could o' spared de dime, Mr. Small, I'd a put it in myse'f,
but--but--"

"_But nothin'_! Put de dime in de hat!"

The voice came from near the front now. "Put it all in de hat, Brer
Smiff. You owes me a nickel an' I'll loan'd it to Mr. Small."

And so, amid much laughter, Smith reluctantly deposited his dime.

Others followed so fast that when Jordan exclaimed, "Who gwine be de
nex'?" his words were almost lost in the commotion. Still his voice had
its effect.

"Heah one mo'--two mo'--fo' mo'--eight mo'! Glory, I say! An' heah dey
come in de winder! Oh, I'm proud ter see it, yo'ng men! I'm proud ter
see it!"

Borrowing or making change was now the order of the moment, as every
individual present who had not already contributed felt called upon thus
to exonerate himself from so grave a charge.

Amid the fresh stir a tremulous female voice raised a hymn, another
caught it up, and another--voices strong and beautiful; alto voices soft
as flute notes blended with the rich bass notes and triumphant tenors
that welled from the choir, and floated in from the windows, until the
body of the church itself seemed almost to sway with the rhythmic
movement of the stirring hymn

"Salvation's kyar is movin'."

[Illustration: "SALVATION'S KYAR IS MOVIN'!"]

Still, above all, Jordan's voice could be distinguished--as a fine
musical instrument, and whether breaking through the tune in a volley
of exhortations, or rising superior to it all in a rich tenor--his
words thrown in snatches, or drawn out to suit his purpose--never once
did it mar the wonderful harmony of the whole.

It was a scene one could not easily forget.

The shaft of low sunlight that now filled the church, revealing a
bouquet of brilliant color in gay feathers and furbelows, with a
generous sprinkling of white heads, lit up a set of faces at once so
serious and so happy, so utterly forgetful of life's frettings and
cares, that I felt as I looked upon them, that their perfect vocal
agreement was surely but a faint reflection of a sweet spiritual
harmony, which even if it did not survive the moment, was worth a long
journey thither, for in so hearty a confession of fellowship, in so
complete a laying down of life's burdens, there is certainly rest and
a renewal of strength.

Feeling this to be a good time to slip out unobserved, I noiselessly
secured my hat from beneath the pew before me, but I had hardly risen
when I perceived a messenger hurrying t