“Go on reading, Bannerjee,” said Edward. He pretended not to see the last of the line disappearing through the door. The departure of the disturbing element gave rise to peace in the class. “Watch therefore,” read a boy with a Chinese face and a German accent. “For ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. Please, sah, is not it true dat nuns haf Our Lord als Bridegroom?” “Nuns iss virgins,” said one of the Parsees in a shocked voice. “Please, sah,” continued the German. “Iss it not Mystic Union between Our Lord and nuns? If we not believing in Mystic Union between Holy Lord and mankind iss it not true we shall be perishing in outer darkness and there shall be whipping and gnashing off teeth?” “Everyone is free to have his own opinion about these things,” said Edward, doubtfully. “Outer darkness is only a parable in itself——” “But the Bible say——” “There are a great many interpretations of the Bible’s words,” snapped Edward, feeling unhappy and strangely alone among the quiet familiar words in front of him. “Perhaps we should all be more likely to agree on the general sense of this parable. What do you think Jesus meant us to understand by this story——” “Not story, sah, it was holy parable.” “Well, what can we learn from this parable?” “We shall not know, sah. You telling us, after—we shall be knowing.” “Use your minds. What lesson do you find in the parable?” “We not virgins, sah.” “Mistah Ramsee he nevah ask the thing he have not teach.” “This is Mr. Williams, not Mr. Ramsay,” said Edward, whose confidence was increasing with the increasing tranquillity of the class. “I will give you three minutes in which to glance over the parable again before answering——” “It mean—the wicked people shall perishing in efferlasting fires,” declaimed the German. “Silence for three minutes.” There was an uneasy silence broken suddenly by the opening of a side door. The woman teacher in the next classroom stood in the doorway and spoke in a contemptuous voice to Edward. “Will you please restrain your boys from shooting their pea-shooters at this door? The noise in the next room is most disturbing.” “Sorry,” said Edward, feeling lost again. “I’m rather deaf. I didn’t know....” “And you might like to know,” continued the visitor, “that eleven boys from this class are playing ball in the playground. I don’t know, of course, if they have your permission....” “Oh, well ...” said Edward. “My God, it’s terribly hot, isn’t it?...” The woman-teacher shut the door sharply.