The brisk steps behind them halted at the gate where the bishop was saying good-by to his last guest.
"I'm late, I'll not stay," said Clark apologetically.
"That's all the better for a chat. You're looking well."
"I have to be well, Bishop, for my work, and you?"
"Perhaps it's the same in a rather less dramatic field."
For a while the two walked with the mutual liking which able men experience for each other when neither is animated by the desire for personal gain. In truth, the attraction was understandable. The bishop responded easily to his guest's magnetic presence, and perceived in him the focal power that energized each one of his successive undertakings, while to Clark came the strength and benignity of the bishop's high and blameless spirit. They were doing each other good, and each silently acknowledged it.
"You are accomplishing great things up at the rapids, Mr. Clark," said the bishop presently. "I was very much impressed by what I saw last week."
Clark nodded contentedly. "We're really only at the beginning of it, and the country about here has been only scratched so far. We're on the doorstep, so to speak."
"Then developments should increase?"
"In ten years St. Marys will be the center of great and widespread activities. The district can and will yield a greater variety of natural products than has been imagined."