There was no one in sight, and
Tode crept quietly across the porch through the wide vestibule to the
church door. Only the sexton was there, and his back was toward the
boy as he stood looking out of the opposite door.
"Now's my time," thought Tode, and he ran swiftly and silently up the
aisle to the pew where the bishop had placed him. There he hesitated.
He was not sure which of several pews was the one, but with a quick
glance at the sexton's back, he slipped into the nearest, and hearing
the man's footsteps approaching, dropped to the floor and crawled
under the seat.
The sexton came slowly down the aisle, stopping here and there to
arrange books or brush off a dusty spot. He even entered the pew where
Tode was, and moved the books in the rack in front, but the boy lay
motionless in the shadow, and the man passed on without discovering
him.
Then the people began to come in, and Tode was just about to get up
and sit on the seat, when a lady and a little girl entered the pew.
The boy groaned inwardly. "They'll screech if I get up now," he
thought. "Nothin' for it but to lay here till it's over. Wal', I c'n
hear _him_ anyhow."
"Him," in Tode's thought was the bishop, and he waited patiently
through the early part of the service, longing to hear again that
rich, strong, thrilling voice.
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