"To the church, to hear the Bible reading!" repeated the stranger with a smile. "That would have been a strange sound years ago, when I left this place. Do they then have regular Bible readings in the church?"
"Ay, sir, every afternoon."
"And do many people attend to hear?'
"Oh, yes, sir. My master hardly ever misses, and, beside that, he reads in the Bible to his family every morning. You may see the great book lying yonder beside his chair."
"Is your master well in health?"
"Ay, sir, extraordinary well and stout for a man of his age, specially since he married my mistress."
"So he is married!" exclaimed the visitor. "And who is the new dame?"
"I do not know her right name," returned the shopman. "She used to live here years ago, and then we called her Madam Barbara. She was a nun once in the same convent with poor Mistress Anne, or so I have heard. Anyhow, she is a good mistress and makes my master a very happy home. But will you not sit down, sir? They will soon be home."
"I thank you, but I will walk toward the church and meet them," said Jack Lucas; for as our readers have guessed, it was none but he. "I have been long abroad, but I was bred here and know all the streets of the town well."
A few minutes after, Jack entered the church of St. Mary, where a tolerable congregation was assembled. The great Bible, chained safely to its stand, was placed in the open space in front of the chancel, and a young man whom Jack recognized as a former schoolmate was reading from the Gospel of St. John. Around him were grouped people of all classes: gentlemen and ladies, citizens with their wives and children, and sailors from the river, all eagerly listening to the Word of God, while at the edge of the crowd stood two or three priests with scowling brows, evidently highly displeased with the whole affair.