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She ain't goin' to last no longer than the sixteenth of next October. Then the heavens is goin' to unroll an' the graves give up their dead, an' the Lamb o' God is goin' to come down an' jedge the wicked an' the righteous; the quick an' the dead."

The roll of the old hillman's rude eloquence moved Abner with a strange emotion. It filled the quiet evening with a sense of queer impermanence.

The sun, a vast ball of fire, was sinking behind a distant fringe of trees. The wagon was now on a hilltop and the valleys were filled with dark blue shadows, while the tops of the hills, rising above them, were emblazoned with the dying day. In the west the sky was an abyss of green light which merged at the zenith into the profound blue of coming night.

The old man went on with his monologue:

"And not them as say 'Lord! Lord!' shall be carried up into Heaven in the arms of the Lamb, but them that doeth the will of the Father."

The far-flung colours of the evening lent a sort of corroboration to the old man's chanting.

"What makes you think it ain't goin' to last but tull next October?" asked Abner in an awed tone.

"Why, that's all in the Bible explained jest as clear as day. Ay, Lord; it's comin' jest as shore as we're drivin' over this hill, Abner. I don't reckon you never read the works of Reverend Solomon Molner? Well, it ort to be taught in ever' school to young an' old. It's called, 'The Word Unveiled.' It comes in 'leven volumes an' it makes it jest as clear as day. It shows you all the signs an' warnin's of the end of time, an' they're happenin' now, Abner, right now! Ay, Lord!" The old man shook his head, fumbled out his pipe, blew through the stem, and put it back into his pocket.

"But next October?" questioned Abner, frightened.

"Well, in the ninth chapter of Revelation, John says, 'Nine hundred an' ninety-nine. Yea, the beast had six horns.' Now the Reverend Solomon Molner shows that each