Keziah Coffin
Page 14
us, buttheirs is the laugh that turns to groanin'. O Lord, strengthen usto-night to speak what's in our hearts, without fear." ("A-men!") "Toprophesy in Thy name! To bid the mockers and them that dare--dare toprofane this sanctuary be careful. Hired singers and trumpets and vainshows we have not" ("Thank the Lord! Amen!"), "but the true faith andthe joy of it we do have." ("Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Glory!")
And so on, his remarks becoming more personal and ever pointing likea compass needle to the occupant of that seat in the corner. Theminister's determination to attend a Come-Outer meeting, though it hadreached the sticking point only a half hour before, was the result ofconsiderable deliberation. He had argued with himself and had made uphis mind to find out for himself just what these people did. He wasfinding out, certainly. His motives were good and he had come with nodesire to scoff, but, for the life of him, he could not help feelinglike a criminal. Incidentally, it provoked him to feel that way.
"O Lord," prayed Captain Hammond, the perspiration in beads on hisforehead, "Thou hast said that the pastors become brutish and have notsought Thee and that they shan't prosper. Help us tonight to labor withthis one that he may see his error and repent in sackcloth and ashes."
They sang once more, a hymn that prophesied woe to the unbeliever.Then Ezekiel Bassett rose to "testify." The testimony was mainly to theeffect that he was happy because he had fled to the ark of safety whilethere was yet time.
"I found out," he shouted, "that fancy music and--ah--and--ah--sotsermons and fine duds and suchlike wa'n't goin' to do ME no good.I needed somethin' else. I needed good times in my religion"("Hallelujah!") "and I've found 'em right here. Yes, sir! right here.And I say this out loud," turning to glare at the intruder, "and I don'tcare who comes to poke fun at me for sayin' it." ("Amen!")
A sharp-nosed female followed Mr. Bassett. She spoke with evidentfeeling and in a voice that trembled and shook when her emotion carriedit aloft. SHE'D had enough of high-toned religion. Yes, and of them thatupheld it. When her brother Simeon was took bad with phthisic, "wheezin'like a busted bellerses" and 'twas "up and down, trot, trot, trot," tofetch and carry for him day in and night out, did the folks from theReg'lar church help her? She guessed NOT. The only one that came nighher was Laviny Pepper, and she came only to gas and gabble and find outthings that wa'n't none of her business. What help she got was froma Come-Outer, from Eben Hammond, bless his good soul! ("Amen!") Thatphthisic settled her for Reg'larism. Yes, and for them that preached it,too. So there!
Captain Eben called for more testimony. But the testifiers were, to usethe old minstrel joke, backward in coming forward that evening. At anordinary meeting, by this time, the shouts and enthusiasm would havebeen at their height and half a dozen Come-Outers on their feet at once,relating their experiences and proclaiming their happiness. But tonightthere was a damper; the presence of the leader of the opposition cast ashadow over the gathering. Only the bravest attempted speech. The otherssat silent, showing their resentment and contempt by frowning glancesover their shoulders and portentous nods one to the other.
"Come, brethren," commanded the captain sharply; "we are waitin' to hearyou. Are you afraid? If your faith is real, nothin' nor nobody shouldkeep you from cryin' it out loud. Now, if ever, is the accepted time.Speak up for the spirit that's in you."
An elderly man, grave and quiet, arose and said a few words, dignifiedand solemn words of prayer and thankfulness for the comfort this littlesociety of true believers had been to him. Ellery realized that herewas another sort of Come-Outer, one of the Hammond type. Evidently, theywere not all like Ezekiel and the shrill-voiced woman.
Then, from the settee in front of him, rose the lengthy and fishy personwith the cowhide boots and enormous hands. His name was Josiah Badgerand he was, according to Trumet's estimate, "a little mite lackin' inhis top riggin'." He stuttered, and this infirmity became more and moreapparent as he grew eloquent.
"I--I ain't afraid," he proclaimed. "They can call me a C-C-Come-Outerall they want to. I--I don't care if they do. Let 'em, I say; l-let 'em!They can p-p-poke their fun and p-p-p-pup-pup-poke it, but I tell 'emto h-heave ahead and p-pup-pup-POKE. When I used to g-go to their oldReg'lar meetin' house, all I done was to go to sleep. But I don't goto sleep here, glory hallelujah! No, sir! There's too much b-b-blessednoise and we have too g-good times to g-go to sleep here. That oldK-Kyan Pepper called me t-town f-fool t'other day. T-tut-town fool'swhat he called me. Says I to him, says I: 'You-you-y-you ain't got spunkenough to be a fool,' I says, 'unless Laviny says you c-can be. You oldReg'lar p-p-pepper shaker, you!"
By this time tee-hees from the children and chuckles from some of theolder members interfered with Mr. Badger's fervent but jerky discourse.Captain Eben struck the table smartly.
"Silence!" he thundered. "Silence! Brother Badger, I beg your pardon for'em. Go on!"
But Josiah's train of thought had evidently been derailed by theinterruption.
"I--I--I cal'late that's about all," he stammered and sat down.
The captain looked over the meeting.
"I'm ashamed," he said, "ashamed of the behavior of some of us in theLord's house. This has been a failure, this service of ours. We havekept still when we should have justified our faith, and allowed thepresence of a stranger to interfere with our duty to the Almighty. AndI will say," he added, his voice rising and trembling with indignation,"to him who came here uninvited and broke up this meetin', that it wouldbe well for him to remember the words of Scriptur', 'Woe unto ye, falseprophets and workers of iniquity.' Let him remember what the Divinewisdom put into my head to read to-night: 'The pastors have becomebrutish and have not sought the Lord; therefore they shall notprosper.'"
"Amen!" "Amen!" "Amen!" "So be it!" The cries came from all parts of thelittle room. They ceased abruptly, for John Ellery was on his feet.
"Captain Hammond," he said, "I realize that I have no right to speak inthis building, but I must say one word. My coming here to-night may havebeen a mistake; I'm inclined to think it was. But I came not, as youseem to infer, to sneer or to scoff; certainly I had no wish to disturbyour service. I came because I had heard repeatedly, since my arrivalin this town, of this society and its meetings. I had heard, too, thatthere seemed to be a feeling of antagonism, almost hatred, against meamong you here. I couldn't see why. Most of you have, I believe, been atone time members of the church where I preach. I wished to find out formyself how much of truth there was in the stories I had heard and tosee if a better feeling between the two societies might not be broughtabout. Those were my reasons for coming here to-night. As for my beinga false prophet and a worker of iniquity"--he smiled--"well, there isanother verse of Scripture I would call to your attention: 'Judge not,that ye be not judged.'"
He sat down. There was silence for a moment and then a buzz ofwhispering. Captain Eben, who had heard him with a face of ironhardness, rapped the table.
"We will sing in closin'," he said, "the forty-second hymn. After whichthe benediction will be pronounced."
The Regular minister left the Come-Outers' meeting with the unpleasantconviction that he had blundered badly. His visit, instead of tendingtoward better understanding and more cordial relationship, hadbeen regarded as an intrusion. He had been provoked into a publicjustification, and now he was quite sure that he would have been morepolitic to remain silent. He realized that the evening's performancewould cause a sensation and be talked about all over town. TheCome-Outers would glory in their leader's denunciation of him, and hisown people would perhaps feel that it served him right. If he had onlytold Mrs. Coffin of what he intended to do. Yet he had not told herbecause he meant to do it anyhow. Altogether it was a rather humiliatingbusiness.
So that old bigot was the Van Horne girl's "uncle." It hardly seemedpossible that she, who appeared so refined and ladylike when he met herat the parsonage, should be a member of that curious company. Whenhe rose to speak he had seen her in the front row, beside the thin,middle-aged female who had entered the chapel with Captain Hammond and
with her. She was looking at him intently. The lamp over the speaker'stable had shone full on her face and the picture remained in his memory.He saw her eyes and the wavy shadows of her hair on her forehead.
He stepped off the platform, across the road, out of the way ofhomeward-bound Come-Outers, and stood there, thinking. The fog wasas heavy and wet as ever; in fact, it was almost a rain. The windwas