-,,-* 1r' "'^TTV A 
 
 ALT A 
 
 ->. --k. .jMfe*Mr xfll. ^L Jk. 
 
 TO 
 
 MON 
 
 
 ikf TV:!** i* 1 * 
 
 NEF r 
 
 
 !:
 
 
 3
 
 - 

 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON
 
 'MUST I BLOW A TIN HORN TO LEAD MEN TO GOD?" Page 87.
 
 ALTARS 
 
 TO 
 
 MAMMON 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIZABETH NEFF 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 F. DANA MARSH 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1908, 
 BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 
 All rights reserved 
 February, 1908
 
 AMY CLARE NEFF 
 
 222S973
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Frontispiece 
 "Musr I BLOW A TIN HORN TO LEAD MEN TO GOD?" 
 
 Facing page 
 WITH A CURIOUS EXPRESSION THAT WAS NEITHER APPEAL 
 
 NOR SCORNING, BUT SOMETHING OF BOTH . . . 270 
 
 "WHY DON'T You RUN, QUICK?" 310
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 " CAN'T help it, sir ; there's no train for Mogadonier be- 
 fore 'leven ten," declared the ticket agent, but the tall 
 passenger frowned at him unconvinced, as is the way of 
 passengers. 
 
 " But the agent at Baltimore " 
 
 " Yes, I know he did ; but they don't keep run of our 
 trains back East. He ought to told you that the 
 limited don't stop at Mogadonier. It's due here in fif- 
 teen minutes, but it won't do you no good. You'll have 
 to wait for the accommodation." 
 
 " And the accommodation is due ? " 
 
 At 'leven ten." 
 
 " Two hours and forty minutes ! " exclaimed the tall 
 passenger accusingly, with a glance at the clock. 
 
 " Can't help it, sir," returned the man of trains, a 
 patient smile on his round, fair, perspiring face. 
 " When you get to Mogadonier you'll wish it had been 
 longer that is Ever been there?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Thought I'd never seen you before. Goin' to stop 
 there long? " 
 
 " Yes, I'm going there to live." 
 
 "Great Caesar's ghost! You!" 
 
 The look and tone were so incredulous that North-
 
 12 'ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 more stopped as he was turning away and asked, 
 "What's the matter with Mogadonia? " 
 
 " Great Caesar! What ain't the matter with it? It's 
 the meanest, cussedest, deadest town between Chicago 
 and Baltimore. That's what's the matter with it. I 
 was stationed there for a year myself, and I was ready 
 for the graveyard when I got out. I heard there was 
 to be a new drug store started there ; perhaps you're in 
 that line? " 
 
 Northmore gave a short laugh. " No, I'm not in 
 that line. I'm in the clerical line. I'm going there 
 to an appointment." 
 
 " Oh, yes ; sure ; in Mr. Martin's place. He went 
 through here the first of the week. I tell you he was 
 glad to get away. Well, you're a mighty different sort 
 from Mr. Martin but I rather think that'll make the 
 town worse yet for you. It was about his level, you 
 
 know; and you Gracious! Well, I s'pose you 
 
 have to take what comes. Goin* out to see the sights ? " 
 
 "I want to get out into the air. What is there to 
 see? " He stepped to the door and looked down the 
 irregular old street, slumbering in the hot silence of the 
 September morning. The rows of thin-leaved locust 
 trees cast but skeleton shadows on the board walks. 
 The friendly station agent had followed him, loath to 
 be left alone. 
 
 " There's not much," he confessed, " but there's more 
 in Bellevue than you'll find in Mogadonier. There's 
 the glass works some folks go to see them and you'd 
 be interested in the new church, bein* a preacher.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 13 
 
 They're buildin' one of the finest churches here that 
 you'll find in this part of the country 'way ahead of 
 this town. Go straight out this street and turn to the 
 
 left at the third corner Why, what's happened? " 
 
 he broke off. 
 
 A slow cavalcade turned the third corner as he 
 pointed to it, a team of men carrying something prone, 
 which the two watched while it approached the station. 
 A man in workmen's clothes, his head wound with a band- 
 age, was stretched upon the cot borne by his com- 
 panions, for their overalls were white with stone dust 
 and mortar-splashed like his own. The bearers set down 
 their burden on the dusty grass under a tree near the 
 barren station and stood looking at it, hesitating what 
 to do next. The station agent stepped over at once, 
 followed by the minister. 
 
 "What's the matter? Why, it's Quiggins! What 
 done it? " 
 
 " Accident to the derrick stone slipped again and 
 just missed smashing him to pulp," replied one of the 
 two stonecutters who spoke English. 
 
 " I hope's it's not a bad hurt, Quiggins," and the 
 agent bent sympathetically over the sufferer. 
 
 The man turned his face, deathly pale under the black 
 stubble of beard, and spoke in a shaken voice. " I 
 guess not only a cut across my head and a broken leg 
 or two 'nough to lay me up till the job's finished and 
 it's too cold to get another. The doctor fixed me up 
 as good as he could to go home. Might just as well 
 have been worse this time o' year."
 
 14 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 rt You'd like a glass of water, I think," suggested 
 Northmore, noting the dry lips. 
 
 " I would that the best kind," and turning to the 
 bearers, "you fellows go on back to work. I'll lay 
 right here till the train comes, and you'll be docked if 
 you stay away any longer. Go on don't lose any 
 more time and thank you." 
 
 " What train do you take ? " asked Northmore, re- 
 turning with a glass of cold water from the adjoining 
 house. 
 
 " 'Leven ten, to Mogadonia." 
 
 " Then I shall be glad to stay and look after him. 
 You can leave him to me; I'm waiting for that train 
 myself." 
 
 The man who had lingered glanced at him gratefully. 
 "All right, sir. Thank you. Well, good-bye, Quig. 
 Don't lose your grip, and we'll be down Sunday to see 
 how you're gettin' on. The gentleman '11 stay by you 
 till train time." 
 
 Northmore brought a chair from the waiting room, 
 found a fan, and willingly took his place as nurse for 
 the next two hours and a half. 
 
 " I wonder if I can't get you something for a pillow 
 wait, yes, I've got a college pillow in my trunk on the 
 platform there." It took but a moment to get it, and 
 the man looked up gratefully. 
 
 " That's better," he said weakly. " I had so many 
 hurts I forgot I had a head." 
 
 " You have had a narrow escape. I hope that you'll 
 find you're not so bad as you feel now ; you seem to be
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 15 
 
 recovering a little from the shock. You looked so white 
 at first that I was afraid you were you would faint." 
 Northmore's tone was reassuring. 
 
 " I've lost my j ob all right. It was a mighty close 
 call and I don't know yet how bad it may be. It's a 
 damned shame, too. I'm the fifth man killed on that 
 church. Next thing that rotten old boiler '11 bust and 
 a few more poor fellows '11 go the same road." 
 
 " You ought to notify the contractor that it is un- 
 safe to work there." 
 
 The man's eyes, bright with pain, turned contempt- 
 uously upon his companion. " You ain't a workin' 
 man, and you think like all the rest that all we've got 
 to do is to send in our orders for improvements and 
 they're brought to us on a silver plate." 
 
 " But he certainly can't ask you to risk your lives in 
 your daily work and I suppose most of you have others 
 depending upon you." 
 
 " That's just it. He knows we've got others to feed 
 with good big mouths and he don't ask us anything 
 about it; he makes us risk our lives every hour we're 
 there because he knows we've got to have the work, and 
 because we know there's plenty to take our places the 
 minute we kick." 
 
 Quiggins' eyes glowed resentfully ; he went on with a 
 defiant tone : " Now, I was laid off nearly all summer, 
 and had some bad luck in my family, and got this job 
 only last week because the man who's doing this work 
 thought he'd be catched by winter and took on a few 
 more men. I jumped at the chance, though I knew it
 
 16 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 wouldn't last long and here, within seven days, I'm 
 done for! I tell you, if that stone hadn't glanced I'd 
 'a' been carried home in a bucket like the last poor fellow 
 was. We all went to his funeral, and the preacher said 
 it was a dispensation of Providence! Now, what you 
 s'pose the Lord Almighty let's men that's workin' on a 
 sixty-thousand-dollar church to His glory get smashed 
 to pulp for? Can't He get 'em fast 'nough other ways 
 or ain't He suited with their churches? Yes, sir, 
 that white necktie dude come down to that fellow's 
 house and made a prayer over what they had picked 
 up of him with his wife and five little children in 
 front of the coffin and said it was a mysterious ' dis- 
 pensation of Providence!' Now, wouldn't that jar 
 you?" 
 
 " What would you call it ? " There was a slight 
 catch in Northmore's breath as he leaned nearer. He 
 was that day to take his first appointment, and this 
 seemed to offer a golden opportunity for a bit of mis- 
 sionary work. He waited his time with the fervor and 
 confidence of the novice. 
 
 Quiggins scowled deeply at the question, irritated by 
 his loss scarcely less than by the pain he seemed to 
 bear with fortitude : " I would call it pure gall in that 
 fellow to tell the Lord's intentions and lie about 'em. 
 It was the contractor's meanness that's what it was. 
 And that fellow that never did a day's work in his life 
 is helpin' to wring the half of that sixty-thousand-dollar 
 church out of this poor little Bellevue for the glory of 
 himself and the glory of the rich man that's givin' the
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 17 
 
 other half, and who's the wickedest man this side of 
 the river. Then he'll prink himself in that pulpit and 
 preach what nobody believes." 
 
 Northmore fairly gasped his slow answer : " You 
 don't realise what you are saying ! " 
 
 No such heresy had been considered within his Semi- 
 nary walls. " If the people who build this church are 
 poor and have made sacrifices to do it, it will be dearer 
 and more sacred to them." 
 
 " Don't you fool yourself ! The church business is 
 a played-out fraud, and they know it in Bellevue better 
 than most places. They have reason to. They ain't 
 doin' this of their own free will; they're doin' it under 
 the yoke of Tom Morgan, the meanest man unhung; 
 he's crushin' thirty thousand dollars out of that little 
 congregation to match thirty thousand 'that he don't 
 know what to do with. Then he'll have the credit of it 
 all, here and hereafter but it'll be too fine for the rest 
 of the town. It's a heap easier way to get to Heaven 
 than the old Bible way. He calls it rearin' an altar ; it's 
 hush money to the Lord, that's what it is and it's a 
 rich man's snap ; workin' men have no use for the church 
 any more." 
 
 " Can you tell me why they don't ? unless you are 
 talking too much." 
 
 " No, it does me good helps to forget the pain. 
 Why, my sort of men don't go to church because there 
 ain't no church for 'em. They ain't wanted in a rich 
 man's church, that's mighty sure, and they won't go to 
 the * tramps' Paradise ' in the free missions. I see
 
 myself settin' on velvet cushions in Tom Morgan's pew 
 listenin' to that white-necktie dude preach honey and 
 wine to him though it's a livin' lie." 
 
 " What does he preach that is false ? " Northmore's 
 controlled tone was very low. 
 
 " Oh, the whole thing. His doctrines is all right. I 
 ain't findin* fault with religion but his members don't 
 
 work at it week days. Like this " he was answering 
 
 the fire of Northmore's eyes ; " the Bible says, * Love 
 your neighbour like you do yourself,' and they love 
 him better if he's got money ! The Bible says, ' Thou 
 shalt not steal anything,' and they don't unless they 
 get their hands onto it. The Bible says, * Thou shalt 
 not murder,' and your good deacon never does on a 
 moonlight night." 
 
 " A general assault is no argument," there was relief 
 in Northmore's drawn face. " The Church has been 
 assaulted in all ways in all ages, but it stands triumphant 
 unharmed." 
 
 Quiggins was so eager to reply that he tried to raise 
 himself on one arm, forgetting his injuries. " But I 
 tell you it's goin' to take a tumble pretty soon. The 
 world is gettin' onto some things and the church don't 
 stand for what it did even when I was a boy. Why, the 
 worst thing you can say about a business man is that 
 he's a roarin' church member then watch him close in 
 a horse trade ! Take Mogadonia, where I live. There's 
 three churches, besides the Catholic and a few little de- 
 nominations that don't count. Every one of them 
 three leading churches is full of honest, decent men, and
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 19 
 
 yet each of the three has one mean man that queers the 
 whole lot. Now, a church is like a chain, no stronger 
 than its weakest link, no better than its meanest member. 
 That's a fact every time; it's judged from the meanest 
 man in it. People say, ' Look at Joe Fury. He's a 
 Presbyterian, and / wouldn't stoop to do what de does.' 
 And Tom Morgan the king of rascals." 
 
 "What has he done?" 
 
 " It would be a lot easier to tell you what he hasn't 
 done. I'll tell you one thing, though, and see what you 
 say to it! Tom Morgan made his start in a little fac- 
 tory down the creek, and he'd have made his finish there, 
 too, if it hadn't been for a man that worked for him, a 
 fellow by the name of Ellis, as much smarter man than 
 Morgan as one man can be than another. This Ellis, 
 he invented a machine that was a miracle in its way ; he'd 
 worked on it every spare minute for fifteen years, and 
 spent every cent he could skimp on it, and at last he 
 got it! But when it was perfect he couldn't patent 
 it. This big government charges a tax on ideas, and he 
 couldn't raise the sixty dollars he needed to get it 
 through. He had a sickly wife, too, and whenever he'd 
 get a little saved up out of his small wages she'd take 
 worse and it would have to go. After a long wait he got 
 discouraged and saw he'd have to raise it on a loan but 
 nobody would lend it on a model. At last he took it to 
 Morgan, and he saw at a glance that it was the biggest 
 thing out and he refused to lend a dollar on it for an- 
 other man's benefit. He offered to buy the thing for 
 two hundred and fifty dollars and patent it himself, and
 
 20 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 that was all he would do. Ellis begged him to take a 
 half interest or sixty per cent. But Morgan is pure 
 hog, and he knew he could get the whole thing. Ellis 
 held out against him and his family turned in to help 
 him. His wife took in washing and his little girl stopped 
 school and hired out to work, and at last they got 
 it together the very day that Ellis's wife came down 
 with an awful sickness. The money was all gone in no 
 time, and then Mrs. Ellis had to be taken to Pittsburgh 
 for an operation and Ellis had to raise a hundred dollars 
 quick; it was a case of life and death. He went to 
 Morgan and begged him to take a four-fifths interest 
 for a hundred dollars. Did he do it? No, sir-ee! 
 Tom Morgan is as hard as rock and he would have the 
 whole hog or none. Did Ellis sell? By God, he had to. 
 He signed away his rights, carried over his little machine 
 and delivered it, put the money in his pocket and come 
 home. It was in the night. He stopped on the way 
 and ordered a carriage to take his wife to the midnight 
 train then he come home. I was settin' in his porch. 
 He'd sold out his life an' he knew it. He dropped on 
 the bit of yard inside the fence like he'd been knocked 
 down, and rolled over quiet and tore up the grass by the 
 roots." Quiggins paused to get the choke out of his 
 voice at the memory. 
 
 "Did Mrs. Ellis live?" Northmore was breath- 
 lessly interested. 
 
 " Oh, yes, in a way. She never walked again, and 
 Ellis crippled his hand after a while and lost his job. 
 Morgan was glad of an excuse to get him out of sight,
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 21 
 
 and turned him out to starve. Now would you say the 
 Lord would prosper a man like that ? " 
 
 "Never!" 
 
 " You bet He oughtn't to ! And if you was a 
 preacher, would you butter the track to Heaven for 
 him? You'd say that money ought to carry a curse, 
 wouldn't you ? But he wasn't cursed not him ! He's 
 made money out of that patent till he can't count it. 
 He built a palace round at the foot of Blue Mountain 
 that looks like a courthouse. He has summer homes on 
 the ocean and winter homes in the South and boats and 
 automobiles. His wife dresses like the Queen of Sheba 
 and rides in a yellow band waggon with two monkeys 
 in uniform on behind blowin' a horn, and his sons is 
 off to some big college with nigger men to dress them. 
 And he is slick slick and pious ! Lord ! Butter won't 
 melt in his mouth. He's high mucky-muck in the 
 church; goes with his Bible under his arm, and makes 
 speeches to the Sunday School on ' How to Lead the 
 Life Beautiful,' and * The Golden Rule in Everyday 
 Life.' That was to the Men's Club last Sunday after- 
 noon. But all the same there's a girl's grave off in the 
 swampy corner of the graveyard that he filled just as 
 sure as if he'd shot her and not half so merciful, either ! 
 And in a cold little shanty over on the spur at Moga- 
 donia there's two livin' wrecks slowly dyin* of broken 
 hearts and starvation ; that's Ellis and his wife. Now, 
 what do you s'pose Tom Morgan does for them out of 
 all the millions he's rolled up on their patent? Not a 
 thing ! Not one blamed cent ? "
 
 22 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Then he cannot know of their need." 
 
 *' Don't you fool yourself though you wouldn't 
 think a man could be so hard clear to the grave. But, 
 I say, if Divine law ain't to make men better than human 
 law, what is it good for? I'm a poor man and I never 
 had a dollar yet that I didn't get hard and honest, but I 
 wouldn't be caught sneakin' through the gates of 
 Heaven 'long side of such a towerin' rascal as Tom Mor- 
 gan. No, sir! I'll walk into Hell with my head up 
 and I notice some awful good company goin' that way, 
 too. Now, the best man in my town don't belong to no 
 church, and I know one reason is that he won't herd with 
 such frauds as Joe Fury and 'Lije Sims and Tom Mor- 
 gan that's Proctor Garnett Kn.ow him? Well, 
 
 he's the squarest man I ever worked for, and he don't 
 blow his religion on a trumpet; he don't have to. He 
 lives it. His work is his profession and his pay roll 
 is his creed, and they're louder'n trumpets. I'll bet 
 on his chances, but the preacher that'll stand up in 
 front of Tom Morgan and take pay for his salva- 
 tion is a liar and everybody knows it. If he don't 
 take that chance to say, * Tom Morgan, you're a 
 damned thief and murderer ! ' he'll never pass out free 
 grace to a workin' man in this county though likely 
 we're not the men he cares to save anyway. I wouldn't 
 touch a preacher like that with a poker and that's 
 why workin' men don't go to church. We see the rough 
 side of religion. And where are we wanted, anyhow? 
 If you're rich, you can live any way you please, and 
 buy salvation. If you're a dead beat, you can have it
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 23 
 
 for charity; but if you're just a common man that 
 works hard for every cent you get, you can go to Eter- 
 nal Smoke ! " 
 
 Quiggins stopped, panting, and Northmore gave him 
 a drink with a trembling hand. The man had worked 
 himself into a white heat; great drops stood on his 
 forehead, but for once he had spoken. He looked 
 searchingly at Northmore for an answer, and saw that 
 his face was livid. " Of course," he added quickly, 
 " you ain't a workin' man, and you see the hand-pol- 
 ished side of it; likely you belong yourself, and I 
 ain't sayin' one word against the bulk of good peo- 
 ple that does belong. I only blame them for bowin' 
 down to the big robbers." 
 
 " What ought they to do? " 
 
 " Oh, that's their lookout." 
 
 " Suppose you were a preacher? " 
 
 " Me a preacher ? " He gave a scornful little laugh. 
 " Me a preacher ! Oh, Lord, I'd ruther work for a 
 livin*. I'd have to. I'd never take a dollar of blood 
 money from any man unless I earned it. Suppose you 
 was a preacher yourself, could you keep from tellin* 
 Tom Morgan that he ought to go to Hell? Could you 
 stand up and take pay for not tellin' him so? " 
 
 Northmore drew a long breath and hesitated for a 
 full minute. " No, I could not," he said at last with 
 the solemnity of a man taking oath of office. He real- 
 ised how completely he had forgotten Quiggins' dis- 
 ability, and bent over to shift him a little. The man 
 noticed the white pain in his face.
 
 24 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " I guess the blood turns you a bit sick," he said. 
 " Maybe you could get a glass of something over at 
 the saloon.' 9 
 
 " Oh, no, I'm all right. I hope that you haven't 
 talked yourself into a fever." 
 
 " Not much ! Did me good. I haven't freed my 
 mind like that for many a year before. I'm well enough 
 to walk if my legs was any good. Did you say that 
 you was goin' to Mogadonia ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "You don't live there?" 
 
 " I am going there to live." 
 
 Northmore's manner precluded the one more question 
 Quiggins would have liked to ask, and he had to content 
 himself with studying the big, forceful young figure and 
 cultivated face and trying to fit the man into some niche 
 in his town but none was appropriate. After a try- 
 ing little silence Northmore produced a .magazine and 
 read an entertaining travel sketch to Quiggins, who 
 listened with intelligent appreciation until train time. 
 When his charge had been safely stowed in the baggage 
 car, where he found an acquaintance, Northmore went 
 to his own seat, conscience-smitten that this first oppor- 
 tunity for missionary work had found him dumb. What 
 had he come out from the Seminary to do?
 
 CHAPTER H 
 
 " MOG-A-DO-NIER ! Mog-a-Jo-nier ! " trumpeted the 
 brakeman in notes of sonorous melancholy. Northmore 
 roused with a start from his abstraction and glanced out 
 to see the town, but from the level of the hillsides saw 
 that the train had stopped on a high trestle. He took 
 down his luggage deliberately and strapped in the book 
 he had not been reading. The conductor turned back 
 at the door with a solemn repetition of the warning and 
 the brakeman looked in to make the same remark. 
 
 " Don't you go to the station ? " asked the young 
 man defensively. 
 
 " This is it now," retorted the man of buttons, with 
 an air of ended responsibility. 
 
 " Yes, this is the station," confirmed a pleasant 
 young fellow passing Northmore on his way out, and the 
 latter caught up his suit case and plunged after him, 
 landing upon the flat roof of the two-story station 
 building which connected the high-level bridge with the 
 town crouched in the valley beneath. Northmore stepped 
 back to look after Quiggins, who was at once sur- 
 rounded by the loafers that lined the railing of the roof 
 platform and who peppered him with questions. North- 
 more briefly told the story, and selected an escort of 
 volunteers to carry Quiggins to his home, which was not 
 far away. While he was thus engaged two shabby men 
 
 25
 
 26 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 were pulling at his suit case and quarrelling with each 
 other about the respective merits of the two hotels, the 
 Great International and the Grand. Having provided; 
 for Quiggins, Northmore was about to make a random 
 selection when a tall, stooped old man with a little hang- 
 man's beard rose from the stairs and crossed to him, as 
 he appeared to be the only stranger: 
 
 " I'm lookin' fur a preacher on this train but I 
 reckon he didn't come. A preacher name o' North- 
 more." 
 
 The young man smiled oddly and the group paused 
 to listen. " My name is Northmore," he said ; " and 
 I am a preacher." 
 
 The man on the cot lifted his bandaged head in ex- 
 citement : " Good Lord ! A preacher ! Well, you 
 don't look it ! You might have told me and you takin' 
 care of me all the time. Well, sir, I'm sorry I hurt your 
 feelin's but I pity you." 
 
 " It's no matter," said Northmore, taking his hand. 
 " I am glad you talked freely. It was a rare oppor- 
 tunity to get that viewpoint, and I drew you out. I 
 shall come to see how you are getting on. I hope you 
 are not bad. Good-bye." 
 
 " Good-bye," said the man heartily ; " good-bye, and 
 thank you. The first time I'm able, I'm coming to hear 
 you preach." 
 
 " Do," and Northmore turned to the old man who 
 stood waiting for his attention and who had shaken his 
 hand cordially while he was still speaking to Quiggins. 
 
 " This way, Brother Northmore ; I'm mighty glad to
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 27 
 
 see you but I'd never 'a' took you fur a preacher 
 never. Here, you, Dan, let his carpet sack alone. He 
 puts up at my tavern this trip. My name's Pocock 
 Square Pocock, I'm ginerally called." 
 
 " No I'll carry that myself, Squire ; I am glad to 
 know you and you were most kind to meet me. You 
 lead the way down and I'll follow. What a singular 
 location your town has ! " Northmore added cautiously, 
 glancing down at the smoky roofs and black-cindered 
 streets of his future dwelling-place. The heterogeneous 
 buildings told of struggling growth, the principal ones 
 huddled for lack of space in the valley under the 
 trestle, while the dwellings wound in crooked lines up 
 the hillsides as high as they could cling, terraced gar- 
 dens showing still higher behind them, over their roofs. 
 At the northern end of the valley loomed a promontory 
 of bleached limestone known as " Old Whiteface," at 
 whose base, on a tiny green flat, lay the squire's old 
 house, low and wide, almost hidden by a huge grey 
 boulder that had sometime fallen from the cliff, and 
 stockaded by a wall of smaller boulders, evidently built 
 to get them off the ground. 
 
 " Here we air," said his host, ushering the minister 
 into a parlour gorgeous with gilt paper and gay Brus- 
 sels carpet. " Jest walk in and make yourself to home 
 while I call M'ria." 
 
 Northmore seated himself upon the yellow plush chair 
 indicated, facing a remarkable work of art upon a table 
 in the middle of the room, comprising a pallid ear of 
 green corn, a cucumber, and a lemon surmounting a
 
 28 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 basket of peaches and tomatoes, done in wax and cov- 
 ered by a glass dome. He had scarcely done justice to 
 the artistic fidelity of the production when the squire 
 returned with his elderly daughter, his feminine counter- 
 part, tall, spare, slow of speech, with thin black hair 
 carefully crimped above her narrow, dark face. There 
 was that in the manner of the two which touched the 
 heart of the young minister; a reverence for the emis- 
 sary of God, whom they seemed to hold it an exalted 
 privilege to entertain. The large, worn Bible on its 
 little stand was the most conspicuous thing in the living 
 room adjoining, and exhaled the atmosphere of the 
 house, a permeating holiness which lingered in this 
 primitive seclusion undispelled. Miss Maria extended 
 a cordial hand. " Pa an' me air jest awful glad to hev 
 you here, Mr. Northmore, an' we hope you won't mind 
 our bein' such plain folks. We ain't got no style nor 
 no newfangled ways, but we want you to make yourself 
 all the more to home fur that. No, pa, he won't hev 
 time now, fur dinner is ready. You show him to his 
 room whilst I set it up." 
 
 Savory hints of this dinner had cheered Northmore 
 on his way up to the house, but even his hungry scent 
 had not foretold its bounty. Its royal abundance and 
 quaint service, its shining linen, horn-handled cutlery, 
 and the mulberry ware of another generation not only 
 furnished forth a gladdening feast but delighted his 
 eye as well. 
 
 " Now, Brother, just light in an' help yourself like 
 you was at home," urged the squire, when grace had
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 29 
 
 been offered. " You'd better tackle that fried chicking 
 fust," he added, as the guest did not respond. " Them 
 springers is small yet, but thar's plenty of 'em." 
 Which was obvious, for the platter was piled with ex- 
 quisitely browned joints. Northmore understood that 
 he was to serve himself, but his host was not satisfied 
 with his selection and added a few choice pieces, follow- 
 ing them in succession with mashed potatoes, cream 
 gravy, big pearly " roasting ears," amber candied yams, 
 stuffed tomatoes, jellies in coloured glasses, salad, and 
 pickles of many varieties and overpowering abundance. 
 Miss Maria did not sit down with the two men, but 
 stood, white-aproned, to pass foamy biscuits, hot from 
 the oven, and aromatic coffee in old hexagonal cups, 
 with thick yellow cream. When the minister had done 
 flattering justice to the dinner" in sight, she cleared the 
 table and brought an array of pies, three kinds, an 
 old-fashioned pound cake, and translucent " preserves," 
 in little glass saucers. The gloom which had settled 
 upon Northmore's heart at the experience of the morn- 
 ing lifted perceptibly. Mogadonia might be a spiritual 
 Gethsemane but there were physical compensations. 
 He was young, healthy, and fiercely hungry. 
 
 After dinner the two men sat in the let-in porch at 
 the front of the house, drowsy with the still heat of 
 the afternoon. It was deeply quiet except for the 
 happy, discordant roulade of Miss Maria's hens, which 
 gathered in the shade of the house, their wings hanging 
 for coolness and one foot cautiously suspended at sight 
 of the stranger. The squire talked droningly for a
 
 30 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 little while, but fell asleep in the middle of the story he 
 was telling, and Northmore was not sorry to be left 
 alone with his problems of life. He looked at the circle 
 of hilltops which barricaded the valley from the world 
 outside, and wondered at the chance which had sent him 
 to this remote spot for his first battle with the world- 
 sin he was armoured to attack. He expected appoint- 
 ment to a flourishing suburban chapel which he had 
 helped to found and where he had acceptably preached 
 during his vacations, and had been so assured of it that 
 he was not yet quite certain that Magadonia was not a 
 part of the dream-stuff that had seemed to envelop him 
 ever since he started on his journey to it. He knew 
 that the Auburndale congregation had sent an almost 
 unanimous request for him, and on the fateful morning 
 of the Conference when the appointments were read he 
 had settled comfortably in his seat with a feeling of 
 pity for those who were in suspense. Auburndale was 
 so high in the alphabet that he was immediately startled 
 to hear, " Auburndale, James Bennett." It was a mis- 
 take! He would wait and hear its correction. He 
 drummed his knee with impatient fingers while the list 
 went on. Far down the line the monotonous voice of the 
 reader reached, " Mogadonia, R. D. Northmore." A 
 thin man beside him relaxed the tense muscles of his 
 forehead and breathed a devout, " Thank God ! " 
 Northmore turned on him quickly, " Were you there 
 last?" The man nodded. A little later, as the assem- 
 bly dispersed, exchanging comments and congratula- 
 tions, one of the prominent ministers had taken his hand
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 31 
 
 kindly with the admonition : " Don't be discouraged in 
 the beginning, Northmore. You young fellows must 
 prove your mettle, and there are more souls to save in a 
 hard charge than a good one. Be faithful and God 
 will bless you and the bishop reward you later." 
 
 This had passed lightly enough at the time, but it 
 came back seriously now that he was a citizen of the 
 town, a responsible factor in its life. The man 
 Martin's weak face rose before him with that " Thank 
 God ! " upon its lips. He thought Mogadonia had 
 terrors but there might be a difference in standards 
 and ability. Northmore smiled with the arrogance of 
 virile youth, and stretched his long legs, cramped with 
 the day's inactivity. What trouble could there be in this 
 church for a six-foot young fellow equipped with all 
 that the Seminary could give him of fresh artillery? 
 He was rather sorry to have drawn such small game. 
 He stood looking out over the landscape for a few min- 
 utes, when his host woke himself with a deep nod and 
 coughed apologetically. 
 
 " I did not see Mr. Martin long enough to ask him 
 anything about the size and condition of the church 
 here. I hope that both are pretty fair? " 
 
 The squire sat upright, wiped some glistening drops 
 from his smooth scalp with a red handkerchief, coughed 
 again, and waved a chicken off the porch before he re- 
 plied. 
 
 " Wall, yas, it's what you might call middlin' 
 fair to middlin' as churches go. There's allus some 
 gits soured toward the last and gits out of payin' dues,
 
 32 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 but them's the ones takes hardest to the new preacher. 
 Brother Martin were a powerful good man but I 
 reckon he were were a leetle slow fur Mogadonia. This 
 is a lively town, an' we need a live man in it ; why, we've 
 growed over two hundred in popilation in the last ten 
 year ! Then his wife bein' sickly sort o' helt him back. 
 They say he had to wash and dress them seven chillern 
 fur school, an' he has been seen bakin' bread. Rock 
 Creek '11 suit him better'n what Mogadonia did. You 
 ain't married, Brother Northmore? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Yas, that was what we wanted. We 'lowed a 
 preacher with fam'ly trouble oughtn't to tackle sech a 
 big place. We're sort o' wore out with fam'ly 
 troubles." 
 
 Northmore laughed. ".Then you think a church can 
 furnish a full line of infelicities without domestic assist- 
 ance. Isn't that rather hard on the church? " 
 
 " Wall, I never heard of a church that didn't hev a 
 scrimmage now an' agin. It 'pears that folks take their 
 human natur' with 'em, even into the sanctuary. I 
 reckon that's the reason they hev to die to git to glory ; 
 they can't shed their natur till they cast off the flesh." 
 
 The squire studied the stone fence with the reserve of 
 a man who is no informer, and Northmore deeply re- 
 spected the heroism which could withstand the chance to 
 give his side first to the new minister ; he also divined 
 that a feud of no common order disrupted his church. 
 
 " What a magnificent landscape ! " he said, turning 
 away to release the squire from the personal subject.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 33 
 
 " Er what was it you seen ? " 
 
 " This beautiful bit of country ; it is interesting as 
 well as beautiful." 
 
 The old man looked at him in amused wonder: 
 " Um-m, yas, it's interestin' to know how to get a livin* 
 off it, but I reckon you're the fust man ever thought it 
 was handsome. They is some right pretty corn bottoms 
 on the other side bf Whiteface, an' a leetle medder land 
 on the slope up thar, but the rest wall, you wouldn't 
 see no beauty in it ef you had to plough round them 
 rocks. The fields is tilted up slaunch^wise and sot kit- 
 terin' an' no airthly good fur anything but sheep ; you'd 
 need to hang your plough on a rope to cultivate 'em, an* 
 cattle can't graze thar good without claws." The 
 squire never laughed, but his smile broke unusual lines 
 in his rutted face as he enjoyed this bit of chaff with 
 the new minister. Northmore laughed good-naturedly : 
 " It is pretty rough for farming land ; that's a fact ; 
 but I wasn't looking at it from that point of view," he 
 answered. 
 
 " Wall, I dunno any other view could be took of it 
 but as farm land. It don't grow no timber wuth any- 
 thing. The trees is so twisted you can't hardly split 
 'em for firewood." 
 
 " I'm afraid I wasn't thinking of usefulness at all. 
 It struck me as a noble page of the Almighty's history 
 the story of Creation. This great outcrop White- 
 face, did you call it? " 
 
 " Yas, Ole Whiteface." 
 
 " Whiteface has been thrown up there as an index of
 
 84 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 chapters, the succeeding chapters of the earth's physical 
 history; this big granite boulder which has possession 
 of your lawn must be a dropped page from the great 
 central moraine which was carried down from the north- 
 west in vast ice fields. It is the finest example I have 
 ever seen ; I shall report it to the State geologist. He 
 could tell at a glance just when it was deposited here. 
 See this groove along the side and the polish higher 
 
 up where it has rubbed " exclaimed the young man 
 
 enthusiastically. 
 
 "Huh? Was you wantin' to know how that grey- 
 head come here? " demanded the squire in blank amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " Yes. Of course it dropped to that particular spot 
 from the cliff above, but it is evident that it was carried 
 there by glacial force, for it is a totally different kind 
 of stone from the limestone outcrop," pursued North- 
 more with the delight of the late college man. 
 
 The squire stared at him incredulously. " Was you 
 thinkin' that ole greyhead floated here in the ice, 
 Brother Northmore? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " If that don't beat all! Wall, I kin tell you it never 
 done no such thing ! I was born in this county, and my 
 father lived here all his life, an' ef Indian Creek ever 
 rose high enough or froze hard enough to fetch a rock 
 like that over the tops of them hills, I'd V heered tell 
 of it. Why, that greyhead weighs over two ton! Ef 
 you re'ly want to know how it did come here, I kin tell 
 you ; that rock was sot thar by the Lord God Almighty
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 35 
 
 Himself, Creator of Heaven an' Yearth, on the Day 
 of Creation. That's how it come in my front yard, an' 
 that's why it stays thar, though it's a queer thing fur 
 me to be tellin' a minister of the gospil. Folks has 
 often asked me why I let it stay, an' I tell 'em it ain't 
 because it's too heavy to move. It's because the Lord 
 God put it thar, an' I reckon that are whar He wanted 
 it to stay. Maybe them dents an' hollers in it is the 
 prints of His own hand when it was soft. That's why 
 I let it stay," and the. old man regarded it with shocked 
 reverence. 
 
 " Ah-h ! " breathed Northmore with startled enlight- 
 enment and a quick movement backward as if he were 
 losing his footing. He added aloud : " I will walk 
 over to the church now, if you will direct me." 
 
 " I kin go 'long an' show you the way," answered his 
 companion with odd reluctance. " It's right hot yet 
 but maybe it's as good a time as any. I'll show you 
 the way." 
 
 They went slowly down to the centre of the town, 
 and the squire resumed in a paternal tone : " I hope I 
 ain't hurt your feelin's none, Brother, but I know what 
 a lot of blasphemious readin' young folks is put up to 
 now'days. I had a time to git my girl broke of readin' 
 'em when she was in school. I tole her the Lord would 
 'a' give us more'n one book ef that wasn't all He wanted 
 us to read, an' life ain't hardly long enough fur that. 
 Why, in my day we was brought up on the Bible. 
 Christians never thought of readin' anything else. I've 
 set up nights as late as ten o'clock when I was younger
 
 36 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 to read, an' there's chapters in Revelation I ain't got 
 by heart yet. I've had a reasonable long life, too, but 
 it ain't ben too long to get ready fur the Day of Judg- 
 ment, an' I never wasted an hour yit on ongodly readin'. 
 No, Brother, the Lord never give us no sech stuff as 
 you've ben at, to read." 
 
 " I don't agree with you there," and Northmore's 
 tone was tolerantly earnest. " I think that the Lord 
 gave us no more because He wanted us to work out the 
 rest for ourselves. Neither did He clothe us with fur 
 nor give us caves to live in. But He did give us brains, 
 and hands with which to plant and build and spin for 
 ourselves in accordance with His design. Our reason 
 is our noblest function, and I am sure that He never 
 meant it to be atrophied by religion. He means us to 
 think and discover." 
 
 The squire struggled with this proposition in evident 
 alarm. It was some time before he answered in a slow 
 summing up of the whole question : " Wall, I've lived a 
 heap longer'n any young man, an' I never knew a Bible 
 Christian to die onsaved yit but I have knowed a 
 plenty that read books to die in their sins." 
 
 Northmore made no reply to this sweeping conclusion, 
 and the squire added kindly, " Ef young folks was so 
 made as they could take a leetle advice, now an' again, 
 of them that's lived longer, they'd larn without burnin' 
 their own fingers. That's what I tole the stewards when 
 they said it was your fust station ; ' Jest be a leetle 
 easy on him an' give him good advice now an' again, an' 
 he'll soon larn,' says I."
 
 'ALTARS TO MAMMON 37 
 
 " Thank you," said the minister with a queer blending 
 of patience and consternation in his face as he looked 
 down from his stalwart youth upon the bowed figure 
 that had come out of the past to lead him backwards. 
 By and by, retarding his pace to the squire's feeble gait, 
 he drew out the details of the church dissension. It 
 had begun wall, there was no tellin' when it had begun 
 unless it was with the building of the church, and fac- 
 tions had been forming and re-forming ever since. There 
 was the building feud and the organ feud and the mort- 
 gage feud, and now well, now, it was a combination of 
 all these, with an added element in the parsonage trouble. 
 It was a leetle rumpus, but maybe the coming of a new 
 minister would sort of shame it away. They were walk- 
 ing down Main Street at this stage of the history it 
 was the merest outline and the squire waited to con-, 
 tinue in a less public place. Not that there were many 
 people on Main Street, but they made up in interest 
 what they lacked in numbers. 
 
 A group of collarless idlers smoked, whittled, and 
 gossiped on the post office steps ; they ceased all other 
 occupation to give attention to the stranger. A young 
 woman in a pink wrapper and white sunbonttet strolled 
 before them down the sidewalk, stopping to put her 
 head in at the open window of the millinery store and 
 ask whose hat was being trimmed. The milliner, 
 glancing up, saw the stranger over her shoulder, and the 
 girl, following the gaze, gave a little scream and darted 
 into the bakery next door, as if Main Street was nor- 
 mally as secluded on a warm afternoon as her own back
 
 38 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 porch. A knot of boys stopped disputing the owner- 
 ship of a hideous mask to stare oppressively, while a 
 negro with a wheelbarrow of melons put down the han- 
 dles to ask if Northmore were the congressman. One 
 of the hotel runners who had heard his name at the 
 station in the morning was on the porch of the Great 
 International Hotel and immediately became a centre 
 of importance. A woman in a brown calico dress and 
 lace bonnet drove her spring waggon in front of the 
 Grand Central Dry Goods Emporium and leaned for- 
 ward to call: "Oh, Billy! Oh, Billy Canter! Oh, 
 Billy ! " at which the proprietor of the Emporium woke 
 from his nap on the counter and came to the door comb- 
 ing his hair with his fingers. Both he and his customer 
 gave their whole attention to Northmore as long as he 
 was in sight. At the door of Moneypenny's hardware 
 store a stout man with rolled-up sleeves and blackened 
 hands stood chatting with a departing customer. He 
 stepped out to meet the two. 
 
 " How-d'ye-do, Daddy ? I reckon this is Mr. North- 
 more; how-d'ye-do, sir? I'm mighty glad to see you; 
 I am indeed. I tell you now, Daddy, that Mr. North- 
 more is the very man to put us on our feet; I see that 
 right off. There's nothing slow about Mogadonia, Mr. 
 Northmore, but the trains, and we need an up-to-date 
 minister. It's plain we've got him, too. I'm sorry I 
 didn't get to take you to my house, but my wife's mother 
 has been sick for the last three weeks, and before I knew 
 how she was coming out, Daddy, here, got ahead of me. 
 Moneypenny's my name; I'm one of the longest mem-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 39 
 
 bers of your church; joined when I wasn't ten years 
 old." 
 
 " I'm glad you did," responded Northmore heartily 
 to the cordial tone. " I hope there are plenty of your 
 kind in it." 
 
 The hardware merchant was going to talk longer, 
 but a little girl came for a box of carpet tacks and he 
 went back to get them. The squire to whom nobody 
 ever gave his dear title moved reluctantly on. 
 
 " I give Jim Moneypenny a chance to tell you the 
 hull story, but I see he ain't no idee of doin' it, an' I 'low 
 it falls to me," he grumbled, and took up his halting, 
 evasive narrative again. The present situation was a 
 culmination of all the old troubles, which appeared to 
 have centred in one member. He was the one who had 
 held the mortgage, and opposed the organ, and he now 
 offered to sell his house adjoining the church for a par- 
 sonage. The place was so unsuitable and the price so 
 high that the stewards had bought another house, better 
 in every particular, for little more than half the sum 
 asked for this one. And it had made some feeling 
 some! 
 
 They had gone the longest way round to approach 
 the church on its east side; the minister saw that at 
 a glance. A wooden building adjoining crowded it 
 so closely as to cut off its light. On the other side 
 stood an old red house, at the edge of whose little 
 yard, completely covering and darkening the remaining 
 windows, ran a plank fence nineteen feet high, em- 
 blazoned with circus posters. Neither pastor nor par-
 
 40 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 ishioner spoke for a moment. Then Northmore asked, 
 " Do I understand that a member of my congregation 
 did this?" 
 
 " That's right," admitted his guide. 
 
 " I think that I must know his name." 
 
 " It's wall, it's 'Lijah Sims. He wanted to hold 
 up the congregation for his old house and they 
 wouldn't stand it. It's a bad muddle."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE last stroke of the tolling bell still quivered on the 
 air as Northmore's resolute step took him out of the 
 sunny September morning into the gas-lit gloom of his 
 church for his first service. As he strode down the worn 
 trail of ingrain carpet and saw, without looking, the 
 leak stains on the walls, the boarded-up windows, and, 
 facing about, the sprinkling of elderly people in the 
 pews, he knew that he had come to a run-down church in 
 the last gasp of inanition. He had longed for this 
 day of beginning with the confidence of thorough prep- 
 aration ; he had done many first sermons in anticipa- 
 tion ; but since coming here he had discarded them all 
 and worked out a new one which he thought would ap- 
 peal to these dwellers among hills. 
 
 When he rose to read the hymn he saw kindly greet- 
 ing in nearly all faces. The most striking one was the 
 fresh pink countenance of a young-old man who sat 
 with his wife and daughter in the side aisle. The man's 
 head was crowned with a shining aureole of straight 
 white hair. His blue eyes sent a smile of welcome to the 
 minister's heart. His wife was a small, austere woman 
 in rustling silk, and the daughter was a timid girl of 
 delicate tints and wistful eyes as blue as her father's. 
 Immediately behind them sat the pleasant young man 
 who had arrived on the train with Northmore, and 
 
 41
 
 43 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 whom he had since found in the new drug store, which 
 was the one well-kept, attractive shop in the place. His 
 name was Harrington, and he, too, was a newcomer in 
 whom Northmore found a bond of sympathy. On the 
 front seat was a red-haired woman in dyed black, whose 
 freckled face beamed such loyalty and devotion from 
 the first that Northmore knew he had one fast friend. 
 Well to the front was the pew of the squire and Miss 
 Maria, their visible pride of early proprietorship in the 
 pastor subdued by Sabbath gravity, while just behind 
 them Mr. Moneypenny contributed to the occasion a 
 row of sons of assorted sizes. 
 
 Northmore's strong tenor led the quavering notes of 
 his congregation through the devotional exercises ; 
 then, in an expectant hush, he read from Exodus iv, 21, 
 the text: " What is that in thine hand? " And again, 
 " What is that in thine hand? " 
 
 The echo of his voice in unanswering silence chilled 
 the enthusiasm with which he had wrought out his theme, 
 and it was not until he could forget himself in his word 
 picture of the oriental scene that something of boyish 
 fire impassioned the drawing of Jebel-Mesa, rock-ribbed 
 with crimson and purple diorites, its majestic crown 
 cut in relief against the sapphire of Egyptian sky, 
 guarding forever from desert blight the rich valleys, 
 Wady-Feiran and Wady-esh-Sheikh. In the tremendous 
 silence of the sacred mountain he found Moses pleading 
 with God for the deliverance of his people from intoler- 
 able bondage. The quiet of the room grew intense as 
 the story of the little rod by which that greatest de-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 48 
 
 liverance was wrought was simply told the rod whose 
 power was faith and harmonious action. The Old Tes- 
 tament theme was the prelude of a direct appeal from 
 pastor to people for co-operation and unity, yet the 
 words seemed a mockery on his lips, addressed to those 
 few feeble members who proved their unity by coming 
 to hear him. He saw that mere words would never 
 infuse new blood into this anemic body, yet his message 
 grew so intimate that he appeared to be talking pri- 
 vately to each member, man to man. The dedication of 
 his life rose big before him ; here was a field for his best 
 effort, barren enough for new sowing, but when he 
 closed his sermon and the faint rustle of relieved tension 
 had faded into unresponsive silence, a sullen weight of 
 dread clamped upon his heart, his first vivid realisation 
 of the smallness of one man's supreme effort against the 
 vast aggregate of human need. He went shyly down 
 from the pulpit when the meeting was over, with the 
 longing of aroused sympathy softening his rugged face, 
 but his- towering form, well-made clothes, and scholarly 
 bearing awed his people and, after lingering in expecta- 
 tion for a moment, they went out, talking in low tones 
 among themselves. Only Mr. Moneypenny came for- 
 ward to speak to him. 
 
 " That was a mighty fine sermon, Mr. Northmore, 
 though it did lean pretty strong to Works," he said 
 heartily ; " but I guess Works are all right if there's 
 enough faith mixed in to save a man. I'm no stickler 
 for doctrine, and I guess that's good enough doctrine 
 for anybody."
 
 44 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 As Northmore retarded his steps to Miss Maria's, 
 sauntering through the black streets in the noon heat, 
 it flashed upon him that in just such measure he must 
 curb his energies to the halting gait of these people, 
 and the thought was intolerable. His vigorous nature 
 loved action; his superfluous energy must always work 
 itself out through his muscles ; he required space and 
 air; even now he felt a maddening impulse to break 
 away for a wild tramp over the barrier of hills to the 
 free great world which they shut out. Could he ever 
 put down intellectual brakes that would hold him to the 
 pace of Mogadonia? He did not delude himself with 
 the fancy that he could quicken Mogadonians to his 
 record. As soon make the squire a supple youth again ! 
 
 This Mogadonia, then, this stupidly wicked town, was 
 the realisation of his ideals, the goal of his long train- 
 ing ; it was his " vineyard," his " battle ground," and 
 all the other allegorical symbols of his Seminary dreams. 
 Could he be so poorly equipped for any other possible 
 situation as this one? He thought not. The grim 
 humour of the thing curved his lips in a desperate smile 
 as he cramped his steps beside Miss Maria. 
 
 Her excellent dinner was disposed of in reverent 
 silence, and then the squire went into the porch with 
 " the Book " for his Sabbath meditation. Northmore 
 went up to his room, but felt suffocated by its heat. 
 From the window he could see alluring slopes of wood- 
 land, and he accepted their invitation, leaving the road 
 at the foot of the spur and striking a path which fol- 
 lowed a little stream into the heart of the hill it had
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 45 
 
 cleft. Its deep gorge led him between walls of jagged 
 rock that ended at a noisy cascade, a sheer veil of fall- 
 ing water over green-grey rock, whose pleasant mono- 
 tone drowned the whirr of cicadas with which the woods 
 rang, and made a sympathetic accompaniment to his 
 thought. He found a seat upon a cushion of moss be- 
 yond the spray, from which he could see but a ribbon 
 of blue sky between the fern-fringed walls above. He 
 was keenly susceptible to the moods of Nature, and in 
 the solitude of the place he seemed suddenly to get him- 
 self into perspective against his new background. 
 
 Under the disappointment of a realised expectation 
 what realisation is not disappointing? a dread fear 
 had been eating its way into his soul, the fear that he 
 had made a tremendous mistake. He harked back in 
 swift retrospect to the motive-forces which had led him 
 into his calling, to assure himself that he really had been 
 " called " to carry the tidings of salvation and of 
 damnation to these people. Was he fit for that solemn 
 office? Was he worthy to stand between them and 
 God? He probed his heart with questions which he 
 feared to answer. How did he know that he was an- 
 nointed of God? What proof of it had he ever had? 
 He reviewed his years to find it; his Godless home, his 
 barren childhood. He shrank dutifully from the re- 
 membrance of his parents; the cold materialism of his 
 mother, the sordid, pessimistic morality of his father, 
 from whom he had inherited the very exactness with 
 which he was now trying himself. As an only son he 
 had been destined to carry on the business which was his
 
 46 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 father's life passion, and which he, obversely, loathed, 
 but the very individuality roused by this arbitrary de- 
 cree had defied the older will, sabre to sabre, and had 
 won. That is, Northmore had left home, penniless, an 
 outcast, with the sovereignty of his own future. His 
 father had denied him a classical education, which he 
 held to be a detriment to a business man, and the youth 
 set out to wrest it from fate on his own account, suc- 
 ceeding through sheer personal momentum where a 
 weaker man would have fallen. After this, there was a 
 time when his father would have forgiven the classics 
 and put him at the head of the factory, but he had 
 transgressed yet more deeply; he had chosen a profes- 
 sion, and, of all professions, he had chosen the one 
 which his father held to be the quintessence of idle ef- 
 feminacy, the ministry, and they parted forever. That 
 meeting and its result were characteristic of both father 
 and son. The father made all sentiment, all impulse, 
 subservient to his Juggernaut, Business ; the son could 
 destroy all material considerations for his convictions, 
 had done it, in fact. He maintained a clandestine cor- 
 'respondence with his favourite sister until her death, 
 which early followed her marriage, after which his home 
 ties were wholly severed. He went through these mem- 
 ories slowly, dwelling sorrowfully upon the loss of the 
 little sister he had loved and whose life he had felt to 
 be a sacrifice. He hoped to take her away himself and 
 make a congenial home for her, but he was too late. 
 These merged into pleasanter recollections, the eager 
 beginning of his life purpose. The quivering tentacles
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 47 
 
 of ambition had gripped his work with characteristic 
 energy and held it through the tense strain of Seminary- 
 years. It was not in his nature to keep ideals with a 
 uniform grasp ; he doubted them and worshipped them ; 
 he recalled periods of battle with his baser self, days 
 and nights of passionate conflict, but, thus far, the ideal 
 had always conquered. There were men in his classes 
 who had been born good, who never knew the triumph of 
 a vanquished self. Days of spiritual exaltation had 
 followed these victories when a martyr's crown would 
 hardly have satisfied his sacrificial zeal; times of burn- 
 ing enthusiasm and wild impatience for the holy fulfil- 
 ment of his consecration in active labour; last of all 
 had come a Pentacostal day when he was an empty 
 lamp, waiting for Divine flame. And fulfilment had 
 come! Did the rounded periods of his morning sermon 
 carry conviction to his congregation? Would the 
 word picture of the diorites of Jebel-Mesa uplift those 
 dull, impassive people? There was sin enough in Moga- 
 donia, rank physical wickedness that cried out to him 
 for redemption, but he was at a loss how to apply his 
 spiritual weapons to it ; no power of theological oratory 
 would stir those reeking depths and what else had he 
 to offer? It was not picturesque wickedness, either; 
 it was evasively commonplace. The delimitation of in- 
 experience inspired his soul. He would never be satis- 
 fied to minister to his congregation only ; he was an 
 apostle to the region round about if he could find a 
 point of contact. 
 
 The wicked would never come to hear him, only the
 
 48 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 good ; the good and the old who were preparing them- 
 selves for death ; the wicked and the young who needed 
 far more preparation for the solemn task of living were 
 out of his reach. He was thoroughly trained to preach 
 the gospel to those who believed it, but he asked himself 
 how he should compel conviction upon the heedless. He 
 heard his own voice echoing through the empty, rickety 
 church of the morning : " What is that in thine hand ? " 
 and he reiterated to himself, wonderingly, " What is 
 that in thine hand? " He lay back upon the soft moss, 
 hands locked above his head, eyes gazing deep into the 
 far blue above, brows knotted with thought, and tried 
 to find an answer. 
 
 The growing darkness of the gorge roused him with 
 a start. He had taken no note of time, and got to his 
 feet in haste, knowing that he had wandered far; he 
 walked uncertainly along the stream, dizzy with doubt, 
 with a sense of unfitness, of helplessness, where he should 
 possess power. The level shaft of sunshine which 
 struck his eyes when he emerged into the road warned 
 him that he must take a short cut back in time to be 
 ready for the evening service, and he went through the 
 lower town, crossing the horseshoe bend of the creek 
 which enclosed a bit of land under the trestle known as 
 Whisky Island. Its countless saloons were in full 
 blast this Sabbath evening, and its cinder-paved streets 
 were alive with barefooted children at play. Slovenly 
 women in workday unneatness gossiped across their 
 dooryards or scolded their little ones. From some of 
 the blackened houses men with dinner buckets were
 
 49 
 
 starting for the night shift in the coal mines, while from 
 other doors floated the smell of coffee, bacon, and frying 
 onions as supper was getting for those to come from the 
 day shift. In every feature it was a sordid workday 
 without a to-morrow. The minister was the one clean, 
 Sabbath-clad person in all the grimy quarter. He 
 could not hurry through it ; he was too much interested 
 in its life. A turn brought him upon an old tobacco 
 shed crowded with children ; the magnet in their midst 
 was the man of the silver aureole^ who was handing out 
 slices of cold watermelon to them and talking in terms 
 of perfect understanding. He appeared to know them 
 all by name, and they were eagerly telling him about 
 themselves and their play. A sudden hush fell upon 
 them as the minister approached, and they resumed their 
 talk in loud whispers, drawing still closer to their friend. 
 Northmore passed on with a flash of enlightenment as 
 the talk with Quiggins, which had hardly once left his 
 memory, reasserted itself. He did not believe in cheap 
 bribes to the poor, but he saw that he must find a point 
 of contact with the outcast, a sympathetic medium 
 through which he could measure their standards and 
 know their temptations. He recognised that the first 
 necessity was to find their justification. He knew 
 that no human being willingly chooses the worst line of 
 action; the choice comes through mistaken standards, 
 justified by perverted reason. He must get at this root 
 of evil first, and if life had a mission for him it should 
 be to alleviate the wretchedness of this class of people, 
 to carry to them good tidings of the gospel; to lead
 
 50 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 them to salvation. Must he also tell them of future suf- 
 fering to fall upon their dimly lighted souls ? He won- 
 dered if they had ever heard of it. How was it possible 
 for so many still to be in darkness after centuries of 
 Christianity? Why had not its principles thundered 
 their own verification to human reason at the first peal? 
 He wondered at this as it took hold of him more strongly, 
 and resolved that he would continue a side line of study 
 which had fascinated him in college, the history of 
 physical religion from its furthest rootlets in mythol- 
 ogy, through the trunk of paganism, to the spiritual 
 fruitage of Christianity. It would give him a new line 
 of armament, and a securer footing in the eyes of those 
 who could not see spiritual form. 
 
 The lights were burning as he hurried through Main 
 Street, and he was surprised to find it gay with the ap- 
 parent population of the town, and still more surprised 
 to find how many of the promenaders were young peo- 
 ple. His heart warmed with the thought that most of 
 them were on their way to church; it was probably a 
 custom of the town to attend service in the evening in- 
 stead of the morning, and he made some swift modifica- 
 tions in his prepared sermon for the benefit of these 
 young people. They were noisy and irreverent, but he 
 attributed this to the freedom of their universal ac- 
 quaintance. The unending procession flowed by the 
 church door, round and round the square, increasing in 
 numbers as the evening advanced and the churches were 
 lighted. The loud laughter and coarse jokes smote 
 the ears of the minister in the pulpit, but the pews held
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 51 
 
 only the old faces of the morning, and not all of them. 
 The minister's heart was sore as he read the closing 
 hymn. One day of practice had shaken years of theory. 
 The young man who walked out of the wide door that 
 night was not quite the same one who had entered in the 
 morning. The formative stage of his mind growth, in 
 which faith had unquestioningly accepted and cemented 
 beliefs, was closed; this day he entered the critical 
 period of manhood when evidence must be tested by ex- 
 perience. Northmore the acolyte went to the morning 
 altar; Northmore the analyst left it at evening, and 
 closed the door behind him upon his mental youth.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 NORTHMORE felt that his first duty on Monday morning 
 was to find the man Quiggins, who had been injured on 
 the day of his arrival, and he set out to follow the di- 
 rections given him as to the location of Quiggins' 
 house. They led him through the southern end of the 
 valley, which was cut off from the town proper by a 
 long spur of Mount Moriah. Crossing this by a wind- 
 ing street, he entered a suburb whose bright newness and 
 roominess were so conspicuous that he stopped to walk 
 about its small park in enjoyment. A large, many- 
 windowed building faced the park, from whose front 
 door a man came quickly to meet and speak to him. It 
 was the man of the silver aureole, the most striking 
 personality he had seen in the town. 
 
 " Good-morning, Mr. Northmore. Glad to see you 
 over here. My name is Garnett; I suppose you are 
 getting your bearings a bit." 
 
 " Fm glad to know you, Mr. Garnett. I've heard 
 your name several times already. This is your estab- 
 lishment, is it? " 
 
 " This is my shop the only pottery in town. Do 
 you care to go through it ? " 
 
 " Very much indeed." 
 
 " Then we will have to do it at once. I am sorry to 
 say I am going to Wheeling this morning and haven't 
 much time but you will come again for a more thor- 
 
 63
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 53 
 
 ough visit, won't you? I think you'll be interested 
 from what I liked the way you went to work yes- 
 terday morning." 
 
 " Did you? I'll get a little nearer to my people next 
 time." Northmore could not accept commendation for 
 poor work, especially from this man, to whom the ser- 
 mon had been preached. " I fancy you saw the lack 
 in it. Mrs. Garnett is a member of my church, is she 
 not ? I saw her name on the books." 
 
 " Yes, she is one of your most devoted workers. This 
 way first. We'll take the stock room last." 
 
 Northmore was keenly interested in the system of the 
 factory, which surprised him by its excellence, and in 
 the man whose character it expressed, and his apprecia- 
 tion went to the heart of the owner as a tribute of value. 
 The time was all too short, and Mr. Garnett followed 
 him to the door with reluctance. 
 
 " I want you to come again when I can show you the 
 inner side of things. You can't get an idea of what I 
 want to do in this glimpse," he regretted. 
 
 Northmore turned to him with kindling 5 eyes : " In- 
 deed, I do. I have seen much more than you pointed out ; 
 I am familiar with factory life myself and I can detect 
 an entirely new atmosphere in this one that is, where 
 the workmen themselves are concerned. Do you know 
 what you have done ? You have made your men princi- 
 pals; I don't know how you have accomplished it, but 
 you have done the hardest thing ; you have roused their 
 enthusiasm in the work itself. You have eliminated the 
 drudge and accorded to Labour its nobility."
 
 54 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 The pink face of the owner glowed at this reading 
 of his life motive. " No! Did you see that? No one 
 ever did before, and I hope it is in part true. I don't 
 want my men to consider their work drudgery ; I believe 
 they are rather proud of it. And you got it at the 
 first glance ! Well ; you're going to know me better ! " 
 
 They walked down the steps together. 
 
 " You have built a model village, also, and got them 
 to live in it," added Northmore, looking down a shaded 
 street of bright cottages. 
 
 " No, I don't call it that. The men couldn't get 
 houses over in the town, and I had to build something ; 
 it was good policy to build homes that the men would 
 like to own and the women to care for. It is good busi- 
 ness to do that. Human beings respond to sanitary 
 housing as much as horses and cows. The men already 
 own some of them I have a purchase system which 
 works well for both of us. I can only credit myself 
 with the buildings ; the effect on the men is secondary 
 but, gracious! you should see the regulations. They 
 make rules I shouldn't dare to suggest. I've been ar- 
 rested for walking on my own grass here in the 
 park!" 
 
 "How you enjoyed that!" 
 
 "Well, rather!" 
 
 *' I can understand how much," suggested the minis- 
 ter. " It was the reward of years an interest of that 
 strength; it is not the love of landscape gardening; it 
 is the reflex development of manhood, of civic responsi- 
 bility in the working man; it is his conscientious 
 sovereignty."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 55 
 
 " That's it ! You've got it exactly. You've put it 
 into words. No one else ever understood that this bit 
 of grass and fresh paint stands for a new dignity in 
 them; it's a big moral force because it is their own 
 work, don't you see? I couldn't possibly do it for 
 them." 
 
 " You have done it for them in giving them the op- 
 portunity and incentive to do it for themselves." 
 
 " That is all that you can ever really do for any man 
 give him a chance to do things himself. There has 
 been a fallacy in much of the world's philanthropy 
 doing things for people who might have done it them- 
 selves with a right start." 
 
 " That is certainly true, industrially, at least. Yes, 
 the greatest thing you can do for a man is to make 
 him work out his own salvation, physically," and North- 
 more's face lighted with this confirmation of a pet be- 
 lief. 
 
 " He has got to do it in other ways, as well," ven- 
 tured Mr. Garnett significantly, as he took out his 
 watch. Northmore saw that the time was up, and 
 turned to go, but Mr. Garnett called him back : " Where 
 are you going to stay, Mr. Northmore? You have no 
 family, I've heard." 
 
 " No, I must find a lodging. I came so late in the 
 week that I shall have to look for one to-day." 
 
 " I don't know where you'll find a suitable place. I 
 heard my wife going over the question. Come up to 
 my house till you do; we have a lot of room and will 
 be delighted to have you. Your reception is to be there 
 this week; you know that, don't you? "
 
 56 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 Northmore hesitated but a moment. The invitation 
 was sincere and he realised that it was a fortunate solu- 
 tion of the problem for the present. The details were 
 arranged at once and that evening found him estab- 
 lished with luggage for present needs at a square, red 
 brick house, topped by an observatory in ante-bellum 
 style, which stood at the head of Walnut Street and 
 at the foot of a terraced hillside. The interior was 
 furnished in the depressing fashion of twenty years be- 
 fore, known as " Eastlake," yet the large, square rooms 
 and wide hall had an atmosphere of home-likeness 
 which overcame the dungeon pattern of the black and 
 olive paper and the rectangles of the same colours in 
 the Brussels carpets. 
 
 Mrs. Garnett was as small and austere in her home 
 as she had appeared in her pew at church. She had 
 large light eyes, set prominently, like an afterthought, 
 in a colourless, triangular face ; her voice was as toneless 
 and sibilant as the frou-frou of her stiff black silk. 
 The critical quality of her manner contrasted sharply 
 with the genial sympathy of her husband's voice and 
 grasp. Northmore could not quite make her out, and 
 reserved his impressions for better acquaintance. Not 
 of the daughter, however, the sweet, shy, porcelain- 
 tinted girl whose eyes had asked help of him in the first 
 glance in the church. 
 
 He had begun to feel quite at home by Thursday 
 evening, the time appointed for the pastor's reception, 
 when he was to know, hand to hand, the people whose 
 spiritual leader he had come to be. They came early in
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 57 
 
 the evening, were received by Mr. and Mrs. Garnett and 
 the minister as they filed in, asked the latter how he 
 liked Mogadonia, seated themselves in a shy row around 
 the wall, and relapsed into silence or murmured con- 
 versation. The funereal solemnity seemed to increase 
 with numbers until it was broken by a burst of rich 
 throaty laughter in the hall which thrilled everybody to 
 responsiveness, while several said together, " There's 
 Susan!" 
 
 Northmore turned to meet the newcomer, the shabby, 
 freckled woman whose face had guaranteed her loyalty 
 on Sunday. She met him heartily : " How-d'ye-do, 
 Mr. Northmore? If you're goin' to take to us the way 
 we've took to you, there'll be doin's in our church this 
 year," and her cheery presence warmed the assemblage 
 to life as she passed on around the room : " How-d'ye- 
 do, Daddy Pocock an' M'ria? Did them pickles come 
 out right fur you, M'ria? Mine wouldn't harden. I 
 knew there ought to be a lump of alum in the recipe. 
 How are you, Auntie Bosley? How do you get on, 
 Gran'pap Boggs? Glad to see you out to meetin' Sun- 
 day. Hello, Uncle Peter an' Azariah; pretty far walk 
 fur you, wasn't it? " 
 
 " Is that Susan Jernigan ? " quavered a deaf old lady 
 with dim eyes on the buxom figure. " Susan, do tell me 
 how Priscilla Munson is to-day ; I ain't heerd sence 
 a-Saturday noon. Mary Lib Pilsinger, she stopped in 
 a-Saturday noon as she was a-goin' over to help her 
 mother-in-law stir off apple butter, an' she said Priscilla 
 was terrible low. She said they'd telegraphed fur Him."
 
 58 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Yes," rang the rich voice, " Prissy is right sick ; I 
 set up with her last night so's to give Tilly Hopper a 
 little rest, an' she surely was some better this mornin'. 
 I fixed her some breakfast and she eat a little bit. He 
 come a-yesterday; you know he's workin' down to 
 Bellevue on the big church, an' he didn't want to lose 
 his job. Why, here comes Jim Moneypenny an' Mary 
 Fanny. Now, Jim, don't go to work an' ask the new 
 preacher how he likes us, for he hasn't had time to find 
 out. Here's Billy Canter, sure's I live! Now, Billy, 
 the new minister ain't married either, an' if you want 
 first choice of the fourteen old maids and the twenty- 
 three widow women in our church, you'll have to spunk 
 up an' hustle to get ahead of Mr. Northmore." 
 
 " Have they give her up yet, Susan ? " inquired 
 another old lady who had been waiting for a chance. 
 
 " No, sir, I haven't give up hopes, whoever has," 
 stoutly responded the inspiring voice. " I told her so 
 when I come away this mornin' ; says I, ' Don't you let 
 'em go to work an' make a mistake, layin' you out for 
 dead, Prissy,' says I, ' for you're wuth a stack of dead 
 women yet, an' if folks just must have a funeral, you let 
 'em up an' hunt another corpse. Don't you turn in and 
 die just to 'commodate 'em. Don't you do no sech 
 thing.' An' she laughed. Oh, she's better." 
 
 " Well, I do' know 'bout that's bein' quite right, 
 Susan," rebuked the first old lady. " She'd ought to 
 sense her condeetion 'nough to make her peace with God. 
 It would be a tumble thing if God took her unawares." 
 
 " She never had no quarrel with God," retorted Susan
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 59 
 
 with asperity. " I reckon that pore thing has bore her 
 earthly troubles in a way to fitten her fur the Kingdom." 
 
 " Yes, Prissy's hed a hard place, an' she's done her 
 duty well, but that don't count fur preparation. You 
 know salvation ain't in Works, whatever they be, Susan." 
 
 " Likely He'll marry agin ; his mother's too ole to 
 keep house fur all them children," ruminated Maria 
 Pocock. 
 
 " His sister Lib might keep house fur him, the one 
 that teaches school," ventured Mrs. Moneypenny, a 
 meek little woman with very black eyes, a wide smile, and 
 no front teeth. 
 
 " She might but she wouldn't. And if she did oh, 
 my ! And Prissy as neat as a pin ! " insinuated a fat 
 woman with a mighty voice. 
 
 " Well, I tell you-all that Prissy won't be buried till 
 s,he's dead ; she'll walk over some of our graves yet. La, 
 do look at that ! The gall of 'Lije Sims to come to the 
 minister's reception ! " 
 
 All eyes followed Susan's to the front door, which a 
 lean, bowbacked old man was obsequiously entering. A 
 long frock coat was tightly buttoned around his tall 
 form, and he carried a walking stick. Mr. Garnett in- 
 troduced him to Northmore, and the minister scanned 
 him closely. Before he could speak more than the man's 
 name, Mrs. Jernigan's tones crossed to him : " I reckon 
 Mr. Northmore feels set up over the decorations on the 
 outside of the church, Mr. Sims. It's the only one 
 round that has a nice double wall to keep out the light, 
 and a lot of nice pretty circus pictures on the outside."
 
 60 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 The old man's impassive face did not change ; he gave 
 the minister a cold, soft hand, murmuring in an injured 
 tone, " I hope you're a man that likes to see fair play." 
 
 " I trust so." 
 
 " He wants to stand in with the preacher and hold us 
 up for his old house yet," whispered Billy Canter. 
 " Great joke on him that Mr. Northmore ain't married." 
 
 " Well, if looks is anything, that new minister has a 
 backbone of his own, that he ain't afraid to straighten," 
 remarked Mr. Moneypenny, approvingly. The sound 
 of the piano now gave an impetus to the scattered con- 
 versation, for as Silence Garnett touched the keys 
 people who had sat dumb suddenly grew loquacious and 
 drowned the strains of the beautiful Chopin nocturne 
 with high-pitched talk. Northmore went to the piano 
 to listen and to turn the pages. He loved music, though 
 utterly ignorant of its technique, and when he led the 
 girl to a seat after her unnoticed playing, he found that 
 they were already friends through the wordless sym- 
 pathy of melody. They were rapidly making each 
 other's acquaintance when Silence stopped in the middle 
 of a sentence, while her delicate face flushed to her 
 hair. Northmore, his back to the door, wondered what 
 manner of arrival could have so embarrassed her, and 
 the next moment was shaking hands with the late- 
 comer, Mr. Firestone, a slender man with piercing eyes 
 set close together in his eagle face. 
 
 " I'm delighted to know you, Mr. Northmore, from 
 what I have heard of you. I've been greatly interested 
 in the state of your church, and hope that you're the
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 61 
 
 man to redeem it as far as human effort can. How 
 do you do, Silence? " 
 
 The girl laid a reluctant hand in his, and shrank away 
 while Billy Canter interposed his cherubic face, tip- 
 tilted nose, and big round glasses, as nearly in the spot 
 occupied by Firestone's as the laws of physics permit 
 two bodies to occupy the same space. 
 
 " Let's widen out this circle," he suggested. " When 
 two men like the preacher and Mr. Firestone get to talk- 
 ing, I want to soak in all the information. And I've 
 been in " 
 
 " Yes, we know," cut off Firestone sharply, " but 
 being a coffee clerk a few weeks isn't an investigation 
 of the whole subject of missions. And you may have 
 heard, Mr. Northmore, that that is the field in which I 
 am trying to serve the Lord." 
 
 " I have heard your name many times since I came, 
 but I really know nothing definite about you. Every- 
 one appeared to think that I did." 
 
 " Shall I take this plate for you, Mr. Northmore?" 
 asked Billy Canter. " You'd better sit down, both of 
 you. I've been in Africa, and I can tell you that you 
 don't get anything like Mrs. Garnett's coffee there 
 nor the cream in it, either. Oh, must you go and help, 
 Miss Garnett? Well, you'll come back when you're 
 through, won't you? " 
 
 Firestone gave an annoyed look at the little man, 
 and talked directly over him to Northmore : " I am 
 stationed in Abyssinia a most fascinating field and 
 one in which strong men are needed. I sometimes
 
 62 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 wonder how ministers, who are really called of God, can 
 reconcile themselves to staying at home and living in 
 luxury and ease when almost the whole world is calling 
 in benighted ignorance for Christianity." 
 
 " That's a personal decision for each of us, Mr. Fire- 
 stone," and Northmore waved away a plate of cake 
 offered to him. 
 
 Billy Canter interjected a protest. "Just try that 
 dark kind, Mr. Northmore. You'll miss it if you don't ; 
 it's Mrs. Garnett's specialty, you know." 
 
 The minister obeyed mechanically, for Firestone was 
 speaking to him with the zeal of an enthusiast: 
 " There's an impression abroad that any sort of man 
 will do for the heathen, but I tell you, if the heathen 
 are ever to be helped it will be by the brains and the 
 self-sacrifice of the strongest men we have. And in 
 Africa, too. It's an awful question, how much the 
 superior race owes to its dark brother." 
 
 Firestone's ice cream was melting on his plate ; he had 
 unconsciously taken every kind of cake that was passed, 
 without wanting any of it, his dark hand trembling as 
 he tried to pile up the slices, and his eyes burning. 
 Northmore found himself mentally withdrawing from 
 this uncomfortable fervour, and noticing that the lamp 
 behind made Billy Canter's large ears look like pink 
 wings beside his cherubic face. Presently Silence re- 
 turned, and in a flash he saw the two so strangely differ- 
 ent faces of his companions change at her presence 
 and he understood. Firestone drew a chair to his side 
 and asked her to take it. She did so as one bereft of
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 63 
 
 volition. Then the missionary went on, including her 
 in his audience : " Yes, Mr. Northmore, the salvation 
 of Africa is one of the awful questions. In India and 
 China there is a degree of civilisation which prepares 
 the people for the reception of the gospel. The 
 Buddhist faith has many points of similarity to ours 
 but the African is hopelessly lost and he doesn't know 
 it. Think of that, a fetich worshipper who doesn't 
 know that he is lost until the missionary tells him so. 
 Think what a task to carry salvation to people who have 
 no idea that they need it. They are marvellously tena- 
 cious of their superstitions. Before you can introduce 
 a new faith, you must " 
 
 " Empty them out of the old," suggested Billy 
 Canter. 
 
 Firestone glowered upon him scornfully, and went on, 
 " You may imagine what such a task means." 
 
 " Is it required of us to begin so far back as that ? " 
 mused Northmore. "I should think that a waste of 
 the highest energy something that might be done by 
 the day labourers of civilisation rather than its brains 
 which are all needed in " 
 
 " Don't say that ! " burst out Firestone. " I've 
 heard that till the place is sore. Our workers are not 
 worse needed at home. The people who say that simply 
 show their ignorance. The most degraded criminal 
 here knows more than a savage ; there's need of strong 
 men and devoted women." 
 
 The last low word sent a pallor over Silence's face 
 that made Northmore rise and ask her to play again,
 
 64 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 but Mrs. Jernigan called Firestone to tell her group the 
 story of the first marriage ceremony he had performed, 
 and Silence begged off from the music. So they talked 
 a few minutes, in which he formed an estimate of 
 her character. She was easy to read, a purely feminine 
 type, sweet, pliant, conscientious, even morbidly so, 
 with a trace of melancholy in her eyes that betokened 
 a capacity for exquisite suffering. She had not in- 
 herited either her father's poise or her mother's rigidity 
 of purpose, though it was possible that her rightful 
 strength of character had been atrophied by over- 
 training, for her independence of action was apparently 
 quite destroyed. They had found a common interest 
 and were talking animatedly, when a general homeward 
 movement called Northmore away, and as he offered to 
 walk home with two old ladies, he did not see her again. 
 
 As he returned from this office he met Mr. Firestone 
 at the corner by the barricaded church, apparently 
 waiting for him. Both men glanced painfully at the 
 bareback performers, in the light of the street lamp. 
 " What are you going to do with this proposition, Mr. 
 Northmore? " asked the missionary. 
 
 " I have no idea." 
 
 " There's only one thing that hasn't been tried and 
 failed." 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 " Prayer." 
 
 "Prayer! On the spite fence?" 
 
 " Why not on anything ? " 
 
 " It hadn't occurred to me as a remedy for this."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 65 
 
 " Then you're not consistent." 
 
 " Possibly." And Northmore wondered at the 
 antagonism which this autocrat of his own calling 
 roused in him. He moved on, and the other turned and 
 fell into step beside him, as if he had been waiting for 
 an interview. They walked silently for a block, then 
 the older man began with character, directness, and 
 force : " I'm going to tell you, Mr. Northmore, right 
 in the beginning, that I'm exceedingly sorry that you're 
 not married, and that, being a young man, you're an in- 
 mate of the Garnett house and the pastor." 
 
 " Ah? " said Northmore, at a loss for better answer. 
 
 " Yes. I am trying to persuade Silence to return 
 with me as Mrs. Firestone. My station requires a 
 married man and I have lost my wife my beautiful, 
 gifted wife. I lost her just as I started for home." 
 
 He paused to control his voice, and went on after a 
 few minutes : " You speak lightly of prayer for tem- 
 poral things. Let me tell you that I could hardly have 
 lived through that bereavement without its solace and 
 that beloved wife came to me through its agency in 
 direct answer to it. She was the noblest, truest help- 
 meet that a man ever had, the best wife, the best mother. 
 And God took her ! " 
 
 Northmore put out his hand. " You have known the 
 greatest human loss," he said stiffly, too reserved to ex- 
 press his genuine sympathy. 
 
 " It surely is. And she was a miracle. It was near 
 the time of sailing, when my station was suddenly 
 changed, and I must go to the new one, a married man.
 
 66 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 I was single. I laid the matter before the Lord in 
 prayer, and suddenly thought of the minister of your 
 church, whom I had known at the Seminary. I wrote 
 him of the situation, asking if he knew a suitable per- 
 son. He replied that a young lady of his charge had 
 prepared herself for missionary work, and I came on 
 immediately, was introduced to her, the most beautiful 
 girl in town. I called upon her, told my predicament, 
 asked if she would accompany me in the required rela- 
 tion. She consented ; it had been a passion with her 
 against the wishes of her parents. Within the hour our 
 plans were completed. We made some hurried arrange- 
 ments for our marriage and for our journey, and within 
 two weeks were on our way husband and wife, to that 
 far country from which she was never to return. She 
 gave seven years of grand service to the Lord, and 
 then came our time to return for the eighth year. We 
 were waiting till she should be able to travel full of 
 bright anticipations for this first homecoming. She 
 was eager to bring her children to her parents. We sat 
 one evening and built our air castles the next she had 
 gone home with her little one in her arms ! " 
 
 " Good gracious ! " said Northmore. " It was hard 
 for you to live afterwards." 
 
 There was a long pause. Firestone could not speak. 
 At last he went on in a forced tone : " I came home 
 bereaved with my three little children whom I must 
 leave here. My year is almost up. I cannot return 
 unmarried. And I have selected Silence Garnett, of 
 whose charms you were so conscious this evening, as the
 
 'ALTARS TO MAMMON 67 
 
 most suitable woman I know to return with me. I have 
 made a formal proposal to her which she is now 
 considering." 
 
 " Miss Garnett ! " and Northmore turned and looked 
 at him. 
 
 " I thought I had better tell you frankly just what 
 the situation is so that you are thrown with her so 
 much " 
 
 " So far as that is concerned, you needn't have any 
 fear but Miss Garnett why, she is an only child 
 and she isn't even a member of the church ! " 
 
 " No, but she ought to be. Her mother feels that 
 this very thing would rouse her to a sense of her duty. 
 I count upon her influence. I hope, Mr. Northmore, 
 that I may also count upon yours." 
 
 Northmore's answer was instantaneous. " No, Mr. 
 Firestone, I am sorry to say that you cannot. I 
 couldn't imagine a girl more unfitted for such a life 
 than Miss Garnett nor one who might be more easily 
 coerced into it. And besides your heart is with your 
 lost wife. You have nothing to offer her but a mar- 
 riage of convenience. Even your holy calling will not 
 condone that. I am brutally candid, you see." 
 
 " I thank you for that. It is better to know where 
 you stand. If you are to be my rival, I hope to win 
 in spite of you. Good-night."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 NOETHMORE called on Elijah Sims the morning after 
 the reception, and found his man sitting at a rough 
 desk in the little pine office of his lumber yard, his 
 narrow head bent over a ledger. He responded to 
 Northmore's greeting in a low tone and with evasive 
 eyes as if cordiality would commit him to something. 
 The caller seated himself with an air of permanence, and 
 the lumber dealer squirmed apprehensively in his chair 
 and turned a leaf of his ledger. 
 
 " I see that you are busy, Mr. Sims, and I will state 
 my business at once. I have come to confer with you 
 regarding your fence over the windows. I have a 
 formal request from the church that it be removed." 
 
 Mr. Sims gave a little gasp at the directness of the 
 statement. He studied the page before him for some 
 seconds before drawling in his reluctant speech : " Wall, 
 I do* know's I hev anything to say to you or to the 
 members about it. When the church does the square 
 thing by me, I'll do the square thing by the church. 
 That's business." 
 
 " I don't think that is a fair statement of the case." 
 
 " Wall, I hev bene a pillow of that church fur thirty- 
 seven year, and hev give to it liberally, and hev advanced 
 money when it was needed, and only charged a legal 
 rate of interest. The church has never give me back a 
 
 68
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 69 
 
 cent, nor done a thing fur me, and the time has come 
 when I want it. Ef you want to be on good tarms with 
 me, you'll tell the stewards that they ought to take my 
 house fur a passonage. Ef you've come here to take 
 sides agin me, why, I reckon me an' the church '11 hev 
 it out alone." 
 
 Northmore straightened in his chair. " Do you look 
 for a temporal return from the church of the help you 
 have given it? Do you expect to force the issue by 
 desecrating the house of God? " he asked earnestly. 
 
 Mr. Sims rubbed the side of his nose with a lean fore- 
 finger and looked hard at a waggon which was being 
 loaded before the door. Northmore stirred impatiently, 
 stung by the other's contemptuous silence. 
 
 " You certainly do not mean to injure the church to 
 which you have belonged for so many years. You don't 
 realise " 
 
 The old man turned to him with a thin, cruel smile. 
 " The Supreme Court of Ohio has " 
 
 " I know it has, but even the Supreme Court cannot 
 legalise such a crime against the public good. Owner- 
 ship is not so absolute as that ; all within the common- 
 wealth must conduce to the common weal. In a case 
 where law is obviously illegal, we who profess to follow 
 the law of God must revert to its higher code. Our law 
 is, ' Love thy neighbour,' and * Do unto others. 5 We 
 are forsworn to that law, Mr. Sims." 
 
 "Wall, they's allus two sides to a story, and to a 
 law. That church dessicates my house, too. I can't 
 sell it for what it's wuth, next lot to a church. I've
 
 70 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 been holding it a long time, 'lowing that the church 
 would hev to buy it." 
 
 '* I understood that you sold the church lot yourself 
 but granting that it is an injury, a spite fence is no 
 remedy for it. Two wrongs never .make a right and 
 no member who is guilty of inflicting such an injury can 
 expect to retain his standing." 
 
 Mr. Sims stared blankly, with dropped jaw, at the 
 minister. "-Huh? What did you say? Wall, I guess 
 you'll find out who you're tacklin' before you git 
 through with puttin' me out of my church! " His 
 hand wavered uncertainly about his mouth, which smiled 
 cruelly again. " When you-all git ready to talk busi- 
 ness to me about my house, I'll talk to you," he said. 
 
 A dark flush surged over Northmore's face. " Mr. 
 Sims, you are the one member of this congregation to 
 profess Christian perfection. Doesn't that mean any- 
 thing? " 
 
 Mr. Sims leaned back confidently before he answered. 
 " Wall, the law is on my side and I've allus found the 
 Lord on the same side as the law. I reckon the best I 
 kin do is to leave well enough alone." 
 
 Northmore sprang to his feet, biting his lips for 
 self-control. " Mr. Sims," he said with sudden gentle- 
 ness, " let us pray." 
 
 " Huh? " 
 
 The minister and his stiff-necked parishioner, who 
 could not refuse the invitation, knelt together in the tiny 
 room and the old man could but listen to the forcible 
 petition which poured from the lips of the younger.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 71 
 
 He was wiping the perspiration from his head when 
 Northmore faced him again. 
 
 " I will call to-morrow to see what the Lord has given 
 you to decide. Good-morning," and he was gone as 
 abruptly as he had come. 
 
 The first man he met as he climbed the steep street 
 from the flat was Mr. Moneypenny, who stopped him 
 to say, " Mr. Northmore, do you think that we can ever 
 do anything about Lije Sims' fence? I don't s'pose it 
 would do to speak to him about it but a letter or 
 something might be written, don't you think? We're 
 up against it hard, there, and I can't see a way out." 
 
 Northmore winced. " I think we had better try moral 
 suasion first and then well, he has the law ! " 
 
 The hardware man give his fat, kindly laugh. 
 " Moral suasion is all very well on a human man but 
 ^ou don't know Lije. He's as cold as a fish but what- 
 ever you can think of to do, there's one thing certain, 
 the church will be with you." 
 
 The lumber office was locked the next morning, and 
 the morning after. Northmore had taken a book with 
 him on the third visit, and though he waited for hours 
 and was sure that he saw a vague figure skulking among 
 the leaning stacks of plank, the office was still deserted, 
 nor did he succeed in catching its owner there again, 
 though his vigilance was untiring. It was fully a month 
 before he found another opportunity to pray with his 
 obdurate member. Meanwhile the spite fence stood, 
 gaunt and hideous, a herald to the world of the internal 
 dissension that tore the society. At the end of this
 
 173 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 month Northmore was discouraged enough to be in 
 favour of heroic measures if he had known of any. 
 He especially felt his helplessness when Mr. Moneypenny 
 rose in prayer meeting and said earnestly, " The sub- 
 ject of my need to-night is not personal; it is the ter- 
 rible disgrace of our beloved church, and the detri- 
 ment to its usefulness. Our pastor has tried moral 
 suasion and prayer in vain, upon the member whose 
 oppression we feel. What are we to do when these 
 fail?" 
 
 Mr. Firestone was on his feet at once. " Prayer 
 never fails. We haven't prayed enough." 
 
 Northmore smiled, remembering how unconsciously 
 he had tried that advice. But Mrs. Jernigan was on 
 her feet. He liked Mrs. Jernigan. " I was one of the 
 temperance Crusaders, twenty years ago," she began. 
 " I saw every saloon in this town closed by the power 
 of prayer. I saw it work on a stubborn sinner, and I 
 reckon it will work as well on a stubborn saint if you 
 apply it right. You want to apply prayer like a 
 mustard plaster, right onto the spot ; that's the way we 
 did it in that wonderful Crusade. We went to the 
 saloons, the women of this town, and we stayed there 
 day after day and applied our prayers to the sinners 
 right in their own saloons, till they couldn't stand it 
 no longer. Now that's the way to pray for Lije Sims. 
 Let's go and hold a prayer meeting in his office and in 
 his house, a prayer meeting that won't end until the 
 Lord batters in his hard old heart and smashes down the 
 spite fence."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 73 
 
 " Amen, sister ! " responded a dozen voices. 
 
 " Then the sooner the better," she urged, and the 
 people rose vith one impulse and flocked to the adja- 
 cent house. The surprised owner opened the door at 
 Mr. Moneypenny's knock. He lived alone in the house 
 with his elderly son, his wife having given up her life 
 struggle long before. 
 
 " We have come to hold our prayer meeting with you, 
 Mr. Sims," explained the merchant briefly. The old 
 man uttered an inarticulate sound and backed into the 
 hall, closing the door after him. Nothing daunted, 
 Mr. Moneypenny said, ** Then we will pray outside," 
 and kneeling on the steps, offered a short, fervent peti- 
 tion that the Lord would lead His servant to respect the 
 tabernacle and remove the impediment which now so 
 sorely shackled His church. The sincerity of the 
 simple appeal was heartily endorsed by its hearers. At 
 its close, a ringing hymn was started which attracted 
 spectators from all directions, as if it had been a fire 
 alarm. It was the hour when Mogadonians were stroll- 
 ing the streets seeking entertainment and soda water 
 and eager for a sensation. Before the second prayer 
 was ended, an enthusiastic crowd blocked the street, 
 while the ubiquitous small boy, wild with delight, filled 
 trees and fences with himself. 
 
 The meeting closed at the usual time. If there was 
 any force in the frankly expressed sentiment of his 
 townspeople, Elijah Sims certainly got the benefit of it 
 through his closed shutters. The matter was practi- 
 cally taken out of Northmore's hands, though he had
 
 74 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 not uttered a word of opposition ; he felt that no 
 apology was needed, and he awaited developments. 
 The crowd scattered unwillingly when the meeting was 
 over, though half-grown boys lingered for hours in the 
 vicinity. The next day school children, as well as older 
 folk, walked by to see the old red house and stare with 
 renewed interest at the huge fence, and in the evening 
 idlers gathered from far and near hoping for a renewal 
 of the siege. The house was dark, possibly in the same 
 expectation. When nothing happened, however, the 
 boys, not to be disappointed, instituted a private crusade 
 with a battle yell, which echoed in high treble voices 
 through all parts of the town, far into the night: 
 
 "Oh, come on, 'Lijah Sims, and take your spite fence down! 
 Take it down ! Take it down ! Oh, tear your old fence down ! "
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 A LIGHT shower fell sometime during the night, and the 
 morning sunshine distilled spicy fragrance from moist 
 earth and ripened leaves. The hillsides blazed gold and 
 crimson behind velvet green of wheatfields, and October 
 haze lay like purple bloom on round hilltops and distant 
 curves of valley. Northmore could not resist the in- 
 vitation of the beloved forest, and pocketed the notes 
 for his sermon of the next day, intending to draw his 
 inspiration from the flaming solitudes. He was still 
 an inmate of the Garnett home, pending some necessary 
 alterations of Mrs. Jernigan's small house, where he was 
 to lodge permanently. He went down through the town 
 to get his mail, and stopped in the post office to look it 
 over. As he came down the steps afterward, with his 
 letters in his hand, a girl drove up to the curb before 
 him in a smart runabout, both girl and vehicle unlike 
 anything that he had previously seen on the streets of 
 Mogadonia. She leaned forward to look around in 
 puzzled inquiry. She was so handsome, so distinguished 
 in manner, that he hesitated a moment before offering 
 the assistance that she evidently wanted, then, meeting 
 her eyes, he stepped out to her, lifting his hat. 
 
 " Allow me shall I help you out? Do you want 
 him hitched ! " 
 
 " N-no, it doesn't seem to be of any use," she replied 
 in a disappointed tone. " There has been some mistake. 
 
 75
 
 76 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 I was to meet the children of the town here the poor 
 children and taken them to Heathermuir for the day 
 but something has happened. The notice could not 
 have been published you don't know of any other 
 reason, do you? Oh, I am Miss Morgan. I thought 
 everyone here knew me." The last in answer to his 
 puzzled eyes. 
 
 A light broke upon Northmore ; the shadowy name of 
 Morgan had glanced about in his hearing without any 
 materialisation, ever since he had been in the town, but, 
 since the story told him by Quiggins on that first day, 
 no one had spoken ill of it, and the impression he first 
 received had grown less vivid. He now remembered see- 
 ing a notice and advertisement in the paper that Miss 
 Morgan invited the children of the town to meet her at 
 the post office steps on Saturday morning for a day at 
 Heathermuir, but he had got no meaning from it and 
 had forgotten it. She was asking a solution of him 
 with her eyes. He glanced at the post office steps. 
 Two shy, neat mulatto children waited there, hand in 
 hand. 
 
 " No, I don't know of any reason. I saw the notice 
 in various places. I am the minister of the church 
 opposite. My name is Northmore." 
 
 " I wonder what can have happened? I expected so 
 many and hoped they would come; I have music and 
 games and kindergartners to entertain them and things 
 to eat oh, dear ! It is an utter failure. Can you tell 
 me why they wouldn't come? Look here ! " The street 
 behind her had filled with vehicles of all descriptions
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 77 
 
 from a shining victoria to a row of green farm wagons 
 marked " Heathermuir " on the side. 
 
 " How can I ever get out of town ? " she appealed 
 with moistening eyes. 
 
 There was in her manner such an instant recognition 
 of the protector in Northmore, such a sweeping away of 
 conventionality, that he could but meet her friendliness 
 on its own plane. 
 
 " I am utterly at a loss to explain it, Miss Morgan. 
 I thought it a noble thing to do ; there are certainly a 
 great many children in the place who look as if they 
 never had had a pleasant day. Possibly some were not 
 even able to get here, supposing they got the invitation." 
 
 " Then how what shall I do about it? " 
 
 " Why not drive over to Shantytown and Whisky 
 Island and gather them up ? " 
 
 " Surely. What a good idea but I couldn't do it 
 alone." 
 
 " I think you could." 
 
 " No, I should be afraid of them. Can't you go with 
 me and your wife, too ? I will drive round to the par- 
 sonage." 
 
 " I will go with you if I can help you but the par- 
 sonage is empty. I am not married." 
 
 " That is too bad ; your wife would be a help. But 
 we can go quicker without her. Get right in, and I 
 will send back part of my retinue. How many vehicles 
 do you suppose we shall need? " 
 
 " We may get twenty or more children on such short 
 notice. But I don't know anything about it."
 
 78 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Twenty ! And I planned for two hundred. Father 
 said there were five hundred in town." 
 
 Northmore took his place beside her and she directed 
 most of the waggons homeward, telling the driver of one 
 which she retained to pick up the two coloured children. 
 She handed the reins to Northmore. " You will know 
 where to go better than I do. I have been away for 
 several years." 
 
 He drove to the quarter through which he had walked 
 on that first Sunday evening, stopping at a house across 
 the creek where three unkempt children in dun-coloured 
 rags played on the cinders before the door. Their 
 mother, a sharp-faced American woman with snappy 
 eyes, came from a back room, wiping suds from her 
 arms. 
 
 " What do you want of them ? " she demanded. 
 
 " Just to take them for a happy day in the country. 
 It's so lovely now," pleaded the girl. 
 
 " Ain't you Tom Morgan's girl ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Um-hm. Well, I ain't got time to fix 'em up." 
 
 " Oh, I will take care of that. If you have no other 
 objection " 
 
 " No, I guess they can't go. No, they don't have to, 
 if you must know, Miss Morgan. We're poor enough, 
 but we ain't that kind of charity." 
 
 " Never mind," consoled Northmore as they turned 
 away. "We'll have better luck at the next house. 
 She's a tartar." 
 
 The next woman was a Hungarian, just over, who
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 79 
 
 wore a funny plaid petticoat and remarkable home-made 
 shoes, constructed from pieces of carpet, and nearly the 
 size of porch pillows. When she finally understood that 
 her children were wanted for some unknown reason, she 
 barred them inside the door with her arms and shook 
 her head in frightened refusal. The next five houses 
 had Polish and Russian occupants, and though they 
 swarmed with children, not one could be borrowed for a 
 day of pleasure, although they could easily have been 
 hired for work. 
 
 " An' is it the childher ye be wantin' ? " smiled the 
 gracious Irish woman whose house was last in the row. 
 " An' is it in the beautiful carriage that yourself is 
 goin' to take them into the counthry? Indade it's 
 that glad they'll be to go, Miss, barrin' that Patsy has 
 no shoes an' it's Katie's dhress that's on the line. Will 
 yez be stheppin' in to wait for thim ? " 
 
 " No, we will call here on our way back. Be sure to 
 have them ready." 
 
 At another house three youngsters were found who 
 could be put into visiting order immediately, and by this 
 time the girl had fallen into the spirit of the chase, and 
 could take rebuffs without wincing. A thorough can- 
 vass of the quarter netted about twenty children of 
 eight nationalities. As they left the last street to drive 
 round to the bridge, a solitary cabin clinging to the 
 gravelly hillside above attracted their notice. " We 
 had better go there," advised Miss Morgan ; " it looks 
 poor enough to be full of children." 
 
 A man with bleached face and hair sat in the open
 
 80 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 door, and behind him could be seen a ghostly figure in a 
 bed. His weak form shook with paralysis, yet he was 
 not an old man. 
 
 " No, there are no children here," he said shortly. 
 
 "You have sickness, though," and the girl's tender 
 tone was sympathy itself. 
 
 " Yes, we have nothing else." 
 
 She looked at the man with struggling recognition, 
 and flushed a little at his querulous tone. <; You will 
 let me send you something so much is needed in sick- 
 ness or I live so far away if you would order it 
 yourself " she was crushing a bill into his pale hand 
 and turned quickly away. 
 
 " Who are you ? " he demanded. 
 
 " It doesn't matter why, yes, I know you now but 
 you have changed so much. You are Mr. Ellis ; you 
 used to work for my father when I was a little girl. 
 Have you been ill long? " 
 
 The man was in desperate need ; he looked eagerly at 
 the bill a large one and at the sweet, pitying face, 
 then he held out the money to her. " Here, Miss Mor- 
 gan, I can't take this. I don't want your money." 
 
 " Please do, please or let me do more than that." 
 
 " No, Miss Florida, I take none of your charity." 
 
 His tone was final. She turned away and he tossed 
 the bill after her. She carried her head proudly when 
 they drove through the town again, but her cheeks 
 burned persistently. Northmore knew something of city 
 slums and their ready mendicancy, but this problem 
 was of a new order.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 81 
 
 " You will go out home with me and help me through, 
 won't you ? You have saved the day for me and much 
 humiliation," she said as they returned to the post office. 
 
 " It is quite impossible for me to go and you will 
 get on much better alone," he answered, turning back to 
 add, " You're not going to let one little backset dis- 
 courage you ? " 
 
 She smiled doubtfully. " No, I guess not not if 
 I can find a way to improve upon it." 
 
 " You can do that in the light of this experience. 
 That is the only school. There will always be rebuffs 
 and obstacles but you mustn't mind them so long as 
 the benefit is perceptible. The failures are the training, 
 you know." 
 
 " I suppose so. I fancy Ellis, that sick man, must 
 be out of his head. He surely needs help, and there 
 was no reason for his being so proud. His eyes looked 
 very wild." 
 
 " Yes. The morbid unfortunate are the most diffi- 
 cult to help. But you will soon learn all the values of 
 these obstacles, and then you can do great good." 
 
 " Really, do you think so ? Thank you for the en- 
 couragement and for your timely assistance to-day. 
 Good-bye." 
 
 He watched her drive away, wondering if the doors of 
 Shantytown were closed against this beautiful girl in 
 her armour of good breeding, for sufficient cause. If 
 she, with every accessory at her command, failed, what 
 could he hope to do? He walked out of the town and 
 around Old Whiteface, to his favourite nook on the
 
 82 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 other side, a jutting crag overlooking the larger valley 
 in that direction. It was crowned with a group of 
 maples, now a mass of floating gold in the brilliant morn- 
 ing. He looked down the richly cultivated landscape 
 of the valley, fed by an artery of gleaming stream, de- 
 flected at the end by Blue Mountain, whose thinning 
 tree tops revealed for the first time to him the turrets 
 and gables of a great stone house. This must be the 
 home of the man of the shadowy personality which had 
 haunted him since the morning wait at Bellevue and of 
 the girl of most real personality, who haunted him now. 
 While he gazed, a procession of empty vehicles emerged 
 from the shaded road and entered the iron gates at the 
 foot of the hill. That, then, was Heathermuir. He 
 turned away, stretched himself upon a drift of yellow 
 leaves regardless of their dampness, and drew out his 
 notes. His sermon was in a nebulous state, there was 
 much yet to do. He read the top line what did he in- 
 tend to make of that? He could not remember. He 
 read it again he must work fast, for he had lost most 
 of the morning. What could he have meant to do with 
 it? He read it once more. A big scarlet leaf floated 
 down upon the paper before him ; a tiny Canadian wren 
 perched in a hazel bush at his head and was not fright- 
 ened. A pillow of moss invited his head; from it he 
 could see the deep pure blue of the sky through the 
 lower branches. The little wren turned his head from 
 side to side looking at the long figure. It seemed to 
 Northmore only a few minutes that he was looking into 
 the arabesque of gold and blue before he heard the
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 83 
 
 town clock strike one, his dinner hour. He sprang to 
 his feet, conscience-smitten at the wasting of the morn- 
 ing, for the scarlet leaf still lay upon his page of notes. 
 He hurried away intending to do penance in his study 
 that afternoon and work out a sermon that would make 
 some impress upon his congregation which dwindled 
 week after week. The story Quiggins had told him on 
 that first morning was proving itself day by day. It 
 was true that the one member in his church annulled his 
 best effort; that so long as Elijah Sims and his spite 
 fence deadlocked progress in that church, effort was 
 entirely superfluous. 
 
 The afternoon was no more productive of great 
 thoughts than the morning had been ; he was thoroughly 
 disheartened, and the incident of Miss Morgan's failure 
 had a meaning for him. He tried to write his sermon, 
 but destroyed each page as he completed it. He won- 
 dered if he could ever hope to rouse his apathetic church 
 to action but what had he to offer it? He remembered 
 the day when he had scorned the idea of difficulty in 
 this charge, and wished for metal more worthy of his 
 steel! 
 
 He was still grinding nervously at a first page when 
 the supper bell rang, and he gladly joined the cheerful 
 family circle, hoping to rid himself of the stupor which 
 appeared to possess his faculties and to exclude from 
 his mind the event of the morning and the presence of 
 Miss Morgan, which still seemed to be at his side. The 
 sitting-room was so attractive after supper that he 
 lingered before the wood fire which flashed pink lights
 
 84 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 into its grey corners and over the girl at the piano. 
 Silence played the Mendelssohn Hunting Song for him 
 her musical education had been thorough and he 
 talked over a late book with Mr. Garnett, and went back 
 to his work re-enforced for a new beginning. The 
 streets resounded with hideous noises, however, which on 
 this particular evening wore upon his nerves to distrac- 
 tion. He accounted for them when he heard the 
 " plunk " of a cabbage against the front door. It 
 was hallow-e'en. The pandemonium increased with the 
 license of the holiday, until he gave up and went to bed, 
 oddly enough falling asleep to the croak of tin horns, 
 the jangle of cow bells, and yells of savage mirth. 
 
 His first waking impression was of consternation over 
 his unwritten sermon. Well, what did it matter? he 
 asked himself. He would improvise something to fill in 
 gaps of thought. His best work would not move his 
 people his worst could do no less. It was another day 
 of topaz and amber light and sapphire sky. He looked 
 down upon the effects of the night's pranks, incon- 
 gruous with the peace of the day. A heap of stolen 
 gates filled the street in front of the Garnett house, 
 from which wrathful owners were trying to select their 
 property, while the grave and dignified residence itself 
 was bedizened with the signs of a free lunch saloon, a 
 Chinese laundry, and a livery stable, and its steps were 
 covered with all the cigar Indians in town. The trees 
 in front bore grotesque fruit in variety, and a cow looked 
 helplessly down from the court house roof. The quiet 
 of Sunday morning was disturbed by angry voices of
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 85 
 
 the victims as they compared notes of injury. North- 
 more went to his breakfast thinking that few could go 
 to church with such excitement for diversion. He was 
 scarcely seated at the table when a caller was shown into 
 the parlour who asked for him, and he found it to be 
 Elijah Sims, breathless and red, confronting him with 
 eyes of wrath. He took no notice of Northmore's 
 courteous " Good-morning," but began abruptly : " I 
 just want you to come over to my house and square up a 
 little." 
 
 "What for, Mr. Sims?" 
 
 " For what you done, destroyin' my property." 
 
 "What I have done?" 
 
 "Yas, you and nobody else is to blame. You put 
 'em up to it. This town with all their deviltry wouldn't 
 never dared to tackle me ef you hadn't sicked 'em onto 
 me fust. You're the fust man that ever did me up, 
 preacher or none, and if preachers wasn't allus beggars 
 I'd hev the law onto you. I will anyway maleeciously 
 destroyin' property." 
 
 "" Whose property, Mr. Sims ? What has been 
 done?" 
 
 " You know very well. Like's not you was there. 
 They had a leader, all right." 
 
 A sudden light broke over Northmore's face. " Do 
 you mean to say that the spite fence was torn down ? " 
 
 *' That's what you done ; every plank of it. Now it 
 won't do no good to say that you're sorry." 
 
 " No, I shall not say it. You have told me great 
 good news."
 
 86 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Oh, you're glad, are you ? Glad ! That'll sound 
 nice in court minister of the gospel leading a mob 
 agin his own member minm' a hundred dollars' wuth 
 of property." 
 
 " I am only glad that we have been freed from that 
 disgrace. Was it burned? " 
 
 " No, wuss'n that. They took an' tore down that 
 lumber an' nailed it onto my house. Yas, sir, they took 
 an' boarded up every door an' winder in my house, 
 nailed them planks on with eight-penny nails so solid 
 I don't see how they'll ever come off. Ef they hadn't 
 left a ladder stannin' up agin the wall I do' know how 
 I'd ever got out. Me and my son was canned in there 
 air tight; he had to climb through the trap door onto 
 the roof an' shin down the ladder an' rip boards off the 
 kitchen door Sunday mornin' at that before I could 
 git out. Yas, sir, that's what you're goin' to answer 
 for an' it ain't no laughin' matter." 
 
 " It has never been a laughing matter, Mr. Sims, or 
 it would not have incensed the people to taking the 
 affair into their own hands. Of course, they went too 
 far, as lynch law always does when it must supplement 
 inadequate laws." 
 
 " It was your prayin' that sot them on. They took 
 an' painted the golden rule onto the front, in letters a 
 foot long. Oh, I'll get even with you!" 
 
 " If you call this an answer to prayer, your quarrel 
 is not with me. I did not dictate to the Lord the manner 
 of His answer and it is not a crime in this country to 
 pray as we choose."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 87 
 
 The minister rose with an air of dismissal, and his 
 caller got swiftly to his feet. " Wall, all I want to 
 know is, who is goin' to pay me for my lumber? " he 
 asked meekly. 
 
 " You have still got your lumber, and I will see that 
 all the real loss is made up to you. Good-morning, 
 Mr. Sims." 
 
 He was so preoccupied with his unfinished sermon that 
 he could not give a thought to even this removal of his 
 burden, but worked until the tolling of the bell, and 
 walked unthinking into the door of the church, where 
 he paused a second in amazement. The pews were 
 crowded to the end for the first time, with expectant 
 people, upon whom streamed the light of the splendid 
 autumn morning. He swung down the aisle to the pulpit 
 with his long step, thrilled deliciously with the triumph 
 of the moment, but by the time he faced the congrega- 
 tion his honest conscience had turned its searchlight in- 
 ward, and a hot wave of shame surged over him. While 
 he rolled out the words of his first hymn, he was think- 
 ing : " Nothing but cheap sensationalism has brought 
 this crowd. The best work I could do failed to reach 
 them but let them think I am a mountebank a rioter 
 anything but a good preacher and look at them! 
 It was not to hear a sermon they came. It was to see 
 a show ! " 
 
 His strong voice led the singing as he reflected, 
 " Must I blow a tin horn to lead men to God ? A pulpit 
 buffoon is the grossest of blasphemers; I have been 
 worse. I have made a mockery of prayer, for I used
 
 88 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 the name of the Most High in petitions which were ad- 
 dressed to Public Sentiment, and which were answered 
 by Public Sentiment never by God ! " 
 
 The words of his prayer faltered upon his lips in 
 shame. He was searching himself for sincerity, to know 
 if he were addressing this invocation to God or to his 
 congregation. Was he honest in begging for special 
 forgiveness, special blessings, special guidance of the 
 nation's rulers? Would God really grant these things 
 for his asking? Would He withhold one iota if this 
 prayer were never uttered? His words failed. There 
 was a long breath in which the clock thundered passing 
 seconds at him. Then in a humbler tone he asked that 
 he might know Truth and tell it to men, that Divine love 
 might uplift men to Divine living and the link between 
 God and His creature be strengthened. To this came 
 the inner response of genuineness. He had asked for 
 the spiritually possible, to which he expected an answer. 
 The sermon that followed was the worst, structurally, he 
 had ever done, but every word of it was sincere, and the 
 people listened as though he were printing it upon their 
 hearts.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 IT did not surprise Northmore to come upon her again 
 unexpectedly ; he had hardly turned a corner since Sat- 
 urday morning without a sense of disappointment that 
 he did not meet her, hence it appeared to be quite in the 
 natural course of things that she should be sitting alone 
 in her broken runabout in the middle of Indian Creek 
 Rapids, below the bridge that was being repaired, read- 
 ing a magazine and eating an apple, when he galloped 
 round the curve of the hill on a morning of the follow- 
 ing week. He splashed into the shallow ford and 
 stopped his horse at her side. She looked up with a 
 laugh. 
 
 " So it is you, Sir Launcelot ? You materialised on 
 that other morning for my especial benefit, and I am in 
 almost as great need of a rescuer now as I was then. 
 Do you go about seeking forlorn maidens ? " 
 
 " I have never been fortunate in finding any before. 
 Have you been here long? How did it happen?" 
 
 " Dandy hates to wet his feet so bad that he tried to 
 cross without stepping in the water. He got the trap 
 into a hole, and it frightened him a little, so he just 
 plunged himself free hickily he broke loose before he 
 began to run and then he started off like mad. I hope 
 that he went home so they will send someone to look for 
 rne, yet it will frighten them terribly if he did. I
 
 90 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 have been here quite a while ; I never knew before what a 
 solitary road this is." 
 
 Northmore was silent for a moment, puzzling. She 
 looked up with a laugh. " Don't you know what to do 
 with me? " 
 
 " I don't quite see how to get you out of there 
 unless you can mount behind me. Can you do that ? " 
 
 " Certainly, if your horse doesn't mind." 
 
 " 1 will go round to the other side, then here, give 
 me your hand now jump so! there! Now we are 
 all right." 
 
 Mr. Garnett's pretty dapple grey pranced and snorted 
 a bit under the double burden, but carried them safely 
 to the bank, which was so steep that the girl kept herself 
 from sliding back into the water only by a firm grip of 
 her rescuer. When they got ashore he insisted upon 
 dismounting that she might ride home, but she scorned 
 the suggestion. 
 
 " No, indeed. We will go this way, if you please ; I 
 want to get there soon to save father from a fright if 
 I can and we are going to have full credit for 
 the adventure ; one doesn't often happen. Father wants 
 to meet you, anyhow; do you know that you are the 
 greatest fun that ever happened to Mogadonia? We 
 laughed till we cried over that spite fence performance. 
 It was simply great. You can't know Mr. Sims as 
 father does, and he is eager to meet the man that 
 matched him." 
 
 " Please don't ! You would spare me the mention if 
 you knew how much I am ashamed of it."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 91 
 
 " You have no reason to be. It was just right, and 
 it was the only way out of the predicament except to 
 pay blackmail. But I must tell you about Saturday. 
 I had a ghastly time with my children. They refused 
 to be happy, except the Irish family, who were as de- 
 lightful as the mother. The rest sat round in speechless 
 gloom, or stood on one foot and sucked their thumbs, 
 utterly refusing to be amused by any of the entertain- 
 ments I had for them. It was shriekingly funny to see 
 them put through the games, and I was sorry enough 
 to cry, too. They were so positively wooden that they 
 were even afraid to eat. They sat on the edge of their 
 chairs and spilled everything they touched. You never 
 saw such a pitiable farce in your life. What do you 
 suppose was the matter? " 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 " Honestly, Mr. Northmore? You must have an 
 opinion." 
 
 " It is possible that in the democracy of a country 
 town there is no class of people willing to be marked 
 objects of charity. I know of nothing else that would 
 account for their reluctance." 
 
 " Then you think it was a tactless way to reach 
 them?" 
 
 " Yes, rather, if you want me to be candid." 
 
 " Do. No one ever is, you know. I hadn't thought 
 of that; these must be different from the city poor," 
 
 " They are. Class lines are not drawn here as in the 
 city." 
 
 " That is true. Every American workingman holds
 
 92 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 himself the equal of any other man in the country. 
 Now how am I to convince them that it is not charity 
 in that sense? I want to do something for the town; 
 I love it. I lived here all my life until I went to college, 
 and now, when I come back and want to do a few little 
 things for my friends I am shut out. Even the girls 
 I used to know at school have forgotten me. Silence 
 Garnett is the only one who has ever called since I 
 returned. And it hurts me oh, so much! Now if 
 even these poor foreigners reject my hospitality I 
 must be an ogress in a castle ! " 
 
 " You were away some years, were you not ? " 
 
 " Only five in all. It is quite level here, suppose that 
 we walk the rest of the way. I can talk to you better, 
 and I know that you can help me to retrieve my 
 failure." 
 
 Northmore dismounted and helped her down and they 
 walked some distance in silence. As they came in sight 
 of the iron gates of Heathermuir she added with feel- 
 ing, " I want the girls to know that I am not changed, 
 that I would love to make up to them some of the 
 things that they don't have. Indeed, I should love to 
 make it up to the whole town if I possibly could what- 
 ever of privation they have. It is a dreadful thing to 
 have more than one can possibly use or enjoy and 
 feel that other lives are barren, even of necessaries ! It 
 makes one feel like a criminal." 
 
 " I see," said Northmore simply. He did not know 
 what else to say. 
 
 He was beginning to see that the barrier between
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 93 
 
 herself and her old friends was far wider and higher than 
 she suspected. 
 
 The great stone house into which she led him 
 might have been a fashionable club, a hotel, or even 
 a public building, but he would never have thought 
 it a home. He followed her through wide dim halls, 
 past great drawing rooms which still smelled of new 
 furniture, and into a long library of unworn volumes. 
 She seated him at last in a small music room which 
 opened into a conservatory. " Father will soon come 
 up from the office, and I will call mother at once," and 
 she left him, to return in a few minutes with a stout, 
 short woman of noncommittal eyes and colourless face, 
 who was gorgeously attired in a trailing robe of cardinal 
 and white brocade velvet. Her fat fingers were so en- 
 crusted with gems that she could scarcely bend the 
 knuckles, while a collar of pearls showed under the 
 laces of her neck. She gave the minister her patron- 
 ising finger tips and spoke with an acquired accent. 
 Almost immediately the master of the house entered 
 from the grounds at the side, and Northmore saw face 
 to face the man who had already been a factor in his 
 destiny, through sheer force of influence. He was a 
 spare, clean-cut man, whose long upper lip bulged 
 slightly when his firm mouth was closed. He shook his 
 head anxiously at his daughter's spirited account of her 
 adventure. 
 
 " You mustn't drive Dandy again," he commanded. 
 " I will give orders that he is not to be hitched up. 
 He is only a saddle horse anyhow."
 
 94 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " He is all right if I don't have to ford streams with 
 him," she pleaded. 
 
 " We don't know what to do with daughteh," drawled 
 Mrs. Morgan to Northmore. " She weally is a naughty 
 child to wandeh off without a gwoom aw chaperon aw 
 even a footman. I am quite wohn out with anxiety 
 about heh she has done so many weckless. things ; it 
 is so common to dwive about the country alone as if 
 she was a vulgah mahket woman. It looks so cheap." 
 
 Miss Morgan's sweet laugh rang out pleasantly after 
 her mother's difficult effort. 
 
 " It isn't safe, Florida," said her father. 
 
 " Well, you know, mother dear, that I learned to ride 
 over these hills when I was a little tot, and we hadn't 
 any coachman or groom, and you were too busy to go 
 with me. I rode my pony to school alone when I was 
 eight years old, and I have driven a span ever since I 
 could hold the reins. Now that I am a remarkably 
 strong young woman, I never know what to do with 
 a ridiculous mummy in boots and buttons in these hills 
 where game is scarce. I love to go alone unless I have 
 real company. Now, father, you must know that this 
 is the man who vanquished Mr. Sims. You said that 
 you wanted to know him, and, presto ! I produce him," 
 she laughed. 
 
 Northmore's face coloured under the keen glance of 
 the other, but in the enthusiasm with which his host 
 began a discussion of the moral welfare of Mogadonia, 
 the unwitting hurt was forgotten. He was surprised 
 at both the interest and the knowledge of Mr. Morgan
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 95 
 
 concerning the different churches of the town and their 
 standing. 
 
 " I can't see why all the churches in that town should 
 be in a decline, when in all the surrounding towns they 
 are especially thriving," he declared. " I am glad to 
 see a fearless man in one pulpit, at least. You know 
 that I am interested in them all for the town's sake. I 
 live just half way between Mogadonia and Bellevue, and 
 I feel a sort of responsibility for the welfare of both 
 places, in a moral way. One trouble has been, the lack 
 of leaders, of any man strong enough to start a new 
 movement. And I can see plainly that you are the man. 
 You have already made a hit, and you want to follow it 
 up at once with the movement for a new building." 
 
 It was between the courses of an overelaborate 
 luncheon that Mr. Morgan reached this point. North- 
 more, never ready of speech, looked at his host in silent 
 surprise. 
 
 " You entirely overestimate me, Mr. Morgan. That 
 affair was the accident of inexperience, and not directly 
 my doing." 
 
 Mr. Morgan replied in a tone of rebuke without lift- 
 ing his eyes from his plate. " I have known you fully 
 half an hour, Mr. Northmore; too long for me to be 
 mistaken in any man. I know what I am talking about." 
 
 " I wish that I could see a possibility of working my 
 congregation up to enthusiasm over any sort of better- 
 ment but the outlook is discouraging," responded 
 Northmore regretfully. 
 
 " There's only one plan for the moral betterment of
 
 96 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 any place to vitalise its churches. Don't you know 
 the Lord's way ? All along through the Bible, when any 
 patriarch went into a new country or started a new en- 
 terprise, the first thing he did, he builded an altar to 
 the Lord. Before he engaged in his enterprise he laid 
 his offering on the altar. Now, our altar fires have 
 burned pretty low in Mogadonia, and, as an active 
 Christian myself, I want to help revive them. Bellevue 
 took up my offer with gratitude, and is building a fine 
 edifice. Now, you are the man to begin the movement 
 in your church, and the others will follow. I am asked 
 to build libraries, and a town hall, and a hospital, and 
 an orphan asylum while all the time the place is sink- 
 ing deeper in sin. It is growing more Godless every 
 day but with all other progress, no new way of salva- 
 tion has been proved. We have to go to Heaven 
 through the blood of Christ, just as our fathers did, and 
 I propose to make that my mission to help open the 
 way to salvation in this wicked town and others of its 
 kind. And I want you to start the ball." 
 
 Northmore thought hard for a moment, but his mind 
 did not work quickly. 
 
 " It is such a vast proposition, and so much is in- 
 volved, that I must have time to think it over." 
 
 " Certainly ; I like you none the less for that. And 
 this is my proposition: Whenever you want to raise 
 thirty thousand dollars for a new church, I have thirty 
 more to match it. You see I am an old-fashioned Chris- 
 tian. I am not offering to build a church-theatre, or 
 restaurant. When I was a boy earning five dollars a
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 97 
 
 week, I gave to religion what my companions spent for 
 tobacco and drinks. I've never yet been rich enough to 
 buy a drink of whisky or a deck of cards. I've never 
 gambled, even on a baseball game nor do I even allow 
 hot meals to be cooked in my house on Sunday, while 
 every servant is expected to attend church. In return 
 the Lord has prospered me beyond all expectation, and 
 now I want to do something more for Him." 
 
 A picture that had been a little dimmed during these, 
 few weeks sprang before Northmore's eyes as this 
 matter-of-fact statement was concluded with an air of 
 duty fulfilled ; a hot, dusty morning, a cot in the sparse 
 shade of a tree by the railroad track, and Quiggins* 
 earnest face as he told his story. Could that story be 
 true? There were always two sides he must reserve 
 judgment until he had heard the other. This seemed 
 the more reasonable because he had never heard the 
 story from another source. The conversation drifted 
 into another channel, which included the daughter, while 
 Mrs. Morgan assisted with an occasional irrelevant re- 
 mark. Northmore wondered if her husband had found 
 her a comforting sedative to his nervous alertness. And 
 the daughter? 
 
 He climbed with her to a rustic summer house at the 
 top of the hill to see what she told him was the finest 
 view in the country. It was an impressionist day a 
 day of purples, with scarlet and cloth of gold shimmer- 
 ing through the haze that veiled the opposite hills, and a 
 breath of May softly stirring the leaves overhead. Be- 
 low stretched the valley, marked with white farmhouses
 
 98 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 among the emerald of wheatfields and the warm umber 
 of garnered corn. Lacey white bridges spanned the 
 stream here and there, the farthest one showing the 
 break that had caused their adventure. He swept the 
 landscape slowly with his eyes, and back again, seeing 
 nothing in it but the girl at his side, in a spell that he 
 was unable to conquer. 
 
 " Of all the places in the world, this is the one that I 
 love best," she said when he did not break the silence. 
 " I bring my books up here, and I sometimes try to 
 sketch it but I have never succeeded. It is like a dear 
 familiar face you can never get the soul into it." 
 
 He turned away from the pearl and opal clouds ly- 
 ing soft against the blue fire of the sky, of which he 
 seemed to be a part for the moment, to the girl who de- 
 lighted in the rare pageant, looking at it with lips apart 
 and tender eyes aglow, in vivid, radiant beauty, a glori- 
 ous young priestess in her temple. He allowed himself 
 but a glance at the expectant, uplifted face, then turned 
 dizzily back to the landscape. 
 
 " It is a fine view," he said flatly. 
 
 She stepped back in disappointment. It was the 
 first time he had failed her expectation. He looked so 
 long without speaking that she laughed softly : " You 
 do love it, after all. I was quite disgusted that you 
 didn't at first." 
 
 " I have loved these hills from the first day and 
 this is the most wonderful spot of all." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Northmore," she cried with sudden remem-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 99 
 
 brance, " tell me something I want to know. Is Birdie 
 Garnett going to marry Mr. Firestone? " 
 
 " Ask me something easy. I am not in Miss Garnett's 
 confidence." 
 
 " Does he come to see her? " 
 
 " Quite often. Yes." 
 
 " And you allow that ? Outrageous ! She's the sweet- 
 est thing. Why, what have you been doing all these 
 weeks that you have been in the house? You must 
 marry her yourself, to save her from him it is your 
 plain duty. You know her mother would give her a 
 living sacrifice to missions or anything in the church 
 and Mr. Firestone took the brightest girl from this 
 town once, to die in Africa, and that is enough." 
 
 " Mr. Firestone is a thoroughly sincere man." 
 
 " They make the worst husbands of all. Now prom- 
 ise that you will go right home and make love to her in 
 earnest. I sha'n't have a minute's peace till I know 
 that she is safe. It's between you and Mr. Firestone, 
 for Silence is foreordained to be a minister's wife and 
 once you two are married we should all be such friends ; 
 we should work together building a creche or some- 
 thing else for poor children. Now, please ! " 
 
 " You are presuming a good deal upon my self-es- 
 teem to intimate that I might rival Mr. Firestone. 
 Why don't you go for Miss Garnett ? " 
 
 " She might think I wanted to marry him myself. 
 Now you are unkind. I had begun to like you immensely 
 and the first little favour I ask, you refuse ! "
 
 100 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " It wouldn't work. My eyes are the wrong colour 
 as the story books go." 
 
 " Then you might at least divert her with a little 
 flirtation until he is switched off. She would refuse 
 you and nobody would be harmed. Joking aside, Mr. 
 Northmore, I am awfully worried about that and it 
 must not be allowed ! If you won't be accommodating 
 as a man you must make it your duty as a minister 
 to talk a little to somebody give a little good advice. 
 Now," she commanded, " sit down by the door where 
 you can see that mountain of pink cloud over the top 
 of Whiteface, and I will make you a cup of tea." 
 
 She had taken out her tea things from a pretty cabi- 
 net before he could protest, and he lingered for a sec- 
 ond cup, knowing every moment that he must not stay 
 in that presence. Afterward he led her down the nar- 
 row path, her soft firm hand clinging to his over the 
 steep places, and they waited together in the porte- 
 cochere for the dapple grey to be brought. As North- 
 more sprang into the saddle she cried, " Now, gallant 
 Sir Knight, rescue my hapless maiden from Africa or 
 you shall never wear my colours. And you've no time 
 to lose." 
 
 He turned back at the curve of the drive to lift his 
 hat once more and carry away the picture of her in 
 relief against the grey column, then he rode between 
 the big gateposts into the valley of enchantment where 
 he knew not whether Polly were treading clouds of rose 
 and pearl or a glorified earth. Every nerve thrilled 
 with a new exhilaration; he still felt a lightly clinging
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 101 
 
 arm under his and the electric touch of a hand within 
 his own. In his ascetic life he had never before known 
 a woman like this one but was there another? Within 
 the little span of a day revolution had come to him. 
 The magic of wealth had offered to turn his shame and 
 failure into success while undreamed-of eyes had 
 looked into his and set his senses reeling.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 IT was too late to fulfil the mission upon which he had 
 set forth in the morning, and Northmore had to post- 
 pone it until the next afternoon, when he again set 
 forth on horseback among the hills. He was returning 
 toward evening through a pass whose interlocked 
 branches were so thick that he did not see the darkening 
 sky until big drops rattled upon the fallen leaves. A 
 short deflection over a road of talus rock led him to 
 the shed of a stone quarry for shelter, where he was 
 surprised to find his early acquaintance, Quiggins, as 
 foreman. He was not yet strong enough for active 
 labour, but had been glad to take back what he told 
 Northmore was his former job. 
 
 " I vowed I never would work for Tom Morgan agin 
 you remember what I told you about him the first day 
 I saw you before I dreamed that you was a preacher? " 
 
 " I haven't forgotten it." 
 
 " It was too bad you took advantage of me that way 
 but I guess you've got some human nature in spite 
 of your job! And it was true all that I told you. 
 Have you found that out yet?" 
 
 " I have been compelled to accept some of your phi- 
 losophy." Northmore had drawn Polly into the shelter 
 and seated himself upon the inverted keg which was 
 offered. " I hope that you are misinformed or preju- 
 
 103
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 103 
 
 diced about your employer. I have met him and 
 he certainly is interested in doing good. It is a close 
 question I can't yet decide whether to take the re- 
 sponsibility of choosing those who shall further the 
 work of the church. None of us is infallible." 
 
 " Wait till you find out. I told you he was as slick 
 as butter. You've already done up one man that was 
 the best thing ever happened in this town. You're no 
 common preacher that's plain and if you have the 
 sand to stick to your colours well, I don't s'pose you'll 
 make any money out of it, nor any glory, but a few 
 common people will know that you're both sensible and 
 honest. Not every minister gets to know that other 
 side, you see." 
 
 " I appreciate that but Mr. Morgan has a side as 
 well. It is not fair to be prejudiced either way." 
 
 " Well, you found out that I told you the truth about 
 'Lije Sims. He lowered your whole church to his level. 
 He was your weakest link as long as you stood by him. 
 Now, you've gone up fifty per cent, for kickin' him out. 
 You watch and see the kind of people that comes to hear 
 you now! You'll get them that was never inside that 
 church before. It ain't so much what's preached that 
 my kind of people cares for, it's what's lived. We 
 ain't such fools as we're taken to be. Know Proctor 
 Garnett yet? " 
 
 " Yes, very well." 
 
 " There's a man that's believed in. If Proctor Gar- 
 nett should found a church or an institution or a lodge 
 or want an office, every workin' man in Jefferson
 
 104 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 County would be at his heels. And he don't profess 
 nothing." 
 
 " I see what you mean," said Northmore gravely. 
 " It's a tremendous task to make over human nature 
 on a model of that kind. I don't see any light on the 
 subject." 
 
 The rain had settled into a steady downpour and he 
 left as it was growing dark and plodded homeward 
 through slippery mud. Soaked to the flesh and stunned 
 in spirit, he left Polly at the stable and walked through 
 the sodden garden where in the morning he had helped 
 Silence to gather great bunches of chrysanthemums and 
 late roses. Then it had been gay with blossoms, now a 
 few rain-pelted flowers hung upside down where russet 
 and umber prevailed. He had barely time to change to 
 dry clothing before the supper bell rang, and its pleas- 
 ant sound reminded him that he had but a few days 
 more in this peaceful house which had been so kind a 
 home to him, as the little quarters at Mrs. Jernigan's 
 were nearly ready. The sitting-room looked more at- 
 tractive than ever that stormy evening, with its beauti- 
 ful fire tinting the faces around it and drawing out fra- 
 grance from the roses and pungent bitterness from the 
 chrysanthemums. Northmore did not feel like talking, 
 and took refuge in a book. Not for long, however, for 
 the few minutes at the quarry had brought back with 
 new force the story that Quiggins had first told him, and 
 he went up to his room to seek anchorage in the tumult 
 of new experience which the last few days had precipi- 
 tated. He smiled bitterly, putting on his slippers before
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 105 
 
 his own fire, to think that he had been so shaken by the 
 opinions of a man who had probably never read one 
 thoughtful book in his whole life. That there was truth 
 in Quiggins' point of view was the sting of it. He who 
 was to lead others to Truth, was in doubt himself. But, 
 once alone, in deep thought before his fire, his hands 
 locked behind his head, reactive conviction asserted it- 
 self, and he was candidly and fearlessly analysing his 
 relation to the complex forces which bore upon him 
 when a tap on the door announced Mr. Garnett. 
 
 " I am glad to find you at leisure, for I want to take 
 up a little of your time. I would like some help," he 
 apologised, seating himself by the table and spreading 
 out a roll of blue prints. 
 
 " I am never too busy to give you any help in my 
 power, Mr. Garnett," replied the young man, trying to 
 summon attention. 
 
 " Thank you. I've had a sort of plan in mind for 
 years I mentioned it the other day, if you remember 
 and the interest you've shown in my ideas has led me 
 to think that you could help me to perfect this. I want 
 to do one thing more for my men over there or rather 
 for the families and it ought to be done now. Many 
 of the children have grown to an age when they need 
 something that their parents can't give nor their 
 schools. We don't like to own it but Mogadonia has 
 a bad reputation in the vicinity ; you've noticed how few 
 representative young people there are. The better set 
 of them get out and go to the city as soon as they are 
 able to. Those that are left are what we call in business,
 
 106 'ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 the * seconds,' the * culls,' you know ; those with a flaw, 
 and they go to the bad pretty fast. A very nice man, 
 one of my decorators, was talking to me to-day with 
 tears in his eyes about his children. It made me feel re- 
 sponsible for not having given some assistance to the 
 parents before, but I didn't know just how to develop 
 my scheme." 
 
 "What is your idea?" 
 
 " A place to supplement the little homes. There is 
 nothing now in the way of innocent amusement or edu- 
 cational pastime ; there was a so-called ' opera house ' 
 here until it burned down last spring an old tobacco 
 house furbished up, yet people used to stand in line half 
 the night before the ticket window to get a chance in 
 the morning, and in this country town three and four 
 dollars a seat has been paid for a poor entertainment. 
 That's what suggested the idea. The only place where 
 a concert or lecture can be given is Joe Fury's dance 
 hall and you know what that is. We haven't even a 
 circulating library." 
 
 " And our churches are the worst of all," suggested 
 Northmore. 
 
 " They are pretty bad, but even good ones would not 
 fill this place." 
 
 " Not a modern institutional church ? " 
 
 " No, not to those outside its own membership and 
 not altogether to those inside. I will answer your 
 objection before you make it; it would not compete 
 with church influence enough to be considered, and 
 would be such a moral factor that it would strengthen
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 107 
 
 you in a general way. The parents would not be drawn 
 away from church, and the children are growing up 
 with so much larger requirements than the parents had, 
 that they will go outside for fulfilment and it is this 
 need I anticipate. The children of my artisans will 
 not be artisans in their generation; it k training for 
 those faculties which have already outgrown the parents' 
 capacity that I want to provide. It must be an insti- 
 tution that will first attract, then elevate and educate 
 them unconsciously above the reach of the low tempta- 
 tions to which they now fall prey, and which will help to 
 keep the ' firsts ' at home. There is but one place where 
 the young men can gather, the saloon, the poor man's 
 club and the devil's parlour. Now I want to devise a 
 social club that will have more than the freedom of the 
 home, besides the uplift of an educational institution." 
 
 " That is what the church should be." 
 
 " Not in this town ; it would be impossible ; it is locked 
 for six days and four evenings a week while there are 
 rows of bright places that are open. My club would be 
 their rival and the ally of your church. You can help 
 me and help your own cause indirectly." 
 
 " What amusements would you have ? " 
 
 " All that are innocent." Mr. Garnett pushed his 
 blue prints toward Northmore. " This is my audience 
 room which must also be open to any religious denom- 
 ination for services. There are a few Episcopalians in 
 town who have no meeting place, also a few Jews and 
 Universalists." 
 
 Northmore lifted his eyes to the other man in sur-
 
 108 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 prise. " You are not a member of any demoination 
 yourself, I think?" 
 
 " Yes, I was brought up a Quaker, but we have no 
 church here. But we are all soon to be members of the 
 great universal church; we can worship together now." 
 
 " Yes," said Northmore with yet larger respect for 
 this man. " These, then, are the plans for such a build- 
 ing as you have suggested? " 
 
 " No, they are not. I tried to tell a Pittsburgh 
 architect what I wanted, but he didn't get the idea at 
 all. You can get the suggestion from this, however." 
 
 Northmore concentrated his attention upon the 
 scheme and, with a little elucidation, saw its points at 
 once ; his first comment was so intelligent that Mr. Gar- 
 nett seized upon it eagerly. 
 
 " You've got it ! I was sure you would. I've had 
 no one to consult. My wife has her own line of in- 
 terests, you know, and my daughter well, a daughter 
 is not a son. It is quite natural for her to follow her 
 mother's example and it is right. That's one reason 
 why I want to carry out my plans while I am in the 
 prime of life; there will be no one to do it after I am 
 gone." 
 
 " Have you never talked this over with your 
 daughter? " 
 
 " Not in detail, no. To tell the truth, I don't think 
 she would understand ; she is constantly with her mother 
 as she should be, of course and I did not want to 
 appear to be diverting her from her mother's religious 
 views. She is reserved and sensitive I wish that I 
 might have her confidence I wonder sometimes if even
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 109 
 
 her mother really has it. She might care very much for 
 such an interest as this. She will probably, however, 
 follow her mother's example, and devote herself wholly 
 to the church." 
 
 " I have wondered what her fulfilment would be. I 
 have feared a little, that " 
 
 " So have I," and Mr. Garnett looked away from his 
 plans in tense anxiety. " I don't know what to do about 
 that not being in her confidence, and not having the 
 same ideas of duty that my wife has. I don't want to 
 interfere with either her convictions or her affections 
 but she is all I have, Mr. Northmore, and you see how 
 delicate she is. I don't know what to do about it," 
 and he looked wistfully into Northmore's eyes with the 
 weakness of deep tenderness in an armour of strength. 
 
 " I think that the strain of such an abnormal life 
 would mean simple martyrdom to Miss Garnett," re- 
 turned Northmore frankly. 
 
 "Do you? And you think I should be justified in 
 interfering? " 
 
 " If you think that is true, I don't see how you can 
 help it." 
 
 "I am glad to know that you think so immensely 
 glad!" 
 
 He looked into the fire, abstracted, for a few minutes, 
 while Northmore studied the blue prints, and then they 
 went through them together, discussing details, chang- 
 ing and amplifying, until midnight, when they parted, 
 Mr. Garnett in deep satisfaction at the help he had 
 obtained upon two dearest objects. 
 
 " Now, I am going to work immediately j ust as soon
 
 110 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 as I can get these new plans and specifications drawn," 
 he announced as he gathered up his papers. " There 
 are a few people in the town who will enter into the 
 project, and my own men will take it up almost unani- 
 mously. I don't believe in letting them think they are 
 not doing it themselves, you know. I can put ten 
 thousand dollars into it and they must do the rest. 
 You have helped me more than you know and I ap- 
 preciate it. Good-night." 
 
 A few days later Northmore submitted Mr. Morgan's 
 proposition to the official board of his church, where it 
 elicited such diverse opinions that no conclusion was 
 reached and the question was held over. Most of those 
 present thought the amount too large for the little 
 church to raise. Others felt that the offer was so munifi- 
 cent that it should be accepted at all odds, and cited 
 the success of the Bellevue church in raising the same 
 amount. No other consideration was discussed. A few 
 days later, Mr. Morgan sent for Northmore to know 
 whether an agreement had been reached, and was told of 
 the situation. He had evidently expected it, and asked 
 who had stood for, and who against it. 
 
 " It is all we could expect at first," he remarked. 
 " It frightens them usually, and then they come to it. 
 It will need your influence in this case because they are 
 so conservative but you can bring them to it. No 
 church has ever yet turned down my offer. They may 
 take as long to decide as they want." 
 
 " Is the amount you offer also flexible, Mr. Morgan ? " 
 
 ** No. My object in making the offer is to bring the
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 111 
 
 churches of this town up to the standard of fifty years 
 hence. I will not help to build a cheap church. And 
 it is to the advantage of the congregation; the more 
 they raise, the more they get for nothing, you see, and 
 they will make the effort and be proud of it in the end. 
 I hear that you had a crowded house again last Sunday. 
 Now is your opportunity and you can raise a monu- 
 ment to yourself that will be .of great advantage in your 
 career." 
 
 Northmore did not answer, and his host gave him a 
 quick scrutiny as though wondering at his lack of en- 
 thusiasm. Miss Morgan chanced in at the office while 
 Northmore was still there, and was surprised and 
 pleased to see him. 
 
 " Won't you come up to the house and help me with 
 a problem, Mr. Northmore ? " she begged seriously. 
 When they were outside in -the grounds, she explained : 
 " I simply have to do something to efface that dreadful 
 day of failure. It must be wiped entirely out with a 
 success ; it will torment me until it is. What shall the 
 eraser of it be ? " 
 
 " What are the possibilities ? " 
 
 " The largest possibility is my college chum who is 
 coming next week, and who is the most wonderful success 
 at this sort of thing. She goes in for college settle- 
 ment work and the like. She gave me the idea for the 
 other exploit but she had succeeded with city children, 
 and, as you say, they are different. Have we no claim 
 on these ? " 
 
 " If we have not, some of us are wasting our lives."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 "Surely. It isn't worth while to keep only Chris- 
 tians in the strait and narrow path to be a literal 
 shepherd of one's own flock. There are the two kinds 
 of pastors, you know, and I believe that you are the 
 sort that goes into highways and byways." 
 
 " But not to the neglect of my legitimate work, I 
 hope." 
 
 ** Oh, no. Father thinks that of you, too, and he 
 approves of it. Father is so good ; you don't know him 
 yet. He is more than kind to us, and he almost gives 
 his life, now that he is removed from business cares, to 
 doing good for others and in philanthropy. He en- 
 courages me in that mission, too. Think of it I can 
 have unlimited money with which to do good and I 
 can't find any to do ! " 
 
 " That is a dreadful state of affairs. We will find 
 a remedy for it at once." 
 
 " Yes, you must. Of course, I don't need to say that 
 I want to do real good not simply to rid myself of 
 responsibility by indiscriminate almsgiving. Bring 
 Bird Garnett out to dinner to meet Olive Drysdale, my 
 friend, who is coming next Thursday, and if you have 
 a suggestion by that time, we will find Olive the cleverest 
 manager in the world. She has wonderful executive 
 ability, and will enjoy it, too, which is fortunate, as 
 that is almost the only entertainment I can offer her. 
 Can you come out on Friday? well then, Saturday? 
 And we will set things spinning then. One thing more, 
 Mr. Northmore; who is ahead in the wooing, you or 
 Mr. Firestone?"
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 113 
 
 " I haven't the ghost of a chance. Mr. Firestone is 
 a cyclonic wooer." 
 
 " I am afraid that's not a joke. You are not going 
 to let that go on without a protest, are you ? " 
 
 " It is a very delicate question, but I have already 
 expressed my opinion to Mr. Firestone himself, since 
 you ask." 
 
 " I ask because I am worried and I am glad to know 
 that you are alert. Won't you come in ? " They had 
 reached the house and Northmore knew that he must go, 
 yet he yielded to the spell on which he drifted helplessly 
 into the pretty music room. He never could remember 
 how long he stayed, nor what they talked about, but late 
 in the afternoon he found himself riding home through 
 the valley of Paradise, under a witchery that leaped in 
 his blood and dazed his brain with magic so dangerously 
 sweet that he was powerless to dispel it. For the first 
 time in his lonely life, he had talked with one who under- 
 stood him, even without words, who looked at him with 
 frank, unconscious eyes, and saw his very soul, its 
 nobility, its human weakness, and who sympathised. 
 All else in his life was dwindling into insignificance be- 
 side his longing to be in her presence. The days until 
 Saturday, when he should see her again, lay blank before 
 him. That there must be an awakening, he would not 
 now consider; he held no future anguish in the balance 
 against the delight of the day. He could not work 
 that evening, but dreamed late by his friendly fire, that 
 pleasant confidante which tells none of the secrets en- 
 trusted to it. He completed his week's work on Friday
 
 114 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 night, that he might have the following day clear, and 
 retired late. It seemed to him that he had not slept 
 many minutes before he was awakened by a sharp 
 knocking, and Mr. Garnett's voice at the door. He 
 said that Northmore was sent for to go to a dying man ; 
 would he go? 
 
 "Certainly. Who is it?" 
 
 " A poor fellow whom you don't know ; a man named 
 Ellis, who lives over on the spur." 
 
 " I will go at once. I know where it is," answered the 
 minister, rousing himself to this first call for his holy 
 office to the dying. A boy was waiting for him in the 
 hall, and he hurried away as soon as he could dress. 
 The boy told him on the way across -the town that Mr. 
 Ellis had been no worse than usual until the previous 
 morning, when he had fallen in a fainting fit and the 
 doctor had said that he was dying. It was with a 
 curious dread that the minister entered the dim room in 
 the solemn hour of the night and crossed to the bed. 
 It appeared that an internal fire, rather than disease, 
 had burned out the man's vital forces, for the skin 
 drawn over his corded hands and hollow features was 
 white and firm, while the clear eyes were not dimmed by 
 age. A neighbour who sat by the bed leaned over as 
 Northmore entered and laid her hand upon the invalid's. 
 
 " I sent Bob for the preacher that came to see you one 
 day, Mr. Ellis, and he's here. I thought you'd like to 
 talk to him," she said. 
 
 The wild eyes turned to Northmore. " What do I 
 want of him? "
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 115 
 
 " Why, you're sick and he'd been to see you and I 
 thought " 
 
 " Then I'm going to die at last ! " 
 
 " I didn't say that but perhaps he can cheer you 
 up a little." 
 
 " I don't want the minister. I've had enough. What 
 could he do for me now? " 
 
 Words seemed impossible to Northmore. " I hope 
 that you will find peace," he faltered. " Death loses its 
 terrors " 
 
 The gleaming eyes fastened upon him, while he felt 
 himself shrivel under their uncanny gaze, as life flashed 
 back into the pallid face. 
 
 " No, I want nothing of you. I know nothing of 
 Christ. I've had my hell in this world if there's one 
 to come, I'll take it ! Death has no terrors it's a 
 blessing. Take your consolation to the man who 
 robbed me of my life who burned me with slow fire 
 he'll want it, for he's a Christian of Christians. He's on 
 the high road to Heaven with my ruin and my child 
 on his soul. Don't you think I want to go to hell 
 where he won't be? Do you want to drag me into 
 Heaven to see him rejoice through eternity, too? I've 
 had enough of that here ! " 
 
 He had risen in the bed and swayed with weakness 
 while he screamed in his broken voice. Northmore 
 sprang to his support, but was pushed away. 
 
 " Go and make Tom Morgan's peace with God and 
 let me alone. I never harmed a living thing. I never 
 robbed a man of one cent. But I am lost ! You come
 
 116 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 to tell me that I haven't had hell enough here ! I've had 
 to see him prosper. My pretty girl was murdered to 
 make a princess of his. He builds churches churches! 
 and God doesn't strike them by lightning ! He prays 
 in them that robber and talks to sinners ! He has 
 enough to eat paid for with my money mine, mme, 
 mine! What do you think my wife and I have eaten 
 this week? Hard bread and potatoes! Oh, don't talk 
 of Morgan's God to me ! " 
 
 " But, God is just ; wait for " 
 
 Ellis had fallen back with staring eyes. The terri- 
 fied woman who had shrunk back at his raving, caught 
 him in her arms as he gasped for breath. Northmore 
 laid him gently back on his pillow and drew the sheet 
 over the distorted face when he found that life had left. 
 
 He stayed at the house until he had done all that was 
 possible for the bedridden wife in the next room, and 
 went away to arrange for a decent burial, at which he 
 would officiate. The frosty dawn was reddening over 
 Blue Mountain as he walked down the spur, not quite 
 steadily, and turned into a country road that led from 
 the town. He must be alone in this rude awakening of 
 his soul. Two hours later he stopped at a farmhouse, 
 faint with exhaustion, and bought a cup of coffee. He 
 found Mr. Garnett in great alarm, on the point of send- 
 ing out a search for him, when he finally returned to the 
 house.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 NORTHMORE never had any recollection of the physical 
 history of the day which followed; he knew at night 
 only that he was stunned by the shock of two vital forces 
 whose unexpectedness had made the encounter doubly 
 hard. He was a clear-headed fellow, whose merciless 
 honesty of self-analysis left him small illusion, even in 
 his enthusiasms. That a moral issue could entangle 
 itself in the generous offer made so opportunely for his 
 work was an undreamed-of possibility, but, while he 
 reserved judgment until he had heard Mr. Morgan's 
 side of the story, it was quite apparent that the moral 
 issue involved would come within his jurisdiction, and he 
 would have to define his position to himself. For the 
 other thing he was totally unprepared. An unfortunate 
 fancy of his boyhood had convinced him with the 
 absoluteness of youth that he was quite through with 
 Love and was wedded to his work. The revelation of 
 the past week was enough to show him that he had 
 never yet touched hands with Love; that he was upon 
 the edge of a passion which would be the wreck of him 
 if he could not break its spell at once. He knew per- 
 fectly the folly of it. He contrasted the rugged face 
 which looked back from his mirror, with the brilliant 
 girlish beauty of the one that haunted him ; he measured 
 her fortune beside his poverty ; he thought of her free 
 life against his self-immolation upon the altar of 
 
 117
 
 118 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 obscurity. Because of these things, it had been easy to 
 resolve that it should be an altar of celibacy as well. 
 He smiled bitterly at his own presumption in daring to 
 think of her. He had no mercy for men of his calling 
 who exacted the sacrifice of their families to hardship. 
 No! He was glad and a bit proud of himself that 
 he could look his danger in the face ; he would tear out 
 every tendril of this new passion, summoning his man- 
 hood to the rescue, and his wild folly should never be 
 suspected. With this stern resolve, he made a careful 
 toilet and drove to Heathermuir with Silence Garnett, 
 who chatted to him all the way over about the graces of 
 Florida Morgan. 
 
 In sharpest contrast with the bareness of the house 
 he had left at dawn, the luxury of the one he entered at 
 dark appeared to smother him. It seemed impossible 
 that starvation and overabundance should lie so close 
 together without involving culpable stewardship of that 
 surfeit of wealth, yet while he sat in judgment his heart 
 plunged with gladness at the sight of the girl who came 
 across the great drawing-room with eager hands ex- 
 tended in welcome. Northmore had never dreamed that 
 any living woman could be so beautiful as she was then 
 in the gauzy trailing gown, out of which her white 
 shoulders and graceful head rose as from grey mist. 
 He could guess that her few jewels were rare and 
 costly. 
 
 " I knew you would bring her, my good Sir Knight," 
 she laughed, with her arms around Silence. " Do you 
 know, dear, I have appropriated this man to be my
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 119 
 
 knight errant; he is already fighting my battles; he's 
 going to be a scarred veteran, too, before many moons 
 pass, because I've loaded up such heaps and heaps of 
 windmills and other people for him to vanquish. Now, 
 come and meet Olive." 
 
 Her friend was of a different type, tall, forceful, with 
 little boast of beauty save that of good health and good 
 humour. There was a sparkle of fun in her light eyes 
 and the curve of her mouth. She was quite as uncon- 
 ventional as Florida, and the four were friends at once. 
 By the time the other guests arrived the latter was 
 already deep in her problem and would have told it to 
 them but for the announcement of dinner. 
 
 As Northmore sat at the glittering table in the 
 splendid dining-room an agonised shout rang in his 
 ears so loud that he wondered others did not hear it. 
 " What do you think we've had to eat this week? Hard 
 bread and potatoes! " But Mr. Morgan was laughing 
 at some bright saying of Olive Drysdale's, and the grave 
 butler was serving Blue Points. The scene of the early 
 morning persisted as the dinner progressed with op- 
 pressive lavishness, and the girl at his side found him an 
 abstracted listener. Afterwards they all went to the 
 music room where Florida unfolded the scheme in which 
 she was so engrossed: 
 
 " Nobody's had time to tell me what he thinks of 
 Miss Drysdale's suggestion of a big Thanksgiving din- 
 ner for the poor of Mogadonia a sort of opening 
 wedge to their hearts, you know. There isn't a bit of 
 charity work done here, and someone must make a
 
 i!20 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 beginning. Now, I want you all to discuss the plan. 
 What do you think of it, Doctor? " 
 
 *' It would be simply immense, that's the way it strikes 
 me, if you could carry it out on a big scale. I've read 
 of those things in cities." 
 
 " It's the same idea," explained Olive. " Some 
 organization, usually the Salvation Army, gives huge 
 Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to the very poor, 
 and I assure you they are notable events. It's the big- 
 gest and the most effective thing you could do at this 
 time of year." 
 
 " Where would you serve it? " asked Doctor Tommy, 
 who had never been able to establish a claim to the 
 family name, so exclusively was it reserved for his 
 father, the beloved " Old Doctor." He had been mar- 
 ried but a month or so, and his bride declared that she 
 didn't think she was entitled to it, either, so seldom was 
 it accorded to her. She was listening with an interested 
 face, and added: 
 
 " It would be a lovely thing to do but where would 
 you have it? " 
 
 " There, you've struck our weak point the first thing. 
 Don't some of you know of a place in town that will be 
 large enough and warm enough for the season ? I don't 
 know of one and that is the drawback," confessed 
 Florida. 
 
 " You know the opera house burned last winter," re- 
 marked the doctor's wife. 
 
 " Best thing it could have done," added her husband. 
 " I suppose Joe Fury's hall wouldn't be big enough."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 "No, indeed," objected Northmore; "and we don't 
 want it, anyhow. There is a large warehouse near the 
 railroad station that might do if it could be got for 
 the purpose." 
 
 " The very thing ! Bless you, Mr. Northmore, for I 
 should never have thought of that, and I'm sure it be- 
 longs to my father, too. It can be emptied if it is full 
 of anything and we will have it cleaned up and lighted 
 and heated and decorated with bunting oh, it is just 
 the place. I've been quite worn out trying to get over 
 that obstacle the rest is so easy. Now we can go 
 ahead with the details. Carrie, you and the doctor are 
 going to be chief lieutenants, you know." 
 
 "Oh, are we in it?" 
 
 " Indeed you are ! You are to put on aprons and cut 
 and carve and wait on tables until the guests have had 
 all they can eat ; then if there's anything left you can 
 sit down and have your own dinners." 
 
 " I like that for our first Thanksgiving," grumbled 
 the doctor facetiously. 
 
 " You'll enjoy it so much that you will never want to 
 spend it any other way," returned Olive Drysdale. 
 " I've had experience." 
 
 " Now that the most important point is settled, 
 Florida," Mr. Morgan had risen and was standing be- 
 hind his daughter's chair waiting for a pause, " I want 
 to take your guests to my chrysanthemum house I 
 have had lights put there and then I want them to see 
 the Indian relics that have been dug out of the mound, 
 before I send them to the Smithsonian. Come to the
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 greenhouse first, and you can take your time for the 
 cabinets afterwards." 
 
 The display of chrysanthemums was surprisingly fine 
 and the party lingered for some time, then scattered be- 
 fore the cabinets in the great library, and Mr. Morgan 
 took the opportunity to lead Northmore to his den, 
 which was so crowded with every grotesque article the 
 furnisher could add to his bill that it was with difficulty 
 that an uncomfortable carved chair could be extracted 
 from the huddled furniture and placed where the visitor 
 could face his host. 
 
 ** I wanted to ask how you are progressing with the 
 building proposition we talked of the other day," sug- 
 gested Mr. Morgan. 
 
 Northmore searched the other's face with puzzled 
 eyes. " I have talked with my working members indi- 
 vidually, but the matter has not been presented 
 officially." 
 
 " Well, I suppose that will be a mere form. Your 
 congregation will hardly refuse such an offer." 
 
 " I should like a little longer to consider the question 
 from all points with them." Northmore spoke dream- 
 ily; he was recalling certain expressions evoked by the 
 mention of Morgan's proposition. " I reckon the 
 Lord '11 be glad of any of that money that goes to do 
 good," Squire Pocock had said. Mr. Garnett com- 
 mented, " The Lord would probably be as well pleased 
 with something better than cattle sheds for Morgan's 
 workmen as with a house of worship." Mr. Money- 
 penny smiled : " I guess it's true that Tom wants to
 
 go to Congress." While the Old Doctor, wise and kindly, 
 remarked : " I wish we might strike him for a hospital. 
 There's not a bed in this town for the destitute sick or 
 emergency cases." 
 
 Northmore stared at a fat black dragon over a 
 cabinet, recalling these things ; then an expectant move- 
 ment attracted his eyes again to the gracious presence 
 before him, this man of tender family ties and punc- 
 tilious religious observance, against whom the town 
 united in bitter denunciation. 
 
 " There seems to be a sentiment in favour of a widened 
 influence in the town, among those who have expressed 
 themselves. The institutional church is growing in 
 favour as well as in usefulness. Does your offer admit 
 of any latitude, Mr. Morgan ? I think myself that the 
 protection of the young people should be a principal 
 consideration." 
 
 A hard smile widened Mr. Morgan's close mouth. " I 
 see you haven't lived in Proctor Garnett's house all this 
 time for nothing but his opinions are not to be taken 
 in this matter, for he's not a Christian, and his notions 
 are all materialistic. I've no patience with innovations 
 in the church; it's neither a shop nor a school, but as 
 necessary a means to saving souls now as in the days 
 of the apostles. Proctor Garnett would save them with 
 a social club. What good are his model houses and his 
 flower beds going to do anybody in the Day of Judg- 
 ment, I would like to ask? " 
 
 " A man who helps another to better living, helps him 
 spiritually; the motive of the Church to-day is higher
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 than Hell-phobia, Mr. Morgan. It must broaden to an 
 infinity of means to meet the infinity of needs." 
 
 " I guess he's got you pretty firm. No, Mr. North- 
 more, my offer stands simply for an altar to the Most 
 High and nothing else." 
 
 " It is better to have a clear understanding," and the 
 minister smiled away the irritation which Mr. Garnett's 
 name always produced in Tom Morgan. In the brief 
 silence which followed, Northmore took the opportunity 
 to utter the thought that possessed his mind : " I want 
 to call your attention to a case of destitution which is 
 imperative and which has a claim on you as I under- 
 stand the man once worked for you. I was called to a 
 deathbed during the night, a pitiable case ; the man has 
 been sick for years. There is no money for his burial, 
 and his wife is suffering for the necessaries of life." 
 
 " Um-hm. You must appreciate that I am appealed 
 to by the whole county." 
 
 " There is no question of the genuineness of this need. 
 The name is Ellis, and they have lived here for many 
 years." 
 
 Visible colour flowed over Mr. Morgan's face. His 
 long upper lip bulged cruelly as he closed it upon the 
 other before he spoke. " Ah, so Ellis is dead, is he ? At 
 last. Well, I certainly don't owe his family any help 
 but you say she is actually suffering? Well, I sup- 
 pose the poor fellow was really insane; that must have 
 been the matter with him, and his wife wasn't responsible 
 for that. He has treated me viciously for years that 
 man Ellis. He worked for me once, a long time ago,
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 125 
 
 and he was a fine workman, but I had a little outside 
 transaction with him, for which he has libelled me ever 
 since. He claimed I took advantage of him he was un- 
 used to business and he has spent the rest of his life in 
 abuse of me. Of course he had sympathisers who took 
 his statements for fact, and he has roused a good deal 
 of prejudice against me. He wanted to raise a little 
 money one time, and struck me for a loan on some 
 very doubtful security, security that no one else would 
 have touched. I didn't care to lend it I was com- 
 paratively a poor man myself at the time, and he never 
 could have paid it but the man was working for me 
 and I wanted to do him a favour if I could. I offered 
 to buy his machine of him at a good price; it had 
 never been tried, but I was willing to take the risk. He 
 accepted my offer; I paid him the money on the spot 
 and the transaction was ended as I understood. I had 
 the means of using the thing which he never could have 
 had, and the money to do it with and it turned out well. 
 When he learned this, he repented of his bargain, claimed 
 that I had cheated him, and spread the report far and 
 wide. It is easy to believe a slander against a success- 
 ful man, and there were plenty to keep it going. Now, I 
 hope I shall have peace. Is his wife living? Yes, I 
 remember." 
 
 " She is barely alive, and in desperate want." 
 " I suppose it is my duty to forgive and forget. 
 Some things are hard to forget, though." 
 
 " It would not be hard, Mr. Morgan, if you saw how 
 she lives."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 He made no reply as he opened a massive desk and 
 wrote a cheque which he dried carefully before he handed 
 it, open, to Northmore. It was for ten dollars. Then 
 he talked of general subjects for a few minutes, as 
 though to dissipate unpleasant memories, after which he 
 ied the way back to the drawing-room. They found the 
 rest of the- party grouped closely around Olive Drys- 
 dale, who was reading a girl's palm. The girl caught 
 it away as the two men entered, and Olive was silent, with 
 a look of annoyance. 
 
 "Let me hear my fortune over again," begged the 
 doctor, extending his palm. " You told me so many 
 nice things that I can't remember them all." 
 
 " Maybe she can't, either," insinuated Florida laugh- 
 ingly. 
 
 " I'd be afraid to try but you haven't a bad line in 
 your hand." 
 
 " Now, you hear that, Mr. Northmore. Why don't 
 you try your fate? She's a regular wizard." 
 
 The minister involunarily put his hand behind him. 
 " I never had my fate told in my life," he said. 
 
 " Then you must certainly hear it," urged Florida. 
 " Olive only tells good fortune and, of course, nobody 
 believes it anyhow. Just for fun let us hear what she 
 will tell you, Mr. Northmore. We all know that it's 
 nonsense." 
 
 Northmore flushed with a reserved man's dread of self- 
 revelation, but would not refuse longer. 
 
 " He actually believes it," laughed Olive as she 
 glanced up at him before she bent over his reluctantly
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 127 
 
 extended palm. There was a moment of interested 
 silence as she pondered, each one listening with the 
 fascination which the foretelling of destiny compels even 
 from the sceptical. 
 
 " You must be finding strange things," commented 
 Doctor Tommy as Olive studied the hand like a page. 
 She looked up doubtfully. 
 
 " Yes, I am rather. You have some pretty striking 
 characteristics, Mr. Northmore; may I tell them?" 
 
 " Yes, though. I don't believe in it, you know." 
 
 " Oh, I have little reservations, sometimes, if it is too 
 bad. Your hand shows tremendous will power, con- 
 trolled about equally by impulse and judgment. Did 
 you ever hear of such a combination? It has led you 
 through tortuous paths. Fate meant to do well by you 
 in the first place, but you thwarted her and went off into 
 a side track which led through great obstacles, some of 
 which you have overcome." 
 
 "Some of which?" 
 
 " Yes, if I guess your age correctly, there are changes 
 of fortune still before you. Your strong motor com- 
 bination will, reason, impulse sweeps you on regard- 
 less of expediency whenever you think you are in the 
 right. Therefore, your changes of fortune are gen- 
 erally misfortune." 
 
 " You are discouraging," and Northmore tried not to 
 be serious. 
 
 " I am paying you off for not believing in me." 
 
 The doctor's wife bent nearer. " You are leaving 
 out the most interesting part. How long is he going to
 
 128 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 live, and how many times is he going to be married ? " 
 she asked. 
 
 '* He has a long life, with no serious illness indicated. 
 The only one is at about forty-five, but it will not be 
 fatal. The other question shall I answer that? " 
 
 " Certainly. ; why not ? " 
 
 " You will love or you have loved but once, but 
 it is with your whole heart your life. It is tremen- 
 dous. I have never seen anything like it. There is 
 trouble in it, too, if not tragedy. You take life very 
 seriously in all respects. You have a great love of 
 truth and openness. You have little imagination, are 
 literal, exact, and have not a great sense of humour." 
 
 " Great Scott, Miss Drysdale, aren't you piling it on 
 pretty heavy? You gave all the rest of us good for- 
 tunes. What's your grudge against him ? " exclaimed 
 a young man who had watched Northmore's face with 
 keen eyes. " Give him riches, honour, or a happy mar- 
 riage, one. You don't say how his love affair turns 
 out." 
 
 " Do you want to know ? " and Olive looked straight 
 into his eyes. " Of course, we don't believe in it." 
 
 " You needn't tell any of those three things. No, 
 I don't believe in it, though you have made some very 
 shrewd guesses. Is that all ? " 
 
 *' I will tell you a little more. You are going to 
 make friends, not many, but loyal ones, who will stand 
 by you in your reverses, and the latter half of your life 
 will be full of confidence of people of honour without 
 wealth. You are a leader born; you are daring and
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 129 
 
 convincing but you are too impolitic to use your in- 
 fluence to your own advantage." 
 
 Northmore withdrew his hand, laughing: " Surely 
 you cannot be accused of lack of imagination, Miss 
 Drysdale. Isn't someone else going to be exposed for 
 my benefit ? " 
 
 " We've all been through it except Florida. Let us 
 hear your fortune. The rest of us have contributed 
 to your entertainment," begged Mrs. Doctor Tommy. 
 
 " No," and Florida closed her hand in her lap. " I 
 let a woman once tell my fortune with a crystal ball. 
 She gave a seance at the hotel in Paris where we were 
 staying, and she told me such dreadful things, and made 
 me believe her so that I will never run the risk again. 
 I can't throw off the influence." 
 
 " I'm sure it's not true, but she won't even let me look 
 in her hand," complained Olive. Florida smiled and 
 shook her head. Then she moved to Northmore's side. 
 " Don't think I am too silly minding such things. 
 You take them so coolly. Now, tell me when you are 
 coming out to make plans for our dinner. I am a good 
 follower and we have just heard that you are a 
 leader." 
 
 " Whenever you wish ; " he avoided her gaze. Her 
 smile twinkled in the corners of her eyes in irresistible 
 lines, while her feminine humility before his mental 
 virility the perfect correlative of his manliness 
 swept down all barriers between them. 
 
 " Then we must begin at once, for the time is short 
 and you will keep me from failing this time, won't you?
 
 130 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 If you can only coax the people to come, I will answer 
 for their staying when they do get there. Can you 
 come out Monday afternoon? That will give us time 
 to talk over things with Olive and make our plans care- 
 fully. Then it will be easy to work out details as we 
 come to them. Oh, it must succeed this time ! " 
 
 He promised to come on Monday afternoon, and she 
 suggested some things that he was to think over in the 
 meantime, to which he paid little attention, listening 
 helplessly to her voice, and looking deep into her beau- 
 tiful eyes. He drove home, every nerve thrilling with 
 the memory of her, every word and glance of hers 
 present with him while he was vowing to himself that 
 he would go fearlessly to her whenever it was necessary, 
 and that he would not love her. He was not coward 
 enough to flee from temptation, even if he could give 
 a plausible reason for so doing. He was man enough 
 to conquer this madness even as he had vanquished other 
 things in the past.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 NORTHMORE found himself as much at ease in the 
 happy-go-lucky life of Mrs. Jernigan's household as 
 in the preciseness of the Garnett home. Two upstairs 
 rooms had been made into one for him, and fitted with 
 shelving for his books. He was glad that the only 
 other boarder was the young druggist, Harrington, 
 whom he had met on the day of his arrival, for he had 
 found no other young man in the town with whom he 
 could have the slightest companionship. 
 
 Mrs. Jernigan had a husband, but he was afflicted 
 with chronic weariness which made an arduous task of 
 his life mission, that of establishing, by force of argu- 
 ment, a conclusion to any question incapable of proof. 
 To this occupation he had devoted the past fourteen 
 summers and winters in exhaustive wrestling with Uncle 
 Jimmy Potter on the elusive relation of Predestination 
 to Free Will, a question which the untimely death of 
 Uncle Jimmy, in his eighty-eighth year, had left for- 
 ever without a conclusion, since, as Mr. Jernigan la- 
 mented, the increasing heedlessness of the age left 
 these tremendous issues stranded, as it were, high and 
 dry on the sandy shore of oblivion. As he depended 
 wholly upon original sources for argumentative 
 weapons, he was obliged to ruminate industriously in his 
 arm chair, in chimney corner or front porch as the 
 
 131
 
 132 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 season required, that his steel might be ready and bright 
 for use whenever he could find metal upon which to 
 try it. 
 
 Upon Mrs. Jernigan, therefore, devolved the less im- 
 portant tasks of supplying the family needs and tug- 
 ging their two children through the public school. Ben 
 was a handsome fellow with manly eyes, but poor 
 Genevieve Pearl, her mother's pride, was so densely 
 freckled that her normal complexion would never be 
 known. She had a mop of rich red hair, and was clever 
 at mathematics. 
 
 The whole family took charge of the minister and his 
 impedimenta on the night of their arrival, and helped 
 to fit the latter into their proper nooks. Mr. Jernigan 
 climbed the stairs to contribute his presence and the 
 even grind of his conversation to the general good, sit- 
 ting in an " old gold " plush rocker filched from the 
 parlour to ornament the new study. Mr. Harrington 
 arranged on their shelves books from boxes which 
 Northmore opened. Genevieve Pearl wiped pictures as 
 they were unpacked by Ben and took great interest in 
 the class photographs while Mrs. Jernigan looped up 
 clean curtains. The doorbell jingled and Ben ran down 
 to return with a basket of apples for Northmore. 
 
 " Them's Daddy Pocock's Maiden's Blush," com- 
 mented his mother positively. 
 
 " Yes, he said he wouldn't come up because it was his 
 bed time. He'll be round to-morrow." 
 
 "He was here this afternoon," and Mrs. Jernigan 
 stepped down from her chair and reached for a tack
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 133 
 
 hammer. " Now, what you s'pose he wants to know, 
 Mr. Northmore ? " 
 
 " I never could guess a conundrum in my life," and 
 the minister pried the last board from the top of a box. 
 
 " Well, he wanted to know if I thought it was safe 
 fur him to rent the parsonage. He asked how long 
 you'd taken these rooms fur, an* I told him you was 
 built in like you meant to stay. He said, well, there 
 was no tellin'. You couldn't count on a young man 
 an* you'd been seen out walkin' twice with Silence Gar- 
 nett an' stayin' all the fall up at her very house 
 he 'lowed you mightn't be a single man very long." 
 
 Northmore looked annoyed and jerked out a packet 
 of manuscript : " I hope you set his mind at rest," he 
 remarked shortly. 
 
 " No, I couldn't. I told him that Silence Garnett 
 was the prettiest and sweetest girl in town, and that if 
 you could see her every day an' not try to cut out that 
 fire-eatin' missionary that's worryin' the life out of 
 her, you wasn't a human man. An' I told him that if 
 it was to be Silence I'd let you go with all my heart and 
 jine these rooms up agin fur some other boarder, I'd 
 be so happy to have her took out of danger." 
 
 " I don't think there's any chance for anyone else 
 while Mr. Firestone is in the field," he said seriously. 
 Harrington dropped the dictionary he was lifting and 
 it crashed, open, upon a little water colour which Gene- 
 vieve had laid down, and broke the glass. The young 
 man picked it up, his face painfully flushed, and North- 
 more hastened to assure him that the damage was in-
 
 134. ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 consequent. He put the book in its place while Mrs. 
 Jernigan turned and said, to him only : 
 
 " I wasn't sure before, but I know now," and louder, 
 " If anybody else but Billy Canter cares for that girl, 
 I don't see why he don't " 
 
 "Yes, why doesn't he? " echoed Harrington bitterly. 
 " If you try hard I think you can find a reason or two 
 yourself, Mrs. Jernigan. I'm sorry for poor Billy 
 Canter." 
 
 " Don't you worry ! Billy Canter's been in love with 
 every girl in town these last twenty years he's in love 
 with 'em all yet but the trouble is, there's so many and 
 he loves 'em all so much that some other fellow always 
 gets ahead of Billy and breaks his heart. I've com- 
 forted him 'leven or twelve times, myself. But it's 
 dangerous now, and Silence's mother's no good at all 
 where religion's concerned." 
 
 " I'll have to go to the store now," remarked Har- 
 rington nervously. " I'm sorry but good-night." 
 
 Mrs. Jernigan looked after him with motherly con- 
 cern. The monotonous note of her husband's occupa-* 
 tion had made an accompaniment for this bit of side 
 talk. Northmore was too near to escape listening 
 to it: 
 
 " He depended a wonderful sight on authority, Mr. 
 Martin always did. I argued with him that authority 
 was as likely to be wrong as right. 'Now, f 'r ii^stance,' 
 says I, ' take the personal devil. What's the need of 
 authority on a question like that, that a man can argue 
 out for himself. Now, the evidences of a personal
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 135 
 
 devil,' says I, ' are so plain that to a man that can argue 
 there ain't an agument on the other side, not one. How 
 are you ever goin' to punish the wicked if there ain't a 
 place to put 'em in? An' how are you goin' to run a 
 place to put 'em in without a ruler of that place?' An* 
 there I had him. Good man, too, Mr. Martin was, 
 but mighty weak in argument. Now, there was another 
 ques " 
 
 " Move over, pa, an' let Mr. Northmore drive the 
 nail fur that looking glass. Too bad we scared out 
 poor Mr. Harrington. I thought he was tender there, 
 an' I wanted him to know that he'd better hustle if he's 
 got his eye on Silence or you either, Mr. Northmore. 
 Makes no difference so's it ain't Africa." 
 
 " question that I argued with Mr. Mar " 
 
 " You can't set there either, pa, for I've got to put 
 the table " 
 
 " tin and I got the best of " 
 
 " Nor in the door, either, for I've got to go back and 
 forth." 
 
 " him in that, too. He had a no " 
 
 "You'll blister that cheer settin' so clost to the 
 fire " 
 
 " tion that the Atone " 
 
 " Your rockers is scrapin' the lounge, there." 
 
 " ment was a was a now, Susan, don't chase me 
 out of the winder. Mr. Northmore can't get no sense 
 of what I'm sayin* if you keep me hoppin' round like I 
 was on a hot griddle." 
 
 "Well, he'll have to wait then, fur I'm through an*
 
 136 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 I'm goin' to chase you down stairs now, an' leave him 
 to himself. Ben, you pack down them boxes an' clear 
 up the litter the best you can. I'll sweep in the 
 mornin'." 
 
 Northmore found a safe and practical adviser in many 
 instances in his large-hearted landlady, whose capabili- 
 ties quite obliterated any slight deficiencies in her house- 
 keeping. She was an excellent cook and her house 
 was scrupulously clean if never quite in order. A rumor 
 that Priscilla Munson had had a spell would send her 
 off before the dishes she was washing were put away, 
 or Tilly Hopper's baby would get a button in its throat 
 while she was cleaning the stairs and she would run to 
 its assistance, leaving the pan of soapsuds on the 
 second step in the shadow. But Northmore learned 
 to be wary after he had stepped into it once, and to look 
 for a kitten or blacking brush in his chair at table after 
 he had once sat down on these misplaced articles. When 
 he had at length persuaded his hostess to return her 
 cherished plush rocker to the parlour and let him buy 
 a light one for his own use, he was entirely comfortable. 
 He found time in the lengthening evenings, before his 
 cheery grate fire, to carry on the course in mythology, 
 which he had begun at Mr. Garnett's, but much of his 
 daylight time was given to the all-important Thanks- 
 giving dinner for the poor of the town, which was com- 
 ing on with wonderful preparation. Florida could think 
 and talk of littte else, and spared neither effort nor ex- 
 pense to make it successful. Northmore, in his great 
 dread of disappointment for her, was making a house-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 137 
 
 to-house canvass with personal invitations and explana- 
 tions. He discovered during this canvass that he was 
 known and treated with deep respect by all the native 
 population of the Island quarter for his interest in Mrs. 
 Ellis and his officiating at her husband's funeral, which 
 had been so largely attended that the coffin had been 
 carried into the yard that all might hear him from 
 whence the crowd overflowed into the road. Since 
 that day scarcely a blackened miner or overalled work- 
 ing man passed him without a respectful lifting of the 
 hat. He was taking the utmost advantage of this popu- 
 larity to secure a good attendance at the great event. 
 
 Meanwhile his presence was required daily at a com- 
 mittee meeting, and he often had some function to per- 
 form in the work itself. Miss Drysdale proved to be a 
 manager of experience and ability, and Florida's antici- 
 pations rose enthusiastically as the day drew near and 
 one stage of accomplishment after another was passed. 
 It had proved that the warehouse was full of wheat but 
 that was no obstacle to her. It was soon emptied, wired 
 for electric lighting in lieu of sufficient windows 
 piped for steam heating from an adjacent stave fac- 
 tory thoroughly cleaned and its brown interior walls 
 covered with white bunting, of which a false ceiling was 
 also made and prettily decorated in the national colours. 
 
 " So many of them will be foreigners, you know, and 
 it will be a pleasant association of the flag," she said. 
 
 " That's a bright idea," endorsed Northmore. It 
 was the last afternoon, and the committee were inspect- 
 ing to see that everything was ready for the next day.
 
 138 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 Florida was flushed, eager, tired, a little dishevelled 
 enough to be lovelier than ever and confident of suc- 
 cess. It did not occur to her that her own complete 
 preparation was not the only factor of success, and 
 Northmore knew that she had unconsciously laid the 
 burden of securing guests upon him and with implicit 
 confidence. No doubt of that feature of the occasion 
 appeared to enter her mind and he grew sick with ap- 
 prehension when he saw the extent of her expectation. 
 He stood, hammer in hand, looking about to see that the 
 mottoes were all straight, and Florida, a tangle of red, 
 white, and blue ribbons over her arm, had come down 
 the long floor to join him. Doctor Tommy and Carrie 
 were inspecting tall stacks of plates upon white-covered 
 side tables of planking. 
 
 "Will it all do? "she smiled. 
 
 "Do!" He fairly groaned. " It is too beautiful. It 
 is so fine that I that it's going to cost immensely." 
 
 " Is that all you were going to say? I hope it will. 
 I want it to be as fine and dainty and good as if the 
 best people in the country I mean the richest were 
 going to come. And we have done the best we could 
 with the place." 
 
 Olive Drysdale crossed from the open door to know 
 if another load of chrysanthemums could be used. 
 
 " Yes, indeed, if there's another load left in the green- 
 house. But what can we put them in? Everything is 
 full now." 
 
 " I'll drive over for my umbrella stand," volunteered 
 Doctor Tommy. " And I'll gather up the rest on my
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 139 
 
 street. You might put a few more bunches on those 
 long tables while I'm gone. You can't get them over- 
 done." 
 
 " I do wonder if we'll have room for everybody," pon- 
 dered Florida with anxious eyes. 
 
 " How many do you think you have prepared for ? " 
 asked Northmore. 
 
 " Six hundred. Doctor Tommy says he heard people 
 five miles the other side of Bellevue talking about it yes- 
 terday." 
 
 " Are they coming ? " Northmore faced him sud- 
 denly. 
 
 " I why, I think so. They were full of questions 
 about it. The whole county is talking about it." 
 
 " Oh, dear, what shall we do if things give out? We 
 can seat each table three times if the food holds out. 
 I hope the caterer is prepared for that. Oh, if any- 
 body goes away without a good dinner all that he 
 can eat, I should never forgive myself. I feel it so 
 when I drive by the poor little houses and see wornout 
 women and little children that are cold and then go 
 home where there is too much of everything! I wake 
 up in the night when the wind sings around the house 
 oh, for once in their lives everybody in the county who 
 comes shall have a good dinner." 
 
 " He certainly will. Why, Floss, you've got a gov- 
 ernment contract out there. I've seen a few such things, 
 too." 
 
 " But think how many there'll be ! There are all 
 those glassworkers in Bellevue and Mogadonia I
 
 140 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 hadn't counted them in and there'll be three or four 
 hundred of them alone and their families. Then there 
 are hundreds of colliers scattered all through these hills 
 and every quarryman will come because father owns 
 the quarries and the Smelt Furnace down at Mosely's 
 Junction only think of it! There will be at least a 
 thousand and we've only given the order for six hun- 
 dred. Then there'll be some farmers and lumbermen 
 why, what in the world shall we do? " 
 
 She turned to the others in consternation. 
 
 "Don't worry, dearie. If we run out we'll just call 
 on the town people to give us their dinners and eat bread 
 and butter themselves. They'd all do it. Don't you 
 worry," comforted Olive. 
 
 " Indeed, they would and come and help us besides," 
 added Mrs. Tommy, wiping her grimy hands on an over- 
 worked towel for she had been making evergreen let- 
 ters. " And isn't it the prettiest place you ever saw ! 
 What a surprise it will be as they all come in ! No one 
 would dream of such a transformation." 
 
 They all turned to take in the completed effect with 
 critical eye; the long high room gave a surprising ef- 
 fect of purity as well as beauty in its elaborate deco- 
 rations. Six long immaculately white tables, each laid 
 for sixty people, stretched down the main floor, while 
 smaller tables were placed in corners ready for use when 
 the others should be filled. There were chrysanthemums 
 and carnations in lavish abundance wherever they could 
 be bestowed, adding their splendor to the general effect. 
 
 " Now, is everything ready ? " asked Florida. " Be-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 141 
 
 cause, you know, we shall have to seat people over and 
 over at the tables, and we mustn't leave one thing to be 
 thought of after the rush begins." 
 
 "That's right," endorsed Olive Drysdale. "They 
 come in swarms they have one advantage that you can 
 count upon, they will absorb a big dinner with record 
 speed. You can count on their places quicker than you 
 could imagine without experience. But let us make 
 sure ; let us each go over our particular department and 
 see that everything is ready." 
 
 They carefully went the rounds and found nothing 
 wanting. By the time they met again a footman stood 
 inside the door to announce that the carriage had come 
 for the two girls, and Northmore held their long auto 
 coats for them, and then went out to hand them in. 
 The soft sad gloom of the November evening fell as a 
 curtain, and he stood to watch the carriage roll out of 
 sight, lifting his hat unconsciously to it, as in a rever- 
 ence that could find no other expression and with a 
 heartfelt, desperate prayer that that gentle heart might 
 be spared the stab of disappointment on the next day. 
 Yet he lay anxious through sleepless hours, counting 
 again and again that elusive sum, the number of people 
 who are dependable in any event. And the number rose 
 and fell as he counted it from every source of his re- 
 liance. 
 
 Thanksgiving Day dawned cold, with whirls of wind 
 and stinging sleet and a low firmament of slaty cloud. 
 Towards noon a cold wave blew out of the northwest 
 and froze the sleet, which stopped falling. Northmore
 
 142 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 was early at the warehouse with a sullen foreboding 
 weighing at his heart which he could not dispel, even 
 when the Heathermuir carriage arrived and Florida 
 came in with a radiant face and the daintiest of white 
 dresses. The perfection of readiness and the savory 
 fragrance which already filled the town were to her a 
 realisation of success. Each attendant came in with 
 an exclamation of wonder at the finished effect, even 
 those who had helped to make it. The largest bakeries 
 had been chartered for the day, and were already send- 
 ing out tantalising odours of roasting turkey, escalloped 
 oysters, mince pie, and plum pudding. Soon the aroma 
 of good coffee penetrated to every street with its cor- 
 dial invitation. Florida was now in such a flutter of 
 tremulous expectation that she could do nothing but 
 hover about the tables and glance at the door. Her 
 eyes were feverishly brilliant, while Northmore's heart 
 was pounding in an agony of suspense out of all pro- 
 portion to the importance of the occasion but not to 
 the passion that possessed him. At a quarter to twelve 
 it had grown so intense that he, too, could do nothing 
 but watch the door. At twelve it flew open and seven 
 schoolboys pushed one another in. Florida flew to meet 
 them. 
 
 " There, they're coming now ! I do hope that we 
 have enough!" she cried joyously to Northmore. as 
 she passed him. 
 
 " Surely ! " He went to glance down the street. The 
 pleasant Irish woman who had been Florida's friend 
 ever since the Children's Day at Heathermuir was com-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 143 
 
 ing with her family and a neighbour's, eleven in all. 
 Next arrived a delegation from Shantytown, women 
 with little shawls on their heads and men with funny 
 little hats and hobnailed shoes. They hovered doubt- 
 fully in a corner, awed and suspicious of such splendour 
 of table linen and forks, and had to be persuaded in 
 pantomime to seat themselves. Then three town bums 
 slouched in and threw their hats under the table, sitting 
 on the side of their chairs and despatching this unusual 
 liberality of free lunch with the providence of a squirrel 
 laying in a winter suply. Two coloured men came next, 
 followed by five of the muddy, nameless nondescripts 
 who are a part of the equipment of the railroad station 
 of a country town, and who appear to exist upon the" 
 fascination of the trains they never take. After this 
 there was a lull. It was twenty minutes to one, and less 
 than forty persons were seated at one of the long tables. 
 
 " I'm glad they came early, so that we can set the 
 table again for the rush," whispered Florida when 
 Northmore had lifted his voice in an unsteady invoca- 
 tion. He had reached the stage when his ancestral in- 
 stincts would have delighted in going out with a shot- 
 gun for delinquents who had scorned this feast and 
 its dear hostess. Could anyone who had looked into 
 those tender, eager eyes ever do an unkind thing again, 
 he wondered. She was lifting them to him now: 
 
 " There's someone trying to open the door. Go 
 quick and let him in ! " 
 
 Three well-dressed little girls were trying to peep 
 through the glass panel that had been put in.
 
 144 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Come in, dearies. Were you afraid? " she asked in 
 a tone that must have drawn the stones from the street, 
 thought the man beside her. The first one shrank back 
 and ducked her head. 
 
 " No, ma'am, we dassent. We went to get the mail 
 at the post office and we just wanted to peep in and 
 see what it looked like." 
 
 " Go all round and look at everything. Can't you 
 really have your dinners here? I would love to have 
 
 you." 
 
 " No, ma'am, our mothers wouldn't know where we 
 are." 
 
 " Couldn't you go and ask them if you might come, 
 just for fun, you know? You might ask some little 
 children that you know of who who haven't any 
 Thanksgiving dinner whose mothers were too busy, 
 you know. Couldn't you think of someone? We'd love 
 to have them and their mothers and fathers. They 
 don't know that, do they? " 
 
 The little girls appeared to think not, and Northmore 
 turned savagely to her. 
 
 " People don't seem to understand ! And they aren't 
 worth the trouble if if they would do such a thing." 
 
 The little girls tiptoed around the tables, accepted all 
 the fruit and candy they could carry away, and went 
 home. Another bunch of schoolboys peeped in, giggled, 
 and stumped their leader to take a seat, following him. 
 A small battalion of town loafers slunk in, having al- 
 ready absorbed celebration of the day to the limit of 
 their credit and reliability of legs. These were fol-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 145 
 
 lowed by about twenty of the people who were pledged 
 to Northmore to come. He sent a boy with a note to 
 Mrs. Jernigan in hot haste. The first table had not yet 
 been filled, as its guests had come scatteringly enough to 
 succeed each other. The other tables stretched in long, 
 glittering emptiness, their volunteer attendants stand- 
 ing in white-aproned rows against the walls, whisper- 
 ing conjectures that were needlepoints to Northmore's 
 sensitive consciousness. The orchestra discoursed popu- 
 lar selections, and the few guests were stuffed till they 
 begged surcease of hospitality. 
 
 A portly figure entered with a blast of cold air, and 
 Florida flew to greet him. It was the Old Doctor, es- 
 corting a pathetic young woman in a light crochet 
 shawl, leading two purple-cold children in scant attire. 
 
 " I don't know why you should be surprised to see 
 me," he began with gruff tenderness to her. " Carrie 
 wanted to put me off with a promise of turkey on Sun- 
 day and a cold lunch to-day, but my gracious, when 
 the whole town smells of this dinner I'm not going to 
 eat cold lunch! I like good dinners too well to miss a 
 thing like this. I wanted some good company, so I 
 stepped over and asked Mrs. Hadder if she'd come with 
 an old fellow and she was very nice about it. These 
 women never cook a meal unless there's a man in the 
 house. Now, Laura, we want to sit where they won't 
 slight us. You take the baby and I'll look out for the 
 little man." 
 
 Not less than ten attendants sprang to wait on the 
 Old Doctor, but he chose Florida herself, stopping to
 
 146 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 pat her shoulders and say : " You're going to spoil us 
 in this town so bad that we'll never get back to our fod- 
 der. But it's a grand thing to do, honey, and it's bound 
 to set us a pace. Now, I'm too weak to speak again 
 till I've had some of those things that smell so good." 
 
 Which was literally true of his companion. The poor 
 girl was a deserted wife whose destitution was tragic. 
 She had hardly been helped when Mrs. Jernigan came 
 in like a burst of sunshine, with a little party in tow. 
 Her voice rang out cheerily: 
 
 " I told Mis' Buckley here that I thought Florida 
 Morgan'd like to have some of us quality fur comp'ny to 
 dinner, an' I dared her to come. I put away my turkey 
 fur Sunday, because Florida's got both of my young 
 men down here an' I hadn't nobody to cook fur, as you 
 might say, an' I tole Mis' Buckley to keep her'n same 
 way and we'd have two Thanksgivin's. I 'lowed to her 
 it would be right nice to eat one dinner we didn't cook 
 fur ourselves. How-d'ye-do, Florida? What a lovely 
 young lady you've growed up to be ! Miss Morgan, let 
 me make you acquainted with my friend Mis' Buckley 
 an' her two daughters an' her little boys an' with Mr. 
 Jernigan an' my son an' daughter." 
 
 " Oh, you dear ! " whispered Florida irrelevantly, 
 clasping the two red hands in her white ones : " You 
 dear! I shall always love you for doing it. They're 
 famished." For this family was one of the town mys- 
 teries. Nobody knew how they lived, and all the mem- 
 bers were of the transparent delicacy produced by semi- 
 starvation. Florida could hardly permit the eager
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 147 
 
 waiters to serve them. She hovered around, passing 
 them everything in sight over and over again. 
 
 A few bashful young farmers came in for the lark, 
 some glassworks people, not blowers who receive high 
 wages, but labourers, and an occasional straggler until 
 three o'clock, when it was evident that " the rush " 
 was over. But one table had been used. Then the 
 committee ate their own dinner, Florida opposite North- 
 more, with a white face, before an untouched plate. He 
 noticed that she ate nothing but a few Malaga grapes. 
 Later in the evening, when the assistants of the day had 
 gone, Mrs. Jernigan bustled up to her: 
 
 " Now, Florida if you're short of help clearin* up, 
 Mis' Buckley an me'll delight to pitch in an' help 
 a while fur some o' these good pervisions that you've 
 got left. They mustn't be wasted an' it'll save us 
 cookin'." 
 
 " You shan't do a thing, you dear. You're my guest 
 for the day and I'll send a waggon round with some- 
 thing that will give you both a rest from cooking. You 
 were so good to joke and help entertain the people, and 
 everybody loves you so. You and the doctor saved the 
 day for me." 
 
 "All right, if you're so easy as that, I reckon it's 
 not our lookout, Mis' Buckley, is it? And we've had 
 the time of our lives." 
 
 " Well ! " and the Old Doctor crowded nearer. " Why 
 don't I come in on that? Laura Hadder and I don't 
 like to cook any better than other folks. I could carry 
 a good big basket far's her house, anyway." A hint
 
 148 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 which was quickly taken. The basket he carried was 
 really a load for him. They watched his wide form pilot- 
 ing his little party through the door, then Florida, 
 Silence, Olive, and the two young men gathered near 
 one of the heaters in the deepening gloom. Silence was 
 putting on her wraps to go home, and Harrington 
 was waiting to go with her. Nobody could find a 
 topic that would break the painful quiet. Someone 
 came in. 
 
 " It's the Old Doctor. He forgot something," an- 
 nounced Florida, making out the round figure. 
 
 " No, I didn't, honey. I came back to tell you what 
 a field you've planted this cold day. It's all under- 
 ground, but don't mind that, my child. That's the 
 place to plant seed but you must cultivate it right. 
 And now, to the present question; what are you going 
 to do with all this car load of delicious food? " 
 
 " That's what we can't imagine. Of course we must 
 give it to the poor but how? How can we distribute 
 such a quantity in the short time we have ? " 
 
 " Give it ! nonsense ! Don't you give away a pound 
 of it ! I'm an old man and I know this town like a book. 
 They don't deserve it, either, though that's not the 
 question. I've got the right scheme, if you'll only agree 
 to it. You must sell that stuff." 
 
 " Sell it ! But we can't. Who would buy it? " 
 
 " The people who need it most. It would get to the 
 right places fast enough." 
 
 "But, how can we advertise it? The papers won't 
 come out till Saturday. How can we reach people ? "
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 149 
 
 " Easiest thing about it. Tell one woman tell Susan 
 and one small boy. You see, I know." 
 
 " And who who will see to it ? " 
 
 " Set the dominie and Harrington and my boy 
 Tommy at it. They'll be good shopkeepers. Put up a 
 placard on the door before you leave now. And let me 
 help you with prices. It must be a bargain sale, you 
 know, but not too cheap. Now, run along, Silence, or 
 you'll take cold staying in here with that big coat on. 
 I tell you, dominie, I'm proud when these babies of mine 
 grow up and do things in the world." 
 
 " Oh, doctor, you are the dearest darling old com- 
 forter! I wonder if they really will buy this stuff. 
 When I think of that I begin to know what an awful 
 failure it was." 
 
 " Wait and see," whispered Northmore. " It's a 
 great beginning. The doctor is right, and I've got 
 an idea out of it." 
 
 They sat down at a small table to arrange a method 
 for the sale and to write the placard, and Florida watched 
 them in silence. Suddenly she sprang to her feet, ran 
 to the partitioned-off pantry, dropped into a wooden 
 chair, and burst into heartbreaking sobs. After a time 
 Northmore followed her and in a moment the doctor 
 followed him. 
 
 " They were a little afraid of you, honey, that's all," 
 said the Old Doctor, coming upon Northmore's helpless 
 figure standing beside the girl. 
 
 " Afraid of me? " The exquisite tremolo of 
 grieved wonder was more than the young man could
 
 150 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 bear. He went away and left her with the doctor. " It's 
 your your money and your education and your travel 
 and your beauty," the doctor said. " There's too 
 much difference." 
 
 " Oh, but there isn't. I was homesick for the place, 
 and all of them. The first person we met upon the 
 platform when we came home from abroad was dear old 
 Daddy Pocock. I think he had never spoken to me 
 before, but he shook my hand and said, * Why, Sissy 
 Morgan, how you've growed up ! ' and I believe I 
 hugged him." 
 
 The bargain sale opened briskly the next morning, 
 so briskly indeed that the town marshal had to be 
 called early to keep the people in orderly procession at 
 the entrance. The women of Whisky Island, the farthest 
 part of the town, were waiting in a crowd when the door 
 was opened at eight o'clock. They carried large bas- 
 kets and were voluble in many languages. The wives 
 of quarrymen and furnacemen and colliers and lumber- 
 men and glassworkers were all there with plenty of 
 money for their purchases, driving sharp bargains for 
 the food they had been invited to eat free. Others were 
 there whom the Old Doctor rejoiced to see, the half-fed 
 respectable who manage to live upon an income of 
 nothing at all and who are really the keenest sufferers, 
 mentally and physically, in any community. These 
 came in heartbreaking makeshifts of clothing, with 
 hungry eyes and transparent little lies to one another 
 about the convenience of buying something when one 
 was so busy!
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 151 
 
 Nothing surprised Northmore so much as the para- 
 doxical haggling over the nominal prices of things 
 which the buyers had refused as a gift. The price of 
 a roast turkey was forty cents twenty cents for a half, 
 but when the big ones were gone the buyers demanded 
 a reduction to thirty-five for the smaller ones. Cran- 
 berry sauce brought six cents a quart ; Mocha and Java 
 coffee, ten cents a pound ; bread, two cents a loaf ; plum- 
 pudding, ten cents a pound, and ice cream, fifteen cents 
 a brick. Oysters, cream, celery, butter, sweet potatoes, 
 cake, candy, pies, fruit, nuts, all went as fast as they 
 could be handled. The crowd was so dense and so clam- 
 orous that it hindered the selling, and it was long past 
 noon when the supply was at last exhausted. As the 
 last one turned away, and Northmore locked the door, 
 the Old Doctor came up beaming with satisfaction: 
 
 " Now, it's come out right after all. The people you 
 invited to that dinner have got it and not in charity. 
 I tell you, the problem of this world is not how to give 
 alms, but how to put the good things where the poor 
 can buy them." 
 
 Northmore smiled bitterly, thinking of the girl whq 
 was grieved to the heart : " I suppose they will warm up 
 that banquet on their own tables, and it will have the 
 flavour of independence with the aromatic sauce of a 
 baragin ! ' 
 
 " Exactly," said the Old Doctor.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 NORTHMOKE'S horse rustled knee-deep through glossy 
 brown leaves thick with the long ripening of the autumn 
 just past; his reins lay slack in his hand; his eyes were 
 soft with feeling, for every sense thrilled to the requiem 
 of the Indian summer day with which the forest colon- 
 nades were vibrant. He loved this mood of the repent- 
 ant December afternoon that filched from June a holi- 
 day whose glow turned purple and umber to topaz and 
 dust of gold. In its harmonies were voices which stilled 
 the depths of the man's troubled soul with the first peace 
 it had known for weeks. 
 
 So softly he drove on the hidden trail that creatures 
 of the woods feared him no more than a rustling breeze. 
 More than once a covey of timid quail ran across the 
 road before him and hid their speckled bodies in pawpaw 
 thickets, while fat squirrels with winter stores in their 
 pouched cheeks scurried up rough trees in whose bare 
 branches crows were noisily quarrelling. The slow pace 
 carried him at last to the top of the hill, where he 
 stopped to gaze lovingly over the panorama of bil- 
 lowing valley and range that he never passed in haste. 
 A familiar figure standing with bared head in the sun- 
 light of the lonely spot, caught his eye, and at sound 
 of hoofs upon the windswept summit the pleasant pink 
 face turned to him, alight with greeting. 
 
 152
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 153 
 
 "What are you doing up here, Mr. Garnett? " asked 
 Northmore, leaning out to speak to him. 
 
 " I'm well, since you ask, I think I must have been 
 worshipping." 
 
 " I didn't mean that, of course. I wanted to know if 
 you were here without a buggy so that I might have 
 your company home." 
 
 " Yes, indeed, you may. I was waiting for the nar- 
 row-guage train to take me home all the way round by 
 Mosely's with an hour yet to wait for it. But I 
 wouldn't mind that up here in these woods. I guess 
 I'm a sort of pantheist. I do literally worship here 
 and I sometimes think " his face lighted with solemn 
 joy " that I've been in the Eternal presence. I 
 have almost talked with God." 
 
 " I understand perfectly. I come to the hills myself 
 for help when I'm overwhelmed." 
 
 " It's the only place where a man can see himself 
 clearly. I tell you, Mr. Northmore, the old heathen 
 got a good deal nearer to God than we admit. Their 
 vocabulary was so primitive that the antiquarians never 
 got at the soul of their beliefs." 
 
 "I am just reaching that conclusion myself; you 
 know I am deep in myth study began it at your house 
 and I find it illuminating. As you say, we never get 
 the hyponoia of myths their inner meaning. I can 
 read into most of them a crude conception of God." 
 
 " In the Aryan myths ? " 
 
 " Yes, though it is clearer in the Semitic myths. 
 Their monotheism is absolute. The Aryan myths are
 
 154 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 poetic and diffused; they are full of demi-gods, but 
 behind all the beautiful imagery is the conception of 
 Deity, absolute and omnipotent." 
 
 " Aren't you afraid, Mr. Northmore? " 
 
 "Of what?" 
 
 " Of probing too far." 
 
 " What is the danger? " 
 
 " Of running down your own doctrines in some pagan 
 myth." 
 
 Northmore flushed consciously and Mr. Garnett has- 
 tened to add, " You're doing such good work that I 
 should hate to see you run on a sharp rock." 
 
 "What I have thus far found is to the contrary ef- 
 fect. That the pagans found God in natural phenom- 
 ena before the day of Revelation is the tremendous 
 proof. It is like the appearance of the eye in animal 
 life to mark the first flood of light in primeval dark- 
 ness. The first response to Deity is marked by savage 
 myth." 
 
 " There's no danger that you will get away from 
 Deity anywhere in anthropology; it is in history itself, 
 the mass of what is called ' superstition ' in early times 
 and * bigotry ' in modern, that will trip you up. Bigotry 
 has been the ball and chain upon moral progress since 
 the world began. It is the ball and chain upon the foot 
 of the Church right now when every force of the age 
 is calling for freedom of thought. But it is necessary 
 for you to keep within your bounds if you are to con- 
 tinue the splendid work you have begun and if you 
 don't stop right where you are, you will run upon big-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 155 
 
 otry so near home it will paralyse you. Forewarned 
 is forearmed, you know." 
 
 The young man bristled : " Don't you think the true 
 and false are as readily separated now as in the past? " 
 
 " More so. That is exactly your danger. You will 
 undermine your own foundations." 
 
 " If they're so slight that the reading of open history 
 will cave them in, the sooner I am exposed the better. 
 I hope I know the difference between truth and bigotry." 
 
 " The very rock I struck. Therefore I give warn- 
 
 ing." 
 
 " Just what is your definition of bigotry, Mr. Gar- 
 nett?" 
 
 " The adherance to ancient theology by leaders who 
 would not tolerate antique methods in any exact science. 
 As well go back to Galileo for our astronomy or Escu- 
 lapius for our medicine." 
 
 " The great religious reformers stood on mountain 
 peaks above the bigotry of their day." 
 
 " So they did, Mr. Northmore, and all honour to them 
 forever but their mountains are submerged till they 
 are hardly islands now. Why should we use antiquated 
 and imperfect standards for so important a function as 
 morality, when every force of the time calls for pro- 
 gressive new standards to keep pace with the rush of 
 the world in all other ways? John Calvin was a torch 
 bearer for his time, but his followers in their turn clung 
 to his rule and heaped ignominy upon a far greater 
 man who rose to deliver them a century later. Voltaire 
 was reviled by the bigotry of the very sects for whom
 
 156 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 he gave his talent, his long life, and his fortune, to pre- 
 vent their utter extermination. That is one instance. 
 Religion does not suffer, but, unfortunately, it is the 
 effete theology of a past age that you in the pulpit have 
 to preach. That must soon go. You will discover that 
 we need what Voltaire's age needed a sloughing off of 
 ancient creeds, a crystallisation of truth a church to 
 God, as he built one. The moral need of to-day is a 
 new statement of religious tenets." 
 
 '* Ah ! " said Northmore, with his long breath, " then 
 you are advising me to pilot my people through a chan- 
 nel which I dare not chart for myself." 
 
 " Not quite. You may avoid the rocks of ages, but 
 you can't blast them out. You can break yourself on 
 them and ruin your chance of usefulness, but your peo- 
 ple wouldn't tolerate any radical advance and you 
 couldn't outgrow your church. So, steer around the 
 rocks." 
 
 " At the cost of sincerity ? " 
 
 Mr. Garnett laughed : " Well, that's a question. You 
 are sincere now ; keep so by staying where you are." 
 
 They had reached the shoulder of Old Whiteface and 
 the horse stopped for his customary rest after the climb. 
 The warm red of a winter sunset glowed behind the 
 hills which rose in great scallops against it, fringed 
 with bare forests, delicate as filaments of seaweed. Both 
 men looked down upon the town in the hollow spanned 
 by the filigree of high trestles between the lulls, and 
 Mr. Garnett pointed to his pottery: 
 
 " Now, what a fool I was to wander off on the inde-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 157 
 
 terminate subject of theology when there's one at my 
 heart that I really wanted to talk to you about ! The 
 new plans have come and I want you to see them for 
 my pet building, you know. I think they're pretty 
 nearly what we wanted. There's no reason why we 
 can't begin upon them next spring and I'm impatient 
 to get to work." 
 
 " So soon as that? " Northmore roused from his 
 abstraction, glowing with interest. " I hope so. Call 
 upon me whenever you like." 
 
 " Oh, I'm going to do that. The plan is largely 
 yours as it stands now, and the most important thing 
 of all, the management, is in your hands. I shall feel 
 that I haven't lived in vain if I can see that building 
 completed and in running order. You will have to 
 watch it closely for the first five years. Everything de- 
 pends upon the start. Can't you drive round to the 
 works now and glance at the plans ? " 
 
 Northmore did so, for he was anxious to see them. 
 The men were just leaving for the night, and he noticed 
 the friendliness with which they welcomed back their 
 employer after his week of absence. Mr. Garnett took 
 him up to a small private room which he had never seen 
 before, a sanctum adjoining the office. He glanced in 
 wonder over the shelves of dignified volumes. 
 
 "What a tremendous reader you are, Mr. Garnett! 
 I don't wonder that you have broken the traces; you 
 have run the whole course. From Kant to Hegel is a long 
 leap ; Fichte, Descartes, Schopenhauer philosopher 
 of words ! " He ran eagerly through the next case.
 
 158 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Why, you have a whole library in this. I wish I were 
 familiar with them all myself the best thought of 
 the last half century this English school Herbert 
 Spencer, Huxley, Tyndall, Darwin, Ward, Lewes, 
 Buckle, John Stuart Mill look at them! and only 
 one case. Does the royal company run clear round the 
 room? " 
 
 " See for yourself," and Mr. Garnett made the only 
 gesture of pride his friend ever saw in him. " Yes, I 
 have some rare spirits there. I have to be here all the 
 time so I brought them over. My wife there are 
 some things about which she is a little prejudiced and 
 I like to have them handy. If you intend to go on with 
 your study you'll find some help here and I hope you'll 
 make use of it." 
 
 "Thank you. I shall avail myself of that privilege. 
 I'm going to begin with the book I want right now, Max 
 Muller's ' Veda.' " 
 
 " Help yourself but I want your attention now for 
 the plans. The light is better on this table." 
 
 He spread out the blue prints and they spent an hour 
 discussing the details, over which both grew enthusias- 
 tic. It was dark when they put on their overcoats and 
 went down to the door together, still discussing the fu- 
 ture building. The personality of Mr. Garnett had 
 never so impressed Northmore before; the development 
 of his resources, his unostentatious scholarship, his 
 broad and tender charity, made his acquaintance in this 
 unexpected place an event of Northmore's life. 
 
 He had forgotten in his absorption to take the vol-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 159 
 
 ume of Max Muller, and went back after it. Mr. Gar- 
 nett waited for him at the door, and still stood there as 
 the young man repeated his " good-night " and went out 
 into the clear, soft winter night. He looked back as he 
 crossed the street. A flaring light in front illuminated 
 the genial face under its corona of beautiful white hair 
 the figure would have made a study of perfect health. 
 Northmore lifted his hat again as he caught Mr. Gar- 
 nett's eye, and was warned of a broken curb at the 
 corner; then he hurried away, congratulating himself 
 upon the richness of this friendship.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 As he fell in with the irregular homeward-bound pro- 
 cession on Main Street, his mind full of the strong, quiet 
 personality he had just left, and his courageous scheme 
 for uplifting the standards of the wicked town for its 
 youth, one brilliant beacon blazed alluringly through 
 the gloom of the long street, the red and blue' light of 
 Fury's drug store. The rapidly widening circles of 
 Northmore's mental horizon had given him farther 
 reaches of vision and made him sensitive to vicious in- 
 fluences unnoticed before. He knew something of the 
 country town and its problem, but he had not suspected 
 how difficult of solution that problem was, nor how im- 
 portant. Thus far his efforts to reach the young peo- 
 ple had failed, and for this reason he entered the more 
 heartily into Mr. Garnett's scheme, which he believed 
 would be a successful factor. 
 
 He had tried to learn where the half -grown boys and 
 girls found amusement and spent their spare evenings, 
 for he knew of no place suitable for them. As he reached 
 the door of Fury's place this evening he saw that it was 
 crowded with the very class in his thought, and as he 
 passed two boys came out and stumbled against him. 
 He stepped back laughing, and saying that he was 
 in the shadow, when he saw that they were Mr. Money- 
 penny's sons. They replied reluctantly and started 
 home, when he noticed that the younger of the two could 
 
 160
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 161 
 
 scarcely walk, and was leaning on his brother. He 
 turned after them: 
 
 "What is the matter with Willie?" he asked. 
 
 " He ain't very well," stammered the brother. 
 
 " Then you had better take him back and ask Mr. 
 Fury to see what ails him. Was he taken sick in there ? " 
 He bent over the little fellow anxiously : " Did he 
 get a soda or something to eat? " For the boy's head 
 had fallen helplessly upon his brother's shoulder. Then 
 the minister straightened suddenly. " What does this 
 mean, Jamie? Is it the first time it has happened? " 
 
 " Ye-es, sir ; no, sir I don't know. Please don't 
 tell father. I was going to take him to the barn." 
 
 " Tell me how it happened, James." The minister's 
 tone was gentle, but it had a compelling quality. 
 
 " We just went in after school to see them play bil- 
 liards on the new table, and Mr. Fury said he would 
 stand treat if anybody made a big run I don't know 
 just how big it had to be and three fellows made it. 
 Then he brought something up and gave it to them to 
 drink, and there was a lot of us kids in there, and he 
 said, ' It's too bad to leave the kids out. Come on and 
 have some, too.' I asked him what it was and he says, 
 ' Oh, it's just cider and I've watered it well.' It was 
 awful strong, though, and I didn't drink all mine, and 
 Willie took up my glass and drank it. And it made 
 him sick." 
 
 " Is Mr. Fury's billiard room over the drug store? " 
 
 " It ain't Mr. Fury's, but it's over his store, and he's 
 up there a good deal. Both the Fury boys are splendid
 
 162 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 players. There's another room where there's a little 
 table for pool." 
 
 " Does Mr. Fury sell these drinks himself? " 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 " Were they brought into the billiard room ? " 
 
 " No, we went into the other room, the hall, you 
 know, Fury's hall, where we had the school exhibition." 
 
 " I am going home with you, James or no, I will 
 not if you will promise to take Willie home and tell 
 your father just what you have told me. Will you do 
 that?" 
 
 " I don't know. Yes, sir, I will." 
 
 " Very well, good-night." 
 
 He did not recognise any of the other boys who 
 swarmed down from the stairway, and it was his supper 
 time, so Northmore hurried on, waiting a moment for 
 Harrington to leave his empty store and walk home 
 with him. He could not understand why a model store 
 should go without trade when a place of which he had 
 just learned such insidious wrong should receive the 
 patronage of the town. He knew that Harrington was 
 bitterly discouraged, and was almost ready to give 
 up the struggle. 
 
 Supper was ready and Mrs. Jernigan stood at the 
 window watching for them. She turned to give a last 
 look out at the darkness. 
 
 " You didn't see anything of my Ben, did you ? " 
 she asked, and Northmore was glad to answer in the 
 negative. Everyone else was so preoccupied during 
 the meal that Mr. Jernigan indulged in a continuous
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 163 
 
 argument with himself on the fallacy of geometry in 
 particular and a high-school education in general, citing 
 his own wisdom as a sufficient example of his position 
 in the matter. When he was left alone with Mrs. 
 Jernigan for a moment, afterwards, Northmore asked 
 abruptly, " What sort of man is Mr. Fury? " 
 
 " Joe Fury ? Oh, I can't tell you. He is the pleas- 
 antest man in town. He smiles and smiles, and his smile 
 is the worst thing about him. He would smile like that 
 if you was bein' torn to pieces before him. His heart 
 is as hard as the old greyhead out there. He's won- 
 derfully popular with the boys, chaffs with them makes 
 fun of them, too, if they're too good, and nothing kills 
 a boy like that." 
 
 " What's the reason that people don't patronise 
 Mr. Harrington? " 
 
 " One reason is that Joe Fury's got some hold on most 
 people, one way or another, and he says little things 
 about Mr. Harrington that hurt him." 
 
 "What can he say?" 
 
 " One thing is that he's a Unitarian, the only one 
 in town. He's got Mrs. Garnett down on Mr. Harring- 
 ton for that. They both say it would be more honest 
 to be an infidel out and out, that that's no religion at 
 all. It would be better for Mr. Harrington if he 
 wasn't anything." 
 
 " But Mr. Harrington attends our church regularly." 
 
 " Yes, I know he does, but he doesn't join it. Some 
 folks thinks he goes there on Silence Garnett's account, 
 but I don't believe that."
 
 164 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " And do you mean to say that there are people in 
 this age who would refuse to deal with a man -on that 
 account ? " 
 
 "Lots of 'em, just as the situation is. And Joe 
 Fury works that hard." 
 
 "Is he considered straight in his own business?" 
 
 " No, I don't think he's straight, but he's that kind 
 that you can't prove a thing on. I wouldn't trust Joe 
 Fury with a ten-cent piece. I don't think anything 
 would stop him from crookedness. I'm sure of that 
 but he's popular, and everybody is half afraid of his 
 laugh." 
 
 The minister went up to his room to try to work 
 something out of the tangle of affairs which had woven 
 round him, but found Harrington standing before the 
 blazing grate. 
 
 " I was too lonesome to stay in my own room, and 
 there is no need of my going back to the store, so I 
 have come in to bother you for a while. Are you going 
 to write a sermon?" 
 
 " No, although I have a text for one. Why don't 
 you put on your slippers and sit down. I have a basket 
 of the finest pears you ever saw. My good people keep 
 me supplied with fruit of the choicest." 
 
 " Thank you, I will. I want to talk over my affairs 
 a bit, if you don't mind. I need some help if only a 
 listener." 
 
 He crossed to his own room and soon both had re- 
 laxed into slippers and house jackets and were stretched 
 luxuriously before the fire with a heaping plate of
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 165 
 
 pears on the table between them. They were talking 
 commonplaces as a sort of stairway to the more diffi- 
 cult confidences of ill luck, when the violent ringing of 
 the doorbell arrested their attention, as well as the ex- 
 cited voice which they heard in the hall below. Then 
 someone pounded up the steps and thumped the door, 
 as though in alarm. 
 
 " Mis' Garnett wants you to come over right quick, 
 Mr. Northmore," gasped Genevieve, breathlessly. 
 
 ''What for? What's the matter?" both men spoke 
 at once. 
 
 " Mr. Garnett's sick, I think." 
 
 Harrington was ready by the time that Northmore 
 had flung on his coat : " There might be something for 
 me to do," he said. " I am going with you." 
 
 The distance was so short that they reached the 
 red brick house before the doctor, and Northmore 
 led the way back to the familiar sitting-room as soon 
 as the terrified maid admitted him. Mr. Garnett lay 
 upon the couch breathing heavily. Northmore took 
 his watch and dropped his fingers upon the lax wrist 
 with such a professional manner that the women 
 watched him with intense faces. Silence knelt at her 
 father's side with her arms around him; the young 
 man pushed her gently aside while he opened the cloth- 
 ing to listen at the heart. As he lifted his face again 
 she met his eyes and read their alarm. She got to her 
 feet and fell forward with a low cry. Quick as he was, 
 it was not Northmore who caught her, but his friend, 
 who carried her to the next room, and applied a restora-
 
 166 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 tive while the others bent in wild anxiety over the un- 
 conscious form on the couch, waiting for a sign of re- 
 turning life. The three doctors arrived together, 
 the Old Doctor, Doctor Tommy, and little Benny 
 Myers, the homeopathic doctor, who was a neighbour. 
 They examined the silent form and exchanged glances. 
 Little Benny Myers stood aloof until invited by the Old 
 Doctor's eyes to speak. He had known the Old Doctor 
 from his babyhood, and though they were profession- 
 ally at sword's points, they were personally the best of 
 friends. 
 
 Suddenly Mr. Garnett opened his eyes as if waking 
 from a happy dream. " Bring her here, Harrington," 
 commanded the minister sharply. Harrington almost 
 carried the girl to her father's side; he looked up at 
 her with a conscious, loving smile, and closed his eyes 
 peacefully with a long sigh. Harrington supported 
 Silence back to the next room, and the minister took 
 Mrs. Garnett's ice-cold hand in his. She was per- 1 
 fectly collected. 
 
 " Don't tell me not yet," she begged, warning him 
 aside. 
 
 Then she fell on her knees beside her husband and 
 took the limp hands in hers with a bitter cry: "Oh, 
 my dear! Oh, my dear! And you were not ready! 
 It is more than I can bear ! " 
 
 Northmore was instantly beside her, whispering com- 
 forting words ; no one could do more for her. They 
 did not need to tell her that she was a widow, for she 
 knew it as well as they. Gently the minister lifted
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 167 
 
 her to her feet and led her to her daughter, coming 
 back himself to stand in stunned grief beside the life- 
 less form of the friend whom he had left but two hours 
 before in the bloom of health and manly vigour. 
 
 The blow had fallen so suddenly that those present 
 were paralysed; they could scarcely grasp its awful 
 fact. Outside, the news blew over the town like a 
 summer storm, and before many minutes the house 
 was full of awe-stricken, sorrowing people, eager to 
 render some service to one who appeared to have been 
 the friend of each. One of the first to arrive was 
 Mrs. Jernigan, in her gingham apron, her hands still 
 moist from the supper dishpan, carrying old flannel 
 and her camphor bottle. It was she who led Mrs. Gar- 
 nett to her bed at midnight; she who brought Silence 
 out of her long fainting fit, and cuddled her like a 
 baby, until, toward morning, the poor girl sobbed her- 
 self to sleep on that motherly breast. 
 
 When the house was at last quiet, Northmore went 
 out into the cold purity of the transparent night, and 
 walked uncertainly, not in the direction of his home, but 
 through the town and over the saddle to the spot where 
 he had parted with his friend. He was shaken to his 
 foundations by the shock, not only of personal loss, but 
 of the obliteration of the vision of widened usefulness 
 in co-operation with Mr. Garnett which he had barely 
 glimpsed before it was dashed from him. The pottery 
 hamlet was wrapped in silence as a soft garment as 
 he stood under the same lamp which had illuminated 
 the genial pink face at nightfall. The form rose
 
 168 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 before him in the doorway so vividly that it seemed 
 to be real, while he was sure that the delicate white 
 mask lying in dreamless slumber upon its last couch 
 must be a fabric of his imagination. He stood for a 
 long time in the solemn silence before he went back to 
 his room, where the dawn found him sitting with bowed 
 head over his table, before a burned-out fire. 
 
 It was a hard task for him to go back to the desolated 
 house that day, but he did so shortly before noon, and 
 confronted Elijah Sims just coming from the door. 
 Northmore had not met him since the Hallowe'en epi- 
 sode, though he had seen him at church once or twice, 
 for the habit of years was strong and the old man's 
 isolation drove him to his accustomed place rather than 
 any feeling of friendliness. The minister extended his 
 hand and it was taken. 
 
 " This is a bad occurrence, Mr. Northmore." North- 
 more winced at the hardness of the slow speech. " Sis- 
 ter Garnett feels it deeply. I think there's nothing 
 sadder than a man who's ben knowing to the means 
 of grace all his life, bein' taken unawares like this. ' Be 
 ye also ready,' that's what I was jest sayin' to Sister 
 Garnett. I feel to rejoice that I walked in the way of 
 salvation when I was young, for ' the Son of Man cometh 
 when no man knoweth,' and I don't make any excuse 
 for Proctor Garnett, not a bit. He meant to make his 
 peace at the 'leventh hour, but he was took at the tenth. 
 The young people of this town ought to take warnin* 
 at his example, fur they air a reckless lot. It ought to 
 be pinted out to them."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 169 
 
 " Do I understand that you expressed this to Mrs. 
 Garnett ? " demanded the minister. 
 
 " Why, yes, I had some conversation with her. I 
 called in to to sympathise with her. I tole her she 
 hadn't nothing to reproach herself fur; she's laboured 
 with him in season an' out. We all know that. I tole 
 her the only thing she could do now was to pint this as 
 a warnin' to her daughter and save her while it was yet 
 time. Silence ain't never ben hearty an' it's a good 
 thing to hev an example like this now an' agin." 
 
 The young man turned away abruptly with an in- 
 dignant light in his eyes. Yet as he rang the muffled 
 bell, resolving to cheer away that barbaric visitation, it 
 flashed upon him that Elijah Sims had been only literal 
 cruelly and consistently literal but no worse. What 
 could he say to a rigid literalist like Mrs. Garnett that 
 would be consistent? She met him with a sorrow in 
 her ash-grey face that was inexorable, absolute. Her 
 austere nature knew no compromise; her overwhelming 
 personal loss was subservient to the awful penalty of 
 her creed. Northmore pleaded the amelioration of 
 her husband's splendid record. She turned upon him 
 severely. 
 
 " Mr. Northmore, there is no temporising with God. 
 I have been taught from my earliest childhood that if 
 a man is not saved he is lost. There is no half-way 
 course." 
 
 " But your husband was a Christian, Mrs. Garnett, 
 even if he made no formal profession. He did not need 
 one."
 
 170 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " He had no evidence of saving grace in his heart. 
 He had never sought any. He died out of the church 
 as he had lived." 
 
 " But he believed in God, and his life was that of a 
 Christian. If that is not worthy in the sight of the 
 Just Judge, what can any man hope for? " 
 
 " Don't try to comfort me with what we both know 
 cannot be. I am not a child to catch at a false hope. 
 When you tell me that one who rejected the means of 
 salvation all his life is saved, you are telling me that 
 the Bible is false, and Christ's death for us on the cross 
 was useless. No, you need not say that. Mr. Gar- 
 nett's outward life was beyond reproach, but he was an 
 infidel at heart. He read infidel books and believed 
 them. My burden is indeed heavy, but I must bear it to 
 the end. The only thing you can do for me is to help 
 me save my child." 
 
 " Mrs. Garnett, this is simply awful. I preach no 
 such doctrine. I know that Mr. Garnett proclaimed 
 the tenets of his religion by deeds instead of words. I 
 don't know what faith it was, but I do know that it was 
 vital." 
 
 " No, no. He never accepted the efficacy of the 
 Atonement to take away sin, and he held that a man 
 should make no profession that his life did not forestall. 
 He was brought up a Hicksite Quaker, and Elias Hicks 
 was an infidel. He denied the power of Christ's blood 
 to wash away sin." 
 
 The finality of her tone precluded the offering of any 
 palliating compromise. The young man was dumb, not
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 171 
 
 daring to offer a still more urgent protest against 
 the bigotry which cast an aspersion upon the blameless 
 record of the sleeper in the next room. He had no 
 logical artillery for a mind impregnable to reasonable 
 evidence, yet he could not bear to leave such hopelessness 
 uncheered, while he dreaded the reflex effect of the 
 mother's conviction upon the daughter whom he had 
 protected as far as possible. He asked for her, but she 
 had not risen, and after another futile attempt at con- 
 solation, he went away, walking down the street in sad 
 humility of spirit. Only twice had his priestly office 
 of comforter been called into requisition, and twice he 
 had failed to fulfil it. Ellis had assailed him because 
 he represented his church. His own parishioner had 
 assailed him because he did not. Where did he stand? 
 He found himself walking in the familiar direction 
 of the pottery, drawn by a sense of responsibility to see 
 that all was well there, and by a desire to visit again the 
 spot where he had last seen the friend who had sown 
 seeds in his mind that were already germinating. He 
 was sensitive to subtle influences this morning, and it 
 struck him that he would have known the nature of 
 calamity which had befallen the town if he had come 
 into it a stranger. In the subdued groups of people 
 on corners and in doorways, in the unusual quiet of 
 the Indian summer day, in suspended business, in grave 
 faces that met him, even in the children's silence, he 
 read the sorrow of universal bereavement.' But he was 
 hardly prepared by all of this for the emotion of the 
 workmen at the pottery. The many-windowed building
 
 173 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 was closed, and only such kilns as were already fired 
 were burning; the hush of dire disaster lay upon the 
 place, where men were gathered with pale faces and 
 women wept softly in corners. 
 
 Mrs. Garnett's condemnation of her husband had sent 
 his friend away with keen regret that the good man had 
 not vindicated himself upon this one vital count which 
 must now stand forever against him, but when North- 
 more saw the size of the vacancy he had left, he knew 
 that it measured a great man. Just where, between the 
 two standards, lay the true balance, he wondered. He 
 went up to the private room where they had last talked, 
 and felt that it still vibrated with the presence he had 
 known there in its large manhood. He suddenly saw 
 the strong character with an individuality of purpose 
 too defined to be fitted into any but an individual creed, 
 a character with the high courage to live its individu- 
 ality alone. He took off his hat and stood silent a 
 moment in the presence so real that he seemed to hear 
 the hearty voice again. 
 
 Two days later the town poured around his church 
 for only three or four hundred women could get inside 
 and paid the tribute of grief to their townsman. 
 When the majestic words that are said for the dead had 
 rolled forth in his rich tenor, Northmore closed the 
 Bible and stood mute for a moment, while a long in- 
 drawn sigh went around the room. Then his words 
 rang out in no uncertain tone: 
 
 " We are come together to honour a life which 
 recorded itself in deeds, not words ; a faith which
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 173 
 
 needed no other profession than its living; a religion 
 that knew in God, the Father, and in Man, the Brother. 
 We have come to rejoice that it was our privilege to 
 witness such a life; to mourn our loss that its earthly 
 course is ended." 
 
 In silence broken only by grief, he gave a short 
 sketch of the events of Proctor Garnett's years on 
 earth.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 As early the next morning as he thought proper, North- 
 more called at the red brick house to ask how he might 
 be of use; to his surprise it was Mr. Firestone who 
 opened the door for him with the air of a resident. 
 
 " You are staying here? " asked the pastor quickly. 
 
 " Yes, I thought I might be some protection to the 
 ladies for the present, and there are many ways in 
 which a man is needed in this time of trouble." 
 
 Northmore walked into the familiar living room and 
 took his favourite chair. The grate fire was burning 
 tranquilly and the mild December sunshine made a little 
 summer of the window plants. Mr. Firestone also 
 seated himself with a sort of permanence, and Northmore 
 said: 
 
 " I came over to see what there might be to do ; I 
 hope that something is left for me. How are they 
 how is Miss Garnett? She was prostrated last night 
 by the shock." 
 
 " I haven't seen her, she hasn't been down this morn- 
 ing at all, but I should say that she will recover sooner 
 than her mother. The young are elastic and the 
 awful truths do not seem to be realised by this genera- 
 tion. But I tell you that Mrs. Garnett has a sorrow! 
 The circumstances were awful not one moment of 
 warning not one act of preparation; I was astounded 
 
 174
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 175 
 
 to learn that no prayer was offered for the dying man 
 in the few moments that might have been so used. But 
 I hope that the lesson will work a change of heart in 
 Silence." 
 
 Northmore turned upon him with asperity : " It is 
 not for us, you and me, to pronounce sentence upon 
 such a man as Mr. Garnett. God is sufficient to do him 
 justice." 
 
 Firestone flung back the rebuke : " It was doubtless 
 God's purpose to waken the daughter from her stubborn 
 apathy." 
 
 " I hope that you're not going to suggest such a 
 thing to her? " Northmore' s tone was a note of alarm. 
 
 " No better time for that will ever come." 
 
 " I beg you to remember, Mr. Firestone, that I am 
 her minister and responsible to that extent for her 
 spiritual welfare. I most strenuously object to any 
 mention of the subject in that light." 
 
 Firestone reddened visibly : " Her mother knows 
 your position in this matter, and feels that it will be 
 a great mistake not to use the opportunity. And you 
 are aware that I have a personal interest stronger than 
 that of her pastor." 
 
 " But you would not surely you would not take ad- 
 vantage of of such a sorrow for the advancement of 
 personal interests," pleaded Northmore, with visible re- 
 straint of tone and manner. 
 
 " No, of course not. I am not wholly selfish, Mr. 
 Northmore, and I would not do that if it were my 
 personal interest that was in the balance. I feel that it
 
 176 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 is a matter of duty. I must return in a short time to 
 my station. I must not go alone. The Lord has led 
 me to Silence Garnett, but she will not read the message 
 aright ; it is no mere fancy ; we she and I have no 
 right to consult our personal preference when the Lord 
 calls. I do not. I have loved once too well to give 
 her the place that is not yet empty. That is why I 
 can urge duty upon another. I fulfil it myself." 
 
 Northmore stared at him, but made no reply. He 
 did not dare to express himself. Mrs. Garnett came 
 down soon, and it developed that there was a way in 
 which he could be invaluable. Mr. Garnett had been 
 the mainspring of his business, its brain and bone. No 
 one was in training to take his place ; his wife knew of 
 no person who could even look over his affairs unless 
 Northmore would advise her or would do it himself. 
 Would he? She knew that he had had business experi- 
 ence ; she also knew that her husband had talked to him 
 of personal affairs more than to anyone else. Other- 
 wise the works must shut down for lack of a head. 
 
 Northmore knew that he would have been her hus- 
 band's choice, and though it was a curiously incon- 
 gruous blending of occupations, he gladly consented to 
 take the supervision of the business until something 
 could be decided upon, a task for which his rigid early 
 training had fitted him far better than Mrs. Garnett 
 suspected. 
 
 He took charge the next morning and found, as he 
 had expected, that the factory was in such excellent 
 running order, the workmen so competent and reliable,
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 177 
 
 and the system so methodical that only a manager was 
 needed and that, after the first few days, he would not 
 have to give too much time to it. There were spring 
 orders to be filled, and to shut down meant such disaster 
 to all concerned that it was urgent to keep the pottery 
 running. He sent what books he needed over to Mr. 
 Garnett's private room in the building, and devoted him- 
 self with such energy to his double vocation that both 
 functions were well performed. He expected to be 
 criticised, but, to his surprise, his prompt and efficient 
 action met with universal satisfaction. Northmore was 
 rapidly being assimilated by Mogadonia. His congre- 
 gations had reached the point where people went simply 
 because seats were hard to get, and one must go early. 
 He was reminded that the time was ripe for a good old- 
 fashioned revival ; he wondered if the preservation of the 
 model village, the continuation of Proctor Garnett's 
 life work, could rank in importance with his spiritual 
 field, yet he did feel that it was of sufficient need to be 
 preserved at any cost of effort. It was to him a direct 
 and sacred trust. 
 
 There was a selfish advantage in the demand upon his 
 time and thought. Florida Morgan had gone home 
 with her friend to spend the early winter and this was 
 the opportunity to recover from the madness of the 
 autumn, to put her completely out of his life. There- 
 fore he resolutely ignored the unforgettable face that 
 would come between his eyes and the page of order book, 
 sermon, or ancient history; he stifled the longing for 
 her voice that rose in him when some girlish cadence
 
 178 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 would repeat a phrase forever graven in his memory; 
 he would turn with redoubled energy to his work when 
 the deep, sweet eyes suddenly looked into his from the 
 embers of his evening fire, resolved that he was now 
 beyond their witchery, yet the chance hearing of her 
 name, or the sight of a place with which she was asso- 
 ciated, would choke him with the plunging of his heart. 
 Yet he set his will as steel to crush out this futile 
 passion. 
 
 One benefit of his business entanglement was to bring 
 him into relation with the young people of the town, and 
 to burden his conscience with a closer responsibility 
 for their welfare. He was glad to see a growing at- 
 tendance at his Sunday School, and at the evening 
 service, but his optimistic feeling had scarcely anchored 
 upon this indication, when it was wrenched loose by an 
 occurrence which swept him out to sea. 
 
 The first snow of the mild season fell on the Friday 
 before Christmas, a real wintry snow heavy enough for 
 the rare sport of sleighing. The two Fury boys gave 
 an invitation to their respective classes in the high 
 school to go for a bob ride to an old-fashioned roadside 
 tavern a few miles from Mogadonia on the Jackson 
 pike. The house was kept by a cousin of their father, 
 who really owned it, and the host was a genial landlord 
 of a disappearing type, whose chicken suppers made the 
 place an objective point for parties from all the sur- 
 rounding towns. It was a great event for the pupils 
 fortunate enough to be included in the invitation, among 
 whom were the Jernigan children, who had never known
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 179 
 
 a greater dissipation than the annual Sunday School 
 picnic at the Raven Rocks, and who dressed for the ride 
 in their pathetic best. Northmore, coming home to 
 supper from the pottery, wondered at the skill with 
 which their mother kept these children neat on her im- 
 possible resources, to which he devised means of deli- 
 cately adding a bit now and then ; he helped more than 
 he knew, in fact, for he never suspected that Genevieve 
 Pearl's trim Eton jacket was made of the coat he had 
 contributed to the rag carpet, nor that her felt hat was 
 an old soft one of his blocked over, nor that the silk 
 collar and cuffs of her sailor blouse had been his 
 umbrella, nor that Ben in the same way owed him a 
 whole suit. He stepped to the window with their 
 mother to watch the noisy start, feeling something of 
 her pride in them. He had grown fond of the Jerni- 
 gans, and listened with patience to the even grind of 
 the father's voice at the supper table as, with a red 
 pillow in the back of his chair, he was discoursing 
 " 'Way back in seventy-nine or was it eighty ? I mind 
 when there was a sleighin' snow the Friday before 
 Christmas " 
 
 " Give Mr. Northmore the second j int, pa ; he don't 
 eat white meat." 
 
 " An' a passel of men was here puttin' up tele- 
 graft poles, an' I says to them " 
 
 " They was telephone poles, pa. We had telegraft 
 long 'fore that." 
 
 " Says I, ' Now so much f oolin' with 'lectricity's 
 goin' to affect the cli ' "
 
 180 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Pass them sweet potaters, pa. You'd let him 
 starve if you got too deep in science." 
 
 " ' The climate ' you've took sech a little one, Mr. 
 Northmore ; take that end one and they laughed fit to 
 kill, but I jest took an' old ledger and begin to " 
 
 " Hold that plate straight, pa ; you're pourin' gravy 
 on the table cloth " 
 
 " Put down the kind o' weather we've hed ever 
 sence " 
 
 " Don't give me the ging and wizard. You know I 
 like a leg, second helpin', pa." 
 
 " A an' ef I'd only thought to put down the 
 weather before all this 'lectricity was turned loose, I 
 could prove how much effect it's had on the climate 
 but I ain't got the figgers, you see. But I know, all 
 the same." 
 
 " Now, pa, you've settled that, do eat yore supper 
 so's I can get the dishes done up early." 
 
 Northmore had an extra task that evening, and he 
 worked in the unwonted quiet of the house until the 
 sound of uneasy footfalls below reminded him of the 
 lateness of the hour. He put away his books, when it 
 occurred to him that he hadn't heard the children come 
 home, and then, hearing their mother's restless move- 
 ments, he went downstairs to ask the reason of her 
 anxiety. She told him that it was a very bad bit of 
 road and that the late hour worried her. He offered to 
 go and see if anything had been heard of the party, and 
 she was glad to have him. It was after one o'clock. 
 
 As he went down town he saw a light in every house
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 181 
 
 from which a child was missing, and met several men on 
 his own errand. No one had heard from the party, and 
 no one had gone to meet them. He went back to Mrs. 
 Jernigan and told her that he would get a horse and 
 go in search. 
 
 " Oh, if you just will! " she cried gratefully. " My 
 Ben was never out till 'leven o'clock in his life before 
 and I bet the other women are wild about their children, 
 too. There's been many an accident on the steep road 
 down Saddleback in broad daylight and folks have 
 been killed there." 
 
 The sleepy hostler told Northmore that almost every 
 man in town had been there to ask if they had heard 
 anything of the teams which carried the party. The 
 minister galloped his horse at perilous speed over the 
 soundless, slippery road, and reached the summit of 
 Saddleback without finding a trace of the young people. 
 Just over the level he met the foremost sled, its driver 
 drooping and swaying so helplessly that a jolt would 
 have pitched him from his seat. The reins were drag- 
 ing from his hands, and the horses were going home at 
 their pleasure, which they could do in safety as long as 
 they were on the level or climbing a slope. The sudden 
 apparition of a horseman from the still darkness fright- 
 ened them, and they leaped forward and started down 
 the dangerous incline at full speed, the heavy sled on 
 their heels. Northmore wheeled and galloped after 
 them, reaching for the bridle of the near horse, which 
 shied away to the brink of the sheer precipice and along 
 the edge at mod speed, before he could catch the strap,
 
 182 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 and it took the strength of his iron grasp to guide the 
 frightened span into the road again. It was now im- 
 possible to check them upon the steep declivity ; he could 
 only keep up with them and steer them to the foot, round 
 the sharp curve, where the sled rose on one runner, over 
 the bridge and up the opposite slope, where the weight 
 of their load brought them to a willing halt, trembling 
 and sweating. Northmore left them standing while he 
 galloped back to meet the next sled before it should get 
 to the danger point. The third was following this 
 closely, its driver appearing to be able to control it 
 after Northmore had shaken him up and told him of 
 the danger. The second driver, however, relapsed into 
 stupor and rolled back upon the children after respond- 
 ing to Northmore's vigorous hand with a selection of 
 maudlin oaths. When the whole cavalcade had been 
 piloted to the safe level where the horses could be trusted 
 to their own instinct, the minister found Ben Jernigan 
 and roused him sternly: 
 
 " What does this mean, Ben ? What has kept you 
 out until three o'clock in the morning? " he demanded. 
 
 Ben dropped his head stupidly, and the girl next him 
 laughed in an unnatural tone. Startled beyond words, 
 Northmore bent and scanned their faces in the snowy 
 starlight, then he jerked up the driver again and got 
 him out of his seat. 
 
 " Is there any boy here who is in condition to ride 
 my horse? " he asked. 
 
 A youth in the rear of the sled rose from his cramped 
 position and spoke clearly : " I can, sir."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 183 
 
 " Then ride him home and I will drive the team. The 
 others will follow." 
 
 The exchange was made and Northmore soon reached 
 the foot of the next low hill, where a group of anxious 
 men waited for him. The children were rapidly distrib- 
 uted to their respective homes, and, last of all, it was 
 his task to take Ben Jernigan to his mother, much as he 
 wished to spare her the sorrow. She was watching for 
 them from the doorstep, and Genevieve rose from the 
 low seat and went to her. 
 
 " It was a break down ? They didn't run away ? " 
 cried the latter, hugging the girl wildly. 
 
 *' No, it wasn't either. The rest wouldn't start any 
 sooner. I'll tell you when we get Ben in. You'll 
 have to help him, he's asleep so sound." 
 
 " Poor child ! He ain't used to night doin's, an' he's 
 an awful sound sleeper," crooned the mother, lifting 
 him to his feet. " Come in and go to bed, honey, where 
 you kin sleep it out. Why why, Mr. Northmore " 
 
 " Sh, ma, take him in and I'll tell you don't cry. 
 He couldn't help it ! " 
 
 They carried Ben in between them, and he was put to 
 bed, then Genevieve told the story to her poor mother 
 and Northmore. They had had a hilarious ride out, 
 though a long one, for the snow was so new and the 
 loads were so heavy that the horses walked most of the 
 way. A good hot supper was served when they arrived, 
 after which they played games before the huge wood 
 fire until the landlord told them the fiddler had come 
 and they were to dance. Some of the children, like
 
 184 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 Genevieve herself, were forbidden to dance by their par- 
 ents, so a compromise was made on " Old Dan Tucker," 
 which the landlord assured them wasn't a dance at all, 
 merely a play. They made their awkward first steps to 
 its inspiring strain with great zest, and went through 
 the figures again and again, while the fun grew up- 
 roarious. A great bucket of beady cider was brought 
 in for their refreshment, and they drank freely after 
 the vigorous exercise. Some of the older youths 
 kept their wits and made a homeward movement at 
 midnight but their drivers were having an occasion 
 of their own in the big kitchen, and could not be found 
 when sent for. Some of the children were frightened, 
 and to allay their anxiety another bucket of cider was 
 produced, with an accompaniment of mince pie and 
 gingerbread while livelier music was furnished for 
 those who wanted to dance a two-step, and the merri- 
 ment was resumed until the drivers did appear at the 
 usual time that the older parties they brought started 
 home. A few of the young people had been prudent 
 enough to let the cider alone, but the others were un- 
 able to get into the sleds without assistance. The best 
 homes in Mogadonia were disgraced and sorrow-stricken 
 the next morning with the forceful tragedy of the 
 country town. 
 
 Immediately after breakfast Northmore went in in- 
 dignation to Mr. Fury, who had projected the expedi- 
 tion and was its host. The plump druggist came from 
 the back of the store with his imperturbable smile,-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 185 
 
 rubbed his hands together and forestalled the arraign- 
 ment in Northmore's eyes. 
 
 " Well, didn't those little rascals play a joke on 
 us last night ? " he chuckled. " My wife said she got 
 to worryin' about them so bad she didn't sleep good, 
 but I told her to remember that when a crowd of us 
 youngsters got together, we never knew what time o' 
 night it was. We stayed as long as the fun lasted. 
 She forgets all about that, now she's got youngsters of 
 her own," and he laughed his ready, mirthless laugh. 
 
 " Last night's affair can't be treated as a joke by 
 any stretch of leniency, Mr. Fury." The man's eyes 
 dropped before the accusation in Northmore's face. 
 " Its consequences are of the greatest possible serious- 
 ness. Do you know the condition in which those boys 
 and girls reached their homes ? " 
 
 Mr. Fury laughed so immoderately that he couldn't 
 recover breath to speak for two or three minutes. 
 " That was too bad 'pon my word it was too bad, an* 
 it was comical, too. The poor kids didn't know enough 
 to stop drinking cider ; you see they wasn't used to any- 
 thing wetter'n milk 'n water, an' it strung them up. I 
 never thought of such a thing." 
 
 " I believe that hard cider is intoxicating to grown 
 people, isn't it? How did it happen that they went 
 alone. The parents all understood that Mrs. Fury was 
 to chaperon the children." 
 
 " Oh, that would have spoiled their fun. Let young 
 folks alone, I say. In our day we never had a spy
 
 186 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 taggin' 'long after us, and we were a sight better than 
 the young folks that's watched so close now. Yes, my 
 wife did think of goin' along, just for the fun of it, but 
 she felt like she was takin' cold last night an' I advised 
 her not to go out. A little experience is a great thing for 
 children ; it's the way they learn ; they'll know more next 
 time. Your boy that goes to the bad he's the poor 
 sucker that's never allowed to cut his eye teeth. I mean 
 my boys to burn their fingers while they're little, an* 
 they'll be sort of inoculated. Not that I ain't sorry 
 that that little thing happened last night I wouldn't 
 have had it for the world, but I'm only sayin' it don't 
 amount to anything. I told Jake to give the children 
 the time of their lives, it was my treat, and he done the 
 best he could but for that the women of this town'll 
 raise a hornet's nest round my ears that'll smart for 
 months to come. And it ain't my fault. I didn't 
 hold their children and pour cider down their throats. 
 I didn't even know what Jake was goin' to give 'em. 
 Gracious! Why don't they bring up their children to 
 let stuff alone that they don't want 'em to have ! " 
 
 He found the idea so amusing that Northmore's 
 stinging rebuke died upon his own lips, and he turned 
 abruptly away. He had gone to this man because he 
 was the father of two bright, handsome boys, hoping 
 that through his fatherhood he would respect the claim 
 of other parents. 
 
 Northmore did not go home after his failure with Joe 
 Fury. He walked over the spur to the pottery, burn-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 187 
 
 ing with humiliation at his powerlessness to arrest the 
 wickedness that flaunted under his eyes, or even to utter 
 one word that would be intelligible to the chief sin- 
 sower ; yet he was the representative of the Most High 
 to these people. 
 
 As he opened a drawer in his desk a roll of blue prints 
 flew into his hand.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 " IT does seem like the months has been shook up 
 in a bag this year, and we'd drawed May instid of 
 January," grumbled Susan Jernigan to Priscilla Mun- 
 son on a summery morning between Christmas and New 
 Year. " Jest think of it, I found five ripe straw- 
 berries in my gardin this mornin'! It ain't Nature. 
 Folks need winter; they need it to brace 'em up, and 
 they ain't right without it. I feel weak myself, an' I 
 take notice that the preacher is near about used up with 
 it on top of his hard work. He's holler eyed an' thin, 
 an' he won't eat the best chickin I can fry. He tramps 
 up an' down his floor in slippers half the night, an* 
 there's mornin's when he looks like he'd tramped the 
 other half, too. I tell you, when a strong feller of his 
 age goes back on his feed an' sleep, he's in bad shape, 
 an* I'm worried to death about him. It would be jest 
 Mogadonia luck, now that we've got the most wonderful 
 man we ever heard of, to have him taken down with 
 typhoid or the like, and lose him! I do wish it would 
 turn in an' get cold ! " 
 
 " It looks to me like it would take something worse'n 
 weather to use him up like that," commented Priscilla, 
 looking up from the darning in her weak white hands. 
 She had not yet been out of doors, but her little rag- 
 carpeted sitting-room was second only to Fury's drug 
 store as a news centre. 
 
 1S8
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 189 
 
 " I don't know what trouble he could have ; the pot- 
 tery's running so slick, an' his church fairly bustin* 
 with the people that goes." 
 
 " I've heard more'n one person suspicion that it was 
 a girl was tormentin' him," and Priscilla suspended her 
 needle to see if Susan would reveal any confidence that 
 her boarder might have reposed in her. 
 
 "Well, that ain't so, an' I 'low I know the facts. 
 He's jest as anxious for Mr. Harrington to git her as 
 I am. If it wasn't fur her awful trouble about her 
 father dyin' an' the holt it gives that thunder cloud of a 
 missionary on Mis' Garnett, I believe that her an' Mr. 
 Harrington would be engaged by now. La, Mr. North- 
 more knew that from the start." 
 
 " Likely he's got his mind on somebody he knew be- 
 fore he come here. It ain't in reason that a young man 
 of his age never cared for anybody." 
 
 " I'd have knowed it long ago. No, he ain't a marry- 
 in' man. You never saw a man with his heart so set on 
 his work as that one. He's jest thinkin' of it night 
 an' day, an' that's the reason he's turnin' this town 
 upside down. Now, I can tell you a wonderful secret 
 if you won't tell a soul. He don't know that I know 
 it, but Mary Fanny Moneypenny heard the stewards 
 talkin' it over when they met at her house." 
 
 " Honest, I won't tell a soul. Out with it, Susan ! " 
 
 " It's the biggest boost ever come to this town. Tom 
 Morgan is goin' to give Mr. Northmore thirty thousand 
 dollars to build as big a church as the one at Bellevue. 
 Now, what do you say to that? "
 
 190 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Not to our church ? " 
 
 " Yes, ma'm, to our church. He's just so taken with 
 our preacher as that. Of course we've got to do part 
 but thirty thousand dollars fur a church that he 
 ain't a member of ! Did you ever hear the like of that ? 
 Now kin you imagine what that young man is worryin' 
 nights about when he's had a stroke o' luck like that?" 
 Priscilla smoothed out a ragged waist. 
 
 " Well, Mary Quiggins is doin* my washin* this 
 winter. You know her husband was crippled on the 
 Bellevue church, and she was talkin' 'bout that very 
 thing last Monday. She'd heard that Tom Morgan 
 wanted to give every church in town the half of a new 
 buildin', and she said that Mr. Northmore wouldn't touch 
 his money. He's been to see Quiggins lots of times, 
 and you know how hot he was aginst Morgan; well, I 
 guess lots of other folks is, too. They say Joe Fury 
 offered five thousand to start a new Presbyterian church. 
 Seems like money's just lyin' around loose, where a 
 body that needs it can't get a cent ! " 
 
 Susan flared at the mention of the druggist's name. 
 There were hollows under her own eyes, but her mother 
 pride kept silence about her grief. 
 
 " Well, if that church'll take Joe Fury's money I'm 
 glad I'm not on their track to Heaven. He had an 
 opening of his new soda fountain a little while back 
 an' Mary Fanny Moneypenny told me fur sure that he 
 had a lot of school children there, treatin' 'em to whisky- 
 flavoured drinks for future customers. A church 
 that'll take his money '11 be struck by lightnin', sure
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 191 
 
 him ruinin' our boys ! That money would carry a 
 curse." 
 
 " No, it wouldn't, Susan. If him an' Tom Morgan 
 didn't get their money right, it ondoes the harm when 
 it's put to a good use." 
 
 " If your only boy'd ben started on the road to ruin 
 by Joe Fury, you wouldn't see him uplifted by doin* 
 good with that money. No, sir, you'd burn it if it 
 come into your hands. Of course, I ain't no grudge 
 against Morgan, an' I think it's all right to spread the 
 gospel with his money." Susan's voice broke at this 
 and Priscilla looked away contritely. " Joe Fury 
 don't belong to that church. His wife does, an' he 
 goes once in a while when he thinks somebody's goin' 
 to prosecute him. He wants to buy a backin' of re- 
 spectability, that's all. Think of him bein' on a higher 
 level in the subscription list than the Old Doctor, that's 
 given his life to doin' fur this town on the quiet," 
 Susan sobbed out indignantly. 
 
 The holidays passed in rainy mildness ; the New Year 
 stole in on a thick fog and veiled the dawn in blood-red 
 mist. The incessant rain could not keep Northmore 
 from tramping on the yielding brick sidewalk by the 
 hour, because the black batter of the roads to his be- 
 loved woods was impassable, while he was obliged to work 
 out in muscular exercise the fever that burned his blood 
 and throbbed in his pulses. The time was at hand when 
 he must open his revival ; when he must decide upon the 
 Morgan fund and when he must forget Florida Mor- 
 gan ! He knew the confident expectancy with which
 
 192 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 his elder members looked forward to the greatest revival 
 that the region had ever known, such a regeneration of 
 primitive faith as would mark an epoch in the church. 
 But, face to face with himself on the eve of this awaken- 
 ing, he wondered where he stood. Every week of his 
 eventful ministry from the preliminary talk with Quig- 
 gins, had tossed him against a new rock of doubt, until 
 his soul was bruised and torn. What did he really be- 
 lieve? What did duty require him to preach to this 
 church? But had he any choice? The revival must 
 begin on this first Sabbath night of the New Year. 
 
 The sun came out for a few tantalising moments on 
 Sunday morning, and then the deluge was on again. 
 When Northmore walked to his church in the evening 
 over spongy pavements, the dense humid air stifled his 
 depleted vitality almost to exhaustion. He tried to 
 breathe the fog which draped skeleton trees, surrounded 
 street lamps with luminous penumbra, and made each 
 window a nimbus of misty light. It even filled the 
 corners of the church with grey glooms, in which the 
 densely packed faces were blurred as in an impressionist 
 picture. The stoves were red-hot. 
 
 He met Firestone at the door and felt that he must 
 invite the missionary to the pulpit. There they found 
 the presiding elder, an oldish man with a kindly face 
 which beamed in a fatherly smile upon the two younger 
 men. 
 
 " I want to congratulate you, Northmore," he 
 whispered over his hymnbook. " I never expected to 
 see in my time such a house as this in Mogadonia. It
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 193 
 
 has been a notorious charge the hardest in the dis- 
 trict for thirty years; we've broken more than one 
 good man on this wheel, and I pitied you when the 
 appointment was made, but the Lord was in it. You 
 were the man. Now, you're going to sweep the town 
 with a revival that will make you famous, particularly 
 in these days. Then you can build a fine new edifice, 
 and Mogadonia charge will loom up redeemed and 
 glorified to your credit. I envy you the chance. 
 You have only one danger you are a little too radical ; 
 it is the vice of some of our brightest young men. I 
 can see how the importance of works as a visible sign 
 appeals to a young man but it's Repentance that 
 carries on a revival. Repentance and Salvation. Fill 
 a man full of the Holy Ghost and his deeds are all 
 right." 
 
 The bell stopped tolling. The last hymn trailed off 
 into a tense, expectant hush ; Northmore, with a greyish 
 pallor in his face, stepped to the pulpit and opened the 
 Bible, looking blindly through the pages he turned for 
 something he seemed to have forgotten. Then a panic 
 seized him. What was it that his sermon was about? 
 He had never used notes. He turned the pages slowly 
 to make time, and the tension of silence increased. His 
 voice must break it. He read at random a passage 
 which sprang into sight before him, part of the twelfth 
 chapter of Luke. Closing the book, he passed his 
 handkerchief over his wet forehead, and wondered 
 vaguely why he stood on the rack before all those eager 
 faces. What had impelled him to enter the ministry.
 
 194 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 It was a supreme moment. A voice rang out in his 
 consciousness, " How can you preach what you don't 
 believe?" and he glanced quickly to see if others had 
 heard. Then he heard his own voice speaking in dull 
 platitudes that came automatically, while all the time 
 his brain was in a stupor, and he was acting subcon- 
 sciously. He groped for new thoughts, but they eluded 
 him. He toiled desparately on until a glance at the 
 clock told him that he could decently stop. He turned 
 with a motion of invitation to Firestone, and sank into 
 his chair. In a moment the sonorous words of the mis- 
 sionary were ringing through the disappointed silence 
 of the congregation. 
 
 " Brother Northmore has told us the truth, my 
 friends, but he has not told us half the truth, nor the 
 hundredth part. Human tongue could not tell us that 
 if it talked for a year the blessed, glorious truth 
 of Salvation the terrible truth of Damnation. Mr. 
 Northmore has told us the value of the Christian's life 
 but not the glory of his death. He has said nothing 
 of the sinner's awful doom. Now, my friends, let us 
 look on that picture ; let us look on that terrible picture 
 for a moment! Do we realise what it means to be lost? 
 To be lost to be eternally damned ! " 
 
 There was a breathless pause and the speaker went 
 on: 
 
 " Listen to that clock ticking back there, tick, 
 tock, tick, tock! And with every tick a soul is 
 going down into eternal darkness ; tick, tock, tick, 
 tock! One two three four have gone while I
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 195 
 
 am telling you this ; it may be that some one of you will 
 go before the dawn. Oh, why do you take such awful 
 risks when salvation is free? How many of us have 
 gone down that dark way since last month since last 
 week? You will never know. They cannot be counted 
 except by the angel at the gate who turns them away 
 for the great Day of Reckoning. It is only by the 
 grace of God that you are given this one more chance 
 and for someone here it will be the last chance. There's 
 an empty chair at some firesides to-night ; were the dear 
 ones who sat there prepared for the great change ? What 
 would you give if they could have your chance to-night ? 
 Are you ready for the summons? Don't comfort your- 
 selves that you lead moral lives and keep the command- 
 ments ; it is not sufficient. We are told in this book, 
 * Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the king- 
 dom of Heaven.' No matter what your life has been, 
 you must be washed in the blood of Jesus. If you are 
 pure in morals, you still need it as much as the vilest 
 sinner. If you are the vilest sinner, you can be washed 
 as white as the purest angel. There are no degrees in 
 Salvation. 
 
 " What would you give if your dead had been washed 
 in that abundant fountain? We see them fall around 
 us without one word of warning. Last week five men 
 were brought up from one of our mines, cold in death. 
 Had they prepared for that when they went down to 
 work in the morning? You who have lately stood be- 
 side your lost dead know what that means. Don't put 
 off your own repentance until it is too late. Too late !
 
 196 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 Oh, the horror of that death, for it never ends! 
 Thousands of years will make no difference ; you will be 
 no nearer the end than when you first began." 
 
 " Amen ! " groaned a man, and, " Lord have mercy," 
 shrilled a woman's voice. 
 
 " When the gates of Hell are shut upon you they 
 never open. Years will come and years will go, and age 
 on age will roll away, and the millenium will pass and 
 the earth will be destroyed, but the gates of Hell are 
 shut forever! Think of that! Forever and forever! 
 And which side will you be on, my friends? Forever 
 and forever ! " 
 
 " Praise the Lord ! " irrelevantly quavered an old 
 man. 
 
 " Forever and forever, and if you are inside the 
 gates you are saved forever and forever ! Now let us 
 sing one verse of the old hymn while those who want 
 salvation come to the altar. Let us sing: 
 
 " ' There is a fountain filled with blood 
 
 Drawn from ImmanuePs veins, 
 And sinners plunged beneath that flood 
 Lose all their guilty stains.' " 
 
 The impressive old hymn rose in a wailing minor 
 key, the elder coming forward and giving a brief ex- 
 hortation above the voices of the congregation. When 
 it had died away, he signed to Firestone to pursue his 
 talk, knowing that he could not take up the key that 
 had been pitched. The younger man, his face burning 
 with earnestness, went on:
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 197 
 
 " Now is the appointed time. Come to the foot of 
 the cross, you who have repulsed the Holy Spirit all 
 your lives. Come now ! The Lord bless you, Brother ! 
 Now, let another come. Glory, glory, come on, Sister. 
 Jesus is waiting for you." 
 
 A worn elderly woman hurried timidly down the aisle 
 and knelt at the altar, touching elbows with the gaunt, 
 shabby youth who had come first. A frightened little 
 girl crept up beside them. Northmore's eyes had 
 fastened upon the two slender women in deep mourn- 
 ing in the Garnett pew the moment the elder began to 
 speak. At this point he shivered from head to foot, and 
 dropped his head upon his hand, while the elder fer- 
 vently breathed: "God be praised! There is joy in 
 Heaven to-night ! " 
 
 For Silence Garnett, her face rigid as the dead who 
 have died in pain, wavered down the aisle and sank to 
 her knees before the bench. She covered her bowed 
 face with her handkerchief. The singing faltered and 
 rose again, tremulous with tears. When the last note 
 had faded from the room, the elder signed to Northmore 
 to lead in prayer, and the young man recalled his senses 
 to pour forth a fervent invocation. As he rose from 
 his knees, an old, old woman started the song, 
 
 " We're going home to die no more." 
 
 It was carried by voices discordant with emotion, 
 while the elder's earnest plea could still be heard above 
 the notes. Before it was ended the mourner's bench 
 was filled with weeping people. Northmore followed
 
 198 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 with prayer, his subdued words making a lull in the 
 passion of the hour. It was succeeded by 
 
 "Shall we gather at the river?" 
 
 Northmore's eyes had never left the slight, kneeling 
 form of Silence Garnett, and noting that the elder was 
 looking at her also, the young minister anticipated the 
 other's intention by stepping down inside the rail and 
 dropping upon one knee before her as she knelt with 
 her cheek on one hand, with wide open, unseeing eyes. 
 Her other hand lay on the bench and he covered it 
 with his own. 
 
 " Did you need to come here ? " he asked quietly. 
 
 She gave a hysterical dry sob. " I had to. It's 
 killing me." 
 
 "What is?" 
 
 " My sin. I can't live in it any longer, and I am 
 afraid to die. I am not saved." 
 
 " What is your sin ? " 
 
 " Why, it is why I can't just tell." 
 
 " What have you done? " 
 
 " I don't know. I think it is what I haven't done." 
 
 " What haven't you done ? " 
 
 " You know ; it was not doing this. Not seeking 
 salvation and repenting of my wickedness." 
 
 " Can you tell me why you have never done so ? " 
 
 "No it seemed that I couldn't; I just couldn't! 
 And, now, it is too late! Oh, my dear father! God 
 has punished my wickedness by taking him and he 
 must must suffer forever and forever! Oh, I can-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 199 
 
 not bear rt! I cannot live and bear it and I cannot 
 die. I am afraid. And I don't think I want to be 
 saved if if father is not. Why couldn't I have been 
 taken in his place? " 
 
 He saw the throbbing of fevered blood in her temples, 
 the deadly white fever of overtense nerves. Her lips 
 were white and dry and her words came in convulsive 
 gasps. He was wrung with pity; he answered hotly, 
 " Don't torture yourself with such fears for another 
 minute. God is not a monster; He is a tender, loving 
 Father. Take your troubles to Him and He will give 
 you peace." 
 
 " I don't know what that means." 
 
 " Would you know how to go to your own father if 
 you were troubled about anything? " The minister's 
 voice was very gentle. 
 
 "Papa? Oh, yes. He would take me in his arms 
 and say, * Wait, little daughter, and the Spirit will come 
 to thee in time.' He said that to me the only time 
 we ever talked about it. But, now, he is gone and he 
 was not saved and I cannot bear it ! " 
 
 " Don!t believe that for an instant. Whoever has 
 told you that has traduced your father's memory with 
 a cruel aspersion. You can only do yourself last- 
 ing injury by thinking of it. I can't talk longer now, 
 but I am going to walk home with you after the meet- 
 ing as there are things I want to say to you. In the 
 meantime, try to calm yourself, for you have no occasion 
 to grieve like this." 
 
 As Northmore rose to his feet the worn little woman
 
 200 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 near Silence cried out joyfully, " Thank the Lord, I'm 
 saved, I'm saved ! Glory, glory ! Oh, dear Lord ! " 
 
 A hoarse chorus of acclamation joined her voice. 
 Electric currents of emotion thrilled through the house. 
 The humid, heated air quivered with human feeling ; the 
 murmur swelled to uproar ; women ecstatically embraced 
 one another; men shook hands with tears of sacred joy 
 upon their faces; the elder's voice broke as he tried to 
 start a hymn and he wept without restraint. 
 
 One face grew white and grave the pastor's. At 
 the meeting's close he dispersed the people with lifted 
 hands in benediction, then waited aloof until he could 
 walk quietly away with Silence Garnett, her mother pre- 
 ceding them with the elder, who was staying at her 
 house for the meeting. At first the quivering girl 
 could scarcely speak, but when the open air and the 
 magnetism of his protecting masculine presence had re- 
 stored her self-control, Northmore led her into a quiet 
 street a little farther round to gain time enough, and 
 began with some commonplace. Then he said earnestly : 
 
 " I think it is due to your father's memory to tell you 
 that his simple practice has revolutionised my under- 
 standing of religion. I was probably the last person 
 to whom he talked, and in that last afternoon I got 
 a glimpse of applied Christianity that will forever 
 weaken profession in my eyes. Your father had no 
 need to publish his creed. He lived it." 
 
 " Oh, I know that. His life was perfect and he 
 never had a selfish thought. But that does no good 
 they say that he was never never "
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 201 
 
 "Who has dared to take judgment from the hands 
 of God? If Mr. Garnett's life went for nothing 
 what hope is there for the world? In the very nature 
 of things, righteousness must work its own salvation. 
 I only hope that my own record will be as clear." His 
 quiet voice carried conviction. 
 
 " Do you truly mean Mr. Northmore, you wouldn't 
 say that just to comfort me? " 
 
 " Tell you a falsehood? No." 
 
 She drew a long, fluttering breath. " I can't take in 
 the meaning of that just yet. I have suffered so!" 
 She covered her face and he felt the tremble of her 
 sobbing. They walked very slowly for a little way and 
 she went on in a voice that was unruly in spite of her 
 effort : " But that doesn't atone for me ; my sin is 
 just the same isn't it?" 
 
 " Can you..tell me now what it is ? " 
 
 " I think it began when I was a very little girl ; 
 mother took me one night to a meeting like this one, and 
 I couldn't understand; it frightened me. It does now, 
 and I don't understand yet; but when Mr. Warner 
 talked to me about myself, and then I heard to-night 
 about people who had been taken like father it 
 seemed that I had to go. Something drove me. Ever 
 since that first time when I was a child I have been 
 afraid I should die in my sleep and be lost and I 
 often dream that I am. It has been torture all my life 
 and I never could tell anyone before. I didn't know 
 what I must do and I couldn't speak of it." 
 
 "And did no one ever understand?"
 
 202 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Never before. I thought I was too wicked to be 
 saved and yet I couldn't go forward I couldn't. 
 The thought of it makes me tremble now." 
 
 The piteous catch of her breath at the memory 
 touched him beyond words ; he grew stern. " One thing 
 is certain," he said ; " you must not go forward again. 
 Your physical condition demands some consideration 
 and there is no need of it. I am this moment seeing 
 a light for which I have groped ever since coming here. 
 I have got it now. We have misunderstood; you have 
 committed no sin in your innocent life to be expiated by 
 such pain. God is not wrath that was the old barbaric 
 idea before love was known, and we must slough it off. 
 Christ came to teach us how to live without sin, not to 
 be sacrificed as a blood offering for us. Religion is for 
 life, not for death, for the uplifting of us on earth, 
 not in Heaven. If we have it here, we shall have it 
 hereafter. We are to live out our own salvation, not 
 to rely upon a substitute penalty in Christ's death for 
 wrongs that we may commit. Under immutable law 
 such a thing could not be." 
 
 " You mean that we need not fear anything that 
 we don't understand ? " 
 
 " Exactly. We have nothing to fear but ourselves 
 our own conscious wrong doing." 
 
 " Oh, can you be sure of that ? " 
 
 " Absolutely. The conviction will change my life 
 from this moment. You are too much overwrought to 
 realise how it simplifies all the intricate problems, but it 
 will gradually bring you great peace and give your life 
 a far broader motive than the mere protection of your
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 203 
 
 own soul for the future life. To me it means much; 
 among other things it means that I must fail in my 
 work. I must give it up and other aims that make it 
 almost a tragedy." 
 
 "Give up your work! Oh, Mr. Northmore, just 
 when you are making over the town ! No one has ever 
 had such influence before." 
 
 " I know of no capacity in which I can stay. It 
 would be disloyal to my church to preach an alien faith 
 and I cannot do what I have vowed to do. It 
 comes with a shock ; it is an utter uprooting." 
 
 " But, what shall we do without you ? " 
 
 " Far better than with me if I am wrong. It is 
 a tremendous trust the charge of a church. I wonder 
 why I ever undertook it; it was a struggle from the 
 beginning. My religious life came through broken 
 bonds and estrangement from my family. Their very 
 opposition made it the more precious to me. Now, to 
 abandon what has cost me so dear and to announce the 
 failure of my holy calling is a fitting climax. It cruci- 
 fies my pride of purpose and yet, even that is a relief 
 after the torment of doubt." 
 
 " Ah," sighed the girl, forgetting herself in the mo- 
 ment of privileged confidence: " But you will stay 
 just a little longer. We need you so much." 
 
 " I shall have to ; I have made no plan ; there has not 
 been time. I only know that I owe it to my church to 
 leave to break my consecration vow. But, whatever 
 else we do, we must be true to our convictions in 
 everything. All our life questions hinge upon our con- 
 ceptions of duty."
 
 204 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 He felt her start and tremble as he guided her up the 
 steep street. 
 
 " Do you think it would be right to to refuse to 
 give one's life to a service that one did not like could 
 not bear if it were a great work? " she returned 
 timidly. 
 
 He understood. " Do you mean the missionary serv- 
 ice? " he asked quietly. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " There is so much else involved in your case that 
 you will have to decide it personally." 
 
 " If some other person's usefulness depended upon 
 yours. If it meant " 
 
 " If I loved that other person so well that I could 
 honestly marry, I would do so. If I felt strongly called 
 to the missionary service, I would enter it. But they 
 are two questions. If I did not truly and deeply love 
 the other person I could not desecrate the marriage 
 vows by a lie." 
 
 " Would it mean that? " 
 
 " What else could it mean ? " 
 
 They walked in silence to the top of the hill and 
 crossed to the door. As he turned to say good-night 
 Northmore added : " You will not be afraid now, will 
 you, nor troubled by extraneous doubts ? The Heavenly 
 Father sorrows with you, not against you." 
 
 " You have changed my life in this little talk," she 
 answered gratefully over the warm clasp of his hand. 
 " I think I must have gone mad without it."
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 HE did not walk the floor that night in travail of spirit, 
 but slept soundly in the reactive calm which follows a 
 calamity whose worst has fallen. His days of sus- 
 pense had culminated in decision. 
 
 He had barely gone up from breakfast the next 
 morning when he heard steps, which he divined to be the 
 elder's, mounting the stairs. 
 
 " Well, Northmore, I'm relieved to see you in good 
 shape this morning," and he shook the minister's hand 
 long and heartily. " I was so worried about you that I 
 couldn't sleep. You looked as if you were just setting 
 in for a spell of sickness. Hadn't you better see a 
 doctor?" 
 
 " No, I am perfectly well." 
 
 " I certainly hope that you are, for if ever a man 
 needed his strength, you do now ; it is the opportunity 
 of a lifetime and more than that. It is little less than 
 a miracle ; I've never seen the like in my experience. It 
 was worth a great deal to get Silence Garnett to the 
 altar; I hope the poor girl will be soundly converted; 
 that is now the one wish of her mother's life; she has 
 been terribly worked up about Silence since her hus- 
 band's death; she felt that if that didn't reach the 
 daughter nothing ever would. Firestone has had her 
 on his mind, too, and I suppose that put force into his 
 
 205
 
 206 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 exhortation last night. Wasn't it a grand effort and 
 wasn't it fortunate that he happened to be there when 
 you were so used up yourself? " 
 
 Northmore writhed in his chair, then got up and took 
 a turn across the floor, head down, hands in his pockets. 
 It was hard for him to begin what he had to say. The 
 elder watched him in doubtful expectancy, seeing the 
 unusual in his manner. 
 
 " Yes," he faced the elder at last ; " he reached her, 
 Mr. Warner. There's no doubt of that, and I'm afraid 
 he reached me, too. She was terribly overwrought. I 
 walked home with her last night ; she was in such a state 
 of hysterical nervousness that I was afraid of conse- 
 quences. She is too near the shock of death to endure 
 an emotional strain just yet, if she ever could stand it. 
 I tried to reassure her a little and I told her not to 
 come to any more of the meetings." 
 
 " You did ! But she was not converted? " 
 
 " Not in the sense you mean." 
 
 " Then I don't see why that was necessary. She was 
 thoroughly under conviction in fulfilment of her 
 mother's lifelong prayer. She would soon have found 
 peace." 
 
 " It didn't seem so to me after talking with her ; I 
 was afraid to risk any further excitement for her. And 
 I told her more than that, Mr. Warner; what I must 
 tell you now ; I told her that I didn't believe it myself 
 what was preached last night. I never took in its full 
 meaning before the wrath of God and salvation by the 
 vicarious death on the cross."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 207 
 
 The elder sprang to his feet, pale with consternation. 
 " Northmore, do you know what you are saying? I 
 don't believe you do ; you have been overworking ; you 
 looked as if you had a fever last night ? " 
 
 " I am in full possession of my faculties, but I have 
 lost my faith in a doctrine for which I never did under- 
 stand the reason." 
 
 " But you believe that nothing but the blood of 
 Christ can cleanse us from sin and save us to life 
 everlasting ? You can't get away from that ! " 
 
 " I don't interpret it that way. Christ never taught 
 it; He never called Himself the Atonement, nor any- 
 thing that had that significance. He called Himself 
 the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Vine, the Door, the 
 Bread of Life, but never once the propitiatory sacrifice 
 on the altar of an angry God. Why should He, Mr. 
 Warner? God is not Baal to require human sacrifice. 
 We have misinterpreted Christ's ministry to us for two 
 thousand years. He came to our salvation, truly, but 
 to uplift us to the spiritual, not to offer Himself as a 
 pagan blood offering." 
 
 The elder was dumf ounded ; it was fully a minute be- 
 fore he could recover himself to stammer : " But then 
 what's the use what do you think Christ did come 
 for?" 
 
 " He came to lead us out of the physical into the 
 spiritual stage of our religious evolution. In Him the 
 down-reaching of the Divine met the up-reaching of the 
 human for the first time. From Him we look backward 
 to our physical heredity in the animal and forward to
 
 208 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 our spiritual heritage in God. His pagan hearers could 
 not grasp His spiritual ideals, hence they gave to His 
 martyrdom the office of purification by blood before 
 their Moloch-Deity. And it is for us to strip it of 
 its paganism." 
 
 The elder had collected himself by this time : " But, 
 Brother, do you realise what you are saying? You 
 have ripped out the very cornerstone of religion and 
 substituted a lot of Darwinism instead ! Why, it is the 
 sheerest madness ! You are not well ; you have brooded 
 over the matter till you have got morbid and the Ad- 
 versary has got hold of you. Reason won't do you any 
 good; I never knew a doubting man saved by reason. 
 Make a tremendous effort to cast out the evil that has 
 taken possession of you, and ask the Lord to help you." 
 
 " It's no use, Mr. Warner. I've tried that for the 
 last three months and suffered torment in the struggle; 
 the solution burst on me in a flash last night. It's 
 simply the old Jewish rite of Atonement, and I can't 
 accept it." 
 
 " But, Northmore, good gracious I think you're 
 crazy ! To split hairs over your own faith in the open- 
 ing of the grandest revival this region has ever known ! 
 You can redeem a hundred souls in this wicked town ; a 
 hundred immortal souls look to you for salvation. Do 
 you dare to shirk that responsibility? Remember your 
 ordination vows; get down on your knees and ask for 
 your own salvation from this wicked heresy." 
 
 " Save a hundred souls from what? From 
 whom ? " Northmore shook his head in painful decision.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 209 
 
 " From committing sin yes, but from the vengeance 
 of the God who made them never ! " 
 
 The elder relaxed his tense attitude and leaned back 
 helplessly in his chair : " Well, Northmore, the bishop 
 warned me that you would need looking after when he 
 sent you down here but he never told me what a bright 
 fellow you are nor what a stiff-necked one! You 
 surely have too much good sense to go off on a tangent 
 and throw up a chance yes, a duty like the one before 
 you. You can only ruin yourself and harm others; 
 you can never overthrow the old stronghold of Chris- 
 tianity with all your infidel reading." 
 
 " I don't propose to overthrow Christianity, Mr. 
 Warner. I never wanted to uphold it so much as I do 
 now that I see its full purpose. I want to see it stripped 
 of pagan husks down to the kernel. My reading has 
 strengthened my faith ; the secular writers unconsciously 
 offer the strongest argument for religion and the 
 world's need of it ; their only quarrel is with bigotry. 
 They find God in His laws not in ancient rites; the 
 greatest accusation against them is that they do not 
 find theology which is human." 
 
 " But Darwinism is an insult to every Christian " 
 
 " Did you ever read him? " 
 
 " No, I have no business to ; I preach the gospel. A 
 man who is hard at work saving souls has no time to 
 find out whether his grandfather was a monkey, and he 
 can point the way to Heaven without knowing. I 
 never read a line of the stuff; what business has a min- 
 ister to go around hunting new heresies when there are
 
 210 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 enough old ones to fight. Leave such books alone and 
 you will have no trouble with your faith." 
 
 " I have not lost my faith." 
 
 " What do you propose to preach? " 
 
 " Only the things of which I am sure myself. I must 
 go on with my meetings if you are willing to trust 
 me. I realise that, but I shall not preach what Fire- 
 stone did last night the fear of eternal damnation and 
 the possibility of extraneous propitiation. I believe 
 that salvation must be earned, and that each of us must 
 earn it for himself. It is from ourselves that we require 
 salvation, not from God, and even His great love cannot 
 confer it upon any man. It is a developing of our better 
 nature from within, not an artificial gift from without. 
 That is not possible in the nature of the eternal verities. 
 That is what I will preach but I will not lie in the 
 pulpit." 
 
 " You don't have to. I don't nor the consecrated 
 thousands who are uplifting the world. Let the Higher 
 Criticism alone and get back into the harness. Study 
 your Bible ; you won't find your heresies in it." 
 
 " That is exactly where I did find them." 
 
 " Not in the Bible ! But, of course, many a wicked 
 sect has been founded upon some perverted reading of 
 the Bible. It takes faith even for that. Now, where 
 did you get any such doctrine ? " 
 
 The elder's tone was gentle; he was patiently trying 
 to lead back a stray to the fold. Northmore rose again 
 and took a turn across the room before he replied : " I 
 Can hardly tell you in a few words; it has been a side
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 study for years. The orthodox conception of Christ's 
 place in our creed jarred me as being too gross for the 
 present spirituality of the church; it seemed that the 
 time was ripe to strip off the fungus of myth and com- 
 prehend the pure and lofty principles of Christ in the 
 open light. We have misunderstood for a long time: 
 Christ brought the love of humanity first to the world 
 yet was made, Himself, the first Hebrew blood offering 
 upon Aryan altars ! He disdained ritual and was made 
 the nucleus of a ponderous system of theology! He 
 taught eternal life and was proclaimed the herald of 
 eternal death! The fusion of the two world currents 
 of belief, the Greek and Hebrew, was attributed to 
 Him, with the Atonement of the Shemites bodily adopted 
 as we have it to-day, in place of the simple austerity 
 of His own teaching." 
 
 " But, my dear young friend, Christ taught that 
 great doctrine." 
 
 " Not in the New Testament. The propitiatory idea 
 was old old as the race. The very first act of human 
 worship was the offering of sacrifice in its crudest form, 
 merely the giving of food to savage gods fierce with 
 hunger, that, appeased, they might not inflict pesti- 
 lence, famine, and tempest from sheer rage. The sav- 
 age mind knows only a god in its own image. The 
 Hebrews when they left Egypt were little above the 
 surrounding pagans, and their offerings to Jehovah 
 did not differ from their offerings to Baal. The very 
 first uplift toward spiritualisation of their worship was 
 the burnt offering."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " I see no spirituality in that," said the elder, listen- 
 ing with close attention. 
 
 " It was one degree less gross when the worshipper, 
 instead of leaving the food for the gods to decay upon 
 the altar, decided to burn it, that the savory smell might 
 rise to the invisible god and conciliate him. Thus, Noah 
 1 builded an altar and took of every clean beast and 
 every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings upon the 
 altar; and the Lord smelled a sweet savour and said in 
 His heart, I will not again curse the ground.' ' 
 
 " The Hebrews were a most primitive race themselves 
 in that early time," interpolated the elder. 
 
 " Precisely. Then, you see, with the burnt offering 
 begins the office of priesthood, that of mediant between 
 the suppliant and a wrathful god. That was an im- 
 portant stage of the evolution; it marked the dawn of 
 intellectual function in the race and the setting apart of 
 a class for its cultivation. A still higher stage was 
 reached, long after, when incense was substituted for 
 the materialism of the sacrifice." 
 
 " I don't see yet what all that has to do with our 
 doctrine," and there was relief in the elder's tone. 
 
 " It is the thing itself. In the course of ages was 
 evolved a higher conception of the gods, that of sen- 
 tient beings demanding revenge for personal indignities, 
 instead of irrational monsters dangerous from hunger. 
 Then came the awakening of conscience and the birth 
 of human justice. The willingness to expiate a wrong 
 could be prompted only by knowledge of wrongdoing. 
 At this stage grew the idea that it was the shedding of
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 213 
 
 blood which appeased the diety. The first code of law- 
 was severely simple: A life for a life; and its enforce- 
 ment is first shown by the attempt to avoid its penalty 
 by the substitution of another life for that of the cul- 
 prit. He argued in his guilty soul that innocent blood 
 would be most acceptable to the deity as well as most 
 convenient for him to shed so he substituted the thing 
 most precious in his own eyes, the finest of his flocks 
 and alas for the horror of it the most pure and 
 precious human lives at his mercy ! So began the vi- 
 carious atonement for sin, the sacrifice of innocent blood. 
 The primitive origin of a rite is soon lost in its for- 
 malism, however, and in time the offering came to be 
 made in general propitiation for sin in the aggregate. 
 
 " In Exodus, 22, twenty-ninth verse, is the command- 
 ment, * Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy 
 ripe fruits and of thy liquors; the firstborn of thy 
 sons shalt thou give unto me.' In that command is re- 
 capitulated the whole history of sacrifice; the fruits, 
 the libations of wine, and the sacrifice of the firstborn 
 son as a blood offering. Now, in what did such worship 
 differ from that offered to Baal or Moloch or Dagon? 
 Can you see any distinction, Mr. Warner? " Northmore 
 had seated himself before the elder and held him with 
 earnest eyes. 
 
 " Well, the form does seem similar, though it undoubt- 
 edly differed in spirit. Naturally, many of their pagan 
 forms got mixed with the early worship of God." The 
 elder withdrew a little as if oppressed by the other's 
 careful analysis of his subject.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Precisely. Exactly. And don't you think that the 
 time has now come to separate those pagan forms from 
 the worship of God? The conclusion is, to me, irre- 
 sistible. I have given you the briefest synopsis I could 
 put into words. And you see where I stand." 
 
 " I don't see yet what that has to do with the Atone- 
 ment as we preach it." 
 
 " That came next in the spiritual evolution, the first 
 conception of a dejty better than man. The people 
 could now grasp the idea that not vengeance, but the 
 renunciation of a precious thing for His sake was 
 grateful to the Lord, the germ of altruism. An ex- 
 ample is the arrested sacrifice of Isaac. To this stage 
 belong hermit lives, vigils, fastings, celibacy, flagella- 
 tions. Human sacrifice continued at least till the time 
 of Jephtha, but the spiritual idea gradually displaced 
 it until the next stage was a long leap, appearing first 
 in Amos, then in Hosea and Isaiah, and bringing us vir- 
 tually to Christianity. It taught that the service God 
 requires of us is love and forgiveness to our fellow 
 man, and that the only sacrifice acceptable to Him 
 is of our dearest vices. So the later Hebrew prophets 
 taught, though many black and bloody centuries of 
 idolatry and of martyred innocence lie between the 
 pagan sacrifice and the altruism of Christ." 
 
 Northmore's face was luminous with feeling, and the 
 elder's was a strange study. The young man got to his 
 feet again and went on impetuously : " But the saddest 
 of it all is, that after we had reached that exalted ideal 
 we should fall into one of the dreadful reversions that
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 215 
 
 have turned back the wheels of civilisation. Even after 
 Jesus had taught us to say ' Our Father,' we fell back 
 to barbarism and construed his cruel martyrdom into a 
 blood offering to the wrath of God. Now, you see 
 how I have reached my conviction, and why I can never 
 again in the pulpit present that conception of Christ 
 as a Saviour. I could preach Christ with my whole 
 life, but as the blood offering never." 
 
 Mr. Warner went over and laid a hand on the young 
 man's shoulder as he stood before the fire : " I am going 
 to make one more appeal, Northmore. I can't give you 
 up without, for I have grown more interested in you 
 than ever, and I cared a good deal before. I have never 
 before had a young man of your power and honesty in 
 my charge, and it simply breaks my heart to have you 
 make shipwreck so rashly. The Church needs men like 
 you, men of the good old stamp. Hold your horses a 
 little now and you will see your way to reconcile this 
 plausible new heresy with your old faith. Get down 
 and pray for a fresh baptism of the spirit, and I will 
 pray for you as I never prayed before." 
 
 Northmore lifted the kind hand in a warm grasp and 
 his face saddened: 
 
 " No, it's too late for that. There's a complication 
 to the situation : You know that we are offered a munifi- 
 cent sum for a new church building." 
 
 " Yes, indeed, I know it, and it does seem as though 
 the world had been laid at your feet. I never heard of 
 such a flood of success in five months in all my life be- 
 fore."
 
 216 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " No, I don't look at it in that light. It's all a part 
 of the same question. Everybody in the country round 
 knows how Mr. Morgan made his money. It is not 
 right for him to make propitiation through us for his 
 wrongdoing." 
 
 " You don't mean to refuse thirty thousand dol- 
 lars!" 
 
 " I haven't the power to refuse it, but I will not be a 
 party to its acceptance." 
 
 " Why, Northmore ! Have you gone clean daft ? 
 That question has never been raised in the world. Think 
 what an opportunity to do good it will offer to you ! 
 And to refuse it will mean utter ruin. Do you intend 
 to leave the church? " 
 
 " Ultimately, yes. I shall have to. It is harder than 
 you imagine to fail because I succeed. I have to break 
 faith with sacred obligations and dear friends. No one 
 will ever understand but you. And you oh, you have 
 shown such Christian patience with me, Mr. Warner ! " 
 
 The elder was not ready to give him up, but a quick 
 tread was coming up stairs and he could only say, 
 " Don't take the first step till I have seen you again, 
 and we have both prayed over it. Good-bye, and God 
 lead you ! " 
 
 The thin, earnest face of Firestone appeared in the 
 door as the elder went out, and he seemed to fill the room 
 with electricity. 
 
 " I couldn't stay away a minute longer. I couldn't 
 resist coming up to rejoice a little over our joint meet- 
 ing last night and to apologise for rather taking it
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 into my hands. I saw at a glance that you were ill. 
 I hope that you're better this morning." 
 
 ** I am, thank you." 
 
 " And we gathered in one soul that is re j oiced over 
 on earth as well as in Heaven. I could have shouted 
 when I saw Silence Garnett coming down the aisle. You 
 forestalled me and went home with her. I hope that 
 you left her in an easier frame of mind." 
 
 " I certainly did." 
 
 " I hope that she found peace." 
 
 ** I think so. I had a long talk with her, in which I 
 advised her not to feel that she must obtain salvation 
 through an emotional cataclysm. She is too highly 
 wrought a temperament for that and there is no need 
 of it." 
 
 " But you say that she was converted? " 
 
 " According to my belief, yes." 
 
 " I hope that she will see her duty clear to devote 
 the service of her talent and life to God. I I would 
 like to see her myself, but she was not down when I 
 called a little while ago. Possibly she gave you some 
 light on her decision." 
 
 " She asked my opinion, indirectly, Mr. Firestone, 
 upon the call of duty, and I told her that it must be 
 decided personally, but I also told her that only love 
 could sanction marriage. I don't believe that the work 
 of the Lord will condone a marriage of convenience." 
 
 " You did ! You took it upon yourself to advise her 
 that? " 
 
 " Yes. I advised her to marry you if she loves you,
 
 218 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 Mr. Firestone. You have nothing to fear. You would 
 not force a timid, sensitive girl to marry from any 
 other possible motive, would you ? " 
 
 " I have offered her a great privilege, Mr. Northmore. 
 I have always suspected you of being my rival, now I 
 shall take the matter into my own hands and I warn 
 you that I will tolerate no more interference. Good- 
 morning." 
 
 " Good-bye, Mr. Firestone." 
 
 There were wild rumors afloat in Mogadonia all that 
 day, traceable only to the traditional ears of the walls. 
 It might have been to this subtle influence that the suf- 
 focating crowd at church that evening was due a 
 crowd of the very young people whom Northmore had 
 so longed to reach but it was the magnetism of utter 
 sincerity which held their attention and drew them again, 
 night after night. The youth of a country town are 
 a flock with a leader, and when the leader joined the 
 church one night a little later her followers came sol- 
 idly in her wake, regardless of parental affiliations. The 
 absence of Divine penology from Northmore's preach- 
 ing did not prevent his influence from sweeping the town 
 like a contagion, and sending new members into all the 
 other churches. 
 
 Once during the early progress of the meeting Mr. 
 Warner brought to Northmore's 'study one of the lead- 
 ing ministers of the denomination from an Eastern city. 
 It did not occur to the young minister at the time that 
 Dr. Dinwiddie had come for the purpose of a confer-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 219 
 
 ence with him, but he never learned of any other possible 
 errand that could have accounted for his presence. The 
 great man gave little time to commonplaces. He went 
 promptly to Northmore's phenomenal success, and then 
 to the wonder of his proposed defection. He had a rich 
 voice, and a beautiful fatherly face with a crown of 
 white hair. Northmore was greatly attracted to him. 
 
 " It's a very serious step to take, Mr. Northmore. 
 You must consider with great care what a deplorable 
 effect it will have on your, congregation. We preachers 
 are not free agents, you know. Don't under any con- 
 sideration break your pastoral ties now and undo the 
 good you have done. You can't have any creed so op- 
 posed to the one you accepted as that," he begged. 
 
 Northmore winced. It was precisely the question 
 upon which he had been desperately wavering for the 
 past ten days. 
 
 " I don't see any alternative, Dr. Dinwiddie." 
 
 " Our church allows us great latitude of personal in- 
 terpretation. You needn't refuse to preach because you 
 have individual opinions. We're glad of them and I 
 speak with authority. Have you realised that your 
 responsibility corresponds with your great power for 
 good or evil ? " 
 
 " Yes that is I don't know ! " he groaned miser- 
 ably. " If it were a matter of mere interpretation 
 but it's the doctrine of the Holy Catholic church 
 which I am ordained to preach. To stay in this pulpit is 
 a daily falsehood." 
 
 " Wait a little, brother. We are ahead of our peo-
 
 220 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 pie some of us and most of us have to keep back a 
 part of our own belief until our congregations grow to 
 it. Try a compromise." 
 
 " When Reason lays hold of a truth, Conscience will 
 not compromise." 
 
 " Not at your age, perhaps," smiled Dr. Dinwiddie. 
 " Youth is absolute, inexorable, and fond of self-immo- 
 lation on remote altars. Experience makes one doubt 
 whether anything is absolute, and convinces him that all 
 knowledge is a compromise with tradition. Christ was 
 the greatest compromise of all." 
 
 " That was necessary." 
 
 *' Then as now. We ministers are dealing with a pon- 
 derous force of vast antiquity. Every thinking man 
 of us deplores certain barbaric survivals in it, but its 
 very hold upon the people prevents our dissecting it 
 with X-ray and lancet. Now, is it better to resign a 
 trust you have assumed with great success, create a 
 sensation which would disrupt your church and do the 
 cause of religion great harm, or to accept a few flaws 
 and do a work that will change the future of your 
 church and have a great effect in uplifting the town? 
 No don't decide now. Take time. Think it over well, 
 and over the generous offer for your new edifice." 
 
 " Is that your advice ? " 
 
 " Many a sincere man is feeding his flock on crumbs 
 until they are ready to digest crusts. I am doing it 
 myself, while our creed is so liberal that Mr. Warner 
 here, a strict literalist of the old school, preaches doc- 
 trine undefiled. He calls me a dissenter."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 221 
 
 " But yours are not radical differences. I am eager 
 to do good ; I see the great need but " 
 
 " Then -why don't you do it? " 
 
 " Because I will not preach Divine penology and I 
 will not permit an unscrupulous man to subsidise my 
 church. We can't sell indulgences in this day." 
 
 " But the Church can't take that stand. It would 
 abridge its usefulness immensely. Accept the degree 
 of penitence which the act implies." 
 
 " That is the exact issue that I make. Propitiation 
 is not restitution to the wronged ones. The Church 
 rebukes small sins why not great ones? The fallacy 
 by which we accept an offering to condone business rob- 
 bery is inconsistent. We must not lay upon our altars 
 offerings to Mammon." 
 
 " As old as the race is the material offering of the 
 first fruits." 
 
 " Yes, but we are a new age with a new conscience, 
 and we demand a new standard." He turned to the win- 
 dow and added aside : " I am afraid of myself in stand- 
 ing for a new test afraid that my courage would fail 
 me for it comes to me in a crucial way personally. 
 Mr. Morgan has been almost my best friend during the 
 winter he has his his family have shown me every 
 courtesy and now I am put in a position where I must 
 be false either to my convictions or my friends ! I 
 can't do either, so I must go away." 
 
 Dr. Dinwiddie was a man of large experience, and he 
 read deep behind Northmore's difficult words and long 
 pauses. Then the two old preachers looked at each
 
 222 
 
 other and at the big, virile frame charged with the im- 
 petuous force of youth, at the strong chin and stub- 
 born mouth. It was Mr. Warner who spoke: 
 
 "Well, well, my dear fellow, you're going too far! 
 You've got to deal with people as they're created ; you 
 can't get church members made to order. If they were 
 you and I would be out of work. Try to make them 
 better." 
 
 Northmore smiled hopelessly : " Then you'd have me 
 take the Morgan offer ? " 
 
 '* By all means. It would never occur to me to do 
 anything else. It is without all precedent. And you 
 could do great good with it." 
 
 " It didn't strike me that that was the question. 
 Is it right to condone legalised robbery by accepting 
 tribute from it? " 
 
 Dr. Dinwiddie shook his head hopelessly at Mr. War- 
 ner with a queer smile, but neither saw fit to answer as 
 they rose to go. In the afternoon Dr. Dinwiddie went 
 back alone for a last plea. Northmore looked pale and 
 worn with conflict. 
 
 " No, I have got to do it. I don't know why such 
 convictions must seize me when they mean the ruin 
 of my life all that I hold most precious but I can't 
 temporise. It is a square issue. If the Church is to 
 hold as a moral force in the world, it is up to me right 
 now to do this thing." 
 
 " You're a fanatic, Northmore." 
 
 " The fanatic of one generation is the teacher of 
 the next."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 223 
 
 The doctor went back to Mr. Warner : " My trip 
 was in vain ; I have failed," he said. " That man is one 
 of the stiff-necked ! " 
 
 " Who must butt out their brains to prove there's a 
 wall," finished the other, throwing down his paper im- 
 patiently. 
 
 " He hasn't butted out his brains, my good friend. 
 He has butted down the wall though he doesn't know 
 that yet. As the poor fellow says, some man has to raise 
 the issue and it takes martyr stuff to do it. I didn't 
 deny the truth of his proposition, nor the morality of it. 
 You and I know that it is a bad thing for that church 
 and for a young fellow whom we can't help loving. But 
 fifty years hence or a good deal less than that his 
 stand will be the common law of morality." 
 
 " You're wrong there, doctor ; if there's one thing the 
 Church must do, it's to prop up the old walls and 
 man them," said Mr. Warner positively. 
 
 " I don't believe that. The day is almost upon us 
 when there'll be no walls of doctrine nothing but the 
 eternal law of right and wrong," replied Dr. Din- 
 widdie.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THEKE was a conceited satisfaction in the swing of 
 Northmore's gait which indexed his mood as he mounted 
 the road to the Ellis cabin on a sunny afternoon in Feb- 
 ruary, reviewing as he walked his psychological history 
 of the past months, now that it had become history by 
 his formal resignation and the appointment of a suc- 
 cessor. He had carried his meeting to a brilliant fin- 
 ish and had stood firm in his conviction despite the 
 temptations to reconsider which had assailed him. Bet- 
 ter than all this, and he gloated upon it with secret tri- 
 umph, he had torn from his heart the unbidden love 
 that was rooted there; he had reached a point where 
 the image of a lovely face was not always present in 
 his consciousness. He could now exorcise it at will by 
 quoting a remembered passage or poem or plunging 
 deep into a metaphysical problem. He had proved how 
 completely a man of any strength of character can 
 become master of himself, and he wars a bit proud of 
 the conquest. It would not have been necessary so 
 ruthlessly to burn his bridges behind him for his own 
 sake. 
 
 The train of thought absorbed him so entirely that 
 he was surprised to find himself almost at the cabin, 
 which he had been obliged to neglect during the rush of 
 the winter's work, though he had known through the bul- 
 
 224
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 letin of daily news at Mrs. Jernigan's table that Mrs. 
 Ellis was provided for until within a few days. This 
 morning, however, it had been announced that she was 
 worse, was destitute again, and was to be removed to 
 the county infirmary the next day ; hence he was hurry- 
 ing up to verify the report and to see what could 
 be done for her. 
 
 The memory of the first time he had gone up that 
 road, with the bright presence at his side that had 
 grown so dear, recurred to him vividly, but he dis- 
 missed it with cold stoicism, at least he was engaged 
 in so disposing of it when his heart gave a plunge that 
 choked him and then stood still; his face grew hot 
 and then pale; his pulses hammered deafeningly in 
 his ears, and all at the sight of a small run-about 
 and a slim black horse tied at the gate of the Ellis 
 cabin. For one moment he stood irresolute, and then 
 at a swift thought he sprang forward with protec- 
 tive instinct. The one restraint he had imposed upon 
 his action regarding Mr. Morgan's gift had been the 
 shielding of his daughter from all painful knowledge 
 that might lead her to judge her father. Now she was 
 probably alone with Mrs. Ellis, and he knew the revela- 
 tion that would be made unless he was in time to pre- 
 vent it. He knocked sharply at the door, which was 
 immediately opened by Florida Morgan. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Northmore, I am so glad you have come ! " 
 she cried, giving him her hand with the old friendliness. 
 " I have heard such things about you and now you 
 are going to tell me that they are not true."
 
 226 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " That depends. I didn't know that you ' had re- 
 turned. When did you get home ? " He was looking 
 around for a place to deposit his hat and coat and 
 found a nail on the back door that served. He turned 
 back as she answered: 
 
 " Only yesterday. I had to take a hack over from 
 Bellevue because the limited doesn't stop at this sta- 
 tion, and the driver, who used to work in the grounds, 
 told me that Mr. Ellis died last fall and that Mrs. 
 Ellis was very ill, so I came right over to-day. Father 
 is not at home, and I knew that he would not hear 
 of her being moved from her house. Mr. Ellis used 
 to work for father at the little factory a long time 
 ago, when he knew all the men personally, and I 
 know he was a great favourite. He stopped work for 
 some reason, and we lost sight of him entirely until 
 the day that you and I found them by chance, that day 
 last fall. I used to go to school with Bessie Ellis 
 she was the brightest girl in the class. I am so glad 
 you have come to tell me what to do about the situa- 
 tion." 
 
 " How long have you been here ? " was his irrelevant 
 question as he stood by the bed with Mrs. Ellis's skele- 
 ton hand in his and her eyes fixed upon him with a 
 dangerous expression. 
 
 " I have just come. I was telling her who I am when 
 you knocked. You remember me now, don't you, Mrs. 
 Ellis? You are not to be taken away to-morrow. You 
 are going to stay right in your home as long as you 
 want to, and your friends are not going to let you be
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 227 
 
 troubled about anything. You must have someone to 
 stay in the house regularly and take care of you; that 
 is the first thing to be attended to. Do you know some- 
 one that you would like? " 
 
 The woman raised her ghost of a body on the pillow 
 and her sunken eyes brightened : " Who's goin' to pay 
 for anything? " she demanded in a bronchial whisper. 
 
 " Don't worry about that. You have friends who 
 will be glad to look after such things." 
 
 " They've ben a long time comin'," she gasped. " I 
 want to know who's goin' to pay anything now." 
 
 Florida bent over and took the hand that Northmore 
 had released : " I am, Mary. I can hardly bear to think 
 of all that you must have needed in the past, but from 
 this time you shall have everything you want. I will 
 see to it myself until father gets home, and I know he 
 will make a permanent provision for you. You know 
 how good and kind father is, Mary, and he will be 
 grieved to know that you have needed anything. He 
 hasn't known about it." 
 
 The tone was so sympathetic and the girl's presence 
 so gentle that it appeared impossible to resent her char- 
 ity, but Northmore saw the sick woman gather her 
 strength as if for a spring, and he edged Florida away 
 from the bed with his arm and interposed quickly : 
 
 " I believe that the best thing you can do, Miss Mor- 
 gan, is to drive down and send Mrs. Jernigan up at once. 
 The case seems to be urgent, and she will know much 
 better than either of us what is needed and how to 
 get it."
 
 228 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " That's true," assented Florida. " We are tiring 
 her out with talk when there are things to do. I'll try 
 to make her comfortable before I go and you may 
 fix up the fire. It is dreadfully cold in here. I'll make 
 her a cup of tea," and she opened the door into the 
 other room. Northmore suspected that it was no use 
 to look for coal, but he took up the old basket which 
 evidently served for a hod and went out. There was 
 not even a chip in the shed. Florida returned from her 
 search with a horrified face, while Mrs. Ellis tried so 
 eagerly to speak to her that she fell into a fit of 
 coughing. The girl tenderly wrapped the bedclothes 
 about her and held her until she lay back exhausted. 
 There was literally nothing to give her but a drink of 
 water in a broken teacup. 
 
 " Oh, you poor dear ! By this time to-morrow you 
 will be so comfortable, and you shall never again be 
 neglected. Oh, you poor, poor sufferer ! " whispered 
 the girl with tears on her cheeks while she tenderly 
 patted the wasted hands. " Now, Mr. Northmore, won't 
 you please get to the nearest telephone and order just 
 order everything as fast as you can. Get a load of 
 coal first have them rush it up to-night and provi- 
 sions tea, and well, just everything. I can't think 
 what to begin with fruit and wine and jelly and 
 some pretty, soft blankets " 
 
 " Who's goin' to pay for 'em ? " demanded the sick 
 woman's hoarse whisper again, " I ain't got a cent." 
 
 " It will be my privilege to do it, Mary," said Florida, 
 patting and smoothing her shoulders.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 229 
 
 " No, you won't ! No, you won't ! " cried Mrs. El- 
 lis in an unearthly voice, twitching away from the 
 caressing hands. " I'm goin' to the poorhouse, where 
 I belong. You ain't goin' to buy nothing for me. I'll 
 die as hard as my child died, and my husband, without a 
 bite to eat when the death hunger came. I don't blame 
 you, Florida, you was a sweet little girl, and it was never 
 your fault, but my man never took a cent that came 
 from Tom Morgan, and I won't, either." 
 
 " Go after Mrs. Jernigan at once," commanded 
 Northmore, drawing the girl away in an agony of ap- 
 prehension. " I will stay here and make it all right. 
 It has been a long siege and she is embittered. Go at 
 once; the house is growing colder." He gave her her 
 gloves and opened the door. 
 
 " You will stay here till I get back? " she asked as he 
 helped her into the runabout and handed her the reins. 
 
 " Yes, indeed." 
 
 " I shall not be long. You coax her up ; she is out of 
 her head, poor creature," and she was off, her horse 
 sliding and splashing down the muddy road, upon which 
 the last trace of snow had thawed. Northmore returned 
 to the room and busied himself getting materials for a 
 fire from the next house, and making it. He put water 
 to heat, knowing that it would be needed when Florida 
 returned. As soon as he had got the room fairly warm 
 he went to the sick woman's side to try to reconcile her 
 to acceptance, but she had fallen asleep and he would 
 not wake her. In a very short time Florida returned 
 with a basket of the things most urgently needed.
 
 230 
 
 " I wouldn't let her talk at all if it can be prevented," 
 he suggested nervously as he helped her out. " She 
 will only exhaust herself and she is hardly sane." 
 
 " No, she must be kept quiet," the girl assented. 
 
 The kettle was boiling on the one stove which served 
 for all purposes when they went in, and the two at 
 once set about making toast and tea, which they finally 
 achieved without disaster in their lack of skill. 
 
 " I went to Mrs. Jernigan as you suggested, and she 
 told me what to get. I wanted her to come right up 
 with me, but she said that she would go after a woman 
 to stay all night and come up later herself," whispered 
 Florida, her eyes on the sleeper. 
 
 " Then all will go well if you have put her into Mrs. 
 Jernigan's hands," and there was relief in Northmore's 
 voice. " You need not even stay until she comes. I 
 will see that Mrs. Ellis has her tea when she wakes up." 
 
 Florida turned upon him : " Why are you in such 
 haste to send me off? I propose to stay until help comes, 
 and then you are going to drive me home. It will be 
 growing dark by that time and the road from here 
 across to the pike is almost impassable. You have to 
 give an account of yourself. I have not had a moment 
 to ask you if you actually are going to leave Moga- 
 donia. I have heard some ridiculous rumors about it." 
 
 He smiled, but did not answer. It was not easy 
 to tell her. A neighbour came in presently, and North- 
 more took the occasion to propose going. The woman 
 was the one who had taken charge of the Ellises for 
 years, as he knew. Florida protested a little, but finallyj
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 231 
 
 consented, saying that she would come again in the 
 morning, when supplies would have arrived and she 
 could be of greater use. He hurried her out to the 
 runabout as the sick woman opened her eyes and the 
 neighbour went to her with the tea. 
 
 " Now, aren't you going to tell me all about it ? " 
 she asked as soon as they were tucked up in the lap- 
 robe. " Who started the rumor that you are leaving 
 Mogadonia? " 
 
 " It is true." 
 
 " No-o ! " The soft little cry of consternation un- 
 nerved him. He was trying to steel himself to her pres- 
 ence. 
 
 " It is true." 
 
 " What can it mean ? The whole place is ringing 
 with your praise. Nothing like your work has ever 
 been known here before." 
 
 He was guiding the horse over a bad curve and made 
 no reply. 
 
 " You will at least tell me that it is not a calamity 
 which takes you away unwillingly," she insisted after a 
 pause. " Something of the kind was suggested and 
 you will take me into your confidence to that extent, 
 won't you ? " 
 
 " I am going as quietly as possible on account of my 
 church. I don't want sensational reports to unsettle 
 the people who have come in during the winter. My 
 father died recently and my mother wishes me to close 
 up his business. That is one reason. There is another 
 which is purely personal."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Ah ! But you haven't yet revealed what I want to 
 know your own part in it. Your place here can never 
 be filled by anyone else; you are leaving before you 
 have crystallised yourself into a permanent effect. It 
 is a great pity, and I can't tell whether something sor- 
 did, some need of others of your mother's is taking 
 you, as I suspect, or whether you are going of your 
 own wish which I don't believe. It would be wrong 
 to allow a mere business matter to break up your fu- 
 ture; it would be a sacrifice that your friends could 
 not allow." 
 
 The diffidence of her tone showed how much more she 
 would like to say if she dared. Northmore's senses 
 were reeling at the best. A wave of regret had washed 
 away all his high resolve, all his self-righteous arro- 
 gance of the early afternoon. He only knew that he 
 was sitting beside the one woman that his coatsleeve 
 touched hers, that physically they were so near that his 
 arm could encircle her, though practically separated by 
 a hemisphere of circumstance. They had driven through 
 town and out upon the pike to Heathermuir, across 
 which the shadow of the hills was now falling. He 
 could see with a side glance the lovely curve of her 
 cheek above the high collar of her fur coat, and the 
 soft loose rings of hair that drooped upon her forehead. 
 He could divine what was going on in her mind; sym- 
 pathy for the supposed financial stress which made it 
 necessary for him to break from his calling, and a desire 
 to remove it out of the abundance which so oppressed 
 her checkmated by the impossibility of offering it.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 233 
 
 Yes, out of her pure goodness and unselfishness she was 
 taking his affairs to heart and longing to help him. 
 What would she think if she knew the storm of love 
 that was raging in his heart? She must not know, that 
 was all ! The plunk-plunk of the horse's feet upon the 
 bridge roused her from the puzzled revery into which 
 she had fallen : 
 
 " That is the place where I was marooned the day 
 you found and rescued me ; how long ago it seems ! " 
 
 She bent forward to look down into the full yellow 
 torrent that swept high under the bridge and lashed the 
 rim of the bank. 
 
 " We have lived some since then," he said gravely. 
 
 She looked up quickly into his face. " Yes. It is such 
 a little while, and yet I seem to have known you so long ; 
 I knew you the moment I saw you. Wasn't it strange? 
 We were old acquaintances instantly. And you under- 
 stood me without words, and helped me. Oh, I had 
 planned such things to do with you! Olive Drysdale 
 has fairly spent the winter in studying the city philan- 
 thropies with me. She said you could accomplish any- 
 thing you undertook, you had such an executive 
 quality. I have come home full of her ideas and of 
 enthusiasm and now it is all useless. We were great 
 friends before I left, and now you are so lofty you 
 won't let me help you in your trouble at all." 
 
 " That would be weakness," he managed to say, 
 adding before she found an answer, " As for help, you 
 can have the best co-operation. Miss Garnett told me 
 that she had written to you of her engagement."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " Yes, she wrote a lovely letter. She is very happy ; 
 I was quite taken with Mr. Harrington last fall, and 
 you may guess how glad I was to know that it wasn't 
 Africa." She laughed reminiscently : " You wouldn't 
 marry her yourself to please me, but you did the next 
 best thing." 
 
 " You will find her full of enthusiasm in the plans 
 you have for Mogadonia, with an able lieutenant in Mr. 
 Harrington. And there is always Mrs. Jernigan." 
 
 They rounded a curve of the road and the thick red of 
 the winter sunset illuminated two faces which revealed 
 more than their light words were saying. Another turn 
 carried them into the cut between two hills, from whose 
 thawing moisture came down the first faint scent of the 
 spring. In the gloom of the evening the bare twigs of 
 the woods showed only in a purple haze about the tree 
 trunks. The two in the runabout were silent with 
 crowding thought which would not form itself to ade- 
 quate speech in the fleeting moments before they reached 
 the house. 
 
 " You must come in," said Florida imperatively, as he 
 helped her out under the porte-cochere. " Oh, yes, yes. 
 I will take no excuse. You can telephone to Susan. It 
 may be the last time, you know, and there are many 
 plans about which you must advise me. After dinner 
 I will send you home in a carriage." 
 
 It appeared to him that there was no way out of it; 
 it was far easier to yield to temptation under the inevit- 
 able than voluntarily. 
 
 The dinner was quiet, for Mr. Morgan was out of
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 235 
 
 town, and Mrs. Morgan essayed only a few difficult at- 
 tempts at conversation, leaving Florida to talk of the 
 schemes she had developed under Olive Drysdale's super- 
 vision during the winter. Afterward her mother ex- 
 cused herself and Florida led her guest to a little soft- 
 hued room in which a wood fire was cheerily snapping. 
 
 " Now," she said when she had ensconced him in a 
 deep chair, " you are going to remember what old 
 friends we are, and take me into your confidence. I 
 know very well that you haven't told me the true rea- 
 son for giving up your dear work. I know that it 
 must be almost a tragic one and yet dt may be 
 something that that it would be a great privilege 
 to avert if if you would allow your friends such 
 a pleasure. And you are not unkind." 
 
 He saw how much it cost her to try to penetrate his 
 reserve. She was sitting opposite on a low seat with 
 the firelight playing exquisitely over her sensitive face. 
 His own flushed hotly. 
 
 " It is not so bad as that, Miss Morgan. It is not 
 a a financial difficulty that influences me. It is some- 
 thing more vital than that and I think I must tell 
 you. I have gone over it again and again, night 
 and day, in the last few months. It is a matter 
 of doctrine, of belief. I can no longer preach in an 
 orthodox church. It has been as hard to break my 
 ties as human action could be and I beg you not 
 to add to the difficulty. Don't disapprove, please. I 
 couldn't stand it." 
 
 " But I shall. Mr. Northmore, is that all? Oh, I
 
 236 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 am so glad. I was afraid it might be something serious ; 
 why didn't you tell me in the first place and not let 
 me worry? What is it something about baptism? " 
 
 " It would take a long time to tell you." 
 
 " But you needn't leave your church on that account. 
 People have all sorts of differences now, and all the 
 churches are growing so near that they are merely the 
 different colleges of a great university. Why, Olive is 
 an Episcopalian and I am a Baptist, and for our lives 
 we couldn't tell the difference in our religion." 
 
 " But, you see, I was pledged to preach the tenets 
 of my own church, and I have no right to introduce 
 what would be heresy there. It cannot be helped now, 
 Miss Morgan, and when I am sane I am glad I had 
 firmness enough to do it." 
 
 " And you are going to preach in some other 
 church? " 
 
 " I don't know what I am going to do. I am utterly 
 adrift." 
 
 " That is impossible ! When you have such ability 
 and there is so much to do! I saw sights in the 
 city that will haunt me forever. I feel like climbing 
 stone stairs on my knees to atone for living in unneces- 
 sary luxury when there is such awful misery! You see 
 I have a lot of time here to think about these things 
 and Olive is giving herself up more and more to her 
 charities. Why can't you go into some of them for 
 a mission? " 
 
 She had drawn closer in her enthusiasm and her 
 voice was sweeter than anything he had ever heard.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 237 
 
 He was holding the arms of his chair with rigid hands, 
 and the power of speech appeared to have left him. He 
 turned his gaze to the fire. 
 
 " You see you haven't the ghost of a reason," she 
 laughed, leaning forward, with luminous eyes. She 
 was wonderfully beautiful in the pink light, while the 
 wistful persuasiveness in her voice told unsaid things. 
 " Isn't it a duty to use a large talent for the good 
 of others and to help stupid people to use their 
 good intentions for the same purpose? You you 
 are taking away my usefulness as well don't you 
 see? We could do so much working togeth work- 
 ing in harmony." 
 
 He did not answer for a long minute or two, in which 
 the fire hummed cosily. His voice was hard with the 
 effort to speak when he said : " Even a priest may have 
 some manhood; there are conditions which he may not 
 accept; some vestige of dignity must assert itself. 
 Please remember that I am very human and don't 
 make it too hard for me ! " 
 
 " I don't understand. Why must it be if it is 
 hard? A minister does not take monastic vows and 
 fast away his strength in these days. He works and 
 helps other people to work." 
 
 He did not know how to reply ; he did not understand 
 what hope of usefulness might be veiled under her 
 words; he only knew that every other consideration 
 was for him swept away by her gentle, womanly, ir- 
 resistible sweetness. 
 
 " That is what you don't know, Miss Morgan. There
 
 238 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 was never a time when a priest must so completely 
 efface self as now. He must not only accept perpetual 
 poverty like a monk, but the monk's abject position in 
 the world's thought. He must renounce the dearest 
 object of life, must be humiliated while his soul is 
 torn asunder." 
 
 The difficult words would hardly come, under her 
 gaze. He looked into the fire, while the room was so 
 still that he could hear her soft, near breathing. The 
 tension was intolerable ; he sprang to his feet. " I can't 
 bear it and I can't tell you ! " he burst forth furiously. 
 " You can't see how I am fettered. I am more fully 
 bound than ever to God's work in a new way; I have 
 thrown away my chance to win recognition in the world 
 as a free man might ; I hoped to get away without tell- 
 ing you what a fool I am without seeing you again ! 
 I am not permitted to if my consecration means any- 
 thing, it means a monk's celibacy, and yet I have been 
 fool enough to send me away, please, this moment." 
 He was collected now. " I hope that you don't see what 
 it means to me. I am going before I commit worse 
 folly. Don't " he lifted a negative hand " don't 
 let me stay any longer." 
 
 She was instantly on her feet, cool, self-possessed, 
 graceful. 
 
 " Oh, no, I am not detaining you since you are 
 the only person to be considered. Thank you for your 
 protection home." Her voice was clear as a bell, with 
 an indignant ring in it. He stood stupidly before 
 her for a few seconds trying to take in, through his tur-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 239 
 
 bulent senses, something in her tone that was unex- 
 pected, but he could not make it out. In the cushioned 
 seat of the carriage he sank back wearily and wished 
 that the spirited horses might plunge him into the 
 swollen stream. In the middle of the night, as he sat 
 in burning self -damnation before the ashes, a lightning 
 flash of comprehension cleft his brain and he under- 
 stood. " Since you are the only person to be consid- 
 ered! " was what he saw illuminated. He opened his 
 window ; he was suffocating in the cold room. Was that 
 it? Across the gulf of his boundless stupidity she had 
 thrown her favour to him to her Sir Knight. And 
 he what had he done ? Could he go away now without 
 seeing her again, with the thrill of those words in his 
 pulses? Had he so much manhood left? He would 
 prove it. He slept at last, fitfully, with the red of the 
 winter dawn upon his face, then he was up for a new 
 day, a white stone day in his life. But he must still be 
 strong enough to go away ! 
 
 After breakfast he heard Mrs. Jernigan at the tele- 
 phone. " Yes, yes, this is her. Oh, is that you, 
 Florida? Yes, I left a woman stay in' with her last 
 night ; she picked up and eat quite a supper. Yes, the 
 Old Doctor's goin' to see her always has. He thinks 
 not no longer than spring though he says you can't 
 tell in those long cases. It may be years. Yes, every- 
 thing '11 be delivered this mornin'. Why, I don't know 
 'bout that, I'm sure. I 'spose they ought to be notified 
 not to take her; if you think there's any danger of 
 that, I'll go up right away and stay. They won't get
 
 240 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 her if I'm there don't you worry. Yes, she is mighty 
 comfortable; it's a great change. Yes, yes, there's 
 enough for the present. Oh, don't mention it. Good- 
 bye, Florida." 
 
 She came out to Northmore. " Florida is worried 
 for fear the poorhouse authorities don't understand and 
 will take Mary Ellis away this mornin'. I guess 
 nobody thought to notify 'em last night. What do 
 you think we'd better do about it ? " 
 
 " I will attend to it myself," he said, and went out 
 at once. There was a tang of frost in the air and the 
 mud was crusted as he went through Whisky Island 
 up to the spur. The miners' houses looked more unlike 
 human habitations now than when he had first seen them 
 under the glow of autumn sun and haze. These were 
 the people whom he had not been able to help the ones 
 who needed help most. He wondered, as he saw the load 
 of coal that had been dumped at the Ellis shed, why the 
 comforts of life must be obtained at such a cost to the 
 workers themselves. Did not the production of coal 
 pay enough to provide its miners with something better 
 than kennels after their hard work? 
 
 He found a competent woman brightening the sick 
 room with housewifely skill, and the materials which had 
 been sent to her. The patient watched her with fever- 
 bright eyes, her thin electric hair crowning her wasted 
 face in a white wreath. A tray of untasted breakfast 
 stood beside the bed. He went with a friendly greet- 
 ing, and talked to her for a moment, leading the way to 
 speak of Florida and persuade her to accept the girl's
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 kindness. Before he could accomplish this, however, he 
 was conscious of a subtle presence at his side, of faintly 
 fragrant garments that brushed his, and he turned to 
 sa J " good-morning " to Florida herself, while the 
 colour went out of his face. 
 
 " Good-morning, Mr. Northmore." She was per- 
 fectly self-possessed. Then he had misunderstood! 
 His heart seemed to stop beating at the thought yet it 
 was better so far better. Why should he care so 
 desperately ? 
 
 " I think you look better this morning, Mary," said 
 the girl brightly. " I was so afraid that you would be 
 carried off in spite of us, that I drove over like mad. 
 Well, we can all hold the fort, surely." 
 
 The woman was stronger than the day before. She 
 lifted her wild face from the pillow and looked fiercely 
 at Florida. " I hope I ain't better, and I'm goin' to 
 the poorhouse to-day if I have to walk. Why 
 shouldn't I? If I'm charity, I can get my rights off 
 the town, I guess, without all this fuss." 
 
 " No, no, now, Mary, you are just going to be good 
 and let us do what we like. Don't put your arms out 
 like that, it's none too warm here. Have you had your 
 breakfast?" 
 
 The soft voice roused the woman to fury. " No, nor 
 I won't eat it. I tole you yisterday, Florida Morgan* 
 that I wouldn't take a cent of your'n, an' I won't. I 
 can't get up to put you out of the house, but I kin keep 
 from eatin' your victuals and I have ! " 
 
 Northmore drew Florida away as he had done the day
 
 M 
 
 before. " You had better not stay. She excites her- 
 self needlessly ; she is hardly responsible," he whispered. 
 
 " But it must be a mistake. She has taken me for 
 someone else. She can't have anything against me," 
 urged the girl. 
 
 " Of course not, but it troubles her, nevertheless. 
 You had better go ! " 
 
 " No, indeed. I shall straighten it out and put her 
 at ease." She threw off his detaining hand and went 
 to the bedside again. " Mary, you ought to be scolded 
 for not knowing me. I am Florida Morgan ; you must 
 remember me, even if I was gone a long time. I am 
 sure that father lost sight of you, too, or he would never 
 have let you see hard times. Mr. Ellis was one of the 
 best men he ever had in the old days. Now, you are 
 going to be good to me, aren't you? " 
 
 The woman searched her face with curious eyes. " Is 
 that all you know?" she demanded. Northmore, 
 behind the girl, was imploring silence in frantic pan- 
 tomime, but she would not heed him. 
 
 " If I had known, don't you think I would have been 
 here long ago, Mary ? We owe you too much for your 
 husband's faithful service." 
 
 The last words were enough. Vivid colour flew 
 through the woman's transparent skin. " Owe us ! 
 Owe us ! Yes, you pay what you owe us and I'll give 
 you a bit of charity now and then. You'll need a meal 
 sometimes. If you don't know how your father robbed 
 us, it's time you did. Where did he get his riches? 
 You tell me that, Florida Morgan. Ask your father
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 243 
 
 why my man was laid off to starve when he hurt his 
 hand. He can tell you ! " she screamed. 
 
 The girls' face was colourless. She waved North- 
 more off and looked at the speaker with apprehensive 
 fear. " You must tell me what you mean, Mary. I 
 don't know why Ellis stopped working for father, but 
 I know that it must have been through a mistake. My 
 father is a good, kind man ; he never wronged anybody 
 willingly." 
 
 "Oh, didn't he, though? So he's lied to you about 
 it all these years, has he? You ask Tom Morgan who 
 invented his first patent. Ask him how he come to 
 get it." 
 
 " Tell me, Mary. I'm not afraid to hear of any deed 
 of my father's. He is a Christian gentleman, as every- 
 body knows," and she lifted her head proudly, though 
 her voice trembled. 
 
 " Listen to me, Florida, and don't let the preacher 
 drag you off. I want to tell you; it's worth all the 
 years I've laid here to be the one to tell Tom Morgan's 
 daughter that he sets such store by. Oh, there's a turn 
 in the lane if you go far enough! Listen, Florida; it 
 was Ellis invented that first machine that made all the 
 money my man that died hungry. He worked on it 
 night and mornin' for fifteen years. He put his heart 
 and soul into it. When did Tom Morgan ever invent 
 anything? He never had a new idea in his life. And 
 my poor man worked at it nights after his day in the 
 shop till, many a time, I've got up and waked him, settin' 
 with the tools in his hands, and Sundays he'd hardly
 
 stop to eat, while Tom Morgan was sayin' his prayers in 
 church. Then I had my trouble just when he got it to 
 runnin' and we'd scraped enough together for the 
 patent, and we had to have money quick. Ellis went to 
 your pa to borrow some, but not a cent would he lend ! 
 Not a cent after fifteen years of honest work. Then 
 Ellis showed him the model and asked for a loan on that. 
 No, not a cent, and he knew it meant life and death to 
 us. But he wanted to buy it the minute he laid eyes 
 on it, and he never let up. We either had to sell it to 
 him or die and let him steal it. And he got it." 
 
 "But he bought it! He paid for it!" cried the 
 girl with stiffening lips. 
 
 " Paid for it ! He took it and gave Ellis two hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars for it. Two hundred and fifty 
 dollars and made millions and millions out of it. It 
 wasn't as if we'd offered to sell it. He made us give it 
 up. Not a cent of Tom Morgan's stolen money '11 ever 
 feed me! And I'll die glad and happy that I lived to 
 tell it to you, when he's kept it secret all these years 
 and you called him a Christian ! Not that you're like 
 him, Florida," noting for the first the anguish in the 
 girl's white face, " you was always a good little thing, 
 dividin' your candy with Bessie, and never knowin' the 
 difference between rich and poor." 
 
 Florida could not speak. Unnumbered forgotten 
 bits of proof corroborated the truth of Mrs. Ellis's 
 story. She knelt by the bed and, putting her arms 
 about the wasted form, drew the white head to her 
 shoulder with infinite gentleness. Northmore turned
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 245 
 
 away. At last she said, shaken by a great dry sob, 
 " Oh, Mary ! Oh, Mary ! It couldn't be quite so 
 bad! Tell me." 
 
 The woman was silent, close in the girl's arms. The 
 soft hand stroked her wild hair. " Bessie was nearly 
 my age and she is not here. For her sake you will 
 let me stay and love you. Little Bessie ! " 
 
 " Oh, Bessie, Bessie, my baby ! " sobbed the woman, 
 her anger gone, while tears came to both as they clung 
 together. Northmore, with his back to the two, stared 
 out of the window. After a while Florida called him 
 back. She was taking off her hat and jacket. 
 
 " If you have pencil and paper with you, please make 
 a list of things that I want from home. I am going to 
 stay here."
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 IT was a sunny Sabbath morning in the last of February 
 on which Northmore entered his pulpit for the last time 
 to confront such a congregation as had never been able 
 to crowd into the church before. Every person was 
 there who had had the least part in his short and 
 strenuous pastorate. Joe Fury occupied a prominent 
 seat. Billy Canter found a place where he could look 
 at Florida Morgan's back hair, having hopelessly lost 
 his heart to her on the occasion of the Thanksgiving 
 dinner, at which he was one of the superfluous waiters. 
 Firestone's reproachful face was turned to him from 
 beside Miss Libby Ann Munson, a middle-aged teacher, 
 who was beginning to show a keen interest in Abyssinian 
 missions. Miss Libby Ann was plain and commonplace, 
 but she was good and sincere and blessed with an iron 
 constitution. 
 
 Northmore had chosen for the morning lesson part 
 of the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew as the best 
 exposition of his action that could be given, and for his 
 text, " Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, 
 shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth 
 the will of my father which is in heaven." 
 
 " The great cry of the day is for ministers," he 
 began, " ministers not merely to talk in pulpits, but to 
 do Christianity in the world of action. It is now de- 
 
 Iff
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 247 
 
 manded that we apply our precepts in business, that we 
 work out our self-redemption in the eyes of men not 
 their ears. It is required that we share the world- 
 burden of poverty and suffering to the extent of our 
 individual ability." 
 
 This was his only explanation of the step he 
 had taken. In the intense quiet every word went 
 home to the listeners. At the close of the sermon 
 he moved to the side of the pulpit and in one subdued, 
 impersonal sentence indicated that he was to sever a 
 sacred relation most dear to him, and asked for his 
 successor the support that had been accorded to him- 
 self. His restrained voice revealed no emotion ; he was 
 amazed at the wave of sorrow that his words evoked 
 in the congregation. He did not read the last hymn 
 quite steadily, wondering, too, for the thousandth time, 
 if he were right in letting go a personal grip upon 
 people which could be used to such good for them. 
 
 It took him a long time after the benediction was 
 pronounced to make his way down the aisle to the door. 
 
 The man in whose face he read the heartiest endorse- 
 ment was Quiggins, his first Mogadonia acquaintance, 
 who pressed forward and clung to his hand, reluctant to 
 part. There was even a sprinkling of the English- 
 speaking people from Whisky Island, who had first 
 heard him preach Ellis's funeral sermon. Many were 
 waiting at the door when he came out, and all the lead- 
 ing members invited him home to dinner. 
 
 He dressed by gaslight the next morning in his de- 
 nuded room, and stole downstairs to avoid routing the
 
 248 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 family at the early hour, but the precaution was wasted. 
 The entire Jernigan contingent waylaid him in the hall 
 and carried him to the dining-room, where the last of 
 Mrs. Jernigan's good breakfasts smoked for him. Her 
 face was very red, and she remarked as she bent low 
 over the coffeepot that " a body -with a floral com- 
 plexion got het up so broilin' steak that it was a sight 
 to see 'em." Her voice was catchy and she was in that 
 feminine need of consolation which expends itself in 
 garrulity. 
 
 " I tell him I'm jest disgusted with this ole moss- 
 back town that's so married to its idols that it freezes 
 out every smart man that strikes it. I was afraid that 
 Mr. Harrington 'd be the next to go an' leave Joe Fury 
 in full possession, draggin' our boys full tilt to ruin, 
 but things has taken a sudden turn an' it looks like Joe 
 Fury was gettin' the worst of it. All the decent trade's 
 turned to Mr. Harrington." 
 
 " I don't see how you argue that Mr. Northmore's 
 ben froze out. I kin prove you wrong there " be- 
 gan the oracle. 
 
 " You don't need to, pa. I only mean that the town 
 itself is too slow fur him. I hope the chillern of 
 this town won't be on yore head, Mr. Northmore, fur 
 no livin' man kin ever take yore place with them," she 
 said earnestly. 
 
 " Don't speak of that, please," begged the young 
 man, his eyes full of pain. " I'm going to try to keep 
 track of some of them after I'm gone. It's the best I 
 can do."
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 249 
 
 " Wall, if all the other smart folks lights out, you bet 
 we ain't goin' to stay. Do you reckon any other place 
 would let a man with the wisdom of Joseph Jernigan 
 live in it for forty years and pay no more 'tention to 
 him than if he was a locust post taken root? I've told 
 him he wasn't appreciated here many and many a time." 
 Which Mr. Jernigan was more than ready to corro- 
 borate, though his pancakes were cooling. 
 
 The station lights were blinking in the frosty dawn 
 as Northmore climbed desolately to the mid-air platform 
 upon which he had landed so confidently only a few 
 months before. He was surprised to find a group of 
 men waiting at that uncanny hour to see him off. He 
 had felt it a high compliment that Mr. Jernigan short- 
 ened his hours of arduous rest to do him honour, but 
 here at the train were Mr. Harrington, Mr. Money- 
 penny, Billy Canter, and, to his surprise, Mr. Firestone, 
 and twenty or more others. Billy Canter drew him 
 aside confidentially. 
 
 " I wanted to ask your advice on a delicate sub- 
 ject. I I've been thinking a great deal lately about 
 a young lady. I have, indeed. And she's such a 
 beautiful young lady, and so good and so friendly 
 why, she said, ' I'll never forget your kindness, 
 Mr. Canter, in helping us out with our Thanksgiv- 
 ing dinner.' And she shook hands with me! Now, 
 what do you think of that? I'd have been out to call 
 on her, only she's been away nearly all winter, but last 
 Sunday after church I stood round by her carriage and 
 she said, ' How do you do, Mr. Canter? ' just as pleasant
 
 250 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 as anything. And she's known me all her life. And, 
 as you know, Mr. Northmore, I'm a church member, and 
 I never smoked a cigarette in my life, and I'm a business 
 man of some means nothing to compare with hers, of 
 course, but it's a bad year when I don't come out seven 
 or eight hundred dollars ahead. Now, wouldn't you 
 think my chances pretty good if there ain't anybody 
 else?" * 
 
 Northmore smiled. " That's a question that the 
 wisest of us can't answer, Mr. Canter. We all have to 
 leave it to the lady." 
 
 Then he was hurrying along the platform shaking 
 hands with his friends, for the great yellow eye of the 
 locomotive was gleaming out of the tunnel and making 
 the scene as unreal as a tableau. 
 
 " Good-bye, Mr. Jernigan. Good-bye, Mr. Money- 
 penny; yes, I will write occasionally," then he was 
 gliding smoothly among them on the lower step of the 
 car, lifting his hat to them as the train rounded the 
 curve and went out of sight. Then he settled himself in 
 the coach, hot and dusty from its night run from Balti- 
 more, and looked down upon the black roofs of the town 
 where this paradoxical chapter of successful failure 
 had been closed. 
 
 The train plunged into the eastern tunnel under old 
 Whiteface and he leaned back in the noxious darkness, 
 wondering if he were done forever with Mogadonia 
 and with its one beautiful, heartbreaking face, that 
 would not leave his vision. With what effort was he
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 251 
 
 now to build out the broken shaft of his life purpose to 
 make it worthy tribute to her who must henceforth be 
 the unconscious mainspring of his motive? Must the 
 next shaft also be modelled with bleeding hands only to 
 shatter under the grinding abrasion of his passion to 
 know and live Truth?
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 A DAY or two before Northmore left, two passengers 
 landed from the noon accommodation, who had come 
 to fill his dual vacancy. A stout man with reddish 
 moustache and important bearing strode down from the 
 platform and took the hack up to Mrs. Garnett's to 
 report as the new manager of the pottery, while a slen- 
 der, blond young fellow, with wavy light hair and the 
 face of an angel, delivered himself to Mr. Moneypenny's 
 charge as the new minister. 
 
 Paul Brand had known his predecessor slightly at the 
 Seminary, but they were so unlike that they had never 
 been attracted to stronger friendship. Their very dif- 
 ference of type was now to Brand's advantage, as it 
 would bring him less into comparison with Northmore, 
 whose popularity was too great to be inherited by a 
 man who was like him. Brand's sweetness and spirit- 
 uality, in opposition to Northmore's practical ideals, 
 found the soil prepared for their sowing, and the new 
 pastor was liked at first sight. 
 
 The manager took charge of the works after two 
 nominal conferences with Mrs. Garnett, in which he 
 listened with curt patience to her complicated and minute 
 details of policy. It was apparent before the close of 
 the first week that he had a method of his own, a rigor- 
 ous one, which accomplished results, as there had been a 
 rush of orders and the season was a busy one. 
 
 252
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 253 
 
 With the advance of spring an activity without 
 precedent took possession of Mogadonia. The pretty 
 island encircled by the river at the foot of Old White- 
 face began to undergo a mysterious transformation, 
 fascinating to the young people whose summers had 
 held no more elaborate junketings than the annual 
 picnics to the Raven Rocks. Cattle which had peace- 
 fully grazed there for time unknown were deposed, and 
 building material was dumped from an unending pro- 
 cession of waggons. This first took shape in a hand- 
 some bridge, and then rose in airy pavilions and booths 
 among the trees, while the undergrowth was replaced 
 by elaborate landscape gardening. It then developed 
 that Joe Fury was making a resort park of the place, 
 and its progress was watched with delight by the young 
 and alarm by their parents. 
 
 Tom Morgan's offer to all the churches was a reality, 
 and those which had accepted were working heroically 
 to raise their quota in the specified time. Their sup- 
 pers, fairs, and innumerable original devices so drained 
 the town of vest-pocket change that Brand, who was 
 now considering with his members the reopened question 
 of acceptance, wondered if anything could be left for 
 them to do in their own behalf. He thought it a 
 magnificent offer, and failed to understand how any- 
 one could hesitate about it. He had been invited to 
 Mr. Morgan's to talk over the matter, and was taken 
 by storm by the latter's zeal, piety, his austere morality, 
 and the broad spirit which led him to be generous to 
 other denominations.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 A vapoury rumour, long in the air, condensed about 
 this time into the authoritative announcement of Mor- 
 gan's candidacy for congressional honours. 
 
 Paul Brand, learning this first from Mrs. Garnett, 
 whom he was consulting about ways and means of rais- 
 ing the necessary fund to secure the Morgan dona- 
 tion, was enthusiastic in his endorsement of the can- 
 didate. 
 
 " He's just the sort of man that we want at the front. 
 We've been represented by men who made their religion 
 almost a secret. Their loose lives have been a shame- 
 ful example to the people. Now we want a powerful 
 Christian in that office and we're going to do our best 
 to elect him." 
 
 " Yes," and Mrs. Garnett thoughtfully smoothed her 
 black-bordered handkerchief over her knee. " I like your 
 liberality in being willing to endorse a man of another 
 denomination. It repays his liberality to us in the 
 same way." 
 
 " Yes, and that liberality is something that we must 
 make sure of. How are we going to raise that money, 
 Mrs. Garnett? " 
 
 "As the others are doing, I suppose, after we have 
 given all that we can ourselves. There's a personal 
 matter that I've wanted to consult you about at the 
 first opportunity. May I speak of it now? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " You know, I think, that my husband died very 
 suddenly last winter, and he left one unfinished thing. 
 He had set apart ten thousand dollars in a separate
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 255 
 
 fund to build something for his men at the pottery and 
 for the other people in the New Town over there, 
 Now, I feel that I must use that money in carrying 
 out his wish. He had quite set his heart on it 
 but the Lord interfered with his intention. Why, I 
 don't know. What do you think I ought to do with 
 that money, Mr. Brand? " 
 
 " I think that you ought to carry out your husband's 
 intentions." 
 
 " But I can't do it. I don't know what it was. 
 He never talked to anyone about it. My husband and 
 I had different ideas on the subject, and he never gave 
 me the details." 
 
 " Then, I should say, you will have to do the next 
 best thing. Devote it to some object of which he would 
 approve." 
 
 " I am wondering if it would be right to devote it to 
 an object of which he would not approve. He was very 
 good to his men in every way but one, he never used 
 his great influence with them for their spiritual welfare. 
 Now, since I am their employer, I want to supply that 
 deficiency as far as possible. I want to give every hour 
 of my future life to God's work. And I think the best 
 use of that money will be in a chapel building right at 
 the works. The men would surely attend it then." 
 
 " But we are building three other churches in this 
 town at the same time. It would have to be a union 
 chapel, and they are never successful. Don't you feel 
 that you could contribute it to the fund we must raise? 
 It would go a long way toward that ? "
 
 256 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " No. Though I should love to add it to our fund, I 
 know my husband would not have done that. I must 
 use it in a special way." 
 
 " I see. And he left no plan ? " 
 
 " None whatever. I hoped that my daughter knew 
 something about it, but she is as ignorant as I am. 
 You are aware that he did not even leave a will? " There 
 was a note of censure in his voice. 
 
 " Indeed ! " Then as an idea struck him, " Why not 
 try the men a little first? If they respond, the chapel 
 will be the thing. I've known a business men's noon 
 prayer meeting to be attended with success. Why not 
 try one there? " 
 
 " That's the very suggestion I've been looking for 
 a workingmen's prayer meeting! That will lead right 
 up to the chapel, and induce them to go to church for 
 his sake. I will try to introduce it at once if you will 
 conduct it a few times." 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 Before he left, Mrs. Garnett assured Brand of a 
 liberal subscription to her own church, and he went 
 away in great enthusiasm, springing joyously over the 
 pavement in the warm April air and seeing the spires 
 of his new sanctuary already piercing the blue of the 
 deep sky. 
 
 On the same evening a deputation of workmen called 
 upon Mrs. Garnett to present a list of grievances. She 
 had never before dealt directly with the men, though she 
 was anxious to assume something of her husband's per- 
 sonal relation with them, and she was now full of mis-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 257 
 
 sionary zeal, inspired by her wish to do them good. She 
 looked upon this timely visit as an opening. The spokes- 
 man stated his errand, to which she listened without in- 
 terest, waiting for an opportunity to introduce her own 
 topic. 
 
 " It is impossible for me to do anything for you in 
 that way, Mr. Hicks. You know I have put the man- 
 agement entirely into the hands of the superintendent, 
 and I can't interfere. You will have to make com- 
 plaints to him. I hope you won't make them without 
 cause, either. You can never expect anyone else to be 
 as easy with you as Mr. Garnett was," she said with an 
 apparent sternness, which was really embarrassment in 
 the new situation. 
 
 " It's not so much a complaint as that we'd like things 
 left as near Mr. Garnett's way as they can be. That's 
 the reason we came to you. He gave us some little 
 specialties that we're used to. We don't mind the new 
 man's shaves so much as we do the little things." 
 
 "What are they?" 
 
 " Well, for one thing, you know Mr. Garnett wanted 
 us all to go home and get a warm dinner, and he added 
 ten minutes to the noon hour to give the farthest men 
 time. The whistle always blew ten minutes early and 
 he never lost that time, I can tell you ! Then if we got 
 back early, there was always the wash room in order 
 and the reading room with papers and magazines. 
 Now, Mr. Brown has taken off the extra time and 
 stopped the reading matter. This morning there was 
 a notice posted that after this we must bring our own
 
 258 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 soap and towels. We don't mind that, but the little 
 privileges do make a difference." 
 
 Mrs. Garnett was troubled. She had tqld the new 
 manager that she wanted expenses cut as low as possible, 
 to enable her to give liberally to the church fund but 
 she had not wanted this. She reflected a moment. 
 
 " I can't interfere with the management, Mr. Hicks, 
 but I surely can ask a favour. I'll tell you what I had 
 already planned to do before you came. I'm thinking 
 of building a chapel for you people over the spur, and 
 as a preliminary I want to introduce something that I 
 hope you will like and accept for Mr. Garnett's sake. 
 We have all had such a warning of the insecurity of 
 life that I want you to give a little time to religious 
 thought. I will ask Mr. Brown to give you back that 
 ten minutes for a little noon prayer meeting." 
 
 " A prayer meeting ! " exclaimed Hicks, bewildered. 
 
 " Yes, right in the works, to help you through the 
 day. My minister will come over and conduct it for 
 you at first, and afterwards you can appoint one of 
 yourselves." 
 
 " Oh, I see. Yes, thank you, Mrs. Garnett. I'll tell 
 the men how you feel about it, and they won't mind 
 going and we're obliged to you. We'd do it for his 
 sake any day. I'll tell the men how you're fixed about 
 Mr. Brown, and they'll be reasonable. Well, we'll be 
 goin' now. Good-day, Mis' Garnett, and thank you 
 fur listenin' to us." 
 
 The new concession was not easy to get from the 
 manager, who naturally was not impressed with its
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 259 
 
 prospective value to the men. " Will they attend the 
 meeting? " he asked. 
 
 " I've i-aken it for granted that they will. Still, 
 I wouldn't want to make it compulsory." 
 
 " Well, it's an innovation that I never heard of. 
 We'll try it for a week or two and see. If you want 
 to pay the men for piety, I suppose they'll come, but 
 if they don't, I can't see the good of it." 
 
 A day or two later the men paused in some embar- 
 rassment when they saw the fair-haired young minister 
 standing in the hall, Bible in hand, as they went out at 
 the old time, but most of them stopped and listened 
 respectfully. The next day the Catholics and the few 
 Jewish girls went on out the door, while the others re- 
 mained. The following day all but a few church mem- 
 bers went, and by the end of the week but a handful 
 of men gathered in a corner. A notice was posted that 
 only those who attended the meeting would be allowed 
 the extra time. That noon but five men attended, and 
 the next not a man left his work at the ten-minute 
 whistle. Brand went sadly away with his unopened 
 Bible in his hand. 
 
 Within a week a second deputation called on Mrs. 
 Garnett with complaints of increasing despotism in 
 small things. She begged the men to be patient for 
 the sake of their old employer, and they promised again 
 to try. She sent for Mr. Brown, and the interview was 
 unsatisfactory on both sides. He told her that the men 
 had been spoiled by the most unbusiness-like manage- 
 ment that he ever heard of, and that it was absolutely
 
 260 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 necessary for a new discipline to be maintained. He 
 had not the claim of affection that Mr. Garm tt had had, 
 and it was a very different matter. He also intimated 
 that he must be allowed to use his best judgment, that 
 no woman could understand the things with which he 
 had to contend, and that his efforts to make the larger 
 profit she wished had led to the dissatisfaction. 
 
 She consulted Mr. Brand and her daughter over the 
 growing troubles, but they were powerless to advise. 
 No more complaints were made to Mrs. Garnett, but 
 the increasing discontent was well known in town, and 
 on a rainy evening in the last of April Brand heard 
 that the pottery men had gone out on a strike, the first 
 in the history of Mogadonia.
 
 THE splendid May day was on the wane. A bar of sun- 
 shine slanted at a long angle through the floating dust 
 of the dirty little waiting room at the junction, which 
 appeared more grimy by contrast with the vivid green- 
 ness outside. Northmore shifted his big frame wearily 
 on the partitioned seat and glanced through a year-old 
 magazine, which, like the whitewashed stove, appeared 
 to be an asset of the railroad company. The arrival 
 of a train cut off his light, and knowing that it would 
 add a fresh lot of passengers to those who now stupidly 
 wainscoted the wall, he stretched himself lazily to his 
 feet and went out on the platform. He had noticed an 
 inviting road across the track which wound along the 
 river through green fields and white orchards, and he 
 stood waiting for the train to move out of his way that 
 he might occupy the time in exploring it before his 
 accommodation should come. 
 
 The passengers poured down from the coaches and 
 rushed by him with the eagerness of junction arrivals 
 who have not less than an hour to wait. He stepped 
 back out of their way and brought up face to face with 
 someone descending from the Pullman car, the sight of 
 whom struck him dumb for the moment. They looked 
 at each other speechlessly, then the girl recovered her 
 presence of mind and offered her hand. 
 
 61
 
 262 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " I ought not to speak to you," she smiled, " but I 
 am too angry with you not to grasp the opportunity 
 to free my mind." 
 
 " Do." He took her bag from the porter. " It will 
 be a delight even to have you scold me if you will only 
 talk to me. No, don't go in there; you can't breathe 
 if you do. I will try to find a seat out here in the 
 shade." 
 
 There was nothing on the shady side, however, that 
 would answer for a seat. 
 
 " The road across there looks very pleasant ; I was 
 just going to take a walk on it when I met you. 
 Wouldn't you like to try it? We have nearly an hour 
 before our train comes." 
 
 " Very much. I've been riding since eight o'clock 
 this morning." 
 
 " Come on, then." He helped her down the embank- 
 ment in a matter-of-course way, and they turned into 
 the firm, smooth turnpike at a swinging pace. A row 
 of willows veiled in their first green mist skirted the river 
 on one hand, a sweep of rich farms rolled from the 
 other, their houses embowered in fragrant trees, and 
 their slopes mantled in exquisite May green. Even the 
 tiny young weeds that made a velvet border at the road- 
 side were like some unsightly animals, beautiful in 
 youth. 
 
 The two walked mute for many minutes, the man 
 stirred to the depths of his strong soul by the lovely 
 face beside him, at which he dared not look. It was the 
 girl who shattered the silence that grew painful.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 263 
 
 " Did you ever see anything so heavenly as this day ? 
 They come along, a few such days in a lifetime, whose 
 perfectness can never be forgotten. It is as if the 
 gates of Paradise were thrown open for a little, while 
 a breeze or two escapes." She was turning her face 
 to the caress of the scarcely moving air. 
 
 " Yes, I am susceptible to these epoch-days that the 
 gods send us when we are good is it not? The one 
 that stands out most clearly of all is the day last Octo- 
 ber when you stopped in front of the post office. 
 Do you recall it? " 
 
 " The morning when the children weren't there? In- 
 deed, I shall never forget it, but I can't remember the 
 weather at all except that it didn't rain." 
 
 He made no answer. He was annoyed that he should 
 have chanced upon that particular event, in his wild 
 reach for something to say, to remind her of his part in 
 it. A clump of cowslips gleamed golden in the edge 
 of a roadside pool; he stepped aside to gather them 
 and relieve the tension of silence; they trembled in his 
 hand as he offered them to her. She fastened them on 
 her breast. 
 
 " Can I stand that colour? " she asked nervously. 
 
 " You ? Oh, yes but the flowers cannot ! " 
 
 " That was very pretty. I am almost forgiving you ; 
 why don't you try to conciliate me when you see how 
 angry I am ? You were simply beyond pardon ! " 
 
 " That is the reason I do not ask it." 
 
 They had resumed their respective parts in the word- 
 less drama of the last dinner at Heathermuir as though
 
 264 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 there had not been a break of weeks between. They 
 walked slowly in silence that was eloquent with darts of 
 thought which flew from one to the other without need 
 of words. When it grew too apparent he said, clumsily 
 enough : 
 
 " You have occasion to be angry with me. I can't 
 ask you to forgive my rudeness in going away without 
 even calling but I was very busy." 
 
 " What a sufficient reason ! Too busy even to write 
 aline?" 
 
 " Yes, I had to be busy ; I had to rush every moment 
 and then hurry myself off before I was ready to go 
 to keep from seeing you again. If I had stayed a 
 day longer, I must have gone out to you ! " 
 
 " Ah ! I thought you forgot ! " 
 
 " Forgot ! " He turned upon her fiercely. " You 
 surely did not think that I could forget. Would that 
 I could ! What right have I to remember ? " 
 
 His face was growing white; hers drooped over the 
 cowslips she was tearing. She lifted it with sudden 
 self-possession. 
 
 *' But you were very rude," she said teasingly, to 
 cover his earnestness. 
 
 " I had to be. I had to drive myself away and to 
 make you dislike me. I couldn't trust myself to see you 
 again nor to write. Why didn't you get genuinely 
 angry with me and refuse to speak to-day? That 
 would have been some sort of barrier. I don't see why 
 I have to meet you again, now, when it has been like 
 death to try to tear it out out of my life my very
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 life! It is the sheerest presumption to think of. 
 Aren't you sorry for me a little bit ? " 
 
 It was long before she answered. " I don't see how 
 I can be when you don't tell me what I am to be 
 sorry for." 
 
 " You must know you must that I love you 
 worship you with every faculty of my being. I have 
 fought it from the moment I saw you looking at me 
 from the runabout that morning. I knew at a glance 
 that you were not any kind of woman that I had 
 ever seen before. But it was no use. It took me by 
 storm soul and body it is for life and death with me. 
 Whatever happens wherever you go I shall love you 
 with every atom of my being as long as I breathe. 
 I know how presumptuous it is! It even crushes my 
 pride my manhood! I know all that you can say 
 I have said it a thousand times." 
 
 " Have you ? Indeed ! " 
 
 He was looking across the fields at his right; next 
 the road a plat of wheat quivered with life; a springing 
 meadow smoothed the knoll beyond ; a dogwood flaunted 
 its white flag from the edge of the woods; a bluebird 
 dipped joyously on its homeward flight; suffering was 
 human only. The moment was too intense for words. 
 After a silence he glanced at her, seeing that she walked 
 with face averted, but its hot flame spread to her 
 throat. 
 
 " Don't you forgive me? " he was forced to ask at 
 last. 
 
 " No."
 
 266 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " That is hard but you can add nothing to my self- 
 reproach." 
 
 " Then why are you afraid to let me try ? " 
 
 " I couldn't bear it from you." 
 
 " Coward ! And I thought you a man ! " She blazed 
 with indignant eyes upon him now. 
 
 " I don't know why. I had courage enough to tell 
 
 you." 
 
 " But not enough to ask me ! As if it made any 
 Mr. Northmore, if a man a real man loves a woman 
 a real man nothing but the sheerest cowardice would 
 let a few little externalities separate them or it might 
 be a false and foolish pride. What else matters if 
 they love each other? There's only one thing in the 
 whole world worth while. If Heaven and Earth should 
 be swept away and only Love remain it is enough. 
 And Love is imperishable." 
 
 The man smothered a groan. The girl's voice had 
 grown clear and insistent. Her words cut their impress 
 in his consciousness, to remain forever, and to be read 
 again and again through every moment of the day, 
 with every note of her voice remembered. She did 
 not lift her eyes to him when his glance sought 
 them and he was glad. That saved him. There was 
 a rude seat under a sycamore at the bend of the river, 
 to which he drew her. His face was utterly white; her 
 hand dropped upon her knee, and his hand wavered to- 
 ward it, but he resolutely drew it back. When he was 
 sure of his voice, he said gravely: 
 
 " Then it is worse than I knew a double misf or-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 267 
 
 tune! But I am not coward enough to allow a life 
 sacrifice even if " 
 
 " But you are ! For your wretched pride you are 
 willing to sacrifice another life! You are selfish! 
 You are cruel ! oh, you are not what I believed you ! " 
 
 He sprang suddenly to his feet and gave her an assist- 
 ing hand. 
 
 " We must go back now. We can't stand this 
 we shall say something that both will regret you 
 don't know what you are talking about as I do. Some 
 day you will see that I know best. Come." 
 
 She obeyed the command of his tone, and they walked 
 back through the lengthening shadows, so still that the 
 placid gurgle of the shallow river upon its stones was 
 the only accompaniment to their tumultuous thoughts, 
 she with proud head erect, he with a battle-weary droop 
 of shoulders that was the only evidence of tense self- 
 mastery. When they were in sight of the station he 
 said quietly: 
 
 " I have behaved so ill this afternoon that you are 
 angry with me and I shall not ask to call while I am 
 in Mogadonia. It is better that we should not be 
 friends. You see that, don't you?" 
 
 " No, but my seeing it would make no difference to 
 you who consult no one but yourself. If you don't 
 care for my friendship it will not be forced upon you. 
 Are you going back to live? " 
 
 " For a time, yes. Mrs. Garnett has sent for me to 
 try to break the strike. The new manager has 
 resigned."
 
 268 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " And you don't want to see me? You are ungallant ; 
 you won't give me a chance to to " 
 
 "Refuse me? No." 
 
 " If you should I believe I would do that very thing. 
 You are arrogant hard-hearted. Tell me this if a 
 girl was poor and a man loved her, would he refuse to 
 to ask her to to marry him on that account? " 
 
 " He might. Yes, if the girl had been rich and 
 beautiful, and a queen in her own right and had thrown 
 away her possessions because of him he would be a 
 scoundrel to take advantage of her rash impulse. You 
 know that remedy would be worse than anything else. 
 Now, we are going to forget. Don't you want to tell 
 me what has happened in Mogadonia? Have you met 
 Mr. Brand?" 
 
 " Yes, and he is a darling a great deal more agree- 
 able than " 
 
 " I am. Yes, he always was. And your father is a 
 candidate for the congressional nomination ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I have heard of wonderful improvements that are 
 going on in town." 
 
 " Yes, there are." 
 
 They lapsed into strained silence which lasted to the 
 station. Northmore pulled out a baggage truck which 
 they used for a seat until the train came, when he found 
 a place for Florida, and went back into the thick 
 atmosphere of the smoker, though he did not smoke. 
 At Mogadonia he went forward to hand her into the 
 carriage which was waiting for her. She gave him her
 
 "WITH A CURIOUS EXPRESSION THAT WAS NEITHER APPEAL NOR 
 SCOBWING BUT SOMETHING OF BOTH." Page 269.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 269 
 
 hand in parting, with a curious expression in her eyes 
 that was neither an appeal nor scorning, but something 
 of both. He lifted his hat again as he turned away, and 
 she watched his handsome back as he walked slowly down 
 the platform. A bridal party that was just mounting 
 the station stairs to take the next train, stopped him to 
 shake hands. They were Mr. and Mrs. Firestone, 
 starting for Abyssinia. The bride was formerly Miss 
 Libby Ann Munson. 
 
 The hack from the Grand Hotel stood empty at the 
 foot of the street and Northmore stepped in and sank 
 upon a seat in utter exhaustion from the conflict of the 
 last hour. 
 
 When he roused himself to a knowledge of things ex- 
 ternal, a day or two later, he found that the account of 
 the wave of progressiveness which had struck Moga- 
 donia had not been exaggerated. It had engulfed every 
 part of the town except that which needed it most 
 Whisky Island. Going the round with Brand one 
 morning during the week, Northmore felt himself a 
 stranger, not so much to the changing physical features 
 of the place as to the metropolitan spirit which was 
 infecting its primitive provincialism. The new park 
 struck him with foreboding as he foresaw what a popu- 
 lar and also what a demoralising influence it would be 
 in the unscrupulous hands of Joe Fury. 
 
 " It will undo in a season all that you can do in a 
 lifetime, for the children of this place," he deplored to 
 Brand. 
 
 " It is not to be in Joe Fury's charge. He is a poli-
 
 270 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 tical leader here, it seems, and is chosen for Mr. Mor- 
 gan's campaign manager. It is too bad that Mr. 
 Morgan has to employ a man of such insidious char- 
 acter, but he probably has an influence that makes him 
 indispensable. Of course Mr. Morgan will control the 
 conduct of the campaign so closely that Joe Fury will 
 not be allowed to introduce any of his vicious methods. 
 I know that we church people are all going to work for 
 Morgan and it will be a great thing for decency and 
 morality when we elect him." 
 
 Northmore did not answer. 
 
 The strike at the Garnett works was amicably settled 
 by a slight concession on each side, and the kilns were 
 fired again within a few days after Northmore's return. 
 Notwithstanding Mrs. Garnett's plea, and the warmth 
 of his reception, Northmore refused to sign for more 
 than a few months as manager. Mrs. Garnett made 
 him a generous offer and he had not yet chosen the way 
 in which he should work out in business activity the 
 consecration of his life to the ministry, but there was 
 a powerful reason why he could not do it in Mogadonia. 
 
 The visit to Wildwood Park, and the obvious threat 
 of its attractiveness to all that was good in the town, 
 recalled with force his feeling of responsibility to the 
 mission he had forsaken, and he was impelled to make an 
 active opposition to the place. He thought of Mr. Gar- 
 nett's plan with new regret, and wondered if it would be 
 possible to carry out the scheme without its originator. 
 With this idea he took out the roll of blue prints on his 
 return to the office, finding them where they had been
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 271 
 
 placed by Mr. Garnett's hand in almost the last hour 
 of his life. Before he could look them over, Mrs. Gar- 
 nett and Silence came into the office adjoining for a 
 consultation about the business. When the matter in 
 hand was disposed of, Northmore told them of his visit 
 to the Park, its future probabilities, and mentioned with 
 some hesitation the scheme which had so engrossed Mr. 
 Garnett. Both looked at him in amazement. 
 
 "Do you know anything about his idea?" asked 
 Silence eagerly. 
 
 " I know all about it. Yes, indeed, I helped to draw 
 the plans, and we went over them carefully the last 
 evening that he was here just before he went home. 
 He intended to put the building up this spring." 
 
 " Oh, mother ! " cried the girl. 
 
 " Where are the plans ? " asked Mrs. Garnett. 
 
 " Spread out on the table in Mr. Garnett's den, right 
 here. I was looking them over." 
 
 " Then," said Silence with quiet decision, " there's 
 but one thing to do. We will carry out father's dearest 
 wish for his men. We will do it at once while Mr. 
 Northmore is here to help us and try to offset a little 
 of the harm that Joe Fury will do with his place. Isn't 
 that so, mother? " 
 
 " Yes probably you are right. If the plan had 
 never been found, I should have built a chapel in which 
 the men might worship but since this is your father's 
 wish, we will fulfil it." 
 
 Northmore was glad of the new obligation ; it helped 
 to fill the vacuum in his heart, and he entered upon it
 
 272 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 earnestly, both to complete the measure of his friend's 
 life purpose and also to make the measure of his own 
 less incomplete. After due investigation and consulta- 
 tion with Brand and a few friends of Mrs. Garnett and 
 Silence, it was decided to enlarge the design by making 
 it a co-operative plan in which the town could have an 
 ownership, thus establishing a formidable rival to the 
 island park. 
 
 At Northmore's suggestion a town meeting was called 
 in the stockroom of the works, at which the plans would 
 be exhibited and the matter laid before the public.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 PERHAPS from public spirit, perhaps out of respect to 
 the memory of Proctor Garnett, the stockroom, neatly 
 cleared and seated, was crowded to the wall when the 
 evening of the town meeting came. Northmore had 
 asked Mr. Harrington to preside, and acted as secre- 
 tary himself, knowing the plans more fully than anyone 
 else. The blue prints and stock books lay on the table. 
 Both young men had grown enthusiastic as the idea 
 expanded and gained upon them, and they watched with 
 deep satisfaction as the people flocked in. 
 
 " Ah, there's Mr. Moneypenny," said Northmore in 
 a low tone. " He is coming up front ; we can rely upon 
 him, and I hope that it will be a help to his boys." 
 
 " We will count on him to offset the opposition of 
 Mr. Sims, who is coming up front on the other side to 
 object on principle. Daddy Pocock, also, will object 
 to any innovation on the good old way. Brand will be 
 with us, although we haven't talked with him lately." 
 
 " There's Joe Fury with his smile," added North- 
 more. " He will agree to anything that will attract no- 
 tice to the town, and he will not compliment us by 
 considering us a rival. The Old Doctor has just 
 arrived he will be pretty conservative, I'm afraid." 
 
 " He'll have a good reason for it if he is. How the 
 room has filled in the last few minutes! Better call 
 them to order at once. " 
 
 273
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 Harrington stated the object of the meeting, the need 
 of such an institution as was proposed, and the good 
 sum which came to them from the generous hand of one 
 who was gone. The first person to rise to ask a ques- 
 tion was the venerable minister of Tom Morgan's 
 church. 
 
 " Before the first step is taken, please state exactly 
 what amusements will be allowed in this building," he 
 said. 
 
 " That will be decided by the Board of Trustees 
 elected by the stockholders. It was the founder's in- 
 tention to exclude only amusements that were intrinsic- 
 ally harmful or immoral." 
 
 " Would billiard and card playing come under that 
 definition ? " he persisted. 
 
 " It was not Mr. Garnett's intention to exclude them. 
 The Board of Managers would have to decide." 
 
 " Then I shall be obliged to condemn the project and 
 use my influence against it," said the minister finally. 
 
 He was hardly in his seat before Brand was on his 
 feet, his fair face flushing with earnestness : " There is 
 no more insidious temptation than that which comes to 
 young people in the guise of pleasure. The very fact 
 that public opinion is changing with regard to these 
 things compels us to take a more decided stand against 
 them." 
 
 Joe Fury was up before anyone else could rise, his 
 unchanging smile turned upon the house, not the chair- 
 man. 
 
 " Stick to the ministers, every time, and you will
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 275 
 
 be on the right side, say I. We don't want any re- 
 ligious dance hall to lead off the children of this town. 
 If they will run off and have a little dance of their own 
 sometimes, they know it's wrong, but we don't want to 
 encourage them by giving the opportunity. Put that 
 money into our new churches and give them a place of 
 worship that will hold everybody in this town." 
 
 He talked for some minutes, but before he had 
 finished a fearless form in a green shawl rose near him 
 and a rich throaty voice rang out like a tenor horn: 
 
 " Mr. Chairman, I come here thinkin' I didn't want 
 any gilt-edged theatre or amusement place to lead my 
 children off, but the minute Joe Fury took that side, I 
 knowed I was on the other. Whatever he don't want is 
 good for 'em it will keep him from leadin' some of 'em 
 to ruin. I know what I'm talkin' about. Now, Mr. 
 Garnett knew that there wasn't a place in this town out- 
 side of our little houses where our young folks could 
 gather for an innocent evenin's fun. They've got to 
 roam the streets winter and summer. So I say let's 
 have the new hall, and let's have the best lecturers, and 
 the best music in it, and whatever games is good for 
 'em." 
 
 The Presbyterian minister was the next to speak. 
 
 " It strikes me that there is something fundamentally 
 wrong when amusement is made such a vital question as 
 Mr. Harrington considers it here to-night. In former 
 times, children were reared in the house and the church. 
 Are we not going to build a dangerous rival to these 
 holy influences ? Lead us not into temptation ! "
 
 276 'ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 Northmore drew a long breath when he saw the slim 
 form of Elijah Sims loom up from the front. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman and Fellow Citizens : I think the 
 arguments for the new hall is better than those agin it. 
 It will be a big improvement to the town, and thar 
 needn't be no evil in it ef we don't put it thar. I'm 
 ready to take stock in it the minute the books is open." 
 He clinched this with a series of nods. 
 
 The two young men stared incredulously at each 
 other; they smiled with confidence the moment Mr. 
 Moneypenny rose. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman," he said explosively, " I won't sit in 
 silence and hear plans that make my blood boil. I can't 
 believe that I hear our former minister proposing to 
 build a place in which card playing will be allowed, 
 while no assurance is given that worse things will be 
 prohibited. Am I to suppose that even in respect to 
 our townsman's memory, his wife and daughter, mem- 
 bers of my church, want to start religious gambling and 
 dancing in our midst? What are we coming to? Is 
 there to be no distinction between church members and 
 sinners? My friends, we don't want this enterprise to 
 go one step further. We want to crush it right now." 
 His voice trembled with feeling. 
 
 A tall, bent form with a little hangman's beard got 
 stiffly to its feet, and the young men looked discour- 
 aged at the prospect of more opposition. Daddy Po- 
 cock began in his slow utterance: 
 
 " Mr. Cheerman and Neighbours : I've listened to yore 
 talk, and ginerally speakin', I've agreed with both sides.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 77! 
 
 Thar's reasons fur an' reasons agin, an' we've got to see 
 which is the biggest. I 'low that Sister Susan, over 
 there, is the nighest right of any of us. Now, every one 
 of you-all knows me, and knows that I'm dead sot agin 
 weackedness and worldliness,but I don't see how this here 
 hall is goin' to interfere with church goin'. We've got 
 to remember that church doors is locked all but five hours 
 a week and what you goin' to do fur the time when 
 you're locked out? The Lord don't lock up his little 
 dumb critters in no place whar they can't play. I've 
 set these spring days an' watched M'ria's leetle chick- 
 ings playin' round the yard, and their maw don't raise 
 no objection. She knows it's good fur their laigs, and 
 she jest keeps track of 'em. An' the lambs is skippin' 
 an' rollin' up on the hill while the ole folks crops grass, 
 and the kittens is rollin' an' tumblin' on the kitchen 
 floor, an' I know them chickings an' lambs an' kittens is 
 doin' what the Lord intended 'em to an' they ain't sin- 
 nin' one bit. An' more than that, they got to do it or 
 they don't grow right. They've got to have that play- 
 time while they're growin', an' so has chillern. I've 
 studied the Book all my life, an' never yit found any-- 
 thing in it agin young folks bein' young. Thar ain't 
 even none agin dancin', but I can't go so fur as that 
 all to oncet. But I 'low we don't need to go no higher'n 
 the Book fur our religion." 
 
 There was a surprised hush as the old man ended. It 
 was Mrs. Jernigan who spoke it: 
 
 " God bless you, Daddy ; you're all right, you dear 
 old soul ! " she cried impulsively, and somebody started
 
 278 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 a round of applause which carried a great deal of 
 conviction. 
 
 Little Benny Myers, the homeopathic doctor, was 
 highly in favour of the hall. He said that he was the 
 parent of four boys in a house not big enough for one 
 in rainy weather. 
 
 The Old Doctor had been called away early in the 
 meeting. Several others expressed brief opinions, pro 
 and con, and when the sentiment of the meeting ap- 
 peared to have had utterance, Northmore stepped to the 
 front for a closing word : 
 
 " Relaxation is one of the important elements of 
 modern life. The high-keyed, nervous activity of 
 the present can be sustained only by rests. We must 
 re-create our worn faculties from reserves of amuse- 
 ment. We must teach the outreaching minds of the 
 young to seek elevated relaxation, which is in itself 
 a source of education. Our pleasure is such an impor- 
 tant index of character that national morals are known 
 by national sports. We cannot find high standards in 
 a country whose delight is the bull fight. 
 
 " Our large cities are trying to fill the immense im- 
 portance of this demand in many ways. The church 
 recognises that almost all evil tempts the young in the 
 guise of pleasure, and that natural craving cannot be 
 eradicated, hence in crowded districts of large cities the 
 institutional church and the social settlement furnish a 
 people's club which supplies this demand. But we in the 
 small town have nothing, and we pay the penalty. What 
 is it robs us of the children as fast as they are fledged?
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 279 
 
 The dulness of the place. How often do we have an 
 entertainment to which our young people can go? Since 
 last September there has been one concert, and an in- 
 formal lecture in one of the churches. In certain cities 
 of Europe a beautiful building is maintained by taxa- 
 tion for the entertainment of the public at a nominal 
 cost, and has proved highly successful under the differ- 
 ent conditions. Now it is in our power to have the 
 finest institution of any place of our size in the country ; 
 a combined institutional church, social settlement, and 
 town club, in which everyone may have an interest. 
 The question is in your hands." 
 
 Northmore was always convincing ; there was a flutter 
 of approval as he sat down. The meeting was ad- 
 journed and the books opened for subscriptions. There 
 were surprises in this practical test of approval. Those 
 who had said the least were the most generous in the 
 figures that followed their names. Elijah Sims put 
 down his name for two shares of stock at ten dollars a 
 share, while Squire Pocock painfully indited a thousand 
 dollars after his autograph. But when Northmore 
 and Harrington counted up after the meeting they 
 found that a large deficiency still remained in the re- 
 quired amount. 
 
 " Mr. Morgan will help us," said Harrington con- 
 fidently. 
 
 " We will not ask him," said Northmore. " I will 
 add part of it, and the rest can be gradually collected 
 from the people as the work is known."
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THERE was no complaint of dulness in Mogadonia dur- 
 ing the months of that summer, with a round of rival 
 church entertainments for building funds, with Wild- 
 wood Park offering undreamed-of attractions day and 
 evening, with the new memorial, which was to be called 
 Garnett Hall, under construction, and with the storm- 
 iest congressional campaign the district had ever known, 
 shaking it to its centre. 
 
 The bitterness of this campaign was a surprise to 
 people in general, who supposed that Tom Morgan had 
 simply to announce that he wanted anything, to obtain 
 it; but Thompson Jones, representative for the last 
 three terms, had in that time served a creditable novitiate 
 and had just reached a recognition point for fearless- 
 ness in the appointment to a committee for investiga- 
 tion of certain irregularities in the relations of rail- 
 roads and shippers. It was strongly suspected that 
 Mr. Morgan was personally interested in this matter, 
 being the heaviest shipper of manufactured goods in 
 the district, but whether that was true or false, he con- 
 sidered it worth while to make the fight of his life to 
 defeat Jones, who held his vantage ground with cor- 
 responding tenacity. 
 
 As the climax approached, the contest, which had 
 been ostentatiously begun on high ground, narrowed
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 281 
 
 down to a bitter personal attack. The political record 
 of Jones was unimpeachable, and his business career 
 had been above reproach, but he had a vulnerable point, 
 an ugly scandal of his youth, which his antagonist un- 
 earthed and used to the fullest effect in contrast with 
 his own fair domestic and philanthropic reputation. 
 The Civic Morality League, inspecting the claims of 
 both candidates regardless of party, condemned Jones 
 and endorsed Morgan upon this ground, which became 
 the campaign slogan. While the elevated methods of 
 Morgan's party were being vaunted, his workers, under 
 the leadership of Joe Fury, were publishing revolting 
 personalities about Jones, and Wildwood Park had be- 
 come the rendezvous of political crowds from far and 
 near. That the debauchery which disgraced the grove 
 could be part of the argument was not suspected by the 
 unsophisticated Mogadonians, even when every booth 
 blazed with highly coloured lithographs of Morgan. 
 
 Tom Morgan had not been asked to assist in the 
 building of Garnett Hall, and, perhaps for this reason, 
 perhaps for the reason that he had always had a jealous 
 dislike for Mr. Garnett, he took occasion to express his 
 disapproval of the entire proposition as one which would 
 tend to lead astray the young people of the town. 
 Mogadonia was breathless already, but this unexpected 
 damper from so powerful a source was an additional 
 theme for discussion among the overworked guardians 
 of public sensation. Business was forgotten; mer- 
 chants wrangled with customers ; delivery boys lingered 
 at the kitchen door to tell the latest opinions while
 
 282 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 cakes burned in the oven and bread ran over and kettles 
 boiled dry, ere public sentiment was sure of itself. 
 
 Northmore was busy almost day and night with his 
 factory superintendency and with the direction and 
 defence of Garnett Hall upon his hands, into both of 
 which he put his energy with conscientious thorough- 
 ness. It was a strenuous summer to him. There were 
 days when he worked with a desperate hopelessness, 
 trying to forget what would not leave his consciousness 
 for a moment; there were other days when his blood 
 leaped with happiness at the memory of a chance meet- 
 ing with Florida, when she had bowed and smiled never 
 more and the mere sight of her was enough. Reac~ 
 tion followed these periods, in which he wondered if he 
 must live his bankrupt life to the end of its empty years 
 and he was young and very strong! 
 
 At the quarry where he went to select the stone to be 
 used in Garnett Hall Northmore found his early friend, 
 Quiggins. 
 
 " I'm glad to see you back where you can do some 
 good," said the workman, wiping his dusty hand before 
 grasping the one extended to him. " Well, ain't there 
 doin's in this town this summer? What do you think of 
 the Old Man's chances? Think he's goin' to get 
 there?" 
 
 " It looks very much that way. He's certainly 
 lengths ahead in the race now." 
 
 "So they say. Well, you know what I think of 
 him! He's at the old tricks, ladlin' out piety and 
 generosity with both hands, sweepin* into Congress in
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 283 
 
 a golden chariot and who do you think is payin' fur 
 it? " 
 
 " I know a few people who are paying for it." 
 
 " There's more than a few. We've had a ten per 
 cent, cut to help pay expenses, and our old engine's at 
 the last wheeze through this rush, too. I wish men 
 were owned like mules ; then they'd be worth takin' care 
 of. But they're cheap lots cheaper to hire new ones 
 than to buy new engines." 
 
 " I don't believe that Mr. Morgan knows that you 
 are in danger here," urged Northmore, who was just. 
 " He would not risk human life." 
 
 " No, but he won't know it. He just makes the boss 
 understand that this quarry has got to pay so much 
 it's nearly pure profit anyway and if it don't, there'll 
 be a new boss. Not one of us men could get to Tom to 
 tell him anything to save our lives not to save our 
 lives! No, he takes mighty good care not to know it." 
 
 Northmore smiled. " You would make a good cam- 
 paigner for the other man, Mr. Quiggins." 
 
 " Oh, Lord, wouldn't I give my head to have educa- 
 tion enough to make just one talk! I don't know why 
 Jones don't air up a few of the sneakin' tricks. Now 
 what do you think that park down there outside the 
 town line is? It's nothin' but a campaign saloon, 
 nothin' else on earth but that and Tom Morgan's 
 money's runnin' it. But he don't know it oh, no! 
 He's sweet and innocent as an Easter lamb. He just 
 invites Joe Fury to be his manager, and says, * I'll leave 
 the whole business to you an' furnish the dough,' and
 
 284 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 that's all Joe needs. Morgan's buildin' two churches 
 this summer. Land! Does he think them churches '11 
 ever undo the carloads of free drinks it's goin' to take 
 to git him to Washington? I tell you, the man that 
 sees through him, that sees how pious he is for the good 
 people and how low he is for the bums, and that don't 
 git up and tell it is an almighty coward." 
 
 Northmore dropped his eyes. " It is strange that no 
 one has made capital of that for the other side." 
 
 " It's time somebody did. But if Mogadonia wants 
 to send an almighty hypocrite to make laws for the 
 country, they have the vote to do it ! " 
 
 Northmore drove home through Whisky Island, the 
 nearest way, and met the long procession of colliers 
 going to the night shift. There had been threats of a 
 strike among these men, and he wondered how they 
 would be able to live even for one week of idleness, so 
 apparent was their abject poverty. Yet these poor 
 men, living with their families under conditions so un- 
 sanitary as to be a menace to the whole town, were 
 earning a surplus of wealth for some distant owner who 
 troubled himself no more about their lives than those 
 of the dogs who fought in the street. This quarter 
 had always lain upon his conscience, yet it was the only 
 spot in Mogadonia to which his influence had not 
 reached. He wondered if some fairer balance of world 
 products would solve the vast poverty problem in a 
 halcyon future. 
 
 As the campaign grew more vigorous the walls of 
 Garnett Hall rose in tangible beauty and were soon
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 285 
 
 under roof. An untraceable current of disfavour per- 
 sistently gained headway; many who had tacitly en- 
 dorsed the scheme in theory, openly condemned its 
 realisation. It was too fine to be right, or to be prac- 
 ticable ; only a palace of sin could show such fair pro- 
 portions. Northmore was much troubled by the 
 rumours that reached his ears, knowing the contagious 
 nature of Mogadonia criticism, but he could only wait 
 now for the convincing argument of fulfilment. At the 
 same time the campaign was such a disturbing force 
 that it had become unsafe for women to walk alone in 
 the evening through the disorderly streets. Crowds of 
 political enthusiasts reeled back to their excursion trains 
 in turbulent lawlessness, for Mogadonia was the cam- 
 paign centre of the district. Northmore could guess the 
 source of this, but it came to him at first hand one even- 
 ing when he stood inside the new building after making 
 his customary round of inspection. A knot of excur- 
 sionists stood on the sidewalk in front and were joined 
 by Joe Fury. 
 
 " Hello, boys," said the manager genially, and North- 
 more knew just how he smiled. "Hello! Gettin' in 
 line for the 'lection ? " 
 
 " How's it goin', Joe ? " asked two or three. 
 
 " Oh, I've got all my money on Morgan. He's all 
 right ! Jones has the machine, but we're goin' to smash 
 that all to kindlin's. Tom Morgan's the whole thing, 
 biggest man this distric' ever seen. Oh, we're goin' to 
 have some honest politics in this distric' now, an' an 
 honest man to represent us. Think what Tom's done
 
 286 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 fur the county what he's done fur us look at the 
 work he gives to men here, and the payroll he keeps 
 goin' ! Now what has Jones ever done? Not a blame 
 thing! What's Jones done fur us? Not a damn 
 thing! He ain't even got us a new post office in six 
 years ! Why, Tom'll git that river opened up fur boats, 
 and he'll have us a stunnin' new post office in six 
 months. Jones ain't spendin' a cent on the boys, either. 
 If he had his way, he'd go in with the preacher that's 
 buildin' this holy theaytre, and put the whole town on 
 weak tea fur the rest of our lives." 
 
 " Ain't Morgan buildin' two churches ? " asked one. 
 
 " He's helpin' but that don't hurt us. We ain't in 
 the church business, but this thing '11 draw off my cus- 
 tom, it'll put me out of business when it gets to run- 
 nin*. That preacher '11 run a Dow Law campaign him- 
 self when he gets round to it, an' the town'll go dry. 
 Then where '11 we be? " 
 
 " Damn shame ! " said a man thickly. " Can't they 
 mind their own biz, an' let us alone ? " 
 
 " Ever know reform cranks to do that ? No, sir-ee ! 
 They don't want to go to Heaven alone ; they've got to 
 pull the rest of us in by the ears a-kickin'. Now, Tom 
 well, there ain't a stingy bone in Tom. Come over and 
 have something on Tom, boys, have a dozen, all the 
 same to Tom, he pays the freight. You may have to 
 brace up on water next year, so now's your chance." 
 
 The group went off with a medley of choice oaths. 
 
 Northmore was not the only person who resented the 
 double play for votes on both moral and immoral plat-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 287 
 
 forms, but he was the only one who succeeded in 
 having some of the worst law breakers arrested and 
 punished, a proceeding that was bitterly resented by 
 Fury. Not many days after this a card was brought 
 up to Northmore's office bearing a name new to him. 
 When the caller was shown up he introduced himself as 
 the manager of Jones' campaign. 
 
 " I've come to ask some help of you, Mr. North- 
 more. We understand that you've been trying to keep 
 up a little show of decency in this town during the fight, 
 and Mr. Jones hoped that you might be willing to help 
 him to the extent of making a few campaign speeches," 
 he explained. 
 
 " I never made a speech in my life," and Northmore 
 smiled at the idea. 
 
 " We know that you could do it all right, and that 
 you know the facts. Morgan is playing a despicable 
 game. He is posing as the * good man Tom,' and is 
 debauching the district at the same time by the vilest 
 use of money ever made here, besides conducting a 
 mud-slinging canvass." 
 
 " Isn't that rather an extreme statement ? " protested 
 Northmore. 
 
 " I leave you to judge that for yourself. I am not 
 saying anything about his personal life, which is all 
 right, but it is disgraceful to send a man utterly devoid 
 of business conscience to Congress. Don't you think 
 so ? Now, my man is honest true to the core though 
 he isn't well, he is a man of the world, that is all. 
 Morgan is a punctilious hypocrite; he won't have a
 
 288 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 bottle of wine in his house, but he is a human vampire ; 
 he has fattened on the blood of other men. He wants 
 to go to Congress to protect his own corruption with 
 money if he can. He thinks he's big enough for that, 
 Morgan does. Jones has been there long enough to 
 begin to get a hearing, and we want to return him to do 
 honest work. He has ten times the brains of the other 
 man. Now, Mr. Northmore, we want you to make about 
 a dozen ringing speeches in the district. You may set 
 your price on them, for Jones makes no pledges." 
 
 The man leaned back, crossed his legs, and fastened 
 his eyes on Northmore. 
 
 " I couldn't do it without some preparation. I 
 couldn't do it at all." 
 
 " Makes no difference. You're our man all right 
 enough. You know the issues, and we can put you onto 
 enough ugly, sneaking trickery to prove to you that 
 it would be treachery to the people to let that man go 
 to Congress without lifting your voice to prevent it," 
 urged the man. 
 
 " I don't know why you have come to me. I can't 
 take an active part against Mr. Morgan." 
 
 " You're the only man that can do it you know that 
 and beat him. And if you have any conscience, you 
 have simply got to do it." 
 
 Northmore gnawed his lip miserably. 
 
 " It is out of the question. I will not do it," 
 he decided. 
 
 " Very well, sir. You may consider yourself a party 
 to the fraud when that man goes to Congress," and his 
 visitor rose.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 289 
 
 Northmore accompanied him to the door. " Give 
 me till to-morrow. You have no idea what you have 
 asked. I will give you a final answer in the morning." 
 
 Alone, he locked the door and took counsel with him- 
 self in a tramp back and forth across the floor, but 
 before he had worked out his line of duty a knock in- 
 terrupted him, and he unwillingly responded to admit 
 to his unspeakable surprise Tom Morgan. He 
 gave his new visitor a seat with dread at his heart. He 
 was not long in suspense. 
 
 " I can spare only a moment, Mr. Northmore, so I 
 will talk business at once. We have got to have a strong 
 speaker for the closing meetings. The opposition is 
 crowding us hard and we have got to fight to the 
 death. I don't know your politics, but I do know your 
 principles, and I know you would work for decency and 
 good character in the head of the ticket, other things 
 being equal. My life is an open book, Mr. Northmore. 
 You have been in my home and that is my record. 
 Now, I appeal to you as a friend to do the talking of 
 your life for me and I know that you can elect me." 
 
 The friendly familiarity of his manner was irresist- 
 ible. Northmore slowly whitened to the lips as he sat 
 dumb. The other saw his hesitation, but attributed it 
 to stunned modesty. 
 
 " I mean just what I say, Mr. Northmore. I have 
 heard you talk and there is no one else in the State that 
 I know of who would have your power in this district. 
 I never heard so convincing , speaker, myself, anywhere. 
 That is why I want you; I want you to convince these 
 people that this is not a mere fight for office; it is a
 
 290 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 fight for religion, and temperance, and social purity 
 that ought to have weight with neighbours who have 
 known me all my life. And I assure you that I 
 would recognise my obligation to you in the most sub- 
 stantial way. You are a man who would fill any ap- 
 pointment with credit." 
 
 Northmore hesitated so long that Mr. Morgan 
 coughed suggestively. 
 
 " I don't doubt your appreciation of what I might 
 do but " his thick voice failed. 
 
 There was one appeal yet to add. " You needn't 
 fear to understake it. It would mean a good deal to a 
 young man adrift as you are. I spoke to my wife and 
 daughter about it, and they were delighted with the 
 idea; my daughter was enthusiastic. I believe that she 
 would have come to ask you herself if I had wanted 
 her to." The rich man looked almost pleadingly into 
 the quivering face before him, surprised at its tragic 
 lines. 
 
 " You know what I have done for the place ; I have 
 paid more taxes, employed more men, used more raw 
 material, than any other man in the county. I have 
 given a little to charity and religion which I do not 
 mention, except to you. And you will put me under 
 the deepest obligations, for it would be a humiliation 
 that I can hardly think of to be beaten by such a man 
 as Thompson Jones." 
 
 " I know that and I know that it would also be the 
 opportunity of my life in a way that will never come 
 again but "
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 291 
 
 " To a man of jour breadth, party affiliations have 
 little weight " 
 
 Northmore appeared to have lost his breath. " Wait 
 a minute," he gasped, dropping his head upon his hand. 
 When he lifted his face it was perfectly white, but he 
 spoke with clear decision : " I'm extremely sorry, but 
 I can't do it, Mr. Morgan." 
 
 " You can't do it ! Of course you can ! What is 
 going to prevent you ? " 
 
 " The fact that I am going to to take the stump 
 for JONES ! I highly appreciate the honour you have 
 done me, and regret that it is impossible regret it 
 more than you can realise." 
 
 Mr. Morgan got to his feet, speechless ; he turned to 
 the door before he found utterance. " You don't seem 
 to realise the situation." 
 
 " I think that I do." 
 
 " When I make a friendship it is for life but not 
 many men have crossed my path a second time. You 
 don't know me as well as you think you do," he said in 
 slow, white anger. 
 
 Northmore bowed him out without reply. Then he 
 locked the door. 
 
 The autumn afternoon floated away, the evening 
 whistle blew, and the operatives trooped out and went 
 home; the luxurious day hung golden for an hour or 
 two on the rim of the world, before sinking into the 
 flaming west. The pure chill of night rose from the 
 earth; points of light spangled the sky; a yellow moon 
 hung a horn above Moriah, while the evening street life
 
 292 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 rippled in through the open window. The eight-fifteen 
 train came and went, the hack rumbled by ; the stream 
 of idlers flowed back from the station, and the deep 
 quiet of night settled over the valley. There was 
 hardly a light in the town when Northmore's tall figure 
 came wearily, but with resolution, out of the closed 
 building, as the winner of a great victory might do who 
 has been maimed for life.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THERE had been such a succession of important events 
 in Mogadonia during all the summer weeks that sensa- 
 tion had fairly palled upon its citizens, and Northmore 
 was not surprised to see Brand in his office when he 
 reached it one morning, with a new trouble in his face. 
 
 " You must come right down to Whisky Island with 
 me," he began, after a hurried " Good-morning." " It 
 is reported that a scourge of diphtheria has broken out 
 there, and has been running for a week or more. The 
 mayor is out of town, the hamlet is not in this corpora- 
 tion, the Old Doctor has gone off on a long ride into the 
 hills, which will keep him all day and somebody must 
 do something. Will you come? Those people haven't 
 the first sanitary regulation, they say." 
 
 " No, I know they haven't. Yes, we must do some- 
 thing at once. We will try to hunt up an authority 
 and establish quarantine." 
 
 Half way down the incline Brand stopped as though 
 he had been struck. A man was putting up a moist 
 poster on a board fence, which announced in letters six 
 inches long that a Thompson Jones campaign meeting 
 would be held in Mogadonia on the following Saturday 
 night, whose speaker would be " NORTHMORE ! " 
 
 " What does that mean ? Is there another man of 
 your name in the county ? " gasped the minister. 
 
 293
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " No." 
 
 " But it can't be you don't mean ? " 
 
 Northmore winced before his friend's accusing eyes. 
 " Yes, I have promised to do some speaking for Jones." 
 
 " Against your own candidate ? Against Morgan ! 
 Impossible. I can't understand you, Northmore, but I 
 suppose when a man breaks loose from his principles 
 he is driven by any wind." 
 
 " No, Brand," Northmore was grave, for he knew 
 that a multitude of voices spoke through his friend's 
 lips, " it isn't so bad as that. It isn't treachery. It is 
 the only thing I could conscientiously do after taking 
 the other stand." 
 
 But Brand did not see how that could be, and 
 Northmore's tone was too final to admit of explanation, 
 so they walked in silence the rest of the way. 
 
 The sanitary condition of Whisky Island could hardly 
 have been worse. There was sickness of a malignant 
 type in every other house, yet the inmates were mingling 
 in voluble groups in the cinder-strewn streets, and 
 visiting the stricken from house to house. The young 
 men sought an English-speaking resident for some mo- 
 ments before one could be found. Northmore thought 
 of the gracious Irish woman whom he and Florida had 
 found a year before, and led the way to her alley. A 
 wail of sorrow told him that the Destroyer was before 
 him. Her small house was crowded with sympathetic 
 neighbours, while children swarmed curiously under the 
 windows. The two friends looked at each other and 
 questioned what could be done with such wholesale dis-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 295 
 
 regard of human safety as this. While they discussed 
 means of attack, a familiar runabout drove down the 
 hill which made Northmore quail and turn his face 
 away. He knew that by this time the road must blaze 
 with posters. Then, with a quick second thought, he 
 sprang toward the horse, catching the bridle and back- 
 ing it away. 
 
 " You must go right back ! You can't come a step 
 nearer." He freed a hand to lift his hat. 
 
 "It is true, then? There is sickness here? " 
 
 " Yes, the situation is terrible." 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " 
 
 " Notify the owners, Miss Morgan. We will do what 
 is necessary. You must go home." 
 
 " Who does own this ? " she asked suddenly. 
 
 " The Indian Valley Coal Company." 
 
 "Do any of the stockholders live here?" 
 
 " The president does." 
 
 " Will you tell me who he is ? " She watched him 
 with fear in her eyes. The colour died out of North- 
 more' s grave face, and he did not answer. She under- 
 stood. She leaned forward and spoke low to him. " Is 
 that why you are doing the other? " she wrung 
 out from quivering lips. 
 
 " Partly. That and kindred reasons. I do not do 
 it voluntarily you believe that, don't you ? I was 
 cornered so that there was no honourable way out but 
 this suicidal one." 
 
 She reflected with anguish in her eyes. " I believe 
 that you are honest about it and that you do it partly
 
 296 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 because it is hard for you suicidal, as you say but, 
 oh, you might have spared him! I shall hate you 
 you know that don't you? He is only like the rest 
 of the world, and he is such a dear, kind father ! Why 
 must you judge him by a standard that he never 
 learned? " 
 
 ** Because his great power to do injury must com- 
 pel him to learn it now." 
 
 " But he will not abuse his power as you think. 
 In all past time, whatever the law permitted was right, 
 and if a man lived morally and gave liberally so much 
 was urged upon his liberality he was forgiven for hav- 
 ing overstepped the letter of Christianity. We are 
 making a new law in our generation but he doesn't 
 think of that. I can see where you both stand, you and 
 my father but I must not judge him. You are his 
 enemy forthwith and mine forever! Now, go and 
 do what you can for these wretched people, and make 
 him do what he should but in the campaign oh, at 
 least be just to him ! " 
 
 " Do you need to ask that ? " he groaned bitterly as 
 she turned, without further adieu, and drove away. 
 
 " What are the first steps to take ? " asked Brand as 
 they came to another reeking alley a little farther on. 
 
 " To notify Mr. Morgan or arrest him, if neces- 
 sary, under a State law." 
 
 " Not you don't mean our not Tom Morgan? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Impossible ! That good man ! Is that why you 
 refused to accept ? "
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 297 
 
 " It is the beginning of the reason of everything I 
 have done." 
 
 " I heard him at Bellevue last night," reported Mr. 
 Moneypenny, " and it was the biggest speech I ever 
 heard on a political platform. I wish it was North- 
 more himself who was our candidate. He's a big man 
 if he is a young one and nothing on earth can keep him 
 down. He talks like he preached, no bluster, no noise, 
 just clean, strong fact that drives you right along with 
 him. He goes right down into the muddle of a thing 
 and makes it clear ; he doesn't tell j okes nor ridicule the 
 other side; he didn't abuse Tom Morgan nor show up 
 his meanness ; he didn't seem to have time, there was 
 so much to say about the issues. He didn't even say 
 * Thompson Jones' till the last thing, when he was 
 winding up ; then he says, ' These are the facts and 
 these are the principles which this candidate stands for, 
 and Thompson Jones' record shows that he will be true 
 to them.' And the people never got through applaud- 
 ing. He sweeps along so strong he don't leave a thing 
 for the other side to say, even if the other side had a 
 man that could say it." 
 
 Mr. Moneypenny was superintending the decoration 
 of the speaker's stand for the Saturday night meeting 
 at Mogadonia, and uttered this report from the top of 
 a stepladder. " I don't see why Morgan let them get 
 him," he added, draping folds of tri-coloured bunting 
 across the planks. 
 
 " Morgan couldn't have got him, party or no party,"
 
 298 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 answered Mr. Harrington, holding up a handful of 
 nails. 
 
 " Morgan generally gets what he wants that he's 
 willing to pay for." 
 
 " Except Northmore. Morgan hasn't money enough 
 to pay for him. I tell you that one fearless man has 
 roused this town to a new morality as I have personal 
 reason to know. People are beginning to have a respect 
 for honest principles that was never dreamed of before." 
 
 " Northmore's going to ruin his own prospects in 
 doing it I guess he's ruined them already. If he beats 
 Morgan, it will be the blow of Morgan's life, and he will 
 simply sweep Northmore off the face of the earth." 
 Mr. Moneypenny was climbing up the slender scaffold- 
 ing with a roll of bunting in his hand, and he illustrated 
 with a wave of the bunting how it would be done. 
 
 " No one knows that better than Northmore himself. 
 It will be his victory, too, for we all know that he has 
 wiped out party lines in this district. Nobody knows 
 anything but the candidates this fall. I only wish he 
 was one himself." 
 
 " Just wait a little for that," called down the man 
 from above. 
 
 " No, it will never be," declared the other. 
 
 " How did it ever happen that the date of the Mor- 
 gan Barbecue was changed to the dedication day of our 
 hall when we had tried so hard to avoid that very 
 thing ? " wailed Silence to her lover as they stood on the 
 steps of her home and looked down at the sinuous trail
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 299 
 
 of yellow dust that hung over every road into the town, 
 hiding the continuous procession of vehicles of every 
 sort which stretched back into the hills. There had been 
 a long drought, and the late October day dawned 
 superbly, blazing with colour, but underlaid with dust. 
 
 " It never happened at all, dearest. It was the one 
 way in which Mr. Morgan could revenge himself upon 
 Northmore." 
 
 " But Florida has been so interested and given so 
 much, I should think she wouldn't have let him change 
 to our day. She promised to slip in this evening." 
 
 " There are evidently things that Florida cannot do, 
 or she certainly would not have consented to this. But 
 we shall make the best of it." 
 
 By ten o'clock the narrow streets were blocked with 
 traffic, though the first excursion train was only then 
 arriving at the station. With it came the toy balloon 
 man, the pink-popcorn-and-candy man, the taffy cart, 
 the tintype van, the mockingbird-whistle man, and the 
 campaign button fakir. The great barbecue was pre- 
 paring in a trench in Wildwood Park, which had been 
 wholly given up to campaign purposes for the last few 
 weeks, and the air was freighted for miles around with 
 odours of roasting oxen, sheep, pigs, and chickens, 
 which were to feed the multitudes in true old-time style. 
 Excursion trains continued to come in and discharge 
 their noisy loads at short intervals, until the middle of 
 the afternoon. Each one brought its Morgan Club, 
 accompanied by a brass band, which marched to the 
 Grand International Hotel, where they were reviewed by
 
 300 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 Mr. Morgan from the porch. The marshals of the day 
 in tall white hats and scarlet sashes galloped bravely 
 back and forth through the crowd without interfering 
 with its disorder in the least. When most of the trains 
 were in, a procession was formed for the march to the 
 park, Mr. Morgan leading in a gaily decorated carriage 
 followed by the clubs, their bands occurring at short 
 intervals in loud competition, these followed in turn by 
 a long line of ununiformed men and boys. It became 
 apparent early in the day that the wells of Mogadonia 
 were flowing stronger liquids than buttermilk and beer. 
 Under the belligerent inspiration of campaign con- 
 viviality, political antagonisms sharpened claws and 
 showed teeth in turbulent wrangle. When the great 
 crowds, the largest in the county's history, had been 
 abundantly feasted, speeches in the grove began, but so 
 small a proportion of the people could get near enough 
 to hear and so few wanted to hear that a tidal wave 
 of lawlessness surged back to town and rent the air with 
 anticipatory braying of fish horns. 
 
 Fortunately the dedication of the Hall had taken 
 place in the morning before the noise had reached its 
 worst. In the afternoon the building was to be thrown 
 open for a public reception, and in the evening the 
 winter course of entertainments was to be inaugurated 
 by a high-class concert. 
 
 Mrs. Garnett and Silence, the latter in white for the 
 first time since her father's death, drove down to the 
 Hall in the early afternoon, through such a mass of dis- 
 orderly sovereignty that they went round for Susan
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 301 
 
 Jernigan, thinking that she could scarcely make her 
 way on foot through the dusty, impassable streets. 
 They finally reached the Hall, where Maria Pocock and 
 a dozen young girls in their best dresses were waiting 
 to allow Mrs. Garnett and her daughter to be the first 
 to enter. Northmore and Harrington were but a 
 moment later, and the committee members followed soon, 
 hurrying about to see that every last detail was in 
 order. Twenty minutes before the announced hour 
 for the reception a large figure darkened the door, 
 whom Susan Jernigan hastened to welcome and to claim 
 as her prize. 
 
 " I'm goin' to take the Old Doctor round myself," 
 she proclaimed. " I've ben waitin' ever since the foun- 
 dation was laid to take him round first. You may show 
 all the rest of the town if you'll let me take him." 
 
 " You surely may," laughed Silence, seeing the grip 
 she had upon his arm. He squared himself, arms 
 akimbo, and gazed round the audience room. 
 
 "Why, Susan, what's this, a theatre?" he asked 
 softly. 
 
 " No, we don't call it that. It's a lecture hall for 
 everything good and improvin', concerts an' well, yes, 
 if good plays come 'long, I shouldn't wonder if they'd 
 be let in. All these chairs can be moved out when we 
 want it for a church doin's or a big party. You know 
 Garnetts' is the only house in town big enough for any- 
 thing of the sort." 
 
 " I guess that's right. And when are these things to 
 come off? "
 
 302 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " All the time. There's to be two evenin's a week 
 when there's doin's a body can come to and be edu- 
 cated and the tickets are only to pay expenses. If 
 you take a ticket for three dollars, you can come a 
 whole year on it, but it will cost you twenty-five cents 
 for a single time." 
 
 " I see a sort of winter Chautauqua popular in- 
 struction and amusement combined." 
 
 " I never could get to Chautauqua, but I think the 
 winter is when we need a thing like this when our chil- 
 lern has to get out of the nest a bit. What do you 
 think of it? " 
 
 He leaned heavily on his cane, eyes roving round the 
 beautiful big room, then upon the creamy maple floor. 
 " They'll never dance here, will they, Susan? " he asked 
 in a tragic whisper. 
 
 " Doctor, I've learned lately that there's things so 
 much worse than dancin' that I'm not borrowin' trouble 
 on that account. Anything in this place is bound to be 
 innocent and respectable. We're seein' some things 
 different, now." 
 
 " But, say, Susan, I'm not in this. How did I come 
 to be left out?" 
 
 " They'd be glad of you any way you can be got, 
 Doctor. Now come upstairs; did you ever see such 
 pretty ones? Wide and easy! This first room's the 
 library a circulatin' library and Mr. Northmore 
 selected every book. This case here's the State travellin' 
 library that's changed every six months. Off to this 
 side is the readin' room with magazines and papers
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 303 
 
 that's Florida Morgan's gift. Now, ain't that the 
 cosiest little spot you ever saw? " 
 
 " Ah, Susan, I was born too soon ! Why couldn't 
 there have been something of this in time for me? 
 Look at that jolly fireplace for an old-fashioned log fire 
 and the pretty green walls with flowers at the top. 
 Do let me come here and read the papers sometimes," he 
 begged with facetious humility. 
 
 Her rich laugh rang out with delight at the plea; 
 the beloved Old Doctor! 
 
 " Now come over to the reception room it's big 
 enough for a parlour, too. Us members that haven't 
 nice houses are goin' to give parties here same as other 
 folks. Oh, Doctor, don't you see how much chance 
 it's goin' to give some of us poor folks ? " 
 
 " You'll be right in it, Susan. What's the next 
 room? " 
 
 " That's one of the best things in it, a little comfort 
 room for farmer's wives to rest and visit in and leave 
 their packages in. There's never a place for the 
 farmer's wife and daughters while he's in town. They 
 have to sit in the waggon after their shoppin's done 
 or stand round in the stores if the weather's bad. But 
 this has lounges and easy chairs and a fireplace and 
 there's a lunch table or two in the little room off. Noth- 
 ing here'll give more pleasure than that. Back there 
 is the boys' readin' room, and in the other corner is the 
 nursery with all sorts of games. This last one, over the 
 porch, is a smoking room." 
 
 " I don't believe a word of it. You've told me too
 
 304 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 much. In Mogadonia! Never! I wish I'd longer to 
 enjoy life with such fairy stories as this." 
 
 " Time enough now, if you'll take better care of your- 
 self. Come down to the basement." 
 
 "That's a joke, Susan. You're going to lock me 
 up in the coal bin," he chuckled, following her with 
 careful steps down the lower stairs. 
 
 " Why, what's all this ? " he asked as she led him into 
 a room under the porch. 
 
 " This is the gymnasium, Mr. Northmore's part. I 
 guess it's perfect in its way; my Ben is wild over it. 
 Along the side is a bowling alley, and at the back is a 
 swimming pool. The next is a play room for boys, but 
 Mr. Harrington said if they ever wanted a billiard room 
 it would do for that." 
 
 " That day'll be long coming though I don't know. 
 I wouldn't have believed this a year ago. Why, Susan, 
 what's this ? More fairy tale ? " 
 
 " Did you ever try to cook a meal in a dream ? I 
 never could get one finished in mine. But you sit down 
 here and see if you think you're dreaming. Just peep 
 into the kitchen first." 
 
 " Kitchen ? Do you call this beautiful blue and white 
 room a kitchen with the glass cupboards and the 
 stunning range? And a sink with hot and cold water 
 as I live. Who's goin' to run this part of it, Susan? 
 I hope it's some friend of mine." 
 
 " Yes, it is, a friend that'll be glad to have you when- 
 ever you can come and that's me. Now, Doctor, 
 you're goin' to set down in this lovely green and ivory
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 305 
 
 dinin'-room and be the first one served in it. Here's 
 four girls waitin' to bring you ice cream and cake and 
 the best coffee you ever drank from the new machine. 
 There's Doctor Tommy pokin' round and lookin* 
 hungry, but he isn't goin' to have one bite till you've 
 been served. You go an' see the bathrooms, Doctor 
 Tommy, till your pa's ben waited on. Now, girls, you 
 jest wait on the Doctor till he can't eat no more, for I've 
 got to go upstairs. Folks are comin' fast." 
 
 Which was embarrassingly true, as not only expected 
 guests from the town were making their difficult en- 
 trance, but many half-tipsy politicians from remote 
 nooks of the hills, where it was counted a surfeit of 
 learning to be able to write one's name, were edging 
 themselves into what they thought a side show of the 
 campaign festivities. Rough men elbowed their way 
 about, making familiar comments to the girl ushers. 
 
 Late in the afternoon, when the procession returned 
 from the park, it became necessary to close the doors of 
 the Hall, and open them only for exit. Some of the 
 committee did not venture home at all, but stayed over 
 for the concert in the evening. Meanwhile pandemo- 
 nium raged in the streets, where the marshal of the day 
 and his assistants were as straws in a gale. The black 
 cinder dust, ground and set afloat by the trampling of 
 many feet, hung in a thick, dry mist through which the 
 maudlin cries of drunken men, the rattle of waggons, 
 the neighing of hungry horses, the hoarse iteration of 
 fakirs, and the fretting of special locomotives which 
 waited for the excursion trains, made a strident medley
 
 306 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 of sounds which echoed back from the hills. Weary 
 mothers with little children clinging to their skirts 
 searched for errant husbands or persuaded them when 
 found to start for home, and the line of outward-bound 
 waggons soon stretched toward the hills. But the com- 
 mittee at Garnett Hall looked anxiously from its win- 
 dows at the turgid crowd which lingered for the torch- 
 light procession that night, and which had now entirely 
 abandoned the park for the streets.
 
 CHAPTER XXIH 
 
 NORTHMORE and Harrington held a brief consultation 
 about the advisability of abandoning the concert, but 
 as the musicians were from a distance, and were already 
 in town, and many people would be disappointed at so 
 inauspicious an opening, it was decided to go on, even 
 under disadvantages. 
 
 Mrs. Garnett and Silence, who, among others, had 
 stayed over, directed attendants at the Hall, while the 
 two young men picketed the approach with guards from 
 the pottery. Participants in the torchlight procession 
 were crowding back and forth on the sidewalks, wob- 
 bling their ill-smelling torches around the new building 
 in meaning proximity. 
 
 In spite of difficulties, a large audience assembled, 
 protected from ruffians by the vigilance of the guards. 
 The discordant blare of many bands, and the un- 
 restrained torment of fish horns, forewarned the assem- 
 blage that there was no hope of hearing the really fine 
 music that was to be rendered. Not long before the 
 opening, a tumult occurred which might have de- 
 veloped into a general melee but for prompt measures. 
 A man whose clothes bore marks of many tumbles in 
 the dust, edged his way into the vestibule, profanely 
 declaring that he was a Morgan man and entitled to 
 a free ticket to the show. It required force to eject 
 
 307
 
 308 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 him, and as the guard released him on the sidewalk, he 
 fell, cutting his forehead on the curbstone. He thought 
 he had been struck and hurt, and raised an outcry which 
 surrounded him with sympathisers longing to fight off 
 their surplus Morgan enthusiasm and reckless as to the 
 mode of attack. At the shout of the onslaught, North- 
 more shoved his big form fearlessly upon the mass of 
 struggling arms and legs, seized the bleeding man by 
 the collar, and delivered him into the hands of a marshal 
 to be locked up, a most unsatisfactory ending of the 
 sensation to most of the bystanders. Immediately 
 afterward the programme of the evening opened, though 
 the audience room was murky with the stifling smoke of 
 kerosene torches. Two drunken heelers attempted to 
 climb in at a window with their torches, but were 
 pulled back from the outside without disturbance; 
 they leaned against the wall and swore vengeance upon 
 all entertainments which excluded good Morgan men, 
 for a belief appeared to prevail that Garnett Hall was 
 a part of the celebration. Then, growing weary, they 
 sought a place of rest, though the procession was 
 forming and they were summoned to fall in line. Not 
 wanting to appear in the street, they started to the 
 rear of the Hall, but lost their way, and decided to 
 rest in the unfinished bicycle shed, which had no win- 
 dow. One climbed upon the shoulders of the other 
 into the opening, unlocked the door, and they lay 
 down together upon a soft bed of shavings behind a 
 carpenter's bench, having taken the precaution to lean 
 their torches carefully against the wall of the building.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 309 
 
 The star of the concert company was the soprano, 
 who first appeared in the fourth number the first 
 singer of note who had ever appeared in Mogadonia 
 and was greeted with hearty applause, for her clear, 
 high voice triumphed over the bedlam outside. It was 
 strained a little as she finished the first stanza, but after 
 the momentary rest of the interlude she began bravely 
 on the second, sang a few notes, and stopped with a gasp 
 for breath. Then the audience knew that the smart of 
 wood smoke had overpowered the rank smell of kero- 
 sene, and a startled rustle and murmur ran through the 
 auditorium. Northmore had been keeping guard of 
 the entrance, but sprang to his feet at the first scent 
 that reached him, and walked deliberately down the aisle. 
 Before he reached the stage, however, a wild cry of 
 " Fire ! Fire ! " smote the boisterous night and lashed 
 the assemblage to panic. Northmore had instantly 
 divined the source of the smoke. He mounted the stage, 
 his commanding voice and presence compelling atten- 
 tion even in the pandemonium that reigned. The singer 
 fled 'to him for protection ; his tones rang easily above 
 the deafening clamour. 
 
 "Go out quietly! There's no danger yet. Keep 
 order ! Don't rush ! " 
 
 At this there was a halt of attention. People 
 turned their faces to him. He seized the opportunity. 
 " The fire is at this end behind me. There's plenty of 
 time. Go out quietly. You're all safe." 
 
 By this time a long red blade of blaze had sawed its 
 way through the wall back of him, puffing out volumes
 
 310 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 of intolerable smoke. But he stood his ground, keeping 
 order by sheer force of personality. When the audi- 
 ence really saw that the fire was coming from the stage 
 end of the building, the dispersal was as orderly as 
 though the concert had closed in the usual way. By the 
 time that the rear half of the large hall was empty, the 
 flames burst jubilantly through the flies behind North- 
 more and enswathed the beautiful new woodwork in 
 merciless holocaust. The members of the concert com- 
 pany had all gone safely to the front; the crowd was 
 fast passing the danger of panic ; the heat was grow- 
 ing more intense each second, and Northmore was ling- 
 ering but a last breath to keep command, when a richly 
 dressed girl cut through the crowd, rushed back through 
 smothering, stinging smoke, and flung herself upon 
 him, gasping : " Why don't you run ? Quick ! You 
 will be killed." 
 
 He loosened her grip, caught up her silk skirt, wind- 
 ing it about her head, lifted her in his arms, sprang from 
 the platform, for the steps were blazing, and blindly 
 fought his way out through the seats which he could 
 no longer see. He was the last to reach the door 
 and none too soon! Florida lay limp in his arms, 
 choked with smoke. He pushed his way out through the 
 wild jam of people the torchlight procession was just 
 returning and added its yelling files to the disaster and 
 sought a refuge down the street. The first open door 
 was that of the Old Doctor's office. He carried his 
 burden in, put her into a big chair and threw back the 
 light covering from her face. She caught her breath,
 
 'WHY DON'T You RUN? QUICK!" Page 310.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 311 
 
 and the tears in her eyes escaped and stole over her 
 cheeks, while she gave him a look that a man does not 
 receive twice in a lifetime if he ever does at all. It 
 took him a moment to be sure of his voice. 
 
 " What a foolish thing to do ! I wasn't in the least 
 danger, you know," he said in the tender scorn with 
 which a man rebukes a woman's needless panic at his 
 peril. 
 
 She rose to her feet without reply; she was tremb- 
 ling so much that she could scarcely stand. They 
 were very near each other. He lifted his arm deliber- 
 ately his eyes making utter surrender to hers and 
 curved it about her round, young form mutely, be- 
 cause no words fine and delicate enough have ever been 
 made or were ever needed. 
 
 "Oh, our beautiful Hall!" she wailed a little later 
 when the illumination of the room brought them back to 
 earth again. " Can't they save any of it at all ?" His 
 face saddened. 
 
 " No, it was beyond control from the first. And the 
 dense crowd would have made it impossible anyhow." 
 Then suddenly realising the full tragedy of it, he turned 
 to her with a shy caress: 
 
 " My love oh, my dear love ! You don't know what 
 you have done in this utter failure of me ! " 
 
 " Yes, I know, I know better than you can. I see 
 it all success and failure, and right and wrong 
 through your eyes now, and I must henceforth live by 
 your ideals, dearest. I could not depend upon my
 
 312 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 father's bounty now though I don't judge him by that 
 standard. We will fight the world together." 
 
 Northmore laid his free hand across her lips. " Poor 
 little one ! I think that she is preparing to starve " 
 
 " Never ! It was you who made that cowardly excuse. 
 I am only answering it in the first chance I have ever 
 had. How mean you were ! " 
 
 " Poor girl ! Wasn't there something better in store 
 for you? " 
 
 " How could there be ? And it had to be. We both 
 fought it from the start and failed. I knew it from 
 the very first. The day when you so calmly took pos- 
 session of me and went to look for the children; I 
 knew I had found my master. But I had a little pride 
 and when you were so proud I went away and 
 stayed all winter. I tried to hate you because I loved 
 you." 
 
 " Dear love ! My wife ! it is still wrong, but I 
 am going to take you from your birthright little 
 princess. You are mme! " 
 
 Her soft hands drew down his face for a wordless 
 reply. When her lips were free again she laughed softly, 
 " My only worry is to know where we shall be married. 
 Don't you suppose Silence will give us standing room 
 at her wedding? " 
 
 " If she can't, I know that Mrs. Jernigan will 
 bless her! And what else matters when we have each 
 other at last ! " 
 
 A fresh burst of light blazed luridly into the little 
 room. He drew her into the street, shielding her from
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 313 
 
 the rabble. A volunteer fire brigade was trying to pro- 
 tect the surrounding buildings from swaying sheets of 
 flame which waved out from the last timbers of Garnett 
 Hall. He led her round by a cross street in the direction 
 of Mrs. Garnett's house. A dense crowd encircled the 
 court house steps, from which someone was speaking so 
 earnestly as to command a hush of attention. It was 
 the Old Doctor. At sight of him Northmore suddenly 
 realised the complete destruction of his work ; the anni- 
 hilation of his dead friend's completed scheme ; the nega- 
 tion of all the good that he hoped would emanate from 
 it, and last, the loss of a sum contributed from his 
 own small patrimony which he could not give again. In 
 the first flush of his joy, nothing of this had been real 
 to him. The fire roared and crackled triumphantly at 
 his back he could not face it. 
 
 " Listen, little darling, you don't understand. This 
 is like everything else that I have tried to do an utter 
 failure! It will follow you, too, and I can't allow 
 that." 
 
 " Hush ! Listen ! " whispered Florida, clinging to 
 his shoulder. 
 
 " We now see what one day of political corruption 
 has done for our town and what it has undone! Is 
 that the method of a Christian candidate? Is it the 
 kind of representation we want ? Are we going to make 
 a campaign bonfire of the finest institution our town 
 ever had, to win votes for the real owner of Wildwood 
 Park its opposition ? " 
 
 " No ! " roared a mighty composite voice.
 
 314. 'ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 The roof crashed in and a subdued groan from the 
 people interrupted the speaker. When quiet was re- 
 stored, he went on : " No ! We're going to hold this 
 town for law and order with sober ballots. That's our 
 party platform honour and decency. We're never 
 going to have such scenes on our streets again as have 
 disgraced to-day. And one thing more ! we're going 
 to build that hall again! We can't do without it 
 after having it this one day." 
 
 " Hurrah ! Hurrah for the Old Doctor ! " endorsed 
 the crowd. 
 
 " Just as quick as that foundation gets cool enough 
 we're going to put up that building again and we're 
 going to raise the money among ourselves. I wasn't in 
 it the other time but I'm going to get in this time 
 on the ground floor. I'll start the stock this minute 
 with two thousand dollars. I believe the other build- 
 ing cost twenty-five." 
 
 " I'll give a thousand," added Mr. Moneypenny, 
 shouldering his way through. " I opposed it before 
 but I have reason to want it now." 
 
 " There's fifteen thousand insurance on it," announced 
 Mr. Harrington from the top step. 
 
 A man who had been struggling through to the Old 
 Doctor, now spoke to him in a low tone, the doctor 
 leaning down to listen. When he had repeated the mes- 
 sage, to make sure, the Old Doctor lifted his hand for 
 attention : 
 
 " I am requested to announce that Mr. Morgan 
 deeply regrets that this accident should have occurred
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 315 
 
 on the night of the torchlight procession, as he fears 
 that some spark set loose in the exceedingly dry weather 
 may have been the cause, and on account of this, he 
 offers to rebuild the Hall entirely at his own expense. 
 What shall we do with this offer? What shall we do 
 with our own intentions ? " 
 
 It was the propitious moment ; enthusiasm was at its 
 highest point. 
 
 " No ! " shouted one voice with no uncertain ring. 
 " No ! " followed a few scattering votes. 
 
 " No ! " called a woman's rich, throaty tone. " It's a 
 bid for votes on 'lection day, and this town don't 
 sell itself at that price. We'll build that hall agin 
 independent, with Mr. Northmore at the head of it." 
 
 " Three cheers for Mis' Jernigan ! " proposed a 
 youthful tenor, and they rang out with a will. 
 
 "Northmore! Northmore! Where's Northmore?" 
 shouted many voices. But Northmore could not be 
 found. He had grown suddenly faint, and was sitting in 
 the shadow on the steps of the National Bank, his head 
 in his hands, and Florida beside him, her delicate rich 
 gown trailing in the gritty dust. 
 
 " Oh, no, don't call it failure ! " she was saying. 
 " Can't you see what you have achieved? Can't you 
 see what a reactive tornado it has produced your work 
 this rousing of the public conscience the rising 
 above the jingling of the guinea and holding their votes 
 as a sacred right? Nothing else could have done it so 
 surely. Think what it means in this age to refuse 
 a great gift for their own self-respect lest it should
 
 316 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 be a bribe. Think of it! It is tremendous and you 
 have achieved it my hero, my king ! " 
 
 He turned quickly and drew her clcse in the hollow 
 of a possessing arm: " If all else has failed if all my 
 life has been bootlessly spent it is well lost for it 
 has brought you to me my Love my Love ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE light sheathing of Garnett Hall was swiftly eaten 
 up by the ferocity of the fire, but its staunch new beams 
 resisted destruction until daylight, when the last glow- 
 ing brands sank into ashes. Their blaze made a 
 rendezvous during the night hours for those delegates 
 whose enthusiasm had outlasted the Grand Rally to the 
 extent that they could not remember where they lived 
 or had lost all desire to go there. These ranged 
 themselves around the blazing heap in such attitudes 
 as they were still able to maintain, with that delight in 
 a conflagration which is one of the survivals of primi- 
 tive savagery to which man in the mass reverts. Their 
 enjoyment merged, with the waning glow, into an after- 
 math of righteous indignation at the irrevocable 
 destruction. This smothered righteousness now rose 
 mightily, puffing itself into noble proportions and 
 clawing with octopus arms for a meaty victim. The 
 visible object was the man in the limelight, the man 
 to whom this critical assemblage owed a grudge for 
 had they not partaken of his hospitality that day? 
 And when is an unpaid obligation not an injury to be 
 resented? The barbecue had been eaten, the chemical 
 whisky dried at the fount, while human rectitude in 
 the matter of other men's sins grows sharp at three 
 o'clock of the morning after. The clammy feelers of 
 
 317
 
 318 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 public judgment lighted upon Tom Morgan, slid 
 critically over him, found him edible, and sent an arm 
 or two out to draw him into closer embrace. 
 
 " Morgan's went too fur," rolled out the first feeler 
 in difficult articulation to a neighbour who hugged his 
 knees before the fire. " He hadn't orto of burned down 
 fine prope'ty that-a-way." 
 
 " Morgan never done it," gurgled the companion 
 feebly. 
 
 " Morgan done it all right, all right! I never said 
 he put no match to it with his own hands but you take 
 notice to him an' Northmore. They ain't whoopin' fur 
 one 'nother." 
 
 " You're right thar," observed a barroom sage of 
 hoary whiskers. " Hit mought of ben 'naccident 
 but hit was the oncommonest handiest accident ever 
 I seen." 
 
 " It's killed Northmore, all right," observed a rack- 
 etty voice farther away, " killed him deader'n a ham- 
 mer. Too bad fur Northmore, too. He ain't a bad 
 feller considerin' he used ter preach. Heard him make 
 er speech. He can't help it he's on t'other side. Had 
 to be 'nother side Morgan wouldn't have nobody to 
 beat. Morgan's got to beat somebody, I reckon. How 
 c'n Northmore help that? Morgan's got everything 
 'lection 'n' money all the money 'n the worl' 
 'n' office 'n' money 'n' money 'n' everything. 
 Northmore's pore man pore man's friend, too. Damn 
 shame to burn down Northmore's show 'n' all his 
 wives 'n' chillern everything. Morgan's durned
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 319 
 
 hog that's what Morgan is ! " bellowed a reclining 
 figure in a warm place. 
 
 " Ah'm goin' to vote f'r Northmore ! " croaked a 
 ragged throat. " Rar f 'r Northmore ! " But there 
 was not enough breath in the party to vocalise the 
 cheer. 
 
 " Ought to 'courage pore man's friend," resumed 
 the man of an idea. "Let's vote f'r Northmore. 
 What's he runnin' fur ? " 
 
 " Same thing's Morgan, 'course. Yah ! 'Courage 
 pore man pore man's pore man's burnt up 
 show " and the speaker went to sleep upon this vir- 
 tuous resolve. 
 
 The last drops of Fury's whisky were drained from 
 short-necked bottles, and husky opinions about nothing 
 in particular were endorsed with a grunt of applause. 
 
 " Morgan's damn c'ruption can'date ! Don't vote 
 my vote f'r rotgut whisky 'n' bum terbacker. Mor- 
 gan's cheap! Only give us two hunnerd dollars 'n' 
 uniforms f'r our whole township! 'M goin' vote f'r 
 hones' man ! " 
 
 This was such convincing logic that the politicians 
 mostly went to sleep upon it. 
 
 The dull purple of dawn found a corona of lusty 
 patriots radiating from the warm ashes of Garnett 
 Hall. The first man to waken sat up, extricated his 
 head from the ruins of his campaign hat, and con- 
 tinued his argument, unconscious that there had been 
 a hiatus of some hours. " Yah! Damfool trick of 
 Morgan to give himself away offering to build 'nozzer
 
 320 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 house f'r one he burned. Northmore's good feller, too. 
 Never spent a c'ruption dollar ! " 
 
 The blurred autumn day streamed in a red glare over 
 the hump of Saddleback upon the sleepy town, in linger- 
 ing dust and smoke and thick debris of its most ex- 
 citing day. It was the dawn of a reactive day when 
 overspent enthusiasm sought grumbling in its ashes 
 for what it had lost. 
 
 Joe Fury drove out to Heathermuir earlier than he 
 was even wont to rise, to offer a congratulatory hand 
 to his chief. The Grand Rally, masterstroke of the 
 campaign, well planned and lavishly executed, had so 
 far exceeded expectations in the hosts of retainers it 
 had swept in from remote hill fastnesses that its ban- 
 ners spelled nothing less than overwhelming success. 
 But, sweeter than success to Tom Morgan was the 
 annihilation of Northmore, the only man who had ever 
 dared openly to oppose his dictates, to humble his su- 
 premacy, to wound his inordinate self-love. 
 
 The triumph of victory was gilded by the downfall 
 of his foe. 
 
 The two winners shook hands long in rejoicing with- 
 out need of words. 
 
 " I tell you it's going to be a landslide ! Thompson 
 Jones has bought a ticket to South America to raise 
 peanuts. Nothin' in this district ever like it before." 
 
 " It was a great idea. And I give you credit for 
 carrying out my idea well, very well, indeed." 
 
 " Thank you, Mr. Morgan the Honourable Mr. 
 Morgan ! I do think it was well done never lost sight
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 of a thing never went wrong once well, I don't know, 
 either, but it went a little farther than we meant it to, 
 the enthusiasm but I guess that was all to the good. 
 Sort of opposition scheme, anyway, that holy theatre. 
 I always opposed it, from the first." 
 
 " So did I, Joe, and I notice that what I don't ap- 
 prove of in this county doesn't generally prosper." 
 
 " I should say not ! " 
 
 It is only a supreme master of the great games of 
 war and politics who can calculate to a nicety the force 
 of rebound. And both Morgan and Fury were mere 
 caddies in training. Hence they could not calculate 
 the reflex force of each day they had mistakenly lost 
 by changing to the earlier date of the Garnett Hall 
 opening. And seven days can measure an epoch when 
 begun by a conflagration. 
 
 Northmore also had risen early on the morning after 
 the eventful night, had risen eagerly after hours of 
 almost delirious wakefulness, and hurried to his office, 
 impatient to begin anew the building of the Hall and all 
 that it stood for, regarding the apparent failure of his 
 political championship with a degree of satisfaction, 
 since, having done his utmost to defeat the candidate, 
 Morgan, he could acquiesce in the victory of the man, 
 Morgan, who was Florida's father, for her sake. Dur- 
 ing the unreal visions of the night he half believed that 
 the sacred hour in which he had held Florida Morgan 
 for a moment to his heart, his promised wife, in which 
 he had heard words of love from her lips that started 
 out in electric fire as he read them in memory again and
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 again, was an illuminated phantasy, a part of the lurid 
 dream of the destruction of the Hall with which it was 
 mingled. He went around behind the spur to avoid 
 seeing the ruins and knowing their evidence. 
 
 Among other things it flashed upon him in the night 
 that, while he had in no way neglected his work at the 
 factory, he had been faithful only in the capacity of a 
 paid agent. He had not put his individuality into it, 
 nor developed it in any of the many ways thrft his pro- 
 gressive temperament might have suggested and the 
 prosperity of the past year made possible. He had 
 been deterred from this by his desire to carry out Mr. 
 Garnett's method along its original lines as far as pos- 
 sible and by the dread of Mrs. Garnett's instinctive 
 conservatism. Several improvements might be made 
 ought to be made, in fact, for this was a case in which 
 there was no middle ground. He must go forward or 
 backward. 
 
 There had come to him soon after his return in the 
 spring the wreck of a man sodden with drink who 
 claimed to be an expert in a certain line and who wanted 
 a chance to work and to reconstruct himself. This 
 chance Northmore had given with a good deal of per- 
 sonal interest and had watched him expand into decency 
 and steadiness of conduct. The man, an Englishman, 
 had been crowded from his notice by the clamouring 
 activities of the past few weeks, and Northmore now 
 made it his first duty to look him up and see how he was 
 holding out. He found him there early, confused and 
 reticent at Northmore's cordial questioning about him-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 323 
 
 self. But he was doing his work well, exceptionally 
 well, and with a skill that gave it distinction. 
 
 " I think I'm going to have a talk with you, Mullins, 
 about experimenting a little, with a view to adding 
 a specialty or two to our output later on." 
 
 Mullins's face lighted at the intimation. 
 
 " That's good news, sir. It's what I was 'oping, sir, 
 that we could do a bit better in the hornamental line. 
 I've ben tryin' my 'and out of hours and I think I've 
 struck a glaze that's a himprovement over anything 
 round 'ere, sir. If I 'ave, Mr. Northmore, we can 
 make a good thing hof it." 
 
 *' Go ahead and experiment as much as you like. We 
 want to make our ware better and better and add some 
 new departments, don't we? " 
 
 " You're right, sir, we do ! " Mullins' polished face 
 glowed a shade brighter and he turned to his task with 
 new inspiration. 
 
 That afternoon Northmore had a long talk with Mrs. 
 Garnett and Silence, showing them through the various 
 departments and explaining how easy it would be to 
 enlarge the capacity of the pottery and how desirable 
 it would be to improve the quality of the ware by the 
 addition of a specialty. To this both agreed, and he 
 promised to have a definite proposition to place before 
 them within a week. This, with an occasional stolen 
 glimpse of Florida at Mrs. Garnett's, made the week a 
 swift one, bringing election day on apace. He made the 
 closing speech for Thompson Jones on the preceding 
 evening at Mosely's, a hamlet a few miles away, and
 
 324 'ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 went to cast his vote early the next morning with a 
 sense of relief that the long strain was over. 
 
 As he entered the pottery Mullins met him with a 
 triumphant air that covered no common day's work. 
 
 " Good-mornin', Mr. Northmore. I 'ope you find 
 yourself well this fine day ? That's good, sir. If you'd 
 take the trouble to step in here, sir, I'd like you to see 
 a piece or two that's just come out of the kiln a bit 
 that I've been doin' of and they ain't bad, sir, I think. 
 At least, that's my opinion." 
 
 It had taken the education of the past six months to 
 make Northmore appreciate the slender vase that the 
 other man handed to him with a loving caress. He took 
 it and turned it carefully in his hand, holding it to the 
 light, then watching its brilliance in shade. Mullins 
 waited, breathing heavily. 
 
 " Did you do this ? " was the first inane question. 
 
 " I did, sir." 
 
 " Can you do it again ? " 
 
 " Every time, sir, that is, barrin' " 
 
 "Of course. I mean it wasn't chance?" 
 
 " Not a bit of it, Mr. Northmore. I've done almost 
 the same in my old place, and I allus felt sure that if I 
 had the liberty to go a bit my own way, I could do this. 
 Ain't she a beauty, though ? " 
 
 " It is exquisite. I shall take this to Mrs. Garnett 
 at once, and to another lady who knows a great deal 
 about fine ware. We'll not stop on this, I can assure 
 you." 
 
 Mullins returned to his bench with an eager lurch, and
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 325 
 
 Northmore went to his desk to hurry through his own 
 work. It was noon before he could get away to see 
 Mrs. Garnett and Silence. They were delighted with 
 the specimen, which he hardly gave them time to exam- 
 ine, so impatient he was to exhibit it to Florida. 
 
 He drove out over the smooth road to Heathermuir, 
 lending himself to the day, one of those rare tourna- 
 ments of the hills when they appear to march in majes- 
 tic procession as billows of glimmering mist and waves 
 of golden light and purple shadow play upon them with 
 an effect of solemn motion. It was apparent that there 
 was intense interest in the election from the groups of 
 earnest men who everywhere were tending to the voting 
 places. 
 
 " I guess Morgan's making a clean sweep," remarked 
 more than one man who stopped him to ask for a pre- 
 diction of that most uncertain futurity the result of 
 an election. 
 
 " I suppose so," he would answer, in haste to go on. 
 He was lifted into an upper ether of happiness by the 
 growing reality of Florida's love and frightened a little 
 at the requirements of such a woman's standard of man- 
 hood, beside which considerations all other human 
 affairs grew trivial. 
 
 With this keenly in mind, something like dread rose 
 within him at the glow of love and pride and utter 
 faith in the eyes that met him. Would he be strong and 
 noble enough to keep that look in his wife's eyes through 
 all the years of their dual life? But the touch of her 
 confident hand, the impact of her personality, the
 
 326 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 warmth of her sweet mouth thrilled him with resolve 
 and taught him that though she had exalted ideals, she 
 would help him to attain them. 
 
 They went up to the summer house where they had 
 spent the first hours of their acquaintance together, and 
 she made tea for him in the perfect afternoon whose 
 hours slipped by like pearls on a golden strand. It had 
 been but a year since their first talk in that spot, a year 
 into whose little span an age of living had been crowded. 
 It was the first opportunity they had had for a quiet 
 conference regarding the arrangements for their mar- 
 riage. There was a glamour of rose tint in the shy con- 
 fidences they exchanged. Florida tried to estimate how 
 many gowns a year she actually needed, and Northmore 
 told her how much he could earn, twice as much, she 
 said, as she had expected. 
 
 " You are not to sacrifice your comfort, you know. 
 It may mean a little waiting, but not very long," he said 
 with a smile. 
 
 For the look she gave him in reply he could have 
 worshipped her : " There is no question of that now. 
 And you may have to take me very suddenly if if 
 father is defeated. I can't think of such a possibility 
 I have no idea what he will do but it will be something 
 terrible. It will be the blow of his life he has never 
 been crossed before and he will hold you accountable. 
 I don't know what he will do." 
 
 " There's no danger of that, Florida. Your father 
 has the whole district. All the foreign ^miners and mill 
 hands have been naturalised and will be voted in pla-
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 327 
 
 toons. His election has been conceded ever since the 
 barbecue." 
 
 He had forgotten the vase until now. She watched 
 him unfold its delicate wrappings, and gave a cry of 
 pleasure when it was revealed. She took it up and 
 turned it to the light, seeing qualities that he had not 
 known and he had been studying pottery for months. 
 
 " What a lot of opportunity that suggests for the 
 pottery and for Mogadonia and for us. If you can 
 produce one thing like this, you can make a reputation 
 for your ware. What do you call it? " 
 
 " It is practically new unique. There's a sugges- 
 tion of some of the English makes but it is new. 
 Name it, dearest." 
 
 " Shall I ? It makes me think of the aurora lights I 
 saw last winter a thin green flame, edged with rose, 
 with stars gleaming through, upon a background of 
 royal blue sky. Not that these are the colours, but they 
 have that mysterious translucency. Do you want to 
 call it that Aurora? " 
 
 " So be it christened." 
 
 " And what are you going to do with it ? " 
 
 " Make it a department now, and experiment and 
 improve. Then we shall see what else can be done. I 
 don't know just how to develop the idea and the man 
 but a test will try that. What would you ad- 
 vise? " 
 
 " To go abroad and study the old-world potteries 
 and ceramics as closely as possible. One learns so 
 much from the actual places and the marvellous displays 
 that are not trade secrets at all. Can you manage it? "
 
 328 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 " If you will go with me. Yes, I can manage that, 
 for it is my business .now. That will make it worth 
 while and give me a grip on something permanent if 
 you are willing that it should be so." 
 
 She leaned forward and laid her hand upon his, look- 
 ing into his eyes again, her own luminous with purpose- 
 ful love : " I shall love it. We will go together and 
 study and improve and import until we make the finest 
 and loveliest ware in the country. And we will carry 
 on Mr. Garnett's purpose with the people and the vil- 
 lage oh, it will be splendid to have an object to 
 attain." 
 
 He bent to kiss her for answer, finding words quite 
 inadequate for the things he wanted to tell her. 
 
 Tom Morgan had forgotten that he had a daughter 
 that afternoon. He had been making a circuit of the 
 district in his big red touring car and drove through 
 the hilly streets of Mogadonia just about this time most 
 ostentatiously, believing that proof of wealth was proof 
 of greatness. For touring cars were not a common 
 sight among the hills and he imagined that the display 
 would inspire votes for him. He met a delegation of 
 quarry hands headed by Quiggins on their way to the 
 polls. Quiggins took off his hat with a significant smile 
 that pleased the candidate immensely and made him 
 wonder why he had not thought of Quiggins as a cam- 
 paign worker. He was an intelligent fellow, an excep- 
 tionally good talker, and had boundless influence with 
 his companions. But then, it would have been super- 
 fluous.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 329 
 
 Florida went as far as the great iron gates with her 
 lover, and walked back under the brown trees of the 
 avenue, while Northmore turned his horses' heads toward 
 the town and dropped the reins, letting them take their 
 own gait while he reviewed the enchanted hours just 
 past. He had quite forgotten that it was election day 
 until he entered the town and noted the unusual stir on 
 the streets. He was surprised at the number who knew 
 him, called him by name, and pointed him out to their 
 wives. Rumours of the result were already afloat, but 
 he went to his room to do a little unfinished work and 
 look over his mail. 
 
 There had been so much " scratching " that the count 
 was slow. He went back after dinner to finish before 
 authentic returns were in, but had scarcely seated him- 
 self at his table before the air was attacked by tin horns 
 and campaign yells, unerring forerunners of the tide of 
 returns. He listened for the name of the winner. 
 
 "What's the matter ? He's all right! " yelled the 
 
 crowd. He could not catch the name, though it surely 
 had two syllables. That must be Morgan of course. 
 Still he opened the window to make sure. " What's the 
 matter with ? He's all right! " 
 
 He caught up his hat to go out, but at the head of 
 the stairs he met two men who were coming up ; the fore- 
 most was Quiggins. 
 
 " Hello, Mr. Northmore, we've come to congratulate 
 you," he said, taking off his hat and extending an 
 awkward hand. 
 
 " Ah, have we got it ? Has Jones won ? "
 
 330 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 "Jones! Thunder! No, it ain't Jones we're whoopin' 
 up it's you? " 
 
 Northmore stared at the man in annoyance : " What 
 do you mean? " he asked. 
 
 " It's no joke, Mr. Northmore. I don't know what 
 the returns from other towns are not many are in yet, 
 but Mogadonia's voting for you like mad." 
 
 " For me ! Why, I'm not on the ticket. It's impos- 
 sible." 
 
 " Can't help it, Mr. Northmore, if Mogadonia was 
 the whole district, you'd be congressman yourself. I 
 started a little boom for you out at the quarry 'bout 
 three weeks ago. I thought you deserved it more than 
 either of the others, and it would put you in line for the 
 next time. Just wait two years, Mr. Northmore, and 
 it'll be your name at the top of the ticket in good 
 earnest." 
 
 Northmore still stared stupidly at the man : " Do 
 you mean to say that some voters have actually written 
 my name on their tickets ? " 
 
 " Yes, hundreds of 'em. I did myself, and they do 
 say it's the biggest joke of all that some of the im- 
 ported Morgan heelers started a boom for you the night 
 of the fire. I believe some of 'em actually voted that 
 way, too, for they were down on Tom not opening his 
 barrel wider. They were drunk on his whisky! Ain't 
 that rich?" 
 
 " How's Jones running? " 
 
 " Fine and Morgan falling behind." 
 
 "Ah! Then that mistake hasn't cut Jones?"
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 331 
 
 " It's no mistake, Mr. Northmore, but it's helped 
 Jones. Some of us wanted you so bad it seemed such 
 a shame that you weren't the man that we thought 
 we'd vote for you anyhow. If the people want a man, 
 and he's the man for the place why, it can't be wrong 
 to try to put him there and, by thunder ! it looked 
 for one while as if you'd get it." 
 
 " I'm glad it didn't hurt Jones," breathed North- 
 more in profound relief. 
 
 The din in the streets silenced further talk, but North- 
 more's name was in every blast, having attracted more 
 attention from its sensational use than the legitimate 
 candidates who received the bulk of the vote. 
 
 As soon after midnight as he could get a wire North- 
 more telegraphed to Jones : " Congratulations. You are 
 elected in spite of blunder over my name," and at day- 
 light the answer came : " Thank you,- it was what saved 
 me, can't let a man like you do private business, will you 
 take appointment? " 
 
 Northmore put this into his pocket with a smile, 
 and went to his office to look over the morning mail that 
 he might go to Mrs. Garnett's during the forenoon, for 
 consultation. 
 
 He found Florida in the living room there, a little 
 later, her eyes pink with tears ; a curious flutter of 
 mingled pride and grief in her voice. She had fled to 
 these steadfast friends in the hour of her father's hu- 
 miliation and her lover's vindication. She answered the 
 inquiry of Northmore's eyes. 
 
 " Father left on the early train for a long jour-
 
 332 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 ney. He says he is going round the world but do 
 you know I think he will come back different. He 
 came into my room this morning before it was light to 
 bid me good-bye, and there was something so changed 
 in his manner. He asked, ' How did it happen, 
 dearie?' and I told him it was because people thought 
 he hadn't been fair to Ellis and some of the other 
 men. And he looked so sad and walked away. A minute 
 after he came back, his overcoat on, and said, * I'm 
 afraid it's forever too late. Ellis is dead.' And there 
 wasn't anything for me to say. I hope he will never 
 know how bad it was for Ellis." 
 
 " I hope not ! " echoed Northmore heartily, recalling 
 that death scene. 
 
 Mrs. Garnett and Silence came in just then and were 
 full of interest in the election. While they were talking 
 over the strange freak of the voters in Northmore's be- 
 half, a boy brought a collection of telegrams for North- 
 more which he handed to Florida as he read them. One 
 was from the junior senator from the State of the 
 opposite party and read, " Will Mr. Northmore ac- 
 cept consulship to Mexico," another from an old friend 
 of Northmore's father, a prominent manufacturer, said, 
 " Am looking for superintendent, come to Cincinnati 
 before signing elsewhere " ; two or three were offers of 
 smaller opportunities, political and otherwise, and con- 
 gratulations and comments upon the singular compli- 
 ment he had received. 
 
 " But what of us if you accept any of these things ? " 
 asked Mrs. Garnett anxiously.
 
 ALTARS TO MAMMON 33S 
 
 " So much is opening up in the business," pleaded 
 Silence, " and no one else can ever carry out father's 
 life work." 
 
 Northmore looked at Florida in mute questioning. 
 Mrs. Garnett opened her lips to speak, but waited his 
 decision. 
 
 " Let us go for a gallop and talk it over, Florida," 
 he said. " I saw that you were riding this morning." 
 
 When they were well out of town, climbing the steep 
 road up Old Whiteface, she checked her horse for a 
 rest and turned to him seriously. 
 
 " Where can you live most truly ? What will give 
 you most individually ? " 
 
 " To stay here right where I am. It has been a 
 dream of mine to consecrate my life in business activity. 
 I know that it can be done it has been done in innu- 
 merable quiet instances. I don't want a political life 
 and my professional one has been a failure. But you ? " 
 
 " I should love it. You know that." 
 
 " Then we will go back and tell Mrs. Garnett." 
 
 " Yes." She rode out on the little plateau where they 
 had stopped and looked down upon the pottery and its 
 cluster of pretty homes and green lawns. 
 
 " In the only sermon I ever heard you preach you 
 said that not every man knew whether his altar was 
 builded to God or to Mammon. Here we shall build 
 our altar to God for our people." 
 
 " Amen," he said softly, laying his hand upon the 
 gauntleted one that rested on the horn of her saddle. 
 
 When they announced their decision, Mrs. Garnett
 
 334 ALTARS TO MAMMON 
 
 uttered the speech that had stopped upon her lips be- 
 fore they had gone away : " Then, Mr. Northmore, 
 you may take entire charge and I will be a silent part- 
 ner an equal partner yes, that is no more than fair. 
 And we will make the business a noble monument to the 
 man who planned it and made it possible." 
 
 " We can do it," answered Northmore, seeking 
 Florida's eyes. 
 
 On a sparkling morning in the beginning of the New 
 Year the eastbound express took on a young couple of 
 such distinction of appearance that the passengers of 
 the Pullman car paid them the tribute of a hearty stare. 
 A few people had come to see them off, to whom they 
 opened a window to say a last good-bye before their 
 long journey, then, as the train moved out, they bent to 
 look down at the housetops of the queer, beloved town 
 below. The train plunged into the tunnel; when it 
 emerged there was a fleeting glimpse of a grey turreted 
 house against the white blanket of Blue Mountain. The 
 young man grasped his wife's hand as it lay on the sill, 
 "We are not looking backward, darling, are we?" 
 
 For the look in the deeps of her eyes he could have 
 lost all else: "Only to measure all that is before us," 
 she said. 
 
 THE END