"Considered in the world of physics," began the lordly tones of the Reverend Frederick, "dynamics1 is that branch of mechanics that treats of the effects of forces in producing motion, and of the laws of motion thus produced; sometimes called kinetics, opposed to statics. It is the science that treats of the laws of force, whether producing equilibrium2 or motion; in this sense including both statics and kinetics. It is also applied3 to the forces producing or governing activity or movement of any kind; also the methods of such activity."
The big words rolled out magnificently over the awed4 gathering5, and the minister flattened6 his chin and rolled his eyes up at the people in his most impressive way.
Margaret's gaze hastily sought the row of rough men on the front seat, sitting with folded arms in an attitude of attention, each man with a pair of intelligent eyes under his shaggy brows regarding the preacher as they might have regarded an animal in a zoo. Did they understand what had been said? It was impossible to tell from their serious faces.
"Philanthropy has been called the dynamics of Christianity; that is to say, it is Christianity in action," went on the preacher. "It is my purpose this morning to speak upon the dynamics of altruism7. Now altruism is the theory that inculcates benevolence8 to others in subordination to self-interest; interested benevolence as opposed to disinterested9; also, the practice of this theory."
He lifted his eyes to the audience once more and nodded his head slightly, as if to emphasize the deep truth he had just given them, and the battery of keen eyes before him never flinched10 from his face. They were searching him through and through. Margaret wondered if he had no sense of the ridiculous, that he could, to such an audience, pour forth11 such a string of technical definitions. They sounded strangely like dictionary language. She wondered if anybody present besides herself knew what the man meant or got any inkling of what his subject was. Surely he would drop to simpler language, now that he had laid out his plan.
It never occurred to her that the man was trying to impress her with his wonderful fluency12 of language and his marvelous store of wisdom. On and on he went in much the same trend he had begun, with now and then a flowery sentence or whole paragraph of meaningless eloquence13 about the "brotherhood14 of man"—with a roll to the r's in brotherhood.
Fifteen minutes of this profitless oratory15 those men of the wilderness16 endured, stolidly17 and with fixed18 attention; then, suddenly, a sentence of unusual simplicity19 struck them and an almost visible thrill went down the front seat.
"For years the church has preached a dead faith, without works, my friends, and the time has come to stop preaching faith! I repeat it—fellow-men. I repeat it. The time has come to stop preaching faith and begin to do good works!" He thumped20 the desk vehemently21. "Men don't need a superstitious22 belief in a Saviour23 to save them from their sins; they need to go to work and save themselves! As if a man dying two thousand years ago on a cross could do any good to you and me to-day!"
It was then that the thrill passed down that front line, and Long Bill, sitting at their head, leaned slightly forward and looked full and frowning into the face of Jasper Kemp; and the latter, frowning back, solemnly winked24 one eye. Margaret sat where she could see the whole thing.
Immediately, still with studied gravity, Long Bill cleared his throat impressively, arose, and, giving the minister a full look in the eye, of the nature almost of a challenge, he turned and walked slowly, noisily down the aisle25 and out the front door.
The minister was visibly annoyed, and for the moment a trifle flustered26; but, concluding his remarks had been too deep for the rough creature, he gathered up the thread of his argument and proceeded:
"We need to get to work at our duty toward our fellow-men. We need to down trusts and give the laboring-man a chance. We need to stop insisting that men shall believe in the inspiration of the entire Bible and get to work at something practical!"
The impressive pause after this sentence was interrupted by a sharp, rasping sound of Big Jim clearing his throat and shuffling27 to his feet. He, too, looked the minister full in the face with a searching gaze, shook his head sadly, and walked leisurely28 down the aisle and out of the door. The minister paused again and frowned. This was becoming annoying.
Margaret sat in startled wonder. Could it be possible that these rough men were objecting to the sermon from a theological point of view, or was it just a happening that they had gone out at such pointed29 moments. She sat back after a minute, telling herself that of course the men must just have been weary of the long sentences, which no doubt they could not understand. She began to hope that Gardley was not within hearing. It was not probable that many others understood enough to get harm from the sermon, but her soul boiled with indignation that a man could go forth and call himself a minister of an evangelical church and yet talk such terrible heresy30.
Big Jim's steps died slowly away on the clay path outside, and the preacher resumed his discourse31.
"We have preached long enough of hell and torment32. It is time for a gospel of love to our brothers. Hell is a superstition33 of the Dark Ages. There is no hell!"
Fiddling34 Boss turned sharply toward Jasper Kemp, as if waiting for a signal, and Jasper gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod. Whereupon Fiddling Boss cleared his throat loudly and arose, faced the minister, and marched down the aisle, while Jasper Kemp remained quietly seated as if nothing had happened, a vacancy35 each side of him.
By this time the color began to rise in the minister's cheeks. He looked at the retreating back of Fiddling Boss, and then suspiciously down at the row of men, but every one of them sat with folded arms and eyes intent upon the sermon, as if their comrades had not left them. The minister thought he must have been mistaken and took up the broken thread once more, or tried to, but he had hopelessly lost the place in his manuscript, and the only clue that offered was a quotation36 of a poem about the devil; to be sure, the connection was somewhat abrupt37, but he clutched it with his eye gratefully and began reading it dramatically:
"'Men don't believe in the devil now
As their fathers used to do—'"
But he had got no further when a whole clearing-house of throats sounded, and Fade-away Forbes stumbled to his feet frantically38, bolting down the aisle as if he had been sent for. He had not quite reached the door when Stocky clumped39 after him, followed at intervals40 by Croaker and Fudge, and each just as the minister had begun:
"Um! Ah! To resume—"
And now only Jasper Kemp remained of the front-seaters, his fine gray eyes boring through and through the minister as he floundered through the remaining portion of his manuscript up to the point where it began, "And finally—" which opened with another poem:
"'I need no Christ to die for me.'"
The sturdy, gray-haired Scotchman suddenly lowered his folded arms, slapping a hand resoundingly on each knee, bent41 his shoulders the better to pull himself to his feet, pressing his weight on his hands till his elbows were akimbo, uttered a deep sigh and a, "Yes—well—ah!"
With that he got to his feet and dragged them slowly out of the school-house.
By this time the minister was ready to burst with indignation. Never before in all the bombastic42 days of his egotism had he been so grossly insulted, and by such rude creatures! And yet there was really nothing that could be said or done. These men appeared to be simple creatures who had wandered in idly, perhaps for a few moments' amusement, and, finding the discourse above their caliber43, had innocently wandered out again. That was the way it had been made to appear. But his plans had been cruelly upset by such actions, and he was mortified44 in the extreme. His face was purple with his emotions, and he struggled and spluttered for a way out of his trying dilemma45. At last he spoke46, and his voice was absurdly dignified47:
"Is there—ah—any other—ah—auditor—ah—who is desirous of withdrawing before the close of service? If so he may do so now, or—ah—" He paused for a suitable ending, and familiar words rushed to his lips without consciousness for the moment of their meaning—"or forever after hold their peace—ah!"
There was a deathly silence in the school-house. No one offered to go out, and Margaret suddenly turned her head and looked out of the window. Her emotions were almost beyond her control.
Thus the closing eloquence proceeded to its finish, and at last the service was over. Margaret looked about for Mom Wallis, but she had disappeared. She signed to Bud, and together they hastened out; but a quiet Sabbath peace reigned48 about the door of the school-house, and not a man from the camp was in sight; no, nor even the horses upon which they had come.
And yet, when the minister had finished shaking hands with the worshipful women and a few men and children, and came with Mr. Tanner to the door of the school-house, those eight men stood in a solemn row, four on each side of the walk, each holding his chin in his right hand, his right elbow in his left hand, and all eyes on Jasper Kemp, who kept his eyes thoughtfully up in the sky.
"H'w aire yeh, Tanner? Pleasant 'casion. Mind steppin' on a bit? We men wanta have a word with the parson."
Mr. Tanner stepped on hurriedly, and the minister was left standing49 nonplussed50 and alone in the doorway51 of the school-house.
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1
dynamics
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| n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态 | |
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equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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altruism
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| n.利他主义，不自私 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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flinched
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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fluency
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| n.流畅，雄辩，善辩 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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flustered
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| adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
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shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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fiddling
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| 微小的 | |
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vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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clumped
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| adj.[医]成群的v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的过去式和过去分词 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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40
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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41
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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42
bombastic
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| adj.夸夸其谈的，言过其实的 | |
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caliber
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| n.能力；水准 | |
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44
mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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45
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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46
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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47
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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49
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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50
nonplussed
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| adj.不知所措的，陷于窘境的v.使迷惑( nonplus的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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