In the court yard before them a large tent was pitched,
that served for dining room, dormitory, and reception room, or diwan
khaneh. An adjoining house afforded a comfortable recitation room.
Here the regular routine of the school went on, and while men from
the village found their way to Mr. Stocking's at the hour of evening
prayer, women also came to the school room at the same hour. At the
last meeting of this kind before Miss Fiske returned to the city,
nearly forty were present, listening with quiet attention to the
words of life. On the Sabbath, the sides of the tent were lifted
outward from the bottom, and fastened in a horizontal position, so
as to admit the air and exclude the sun. The ground beneath was
covered with mats, and formed quite a pleasant chapel. In the
forenoon, this was thronged with attentive hearers. The children of
the boys' school in the village sat close to their teacher. The
members of the girls' school could be distinguished from their
playmates by the greater smoothness of their hair, the whiteness of
their faces, and general tidiness. Among the old men, the venerable
father of the bishop was very conspicuous.
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