Prayers ain't no good fer such as her," he said, becoming excited.

"Ain't she heard my prayers most all winter, till she give up comin' to prayer-meetin', preferrin' to stay outside, "'Where sinners meet, and awful scoffers dwell'?
An' I've exhorted; but"-- the elder raised his eyes piously to heaven--"Paul may plant and Apollos may water, but it don't do no good." Alfaretta knew her father's iron will too well to attempt any further protests.

She wiped her eyes, and, while she put on a hat adorned with an aggressive white feather, she bade the family good-night in an unsteady voice.

Thaddeus, anxious only to escape notice, sidled towards the door, and stood waiting for her, with a deprecating look on his round face.
In spite, however, of the elder's indignation and his really genuine alarm about the influences which surrounded his child, he had a prudent afterthought in the matter of her leaving the service of Mrs.Ward.

It was difficult to get anything in Lockhaven for a young woman to do, and times were hard that year.
"You--ah--you needn't give notice to-night, Alfaretta," he said.