第3章

Thatalwaysseemstomeromanticandwasteful。Youneverhearfromitinanydefiniteway。Theysaythemissionarieshavedoneagooddealtoopenthewayfortrade；perhaps——buttheyhavealsogottenusintocommercialandpoliticaldifficulties。YetIgivetothem——alittle——itisamatterofconsciencewithmetoidentifymyselfwithalltheenterprisesoftheChurch；itisthemainstayofsocialorderandaprosperouscivilization。Butthebestformsofbenevolencearethewell-established，organizedoneshereathome，wherepeoplecanseethemandknowwhattheyaredoing。"

"Youmeantheonesthathavealocalhabitationandaname。"

"Yes；theyofferbyfarthesafestreturn，thoughofcoursethereissomethinggainedbycontributingtogeneralfunds。Apublicmancan\'taffordtobewithoutpublicspirit。ButonthewholeIpreferabuilding，oranendowment。Thereisamutualadvantagetoagoodnameandagoodinstitutionintheirconnectioninthepublicmind。

Ithelpsthemboth。Rememberthat，myboy。Ofcourseatthebeginningyouwillhavetopractiseitinasmallway；later，youwillhavelargeropportunities。Buttrytoputyourgiftswheretheycanbeidentifiedanddogoodallaround。You\'llseethewisdomofitinthelongrun。"

"Icanseeitalready，sir，andthewayyoudescribeitlooksamazinglywiseandprudent。Inotherwords，wemustcastourbreadonthewatersinlargeloaves，carriedbysoundshipsmarkedwiththeowner\'sname，sothatthereturnfreightwillbesuretocomebacktous。"

Thefatherlaughed，buthiseyeswerefrowningalittleasifhesuspectedsomethingirreverentundertherespectfulreply。

"Youputithumorously，butthere\'ssenseinwhatyousay。Whynot？

Godrulesthesea；butHeexpectsustofollowthelawsofnavigationandcommerce。Whynottakegoodcareofyourbread，evenwhenyougiveitaway？"

"It\'snotformetosaywhynot——andyetIcanthinkofcases——"

Theyoungmanhesitatedforamoment。Hishalf-finishedcigarhadgoneout。Heroseandtosseditintothefire，infrontofwhichheremainedstanding——aslender，eager，restlessyoungfigure，withatouchofhungerinthefineface，strangelylikeandunlikethefather，atwhomhelookedwithhalf-wistfulcuriosity。

"Thefactis，sir，"hecontinued，"thereissuchacaseinmymindnow，anditisagooddealonmyheart，too。SoIthoughtofspeakingtoyouaboutitto-night。YourememberTomRollins，theJuniorwhowassogoodtomewhenIenteredcollege？"

Thefathernodded。Herememberedverywellindeedtheannoyingincidentsofhisson\'sfirstescapade，andhowRollinshadstoodbyhimandhelpedtoavoidapublicdisgrace，andhowaclosefriendshiphadgrownbetweenthetwoboys，sodifferentintheirfortunes。

"Yes，"hesaid，"Irememberhim。Hewasapromisingyoungman。

Hashesucceeded？"

"Notexactly——thatisnotyet。Hisbusinesshasbeengoingratherbadly。

Hehasawifeandlittlebaby，youknow。Andnowhehasbrokendown，——

somethingwrongwithhislungs。ThedoctorsayshisonlychanceisayearoreighteenmonthsinColorado。Iwishwecouldhelphim。"

"Howmuchwoulditcost？"

"Threeorfourthousand，perhaps，asaloan。"

"Doesthedoctorsayhewillgetwell？"

"Afightingchance——thedoctorsays。"

Thefaceoftheoldermanchangedsubtly。Notalinewasaltered，butitseemedtohaveadifferentsubstance，asifitwerecarvedoutofsomefirm，imperishablestuff。

"Afightingchance，"hesaid，"maydoforaspeculation，butitisnotagoodinvestment。YouowesomethingtoyoungRollins。

Yourgratefulfeelingdoesyoucredit。Butdon\'toverworkit。

Sendhimthreeorfourhundred，ifyoulike。You\'llneverhearfromitagain，exceptintheletterofthanks。ButforHeaven\'ssakedon\'tbesentimental。Religionisnotamatterofsentiment；

it\'samatterofprinciple。"

Thefaceoftheyoungermanchangednow。Butinsteadofbecomingfixedandgraven，itseemedtomeltintolifebytheheatofaninwardfire。Hisnostrilsquiveredwithquickbreath，hislipswerecurled。"Principle！"hesaid。"Youmeanprincipal——andinteresttoo。Well，sir，youknowbestwhetherthatisreligionornot。

Butifitis，countmeout，please。Tomsavedmefromgoingtothedevil，sixyearsago；andI\'llbedamnedifIdon\'thelphimtothebestofmyabilitynow。"

JohnWeightmanlookedathissonsteadily。"Harold，"hesaidatlast，"youknowIdislikeviolentlanguage，anditneverhasanyinfluencewithme。IfIcouldhonestlyapproveofthispropositionofyours，I\'dletyouhavethemoney；butIcan\'t；

it\'sextravagantanduseless。ButyouhaveyourChristmascheckforathousanddollarscomingtoyouto-morrow。Youcanuseitasyouplease。

Ineverinterferewithyourprivateaffairs。"

"Thankyou，"saidHarold。"Thankyouverymuch！Butthere\'sanotherprivateaffair。Iwanttogetawayfromthislife，thistown，thishouse。

Itstiflesme。YourefusedlastsummerwhenIaskedyoutoletmegouptoGrenfell\'sMissionontheLabrador。Icouldgonow，atleastasfarastheNewfoundlandStation。Haveyouchangedyourmind？"

"Notatall。Ithinkitisanexceedinglyfoolishenterprise。

ItwouldinterruptthecareerthatIhavemarkedoutforyou。"

"Well，then，here\'sacheaperproposition。AlgyVanderhoofwantsmetojoinhimonhisyachtwith——well，withalittleparty——tocruiseintheWestIndies。Wouldyoupreferthat？"

"Certainlynot！TheVanderhoofsetiswildandgodless——Idonotwishtoseeyoukeepingcompanywithfoolswhowalkinthebroadandeasywaythatleadstoperdition。"

"Itisratherahardchoice，"saidtheyoungman，withashortlaugh，turningtowardthedoor。"Accordingtoyouthere\'sverylittledifference——afool\'sparadiseorafool\'shell！Well，it\'soneortheotherforme，andI\'lltossupforitto-night:heads，I

lose；

tails，thedevilwins。Anyway，I\'msickofthis，andI\'moutofit。"

"Harold，"saidtheolderman（andtherewasaslighttremorinhisvoice），"don\'tletusquarrelonChristmasEve。AllIwantistopersuadeyoutothinkseriouslyofthedutiesandresponsibilitiestowhichGodhascalledyou——don\'tspeaklightlyofheavenandhell——remember，thereisanotherlife。"

Theyoungmancamebackandlaidhishanduponhisfather\'sshoulder。

"Father，"hesaid，"Iwanttorememberit。Itrytobelieveinit。

Butsomehoworother，inthishouse，itallseemsunrealtome。

Nodoubtallyousayisperfectlyrightandwise。Idon\'tventuretoargueagainstit，butIcan\'tfeelit——that\'sall。IfI\'mtohaveasoul，eithertoloseortosave，Imustreallylive。Justnowneitherthepresentnorthefuturemeansanythingtome。Butsurelywewon\'tquarrel。