"I've always heard that was the safest place," said she. "That was the way old Dr. Barnes always used to do. He had thirteen children; nine of 'em was girls. Whenever he saw a thunder-shower comin' up, he used to make Mis' Barnes an' the children go into the parlor, an' then they'd all set in the middle of the floor, an' he'd offer prayer. He used to say he'd do his part an' get in the safest place he knew of, an' then ask the Lord to help him. Mandy Pratt!" "What say, Mis' Babcock?" returned Amanda, trembling. "Have you got your hoop-skirt on?" Amanda sprang up. "Yes, I have. I forgot it!" "For the land sakes! I should think you'd thought of that, scared as you pretend to be in a thunder-shower. Do go in the bedroom an' drop it off this minute! Lois, you go with her." While Amanda and Lois were gone there was a slight lull in the storm. "I guess it's kind of lettin' up," said Mrs. Babcock. "This is a nice house you've got here, ain't it, Mis' Field?" "Yes, 'tis," replied Jane Field. "I s'pose there was a good deal of nice furniture in it, wa'n't there?" "Considerable." "Was there nice beddin'?" "Yes." "I s'pose there was plenty of table-cloths an' such things? Have you bought any new furniture, Mis' Field?" "No, I ain't," said Mrs. Field. She moved her chair a little to make room for Lois and Amanda when they returned. Lois sat next her mother. "I didn't know but you had. I thought mebbe the furniture was kind of old-fashioned. Have you--oh, ain't it awful?" The storm had gathered itself like an animal for a fiercer onset. The room was lit up with a wild play of blue fire. The thunder crashed closely in its wake. "Oh, we hadn't ought to talk of anything but the mercy of the Lord an' our sins!" wailed Mrs. Babcock. "Don't let's talk of anything else. That struck somewheres near. There's no knowin' where it'll come next. I never see such a shower. We don't have any like it in Green River. Oh, I hope we're all prepared!" "That's the principal thing," said Mrs. Green, in a solemn trembling voice. Amanda said nothing. She thought of her will; a vision of the nicely ordered rooms she had left seemed to show out before her in the flare of the lightning; in spite of her terror it was a comfort to her. "We'd ought to be thankful in a time like this that we ain't any of us got any great wickedness on our consciences," said Mrs. Babcock. "It must be terrible for them that have, thinkin' they may die any minute when the next flash comes. I don't envy 'em." "It must be terrible," assented Mrs. Green, like an amen. "It's bad enough with the sins we've got on all our minds, the best of us," continued Mrs. Babcock. "Think how them that's broken God's commandments an' committed murders an' robberies must feel. I shouldn't think they could stan' it, unless they burst right out an' confessed to everybody--should you, Mis' Field?" "I guess so," said Mrs. Field, in a hard voice.