92 With Feet to the Earth 



remember that 'Bijah Spaulding is ex- 

 pectin' a new hand down to his blacksmith 

 shop, and that's who it is." 



"Te-he! If it is, 'Bijah'll be figgerin' 

 on havin' him jine the Baptist church, and 

 I did hear he was Congregational himself." 



Now aren't you glad you came? Think 

 what a refreshment you are to these parched 

 and eager questioners ! Sometimes they 

 overdo it a little. In my teens I met a 

 rustic who stared at me as I approached as 

 though never, in all his days, had he seen 

 so strange an object. The nearer I drew 

 the more his jaw fell, the larger grew his 

 pupils, the more he was mastered by sur- 

 prise. It was amusing, yet irritating. I 

 resolved on homoeopathic treatment. Slack- 

 ening pace, I regarded him with equal 

 amazement, my eyes widened, my mouth 

 fell open, my arms dangled weakly ; at 

 last I stopped and stared until my eyes 

 felt dry. This proceeding put the youth 

 into an ecstasy of astonishment ; his eyes 

 threatened to pop out of his head, and 

 wrens might have nested in his mouth. 

 Gradually a sense stole over him that 



