He stood for a moment facing them before he took his place.He was a man of great size, old now but holding himself absolutely erect.He was dressed in a plain black gown with a low, white collar and a white tie.This long gown added to his height, but the width of the shoulders and neck, and the carriage of his head showed that he was a man built on a noble scale.His hair was snow-white and he wore a beard, that was in startling contrast against his black gown.His cheeks were of high colour, his eyes blue; he was older than Maggie had expected and must, she thought, be over seventy.His whole bearing and behaviour was of a man who had enjoyed great physical health.His expression was mild and simple, dignified but not proud, utterly unconscious of self, earnest and determined, lacking in humour perhaps.There was nothing in the least theatrical about him and yet he conveyed an impression that was startling and dramatic.
His was a figure that would have been noticed anywhere, if only for its physical health and shining cleanliness.Maggie felt that to many people there his entrance was a sensation, sought for and expected by them.So startling was the impression that he made upon herself that she wondered that the chapel was not crowded by an excited throng.She liked him at once, felt that she would be at ease with him as she had never been with anybody in her life.And yet behind this there was perhaps some subtle sense of disappointment.He was not mysterious, he did not seem very clever;he was only an old man, magnificently preserved.There was no fear nor wonder in her attitude to him.He could not convince her, she thought, of things that she herself had not seen.
He knelt and prayed for a moment before his desk, then he rose and, with his hands resting on the wood before him, said: "Let us offer thanks to Almighty God that He has kept us in safety and in health during the past week." They all knelt down.He prayed then, in a voice that was soft and clear and that hid behind the words a little roughness of accent that was not unpleasant.His prayer was extempore, and he addressed God intimately and almost conversationally."Thou knowest how we are weak and foolish, our faults are all known to Thee and our blunders are not hid, therefore we thank Thee that Thou hast not been impatient with us, but, seeing that we are but little children in Thy hands, hast deemed the thunderbolt too heavy for our heads and the lightning too blinding for our eyes.With humble hearts we thank Thee, and pray that Thou wilt keep us mindful of Thy coming, that we may be found watching, with our loins girt and our lamps lit, waiting in prayer for Thy dreadful day..."During this prayer Maggie was conscious of a strange excitement.She knelt with her eyes tightly closed, but through the darkness she felt as though he were addressing her alone.She seemed to approach him, to feel his hands upon her shoulders, to hear his voice in her ears.When she rose at the ending of the prayer it was as though she had definitely passed through some door into a new room.Then, rising, she was conscious that the laughing eyes of the young lady in blue were again trying to hold her own.She refused to look--she coloured, hanging her head so that her eyes should not be caught.