er out
when he got through showin' off. We didn't worry about 'em, nor think no
more about 'em, in special. The boys didn't want to talk to rile George
Olver.

"So we kep' to work, and in a minute, cheery ag'in with the hammers
click, clickin'--and every now and then the boys 'ud strike up a singin'
something'. 'Beyond the River,' and 'Homeward Bound.'

"It sounded dredful purty down thar' by the water, with the water and the
wideness all around sorter softenin' of it. It made a man feel curious
and wishful somehow.

"Well, by and by, _him_ and George Olver struck up a song. I've heern 'em
sing it before, them two. As nigh as I calk'late, it's about findin' rest
in Jesus, and one a askin' questions, all fa'r and squar', to know the
way and whether it's a goin' to lead thar' straight or not, and the other
answerin'. And _he_--he was a tinkerin', 'way up on the foremast, George
Olver and the rest on us was astern,--and I'll hear to my dyin' day how
his voice came a floatin' down to us thar'--chantin'-like it was--cl'ar
and fearless and slow. So he asks, for findin' Jesus, ef thar's any marks
to foller by; and George Olver, he answers about them bleedin'
nail-prints, and the great one in His side. So then that voice comes down
ag'in, askin' if thar's any crown, like other kings, to tell Him by; and
George Olver, he answers straight about that crown o' thorns. Then says
that other voice, floatin' so strong and cl'ar, and if he gin up all and
hollered, what should he have? what now?

"So George Olver, he sings deep o' the trial and the sorrowin'. But that
other voice never shook, a askin', and what if he helt to Him to the end,
what then should it be, what then? George Olver answers: 'Forever-more,
the sorrowin' ended--Death gone over.'

"Then he sings out, like his mind was all made up, 'And if he undertook
it, would he likely be turned away?'

"'And it's likelier,' George Olver answers him; 'that heaven and earth
shall pass.'

"So I'll hear it to my dyin' day--his voice a floatin' down to me from up
above thar', somewhar', askin' them questions that nobody could ever
answer like, so soon, he answered 'em for himself--and when I looked up,
thar' was Harvey, with his hammer dropped, and his mouth wide open, a
starin' up thar', and the tears rollin' down his cheeks like he was a
baby.

"They didn't sing no more, after that. They was still for about five
minutes, I calk'late. Harvey, he was still, too; but pretty soo