after death display to a remorseful world that sign of divine approbation which as a living man now so encumbered him8 ,it was a wonderful and an inspiring thought2 and as it came forthwith it blazed into a certainty2 he became exalted and uplifted in spirit4 ,yes1 posterity would see him in his true light1 as he had always felt himself to be in those blessed moments when it was borne in on him that his whole life was a mission1 and he himself the great modern evangelist making goodness a thing simple to the understanding4 ,what a beautiful end6 he thought4 ,even ,davidina would be sorry then for her past misreadings of his character4 ,the train leapt into view4 ,it did not leave him long in doubt2 it was an express and a fast one at that4 ,he watched it1 and became fascinated4 ,power of control left him3 his mind soared in a vague hopeful ecstasy toward the stars4 ,he saw ,sirius winking at him--,sirius1 which had always been his special star1 his affinity4 ,he winked back at it3 tears rushed to his eyes1 he became blind4 ,absolutely irresponsible for his actions now1 he stood unable to move1 his whole body possessed by the mighty rushing sound which filled his ears2 the world around1 the heaven above1 the earth beneath grew full of the thunder of it4 ,upon those monstrous vibrations his soul mounted to bliss2 he had become superior to his own body at last1 did not mind1 was not afraid4 ,heaven had been gracious to him after all4 ,suddenly the engine1 opening its throttle1 gave a ghastly scream4 ,with a blast of its nostrils1 a rattling of chains1 a grinding of brakes1 and a screeching of wheels1 which sent shuddering discords to the night1 it came to a precipitate standstill1 less than a dozen yards from where ,mr4 ,trimblerigg stood with sapling feet waiting to be uprooted for another and a better world4 ,those horrible noises1 and the abrupt abatement of its speed snatched ,mr4 ,trimblerigg from his trance4 ,with loosened knees and presence of mind mercifully restored1 now only apprehensive of detection and capture1 he sped swiftly away2 high-hedged night received him into its obliterating embrace2 the track was clear4 ,a stoker1 descending hastily from the arrested train1 searched the line ahead4 ,his voice swung back angrily out of the darkness3 #8,red light8 ,i don't see no red light4 ,it's some damned fool's been having a blooming game with us--that was all4' ,and so1 with a rich accompaniment of expletives from stoker and driver1 the express proceeded upon its way4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 in a much more shaken state1 did the same4 ,,chapter ,,twenty-,,one ,a ,run for ,life ,the shock of his escape had left ,mr4 ,trimblerigg dazed and tremulous4 ,he went feebly1 not yet quite reawakened to the world which1 in that moment of exaltation1 he had thought to be leaving behind him4 ,but instinct1 and the loud jolly sounds of his fellow-creatures drew him toward the glaring lights and bustle of the fair-ground4 ,an illuminated crowd was a refuge from his condition2 amid the flare of those naphtha lamps his radiance would be unapparent4 ,but while he thus moved toward the light1 he forgot that his back was to darkness1 and as he skirted the outer circle of the booths1 standing shoulder to shoulder with their farther sides dressed to the staring crowd in gaudy habiliments of painted canvas1 he was startled to hear a voice exclaim1 #8,what's that bloody sunset doing there8' and to perceive that it was directed at him4 ,the showman1 jumping down from the back door of his van1 ran hastily towards him1 thrust a bewildered face at him1 and stopped amazed4 #8,well1 of all blinking wonders1' he cried1 #8you take the cake6' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 trying by superior calmness to control the awkward situation1 wished him a good evening1 and was for passing on4 ,the man caught him by the arm4 #8,here6 which of the blooming shows d'you belong to8 ,i hadn't heard tell of you4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg replied that he did not belong to any show4 ,the man was dumbfounded4 #8,you don't mean to say you're going about here giving yourself away for nothing8' he managed to say at last4 #8,you ain't advertising anything1 are you8' #8,no2 ,i've just been taking a turn1' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 #8,now ,i'm going home4' #8,you aren't6' cried the showman1 with an eagerness that was almost like agony4 #8,here1 come along into my show1 and you shall have half the takings4 ,honest1 ,i mean it6 ,and you shall have a money-box of your own to pass round too1 if that ain't enough1' he added1 seeing that his first offer had failed in attraction4 #8,you don't understand1' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 assuming a mild dignity which he did not feel3 #8,this is entirely my own affair4 ,i'm not a show4' ,stupefied1 bewildered1 outraged1 the man stood and looked at him for a moment1 to see whether he really meant it4 ,then1 his admiration turning to hate3 #8,you aren't8' he shouted1 #8,then what the blooming hell are you8 ,if you aren't a show1 what did you come 'ere for8 ,got a game of your own on1 have you8 ,we'll soon see to that4 ,hi6' ,he shouted with all the strength of his lungs1 and continued to shout1 waving his arms to attract the attention of the crowd4 #8,here's an escaped lunatic6' he cried4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg started to run4 ,he heard the shouts of others gathering behind him1 dodged round a canvas obstruction1 doubled back1 made a bolt through a hedge1 and thus securing a good start made off across the open in the direction of home4 ,but in less than a minute he knew that the crowd was after him2 jovial1 but excited1--for the mere fact that there is something to chase kindles the blood--it hurled after him heavy-footed1 a little slow in the uptake1 but warming to its task at the sight of its quarry half a field away1 a blister of red bouncing through the starlit night1 and under it showing dimly a man's form4 ,as the crowd neared him1 its uncouth epithets assailed his ears4 #8,holy ,moses6' was the cry of one2 #8,go up1 ,elijah6' of another4 ,then as they got near him and marked how desperately he ran1 #8,hullo1 old fire-escape6' gave the more modern touch which the situation required4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg could not run nearly so fast as the crowd2 but at the level-crossing fate was kind to him4 ,an arriving luggage-train--not without some risk--allowed him to pass in front of it1 and then with its slow length held up his pursuers4 ,but the more active ones1 running down the line turned the tail-light of the guard's van1 broke fence1 cut a slant and were on him again4 ,once more fate favoured him4 ,at the home stile the cow which had interrupted his prayer had couched itself for the night4 ,perceiving the recumbent obstruction too late1 he planted his foot on it2 with a spasmodic heave she hurled him across quicker than he could have vaulted1 and plunging about broke momentarily the head of the oncoming crowd4 ,it was amazing with what spirit ,mr4 ,trimblerigg--not being in running condition--had kept the pace2 but he was a very spent man when he reached the narrow foot-bridge1 and sped breathless to the crossing1 his pursuers only a few yards behind4 ,the tide was low3 black glimmerings of mud stretched to right and left of him3 he trod warily clutching at the hand-rail as he ran to stay the dizzying of his brain4 ,before he reached the end1 a violent vibration told that his pursuers were now almost upon him2 the bridge resounded to the weight and tread of a larger number than it was built for4 ,under ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's feet a plank started2 the weight pressing it behind jerked it upwards4 ,somewhere with a sharp report a stay snapped1 then another and another2 and with a sense of general collapse going on behind him1 from which he himself was immune1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg felt himself precipitated through the air in a long gliding curve1 up1 out1 forward1 and down4 ,a shallow mud-bank received him into its merciful embrace4 ,he stumbled out of it unhurt1 but in so dark a disguise1 that all the mothers in the world would not have known him4 ,leaving his enemies behind in far worse plight1 he staggered up to the door which had already opened to those sounds of break-neck disaster borne upon the quiet air4 ,he saw ,davidina standing dark against the light1 and even in the desperation of his present condition he felt the shock of it1 and shrank back from meeting her--not because of the mud which now encased him1 but because of that other adornment1 which he could explain so far less easily4 ,but the relief he had longed for had already been brought about3 the mere sight of her had made him a changed man2 and though her greeting word1 as she ran down the path to meet him was1 #8,jonathan1 whatever is the matter8' she made no further remark indicative of surprise4 ,all about him the night was beautifully dark2 there was no reflected light upon her face as she bent forward to kiss him4 ,the shock of meeting her had done it4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had no longer anything to conceal4 ,they cleaned him of the mud which smothered him4 #8,you don't smell of drink1' said ,davidina1 #8but you look like it4 ,what's this ,caroline has been telling me about your head8 ,what's wrong with it8' ,and1 at the word1 what he had already begun suspiciously to hope1 he became sure of4 ,heaven was no longer making him conspicuous4 #8,what did she tell you8' he inquired defensively4 #8,there's nothing the matter with my head that ,i know of4' #8,said you'd been striking sparks--having a vision that your head was a hayrick that had caught fire2 and now she won't tell me anything3 says you've sworn her to secrecy4' #8,she must have dreamed it6' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,he saw ,caroline go white4 #8,dreamed it8' exclaimed ,davidina4 #8,if she dreams things like that she wants a doctor4' ,she did4 ,on hearing that she must not believe the evidence of her senses1 ,caroline fainted4 99 ,full many a rose1 the poet tells us1 is born to blush unseen1 and waste its sweetness to the desert air4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's rose had experienced a somewhat different fate2 it may have wasted its sweetness1 but it had not blushed altogether unseen2 and though it died blushing for itself1 it had not lived in vain4 ,the conversion of ,caroline to its spiritual significance had proved unimportant2 the realization by ,mr4 ,trimblerigg of its extreme inconvenience had made a temporary but not a permanent impression upon him1 as further record will show4 ,davidina had not seen it at all1 it had snuffed itself out at the sight of her4 ,but somebody else had seen it1 and had realized not merely its spiritual significance1 but its potential value1 which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had missed1 or too hastily despaired of4 ,and the person in question had seen it not once but twice1 on two separate occasions4 ,when ,mrs4 ,james told ,isabel ,sparling that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was not at home and had already left town1 ,miss ,sparling had either the sense or the instinct not to believe her4 ,and being a determined character1 she had hung about at a respectful distance1 keeping her eye on the door1 rather expecting him to come out of it than to go into it4 ,muffled in veil and cloak--the former to conceal her bandaged face--she had walked up and down the farther pavement1 with her senses alert for the coming or going of that familiar figure1 until in the early gathering dusk1 the apparition passed her1 going with haste along the verge of the pavement in the line of the lamp-lights4 ,isabel ,sparling had this advantage over others who had seen1 or doubted that they could have seen1 that same mystical appearance in the earlier hours of the day4 ,she was herself a spiritualist and a visionary2 she believed in things which the world in general did not1 and was on the look-out for them4 ,she had recently1 among her other beliefs1 become a ,second ,adventist1 and was looking for the end of the world2 this event was to be preceded by a great war1 by earthquake1 by things happening to the sun and moon2 by the opening of the seven seals upon a certain box which had recently come into her custody1 and by the reappearance of saints from their graves1 preparatory to the reappearance of others who were not saints4 ,and for all these things she was already hungrily expectant1 when she met a halo walking down the street4 ,it came upon her suddenly round a corner1 and had passed before she fully realized that it encircled the head of the man whose false friendship had changed her feelings to enmity4 ,her intention1 in seeking him out and lying in wait for him1 had been to return in person the money he had left for her2 and though she had meant to thank him for his good services1 she had not meant entirely to forgive him1 but rather to explore his spiritual condition1 and warn him1 as she had begun warning the world at large1 of the wrath that was to come4 ,but seeing him there1 with head clothed in light1 her feelings toward him changed4 ,she was seized with an instant conviction that she had misread his character1 or that she had not made allowances for the difficulties of one destined to fulfil a high mission in the spiritual crisis which the world was now approaching4 ,the sight of him thus augustly changed1 speeding furtively along1 avoiding human recognition1 filled her with awe and humility2 she could not go and return money to a head in a halo2 she could not1 with the emotion of that discovery fresh upon her1 follow him1 ring the bell and ask for him--perhaps only to be denied4 ,but twenty-four hours later1 after much spiritual wrestling with herself and him 7for her thoughts thereafter were never quit of him7 she did find courage to go and knock at the door of the ,mollusc wherein he had secreted himself from the world--the knock which he had heard and thought might be ,davidina2 and when the dull ,caroline1 without recognition or inquiry1 had told her1 in the double sense1 that he was not at home1 she let herself be turned away without protest2 and standing forlorn1 contemplative of that quiet scene of shore1 river and star-brimmed sky1 saw away in the mid-distance a globed cluster of moving light crossing the small foot-bridge1 and making for the fields beyond4 ,then to her also came the sense of a mission1 and prevailing in weakness she stole after him4 ,following at a devout1 that is to say at more than a respectful distance1 she saw him dimly by his light rather than by his form1 cross the field and halt at the stile to pray4 ,drawing nearer1 she durst not then intrude on him2 and when he had got upon his feet and passed on1 she1 following close after1 found an impediment of an insuperable kind awaiting her4 ,isabel ,sparling was mortally afraid of cows2 and there one stood in her way2 and after standing for awhile and gazing at her with a munching movement of the mouth which she felt sure meant mischief1 it lay down upon the footpath to wait for its prey to come over4 ,and thus it was that1 without a full clue to its meaning1 she became spectator to the unexplained scene of horror which followed after4 ,she watched his light resting at the level-crossing to await the passing of a train1 then saw it dwindle and merge in the broad band of fire amid which the junketing fair sat and bubbled2 and wondered whether he had gone there to preach repentance like ,jonah to the inhabitants of ,nineveh4 ,her next sight of him was fleeing before a crowd that seemed thirsting for his blood1 awhile holding his own1 but presently losing ground1 then by the intervention of ,providence gaining more than he had lost4 ,as he came headlong toward her1 she nerved herself for his deliverance1 was prepared to stand between him and the hungry crowd1 declare his sanctity1 die if need be instead of him2 and so she would have done had not the cow got suddenly upon its feet--hind legs first in that horrible way which cows have when they intend to toss people4 ,that finished her1 she saw the rest of the chase from a distance1 heard the crash of the broken bridge1 cries1 curses2 and presently met a crowd of maimed larrikins1 muddy1 drenched and miserable1 carrying each other home4 ,but even had she then dared to go further1 and inquire for more news that the angry comments of the crowd gave of his escape1 the broken bridge prevented her2 and the next day1 stealing by furtive ways to watch unobserved1 she saw ,mr4 ,trimblerigg clothed and in his right mind1 tended by female relatives1 accompanied by his children1 and his glory all gone from him4 ,and that1 for the time being1 was the conclusion of the matter2 but not the real conclusion1 for then came war2 and ,isabel ,sparling1 girding up her spiritual loins1 preached that the world was to end1--that her people and her native country were to be punished for their sins1 but other countries much more4 ,gradually1 swayed by the patriotic crowds which gathered to hear her and cheer on others to do their fighting1 she became harder upon the other countries1 and let her own and its allies off2 and before the war had been on a twelvemonth they had all become angels of light1 chosen vessels1 ministering spirits and flames of fire4 ,for that is what war does2 while in a physical sense it paints most things red1 in a moral sense it paints them black or white2 and the black is the enemy1 and the white is ourselves2 and the neutral1 if neutral there be1 is a dirty tint which badly needs washing4 ,as for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 having found that there was no public for it1 he relinquished goodness of the first water1 and fell back upon relative goodness and relative truth1 in which1 as a matter of fact1 he had a more instinctive belief4 ,,chapter ,,twenty-,,two ,intimations of ,immortality ,when nations which preach ,christianity go to war1 their truth has necessarily to become relative2 they cannot tell the truth about themselves2 they cannot tell the truth about their enemies2 still less can they tell the truth about ,christianity4 ,for doing that last1 a ,free ,church minister in a certain land of hope and glory lying ,west1--he had merely issued the ,sermon on the ,mount as a circular--was tarred and feathered as a demonstration of ,christian-mindedness by his belligerent fellow-countrymen4 ,and nearly everybody said that it served him right4 ,so when ,relative ,truth became a spiritual as well as a military necessity1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 the inventor of the doctrine in its most modern form1 came gloriously into his own4 ,in other words he became the fashion4 ,the ,war gave him the time and the opportunity of his life4 ,he had begun by adopting--first pacifism1 then benevolent neutrality2 but he saw quickly that there was not a public for either4 ,and as he listened to the heart-beats of his countrymen roused for battle1 a quick application of his doctrine of ,relative ,truth restored his mind to sanity4 ,after that he never wavered2 and though he often spoke with two voices1 one day telling the workers1 whom he was sent to preach to1 that they were heroes1 and another that they were slackers1 and victims of drink2 one day demonstrating that the ,national ,executive's action had always come just too late1 another that it had always come miraculously up to time2 one day protesting the mildness and equity of his country's intentions toward those who were unnecessarily prolonging the war1 another--when prospects began to look brighter--threatening things of a much more drastic character1 in terms drawn from the prize-ring2 though thus from day to day and week to week1 he spoke in varied tones1 fitting himself to the occasion1 always a forefront figure1 occasionally pushing others out of his way2 nevertheless his motive and aim remained constant 7nor when nations go to war is anything more necessary for their salvation7--the ardent assertion1 namely1 of the absolute righteousness of his country's cause1 and of the blameless antecedents leading up to it4 ,and though ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's truth was often extremely relative1 it was nearly always successful2 and if any man by tireless energy1 resilient spirits1 continuous ubiquity in pulpit and on platform1 alertness1 invention1 suggestiveness1 adaptability1 rapid change of front in the ever-shifting tactics of propaganda1--now conciliatory and defensive1 meek but firm2 now whole-heartedly aggressive and vision-clear of coming victory--if by such qualities1 richly and rapidly blended outside the direct line of fire1 any man could ever be said to have won a war1 in a larger and wider sense than the little drummer boy who lays down his life for his drum1--that compliment might have been paid1 when all was done1 to the unbloodstained ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1--and was4 ,in the person of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg the ,free ,evangelical ,church had lifted up its head and neighed like a war-horse1 saying among the trumpets1 ha6 ha6 to the thunder of the captains and the shouting3 and in the person of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg thanks were publicly tendered to it1 when all the fighting was over4 ,and though ,mr4 ,trimblerigg received neither title1 nor outward adornment1 nor emolument1 he became1 from that day on1 a figure of international significance1--the first perhaps since great old combative ,martin ,luther1 to attain so high and controversial a prominence in divided ,christendom on his spiritual merits alone4 ,it may sound cynical to say that the greatness of nations has very largely been built up on the lies they have told of each other4 ,and yet it is a true statement2 for you have only to compare their histories1 and especially the histories of their wars 7upon which young patriots are trained to become heroes71 in order to realize that the day of naked and unashamed truth has not yet arrived3 that so long as nations stand to be worshipped1 and flags to be fought for1 truth can only be relative4 ,from which it follows that while nations are at war too much truth is bad for them2 and not only for them but for religion also4 ,and that is where and why ,mr4 ,trimblerigg found his place1 and fitted it so exactly4 ,i leave it at that4 ,he became a national hero2 and truly it was not from lack of courage or conviction that he had seen no fighting4 ,he was short1 and fat1 and over forty2 and his oratorical gifts were more valuable where the sound of gunfire did not drown them2 otherwise he would have preached his gospel of the relative beatitudes as willingly from the cannon's mouth as from anywhere4 ,a day came1 gunfire having ended1 when he1 and an ,archbishop1 and a ,prime ,minister all stood on a platform together1 and spoke to an exalted gathering too glittering in its rank and distinction to be called an assembled multitude1 though its mere numbers ran into thousands4 ,the ,archbishop sat in the middle2 and the two ministers1 the political and the spiritual1 sat on either side of him2 and if they were not as like each other as two peas1 and did not1 by both speaking at once1 rattle together like peas upon a drum1 they were nevertheless birds very much of a feather2 and when it came to the speaking1 they fitted each other wonderfully4 ,the ,archbishop came first and spoke well2 the ,prime ,minister followed and spoke better2 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg came last and spoke best of all4 ,the audience told him so2 there was no doubt of it4 ,field-,marshals and ,rear-,admirals applauded him1 ,duchesses waved their handkerchiefs at him2 a ,dowager-,countess1 of ,low ,church antecedents1 became next day a member of the ,free ,evangelicals2 the mere strength of his personality had converted her4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg might well think after this that a visible halo1 though not necessary1 had it reappeared just then1 would not have come amiss4 ,from his point of view the meeting could not have been more successful2 he went down from the platform more famous than when he went up on it4 ,and it was not his speech alone that did it3 it was in the air4 ,the great ,napoleon was said to have a star3 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had an atmosphere2 and though it was not really the larger of the two1 to his contemporaries on earth it seemed larger4 ,it was just about this time1 when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was obviously becoming a candidate for national honours after his death1 that he attended the public funeral of a great ,free ,church statesman whose war-winning activities had been closely associated with his own4 ,and as of the two1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had played the larger part1 the prophetic inference was obvious2 and though in that high-vaulted aisle1 amid uniforms and decorations and wands of office1 his demure little figure looked humble and unimportant1 he was a marked man for the observation of all who had come to observe4 ,it was an occasion on which ,free ,churchmen had reason to feel proud4 ,impelled by the feeling of the nation--still in its early days of gratitude before victory had begun to taste bitter--the ,episcopal ,church had opened her doors to receive1 into that place of highest honour1 the dust of one who had lived outside her communion and politically had fought against her4 ,but it was dust only 7ashes1 that is to say72 and while to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's perception the whole ceremony1 the music1 the ritual1 the vestments1 the crape-scarved uniforms1 and the dark crowd of celebrities which formed a background1 were deeply impressive in their beauty and symbolism1 the little casket of cremated ashes at the centre of it all was not4 ,in that forced economizing of space1 the sense of the individual personality had been lost1 or brought to insignificance4 ,it gave him an uncomfortable feeling2 he did not like it2 he wondered why4 ,so long as his thoughts went linked with the indwelling genius of that temple of famous memories he felt thrilled and edified2 but whenever his eye returned to the small casket1 he experienced a repeated shock and felt discomfited4 ,the condition here imposed1 to make national obsequies possible1 seemed to him not merely a humiliating one2 it spelt annihilation2 what remained had ceased to be personal4 ,the temple became a museum2 in it with much ceremony an exhibit was being deposited in its case4 ,and so1 pondering deeply on these things1 he returned home2 and added to his will 7signing and dating it with a much earlier date7 an instruction for his executors1 #8,my body is not to be cremated4' ,genius is economy4 ,it could not have been more modestly done4 ,somewhere or another1 very near to where he had stood that afternoon1 a grave was waiting for him4 ,those few strokes of the pen had decided that its dimensions should be not eighteen inches by ten2 but five feet four by two4 ,but the time was not yet3 the instruction added to his will need not begin to take effect for a good many years4 ,meanwhile his corner of immortality waited for him1 measured by himself to suit his own taste4 ,it came back to him then as a pleasant simile of fancy1 that he had had an uncle who was an undertaker4 ,it ran in the family4 ,here was ,mr4 ,trimblerigg--his own6 ,,chapter ,,twenty-,,three ,peace-,work ,to become the spiritual voice of a nation is a rare experience1 and in the history of the race it has come to the individual but seldom4 ,but when it happens1 he is a greater power than military leader1 or politician1 or popular preacher1 unless in one man all three functions find themselves combined2 then1 without much justification in fact1 a people may mistake the combination for the more rare and genuine article4 ,it could not exactly be said of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg at this time that he was a military leader2 but the idea had been industriously disseminated1 by his admirers and by himself during the war1 that had he been he would have been a brilliant one4 ,nor was he exactly a politician2 but he had been very busy and energetic in putting the politicians right1 so that1 as they went out of favour in public estimation1 he came in4 ,for the rest1 a popular preacher he was1 and a very wonderful one2 though it is a curious fact that his sermons and speeches do not read well in print4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's orations were gymnastic exercises and histrionic performances combined2 and these things lose their effect when reduced to print4 ,nevertheless he had now become a ,voice1 and the sound of him travelled wherever his native tongue was spoken1 war-conditions having given it an atmosphere that it could fill4 ,his military instinct he had mainly shown by running about in moments of crisis and pinning his faith to commanders who up till then had escaped defeat4 ,when he found he had made a mistake1 he dropped them so quickly that nobody remembered he had ever believed in them2 and having thus discovered three or four and lost them again1 he finally hit upon the right one4 ,having done that1 he did not allow it to be forgotten1 so that the reputation which survived the final and triumphant catastrophe remained partly his4 ,his political instinct produced more definite and more solid results2 he persuaded the politicians to do a lot of things which at other times they would not have dared4 ,some of these things were not very scrupulous1 and others were not very successful2 but they were all military necessities1 and as only the relative truth was told about them1 they took their place in the general scheme of things2 and if they did not exactly do good1 they were good for the morale of the nation for the time being4 ,and while he thus persuaded the politicians to do things hitherto impossible for the benefit of the whole nation1 he persuaded the ,free ,evangelicals also2 and in his own time and his own way he secured for ,isabel ,sparling and others the desire of their souls which had been so long denied them4 ,but in that matter1 though the thing was done well and quickly when it was done1 he missed something of his intended effect from the fact that the whole world was then so busy about war that nothing else seemed much to matter4 ,the sudden admission of women to the ministry appeared then a mere side-issue1 an emergency measure devised to meet the shortage of men theologically qualified for the vacant pastorates of congregations abruptly depleted of their young male element4 ,thus ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's very real achievement in the pulpiteering of women was regarded1 even among the ,free ,evangelicals1 far more as a war-product than as his own4 ,also for ,isabel ,sparling herself1 whom he wished to impress1 it had ceased much to matter4 ,she had become a ,second ,adventist2 and among the ,second ,adventists it was admitted that women could prophesy as well as men4 ,miss ,sparling had gone prophesying to ,america2 and had caused a great sensation in ,new ,york by prophesying that ,brooklyn ,bridge had become unsafe1 and would fall if ,america did not enter the war4 ,she gave a date3 and ,america saved ,brooklyn ,bridge to posterity only just in time4 ,after that the success of ,miss ,sparling's ,american mission was assured2 and whenever the ,states seemed momentarily to slacken in their purpose or diminish in their zeal for the rescue of a civilization they did not understand1 ,miss ,sparling selected some cherished institution or monument1 and began threatening its life2 and when1 after due warning a bomb was discovered inside the statue of ,liberty just preparing to go off1 she got headlines for ,second ,adventism which had never been equalled since ,barnum's landing of ,jumbo 7representative of a still older civilization than that which was now imperilled7 some forty years before4 ,all this is told here merely to indicate what a match to himself ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had missed by not marrying ,isabel ,sparling in the days of his youth4 ,had they only put their heads together earlier1 kingdoms might have come of which the world has now missed its chance--not knowing what it has missed2 for there can be no doubt that its spiritual adhesions are not now what they were ten years ago2 the pulpit has sagged a little on its foundations and congregations have become critical1 sceptical even1 though they still attend4 ,the doctrine of ,relative ,truth has undone more than it intended2 and though ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was not a disappointed man at the moment when war declared itself over1 disappointment was waiting him4 ,not at first1 as ,i say4 ,at first1 no doubt1 as he pulled the wires1 he thought he was plucking from harpstrings of gold1 harmonies which could be heard in ,heaven4 ,but his atmosphere affected him2 and just when victory brought him spiritual opportunities such as had never been his before1 he had a sharp attack of the ,old ,testament1 and his self-righteousness became as the self-righteousness of ,moses and the prophets all rolled into one4 ,it was then1 perceiving that a huge and expectant public was waiting for him to give the word1 that he sent forth the fiery cross bearing upon it as the battle-cry of peace the double motto #8,skin the ,scapegoat1'--#8,hew ,agag4' ,both sounded well1 and both caught on1 and for a brief while served the occasion3 but neither made a success of it4 ,the skinning of the scapegoat lasted for years2 but in the process1 it became so denuded by mange that when the skin was finally obtained it proved worthless4 ,as for ,agag he did not come to be hewn at all1 walking delicately2 on the contrary he ran and hid himself in a safe place1 where1 though the hewers pretended that they meant to get at him1 they knew they could not4 ,and as a consequence ,agag remains unhewn to this day4 ,and1 as a matter of fact1 almost from the first1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 having given his public what it wanted1 knew that it would be so4 ,he also knew that in high places it was willed that it should not be otherwise4 ,and here may be recorded the bit of unwritten history which brought that home to him4 ,everybody to whom mediumistic spiritualism makes any appeal has1 in these last days1 heard of ,sir ,roland ,skoyle1 the great protagonist of that artful science1 by which in equal proportion the sceptics are confounded1 and the credulous are comforted4 ,and that being1 up-to-date1 its chief apparent use in the world1 it is no wonder that a certain diplomatist turned to it when he launched his great peace-making offensive1 after the ,war was over4 ,for diplomacy having to make its account equally with those who are sceptical of its benefits1 and those who are credulous1 it seemed to his alert and adaptable intelligence that a little spiritualism behind the scenes might give him the aid and insight that he required4 ,the direct incentive came from ,sir ,roland ,skoyle himself4 ,he had secured a wonderful new medium1 whose magnetic finger had a specialized faculty for resting upon certain people of importance--people who had been of importance1 that is to say--in high circles of diplomacy2 and amongst them some who had been largely instrumental in bringing the world into the condition in which it now found itself4 ,among these--the war-makers and peace-makers of the immediate past--it was natural1 war being over1 that the latter should be in special request1 where the problem of diplomacy was to construct a peace satisfactory to that vast body of public opinion which had ceased to be blood-thirsty on a large scale1 but whose instinct for retributive justice to be dealt out to the wicked by a court of their accusers had become correspondingly active4 ,sir ,roland ,skoyle1 anxious to impress the ,prime ,minister with the value of his discovery1 had the happy thought of employing ,mr4 ,trimblerigg as his go-between4 ,and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg having heard a certain name1 august and revered1 breathed into his ear1 together with the gist of a recent communication that had come direct1 was not averse from attending a sance in such select and exalted company4 ,he had an open mind and plenty of curiosity1 and the idea of sharing with the ,prime ,minister a secret so compromising that no one else must know of it1 strongly attracted him4 ,and so the sitting was arranged4 ,and there in a darkened room the four of them sat1--,sir ,roland1 the medium1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 and the ,prime ,minister4 ,the medium was small and dark1 and middle-aged2 she had bright eyes under a straight fringe and she spoke with a twang4 ,there was no doubt which side of the water she had come from4 ,until the previous year1 except for a few days after her birth1 her home had been the ,united ,states4 ,the actual place of her birth was important2 it helped to account for her powers2 ,sir ,roland having recently discovered that the best mediums were people of mixed origin1 born on the high seas4 ,this particular medium1 having been born in the mid-,atlantic1 was ,irish-,american4 ,the theory of sea-born commerce with the world of spirits ,i leave to ,sir ,roland ,skoyle and his fellow experts4 ,my own reason for referring back to birth and parentage is merely that when the medium had entered into her trance she no longer spoke that rich broth of a language formed from two which was natural to her2 but acquired an accent and a mode of delivery entirely different2 the accent having in it a faint touch of the ,teutonic1 the delivery formal1 well-bred1 and courtly2 even when the speech was colloquial there was about it a touch of dignity4 ,and while she so spoke1 in a manly voice1 the little woman sat with an air like one enthroned4 ,the ,prime ,minister sat jauntily1 thumbs in waistcoat1 and listened as one interested and amused1 but not as yet convinced4 ,to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg he said chirpily1 #8,if the other side got wind of this1 and used it properly1 they could drive me out of office4' #8,that makes it all the more of an adventure1' replied ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 #8,i should be in trouble too4 ,the ,free ,evangelical ,church has pronounced against--well1 this sort of thing altogether3 8,comes of evil04' ,sir ,roland said1 #8,in a year's time we shall have the whole world converted4' ,but ,sir ,roland was always saying that4 ,still1 table-turning and its accompaniments had certainly received a great impetus since the ,war2 for which reason ,mr4 ,trimblerigg took a friendly view of it4 ,the medium's first remark in her changed manner was sufficiently startling and to the point3 #8,where is my crown8444 ,put it on4' ,sir ,roland resourcefully picked up a small paper-weight1 on which a brass lion sat regardant1 and deposited it precariously on the medium's hair4 #8,who've you got here8 ,not ,eliza1 ,i hope8' said the ,voice4 ,sir ,roland1 in a tone of marked deference1 gave the names of the company4 ,two of them were graciously recognized4 #8,mr4 ,trimblerigg8 ,we have not had the pleasure of meeting him before4 ,how do you do1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg8' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 at a gesture from ,sir ,roland1 bowed over the hand the medium had graciously extended4 #8,do ,i kiss it8' he inquired1 doubtful of the etiquette4 ,sir ,roland discreetly shook his head4 ,the ceremony was over4 ,there was a pause4 ,then3 #8,faites vos jeux1 ,messieurs6' said the ,voice4 ,this was unexpected to all2 and to one cryptic4 #8,what does that mean8' inquired ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 in whose ,free ,church training ,french had not been included4 ,the ,prime ,minister rose lightly to the occasion4 #8,it means1 or it practically means1 #8,make your ,peace1 ,gentlemen4' ,then1 to the unseen ,presence3 #8,the game is over sir1--well over4 ,now we have only to collect the winnings4' ,this statement of the facts was apparently not accepted3 the game was to go on4 #8,couleur gagne6' went the ,voice2 and then again1 #8,faites vos jeux1 ,messieurs4' #8,our present game1' respectfully insisted the ,prime ,minister1 #8is to make peace4 ,to you1 therefore1 ,sir1 we come1 as an authority--in this matter of peace-making a very special authority4 ,we as victors are responsible2 and we have to find a solution4 ,the peace will not be negotiated1 it will be dictated4 ,the question is on what terms2 under what sanctions2 with what penalties8 ,under a ,democracy such as ours--' #8,don't talk nonsense1' came the ,voice1 #8,democracy does not exist4 ,invite public opinion2 say you agree2 then ignore it1 and do as you think best4 ,sanctions8 ,you will not get good work from a man while the rope is round his neck2 he wastes time and brain thinking how soon he will die4 ,penalties8 ,yes3 if you think you can get hold of the really responsible ones4' #8,we think we can1' purred the ,prime ,minister4 #8,dig up the dead1 eh8 ,that was the medival notion4 ,you tar and feather their corpses1 and you hang them in chains3 most indecent1 and no good to anybody4 ,one of them is here now1--8,the ,man in the ,iron ,mask0 as we call him1--a much improved character1 his world-politics a failure1 they no longer interest him2 he plays on the ,french horn1--badly1 but it amuses him2 when he strikes a false note he calls it the ,double ,entente4 ,he means that for a joke4 ,he says they may dig him up and hang him in chains of iron1 or brass1 or glass-lustre1 or daisies1 or anything else if it amuses them4 ,but you are not proposing to hang anybody1 are you8' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 voicing his notion in the scriptural phraseology which had prompted it1 explained that skinning for the one1 and hewing1 not hanging1 for the other was the process proposed4 #8,who is your man8' the ,voice inquired sharply4 ,agag was indicated4 ,came a dead pause2 then1 very emphatically1 #8,i won't have him here6' said the ,voice4 ,here8 ,his auditors looked at each other in consternation4 ,what on earth1 or above earth1 or under earth1 did #8here' mean8 ,the ,prime ,minister and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had both by now become convinced that they were in the actual ,presence that had been promised them4 ,but they could not admit to the world1 or even to themselves1 that there was a possibility of ,agag going to the place where the ,presence was supposed to be2 or of the ,presence being in the place where ,agag was supposed to be going4 ,they sat like cornered conspirators4 #8,i won't have it6' said the ,voice1 almost violently4 #8,we are not on speaking terms4 ,he and ,i do not get on together4 ,send him to ,eliza3 she'll manage him6' ,this was more awful still4 ,the ,presence and #8,eliza'1 it seemed1 were not in that happy reunion which for ,christian families is the expected thing4 ,yet as to where ,eliza had gone no reasonable doubt was possible4 #8,on ne va plus6' cried the ,voice1 and the sance fell into sudden confusion4 #8,i won't have it6 ,i won't have it6' shrieked the medium coming to1 and casting off her crown at the feet of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,and the words1 beginning in a deep ,german guttural1 ended in ,irish-,american4 ,and that1 if the world really wants to know1 is why no real attempt was made to hew or hang ,agag1 or do anything to him except on paper in diplomatic notes which meant nothing1 and at a ,general ,election which meant very little more--only that the ,prime ,minister and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg were saving their faces and winning temporary1 quite temporary1 popularity1 which eventually did them as little good as it did harm to ,agag4 ,the skinning of the scapegoat was not so expeditiously disposed of4 ,in that case the goat suffered considerably2 but the skin was never really worth the pains it took to remove from his dried and broken bones4 ,when will modern civilization really understand that its predilection for the ,old ,testament1 once a habit1 has now become a disease2 and that if it is not very careful the world will die of it4 #8,faites vos jeux1 ,messieurs6' ,play your game6 ,sometimes you may win1 and sometimes you may lose2 but a day comes when you win too big a stake for payment to be possible4 ,then the bank breaks1 and where are you8 ,,chapter ,,twenty-,,four ,circumstances alter ,cases ,had the rescue of the native tribes of ,puto-,congo from the squeezing embrace of modern industrialism and its absentee shareholders been a fairy-tale1 they would have remained a happy people without a history1 and here at least no more would have been heard of them4 ,but this being the real story1 things went otherwise4 ,it is true that ,native ,industries ,limited not only became itself a reformed character1 but managed1 by its control of the river routes and depots1 to impose repentance on the great ,puto-,congo ,combine also4 ,there1 too1 a rout was made of the old ,board of ,directors1 and the missionary zeal of ,free ,evangelicalism1 with an admixture of ,true ,belief1 held the balance of power4 ,in the first year shares went down at a run from a thirty to a ten per cent dividend1 and the mortality of indentured labour was reduced in about the same proportion4 ,of course the shareholders grumbled--not at the reduced death-rate in itself1 but at the awkward parallel which its proportional fall suggested between toll of life and that other toll of a more marketable kind which mainly concerned them4 ,it was not pleasant to feel that a reduced ten per cent profit was always going to be the condition of a reduced ten per cent death-rate3 that fifteen per cent of the one would cause fifteen per cent of the other1 and that1 by implication1 a life-saving of five per cent might be effected if the chastened shareholders would stay languidly content with a five per cent profit4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg himself felt this to be a reflection upon the reformation he had effected4 ,he had practically promised the shareholders that decent treatment of the natives would eventually bring larger profits4 ,he was annoyed that it had not done so1 and was already taking steps to secure more co-ordination and efficiency in the combined companies when the war supervened and gave to the relations of the brother races1 white and black1 a different complexion4 ,to put it quite plainly1 under war-conditions so far-reaching as to affect the whole world1 humanitarian principles had to take second place4 ,for the white race1 or tribe1 or group of tribes in which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg found himself embraced by birth and moral training was now saving the world not only for private enterprise and democracy1 but for the black and the brown and the yellow races as well1 all round the globe and back again from ,san ,francisco to ,valparaiso4 ,and so the enlistment of the black races in the cause of freedom--even with a little compulsion--became an absolute necessity1 a spiritual as well as a military one1 and unfortunately the blacks--and more especially the blacks of ,puto-,congo--did not see it in that light of an evangelizing civilization as the whites did4 ,they did not know what freedom really was3 how could they1 having no politics8 ,their idea of freedom was to run about naked1 to live rent-free in huts of their own building on land that belonged to nobody1 to put in two hours' work a week instead of ten hours a day1 and when an enemy was so craven as to let himself be captured alive to plant him head-downwards in the earth from which he ought never to have come4 ,that was their view of freedom1 and ,i could name sections of civilized communities holding very similar views though with a difference4 ,slavery1 on the other hand1 was having to wear anything except beads1 and nose-rings1 and imitation silk-hats made of oilskin1 having to work regularly to order for a fixed wage1 and to pay a hut-tax for the upkeep of a machine-like system of government1 for which they had no wish and in which they saw no sense4 ,and that being so1 it really did not matter whether the power which imposed these regulations was benevolent in its intentions or merely rapacious1 whether it secured them by blood1 or blockade1 or by bribing the tribal chiefs 7which was the ,free ,evangelical method7 to get the thing done in native ways of their own4 ,they did not like it4 ,puto-,congo1 having sampled it for twenty years1 had definitely decided that civilization was bad for it2 and when1 under the evangelizing zeal of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg and his co-religionists1 civilization modified its methods1 they beat their drums for joy and believing that civilization was at last letting them go1 ran off into the woods to play4 ,and though1 here and there1 their chiefs hauled them back again and made them do brief spells of work at certain seasons of the year1 they regarded it rather as a cleaning-up process1 preparatory to leave-taking1 than as a carrying on of the old system under a new form2 and so they continued to play in the woods and revert to happy savagery1 and especially to that complete nudity of both sexes which the missionaries so strongly disapproved4 ,it was that holiday feeling1 coming after the bad time they had been through under the old system--a holiday feeling which even the chiefs1 stimulated by bribes1 could not control--which did the mischief2 for it came inopportunely just at the time when1 five thousand miles away1 civilization had become imperilled by causes with which the ,puto-,congo natives had nothing whatever to do4 ,if civilization was so imperilled all the better for them4 ,it was all very unfortunate3 for while the fact that civilization was at war did not make civilization more valuable to the natives of ,puto-,congo1 it did make the natives and their trade-produce very much more valuable to civilization4 ,quite half-a-dozen things which they had unwillingly produced under forced labour in the past--rubber was one--had now become military necessities4 ,it was no longer a mere question of profits for shareholders--civilization itself was at stake4 ,production had suddenly to be brought back to the thirty per cent standard2 and that holiday feeling1 so natural but so untimely in its incidence1 was badly in the way4 ,and so powers were given 7which are not usually given to commercial concerns--though sometimes taken7 and under government authority--a good deal at the instigation of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg--the ,puto-,congo ,combine became exalted and enlarged into the ,imperial ,chartered ,ray ,river ,territory ,company1 which was in fact a provisional government with powers of enlistment civil and military1 of life and death1 and the making and administration of whatever laws might be deemed necessary in an emergency4 ,endowed with these high powers1 the ,directors at home1 with every intention to use them circumspectly and in moderation1 instructed their commissioners accordingly4 ,but when the commissioners got to work they found1 in the face of #8that holiday feeling1' that moderation did not deliver the goods4 ,and since the goods had to be delivered1 lest the world should be lost to democracy1 they took advantage of the censorship which had been established against the promulgation of news unfavourable to the moral character of their own side1 and took the necessary and effective means to deliver them4 ,and when the profits once more began to rise1 these did not go to the shareholders but to the ,government as a form of war-tribute1 and that1 of course1 made it morally all right--for the ten per cent shareholders at any rate--since they knew nothing about it4 ,and thus1 for three or four years1 ,puto-,congo natives did their bit1 losing their own lives at an ever-increasing death-rate1 and saving democracy which they did not understand1 for that other side of the world which they did not know4 ,they got no war-medals for it and no promotion2 nor were any reports of those particular casualties printed in the papers4 ,enough that the holiday feeling went off1 and the goods were delivered4 ,over the rest1 war-conditions and war-legislation drew a veil1 and nothing was said4 ,and that is why1 while war went on1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg and the rest of the world did not hear of it2 or if they heard anything1 did not believe what they heard2 for that too is one of the conditions that war imposes4 ,truth1 then1 becomes more relative than ever2 which is one of the reasons why ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was then in his element4 ,but when the war was sufficiently over for intercommunication to re-establish itself1 and when the skinning of the scapegoat had become a stale game1 and when the hewing of ,agag had emphatically not come off1 then ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 and others1 began to hear of it4 ,it was the others that mattered4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg--his war-mind still upon him1 and still suffering from his severe attack of ,old ,testament--did not believe it2 but the others did1 and the others were mainly the most active and humanitarian section of the ,free ,evangelicals4 ,having already expressed their disapproval of skinning the scapegoat and hewing ,agag1 even to the extent of pronouncing against it at their first annual conference after the war1 they now fastened on the recrudescence of ugly rumours from ,puto-,congo and the adjacent territories1 and began to hold ,mr4 ,trimblerigg responsible4 ,they had at least this much reason upon their side1 that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was still chairman of the ,directors of ,native ,industries ,limited1 and1 by right of office1 sat upon the administrative council of the ,chartered ,company4 ,and when1 as the leakage of news became larger1 it seemed that everything he had formerly denounced as an organized atrocity was being1 or had but recently been done on a much larger scale by his own commissioners1 the cry became uncomfortably loud1 and the war-mind1 which can manipulate facts to suit its case while they are suppressed by law1 began to find itself in difficulties4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 faced by certified facts which he continued to deny or question1 began jumping from the ,new to the ,old ,testament and back again with an agility which confused his traducers but did not convince them2 and the allegiance of the ,free ,evangelicals became sharply divided4 ,the reunion of the ,free ,churches for which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had so long been working1 already adversely affected by the divergencies of the war1 was now strained to breaking4 ,on the top of this came the news that the natives of ,puto-,congo had risen in revolt and had begun massacring the missionaries1 and ,free ,evangelical opinion became more sharply divided than ever--whether to withdraw the missions and cease to have any further connection with the ,chartered ,company1 or to send out reinforcements1 less spiritual and more military1 adopt the policy of the firm hand1 and restore not liberty but order4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg then announced that he would do both4 ,to the ,administrative ,council he adumbrated a scheme for the gradual development of the ,chartered ,company1 with its dictatorial powers1 into the ,puto-,congo ,free ,state ,limited1 with a supervised self-government of its own1 mainly native but owing allegiance to the ,company on which its commercial prosperity and development would still have to depend4 ,matters were at a crisis1 and were rapidly getting worse4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had made too great a reputation over ,puto-,congo affairs to risk the loss of it on a mere policy of drift4 ,something clearly had to be done1 large1 spectacular1 idealistic in aim1 to cover up from view a record of failure which never ought to have seen the light4 ,not only must it be done2 it must be done at once1 and he was the man to do it4 ,the ,administrative ,council was wise in its generation4 ,without quite believing in ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's proposals it gave him a free hand2 for as one of them said3 #8,this is a matter over which he cannot afford to fail4 ,if he does1 he is done for4 ,give him rope enough1 he may hang others1 but he won't hang himself2 of that you may be quite sure4' ,without being quite sure1 they made the experiment1 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 with full powers1 went out as ,high ,commissioner of the ,chartered ,company to sow the seed1 plant the roots1 or lay the foundations of the ,puto-,congo ,free ,state ,limited4 ,his mission was twofold--to save the ,puto-,congo natives from themselves1 and the shares of the ,chartered ,company from further depreciation4 ,incidentally he had also to save himself4 ,,chapter ,,twenty-,,five ,kill and ,cure ,i can understand people liking ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 ,i can understand them disliking him2 ,i can understand them finding him incalculable and many of his actions puzzling 7,i used to do so myself72 but ,i do not understand why they should ever have been puzzled as to his main motive1 since his main motive was always himself4 ,like everything else in life1 character is a product1 the inevitable outcome of its constituent parts4 ,when ,i invented him1 ,i gave ,mr4 ,trimblerigg brains and a good head for business2 ,i also gave him imagination and an emotional temperament4 ,why1 then1 should it be wondered at if he made a calculating use of his imaginative powers1 or indulged his emotions with a good eye to business8 ,could you find me any occasion on which the fervours of his oratory got in the way of his worldly advancement1 or did anything but add size to his following1 ,i would admit that his character puzzled me4 ,but more and more ,i found this to be the rule--that the fervour of his prayers1 public or private1 meant the same thing2 and whenever the encounter was a private one1 and the fervour more than ordinary1 then ,i knew that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was in a tight place1 and that he had come to me not to admit that it was the place in which he deserved to be and to stay1 but to ask me to get him out of it4 ,crocodiles cry3 it is their nature4 ,but they do other things as well3 they eat--not only people1 but practically everything else in the world that lives and breathes and is at all eatable4 ,i gave them a good digestion for that purpose4 ,they are scavengers2 and when they scavenge1 they do not always wait till the about-to-become-nuisances die4 ,they make1 however1 one exception3 they do not eat their dentist4 ,and so you may see a crocodile squatting patiently in the mud of the ,nile or the ,ganges1 with jaws wide2 while in that place of death a small and tasty bird--whose name ,i forget--picks his teeth for him4 ,sentimentalists look on and say1 #8,how beautiful6 how wonderful6' ,so it is2 but not in the way they see it4 ,there is no sentiment about it3 it is merely the economy of life intelligently applied4 ,the crocodile depends for his good digestion1 and his ability to satisfy it1 on the efficiency of his teeth2 and as he cannot clean them himself he gets a small clean bird to do it for him4 ,similarly when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg opened his mouth to me1 he was doing so for a genuine reason1 as do most people3 and why should ,i complain8 ,i get a meal--something that adds to my interest in life4 ,far more prayers mount up from the world below for selfish than for unselfish reasons 7,i have experience1 and ,i know72 and they are not the less sincere1 or the less eloquent1 or the less emotional1 because they have a mundane and a self-centred object4 ,now when ,i compare ,mr4 ,trimblerigg to a crocodile1 ,i hope nobody will suppose that ,i am taking the ordinary sentimental view of crocodiles1 as of creatures more cruel than other creatures4 ,a crocodile when it eats a human being is no more cruel than a thrush when it eats a worm2 and if people could only get that well into their heads theology would have a better basis than it has at present4 ,a crocodile only appears more cruel than nature's average because it is peculiarly efficient to its end1 and makes a wider sweep4 ,being big1 it requires a larger meal than others of the predatory species2 also it happens to carry on its countenance an almost unchangeable expression of self-satisfaction1 and so by appearing pleased it appears more callous4 ,and the fact that it does not always wait for its offal to die is another point which the sentimentalists have against it4 ,in all these characteristic features--not to mention the tears1 which are merely accidental--there was between ,mr4 ,trimblerigg and the crocodile a resemblance4 ,he was in his own line--the line of getting on at the expense of others--preternaturally efficient2 and as his efficiency took a wider sweep1 and required for the fulfilment of its plans a larger contribution of sacrifice from assistants and opponents alike1 he appears in retrospect1 even on the ministerial side of his career1 more rapacious1 more predatory1 and more callous than others4 ,this arose partly from the size1 the necessary size of his meal1 and partly from the satisfaction it gave him2 and if1 when all was done1 that satisfaction did not break out in smiles1 he would have been a hypocrite4 ,being surface-honest1 he smiled1 quite aware that his success was for ever being built up on the failure of others--failure which he sometimes forced on them1 or more often into which he tricked them1 when they themselves were reluctant to stand aside4 ,but was that a reason why his smile should diminish8 ,his smile only diminished when his meal did not agree with him4 ,there have been occasions when he did not devour soon enough1 when the nuisance which was obstructing his path had time to turn and give him one in return before the happy despatch could be effected4 ,then and only then did ,mr4 ,trimblerigg ever appear sore4 ,he much preferred to swallow a nuisance before it could retaliate4 ,the ,puto-,congo nuisance1 which had now come to so large a head1 had done so while his attention and energy had been turned elsewhere4 ,the fight for ,relative ,truth in one direction is apt to give ,relative ,untruth its opportunity in another2 for the good that man does1 or intends to do1 is never absolute and all-embracing2 and if ,relative ,truth is only relatively successful1--the untruths incidental to its propagation come into undue prominence and take the shine out of it4 ,so it was now with ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's evangelical war record2 the recrudescence of the ,puto-,congo trouble had begun to take the shine out of it2 the nuisance had become monstrous and must be stopped4 ,for obviously what had happened was not fair to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,years ago he had planned beneficently a working compact for the development of native races between ,free ,evangelicalism and ,capital4 ,by a lightning stroke of genius he had brought a business organization of vast proportions virtually1 if not actually1 under the control of the most active missionizing body in the whole world4 ,it almost seemed as if the stainless record of the ,quakers1 whose peaceful but profitable contact with ,red ,indian scalp-hunters had extended over seventy-five years of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries1 might now repeat itself on a larger scale2 and if ,mr4 ,trimblerigg on the flush of that generous prospect1 saw in vision his name pass down to posterity as the great ,liberator1--saviour of an oppressed race1 is he to be blamed for anything but a too sanguine temperament8 ,hitherto it was that very temperament which had brought to pass things almost impossible2 but now here1 just once1 because his attention had been diverted1 the scheme had gone wrong1 so wrong as to become unrecognizable2 and since he could not recognize its distorted features1 he denied himself with a clear conscience either the parentage or the responsibility of it4 ,a thing so remote from his intentions was necessarily the doing of others2 and when crossing the sea for the first time he set out on the adventure1 he had no other aim but to put it right and re-establish1 on a sound basis1 the concordat between ,christianity and ,capitalism which he had originally planned4 ,but when he got there he found things very much worse than even his enemies and traducers had either discovered or declared2 for in the restoration of order the missionaries of ,free ,evangelicalism had become implicated2 very much as in former time they had become implicated on the commercial and profit-making side2 and the natives1 to whom sequences were the same as consequences1 had begun to turn on the missionaries4 ,and they also were hardly to blame2 for wherever the missionaries went before1 order--or attempted order--had come after4 ,submission had been preached till the natives would no longer submit2 civilization had been painted in all the colours of the rainbow1 till civilization had come and bruised them black and blue1 and tanned their hides for them2 or did so when it caught them4 ,for to begin with the natives had only rebelled by ceasing to hew wood and draw water1 or collect the rubber and other commodities which the ,chartered ,company was out to collect2 and running away into the woods had hidden themselves2 only defensively setting traps and laying ambushes1 when the emissaries of the ,chartered ,company came to fetch them back again4 ,and because1 in many cases1 the missionaries were sent as fore-runners1 they started to make examples of the missionaries2 and when the missionaries came and opened deceiving mouths at them1 they devised a sure method for keeping their mouths shut by burying them head-downwards in the ground4 ,and when the missionaries showed them those rainbows of promise1 in which they no longer believed1 they painted the missionaries in the truer colours of black and tan4 ,and so it had come about that1 when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg got to the country1 the mortality among the missionaries and their lay-followers was very nearly as high and very nearly as painful as the mortality had been among the natives of the ,puto-,congo and ,ray ,river ,territory1 till they had taken to the woods to save themselves4 ,i have little doubt that had ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's diverted attention-- diverted to the saving of democracy1 the skinning of the scapegoat and the hewing of ,agag1--had it been recalled a little earlier in the direction where it would have done more good1 and had he promulgated his idea of a ,free ,state ,limited five years sooner1 when the call first came for ,puto-,congo to assist in the saving of civilization1 ,i have very little doubt that he could have done what he now failed to do1 by methods which would have left his reputation very much as they found it4 ,but when he arrived upon the scene the natives had got to a state of mind in which they could see nothing with any appetite except blood1 and hear nothing except the cries of their victims2 and in spite of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's proclamations of peace and goodwill 7under certain governing conditions7 the burying habit1 with its painted accompaniments1 went on3 got worse1 in fact1 instead of better4 ,no doubt had ,mr4 ,trimblerigg been able to announce to the natives1 that the white race with its civilizing mission1 its religious principles1 its rubber interests1 and its shares1 was prepared to clear out of the country1 lock1 stock1 and barrel1 and restore them the crude independence they had never willingly let go1--no doubt had he begun withdrawing his missions to the coast1 and made the interior prohibited territory to his rubber-collectors1 he would have found fewer of his missionaries entered head-downwards into future life as he advanced his armed guards1 his rescue-work1 and his reforms4 ,but so long as the white missions and the traders remained active the natives could not be convinced4 ,nor was ,mr4 ,trimblerigg entirely a free agent1 he still had the shareholders behind him--albeit shareholders professing ,christianity2 and these were people who believed in the civilizing mission not only of race but of organized capital4 ,and because native ways of shedding blood were a savagery which must be put down1 while civilized ways of restoring order were a #8military necessity' and a #8moral obligation' combined2 and because if they did not get the rubber somebody else would1 and their civilizing trade would suffer1--therefore they hung on1 and would not let go4 ,and though ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had full power given him1 it was power that must be used to a certain end2 and the end1 put briefly1 was that ,christianity and ,capital must continue their civilizing mission in company1 and win back ,puto-,congo to the ways of the world4 ,having stated the moral obligation ,i draw as much of a veil over it as ,i can1 making history brief2 for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 much against his will1 was obliged to fulfil it in terms of ,relative ,truth1 such as the natives could understand4 ,in a crisis the ,mosaic law is so much easier and quicker to explain to primitive races than the other law which came later4 ,for these races stand at a stage of the world's history2 and what the higher races went through1 by way of judicial experiment1 they must go through also4 ,even by ,christians1 when it comes to the point1 ,christianity has never been regarded as a short cut--not even among themselves4 ,for them and for all the rest of the civilized world1 ,moses is still the law-giver1 and there is no transfiguration yet for the thunders of ,mount ,sinai2 its lightnings continue to strike under the ,new ,dispensation as of old4 ,so it had to be now4 ,the natives of ,puto-,congo themselves indicated what form of instruction best suited them2 and under ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's dispensation it was no longer only the missionaries who were buried head-downwards and painted black-and-tan1 to match the landscape with its foregrounds of burnt-out villages and long tracks of charred jungle wherein nothing lived or moved4 ,for this painful necessity ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had good material provided him4 ,civilization had trained for war far more men than it could now employ in peace2 and what1 at the call to her children of a country in danger1 had been an act of heroic sacrifice had degenerated in course of time into a confirmed habit1 wherein fierce craving and dull routine were curiously mixed4 ,and when peace supervened and became in the hands of diplomats a feverish and restless thing1 almost as nerve-racking as war1 then by many hundreds of warriors unwanted by the ,state and without employ1 the dull routine was forgotten while the fierce craving remained4 ,thus1 here and there1 as luck would have it1 in a still unsettled world1 use was found for them1 and governments to which they owed no allegiance and for which they had no affection1 and as to whose rights and wrongs they knew nothing and cared less1 sent and hired them as experts for the shedding of blood in quarrels not their own4 ,and because governments1 good or bad1 are organized things1 and because men are accustomed to have a government over them justifying them in what they do1 therefore1 without trouble of conscience1 to these foreign governments they gave themselves1 and shedding blood to order1 on a contract which promised them good pay1 were not regarded as murderers at all1 but as men still honourably employed in the service of civilization4 ,and some of these having returned home in the nick of time from building castles in ,spain1 cheated of their pay1 and very much disgusted with the camps and the food and the sanitary arrangement which had been provided for them1 hearing that there was more employment of a similar kind to be had in ,puto-,congo and ,ray ,river ,territory1 went and offered themselves to the ,chartered ,company and found grateful acceptance4 ,and when a thousand of them had been collected1 they were sent out to the help of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 well supplied with arms and ammunition1 also with spades and tar-brushes4 ,and when they arrived ,mr4 ,trimblerigg gave them their welcome instructions1 plenty of work at blacking and tanning1 one pound a day1 and their keep4 ,,chapter ,,twenty-,,six ,civilized and ,simple ,it was unfortunate that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 at this crucial stage of his career1 not having ,davidina to worry him1 had no need to worry about ,davidina4 ,some six months earlier she had started upon a career of her own on rather a big scale--a research expedition1 which1 though merely an extension of that taste for travel in strange places which she had already indulged1 was now organized upon such novel lines and to cover so far-stretched a route that it had attracted public notice1 and had won for her at the moment of departure many send-off paragraphs in journals of science and in the daily press4 ,it was still something of a novelty for a lone woman to head an expedition into tropical wilds south of the equator1 for no other apparent object than to collect botanical specimens1 and incidentally study the habits of the native tribes encountered on the way4 ,in addition1 ,davidina admitted that she had a theory which she wished to put to the test2 for though not a ,christian ,scientist1 she was one of those curious people who are without fear2 and being without fear she believed herself safe2 and as she did not mind dying she did not intend to carry fire-arms4 ,the whole gist of the experiment lay in the fact that1 disappearing from the eye of civilization to the south-east of trails which no white woman had ever yet penetrated1 she intended to re-emerge #b1ejj miles to the north-west1 an unharmed specimen of that superior race-product which she believed herself to be4 ,she and ,jonathan had not been pleased with each other during the ,war2 and for the first time in his grown-up life ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had adopted toward his sister the superior moral tone which circumstances seemed to justify2 for in this contention he had not only the world with him but all the ,churches4 ,he told ,davidina that she was wrong4 ,davidina's reply was3 #8,seeing is believing2 and at present ,i don't see much except mess1 nor do you4 ,in war nobody can4' ,and having waited till travel by land and sea had once more become possible1 ,davidina sent him word of the object-lesson she was going to give him4 #8,and if1' she concluded1 #8you don't see me again1 you needn't believe in my method any more than ,i believe in yours4 ,in any case1 ,i shan't haunt you2 and ,i've left you my love in my will4' ,and with that cryptic remark she took herself off1 leaving no address4 ,it would be hard to say what exactly ,mr4 ,trimblerigg wished1 hoped1 or expected to be the outcome of her attempt to give him the promised lesson4 ,probably he thought she would come back the way she had gone1 with a good record of adventure to her credit1 a safe failure2 for he had great faith in ,davidina's powers of survival4 ,what he did not expect in the least was what actually happened4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was inattentive to maps and unattracted to geography2 and when ,davidina started on her adventure she was more than #b1jjj miles away from any part of the world in which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had interests4 ,miss ,trimblerigg's travels have since been published in two large volumes1 with photographs taken by herself of things never seen before1 and of some1 towards the end1 which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg would rather she had not seen4 ,for the scientific side of her work1 two rival societies awarded her their gold medal for the year--the first time these had ever been won by a woman2 for the other and more adventurously experimental side1 she received an address of commendation from certain philanthropical and humanitarian societies and other bodies with crank notions1 whose zealous leaflets and public meetings give them an appearance of life1 but whose influence in the world is negligible4 ,davidina had as her companions two other whites1 husband and wife1 whom she chose for the curious reason that they were both deaf and dumb1--very insensitive therefore to shock1 very uninterfering and very observant of the natural phenomena that lay around them4 ,by this means she secured undisputed control of the expedition1 and as much insulation for her moral experiment as was practically possible4 ,the deaf-mutes were a great success with the natives whom she employed as carriers3 they regarded them as holy mysteries1 and held them in as much awe as they did ,davidina herself4 ,another curious choice she made was to have in her following no native ,christians4 ,for this particular experiment she regarded the unspoiled pagan as the better material2 and there was plain horse-sense in it1 seeing that before long her following not only looked upon her as a goddess1 but worshipped her as well4 ,this great sin 7though by some it might be regarded merely as an example of ,relative ,truth7 ,davidina committed for more than a year and over a space of #b1jjj miles with great apparent success1 and was not punished for it4 ,it was not my affair3 those who read this record will have discovered before now that ,i do not hold myself responsible for ,davidina3 she belonged1 and belongs still1 elsewhere2 and what were her inner beliefs or her guiding authority ,i have never been able to discover4 ,she never applied to me4 ,and yet between us we shared1 or divided the conscience of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,the phenomena of the spiritual world are strange1 and many of them1 to gods and mortals alike1 still unexplained4 ,davidina1 then1 went upon her travels unarmed--unarmed1 that is to say1 with civilized weapons of war1 or even of the chase--but by no means unprovided for4 ,weapons of a certain kind she had1 weapons of precision1 very subtle and calculated in their effect4 ,but these were aimed not at the bodies but at the minds of those denizens of the forest and swamp and high table-land whom she encountered in her march4 ,every member of the expedition carried a toy air-balloon3 and they had mouth-organs and bird-warblers2 and the two deaf-mutes carried concertinas on which they played with great effect tunes by no means in unison4 ,natives1 chiefs and warriors1 coaxed to the encounter--often with difficulty--wept and bowed down to their feet as they performed2 also they blew soap-bubbles which had an even greater effect1 so that word of them went far ahead and on all sides1 and the route they followed became populous4 ,upon ,davidina's shoulder1 for mascot1 sat a small pet monkey in scarlet cap and coat2 and he too1 when the occasion fitted1 carried a toy air-balloon4 ,and as it went by land or by water1 the expedition1 instead of going secretively and silently1 made music and song1 and bird-warbled2 and waving its toy air-balloons1 and blowing its soap-bubbles--with nods1 and wreathed smiles1 and laughter1 and hand-clappings--was safe by ways that never varied but never became dull4 ,again and again1 in the dense forest jungle1 ambushers who had hung in wait for them1 fled howling at their approach--first to report the heavenly wonder to the heads of their tribe1 then returning as watchers from a distance to be won by the beauty of their sound and the delicacy of their going--the decorativeness1 the ritual1 the blithe atmosphere of it all4 ,and at the next settlement to which they came1 the natives in holiday attire would turn out to greet them with propitiatory offerings1 and songs which had no tune in them1 but which meant that all was for the best in this best of all possible worlds4 ,month after month1 sometimes camping for weeks1 sometimes marching in the track of rivers or skirting swamps1 the expedition wore its way steadily on1 making for the point of the compass to which it had set its face1 north-north-by-west4 ,and still word went ahead1 through a thousand miles of virgin forest2 and ,davidina coming after1 continued--however bad her theology might be--to prove the thesis she had set out to demonstrate2 always triumphal in her progress1 successfully collecting botanical specimens1 her course unpunctuated by gunfire and unstained by blood4 ,for when1 in the languages of the native tribes they became variously known as the ,music-makers1 the ,ball-bearers3 the ,breathers of the breath of life1 their way was not made merely safe but prepared before them1 and a choice of many roads was offered them4 ,runners from a hundred miles distance to right and left of their route would come entreating them to turn aside and do honour to communities waiting to welcome them4 ,for food they depended entirely on the skill of the native bow-men1 slingers1 trappers1 and blowers of darts who formed their company2 for ,davidina had quite correctly calculated that if by this means the natives could support themselves in life1 they could also support an expedition in which the whites were only as one to ten4 ,had these followers deserted1 she and her two companions would speedily have starved4 ,it was a risk--not greater1 she maintained1 than the carrying of fire-arms2 and since some risk must be taken1 that was the one she preferred4 ,in the end she had actually to face it and come through on her own2 but the goal of her itinerary was then not far4 ,it happened one night1 after a heavy march that1 without knowing it1 she had pitched her camp upon the confines of the ,ray ,river ,company's sphere of operations1--at the point1 therefore1 where civilization might be said to begin4 ,when she turned in for the night all appeared to be well4 ,outside her tent the native guards sat motionless upon their haunches looking out into the black bush2 the toy air-balloons floated dreamily on their pole in the centre of the camp1 and about its base all the impedimenta of the expedition stood neatly piled3 there was then neither sign of danger1 nor prospect of alarm1 for up to that time nobody knew that they had touched civilization4 ,but during the dead hours1 some sense--sight1 or sound--of peril lurking ahead3 native runners1 perhaps1 from a distance1 or hidden dwellers in the surrounding forest1 had struck the hearts of her followers a blow4 ,in the morning the camp was empty4 ,the cases of botanical specimens lay undisturbed1 but the toy air-balloons had vanished4 ,the pipes1 the soap1 the bird-warblers1 the monkey1 and the two concertinas remained1 also a small amount of food--rice1 flour1 extracts of meat1 and other medicaments which white men think that they require when travelling4 ,it was panic not the loot-instinct which had cleared the camp of its carriers4 ,but the cause of the trouble--the propinquity of civilized man--was also the way out of it4 ,shouldering what they could of the things most necessary to life1 and striking the downward course of the ,ray ,river--here a baby stream1 shallow and fordable1--they headed toward civilization4 ,toward the end of the second day they came upon the sun-dried bodies of six natives planted head-downwards in the soil3 their withered limbs trained upright on stakes1 their dark leathery trunks still showing the scores of stripes borne by the flesh4 ,davidina had been1 for over a year1 so far removed from civilization1 that she did not know the latest things that civilization in its military necessities had been doing2 nor had she at that time any clue for connecting this unsightly object-lesson with the pacific and missionary efforts of her brother ,jonathan4 ,but that night1 coming into a white camp1 well fenced and armed--offshoot of the larger expedition now actively out to impose peace by reprisals--she got the situation fully explained4 ,on the same spot where she had seen the impaled natives1 a lay-missioner a few weeks earlier had been found dead from the same causes4 #8,this time we only managed to catch six1' explained the commandant2 #8our regulation number is twenty4' #8,regulation number is good1' was her tart comment4 #8,it suggests order and discipline4 ,do you reduce the number as you go on2 or do you increase it8' #8,increasing isn't much good1' replied her informant4 #8,these beggars can only count up to ten4 ,we chose twenty as a good working average3 it's the number we can generally manage to bag if we butt in quick enough4' #8,but a higher scale1' said ,davidina1 #8would give you a better clearance3 rid you of more dangerous characters4' #8,not necessarily4 ,the dangerous ones can run4 ,we only get what's left4' #8,you are acting strictly to order1 ,i suppose8 ,whose8' #8,trimblerigg's1' said the man4 #8,i'm ,trimblerigg's sister4' ,after that he treated her as though she were royalty--a little puzzled1 however1 not quite understanding her4 ,her dry ironic commendations were thrown away on him2 he was the plain blunt man1 doing his job honestly according to the light or darkness with which others provided him4 ,the information she got from him decided ,davidina not to stay the night4 ,the natives1 it appeared1 had a wonderful faculty for moving invisibly and without sound in the darkness2 so in that camp throats were sometimes found cut in the morning2 and ,davidina wished rather particularly not to come to that end before she had seen ,jonathan4 ,she spent the rest of that night and the whole day following in a canoe rowed by picked ,christian natives2 the two other members of the expedition going back under an escort to recover what could be saved of the impedimenta and botanical specimens which they had been forced to abandon4 ,late the next evening she arrived ahead of rumour at the armed camp of the central mission4 ,off the river's landing-stage she met some one she knew who directed her to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's quarters4 #8,i think he has turned in4 ,shall ,i call him8' he asked4 #8,i'll call him myself1' she replied1 #8if you don't mind4 ,it will be a nice little surprise for him4' ,he gave her the necessary password through the lines1 for the camp was well guarded1 double sentries everywhere4 ,the coming of a white woman seemed to startle them1 being so much less explainable than a ghost2 but she and her monkey got through4 ,coming to a window covered by a chick-blind and showing no light1 she lifted the blind and looked in4 ,,chapter ,,twenty-,,seven ,a ,night's ,repose ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 lying on his well-earned bed1 was looking out through the dark canes of the chick at the large-eyed tropical night1 when an opaque and curiously crested form entered his square of vision4 ,the chick lifted1 to the flash of a torchlight the crest detached itself1 and a small scarlet-coated monkey leapt down on to the bed4 ,this incongruous combination scared his calculating wits out of him2 snatching his revolver he fired without aim4 ,the monkey1 chattering in alarm1 skipped back to the shoulder it had sprung from4 #8,missed again6' said a familiar voice4 #8,how do you do1 ,jonathan8 ,may ,i come in8' ,she clambered in as she spoke1 and sat upon the bed1 while ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 exclamatory with anger and apology1 lighted the lamp and stared at the unwelcome apparition4 ,met under such nightmare conditions1 they did not stop to embrace4 #8,so that was your object-lesson1 was it8' said ,davidina4 #8,bad shot4 ,what made you do it8' #8,you made me do it6' retorted ,mr4 ,trimblerigg sharply4 #8,a fool's trick1 coming like that6 ,how could ,i tell it was you8' #8,you couldn't4 ,but what are your sentries for8 ,haven't you enough of them to feel safe8' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 defending himself1 gave away more of the situation than he intended4 #8,why1 it might have been a sentry himself6' he exclaimed4 #8,you can't trust one of them4' #8,not even your converted ,christians8' #8,not as things are now4 ,christians8--scratch the surface1 and you find they go pagan again4' #8,so you've been scratching them8' #8,no need4 ,they scratch themselves2 it's reversion to type2 the commonest disease missions have to contend with4' #8,and catching to civilization1' remarked ,davidina2 #8,a scratch lot1 all of you4' ,then1 as ,mr4 ,trimblerigg looked at her with furtive suspicion1 #8,i've been interviewing a specimen1' she said2 #8one of yours4' ,she named her man4 #8,he seemed honest enough1' she went on1 #8but he's been scratched badly1 acting 7he says7 under your orders4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg bristled to the implied criticism4 #8,he has only done what was absolutely necessary4' #8,necessary1 of course1' she returned4 #8,you can always make a thing necessary if you want to4 ,if a man sets fire to the tail of his shirt1 he has got to get out of it4 ,but that doesn't make him look less of a fool1 ,jonathan4 ,necessary8 ,it's necessary1 ,i suppose1 that you should shoot people at sight before you know who they are4 ,but if you mean that for an object-lesson1 ,i don't find it attractive4' #8,object-lesson of what8' demanded ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 #8,yes1 of what8' she retorted4 #8,it's not ,free ,evangelicalism1 it's not common sense1 and ,i don't suppose you think it comic either4' ,her accent on the word enraged him1 as she had expected4 #8,i was only asking1' she said4 #8,you've your sense of humour1 and ,i've mine1 and they don't always agree4 ,a man who can never see a joke is a poor creature2 but when he makes a joke of himself and can't see that--he's past praying for4 ,did you say your prayers to-night1 ,jonathan8 ,you did8 ,then better say 'em again backwards1 and see if you can't get more sense out of them4' #8,thank you1' said ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 #8,you mean well2 but ,i don't need to be told how to pray3 ,i pray as ,i feel4' #8,you do1' she said comfortingly4 #8,d'you ever look at your tongue first to see your symptoms8 ,no8 ,well1 you should then4 ,there's nothing in this world so dangerous as prayer if you've fixed up the answer before you begin4 ,forty years ago1 ,jonathan1 you set that trap for yourself1 now it's a habit you can't get rid of4 ,let's look at your tongue4 ,it's my belief you've got an attack of it now1 worse than usual4 ,either pray backwards from the way you've been doing--which means don't begin by giving yourself the answer--or leave off4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 who during the past six months had been through deep waters and in his own eyes had done valiantly1 sat up quivering with indignation4 #8,if ,i hadn't prayed1' he cried1 #8prayed all ,i knew1 prayed without ceasing--and if ,i had not depended every instant on my prayer being answered in ways beyond human power to devise1 before this ,i should have been dead4' #8,yes1' said ,davidina1 #8and if you had aimed your last prayer a little straighter1 so should ,i4 ,it missed--like some of the others1 ,i'm thinking4 ,two days ago ,i met six of your prayers1 as you call 'em1 striped like a barber's pole1 dead as door-nails1 standing on their heads in native earth4 ,they weren't exactly addressed to me2 but ,i've come in answer to them2 and if you don't think it's the word of the ,lord ,i'm telling you now1 ,jonathan1 put up another and have done with me6' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's sense of lifelong grievances came to a head1 and he spoke plainly3 #8,i shall never have done with you1 ,davidina1 never1 never6 ,all my life you've hated me1 persecuted me1 wished me ill4 ,yes2 you've been sorry whenever ,i succeeded1 glad when ,i've failed2 and if ,i were to fail now1 you'd only say--8,serve him right6 ,serve him right60' #8,that's true1' said ,davidina2 #8the rest isn't4 ,hated you8 ,don't flatter yourself6 ,you wouldn't so much mind me hating you2 it's my seeing through you that you don't like4 8,o ,lord1 so look upon me from on high that ,you don't see me clear as ,davidina sees me60 ,that has been your life-prayer1 ,jonathan1 though you never put it into words4 ,yes1 to you it may sound like blasphemy1 but if you'd prayed a little less to yourself1 and a little more to me1 maybe1 you might not have cut so famous a figure in the world--been such a firework1 setting a spark to your own tail and running round after it 7which is what you are doing here7 but there'd have been more meat on you for one to cut and come again than there is now4 ,it's my belief1 ,jonathan1 you don't truly know where you begin and where you leave off4 ,you've been standing in your own light so long1 and walking in it1 that you see yourself a child of light every time you look in the glass4 ,i've only to switch this torch on'--she played it upon him as she spoke--#8and you look like a saint in a halo1 waiting for the ,kingdom of ,heaven to come4 ,yes1 that's what you are always giving yourself--a halo2 you've only to pray and it comes--like hiccoughs1 or housemaid's knee4 ,you touch a button1 you switch on the light1 and you see yourself in a glory4 ,some day you'll get one in real earnest2 and when you do1 ,i wonder what you'll make of it1 and what people will say8 ,i think they'll laugh4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg looked at her with that same sort of uneasy awe which weak saints have for the ,devil4 ,under her penetrating gaze he sealed himself to secrecy4 ,this1 that she was saying--so nearly true1 yet treating it as a joke--was not a thing about which even relatively the truth could be told4 ,davidina had no sense of the mysterious1 and very little of the divine2 she lacked reverence2 but her uncanny way of touching the spot did rather scare him4 ,he changed the subject hastily4 #8,where have you been all this time8' he inquired4 #8,you've come a long way4 ,how did you get on8' ,davidina1 accepting the diversion1 gave him a sketch of her travels4 ,he heard of the toy air-balloons1 the bird-warblers1 and the soap-bubbles2 the singing1 and the playing1 and the worshipping deputations of natives4 ,nor did ,davidina disguise from him the fact that she had allowed godlike honours to be paid to her4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 though he had used ,relative ,truth for his own ends1 could not1 as a ,free ,evangelical1 think that was right4 #8,i dare say it isn't1' said ,davidina1 #8not as we think it4 ,but if you start applying your own sense of what's right to natives1 they don't think you a god1 they think you a devil4 ,that's what you've been doing1 ,jonathan2 and devil's the result4 ,and for my part1 ,i don't see that it's any more against true religion to let yourself be worshipped as a god than to make yourself feared as a devil4 ,devil or god1 it's one or the other--you can't get out of it2 and to be thought a god and to act accordingly does less harm1 comes cheaper1 and makes things easier for all concerned4 #8,anyway here's your object-lesson and there's mine4 ,i could have soon enough made them think me a devil if ,i'd taken your line1 ,jonathan4 ,so now1 unless it's against your religion1 you'd better try mine for a change4 ,be a god1 ,jonathan1 be a god6 ,it won't be true2 but believe me--sing1 glory hallelujah6 it's the better hole to fall into4 ,and now ,i'm going4' ,so saying1 she started to climb out the way she had come4 #8,where to8' inquired ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 astounded at so abrupt a leave-taking4 #8,anywhere1 so long as it's away from civilization--and you6' she declared4 #8,i'll send my specimens down to the coast1 then go back the way ,i've come4 ,and1 ,jonathan1 if you get beautifully burnt out by a bush-fire in the next day or two1 don't think it's them2 it'll be me4' #8,what for8' #8,for fun1 or for a moral object-lesson1 just as you like to take it3 ,davidina's dose--or jumps for ,jonathan4 ,good-bye6' ,she had escaped--had already gone a few paces1 when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg bethought him and called after her4 #8,daffy6' ,it was the old abbreviated usage from days of childhood4 ,she returned1 and stood outside the chick without lifting it4 #8,well1 what8' she queried4 ,and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's voice came cooingly from within3 #8,you haven't kissed me1 ,daffy4' #8,i have not1' she replied starkly4 #8,but we haven't quarrelled1 have we8' #8,quarrelled8 ,have ,i ever quarrelled with you yet1 ,jonathan8 ,no fear6 ,i've been saying your prayers for you--right way up4 ,now you say 8,amen02 kiss yourself your own way1 and go to sleep6' ,she heard him chuckle2 then in a whinnying tone1 as he stretched himself3 #8,oh1 you are a comfortable person to talk to6' #8,you've said that before4' #8,it's true4 ,i'm glad you came1 ,davidina4 ,you've given me a new idea4' #8,i generally do1' she replied4 #8,but this is my own1' he insisted4 #8,so is the stuffing of a goose1 once it's inside him1' was her retort4 ,and with that she was gone4 ,and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 with the feeling that something now remained to his credit1 turned over and went blissfully to sleep4 ,for having let ,davidina know that she was #8comfortable to talk to1' he had turned the sharp points of her arrows1 and so robbed them of venom that not a word she had said troubled him any more4 ,so he gave his beloved sleep2 and into his dreams came hovering the crocean dawn or that new idea1 so entirely his own1 prompted by ,davidina4 ,,chapter ,,twenty-,,eight ,practical ,idealism ,when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg again woke1 he was happy2 he had an idea1 and the idea was entirely his own4 ,it was not less his own because it had flashed into life during his talk with ,davidina1 or because it ran on diametrically opposite lines 7up to a certain point1 at least7 from his previous policy of black-and-tan stripes and head-downward reprisals4 ,the thing which had been #8absolutely necessary' the day before and on those grounds had been justified1 was now a discarded1 if not a discredited device4 ,he had found a better4 ,it was inconsistent1 no doubt2 for if it could be put into practice now1 it could have been put into practice earlier1 and the tarrings and the featherings and the rest need never have happened4 ,but it is no good condemning ,mr4 ,trimblerigg for his inconsistencies2 they were as much a part of that strangely divided unity1 his character1 as the extreme notes which give the range of a singer's voice2 and even when he had a divided mind1 it served like the divided hoof of the mountain goat which gives nimbleness and elasticity to the tread4 ,often and often1 because of his divided mind1 his enemies did not know where to have him1 nor sometimes where he would have them4 ,in these see-saw gymnastics his doctrine of ,relative ,truth helped him not a little4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg never worried about methods2 he judged himself only by results1 and expected the world to have as short a memory as his own and to do likewise4 ,and ,i cannot deny that if results are a justification for doubtful faith and slippery dealings1 results often did justify him2 and many of his flashlight successes were won entirely because he had a mind of two parts diametrically opposed1 which he never troubled to reconcile4 ,they were there for alternate use and combined effect1 just as oil and vinegar are used by a maker of salads--opposites resulting in a balance of flavour4 ,and undoubtedly1 though they produced a mixed record1 the tactical advantage was great4 ,for what enemy of sane mind could anticipate attack from such opposite quarters as those chosen by ,mr4 ,trimblerigg when he found himself in a tight place8 ,it was not the simple strategy of a general whose armies came into action simultaneously from north and south2 it was rather the conjuration of a wizard able to summon to his aid at the same moment and for a common end the hosts of ,heaven and the powers of ,hell--or of one who came offering peace1 with a dove in one hand and a vulture in the other1 undecided up to the last moment which of the two he intended to let go4 ,so it was when1 in all the freshness of his new idea1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg set out to play the god--the god of peace1 mercy1 and reconciliation to the expropriated natives of ,puto-,congo2 not because he regarded it as specially true to his character1 or as the better hole to fall into--for to fall he did not intend2 but because the coming of ,davidina had made him realize that a sporting alternative to reprisals did actually exist2 and being a sportsman by instinct1 where matters of principle were concerned1 he saw it adventurously as the obvious game to play4 ,having made up his mind to it1 he played it with a swift hand1 and three days later set off unattended for the upper wilds of ,ray ,river ,territory 7into which the elusive natives had gradually retired7 with nothing to protect him but the safe conduct of one of their chiefs whom he had made captive1 and whom he now released handsomely on parole to be his fore-runner and messenger4 ,and who1 seeing him thus set forth1 his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace1 his loins girt with truth1 and having on the shield of faith1 and the sword of the spirit1 who1 seeing him so arrayed1 could ever have supposed that at the same time he had planned1 swiftly and covertly1 a forced march of armed missionaries by night to secure at dawn the ratification of an imposed treaty2 and that the signal of their presence was to be--not indeed the dropping of bombs and the rattle of machine-guns 7though the bombs and machine-guns were to be all there1 primed and ready to let go71 but a strain of holy voices setting forth the alternative thus presented1 threat and persuasion combined1 to the tune of the ,puto-,congo love-chant1 which from time immemorial the young warriors had sung in spring outside the wigwams of their beloved ones4 ,it was possible to suppose one or other of two such courses of action3 but to imagine them inextricably combined as the single homogeneous plan of a sane mind was altogether beyond reckoning2 only ,mr4 ,trimblerigg could have thought of it1 only ,mr4 ,trimblerigg could have asked a blessing for it--as he confidently did1 in his prayers1 and have gone forth to the experiment assured that he had not only the bombs and the machine-guns with him1 but the favour of ,heaven as well4 ,and though a word from ,davidina had prompted it1 he was quite right in saying that the idea was entirely his own4 ,and so at dawn of the third day his idea came to fruition1 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg saw the desire of his soul and was satisfied4 ,he had laboured for long hours in the rough council chamber of the tribe1 and his efforts still hovered between success and failure1 when the wailing sound of the love-chant arose in the woods without2 and all the warriors1 struck mute by the wonder of it1 stiffened and sat up on their haunches4 ,and as they listened they joined hands1 and their faces softened as the growing light of day crept in through the wattled walls4 ,then ,mr4 ,trimblerigg took up a banjo which he had brought with him1 and though no expert as a musician1 played his country's national anthem upon one note2 and then #8,rock of ,ages'2 and then1 in alternate phrases 7#8,nothing in my hand ,i bring1 ,god save our gracious ,king'71 the two tunes combined3 a symbolic performance emblematic of the ,treaty of ,peace which he now called on them to sign4 ,and there he was1 still in their hands1 confident1 resourceful1 self-assured1 with nothing to save him from death but his calculative understanding of human nature1 and the soft drift of the love-chant coming like bird-song from the wood4 ,then1 through his interpreter1 he spoke the final word1 in so persuasive a voice and with so smiling a face1 that they could not but feel that all was now well2 and with nod and grunt1 and soft patting of palm on thigh1 and slow swayings to and fro1 they glimmered back at him1 suspicious no more of one so equal and fearless1 and confiding1 sitting peacefully in their midst4 #8,brothers1' he said1 #8these are your white friends1 who have come1 feeling their way through the dark night with hands eager for the dawn1 to know whether we have indeed made peace4 ,we have1 have we not8 ,i told them that ,i should be here sowing seed fit for fruit-bearing1 and that in the night it would take root1 and grow1 and become a tree wherein the love-singers would nest3 ,i told them to wait and hope4 ,but their hope was so great that they could wait no more2 therefore have they come4 ,their eager hearts have led them through the blackness and terror of night to behold the glad faces of their dark brothers shining to welcome them4 ,o ,brothers1 what matters a little giving and taking on this side or on that1 if only we can be at peace1 and share together the heat and light of the sun which are1 indeed1 so abundant that if we each take half it will be better for us4 ,hark6 they have learned your song of love1 and you shall learn ours2 let us go out and meet them6' ,he rose and led the dazed and awe-struck natives to the gate of their stockade2 then1 as it opened1 skipped nimbly across to the shelter of that happy band of pilgrims1 who1 wearing white robes and carrying guns concealed under palm-branches1 stood and smiled amicably upon the situation which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had prepared for them4 ,the faces of the chiefs fell2 without a word they stepped back into the council chamber where lay the drafted treaty1 cut each a small wrist-vein and signed it in his blood4 #8,our tribe will kill us for this1' said one chief as he affixed his mark4 ,and two months later he was dead4 ,and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 having successfully won his point1 by a judicious mixture of incompatible principles1 was quite pleased with himself--and me4 ,for while he took over most of the credit1 he did not forget his stars for having made him the man he was4 ,grateful as well as gratified1 and very tired after all his efforts1 he fell asleep without having risen from his knees4 ,and as in that attitude he slept the sleep of the just1 with just a suspicion of the crocean dawn once more illuminating the pillow on which at sideway turn his head so confidingly rested1 ,i felt once again that curious sense of helplessness which his achievement of a good conscience always imposed on me2 and the old doubt recurred--difficult to put into words1 but virtually to this effect3 was the relation between us a reality or only a dream2 did he belong to me1 or did ,i belong to him8 ,was ,i using him1 or was he using me8 ,ought ,i to consider myself anything more than a rather shining reflector of his brain8 ,all through the world's history there have been men doubtful of their makers1 honestly incredulous of the source from which they sprung--infidels1 sceptics1 atheists--of lives too short to mark the changes1 vicissitudes and final disappearance of the creeds they would not hold4 ,many such have ,i known with sympathy and with understanding2 but ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 so far as my experience goes1 is the unique instance of that process reversed--one who has raised a like doubt in the mind of his creator4 ,was he really mine1 or did ,i only dream of him as fantastically as he so often dreamed of me8 ,now he has gone from me1 and ,i do not know3 perhaps ,i never shall4 ,but if in that other region to which he has now passed he has at last found not me but himself--and in that image has satisfied the requirements of his soul--can it be called a lost one--so far as he is concerned8 ,his work accomplished1 he returned home4 ,incidentally the ship which bore him and his fortunes back to the old world encountered storm almost the whole way4 ,but ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's conscience was at peace1 and he was not afraid4 ,for myself ,i own that ,i was anxious2 ,i never quite know how storms are going to end2 and ,i did not wish1 at this juncture1 to lose ,mr4 ,trimblerigg merely by accident4 ,,chapter ,,twenty-,,nine ,second ,wind ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's home-coming1 in spite of the triumphal note sedulously given to it by his out-and-out supporters1 was a sad one4 ,he found ,free ,evangelicalism divided against him4 ,his results had not wiped out the memory of his methods2 and as there had been loud protest while these were still going on1 there was now controversy as to whether they had in the least helped to the more peaceful dnouement which had followed4 ,in the main his only backers among the ,free ,evangelicals were the armed missionaries who had carried out his policy1 and the shareholders whose investments he had saved from ruin4 ,and though ,true ,belief had rallied whole-heartedly to the support of his more than ,mosaic discipline--finding for it the warrant of ,scripture--,true ,belief1 in spite of the new importance thus given to it1 was not the mould into which he could pour himself at this advanced stage of his career upon his return to civilization4 ,except in the mission field1 where he had used it to meet an emergency1 its die-hard tenets were incompatible with ,relative ,truth2 yet though some of its followers still held that the world was flat1 and others that it did not go round1 in a matter of religious war against the barbarism of savage tribes he could work with them1 and in their eye-for-an-eye and tooth-for-a-tooth standpoint find the ,relative ,truth which served his need4 ,but they1 for their part1 would not doctrinally budge an inch to come to him4 ,so when the main body of ,free ,evangelicalism turned against him1 intimacy with ,true ,belief stood rather as a liability than as an asset2 though for a time it was a question whether he had anywhere else to turn--whether any religious connection large and lively enough to serve his purpose was willing to have him except on terms into which even his diversified record could not fit without foolishness4 ,with the ruddy honours of ,puto-,congo fresh upon him1 he stood for re-election to the ,presidency of the ,free ,evangelical ,union1 and got turned down4 ,the blow was a shrewd one1 though he met it with a smiling face4 ,but when1 following upon that1 after long and heated discussion an adverse motion was carried by the executive of the ,free ,evangelical ,missions1 whose organization on its present vast scale owed its prosperity mainly to him1 then indeed he felt as though the bottom was being knocked out of his ministerial career2 and was almost of a mind--of two minds1 that is to say--to turn from divinity to politics4 ,for in politics at that time events were moving fast1 creating for adaptable men opportunities of a new kind4 ,if1 as seemed likely1 the old two-party system was about to give place to group-formations1 whose tenure of life must necessarily be more of a negotiable than a fixed quantity1 and if for the manipulation of democratic government to a safe middling course1 opportunism must henceforth take a higher place than principle1 could anyone be found with a more instinctive touch for the job than ,mr4 ,trimblerigg8 ,in the political world the situation was there waiting for him3 in the religious world1 on the other hand1 where for the time being movement seemed retrograde rather than forward1 the situation would have to be made4 ,it was the tougher job4 ,to give ,mr4 ,trimblerigg his due1 that--if only he could find for it the right environment--would be but an added attraction4 ,a tough job always delighted him2 so much so that1 setting his teeth to the toughness of it1 he thenceforth forgot everything but appetite2 and as his appetite always grew with what it fed on--given a proposition of sufficient toughness1 his appetite was apt to go strange lengths4 ,so it had been when he set out to hew ,agag1 and skin the scapegoat1 giving to the fantasy that air of probability which it needed in order to make it popular2 so likewise when he had to find moral excuse for standing ,christianity upon its head in the burnt-out cinders of native villages1 with the compulsorily converted ,free ,state of ,puto-,congo as his reward4 ,in each case the toughness of the job and the moral difficulties it presented took the place of conviction1 supplied the necessary enthusiasm1 and jogged him on to his goal4 ,so it was to be now4 ,all that he lacked for the moment was the necessary environment1 the atmosphere into which a new spiritual movement could be born4 ,in politics it existed2 in religion it had still to be found4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg hesitated2 and while he hesitated the call came1 the spark of inspiration descended from on high1 and what thereafter was saved to religion in a revivalism which swept the world1 was lost to politics4 ,two events1 small in themselves1 gave to his mind the impetus and direction it required4 ,the first was the death of the harmless1 unnecessary ,caroline1 the wife whose previous uneventfulness had given to his career the only ballast it had ever known2 the other was the recrudescence of ,isabel ,sparling1 manufacturing for herself in the spiritual and religious world a success which arrested his attention1 and awoke in his breast first a small spark of jealousy1 then emulation and the determination1 doing likewise1 to make a bigger thing of it4 ,caroline's death was due to obscure causes for which the doctor found a scientific name that satisfied all legal requirements2 but if ,i have any qualification for diagnosing mortality in the human race1 ,i should be inclined to say that she died of a gradual and cumulative attack of fright4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had once made her doubt the evidence of her senses--and not only of her own but of the children she had borne to him2 and though she had acquiesced submissively at the time--having the negative proof always before her that the glory with which her imagination had surrounded him was departed1 that he was in truth no saint1 and had not after all taken his baths in cold weather--she was never the same woman again4 ,that she should have imagined so difficult a thing1 only to be told that it was a delusion after all1 caused a shock to her system4 ,her breathing became asthmatic1 she coughed with nothing to cough for1 had flutterings of the heart1 and began to wear shawls even when the weather was warm4 ,and waking one night1 shortly after ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's return from ,puto-,congo had made them bed-fellows again1 she saw or thought she saw upon the pillow beside her a recrudescence of her fear--the thing which could be seen but was not to be believed4 ,faint1 very faint--the product only of a dream--it flushed feebly and passed away4 ,but that single sight1 or the mere suspicion of it1 gave her a habit of wakefulness which grew on the apprehension that lay at the back of it2 and just as people who see spots crossing the field of vision damage their eyesight by pursuing them1 or as others who have a singing in their ears go mad in trying to be quit of it2 so did ,caroline in trying both to realize and get rid of the suspicion she wished to avoid1 reduce herself to a nervous wreck2 and day by day1 eyeing ,mr4 ,trimblerigg with looks whose meaning she would not explain1 sank into a despondency which by destroying her domestic efficiency robbed life of its remaining raison d'tre4 ,and so one morning1 after an ecstatic dream of more than usual vividness1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg woke to find her lying very quiet and open-eyed beside him2 and though the expression was not peaceful1 ,caroline had nevertheless found peace2 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg with curiously mixed feelings1 yet with a decent modicum of grief which was quite genuine1 saw that he had become a widower4 ,among the letters of condolence which reached him after the sad event--not immediately but a few months later--was one of peculiar interest from ,sir ,roland ,skoyle1 conveying not merely sympathy1 but news4 ,for it now appeared that ,caroline was not as lacking in spirit as her life had made out2 rather had she reserved it for future use4 ,caroline1 in fact1 had suddenly become interesting2 and if she had not quite found herself again in the old world where her real interests lay1 she had found her medium2 she was there1 waiting for her credentials to be put to the test1 and asking for him with such urgency that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had a doubt whether he was yet free to consider himself a complete widower4 ,if1 on that matter1 he felt that his liberty was less than he could have wished1 there was nevertheless a compensating interest2 for here1 in germ1 was the idea he had been waiting for3 if he could convince himself that spiritualism was really true--his previous experience1 though momentarily impressive had finally disappointed him--he would go on and convince the world4 ,it was some such conviction that the religious world was now needing to spring it into fresh life2 and he himself only needed confidence in the case to be presented1 in order to become the man to do it4 ,and so1 at this point of his career1 when he least expected it1 ,caroline became an important character4 ,it was a strange apotheosis2 and the realization of its truth came to him in strange words at the first interview which ,sir ,roland ,skoyle arranged for them4 ,the medium1 sitting entranced1 was not in the least like her2 but no matter4 ,she breathed asthmatically1 coughed1 and holding hand to heart hugged an imaginary shawl4 ,taking her disengaged hand tenderly1 he asked3 #8,caroline1 my dear1 is that you8' ,and the voice of ,caroline answered3 #8,i did see it1 ,jonathan2 ,i really did6 ,and ,i can see it now4 ,you look beautiful4' ,then1 after a pause1 #8,who have you got to mend your socks for you8' ,that was ,caroline all over2 and as conviction settled into his brain1 her importance established itself4 ,the conversation that ensued was trivial and domestic in character2 it was1 nevertheless1 a world-moving event4 ,and the second was like unto it--in this at least1 that a woman whom he had come to regard as of no importance assumed all upon a sudden a new significance and took her place once more in the shaping of his career4 ,isabel ,sparling1 failing to find lodgment for her preaching powers in any home-grown community among the ,free ,churches1 had passed on to ,america1 where strange faiths and novel methods have always a better chance4 ,a stray paragraph in a newspaper gave him the news that among the ,blue ,ridge and ,alleghany mountains she had achieved a startling success in the propaganda of ,second ,adventism4 ,the rural population of ,virginia1 ,tennessee1 and ,north ,carolina had begun robing itself in white2 drawn by the spirit1 thousands upon thousands of ,last ,day saints made periodical pilgrimages to the tops of the high mountains1 and there picnicked for whole weeks at a time waiting for an ,event which1 though it failed to show visibly1 always sent them back to their homes spiritually refreshed4 ,rain-baptisms--by preference in a thunder-storm--were another manifestation of the new faith4 ,there were startling cases when a date had been fixed weeks beforehand2 torrential rains had descended in answer to prayer and washed into renewed sanctity five thousand converts at a time4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had always had a modernist's doubt about the efficacy of prayer either for fine weather or wet4 ,but supposing these accounts to be true1 ,isabel ,sparling was a water-finder of no uncertain power4 ,if she had ever failed1 the papers made no report of it2 at any rate1 in ,states where the rainfall was generally less than could be desired1 the average was going steadily up1 and conversion to ,second ,adventism had in consequence become popular4 ,manifestly she had got her stick by the right end2 in this practical age a combination between revealed religion and good business was the one thing needful1 and as the increased rainfall was welcome to a large agricultural interest1 so also were the pilgrimages and the picnics to the retail traders4 ,pious people1 who had hitherto been frugal stay-at-homes1 were now spending a great deal upon white linen sunshades1 ,panama hats1 shoe leather1 thermos flasks1 mineral waters1 cooked food of a portable kind and all other necessary accompaniments for outings conducted on a large scale4 ,in a quite important slice of the ,states religion had once more become not merely popular but vibrant and all-embracing in its character4 ,an #8urge' for righteousness had taken hold of whole districts where no #8urge' of any kind had been felt before2 and what at first had only occurred in rural districts was now rapidly assuming a civic1 a municipal1 and a territorial character4 ,it was announced that one ,state ,governor at least1 and the whole population of a large penal settlement were waiting to receive rain-baptism on the earliest date that ,isabel ,sparling's engagements with ,heaven would allow4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg read and was impressed4 ,he went further2 he took steps to have the matter investigated1 and while awaiting a further report he thought much4 ,over there something was moving which had affinity to the motions of his own brain2 a sense of opportunity and of environment began to stir in the inner recesses of his soul4 ,and when the report came--favourable in its main facts--he found all at once that he had recovered his spiritual appetite4 ,the world was the right world after all2 there was something in it waiting for him to do4 ,nevertheless1 for a man of his modern tendencies1 ,second ,adventism was a big pill to swallow2 he did not quite see how he was going to believe in it--sufficiently to make it a popular success1 and for a while wondered whether he could not run spiritualism alone1 with ,second ,adventism left out4 ,he consulted ,caroline2 she was stimulating1 but rather vague4 #8,oh1 if you only knew1 if you only knew1 you could do anything6' she told him4 #8,let your light shine1 ,jonathan6 ,it's there1 though you don't see it4 ,if you did1 you'd know the way4 ,if you don't1 it may go again1 like it did before4' ,that little imperfection of grammar1 uncorrected in the spirit-world1 gave ,mr4 ,trimblerigg a fresh thrill of conviction that this was the real ,caroline4 ,how often1 as they climbed the social ladder1 had he corrected1 a little impatiently1 those symptoms of a lowly origin4 ,but now it rejoiced his heart to hear her recount the beatific vision she had of him with homely incorrected speech #8like' she might have done before4 ,yes1 it sounded encouraging1 but it still left him in doubt2 there was too much #8if' about it4 ,he wanted to be quite sure1 without any #8ifs'1 before he began4 ,it was at five o'clock one morning1 after a sleepless night1 that the spark of inspiration swam into ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's brain1 and though it was not my sending--being entirely his own--,i saw it come4 ,he was lying with his head on one side sucking a cough lozenge1 when1 with a sudden jerk of astonishment1 first his eyes opened1 then his mouth4 ,the cough lozenge fell out1 staining the pillow3 he turned his head sharply1 eyes front1 and sat up4 ,the conception which had got hold of him was large but quite simple2 he saw that ,second ,adventism depended for its success on one thing and one thing alone4 ,if what he was pleased to regard as ,christendom--that is to say1 ,free ,evangelicalism and its dependent relatives among the ,free ,churches--if ,free ,evangelicalism could but be persuaded to believe in a ,second ,advent1 and to desire it wilfully1 whole-heartedly1 passionately--then by the law of spiritual gravity1 the ,second ,advent would come4 ,it was a great idea2 ,pragmatism1 a thing he had only half-believed in before1 would thus be given a test worthy of its powers--would1 he believed1 win through and make the world what it ought to be--theologically up-to-date4 ,the saints under the ,throne crying #8,how long8' would suddenly change their tune1 take up the initiative1 and with spiritual ,cou-ings themselves fix the date4 ,it was a bold democratic conception1 and since he had always been a whole-hearted democrat there was no inconsistency--though he now thought of it for the first time--in applying it to things doctrinal4 ,man had his spiritual destiny--including dates--in his own hands2 all he needed was unanimity or1 failing that1 a commanding majority4 ,he had never had it1 had never applied it till now4 ,had he done so the millennium would already have bloomed into being4 ,and the means to this spiritual unanimity1 or commanding majority1 by which the race was to be won8 ,in the moment of inspiration that also had been flashed into his brain1 and ,civilization stood explained4 ,the conquests of science were to become the weapons of faith1 and publicity the final expression of religious art4 ,what countless missionaries could not have done in a previous age a single voice would do now4 ,all that was required was a world-wide audience of converts to ,second ,adventism1 a voice going out into all lands1 a trumpet signal1 and a shout1 and at that shout the walls of ,jericho would fall flat3 ,faith would vanish into sight1 ,hope be emptied in delight1 and every man would go up straight before him and possess the city of his inheritance4 ,nor had ,mr4 ,trimblerigg any doubt--in that first flush of inspiration--whose the voice was to be4 ,as for the trumpet whose blast was to rend the veil of a new world1 science had providentially supplied the instrument4 ,it would be a big business to get possession of it2 but once done1 it would be ,big ,business indeed4 ,at the stroke of a wizard's wand--or call it ,aaron's rod--trade and commerce were to become spiritualized1 and the fiery chariot of ,elijah would be found among men once more1 conveying the voice of prophecy to the far ends of earth--in that moment1 that division of a breath1 that twinkling of an eye of which older prophecy had spoken4 ,or to put the matter quite prosaically--on that business footing which was to prove the secret of its success--a monopoly of ,broadcasting throughout the ,english-speaking world was revealed to him as the means for the coming of the ,kingdom on ,earth4 #8,the coming of the ,kingdom'8 ,the phrase was picturesque2 but it was old and obsolete4 #8,making ,heaven safe for ,democracy' was better4 ,that was what ,mr4 ,trimblerigg intended to do4 ,,chapter ,,thirty #8,arise1 ,shine6' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's acceptance of the phenomena of spiritualism1 though it drew mass-meetings to hear him1 gave a bad jolt to ,free ,evangelical unity4 ,thenceforth pulpits were divided2 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had the run of only half of them4 ,but when1 following upon that1 he announced his conversion to ,second ,adventism1 a special conference of the connection was called1 and secession followed4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg went out hopefully into the wilderness1 drawing a tail of all the ,free ,churches after him2 and though for a time they lacked funds1 and found many doors closed against them1 they had not to be long in doubt that theirs was the winning cause4 ,what the world wanted--the religious even more than the secular--was a real bird-in-the-hand2 proof positive1 quick results1 practice not theory1 ocular demonstration1 moral certainty1 wheels which actually went round1 whose buzz could be heard to the far ends of earth4 ,a race for ,heaven without obstacles1 and a goal visibly to be won were the materials to make religion once more popular4 ,spiritualism and ,second ,adventism run together seemed to meet the demand4 ,the ,free ,churches ,militant began1 in an expressive ,american phrase1 #8to palp with emotion'2 and as the new spiritual ,combine devised by ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 with joined effects of dark sance and lurid anticipation of coming events1 filled its hired halls to overflowing with suffocating converts1 the churches grew empty4 ,with the sword of his spirit unsheathed and high uplifted1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg did not spare his old associates who hung back in this day of battle for the new birth of spiritual democracy2 and1 to ears which had drunk in the sound of it1 the old gang's trumpetings ceased henceforth to avail or mean anything4 ,starting upon his fiery crusade to the sound of a hundred drums hired for the occasion1 he stood at the door of his ,pulman car1 in the special that had been provided for him1 and flourished defiance to all opposers over the heads of the seething multitude which filled the terminus1 frantic with joy at having found a leader whose single aim was to keep things on the run4 ,he stood there at the crowning point of his career2 for here at last he had created his own atmosphere2 at the touch of his magician's wand a new and densely populated environment had sprung up to spread itself round him4 ,power had been given him1 vision1 and the gift of tongues2 the future of revealed religion in the ,free ,churches hung trembling in the balances of his mind4 ,but though it trembled 7as it might well71 he himself did not4 ,from all over the world he felt a responsive rush of wings to meet him2 the right button had been touched1 his call to make ,heaven safe for ,democracy had come at last and the means to it had been found4 ,all the rest had been but a preparation2 this was the real thing4 ,the first sure proof of it was the readjustment of the news-headings in the daily press2 ,religion began to take a front place4 ,in the beginning this perhaps was merely due to the novelty of the thing1 with its attendant features of controversy and secession upon a large scale4 ,but when weekly meetings all over the country1 in the largest halls that towns or cities could provide1 became an established feature of the new movement1 it acquired not only a popular but a commercial importance as well2 and when presently ,mr4 ,trimblerigg did his first great stroke of business--combining the earthly with the heavenly on a scale that had never been attempted before--,big ,business itself sat up and began to pay attention4 ,in less than six months1 for reasons soon to be explained1 the ,stock ,exchange1 for the first time in its existence1 became sensitive to the call of ,religion2 and before the finish even the ,bank-rate had become affected by the vast scale of reinvestments in other worldliness engineered by ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,for it was quite natural1 was it not8--if the world was coming to an end--that people should want to take their money to ,heaven with them4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg obligingly provided them with a way1 and even coined a new form of currency to give it better effect1 image and superscription no longer ,csar's4 ,but this is to anticipate4 ,before these things happened1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's faith in himself had reached an intensity which1 except for outside assistance1 it could hardly have achieved4 ,the impetus had come from an unexpected quarter1 and at first had not been welcome4 ,it was characteristic of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 when he took up with ,second ,adventism1 to do so without acknowledging or even recognizing the source of his inspiration2 for it is safe to say that within twenty-four hours of making it his own he had1 by an acrobatic feat of mental detachment1 put ,isabel ,sparling entirely out of his mind as having anything to do with it2 and had almost forgotten her existence in the whirl of his own discovery1 when among the rushing wings that flew to meet him from the far parts of the earth1 came first a message from ,isabel1 couched in tactful terms1 hailing him not as her follower but as her leader1 and then ,isabel herself4 ,nor did she come with her hands empty2 she brought with her the proffered allegiance of her own vigorous following1 already some fifty thousand strong and going stronger every day2 ,rain-,baptists1 ,seals of ,solomon1 ,first ,resurrectionists1 ,second ,adventists1 ,last ,day ,disciples1 ,new ,jerusalemites--all these1 so little known in their separate capacities1 now joined together under her leadership in a common bond were a force no longer to be despised4 ,and however little ,mr4 ,trimblerigg might welcome the reminder that his inspiration was shared by another1 he was too practical to reject the material thus offered him4 ,even though at home the movement was going ahead by leaps and bounds1 a nucleus of fifty thousand souls in a country so impressionable as ,america was worth having3 it meant at least a year to the good in solid spade work2 in publicity it meant even more4 ,but ,isabel had something else to give beside adherents2 something very unique and wonderful and precious--so1 displaying it1 she told him2 nor was it the first time he had heard of it4 ,it was not much to look at3 a small wooden box with a domed lid1 and a cover of mildewed paper in an old-fashioned diaper2 and around its rim were seven seals1 chipped and blackened with age1 two of them already hanging loose where the covering paper had detached itself4 ,but though a poor thing to look at1 it had of late years acquired fame1 or at least notoriety2 and the ,press had made copy of it4 ,for this was the box of the ,american prophetess1 ,susannah ,walcot1 dead now for over a hundred years but having followers still--the box concerning which she had said that it must wait till one wearing a crown should open it1 and reveal to the world its prophecies concerning the last things4 ,and because all the crowned heads approached had refused to open it1 and had been much abused by the faithful remnant of her followers for so doing1 therefore it had remained sealed2 till1 coming into the hands of ,isabel ,sparling1 upon the adherence to her teaching of the dwindling group which held it1 it brought to mind a bright particular head she had once seen1 which1 though in no earthly or material sense1 had indubitably been crowned in a glory of its own1 so fulfilling the condition which the prophetess had laid down4 ,and that memory being in her mind when the treasure came into her keeping1 it may be guessed with what joyous confirmation of hope she heard presently that the once-crowned head had itself become a sudden convert to ,second ,adventism4 ,no sooner did the news reach her than she felt that he was already hers2 and having first sped a message1 a week later she was upon the high seas1 on her way to meet him1 and the box with its seven seals1 bore her company4 ,at the ,customs she expensively saved its sacred contents from profane scrutiny by declaring it to be a special brand of tea hermetically sealed from sea-air4 ,and as nothing of that weight could have cost her more1 officials with uncrowned heads took her word for it1 and passed into the country a prophecy destined to make its mark in history1 besides giving a neat finish to the career of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,what happened next must be briefly told2 for ,i do not quite know all the circumstances that lay behind it4 ,with the soul of ,isabel ,sparling ,i have had so little acquaintance that ,i do not make myself responsible for it2 only as she came within range of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 and affected his career1 did she interest me4 ,for which reason ,i must leave unsolved the problem of the seven seals and what they contained at different dates1 more especially whether they contained different things before and after the day when she actually took charge of them4 ,i will only say this1 that ,isabel ,sparling was by the look of her an astute1 a daring1 and a resolute character2 nor do ,i think that for good and great ends she would stick at trifles or have more scruple than ,mr4 ,trimblerigg himself4 ,also ,i have reason to believe that she knew her man2 and it may well be that in the gyrations of her emotional career1 on which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's own orbit had had its gravitating effect1 she may have assimilated the doctrine of ,relative ,truth more than one knows4 ,and so whether it was genuine prophecy1 coincidence1 or only ,relative ,truth which brought the thing to pass1 ,i leave each reader to decide according to his own taste or credulity4 ,the initial fact is that when ,isabel ,sparling1 obliterating a disputatious past1 again met ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 in order to make him the instrument of her vision for the ,millennium that was to be1 she did not find his head visibly crowned4 ,nor had she expected it2 yet she was puzzled that it was not so4 ,such self-abnegation1 to the foregoing of a gift so uplifting and spiritual1 though admirable as a mere act of humility was not to be encouraged when a world in flux was waiting to be saved not so much by knowledge in things spiritual as by novelty1 and when1 in consequence1 anything in the way of signs and wonders might be of so much help4 ,miss ,sparling had seen the manifestation1 and had believed in it2 believed therefore that what had been once could be again4 ,the circumstances under which she had seen it1 gave her grounds for suspecting that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had not then borne witness valiantly to the light which was in him1 had in consequence lost it1 and needed perhaps to be encouraged in order to find it again4 ,she recalled also the case of ,jonah3 prophets were sometimes reluctant and had to be pushed4 ,all that ,i have now to record is the pushing4 ,outwardly it was very gently applied3 ,miss ,sparling merely placed the box in ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's hands for safe-keeping1 and there left it4 ,inwardly8 ,there after stating the facts1 ,i can only leave others to guess4 ,but be it noted that when she left it in his hands she did not ask him to open it2 she even told him that only a crowned head could qualify for that purpose2 and at that time at all events ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was wearing no crown4 ,nevertheless--she having asked him to use his influence and persuade a crowned head to open it--the box lay in his undisputed possession4 ,and1 as ,i have said before1 ,i think that ,miss ,sparling knew her man1 and how best to have him4 ,and so it came about that1 finding himself alone with it1 though by no means yet convinced of its importance or the truth of its credentials1 he became interested in it4 ,the mere fact that a box has been shut up for nearly a hundred and fifty years makes it interesting--at least until it has been opened again3 and this was a box claiming to contain prophecy4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was no longer of a mind to reject anything which might bring grist to his mill4 ,his discovery of ,publicity as the wide gate and the broad road leading to eternal life1 forbade him to dismiss as common or unclean anything which might seize the public interest4 ,and his public was now in a mood to seize anything3 a whirl of excitement had caught hold of the great semi-detached unsectarian forces of this transitional age2 and the fact that he was emptying the ,churches was sufficient proof that what the public wanted was something it did not get there4 ,the ,churches had ceased to prophesy2 prophecy1 therefore1 might be the right card to play4 ,second ,adventism was based on it3 if anticipation was to be raised and seals opened1 any old box might help2 and this one had already attained publicity though not of a very serious kind4 #8,can any real prophecy come from ,america8' had been the depreciatory attitude with which the religious communities of the ,old ,world met its claims2 and if from ,america1 why this demand for a crowned head to open it8 ,why not a ,president1 or a millionaire8 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg himself1 though doubting the extreme claims made for it1 had never entirely rejected prophecy4 ,even when1 for a brief spell1 he had counted himself a modernist1 the better to escape from the trammels of ,true ,belief1 he had still found a rhetorical use for it2 and the ,land of ,promise with its flowings of milk and honey had oftentimes evoked soul-stirring utterances from his tongue which1 when they failed to materialize1 became mere figures of speech4 ,but he would much rather that they had materialized2 and had they done so would have claimed the credit for it4 ,that precisely was1 and always had been his attitude toward prophecy2 if he could give its fulfilment he would claim credit for it2 if not he would treat it as a figure of speech4 ,it was in that same attitude1 tentatively1 that he laid his hand on the box4 ,it might be a good egg2 but he did not want to commit himself publicly to anything that would let him down4 ,he would like first to know more of the contents4 ,prophecy might be what his public required to complete the spell he had begun to lay on it2 but the extant writings of ,susannah ,walcot1 obscure1 diffuse1 and ungrammatical1 together with the diminished number of her followers1 did not inspire him with confidence2 and so for the present his attitude toward prophecy1 as he laid his hand on a box said to be full of it1 remained unchanged1--he was only prepared to accept it conditionally--in his own time and in his own way2 that is1 if it suited him4 ,but as he stooped and examined the box1 its structure as well as its possibilities began to interest him2 for he noticed that though it had many seals at the top its bottom was quite removable2 long rusty nails sticking out a little where the dried wood had shrunk1 and at one point a gap where cautious leverage might be possible1 suggested a way which in the interests of ,relative ,truth one might adopt4 ,from one aspect--the one which practically did not matter--it was an equivocal and surreptitious deed2 but as over everything else which might have held others in doubt1 having quite made up his mind to it1 he prayed long and fervently that he might be guided aright in what he did1 and also that he might have sufficient skill in carpentry to cover up his tracks when the will of ,heaven was done4 ,he worked at it very patiently for three hours1 when the rest of his household was a-bed1 till with gathered experience he acquired a standard which1 if not skilled1 allowed him to feel safe4 ,it was not hard work so much as delicate2 the wood was tender and worm-eaten1 the old-fashioned nails with screw-heads came out quite easily--too easily in fact1 at first2 bits of the wood came with them4 ,this frightened him1 he went more slowly4 ,after a tedious period of minute labour the wood was ready to come away in his hand4 ,with his attitude to prophecy still unchanged he lifted it away1 and out of the box like a pudding from its mould came a compact mass of very yellow stained paper slightly stuck together by mildew1 and dampness that had dried4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg saw at once that a long task was before him4 ,the prophecies were in a small cramped hand with numerous contractions1 and many words badly spelt4 ,here and there the ink had gone faint2 in other parts time and moisture had made whole passages undecipherable2 portions of the prophecy had indubitably passed into oblivion2 but far larger portions remained4 ,with the help of headings--titles symbolic in character--,mr4 ,trimblerigg began skimming4 ,at first sceptical and a little bored1 he presently grew interested2 and though not yet convinced1 he saw that from the publicity point of view the thing had possibilities4 ,this1 for instance1 he regarded as an arresting passage3 #8,and lo1 when the ,cock1 stricken by the double-pated ,eagle1 draws in its claws1 causing the ,scarlet ,parrot to fall from its perch1 then shall a city fall and a people go free1 and the mark of the ,beast that was on it shall be blotted out4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 questing this way and that1 searched his history2 and when presently his mind lighted on a likely spot1 he found there an astonishingly close parallel2 for this1 clearly1 was--or could be taken as--a reference1 couched in unfriendly terms1 to the ,papacy's loss of ,temporal ,power in the year #ahgj1 owing to the withdrawal of the ,french troops which protected it4 ,presently he began to feel that he was missing things through not knowing as much about modern history as he ought to do2 and that a great deal that he was reading might possibly be true could he but discover the application4 ,presuming that the prophecies followed a chronological order1 he turned on1 and before long had struck substance4 ,here he was no longer out of his depth4 #8,when the ,bear and the ,lion and the ,cock shall rise up and stand together in a heap1 and become as one for the defence of a ,lamb that was without blame--' ,this clearly was modern history1 and though not quite true history it was the kind of history that was still being swallowed by the ,public for which ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had to cater4 ,this at all events was the sort of thing that would go down2 there was1 in the journalistic sense1 good copy in it4 ,at first ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had inclined to suppose that #8the ,lamb' had a scriptural significance2 he soon decided1 however1 that it was better for it to mean ,belgium2 without making the prophecy more true it made it more obvious4 ,this wresting of the text to suit his possible requirements was a sufficient indication that now ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's interest had become active4 ,his attitude to prophecy had not exactly changed1 but it was being accentuated4 ,he was beginning to see ,opportunity upon a large scale2 in fact he was not far off from becoming a ,susannah ,walcotite4 ,with hope mounting to enthusiasm he read on4 ,startling analogies began to come thick and fast2 with a whirring of wings like coveys put up from fields of unreaped harvest--invisible at one moment1 at the next dominating the whole landscape1 they flew over his head making a plumed darkness on the bright heavens beyond4 ,from this strange scripture1 diffuse1 chaotic1 with pages not numbered1 he began to take notes4 ,amid much that he did not understand and a good deal which might mean anything1 certain figures leapt into definite significance1 capable of meaning but one thing only4 #8,when the ,striped ,eagle is seen walking upon the waters with his face to the sun1' was the entry of ,america into the ,war4 ,it is true that1 in the first instance1 he read the third word as #8stupid'2 but on consideration of the facts and the post-war susceptibilities of ,america1 he decided that #8striped' was better4 ,and there was more like unto it4 ,then1 turning for awhile from its theme of nations at ,war1 the prophecy became personal and particular4 #8,and in that day behold a man shall arise and become a beacon2 in him a candle shall be set up1 and its wick shall be kindled1 so that the four corners of the earth shall know of it4 ,his light shall shine2 yea1 men shall see it and be amazed4 ,honour shall be upon his head2 and whatsoever he sayeth shall come to pass2 his hand shall prosper it4 ,my 8yea0 shall be upon his lips1 and my yolk upon his shoulders2 to his voice the 8yea1 yea0 of the nations shall answer3 they shall be all yolked together because of him4' ,susannah's spelling was often queer2 but as ,i read this1 looking over ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's shoulder to do it1 ,i began to think that her spelling was sometimes inspired2 for ,i saw now what was coming4 ,turning a page1--a page which stood somehow by itself1 mildewed like the rest1 but with most of its script obliterated--,mr4 ,trimblerigg read on3 #8,he is my prophet1 my messenger2 unto ,nineveh have ,i called him2 yea1 ,i have given him a name that he may be known1 that he may be called the second ,jonah4 ,than him none shall be more exalted2 and of all feet that run no feet shall run faster4' ,jonathan sat up2 his name almost was ,jonah2 and with the word that followed1 dropping only an ,h1 the anagram was perfect4 ,uplifted and entranced1 he read on3 #8,when ,i call him1 he shall be afraid2 but though he fears me ,i will run after him4 ,yea1 ,i will run while ,i wait2 and though ,i bide my time yet will ,i catch him4 ,when ,i make my light shine on him he shall be in doubt2 ,i will withdraw my light from him1 so that in darkness he may learn and know4 ,i will put my hook in his mouth and lead him2 yea1 ,i will bait his breath so that he may become a catcher of men4 ,he shall travel west1 but east he shall return3 he shall go far1 but ,i will make him come again4 ,yea1 the ship whereon he goes shall be shaken because of him2 the rigging thereof shall tremble4 ,have ,i not given him a name8' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg no longer merely sat up1 he skipped to his feet4 ,only one letter--the letter #8i' was missing to make the prophecy absolute4 ,but proper names1 he remembered1 were very seldom correctly spelt in old days2 and it had ever been a source of pride to him to know that upon his father's side1 far back1 the family had been illiterate for generations4 #8,trimblerigg6' #8,and the rigging thereof shall tremble4 ,have ,i not given him a name8' ,what could be plainer than that8 ,he continued to pore over the quaint crabbed writing1 with its misspellings and its occasional misconstructions1--a style of grammar belonging to the half-educated of a century ago1 but not much worse on the whole than the bad ,greek of the ,new ,testament4 ,was bad grammar and bad spelling a reason for rejecting a message so high8 ,in the world's eyes he feared it would be4 ,in the worldly sense this ,susannah was but a half-educated person2 sometimes she made prophecies which he not only failed to identify1 but which even seemed contradictory1 in a wrong tone1 out of place4 ,this1 for instance1 presented a meaning less doubtful than undesirable2 he had no use for it3 #8,in that day the ,lion and the ,ass will lie down together2 they will share a bed1 they will eat hay together1 and the heart of the ,lion shall wax faint1 and his thoughts grow foolish4 ,and the ,lion shall listen to the voice of the ,ass1 and shall think it wisdom4 ,for the ,ass shall bray and speak1 saying1 8,it is going to rain02 and immediately it shall do so4 ,then shall the ,ass say1 8,come into my stable2 for there ,i have a place prepared for thee1 where it does not rain40 ,so shall they rise up and go1 the ,lion and the ,ass together2 and in the stable they shall find one waiting for them with his tackle prepared2 and he shall let down his tackle upon their backs and harness the two of them1 the ,lion with the ,ass1 and the ,ass with the ,lion1 making them to be a pair under one yolk4 ,and all their apples shall be in one cart2 and the man1 the owner of the ,ass shall drive them whither they know not4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg read the passage twice2 he did not like it1 it perturbed him4 ,assuming the ,lion to mean what he thought it to mean1 this was an event which no reading of history could justify3 it never had been true1 it never would be true4 ,in the other prophecies it was quite evident that the ,lion was the chosen beast1 well-pleasing to the ,lord2 how1 then1 did it come into this forecast of divine dispensation that the ,lion should go so far astray8 ,and who the dickens was the ,ass8 ,he looked ahead wherever he saw ,ass and ,lion figuring together2 and the obscurities and perversities of the prophecy became more confounding4 ,the ,lion was clearly not doing the right thing2 it was following the ,ass into a course of action which was leading to no good1 which was1 in fact1 morally wrong2 and so far as he could place the prophecies in their chronological sequence1 these misdoings must some of them be quite recent1 and some actually taking place now4 ,unedified1 he began turning the pages in haste1 to find something better2 and so doing--it was a pity6--managed to miss this1 which caught my quicker eye3 #8,and the ,ass said to the ,lion1 8,let us drive the scapegoat into the wilderness and there skin it2 and from the skin of the scapegoat let us make coats for ourselves and for our children40 ,and the ,lion said1 8,will it be enough80 ,and the ,ass answered1 8,it shall be enough2 for we will stretch it this way and that and make it enough2 or if so it be not enough1 then we will wait till a second skin be grown1 and will take that also2 and after that another1 and another1 till we be satisfied40 ,then said the ,lion1 8,but if he die of it1 how shall we be satisfied80 ,and the ,ass answered1 8,we will not let him die1 till we be satisfied40 ,so together they drove the scapegoat into the wilderness1 and there they lost him4 ,and the ,lion reproached the ,ass saying1 8,where is the skin of the scapegoat that you promised me80 ,and the ,ass answered1 8,a proposal is not a promise1 neither is a promise a performance4 ,let it suffice that we have driven the scapegoat into the wilderness1 and that he will presently die there4 ,what matter how he dies1 so long as he does die80 ,but the ,lion said1 8,i have no coats for my children1 and ,i am not satisfied40' ,had ,mr4 ,trimblerigg read that1 ,i wonder what he would have made of it8 ,had he done so his attitude toward prophecy might have altered4 ,he might have given the box back to ,isabel ,sparling #8unopened1' without having found what followed4 ,this was a separate enclosure of folded tissue paper1 spotted and yellow with age1 broken at the folds1 and very frail to the touch4 ,it was sealed with the seal of the prophetess2 but a single seal on paper presented little difficulty to ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,with great circumspection and delicacy of handling he applied the hot blade of a knife1 lifted the seal away1 and laid open the contents4 ,a wash-drawing in sepia on mildewed paper was what met his eye4 ,from the artistic point of view it was very poor and amateurish2 but to say that it interested him were to put the matter very mildly indeed4 ,it represented a man with rather short legs1 middle-aged1 somewhat full in the body1 and clad in a full-skirted coat4 ,as a forecast of present-day fashions it was not very good2 but the legs were in trousers1 not knee-breeches1 and the head did not wear a wig4 ,it was the head that most interested him2 a large spot of mildew had partly obliterated the features1 but not enough to obscure the type4 ,the face was broad1 the cheeks were smooth-shaven1 the forehead was noble1 the hair rather long1 and curled up at the ends like the hair of the knave of hearts in a pack of cards2 a large bow-tie sat under the chin1--the black tie of a ,free ,church minister4 ,underneath were the words1 #8,behold the ,fore-runner6' ,and again1 underneath that1 were these words of ,scripture3 #8,arise1 shine1 for thy light has come1 and the glory of the ,lord is risen upon thee6' ,around the head was an indubitable halo2 and faint1 very faint1 upon the blank space of it to right and left1 the initials #8,j' and #8,t4' ,,chapter ,,thirty-,,one ,the ,procession of a ,flea ,mr4 ,trimblerigg stopped to breathe2 and while he did so ,i made a psychological examination of that poor work of art which was yet1 in its way1 so perfect a masterpiece4 ,had ,mr4 ,trimblerigg been more of an expert in old wash-drawings and brushwork1 had he been gifted with a more sceptical turn of mind than that which had fitted his views to such differing situations1 he might have examined those initials1 and that spot of mildew defacing the supposititious features1 more minutely1 analytically and chemically than he actually did4 ,that the wash-drawing as a whole was well over a hundred years old any expert would probably have agreed2 whether he would have given the same date to the initials1 and a few other salient touches ,i had my doubt1 and the doubt remains unresolved2 no expert has ever been called in to decide the matter4 ,if ,miss ,sparling herself limed that snare1 she certainly did it well2 the obliteration of the face1 with just the suggestion of a likeness left1 was finely controlled2 and yet the control may have only been ,father ,time's2 and whether it was luck1 or whether ,susannah ,walcot was in truth a prophetess of penetrating power1 who is now to say8 ,the lengths to which the human faculties can go have often filled me with astonishment2 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was only one instance among many4 ,on this occasion1 however1 he did not astonish me in the least2 he did what ,i expected him to do4 ,before that culminating piece of evidence--that silent but resounding call--he sank upon his knees1 and remained on them for a long time4 ,i watched the motions of his mind2 they were very interesting2 but they had not really to go far4 ,that he was called to be a shining light to the whole civilized world did not at this stage of things surprise him4 ,as a probability he had thought so ever since he could remember2 recently he had been made sure of it4 ,it was only the strange manner of this final call1 and its clearly miraculous accompaniments that did a little stagger him4 ,it also caused a definite shift--a shift to the right--in his always adjustable theology4 ,it drew him definitely from modernism back toward ,true ,belief4 ,for this was something with which modernism could not be reconciled2 it was primitive1 apocalyptic1 ultra-evangelical1 it made1 amongst other things1 for the literal interpretation of ,scripture3 if this was true1 the other was not4 ,and so it became clear that in accepting the call from such a source1 his own cast of faith must be simplified once and for all1--that he must revert to the earlier faith of his ,uncle ,phineas4 ,uncle ,phineas was right4 ,it might still be true that the sun did not actually go round the earth1 that the earth was not literally fixed1 or flat1 as ,uncle ,phineas had wished him to believe2 but there was nevertheless a principle of fixture in eternal truth1 fixture rather than evolution or motion1 going much deeper into the nature of things than he had supposed4 ,he became1 all at once1 curiously doubtful of his doctrine of ,relative ,truth1 for he saw that to his exposition of this more divine and direct dispensation it might prove a hindrance4 ,it was for his followers he was now troubled4 ,as regards himself he had no difficulty in getting rid of it4 ,for the recovery of that purer faith his early training now stood him in good stead1 and ,uncle ,phineas became a rock in whose shadow he could hide4 ,what he had trained himself to believe in his 'teens1 what he had broken away from in his early twenties1 what he had exploitively used for opportunist purposes in the propaganda of war and of ,mosaic reprisals on savages who could not otherwise be taught better1 was still in his blood--waiting to give him the upward push4 ,in his new childlikeness he thanked whatever gods there be that he had always treated with tender allowance and regard the primitive views of ,caroline1 both as wife and mother2 and that he had never allowed the scepticism of ,davidina--,davidina1 who had now found a new sphere for her dispensing powers in the exploration and humane taming of savage tribes--to discolour the rainbow gradients of his mind4 ,the theological problems she had maliciously presented to him in old days1 he had happily ignored3 they had at least done him no permanent harm4 ,reversion to type1 in his case at all events1 was not difficult4 ,in a certain sense ,relative ,truth helped him2 for even if the simpler faith were not as absolutely true as it now seemed to him1 it was true relatively to the immediate purpose in hand4 ,and so still1 as one might say1 upon two legs--one numbed and quiescent but the other lithe and active--he entered confidently and with singleness of purpose into the ,kingdom that had been prepared for him4 ,going up to bed in the small hours he was very tired1 and did not stop to look in the glass1 did not stop to do anything4 ,he switched out the light and got into bed4 ,only then did the great recovery he had made dawn on him4 ,turning his head sideways in comfortable adjustment for slumber1 he saw upon the pillow a patch of yellow light1 faint1 but for small immediate use efficient4 ,in the centre of its radiance marched a flea4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg did not like fleas2 he made an instinctive pounce1 and the flea died the death4 ,then the wonder of it occurred to him4 ,he sat up1 he got out of bed1 he went to the glass4 ,in the darkness he could see himself3 ,crocean dawn was round him once more4 ,his surreptitious action of the last few hours1 ,heaven had now justified4 ,he had no longer any doubts1 any fears2 he did not even see difficulties1 for now the world was running to meet him1 and millions of his fellow-creatures were prepared to take without question anything he offered them4 ,faint with bliss1 he tottered back to bed1 laid his crowned head upon the pillow1 and slept4 ,,chapter ,,thirty-,,two ,the ,procession ,continues ,the next morning there was a small fly in the ointment of his bliss2 a letter from ,davidina4 ,thousands of miles away1 among the swamps of the ,amazon1 news had apparently reached her of her brother's marvellous doings2 and of course1 as he might have expected1 her comment sounded the note of criticism4 #8,my dear ,jonathan1' ran the letter1 #8if you go on like that1 you will burst4 #8,yours affectionate1 #8,d4 ,t4' ,the letter came too late4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg no longer cared what the far-removed ,davidina thought of him4 ,her long-distance pin-pricks had lost their medicinal virtue4 #8,puff6' he remarked airily2 and as he flipped the letter into the waste-paper basket1 his fate resumed the jiggety tenor of its way1 and the bursting process went on4 ,for in the last few hours ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had greatly fortified himself by prayer1 so that his good opinion of himself was now undeflectable2 and the old helpless feeling1 which his attacks of prayer so often gave me1 had come upon me once more4 ,but this time ,i was rather enjoying it1 and was very much interested1 wondering how far--left to himself--,mr4 ,trimblerigg would go4 ,if ever the human race comes to read its own history1 without prejudice1 or blindness1 or superstition1 it will discover as never before what a tremendous part answer to prayer has played in man's making4 ,as never before3 for the strangest part of that discovery will be from which end the answer to prayer has come4 ,man claims many virtues which he does not possess2 but he has also a few which he does not know2 and if my materials have sometimes disappointed me1 and inclined me to think that1 on the whole1 the making of man was a mistake1 ,i have only had to turn and watch him in his marvellous manufacture of answers to his own prayers1 to feel afresh the encouragement and diversion with which the work of creation has provided me4 ,under the auspices of a thousand religions1 which cannot possibly all of them be true1 operated in the interests of gods who are1 or who were some of them1 no better than they should be1 prayer has always been answered4 ,and the more firmly man has held to that faith bowing before the dark altars of his strange and shifting creeds1 the more surely and swiftly has he evolved and made for himself a life worth living1 and for me a spectacle worth contemplating4 ,had all those ,heavens to which he addressed his prayer really sent back the answer1 bobbing it like a cherry to the open mouth of the supplicant1 what a poor effete parasitic thing he would have become6 ,but because the ,heavens were more aloof and the gods much harder of hearing than he knew1 or because a wise silence was the true air from which his spirit drew breath of life1 therefore has man1 left to answer himself from that ,kingdom of ,heaven which is within him1 become the overruling factor of his still changing and troubled world2 possessing himself of the lies wherewith priestcraft has so generously provided him1 he takes and turns them into truth4 ,and so1 by prayer1 he has made history4 ,but1 though he has told many tales to the contrary for the bettering of his faith1 has anything ever really happened in his contact with wind or weather1 seed-time or harvest1 storm1 earthquake1 eclipse1 course of sun and moon1 that he has not brought about himself8 ,he still talks of the evidence of his senses3 but there the evidence of his senses stands immemorially before him1 and he still does not believe them6 ,in spite of all the ,bank-holidays and ,national ,ftes that wet weather has spoiled for him1 inflicting disappointment and misery upon millions of his fellows out for a snack of holiday whose date cannot possibly be changed--in spite of that evidence staring him in the face1 he still thinks that ,i am the clerk of the weather1 and prays to me about it1 and still likes me2 and does not think me cross-grained1 or spiteful1 or revengeful1 because ,i have spoiled so many of his holidays6 ,truly1 with all his faults1 man is the most marvellously forgiving creature that was ever made--or else the most inconsequent in all those matters which are called matters of faith4 ,often and often have ,i had cause to wonder at the things which man found possible to believe3 his queer creeds1 his superstitions1 his transference of justice from this world to the next1 his appetite for making his gods like himself in their bad as well as in their good qualities2 and then for making them unlike himself1 with miraculous powers1 attended by signs and wonders1 and visitations1 and unexpected happenings1 which even in his insurance policies he calls #8acts of ,god4' ,all these things fill me with amazement that any man should believe in them as having any spiritual significance whatsoever4 ,but when ,i consider how many believe that ,i provide the weather for ,bank-holiday and harvest1 and can change it at will1 then ,i have to admit that man can make himself believe anything if once he starts praying about it4 ,and so it was quite natural that having prayed about himself so long and earnestly1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg should also believe in himself as much as he did4 ,and so upon its second advent1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's halo was a great success4 ,it did not have to appear unexplained2 a public meeting was arranged for it4 ,and there with due solemnity for the strengthening of faith the box of ,susannah ,walcot was brought forth like a new ark of the covenant2 and a crowned head1 having first prayed to be guided aright1 broke the seals1 drew out the contents1 and read extracts1 and coming upon an illustrated page was for putting it modestly aside1 when his hand was stayed by the vigilance of ,isabel ,sparling4 ,after that the success of ,susannah's prophecies was assured4 ,judiciously edited they caused a tremendous sensation1 arousing also1 in the episcopal churches1 derision and furious opposition4 ,it was the finishing touch requisite for full success4 ,with that final push ,second ,adventism1 under the ban of the older theology1 moved on from strength to strength4 ,in the ,free ,churches it swept the board1 and not many months later candidates for holy orders1 in all congregations where the incumbents were democratically chosen1 had little chance of selection unless they came as certified converts to ,spiritualism1 ,second ,adventism1 and the prophetic writings of ,susannah ,walcot4 ,the organ of the movement1 ,the ,last ,trump1 displaying on its cover an ace of hearts with rays emanating1 ran into a circulation of millions4 ,and though its opponents might call it #8,the ,artful ,card1' and its radiant editor #8,the ,artful ,dodger1' and publish parodies of the prophecies as they appeared in weekly instalments1 its scope and influence became more and more irresistible4 ,in the price and extent of its advertisement columns alone it was only beaten by that most popular of all ladies' journals ,the ,toilet ,table4 ,and even ,the ,toilet ,table in its editorials was kind to the movement1 and gave prominent reports of its preachers and the smartness of its congregations4 ,indeed before long there were scarcely any other congregations worth talking about outside the high and dry pale of ,episcopacy4 ,and then1 against that also1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg struck his blow4 ,a brief announcement without boast or comment1 in ,the ,last ,trump1 told that exclusive arrangements had been made by ,second ,adventism for the broadcasting of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's orations1 every ,sunday1 morning and evening1 at the competitive hours of divine service4 ,at that scrapping of its preachers1 ,episcopacy became active1 appealed to public opinion for its protection1 and found that it was too late4 ,within a month informal disestablishment had become its lot2 and though with its endowments and its powers of preferment left1 it remained rich1 and in its own narrow circle influential2 it ceased to count as an organization of national importance4 ,and meanwhile1 in surreptitious driblets1 adherents of the ,free ,church rump--,baptists1 ,congregationalists1 ,methodists1 ,free ,evangelicals were passing over to the ranks of ,second ,adventism4 ,how1 indeed1 could any who did not accuse ,mr4 ,trimblerigg of demoniacal possession--which was the cry of the #8,scarlet ,parrot'--do otherwise8 ,for here1 undeniably1 was a light that shone1 which only spiritual agencies could explain2 and1 good or bad1 the world must make its choice1 and camp accordingly4 ,for the most part it camped where the extraordinary phenomenon could best be seen--that is to say among ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's audiences1 which now--aided by loud-speakers--had become vast1 occupying almost daily a deserted stadium1 where an ephemeral exhibition1 having burned out its six-months' popularity1 still stood with only its shell of lath1 plaster1 and paint1 awaiting the dissolution of time4 ,into that vast auditorium1 in all weathers1 wet or dry1 special trains1 running to the exhibition terminus1 poured their thousands day after day4 ,and day by day the world's conviction that it was coming to a speedy and a prosperous end1 increased and became a fever raging through the body politic1 unstabilizing the currency1 doing certain vested interests much harm1 but others much more good4 ,when it was announced that ,second ,adventism had become a co-operative company for the conversion of ,commerce to the reception of the ,new ,jerusalem1 presently to appear upon earth in concrete form1 and when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg promulgated a great building scheme--mainly of the said concrete--by which the vision was to materialize on the ground where the derelict ,exhibition with its plaster palaces stood awaiting decay1 then began ugly rushes on the ,stock ,exchange1 a sharp shifting of investments2 and between ,big ,finance1 ,episcopacy1 and the ,liquor ,trade a desperate alliance was formed--quite as in the old days of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's early career--sign that at last the real issue was to be joined1 and that there were interests in the world--and powerful ones--which ,second ,adventism did not suit4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 though it often annoyed him1 was not the kind of man to fear opposition when it came4 ,he did not avoid the challenge1 he went out to meet it4 ,but he saw that the tussle was coming1 and in order to gain access of strength as expeditiously as possible for the ordeal that lay ahead he decided that the psychological moment had come for him to visit ,america4 ,offers of a sensational character had1 of course1 already reached him4 ,one ,lecture ,agency had assured him that if his halo would stand the change of climate1 a scientific investigation1 and the nervous strain incidental to a daily appearance before mammoth audiences1 it could guarantee that thousands should be turned away in every city1 and no seats sold to the public under five dollars a head4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 when the time came1 decided otherwise4 ,he announced that admission was to be free4 ,when ,america heard that1 it first fell down and worshipped him1 then in panic began to mobilize its army1 double its police force1 set up steel barricades and enlarge its cemeteries in order to cope with the record crowds and the ensuing mortality which would result4 ,the problem of how to deal with countless multitudes all ruthlessly set at whatever expense to life and limb1 on seeing a real halo alive on a man's head1 and hearing the man's head speak from the midst of it1 occupied the headlines of the newspapers for weeks1 even before ,mr4 ,trimblerigg started on his voyage4 ,and when he had started1 then all the reporters of the ,american press chartered a ship and went out to meet him4 ,it was then that ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was asked the historic question what it felt like to be the greatest man in the world4 ,and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg answered that it made him feel shy2 and the next moment could have bitten his tongue out for having fallen so easily into the first trap which an expert in publicity had set for him4 ,it did not in the least really matter4 ,it made good copy2 and though it also made the judicious smile1 the judicious--always an insignificant minority--in an affair conducted on so vast a scale did not count4 #8,trimblerigg charges that he is the greatest man alive1' was an unfair way of putting it2 but it could not be described as untrue4 ,and so he just had to live it down4 ,he did so without any difficulty4 ,he was in a country where only the statue of ,liberty shared the distinction that he carried about with him2 and while her halo only shot out in separate rays from perforations concealed under her crown1 his was a perfect round1 it went out everywhere2 it was also alight continuously day and night4 ,the torchlight procession organized up ,fifth ,avenue to greet its arrival was thrown into the shade by its ever-increasing vitality4 ,the torches were a foolish excrescence1 they interested nobody2 and though five miles of them impeded the distant view1 the one central fact outshone them all4 ,the reporters1 dealing with that central fact1 after a brief attempt to be facetious had become hushed and awes-truck4 ,their public would not allow them to be otherwise2 ,america1 having gotten a live halo to its shores1 was not in a mood to have its genuineness questioned1 the mystery of its origin derided1 or any other slight put upon its dignity4 ,it became a thing inviolate1 sacred as #8,old ,glory' herself2 and when an unfortunate youth1 unimpressed by the beauty of its holiness1 shouted a derisive remark at its passing1 the crowd lynched him for it4 ,after that minority opinion became as terrorized from expressing itself as it had been while the #8,liberty ,loan' was voluntarily subscribing for ,america's entry into the war4 ,there was no half-way safety point left3 those who doubted the divine origin of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's luminosity were regarded as ,satanists2 and when here1 as in the old world1 ,episcopacy persisted in holding out1 the genuineness of its ,orders began for the first time to be generally doubted1 and the numbers of its adherents seriously diminished4 ,no wonder that even the #8,movies' became afraid of him1 and offered him fabulous sums to turn film-artist1 on the single condition that during his term of contract he would keep himself hid from the public eye4 ,and so1 if anybody had laughed at ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's ingenuous answer on the question of his greatness1 the laugh speedily died down1 having left nothing to feed on4 ,for if ,mr4 ,trimblerigg was not the greatest man in the world1 he was1 at all events1 the greatest success4 ,in a single week he had made ,america believe in miracle2 after which1 from such a source1 ,america was ready to believe almost anything4 ,his first message was delivered from the plinth of the ,statue of ,liberty in ,new ,york ,harbour1 to an arrangement of loud-speakers which enabled him to be heard from ,newark round by ,staten ,island to ,brooklyn2 thence1 to a yet wider circle--embracing the greater part of the western hemisphere--broadcasting took up the tale1 and if not quite making the world one1 making ,mr4 ,trimblerigg its sole topic of conversation4 ,record crowds attended the performance2 two ferry-boats capsized under the one-sided weight of the thousands who jammed the upper decks4 ,the churches1 smarter in the uptake than those of his own country1 were satisfactorily filled2 for there also loud-speakers adorned the vacant pulpits1 and congregations of a hundred denominations hung upon his lips4 ,in that there was a danger1 since verbal inspiration was now generally ascribed to him3 and ,mr4 ,trimblerigg being one of those orators who1 when they let themselves go1 are never quite sure what they may say1--or1 afterwards1 what they actually have said1--found it very hard to keep within safe bounds1 or to withhold certain inspiring facts which he believed himself to possess4 ,he knew1 for instance1 the day on which the world1 as regards its present dispensation1 was to end4 ,susannah ,walcot had given her word for it2 but hitherto the ,council of the ,second ,adventists had decided not to publish it1--to keep it till their position had become more absolutely assured1 and the world psychologically ready to receive it4 ,but it was very difficult for ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 when a whole continent was rushing into a state of conversion1 and millions listening fervently to his daily orations1 it was very difficult to keep back1 in moments of inspired utterance1 a declaration which would give the clou to the whole movement1 letting organized society know in definite terms how brief1 how startlingly brief1 was its time-limit1 before that great cataclysmic change which would take and turn it upside down4 ,and so one day1 in a moment of effervescence1 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg let it out4 ,and having done so1 there was no going back on it4 ,with many millions already declared converts1 and at least as many more hovering upon the brink1 waiting for the deciding push1 ,second ,adventism in that act of inspired indiscretion revealed its weakness and its strength4 ,western civilization 7the ,east staying strangely unmoved1 sceptical1 slightly amused7 received a shock comparable to a renewed outbreak of war4 ,it was as though a half of the world had leapt to its feet in startled amaze1 then staggered and plunged4 ,for then on all the stock exchanges the wildest rush for reinvestments began that had ever been known1 and mainly for shares in the vast co-operative concerns of ,new ,jerusalem ,ltd4 which had been set going before his departure to ,america by ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,a city designed to hold a million souls--self-governing1 self-supporting1 with its own trade-tokens for currency1 and closely encircled by an agricultural combine exclusively supplying its needs from day to day--was now being rushed into being before the astonished eyes of a metropolis which had hitherto regarded itself as the biggest thing of its kind in the world4 ,but if1 in less than a year1 such a city could spring up mushroom-like from the soil1 with a mere used-up playground set about with toy-palaces as its nucleus1 what might it not do within a decade under a new dispensation8 ,its huge neighbour1 unplanned1 haphazard1 fortuitous in the slow growth through which it had attained its present dimensions1 and replete with vested interests opposed to so dislocating a change1 paled at the mere thought of it4 ,but the plan was already in operation1 building was going on2 and half the farmers and dairymen of the surrounding counties had signed contracts of future service entirely subversive to the supply-system of a city ten times its size4 ,the trade-interests tried to get an act through ,parliament1 but the electoral power of ,second ,adventism was too strong4 ,they tried to engineer a strike in the building trade1 but ,second ,adventism was paying its workers too well4 ,in every department there was prosperity and contentment2 and when the ,trade ,unions and their leaders themselves became converts to ,second ,adventism1 what more could the enemy do8 ,they tried to get ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's co-operative currency prohibited as a base imitation of the coin of the realm2 but ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's currency had been designed with holes through it--haloes with the heads missing--so that it could deceive nobody2 and the ,courts ruled that as a trade-token for convenience in commerce1 it was allowable4 ,then they tried to swamp out its value by forging it2 but as it had its full worth of silver in the world's exchange1 forgeries did not matter4 ,of course no bank would handle it2 but that also did not matter4 ,the ,new ,jerusalem was going to have a bank of its own2 and when the present state of things came to an end1 it might well be the only bank that would count4 ,for ,second ,adventism did not teach that the world was going to end in fire1 and earthquake1 and physical overthrow2 but that a new spirit would come hovering1 responsive to the call of its worshippers2 and entering into the place prepared for it1 there set up a light2 and all the world would see a working object-lesson of the new society that was soon to be2 co-operation would take the place of competition2 a reorganization of industry would make strikes superfluous2 internationalism would arise1 not from the adjustment of racial differences but from religious unity4 ,and out of that would come ,peace4 ,the originality of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's idea had been this--first to make religion irresistibly popular1 by running it as a kind of #8stunt'--big business and beatific vision combined--and then having made piety prosperous1 to substitute1 for the solution of the world's ills1 the religious organization for the political4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg had seen that habit--habit of mind as well as body--is the dead weight in the world's affairs which separates man from faith1 and prevents mountains from being moved4 ,and so with ,second ,adventism1 backed by spiritualism and prophecy1 he had routed men's minds out of their groove1 simply by convincing them that on a given date1 willy-nilly1 the groove was coming to an end4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's greatest exploit was not in building a city capable of containing a million souls1 but in finding a million souls ready to flock to it4 ,and he had done so1 in the main1 by convincing them that the ,new ,jerusalem meant good business4 #8,homes for ,haloes1' the motto he had chosen for his scheme1 did not really mean much when you came to examine it1 for though the homes were fast taking shape1 the haloes were still to seek4 ,but #8,homes for ,heroes' or #8,homes for ,haloes'1 have an encouraging sound about them1 and each1 on different occasions1 have served their turn1 helping publicists out for popular applause to rouse a fictitious enthusiasm in their followers1 till cold fact came after and snuffed it out4 ,,chapter ,,thirty-,,three ,the ,procession ,ends ,having announced a date for the end of the world--the old world with its troublous record1 its damaged reputation1 its useless strivings after success1--an end which was to be brought about not by the death and destruction of the wicked1 but by a new birth unto righteousness upon an unprecedented scale1--having so definitely announced the spiritual transformation which was about to take place before the eyes of all1 the ,second ,adventists had to live up to it4 ,and to their credit1 be it said1 they did so without a qualm of doubt4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's experience since his adoption of ,second ,adventism had convinced him that if only it were well organized for a fixed purpose1 prayer could get itself answered2 and that given a commanding majority and a united aim1 the human race was master of the ,event4 ,he had backed his country through war with prayerful conviction1 had even prayed that it might go on an extra eighteen months so as to avoid a negotiated peace1 and secure the dictated one which was to be so much better2 and then1 because hearts and aims were divided1 had seen the dictated peace lost and become very much worse than a negotiated one2 and though he did not for a moment consider that his own prayers and strivings for a dictated peace made him in the least responsible for its bad results1 he had an uneasy suspicion that the world1 and even his own country1 might have done better for itself by letting the war end sooner than it did1 for the simple reason that though it could agree about fighting it could not agree about peace4 ,but about making the bad old world come to an end on a given date1 ,second ,adventists were all enthusiastically agreed2 and when ,mr4 ,trimblerigg returned from ,america he found the building of the ,new ,jerusalem so well advanced that though it might not be entirely habitable on the day1 externally it looked habitable2 and though a good many scaffolding poles still had to remain1 they would serve to hang bunting on1 and so enhance the welcoming effect when ,heaven sent down its new spirit to take possession4 ,for that something auspicious and visible would take place was the general belief2 the writings of ,susannah ,walcot suggested it1 and though the idea had not been officially endorsed1 yet1 since it helped publicity1 nothing had been said to discourage it4 ,it might be prophecy1 or it might only be figure of speech2 but in a very literal sense the faith of millions did undoubtedly look skywards expecting a sign to be given it4 ,for it must be remembered that always now before men's eyes one sign stood conspicuous2 and if upon one eminent head glory had so forecast itself1 might it not be possible when the ,day came that ,heaven would rain haloes by the million upon those found faithfully waiting to receive them8 ,for that given date the railway companies had already arranged to run special excursions from all parts of the country1 timed to arrive at latest before the stroke of midnight signalled the beginning of the new ,day4 ,behind the railways were the caterers1 all ready to link up the meat and the fish markets1 the dairies1 the greengrocers1 and the provision-dealers1 with the demanding appetite of the new-born and spiritualized world4 ,it was computed that not less than a million prospective inhabitants of the ,new ,jerusalem would be there all ready and waiting in wedding garments for the hour when ,heaven should declare itself4 ,all were to come dressed in white2 and a city dressed in white stood prepared to receive them4 ,a little garish by day1 the ,new ,jerusalem looked very beautiful by moonlight2 then1 with its white walls1 and pearly windows1 and blue-grey roofs1 crowned fantastically by the points and perforated pinnacles of its toy-palaces1 it seemed like a city of silver4 ,in the midst of it--the great co-operative shopping-centre--were buildings composed entirely of glass1 with covered streets where the weather would no longer count for anything2 and on the outskirts1 separated from the residential quarters by parks and public gardens and ornamental lakes1 stood the power-stations1 and water-towers1 and above all these1 in noble battlemented walls1 like a medival castle converted to spiritual ends1 the gasometers had concealed themselves4 ,it was all very expansive and opulent1 and self-complacent1 and plausible1 and what perhaps in an earlier age might have been called genteel2 but what to my mind it resembled most was the character--the public character1 ,i mean--of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg as it appeared when things went well with him4 ,in this #8,home for ,haloes' he had finally and magnificently expressed himself as he wished he might be4 #8,si monumentum requiris1 circumspice' was the motto with which1 after looking out of his ,presidential window on that last happy night of his career1 he closed his eyes in post-prandial repose1 so as to be up blithe and fresh for #8the ,great ,watch' which at midnight was to begin4 ,in all the streets that lay before his gaze orderly crowds1 clothed in white and carrying lanterns and palm-branches in their hands1 paraded with happy unanimity1 all marching one way as the traffic signals directed1 and singing as they went4 ,it was a marvel of organization2 as a human demonstration--the expression of a commanding majority devoting itself for the first time to one single spiritual end--it was still more wonderful4 ,and so with a happy smile upon his illuminated face ,mr4 ,trimblerigg lay down in his ,presidential robe1 and slept like a child4 ,he was awakened at about half-past ten by a terrific explosion4 ,fragments of plaster battlements were falling into the street and against his front door as he opened the window and looked out4 ,hurriedly he drew his head in again2 but what had sent him back was not the falling fragments but the despairing ululations of the crowd1 which1 dropping its hymn-singing parade was now rushing hither and thither frantic for shelter from showering rubble and glass which filled the air4 ,under the calm blaze of the full moon1 queening it in a cloudless heaven1 a ragged scud of black dust jagged its way from roof to roof1 obliterating the distant view2 in its rear1 at a more ponderous gallop1 came a hunch of smoke1 which as it advanced billowed and spread1 and became huge2 swallowing up the clear air as it advanced1 it left in its track a pallid haze which went everywhere4 ,the ,new ,jerusalem became a ghost1 vague of form1 clad no longer in white1 but in a dun grey streaked by scarves of black lined with colours of fire4 ,in this settling obscurity the sound of human woe went on increasing1 enlivened now and again by cries of rage4 ,the crowd1 cumbered by its wedding raiment1 was fighting confusedly for priority of place2 the terminus was being rushed1 empty excursion trains boarded4 ,a faint-hearted exodus from the ,new ,jerusalem had already begun3 the world was not coming to an end in the peaceful way that had been foretold4 ,a ring-up on ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's telephone gave him the news4 ,his castle of gasometers had been blown up2 as to the cause1 inquiry was being made2 incendiarism was suspected4 ,following upon that came other news of a similar kind4 ,something had gone wrong with the power-stations2 wires fused and lights went out2 after that went the water-supply2 about midnight to the sound of bombs1 three water-towers cascaded to earth2 and when1 here1 there1 and everywhere1 fainting people turned taps to get water1 none came4 ,presently in various parts of the city fires began2 and as there was no water to put them out1 they spread4 ,before morning the ,new ,jerusalem had had several bits taken out of it1 and many of its prospective inhabitants were left homeless4 ,about dawn a covey of aeroplanes let down a discharge of sticky gas--the latest military invention for the humane dispersal of unarmed crowds4 ,it had adhesive properties of an extraordinary effectiveness2 the ,new ,jerusalem became like well-spread fly-paper1 and all humans with whom it established contact walked thereafter as though they had been anointed with treacle1 or honey1 or preserved-ginger1 or turpentine2 and having no water in which to wash themselves1 their misery became greater than they could bear2 and from all that crowd of souls which had come together with such singleness of purpose1 and confidence1 and goodwill1 the social sense was cast violently out1 so that they all hated the sight and the touch and the sound of each other4 ,now all this1 it must be understood1 was not the operation of ,heaven1 but only of ,big ,finance1 and certain other vested interests which did not wish the old ways of the world to end1 or competitive society to become co-operative1 or religion in any form to have control over economics and politics1 or ,mr4 ,trimblerigg to go any farther than they considered safe for the well-being of the country4 ,and as ,second ,adventism had in these respects become a peril1 quite as formidable in its way as foreign invasion1 therefore an underground organization had been formed1 which1 calling itself #8,red ,knights of the ,fiery ,cross'1 had designed for itself a costume1 and a secret ritual1 and an oath which could not be broken2 and had laid up store of military preparation1 and with prayer and fasting and genuflections1 had practised bomb-throwing and incendiarism and the casting down of sticky gas in solitary places where a ,duke preserved pheasants1 and where1 therefore1 no members of the outer public were allowed to intrude4 ,and having become experts in the game1 upon the advertised day they made a match of it1 and in this1 the first round1 had apparently won hands down4 ,for the ,new ,jerusalem had become a sticky object1 coated with dust and very offensive to the smell3 and the ,second ,adventists sharply divided into two bodies of an unequal size3 the larger fugitive and dispersive in tendency1 no longer wishing for the end of the world1 but only for the excursion trains to start upon their return journeys3 the other comparatively small1 but vigorous1 vocal and tending to direct action3 truculent1 abusive1 full of grievance1 clamorous for the return of its deposits in a co-operative scheme which no longer seemed safe1 and with regard to which1 in certain important respects1 the undertakings1 as per contract1 were not being carried out4 ,it was this section which presented itself at an early hour outside the ,presidency1 and howled to be received in deputation by ,mr4 ,trimblerigg4 ,for three hours they howled1 while ,mr4 ,trimblerigg1 in order to give confidence to his frightened followers1 had his breakfast and his bath 7for which sufficient water remained in the cistern7 and dealt with certain arrears of correspondence4 ,at ten o'clock punctually1 he looked at his watch1 and said to his secretary1 #8,now ,i will go out and speak to them4' ,the secretary said1 #8,i think1 sir1 you had better not4 ,if ,i know anything of crowds1 that crowd is dangerous4' ,mr4 ,trimblerigg said1 #8,i hope it is4 ,i shall do my best to make it so4' ,the light of battle was in his eye4 ,he said to his secretary1 #8,you must dress yourself up2 you are a ,knight of the ,fiery ,cross whom we have taken prisoner4 ,you must be shown to the people1 with your hands bound and your face stained with blood4 ,it will only be for a moment2 but it will satisfy them4 ,i will do the rest4' ,but before he had finished1 he spoke to emptiness3 the secretary had fled4 ,he looked out into the ante-chamber4 ,all the others had fled with him4 ,outside the crowd was howling like a pack of wolves4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg sighed3 #8,then ,i must do it all by myself1' he concluded thoughtfully4 #8,deserted of my followers1 ,i stand alone4 ,no matter2 they shall see6' ,he felt that he was a great man1 and this a great occasion for making the fact known4 ,he went out from his study into the ,council ,chamber1 a handsome apartment hung with mirrors4 ,it had four windows overlooking the street1 windows that went down to the ground and opened upon a balcony supported by a colonnade extending from the entrance-porch to right and left4 ,i have never admired ,mr4 ,trimblerigg more than ,i did at that moment2 as he crossed the open space before him he paused to glance at himself in one of the mirrors3 his light had not failed him2 its radiance was undiminished2 in the midst of it his countenance shone cherubic and hopeful4 ,he was going to enjoy himself2 for of all whose fortunes depended on the breath of popular applause there was no one who understood a crowd as he did4 ,that this one was now hostile only added to the zest with which he faced the task that lay before him4 ,standing back in the deep interior of the room and where he could not be seen1 he studied its physiognomy--a sea of faces in storm1 multitudinous but yet one4 ,he looked at it with affection and pride2 for in another minute he was going to take and turn it round his finger1 and make it into a new instrument to suit his need4 ,suddenly1 while he so stood1 the very window-pane through which he looked fell into splinters2 from the crystal chandelier above his head came a rain of shattered glass4 ,that was the prelude2 he stepped back1 and skirting the wall1 while all the other panes flew into fragments1 reached the far window1 in which by that time not a pane remained unbroken4 ,he only paused to fasten the last button of the morning coat into which he had tactfully changed2 and then1 lightly embraced by the civilization he had come to save1 he opened the window and stepped out4 ,for one moment the crowd1 shocked into mute amaze1 stood and gaped2 then a roar of execration filled the air4 ,even the bright manifestation of his mission1 which had once awed and delighted1 failed to placate them now4 ,mr4 ,trimblerigg knew enough of crowds to admit that his secretary was right2 this crowd was dangerous2 but he knew also that he had only to get them to listen1 to hear his opening words1 for his spell to be on them4 ,he could trust the inspiration of the moment to do the rest4 ,and so1 with exactly the right emotional expression upon his face1 he leaned out from the stone balustrade1 and over the heads of the crowd pointed into the distance4 ,the gesture had its calculated effect3 heads turned1 necks were craned2 the roar died down to a confused murmur4 ,presently they would turn back to him and seek to have the thing explained2 then would come silence and they would hear what he had to say2 and though that was not going to make them less dangerous1 it would no longer be danger for him1 but for others4 ,now it so happened that in the direction where he pointed there was1 by fate or by chance1 something which on being pointed at1 did excite the curiosity of the crowd4 ,on its far outskirts a lone taxi with persistent wrigglings was trying to get through2 an attempt which1 until the attention of the crowd had been directed towards it1 would have been absolutely hopeless4 ,but now1 as if by the manipulation of an invisible police1 a way grew open before it1 and the taxi triumphantly advanced4 ,as it did so it became--though nobody could guess why--a thing of extraordinary importance2 people began climbing on each other's backs to look at it4 ,even ,mr4 ,trimblerigg became interested2 for this--though an interruption--was also a diversion2 it meant safety4 ,a crowd which could focus its interest on a taxi-cab1 could focus it also upon him2 nor had he now the slightest doubt that when he spoke to it the crowd would prove amenable4 ,folding his arms on the balustrade1 and playing with his eyeglasses1 he was the very picture of confidence and hope and courage and resourcefulness1 and all the other things which1 in their leaders1 men admire4 ,how could people look at him without liking him8 ,how could they hear him without trusting him8 ,how could there be any danger for a man who stood up to face it with such an air of high spirits and genial acceptance of a situation which seemed awkward4 ,he felt with a sure instinct that the crowd was coming his way1 that in another moment it would be cheering him4 ,the taxi was coming his way also4 ,it stopped4 ,davidina put out her head4 ,over the hushed murmurs of the crowd1 clear and incisive her voice reached him3 #8,jonathan1 take that off6' ,if the end of ,mr4 ,trimblerigg's world could have come then in whatever other form it chose to take1 it might have been said of him thereafter that he died happy1 died believing in himself1 and believed in by others even though the immediate circumstances spelt failure4 ,but when he felt the probing eye of ,davidina1 and heard the challenge of her voice1 #8,take that off6'--then all his sense of spiritual nakedness returned2 and the power over his soul which she had been used to exercise reinstated itself in all its potency4 ,in a moment1 in the twinkling of an eye1 and in the presence of all that people whose mood towards him was on the very point of ceasing to be dangerous1 and whose hearts in another minute he would have won to the fulfilling of vengeance due--in a space of time too brief for breath to be taken1 she had spiritually scalped him4 ,with his head shorn of glory he stood and looked at her2 and fleeing suddenly to the domestic note as his last chance of refuge from the storm which was about to burst1 #8,how do you do1 ,davidina8' he said4 ,it was magnificent1 but it was no good4 ,the crowd's yell of derision told him that it had failed4 ,suddenly the taxi disappeared from view2 ten1 twenty1 thirty human atoms1 excited1 gesticulating1 were up and were over it4 ,he saw ,davidina fighting her way out of the collapsed framework2 saw her in imminent danger1 saw her emerge safe and unharmed4 ,with no use or duty to stay him1 conscious that all was lost1 he turned to flee4 ,it was too late4 ,active members of the crowd pushed from below swarmed up the colonnades2 faster than the eye could count1 heads appeared on a level with his waist1--hands1 feet1 fiery eyes1 fierce mouths showing teeth2 he became one of a confused group1 felt his legs carrying much more than his own weight1 his buttons bursting to a rending strain--from behind4 ,collared1 surrounded1 forced to the balcony's edge1 he looked down into a sea of eyes2 and heard dimly1 in the background of his dream1 ,davidina knocking for admission at the door under his feet2 a door which nobody would answer4 #8,up1 up6' came the cry of the crowd4 ,he was hoisted1 stood giddily on the stone ledge2 swayed1 tottered1 but hands still held him4 ,everything then seemed very near and immediate and objective3 individual faces1 blemishes1 blackened eyes1 the very cut and colour of men's clothes1 a broken watch-chain1 the taxi-driver trying to recover possession of a cab that had become a wreck4 ,fifty yards away an arc-lamp high aloft on a street refuge for some unexplainable reason spat itself into light4 ,that attracted him1 only to remind him with a pang of despair that he could no longer do the same4 ,light and hope and faith had all gone out of him4 #8,down6 ,down6' the crowd's cry had changed3 but its intention was the same4 ,a thousand hands reached up1 opening and shutting like mouths1 hungry to have hold of him4 ,the hands from behind gave a jerk1 then tossed and let go4 ,he felt himself falling1 but of that was not afraid4 ,a real fall was impossible2 of that the thousand hands made him feel safe4 ,they caught him1 forced him down1 and set him upon his feet4 ,a voice at his back cried3 #8,stand clear6 ,give him a run6' ,magically a way cleared for him3 a long stretch of pavement1 then a road3 in the middle of the road1 aloft on its iron standard1 spluttered the arc-lamp1 very wan and pale against the healthier light of day4 ,propelled from behind he began running towards it1 with an agility which for a moment1 in his responsive mind1 wakened an absurd hope4 ,but a moment later1 under the lamp-post1 he was off his feet again4 ,up in front of him swarmed a man-monkey of the sailor-breed trailing a rope4 ,the crowd roared gloriously1 its rage changing to delight4 ,clasping the iron standard despairingly with legs and arms in a last embrace1 he felt hands below pushing him1 making him go higher4 ,then suddenly there came a wrench2 the hands loosed him1 but his feet did not touch ground4 ,and as his agitated body sought this way and that for the hand-hold or foot-hold it had lost never to find again1 ,i1 reading for the last time the scrip of his brain1 found the truth fairly lodged there at last3 #8,o1 you fool6 ,o1 you damned fool6 ,o1 you silly1 damned fool1 look what you have done to yourself now6' ,and then something happened3 something quite unexpected1 for which ,i cannot account2 though ,i have a sort of a fear that ,i know in what direction the account may hereafter be found4 ,i followed him into those last moments--for his last moments they proved to be--with a breathless interest1 which at least told me that though he had tried me much1 ,i was not as tired of him as1 for my own peace1 ,i would have liked to be4 ,and up to the last hitch1 ,i still wondered whether so agile an executant of quick turns would not manage even then to escape from his enemies4 ,his enemies1 ,i say4 ,but my wonder now is whether his last escape has not been made from one who1 like ,davidina1 was his faithful though discriminating friend4 ,for when1 after the rope had done its work1 ,i looked for him on the spiritual plane1 it was to find that he had vanished4 ,and if ,i1 too1 must own the truth--,i do not know what has become of him4 ,,transcriber',s ,,notes3 ,italicized text is surrounded by underscores3 italics4 ,obvious typographical errors have been corrected4 ,inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized4 ,archaic or variant spelling has been retained4 ,new original cover art included with this e,book is granted to the public domain4