up

   , standing.

   "Sir!" he shouted, "sir!"

   "But my dear

    sirs

   —" beseechingly said the philosopher.

   "Sir!" continued Winkles, "sir! I am too old a man—too good a Christian, Mr. Bulkley, to allow a man, a mean, despicable

    toad

   , like Deacon Potter—"

   "Do you call me—

    me

   a despicable

    toad

   ?" menacingly cried the deacon.

   "Brethren," said Mr. Bulkley, "if I am to counsel you in your difference, I must have no more of this unchristian-like bickering."

   "I do not wish to bicker, sir," said Johnson.

   "Nor I don't want to, sir," said the deacon, "but when a man calls me a toad, a mean, despicable

    toad

   —"

   "Well, well, never mind," said Mr. Bulkley; "you are all too excited now; go home again, and wait patiently; on Saturday evening next, I will have prepared and sent to you a written opinion of your case, with a full and free avowal of most wholesome advice for preserving your church from desolation and yourselves from despair." And the 

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