Not out loud, I hope, said Marilla anxiously.
Oh, no, just under my breath. Well, Mr. Bell did get through at last
and they told me to go into the classroom with Miss Rogerson s class.
There were nine other girls in it. They all had puffed sleeves. I tried
to imagine mine were puffed, too, but I couldn t. Why couldn t I? It was
as easy as could be to imagine they were puffed when I was alone in
the east gable, but it was awfully hard there among the others who had
really truly puffs.
You shouldn t have been thinking about your sleeves in Sunday-school.
You should have been attending to the lesson. I hope you knew it.
Oh, yes; and I answered a lot of questions. Miss Rogerson asked ever so
many. I don t think it was fair for her to do all the asking. There were
lots I wanted to ask her, but I didn t like to because I didn t think
she was a kindred spirit. Then all the other little girls recited a
paraphrase. She asked me if I knew any. I told her I didn t, but I could
recite, The Dog at His Master s Grave if she liked. That s in the
Third Royal Reader. It isn t a really truly religious piece of poetry,
but it s so sad and melancholy that it might as well be. She said it
wouldn t do and she told me to learn the nineteenth paraphrase for next
Sunday. I read it over in church afterwards and it s splendid. There are
two lines in particular that just thrill me.
Quick as the slaughtered squadrons fell
In Midian s evil day.
I don t know what squadrons means nor Midian, either, but it sounds
_so_ tragical. I can hardly wait until next Sunday to recite it.
I ll practice it all the week. After Sunday-school I asked Miss
Rogerson--because Mrs. Lynde was too far away--to show me your pew.
I sat just as still as I could and the text was Revelations, third
chapter, second and third verses. It was a very long text. If I was a
minister I d pick the short, snappy ones. The sermon was awfully long,
too. I suppose the minister had to match it to the text. I didn t think
he was a bit interesting. The trouble with him seems to be that he
hasn t enough imagination. I didn t listen to him very much. I just let
my thoughts run and I thought of the most surprising things.
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