t she wuz in workin' spirits, her will wuz up in arms,
and nerved up her body.

Sister Meechim wuz a-makin' soap, and so wuz Sister Sypher, and Sister
Mead, and me. But we all felt that soap come after religion, not before.
"Cleanliness _next_ to godliness."

So we wuz all willin' to act accordin' and tackle the old meetin' house
with a willin' mind.

Wall, we wuz all engaged in the very heat of the warfare, as you may
say, a-scrubbin' the floors, and a-scourin' the benches by the door,
and a-blackin' the 2 stoves that stood jest inside of the door. We wuz
workin' jest as hard as wimmen ever worked--and all of the wimmen who
wuzn't engaged in scourin' and moppin' wuz a-settin' round in the pews
a-workin' hard on articles for the fair--when all of a suddin the
outside door opened and in come Josiah Allen with 3 of the other men
bretheren.

They had jest got the great news of wimmen bein' apinted for
Deaconesses, and had come down on the first minute to tell us. She that
wuz Celestine Bobbet wuz the only female present that had heard of it.

Josiah had heard it to the post-office, and he couldn't wait till noon
to tell me about it, and Deacon Gowdy wuz anxius Miss Gowdy should hear
it as soon es possible. Deacon Sypher wanted his wife to know at once
that if she wuzn't married she could have become a deaconess under his
derectin'.

And Josiah wanted me to know immegietly that I, too, could have had the
privilege if I had been a more single woman, of becomin' a deaconess,
and have had the chance of workin' all my hull life for the meetin'
house, with a man to direct my movements and take charge on me, and tell
me what to do, from day to day and from hour to hour.

And Deacon Henzy was anxious Miss Henzy should get the news as quick as
she could. So they all hastened down to the meetin' house to tell us.

And we left off our work for a minute to hear 'em. It wuzn't nowhere
near time for us to go home.

Josiah had lots of further business to do in Jonesville and so had the
other men. But the news had excited 'em, and exhilerated 'em so, that
they had dropped everything, and hastened right down to tell us, and
then they wuz a-goin' back agin immegietly.

I, myself, took the news coolly, or as cool as I could, with my
temperature up to five or five and a half, owin' to the hard work and
the heat.

[Illustration: THE LAST NEWS FROM THE CONFERENCE.]

Miss Gowdy also took it pretty calm. She leaned on her mop handl