As they rose from table, a gentleman passed through; they had passed each other every day for a week; they had no idea what his name was, and I suppose he knew as little about them. But he paused before them:
"Good-bye," he said. And held out his hand, "I hope we shall all meet at the assembly up there!"
"Good-bye," they answered, and they shook hands. None of them smiled, none of them thought it strange; though they had never been introduced! It was the Chautauqua brotherhood of feeling. But after two weeks of experience and much practice in that line, it was impossible to rid onesself of the feeling that one must hurry down to the stand in order to secure seats; so they hurried, and had a new experience; they were among the first twenty on the ground.
"The audience will be utterly lost to-night in this immense array of seats;" Flossy said in dismay. "Doesn't it feel forlorn?" But they took their seats, and presently came Miss Ryder and seated herself at the piano in the twilight, and the tunes she played were soft and tender and weird.
"Every note says 'goodbye,'" said Ruth, and she gave a little sigh. Presently, the calcium lights began to glow, as usual, and meantime though everybody was supposed to have left; still, the people came from somewhere; and at last, dismayed voices began to say:
"Why! Did you ever see the like! I thought we should surely get good seats to-night? Where _do_ all the people come from."
"Look! Marion," said Eurie. "What would Dr. Harris think of such a congregation as this! They could not get into our church, could they?" But just then the hymn claimed attention:
How swiftly these days had glided away. How full they had been! During the prayer that followed, all heads bowed, and the silence that fell upon them made it seem that all hearts joined. Dr. Vincent was the first speaker. His manner and voice had changed. Both were subdued; he looked like a man who had been lifted up for a great mental strain and was gradually letting down again to earth.
"We are coming toward the close," he said. "We are more quiet than we have been here before. Familiar faces and forms that have moved in and out among these trees, for two weeks past, have gone. Only a few hours and we are going; only a few hours and utter silence will fall upon Chautauqua."