clared that she would not again humiliate herself by coming to listen to such heterodox preaching. She considered such sermons as the one of to-day to be positively irreligious, and destructive of the first principles of Christianity.
Following her down the aisle came Ruth Tracy and her mother, and it was to them that this opinion had been expressed. Ruth's face flushed and she made no reply; but Mrs. Tracy nodded her head in approval and said, "Yes, indeed!" Mr. Tracy, the husband and father, was not present. He went to church only on rare occasions. His week-days were strenuous, and his Sundays were needed for rest and recreation. He was the senior partner in the law firm of Tracy, Black and Westgate, of which firm Ruth's fiancé was the junior member.
Before Mrs. Tracy and her daughter reached the curb where their car was waiting, Westgate joined them.
"And what did you think of the sermon?" asked the elder woman, after the morning greetings had been exchanged.
"Oh, I know what Philip thought of it," interrupted Ruth. "He thought it was an unwarranted attack on the supporters of the church, and a sop to socialism. Didn't you, Philip?"
The young man laughed and colored a little as he replied:
"While I wouldn't want to be quoted in just that way, you have gauged my mind with reasonable accuracy."
"I knew it," responded the girl. "And now I'll tell you what I think. I think it was a brave and conscientious sermon, and fully warranted by existing conditions."
She stood there, handsomely and good-naturedly defiant, attractive in the eyes of her lover, even in her opposition to him.
