o encounter
the risk of meeting his gaze by turning their heads. So, with charitable
condescension they returned the slight church nod of prim Miss Tinley
passing, of the detestable Laura Tinley, of affected Rose Tinley (whose
complexion was that of a dust-bin), and of Madeline Tinley (too young
for a character beyond what the name bestowed), and then they arranged
their prayer-books, and apparently speculated as to the possible text
that morning to be given forth from the pulpit. But it seemed to them
all that an exceedingly bulky object had passed as guardian of the
light-footed damsels preceding him. Though none of the ladies had looked
up as he passed, they were conscious of a stature and a circumference
which they had deemed to be entirely beyond the reach of the Tinleys,
and a scornful notion of the Tinleys having hired a guardsman, made
Arabella smile at the stretch of her contempt, that could help her to
conceive the ironic possibility. Relieved on the suspicion that Albert
was in attendance of his sisters, they let their eyes fall calmly on
the Tinley pew. Could two men upon this earthly sphere possess such a
bearskin? There towered the shoulders of Mr. Pericles; his head looking
diminished by the hugeous collar. Arabella felt a seizure of her hand
from Adela's side. She placed her book open before her, and stared
at the pulpit. From neither of the three of Brookfield could Laura's
observation extract a sign of the utter astonishment she knew they must
be experiencing; and had it not been for the ingenuous broad whisper
of Mrs. Chump, which sounded toward the verge even of her conception of
possibilities, the Tinleys would not have been gratified by the first
public display of the prize they had wrested from the Poles.

"Mr. Paricles--oh!" went Mrs. Chump, and a great many pews were set in
commotion.

Forthwith she bent over Cornelia's lap, and Cornelia, surveying her
placidly, had to murmur, "By-and-by; by-and-by."

"But, did ye see 'm, my dear? and a forr'ner in a Protestant Church! And
such a forr'ner as he is, to be sure! And, ye know, ye said he'd naver
come with you, and it's them creatures ye don't like. Corrnelia!"

"The service commences," remarked that lady, standing up.

Many eyes were on Mr. Pericles, who occasionally inspected the cornices
and corbels and stained glass to right and left, or detected a young
lady staring at him, or anticipated her going to stare, and put her to
confusion by a s