"Why, of course; I'll have to."

"Very well, then; apply it to yourself, and try to be patient the next
time that young man comes to annoy you."

Sam rested his elbows on his knees and dropped the shoe again for a
moment, and at last, resuming his work, said,--

"Well, I'll take your word for it, ma'am: you know a good deal more
about such things than I do."

Gradually the cobbler's face began to contract. His needle and thread
moved more and more rapidly through the buttons and the leather. At
last he laid the shoe aside with an air of desperation, looked up
defiantly, and said,--

"Mrs. Prency, I don't mean no offence, an' I ain't the kind of person
that meddles with other people's business, an' I hope you won't feel
hurt or angry at anythin' that I'm goin' to say to you, because there
is somethin' behind it. So I hope you won't think I'm meddlin' with
your affairs, if you'll listen to me just a little while. I--I--"

"Well?" said the lady, for Sam seemed to be hesitating about what he
wanted to say.

"I don't hardly know how to say it, ma'am, an' I'm awfully afraid to
say it at all; but--well, there, Mrs. Prency, I guess I know why you
are so very much interested in the religious welfare of that young
lawyer."