ouldn't help
bein' cast down." And so most all of the sisters said. Submit Tewksbury
wept, and shed tears time and agin, a-talkin' about it, and so several
of 'em did. But I sez to 'em--

"Good land!" sez I. "We have seen jest as hard times in the Methodist
meetin' house before, time and agin, and we wimmen have always laid holt
and worked, and laid plans, and worked, and worked, and with the Lord's
help have sailed the old ship Zion through the dark waters into safety,
and we can do it agin."

Though what we wuz to do we knew not, and the few male men who didn't
jine in the hardness, said they couldn't see no way out of it, but what
the minister would have to go, and the meetin' house be shet up for a
spell.

But we female wimmen felt that we could not have it so any way. And we
jined together, and met in each other's housen (not publickly, oh no! we
knew our places too well as Methodist Sisters).

We didn't make no move in public, but we kinder met round to each
other's housen, sort o' private like, and talked, and talked, and
prayed--we all knew that wuzn't aginst the church rules, so we jest
rastled in prayer, for help to pay our honest debts, and keep the
Methodist meetin' house from disgrace, for the men wuz that worked up
and madded, that they didn't seem to care whether the meetin' house come
to nothin' or not.

Wall, after settin' day after day (not public settin', oh, no! we knew
our places too well, and wouldn't be ketched a-settin' public till we
had a right to).

After settin' and talkin' it over back and forth, we concluded the very
best thing we could do wuz to give a big fair and try to sell things
enough to raise some money.

It wuz a fearful tuff job we had took onto ourselves, for we had got to
make all the things to sell out of what we could get holt of, for, of
course, our husbands all kep the money purses in their own hands, as
the way of male pardners is. But we laid out to beset 'em when they wuz
cleverer than common (owin' to extra good vittles) and get enough money
out of 'em to buy the materials to work with, bedquilts (crazy, and
otherwise), embroidered towels, shawl straps, knit socks and suspenders,
rugs, chair covers, lap robes, etc., etc., etc.

It wuz a tremendus hard undertakin' we had took onto ourselves, with all
our spring's work on hand, and not one of us Sisters kep a hired girl
at the time, and we had to do our own house cleanin', paintin' floors,
makin' soap, spring se