The thin, nearsighted young woman who had been humped over the keyboard of the melodeon, straightened up.

The worshipers relaxed a little and began to look about.
Then the captain adjusted his spectacles and opened a Bible, which he took from the table beside him.

Clearing his throat, he announced that he would read from the Word, tenth chapter of Jeremiah: "'Thus saith the Lord.

Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
"'For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workmen, with the ax.'" He read in a measured singsong, stopping occasionally to hold the book in a better light and peering at the fine print through his spectacles.
And as he read, there was a sudden rustle on one of the back benches.

A child had turned, stared, and pulled at its mother's sleeve.