Joe [looking at Lydia very fixedly and speaking slowly]. Just this. When I die, don't let Aunt Harriet pray for my soul.
Lydia. Joe!
Joe. Yes, I mean it. She has a powerful mind. And she would pray for my eternal rest and I might not be strong enough to stand against her.
Lydia [starting toward the rear door]. I won't listen to you any longer. It is wrong to talk and think about death.
Joe. Lydia, please! It means so much to me. Listen just one second. I know I'm not very good, but Aunt Harriet would be sure to try to make an angel out of me. And if I thought I had to sit on those everlasting gold steps and twang an everlasting gold harp forever and forever—Lydia, I'd go crazy, I'd go crazy!
[His voice rises to a scream and he sinks back gasping.]
Lydia [rushing to his side]. I promise anything. Only don't excite yourself this way. For Heaven's sake, Joe, be quiet.
Joe [insisting]. But don't let her pray. And make her give you the key to the piano, and you play something so I can go out in harmony.—Harmony—do you understand that, Lydia? Harmony. That's the word they used so often in the book. Do you promise surely?
Lydia [tearfully]. Yes, but, Joe, you're not going to die. You're not! The doctor would have told us something about it.
Joe. Of course, I'm not going to. Not until I get good and ready. Don't be silly. But remember, when it does happen, you must not cry. That is very hard on souls that are just starting out.