News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1903-02-25

church services, which in so many
cases have no other meaning than
pride and vainglory of the partici-
pants. But l forget myself" Gordon
smiled sadly. 81 am not fit to criti-
else the church, who for so many
years dishOnored her with lip service
and formal worship"
you have as much right to criticise
her as any Christian if you do it in the
right spirit" Falmouth said gently.
Then he added: Let us have prayer
together before you go. We need to
ask forgiveness for many things and
wisdom for everything"
So the two men kneeled while the
minister prayed 1t was a good, strong
sturdy prayer that did John Gordon
! good. There was no whining, no cant,
no complaining. An honest heart plea
for more strength, more liberation,
| more faith, more love, more patience
and Gordon, after Il hearty handshake
went out and back to Hope House.
where he had agreed to meet Falmouth
and the singers a little before O'clock
AT 3 O'Clock Bowen street was fully
|
taking place. A funeral in Bowen
street was as a rule an informal affair
in which the immediate neighbors were
! alphabetically interested. But this af-
| fair Of the defOrmed Louie CaylOr
| promised unusual developments. Word
| had gone around that Tommy Randall
| had been temporarily "downed" in Il
''set to" with one of the gents from
! Hope House, but that before the funcr-
al was over he would be on top of the
| pile, so to speak, and everybody salts
| fed. SO Bowen street poured into the
! court Of No. 81 and cholled the narrow
| stairways and back yards commanding
a possible view of the funeral party.
When John Gordon, Falmouth and
| the quartet turned into the court off
| the street, the amazement of the diff
| fcrent members Of the choir had given
way to an expression Of disgust min
gled with actual fear.
For PHYS sake Mr.. Falmouth,
! where are you taking us?' exclaimed
the tenor, a distinguished looking man,
well known in musical circles as
growing singer ut fashionable recep-
tons. The soprano, a young woman of
some beauty, and the alto, little older,
but a woman of real strength of eX-
preston, drew closer together as the
miscellaneous crowd of Bowen street
pressed nearer and the real horror of
the place began to make itself felt.
The gentleman who sang bass was
with John Gordon and was looking at
him with look of intense Indignation,
as if he We're the real cause of bringing
the party into the place.
''Do you wish to go back? You can
if you wish" Falmouth said quietly.
NO. no; but this is horrible 1t is
past all belief. Is it safe for the ladies?
VIII they be able
Perfectly safe, ladies'" John Gordon
spoke with touch of grimness. "Peo-
pie are born and live and die here
Safe enough, l 97sure you"
He led the wa. promptly, asking the
people to give lem room. How the
quartet ever III, to get up that stair
case where Mr.. Marsh nearly tainted
no one can tell except themselves The
soprano said afterward that it was a
miracle that any of them ever came
out of it alive And her Indignation at
the Rev. Paul Falmouth was so deep
that nothing but financial considera-
tons could induce her to sing in the
Rev FalmOuth's church again.
The corridor in front Of Mrs. Caylor's
was packed almost solid with I'M
washed humanity although everybody
was dressed in the best garments he
possessed. Tommy Randall was on
hand as general manager. He was OBJ
sequious and even seemingly fawning
to the Rev. Paul Falmouth. He spoke
good naturedly to Gordon and gave
everybody the impression that the
whole arrangement was Of his own
planning. And in fact that night when
Gordon ran over all the incidents of
that remarkable day he almost smiled
to think that Tommy Randall had
scored a triumph with Louie's funeral
as the background.
The quartet sat out in the corridor.
and the minister stood in the doorway
where he could be heard by the crowd
in the rooms and outside. The three
rooms We're iammed with a promiscu-
Gus mob that was packed into every
conceivable corner and left the under
taker and Tommy Randall merely room |
enough to squeeze themselves in close
up by the coffin. Gordon was assigned |
place by Mrs. Caylor. Out on the |
roofs that commanded a view of the
minister and the singers motley |
crowd of children, boys, young men
and old women and babies was clus-
tered in various degrees of more or less
noisy interest, which quoted down to |
an intense stiffness when the quartet |
rose to sing the first selection.