Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-09-14

tcssasAs ~ aass aAsAA
c,sAeTHa VIM.
estuday svsnlng Il ~ - eustom
Of ~ BsyanGS y sntsetain ~ rector
at dinner.
Now, IN Ii ahsencA Il vas he %.
sistant rector who dined h he paneled
Jacobean diniAg ros0 Of the Bryant
house, swallowing much Wnctuoas dc.
tatoa d 70 church policy ,witA his
dinner.
Net hat Ward wassmild. But he
had q cay way q listening 10 the
adviceoe his various influentialparish-
toner's and then going ahead and doing
40 he liked In ncoessenttais he a.
ways yielded Toahln ths church was
20 much bigger than it, ritual.
That evsaing Mrs.. Bryant had taken
up the question Of women in the choir.
Cranky, Mr.. Ward" she said, is-
noring her lish, II do not approve Of
II. It's the feminist movement, I tell
you. Before long they'll want to be
on the vestry.s
Ward glanced up. half smiling. Tho
pear.shaped pearl which usually hung
at his hostess vithered throat, vla.
naturally, not there. From the pearl
to the parish house, from the parish
house to Elinor-thus In two leaps Of
Warts mind he was far from the sub
ject In hand
.As president q tAs Chaneel soci-
ety." said Mrs.. Bryant as houorary
president Of the Woman's guild I pro-
test against women In the choir"
Back 20 the choir With . Jump came
Wsrdrs Grant mind.
wonder" Ward rejected, .wheth-
er q matter Of tradition and custom
will prevent women from singing In
the heavenly choir!"
Mrs. Bryant stabbed at her f1sh. But
she had not finished There were
many things about Saint Jude's that
did not please her. The burial Of old
Hilary Kingston had been one. She
seized on thst.
"A non-communicant," she snapped.
IAN ipfdel. an atheist! The daughter
is living alone up there ct this min
ute. It isn't respectable. It's bad
example to the girls in the village. Tho
. house In fun Of men al the time"
THAT must be Q mistake"
1T II quite true. Servants talk, you
know. Whist can you expect? Raised
out u IL church, With no belief. and.
Of course, no moral instruction"
1. Ward bent forward Over the table.
THAT II . very serious statement,
MrA Bryant" His eyes were like
steel. '4Of course you are not basing
It merely on what Jon hear from serv-
antsr
Mrs. Bryant flushed, q purplish spot
In the center Of each sagging cheek.
II do not gossip with the servants, -
she said, shortly. ut Is common talk.
And there are other things. Machines
come and 20 from the house at queer
hours Of the night. The girl spends q
great deal Of money. Where does she
get it, Where, for that matter, did old
Hilary Kingston get it?'
Thus challenged, Ward had nothing
tt say.
After dinner he left early. but he did
not 90 home. He went up the hill. A
he strobe on. he remembered many
things The girl was without the sheet
anchor Of any belief, adrift and alone,
and he had made no attempt to help
her unbelief. Although it was after
ten. the house was still lighted down
stairs. and he went without hesitation
into the garden.
Thus It happened that he saw ElinoE
in Huff's arms, saw him thrust her VIC
lAntly from hims and rush sway across
the hower-bedf. leaving her there
alone.
Ward remained in the shadows. To
save his life he could not have spoken
to Einor then. Under his constrained
exterior he was In the thrall Of the
fercest Jealousy. This little fair
haired girl, to whom his God was no
God, had taken powerful hold on
him. -
Elinor. who slept little that night,
saw the light in his window until II
faded into the dawn.
Elinor went to the early communion
tho following day. The church waa
dark. There were hardly two dozen
people scattered over the building. She
sat far back and was heavily yelled.
When the congregation knelt, she
knelt. An old woman in the next pew
gave her the prayer book open at the
service. On her knees then went Ell.
nor and listened to- Wards fine voice
echoing through the empty building.
The morning was warm and the win.
dows open. The odor Of burned wood
from the parish house crept in.
Thou shalt not steal" Ward READ
from the Decalogue, and the people
said:
Lord have mercy upon us and In
cline our hearts to keep this law"
1Thoa shalt not steal"
* In the palm Of her left glove Elinol
had the Bryant pear-shaped pearl.
Ward had not seen her. He went
through the service reverently, with On
impressiveness Of voice and bearing
that She a how real It was to him.
And 40 voice, reading, exhorting.
commanding. there were tender notes
I that cauGht Winof's breath IN hof