"Look here," said the father; "life is too brief to be squandering it on debating a question like that. That's as plain as a chimney on a house. You could never make me think that all that going down into the water and coming up out of the water was simply to have a few drops of water sprinkled on the man. Sterling, I know you don't mean to do so, but it looks as if you are afraid of the natural meaning that lies on the surface."
"But the surface meaning in the Bible is not always the true one. We know from other passages that baptism was by sprinkling, and when we come to one like this, that may mean either kind of baptism, we know from the general teaching of Scripture that sprinkling and not immersion was the mode here intended."
CHAPTER IV.
GETTING INTO DEEP WATER.
"Here is another passage about baptism," said Dorothy, "in Luke 12:50: 'I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished?'"
"But hold on, Miss Dorothy," said Sterling. "Why should we be spending so much discussion simply on the question as to the quantity of water in baptism? It seems a waste of effort. There are far more important doctrines than this."
"It is not simply the quantity of water we are considering, Mr. Sterling. We are trying to find out how baptism is performed. Surely we ought to try to get it right."
"That's good logic," said the father. "Get one point settled before you proceed to another."