the
immediate family to pack the front rooms of the house, the neighbours
filled the dining room and dooryard. The church choir sang a hymn in
front of the house, the minister stood on the front steps and read a
chapter, and told where Mr. Bates had been born, married, the size of
his family and possessions, said he was a good father, an honest
neighbour, and very sensibly left his future with his God. Then the
choir sang again and all started to their conveyances. As the breaking
up began outside, Mrs. Bates arose and stepped to the foot of the
casket. She steadied herself by it and said: "Some time back, I
promised Pa that if he went before I did, at this time in his funeral
ceremony I would set his black tin box on the foot of his coffin and
unlock before all of you, and in the order in which they lay, beginning
with Adam, Jr., hand each of you boys the deed Pa had made you for the
land you live on. You all know WHAT happened. None of you know just
HOW. It wouldn't bring the deeds BACK if you did. They're gone. But I
want you boys to follow your father to his grave with nothing in your
hearts against HIM. He was all for the men. I don't ever want to hear
any of you criticize him about this, or me, either. He did his best to
make you upstanding men in your community, his one failing being that
he liked being an upstanding man himself so well that he carried it too
far; but his intentions was the best. As for me, I'd no idea how sick
he was, and nobody else did. I minded him just like all the rest of
you always did; the BOYS especially. From the church I want all of you
to go home until to-morrow morning, and then I want my sons and
daughters by BIRTH only, to come here, and we'll talk things over,
quietly, QUIETLY, mind you; and decide what to do. Katie, will you
come with me?"

It was not quite a tearless funeral. Some of the daughters-in-law wept
from nervous excitement; and some of the little children cried with
fear, but there were no tears from the wife of Adam Bates, or his sons
and daughters. And when he was left to the mercies of time, all of
them followed Mrs. Bates' orders, except Nancy Ellen and Robert, who
stopped to help Kate with the dinner. Kate slipped into her second
dress and went to work. Mrs. Bates untied her bonnet strings and
unfastened her dress neck as they started home. She unbuttoned her
waist going up the back walk and pulled it off at the door.

"Well, if I ever put tha