ebbe he'd come to-night, an' mebbe he
couldn't. Said it wouldn't make much diff'rence; an' anyhow he was goin'
out o' town up to Syrchester fer a few days. I don't know what's come
over the feller,' says Purse. 'I told him the time was gittin' short an'
we'd have to git in our best licks, an' he said he guessed he'd done
about all 't he could, an' in fact,' says Purse, 'he seemed to 'a' lost
int'rist in the hull thing.'"

"What did you say?" John asked.

"Wa'al," said David with a grin, "Purse went on to allow 't he guessed
somebody's pocketbook had ben talkin', but I didn't say much of
anythin', an' putty soon come away. Two three days after," he continued,
"I see Tenaker agin. 'I hear Staples has gone out o' town,' he says,
'an' I hear, too,' he says, 'that he's kind o' soured on the hull
thing--didn't care much how it did come out.'

"'Wa'al,' I says, 'when he comes back you c'n use your own judgment
about havin' a little interview with him. Mebbe somethin' 's made him
think the's two sides to this thing. But anyway,' I says, 'I guess he
won't do no more hollerin'.'

"'How's that?' says Tenaker.

"'Wa'al,' I says, 'I guess I'll have to tell ye a little story. Mebbe
you've heard it before, but it seems to be to the point. Once on a
time,' I says, 'the' was a big church meetin' that had lasted three
days, an' the last evenin' the' was consid'able excitement. The prayin'
an' singin' had warmed most on 'em up putty well, an' one o' the most
movin' of the speakers was tellin' 'em what was what. The' was a big
crowd, an' while most on 'em come to be edified, the' was quite a lot in
the back part of the place that was ready fer anythin'. Wa'al, it
happened that standin' mixed up in that lot was a feller named--we'll
call him Smith, to be sure of him--an' Smith was jest runnin' over with
power, an' ev'ry little while when somethin' the speaker said touched
him on the funny bone he'd out with an "A--men! _Yes_, Lord!" in a voice
like a fact'ry whistle. Wa'al, after a little the' was some snickerin'
an' gigglin' an' scroughin' an' hustlin' in the back part, an' even some
of the serioustest up in front would kind o' smile, an' the moderator
leaned over an' says to one of the bretherin on the platform, "Brother
Jones," he says, "can't you git down to the back of the hall an' say
somethin' to quiet Brother Smith? Smith's a good man, an' a pious man,"
the moderator says, "but he's very excitable, an' I'm 'fraid he'll git
the