 whisper that she was not
to make herself uneasy about the gentleman, as the gentleman said his
indisposition was of no consequence.
    Miss Nipper, feeling that the eyes of that integral portion of Europe which
lost itself weekly among the high-backed pews, were upon her, would have been
sufficiently embarrassed by this incident, though it had terminated here; the
more so, as the Captain in the front row of the gallery, was in a state of
unmitigated consciousness which could hardly fail to express to the congregation
that he had some mysterious connexion with it. But the extreme restlessness of
Mr. Toots painfully increased and protracted the delicacy of her situation. That
young gentleman, incapable, in his state of mind, of remaining alone in the
churchyard, a prey to solitary meditation, and also desirous, no doubt, of
testifying his respect for the offices he had in some measure interrupted,
suddenly returned - not coming back to the pew, but stationing himself on a free
seat in the aisle, between two elderly females who were in the habit of
receiving their portion of a weekly dole of bread then set forth on a shelf in
the porch. In this conjunction Mr. Toots remained, greatly disturbing the
congregation, who felt it impossible to avoid looking at him, until his feelings
overcame him again, when he departed silently and suddenly. Not venturing to
trust himself in the church any more, and yet wishing to have some social
participation in what was going on there, Mr. Toots was, after this, seen from
time to time, looking in, with a lorn aspect, at one or other of the windows;
and as there were several windows accessible to him from without, and as his
restlessness was very great, it not only became difficult to conceive at which
window he would appear next, but likewise became necessary, as it were, for the
whole congregation to speculate upon the chances of the different windows,
during the comparative leisure afforded them by the sermon. Mr. Toots's
movements in the churchyard were so eccentric, that he seemed generally to
defeat all calculation, and to appear, like the conjurer's figure, where he was
least expected; and the effect of these mysterious presentations was much
increased by its being difficult to him to see in, and easy to everybody else to
see out: which occasioned his remaining, every time, longer than might have been
expected, with his face close to the glass, until he all at once became aware
that all eyes were upon him, and vanished.
    These proceedings on the part of Mr. Toots,
