ling that her opportunity had
now arrived; "an' I had the wors' time a-keepin' him in bed. He act jes'
like you did."

"Did he?" Polly was delighted to find that the pastor had "nothin' on
her," as she would have put it.

"You ought to have heard him," continued Mandy, made eloquent by Polly's
show of interest. "'What will dose poor folks do?' he kept a-sayin'.
'yes' yo' lie where yo' is,' I tole him. 'Dem poor folks will be better
off dan dey would be a-comin' to yoah funeral.'"

"Poor folks?" Polly questioned. "Do you give money to folks? We are
always itchin' to get it AWAY from 'em."

Before Douglas could think of words with which to defend his disapproved
methods, Mandy had continued eagerly:

"An' den on Sunday, when he can't go to church and preach--" She got
no further. A sharp exclamation brought both Mandy and Douglas to
attention.

"Preach!" Polly almost shouted. She looked at him with genuine alarm
this time.

"That will do, Mandy," Douglas commanded, feeling an unwelcome drama
gathering about his head.

"Great Barnum and Bailey!" Polly exclaimed, looking at him as though he
were the very last thing in the world she had ever expected to see. "Are
you a skypilot?"

"That's what he am, chile." Mandy slipped the words in slyly, for she
knew that they were against the pastor's wishes, but she was unable
to restrain her mischievous impulse to sow the seeds of curiosity that
would soon bear fruit in the inquisitive mind of the little invalid.

"Will you get onto me a-landin' into a mix-up like this?" She continued
to study the uncomfortable man at her side. "I never thought I'd be
a-talkin' to one of you guys. What's your name?"

"Douglas." He spoke shortly.

"Ain't you got no handle to it?"

"If you mean my Christian name, it's John."

"Well, that sounds like a skypilot, all right. But you don't look like I
s'posed they did."

"Why not?"

"I always s'posed skypilots was old and grouchy-like. You're a'most as
good lookin' as our strong man."

"I done tole him he was too good-lookin' to be an unmarried parson,"
Mandy chuckled, more and more amused at the pastor's discomfort.

"Looks don't play a very important part in my work," Douglas answered
curtly. Mandy's confidential snickers made him doubly anxious to get to
a less personal topic.

"Well, they count for a whole lot with us." She nodded her head
decidedly. "How long you been showin' in this town, anyhow?"

"About a year," Douglas a