Every now and again, as he walked, some one or other glanced curiously
at him. The face of this or that passer-by would wear a look of
curiosity and interrogation, and then, in several instances, the wonder
changed into recognition, and the wayfarers felt almost sure that this
must indeed be the very man with whose name all London was ringing. But
no one followed him. No one could be quite sure of his identity, even
though it was more than once suspected, and walking so swiftly as he
did, he was far out of hail before anyone could make up his mind to
accost or follow him.
For his part Joseph heeded these significant signs and tokens of the
huge interest with which his personality was inspiring London very
little. He had not seen the morning papers, though he knew from what he
had heard in Berkeley Square that they were much occupied with his name
and doings. That was to be expected, he knew. But he did not care to see
what they were saying of him. He walked through the streets of London, a
man walking with God, holding high commune with the Eternal. But ere he
met his brethren, he was to have a very practical illustration of
London's excitement, and London was to have another sensation.
He had turned into the Euston Road, and was nearing the house which
sheltered his disciples, when he saw that a huge crowd stood before it.
The road was almost impassable for traffic, and a dozen stalwart
policemen urged the thick mass of humanity to move in vain.
Every face was turned up to the dingy red-brick front of the hotel.
There may have been nearly a thousand people there, and the crowd was
growing every moment, and every one was gazing up at the windows of the
house.
The strange thing about the crowd was that it was an absolutely silent
one. No one shouted or spoke, the thick clotted mass of humanity was
motionless and orderly, though it refused to obey the orders of the
police to disperse.
What had occurred was simple enough. The landlord of the hotel was
interested from the first in the band of grave, silent men who had
arrived at his house on the evening before. He had had but a few
moments' conversation with Joseph, but the interview had powerfully
affected him. Himself one of the sidesmen of a neighboring church, an
honest and God-fearing man, who ran his temperance hotel with
conspicuous decency in a street renowned for its bad and unsavory
reputation, the landlord had read all about the strange mountain revival
in Wales.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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