If Reed Opdyke had gained any inkling of the wide swath of woe and
consequent spiritual doubtings that he was cutting among the closest of
his personal friends, he would have fallen to plucking out his hair in
mingled rage and shamed amusement. Mercifully, however, that
humiliating knowledge was denied him. As a rule, one keeps that sort of
questionings from their subject; as a rule, he is the last person in
the world to be aware of them.
Reed Opdyke, then, was thoroughly perplexed, next afternoon, when
Brenton walked in upon him. The change in the young rector, more than
usually obvious, that afternoon, took Opdyke by surprise. He had gained
no inkling that anything was going really wrong, in that direction. To
all outward seeming, Scott Brenton ought to have been riding on the
crest of the ecclesiastical wave. In worldly parlance, Saint Peter's
Parish was on the boom. The administration of it had completely
outgrown Brenton's time and strength, and a curate was in prospect,
with a deaconess or two lurking in the more remote perspective.
Brenton himself, meanwhile, had been too full of work for making many
calls. He had telephoned to Opdyke, nearly every day, had sent him
clever articles to read, and things of that sort; but he had not been
to see his old friend, since the last day of the year. Pastoral
conversation had never been especially popular between the two men; yet
each of them was well aware that, all things considered, an old-year
call was a more fitting visitation than a new-year one for Opdyke. At
least one knew the worst of the old year, and some comfort could be
taken out of that. Indeed, next morning, Olive Keltridge wished that
she had followed out the rector's plan. However, Opdyke's courage was
better than her own. When she stood up to go away, he wished her a
happy New Year with a nonchalance apparently quite genuine and free
from envy. Nevertheless, something in his accent brought the stinging
tears to Olive's eyes. Another year, such as the past eight months--
"Ditto to you, Reed!" she answered gayly. "I do hope it will find you
back in the field again."