"Mercy alive, let me run out and catch my breath," said Mr. Sterling. "These are startling things that I am hearing tonight. If it is true that we have sprinkling or pouring simply because the Catholic Church happened to have it when the Reformation came, then I must confess it puts our denomination in the attitude of having our baptismal ceremony foisted on us by the Catholics, and we are now seeking from Scripture to justify our position. But, Mr. Walton, that cannot be so." "I refer you to history. I have given you the places where these statements can be found." "How did we get back into the subject of immersion?" asked Mr. Sterling. "I was stating," said Mr. Walton, "that the truths of the Baptists were gradually permeating the ranks of the other denominations, and I remarked that the principal scholars in the different denominations admitted that immersion was the original Scriptural mode, the implication being that, though it was the original mode, yet the church--and you see it was the Catholic Church--had the right to change it. It is a fact that members of other denominations are asking for immersion at the hands of Baptist ministers. Only last fall I baptized a very prominent Methodist minister who had become convinced from his study of the Scriptures of the evils of infant baptism and the scripturalness of immersion." Mr. Page, with a smile and a wink at Mr. Sterling, remarked: "Exactly, and you had better be on the lookout, Sterling; these Baptists will have you under the water yet." Mr. Sterling colored considerably, for Mr. Page's banter had struck deeper than Mr. Page thought. "What I can't understand," said Mr. Page, "is how these Baptists can be such wonderful people and yet occupy such an obscure position in this part of the country." "But they are not obscure in America," said Mr. Walton. "No," said Dorothy. "Don't you remember, father, how I told you that the figures state that the Baptists are next to the largest denomination in the United States except the Catholics?" "In Georgia," said Mr. Walton, "one person out of every four is a Baptist, and it is almost that way in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. I understand that the Baptists of Georgia pay over half the taxes of that state. They are a mighty army in the South and in the world."