"Certainly not," said the Bishop sternly. "Not even a surplice.
You must remember you have not been ordained. If you are serious
in your zeal, you must work your way up gradually, beginning at
the bottom."

"I have seen some of your cloth with a little purple dickey which
looks very well in the aperture of the waistcoat," said Gissing
humbly. "How long would it take me to work up to that?"

Bishop Borzoi, who had a sense of humour, laughed genially.

"Look here," he said. "It's a fine afternoon: I'll order my car
and we'll drive out to Dalmatian Heights. I'll show you your
chapel, and tell you exactly what your duties will be."

Gissing was startled. Dalmatian Heights was only a few miles from
the Canine Estates. If the news should reach Mr. Poodle...

"Sir Bishop," he said nervously, "I begin to fear that perhaps
after all I am unworthy. Now about those Articles of Religion: I
may perhaps have given some of them a conjectural and
commentating assent. Possibly I have presumed too far--"

The Bishop was already looking forward to a ride into the country
with his unusual novice.

"Not at all, not at all," he said cheerily. "In a mere lay
reader, a slight laxity is allowable. You understand, of course,
that you are expressly restricted from the pulpit. You will have