before him lay a number of ladies' cards, and some notes on embossed paper, still faintly redolent of perfume. He seemed about thirty, and had very white teeth, which appeared to great advantage when he smiled. His hands were very clean, and bore several rings, and his voice was almost too melodious to be manly.

"My dear Mr. Singleton," he said, when he had glanced over the Secretary's note, "I am delighted to see you. It is such a privilege to meet with a beloved candidate for the dear cause. And now let us know what were the first sweet emotions that drew you hitherward. Doubtless some vision of sunny lands, and incense breathing temples, or of those lovely gales of which our dear Bishop Heber speaks so charmingly, the spicy breezes' that blow soft from Ceylon's isle.'

"I was rather puzzled as to his meaning,

he saw it, and good-naturedly came to my

assistance.

"Some of our dear candidates," he explained, "have seen in a dream interesting black men, who beckoned to them from afar, like the Macedonian of old. Come, do not be afraid to give me your confidence, my dear Mr. Singleton; there is something so soothing, so beautifully poetical in the first dawning of missionary drawings in a beloved young mind."

I could not help thinking that Mr. Silvertongue and his favourite candidates would have been fit subjects for the caution which the Secretary had already given me that morning; but, however, I ran through my simple story, which had the good fortune not to displease my auditor. He took notes of what I said, and then read the whole to me, embellished and decorated with such poetical phraseology, that I hardly knew my own words.

From Mr. Silvertongue's I proceeded to the house of Mr. Rusk. He was not at home, but I was told that I should be able to see him in the vestry of his church hard by. I went thither, and found a stern-featured gentleman, very negligently, not to say shabbily dressed, standing with his back to the fire in a small, comfortable room, which looked more like a study than a vestry, the shelves which surrounded it being filled with books of all sizes, from the venerable dusty folio of the ancient "Christian Father" to the last new religious tale. Mr. Rusk had apparently just risen from his studies, as several ponderous volumes lay before him, from which he was making copious extracts. Whether the interruption had imparted a little acerbity to his temper, I know not, but he addressed me in a very gruff tone, and answering my salutation with an impatient nod, told me "to sit down and come to the point at once." When I handed him the

note of introduction, he uttered a species of grunt, and cast it aside, saying, "he knew very well from whom it came.'

"Now young man," he said, resuming his position at the fire, and waiting for a few minutes to arrange his coat-tails to his satisfaction. "Now, young man, you are a candidate for Missionary work.

other words, to teach people.

You want, in

But have you

anything to teach, for that's coming to the point ?"

I said I hoped I had.

"So every one thinks," he replied; "but now let me examine you a little. Who was Abraham's father? You hesitate? why, man, surely everybody who reads his Bible ought to know who Abraham's father was."

"I think, Sir," said I, "I could tell you, if you would inform me what was the name of Esau's eldest son."

"Do you remember?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir, it is Eliphaz."

Well, that is more than I did," he said, good-humouredly, and then proceeded to examine me in various parts of Scripture and points of theology. His questions were characterized by a practical and commonsense directness which, I suppose, he would have called "coming to the point;" but he was rather impatient to obtain answers, and he often interrupted me in a way that might have sadly confused a more nervous candidate.

At last, when I hesitated a little about some question referring to the book of Job, Mr. Rusk caught me up triumphantly:

"There now, I have puzzled you at last. You see you can't answer even that simple question. I suppose now you would not even be able to tell me the difference between Job and me."