Already Evelyn trembled inwardly.  The silence was quick with possibility; anything might happen—­he might even publicly reprove her from the pulpit, and to strengthen her nerves against this influence, she compared the present tension to that which gathered her audience together as one man when the moment approached for her to come on the stage.  All were listening, as if she were going to sing; it remained to be seen if the effect of his preaching equalled that of her singing.  She was curious to see.

“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”  In introducing this text he declared it to be one of the most beautiful and hopeful in Scripture.  Was it the sweet, clear voice that lured the different minds and led them, as it were, in leash?  Or was it that slow, deliberate, persuasive manner?  Or was it the benedictive and essentially Christian creed which he preached that disengaged the weight from every soul, allowing each to breathe an easier and sweeter breath?  To one and all it seemed as if they were listening to the voice of their own souls, rather than that of a living man whom they did not know, and who did not know them.  The preacher’s voice and words were as the voices they heard speaking from the bottom of their souls in moments of strange collectedness.  And as if aware of the spiritual life he had awakened, the preacher leaned over the pulpit and paused, as if watching the effect of his will upon the congregation.  The hush trembled into intensity when he said, “Yes, and not only in heaven, but on earth as well, there shall be joy when a sinner repents.  This can be verified, not in public places where men seek wealth, fame and pleasure—­there, there shall be only scorn and sneers—­but in the sanctuary of every heart; there is no one, I take it, who has not at some moment repented.”  Instantly Evelyn remembered Florence.  Had her repentance there been a joy or a pain?  She had not persevered.  At that moment she heard the preacher ask if the most painful moments of our lives were the result of our having followed the doctrine of Jesus or the doctrine of the world?  He instanced the gambler and the libertine, who willingly confess themselves unhappy, but who, he asked, ever heard of the good man saying he was unhappy?  The tedium of life the good man never knows.  Men have been known to regret the money they spent on themselves, but who has ever regretted the money he has spent in charity?  But even success cannot save the gambler and libertine from the tedium of existence, and when the preacher said, “These men dare not be alone,” Evelyn thought of Owen, and of her constant efforts to keep him amused, distracted; and when the preacher said it was impossible for the sinner to abstract himself, to enter into his consciousness without hearing it reprove him, Evelyn thought of herself.  The preacher made no distinctions; all men, he said, when they are sincere with themselves, are aware of the difference between good and evil living.  When they listen the voice is always audible; even those who purposely close their ears often hear it.  For this voice cannot be wholly silenced; it can be stifled for a while, but it can be no more abolished than the sound of the sea from the shell.  “As a shell, man is murmurous with morality.”