THE SPIDER





The passing of a year added immensely to the fame of the pastor
of the Pilgrim Church. His sermons now reached twenty millions of
people through the daily press every Monday morning. It had become
necessary to issue tickets of admission to the members and admit
them by a small door that was cut beside the large ones.

Van Meter had ceased to be of sufficient importance for serious
notice. The growth of Gordon's influence within the year had been
so rapid, he found he had set out to fight a flea with artillery.

The old man felt his eclipse with bitterness. He had quit talking
much, but writhed in silent fury at the sight of this tall athlete
with his conquering gray eyes and smooth, serious face. Yet he was
a regular attendant. The preacher's eloquence, the vibrant tones
of his voice, full of passion, or trembling with prophetic zeal,
and the whole drama of a living militant church with this daring
revolutionist at its head, risen from the grave of the old, fascinated
him in spite of his hatred.

In the local development of the church Kate Ransom had become,
next to the pastor, the most important factor. She had shown strong
administrative talent, had organized kindergartens, night-schools
for teaching domestic science to girls, established a reading-room,