condition had not changed. She still
lay as if sleeping. Alice reported that once in the afternoon she had
moved her lips and distinctly called for water. Mr. Hardy and Bess sat
down to the supper table by themselves, and Bess again told how she had
been saved from even a scratch in that terrible fall. It was indeed
remarkable that the child did not suffer even from the general shock
and reaction of the disaster.

After a brief meal Mr. Hardy went upstairs to Clara again. His chief
anxiety now was for her. He believed that if the doctor's fears were
realised, she would become insane. It was hardly possible that a
person of her temperament and passion could be otherwise, in case she
should come to consciousness of her condition.

As the evening wore on, Mr. Hardy felt that his duty lay in his own
home, for that night, and he would have to see his minister some other
time. He thought of the prayer meeting with regret, and sat by the bed
of the unconscious girl, wondering how it was possible that for all
these years gone by he had been so indifferent to one of the best and
most precious opportunities for growing in spiritual manhood. He heard
the bell ring for service, and when it stopped he sat with his face in
his hands, praying.

The prayer meeting in Mr. Jones' church was generally a very quiet
affair. A good many people in the church, especially those who came to
the meeting only occasionally, thought it was stupid. But it was a
noticeable fact that those who attended regularly were the ones who did
the most work in the church, and the ones who grew stronger and sweeter
in the Christian life. There was usually no regular subject given out.
There was very little talking done. From beginning to close it was
nearly all prayer. Mr. Jones did not feel afraid of the long pauses.
He believed modern American life to be so full of nervousness and hurry
that it would not hurt anyone to sit still and think a minute or two.
That was the reason so many people called Mr. Jones' prayer meetings
dull; because they were not rushing all the time with sensational or
exciting remarks and incidents. Mr. Jones didn't believe that
sensation was what a prayer meeting was for, and he planned
accordingly. But this particular evening was an exception. The great
railroad accident so near them had stirred the entire community to the
depths of its sympathy. Several families in Mr. Jones' church had been
sufferers. As if by t