

The Raven 



CHAPTER XXIV 



The Clerk and the Last Ravens 



The old parish clerk is almost as obsolete as the village 

 church band or orchestra, but you do come upon him 

 occasionally "still lingering here" in remote districts, 

 and until a few years ago there existed one at Itchen 

 Abbas, a pretty little village on the Itchen, a few miles 

 above Winchester. Let me hasten to say, lest anyone's 

 susceptibilities should be hurt, that this same village 

 In everything except its parish clerk, appeared to be 

 quite up to date. At the Sunday morning service he 

 sat near me where I could see and hear him very well. 



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