"
A few last visitors who had been chatting among themselves now came
forward to say good-by. Mrs. Fenton also took leave, and Ashe found
himself alone with his hostess and Mrs. Crapps.
"Mrs. Crapps, Mr. Ashe," Mrs. Frostwinch said.
It seemed to him that there was in the manner of Mrs. Frostwinch
something of condescension, as if the Faith Healed was a sort of upper
servant. He had himself not outlived the ingenuous period wherein a
youth feels that the preservation of truth in the world depends upon
his not covering his impressions, and he was accordingly extremely cold
in his manner.
"Ah, a new disciple to our faith, I trust," Mrs. Crapps said, fixing
upon him her keen, bold eyes.
"I have never even heard of your doctrine until to-day," he answered.
"But surely it must strike you at once," she responded, with a manner
evidently meant to be insinuating.
He hesitated. He remembered that he had been expressly warned not to
say anything against the vagaries with which Mrs. Frostwinch was
concerned; but his conscience would not allow him to evade this direct
challenge.
"It struck me as being blasphemous," he responded with unnecessary
fervor.
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