86
ON THE COROMANDEL COAST
now, instead of the word of God that ye had gathered together to consider, there would be no sign of slumber among ye; and at the first sound of “Hawker, Ma’am!”’–here he gave the long penetrating call of the Indian hawker with the prolonged nasal chant of ‘Ma’am’ to the life. It echoed round the church with electrifying effect, and before the last cadence had died away, every member of the startled congregation was wide awake. There was a pause and an audible grunt of satisfaction from the preacher as he continued: ‘Ye see the truth of what I’m saying. Ye sleep at the call of God, but every one of you is awake at the call of a hawker.’
