The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1878-06-06

the performance narrowly. EVluentiy
he felt called upon to see who and what
were to occupy that pulpit in his mas
ter's absence.
Up rose Parson Summeral, and up
went Trips nose, vibrating with intense
attention.
The parson began in his high-cracked
voice to intone the hymn:
Sing to the Lord aloud,
when Trip broke into dismal howl.
The Parson went on to give directions
to the deacon in the same voice in which
he had been reading, so that the whole
effect of the performance was somewhat
as follows:
Sing to the Lord aloud,
please to turn out that dog)-
And make joyful noise.
The dog was turned out, and the
choir did their best to make joyful
noise, but We boys were upset for the
day, delivered over to the temptations
of Satan and plunged in waves and bill
lows of hysterical giggle, from which
neither winks nor frowns from Aunt
Lois, nor the awful fear of the tithing-
man, nor the comforting bits of fennel
and orange-peel, passed up by grand
mother, could recover US.
Every body felt, to be sure, that here
was trial that called for some indul-
gence. Hard faces, even among the
stoniest saints, betrayed transient
culver of the risible muscles, old ladies
put up their fans, youths and maidens
in the singers seat laughed outright, and
for moment a general smoker among
the children was pardoned. But / was
one of that luckless kind whose nerves,
once set in vibration, could net be COM
posed. When the reign of gravity and
decorum had returned, Harry and | sat
by each other, shaking with suppressed
laughter. Every thing in the subsequent
exercises took a funny turn, and in the
long prayer, when every body else was
still and decorous, the whole scene came
to me with such overpowering force that
exploded with lau ghter and had to be
taken out of meeting by Aunt Lois, as
convicted criminal. What especially
moved her indignation was that the
more she rebuked and upbraided, the
more / laughed, till the tears rolled
down my cheeks, which Aunt Lois con-
strued into willful disrespect to her au-
thority, and resented accordingly.
BY Sunday evening, as we gathered
around the fire, the reaction from undue
gayety to sobriety had taken place, and
we were in pensive and penitent state
Grandmother was gracious and forgiv-
ing, but Aunt Lois still preserved that
frosty air of Reproduction which she held
to be salutary means of quickening
our consciences for the future. 1t was,
therefore, with unusual delight that we
saw our old friend Sam come in and
seat himself quietly down on the block
in the chimney-cor With Sam we
felt assured of indulgence and patron
age, for, though always rigidly moral
and instructive in his turn of mind, he
had that fellow-feeling for transgressors
which is characteristic of the loose
jointed, easy-going style of his individ-
uality.
"Lordy massey, boys-yie," said Sam,
virtuously in view of some of Aunt
Lois's thrusts, eye ought never to laugh
nor cut up in meetin', that ares so, but
then there is times when the best on us
gets took down. We gets took una
wares, We see-even ministers does.
Yes, natur' will git the upper hand afore
they know it.''
"Why, Sam, ministers don't ever
laugh in meetin', do they?"
We put the question with wide eyes.
Such supposition bordered on Pro-
family, we thought; it was approaching
the sin of Uzzah, who unworthily touch.
ed the ark of the Lord.
claws, yes. Why, haven't you
never heard how there was counsel
held to try Parson Morrel for laughing
out in prayer-time?"
Laughing in prayer time!" we both
repeated, with uplifted hands and eyes.
My grandfather's mild face became
luminous with suppressed smile, which
frightened it as the moon does cloud,
but he said nothing.
Yes, yes" said my grandmother,
"that affair did make dreadful scan
dial in the time ont But Parson Nor
rel was a good man, and Pm glad the
counsel wasn't hard on him."
"Fact was, they said twas put there
cause the land want good for nothin'
else and the folks thought putin a
meetin'-house ont would be clear
savin'-Parson Morrel he didn't like it
and was to tell 'em his mind ont,
that twas like bringin' the lame and
the blind to the Lords service-but
there twas.
"There wasn't better minister nor
no one more set by in all the State than
Parson Morrel. His doctrine was right
up and down, good and sharp,
and he gives saints and
sinners their meat in due season,
and for consolin' and comfortin' wild
ders and orphans Parson Morrel hadn't