I never can get to the front!"
Grabbing Addison playfully by the shoulder he said, "I will put you up."
But at first Addison held back. "They'll sting me to death!" he
protested.
"Wait!" Uncle Hannibal cried. "We will rig you up for it!" And leaning
over the front rail of the gallery, he shouted, "Has any lady got a
veil--two or three veils?"
Several women gave their veils, which Uncle Hannibal tied over Addison's
hat; then the Senator put his own large gloves on Addison's hands. By
that time the gallery was full of people--all laughing and giving
advice. A man produced some string, and with it they tied Addison's
trouser legs down and fastened his jacket sleeves tight round the
wrists. Then Uncle Hannibal lifted him up as if he had been a child and
at one boost shoved him up through the scuttle hole. When Addison had
got to his feet in the loft, the Senator passed him a wicker lunch
basket and a tin pail.
Tiptoeing his way perilously over the scantlings, laths and plaster,
Addison made his way back to the rear end of the meetinghouse. The
honeycombs were mostly on a beam against the boards of the outer wall.
The punk smoke was so dense up there that he could hardly get his
breath.
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