m face to face. Suppose he
should be driven from the parish, how could he ever come back again?
How could he return as rector to be the contempt and laughing-stock of
all? No, he would oppose Stubbles to the bitter end. The worst they
could do would be to kill him, and he was not afraid to die if
necessary.

It was near evening and they were hauling in the last load of hay from
the field near the road, when an auto, bearing several men, sped past.

"It's Ben bringin' the delegation from the station," Jake explained, as
he watched the rapidly disappearing car.

"What delegation?" Douglas queried.

"Why, didn't I tell ye?" Jake asked in surprise. "Well, I clean fergot
all about it. There's to be a big Church meetin' to-night in the hall.
Si got word an' he sent notice all around."

"What is the meeting about?" Douglas enquired.

"It has something to do with the new parson who is comin', so I
understand."

"So you are to get another clergyman, are you?" Douglas asked as
indifferently as possible.

"Seems so. The Bishop has a man all ready, who will be here in a few
weeks. I pity the poor feller, I really do, though I can't say I'm
much set on parsons since our experience with the last ones."

"You think he will have a hard time of it, eh?"

"He's sure to, an' unless he's somethin' out of the ordinary, he'll be
in the same fix as the others. He'll be bound to buck up agin Si
sooner or later, an' then there'll be trouble."

Douglas was greatly interested in what he had just heard, and he made
up his mind to attend the meeting, tired though he was. He wished to
hear and see for himself and not depend upon second-hand information.
The meeting was to be public, so he had a perfect right to go.

When the chores were finished, he picked up the paper which had arrived
that day from the city. He knew that the meeting would not begin for
some time, and the rest would do him good. He glanced first at the big
headlines until he reached one which arrested his attention.

"A WELL MERITED HONOR;
DR. RANNAGE, RECTOR OF
ST. MARGARET'S CHURCH OF THIS CITY,
APPOINTED ARCHDEACON BY HIS BISHOP."

Douglas studied these words very carefully, and then read the long
account of the new archdeacon's life, and of the work he had
accomplished at St. Margaret's! The article was most laudatory, and
spoke of his ability as a preacher, an organiser, and a public-spirited
citizen. It referred to Dr. Rannage as a