“Well, mam, we’ve prospered even here, haven’t we? It’s leading a righteous life does it; aye, an’ there’s the young man has made us all feel like livin’ better, hasn’t he?”
“Aye, dear beloved,” Maggie nodded, glad of the turn the conversation was taking, “even in his picture he looks like one lifted up, like the apostle Paul.”
“They say, mam, that for fifteen years he prayed the same prayer to get knowledge an’ do good.”
“Aye, an’ it came, an’ now from being nought but a collier, he’s influencin’ thousands and thousands.”
“Good reason; there’s power there we know nothin’ about,” Gabriel said meditatively, “an’, mam,” he continued, “he appears like a gentleman; you might think he’d been born an’ bred a gentleman.”
“Yes, dad, an’ they say he’s questionin’ himself seriously,” replied Maggie, leading away from the possibility of a renewed debate; “that he’s puzzlin’ an gettin’ learnin’ an’ goin’ to college. It’s been a sweet season, father; the long winter’s not been dull at all, what with meetin’s every night till ten and eleven.”
“Aye, it’s been a blessed time, mam, an’ growin’ better every day. With the singin’ above the housetops an’ the heavenly lights, it looks like a new revelation.”
“But I’m wishin’ the Revival was quieter in some ways,” Maggie objected; “there’s people that’s fairly crazed by it; yes, an’ when they’re gettin’ the hwyl so many at once it’s—it’s——”
“Tut, mam,” said Gabriel fiercely, “it’s hot, aye; but it’s a grand an’ blessed stir. An’ the strength it brings to men!”