. Warlock. He was seated
in the side aisle with a thin, severe-looking woman beside him. He
stared straight in front of him, wriggling sometimes his broad back as
though he were a dog tied by a chain. Some one else very quickly
claimed Maggie's attention; this was a girl who, in the seat behind Mr.
Warlock, was as noticeable in that congregation as a bird-of-paradise
amongst a colony of crows. She was wearing a dress of light blue silk
and a large hat of blue with a grey bird in the front of it.

Her hair, beneath the hat, was bright gold, her cheeks were the
brightest pink and her eyes sparkled in a most lovely and fascinating
manner. She was immensely interesting to Maggie, who had never, in her
life, dreamed of anything so dazzling. She was very restless and
animated and self-conscious. There sat at her side a stout and solemn
woman, who was evidently from a strange, almost ironical likeness her
mother. The young lady seemed to regard both the place and the occasion
as the greatest joke in the world. She flung her eyes from one to
another as though inviting some one to share her merriment.

Amongst that black-garbed assembly the blue dress shone out as though
it would attract everything to itself. "She's very pretty," thought
Maggie, who was more conscious of her shabby clothes than ever. But her
chief feeling was of surprise that so brilliant a bird had been able to
penetrate into the chapel at all. "She must be a stranger just come out
of curiosity." Then the girl's eyes suddenly met Maggie's and held
them; the brilliant creature smiled and Maggie smiled in return. She
looked afterwards at Aunt Anne, but Aunt Anne, buried in her book of
devotions, had seen nothing.

Suddenly, after a strange wheeze and muffled scream, the harmonium
began. Every one looked up expectantly; Mr. Warlock, alone, appeared
from a door at the right of the screen and took his place behind the
desk.

He stood for a moment facing them before he took his place. He was a
man of great size, old now but holding himself absolutely erect. He was
dressed in a plain black gown with a low, white collar and a white tie.
This long gown added to his height, but the width of the shoulders and
neck, and the carriage of his head showed that he was a man built on a
noble scale. His hair was snow-white and he wore a beard, that was in
startling contrast against his black gown. His cheeks were of high
colour, his eyes blue; he was older than Maggie had exp