Every man , woman , and child in the Carmody church followed her , even to the minister , who had just announced his text . When they got out , Salome was already half-way up her lane , running wildly . In her heart was room for but one agonized thought . Would Lionel Hezekiah be drowned before she reached him ? She opened the gate of the yard , and panted across it just as a tall , grim-faced woman came around the corner of the house and stood rooted to the ground in astonishment at the sight that met her eyes . But Salome saw nobody . She flung herself against the hogshead and looked in , sick with terror at what she might see . What she did see was Lionel Hezekiah sitting on the bottom of the hogshead in water that came only to his waist . He was looking rather dazed and bewildered , but was apparently quite uninjured . The yard was full of people , but nobody had as yet said a word ; awe and wonder held everybody in spellbound silence . Judith was the first to speak . She pushed through the crowd to Salome . Her face was blanched to a deadly whiteness ; and her eyes , as Mrs. William Blair afterwards declared , were enough to give a body the creeps . `` Salome , '' she said in a high , shrill , unnatural voice , `` where is your crutch ? '' Salome came to herself at the question . For the first time , she realized that she had walked , nay , run , all that distance from the church alone and unaided . She turned pale , swayed , and would have fallen if Judith had not caught her . Old Dr. Blair came forward briskly . `` Carry her in , '' he said , `` and do n't all of you come crowding in , either . She wants quiet and rest for a spell . ''
Most of the people obediently returned to the church , their sudden loosened tongues clattering XXXXX voluble excitement .
For across around as at before in of through to