'Hang it!' don't seem half so good if I want to let off steam." "Thorny used to 'confound!' every thing, so I proposed that he should whistle instead; and now he sometimes pipes up so suddenly and shrilly that it makes me jump.

How would that do, instead of swearing ?" proposed Miss Celia, not the least surprised at the habit of profanity, which the boy could hardly help learning among his former associates.
Ben laughed, and promised to try it, feeling a mischievous satisfaction at the prospect of out-whistling Master Thorny, as he knew he should; for the objectionable words rose to his lips a dozen times a day.
The Ben was ringing as they drove into town; and, by the time Lita was comfortably settled in her shed, people were coming up from all quarters to cluster around the steps of the old meeting-house like bees about a hive.

Accustomed to a tent, where people kept their hats on, Ben forgot all about his, and was going down the aisle covered, when a gentle hand took it off, and Miss Celia whispered, as she gave it to him,-- "This is a holy place; remember that, and uncover at the door." Much abashed, Ben followed to the pew, where the Squire and his wife soon joined them.
"Glad to see him here," said the old gentleman with an approving nod, as he recognized the boy and remembered his loss.
"Hope he won't nestle round in meeting-time," whispered Mrs.Allen, composing herself in the corner with much rustling of black silk.
"I'll take care that he doesn't disturb you," answered Miss Celia, pushing a stool under the short legs, and drawing a palm-leaf fan within reach.
Ben gave an inward sigh at the prospect before him; for an hour's captivity to an active lad is hard to bear, and he really did want to behave well.

So he folded his arms and sat like a statue, with nothing moving but his eyes.

They rolled to and fro, up and down, from the high red pulpit to the worn hymnbooks in the rack, recognizing two little faces under blue-ribboned hats in a distant pew, and finding it impossible to restrain a momentary twinkle in return for the solemn wink Billy Barton bestowed upon him across the aisle.