over the neighborhood in no time that Dick Elrod had come home and was
lyin' at the p'int of death. I remembered hearin' a hack go by on the
pike the night before, and wondered to myself what was up. I thought,
maybe, it was a runaway couple or some such matter, but it was pore
Dick comin' back to his father's house, like the Prodigal Son, after
twenty years. It takes some folks a long time, child, to git tired of
the swine and the husks.

"Well, of course, it made a big commotion, and before we'd hardly
taken it in, we heard that he'd sent for Milly, and her and Richard
had gone together up to the big house.

"Jane Ann Petty was keepin' house for the old Squire, and she told us
afterwards how it all come about.

"We had a young probationer preachin' for us that summer, and as soon
as he heard about Dick, he goes up to the big house without bein' sent
for to talk to him about his soul. I reckon he thought it'd be a
feather in his cap if he could convert a hardened sinner like Dick.

"Jane Ann said they took him into Dick's room, and he set down by the
bed and begun to lay off the plan o' salvation jest like he was
preachin' from the pulpit, and Dick listened and never took his eyes
off his face. When he got through Dick says, says he:

"'Do you mean to say that all I've got to do to keep out of hell and
get into heaven is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?' And Brother
Jonas, he says:

"'Yes, my dear brother, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved. The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from
all sin."'

"And they said Dick jest laughed a curious sort o' laugh and says he:

"'It's a pretty God that'll make such a bargain as that!' And says he,
'I was born bad, I've lived bad, and I'm dyin' bad; but I ain't a
coward nor a sneak, and I'm goin' to hell for my sins like a man. Like
a man, do you hear me?'

"Jane Ann said the look in his eyes was awful; and the preacher turned
white as a sheet. It was curious talk for a death-bed; but, when you
come to think about it, it's reasonable enough. When a man's got hell
in his heart, what good is it goin' to do him to git into heaven?"

"What, indeed?" I echoed, thinking how delightful it was that Aunt
Jane and Omar Khayyam should be of one mind on this subject.

"When Dick said this the young preacher got up to go, but Dick called
him back, and says he, 'I don't want any of your preachin' or prayin',
but you stay here; there's another s