e exclaimed, as she lifted the saucepan; "I must be
gittin' old, to let things boil over this way while I'm studyin' about
old times. I declare, I believe I've clean forgot what I was sayin'."

"You were at church," I suggested, "and the singing was about to
begin."

"Sure enough! Well, all at once Miss Penelope laid her hands on the
keys and begun to play and sing 'Nearer, My God, to Thee.' We'd heard
that hymn all our lives at church and protracted meetin's and
prayer-meetin's, but we didn't know how it could sound till Miss
Penelope sung it all by herself that day with our new organ. I
ricollect jest how she looked, pretty little thing that she was; and
sometimes I can hear her voice jest as plain as I hear that robin out
yonder in the ellum tree. Every word was jest like a bright new piece
o' silver, and every note was jest like gold; and she was lookin' up
through the winder at the trees and the sky like she was singin' to
somebody we couldn't see. We clean forgot about the new organ and the
Baptists; and I really believe we was feelin' nearer to God than we'd
ever felt before. When she got through with the first verse, she
played somethin' soft and sweet and begun again; and right in the
middle of the first line--I declare, it's twenty-five years ago, but I
git mad now when I think about it--right in the middle of the first
line Uncle Jim jined in like an old squawkin' jay-bird, and sung like
he was tryin' to drown out Miss Penelope and the new organ, too.

"Everybody give a jump when he first started, and he'd got nearly
through the verse before we took in what was happenin'. Even the
Babtists jest looked surprised like the rest of us. But when Miss
Penelope begun the third time and Uncle Jim jined in with his
hollerin', I saw Bush Elrod grin, and that grin spread all over the
Babtist crowd in no time. The Presbyterian young folks was gigglin'
behind their fans, and Bush got to laughin' till he had to git up and
leave the church. They said he went up the road to Sam Amos' pasture
and laid down on the ground and rolled over and over and laughed till
he couldn't laugh any more.

"I was so mad I started to git up, though goodness knows what I could
'a' done. Abram he grabbed my dress and says, 'Steady, Jane!' jest
like he was talkin' to the old mare. The thing that made me maddest
was Silas Petty a-leanin' back in his pew and smilin' as satisfied as
if he'd seen the salvation of the Lord. I didn't mind the Babti