“No, I am sure it can’t be right, Mrs. Gardner,” said Elsie, “but we were so interested when we heard about these ‘Jerkers’ that we wished to see them before we went home.”

“Then you do not belong on the Island.  Where is your home, my dears?” she asked, as she stepped briskly about preparing the tea.

“We are from Halifax,” Dexie answered.

“And is it possible that you are the daughter of Mr. Sherwood, who buys horses on the Island?  Why, we know him well.  He always stays here when he comes this way.  Well, well; many’s the time he has told us about his twin girls, but I never expected to see one of them here.  Are you the beauty or the singer?” she smilingly asked.

“Now, Mrs. Gardner,” said Dexie, laughing, “I am sure you can see for yourself that I am not the beauty.”

“Then you are the singer; but your looks will do very well.  Uncommon beauty is often a snare to its possessor, and the ability to sing God’s praises is worth far more.  Are you too tired to do so to-night?”

Dexie looked up with a question in her eyes, and Mrs. Gardner added,

“There is a service in our meeting-house to-night.  Would you like to attend it with me?” turning to Elsie.

“Yes, indeed; I would love to go.  The day will not seem all lost if we spend a short time of it properly.  But do tell us, Mrs. Gardner, what makes those people take the ‘jerks’?  It seems such a queer kind of religion.”

“My dear, I have lived in these parts for more than twelve years, and I am acquainted with several families of McDonaldites, but I never yet learned why they take the ‘jerks,’ or what they signify, but I know that there are many good religious people belonging to the sect.”

“But they might be good people on account of their religion or in spite of it,” said Dexie.

Mrs. Gardner looked over at Dexie with a serious face.

“I wonder if you can repeat the first verse of the first Psalm.  Try it, my dear,” she said.

“I do not think I can say it word for word, Mrs. Gardner,” said Dexie, presently; “but it is something like this, ’Blessed is the person who never goes where he knows he ought not to be, and who never sits down in the seat of the scornful.’  Thank you, Mrs. Gardner, I see the application,” she added, smiling.  “I fear I have been on that seat to-day, and I have no right to be scornful when I am such a heathen myself.  Yet I never attend an impressive service that I do not wish I were a good member of that particular church, no matter what denomination it happens to be.  But to-day, although I have witnessed the most impressive service of my life, I never wished I was a good McDonaldite; no, not once.  Now, you needn’t laugh, Elsie, for you know yourself I can jump around just as lively as most people, and I am sure I could go through some of the most surprising movements if I tried, but I never once felt the least desire to emulate the members