A God in Israel by Maud Van Buren

_Norman Duncan_

James Falcontent, of Groot & McCarthy, was in the most singular fashion / to be imagined struck with ominous amazement. And big James Falcontent / had got well past the years of simplicity; he was not easily startled. / The Fifth Avenue bus had stopped; Falcontent had glanced up from his / musing-a purely commercial calculation, being nothing more romantic / than some trick of the trade having to do with the sale of boots and / shoes. But what Falcontent had then observed-he was gently yawning / at the time-nevertheless astounded him beyond recent experience. / Moreover, it led him eventually to far-away places and engrossed him in / preposterous emotions. Here, indeed, was the first flutter of the wings / of Fate. No; it was not a woman. A splendid, high-stepping, modish / creature, of impeccable propriety, of gracious, aristocratic demeanor, / might mildly have interested James Falcontent in passing. But since the / last departure of Matilda-well, since the death of Falcontent's wife, / Falcontent had persuaded himself that women were not at all pertinent / to his life in the world. No; it was not a woman. Nothing of the sort! / A church had dumfounded Falcontent.[10]