THE TWINS STICK UP FOR THE BIBLE
Prudence had been calling on a "sick member." Whenever circumstances
permitted she gladly served as pastoral assistant for her father, but
she always felt that raising the family was her one big job, and
nothing was allowed to take precedence of it. As she walked that
afternoon down Maple Street,--seemingly so-called because it was
bordered with grand old elms,--she felt at peace with all the world.
The very sunshine beaming down upon her through the huge skeletons of
the leafless elms, was not more care-free than the daughter of the
parsonage. Parsonage life had been running smoothly for as much as ten
days past, and Prudence, in view of that ten days' immunity, was
beginning to feel that the twins, if not Connie also, were practically
reared!
"Mount Mark is a dear old place,--a duck of a place, as the twins would
say,--and I'm quite sorry there's a five-year limit for Methodist
preachers. I should truly like to live right here until I am old and
dead."
Then she paused, and bowed, and smiled. She did not recognize the
bright-faced young woman approaching, but she remembered just in time
that parsonage people are marked characters. So she greeted the
stranger cordially.
"You are Miss Starr, aren't you?" the bright-faced woman was saying.
"I am Miss Allen,--the principal of the high school, you know."
"Oh, yes," cried Prudence, thrusting forth her hand impulsively, "oh,
yes, I know. I am so glad to meet you."
Miss Allen was a young woman of twenty-six, with clear kind eyes and a
strong sweet mouth. She had about her that charm of manner which can
only be described as winsome womanliness. Prudence gazed at her with
open and honest admiration. Such a young woman to be the principal of
a high school in a city the size of Mount Mark! She must be
tremendously clever. But Prudence did not sigh. We can't all be
clever, you know. There must be some of us to admire the rest of us!
The two walked along together, chatting sociably on subjects that meant
nothing to either of them. Presently Miss Allen stopped, and with a
graceful wave of her hand, said lightly:
"This is where I am rooming. Are you in a very great hurry this
afternoon? I should like to talk to you about the twins. Will you
come in?"
The spirits of Prudence fell earthward with a clatter! The twins!
Whatever had they been doing now?
She followed Miss Allen into the house and up the stairs with the joy
quite quenched in her heart. She did not notice the dainty room into
which she was conducted. She ignored the offered chair, and with a
dismal face turned toward Miss Allen.
"Oh, please! What have they been doing? Is it very awful?"
Miss Allen laughed gaily. "Oh, sit down and don't look so distressed.
It's nothing at all. They haven't been doing anything. I just want to
discuss them on general principles, you know. It's my duty to confer
with the parents and guardians of my scholars."
Immensely relieved, Prudence sank down in the chair, and rocked
comfortably to and fro a few times. General principles,--ah, blessed
words!
"I suppose you know that Carol is quite the idol of the high school
already. She is the adored one of the place. You see, she is not
mixed up in any scholastic rivalry. Lark is one of the very best in
her class, and there is intense rivalry between a few of the freshmen.
But Carol is out of all that, and every one is free to worship at her
shrine. She makes no pretensions to stand first."
"Is she very stupid?" Prudence was disappointed. She did so want both
of her twins to shine.
"Stupid! Not a bit of it. She is a very good scholar, much better
than the average. Our first pupils, including Lark, average around
ninety-six and seven. Then there are others ranging between ninety and
ninety-four. Carol is one of them. The fairly good ones are over
eighty-five, and the fairly bad ones are over seventy-five, and the
hopeless ones are below that. This is a rough way of showing how they
stand. Lark is a very fine scholar, really the best in the class. She
not only makes good grades, she grasps the underlying significance of
her studies. Very few freshmen, even among the best, do that. She is
quite exceptional. We hope to make something very big and fine of
Larkie."
Prudence's eyes shone with motherly pride. She nodded, striving to
make her voice natural and matter-of-fact as she answered, "Yes, she is
bright."
"She certainly is! Carol is quite different, but she is so
sweet-spirited, and vivacious, and--un-snobbish, if you know what that
means--that every one in high school, and even the grammar-grade
children, idolize her. She is very witty, but her wit is always
innocent and kind. She never hurts any one's feelings. And she is
never impertinent. The professors are as crazy about her as the
scholars,--forgive the slang. Did the twins ever tell you what
happened the first day of school?"
"No,--tell me." Prudence was clearly very anxious.
"I shall never forget it. The freshmen were sent into the recitation
room to confer with Professor Duke about text-books, etc. Carol was
one of the first in the line, as they came out. She sat down in her
seat in the first aisle, with one foot out at the side. One of the
boys tripped over it. 'Carol,' said Miss Adams gently, 'you forgot
yourself, didn't you?' And Carol's eyes twinkled as she said, 'Oh, no,
Miss Adams, if I had I'd still be in the recitation room.'" Miss Allen
laughed, but Prudence's eyes were agonized.
"How hateful of her!"
"Don't the twins tell you little things that happen at school,--like
that, for instance?"
"Never! I supposed they were perfectly all right."
"Well, here's another. Twice a week we have talks on First Aid to the
Injured. Professor Duke conducts them. One day he asked Carol what
she would do if she had a very severe cold, and Carol said, 'I'd soak
my feet in hot water and go to bed. My sister makes me.'" Miss Allen
laughed again, but Prudence was speechless.
"Sometimes we have talks on normal work, practical informal
discussions. Many of our scholars will be country school-teachers, you
know. Miss Adams conducts these normal hours. One day she asked Carol
what she would do if she had applied for a school, and was asked by the
directors to write a thesis on student discipline, that they might
judge of her and her ability by it? Carol said, 'I'd get Lark to write
it for me.'"
Even Prudence laughed a little at this, but she said, "Why don't you
scold her?"
"We talked it all over shortly after she entered school. Miss Adams
did not understand Carol at first, and thought she was a little
impertinent. But Professor Duke and I stood firm against even
mentioning it to her. She is perfectly good-natured about it. You
know, of course, Miss Starr, that we really try to make individuals of
our scholars. So many, many hundreds are turned out of the public
schools all cut on one pattern. We do not like it. We fight against
it. Carol is different from others by nature, and we're going to keep
her different if possible. If we crush her individuality, she will
come out just like thousands of others,--all one pattern! Miss Adams
is as fond of Carol now as any one of us. You understand that we could
not let impudence or impertinence pass unreproved, but Carol is never
guilty of that. She is always respectful and courteous. But she is
spontaneous and quick-witted, and we are glad of it. Do you know what
the scholars call Professor Duke?"
"Professor Duck," said Prudence humbly. "But they mean it for a
compliment. They really admire and like him very much. I hope he does
not know what they call him."
"He does! One day he was talking about the nobility system in England.
He explained the difference between dukes, and earls, and lords, etc.,
and told them who is to be addressed as Your Majesty, Your Highness,
Your Grace and so on. Then he said, 'Now, Carol, if I was the king's
eldest son, what would you call me?' And Carol said, 'I'd still call
you a Duck, Professor,--it wouldn't make any difference to me.'"
Prudence could only sigh.
"One other time he was illustrating phenomena. He explained the idea,
and tried to get one of the boys to mention the word,--phenomenon, you
know. The boy couldn't think of it. Professor gave three or four
illustrations, and still the boy couldn't remember it. 'Oh, come now,'
professor said, finally, 'something unusual, something very much out of
the ordinary! Suppose you should see a blackbird running a race down
the street with a sparrow, what would you call it?' The boy couldn't
imagine, and professor said, 'What would you call that, Carol?' Carol
said, 'A bad dream.'"
Prudence smiled wearily.
"Sometimes we have discussions of moral points. We take turns about
conducting them, and try to stimulate their interest in such things.
We want to make them think, every one for himself. One day Professor
Duke said, 'Suppose a boy in this town has a grudge against
you,--unjust and unfair. You have tried one thing after another to
change his attitude. But he continues to annoy and inconvenience and
even hurt you, on every occasion. Remember that you have tried every
ordinary way of winning his good will. Now what are you going to do as
a last resort?' Carol said, 'I'll tell papa on him.'" Miss Allen
laughed again, heartily. "It does have a disturbing effect on the
class, I admit, and often spoils a good point, but Professor Duke calls
on Carol every time he sees her eyes twinkle! He does it on purpose.
And Miss Adams is nearly as bad as he. One day she said, 'Suppose you
have unintentionally done something to greatly irritate and
inconvenience a prominent man in town. He knows you did it, and he is
very angry. He is a man of sharp temper and disagreeable manners. You
know that he will be extremely unpleasant and insulting if you go to
him with explanations and apologies. What are you going to do?' 'I
think I'll just keep out of his way for a few weeks,' said Carol
soberly."
"I hope she doesn't talk like that to you, Miss Allen."
Instantly Miss Allen was grave. "No, she does not, I am so sorry."
Leaning forward suddenly, she said, "Miss Starr, why do the twins
dislike me?"
"Dislike you!" echoed Prudence. "Why, they do not dislike you! What
in the world makes you think----"
"Oh, yes indeed they do,--both of them. Now, why? People generally
like me. I have always been popular with my students. This is my
second year here. Last year the whole high school stood by me as one
man. This year, the freshmen started as usual. After one week, the
twins changed. I knew it instantly. Then other freshmen changed. Now
the whole class comes as near snubbing me as they dare. Do you mean to
say they have never told you about it?"
"Indeed they have not. And I am sure you are mistaken. They do like
you. They like everybody."
"Christian tolerance, perhaps," smiled Miss Allen ruefully. "But I
want them to like me personally and intimately. I can help the twins.
I can do them good, I know I can. But they won't let me. They keep me
at arm's length. They are both dear, and I love them. But they freeze
me to death! Why?"
"I can't believe it!"
"But it is true. Don't they talk of their professors at home at all?"
"Oh, often."
"What do they say of us?"
"Why, they say Miss Adams is a perfectly sweet old lamb,--they do not
mean to be disrespectful. And they say Professor Duke is the dearest
duck! They almost swear by 'Professor Duck'!"
"And what do they say of me?"
Prudence hesitated, thinking hard.
"Come now, what do they say? We must get to the bottom of this."
"Why, they have said that you are very pretty, and most unbelievably
smart."
"Oh! Quite a difference between sweet old lamb, and the dearest duck,
and being very pretty and smart! Do you see it?"
"Yes," confessed Prudence reluctantly, "but I hadn't thought of it
before."
"Now, what is wrong? What have I done? Why, look here. The twins
think everything of Professor Duke, and I am sure Carol deliberately
neglects her science lessons in order to be kept in after school by
him. But though she hates mathematics,--my subject,--she works at it
desperately so I can't keep her in. She sits on Mr. Duke's table and
chats with him by the hour. But she passes me up with a curt, 'Good
night, Miss Allen.'"
"And Larkie, too?"
"Lark is worse than Carol. Her dislike is deeper-seated. I believe I
could win Carol in time. Sometimes I waylay her when she is leaving
after school, and try my best. But just as she begins to thaw, Lark
invariably comes up to see if she is ready to go home, and she looks at
both of us with superior icy eyes. And Carol freezes in a second.
Ordinarily, she looks at me with a sort of sympathetic pity and wonder,
but Lark is always haughty and nearly contemptuous. It is different
with the rest of the class. It is nothing important to them. The
twins are popular in the class, you know, and the others, realizing
that they dislike me, hold aloof on their account."
"I can't fathom it," said Prudence.
"Now, Professor Duke is very brilliant and clever and interesting. And
he does like Carol tremendously,--Larkie, too. He says she is the
cleverest girl he ever knew. But Carol is his favorite. But he does
not like teaching, and he has not the real interests of the scholars at
heart. Next year, he is to begin some very wonderful research work at
a big salary. That is what he loves. That is where his interests lie.
But this year, being idle, and his uncle being on the school board
here, he accepted this place as a sort of vacation in the meanwhile.
That is all it means to him. But I love teaching, it is my life-work.
I love the young people, and I want to help them. Why won't the twins
give me a chance? Surely I am as attractive as Professor Duke. They
are even fond of Miss Adams, whom most people consider rather a sour
old maid. But they have no use for me. I want you to find out the
reason, and tell me. Will you do it? They will tell you if you ask
them, won't they?"
"I think so. It is partly my fault. I am very strict with them about
saying hateful things about people. I do not allow it. And I insist
that they like everybody,--if they don't, I make them. So they have
just kept it to themselves. But I will do my best."
One would have thought that Prudence carried the responsibility for the
entire public-school system of the United States upon her shoulders
that night, so anxious were her eyes, so grave her face. Supper over,
she quietly suggested to Fairy that she would appreciate the absence of
herself and Connie for a time. And Fairy instantly realized that the
twins must be dealt with seriously for something. So she went in
search of Connie, and the two set out for a long walk. Then Prudence
went to the kitchen where the twins were washing the dishes, and as
usual, laughing immoderately over something.
Prudence sat down and leaned her elbows on the table, her chin in her
palms. "I met Miss Allen to-day," she said, closely observing the
faces of the twins. A significant glance flashed between them, and
they stiffened instantly.
"She's very pretty and sweet, isn't she?" continued Prudence.
"Yes, very," agreed Lark without any enthusiasm.
"Such pretty hair," added Carol dispassionately.
"She must be very popular with the scholars," suggested Prudence.
"Yes, most of them are fond of her," assented Lark.
"She has rather winsome manners, I think," said Carol.
"Which of your professors do you like best?" queried Prudence.
"Duck," they answered unanimously, and with brightening faces.
"Why?"
"Because he is a duck," said Carol, and they all laughed. But Prudence
returned to the charge without delay.
"Do you like Miss Allen?" She was going through these questions with
such solemnity that the twins' suspicions had been aroused right at the
start. What had Miss Allen told their sister? Again that significant
flash from twin to twin.
"She certainly has very likeable ways," said Lark shrewdly.
"But do you like her?" insisted Prudence.
"I would like her very much under ordinary circumstances," admitted
Carol.
"What is unusual about the circumstances?" Prudence wanted to know.
"Look here, Prudence, what did Miss Allen tell you? Was she
complaining about us? We've been very nice and orderly, I'm sure."
Lark was aggrieved.
"She wasn't complaining. She likes you both. But she says you do not
like her. I want to know why."
"Well, if you must know, Miss Allen is a heretic," snapped Lark.
Then Prudence leaned back in her chair and gazed at the flushed faces
of the twins for two full minutes.
"A--a--a what?" she ejaculated, when power of speech returned to her.
"Heretic," said Carol with some relish. "A heretic! You know what
heresy is, don't you? We'll tell you all about it if you like, now
you've got things started."
"We didn't tell you before because we thought you and father would feel
badly about sending us to school to a heretic. But don't you
worry,--Miss Allen hasn't influenced us any."
"We haven't given her a chance," said Carol, with her impish smile.
"Go on," begged Prudence. "Tell me. You're both crazy, I see that.
But tell me!"
"Well," began Lark, for Carol always relegated the story-telling to her
more gifted twin, "we've suspected Miss Allen right from the start.
They used to have Bible reading every morning in school, one chapter,
you know, and then the Lord's prayer. After the first week, Miss Allen
dropped it. We thought that was a--a suspicious circumstance."
"Phenomenally so," said Carol darkly.
"But we kept our suspicions to ourselves, and we didn't come across
anything else for several days. We wouldn't condemn anybody on--on
circumstantial evidence, Prue. We're very fair-minded, you know."
"In spite of being twins," added Carol.
"What's that got to do with it?" Prudence inquired, frowning at Carol.
"Oh, nothing," admitted Carol, driven into a corner. "I just wanted to
make it emphatic."
"Go on, Lark."
"Well, there's a girl at school named Hattie Simpson. You do not know
her, Prue. We don't associate with her. Oh, yes, we like her very
well, but she isn't parsonage material."
"She's a goat," put in Carol. "You needn't frown, Prue, that's Bible!
Don't you remember the sheep and the goats? I don't know now just what
it was they did, but I know the goats were very--very disreputable
characters!"
"Go on, Lark."
"Well, her folks are atheists, and she's an atheist, too. You know
what an atheist is, don't you? You know, Prue, Mount Mark is a very
religious town, on account of the Presbyterian College, and all, and it
seems the Simpsons are the only atheists here. Hattie says people look
down on her terribly because of it. She says the church folks consider
them, the Simpsons, that is, the dust on their shoes, and the crumbs
off the rich man's table. She got that terribly mixed up, but I didn't
correct her."
"I think she did very well for an atheist," said Carol, determined not
to be totally overlooked in this discussion.
"What has all this to do with Miss Allen?"
"Well, one day Hattie was walking home from school with us, and she was
telling us about it,--the dust on their shoes, etc.,--and she said she
liked Miss Allen better than anybody else in town. I asked why. She
said Miss Allen believed the same things the Simpsons believe, only
Miss Allen daren't say so publicly, or they would put her out of the
school. She said Miss Allen said that most church members were
hypocrites and drunkards and--and just generally bad, and the ones
outside the church are nearly always good and moral and kind. She said
Miss Allen joined the Presbyterian church here because most of the
school board are Presbyterians. She said Miss Allen said she didn't
care if people were Catholics or Jews or atheists or--or just ordinary
Protestants, so long as they were kind to one another, and went about
the world doing good works. And that's why Miss Allen wouldn't read
the Bible and say the Lord's prayer in school."
"What do you think of that?" demanded Carol. "Isn't that heresy?
She's as bad as the priest and Levite, isn't she?"
"Did you ask Miss Allen about it?"
"No, indeed, we've just ignored Miss Allen ever since. We have watched
her as closely as we could since then, to see if we could catch her up
again. Of course she has to be careful what she says in school, but we
found several strong points against her. It's a perfectly plain case,
no doubt about it."
"And so you went among the other freshmen influencing them, and telling
tales, and criticizing your----"
"No indeed, Prue, we wouldn't! But you know it says in the Bible to
beware of false doctrines and the sowers of bad seed,--or something
like that--"
"And we bewared as hard as we could!" grinned Carol.
"We have tried to explain these things to the other freshmen so Miss
Allen could not lead them into--into error. Oh, that's Christian
Science, isn't it? Well, Minnie Carlson is a Christian Scientist and
she talks so much about falling into error that--honestly----"
"We can't tell error from truth any more," interjected Carol neatly.
"And so I hope you won't punish us if we accidentally vary from the
truth once in a while."
This was quite beyond Prudence's depth. She knew little of Christian
Science save that it was a widely accepted creed of recent origin. So
she brought the twins back to Miss Allen again. "But, twins, do you
think it was kind, and Christian, and--and like parsonage girls, to
accept all this against Miss Allen without giving her a chance to
defend herself?"
"As I told you, Prue, we have watched her very close since then. She
has never come right out in the open,--she wouldn't dare,--but she has
given herself away several times. Nothing can get by us when we're on
the watch, you know!"
Prudence knew. "What did Miss Allen say?"
The twins thought seriously for a while.
"Oh, yes, Lark," suggested Carol finally, "don't you remember she said
the Bible was an allegory?"
"What?"
"Yes, she did. She was explaining to the English class what was meant
by allegory, and she said the purpose of using allegory was to teach an
important truth in a homely impressive way that could be remembered.
She mentioned several prominent allegories, and said the Bible was one.
And you know yourself Prue, that the Bible is Gospel truth, and--I
mean, it is so! I mean----"
"What she means," said Lark helpfully, "is that the Bible is not just a
pretty way of teaching people to be good, but it's solid fact clear
through."
"That's very well expressed, Lark,"--Prudence herself could not have
expressed it half so well! "But how do you twins understand all these
things so thoroughly?"
"Oh, you know Mrs. Sears is our Sunday-school teacher, and she's always
hot on the trail of the higher critics and heretics. She explained all
about the--the nefarious system to us one Sunday. She says the higher
critics try to explain away the Bible by calling it allegory. So we
were ready for Miss Allen there. And whenever anything came up at
school, we would ask Mrs. Sears about it on Sunday,--without mentioning
names of course. She's very much gratified that we are so much
interested in such things. She thinks we're sure to be deaconesses, at
the very least. But Carol said she wouldn't be a deaconess,--she was
going to be a Red Cross nurse and go to war. That stumped Mrs. Sears
for a while, and then she said we could be Red Cross Deaconess nurses."
"I won't," said Carol, "because the deaconess uniforms aren't as
stylish as the Red Cross nurses'. I think I'll look pretty fine in a
white uniform with a stiff little cap and a red cross on my arm. Red
crosses make a very pretty decoration, don't you think they do, Lark?"
"What else did Miss Allen say at school?" Prudence demanded, leading
the twins back to the subject.
"Well, one day she said,--you know she gives uplifting little moral
talks quite often, Prue. Sometimes she tells us stories with inspiring
points. She's really a moral person, I believe."
"And I'm honestly sorry she's a heretic," said Carol, "for I do want to
be friendly enough with her to ask if she uses anything on her
complexion to keep it so rose-leafy. If she does, I'll have some of
it, if it takes all my next year's clothes!"
Lark laughed. "A rose-leaf complexion will be a poor substitute
for----"
"Oh, for goodness' sake, twins, come back to Miss Allen. I am going
right up to her house this minute, to ask her about it, and explain----"
"She's the one to do the explaining, seems to me," said Carol
belligerently. "We've got to stick up for the Bible, Prue,--it's our
business."
"And I don't think you should tell her,--it may hurt her feelings,"
urged Lark.
"Have heretics feelings?" queried Carol. "I suppose it's a feeling
of----"
"Carol! Will you quit talking for a minute! This is a serious matter.
If she believes all that nonsense, she's no proper teacher and--and
she'll have to be put out of the high school. And if she doesn't
believe it, she's a martyr! I'm going to find out about it at once.
Do you want to come with me?"
"I should say not," said the twins promptly.
"I think you're very foolish to go at all," added Lark.
"I wouldn't go for a dollar," declared Carol. "It'd be very
interesting to see how a heretic feels, but I don't care to know how
ordinary Christians feel when they fall into their hands. I'm not
aching to see Miss Allen to-night."
So Prudence set forth, conscientiously, in the darkness. A brave and
heroic thing for Prudence to do, for she was a cowardly creature at
heart.
Miss Allen heard her voice in the lower hall, and came running
down-stairs to meet her. "Come up," she cried eagerly, "come on up."
And before Prudence was fairly inside the door, she demanded, "What is
it? Did you find out? Is it my fault?"
Then Prudence blushed and stammered, "Why--it sounds--silly but--they
think you are a--heretic."
Miss Allen gasped. Then she laughed. Then she walked to her
dressing-table and picked up a long hatpin. "Will you kindly jab this
into me?" she said. "I'm having a nightmare."
Prudence explained in detail. At first Miss Allen laughed, it must be
confessed. Then she grew very sober. "It is really my fault," she
said, "for I should have remembered that young people read a ton of
meaning into a pound of words. Of course, I am not guilty, Miss Starr.
Professor Duke and Miss Adams can swear to that. They call me
Goody-goody. They say I am an old-fashioned apostle, and they accuse
me of wanting to burn them both at the stake! Now, sit down and let me
explain."
Prudence sat down. She was glad, so glad, that this sweet-faced,
bright-eyed woman was an "ordinary Christian," and not a "priest and a
Levite!"
"About the allegory business, it is very simple. What I said was
this,--'The Bible is full of allegory.' I did not say, 'The Bible is
allegory.' I said the Bible is full of allegory, and so it is. The
parables, for instance,--what are they? Do you see the
difference?--But it is really more serious about poor little Hattie
Simpson. As the twins told you, her parents are atheists. Her father
is a loud-voiced, bragging, boastful, coarse-hearted fellow. Hattie
herself does not know what her parents believe, and what they do not.
She simply follows blindly after them. She thinks she is an eyesore in
Mount Mark because of it. She resents it bitterly, but she feels the
only decent thing for her to do is to stand by her folks. Let me tell
you about our conversation. I tried to make friends with her, for I
truly pity her. She has no friends, she slinks about as though
constantly ashamed of herself. She trusts no one, herself least of
all. I tried to draw her out, and with partial success. She told me
how she feels about it all. I said, 'Hattie, won't you let some
one--some minister, who knows how--tell you about Christianity, and
explain to you what Christians really believe?' 'No,' she said
passionately, 'I'll stand by my folks.' Then I saw she was not ready
yet. I said, 'Well, perhaps it is just as well for the present, for
you are too young now to take any definite stand for yourself. It is
true,' I told her, 'that many church members are not Christians, and
are bad immoral people,--as your father says. They are not Christians.
And it is true that many outside of the church are good moral
people,--but they are not Christians, either.' And then I said, 'Don't
worry your head just now about whether people are Catholics or Jews or
Protestants, or what they are. Just try to love everybody, and try to
grow up to be such a sweet, kind, loving woman that you will be a
blessing to the world. And what is more,' I said, 'do not puzzle your
head now about why some believe the Bible, and some do not. Just wait.
When you are older, you shall go into things for yourself, and make
your own decision.'"
Prudence nodded. "I think you were very sweet about it," she said.
"I wanted to win her confidence in the hope that some time, a little
later, I myself may show her what Christ is to us, and why we love the
Bible. But I did fight shy of the real point, for fear I might anger
her and put a barrier between us. I just tried to win her confidence
and her love, to pave the way for what I may be able to do later on.
Do you see? I have had several talks with her, but she is not ready.
She is just a child, stubbornly determined to stand with her folks,
right or wrong. I am trying now to cultivate the ground, I say nothing
to make her dislike or distrust me. I did not think of her telling it
to others,--and telling it wrong! Surely no one but the twins could
have read so much into it!"
"Well," and Prudence smiled, "you know we are parsonage people! We
have to stick up for the Bible, as Carol says."
"Oh, and about the Bible reading," said Miss Allen suddenly, "I have
nothing to do with that. As you know, there are Jews and Catholics and
Christian Scientists and every branch of Protestant represented in our
little school. The Jews and Christian Scientists are in a minority.
The Jews, have always objected to Bible reading, but they were too few
to be influential. With a Catholic teacher, the Catholics were quite
willing to have it. With a Protestant teacher, the Protestants were
strong for it. But there was always friction--one side objecting--so
the school board ruled it out entirely. I did not explain this to the
scholars. I did not want our young people to know of the petty
bickering and scrapping going on among the elders in the town. So I
simply said that hereafter we would dispense with the Bible reading.
But it was the direct order of the board. I argued against it, so did
Professor Duke, so did Miss Adams. But as it happens, we are all three
Presbyterians! It did no good."
Then as Prudence rose to go home, she asked eagerly, "Do you think the
twins will like me now?"
"I don't see how in the world they can help it," declared Prudence,
smiling; "indeed, they admitted they were only too anxious to love you,
but couldn't honestly do so because they had to stick up for the Bible!
I am so glad and relieved! This is the first time I have gone
heresy-hunting, and I was quite bowed down with the weight of it. And
if ever I can help with poor little Hattie, will you let me know? I
must have the twins invite her to spend some Saturday with us. That's
the way I make the girls like people,--by being with them a great,
great deal."
Just before she said good night, Prudence murmured hopefully, "I am
sorry it happened, but it will be a good lesson for the twins. I am
sure that after this, they will be less ready to listen to gossip, and
more ready to give one the benefit of a doubt. It's a great
responsibility, this raising a family, Miss Allen--and especially
twins!"