I
recognised the Scollay family, Peter elder, Peter younger, Mrs.
Scollay, the two rosy daughters, and even poor Jock. The three or four
people I had spoken to in the afternoon were all there too. In fact I
saw every one I had consciously met before in that island, with three
exceptions. The doctor and O'Brien were not in church, and narrowly
though I looked, I saw no sign of the ancient with tinted spectacles
and a taste for wax matches.
I very soon was made aware that there was no fear of myself going
unobserved. At one time or another I caught every eye in that
congregation rivetted on me, and it only remained for me to give the
proper impression to carry away with them.
As I was unable to see myself as others saw me, I cannot say precisely
what effect I produced, but if a habit of looking suddenly and guiltily
at the floor when I caught a hard staring eye, a conspicuous difficulty
in following the order of the service and knowing what book to be picked
up and whether to kneel, sit, or stand, and peculiarly unpleasant shake
which I introduced into my top note--if all these manifestations failed
to convey the impression that I was a very suspicious person indeed,
well, all I can say is that they ought to have done so, and that that
congregation must have been singularly deficient in the proper kind of
imagination.
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