"I saw the two padres' faces fall swiftly.
"'What religion?' they both asked simultaneously.
"'Baptist,' I replied carelessly. 'Have a cigarette, padre?'
"The two enemies gazed attentively at the ceiling; Roman Church kept his nose in his breviary and his ears well pricked up.
"'Well,' said Church of England at length, 'I wouldn't mind going up to
Zillebeke. I've been in worse places to bury a man of my own Church. But for a Baptist it strikes me, O'Grady——'
"'Excuse me,' interrupted Church of Scotland. 'Baptism is the most conservative form of British Christianity, and the Anglican Church itself boasts——'
"'I dare say, I dare say,' said the other, 'but is not the Baptist Church a democratic one, like the Presbyterian?'
"They might have gone on in this strain till the poor beggar was in his grave, had not Roman Church suddenly interrupted in a mild voice, without taking his nose out of his little book:
"'I'll go, if you like.'