near time for us to go home.

Josiah had lots of further business to do in Jonesville and so had the
other men. But the news had excited 'em, and exhilerated 'em so, that
they had dropped everything, and hastened right down to tell us, and
then they wuz a-goin' back agin immegietly.

I, myself, took the news coolly, or as cool as I could, with my
temperature up to five or five and a half, owin' to the hard work and
the heat.

[Illustration: THE LAST NEWS FROM THE CONFERENCE.]

Miss Gowdy also took it pretty calm. She leaned on her mop handle,
partly for rest (for she was tuckered out) and partly out of good
manners, and didn't say much.

But Miss Sypheris such a admirin'woman, she looked fairly radiant at the
news, and she spoke up to her husband in her enthusiastik warm-hearted
way--

"Why, Deacon Sypher, is it possible that I, too, could become a deacon,
jest like you?"

"No," sez Deacon Sypher solemnly, "no, Drusilly, not like me. But you
wimmen have got the privelege now, if you are single, of workin' all
your days at church work under the direction of us men."

"Then I could work at the Deacon trade under you," sez she admirin'ly,
"I could work jest like you--pass round the bread and wine and the
contribution box Sundays?"

"Oh, no, Drusilly," sez he condesendinly, "these hard and arjuous dutys
belong to the male deaconship. That is their own one pertickiler work,
that wimmen can't infringe upon. Their hull strength is spent in these
duties, wimmen deacons have other fields of labor, such as relievin'
the wants of the sick and sufferin', sittin' up nights with small-pox
patients, takin' care of the sufferin' poor, etc., etc."

"But," sez Miss Sypher (she is so good-hearted, and so awful fond of the
deacon), "wouldn't it be real sweet, Deacon, if you and I could work
together as deacons, and tend the sick, relieve the sufferers--work for
the good of the church together--go about doin' good?"

"No, Drusilly," sez he, "that is wimmen's work. I would not wish for a
moment to curtail the holy rights of wimmen. I wouldn't want to stand in
her way, and keep her from doin' all this modest, un-pretendin' work,
for which her weaker frame and less hefty brain has fitted her.

"We will let it go on in the same old way. Let wimmen have the privelege
of workin' hard, jest as she always has. Let her work all the time, day
and night, and let men go on in the same sure old way of superentendin'
her movements, guard