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Why, he went on in fearful axents of wrath and skorn about it, and finally bein’ so wrought up, he said, “that them that upholded ’em wuz as bad as they wuz.”

Why, we had never dreamed of upholdin’ ’em, nor thought on’t; but he felt so.

He threw stuns fearful at the South, and at Josiah and me because we didn’t jine in with him and rip and tear as he did.

And them stuns kinder hurt me after a while; and so, when he asked me for the seventh time:

DEACON HENZY.

“Why didn’t they free their slaves before they wuz obleeged to?”

Then I sez, “It wuz probable for the same reason that you didn’t liberate Zekiel—mostly selfishness!”

“What! what did you say?” He could not believe his ear; he craned his neck, he turned the other ear. He wuz browbeat and stunted; and agin he sez: “What did you say?”

And I sez agin, calm as cream, but sharp and keen as a simiter, “I said it wuz selfishness, Deacon, and the power of old custom—jest the reasons why you didn’t free Zekiel.”

His linement fell more’n a inch. Like the Queen of Sheba before Solomon (only different sex) he had no spirit left in him.