Page:Stanwood Pier--Harding of St Timothys.djvu/203

Rh go to Tom Albree myself, and explain how it is, and so let you and Bruce out, will you agree not to blackball Stoddard?"

They looked at each other and hesitated, and then said, "Yes."

It was a task repugnant to one who had always tried to bring pleasant messages to people and to evade the unwelcome word. But as president of the Crown, and also of the Pen and Ink, and in the interests of both societies, Harry fulfilled the duty.

Tom Albree did not take his rejection with good grace, and he believed Harry to have been at the bottom of it; in fact, Harry forced himself to be brave enough to declare his responsibility. Albree concluded that Harry was becoming officious, and thenceforth he felt less friendly toward him. But the threatening split in the Pen and Ink was averted, and there was a lull in the hints about the necessity of a secret society antagonistic to the Crown.

The Sunday afternoon meetings of the Crown had degenerated into empty, futile affairs. On cold, damp days the sacred rock held out no