A Talk with Mr Shepherd, 173

 

father’s work, I see, doesn’t help the very man
himself; it only helps his body—or at best his
happiness: it doesn’t go deep enough to touch
himself, But yours helps the very man. Yours is
the best after all.”

“T don’t know,” returned Mr Shepherd, thought-
fully. “It depends, I think, on the kind of pre-
paration gone through.”

“Oh yes!” said Willie. “You had to go through
the theological classes. I must of course take the
medical.”

“That’s true, but it’s not true enough,” said Mr
Shepherd. “That wouldn’t make a fraction of the
difference I mean. There’s just one preparation
essential fora man who would carry about the best
sort of medicines. Can you think what itis? It’s
not necessary for the other sort.”

“The man must be good,” said Willie. “I sup-
pose that’s it,”

“That doesn’t make the difference exactly,”
returned Mr Shepherd. “It is as necessary for a
doctor to be good as for a parson.”

“Yes,” said Willie ; “but though the doctor were
a bad man, his medicines might be good.”

“Not by any means so likely to be!” said the
parson. “You can never be sure that anything a
bad man has to do with will be good. It may be,
because no man is all bad; but you can’t be sure
of it. We are coming nearer it now. Mightn’t the