We have in our weekly congregational singing over forty regular
attendants from the aborigines; next year I hope to build a church at
Whale River, thus reaching the benighted inhabitants of that distant
region. All of this is a vital matter in the service of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. You suggest that I endanger all this in order to
right a single instance of injustice. Of course we are told to love
one another, but--" he paused.

"You have to compromise," finished the stranger for him.

"Exactly," said the Reverend Crane. "Thank you; it is exactly that. In
order to accomplish what little good the Lord vouchsafes to our poor
efforts, we are obliged to overlook many things. Otherwise we should
not be allowed to stay here at all."

"That is most interesting," agreed Ned Trent, with a rather biting
calm. "But is it not a little calculating? My slight familiarity with
religious history and literature has always led me to believe that you
are taught to embrace the right at any cost whatsoever--that, if you
give yourself unreservedly to justice, the Lord will sustain you
through all trials. I think at a pinch I could even quote a text to
that effect."

"My dear fellow," objected the Reverend Archibald in gentle protest,
"you evidently do not understand the situation at all. I feel I should
be most untrue to my trust if I were to endanger in any way the
life-long labor of my predecessor. You must be able to see that for
yourself. It would destroy utterly my usefulness here. They'd send me
away. I couldn't go on with the work. I have to think what is for the
best."