Lawrence  were  sewing  swiftly  on  the  same  little  dress,  with
now  and  then  a  whispered  conference  about  it.  Dr.  Mac-
Coll  was  rolling  bandages.  Mrs.  Prescott,  with  her  most
martyr-like  expression  and  her  crooked  glasses  astride  of
her  immense  nose,  was  making  her  weekly  attack  on  the
stocking-bag.  All  these  ladies  had  learned  by  long  practice
to  occupy  their  fingers  while  their  minds  were  concerned
with  the  business  of  the  meeting.  It  is  doubtful,  however,
whether  poor  little  Mrs.  Whiting  had,  at  first,  any  attention
to  spare  for  the  relief-work  discussion  in  which  her  husband
was  taking  so  vigorous  an  interest.  She  was  distressed,  to
begin  with,  because  George  had  refused  to  sit  beside  her,
knowing  as  he  did  that  one  of  his  ears  would  be  assailed  by
a  steady  stream  of  appeals.  George,  who  had  rather  a
plodding  mind,  found  it  very  disconcerting  to  recall  his
thoughts  from  a  question  of  tomans  and  chahis  to  the  decision
as  to  whether  his  son,  who  could  be  seen  from  the  window
playing  in  the  Lawrences'  back  yard,  was  likely  to  break

84


THE   STATION   MEETING  85

his  neck  if  he  fell  from  the  mulberry  tree,  which  must  have
been  at  least  six  feet  high.  Miss  Lea,  too,  was  so  absorbed
in  the  famine  that  she  failed  to  be  at  all  interested  in  nice
distinctions  of  pink  and  yellow,  the  feeling  for  which  formed
such  a  bond  between  her  and  Mrs.  Whiting.  That  dis-
tracted lady  was  obliged  on  this  occasion  to  pour  all  her
whisperings  into  the  ear  of  Mrs.  Prescott  who  was  hard  of
hearing  on  that  side,  and  replied  only  by  Jovine  nods  which
she  considered  an  eminently  Christian  concession  to  the
weak-mindedness  of  her  neighbor.  Mrs.  Franklin,  a  little
in  front  of  the  other  ladies,  and  just  behind  the  gentlemen,
was  sitting  easily  in  her  chair  with  her  hands  folded  in  her
lap  and  her  eyes  fixed  calmly  on  whatever  person  was
speaking.
