Mrs. Evans told me that. Anyway I
do save them at last, when they see what whiskey is
doin' for them. I rub them all up and send them home.
The steel knives--they're the worst of all. But though
they're black and stained with sin, they're still our
brothers, and so we give them the gold cure--that's the
bath-brick, and they make a fresh start.
"When I sweep the floor I pertend I'm the army of the
Lord that comes to clear the way from dust and sin, let
the King of Glory in. Under the stove the hordes of sin
are awful thick, they love darkness rather than light,
because their deeds are evil! But I say the 'sword of
the Lord and of Gideon!' and let them have it! Sometimes
I pertend I'm the woman that lost the piece of silver
and I sweep the house diligently till I find it, and
once Mrs. Evans did put ten cents in a corner just for
fun for me, and I never know when she's goin' to do
something like that."
Here Maudie Ducker, who had been listening with growing
wonder interrupted Pearl with the cry of "Oh, here's pa
and Mr. Evans. They're going to take our pictures!"
The little girls were immediately roused out of the spell
that Pearlie's story had put upon them, and began to
group themselves under the trees, arranging their little
skirts and frills.
The czar had toddled on his uncertain little fat legs
around to the back door, for he had caught sight of a
red head which he knew and liked very much. It belonged
to Mary McSorley, the eldest of the McSorley family, who
had brought over to Mrs.
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