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"Isn't that a heauty?" tie asked. IPngo 40.)
Tine
Ministers Twins
THE ABINGDON PRESS
NEW YORK. CINCINNATI
Copyright by
EATON & MAINS,
1901.
First Edition Printed September, 1901
Reprinted March, 1912; November, 1914; November, 1916
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^ 16 1932 II 21570"
Vs
CONTENTS.
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CHAPTER I. PAGK.
The Twins s
CHAPTER II.
Their First Day at Church 13
CHAPTER III.
At Camp Meeting 22
CHAPTER IV.
More Camp Meeting Experiences 31
CHAPTER V.
Useless Alarm 37
CHAPTER VI.
A Way of Escape 46
CHAPTER VII.
The Search for the Christ-Child 57
CHAPTER VIII.
Moving Experiences 68
ILLUSTRATIONS.
" Isn't that a beauty? " he asked Frontispiece.
FACING
PAGE
" I feel almost sure she is Elizabeth Ella" 16
"As he knelt in prayer, the twins mounted the steps" 18
" O, children ! what are you doing ? " 30
" People attracted by the singing gathered quietly " 32
"Why, Hannie, you have put Pappie's new hat on
Harry 1" 48
" He looks just like the picture in our Bible " 50
" Hannah Matilda, with her white leghorn hat in her
hand" 62
The Minister's Twins.
CHAPTER I.
THE TWINS.
THERE were two of them—there usually are
—little bright-eyed babies that came to the
young minister and his still younger wife in the
little white parsonage with the green shutters
on that beautiful first day of June.
They were proud, of course—I don't mean
the twins, for they were too young to know much
of anything, but the other people were proud.
The minister felt that he was richer than words
could express, and his face was lit up with a smile
of deep gratification. The twins' grandmother
—I mean their mother's mother; they had an¬
other grandmother, but she was far away and
did not know of the two little babies until she
got the letter from the twins' father—was over¬
joyed, and said, "There never were two such nice
6 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
babies before." The members of the minister's
church were delighted, and felt a new honor had
been conferred upon them; so everywhere they
went they inquired of the people who did not go
to church as well as members of other churches,
"Did you hear the good news?" And when the
person or persons thus questioned would make
reply by asking another question, '' What news ? "
the members of the young minister's church
would answer proudly, "Why, about the twins
at the parsonage!" "Twins!" they would
exclaim in astonishment, " you don't tell
me!"
So the good news spread rapidly, until the
whole town knew of it, and then it overflowed
the town and was carried into the country, and
finally the whole Conference—at least the min¬
isters' families did—knew of the twins in the
little white parsonage.
Then the members of the minister's church
and his friends in the town brought donations
of dresses and socks and sacks and all manner
of infants' wear for the babies. And old Broth¬
er Jamison, an old bachelor nearly sixty years
of age, sent two new gold dollars, one for each.
These gold dollars were placed on little chains of
THE TWINS. 7
red coral beads when the twins grew older, and
on every special occasion were worn about their
necks, to the great delight and admiration of
Brother Jamison. Brother Silas Goodheart, out
in the country, sent a bag of meal and a ham,
'' for the preacher and his family will need more
provisions now," he said.
So prosperity came to the parsonage with the
twins.
But how about the little mother all this time
up in the front room of the white parsonage?
She couldn't get out to hear what people said,
but she received many friendly calls and hearty
congratulations from her interested friends,
and when she was alone she had plenty of time
to think. So she was proud too, and worried—
worried because she was so young to have the
care of twins. Suppose after mother was gone
that they should both cry at the same time?
Suppose both should get the croup? Suppose
the measles or the mumps or the chicken-pox
should come to them both at the same time?
Suppose they should both fall and get hurt,
which would she attend to first? Suppose—
suppose—sup—but why need she worry? she
said. So with a prayer for help to the All-Wise
8 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
Father who had sent them she bravely and
cheerily looked toward the future.
And how about little Willie, only four years
old ? He had been the baby until now; he had
received all the notice and attention, but now
he was passed by, and those new twin babies
up stairs were the all-important and favored
ones. Of course he loved them, and he was so
proud of them at first. Fie stood out by the big
front gate all that first day and said to everybody
who passed by, " I has two new little twin sis¬
ters. Won't you come in and see 'em?" And
the people smiled and promised to call to see
them right soon.
Then when in a few days they began to call
everyone invariably said to grandma, "I have
called to see the twins," and not one of them in¬
quired about Willie. He was forgotten, he felt,
and he began to feel slighted, and when dear old
Sister Brewer called with socks and sacks for
the twins, and hadn't even the accustomed mint-
drop for him, he felt as if those twins were
getting his place away from him.
It was when the twins were about a week
old that a forlorn-looking little boy, with tear-
stained face, stood at the same big front gate,
THE TWINS. 9
where a week before he had so proudly an¬
nounced the possession of twin sisters, with a
little chip basket in his hand and called to all
who passed by: "Do you want a baby? We has
two and will give you one if you want her,
an' here's a basket to take her in."
But no one accepted the offer, and by and by
Willie grew accustomed to the new conditions
and to have favors shown to the twins.
Then came the naming of the twins.
" Father, what shall we call these babies?"
anxiously asked their mother.
" I am sure I do not know, but we will have
to find them names soon," he answered.
It is hard enough to find a name for one
baby, but to name two at the same time is more
than doubly difficult. And besides, these were
not ordinary babies; they were twins, and that
made it harder than ever to find suitable names.
But finally, to the great relief of the minister
and his wife, and the greater satisfaction of the
twins' grandmothers, and the entire dissatisfac¬
tion and disapproval of the twins in after years,
they were given the names of their grandmoth¬
ers—one for each.
So Hannah Matilda and Elizabeth Ella were
10 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
duly named, and at the next quarterly meeting,
when the presiding elder came on the circuit,
they were consecrated to God in holy baptism.
Then a new difficulty confronted the parents
in the parsonage, and was of no little concern
to all their friends, but of this the twins knew
nothing at all. They looked so much alike
that it was almost impossible to tell them apart,
and this was of little account before they were
baptized and had their names, but it was all-
important now that Hannah Matilda and Eliza¬
beth Ella should be known apart from each
other. So their mother placed a pink ribbon
on Hannah's neck and a blue one on Eliza¬
beth's, and they had always to look at the
ribbons to know which was which of the
twins.
Soon after this, one morning when grand¬
mother was washing Hannah—she was named
for her—and the little mother was washing
Elizabeth, and they were all dressed excepting
the ribbons, which lay on the bureau, a dread¬
ful clatter was heard and a fearful scream came
from Willie in the kitchen.
" O, mother, something has happened to
Willie," cried his mother, and both mother and
THE TWINS. 11
grandmother in their fright jumped up hastily
and laid the twins on the bed and hurried down
stairs to the kitchen.
Here they found Willie on the floor with the
clock lying on top of him. He had climbed up
on his high chair to the mantel and pulled the
clock from its place and had fallen with it to the
floor. He was not much hurt, and was soon
pacified, when the twins were heard crying
lustily up stairs, and they hurried back to their
abandoned charges.
Here a new dilemma met them—which was
which? Neither mother nor grandmother
could tell on which side of the bed she had
placed the baby she had been dressing, and as
their clothes were entirely alike they had no way
of telling them apart. Was Hannah Matilda
toward the wall, or Elizabeth Ella?
'' Mother, didn't you place your baby on the
bed first? for if you did, then she was nearest
to the wall, and that is Hannah Matilda."
'' But, Harriet, you were down stairs first,
and so you must have placed your baby nearest
to the wall, and so the one on the inside must
be Elizabeth Ella," said the twins' grand¬
mother.
12 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
" Mother, don't you think that one looks like
Hannah Matilda?"
" Harriet, I feel almost sure she is Elizabeth
Ella," replied grandmother.
So they never could settle it, and they never
knew, and they did not tell the folks outside,
but they tied on the ribbons, one on each baby,
but to this day they are not sure which is Han¬
nah Matilda and which is Elizabeth Ella.
But Grandmother Wentz nearly always de¬
clares, when the one they call Hannah Matilda
—and who is named for her—does anything
naughty or is cross, "I do believe you are
Elizabeth Ella, and I have always thought we
did not get the ribbons on the right babies."
THEIR FIRST DAY AT CHURCH. 13
CHAPTER II.
THEIR FIRST DAY AT CHURCH.
THEY were four years old now, and, while
they were still the minister's twins, they
were not the babies, for a new little baby had
come to add to the joy and happiness, and also
to the cares, of the minister and his wife. But
no new baby—and there were several others
added to the family as the years went by—could
ever lessen the interest people had in the twins.
They were always objects of deep interest and
frequent comment.
When in their itinerant life the minister's
family moved from place to place one of the first
bits of news that was circulated was, '' There
are twins in the minister's family;" and on each
first Sunday morning at a new appointment,
when the entire family would march into church,
the minister leading, followed by Willie, then
the twins, then Emma, then the others, with
the little mother bringing up the rear—'' to
keep any of them from straying," folks said—
14 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
you might hear on all sides as they passed up
the aisle, in whispers in all degrees of loudness,
" See, there's the twins."
The minister and his family had just moved
to their new appointment at Safe Harbor, and
as Grandmother Wentz was visiting and help¬
ing with the moving at the same time, and
Emma was now two years old and could be left
for a little while by the little mother, the twins
were promised on Saturday that if they would
be real good they should be taken to church the
next morning.
" O, we'll be as good as tan be," they both
declared, and were in ecstasies over the bright
prospect.
"An'—an' we'll help pappie preach if he
wants us to," they said to each other.
"Yes, an' we'll go in the twire, too, and help
'em sing if he asks us."
That afternoon their mother could hear them
singing lustily as she was about her work and
they were up stairs, and once, as she looked in
at them, she asked, "What are you singing,
children? "
" We's prac'sin' for church to-morrow," they
said.
THEIR FIRST DAY AT CHURCH. 15
It was a bright Sunday morning in June that
dawned the next day, and with the opening of
their eyes came thoughts of their churchgoing.
" Come, Hannie," said Elizabeth, " it is time
to get up." So an hour before their usual time
they were out of bed.
Impatiently they waited for breakfast to be
over, and then gladly made their way to their
room to be dressed for church.
In their little white dresses, Hannah Matilda
with a pink sash and Elizabeth Ella with a blue
one, each with a white leghorn hat trimmed
with ribbon to match her sash, with their red
coral necklaces with the gold dollars attached,
they were a pretty sight as they stood at the
front gate waiting for pappie and mother.
"There's the bell, Hannie," said Elizabeth
Ella, as the sound of the bell came ringing on
the calm summer air.
"Where's pappie an' mother? I wonder
why they don't come ?" questioned Hannah
Matilda, anxiously.
Their fair faces were flushed with excite¬
ment, their brown eyes sparkled, and their lit¬
tle yellow curls bobbed about their faces and
necks underneath their large leghorn hats, but
16 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
still pappie and mother did not appear, and the
bell ceased ringing.
"I dess we better go so we'll not be late,"
said Hannah Matilda.
"All right," said Elizabeth Ella, "an' we
can tell the peoples that pappie an' mother will
soon be there."
So hand in hand they started for the church,
about a block away, nodding to every person
they met, and saying, " We're going to church
to hear pappie preach ; are you? " And people
smiled, and some said, "Yes, we are going,"
while others answered, "Not this morning."
"Is you going to church to hear pappie
preach ? " they asked old Dan Bodson, the vil¬
lage sot.
" Not this morning," he said, with a smile at
the very thought of anyone expecting him to
go to church.
" O, you ought to go to church," said Hannah
Matilda.
"Yes, I guess I ought to, but the folks there
don't want me, for no one has asked me to go
in twenty years," he replied.
"Will you go with us and hear our pappie? "
urged Elizabeth Ella.
'I keel almost soke kiie is Elizabeth Ella." (Pase 12.)
THEIR FIRST DAY AT CHURCH. 17
Then a thoughtful and tender look came in
the eyes bleared and red, and the memory of
the days when he used to go with his little girl
came back to him, and in a sudden impulse he
said, " May I go with you? "
" O yes, come; for it is time."
And people smiled, and some looked in amaze¬
ment, and wondered as they saw Dan Bodsonwith
the two lovely little girls that morning, and won¬
dered still more to see him going to the church.
The sexton smiled as they entered, and said,
'' Go right up front; that's where the minister's
family sit."
So they marched with old Dan Bodson up to
the front pew in the " amen corner.''
Hannah and Elizabeth were both restless—
pappie and mother had not come.
" I wonder has they forgot to come? " asked
Hannah Matilda.
" Hannie, you tell the peoples that pappie
an' mother will come soon," whispered Eliza¬
beth Ella.
Slowly Hannah Matilda mounted the steps to
the pulpit, and said modestly, but so distinctly
that she could be heard by the gathering con¬
gregation, " Pappie an' mother will be here
2
18 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
after a while," and then went back to her seat
and waited patiently.
Then the bell began to ring again. It was al¬
ways rung twice,and the children had not known
it, so pappie and mother were not late, after all.
The bell had not ceased ringing when their
father came in and walked up the aisle on the
opposite side to where the children sat, so he
did not see them, and as he knelt in prayer for
a moment the twins mounted the steps and
stood by his side, where, much to his surprise,
he found them as he arose from his knees.
"Pappie, we telled "—Hannah Matilda was
about to say when the twins felt a gentle but
decided tug at their dresses, and mother hurried
them down to the minister's family pew in the
middle block, leaving poor old Dan Bodson
alone and very ill at ease in the front seat in
the " amen corner."
" Why did you run away? I've been so wor¬
ried," whispered their mother.
"We didn't run; we only tomed when we
heard the bell, and telled the people you an'
pappie was a-tomin' too," they whispered in
explanation.
" Mother, we bringed that nice old man over
"As HE KSH.T IN PRAYER THE TWIN'S Mill" NT'KI) THE STEPS." ( I'll IIP IS.)
NOrvUW^-"*^'
UnWOrslty
Ulbrnry
THEIR FIRST DAY AT CHURCH. 19
there with us; tan't we go an' sit with him?"
asked Hannah Matilda.
"No, no; sit still," whispered their mother,
firmly.
"Let's go over there; may we, mother?"
asked Elizabeth Ella.
"No, no; stay where you are," again said
their mother.
"But we bringed him, mother," whispered
Hannah Matilda, quite loudly.
Then as the minister's wife looked across at
the forlorn old man she comprehended—at least
she understood in part—and whispered to the
twins, and together they quietly crossed over to
where the lonesome-looking old man sat, and
complacently took seats, one on either side of
him. For many years old Dan Bodson had not
shown the manliness that he exhibited that
morning as he proudly sat between the twins
and gave an attentive hearing to the sermon.
In the midst of the sermon Hannah Matilda
looked over the congregation and spied a black
woman halfway down the church with a little
chocolate-colored baby in her arms.
"O, 'Liz'beth, seethe little black baby! " she
whispered.
20 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
"Isn't it pretty! " whispered back Elizabeth
Ella.
"Let's go down and see it," said Hannah
Matilda; and she immediately started down the
aisle, followed by Elizabeth Ella.
It was all done so quickly, and while their
mother was giving her whole attention to the
sermon, that the children were gone almost be¬
fore she realized they had left their places.
With hurrying feet they sped down the aisle
to the little baby. Here they placed their hands
with keen enjoyment and surprise upon its curly
black wool, and smoothed its glossy cheeks,
much to the baby's delight and its mother's
amazement.
But their pleasure was of short duration, for
their mother, as soon as she missed them, had
followed in pursuit, and led them back to their
seat in the "amen corner," and stayed with
them to prevent any further escapades. During
these proceedings the congregation smiled, and
the minister never once ceased his preaching.
During the rest of the service they were as
good as anyone need be, and never as much as
whispered until the meeting was dismissed.
Then each of the twins took one of Dan Bod-
THEIR FIRST DAY AT CHURCH. 21
son's hands and quietly walked out of church,
followed by their mother. The people watched
in wonder as they saw the children with their
charge going down the street toward the par¬
sonage, where, as he left them, they put up
their pretty lips to be kissed, and asked, "Is
you goin' to church next Sunday again ? "
" Do come," said their mother, as she shook
his hand; "we shall always be glad to see you
there."
" Good-bye," said the twins.
"Good-bye," said Dan Bodson, as his voice
quivered, and he awkwardly raised his battered
old hat.
That night when the minister gave the invi¬
tation for any who wanted to lead a new life to
come to the altar old Dan Bodson knelt humbly
and penitently, and earnestly prayed for for¬
giveness.
In all his after life of a consistent Christian,
whenever he spoke of his conversion, he said,
" It was the minister's twins who led me to
Jesus; for if they hadn't taken me to church
that morning I should not have heard the ser¬
mon that convicted me of my sins."
22
THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
CHAPTER III.
AT CAMP MEETING.
" IT ANNIE! Hannie! where are you, Han-
1 * nie ?" called Elizabeth Ella to her twin,
as she ran across the lawn one morning in July.
Hannah Matilda did not at once reply, for she
was having quite a serious time with one of her
dolls that did not want to be dressed, and so she
went on with her work under the lilac bush.
" O, Hannie! where are you? "again came
the anxious call of her twin. "I have some-
thin' to tell you that's so good!"
" I's here, 'Liz'beth," now replied Hannah
Matilda, aroused by curiosity to know what the
good news should be.
" O, Hannie! we's goin' to camp meeting,"
said Elizabeth Ella, excitedly.
" Who is goin' ? " asked her twin.
" Pappie, an' mother, an' Willie, an' Emma,
an' the baby, an' us twins, for I heard pappie
say so! "
" O, goodie ! goodie! " cried Hannah Matilda.
AT CAMP MEETING. 23
" An' pappie said we are goin' to—to—" but
the name she could not remember—" and live
in a tent. Won't that be nice?"
"When are we goin' ?" asked Hannah Ma¬
tilda, as she began to gather up her dolls, and
now as much interested as Elizabeth Ella.
" O, I don't know! Let's run in an' ask
mother." And both children ran to the house
to talk to mother about the camp meeting.
How many questions were asked and an¬
swered during that day and those that followed,
while boxes were being packed and things got¬
ten together for their sojourn in the tent, I
am not prepared to say, but it is a wonder
that mother did not say more frequently than
she did, " O, I don't know; go and ask your
pappie."
" It's just as nice as moving to a new 'point-
ment," the twins said, as they ran about helping
and hindering with the preparations, getting
into mischief and out again with equal facility.
Their moving experiences had not been very
many, for they could only remember one mov¬
ing, though they were five years old, but as they
grew older such occasions became times of con¬
cern rather than pleasurable events.
24 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
At last the day arrived. The last box and
bundle were put into the great Conestoga
wagon, then mother and the baby and Emma
and the twins were stowed away among the
bundles and furniture, and then, last of all,
Willie and pappie and the driver crowded in on
the only seat for which there was room, and
they were off for Brandywine Summit Camp
Meeting, fifteen miles away.
"This is like the ark," said Willie, "just
eight persons in it."
" Will there be a flood ? " asked Hannah Ma¬
tilda, anxiously, as she crept a little closer to
mother.
"I hope not, dear, and if it should rain we
will be kept dry in here."
The children grew sleepy, their heads nodded,
and then they lay over on the bundles of bed¬
ding, and soon they were fast asleep.
"Here we are!" awakened the sleepy chil¬
dren, and they aroused themselves quickly and
rubbed their eyes as they were lifted from the
wagon and stood upon the ground.
The beautiful grove with its large and small
"rag houses," as Hannah Matilda called the
tents, were full of interest, and the new arrival
AT CAMP MEETING. 25
of some party of tenters was full of excitement
for the children, who ran about getting ac¬
quainted with everybody.
They soon became quite at home in their lit¬
tle "rag house" with its front and back room
and kitchen, and even became quite fond of the
straw-filled bunks in which they slept.
This was an old-fashioned camp meeting, and
before the days of fine cottages and splendid
auditoriums and electric lights. The pavilion
was of rough boards, and the tents were ar¬
ranged in a semicircle about it. The seats were
rough, unplaned boards on low trestles, and the
altar was made of the same rough material,
while straw, clean and sweet, was strewed
plentifully about it on which the people might
kneel.
"Isn't this nice ?" cried the delighted chil¬
dren, as they tumbled about in the straw before
the meetings began.
Perhaps no one in the large congregation
which greeted their father at the opening serv¬
ice sang with greater fervor or with sweeter
voices than did the twins on the pulpit steps.
When night came on the great platforms
erected about the grove, and covered with earth,
26 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
were heaped high with pine knots, and when
lighted they threw a lurid light over " the
circle," and half frightened the children.
" My! what if they should burn up our rag
houses!" whispered Hannah Matilda to her twin,
as they sat in awestruck silence in the door of
their tent.
Soon the eyelids closed over the little brown
eyes, and two curly heads were put to bed in a
bunk, where they slept soundly while the con¬
gregation sang the "invitation hymn," and
their first day at camp meeting was over.
Early the next morning they were astir, for
there were the sunrise meeting and family
prayers, and as their father was the preacher in
charge of the camp the minister's family had to
be about early. Their mother, too, was busy
with household cares, which, if not as numerous
as in the parsonage, yet took all her between-
meetings time; so the twins had considerable
freedom, and roamed about the grove, some¬
times visiting the other tenters or attending the
services, where they sat with quiet and reverent
manner. But more often they were found play¬
ing about the spring of beautiful, cool, clear
water for which this camp was noted. It was
AT CAMP MEETING. 27
here the twins found their greatest pleasure,
and here, too, they had their first disgrace.
" Little girl, could you get me a cup so I
could have a drink?" asked a gentleman one
hot day, as the twins were busy at play near the
spring.
" O, yes, sir! If you will wait we will get
you our own new tin cups." And they ran to
the tent, and soon returned, each with a cup.
"Thank you, children: you are very kind,"
he said, gratefully, as he drank from each cup,
and then asked, " Are you sisters ? "
" No, we're twins," replied Hannah Matilda,
who always was quick of speech, with evident
pride in her manner as she glanced toward
Elizabeth Ella.
" O, I see," he replied, greatly amused.
The children found that many of the people
who drove to camp from the surrounding coun¬
try, and who came just for a day, would gather
near the spring at noontime to eat their lunch¬
eons, and it came like an inspiration to Eliza¬
beth Ella to furnish them with water.
" Hannie, let's get the peoples water to drink
from the spring," she said one day.
"O, yes; we can take our new bright tin
28 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
cups, and the peoples will be glad and thank¬
ful—if they are thirsty," said Hannah Matilda.
So, after that, each day they were found at
noontime dealing out the cool water to the ap¬
preciative people.
On Sunday a much larger company than
usual gathered about the spring, and the twins
were there as usual, dressed in their clean white
Sunday dresses and white kid slippers, with
their red coral necklaces, and with their hair
in sunny ringlets falling about their shoulders.
They were certainly a pretty sight and much
admired.
" Who are you?" asked a young man, as he
drank from Hannah Matilda's offered cup.
" We're the minister's twins," she replied.
"Our pappie leads the meetin's," added the
other twin.
" Well, I am glad he has two such kind and
thoughtful little girls," said the young man,
pleasantly, as he slipped a bright new cent into
each little twin's left hand.
The generosity seemed to be contagious, for
others who drank from their cups added to their
growing store.
" Hannie, you run to the tent for our little
AT CAMP MEETING. 29
buckets, while I give the water and get the
pennies; we can serve it faster if we have our
buckets—and get more money," said Elizabeth
Ella.
There they stood for a full half hour near the
spring with buckets and tins in their hands
offering water, and calling, "Nice cool water,
one penny a drink."
Some one must have told the minister's wife
where they were, for she soon appeared, and
with a dismayed expression beheld the little
twins at their mercenary occupation of selling
on the Sabbath.
" O, children! what are you doing? " she ex¬
claimed. " Just look at yourselves! "
They were indeed a sight to behold. Their
dresses and white kid slippers were mud-bedrag¬
gled ; their faces flushed; their curls hung in
straight wet strands about their necks, while
each twin firmly clasped in her left hand as
many cents as it would hold.
" What will people think of you, selling wa¬
ter on Sunday? " asked their mother, as she led
them, disgraced and tearful, away from the
scene of their fall. " I thought you were at the
meeting."
30 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
It was pappie who explained to them after
dinner that, while it was right to give the people
water on any day, it was wrong and sinful to sell
it on Sunday.
"Couldn't we give the money back to the
peoples?" asked Hannah Matilda, quite peni¬
tently and wishing to make amends for her
wrong.
'' I fear you could never find them in this
great crowd," he replied.
"Then may we keep it? " eagerly asked Eliz¬
abeth Ella, who, while as penitent as her sister
of the wrong she had done, yet did not want to
part with the money.
" No, you must not keep it," said their father.
That afternoon two sober-faced and subdued
little girls sat quietly on the front bench at the
meeting, and each dropped a handful of coin in
the collection basket—the proceeds of their en¬
terprising endeavors at noontime—and when
the good old brother near to them prayed for
the sinners they trembled, for they thought he
meant them specially.
"O, children! what are you doing?" (Page 29.)
Univ»r5liy
, ihf'V
MORE CAMP MEETING EXPERIENCES. 31
CHAPTER IV.
MORE CAMP MEETING EXPERIENCES.
THE exploit of the twins in selling water on
Sunday, and their consequent disgrace,
soon spread over the entire camp and was the
occasion of much amused comment and some
severe criticism, and also brought them into
greater notoriety than ever, and they were the
objects of considerable attention,which they felt
like resenting, for they had not intended to be
as wicked as their act now appeared to them,
and Hannah Matilda always explained, when
asked about the matter, " But we didn't keep
the money; we gave it to the meetin'."
Some days passed, and though the spring was
not a forbidden place, yet the remembrance of
their Sunday experience was unpleasant, so the
twins sought other places of amusement. Then,
too, they were very anxious to make amends for
their Sabbath-breaking by doing something com¬
mendable. But, alas! Their ambition brought
them again into disgrace.
32 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
They were largely left to themselves, for Wil¬
lie, who was usually very willing to look after
them at home, and to share their company, felt
that these energetic twins were too much to
look after at camp meeting, and besides there
were so many boys, so he deserted them almost
entirely. Had he been with them he might have
saved them from the disgrace of their errors.
It was usual for the people to hold song
services in the overflow tents between the regu¬
lar meetings, and since they had abandoned the
spring the time of the twins was largely spent
at these meetings.
There were three such tents—the Wesley,
the Asbury, and the Saint Paul's—at different
places in the grove.
" Where shall we go to-day? " asked Elizabeth
Ella.
" Let's go to the Wesley; we were at the
Asbury yesterday," replied Hannah Matilda.
So to the Wesley they went.
" Hannie, don't you think that if we had a
meetin' an' singed an' prayed it would make up
for—for—last Sunday ?" asked Elizabeth Ella,
as they entered the tent and sat down in the
straw.
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MORE CAMP MEETING EXPERIENCES. 33
"Yes, for you know how pappie prayed for
us, and asked God to make us sorry, and said
we should pray, too," replied Hannah Matilda,
reverently.
" An' that old brother prayed for us sinners,
too," said Elizabeth Ella. " Let's have the
meetin'."
Soon two sweet childish voices were heard
singing solemnly and thoughtfully, "For the
Lion of Judah shall break every chain." Verse
after verse they sang, and people attracted by
the singing gathered quietly and quickly until
quite a company had assembled, and the tent
was nearly filled.
" 'Liz'beth, you pray," quietly whispered her
twin, and following the example of the children,
the company knelt in prayer, while Elizabeth
Ella prayed aloud for forgiveness and direction
in the future.
Then they sang again, and then Elizabeth
Ella asked:
" Hannie, shall we tell our 'sperience? "
"We ought to in the meetin'," replied Han¬
nah Matilda.
Then the two little hearts confessed publicly
their wrong of the previous Sunday, and asked—
3
34 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
as the older folks did in the experience meet¬
ings—'' for your prayers, that we may be faith¬
ful unto the end."
" Hannie, you take the election," whispered
Elizabeth Ella.
A collection was taken at every meeting, and
of course they felt it would be entirely in order.
So Hannah Matilda, with her apron lifted,
passed about among the congregation with most
solemn countenance to " lift the collection."
The response was liberal from the interested
and entertained audience, and not only cents
but silver coins were dropped into the little
blue-plaid gingham apron.
Returning to Elizabeth Ella's side, they started
the doxology, and the meeting was over.
"My, 'Liz'beth! we has a lot of money,"
said Hannah Matilda; and as they looked into
her apron at the number of coins they were
almost frightened at their wealth, and ran home
to report the excellent proceeds and their meet¬
ing to mother.
But, alas! alas! again their rejoicing was
turned into mourning.
"What will your pappie say?" asked their
mother when she heard their account of the
MORE CAMP MEETING EXPERIENCES. 35
meeting, and fearing they might have been
forward and irreverent.
"Was we bad again? "asked Hannah Ma¬
tilda, anxiously.
" No, dear, I can't say that you were inten¬
tionally bad, but what shall we do with this
money? " asked their mother.
" Couldn't we buy new slippers with it? You
know we spoiled ours on—on—Sunday," said
Elizabeth Ella, somewhat hesitatingly.
"No! No, indeed! You will have to wear
black shoes the rest of this summer; and be¬
sides we dare not use any of that money."
It was their pappie who had to settle their
difficulty, and who forbade them holding meet¬
ings in the future.
That afternoon the collection baskets received
another tearful and penitent offering as the
little twins reluctantly dropped their handfuls
of money into them as they were passed.
"Well, the meetin' got more money, any¬
how," said Hannah Matilda, who usually found
a bright side to trouble.
All too soon the last day of the camp came,
and, although they had been in disgrace several
times, yet there were many more times when
36 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
they were good and their deeds commendable
and their actions praised.
They watched the great camp fires lighted
for the last night, and for the closing exercises,
which ended with the great "walk around."
At the head of the procession, and holding a
twin by each hand, walked the minister, as they
marched about the circle three times singing as
they went. Then in front of the altar, with
the other ministers, their father stood—the
twins by his side—and bade the people fare¬
well.
The sweet, innocent, and, at times, grave
childish faces of the twins had grown interest¬
ing and dear to the tenters, and many a "God
bless you " was spoken as hands were laid ten¬
derly in blessing upon their heads.
The camp meeting was over. The next day
the furniture and household goods were loaded
in the wagon, the family was stowed away
among the load, and as they were driven
through the grove the twins took one last look
at their rag house and the spring, and waved
their hands in a reluctant farewell.
USELESS ALARM.
37
CHAPTER V.
USELESS ALARM.
FOR several weeks the twins had repeatedly
heard their father and mother talking about
having the children vaccinated, and when, one
afternoon, Sister Sallie Pyle, on some errand of
mercy, stopped in on her way to see the minis¬
ter and his wife with a frightful report as well
as pleasant news, the subject was again brought
to their attention.
"Did you hear, " asked Sister Sallie, "that
there is a case of smallpox over at the quar¬
ries?"
"Why, no!" said the minister's wife in
alarm, looking about for the children; '' who
has it?"
"One of the colored quarrymen, and Doctor
Clemens is fearful that it may spread through
the entire settlement, and may possibly be car¬
ried over here to the village," she said, and
then asked, " Have the twins been vacci¬
nated? "
38 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
" No; none of the children excepting Willie.
We have been intending to have it done, and
have spoken about it several times recently, but
have neglected sending for Doctor Clemens,"
replied the minister's wife, regretfully.
"If I was you I should attend to it the very
first thing," advised Sister Sallie.
" Indeed we shall, and I shall have word
sent to the doctor as soon as husband gets
home."
The twins sat in respectful and interested
silence while Sister Sallie and their mother
spoke of the vaccination, and, after their caller
had departed, went out under the lilac bush,
where their dolls were, to talk over the coming
ordeal.
" What is it to be baxinated? " asked Eliza¬
beth Ella in alarm. " Do you know, Hannie?"
"I don't know, 'Liz'beth, but it must be
something awful, for it is something like small¬
pox," replied Hannah Matilda.
"I wonder will it be dreadful bad?" asked
Elizabeth Ella.
"It must be, for mother looked so fright¬
ened, an' Sister Sallie said it ought to be done
right away."
USELESS ALARM. 39s
Just then Willie came whistling in from the
street, and the twins always imagined that he
knew so much more than they, and he, in def¬
erence to their confidence in him, cheerfully
gave his advice.
" Willie, come here! " called Hannah Matilda.
" Well, what do you want? " asked the twins'
brother, as he came over to the lilac bush.
" Willie, does it hurt awful bad when you're
baxinated? " asked Hannah Matilda.
" When you're what? "
" Why, when you're baxinated for smallpox,"
explained Elizabeth Ella.
" O, waxinated, you mean," said Willie.
"Yes, that's it, waxinated," agreed the twins
quite readily, and placing special emphasis on
the first syllable.
"Well, sometimes it hurts awful," replied
Willie, with an exaggerated memory of the
operation that had taken place in his early
childhood. " See the mark it leaves," he con¬
tinued, as he took off his jacket and rolled up
the sleeve on his left arm and displayed to the
awe-struck gaze of the twins a scar as large as
a quarter dollar.
" O, my! " they exclaimed in alarm.
40 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
" Isn't that a beauty?" he asked, as he ad¬
miringly displayed it.
" How does it get there ? " asked Elizabeth
Ella, as Willie was putting on his jacket and
was already half across the lawn on his way to
the house for his bat and ball.
"The doctor cuts your arm with a sharp
knife," he called back, and then was gone.
" O, dear! Hannie, what shall we do? " asked
her twin.
" I don't know," replied the other, helplessly.
It was supper time when the minister came
home from making some visits in the village,
and they had hardly begun the meal when his
wife said: "Sister Sallie Pyle was here this aft¬
ernoon and says there is smallpox over at the
quarries. Don't you think we better have the
children vaccinated? "
"Is that possible? " exclaimed the minister
in surprise. "Yes, indeed, they must be vac¬
cinated, and I shall go over for Doctor Clemens
right after supper. We have neglected it too
long already—at least for the twins," and he
glanced tenderly at them, one on either side of
him.
" O, Hannie, it's going to be done," whispered
USELESS ALARM. 41
Elizabeth Ella after they had been put to
bed.
" I wonder will it bleed much?" whispered
Hannah Matilda, who had a dread of blood.
" O, it must, for you know how it bleeds if
you just stick yourself with a pin just a little
teensie bit."
" O, dear! What shall we do? "
Their sleep was troubled all the night, and
when the morning came it was with fear and
dread that the twins came down to their break¬
fast.
" Mother, may we go over to Lottie Wilson's
to-day?" asked Hannah Matilda, who thought
that she might thus escape the dreadful ordeal
that was hovering over them.
"Not to-day; the doctor is coming to vaccinate
you this morning, and you must not go away
from the house—not out of the yard even, and
keep your dresses nice and clean," cautioned
their mother, and went about her work while
the twins slowly went to their sheltering lilac
bush.
" O, dear, 'Liz'beth! I guess our arms will
be cut awful when Doctor Clemens comes," said
Hannah Matilda in great alarm.
42 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
"Yes, an* Willie said if it don't 'take' the
doctor will waxinate it again," said Elizabeth
Ella.
" Let's hide away, 'Liz'beth," said Hannah
Matilda, who certainly was very much alarmed.
'' Where will we go ? Mother said we must
not go out of the yard."
"Couldn't we creep in the bake-oven? an'
we wouldn't be out of the yard."
"Yes, come; let's hurry before he comes,"
urged Elizabeth Ella.
In the yard back of the parsonage was an old-
fashioned bake-oven, built years before, and
now seldom used. Into this the frightened
twins crept, and stood the sheet-iron door in
position, and so were completely hid from view,
and felt securely sheltered from the doctor.
They could only lie down flat, side by side,
on the floor of the oven, while their heads near¬
ly touched the arched roof above them.
The hot sun poured down upon the oven
until it became hot and stuffy inside. The
perspiration oozed out from the pores of the
little twins' bodies, and the minutes dragged
slowly away.
The hours, too, went by, and hunger began
USELESS ALARM. 43
to assert itself—for the children had eaten very
little breakfast—and yet in dread of the awful
" waxination" they remained in their hiding
place.
•' I wonder where the twins are? " they heard
their mother ask, as she passed by the bake-
oven. But no answer came to her inquiry.
"I'm gettin' awful hot, an'—an'—tired," at
last whispered Elizabeth Ella.
" So'm I," whispered her twin sufferer.
"Is you hungry, too, Hannie?" ventured
Elizabeth Ella.
"Yes, an' mother said we was to have apple
dumplings for dinner," disconsolately said Han¬
nah Matilda.
'' Don't you think he's come an' gone ? " again
ventured Elizabeth Ella after what seemed to
her many hours of weary hiding.
" I feel as if 'twas nearly time for supper,"
said her twin, and then added, " 'Liz'beth, let's
get out, for he must be gone by this time."
"All right, Hannie! " said the hungry and
hot and tired and willing Elizabeth Ella, feeling
sure that the doctor must have come and gone.
So they quietly pushed the sheet-iron door
aside, and slid to the ground just in time to
U THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
hear mother say, as she came from the kitchen,
" Where have you twins been all the morning?
I have come to hunt you, for it is time for din¬
ner. Just look at your dresses. Where have
you been? "
But before they could reply they beheld with
terror the doctor's horse stop at the front gate,
and the doctor step out of his carriage.
" O! " they cried in dismay, and would cer¬
tainly have fled but for mother, who led them,
all unconscious of their fear of the doctor, into
the house.
The minister came from his study, and so, as
the little arms were made bare to be vaccinated,
the twins trembled with terror, but said noth¬
ing. And when both the doctor and their
father assured them that it would not hurt very
much they submitted courageously, and watched
the little lancet as it cut sharply through the
tender skin, and the doctor as he rubbed on the
vaccine virus.
"There you are! You are brave little sol¬
diers, and you will each soon have a nice little
flower on your arm," said the doctor, as he
patted their heads in approval, all unaware of
the weary hours they had spent in the bake-
USELESS ALARM. 45
oven in their unsuccessful endeavor to escape
from him.
" He only scratched our arms, an' they didn't
bleed much," said Hannah Matilda after the
doctor was gone and the twins were alone.
" I guess we was afraid all for nothing," said
Elizabeth Ella.
" But wasn't it hot in the bake-oven! " said
Hannah Matilda.
" I guess we was dis'bedient, an' that is the
reason it was so hot, and seemed so long," re¬
plied her twin.
"I won't be 'fraid the next time if it don't
take, will you, Hannie? "
" 'Deed I won't be 'fraid of a little scratch,"
replied Hannah Matilda.
There was no need of a second vaccination,
for both " took " splendidly, and there appeared
on the left arm of each twin a beautiful speci¬
men of the flower of which the doctor had
spoken.
46
THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
CHAPTER VI.
A WAY OF ESCAPE.
THE minister, at the last session of the Con¬
ference, had been sent to the Blue Valley
Circuit, with four churches, and this necessitated
frequent absence from home, especially during
revival seasons and at quarterly meetings.
For these quarterly meetings great prepa¬
rations were made by the members of the
churches where they were held, and they were
the occasions for the gathering together of
members of the different churches from all over
the circuit. Socially and religiously they were
events looked forward to and long remembered.
Usually the minister's wife accompanied him
to those gatherings, for she was so tied at home
by her large family of small children that she
did not have many opportunities of mingling
with the members of the various churches on
their circuit.
It was when the twins were six years old that
the quarterly meeting was held at Dann's Cor-
A WAY OF ESCAPE. 47
ners Church, and, because of the expected visit
of one of the bishops, special preparations were
being made, and the minister was quite anx¬
ious that his wife should attend.
"You will be gone but one night, and Sister
Sallie Pyle, who has come just at the right
time to visit us, will keep house while we are
gone, so there is really nothing in the way," he
said.
"No one is better able to take care of the
children than she, and they all like her so much
that I think I shall go. You know I will take
baby Lourene with me," said his wife. And so
it was settled.
"Hannie! Hannie!" called Elizabeth Ella,
as she ran out of the house in search of her
twin, " pappie and mother are going to quarter¬
ly meetin' to-morrow, and Sister Sallie is goin'
to keep house for us! Won't that be splendid ? "
'' I know she will tell us stories, and make a
lot of candy. O, I'm so glad! " joyfully said
Hannah Matilda.
That night by sundown everything was ar¬
ranged for an early departure on the morrow.
The minister had gone to Lancaster that morn¬
ing to make some special purchases of things
48 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
he and his wife would need, and returned just
in time for supper. Among other things he
had bought for himself a much-needed hat—a
panama—for which he had paid six dollars, a
large sum for him, but he felt it would be
economy in the end, for he could wear it for a
number of seasons.
" How do you like this shape? " he asked, as
he unwrapped his hat and held it up for his
wife's inspection.
" It looks all right, but put it on so I can see
how you look in it."
As the minister put the hat on his head, to
his dismay, it settled down until stopped by
his ears, and in dumb amazement he looked at
his wondering wife.
"That clerk has given me a seven and an
eighth instead of the six and three quarters at
which I was looking," he said, as he looked in¬
side of the hat. "It is too bad! I shall have
to wear that old high hat, and it is so shabby,
and so hot for this August weather."
" Yes, it is too late to return it now, and you
will have to wear what you have, and return
this hat next week," said his wife.
" Don't any of you children touch that hat,
"Why, IIankie. you have put Pappie'k new hat on Harry!" (Page 48.)
Morlh
Unlvornlty
Library
A WAY OF ESCAPE. 49
for you might soil it, and it is to be returned,"
cautioned the minister, as he placed the hat in
the parlor, on the center table, to remain until
after the quarterly meeting, when he would re¬
turn it.
" Now, children, be good while we are gone,
and mind Sister Sallie," was their mother's
parting caution, as she was helped into the car¬
riage with blue-eyed baby Lourene, and then
they were off.
"Good-bye, pappie! Good-bye, mother!
Good-bye, Lourene!" called the children, and
waved their hands until the carriage was lost
to sight as it turned into the road that led to
Dann's Corners.
Willie, the twins, Emma, and Harry played
about the yard, or hung about Sister Sallie as
she went about her work, all the morning.
It was soon after noon that Clifford Linton
came running over to the parsonage, and in
frightened tones asked Sister Sallie to come
over to his house and help his mother, who had
upset a kettle of hot water on her hands.
No call for assistance ever came to Sister
Sallie unheeded, and so, without any hesitancy,
she said to the children, " Now be good, chil-
4
50 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
dren, while I am gone, and I will be back
soon."
She was hardly out of sight when Lucy Main
came running into the parsonage yard with an
invitation to the children to go down to the
woods and play a while.
The woods were not more than a quarter of a
mile away, and the children, unforbidden and
with perfect freedom, went to them often.
"All right," they cried, and ran for their
hats and sunbonnets.
"Where is Harry's hat?" asked Hannah
Matilda.
" O, hurry, Hannah," called Willie; "put
one of pappie's hats on him."
When Hannah Matilda came out with Harry
the children were too much in a hurry to notice
that it was their father's new panama which
covered the little head so completely.
"Why, Hannah!" said Willie, when they
were nearly to the woods, "you have put
pappie's new hat on Harry, and we were told
not to touch it."
"He won't hurt it, and I couldn't find any
other one," replied the twin.
'' He must not wear it here in the woods, for
Northwe^'-i "
Unl varsity
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A WAY OF ESCAPE. 51
something may happen to it," said Willie, as
he carefully lifted it from Harry's head.
" Hide it under this pile of logs," suggested
Lucy Main.
The hat was carefully hidden away under the
logs, and the children ran about at play, all
over the woods, nor noticed the flight of
time until the sun was sinking behind the hills.
"O! We must be going home, or Sister
Sallie will be worried," said Elizabeth Ella.
"Get pappie's hat! " cried Hannah Matilda
to Willie, who was near the pile of logs, and
Willie went to where it had been placed, but it
was not there.
" It's gone! " he cried in dismay.
The children hunted everywhere about the
pile of logs, but no hat could they find. It was
surely taken by some one who either saw the
children place it there, or else had discovered it
while they were at play in some other part of
the woods.
It was a sorrowful and frightened lot of chil¬
dren who stole meekly back to the parsonage
where Sister Sallie was anxiously waiting for
them. But to her they said nothing about the
hat. That topic was too solemn to be touched.
52 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
With disturbed consciences and an anxious
looking-forward to the home-coming of their
father they went to bed with the dread secret
unrevealed.
" It's all your fault, Hannah," declared Willie
to the disconsolate child. " If you hadn't put
pappie's hat on Harry it wouldn't be lost now."
" You telled her to put one of pappie's hats
on Harry, and pappie wore his other one," said
Elizabeth Ella in defense of her twin ; and then
whispered, " Hannie, you shall have all my
pennies to help buy another hat for pappie."
" I guess I will have to give up my gold dol¬
lar, for the hat cost a lot of money," said Han¬
nah Matilda, sorrowfully.
" If you give your gold dollar I will give
mine, too, for I sha'n't want it if you haven't
one," said the other twin.
" Will pappie take us up to his study? " asked
Emma, anxiously.
" O, I guess be will; he always does when
we've been bad, and that will be dreadful," said
Hannah Matilda.
They all knew what it meant to be taken to
the study. They could already see the little
stool upon which pappie sat them, and then how
A WAY OF ESCAPE. 53
he would talk to them, and sometimes, too—but
not often, unless they were very naughty—they
saw him get his slipper when sterner measures
were necessary.
Instead of waiting with joy the arrival of
their parents the children dreaded their coming,
and when they did hear the sound of the ap¬
proaching carriage they were very subdued and
undemonstrative in their welcome.
Each of the children wanted their father to
know about the loss of the hat, and to have the
study scene over, but each dreaded to tell him;
but he found it out for himself that very after¬
noon when he called to see Mrs. Main.
It was not until after the children had finished
their supper that their father said: "I want to
see you up in my study; " and a mournful pro¬
cession followed slowly up the stairs.
This time there were so many culprits that
the little stool could not hold them all, so they
were stood in a row, while pappie told them of
their disobedience, and the wrong they had
done.
" And now," he said, " Willie, you may bring
me my slipper." And Willie slowly brought
the implement of chastisement to his father.
54 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
" Now, Hannah Matilda and Elizabeth Ella"
-—he always called them by their full names
when he was displeased with them—"it is your
turn," he said, sadly, as Willie was dismissed,
and he turned to look for the twins. By the
little stool in the farthest corner of the study
they were kneeling in prayer asking for the
protection of the heavenly Father.
Then the minister, too, knelt by their side,
and with them told the Father above about
their disobedience, and together they asked
him to forgive them, and help them to be bet¬
ter. They were truly penitent, and the slipper
was not needed.
THE SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST-CHILD. 55
CHAPTER VII.
THE SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST-CHILD.
«'T IZ'BETH ! 'Liz'beth! O, 'Liz'beth! where
1' are you?" called Hannab Matilda, ex¬
citedly, as she came running up stairs just a
week before Christmas.
" I'm here, Hannie," responded the voice of
her twin, as she emerged from the garret stairs.
" O, 'Liz'beth! we're going to spend Christ¬
mas with grandmother! "
"Which grandmother?" asked Elizabeth
Ella, for she had often been to see Grandmother
Wentz, and that was no novelty, besides she
lived only a few miles away.
"Why, to your grandmother, the very one
you are named for, away off at Bethlehem,
where we've never been in all our lives."
" O, Hannie! are we? Who's going? "
"Why, I just heard mother tell pappie that
everything was ready, an' she an' pappie an'
us twins an' the baby are going to-morrow, an'
stay till after Christmas."
56 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
" Isn't it too splendid for anything, Hannie!
And you know we've never seen my grand¬
mother, an' she an' grandfather have never
seen us. Won't they be s'prised? "
The minister and his wife had planned for
some time for this visit to his old home. His
parents had written repeatedly for them to come
and bring the twins, and so at last all was ready.
The parents had refrained from saying any¬
thing to the twins about the contemplated visit
for fear of disappointing them should anything
occur to prevent them from going.
The twins could hardly sleep that night, and
in the morning were almost too excited and
anxious about getting started to eat, and wanted
to start before breakfast for the railroad station.
But at last they were helped into the carriage
with pappie, mother, the baby, and Willie, and
waved a " good-bye" to the children who were
left at home with Sister Sallie Pyle, who had
come to keep house while the minister and his
wife and children were away. At the station
they said "good-bye" to Willie, who drove the
horse home, then they were placed in the car,
and they were off for a long journey of over
two hundred miles.
THE SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST-CHILD. 57
What a long ride it was! The twins grew
tired and hungry before they had traveled
twenty-five miles, and as a boy with cakes and
fruit went through the car Hannah Matilda
whispered to her twin:
" Are you hungry? "
" Yes; are you? "
'' I wish I had some of them cakes an' ap¬
ples," sighed Hannah Matilda, wistfully.
"Couldn't we buy some with our money?"
suggested Elizabeth Ella.
Sister Sallie Pyle had slipped a bright quarter
dollar into the right hand of each twin as she
kissed them " good-bye " and they got into the
carriage.
" Let's ask mother, Hannie."
" Mother, may we buy some cakes an' ap¬
ples? We're hungry."
"You better keep your money, and I will
give you some sandwiches and apples that are
in the bag," said their mother, who knew they
would get hungry and had provided for just
such an emergency.
After their luncheon the twins quietly dropped
to sleep, and did not awake until they were aroused
in Philadelphia, where they had to change cars.
58 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
" O, what a lot of houses! " said Elizabeth
Ella, wonderingly.
" Is there a parade? " asked Hannah Matilda,
as she beheld the pushing, hurrying crowds of
Christmas shoppers, and whose idea of crowds
was derived from the parades that took place
in the little towns where she had lived.
" I guess there is, for it can't be a funeral,
for they hurry so—an' push! " she gasped, as
she was jostled about.
They were soon in the cars again, and rapidly
approaching their destination. At last their
father said, '' The next station is where we get
off;" and he began gathering up their pack¬
ages and the carpetbag, while mother got the
twins and the baby ready to leave the car.
" Here we are!" said their father, just as the
brakeman opened the door of the car and called:
" Bethlehem! All out for Bethlehem."
Almost before they could realize it they were
gathered up by grandfather, and, after a hug
and a kiss, were seated by his side on the front
seat in the sleigh, the robes tucked about them,
and as grandfather gathered up the lines the
horses, with a merry jingle of the bells, were
off for the farm and grandmother.
THE SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST-CHILD. 59
Through the streets of the quaint old town;
over the hills; out into the country; up the
lane; past the barn right up to the steps of the
front porch, and dear grandmother received the
twins, one at a time, as grandfather passed
them to her.
'' Let me take these wraps off, so I can have
a good look at these wonderful twins, to see
who they look like, and which is which," said
grandmother, as she unfastened their coats and
took off their green barege veils. In about two
minutes grandmother and grandfather looked
into the faces of two little girls who were '' as
much alike as two lambs in a fold "—so grand¬
father said.
" Now, which is which? " they asked, as they
looked lovingly and interestedly at the twins.
" She's Hannie Matilda! " said one.
" She's 'Liz'beth Ella! " said the other.
" How shall we ever tell you apart? " asked
grandmother, for she could see no distinguish¬
ing feature or mark about them.
" O, we know, grandmother, an' we'll tell
you. We never mixes ourselves, for I'm always
'Liz'beth, an'she's always Hannie," said grand¬
mother's namesake.
60 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
Many were the mistakes that the grand¬
parents made, and when the time came for the
twins to go home they could no more tell one
from the other than when they first saw
them.
The farm was full of interest to the little
girls, and grandfather and Alexander, the man
of all work, were more than glad to have the
company of the cheerful twins as they went
about the barn, and gladly answered a multi¬
tude of questions about the horses, cows, pigs,
sheep, and chickens.
It was the day before Christmas that, while
they were all seated about the supper table, a
knock was heard at the kitchen door, and grand¬
mother went to answer it. Then she called to
grandfather, who went outside, but soon re¬
turned, and, as he put on his coat and hat and
lit the lantern, said:
" Mother, you get them a little something to
eat while I show them to a place in the harness
room, and I will come and get it for them."
When grandmother returned to the table she
said:
" It is some Italian peddlers who want a place
to stay until morning, and as the harness room
THE SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST-CHILD. 61
is real warm we always provide a place there
for such."
Grandfather soon returned to the table, and
after eating his supper gathered with the family
in the sitting room, and, as he put on his glasses
and opened the Bible on the table, said:
"I see that the little twins are tired, so
we will have prayers early, and then they can
go to bed; and besides the older folks have
some work to attend to before morning."
He did not tell them that, while they were
playing up in the garret that morning, he had
slipped off to town, a mile away, and had come
home with a great load of things to put on a
Chrismas tree. Nor did he say anything about
the fir tree Alexander had brought from the
hill, and which had already been set in place
in the parlor to receive its Christmas decora¬
tions.
Then grandfather read the beautiful account
of the birth of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel
according to St. Luke, and also about the visit
of the wise men as recorded in the Gospel ac¬
cording to St. Matthew.
With wondering looks and eyes full of inter¬
est the twins listened as he read of the city of
62 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
David—Bethlehem—where Jesus was born. A
new light seemed to come to them in the story
they had heard so often before.
After pappie had prayed the twins were taken
to bed, and as grandmother tucked them in
Hannah Matilda asked:
" Grandmother, was Jesus really born in Beth¬
lehem? "
"Yes, dear, and it was there the wise men
found him, and presented to him the gifts they
had brought with them from the far East."
Then she kissed them " good-night," and
closed the door and was gone.
For a while the twins were silent, and then
Hannah Matilda whispered:
"'Liz'beth, do you think we could find Jesus
if we went out and looked for him? "
" O, I don't know. I'm 'fraid we could not
find the stable where he was born," whispered
Elizabeth Ella.
" O, yes, we could if the star showed us
where," replied Hannah Matilda, a little more
confidently, and then continued: '' Let's get up
an' look out of the window, an' maybe we can
see the star."
Quietly they slipped out of bed, and as they
"H uxnaii Matilda, nvitii tier white leghorn hat in her hand."
(Page 71.1
Northwestern
Unl vorrlty
T Ihnry
THE SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST-CHILD. 63
looked toward the west they saw, shining right
over the barn, a clear, bright star.
"'Liz'beth! 'Liz'beth! there it is! That
bright one! " cried Hannah Matilda, excitedly.
" An' it's standin' still right over the stable! "
exclaimed Elizabeth Ella, joyfully.
" He must be there," declared Hannah Ma¬
tilda.
'' But where are the shepherds an' their
flocks?" asked Elizabeth Ella, timidly.
" Why—why—the sheep are in the barn, for
we saw them, an' Alexander is the shepherd,"
said Hannah Matilda. '' Let's go an' find him;
shall we, 'Liz'beth?"
" I'd like to see him! " said the other twin,
wistfully.
Into their clothes they slipped, and pulled on
their shoes, but just as they were about to leave
the room Elizabeth Ella hesitated and said:
" Hannie, we haven't any gifts for him like
the wise men took! "
Hannah Matilda, too, hesitated for a few
moments, and then said:
"We could give him our silver quarters that
Sister Sallie gave us."
"Yes, an' I can give him my new mittens,
64 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
for yours was lost in the cars, and then we'd
both be alike again," said Elizabeth Ella.
They could hear grandfather and the rest of
the folks talking in the parlor, as they slipped
down the back stairs and out by the kitchen
door.
"Are you 'fraid, Hannie?" timidly asked
Elizabeth Ella, and then added, " Let's take
hold of hands."
Carlo rattled his chain as he came out of his
box at the sound of their light footsteps, but
when he recognized the children he simply
wagged his tail and did not bark.
The barn door was closed, but they saw a
faint light in the harness room, and lifting the
latch, they opened the door. Inside they saw a
man and a woman sitting, while in a corner was
a bed of straw covered with blankets and car¬
riage robes.
The man and woman looked wonderingly at
the children, and said something which the
twins could not understand, and beckoned to
the children to come in and shut the door. The
light from the lantern, which hung on the wall,
did not light the room very well, and the twins
looked inquiringly about.
THE SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST-CHILD. 65
"Where is He?" asked Hannah Matilda,
timidly.
" Ah? " answered the man, shaking his head
as if he did not understand.
"We want to find Jesus and give him these
presents," said Elizabeth Ella, as she pulled the
mittens and the silver quarter from her pocket.
" Ah? " again said the man, with a shake of
his head.
" Where is the baby? " again ventured Han¬
nah Matilda.
"Baba?" exclaimed the woman, as a smile
of comprehension overspread her face, '' baba ?
Come! " she said, as she led them to the bed
of straw in the corner and turned down the
blanket.
There the twins looked upon a bright, black-
eyed baby wide awake.
" O, 'Liz'beth, it's him, for he looks just like
the picture in our Bible at home," exclaimed
Hannah Matilda.
Then Elizabeth Ella put her silver quarter
into one of the baby's hands, and laid one of
her mittens by its side, while Hannah Matilda
placed her silver quarter in its other hand, and
the other mitten by its other side.
5
66 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
The man and woman wonderingly watched
the children, and tried to comprehend their
actions, but all was strange to them.
Then the twins with happy hearts hurried
back to the house, and quietly made their way
to their room.
" I'm so glad we found him ! " said Hannah
Matilda.
" An' I'm so glad we had the gifts for him!"
replied her twin.
The stars shone on in their brightness, and
the twins fell asleep, and were awakened in the
morning by grandmother calling, " A merry
Christmas! "
" Is he there yet?" asked Elizabeth Ella, as
they were eating breakfast.
"Who do you mean, dear?" asked grand¬
father.
"Why, Jesus! We saw his star over the
barn last night, an' we went out an' found
him."
" An' we gave him gifts like the wise men,
too," said Hannah Matilda.
"Why, children, I do not understand you.
What do you mean? " asked their pappie.
"Why, don't you know how grandfather
THE SEARCH FOR THE CHRIST-CHILD. 67
read in the Bible last night that Jesus was born
in Bethlehem in a stable, an' how the wise men
found him by following the star? So last night,
after we went to bed, we got up an' saw the
star, an' went out an' found him in the barn,''
explained Hannah Matilda.
" An' Hannie an' me gave him our silver
quarters, an' my new mittens," said Elizabeth
Ella.
Then grandfather and all the rest understood
it. The children had given their gifts to the
Italian peddler's little baby.
The twins were disappointed to learn that
the baby and its parents had gone an hour be¬
fore, and might never return. And pappie ex¬
plained about the other Bethlehem where Jesus
was born long ago.
Grandmother kissed them both, and said:
" ' Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me.'"
68
THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
CHAPTER VIII.
MOVING EXPERIENCES.
MOVING times were always full of excite¬
ment and of great interest to the children,
while the minister and his wife, with their
growing family, found the constant changing
full of hard work and anxiety. And then it
became harder as they grew older to break off
the ties that bound them to a church and cir¬
cuit, and go to another field of labor and begin
all over again.
With the children it was different. They
could say "good-bye" to their acquaintances
and friends with the hopefulness of youth on
their side, and soon make new friends and asso¬
ciates at the new appointment.
It was in the days before many "invitations"
were given, and ministers went to Conference
not knowing where they should be sent. So
there was often anxiety in the parsonages until
word was received, after the appointments were
read, and their destinations known.
MOVING EXPERIENCES. 69
Some laughable and some serious things oc¬
curred in the minister's family's movings,
which caused them considerable inconvenience
at times.
It was when the twins were five years old
that they were moving in the summer time to
a new appointment. The death of one of the
ministers made a change in several places nec¬
essary, so the twins' father was one of the men
who were "lifted," between the Conference
sessions, to "adjust the work," so the elder
said.
This was something new to them, but as they
had not been at their appointment many months
it was not so hard to move as if they had grown
well acquainted in the church.
The goods were off, and now only the family
were left in the parsonage, and they were wait¬
ing for the large carriage to come and take them.
"All aboard! " shouted pappie, as he drove
up to the front door.
Pappie and mother and the baby were on the
front seat, while Willie and Emma and Harry
were on the middle seat, and the twins, who
had begged so hard for the privilege, were on
the rear seat.
70 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
Jeff—good old Jeff, who knew the children
so well, because they fed him so many apples—
was to take them to the new appointment.
They hadn't gone very far when Jeff seemed
to loiter; he would turn his head anxiously,
and no amount of urging could make him
go faster than a slow and very spiritless
walk.
" Hannie's out, pappie! " said Elizabeth Ella,
quietly.
" Yes, yes; all right! " said pappie, without
turning his head, and who did not understand
what she said, and whose whole attention was
absorbed by the unwilling Jeff.
"Why, Jeff, what is the matter with you?
Don't you want to go to the new appointment? "
asked pappie. "Now hurry up!" and he
gently touched him with the whip.
Jeff never needed the whip, nor did he like
it, and always sprang with a bound when it
touched him, however gently. But to-day he
did not heed it, but only turned his head to
look down the road in the direction from whence
he had come.
" Pappie! Hannie's out! " again came from
a sleepy little twin.
MOVING EXPERIENCES. 71
"What did you. say, Elizabeth?" asked
mother, turning about.
" Why, Hannie's out; she's losed," said Eliz¬
abeth Ella.
Sure enough, she was gone, and as pappie
gave an unusual jerk on the lines, and a com¬
mand to Jeff to stop, they looked back, and in a
cloud of dust could be seen Hannah Matilda,
with her white leghorn hat in her hand, run¬
ning after the carriage, and screaming at the
top of her voice. She had fallen asleep and
dropped out of the back of the carriage, but
fortunately was uninjured save a few slight
bruises.
"Why, Elizabeth Ella! why didn't you tell
me before that Hannah had fallen out? " asked
her pappie, as he came back with the unfortu¬
nate Hannah in his arms.
" I did telled you, an' you said, ' All right.' "
Mother now changed seats, and went back
with the twins, and soon soothed and quieted
the sobbing Hannah Matilda; while Jeff went
off, unurged, at a good pace, with his head
erect, nor once more again looked back. No
doubt he had heard the crying twin's voice,
and, recognizing it, did not want to leave her.
72 THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
Their father always did the packing, and
usually the clothes were packed last, and
mother laid out those that the children were to
wear to go to the new appointment, while all
the rest, excepting some that were worn about
the work and which were carried with them,
were packed in the trunks and sent with the
household goods.
On one occasion they were appointed to
Lebanon—their first large town appointment—
and the goods were ready to go, and the teams
were waiting before the house, when pappie
said:
'' Now, mother, I am ready to close the trunks.
Have you laid out what clothes the children will
wear? "
' 'Yes, you can pack all those in the front room,
where you will find them on the bed. I have
placed those that the children will wear in the
back room."
The trunks were soon packed, and with the
goods loaded in the wagons, and disappeared
down the road on the way to Lebanon. The
goods were started early in the morning so they
would be sure to reach Lebanon by the time the
family arrived in the afternoon by the railroad.
MOVING EXPERIENCES. 73
All went merrily, the older children helping
with the cleaning and scrubbing, and then to
dress the younger children; and the twins, who
were now fifteen years old, were of no little
service in getting the smaller children dressed,
as they had been in helping with the cleaning.
"Now, children, you are all ready, and it's
our turn to get off these working dresses, and
put on our best," said Hannah Matilda, quite
relieved.
For the first time in their lives their dresses
were not alike. Hannah Matilda's was a red
and black plaid, while Elizabeth Ella's was a
plain red cashmere trimmed with black ribbon-
velvet.
Who made the mistake was never satisfactorily
settled, but when the twins came to dress the
black and red plaid could not be found.
"Mother, where is my new dress?" called
Hannah Matilda, from the top of the stairs.
" In the back room, with the others," replied
her mother.
"No, mother, it isn't here."
" Well, look in the closet in the front room;
it may be there."
But it could not be found.
U THE MINISTER'S TWINS.
" Pappie, did you pack my new dress in the
trunk?" asked the disconsolate Hannah Ma¬
tilda.
" Yes, I think I did," he replied.
" O, pappie, what shall I do? I have noth¬
ing but this calico dress that I have been work¬
ing in! "
" Hannah, you may wear my dress, and I'll
wear my calico," generously offered her twin.
" No, indeed! " said Hannah Matilda. " I'd
be more ashamed to take your new dress than
to wear my calico."
" Then I'll go in my calico, too," said Eliza¬
beth, and no amount of protestation could
change her determination.
So they went to Lebanon in their calico
dresses, and when they got out of the cars the
other children crowded about the twins to shield
them from view as much as possible, and as
they went up the main street to the parsonage
it was in a close-bunched group instead of two
by two as usual.
The next Sunday they wore their new dresses
to church.
The twins are grown now, and often have a
good laugh over their adventures, and the diffiU
moving experiences. 75
culty people had, and still have, in distinguish¬
ing them.
The only real separation that came in their
lives was when Hannah Matilda married.
Elizabeth Ella still chooses to fight her way
single-handed.
The End.
DAT^ LOANED
I
3 5556 006 521 892
Annex
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