Then there were other difficulties.

The minister had prayed in his closet for a small share of the wisdom of Solomon before setting forth.
The people in the other rooms leaned forward and strained their ears.
The minister's wife sat beside her husband with bright spots of color in her cheeks, her little figure nervously contracted in her chair.
They had had a discussion concerning the advisability of his mentioning the sister and daughter in his prayer, and she had pleaded with him strenuously that he should not.
When the minister prayed for the afflicted "sister and daughter, who was now languishing upon a bed of sickness," his wife's mouth tightened, her feet and hands grew cold.

It seemed to her that her own tongue pronounced every word that her husband spoke.

And there was, moreover, a little nervous thrill through the audience.

Oddly enough, everybody seemed to hear that portion of the minister's prayer quite distinctly.