FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139  
140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   >>   >|  
let his wife put his best shirt on him. He said his second best was plenty good to be buried in. That's another fact." "I can't stand much more of this," wailed Felicity. "See here, Miss Bowen, you really oughtn't to talk like that about people," expostulated Peter in a low tone, goaded thereto, despite his awe of Peg, by Felicity's anguish. "Bless you, boy," said Peg good-humouredly, "the only difference between me and other folks is that I say these things out loud and they just think them. If I told yez all the things I know about the people in this congregation you'd be amazed. Have a peppermint?" To our horror Peg produced a handful of peppermint lozenges from the pocket of her skirt and offered us one each. We did not dare refuse but we each held our lozenge very gingerly in our hands. "Eat them," commanded Peg rather fiercely. "Mother doesn't allow us to eat candy in church," faltered Felicity. "Well, I've seen just as fine ladies as your ma give their children lozenges in church," said Peg loftily. She put a peppermint in her own mouth and sucked it with gusto. We were relieved, for she did not talk during the process; but our relief was of short duration. A bevy of three very smartly dressed young ladies, sweeping past our pew, started Peg off again. "Yez needn't be so stuck up," she said, loudly and derisively. "Yez was all of yez rocked in a flour barrel. And there's old Henry Frewen, still above ground. I called my parrot after him because their noses were exactly alike. Look at Caroline Marr, will yez? That's a woman who'd like pretty well to get married, And there's Alexander Marr. He's a real Christian, anyhow, and so's his dog. I can always size up what a man's religion amounts to by the kind of dog he keeps. Alexander Marr is a good man." It was a relief to hear Peg speak well of somebody; but that was the only exception she made. "Look at Dave Fraser strutting in," she went on. "That man has thanked God so often that he isn't like other people that it's come to be true. He isn't! And there's Susan Frewen. She's jealous of everybody. She's even jealous of Old Man Rogers because he's buried in the best spot in the graveyard. Seth Erskine has the same look he was born with. They say the Lord made everybody but I believe the devil made all the Erskines." "She's getting worse all the time. What WILL she say next?" whispered poor Felicity. But her martyrdom was over at last. The m
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139  
140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Felicity
 

people

 

peppermint

 

ladies

 

things

 
lozenges
 
Alexander
 

church

 
relief
 

buried


Frewen

 

jealous

 
derisively
 

rocked

 
barrel
 

Christian

 
pretty
 
married
 

loudly

 

ground


called

 

parrot

 

Caroline

 

graveyard

 

Erskine

 

Erskines

 

whispered

 

martyrdom

 

Rogers

 

exception


religion

 
amounts
 

Fraser

 

strutting

 

thanked

 
difference
 

anguish

 
humouredly
 

horror

 
produced

handful
 

amazed

 
congregation
 
wailed
 

plenty

 

goaded

 
thereto
 

expostulated

 
oughtn
 

pocket