Pye on the
conclusion of the service, and said the boy ought not to be allowed to
sing alone again.
Mr. Pye bent his head forward to catch a glimpse of the choristers,
five of whom sat on his side of the choir, the _decani_; five on the
opposite, or _cantori_ side. So far as he could see, the boy, Stephen
Bywater, who ought to have taken the anthem, was not in his place.
There appeared to be only four of them; but the senior boy with his
clean, starched surplice, partially hid those below him. Mr. Pye
wondered where his eyes could have been, not to have noticed the boy's
absence when they had all been gathered round the entrance, waiting for
the judges.
Had Mr. Pye's attention not been fully engrossed with his book,
As the service had gone on, he might have seen the boy opposite to
him; for there sat Bywater, before the bench of king's scholars,
and right in front of Mr. Pye. Mr. Pye's glance fell upon him now,
and he could scarcely believe it. He rubbed his eyes, and looked,
and rubbed again. Bywater there! and without his surplice! braving,
as it were, the head-master! What could he possibly mean by this act
of insubordination? Why was he not in his place in the school? Why
was he mixing with the congregation? But Mr. Pye could as yet obtain
no solution to the mystery.
The anthem came to an end; the dean had bent his brow at the solo, but
it did no good; and, the prayers over, the sheriff's chaplain ascended
to the pulpit to preach the sermon.
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