"'I would!' s'she, at that, rill ready an' quick. An' it come to me 't she knew now what _help_ meant. She'd learnt it the night before from Jennie's mother--like she'd learnt to answer a bell when Somebody pressed it. Only, o' course she never guessed Who it was ringin' it--like you don't at first. "So I made up my mind I'd take her to the cemet'ry. We done the work up first, an' 'Leven spried 'round for me, wipin' the dishes with the wipin' cloth in a bunch, an' settin' 'em up wrong places. An' I did hev to go in the butt'ry an' laugh to see her sweep up. She swep' up some like her broom was a branch an' the wind a-switchin' it. "Mis' Toplady an' Mis' Holcomb stopped by for us, with the white cotton cloth an' the tacks, an' by nine o'clock we was over to the cemet'ry. The grave was all dug an' lined with nice pine boards, an' the dirt piled 'longside, an' the boards for coverin' an' the spades layin' near. Zittelhof was just leavin', havin' got in his pulley things to lower 'em. Zittelhof's rill up to date. Him an' Mink, the barber, keep runnin' each other to see who can get the most citified things. No sooner'd Zittelhof get his pulleys than Mink, he put in shower-baths. An' when Mink bought a buzz fan, Zittelhof sent for the lavender cloth to spread over 'em before the coffin comes. It makes it rill nice for Friendship. "'Who's goin to get down in?' says Mis' Toplady, shakin' out the cloth. Mis' Toplady always use' to be the one, but she can't do that any more since she got so heavy. An' Mis' Holcomb's rheumatism was bad that day an' the grave middlin' damp, so it was for me to do. An' all of a sudden I says:-- "''Leven, you just get down in there, will you? An' we'll tell you how.' "'_In the grave?_' says 'Leven. "I guess I'm some firm-mannered, just by takin' things for granted, an' I says, noddin':-- "'Yes. You're the lightest on your feet,' I says--an' I sort o' shoved at her, bird to young, an' she jumped down in, not bein' able to help it. "'Here,' s'I, flingin' her an end o' cloth, 'tack it 'round smooth to them boards.' "'Mother o' God,' says she, swallowin' in her breath. "But she done it. She knelt down there in the grave, her poor, frowzy head showin,' an' she tacked away like we told her to, an' she never said another word. Mis' Toplady an' Mis' Holcomb didn't say nothin', either, only looked at me mother-knowin'. Them two--Mis' Toplady more'n anybody in Friendship, acts like bein' useful is bein' alive an' nothin' else is. They see what I was doin', well enough--only I donno's they'd 'a' called it what I did, 'bout the Lord's housekeepin' an all. An' I knew I couldn't gentle 'Leven into the _i_-dee, but I judged I could shock it into her--same as her an' the Big Lil kind have to hev. Some folks you hev to shoot _i_-dees at, muzzle to brain.