I hope, Mr.Ware, that Octavius is producing a pleasant impression upon you so far ?" "I scarcely know yet," answered Theron.

The genial talk of the priest, with its whimsical anecdote, had in truth passed over his head.

His mind still had room for nothing but that novel death-bed scene, with the winged captain of the angelic host, the Baptist, the glorified Fisherman and the Preacher, all being summoned down in the pomp of liturgical Latin to help MacEvoy to die.

"If you don't mind my saying so," he added hesitatingly, "what I have just seen in there DID make a very powerful impression upon me." "It is a very ancient ceremony," said the priest; "probably Persian, like the baptismal form, although, for that matter, we can never dig deep enough for the roots of these things.

They all turn up Turanian if we probe far enough.