"Have you a sound theological foundation?" asked the bishop, still holding Pete's hand.
"I should say he had!" exclaimed Aunt Caroline. "What was it you were telling me about yesterday, Peter? The cat—cat——"
"The catechetical lectures of Cyril of Jerusalem," said Pete smoothly. "From that we go on to the doctrines of Arius of Antioch."
"That would be going backward," commented the bishop.
"Huh! Oh, certainly, sir, strictly speaking. But we have been skipping around a bit, if I may say it, sir. Hitting the high—that is, sir, taking up such matters as interest us. Theistic philosophy, ethical rationalism, Harnack's conception of monophysticism, Gregory of Nyssa, Anselm of Canterbury——"
"Who wrote the 'Canterbury Tales,'" interrupted Aunt Caroline. "Wasn't that what you told me, Peter?"
But Peter was hurrying on.
"Miss Marshall has been good enough, sir, to show some small interest in my work; it has been a great encouragement to me. I may say that in the field of philosophical and speculative theology——"
"Stick to the dogmatic, my friend," advised the bishop—"the dogmatic and the special dogmatic. Be sound, whatever you are. Now, here is a test I apply to every young man; it shows the trend of his thought, it tells me whether he has embarked upon the proper course; give me, my young friend, an outline of your views on diophysite orthodoxy."
Pete coughed and lifted his glance to the ceiling.