Very cordially yours, THE TRUSTEES.
Here followed their names, familiar to both Philip and his wife.
There was a moment of astonished silence and then Sarah said:—
"Well, Philip, that's what I call the finger of Providence!"
"Do you call it the finger of Providence because it points the way you want to go?" asked Philip, with a smile. But his face instantly grew sober. He was evidently very much excited by the call to Fairview. It had come at a time when he was in a condition to be very much moved by it.
"Yes, Philip," replied his wife, as she smoothed back his hair from his forehead, "it is very plain to me that you have done all that any one can do here in Milton, and this call comes just in time. You are worn out. The church is opposed to your methods. You need a rest and a change. And besides, this is the very work that you have always had a liking for."
Philip said nothing for a moment. His mind was in a whirl of emotion. Finally he said, "Yes, I would enjoy such a professorship. It is a very tempting call. I feel drawn towards it. And yet——" he hesitated—"I don't know that I ought to leave Milton just now."
Mrs. Strong was provoked. "Philip Strong, you have lived this kind of life long enough! All your efforts in Calvary Church are wasted. What good have all your sermons done? It is all a vain sacrifice, and the end will be defeat and misery for you. Add to all this the fact that this new work will call for the best and most Christian labor, and that some good Christian man will take it if you don't—and I don't see, Philip, how you can possibly think of such a thing as refusing this opportunity."
"It certainly is a splendid opportunity," murmured Philip. "I wonder why they happened to pitch on me for the place!"
"That's easy enough. Every one knows that you could fill that chair better than almost any other man in the country."