Page:The unhallowed harvest (1917).djvu/183

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178
THE UNALLOWED HARVEST

propaganda. Stephen Lamar suggested to her one day that she was hired to spread the doctrines of socialism and not to fight the battles of unorthodox clergymen. She laughed at that, and told him that when he came to a right understanding of the principles of his creed he would know that it all worked to the same end, and that to sow dissension in the churches was to advance by that much the social millennium. She added, moreover, that whenever the League considered that her services were not worth her salary, she would gladly relinquish her position. He made no further complaint. He did not again chide her, as he had done on several occasions, for her regular attendance on the services at Christ Church. So long as he discovered no particular awakening of religious sensibility on her part he was content thereafter to let her have her own way. As his desire for her increased and grew more and more imperious, his caution was augmented, lest by his own inadvertence he should thwart the happiness to which he confidently looked forward.

But Mary Bradley's work and influence in behalf of the rector of Christ Church and of his cause were not confined to the proletariat among whom she dwelt. By no means! Her position brought her into contact, not with wealthy people, for these rarely have any leaning toward socialism; but with a number of persons of intellectuality and high standing in the community; and among these she awakened, unobtrusively, subtly perhaps, an interest in if not a sympathy for the fighting rector.

Barry Malleson was one of her converts. He had, all his life, been an attendant at Christ Church, his father was a liberal contributor to all of its financial needs, his mother and sisters, aristocratically pious, were devoted to its interests. But, under the influence and gentle persuasion of Mary Bradley, proletarian, agnostic, revolutionist, Barry Malleson was transformed from an outspoken opponent of the rector's views to a