filled," broke in Elizabeth,
attempting to divert her father from a delicate topic.

"No, my dear. That is hardly my position. There must never be a
sacrificing of principle, even for the sake of full pews. A full
church--er--is not the most important part of parish work. Am I not
right, Mr. McGowan?"

"Quite right, if that is the end sought in itself."

"I am convinced from what you said yesterday that you will furnish
us--er--with both. I am confidently looking forward to one of our most
prosperous years."

"Both?" queried the minister.

"Yes. I am old-fashioned enough to believe in the need of--er--the
saving power of the gospel. Full pews without that would make our
church the sounding of brass and the tinkling of cymbal. We must have
the old-time power in our churches to-day, Mr. McGowan."

"You think Little River needs reforming, Father?"

"That is exactly the point I make: it is more than reformation we need,
it is conversion. Take the Athletic Club, for example. Will reform stop
them? No, sir, no more than a straw-stack would stop a tornado. They
need--er--a mighty thunderbolt from heaven, and I hope that you will let
God use you, sir, as the transmitting agency."

A picture of himself occupying the place of Zeus, holding in his hand
the lightnings of heaven, flitted through the minister's mind. He smiled
faintly. Elizabeth evidently caught what was in the young man's mind,
for she met his glance with a merry twinkle.

"Really, Father, don't you think Mr. McGowan would look out of place as
a lightning-rod, even on Little River Church?"

"I was speaking figuratively, my dear," he replied, somewhat
crestfallen that his reference should be thus irreverently treated.
"The boys in that club are a reckless lot, and they are doing the
work--er--of the devil. They must be brought to repentance."

"I don't think that is fair, Father. The church is not wholly without
blame for what those boys have done," declared Elizabeth emphatically.
"What did we do to keep them from going out and organizing as they
have?"

"No doubt we did make mistakes in the beginning, but our errors do not
atone for their sins."

"But, Father----"

"There, Beth, never mind. We can never agree on that point, and we
should not entangle Mr. McGowan in our differences. I only hope he will
do all in his power to make them see the sinfulness of their ways."

Conversation turned into other channels under the direction of
Elizabeth. The