Mary was willing to do whatever she could, but she often wished Mrs.
Parker were able to be round, for then she was sure she would not have
to work so hard. She had several times been sent of errands to Mrs.
Parker's room, and that lady had always spoken kindly to her, asking
her if she was tired, or what made her look so pale. It was through
Mrs Parker's influence, too, that she had obtained permission to
attend church the following Sabbath. Mrs. Parker was a professor of
religion, and before her illness, some of the family had attended
church every Sunday. But since she had been sick, her husband had
thought it hardly worth while to harness up his horses, though he said
any one might go who chose to walk. Few, however, were able to walk;
so they remained at home, and Sunday was usually the noisiest day in
the week. Sal Furbush generally took the lead, and mounting the
kitchen table, sung camp meeting hymns as loud as she could scream.
Uncle Peter fiddled, Patsy nodded and laughed, the girl with crooked
feet by way of increasing the bedlam would sometimes draw a file
across the stove-pipe, while Miss Grundy scolded, and declared "she
could not and would not have such a noise."

"Shut your head, madam, and there'll be less," was Sal's ready
rejoinder, as at the end of a verse she paused for breath.

The first Sabbath Mary looked on in perfect amazement, but the next
one she spent in her own room, and after a deal of trouble, succeeded
in coaxing Sal to stay there too, listening while she read to her from
her little Bible. But the reading was perplexing business, for Sal
constantly corrected her pronunciation, or stopped her while she
expounded Scripture, and at last in a fit of impatience Mary tossed
the book into the crazy creature's lap, asking her to read her self.

This was exactly what Sal wanted, and taking the foot of Mary's bed
for her rostrum, she read and preached so furiously, that Mary felt
almost glad when Miss Grundy came up to stop the racket, and locked
Sal in her own room.

CHAPTER VIII.

AT CHURCH.

The Sabbath following Mary's first acquaintance with Jenny was the one
on which she was to go to church. Billy Bender promised that if his
mother were not suffering from any new disease, he would come to stay
with Alice, and in case he failed, the pleasant-looking woman was to
take his place. Mary would have preferred going alone, but Sally
begged so hard, and promised so fairly "not to mak