Lewis glanced significantly at his wife. Her face expressed doubt and anxiety. Certainly it would be better for them all to go home at once rather than that John should spend his evening at the corners. Just what should she say at this juncture? She hesitated but a moment, then said quickly,—
"Why, we are going to stay to prayer-meeting; don't you suppose we want to see the effect of these improvements on the people?"
"To prayer-meeting!" echoed John; then, beyond a low, suddenly suppressed whistle, he said no more.
Their departure for the church had been delayed, and the work there had taken longer than had been anticipated, so that as the short winter day drew rapidly to its close, the lunch had finally to be disposed of in haste, in order that two or three unfinished matters might be accomplished before the hour for prayer-meeting. With very little idea as to what she should say, or whether it would be wise to say anything, Louise followed John to the organ corner, while he struggled to make the organist's broken seat less objectionable.
"The idea of allowing a church to run into shabbiness in this fashion!" he said with energy, a sneer in his voice; "shows how interested the people are in it."
"Why doesn't the sexton light the lamps on the other side?" questioned Louise, unwilling to enter into a discussion concerning the inconsistencies of the church, and really curious to understand the movements of that worthy the sexton.
"More than I know. They are all filled and trimmed, I am sure; perhaps he doesn't know that. He probably economizes by using the lamps on one side until they are empty, and then taking the other row."
"No," said Louise; "I see what it is done for—to compel the people to sit close together, and not spread over the entire church. It is a good idea, too."
"Yes," said John; "shows how many they expect!"
What strange power John had to throw meaning into a few words. This simple sentence started Louise; she glanced over the large church. What a very small corner of it was lighted and made habitable. Yet she felt her own faith was equal to even less than that amount of room; she struggled for some satisfying explanation.