Quick as thought the doctor replied: “There was only one clergyman here, Colonel.”
“What do you mean, doctor? I saw at least half a dozen ministers at the funeral.”
“Aye—ministers—but that is a different thing altogether. Mr. Gray was the only cleric present here to-day.”
It was as if a bomb had fallen in their midst.
“Well, what do you call yourself, doctor?”
The old man smiled as he replied:
“I am only an elder in the congregation—a teaching elder doubtless, but only an elder. Mr. Gray has Apostolic orders, which I lack.”
An elder he remained; but surely if ever any one outside the unity of the historic faith deserved it, he deserved to be reckoned one of the Gentle Persuasion.