"He air a-goin' to die," she replied with conviction, "and he has to be hit with the water, if he air a-goin' to die, don't he? Air that what ye means?"
Teola, dropping her face upon the babe, bowed her head in assent, and wept silently, until the cough that had fastened itself upon the slender chest since the coming of the child, dried the tears.
Tess remained quiet until the paroxysm had passed.
"Air yer pappy a good sprinkler of brats?"
Teola nodded.
"Air it likely he would sprinkle this 'un'?"
"I don't think my father would turn away a dying babe that needed cleansing of its sin by the Holy Ghost."
"The Hully what? The student were a-talkin' 'bout him once."
"The Holy Ghost," explained Teola. "He lives in the church, and when a baby is baptized He comes and stands by the font, and when the water falls upon it, He takes away all the sin that it is born with."
Tess grunted disbelievingly.