But the expression of countenance was so different--so
honest, so good--that I got from it my first clear idea of what was
possible to the man who took our Saviour for a model of daily life. It
took such hold of me that when the pastor asked those who wanted the
prayers of God's people to rise, I was on my feet in an instant; I
couldn't keep my seat."
"Then you do admit that there are some God's people besides Sam
Kimper?" sneered the deacon.
"I never doubted it," replied the lawyer.
"Oh, well," said the deacon, "if you'll go on, now you've begun, you'll
see you've only made a beginning. By the way, have you got that Bittles
mortgage ready yet?"
"No," said the lawyer, "and I won't have it ready, either. To draw a
mortgage in that way, so the property will fall into your hands quickly
and Bittles will lose everything, is simple rascality, and I'll have
nothing to do with it."
"It's all right if he's willing to sign it, isn't it?" asked the
deacon, with an ugly frown. "His signature is put on by his own free
will, isn't it?"
"You know perfectly well, Deacon Quickset," said the lawyer, "that
fellows like Bittles will sign anything without looking at it, if they
can get a little money to put into some new notion. A man's home should
be the most jealously guarded bit of property in the world: I'm not
going to deceive any man into losing it.
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