Marm's face was as white as a taller candle, she was enough to scare anybody out of a week's growth, a kneeling there in that white gown, and her old hands a wrenching away at each other, like a crazy critter. Thinks I, I'll try and rile her up agin, but it wasn't of the leastest use, she wouldn't git up from the winder, but knelt there stock still--with her head flung back'ards, and the lightning a blazing over her steel specs, and the grizzley hair that hung away down her back. I swan to man, it made my hair stand on eend to look at her. By-am-by the thunder come a rolling and tumbling through the clouds, as if somebody was a blasting rocks up above: and the lightning come a streaming out agin in great blazes of fire, till it seemed as if all natur was turned wrong eend up, and all the brick kilns, coal mines, and founderies on arth were a playing away in the clouds, and a groaning and hissing through the rain that came down in pailsfull, and a scaring folks to death. "There!--look a there!" sez marm all tu once, a jumping up, and a stretching her arm through the winder. "I'm ready--I'm a coming!--Look a there, Deacon Zephaniah Slick--look there, my unregenerated son--look!" Sure as a gun, there was something all dressed out in white a standing in the orchard, right agin the winder. Par and Judy White--for the critter ran back from the out room when she see that I wasn't a going to foller her--riz right up, and they wur about the streakedest looking critters that ever you sot eyes on. Jest then cum a loud noise--snort, snort, snort--from the orchard. "Oh gracious me!" sez marm--"the trumpet! the trumpet!"--and down she slumped on her knees agin. "By gracious," think sez I, "I'll see what the matter is, any how;" so I gin a dive to the winder, and I hollored out, "shew--stuboy--git out!" but I kinder think I didn't yell over loud, the words stuck like wax-eends in my throat, and afore I could git 'em untangled, out cum the noise agin, louder, and twice as scary as it was before. Think sez I, "Gracious knows, I'm afeard we're gone suckers, but I'll try agin anyhow;" so sez I, a clapping my hands, "git away, you varmint, tramp--scoot--stuboy--y--y--" I guess I yelled it out like a training gun that time. The white spirit seemed to feel it tu, for it flung its arms in the dark, and gin us another blast of his consarned old trumpet. Jest then the lightning came cutting down agin, and--oh, git out!--it was only the old white horse, a snorting and a kicking up his heels, in the orchard. I sot down, and haw-hawed right out, till it was all I could du to catch my breath agin; then I bust out agin, till par and Judy jined chorus, and we made the old house ring as if there had been a quilting frolic in it: just then the clock struck twelve. "Hurra!" I sung out, "marm, the 23d of April has cum and gone; come, marm, git up, the storm is blowing over, and the moon haint turned to blood yit. Hurra!"