how he would figure among them in the churchyard , between services on sundays ; gathering grapes for them from the wild vines that overran the surrounding trees ; reciting for their amusement all the epitaphs on the tombstones ; or sauntering , with a whole bevy of them , along the banks of the adjacent millpond ; while the more bashful country bumpkins hung sheepishly back , envying his superior elegance and address .