Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/88



Margaret unconsciously lifted her voice and took up the chant,

Her pulse seemed to beat out the measure, and her lithe body swayed in time with those of the men and women about her. The music and the emotion aroused by it seemed to have intoxicated the dusky crowd; and it was when this excitement was at its height that the minister with a gesture silenced the music he had led them into.

"My friends, it is good to praise the Lord with hymns and rejoicings, but it is better to praise him with your acts. How is the church supported? how is its ministers and its deacons paid? By your acts of praise. Now the requisite sum needed for the salary of the elder deacon is fourteen dollars and seventy-five cents, and to-night I must see that fourteen dollars and seventy-five cents raised. Come, now, the Lord will help you; give bravely, give freely. The money in your pockets is ready to come out; give it with a free hand and a willing heart. Walk up this way, the brothers are waiting for you."

Four of the deacons, holding baskets in their hands, stood beside the pastor, and a fifth