Nannie Davies had bustled out among the first, and was calling loudly from the very door of the sanctuary to the boy to put in the horse; she had a strident voice, and crooked her forefinger as she beckoned him from his lair in the bushes with a gesture only known to the lower orders.
Mrs. Walters was the last to remain. The man in black came down from his platform and stood talking to her for some time with his back to the departing people. At last they shook hands, and the black silk skirt was rustling towards the entrance when she caught sight of the sleeping man.
She paused in front of him, but he did not move. The window above his head shone straight in her eyes, making his figure seem dim; she did not doubt any more than did the rest of the worshippers that he was praying devoutly, and, as she had only just turned in his direction, she had no idea how long he had remained in that attitude. She suspected some spiritual conflict, and, like Saint Paul, would fain proclaim the Gospel in season and out of season. She touched him on the shoulder.
“You are very earnest in prayer, young man,” she said solemnly. “May the words of Grace we have heard sink into your heart.”
An overpowering confusion covered George. “I wasn’t praying, ma’am; I was asleep,” he stammered as he rose.
“Sleeping in this holy place? In the very sound of the Word? Shame on you! Shame on you indeed!”
“I couldn’t help it. I didn’t mean——”
“Come with me outside,” said Mrs. Walters. “Let us not forget that we are standing in the tabernacle of the Lord.”
She went out in front of him and he followed. Embarrassed as he was, he could not help being impressed, and, like Nannie, he felt that he had met with a person to be obeyed, though his idea was the result of instinct and hers of experience.
As they stood in the afternoon light she looked rather severely at his untidy dress; though he had put on the best clothes he possessed to go and see Mary, he had since trudged in them for the greater part of two days and slept in them on the preceding night. His unhandsome aspect did not speak well for him.