“And Andy, too,” put in Pendrilla jealously. “I do believe Andy is a prayin’ the loudest—I’m shore he is.”
Judith roused herself. “I’m mighty glad—for the both of ye,” she said kindly.
And then she looked at their tremulous, happy faces, at the kneeling boys up among the press of figures about the pulpit, and burst into a storm of weeping. Where was her lover? Where was Creed? Dead—or he had forgotten her.
“Are you under conviction of sin, sister?” inquired one of the helpers.
Judith let it pass at that, and flung herself on her knees beside the bench to wait until the last hymn and the dismissal.
Brother Bohannon was an extremely practical Christian; his creed applied to every day in the year and to the most commonplace acts. He adjured his converts not only to quit their meanness, but to go and acknowledge past errors, to repair such evil as they could, and if possible to seek forgiveness from man, certain that God’s forgiveness would follow. Such counsel as this brought the twins to their father’s cabin early on the morning after their conversion at Brush Arbour church.
“Pap,” began Andy standing before his parent with an odd suggestion of the small boy caught in mischief, “me and Jeff are aimin’ to join the church.”
“That’s right, son,” said the old man rising and clapping a hearty hand on each young shoulder. “I’m mighty proud to hear it. Hit’s a good way for fellers like you to start out in this world.”
“Well, befo’ we do so,” Jeff took up the burden, “the preacher says we ort to confess our sins and git forgiveness from them we have done wrong by. Creed Bonbright ain’t here. Mebbe he’s never goin’ to be back any mo’. We talked it over and ’lowed we’d better come tell you, pap.”
At Creed Bonbright’s name a pathetic change went over old Jephthah’s pleased countenance. He had received the opening words with satisfaction, not untinctured by the mild, patronising indulgence we show to children. But when Bonbright was mentioned he sat back in his chair, nervously knocking the ash from his pipe, anxiously staring at the boys.