I used to have a careful inspection made of the
floor to make sure that these creatures were not put back
in the new building, and I am happy to think it is not
suited to their habits. The floors are very well cemented,
and are dry and clean."
Having finished his story he invited me to go to the parsonage
and get some refreshment. "I daresay you are thirsty," he
said.
But it was getting late; it was almost dark in the church by
now, although the figure of the golden-haired saint still
glowed in the window and gazed at us out of her blue eyes. "I
must not waste more of your time," I added. "There are your
boys still patiently waiting to begin their practice - such
nice quiet fellows!"
"Yes, they are," he returned a little bitterly, a sudden
accent of weariness in his voice and no trace now of what I
had seen in his countenance a little while ago - the light that
shone and brightened behind the dark eye and the little play
about the corners of the mouth as of dimpling motions on the
surface of a pool.
And in that new guise, or disguise, I left him, the austere
priest with nothing to suggest the whimsical or grotesque in
his cold ascetic face.
