eady to accompany you?' 'I am not
ready, brother,' said Mr. Petulengro, 'nor is my wife; the church, too,
to which we shall go is three miles off {52}; so it is of no use to think
of going there this morning, as the service would be three-quarters over
before we got there; if, however, you are disposed to go in the
afternoon, we are your people.' Thereupon I returned to my dingle, where
I passed several hours in conning the Welsh Bible, which the preacher,
Peter Williams, had given me.

At last I gave over reading, took a slight refreshment, and was about to
emerge from the dingle, when I heard the voice of Mr. Petulengro calling
me. I went up again to the encampment, where I found Mr. Petulengro, his
wife, and Tawno Chikno, ready to proceed to church. Mr. and Mrs.
Petulengro were dressed in Roman fashion, though not in the full-blown
manner in which they had paid their visit to Isopel and myself. Tawno
had on a clean white slop, with a nearly new black beaver, with very
broad rims, and the nap exceedingly long. As for myself, I was dressed
in much the same manner as that in which I departed from London, having
on, in honour of the day, a shirt perfectly clean, having washed one on
purpose for the occasion, with my own hands, the day before, in the pond
of tepid water in which the newts and efts were in the habit of taking
their pleasure. We proceeded for upwards of a mile, by footpaths through
meadows and corn-fields; we crossed various stiles; at last, passing over
one, we found ourselves in a road, wending along which for a considerable
distance, we at last came in sight of a church, the bells of which had
been tolling distinctly in our ears for some time; before, however, we
reached the church-yard the bells had ceased their melody. It was
surrounded by lofty beech-trees of brilliant green foliage. We entered
the gate, Mrs. Petulengro leading the way, and proceeded to a small door
near the east end of the church. As we advanced, the sound of singing
within the church rose upon our ears. Arrived at the small door, Mrs.
Petulengro opened it and entered, followed by Tawno Chikno. I myself
went last of all, following Mr. Petulengro, who, before I entered, turned
round, and, with a significant nod, advised me to take care how I
behaved. The part of the church which we had entered was the chancel; on
one side stood a number of venerable old men--probably the neighbouring
poor--and on the other a number of poor