But of this neither the preacher
nor his audience seemed to be aware, indeed, few of the latter were
listening at all. The sermon was short and ended with a passage of real
power and beauty--or rather it did not end, for, closing the MS. sheets,
Mr. Granger followed on with a few impromptu remarks of his own.
"And now, brethren," he said, "I have been preaching to you about
charity, but I wish to add one remark, Charity begins at home. There
is about a hundred pounds of tithe owing to me, and some of it has been
owing for two years and more. If that tithe is not paid I shall have to
put distraint on some of you, and I thought that I had better take this
opportunity to tell you so."
Then he gave the Benediction.
The contrast between this business-like speech, and the beautiful
periods which had gone before, was so ridiculous that Geoffrey very
nearly burst out laughing, and Beatrice smiled. So did the rest of the
congregation, excepting one or two who owed tithe, and Owen Davies, who
was thinking of other things.
As they went through the churchyard, Geoffrey noticed something.
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