It never appeared
twice in the same place, and when at last Sewell had tutored the
sexton carefully in Lemuel's dress, he was driven to despair one
morning when he saw the boy sliding along between the seats in the
gallery, and sitting down with an air of satisfaction in an entirely
new suit of clothes.
After this defeat the sexton said with humorous sympathy, "Well,
there ain't anything for it now, Mr. Sewell, but a detective, or
else an advertisement in the Personals."
Sewell laughed with him at his joke, and took what comfort he could
from the evidence of prosperity which Lemuel's new clothes offered.
He argued that if Barker could afford to buy them he could not be in
immediate need, and for some final encounter with him he trusted in
Providence, and was not too much cast down when his wife made him
recognise that he was trusting in Luck. It was an ordeal to look
forward to finding Lemuel sooner or later among his hearers every
Sunday; but having prepared his nerves for the shock, as men adjust
their sensibilities to the recurrent pain of a disease, he came to
bear it with fortitude, especially as he continually reminded
himself that he had his fixed purpose to get at Lemuel at last and
befriend him in any and every possible way. He tried hard to keep
from getting a grudge against him.
At the hotel, Lemuel remained in much of his original belief in the
fashion and social grandeur of the ladies who formed the majority of
Mrs.
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