'Hallo, Moses,' says he, 'where are you going ?' 'Where am I going ?' says Moses.

'I guess I'm going to deliver the Children of Israel out of the House of Bondage and conduct them to a land flowing with milk and honey.' 'And how are you going to do it, Moses ?' '_With this rod, sir, with this rod!_'" Septimus remembered how this bit of unauthenticated history was greeted with derision by the general, and with a shocked sense of propriety by the cultivated--and young men at the university can be very cultivated indeed on occasion.

But the truth the great preacher intended to convey had lingered at the back of his own mind and now came out into the light.
Perhaps Emmy had spoken more truly than she thought.

In his simple heart he realized himself to be the least effectual of men, apparently as unhelpful towards a great deliverance as the walking stick used by Moses.

But if God had sent him to Nunsmere Common and destined him to be the mean instrument of Emmy's deliverance?
He rubbed the warm pipe bowl against his cheek and excogitated the matter in deep humility.