Page:The silent prince - a story of the Netherlands (IA cu31924008716957).pdf/34

 who, though unable by reason of feebleness to defend their faith, yet were willing to suffer for its preservation. Tender women were there with faces of sweet resignation. Boys and girls hardly old enough to grasp the great truths of their faith, or to fully comprehend its dangers, were there, as well as men in the prime of their life, who were fully determined to fight valiantly for their own convictions. Calamity and ruin menaced every one present, yet the audience sat listening with eagerness to every word which fell from the lips of their beloved preacher; words which, if overheard by their enemies, would deliver them over to certain destruction. A hymn was being sung when the hairdresser and his companion entered the cellar. They sat down in the rear of the audience, unobserved, except for a few persons. The only light in the cellar was from a single lamp, so placed that its rays shone directly upon the preacher's face, and brought out in bold relief his stern, pale features. Thought and sorrow and hardship had ploughed deep furrows on that noble countenance, and robbed it of every vestige of color. Pale as marble, it gleamed from under the dark hair. His eyes surveyed his unlettered audience, and seemed to divine the secret thoughts of the men and women before him.

The preacher was attired in a dark suit, noticeable for its simplicity and lack of ornamentation.