Mirandy Jane, seated on an inverted noggin, listened tamely to the conversation, her wild, uncertain eyes fixed upon the parson's face; she dropped them, and turned her head with a shying gesture, if by chance his glance fell upon her.
From this shadowed, leafy recess the world seen through the green hop-vines was all in a great yellow glare.
'Be you-uns a-goin' ter hold fo'th,' demanded the old woman, 'or Brother Jake Tobin?'
'It air me ez air a-goin' ter preach,' he said.
'Then I'm a-comin',' she declared promptly. 'It do me good ter hear you-uns fairly make the sinners spin. Sech a gift o' speech ye hev got! I fairly see hell when ye talk o' thar doom. I see wrath an' I smell brimstone. Lord be thanked, I hev fund peace! An' I'm jes' a-waitin' fur the good day ter come when the Lord'll rescue me from yearth!' She threw herself back in her chair, closing her eyes in a sort of ecstasy, and beating her hands on her knees, her feet tapping in rhythm.
'Though ef ye'll b'lieve me,' she added, sitting up straight with an appalling suddenness, and opening her eyes, 'D'rindy thar ain't convicted yit. Oh, child,' in an enthused tone of reproof, 'time is short—time is short!'
'Waal,' said Dorinda, speaking more quickly than usual, and holding up her hand to stop the wheel, 'I hev hed no chance sca'cely ter think on salvation, bein' ez the weavin' war hendered some—an'——'
She paused in embarrassment.
'That air a awful word ter say—puttin' the Lord ter wait! Whyn't ye speak the truth ter her, pa'son? Fix her sins on her.'
'Sometimes,' said the parson abruptly, looking at her as if he saw more or less than was before him, 'I dunno ef I hev enny call ter say a word. I hev preached ter others, an' I'm like ter be a castaway myself.'