“Which church do you like best, Robert?” Mary Davis asked one Sunday afternoon after they had come home from a Sunday-school session and service at one of the churches.

“I had not thought of it in that way,” he replied, “but I had been comparing one with another, with the idea of finding which one is right.”

“You are right in that, I feel sure,” said Mary, “for really, what we should strive for is to please God.  But which one, then, do you think is right?”

“Really, I do not know,” he replied.  “I am puzzled.  I feel that we should be identified with some church, and work to extend it, but it seems to me that one church has one Bible truth and emphasizes it, and another has another Bible truth which it emphasizes, and so on, all around.  How does it seem to you?”

“That is the way I feel,” said Mary.

“Suppose that we ask each church to give us a summary of its beliefs, and we shall then compare each one with the Bible,” suggested Robert.

“Why, let’s do that,” replied Mary.  “I do want the truth.”

“So do I,” Robert said fervently.

That night in prayer, special request was made to God for guidance into truth.  “Oh, we must have Thy truth, O God,” they cried, “we will follow it at any cost, if Thou wilt only make it clear.  Help us in studying Thy Word.  Make it plain to our minds.  O Lord, guide us into Thy way.”

The next Sunday they began their investigation by asking the minister of the church that they visited for a brief outline of its doctrinal belief.  They then bought a concordance and the search for truth was begun, which was to lead them into paths that they little dreamed of then, and into experiences that they could not at that time foresee.

CHAPTER TWO

A THREATENING QUARREL

Among the old settlers in the vicinity to which Robert Davis and his wife moved was Peter Newby and his family.  They were of the old pioneer type—­rugged, honest, frugal, but they also were headstrong, stubborn, with very little give and take in their make-up.  Peter claimed to know the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.  He could tell the names of the cities and creeks of the Holy Land from Dan to Beersheba, and name the kings of Israel either backward or forward.  He had the books of the Bible at the tip of his tongue, and could name the apostles and prophets without hesitation.  He was a noted debater or arguer, and met all opponents, large or small, with equal confidence.  When reason and logical argument failed him, he relied on a stentorian voice and his power to bewilder.  Few were able to hold their own with him in religious discussion.  Most men feared his biting sarcasm and insinuating irony.  In fact, Mr. Newby had silenced nearly every opponent, and he stood out as the champion religious debater of the community, at the time of our narrative.  He had vanquished all his foes, and now gloried in his supremacy.