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on Fifth day, and sit all, all alone, till I feel it right to leave the house and go home.β
This lonely old worshipper once had an intimate friend, who for a long time was his only companion in the silent meeting.
At the close, they shook hands and walked off together, enjoying a kindly chat on their way home.
Unfortunately, some difficulty afterward occurred between them, which com pletely estranged them from each other.
Both still clung to their old place of worship.
They took their accustomed seats, and remained silent for a couple of hours; but they parted without shaking hands, or speaking a single word.
This alienation almost broke the old man's heart.
After awhile, he lost even this shadow of companionship, and there remained only βthe voice within,β and echoes of memory from the empty benches.
While Mr. Hopper remained in Charleston, he went to the Quaker meeting-house every Sunday, and rarely found any one there except the persevering old Friend, who often invited him to go home with him. He seemed to take great satisfaction in talking with him about his father, and listening to what he had heard him say concerning the Society of Friends.
When the farewell hour came, he was much affected; for he felt it not likely they would ever meet again; and the conversation of the young stranger had formed a link between him and the
Boston, J. P. Jewett and Company; Cleveland, Ohio: Jewett, Proctor and Worthington; London; Low and Company, 1854.
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