Whereupon all these silly young ladies laughed long and heartily over this silly talk.  Flossy laughed with the rest, partly from the force of habit and partly because this recital struck her as very foolish.  Every one of them saw its inconsistent side as plainly as though they had been Christians for years; more plainly, perhaps, for it is very strange what blinded eyes we can get under certain systems of living the religious faith.

Presently the society of these young ladies palled upon themselves, and they agreed one with another that they had been very silly not to go to meeting, and that another evening they would at least discover what was being said before they lost the opportunity for getting seats.

“Stupid set!” said Eurie “who imagined that the crowd would do such a silly thing as to rush to that meeting, as if there were nothing else to do but to go flying off for a seat the moment the bell rings?  I thought there would be crowds out here, and we would make some pleasant acquaintances, and perhaps get a chance to take a boat ride.”

And so, in some disgust, they voted to bring the first day at Chautauqua to a sudden close and try tent life.

Silence and darkness reigned in the tent where our girls had disposed of themselves.  It was two hours since they had come in.  It took more than an hour, and much talking and more laughter, not to mention considerable grumbling on Ruth’s part, before everything was arranged to their satisfaction—­or, as Ruth expressed it, “to their endurance” for the night.

Three of the girls were sleeping quietly, their fun and their discontents alike forgotten, but Flossy tossed wearily on her bed, turned her pillow and turned it back again, and sought in vain for a quiet spot.  With the silence and the darkness her unrest had come upon her again with tenfold force.  She felt no nearer a solution of her trouble than she had in the morning; in fact, the pain had deepened all day, and the only definite feeling she had about it now was that she could not live so; that something must be done; that she must get back to her home and her old life, where she might hope to forged it all and be at peace again.

Into the quiet of the night came a firm, manly step, and the movement of chairs right by her side, so at least it seemed to her.  All unused to tent life as she was a good deal startled she raised herself on one elbow and looked about her in a frightened way before she realized that the sounds came from the tent next to theirs.  Before her thoughts were fairly composed they were startled anew; this time with the voice of prayer.

Very distinct the words were on this still night air; every sentence as clear as though it had really been spoken in the same tent.  Now, there was something peculiar in the voice; clearly cut and rounded the words were, like that of a man very decided, very positive in his views, and very earnest in his life.  There was also a modulation to the syllables that Flossy could not describe, but that she felt And she knew that she had heard that voice twice before, once on the boat the evening before and once as they jostled together in the crowd on their way to dinner.