Page:Letters of Life.djvu/143

Rh startled the tranquillity of the congregation, as though a clarion had sounded in their midst. The music, being partially antiphonal, comprehended several stanzas. On we went complacently, until the last two lines:

There was the forte of the composer. Of course, it was our duty to give it full expression. Off led the treble, having the air, and expending con spirito upon the adjective "fiercer," especially its first syllable, about fourteen quavers, not counting semis and demis. After us came the tenor, in a more dignified manner, bestowing their principal emphasis on "flames." "No bolts, no bolts," shrieked a sharp counter of boys, whose voices were in the transition-state. But when a heavy bass, like claps of thunder, kept repeating the closing word "below," and finally all parts took up the burden, till, in full diapason, "guilty souls" and "fiercer flames below "reverberated from wall to arch, it was altogether too much for Puritanic patience. Such skirmishing had never before been enacted in that meeting-house. The people were utterly aghast. The most stoical manifested muscular emotion. Our mothers hid their faces with their fans. Up jumped the tithing-man, whose office it was to hunt out and shake refractory boys. The ancient deacons slowly moved in