Hit can't be fur ter thet other world whar THEY wait fur me.

Hit is not even ez a journey ter the next town--hit's only one little step though the curtain o' green grass an' violets on a sunny hillside--only one little step." She turned abruptly, and going back to her chair by the fireside, seated herself in it, and clasping her knees with her hands, rocked back and forth, and sang in a low, sweet croon: "Oh, the rapturous, transporting scene, That rises ter my sight; Sweet fields arrayed in livin' green, An' rivers of delight.
"All o'er those wide, extended plains Shines one eternal day; Thar God, the Son, forever reigns, An scatters night away.
"No chillin' winds or poisonous breath Kin reach thet healthful shore; Sickness an' sorrow, pain an' death, Are felt an' feared no more." After dark Fortner came in.

Both women studied his face eagerly as he walked up to the fire.
"Nothin' yet, honey," he said to Aunt Debby, and "Nothin' yet, Miss," to Rachel, and after a little stay went out.
When Rachel awoke the next morning the sky was lowering darkly.

On going to the window she found a most depressing change from the scene of bright merriment she had studied the night before.

A chill Winter rain was falling with dreary persistence, pattering on the dead leaves that covered the ground, and soaking into the sodden earth.