Pagina 65 di 416

Into the hall, meant to accommodate two hundred, three hundred

people were packed. The men in their rusty black, the women in

their simple white or flowered dresses, the children brushed and

pig-tailed, had all brought their Sunday manners and serious,

attentive faces.

On the low platform presently appeared the Rev. Adelbert Bysshe

and Squire Hardy. The rector was a young man with a thin, ascetic

face. His mouth was pursed into a small line, and he wore large,

round spectacles to aid his faded blue eyes. His clerical garb

could not conceal the hesitating awkwardness of his manner, and

the embarrassment his hands and feet caused him seemed to be his

special cross in life.

When the audience had become quiet he rose and took his stand

before them, lowering his head and peering over his glasses.

"Friends," he said, "we have gathered here to-night to discuss

the welfare of Grande Mignon Island and the village of Freekirk

Head."