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Anelderlyman，graveandquiet，aroseandsaidafewwords，dignifiedandsolemnwordsofprayerandthankfulnessforthecomfortthislittlesocietyoftruebelievershadbeentohim。
ElleryrealizedthatherewasanothersortofCome-Outer，oneoftheHammondtype。Evidently，theywerenotalllikeEzekielandtheshrill-voicedwoman。
Then，fromthesetteeinfrontofhim，rosethelengthyandfishypersonwiththecowhidebootsandenormoushands。HisnamewasJosiahBadgerandhewas，accordingtoTrumet’sestimate，“alittlemitelackin’inhistopriggin’。“Hestuttered，andthisinfirmitybecamemoreandmoreapparentashegreweloquent。
“I——Iain’tafraid，“heproclaimed。“TheycancallmeaC-C-Come-
Outeralltheywantto。I——Idon’tcareiftheydo。Let’em，I
say；l-let’em！Theycanp-p-poketheirfunandp-p-p-pup-pup-pokeit，butItell’emtoh-heaveaheadandp-pup-pup-POKE。WhenI
usedtog-gototheiroldReg’larmeetin’house，allIdonewastogotosleep。ButIdon’tgotosleephere，gloryhallelujah！No，sir！There’stoomuchb-b-blessednoiseandwehavetoog-goodtimestog-gotosleephere。ThatoldK-KyanPeppercalledmet-
townf-foolt’otherday。T-tut-townfool’swhathecalledme。
SaysItohim，saysI：’You-you-y-youain’tgotspunkenoughtobeafool，’Isays，’unlessLavinysaysyouc-canbe。YouoldReg’larp-p-peppershaker，you！“
Bythistimetee-heesfromthechildrenandchucklesfromsomeoftheoldermembersinterferedwithMr。Badger’sferventbutjerkydiscourse。CaptainEbenstruckthetablesmartly。
“Silence！“hethundered。“Silence！BrotherBadger，Ibegyourpardonfor’em。Goon！“
ButJosiah’strainofthoughthadevidentlybeenderailedbytheinterruption。
“I——I——Ical’latethat’saboutall，“hestammeredandsatdown。
Thecaptainlookedoverthemeeting。
“I’mashamed，“hesaid，“ashamedofthebehaviorofsomeofusintheLord’shouse。Thishasbeenafailure，thisserviceofours。
Wehavekeptstillwhenweshouldhavejustifiedourfaith，andallowedthepresenceofastrangertointerferewithourdutytotheAlmighty。AndIwillsay，“headded，hisvoicerisingandtremblingwithindignation，“tohimwhocamehereuninvitedandbrokeupthismeetin’，thatitwouldbewellforhimtorememberthewordsofScriptur’，’Woeuntoye，falseprophetsandworkersofiniquity。’LethimrememberwhattheDivinewisdomputintomyheadtoreadto-night：’ThepastorshavebecomebrutishandhavenotsoughttheLord；thereforetheyshallnotprosper。’“
“Amen！““Amen！““Amen！““Sobeit！“Thecriescamefromallpartsofthelittleroom。Theyceasedabruptly，forJohnEllerywasonhisfeet。
“CaptainHammond，“hesaid，“IrealizethatIhavenorighttospeakinthisbuilding，butImustsayoneword。Mycominghereto-nightmayhavebeenamistake；I’minclinedtothinkitwas。
ButIcamenot，asyouseemtoinfer，tosneerortoscoff；
certainlyIhadnowishtodisturbyourservice。IcamebecauseI
hadheardrepeatedly，sincemyarrivalinthistown，ofthissocietyanditsmeetings。Ihadheard，too，thatthereseemedtobeafeelingofantagonism，almosthatred，againstmeamongyouhere。Icouldn’tseewhy。Mostofyouhave，Ibelieve，beenatonetimemembersofthechurchwhereIpreach。IwishedtofindoutformyselfhowmuchoftruththerewasinthestoriesIhadheardandtoseeifabetterfeelingbetweenthetwosocietiesmightnotbebroughtabout。Thoseweremyreasonsforcominghereto-night。Asformybeingafalseprophetandaworkerofiniquity“——hesmiled——“well，thereisanotherverseofScriptureI
wouldcalltoyourattention：’Judgenot，thatyebenotjudged。’“
Hesatdown。Therewassilenceforamomentandthenabuzzofwhispering。CaptainEben，whohadheardhimwithafaceofironhardness，rappedthetable。
“Wewillsinginclosin’，“hesaid，“theforty-secondhymn。Afterwhichthebenedictionwillbepronounced。“
TheRegularministerlefttheCome-Outers’meetingwiththeunpleasantconvictionthathehadblunderedbadly。Hisvisit，insteadoftendingtowardbetterunderstandingandmorecordialrelationship，hadbeenregardedasanintrusion。Hehadbeenprovokedintoapublicjustification，andnowhewasquitesurethathewouldhavebeenmorepolitictoremainsilent。Herealizedthattheevening’sperformancewouldcauseasensationandbetalkedaboutallovertown。TheCome-Outerswouldgloryintheirleader’sdenunciationofhim，andhisownpeoplewouldperhapsfeelthatitservedhimright。IfhehadonlytoldMrs。Coffinofwhatheintendedtodo。Yethehadnottoldherbecausehemeanttodoitanyhow。Altogetheritwasaratherhumiliatingbusiness。
SothatoldbigotwastheVanHornegirl’s“uncle。“Ithardlyseemedpossiblethatshe，whoappearedsorefinedandladylikewhenhemetherattheparsonage，shouldbeamemberofthatcuriouscompany。Whenherosetospeakhehadseenherinthefrontrow，besidethethin，middle-agedfemalewhohadenteredthechapelwithCaptainHammondandwithher。Shewaslookingathimintently。
Thelampoverthespeaker’stablehadshonefullonherfaceandthepictureremainedinhismemory。Hesawhereyesandthewavyshadowsofherhaironherforehead。
Hesteppedofftheplatform，acrosstheroad，outofthewayofhomeward-boundCome-Outers，andstoodthere，thinking。Thefogwasasheavyandwetasever；infact，itwasalmostarain。Thewindwasblowinghardfromthenorthwest。Thecongregationdispersedinchatteringgroups，theirlanternsdippingandswinginglikefireflies。Thechatterdealtentirelywithonesubject——himself。
Heheardhisnamementionedatleasttwentytimes。Outofthegusty，drippingblacknesscameMr。Badger’svoice。
“Bytime！“crowedJosiah，“hewastookdownafewp-p-pup-pegs，wa’n’the！My！howEbendidg-gi-gi-giveittohim。Helookedtoler’blewhiteunderthegillswhenherizuptoheaveouthiss-
s-sus-sassytalk。Andfoolish，too。Ical’lateIwon’tbetheonlytownfuf-fuf-foolfromnowon。He！he！“
Thenoisesdiedawayinthedistance。Withinthechapelthetrampofheavybootssoundedasthelightswereblownout，onebyone。
Theministerfrowned，sighed，andturnedhomeward。Itisnotpleasanttobecalledafool，evenbyarecognizedmemberofthefraternity。
Hehadtakenbutafewstepswhentherewasarustleinthewetgrassbehindhim。
“Mr。Ellery，“whisperedavoice，“Mr。Ellery，mayIspeaktoyoujustamoment？“
Hewheeledinsurprise。
“Why！why，MissVanHorne！“heexclaimed。“Isityou？“
“Mr。Ellery，“shebegan，speakinghurriedlyandinalowvoice，“I——IfeltthatImustsayawordtoyoubefore——“
Shepausedandglancedbackatthechapel。EzekielBassett，thejanitor，havingextinguishedthelastlamp，hademergedfromthedoorandwaslockingup。Inanothermomentheclumpedpasttheminthemiddleoftheroad，thecircleoflightfromhislanternjustmissingthemastheystoodinthegrassatthesideunderthehornbeamandblackberrybushes。Hewasalone；SukeyB。hadgoneonbefore，otherandyoungermasculineescorthavingbeenprovidentiallyprovided。
Mr。BassettwasoutofhearingbeforeGracefinishedhersentence。
Theministerwassilent，waitingandwondering。
“Ifelt，“shesaid，“thatImustseeyouand——explain。IamSO
sorryyoucamehereto-night。Oh，Iwishyouhadn’t。Whatmadeyoudoit？“
“Icame，“beganEllery，somewhatstiffly，“becauseI——well，becauseIthoughtitmightbeagoodthingtodo。AsIsaid——“
“Yes，Iknow。Butitwasn’t。Itwasso——so——“
“Sofoolish。Thankyou，I’mawareofit。I’veheardmyselfcalledafoolalreadysinceIleftyourchurch。NotthatIneededtohearit。Irealizethefact。“
Therewasabitternessinhistone，unmistakable。Andalittlelaughfromhiscompaniondidnottendtosoothehisfeelings。
“Thankyou，“hesaid。“Perhapsitisfunny。Ididnotfinditso。
Goodevening。“
Thiswaspriggish，butitmustbeborneinmindthatJohnEllerywasvery，veryfreshfromthetheologicalschool，whereyoungdivinesaretaughttotakethemselvesseriously。Hewasashamedofhimselfassoonashesaidit，whichprovedthathiscasewasnotbeyondhope。
Thegirldetainedhimashewasturningaway。
“Iwasn’tlaughingatthat，“shesaid。“Iknowwhocalledyouthat——thatname。ItwasJosiahBadger，andhereallyisone，youknow。IwasthinkingofhistestimonyinmeetingandhowhecalledKy——Abishai——apeppershaker。Thatwasridiculousenough，butitremindedmeofsomethingelseaboutMr。Pepper，andIHADtolaugh。
Itwasn’tatyou，truly。“
Sotheministerbeggedherpardon；alsoheremainedwherehewas，andheardthedropsfromthetreepatterhollowonhishat。
“Icameafteryou，“wentonGracerapidlyandwithnervoushaste，“becauseIfeltthatyououghtnottomisjudgemyuncleforwhathesaidto-night。Hewouldn’thavehurtyourfeelingsfortheworld。
Heisagoodmananddoesgoodtoeverybody。Ifyouonlyknewthegoodhedoesdo，youwouldn’t——youwouldn’tDAREthinkhardlyofhim。“
Shestampedherfootinthewetgrassasshesaidit。Shewasevidentlyinearnest。ButEllerywasnotinthemoodtobegreatlyimpressedbyEbenHammond’scharityorinnategoodness。Theoldtavernkeeper’sreferencestohimselfweretoofreshinhismind。
“Falseprophet“and“workerofiniquity！“
“I’mnotjudgingyouruncle，“hedeclared。“Itseemedtomethatthebootwasontheotherleg。“
“Iknow，butyoudojudgehim，andyoumustn’t。Yousee，hethoughtyouhadcometomakefunofhim——andus。SomeoftheRegularpeopledo，peoplewhoaren’tfittotiehisshoes。Andsohespokeagainstyou。He’llbesorrywhenhethinksitover。
That’swhatIcametotellyou。Iaskyourpardonfor——forhim。“
“Why——why，that’sallright。IthinkIunderstood——“
“I’mnotaskingitbecausehe’saCome-Outerandyou’reaRegularminister。Heisn’tashamedofhisreligion。NeitheramI。I’maCome-Outer，too。“
“Yes。I——Isupposedyouwere。“
“Yes，Iam。There，goodnight，Mr。Ellery。AllIaskisthatyoudon’tthinktoohardlyofuncle。Hedidn’tmeanit。“
Sheturnedawaynow，anditwastheministerwhodetainedher。
“I’vebeenthinking，“hesaidslowly，forinhispresentstateofminditwasahardthingtosay，“thatperhapsIoughttoapologize，too。I’mafraidIdiddisturbyourserviceandI’msorry。Imeantwell，but——What’sthat？Rain？“
Therewasnodoubtaboutit；itwasrainandplentyofit。Itcameinaswoopingdownpourthatbeatuponthetreesandbushesandroaredupontheroofofthechapel。Theministerhurriedlyraisedhisumbrella。
“Here！“hecried，“letme——MissVanHorne！Whereareyou？“
Theanswercamefromashortdistancedownthe“Turn-off。“
“Goodnight，“calledthegirl。“Imustrun。“
Evidently，sheWASrunning。Thereforetheyoungmanranafterher。
Hecaughtupwithherinamoment，inspiteofsomestumblesovertheroughroad。
“Here！“hecommanded，“youmusttaketheumbrella。Really，youmust。Youhaven’toneandyou’llbewetthrough。“
Shepushedtheumbrellaaside。
“No，no，“sheanswered。“Idon’tneedit；I’musedtowetweather；
trulyIam。AndIdon’tcareforthishat；it’sanoldone。YouhavealongwaytogoandIhaven’t。Please，Mr。Ellery，Ican’ttakeit。“
“Verywell，“wasthesternlyself-sacrificingreply，“thenIshallcertainlygowithyou。“
“ButIdon’twishyouto。“
“Ican’thelpthat。I’mnotgoingtoletyougounprotectedthroughthisflood。Especiallyasyoumighthavebeenathomebeforethisifyouhadn’tstoppedtospeakwithme。“
“Butyoumustn’t。“
“Ishall。“
Herewastheirresistibleforceandtheimmovableobject。Theystoodstockstillinthemiddleoftheroad，whiletheraindropsjumpedastheystrucktheumbrellatop。Theimmovableobject，beingfeminine，voicedtheunexpected。
“Allright，“shesaid；“thenIsupposeIshallhavetotakeit。“
“What？“
“Theumbrella。I’msorry，andyou’llgetdreadfullywet，butit’syourownfault。“
