l theology, "well, I hope it is grace that
sustains you, Mistress Perkins, and not the vain elation of the
natural man. The Lord is in His holy temple; the earth is His
footstool--h-m!" The parson struggled helplessly with a tangle of
texts here; but the right one seemed to fail him, till Hannah
audaciously put it in:

"Well, you know what it says about takin' care of sparrers, in the
Bible, and how we was more valerable than they be, a lot. That kind o'
text comes home these times, I tell ye. You fetch a person down to the
bedrock, as Grandsir Penlyn used to say, and then they know where they
be. And ef the Lord is really the Lord of all, I expect He'll take
care of all; 'nd I don't doubt but what He is and does. So I can fetch
up on that."

Parson Everett heaved a deep sigh, put on his cocked hat, and blew his
nose ceremonially with the silk handkerchief. Not that he needed to:
but as a sort of shaking off of the dust of responsibility and ending
the conversation, which, if it was not heterodox on Hannah's part,
certainly did not seem orthodox to him.... He did not try to console
her any more, but contented himself with the stiller spirits in his
own parish, who had grown up in and after his own fashion.

Another dreadful winter settled down on Nepasset township. There was
food enough in the house and firewood in the shed; but neither food
nor fire seemed to assuage the terrible cold, and with decreased
vitality decreased courage came to all. Hygienics were an unforeseen
mystery to people of that day. They did not know that nourishing food
is as good for the brain as for the muscles. They lived on potatoes,
beets, beans, with now and then a bit of salt pork or beef boiled in
the pot with the rest; and their hearts failed, as their flesh did,
with this sodden and monotonous diet. One ghastly night Hannah almost
despaired. She held secret council with Dolly and Eben, while they
inspected the potato bin and the pork barrel, as to whether it would
not be best for them to break up and find homes elsewhere for the
winter. Her father was old and feeble. He would be glad to have her
with him and Betty. The rest were old enough to "do chores" for their
board, and there were many families where help was needed, both in
Nepash and Litchfield, since every available man had gone to the war
by this time. But while they talked a great scuffling and squawking in
the woodhouse attracted the boys upstairs. Joe seized the tongs and