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168 sorry. These men have been more than kind to me in the past. But—I cannot change my mind."

"Very well. I said to you once that I should oppose you openly in the course you were pursuing. I have done so, but I have at the same time tried to protect you. That protection is at an end. I say now, frankly, that I shall use my best effort to force you from the pulpit of this church, for I believe you are driving the church straight to disaster."

The rector smiled again, sadly, but his purpose was in no wise shaken.

"You are kind to be so frank with me," he said. "You have always been kind to me, and I have been fond of you. I shall still be fond of you, because I believe you to be honest and sincere, though mistaken. We may be adversaries; we cannot be enemies."

Westgate made no reply. He had reached a point where he could not share the friendly feeling of the rector. He could not be fond of a man who recklessly and obstinately, however conscientiously, refused to forego his determination to make Christ Church the forfeit in his game of Christian socialism. Moreover—

"There is one other thing I want to speak of at this time," said Westgate, "a personal matter."

Both men had risen to their feet and had been moving slowly toward the door of the study. The lawyer stopped and faced the minister. It was evident that the "personal matter" was one which lay near to his heart, for his face had paled and his jaws were set with determination.

"It is this," he said. "Ruth Tracy has become the chief worker for your cause in the parish. I assume that it has been your direct influence that has produced her present abnormal state of mind. She is under the spell of a powerful personality. She is my fiancée. I have a right to protect her, and to conserve my own happiness. What you have had power to do, you have