"What is such a meeting, Polly?" asked her employer.
"It's a meeting where you tell what you don't know and where people know
what you don't tell. If you want more light, come to the meeting.
Good-by, I'm in a hurry," answered Polly. Her employer was content to
hear from the meeting.
An hour before meeting time Sisters Polly and Renfro were ready. They
had spent considerable time arranging their hair. Polly's hair was
rolled around a saucer that belonged to her employer. Sister Renfro's
was put into the same shape by means of the flounce of an old black
dress.
Just then one might have seen forty or fifty people, moving in single
file, led by one with a lantern. There were no lights in the town. It
was customary for someone with a lantern to come along and gather up the
church-goers. The leader to-night was Grafton. Sisters Polly and Renfro
joined the procession in the rear. It moved silently on to the end of
the little bridge, when Sister Renfro stumped her foot and fell. Sister
Polly, in trying to assist her, fell also. Both had to return home, and
were late in reaching the meeting. Grafton led the procession into the
church.
The church was cold, and fairly well filled with smoke. The sexton was
rubbing his eyes. The preacher with closed eyes was tapping his foot and
humming a hymn. Grafton suggested that the windows and doors be opened a
few minutes, but the preacher demurred, saying that it was too cold. In
consequence, the cloud-laden condition of the room was not altered. It
is difficult to understand how the congregation remained in that smoky
room two hours; but they did so.
The next day Neal Grafton reported the proceedings of the church to
Jiles Brennen, and it took Jiles just six months to laugh "sifting
meetings" out of the town and the community.
Sisters Polly and Renfro declared the preacher stopped the meeting to
keep them from showing their new style of head-dress, and it took him a
year to live down the accusation.
"Is your head well?"
"Not quite. Is yours?"
"Well it's doing better than it did after the other 'sifting meeting.'"
These remarks and others of like tone showed the nature of the meeting,
and also served to divide the congregation.
And the teacher? He did not count, and never had a wish to.