for another mission field."

He found Colonel Sidleigh courteously willing to accept his application,
the answer to which, he was informed, he might expect in a fortnight;
and so went with a comparatively light heart to his interview with his
superintendent.

The interview, however, turned out not entirely as he had expected. He
went with an idea of surrendering his appointment. His superintendent
made him an offer of another and greater.

"So they turned you down," said the superintendent. "Well, I consider
it most providential. You have applied for a position on the ambulance
corps. As fine as is that service, and as splendid as are its
possibilities, I offer you something much finer, and I will even say
much more important to our army and to our cause. We are in need of men
for the Chaplain Service, and for this service we demand the picked men
of our church. The appointments that have been made already are some
of them most unsuitable, some, I regret to say, scandalous. Let me
tell you, sir, of an experience in Winnipeg only last week. It was, my
fortune to fall in with the commanding officer of a Saskatchewan unit.
I found him in a rage against the church and all its officials. His
chaplain had become so hilarious at the mess that he was quite unable to
carry on."

"Hilarious?" inquired Barry.

"Hilarious, sir. Yes, plain drunk. Think of it. Think of the crime! the
shame of it! A man charged with the responsibility of the souls of these
men going to war--possibly to their death--drunk, in their presence!
A man standing for God and the great eternal verities, incapacitated
before them! I took the matter up with Ottawa, and I have this
satisfaction at least, that I believe that no such appointment will ever
be made again. That chaplain, I may say too, has been dismissed. I have
here, sir, a mission field suitable to your ability and experience. I
shall not offer it to you. I am offering you the position of chaplain in
one of our Alberta battalions."

Barry stood before him, dumb with dismay.

"Of course, I want to go to the war," he said at length, "but I am sure,
sir, I am not the man for the position you offer me."

"Sir," said the superintendent, "I have taken the liberty of sending in
your name. Time was an element. Appointments were being rapidly made,
and I was extremely anxious that you should go with this battalion. I
confess to a selfish interest. My own boy, Duncan, has enlisted in
that unit, and