“He just uses his natural brain,” Paul returned, philosophically. “He says there is just one life, an' he's goin' to get all he can out of it. I don't blame him. He's rich--he can buy and sell the folks round here that say he don't know what he's talkin' about. He says there ain't no God, and he can prove it. He made it purty plain one day while he was talking to a crowd at the tan-yard. He told 'em, if they believed there was any such thing, for 'em to pray for some'n and see if they'd get it. He told about a gang of Methodists that was praying for money to make a church bigger, and the lightning struck it and burned it down.” “Did you never pray yourself?” Ethel questioned, quite irrelevantly. He hesitated; his color flamed again in his face, and he avoided her gentle, upward gaze. “Not--not since I was very little,” he said, awkwardly. “I don't believe in it; the whole shoutin', singin-and-prayin' bunch of meetin'-folks make me sick. “Uncle is responsible for all that,” Ethel declared. “You naturally would look up to him; but I believe he is wrong--I really do. I like good people, and, while he is my uncle, I--well, I don't feel the same toward him as I would if he were a different sort of man.” “He's all right,” Paul defended. “He's rough, and curses some when he's mad, but you can count on him to keep his word in a deal. He's no hypocrite. Lots of folks believe as he does, but are afraid to own it; he stands his ground and tells them all exactly what he thinks, and says they can lump it.” They had been walking side by side across the grass, and had reached the point where their ways parted. He was turning homeward, when she advanced impulsively and touched him almost timidly on the arm. Her pretty red lip was quivering and her hand shook visibly. “I don't care what uncle says--or what _any one_ says. I believe there is a God, and I believe He is good, and I am going to pray to Him to make you have faith.” There were incipient tears in her eyes, and, as if to avoid his wondering stare, she lowered her head suddenly and walked away. At the front gate his father stood waiting for him, a mild look of excitement in his weary eyes. “Heard the news?” he inquired. “No; what's happened?” Paul answered. “Enough, I reckon, to them that's hit by it,” Ralph returned. “Old Alf Rose, over t'other side o' the mountain, was found dead in a thicket close to his house. He was beat bad, his skull was all mashed in.” “Who did it?” Paul asked. “They don't know for sure; but he was robbed of all he had in his pockets, an' his hat was gone. A nigger, Pete Watson, is missin', and they say the sheriff and a passle o' deputies, an' half the county, are out scourin' the woods for 'im. Ef they ketch 'im thar 'll be a lynchin' as sure as preachin'.” A voice now came from the farm-house. It was Amanda leaning out of the kitchen window.