igger and fervent religionist, was always to be found on
meeting nights. Ezekiel was the father of Susannah B. Bassett, "Sukey
B." for short, who played the melodeon. He had been, by successive
seizures, a Seventh Day Baptist, a Second Adventist, a Millerite, a
Regular, and was now the most energetic of Come-Outers. Later he was to
become a Spiritualist and preside at table-tipping seances.

Ezekiel's amen was so sudden and emphatic that it startled the reader
into looking up. Instead of the faces of his congregation, he found
himself treated to a view of their back hair. Nearly every head
was turned toward the rear corner of the room, there was a buzz of
whispering and, in front, many men and women were standing up to look.
Captain Eben was scandalized.

"Well!" he exclaimed. "Is this a prayer meetin' or--or--what? Brethren
and sisters, I must say--"

Ezekiel Bassett stepped forward and whispered in his ear. The
captain's expression of righteous indignation changed to one of blank
astonishment. He, too, gazed at the dark corner. Then his lips tightened
and he rapped smartly on the table.

"Brethren and sisters," he thundered, in the voice which, of old, had
enforced obedience aboard his coasting schooner, "remember this is the
house of the Lord. Be reverent!"

He waited until every eye had swung about to meet his. Then he regarded
his abashed but excited hearers with a steady and prolonged stare.

"My friends," he said, "let us bow in prayer."

John Ellery could have repeated that prayer, almost word for word, years
after that night. The captain prayed for the few here gathered together:
Let them be steadfast. Let them be constant in the way. The path they
were treading might be narrow and beset with thorns, but it was the path
leading to glory.

"Scoffers may sneer," he declared, his voice rising; "they may make a
mock of us, they may even come into Thy presence to laugh at us, but
theirs is the laugh that turns to groanin'. O Lord, strengthen us
to-night to speak what's in our hearts, without fear." ("A-men!") "To
prophesy in Thy name! To bid the mockers and them that dare--dare to
profane this sanctuary be careful. Hired singers and trumpets and vain
shows we have not" ("Thank the Lord! Amen!"), "but the true faith and
the joy of it we do have." ("Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Glory!")

And so on, his remarks becoming more personal and ever pointing like
a compass needle to the occupant of that seat in the corne