her life,--and he handed Parson Page a
five-dollar gold piece. Parson Page didn't make any motion toward takin'
it; jest looked first at the showman and then at Sam in a kind o'
puzzled way, and the showman says: 'Here's your money, Parson. You won
it fair and square.'

"And Parson Page says: 'Sir, I don't understand you,' and he stepped
back to keep the showman from puttin' the money in his hand--pretty
much, I reckon, the way Brother Wilson did when Squire Schuyler was
tryin' to make him take the deed to the house that was a wedding fee;
and the showman says: 'Why, didn't I bet you five dollars I could answer
any question in this catechism, and didn't I lose my bet?' And Parson
Page says: 'Sir, I hadn't the slightest intention of betting with you. I
am a minister of the gospel.' And the showman he says: 'Well, Parson,
you may not have intended bettin' any more than you intended goin' to
the circus, but you did bet, and there's no gettin' around it. I bet I
could answer any question, and you took up the bet and asked the
question; and I lost, and you won.'

"Sam Amos said he never could forgit the look on Parson Page's face when
he begun to see that he'd not only been to the circus, but that he'd
been bettin' with the circus man. And he says: 'Sir, there's a great
misunderstanding somewhere. Surely a minister of the gospel can ask a
catechism question without being accused of betting.' And the showman he
laughed, and says he: 'Well, we won't argue about that, but here's your
money,' And Parson Page says: 'Sir, I shall not take it.' And the
showman he looked mighty solemn and says he: 'Do you think it's right,
Parson, to keep a fellow man from payin' his just debts?' And Parson
Page studied a while, and says he: 'That's a hard question. I never had
to deal with just such a matter before, and I hardly know what to say.'
And the showman he says: 'I've got a conscience the same as you; my
conscience tells me to pay this money, so it must be right for me to pay
it; and if it's right for me to pay it, it can't be wrong for you to
take it.'

"Well, Parson Page studied a minute, and says he: 'Your reasoning
appears to be sound, but, still, my conscience tells me that I ought not
to take the money, and I will not take it.' And the showman says: 'Well,
if it goes against your conscience to keep it, put it in the
contribution box next Sunday,' Says he: 'I haven't been to church since
I was a boy, and there may be a good many