ay, and young Amos went
under the water all right; but mighty little good it did him after
all. For as soon as he come of age, he married Matildy Harris (Matildy
was a Methodist), and he got to goin' to church with his wife, and
that was the last of his Babtist raisin'."

Then we both were silent for a while, and I watched the gathering
thunder-clouds in the west. A low rumble of thunder broke the
stillness of the August afternoon. Aunt Jane looked up apprehensively.

"There's goin' to be a storm betwixt now and sundown," she said, "but
I reckon them young turkeys'll be safe under their mother's wings by
that time."

"Don't you think a wife ought to join her husband's church, Aunt
Jane?" I asked with idle irrelevance to her remark.

"Sometimes she ought and sometimes she oughtn't," replied Aunt Jane
oracularly. "There ain't any rule about it. Everybody's got to be
their own judge about such matters. If I'd 'a' been in Marthy's place,
I wouldn't 'a' j'ined Amos' church, and if I'd been in Amos' place I
wouldn't 'a' j'ined Marthy's church. So there it is."

"But didn't you join Uncle Abram's church?" I asked, in a laudable
endeavor to get at the root of the matter.

"Yes, I did," said Aunt Jane stoutly; "but that's a mighty different
thing. Of course, I went with Abram, and if I had it to do over again,
I'd do it. You see the way of it was this: my folks was Campbellites,
or Christians they'd ruther be called. It's curious how they don't
like to be called Campbellites. Methodists don't mind bein' called
Wesleyans, and Presbyterians don't git mad if you call 'em Calvinists,
and I reckon Alexander Campbell was jest as good a man as Wesley and a
sight better'n Calvin, but you can't make a Campbellite madder than to
call him a Campbellite. However, as I was sayin', Alexander Campbell
himself babtized my father and mother out here in Drake's Creek, and
I was brought up to think that my church was _the_ Christian church,
sure enough. But when me and Abram married, neither one of us was
thinkin' much about churches. I used to tell Marthy that if a man'd
come talkin' church to me, when he ought to been courtin' me, I'd 'a'
told him to go on and marry a hymn-book or a catechism. I believe in
religion jest as much as anybody, but a man that can't forgit his
religion while he's courtin' a woman ain't worth havin'. That's my
opinion. But as I was sayin', me and Abram had the church question to
settle after we was married, and