Westerfelt pretended not to hear. Old Wambush's wagon had started.
The camp-ground was soon reached. As Westerfelt was hitching his horse
to a tree, he could not help seeing Bates and Harriet in the bushes not
far away. Bates was taking his horse out of the shafts and looping up
the traces, and she stood looking on. Westerfelt knew that Jake or
Washburn would attend to his horse, so he walked on to the spot where
the service was to be held.
The camp-ground was in a level grove of pine-trees, between two steep
hills. A space had been cleared in the centre of the grove and a long
shed built. It was open at the sides and at one end, and filled with
benches without backs. Straw was strewn in the aisles and between the
benches. There was a platform at the closed end of the shed, and on it
sat a number of preachers and elders of the church.
The crowd was large. Westerfelt stood for a moment in the phalanx of
men surrounding the shed, and surreptitiously eyed Bates and Harriet.
Her back was towards him as she stood, her cloak on her arm, still
politely watching her escort's movements. She looked so pretty, and
there was such appealing grace in her posture. He saw Bates join her
and take her arm, and then he watched them no longer. He knew they
were coming, and he went in at the end of the shed and found a seat
near the centre on the left. He saw Luke Bradley drive up and help his
wife and Mrs. Dawson to alight, then Frank Hansard and Jennie Wynn came
in and sat on the bench just behind him. Jennie was laughing in her
handkerchief.
"There is old Mis' Henshaw," she whispered to Frank; "she's the'r
regular stan'-by at shouting. When they begin to call up mourners she
commences to clap 'er hands an' shout, then the rest get over their
bashfulness an' the fun begins. We may see a lot of excitement if the
town-people don't come and freeze 'em out with their finery an' stiff
ways."
"You ort ter go up yorese'f, Jen," replied Frank; "you need it ef
anybody does."
"I went up once," she laughed; "but Mary Trumbull pinched me an' tol'
me to look at ol' Mis' Warlick's dress, right in front of us. It had
split wide open between the shoulders an' all down the back. I thought
I'd die laughin'. They all believed I was cryin', and I got hugged by
a whole string of exhorters."
"We'd better lie low," cautioned Frank; "last year, these camp-ground
folks had some town-people indicted for disturbin' public worship, an'
they had a lots o' trouble at court. They say they've determined to
break up the fun that goes on here."
Westerfelt saw Luke Bradley and his party come in and sit down near the
centre of the shed. He caught Mrs. Dawson's glance, but she quickly
looked away. She had not forgiven him; that fact lay embedded in the
sallow hardness of her face.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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