The square tower of Trinity Church threw its massive outline against
the faint glow of the city lights, keeping watch and ward over the
church, that had grown grey in the service of God, like a fortress of
the Lord planted on hostile ground. And they stood together, the grim
tower and the grey church, for a symbol of immemorial things--a
stronghold and a refuge.
The wedding party walked into the churchyard on tiptoe as if they were
trespassers. Then, unable to find the door in the dark, they walked
softly round the building, trying to see what was going on inside
through the stained-glass windows. Their suspicious movements
attracted the attention of the verger, and he followed them with
stealthy movements, convinced that they meditated a burglary. When he
learned their errand, he took charge of the party. They entered the
church like foreigners in a remote land. Another wedding was in
progress, so they sat down in the narrow, uncomfortable pews, waiting
their turn. When Chook caught sight of the Canon in his surplice and
bands, he uttered a cry of amazement.
"Look at the old bloke. 'E's wearin' 'is shirt outside!"
The two girls were convulsed, turning crimson with the effort to
repress their giggles. Mrs Yabsley was annoyed, feeling that they were
treating the matter as a farce.
"I'm ashamed o' yer, Chook," she remarked severely. "Yer the two ends
an' middle of a 'eathen. That's wot they call 'is surplus, an' I wish
I 'ad the job of ironin' it."
Order was restored, but at intervals the girls broke into ripples of
hysterical laughter. Then Chook saw the organ, with its rows of
painted pipes, and nudged Jonah.
"Wot price that fer a mouth-orgin, eh? Yer'd want a extra pair o'
bellows ter play that."
Jonah examined the instrument with the interest of a musician,
surprised by the enormous tubes, packed stiffly in rows, the plaything
of a giant; but he still kept an eye on the pair that were being
married, with the nervous interest of a criminal watching an execution.
The women, to whom weddings were an afternoon's distraction, like the
matinees of the richer, stared about the building. Mrs Yabsley, wedged
with difficulty in the narrow pew, pretended that they were made
uncomfortable on purpose to keep people awake during the sermon.
Presently Ada and Pinkey, who had been examining the memorial tablets
on the walls, began to argue whether the dead people were buried under
the floor of the church. Pinkey decided they were, and shivered at
the thought. Ada called her a fool; they nearly quarrelled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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