be the minister now, 'n' I can't see what I 've ever done 't I sh'd
have two men around the house 't once like they 'll be, but that's all
in the hands o' Fate, 'n' so I jus' took the first step 'n' told Billy
when he brought the milk to tell his father 't if he 'd come up here
to-night I 'd give him a quarter for the Mission fund. I know the
quarter 'll bring him, 'n' I can't help kind o' hopin' 't to-morrow
'll find the whole thing settled 'n' off my mind."

The next morning Mrs. Lathrop laid in an unusually large supply of
fodder and was very early at the fence. Her son--a placid little
innocent of nine-and-twenty years--was still in bed and asleep. Susan
was up and washing her breakfast dishes, but the instant that she
spied her friend she abruptly abandoned her task and hastened to the
rendezvous.

"Are you goin' t'--" Mrs. Lathrop called eagerly.

"No, I ain't," was the incisive reply.

Then they both adjusted their elbows comfortably on the top rail of
the fence, and Miss Clegg began, her voice a trifle higher pitched
than usual.

"Mrs. Lathrop, it's a awful thing for a Christian woman to feel forced
to say, 'n' Lord knows I would n't say it to no one but you, but it's
true 'n' beyond a question so, 'n' therefore I may 's well be frank
'n' open 'n' remark 't our minister ain't no good a _tall_.--'N I d'n'
know but I'll tell any one 's asks me the same thing, f'r it certainly
ain't nothin' f'r me to weep over, 'n' the blood be on his head from
now on."