SAMANTHA AMONG THE BRETHREN. By "Josiah Allen's Wife" (Marietta Holley) Part 6 CHAPTER XXIII. Miss Timson's letter wuz writ to me on the 6th day of his sickness, andJosiah and me set sail for Loontown on the follerin' day after we gotit. I laid the case before the female Sisters of the meetin' house, and theyall counselled me to go. For, as they all said, on account of SisterBobbet's fallin' on the apple parin' we could not go on with the workof paperin' the meetin' house, and so the interests of Zion wouldn'tlanguish on account of my absence for a day or two any way. And, as thefemale Sisters all said, it seemed as if the work I wuz called to inLoontown wuz a fair and square case of Duty, so they all counselledme to go, every one on 'em. Though, as wuz nateral, there wuz severeldivisions of opinions as to the road I should take a-goin' there, whatday I should come back, what remiedies wuz best for me to recommendwhen I got there, what dress I should wear, and whether I should weara hankerchif pin or not--or a bib apron, or a plain banded one, etc. , etc. , etc. , etc. But, as I sez, as to my goin' they wuz every one on 'em unanimus. Theymeen well, those sisters in the meetin' house do, every one on 'em. Josiah acted real offish at first about goin'. And he laid the casebefore the male brothers of the meetin' house, for Josiah wuz fearfulthat the interests of the buzz saw mill would languish in his absence. One or two of the weaker brethren joined in with him, and talked kinderdeprestin' about it. But Deacon Sypher and Deacon Henzy said they would guard his interestswith eagle visions, or somethin' to that effect, and they counselledJosiah warmly that it wuz his duty to go. We hearn afterwards that Deacon Sypher and Deacon Henzy wanted to gointo the North Woods a-fishin' and a-huntin' for 2 or 3 days, and it hasalways been spozed by me that that accounted for their religeus adviceto Josiah Allen. Howsumever, I don't _know_ that. But I do know that they started offa-fishin' the very day we left for Loontown, and that they come backhome about the time we did, with two long strings of trout. [Illustration: THE RETURN OF THE HUNTERS. ] And there wuz them that said that they ketched the trout, and them thatsaid they bought 'em. And they brung back the antlers of a deer in their game bags, and somebones of a elk. And there are them that sez that they dassent, eitherone of 'em, shoot off a gun, not hardly a pop gun. But I don't know thetruth of this. I know what they _said_, they _said_ the huntin' wuzexcitin' to the last degree, and the fishin' superb. And there wuz them that said that they should think the huntin' would beexcitin', a-rummagin' round on the ground for some old bones, and theyshould think the fishin' would be superb, a-dippin' 'em out of a barelland stringin' 'em onto their own strings. But their stories are very large, that I know. And each one on 'em, accordin' to their tell, ketched more trouts than the other one, and furbigger ones, and shot more deers. Wall, Deacon Sypher'ses advice and Deacon Henzy's influenced Josiah agood deal, and I said quite a few words to him on the subject, and, suffice it to say, that the next day, about 10 A. M. , we set out on ourjourney to Loontown. [Illustration: "MISS TIMSON AND ROSY SEEMED DRETFUL GLAD TO SEE ME. "] Miss Timson and Rosy seemed dretful glad to see me, but they wuz paleand wan, wanner fur than I expected to see 'em; but after I had beenthere a spell I see how it wuz. I see that Ralph wuz their hero as wellas their love, and they worshipped him in every way, with their heartsand their souls and their idealized fancies. Wall, he wuz a noble lookin' man as I ever see, fur or near, and as gooda one as they make, he wuz strong and tender, so I couldn't blame 'em. And though I wouldn't want Josiah to hear me say too much about it, ormebby it would be best that he shouldn't, before I had been there 24hours I begun to feel some as they did. But my feelin's wuz strictly in a meetin' house sense, strictly. But I begun to feel with them that the middle of the world wuz there inthat bedroom, and the still, white figure a-layin' there wuz the centre, and the rest of the world wuz a-revolvin' round him. His face wuz worn and marked by the hand of Time and Endeaver. But everymark wuz a good one. The Soul, which is the best sculptor after all, had chiselled into his features the marks of a deathless endeavor andstruggle toward goodness, which is God. Had marked it with the divinesweetness and passion of livin' and toilin' for the good of others. He had gi'n his life jest as truly to seek and save them that wuz lostas ever any old prophet and martyr ever had sense the world began. Butunder all these heavenly expressions that a keen eye could trace in hisgood lookin' face, could be seen a deathly weakness, the consumin' firethat wuz a-consumin' of him. Miss Timson wept when she see me, and Rosy threw herself into my armsand sobbed. But I gently ondid her arms from round my neck and give MissTimson to understand that I wuz there to _help_ 'em if I could. "For, " sez I softly, "the hull future time is left for us to weep in, but the present wuz the time to try to help Ralph S. Robinson. " Wall, I laid to, Josiah a-helpin' me nobly, a-pickin' burdock leavesor beet leaves, as the case might be, and a-standin' by me nobly allthrough the follerin' night (that is, when he wuz awake). Josiah and I took care on him all that night, Miss Timson refusin' togive him into the charge of underlin's, and we a-offerin' and not to berefused. Wall, Josiah slept some, or that is, I s'poze he did. I didn't hear muchfrom him from 10 P. M. To 5 A. M. , only once I heard him murmer in hissleep, "buzz saw mill. " [Illustration: "DIDN'T SEE HOW FOLKS NEEDED SO MUCH SLEEP. "] But every time I would come out into the settin' room where he sot androust him up to get sunthin' for me, he would say, almost warmly-- "Samantha, that last remark of your'n wuz very powerful. " And I wouldn'twaste my time nor hisen by tellin' him that I hadn't made no remark, northought on't. I see it would hurt his feelin's, specilly as he would addin haste-- "That he didn't see how folks needed so much sleep; as for him, it wuz areal treat to keep awake all night, now and then. " No, I would let it go, and ask him for burdock or beet, as the casemight be. Truly I had enugh on my mind and heart that night withoutdisputin' with my Josiah. Ralph S. Robinson would lay lookin' like a dead man some of the time, still and demute, and then he would speak out in a strange language, stranger than any I ever heard. He would preach sermons in thatlanguage, I a-knowin' it wuz a sermen by his gestures, and also by myfeelin's. And then he would shet up his eyes and pray in that strange, strange tongue, and anon breakin' out into our own language. And once hesaid: "And now may the peace of God be with you all. Amen. The peace of God!the peace! the peace!" His voice lingered sort o' lovin'ly over that word, and I felt that hewuz a-thinkin' then of the real peace, the onbroken stillness, outsideand inside, that he invoked. Rosy would steal in now and then like a sweet little shadow, and benddown and kiss her Pa, and cry a little over his thin, white hands whichwuz a-lyin' on the coverlet, or else lifted in that strange speech thatsounded so curius to us, a-risin' up out of the stillness of a Loontownspare bedroom on a calm moonlit evenin'. Wall, Friday and Saturday he wuz crazier'n a loon, more'n half the timehe wuz, but along Saturday afternoon the Doctor told us that the feverwould turn sometime the latter part of the night, and if he could sleepthen, and not be disturbed, there would be a chance for his life. Wall, Miss Timson and Rosy both told me how the ringin' of the bellsseemed to roust him up and skair him (as it were) and git him allexcited and crazy. And they both wuz dretful anxius about the mornin'bells which would ring when Ralph would mebby be sleepin'. So thinkin'it wuz a case of life and death, and findin' out who wuz the one totackle in the matter, I calmly tied on my bonnet and walked over andtackled him. CHAPTER XXIV. It wuz Deacon Garven and he wuz a close communion Baptist byperswaision, and a good man, so fur as firm morals and a sound creedgoes. Some things he lacked: he hadn't no immagination at all, not one speck. And in makin' him up, it seems as if he had a leetle more justice addedto him to make up a lack of charity and pity. And he had a good dealof sternness and resolve gin him, to make up, I spoze, for a lack oftenderness and sweetness of nater. A good sound man Deacon Garven wuz, a man who would cheat himself beforehe would cheat a neighber. He wuz jest full of qualities that wouldhender him from ever takin' a front part in a scandel and a tragedy. Yes, if more men wuz like Deacon Garven the pages of the daily paperswould fairly suffer for rapiners, embezzlers, wife whippers, etc. Wall, he wuz in his office when I tackled him. The hired girl asked meif I come for visitin' purposes or business, and I told her firmly, "business!" So she walked me into a little office one side of the hall, where Ispoze the Deacon transacted the business that come up on his farm, andthen he wuz Justice of the Peace, and trustee of varius concerns (everyone of 'em good ones). He is a tall, bony man, with eyes a sort of a steel gray, and thin lipsruther wide, and settin' close together. And without lookin' like one, or, that is, without havin' the same features at all, the Deacon didmake me think of a steel trap. I spoze it wuz because he wuz so sound, and sort o' firm. A steel trap is real firm when it lays hold and triesto be. [Illustration: "THE DEACON DID MAKE ME THINK OF A STEEL TRAP. "] Wall, I begun the subject carefully, but straight to the pint, as my wayis, by tellin' him that Ralph S. Robinson wuz a-layin' at death's door, and his life depended on his gettin' sleep, and we wuz afraid the bellsin the mornin' would roust him up, and I had come to see if he wouldomit the ringin' of 'em in the mornin'. "Not ring the bells!" sez he, in wild amaze. "Not ring the church bellson the Sabbath day?" His look wuz skairful in the extreme, but I sez-- "Yes, that is what I said, we beg of you as a Christian to not ring thebells in the mornin'. " "A Christian! A Christian! Advise me as a _Christian_ to not ring theSabbath bells!" I see the idee skairt him. He wuz fairly pale with surprise and borrow. And I told him agin', puttin' in all the perticilers it needed to makethe story straight and good, how Ralph S. Robinson had labored forthe good of others, and how his strength had gin out, and he wuz nowa-layin' at the very pint of death, and how his girl and his sister wuza-breakin' their hearts over him, and how we had some hopes of savin'his life if he could get some sleep, that the doctors said his lifedepended on it, and agin I begged him to do what we asked. But the Deacon had begin to get over bein' skairt, and he looked firm asanybody ever could, as he sez: "The bells never hurt anybody, I know, for here I have lived right by the side of 'em for 20 years. Do I lookbroke down and weak?" sez he. "No, " sez I, honestly. "No more than a grannit monument, or a steeltrap. " "Wall, " sez he, "what don't hurt me won't hurt nobody else. " "But, " sez I, "folks are made up different. " Sez I, "The Bible sez so, and what might not hurt you, might be the ruin of somebody else. Wuz youever nervous?" sez I. "Never, " sez he. And he added firmly, "I don't believe in nerves. Inever did. There hain't no use in 'm. " "It wuz a wonder they wuz made, then, " sez I. "As a generel thing theLord don't make things there hain't no use on. Howsumever, " sez I, "there hain't no use in disputin' back and forth on a nerve. But anyway, sickness is so fur apart from health, that the conditions of onestate can't be compared to the other; as Ralph S. Robinson is now, thesound of the bells, or any other loud noise means torture and agony tohim, and, I am afraid, death. And I wish you would give orders to nothave 'em rung in the mornin'. " "Are you a professor?" sez he. "Yes, " sez I. "What perswaision?" sez he. "Methodist Episcopal, " sez I. "And do you, a member of a sister church, which, although it has manyerrors, is still a-gropin' after the light! Do you counsel me to setaside the sacred and time honored rules of our church, and allow theSabbath to go by unregarded, have the sanctuary desecrated, the causeof religion languish--I cannot believe it. Think of the widespreaddesolation it would cause if, as the late lamented Mr. Selkirk sung: "'The sound of the church-going bells, These valleys and hills never heard. '" "No church, no sanctuary, no religius observances. " "Why, " sez I, "that wouldn't hinder folks from goin' to church. Folksseem to get to theatres, lectures, and disolvin' views on time, andbetter time than they do to meetin', " sez I. "In your opinin' it hain'tnecessary to beat a drum and sound on a bugle as the Salvation Army duz, to call folks to meetin'; you are dretful hard on them, so I hear. " "Yes, they make a senseless, vulgar, onnecessary racket, disturbin' andagrivatin' to saint and sinner. " "But, " sez I, "they say they do it for the sake of religion. " "Religion hain't to be found in drum-sticks, " sez he bitterly. "No, " sez I, "nor in a bell clapper. " "Oh, " sez he, "that is a different thing entirely, that is to callworshippers together, that is necessary. " Sez I, "One hain't no more necessary than the other in my opinion. " Sez he, "Look how fur back in the past the sweet bells have soundedout. " "Yes, " sez I candidly, "and in the sweet past they wuz necessary, " sezI. "In the sweet past, there wuzn't a clock nor a watch, the houses wuzfur apart, and they needed bells. But now there hain't a house but whatis runnin' over with clocks--everybody knows the time; they know it somuch that time is fairly a drug to 'em. Why, they time themselves rightalong through the day, from breakfast to midnight. Time their meals, their business, their pleasures, their music, their lessons, theirvisits, their visitors, their pulse beats, and their dead beats. Theytime their joys and their sorrows, and everything and everybody, allthrough the week, and why should they stop short off Sundays? Why nottime themselves on goin' to meetin'? They do, and you know it. Therehain't no earthly need of the bells to tell the time to go to meetin', no more than there is to tell the time to put on the tea-kettle to getsupper. If folks want to go to meetin' they will get there, bells or nobells, and if they don't want to go, bells hain't a-goin' to get 'emstarted. "Take a man with the Sunday _World_ jest brung in, a-layin' on a lounge, with his feet up in a chair, and kinder lazy in the first place, bellshain't a-goin' to start him. "And take a woman with her curl papers not took down, and a new religeusnovel in her hand, and a miliner that disapinted her the night before, and bells hain't a-goin' to start her. No, the great bell of Moscowwon't start 'em. [Illustration: "BELLS HAIN'T A-GOIN' TO START HIM. "] "And take a good Christian woman, a widow, for instance, who loveschurch work, and has a good handsome Christian pasture, who is introuble, lost his wife, mebby, or sunthin' else bad, and the lack ofbells hain't a-goin' to keep that women back, no, not if there wuzn't abell on earth. " "Oh, wall, wavin' off that side of the subject, " sez he (I had convincedhim, I know, but he wouldn't own it, for he knew well that if folkswanted to go they always got there, bells or no bells). "But, " sez hewavin' off that side of the subject, "the observance is so time honored, so hallowed by tender memories and associations all through the past. " "Don't you 'spoze, Deacon Garven, " sez I, "that I know every singleemotion them bells can bring to anybody, and felt all those memorys andassociations. I'll bet, or I wouldn't be afraid to bet, if I believed inbettin', that there hain't a single emotion in the hull line of emotionsthat the sound of them bells can wake up, but what I have felt, and felt'em deep too, jest as deep as anybody ever did, and jest es many of 'em. But it is better for me to do without a upliftin', soarin' sort of afeelin' ruther than have other people suffer agony. " "Agony!" sez he, "talk about their causin' agony, when there hain't amore heavenly sound on earth. " [Illustration: "A-LEANIN' OVER THE FRONT GATE ON A STILL SPRINGMORNIN'. "] "So it has been to me, " sez I candidly. "To me they have always soundedbeautiful, heavenly. Why, " sez I, a-lookin' kinder fur off, beyondDeacon Garven, and all other troubles, as thoughts of beauty andinsperation come to me borne out of the past into my very soul, by thetender memories of the bells--thoughts of the great host of believerswho had gathered together at the sound of the bells--the great army ofthe Redeemed-- 'Some of the host have crossed the flood, and some are crossin' now, ' thinks I a-lookin' way off in a almost rapped way. And then I sez toDeacon Garven in a low soft voice, lower and more softer fur, than I hadused to him, "Don't I know what it is to stand a-leanin' over the front gate on astill spring mornin', the smell of the lilacs in the air, and the brierroses. A dew sparklin' on the grass under the maples, and the sunshinea-fleckin' the ground between 'em, and the robins a-singin' and thehummin' birds a-hoverin' round the honeysuckles at the door. And overall and through all, and above all clear and sweet, comin' from furoff a-floatin' through the Sabbath stillness, the sound of the bells, a-bringin' to us sweet Sabbath messages of love and joy. Bringin'memories too, of other mornin's as fair and sweet, when other earslistened with us to the sound, other eyes looked out on the summerbeauty, and smiled at the sound of the bells. Heavenly emotions, sweetemotions come to me on the melody of the bells, peaceful thoughts, inspirin' thoughts of the countless multitude that has flocked togetherat the sound of the bells. The aged feet, the eager youthful feet, thechildren's feet, all, all walkin' to the sound of the bells. Thoughtsof the happy youthful feet that set out to walk side by side, at theirringin' sounds. Thoughts of the aged ones grown tired, and goin' totheir long dreamless sleep to their solemn sound. Thoughts of the bravehero's who set out to protect us with their lives while the bells wuzringin' out their approval of such deeds. Thoughts of how they pealedout joyfully on their return bearin' the form of Peace. Thoughts of howthe bells filled the mornin' and evenin' air, havin' throbbed and beatwith every joy and every pain of our life, till they seem a part of us(as it were) and the old world would truly seem lonesome without 'em. "As I told you, and told you truly, I don't believe there is a singleemotion in the hull line of emotions, fur or near, but what them bellshave rung into my very soul. "But such emotions, beautiful and inspirin' though they are, can bedispensed with better than justice and mercy can. Sweet and tendersentiment is dear to me, truly, near and dear, but mercy and pity andcommon sense, have also a powerful grip onto my right arm, and have tolead me round a good deal of the time. "Beautiful emotion, when it stands opposed to eternal justice, ort tostep gently aside and let justice have a free road. Sentiment is trulysweet, but any one can get along without it, take it right along throughthe year, better than they can without sleep. "You see if you can't sleep you must die, while a person can worry alonga good many years without sentiment. Or, that is, I have been told theycould. I don't know by experience, for I have always had a real lot ofit. You see my experience has been such that I could keep sentiment andcomfort too. But my mind is such, that I have to think of them thathain't so fortunate as I am. "I have looked at the subject from my own standpoint, and have triedalso to look at it through others' eyes, which is the only way we canget a clear, straight light on any subject. As for me, as I have said, I would love to hear the sweet, far off sound of the bells a-tremblin'gently over the hills to me from Jonesville; it sounds sweeter to methan the voices of the robins and swallers, a-comin' home from the Southin the spring of the year. And I would deerly love to have it go on andon as fur as my own feelins are concerned. But I have got to look at thesubject through the tired eyes, and feel it through the worn-out nervesof others, who are sot down right under the wild clamor of the bells. "What comes to me as a heavenly melody freighted full of beautifulsentiment and holy rapture comes to them as an intolerable agony, a-maddenin' discord, that threatens their sanity, that rouses 'em upfrom their fitful sleep, that murders sleep--the bells to them seemmurderus, strikin' noisily with brazen hands, at their hearts. [Illustration: "TOSSIN' ON BEDS OF NERVOUS SUFFERIN'. "] "To them tossin' on beds of nervous sufferin', who lay for hours fillin'the stillness with horror, with dread of the bells, where fear and dreadof 'em exceed the agony of the clangor of the sound when it comes atlast. Long nights full of a wakeful horror and expectency, fur worsethan the realization of their imaginin's. To them the bells are ainstrument of torture jest as tuff to bear as any of the other old thumbscrews and racks that wrung and racked our old 4 fathers in the name ofReligion. "I have to think of the great crowd of humanity huddled together rightunder the loud clangor of the bells whose time of rest begins when thesun comes up, who have toiled all night for our comfort and luxury. Sowe can have our mornin' papers brought to us with our coffee. So we canhave the telegraphic messages, bringing us good news with our toast. So's we can have some of our dear ones come to us from distant lands inthe morning. I must think of them who protect us through the night so wecan sleep in peace. "Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of these, our helpers andbenafacters, work all night for our sakes, work and toil. The least wecan do for these is to help 'em to the great Restorer, sleep, all wecan. "Some things we can't do; we can't stop the creakin' sounds of theworld's work; the big roar of the wheel of business that rolls throughthe week days, can't be oiled into stillness; but Sundays they might geta little rest Sunday is the only day of rest for thousands of men andwimmen, nervous, pale, worn by their week's hard toil. "The creakin' of the wheels of traffic are stopped on this day. Theycould get a little of the rest they need to carry on the fight of lifeto help support wife, child, father, husband; but religeon is too muchfor 'em--the religeon that the Bible declares is mild, peacible, tender. It clangs and bangs and whangs at 'em till the day of rest is a torment. "Now the Lord wouldn't approve of this. I know He wouldn't, for He wasalways tender and pitiful full of compassion. I called it religeon fororitory, but it hain't religeon, it is a relict of old Barberism who, under the cloak of Religeon, whipped quakers and hung prophetic souls, that the secrets of Heaven had been revealed to, secrets hidden from thecoarser, more sensual vision. " Sez Deacon Garven: "I consider the bells as missionarys. They helpspread the Gospel. " "And, " sez I, for I waz full of my subject, and kep him down to it all Icould, "Ralph S. Robinson has spread the Gospel over acres and acres ofland, and brung in droves and droves of sinners into the fold withoutthe help of church or steeple, let alone bells, and it seems es if heortn't to be tortured to death now by 'em. " "Wall, " he said, "he viewed 'em as Gospel means, and he couldn't, withhis present views of his duty to the Lord, omit 'em. " Sez I, "The Lord didn't use 'em. He got along without 'em. " "Wall, " he said, "it wuz different times now. " Sez I, "The Lord, if He wuz here to-day, Deacon Garven, if He had bentover that form racked with pain and sufferin' and that noise of any kindis murderous to, He would help him, I know He would, for He wuz good tothe sick, and tender hearted always. " "Wall, _I_ will help him, " sez Deacon Garven, "I will watch, and I willpray, and I will work for him. " Sez I, "Will you promise me not to ring the bells to-morrow mornin'; ifhe gets into any sleep at all durin' the 24 hours, it is along in themornin', and I think if we could keep him asleep, say all the forenoon, there would be a chance for him. Will you promise me?" "Wall, " sez he kinder meltin' down a little, "I will talk with thebretheren. " Sez I, "Promise me, Deacon Eben Garven, before you see 'em. " Sez he, "I would, but I am so afraid of bringin' the Cause of Religeoninto contempt. And I dread meddlin' with the old established rules ofthe church. " Sez I, "Mercy and justice and pity wuz set up on earth before bells wuz, and I believe it is safe to foller 'em. " But he wouldn't promise me no further than to talk with the bretheren, and I had to leave him with that promise. As things turned outafterwuds, I wuz sorry, sorry es a dog that I didn't shet up DeaconGarven in his own smoke house, or cause him to be shet, and mount aguard over him, armed nearly to the teeth with clubs. But I didn't, and I relied some on the bretheren. Ralph wuz dretful wild all the forepart of the night. He'd lay still fora few minutes, and then he would get all rousted up, and he would set upin bed and call out some words in that strange tongue. And he would liftup his poor weak right arm, strong then in his fever, and preach longsermons in that same strange curius language. He would preach his sermonright through, earnest and fervent as any sermon ever wuz. I would knowit by the looks of his face. And then he would sometimes sing a littlein that same singular language, and then he would lay down for a spell. But along towards mornin' I see a change, his fever seemed to abate andgo down some--very gradual, till just about the break of day, he fellinto a troubled sleep--or it wuz a troubled sleep at first--but growin'deeper and more peaceful every minute. And along about eight o'clock hewuz a-sleepin' sweet for the first time durin' his sickness; it wuz aquiet restful sleep, and some drops of presperation and sweat could beseen on his softened features. We all wuz as still, almost, as if we wuz automatoes, we wuz so afraidof makin' a speck of noise to disturb him. We kep almost breathless, in our anxiety to keep every mite of noise out of his room. But I didwhisper to Rosy in a low still voice-- [Illustration: "THE LORD BE PRAISED, WE SHALL PULL HIM THROUGH. "] "Your father is saved, the Lord be praised, we shall pull him through. " She jest dropped onto her knees, and laid her head in my lap and criedand wept, but soft and quiet so's it wouldn't disturb a mice. Miss Timson wuz a-prayin', I could see that. She wuz a-returnin' thanksto the Lord for his mercy. As for me, I sot demute, in that hushed and darkened room, a-watchin'every shadow of a change that might come to his features, with ateaspoon ready to my hand, to give him nourishment at the right time ifhe needed it, or medicine. When all of a sudden--slam! bang! rush! roar! slam! slam! ding! dong!bang!!! come right over our heads the wild, deafening clamor of thebells. Ralph started up wilder than ever because of his momentary repose. Henever knew us, nor anything, from that time on, and after sufferin' foranother 24 hours, sufferin' that made us all willin' to have it stop, hedied. And so he who had devoted his hull life to religeon wuz killed by it. He who had gin his hull life for the true, wuz murdered by the false. [Illustration: "AND I THOUGHT HE WUZ PRONOUNCIN' A BENEDICTION ON THESAVAGES. "] His last move wuz to spread out his hands, and utter a few of themstrange words, as if in benediction over a kneelin' multitude. And Ithought then, and I think still, that he wuz pronouncin' a benedictionon the savages. And I have always hoped that the mercy he besought fromon High at that last hour brought down God's pity and forgiveness on allbenighted savages, and bigoted ones, Deacon Garven, and the hull on 'em. CHAPTER XXV. The very next day after I got home from Miss Timson'ses, we wimmen allmet to the meetin' house agin as usial, for we knew very well that thevery hardest and most arjuous part of our work lay before us. For if it had been hard and tuckerin' to what it seemed the utmost limitof tucker, to stand up on a lofty barell, and lift up one arm, andscrape the ceilin', what would it be, so we wildly questioned our souls, and each other, to stand up on the same fearful hites, and lift _both_arms over our heads, and get on them fearful lengths of paper smooth. I declare, when the hull magnitude of the task we had tackled riz beforeus, it skairt the hull on us, and nuthin' but our deathless devotion tothe Methodist meetin' house, kep us from startin' off to our differenthomes on the run. But lovin' it as we did, as the very apples in our eyes, and havin' inour constant breasts a determinate to paper that meetin' house, or diein the attempt, we made ready to tackle it. [Illustration: "WE HAD TO WAIT FOR THE PASTE TO BILE. "] Yet such wuz the magnitude of the task, and our fearful apprehensions, that after we had looked the ceilin' all over, and examined thepaper--we all sot down, as it were, instinctivly, and had a sort of aconference meetin' (we had to wait for the paste to bile anyway, it wuzbein' made over the stove in the front entry). And he would lift up hispoor weak right arm, strong then in his fever, and preach long sermonsin that same strange curius language. He would preach his sermon rightthrough, earnest and fervent as any sermon ever wuz. I would know it bythe looks of his face. And then he would sometimes sing a little in thatsame singular language, and then he would lay down for a spell. But along towards mornin' I see a change, his fever seemed to abate andgo down some--very gradual, till just about the break of day, he fellinto a troubled sleep--or it wuz a troubled sleep at first--but growin'deeper and more peaceful every minute. And along about eight o'clock hewuz a-sleepin' sweet for the first time durin' his sickness; it wuz aquiet restful sleep, and some drops of presperation and sweat could beseen on his softened features. [Illustration: "WE ALL SET AND LAID ON OUR PLANS, AND CUT THE EDGESOFFEN THE PAPER. "] We all wuz as still, almost, as if we wuz automatoes, we wuz so afraidof makin' a speck of noise to disturb him. We kep almost breathless, inour anxiety to keep every mite of noise out of his room. But I didwhisper to Rosy in a low still voice--it middlin calm, and Miss Gowdyoffered to be the one to carry it back to Jonesville, and change it thatvery afternoon--for we could not afford to buy a new one, and we had thetestimony of as many as twenty-one or two pairs of eyes, that the handledidn't come out by our own carelessness, but by its own inherientweakness--so we spozed he would swap it, we spozed so. But it wuzarrainged before we disbanded (the result of our conference), that thenext mornin' we would each one on us bring our offerin's to the fair, and hand 'em in to the treasurer, so's she would know in time what todepend on, and what she had to do with. And we agreed (also the result of our conference) that we would, eachone on us, tell jest how we got the money and things to give to thefair. And then we disbanded and started off home but I'll bet that each one onus, in a sort of secret unbeknown way, gin a look on that lofty ceilin', them dangerus barells, and that pile of paper, and groaned a lowmelancholy groan all to herself. [Illustration: "THE HANDLE COME OUT. "] I know I did, and I know Submit Tewksbury did, for I stood close to herand heard her. But then to be exactly jest, and not a mite underhanded, I ort mebby to say, that her groan may be caused partly by the fact thatthat aniversery of hern wuz a-drawin' so near. Yes, the very next daywuz the day jest 20 years ago that Samuel Danker went away from SubmitTewksbury to heathen lands. Yes, the next day wuz the one that shealways set the plate on for him--the gilt edged chiny with pink sprigs. But I'll bet that half or three quarters of that low melancholy groan ofher'n wuz caused by the hardness of the job that loomed up in front ofus, and the hull of mine wuz. Wall, that night Josiah Allen wuz a-feelin' dretful neat, fer he hadsold our sorell colt for a awful big price. It wuz a good colt; its mother wuz took sick when it wuz a few days old, and we had brung it up as a corset, or ruther I did, fer Josiah Allenat that time had the rheumatiz to that extent that he couldn't step hisfoot on the floor for months, so the care of the corset come on me, mostthe hull on it, till it got big enough to run out in the lot and git itsown livin'. Night after night I used to get up and warm milk for it, when it wuzvery small, for it wuz weakly, and we didn't know as we could winter it. [Illustration: "I WOULD MEANDER OUT THERE IN A ICY NIGHT TO FEED IT. "] We kep it in a little warm shed offen the wood house for quite a spell, but still I used to find it considerable cold when I would meander outthere in a icy night to feed it. But jest as it is always the way withwimmen, the more care I took on it, the more it needed me and dependedon me, the better I liked it. Till I got to likin' it so well that it wuzn't half so hard a job for meto go out to feed it in the night as it would have been to laid still inmy warm bed and think mebby it wuz cold and hungry. So I would pike out and feed it two or three times a night. That is the nater of wimmen, the weaker it wuz and the humblier it wuz, and the more it needed me, the more I thought on it. And as is the nater of man, Josiah Allen didn't seem to care so muchabout it while it wuz weak and humbly and spindlin'. He told me time and agin, that I couldn't save it, and it never wouldamount to anythin', and wuzn't nothin' but legs any way, and lots ofother slightin' remarks. And he'd call it "horse corset" in a kind ofa light, triflin' way, that wuz apt to gaul a woman when she come backwith icy night-gown and frosty toes and fingers, way along in the night. [Illustration: "BEEN OUT TO TEND TO YOUR 'HORSE CORSET, ' HAVE YOU?"] He'd wake up, a-layin' there warm and comfortable on his soft goosefeather piller and say to me: "Been out to tend to your 'horse corset, 'have you?" "_Horse corset_! 'Wall, what if it wuz?" Such language way along in the night, from a warm comfortable pardner toa cold one, is apt to make some words back and forth. And then he'd speak of its legs agin, in the most slightin' terms--andhe'd ask me if didn't want its picter took--etc. , etc. , etc. (I believe one thing that ailed Josiah Allen wuz he didn't want me toget up and get my feet so cold). But, as I wuz a-sayin', though I couldn't deny some of his words, fortruly its legs did seem to be at the least calculation a yard and a halflong, specilly in the night, why they'd look fairly pokerish. And though I knew it wuz humbly still I persevered, and at last itgot to thrivin' and growin' fast. And the likelier it grew, and thestronger, and the handsomer, so Josiah Allen's likin' for it grew andincreased, till he got to settin' a sight of store by it. And now it wuz a two-year-old, and he had sold it for two hundred andfifteen dollars. It wuz spozed it wuz goin' to make a good trotter. Wall, seem' he had got such a big price for the colt, and knowin' wellthat I wuz the sole cause of its bein' alive at this day, I felt that itwuz the best time in the hull three hundred and sixty-five days of theyear to tackle him for sunthin' to give to the fair. I felt that theleast he could do would be to give me ten or fifteen dollars for it. Soconsequently after supper wuz out of the way, and the work done up, Itackled him.