Besides ourselves, there were present ten or twelve boys, three or four old men, and two or three persons who looked slightly imbecile.

The service was read by the chaplain, whose voice was loud, authoritative, and repellant.

Some people would call it gruff.

It was certainly the most unpersuasive voice I ever heard.

As I listened to its domineering tones I could hardly refrain from laughing, for they elicited an old story from the depths of memory.