That gave the pitch, and we had a
laughing chorus. All joined in, except Israel and Sarah. She pouted, and
I do believe he grit his teeth." Here Aunt Clara gave herself up to the
comic reminiscence, till her eyes filled again.
"Well, and what came of it all?" asked Jerusha.
"Why, it broke up the school for that season, and made town-talk for
nine days. Parson Oliver,--he was a young man then,--he went for to give
the mischievous girl a good talking to. He needn't have tried that; for
he was too young to scold a young girl, full of mischief, and, though I
say it that shouldn't say it, rather pretty."
"Why shouldn't _you_ say she was pretty?" asked Jerusha.
"O, you hush! Well, the girl bent her head down, and a few stray tears
came, for it _was_ wicked, and she knew it. But before the water got
head enough to fall from her eyes, she kind of thought that the young
minister's voice was getting shaky, either with mirth or with sadness.
To find out which, she slyly looked up, and both she and the minister
laughed long and loud. So there was an end of the jobation that he meant
to give her."
"How did you know all this?" said Jerusha. "Were you there?"
"I certainly was not far off."
"But Israel and Sarah," said I, now seeing through the whole affair, and
understanding perfectly why father looked aside, and mother sat down,
and Aunt Clara and Prudence Clark of the Dorcas Society exchanged
glances, and the minister himself would have laughed in the pulpit, if
he had not turned it off with a cough,--"but Israel and Sarah, how did
they fare?"
"Why, Israel, he said that Sarah was just a pretty nobody, and Prudence
Clark was a great deal more sensible,--for his part he never cared
anything about Sarah.
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