been ordained. Harry Zenz had a large church in a West Virginia mining town. Wallace Umstead, the physical instructor, was "doing fine" in the Y. M. C. A. Professor Bruno Zechlin was dead, poor fellow.
"Wh'ever became of Horace Carp?" asked Elmer.
"Well, that's the strangest thing of all. Horace's gone into the Episcopal Church, like he always said he would."
"Well, well, zatta fact!"
"Yes-sir, his father died just after he graduated, and he up and turned Episcopalian and took a year in General, and now they say he's doing pretty good, and he's high-church as all get-out."
"Well, you seem to have a good thing of it here, Eddie. Nice church."
"Well, it isn't so big, but they're awful' fine people. And everything's going fine. I haven't increased the membership so much, but what I'm trying to do is strengthen the present membership in the faith, and then when I feel each of them is a center of inspiration, I'll be ready to start an evangelistic campaign, and you'll see that ole church boom—yes-sir—just double overnight. . . . If they only weren't so slow about paying my salary and the mortgage. . . . Fine solid people, really saved, but they are just the least little bit tight with the money."
"If you could see the way my cook-stove's broken and the sink needs painting," said Mrs. Fislinger—her chief utterance of the evening.
Elmer felt choked and imprisoned. He escaped. At the door Eddie held both his hands and begged, "Oh, Elm, I'll never give up till I've brought you back! I'm going to pray. I've seen you under conviction. I know what you can do!"
Fresh air, a defiant drink of rye, loud laughter, taking a train—Elmer enjoyed it after this stuffiness. Already Eddie had lost such devout fires as he had once shown in the Y. M. C. A.; already he was old, settled down, without conceivable adventure, waiting for death.
Yet Eddie had said—
Startled, he recalled that he was still a Baptist minister! For all of Trosper's opposition, he could preach. He felt with superstitious discomfort Eddie's incantation, "I'll never give up till I've brought you back."
