young people--it was a
common occurrence--rose to go out.

Grandma went on talking without raising either her voice or her eyes; but
when they had reached the door, "What--" said she, in that tone which,
though so mild, somehow unaccountably arrested their progress;
"what--poor, wanderin' creeturs--if your understandin's should give out!"
meaning, what if you should suddenly be deprived of the use of your legs!
"Have you never heered," she continued; "the story of Antynias and
Sapf_i_ry?"

But she did not recount the tale. If possible, she would rather use words
of love than of malediction.

I shall never forget the faithful manner in which she narrated Abraham's
intercession with the Lord for Sodom and Gomorrah.

"And Abraham said to the Lord, 'Periodventure there be fifty righteous
found,' he said; 'willest thou destroy the city, and them in it? Oh, no!
that ain't like the Lord,' he says; 'for to slay the righteous and the
wicked together--fur be it.' And the Lord says; 'No. If I find fifty
righteous I'll spare all the rest,' he says, 'on account o' them fifty,'
he says, and Abraham says, 'O Lord, now I've begun,' he says, 'and you
don't seem so very much put out with me as I expected, I've a good mind
to keep on askin' ye a little more, jest to see what ye'll say,' he says;
'O Lord, periodventure what if there shouldn't be but forty-five?' he
says."

Grandma went through the list of "periodventures," depicting Abraham's
growing fear and obsequiousness in the most tragic manner until she got
to the hypothetical ten.

"And Abraham said; 'O Lord, I know you won't like it this time, but I've
gone so fur now, that I'm going to out with't; and don't--don't git put
out, O Lord! and I won't put it one mite lower. Periodventure, O Lord,
what if there shouldn't be but ten?' and the Lord said, 'If there wasn't
but ten, he wouldn't destroy them wicked cities.' Now," continued
Grandma, with tearful impressiveness, "if Abraham had even a ventured to
put it down one five more, what more chance do you think there'd be for
us here in Wallencamp?"

After the meeting, Captain Sartell and Bachelor Lot held their usual
theological levee, outside the school-house.

"Wall, Bachelder," said the captain, who always took the initiative with
extreme recklessness; "if it was a goin' to take ten to clear Sodom and
Germorrer, how many righteous men do you calkalate it 'ud take ter lift
the mortgage off'n this ere peninsheler, eh?"

Ba