I say,
that's on the smoke, isn't it? I seem to smell something, or is it
imagination? If the wicks are as badly trimmed as they were three
Sundays ago, I shall be tempted to copy the procedure of the House of
Commons, and _name_ a member." Then he smiled. "Yes, I shall name a
certain young sister who must have turned clumsy-fingered because she
was thinking of her fal-lals and her chignon, or her new hat, when
she ought to have been thinking of her duty to our lamps."
A ripple of gentle laughter, like a lightly dancing wave on a deep
calm sea, passed from the platform to the outer door; the lamplighters
went back to their seats; and the pastor with a change of voice said
solemnly: "Friends, let us pray."
Dale observed his manner of holding his hand to his forehead as if
seeking inspiration, the almost spasmodic movements of his mouth, the
sort of plaintive groan that started the prayer, and the steadily
accumulating earnestness with which it went on.
"O merciful and divine Father, supreme and omnipotent lord of Thy
created universe, vouchsafe unto this little knot of Thy lowly
creatures ..."
It was a long prayer; and Dale, surmising it to be an extempore
composition, admired Mr. Osborn's flow of language, command of erudite
words, and success in bringing some very intricate sentences to an
appropriate period.
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