Baines."
"Well, I snum! Kind of disobedient to love you, hain't it? Knows her
father 'd be set ag'in' it?"
"Yes, but she can't help that."
"Why?"
"You--why, you _fall_ in love! You don't do it on purpose, Mr. Baines.
It just comes to you."
"From where?" said Scattergood, abruptly.
The young minister stared.
"Who's to blame for there bein' love?" Scattergood demanded.
After a pause the young man answered. "God," he said. "Why does He send
it?"
"So that people will marry, and the love will keep them together, strong
to bear the trials and labors of life. I think love is a kind of wages
that God pays to men and women for living on His earth."
"Um!... Does He send love sort of helter-skelter and hit-or-miss, or
does He aim it at certain folks?"
"I have often preached that marriages were made in heaven."
"Then it's a kind of a command, hain't it?"
"Yes."
"Which d'ye calculate is the wust disobedience? To refuse to obey an
order sich as this, or to disobey a parent that runs counter to the
wants of the Almighty?"
The young man's face was alight with happiness. "Mr. Baines," he said,
"I'm grateful to you.
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