526 
“came to scoff.” Slim Davis stalked 
in with a few cronies as the preacher 
was reading the text of his sermon, and 
found a vacant place at the farthest 
corner of the room. The house was 
literally jammed. A _ great number 
were compelled to stand, which they 
did with the customary indescribable 
country lack of grace and dignity. 
Slim scanned the crowd carefully, seek- 
ing one face only. He was at a disad- 
vantage in his position, however, and 
were it not for the fact that Grace was 
likewise occupied in looking for him he 
would not have seen her just then. 
Their eyes met, they recognized each 
other, and both felt ill at ease. Why 
could such a little thing stand between 
them? Grace asked herself, tempting 
her conscience. 
The service wore on and feet-wash- 
ing was begun. The little tubs of 
water were carried in and placed in a 
row along the altar-platform. Up the 
aisle filed a dozen or more of the oldest 
members, who proceeded to bathe each 
other’s feet as that act is described in 
the Bible. When they finished they 
kissed one another with a smack that 
resounded throughout the building. As 
one lot got through, others filed up as 
solemnly until all had shared in the per- 
formance. There was just the faintest 
hint of a smile here and there as some 
bare foot found a hard place on the 
floor or stumbled against the corner 
of a bench. Only the very young or 
unconverted deigned to laugh, how- 
ever. 
Then came the plain but substantial 
supper. Throughout there was much 
preaching and praying. Once when a 
visiting parson made a telling point in 
a wild burst of oratory one old deacon 
began to “shout.” This was too much 
for a “bunch” of fellows ’way back 
near the door of the church, who had 
imbibed pretty freely of hard cider be- 
fore they left home. ‘They began to 
yell, too. Si Echelberger, the roughest 
of the lot, proceeded to climb one of 
the pillars which supported the ceiling. 
But his neighbors saved a bad situation 
RECREATION 
i hauling him down and sitting on 
im. 
The last sermon was only fairly un- 
der way, when some “wild” boy pitched 
a blank cartridge into the open stove 
door. The shouting minister had just 
repeated for, perhaps, the twentieth 
time the text “It ees finish-ed,” when 
the thing exploded. Everybody jumped, 
looked scared, but didn’t know exactly 
why. 
“T reckon there’d be a regular smash- 
up if the ol’: floor went down,” Slim 
whispered laughingly to his  side- 
partner, Robert Bucke, home on a 
vacation from college. 
It was really a prophetic remark, for 
it was scarcely made when suddenly the 
floor of the big old church trembled, 
then sagged. Imagine the effect! 
Dutch Corners held its breath and 
gripped the seat. Then, before anyone 
had time to comprehend it, there was 
such a crash that the majority believed 
it the crack-o’-doom. The cries and 
screams of the God-fearing crowd gone 
mad with fright swelled up in a mighty 
chorus, and an attentive ear caught 
prayers and supplications for mercy 
galore. (There were some fine con- 
trasts in the different “pitches” of 
voice.) The whole central portion of 
the over-burdened flooring had sunk 
under the strain upon it. It was a 
smash-up where pandemonium and 
panic reigned supreme. Those who 
could free themselves from the tangle 
of benches trampled and crawled over 
each other in a wild rush for the doors. 
A few sensible ones threw open the 
windows and scores jumped or fell out 
of them on to the snow, and in which, 
be it said, Deacon Burger permanently 
injured his kneecap. 
Immediately following the crash one 
might have seen a fine sight at the back 
of the church; for the larger of the 
two stoves tottered, and falling was 
grabbed by many hands and _ tossed 
bodily out of the wide church door into 
the snow, where it now steamed like 
a locomotive in the ditch. Slim Davis 
it was who saved the great stove from 
