How was it that William
had not come? In much anxiety he went to seek for help, and soon there
were several friends assembled in the house, the minister among
them, while Silas went away to his work, wishing he could have met
William to know the reason of his non-appearance. But at six
o'clock, as he was thinking of going to seek his friend, William came,
and with him the minister. They came to summon him to Lantern Yard, to
meet the church members there; and to his inquiry concerning the cause
of the summons the only reply was, 'You will hear.' Nothing further
was said until Silas was seated in the vestry, in front of the
minister, with the eyes of those who to him represented God's people
fixed solemnly upon him. Then the minister, taking out a pocket-knife,
showed it to Silas, and asked him if he knew where he had left that
knife? Silas said, he did not know that he had left it anywhere out of
his own pocket- but he was trembling at this strange interrogation. He
was then exhorted not to hide his sin, but to confess and repent.
The knife had been found in the bureau by the departed deacon's
bedside- found in the place where the little bag of church money had
lain, which the minister himself had seen the day before. Some hand
had removed that bag; and whose hand could it be, if not that of the
man to whom the knife belonged? For some time Silas was mute with
astonishment: then he said, 'God will clear me: I know nothing about
the knife being there, or the money being gone.
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