The door
opened to a tall, white-haired woman in lustreless black silk. She
was regular and resolute in features, of fine but unbending
presence, and, though somewhat past middle age, showed no signs of
either the weakness or mellowness of years.
"I am sorry to disturb your Sabbath morning meditations, Sister
Argalls, nor would I if it were not in the line of Christian duty;
but Sister Robbins is unable today to make her usual Sabbath
hospital visit, and I thought if you were excused from the Foreign
Missionary class and Bible instruction at three you might undertake
her functions. I know, my dear old friend," he continued, with
bland deprecation of her hard-set eyes, "how distasteful this
promiscuous mingling with the rough and ungodly has always been to
you, and how reluctant you are to be placed in the position of
being liable to hear coarse, vulgar, or irreverent speech. I
think, too, in our long and pleasant pastoral relations, you have
always found me mindful of it. I admit I have sometimes regretted
that your late husband had not more generally familiarized you with
the ways of the world. But so it is--we all have our weaknesses.
If not one thing, another. And as Envy and Uncharitableness
sometimes find their way in even Christian hearts, I should like
you to undertake this office for the sake of example.
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