Didn't I tell you an' the judge?
Didn't I tell Nan and the children?
I ain't seen anybody else yet, or I'd told them too.

But I can't say nothin' to a crowd like this; I don't know how." "He'll give you words, Samuel, if you've got the right heart in you." "Is that a dead-sure thing ?" "Certainly." Further argument and protest were ended by the formal opening of the meeting.

It appeared to the deacon that the first hymn was sung with more sound and spirit than usual, and on looking around he saw the cause: it was literally a "packed house,"-- the first one the church had ever known on a prayer-meeting night.

The deacon immediately let his own voice out a little more, for he felt personally complimented by the large attendance.

He had told a number of persons of Sam's conversion and of his own intention to have the man "put himself on record" before a number of witnesses; evidently this word had gone about and caused the great gathering.
Prayers, hymns, and short speeches and confessions succeeded one another for a little while, and the deacon, glancing aside frequently, saw his charge look more and more uncomfortable, helpless, and insignificant as the exercises continued.