Page:Under the greenwood tree (1872 Volume 1).pdf/179

This page has been validated.
INTERVIEW WITH THE VICAR.
165

conveying the notion that volumes of mud had to be removed; but the roads being so clean that not a particle of dirt appeared on the choir's boots (those of all the elder members being newly oiled, and Dick's brightly polished), this wiping must be set down simply as a desire to show that these respectable men had no intention or wish to take a mean advantage of clean roads for curtailing proper ceremonies. Next there came a powerful whisper from the same quarter:—

'Now stand stock-still there, my sonnies, one and all! and don't make no noise; and keep your backs close to the wall, that company may pass in and out easy if they want to without squeezing through ye: and we two be enough to go in.' . . . . . The voice was the tranter's.

'I wish I could go in, too, and see the sight!' said a reedy voice—that of Leaf.

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.