"
"Is it, by gosh? Well, why for do 'ee call him a priest? He isn't a
priest."
"Yes, he is."
"I say he isn't then. A parson isn't a priest. When I'm grown up I'm
going to be a minister. What are you going to be?"
Mark had for some time past intended to be a keeper at the Zoological
Gardens, but after his adventure with the wild beast in the thicket and
this encounter with the self-confident Cass Dale he decided that he
would not be a keeper but a parson. He informed Cass of his intention.
"Well, if you're a parson and I'm a minister," said Cass, "I'll bet
everyone comes to listen to me preaching and none of 'em don't go to
hear you."
"I wouldn't care if they didn't," Mark affirmed.
"You wouldn't care if you had to preach to a parcel of empty chairs and
benches?" exclaimed Cass.
"St. Francis preached to the trees," said Mark. "And St. Anthony
preached to the fishes."
"They must have been a couple of loonies."
"They were saints," Mark insisted.
"Saints, were they? Well, my father doesn't think much of saints. My
father says he reckons saints is the same as other people, only a bit
worse if anything. Are you saved?"
"What from?" Mark asked.
"Why, from Hell of course. What else would you be saved from?"
"You might be saved from a wild beast," Mark pointed out.
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