They found that the meeting had already started.  A group of the male villagers, old and young, was gathered in a half-circle in front of a sturdy-looking fellow of some twenty years, who was perched on the churchyard wall.  Nahum Noakes’s appearance was that of an unusually robust clerk.  His black hair was cut short; his straw hat was tilted back, showing a neat middle parting and well-oiled side-shows.  He wore a pointed collar and a lilac tie; his grey flannel trousers were hitched up, revealing lilac socks neatly stretched above brown shoes.