As briefly as possible Douglas narrated the events of the meeting. He glanced occasionally at Nell, and noticed that at times she ceased her work to listen.
"So nothing was accomplished, then?" the professor queried when Douglas finished.
"Nothing that I could see, except to make it all the harder for the new clergyman who is coming here."
"Oh, he'll find it hard enough, all right, trust Si Stubbles for that.
If he's anything like the last clergyman we had, he'll soon give in.
I'm afraid that he will be a man of straw when it is a man of iron we
need."
Douglas smiled to himself. He was enjoying the various comments he was hearing about himself, and he wondered what the professor and others would think if they knew who he really was.
"A clergyman is supposed to be a 'steward of the mysteries,'" the old man continued. "Now, when I think of those words, I always picture to myself a mother standing before a cupboard with a bunch of keys in her hand. By her side are several children watching her with intense interest, waiting for her to open the door and bring forth things which are old, such as nicely-frosted doughnuts, and things which are new, such as jelly and pie. That cupboard is a place of mystery to the children, and the mother has the key to the treasure: Do you follow me?"
"Certainly," Douglas replied.
"Well, then, that cupboard is the Bible; the clergyman is the steward who is supposed to have the key, and his people are the children. They are looking to him to bring forth the things new and old for their good. But as far as I can find, he generally brings forth the same old things Sunday after Sunday which have become so stale that people do not care for them."
"Do all do that?" Douglas asked, mentally going over several of his sermons.
"Oh, no, not all. But the sermons I have heard since coming to this parish, and others which have been reported to me, have been of that kind. There was no life, nothing personal, and not one new and striking thought upon any great subject. They were just the same old platitudes about the Fathers, the doctrine of the Church, the duty of people to attend the services, and to give. There has been no food for longing, hungry souls."