He had rehearsed it over and over in private, had delivered it almost through clinched teeth, and had returned to his room in the Boston boarding house with the conviction that it was an utter failure.

Captain Elkanah and the gracious Miss Annabel, his daughter, had been kind enough to express gratification, and their praise alone saved him from despair.
Then, to his amazement, the call had come.

Of casual conversation at the church and about the Daniels's table he could recall nothing.

So there was another religious organization in town and that made up of seceders from his own church.

He was surprised.
"Er--this Miss Van Horne ?" he asked.