1 64 RONALD CARNAQUAY
seen, closely and quietly behind Freeman, and he now
happened to be standing near him as the savage bar
keeper raised the heavy black bottle for a murderous
blow. And then, ere that blow could fall, his great
bony fist and powerful arm shot out and across, and
knocked bar-keeper and bottle, in a demoralized heap, to
the floor, and into a corner between the counter and a
large stove.
It was a wicked blow, and the man on the floor lay
very still for several seconds. " You damned rum-
slinger," muttered Jini, who was by no means to be
numbered among the saints, but knew a real friend
when he had one. "You everlastin whiskey bum, I ll
learn you somethin ." And he stood over the prostrate
wretch, glancing down on him as if he wished he would
get up and offer opportunity for more instruction.
There was a painful silence throughout the place, for
several seconds. The bar-keeper stayed on the floor.
Then Jim constituted himself master of ceremonies, and
took the drunken father by the arm, with little Nelly
still clinging to his hand, and led him, unresisting, out of
the door. Lawrence Freeman followed, and when all
were outside, he suddenly stopped. " Wait a moment,
Jim," said he ; "I wish to know who owns this building,
this property. I may like to tell him about his tenant.
Or I may report the bar-keeper to the police. They will
take away his license if I suggest it. He was selling to
this man when the man was in bad condition, as you
saw."
"Just as you say," assented Jim, cheerfully. "Only
I happen to know who the owner is. Wilbur Blaney is
his name, and he
" Are you sure about that ? " exclaimed Lawrence, in
some surprise, for he had commonly understood that
Blaney hadn t a cent in the world.
FREEMAN S CHAPEL 165
" Oh, yes, I am," said Jim. " I know one of the fam
ilies upstairs, and they pay rent to Blaney."
" Perhaps Blaney is only an agent for somebody else,"
suggested Lawrence, speaking chiefly to himself. How
ever, he turned and walked away, and accompanied the
three to the house where the father and child lived. At
that point Jim suggested that the minister leave the
case in his hands ; and as he had certainly managed it
well so far, and as Lawrence had not yet eaten his third
meal for that day, Jim was intrusted with the case,
and the minister walked slowly and thoughtfully to his
home.
As fortune had it, he found Mr. Marshall sitting with
Mrs. Freeman, having come over to ask about certain
repairs on the roof of the chapel. After these matters
were decided upon, Lawrence recounted the affair in
the saloon, much to Mrs. Freeman s uneasiness. Then
came naturally the query about Blaney s ownership of
the building. Mr. Marshall knew the property, or had
noticed it, and was surprised at the suggestion that
Blaney owned it. " Why, we ve always considered that
Blaney just lived from hand to mouth," he remarked,
" and we never expected him to do anything toward
expenses in the church. That property isn t worth
much, but still, if he really owns it, he s worth a great
deal more than most people suppose."
" Blaney is a discouraging type, from the moral and
spiritual point of view," remarked Lawrence, "but as a
study in human nature, he is most interesting. He has
a quick, clear mind almost a brilliant mind ; but he
never has seemed to accomplish anything. He has had
a try at all sorts of things, too. I have often thought, as
I have analyzed him, that if he had started in academic
ways, he might have known and taught one of the
sciences, or a language, extremely well. He is a born
1 66 RONALD CARNAQUAY
teacher. What a pity that he didn t happen to turn
that way, instead of failing at so many kinds of busi
ness ! Let me see, what is he engaged in just now ? "
" Insurance," said Mr. Marshall. " He is an agent for
the Great Northern Fire and Marine Company. Our
church property is insured there. He does better at
that than at anything he s tried, so I m told ; but that
isn t saying much. Why, a few of us made up a couple
of hundred dollars for him, three years ago ; he was in
bad straits." Then the clear-headed miller relapsed for
a moment into a revery, and presently remarked : " I
don t see how he can own property like that. I I
well, I don t quite like the looks of things." And he
tugged away at his big, bushy, black beard, and buried
his nose in it and bit at it, as if thus he could solve the
mystery.
" I may take a little time," he continued, " and inquire
into the matter. Yes, I think I will."
And after a little general conversation, he grasped his
hat, bade his friends good night, and went out.
CHAPTER XI
A PULPIT SUCCESS
" He preached upon breadth, 1 till it argued him narrow
The broad are too broad to define ;
And of truth until it proclaimed him a liar
The truth never flaunted a sign."
EMILY DICKINSON.
LET it be borne in mind that in Emmanuel Church, as
in most churches, there was a certain number of people
who saw what were the true aims of a religious organi
zation, and desired to have these aims realized, by rea
sonable and proper methods. But such persons, from
their very delicacy of feeling and sound sense of pro
priety, are usually not much in public view, and their
voices not loudly and aggressively raised. In Em
manuel Church this element waited and hoped, and
tried to be pleased with whatever policy was adopted.,
As a whole the church had now obtained what it had
desired. In changes of pastorate, a church usually
seeks, instinctively, in a new minister, qualities opposite
to those of the retiring incumbent ; and, doing this, it
usually gains opposite merits and also opposite defects.
If the former minister was light complexioned, then
dark-haired candidates will strike the congregation s
eyes with favor. If the former minister was short in
stature, the new one must be tall ; and so on, through
all qualities, physical and mental.
In accordance with this law of contrasts, the Rev.
Ronald Carnaquay, D.D., was very acceptable, from
167
1 68 RONALD CARNAQUAY
almost every point of view. He was dark, tall, bold,
fluent, and held a very high opinion of his own value.
Mr. Freeman could be bold and even fluent at times.
When some humane cause sought support at his hands,
or some great truth laid hold upon him, he expressed
himself with a vigor and clearness and freedom, which
surprised friends and confounded opponents. But, or
dinarily, he was not talkative ; partly because he felt
the futility of much of the public declamation which is
so customary in this country, and partly that he did not
have the temperamental loquacity which is so useful to
public men, especially when supplemented by tact and
discretion. Carnaquay, on the contrary, dearly loved
to talk. The mere expression of his ideas, on any sub
ject, was a delight to him. It was, primarily, the field
which the ministry offered for speechmaking, which
had brought him into it. He had, too, a facile mind,
and readiness in the use of words. The result was that
the congregation of Emmanuel Church got what it
wished ; their pastor was as they often affirmed
" a pulpit success."
Carnaquay was a fearless man. Fear often proceeds
from keen perceptions and sensitive apprehensions ;
and all such delicate machinery was left entirely out of
the new minister s make-up. He feared neither men
nor angels, good or bad ; and he loved the position of
domination which the pulpit afforded him. Neither
reverence, nor delicacy of taste, nor sympathy, was an
obstacle to his free expression of himself ; and this gave
him a satisfying air of assurance, as he preached, but it
also involved defects. He played havoc with the ac
cepted tenets of theology, and became known speedily
as "a very advanced thinker." This seeming advance
ment of his proceeded not at all from prolonged and
profound study and reflection and serious judgment,
A PULPIT SUCCESS 169
but simply from his lawlessness of mind. He knew and
cared very little about truth, of itself, but was keenly
alive to the themes and emotions which were good
material for dramatic presentation.
Of course people flocked to hear him. His popularity
was quickly established ; in a month, after his arrival,
the congregation was doubled. Then it became still
larger. The gallery seats grew in demand. Not* all
who came rented seats at first ; but, as preference was
given to pewholders, the pews soon were taken. After
that chairs were brought in, and every nook and corner
was filled ; even the platform was used, and Messrs.
Blaney, Mixer, Pidge, and others were persuaded to
occupy seats in this elevated position, thus throwing
open a score of sittings on the floor of the church.
Emmanuel Church prospered. So Dr. Mixer and
others said, and Mr. Pidge s books ratified the judg
ment. Mr. Pidge s manner took on an unprecedented
boldness. He felt the dignity of his treasurership.
When bills were presented, he had not to temporize
and explain, as formerly, but he responded promptly
with checks, and had the comfortable sense of a con
siderable surplus instead of a chronic " defissit." Mr.
Marshall had been blandly invited by the minister to
join the other dignitaries of the church, on the platform,
at public services ; but he awkwardly, though firmly,
refused. All his instincts were against such publicity.
Carnaquay read him fairly well, and nearly persuaded
him, by appealing to him as an official of the church, to
do this distasteful act as a duty. But even that adroit
appeal failed, and the stanch mill-owner sat hidden
away in the midst of the congregation, and, from that
shelter, enjoyed the fluent speech and fervid declama
tion of the occupant of the pulpit.
As Carnaquay s success became assured, his style
170 RONALD CARNAQUAY
broadened, and his self-confidence never conspicuously
absent became even more pronounced. He strode
back and forth, on the front edge of the platform,
like an admiral on the quarter-deck, with his ship in
hot action. He brandished books high above his head,
and dashed them to the floor, in an excess of conviction.
He ran his long, white fingers through his long, black
hair, and refuted Plato, Hegel, Voltaire, Thomas Paine,
and many others, with an ease and speed that was very
pleasing to the congregation. It did not so much sig
nify to them what he refuted or attacked or lauded, so
long as the play of pyrotechnic fires went on. He was
masterly at vivid narration, was Carnaquay. If he had
not committed himself to the pulpit, he might have done
something as a fiction writer. Some of his most en
trancing discourses were composed, almost wholly, of
minute descriptions of places which he had not seen,
glowing narrations of events which never happened,
and vivid dialogues between persons who never met.
He preferred texts which did not hamper his exuberant
fancy. Give him one hint of a man s character, and he
would build up a structure which was complete, and
would reel off the possible experiences of that man as
if they were not only probabilities but certainties. Let
him but take the one word, " Malchus," - the name of
the impulsive Roman soldier whose ear was smitten off
in Gethsemane by Simon Peter, and he would fill
nearly an hour with the history of that obscure individ
ual, giving scenes in his life, as if by a contemporary,
and detailing dialogues and soliloquies as if taken down
by a shorthand reporter. Such titles as " Apples of
Gold " and "A Basket of Fruit " and " Priceless Gems "
were peculiarly well adapted to his free style. They
were capable of being turned in almost any direction,
historic, industrial, poetic, or ethical, and they were
A PULPIT SUCCESS 171
susceptible of limitless illustration by anecdotes. The
books most regularly used by him were collections of
anecdotes. He had a faculty of telling these stories as
if he had seen the actions of the participants ; for ex
ample, when he dressed up the brief scene between
Pyrrhus and Cineas, giving verbatim and in extenso the
questions and replies of those two persons, the auditors
felt their blood tingle sympathetically, and made sure
that their preacher must have some private sources of
information, quite hidden from ordinary historians.
Yes, the Rev. Ronald Carnaquay was a success "a
pulpit success." Mr. Pidge said, in an awe-struck tone,
" Our minister is awful smart ; " and Dr. Mixer smiled
silently, and sank back in content into his big collar, and
the thick fold of adipose tissue around his neck rolled
up into the roots of his hair, like a swelling wave that
surges up the beach and is lost amid the marsh-grass.
Mr. Blaney wore an " I told you so " air, spoke with
cautious approval, and at times intimated that the pas
tor s style of oratory was about the sort with which he
himself was naturally endowed, if only he had chosen to
develop it. Also, at times, among intimate friends, as a
mark of confidence, Blaney kindly pointed out defects
in the preacher s pronunciation, and spoke of the im
possibility of one man s possessing all the virtues. As
for Mr. Marshall, he was much under the glamour of
the reverend gentleman s art, and greatly enjoyed hear
ing him ; yet, at times, he was conscious within himself
of a distrust which he could not analyze. Carnaquay,
he had decided, was a generous man, not mean and nig
gardly ; fully qualified to look after his own interests in
all his business transactions, which came, at times, to
Mr. Marshall s knowledge, yet easy and free in giving
small sums to various needs and causes. Perhaps the
most puzzling characteristic of the fascinating orator, as
172 RONALD CARNAQUAY
studied by the mill-owner, was the way he had of praying
with eyes wide open and with vigorous gesticulations.
Mr. Marshall was a man of sensitiveness and reverence,
and he could hardly credit his eyesight when, one day
in church during the prayer-time, as he lifted his head
to reach after his handkerchief, he discovered that the
preacher was offering prayer in this singular and, to
him, almost sacrilegious fashion. To be sure, the Rev.
Ronald s prayers were never to be distinguished, in voice
or spirit, from his sermons. You needed the assistance
of eyesight, to determine which kind of address it was.
His sermons were generally strong-voiced and instruc
tive and dominating ; so were his prayers. His ser
mons were often friendly and familiar, and even con
descending ; so were his prayers. In fact, there was
no vital difference between the two, in voice or man
ner, except the difference in the angle at which they
were delivered. The sermons were sent forth in
the plane of the horizon and below it. The pray
ers were propelled outward and slightly above the
horizon ; so it was evident that the preacher had
some sense of a higher and lower, in the structure of
the universe, and was willing to concede, at times, that
there was a Being in the world, above him. As to the
literary form of his discourses, there was a lack of or
ganic unity in them which would have perplexed even a
professor of homiletics. He threw together fragments
of description and exhortation and narration, entirely
with reference to their separate worth, and with no ref
erence to their combined effect. Sometimes he gained
an apparent harmony of purpose by such striking titles
as " Three Johns of Christian History," or " Four Fa
mous Henrys," a mechanical combination of parts being
thus achieved, rather than a chemical or organic union.
But the sermons abounded in rhetoric, of a florid kind,
A PULPIT SUCCESS 173
and he was commonly understood to have " a great gift
of language," in the exercise of which " gift " he was
much like some luxuriant, expansive grape-vine, loaded
with leaves, but bearing little fruit.
The Rev. Ronald always kept in touch with the
public life around him. He made friends with the news
paper reporters, and often wrote letters to the daily
papers. Also he joined various orders, "Knights" of
this, and " Templars " of that, and " Most Illustrious
Chevaliers " of the other. He was voted a capital fellow,
in all these clubs, and could tell a story and crack a joke,
with great acceptability. He soon was in demand as an
after-dinner speaker, at the "banquets" of these societies,
and made friends wherever he went. He also varied
the order of his Sunday services by inviting various
bodies of men to attend, in their corporate capacities ;
he thus imported into Emmanuel Church, from time to
time, the firemen of the city, and the railroad employes,
and the Grand Army of the Republic, and the police
men, and others. To each organization he preached an
appropriate sermon, and did it with considerable skill.
So that easily he was the most conspicuous figure in the
pulpits of the city, and was always called upon to offer
prayer, or to introduce speakers, at municipal functions.
Like most professional men who have been denied
thorough professional training, he was very desirous to
pass as well trained and " scholarly." Therefore, he fre
quently carried some serious-looking book about with
him, and when waiting for his change, at the store-coun
ter, or while riding in the street-cars, he gave close study
to his book. The shallowness and obtrusiveness of this
make-believe studiousness was not apparent or offensive
to the average clerk or carpenter who happened to see
it (and the reverend poseur took good care that many
persons should see it) ; so that Carnaquay s reputation for
174 RONALD CARNAQUAY
profound learning grew apace, among people who had
no conception of what really profound learning was ;
and the smatterer passed as an authority on nearly all
subjects.
Regarding the Sunday-school, there was the same
energy shown, as in other departments of the church.
Personally the minister did not like children ; he was
too much absorbed in his own affairs to give them that
sympathy which young people crave. The smaller chil
dren always annoyed him by their restlessness, and with
difficulty he kept his temper when thrown much among
them ; that, however, did not prevent his preaching an
excellent sermon on " The Needs and Nurture of Child
hood." And he started a boys brigade, and introduced
banners for banner classes, and had prizes, and arranged
Sunday-school concerts, which were unrivalled in the
history of the parish. He managed did this man of
infinite ingenuity and exhaustless energy and unabash-
able self-confidence to infuse a vitality into every
part of the church which he touched. It was pleasur
able and stimulating, but had very little moral or spir
itual bearing on the week-day conduct and character of
those who so energetically seconded his efforts.
There is one part of every clergyman s round of duties,
which makes especial demands upon his capacity for
sympathy. It is his parish calls. If he is lacking in
sympathy, emotional or intellectual, he is bored by them
and makes them in a mechanical way ; but if he is able
to throw himself unreservedly into the minute affairs of
the people who call him their spiritual guide, he finds
inexhaustible interest in their hopes and joys, and disap
pointments and failures. Carnaquay was quite out of
place in such a field as this ; but he had great tact, and
was not shy, and he had learned how to meet the de
mands of the parochial part of his profession, with sin-
A PULPIT SUCCESS 175
gular cleverness. He always came into a house and
went out again, as if in a hurry ; he often apologized for
his haste, said he was pressed for time amid the endless
duties of his busy life. Of an afternoon, even if he had
been sitting for hours in his room, comfortably smoking,
and reading a novel (he was very fond of Marryatt and
Clark Russell, but kept such books under lock and key),
he rushed through his parish calls, as if driven by a
sense of a hundred engagements and appointments. He
knew how to give soft, purring responses to complaining
old women, responses which conveyed no intelligent
perception of their troubles, but were usually agreeable
and soothing. Then, too, he could, by a desperate effort
of will, and for a very brief period of time, catch up
and dandle dirty, struggling infants in crumpled dresses ;
but he hated this kind of call. He always made short
calls, and calmly contrived, if it were possible, to throw
the responsibility for the brevity of the call on the per
son he was visiting. " I know you are a very busy
woman," he managed to say, "and I must not take more
of your time." And he was up and away before the
hostess could find her tongue to assure him that she
hoped he would remain longer. Failing to discover a
conventional nail on which to hang this effective termi
nal remark, the pastor sat restlessly a few minutes, then
pulled a long face, and spoke of the exacting nature of
his studies, and moved toward the door, with apparent
regret veiling an inflexible will to get outside as soon as
possible. Thus he often made a score of calls in an
afternoon, and kept careful record of the same, to be
duly published in the annual report of the parish.
He also did a great deal of surreptitious and illegal call
ing. " What do I mean by that ? " I mean that he over
stepped the code of his profession and the bounds of his
parish, and called whenever he could find an excuse for
176 RONALD CARNAQUAY
it on families belonging in other churches. Always he
had some plausible reason for such calls ; he was " not
calling officially, but just as a neighbor"; or he "just
called to inquire," etc. ; or, " you are a sister of Mrs.
Jones, in Emmanuel Church ; " and so on. He was very
adroit about it, and when once inside the door, could
make himself extremely agreeable. Thus he consider
ably extended his range of acquaintance, and always
gave a very friendly invitation to " come around and
visit our church," or to " come and hear our excellent
tenor."
Still another series of calls, by this enterprising clergy
man, should not fail of mention. These were calls of
which he kept no written record, and they were made
upon Miss Metcalf. Carnaquay could no more keep
worldly advancement out of his plans than could the
most active speculator on Wall Street. Therefore, it
was by the veriest instinct that he made himself aware
of the fact that Miss Metcalf was the possessor of a
large income ; and, learning this, he found her attrac
tiveness greatly enhanced. She was at least ten years
older than himself ; but what were ten years when com
pared with ten times ten thousands of dollars ! So he
became a frequent visitor at the fine old colonial house
which she had inherited, ate many a good dinner at her
table, and paid the handsome spinster frequent compli
ments. Miss Metcalf, like every woman, was hungry
for affection, and her eagerness for this blunted her
naturally keen critical faculty, as the tall, self-reliant
clergyman bestowed compliments, at first on her cook
ing, then upon her house, and finally and freely upon
herself. It is always safe to extend compliments to a
woman. When one man praises another, directly,
unless the two are old friends, the man praised be
comes at once suspicious ; he begins to ask himself
A PULPIT SUCCESS 177
what this complimentary remark has behind it ; he
looks at it as a bait, and guards himself against taking
it and the concealed hook with it. But a woman s heart
is so predisposed to love and tenderness, that she believes
against her judgment; and a gentle phrase, a sympa
thetic tone, opens her to attack, and blinds her to
harsh realities.
Thus it was with the snowy-haired Miss Metcalf. She
fluttered, despite herself, as Carnaquay s firm grasp
closed over her own delicate fingers, and her tell-tale
nervousness of speech showed the calculating man
that he was looked upon with favor. He had no
formulated plan in thus advancing himself in her
affections ; it was his general aim to establish himself
in the good opinion of all the people he met. In Miss
Metcalf s case he merely pushed his general purpose to
greater lengths, being partly grateful for the dinners,
partly circumspect toward an important pewholder,
and then, beyond that, finding a mild amusement in
acting his part of admirer. It was really the woman s
wealth, which, even unknown to himself, gave greatest
attraction to her in his eyes ; yet personally she was
far from distasteful to him.
Let it not be assumed, however, by the reader of this
narrative, that Carnaquay was unconscious of the fresh
ness and bloom that usually accompanies young girl
hood. He was very keen in his sense of pleasure at
the sight of a sweet, sunny face like that of Olive Mar