gy with success, she would
have to fall back on belligerent tactics, and see if it were not
possible to get his duty out of him by threatened force of public
opinion: and she knew that, with his obstinacy, it would be touch and
go on which side of the fence he would fall in a situation of that
kind--dependent, in fact, upon the half turn of a screw, more or less,
for the result. Furthermore, she concluded that beyond the vaguest
hint of her call on Bascom and the object of the meeting, she could
not show her hand to Maxwell; for he would feel it his duty to step in
and prevent the possibility of any such open breach as failure on
Hepsey's part would probably make in the parish solidarity. For once
she must keep her own counsel--except for Jonathan, whose present
infatuated condition made him an even safer and more satisfactory
source of "advice" than he normally was. But the evening before the
meeting, as he sat on Hepsey's porch, he began to experience qualms,
perhaps in his capacity as Junior Warden. But Hepsey turned upon him
relentlessly:

"Now see here! You know I don't start somethin' unless I can see it
through; and if it means a scrap, so much the better. Next to a good
revival, a good hard scrap in a stupid parish has a real spiritual
value. It stimulates the circulation, increases the appetite, gives
people somethin' to think about, and does a lot of good where peaceful
ways would fail. The trouble with us is that we've always been a
sight too peaceful. If I've got to do it, I'm goin' to make a row, a
real jolly row that'll make some people wish they'd never been born.
No-no-no! Don't you try to interfere. We've come to a crisis, and I'm
goin' to meet it. Don't you worry until I begin to holler for first
aid to the injured. A woman can't vote for a vestryman, though women
form the bulk of the congregation, and do most all of the parish work;
and the whole church'd go to smithereens if it weren't for the women.
But there's one thing a woman can always do: _She can talk_. They say
that talk is cheap; but sometimes it's a mighty expensive article, if
it's the right kind; and maybe the men will have to settle the bills.
I'm going to _talk_; perhaps you think that's nothing new. But you
don't know how I can talk when once I get my dander up. Somebody's
goin' to sit up and pay attention this time. Bascom'll conclude to
preside at the meetin'; whichever way he means to act; and I've fixed
it so Maxwell will be engag