Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/89

 appointed dignitary taking his ragged hat in his hand held it out for contributions. The people filed down and dropped their money in the baskets, the ragged hat getting quite its share of the offering. The man who held it was of the coarsest African type. His ugly face was disfigured by many scars; but the expression of the creature was so full of a kindly humor that it was impossible to look into it without experiencing a responsive kindliness. The minister's speech had been unusually pure; this fellow spoke with the strongest negro brogue.

"Come, brudder Long, dat nickel is a jumpin' to git out of yer pocket! Step up dis way, young fellahs, step up and help de Lord! Nelly, Nelly, can't yo gib de Lord mor 'n a dime? yo' as gets so big wages—de Lord knows jest what yer gib him to-night, and don't yer forget it. Come up, come up; fill de ole hat. If we make up de fourteen dollars and seventy-five cents, I 'll buy a new hat for de next Sabbath." His face and manner would have been better suited to a minstrel show than to a prayer-meeting, yet he was so earnest that he moved the people. The old hat was filled twice over with silver; but when the money was counted, it was found to be a dollar and a half short of the requisite sum.