At first she shook her head, but as I refused to sit down she rose to follow me. I had stepped to the aisle and turned to give Sarah my arm when she fainted--just sank down with a groan in my arms. "So this is the gospel you preach!" I called out to the minister, who had paused and now stepped forward to help me raise Sarah. "Let her alone! You have hit her hard enough already. Another time when you undertake this kind of business, you had better know what you are talking about." He stepped back to his desk and kept silent, while I and one of the ushers who had come forward to help me lifted Sarah and carried her to the door. When we got to the end of the aisle Sarah opened her eyes and stood up. "I have had enough of _your_ gospel, my friend!" I called back. "I am going where I shall hear religion and not newspaper scandal." Sarah groaned and pulled gently at my arm. Once in the carriage, she turned her face to the window and looked out as if she were still shocked and sick. I tried to say something to comfort, but I could only think of curses for that meddlesome Pharisee, who thought it was his duty to judge his flock. "Don't talk about it!" Sarah exclaimed, as if my words gave her pain. So we rode home in silence all the way. At the end she turned to me:-- "Just say it isn't true, Van!" I began to say a few words of explanation. "No, just say it isn't true!" she interrupted. "I can't understand all that you are saying. Just say that you haven't done anything wrong. That's all I want." "Some people would think it was wrong, Sarah," I had to say after a while. She gave a little groan and shut her lips tight. When we entered the house May was there, with her children. "Why, my land!" she exclaimed on seeing us. "What brings you people back so soon? Sarah looks sick!" Sarah was ready to faint again. May helped her up to her room, and I went into my study. Pretty soon May came down to me. "What's the matter with Sarah, Van?" she asked sharply. "She seems all queer and out of her head." Then I told her what had happened. "Did you see the piece in the paper?" I asked at the end. May shook her head. "But I shouldn't wonder if Sarah had seen it." "Why do you think so?" I asked. "Why, she seemed troubled about something yesterday when she came into the house after she had been downtown shopping. She asked me whether I generally believed the things I saw in the papers. I asked her what kind of things, and she said,--'Scandals about people in business.' I thought it was queer at the time." "She won't talk to me about it," I said. May didn't make any reply to this, and we sat there some time without talking. Then May asked in a queer little voice:-- "Tell me, Van, is there anything in that story? Is it true in the least way?" "I'll tell you just how it was," I answered.