Evening star., 1914-02-28
THE EVENING STORY.
THE new CHURCH.
Copyright. 1914. by W. werner.N


Mrs. Elliot was never SO conscious of
her thick, hardened knuckles, the square
work roughened fingers, her coarse shoes
and poor clothes as when she slipped into
the pretty new Baptist church. In the
old church she hadn't seemed to mind so
much. She had gone there all her life.
and the old pews with their faded plush
cushions We're too shabby themselves to
accentuate her lack of luster. And the
old minister. too. with his prosy hut
soothing sermons, had always managed
to convey with a cordial handclasp his
pleasure at her attendance.
But the new church-oh, 1t was a pretty
church. The peUs We're new and shining.
Mrs. Elliot was clear-headed enough to
corcede that old association made her
prefer the old dark walnut pews to the
somewhat glaring new light pine. And
the windows-rose, pink and gold and
purple and lavender, riots of wonderful
color when the morning sun shot through
them-we-e far superior to the former
dingy green glass panes. And the new
quartet was more pleasing to the ear
than the former loud choir. And the new
minister, brisk dapper and young, was
a cleverer eNpounder than Old DR.. Will
liams.
Only one morning he greeted Mrs. Elliot
with Beautiful day. Miss Jasper" Maria
Jasper was wrinkled old maid who sat
near the front and needed an ear trum-
pet. And one evening he asked Mrs. Ell
liot how her father was that week, when
every one knew that he had been dead
three years. She could have pardoned
those natural mistakes, for he was new,
but most mornings he forgot to shake
hands with her AZ all. Only he never for
got old Mrs. Hemling. who owned the
electric light system and the city bank
and a lorgnette and n temper. Also q
daughter. a slim, quiet, scared daughter,
whose gray eyes blinked apprehensively
whenever her mother called her. Mrs. Ell
lot herself had no daughters-only three
big. hungry boys difficult to feed from the
proceeds of a ten-acre truck farmland,
although she sometimes wished for a
daughter. she never wanted one like slim
scared Rita Hemling. After looking at
the constrained, silent girl she always
was glad to get home and hear her boys
whoop.
Mrs Hemling had paid three-fourths of
the cost of the new church She had
bulldozed the other members into paying
the remainder. Mrs. Elliot had given $40
money saved toward the winters coal.
Mr.. Elliot. who attending church hap
hazardly, had thought five plenty. con
siderinS their circumstances. but Mrs. Ell
liot reminded him that he didn't have
to meet Mrs. Hemling's cold stare after
ward. Whereupon ne said: "oh, what
sort of relgion--'' And Mrs. Elliot
hastily sent the boys to bed SO that they
shouldn't hear.
Mrs. Heming bore nineteen twentieths
of the disagreeable task of removing the
prosy cid minister and putting the Rev.
Grant Breck In his place. When a man
was too old to rreach, she declared, he
better quit and be spared the pain of
being told so. Other members shrunk
from inflicting this pain. Mrs. Elliot
cried the night she saw the old white
haired man carrying his satchel to the
depot. but Mrs. 'Hemling was not the kind
to shrink
And that night and afterWard Mrs. FL
liot griInly regretted that she had not