in the message of the preacher, although it was in his
case more like the golden light of a sunset, for he was a good old man,
who had followed his own teachings, and it was evident that he was
beloved by every one in his congregation. A man couldn't help loving
that old parson--he was so happy and honest!

"When he completed his sermon of content, happiness and unfaltering
faith, a girl sang an old-time offertory. The services were closed
with the music of a well-trained choir. The congregation rose. The
worshippers finally went out of the church, chatting and happy with the
thought of a duty well done in their weekly worship, and, last but not
least, the certainty of a generous New England dinner at home. The
church services were ended. Later in the afternoon would be a short
song service of vespers and in the evening a simple and sincere meeting
of sweet-minded, clean-souled young men and women for prayer service.
It was all very pretty.

"As I say, Burke, it was something that soothed me like beautiful music
after the rotten, miserable, wretched conditions I had seen in the
city. It does a fellow good once in a while to get away from the grip
of the tenements, the shades of the skyscrapers, the roar of the
factories, and the shuffling, tired footsteps of the crowds, the smell
of the sweat-shops.

"But, do you know, it seemed to me that that minister missed something;
that he was _too contented_. There was a message that man _could_ have
given which I think might perhaps have disagreed with the digestions of
his congregation. Undoubtedly, it would have influenced the hand that
wrote the check the following month.

"I wondered to myself why, at least, he could not have spoken to his
flock in words something like this, accompanied by a preliminary pound
on his pulpit to awaken his congregation from dreams of golf, roast
chicken and new gowns:

"'You business men who sit here so happy and so contented with
honorable wives, with sturdy children in whose veins run the blood of a
dozen generations of decent living, do you realize that there are any
other conditions in life but yours? Do you know that Henry Brown, Joe
Smith and Richard Black, who work as clerks for you down in your New
York office, do not have this church, do not have these spring flowers
and the Sunday dinners you will have when you go back home? Does it
occur to you that these young men on their slender salaries may be
supporting more peo