"'And let us consider what there is to be done in the home of Marie,' I went on. 'Here in the very town where so many of your fathers have lived and worked we find a singular parade of folly. The idle rich from a near city are closing in upon us. Many of the Yankees have acquired property and ceased to work. Back in the distant hills they toil not, but live from hand to mouth in a pitiful state of degeneration. The work of the hand is almost entirely that of Italians, Poles, Hungarians, and Greeks. "'Our tradesmen have a low code of honor. They overcharge us for the necessities of life. Many of them have been caught cheating. Our wives and sons and daughters are living beyond their means, as if ignorant of the fact that it is the beginning of dishonesty. Our poverty is mostly that of the soul. The churches are dying, and the sabbath is dead. What we need is a return to the honor, sanity, and common sense of old New England, which gave of its fullness to the land we love. Let's start a school of old-fashioned decency and Americanism. Let's call it the Church of All Faiths and make it a center of power.' "I laid the scheme before him in all its details, and then-- "'I'm with you,' he said, 'and I think I can see Knowles moving and Deacon Joe coming down off his high horse.' "'Possibly we could use Knowles,' I suggested. 'There'll be a lot of detail.' "'But only as a kind of clerk,' said Harry. "As a kind of clerk, I agreed. 'We shall need a number of clerks. I intend that every family within ten miles shall be visited at least once a week. We shall not only let our light shine, but we shall make it shine into every human heart in this community. If they're too callous we'll punch a hole with our trusty blade and let the light in. The lantern and the rapier shall be our weapons.' "Harry was full of enthusiasm. He had met Marie on the street, and she was glad to learn that he was going to work. "'Incidentally, I hope to win your grandfather's consent,' he had said to her. "And she had answered: 'If you could do that I should think you were an extremely able young man.' "'And worthy of the best girl living?' Harry had urged. "'That's too extravagant,' Marie had said as she left him. "Harry went to work with me at once. He bought the rink and the ground beneath it and some more alongside. We spent days and nights with an architect making and remaking the plans, and by and by we knew that we were right. Soon the contractor began his work, and in three months we had finished the most notable meeting-house of modern times.