The sound stilled the singing for a second, and Mervyn, a genius in
emotion, seized on the propitious moment.
"Let us pray!" he cried, falling on his knees, "let us pray for our
brothers and sisters who are still in bondage!"
Without an instant's hesitation the congregation of the elect followed
suit, leaving the few standing, uncertain. Amongst them, Myfanwy
Jones. Her face showed a sudden fear, not unmixed with resentment; but
Mervyn had leapt from the platform and was beside her, his face
brilliant, ere she could decide on either.
"Do not go!" he whispered passionately. "Listen! The door is open--we
wait for you! we want you, Myfanwy!"
The girl turned to him. A faint tremor showed in her full, lithe
figure; her lip trembled. Another moment and she would have given way,
but that moment brought another factor to the equation of assent.
"Yes! We want you, Myfanwy! We wait for you!"
It was a girl's voice, and Myfanwy flashed round on it superbly
self-possessed. "Thank you much, Alicia Edwards," she said in clear
tones, "but there is no need for you to wait at all. I am going!"
And go she did, with her head held high, a sphinxlike calm of malice
in her face, the _frou-frou_ of her silken skirts heard above the
sudden silence which fell upon the chapel.
It had needed but this example to make other hesitants follow. The
congregation, taken aback, looked for guidance and got it from Gwen.
"I will not let thee go!" she chanted in still clearer, higher tones
as she threw out her hands to those retreating souls. "Yea, I will not
let thee go, except thou bless me. Where thou goest I will go. Thy God
shall be my God! Follow! Follow!"
The cry was caught up readily, as all her cries were, when as now, her
nervous equilibrium was disturbed. So on the heels of the retreating
few, the many swept out into the chill, frost-bound moonlit night.
The utter peace of it, its cold indifference, disturbed by no
questionings, struck like a knife to Morris Pugh's heart as he
followed also, uncertain whether to accompany his flock on their
midnight visitations, or go home to pray in secret for the salvation
of sinners.
He chose the latter, and as he closed the door of his room the rousing
chorus of a revival hymn echoed out under the stars of heaven, making
him think sadly, how far away these were, for all their brightness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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