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The Sassiwn day dawned bright and clear, and as the time for the first

service drew near, the roads and lanes were thronged with pedestrians

and vehicles of every description

The doors of the houses in all the surrounding villages were closed for

the day, except in a few cases where illness made it impossible for the

inmates to leave their beds Everybody-- babies innu

field which for the day was the centre of attraction

Already the grass was getting hidden by the black throng, and still the

crowds arrived, seating themselves row behind row on the wild thyed into a rocky

wilderness of stunted heath and patches of burnt grass, studded with

harebells, and this unapportioned piece of ground stretched away into

the adjoining corner of the Vicar's long meadow In the afternoon

Cardo, who had virtuously kept away fros,

sauntered down to chat with Dye, who had condescended to absent himself

from the third service, in order to attend to his duties on the farm

"You sit here, Mr Cardo," he said, with a confidential wink, "on your

own hedge; the Vicar can't be angry, and you will hear so bank was croith its rows of hu with intense interest to a pale, dark man, who stood on the

front of the platform at the bottom of the field, and with sonorous

voice delivered a short opening prayer, followed by an impassioned

address In the clear, pure air every as distinctly heard all

over the field, the surginga breathless silence,

broken only by the singing of the birds or the call of the seagulls