It
was suddenly discovered that the Chapmans were also absent.
An indignant female got up and proposed that some one "go for" the
Chapmans, and make them explain what it all meant. Another, equally
indignant, took a more sensible view of things. "If there's to be no
service," said she, "I'm going home to read my Bible in quiet." And she
left the church, followed by the rest of the congregation. And as nobody
explained, of course every one had his or her own reason for this
singular turn in the spiritual affairs of the new church. There was no
getting over the fact that the new church had been brought to a stand
still. To be plain about the matter, the Reverend Warren Holbrook had
put his great progressive ideas into practice during the night by
leaving the town, and also by taking with him the young woman to whom he
had been paying such marked attentions. The Tappan Zee had never been
more troubled in a storm than was the moral sensibilities of Nyack at
this news. The very atmosphere was rank with scandal. The men laughed
and jeered, and the women shook their heads and talked of nothing else.
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