The End of the RainbowMacGregor, Mary Esther Miller
Philosophy
The End of the Rainbow
MacGregor, Mary Esther Miller
Canada -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
The congregation slowly filed put of the pews and down the aisles,
chatting in soft hushed voices, until the organist pulled out all the
stops and played a lively air, and then the conversation rose to suit
the accompaniment. Mr. McPherson had objected to the pipe-organ, to
the hired organist from the city, and finally and most vigorously to
the musical dispersion of the congregation. If the body must play for
the church service, Jock conceded, well, he must; but why he must paw
and trample and harry the noisy thing, when church was over and done
with, was a mystery that no right thinking person could solve. The
organist, when approached with the elder's objections, had answered
with dignity that all the city churches did it, and Jock's case was
hopelessly lost. For when Algonquin was told that in the city they did
thus and so, then Algonquin would do that thing too if it had meant
burning down the church. So the congregation went down the aisles,
sailing merrily on a flood of gay music, and as they went, Miss Annabel
introduced the new teacher to several of the young folk of the church,
who asked her to join the Christian Endeavor and the Young Women's
Society, and the Young People's Bible class and to come to the picnic
to-morrow afternoon in the park and the moonlight sail on Friday
evening, and assured her that she would like Algonquin, and wasn't it a
very pretty place?
As they passed down the steps, a slim young man, dressed immaculately
in the height of fashion, came tripping up to them and addressed Miss
Annabel in the most abjectly polite manner.
"Good morning, Mr. Wilbur," said the lady coldly, "I am sure you must
welcome Sunday. I suppose you are working so hard these days." It was
very cruel of Miss Annabel, for poor Afternoon Tea Willie had not yet
been able to get an introduction to the lady of his dreams, and he
really did work very hard indeed, and his was the employment from which
there was no respite even on Sundays. But she hurried Helen on without
further notice of him. Roderick was watching the little play with some
amusement as he stood waiting for his father, who had stopped to have a
word with the minister. As he did so he was puzzled to see Fred
Hamilton pass him without so much as a word. He was concluding that
his old acquaintance had not seen him, when he heard a merry laugh at
his elbow and there stood Miss Leslie Graham.
"Did you see poor Freddy?" she cried. "Oh, dear, dear, I told on him
after all, and he's mad at everybody in the town, you included,
evidently. Now here's Daddy. He's dying to meet you. Here, Dad, this
is the man that did the deed."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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