Joll; and turned to Taffy. "He've come to pray a
bit: perhaps you would rather be in the parlour?"
Taffy asked to be allowed to stay; and presently Mr. Pascoe had them
all down on their knees. He began by invoking God's protection on
the household; but his prayer soon ceased to be a prayer. It broke
into ejaculations of praise--"Friends, I be too happy to ask for
anything--Glory, glory! The blood! The precious blood!
O deliverance! O streams of redemption running!" The farmer and his
wife began to chime in--"Hallelujah!" "Glory!" and Lizzie Pezzack to
sob. Taffy, kneeling before a kitchen chair, peeped between his
palms, and saw her shoulders heaving.
The Bryanite sprang to his feet, overturning the settle with a crash.
"Tid'n no use. I must skip! Who'll dance wi' me?"
He held out his hands to Mrs. Joll. She took them, and skipped once
shamefacedly. Lizzie, with flaming cheeks, pushed her aside.
"Leave me try, mis'ess; I shall die if I don't." She caught the
preacher's hands, and the two leapt about the kitchen. "I can dance
higher than mis'ess!" Farmer Joll looked on with a dazed face.
"Hallelujah!" "Amen!" he said at intervals, quite mechanically.
The pair stood under the bacon rack and began to whirl like
dervishes--hands clasped, toes together, bodies leaning back and
almost rigid. They whirled until Taffy's brain whirled with them.
Pages:
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144