Katie burst into a fit of weeping, and could say no more. The Sergeant hung up the cage in its old place; then going to his wife, he gently clapped her shoulder, and bending over her whispered in her ear, "Dinna ye fear, Katie, aboot Charlie’s bairn!" Katie clasped her hands round his neck and drew his grey head to her cheek, patting it fondly. "Dry yer een, wifie," said Adam, "and feed the cratur, and syne we’ll gang to the kirk in the afternoon." He then retired to the bedroom, shut the door, and left Katie alone with her starling and her conscience--both at peace, and both whistling, each after its own fashion. CHAPTER VII THE SERGEANT ON HIS TRIAL The Sergeant went to church in the afternoon, but he went alone. Katie was unable to accompany him. "She didna like," she said. But this excuse being not quite satisfactory to her conscience, she had recourse to that accommodating malady which comes to the rescue of universal Christendom when in perplexity--a headache. In her case it really existed as a fact, for she suffered from a genuine pain which she had not sufficient knowledge or fashion to call "nervous", but which, more than likely, really came under that designation. Her symptoms, as described by herself, were that "her head was bizzin’ and bummin’ like a bees’ skep". As the Sergeant marched to church, with his accustomed regular pace and modest look, he could, without seeming to remark it, observe an interest taken in his short journey never manifested before. An extra number of faces filled the windows near his house, and looked at him with half smile, half sneer. There was nothing in the sermon of Mr. Porteous which indicated any wish to "preach to the times",--a temptation which is often too strong for preachers to resist who have nothing else ready or more interesting to preach about. Many in a congregation who may be deaf and blind to the Gospel, are wide-awake and attentive to gossip, from the pulpit. The good man delivered himself of an excellent sermon, which, as usual, was sound in doctrine and excellent in arrangement, with suitable introduction, "heads of discourse", and practical conclusion. His hearers, as a whole, were not of a character likely either to blame or praise the teaching, far less to be materially influenced by it. They were far too respectable and well-informed for that. They had "done the right thing" in coming to church as usual, and were satisfied. There was one remark often made in the minister’s praise, that he was singularly exact in preaching forty-five minutes, and in dismissing the congregation at the hour and a half. But there were evident signs of life in the announcement which he made at the end of this day’s service. He "_particularly_ requested a meeting of Kirk Session in the vestry after the benediction, and expressed a hope that _all_ the elders would, if possible, attend".