asked, and he laughed outright.
It did seem ridiculously funny to him. "A tempest in a thimble," he
called it. His wife was given to having them.

"What will you do about it? Fight him, or what? It's a free country,
and the man has a right to his opinions, even if _you_ don't agree
with him. Better hush up, Maria. I don't believe in duels, and they
are against the law in this country besides; you are powerless, you
see."

It is a pity he said that. Mrs. Dr. Matthews being a woman, and being
a member of that church, knew she was _not_ powerless. And women of
her stamp are sure to be _dared_ by random, half-earnest sentences,
to show the very utmost that their weak selves can do. As truly as I
tell you the story here to-day, that is the way the ferment began. "A
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Aye, and a little acid
_sours_ the whole lump. Do you think Mrs. Dr. Matthews sallied out
directly her meal was concluded, and openly and bitterly denounced
Dr. Selmser as a pulpit slanderer? She did nothing of the sort. She
chose her time and place and persons with skill and tact, and said,
"Didn't they think, just among themselves, not intending to breathe
it outside for the world, that Dr. Selmser was getting a _little_
unpopular among the young people? He was so _grave_--almost stern.
She felt distressed sometimes lest they should cultivate a feeling of
fear toward him. She _did_ think it was so important that the young
people should be attracted."

Watching her opportunity--and it is wonderful how many opportunities
there are in the world, if one only watches for them--she remarked at
Mrs. Brower's that Dr. Selmser was just a little inclined, she
thought, to pay rather too much attention to families like the
Harrisons. It was natural, she supposed. Ministers were but human,
and of course with their wealth and influence they could make their
home very attractive to him; but she always felt sorry when she saw a
clergyman neglecting the poor. Dr. Selmser certainly had called at
Mr. Harrison's twice during this very week. Of course he might have
had business--she did not pretend to say. But there were _some_ who
were feeling as though their pastor didn't get time to see them very
often. He ought to be willing to divide his attentions.

Now Mrs. Brower belonged by nature to that type of woman who is
disposed to keep an almanac account with her pastor. She knew just
how many calls Dr. Selmser made on her in a year, and