"It's a mighty sight nigher than that," said Caleb, solemnly, "besides bein' the best 'throw-in' that's come to light yet. Give copies of that away to customers that don't ever go to church, an' they'll begin to go, hopin' they'll stand a chance o' bein' took in the next; an' if they get under the droppin's of the sanctuary, why, Brother Grateway an' the rest of us'll try to do the rest. Grateway needs some encouragement o' that kind, for he's sort o' down in the mouth about nothin' comin' of his efforts with certain folks in this town. He's dropped warnin's and exhortations on 'em, in season an' out o' season, for quite a spell, but he was tellin' me only yesterday that it seemed like the seed in the parable, that was sowed on stony ground. An' say--Je--ru--salem!--when did you say you took that?" "Two or three weeks ago," Grace replied. "An' you didn't develop it till to-day?" "Not until to-day." "An' the pictur' has been on the plate all that time?" "In one way, yes. That is, the plate had been exposed at the subjects, and they had been impressed upon it by the light, although it still looked plain and blank, until the developing fluid was poured upon it." "How long would it stay so, an' yet be fit to be developed?" "Oh, years, I suppose. Travellers in Africa and elsewhere have carried such plates, and exposed them, and not developed them until they returned to civilization, perhaps a year or two later." "I want to know! Got any other plate as old as the one this pictur' was made from?" "Yes, one; it was in the other side of the same holder." "Would you mind developin' it to-night, in your kitchen, before company? Nobody that's fussy--only Brother Grateway." "You know I'll do anything to oblige you and him, Caleb." "Hooray! Excuse me, please, while I go off an' make sure o' his comin'." "What do you suppose is on Caleb's mind now?" Grace asked, as Caleb and the picture disappeared. "I give it up," Philip replied, "though I shan't be surprised if 'tis something relative to a camera being a means of grace." "I can't imagine how." "Perhaps not, but let's await--literally speaking--developments." "He'll be here," said Caleb, a few moments later; he looked gleeful as he said it, and shuffled his feet in a manner so suggestive of dancing that Grace pretended to be shocked, at which Caleb reddened. During the remainder of the afternoon he looked as happy as if he had collected a long-deferred bill, or given the dreaded "malary" a new repulse. He hurried Philip and Grace home to supper, so that the kitchen might sooner be free for photographic purposes, and dusk had scarcely lost itself in darkness when he closed the store and appeared at the house with Pastor Grateway, who expressed himself exuberantly concerning the picture of his church and congregation; but Caleb cut him short by saying:-- "Ev'rythin' ready, Mis' Somerton? Good! Come along, Brother Grateway--you, too, Philip."