She kept the peas in a small linen bag, and often took them out and
played with them when alone in her cell, placing them all in a row, and
settling, to her own satisfaction, which peas should represent the
various holy Ladies.
A large white pea, of finer aspect than the rest, stood for the noble
Prioress herself; a somewhat shrivelled pea, hard, brown, and wizened,
did duty as Mother Sub-Prioress, an elderly nun, not loved by Mary
Antony because of her sharp tongue and strict fault-finding ways; while
a pale and speckled pea became Sister Mary Rebecca, held in high scorn
by the old lay-sister, as a traitress, sneak, and liar, for if ever
tale of wrong or shame was whispered in the Convent, it could be traced
for place of origin to the slanderous tongue and crooked mind of Sister
Mary Rebecca.
When all the peas in line upon the floor of her cell were named, old
Mary Antony marked out a distant flagstone, on which the sunlight fell,
as heaven; another, partially in shadow, purgatory; a third, in a far
corner of exceeding darkness, hell. She then proceeded, with
well-directed fillip of thumb and middle finger, to send the holy
Ladies there where, in her judgment, they belonged.
If the game went well, the noble Prioress landed safely in heaven,
without even the most transitory visit to purgatory; Mother
Sub-Prioress, rolling into purgatory, remained there; while the pale
and speckled pea went straight to hell!
When these were safely landed, Mary Antony rubbed her hands and,
chuckling gleefully, finished the game at gay hap-hazard, it being of
less importance where the rest of the holy Ladies chanced to go.
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