Sundays St. Chad's would be crowded to the doors. And then he trusted
that the bishop would take action against him, and in proportion to the
severity of his persecution on the one hand would be his popularity on
the other hand.

All this would, he felt, advance the cause which he had at heart; for he
was thoroughly sincere in his belief that the views which he advocated
in "Revised Versions" were calculated to place the Church on a firmer
basis, and to cause it to appeal to those persons who, having been
inculcated with the spirit of modern scientific inquiry, never entered a
church porch.

He had not been guilty of an empty boast when he had expressed to her
his readiness to die for the principles which he had enunciated with
considerable clearness in his book; but, at the same time, when he was
walking down Piccadilly he could not avoid the feeling that if he were
only subjected to a vigorous persecution--a high-class persecution, of
course, with the bishop at the head of it, he would be almost certain
to win back Phyllis. Her desertion of him was undoubtedly a blow to him;
but he thought that, after all, it was not unnatural that such as girl
as she should be somewhat frightened at the boldness of the book which
he had published. He had seen the day, not so very long ago, when he
would have been frightened at it himself. At any rate he felt sure that
Phyllis would be able to differentiate between the case of the author of
"Revised Versions" and the case of the mediocre clergyman who defied his
bishop on a question of--what was the question?--something concerning
the twirling of his thumbs from east to west, instead of from west to
east; yes, or an equally trivial matter. He trusted that she was too
discriminating a girl to bracket him with that wretched, shallow-minded
person who endeavored to pose as a martyr, because he would not be