126 What Birds Have Done With Me 



being sent out of the room. Old Clesen Smith had 

 figured it out, if "it" kept coming at its present 

 rate of speed, "it" would hit the earth in just 

 three days. Grant Culver was sure that if "it" 

 did not change its course it wouldn't touch his 

 house but might tick his barn, ten rods to the east, 

 and that was fully covered by insurance. Old 

 George Walker said that if the Bible was true, 

 there would be signs to give up our leases he 

 said this with a sly chuckle that the world was 

 so given over to wickedness that nobody had kept 

 any look-out for the signs of the second coming 

 and he had a notion that things would go on 

 about as they were for a little time longer. 

 George was a friend of mine, and I don't care if I 

 did listen at the key-hole. Ezra Wilson had heard 

 that over at the Seventh Day Settlement, they were 

 airing out their ascension robes, and getting ready 

 for the second coming. We children heard what 

 Daddy said, for he had a big, carrying voice that 

 would leak out of a little room and besides, he 

 kept talking when the neighbors were going down 

 the path. He just told them not to be fools, and 

 said that if old George Walker was right and the 

 world was much more than six thousand years 

 old, that would simply strengthen what he had 

 been telling them, that no such catastrophe had 

 ever happened in the past and that was a very 

 strong assurance that it was not going to take 



