h him, her arms full o' bedclothes
she'd gathered up around from folks. I never said a word to Abel about
the trouble with Timothy. I donno if Abel rilly heard us come in, he was
so excited about his dragon. An' Mis' Zittelhof an' I began makin' up
the cots. On the first one I laid the two babies that was asleep on the
floor. They never woke up. Their little cheeks was warm an' pink, an'
one of 'em had some tears on it. When I see that, I clear forgot the
church wasn't dedicated, an' I thanked God they was there, safe an' by a
good fire, with somebody 'tendin' to 'em.

"The bed-makin' an' the story-tellin' an' the palace-buildin' went on,
an' I kep' gettin' exciteder every minute. When the door opened, I
couldn't tell which was in my mouth, my heart or my tongue. But it was
only Libbie Liberty with the big iron kettle o' chicken broth an' a
basket o' cups an' spoons. She se' down the kettle on the stove an'
stirred up the fire under it, an' it was no time before the whole church
begun to smell savoury as a kitchen. An' then in walks Mis' Holcomb with
her brown bread an' cream cookies. An' we fair jumped up an' down when
Mis' Sykes come breathin' in the door with them five loaves o' wheat
bread safe, an' butter to match.

"Still, we _was_ without milk. There wasn't a sign o' Mis' Toplady. An'
any minute Timothy might get there with Silas in tow. Mis' Sykes was
nervous as a witch over it, an' it was her proposed we set the children
up on the cots an' begin' feedin' 'em right away. I run down the room to
tell Abel, an' then I hed to tell him _why_ we'd best hurry.

"Abel laughs a little when he heard about it.

"'Dear old Timothy,' he says, 'servin' his God accordin' to the dictates
of his own notions. Wait a minute till I release the princess.'

"When he said that, I was afraid he must be telling a worldly story with
royalty in. An' I begun to get troubled myself. But I heard him end it:
'So the Princess found her kingdom because she learnt to love every
living thing. She saved the lives of the hare an' the goldfinch. An'
don't you ever let any living thing suffer one minute and maybe you'll
find out some of the things the Princess knew.' An', royalty or not, I
felt all right about Abel's story-telling after that.

"Then we all brisked round an' begun settin' the children up on the
cots--two or three to a cot, with one of us to wait on 'em. An' both the
little sleepy ones woke up, too. An' when we sliced an' spread t