went over to first one picture and then another, and studied them
closely. A bit of bronze, a statuette or two, an altar-piece, a
chalice, a flagon, a paten, a censer, and an ikon held his
attention, one after the other, and again he turned to me.

"These are very interesting. Is it as one of the faithful you
collect?" A smile which strangely lighted his face swept over it.

"Oh no!" I shook my head. "The faithful would find me a most
disturbing person. I ask too many questions." My hand made
movement in the direction of the bookshelves around the four sides
of the room, on the tops of which were oddly assorted little
remembrances of days of travel. "A study of such things is a study
of religious expression at different periods and among different
peoples. They've always interested me."

"They interest me, also." Mr. Guard stood before the ikon, looked
long upon it before coming back to the fire and again sitting down.
For a moment he gazed into it as if forgetting where he was, then
he leaned back in his chair and turned to me.

"A collection of examples of ecclesiastical art, of religious
ideas embodied in objects used for purposes of worship, is
interesting--yes--but a collection of re-actions against what they
fail to represent would be more so, could they be collected."

"They have been--haven't they? In the lives of those who dare to
differ, to break from heritage and tradition, much has been
collected and transmitted. The effect of re-actions is what
counts, I suppose."