Page:Doctor Syn - A Smuggler Tale of the Romney Marsh.djvu/17

Rh whose voices had been cracked these many years at the tiller, would roll out some sturdy old tune like a giant pæan, shaking the very church with its fury, and sounding more like a rum-backed capstan song than a respectable, God-fearing hymn. They felt it was worth while kneeling through those long, long prayers to have a go at the hymns. The Doctor never chose solemn ones, or, if he did, it made no odds, for just the same were they bellowed like a chanty, and it was with a long-drawn note of regret that the seafaring choir drawled out the final Amen.

Very often when a hymn had gone with more spirit than usual the Doctor would thump on the desk of the three-decker, addressing the choir with a hearty, "Now, boys, that last verse once again," and then, turning to the congregation, he would add: "Brethren, for the glory of God and for our own salvation we will sing the—er—the last two verses once again." Whereat Mr. Rash would scrape anew upon the fiddle, Doctor Syn would pound out the rhythm with a flat banging on the pulpit side, and after him would thunder the sea salts from the choir with an enthusiasm that bade fair to frighten hell itself.

When they had hardly a note left in their bodies, the service would be rounded off by Doctor Syn, and the congregation would gather in little groups outside the church to bid him a good-night. But Doctor Syn would take some minutes changing his black gown for