"Jesus snatched me from de doors of hell, An' took me in with him to dwell." "Jesus told you ... go in peace an' sin no mo'." "Soul done anchored in Jesus Christ." With reference to the wilderness, where, without food, they overcame the spirit of evil by the aid of Jesus, and with reference to the life led after having this experience, the slaves sang with much feeling:[44] "All true children gwine in de wilderness, Gwine in de wilderness, gwine in de wilderness, True believers gwine in de wilderness, To take away de sins ob de world." "Stay in the field, stay in the field, stay in the field, till de war is ended."[45] "You say your Jesus set-a you free; View de land, view de land, Why don't you let-a your neighbor be, Go view de heavenly land. You say you're aiming for de skies, Why don't you stop-a your telling lies?"[46] Another ceremonial feature of slave-conversion was the shout, in which the prospective convert, upon the "mourners' bench," surrounded by a group of singing dancers, prayed continually, until convinced of perfect relief from damnation, when he leaped and ran to proclaim the joyous news. When shouting, whether for making converts or for mere group-response, these noisy, black singers of antiphonal songs preferred to be alone in some cabin or in the praise-house, where they could express themselves with absolute freedom. Just how they disturbed the peace is expressed in the following words: "Almost every night there is a meeting of these noisy, frantic worshippers.... Midnight! Is that the season for religious convocation?... is that the accepted time?"[47] Concerning worship by a light-wood fire another said: "But the benches are pushed back to the wall when the formal meeting is over, and old and young, men and women ... begin, first walking and by and by shuffling around, one after the other, in a ring. The foot is hardly taken from the floor and the progression is mainly due to a jerking, hitching motion which agitates the entire shouter and soon brings out streams of perspiration. Sometimes they dance silently; sometimes as they shuffle they sing the course of the spiritual, and sometimes the song itself is also sung by the dancers. But more frequently a band, composed of some of the best singers and of tired shouters, stand at the side of the room to 'face' the others singing the body of the song and dropping their hands together or on their knees. Song and dance are alike extremely energetic and often, when the shout lasts into the middle of the night, the monotonous thud, thud of the feet prevents sleep within half a mile of the praise-house."[48]