That gleam at the further end of the nave came from the organ-loft,
where the moonbeams had found out the great brass pipes, and were
playing all manner of tricks with them. Almost the red of the
holly-berries could be seen, and every pointed ivy-leaf and spike of
evergreen in the wreathings of the windows stood out in bold relief
against the shining panes. With this beautiful whiteness the red glow of
the fire blended, and flooded the chancel with a lovely pink light, in
which shone the gilded letters on the commandment-tables, and the
brasses of the tablets on the walls. It was a wonderful thing to see.
To study the roof better, Roger thought he would lie flat on the cushion
awhile, and look straight up. So he arranged himself comfortably, and
somehow--it _will_ happen, even when we are full of enjoyment and
pleasure--his eyes shut, and the first thing he knew he was rubbing them
open again, only a minute afterward, as it seemed; but Grandfather was
gone. There was the stove closed for the night, and the great door at
the end of the aisle was shut. He jumped up in a fright, as you can
imagine, and ran to see, and shook it hard. No: it was locked, and poor
Roger was fastened in for the night.
He understood it all in a moment. The tall pew had hidden him from
sight. Grandfather had thought him gone home; his mother would ever
doubt that he was safe at the other cottage; no one would miss him, and
there was no chance of being let out before morning.
He was only six years old, so no wonder that at first he felt choked and
frightened, and inclined to cry. But he was a brave lad, and that idea
soon left him. He began to think that he was not badly off, after
all,--the church was warm, the pew-cushion as soft as his bed. No one
could get in to harm him. In fact, after the first moment, there was
something so exciting and adventurous in the idea of spending the night
in such a place, that he was almost glad the accident had happened. So
he went back to the pew, and tried to go to sleep again.
That was not so easy. Did you ever get thoroughly waked up in the night
by a sudden fright? Do you remember how your eyes wouldn't stay shut
afterward, even when you closed them tight, but jerked open almost
against your will, as if a string was fastened to them and some one was
twitching it? Just so poor Roger felt. He lay still and kept himself
quiet for a moment, and then some little noise would come, and his heart
beat and his eyes be wide open in a minute. It was a coal dropping from
the fire, or a slight crack on the frosty panes: once a little mouse
crept out from the chancel, glaring shyly about with his bright eyes,
nibbled a moment at a leaf on the carpet and then crept back again. No
other living thing disturbed the quiet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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